Ok these are the only questions that dont seem to have definative answers. Does anyone see definative answers in the BBB, FAQ, or previous editions of matrix rulebooks?? If not im submitting them.

-Are there any ways to notice that you are being tracked/traced?
-Does a stealth program have to be active in order for you to benefit from it or does it just need to be on your commlink?
-Whats the accuracy of Computer + Scan as far as a nodes IRL location? Track only narrows a nodes location down to within 50 meteres. Is Scan any better?
-Agent Payloads.....If you send an agent off to another node do you lose the programs you loaded it up with?
-When an R4 agent gets trashed are you out 10k nuyen or was it only a copy of your agent program(not a cracked copy, just a soft copy like when you copy programs onto an agent)?
-When an agent gets trashed, when and how does a hacker load it back up?
-How would you send simsense data to a target(assuming you lock open his filters on his sim module/AR links)?

*edit Crap you cant fix topic lines with an edit lol.

Matrix Perception Test. p. 217 - "something" has to actually do the tracking, either IC or a persona, and that can be scanned and analyzed, which in turn will let you know if you are being tracked.



The program must be loaded and active on your commlink. If it's on your commlink but not an active program it doesn't help.



See Detecting Wireless Nodes p. 225, it's EW + Scan



Yes, the program goes off with the agent. (Of course you can always crack copies and thus have enough to send with your agent and run one on your commlink)



Reboot, reload, all fixed.



Whenever they want.

It helps generally with the Matrix if you think of programs as distributed network software. For example these forum boards. To use DS, you need a computer, a browser, and your login. The actual software for these boards is actually somewhere else. You can use DS from anywhere you can log in from. If you can't log in, then you can't use DS as well, you can read the forums, but can't post questions for example. the login, or authentication is what allows you to run the full capabilities of the software. Or if you've played a MMORPG, that software can be installed on several PC, but you might have only one account and login that no matter how many "copies" of the software you have, only one "copy" with the correct account and login can actually be playing the game.

I'd only add that if an agent is running remotely on another node, and not in your persona you would have to return to that node to retrieve it. Since it had been sent out and was not on your commlink. Then once there you could retrieve it and/or reboot it.

As to rebooting it, since an Agent is a type of system, I'd probably use the Rating for number of combat turns till it was ready to go again. If thats steep for you, then use the Complex action to reload it.

I'll buy your stealth program answer Dire but the rest dont count. Your scan answer and page reference is only talking about finding nodes in general not thier physical location in relation to you. Sorry, I didnt specify physical location but i changed it. Also i added my simsense question hehe. To me forcing simsense sensations onto people is way cooler than just crashing their programs and agents lol.

Very well. There is no way to notice that you are traced. If you analyse someone that happens to trace you, "used programs" is one bit of information that would turn out to be Trace(Matrix ID). I thought I had answered that.

There is no given accuracy of Computer+Scan, but given the mechanical advantage of knowing which node you search, it should be rather exact, a few m error.

No, you load the programs into the agent. Your active programs have nothing to do with the agent load.

The agent is just normal software. It crashes, you reboot it. You own the program.

The hacker can load up the agent into his persona or any node he has a connection to. The information the trashed agent had is lost.

Edit (on Data stream of the simsense device). Some Operations may require input streams, but matrix trideo would serve as an easy source for that.

Unless there's a wire separating the transmitter from the actual device locating the node with scan will also let you know where the device is.

stop looking at it with real world knowledge. focus only on specific game mechanics, and it'll be easier.

no page numbers = guessing

Well, the inability to load up multiple copies of the same program is NOT called out in the rules-as-written - but it is an almost universally accepted rule by the GMs I have played under. Without that, a hundred-grand will outfit the whole team with the best programs on every device they have, and they can storm any node they want with hundreds of copies of their agent program.

That aside, nothing about the rules say that when an agent gets destroyed that the program erases itself. You can always cancel a program and restart it, so that's effectively what you would be doing if you restarted your agent program. Of course, it would start on your commlink, and wouldn't have whatever data the other copy had - but as long as your agent is off doing errands for you, you can't run another copy of that program.*

*Unless your GM agrees that you can, in which case, he might as well not even use the matrix rules and just let you do whatever you want.

The rules don't say that the first is true, and don't say that the second isn't, but common-sense will probably lead most GMs to these interpretations. Otherwise, the matrix-stuff is either trivially easy or prohibitively expensive.

That is one theory. Look up the page numbers yourself. (hint: 222-225 mostly)

Trace is basically "intercept and follow data". Therefore it can´t be noticed directly (explicit). Tracing is still an activity, a valid analyse result. (Matrix Perception, Relocate description, Intercept Signal description).

There is no given accuracy of Computer+Scan. You know where the device is, no qualifier how exact, except mobile devices. (Reference WOULD BE bg. 219, Trace)

No, you load the programs into the agent. Your active programs have nothing to do with the agent load. (See Agents section, copies of your programs are loaded into your agent).

The agent is just normal software. It crashes, you reboot it. You own the program. The data is lost (There is no special rule for this. See Crashing Program section). What should stop you from loading up a new copy?

The hacker can load up the agent into his persona or any node he has a connection to. (See Agents section)

Edit (on Data stream of the simsense device) (See Edit, pg. 219).

Edited to hold more information. How does one do this cool box saying just that, with reason?

How do you make multiple qoutes? I think you hit the multiqoute button and then hit qoute post... I havent figured it out either lol.

separate running programs from stored programs.

as in, you can run as many copies of a program you own (or have cracked) as you like, but it will not benefit you so why do it?

but you cant run a program and then hand the running program of to a team mate. you could, if you have a cracked copy, hand them that, and they can run a copy themselves.

a agent is a special case as its in many ways a virtual comlink. the agent is running the program within its virtual environment that is itself running on a node. but if its not on the owners node, it cant load new programs, so if one of its programs was to crash or be unloaded for some reason, its gone (hmm, can one spoof the agent into unloading one or more of its programs?).

think in terms of drm. every program seems to have a bit of code embedded in it that locks it to a specific comlink or other node. a agent also has a similar code. but as a agent is a program to, as long as both the programs it runs and the agent itself is "locked" to the same node/comlink, it seems that the drm accepts there being multiple copies in operation at the same time.

so i dont think you have to buy a extra copy of a program for your agent. but you will have to do so (or crack it) for your backup comlink(s)...

you hit multiquote ones for each post you want to quote, and then hit addreply at the bottom i think.

I think I nailed this one down!!!

Common use programs like analyze and scan can be set up to autorepeat. ARGH!!! NOOOooooo.... I was so close.....my opinion just got over ruled...

I was trying to find the page number that talk about autolooping common use programs but I found proof of the opposite. I was going to say any program that uses computer + program would be allowed to auto-loop. Thus you can auto-loop Spoof and just send out bursts of statis 24/7 like stealth or eccm(although those dont loop, they are just on).

But two things..
#1. I didnt believe that one dude who said you could only run Spoof/redirect when you are being tracked and not just whenever you felt like it. It says exactly that you can only run spoof against a trace in progress only. pg224 Redirect Trace.
#2. it uses the hack skill, which totally screwed over my new theory that only Computer+ programs can be looped.

So I guess analyze is your only option to spot traces? And that can be set to auto-loop. So what if someone began to track you...the GM would secretly roll:
Firewall + Analyze(tracing agent/hacker/system's stealth?) any other stat? Im basically turning it into an Intrusion test...

Just edit the content.

You need to analyse the specific entity that is tracing you, and that alone forbids auto-loop. Your system can only automatically scan against intrusion attempts (which it can notice), not against trace (which it can´t). If you analyse an entity, (stealth) is the threshold and net hits gain a bit of information each. You could theoretically load an agent and tell it to scan all entities in the same node for tracing attempts, and to report those.

If you have not cracked the programs, you can only have them on either your System or the Agents System.

@Rotbart that doesnt gel with the section that sayd if both you and an agent are use a program it can affect your response, Or the fact that you can deactivate/activate programs after you have loaded them onto an agent.

Well, the FAQ contradits RAW in this case - and the RAW has greater playability.
There goes the FAQ.

The FAQ straight out conflicts with RAW in this case, as Rotbart said. Not that I am against restructuring the wireless rules, but it should make things BETTER than before, and it should be done in a rules text, ie errata. That way, the funny surprises one has when reading the FAQ would be less surprising, but thats good (especially in such a case, where you do not exactly like your present).