Alternate Matrix Rules, Everyone is doing it Options

[FrankTrollman]

[deek]

[Ryu]

Can I have that PDF deek? PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE

[deek]

Its at work, and I am at home until next Monday. I thought Frank mentioned he would put something together, but if he is okay with me posting a link to the PDF I created, I could do that...I don't want to infringe on anything...

[Cheops]

[FrankTrollman]

If peop want to print it p, transfer it to word or make pdfs, I won't stop them. It's posted free to a message board, do what you like with it.

-Frank

[Seven-7]

I'm already in the works of making a very pretty version, complete with pictures and stuff.

Having talked with AdamJury here's what I did learn, and want to warn about:

While you can use your own copy and screw with it as you wish, including taking franks stuff and plugging it in, you can NOT give that out, free or not, because the 'dress' of the page is a part of whoever owns SR.

Now, if you were to get entirely new layout, new pictures, ect, I believe that is ok.

[Gelare]

Dude, you're making one with pictures and stuff? Cool. Post that once you're done, eh?

Edit: Hey Frank, question. I feel like the other thread on Nash Equilibria is like the blind leading the blind, so I'm trying to get some clarification on how your rules work. You say that the human brain can be hooked up to a PAN at any time, yada yada. I don't understand what this means and what ramifications it has.

You have FastJack standing on one side of the room, with whatever equipment he wants. On the other side of the room you have Mr. Orphan, who has no technology whatsoever, no commlink, no datajack, no nanopaste trodes, and clothes dating back from the Victorian era (no RFID tags).

1) Can FastJack use Black Hammer on Mr. Orphan?
2) Can FastJack subscribe Mr. Orphan to a PAN? How? Where is the device on which the PAN is running? How does it communicate with Mr. Orphan's brain? How does it know what Mr. Orphan's brain is saying back?
3) If FastJack can subscribe Mr. Orphan to a PAN, what options are now open to FastJack for messing with Mr. Orphan's brain that weren't there before?

[FrankTrollman]

[Ryu]

@Seven-7: I do not get the point. You make a pretty version, I can (hopefully) download it. I may print that, but may not even show it to the rest of my group?

[FrankTrollman]

[WeaverMount]

Frank, this is top notch work in first (public) draft. I strongly encourage you punch it up into a document that people who get brain hacking can glue on top the Wireless World section of their BBBs. I want to try running these rule and have an opportunity to do so, but there are still a couple of thinks I need to feel better about first

1) I had a hard time figuring out how your mechanics for an automating system verifying a fact. Could you post a trivially simple example of what you intended?

On the subject of Veracity, does contradictory stack or cancel? 5 years ago, did both the statements "Humans are causing global warming" and "Humans are not causing global warming" had a veracity of 4 or 5? Alternately, would they cancel out and only one statement prevail because it was slightly more common/reputable? for a more S4ish example what happens if you have 2 fake SINs in the same system tied to your biometrics and the system is ask "who's figure prints are these?". Also I feel that no matter how many blog entries you have saying SIN ????-????-????-???? belongs to John Doe, I just don't see Lone Star buying it if it can be verified in more trusted data stores.
At the moment I'm inclined to another house I found here where the rating of a scanner is really just security of data basic it can access, and how long the validation takes.

2) About the brain hacking bit, would something like faraday suit or faraday Bone lacing still put the kibosh brain hacking? Could you also just run your data cable out side the protection and have you com-like out there and maintain full connectivity while still segregating your physical brain?

3) Adept Hackers get way scary. An Adept could easily have 18 dice on an attack roll anywhere on the planet. And unlike a force 12 spell covering your tracks is way to easy.

4) point 3 kind leads to a more general balance impress. Hackers as you present them are way to flexible While there is /A/ mage that can do damm near anything no one mage can do everything. You can easily build a character with on 400 BP with a 3 skills at 3 and 2 skills at 5. Factor in a few bonus dice from magic or ware combined with your hacking on the fly and your hackers can do everything. Hacking on the fly is totally necessary in some form. I hated that having to hack meant shelling out about 36k for a every program, but feel you went a little to far in the other direction. I really like what your hackers do, but I'm learly of how well they do it in general.

[FrankTrollman]

[Gelare]

[WeaverMount]

[Ryu]

I do think the matrix damage of Black Hammer has to be adjusted. Right now, a competent hacker can throw the equivalent of deadly powerbolts without suffering drain:

With logic 6(9)+ Cybercombat an easy starting hacker can have 3 net successes over a target with even firewall 6. And thats not even including better gear. Now the target suffers Blackhammer rating + 3 boxes of damage and has to soak with willpower. No drain, 4 IPs per round. No astral signature left, no weapon to dispose of.

[WeaverMount]

My thoughts exactly. I like the principals, but think it needs a miner nerf. I like hackers being virtually untraceable ghost stalkers, but they should have to pay for the privalage somehow, either with BP or reduced efficacy.

[Cthulhudreams]

[Red]

What happens if somebody invented a cyberskin mod that makes the entire body an EM insulator? Like the wi-fi blocking paint, or faraday cage mesh?

NVM, question was already answered.

This post has been edited by Red: Nov 10 2007, 05:37 AM

[FrankTrollman]

Very basically, Black Hammer is already the weakest primary attack in the game.

It's a Complex Action. This straight away makes it less impressive than a Rifle.

Mana Bolt is resisted by Willpower + Spell Defense. The damage is not soaked at all, and the drain is actually mild enough that I no longer remember the last time I saw a player character throw a Manabolt with a Force of 6 or less.

Black Hammer is resisted by Firewall + Signal Defense. The damage is soaked by Willpower + Redundant Biofeedback Filters.

Yes, a Hacker can get 4 IPs. Yes, a Magician can get 4 IPs as well. As can a sniper.

A dedicated super hacker can roll a lot of dice. 6 (skill) + 2 (specialization) + 8 (attribute) - that's 16 dice. That's a really big Black Hammer. Of course, the Hacker actually wants the whole Cracking Group and frankly the number of Magicians who care about Ritual Spellcasting is pretty low (basically just people who intend to pick up Geomancy or Linking metamagics, the skill is essentially worthless on its own). A Magician can have 6 (skill) + 2 (specialization) + 6 (attribute) + 2 (Power Focus) + 2 (Mentor Bonus) - that's 18 dice as a starting character. Sure, the Hacker will eventually be able to get himself a rating 3 Cerebral Booster, but of course the Mage isn't capped at all.

Yes, Black Hammer is pretty scary. But it's literally the least of your problems in the triad of Manabolt/Rugerbolt/Hammerbolt.

-Frank

[Ryu]

Mana Bolt is a balance problem, not something one should emulate.

The rules for signal defence provide an incentive for everyone to learn electronic warfare. Thats a buckload of dice rolling each round. Undesireable. Remember, everyone can be a hacker, but few can be a mage.

Proposed mechanics changes:
- signal defense may not use the teamwork rules. layered protection uses the best result

- Black Hammer should be range© and do only (rating) damage if the attack is successful. The NBH faction also demands an active VR connection (which of course the hacker can turn on once "inside" the PAN IF it is installed.

[Red]

[Buster]

[Buster]

[Seven-7]