[X] My Assistant

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

I must not be understanding the question to "where are you when you're trying to hack into a node?".

You are, by my understanding, there because as you're doing it, you can proceed to get the ether beaten out of you. Behind you, like a digital umbilical cord, lies your traceable connection back to your point of origin. While there, you may not have control over your appearance to those around you yet. To those there actually watching you may first be as defined as a 404 page or a loading screen until you have enough rights to tell them you exist and what you look like.

I've love a rule to back up the above statement, but I doubt I'll find one. It's pure invented fluff anyway.

Indeed... Your Reality Filter defines Your Fluff. In our games, the "Reality Filter" of the Matrix at large is the same as it has always been. In VR, you see the vast matrix via Icons and connections. A "grid" if you will, from which you can Zoom In/Zoom Out on by selecting another node in the chain.

[CanRay]

Just as long as you don't have an Agent running that goes "SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!!"

[Sengir]

World fluff does not disappear just because Mechanics change... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Of course it does, because the mechanics are for a completely new matrix. LTG addresses, remote control networks, color codes, and gray IC are gone to name just a few, otaku don't fade any longer and AR is everywhere, those are not just changes in the rules but also in fluff.

And by the same token, the fluff questions I posed are directly related to game mechanics -- if my persona is standing right next to the node I'm hacking, that means a police patrol might spot me just like during a RL burglary.

Indeed... Your Reality Filter defines Your Fluff. In our games, the "Reality Filter" of the Matrix at large is the same as it has always been. In VR, you see the vast matrix via Icons and connections. A "grid" if you will, from which you can Zoom In/Zoom Out on by selecting another node in the chain.

Well, that's a nice houserule, but not at all supported by rules or described in the fluff of SR4(A). And if understanding the current rules requires reading past books or watching movies, that means something is seriously wrong with them. A core rulebook is supposed to give players all the info they need to play.

Also, a reality filter can't bend the rules. Your filter might tell you that RC networks are still separate from the matrix, but that won't stop a hacker from taking over your drones.

[PeteThe1]

Just as long as you don't have an Agent running that goes "SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!!"

Are you kidding? That guy is my comlink's IC! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Of course it does, because the mechanics are for a completely new matrix. LTG addresses, remote control networks, color codes, and gray IC are gone to name just a few, otaku don't fade any longer and AR is everywhere, those are not just changes in the rules but also in fluff.

And by the same token, the fluff questions I posed are directly related to game mechanics -- if my persona is standing right next to the node I'm hacking, that means a police patrol might spot me just like during a RL burglary.


Well, that's a nice houserule, but not at all supported by rules or described in the fluff of SR4(A). And if understanding the current rules requires reading past books or watching movies, that means something is seriously wrong with them. A core rulebook is supposed to give players all the info they need to play.

Also, a reality filter can't bend the rules. Your filter might tell you that RC networks are still separate from the matrix, but that won't stop a hacker from taking over your drones.

The Matrix, as a descriptive, Exists as it always has... use it or don't.

[Sengir]

The Matrix, as a descriptive, Exists as it always has... use it or don't.

Then for the third time, please tell me where to find that descriptive in the 4(A) rulebooks.

[CanRay]

Are you kidding? That guy is my comlink's IC! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Oh man, don't tell me he's Psychotropic IC and overwrites the person's personality to be like that!

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Then for the third time, please tell me where to find that descriptive in the 4(A) rulebooks.

Virtual reality is popular for several reasons. VR environments are fantastic for intense and realistic gaming experiences, and customizable simsense entertainment feeds are more popular than standard trideo. Since your icon can have any sculpting, VR is more anonymous than AR and is an excellent medium for conducting shady deals or simply socializing without having to overcome barriers raised by looks, metatype, social class, etc. Sometimes just moving through some of the Matrix’s specially sculpted VR landscapes is an interesting way to pass the time—like living in a video game. It is also extremely useful for a number of professional functions including virtual modeling, high-speed transactions, robotics control, security, remote cooperative ventures, etc.

Every icon in the Matrix represents data, a construct, a program, or a portal (see Portals, p. 58) to a node. There are of course other objects in the Matrix that do not represent anything other than decoration, but they are not called icons. The tree in front of a castle could represent a control program governing the climate of a greenhouse under its control, in which case it would be an icon. But it could also simply be a tree put there by the sculptors, an object that does not do anything.

Networks and Grids
VR representations of networks and grids are mostly a collection of portals to other nodes. A network could be represented as a city, for example, with every building being either an icon, a node, or simply a piece of VR sculpture intended to add detail the virtual environment. Portals to individual nodes or networks
(see p. 58) may look completely different than the nodes to which they are connected. By entering a train station, one could suddenly stray upon a vast field, facing a hut, with a city nowhere in sight. Most nodes provide a fitting VR interface to make such transitions between nodes and networks seamless.

As you can see, when in the Matrix, you are not always in a Specific Node. As such, there MUST be other places in the Matrix OTHER THAN NODES, as indicated above. Landscapes are not Nodes, but do contain the Nodes (Portals to such systems). Again. Pretty self-explanatory that the matrix is not just Nodes.

Does this help you at all? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Sengir]

Landscapes are not Nodes, but do contain the Nodes (Portals to such systems).

The MCT host (or node in current terminology) is a complete medieval village, that sound pretty much like a landscape to me. And Deus had a complete forest in his node (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

As you can see, when in the Matrix, you are not always in a Specific Node. As such, there MUST be other places in the Matrix OTHER THAN NODES, as indicated above.

The way I interpret the current rules, the idea is to always be in a node. From there you can either "beam" into another node which allows open access (if you know the access ID or have link/portal), or move to another node for which the current one acts as a chokepoint. See also the description of portals and matrix movement in Unwired.

Problem is, my interpretation also is just puzzled together from various sources in different books. There is no description saying "there are RTGs, LTGs, and PLTGs, several LTGs connect to one RTG and hosts and PLTGs connect to an LTG like this".
Just to be clear, I don't think the SR3 matrix is better, IMO the relaunch was long overdue and for the better. It's just that the old system was significantly better documented.

[Stahlseele]

Of course it was . . you try and document a wireless mesh network with mobile nodes, i dare you!
Also, first generation technicians do the whole build-up. then do documentation on it.
Next generation generally doesn't learn from documentation, but from 1st generation technicians.
And then they do less, if any, documentation at all. And this, right here, is basically the sole reason for that.

[Kingboy]

Just as long as you don't have an Agent running that goes "SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!!"

Agent, no. Real life alert tone for text messages, yes. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Along with a spliced together .wav of various turret "hello" phrases as the main ringtone...

[Kirk]

Just to add my two cents to the bank, I base my view off a couple of nuggets in the book. In particular the bit about routers on SR4A 218. First thing to note is that there's no way I can see this working real-world, but this is a game so...

Every matrix-capable device has a separately coded router. (quit boggling, that's fluff as written.) Each router has, basically, two options: Accept or Forward. There is no Reject on this sub-device. Accept is access to the device/node to which it is attached. Forward is its contribution to the ad-hoc mesh network.

I picture the routers providing the terrain - the raw ground, the sidewalk, the street, whatever - on which the sculptures of the nodes are built. While getting from my commlink to yours I may step on the ground of a thousand others, but virtually I merely give us a shared door through which we speak, pass messages and files, and so forth. In some cases I may actually enter another node. I drag a "silver cord" (non SR standard myth of astral walking) to my home node while doing so, and this cord leaves a mark everywhere it passes.

Matrix-space being what it is, in some cases the supporting ground may be contained within as well as outside some nodes. (Klein would have been delighted, and boggled.) Those with the wherewithal to grok the multidimensional aspect take advantage of it, slipping in and out of other nodes to their benefit (obscuring trails, making searches more effective, etc.) Most who work with the matrix instead treat it as a standard 3d space where doors come close on call, and the ground itself is ignored.

Again, that's the interpretation I get based on fluff as written. I could be wrong.

[CanRay]

Agent, no. Real life alert tone for text messages, yes. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Along with a spliced together .wav of various turret "hello" phrases as the main ringtone...

Now I want those as my ringtones.

...

I'd need a cellphone first.

[Warlordtheft]

Recoil is pretty cut and dry, but it is sure as hell not simple because of the convoluted stacking rules. If you have a sling, a foregrip, and a shock pad on an Ares Alpha, how much recoil compensation do you have? No peeking at Arsenal!

Total Recoil Comp:5 (2 internal-IIRC, 1 for each of sling, foregrip and shockpad---also not sure sling and foregrip can contribute together).

Full 10 round burst Recoil modifier is: -5
Long burst is a -1
All others are absorbed.

[Redjack]

Every matrix-capable device has a separately coded router. (quit boggling, that's fluff as written.) Each router has, basically, two options: Accept or Forward. There is no Reject on this sub-device. Accept is access to the device/node to which it is attached. Forward is its contribution to the ad-hoc mesh network.

Almost. There was quite a discussion about this a while back.

Due to the mesh-network nature of the Matrix, every wireless node can function as a router and will do so if not in passive or hidden mode

I picture the routers providing the terrain - the raw ground, the sidewalk, the street, whatever - on which the sculptures of the nodes are built.

As per the definition above that all active mode nodes are routers, yes. They provide both the VR and AR. An interesting point that comlinks not in active mode are not getting most of the AR around them.

[Kirk]

Almost. There was quite a discussion about this a while back.

Missed that. I'll have to go looking. (May have been before I logged on, of course.)

As per the definition above that all active mode nodes are routers, yes. They provide both the VR and AR. An interesting point that comlinks not in active mode are not getting most of the AR around them.

Nice point, but with the caveat from SR4A 218 that

The routing functions of a device are handled by a separate component of hardware than the other functions of the device. This makes the routing process invisible to the user, and allows the device’s node to connect to the Matrix even when it is operating in Hidden mode (p. 223).

hmmm. Makes me think that if a player has set their system to hidden, they should be getting a multitude of penalties as a reflection of:

If it directly aids a task you are undertaking, such as overlaying internal schematics, help features, and real-time diagnostics while repairing an item, then the gamemaster can apply an appropriate dice pool modifier (usually +1 but possibly as high as +3) to the test. - SR4A 225

After all, the things are supposed to be providing support all the time.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

If it directly aids a task you are undertaking, such as overlaying internal schematics, help features, and real-time diagnostics while repairing an item, then the gamemaster can apply an appropriate dice pool modifier (usually +1 but possibly as high as +3) to the test. - SR4A 225

After all, the things are supposed to be providing support all the time

Except that those bonuses you talk about above are for the actor. Ideally, you should be using a Tacnet instead, which does not rely upon the Mode that you are in.

[Kirk]

After all, the things are supposed to be providing support all the time

Except that those bonuses you talk about above are for the actor. Ideally, you should be using a Tacnet instead, which does not rely upon the Mode that you are in.

Well, I'd say that tacnet isn't much use in the non-combat phases. You know, face time and investigation time and all that sort of thing that goes into role (vs roll) play?

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Well, I'd say that tacnet isn't much use in the non-combat phases. You know, face time and investigation time and all that sort of thing that goes into role (vs roll) play?

And how is having an AR Schematic going to change that? Will it make the Face more convincing? I highly doubt that it will.

[Kirk]

And how is having an AR Schematic going to change that? Will it make the Face more convincing? I highly doubt that it will.

I'll bet that one of the things the AR provides is a Farley File, and I guarantee that makes the Face more convincing. More accurately, and reflected in my recommendation of a negative if it isn't on, is that the ARs provide everyone a farley file and not using one makes a person more likely to commit minor gaffes.

In case you don't know, farley files are named for the device created by James Farley for FDR. Basically, every person with whom FDR dealt, who he ever met, got the critical details entered in a file. Before FDR met the person, Farley would put the file sheet in front of FDR for a quick perusal. Thus he'd know of the visitor's wife, maybe that the daughter had entered college. Not every detail, just the things a good friend would know and use in casual conversation.

If everyone uses farley files, and the face uses them better, then the face who does NOT use one is handicapping himself as much as a street sam who doesn't use tacnet.

[Ascalaphus]

The downside to hidden mode is not getting those AR bonuses. You don't get a penalty for hidden mode, you just don't get benefits.

[Tanegar]

If everyone uses farley files, and the face uses them better, then the face who does NOT use one is handicapping himself as much as a street sam who doesn't use tacnet.

For what it's worth, if I were interviewing a squad of criminal mercenaries (or mercenary criminals, however you want to look at runners) and they inexplicably knew the names of my wife and kids and details of our lives, I'd be more tempted to have them all shot on general principles than to hire them. There really is such a thing as too much information.

[Kirk]

For what it's worth, if I were interviewing a squad of criminal mercenaries (or mercenary criminals, however you want to look at runners) and they inexplicably knew the names of my wife and kids and details of our lives, I'd be more tempted to have them all shot on general principles than to hire them. There really is such a thing as too much information.

And a good face is going to know how much to say and what not to say. I used it as an example of the sort of thing your AR should be able to provide with not much tweaking that was a specific aid to the face. I'll point out that if the only place your face plays is the interview he's losing out on a lot of opportunities.

[Mardrax]

For what it's worth, if I were interviewing a squad of criminal mercenaries (or mercenary criminals, however you want to look at runners) and they inexplicably knew the names of my wife and kids and details of our lives, I'd be more tempted to have them all shot on general principles than to hire them. There really is such a thing as too much information.

This is where the face's skill of using them better comes in.

And of course, communicating with a Johnson, you never let on to knowing who he is. This is the kind of thing used by social infiltrators. You have a hard time getting around pretending like you belong, if you don't know who actually belongs.

Edit: ninja'ed for typing too much!

[Kirk]

The downside to hidden mode is not getting those AR bonuses. You don't get a penalty for hidden mode, you just don't get benefits.

Possible. I wager, however, that most GMs never remember to give the bonuses. Not least because they haven't thought through the assistance an always-on infoweb CAN provide even before specialized emotisoft or tacsoft or other *soft gets added. The easiest way i can think of to apply it is just create a general -1 in all cases where the mode is set to hidden UNLESS a specific circumstance (like tacsoft) overrides it.