I'm a relatively new SR player. Played in my first campaign for a few months, and now that campaign is being shelved while our GM takes care of a new addition to his family.

I've decided to make a Technomancer. I've read a few threads on here, and it seems that they'll be weaker then their hardware-based counterparts, but that doesn't bother me much. I'm not interested in power gaming, I'm interested in having fun while playing in a good story.

The problem is, Matrix stuff is still a bit confusing. I've read large sections of Unwired, and that helped quite a bit. The chapter that takes the view of a teacher instructing her n00b students helped tons. But theres still some stuff I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around.

Sprites in particular are giving me a hard time. Now, I understand that they're the matrix counterpart of spirits, and the howto's of summoning them I'm fine with. It's what they do once they're around, and how they do it that confuse me.

What can I tell a sprite to do, and how many skills and complex forms can it use while doing so confuse me. Optional complex forms, does that mean additional forms it can take outside its normal set? Is it a valid play style to use sprites for skills the PC himself can't use, or is it better to use a sprite to help with a skill? or both?

Thanks in advance for your help.

You can tell a sprite to do anything that it's prepared to do that has to do with the Matrix. If you had it bound you could tell a Code sprite to whip something up for you but not a Machine sprite because if I remember correctly it lacks the Software skill. Every Sprite has it's skills and Complex Forms listed. It uses what it has to so the job gets done. Additional Forms/Powers are usually extra things that you choose. It gets one for every 3 rating points it has. So a rating 6 sprite would have 2 additional things be they CF or special power. It really depends. If you build a really stealthy hacker but lack the points to be good at Cybercombat a Paladin or Tank sprite can be a big help. Like the example I gave before a good enough Code sprite can help you write software or do it on it's own depending on the circumstances.

Yes, it is a valid way if you invoke a high level sprite, it might be better than use Threading to increase your own complex fom (from 0 to which level you got).

Also, it is not that they are weaker, they evolve slowly, they can begin with a lot of power, but the power increases in a slow speed.

Allright. There's where I get confused. A courier sprite has

Complex Forms: Analyze, Edit, Encrypt, Stealth, Track

Does this mean at any time in resolving its task, it can use all of those complex forms, on top of extra complex forms granted per every 3 rating points? Like could I give the courier sprite the "Command" CF?

Yes, exactly. You decide which optional CF the sprite gets upon compiling it, and it can use all its CFs when told to do so (or told to do something which requires this CF).

So give the Courier Sprite an Exploit CF and you can tell it to hack a node. In fact Couriers are good for fare more than just transferring data, because at R6 a Courier can have both Browse and Exploit, plus its inherent Stealth.

Yes. The Complex Form list is the base package any sprite of that type starts play with whereas the Optional CF list allows limited customization and helps differentiate strong sprites from weak ones. It's analogous to the way Spirits work.

Thanks for the information, It's been a great help so far.

The preceding being the case, is it generally more cost effective from a BP standpoint to have sprites the primary way a Technomancer would interact with the Matrix? It would seem so at the present point, given the large variety of sprites available, and tailoring one can do.

Complex forms are JUST like programs, except they are resoanance based(so they leave signatures), and don't take up processor limit.
What do you roll for matrix perception tests?
When does your stealth rating matter?
JUST like Programs.

In practice, this means a TM/Sprite often has far more 'programs' loaded and ready to use than their hacker counterparts.

Another quick TM question; With Sprites or Complex Forms, is there any way that they can utilize black IC offensively?

Summoner characters can be quite effective, but you still need to register all those sprites, which for high-level ones can cause some serious drain. Additionally, your GM may enforce the optional rule that "active" sprites impose a -2 modifier just like sustained spells/CFs.

And Black Hammer/Blackout are programs just like any other. A TM can thread them, learn them, or compile sprites which have the CF, and then use them in cybercombat. As Udoshi said, the techno stuff works just like the "mundane" equivalent unless stated otherwise.

Awesome, thanks much.

Yes.

a Black Hammer/Blackout CF works exactly like a black out program. 4A 233 has details, but notably this:

'it has no effect on programs, agents, ic, sprites, or AR users'

Therefore, yes, you can hit other technomancers, and VR hackerswith it.