The Idiot's Guide To The Matrix Thread, Support for the Matrix-challenged Options

[michaelius]

i also had some questions about multiple allied deckers in a system. would they be able see each other and help fight IC that the other had triggered? say if one had a DF much higher than the other and managed to escape triggering a bunch of IC but the other one is having a tough time, could the first one help out? (did that make sense?)

this was brought up earlier with two deckers using the same physical deck (if not the same programs), but i wondered how they would work inside the matrix.

[hobgoblin]

hmm, check page 110 of matrix...

you generate your own tally so any ice you trigger is your problem. personaly i would allow for the teammate to scan for ice and target it that way, thereby giving the ice a second target to attack.

any decker cna show himself to any other decker at will, if you go by the info in the locate decker operation. and i read an attack as being a very fine way to show himself...

watch out for ice constructs tho, these nastys can target anyone with a tally equal to or above the trigger level, not just the one hitting the level at the moment...

[Dashifen]

[hobgoblin]

passive alert is allso talked about but in its own part so to speak. its not connected to ice constructs at all.

basicly if anyone triggers a passive alert it will have effect for anyone inside unless your a legitimate user that uses the commands granted to you.

ice constructs are in no way connected to this...

[Kurukami]

[Synner]

Matrix Overwatch Walkthrough
The smoke coils in the air changing shape as Cheng's operation runs it's course.

The Host's Opposed Roll using its Security Rating doesn't return any successes which leaves Cheng's Tally untouched and with a successful Locate Slave on the cameras.

The incense smoke circles and coalesces, gaining substance and turning into a small nautical compass. Cheng allows herself a smug smile at her success. Following the compass pointer, Cheng waits for the passage beyond the YCAP doors to be realtively clear and steps through. Before any of the other Icons moving about notes her, she speeds to the door indicated by the compass at the end of the new corridor passing what look like windows looking into Operating Rooms in a hospital. She steps through the door into a darkened room. Screens flicker on all the walls and ceiling. Interspersed amongst these are condition monitors for other sensors and systems.

One wall of screens in particular shows views of the manicured lawn leading to the fence as well as cycling through views from cameras positioned at the gate and at each corner of the fence. The compass points right to these.

Next Cheng performs her Locate Slave operation for the electrified fence segments. The Incense Analyze stick comes out again and the smoke is soon coiling in the still air of the room...

The Host rolls it's Opposed System Operation dice and gets one success against Cheng's Sneak-enhanced Detection Factor. Her Tally goes up another point but she still has enough successes to produce the desired result.

The compass reforms from the smoke, it's iron needle pointing out a display set to the side of the exterior camera wall which shows a vector graphic of the facility's grounds with each segment of the fence outlined in neon green (according to this segments are 4-5 meter longs sections).

In the security room, Cheng lets out a long breath and decides to risk the third Locate Operation even though her Security Tally's now pretty high. The incense draws another pictogram in the air and the smoke rolls and snakes as the program interfaces with the Host.

The Host again rolls its Security Rating for the Opposed Test and though it only gets one success this is enough to block Cheng.

The Analyze smoke sparkles in the darkened room and fades from view as the Locate Slave Operation fails.
(pending reroll...)

Suddenly a robotic Icon fades into view across the room detaching itself from the darkest shadows and uncoiling its mechanical appendages - a multi-limbed spider-like construct spinning out a neon white trail of webbing behind it. Its matte-black mechanical pincers clicking and stilletto tipped limbs darting menacingly, the spider construct dives towards Cheng.

[Kurukami]

Either black IC or a security decker, but more likely the former. On the other hand, it could be an IC construct with Tar capability. Either way, it spells bad news if it's able to make contact. Cheng's sensorium interacts with the deck's hardware and shifts her perception of time into the heightened awareness of cybercombat.

[ I roll initiative for Cheng and get 6, 5, 5, 3, which combines with her Reaction of 14 to produce an Initiative of 33. Ye gods, she might actually live through this. ]

Drawing her runed blade with her right hand and a wheel-lock pistol with her left, Cheng moves to engage the clockwork arachnoid...

[Kurukami]

Suddenly, the IC construct shudders, framerate decreasing rapidly, and then freezes up entirely. Cheng, standing ready with code-weapons prepared, looks confused for a moment and then tentatively pokes at the arachnoid with the tip of her sword.

*tink tink tink*

She glances up at the ceiling. "Um, narrator?"

Your move, Synner.

[Synner]

Apologies for the delay something will be up tomorrow morning.

[Kurukami]

No problem, particularly given how long I've gone at times between actions. :D

[Synner]

Matrix Overwatch Walkthrough
So...

The IC moves into cybercombat mode and rolls a 28 on its Initiative.

The arachnoid's two mandibles click, extending and becoming chromed scythe blades. The webbing behind it pulses with neon surges lighting the virtual security room with a strange kaledoscope of colors.

Cheng wins initiative and gets the first move...

[Kurukami]

Cheng purses her lips and winces at the display of ferocious death-code staring into her grey matter, then brings up one of the two wheel-lock pistol Attack programs she has loaded and prepares to let fly towards the eight-legged monstrosity.

Without warning, the viscous threads behind the arachnoid lash out in an attempt to entangle the pistol. The sudden move catches Cheng off-guard, but nonetheless she reacts quickly and attempts to snap the firearm free of its gluey bindings...

[ Oooh, nice one! I was wondering when we were going to see the effects of Tar IC, and this makes for an excellent example. I roll to see whether or not the Attack program resists the effects of the Tar Pit -- because if I fail, Tar Pit (unlike its less dangerous cousin, Tar Baby) takes not only the program from active memory but from storage memory as well! And if it's a one-shot program, all my copies of that program on my deck. Ick...

Anyways, for my roll: 13, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4. Enough for one success to struggle against the Tar IC... but will that be enough? I don't have my main book with me... if the two contesters tie on number of successes, who wins?

And as it turns out (see post below), Synner's Tar Pit managed to overcome the viral code of my Attack-6D. As a side note, there is (if I recall correctly) a program option that one can add to programs, which makes it harder for Tar IC to affect a program. I think it's called "Crashguard" or something -- it's in the Matrix book. ]

The pistol, encased in glimmering digital webbing, convulses once in Cheng's hand as the viscous bundle spits out a tentacle towards the other pistol in her belt-sash. Beneath that crushing pressure, the pistols succumb in a moment and crumble into their constituent pixels, leaving behind only a puff of rust and whiff of sulfur in the air as the vile bindings fade to nothingness.

"Ah, frag me," whispers Cheng, with fury in her voice. With a fierce battle-cry, she leaps forward with her longsword to attempt to cut down the arachnoid before it can put those scythe-fangs to use.

[ Game-wise:Cheng had wanted to strike the IC confronting her twice, but her first attempt (to use the Attack-6D one-shot) was blocked by the Tar Pit IC that ambushed her. Fortunately, that was the one-shot program, not the reusable one... but still that will make things substantially more difficult.

Since this is an Orange-10 host, Cheng's TN to hit a valid icon in cybercombat is 5, while a valid icon's TN to hit her (she being an intruder) is 4.

Cheng would've done this for her first action:

[Synner]

Matrix Overwatch Walkthrough
This is where things get nasty... (Kurukami, you're going to have to go back and edit the previous post as appropriate, I had a nasty surprise in store which would not have worked otherwise.)

As soon as Cheng draws her wheel-lock to fire, a thread of neon white webbing shoots out from somewhere on the darkened wall behind the arachnoid Icon and wraps itself around the pistol. Silvery electric sparks dance off the webbing as it tries to envelop the Attack program while the mechanical spider advances.

What's happened is that confronted by the Blaster IC Cheng made the call to Attack it, assuming it's Black IC.

However she had no way of knowing that she's actually gone up two steps and now has a Security Tally of 13 (no metagaming please). She's actually triggered something at 11 and the spider at 13. Unbeknownst to her, she failed to roll any successes on the secret Noticing Triggered IC Test (SR3 page 209) at step 11 and the GM kept quiet about the reactive IC she triggered. Unfortunately for Cheng that reactive IC was a Tar Pit programmed to bring down Offensive Utilities (SR3 page 228) designed to act in tandem with the spider Cheng triggered two steps later. When triggered the spider, a Blaster IC, promptly attacked. As soon as Cheng uses her first Attack program however, she triggers the Tar Pit IC which acts immediately upon activation of the appropriate Utility.

However, Cheng's luck did hold because she used the One-shot Attack program first, if she had used her regular Attack she'd be in bigger trouble.

The appropriate rules for Tar IC are on pages 228 and 229 of SR3 (there's also some relevant material on page 109 of Matrix which affects this situation). What happens next is that before anything else is resolved the Tar Pit makes an Opposed Test to crash the wheel-lock Attack program. The Tar Pit IC roles it's rating (8 ) against the Attack program rating (6) and gets a surprising 3 successes. Kurukami now has to roll his Attack program's rating (6) against the IC's rating (8 ) to avoid the countermeasure's nasty effects (no Hacking Pool for this since it is simply programs interacting).

Once that is resolved Cheng still gets to resolve either her second Simple action or both of them depending on the outcome.

[Kurukami]

I've updated my previous post with Cheng's rolls. Nice trap, by the way! I halfway suspected something of the sort with the whole webbing imagery, but nonetheless a nice touch.

[Synner]

Matrix Overwatch Walkthrough
The Tar Pit's webbing constricts around Attack program wheel-lock icon and squeezes it into non-existance. For a second all that's left is a ball of white neon coding pulsing in the dim air, then it shoots into Cheng's virtual hand with a small shock. Cheng can almost feel a tingling as the Tar's search routine locks and corrupts the copies on her deck as well.

Cheng rolled one success against the Tar Pit's three. One is sufficient for the IC to crash the relevant program's copies in Active Memory (this includes Cheng's other AttackD pistol), however the Tar Pit version then goes further and rolls a Tar Pit Test (SR3 pages 229/230) against the the deck's MPCP rating plus Hardening (8+4 = 12). The Tar rolls one success (a 15) which means it is successful and all copies of the One-Shot Attack in both Active and Storage Memory are crashed. And if the decker doesn't have them in Offline memory somewhere are gone for good.

Important Note - Like Scramble there are some things often overlooked regarding Tar IC. The biggest is that it doesn't necessarily have to be programmed to crash Offensive Utilities. In fact, in situations like this, you will quite often find it set up to crash Operational Utilities - eg. programmed so that when an unauthorized decker tries to take control of the cameras it destroys his Spoof or other relevant Utility and makes it that much harder for him to do his business from then on.

[Kurukami]

[ On the other hand, at least once it ate my pistols it self-destructed, so I'm free (hope hope hope) to flail at the spider without having to worry about my sword vanishing in the same manner.

Ho-kay, then... updating my post with the new details on my attack. I have a question, though -- since my Attack-6D program got devoured before I could use it, do I still have my Hacking Pool dice available to me? (I'm presuming so as I rewrite the post...) ]

[Synner]

Yes, you get to keep your Pool since in practice the program was snatched away from you after you triggered it but before any roll was made. However you did trigger it which means one of the Simple Actions is gone.

[Kurukami]

[Synner]

Matrix Overwatch Walkthrough
And now back to the action...

Cheng's runesword flashes out at the arachnoid intent on shredding it with a single blow. The blade connects in a shower of bright scarlet pixels that leave sparking afterimages in the air...

Cheng rolled three successes on her Attack. IC has no "dodge" analogue in Cybercombat so we jump straight to the Icon Damage Resistance Test detailed in SR3 page 226. The GM gets to roll the host's Security Value (10) against the power of the Attack (6) to stage down the damage. In this case the system rolls 2 successes which reduces Cheng's net successes to 1 and means that her Attack Utility damage is not staged up but deals the IC a Serious Wound nonetheless.

The blade comes away leaving a trail of red points in the air, ripped code leaking from a deep gash in the arachnoid's matte-black carapace just above its head. The IC spasms but still lashes out at Cheng with its stilleto legs.

The Blaster took a nasty hit but now it's on the offensive. The Blaster rating is 8 and it is on an Orange system which means it has a base damage code of 8S (see SR3 page 228/229). In cybercombat proactive IC can use Combat Maneuvers, but this time the GM opts not to and tries to overwhelm the decker with two straight Attacks. The host rolls Security Value to attack and the target number is 7 (the base target number for an Intruding Icon on an Orange Host is 4 according to the chart in SR3 page 224, to which is added the +3 modifier from the Serious Wound Cheng did).

On its first Simple Action Attack roll the IC gets 11, 11, 7, 4, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1 (or three successes) and on it's second Attack roll the IC gets 7, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 1, 1 (or one success).

The arachnoid's matte-black spurs shoot forward towards Cheng's chest with deadly intent while the scythe blade mandibles click menacingly. A acrid, nauseating smell surrounds the mechancial beast and claws at the inside of Cheng's nose and throat, even though she realizes it's just creative icon-coding.

Kurukami now gets to try out the "Matrix dodge" or Improvised Defense, as it's formally called, from the Matrix sb's page 122. Note this is calculated before Armor Utility kicks in during the Icon Damage Resistance Test. The target number for this option is half the host's Security Value (rounded up) in this case (10/2=) 5.

[hobgoblin]

just one thing, when the tar ice blew up didnt it spike the security?

[Synner]

No. The rules explicitly say that if it crashes having completed it's function Tar Baby IC does not increase the decker's Security Tally (SR3 page 228). As described on the following page Tar Pit operates just like Tar Baby except for the additional Tar Test to corrupt Storage Memory copies. If it had been destroyed in cybercombat on the other hand...

[Kurukami]

Fortunately, I've still got those dice in my Hacking Pool... four of them, to be precise. Nonetheless, I don't want to use all of them, for a number of reasons -- first, because I've still got three actions this turn and the IC still has two (assuming I don't manage to kill it with my next attack); second, because (correct me if I'm wrong, Synner) Hacking Pool can also be used to resist damage along with your deck's Bod; third, because if I do take it out I want to keep one Hacking Pool die in reserve to suppress the "death-alarm" when it nulls. I could, of course, use points from my DF instead, but I would very much prefer not to -- that's what's keeping the host from noticing Cheng quite as quickly as it otherwise might. At this point, then, it's a choice -- use my Hacking Pool dice against TN 5 to try to counter the IC's three successes, and dodge the attack with those dice alone, or use my Hacking Pool dice along with my deck's current Bod rating of 3 (it's normally 5, but I'm in Masking Mode, which though it bumps Masking up by 50% it also lessens another deck-attribute by 50%) to resist a TN which I suspect will be 4. (Regular TN 8, less 4 for my Armor-4 utility.)

The odds are more in my favor, at the moment, if I just try to ride out the damage.

Cheng grits her teeth as the monstrosity lunges forward and the digital talons rake along her side. The bluish glow limning her cuiri bouille bracers scintillates just at the moment of impact, manifesting into a form-fitting field that blunts the damage of the attack but does not halt it. The viral code represented by the attack tries to crash its way into her deck's system processes, but Cheng counters with code-breaks and improvised digital firewalls in an attempt to limit the damage.

So, now's when it comes down to brass tacks. Cheng will attempt to resist an 8S attack from the first strike of the spider's computer-virus weaponry. Fortunately, she's got Armor-4 -- not as solid a protection as Armor-6, which would be fantastic to have in this situation, but certainly not bad. The Armor-4 reduces her TN to resist the damage from 8 to 4.

She'll be resisting the damage with her 3 dice of Bod, plus whatever Hacking Pool Dice I choose to throw in. I choose to add only two dice from my Hacking Pool, in the plans of a strategem for the strike immediately after this one. I roll, and get: 10, 7, 5, 5, 4. Five successes -- not enough to ignore the damage, as three of those are used to counter the successes the IC got, but enough to stage the damage down to Moderate.

As the second spur comes slashing in, somewhat less accurately than the last, Cheng desperately twists aside, hoping that with an improvised code-defense she might be able to block the IC's viral damage entirely. She leaps high, trying to arch her body over the plane of attack...

And now it all comes down to a single roll. Using the one Hacking Pool die I don't have in reserve to suppress the IC, I roll against a TN equal to half the System Rating (10) -- against a 5. This is worthwhile in this regard because if I succeed, I've completely avoided the attack -- a much better bet than tryin to suck down another Serious wound with my Bod-3.

However, because Cheng's deck is already suffering from Moderate damage, her TN to successfully improvise a defense is increased -- from 5 to 7. Well, 6, effectively. The run hangs in the balance as I roll... a 9! Yes! *happy dance of joy* Because I got a success, that counters the IC's one success on the second attack and makes it as though the IC missed completely.

... as the IC's spur sweeps across, just missing her heels. She tucks her knees up towards her bosom as she somersaults backwards in midair, and manages a neat, crouching, three-point landing with her swordarm out to the side for balance.

My turn now, you drek-eater. Cheng slipped back into close contact immediately, sparing no time for fancy maneuvers or trickery, and hacked at the arachnid with a single, powerful blow. No time to get complicated -- it's already wounded, and if I can manage to get just one more solid shot in I may derez it before it can strike again.

With only the one die remaining in her Hacking Pool, and that reserved for emergencies or suppressing the IC once it's destroyed, Cheng doesn't have anything to add to the Attack dice granted by the utility. She's just going to go straight in with its six dice and hope she gets enough of a hit to render the thing useless. Her TN is 7 (5, +2 for the deck suffering under a Moderate wound), so effectively I'll need sixes for successes. I roll, and get: 14, 8, 5, 4, 3, 2. Normally three successes, but only two because of the wound-penalties.

So, now the IC has to resist a 6S blow, and counter the two successes I got before it begins to stage down the damage. If I do manage to kill it, I'll be using that last Hacking Pool die to suppress it's death-alarm.

She nearly cleaves the monstrosity in two with the graceless but effective blow, and dances backwards as the thing convulses and shudders, its framerate strobing and icon throwing off pixels as it attempts to counteract the virus racing through its code-structure...

Your move, Synner...

[hobgoblin]

hmm, ok i must have forgoten that part...

[Synner]

Apologies my previous post on this thread has mysteriously vanished and I hadn't realised. My interpretation of the various rules matches Kurukami's so we should have no problem there. Note however that I follow the interpretation that wound penalties of all sorts do not apply to any Damage Resistance Tests.

Matrix Overwatch Walkthrough
Back to the fray...

Cheng's single Attack deals an impressive 6S base plus 2 successes. The IC gets to roll Icon Damage Resistance (SR3 page 226) using its Security Value against an attack Power of 6 - it gets two successes which means the runesword Attack program does its base damage of Serious. Since the IC is already suffering from a Serious Wound this sends it over the top of the Damage track and it's done for.

Cheng's Attackware sends the arachnoid into ever greater convulsions until its codecore collapses under the internal viral assault and the spider seems to crack along the seems of its armored carapace, beginning to derezz in a cascade of scarlet and silver pixels that pours out.

[Kurukami]

Before the pixels can scatter into the directories of the host, Cheng throws out a quick codestring through the digital ether to send the subroutine which would report the IC's destruction into an infinite loop.

Basically, Cheng uses that Hacking Pool die she had in reserve to prevent the host's Security Tally from bumping up by 8. One can only imagine the nastiness which might result from that increase...

As Cheng drops out of the heightened time-sense of cybercombat, she takes a deep breath and tries to slow the rapid beating of her heart. Her attention is divided now, as she keeps the code-mazes which are infinitely looping the alert subprograms triggered by IC-death running. Her lady-pirate icon is moving somewhat jerkily, skipping frames and stutter-animating at times, as her MPCP attempts to compensate for internal code-errors and system breaks inflicted by the IC's viral attacks. Best I try to fix that before I proceed further. She concentrates briefly to check the available space on her deck. The Tar IC had wiped the megapulses of Attack virus that had been represented by the gunpowder-pistol, and she quickly emptied those sectors of the junk data that remained and began to upload a utility to repair the code in her deck that had been fragmented by the spider IC.

From the ubiquitous pockets of her greatcost, she pulled a stick of incense and a dozen acupuncture needles -- the visual iconography of her Medic program -- and began to debug her MPCP's errors on the fly. The acupuncture needles float aloft, born on evanescent fingers of smoke, and begin to delicately probe at her icon to remove the impurities which have entered her chi.

Having Swapped Memory to bring up her rating 5 Medic utility (a process which doesn't take very long, since Cheng's deck has I/O of 360 and the utility is only 100 Mp in size), I need to use Medic to repair my icon's damage. Fortunately, I have my Hacking Pool back -- though I only have 5 dice available to me to use now, since the others are suppressing IC.

To activate Medic, I need to roll its rating in dice against a TN based on the level of damage my icon has suffered. I'm lacking my SR3 book right now -- can someone give me a reference as to what that TN might be and whether I can add Hacking Pool dice to the roll?