Retro-Commlinks..., A comm-link the size of a 50's Deck.... Options

[Cardul]

Well, today, we have alot of stuff from the 1980's coming back into fad. I am wondering, though...If you had a Hacker who was trying to build a "Retro" Commlink,
what all of the modern tech, beyond just the commlink, could be squeezed into an old style Cyber-Deck case?

[Doc Chaos]

Per Description, a Commlink is the size of a handheld. Since I seem to remember Cyberdecks being the size of modern keyboards or larger: Yes, he would.

[Summerstorm]

Hell... a comlink can be very tiny even... I think some of these big shot guys in Ghost Cartels has a highclass comlink which is his wristwatch. On another part it is mentioned that a comlink can be worn as jewelry. (I assume an amulet or such, pair of earings and some rings).

What i don't understand why it is not STANDARD for a good decker... hacker, to have a Cyberdeck-sized cluster of comlinks. Lets fit say... 10-20 comlinks in there. All full of agents. Specialized Firewall-Nodes and stuff. Clearly outperforming a standard nexus. Give me a few K and i build that baby *g*

Also the background and the ingame doesn't match that up. A standart Nexus say the Office Genie has maybe only 5 times (and upwarts) the computing power of a highclass comlink. (And some extras like multiple personas) But still isn't portable?

[Blade]

A friend of mine had one of his (and ours) favorite ex-decker fixer NPC keep walking around with his Fairlight Excalibur... Except that he keeps 3 Fairlight Caliban inside the case.

[Cardul]

Per Description, a Commlink is the size of a handheld. Since I seem to remember Cyberdecks being the size of modern keyboards or larger: Yes, he would.

Yes is, unfortunately, not a valid answer here...

I was asking for valid opinions on what all could be crammed into an old-style Cyberdeck case beyond just the Commlink.
I mean, Shadowrun is as much about style as anything..and there was something somewhat styling about the old school decks..so..what could I get in that same size?

[Dancer]

Pretty much a full miniatuarised EW suite I expect. Commlink, boosted antenna/transmitter, jammer, some detachable breadcrumb nodes, tag eraser on a pull-out cable, plenty of juice for the whole thing. All the stuff most hackers would have distributed all over their person and in their clothes, in one box.

[InfinityzeN]

Well let’s start out by deciding that we will build all the extra Commlinks as daughter boards, with one Commlink build as the motherboard that all the others are hardwired into.

We’re going to build 24 (yes, 2-4!) daughter board Commlinks. We want them to have Response 6, Response Enhancer 6, and Optimization each. That comes out to $492k total or $252k if we build the Response and Response Enhancers ourselves.

From there we start on the motherboard Commlink. We’ll give this one Response 6, Signal 6, Response Enhancer 6, Optimization, a Simrig, Hotsim Module, and Simsense Accelerator. Call it $40k or $30k if we build the Response and Response Enhancer ourselves.

Next for the case and what we’re stuffing into it in addition to the Commlinks. We build a custom case that looks like a classic Deck. We add in Armored Case 10, Biometric Reader, Biometric Lock, Environmental Resistance, Hardening 6, Printer, Satellite Link, Laser Link 6, Microwave Link 8, Directional Antenna 6, Nonstandard Link 6, and all the modern connectors available. We add a couple of rolls of fiber optic cable on auto retractors, a wired in Tag Eraser, Smart Jammer 6, White Noise Generator 6, a customized Cyberware Shotgun with Smartgun (Surprise!), a customized Advanced Safety Auto-Shocker, and a couple of full sensor packages (Visual and Audio). Call it $30k, though it will not cost anything near that. The extra goes to 'D-Bling' tm.

So we've blown a little over $312k (or $562k if you didn't build any of it yourself) and got this banging set of hardware. Now I'm not going to tell you how you go about getting your software, but you’re looking at System 6 and Firewall 6 for twenty five different Commlinks. Personally I would code the Firewall from scratch to as high as I could and buy a custom System 6 and crack it. A custom interface for this is a must!

This will bring you to $315k if you built it mostly yourself for a system that can communicate every which way but loose, run 75 programs at once, doesn’t let people other then you use it, gives a bonus die for every program out there (all that Optimized hardware), have +13 cold/+14 hot to initiative, and generally have everything you could ever want. So, you got the money and time (or just a shit ton of money) to get one of these?

[Screaming Eagle]

so apparently, according to Infinity, what you could fit in the Fairlight Excalibur case is the new version of the fairlight excalibur... for a third the cost! Hurray!

My technomancer has an old style cyberdeck (crunchy bits as far as the deck itself: its offline memory/ matrix node in an ultra hard case, blow a few nY on a signal 0-1 wireless capability switch for "touch" range and away we go) He'd keep a hold out pistol and a sandwich in the case if it was "just" a comlink in there. Then again he insists hes a wizard, wears the full wizardly/chaos mage fasion thing and threatens to power ball people so perhaps this isn't a good baseline for thought. I spend 8 BP on Arcane for f*** sake.... it hurt, but is awesome.

[Shadowfox]

Well let’s start out by deciding that we will build all the extra Commlinks as daughter boards, with one Commlink build as the motherboard that all the others are hardwired into.

We’re going to build 24 (yes, 2-4!) daughter board Commlinks. We want them to have Response 6, Response Enhancer 6, and Optimization each. That comes out to $492k total or $252k if we build the Response and Response Enhancers ourselves.

From there we start on the motherboard Commlink. We’ll give this one Response 6, Signal 6, Response Enhancer 6, Optimization, a Simrig, Hotsim Module, and Simsense Accelerator. Call it $40k or $30k if we build the Response and Response Enhancer ourselves.

Next for the case and what we’re stuffing into it in addition to the Commlinks. We build a custom case that looks like a classic Deck. We add in Armored Case 10, Biometric Reader, Biometric Lock, Environmental Resistance, Hardening 6, Printer, Satellite Link, Laser Link 6, Microwave Link 8, Directional Antenna 6, Nonstandard Link 6, and all the modern connectors available. We add a couple of rolls of fiber optic cable on auto retractors, a wired in Tag Eraser, Smart Jammer 6, White Noise Generator 6, a customized Cyberware Shotgun with Smartgun (Surprise!), a customized Advanced Safety Auto-Shocker, and a couple of full sensor packages (Visual and Audio). Call it $30k, though it will not cost anything near that. The extra goes to 'D-Bling' tm.

So we've blown a little over $312k (or $562k if you didn't build any of it yourself) and got this banging set of hardware. Now I'm not going to tell you how you go about getting your software, but you’re looking at System 6 and Firewall 6 for twenty five different Commlinks. Personally I would code the Firewall from scratch to as high as I could and buy a custom System 6 and crack it. A custom interface for this is a must!

This will bring you to $315k if you built it mostly yourself for a system that can communicate every which way but loose, run 75 programs at once, doesn’t let people other then you use it, gives a bonus die for every program out there (all that Optimized hardware), have +13 cold/+14 hot to initiative, and generally have everything you could ever want. So, you got the money and time (or just a shit ton of money) to get one of these?

I haven't used mutliple commlinks, how does this actually work practically? When you jack in, do you jack into just the one commlink? Can you then choose to log in to one of the other commlinks? And do all the other commlinks except the mother one even have a signal rating.

[KCKitsune]

I haven't used mutliple commlinks, how does this actually work practically? When you jack in, do you jack into just the one commlink? Can you then choose to log in to one of the other commlinks? And do all the other commlinks except the mother one even have a signal rating.

Shadowfox, this whole damn thing would be seen as ONE commlink. Check out the Clustering rules on pg 59 of Unwired... fun stuff.

[InfinityzeN]

Quick breakdown Shadowfox. Us the lowest of System and Firewall (They should all be copies, so the same). Average all the Response ratings (again, their all the same). Signal can be any of them, no averaging. So Signal 6, Directional Signal 6, Microwave Signal 8, Laser Signal 6, and Satlink cover all your Signals.

Total number of programs that can be run at the same time is 1/2 of the combined total. You got 25 rating 6 Commlinks, able to run individually 150 programs. As a cluster they can run 75. Why give up have your programs? Because you can control them all from one point instead of having to control each individually.

That thing is, as Screaming Eagle pointed out, the new version of the Fairlight Excalibur. It will do everything, run damn near anything, and even let you splatter someone with the sneaky sneak hidden shotgun if need be.

Of course, you better be a drek hot hacker and code up your own Firewall at something like rating 12. It can be done, my mega hacker in the 800BP thread can do that in one month (buying successes and using the -1 die per reroll) if he rushes.

Remember that Firewall has no limits on its rating by RAW.

[Mäx]

Of course, you better be a drek hot hacker and code up your own Firewall at something like rating 12. It can be done, my mega hacker in the 800BP thread can do that in one month (buying successes and using the -1 die per reroll) if he rushes.

I don't think you should be able to buy successes if you rushing the job, as the only down side of rushing is an increased change of glitching and that can't exactly happen if you allowed to buy the hits.

[InfinityzeN]

Ok, two months. No biggy there. My point though was a hacker with programming skills should take the time to code up his own firewall to as high as he can get it. You would be surprised. The guy I mentioned would get 90 successes (good for Firewall 45) in ~9 months plus runs. Now that is crazy high and way paste my house rules limit.

A decent Hacker with Logic 5, Software 4, a Programming Suite 5, and a nexis will throw 14 dice. They would buy 3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +1 +1 = 20 successes (Firewall 10) in ~5 months plus runs. Doable, especially if your in the one run a month stage.

[Screaming Eagle]

The proposed toy is the kind of thing I'd expect to see on a top end prime runner who is a dedicated hacker or as one of those long term goals for the teams hacker. Once you've got one of these there is very little reason to continue with the Shadow work - no one can stop you from spoofing ID's left and right - the digital world becomes your happy little play ground and everything is digital these days. The only chalanges remaining would be the ultra secure sites - The Zurich orbital platform I as a GM would still keep challenging even for this monster. But why even bother? You've got it made. Unless you are getting pressured into it of course, by someone who became aware of your little project and your talent in its infancy, someone who has been quietly helping behind he scenes to ensure you get the resources you need. Someone with a reason and the means to take on the Corperate Court, they just need someone to take the fall for them....
Oh, your uber-toy gets comprimised 9 ways to sunday in the process and you barely make it out with your brains semi-solid.
Into the roladex that goes...

But I'd just use the spare space in the thing for storing my slightly stale lunch. Mmm, sandwich.

[Zaranthan]

You misspelled "sandvich."