How do you keep a technomancer from using is abilities?

Other than killing them or keeping them knocked out that is.

Jammer?
Foil hat? Or would it have to be a full-body foil wrap?

Anything that would stop someone from using a commlink should also stop a technomancer. The easiest method for that is a room without wireless access and/or a jammer.

Firewalls.

Really, it's pretty much like dealing with hackers. If they can't get at a device, or within signal range of it or something networked to it, they can't hack it. And if they can, regular security measures will have to do.

But as far as I know, there is no "off switch", nor are there "Otaku-jammer" grenades.

Edit: Too slow, it seems, for my smartass comment to come first. Woe is me.

They still need to be able to process the wireless traffic around them, so a jammer should keep them inactive in an area and a head-jammer should be as effective as it would be against someone with a cranial commlink.

Any sort of physical effects going to manifest over jamming a TM?

Not to derail the thread, but what about this:
Rather than blocking them, what about the opposite? It might make for an interesting plot device if there were a drug or something that prevented a TM from going offline, either to sever their wireless link or to reboot. Maybe even a side-effect of an existing drug, like Hyper.
Just a thought for the sadistic GMs.

The best way to block a TM is with Wifi blocking paint in paintball guns

Why would a TM want to sever his wireless link? If a TM wants to hide from someone, he can use Hidden mode, Stealth, or Spoof. If those measures aren't enough and he's really desperate, he can always go to a dead zone, where it's impossible to get a connection. Also, how do you reboot your own brain? Anyway, I'd expect that a TM would be happy with such a drug.

Isnt a TM's brain always in Hidden mode? Its not like the TM is broadcasting a "Hi. I'm Bob the TM." profile cause he isnt a commlink per say. I would figure that most TM's would need a dummy commlink just to have all the normal data displaying that your street sam would just so he fit in.

Actually, p.233 of SR4 says that few TMs get commlinks, and those who do only get them because they're "retro." Since TMs can switch from AR to VR easily, I can imagine that they're equally able to change modes from Active to Passive to Hidden as well. Also, the only functional differences between a TM's brain and a commlink that SR4 points out are that TMs don't have Condition Monitors or file storage, and are therefore incapable of installing programs into their brains.

Going back to the "rebooting" question, I suppose that you could "reboot" a TM's brain. . .but I'd imagine that the only ways of doing so would be by 1) jamming and then unjamming him, 2) taking him into a dead zone and then out again, or 3) knocking him out and waiting until he regains consiousness.

pg. 221

hmm, how does a technomancer sever his matrix connection...

I want to express an opinion here: A technomancer with a shitty commlink full of innocuous programs has ULTIMATE deniability. They get tracked and busted, arrested, and their commlink confiscated, the people detaining the TM will go through the comm and say "Shit, there's nothing in here!"

When I make a TM, I always go for the Novatech Airware w/ Iris Orb OS. Straight 3's, which makes it a nice middle-of-the-road comm. Put some games on it, some porn, maybe pictures of your family, and when the authorities are rifling through it because you hacked one of their hosts they'll be puzzled.

Technomancers without commlinks? Sure, I can dig it. A technomancer running the shadows without a commlink is just a retard.

That's a great idea!! Now I have to find a way to exploit it when FanGirl uses it.

Predator to the brain only severs the link permenantly if you don't have a first aid guy standing by. If you do he can stop the major bleeding and then you can sleep the wound off.

I could see simsense chips designed to simulate VR being useful - both for containing captured technomancers and for easing matrix isolation.

You could also carry a satellite uplink.

Just make sure you don't attack C's character or Johann; those guys will smack you down.

Yeah, probably.

Either way it's fun for everyone!

Fangirl, I would like to recommend a way to relive your matrix isolation aggravation.

Hack Johann’s COM link, smart link, gun, cyber wear, when you have run out of team-mates stuff to hack start modifying structures to make them more efficient and when you get bord of that demand the drugs from Johann with your tzer, he tyres to attack you back, well you already have control of his cyber wear.

Edward

Edward, you are very trusting if you think a hacker/TM hasnt tried to hack your stuff immediatly after meeting you. I wouldnt be surprised if she already hacked all the stuff in the area already and loaded backdoors and IC.

Nope! I actually haven't. But that's pretty much only because Emo threw a bunch of bugs at me before he even gave me the chance to act.

So GM Fait saved your team mates from alot of melicious tampering on your part, smart GM.

Show them pictures of a naked celine dion. That should fark them up for a good half day.

Why have you seen naked pictures of Celine Dion?

i've seen her clothed, and it farks me up...

Bring back the mage mask. But other then that it should be pointed out that Technomancers are a huge rarety in the SR4.0 universe. They are the evolution of the Otaku and as such are a smaller or equal sized group. The fact that they are in the main book I feel is a error on the publishers. They should have been introduced in the matrix add on source book (like Otaku were introduced in 2nd and 3rd). Any GM worth his weight in snack food should enforce a ask first before playing rule (ie if you don't get permission to play you can't play that character). Technomancers will make up less then 1% of the population and they don't make good shadowrunners. They tend to stay in tribes (like the Otaku did) and operate outside of society. They are better suited for NPCs.

Every character is a "if you don't get permission you can't play it" character. It's in the chargen rules. What may be true for your games (technomancers make poor shadowrunners) is most likely not true in most other games.

Did we read the same book? TMs are NOT just the evolution of the otaku. There are many TMs out there who were never otaku, they just happened to get caught up in the madness of the crash & when they woke up, they had these extra abilities.... Therefore there should be more TMs in the world than there were otaku.

Also, where did you get the idea that they run in tribes? 'Cause I have not read or heard that anywhere....

I could see TMs forming groups in order to help each other understand their mutual conditions, but not necessarily "tribes" per se.

Honestly, it seems like the whole "a reasonable number of Otaku ended up becoming TMs, but not all of them by any means" was really more of a "Hey, uh, here's how to convert your Otaku over into SR4, since we're not supporting them any more" than anything else.

My evidence to state that TMs will most likely form "tribes" is the fact that TMs can only teach other TMs complex forms. TMs are unique and thus in the SR universe segregated. And while there may be some exceptions a lot of otaku did become TMs and they formed tribes.

Yeah, but because it's wireless, the "tribe" is always with you, neh? It might even help them keep a lower profile and garner individual protection to join up with runner teams.

So the ex-Otaku may even still have some tribal connections, but it's doubtful that every TM, or even the majority of them, feels a sudden need to join a tribe.

Why did Otaku form tribes in the first place?

Birds of a feather, for the most part. Other otaku are the only people who really understand where you're coming from, the only people who will not envy you for your talents or alienate you for being different. They are the people you naturally click with. Plus, they were mostly kids, thus forming support groups. And then the need to find Pools.

I think technomancers will form groups, like mages do, but these will be virtual connections, shadow chat rooms, and the like. Not really physical places so much. Technomancers are always on, so the physical needs can be dealt with and one has no need to leave the virtual tribe to fulfill them.

My TM uses sprites to learn from....

Just put a jammer on them, and they're blocked.

I wonder if hitting a TM with a jammer gives them headaches...

depends. physicaly hitting them or figurativly?

Using a WIFI negator or jammer near a TM will be like a mage astrally perceiving in space.