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Kurukami
I'm pretty sure that persona ratings have to be at least 1. Additionally, you might want to consider having at least a somewhat decent Sensor rating for your combat agent -- because when someone else attempts a combat maneuver, your agent's Sensor rating is both their TN and the number of dice you get to roll against their Evasion. If you have a low Sensors, they'll give your agent the slip with a quick Evade Detection, position themselves for an attack, and hammer your poor frame to its constituent bytes.

For a non-combat agent, Bod would probably be less important. Masking is something you'd want high, Sensors medium-high, and Evasion medium-high. That way if your agent got ambushed, it could evade and attempt to continue its programmed mission while its opponent was still searching for it. Decent Sensors would allow it to notice things approaching it more easily as well, like IC or a hostile decker popping into the host's node.

For the scout, Sleaze is key. That high DF is vital while it's poking around looking for things on your behalf. Deception isn't bad either, particularly if you're sending your scout-agent off to check out a particular host. Browse and Analyze are the two primary utilities you'll want, at high ratings and possibly with the Sneak option to up the agent's DF while it's using them. Cloak is a good choice, to allow it to more easily escape the attentions of anything trying to bash it.

Everything else is negotiable. Read/Write, Decrypt, Defuse, Evaluate, Purge, Scanner, and the like all make for good items in your scout-agent's toolkit.
Kurukami
QUOTE (Doctor Funkenstein)
From what I understand, it's 1 Karma per form regardless of the rating. But the rating determines the Mp, which determines programming size (one day per Mp base). So a Rating 6 complex form for a Multiplier 3 utility will cost 1 Karma and have a base time of 108 Days (108 Mp). Base time is divided by the number of successes on the Computer (Programming) test with a TN equal to the rating of the complex form.

Two years is 730 days.

And keep in mind that, should you have successes on creating your program plan (from the appropriate Knowledge Skill), that'll lower your TN for the Programming test as well.
Ol' Scratch
Much obliged, Kurukami!
Kurukami
To add on to my earlier post -- certain options for programs will make them tremendously more effective, regardless of whether the utilities are used by you or your frame/agent. "Targetting" is one -- lowering the TN to hit an opposing icon by 2 is absolutely immense. "Stealth" is another nice one, but it pumps up the utility size like you wouldn't believe.

For non-agent use (like just the decker), "one-shot" can also be astonishingly useful. Carry one or two one-shot D-level high-rating Attack programs in your belt, and use them to soften up the opposition or get a quick kill in -- the fact that "one-shot" quarters the size of the program is fantastic. You can fire and reload somewhat powerful programs quite quickly, and for those monstrously large planet-killing Attack programs it cuts the size down to something reasonable.

Of course, the design size goes up, so programming them yourself can be a pain... but they're nonetheless quite useful.
Elfie
Ok i'm sorry , but in light of recent news, I think some rewriting of character is in order. Give me a day or two and I'll have a new numbers sheet up.

@Dr. Funk: Good God, man, what a character!
Ol' Scratch
Eh?! I haven't posted any details about my character yet and I'm already getting grief! <flails> biggrin.gif
Elfie
NO, no, not grief at all, that was a good Good God! Hehe, that's the kind of thing my decker ASPIRES to smile.gif
Glyph
QUOTE (Grey)
QUOTE (Glyph @ Dec 10 2003, 09:24 PM)
With my commute, I don't have that much spare time/energy during the week - I have him all costed out and have the general concept, but I probably won't be able to get him typed out, polished, and sent until Saturday or Sunday (hopefully Saturday).

I haven't really heard much from you in the way of what you are going to be playing. Can you fill me in a bit, because I don't know that I want more than five characters, which I've already got. I may let know more in, but I need to get a good idea of what your concept is.

Currently, he is a street punk who was taken in a bit later than most otaku, who still has a bit of an inferiority complex (hiding it with a cocky persona), even though he's progressed much since then. Actually, he secretly likes playing the role of "average guy who tries harder". Of course, he is comparing himself to other otaku, so his idea of "average" is a bit off. wink.gif

He has some basic street survival skills, and is also a tinkerer - high electronics B/R and a few other B/R skills to represent that fact that he is the type of guy who sees something and wants to take it apart to see how it works. In the Matrix, he is well-rounded but oriented more towards decker dogfights and datasteals than information brokering or data tracing.

He is 15 or so, not a face but not as maladjusted as some of the other otaku (not as superhumanly intelligent, but not as near-autistic or naive, either). He is not looking forward to his inevitable burnout, but sees Hatter as proof that it's not the absolute end. It's more like having fins and gills and swimming in the ocean, then losing them and having to wear a scuba suit instead. Sure, you don't have the sense of oneness with the ocean, and you can't dive down to the deep, secret places any more... but at least you can still swim.
Shockwave_IIc
QUOTE (Doctor Funkenstein @ Dec 11 2003, 11:42 PM)
I'm pretty sure that's assumed when purchasing a utility.  I remember seeing some discount somewhere for purchasing utilities without the code, but don't quote me on that.

Page 94 matrix, bumped into it last night while looking for program options.

Oh my!! 730 Days worth of programing!! (or in my case hard thinking), Don't think i can fill it!

Got a provisional list going, pretty certain i missed something.

2 Attack progs (ones a Badass IC killer), a Blinder, Armour and Cloak out my arse, Along with the complusary Sleaze and a Medic to boot. All rating 8+

Did i miss anything big? Still got about 55 Days left.

@ Grey I'll send you completed list later on. Got a 19hr shift to do at work.
Dashifen
I'll be building the whole character this weekend (whee!) so I'll have stuff up on Saturday evening or Sunday. My fiancee is going home for the holidays without me so I 'll have time to work on Thor.

-- Dash --
Grey
Like I said, not a problem about you guys needing more time, just try to have it done by Sunday night, so that I can go over them when I get to work Monday morning.

I likely won't be around much to post over the weekend, I'll be busy at GenCon SoCal, but that may turn out to not be the case, cause as of last night, GenCon was a flop. We're hoping things pick up over the weekend though, so who knows.
Ol' Scratch
Okay, well, I pretty much have everything for my character done. I threw up a quick website that gives a description of my character, his background, and even kept his attributes, skills, contacts, and resources on it, though I did keep a few other things hidden (like his edges/flaws, implants, and stuff like that) just to retain a bit of an air of mystery about him. smile.gif

If you're interested in seeing what I cooked up, you can view the Mad Hatter by following the link. Much like Elfie, I'm no poet... but his background and description should give you an idea of where I'm going with the character.

I still need to detail a few of his contacts and come up with the names on his fake IDs, but other than that... yeah, I'm pretty much done. biggrin.gif

I can't wait to meet everyone else!
Elfie
OK Grey, I'm sorry but finals are hitting me really hard now (4 in the next 3 days), so I can't play with my character until the 18th. Basically what I have uploaded is what I'm going to play, so use him for whatever you're planning :evilgrin: but I do want to play with that 2 years programming time, so I'm just going to tweak my programs on the 18th.
Shockwave_IIc
Ok here's what you know of Mo To Ti Vu. The spoiler tags is to keep the page small.

[ Spoiler ]


Well thats Mo.

Glyph
I think I'll have to drop out. Between work and the holiday rushing around, I am drawing a blank on fleshing out the character background, plus I doubt I would have the energy to struggle through the matrix rules (normally, I would consider this a good opportunity to become more familiar with them, but right now it would be too much). You were a bit over the number you wanted in players anyway, so it probably all works out for the best.
Kurukami
Well, here's the background page I've set up for Cheng.

Cheng's background.

The formatting still needs a bit of work, but I'm content with the information presented there.
Dashifen
QUOTE (Kurukami)
Well, here's the background page I've set up for Cheng.

Cheng's background.

The formatting still needs a bit of work, but I'm content with the information presented there.

I like that page, Kurukami. I'm going to steal your basic layout and whatnot for my write up. I'll get that up in an hour or so after I get it all written.

-- Dash --
Kurukami
QUOTE (Grey)
2. You won't be starting characters. I'd like you guys to use BeCKS if possible and I'm guessing I'll start you off with a minimum of 500 karma, but it may be more.

I'm trying to use the NSRCG to put my character together, but so far the BeCKS gen-system is giving me headaches. How am I supposed to modify the "total karma available" to the character, so as to push it up to the 500 you've mentioned here?
Ol' Scratch
It's in the Options at the top of the screen under Program Settings if memory serves. I didn't bother using it for that same reason (ie, the headache). It's easier to just do it manually.
Dashifen
Rickard Svenson (Thor)

There's the background for Thor. I'm going to start working on his statistics shortly and I'll have a character sheet up. His statistics are up, too. I have to check my math, but I think I'm okay. And I have a lot of programming time left! I'm not going to make any changes until I know about the 25 point bonus and whether or not I can get it. Also, I haven't done any of the knowledge skills but I will -- it's been seven hours of work today on this character.

-- Dash --

Edit: Notices problems -- edited complex forms to reflect MPCP (d'oh) as of 9:00pm EST on Sunday.
Shockwave_IIc
Ok Im still wanting to play this. But i've been informed that it may take upto 4 weeks to reconnect me at my new address.

So as of appox 24hrs form this post i lose my connection. However i have friends with access who i'll be tapping. (one actually wants to see how shadowrun and RPG's in general play on line).

So with a bit of luck i'll still be around, just won't be able to sit on the thread when bored wink.gif
Grey
QUOTE (Kurukami)
QUOTE (Grey @ Dec 5 2003, 11:08 PM)
2.  You won't be starting characters.  I'd like you guys to use BeCKS if possible and I'm guessing I'll start you off with a minimum of 500 karma, but it may be more.

I'm trying to use the NSRCG to put my character together, but so far the BeCKS gen-system is giving me headaches. How am I supposed to modify the "total karma available" to the character, so as to push it up to the 500 you've mentioned here?

Its under options. Also, you get 600 points, not 500.
Grey
QUOTE (Shockwave_IIc)
Ok Im still wanting to play this. But i've been informed that it may take upto 4 weeks to reconnect me at my new address.

So as of appox 24hrs form this post i lose my connection. However i have friends with access who i'll be tapping. (one actually wants to see how shadowrun and RPG's in general play on line).

So with a bit of luck i'll still be around, just won't be able to sit on the thread when bored wink.gif

No problem Shockwave, just post when you can. Things should be a little slow starting off, it'll be a lot of role play and getting to know the setting. Things shouldn't heat up for at least two weeks or so, give or take a little.
Grey
I talked things over with Large Mike this weekend at GenCon and we pretty much decided that doing the crossover between the two games would be too damn hard to make work.

So, the Brain Eaters live accross the street from you guys.

I'll be opening the IC and OOC threads today.
Kurukami
*cudgelling his way through the BeCKs system* Gaahhh...

OK, I begin to see why you're saying "no cultured bioware" to start off with -- it tends to throw off calculations by a significant amount. Example -- assuming one had a mnemonic enhancer, where would the Karmic benefit to learning skills kick in? 425? It's indistinct... so that makes a bit more sense now.

However, the numbers for buying attributes seem a bit off. *shrug* It's always been my understanding, and that of the group I game with, that you buy Attributes up using the base number unmodified by racial bonusses or penalties -- rather than making it substantially more expensive (Karma-wise) for metahumans to approach what should be the "average" for their genotype.

Oh well. Back to work trying to muddle through this mess... biggrin.gif
Ol' Scratch
Mnemonic Enhancers are ignored using BeCKS. It's near the end of the character creation rules in the document. Bethyaga also chose to ignore racial penalties and bonuses to attributes, instead just raising their Racial Modified Limits and Attribute Maximums. Don't ask me why.
Grey
BeCKS can be a bit confusing at first, but once you get used to it, you'll see how great it is. You get complete control over every aspect of character creation and can tweek the character to your liking. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

One thing for everyone: Go ahead and start role playing your characters in the IC thread, even if you aren't done with the characters stats. The stats aren't likely to come into play anytime soon, so its no big deal.
Kurukami
Will do. I'm so glad right now that I have Excel available to me on my computer, though... biggrin.gif
Kurukami
OK, so the mnemonic enhancer I had in mind for Cheng as a starting thing is straight out. Given the background I've proposed, though, would a cerebral booster and/or sleep regulator be that out of order? I would have thought, given the origin details I provided on Cheng's background page (particularly with her corporate parents springing for implants to enhance her potential while pursuing her collegiate goals), that they might be acceptable (since they don't as directly impact advancement).
Ol' Scratch
Just as a side note, you're free to have a Mnemonic Enhancer by the BeCKS rules (though Grey was showing some trepedation towards bioware). You just don't gain the -1 Karma bonus for skill improvements during character creation, even during the extended character creation phase.
Grey
Kurukami - Check out my private message.
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