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TheFiremage
Hi, all,
I've played and run SR since 2nd ed. and now I've been running 4th ed. lately and saw a funny thing with regards to people with augmented reflexes (cyber/bioware or magical) and those who rig vehicles. I just felt I needed a little input from my fellows here on Dumpshock.

I remember in 2nd and 3rd edition, during combat, passengers would not have access to their full Initiative, supposedly prevented by the erratic motions of the vehicle while moving, but the Rigger, of course, would still receive his full Initiative bonus.

I noticed in 4th ed. this appears to be no longer true, unless I missed something. The reason I ask is this: In my current group one of the players is an Adept, the SRTeam's wheelman, with Improved Reflexes as one of his powers, along with 3 full Initiative Passes. So, when the Adept rolls his Initiative, while he's driving, should he still get to have all three of his Initiative Passes or not?

Thanks!
Sma
Yes
DireRadiant
Generally yes.
TheFiremage
Ok, thanks.
But I'd like to elaborate my question.

So if the augmented character who is not actually using Matrix Initiative, just ther cyber/bioware or magic, if they're allowed to use all of their Inititive Passes, should they be allowed to use more than one action on a Driving-type Test?

If remember from SR2 and SR3, someone who wasn't actually rigging a vehicle could not spend more than one Complex Action on a Driving Test, no matter how many IPs they got. Should this be the same for SR4?

I'd imagine that it could be answered in the upcoming Unwired book. (squee!!)

Thanks again!
Sir_Psycho
My current game has a houserule for this kind of situation. Characters who are hacking or controlling vehicles via AR can only spend a max of two of their IPs on matrix actions, any other IP's must be spent on non-matrix actions. This means that a sammy or adept with four IPs cannot hack faster than a VR hacker or rigger. This is important, as a VR hacker or rigger can only get four IPs with a simsense booster and running hot sim.
TheFiremage
Yes, awesome.
Thanks for your input.

I may use a variant of that houserule myself. It's something I'll have to think about for now. I suppose I can check out my old SR2/3 stuff as well.

I wonder if the developers have anything to say on this topic. (hint, hint) grinbig.gif
Seraph Kast
IIRC this came up a while ago, mainly in regards to Technomancers being slower hackers than cybered characters, thanks to the rules allowing AR hacking to use real world initiative. Again, I remember it pretty much came down to "Yup, AR hacking gets you more actions, being jumped in gets you a few extra dice". The difference being that AR hacks can't get you killed by Black IC programs and so forth, like VR hacking can.

Pretty much just a quirk of the rules, but it makes a certain kind of sense being that AR is a new development. Thing that sucks is that TM's are kinda hosed since they can't use cyber/bioware to get extra IP's without killing their Resonance, so they become worse hackers...kinda silly given the fluff. OTOH, they are amazing Riggers, thanks to Sprites, and can do all sorts of fun things with Sprites besides that.
DireRadiant
FAQ

QUOTE (FAQ)
Do Initiative Pass augmentations affect augmented reality actions?

Yes. AR Matrix activity should not be considered separate from physical activity -- they are integrated and take place within the same Combat Turn. When you access the Matrix via AR, you operate at meat-body speeds. Yes, this means that someone with wired reflexes can access the Matrix more quickly than someone who isn't wired.
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