ranged combat
-number of base TNs: 4, plus the power of the weapons involved; and except for those, the base TNs don't change at all.
-number of possible actions: ~21
-types of rolls: 3
-modifiers: 32

decking
-number of base TNs: 25, counting ACIFS as 1 TN each; most of the TNs changed every time you change hosts or meet up with a different opponent.
-number of possible actions: 31, using only SR3, not counting program-specific actions such as Medic
-types of rolls: 9, i think, possibly more
-modifiers: 14, most of which must be matched up to specific action types

while decking has fewer modifiers, it's worth pointing out that matching up the modifier to the TN is more complex than it is with ranged combat--that is, in ranged combat, you just pick what modifiers apply and add them up, rather than having to cross-index the modifier to your desired action. decking also has nearly as many base TNs as ranged combat does modifiers. decking has only a few more possible actions, but those actions are severely limited, depending on what programs you've bought. in ranged combat, the question of whether or not you've got the right program loaded (in addition to all the other factors) never comes up, as it does all the time in decking.

decking is not, by any possible definition of the word, easier than ranged combat.

And in other news, leading experts agree, water is wet.

kagetenshi has counterevidence. i wait with bait breath to see it!

*breathe*

Well, not to say that decking is less complicated than ranged combat, but I don't think you can quantify the complexity of either rule system by the number of TNs, TN modifiers, dice systems, and actions it contains.

The most basic thing you can do in ranged combat is shoot at someone. So you make a roll against a TN. There will be mulitple TN modifiers in the vast majority of circumstances. After that, your target gets to make a success test if they want to dodge, and then another to stage down damage. Then you get to calculate damage.

Now the most basic thing you can do on the matrix is perform a system operation. The only way this differs from a plain-vanilla success contest is that the GM keeps note of the host/grid's successes. Many TN modifiers can apply, but until the drek hits the fan the only one common one is that given by the Player's utility. If you're not using Matrix I believe the only modifier to Detection Factor is for suppressing IC. The host doesn't have dice pools to use. Even if the decker's half of this success test is marginally more complicated than rolling to hit with a gun, the host's side of the roll is trivial, whereas dodging/staging is far more complicated.

Does this mean decking as a whole is less complicated than shooting as a whole? I don't know. I think it means the simplest thing a decker has to do can be resolved far quicker than a ranged attack, but YMMV.

depends on what you're counting. there's quite a bit more setup time, with even the simplest thing a decker can do; for one thing, a gunman doesn't have to measure the size of his bullets in order to figure out how many will fit into his clip. what's more, the decker often has no idea what his TN is, whereas a gunman almost always knows exactly what he's rolling against, which increases the difference complexity further.

Sorry for the delay, but it's only proper that this should take place Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, at the M-M-M-M-MONSTER DOME!!! *Reverb*

Necessary information:

Decking: host's security information, security tally/sheaf, decker program ratings, deck attributes, deck condition monitor, utility sizes and loadout (typically fairly consistent), one pool and one alone.

Optionally: stats for another decker (most decking is opposed by IC and done solo).

Ranged combat: Stats for all parties involved (we'll assume two right now, though it is more common to have multi-person ranged combat situations than decking), character attributes/skills, range, relative motion, position, position of all cover- and concealment-giving objects nearby, recoil, four different fire modes, up to three different pools, armor, up to three different called shot effects, variable TNs based on lighting, variable alterations to those TNs based on vision, total ammo counts, ammo counts in each individual magazine, ammo types and effects, myriad modifiers both compatible and incompatible (smartlink, laser sight, smartgoggles, magnification) often with variants (SL-2, vismag 1-3), natural conditions (fog, hail, rain, clear skies, etc. etc. etc.), knockdown.

Optionally: stats for additional parties, Regeneration, multiple classes of weapon damage, Scatter.

And that's just what I can think of off the top of my head.

~J

sure, i noted in my original post that ranged combat has more modifiers. but those modifiers are easily slapped onto one of four TNs; all you need to do is some quick adding and subtracting. it's not the number of possible modifiers that make decking more complex, it's what the modifiers are applied to, and how they're applied: five different types of TNs, each of which will be different as you go from host to host. and that's just for system operations.

ranged combat has three mechanics: shooting, dodging, and soaking. both these mechanics have fairly stable base TNs: for shooting, it's 4/5/6/9, for dodging, it's 4; for soaking, it's generally 6-9. soaking has the most complex base TN (because it differs from gun to gun), but it's also generally the easiest to adjudicate (power minus armor equals TN).

running the Matrix has five mechanics: system operations made by deckers, the opposing roll made by the system, attack tests, soak tests, and combat maneuver tests (there are also a multitude of minor mechanics, such as rolls for medic programs and Locate Decker tests, as well as individual IC effects). most of the base TNs for these mechanics change frequently. for instance, a system operation roll has one of five possible base TNs, which change every time he moves to a new host or grid. on top of that, the modifier to the roll changes with each action the decker attempts. and every time you want to do an action, you have to look up three things: what operation you have to use, what program is used in conjunction with that operation, and what subsystem you're rolling against.