[Adder]

Thanks for the excellent reply as always. Could you give a concrete example of using resonance veil on a device that exists in the physical world? Could you imagine it being used to bypass a keypad by indicating the correct combination was entered, for example?

Also, unrelated, do Technomancers have both hot-sim and cold-sim modes as well? Additionally, do they suffer the normal drawbacks to trying to hack while in AR "mode" (i.e. lowered initiative)?

[Herr Brackhaus]

Also, unrelated, do Technomancers have both hot-sim and cold-sim modes as well? Additionally, do they suffer the normal drawbacks to trying to hack while in AR "mode" (i.e. lowered initiative)?

SR5 page 251:
"As a technomancer, you can only use AR and hot-sim VR (the only way you can use cold-sim VR is by using a cybredeck or commlink—ew)."

And yes, they would use the appropriate initiative (Reaction + Intuition for physical / AR, Data Processing/Logic + Intuition and 4d6 for hot-sim VR).

[Namikaze]

Thanks for the excellent reply as always. Could you give a concrete example of using resonance veil on a device that exists in the physical world? Could you imagine it being used to bypass a keypad by indicating the correct combination was entered, for example?

Let's stick with your maglock example.  Technomancer decides to try to use Resonance Veil to convince the maglock that someone has entered the correct code.  A few things you need to know first, such as the Intuition of the last person that programmed the maglock.  I'd assume this is going to be a person with at least a 4 Intuition.  Data Processing is always the same as the Device Rating, which can vary from maglock to maglock.  For the purposes of our simulation, let's go with a maglock rating 4.  This isn't going to be super-easy, but it won't be incredibly hard either.

First the technomancer chooses the Level, which in this case is going to be a 6.  He then rolls Software + Resonance, which let's say is a total dice pool of 11, with a limit of the Level (6).  I'm just going to use random.org to come up with the number of hits here.  The technomancer rolled really well and got 6 hits!  The maglock then rolls it's 8 dice (Intuition 4 + Data Processing 4) and gets only 2 hits.  *cue sad trombone sound*

The maglock then rolls a Matrix Perception test, using it's Device Rating in lieu of the Computer skill.  In order to see through the deception, the maglock would have to get 4 hits or more.  So that's a total of 8 dice ("Computer" 4 + Intuition 4) and gets 3 hits.  *cue sad trombone*  It was close, but not good enough to break the deception of the Resonance Veil.  The technomancer has successfully fooled the maglock into thinking that someone has entered the correct code, then rolls his fading attributes (I use my own advanced technomancer rules to change the fading attributes, by the way) against 5 points of fading damage.

[Darzil]

Doesn't change the numbers, but you could also assume the maglock had just been set and then no one cared, in which case, per pg 237 Core rulebook, it'd use Device Rating in place of Intuition

"If a device is completely unattended, the Device Rating stands in for any Mental attributes an icon needs but doesn’t have. For example, a device that an owner sets and forgets, like a door lock, uses its Device Rating in place of Intuition as part of the defense pool against a Control Device action."

[Zweiblumen]

The maglock then rolls a Matrix Perception test, using it's Device Rating in lieu of the Computer skill.

Why would the maglock make a perception test?  What reason would the maglock have to think it was being sold an illusion?

Even if the target has reason to believe what it’s seeing is fake, it needs to make a Matrix Perception Test with a threshold equal to your net hits to see through the illusion.

[DeathStrobe]

I think the maglock would actually report that it received a successful code but wouldn't unlock still...because...reasons... But any spider that looked at the access log of the maglock would see that it just successfully accepted the code, and would assume that it had just opened. So the Spider might physically come down to see if there was some kind of weird problem with it, which is when the Shadowrunners jump him and knock him out.

Otherwise, Puppeteering is suppose to handle making a maglock open.

[Namikaze]

Why would the maglock make a perception test?  What reason would the maglock have to think it was being sold an illusion?

The maglock wouldn't need to make a perception test.  But if there was a reason that the maglock's software would detect an error, it would roll according to the example I gave above.  If a maglock's software was correlated with thermal detection sensors, it might notice that a person isn't actually present to enter the codes.  I can't think of a lot of other scenarios in which the maglock would roll perception at all, maybe a glitch?

I think the maglock would actually report that it received a successful code but wouldn't unlock still...because...reasons...

LOL Very eloquent. 

Otherwise, Puppeteering is suppose to handle making a maglock open.

Puppeteer is a guaranteed spoof command action.  Resonance Veil is substantially more limited and gives the device an opportunity to break through the illusion relatively easily.  Honestly, Resonance Veil is better when used against IC and Agents, and you're right that Puppeteer is really the ideal complex form for this kind of situation.

[Adder]

1. Is there an additional advantage to directly connecting to a device besides the lack of noise/grid modifiers?

host can have a practically unlimited number of devices slaved to it, but because of the direct connection hack you rarely see more devices than can be protected physically.

The bolded text makes it sound like there's more to it than that.

2. You can spot a host from any distance. However, how would that process even work? Let's say I know there's a company called Foo Incorporated, and that they have a (non-silent) host on the same grid as me. Can I just automatically find it? Do I need to make a search first?

[Namikaze]

1. Is there an additional advantage to directly connecting to a device besides the lack of noise/grid modifiers?

Once you're directly connected to a device that is slaved to a host, you have full access to the host.  Therefore, it makes sense to have only the devices that can be secured against physical intrusion slaved to the host.  The rest would just be on the grid, and report to the host (without actually being slaved).  Being unslaved to the host means the devices are more susceptible to wireless hacking, because they will likely have smaller defensive dice pools, but it's a small price to pay for host integrity.

2. You can spot a host from any distance. However, how would that process even work? Let's say I know there's a company called Foo Incorporated, and that they have a (non-silent) host on the same grid as me. Can I just automatically find it? Do I need to make a search first?

You can automatically find it.  Hosts ignore the rules for physical location to your character, as they have no physical location.  A host running silently would require a Matrix Search action though.  Also, it's clear you've done some programming (aside from HTML) in the past - Foo Bar Zot. 

[jim1701]

When you have a PAN or WAN the master protects the slaves by allowing them to use the master's superior firewall and/or willpower for defense against an attack.  Directly connecting to a slave device bypasses this protection and it left to its own defenses.  Also, putting a mark on the device puts a mark on the master which should be a whole lot easier than getting a mark on the master directly (especially when it is a host.)

[Herr Brackhaus]

2. You can spot a host from any distance. However, how would that process even work? Let's say I know there's a company called Foo Incorporated, and that they have a (non-silent) host on the same grid as me. Can I just automatically find it? Do I need to make a search first?

You can automatically find it.  Hosts ignore the rules for physical location to your character, as they have no physical location.  A host running silently would require a Matrix Search action though.  Also, it's clear you've done some programming (aside from HTML) in the past - Foo Bar Zot. 

Spotting a host that runs silently is a Matrix Perception test, not a Matrix Search.

SR5 page 235, Matrix Perception section:
"You can always spot a host from anywhere on the planet without a test, assuming the host isn’t running silent."

[Adder]

Spotting a host that runs silently is a Matrix Perception test, not a Matrix Search.

Right, that's why I asked about non-silent (there's got to be an easier term- loud?) hosts.

My reasoning is thus: there must be hundreds of thousands of hosts in the world, if not millions (or even billions!).

If you're trying to find the host for the political organization "Elect Bob Shmoe!" in a tiny village in Tanzania, which is one insignificant host in an ocean of hosts, you can instantly find that? That just seems odds to me. Maybe it's because I'm digging too deep about this but I can't even imagine how that would work in practice.

Also, it's clear you've done some programming (aside from HTML) in the past - Foo Bar Zot. 

Haha yea, I'm a full-stack web developer as my day job with a CS degree so I certainly hope I've done some programming before. I heard FUBAR is also a military term too, so you never know... but I doubt they'd use it in an example context.

[Herr Brackhaus]

As the quote from the book says, Adder:
"You can always spot a host from anywhere on the planet without a test, assuming the host isn’t running silent."

No, it may not make the most sense, but that's pretty definitive. You are free to make a houserule that requires a Matrix Search test, for example. I'd put the threshold at 1 for any publically available host, and 3 for any non-public host if I were to make such a change.

[Namikaze]

Spotting a host that runs silently is a Matrix Perception test, not a Matrix Search.

Yep - derp on me for that. 

[Adder]

3. The rules state that you add to the overwatch score every 15 minutes.

Is it intentionally supposed to be exactly 15 minutes, or is that just a guideline? For example, if a player starts a stopwatch before they begin their first illegal action and expect to finish their work before 15 minutes are up, can they rely on that? I was wondering whether a house rule of 5 + 3d6 (that will average 15.5 minutes) makes sense or whether the game designers intentionally wanted it to be exactly 15 minutes.

4. Should it generally be assumed that most people's weapons are matrix-enabled? Or running "loud"?