@notsoevildm: Think my question must have gotten lost in the shuffle, so I'll ask again: If Alex turns on his main 'link is the noise going to start again, or would he be able to make a call on it?

No weird noises, it works fine if just a little slow (Game effect: >1rtu@l5cr3@m counts as (System rating +1) active programs, so it will reduce a commlink's Response value by 1 - not counting any additional response decreases caused by other active programs). For Alex that means that the >1rtu@l5cr3@m gut on his main link counts as 5 active programs and reduces its response from 4 to 3 (with no other programs running). Plus, there is a gross stomach icon floating in his field of view.

@Virtual Scream/all:
Do shout out if you think I missed something (OOC or IC). I was thinking of doing a weekly OOC round-up of what the PCs were up to (at least until I get you all together, if that ever actually happens). It would certainly help me, would you also find it useful?

@NSEDM (Gossamer):
IP1 turn on spare link and scan for other nodes around (I’m guessing a complex and a free action…)
IP2 complex action to move her code into the new node (she’s not giving up on her home node just yet so this is just the moving her icon onto something she has an admin account on). She’ll keep scanning for clean nodes if she needs to…
IP3 hope like hell it’s clean and then go from there…

Can I go with bought successes on the scan? Not sure right now what I need to roll…

And yes, a summary would be great! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

@notsoevildm: That would be very helpful to me, if you're interested in doing it. And I'll craft Alex's next IC post with that data in mind.

IP1:
Spare link powers up. I'll assume it was on standby and not OFF.
Scan of active and passive nodes is not very hopeful. There is her body and the house node (both of which are under attack), a few dumb devices like the fridge, trid player etc. (mostly linked to the house node). Give me an edge roll to spot any other nodes in range which are a) hopefully not infected and b) on which she has an admin account (you get 1 node per hit plus a plausible description of what it could be). Note: she does have an admin account on her commlink and as it was not running, it might well be scream free.
Need a defence test to avoid the scream. And a resist damage test just in case it's not enough.
IP2:
She can either move to her commlink or to another node (if any turned up on the edge test).
Need a defence test to avoid getting hit by the scream as she leaves. And a resist damage test just in case it's not enough.
IP3: Assuming she makes it to a clean node, she can then either jump to another one or attempt to shut down or kill the wireless signal on the one she is in. The latter options require a System + Response (10, 1 combat turn) extended test. No power/wireless means no scream but she would be stuck in the current node until someone turned it back on or she reactivated the wireless signal.

The idea was to improve the main 'Mechanicals' ID that Sprogget started with, so simple improve in place is perfect.  This is intended to be his 'public' ID, that should be kept away from any shadow related activities.

Hmmm, going to need a 'budget' for fake ID's.  For later though.

Man, I just had a thought. Everyone else has probably figured it out long ago...

Too bad Dante wouldn't have all this meta-game info (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Cipher's measly 2 hits on re-rolled defence test. May help a bit
His Threading Analyze test to give me some more dice. 2 hits again.
Finally a decent roll and right where I wanted it! 7 hits to analyze the bastard (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
Back to normality with a pathetic 1 hit on Fading Resistance. I only needed 2!
And finally, 3 damage back if/when I fall unconcious

see… I knew all they had going for them was harsh language and bad breath (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) …and the fact that the kids are unarmoured and untrained and oh so vulnerable (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ork.gif)


The fight goes something like this unless you want to jump in and change things before I post the IC. I’d not normally run it like this but you’ve already given me a load of rolls so it seems simplest…alternatively you could compose the IC based on this list if you like?
Rnd 1: C digs her razors in G1 on her back, wins combat, throws him off back, 4 damage. G1 strikes back but fails to wound. G2 hangs back, G3-5 advance on group. K&J fire wildly with about as much chance of hitting anything useful as I have of winning the lottery (I don’t play the lottery)!
Rnd 2: C attacks G1 does another 4 damage and tips him back into water. G2 follows his buddies. G 3&4 attack C grabbing at her legs trying to drag her into the water with little success. G5 grabs J and pulls him into the soup (oh crap!!!). K fires more wild shots and wings G5 (thank the gods for edge!)
Rnd 3: C jumps into water after J (ignoring G2-4?!?), attacks G5 for 3 damage, G1 slinks off. G3&4 attack C again, climbing up her back, no damage (again!!!). G2 advances on K leering but not an attack this rnd. K backs off
Rnd 4: Big boom from somewhere above. C does no damage. G1 gone, G2 runs, G5, 3&4 all go for C for lots of friends in melee bonus! And…er, nor surprise, no damage…
Rnd 5: Remaining ghouls freak when lights stab down from above somewhere and they realise their leader has legged it. C royally frags G5!...

It just feels wrong somehow… my reservations are probably a hangover from past versions of SR where I’m pretty sure it didn’t work like that… makes taking some ‘ware at character gen a good idea I think, and that fits my transhumanist agenda so that’s ok really (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) . Talking of taking what you can get…when you finally get the hell out of dodge an agility upgrade on those lovely cyberarms might be in order – would increase your combat effectiveness without upsetting any magic that you have! Sure Argent could put you in touch with a discrete cyberdoc…

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif) I like it! I'll see if I get a chance to post something myself but if you have time (LOL) feel free to post something dramatic and I'll pick it up at pulling J out of the water. Glad I didn't have to resort to plan B (for BOOM) and let off a flashbang at ground zero.

Yeah, it would be (new rating + essence loss rounded up)*5 or 35 to go to a virtual 7 - 3 = 4 in the old rules. I think I could manage this if I burn a big chunk of my Virtual Scream karma on her, so I'm cool if you want to rule it this way.

As you mentioned them I have some ideas for the arms. Copper delivered a package to the Clearwater/Stillwater cybermancer troll(?) just before this run. I was thinking along the following lines (awaiting hyterical laughter followed by a 'not an effing chance' post) so some of this could be for longer term:
1. Upgrade arms to alphaware, with at least same stats and ideally with an agility increase of 1-3 (depending on cost).
2. Replace razors with weapon focus razors, hence the need for a cybermancer.
3. Switch out dermal armor for dragon scale orthoskin (playing the system a bit here to benefit from halved bioware essence cost, reducing current essence cost to 2 and leaving a 1 essence hole).
4. Fill essence hole with essence restoring serum (this can be later).

"Essence-restoring serum"? Is that something that exists now?

Genetic revitalization from Augmentation. Cheap at only 75k + 20k per 0.1 essence restored. Treatment takes 1 month per 0.1 restored. So for Copperhead to restore that 1 point hole, that would be 275k and 10 months game time. Does not restore lost magic points or reductions to max score. It is mainly just a long term ingame goal!

Huh. Well, not my cup of tea (I prefer my cyberware to be soul-destroying), but it does seem to be the direction the game is heading.

Yeah, in my tabletop SR4 campaign, the GM has nixed it (along with SnS, form fitting armor stacking with normal armor and some other stuff).

That's a lot of nixing. Probably a lot less headaches for the GM, too. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Haha. Read Cipher's latest post. You're really not doing anything to dispel his delusions are you! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

@Virtual Scream / NSEDM
If you want anything to 'happen' while Cat is in the club then let me know, otherwise I'm going to continue on with her partying and try and swing past Anathma in the same evening. Partly to show off her look, but mostly to see if the techies Frank mentioned are around.

Okay to move on to Anathma. 'With a final ping, the program terminates and the target fades from her AR display.' I was going to post something about her overhearing some talk about >1rtu@l5cr3@m, but mainly friend of a friend, which could explaing why the club is not so busy - the people that got hit with the virus are trying to get their commlinks fixed. You could work that into your next post. The crowd at Anathma would also have been affected by it.

Glad you liked it. There's more to come!

Regarding the 7 hits on the Analyze test:
- It was something like an agent but much more
- It was way more powerful than anything he has ever seen
- So much data, some encrypted, some not. A lot of it now in his head.
- The audible part of the scream was a complex combination of programs including a data transfer routine (although calling it that is doing it an injustice), an exploit program and several attack programs

Who turns anything off these days? Her edge is 1 – that’s surely why she’s had the bad luck to have her home node obliterated in the first few hours of being a runner (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) I’ll stick a load of def and resistance tests at the bottom…from your latest post it seems it was indeed scream free – phew! I had intended to hack myself an admin account on some unsuspecting ‘link but will avoid that for a bit.

Yep, coming up!

Hell no! She can still run into the matrix from here, the scream can’t be everywhere! Assuming she doesn’t succumb to more scream damage then she will use the next combat round to deactivate her homenode – probably by sending a command to the drone to remove its power core. She’s probably going to have to abandon the drone but she’s certainly reluctant to do so – it’s her body after all!

5x Resistance: Response + Firewall = 16D (- whatever response reduction she’s running at the time…?)
16d6.hits(5) → [3,3,2,5,6,1,4,4,6,4,6,5,3,2,5,5] = (7)

16d6.hits(5) → [4,6,1,4,1,1,3,1,2,1,5,5,2,4,4,1] = (3)

16d6.hits(5) → [5,4,5,2,1,6,2,4,6,2,2,2,2,6,3,5] = (6)

16d6.hits(5) → [5,1,4,3,1,1,3,6,6,2,5,1,6,1,5,3] = (6)

16d6.hits(5) → [5,2,1,2,1,4,1,1,1,6,5,1,5,2,3,1] = (4)

5x Defence: System + Armour = 14D
14d6.hits(5) → [1,1,3,1,5,5,1,2,1,1,1,4,1,1] = (2)

14d6.hits(5) → [5,4,3,5,5,4,4,6,3,1,5,5,3,4] = (6)

14d6.hits(5) → [3,1,6,1,6,6,6,1,6,1,5,1,1,3] = (6)

14d6.hits(5) → [1,3,3,1,6,4,5,2,4,5,1,2,4,2] = (3)

14d6.hits(5) → [6,1,6,5,1,3,4,4,3,1,5,1,4,3] = (4)

So, assuming she’s still alive…

IP1: Load command
IP2: Instruct drone to pop its service hatch
IP3: Get it to rip out the power cell…I considered shooting myself through the brain pan for added morbidity (and making the GM feel guilty?!? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ) but will save that as a failsafe option.

Need more IPs! Thought this matrix stuff was meant to be the speed of thought lol

Let me know and I’ll write this up IC.

@Virtual Scream: Aria/Gossamer
As I am such a nice guy, Gossamer might want to use that point of edge to reroll the misses on the second defence/resistance roll. Another two hits and she's home free and can proceed with her plan of action. The good news is that if she succeeds the >1rtu@l5cr3@m will not pursue her into the commlink.

I am particularly looking forward to how Argent (and her kids) will react when they find her body lying in the hall with her power core ripped out and still 'beating' in her outstretched hand.

@NSEDM:
I’ve made a guess at -4 response on her home node so on roll 2 she would have rolled 12D for 3 hits so on 9D edge re-roll (you can work out the maths if the response decrease was more?!?) she gets: 4 hits, phew! Would still be 3 even if the response decrease is more…

And is home free…yeah right! And she’ll warn Argent (assuming she is getting messages), would be a bit of a nasty shock otherwise!

So from the confines of her link she needs to find a better node that is also clean of the virus. She might look for a low grade nexus that won’t notice the increased system load when she moves in. A mall or internet café equivalent is probably about right. She will send redirect notices to Aria too to let her know how to reach her. After that I guess it’s back to Shadowland for some answers, even though they were hit too! Or perhaps because they were hit too…!

@ RdMarquis:
Hopefully you or one of the others have some way of bypassing a maglock? If not you’d better get Monsieur Collot to work his techno magic on the thing and hope for the best!

@Virtual Scream / Aria
The response hit was only minus 1 + minus 2 for the damage to her icon, but the original 3 hits on the second defence roll was a couple short and the damage would have crashed her icon. Note that she still has 6 boxes of damage to her icon.

Hacking an admin account takes time, unless done on the fly which is risky but quick. The slow version is an extended test with a 1 hour interval in VR. As you are out of combat, you can buy 1 hit per 4 dice to see how long it's going to take. A rating 1 node (system and firewall both 1) needs 8 hits on a Hacking + Exploit extended test, a rating 2 node: 10, rating 3: 12, etc.

First aid rolls on the kids (jon, then katie):
Logic 3 + First aid 1 + medkit 6 = 10d6.hits(5)=2, 10d6.hits(5)=3 - threshold is 2 for first aid, so no net hits on Jon and just 1 on Katie. Mainly, hitting Jon with a broad spectrum anti-biotic/anti-viral and cleaning and bandaging up his cut so it doesn't get infected and hitting Katie with something to calm her down (+1 die to a composure test?). Poor conditions and the fact that the kids are technomancers could reduce the number of dice / hits too.

If Jon is hurt, she will also try and magically heal him if you allow that in addition to the first aid roll.

Casting F2 heal spell:
Magic 2* + Spellcasting 3 = 5d6.hits(5)=1 - a box is a box. *Assuming her Magic attribute is currently still 3 and BG count is still 1
Drain is (dmg value - 2) = ? (this one always confused me. It's not force, so is it how many boxes of damage the victim currently has / the mage heals?)
Resist drain:
Cha 4 + Will 5 = 9d6.hits(5)=5 - drain not an issue unless Jon has taken more than 7 boxes of damage (assuming worst case scenario).

You can first aid then magically heal. Jon's wound isn't that bad, mostly it's infection you need to worry about with a bit of shock. So he's on 2 boxes of damage now, let's hope lockjaw doesn't set in! I've always assumed the dmg-2 is the damage they start on that you try to heal...


Ok, so she certainly escaped. I was prepared to hack on the fly if her link was infected but as she seems to have temporarily escaped she'll take the time to find a good node and slow hack it. Maybe install a back door...will ponder and make some rolls / buy hits, she has lots of exploit D...not sure if rootkit (-6 to matrix perception tests) would help against the firewall detecting the hack, probably not, but they'd have a hard time finding her once she's in there!