OOC: SRM04-02 Extraction, Artifact Rush, Part 1 Options

[Slacker]

I have a question that is both IC and OOC.



Now, if this were an actual job that an employer hired a group of skilled people to do, and he wasn't going to micromanage it to death, we'd wait until after this presentation, when the mingling started. Per his requirements, we've begun the extraction. There are runners on a zip line, and White is in the building looking for the mark.

But I know how Shadowrun works. There's an equal chance that our employer will accept nothing less than Mr. White jostling his way through the quiet and dark hall, peering at people, trying to find the mark, while helpful and polite guards encourage him to return to his seat. Then when he finds the mark, he has to whisper to him "Hey, I know we're in the middle of a presentation for your benefit, but I need you to come outside with me for a minute. Its for something really important. No, no it cannot wait twenty minutes until after this presentation is finished." I swear its like shadowrunning is just a 2073 reality tv show, some weird version of Punk'd meets Jackass meets Candid Camera. The whole world must be watching us, laughing at us trying to meet these sometimes insane demands.

*cough* Sorry, I'm better now. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

So, that question was: Are we supposed to yank this guy out right now, during the presentation? Or can we wait and grab him during the mixer bit?

That is wholely up to you. This is your first time interacting with this Johnson. So you have no clue what kind of a boss he is. If say, somebody did some legwork to find out the reputation of said Johnson, Mr. White and the team may have something else to base tactics on. You have certainly heard of other Johnsons that expect nothing less than strict adherence to their orders. Typically this is due to them having other plans that are supposed to be going on simultaneously with your actions. You have also heard of plenty of Johnsons who would give you a time frame of what they expect, but are perfectly reasonable if you adjust it a little.

So, how does your character feel able The Scion. You are correct that he said "The job is an extraction, hostile, and you must begin in exactly fifteen minutes." How would your runners interpret that.

As far as the timing goes, there is about 3 minutes left in those 15 minutes and it certainly seems like the timer's end is going to coincide with this presentation still going on. That's about all I can tell you.

[Mach_Ten]

Climbing 14 : descend zip line (14d6.hits(5)=5)

Once over silas will drop past whoever went first and stealthily start to arrange a drop line. Not throwing the rope to the floor yet, just in case it gets spotted etc.

Infiltration : chamelion suit active for -4 perception (12d6.hits(5)=4)

[Severus Snape]

Around the time people start sliding down the zip line, he comes back within range for you. He's no yet over to the balcony. So no worries that he'll spot them just yet, but he is heading in that direction.

Ok, so I'm going to try hacking into his commlink (hacking on the fly). My commlinks stats are first.

Erika Elite, Novatech Navi OS, Response 5, Signal 5, Firewall 6, System 6, Non-Standard Wireless Link 6
Running Programs: Exploit 6, Stealth 6
Response Degradation: None until I hit 5 running programs

I'm only running the 2 programs I need at the moment. I can load/run programs as simple actions if/when I need them, but at the moment I only really need Exploit and Stealth. And although it goes without saying, I am going for an Admin account (threshold is Firewall + 6). And again, every attempt I make he gets an Analyze + Firewall roll with a threshold equal to my Stealth to detect me. This is Hacking + Exploit + 2 (Hacking on the Fly)

Roll 1: 17d6.hits(5) = 7
Roll 2: 16d5.hits(5) = 2
Roll 3: 15d6.hits(5) = 2

That's 11 successes across 3 rolls. Crap on a stick. Hopefully the first one was enough. I doubt it, but I can hope. And if it is needed, you need to make a ruling on roll 3. 15/2 = 7.5. I've got 7 1s on that third roll, which may or may not be a glitch (depending on which way you round to determine).

Let me know if I need anything more than this before I gain an admin account on his commlink.

[ChromeZephyr]

Ouch. I know how that feels, I had the 2 successes on 15 dice boot-to-the-head last mission.

[Slacker]

Ok, so I'm going to try hacking into his commlink (hacking on the fly). My commlinks stats are first.

Erika Elite, Novatech Navi OS, Response 5, Signal 5, Firewall 6, System 6, Non-Standard Wireless Link 6
Running Programs: Exploit 6, Stealth 6
Response Degradation: None until I hit 5 running programs

I'm only running the 2 programs I need at the moment. I can load/run programs as simple actions if/when I need them, but at the moment I only really need Exploit and Stealth. And although it goes without saying, I am going for an Admin account (threshold is Firewall + 6). And again, every attempt I make he gets an Analyze + Firewall roll with a threshold equal to my Stealth to detect me. This is Hacking + Exploit + 2 (Hacking on the Fly)

Roll 1: 17d6.hits(5) = 7
Roll 2: 16d5.hits(5) = 2
Roll 3: 15d6.hits(5) = 2

That's 11 successes across 3 rolls. Crap on a stick. Hopefully the first one was enough. I doubt it, but I can hope. And if it is needed, you need to make a ruling on roll 3. 15/2 = 7.5. I've got 7 1s on that third roll, which may or may not be a glitch (depending on which way you round to determine).

Let me know if I need anything more than this before I gain an admin account on his commlink.

You obtained Admin access with the second roll. The iconagraphy is of a generic office typical of off the shelf commlinks. You see a pair of eyes and a rifle icon sitting the desk in the middle of the room.

And for reference, i would rule that you'd have to roll 8 1's out of 15 dice to actually glitch, though this time around it wouldn't even matter since you didn't need to make that roll.

[Slacker]

Climbing 14 : descend zip line (14d6.hits(5)=5)

Once over silas will drop past whoever went first and stealthily start to arrange a drop line. Not throwing the rope to the floor yet, just in case it gets spotted etc.

Infiltration : chamelion suit active for -4 perception (12d6.hits(5)=4)

You are thoroughly sleathy-like especially as Gardner's spirit still has you under it's concealment power.

[Dak]

Give me a Perception Test -3 for the general low-light conditions and glare from the brightness of the stage lighting that makes the rest of the room appear all the darker.
And no, you aren't so lucky that he's at the same table with you.

3D6E5 => 1

[Slacker]

3D6E5 => 1

With one success you can't really tell where Acson is sitting. You do notice the well dressed man stationed by the doors you just walked through, another one buy the set of doors you were turned away from and two stationed by the series of doors leading to the balcony. There appear to be a couple wait staff finishing up clearing away plates, but everybody else seems to be seated.

And the windows to the outside are currently shaded so as to let the balcony entertainment be a surprise to the guests.

Anything else you were trying to see?

[Mach_Ten]

Sorry noobie question .. How are txt messages or subtle comms handled ? I mean can white be contacted without his amazingly awful ringtone sounding across the whole place

[Dak]

With one success you can't really tell where Acson is sitting. You do notice the well dressed man stationed by the doors you just walked through, another one buy the set of doors you were turned away from and two stationed by the series of doors leading to the balcony. There appear to be a couple wait staff finishing up clearing away plates, but everybody else seems to be seated.

And the windows to the outside are currently shaded so as to let the balcony entertainment be a surprise to the guests.

Anything else you were trying to see?

Is the wait staff dressed in suits/tuxedos? If so I'm going to stride over toward the kitchens and see if I can grab one of the platters the wait staff is using. Then I'll go see if I can pick up some plates at the front of the room, looking for our mark. My aim is that if its a dark room and most folks are looking at the stage, they're unlikely to notice a guy in the back picking up a serving tray.

Failing all of that, White will have a seat and send a quick note to his associates that he is inside, presentation is going on, and he's not spotted the mark yet.

[Severus Snape]

You obtained Admin access with the second roll. The iconagraphy is of a generic office typical of off the shelf commlinks. You see a pair of eyes and a rifle icon sitting the desk in the middle of the room.

And for reference, i would rule that you'd have to roll 8 1's out of 15 dice to actually glitch, though this time around it wouldn't even matter since you didn't need to make that roll.

First, I'll be adding an IC post shortly.

Second, thanks for the ruling on the glitches (even if it wasn't needed this time). Some GMs round up, some down. Wanted to clarify that right away.

Third, page 225 in SR4A indicates that no action or command is denied to an admin account. Based on this, do I need to roll the opposed test indicated on page 230 for Crashing a Program? If I have an admin account, would I be able to just send the command for icons/programs to just crash/abort/ab end?

Which brings up a question: Would I need to roll a Matrix perception test to determine if the icons (eyes, rifle) are running programs or links back to other nodes? Again, some GMs rule things differently, so I need to know.

Depending on your answers, I may not actually stop running Exploit.

[Slacker]

Sorry noobie question .. How are txt messages or subtle comms handled ? I mean can white be contacted without his amazingly awful ringtone sounding across the whole place

He's got AR contacts in. I'd assume he'd turn the ring tone off while on the job. And text messages would appear in his augmented reality vision. I don't believe he has trodes on his head, though he's mentioned a subvocal mic before. So he can't "think" messages back to you, but he can reply subvocally via commands to his commlink.

[Slacker]

Is the wait staff dressed in suits/tuxedos? If so I'm going to stride over toward the kitchens and see if I can grab one of the platters the wait staff is using. Then I'll go see if I can pick up some plates at the front of the room, looking for our mark. My aim is that if its a dark room and most folks are looking at the stage, they're unlikely to notice a guy in the back picking up a serving tray.

Failing all of that, White will have a seat and send a quick note to his associates that he is inside, presentation is going on, and he's not spotted the mark yet.

Give me an Edge roll. This doesn't use up any of your edge, it's just a Luck roll basically. The waitstaff is wearing suits in Horizon's distinctive blue color, they are very big on corporate identity after all. But with the lighting the way it is, your suit may appear close enough to pass as one yourself.

Keep in mind though that you are currently broadcasting your identity via Active Mode commlink and there is a security guard stand next to the door you just entered through.

[Dak]

Give me an Edge roll. This doesn't use up any of your edge, it's just a Luck roll basically. The waitstaff is wearing suits in Horizon's distinctive blue color, they are very big on corporate identity after all. But with the lighting the way it is, your suit may appear close enough to pass as one yourself.

Keep in mind though that you are currently broadcasting your identity via Active Mode commlink and there is a security guard stand next to the door you just entered through.

So I just need to put my comlink on silent, right? I'm rubbish with ar/comlink/matrix stuff.

Just in case, here's the Edge roll.

6D6E5 => 2 | ones: 1

[Slacker]

First, I'll be adding an IC post shortly.

Second, thanks for the ruling on the glitches (even if it wasn't needed this time). Some GMs round up, some down. Wanted to clarify that right away.

Third, page 225 in SR4A indicates that no action or command is denied to an admin account. Based on this, do I need to roll the opposed test indicated on page 230 for Crashing a Program? If I have an admin account, would I be able to just send the command for icons/programs to just crash/abort/ab end?

Which brings up a question: Would I need to roll a Matrix perception test to determine if the icons (eyes, rifle) are running programs or links back to other nodes? Again, some GMs rule things differently, so I need to know.

Depending on your answers, I may not actually stop running Exploit.

The eyes and rifle are separate nodes, their appearance on the desk are merely representations of them being registered to this commlink. You are correct that admin access gives you full rights to shut off any device this node has control of and you don't need to make a perception test to detect anything running on this node (unless it's say a security rigger or IC running a stealth program that is not controlled by the node).

You can't see what, if anything is running on the other nodes though until you connect with them directly. In this particular instance, that is just a Complex Action to Log On to it and you would retain admin access because of how they are slaved to this device.

You can also see that this device is slaved to another system, represented as a heavy duty security door to one side of the virtual office. From your experience with the Matrix you would guess that is a connection to the buildings security system, and that the sniper's access id only has basic user access on that network. So were you to try connecting to it, you would again have to attempt get new admin access on that node if that is what you were wanting.

[Slacker]

So I just need to put my comlink on silent, right? I'm rubbish with ar/comlink/matrix stuff.

Just in case, here's the Edge roll.

6D6E5 => 2 | ones: 1

Looking around, every attendee has their commlink in Active mode with you being able to "click" on their icon to see a basic bio on them, name, position in the business, branch office, etc. Your commlink is currently doing the same. Were you to shut that off particularly standing in front of a security guard, it would likely get noticed.

Your outfit is close enough to the waitstaff that most people wouldn't notice your lack of the Horizon logo on your lapel.

[Severus Snape]

The eyes and rifle are separate nodes, their appearance on the desk are merely representations of them being registered to this commlink. You are correct that admin access gives you full rights to shut off any device this node has control of and you don't need to make a perception test to detect anything running on this node (unless it's say a security rigger or IC running a stealth program that is not controlled by the node).

You can't see what, if anything is running on the other nodes though until you connect with them directly. In this particular instance, that is just a Complex Action to Log On to it and you would retain admin access because of how they are slaved to this device.

You can also see that this device is slaved to another system, represented as a heavy duty security door to one side of the virtual office. From your experience with the Matrix you would guess that is a connection to the buildings security system, and that the sniper's access id only has basic user access on that network. So were you to try connecting to it, you would again have to attempt get new admin access on that node if that is what you were wanting.

Ok, let's start with the eyes. I'm going to access that node with my admin rights and see what's up with those.

[Slacker]

Ok, let's start with the eyes. I'm going to access that node with my admin rights and see what's up with those.

As you dive in, you find yourself within a spherical room, there are a number of icons within representing Smartlink, Low-Light and Thermographic vision modes (currently thermographic is active), flare compensators, and visual enhancers (Rating 3). There appear to be no IC or other programs running on the cybereyes.

[Mach_Ten]

As you dive in, you find yourself within a spherical room, there are a number of icons within representing Smartlink, Low-Light and Thermographic vision modes (currently thermographic is active), flare compensators, and visual enhancers (Rating 3). There appear to be no IC or other programs running on the cybereyes.

Holy crap you can do this to people that easily ??? ... My level of paranoia just went exponential !!

[Slacker]

Holy crap you can do this to people that easily ??? ... My level of paranoia just went exponential !!

Most adventures are setup without many hackers, but yes. It can be quite simple to hack somebody's eyes should they have a generic commlink without IC running on it.
For any runner i would highly recommend at the very least adding a good Analyze program for your 'link to try to detect intrusions. Every commlink has a rating 1 Analyze program built into it. To detect intrusions you roll Firewall + Analyze. So for the standard commlink Rating 3. That's only 4 dice. And it takes a lot of rolls to get the 6 hits needed to see somebody like needle Hacking in.

[ChromeZephyr]

This is why I asked about it before the first mission started, Slacker. 'Cause now I'm terrified that because I didn't remove the wireless functionality of all of TW's cyberware and run it old-school DNI this would happen to him in the middle of a firefight.

[Slacker]

This is why I asked about it before the first mission started, Slacker. 'Cause now I'm terrified that because I didn't remove the wireless functionality of all of TW's cyberware and run it old-school DNI this would happen to him in the middle of a firefight.

Yeah, i know. Like I said, adventures aren't really designed with hackers that will do this sort of thing to the players. Think about it this way, it was a complex action for Needle to locate the hidden node, then two complex actions for her to actually log in with admin access this time (if the commlink had a higher firewall it could take longer). That's one full combat turn before she can even do anything to him. How many of the fights from the first mission lasted longer than 1 combat turn?
Hacking like this is good for runners who are doing it before the action starts, its not nearly as effective when doing it as a reaction to hostile forces attacking you.

[ChromeZephyr]

Well, okay. Guess I need to talk to Mac or Ms. Ching about a good Analyze program, making the Stealth program 6, and maybe adding an Agent to my 'link, then. Paranoia for a merc means a lot less chance you die when the shit hits that fan.

[Slacker]

Well, okay. Guess I need to talk to Mac or Ms. Ching about a good Analyze program, making the Stealth program 6, and maybe adding an Agent to my 'link, then. Paranoia for a merc means a lot less chance you die when the shit hits that fan.

That's cool and it totally makes sense from a roleplay stand point. I just want to make sure that you understand that I have no plans to do that sort of thing to you guys. I'm much more about letting the players do they cool stuff like that than bogging them down it trying to learn the ins and outs over the matrix rules regardless of if they are the hacker of the group or not just to protect themselves.

[ChromeZephyr]

Groovy. When Needle mentions how she disabled the roof sniper TW's expression will probably go like this. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/indifferent.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif) And then he'll be making a couple phone calls. And hopefully be wearing his brown pants.