[Snack Happy]

I am new to shadowrun and making a hacker I was curious as to how to make my own commlink and what programs do I need to buy

[Kontact]

Oh boy! 

What books do you have, and is your GM looking to get very in-depth with the matrix, or not?

There's a lot of intricacy here, and, I could spend 1000s of words going into it all.

Basically, you're going to want:
Stealth and Exploit to crack systems. 
Spoof, Trace and a Sniffer to hijack drones and other devices.
Nuke and Attack for dealing with enemy hackers/IC or technomancers respectively and Medic to clean your icon up after a fight (and a Medkit attached to your arm for healing Black attacks via the Command prog.)
Defuse, because a Data Bomb can and will end your hack cold.
ECCM because it goes through walls.  Wi-fi inhibiting walls.
Analyze, because it's your eyes.
Browse, because it's how you find things.
Edit, because it's how you hide your tracks.
Command because command allows you to use anything, and well.
Encrypt to slow down enemy hackers.
Scan, because it's how you find devices to hack.

Things that you might need:
Data Bomb, for keeping out enemy hackers.  The most essential of the non-essential programs.
Black Hammer/Blackout, for when kicking someone out of the system just isn't enough.
Corrupt, for when you need to edit something in such a way that it can never be recovered again and when you can't even be bothered to find it first.

Things that you probably won't ever need:
Armor: 2-3 hits will generally crash you regardless of this little tiny bit of damage soak.  You get crashed, flip to a new ID and hack back in.
Biofeedback filter: Same general thing as above.  If you're in trouble, Run!  A good Spoof program will break you free if your connection gets jammed open.
Disarm:  If you've got time to Disarm, then you can generally edit yourself permissions or just Nuke the guy.
Purge:  If you let a virus or trojan get on your computer, you have already erred significantly.
Reality Filter:  Plus or minus one response on a die roll?  Dumb.  Evey node has your same metaphor? Dumb.


Advanced things for good times:
Negator, because it is so cheap and so perfect.  It accomplishes what usually takes a continuous high-level edit action, specifically editing out any object in real time, and does so with no test.  Automatically remove your entire team from the security feed as it streams.  Hell, put it in someone's AR goggles or cybereyes and you can make them overlook any object you choose.  Attach a corrupt tag and it will wipe itself out once its job has been done.  No muss, no fuss, no record of your team in the security system. At 100 yen, it's a steal.
TacNet, because +1-4 on all Combat active skill tests and all Physical active skill tests which are associated with a mental attribute.  It's really, really awesome, and fairly cheap to boot.

[Snack Happy]

To answer your question we are not going to be going that deep in as my whole group is just learning the game. We all plan on kinda learning the hardway. I think in the whole group including the GM one of us has played like twice and that was a couple years ago. For starters we mainly want to stick with the main book however if stuff is really useful we can pull from others.  My Hacker/B&E/Face guy is pretty much made except for his gear which is sadly most of the thought of creating him. I have 50 points left to spend on him which I saved to purchase his gear I did plan on cybering him up at least a little. Thanks though I think that should help me with programs their is just so many of them its rough to know where to start. I have access to most of the books in pdf format.

[Kontact]

When it comes to building a commlink, you won't be able to get one stock with a Response better than 4.  However you can buy higher Response chips at chargen and assume their installation just like you assume cyberware installation.  You won't be able to buy a R6 chip without getting into restricted gear territory.

Do you want a setup for cybercombat or just sleezing in and hoping not to be seen?  Cybercombat basically means you need to jack your Response up to insane levels to keep from getting hit.  You do that with a good base response chip, some Response Enhancers + a customized interface.  I can help you build whatever.

[Snack Happy]

Well I plan on being the groups hacker and matrix expert in general I put his stats in another thread called new to shadowrun if that helps. I don't really know what all goes into cyber combat as I mostly skimmed the chapter trying to take out key points. I do want him to be good at getting info and into things he wants. I thought the readout for spoofing sounded cool with being able to eject peoples ammo clips and such. I was originally going to make a mage but the group all made adepts except me so I am trying to crash learn the matrix before saturday. Thanks by the way I liked the explanations for the programs.

[Kontact]

Right on.  I'll break down the gear, skills and actions for you, so you've an idea as to what you need to do your typical things.

Your bread and butter is probably going to be hotsim.  Get a hotsim module, and you can take 3 passes per combat turn, get +2 to every matrix action and +1 to Initiative.  Best 250¥ anyone can spend.  Never forget that +2 bonus.  All actions.  Hack hot, search hot, pilot hot.  Every.  Thing.

As to skills, I'll break down what you need for what.
Hacking: Oh, man.  Everything.  Hacking is your thing if you're going to be a hacker.  It crops up everywhere.  Potentially focus on Exploit.
Cybercombat: This is what you fall back on when things go poorly.  Think of it as a backup plan and treat it accordingly.  Not a focus, but not to be ignored.
Electronic Warfare:  All the signal biz.  You don't need it for much, but those things you do need it for are pretty crucial.  You can't snatch signals from the air without it.  It's how you get targets to hack in the first place.
Computer:  Used for medic, track and Matrix perception.  Nothing too heavy, but still worth at least a couple of points.
Data Search:  Detective biz.  This is how you do the legwork.  You will use this a lot, and we all know that info can and will save your life.
Software:  There are a few tests that use software which you might run into.  Not a common need.  However, this is how you grow your character.  Writing your own software and patches will make you quite studly in the months to come.
Hardware: Besides tricking out your link, hardware is how you break and enter.  Hotwire everything.  Sequencer?  Maglock passkey?  Please.  Rip that sucker apart with the pliers and touch wires until the door opens.  Cake.  Also, building hardware is pretty cool, even if it's poorly thought out as far as the rules. 

Okay, now for the breakdown on how Programs and System interact.  It's.. a bit complicated.
Right, so there are prebuilt Operating Systems, but those are for chumps.  As a hacker, you're going to want to rock a custom OS.  Each OS consists of 2 parts to be bought up separately.  Firewall is completely independent of any device stats, so buy the best one you can (rating 6) every time.  Your System, however, is limited by Response, and consequentially, your Programs are limited by your System.

So Response ≥ System ≥ Program.  If your response is 4, then your maximum system is 4 and the highest rating a program will be able to run at will be 4 (plus optimization, which I'll get to later.)

And a system also limits the number of programs you can run at once before response degrades. It does so in a weird way.  When you hit a number of running programs equal to the system rating, Response drops, but it doesn't actually drop the Base Response, so it doesn't degrade everything, just your effective response for initiative and cybercombat dodge.  Still there are some ways around this.

What ways?  Program options from Unwired. 
Ergonomic: any program with the ergonomic option does not count towards the system limit on running programs.  You can only benefit from a number of ergonomic programs equal to your system rating.
Optimization: the optimization rating of a program is added to the system for determining the highest rating the program can preform at.  So, a Rating 6 program with optimization 3 can run on a rating 3 system at 6 instead of just 3.  It might do to mention that optimization can't add more that 2x the effective system rating.

As to programs, there's even more complication available than all of this, but the basic jist for program options here is
Stealth- As high as possible, always.  If you don't get spotted, then you win by default.  Ergonomic is a must since you always want to be running Stealth   Use Optimize as needed.
Exploit- You want to break into things, and this is your biz.  Throw on the Mute program option and you can punch through and kill the alarm before it actually goes off.  It's almost as fast as capturing a signal, tracking a user, and then spoofing a command, but requires a simpler skill set and is basically guaranteed to work, as it's an extended test.  Use Optimize as needed.
Spoof- It has a good number of alternate uses.  Trick yourself into a fancy lifestyle.  Triangle button some cars.  It's all spoof.  Get a good one.  Again, Optimize as needed.
Attack- I like the area option for attack.  You can hit an icon, while simultaneously crashing their combat programs.

[Snack Happy]

Wow man that's alot to digest. I appreciate it. I have 50 BP for my characters gear I was looking into cybering up a bit as well. My character is suppposed to be a Hacker/Burglar/Face. His electronics and cracking group are both at 3 since i needed to save points. Hopefully those are good stats to begin with. I want him to use either sniper rifles or shotguns as a specialty.  What would you recommend for a gear loadout? Also how do I determine wether I am running in hot or cold sim? And where does it mention how to buy all the ratings for my commlink? Sorry if I am trying to milk you for all your worth but you have been a big help with understanding it a little easier. I'm sure the first few times the GM and I will be beating our heads together to figure it out.

[Snack Happy]

Sorry for asking so much trying to figure out how to best optimize my points to be an effective hacker is rough. Can the firewall and system be higher than the response and signal? I guess I'm still confused I wish they laid out the matrix chapter a bit better.

[Qemuel]

Thanks for that breakdown, Kontact.  I'm saving that info into a file to peruse later for my game!  (or handout to my players)
 

[Bradd]

Firewall is completely independent of any device stats, so buy the best one you can (rating 6) every time.  Your System, however, is limited by Response, and consequentially, your Programs are limited by your System.

Firewall is a matrix program though, so isn't it limited by System like everything else?

[Kontact]

Sorry for asking so much trying to figure out how to best optimize my points to be an effective hacker is rough. Can the firewall and system be higher than the response and signal? I guess I'm still confused I wish they laid out the matrix chapter a bit better.

Firewall is a matrix program though, so isn't it limited by System like everything else?

Firewall and System are both considered part of your Operating System.  Because Firewall is just part of the OS, instead of a program in and of itself, it isn't limited by the Response of the device on which it's running.  It's just good like that.  Also, due to the modular nature of all programs in SR, you can install the same Firewall on all devices where you're the registered owner.  So, if you buy a R6 Firewall for your link, it also counts for your Peripherals, Drones and Vehicles.

System, however, is specifically limited by Response.  So, you can buy a R6 System and run it on a Response 4 link, but it will only count as a R4 System until you upgrade that link's Response chip.  Buying a System that's better than you can use isn't a bad choice, since it saves you the trouble of buying a new one when you upgrade.

[Kontact]

Wow man that's alot to digest. I appreciate it. I have 50 BP for my characters gear I was looking into cybering up a bit as well. My character is suppposed to be a Hacker/Burglar/Face. His electronics and cracking group are both at 3 since i needed to save points. Hopefully those are good stats to begin with. I want him to use either sniper rifles or shotguns as a specialty.  What would you recommend for a gear loadout? Also how do I determine wether I am running in hot or cold sim? And where does it mention how to buy all the ratings for my commlink? Sorry if I am trying to milk you for all your worth but you have been a big help with understanding it a little easier. I'm sure the first few times the GM and I will be beating our heads together to figure it out.

No problem.  I'd love to give you some more specific advice if you want to start a thread in the Character Creation and Critique section.

As to where to find things, I'll help you out there.  The gear and stats for matrix stuff is splattered all over that book.  It's a huge pain in the ass, really.

Building a Link:
First off, there is a list of regular links, and their stats on p328 of the Core book, bottom left side of the page.
Starting from one of these bases, you can modify the link with new chips or antennas up to +2 from the starting stats.
So, if you take a Renraku Sensei link, which has a starting Response of 2 and Signal of 4, the maximum you could upgrade it to is a Response of 4 and a Signal of 6.
The cost of upgrades can be found on p222 of the Core book in the table titled "hardware upgrade costs table."  There's also a signal table on this page which should give you the effective range of your link.  As the Matrix is an ad hoc mesh network, your signal shouldn't matter too much for staying connected.  It only really matters for Scans and Signal Captures.

Hotsim vs. coldsim.
Okay, now that you've built a tricked out commlink, it's time to think about how you're going to operate the thing.  If you're going to use it in VR, which is the most effective, and dangerous, option, then you're going to need a Sim Module.
100¥ for a regular Cold Sim mod.
250¥ for a hotmod.
Whether you're running hot or not with the illegally-modified Hot Sim Module is determined by the flip of a switch before you jack in to VR.  Once you're in VR, your body should be paralyzed.

Though, honestly, if you're not going to run hot, then you might as well get some meat world IP enhancement and just hack via Augmented Reality.  If you operate in AR, you're immune to biofeedback from Black Ice, which is nice, as is the fact that you can operate in the meat and in the Matrix at the same time.  It's a real boon for combat hackers.  If you want to run AR, you can still use trodes or a datajack.  Direct Neural Interfaces still work with Augmented Reality.  There are also AR gloves for interface purposes.

[Snack Happy]

Cool man you have been a huge help I put my character together and I am going to be putting him in the other forum so please critque and let me know how to fix him I do like the thought of operating in the real world while I do stuff so the other guys arent as bogged down.

[FastJack]

I posted the Building/Coding information on this thread as well.

As a house-rule, I can see allowing characters to build/code commlinks from scratch (AFTER character creation). The maximum ratings for the hardware and software should be the skill rank of the PC or 1.5 x the skill rank if you want to have über-commlinks out there. Of course, if you have a commlink with ratings that exceed the norm, expect to receive unwanted attention.

For instance, when I was on the college radio station, we had a MASSIVE signal generator for our station since we were limited in where we could position the antenna. The school was in a valley, but the highest point we could put the antenna on was a building on school grounds. Major radio stations leased land on top of the mountains so they could broadcast at a lesser (cheaper) signal and still reach a large area. Since we were beneath many of the rolls of land, we had to boost our power to punch through hard obstacles. This also meant we tended to 'bleed' into other signals (we were 90.3, but you might be able to pick us up on 90.1 or 90.5), this meant that if a station had registered those frequencies, they could come after us. So, if you have a commlink with signal 9 (AM/FM Radio), you might adversely affect the 'legal' frequencies, making it easier to notice you.

[Wraith235]

get a nanohive w/ neocortical nanites
PuSHeD Transgenic
and an encephalon rating 2

all 3 are in Augmentation .... +6 dice to all your dice pools when hacking (unless your hacking a hardcore node ... cybercombat ect and then your at +3 to all)