I'm trying to wrap my mind around the Matrix rules . . . yes, a monumental task to say the least. Now, I learned a lot during our last game, and I've also gotten some bits out of reading Unwired, so I have decided to increase my character's online presence.

This is what I want to do: I'm getting a new comm (with an agent and some programs pirated from the hacker), and when our hacker is doing his thing, I want to send my agent to help out. My character is Incompetent at Hacking, so he cannot personally assist, but he wants to help the hacker out for helping with all his tech-solutions.

How can my agent help, and what programs should I load it with? Cybercombat is one of the places it'd really shine, but is it possible for the agent to get inside different nodes on its own?

I mean, honestly, the hacker would probably just run the agent himself. On his own extra comm, if necessary (the Response-degradation rules are pretty wussy, though).

That said, agents can do all kinds of crazy stuff. If you want yours to be a sort of IC bodyguard, you can. I'd tend more toward auto-scanners/watchers/searchers myself. They can basically do anything a hacker can, with the usual provisos of 'limited intelligence/flexibility'.

Sure, I first and foremost want mine as IC and/or auto-searcher. But now that I do have the agent, it would also be nice to be part of the hacker's action, instead of just sitting there and eat munchies and look up rules for him. The hacker has his own agent, but one more never hurts, no?

As GM, I would turn your efforts again you. You took 5 BP for Incompetent: Hacking. That wasn't just five free build points. It was a negative quality that should have repercussions. One of them is that you not only should have no clue how to even begin hacking, but you shouldn't even be able to direct an Agent to do it for you. It's like choosing Blindness as a negative quality then trying to buy cybereyes to fix it. Not fair. Not in-character.

Mesh

Well, that's just dumb. He's forced to 'buy' (GM's own fault for allowing easy piracy) the agent and programs, and work within its various limitations. It's not analogous to cybereyes for non-neuro blindness.

I *might* agree that it's hard for him to properly instruct his agent, but that's part of the limits inherent to commanding Pilots, etc. He's worse at giving clear instructions, which results in a lot more failed 'understand' rolls by the Pilot.

That wasn't what I asked. I am not using this to make the BP 'free' - the quality is roleplaying-related and used for roleplaying-purposes.

I'm not asking how to break the system (if that was my purpose, I could have taken far more effective hindrances for 'free' points). I'm wanting to learn the various ins and outs of it better. My GM is very capable of abusing our negative qualities, worry not.

Also - being incompetent in Hacking by no means limits Computer or even Cybercombat, and the tasks I want the agent to be doing will in 95% of the cases be in one of those two.

I don't agree with this. From what the OP's saying, he just wants to let a teamate run software on his hardware.

Thats like saying 'everything you run on your stuff is going to fail forever, because you're incompetent, and that agent is running on YOUR processor. But no! we can take the same piece of software to your friends commlink, and it'll work fine! Because his commlink isn't incompetent!'

Besides, casual use of computers and setting up programs is Computers, not Hacking.

I myself pretty much qualify for Incompetent (Hacking), yet I'm habitually using this forum (on a telephone, no, less, at the moment), and consider myself a fairly advanced user of both Windows and Mac based computers, not to mention a multitude of desktop publishing graphical applications, and music recording/processing software. Hell, I'd probably qualify for a point in Software too, with my experience coding stuff.
Hacking though? I wouldn't know where to start.

So is it out of character for me to find a bit of software that does, and tell it to "go, there?"
I don't have a clue about virusses either. Can I not run a virus scanner?

Loading it up with Analyse would probably be most help. Next to that, probably Stealth, Medic, Encrypt, Attack.
Keep in mind that a standard agent will not run hacking programs, as of Unwired.
You'll need a proper Command program yourself as well.

Even non-casual use is often Computer.

Okay, if the hacker has broken into a node, can the agent follow? Does the agent need to hack its own way into the node? (as far as I understand the rules, the answer to this is 'yes') Can the hacker make an account for the agent? (on this I find no clear answer) Other ways?

Yes to all (the agent *can* hack its own way in, after all).

Thanks a bunch, Yerameyahu.

Just remember, off the shelf agents can't hack. Unwired p 101 To Mook Or Not To Mook? You have to either buy an agent that's already had the limitations removed (which could change availability and pricing), get a hacker to remove the limitation (again, finding one and nuyen), or hack it yourself.

This is a valid point.

However, I know a few gaming groups who avoid Unwired like the plague. Its kind of unfair to ask a group to go by a ruling in a book they don't use/have,so it also kind of depends on the group and your gm.