I'm debating giving a techno a spin for the first time. Either that or a hacking adept (possibly just as a latent quality if the GM feels the character could use a little extra oomph). While I'm pretty familiar w/ faces, street sams, magicians/adepts... hacking and the matrix is pretty much unfamiliar territory to me. (only recently have a GM who wants to have to deal with it and a matrix heavy group).

Initially your signal rating is pretty low... so it strikes me, you'll want a good commlink anyhow to act as a relay as well as divert attention.

Crashcart Autodoc drone also seems like a usefull investment... (starts w/ walker mode, valkyrie module... room for usefull upgrades like rigger coccon, armor 12, etc)

Biofilter rating... This doesn't appear to be limited by resonance as it's not a 'persona attribute' of the living persona. But an 'other rating'. So an elf w/ 7 Cha out the gates would have a lot of biofilter rating as well as an edge in registered sprites? Correct?
Dwarf is nice w/ the higher wil cap.. but again need some resonance increases and submersions to get the full benefit of it, the free bod/str points are nice though..

If going the rigger route.. how exactly does a machine sprite use autosofts? It takes the place of the pilot/OS of the drone since only pilot programs can use them?

Also, it strikes me that sprites are useful as helpers. But it really takes a tag-team of them for them to do well remotely.


But my question mostly resolves around the various bio/cyber options. Is it worthwhile for a techno to reduce his resonance at all out the gate for some cyber/bio. How much? Is it worth taking a 1 point or 2 point hit to essence?


Positive qualities:
Biocompatibility: Seems useful for slipping in that little bit of extra gear. 50% enhancement over alpha grade. Not sure if better use of positive qualities though.

BBB:
Bioware:
Cerebral Boosters:
Not sure if these are good or not. On one side, higher logic can possibly mean more CF's at chargen (though IIRC.. things like that are limited by normal logic, not the augmented logic score). Only thing I can think of is system rating x2 == subscriptions. Any tests I'm missing which use System rating?

Logic is a technomancers 'system' rating... but that is capped by resonance. (so much for effective program rating == system. since resonance x2 is max for threading boost). Am I missing anything here?

Pain Editor:
This seems like custom made... +1 willpower means +1firewall, again though capped by resonance. The ability to ignore stun damage opens up the doors a bit.

Damage Compensator:
Ignore damage penalties... nuff said... (though stacked w/ pain editor?... pain editor ignores stun track... does that mean the damage compensator can be used on physical track?)

Sleep Regulator:
Nuff said... especially if it's alpha grade and 'half essence' since cyber total is larger.

Platelet Factories:
Pretty good for TM's I'd think... since they're always in the hotseat and lack a matrix damage track. Always reduces one point of damage.

Cyberware:
Cyberlimb:
Capacity to add more cyber and sensors... implanted commlink, datajack, biomonitor, armor... (nanohive?) passable agility to use a pistol/SMG early on especially if you use a combat drug for an extra pass.

Rigger Module:
Self-explanatory for someone who actually likes to jump into drones... though unsure if this or 'command' method is better from the perspective of essence loss vs resonance loss.


Augmentation:
PuSHeD: +1 to all logic linked skills... that's pretty much all the hacker bits for .1 essence.

Adapsin: Doesn't seem that usefull if you're only getting a little bit of cyber/bio. Extra 10% essence off new cyber but at the cost of .2 bio (which most likely gets halved).

Various +1 natural attribute caps for 0.1 essence... nice, but still costly to buy that stat up to 6+ w/ karma. (seems better spending a lot of that karma on submersions and resonance).

Trauma Damper: Cumulative w/ platelets... strikes me as slightly inferior (downgrading 1 point of physical to stun... is inferior to canceling it IMO).

Nanites:
Not sure how many of these are usefull at all. +dice to logic skills is nice, but only out of combat/non-stressful. That caveat seems pretty big.
Rigger nanites seem ok w/ the rigger module if you're using submersions for extra passes rather than the simsense booster.

Skillwire Expert System:
Does this work with biowires? For .1 essence cyber might be worth considering if so.

Stirrup Interface:
Rig yourself, only option to non-TM's. Though TM's need a lot of submersions to get anything approaching this. Don't think it's worthwhile for TM's given the options.

Simsense Booster:
extra pass.. nuff said. Generally only seems usefull as an essence hole waiting for a later submersion to fill in with other cyber later. Incompatible with rigger nanites...

Math SPU:
Obvious benefits to encrypt/decrypt. Cheap in both essence and nuyen for cyber.

Encephalon:
Rating 1 is pretty costly in essence but helps all logic linked active skills, so it's slightly inferior to PUSHed. Can't argue with it too much though. Rating 2 only gives extra bonuses to cracking and electronics group skills for double the money/essence. Seemse usefull to deckers... not so much to riggers.


Have I missed any augmentations? Interested in others feedback. Thanks for the help

Remember that any fraction of a point of Essence from 1.0 to 0.1 removes a whole point of Resonance so if you get one, you may as well use up the whole point, but be careful not to go over. For a technomancer, a datajack is a brilliant thing. Comes with all the headware memory you'll ever need and the jack itself will let you jack in in case of being jammed.

As for the skillwire expert system working with biowires, it's unclear, probably better the simply thread the DIMAP option for your skillsoft complex forms.

Some of those you'll have to ask the GM if he'll allow (that is, work with your powers). Simsense Booster, Skillwire Expert, etc.

I'm fully aware of essence and essence loss rules... up to and including tracking bio/cyber hole totals seperately and halving the lower value for your actual essence score. Up to and including the in for an ounce, in for a pound aspect of the final essence score.

The reason why fractions are important is because mixing cyber & bio lets you pack more stuff into a limited footprint... (1 point of essence allows for 2/3rd's point of cyber, and 2/3rd's point of bio... since 2/3 + (2/3)/2==1.


My biggest question though revolves around the cerebral boosters. They *seem* like something usefull. But when I start looking into the technomancer crunch which I'm unfamiliar with... and the matrix to a lesser degree. I just can't figure out what exactly a higher 'system' rating does for a TM. Also the times you're rolling Logic + skill seem pretty limited in comparison.


My second largest deals w/ machine sprites... They seem nice and cool... and that power of theirs seems to have a lot of uses. EG: could I stuff one in my ares predator and basically put the smartgun on steroids? If I'm reading diagnostics properly... 4 ranks in pistols means potentially +4 dice from diagnostics, or a similar bonus if you have them in the drone assisting you while you control it?

Bio-Compatibility is nice, but Type-O System is better.
Every single piece of Bioware counts as Delta-Ware for the same monetary costs of Standard Grade.

Stahl:
Read again.. 'off the rack BASIC bioware'. It's one of those ones which looks good until you actually learn how limited it's effects are. Standard grade cultured bioware gets no benefit.

It's also 30BP... which leaves no space for any other mods. All the cultured bioware doesn't qualify, making that one of the worst positive qualties in the game. (synaptic boosters, cerebral boosters, pain editor, sleep regulator, damage compensators,


A lot of the items on the basic bioware list are cheap and good picks for adepts/street sams. Also since most of them are Type-O and mass produced.. they're cheap enough that actually considering delta grade is an option as well. (at higher levels replacing your 8k/rank muscle toner w/ alpha/beta/or even delta at 80k/rank is a consideration to open up essence). Though I have a hard time seeing any except the super/super rich ever getting delta grade synaptic boosters... (2.4million...)

Doesn't availability go up with the higher grades anymore?
Also, i don't think it's ever really been officially declared wether or not the type-o counts for basic bioware only . .
But yeah, i see your point.

Complex forms are ALSO limited by your resonance. So, sadly, no help there. Same ceiling.

However it enjoys other perks of being a complex form, like threading to increase the rating and sprite assist operation to do the same.

To the first point: A datajack is ok, but a fingernail data storage from arsenal(Spy tools) does it better, cheaper, and at no essence cost - if all you need is the storage.

As for the skillwire system: Yes, it would. Biowires act as a skillwire system with rating equal to, and expert systems enhance skillwire systems. Any fluffy/background incompatabilities between technomancers and cyberware is resolved by the FAQ: Technomancers also benefit fully from VR-initiative pass increasing cyberware, and other typical hacker-ware (the encephalon and simsense booster are specifically called out).

In the current game I'm in, I've asked my gm(and gotten permission/approval) to learn the Skillwire Expert System as an Unrated Complex Form like Simrig or Smartlink, who's cyberware equivalents are both in a similiar price/essence/effect range - so you might try doing the same.

Early printings of 4th Edition used to call "standard" bioware "basic". This was changed in SR4A, but the Type O quality was not errata'd to match.

The intent was "not Alpha, Beta or Delta".





-k

Actually, Type O only works on basic bioware, never on cultured. There was a thread where the Augmentation developers clarify this;
FrankTrollMan
FrankTrollMan
Synner, main developer for Augmentation
Aaron, generally line boss
FrankTrollMan again
Synner again

To quickly summarize:
"Off the rack, basic bioware is considered delta grade for purposes of interacting with a type O body"

Cultured bioware is always always always grown for the specific recipient and therefore never off-the-rack. Also, "Basic" is a game term describing the non-Cultured bioware (SR4A, p. 347 has separate Basic and Cultured bioware tables. So does Augmentation, p. 171-172)

Do the SR4 Rules even still make the difference?
In SR3, It was either Basic or Cultured, where cultured Bio was the equivalent of Betaware for Bio and certain pieces had to be done in cultured. And in SR4, the cultured part seems to be only in the fluff, not in the crunch anymore. Seeing how Bio is now in grades of basic, alpha, beta and delta like cyber . .

Grades are actually Standard, Alpha, Beta, Delta.

Cultured and Basic are each others' opposite:
Basic is off-the-rack, Type O fits all.
Cultured must be specifically cultured for a recipient.

It's definitely crunch.

Type O is still a good quality for adepts or sams though. If you just take a look at the basic bioware in the core book:
Bone Density 20k * Raiting (up to 4).
Muscle Augmentation:7k * Raiting (4)
Muscle toner:8k * Raiting (4)
Orthoskin:30.000 * Raiting (3)
Platelet Factories: 25k
Suprathyroid Gland: 45k
So on this stuff alone you get a dicount (compared to delta) of 2700k. Meaning 2.7 Millions.
The essence cost for all of that would be: 2.225.
So yes for a Sam it would be more than a good investment. (30BP translate to about 150k. So it is a good deal)

(If it would count for cultured Bioware too, it would just be too good.
I mean with the Synaptic Booster alone you would save: 2.16 millions. (0.75 Essence)

Type O has its uses, although it's not good for everyone. I still have this idea lying around for a BioAdept with Type O and eventually Masking, to create a perfectly innocent-looking person chock-full of nearly undetectable delta-ish ware.

No need. Use the DIMAP Program Option. Does exactly the same thing, with no fiddly bits.

Both categories exist for bioware nowadays, but cultured ware works differently than in SR1-3.
It doesn't provide an Essence cost reduction anymore, but it is still required for any kind of neural bioware.
This excludes it from benefitting from Type 0 system and from being available off the rack.
You can't walk down to the body shop and pick up a cerebral booster, they have to take a tissue sample first and grow it for you.

You can get the cerebral booster in alpha, beta or delta as well, though.
Just as you can get basic (not-cultured) bioware in any grade.



Bioware is always nearly undetectable, delta or not.
Cyberware scanners aren't able to detect any bioware at all and assensing bio always requires 4 hits, regardless of rating.
A standard-grade, basic muscle toner is as difficult to detect as a delta-grade, cultured cerebral booster.

Right, good point. That actually just makes it easier.

Appreciate the sentiment, but my way's better.

2 karma for an expert system as a CF is way more efficient than 1 karma per option per emulation, which also costs more nuyen to buy, and takes up option slots on programs that may have, at max 2. Less options mean less hits on the learning test, too.

You can, however, thread them to twice your Resonance Rating, which is often very useful indeed.

Or, Just thread the option when you think that you might need it, for absolutely no Karma Cost whatsoever.
But yes, I would rather purchase the Non-Rated CF than have to purchase the option for each CF.

Quck answer: be very selective about lowering your essence. The TM bag of tricks are all based on having good resonance. With 3 or less, you should just be a hacker. I'd grab 1 or 2 at most.

1.No, nothing about this in the rules
2.What's exactly is is so unclear and in need of clarification when a rule says"Off the rack, basic bioware is considered delta grade for purposes of interacting with a type O body (i.e., reduce Essence Costs by half, though nuyen prices remain the same)." and the tables at the back of the book list 4 categories of bioware:Biosculpting, Cosmetic Bioware, Basic Bioware and Cultured Bioware.

Every point of starting resonance is crucial for the primary matrix role. It determines your staring CF levels, which are way cheaper to buy upfront with BP. It's your primary drain stat, and determines your sprite, threading and submersion-grade max. Basically, any time you think about dropping a point of Res, you need to look at what you're giving up and what you're getting.

Best combo?
PuSHeD for the +1 to logic-linked skills to help with CF loss. Some CFs aren't test-based, like ECCM and the Stealth threshold for hacking in, but most are rolled tests.
R2 Cerebral booster for Logic traditions to compensate for the loss of Drain dice. Int traditions get Quallia and Dynomitan.
Platelet Factories for -1 damage.
Used Alpha-grade Cyberhand with 4 dose Autoinjector (hit of Cram, hit of Overdrive, hit of Guts, hit of r6 Stim,) Biomonitor, Datajack, R1-2 Nanohive for the R3 Neural Amplifier Nanites to add to tests taken outside of cybercombat/stressful hacking.
Alpha-grade Math SPU for +2 on EW tests.
Alpha-grade Attention Coprocessor for +3 on perception tests. (will help with drone sensors.)

Total cost ~115,000¥ or 23bp and exactly 1 pt of essence.

The part where the tables list the price for basic cultured bioware.

It's a thing.
It's a grade.
It's a GM decision.

Wait . . they changed that?
So a basic datajack has the same availability like a delta synaptic accellerator?

What table would that be, cant find it in the corebook nor in the augmentation.

Umm no, but a standard grade datajack has same availability as a delta grade datajack.
Ofcource you also need a delta clinic to instal the latter one, which has a much higher availability then a place that will instal the first one.

But the Piece itself has the same availability no matter what grade? O.o
Under SR3 Rules, the Availability was a +4 for alpha, another +4 for Beta and another +4 for Delta, if i am remembering the numbers correctly . .
Of course, back then, Alpha, Beta, Delta only worked for Cyber, not for Bio. Bio had Standard and cultured(beta)

Yes.
Availability of the ware itself isn't really an issue when it comes to delta-grade implants, though. You need a delta clinic (Availability 24) to get it installed anyway.

The other grades are so common in the 2070s that availability isn't a problem, either. Alpha is sold everywhere, it is practically the new standard for wealthier customers. It is literally found in every mall that has a Body Shop or similar business.
Beta is available at every fully equipped hospital (which makes the "no beta at chargen" rule kinda nonsensical), no big deal either.

These grades have come a long way from being the cutting edge, experimental treatments they where back when the first edition of Street Samurai Catalogue came out.

Well, fluffwise, everybody had Alpha in store even in 3rd Ed.
And most major Hospitals had Beta too. And still there was the no beta and no cultured bio in char gen.
But in Addition, there was the "no stuff with availability above 8" rule too. And no, there was no restricted gear quality.

Humm? I thought there was... Has been a few years, but i really think i remember a way of getting higher-availability-gear at start.

Ah well. Can i just chime in and say: what does availibility matter in 4th ed. anyway? All it does is taking time, and it is pretty much impossible to "miss" the threshold. Even for -1 per roll (which i deem usable) you can easily hit something like 25+ with a good social pool/contacts.

Thanks a lot, this helps a bit. This mirrors a lot of what I'm noticing in the books. It strikes me that resonance is one of the few stats that might even be worth the +15BP extra cost to max out... Logic 5 unaugmented... max 10CF's each raise is worth 10BP... but 5->6 individually is 60 karma, 4->5 50 karma...

It strikes me that you want to be using your karma after play starts on submersions. Submersions are what really seems to make a TM shine. They strike me as a lot more important than initiations to an adept/mage.


A lot of the tricks were similar to what I was looking at low essence cost cyber/bio adding up to 1 or 2 points at most. But it is definitely striking me how very point starved you are. Lets face it, worst case you're looking at 1BP for a solid piece of software as a hacker. But you're looking at 5BP for the complex form as a TM.

Yes, technomancers are much more focused/specialized than hackers, at least (or especially) at the beginning.

Can't thread emulations ,chummer.

I think.

The errata may actually say the rating can't be increased with threading, so whipping up options on the fly may be legal because its not increasing the rating, but I'm too lazy to check right now.
An Unrated complex form is still better because i can have the emergency edge option AND thread up other options on the fly, for a total of 3 effective options - using an Expert System CF is basically the dimap on everything, without taking a slot.



Couple nitpicks.

I believe you want a Trauma Damper(augmentation) not a platelet factory for -1 threading damage. Qualia and Dynomitan don't help Fading, because its not an int-linked skill test. Dareadrenaline, however, does, because it adds to Attribute tests.
Attention coprocessors are great, but Reception Enhancers are worth mentioning too - they also benefit Matrix perception tests.
Also, drugs give you +1 IP - don't forget this counts for the matrix too, so a technomancer can deck better by getting high.
Also, Pain Editors are worth considering, and definitely hilarious when cybercombat gets involved. With one, it becomes incredibly hard to deck a TM out, because they don't lose consciousness with an activated one, or suffer stun track penalties from threading or summoning sprites. It even improves your Firewall while its on (sorry, willpower)

On Type-O: Its actually possible to start with Type-O and Biocompatability, if you want super-mega-discounted bioware. Biocompatability(bioware) also has a nice benefit of working on Geneware, which is normally not possible to get any sort of discount on.

But thats 40 points, you say! Udo, it doesn't fit in the limit. But it does if you use Surge I to take biocompatability.

You can make it alright, but can you make it before your deadline? If you need a specific piece of gear for a run taking place three days from now it doesn't do you much good to get that gear next week.

Surge isn't an option in my case. I'm aware of that trick.


As far as the Expert System CF... I have no idea where you're getting that from. The section where it details the smartgun CF and that don't seem to support it. Since it's cyber it's most likely more than just a little bit of code, both smartgun and simsense recorder are available as non-essence equipment so I don't see that as replacing cyber. If you're taking a little bit of augmentation... .1 essence or less for the actual cyber is pretty low.


I'm unsure why you'd want a trauma damper over the platelets. The way the platelets are written they'd work on either stun or physical. The operative sentence is "Any time the user suffers 2 or more points of damage, the damage is instantly reduced by one point." The fluff portion of the paragraph hints at physical... but the hard rules text makes no ruling. I always took the trauma damper as a 2nd piece of bio you' take for a little more soak after you had the platelets.

Platelets are definitely physical, as explicitly written in the rules. There's no hinting.

The Expert System CF is a proposed house rule.

It was a comment on the previous page, you might have missed it: In my game, my Gm let me take it as a complex form, because its roughly similiar in essence/nuyen/cost/effect to other pieces of cyberware that may be mimiced with Unrated complex forms. Its a nifty solution, but if your GM is a rules lawyering grognard, well, its not going to work.

As for the trauma damper, here's why.

A trauma damper shifts 1 physical to stun, and one stun just goes away.

Fading is stun damage. (as long as you're not doing the equivalent of Overcasting)

Therefore, a trauma damper forever knocks 1 damage off ALL your threading and sprite summoning attempts, after the soak. Its a great way to prevent one damage here and one damage there from adding up into dice pool penalties. Its a bit of insurance against the dice screwing you.

A platelet factory, on the other hand, only kicks in if you're suffering two or more points of damage. This means that for it to work, you've already biffed your fading/soak test hard enough to take that much damage, but it still reduces it by 1 to a minimum of 1(effectively).
A trauma damper, on the other hand, can reduce it from 1 to zero, which makes it flat out better for casual protection from fading. Its absolutely worth the price in nuyen and essence for that.

A platelet factory is still great though, and comboes very nicely with a trauma. If you're planning on overcasting frequently, it is really excellent.

Not to derail, but the use of 'rules-lawyer' *and* 'grognard' both seem wrong. The *players* are rules-lawyers (by definition), and grognard doesn't mean 'hardass'. Unless in the sense that he forces you to play 1e, heh.

Last I checked, grognard was someone who tends to prefer an earlier edition of a game to the current one. Usually a D&D term, but...

In shadowrun, everyone's perception of the game and how it works is biased by how it used to work, the flavor of previous editions not matching up with the current stats, and belated realizations of 'you can't do that anymore?'. if there's anything I've noticed on dumpshock, its that people like to use in-game stat justifications for things we well as background/fluff justifications for things, so if you want to change something you often have to argue the game-mechanical angle and the common-sense angle at the same time. And when everyone's head is half-stuck in the previous edition, it makes things a little bit harder.

My group is blessed with a considerate GM who doesn't mind making exceptions if they don't make sense, or to just flat out do something neat.

... and other games who's gm's put the foot down on any idea, no matter how neat, that isn't in the book. Or just flat out ban things they don't agree with. (No surged furries! Infected are disallowed! You're only allowed three sourcebooks! There's too many awakened in the group already, and mages are supposed to be rare, so you can't be one). That kind of crap.

Ahem.

Now that I've explained myself, can we lay this tangent to rest?

He probably ran into the same confusion I did, because I (correctly) remembered "standard" grade being listed as "basic" in 4th edition.

They changed it in the Anniversary edition. Presumably to avoid confusion with the basic vs cultured bioware categories.




-k

"Grognard" was a slang term for members of Napoleon's Old Guard. Hardcore board wargamers adopted it as a term for themselves.

It means that one is invested in a system to the exclusion of others.

Etymology-wise, wouldn't a grognard be someone who stores alcohol in their testicles?

No it explicitly doesn't apply to genetech.

When is Fading ever not physical? If you don't already have your CFs equal or near your Res, you're starting messed up. And, unless you're compiling during a run (and why would you do that, when you can register, without cost, non-stop, in your home's nifty Resonance well, long before the run starts?) then you gotta risk that hard fizz.

If you're worried about the fact that you need at least two damage to gain any benefit, that's not really too much of a concern. If you only take one damage, First Aid that shit same as you do after the platelet factory works. Remote Control actions are a simple thing from VR. You do same as you would after the Platelet Factories get to work. I'd rather heal 2 leftover physical after platelets than 2 phys 1 stun from a dampener.

Compiled Tables - Implant Surgery.

Same source, implant grades.
IMPLANT GRADES
Grade Essence Cost Multiplier Availability Modifi er Cost Multiplier Page
Standard 1 — 1 313, SR4A
Second-hand 1.2 –1 0.5 32, AU
Alphaware 0.8 — 2 313, SR4A
Betaware 0.7 — 4 313, SR4A
Deltaware 0.5 — 10 313, SR4A

The basic grade in that table is obviously a typo and you know that, so i really don't see why you even mention it.

Well, it is not Physical if you do not thread above your Resonance rating. And, I am pretty sure that Technomancers cannot afford the 26 (or so) CF's that are rated as Programs. If you do not have it, even on the Fly, you must thread it to use it. You Cannot even attempt a test that requires a Program (or CF) if you do not HAVE that Program (or CF). So, Unless you are going to go crazy threading a non-existant CF to levels higher than your Resonance, it will only be stun damage.



But if you took 3 Physical Damage (Enough to activate both systems), you end with 1 Physical and 1 Stun. Which is much easier to heal than 2 Physical is. In addition, if all that incoming damage was Stun to start with, you now only have 1 Stun box filled (assuming you allow both systems to apply to stun; some tables do and some don't), rather than 2. Seems like that is much better to me.

Oh you Germans and your actual errata...

With a threaded Command CF and a R6 medkit, a solid TM can get an average 5 or more hits on a remote first aid test. Any damage less than 3 is inconsequential outside of combat. And there really aren't that many programs you need as CFs.