A couple of questions about spending your resources at charachter creation.
1) Can you upgrade cyberware later in the game?
2) Is it worth it for a decker to buy a good deck at the start or just wait and see if one can be procured later?
Full Version: Charachter Creation Cash
Yeah, you can upgrade later, that's Canon.
No, it's not worth it to buy a deck at the start. Spend the money elsewhere.
Sphynx
No, it's not worth it to buy a deck at the start. Spend the money elsewhere.
Sphynx
Depends on the way the GM runs the world. In a Matrix-heavy world, not having a deck to start out with could guarantee it'll be years before you get one worth owning at all.
~J
~J
And without a good deck, you might not live long enough to upgrade.
-Siege
-Siege
Which would encourage pure deckers who were willing to hand out a large chunk of their starting resources to decking alone, and in turn would make the combat decker a less feasible choice. I wouldn't do it all the time, but for some games I'd have no problem doing that.
~J
~J
You mean you guys actually build deckers without a deck at *all* in the beginning? How does that work? What can a decker do without a deck?
Fix my broken gameboy???
Sit. Twiddle thumbs. Pray the GM takes pity and puts an NPC decker with some nice hardware that can get killed near where the players are.
Or be a combat decker, in which case you're a weaker gunbunny, but that's entirely different from a blanket building of a decker without a deck.
~J
Or be a combat decker, in which case you're a weaker gunbunny, but that's entirely different from a blanket building of a decker without a deck.
~J
| QUOTE (Stumpy Fjord) |
| 1) Can you upgrade cyberware later in the game? |
Yeah.
| QUOTE |
| 2) Is it worth it for a decker to buy a good deck at the start or just wait and see if one can be procured later? |
That really depends on if your GM strictly enforces the starting availability rule for decks. If they do, then the best you can get is the Avatar IIRC which is a bit low powered from what I vaguely recall. On the other hand, how long is it going to take you to either save up for a deck or just happen to come across one during a run? And pretty much any serious run will would involve matrix work I'd think. I'd say yes, but talk to the GM and see if you can get a special dispensation to go for something a little better like a Kraftwerk.
You can put pleanty of killyness in a decker at the start. You probably loose out on a piece or two of good 'ware and thats about it.
If they do go for a lower end deck they just have to watch what colour system they try and hack....
If they do go for a lower end deck they just have to watch what colour system they try and hack....
Alternatively, if the GM mentions Maria Mercurial, remember to look carefully... (my first run was M.Merc, we went straight in and out without looking around; I have been kicking myself ever since...)
I take it that there's some nice swag just lying about then? 
I was seting up a part decker for a game and a fellow player and GM told me not to get anything less than craftwork 8. this is what the sample characters have so I can only assume MPCP=/rating. In the end I wound up with the cheapest deck in the game because the character is not a decker. He uses it to do high speed matrix searches and subvert household systems.
Edward
Edward
I wanted to play a combat decker with a deck in his leg, but the 4X device cost combined with the DNI cost would make even a 120k stock deck cost 720k. So I focused more on fighting and tried to build my own cyberdeck during play (since most of cyberdeck cost is due to programs, which, given time, can be free). If we had played the group longer, it might have worked, but mostly all I did was punch people slightly less effectively than a straight up sam (though admittedly, most people I punched once or twice were out cold).
-Joe
-Joe
| QUOTE (Edward) |
| I was seting up a part decker for a game and a fellow player and GM told me not to get anything less than craftwork 8. this is what the sample characters have so I can only assume MPCP=/rating. In the end I wound up with the cheapest deck in the game because the character is not a decker. He uses it to do high speed matrix searches and subvert household systems. Edward |
The problem with getting a Kraftwerk is that the Availability is 10 and it costs 400k before programs or any other upgrades. The Avatar or Hyperdeck (MPCP 6-7) are the best you can actually get under the rules for a beginning character, and should be fine IMO so long as you do a bit of after-market upgrading to the memory.
Availability 10 you say.
I don’t have my SR3 hear. Can you check the sample character record sheets and post what decks they use.
Edward
I don’t have my SR3 hear. Can you check the sample character record sheets and post what decks they use.
Edward
| QUOTE (Eyeless Blond @ Sep 20 2004, 06:24 AM) | ||
The problem with getting a Kraftwerk is that the Availability is 10 and it costs 400k before programs or any other upgrades. The Avatar or Hyperdeck (MPCP 6-7) are the best you can actually get under the rules for a beginning character, and should be fine IMO so long as you do a bit of after-market upgrading to the memory. |
Yeah, more reason NOT to start the game with a Deck. Go ahead and deck out your Avatar (the best you could start with) and then try a test run against a simple Green area. Even with masterful deception programs and stealth, I find it unlikely you'll be able to grab the smallest file before you're under attack. You just can't do squat with a beginning deck as a decker, and that's a GREEN, not an Orange or Red (or god-forbid a Black). Spend that money on cyber and be bad ass (a little at least).
What does a decker do until he gets a deck? B&E is always my suggestion, high computer and electronics of a default decker makes him keen for B&E, and since any decker is gonna love microscopic vision (for his own deck building), he gets major bonuses on being a B&E expert.
I truly recommend NEVER starting with a Cyberdeck.
Sphynx
Both deckers archetypes in the rulebook have rule-legal decks : a CMT Avatar and a Novatech Hyperdeck 6 (availability 6 and 4 respectively)
| QUOTE (Sphynx) |
| Go ahead and deck out your Avatar (the best you could start with) and then try a test run against a simple Green area. Even with masterful deception programs and stealth, I find it unlikely you'll be able to grab the smallest file before you're under attack. You just can't do squat with a beginning deck as a decker, and that's a GREEN, not an Orange or Red (or god-forbid a Black). Spend that money on cyber and be bad ass (a little at least). |
Sample host: Orange-Average. 7-13/12/12/13/12. That means that a Rating 6 program will be getting the TNs down to 6s and 7s, and if you either run in masking mode or with some of your hacking pool allocated to DF increases, you'll be making more successes than the host. You won't be doing very much, as after a few operations you'll be needing to log off to let the tally reset, but you can get basic operations done. Now let's try your Green-Easy.
Green 6-8/10/10/9/8. Well within the realm of someone with a few Rating 5 or 6 programs, if they know what they're doing.
If your GM allows creation of accounts, well, you can eat the hosts for lunch.
~J
I always allow deckers to build custom decks, or at least modify the stock ones.
| QUOTE (Kagetenshi) |
| Sample host: Orange-Average. 7-13/12/12/13/12. That means that a Rating 6 program will be getting the TNs down to 6s and 7s, and if you either run in masking mode or with some of your hacking pool allocated to DF increases, you'll be making more successes than the host. You won't be doing very much, as after a few operations you'll be needing to log off to let the tally reset, but you can get basic operations done. |
Ah, I think I see the problem now. Those without Matrix are going to find even the easiest systems impossible, then. Without the rules for Masking Mode, your maximum DF at chargen is 7; with it it's 9. Only with both Masking Mode and the *variant* rule (meaning not allowed in "official" games) allowing Hacking Pool to be used for DF can you get your DF up to a usable 11-12. Anything less and you're going to be heading up against a flood of IC after only a bare few operations.
So I guess without all those variant rules you really *shouldn't* buy a deck at chargen.
Even without the rules in Matrix, you're looking at the same or lower TN and more dice. You won't be able to do a lot in a single intrusion, but non-tiered systems won't be that tough.
~J
~J
As a GM I would not encourage players wishing to run a decker start without a deck - in fact I might just forbid it unless they can convince me they have good reason. However, I would also not charge the x4 for a built in deck when cranial decks are clearly not 4 times the cost. Instead I would simply charge the C2 prices.
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