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Neo-Tokyo FAQ Discussion

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Lormyr

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« Reply #60 on: <04-05-18/1401:30> »
Thanks Bull, I appreciate the clarification.

Do we have any info on updating a few of the current legal CMPs and PMs that are woefully incomplete? Dragons Song and PM 3 come to immediate mind.
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kyoto kid

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« Reply #61 on: <04-06-18/0351:26> »
2nd the request on clarification for season 5 characters with less than 149 Karma, and the language barrier, and such.

I am curious as to the mechanics for how Combat spells are being detected by the NTPD?  Just the standard "Ka-boom" from a fireball or is there some Magic security as well.  Because differentiation between a Stun ball and a Chaotic World seems a little fine to me.


And no background count?  Physical Adepts everywhere rejoice. 

Overall huge fan.  As long as the players are aware of the consequences and be discrete they're all good.  NTPD patrols consequences escalate and there is opportunity at each spot to de-escalate, or can be completely avoided.  HTR drones response time is fast but not really too fast for Runners to handle.

Just to help out and clarify the questions here:

No season 5-8 character will remain valid into season 9.  You can still play that character in Season 5-8 games and the corresponding CMP's as well as primes for those CMP's.  Everything going forward as of the release of Neo-Tokyo is intended for new characters.

As far as detecting combat spells, you have to remember, Law Enforcement is ubiquitous in Japan, especially compared to Chicago. Someone tosses off a big spell, it will show up on the astral pretty easily, plus, the presence of astral patrols is going to be much higher.  Further, Ritual Tracking is also a thing, if people do not scrub their signatures properly.

This can all be mitigated for a super inexperienced group, and the contacts the runners will have access to out of the gate will help with some of that.
...speaking of contacts, will there be a list for Neo Tokyo before season 9 begins?
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kyoto kid

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« Reply #62 on: <04-06-18/0418:38> »
I think a clean slate is a good choice. Chicago really wants different characters then Neo-Tokyo. I liked Chicago fine, but I ready for new things!
...indeed.

I don't think my little jack of all trades mad bomber kid Leela (who I've been playing since Season 5 and in most of the CMPs) would fare very well in Neo Tokyo even with her decent social skills.  Crikey, she has a separate closet just for all her different types of armour, from street to high fashion to medium milspec as well as a personal arsenal including an FN AAL Gyro Jet, Monowhip, several automatics, an MPL-12 and a Mitsubishi Yakusoku Double Barrel Launcher (and I won't even mention her demolitions gear).  All she would have to do is step off the plane at the Narita and HTR team would already be there at the gate waiting for her.
« Last Edit: <04-06-18/0422:52> by kyoto kid »
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kyoto kid

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« Reply #63 on: <04-06-18/0512:06> »
That's the best. "Oh I'm sorry Officer, that's my fake SIN, I use to cut down on the spam you see, here's my Really, Real SIN. Don't worry about that one bro, once the cops got you on fake SIN I think your gonna get some nice new bracelets, and take nice ride to the station. Unless your contact handy and you can get this situation taken care of real quickly.
The FAQ seems pretty explicit that you only get arrested on a fake SIN being detected if that SIN is rating 4+. Not possessing any SIN you are detained for 8 hours, getting caught with a 4+ fake you are arrested for 24, everything else looks to just be a fine.
...so not having a SIN can be an advantage in some cases? 

For example the character concept I have uses no weapons at all, not even blades or clubs (Physad Troll/Giant Sumo) or has other "questionable" gear like heavy armour or augmentations.  Besides grappling and martial arts, he throws things, anything he can grab (including humans, dwarves, or elves).  He can elect to do stun or lethal damage (Killing Hands) He actually has a decent CHA (3) and decent Etiquette skill specailised in Japan Subculture (he knows the basic social graces). Sadly resources was the E priority and even using 10 Karma that doesn't leave much after getting a rating 4 fake SIN and Adept Licence (10,800).
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Stainless Steel Devil Rat

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« Reply #64 on: <04-06-18/1039:30> »
That's the best. "Oh I'm sorry Officer, that's my fake SIN, I use to cut down on the spam you see, here's my Really, Real SIN. Don't worry about that one bro, once the cops got you on fake SIN I think your gonna get some nice new bracelets, and take nice ride to the station. Unless your contact handy and you can get this situation taken care of real quickly.
The FAQ seems pretty explicit that you only get arrested on a fake SIN being detected if that SIN is rating 4+. Not possessing any SIN you are detained for 8 hours, getting caught with a 4+ fake you are arrested for 24, everything else looks to just be a fine.
...so not having a SIN can be an advantage in some cases? 


Well way I read it is SINless and no fake SIN = automatic trouble.
caught with a Rating 4+ Fake SIN: More trouble than having just been SINless, but OTOH you probably wouldn't have been caught in the first place.
caught with a Rating 1-3 Fake SIN: Balance between trouble and odds of being caught.

Given the importance of having Fake SINs/permits in Neo-Tokyo, there should have been a rule to incentivize rating 1-3s or else noone would ever use them.  It's smart design.
RPG mechanics exist to give structure and consistency to the game world, true, but at the end of the day, you’re fighting dragons with algebra and random number generators.

Helzmasher

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« Reply #65 on: <04-14-18/0140:03> »
Will GMs be able to give rewards from Neo-Tokyo to Chicago characters, and vice-versa?

Hobbes

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« Reply #66 on: <04-15-18/1136:06> »
Will GMs be able to give rewards from Neo-Tokyo to Chicago characters, and vice-versa?

No.  Your characters are considered to have "played" any mission that you're giving them the GM reward.  If a character has played a Chicago mission they can't play Neo-Tokyo. 

Xenon

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« Reply #67 on: <05-06-18/1520:38> »
And then buy a Rating 6 Fake SIN with your first mission's money...
I don't speak for Missions, but a rating 6 Fake SIN could potentially be quite dangerous since it will be linked to your actual real DNA, complete with samples and all (blood, skin cells, hair, fingerprints, retinal scans...) which could potentially serve as material links to track the character magically if necessary. Depending on how black trench your table is a rating 6 fake SIN could actually be considered less of a fake SIN and more of an alternative life...


It was asked upthread and I know the common rulings for Adepts and Astral Signatures but if the missions team has time it would be nice to have it spelled out. 

p. 312 says a Signature lasts one hour per Force.  Adept powers don't have a force per say...
I don't speak for Missions, but Adept powers and many always-on critter powers are innate which mean that they in many aspects don't behave like spells. For example they are unaffected by barriers.

It is my understanding that adepts don't leave their astral signature around to be tracked for several hours whenever they are using their adept powers. This is further reinforced by the fact that adept powers don't have a "force" to begin with. Also, many adepts don't have Astral Perception which is required to "Wipe Clean" the signature. You can still track adepts through one of their bound foci (in case they leave one behind).
« Last Edit: <05-06-18/1522:15> by Xenon »

Stainless Steel Devil Rat

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« Reply #68 on: <05-06-18/1658:28> »
And then buy a Rating 6 Fake SIN with your first mission's money...
I don't speak for Missions, but a rating 6 Fake SIN could potentially be quite dangerous since it will be linked to your actual real DNA, complete with samples and all (blood, skin cells, hair, fingerprints, retinal scans...) which could potentially serve as material links to track the character magically if necessary. Depending on how black trench your table is a rating 6 fake SIN could actually be considered less of a fake SIN and more of an alternative life...

While the higher rating fake SINs use real DNA, they don't use your character's DNA.  Such fake SINs come with biological samples that match the Fake SIN's.

Quote from: SR5 pg 364: Fake SINs
Higher Rating, and thus
more expensive, fake SINs have been lovingly crafted
over time with a great deal of attention to detail. An
identity will be chosen that matches the age and nationality
of the person purchasing it, and it will have
plausible supporting information such as travel and
purchasing history. Biometric data associated with
a high-Rating SIN will be from a real person with the
same sex and nationality as the purchaser with (if the
extra fee is paid) matching organic samples available
(blood, skin cells, hair—just don’t ask where they came
from).

In other words, if you're using a Rating 6 Fake SIN during a verification that actually checks DNA, you better Sleight-of-Hand the appropriate Bio sample into the reader.  Your own DNA won't match the fake SIN.
« Last Edit: <05-06-18/1704:39> by Stainless Steel Devil Rat »
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Hobbes

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« Reply #69 on: <05-07-18/1014:52> »
The higher the rating of the fake SIN the more it matches you.  Metatype, Gender, Height, Weight, eye color, hair color, bio-metric data (including DNA). 

You start getting into the Rating 5 and Rating 6 SINs it's not a really a stretch to presume the folks creating the fake are using your info to customize the fake SIN.  The things cost more than most cars, are only made by a few hard to find specialists, and take week or two to make.

Redwulfe

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« Reply #70 on: <05-07-18/1040:11> »
Personally I always looked at it the way SSDR did. Maybe it is the way I read the passage that is quoted from pg. 364 above differently than you did. Personally I wouldn't want anything on my fake SIN to actually relate to my characters true identity, but I would want it to look like a really good fake and having biometrics, even if they are not checked, makes the fake look better.

I looked at Fake SIN 6 akin to the movie Gattaca. The main character had to leave traces of the other individual around on occasion to match the sin he was using because he was in an area that checked biometrics often.

Since our perceptions seem drastically different, I am curious about your thoughts and how you arrived at them. Are there any passages in the books that would make it seem different?
« Last Edit: <05-07-18/1050:33> by Redwulfe »
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Jayde Moon

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« Reply #71 on: <05-09-18/1058:07> »
You guys are awesome.

The impact of using your own DNA for high rating Fake SINs is beyond the scope of Missions.

New version of FAQ will be pushed soon, several updates come directly from the discussion in this thread.  I greatly appreciate everyone's contributions, thanks for being an awesome community!
That's just like... your opinion, man.

Redwulfe

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« Reply #72 on: <05-10-18/1750:40> »
Looking at Addictions and Addictions tests the FAQ talks about what to do if an Addiction has no cost, but that doesn't seem to work well for things like Skillwires, foci, legal Simsense use, or for our decker friends using Hot-Sim. Or do these addictions fall under the category of Addictions that are not harmful to the character and need no addiction or test?

It seems to me that Hot-Sim Simsense, legal-strength Simsense, Skillwires, and Focus Addiction should be listed as exceptions to the rules of Addiction in missions or they should have some other criteria for fulfilling said addictions.
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Hobbes

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« Reply #73 on: <05-10-18/2156:39> »
Failing an Addiction test worsens the level of Addiction, even if there is no cost.  Which eventually leads to permanent Body and Willpower loss.  P. 414 CRB.

WarriorBorn83

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« Reply #74 on: <05-11-18/0534:14> »
Hey guys. First post here so I figured I'd jump in on the FAQ discussion. I have a few... okay a lot of questions. But I'll try and break them up into a few posts. Sorry if I ask questions that have already been answered. I read through and I think I got all the duplicates.

“In Japanese business dealings, it is expected that the best deal possible is offered upfront. Directly negotiating with your Tanaka-san is an affront to their Honor. When working with your Tanaka-san, a gentle reminder of the difficulties and the professionalism with which the task will be done may place them in a frame of mind to consider a generous bonus.” This sounds like it's still a negotiation test during the mission. Did I miss something, or will there be specific rules for how payment is being made in the future seasons?

When concealing illegal items, what is the difficulty threshold of the palming test? Are the difficulties different for different security levels of Neo-Tokyo? If so, what are the different areas and their security levels? Or is there a book that maps out Neo-Tokyo and its neighborhoods and security levels?

What are the actions that are considered “potential criminal activity”? I can safely assume any non-HTR violence, non-violent magic in the street, getting caught decking in public, failing a palming test to hide an illegal item, or openly flaunting restricted/illegal gear are safe bets. Are there any others?

What are the response times for the two man NTMP patrols? Or are we just supposed to have them show up whenever runners do anything pink mohawk?

What are the stat blocks for the NTMP patrols?
What are the stat blocks and tactics for the HTR Drones for NTMP?
What are the stat blocks and tactics for the HTR Teams for NTMP?
What are the stat blocks for the local Yakuza members?
Or can I just hold my horses and all of the above stat blocks will be in the primer of each mission?

Under the Prime Runner section, what is a SMH?

That's all for this one. Thanks for any information.