Broken Rules., Or where RAW just fails. Options

[Ascalaphus]

Some other ugly/broken rules..

Encryption: you can encrypt something that's not encrypted yet while it's running (connection, Node), but you can't re-encrypt encrypted things without a reboot. Why the inconsistency?

Software Degradation: Activesofts become obsolete at the rate of 1 point per month due to planned obsolescence, and you can't crack that kind of DRM? The programs you write yourself have a longer lifetime than normal SOTA ware without patches?

I understand the need for some sort of game balance, but it wasn't implemented very well.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

wouldn't regular users just kinda die if a system was built that way?

No, because they would have the codes to bypass the Data Bombs...

EDIT: Ooops, Neraph already covered that... My mistake...

[Saint Sithney]

Databomb is free.

And requires no skill and next to no time to use.

Here's something that's fun:
Break into a node.
Analyze the IC on duty to find the attack program waiting in its Payload.
Mine that program with a Data Bomb.
Slap the ICE around a little and then laugh as it blows itself up trying to fight back.

[Yerameyahu]

I'm not sure that's possible, Saint Sithney. Funny, though. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Doc Chase]

And requires no skill and next to no time to use.

Here's something that's fun:
Break into a node.
Analyze the IC on duty to find the attack program waiting in its Payload.
Mine that program with a Data Bomb.
Slap the ICE around a little and then laugh as it blows itself up trying to fight back.

It's the SR version of the Fallout 3 Stealth Kill.

Sneak up
Plant live grenade
Watch fireworks

[Saint Sithney]

I guess the question is, "is a program a file?" and if so, what counts as accessing it.

It wouldn't work on any icon whose programs are stored off the node, like with a Spider, but for Agents, IC and compromised links, it's ridiculously effective. "Not only did I crash your IC just by mining its Analyze program, but the Data Bomb deleted the program when it went off!":wobble:

Cybercombat just became a redundant skill. Cover the place in bombs and laugh it up.
"Bad is good baby! Down with government!"

[Traul]

Another broken rule about data bombs: setting the access permissions for a node requires no less than an admin account (no problem with that), but a user account is enough to put a data bomb on a node. So you may not forbid someone else to enter, but frying their brain if they try is OK (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohplease.gif) The fun part being that "someone else" can be the admin himself...

[Yerameyahu]

Yeah, I wouldn't think you could 'get inside' a (running) program.

[Ascalaphus]

Idle curiosity: apart from just pointing at the rules and saying "but it says so right there", does anyone have a solid explanation of just what a data bomb is and how it works?

[Stahlseele]

Idle curiosity: apart from just pointing at the rules and saying "but it says so right there", does anyone have a solid explanation of just what a data bomb is

It's a Databomb, let's leave it at that.

and how it works?

It works fine, thank you.
Let's leave it at that. ^^

[Aerospider]

Just a quickie here:

Mental handicap (negative quality)
- Minus 1 die per level to tests involving Logic and Willpower

So pretty much only affects certain traditions/streams of magician/technomancer then.

Fix: and "or"


EDIT: Just realised technomancers always use Resonance in fading resistance

[Dakka Dakka]

So pretty much only affects certain traditions/streams of magician/technomancer then.

Well there is the memory test (LOG+WIL) it affects that as well.

The and->or fix opens the question whether tests involving both attributes incur the double penalty.

[Aerospider]

Metagenic Qualities (RC, p.110)

The text explains that only characters with a SURGE quality or metatype metavriants can choose metagenic qualities. I believe it was intended that metavariants could access the metagenic qualities particular to their sub-species (e.g. cyclopean eye for a cyclops) and only those, but by the wording a dryad can have goring horns and a tail whilst a regular elf cannot.

[Aerospider]

Well there is the memory test (LOG+WIL) it affects that as well.

Ah true. I knew there had to be exceptions, but I don't think I've yet met the player who'll lose sleep over their memory stat.

The and->or fix opens the question whether tests involving both attributes incur the double penalty.

I suppose it does and I expect the debate could get quite interesting.
That said, IMO game balance must surely preclude it.

[sabs]

Just a quickie here:

Mental handicap (negative quality)
- Minus 1 die per level to tests involving Logic and Willpower

So pretty much only affects certain traditions/streams of magician/technomancer then.

Fix: and "or"


EDIT: Just realised technomancers always use Resonance in fading resistance

Anyone hoping to have a shot at resisting magic.
Hackers, Armorers, Medics.
Anyone hoping to use knowledge skills.

I never consider willpower and logic to be dump stats

[Dakka Dakka]

His point was that by RAW only those test that involve both stats are affected. The tests in your examples only use one of the stats.

[KarmaInferno]

Yeah, it's broken because of the "AND". It's a typo. It should be an "OR".



-karma

[sabs]

Ah, that's just a typo and a desire on the player's side to be obtuse.

Someone might have been thinking:
Both Willpower and Logic Tests are reduced by 1 per quality.
And when they went to write the rule, reworded it badly.

That's pretty serious nitpicking.

You could also fix it by putting a comma after the word Logic.

Mental handicap (negative quality)
- Minus 1 die per level to tests involving Logic, and Willpower

[StealthSigma]

Ah, that's just a typo and a desire on the player's side to be obtuse.

Someone might have been thinking:
Both Willpower and Logic Tests are reduced by 1 per quality.
And when they went to write the rule, reworded it badly.

That's pretty serious nitpicking.

It's not. Especially when you come from a computer science background or have even a rudimentary grasp of conditionals.

AND always means that the condition to the right and the left must both be true in order for the action to occur or be qualified to happen.

As written that negative quality would only apply to Memory tests unless you can come with up with another check or test that uses both Logic and Intuition.

You could also fix it by putting a comma after the word Logic.

Mental handicap (negative quality)
- Minus 1 die per level to tests involving Logic, and Willpower

That comma doesn't look right. The Willpower portion would need to be a complete sentence in its own right.

[Doc Chase]

The comma isn't right. There's no reason to use a comma if it's only seperating two conditionals.

[Dakka Dakka]

The text explains that only characters with a SURGE quality or metatype metavriants can choose metagenic qualities. I believe it was intended that metavariants could access the metagenic qualities particular to their sub-species (e.g. cyclopean eye for a cyclops) and only those, but by the wording a dryad can have goring horns and a tail whilst a regular elf cannot.

I doubt that was the intention. The Qualities "particular to their sub-species" are already included in the description of "their sub-species" i.e. a cyclops already has only one eye. What your reading entails is that metavariants could not get any additional metagenic qualities without buying SURGE. If that were the intention, they should have left them out entirely. There must have been a reason for including them, it could be exactly for the purpose of giving the cyclops photosynthesis. On a related note, metavariants are overpriced, possibly for the reason of opening up additional qualities.

[Laodicea]

Not sure if anyone has added this yet, but i'm going to go ahead and say it.

Free Spirit Player Characters. See the other currently active thread about them for an explanation as to why.

[Dr Funfrock]

Especially when you come from a computer science background or have even a rudimentary grasp of conditionals.

Found your problem chief.

Let's face it; 90% of RPG writers do not come from a computer science background. Expecting, or assuming, that all roleplaying rulebooks will be written with perfect use of conditionals is a good way to end up playing a really shitty game, really fast.

This is pretty much exactly why you cannot fly slavishly by RAW.

[KarmaInferno]

I've always found that you can discover a LOT of logical errors in a game's rules set if you go and try and create a character generator for the game.

Excel, for example, is really really intolerant of fuzzy rules and conditional errors.




-k

[StealthSigma]

Found your problem chief.

Let's face it; 90% of RPG writers do not come from a computer science background. Expecting, or assuming, that all roleplaying rulebooks will be written with perfect use of conditionals is a good way to end up playing a really shitty game, really fast.

This is pretty much exactly why you cannot fly slavishly by RAW.

That isn't my problem. That's the writer's problem. A comp sci background only reinforces how conditionals and conjunctions function. A writer, whom I would assume understood grammar, should know how those two elements function. Especially given that the writing is being done for rules in a game which appeals to a community that would have a higher than average count of people with computer backgrounds as the target audience.

Fortunately the RAI for that particular quality is pretty obvious considering there is only one check that uses Willpower AND Logic. 10 BP for a -1 to that is laughably underpowered (or overpowered depending on how you look at it), but if the same happens on something that isn't quite so obvious as to the RAI then the poor writing is a problem.