Shadowrun 4: Hacking & Rigging Options

[Darkness]

Indeed, you aren't constricted to the captain's chair mode either.
Captain's Chair is the equivalent to controlling drones via AR now. You can still "jump into" a drone using full VR. Regardless if you have a controll rig or not.

[Rotbart van Dain...]

[mdynna]

Are full-VR Riggers "visible" as icons to Hackers?

For instance, if a Rigger is controlling a vehicle via "full immersion" VR and a Hacker hacks into the Vehicle, can the hacker "see" the Rigger as an Icon (and thus "crash" the Rigger)? Or perhaps, in full VR, are the Rigger and vehicle computer considered "one" icon, and thus the Hacker must crash the *whole* system to "crash" the Rigger?

[amra28]

On page 158 the rulebook states that drones that pilot themselves have an initiative equal to pilot plus response attributes...

I was not able to find any mention anywhere else in the book of what the reponse attributes are for drones and vehicles. Is it the default value of 3 for electronic device, or does anyone have a better idea?

[TonkaTuff]

[The Jopp]

Ok, this might be a bit silly but I do think it might be worth asking. It clearly states in the magic section that a character who’s magic attribute reaches zero (0) will become unable to use any magic and his active skills becomes knowledge skills. Ok, that’s fine, magic and cyber never liked each other enyway.

With technomancers they give the same usual example and explanation that cyberware & bioware limits resonance EXCEPT the explanation that if their resonance reaches zero they would be unable to use their abilities and that it would become knowledge skills.

Somehow I find it fitting that cybernetics and bioware would interfere with the bioelectronic signal they use to contact the matrix but I find it odd that their brain chemistry would be re-altered so that they would become normal humans again.

One example could be that someone with 1 point of resonance would have the same altered brain as someone with resonance 6, and suddenly, when gaining 1 cyberlimb (a leg for example) their MIND lose the ability to use the matrix like they could before.

What do you think? Should it LIMIT their ability if they reach 0 resonance (ie they must use immersion to raise their ability above 0 before using it). Or should they loose it just like magicians?

[Aku]

just let 'em lose, it. They fried their motherboard (aka brain) and ya can't just install a new brain anytime you want (atleast, not very successfully yet)

[Gauvain]

[Cold-Dragon]

As far as why a Res 1 gets fried before a Res 6 - it's a 'hardware compatibility' issue. Your Res 1 fella can't have both the cyber stuff and the special brain setup without one of them frying. Resonance was then defaulted to be the one that fried when the situation occurred. the Res 6 guy has more durable hardware. Sure, you still got some glitches (hence lower rank) but he hasn't crashed and burned yet.

[Dv84good]

I am slightly confused. Say I have a hacker with augments logic 9 and programs of 4 or 5. Why would I want to spend karma raising skills to 6.

[BlackHat]

THis has been brought up before. its much better to default to hacking than to actually use it because the rules don't use your logic in any capacity while hacking - so to make your logic matter, you have to have no hacking skill - which is ass-backwards, but for characters with high logic (technomancers, especially) spending BP on hacking skilsl makes you worse.

One interpretation I have seen, however, is that the program rating replaces your attribute for the die roll, so if you're defaulting, you default to program rating -1. THis means that your logic is NEVER used when hacking, however, and makes it a dump-stat for a lot of hackers. ;-)

[Churl Beck]

I call this the "hacking trilemma" because there does not seem to be a consistent and non-problematic interpretation to these three questions: (1) is the skill listed as being able to default to a linked attribute? (2) does the character have the skill? (3) does the character have the program?

Probably the easiest way to handle it is to use Linked Attribute - 1 (where Program substitutes for Linked Attribute). This implies that a task cannot be attempted without the proper software tools, which is ok to my mind (after all, one can't use the Pistols skill without holding a pistol either).

The most desirable way to handle it may be to say that one rolls Attribute + Skill + Program (instead of just Skill + Program). This involves a lot of extra work in deciding how to scale up the target numbers proportionately. However, unlike the other solution, it does not do violence to the "simplified" rule system by creating an arbitrary exception to the rules. The problem is that it implies that one can hack without having the appropriate Program, which renders the Technomancer's Threading ability somewhat obsolete.

[Dv84good]

I was just e-mail someone about this and came up with using att and skill for hits but programs for a limiter on the hits similiar to magic. I think I so this in another thread. I just din't know how logic worked into the picture.

[BlackHat]

[kigmatzomat]

[Ryu]

On the device ratings for drones: wouldn´t sec / mil drones like the iBall and Steel Lynx have ratings of 4/5 ? Somehow I can´t imagine a UAV with heavy weapons and only baseline matrix security.

[NeoJudas]

[TinkerGnome]

Just because it comes with a stock R3 system doesn't mean anyone ever uses the stock system. Considering that firewall in particular is a program, corps can either code their own or purchase a strong version in bulk.

From a logisitics perspective, it's probably better to buy the drones with the stock OS and then upgrade to your milspec standards rather than have drones with different systems running around.

I mean, buy a computer these days and get on the internet without installing additional software (or ordering additional software along with it). See how long you go virus/intrusion free.

[The Jopp]

Where do I find the cost for adding Encryption on a Datalock jack? It says 1000+Encryption, but nowhere in the book do they say whay the cost is. :|

[hobgoblin]

i would belive that you find that cost under programs...

[The Jopp]

[hobgoblin]

as in, you have made your own encryption program from scratch?
or have one allready bought?

if so then just think of the encryption part as being of cost 0 and be happy :P