How do you (as the player and/or GM) deal with tracking down someone who is using a disposable 'link?

also, how do you go about creating/handling the legwork portion of the run? ie- who they talk to, where they hack into, and how much info does that typically yield?

The whole point of a disposable com is the ability to ditch it if necessary.

When I have a character that uses one, it gets thrown into the nearest river or burning barrel if there's a question of it's safety or if it's been used for contacting questionable sources.

Use the CommLink on the run, then dump it on the nearest unconscious bum on the street. He'll wake up and think it's Christmas until Corporate Security comes down on him!

Do they always stand around and watch it, then walk away and leave it burning in the middle of some junkyard?

I assume the scenario you are going for is the following, if not please correct me.

Player wants to hack into something to locate information or create backdoors or w/e. But they want to do it on a disposable comlink to not have the data trail come right back to them. Well typically those are low rating systems (therefore cheap) and as such you cannot run any high rating programs on it, so the likelyhood of it getting bounced by the security is fairly high. Or traced in which case lets hope they are doing it from a moving vehicle or are ready to blend into the crowd.

Now as far as what can be obtained from this.. Anything data related really. Hacking into a system is a multi-tier process and depending on how deep you go down the rabbit hole determines what you can get (and also the amount of heat you can get). For example: Typically you have the "gateway" node for a facility, this often hosts their main front, as well as customer/guest service relations things. This can lead to other nodes and typically have higher security. Lets say you want to go to the "corporate user" section from that node you could access anything that a legit employee could access. From there you might try to break into the Management node which would have even more nice data. Though really most of the really good stuff is all on offline servers.

Typically when I do a hacking I have a clear goal in mind. Lets say the run is to Swipe some product from a manufacturing facility. I go in trying to locate their Inventory management to find it (when it will be made, where it will be stored, when it will be shipped, who it is shipping to, how it is getting shipped, etc). From there a lot of options open up as can either hit the warehouse, hit it on the road, make it delivered to somewhere else.

A little post-run tradition with certain characters. Any non-used equipment that cant be cleaned or sold, blood soaked clothing, disposable comms, etc etc gets thrown in a barrel with a pile of trash, a splash of fuel, and a light courtesy of a survival knife.

If you're talking about tracking down someone who has already disposed of their disposable commlink, nothing. The commlink is no longer with the user and unless the user left other clues this is a dead end. Which is the whole point of it being disposable.

If you're talking about tracking someone while they are USING the commlink, well, it's like tracking any other commlink, except that it has crappy ratings and is thus probably very easy to track.



-k

Dumpster works as well, and you can find a lot more of them in decrepit alleyways. Trash already inside.

They even come with their own security force! Well, squatters and devil rats.

Squatters know when to leave quickly. And a bit of nuyen keeps their traps shut nicely.

Devil Rats make for a good after-'Run meal.

It's a truism from the highest corporate tower to the lowest Barrens street. You get what you pay for. No more, no less.

(I'm so using that in the detective story I'm working on.)

thank you KarmaInferno and Blog.

the scenario(s) that I've done so far are more along the lines of; players trying to track down information or do a background check on the Johnson. I (as a GM) felt that there should be something more than 'He was using a disposable commlink, this is now a dead end'

although the idea of having it in use at the time intrigues me...

Well, hopefully the Johnson left more clues than JUST his commlink. If it's important that the 'runners know who the Johnson is, then the run really should allow for the runners to get that information, even if it might be illogical for the Johnson to have left holes in his informational security.

Sometimes "realism" and logic need to take second place to gameplay and fun.




-k

Oh, how I wish I could get my Players to do Legwork... *Shakes Head*

i agree, i'm trying to add another layer to the game, and want it to be in a non-frustrating manner

Glue it to a devil rat. Let them have fun tracking a moving com.