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

[Synner]

New Turn. Cheng's last action was on Action Phase 10 and the IC went at 9. Both have no remaining actions. Time for Initiatives.

[Synner]

*Douple post*

[Bigity]

Hm, just a quick question..is there a limit to the amount of active memory a deck can have? I didn't think there was, but playing around with the NSRCG program and it's "maxed-out" decks has me wondering.

Awesome thread.

[hobgoblin]

no limit from what i recall, alltho i may be confusing it with storage memory. if there is a limit then its connected to the mpcp...

nope, cant find any limits on active mem, neither in sr3 or matrix...

[Dashifen]

I don't think theirs a limit either. Course, you have to pay for the memory upgrades, so you're limited by available funds, but that kinda goes without saying .... but I just said it .... damn.

Initiative: 14 + 4d6 - 2 (wounds) = 14 + 4 +4 + 4 + 4 - 2 = 28
What a strange roll ....

[Gorath]

To roll four 4s has the same probability as every other combination (if you don't ignore the order of your rolls). :wobble:

[Crisp]

@Synner et al: Good to see this thread up and running again, keep up the good work

@Gorath: while the odds of roling 4,4,4,4 might be the same as those for roling 2,6,3,5 we tend to single out things like this. If you flip a coin often enough you'll eventually roll a thousand heads in a row (it might take a looong time), but if you grab a coin out of your pocket right now, flipped it a hundred times and you got nothing but heads you'd probably assume it was somehow flawed. The human mind is funny like that...

@Bigity: Matrix rules aren't my specialty but I don't remember any limits on Active Memory

[Gorath]

@Crisp: You are rigth, the human brain does not support statistics and probability calcasus :D

[Synner]

IC rolls (per the IC Initiative Table, SR3 p. 223) 3D6, adds its Rating (5) and subtracts it's Damage Modifier (Serious = -3). In this case it rolls 5 + 5 + 3, plus 5 and minus 3 leaves and begins with an initiative of 15 this Turn. Lady Cheng gets to go first despite her wounds.

[Dashifen]

Sweet. Here's my thinking. I'm wounded, but I also know that it is as well. Also, from a metagaming sense, I would assume it's hurt worse than me because I did pretty well on the Bod soak (thank goodness I droped out of my modes earlier or I would have been rolling less dice for those soaks!). So, since my TNs will be affected by my wounds, I don't think I want to go for any maneuvers. Position Attack, if I fail, will put me in a world of hurt, parry attack doesn't get rid of the IC. I could evade detection and use my medic utility to remove the icon damage, but I'll worry about that next. Priority 1: Frag the IC. Since it's a new round, I get three pool dice (from task pool) to add to my computer skill at this point. My hacking pool dice are all tied up supressing other IC.

Roll 1 (Decking + 2 Pool): 12 10 09 05 05 05 04 01 01
Roll 2 (Decking): 11 11 03 02 02 02 01

With any luck, some of those high rolls will still be high enough to beat the increased TN due to the Party IC (+2) and my wounds (+2).

Now, this brings up an interesting point: I've saved one task pool die to supress the IC with when I crash it (notice when, not if :)). But, synner: would you allow suppression with task pool in this case? I'm not sure the rules touch on that. If I can't use a pool die to supress the IC then I'll have to start eating into my detection factor, which is something no one ever wants to do .....

Cheng fixes her grip on her rune sword and moves in for the kill. Setting the IC up for a wicked over hand chop, Cheng brings her code-sword up and .....

Over to you, synner

[Necro Tech]

Real quick aside, how can you get three task pool while you are decking?

[Gorath]

Maybe Encephalon and Celrebral Booster? Math SPU adds directly to Hacking pool dice. But i am too lazy to look what Lady Cheng has for bio/cyber. Her stats are somewhere in this thread...

[Crisp]

Her pool comes from a Math SPU 3 (her stats are waaay back in page 5 of this thread).

So unless both me and Gorath are wrong she doesn't have three points of Task Pool, she simply has three extra dice to her Hacking Pool, which she can use just like any other Hacking Pool Dice.

Sooo, I'd say-yes, she can suppress that IC

BTW Necro I can't think of anyway to get three TASK pool while decking, the only piece of ware that gives task pool aside from tha Math SPU and Encephalon (both of which specifically state that their Task Pool "transforms" into Hacking Pool while decking) is the Cerebral Booster 2 which only grants ONE die of Task Pool.

Edit: Just Remembered you could use a Chipjack Expert Driver, that would give you a Task Pool of three but you'd lose your regular Hacking Pool-Not worth it IMHO.

[Dashifen]

I never concidered the SPU and Encephelon's task pool to transform to hacking pool -- despite the fact that in practice that's what happens -- so that's where my task pool references were coming from.

[mfb]

well, not just in practice. the SPU doesn't actually provide task pool at all, and the encephalon's is stated in the rules as providing hacking pool dice while decking. i wouldn't make a point of it, but task pool dice can be used for a number of things that hacking pool cannot.

[Necro Tech]

I figured it was something like that but I wanted to make sure the people this post is for didn't get confused.

Second aside.
Do people play that the cerebral booster 2 task pool can be used while decking? I personally don't allow it because I don't think you are supposed to have it available. The encephelon changes to hacking pool and the cerebral booster specifically doesn't add to hacking pool (except of course in the INT boost department). I believe it was an oversight but of course that is just my opinion.

[Synner]

Dashifen - I believe the held die is Hacking Pool so yes.

[Otaku On Acid]

Wow, just finishing rereading this entire post. Great job with the post and it was fun to watch some other net hunters in action. If you'd like synergy after our Lady has guided her team through I'd be willing to post my name sake to this site and see how he does. I know some people have expressed interest in seeing an otaku run the net. Good luck Lady

[Mystical_X]

Let me start off this post by saying that this thread is the most helpful and entertaining thread I have read in a long time and I hope you guys keep at it.

Secondly, I second ( hows that for a double entendre :rimshot:) The notion that the next Decker be otaku as i am having dificulty understanding their rules.

Thanks for this thread and keep up the good work.

[Synner]

Dashifen - Waiting on your next move and then blocking the remaining sec systems.

[Dashifen]

What are we waiting on ... I put my first attacks in the post above in yellow. I thought we were waiting on you! :?

[mfb]

out of curiosity, what parts of the otaku rules are people having the most difficulty grasping? i like playing otaku because they're so much simpler than deckers.

[Dashifen]

The big thing I usually forget is to add the bonuses for the otaku path (cyberadept or technoshaman) to the channels and forms (dependent on the path).

[mfb]

ah. i normally just add those in directly. my cyberadepts have all their complex forms listed at 1 rating higher than they learned them at; my technoshamen have their channels listed at 1 point higher than they paid for. (i still have to remember to reduce the channels by 1 point for the purposes of improving.)

[Synner]

Apologies Dashifen, this makes it twice Dumpshock has eaten my post with the results of your attack. I hadn't noticed previously but last night I lost the second version too. It went something like:

Cheng lunges hard...

The decker's modified target number is 9 (base 5 since she's targeting a Legitimate Icon on an Orange host, +2 for the Party IC modifier which remains in effect even though the remaining components have been destroyed and +2 from that wound she just took.) This means Cheng has rolled 3 successes on the first strike and 2 on the second (if necessary).

The IC defends itself with the host's Security Value (10) against the Attack's Program's damage (6S) plus successes through an Icon Damage Resistance Test. It rolls 2 successes against the first attack leaving Cheng with 1 net success on the first slash. Though this is not enough to stage up the damage the resulting Serious wound on top of the Serious taken in the last turn is enough to crash the IC. The second attack is not necessary.

... her runesword cleaving the ball of vicious black code across the centre, trailing a rain of white green pixel-sparks as the countermeasure begins to cascade corrupted code through its damaged spiked shell.