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 The Smiling Bandit, <strikes again!/ha-ha!> |
 Nov 1 2004, 11:42 PM
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#1
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Running Target  Group: Members Posts: 1,133 Joined: 3-October 04 Member No.: 6,722  |
As I'm sure you lovely people all know by now, I've been waaaay out of the loop for a long while. Thanks to Ancient History (man of a million answers) I've caught up with a fair amount of the major plot arcs from my previous time, but there were always a few niggling little weirdnesses that I never found out about.So, a random question on a minor mystery:
Back in the Shadowtech sourcebook, there's a poster called The Smiling Bandit (he appeared, I think, in a later sourcebook as well, but I can't remember which one). Although we were, by then, familiar with the high level Matrix movers and shakers blanking out their time/date stamps, Bandit had actually made his display text - which, as one comment in the book says, would technically be impossible since it would mean hacking the basic core code of the Matrix (not being a computer hacker myself I'm not planning to dispute this in any way - a SR universe character made the comment "in-game" and was not disputed by the resident experts, therefore I accept it as a SR universe situation). Did we ever find out who The Smiling Bandit was? Or how he altered his time/date stamp? The trite answer would be that he was an early otaku, but even that doesn't really hold water. It's not a major universe-shaking plot element AFAIK, I just wondered :) Cos, you know, if nobody has used the guy, I have a few ideas... ;) |
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Nov 1 2004, 11:44 PM
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#2
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,512 Joined: 16-August 03 From: Northampton Member No.: 5,499 |
Look in Target:Matrix Answers within You'll find.........
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Nov 1 2004, 11:58 PM
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#3
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 326 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Vigo (Spanish Kingdom) Member No.: 1,446 |
IIRC, he's appeared in a couple other books after that. Let's leave it at a point in which has a status near to which Fastjack has acquired... Smiling's best, we all know that, though!
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Nov 2 2004, 12:11 AM
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#4
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
No chance! Leo's the man ... or elf! :D |
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Nov 2 2004, 02:10 AM
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#5
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Deus Absconditus Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,742 Joined: 1-September 03 From: Downtown Seattle, UCAS Member No.: 5,566 |
Oh, bollocks to that. I'm tired of immortal elves having given humanity everything they had. I'm glad the current plot bent is moving much more toward the 'We did this without your immortal/draconic ass giving us any help, thanks.'
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Nov 2 2004, 02:16 AM
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#6
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
Bandit does happen to take the cake.
Note: If all of his time/date stamps (including access logs) are changed, then it's a very high-level program cracking codes and changing everything as he goes. If it's just Shadowland, then he's just cracked Shadowland and done something that has no effect on it (otherwise, you know Cap'n would be all over his ass). |
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Nov 2 2004, 02:22 AM
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#7
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
it could easily be a simple script that he uploads every time he logs onto a host he intends to make posts on.
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Nov 2 2004, 02:28 AM
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#8
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
Possibly. But what fun would that be? :silly: |
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Nov 2 2004, 11:44 AM
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#9
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Target Group: Members Posts: 62 Joined: 26-September 02 Member No.: 3,323 |
The Bandit appears in several books, usually whenever the subject turns to genetech or bioware. For instance I think he makes several posts in the Genetech chapter of SOTA63.
Like Shockwave said there is a small file on him (and people like Fastjack or SilveryK) in the much under-rated Target: Matrix |
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Nov 3 2004, 03:28 AM
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#10
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Target Group: Members Posts: 40 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Pueblo Corporate Council Member No.: 1,644 |
I always assumed that the Smiling Bandit was Harlequin's Matrix handle.
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Nov 3 2004, 03:31 AM
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#11
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Technomancer Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,638 Joined: 2-October 02 From: Champaign, IL Member No.: 3,374 |
Nope. Harley is the Laughing Man, IIRC. |
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Nov 3 2004, 05:00 AM
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#12
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,640 Joined: 6-June 04 Member No.: 6,383 |
I like how Harley even appears in the Genesis shadowrun game.
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Nov 3 2004, 05:02 AM
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#13
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
Dashifen: Yup. "Ha! Fraggin' Ha!" Always good for the spontaneous comment that throws all of those not in the know off... ("The word 'Pest' comes to mind...")
WRonin: Really? Been a while since I played it... I should see if I can dig it up (assuming I still have it laying around). |
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Nov 3 2004, 05:06 AM
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#14
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,640 Joined: 6-June 04 Member No.: 6,383 |
You should be able to download a ROM and a good genesis emulator like KGEN or genecyst just to play it. And yeah...Harley dosen't show up till the end of the game, but he basically tells you to go and kill the last boss.... ....which begs the ages old question why he dosen't just do it himself but sends some raggedy runners to do it instead. |
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Nov 3 2004, 11:07 AM
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#15
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,133 Joined: 3-October 04 Member No.: 6,722 |
" 'Do the men of the Patrol know..?' I perceive the question in your minds. They do not. None save a few of the most powerful of their minds has the slightest inkling of the truth. To reveal any portion of it to Civilisation as a whole would blight that Civilisation irreperably." - Eukonidor the Watchman, E.E. 'Doc' Smith's Grey Lensman. Harlequin has always had a keen interest in the civilisation of the Sixth World. Unlike his peers amongst the immortals (Dunkelzahn excepted), he believes that "our" intellectual drive and our melding of magic and science stands a far better chance of dealing with the eventual reappearance of the Horrors than his world ever did. To this end (and now I'm speculating), I believe he tries not to spoon-feed us too much; it would stunt our development, as well as simply repeating the history of his time. Also, I believe that - like Eukonidor and the other Arisians from the Lensman books - he is aware that general knowledge of immortal elves etc would set up an inferiority complex in our civilisation that may never be knocked down. Better not to take that chance. Individuals, even small groups, may seek out and discover the outer edges of that truth without damage, since they discover it by their own efforts. Whoa, deep thinking for early morning :) Incidentally, I used to have the Shadowrun Genesis ROM, but it got corrupted before I could finish the game (I believe I was wandering around Sinseareach lands at the time looking for a dragon... quite why, I forget...) - anyone got links for where I can lay my hands on it? |
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Nov 3 2004, 01:25 PM
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#16
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
Why wouldn't he? Same reason he doesn't do anything in Harlequin's Back himself. (Well, that and he'd have to effectively be in two places at once, but that's a moot point. After all, he's Immortal! :silly:) I prefer the physical system if only for the nostalgia effect, actually. I remember how fun Decking was (and how simple, compared to everything else) and how much good paydata you could steal. |
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Nov 3 2004, 02:20 PM
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#17
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
DV8 has something you might want to check out here. To be nice and proper, this is the front page of his web site, Wired Reflexes. |
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Nov 3 2004, 04:38 PM
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#18
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panda! Group: Members Posts: 10,331 Joined: 8-March 02 From: north of central europe Member No.: 2,242 |
decking with maps simple? i recall reading the rules and wondering how many actions ice got. atleast now they are defined as either proactive or reactive. and makeing those damn maps could take ages. now you can roll up a host on the fly :)
as for those elfs, they may be immortal but they are not bulletproof ;) and about the timestamps, if data is stored like it is today then you could go back and edit the stamp after the fact. but it seems that what bandit and the others do is to insert a stream of data into their icon and this suppress or alter the timestamp. basicly we dont know enough about how this icon system works. some say it inserts a prosess into the host that basicly is the icon and this interacts with the host. its kinda like a mobil rootkit. another guess that i have come to think of lately is the talk of autonomous agents (small bits of code that "lives" on the net) in real life. what if this have come into being in pre crash matrix. then someone hooks the asist system into this so that the "agent" become human controlled rather then autonomous. the asist then convert the agent i/o into sensory i/o for the human brain to work with. this can explain the number of deaths in the early years. the brain was not able to cope with the raw data and alien sensory feeds of the early years. then by grabbing the computer mavricks from jails and uni envoriments you get the same kind of people that started the personal computer, unix and internet revolution. these then go to town on the tech, and twist into then unthinkable directions, createing the original cyberdecks. the problem with the cyberdeck tho is the comment that it was able to bypass all kinds of existing security. this however must include the firewall. the most basic and therefor allso the most effective. but look at the explosion of connections today that use port 80 (the standard port for http traffic, basicly the web). all kinds of software mask themselfs as basic web traffic today. what if this is what the deck does. mask itself as other traffic, therefor the host cant just kill off the connection as it cant realy tell what is icon traffic and what is other traffic. just look at how simple it is to kill of a tortise user compared to a deck user. the tortise user to me is the old style dumb terminal or pc. then the only option is to try to kill the icon. problem then is that most likely the icon isnt one prosess but many, maybe even shutting down and starting up again so as to confuse. then the only solution is to insert faulty signals into the ipc traffic that makes up the icon, and this is what i guess the IC and attack util do. over time this can constrict the icon so much that the host can lock onto it and remove it or the deck itself crashes as its part of the io group. but all this is theory as this is a game we are talking about, not real world. |
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Nov 3 2004, 11:59 PM
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#19
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,133 Joined: 3-October 04 Member No.: 6,722 |
Thanks for the links, Fortune :) Oh, and hobgoblin?
"the gamemaster should present Harlequin and Ehran as individuals of such power and intellect that they are prepared for virtually any situation. Thus if a runner attempts to shoot Ehran, the Elf has a Bullet Barrier, and so on" - Harlequin p. 146 Sorry, chummer, they are bulletproof ;) |
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Nov 4 2004, 12:26 AM
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#20
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 626 Joined: 1-March 04 Member No.: 6,112 |
Well, it does say 'virtually.' So if a ludicrously creative PC tried to kill Harley, I'd allow it a slight chance of working.
Otherwise no. |
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Nov 4 2004, 12:49 AM
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#21
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Target Group: Members Posts: 12 Joined: 14-October 04 Member No.: 6,758 |
This is the sort of thing that annoys me about Shadowrun, and the Immortal Elf plotline in specific.
NPCs should not get 'special rules'. Ever. All in my opinion, but nevertheless. It just leads to the GM Pet NPC syndrome or the 'YOU WILL DO MY BEAUTIFUL PLOT' railroad. |
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Nov 4 2004, 01:04 AM
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#22
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Beetle Eater Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 4,797 Joined: 3-June 02 From: Oblivion City Member No.: 2,826 |
The amount of time it would take to ascribe all the spells, skills, and abilities of an immortal wouldn't be worth it since it would amount to the same result. The only real question is why such beings interact with the PCs at all. Only because it can be fun for them. If your players don't like their characters in situations they can't control is another issue.
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Nov 4 2004, 04:35 AM
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#23
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 16,898 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
There are some things that players just should not be able to handle. Ever. This is one of them. Not bothering with stats prevents an attempt to break the game by building characters to do exactly that. You may come up with a plan that will outsmart me as a GM. Not many people do, but it has been done. I'm willing to bet that neither you nor your character will come up with something that a being that has been alive for multiple thousands of years would be surprised or outsmarted by enough to kill them. ~J |
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Nov 4 2004, 04:52 AM
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#24
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
There are some things that a pPC shouldn't be abe to handle directly. However, with the right contacts or a stolen balistic missile sub, anything is possible. How many conventional SLBMs can a IE soak? |
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Nov 4 2004, 04:53 AM
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#25
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 16,898 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
None, if they netherwalk out of the target area first.
~J |
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