Remote Perception Tests via Drones, Please help me find flaws in this scenario. |
Remote Perception Tests via Drones, Please help me find flaws in this scenario. |
Oct 21 2009, 04:43 PM
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#1
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 489 Joined: 14-April 09 From: Madison, WI Member No.: 17,079 |
Please help me with the after action review of something that happened in my last session. I'm still new to SR4, so I'm not positive I handled things in keeping with RAW.
The setup: The team is looking for a fairly distinctive BTL dealer in Redmond. They trade info with the Crimson Crush gang and get an address. There is a rival shadowrunning team already doing surveillance of the target with a rigger and a hacker holed up in a disused storefront a few blocks away. The hacker has hacked the target's commlink and is monitoring traffic. The rigger has a pair of MCT Fly-spy drones patrolling outside the target's apartment building. How it goes down: The team approaches to within a few blocks in their vehicle. The team hacker launches his own MCT Fly-spy to make a sweep of the area around the target's apartment building while the mage does the same in astral. I decide that the hacker has a chance to spot one of the other MCT Fly-spy drones. Not knowing if there are any specific rules for setting the Threshold on a test like this, I decide that it's pretty hard and give it a Threshold of 5. The hacker doesn't have a great Perception skill, so he tells me that he's piping the sensor feed from his drone to the image link of everyone else on the team (except the mage, who is still busy). I decide that this is okay and call for a teamwork roll rather than having everyone roll separately. Between the four helpers, the character with the highest Perception DP gets the maximum bonus allowed from the helping tests. He makes the test and scores 5 Hits. I tell him he's spotted a suspicious flying object. Several Complex Actions later, the hacker has identified the hidden nodes of the drones, intercepted the wireless traffic and decrypted the signal. This is a pretty significant point of divergence in the story. Subsequent events, which I will not bore you with, went very differently because of this Perception Test. Without it, they likely would not have figured out that the target was under surveillance by a rival team. So, my question to you is: did I do anything blatantly against RAW? Was this a perfectly legitimate use of drone sensors, image links and team tests? My impression is that it's all kosher, but it does mean that the team will be awfully "Perceptive" via drone in the cases where they have the time to use teamwork. |
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Oct 21 2009, 04:55 PM
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#2
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Cybernetic Blood Mage Group: Members Posts: 3,472 Joined: 11-March 06 From: Northeastern Wyoming Member No.: 8,361 |
Sounds legit, although I think I'd have either forced the Decker to be the primary or have them make seperate tests since they are basically just looking at their own tv screens and are at best on a confernce call with each other.
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Oct 21 2009, 05:17 PM
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#3
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 489 Joined: 14-April 09 From: Madison, WI Member No.: 17,079 |
Sounds legit, although I think I'd have either forced the Decker to be the primary or have them make seperate tests since they are basically just looking at their own tv screens and are at best on a confernce call with each other. I don't see how the hacker viewing the sensor feed in AR is any different from how someone else would view it in AR. If the hacker were hopped into the drone in VR, then I can see it being different. |
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Oct 21 2009, 05:21 PM
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#4
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Cybernetic Blood Mage Group: Members Posts: 3,472 Joined: 11-March 06 From: Northeastern Wyoming Member No.: 8,361 |
He is the one controling the drone's movements and "zoom", ect, ect...
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Oct 21 2009, 05:23 PM
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#5
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 489 Joined: 14-April 09 From: Madison, WI Member No.: 17,079 |
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Oct 21 2009, 05:54 PM
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#6
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 258 Joined: 31-January 08 Member No.: 15,593 |
was the perception test Sensor+Perception?
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Oct 21 2009, 06:38 PM
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#7
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Prime Runner Ascendant Group: Members Posts: 17,568 Joined: 26-March 09 From: Aurora, Colorado Member No.: 17,022 |
The Size of the drone would subtract dice from the perception roll if I remember correctly... -4 or thereabouts (maybe even -6), can't remember
Keep the Faith |
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Oct 21 2009, 06:41 PM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 489 Joined: 14-April 09 From: Madison, WI Member No.: 17,079 |
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Oct 21 2009, 06:43 PM
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#9
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Prime Runner Ascendant Group: Members Posts: 17,568 Joined: 26-March 09 From: Aurora, Colorado Member No.: 17,022 |
I definitely forgot about that. Thanks. Looks like you raised the Threshold number instead... no problems really... Threshold would have applied if the drone was hiding (Depending upon his Infiltration roll), and the reduced dice pool would be because it is small... Keep the Faith |
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Oct 21 2009, 07:13 PM
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#10
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 258 Joined: 31-January 08 Member No.: 15,593 |
The Size of the drone would subtract dice from the perception roll if I remember correctly... -4 or thereabouts (maybe even -6), can't remember Keep the Faith This modifier is for concealability, or if you were trying to smuggle the drone in your pocket into a place. The modifiers for finding the drone are visibility and those on the perception test tables. I would give it a threshold of three which represents a "small" item. After that its all about visibility and situational mods which adjusts dice pools. The drone would probably get the -2 for not being in the vicinity or even -3 for being far away. Of course there are others that may apply on pg 136 SR4a If the Pilot of the drone was instructed to be as stealthy as possible, the drone may get an opposing test. |
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Oct 21 2009, 07:31 PM
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#11
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 489 Joined: 14-April 09 From: Madison, WI Member No.: 17,079 |
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Oct 21 2009, 07:42 PM
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#12
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 258 Joined: 31-January 08 Member No.: 15,593 |
What would you use for that opposing test? I don't have the book in front of me atm. Pilot+Autosoft. There is an autosoft in Unwired that is used for Infiltration tests. I think it's called Covert Ops. If you don't have an Autosoft its just Pilot. Hmm, do drones have to Default? |
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Oct 21 2009, 09:56 PM
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#13
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,705 Joined: 5-October 09 From: You are in a clearing Member No.: 17,722 |
Hmm, do drones have to Default? Pretty sure, but I think Fly-Spys come with a 30 day free trial of Mitsuhama "Soft Petal Falling" Covert Ops 3 software. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) |
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Oct 21 2009, 10:27 PM
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#14
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 346 Joined: 17-September 06 From: Utah USA Member No.: 9,402 |
First of all, I say you did a fine job with the rules and math, easily better than myself.
My question though: What made this drone suspicious? There are plenty of drones zipping around. Maybe not a surplus in Redmond since gangers and other assorted jackasses like to use them as target practice but what made that drone suspicious? I'm cool with you injecting it to further the story, most of us fudge these things to toss a bit extra into the game, but I'm just curious. |
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Oct 21 2009, 10:32 PM
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#15
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Runner Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,946 Joined: 1-June 09 From: Omaha Member No.: 17,234 |
It's not just that it's a drone but a flyspy, which are micro flies fitted with electronics. If you saw it and actualyl distinguished it from a regular fly it is very very suspicious.
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Oct 21 2009, 10:38 PM
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#16
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 346 Joined: 17-September 06 From: Utah USA Member No.: 9,402 |
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Oct 21 2009, 11:15 PM
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#17
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,756 Joined: 17-January 09 From: Va Beach , CAS Member No.: 16,787 |
@ Ayeohx: I love your signature. The ramming rules are crazy.
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Oct 21 2009, 11:28 PM
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#18
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 346 Joined: 17-September 06 From: Utah USA Member No.: 9,402 |
Thanks Red. I have an older post where I ram several vehicles head on into each other to see what happens. Check out what happens when two buses full of people give each other a love tap. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Oh, and I think 2 Steel Lynx's can head on at full speed for no damage. Wee! |
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Oct 21 2009, 11:31 PM
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#19
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 258 Joined: 31-January 08 Member No.: 15,593 |
It's not just that it's a drone but a flyspy, which are micro flies fitted with electronics. If you saw it and actualyl distinguished it from a regular fly it is very very suspicious. "Fly-Spy" is a brand name. It doesn't describe the shape nor the size of the drone. Besides, the MCT Fly-Spy is a mini-drone not a micro-drone. According to Arsenal page 102, mini-drones are 10-25 centimeters in length (that's four to ten inches for us Yanks). |
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Oct 21 2009, 11:45 PM
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#20
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Runner Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,946 Joined: 1-June 09 From: Omaha Member No.: 17,234 |
Ah my bad for some reason i had it confused with a different drone, maybe even different setting but my point still stands it's the sort of drone used almost entirely for spying.
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Oct 22 2009, 06:11 PM
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#21
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 489 Joined: 14-April 09 From: Madison, WI Member No.: 17,079 |
First of all, I say you did a fine job with the rules and math, easily better than myself. My question though: What made this drone suspicious? There are plenty of drones zipping around. Maybe not a surplus in Redmond since gangers and other assorted jackasses like to use them as target practice but what made that drone suspicious? I'm cool with you injecting it to further the story, most of us fudge these things to toss a bit extra into the game, but I'm just curious. I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it at the time, but I would guess that I just assumed there wouldn't be a lot of drones hanging out in the vicinity of a (mostly) squatter apartment building on the edge of the "decent" part of Redmond. I figured that one of the things the hacker would be looking for would be other drones, and since he himself is using a MCT Fly-spy, I figured he'd know what to look for. As to the size of the drone, the description says "large insect." The Dragonfly in Arsenal, also a minidrone, says it's about the same size as the real thing. Yet the little wheeled distraction drone in Arsenal (forgot the name) is labeled a microdrone, but by the picture has got to be bigger than either the Flyspy or the Dragonfly. It's a little frustrating. My major concern immediately afterward was that I didn't account for the small size of the drone properly. Going with the earlier suggestion of making the rigger be the primary for the teamwork roll is going to cripple my team, since the hacker's Perception is 1. On the other hand, for riggers with a decent Perception DP the teamwork dice are probably going to add a couple of Hits. |
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Oct 22 2009, 08:18 PM
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#22
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Prime Runner Ascendant Group: Members Posts: 17,568 Joined: 26-March 09 From: Aurora, Colorado Member No.: 17,022 |
My major concern immediately afterward was that I didn't account for the small size of the drone properly. Going with the earlier suggestion of making the rigger be the primary for the teamwork roll is going to cripple my team, since the hacker's Perception is 1. On the other hand, for riggers with a decent Perception DP the teamwork dice are probably going to add a couple of Hits. Sounds like a gaping hole in the Hacker's Build there... maybe he should work on improving that a little bit... Though I bet his dice pool is a 4 or 5 (Hacker Intuition is typically a 3 or 4 at least) Keep the Faith |
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Oct 22 2009, 10:39 PM
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#23
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 346 Joined: 17-September 06 From: Utah USA Member No.: 9,402 |
My major concern immediately afterward was that I didn't account for the small size of the drone properly. Going with the earlier suggestion of making the rigger be the primary for the teamwork roll is going to cripple my team, since the hacker's Perception is 1. On the other hand, for riggers with a decent Perception DP the teamwork dice are probably going to add a couple of Hits. I wouldn't say that it should be a major concern. You handled it very well and missing a detail or two is standard. Hell, I miss details all the time and the gamers don't worry because the game's a-flowin. |
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