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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ Technos away from the Matrix
Posted by: Valentinew Jan 4 2006, 11:02 PM
I know the book pretty much says only that Technos get grumpy/agitated when away from the Matrix & start to lose dice if they're away too long.
I know most Z zones are dead zones.
In our game last week, our team ended up in a Z zone chasing ghouls. My GM & I ended up treating my techno's reaction as a sort of phobia/allergy reaction. She started out griping, but eventually was getting completely distracted by the fact that she couldn't connect. Basically, she became mostly useless to the team.
My question is basically this: If we treat this as essentially a phobia/allergy reaction, shouldn't technos be able to build up a certain tolerance?
Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions?
Posted by: Jaid Jan 4 2006, 11:31 PM
*or* you could blow a whopping 500 nuyen, buy yourself a sattellite uplink, connect it to your broadcasting commlink, and be fine as long as you're within 100 miles of somewhere with a matrix connection.
i know what i would do 
Posted by: RunnerPaul Jan 4 2006, 11:33 PM
Don't think of it in terms of phobia/alergy. Think of it in terms of addiction. I realize that SR's game mechanics have always been draconian, but no matter whether you use the rules as written or houserules to handle addiction, essentially, technomancers have a matrix addiction that they can't buy off no matter how much karma they spend. There's just no going clean, unless you fill yourself with so much cyber you're no longer a technomancer.
Posted by: MK Ultra Jan 4 2006, 11:47 PM
speking of matrix addiction, I think many people in 2070 should have it (maybe like Korea in the 60´s). Allmost all my SR4 Charakters will probably get this 
I´m rather sure I´d be addicted, too, even in 2030 
"I NEEED IMPUTT 
"
Posted by: PlatonicPimp Jan 5 2006, 01:27 AM
Yes, well, the average Joe would, that's for sure. Shadowrunners maybe less so if they conspicuously avoid pointless matrix interaction for fear of datatrails and profiling.
Posted by: MK Ultra Jan 5 2006, 01:38 AM
there is something like "pointless matrix interaction" 
is this the extension of wirreless 
Computing
in the 80´s you needed a damn large box
in toe 2000´s you´ve got a flatscreen
in the 2050 you needed only a line
than kame wirreless, now finaly you don´t even need to have a point.
I´m afraid my post is pointless
Well since allmost all my characters were deckers ore sideline deckers, I guess I´ve got a hightened susceptability for TriX-Addiction.
Posted by: Dale Jan 5 2006, 04:09 AM
I get fidgety if I don't spend at least an hour online a day. How the hell did that happen?
Posted by: PlatonicPimp Jan 5 2006, 04:59 AM
I can't even start work unless I get a 30 minute fix of webcomics.
Posted by: Backgammon Jan 5 2006, 05:04 AM
My girlfriend gets distracted and irritable if she forgot to bring her cellphone somewhere. Does that mean she's a technomancer? That would be kind of cool.
Posted by: Moon-Hawk Jan 5 2006, 02:34 PM
When I was in college me and my friends noticed that most of us had some degree of information connectivity addiction. (of course, this was for electrical engineering, so take that for what it's worth) There's just something about getting used to being able to find out virtually anything you want, anytime you want, quickly and easily, and being able to know what's going on all over the world; and then.....it's gone.
With the all-pervasive AR wireless matrix of SR4, I would expect everyone to have some level of matrix addiction.
But the technomancers; they've got all that connectivity happening at a subconscious level, so no wonder it'd be MUCH worse for them.
Posted by: TheHappyAnarchist Jan 5 2006, 06:06 PM
WHY?
INFORMATION OVERLOAD MAN!!!
POISONING THE AIRWAVES!!!
Posted by: Talain Jan 5 2006, 06:49 PM
I WANT THE CLUB SANDWICH!
Posted by: TBRMInsanity Apr 26 2006, 02:12 PM
I think the cost of the technomancer is too low and this "allergy/phobia" is an ingrained side-effect of being able to connect without a commlink. The same side-effect would effect magically active people if magic suddenly disappeared. They wouldn't be able to reach out and feel the magic around them, they wouldn't be able to feel the sense of being more alive then alive. They wouldn't feel the spirits and astral energies flowing through then any more. In short they would become grumpy and disillusioned.
Posted by: The Jopp Apr 26 2006, 02:31 PM
| QUOTE (TBRMInsanity) |
| I think the cost of the technomancer is too low... |
They are already gimped from the beginning so why should they cost more? They cost just as much as a mage and must buy their complex forms like spells, except they must buy their spells for each lvl they want for them. AND they must buy their resonance just like magic rating.
For 1 BP a hacker gains a lvl 5 hacking program. For 2 BP a tehnomancer gain a lvl 1 hacking program.
For starting characters it is almost better to gain a high skill than buying a high rating complex form, except for perhaps complex forms like stealth. The cost in BP for just the needed complex forms are just horrendous.
Posted by: James McMurray Apr 26 2006, 04:31 PM
I'm not overly familiar with the technomancer rules, but don't threading and compiling help with that by letting you increase your ratings, generate new CPs, and "summon spirits" with skills you don't have?
Posted by: FanGirl Apr 26 2006, 07:32 PM
Yeah, but you take stun damage when you do that.
Posted by: Geekkake Apr 26 2006, 07:40 PM
| QUOTE (The Jopp) | ||
They are already gimped from the beginning so why should they cost more? They cost just as much as a mage and must buy their complex forms like spells, except they must buy their spells for each lvl they want for them. AND they must buy their resonance just like magic rating. For 1 BP a hacker gains a lvl 5 hacking program. For 2 BP a tehnomancer gain a lvl 1 hacking program. For starting characters it is almost better to gain a high skill than buying a high rating complex form, except for perhaps complex forms like stealth. The cost in BP for just the needed complex forms are just horrendous. |
Actually, I'm working on a technomancer exactly like this. 2-3 Resonance, hacker skills, commlink, good programs, horrible complex forms, where available at all. He's gonna work his way up.
Posted by: James McMurray Apr 26 2006, 07:46 PM
So you trade extreme flexibility (sprites and threading) for possible danger (stun damage). While I haven't seen it in play, it sounds like something that could be balanced. 
Posted by: emo samurai Apr 26 2006, 07:47 PM
| QUOTE |
Actually, I'm working on a technomancer exactly like this. 2-3 Resonance, hacker skills, commlink, good programs, horrible complex forms, where available at all. He's gonna work his way up. |
Oh, god, that'll take several decades.
Posted by: Geekkake Apr 26 2006, 07:50 PM
| QUOTE (emo samurai) | ||
Oh, god, that'll take several decades. |
It may, it may not. I'm not really that concerned about it. Being a technomancer isn't his central role to the team, it's being a hacker. Being a technomancer is a personal pursuit for him.
Posted by: emo samurai Apr 26 2006, 07:53 PM
What do you mean? He'll use mostly programs on his comlink? Then there's really no need to even be a technomancer, then; complex forms don't work with comlink hacking, and he'll need two sets of skills to work with both.
Posted by: Geekkake Apr 26 2006, 08:03 PM
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| What do you mean? He'll use mostly programs on his comlink? Then there's really no need to even be a technomancer, then; complex forms don't work with comlink hacking, and he'll need two sets of skills to work with both. |
You see, emo, while there is no mechanical need to be a technomancer, it is a roleplaying opportunity. Say it with me.
Posted by: emo samurai Apr 26 2006, 08:05 PM
An expensive one; and why would a technomancer choose to use a comlink instead of his undoubtedly much more interesting Resonance abilities?
Posted by: Geekkake Apr 26 2006, 08:11 PM
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| An expensive one; and why would a technomancer choose to use a comlink instead of his undoubtedly much more interesting Resonance abilities? |
Because he has to make a living, and at chargen, he's going to absolutely suck as a TM. He was already a decker during the Crash, and discovered the Resonance during that time. He took to hacking, and for quite awhile after, years, he couldn't explain the strange experiences and connections he was having with the new wireless Matrix as it was being implemented.
Essentially, he's just starting to come to terms with the concept of the Deep Resonance, and with his part of it. As a consequence, his Resonance abilities are practically useless. He'll use them where he can, but at this point, believes that the commlink is a better tool for anything serious. He's really only exploring the concepts and slowly understanding the applications at this point.
Posted by: Kremlin KOA Apr 26 2006, 08:12 PM
I am wit Emo on this one, Geekakke
the problem with it is that technomancer would need SERIOUS self hatred issues to use a comlink in prewference to his powers
and being a technimancer is not a hobby, any more than being a mutant in marvel universe is a hobby
Posted by: Geekkake Apr 26 2006, 08:21 PM
| QUOTE (Kremlin KOA) |
| I am wit Emo on this one, Geekakke the problem with it is that technomancer would need SERIOUS self hatred issues to use a comlink in prewference to his powers and being a technimancer is not a hobby, any more than being a mutant in marvel universe is a hobby |
I'm not trying to protray it as a hobby, sorry if it came across that way. This character has no guidance, no real knowledge of his "condition", mostly just speculation and hype from news sources. Similar to the mutants of the Marvel Universe who aren't part of the various mutant organizations; they have no one to teach them, and their development slows to a crawl because they have to reinvent a Hell of a lot of wheels.
I'm attempting to play out the exploration and philosophical consequences of suddenly acquiring this ability. And I think I might use the self-loathing idea, I like that. It would certainly speed-up his attempts to harness his own abilities, probably straining the living shit out of himself in the process.
Posted by: Voran Apr 26 2006, 09:23 PM
| QUOTE (Jaid) |
| *or* you could blow a whopping 500 nuyen, buy yourself a sattellite uplink, connect it to your broadcasting commlink, and be fine as long as you're within 100 miles of somewhere with a matrix connection. i know what i would do |
In this case, I'd say you'd only be able to avoid the negative effects if you fully immersed yourself (VR type state) in the satellite stream line. Which would lead to the usual full vr penalties for interacting in the real world at the same time.
Posted by: hobgoblin Apr 26 2006, 10:02 PM
| QUOTE (Backgammon) |
| My girlfriend gets distracted and irritable if she forgot to bring her cellphone somewhere. Does that mean she's a technomancer? That would be kind of cool. |
i think its more a case of addiction(matrix) then technomancy.
now, if she starts to text you without a mobile or similar tech available, its a diffrent story...
Posted by: Shrike30 Apr 26 2006, 10:18 PM
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| Oh, god, that'll take several decades. |
3 months of weekly play has netted my current group of players about 60 karma. "Decades" might be pushing it
Posted by: Geekkake Apr 26 2006, 10:30 PM
| QUOTE (Shrike30) | ||
3 months of weekly play has netted my current group of players about 60 karma. "Decades" might be pushing it |
That sounds about right for the reward level of my games, as well. Awesome.
Posted by: emo samurai Apr 26 2006, 10:38 PM
That'll give you enough for one and a half immersions; that's not a lot at all, and in the end, those hacker skills will be completely wasted.
Posted by: FanGirl Apr 26 2006, 10:44 PM
| QUOTE (Geekkake @ Apr 26 2006, 03:21 PM) | ||
I'm not trying to protray it as a hobby, sorry if it came across that way. This character has no guidance, no real knowledge of his "condition", mostly just speculation and hype from news sources. Similar to the mutants of the Marvel Universe who aren't part of the various mutant organizations; they have no one to teach them, and their development slows to a crawl because they have to reinvent a Hell of a lot of wheels. I'm attempting to play out the exploration and philosophical consequences of suddenly acquiring this ability. And I think I might use the self-loathing idea, I like that. It would certainly speed-up his attempts to harness his own abilities, probably straining the living shit out of himself in the process. |
It just seems a little implausible that such a hacker, who presumably spends much of his time in the Matrix, hasn't come into contact with a single TM in the five to six years since the Crash. Sure, they're rare, but you'd probably find some if you looked hard enough around the Matrix, especially in the kinds of nodes where hackers tend to gather. It should be even easier to track down a TM if you are one yourself, because you could sense the Matrix signatures that TMs leave when they use Resonance. Also, I'm pretty certain that TMs would be naturally drawn to each other, either out of their mutual need to figure out what the fuck happened to them (I'd imagine that there are a lot of "technomancer support groups" out there for this very reason), or simply because "birds of a feather flock together." IMO, to make his lack of knowledge plausible, your character would have to have a very overdeveloped "lone-wolf" mentality in addition to his self-loathing.
Posted by: Shrike30 Apr 26 2006, 10:45 PM
Before I take a TM through immersion, I'd probably bulk out his repetoir of CFs and generally solidify his skillbase.
A couple of my players are playing magicians. Asides from the fact that one of them bought Stealth 1, they both sink their points straight towards Initiating and raising Magic. Of course, neither of them can Counterspell very well, and they haven't bought a single spell (3 karma! 3!) since character creation, but they're both sitting on that big Magic 7 right about now.
Pushing the raw power of a TM is helpful, but you can get a lot of mileage out of the less karma-expensive related sinks. Besides, a lot of the tasks a decker is asked to handle in your average group involve network security and bulking out the hardware used by other players... and often times that means using conventional Computer skills, not TM ones.
Posted by: James McMurray Apr 26 2006, 10:45 PM
Yeah! What kind of idiot doesn't power game? Buncha morons!!! 
That's sarcasm folks, please don't kill me.
Posted by: emo samurai Apr 26 2006, 10:49 PM
POWERCLAW TO THE FACE!!!!
Posted by: Shrike30 Apr 26 2006, 10:51 PM
I dunno, man.
It's about, what... 65 karma to initiate once and to raise your magic from 5 to 7? I can get almost 22 spells for that, granting me a phenomenal range of ability that the starting 10 or so spells really don't allow for. If I was going to power game, jamming straight for the higher Magic attribute wouldn't be the first thing on my mind...
Posted by: James McMurray Apr 26 2006, 10:56 PM
YEah, you just can't cover all the bases with your starting 12(?) spells. Getting more versatility is a good thing.
Posted by: Kanada Ten Apr 26 2006, 10:59 PM
Too bad you can only have a number of spells equal to your Sorcery times 2.
Posted by: James McMurray Apr 26 2006, 10:59 PM
Unless I'm misremembering, you can only start with that many spells. The number you learn over time isn't limited.
Posted by: Kanada Ten Apr 26 2006, 11:00 PM
That's good.
Posted by: emo samurai Apr 26 2006, 11:15 PM
It's 5 karma per spell, isn't it?
Posted by: hobgoblin Apr 26 2006, 11:38 PM
hmm, it just hit me that 12 submersions and a techno have the transmission power of a naval radar
Posted by: James McMurray Apr 27 2006, 12:03 AM
How much karma is that?
Posted by: Voran Apr 27 2006, 12:57 AM
TM's to me come across as something like a person who suffers from auditory hallucinations, who lives with them so long, that when they are on their meds (in this case, the equivalent would be standing in the middle of a Z zone or non-wireless zone) they get all antsy because its a BIG change to what they consider their normal existance. Kinda like the psychotic who doesn't take their meds, cause well, they kinda like being psychotic.
Posted by: FanGirl Apr 27 2006, 02:56 AM
Are you saying I'm crazy? You're the one who's crazy, man! Why can't you open your eyes and see the truth?!
Posted by: emo samurai Apr 27 2006, 02:58 AM
It's... the WIRED, maaaaan. It's, like, alIVE.
Posted by: Bryce963 Apr 27 2006, 10:38 PM
Another thing about being away from the wireless matrix, how would a TM interact with a wired computer network, as in having to hack in without a wireless connection, do they need a datajack?
Posted by: James McMurray Apr 27 2006, 10:47 PM
Yep, if it ain't wireless they'll need another route to it.
Posted by: Valentinew Apr 27 2006, 11:53 PM
I don't see why they'd need a datajack. Maybe I'm being thick, but why couldn't they plug their commlink into the wired system & use that as an entry?
Posted by: hobgoblin Apr 28 2006, 12:33 AM
should work nicely as the comlink would supply a nice connection.
its kinda like bringing a portable wifi gateway/access point that you can plug into an existing ethernet port
Posted by: emo samurai Apr 28 2006, 12:36 AM
Why even have a comlink? They could just have something with a plug on one end and a radio transciever on the other.
Posted by: hobgoblin Apr 28 2006, 01:13 AM
hmm, like a rfid?
Posted by: James McMurray Apr 28 2006, 01:47 AM
| QUOTE (Valentinew) |
| I don't see why they'd need a datajack. Maybe I'm being thick, but why couldn't they plug their commlink into the wired system & use that as an entry? |
Because I'm still not used to thinking in SR4 terms when it comes to matrix oriented stuff?
Posted by: TBRMInsanity Apr 28 2006, 03:13 AM
Correct me if I'm wrong but TMs don't need a commlink or trodes, they are a commlink and trodes all in one. The only time they would need extra equipment to access the matrix is when it is totally wired connection (then you can get away with a datajack).
Posted by: James McMurray Apr 28 2006, 03:35 AM
You're right, which is what everyone is saying.
Posted by: TBRMInsanity Apr 28 2006, 01:50 PM
I just got confused because people are saying plug a line into your commlink. Where are they going to plug it into?
Posted by: James McMurray Apr 28 2006, 03:02 PM
Into the wired system they're trying to hack. Then they'll use the commlink's wireless access to bridge to the wired system.
Posted by: Shrike30 Apr 28 2006, 06:29 PM
TM talks to TM's commlink via wireless, TM's commlink is physically plugged into the system.
Yes, another way to do this is a datajack. That involves cyber, however.
Trodes would work too, if you don't mind carrying a tube of paste around in your pack and smearing it on your head every once in a while. Personally, I think washing that crap outta your hair would get old.
Posted by: Kanada Ten Apr 28 2006, 08:15 PM
| QUOTE (Shrike30 @ Apr 28 2006, 01:29 PM) |
| Trodes would work too, if you don't mind carrying a tube of paste around in your pack and smearing it on your head every once in a while. Personally, I think washing that crap outta your hair would get old. |
In theory, you could use the cosmedic replacement rules to make your hair a trodenet - and even have it look like normal hair (or not normal hair). After all, one can have fiberoptic mutli-colored hair installed. Or what about a nanotattoo trodenet? [e] I'm not sure about the hairnet (ha!), but I'd think you could turn it off - who'd want the hair glowing all the time? However, I know nanotattoos could be switched off; you'd just have an off pattern. Best off all, make them DNI and skinlink - then you can shut it off with a thought and use the commlink to turn it back on.
Posted by: Voran Apr 28 2006, 08:44 PM
Hair is much more runner friendly in SR4. You can control its color, its style (supersaiyan!) and it can also be a masked trodenet. Plus fake hair with nanoenchancements are so prevalent in the 2070 culture, that it won't draw attention.
Posted by: Bryce963 Apr 28 2006, 10:26 PM
OK thanks, that's what I thought, that a technomancer would have to have a datajack to connect to non wireless network. so for being able to deal with all types of networks you would have lower your resonance?
Posted by: Kanada Ten Apr 28 2006, 10:32 PM
| QUOTE (Bryce963) |
| OK thanks, that's what I thought, that a technomancer would have to have a datajack to connect to non wireless network. so for being able to deal with all types of networks you would have lower your resonance? |
No, a technomancer does NOT need a datajack, because one can physically attach a wireless device to a wired system, thus opening up the system - or just use a trodenet if RF silence is important. Any port that accepts a datajack will allow a person to attach a commlink or similar.
Posted by: Bryce963 Apr 29 2006, 12:48 AM
From the descritption of complex forms, it looks like you would have to use normal programs to use a commlink, and it seems that you cant use complex forms through the commlink, so you would have to have the programs on the commlink and and the complex forms as well as good commlink in addition to all your technomancer abilites, so it would seem that the only reason to be a technomancer then would be to get sprites, which are just better agents, if you would have to carry around a hacking commlink anyway, I mean im sorry if there is something im missing but im new to this
Posted by: Kanada Ten Apr 29 2006, 01:08 AM
Why couldn't they use the complex form once they're on the host? There is no real difference between a wired host and a wireless one besides an access point. If it comes down to it, then the technomancer just has to install a wifi connection on the wired host. The only reason to consider the commlink as limiting would be bandwidth, IMO - and that's more of a cheese to make hackers better at something. But with the cost of Res, it's not needed.
Posted by: Monnock Apr 29 2006, 05:00 AM
Keep in mind that the way techomancers see the Matrix is completely different from how Joe the Hacker sees it. To a technomancer, the Matrix is litterally another world, one which they exist in. To a hacker, it may seem like a home, but it can never reach the level of a technomancer. Hmm, hah, then I guess it's ironic that technomancers are called "Otaku" (a form of saying 'house' in Japanese - though there are conditions, but we'll just leave it as meaning house)
I point this out because it would simply be bizzare for a technomancer to use a commlink while developing their forms. It would be kind of like looking through a window and telling someone inside to do stuff for you vs just going inside. Especially when it's your home that you are ordering someone to do stuff for you in.
Now keep two things in mind with this statement: 1) It is not impossible, thus making the concept unique, 2) When otaku began fading, other otaku would begin teaching them the skills that they would need in order to use an ordinary deck system, so maybe your character is preparing for the future?
As it says in the book, essentially you have to buy their skills separatly:
| QUOTE |
| technomancers use the same skills (. . .) the way technomancers use these skills, however, is vastly different (. . .) they don't learn to use electronics so much as they learn to make devices do what they want (. . .) technomancers may learn the normal versions of these skills separately (or use normal skillsofts) (Page 233 SR4) |
Sorry for the huge paraphrasing.
Also, Bryce963, technomancers can use complex forms through a commlink just as how they can use complex forms while jumping nodes. A node is just an easy way of saying "Matrix representation of a physical data-storage/transfer point"
| QUOTE |
| It just seems a little implausible that such a hacker, who presumably spends much of his time in the Matrix, hasn't come into contact with a single TM in the five to six years since the Crash |
From what I've read, while otaku were rare, they at least used to form into tribes with one another, so obviously finding each other wasn't all that difficult. Also, keep in mind that not only did the second crash create more otaku, it also reawakened the connection that many of those who were faded lost, so in a way there are more.
One final note on all the critisizm against Emo and RP (actually I think it may have just been one person on second glance) within the context of this thread, I'd like to point out that making a character 'work' on paper can be just as important as making the character 'work' in character. I see that many times people will gimp their character out (like playing a bind/deaf mage in Dungeons and Dragons or a level 1 commoner) and take a 'hollier than thou' attitude towards anyone who would dare suggest they play something more viable.
To this I say: try listening to their advice and consider it before you bash it as 'powergaming trash.' If it doesn't fit your character concept, that doesn't make their advice wrong. After all, they were just trying to help.
I know a powergamer, and while his characters are vastly superior to those around him, because he puts so much work into building the character he in turn puts just as much work into making the character a real person. Being a powergamer and being a roleplayer are not mutually exclusive.
((This is like my 5th edit
))In terms of the origional question, the best example given would be like how a mage would feel if they were suddenly cut off from magic (though sometimes if that happens it can have more dire consequences). I would think it would be more dissorienting than anything else, I'm not sure why it would impose penalties however, though I can see it from a certain perspective.
Becoming a technomancer alters the very structure of your brain and how it works, so if you lose the stimulation that the input your recieve from the Matrix provides, it can have all sorts of effects depending on interpretation.
Take ADD for example, the reason for the short attention span is due to lack of stimulation in the brain. I would think that technomancers isolated from the Matrix for even a single day would start suffering from depression and a shorter attention span. They would be more prone to daydreaming because the things that used to occupy their mind would turn to other tasks.
There are many other responces that the brain can exibit when a stimulis is taken away, especially depending on the stimulus. Not only that, but as mentioned before, much of this stimulus is happening at sub-consious levels, so who knows what that would do to a person's psyche.
Posted by: Dranem Apr 29 2006, 06:03 AM
As Monnock pointed out.. (I love your spiel btw, thumbs up) I think that some people mistake the term Powergamer with Munchkin or twink. - which are more more appropriate terms if you're talking about people who abuse rules.
Munchkin: Min/Max player who needs to have the best of the best and gets the most bang of the rules - even if it means exagerating/bending the rules a little. The munchkin typically has the most gear, the most ware or the most magic you can possibly put in the metahuman body. The munchkin is more of a roll-player than a role-player typically favoring combat in which they can show themselves off as a one-man army.
Twink: Someone who purposefully bends rules to suit their own means. Finding every loophole possible to make more out of their character than is/should be possible; pointing at holes and flaws in the rules to justify their means. The twink is most likely to use Out of Character knowledge to forward their characters means, whether it's plausible the character would know such information or not. One-upmanship is not uncommon as is the need to steal the show and be the pivitol point of the campaign whether warranted or not.
Powergamer: Role-player who uses the rules system to make the most realistic kick-ass character within the rules possible while trying not to steal the limelight from the rest of the party. Powergamers typically like to be essential in any campaign gathering whatever gear/resources/contacts necessary to get the job done while still maintaining a sense of teamwork.
As a side note: As the Technomancer has no form of physical memory, their only real use for a commlink is as an offline storage device, or a means as a wired hub to access non-wireless devices. A technomancer should find programs odd and clunky or at least crude compared to the abilities they possess. (part of the reason why they feel they are superior to most hackers)
One technomancer I play does have a datajack instead of a commlink, but that's cause she used to be Otaku, her history made it a requirement to adhere to how Otaku accessed the Matrix before the Crash. Yes it means that I'm down to a max of 5 Resonance, but for role-play purposes it fits well.
Posted by: Bryce963 Apr 30 2006, 06:44 AM
Ok, sorry, but I'm just trying to get this straight in my head, so a TM would have to have the commlink to get into a wired network, and can then use thier complex forms after they hack into it through the commlink but would have to use the normal programs and skills to get in in the first place, or they could just get a datajack, which would be simpler but would limit resonance, but for hacking into a wired network they would be limted by having to have the normal skills and not useing thier boosted uberVR, so 6 of one half dozen of the other, either a -1 dice for everything, or several less for hacking into a very few, but probably very important networks, as well as spending the points for getting the seperate skills
Posted by: Dranem Apr 30 2006, 07:15 AM
Frankly, I wouldn't care what programs are on the commlink, cause all I'm using it for is to connect the wired network to a wireless device I can tap into.. Basically I'm using the commlink to create a node to access AR or VR much as I would any other wireless node. I'm not so much using the commlink as a hacker would with programs and such. To me the commlink is just a bridge for me to cross from wireless into the wired network.
I would say the only thing that would truely be limmiting by using the commlink is that you are bottlenecking yourself by going through the Signal/Response ratio of your makeshift node, so if you have a drekky commlink, hacking's not going to be to great.
As my Technomancer with a Datajack, I would just direct connect the datajack to the fibre port and go full VR into the host system. Using my active persona's stats as I would normally in any foreign host.
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