So far as it effects this discussion, I run SR2.

I've only run one campaign, during which I banned Deckers after reading the line in the core book "you should set up a separate day to meet with the deckers player to perform the matrix runs", but now I'm curious how to pull this kind of thing off.

Both Astral Projectors, and Deckers have the same problem, that unless the other PCs are in the same catagory, they will end up with runs where they are alone, and the other players just have to sit back a wait, which is no fun from a gaming standpoint.

So the question is, how do you handle it? For starters with a team of (let's say) one mage/shaman/shiny-person-who-walks-the-astral-plane, one Decker, a rigger, and a street sam. Then whatever specialty team you'd recommend for the situation.



For myself, I would probably just use cut scenes where possible. If the decker is investigating the location of the run, I'd probably just cut to the actual run, and when we hit a spot where the decker would have found something, we cut to that scene to see if he did, and what happened while there, which also works for astral scouting. As for if it is something that is separate from the groups pursuits, like an astral quest for initiation, follow that character for a while, then cut to what someone else is doing (like meeting their fixer, or roughing up a contact, or even just hitting a club).

In the second instance, I might suggest all decker/spwwtap groups. Or following the advice in the recent Astral Planes thread, the other players might represent pieces of the spwwtap's psyche, or even NPCs in the matrix, though the latter would be harder to implement properly (depending on the group).

So how do you handle it?

mmm ... SR2 decking. Make sure you decker has 30 or more d6s.

I currently run SR3, but its not a big deal. Generally speaking I force my deckers to be "combat deckers", and do the same with my riggers. Basically they need to be combat effective, or at least not useless, because they need to be able to keep up with the team. Generally this keeps the decking to only what is necessary rather than the grandiose hour after hour solo matrix runs. It also helps to run an abbereviated set of rules ... I've cut down the SR3 rules significantly and its actually encouraged my deckers to do a bit more because it resolves about as fast as normal combat and they feel like less of a drain on the team.

Pretty much I run things sequencially with cut scenes so everyone gets a share of the lime light. However I have also run personal plot, including decking and meta planar quests, external to the main game because it made for good play and in depth character developement.
Make a call on the best result and real world time constraints.

The only thing I stay away from is the vehicle rules in SR3 due to massive time time sink where noone but rigger can do much.

Painfully true.

OK.

First of all your best bet would to be to rip off the SR4 wireless hacking world and slap it into your campaign. The rules weren't playtested well, and are a bit nebulous. But at their core they're still the best hacking rules in any of the cyberpunk genre RPGs out there.

Barring that get virtual realities 2.0. Or whatever the second edition book was. And start using those rules. They're much much faster.

In order to make it go fast during game time I suggest rolling for your decker except on the most clutch of rolls. Also straight up don't do the silliness where the decker just hacks around for paydata. Such a waste. I consider nearly all paydata to be in onsite servers. So they'd do it mid run.

For rigging other people can do stuff. Hacking(4th ed, or 2nd with a sat uplink), gunnary, running drones, making sure spirits aren't following. Plenty to go around.

I recommend the following:

To expedite roll-intensive scenes involving one player, I like to have a list of pre-generated rolls. Get about 20 or so rolls to work with, then randomly pick a starting point. That's the first roll. The next result on the list is the second roll. And so on. When you get to the bottom, jump back up to the top.

As the player describes what they're doing, go down the list, applying the next roll in the list to their action. It can be a huge time saver.

The only thing is that you need to know how many dice you're work with before you start. I used graph paper back in the day, but a spreadsheet would probably work wonders now...

-paws

It is an option, and not a bad one but far from necessary.

There are several ways you can handle the decker.

Option #1 The Decker is a Virtual "Face". Does your team have a face or could they use a second? Deckers are capable of doing the same things a face does except in the virtual world. Coordinate a virtual meet (extra privacy for Johnson) with Mr. Johnson, search for information, etc. Others have computer skill and can search for information or contacts, but the Decker does it better.

Option #2 Stealth decker. Is the decker set for being sneaky or cybercombat? If they're sneaky then you can make it short and simple, the moment they get caught it is jack out and don't go back or else it is game over. These allows the decker to be there and do their matrix stuff fast without the lengthy bog of cybercombat.

Option #3 Party run with Trodes. A decker doesn't have to be alone, they just do it best like a Street Samurai in a street fight. Get the whole party on the matrix run. Pretense, maybe they just don't trust the decker, maybe they've got vague clues they can fit better in person. Maybe the decker is just lonely or needs advice. In 2060 everyone should be able to use the Matrix.

Option #4 Overwatch. The decker is virtually in the same computer system as the others are physically hitting. Make it so a Matrix alert or building alert trigger each other. This way cybercombat and physical combat can be conducted at the same time. They can also effect each other as the Decker takes over automated security and helps, or hinder as the decker triggers more alarms.

Option #5 Combat Decker. The decker is a physical runner like the samurai. The Cybercombat can be reduced down to short and simple rolls that represent penetrating the computer system inside or fooling with hardware.

Hope that helps.