Smartlinks: Is the bonus just too good? Options

[Johnny Reb]

Wow. My account name's still around?

Huzzah!

Ahem.

Sorry, just been gone for a few years and a bit shocked is all.

Regardless, I was eyeballing the massive advantage that a lowered target number grants and, well ... it seems a bit unfair. The edge that a Cyberlink gives is so large that I've had players for years not even consider not taking them. Even the *Mages* had them.

So, I was curious.

Would replacing the target mods for links (Including a laser sight) with a numerically-matching number of extra dice help this?

That is to say that a Smartlink would give +2 dice, while a laser sight would give _1, thus boosting the user's skill but not making so large of a difference?

Or would this just ruin game balance?

-- Johnny Reb

PS: Boosted Reflexes are described as a chemical upgrade of the body, rather than cybernetic implantation. Are they detectable in typical Cyber-scanning devices or would a chemical based (IE, 'Piss test' style) be needed instead?

[RedmondLarry]

Yes, smartlink in daylight with no concealment and no movement modifiers and no wound modifiers and no recoil modifiers gives a big advantage for ranged weapon attacks.

[mfb]

looking at the rest of SR--stunbolts, extra skill dice for adepts, spirits, drones--i don't see smartlinks as being all that powerful.

you know what, though? and i'm not advocating that anybody do this, or anything, but there would be an up side to doing it that way (though i'd double the dice, at least). and that is, it'd force characters to actually stop and aim, more often. combats would actually end up lasting a slightly more realistic length of time (six seconds, as opposed to three!).

but, then gun guys would suck and be almost as slow as mages.

[Krieger]

Like OurTeam so subtley said, if you are having problems with SL balance throw some extra modifiers in there, or just make sure you figure in all of the modifiers that should be there in the first place, like visibility, cover, range, wounds, etc. Or even just throw an annoying mage at them that casts Darkness or Mist or Chaotic World at them.

Keep in mind, also, that they don't stack with imaging systems (like an imaging scope), which limits you to a Rangefinder (-1 TN to Long and -2 for Xtrm ranges).

[Ol' Scratch]

Let's put it this way. If smartlinks never existed and someone around here offered it up as a house ruled implant, there would be a huge number of people screaming "munchkin" and pointing at him accusingly.

[TheScamp]

You could just give it a -1 bonus like the laser sight has. It could be argued that the targetting method isn't really any different, and the SL gives plenty of other goodies besides just the targeting modifier.

[mmu1]

Getting rid of smartlinks is just going to make PhysAds the best at both melee and ranged combat without even having to worry about a geas. Bad idea.

[Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_*]

[TheScamp]

[Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_*]

Not ... even close.

And if you play an Adept you can now get the same benefit.

[mfb]

[ShadowGhost]

Smartlinks have some advantages, but they still don't give you the biggest TN Mods at some things.

i.e. Extreme Range - With both a cybernetic Range Finder, and and Range Finder built into the weapons (you need both), your TN, if there are no other modifiers, is still 5.

Cybernetic Vision Mag 3 - your TN is 4. No weapon modifications required.

Don't forget, your weapons have to have the Smartlink II installed as well, if doesn't already have it, doubling the cost of the weapon (not all guns have a Smartlink II - some have a Smartlink 1 - which doesn't give you the same bonuses as Smartlink II. So you need to pay to upgrade the weapon.

Few weapons have a Rangefinder - you have to pay to add that to a gun, increasing its cost.

And if you only have a Smartlink I, even if the gun has SM II, you still only get the TN mods a SM 1 provides.

I don't have the books in front of me, but does adding a SM II also increase the availability of a gun? Do the PCs have a contact who can install them? How long do they keep said weapons - are they disposing them after runs to eliminate being traced back to the crime with the weapon?

SM IIs do provide a lot of bonuses, but they also add a lot of ¥ to the cost of running.

[Ol' Scratch]

Only 1,000 nuyen more out of the gate and only twice as much for the mod for the weapon. A few thousand for a permanent mod are pennies to a runner, especially a starting runner.

[Kagetenshi]

But many people don't do much in Long and Extreme ranges. They're certainly quite rare indoors, and not all that common outside either.

~J

[mfb]

depends on the weapon. for a pistol, Long range is only 30-40m; with most other weapon, that's Medium or even Short. but, yeah, most shots with most weapons in most of the games i've played have been in the Short or Medium ranges. at least, i think they have been... my main char has vis mag 3, so range has never been an issue.

[Kagetenshi]

Even 30 meters is a lot much of the time.

For example, if the dimensions I just looked up are correct, the Empire State Building's footprint is about 56 meters by 129 meters. Most firefights I've had thus far have happened in areas smaller than 1/8th the ground floor of the ESB.

~J

[mfb]

most 'runs take place in urban environments, so that makes sense. that changes pretty radically if you do any wilderness runs, but those tend to be rare.

[Arethusa]

[Krieger]

Looking back on it, I've realized that we (as the players) have been getting the benefit of ignorance as far as range is concerned for quite some time. We have a lot of pistol users, and the short range for pistols is (I don't have my books within arms reach) fairly short. Most of our shots would probably have come out to Medium range, if not Long. Like I said, just make sure you apply all of the appropriate modifiers and the SL systems won't be overpowered. After all, if you need more modifiers, you can just make them. :D

[TheScamp]

[ES_Riddle]

[tjn]

[Wounded Ronin]

You can always give the smartlink to a physad and either live with the 5 points of powers (still enough for 11 dice with one firearm base) or take some bullcrap geas.

[tjn]

1. A player not only does not choose which geas is applied, but the GM decides whether or not the Adept can even take a geas in the first place. If the GM gives an Adept a bullcrap geasa, the group has other problems then the power balance between differing character types.

2. Okay, so the Adept is throwing 11 dice with a SL. So what? The character has specialized himself into a one-trick pony. The adept will not have enough PPs to get a comparable speed, vision mods, survivability, or the versatility of a starting Sam.

You miss the forest for the trees when exclusivly focusing on how many dice each character archetype can toss.

[RedmondLarry]

I love the trees. They are each one so beautiful. They are worth examining and loving, each for its own unique inner beauty. They all have rough bark on the outside, making many think that they are unwanted or unloved, but I love the trees, and talking about them with others who have a similar love.