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A quick shout out to the SR5 Matrix rules

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jamesfirecat

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« Reply #135 on: <06-21-13/1211:06> »
How about detecting devices?  I never thought that SR4 was all that clear in just what a hacker finds and how much they know when they do a scan.

So for example, lets say a ganger goon is dumb enough to have a grenade in his backpack with the wireless on.  How does a hacker even know it's there to hack?


Also, worrying about enemy hackers doesn't seem to me like it should be as big a worry as many make it out to be.  The setting basically provided an excuse for all the script kiddies disappearing, the need for security spiders decreasing thanks to GOD taking the role, and the cost of buying/building a deck.  Running into a Decker or TM (who actually decides to learn to hack systems and not just use the matrix as a normal person) shouldn't be nearly so common anymore.  Sounds like commlinks with higher device ratings should be able to handle the Deckers and TMs from groups like gangs, small companies, low level security, etc.  And if you're running into a group that has cause for a higher level hacker, then you should be on a level of gear, karma, and preparation to deal with them, unless there has been some very bad decision making happening in your team.  Course, I'm basing this entirely off what I've read in these discussions since I haven't gotten my hands on the book yet.

It's the same way as in SR4, I believe.

Basically, when you are looking for a hidden node, it goes like this:
  • You make a matrix perception test, and you learn if there are any hidden devices within signal range (In SR5 this is only within 100 feet)
  • If you know what you are looking for (I want to target that persons hidden gun) you can make a matrix perception check to find that node in particular, (This works the same way in SR5)
  • If you don't know what you are looking for, you target a hidden device at random.

So.... There's a powerful server out there that knows who I fired my gun at?

Not quite, instead all of the computers around you all have a tiny inkling of what you might have been shooting at, because instead of using a small amount of processing power available to your device to make millions of calculations, you're using all the computing power in the vicinity.

The "device at random" rule is actually really hilarious when you think about it, chiefly because WEAPONS never fold into your icon,  So you hack a place with your deck and bunch of Ares Predator V's with smart link in wireless and set to run silent slaved to it.

Then when the spider tries to find you he's most likely only going to get one of your guns.  Granted when he manages to get a mark on the gun (which is no easier than marking your deck) he'll know where you are, but it will still buy you some extra time, possibly a lot of time if he decides to try and attack the gun to boot it off the network) and something tells me in this new matrix set up a little extra time can go a long way.
« Last Edit: <06-21-13/1218:19> by jamesfirecat »

White_Ghost

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« Reply #136 on: <06-21-13/1224:22> »
True I suppose. Any smart runner will have his firewall jacked up high, or slaved to something with a high firewall. With that, if someone does try to mark your stuff on the sly, you'll know before too much damage is done. If they attack, you know automatically.

To be clear, at no point is one hacker going to suddenly brick all your equipment at the same time, you'll always know what is going on before something like that happens.

jamesfirecat

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« Reply #137 on: <06-21-13/1231:58> »
True I suppose. Any smart runner will have his firewall jacked up high, or slaved to something with a high firewall. With that, if someone does try to mark your stuff on the sly, you'll know before too much damage is done. If they attack, you know automatically.

To be clear, at no point is one hacker going to suddenly brick all your equipment at the same time, you'll always know what is going on before something like that happens.

Once again going form memory, but there is an action that lets you check who has marks on your equipment and how many,

As previously mentioned grenades are the only real thing you are in danger of for sudden hacks because by their very nature their purpose is to let you explode them as a free action, which means it only takes one mark to be able to set them off on your belt.  So either do not use them/only turn them on right before you throw them, or carry one wireless grenade and fourteen Ares Preadator V's slaved to a rating five comlink all running silent, and spin that roulette wheel that anyone trying to hack your gear will get tired of spotting pistols and give up/screw up and alert you.

Michael Chandra

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« Reply #138 on: <06-21-13/1236:23> »
"I just spotted tons of Ares Predators, we got an army incoming. Call for backup, NOW!"
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White_Ghost

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« Reply #139 on: <06-21-13/1239:07> »
Hah, that would certainly be something. I suppose that means that there could be any given number of hidden devices in any given area, so it would be a waste of time for a hacker to go through any of them without at least a small detail of what they are looking for.

Interesting.

jamesfirecat

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« Reply #140 on: <06-21-13/1241:24> »
"I just spotted tons of Ares Predators, we got an army incoming. Call for backup, NOW!"

The thing is, they only get to spot one Ares at a time and spotting them is no easier than spotting you.  So they're not just chaff, they're chaff that is as manuverable as the plane which deploys them,

Aaron

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« Reply #141 on: <06-21-13/1246:14> »
So.... There's a powerful server out there that knows who I fired my gun at?

Not really. It's distributed computing. Your smartlink asks the nearest few hundred (or maybe few thousand, who knows what sixty decades of computing development will look like?) or so devices to do a couple of computations each and send it back. The way those computations are put back together and what they're used for stays in the smartlink (and maybe anybody snooping on it ...).

Michael Chandra

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« Reply #142 on: <06-21-13/1258:34> »
Wouldn't it be more interesting to buy a personal deck then and let that one handle the math? Put it in a backpack, wire your devices to it, let it help you with the calculations. If you happen to run without decker you still get the advantages and you're not a hacker target.
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White_Ghost

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« Reply #143 on: <06-21-13/1301:15> »
It would, I suppose.

I think the point is that no one device has enough resources to compare to the cloud in any meaningful way. At least to preserve flavor, that's what I like to think.

And decks are crazy expensive.

Michael Chandra

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« Reply #144 on: <06-21-13/1302:30> »
Hey, if my paranoid-to-wireless character can buy (or steal) a cheap deck so the smartgun and enhancements work right...
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Crunch

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« Reply #145 on: <06-21-13/1428:45> »
Hey, if my paranoid-to-wireless character can buy (or steal) a cheap deck so the smartgun and enhancements work right...

There aren't really any cheap decks, but you can buy a comlink with a high firewall, slave all your wireless devices to the comlink and let the comlink defend the rest of your nodes. The advantages decks have over comlinks is mostly on the offensive hacking side, rather than the defensive or signal side. Paranoid to wireless doesn't seem like it will be a hugely effective strategy in this edition (nor frankly does gear hacking look like it will be much of anything but a last resort).

Or you can just have your team's decker slave the gear to his deck (which could turn nasty if your decker crosses you...).

RHat

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« Reply #146 on: <06-21-13/1447:12> »
Hey, if my paranoid-to-wireless character can buy (or steal) a cheap deck so the smartgun and enhancements work right...

Cheapest deck is supposed to be 50k.  However, as I understand it the basic difference is that a deck has Sleaze and Attack attributes, whereas a commlink does not - both, however, provide Data Processing and Firewall attributes, the latter being what's relevant to securing your stuff.  However, getting a deck might be enough to let you run silent effectively - or perhaps some skill is needed.

You could probably still manage a decker/sam with Resources A, Attributes B, Skills C, Meta D, and Talent E; Attributes to Logic, Agility, Intuition, and lower Charisma.  Full freight of negative qqualities, karma to skills.  You might be able to swap Attributes and Skills around and going karma to attributes - hard to say for certain which is the better choice.
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quindraco

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« Reply #147 on: <06-21-13/1450:10> »
Hey, if my paranoid-to-wireless character can buy (or steal) a cheap deck so the smartgun and enhancements work right...

I stand by my previous analogy to SIRI.  If you can come up with a way to carry a warehouse's capacity worth of computing power on your back, if I were the GM, sure I'd allow that.

jamesfirecat

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« Reply #148 on: <06-21-13/1459:25> »
Hey, if my paranoid-to-wireless character can buy (or steal) a cheap deck so the smartgun and enhancements work right...

Cheapest deck is supposed to be 50k.  However, as I understand it the basic difference is that a deck has Sleaze and Attack attributes, whereas a commlink does not - both, however, provide Data Processing and Firewall attributes, the latter being what's relevant to securing your stuff.  However, getting a deck might be enough to let you run silent effectively - or perhaps some skill is needed.

You could probably still manage a decker/sam with Resources A, Attributes B, Skills C, Meta D, and Talent E; Attributes to Logic, Agility, Intuition, and lower Charisma.  Full freight of negative qqualities, karma to skills.  You might be able to swap Attributes and Skills around and going karma to attributes - hard to say for certain which is the better choice.

Run silently is an option on the equipment itself not the deck or comlink, so you can set your grenades/smart gun system to run silently in wireless even if nothing is defending them.  That's not a good strategy but you can do it.


RHat

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« Reply #149 on: <06-21-13/1506:42> »
I recall Bull saying something about it not being all that effective without a Sleaze attribute.
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