New Turn. Cheng's last action was on Action Phase 10 and the IC went at 9. Both have no remaining actions. Time for Initiatives.

*Douple post*

Hm, just a quick question..is there a limit to the amount of active memory a deck can have? I didn't think there was, but playing around with the NSRCG program and it's "maxed-out" decks has me wondering.

Awesome thread.

no limit from what i recall, alltho i may be confusing it with storage memory. if there is a limit then its connected to the mpcp...

nope, cant find any limits on active mem, neither in sr3 or matrix...

I don't think theirs a limit either. Course, you have to pay for the memory upgrades, so you're limited by available funds, but that kinda goes without saying .... but I just said it .... damn.

Initiative: 14 + 4d6 - 2 (wounds) = 14 + 4 +4 + 4 + 4 - 2 = 28
What a strange roll ....

To roll four 4s has the same probability as every other combination (if you don't ignore the order of your rolls).

@Synner et al: Good to see this thread up and running again, keep up the good work

@Gorath: while the odds of roling 4,4,4,4 might be the same as those for roling 2,6,3,5 we tend to single out things like this. If you flip a coin often enough you'll eventually roll a thousand heads in a row (it might take a looong time), but if you grab a coin out of your pocket right now, flipped it a hundred times and you got nothing but heads you'd probably assume it was somehow flawed. The human mind is funny like that...

@Bigity: Matrix rules aren't my specialty but I don't remember any limits on Active Memory

@Crisp: You are rigth, the human brain does not support statistics and probability calcasus

IC rolls (per the IC Initiative Table, SR3 p. 223) 3D6, adds its Rating (5) and subtracts it's Damage Modifier (Serious = -3). In this case it rolls 5 + 5 + 3, plus 5 and minus 3 leaves and begins with an initiative of 15 this Turn. Lady Cheng gets to go first despite her wounds.

Sweet. Here's my thinking. I'm wounded, but I also know that it is as well. Also, from a metagaming sense, I would assume it's hurt worse than me because I did pretty well on the Bod soak (thank goodness I droped out of my modes earlier or I would have been rolling less dice for those soaks!). So, since my TNs will be affected by my wounds, I don't think I want to go for any maneuvers. Position Attack, if I fail, will put me in a world of hurt, parry attack doesn't get rid of the IC. I could evade detection and use my medic utility to remove the icon damage, but I'll worry about that next. Priority 1: Frag the IC. Since it's a new round, I get three pool dice (from task pool) to add to my computer skill at this point. My hacking pool dice are all tied up supressing other IC.

Roll 1 (Decking + 2 Pool): 12 10 09 05 05 05 04 01 01
Roll 2 (Decking): 11 11 03 02 02 02 01

With any luck, some of those high rolls will still be high enough to beat the increased TN due to the Party IC (+2) and my wounds (+2).

Now, this brings up an interesting point: I've saved one task pool die to supress the IC with when I crash it (notice when, not if ). But, synner: would you allow suppression with task pool in this case? I'm not sure the rules touch on that. If I can't use a pool die to supress the IC then I'll have to start eating into my detection factor, which is something no one ever wants to do .....

Cheng fixes her grip on her rune sword and moves in for the kill. Setting the IC up for a wicked over hand chop, Cheng brings her code-sword up and .....

Over to you, synner

Real quick aside, how can you get three task pool while you are decking?

Maybe Encephalon and Celrebral Booster? Math SPU adds directly to Hacking pool dice. But i am too lazy to look what Lady Cheng has for bio/cyber. Her stats are somewhere in this thread...

Her pool comes from a Math SPU 3 (her stats are waaay back in page 5 of this thread).

So unless both me and Gorath are wrong she doesn't have three points of Task Pool, she simply has three extra dice to her Hacking Pool, which she can use just like any other Hacking Pool Dice.

Sooo, I'd say-yes, she can suppress that IC

BTW Necro I can't think of anyway to get three TASK pool while decking, the only piece of ware that gives task pool aside from tha Math SPU and Encephalon (both of which specifically state that their Task Pool "transforms" into Hacking Pool while decking) is the Cerebral Booster 2 which only grants ONE die of Task Pool.

Edit: Just Remembered you could use a Chipjack Expert Driver, that would give you a Task Pool of three but you'd lose your regular Hacking Pool-Not worth it IMHO.

I never concidered the SPU and Encephelon's task pool to transform to hacking pool -- despite the fact that in practice that's what happens -- so that's where my task pool references were coming from.

well, not just in practice. the SPU doesn't actually provide task pool at all, and the encephalon's is stated in the rules as providing hacking pool dice while decking. i wouldn't make a point of it, but task pool dice can be used for a number of things that hacking pool cannot.

I figured it was something like that but I wanted to make sure the people this post is for didn't get confused.

Second aside.
Do people play that the cerebral booster 2 task pool can be used while decking? I personally don't allow it because I don't think you are supposed to have it available. The encephelon changes to hacking pool and the cerebral booster specifically doesn't add to hacking pool (except of course in the INT boost department). I believe it was an oversight but of course that is just my opinion.

Dashifen - I believe the held die is Hacking Pool so yes.

Wow, just finishing rereading this entire post. Great job with the post and it was fun to watch some other net hunters in action. If you'd like synergy after our Lady has guided her team through I'd be willing to post my name sake to this site and see how he does. I know some people have expressed interest in seeing an otaku run the net. Good luck Lady

Let me start off this post by saying that this thread is the most helpful and entertaining thread I have read in a long time and I hope you guys keep at it.

Secondly, I second ( hows that for a double entendre :rimshot:) The notion that the next Decker be otaku as i am having dificulty understanding their rules.

Thanks for this thread and keep up the good work.

Dashifen - Waiting on your next move and then blocking the remaining sec systems.

What are we waiting on ... I put my first attacks in the post above in yellow. I thought we were waiting on you!

out of curiosity, what parts of the otaku rules are people having the most difficulty grasping? i like playing otaku because they're so much simpler than deckers.

The big thing I usually forget is to add the bonuses for the otaku path (cyberadept or technoshaman) to the channels and forms (dependent on the path).

ah. i normally just add those in directly. my cyberadepts have all their complex forms listed at 1 rating higher than they learned them at; my technoshamen have their channels listed at 1 point higher than they paid for. (i still have to remember to reduce the channels by 1 point for the purposes of improving.)

Apologies Dashifen, this makes it twice Dumpshock has eaten my post with the results of your attack. I hadn't noticed previously but last night I lost the second version too. It went something like:

Cheng lunges hard...

The decker's modified target number is 9 (base 5 since she's targeting a Legitimate Icon on an Orange host, +2 for the Party IC modifier which remains in effect even though the remaining components have been destroyed and +2 from that wound she just took.) This means Cheng has rolled 3 successes on the first strike and 2 on the second (if necessary).

The IC defends itself with the host's Security Value (10) against the Attack's Program's damage (6S) plus successes through an Icon Damage Resistance Test. It rolls 2 successes against the first attack leaving Cheng with 1 net success on the first slash. Though this is not enough to stage up the damage the resulting Serious wound on top of the Serious taken in the last turn is enough to crash the IC. The second attack is not necessary.

... her runesword cleaving the ball of vicious black code across the centre, trailing a rain of white green pixel-sparks as the countermeasure begins to cascade corrupted code through its damaged spiked shell.

With a sigh of relief, Cheng collects the viral code into her greatcoat, hiding the crashed IC from the system at large. Giving a quick look around ...


Sensor test: 10 05 03 03 02 -- just to see if I've missed anything.


... she fires up her Medic utility to try and repair her icon's damage. Pulling a set of accupuncture needles from a pocket inside her greatcoat, Cheng slids into a "corner" and begins to work.


The medic utility was used once before on this run. That means that the utilities rating is lowered by one. So, since the utility is currently running at rating 4. That means, I roll 4 dice against a TN of 5 for a moderate wound. Each success lowers my icon damage by one box. so ... here's hoping:

Medic 4 TN 5: 07 07 03 03 #D:4 TN:5 H#:11 S:3

Excellent! That means I now only have one light wound on my icon. Taking another moment, I'll run the now rating 3 utility against that one box (TN 4) to be healed:

Medic 3 TN 4: 11 05 04 #D:3 TN:4 H#:11 S:3

And I'm back to normal. Now, with a quick swap memory operation, I'll drop the now rating 2 Medic from active memory and swap back a brand new copy of my rating 5 Medic from storage memory. This shouldn't take long, as I have an I/O speed of 360 and the program only takes up 100 MPs of space. I don't have my books handy (I'm posting from the airport). Do I need to roll for swap memory. Also, synner, I expect your notes are better than mine. What has Cheng accomplished and what more does she need to accomplish?

I've just been looking over this thread, and I'd just like to note that there's something you've forgotten: our Lady Cheng has Enhanced Artwinkulation, so you probably should have been rolling an extra die for most of these decking tests, right? She gets seven die from the specialization, plus one from the Articulation.

It should be noted that the Trauma Dampener is normally not allowed at chargen, and so most of those times that Cheng's Icon got damaged she'd have to deal with simsense overload (3L Stun, which shouldn't really be a problem in this case, with her Willpower.) This certainly should be mentioned somewhere if this example ever gets published somewhere; enough people forget simsense overload as it is.

Anyway, keep up the good work guys.

I discussed Enhanced Articulation with Kurukami by message when we started out with this example, and he agreed with my assessment that the bonus does not apply when running pure DNI. So it hasn't been factored in.

I'll have to check the simsense overload rules but I was under the impression that applied to only certain types of IC anyway...

Cheng's last move before combat is way back on page 14.

Reviewing the point where Cheng was interrupted by the Party IC - she'd disabled the relevant section of fence security, the hidden pressure pads on the lawn and she was about to tweak the final set of cameras watching the building entry point.

Note that Cheng has Edited Slave rather than Edited File and then Control Slave to replace the feed completely - a Monitored Operation. This means she has to use up a Free Action every turn to keep the cameras looped... Unfortunately her actions also pushed her current Security Tally up from 14 to 16 and triggered a Passive Alert (the effects of which are detailed in SR3 page 211 - ie. all subsystem ratings get a 2 point boost). From her prior deductions that now places the Slave subsystem at rating 13 for the cameras. - this means. The cybercombat took less than 10 seconds so she still has more than a minute and a half before her team hits the outer fence but she still needs to take care of interior security.... though "the guys" can probably take care of the maglock she needs to be careful they don't trigger a silent alarm and she needs to find the internal cameras and other security measures in the other banks of read outs on the walls of the virtual security room.

Also note - Kurukami's original deductions as to the subsystem ratings he'd gone up against are available on page 12 for reference.

I'll get back to this probably tomorrow. I have a busy day at work today and I tried to install service pack 2 for windows XP last night and now my laptop is hosed. I need to reinstall windows xp pro. now. Caveat Emptor for the new service pack, I guess, and I'll probably only be posting from work until I can get my laptop back up and running .... now where was that Linux CD ...........

As for the Enhaced Articulation, it seems quite obvious it wouldn't work in the Matrix. After all, as they say in The Matrix, "Do you think it's air what you breathe?". Though, maybe they should work in a Ultra Violet node... not sure about it at all.

not likely as your body just belives its real while its not, alltho software may copy the effect so may it does. bah i hate paradoxes...

Synner: question for you -- anyway Cheng can modify the cameras along the team's route without having to locate and control each specific camera? If not, how many cameras does she need to deal with?

-----------

As the adrenalin of cybercombat fades from her system, Cheng lifts the collar of her greatcoat high about her neck and drops herself back into Masking Mode.


This means that her masking rating has just been increased by 50% while another rating has just gone down by 50%. As before, I'll lower bod, hoping to avoid further confrontations with my now higher masking and resulting higher detection factor of 9.

This came up previously with Kurukami iirc - namely the issue of the Free Action it takes to maintain a Monitored Operation and how that affects the possibility of keeping several running (ie. the tweaked camera feeds) at the same time. What we decided back then, in keeping with the spirit of the rules rather than the letter, was that you could keep several Monitored Operations going simultaneously with that Free Action as long as the Operations were the same (keeping the cameras looped for instance, as opposed to keeping the cameras looped and a number of pressure pads deactivated which would require 2 Free Actions).

How does this affect the current situation?

Well, Cheng does have to find and tweak the cameras but:
a) she's in the Security area of the host and she just needs to find them (with the relevant System Tests;
b) from what she's seen so far multiple cameras are linked to a single feed (4 each going by the external camera setup), this means editing the feed affects several cameras rather than just the one.

Right now, Cheng still doesn't know how many cameras cover the route the team will take (because the Johnson didn't provide building blueprints or any details on the internal security setup) she has to track them down by using the virtual security "console" and some System Tests (check how this was done previously on pages 9 & 10). She also has to identify the exact location of the prototype lab the team is after.

Lit by the glaring orange Passive Alert lights, Cheng steps up to the console, calming herself with a whispered mantra. Scanning the control board she locates the IntSec panel, a projected 3D schematic of the building's two-storey layout, under a bank of six security screens...

This should be interesting -- especially with Cheng's low spoof utility. Note to other people: spoof is important! I didn't put Cheng together, so I guess I can't really blame other people for having a different style, but with my spoof utility with rating 3 means that my TN for dealing with the slaves is a 10. Luckily, my browse utility is rating 6 with sneak 2 which means my detection factor is an 11 when using the browse utility.

With a look of concentration on her icon's face, Cheng removes a stick of insence from her coat and draws a character in the air. She commands her browse utility to find a security blueprint of the building. With any luck it'll show me the cameras I need to deal with as well as any other passive security measure that'll be in our way. As that completes, she fires of a quick message to the rest of the team: Jolly Rodger to Hook: waters getting choppy here, still trying to guide you into port..

Edit: Whoops forgot to post rolls. Since we're out of cybercombat, I can use my task pool and hacking pool on system tests. However, I'm currently supressing so much IC that I only have only 2 pool dice to use with these. Since Locate File (with the Browse utility) is an Interrogative Operation, I'll need 5 successes before I actually find the file. Plus, each time I try to find it counts as another operation and could raise my tally. Here's hoping my DF of 11 kicks in in the clutch. I'll only roll all three of these tests if I need to:

Attempt 1: 9, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1
Attempt 2: 14, 10, 4, 4, 2, 1, 1
Attempt 3: 10, 5, 5, 4, 3, 3, 2
Attempt 4: 19, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1
Attempt 5: 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 1, 1

*Bump*

Apologies my HD melted down and I've only just recovered my notes and files from backups. Seems like this thread is cursed.

Heh. I recall another cursed thread, long back in the IC section.

bump hope this gets to be finished

It seems unlikely, but I'd say the thread served it's purpose nonetheless. It's a cliffhanger! Tune in next year...

+--Redeemer--

Ahhhh man, I really want to see the end of this...

A couple of things, praise be to Synner, Dashifen, and all the rest that have contributed so much to this thread, it has been very informative and while very long, and (approximately 8 hrs to read) hard on the eyes ( i need to go to bed), I have really enjoyed reading it.

Also I would like to put my two cents into a couple of things... first I see the medic program like a medkit also, it runs without the decker doing anything ie. the player rolls the rating of the program against the supplied TN, but no wound modifers apply. Also without quoting from the book, this is how SR3 describers how this goes on.

Also the Sr3 main book, on page 226 attacks are resolved by the

Yeah, I'd doubt that we ever get to know what happens to the intrepid Lady Cheng. In my mind, I'd like to think that she pulls it all out of the fire, saves the team, steals the data, gets some extra paydata on the side for herself, and goes to the Carribbean for some much needed vacation and rest, but I guess we'll probably never know

I'm going to go against my better judgement and break "comms silence" just to say that I promise to complete this walkthrough before SR4 comes out. Right now, and for the past 4 months I've been swamped with RL work. Freelancing has eaten up what little freetime I had left and it was never my intention to leave this hanging. It's just been impossible to focus on it.

And before anyone asks, yes, there will be similar walkthroughs of the new SR4 Matrix rules as soon as I am throughly acquainted with them.

If you need my help, let me know

hell, im in if needed

Same here. I found this thread incredibly helpful in my understanding of the Matrix rules, and if I can help someone else then my karma will be balanced.

Hi Synner,

didn't you mention of doing

"The Idiot's Guide to The Matrix 2.0"-Thread?


Gorath