So since magic gets lots of interesting metamagic techniques, I thought I'd see what I could come up with for technomancers. Any new echo should fit in thematically with someone whose nervous system is effectivley a wired netwrok/antenna, let rip (and I wonder how close we'll get to whats coming up in unwired?

Rewired: Skills
The first one I came up with (and which my DM agreed fitted nicely and wasnt too OTT):
Drawing upon the living persona and a more fully intergrated nervouse system the technomancer now has skillwires equal to his submersion grade.

More Bandwidth
The tecnomancer increases his registeered sprite limit by his submersion grade

Living Skinlink:
Your skin is now effectively a skinlink to your living persona.
--This is one that technomancers should have started with


Neural Dampers:
When in full VR receive High Pain Tolerance equivilant to half your submersion level.
--Without a matrix condition modifier, and being affected by damage everywhere, this would help to refuse to acknowledge your wounds.

Optimization:
Bonus to resist fading equal to submersion level.
--Can't believe wasn't listed, there is currently nothing to help resist fading, similar to Focused Concentration.

Infovore: Technomancer gains sustinance from the Matrix, reducing his/her need for food. reduce lifestyle costs by 25% for each time this is taken (maximum 2 ranks)

Countermeasures: The Technomancer is able to generate an ECM field equal in power his/her resonance, with a radius of resonance x2. this is a complex action to activate, and imposes a -2 dice pool while being sustained.

Machina Mind:
Provides a +2 bonus to vehicle tests when jumped in. Not compatible with Control Rig

Modify on Infovore - Gains sustenance from the Deep Resonance! (Its gotta be more than just a word we throw around, give the Resonance some substance)

Syntax adaption: The TM can use normal programs running on any device, provided he has obtained the necessary access rights. Allows the TM to function as a Pilot Program with Rating=Response.

actually, resonance factors into fading resistance rolls. which means that the TM already can gain better fading resistance via submersion.

i would modify the skillwires one, personally... it completely changes how a TM works. and also, it makes no sense to be able to have resonance-based skillwires when you have no resonance-based skillsofts.

it also doesn't make sense (imo) for a TM to be able to use normal programs in combination with their resonance skills.

i would propose that the skillwires one, allow them to learn skillsofts as CFs, and allow them to thread those skillsofts, *but* they can't use it with their own meat... so they would be able to use it when rigging or remotely operating vehicles, or within the matrix, but not for their own body. in fact, this is still so incredibly useful that i might suggest making this an advanced echo, requiring one for knowsofts first or something like that.

a few others i have considered include adding submersion grade boxes to their matrix condition monitor (only usable vs matrix damage, not from stuff like fading) which are damaged first, and being able to turn 1 essence worth of cyber (would be based on it's base essence, not modified by alpha etc) such that it replaces the resonance lost from installing it (that is, they still lose the essence, and they still lose the resonance, but as long as the cyber is installed they are treated as if the essence wasn't lost).

an advanced version of the matrix condition monitor would be cool to allow the TM to send out just the matrix condition monitor part, not backed up by his regular stun and physical tracks. it would be immune to black IC, but if it gets trashed it's the same as if they did the reboot thing that takes a bunch of time to get back into the matrix.

but those are just some of my wacky ideas =P

Hmm. I guess in all my complaints about the high Fading damage Technomancers have I never realized that in the long run they are actually almost better at resisting fading than mages.

Mages = WIL + (LOG/CHA) (All are capped due to racial)
Technomancer = RES + WIL (RES uncapped, due to submersion)

So only starting Technomancers feel the burn from Threading/Registering, since your dice pool to resist will be growing at the same rate as the size of fading damage.

He is better at resisting drain after about 7 gazillion karma. But until then, it's no big diffrence.

Actually, I'd say TMs could start out roughly 1 die better to resist fading than a full one magician. The TM quality is only 5 points while Magician is 15. So you can be a TM and immediately move your Resonance to 2 for the same cost as simply being a Magician.

A mage needs only 2 mental attributes, while a TM needs all 4. My money goes on the mage in cost/kick-ass contests.

I think the fixed rate is 1/3 of the increase in possible fading. I think TMs should not increase their resonance as long as the Mental stats (+Submersion boni) are below/at Resonance. (My most likely plan would go Intuition 6, Resonance 6, Submersion (Response+1), Resonance 7.)