[Sonarean]

When binding a spirit, a mage must spend 500 x Rating in nuyen.  Binding, then, becomes something to be done sparingly.

When registering a sprite, a technomancer has no such requirement.  So there's no real reason not to register a sprite.

This feels unbalanced to me.  Does it feel that way to anyone else?

[Walks Through Walls]

Does a sprite have as much power as a spirit? Though it can affect anything that has electronics to some extent it cannot manifest and directly act in the physical world which might be part of the reasoning behind it.

[Sonarean]

I agree, it's not as powerful as a spirit, but that doesn't mean registering it should be free.

[inca1980]

It's also a common sense issue....I mean what would you be paying the money for?  Summoners need to buy the materials for the ritual, but I don't really see what the analogy for ritual materials would be for registering a sprite.  Any type of software or hardware serving as ritual materials wouldn't make sense because technomancer abilities operate on completely different principles than normal code and electronics.  I feel it would be quite a stretch to try and carry the analogy that far....it's already a bit of a stretch the way SR4e tries so hard to make technomancers analogous to mages.  

This would be hard conceptually because mages from the same tradition can share things like ritual materials, lodges, spell formulai, etc., so a mage can go to a talismonger from his same tradition and buy things.  But technomancers from the same stream mostly just share a world-view and philosophy.  Technomancy is much more of a very personalized activity whereas magic is much more communal.  Who would you be paying money to to get your "registering materials?"  

Implementing this would be sacrificing good story telling and concept for "balance"....and that's especially dumb to do in PnP rpg's because most of the balance is really up to the GM.  This type of balancing done by a GM is not even strong enough to really call it house-ruling, it's simply using the freedom that SR RAW explicitly gives to the GM.  In my games if I think spirits are getting too powerful in a given game, the more powerful a spirit that a mage summons, the more personality I give it...i.e. free-will.  Bringing an ultra-powerful being into this world should have it's consequences and ignoring this is just lazy GM'ing in my opinion.  

[The_Gun_Nut]

I usually like to lull my summoners into complacency.  Then hit them with the nasty later.

[Magus]

You think Registering is kinda unbalanced?
Now I love TMs so don't get me wrong and I love to tweak them. Now that said

Threading is not an action. You can do it whenever you want as much as you want. Then you can take your simple or complex actions. Getting attacked? Thread an Armor CF, not high enough thread it again and then roll your defence roll.

[Qemuel]

From FAQ:

Does threading require an action? Does the -2 modifier from sustaining a threading affect all actions, including use of that complex form?

The act of threading itself requires no action -- but the complex form being threaded does. Threaded complex forms must also be sustained, as noted. The -2 modifier for sustaining does not apply to use of that threaded complex form, but it does apply to all other actions the technomancer makes.

Also, page 65 SR4A says that when trying again, you incur -2 to dice pools each time.  That, coupled with possible drain from Threading doesn't mean you could do this forever, unless I missed something.

[Magus]

technically you are right but that is when you attempt an action again, Threading is not an "ACTION" by RAW definitions. So there is no modifier.

[Qemuel]

My copy says "test" ... later it says "task"  and successive attempts incurs a -2 dice pool modifier.   Nowhere in the 2 paragraphs does the word action come up. 

Threading is a test, is it not?

[Magus]

No Threading is not a test, nor an action. You simply roll Resonance + Software and the hits = threaded rating. there is no threshhold or anything.

This is the single anolmoly in SR. Threading isn't anything. Neither test nor action and you can do it as often as you like.

[Qemuel]

Strange.  My copy under Threading p. 240 says this:

"To thread a complex form, the technomancer makes a Software + Resonance Test".

emphasis mine.


Edit:  though I did notice under Fading, that Threading only causes drain based on the number of successes used, so while it would not cause drain, you still  have the diminishing returns from Trying Again.

[Magus]

Hmm then it would be governed by the edict of diminshing returns. But until that point is reached threading a CF is a TMs greatest ally.

[Qemuel]

Agreed!

I read somewhere else, that concentrating on threading and sprites makes being a Technomancer the more versatile of the two Matrix users.  I haven't played/GM'd either one yet, though, so I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Matrix rules more.  So far my players are the following:  Stealth Adept (great with a bow), Street Samurai, and Chaos mage.  We've only run one session so far, but we've been having a lot of fun.

We took one of our original SR 1st edition Deckers and "made" him a SR4A edition technomancer, so the technicality of all these rules hold great interest to me as we begin using him.

[Magus]

A truly dedicated Hacking TM is impossible for a System to find sometimes. Thread Stealth to a 10 and instant invisible TM.

[Qemuel]

Nice!  Truly a "Ghost in the Machine".  The player will like that.

He was known as Merlyn, the wizard of the decking world back in his day.  He was so enamored of magic and had always wanted to be a mage that all of his programs were sculpted to look like spells in the Matrix.  Even his persona had a wizards hat and robe.  (this character was created way back in 1989).  We had since retired him as he was getting on with the years and he faded into the background.

He's evolved a bit through the edition changes, but with the 4th edition and the introduction of Technomancers, we are planning on reviving him and bringing him into the story as a Contact.  He was caught in the crash of '62 and somehow managed to survive and find his way back to his meat body.  With all the cyberware in his body, he never realized that he had come back changed and with "a little something extra".

Long story short:  For some unknown reasons, when he underwent his revitalization procedure after removing all his outdated cyberware, his Resonance went up as well.  Discovering he could interface with the Matrix without a comlink was quite a shock at first!  What he likes most, though, is how the power sings through his very soul bringing him as close to a real mage as he has ever been before in his life!