 Ways I'm an Idiot, ...and things not to forget *next* time |
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 Apr 23 2004, 07:07 PM
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#1
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Decker on the Threshold  Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,922 Joined: 14-March 04 Member No.: 6,156  |
The short list of things not to forget about when you want to be a runner:
1) Buy more contacts. Legwork sucks without a lot of 'em. The two freebies are not even a minimum; they're almost a joke. 2) Buy broadcast encryption. Rating 5 is livable (more than 3 9's to decrypt), but rating 7 is a good value (more than 4 11's to decrypt). 3) If you're gonna be a sam, then be one: buy wired reflexes. 4) If you have natural thermographic vision don't get replacement eyes. Natural thermovision beats out cybereyes almost every time. Anything I forgot? |
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Apr 23 2004, 07:16 PM
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#2
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,901 Joined: 19-June 03 Member No.: 4,775 |
Well, wired's not absolutely necessary for a sam. There are other ways of doing it. But you do have the right idea, overall.
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Apr 23 2004, 07:18 PM
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#3
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,011 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
I'd say Rating 3 encryption is livable and Rating 5 is better. It's a rare situation when you'll need more than R5.
~J |
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Apr 23 2004, 07:28 PM
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#4
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,138 Joined: 10-June 03 From: Tennessee Member No.: 4,706 |
1) Depends on your character and the team. The decker should have matrix contacts, the sammie should have mainly gear contacts, the face should have ALL the contacts ;)
2) Broadcast encryption 3 is more than enough for a starting character. The odds of someone getting two 7s on the decryption roll are not that good, considering a rating 10 decryption system only breaks it 50% of the time and a rating 6 about 25% of the time. Just the fact that it's encrypted costs your opponent enough time that you can change encryption codes and be on another set of channels entirely. 3) That's the difference between a street sam and a weapons specialist, in my opinion. Some sort of good reflex boost. However, I've recently become more interested in the idea of characters who don't use a reflex boost... but that depends entirely on the game you're playing in. If you regularly get ambushed and shot at, by all means, boost yourself through the roof. You can always yank them out later. Try to squeeze a reflex trigger in there, though. No good putting a round between a five year old's eyes while you're walking down the street and they make a sudden movement. 4) Amen. If you're an adept, spring for that .25 power point power, too. Also don't forget to slap in some kind of lowlight and flare comp (you can do that with goggles if need be). 5. Skillwires are your friend. Take a look at them before you write them off (I used to). 6. Having a chipjack or knowsoft link is a great way to blow .1-.2 essence. Just being able to read lingasofts can save your hoop. 7. A good sammy can take a gunshot wound. A great sammy never gets shot at in the first place. 8. Cyber eyes have a total accessory cap of 1.2 essence. Yes, you can hit that mark. No, it's not hard. 9. Routers are your friend. Get all of your cyber to talk to each other for ultra efficiency ;) 10. Always match up the grades of items and accessories (ie, alpha eyes require alpha modifications). Oh, and here's Warpath's base cyber load, just as an example of what I've been leaning toward lately. [ Spoiler ]
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Apr 23 2004, 07:42 PM
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#5
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 608 Joined: 9-July 02 From: California Member No.: 2,955 |
I've preferred to go the route of "Heavy Recon". Ear and eye recorders, etc., with either the speed to keep me from being hit, or the body and armor to allow me to ignore it (but enough stealth to make sure no one shoots me to begin with!). I get whatever info neccessary, and when the run does happen, we're prepared to the last drop.
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Apr 23 2004, 08:18 PM
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#6
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Target Group: Members Posts: 48 Joined: 12-January 04 Member No.: 5,973 |
[5. Skillwires are your friend. Take a look at them before you write them off (I used to).]
I love skillwires...especially when you've got the rest of the hardware to use it properly. If you want skillwires, get the expert driver, the chip jukebox, and I think there's one or two more things to grab as well...it's worth it (task pool anyone?). If you're going to do this at character gen, take resources A...you can but A WHOLE LOT of rating 6 skills and anything else you're going to NEED. |
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Apr 23 2004, 08:32 PM
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#7
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Decker on the Threshold Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,922 Joined: 14-March 04 Member No.: 6,156 |
You guys really think rat 3 encryption's enough to start with? Hm. I guess getting more than 2 7s is a bit tough for most; point taken.
And oh boy did I see how cool skillwires are. Check it out: [ Spoiler ] Heck, while I'm at it, here's my gear: [ Spoiler ] and skills: [ Spoiler ] All in all, I'm not doing too bad, I think, but there's still lots of little mistakes (such as stuff I noted above) that smart runners wouldn't forget about. Anything else I'm forgetting? |
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Apr 23 2004, 08:38 PM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 214 Joined: 7-January 03 From: Wilton NH Member No.: 3,872 |
As a GM, I love skillwires for characters. Everytime I hear that weapon skills or B/R skills should be combined, I point to skillwires & all the various 'softs... Spend the karma or the :nuyen: to do it right.... or default. Your choice. 8) |
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Apr 23 2004, 08:39 PM
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#9
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,011 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
You aren't going to have two sevens on average until you hit 12 dice, which is impossible to do with just the decrypter. Yes, Electronic Warfare specializations can add some dice, but most people aren't going to be wandering around with Rating 10 decrypters and all.
~J |
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Apr 23 2004, 08:44 PM
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#10
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
Your skill soft system has a maximum rating of a single level 4 normal skill, or a single level 5 specialization. WHy do you have three jacks?
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Apr 23 2004, 08:54 PM
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#11
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,751 Joined: 8-August 03 From: Neighbor of the Beast Member No.: 5,375 |
Echo that! Having a datajack w/ a knowsoft link if ideal. Datajacks help you blend in more no matter where you are as long as you accessorize. ;) and the knowsoft link, for 1K (2k for Alpha) how can you go wrong? Its in the perfect "what if?" price and essence range. |
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Apr 23 2004, 09:11 PM
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#12
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Decker on the Threshold Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,922 Joined: 14-March 04 Member No.: 6,156 |
'cause I didn't know there was such thing as a skillsoft jukebox until someone brought it up here. :oops: That's a biggie too; I can save almost half an essence point taking that out and playing with stuff. Hey, I just thought of another number to add. :P |
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Apr 23 2004, 09:35 PM
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#13
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,138 Joined: 10-June 03 From: Tennessee Member No.: 4,706 |
I stick with rating 3-4 skill wires and chips because the prices are exponential (MP size is rating squared times 3, for general skills). The cash cost and essence costs are low enough that you can add a large set of spare skills to a character without impacting your cash or essence overly much. When combined with a CED, you're looking at 6 or 7 dice (+1 for most things if you took enhanced articulation... and why wouldn't you?) for most tasks, which should be more than enough.
I generally chip things which I don't need often, like B/R skills, electronics, car, etc. Keep in mind that a skillsoft jukebox fed through a chipjack has to be vocally or manually controlled (the mental switching is just for datajacks). It's also a good idea to keep another jack able to feed lingasofts. You don't want to try to negotiate in Japanese with only one chip (the language or the negotiations) chipped at a time, do you? |
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Apr 23 2004, 10:20 PM
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#14
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Senior GM Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 1,406 Joined: 12-April 03 From: Redmond, WA Member No.: 4,442 |
At the far end of the spectrum is the Skillwires 6 with enough MP to host THREE activesofts at rating 6. (324MP) (976,000 :nuyen:). Along with a CED[3] (15,000 :nuyen:) and an Etiquette 3 chip, he's got 6,300 :nuyen: left over for a pistol, secure jacket, and a lifestyle. ;)
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Apr 23 2004, 10:32 PM
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#15
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King of the Hobos Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,117 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 127 |
And always, always, get Improved Sense: Vision Magnification. Only costs .25 of a power point and counts as rating three. Okay so you don't get to use a smartlink with it, but it's nice to always be shooting at Short ranges with a base target number of four. :) |
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Apr 24 2004, 12:29 AM
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#16
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Decker on the Threshold Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,922 Joined: 14-March 04 Member No.: 6,156 |
Wow, you guys chip Negotiations and Ettiquite? You're brave, man. :) I'd never chip a Cha skill (heck, IMO they shouldn't be available as Activesofts in the first place.) And actually, couldn't you DNI-mod a jukebox to accept mental commands? It'd require taking up a datajack, but it's a far cry cheaper than a multislot chipjack and three ECDs. And yeah, I guess skillwires 5 w/ 50Mp is a bit expensive and kinda overkill. I probably should have gone with 4 and 48Mp, or even 4 and 32.
But about that flare comp and stuff; how do you get that in goggles/shades? I don't think I've seen any of that in these books. Or do you mean Smart goggles? |
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Apr 24 2004, 12:32 AM
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#17
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
edit: deh, i'm dum.
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Apr 24 2004, 12:42 AM
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#18
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,512 Joined: 16-August 03 From: Northampton Member No.: 5,499 |
Ok, granted it's a house rule, but in my games you have to declear an aim action to gain vision mag bonus'es. Otherwise you'd be losing your perifarly vision. No corsponsedence shall be taken up with this.. |
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Apr 24 2004, 12:54 AM
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#19
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
if you've got vision mag, get a laser sight. if you're an adept, select sound filter isn't a bad sense to pick up--5 extra perception dice for .25 pp.
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Apr 24 2004, 03:22 AM
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#20
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Free Spirit Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,948 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Bloomington, IN UCAS Member No.: 1,920 |
With 3 chipjacks you could slot a biotech chip and get the CED bonu, and a medicine knowledge chip for complementary dice and a datachip with instructions for how that new piece of cyber connects. Or other similar set ups. Like Negotiation/Ettiquette, Psychology, and a linguasoft.
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Apr 24 2004, 03:37 AM
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#21
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,138 Joined: 10-June 03 From: Tennessee Member No.: 4,706 |
By canon they are. And if you get right down to it, there's at least some sense in Etiquette being chipable, since it's a lot of not stepping on toes and knowing the right ways to ask things. Negotiations is similar... there are only so many different ways to bargain or fast talk your way past someone. If you view it more as a filter that you feed your intended actions into and the chip takes those actions and makes them fit what it considers "good practices" it can work. Sort of. I'd never do it for a face type character, though.
According to the description, you don't have to DNI it to get it to work that way. It comes equipped to take mental commands through a datajack (only a datajack, chipjacks don't do two way traffic very well). The tradeoff is that you can't CED a datajack.
Why would you go with 4/32? A general rating 4 chip is 48 MP, and that's where the real bang for your buck comes from (not from the specialized skills at 32 MP). I'd do 5/75, 4/48, or 3/36. If you decide you're going to use a lot of skillsoft options later, you can up the MP ability of the system as a straight upgrade cost (see Cannon Companion). In general, I'd rather be running rating 3 general chips than rating 4 specializations.
I misspoke. You need to get the flare comp as a power/cyber/bio thing. Low light and thermo are available in goggle form (SR3 p 288 & 290). As for vision magnification... Maybe it's not so much magnification as additional image resolution so that you really can see every spec of dirt on the hill a quarter mile without having to zoom in necessarily. I've always let it function as the book says, as an automatic thing. |
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Apr 24 2004, 03:49 AM
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#22
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,616 Joined: 15-March 04 Member No.: 6,158 |
Actually, Skillwires are limited by Pulse *and* ASIST. To run three standard Rating 6 Activesofts (108 Mp) simultaneously, you have to have Skillwires 18/324. With a rating of 18, not to mention the nearly 3,000,000 nuyen pricetag, that makes it a wee bit out of touch for a starting character, too. SR3 p. 301: "...these determine the total rating and total size of all activesofts..." CC p. 60 confirms this: "...ASIST rating (maximum and total skillsoft rating)..." |
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Apr 24 2004, 03:55 AM
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#23
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,138 Joined: 10-June 03 From: Tennessee Member No.: 4,706 |
Pluscode! Err... maybe not.
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Apr 24 2004, 04:02 AM
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#24
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Grand Master of Run-Fu Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,840 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Tir Tairngire Member No.: 178 |
1. Amen. You can never have too many contacts. Buy more, and don't forget to invest in some Level 2's as well.
2. Only if you're going to be the one handling coms. If you're not buying any gear, don't bother. If you're playing the com specialist, then buy everything at the max you can. 3. Wired isn't a necessity. Stealth Sams can be just as effective; if your essence is tied up with other things, boosted or (if your GM allows it) Snyaptic Accelerators can be just as effective. But yeah, a reflex aug is always a good idea. 4. That depends on how many things you want to stuff into the eye. If it's essence-cheaper to get the extras as retinal mods, do it. If it's about the same or only slightly more expensive, then stick with the natural. But if you're loading down your eyeballs with everything they can fit, you may as well go for the full replacement. (My idiotic story-- I didn't realize for a long time that I *could* get things like Flare Comp as retinal mods-- I thought I needed a full eye replacement to get it.) 5. Skillwires are quite useful, but don't depend on them or sacrifice too much for them. My additions: * Buy a smartlink. If your character's going to take any cyber, get a smartlink. It's way too useful for the cost. * If you're going to get any bio, get Enhanced Articulation. It gives you some huge bonuses, and it's perfectly legal to boot. * You may have gotten a lot of guns or only a few; but whatever you are, or how many you have, remember this-- Don't forget to buy ammo! * If you do remember to buy ammo, don't forget to buy clips to put them in! |
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Apr 24 2004, 04:10 AM
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#25
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,138 Joined: 10-June 03 From: Tennessee Member No.: 4,706 |
Also, never underestimate the value of a good taser. It's got crappy range, but it's about the only thing a street sam has that can deal with spirits early on (or at all, in some cases).
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