IPB

Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )

> Proposing a house rule, simplifying hacking even more
Moon-Hawk
post Feb 15 2007, 05:23 PM
Post #1


Genuine Artificial Intelligence
********

Group: Members
Posts: 4,019
Joined: 12-June 03
Member No.: 4,715



I have two types of players. Those who have played previous editions of SR have an extreme and irrational fear of hacking. (well, maybe not entirely irrational) As well as those who haven't played SR previously have an extreme and irrational fear of hacking. (because they don't want to delve into yet more new rules)

My goal is to simplify hacking even more, but hopefully have the end result be comparable.
So here's my idea:
1) All common use and hacking programs are easy enough to get that I'm willing to assume everyone has all of them.
Considering the copy protection rules, and the fact that any of my PC's hackers always end up buying everything and distributing it amongst the group anyway, and always get them at their System rating or higher, I don't think it's worth keeping track of. You still need to track how many are running because that can affect your Response. There's just no excuse for anyone's commlink not to have edit, scan, and all the other common use programs. Anyone can get hacking programs too, but they're still legally restricted, for what that's worth.

2) Ratings for common use and hacking programs are therefore irrelevant, and not even worth keeping track of.
They were always limited by System anyway, which was limited by Response, so ultimately it came down to the hardware they're running it on. Program rating was never a consideration for Response slow-down anyway.

3) OS are still limited in that unless they want to pay to have something rare and/or pseudo-custom i.e. not in the book, requires purchase as per the normal rules, their System will still be limited to the Response, and their Firewall won't go above a 3, since the stock OS don't go any higher. I'm willing to accept that 3 is the practical Firewall limit for something commonly available. If you want better security than that, it has to be rare so that not everyone knows the tricks.

4) To compensate for lower overall costs, the cost of commlinks is increased. Multiply the cost of the commlink by the Response rating to find the new cost.
Cheapo commlinks are still cheap, but a hacker who wants SOTA still pays a comparable cost to what he paid for a commlink and programs per the RAW.

5) Since there is no more program rating, all hacking tests are Attribute+Skill, the relevant attribute for everything I can think of right now being Logic.
Consistency with the core mechanic is good.

Overall, hacking pools will probably get a little bit bigger (not more than 3 dice), since Logic will likely be larger than program rating, but at least Logic matters now. You still have programs in the game, and you still need to manage your memory to prevent Response loss, so the planning element of hacking is preserved. Costs are changed a little, but I tried to compensate to preserve balance. Complexity of the system has gone down, overall, but hopefully power levels haven't changed much. The end result of this hopefully isn't much different from the end result of the standard system.

For the time being, let's not think about Technomancers. I mean it, stop thinking about them! I have some thoughts on them, but I'll get to that after you're done telling me why this is horrible and game-destroying. ;)

So I'm looking for feedback in the form of tweaks and/or unforeseen consequences.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post

Posts in this topic
- Moon-Hawk   Proposing a house rule   Feb 15 2007, 05:23 PM
- - cetiah   I like it. Very good points all around. Using At...   Feb 15 2007, 05:48 PM
- - Moon-Hawk   Cetiah: Thank you. Response still determines init...   Feb 15 2007, 06:07 PM
- - cetiah   QUOTE So you're saying treat Firewall more as ...   Feb 15 2007, 06:26 PM
- - cetiah   Okay, now that I understand the firewall stuff mor...   Feb 15 2007, 06:35 PM
- - Moon-Hawk   Thanks for the feedback. System not useful enough,...   Feb 15 2007, 06:49 PM
- - cetiah   QUOTE Dare I try to tackle Technomancers? I ain...   Feb 15 2007, 06:54 PM
- - Moon-Hawk   Before I get into technomancers, another issue. J...   Feb 15 2007, 07:21 PM
- - cetiah   QUOTE (Moon-Hawk @ Feb 15 2007, 02:21 PM) Bef...   Feb 15 2007, 07:58 PM
- - Moon-Hawk   QUOTE (cetiah) QUOTE (Moon-Hawk @ Feb 15 2007...   Feb 15 2007, 08:07 PM
- - Garrowolf   Moon Hawk You can make it simplier then that and s...   Feb 16 2007, 05:55 AM
- - Moon-Hawk   QUOTE (Garrowolf) Moon Hawk You can make it simpli...   Feb 16 2007, 03:02 PM
- - Garrowolf   Okay in Raw you have Response as the primary limit...   Feb 17 2007, 03:50 AM
- - Moon-Hawk   I see what you're saying with limiting program...   Feb 20 2007, 02:27 PM
- - Moon-Hawk   Anyway, as a fix to my technomancer ideas above: F...   Feb 20 2007, 02:36 PM
- - Garrowolf   I think that it is probably because we have had a ...   Feb 21 2007, 05:42 AM
- - Wasabi   I like it but make darned sure programs still have...   Feb 21 2007, 11:28 AM
- - Moon-Hawk   QUOTE (Wasabi) Specifically if I can only have 12 ...   Feb 21 2007, 03:55 PM
- - Moon-Hawk   QUOTE (Garrowolf) I think that it is probably beca...   Feb 21 2007, 04:01 PM
- - Garrowolf   Well I use a different system of hacking for my ga...   Feb 22 2007, 05:29 AM


Reply to this topicStart new topic

 



RSS Lo-Fi Version Time is now: 21st November 2025 - 11:46 PM

Topps, Inc has sole ownership of the names, logo, artwork, marks, photographs, sounds, audio, video and/or any proprietary material used in connection with the game Shadowrun. Topps, Inc has granted permission to the Dumpshock Forums to use such names, logos, artwork, marks and/or any proprietary materials for promotional and informational purposes on its website but does not endorse, and is not affiliated with the Dumpshock Forums in any official capacity whatsoever.