Thanks to everyone that encouraged me to give 4th a try.. I picked up the rulebook this weekend and spent some time looking it over. Had a few questions as a result. I hope I am not just taking up space, but I didnt see anything in the way of a FAQ for 4th ed (but if there is, please hook me up wiht a link).

- The Matrix is wireless, I get that. Everyone has their own personal cellphone/computer/secretary/ID/whatever which is constantly broadcasting info and recieving info, unless you turn it off. While this seems like a logical progression of modern tech into the 6th world... I am at a loss to figure out how one can manage as a Shadowrunner. They seem to imply that corps require their employees to have them on all the time (which makes sense).. so how does one break in? How does one who either lacks a SIN, or wants to hide it, even manage to walk down to the store and buy something to eat? It seems (to me) that the old world is gone in that regard.. it looks next to impossible to 'slip through the cracks' and to become a non-person.

- Deckers (I refuse to call them hackers... ) can hack into anything, from cyberware to kitchen appliances. How exactly does this work, and how do you protect against it? This makes NO sense to me at all, how this is possible. I mean, in previous editions cyberware was totally contained in your body, which works with the overall feel of the setting. Now, suddenly, your cyberware is on a remote control? Is there any way to turn that off, and where do I find that info? It said that doing that reduces how functional some pieces of cyberware are.. but again, that makes no sense. Take cybereyes, for example. They stick them in, plug them into the optic nerves, and you control it with mental controls (I imagine you would think to switch vision types.. or there is some sort of activation mechanism). How in the world does that need wireless controls?


These two issues are making me less than comfortable with the feel of the new setting. I can only imagine I am missing something, else how would one even function as a shadowrunner?

Here is one quick example.

Your eyes work just as you describe with some added functionality. Each pair of cyber eyes also has an image link. Instead of wearing VR goggles (glasses, contacts, etc) your commlink just displays your info to your eyes. This requires your eyes to have a small area of transmission (similar to modern BlueTooth headsets). This signal, or the commlink itself, are what is accessible. Similarly, Smartlink is now just an eye augmentation that again works like Bluetooth to connect to your gun instead of using a wired connection to a datajack. Mind you, you could turn everything off and use the old style hookup if you had a datajack though.

Hopefully that example gets you thinking in the vein of what they are talking about.

Ok... but why did that change from previous editions? I mean, why did the technology change, and is it possible to get the 'old style' cyber? What about people who got it before the crash?

Previous editions, as I understood it, the smartlink was a pad in your hand which connected to the gun, and a wire from your hand to your eyes (or display link or whatever) ran inside your body. Or, you could plug your gun in through a datajack which would allow your cybereyes to access the data.

How/why did this change? The benefits cant possibly be worth the risk in game. In fact, I am not seeing any benefits at all, other than perhaps a marginal savings in essance.



Another question:

- If a magic user gets cyber, dropping down to 5 essence. Can you still purchase 6 points of magic? Is there any hazard in using magic at a higher level than your essence (like in previous editions)?

1.You break in the same way you used to. Your hacker subverts the security system, and you move with your gear whited out, or on unusual frequency. You use stolen id's and good disguises. To hide your sinless nature you use Fake SINs, and live in the barrens. Fake Sins are a shield that can temporally protect you from the pan-optician. You will need a fake SIN, and you will blow through a couple a month.

2. Your cyberware typically isn't wirelessly controlled, but has wireless diagnostics systems, so it can do things so that medtechs can access the implants quickly for diagnostics and repair. Most internal implants are usually accessible with a lowlevel wireless connection. Your cybereyes might be wireless so they can download patches and such. A hacker might find out what frequency they are on, and run them through diagnostics rapidly. Any good shadowrunner is going to disable this during a run, mind you. You don't want to keep it off all the time, or then you start getting errors when you try
and interface your old smartlink with a brand new Alpha's smartlink. Think about trying to run a modern game with DX 7.

You might want to leaf through Unwired if you get the chance. It covers stuff like hacking cyberware, and panopticon.

Just seems like things are starting to get overly complicated. Downloading a patch for cyberware? Seems like a bit much, but maybe thats just my inherent bias against the new edition.

I am still torn on if I should even bother playing in a game, or chalk it up as a loss and stick with previous editions. So far there has been very little I have seen in this new edition which makes me eager to play it. Things like this, while I understand the basis of it... just doesnt seem smart for a game.

Its like detailing rules for bathing and sleeping for a game of D&D. Its simple stuff which should have no bearing on the game at all. Cyberware, once installed, should just work.. unless it breaks. Then you go and get it yanked out and looked at (or hook it up to check it out).

Also, if I am reading right, you pretty much are required to have a Decker if you want to succeed at all on a run?

The tech changed due to the crash 2.0, where Ex Pacis unleashed the deadly Jorgermound worn. (How deadly? The worm ate Deus.) While at the same time Winternight unleased EMP strikes in nearly every major city in the world. The entire old network was destroyed.

Now a smartlink is a dedicate display unit, coupled to a gun addon. You don't need an implant for a smartlink anymore, you can get a pair of contacts with a smartlink in 'em, so your mage can carry a smartlinked gun with no essence loss. Being able to use a smartlink with Plug and Play is a lot cheaper for Corpsec.

Remember, the world isn't designed to make shadorunner's life easy. It's designed to make corp's life profitable. A security guard who doesn't need a week off for surgery to use a smartlink is more cost effective than one who does.
You could also see what status of any guns that you are carrying, rather than just the one that's plugged in. You can also fire weapons remotely with just a though. Firing a thermal smoke grenade from an alpha on your back has saved me more than once. Or the building's spider can disable that gun that the runners stole, and can keep track of where the corp-sec is, and why they are firing the gun. Plus, it can grab patches from the local airwaves.

Most smart runners on the other hand, have all there wireless turned off, and everything else is skinlinked.

Welcome to the 2070's Omar.


Two options: 1) go to places that don't require you to log your SIN, and will simply look the other way if your nuyen is good, 2) Fake SINs. Every good 'runner should have one or two or three or more of them. Discard one after a while and pick up a new one.

As for corp security, again a good Fake SIN (or someone else's that you've stolen) will get you past. Alternatively you could avoid the "checkpoints" and try to find other ways into the buildings that aren't so obvious. Put your commlink in Hidden mode and it'll be like you aren't even there. Corp security will need to spot you on camera or in person and then scan to check your identity. The key is: don't let yourself be seen.


Cybereyes need wireless in order to display the new Augmented Reality Matrix. The key idea now is that your commlink is now the hub of your "Personal Area Network" (PAN). Your cyberware can only be hacked directly if the intruder Hacker is within about 3m of you. Even then, there are easy ways to secure your cyberware like using skinlink and/or slaving it to your commlink. What that will do is force an intruding hacker to go through your Commlink first as a chokepoint. This gives you a chance to stop them by upgrading your Firewall and loading up on IC. You can also run more than one commlink, a public one with nothing interesting on it, and another set to Hidden mode that connects all your 'ware and such.

Remember Cyberware is not set up for ease of use by people who are trying to stay of the grid. Cyberware is set up for ease of use by law abiding citizens. Most citzens don't care that they leave enough of a data trail for a corp to read minds. Hell, it makes life easler for them, so why should they care.

Just to be clear, however, there arn't rules for patching cyberware or such. That's covered in your lifestyle. It's just that being overly paranoid about wireless can bite you in the ass at any time the GM feels like.

You only need a hacker if you need to pull off a data steal, just like before. You can make do with disguises, but life is easier when you have a hacker on your side. Same as you don't need a mage, but realize you will have trouble from that dimension.

I also prefer SR3, for what it's worth. Here's my take on your questions.

The wireless world is hard for the SINless, but it should be. The SINless are criminals and riff-raff; nobody really wants them in their fine establishments at all. Even a pretty poor fake SIN will work wonders. It might not get you past security, but the local shops will let you in and start advertising to you. Besides corps and other areas that really need to keep everyone unauthorized out, most places just want to keep petty thieves and trouble out. If you can afford a fake SIN, you have enough money that you are a customer and nobody will bother you.

Breaking in depends on how you run it. I don't think most systems would constantly check for SINs permitted in the building. You need a valid ID to get in or you need to find a sneaky route, but once your in the walls don't constantly scan you unless you're really in a maximum-security area. That many scans just aren't cost-effective.

Wireless access to cyberware is mostly fluff. You don't install patches in game, but part of the background is getting your 'ware checked out, upgraded, and kept in good running order. That was also in the SR3 fluff. Now that just means you have to be careful about turning off wireless access when you need security. It's mostly for verisimilitude and a few neat tricks hackers can pull against the unprepared (i.e. to give them some combat use, which deckers sadly lack in SR3). Think about it—hardware in the real world usually gives you some ability to run diagnostics without opening it up, and that should be doubly true when "opening it up" requires a surgeon with an operating theater.

Technology marches on, and now there's augmented reality and wireless. Yes, you can use an induction pad for your smartgun, but most smartguns don't run with pads anymore. It's probably more pleasant not to have the thing in your hand and to just use cybereyes rather than the whole simrig system. Yes, there's a security risk. That's why you make sure to keep a very small broadcast/reception area, including skinlinks that work at a touch range (just what smarlinks need!) and put some security on your 'ware.


I disagree. Most cyberware is set up so users are protected from the local script-kiddies who want to turn off their eyeballs and have them slap themselves with their cyberarms. Milspec stuff has to be secure. And anything that goes through the hands of shadow doctors and other shadowrunner-friendly people will definitely get all the best security patches. Dead customers aren't repeat customers, and pissed-off live customers with glitchy 'ware and perfectly functioning guns ensure you'll never have any other customers ever again.

You can reject the new edition's flavor if you want and still keep most of the rules. Or you can take some of the new flavor, port it back to SR3, and leave the rest. That's what I do, but only because I'm a curmudgeon who faces his TN 13 to shoot a man in the head from a klik away with a sniper rifle and damn well likes his 1/36 chance per die. Now get off my cyberlawn.

Thank you all for the quick replies. I am going to read a bit more and try to digest it.. but I might of been overly hard on things right off the bat. It just seems that things are really different, and it didnt make any sense as to WHY it had to be so different.

Is there somewhere I can go that sums up the history changes? I knew about the Arcology shutdown and some of that, I knew a bit about some AI being responsible for the crash.. but the details are totally lost on me (and I dont want to buy a half-dozen books just to figure it out).

I will try to reply tonight or tomorrow, and thanks again for the help!

I also prefer SR3. But since I was forced to go SR4 for my Shadowrun fix, here's what I can contribute:

1. Fake SINs. Every Shadowrunner needs a stack of them to function in 2070. Fortunately, they're pretty cheap; and as a house rule, I won't expose a fake SIN on a casual check. The worst that'll happen is basically: "I'm sorry, we can't verify your identity, and your credit is declined." Exposing a SIN is reserved for things like a Lone Star check.

2. Yes, everything is wireless, down to your underpants. (True story: when someone here complained about wireless underwear, someone (a dev?) piped up that it was so your washing machine knew what setting to use. When they said everything is wireless, they meant it.) But that doesn't mean everything is broadcasting. You can turn the wireless off, which is a sensible choice for much of your cyber. If you can't turn the wireless off, you can use a skinlink and/or slave it to your commlink. You can then load your commlink down with a high-rating Firewall and the best IC you can afford. You cal also load IC onto your cybereyes themselves.


You want System Failure for that.

The Shadowrun Wiki's Timeline should help you get caught up

No.
Or better put, not immediately. When a magician's Essence drops both his current and his maximum Magic drop! So a Magic 4 magician receiving some cyber/bio (thus dropping his Essence below 6) would get his current Magic reduced to 3 and his max Magic reduced to 5.
He'd have to initiate first to bring his max Magic back up to 6. His current Magic would still be 3 but he would again be able to get it up to 6 somewhen.

Yeah...I made a character that a chunk of my starting resources when to installing black IC in my cyber-eyes, smartguns, comlink, cyberarms, and move-by-wire....

It was funny watching the technomancer in the group try to hack me! You know...funny in that "Dude..you are so stupid, you deserve the death you are getting" way...

This didn't "change" in the sense of "went away". A new option was added, is all. You can just get skinlinks on your smartguns and set your personal PAN to passive or even switch its signal off entirely and it works pretty much exactly as it used to.

Fake SINs, Fake Licenses, a dummy throwaway commlink broadcasting publicly, an upgraded commlink in hidden mode, hang out in low tech/unpatrolled areas.

Give a read through the chapter, 'Survival Tips' starting on page 20 of Runner's Companion.




Take a look through Augmentation, start with pg. 28 on 'Vulnerability' to help protect yourself.

Look at it as a way for a hacker to affect opponents without having to go gun - similar to how a mage can affect opponents through magic.

So Hackers and TMs can hack peoples cyberware, and mages can 'hack' people's brains with control thoughts, control emotions, etc.

It can feel overwhelming at first, but just keep in mind - for every attack, there is a way to counter it.

A friend of mine IRL reminded me that he likes to keep a second wireless router in his home that is unprotected in anyway that he uses for "quasi-legal" stuff. If anyone can connect to it with a wi-fi computer from a car outside then any "quasi-legal" activity can't be legally connected to him.

Always good to have an extra comlink and fake SIN.

Ok, here's my take on the "why" the Matrix technology changed.

Fluff reason: the Matrix crashed, and needed to be rebuilt. Wireless is the wave of the future. Even now we see that everything is going wireless, so it seemed pretty logical that the 6th world should have the same kind of tech.

Crunch reason: No one liked playing Deckers (at least in the games that I played). You needed a ton of resources committed just to be competent in your specialty and that made you suck in regular combat. If the team did manage to drag the Decker along on a physical intrusion, once you got to the Decking part, all the other players went out for pizza or drinks because it took the Decker an hour or two to get the paydata and no one else could do anything. So, the Matrix is now wireless so your Hacker (nee Decker) can accompany the group and still do his thing. It takes way less resources to be a good Hacker now than it did to be a good Decker. Cyberware is vulnerable to external hacking to give Hackers something to do in combat using their chosen skills

SR4 FAQ

Spoof, see spoofing the data trail, starting p. 225 SR4

DNI is used to manage implanted cyber, not wireless. So you can turn the wireless off but still work with your cyber. Note that most cyber signal range is very short, so to hack that cybered sammy you'll need to get within cyberarm reach first.

Such a setup could get him quite some trouble here in Germany - in our jurisdiction the owner of an internet access is responsible for anything that is done with it! So even if an external user was responsible for a hypothetic cybercrime and could be identified and catched your friend would be accused of being a (minor) accomplice for providing the internet access. The fact that his router isn't encrypted would actually be used against him as securing an internet access against abuse is the owner's responsibility...

This is the best quote to keep in mind on the whole "wireless vulnerability of cyberware" issue. At least initially, SR4 had the mindset of "no more sitting in the basement Hacker/Decker, get your butt on the Run", so they needed something for them to do when there wasn't a security asset for them to be meddling with. Then of course they added the Full Immersion lifestyle in Unwired for a lovely bit of cognizant dissonance in that area by offering hackers/riggers a way to never leave home and have a good reason for it.

Full Immersion lifestyle doesn't necessarily mean they don't leave the house, just that they never leave VR. That's where your unconscious body strapped into a Personal Mobility Vehicle (PMV) comes in!

"Who's the dead dude in the coffin on wheels?"
"That's our hacker... he's not dead, though. Just... out of touch with reality."

Taking a year off dead for tax purposes?