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adamu
BlackHat - I think you can arrive in the alley when next you post.

Konsaki - please remember that the act of sending your senses into a tech device takes an ongoing action, and the sending must be real-time. Thus, if you quit doing it even for a moment, you lose the flow; since you absolutely cannot send anything from your memory, you have to be constantly and continuously executing the action of downloading file. Naturally you can stop and start it whenever you want, and you have a certain level of multitasking capability, but basically any time you DO anything ELSE, you are going to lose the feed.
So while you were doing your impassioned plea to Kyle, for right at that moment, Smith lost the feed. You can turn it right back on, if you want.

Here is what I will say in game terms - you can do simple and free actions while sending, but at a -4 modifier. Complex actions cut the feed.
DireRadiant
I guess Sledge is going to lose out on getting the reward from Louie for finding Cerberus....

Or maybe she can still get it for Cerberus, but definately not Rocky and Angel.
DireRadiant
Not sure how far I can extend the scene, or if we are still in a moment of possible combat turns.
adamu
Sorry if I was unclear, Dire. Definitely not on combat turns right now.

Okay, let's try and streamline the next bit for speed's sake - not railroading, just trying to facilitate what it looks like you all want to do anyway. You do not HAVE to do any of this.

Once Fort heals Rocky - and OOC we all know Rocky has good reasons to want the magic before he enters the drug paradise of a black clinic! -

IF - your plan is to set up at the clinic and hopefully ambush whoever shows up for Cerberus,

Then Kyle will have to introduce someone other than Sledge/Fort to talk to the Doc. From the Doc you can get info on Cerberus, as well as find out what HE (the Doc) thinks of you guys sticking around to protect him. (Unless you just plan to take over the whole clinic by force???)

Once you have coordinated with the doctor, you should be able to set up to a sufficient degree that we can bump time forward to either Cerberus waking up or something external happening.

So IF indeed that is your general intention anyway, pragma can take care of the healing once he's online, and (not necessarily in this order) Kyle can take a delegation to the Doc once someone (BlackHat?) is online that wants to handle that.

AGAIN, just trying to move things forward, since it looks like this is your plan anyway. Definitely do not have to do these things if you are otherwise inclined.
JDragon
All sounds good to me.

JD
Konsaki
Just as long as BlackHat doesnt piss off the Doc like he just did with Kyle... Rocky and Caittie wont be there to save the situation again if he is going in solo. nyahnyah.gif
pragma
I'm back, we can use the healing spell roll from before or I can throw up a new one, adamu's call.

It would be wise for someone with a biotech skill of greater than zero to jump on the chance to perform first aid on Rocky, but if no one offers first aid or bjects pretty shortly (next ten seconds) then Fortunato's going to cast the spell.
JDragon
Well, even if you keep the roll from before you need to add two dice from my Quick Healing Trait. :-)

JD
pragma
I had forgotten that quick healer now applies to first aid and magic, awesome edge ... er ... quality.

Rocky's two dice: # dice: 2 :: 6 6 -- 2 successes
-- and a good roll to back it up.

That brings me to a total of four hits and leaves me with a box of drain, if I recall correctly. Going to IC, if I have to edit then so be it.
Konsaki
sweet, that means Rocky is only down 1 box and that can be written off as his shoulder feeling tight and just a little sore or something.

I feel you on the Drain though, pragma... I'm down 5S right now and am looking for a reason to have Caittie just sit back and relax for a bit.
BlackHat
QUOTE (Konsaki)
Just as long as BlackHat doesnt piss off the Doc like he just did with Kyle... Rocky and Caittie wont be there to save the situation again if he is going in solo. nyahnyah.gif

frown.gif Its not my fault that Kyle ditched me so that he could be outnumbered in an alley, and then didn't like it when I reminded him that Louie was coming to kill his friend, and that a half-dead troll isn't a lot of use to me. biggrin.gif

I suppose I could have been more gentle with his feelings... but, hey, he was outnumbered, and we were in a hurry, so it seemed like a good idea to remind him that WE were the ones doing HIM the favor.

That said, I hope I come off better with the Doc. smile.gif At least then I'll be the one who is outnumbered.
Abbandon
If making extremely crappy maps gets me Karma then here is another one!!!

This is my perception of the clinic in case we want to defend it. Click the link to see the pic but here are what the numbers mean.

1: Reception office
2: Patient recovery/surgery room ??
3-4: Storage rooms/surgery rooms/ whatever??

The brown area's could be buildings or alleys or whatever.

http://www.geocities.com/abbandon_unleashed/clinic.JPG
Mister Juan
I especially like the little dotted lines of yellow on the streets wink.gif Makes it truly come alive nyahnyah.gif
Konsaki
Yeah, it's not great, but he did better than any of us, since he is the only one to make a map of anything. GJ, Abbandon. wink.gif
BlackHat
... couldn't resist. biggrin.gif
Konsaki
And an orbital cow falls on your character. nyahnyah.gif
Abbandon
lol. Was it close or completely different of how you all saw the clinic in your head?
Konsaki
Merry Christmas, Fraggers! nyahnyah.gif
BlueRondo
And a happy Festivus for all the rest of us.
MK Ultra
Thanks, you too!
adamu
Abbandon and Everyone

Hey, thanks dude - take 1 karma. Doesn't have to be beautiful - just has to give us all a common reference point, a framework within which I can lay out details.

So everyone listen up on the Clinic Map.

20 m x 20 m. Eyeball interior dimensions from that.

The Sidewalks are just gravel between the building and the street.
The brown splotches are indeed just other warehouses, separated from the clinic by 3 meter gravel alleys.

The street is 10 meters wide, and more warehouses face the clinic.

All warehouses in the area are 8-10 meters high - 2 storey equivalent.

Remember that, except for (1) Reception, the whole place is a big tent conforming to the interior of the building (the tent itself forms the boundaries of a Ward).

The circumference of the 'tent' on the first floor has scaffolding on the inside that support a sheet-metal second floor. This is accessed by a good-sized freight elevator in the NW corner. (pstairs ? Only the shadow knows.

Beyond the door out of reception, along the West wall, is a security station with lots of video screens and stuff, and some swivel chairs.
The large (2) area is partitioned into curtained areas. Inside them? But there is a clear path to walk North from reception to the elevator, and also East from Reception to the doors to rooms (3) and (4).

Room (3) is the doc's office. Room (4) is where Cerberus is in recovery. Doors are on the North side of those two rooms.

On the exterior, up near the roof, the building is ringed by windows, but they are all boarded up.
adamu
I'll need everyone's activity/location during the next 20 minutes or so.
JDragon
Rocky, will see if he can get a small space where he can be alone.

He'll mute his mic, but keep his comm open incase anything happens.

Once he gets set he'll work on stretching and his focusing exercises to help get past the withdrawl/cravings.

JD
pragma
Fortunato is interested in setting up a perimeter but mostly plans on following orders.

He'll stick with Sledge and survey the area around the clinic trying to find decent spots to ambush mobsters unless someone instructs him to do something else.
Abbandon
Small update to picture:
http://www.geocities.com/abbandon_unleashed/clinic.JPG

-Red line is the scalfolding/ward
-green line is just curtains/particians
-the Blue stuff near the reception area is the security terminal
-Big red dot = cerberus
-oh and i added the elevator.

I'd add dimensions and stuff but it would make things way more sloppy...and yes that is possable =P.

Now you guys have no reason not to keep my ass alive!!!
Konsaki
Where's my Ingram White Knight? I think someone needs a wakeup call...
adamu
Abbandon

Dude, great work.

BlackHat

Looks like something has come up. Need you to wait on your reply to the Doc until I have a chance to give you a green light. Sorry about the delay.
BlackHat
That's fine, was going to type one up - and glad I saw this first. wink.gif
Will be able to check it again later tonight, and then most of the rest of the week.

Happy Holidays, everyone.
adamu
BlackHat

If you are still online, go ahead with your post - just be apprised that now that I know what everyone is going to be up to, I am going to back edit their general disposition into my last IC post - including the fact that Angel is tagging along with Smith and Kyle.

Everyone else feel free to IC for the ensuing 20 minutes or so if you are so inclined.
BlackHat
I would like to give the impression of a professional, who normally prefers to stand back and not get involved, but, circumstance requires it - a sign of a real emergency. This would go off a lot better if I was dressed up. Note for the fture... NEVER go to work for Franco without a suit.

I would also like to stress that "Mr. Johnson" currently has no affiliation with Kyle or with Cerberus, and that the Doctor's clinic being in danger from a mob attack is their fault - not mine. I'm just making him aware of it, and offering to help him out of it.

Not sure if a roll is going to be required to sway him, but I will include one.
These are the points I would like to make (as nicely as possible, and only as necessary):
- The Doctor is already in a bad position, which was Kyle and Cerberus's doing
- I am able and willing to help him out of this position, if I can get his help
- I am fully capable of taking my buisness elsewhere. Nothing about my objectives requires Cerberus to live, nor do I need to waste resources attempting to stop the mob from shooting up the clinic if I think it won't succeed. Currently, I imagine this situation as one where he probably needs us more than we need him - but I could be underestimating his security-force (or over-estimating Louie's new death-squad) and so am willing to hear what he has to say before saying as much.

Points I am well aware of, but would like to direct the Doctor away from:
- The guy at the diner probably got some information from us, while we were there.
- Bringing the other two shadowrunners here certainly makes the clinic a bigger target than it was before.

Roll:
Cha+Influence/Negotiation/Intimidation/Whatever-is-appropriate
5,5,1,5,6,3,1,4 = 4 hits.
BlackHat
Lol, I see you jsut posted. smile.gif Reviewing.
adamu
BlackHat

Sorry, when I logged on last, I saw your pitch, but at that time there was no OOC from you. I must have logged on and replied and logged off all in the time you were working on the OOC.

Anyway, as you can see, it is partially academic because of information the doc has that you did not. Still, I (and the doc - he's a smart guy) will recall your pitch and your strong roll for when you talk to him again after the situation becomes more dynamic....
Abbandon
Sledge and Fortunato continued watching the brown van.....

what brown van?? Maybe i missed something but the last thing i saw fortunato doing was healing Rocky.

Konsaki
They rode off on Sledge's bike to scout the area around the clinic. Probably saw the fan while they were doing that.
BlackHat
QUOTE (adamu)
BlackHat

Sorry, when I logged on last, I saw your pitch, but at that time there was no OOC from you. I must have logged on and replied and logged off all in the time you were working on the OOC.

Anyway, as you can see, it is partially academic because of information the doc has that you did not. Still, I (and the doc - he's a smart guy) will recall your pitch and your strong roll for when you talk to him again after the situation becomes more dynamic....

Yeah, I think we cross-posted. smile.gif No worries though, I'm VERY glad to hear that the guy from the diner isn't one of Louie's...
DireRadiant
Sledge will set her agent to scanning for the drones node, and for the van's node, and for the node that's controlling the node, if any. All unlikely to succeeed since it takes a Electronic Warfare + Scan (4) test to detect hidden nodes, and she only has a scan 4 program and no electronic warfare skill. But it will take a while to figure that out. In the meantime, whether or not we do anything will have to be decided.
Konsaki
Detecting a wireless node is an extended test with an interval of 1 combat turn (3sec). If there is high wireless noise in the area, you could be looking at a TN of 15+ depending on the situation.

Since your agent has a dicepool of 8, it should only take it no more than around 21 seconds (7 turns) to find the nodes for the drone and van. That's if the area has high wireless traffic.

Once you get Caittie that commcode, she can hack into it and whatnot. Due to her range from the drone, it would be harder for her to scan it.
DireRadiant
All depends on if the node is hidden or not. DIfferent tests.
Konsaki
Will probably throw up another IC for my character, had something come up while writing the one i did post.
Konsaki
Ok, I want to find some chairs or something that Caittie can go VR in, or something to that effect in the clinic.

Threading Scan CF
Software + Resonance - damage = 9 dice
3,6,6,1,2,6,1,4,5 - 4 hits (Limit it to 3)
Scan raised to R4

Fade resist - 12 dice
Take 3 hits (full resist)

Scan tests for hidden drone and Van nodes (1 turn per roll)
Electronic Warfare + Scan - damage = 6 dice
6,6,4,6,1,6 - 4 hits
5,5,3,1,1,3 - 2 hits (6 total)
5,4,6,1,5,2 - 3 hits (9 total)
6,5,6,6,4,4 - 4 hits (13 total)
4,3,6,3,6,1 - 2 hits (15 total)
3,5,5,5,6,6 - 5 hits (20 total)
Drop threading

If/once I find the commcodes, I'm going to have my crack sprite come out of standby and hack into the drone to admin level. If an alarm is triggered, the sprite will use suppression to delay it 3 turns.

Hacking tests (1ip) = 12 dice
6,2,2,1,2,3,6,3,6,4,4,4 - 3 hits
6,2,1,2,6,4,2,6,2,3,3,3 - 3 hits (6 total)
2,5,5,5,1,3,6,1,4,6,2,4 - 5 hits (11 total)
Take 3 to total 14 hits

When it hacks in, Caittie will enter the node with it and edit the account listings to add herself and remove anyone else.
JDragon
QUOTE (JDragon)
Rocky

Addiction Tests...
8/15 - Body (8) - Addiction (4) = 4 dice
6, 3, 5, 4 = 2 hits / No pill / Day 3

8/16 - Body (8) - Addiction (4) = 4 dice
6, 4, 5, 5 = 3 hits / No pill / Day 4

8/17 - Body (8) - Addiction (4) = 4 dice
4, 1, 4, 4 = 0 hits
Edge - Reroll Failures - 5, 5, 6, 2 = 3 hits / No pill / Day 5

8/18 - Body (8) - Addiction (4) = 4 dice
4, 5, 6, 1 = 2 hits / No pill / Day 6

8/19 - Body (8) - Addiction (4) = 4 dice
6, 2, 2, 6 = 2 hits / No pill / Day 7

I'm guessing by day 6 or 7 i'll be looking at the with drawl penalties, but I think I should still pass those checks. Let me know if I'm wrong.

Actions coming soon.

JD

Adamu

As you can see above, it appears back in Oct I actually had done my addiction tests for up through the 19th / the current date in game.

Even with the additional penalty due to withdrawl I made the check succesfully.

Let me know if I missed something here.

JD
adamu
well, the post quote don't lie. Looks like you do NOT owe me a daily addiction role for 8/19.
JDragon
QUOTE (adamu)
well, the post quote don't lie. Looks like you do NOT owe me a daily addiction role for 8/19.

Yee haa!!

Just not looking forward to those rolls, but I'm guessing that you'll get a few checks out of me before 8/19 is over if we end up playing with Louie's guys.

To tell the truth untill I went looking for how many successful I had done I thought I owe'd you one too.

JD

adamu
Everyone

Okay, this scene is going to be a challenge from a forum-game perspective considering that the PCs are all involved, but in four separate times/spaces. What I have seen of the posting so far is great - everyone doing their best to respond in character as they perceive the situation.
Unfortunately, it is inevitable that different people will estimate the time required to do things or their positions relative to one another differently.
What I am going to do tonight when I get time is to give you some OOC results where needed, but mostly insert a bunch of IC posts for each group about what happens and what they perceive (based, naturally, on what you have posted yourselves), all of which will end at the same moment - and we can go from there in unison.

I hope you all will bear with me on this process - it is just too difficult to get six people all perfectly coordinated in terms of time and space without making some assumptions. Suffice to say that no one will be placed at any disadvantage by anything that happens - in fact, I am probably overstating things - I hope it all comes out fairly natural-feeling.

What is NOT going to happen is a perfect accounting of ALL the actions a person could cram into the time elapsed based on what they could do in an equivalent period of 3-second combat turns. That system is for use IN COMBAT, and represents a full-sprint of each character acting at maximum capability. You will all get your chance to act on a combat turn time scale once I have all of you lined up for the start of the BIG SCENE.

I am also going to abstract the base timeline a bit - from the time Fortunato sends the message about the van to the START point - (A) the van travels six blocks to the clinic, (B) the bike sort of follows it, © Rocky walks to the clinic [from a closer start point!], and (D) Smith and Caittie are escorted out toward the reception area. If I really wanted to calculate move times and then have you all back edit time stamps I could make all that work perfectly, but this is a movie not a science experiment.

Sorry about all the disclaimers - just trying to head off whining before it starts.

The area that is the most tricky is, as always, Matrix stuff. While driving, I will assume Sledge has no time to order the agent to do anything besides find the nodes in question, which it does - see below.

Caittie - I am afraid you will NOT be able to sit down anywhere - the doctor will be walking/talking you out to the reception area, and neither his medical staff nor the sec people will take kindly to the complete stranger elf female just going off and chilling somewhere. Thus, having to walk and so on, you will be limited to what you have given me rolls for already.
You find the van node, the drone node, and a central node - looks like a commlink - to which all are subscribed. You cannot hack the drone directly as it is interacting only with the commlink (unless you slip into the message traffic).

(Note that until you and Sledge find the drone node, it's location was off the AR map Sledge is providing, as it is above the low-lying cloud cover. But once Sledge has it, she can get it back on the map.)

Do you want your sprite to try to hack the hub commlink per your rolls above? Or do you want it and/or yourself to do anything else for the equivalent of one combat turn instead?

At this point, the only back edit I need from anyone is Rocky - could you change your second time stamp to 07:56:30, please?
And
Standing up he slips his lined coat back on and made sure his gun was loaded heading to the front room, just in time catch Mr. Johnson & Cattie as they came in to the open area of the clinic.
to
Standing up he slipped his lined coat back on and made sure his gun was loaded. Once he reached the clinic, he headed in the front door just in time to see an interior door open revealing the Johnson and the elf girl.

Thanks for your patience.

PS - now is the time to do all the whining, before I put up the final IC posts.

Konsaki
Ok, changing it up a bit.

Threading test for Spoof CF
Software + Resonance - 1 (damage) = 9
2,2,3,6,6,3,5,5,4 - 4 hits (limited to 3)

Fading Soak = 12 dice
Take 3

Spoof CF at R6 now.

Spoof a command to the drone using the commlink's code.
(Add account on drone which Caittie can use to log into drone [perferably at admin level])
Spoof + Hacking - 1 damage = 8 dice
5,3,6,2,2,4,5,5 - 4 hits

Drop threading
adamu
Okay, where to start, where to start?
This post'll go on until my fingers or brain get too fed up or tired.
The fact is, I was almost too depressed to log on tonight - but in the end I can't stand to make good players wait.
Sorry to be so overdramatic, but I am really pissed and annoyed.
NOT with ANY of you, but with these DAMNED travesties of Matrix rules. I'm no computer expert and I'll admit I am weak with Matrix stuff, but I know games and rules, and these are just the bottom of the freaking barrel.
Spent a huge amount of time studying and flipping back and forth and re-looking at an almost worse-than-worthless FAQ and reconciling and trying to balance things or even come up with consistent definitions of terms...
And then I spent an altogether unproductive period of time mentally writing letters to FanPro that made this rant look like effusive praise.

I just hope they are looking at the VOLUMES written on Dumpshock about the heinousness of their whole new matrix rules system and not letting whoever wrote the chapter in the BBB within 500 meters of Emergence or Unwired. SR1-3 matrix systems were unwieldy and well-nigh unplayable, despite repeated and valiant attempts at streamlining - but cumbersome as they were they all made sense and had balance.
I grant going wireless created huge problems, but no huger than magic or cyber or anything else they have managed to abstract in a manner befitting professional designers.

All this by way of apology that the promised JUMP OFF for tonight will be delayed until I get my head around the half dozen PROBLEMS that were created when I was looking in the rules for ANSWERS.

The easy way out would be to just GM fiat (I am a believer in that, by the way) everything, or else just avoid all PC involvement in Matrix and now by extension Rigging activity. But I continue to believe they are part of what makes Shadowrun Shadowrun. Also, I want to give all of you faithful players a fair shot at using your PCs' talents (while at the same time trying to find ways to balance them - things are getting pretty easy in some ways).

And frankly, I do not have the time or interest in totally redesigning the Matrix rules from the ground up (as some have done) - I pay money to buy a game that will also be played by other humans. Building my own game is an extremely time-consuming way to NOT be able to achieve that goal.

All right, let us limit tonight's discussion to what is certainly the most unsupported part of the traditional game milieu - riggers. Talk about getting rolled into something else and then forgotten about... No wonder no one is playing any...
Specifically, drones and how hackers will deal with them - which is obviously the salient question for this evening.
(Important to note here that this rant was NOT brought on by any action of any player - eveyone has been helpful, cooperative, accepting of rulings, and acted in the most reasonable of manners OOC and IC.)

Point the first - FAQ implies that if a hacker fast-hacks a node, no account is created, and suggests GMs not allow anyone/anything that gets admin access to just send an admin account to someone else (as Angel has been doing with remarkable success - albeit so far against the systems of coffin hotels and non-hackers' commlinks). There is some logic in that FAQ. I agree that the slow hack would CREATE an account in itself, while the fast-hack would not do so. That said, once you do have Admin access, there is no reasonable reason why what one does with that access should be magically limited just because of HOW one got there. Someone with admin access could in all likelihood (I say all likelihood because the more I read the more evil and nefarious Matrix security tricks I conceive of - which are much needed since I think in a pure numbers game very few basic RAW/BBB systems, even with a phat Firewall/Analyze or even a flock of IC, stand a chance in hell against a decent starting hacker/TM PC.) - continuing - they could in all likelihood create an admin account. It would require separate actions, though. First (again here assuming Admin access already achieved), a Data Search + Browse test with a threshhold equal to the system's Stealth rating to FIND where such a precious folder is kept, and then a Computer + Edit test with a threshhold equal to the System rating of the node. Naturally without Admin access these tests become opposed, using Hacking instead of Computer, and opposed by Firewall + Stealth. Achieve those things, and you can do what Angel has been doing - and I think if memory serves that Konsaki has been going through some of those motions already.

Point the second - The FAQ says there are no "slaved" systems. Yes, I know I contradicted that in my last post. Bad form to spring an anti-RAW ruling on y'all on the eve of battle. But it flies in the face of p. 212 on Linking and Subscribing both in spirit and largely in letter. I know from reading the discussion boards that many players have clung to that section as offering some glimmer of hope in defending against hackers (bottlenecking your defenses on your commlink), and even the RAW in its description of hacking cyber leans on this, but with the excuse that cyber has a hella low signal rating. Well, that ain't much help for riggers is it? Yeah, they give armed drones a blanket device rating starting at 4 and take off software rating caps for Firewall - so what - all those numbers are meat for the grinder to a hacker without a well designed sec system architecture. So unless every rigger builds a big old node in each drone he is screwed - and riggers already face huge monetary costs just to stay viable, and risk losing their entire investment every time they send a drone into battle.
So backed by the oh-so-generous promise of such an "advanced/optional" rule some distant day in the future, in my game it WILL be possible to "slave" devices to a network hub - devices so subscribed will only respond to or deal with the signal signature of the hub device.

Point the third - this still leaves two RAW ways to screw the rigger (one of which Konsaki has - unsurprisingly - chosen). Those are to simply use electronic warfare to fake the signals from the hub device, or to impersonate/spoof the hub device and issue a fake command (very similar ideas, but different game mechanics).

HOWEVER - unlike actually hacking in and getting either access or an actual accoung with privileges, these methods have their limitations.

First, Intercepting Wireless Signals p. 225. This rule means that drones can just bend over and spread for any hacker with a Sniffer program. Some genius tried to balance this with some lame nonsense about encryption, but we all know what a joke SR4 Encryption is. Once a hacker gets the signal (non-variable, easy test even hacking Zurich Orbital) and beats the encryption (extended test = just a matter of time), they have unlimited access to the signal with nothing but an Edit program. I can find no RAW defense against this.
I take some solace upon careful reading/consideration that all that can be added is what can be done with Edit. This will NOT extend to machine commands, which must be done with Command. Thus, you can use this method to see what the other guy's drone sees, etc. or send it false info as you would a sec camera, but you can't just tell the drone what to do with this technique.

Second, Spoof Command, Konsaki's eminently reasonable weapon of choice today given my earlier ruling on the slaved drone.
This one I take some comfort from the RAW on, as it is harder than it looks, and a well-prepared defender can make it harder (not to mention notice it quickly). It is also, as noted above, less versatile than logging in.
Note the Spoof Command description on p. 224. First, gotta succeed in a Matrix Perception test. This is NOT the same as finding the node (although that, obviously, must be done first).
So,
A - find node per p. 225 Detecting Wireless Nodes.
B - Matrix Perception per p. 217 - need one success for one piece of info (in this case Access ID). Vs. a drone rigger or the like, this will be an opposed test pitting Computer + Analyze vs. Firewall + Stealth.
C - Opposed test Hacking + Spoof vs. Firewall + Pilot.
D - and here is the clincher - you can Command the thing to do anything within the device/pilot's parameters (see FAQ on hacking cyber). Pilots, even smart ones, do not rewrite their own capacities/parameters - you can only use this to tell it to do something it knows how to do (as opposed to hacking into admin access for its system, in which you can do extra-function things like alter its own access codes, burn itself out, whatever).

Okay, I heartily invite comment on these rulings. Do not mistake that for eagerness to debate these topics - to me they are boring...necessary evils at best. And I sincerely apologize for ranting on and on, but it is a lot faster than arranging and editing and so on.
Believe me, this evening has been the opposite of the usual fun I look forward to every evening, and sorry to make everyone read it.
But I know others may have valid points here, and I am more than willing to listen.

Konsaki - these rulings impact you the most for now. And coming right before a battle, I am inclined to be VERY VERY lax on this stuff until this scene ends (especially since it partially contradicts the way we did things in your first scene vs Louie). You are totally free to redo your actions.
If you stick with your current course,
You have already identified the node,
You have already identified the access ID,
So all you have to do is give a Command - I see you've gotten four hits on eight dice - a lucky roll I am happy to let you keep until you do the Command -
since I must rule per above that a Command cannot give you an account or permanent access to a drone - that is a basic parameter set by the person who has access to the Pilot program (owner or....hacker). You can command the thing to crash into the ground or shoot the van, etc.
Since you guys are not in a shooting war at this time, you will probably want to hold off on the command until some point after the JUMP OFF - up to you, though.

On balance, I think hackers will remain hugely powerful, but riggers will be at least semi-viable with these rulings.
Time and discussion will tell.

Some time tomorrow I will put up the JUMP OFF IC stuff. Between now and then please feel free to OOC me with details you'd like included in those posts - just keep in mind I am no going to go through every conceivable action that bullet-time would allow - just general actions and/or reasonable (given what you know) preparations please.

Once the fight starts, I will be letting you all do your own IC posts of the combat wherever information availability allows.
BlackHat
nice HUGE post. smile.gif I think you got the spirit of the rules up there though, and those rulings seem sane.

As for IC actions this combat, for the time being Adam is considering telling the team NOT to shoot the thing out of the sky. After all, if we do that, and it never makes it to the hospital, the Doctor will never know that someone WAS ballzy enough to send a machine-gun-robot into his clinic. (Unless, of course, he's willing to trust a bunch of professional criminals that have been pissing him off all day, on their word)

At the same time, if I tell the team to stand down, its my head if the drone crashes through the window and waxes Cerberus. biggrin.gif

So... torn....

I think, as a free action to speak, at least, Adam will subvocalize "The Doctor thinks the clinic is safe. Stopping the drone won't change that...."

EDIT: Oh, I reread your last post. You wern't asking for IC actions, you were saying once the post starts we could post them... so that's fine. This will be my intention, though. biggrin.gif

The issue is obviously up for whatever debate bullet-time will allow... but it sounds like the drone and van arn't firing on our guys... yet.
Konsaki
Um... wow. I'm going to have to read over this a few times to fully re-plan out my actions. I'm not faulting you, adamu, it's just something you had to do as GM to set everything right.
DireRadiant
Yes, it is kind of incredibly dumb that they somehow didn't work through the most common scenarios and give examples of rigging or hacking versus drones.

e.g.
Lists of rolls to make

To Spoof a single Command to a Drone
- Detect Node
- Matrix Perception
- Decrypt
- Spoof
- Command
-- Defending Against above Spoofed command
--- Opposition Rigger Jumped in
--- Opposition Rigger Driving Remotely, via Command program
--- Autonomous Pilot
+ VR or AR Bonuses

To Remotely Operate Drone, Series of Commands
- make your list here

To Jump into a Opposition Drone
- Make your list here

I -still- haven;t figured it all out myself, and I've been trying for a while.
DireRadiant
Let's not forget that Jammers, which I don't think we have, and Electrical damage, do wonders against drones.

No jammer, but Sledge does have a Taser with her, now if only that drone would conveniently fly into her range with it. Now I seethe advanatage of the yamaha pulsar.

Of course the alternative would be a heavy pistol with stick n shock to get more range.
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