Hello all. I'm new here, but not to shadowrun. I'm picking it up again after almost a decade to run for a group of friends interested. I've only got the core 4e books (SR4A, UW, SM, RC, AG, AR) and I am in no financial position to change that to either get more books for 4e or change editions. Also, I like 4e. I do have some questions though because as a player 9 years ago, I did not have any interest in the Matrix. Now as a GM, I have 2 players interested in Matrix heavy characters, so I've got to understand the fundamentals.
The link at the end of this paragraph is to a post I made on the Shadowrun subreddit, but I was not happy with the initial response (it... it was not friendly or constructive for the most part) AND it never hurts to post in multiple places to increase your surface area for response. The link to the thread is
here.
I'm trying to make sure that I understand how Personas and Agents interact with each other, Programs, and Nodes. Here's my understanding:
- Nodes. Nodes are any and everything that transmits wireless traffic. Nodes have four attributes, system, response, firewall, and signal. The system of a node restricts the number of programs running before degradation (processor limit), the max rating of programs that can be running (an Edit 6 program running on a System 4 node will only grant 4 dice to the dice pool for checks), and the system rating of the node your persona is in determines the system for your icon when it makes checks. Response can be degraded by every [system] programs running on the node, or more for nexus, to a minimum of 0. Signal determines how far away the wireless signal projects and is important for determining mutual signal range when that matters. Firewall is the standard defense of the node against exploits and other negative programs/actions. Programs are run on nodes.
- Personas.Personas are the firmware representation of your identity. Personas are responsible for projecting icons and interpreting the data they return in to information that can be delivered to you through your simrig. Personas operate in a specific node and do not move, they project icons which are what move and interact with the matrix. Your persona is loaded with software. Personas have a subscription limit equal to their system x2. A persona's system rating is equal to the node it is jacked in to.
- Programs.Programs are how Icons interact with the matrix. They are logical processes that run and deliver information to the icon running them. Programs are loaded on to personas and agents. Any number of programs can be loaded on to a persona or agent. Programs run on nodes. Each program running on a node counts towards the processor limit of the node on which it is running. The rating of the program determines how many dice are added to the dice pool of a matrix check. Program ratings are limited by the system of the node they are running on. You must have the correct privileges associated with your account in order to run programs on a node (none for public, limited for user, lenient for security, all for Admin). Each icon (persona icon or agent icon) must have a separate instance of a program running to use it, and that program must be dedicated for that icon's use.
- Agents.Agents are complex programs that are capable of semi-autonomous activity. They can operate in a supporting capacity to the persona when run in the same node as the persona, or they can act independent of the persona in different nodes. Agents have ratings, like programs, that determine their pilot attribute, which in turn drives their skills, firewall, and system ratings. Just like with all programs, the rating of an agent is limited by the node they are running on. When operating in the same node as the persona, agents do not count against a Persona's subscription rating. When operating in a different node than your persona, they do. The agent program, and any program they run, count against the processor limit of the node that they, and the other programs, are running on. Programs do not run on agents. An agent on a node with system 4, response 4 could run 2 programs without reducing the response of the node. Agents inherit their response from the node they are running in, so reducing the response of the node they are running in reduces their own response, and thusly their virtual initiative. Agents operating in the same node as your persona can assist you in any node that you are accessing and inherit your access ID to do so, so an agent running on your commlink (where your persona is) can be given a command to run programs in the node you're accessing for you, and then designate them for your use. Conversely, an agent operating in a node different from your icon can't do this, however you can still give it commands or even control it as a rigger would a drone.
I think that's everything I think I know about how those interact. Please help me identify how correct/incorrect I am with actual points other than "don't use agents". I see their validity in the Matrix as much as I see the validity for spirits, sprites, and drones in the astral, matrix, an physical spaces and I want to make sure that my players have all the options (so that I have all of the options as a GM) available to them.
Much thanks in advance.
In my example combat in the reddit link, I think I made a few errors.
