For those of you that don't yet know, the 4th Edition Shadowrun FAQ has been released. You can find it here.

Let the bitching commence!

Personally, I am not overly enamored with this ruling ...

and the fun begins from the they start talking recoil compensation...

seems recoil compensation only apply for the first "action" of a combat phase, didn't see that one coming...

more as i read it all...

edit:

yes! they cleared up the indirect area effect spells!

but as i read this, i find that the text need a but of editing as its hard to seperate questions from answers

edit2:

Questions are bold, answers aren't ... do they need more of a difference than that?

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thanks adam, i needed to reload the page (but in firefox the key combo was ctrl+F5, not shit+F5).

They restated the question farther down with this:

It applies to the 2nd action as well if you have enough RC to make it that far.

EX-explosive ammo is significantly less powerful.

WHY?! are the developers of this SEMI-CYBERPUNK game a bunch of magic loving twinks?

WHY?

Hey, guys, I think OneTrikPony isn't happy with the FAQ.

Ok so befor I get banned let me clear this up for you.

IM SO MAD I CANT SHIT!

Sorry, that was in the Errata, not the FAQ. It's +1DV for explosive, and +1DV -1AP for EXEX. Flechette is +2 +5 impact .

hmm, those mods looks to make apds much more usefull when it comes to armor...

I'll agree that the ruling that Reaction Enhancers don't stack with Wired Reflexes is

1. Stupid.
2. A holdover from playing too much D&D.
3. Not supported by Shadowrun Fluff, RAW, or gamebalance.

But it's just one piece of stupid. The old SR3 FAQ had lots of stupid. I don't think it's time to constipate yourself just yet.

-Frank

That Sr3 had lots of stupid is no excuse. I quit running SR3 games because of that crap. I hadn't played shadowrun/bought a shadowrun book for 3 years until I saw SR4 and (I thought) new developers. Looks like I've been fished in again.

The only reason stupid got held over is because of the magic focus of the people who get to write for the game Frank.

[edit]: I appologize for my above posts and for directing that coment at Frank. I've been frustrated with the reletive lack of advancement in the cyber situation for years. In all seriousness I say it's my fault. I've never submited a single scrap of anything to to fasa or fanpro. I even stoped comeing to dumpshock. Frank got involved and sometimes his vision of the setting gets included in the cannon, regardless his rant's here on DS are more ammusing than my explosion above. If I had worked at writing and had tried to submit something of value in the last several years maybe cyberlimbs wouldnt be so F'ed up. Anyhow I missed that boat for SR4 and will hence try not to use my keyboard when I'm mad.

Sorry to everyone.

So ignore it. The SR developers aren't the end-all be all masters of fun and game balance.

Ok, i may sound like I'm the only one, but i find this FAQ pretty helpful

It wouldn't be the first time a SR rules FAQ got ignored in whole or in part. While it is the opinions of the Line Developer on several issues, they're opinions that have not yet been included in a printed book that they charge real money for.

Errata is on a higher tier, but I can point to certain instances where the Errata of a book actually appeared to introduce an error instead of correcting one, which at least in my group's case, required me to house rule that item back to it's pre-errata status.

And in the end, in the cold, cold night when it's just you staring down the table at your SR players, it's really up to you whether you use the errata, FAQs, or even sections of printed in-book-that-you-paid-for material.

Granted, you probably want to use as much of the last one as possible, but nobody's making you if you don't want to.

Heck, if the SR developers were good for anything they'd have real jobs.

I'm probably going to ignore a good chunk of this stuff. Not so much because I don't like the rules calls, but because I don't want my book full of pencilled in annotations just to stay current. The game's good enough as written (not perfect, but best is the enemy of better).

So can I ward my ballistic shield and carry it with me? I'm still not entirely sure the difference between a rock and a crate...

I just want my mundane some protection.

First I wanna ask a question before i comment on other people's comments.

#1. In the hacking section while talking about a daisy chain set up of nodes they said that you could skip to the end of the chain and just hack/spoof the last device.

Wouldnt a commlink and a piece of cyber be a chain of nodes. If you were close enough and the cyber was wirelessly transmitting would it still have the protection programs of the commlink it was attached to like encryption or firewalls??


Counter comments:

I kind of agree with Onetrikpony. I think adepts can be much better than street sams and if they are mystics who can have both adept and normal spells thats insane. I think cyberwear prices need to drop drastically or adept power costs need to sky rocket.

yesman im no expert but im up and have an opinion lol.

You use computer/hack + program to do stuff matrixy. If you lack computer/hack skills or they are low enough you could default and use Logic -1 + program.

For the most part, I am very happy with this.

I also couldn't stop laughing when I read this: "Why did you get rid of deckers?

<strike>Because William Gibson hates Shadowrun</strike>."

Oh wait i thought of another matri question lol.

Agents + programs.

In regards to the programs on an agent affecting its response they said that the programs would only affect the agent if you were bothing using that program...

#1. If you hacked your program code in order to make copies can you give your agent its own program so that is no longer using yours?

#2. If your agent is another node can you switch out his active programs if your sharing one copy of a program? Or would you just dump all your programs on an agent and only activate the ones you need?

Different subject.

Agents and node response.

They said that agents do affect the nodes they are in as far as response.

#1 Is there a way to exploit this by making an agent whose only purpose is to bog down systems? Make an Agent named Sludge who runs like 50 programs and reduces the node's system to response 1 or whatever the lowest is. Would there be a point to that? You wouldnt be able to do anything in that node either would you.

Wait you could offload Sludge onto a node and then the hacker would be unffected wouldnt he since he doesnt run off the system, He runs off the comm. So would it be helpful for hackers who like to do stuff manuelly (not sprites/agents)?

I find the FAQ helpfull too. There were some major matrix questions that have been sorted out; Firewall system rating responce degredation.

I think those are good things. The firewall ruleing even helps my samurai character--indirectly.

BTW, I'm not confused by the idea that responce is effected by programs loaded on an agent ; "Only if the agent is using those programs." It would help if they had used the word ACTIVE. i.e. programs loaded on an agent may degrade responce when those programs are ACTIVE. It just turns the agent into a complete additional hacker+comlink. The agent has to run and drop progs just the way a hacker does.

when you make tests you roll attribute+ skill.

When you dont have the skill you default and use attribute -1

programs = attributes
computer/hacking = skills

If you dont have the program there is no way you could do what your trying to do.

If you were a technomancer and you had no attack program you could not go well i will use Hacking + logic -1 to attack that ice and then be like "think attack, think attack, think attack"

You wouldn't have to be IN the warded area though, just behind it. They'd suffer the visibility penalties to casting at you.

Actually would they suffer vis penalties anyway? Especially if the shield is opaque. Or would the shield count as clothing? I'm making a new thread...

Was PDF format totally out of the question?

It would fit nicely with my other SR4 pdf documents.

hmm, after rereading the bits about agents it makes more sense, but could be better worded i think.

sounds like if the agent is using a program it counts the same as if the hacker used it. so if both the hacker and the agent uses(runs) a attack program it will count as two programs running on the comlink.

uhoh. this means that a agent can have a internal response degradation (from maintaining to many running programs as its payload) and a external one because its payload also counts as running programs on whatever node its active on. sounds like one nasty balancing act...

its as if a agent traveling from node to node is a memory construct of multiple interlocking programs. could it be that the agent behaves a bit like a virtual machine? and that the footprint of said virtual machine increase as more programs are loaded into it? makes sense in a way but it leaves agents double fucked (if i can be so direct).

still its a effective deterrent against the agent swarm tactic as each agent counts as a program and each program they have loaded counts as one. so if one have 3 agents loaded with attack your looking at 6 programs running!

at least it proves that a corp office node is a different beast from your average comlink. the number of agents and the programs they would deploy on average would sink a comlinks node to 0 in a instant...

Front loaded my butt.

When is cyber front loaded when you face a STARTING LEVEL mage with

an invisability spell that you can't bypass with anything other than hearing or an ultrasound sensor

A sprit which In previous versions you had to fight with will but which, Im given to understand, in 4th edition you only have to overcome DOUBLE armor rating. But which can use acident and confusion and engulf on you nearly unresisted.

Which only has to look into the astral to bypass ALL of your stealth skill and cammo.

Astral projection that can follow you anywhere without your knowing it and watcher spirits to do the same thing. You cant even make a test to know that you're being watched. and no gear will help.

Full worn armor + physical barier spells sustained by more sprits.

Indirect combat spells that specificly target the weakness of the samurai archetype which get only a single raw will test to resist. That have almost no range modifyers bypass all armor and have damage values BEFORE net hits that surpass the damage of your sniper rifle.

On top of that the mage can duplicate the effects of your rating 6 medkit, cast spells on himself that are better than most of your tens-of-thousands-of-nuyen worth of implants. And can probably kill you from his livingroom after he has a spirit pick up a single freaking hair that you left in the cab you took to the bar.

And where the hell do you get "long term" At char gen I'm so full of cyber I'm afraid to cut my tonails. But it's alpha ware at best
WHERE'S THE FAQ ENTRY THAT TELLS ME WETHER I CAN RECOVER ESSENCE BY REMOVING LOW GRADE GEAR SO I CAN GET SOME DAMNED UPGRADES? RAW you generate your cyber character and you're done. Spend your money on beer and titties bub, cuz even if you can ever afford new implants you've got no place to put them.

But a mage apparently has a choice of initiate groups on every F'ing street corner now. Look at the Missions runs 6 karma 5000¥ per run. After 2 runs he has enough karma for a grade of initiation. Hell mage twink only has to make 4 runs and he's got enough karma for a grade of initation + the magic point to go with it. He can take care of finding the initiate group in down time between runs. How the hell is that long term?

What do I get? shot full of holes beat to death by some wage mage's FORCE THREE spirit and twenty grand MINUS expences like NERFED explosive ammo which costs me Three-hundred nuyen per clip PLUS the finder's fee.

Cyber characters aren't front loaded they're weak and finished at character generation. Mages aren't long term unless your talking about reaching major developement events after 5-8 game sessions.

I have to say that I think I kinda agree with OneTrikPony about magic being a little overpowered, and I love magic. Cyber's cool, but I just like magic better. I think Adepts especially are overpowered and way too easy to abuse. The way I see it though, Magic's long term strength requires a lot of Karma, while Cyber's strength usually just requires Nuyen. Also, for the thing about being able to learn magical stuff pretty easily... well.. you could easily house rule that so that most complex spells/adept powers require some kind of manual or formula or mentor or whatever. I know that contradicts what you said about how you like to do House Rules, but that seems to be the best way to balance them out to me. Also, Cyberware seems to have a lot of room for the GM to simply make up new stuff that isn't in the BBB. That's the way I see it, if you feel one side is unbalanced, balance it. Also, it is very worth noting that Cyber could become much more powerful once Arsenal and ummm... I think it was Augmented or soemthing like that come out. Hopefully they'll do for Cyber what Street magic did for Magic. I would really like to see some awesome streetsam come up and own a certain Phys. Adept in my group.

EDIT: Dang you posted that right before me, I guess I'll have to read that and change my post now...

EDIT again: well in response to the essence thing, I asked a similar question a while ago and someone or other presented a rather good theory, the "hole" theory. If you remove a piece of cyberware you don't regain essence, but you can fill that same essence hole for other cyberware. The astral world is another of my problems with mages. The ability to see living things no matter what, even mundane ones, seems like it's way too cheap. It's impossible to hide from that, as you said. I've been considering a House Rule that makes you only able to see awakened/otherwise magical things with astral perception.

I take it that this FAQ is a general FAQ and not the Matrix FAQ Bull was working on?
Will we see a FAQ that is more indepth interms of the Matrix still?

Thyme.

As always, info@shadowrunrpg.com is the place to suggest stuff for inclusions in books, apply for playtesting, etc.

[Augmentation, btw, not Augmented.]