SRII (but also any edition) Options

[Lionesque]

You can use the VCR kind of like a control panel for controlling a number of semi-autonomous vehicles at once. Like those people who fly model airplanes with a huge box hanging around their neck. Only this is the 2050s, so itøs all digital, and you can control several at one, either as a group or by switching from one to the other. However, you can also 'jump in', and that's when the real fun begins.

When you 'jump in', the VCR translates input from the vehicles' sensors, motors etc. into something your brain can interpret, and then transmits those signals to your brain and (at least partially) overwrites the sensory input from your meat body. You 'become' the vehicle.

It seems to me that you sort of insist on the VCR being a kind of inefficient wired reflexes, but that is not at all how we have used the VCR at our table. Apples and oranges, really. So no, the VCR doesn't give you a combat buff, if by combat buff you mean the ability to use your meat hand to shoot your pistol faster or better. Rather, the VCR allows you to 'become' (e.g.) a sherman tank and navigate, dodge and shoot at enemies as if you were the tank. How's that for a combat buff?

[bannockburn]

Don't forget that you can record video with it. Super useful! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Ka_ge2020]

The more that I'm seeing arguments about the VCR, the more that I'm becoming convinced that a part of the "thing" about VCR's--like cyberdecking--is that it's very much style over substance. Put another way, it sounds cool, but when it comes down to it you can get information quicker and more easily with Google. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

I don't see this in anyway to diminish the arguments and ideas that are being presented. Indeed, thank you for making them!

You can use the VCR kind of like a control panel for controlling a number of semi-autonomous vehicles at once. Like those people who fly model airplanes with a huge box hanging around their neck. Only this is the 2050s, so itøs all digital, and you can control several at one, either as a group or by switching from one to the other. However, you can also 'jump in', and that's when the real fun begins.

Yep, of course. Anyone that has flown a drone by eye, screen, or FPV can get the gist of this. One imagines that the drones of the 2050s have far more onboard computational power than those on the current market, with the software capable of following specific instructions akin to, say, those that have GPS-programmable routes. Depending on that onboard hardware and software, "control[ling] several at on[c]e" can mean very different things.

For example, if they're "smart" drones (as it were) then that's not much of a stretch. Anyone can do that with a reasonable wi-fi/radio controller. On the other hand, if you can directly control multiple drones without relying upon smart drone software, then that is going to require being able to multi-task/thread in the 'ole noggin'. Hence the VCR. Being able to control multiple vehicles as if you were piloting them directly is a big deal. Not Essence 5 BD, but still it's going to require either the external deck or an internal VCR.

There are, of course, other ways for controlling larger number of drones, e.g. creating a mesh with a lead drone etc. And, yes, there's the hot sim.

When you 'jump in', the VCR translates input from the vehicles' sensors, motors etc. into something your brain can interpret, and then transmits those signals to your brain and (at least partially) overwrites the sensory input from your meat body. You 'become' the vehicle.

This sounds really neat and cool, but... Practically?

First, if you're getting data from the drone/vehicle, then it has to have the capability of providing that data. If it doesn't, then you're really trying to convert data into a sensation (or whatever) so that your brain can interpret it. Altitude converts to, say, a sense of vertigo.

Second, it's all good to say that you "become the vehicle" (or whatever) but how do you translate, say, rotor information in a quadcopter drone to bodily sensation and for it to be actually meaningful and actionable? Indeed, about the only way that the VCR makes sense as described is for controlling anthropomorphic drones/robots where the human brain can make up for all those complex algorithms like balance and "falling forward" is actually walking.

Also, why would you want to override the signals from your body? "Ouch! Ouch! I'm burning!" would be something that you might reasonably want to know.

So, I ask again, what would a VCR actually do?

From what I can tell, it allows the operator to directly control multiple vehicles or multiple actions within a vehicle without recourse to controlling software. That's a huge (BD!) deal. Being able to do that would make a huge mount of sense from the Rigger and the Spyder angle.

Your brain is also going to need to process a whole bunch of information faster than it would otherwise normally be able to do. Also a big deal. That lends credence to the previous argument about brain connectivity etc. so chalk that up for an argument for increased Essence cost over my previous argument about "It's just a computer, Jack."

Everything else, though? That really does seem like it's a vehicle/drone thing, right?

It seems to me that you sort of insist on the VCR being a kind of inefficient wired reflexes, but that is not at all how we have used the VCR at our table.

I cannot speak for your table, but I can say that this intimation comes directly from SR2 where the Essence costs and effects basically mirror Wired Reflexes--just for vehicles and a lot cheaper. That in and of itself would count for the "inefficient wired reflexes" thing.

What I am saying is that, based upon what people have been saying, the impact of the VCR is in a completely different area. That and, perhaps, that hot sim's are going to be completely over-rated (as they likely are with cyberdecks).

So no, the VCR doesn't give you a combat buff, if by combat buff you mean the ability to use your meat hand to shoot your pistol faster or better. Rather, the VCR allows you to 'become' (e.g.) a sherman tank and navigate, dodge and shoot at enemies as if you were the tank. How's that for a combat buff?

I misspoke/typed, likely because of the Essence Cost and rules that are focused on "reaction times."

What I'm really talking about is what the VCR does in real/game life. Already, the notion that you can multi-task to extreme to control multiple drones directly or, alternately, take up multiple crew requirements in a vehicle? That's a BD!

So how is being a tank a combat buff? For me the real question is not how it feels to be a tank, but how you can control a tank on your own without all the additional crew.

Don't forget that you can record video with it. Super useful! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Ha. Too true. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Lionesque]

For me the real question is not how it feels to be a tank, but how you can control a tank on your own without all the additional crew.

I guess you would need some sort of bridge between the sensors and controld of the vehicle and your meat brain to control the vehicle with your mind rather than with your meat body. Hey, here's an idea! Why not call it a 'Vehicle control rig'? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Ka_ge2020]

I guess you would need some sort of bridge between the sensors and controld of the vehicle and your meat brain to control the vehicle with your mind rather than with your meat body. Hey, here's an idea! Why not call it a 'Vehicle control rig'? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Ha ha. Very funny.

Methinks that you're deliberately misinterpreting for the comedy factor. Suffice to say that I think everyone can acknowledge that the VCR is a thing. The justification for that "thing" is, however, almost entirely meta--to make drivers "cool" and "distinct."

And that's fair enough, but for my purposes methinks that it just means that the VCR needs to be "reinvented" so that it makes a little bit more sense and doesn't get in the way of Jason Statham Transporter-esque character because he needed to load up Essence 5 VCR just to be able to drive hands-off while firing the turret and controlling a monitor drone. Or something like that.

So, as I'm seeing it now, for it to "make sense" and scale appropriately it would:

• Allow control of 1-3 direct vehicles/drones, though that's going to still come with some negative modifiers past the first.
• Give you some extra processing power to handle all the information that is coming in.
• Allow a certain amount of "hacking" so that the Rigger can "hotwire" the car of the future--break through its firewall etc.
• Chip jacks so that you can load up translation modules/protocols/etc. (or pre-coded hacks?).

All of this would be headware; a dedicated "cyberdeck" (or whatever you want to call it). Maybe maxing out at Essence 1.5.

Could you have a Rigger-"something" combination character? You could, I suppose, but it would be a "noob" character, where you're basically buying everything rather than doing it yourself. A "weekend warrior" of the Rigger world. A rigger character is going to be invested in driving and piloting skills, build/repair skills, probably some armory skills down the line. Indeed, that seems a far more relevant limiter for combo characters than forcing them to buy a traditional VCR for 5 Essence.

[KCKitsune]

Ha ha. Very funny.

Methinks that you're deliberately misinterpreting for the comedy factor. Suffice to say that I think everyone can acknowledge that the VCR is a thing. The justification for that "thing" is, however, almost entirely meta--to make drivers "cool" and "distinct."

And that's fair enough, but for my purposes methinks that it just means that the VCR needs to be "reinvented" so that it makes a little bit more sense and doesn't get in the way of Jason Statham Transporter-esque character because he needed to load up Essence 5 VCR just to be able to drive hands-off while firing the turret and controlling a monitor drone. Or something like that.

So, as I'm seeing it now, for it to "make sense" and scale appropriately it would:

• Allow control of 1-3 direct vehicles/drones, though that's going to still come with some negative modifiers past the first.
• Give you some extra processing power to handle all the information that is coming in.
• Allow a certain amount of "hacking" so that the Rigger can "hotwire" the car of the future--break through its firewall etc.
• Chip jacks so that you can load up translation modules/protocols/etc. (or pre-coded hacks?).

All of this would be headware; a dedicated "cyberdeck" (or whatever you want to call it). Maybe maxing out at Essence 1.5.

Could you have a Rigger-"something" combination character? You could, I suppose, but it would be a "noob" character, where you're basically buying everything rather than doing it yourself. A "weekend warrior" of the Rigger world. A rigger character is going to be invested in driving and piloting skills, build/repair skills, probably some armory skills down the line. Indeed, that seems a far more relevant limiter for combo characters than forcing them to buy a traditional VCR for 5 Essence.

I think that you can backport the VCR from SR 4 into SR 2. The advantage is that if you have the new VCR you just get a bonus of 2 extra dice, but you have to have a separate form of reflex augmentation to get extra actions either in meat space or hot sim rigging of the vehicle.


This would allow a bad ass driver who can do more than drive. If your driver has the NEW VCR™, a cranial cyberdeck, and a high grade Synaptic Accelerator (SR II version) then he can have the Essence left over to get cool toys.

[Ka_ge2020]

I think that you can backport the VCR from SR 4 into SR 2. The advantage is that if you have the new VCR you just get a bonus of 2 extra dice, but you have to have a separate form of reflex augmentation to get extra actions either in meat space or hot sim rigging of the vehicle.


This would allow a bad ass driver who can do more than drive. If your driver has the NEW VCR™, a cranial cyberdeck, and a high grade Synaptic Accelerator (SR II version) then he can have the Essence left over to get cool toys.

This is in essence (no pun) what this discussion has led me too. Again, I wanted to thank people for their contributions. Even if we didn't agree, I got a lot out of this.

Even with a reduced Essence cost, I think that Riggers are going to be as distinct as other niches because of the sheer amount of skills that anyone but a poseur and, well, that kind of 'runner is not going to last too long even with mommy/daddy's money. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Lionesque]

Methinks that you're deliberately misinterpreting for the comedy factor.

Methinks not. Methinks you have decided to disagree with the cost of the VCR while you ignore and/or downplay what it allows a character to do. One simple solution would be to just reduce the cost at your table and call it a day.

Jason Statham's Transporter is not a rigger. He cannot do what a rigger can do, and a rigger (probably) couldn't do what the Transporter can do in terms of combat, social skills, etc. If you want a character like the Transporter, build a street sam and give him a boatload of points in Driving.

[Cochise]

If you want a character like the Transporter, build a street sam and give him a boatload of points in Driving.

Or go the Adept route for both the melee prowess and some points of increased ability levels on driving cars.

[Ka_ge2020]

Is it just me, or has this thread run its course?

Methinks not. Methinks you have decided to disagree with the cost of the VCR while you ignore and/or downplay what it allows a character to do.

My bad. I was just hoping that it was done for comedic reasons.

With that said, however, I think that you're barking up the wrong tree. While I do think that the VCR is waaaaayyy over-priced in terms of Essence for what it does, this doesn't actually translate to downplaying or ignoring what it does in the world of Shadowrun. Or, at least I believe so. Consider that I have been talking about:

• Being able to control one or more vehicles/drones. Check.
• Giving you the bonus of being able to process the huge amount of information that would be coming from the aforesaid.
• Being an advanced enough computer implant that it can actually run VR/hot sim (this might be dedicated).
• Introduced the notion that different vehicles might need "translator modules" to interface with different vehicles, and also that illegal versions of these might be required to "hack" vehicles to steal them. (Need to figure out how this interfaces with SR4-style hacking and rigging where there isn't some artificial barrier between them.)

Not quite sure how that is nerfing Riggers. Again, quite the opposite as it seems to give them a bit more agency in the world rather than just being the meat-sack that drives the vehicles and drones.

I'm sorry that you have such a problem with me feeling that the Essence price is not warranted and, further, that the explanations for it being bodyware are insufficient. As with any interpretation of a gaming universe, I'm talking about "my table"--clearly--as I have no skin in the writing or publication of Shadowrun.

If there is indeed one place that I have a problem with when it comes to SR2 is its overreliance on the VR to such an extent that it is a practical McGuffin. While this is present in the original rules with Decking, it is more so with Rigging where just throwing VR/hot sim is seemingly a panacea for "future magic." After all, hot sim into a plane and you're suddenly flying like a bird...

... Except if you really think about it there are some many problems with that. That is, however, a conversation that I'm seeing as clearly not for this board.

Jason Statham's Transporter is not a rigger. He cannot do what a rigger can do, and a rigger (probably) couldn't do what the Transporter can do in terms of combat, social skills, etc. If you want a character like the Transporter, build a street sam and give him a boatload of points in Driving.

If you're coming from purely RAW then you might be right. And, yet, I kinda doubt it. VCR 1 (he only seems to drive one vehicle), some Wired, driving, and martial arts. Good enough approximation in SR terms.

Another system that is a little bit more nuanced might make it difficult. Or RAW SR if you demand that to be "The Transporter" he need to have awesomez VCR 3 just for the reflex buff.

[Ka_ge2020]

One of the reasons that I'm trying to get my head around all of this to make sure that everything works for the setting...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSJE3r5aEtw

Furthermore, the AR/VR thread has been (eventually) a conceptual game changer for me. Less with Rigging but certainly with Decking. Thanks for those that engaged positively and in good faith.

[Bodak]

In SRII they're identical at 2, 3, and 5 for Level 1, 2, and 3, respectively. I truly understand what is meant to do, and reacting at the speed of thought without having to involve your meat sack makes a whole bunch of sense. It's that I'm not seeing--other than the mechanics, which is fair enough--a reason who you need to do the same to the body.

Put another way, if a VCR replicates Wired Reflexes, then the Rigger should also get the benefit of Wired Reflexes.

What if they act as Wired Reflexes in disposable bodies (easier and cheaper to replace most demolished drones than to reconstruct a demolished cybersam) but not in meatspace... and they act as Skillwires in disposable bodies but not in meatspace? Just like meatspace Skillwires need a Chipjack, remote control Skillwires (a VCR) require an Encephalon. Rigger 2 (SR2) p17 shows that an encephalon allows a remote controlling rigger to make use of Activesofts in their vehicle/drone body. If the rigger's body is strapped into the getaway van and their drone(s) are with the team, jacked with wired reflexes and skillware, that could be potent.

But the VCR/Encephalon aren't acting like Wired Reflexes/Skillwires/Chipjack in meatspace because they aren't superconductive expressways from the spinal column to muscles in meatspace. They're superconductive expressways from brain centres to the datajack and thence to the Remote Control Deck. So it would make sense that they can convey Skillsoft signals remotely just as superfast as rigger skills learnt with Karma. In which case, why isn't there a cyberware suite giving massive discount to customers installing Wired Reflexes alongside Skillwires? It's not as if you're going to lay down two separate signal pathways right beside each other in that cybersurgery.

This was deprecated in SR3. Rigger 3 brought us Autosofts (R3.44, R3.99, R3.142) cheap skills that augment the very expensive Pilot that you're referring to when describing "smart drones" that can handle themselves. Meanwhile the Encephalon's 3rd edition firmware update removed the skillsoft functionality (Man & Machine p20 / Rigger 3 p27).

On the other hand, SR2 doesn't allow for Riggers doing hacking unless they're willing to split their skill base and having to invest in another technology.

Matrix (SR3) p28 also raises all TNs by 1 when a decker with a VCR uses a cyberdeck.

I would agree with Cochise that the VCR is intercepting all the traffic in the central nervous system bar breathing. It's installing relays in all the major neural pathways saying if the VCR is engaged, traffic goes over the wireless and if it isn't, traffic goes down the meat tubes. That's pretty invasive:

Just for the record: The brain is part of the central nervous system and if I where to break down the various connections that I referenced with regards of the VCR and the "assuming the body" concept then they'd roughly look like this:

• frontal lobe connectivity for access to skill
• motor cortex and cerebellum to access / coordinate all the various control functions of the vehicle while applying those skills that come from the frontal lobe
• sensory cortex and occipital cortex to receive the sensor information provided by the vehicle
• limbic system as a (small) part of the "reaction enhancement" in that connection.
• spine just because the ASIST technology needs a way for filtering / shutting down the rigger's physical body sensations and reactions while the rigger is using those connected brain sections for the desired rigging purposes.

If VCRs improve Reaction for the purposes of vehicles and drones, and vehicle/drone skills are Reaction-linked, a better VCR raises the ceiling for how high a rigger can raise skills with Good Karma before hitting diminishing returns.

I wish Kagetenshi were still here to defend the VCR3 (despite its Essence cost)!

[Kagetenshi]

I’m sad that no one remembers On Cyberware.

For example, being able to move your arms faster in no way means that the vehicle is going to have a better turn radius.

Control Pool is based on Reaction which uses Quickness. Combat Pool is usable for attacks while jumped in and is still calculated with Quickness contributing a third of the value. Mechanically this keeps Riggers from becoming a 1.5 Attribute character (INT critical, WIL desirable, CHR handy, everything else at 1), but for in-universe justification see below. It’s why the paraplegic Rigger isn’t actually practical mechanically.

On the other hand, SR2 doesn't allow for Riggers doing hacking unless they're willing to split their skill base and having to invest in another technology.

You need to buy a deck and programs, so it’s very difficult to have a Riggerdecker out of chargen given how expensive vehicles and drones are, but Riggers are already incentivized to have Computer skill by pre-programmed drone commands and several other more niche uses. The only barriers are nuyen (admittedly a high barrier) and the Rigger tendency to stay holed up in the van away from airgapped systems—I routinely had a satellite uplink in my Riggermobiles and I don’t think I had to work that hard to fit it in. Even airgaps can be managed by drones jacking in and retransmitting.

If you can find the cash (or the gear outright), it’s a very natural second role in SR3. Hacking requires Strength and a Combat Axe, pretty far from the Rigger’s wheelhouse (though at least it’s cheap).

From the pure assessment of the tech, rather than the mechanics (and inferred designer intent), I once again disagree with you. I'm seriously seeing no reason that the rigger needs to interface with their vehicle except insofar as the conceit is that you improve the body and you improve the mind.

I find it far more likely that the VCR actually improves the brain than the body.

My view of the description of the VCR and jumping in is that it’s structurally comparable to Wired Reflexes. The fluff (and the massive mechanical benefits) suggest a jumped-in Rigger operating a vehicle/drone as naturally as their own body, which to me suggests integration not just into the CNS but also into the peripheral nervous system to the point of harvesting entirely-peripheral reflexes for vehicle control. I also interpret the VCR as having some ability to control the body, since otherwise it would be impossible to Rig a motorcycle, but while I’m pretty sure nothing has suggested it isn’t possible I’ll grant that I’m not sure anything has said that it is, so I lose that angle if you reject it. Anyway, this also gives some justification to Quickness remaining relevant—peripheral nervous system performance is often highly connected to physical performance. It’s why people tend to experience large performance gains when they first start exercising—the signal conduction of related nerves can be a major limiting factor in untrained individuals and improves more quickly than (and simultaneously with) the muscles signaled by the nerves.

Someone said something about not finding the TN mods; SR3 p134 has Driving Test modifiers with -VCR level listed if jumped in, and several other tests have -2xVCR level listed.

~J

[Tiralee]

Dinosaur noises from the past here:

VCR was a way to really squeeze all the performance from a vehicle, drone, chopper, whatever. It made the meat talk properly to the metal, without that pesky intellect being in the way and used a big fat trunk line into the lizard part of the brain to do so. Decking is an interface, Rigging is posessing the machine until you are the machine.

It was expensive (Essence and Nuyen) and niche, but you had a rigger and a decker giving overwatch, a Rigger and a sammy when making a hole in the wall for the troll to fit through, a rigger and the corpo spy when infiltrating and a rigger when you really needed somewhere to go, fast, and safe.

I remember the VCR rig reducing the TN's as well (which got pretty damn high when in a running firefight with a stolen Siver Brumby vs a Nightsky (the Brumby won) ) but it was really geared at player who liked their toys and who could tinker and make them sit up and beg. Who cares if you're 200lb, 5'2, have asthma and allergies for days when your Steel Lynx (ie: Jazzed-up-Troll-with-an-assualt-cannon-inna-box!) can roll down stairs (alone or in pairs) and melts through your neighbor's dog?
That and the obscenity that the Stratos-9 roto-drone (Comes free with ECM 2, External Fixed Hardpoint w/MMG(w/GasVent-III and 500 rds. ammo), Remote-Control Interface and Rigger Adaptation!).

As with all implants, upgrades and shiny things you can buy, yes, there are other options, but this is flavour with a pointed direction for character. Anyone could buy enhanced articulation, Riggers bought VCR.

If you can fork out that VCR3 with the trimmings, that means you CAN afford to lose a 40K drone on a mission because your cut's going to buy it back ten-fold, all from the safety and comfort of your armoured personnel carrier disguised as a garbage truck. All this while the sammpy's picking narcoject darts out of his ass and the deckers' not feeling so good after sparky gave his lobes a tickle, and medicine man Running-with-Scissors-YOLO ain't coming back after that guardian element went all ground zero on his astral...

It's not just the numbers, it's the nuances.
Sure, you can trick out an adept that looks like elven Cary Grant and drives like One-Punch Man late for a shopping Sale, but that's huunting numbers, rather than playing as a character,

-Tir!

[Kagetenshi]

I remember the VCR rig reducing the TN's as well

You remember correctly, more or less. In what is best considered a case of “Shadowrun being Shadowrun”, the only TN reduction in the gear description is defaulting Vehicle skills to Reaction at +2 instead of +4, but the modifiers for the Driving test give -VCR rating and Accelerating/Braking/Positioning/Ramming/Hiding all give -2xVCR.

(which got pretty damn high when in a running firefight with a stolen Siver Brumby vs a Nightsky (the Brumby won) )

I was going to say it isn’t a fair fight, but it’s actually an interesting matchup—4/3 vs 4/8, but the Nightsky has the edge in top speed and acceleration (and armor), so if the Brumby is pursuing the Nightsky you really need to do something fast to keep the Nightsky from just outrunning the Brumby. The other way around, Brumby just needs a way to take the fight offroad and it’ll just eat the Nightsky.

If you can fork out that VCR3 with the trimmings, that means you CAN afford to lose a 40K drone on a mission because your cut's going to buy it back ten-fold, all from the safety and comfort of your armoured personnel carrier disguised as a garbage truck.

If you can fork out (and get the skill), you can often avoid losing it (though keep in mind that you’re looking at another ~25k for Encryption unless you cheese the Vehicle Design rules to take advantage of low chassis multipliers). I suppose R3 is enough to be pretty safe at 15k, but R5 is where you really collapse the MIJI rules into the J rules.

(Much like how in Star Trek the Cardassians were the only ones who took computer security seriously, in Shadowrun the Riggers are the only ones who take Encryption seriously.)

~J

[Tiralee]

->(which got pretty damn high when in a running firefight with a stolen Siver Brumby vs a Nightsky (the Brumby won) )

-->I was going to say it isn’t a fair fight, but it’s actually an interesting matchup—4/3 vs 4/8, but the Nightsky has the edge in top speed and acceleration (and armor), so if the Brumby is pursuing the Nightsky you really need to do something fast to keep the Nightsky from just outrunning the Brumby. The other way around, Brumby just needs a way to take the fight offroad and it’ll just eat the Nightsky.

Heh, heh, heh, fine then. Here goes...


"Settle down folks, and I shall recount to thee the tale of Sparky and the ride of the Silver Brumby...come around, come around, for I am old now, and this is a tale from the past..."

"Legends have it Sparky was a Loa-possesed corpse hungering for vengeance and cheap thrills, others claim that he was an exiled elven prince, booted from the Tir after a rite of Succession went sideways and killed off a few potential nobles, some would even whisper he was really a bioform suit, driven remotely by a disembodied brain in a vat. I can say all of these wild guesses are wrong - he was simply an elven street sam with a mouth and an ego that made things worse."

"Sparky liked to push limits, and he found himself in a pickle of his own brewing, mouthing off to not one, not three, but a DOZEN go-gangs, claiming he was the fastest thing that rolled through Seattle, and put down money, big money, to prove it. Drek got real when the first panzer-jockeys swapped their stubby wings for 4, 6 and 10 wheels. A truce was called and driver tryouts began...yes, THOSE ones. You see them re-enacted on the trid now, but I breathed in those fumes, tasted the burnt rubber and wiped the blood off my face when they failed. After the combat biker league got wind of things, we had a few lower corps sniff around, all the while Sparky, oblivious to the volcano of hurt he'd triggered pulled a few runs and lay low, honing his skills on the sims and tweaking a custom ride, a 2nd-hand BMW."

"Raceday...children, raceday is a misnomer. Forget the trids, it was at 2am on a Tuesday night, not some high-noon bulldrek. It was Seattle at it's finest, misty, windy and with a hint of acid fog rolling in from Renton."
"Sparky rolled up and, to what I imagine was his horror, found himself on the starting line with a matchup of the most terrifying street monsters that had ever cruised the I90. There was even a fully-armed and freshly-stolen APC, lifted from the National Guard, rumbling on the blocks while the mad bastards who stole it worked frantically to install a beer-keg of nitro to the half-tank."

"That wasn't the worst of it - there were Nightskies, nameless sand buggies, two heavy Trailblazers and, I swear I'm not making this up, a flying VW Electro. I have no idea who or what that was, or if a free-spirit saw the commotion and wanted to join in on the fun, but there it was, bobbing about on the starting line."

"Anyway, the old Sparkster ran with a crew of, what would now be called, "Freelance, Fast-Response Security Specialists". And they were equally nonplussed to find that what they thought was going to be a soy-beer and pretzel tailgate party had turned into, uh, I don't know...Australia? So there was a quick huddle and vote to see if they would quickly disappear and leave Sparky to his fate."

"As he'd saved at least one of them a few times, it was a narrow "Frag around and find out" vote to stay, with some of the more squishy team members hanging out in the armored Assault Hovercraft that they'd liberated from some very surprised Azzies a couple of months back, from over the border way. While they were there, they figured the best entertainment they could have would be to ensure that Sparky made it to the Finish Line."

"While THIS little talk was happening, Sparky's ride was boosted by some spirited onlookers and was subsequently blown to pieces when one of the Locals with a Grand Dragon thought he was welshing on his bet."

"Yep, his pride and joy, and the only chance he had of making it out of there alive, turned into a spatter of metal confetti bouncing from the armored windshield of the Hovercraft..."

"You could see the desperation in his eyes - He needed a set of wheels, or his attempt would be void."
"And there was no way, no how, a contestant would trade their ride 10 minutes to start."
"So he did whatever a smart Shadowrunner would do - he boosted a ride and called in his markers."

"The ride was a Nissan Brumby, a regular workhorse, in good condition and secured behind a set of maglocks what would make a bank blush."
"Didn't mean a lick of difference to their walking riot squad Kronk, who cut through the brick wall with a Dikoted Axe and then troll-handled that thing out."
"Don't ask me how they knew it was there, but they had the skills of some pretty scary people and Kronk was the nice one."

"So, the ride. Standard. Nothing fancy. Nothing special. Nothing in that thing after a quick clean up but fuel and the driver's seat."
"No seatbelt, no airbags, no handbrake, nil sweat. Only one seat and a set of fuzzy dice that Sparky swore were calling to him."

"Must have been, considering that drive..."



Want me to continue..? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
-Tir

[Lionesque]

Moar, Grampa! What happn'd next? Tell us! Tell us pleeeeeeeease!

[Sendaz]

more please

[nezumi]

oops -- realized I responded to a february post.

[Bigity]

As Wired Reflexes and the VCR are "on the line" as it were, what do they actually do?

I'm not talking exclusively in terms of mechanics but how one might "fluffily" talk about them.

For example, Wired Reflexes buffs your body to react faster, but how does that impact the mental characteristics of the character? Is it just about getting the body to diminish the reaction time, or does the implant allow the character to process information faster?

So, to put this into practice, I imagine that there is a "headware" component of "Wired Reflexes" that speeds up the 'ole noggin' in the same way that, say, a Cerebral Booster (SR2, Shadowtech) does? Something that breaks down the barriers between observation and nerve reaction?

As someone that is trying to approach SR holistically, getting the nuances down is really important to me. Put another way, thanks for your patience.

VCRs take feedback from rigged drones/vehicles and convert it to something your brain understands. Nothing particularly special there, deckers get this with datajacks (and a deck or program carrier).

What VCRs also do is take those impulses and translate them to your meat body. Revving the engine - gets your heart pumping. Think of it like replacing the instinct of the rigger's body with a vehicle analog. Ducking a punch becomes swerving to avoid flying debris.

Where decking is all mental (except for black ice I guess), you think about opening the file and your icon does it. Revving your engine for a rigger is literally that.

At least, that's the way I always thought about it.

[pbangarth]

Both Matrix and Astral actions are much faster than physical, often being described as "at the speed of tbought". So I don't think the wired reflexes do much to the brain itself.

The cerebral booster you mention is, I think, less a speeding up of serial thought processes than an increasing of parallel processing.