So the party decker just about quit over having to read a textbook to play the game. Does anyone have a set of cheat sheets?

Which edition? They are all vastly different from one another. In my opinion, 5th is the easiest to pick up and use (although still not easy).

-DrZ

and nothing of value was lost?

I could offer sort of a "quick guide" but with no guarantee it´ll help. Check your PM.

SR5 Matrix Cheat Sheets I found on the ShadowGrid

5th

Um... has he played tabletop RPGs before? Rulebooks tend to be fairly weighty tomes; SR5 is hardly exceptional in that regard.

We are all veteran gamers, but we usually do a more "rules light" environment.

Here's a rules lite Matrix:

- Hire an NPC

Yeah I remember our group doing that at first. We'd have an extra runner with us as matrix support. No matrix rolls were made, it was only a story driving device instead. Runs were obviously matrix light.

Well, if you're really a rules-light team, then I'd adapt it to something that makes sense. How do you run the astral aspect? Adjust it from there.

However, the GM as much as the player needs to up to date on the matrix rules to really make it easier. Me and my GM have managed to avoid the "everyone go get pizza" problem, but it took us a few sessions to get there.

Some tips (if you end up going with the default matrix rules) to speed up play:

1. Cameras running silently? Not anymore! Finding icons that were running silently took up the majority of our decking time. If everything is broadcasting in the clear (and why wouldn't they be? They've got the best Firewall around! etc.) then it speeds up the process considerably.

2. Try to avoid nested / secret hosts. While it makes more sense from a normal IT security standpoint, it takes up a lot of time at the table. I don't recall the Mage having to go onto the Metaplanes to find the watcher spirit, for example.

3. Read the program descriptions, and suggest helpful ones to the player as you go (you can make him roll a normal "Matrix" knowledge test for what his character would know). For example; "Fork" allows you to use the same test on multiple icons of the same type! I used this to edit the footage of 2 cameras simultaneously to hide my team.

There are lots of matrix questions asked and answered on this board; look around a bit and search to try and find answers to specific questions. Speaking of, specific questions are always easier to answer then general cries for help. If you come up with any feel free to ask them, and I (and many other members of the board) will happily answer them.

-DrZ

A remote NPC decker is very useful.

He or she can do most of the decking grunt work while the PC decker stays involved with the team and the real world action.

A lot of the run then becomes getting the remote decker access to the standalone host (at least to disable the outer security).
You can then fine tune the decking action for the PC decker. Plus it is always nice to have someone not on site to be the voice of reason for the GM.
"Fraq me raw, I was checking the traffic camera feeds and I just saw 4 KE citmasters all lite up and heading your way fast on 5th street! Suggest you use the alternate route to evac and do it now."

Just have the NPC decker have varied interests and ADHD so that the PC decker has to keep him on target as to what to do data searches on.

"Oooo! Kitties playing Ping pong!"

Sounds like that player needs to make a character that isn't a decker. I'd suggest a street sam, as he'll probably rage over astral space having its own set of rules as well.

for years we've always used npcs as deckers just for that reason.

If he doesn't wanna learn the rules for hacking, tell him 'tough shit' and write up a drug-addled troll with a dopefiend sister in hospice care for him to play or something. The only edition where I did NPC hacking was 3rd, because you could not run matrix/<anything else> simultaneously, it was straight impossible and it'd take hours anyway. Once 4th rolled around, the Matrix rules were basically simple enough that I could run meat/Matrix/magic at basically the same time.

Ditto... processing simultaneous turns for Meat/Matrix/Magic in SR4/SR4A is a snap (probably so in SR5 as well). As long as the player is willing to actually learn the system. If he isn't, then he should not be playing that type of character.