Technomancers and AR, Just VR for TMs? |
Technomancers and AR, Just VR for TMs? |
Sep 7 2006, 06:02 PM
Post
#1
|
|
Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,754 Joined: 9-July 04 From: Modesto, CA Member No.: 6,465 |
I understand TM's live in VR, but can they natively AR with the aid of just trodes, goggles and gloves?
As a TM I'd roleplay to refuse to use AR but I was curious about this. Thanks, ~GTT |
|
|
Sep 7 2006, 06:05 PM
Post
#2
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 475 Joined: 13-March 06 From: dusty Mexican borderlands Member No.: 8,372 |
I always assumed TMs were always in their own bizarre form of AR. If they were always in VR, they'd always have that penalty, which is, what, -8? That'd be just a tad bit crippling.
|
|
|
Sep 7 2006, 06:08 PM
Post
#3
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 153 Joined: 7-November 04 Member No.: 6,811 |
I don't recall anything in the Holy Book that says one way or the other, but my group has taken it for granted that the Technomancer (which is to say, my character) can downshift his Matrix perceptions to AR when needed.
Keep in mind the severe disadvantage against physical action and perception when in VR. If Technomancers are Hot Sim VR 24/7, they'd probably get run over by a car at some point. On the other hand, it doesn't make any sense that a Technomancer can't "walk and chew bubble gum" too. Access to AR is the simple solution to both conceptual problems. |
|
|
Sep 7 2006, 06:09 PM
Post
#4
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 351 Joined: 17-February 06 From: San Francisco Member No.: 8,275 |
TMs pick up any AR that is broadcast to them. I imagine they have a subscription list-like process running in their heads, but if you read their description on page 232, particularly the final paragraph, it seems as though they can't get away from the matrix.
|
|
|
Sep 7 2006, 08:09 PM
Post
#5
|
|
Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,089 Joined: 4-October 05 Member No.: 7,813 |
1) why would you need trodes, goggles, or gloves? you're a technomancer. remember how your commlink is built into you biologically? well, i would have to imagine that you already *have* a DNI to your own brain, so i can't imagine you would need an external DNI to your brain. assuming that even worked somehow without connecting to another, internal, DNI. similarly, you have a built in sim module for all intents and purposes. AR can simply be projected onto your mind's eye using simsense. if you have a sim module or equivalent, you automatically have any kind of senselink you may ever need, provided you don't modify your simsense to reject certain information (for example, you may want to turn off the emotion part of simsense).
2) i suppose you could wrap your body in wireless fabric, put a commlink outside the fabric, and a wire leading to a small transmitter inside, and have the commlink turned on only when you want full VR or something... or otherwise simply deny yourself access to the matrix except for VR (by "turning off" your internal commlink). but this is about as likely as someone willingly walking around with their eyes closed all the time. |
|
|
Sep 7 2006, 08:41 PM
Post
#6
|
|||
Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,754 Joined: 9-July 04 From: Modesto, CA Member No.: 6,465 |
Since it wasn't explictly stated, I was simply unsure if a TM could use AR w/o the aid of external gear. |
||
|
|||
Sep 7 2006, 09:00 PM
Post
#7
|
|
Awakened Asset Group: Members Posts: 4,464 Joined: 9-April 05 From: AGS, North German League Member No.: 7,309 |
They can use AR. The rules state what happens if they switch to VR - so they donīt need to be on VR all the time.
|
|
|
Sep 7 2006, 09:17 PM
Post
#8
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 834 Joined: 30-June 03 Member No.: 4,832 |
One thing that escaped me the first time reading is that the book states that all references to matrix access is assumed to be AR unless it specifically states VR. I don't have a page ref for that since my book is at home today.
Since TM's talk about accessing the matrix, but the only reference that I recall is that VR is always hotsim not that TMs are always VR, it would make sense that they are also able to access via AR. |
|
|
Sep 7 2006, 09:42 PM
Post
#9
|
|||
Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,754 Joined: 9-July 04 From: Modesto, CA Member No.: 6,465 |
So I suppose the TM would function like an implanted Comlink which needs no use for AR externals like gloves, goggles and trodes for AR. |
||
|
|||
Sep 7 2006, 10:42 PM
Post
#10
|
|
Target Group: Members Posts: 76 Joined: 16-August 06 Member No.: 9,131 |
Read page 232 gang.. It explains pretty much everything. EXEPT... can they turn it off.. or would they always be not only receiving but broadcasting as well. and does that make them a bigger target for other hackers... A hacker or anyone else can switch their comlink off, but I dont see a TM being able to do that. Which means that they are always broadcasting and can be tracked.
|
|
|
Sep 7 2006, 10:51 PM
Post
#11
|
|||
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 351 Joined: 17-February 06 From: San Francisco Member No.: 8,275 |
Well, the rules for rebooting on page 221 seem to indicate that TMs can sever their matrix link:
And it must be hard to Track a TM, they can switch their commcodes with a thought. |
||
|
|||
Sep 8 2006, 02:34 AM
Post
#12
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 684 Joined: 8-April 06 From: My dorm room Member No.: 8,438 |
Well, I remember Holy Writ saying that the use of one's Resonance powers leaves a signature in the Matrix. However, only TMs and their sprites can perceive these signatures, and the TM or sprite who created the signatures can either erase them or wait a few hours until they fade away.
My point? Yes, TMs can technically be tracked, but you need someone with TM powers to start tracking ASAP. |
|
|
Sep 8 2006, 03:18 AM
Post
#13
|
|
panda! Group: Members Posts: 10,331 Joined: 8-March 02 From: north of central europe Member No.: 2,242 |
or you can assign a very, very high treshold for trying to find it with the analyze program. and maybe have said treshold drop if the hacker have access to more files and nodes that should in theory contain the same signature.
this is compareable to finding a watermark in a music file when you dont know what your looking for, but have multiple files that should contain the same mark. basicly your looking for patterns that repeat across files, and in the same location in each file. it will be like finding the needle in a haystack by looking at and removing one and one straw :P |
|
|
Sep 8 2006, 04:24 PM
Post
#14
|
|||||
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 834 Joined: 30-June 03 Member No.: 4,832 |
While sample characters don't mean much for rules use, the TM sample character doesn't have any AR equipment, so it's likely that they don't need any to use AR. |
||||
|
|||||
Sep 8 2006, 06:08 PM
Post
#15
|
|
Mr. Johnson Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,148 Joined: 27-February 06 From: UCAS Member No.: 8,314 |
I've always seen it such that the technomancer doesn't really see AR objects, but intuitively understands what they are and what they're supposed to look like. In game terms, there's no real difference.
|
|
|
Sep 8 2006, 06:45 PM
Post
#16
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 153 Joined: 7-November 04 Member No.: 6,811 |
I've always gone the opposite route myself: that Technomancers can not only see (touch/feel/etc) AR objects, they seem just as real to them as anything. While my group hasn't gone really far with this concept, the idea came up that a Technomancer might get "lost" in excessive ARE stimuli, unable to separate fantasy from reality.
Hot-Sim VR is home in a deep-seated way, while going cold-turkey is reality in the most fundamental way. ARE programs would be a funky feeling amalgamation of the two, like a waking dream. |
|
|
Sep 8 2006, 06:51 PM
Post
#17
|
|||
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 475 Joined: 13-March 06 From: dusty Mexican borderlands Member No.: 8,372 |
This is exactly how I've been viewing it. |
||
|
|||
Sep 8 2006, 08:36 PM
Post
#18
|
|||
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 207 Joined: 3-November 05 From: KCMO Member No.: 7,922 |
What exactly are they broadcasting? They have no internal storage to hold any info to broadcast.... I thought we had established awhile ago that a TM had to carry a commlink specifically to broadcast her SIN, etc. in zones that require that sort of thing. I've been playing mine as if she's constantly in stealth/hidden mode. Maybe her icon can be tracked, but she's a lot harder to follow.... |
||
|
|||
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 29th April 2024 - 04:47 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.