[X] My Assistant

[Nine-9]

chipjack expert drivers are horribly broken pieces of kit, so abuse the hell out of them if your GM allows it. Combine with enhanced articulation for extra cheap fun

[JaronK]

Okay, after re-reading the rules, I think I've got it, but let me know if this all works. I've got Rating 6 skillwires (the character is based around chipping, so I went all out), Rating 3 CED, and Enhanced Articulation, plus a 1000mp Optical chip in a cyberhand. Let's say for the moment I have three activesofts: Athletics 6, Drive Motorcycle 6, and Demolitions 6. I'm trying to escape a building by running to my bike.

I've got some explosives planted in the building already, and I've got all three activesofts loaded into memory (which took one simple action per load, but that happened earlier). The gaurds spot me as I'm on my way out and start shooting, and I've got demolitions active, so I remotely blow up the explosives (using 9 dice, 6 from the skill and 3 from the CED... or perhaps should I have made that roll when I planted them, and maybe got the Articulation bonus as well? No matter). This distracts the gaurds, so now I want to run for the bike. I use a free action to swap out demolitions for athletics, and throw 9 dice to increase my running speed (I don't really think EA would help for running). There's a fence I need to jump, and my task pool is being used for running, so I can throw 6 dice to jump the fence. Then I get to my bike. I swap out the athletics for drive bike as a free action, plug in my data jack, and drive out of there.

Had my athletics and drive bike chips had pluscode rating 3 and been optomized, I wouldn't even have needed to swap between the two.

Is this all how it works?

JaronK

[Ol' Scratch]

On a cursory exam, it looks spot on. I'd have to double check some of the numbers, but they look right to me at the moment.

The only problem is how you're handling Demolitions which has nothing to do with the 'wires. Demolitions is used when setting the bomb... you don't need it to detonate it. That's just a matter of pushing a button. :)

[tj333]

Just wondering what book has the optimized and customized skillsofts in it?
And what book has the ASSISt and pulse rules for sillwires?

[Ol' Scratch]

Cannon Companion. ASIST is just a fancy word for "Skillsoft rating" and Pulse is a fancy word for "Mp rating."

[Eyeless Blond]

And if you ever confuse the two, remember that "Pulse rating" can also be read as "Megapulse rating" :)

[Fortune]

Why would you think that EA wouldn't help with running?

[JaronK]

I always thought of enhanced articulation giving finer muscle control. This would be very useful when working with electronics, trying to make an acurate gunshot, etc. I don't see how it would help with doing windsprints.

JaronK

[Ol' Scratch]

A swifter, more graceful stride would doubtlessly help. I dare say it would help more with running than it would with typing or piloting a submarine.

[The White Dwarf]

Theres 3 values to skillwires. The rating, asist, and pulse.

The rating value is the max rating the wires can run a single skill at, and is used in the essence cost of the 'wires. So if you wanted to run rating 6 'softs the system would be 1.2 essence base.

The asist rating is the total ratings of the skills that can be run on the 'wires. So if you wanted to run 2 rating 3 'softs, and a rating 5 'soft, youd need an asist rating of 11 on the 'wires. This value is used in the 'wires cost calculation.

The pulse rating is the total number of mp worth of 'softs you can run on the 'wires. So in the above example, you would need (27+27+75) 129 pulse. This value is also used in the 'wires cost.

They seem powerful at first but really, with the costs of the system and the skills, its not. The only really applicable use for most characters is a rated 3 system with a rating 3 CED, allowing 6 dice at single tests or a few uses of 4 dice a round (like firing backup weapons during a round before the CED pool refreshes). Remember you *cannot* use any dice pools with jacked skills (task, combat, hacking, control, etc).

A character that actually invests enough into the system to consistently run multiple high level skills, bringing it to a level of possible imbalance, is not going to be doing much else. Theyll have little nuyen and essnence left to fit anything else, and being able to buy skills makes using karma less important. It leads to boring characters if pulled off, and quite frankly after running the numbers I dont even see that happening with the default character generation rules. If they actually manage to build up to it in game, more power to the player with the dedication to pull it off.

[tjn]

[Fortune]

[Eyeless Blond]

[JaronK]

Okay, so I'm not fully sure of what you're allowed to do with a chipped skill (let's ignore DINAP for now).

1) Can you default to it? Let's say I have Drive Car loaded and I want to use a bike. Can I default to my drive car chipped skill?

2) Can I use cyberware task pools other than the CED? I'm thinking basically encephalon for biotec tests here.

3) Can I use them as complimentary skills, and use complimentary skills on them? If I've got Ettiquette 6 chipped and I'm also using a knowsoft with Psychology 6 loaded up, can I use Psychology to throw 6 complimentary dice at an ettiequette test?

JaronK

[Johnson]

Question 1

Car Chip is for Car. If the car Skill defaults to Bike you are going to have a problem. The Chip overrides the neural system with the chipped code for car.
Depending on the flexibility of the skillwires, comes a debat.
Car Skill Chipped cannot be used for Default, you would have to go to Reaction.

Question 2

Not going to comment--- not sufficent knowledge here.


Question 3
Good question. I have been looking at that myself. Yes you Etiquette would have the Psychology as a complemetary.

[Ol' Scratch]

1) You are completely free to default with skillsofts. For all intents and purposes, skillsofts "teach" you the skill for as long as you have it activated. You suffer all the penalties for defaulting when you do so, however, just like you would if you possessed the skill. That's the point. :)

2) Only with DIMAP softs.

3) You can use them in almost any fashion you normally could, including as part of a Complimentary Test if appropriate.

[JaronK]

So really, the only disadvantage to chipped skills is that no kind of pool other than the CED works with them? Well, the essence cost and nuyen cost to install the system and buy the chips, of course, also counts. But once you've done that, they're just like normal skills except for the pool thing, and only the CED counts it's pool for them?

JaronK

[Ol' Scratch]

For the most part, yes. Don't underestimate the lack of a dice pool or the costs, though, even for low-rated 'wires.

[JaronK]

Well, for some skills it hurts (especially combat skills, computer, and rigging skills). But for most others it's very helpful. With Wildcard, he can throw 9 dice at tests like ettiquette and B/R skills, which is great. Of course, I could only afford Wired 1 in him, but he's an amazing jack of all trades, and master of some (social skills, B/R skills, and anything else that doesn't normally have an associated pool).

JaronK

[Ol' Scratch]

While I like the concept of skillsofts, their execution is broken. I have a pretty simple but detailed set of house rules to make skillwires and skillsofts more balanced and playable, but there's little point in describing them because they are, as mentioned, house rules.

[Fortune]

I absolutely despise the idea of chipped Social skills!

[Moon-Hawk]

Me too. The rest seem okay to me, but I really don't like chipped social skills. Languages are okay, though.

[Ol' Scratch]

I dislike 'em as presented, but the concept is sound. It's no different from temporarily learning any other skill. I think the biggest problem people have with skillwires is that they are of the firm belief that the 'wires and the 'softs are doing all the work... and that's just silly in my opinion. Well, that and the fact that you can perform skills beyond what a real person can (which is one of the things I fixed in my rules). But again, that's just my opinion so it means bumpkin.

The real problem with Social Skills in general is that your natural Charisma rarely has any impact when dealing with others. If it played a larger role (which is true of most skills, truth be told) things would not only make more sense, but it would be more believable to boot.

[JaronK]

Okay, here's an oddball one. Let's say my character has two cyber spurs. He has the skill Cyber Implant Combat 6, but then he takes a chipped Offhand Cyber Implant 6. He has a Rating 3 Chipjack Expert Driver and of course Rating 6 Skillwires (108 Pulse)

Clearly, he rolls 9 dice (6 for CIC 6, 3 for the Offhand chipped skill) but what happens with his dice pools? Does he:

1) Get to use Combat Pool, because he's using a non-chipped skill for his primary weapon

2) Get to use both Combat Pool and CED Task Pool because he's using both a non-chipped skill and a chipped skill simultaneously, one pool for each skill

3) Only get to use the CED Task Pool, because he's using a chipped skill and you can't use any other pools if you're using chipped skills

4) Not get any pools, because you can't use the CED pool if you're using a non-chipped skill, and you can't use Combat Pool if you're using a chipped skill

5) Not get to do it at all, because you can't combine chipped skills and non-chipped skills like that

6) Cause the Shadowrun universe to explode?

JaronK

[mfb]

i'd say he can use both combat pool and CED, with the caveat that he still can't use more total pool on any one roll than his base skill (6).