[jamesfirecat]

Most script kiddies were actually horribly murdered by IC and or the GOD version of Red Samuri when the new Internet came out.  It actually got so bad that there were actual Wrongful Death Lawsuits which lead to having IC be turned on as no longer the default option.

I have no idea who sued who (one theory in my group is a corporation suing another) but it must have been bad if the issue had to be resolved with lawyers instead of shadowrunners.

Is that actually in the book?

Please tell me that is REALLY in the book!

The wrongful death lawsuits is in the book, the murdered script kiddies is my group's interpretation of it.

[mtfeeney = Baron]

Wait, what?  So all of the gear became more powerful since 2075 due to distributed computing?  I thought it was the opposite of this.  Weren't people saying that to get the 4E-equivalent boost from gear, you had to have Matrix access?  It doesn't make sense for all gear to suddenly be shittier, requiring an internet connection just to bring it up to even with the previous year's model.  Everything being improved due to distributed computing?  That'd be awesome and totally worth turning on the wireless.

[jamesfirecat]

Wont the spiders need 100k decks too?....

Can't rightly say, since this is just speculation. Depends on how decker versus decker combat works. It may be that IC serves the "delay the decker' function. Matrix architecture will probaly play a role too. Imagine the pain in the ass of finding a teleporting SAN with GOD breathing down your neck.

IC is now the entire Internet logging on to punch you in the face if you screw up and stick around.  Once they start showing up, one IC will show up every pass, you are free to attack it/them, but the software will just continue to generate even more IC till you leave or are overwhelmed.


That is how two hackers can work together now, one hacker does the actual hacking whirl the other needs to punch every IC that shows up if something goes wrong.


TM can also summon crack sprites which have a power called "suppression" which will fuck up the IC software so baddy it can no longer be used to summon IC without a thirty minute reboot or something along those lines.

[Michael Chandra]

They've nerved some of the gear down, but put old functionality back as part of the distributed computing or whatnot part. Basically it's not really a matter of the previous models being better, but the entire game system having been balanced down, then balanced back up at a price. Doesn't change whether it feels like a carrot or a stick, but there's an intent there I guess.

[mtfeeney = Baron]

Oh...  So a guy buys wired reflexes 3 in 2074, he gets +3 Rea and +3 IP.  In 2075, he gets the same bonus but only if it's connected to the Matrix?  Otherwise, his WR3 is weaker than the 2074 version?  It's frustrating asking this stuff, I just need the book.

[Michael Chandra]

Someone posted that Wired Reflexes + Reaction Enhancers only stack if you connect them. Nothing on individual requirements.

Keep in mind that they're not +3 IP but +3d6, and that with limits, less dicepool modifiers and higher dodgepools the entire game system has been rebalanced. Might have been smarter to change the bonuses given by wireless connection, but we'll see when we get the rules.

[mtfeeney = Baron]

Congrats on the promotion, MC.  Demo Team is like the A-Team, right?  Which one are you?  Face?

[Michael Chandra]

Pretty much. Agents are the unofficial Faces of Catalyst Lab, setting up events and demonstrations. In my case the intent is to host SR5 Missions with a small but solid player base and drawing as many people from the outside as possible. Which also means that I will run any rule as it's written, even if I personally disagree with part of it and houserule it in my own games. =) Ah, the sacrifices I make! Not that I intend to houserule much, but still.

Basically it gives experienced players some fun while noticing how the metaplot evolves with them a part in it, players new to the edition a place to get to know it and people new to roleplaying as a whole a nice 1-shot attempt to see whether they like it. It's nice.

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Meanwhile I just read that the Smartguns give +2 dice as their wireless bonuses. Not entirely sure, since most of that topic got hijacked by silly debates rather than sticking to, y'know, the actual questions and debating the answers elsewhere. Sounds like most (if not all) wireless bonuses are in fact old bonuses pre-nerf. An incomplete and possibly inaccurate list would be Reaction Enhancers and Wired Reflexes stacking, Vision/Audio enhancements giving +X dice as well rather than just +X limit, same for Smartguns, Chemical Seals activating faster.

With Smartguns Karma Inferno's take on it was "Smartguns working better because they are getting weather, map, and other external data, great! It makes sense, is plausible, fits in universe." Sounds kinda silly still, shooting better at 10 feet in an alley because I know the sun is shining, but meh. If I have to houserule things, I might very well just remove all the wireless bonuses and think of other things for a Hacker to do.

See, I like the whole idea of reducing the dicepool modifiers. It makes that skillrank + attribute so much more important, it's grittier and I really like the flavor. Dumping the bonuses as a whole, rather than have players grumbling and having the stuff not work inside facilities anyway, sounds like something more fitting that gritty flavor. With the faster hacking, longer battles and a few houseruled options for hackers to spoof communications, I keep the gritty flavor while not going "urk" on DRM and XBone (which is now XBOX180, aka XBibo) stuff.

[mtfeeney = Baron]

I have the perfect houserule.  For a 5% increase of cost, you can buy the 2074 "last year's model".

[quindraco]

With Smartguns Karma Inferno's take on it was "Smartguns working better because they are getting weather, map, and other external data, great! It makes sense, is plausible, fits in universe." Sounds kinda silly still, shooting better at 10 feet in an alley because I know the sun is shining, but meh. If I have to houserule things, I might very well just remove all the wireless bonuses and think of other things for a Hacker to do.

As I understand the spoilers, the smartgun isn't performing better because it knows the sun is shining, it's performing better because it can hand the visual data it's got to a more powerful server somewhere which crunches the data and hands back a superior firing solution.  It's identical to how SIRI works on your iPhone.

[Michael Chandra]

So.... There's a powerful server out there that knows who I fired my gun at?

[Qualidar]

I have the perfect houserule.  For a 5% increase of cost, you can buy the 2074 "last year's model".

The 2074 model isn't the one in the 4e rulebook, it's the one in the 5e rulebook without the wireless. The old 4e numbers are not relevant benchmarks. 5e's not a supplement, it's a new version of the game that's been rebalanced.

[GiraffeShaman]

IC is now the entire Internet logging on to punch you in the face if you screw up and stick around.  Once they start showing up, one IC will show up every pass, you are free to attack it/them, but the software will just continue to generate even more IC till you leave or are overwhelmed.

Whoah, the Megacorps must save a drek load of money on security, despite the first implementation cost. Where do security spiders fit in, if at all?

An army of Agent Smith clones punching you in the face, heheh.

[jamesfirecat]

IC is now the entire Internet logging on to punch you in the face if you screw up and stick around.  Once they start showing up, one IC will show up every pass, you are free to attack it/them, but the software will just continue to generate even more IC till you leave or are overwhelmed.

Whoah, the Megacorps must save a drek load of money on security, despite the first implementation cost. Where do security spiders fit in, if at all?

An army of Agent Smith clones punching you in the face, heheh.

I can not give perfect answers because I have not read chapters in question only listened to an explanation by someone who has read them (though that person was about as knowledgeable as a. Player could get on 4E matrix)

IC starts in the off position, when you first log in there will be no IC.

IC will only show up when the site you are hacking (but not yet GOD) is aware you are trying to hack it but i can jot give you the crunch for how that works.  I believe the security spider's job is to look for intruders, have an ecalmation mark pop into existence over their head and call for back up (the IC) but not kung fu fingt you themselves.  This is only my interpretation though so take it with a hefty dose of salt.

[White_Ghost]

How about detecting devices?  I never thought that SR4 was all that clear in just what a hacker finds and how much they know when they do a scan.

So for example, lets say a ganger goon is dumb enough to have a grenade in his backpack with the wireless on.  How does a hacker even know it's there to hack?


Also, worrying about enemy hackers doesn't seem to me like it should be as big a worry as many make it out to be.  The setting basically provided an excuse for all the script kiddies disappearing, the need for security spiders decreasing thanks to GOD taking the role, and the cost of buying/building a deck.  Running into a Decker or TM (who actually decides to learn to hack systems and not just use the matrix as a normal person) shouldn't be nearly so common anymore.  Sounds like commlinks with higher device ratings should be able to handle the Deckers and TMs from groups like gangs, small companies, low level security, etc.  And if you're running into a group that has cause for a higher level hacker, then you should be on a level of gear, karma, and preparation to deal with them, unless there has been some very bad decision making happening in your team.  Course, I'm basing this entirely off what I've read in these discussions since I haven't gotten my hands on the book yet.

It's the same way as in SR4, I believe.

Basically, when you are looking for a hidden node, it goes like this:

• You make a matrix perception test, and you learn if there are any hidden devices within signal range (In SR5 this is only within 100 feet)
• If you know what you are looking for (I want to target that persons hidden gun) you can make a matrix perception check to find that node in particular, (This works the same way in SR5)
• If you don't know what you are looking for, you target a hidden device at random.

So.... There's a powerful server out there that knows who I fired my gun at?

Not quite, instead all of the computers around you all have a tiny inkling of what you might have been shooting at, because instead of using a small amount of processing power available to your device to make millions of calculations, you're using all the computing power in the vicinity.