I'm assuming the volume of data on the device is not so great as to require any special rolls to locate or download it - and that its signal rating is weak enough that people walking by in the hallway wouldn't stumble across it.

Are you planning to tell us what additional information can be found on the node, or are you wanting us to ask questions about what we'd like to check?

Edit: Lol, crosspost. One second.

Analyze Test: 4 Hits

Question about the browse test.
I'm assuming this is a data-search test (extended data-search + browse), and Scorch can thread a browse CF at 3 on the fly, but that only lands him with 4 dice. Dropping into VR would help, immensely - so, at the point that Scorch sees that there is something he would want to search for, or would need to sift through, do you mind if he takes a free action to drop into VR first? or do you want me to roll with the 4 dice?

Also, do you just want one roll, or would you like a handful of rolls (if its an extended test) and in that case should I cap it at my dice pool, or cap it at 10 minutes worth (which is basically forever, and I'll glitch before I get through that many rounds)?

Drop to VR. single roll.

Then hit me with a single Decrypt roll

Okay, that sounds important. Decrypt I am even worse with. Let's see how this goes. I'm really tempted to use edge on one or both of these rolls, but I'm sure I'll need it a lot more later when we're dealing with the NYPD, so I won't waste it now.

Browse roll: 1 hit - just barely not a glitch. Damn good thing I went VR.

Also, lol, I double-checked and you can't default to electronic warfare (used for decrypting), so I don't think that an option, at the moment.

Sure could use a bad-ass AI about now.

Working on the IC post regarding going VR, and will probably end up sending out a warning to the team, but I suspect it will be a round too late, unless the information takes an unusually long time to download - such the team might cancel the download in the middle.

Assuming Zed will determine the availability of Seg-Fault.

Threading the Pavlov option onto Scorch's Data Bomb CF (program option lacks rating, so is treated as rating 3 - which can be threaded and resisted by buying successes), and then using the CF twice to place a data bomb (lowercase) on both his biological node, and his commlink's node - as well as his copy of the data - then he will release the CF. The data bomb on the data will be set to erase it if triggered. The data bombs on the nodes will not be set to crash them, if triggered - but should trigger an alert.

Did I see a spirit? I'm confused. I thought that to mask other auras outside your own, you needed extended masking, and that only applies to spell you cast or power foci bound to you?

I suppose I would also see any active foci, but I'm not sure if you have any. I probably should have mentioned that. (although, this seems really stupid. If you appear mundane but you're carrying an active focus, somethings obviously up. I guess that it only takes a simple action to turn a foci on, and a free action to turn one off, so we can just assume any foci you have are not active currently.)

I'm not masking it. But it is underneath something that's not inherently transparent. It's like having it behind a wall. Assensing can't see through things. Which is why I wasn't sure how to handle it, especially with the Concealment power up and running. Which is why I was leaving it up to Zed to decide.

And no, I don't have any foci active currently.

That means, I guess, that you need to ask if auras shine through things. I'd be tempted to say yes, since wearing a full winter jacket doesn't hide your aura as a person, though I suppose that doesn't cover the face. Besides, on the astral plane, walls and such, though there, are not actually physical boundaries, so I see no reason why they would impede auras, other than just by their thickness.

Concealment only provides a negative to perception tests, I thought? I'm AFB, but...

<shrugs> Whatever. Assensing is now a super kung fu x-ray vision that can see through a concealed sheath hidden under a lined coat while being magically Concealed (which does, in fact, work on the astral as well as the material since the spirit is dual-natured. Same goes for Infiltration and Palming. But we'll ignore all of that, too).

Magic is higher than yours (6). Initiate grade is higher than yours (4). Hedge Magician. Force 4 Plant Spirit possessing a telescoping staff. I have a mild headache. My left testicle hasn't descended yet. I have a crazy-bad case of hemorrhoids that's been bugging me for a week now. Whatever. The entire world has changed now, I'm sure. Scheme away with whatever good any of that information will do you.

Oh, and be sure to frisk everyone, too, while also asking for their medical records, real names, birthdays, personal histories, and everything else. Invading everyone's privacy is always welcome, especially with people you're going to be commiting major crimes with. And God forbid there be some obstacles in your way while doing so.

(Rant-to-English Translation: Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.)

Edit: Bah, sorry, having a bad day again. Didn't mean to explode there. Trying to work on that.

In terms of the plant spirit. Its an odd one. Concealment does indeed subtract from perception tests. Then, you have auras; it seems to suggest crowley would have two seperate auras : his own and a second possibly stronger one since its in the Astral. In fact according to RAW the plant forms aura would be incredibly strong.

However since the plant spirit is attempting to hide and mask its location its then say its flickering in and out of alignment with Crowley's aura , trying to match his aura for colour and intensity. To lock onto this you will need a seperate 'Assensing Perception' check. Since its hidden and Concealed your looking at an Assensing test(4) with a -4 penalty to the dice pool. If you make that then you can perform a second assense test at normal dice pool to determine normal information.

Its mechanically as close i can get get from a rules perspective to allow Thomas a slight chance to spot to focus on the spirit. Switching to Astral perception though will tell him something is odd.

Its also worth noting Auras are not in the 'here' but in the Astral plane. There would be the following:

1. An aura of Crowley. Showing him to appear mundune.
2. A dim grey coloured auro of the staff /Coat etc
3. A bright auro of the Spirit. Trying to conceal itself. Do everything in its power to avoid detection. You therefore apply the spirits magic as a penatly to the dice pool for the Astral perception test to 'locate/lock on'. But Tom knows theres a spirit in Crowleys presence is you take rules as written.

At least thats how its reading to me the more i review the sections.

Seg-Fault is suprisingly quick to respond to your message, less than 15 minutes.

Sounds like your breaking up to meet elsewhere. We probably need vamp to open up the next segment of the story since its his "where" your meeting.

Your rant actually gave me a lot to think about, while I was bored at work, regarding the SR universe, and why the have the rules they do regarding magic (not that Shadowrunners obey most of them). Assensing, not to mention astral projection, brings up all sorts of privacy issues - and mundane's can't even tell you're doing it. AFAIK, awakened characters can only tell if they're doing it too - so they're unlikely to point fingers - and since its a magical "sense" its kind of a passive scan. A mage just shifts his perceptions to the astral, and if he sees you at all, its by seeing your emotions, essence, and magic - which are probably things most people wouldn't appreciate being common knowledge. Since most magicians get this ability "for free" they are all potentially invisible, undetectable mind-readers, as far as mundanes are concerned.

The idea that astral perception is sort of a passive scan, makes it like a hacker asking what wireless devices you have (matrix perception? scanning?), or the face rolling judge intentions when you lie (sort of a social perception?). Both actions are violations of privacy, because they reveal information you may have not intended to share, but, at the same time, it doesn't really make sense for either character to not ask, if there is something there to see. Physical perception is like that too, I guess. If one character had a live grenade in his coat pocket, and mine had high perception, I would at least be curious as to whether or not I noticed this - and I don't think most people would consider that a violation of anything.

Now, if someone wanted to physically reach into my pocket, or hack my wireless devices, or hook me up to a polygraph machine... that's another story... but that would be more akin to if Thomas had cast a spell on Crowley - which would be understandably upsetting.

Of course, like I said earlier, I've been indoctrined to think that almost all "blind date meets" begin with the awakened characters assensing everything.

Double post.

Agent Rolls:

Honestly, I didn't mean to elict a response like this, but I'm sorry for whatever caused it. As a player character, I always want more. I'll try to keep my abrasive insistence to a minimum.

If you want, I'll bring a spirit to Vamps house or apartment or something, and we can argue over if one can tell the difference between a normal spirit and a spirit that has been invoked.

I'd say assensing is a more... focused look. It's not a cursory scan, in my opinion. You're focusing on someones aura, and telltale signs within it tell you if X, Y or Z is true, Kind of like the difference between someone listening to whats around him and actively searching for a sound, or watching someone walk down the street and observing people to see who has armour in their coat.

Scorch will stick around until everyone is ready to go - and at least make sure someone has the credsticks. He doesn't really care who - as he just met all of them - but isn't going to suggest that he be trusted with the money unless everyone else seems like they're going to walk out the door without them.

I'm curious if we are using the rules for street-cred, notoriety, and public awareness from the BBB. As established runners (with 50 karma), we could each have a street cred of 5, which could result in a public awareness of up to 2. Hardly famous, but in situations where our reputations come into play, it might provide some extra dice... and, in the case of Scorch and Vamp (it looks like) both came from Seattle, and so maybe ran in the same Shadows, there - so I was curious if we would have possibly heard of one another. More than happy for that not to be the case, given that Scorch is "laying low", but this seemed like one of those situations where a fellow Seattlitte might (if defaulting to street knowledge about the BTL scene there, or seattle runners or something) have noticed the grenade I have tucked into my pocket. Also, what's the point of a backstory, if nobody else ever finds out about it.

Scorch would also have 1 notoriety from being scorched, and as he is "laying low" in New York, would have probably spent 2 of his street cred to erase that little blemish on his reputation. Landing him with a street cred of 3 and a public awareness of 1. I'm assuming most of us have a negative quality or two that would bring down both our street cred and public awareness a little bit, so we are all probably in the 0-1 range. I would be happy to provide some background for anyone interested in making a knowledge-skill-check (with +1 bonus), or leave it up to Zed - who may very well say that he's throwing those rules out the window for this game. I think most of the games I have played in have either ignored them, or heavily modified them, anyway.

No idea where these are from. Point me at them and ill take a look. Seems like a potentially interesting aspect to explore.

Spoiler for Scorch to pass to the team

They are in the Running in the Shadows section of the main book - under Reputation. pg 265 of SR4A.

Scorch will be scanning for public nodes, getting tons of hits from the various residents, but also probably picking up the team's PANs as they enter his signal range. If Vamp has any interesting AR iconography, or if his CHN is a public node (Runner's Comp doesn't mention what the usual state of these devices is, but since they're typically tied to "legal" identities, I assume they're a reasonable chance), I'd be interested to know.

Vamp's apartment's AR iconography is minimalist goth, like the actual decor. The colors are a mix of blacks, reds, and silvers. The furniture is in simple psuedo-japanese style, moderately low to the floor, and in black faux-ebony wood. He has a single wall panel AR screen across from his couch, with common AR Sim subscriptions for those in the neighborhood.

Ye of little Faith Mr Scorch. Not getting paid wouldnt do any thing for Sammy's reputation and tagline now would it