Mesh Reality and Macro?, Am I missing something? Options

[Ezzeran]

Hey gang,

Help me out here. Mesh reality (Unwired) is an echo that allows you to act in the physical world and VR at the same time using your Matrix initiative. In the description of the Echo, it says that if you're involved in both physical combat and cybercombat at the same time, you take a -4 penalty to your dice pools. Then it goes on to say that the only way to reduce this penalty is by using the Macro echo.

The problem is that the Macro echo does nothing of the sort, from what I can tell. Macro gives you lets you take an extra non-combat action with each Complex Action, at a -2 dice pool modifier. It says nothing about reducing penalties whatsoever, and does not seem to help out on the cybercombat side much at all.

I guess you could use your physical action during a pass and then macro a matrix action for -2 penalty instead of -4, but that wouldn't allow you to use Cybercombat with that action.

Am I interpreting this correctly? Am I missing something? Is there a FAQ or Errata I am not aware of?

What say you?

Ezz

[Karoline]

I think it is a case of not quite going into enough detail on the Macro Echo. You have to read it carefully.

Macro enables a character to execute one additional noncombat
task with a single Complex Action with a –2 dice pool
modifier for each separate test. The second action can only be a
Matrix action. This echo can only be selected once.

Note that it says that the second one has to be a matrix action, which means the first could be a physical action. I'd think that means that it allows you to focus on multiple tasks with only a -2 penalty. So you could use the complex action to punch someone, then the extra action on the matrix to do a defrag or summon a sprite or whatever, and you'd only be taking -2 on the punch, -2 on the summon, -2 on cybercombat defense, and -4 on real world defense.

[streetangelj]

The Only thing I can figure is that in combination, the extra meatspace actions only suffer a -2 penalty rather than a -4.