Deckers, Otaku vs. Cyber decks Options

[MinMaxShadowrunn...]

Shadowrun by far has been the best rpg I have ever played, the variety of character creation is awesome!! But I have now started down the road Deckers. I am sick and tired of missing out on Karma because the group has no decker support to find information. So I am putting down the gun, allowing my ally spirit to go free and getting of the hunted list with my shapeshifter.

I now come to a cross roads Cyber decker vs. Otaku. I have read the bonuses and negatives for both yet still I am stumped. Where to start? should I create a deck or buy a prefab.

If otaku what are the neccessities when starting out?

Any input would be great.

[Kanada Ten]

I'd start with a combat decker until the GM and you can integrate the two worlds with ease. This allows you to be useful all the time as well.

Otaku rule [in] the Matrix, but the champaign really needs to be made with them in mind.

[mfb]

they don't even rule all that much inside the Matrix, until you pump quite a bit of karma into them. they rock decker panties at cybercombat, but deckers tend to be better at actual decking--hacking cameras, getting data, etcetera. comparing deckers to street sams and otaku to adepts is not unreasonable; deckers can often be jacks-of-all-trades, Matrix-wise, while otaku tend to need to specialize quite a lot, especially starting out.

[MinMaxShadowrunn...]

I agree I am definitely leaning towards a combat decker, I am now considering building a deck vs. prefab deck. SO MUCH INFO .........................

[Kagetenshi]

One major benefit to Otaku over Deckers: they're much, much easier for a player new to the Matrix rules. Much of the cross-referencing of correct utility for the task and reordering your persona attributes is eliminated.

And I disagree that Otaku aren't as good as Deckers inside the Matrix. In my experience, while the 3/3/4/5/6 limitation definitely puts a damper on the variety of things an Otaku can use, their typically higher Masking and other benefits allow them to accomplish a certain variety of task with great effectiveness. If you're feeling munchy and make a Validate Otaku, well, you're right up there with the Deckers, only more upgradable.

~J

[mfb]

to a point. i can usually make a better ghost-type decker than i can an otaku, though, especially starting out. that +1 DF is nice, but the decker can often make up for it by simply allocating his much larger hacking pool. a decker has easier access to different connection types, as well--most otaku can't even afford the equipment, starting out, so it's hard to justify giving them the necessary complex forms unless you work it into your story (which isn't hard, but it's one more step than a decker has to worry about).

they're roughly equal, i guess; you just have to build them with different paradigms in mind to accomplish the same goals.

[Kagetenshi]

An Otaku has that much more hacking pool to deal with due to higher MPCP and Intelligence, usually, and can get a Math SPU fairly early on. I'd also question the difficulty explaining complex forms for connection types. That being said, it more or less all balances out.

~J

[Cain]

I dunno, mfb. When I've made otaku, I've always pumped the all-important Computer skill to an 8. That alone makes them better than a starting decker, although the other limits do balance them somewhat in the matrix.

I generally number-crunch otaku into matrix gods, but completely useless in normal space. I prefer deckers for their flexibility, but I think otaku do specialise better for the matrix.

[FrostyNSO]

How do you start with an 8 in computers again?

[Kagetenshi]

By the fact that the rules for Otaku state that their Computers skill must start between 6 and 8.

~J

[toturi]

With the normal Attribute 6 limits lifted for mental stats for Otaku and Computer Skill at 8, the Otakus I've made are usually better than deckers in the Matrix. Especially if you enforce the Rating 6 rule for deckers, strictly speaking, that could limit the decker to a MPCP 6 deck.

[mfb]

otaku get more dice, cain, but deckers have an easier time getting lower TNs; programs can be purchased, whereas otaku have to raise their TN-lowering channels with time and karma. lower TNs trump extra dice just about every time, even with the lower MPCP and persona programs (which generally come into play only during cybercombat anyway).

[lorthazar]

Yeah, but as an Otaku you will never get busted for illegal hacking utilities. You never have to worry about SOTA. You are never without your deck. In fact once you get a little older you look like any other wage-slave. Everything balances out eventually. Otaku start slow and gain rapidly meanwhile Deckers start big and gain pretty slowly. Much like the Adept/Samurai split.

[mfb]

er, well. once you get old enough to look like a wageslave, you're old enough to have to worry about fading.

[lorthazar]

Obviously you haven't met some of the 16 year olds I have. Some of them pass for 30 year olds. I don't imagine living on the street would help soften your looks or keep that innocent air about you. So it would not be out of line for a 16 year old to pass for wage slave. As for Fading the karma you have to put into offsetting that is still well below the hassle of SOTA for deckers. That is of course if your GM uses either. (I know I don't.)

[mfb]

i don't need to know about your history as a pedophile !! regardless, unless the otaku took some sort of custom edge (suggested name: "S/He's How Old!?"), i wouldn't let most otaku pass for more than two years older than they actually are. and, come to think, not even that much, if they went the route of having all their physical stats at 1. being weak and sickly doesn't often make you look older, when you're a kid.

also, you can't offset the fading with karma--and you can also no longer submerge. now, granted, the test to avoid fading isnt' all that strenuous until about age 30 or so.

[Kagetenshi]

I don't know about you, but I tend to have ten karma on hand more frequently than I have 29,000 to burn on each and every program covered by a given channel that I use regularly. The lower-TNs is a point for the Otaku, especially for technoshamans.

~J

[mfb]

remind me to play in your games. i never have enough karma, even for my low-karma-use characters. money, on the other hand, is something most competent deckers should have coming out of their ears. put together an agent, get a self-coding suite, and have your agent crank out programs for sale (and use). do paydata runs once in a while.

and, more to the point, how many programs do most deckers need? you don't need every program, just a select few. the thing is, those select few are spread out over all five subsystems, which hurts otaku.

[Kagetenshi]

That's what specialization is for. Furthermore, an Otaku can write programs with greater ease and effectiveness, so if you’re going to count that as a factor the Otaku can just become a decker in a month or two. Our group quashes the program sales on the grounds that since Deckers still run the shadows for other than ideological reasons, selling the programs must not work for some reason.

~J

[mfb]

specialization is nice, but it doesn't make you better than a decker if your base channel is 3 or 4. a decker can be 100% pure awesome with six or seven rating 6 programs; an otaku can't match or beat that in more than two channels.

most deckers don't have the programming specialization or patience to make a living doing programming. most of them, however, should be able to scrape by well enough to supplement their running income better than a street sam could.

[lorthazar]

Wonders if you can be a pedophile when you were 12.

But seriously, as with all things it depends on how complicated you want it to be. If you and your DM are new to the Matrix rules I actually suggest the Otaku. or if you want to be useful outside the Matrix the Combat Decker, but for the love of diodes change the race to Dwarf if you are going to use the archetype.

[lorthazar]

Wonders if you can be a pedophile when you were 12.

But seriously, as with all things it depends on how complicated you want it to be. If you and your DM are new to the Matrix rules I actually suggest the Otaku. or if you want to be useful outside the Matrix the Combat Decker, but for the love of diodes change the race to Dwarf if you are going to use the archetype.

[Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_*]

[lorthazar]

News flash you don't have to take all ones and you determine if the character is antisocial. So if it is your PC she might have a fetish for Emily Post and have perfect manners. If she is not one of the rare kids with severe problems she can pass for normal with a little work. Much better that that jacked up street samurai.

[mfb]

eh, i dunno. a 'normal' otaku is possible, sure, but it's going to be the exception to the rule. most otaku are street kids who've had to fight for everything they've got. most otaku are not suave sophisticates who act older than their age.