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Justin
Which qualities do you feel are most useful, or worth mentioning, for a mundane hacker who also deals in rigging? Codeslinger seems good-- but you can only take that once, so which action do you think is best to enhance?

Oh, and I might as well throw another question out there. What races would mesh well with being a hacker? It seems to me that human would be a great choice, with high edge, and maybe take the Lucky trait. Edge can be really useful for a hacker, right? Are there any other races worth mention?
Karoline
Codeslinger with 'hack on the fly' is great, as it allows you to get into systems quickly. In general once you're in things aren't too hard.

Dwarf is another good race because the improved willpower gives them more feedback resistance.

Aptitude can be helpful to boost up the hacking skill, which is basically the only skill you use.
Justin
QUOTE (Karoline @ Nov 30 2009, 09:50 AM) *
Codeslinger with 'hack on the fly' is great, as it allows you to get into systems quickly. In general once you're in things aren't too hard.

Dwarf is another good race because the improved willpower gives them more feedback resistance.

Aptitude can be helpful to boost up the hacking skill, which is basically the only skill you use.


Thanks Karoline!

Looks like Codeslinger: 'hack on the fly' would be the way to go. Thats 10 BP. And Aptitude: Hacking would be another 10 BP. Both those seem really solid. Lucky is 20 BP, so I wouldn't be able to take all three-- so does anyone have any other suggestions on good qualities to take? I plan to get into some pretty serious drone rigging as funds become available, but I'm not terribly familiar with what would be good to help that. I was thinking Tinker might be fun.

I was looking at Dwarf too. I like the higher willpower, but I'm not too concerned about the higher Strength and Body. And the lower Reaction seems like it would be a pain for piloting tests.

But.. I'm seriously considering gnome! A gnome tech specialist who tinkers with everything, and hates, hunts, and kills mages. With high magical resistance (maybe even the magic resistant trait-- I think you can take it more than once), the gnome ability to resist magic, and a bunch of specially designed drones and scanners used to take out mages-- wouldn't that be fun?

Edit: I just re-read the description for Arcane Arrester. "Arcane Arrester cannot be combined with Magic Resistance". My mistake.
Whipstitch
I personally wouldn't go for Lucky. Hard capping attributes is very expensive, and there's not much you can do with 8 Edge that you can't do with 6. Edge is wonderful, but keep the opportunity cost in mind; that point premium may be better spent elsewhere.

One quality you should definitely check out is Perceptive; 5 bp per die may sound expensive, but it specifically says that it applies to all Perception tests, including Matrix and Astral Perception tests, which makes it considerably more interesting. After all, in Shadowrun, what you don't know can definitely hurt you. Possibly with a sniper rifle or a Data Bomb.
The Jake
I like dwarves but I am also a fan of Fomori for the same reason I am of gnomes. But trolls are cooler.

PS: Adept qualities are also great for hackers. Improved Ability works with Hacking, Computers, Electronic Warfare, etc. Analytics can be applied to a myriad of computer problems as well. E.g. programming and/or arguably hacking on the fly.

- J.
Karoline
Welcome smile.gif

Another cool one is genetic heritage. It costs 10 BP, gives you one free geneware, and gives you a nice little discount (10 or 20% I think) on all geneware you get.

This lets you get transgenetics enhanced attribute (45,000) for free which almost pays for the quality itself. If you are using the Logic + Skill house rule you can put it into logic to up hacking, otherwise logic for software/hardware/mechanic and other related skills, willpower for resistance, or reaction for better piloting are all good options. Then PuSHeD is great because it gives you a +1 bonus to all logic-linked skills, which includes hacking, it is also fairly cheap considering how great it is for techheads.

I don't remember if it is in RC or unwired, but there is also a quality that lets you jump in and out of drones as a free action as opposed to a simple (or simple as opposed to complex, don't remember) which can be handy for when you get up and running with your drones.
DWC
I'm a big fan of Analytical Mind, partially for the Data Search bonus, and partially because it just feels right that a top flight computer nerd should be good at logical puzzles.
The Jake
Aptitude is nice but is 10BP worth it for 1 extra dice? You still need to spend 8 BP to increase your skill from a 6 to a 7.

- J.
Brazilian_Shinobi
QUOTE (Karoline @ Nov 30 2009, 06:57 PM) *
I don't remember if it is in RC or unwired, but there is also a quality that lets you jump in and out of drones as a free action as opposed to a simple (or simple as opposed to complex, don't remember) which can be handy for when you get up and running with your drones.


Unwired, can't remember the name either, but it becomes a free action instead of a simple one.
Jaid
more than metahuman i think. though it may actually be in runners companion, not sure...
Tech_Rat
More than Metahuman: 5BP Unwired p.37. Allows jumping in and out as a free action.

And yes, I did just look that up for the sake of the question at hand.

[edit]My recommendation would be Human, since you said mundane, Codeslinger[10], analytical mind[5], perceptive[5], More than metahuman[5], then either photographic memory[10] or natural hardening[10]. Photographic memory because you can't always download what you see before you have to jack out, or natural hardening to help resist feedback. It's all up to you. My Technomancer Human had Codeslinger[Hacking], Natural Hardening, and Magic Resistance[x2].

Heh, Logic of 7, Hacking at 6, codeslinger[+2], Specialization[exploit][+2]. 17 dice to roll for that, plus edge[6] if I wanted.
Karoline
QUOTE (The Jake @ Nov 30 2009, 05:15 PM) *
Aptitude is nice but is 10BP worth it for 1 extra dice? You still need to spend 8 BP to increase your skill from a 6 to a 7.

- J.


True, it is a fair bit to get it, but it is virtually the only skill a hacker uses. Or at least the only one he uses regularly that he really needs to do well in. Data searches, software, hardware, edit, for the most part a -really- high roll isn't needed, but for hacking a high roll can be the difference between one or two actions to get into a system, which could be the difference between slipping in clean (and thus having virtually no worries at all) and setting off an alarm (Which could be trouble for the entire team).

A good enough hacking skill almost means you can ignore the cybercombat skill because if you get in clean, you never have to worry about fighting any ice. That also means you can cut back on programs like armor and medic.
LurkerOutThere
If you are planing on doing a lot of droning more then metahuman is a very nice quality, allows you to jump in and out of drones as a free action. Analytical mind is great for data searches, I also love having perfect memory on my hackers but that's a much a prefrence and less of a hard mechanical benefit.
The Jake
QUOTE (LurkerOutThere @ Dec 1 2009, 12:39 AM) *
If you are planing on doing a lot of droning more then metahuman is a very nice quality, allows you to jump in and out of drones as a free action. Analytical mind is great for data searches, I also love having perfect memory on my hackers but that's a much a prefrence and less of a hard mechanical benefit.


Photographic Memory is worthwhile for a TM but its debatable on a hacker when there are Adept abilities and Cyberware or Nanotech which allow for near enough the same thing.

- J.
Udoshi
The hidden benefit of Aptitude is that it lets you get Electronic warfare at six, too. Yes, its expensive. But its also -good-. At character creation you may only have ONE skill at six, or TWO at level 5. Level 7 is not six, therefore, you can have something else at six too.


Here's some of my favorites.
Analytical Mind: 5bp for +2 Pattern/Logic bonus, +2 on data search and software tests? Not only is it ace with a Math SPU for regular hackers, its glorious on technomancers for boosting Threading tests.... and its got a sixteen BP value in skillboosts alone.
Genetic Heritage: Its pricey, until you realize that you can get it for Genetic Optimization - at only one point more, and it saves you 45 Thousand yen on your cash total, letting you buy more gear. Like a tricked out Car.
Perceptive: +1 dice on ALL perception tests? Yes please. That means matrix perception, real life perception, and Sensor perception - which translates into a very real shooting-people-in-the-face bonus with Sensor Lockon tests.
Restricted Gear: Good choices include Simsense Accelerator from unwired(availablilty 14), a Response Six chip for your commlink, or even a rating six Unrestricted Agent(unwired. Mooks add +2 availability)
Codeslinger is great for technomancers - because Compile Sprite is a matrix action. So is Threading.

Lightning Reflexes deserves an honorable mention, because it gives +2 reaction for 15 bp. Sure it doesn't stack, but its -so much better- than paying 25 for that last point. And its a -modified- stat value, which means you can go above the natural maximum.

So do Catlike, Trustworthy, Linguist and anything that adds to a certain skill's rating - because they use the Modified skill ratings, which can go above the normal values, and don't break groups.
The Jake
QUOTE (Udoshi @ Dec 1 2009, 01:26 AM) *
The hidden benefit of Aptitude is that it lets you get Electronic warfare at six, too. Yes, its expensive. But its also -good-. At character creation you may only have ONE skill at six, or TWO at level 5. Level 7 is not six, therefore, you can have something else at six too.


I think that's a bit nebuluous.

Also Lightning Reflexes precludes you from ever being able to buy reaction enhancers of any kind, if I'm not mistaken. Might not matter out the gate but post chargen, that sucks.

- J.
Udoshi
QUOTE (The Jake @ Nov 30 2009, 05:54 PM) *
I think that's a bit nebuluous.

Also Lightning Reflexes precludes you from ever being able to buy reaction enhancers of any kind, if I'm not mistaken. Might not matter out the gate but post chargen, that sucks.

- J.


I was looking for a passage of text -all- night the other day, to see if the Aptitude trick doesn't work. Couldn't find it, so if you got a page number, please let me know.

You're -almost- right about lightning reflexes. It doesn't stack with -anything-. If you get reaction enhancers, they won't apply in addition to Lightning reflexes - but if they're rating 3, you will still get the better bonus. Still, it doesn't have any essence loss, which makes it a decent choice if you want to get your extra passes through another means, such as through the improved reflexes spell, or your metatype(I think the only case this matters is some Vampire variants.)
It might stack with Reakt, which explicitly says it stacks with everything else, in which case its actaully pretty good.
Octopiii
QUOTE (Justin @ Nov 30 2009, 06:26 AM) *
Which qualities do you feel are most useful, or worth mentioning, for a mundane hacker who also deals in rigging? Codeslinger seems good-- but you can only take that once, so which action do you think is best to enhance?

Oh, and I might as well throw another question out there. What races would mesh well with being a hacker? It seems to me that human would be a great choice, with high edge, and maybe take the Lucky trait. Edge can be really useful for a hacker, right? Are there any other races worth mention?


More than Metahuman is very good for riggers. Scout ahead in a fly spy, then free action to jump into a Lynx and start blasting. Or, hack into the enemy turret and jump in during the same action phase. Or, if your drone looks like it's about to be toast, jump into another one so you can continue attacking without taking dumpshock.

Codeslinger: This is pretty sweet. Like mentioned above, TMs really make out like bandits on this one, since they're so dependent on Sprites.

Analytical Mind: The puzzle solving thing is pretty situational, and Data Search is sort of an iffy skill as far as I'm concerned (I'd rather outsource my searches to an Agent, thank you very much. It's like having a personal Google.) Software is pretty crappy for a Hacker, but a TM needs it badly. I'd keep this for Technomancers.

Restricted Gear: Useful for every character. I like to use this to get that high availability bio/cyber. Pain Editor? Your TM will laugh, laugh, laugh as he shrugs off IC/Spider attacks. There are also some fancy cyber for your Hacker, as well - Encephelon 2 and Simsense Accelerators.

Paragon: These are pretty sweet. 01 is good if you're not sure just which Sprite type you will be abusing.

Octopiii
Double Post.
The Jake
Didn't think Encephalon 2 had a high Availability? (Don't have the book here I'm afraid).

- J.
LurkerOutThere
Ecephelon 2 is higher then 12, i remember that much as I have a character with restricted gear to have in SRM.
Udoshi
What are you smoking, the encephalon is 8 and 10, respectively, for levels 1 and 2. Isn't even restricted or anything!
LurkerOutThere
You are correct, I was thinking of my move by wire which is an entirely different bag of hammers.
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