Ok, here's some facts:

• Technomancers may purchase REGISTERED Sprites in CharGen.
• To REGISTER Sprites requires a RES+REG Test.
• Out of C.G. Tasks are not limited at all, in fact, when REGISTERING Compiling skill is no where to be seen.
• YET for some reason REGISTERED Sprites in CharGen are limited in TASKS by COMPILING.

Ok, have I gotten anything wrong so far?

why would you pay resources for something that is free when you're making something as badly starved for BP as a technomancer anyways?

(iow: who cares, it's a moot point, imo)

I did this on another forum, but it bears repeating:

Ok, here's a partial Sheet, because well...Go where you want with it!

Resources left: 82BP, 250,000 Nuyen, 25Bp space for Pos Qualities, 24 Knowskill points.

Dwarf
B-A-R-S-C-I-L-W-E-R
3-2-2-3-5-4-4-3-1-6

Registering: 5 (Machine Sprites +2)
Compiling: 4

Codeslinger(Registering) -10
Sensitive System -15
Combat Paralysis -20

5*Machine Sprites R6 (Tasks: 4)

...And that's it.


Why didn't I buy Complex Forms? Well because there's no point. A.) I dont have to really hack, I can buy a Agent and Programs for him and simply let him do it for me while I fly along and provide Sprite Support. The Agent can also hack other drones for me.

Why didn't I buy anything? Anyone can pick up this build and spend 250,000 however they wish: Combat Drones, Vehicles, Smartgun platforms, Air Vehicles...Doesn't matter. Whatever they do however, Machine Sprites can provide 12 dice to any of the tests, be it firing or jazz.

Why is Registering so high and Compiling not? Honestly because Compiling has nothing to do with Registering. It's two different Tasks. It's as if they took mages, but Spellcasting for unbound spirits and summoning for bound spirits. Funny shit really. Oh, and there's no limit on the tasks on each sprite.

How good are you at Registering? 15 Dice. 5(Reg)+6(Res)+2(Spec)+2(Codeslinger). If you go for say...R8 Sprite later on it's an opposed test between 15 and 8, the 8 has a chance at 2.5 or so successes, you can buy 3 or risk 4-5 or so I think. This makes Machine Sprites who in the end throw 16 Dice on attack tests, base.

Can you resist the drain? Yeah, usually. 9 dice. 3(Will)+6(Res), so might take...Assuming 2-3 successes from the Sprites test...4-6 Boxes of damage? Shit, you'll survive regardless, but usually take 3 boxes. Now, you can also spend the 82 points to raise willpower some, or something.


Possible Scenarios:

• Raise Cha to 6, however you want, have 6 Machine Sprites R6 starting off. Pump em up with Re-Registering. Take 3, put em in heavy combat drones (Cheap!) with LMG's and it gets worse from there. Beyond the 16 dice a R8 would through, your other 3 sprites would use their power of Diagnostics (Rolling 16 dice again) to add +Dice equal to hits on the test (Can buy 4). Throwing you from 16 dice to 20-24.
  
• Buy one drone to start off, use it to scout and randomly fuck peoples drones up. Use the rest of the money for BP exchange (50) and the 82bp left to make a combat person.

Yeah, Seven-7..I kind of noticed that myself. I am not really sure. I just figure it was an error, and it was supposed to be 1 BP per rating, rating not to exceed Compiling.

What I am curious n is the whole thing about there not being an ability for Sprites to perceive the Matrix..I would think that, since there was no ability for them to perceive the 'Trix, and that they exist in the 'trix, that they could perceive it without there having to be an Errata allowing them to perceive the matrix.

Here's a quick fix: Drop Compiling from 4 to 0, gain 16Bp, drop the sprites, gain 20 more.

Throw 118 bp around as you wish.

Similarly, so can Sprites default. That was basically my point. What's yours?

Ah. See my point is that a Matrix Perception test is Anlysis (attribute) + Computer (skill). And if you don't have either because you are a Fault sprite, you're defaulting on both, which gives you a -2 dicepool on top of nothing. No no, they can't perceive the Matrix, they are quite useless as written.

-Frank

If I was playing a TM I´d argue that a matrix attribute would have to be used for defaulting in this case. The sprites rating would be most appropiate, IMO.

Not that it adds any real chance of detecting a dedicated hacker.

Yes, but since IC Stealth, what you are saying amounts to:


Guys, you don't always have to make your runners roll perception against hidden people, just assume they know where the hidden people are most of the time!


Which is wrong and very stupid.

I just noticed this forum and I was working on a "Pokemancer" myself. Here's what I got so far.



Basically give the technomancer analyze, or compile a courier sprite to act as sentry. He can spot things, then point the other sprites in the right direction. "Attack sector 1000101101, its not a chair!". Your own not having stealth isn't an issue (only ones without are Data and Machine anyways), you just temp dismiss them until they are needed.

not much is clear in the matrix rules, but it is clear that resonance-based matrix entities cannot load or run non-resonance matrix stuff, and vice versa.

also, you can't just hand off your analyze complex form... it's a part of you, not just a matrix object you can pass around. if you could do that, it would be possible to buy complex forms from other technomancers, for example (or borrow them from your sprites), and that would just be weird.

Question on Sprites/Technomancer Riggers

Since it is skill + Device Attribute, do these affect Technomancers/Sprites as well? So a Machine Sprite would roll Vehicle + (Device's) Response, instead of Rating x 2.

machine sprites have the command CF. they can operate the device using the "control device" matrix action, which means they would roll command CF + autosoft rating, both of which will be at a rating equal to their own rating... and thus, they would be rolling double their rating anyways

i suppose you could allow them to roll the vehicle's response instead, but i don't really see that as making sense... those are the rules for riggers, and strictly speaking sprites and pilots don't rig anything, as there is certainly no simsense involved.

As Frank is not arround for some time:

But not every single thing in the Matrix runs an active Stealth Program.

Attacks making you visible in the Matrix has gotten me thinking about a couple of interesting questions.

Everything you do in the Matrix is logged and tagged with your Matrix Access ID right? So when the IC attacks you shouldn't there be a log:

#123456[IC] attacks #987654[Persona]

somewhere? So theoretically, if this is the way that it works, it is like someone springing out of a physical ambush and shooting you. You can now basically "see" the icon. For the IC to be able to benefit from its Stealth program again it would have to spoof its datatrail (thereby changing its AID and making the above log useless). Most IC/Agents/Sprites probably wouldn't bother spoofing since this slows you down in cybercombat horribly but sneaky opponents could.

The alternative is that Stealth always works in which case you have the Matrix equivalent of a sniper fight.

Of course my second thought would be: Does having the AID allow you to see the target? No where in the rules does it say so but it makes sense that it would work.

Personally I prefer the idea that AID = LOS and that Stealth doesn't work if you have the AID. That way it makes cybercombat a little more interesting and makes IC/Agents/Sprites a little more useful.

@Seven-7
Why do you need a rating 8 sprite? with 15 dice, just compile/register sprites in the 5-7 range and you'll be fine. I'm not even sure the TM in my campaign has tried to register anything much higher than a 5 and he's kicking ass all over the damn place.

@Cheops
I would like to comment on two of your points. You indicate that if an IC attacks something, a log of that attack would be placed somewhere. Why do you say that? To me an attack by one icon on another is not really a system's concern and, thus, it may not be logged by a system.

Granted, I tend to ignore the concept of logs and simply say that if you're running a Stealth program, then you're not being logged, but that's my games.

Secondly, assuming for the moment that an attack is logged, then why would being attacked automatically get you information from that log? Unless the icon attacked were accessing the log and using analyze to notice changes therein would I give them any information about the contents of a log file.

---

Frank and I have butted heads before on the matrix and I hate to do so why he's unable to access the boards, but I guess I should also say that, for what it's worth, I disagree with his interpretation above.

If you're rolling Computer + Analyze, which for anything but a persona (living or otherwise) is going to fall back on Pilot/System + Analyze, I do allow a default of Computer-1 or Pilot/System-1 if you don't have the Analyze program. In my opinion, thus something can always attempt to notice icons around itself.

I also think that icons in the matrix interact with the metaphor, it's not simply for the personae which log on and interact therein, but that's probably a debate for another time.

@Cheops: It could be seen that way, but is not supported by the rules so far. It is within the operational wiggle room Unwired has to explain such things. It is also amongst the things that need to be explained.

@Dashifen Isn't that a house rule - I mean an entirely reasonable house rule given the circumstances, but its still a house rule? Which then invalidates your opinion?

Another common house rule that would give fault sprites the power to perceive is skill + attribute with hits limited by program, because you'd have to define attribute as equal to rating, pilot or system. But there you go.

You can justify defaulting to one of those, but in this case you actually have neither.

The analogy fails because Pilot is equivalent to "all matrix skills", while only a few Sprites have Computer skill. An easily fixed oversight, allthough one might prefer to hand out the more limited Analyse CF instead.

And I'm fine with that. Sprites are semi-sentient matrix constructs that have been in existence (as far as we know) for probably no more than approximately 5 years. Should they have figured out all the ins-and-outs of metahuman techonology? Perhaps not.

Why not? Their entire existence is spent inside that technology. The are supposed to be to the Matrix what a Spirit is to the Astral.

And we know that Spirits can't understand some aspects of Metahuman life. Ergo, it seems to me like Sprites shouldn't be all-knowing with respect to how Metahuman technology works. Some are, but some aren't.

The real hole in the logic comes from the fact the Sprites couldn't even see other Sprites using a Stealth Complex Form .....

There's a wide space (currently empty of Sprites) between "all knowing" and "clueless".

Perhaps, but I've had two different TM's in my games and neither of them ran into problems with respect to this. Clearly not a statistical sample, but I'm not sure there's really a problem here.

I didn't think mine was either

But again with it being like Disguise if you take the Physical analogy for it then once Disguise is broken it stays broken until the attacker takes some actual actions to regain the disguise.

I'm really not fond of the idea of having to always Matrix Perceive each turn to make an attack. Especially since if you don't take a Simple Action to Observe in Detail you are technically -2 dice to your Matrix Perception.