I'm playing an AI in an online game. The character is already generated: I created it very quickly, and it was my first exposure to the AI rules.

My question is, what sort of *inherent* bonuses do AI's get? I see the following:

• +2 to all Matrix actions due to constantly running hot VR
• +3 to Matrix Perception tests
• Some inherent programs
• Home node bonuses.

Am I missing anything?

Not the first one. They're not running VR, they live in the Matrix. Street samurai don't get +2 to all physical actions due to living in the real world...

I would actually debate that, since hot sim is meant to simulate "living within the Matrix", but OK, let's stipulate you're correct.

Would someone please tell me, in that case, what the heck the big deal is about playing an AI? One poster in the thread discussing Runners Companion mentioned something about "rules that make technomancers look balanced". I will admit I don't see it. Just why or how is an AI superior to a given technomancer or hacker, within the Matrix?

Try make one under Karma gen....

But aside from that AI's have all the advantages of being fully focused on the matrix that a Technomancer does only without the need to spend points on a physical body.

OK. So, what you're telling me is that given equal skills and resources, a hacker or technomancer is fully equal to an AI within the matrix: the advantage is that it's a lot cheaper during chargen to create an AI with a given set of skills/resources than it would be to create a hacker or technomancer.

Do I have that right?

Sort of.

What I mean is when you make an AI you can concentrate your points more on the matrix side because you don't have to worry about little things like being able to climb or run fast.

You also get access to some AI only qualities which are /very/ good. Authority, Code Flux, Rootkit and Sapper spring to mind as being the really nice choices.

They're also very hard to kill. I mean seriously unless the player does something really stupid they're probably not going to die especially if you're playing a more street level campaign where the players are up against gangers without the matrix talent required to trap an AI.

My local group has gone All Meat as it were. No one likes playing hackers/technomancers and no one wants to try an AI. If I hit the matrix again it'll be as a drone rigger (go my army of mini machinegun lynx drones! MOW THEM DOWN). If my current GM does it it'll be as a troll (*YANK!* That's a hard drive. *Shrug.* Decrypt it later. *Stash*)

The key advantage to playing AIs which everyone seems to overlook is that, once you get your Rating up to 6, you can pay Karma to get each of your six inherent programs up to Rating 12 (that's right, kids, twelve), which you can use on any system you like (cos they're ergonomic and optimised and the like).

Thus, you win.

Also, if you're hacking from your home node, you're likely rocking a Response and Firewall of 9, before you add stuff like Response Increase to the hardware.

And if you're not in your home node, you can't be killed. Ever.

mostly it seems that the AI and technomancer is a long game, interesting roleplay type of characters, rather then a "hot rod out of the box" that the hacker can be by spending resources on gear and meat mods.

hobgoblin's right. Two weeks and my mind spawned some quite cool ideas for AI characters and most of my players think they're made of win.

You created Friend Computer from Paranoia yet?

If not, too late, we already did (well, concept wise, I once tried to get his stats down on paper, but Damien Knight's excel sheet wasn't up to the task, plus there were so many conditional stats I gave up).

It should be noted that this character should be played as a PC by someone who loves Paranoia at least as much as we do. All his ally PCs he thinks of as troubleshooters (here's a gun, when you find trouble, you shoot it) and keeps trying to kill them off (and replace them with clones who are clearly more loyal to Alpha Complex than the old clone).

Never played Paranoia, but heard from it. It's cool

I did something along the lines of Blaine the Pain from the Steven Kings Dark Tower Series (fully functional sheet and story, another player of me actually created a "forced buddy" for him), the last thing that my mind flashed up was something which can be described as "robotic Hobo".

Jim was our Ultra-Violet, and he claims he got there by playing. Though he's not a compulsive liar like some other people I know, but he does have a flair for the dramatic.

I only played a one-shot with him once, two people made it to orange (I was not one of them), but I was the only person to complete my secret mission, AND I did it without getting shot (an orange got shot for it, she was Communications Officer and forgot to record the mission, so I slipped her the tape I had and said I did it, the tape had Victorian music on it--clear contraband--and we were so hyped up that we succeeded on our mission (we totally bombed it) that we had it played to all of Alpha Complex, Secret Mission complete).