a few questions, anchored spells, deckers Options

[Raptor1033]

say there's a system that has specific times that it's accessible, like between 5:00 and 5:05 a timer allows the system to conect to an outside network. if the decker gets into the system then gets cut off when the wires are physically disconnected by the timers does he get forcibly dumped from the system and resist dumpshock or is he stuck until the timers open the system again?

is there a canon position on using elemental lightning spells to charge batteries or laser weapons? if a person was properly grounded would they take damage from said lightning? can you anchor spells to technology or only living things? if only living things could you have an anchored lightning bolt hooked up to a specific detect spell on a person so they get zapped but the electricity flows into the weapon without hurting the target and power up a weapon?

just musing... please don't hurt me!! :)

[Arethusa]

I believe he would suffer dump shock.

Not sure if there's a canon take on charging batteries with elemental spells, but I also don't believe you'd be able to closely regulate the voltage and amperage well enough to do anything other than smoke that electronic equipment of yours.

[Nikoli]

There is someone working on a recharge spell on this board though, do a little searching and join in the conversation. It makes sense, considering we have a fix spell and a create food spell (never mind Fashion and Makeover)

[mfb]

the decker would be dumped, unless he uses a Freeze Vanishing SAN operation to hold the link open.

[Zazen]

Unless you're recharging a time machine car, I'd say that the lightning bolt just fries your stuff.

[Jason Farlander]

[Nikoli]

In theory a force 1 Lightening bolt would be all that's needed.

[BitBasher]

Not gonna happen, Lightning bolt does not create a real current, it's instant not sustained.

[Nikoli]

Neither does a real ligntening bolt, we're talking the flux capaciter here, not your Nissan Jackrabbit

[Herald of Verjig...]

If "Instant" meant there was no actual current, then the spell would be harmless. As with other "Instant" spells (see Ice Sheet), it just means that the effects are "fire and forget" instead of "concentrate."

[A Clockwork Lime]

Recharge (Transformation Manipulation)
Type: P · Target: 4 · Duration: P · Drain: +2(M)

When the magician touches a battery- or electric fuel cell-using device and casts this spell, he recharges it at the rate of 10% of its maximum rating per success on the Spellcasting Test to a maximum number of successes equal to the Force of the spell.

Alternate Suggestion: ...and casts this spell, he recharges the device to its maximum rating if he beats a Threshold equal to the difference between his Magic Rating and the device's Object Resistance rating, minus the Force of the spell.

Design Notes: Minor Environmental Change (base M Drain), Physical Spell (+1 Power), Sustained Spell (+1 Power), Elemental Effect (+1 Drain Level), Permanent Spell (+1 Drain Level), Touch Range (-1 Drain Level), Very Restricted Target (Batteries or Fuel Cells) (-1 Drain Level)

[RedmondLarry]

My character was once hit by a Lightning Bolt. He knows he is safe from them now, as Lightning never strikes twice.

[hobgoblin]

[mfb]

oops, didn't read that part. yeah, he'd be SOL. on the other hand, if he got in and spoofed the slave that controlled that physical connection...

and, yes, you can. accessing a one-way SAN from the wrong direction just increases the Access rating by 1d6.

[hobgoblin]

perfect, that can be read like findeing a hole in the san code and use it to trigger the login routine anyways.

and who said the device was even connected to a slave node?

[A Clockwork Lime]

Really. I have a mechanical device plugged into my light socket right now that turns some mood lighting on in the living room when the timer rolls by. Nothing computerized about it.

Of course there's a lot of simple things people could do to keep deckers and runners at bay, but doing so makes the game a tad bit boring. So <just shrugs>.

[Cain]

Well, a Vanishing SAN doesn't generally mean that the hardwires are cut each time it disconnects. I believe that, in general, once you're in you're in. Unless someone's standing there with a plug, or the system fully shuts down, you can stay in the system even when the SAN has gone away, as long as you've frozen it.

[mfb]

nah, it says in the descrip of vanishing SANs that if you're in when the connection cuts out, you're dumped. hardwire disconnects, i'm not sure how i'd handle--if it's automated, i'd allow the Freeze Vanishing SAN op to do its job, and fool the host into thinking it's disconnected. if it's a guy who walks up and pulls the plug, there's not much you can do about it.

[hobgoblin]

i can turn my network card of in software and still have it plugged in and working. basicly i have todl the os to ignore any signal on it :)

i think the vanishing san works mutch the same way. the host shuts dont the software but keeps the hardware powerd up, this way you can bring it back up fast ones its needed.

[A Clockwork Lime]

Vanishing SANs are closer to turning a port on and off via software. If I turn off Port 2424, nothing's going to be coming in via that port until I turn it back on. If there was some virus on my system, it could easily "lock" it on until I went in and cleaned it up. That's what Freeze Vanishing SAN does.

But if I physically unplugged my modem from the computer, there's nothing that virus could do to stop me nor keep the connection going. If it were a cyberterminal, anyone who was inside would most definitely be dumped and dumped hard. Especially if a Vanishing SAN does the same thing simply by closing a port.

[Raptor1033]

well the way i was thinknig of having it setup was just timers hooked up to switches that completed the wires paths. the timers, not being actually connected to the system, couldn't be affected by hacking.

[Kanada Ten]

That's fine, except fairly contrived. One would need to be an insane security freak to risk cutting of data transfers mid file. Anyway, the decker would be able to see this with a quick scan of the logs and or an attempt to lock the SAN, IMO.

[A Clockwork Lime]

Which, again, isn't going to help. He can lock the SAN all he likes. But this device is going to kill the connection no matter what's going on. No program stops some dude from taking an axe to the power lines, and that's essentially what's happening here.

It's also not contrieved at all. If you have a system that's supposed to be secured, yet still needs occassional access to the Matrix to transmit data, having something like this makes perfect sense. Those using it would just have to schedule themselves to transfer their files within the alloted time.

Honestly, it takes a real idiot to keep any kind of even remotely-secure network permanently connected to something like the Matrix 24/7. Shadowrun just happens to have a lot of idiots handling security. If they didn't, there'd be no point in runners because they'd rarely get in to any place more secure than a rural airport.

[Raptor1033]

exactly, lime's got the idea. how hard is it to set up your own timer to send or recieve data from the store when the line's open. i imagine it wouldn't be a stretch to make software that could estimate the time needed to send a chunk of files so they know exactly how much they can send each time and plan accordingly. plus for the run people with enough security can get into the store area and access permament terminals and add or remove data without fear of getting disconnected. seems like a good plan for a corp to me. plus the runners have the option of sneaking or barging in and access those terminals to get the info they need.

[Kanada Ten]

First, I mean that an attempt by the decker to Lock the SAN would show that the decker could not Lock the SAN. I equate it to looking for a light switch to tape up and finding no light switch.

Second, almost no security system in my games is hooked up to the Matrix. The PC's almost always have to break into the facility first, and then hack the system.

Third, scheduling file transfers is fine - that's the entire point of Vanishing SAN's, but trying to control the speed of the file transfer is nearly impossible. It makes more sense to have personal monitoring the transfer and shut it down manually when complete.

[edit]
And having software that "influences" the timer makes it vulnerable to the decker.

This post has been edited by Kanada Ten: Apr 22 2004, 02:15 AM