 A commlink for every occasion |
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 Jan 19 2006, 03:25 PM
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#1
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Runner  Group: Members Posts: 2,598 Joined: 15-March 03 From: Hong Kong Member No.: 4,253  |
From the hacking example thread the hacker often has to spend time switching between loadouts when he wants to do something different. Why not just have several commlinks, each with a different loadout of programs? So, carrying two or three commlinks will allow you to have, say, one setup for dealing with all your tapped called, spoofing comm systems or whatever, one for your 'fast attack' loadout, and a general commlink that you switch things around on.
So for example: you are tapping the Johnson's phone, from this you learn that he has sent a squad of doorkickers to your hideout who should be arriving... <thump>, well, there they are. You have to spend your actions getting away, leaving your commlink loaded up with your 'phone tapping' program loadout. But now, the door-kickers are chasing you in a car, which you want to hack, and send straight into the river. Normally, you'd have to completly chage your phone tapping loadout to your fast attack loadout, then try to hack the car. But instead, you just 'switch over' to your pre-preapred fast attack commlink and lay into them. Now that the door kickers are safely sinking into the river, you want to hack thier commlinks and see if they have any info on where the johnson might be. Seconds count here as their commlinks are busy taking on water, so you break into the commlink with your fast attack loadout, then hand your recently aquired login info over to your phone tapping loadout, and start digging around for what his commlink knows. |
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Jan 19 2006, 03:30 PM
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#2
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,651 Joined: 23-September 05 From: Marietta, GA Member No.: 7,773 |
Expense. |
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Jan 19 2006, 03:35 PM
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#3
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,486 Joined: 17-March 05 From: Michigan Member No.: 7,180 |
Seconded.
Any hacker is going to want a rating 5 (responce->system->programs) commlink for whatever serious hacking he's going to do. A rating 5 responce chip is expensive enough that you're probably not going to be carying around 10 modded commlinks. Of course, given enough resources, its not a bad idea - but probably cost-prohibative for most runners. |
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Jan 19 2006, 03:43 PM
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#4
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,598 Joined: 15-March 03 From: Hong Kong Member No.: 4,253 |
A system 5, firewall 5, response 5, signal 5 commlink seem to cost around 10K. If your hacker can afford high lifestyle, he can afford a second (or third) commlink.
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Jan 19 2006, 03:49 PM
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#5
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The Dragon Never Sleeps Group: Admin Posts: 6,924 Joined: 1-September 05 Member No.: 7,667 |
I get a commlink with buying lifestyle?
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Jan 19 2006, 04:01 PM
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#6
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,486 Joined: 17-March 05 From: Michigan Member No.: 7,180 |
I don't think two commlinks is crazy (playing a guy with like 8 right now, but they are not all top of the line) - but a rating 5 commlink for EVERY occation is probably asking too much. |
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Jan 19 2006, 04:06 PM
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#7
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,651 Joined: 23-September 05 From: Marietta, GA Member No.: 7,773 |
Note that I didn't say it couldn't be done, I'm just saying you'd be spending more money. |
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Jan 19 2006, 06:26 PM
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#8
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Target Group: Members Posts: 20 Joined: 26-February 02 From: BC, Canada Member No.: 97 |
Nope, but you do get an amount of starting cash based on what lifestyle you buy into; therefore, getting a higher lifestyle for your character could fund the purchase of another commlink with fairly good statistics. |
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Jan 19 2006, 06:54 PM
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#9
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The Dragon Never Sleeps Group: Admin Posts: 6,924 Joined: 1-September 05 Member No.: 7,667 |
Hardly seems efficient. 10,000 a month gives me 4D6 x 500¥ starting money, or 100,000 a month gives me 4D6 x 1,000¥ starting money And you need to consider the following; P. 87 "Starting nuyen cannot come in gear (magical or otherwise), weapons, cyberware, contacts, or anything that must be bought. Characters can purchase things immediately upon entering the game, but any items bought are subject to Availability and the whim of the gamemaster." Commlinks need to be bought, and if you want extra 10,000 nuyen commlinks, they will come at the expense of your lifestyle. You don't get both out of the same money. |
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Jan 19 2006, 11:16 PM
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#10
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,089 Joined: 4-October 05 Member No.: 7,813 |
actually, for a high lifestyle, if you choose to leave 1200 nuyen alone to boost your starting cash, you get (4d6 + 12) * 500 nuyen...
which assuming you roll average comes out to 13,000 nuyen. gaining you 2800 nuyen in the process. so, getting enough starting cash from your lifestyle to buy a 10k :nuyen: commlink isn't as hard as you seem to think. plus you get a month of high lifestyle out of the deal :P |
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Jan 20 2006, 04:11 PM
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#11
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,925 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 948 |
What kind of action would it be to "Switch Device" when on the matrix?
Free? Simple? Complex? One simple action per device? It should be free sicne it is on your persona subscription list. |
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Jan 20 2006, 05:40 PM
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#12
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The Dragon Never Sleeps Group: Admin Posts: 6,924 Joined: 1-September 05 Member No.: 7,667 |
That just leaves you coming out of chargen needing to make a Negotiation + Charisma Extended Test (Threshold 15) and a one week interval, for each of the commlink, Agent, and your hacking programs. |
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Jan 20 2006, 05:58 PM
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#13
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,486 Joined: 17-March 05 From: Michigan Member No.: 7,180 |
And don't forget the responce chip and radio transmitter parts to upgrade it to rating 5. Though if he's talking about multiple commlinks, he could just buy one (and all his programs) at chargen, and then buy more when the game starts and make free copies. So he really only needs the basic commlink, plus the hardware to mod it up to a respectable level. |
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Jan 20 2006, 10:53 PM
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#14
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,089 Joined: 4-October 05 Member No.: 7,813 |
yes, i was presuming that you wouldn't be paying for all the programs out of chargen. crack them all and go to town :D
and i can't imagine why anyone would ever boost the signal on their commlink to 5 for however much it is (4 is 500 iirc, can't recall what 5 is though) when you can pay 500 to get signal 8 instead. in fact, you could just use your first commlink as a relay commlink with no penalties AFAICT. so really, all you're looking at is the response rating cost for your extra commlinks, if you have all the programs you need at chargen. pretty cheap, when it comes down to it. half of that cost, if you have the hardware skill at a decent level and some downtime. |
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Jan 21 2006, 03:04 AM
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#15
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,486 Joined: 17-March 05 From: Michigan Member No.: 7,180 |
How do you get signal 8 for :nuyen: 500???
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Jan 21 2006, 03:55 AM
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#16
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,283 Joined: 17-May 05 Member No.: 7,398 |
Satellite uplink dish.
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Jan 21 2006, 04:43 AM
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#17
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,486 Joined: 17-March 05 From: Michigan Member No.: 7,180 |
Oh, lol, I'm a retard. :-)
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