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kerbarian
I was looking over the rigging rules and noticed something I didn't catch the first time through. It looks like your VR initiative is different if you're jumped into a vehicle vs. in the matrix, and you get a different hot-sim bonus.

Specifically, I read the options as:
Cold-sim VR in the matrix (p.229): Data Processing + Intuition + 3D6
Hot-sim VR in the matrix (p.230): Data Processing + Intuition + 4D6, +2 dice on all Matrix actions

Cold-sim VR when rigging (p.266): Physical initiative + 2D6
Hot-sim VR when rigging (p.266): Physical initiative + 3D6, +1 die on all Matrix tests

Physical initiative includes at least the standard 1D6, so the number of initiative dice ends up being the same, but you use Reaction instead of Data Processing for rigging initiative. This also implies to me that you can boost your rigging initiative with things like Cram or the Increase Reflexes spell (which don't say they're incompatible with other initiative enhancements). I don't believe that's possible for matrix VR initiative, since it replaces your normal initiative rather than modifying it.

Am I reading that all correctly? It makes sense from a game design perspective that riggers would use Reaction as part of their initiative, but there's no attention drawn to the fact that VR initiative is calculated differently for rigging vs. matrix, so it makes me wonder if I'm missing something.

More generally, I'd really appreciate some clarification -- ideally in the errata -- about which initiative boosters are compatible or incompatible (e.g. per RAW I believe Cram works with Wired Reflexes but not Synaptic Booster) and whether they transfer between physical, VR, and astral initiative.
BlackJaw
Page 266 doesn't say "Physical Initiative +Xd6," but instead compares it to being on the matrix, which we know from the matrix chapter uses Data Processing.

QUOTE
Just like in the Matrix, you have the option of using cold-sim or hot-sim while rigging. If you’re using cold- sim, you get +2D6 to your Initiative (3D6 total), and any biofeedback damage you take is Stun. If you’re using hot-sim, you get +3D6 (4D6 total) Initiative dice, and a +1 dice pool bonus that applies to all Matrix test (including Vehicle actions), but all biofeedback damage is Physical damage.


I'm not sure if that means it uses the standard Matrix initiative rules (and they just aren't mentioning the base data processing) or if it is trying to specify special rules, albeit uncleanly, by not saying it's physical initiative.

I hope it's just using standard matrix initiative because I wouldn't want to deal with the changing initiative scores every time you jump into and out of a vehicle/drone being seperate from the Matrix and Physical world.

I will note that the dice pool bonus for Hot VR is lower in the rigging section than the matrix section, but that could just be an editing error.
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