Actually, she doesn't have any of her grenades with her, just the pistols.

The perception pool was just Intuition: 3 + perception: 4 + the +3 for active searching, since krayola red uses Serbiter's house rule where he rolls the negative modifiers as an opposed test, so I only included the positive ones. I didn't bother making a roll this time since krayola red said it was a moot point.

Okay, shouldn't you have had another +2 from the adept power?

Edited out the mention of grenades. Glad you didn't bring them.

@Krayola: Lol, just saw upon your thread in the SR forum. Glad to see the consensus seemed to be that to make the GM cry, they'd give up on the whole "looking real" thing and go for being a car or a motorcycle of death (then the thread seemed to spiral into some discussion about 31 armor or something).

Let me know if Zee makes you cry, anyway, though. Like you said, we'll probably have to revisit stats if this game takes off - so I don't mind changing things if something end up bothering you. This is as much an experiment for me, as it is for you, I'll bet - but I'm hoping she's within the realm of reason.

Haha, yeah. I'm in the process of tweaking the karma based character generation system in Runner's Companion to see if I can make it less prone to abuse, so chances are pretty good that you guys are gonna have to remake your characters later if this takes off. You'll definitely be able to add on the karma you earn for this game though. Anyway, that's way off in the future and there's no point in worrying about house rules unless this turns into a full blown campaign, but I'm just giving you guys a heads up, so don't get too attached to your numbers, and if there's something you don't like about 'em, there's no need to worry because you'll have a chance to mix them up. For now, just focus on getting a feel for your characters to see if they're the kind of personalities that you'll want to play for the long haul.

Also, I want to say thanks to you guys for going out of your way to include a page number when you're using wacky shit that isn't in the main book. You're making life a lot easier for your poor GM.

Also, I realized that when I put my final gear down, the line for the drone's matrix attributes should have been updated to look like this:

Now that the drone is the home node (so all of its device rating becomes 6, and everything is increased by 3 except signal which is increased by 4).

That also freed up another 7K that I had spent on upgrading, before - but oh well. Like you said, we'll revisit all of this stuff later, so I am not too worried about it - but in case you've been wondering why I've been using response 9 when my character sheet said 5... that's why.

Not anymore - you probably accidentally clicked on the first version of Tasha, which did have enhanced perception.

Ah, looks like I did.

Fluffed some stuff about grabbing nutrient packs. The mimic modification requires nutrient packs to be supplied every ratingx2(6) days, but has no cost listed for them, so I am assuming that it is covered in my lifestyle (like food, or maintenance for one vehicle, or keeping my home node in tip-top shape, or whatever).

Scanning the man's collar - although I don't expect to find anything. If he's got a number, he might know more than he's saying, if not, he's probably just a hired gun like Tasha (with less manners).

First-aid test to hopefully at least stop him from getting worse (worst case scenario I end up killing him):
Logic (5) + First-Aid (4) = 9 dice. I've probably got some heavy modifiers for poor working conditions, and a lack of proper tools (-6 or more), but since you roll those against me, I'll ignore them for now.
#D=9 : 621335143 n1=2 n6=1 nHit=2

(Regarding IC): I suspect you would have a very cool scar - and that you would never leave home without your medkit, again.

Oh yeah, and the first-aid autosoft will replace the gymnastics one, for now.

Actually, rereading the rules for AIs and program loadouts, it says they can carry them in themselves, "just like an agent". So, I think that does mean it could carry more programs than its rating (since agents can) but too many programs will affect the response of hte system, and eventually its system. Keeping those values high is important, though, especially with a lot of actions based on response, so I'll probably stick to the 6 I have described, but it is cool to know that I have the option to load every program at once, at the cost of dice to use them.

Also, I'm not intentionally avoiding the inevitable team-up - but I'm not going to make it as easy as Tasha first thought, either. I liked that she came to the conclusion that Zee was coming with her based on her saying that she needed to keep moving.

Edited my last response like two seconds after I posted it. Hope that's okay. Decided "someone" and "mess" were more appropriate - since this is probably Zee's first apartment (other than crashing with random people).

Shame about the ID, but I had already written it off as gone. It would have been tough to explain to the landlord and the cops why one of the guys was shot from inside Zee's apartment.

For now, and also in the future, do whatever makes sense for your character. You guys don't need to worry about messing up the plot or anything, because there is none. I mean, yeah, I have stuff planned for what would happen if you go down a certain path, but if you want to do something else, go for it. I'll just toss what I have in the trash and come up with something new. I like surprises.

As far as Tasha is concerned, she doesn't even know that Zee is the "package", yet.

Yeah, I know. I thought that part was amusing too.

So the combat scene that just got resolved brought up a question in my mind: what happens if Zee gets shot up? I mean, regular people either use first aid or magic to patch up their wounds, but she's a robot, so she doesn't have either of those options available.

Automotive Mechanic - although the rules for repairing drones (or using any other build-repair skill) is still very abstract. They have thresholds listed, but no cost associated with parts.

One option would be to use it just lie first-aid or medicine, but for drones (although, the idea of resting off wounds makes no sense).
Another owuld be to look at something like SR3, where each "box" of damage repaired cost a proportionate fraction of the overall cost of the vehicle... but I never really liked that rule. It would mean each box of damage healed would cost something like 8,000 in parts.

Maybe, one possibility would be to allow automotive mechanic to make first-aid checks to quickly heal up a few boxes for free (like patching up a person), but just like first-aid, it can only be tried once per set of wounds. Then, where a normal person would resort to using medicine, a drone would need anotehr automotive mechanic check, this time spending the proportionate money to buy parts to replace the remaining damage.

Just an idea.

Also, in Street Magic, there IS a spell called "Fix" that repairs drones - and like the magic spell "Heal" can only be applied once per set of wounds. The threshold is higher, since you have to be the object resistance, and the spell is a manipulation spell instead of a health spell - but, right now, we don't have anyone who can cast it.

Also, if the drone takes damage = (mimic rating x2) then the skin is damaged and the internal drone materials become visible.... Terminator Style.

Among the list of notes I've made about things I'll adjust if I get the opportunity... getting a better bike, and having it modified for a metahuman are on there.

Well, if you really want to be a giant motorcycle with arms and legs and a pair of Halloween elf ears strapped on, I ain't gonna stop you. You'll no doubt be a very effective fighter, since the bad guys would be too busy going WTF??? to shoot back at you.

Lol, no! I just meant getting a bike that's better than the dodge-scoot to RIDE on... and getting the metahuman modification that trolls and such need (to adapt it for a non-standard body like Zee's). I was referring to a comment I made in the IC thread about the bike scraping along the ground, and being slow.

Sorry, I thought you were making a reference to the Metasapients thread over at the other forum.

No, but when I reread my post, and saw I didn't mention the IC thread, I could see how you got there.

Also, regarding healing, we'll go with the rules for first aid, except substituting the Automotive Mechanic skill for the First Aid skill.

Cruisin. Looking for a place to crash, to lay low until tomorrow.

Does the modified truck look like it has been converted into a semi-perminant building (up on blocks, tires removed, etc) or does it look as though it could be mobile? Does a quick scan with the ol' X-ray sensor (UWB radar) notice anything interested in any of hte nearby rooms, or inside of the dwarf?

Sensor Perception
Sensors (4) + Clearsight (4) = 8 dice
#D=8 : 25646232 n1=0 n6=2 nHit=3
(Modified, as necesary, for people)

Used as Cyberware Scanner (4 dice)
#D=4 : 3324 n1=0 n6=0 nHit=0
(modified, as necessary, for the number of objects or cyberware he has)

The tractor trailer looks like it's been modified to increase the amount of internal space available. It's definitely still mobile, thought you can't imagine something like that moving very fast. The dwarf has a light smattering of headware, but that seems to be it.

Okay, for short periods of downtime like this one, you guys can write whatever scenes you want for your characters. Actually that's true in the middle of the game too. You can make one post at the end of which would bring you to the next significant event in the story (i.e. Tasha goes home, takes a nap, hits the bar, and then goes to meet Biggs the next day), or break it off somewhere in the middle if you want some kind of GM intervention (Tasha goes home, takes a nap, hits the bar). In the first instance, you would have total control over what happens in the scene (in this case, the bar), and the second one would play out like a normal scene where I would be writing for the NPCs. And to top things off, sometimes random things that you did not plan will happen to you during downtime, because that's the way the world works.

I'll post something for Tasha to take her to the next day later tonight. I was just going to have her crash, but then I rolled to see how well she would soak the stun in four hours:

7d6.hits(5) → [5,6,3,6,2,1,6] = (4)
7d6.hits(5) → [6,1,1,4,3,3,3] = (1)
7d6.hits(5) → [5,2,1,5,3,5,5] = (4)
7d6.hits(5) → [4,5,5,2,2,5,2] = (3)

So she would be fresh after 3 hours of rest. Considering that she doesn't spend too much time cooped up in her apartment, I don't see her taking a catnap, waking up in the mid-evening, and doing nothing until noon the next day. So I guess she will be celebrating her run, after all.

LMAO, space spirits

After last season's big conclusion involving a time-mage and enough paradoxes to make half the writing staff quit, nothing really surprises me, anymore. Still, it was pretty cool to watch 4 Karls working together to take the Chronomancer down.

Okay, working up an IC.
Is Sorrow an AI who is notable enough to fall into Zee's street knowledege about them?
Intuition (4) + Notable Artificial Intelligences (4) + Fuzzy Logic (3) = 11 dice
#D=11 : 66244512524 n1=1 n6=2 nHit=4

You got nuthin'.

Also, as far as I can tell, the Fuzzy Logic bonus only applies when you're using a drone's pilot program to do something. As always, gimme a page number if you think I'm wrong.

Fair enough. I figured that was the case, based on the mysterious message. I figure the majority of AIs stay off the radar, but if Sorrow was famous or something, I should work that in.

I think that would be a fair ruling, but I sort of assumed that if it could be used by a pilot program, it could be used by an AI with pilot-origins occupying that drone. Mostly just going off of pg 136 of arsenal (probably where you were looking). It says it is a hardware/software package that can "fully consider a situation and helps the relevant program select among their choices more efficiently".

It does specifically say it gives existing programs (pilots and autosofts) better fidelity in their decisions - so a human operator probably couldn't benefit. I suppose it is just a question of whether or not a pilot-origin AI program counts as a pilot program as far as this vehicle modification is concerned. Since that quality allows you to count as a pilot program for loading autosofts, and jumping into drones, I don't think that is a big stretch, but if you prefer to keep it drone-only that's fine.

I think it would still make sense to have one installed on the vehicle (from before it woke up), in either case.

And, if I was using an autosoft, I think that might also fit into the description - since that program is in the list of ones it can help.

I'm gonna stick with the ruling that Fuzzy Logic only works for pilot and agent programs for now, and if this turns out to be a problem, we'll revisit it in the future. The description gives me the impression that it was designed to improve the limited analytical and decision-making capabilities of a semi-autonomous program, something that an AI is not. The thinking processes of an AI go far beyond what Fuzzy Logic can provide into actual sentience, so it doesn't really make sense for them to benefit from the mod.

Hell, I'm gonna have to consider whether or not to even make it available for drones. As I become more and more acquainted with the SR4 rule set, I'm beginning to realize that one thing I don't like about it is that technology has gotten to the point where the skills of player characters don't really matter that much. There's no point in being a street sammy if any rich dude can buy 12 combat drones, each of which can throw as many dice as you can. There's no point in being a hacker when it doesn't matter how skilled you are, you're still gonna get beat down in the Matrix by some punk kid with an army of agents. Shadowrun should be a roleplaying game, not a real time strategy game. But that's just me ranting, I don't plan on making house rules for this game just yet, but when I do, I anticipate that I'll have to rip most of the system apart.

Any objection if I claim to still be using the fuzzy logic hardware/software to help with Zee's decision-making, although it provides no mechanical benefit (the AI's capability already surpasses that of the fuzzy logic unit)? Not a big deal to me, either way.

Nope, but considering that Zee has an actual Logic of 5, which is pretty damn smart even for a metahuman, I dunno what Fuzzy Logic can do for her. But if you really want to RP it that way, go for it. As a side note, I think it definitely makes sense for Zee to have the mod, since pilot programs with Fuzzy Logic are probably a lot more likely to make the leap into full-blown AI than regular pilots.

Right, that was why I originally added it. If she can use it to improve her actions (or even just as a sanity check) cool - but I'm not too worried about loosing it. I agree that with her logic, it shouldn't contribute much - but if its there, she might as well use it, and usually it just tells her what she already knows.

With your previous ruling, if she was using an autosoft, could the unit still improve that? or does the fact that she's in control (and she's not a pilot) override that?

Also, theoretically, at some point, she could put the onboard pilot program (which was bought, at rating 4) in charge of the body. I doubt she ever would, but if she did, it would perform a little better with the unit, than without.

Nope, it's a package deal that only adds bonus dice to tests that involve both Pilot + Autosoft, not one or the other. A smarter autosoft would just be a higher rating autosoft.

Sounds good.

Haha, your IC post totally reminded me of the scene in Firefly where River attempts to correct Shepherd Book's Bible. Summer Glau rocks. I need to go watch the Terminator series.

Lol, I haven't actually watched firefly (I should). I did see serenity though - which I know makes no sense, since it was basically the wrap-up for firefly. I do watch the terminator series, though. You can watch them online on fox's website.

You haven't watched Firefly?

Blasphemy. No karma for you until you finish watching the entire thing.

Ouch! How many episodes is it?

Like 14? The show got canceled mid-way through the first season. I have a blood vendetta against the person responsible for that decision, and it is my destiny in life to meet them in battle and destroy them.