Looking over the rules for building decks from the Matrix book it seems there is no limit on Active Memory. Is this the case or I have overlooked something?

No limit on Storage either, but that seems reasonable.

Also limits on Hardening, I/O seem much higher than the Stock systems while Response Increase is basically on the money.

What are people's experience with allowing custom decks to be built by players?

I don't think there should be a limit to active memory other than what you can afford and what you can use.

If you look at computers today, we are more restricted by 32-bit barrier than anything. Once we are fully transitioned to 64-bit, we'll have a lot more memory space to work with if we can write software that takes advantage of it. On the server side of things, you can have quite a bit of RAM if you pay the cost. If money is not an issue, it should be virtually unlimited in the SR world. It's not like having a ton of active memory is necessarily a huge advantage. You still have to have the software to make use of it.

So no limit to active memory. Good to know my reading skills haven't decayed that much

So no one has noticed any balance problems with this? Back in the old 2nd edition days one would spend some effort balancing the size/rank of various programs with the limited space, it would seem all that is lost.

Btw, consider me as a newbie with respect to 3rd edition decking rules.

Pretty much, same issue. If you play your cards right, it's going to be a long time before that group has access to the necessary funds to get every toy their decker wants.

Don't forget to remind the decker to buy everything execpt I/O speed from a deckmeister. 500 active memory costs 5,750 doing it yourself, but 3,750 from a deckmeister.

I/O Speed costs 10x if you go through deckmeister compared to doing it yourself.

o.O


Were the people who did the DIY rules like, asleep or something?

You can have a deckmeister build you a knock-off fairlight excalibur for a bit over list price, but if you make it yourself (assuming you buy the software needed to run the firmware bits, like MPCP and Persona Chips), it costs well over 5mil.

thing is that the design rules are made after the fact. ie, they have made the items in the BBB on a this-feels-good basis and then try to create a designsystem afterwards thats supposed to replicate those items but at the same time make sure that a person cant create the best stuff out of chargen.

Maybe I will check the errata. According to my copy of Matrix, Active Memory costs (Memsize) * 11.5 (It doesn't come out and say this, but adding together everything, this is what it says). If I remember right, Storage memory was (memsize) * 5.5.

Yeah, not anymore. Post-errata, active memory costs size * 2.5Y, and storage is size*1.0Y. It's all because OMCs are cheaper: size*0.5Y instead of size*5.0Y.

All in all, the money for the Memory is basically insignificant. The software on the other hand costs big time in either money or time (for programming yourself).

I think all in all I'm going to house rule a active memory limit of some type based upon the MPCP.

Which of these sound best to people?

MPCP squared times 50 sound to people:
- Fairlight would have a max of 7200.
- Kraftwerk would have a max of 3200.
- The lowly Allegiance would have a max of 450.

MPCP squared times 40 sound to people:
- Fairlight would have a max of 5760.
- Kraftwerk would have a max of 2560.
- The lowly Allegiance would have a max of 360.

MPCP squared times 30 sound to people:
- Fairlight would have a max of 4320.
- Kraftwerk would have a max of 1920.
- The lowly Allegiance would have a max of 270.


I'm leaning towards 30 right now, but worry that I may be short changing the top end...

i wouldnt bother, for reasons stated above. first of all, consider current CD prices (what i liken OMC's to be similar too) they are dirt cheap as a general rule, especially as you start purchasing more and more units. Secondly, the cost of the softare to FILL your memory, i think, makes up for the low price of the OMC's, especially as you start getting into the higher values.

If you feel you HAVE to do some sort of multiplier, i think you'd be best of tiering it based on the mpcp, instead of using a flat multiplier. something like you're above examples, but give them ranges, like, mpcp 1-4 is the 30 multiplier, 5-8 is the second, and 9+ is the top tier. This sort of makes sense with a Real World ™ workings too. you can't get 2 Gb of DDR ram in a P1 computer system today.

We use MPCP squared * 50 for active memory, and unlimited for storage memory.

We chose the 50 multiplier so that you can have up to 50 multiplier worth of programs running at the same time (alot easier than adding up the actual sizes), but if you go into options, then you still have to add sizes.

Not that it really applies to this discussion, but there is a limit to how much active memory your cyberdeck can have, but only if it's a cranial cyberdeck.