Sprites are great, don't get me wrong, but it seems really unbalancing that they are all Technomancers get in exchange for foregoing implants. Mages get spells so that they can increase their attributes beyond the metahuman maximum, or hold reality at their mercy, but we don't see a similar thing with Technomancers, in the Matrix or elsewhere. There aren't Sprites that increase your Matrix abilities easily, or even any effect beyond some complex Matrix manipulation. AND Mages get spirits anyway on top of all their spells, which seem to do the same thing as sprites.

Sure, you CAN get implanted as a TM, but you take a minus on pretty much any Matrix action that you take. Mages just aren't like that, and normal people can get chromed.

And yes, there's submersion, but it's the same as intiation, and it costs a bunch of Karma.

Am I the only one who sees Technomancers this way?

I go with a houserule that complex forms cost 5 karma, and that's it. They level up with your Resonance, eventually far beyond the maximum rating of anything but an ultraviolet server.

grab a couple of drones

1) sprites are insano good. they can do things that make the technomancer themselves unimpressive.
2) technomancer costs 5 bp. magician costs 15 bp. you shouldn't compare technomancers and magicians. consider technomancers instead to be matrix adepts, and you should get a closer comparison.
3) the potential for programs of unlimited ratings is pretty dang nice.

basically, technomancers will start off slow (and i mean slow), but get a lot better if you have the karma. that being said, it takes a whole heck of a lot of karma before technomancers get really good... but they can do it.

for example: crack sprite = ignore alarms, pretty much. courier sprite = unbreakable encryption.

sprites can also be used to provide a bonus to your complex forms. so in fact, sprites actually can improve your ability to manipulate the matrix, in addition to the fact that they get abilities that no one else can even touch.

Techno riggers are pretty dang impressive if they take the +1 IP submersion. Drones with 4IP are nasty.

In fact, couple that with sprites tucked into drones and it gets even more nasty.

being able to thread a Stealth complex form to over 6 lets Technomancers break into even the really tough systems on the fly. That alone is worth forgoing the cyber to me. And if you really want the cyber, sacrifice a point or two of Resonance for it. It won't kill you.

Only cyber I see as an absolute necessity for a Techno would be a Datajack - for those legacy terminals and devices that haven't been upgraded to wireless capable. I haven't read the full rules on Technomancers yet, but you may need a smartlink add-on as well (though I think I read where the techno can emulate it... I'll read more when I get home and have access to my BBB.

Last night I had my first Cybercombat with my Technomancer. I didn't realize how much ass you could kick with a fault sprite and the electron storm, and the fact that it's a simple action to pull out a preregistered one and a complex to compile one on the fly, the Hacker I went up against got toasted within two Initiative passes.
And I could have pulled agents out of my Commlink to kick even more ass. My TM has a set of 3 redundant Comms, all Sys 6, so each one can support two or three agents running Attack, Armor, Stealth and maybe Black Hammer. And I sent registered crack sprites in to steal better programs for the agents.
Spirits seem a lot crankier and harder to control than Sprites, I thought they were more similar.
It just seemed odd to me that TMs and Mages have the same drawback when Mages have spells that imitate implants exactly while TMs don't have anything of the sort.

Otaku have usually been better for cybercombat than most deckers.

But I fail to comprehend how you can not see the Resonance stat as being more than worth it. It's that "over time" part which makes them more than worth it.

Sprites.

Launch a sprite into an enemy's commlink and infect his cyberware. Enemy disconnects the commlink from the matrix. Against a decker, you're now shut out.

The technomancer can still command the sprite to screw up your cyberware despite the lack of a conventional link.

Just one of many ways Sprites can improve your life.

Don't forget about Threading. Those are the TM's "spells". If you ever get in a jam where you need a kick-all (blank) program you can just *poof* and get one.

the only implant that I find to be really useful as a tm would be synaptic accel. to get those rl ip's up to a survivable level.
One BIG adventage ot tm's is that they get to "run" all their "programs" at once sans losing system rating. A big bonus over hackers.
Obviously threading and sprites are huge too.

Preach on, Trollman Brotha.

Yours is a fascinating game world, Frank.

Well, the main advantage that TMs have over hackers is the fact that they run all their CFs simultaneously without ever having a reduction in their "Response." That's very powerful when you consider how many CFs you can get at once. I think my last TM started off with 10 CFs or something like that. If you get the top-of-the-line everything at chargen with a hacker, where you're running straight 5's, then you can run 5 programs at once before your Response drops down to a 4. Double that, and it's a 3.

Now while your numbers are plummeting (and you're trying to figure out which action it is to load and unload programs, and how many you can do at once), look at the Cybercombat table and check out what Response is used for. Yep. Defense. And if you're getting hit with Black Hammer, you have to have your Biofeedback Filter going or you'll get fucked up, which TMs don't even have to pay for. Or if it's just your icon being attacked, you have to have Armor going. Not to mention you're going to have things like Analyze and Stealth going, just to name a couple.

The secret to being a good Technomancer is to specialize. Think of your TM like an adept. If you try to make a generalist Technomancer, chances are you'll just sorta be half-assed at alot of things. I made a TM for a game a buddy of mine is running, and I specialized in Cybercombat. Basically my TM is okay at some general online stuff, but a fucking demon when it comes to fighting on the Matrix. We're going to have a hacker enlist down the road, and with my beefy TM and my (soon to be) bound Sprites, I'm going to be the online equivalent of a Street Sam, protecting the weaker guy.

And don't be fooled -- Sprites are friggin' awesome. Every TM should take up the ability to compile/register Sprites, or they're missing out on a good chunk of their potential power.

I'm also dabbling with a character idea of a TM/Lite-Samurai, and because I'm being judicious in what I choose and how I use my BPs, he's not turning out so bad. TM's suck? Nah. It just takes a different mindset to play one.

Frank: I've got a technomancer I've had for about 6 months with a response of 8. His hacking group isn't at the max, and he's good but not the best at compiling sprites. He has most of the complex forms at rating 3-5 (the ones he uses the most often) and has stealth and exploit at 8. He sucks at physical combat, and is smart enough to keep his head low while the sammies shoot it out, hacking smart gun links when he can.

He's no where near the best out there, but he can slice in to systems like nobody's business. You've got to have a goal of wher you want to spend your karma, because otherwise, like you said, you'll just be good at a lot of stuf, not great. But with threading and registered sprites you can still go a long way.

It's almost as if there are different ways to do things, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

You could just have all complex forms with a flat cost of 5BP/Karma per form and have them automatically level up with Resonance. You might think that destroys game balance, but immersion still costs a hell of a lot.

I'm sure that when the Rigger/Hacker supplement comes out (whenever that is), there weil be expanded offerings for technomancers just as Street Magic will most likely include expanded powers for Adepts.

Yes, they may seem weak when compared to a well heeled hacker, but like an Adept, they have subtle advantages which if played well can make them just as good.

I'm actually starting to like my technomancer... after having to re-read the rules a few times on how they differ from your average hacker. I'm really starting to like their VR potential!
Then it dawned on me, although the Technomancer can leach a WiFi or cell signal to get around online without much mental gymnastics, they don't have a commcode or physical storage to receive voicemail or e-mail... so now I'm going to have to work up some nuyen in game to get myself a commlink to perform offline storage and call reception...

Well, at least I'll know for next time.

Actually, all you need is a skinlinked device. Since all devices are assumed to have unlimited memory, you can touch a skinlinked device and transfer whatever information you want. You can also do the same thing with a wireless-enabled device, but then you run the risk of it being hacked, and it probably won't have anything much to defend itself.

And I do mean *all* devices. Buy a skinlink for your pajamas, and you can transfer information in your sleep.

There are plenty of ways to get storage space on the net without paying for it, or carrying it around on your person.
For example, haxxor some poor salaryman's comm-link to keep all your stuff in. That way you can throw him to the cops when they start closing in. After all, he has all of 1337 d00d's email and porn collection, he must be the notorious hacker!