A Shadowrunners Best Practices v0.1, -or- Standard Operating Procedure & Tricks of the Trade Options

[Inncubi]

Overkill and overcomplication.
Also, to some of the paranoids in the business their teammates are probably saving some (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) to pay for their street shrink (I'm sure there's an unexploited market for this. Street name, is, obviously, "Dr.Freud").

On the other hand, being careful is good. Specially with your electronics and your communications.
Learn a bit about the matrix, buy some knowsofts on the subject (matrix security procedures), or learn the knowledge skills yourself, and follow oyur Gm's advice. This a metagaming thing, but a good one:

Player: "My character has a matrix security procedures chip at rating 3. That is a professional's knowledge and pretty standard, but helps. Any advice on how should I set my commlink, so it is fucntional and secure?"
Gm: (Explains more or less, according to his campaign, what he should do)

Now that I think about this, you could do this to cover a lot of things. Just don't get obsessive with it. It just fattens Dr.Freud's pockets to the detriment of your sammies new delta move-by-wire.

On the other hand: Using an internal commlink, with a physical switch hidden in the finger compartment is just awesome.

Also, keep your main home free of wireless. Use switches -old kind- and avoid t.v. Own books, or buy e-books, its more educating and you can't be hacked. Avoid drones at home, pay some one to do the cleaning -It'll improve some poor family's life and it'll avoid your vaccum from shooting you in the face- or do it yourself. Also, switch homes every so often (once or twice a year).

Limiting accounts is almost useless: Hackers can -and should- use spoof to create another account of the kind they want to use in the node they are hacking.

[Mäx]

I is for Idiot, specifically the stupid person who resurrects a dead thread.

Now that this is back from the dead once again, i gotta ask:
Why did you quote me for that comment, i'm not the one who summoned the shedim.

[Warlordtheft]

G is for God(s) help you. Almost no one is going to make it out alive. Forget salvaging anything, just pray you make it out with your own skin and most of your internal organs. A miracle is your only hope now.

H is for Hell. This is where you're going. Everyone is going to die, probably in a very painful and gruesome manner. You're all going to hell for botching the run this badly.

I is for Idiot. This is the guy that thinks fighting everyone and everything is how running is done.

J is for Justice. Lone Star or KE will make you life miserable if you kill one of their own. Just like a street gang, they will take it personally.

K is for Kill. Only do so when necessary.

L is for larceny. Petty larceny and theft are easy ways to make money. Stealing cars is easier to make money at than running the shadows. Just remember to bring the pornomancer.

M is for money. Like the song says"Go on take the money and run".

[Draco18s]

N is for Never. Never trust an elf and never make deals with dragons.

[Eratosthenes]

Limiting accounts is almost useless: Hackers can -and should- use spoof to create another account of the kind they want to use in the node they are hacking.

You can't use Spoof to create an account. That requires either a Computer+Edit or Hacking+Exploit test, once you have access to that node.

Encryption is the key to a good matrix defense. Encrypt everything. Unwired's "Strong Encryption" preferably. You can't be hacked in a fight if it takes the hacker 1+ hours per Decrypt test just to have the chance to hack your commlink.

[Inncubi]

You can't use Spoof to create an account. That requires either a Computer+Edit or Hacking+Exploit test, once you have access to that node.

Encryption is the key to a good matrix defense. Encrypt everything. Unwired's "Strong Encryption" preferably. You can't be hacked in a fight if it takes the hacker 1+ hours per Decrypt test just to have the chance to hack your commlink.

a) Thanks for clearing that out. Actually I made the hacker spoof an account /then/ hack on the fly or probe to gain access.

b) Can you strong encrypt conversations as they happen? I think no... you can however communicate through text messages (edit 1) and send them with attached data bombs (rating x). Not as fast as actual voice communication, but with DNI you should be able to think and have it translate to text.
Its quite safe.

[Eratosthenes]

b) Can you strong encrypt conversations as they happen? I think no... you can however communicate through text messages (edit 1) and send them with attached data bombs (rating x). Not as fast as actual voice communication, but with DNI you should be able to think and have it translate to text.
Its quite safe.

No, you can't use Strong Encryption for comms encryption, but standard encryption should be pretty good (it'll slow up a hacker for a few turns, at least). Text messages with a databomb attachment is a good idea. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[toturi]

Now that this is back from the dead once again, i gotta ask:
Why did you quote me for that comment, i'm not the one who summoned the shedim.

Sorry if my post offends. I was agreeing with you, hence the quote. On hindsight, it might have been wiser to state that in my previous post.

[Mäx]

Sorry if my post offends. I was agreeing with you, hence the quote. On hindsight, it might have been wiser to state that in my previous post.

No harm, no foul. I actually assumed you just quoted the wrong post originally, just desided to ask as the topic rose from the grave once again.

[cndblank]

Agility + Disguise. Training for traditional skills gets updated to incorporate an understanding of modern technology. The end of The Usual Suspects includes someone dropping a gait disguise.

You just need to become aware of your own walking style. I play about with the way I walk as a distraction when I've nothing else to do on a long journeys by foot.

Smart shoes that dynamically adjust their thickness and internal angles to force you to walk differently.

Or you could be like the down-and-out actor Lawrence Smith in Robert A. Heinlein's Double Star and use some pebbles in the shoe and some tape across the back to change the gait of a companion so he wouldn't be recognized.

[Draco18s]

Or you could be like the down-and-out actor Lawrence Smith in Robert A. Heinlein's Double Star and use some pebbles in the shoe and some tape across the back to change the gait of a companion so he wouldn't be recognized.

I was about to post something like that, and then read the other half of your post. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[InfinityzeN]

A is for Airborne
I is for In the sky
R is for Ready to go
B is for Bonafide
O is for On the move
R is for Rock & roll
N is for Never quit
E is for Everyday
R is for Rough and tough
A is for All the way
N is for Never quit
G is for Gung-ho
E is for Excellence
R is for Ranger

What? I couldn't resist

[cndblank]

I was about to post something like that, and then read the other half of your post. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Both will work.

Course with your smart shoes ((including Dynamic Footprint tm) have your foot prints change with your sin!) will change with your active sin.

[Finis]

My advice:

Watch your back.
Shoot Straight.
Conserve Ammo.
Never, ever, cut a deal with a dragon.

That's all the advice I was ever given. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

That's the essentials right there. Classics to live by.

[PoliteMan]

Couple rules I've found useful, from simple to extreme.

1. Stay off the grid. No paranoid measures you take will match living in a crappy part of town like glow city where there's no cops and no cameras. Yeah, the locals might be nasty but you can deal with them a lot easier than a Firewatch team. Keep everything offline, simple, and generic.

2. Stun, don't kill. There's absolutely no reason to kill someone unless you're forced; you gain nothing and it can cause innumerable problems.

3. Know somebody crazy. You're going to face retaliation at some point, people will try to track you down or screw you, it just happens. It's very tempting to try to avoid this by having someone powerful on your side, a powerful contact with the Yaks, police, or a corp. All of those people, however, suffer from rationality, they won't fight a helpless battle against someone more powerful than them because they suffer from rationality. Whoever is tracking you can anticipate that these people will back down so usually a powerful patron only protects you against threats you could handle on your own while being powerless against something you can't handle. Crazy people, however, will fight hopeless battles and this alters your pursuers calculus because there's now an unavoidable cost to tracking you down, no matter how nasty they are, which means a crazy serves as a constant deterrent.
For example, say Renraku is hunting you down after a run gone bad. If you're depending on the Yakuza for protection you're in trouble, the Yaks are no match for Red Samurai and so the Yak boss will, rationally, probably cut his losses and stand down. Renraku knows this so when they look you up and see you're tied to the Yaks, they'll assume the Yaks will abandon you and probably go after you. If they see you're hanging with the Halloweeners, even though the Halloweeners are weaker than the Yaks, Renraku knows the Halloweeners will happily blast it out with them and Renraku will take losses, which makes hunting you more expensive.

4. Move fast and leave a crater. Do your best to keep the run professional but if you end up in combat with security forces don't fiddle with tricks or try a drawn-out shoot out. Go straight to demolitions, knock them off their feet, and then get out of there within five minutes. Yes, excess damage causes long-term problems but once combat begins the amount of time you spend there is more dangerous to your survival, in both the short term and the long term, than the amount of damage you cause. Plan C leads directly to Plan D and don't try to pretend otherwise, just whip out your minigun, run as fast as you can, and murder everything with extreme prejudice.

[Tyro]

Couple rules I've found useful, from simple to extreme.

1. Stay off the grid. No paranoid measures you take will match living in a crappy part of town like glow city where there's no cops and no cameras. Yeah, the locals might be nasty but you can deal with them a lot easier than a Firewatch team. Keep everything offline, simple, and generic.

2. Stun, don't kill. There's absolutely no reason to kill someone unless you're forced; you gain nothing and it can cause innumerable problems.

3. Know somebody crazy. You're going to face retaliation at some point, people will try to track you down or screw you, it just happens. It's very tempting to try to avoid this by having someone powerful on your side, a powerful contact with the Yaks, police, or a corp. All of those people, however, suffer from rationality, they won't fight a helpless battle against someone more powerful than them because they suffer from rationality. Whoever is tracking you can anticipate that these people will back down so usually a powerful patron only protects you against threats you could handle on your own while being powerless against something you can't handle. Crazy people, however, will fight hopeless battles and this alters your pursuers calculus because there's now an unavoidable cost to tracking you down, no matter how nasty they are, which means a crazy serves as a constant deterrent.
For example, say Renraku is hunting you down after a run gone bad. If you're depending on the Yakuza for protection you're in trouble, the Yaks are no match for Red Samurai and so the Yak boss will, rationally, probably cut his losses and stand down. Renraku knows this so when they look you up and see you're tied to the Yaks, they'll assume the Yaks will abandon you and probably go after you. If they see you're hanging with the Halloweeners, even though the Halloweeners are weaker than the Yaks, Renraku knows the Halloweeners will happily blast it out with them and Renraku will take losses, which makes hunting you more expensive.

4. Move fast and leave a crater. Do your best to keep the run professional but if you end up in combat with security forces don't fiddle with tricks or try a drawn-out shoot out. Go straight to demolitions, knock them off their feet, and then get out of there within five minutes. Yes, excess damage causes long-term problems but once combat begins the amount of time you spend there is more dangerous to your survival, in both the short term and the long term, than the amount of damage you cause. Plan C leads directly to Plan D and don't try to pretend otherwise, just whip out your minigun, run as fast as you can, and murder everything with extreme prejudice.

QFT. Well done, well done indeed!

[V-Origin]

Recent hacker paranoia in our group. He won't hack unless he's set up two rooms with los to each other. Uses laser link with rfid camera to catch anyone thats traced him to the first room so he can make his getaway.

Virus to wipe out any trace of teams actions before logging out of a system. Constant hacking of patrol drones and traffic systems to assist in clean getaways.

During the preps before every mission..

Kidnap one of more street-beggars, children, women, street prostitutes, old grannies, barren sinless refugees.. aka weak human prey who would not be missed, who would not put up (too much) resistance at being kidnapped and whom the police would not waste resources at tracking them...

Summon up one or more ally spirits with inhabitation...

Inhabit the kidnapped street-beggar, children, women, street prostitutes, old grannies, barren sinless refugees with the summoned ally spirit..

Use the summoned ally spirit as decoy in more than one situations.. including the 2-room hacker situation listed above.. only I would use a van where the real hacker would hide in.. when the room with the decoy got busted.. the hacker would not have to waste time finding a getaway vehicle..

Use the kidnapped victim to draw away security while your team penetrates corp compound..

Use the kidnapped victim to spy and meet with mr johnson, prisoner swaps, etc...

Use the kidnapped victim to deliver a kamizake 100 pound c4 explosive hidden in cavities..

After the victims died every mission, you can recycle the same ally spirits by kidnapping new victims without spending more exp on new ally spirits.. It is an extremely cheap method of creating decoys and manpower..

Straight from the manual of bug spirit tactics.. If you can't beat them, join them...

Yep, I am back..

[binarywraith]

I think the total sum of Best Practices can be distilled down to one necessary thing : Know Your Enemy

Do your damn legwork. Know what kind of response is going to come from the work you're accepting, and make sure you can handle it before you go in guns blazing. If someone is offering you 20,000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) to extract someone's secretary, find out their boss' reputation for for holding a grudge before the Red Samurai come knocking.

Half of surviving in the shadows is taking calculated risks.

[CanRay]

Hurl beer cans at guards.

Back when he was starting in the business, one of Hulk Hogan's jobs was to count the number of empty beer cans bounced off his head to ensure that Andre the Giant never ran out of beer.

[Miri]

Not all of it fits but it is still apropos..

"In an ally, considerations of house, clan, planet, race are insignificant beside two prime questions, which are:
1. Can he shoot?
2. Will he aim at your enemy?

From Cantra yos'Phelium's Log Book"

From the Liaden Universe by Sharon Lee and Steven Miller

[Tyro]

Not all of it fits but it is still apropos..

"In an ally, considerations of house, clan, planet, race are insignificant beside two prime questions, which are:
1. Can he shoot?
2. Will he aim at your enemy?

From Cantra yos'Phelium's Log Book"

From the Liaden Universe by Sharon Lee and Steven Miller

Apropos indeed. Concise and to the point.