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GrinderTheTroll
SR1 (the birth of the Rocker) has a piece of Cyberware called the "SynthLink" that allowed the musician to cybernetically control their instuments. No rules, just about 2 sentences worth of text.

SR2 had the same Cyberware, but no Rocker Archtype.

SR3 removed this all together.

Oh also, some piece of Cyberware in SR1 called "Program Carrier" that allowed Deckers to "Run the Matrix naked" (simulated Persona softs of some such). Another item (I forget the name atm) allowed programs to be run from Headware memory.

If you haven't done it in a while, have a read through SR1 -> SR2 -> SR3, some interesting ideas that have come and gone.
Moon-Hawk
Why would they take away our rockers and synthlinks? How could they do this to us? WHY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
mfb
i'd make the synthlink an attachment to the instrument--a datajack port, basically. though how the hell you're supposed to control most instruments cybernetically is way, way beyond me.
Moon-Hawk
Maybe it's like a smartlink, and decreases the target number to play the instrument.
GrinderTheTroll
QUOTE (Moon-Hawk)
Maybe it's like a smartlink, and decreases the target number to play the instrument.

Brilliant!
Moon-Hawk
Make it equivalent to attuning and have it give -1TN? If it were -2 I think it would make attuning to an instrument totally stupid, since there's no way they'd stack, and I'd hate to take the magically-attuned-to-guitar concept away from someone, so that's why I'd limit it to -1 TN.
mfb
that'd work.
Moon-Hawk
Wonderful. That's the fastest we've ever agreed on anything.
Now to make it more complicated.
Essence cost & nuyen cost. *groan*
Is it like a datajack? Is it a piece of cyber that communicates through a datajack? (that's my guess) What is the cost to modify the instrument?
GrinderTheTroll
LOL, was making this a silly topic and you've gone and taken it serious. I'm sure someone can look it up in SR1 or SR2 or I can post something later today.
lodestar
QUOTE (mfb)
i'd make the synthlink an attachment to the instrument--a datajack port, basically. though how the hell you're supposed to control most instruments cybernetically is way, way beyond me.

It might be the only way you can play your solar-powered-laser-beam-guitar. wink.gif
Moon-Hawk
Hey, the synthlink is an excellent piece of 'ware that, I suspect, keeps getting cut because it has no criminal practicality. But it's an awesome bit of 'ware, especially if it's cheap, to add onto anyone's fill-in-the-blank/rocker archetype.

I remember the program carriers, but not how they worked exactly. There was one for body, one for sensor, etc. if I remember correctly (which I probably don't) Matrix rules have changed so much I don't have much hope for translating those into 3rd ed stats. Just play an Otaku. biggrin.gif
lodestar
Mind you if you had a Mage with the Centering skill in Laser beam guitar, with a synthlink that reduces his target numbers, he/she might be able to crank out some rockin' spells...
Moon-Hawk
Are you suggesting that as a pro, a con, or just an interesting point of fact with a YMMV?
Johnny Reb
Somewhere around here I have a third edition Burned Out Mage named, originally enough, Old Man.

He was a runner in the 40's and got busted around '51. He's back out on teh streets, now, and falling back into old habits, but he's a whole lot slower than before. Magic's about gone, the years have taken their toll, and he's so far behind the SOTA curve that it's sad. "Initiation? What in tarnation's that?"

But he's got a Program Carrier.

It was such a lovely touch.

"Drek, we're never getting out of here!"

"Pfft. All you hafta do is deck the door."

"They *shot* my deck!"

"Oh right. Shoulda had one of these." *pop*

... "What the frag are those?!"

"Old trick for an old dog, kid. Old trick for an old dog."

-- Johnny Reb
Fix-it
If he has plenty of skills and contacts, that doesn't sound too bad.
hobgoblin
hmm, handle it like when useing a datajack to control vehicles, given that you can transfer mind directly to instrument without bothering with finger posisions and so on...
Kanada Ten
IIRC from SotA, it's like a transducer only for all sounds and voices. "The music musicians heard in their heads finally put to data" or something like that.
hobgoblin
and therefor it will make more people try their head at music, just like software like fruityloops made every teenages a dj...

im not saying that all results will be good, but i have found myself in a posision where i have music in my head that i probably will never get out as i cant seem to learn how to play a instrument...
Kanada Ten
QUOTE (hobgoblin)
and therefor it will make more people try their head at music, just like software like fruityloops made every teenages a dj...

im not saying that all results will be good, but i have found myself in a posision where i have music in my head that i probably will never get out as i cant seem to learn how to play a instrument...

100% agree. Of course, my vision of the future is 6 billion Matrix feeds downloaded daily. The worst part? There's still nothing worth sensing.
BitBasher
The reason pogram carries were eliminated is they caused cancer and made you die. Quickly. There was actually a statement to that affect in one of the books. biggrin.gif
Fortune
And Program Carriers walked all over the newly introduced Otaku's main abilities. wink.gif

For the SynthLink, I'd just DNI-adapt the instrument and run it through a Datajack for a -1 TN, the same as is done for driving (as is listed above).
Moon-Hawk
QUOTE (BitBasher)
The reason pogram carries were eliminated is they caused cancer and made you die. Quickly. There was actually a statement to that affect in one of the books. biggrin.gif

Which book? Which edition of the game?
I'm not doubting you; but I'd like to hear a quote of that passage. And it'd still be a cool thing to have. I mean, MBW makes you die, too, but it's a cool thing to have rules for anyway. I'd like 3rd edition rules for program carriers, even if they do make you die in a few years. PC's probably wouldn't get them, but they were a cool part of the setting.
Ooh, maybe make the "cancer and die" rules dependent only on when you use them. Then it could be a really cool back-up thing; use it and make your cancer check. Some people might have them as a back-up for dire emergencies.
CircuitBoyBlue
I don't think a synthlink should be like a "smartlink for your instrument," as cool as that might sound. Because generally when the rocker archetype was using his or her instrument, there wasn't a normal success test involved; it was an open test. I can't remember the details, but once I tried just tacking on bonuses to the Impact rating of the performance, and it didn't work out the same as chopping down the target number on a normal success test.

As far as program carriers go, I too miss them. As one who's never been in a game where otaku have made an appearance, I don't think there'd be anything particularly game-busting about allowing someone to pay essence to be able to run the matrix without a cyberdeck, particularly when they don't get all the extra goodies like hardening and response. And Ghost knows the corps make their employees do all sorts of other things that cut down their life-expectancy, like combat drugs and what-not.

Read the old module Mercurial. I've never read it, just run it as a PC (and poorly enough to have not encountered a lot of stuff). But I know for a fact that Mercurial uses a synthlink, and I bet there's a pretty good description in there that covers more than just what Shadowbeat has to offer. Also, on the note of equipment that kills you, I think there's something about an old Soviet combat drug in there, but I'm basing this entirely on hearsay. From what I hear, this drug makes you really badass, and then kills you. If NPCs are doing that to their goons, I don't see why they wouldn't put program carriers in their goons whenever a matrix run came up. You'd only need to buy one set, and just keep reusing it, and you'd get double the creepy points.
Kanada Ten
QUOTE
From what I hear, this drug makes you really badass, and then kills you.

Mumm, Kamakazie. Good stuff.
bitrunner
actually, the drug was Pugnacine-Beta...i've got a proposal in for Pug-Gamma that mitigates some of the effects...especially that 'death' thing...
PBTHHHHT
QUOTE (lodestar)
QUOTE (mfb @ Dec 21 2004, 01:35 PM)
i'd make the synthlink an attachment to the instrument--a datajack port, basically. though how the hell you're supposed to control most instruments cybernetically is way, way beyond me.

It might be the only way you can play your solar-powered-laser-beam-guitar. wink.gif

Watch much Silverhawks as a kid?

Gack, just mentioning made me look it up on the web.
Silverhawks, 80's cartoon...
I guess a guy who's playing his bluegrass on the guitar could be considered an assault with a deadly weapon in certain circles... wobble.gif
hobgoblin
his enemy counterpart was a female punk with a keyboard wink.gif
when it comes to cartoons im a 80's child silly.gif
Fortune
Program Carriers were fine in SR1 where Hacking Pools were commonly in the high 20s and low 30s, making programming on the fly a viable option. I don't think they are anywhere near as usable now that the Pool is calculated differently.
Fortune
QUOTE
Watch much Silverhawks as a kid?


The 'Solar Powered, Laser Beam Guitar' is from the Prism song Spaceship Superstar.
Crusher Bob
Don't forget that you can use your guitar in place of a vehicle control rig.
Moon-Hawk
What book has the rules for program carriers? I would've expected Virtual Realities but I can't find it. Is it in the SR1 core?
GrinderTheTroll
The Program Carrier only appeared in SR1, it was removed in SR2, but here is the original text:

QUOTE (SR1.128)
Program Carrier : This is a specialized form of Bodayware for those who work with the Matrix, especially deckers.  Three retractable prongs are located in the user's hand to carry any kind of chip.  The chips are connected by individual subdermal fiber optics to the user's datajack.  Technicians use program carriers for diagnostic routines, and deckers for persona programs.  By inserting the prongs into a suitible station and plugging in a data table, a decker can run the Matrix as they say "naked".  He will need headware memory storage to stash any data he heists.  This is a dangerous way to deck because the user's neural system is extremely vulnerable.
Program Carrier (.2/25,000)

Another removal from SR1 was the Program Enabler (.1/1000) that "...this lets the user activate Headware programs." (SR1.127)

The rules for running the Matrix naked are on SR1.111, and here's the summary:
1. Requires a Program Carrier.
2. Load it with Sensor, Evasion, Masking
3. Need to jack into a dataport at the same point (??)
4. Need to jack into an I/O or Slave port.
5. Willpower = MPCP
6. Use Headware memory to download data
7. Must write programs on the fly (Program Enabler would help here I'd imagine).
8. You get use initiative bonuses from VCR and Wired Relexes
9. Damage is taken as Mental unless it's Black IC.

IF you want a visual picure of this, check out the cover of SR1 or SR2 (where ironically the Program Carrier no longer exists).


To follow up on the SynthLink:

QUOTE (SR1.126)
This specialized datajack linked to control systems is a musician's tool, allowing for cybernetic use of musica synthesizers.
Interestingly enough, the stats where omitted in SR1, but the appears on the Rocker Archtype (.2 but no $$ cost), and still doesn't appear in SR2 but the desciption does. It is "a specialized datajack", so I am guessing the cost is the same. Looks like it might have made it's way into SR3 but was generalized into a "datajack".
hobgoblin
heh, i would rather have the program carriers and program enabler then otakus as they currently stands (way to mystical and all to early fadeing).

otakus could work wonders as a behind the scenes oddities...

allso, the removal of the synthlink points to a problem that plagues games with cyberware in general, the lack of fashion and styleware that dont have some sort of practical use for everyday or combat use. in fact i think cyberpunk 2020 is the one that have the most of those kinds of cyberware...
Johnny Reb
QUOTE (hobgoblin)
his enemy counterpart was a female punk with a keyboard wink.gif
when it comes to cartoons im a 80's child silly.gif

Her name was Melodia, by the by. Was the token chick for Mon-Starr's villainous group, wound up hooking up with the casino owner, Pokerface.

-- Johnny Reb, Knows Cartoons.
hobgoblin
i didnt bother to look up the info and it was ages ago when i last watched the series...
Edward
I think the sinth link was mentioned in SSG.

I took it to be a DNI music synthesizer more than an attachment to a real instrument.

As to the program carrier. You can still sally have a backup deck, ether a small cranial or a custom low end with increased conceal ability, your not quite naked but it gives you something other than your primary.

Edward
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