Say I'm a hacker or a technomancer, and I jump into a comlink Hotsim VR. Now that comlink physically moves into a matrix dead zone...what happens to me? Am I dumped? Would the same thing happen to an agent or sprite that I sent there?

If the zone is indeed dead (meaning you cannot obtain mutual signal range) then yes, you are dumped. As would your agent or Sprite .
Easily solved by a repeater with Signal 6. Or a group of Meshed RFID's, or whatever that would allow you to establsih MSR.

Actually, a Sprite would stick around. It would be on Remote Task, but it would continue doing whatever you last commanded it to do until it finished, destroyed, or its duration expired.

Likewise, an Agent that you loaded into that particular commlink (rather than running it off of your own) would act the same way. It would work until it finished or was forcibly removed.

Also, by "dumped" - IMO you wouldn't be dumped as in, "OMG dumpshock" .... rather, you would find yourself unceremoniously dropped back into your own commlink's "start" space.

Kind of like rubberbanding back to your spawn point in an FPS game.

I thought that is exactly when you would suffer dumpshock. Any time you get dumped from a node without logging out properly. Effectively, suddenly losing Mutual Signal with the node where your mind is working is like the Node crashing and dumping you. Causes dumpshock.

It is... Now, if you are in your own Comlink, and you enter a deadzone, you are not dumped, as you are not connected to anything other than your own link. However, I was under the impression that the question was asking about being in someone else's 'Link (or off in another mobile node) with an open subscription. Sorry for not being clear.

As for Sprites/Agents, they would have to be LOADED on the target comlink (rather than subscribed to it), and if that is the case, then yes, they would remain on the link until it regained connectivity (Subscribed Connections would sever as soon as MSR was severed and they would lose connectivity).

Right, that's what I said.

Also for clarity, Sprites don't need to be loaded. As creatures of Resonance they run themselves. Whatever node they are on is where they exist.

The only difference with the connection break is whether or not they can connect with the Technomancer that created them for the Link they have. If there is no data channel from the Sprite to the Technomancer, the link is broken and the Sprite & Technomancer have no way to communicate. If/when a connection opens back up it is a test to reestablish this connection.

Also, a sprite could technically just drop into the Resonance and then go to wherever they needed to go, as they kind of get to ignore routing.

They're limited to going to where the technomancer they're compiled/registered to can go, as per core rules/20 Anniversary. The technomancer has to have submerged once before they can pull off that feat.

I'm going to need to ask for a citation, here, because the closest thing I can find to something saying that would require that we pretend Remote Tasks didn't exist.

SR4A, p. 241, Top Left:

" ... Sprites must remain with the technomancer. Sprites can be temporarily
dismissed at any time and called back at a later point (within
that 8-hour period); both requiring a Simple Action. Sprites can only
access other nodes if they are accompanying or called by the technomancer,
or if they are sent on a remote task.

REMOTE TASKS

Sprites can be instructed to undertake a remote task in another node,
sent to operate away from the technomancer.  e sprite can only access
public nodes or private nodes for which it has the passcodes or that
it can hack with an Exploit complex form. Remote tasks forfeit any
further tasks the sprite owes. [note: This last limitation applies only to
unregistered sprites, as per the later section, same page]"

Ambiguously worded, if you ask me. However, I did note:

Unwired, p. 154

"Sprites And Node Access
As creatures of resonance, sprites may travel to and from
the resonance realms as they please. This allows them a kind of
shortcut, taking a path from one node to another via the resonance
realms, rather than through the Matrix. This does not, however,
give them a free pass to bypass firewalls and system security. A
sprite may only use this shortcut to access a node in which the
technomancer to whom they are registered is present (i.e., the
technomancer calls them into the node), or in which they have
legitimate account or backdoor access. Otherwise, the sprite must
hack into the node, following the same rules as any other hacker
(p. 221, SR4)."

I'm willing to concede it, though I'd GM it differently (a house rule). On the other hand... I could easily use this with my current technomancer... crack and crumble more, my precious Shadowrun.

wow..this seems to imply that I could..for instance.... Call 2 registered sprites, say Data and Crack, and send them in to the sealed environment with the stealthy char. They hack the system and steal the data, then go back into the resonance. Then I call them back to me with the data they collected, without ever needing to connect to the network myself...that's BA.

They'd need to be Registered so that they could go on Remote Tasks without forfeiting your remaining services. But yeah, basically that.

Well, if you have to find and steal a McGuffin, a Mage could summon and bind one Spirit with Search and let it find and steal the McGuffin. That's basically the same problem.

i don't think they can.

how are they going to carry the data? sprites don't have data storage, as far as i know.

now, if the data is something like "what colour are the walls in damien knight's office" for some odd reason, sure, they could read that information, and come back to you with that specific piece of information. but if you're talking about bringing back a file, i don't think they can actually do that.

Not exactly. A McGuffin could be hidden in a mana deadzone, or a mana static aspected to a tradition other than your own to the point of being impenetrable (rating 10-20ish). Also, it's debatable whether a spirit on a task could disappear into the ether and pop back into reality with a physical object like that, favoring the "not" side of the argument. A sprite, on the other hand, could pop into the resonance, pop back onto a system that is otherwise unreachable (i.e. 100 km down in the earth, or up in space), hack into the system, nab the paydata, jump back out into the resonance, and report back to the technomancer.

If a magician has initiated, they can do the same as the spirit, leaving their body behind, and not being able to drag materials with them when they leave/return (same as the spirit).

The question is - can a Sprite access the Resonance from a non-networked Node? I doubt that.

From my understanding, Yes it can, but only if the Sprite has been in the node previously.

Or the T/M is there. Or if its a free sprite who can access the resonance realms. Free sprites with initiation are no fun.

Yeah, those too...

Or, RAW (quoted above) the sprite can hack access to the node. No actual connection required.

Underline and Bold-Italic for Emphasis mine.



Not really. The Sprite either needs legitimate (or fabricated) access to the node, or have their controlling Technomancer present. Otherwise they have to hack access just like a hacker. Note that hackers require mutual signal range or a subscription to be able to hack access. This means that if the Sprite doesn't have an account, they can't pop into a Node from the Resonance. This is just like a Spirit using the Astral shortcut to get to the other side of a barrier, they basically need to have already been there or be brought in by their controller.

Fair enough, and that's more in line with what I'd GM it as. However, RAW, they'd be able to bypass a gatekeeper node to an unsecured and wireless-disabled node behind it. It doesn't have to be connected, it just has to be undefended on that node.

Edit: They'd also be able to, potentially, jump nodes to an undefended node within mutual signal range of a defended node, without the technomancer's presence or a mutual signal range, as per RAW.

They can, however, pop into a public node and hack from there. Or into the infil specialist's commlink. And so on.

If you have a sub-node that is only wired connection to a security node you can still have the node check for valid users when they first log in. For instance security personnel may not be allowed into the top secret node. If the data node still checks for valid users it would keep the sprite from getting resonance access because they would have to hack to make a user account (basic level access). Simplest way of securing a node: disable public access.

But then that node is SECURED. If you disable public access, it means you're placing some form of security on the node/sub-node. Password protected = security. Authentication = security. If it's an unsecured node, that inherently means it doesn't have any of that. But then, how many security professionals below the top tiers will think their secure, locked-in-a-concrete-bunker-miles-underground, wireless-disabled-and-behind-a-gatekeeper node is unsecured? How many will be arrogant enough to want to prove "I ain't afraid of no magical computer boogeymen!"?

Right. Except for actual Public Nodes. Why would anyone have a node that isn't at least secured on a cursory level?

Even as little as: Logging into Network, please input corporate ID.

If a node keeps track of who is logging in to give them the proper file access it means that it is secured. The only kind of Node that is actually UNSECURED would be a public access node that gives everyone user access no matter what. If it is a "secret" node that is protected by a gateway, it is going to have a least some security.

However, if that node has a "Lobby" area for people to log in, that would be enough of a "public" access to give the sprite a foothold for further hacking.

Why would a private, wired-only node with a separate gateway node have a lobby? It has an entire other node for that, that's what a Gateway Node is for. You layer nodes to add additional levels of security. If you didn't want to add another level of security, you would just make that "prime" node a part of the gateway node...

I wasn't speaking particularly about a wired-only node. A secured node might have an unsecured lobby for people to log in to, which would allow enough purchase to zip in, attempt an exploit, and either zip out to the resonance or trot along to the next waypoint.