I am currently trying to digest the matrix/hacking rules for SR4 and i am left with
one question that i can't seem to find an answer for.
I could make a general ruling but i am curious as to how most of the GM's on dumpshock handle
commlinks, etc with device ratings.
Example, lone star grunt provided in the book has a commlink that has a device rating of 3-
for anti hacking purposes, is it assumed he has an analyze program of 3 as well?

Sorry ahead of time if this has been covered elsewhere, the search engine just exploded unrelated crap
on my screen.

By the book, it seems to be saying that they should have an analyze 3, firewall 3, ...
Given that it just doesn't cost much, I am tending to assume that anything in law / security, and any higher end devices (luxury cars, expensive trucks), have analyze 6 optimize 3 and Firewall 6. You really don't want a random hacker taking apart your cops commlink and "redirecting" him. (And yes, all my characters have at least that on their commlink.)

Yours,
Joel

Thank you for the quick response-
still unsure of how to balance things for a hacker/difficulty levels-
but it gives me an idea of where to ballpark things.
Thanks again.

In order to be able to make a "balanced" hacker with most skills/programs at 4 I usually enforce a rather strict rating when it comes to what programs/rating the opposition uses. This means that a hacker with a basic dicepool of 8-10 (skill 4 Program 4) mostly faces rating 3-4 on regular runs.

Average Joe - 2 (Average Commlink / Civilian Drone)
Corporation - 3 (Average Lonestar / Low Security)
Security - 4 (Security Drone, Average Corp Security)
Military - 5 (Military Drones / High End Security)
Cutting Edge - 6 (Military Vessels / AI / Exceptional Hackers)

Even though a well built hacker at chargen can eat though most matrix security, I still like to give the opposition what per RAW they "should have". The runners are talented professionals with killer gear and tons of skills.

So yeah, the poor Lonestar guy has a rating 3 commlink. His squad leader might have a rating 4 commlink. The spider who they can call in is probably the professional spider from Unwired, etc.

I would say that the "average" runner would probably be at skill/program 4 - giving them an edge above normal corp security.

After that we have more twinked out Hackers with rating 5-6 program and more specialized skills at 6.

This gives a good benchmark as well for players to create their characters so that the game doesn't becomes completely boring as the uber twinked hacker sweeps through every node you have.

A good advice is actually for a player to keep programs at 4 and twink up the commlink to response 5-6, this allows them to run a multitude of programs at once.

Why? Why would the runner not have rating 6 programs, with suitable optimization to run on the grade 4 or 5 hardware they can get at chargen?

For that matter, why (other than purely to keep them vulnerable) should the opposition run such low grade software. Analyze 6, with an optimize 3, costs a whopping 900 nuyen. Firewall 6 costs 3000 nuyen. Given what minimal hardware, car, gear, etc costs for the security guy, even cheap security companies would want to fund that. (Leaving your guards commlink wide open is an invitation for hackers to use that to get into your networks.

Yours,
Joel

Well, YES, we CAN assume that EVERYONE runs rating 6 firewall, rating 6 programs and all that jazz but how PLAUSIBLE is that.

It simply DOESNT HAPPEN.

Its like saying that EVERYONE today runs LINUX because WINDOWS is insecure, and EVERYONE runs Norton Antivirus because the opposition SUCKS. The point with having diverse rating is to create a sense of realism.

Opposition Security
We also have the problem that the cost in the books doesn't cover corporate licensing costs. If we go by todays standard of computer contracts they have to pay for each computer with the software. So a rating 3 firewall in a corporate enviroment on 2000 computers - with added cost for continuing support for that version of the program.

Also, the rating 3 Firewall of a corporation might have been a lvl 5 Firewall one year earlier but they havent upgraded to the latest version because their budget department screwed up or the CEO wanted a new pool.

My suggestion is mostly to get an average number on security.

The Hacker
The problem for a hacker I see is diversity. You can, at maximum by RAW run 5 programs at rating 6 with a rating 5 commlink - not very flexible. A rating 6 Commlink can run 17 programs at rating 4 without going below Response 4, you loose at most a few dice.

And lets not forget COST. I dont know about you but my characters have a life outside of their little niche of specialization.

ALL Rating 6 programs (I might have missed a few): 95K - Thats 19BP
The above does not include all the tricked out software options we can add for more money.
Now we trick out the commlink completely: 35K - Thats 7BP

So without a problem 26BP that can easily get into the 30-35 BP.

That would be my version of a High end runner, the very best, and many runners arent like that, they are above average - around 4, but perhaps have a high firewall but ratign 4 programs.

Hmm...I think I'm rambling again i think.

Ramble on-it's been good brain food

We also have another aspect between GM and Players with the rating of programs and such.

That the character have SKILLS is no problem, after all, it's merely a few more dice - but it can quickly become an arms race when the character have everything at rating 6 and teh GM want to make the game challenging and upping all the opposition hardware into 6+ to stop them.

This is not just wireless hardware but also things like magnetic locks, electronic appliances etc.

Keeping the opposition at a balanced level AND tmake sure that the players don't go all out on their gear - unless you play a high level campaign also makes the game a bit more fun, because you know you won't have to fight DEUS in matrix combat to get the paydata.

Actually, the primary thing that keeps hackers in check is time, as far as I can tell.
If the hacker (or relatively new TM, or relatively new AI) has to hack on the fly, the odds of them triggering an alert are very high. And at that point, they are identified, defensive IC can find them, and the IC gets a +4 to defense for the alert, as I read the rules. Given the point of most hacking, you really don't want to trigger an alert. Which means that hacking on the fly is very risky. However, for junk items, with 3 Analyze, 3 firewall, yes a good hacker can get in on the fly. So? It's junk anyway.

Yours,
Joel