Can anyone please write up a quick example of a hacker going about his business doing something in the Matrix, what tests are involved and such? I never played a decker, and now that hackers seem more "playable" I plan on using them, but there's a few things I'm not sure about, such as how many hosts you typically connect to to make a data steal run or somehting, and just generally how the events unfold. Kinda like the Decking for Dummies thread a while back, but SR4 style.

Here's an excerpt of something I'm writing up for my gaming group, a sort of "SR4 Matrix" example list.
Scenario 1: He-Man the Hacker just finished with a quick meet with his Johnson, along with his comrades Susie the Street Sam and Marvin the Mage. They suggest to him that he might want to look up some information on their Johnson before they start up on some legwork. Also, they would like more information on RandomCorp, the small business that they are going to hit that night.

The first test that He-Man decides to run is a Search on RandomCorp. A good place to start, he thinks, is the RandomCorp network, of which he knows the location. He find a safe place for his meat body, then goes into VR mode and flies off with his persona icon to Random Corp. Now because he is in the same network as the target of his search, and the information he is getting is pretty average, the GM decides that the Threshold for the test is 4 and the interval is 1 Combat turn. He-Man the Hacker rolls a Data Search + Browse (4, 1 Combat Turn) Extended Test. This turns out to be a skill of 4 and a Browse of 5, with an additional 2 dice for being in VR mode. He rolls 11 dice, and gets 2 hits. One Combat Turn passes, and he makes some progress. Rolling again, he gets 3 hits. Since his 5 hits exceeds the 4 Threshold, he retrieves the information he needs about RandomCorp, and since he had 2 rolls, it took him 2 Combat Turns or 6 seconds. Fast!

The information on the Johnson is another story, however. He-Man doesn't even know where to begin, so he starts on the entire Matrix. The GM decides that the Threshold for this test is Extreme (16), and that He-Man will be limited to 9 dice rolls total before failure (a rule to limit Extended tests as listed in p58). He-Man goes to work, and rolls his Data Search + Browse (16, 1 minute) Extended Test. Unfortunately, after about his third roll, he glitches, and the GM decides to roll 1d6 to remove hits. This sets him back a bit, and by the time the 9 dice rolls finish, he comes up just short of the 16 hits that he needs to get the information. It's simply beyond his skill at this point. Still, it's only 9 minutes of work before He-Man decides it's just a dead end. Maybe with some other clues, he'll know where to look...

does anyone else seem to think that either A) the time on the second example or B) the number of tries given is a bit..low? I mean, maybe it's because i have yet to ready any SR4 info on just "how" fast information comes through you when you're in AR mode, but 9 minutes still seems to be an awfully quick amount of time to completely give up on something

Scenario 2 (Derived from an actual run this past week): He-Man the Hacker and his team are looking for a person, and all they have to go on is a professionally-done digitally retouched photograph of a woman with a field of wheat in the background, along with various soft focus spots and other photo edits. It doesn't take long for He-Man the Hacker to determine the digital signature of the photo (we used a Computer + Edit test, threshold of 2), and trace it back to a rinky dink photo studio in Auburn that specializes in "Bar Mitzvahs, Family Photos, Weddings". The GM determines that it is possible to break into their computers to get at least a name associated with the purchase.

He-Man the Hacker stays in the car, while Susie the Street Sam and Marvin the Mage wander into the store, pretending to be a couple trying to get photos for their impending elopement (basically, running a distraction, of which they get pretty good rolls, fooling the store clerk). He-Man goes into VR and sends his Persona into the store, trying to hack their main database. Because it is brute force hacking, he rolls his Hacking + Exploit (Firewall, 1 Combat Turn) Extended Test, and each time he rolls, the system gets a Firewall + Analyze (Stealth) Extended test to determine if it detects the Hacker. He-Man rolls his Hacking (5) + Exploit (5) + VR bonus (2) and gets 3 Hits, which is more than enough to penetrate the Firewall in one turn. The System rolls Firewall (2) + Analyze (2) and gets no hits. Success!

Now that the Hacker has personal access, he decides to try to find the photo. He uses his Data Search + Browse against a Threshold of 4 (The GM determines that it's an "average" test). This turns out to be a 4 + 5 + 2, or 11 dice at a (4, 1 Initiative Pass) extended test. He easily is able to find the photo and the name associated with the personal account attached to the photo. The GM also decides that he gets some other basic information, including a home address... hrm...

*shrugs* Maybe everyone in 2070 has ADD, who knows? I think 9 minutes is a reasonable length of time to give up on a search, as in "I know the information is out there somewhere, but it will take some dedicated hacking work to get there, instead of my usual sources". I know that if I'm looking for a specific full-text journal, I have three good search engines that I use (none of them are Google, btw), and if it doesn't come up there, then I'm not likely to find it at all. Note that if He-Man later finds out who the Johnson works for, he can try the search again, this time on the company network of that corp, probably with much better results.

Besides, that's 9 meat body minutes. In full VR, that probably *felt* a LOT longer, and definatly much longer than it has ever taken that decker to find something, hence he figures he isn't going anywhere.

Thanks for the examples, and now a question: In the first example, when he does a search on that corp network, he doesn't need to roll to gain access? The network is open to all users, I imagine?

Also, for a large system, let's say a Weapons World system, would it be common place for a hacker to:
1. Roll an access test on a host
2. Roll a Search for say a prototype gun
3. Obtain a reference towards another host
4. Roll to access that host
5. Roll Search to find the file

Or is it assumed that the Search operation includes the hacker travelling around through various hosts to find his data?

Thank you for this. I loved Synner´s guide to the old matrix, any game examples at all of inspired use of the rules will be highly appreciated. The more thorough and lengthy the better (like the idiot´s guide, preferably. I actually read that whole damn thing).

Perfect topic, was playing a Techno. and me and my GM were wondering how to go about this with the new edition... sweet, I was coming here just for this, thanks for clarifying some of it.

Another good question however, My Techomancers' signal rating is 3, and obviously that's 400m of distance. I don't think a Technomancer would want to use a commlink, but seriously how else do you control a drone/rigged vehicle in full VR that's further than 400m away?

Would a Technomancer be able to use the commlink without datajack thus going full VR with the commlink's stats?!? Or would he be able to only use the signal boost from the commlink thus keeping his living personna?

Can anyone clarify?

Wireless has always been fairly short range, and a 400M wireless range is pretty good; I reckon the system is just trying to force you to stash your meatbody near the run-site.

Or at least getting your signal repeater within 400 meters of the run site...

As the technomancer is already producing machine understandable radio signals, any 'normal' method of boosing the signal will work.

Of course, what the re-transmission delays on a repeated signal are, I have no idea.

This is the thing, in the gear section, there's no such thing as a signal repeater... the closest thing I could find:

Satellite Link: This allows the user to uplink to communication
satellites in low-Earth orbit, connecting to the Matrix
from places where no local wireless networks exist. This link
has a Signal rating of 8. Includes a portable satellite dish.

and that's IT.

Could the Techno get a commlink, subscribe himself to his PAN, and then use the Commlink to communicate with the world at large?

EDIT: Also, if he is willing to go via the Matrix he can tap his head in anywhere on the Matrix and as long as the drone is in Matrix cover there is a link. He'd be limited in how he controls the drone though, i think?

no talk about using the matrix as a signal relay?

ie, as long as both drone and user have matrix access the user can command the drone?

it would be the simplest solution and i would most likely allow it in my game.

this allso allows for anyone to hijack the drones tho

simple, just tell the comlink to filter for any host with changing coordinates

or can they be made static so that you can put a drone on standby and come back and find the host at the exact same location while the drone have made its way across town?

It specifically says that Matrix connections can be traced to a physical location by following the datatrail.

not to strange, those old mxp addresses where allways connected to some physical location or other.

im not to surprised if one can be triangulated, much like one can do with a mobil phone and enough antenna today, based on ones comlink signal.

or atleast one have the general area to look in

and its not so much broadcasting the physical location as much as having ones matrix and physical location be closely linked

that way people can build up a mental path from their usual access point to any location within the local area. kinda like how you can find you local hangouts and shops without navigating by streetnames every time.

How long does tracing the data trail take? Even if it is not fast enough for indirect fire, could one hack into security central and trace all guards by their communications headware?

It's an Extended Computer + Track (10, 1 Initiative Pass) test. p219

Never mind, poor reading skills.

In the original example, why didn't he hack the Johnson's commlink?

Technically if you are talking about tracing a wireless connection it is tracing the node you are using, not the person. Since most nodes in 2070 have a limited (40m) range, it is close enough to track someone physically.

They still have not made it clear if the old rule about Satlinks still being untraceable, since technically the signal node is minimum 150 miles away (low earth orbit). I would still require some penalties for the long distance linkup (reduce reaction by 1 and maximum init passes by 1.)

You could also route a link to other nodes from a drone and use a tight beam comunication medium (laster, microwave, etc.) to comunication between the drone and your comlink which would be almost impossible to physically trace.. They might find the drone, but not the character.

I guess in the end, they want to bring the decker into the group again, and not always hiding in the van. Still an industrious decker with a group equiped with drones, signal repeaters, and some Electronic Warfare know-how would never need to have the decker physically present except the most extreme cases of closed systems.

Hacking a comlink:

My assumptions:

1) like any node, the system gets a chance to detect the intrusion. (I would also rule that any comlink can also run IC programs for extra protection over the firewall.. and every decker/johnson would be running the best they can find).

2) The Johnson may have been using a fake/SIN comlink. It would make sense. Why advertise if you don't need too.. leave your wallet at home.. or at least turned off.

3) Once you have access to a comlink you can access the data with computer skill, but I would assume that most private/SIN data would all be encrypted (minimum level 6), and might have a data bomb as well.

...

Better would be to have some sort of biometric scanner... Perhaps a latex glove that can read hand-palm prints. Laser Scanners to read prints from tables/glasses. A hair or piece of skin for DNA trace..

A RFID tag placed on the Johnson could also reveal a lot of details...

Of course.. you would have to assume the Johnson would do the same to the characters... and probably be better at it, and better funded.