So I've read and heard a fair bit about SR4, including that skinlinking things like weapons is really useful. But, what does it actually do? The entry for it in SR4A isn't terribly helpful, as it only give a general description of what skinlink does, but no real mechanics for it. So, would someone please tell me what skinlink does for me, as a player, in straightforward terms?

The way i use it in my table top game is essentially like being direct connected without the need for wires as long as the item stays on the person.

This, basically. Skinlink is a way to network your devices together without the use of conventional wireless networking. Notable for being an absolute no-brainer for anyone even vaguely concerned about the security of their PAN (i.e., every shadowrunner ever), and also for being removed from SR5 so the devs could push their ridiculous EVREYTHINGS MSUT BE HACKABABLE!!!1ONE agenda.

So, setting up a skinlink on a smartgun will establish a 'wired' connection that is then harder to hack. Any real mechanics to this, or is it just 'you can't hack anything that isn't putting out a wireless signal'?

its basically about limiting the wireless to only your commlink, which was protected by the hacker.

It makes a connection by running electrical signals over the surface of your skin. There's no radio signal for a decker to intercept, but any device with a skinlink that touches you effectively has a connection to the network.

For example: Sammy is going to a meet with a new Johnson. He doesn't want anyone to be able to hack his PAN, so he has all his electronics skinlinked. This works fine, until he shakes the Johnson's hand at the end of the meeting. Mr. Johnson also has a skinlinked PAN, and the physical contact forms a connection between the two networks. Johnson's decker (who's waiting back at the office but has a wireless connection to the Johnson's comlink) hacks into Sammy's PAN through the skinlink.

Couple of things.

1) Johnsons who make a habit of hacking the runners they're trying to hire have their very own retirement plan. It's called "two bullets in the back of the head and tossed in the canal."

2) The decker realizes a connection has been made, and hacks Sammy's PAN, all in the half-second (one-sixth of a combat round) they're shaking hands?

Eh. Not all runners are capable of taking down all johnsons. Some just chew up teams that try, and don't even bother spitting out the bones. And then there are dragons.

I agree on that - you'd need to plant something like a souped-up RFID tag during the handshake to create an access point - though having a new device trying to connect through the skinlink should raise all kind of alarm bells into an halfway decently programmed comlink - unlike a Wireless attempt where the hack can be hidden in the 'background noise' of regular matrix signals.

not to mention your team hacker should be all over that counterhacking the Johnson's Hacker

...but if there's an arm wrestling contest between two sams in a bar, that's plenty of time to hack.

Of course, the Johnson could simply have a worm set up to hack in instead...

But if that worm can't hack the Comlink in a single attempt, then it is wasted, since contact will be broken after a second or so.

Johnsons are not dragons. Johnsons aren't even corps. The Johnson is the schlub, way down the totem pole, who can hire a gang of professional criminals without it being immediately traced back to the corp he works for. He's the cutout: once the job is over, whether successful or failed, he vanishes back into the ranks and another one takes his place. If the run goes sufficiently pear-shaped, his own company kills him to maintain deniability. Johnsons, by definition, are not badass. They are just as expendable as the runners they hire. If a guy is badass enough to kill a team of runners, he is too badass to be a Johnson.

Moreover, once word gets around (and it will get around; runners are a very small community, and like every small community, gossip is life) that Johnson likes to hack your PAN during the meet, it will not be difficult to find someone both willing and able to grant him a permanent retirement, as a message that professional felons don't appreciate being dicked around.

Being betrayed at the end of the job is one thing. Every runner expects that to happen at some point. Having the Johnson treat you like a clueless, spineless little bitch? Like I said: shot twice in the back of the head and dumped in the canal.

"Herr Brackhaus".

Never heard of the berk.

Hans Brackhaus. Age : Unknown. Height : Varies. Weight : Varies. Hair : Black or Gray. Eyes : Black, Gray, or Blue. Gender : Male. Metatype : Varies. Awakened : No. Hans Brackhaus might be one person, several people, a great dragon, or all of the above.

The vital statistics and first line of the entry on Hans Brackhaus taken from Street Legends. And for those who'll argue that dragons are awakened, do remember that there's metamagic techniques that allow any awakened critter to hide the fact that they are awakened in the first place.

I stand by my statement. First, you can't say the man's a dragon when canonically it's up in the air; and second, the fact that one writer decided it would be SO COOL to have a dragon hiring runners in the flesh doesn't mean the guy hiring your group is a dragon. There are exceptions to every rule, but that doesn't invalidate the rule. Johnsons, as a rule, are not movers and shakers. They are wageslaves who are low enough on the totem pole to be completely invisible to anyone above street level. That is what allows them to work as Johnsons. Their value lies in their anonymity and expendability.

And I stand by mine.

Absolutes are pointless. Even appending "most" to your statement strikes me as overly narrow, and I wouldn't put faith in it without a specific and official quote along the lines of "99% of Mr Johnsons are low level wageslaves a step away from being shot to keep the corp looking clean."

Who the hell else would they be? What, you think Damien Knight spends the copious free time he has from running Ares slumming it in the Barrens, personally handing out assignments to people about whose existence, let alone jobs, he isn't supposed to know?

Middle Management would be my best guess. People entrusted by the leaders to "get a resolution in play". The deniability you are looking for is that the Johnson does not contact runners directly, the Johnson calls a fixer who sets up a meeting between the Johnson & the runner's Face. This is often behind closed doors that are already checked to be safe. After the mission Premise is made, the contact between the runner team & the Johnson, should any contact be needed, is often through the mutual fixer.

My problem with saying its low level people. Low level corp wageslaves are not trusted enough to be able to stand toe to toe with a runner team & talk business, Runner's are famously trigger happy. Besides, when the Runner team starts asking for more money, a low level wageslave won;t have the authority to go above the amount he's told, Middle management can rationalize it as "slush fund" or something of the like more readily.

I'll agree with this. Mr.Johnson isn't a top tier VIP but he's not a bottom rung wage-slave either. He somewhere in the middle high enough to be trusted with the dirty side of the Corps Business but still low enough that he can be replaced if needed.

Or maybe higher. You know the line, sometimes "When you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself."

Would someone like Lofwyr or Damien Knight personally hire a bunch of street level runners? Odds are about as likely as your doss getting hit by a meteorite and it flushing itself down your toilet.

And Dolonar, don't forget that "Mr. Johnson" might be withholding some nuyen for his own pocket. He might be given ¥50,000 to pay a team for a job, but only offers ¥35,000 instead.

He might be...but I would figure the bosses would give him a lower limit, gotta keep that bottom line trimmed after all.

Corporate Guide, p46, is a good source of info that relates to why the bottom line may not be properly trimmed, and how funding, assets, property or people may slip through cracks. This doesn't even have happen accidentally, if the right people are sly enough.

Johnsons can also be companymen whos ware has gotten a bit behind bleeding edge. I believe that was the one womans deal in Never Deal with a Dragon. The one who hired the goons to kill Twist and Sally Tsungs gang.

As far as hacking someone with a skinlink, just add skinlink to a wireless enabled flyspy or bustamove and have it land on/hug them.

There should be basically no way to mask the sudden appearance of a new device in someone's skin PAN, though, so chances are that when that thing connects, they're going to start shooting.

Hostile SkinPAN intrusion should basically require injecting them with something that opens a wireless connection, like shooting them with an RFID tag, or nanites that cluster together inside them to form a signal rating.

All this talk of skinlinks and possible hacking during meet and greets leads to our latest product outta the A-Z.

Faraday Gloves™.

Specially meshed and insulated gloves designed to kill signal contact through the glove for those special meeting moments.

Also handy when having to handle live wiring or to block/parry stun batons/shock gloves with.

I don't think the faraday effect would work with a complex shape like gloves. They'd probably just work like an antenna.

Rubber would be preferable.

There is something to be said for that.

Plus when the Troll across the table from you is snapping on rubber gloves before 'negotiating' it does add something to the talks.

Eh, it was just a quick (bad) example just to illustrate how it works. The point I was trying to make was that you actually could break into a skinlinked network via unobtrusive social contact like a handshake, provided your decker's fast enough--and that the decker needn't be the one making the contact. If a handshake is too fast, try having your face pretend to be a touch-happy drunk at the bar draping his arm over people and going "I love you man!" Hell, give a skinlinked comm to the touch-happy drunk at the bar and wait for him to glomp your target. You never need to tell him why you got it for him.

Actually I once had an idea for a Face who's day job was as a high-class male escort. He had an implanted comlink with skinlink, and one of his main tricks was using makeout sessions as a cover to snag paydata off security minded corp-types who skinlink their PANs.

Also, just because a Johnson cracks your comlink doesn't mean he immediately starts blackmailing you or selling your info all over the place. That's bush league. If they're good enough to crack your PAN on the first try, they're good enough to do it and have the intrusion remain unnoticed. A smart move would be to use the information to improve your position and manipulate things without ever letting on how (or that) you got it.

A Mr. Johnson who knows the personal details of every runner he works with has a dozen subtle means of stacking the deck in his favor. Does a runner have a family member who's a BTL addict? Feed them runs that involve geeking chip dealers or disrupting their operations and you can probably get them to do the job for less. Does somebody have a beef against a certain corp or crime syndicate? Then you know who to call when that kind of job comes your way. It's even better if they used to work for the organization in question, because they'll probably have inside info that will give them an edge. Do they have an addiction, criminal SIN, medical issue, or other potential problem that they're hiding from you? Now you know, and can make hiring decisions accordingly. You can even have psychological profiles worked up, helping you stay a step ahead in choosing the right person for each run, and predicting how best to handle the situation when things go sideways. It's just good management.



Maybe, but that's not how it works in Shadowrun. If there was no way to mask your intrusion into a network, hacking wouldn't be a thing. (Or at least, it'd be a hell of a lot riskier.) And you don't need to open the target's wireless to crack a skinlinked PAN. Any skinlinked device in contact with the target has the equivalent of a wired connection to the network, which is harder to defend against than wireless intrusion. Sure you could use the skinlinked intrusion to open their wireless if you don't have alot of time, like bumping into someone in a crowd, but you'd be better off doing your entire hack through the skinlink if you can manage it.