bibliophile20
Jun 19 2007, 06:51 AM
I have a player whose character is a hacker with a mild addiction to moodie chips and who also uses hot sim regularly; considering that BTL and hot sim are pretty much two sides of the same coin, I figure I have a few options to go with here:
1. Have him make an addiction test against hot sim usage with a negative dice pool modifier or a threshold increase because of his BTL usage.
2. Increase his moodie chip addiction from mild to moderate with a test with a negative dice pool modifier or a threshold increase due to his hot sim usage
3. After a battle with some IC, have him face a test against becoming addicted to an additional type of BTL, perhaps tripchips.
So, suggestions?
Geekkake
Jun 19 2007, 06:53 AM
Now, I might be thinking of something else, but I believe hot sim and BTL aren't the same thing, as I understand it, as BTL also involves physical chemicals. However, even if not, I'd treat them as two different stimuli, because regardless, BTL affects different receptors.
[edit]: To be honest, the "different receptors" thing may or may not be total bullshit, but I'd totally pitch it anyway and kick the player in the sack if they didn't accept it. Just because the RAW says that BTL uses hot sim in no way demands that they actually be the same thing. It just means that BTL uses hot sim to do what it does.
bibliophile20
Jun 19 2007, 07:06 AM
Ahem, what prompted this question in the first place was a review that I was doing of the Wireless World chapter. I shall quote the relevant section:
| QUOTE (pg 229 @ SR4) |
Hot Sim
A hot sim interface has been modifi ed to bypass the simsense
peak levels that protect your nervous system from damaging
biofeedback. Whereas cold sim is analogous to a legal sim flick,
the signal strength of a hot sim interface is on par with the brainkicking
current a wirehead gets from a BTL chip. The intensity of
this input allows you to experience the Matrix in better-than-real
conditions. It may seem like sheer madness to redline this way,
as even random line noise could potentially be translated into lethal
amounts of feedback, but many hackers rely on the boosted
signal strength to provide them with the speed they need. Under
hot sim, you become hyper-alert, as every sense and every neuron
becomes sensitive to the translated machine code streaming
through the Matrix. You can literally feel the code of a program
running under your fingers, as your persona translates a wider degree
of data that simply could not be perceived through the basic
senses alone. |
And skipping a non-relevant paragraph:
| QUOTE |
To modify a sim module so that it can be run in hot sim
mode, you must make a Hardware + Logic (10, 1 hour) Extended
Test. Modifying a sim module in this way is illegal in most jurisdictions
(as it also allows use of BTLs, see p. 250). Hot sim also
makes you vulnerable to the lethal aspects of Black IC (p. 232).
Th e drawback to hot sim is that it can be as addictive
as BTL use (see Substance Abuse, p. 247). If the gamemaster
feels a character is using hot sim to much, she can call for an
Addiction Test. |
Ravor
Jun 19 2007, 07:14 AM
Well personally I wouldn't treat using Hot Sim while decking as being the same as slotting a BTL, but if the Decker in question was running Hot Sim all of the fragging time then yeah, I'd hit him with a second addiction to Hot Sim.
However I tend to be fairly easy with the various Addiction Rules, otherwise its just too fragging easy to slide from a Mild Addiction to being a Burnout and I just don't find that as being fun to play out in most cases.
Wakshaani
Jun 19 2007, 08:36 AM
Similar, but not the same.
Hot Sim jacks up all our sensory inputs to the max and beyond ... but normal decking doesn't give a very enjoyable sensation experience.
BTL, meanwhile, is all ABOUT teh sensory experience, designed to make your toes curl. To GET to that level, you have to be running hot, so that your senses are receptive to what it can give out, but the hot sim itself doesn't get it done.
Eryk the Red
Jun 19 2007, 02:09 PM
It's basically an issue of "A is always B, but B is not always A". All BTLs run in hot sim. But running in hot sim is not always running BTLs.
That said, I'd play it a little closer than most. When hacking hot, you're experiencing sensations that don't exist normally, at hyperactive speeds. That's where the bonus dice and extra IP come from. It's like a drug. A lot like a drug.
A hacking-junkie could be kind of fun to play.
Abbandon
Jun 19 2007, 03:11 PM
I would just treat it as a different beast. If he is constantly using hot sim make him take addiction tests with no modifiers. If he ever fails then he becomes addicted to hot sim. I would only make him test it like once a month of heavy usage. The starting addiction calls for tests once a week(if not daily).
I would not add in modifiers from btl's. The sensory input experience may be the same but a movie is different than surfing the web.
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