Hey all,

Going to be running my first game this weekend with SR4. One of my players will be a hacker and one of the tasks will be to locate someone in a relatively local area (about a 10km radius) in Puyallup Downtown.

So I've been looking at the legwork tables in various other pre-written adventures to give me an idea of how the data search works on the matrix and it has surprised me on how easy it seems to be.

Even if the search was matrix wide, with only 4 dice a rubbish hacker could find something in 16 mintues? Is this really correct or am I reading something wrong?

Other than being a hacker yourself, how do you hide in the the shadowrun world?

How easy would it be to track someone down in a certain area using unsecure or secure camera feeds? Could an agent do this job?

Need some advice, and thanks in advance!


P.S. How does this compare to asking around/ using existing PC knowledge skills and rumour mills?

Methinks pure information and personal information would be a little different. At least he should be required to crack into the targets msip's (comcode provider) server, avoid security and (black) ic, and trying to run the trace from inside. Not to mention the complications of finding who his msip is and it gets even more complicated if he doesn't have a sin.

Or a simpler version: extend the time for the extended search to "find" him (2h/ a day) and every time he makes a roll, make an analyze test vs stealth to see if someone (public sector sec) notices someone snooping around in fhe comcodes.

First: Why would this guy be on the matrix at all? Does he upload a MeFeed from the Puyallup barrens? If yes, yes it IS easy. However, 2nd, extended tests don't work this way and have a high chance to glitch with low dicepools.
3rd: Camera recordings wouldn't help at all, since the cameras don't run facial recognition software for your hacker. Even if the barrens area were covered in cameras
If he wants that, he needs to hack a LOT of camera material and then run facial recognition software.

A common houserule for extended tests is to apply a cumulative -1 modifier for each roll after the first, which would limit a guy starting with four dice to a grand total of 10 dice rolled.

Excellent thanks for the quick replies that helps a lot!

The target doesnt have a com-link (and doesnt have a sin) which is why I was thinking the hacker might try searching camera feeds and running the facial recognition software on it (speaking of which where is that software in Unwired? Also the target is a minotaur so that should make things a little easier).

Either way I don't want the players spending ages trying to find the target, but I also don't want it to be a 16 minute test. Extending the time to 2hrs per roll with a -1 cumulative sounds like a good idea though.

Keep in mind that the plot needs to advance. If the whole adventure hinges on a single clue being found, then making people roll for it is very bad gamesmanship, IMO.

I know that the info-gathering is part of the noir setting, and cyberpunking without hacking is missing key DNA. However, it's a hard mash-up with a tabletop RPG. If you blow a few key rolls, then everyone goes home disappointed. That's bad juju for keeping your friends coming over to eat junk food and drink with you.

When I ran the game, I punted. Disallowed PC hackers beyond rigging, opening doors, etc. A NPC hacker did the real matrixing. Besides, I still don't understand the hacking rules. Mea culpa.

Thorguild

Totally agree, which is why if the hack fails, there are various contacts they can use to find some clues as well. The target will revisit an existing location told to them at the start as well as another that should be easy to find. The main roll above is to find out where he lives so they can go direct if they dont want to wait around for him to come to them.

So this hacking idea above is just one clue for the reasons you have expressed above (I've been roleplaying for over a decade but never GM'ed... the thing that I know is most annoying is the plot stagnating so making sure there are lots of avenues for investigation is key).

I've read the hacking rules three times now and kinda get how it all works... read various articles about the way that nodes are networked and how a network of nodes can be hacked going through a master node and blah blah blah... I'll be blagging my way through it

As long as my players get a sense of achievement and have fun, then I've done my job! Oh and I've even bothered to source some excellent backing soundtracks... go spotify!

Thanks again for the tips...

I think if he's a minotaur, old-fashioned legwork will be easier to do (albeit a bit riskier). Asking around in bars in the area will net you info about a big guy with these distinct features quicker, as a meta variant should be very memorable.
Also, the -1 modifier per roll is not a house rule (See p.64, SR4a on this topic). Lengthening the interval sounds like a good idea, though. It should also be a Limited Interest topic, possibly with modifiers for being obscure, as per the table on p. 230 SR4a. That is, if you rule that possible camera recordings are on the open matrix. If not, you may suggest to the hacker to hack the traffic control node, which could be done by something more intricate than just grabbing random bits of info from the 'trix.

Facial Recognition Software is on p. 61, Arsenal.

Awesome I love this forum!