[penllawen]

In 5e, Trace Icon isn't a one-time thing, it gives you an ongoing location for the device. This seems fictionally important to me, eg. for deckers helping the team to tail someone.

You find the physical location of a device or persona in the Matrix. After succeeding with this action, you know the target's location for as long as you have at least one mark on the target.

This works because overwatch only accumulates at +2d6 every 15 mintues, giving the decker a window of opportunity during which they can hang on to that mark and this keep the trace alive.

In 6e, with overwatch score becoming +1/+3 per combat turn, this doesn't work so well; the window of opportunity is very small. And indeed, it looks like Trace Icon has been changed to accommodate this, with the wording now:

You find the physical location of a device or persona in the Matrix. After succeeding with this action, you know the target's location for as long as you can detect the target.

But what is "detect the target" intended mean here? Is it tied to the 100m radius thing / Matrix perception? Or something else? And if it is Matrix perception, how would that work in practice?

(I've run across this while writing my own Matrix houserules, which are broadly based on 6e. I need to make my Trace Icon work, I like the time window that 5e puts on it, and I'm curious what RAI was for 6e here.)

[Xenon]

In 6e, with overwatch score becoming +1/+3 per combat turn

This only apply when you use brute force to gain access on a Host...

You find the physical location of a device or persona in the Matrix. After succeeding with this action, you know the target's location for as long as you can detect the target.

But what is "detect the target" intended mean here?

As long as you spot it.

You no longer spot it if you or it reboot, if you or it is placed into a Faraday's Cage, the PAN it is part of successfully use the Hide action against you, etc.

[penllawen]

This only apply when you use brute force

Oh, duh, I forgot about Probe/Backdoor Entry there for a second.

to gain access on a Host...

Are you sure? 6e pg 176 says "Maintaining illegal access to anything on the Matrix: +1 OS/round for each host where you maintain illegal User-level access, +3 OS/round for each host where you maintain illegal Admin-level access." (emphasis mine.) I very much read that as including PANs.

Edit - oh, huh, the second part of the sentence says "host". Well now I don't know what to think. (I am posting pre-coffee, can you tell?)

As long as you spot it.
You no longer spot it if you or it reboot, if you or it is placed into a Faraday's Cage, the PAN it is part of successfully use the Hide action against you, etc.

What would you do if the icon gets outside of 100m range? Call for a Matrix Perception test to maintain the trace? Repeated every x minutes or something?

I'm particularly thinking of the scenario where the deckers wants to observe NPC1 calling NPC2, hack the call, trace NPC2's location, then go find them in meatspace. So NPC2 might start outside of spotting range. It seems (to me) desirable to have a game mechanic for this set of actions, as these seem to be reasonable things for PCs to be doing. I'm thinking of (a) Snoop (to get on the call) then (b) Brute Force (to hack NPC2's commlink) then (c) Trace Icon (to get NPC2's location.) Then give the PC a window of opportunity to get within Matrix Perception range of NPC2 to continue the tail.

It's a lot of rolls though.

[Xenon]

What would you do if the icon gets outside of 100m range?

There is no mystic 100 meter limitation in SR6.

In SR5 there is, but once you spot an icon you keep spotting it no matter if it start to run silent or physically move further away from you. You only stop spotting it if it successfully hide from you or if it or you reboot or if it or you are placed in a Faraday's Cage etc.

SR5 p. 235 Spotting Duration
Once you’ve spotted an icon in the Matrix, you continue to spot it even if it initiates silent running. There are two ways you can lose an icon. If the icon successfully uses a Hide action against you, you lose it and need to try to spot it again. If the target reboots or jacks out, you also lose the icon.

Call for a Matrix Perception test to maintain the trace? Repeated every x minutes or something?

What is wrong with tracing it as long as you can detect it...? ;-)

I'm particularly thinking of the scenario where the deckers wants to observe NPC1 calling NPC2, hack the call, trace NPC2's location, then go find them in meatspace.

In SR6 you probably want to spend a minute or so to probe NPC2's network for a weakness that you can exploit (fingers crossed that NPC2 does not reboot before this).

Then you complete the trace and share NPC2's physical location with your strike-team.

Once the trace is complete you will typically trace it's location until many hours later when you decide to reboot to clear out the overwatch score you accumulated so far.

So NPC2 might start outside of spotting range.

SR6 does not seem to have any specific range where spotting an Icon is no longer immediately obvious. In SR6 spotting the PAN of NPC2 typically only require a Matrix Perception test if NPC2 is trying to hide from you.

In SR5 icons are as obvious as a neon sign or a running crowd. GM might request that you take a matrix perception test with a threshold of 1 to spot them, but if they are in the vicinity they are typically immediately obvious and no test is normally required (this goes for neon signs and running crowds as well).

[Banshee]

Indeed just to back up what Xenon has said.
The OS cumulation shouldn't apply most of the time when using Trace Icon, but when it does have access though Brute Force is the only time it accumulates on a per round basis ... remember that Back Door doesn't count as illegal access for that reason.

Also, yes "detect the target" means until the target takes some active action that breaks your "line of sight" ... just running silent doesn't do this but they can log off/reboot or use the Hide action... or one the Technomancer forms that conceal your matrix presence

[markelphoenix]

to gain access on a Host...Are you sure? 6e pg 176 says "Maintaining illegal access to anything on the Matrix: +1 OS/round for each host where you maintain illegal User-level access, +3 OS/round for each host where you maintain illegal Admin-level access." (emphasis mine.) I very much read that as including PANs.

Pg. 180 Backdoor Entry:
"..If the test is successful,
you gain Admin access to the target, and
it does not count as illegal Admin access (though
taking illegal Matrix Actions will still increase
your Overwatch Score)."

You are not accumulating OS for having Admin Access through back door. Each individual Illegal action while holding Illegal access still increases OS.

On Trace, you would take the OS from the contested roll, but not a per round tick.