[Top Dog]

Chromed Flesh has a new piece of 'ware, called the Orientation System. It gives you some neat mapping options - which should really come standard in commlinks (really, it's mostly stuff Google Maps does now). It also gives you some additional build-in navigation sensors. Important for this topic, it allows you to access mapsofts wirelessly.

Along with that are Mapsoft Networks that, for a monthly fee, allow you to download mapsofts for everywhere (well, everywhere that you could conceivably get maps for).

Now, my main characters likes to have maps of the places he goes to. But he's a mage, and is not at all interested in the Cyberware. Question is, do you need the Orientation system to access such systems, or is that wireless bonus just there so the 'ware can access the mapsoft (and your commlink can use it as normal, too?).

Secondly, the Mapsoft Networks come in different tiers - they give Mapsofts at rating 2, 4 and 6, depending on how much you pay. The problem is, mapsofts don't come in ratings - they're normally a flat 100 nuyen per. Rating wouldn't do anything either (both normap mapsofts and the Orientation System give a fixed bonus). So what's that for? Is it a mistake? As is, there's not really any reason to buy anything but the basic version.

[Novocrane]

As is, there's not really any reason to buy anything but the basic version

Even without mapsoft ratings, it's not hard to distinguish the different grades of mapsoft subscriptions. Broader map coverage, better quality / added notes, faster updates,  various sensor types, etc.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Mapsofts don't normally come in ratings, this is true.  This is also something I've always felt was an error, because virtually everything else in the system has a rating.  When you're trying to figure out where you are, compare a national or state map with a city map, with a USGS survey map - or architectural plans.  The more detailed the map, the higher the rating, the better off you can be in regards to determining which way you want to go: ratings.  Doing maps, mapsofts (which are just specific datasofts), and area-knowledge knowsofts in this manner reflects the skill rating system.

In addition, the more specific you get, the more and different details you'll have - compare and contrast a rating 1 'Seattle Metroplex' map with a rating 6 'ACHE, Floors 200-220' architectural plan.  On the former you'll have major roads and freeways, with cities laid out, and maybe the ACHE labelled as a major point of interest.  On the latter you won't have any of the former, but you'll know where the water, power, network, and sewer lines are.  Compare those datasofts with a relatively high-rated knowsoft of the latter - you don't have to figure out how to get from A to B, you KNOW the shortcuts you need to take to get there ahead of the opposition, or exactly what consequence you're going to have if you put the cutting charge here instead of there - a blast of stinky sewage, as compared to a power outage.

[Wakshaani]

Commlinks have a location system in them, so as long as you have access to Wireless, it can tell you where you are. They don't have 'tre' GPS in them, however, nor can they measure your movement without wireless access. A handheld GPS (Teensy bit of gear in SR5) can, as can the Orientation System. Most people won't bother, unless you're going exploring someplace feral.

As for Ratings, I made a boo-boo and spun a house rule out into the real world. I'll have to talk to the guys upstairs to see if they want to quietly wave that off or if they want to run with it.

[Top Dog]

I wouldn't mind different ratings of mapsofts myself - seems logical. I'm just wondering what benefits different levels would give, and how much they'd cost then. Rating*100 seems a bit steep, for example.

It's something you could work out with your GM, of course. If I just need a map with all the roads and buildings in a city on them, but want it accurate and up to date enough to navigate, is that 1, or 2 already, or higher?

[Rooks]

just make it like visual enhancement (which what it is basically) +rating limit wireless bonus: dice pool bonus as the map is updated in real time (course I never liked the limit system to begin with) cost rating x 10 (you know like in the old days for 4th e)

[Wakshaani]

In my TOTALLY UNOFFICIAL rules at home, it's Rating * 50, with the default being a Rating 2 Mapsoft. Mapsofts can run themselves, rolling Rating *2 in dice, so the 4 dice a Rating 2 Mapsoft is enough to "Autocomplete" for 1 success, which is enough to say "You are here, and here is how to get where you want to be." More detailed maps, or ones that can handle changes on the fly, are higher-rated and can do more Stuff.

Mapsofts have also been broken up a bit ... you can get a National one, a State one, or a City one (or a location, like a national park), with greater detail and information as teh size gets smaller. A UCAS Mapsoft will get you from A to B in Seattle, while a Seattle one will highlight hotspots, understand if you just say "Take me to the Big Rhino", and so on, where the more general one wouldn't.

Again, house rule, not official, so.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Hmmm.  3E rules have the costs as:

Activesoft                Mp x 100¥
Datasoft                  Mp x 100¥
Knowsoft                Mp x 150¥
Linguasoft              Mp x 50¥
Autonav Map Chip     25¥

Autonav Map Chips: Detailed maps available for all urban areas, these allow vehicles with Rating 2 autonav and higher to follow any mapped route as long as it does not cover terrain classified as rough.

Memory sizes (in megapulses, Mp) were equal to the square of the rating times a multiplier which depended on what kind of program it was; base skillsofts had a multiplier of 3, with specializations being a 2.  Specializations work differently in SR5, so I'd reverse which way that multiplier goes - 3, then 4.  This would make a general skill of 4 equal to (4 x 4) x 3 = 16 x 3 = 48 x 100¥ = 4800¥.  A specialization at the same rating (using the original method) would be 3200¥.

I vaguely recall rules somewhere - I'm starting to think it was SR2 - where you could clearly show how you could have a general generic mapsoft (L1 or 2 datasoft) for 25¥ or 100¥, and yet have a specialized 'map knowsoft' cost 1000¥.  Going forward, I'll run it how Wakshaani says, or else its rating adds to your Navigation roll on any extended test you make, or any immediate test if you take at least a full turn consulting it.  A knowsoft, on the other hand, adds twice its rating to your Navigation roll on any extended test, or its rating on any immediate test - because it's something you know, not something you look up.