Do we have any SR3 vets here? Cause I've been going over the decker rules, and I'm not sure I fully get it. For example, it keeps mentioning hosts. And how each pltg and such might have several. Now, does each host have a different sheaf? and does the security tally reset with each host? What would happen if the decker implanted a new superuser, then jacked out only to jack back in and use it? would they get a security tally as a superuser? played SR since first, but this is the first time I really needed to deal with decking. No one has really been interested.

Okay, so you have the Matrix which consists of LTGs (Local Telecommunications Grid) and RTGs (Regional etc). RTGs cover larger geographical areas, and LTGs branch off of them. Think of an RTG like your Area Code and the LTG like your prefix -- so (123) 867-5309 would look like (123) = RTG, (867) = LTG, (5309) = site number.

Connected to the Matrix might be a host, or a cluster of hosts. There are many ways to design these, but the simplest is having a Matrix-facing host, and a number of hosts branching off of that one (that may be connected to each other or simply hanging off to the side, as you like).

A PLTG (Private etc) can exist completely off-grid, so that you have to find a jackpoint physically connected to the PLTG in order to break into the rest of it. Secure/dark sites might be running these internally. A PLTG can also connect physical sites that are far away, so a corp with offices in Seattle and Denver might have a PLTG connecting them. Wide PLTGs generally receive good security at the jackpoints.

Each host has its own sheaf and security tally. The thing to remember, though, is that if you access Host B through Host A, you're still present in Host A (and running null processes) so you might still be detected.

You can't just implant a new superuser. It's generally implied that your access is always illegal. In a game sense, forging a full superuser account for yourself is too difficult/time-consuming and wouldn't last for long enough to make it worth the trouble. For the system to not quickly reject it, there would have to be verifiable biometrics, registered SIN verifiable with the corp files, multi-factor authentication, etc. Easier to just smash and grab.

So while there's a new sheaf in host b, your security tally will transfer over? and the longer you're running the null operation the better your chances of increasing your security tally in each. Will IC follow the decker? IE. he's gotten a Probe IC in Host b, then goes to C, will it continue to increase the security tally in C, possibly in B too? I know that your tally from the RTG/LTG transfers to the host.
Thanks for the assistance. I'm always the GM to a bunch of newbs in my SR groups, no one ever knows these things better than me generally. So when I have an issue I can't just ask them.

I must admit I didn't understand it that way. I thought the security sheaf transfered from Host A to Host B, meaning that if your score is 15 when intruding the Host B, you activate all the tallies from Host B from 0 to 15.


The way you explain it Epi, it's like you'd start host B at 0 while Host A still at 15. Say you gain 4 additionnal points, Host A would be 19 and host B would be 4.

However, it would make sense with the idea of a security server linked afterwards with the regular servers.



I'd like to hear more about that, tbh.

I run things the way Epicedion does with the exception that when you move your conciousness/icon from host to host, you take your sec tally with you and dont have null operations on any host you are not on. Theres less to think about and if your running a combat in matrix, astral and meat at the same time (ideally) thats makes things "better."

That's not what I mean. Each host keeps its own security tally. If you're in Host A (at 10) and dive deeper to Host B (at 0), you continue to run null processes on A (getting no security tally for your trouble usually) and you start accruing security tally in Host B per your actions. Now if an IC comes along in A it can still try to find you, but otherwise your concerns are all in B temporarily.

if that's the case then why would the tally transfer over from the L/RTG to the host, but not host/host? I kinda liked the Sega Genesis decking... was a lot easier

Yeah, I've also never run it like Epicedion.

When you transfer from Host A to Host B, whether your security tally follows depends on the relationship between the hosts. For example:

You're hacking Renraku. They have a public-facing 'bastion' host, which is tightly locked down to detect/repel attackers. This host A. From there you transfer to the HR host, which is Host B. Of course, Host A will transfer all of your account data with you, including your security tally.

However imagine instead you jump from Renraku to a Mitsuhama front-end. Renraku aren't on great terms with Mitsuhama, so the Renraku host will *not* transfer your security tally with you.

Something else to bear in mind; while the rules don't focus on it, you can use stationary IC and chokepoints to your advantage. So for instance, your paydata is in a segregated part of the host with a single access point (here represented as a locked door) requiring an additional password. Plus it's guarded by an IC who uses a pared down version of the Track utility on each user and will attack anyone who opens the door and whose data trail doesn't link back to a particular location (in this metaphor it's a coiled cobra). The decker needs to figure out how to defeat the IC and the locked door. The tally just puts a time pressure on her.

Anyone willing to run me through a datasteal or some overwatch? I've found examples work best. You've been really helpful though. I understand it a lot better than I did before.