[Shade]

It's not unheard of, in RL. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preamplifier). I guess it depends on RAI (what rating really represents? signal clarity or volume?).

I think you are not abstracting the rules enough, personally. If the book says the max rating is 3, I interpret that to mean that 3 includes every conceivable way of improving the quality AND volume available to state-of-the-art technology. Ratings are intended as a tool to allow bonuses using technology with an eye to game balance. They are HIGHLY abstract. Consider a max rating ANYTHING to be the equivalent of what, say, the CIA or covert ops teams would be using. Including combinations of different technologies, et al.

[Sir_Prometheus]

p309 Would the Adept power attribute boost add to unarmed damage if applied to Strength?

Nothing. It only adds dice to dice pools involving Strength.

Hi Aaron, I appreciate you answering our questions, but I very much dislike this answer specifically.

Strength is used for a few athletics type tests, but I think it's safe to say that damage is the main point of the strength attribute.  I get the idea behind nerfing critical strike -- in 4e you could pretty easily get small humans that could punch a tank.  But attribute boost isn't really the same sort of thing and is not subject to the same abuses (it takes an action, it has limited duration and drain) and if an adept boosts her strength.....well, they're going to hit harder.

It's also not how I would have parsed the rule itself....my assumption is that they were making boosts not affect limits and the like so that these didn't have to be recalculated on the fly.  I.e. it was an ease of play rather than a game balance issue.

In the end, strength boost that doesn't affect damage just seems fairly pointless.  I think you'll also see a lot of unarmed adepts that wind up getting bioware or cyberware to compensate, and that just seems un-fluffy. 

[ZeConster]

Spell Shaping allows you to create 1-meter-radius spherical "bubbles" within an area spell's area of effect that is unaffected by the spell: if you don't get the 3 hits needed, and your spell scatters, does the bubble (which will typically be used to protect you or your allies from the blast) scatter with it?

[Raiden]

If I use to multiple attack action for SS weapons, then I don't use it anymore, does the recoil still progress? or only when I use said multiple attack action?

[Aaron]

Getting this back on topic by actually asking a question for the FAQ....

Running Silent says that you resist being spotted with Logic + Sleaze. So does running silent count as a Sleaze action, and thus start your overwatch score?

Also, only cyberdecks have a Sleaze attribute, so how do commlinks and other devices that are running silent resist being spotted?

No, a defense test isn't an action.

They add their Sleaze attribute of zero to the dice pool. =i)

Hi Aaron, I appreciate you answering our questions, but I very much dislike this answer specifically.

Strength is used for a few athletics type tests, but I think it's safe to say that damage is the main point of the strength attribute.  I get the idea behind nerfing critical strike -- in 4e you could pretty easily get small humans that could punch a tank.  But attribute boost isn't really the same sort of thing and is not subject to the same abuses (it takes an action, it has limited duration and drain) and if an adept boosts her strength.....well, they're going to hit harder.

It's also not how I would have parsed the rule itself....my assumption is that they were making boosts not affect limits and the like so that these didn't have to be recalculated on the fly.  I.e. it was an ease of play rather than a game balance issue.

In the end, strength boost that doesn't affect damage just seems fairly pointless.  I think you'll also see a lot of unarmed adepts that wind up getting bioware or cyberware to compensate, and that just seems un-fluffy. 

I understand where you're coming from. My answer hinges entirely on the text of the power, which includes the words "This only affects your dice pools," and I don't think melee damage is a dice pool. It's possible that the errata could change this, but in the meantime, I can only really go by the book.

Spell Shaping allows you to create 1-meter-radius spherical "bubbles" within an area spell's area of effect that is unaffected by the spell: if you don't get the 3 hits needed, and your spell scatters, does the bubble (which will typically be used to protect you or your allies from the blast) scatter with it?

Since you have to declare your use of spell shaping when you cast the spell, plus the bubble is created within the area of your spell and not independent of it, I think the bubbles scatter with the area of effect. Of course, this only applies to area indirect combat spells, since all other spells are targeted with more precision.

If I use to multiple attack action for SS weapons, then I don't use it anymore, does the recoil still progress? or only when I use said multiple attack action?

I'm not sure what you mean. The SS fire mode description (p. 178) doesn't seem to allow for multiple attacks. Am I misunderstanding your question?

[Michael Chandra]

He's talking about dualwielding, where it mentions that this is the only way an SS weapon can face recoil.

Q: Arcana is a non-default skill, but Initiation is Arcana+Intuition (not +Logic). How does initiating works for someone without Arcana? Does it have a default penalty of -1, is it just 2 different bonuses so simply Intuition+0, is it not allowed? And how should an Adept reach high initiation levels without Arcana and limited extended tests, or is that simply not intended?

[Raiden]

yes, when duel wielding, and using multiple attack actions.

Single Shots
Single Shot (SS) weapons have the disadvantage of
not being able to fire multiple rounds in a single Action
Phase, but they have the advantage of not suffering
from cumulative recoil when fired in single shot
mode. It is assumed to be taking time to chamber the
next round or otherwise make the SS weapon ready to
fire again; this pause between shots means characters
using these weapons do not suffer from progressive
recoil. Recoil penalties apply when using the Multiple
Attacks Action.

[ZeConster]

Are you allowed to take Attack or Sleaze actions with commlinks if you spend Edge on the dice roll to Push the Limit?

[Ricochet]

Saw someone assuming that was legal in another thread (char creation) and the idea seems utterly ridiculous.  Would love to get it official though.  That player had enough other issues I didn't even want to start to get into, I just left the thread instead of ranting.

[lurkeroutthere]

Two fun facts:

1) Search function is fun and easy.

2) Just because an answer from the book isn't the one you want doesn't mean it needs clarification. But i will gladly wait if someone can find anything more difinitive then what I found. If Aaron or others chime in as something completely reversing the book. Well that will be both unexpected and unfortunate as it would stand in opposition to what I understand was one of the stated goals of the matrix rewrite, that is to say making skills and attributes matter again over programs and gear.

Also i'm going to default to one of my very basic stock answers on this. I find it extremely humorous that Shadowrun supports elves, magic, dragons, space flight, virtual reality, and underwater arcologies as basic understandings of the setting., but the idea that someone could accomplish "hacks" with skill, brains and a touch of luck instead of specialized hardware is the part that's "utterly ridiculous" to you?

[Ricochet]

Also i'm going to default to one of my very basic stock answers on this. I find it extremely humorous that Shadowrun supports elves, magic, dragons, space flight, virtual reality, and underwater arcologies as basic understandings of the setting., but the idea that someone could accomplish "hacks" with skill, brains and instead of specialized hardware is the part that's "utterly ridiculous" to you?

If you don't have resonance...yes.  I don't get to shoot people without my gun either...no matter how skilled at firearms I am.

[lurkeroutthere]

But i cans still bludgeon you with a thrown rock. Not nearly as effective but it got the job done for a long time before the advent of guns. Same principle.

[ZeConster]

2) Just because an answer from the book isn't the one you want doesn't mean it needs clarification. But i will gladly wait if someone can find anything more difinitive then what I found.

Contrary to what you seem to think, we think it needs clarification because it makes no sense for commlinks to be able to hack in 5E when they don't mention the possibility in the entire Matrix chapter, character sheets no longer have a separate commlink section, they completely lack the attributes needed to hack, hackers have been renamed to deckers again... so basically, everything about the book at the very least implies you can't use commlinks to hack.

[All4BigGuns]

Why don't you take the argument back to the original thread where it came up so as not to clutter up the FAQ thread?

[Aaron]

Are you allowed to take Attack or Sleaze actions with commlinks if you spend Edge on the dice roll to Push the Limit?

By the rules, yes. If your GM agrees with Ricochet (who says s/he believes that this is utterly ridiculous, a legitimate viewpoint), you might not be able to do it this way. Me, I see it as pushing your limits by writing one-shot code on the fly to make the non-decking device bend to your will for just the tiniest moment, so it's cool with me.