I've been tinkering around with a decker character as of late, and I'm having a hell of a time trying to figure out how best to set up his deck's Personas as well as those of his Frames and Agents.
Can anyone give me a detailed run-down of what each Persona does primarily, which ones are most important in which roles, and maybe even some examples of how you've set up a deck or Frame/Agent in the past?
I own most of the 3rd Edition books including Matrix and Target: Matrix, but the information is scattered so much throughout all three of the main books that it's hard to figure out just what's going on.
Thanks in advance!
Full Version: Matrix Personas...
Not sure what you're referring to Doc. Do you mean Icons, or Persona chips/programs/ratings?
I'm refering to the Persona ratings such as Bod, Evasion, Masking, and Sensor.
I'm pretty sure he means the Persona chips for the MPCP, based on what I've read in the thread I suspect he's referring to.
The deck's Persona ratings depend greatly on just what kind of personality your character adopts in his Matrix expeditions. My current character, Cheng, tends to be sneaky and sly and avoid combat if at all possible, but she carries enough Offensive programs to be quite dangerous if combat becomes necessary. Thus, I play her with a maxed Masking, a high Evasion, above average Sensors, and decent Bod. Often, I run in Masking mode and lower her Bod score, wagering that invisible is usually better than tough as an oak.
Previous characters have been different. At one time, I was playing a brash dwarven decker whose icon was a whirring, electrically charged clockwork golem. He went high on Bod and Armor utility, with decent Masking and Sensors, but didn't (at the time) have particularly high Evasion. Of course, that was before I really learned the ins and outs of the Matrix rules, but for a good while I was a holy terror in a host. Different approaches. :shrug:
What kind of icon/personality are you looking to play, Doc?
The deck's Persona ratings depend greatly on just what kind of personality your character adopts in his Matrix expeditions. My current character, Cheng, tends to be sneaky and sly and avoid combat if at all possible, but she carries enough Offensive programs to be quite dangerous if combat becomes necessary. Thus, I play her with a maxed Masking, a high Evasion, above average Sensors, and decent Bod. Often, I run in Masking mode and lower her Bod score, wagering that invisible is usually better than tough as an oak.
Previous characters have been different. At one time, I was playing a brash dwarven decker whose icon was a whirring, electrically charged clockwork golem. He went high on Bod and Armor utility, with decent Masking and Sensors, but didn't (at the time) have particularly high Evasion. Of course, that was before I really learned the ins and outs of the Matrix rules, but for a good while I was a holy terror in a host. Different approaches. :shrug:
What kind of icon/personality are you looking to play, Doc?
My personal one is actually a generalist with a focus on information gathering. He's pretty much a pacifist, so direct combat isn't a priority, but he should be good at defending himself if push comes to shove. The icon itself is that of a twisted take on the Mad Hatter akin to American McGee's. I currently have his MPCP set up the way you do with Cheng, and I'm pretty happy with it from what I've read.
What I'm really trying to piece together are his agents and frames. I just need, or more correctly want, to understand the exact capabilities of each Persona rating so that I can make a wise decision on how to distribute them. Your suggestions in the gaming thread helped a ton, but I'd still like a better understanding.
What I'm really trying to piece together are his agents and frames. I just need, or more correctly want, to understand the exact capabilities of each Persona rating so that I can make a wise decision on how to distribute them. Your suggestions in the gaming thread helped a ton, but I'd still like a better understanding.
Ah, well then.
For starters, as per SR3 p. 206, the MPCP x 3 the maximum sum of the Persona ratings (that is, if you have an MPCP of 8, your Bod, Evasion, Sensor and Masking ratings added together cannot exceed 24.)
No Persona program may be higer than the MPCP (thus, if you have an MPCP of 8, you cannot have a Persona rating higher than 8. This means if you max out three persona ratings, you have a 0 in the fourth).
For starters, as per SR3 p. 206, the MPCP x 3 the maximum sum of the Persona ratings (that is, if you have an MPCP of 8, your Bod, Evasion, Sensor and Masking ratings added together cannot exceed 24.)
No Persona program may be higer than the MPCP (thus, if you have an MPCP of 8, you cannot have a Persona rating higher than 8. This means if you max out three persona ratings, you have a 0 in the fourth).
| QUOTE (Kurukami) |
| I'm pretty sure he means the Persona chips for the MPCP, based on what I've read in the thread I suspect he's referring to. The deck's Persona ratings depend greatly on just what kind of personality your character adopts in his Matrix expeditions. My current character, Cheng, tends to be sneaky and sly and avoid combat if at all possible, but she carries enough Offensive programs to be quite dangerous if combat becomes necessary. Thus, I play her with a maxed Masking, a high Evasion, above average Sensors, and decent Bod. Often, I run in Masking mode and lower her Bod score, wagering that invisible is usually better than tough as an oak. Previous characters have been different. At one time, I was playing a brash dwarven decker whose icon was a whirring, electrically charged clockwork golem. He went high on Bod and Armor utility, with decent Masking and Sensors, but didn't (at the time) have particularly high Evasion. Of course, that was before I really learned the ins and outs of the Matrix rules, but for a good while I was a holy terror in a host. Different approaches. :shrug: What kind of icon/personality are you looking to play, Doc? |
And seeing how combat works in the Idiot's Guide to the Matrix thread (sorry for no link
), it's REALLY deadly.... which means, chances are your bod won't be enough to stage any IC attack enough to matter, and it's better over all to Not Be Noticed (high detection factor: max sleaze and masking) and Not Get Hit. Emphasis on the Not Being Seen part -- the higher your DF, the slower the security tally goes up, which means the less IC you'll see. The less you see, the less you have to kill, and therefore the more dice you have for combat pool (or the more DF you have, if you're not using that optional rule).
Also, combat will be swift and deadly -- more so than in RL; I think it's safe to say that an attack utility should be rating S or D, so that you can crash IC before it can hit you (hopefully). Because when it does hit, it'll hurt. And keep a backup attack util in case of Tar-baby/pit
I could've sworn you had to have a rating of at least 1 in each of your Persona values, AH.
Oh no. In fact, civilian matrix terminals don't have a masking rating at all, which is what seperates wage slaves from deckers.
I believe you do for your own icon, but Frames and Agents are allowed to have values of 0. Or maybe not.
That's a good point that I had completely overlooked. I'll have to page through my copy of Matrix when I get home and look for specifics. Of course, this could end up leading to the glass-jawed quick-loading weapons platform, which has virtually no Bod, massive Evasion/Sensors, and high-powered Attack programs. Sure, the opponent could kill it with a blow aimed properly, but meanwhile you've loaded up three or four more copies to swarm him with....
You know, come to think of it that's an interesting concept. It's not like you're losing anything permanently if they get derezzed.
You know, come to think of it that's an interesting concept. It's not like you're losing anything permanently if they get derezzed.
Exactly. That's precisely the kind of thing I'm trying to figure out about the system.
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