[Michael Chandra]

Q: May a player, while still only receiving 25 karma for it, take more than 25 karma in Negative Qualities, e.g. when the quality-combination you want ends up at 26?

Q: When the Defiance EX Shocker is used in melee, what skill does it use? And is it a touch attack?

[MagusRogue]

I want to bring up something about complex form limits I brought up earlier in another thread but didn't get to discuss it much.

As written right now, the highest Level you can choose for complex forms is Resonance x 3. I'm believing this is a typo or something that was previously considered but maybe changed in other places. Shouldn't it be Resonance x 2?

1) All similar mechanics (magic casting and summoning, sprite compiling) is Resonance x 2. And before someone mentioned it, yes, magic =/= resonance, but the mechanics are IDENTICAL, right down to fading versus drain, compiling tasks, making things permanent by sustaining up to the Level/Force, etc. This is the one instance where the rules are different, and not in a good way. See below:

2) This means we can choose to have at character creation, without any submersions, we can have a limit of 18 on tasks, which, unless my math-fu skills are bad, is all but impossible to reach by any other character (the closest I've seen is a Troll Phys Adept having a Physical Limit of 14 on unarmed attacks). That means we could potentially have 18 damage Resonance Spikes to devices, unbeatable Puppet requests, clean up to 18 points of OS at a time, etc, without Edge. Kind of game-breaking.

3) This also allows insta-glibbing your technomancer. Level x 2 means at most 12P fading, which is dang harsh but doable. 18P? yikes. And yes, there will be people who don't care and try to do it as their swansongs, but... yeah

Sorry for the long, verbose post, but I'd like to see some clarification here, because honestly Res x 3 is a bit ridiculous.

[MagusRogue]

Also,

For sustained complex forms, it doesn't outright mention or detail penalties for sustaining complex forms, just one mention of -2 in the Example, and a mention of penalties without rules for it in letting a sprite sustain a complex form for you. Should we be using the same rules as sustaining spells on pg 282 (since the mechanics are the same)?

[Rebeldawg]

No idea about your first question but I'd assume for the second question the taser would use the pistol skill.

[JackVII]

Q: For purposes of slave-master limits, particularly in the case of armor/armor mods and firearms/firearm mods, is each component treated as a separate slaved device or is it treated as one (e.g. Chameleon Suit w/Thermal Dampening, any number of firearm/smartlink combos)?

Q: I am probably missing something obvious here, but can a cyberdeck essentially sub for a commlink for all intents and purposes? Does it have all of the capabilities of a commlink + hacking or is it only a hacking tool?

[Rebeldawg]

For your second question, no it cannot act as a commlink as it's a hacking tool more or less. Think of cyberdecks as of something more
like a ipad or something similar.

[SoulGambit]

...What? Cyberdecks can do anything a Commlink can do. Commlinks can not do everything a Cyberdeck can do. Cyberdecks are just bigger, more expensive, and have added functionality (hacking, variable stats, capability to run programs, et cetera).

[Xenon]

Q: For purposes of slave-master limits, particularly in the case of armor/armor mods and firearms/firearm mods, is each component treated as a separate slaved device or is it treated as one (e.g. Chameleon Suit w/Thermal Dampening, any number of firearm/smartlink combos)?

I would say that a par of goggles with smartlink, image link, thermographic vision and whatnot is considered one device that you might or might not want to slave to a device with a higher device rating (such as a higher rating commlink).

In a similar fashion i would say that a firearm with a smartgun and an airburst link are considered one device as well.

As is your chameleon suit with thermal dampening considered one single device.

The smartgun (or rather your firearm) and the smartlink (or rather your goggles) count as two separate devices.

You can also link your smartgun to your smartlink with a direct cable which give you access to the camera feed to shoot around corners without exposing yourself for -3 dice, range finder, ammo count information, heat buildup information, material stress information and you also get to add +2 accuracy to your weapon. This does not require wireless ON on either the smartgun nor the smartlink (or your datajack if you use a DNI to make a wired connection to your device).

Q: I am probably missing something obvious here, but can a cyberdeck essentially sub for a commlink for all intents and purposes? Does it have all of the capabilities of a commlink + hacking or is it only a hacking tool?

Yes a cyberdeck is a comlink. And then some.
Cyberdecks are actually not even illegal in this edition (which is interesting since a commlink with hot-sim is), so basically you could even get a fake license to operate cyberdecks "legally"

[Automaton]

This really needs an offcial and good response.

All over the forums there are multiple topics about the addiction rules and none of them come to a real satisfying conclusion.

EIther the addiction rules are flawed and do not function as is, or the text is simply far to unclear on what its trying to say that no one gets it and starts interpretting it in all kinds of ways.

Can we please have someone (prefferably the one who made them ofcourse) clearify the addiction rules as they are mend to be used in a clear text that everyone can simply read and go "okay so thats how it works" Or can we get a fix for the addiction rules please.

[Michael Chandra]

P257, Sprite Power Diagnostics: "The Diagnostics power allows the sprite to evaluate the inner workings of an electronic device. The sprite can assist someone using or repairing the device with a Teamwork Test. The sprite makes a Simple Hardware + Level [Data Processing] test; if any hits are rolled, the character gets a +1 limit bonus, and each hit adds 1 die to the character’s dice pool to use or repair the item."

Q: Does Diagnostics work on any wireless-enabled electronic device? Would it work on attacks made with smartguns, shock gloves, etc?

---------

Biofeedback states "when [the attack] causes Matrix damage, [...] equal amount of [...] biofeedback damage". The example shows that you first soak the Matrix damage, what remains then does Matrix damage but also gets a second roll against the Biofeedback damage. Black IC, however, states that when it HITS it does an "equal amount of biofeedback damage". This is explicitly stated in a way that suggests not serial soaking but parallel soaking instead, meaning Black IC is much more deadly than a lousy hacker with a mere Biofeedback program.

Q: Does Black IC, unlike the Biofeedback program, cause X Matrix damage and X Biofeedback damage, both receiving their own soak roll? E.g. if you take 8 damage from a Black IC, do you resist 8 Matrix damage with DR+FW and resist 8 Biofeedback damage with W+FW? Or do you first soak 8 Matrix damage with DR+FW, then apply the remainder as Matrix damage and soak it as Biofeedback damage with W+FW?

[ZeConster]

This really needs an offcial and good response.

All over the forums there are multiple topics about the addiction rules and none of them come to a real satisfying conclusion.

Heeeeey.

[Automaton]

This really needs an offcial and good response.

All over the forums there are multiple topics about the addiction rules and none of them come to a real satisfying conclusion.

Heeeeey.

I mean no offense, but two persons who interpret the text in a certain way and decide that is the best way to interpret them is ofcourse good, and I do believe you may be in the right there, but its not official and since there are so many discussions and question on those rules it is clear that however made those rules seriously messed up describing how they are supposed to function.

[Aaron]

Since Agents and IC are counted as having Hot-Sim VR for the purpose of their initiative, do they also get the +2 dice pool bonus on Matrix Actions for everything they do?

That sounds like a fair reading to me. IC is supposed to be scary.

can you have multiple stats at 6 (nat max for humans) out of chargen? I ask because the sample character TM (or the example TM they use through out the char building sections) has both a logic 6 and a intuition of 6 (data processing and sleaze respectively)

Huh? Mega Pulse has 4 Logic and 4 Intuition, so those numbers for his Living Persona are wrong - in fact, it seems four of the five Living Persona attributes are actually two higher than the corresponding Mental stat (Device Rating is 6, which equals his Resonance). No idea what that is about, since I haven't read the Technomancer chapter yet.
And no, page 66 says you can only have 1 of your Mental and Physical attributes at their natural max at chargen.

Yeah, those are typos leftover from an early playtest version of the rules. Good catch: you should mention it over in the errata thread.

Q: May a player, while still only receiving 25 karma for it, take more than 25 karma in Negative Qualities, e.g. when the quality-combination you want ends up at 26?

That would be between you and your GM, but by the rules no.

Q: When the Defiance EX Shocker is used in melee, what skill does it use? And is it a touch attack?

That came up at my table at Gen Con. I let the player use either Clubs or Unarmed (her choice). But it's definitely a touch attack.

[JackVII]

Preparations vs. Spellcasting: The Drain Edition

Are preparations supposed to be inherently more dangerous to produce?

Spellcasting, Step 4: Cast the Spell (p. 281): If the number of hits (not net hits) you get (after applying the limit or Edge spending) exceeds your Magic rating, the spell’s Drain is Physical instead of Stun damage.

Based on that description, it sounds like you're not going to run into Physical Drain unless you set the force of the spell higher than your magic rating (or use a limitbreaker of some sort).

Alchemy, Step 6: Resist Drain (p.305): If you get more hits on your Alchemy Test than your Magic rating, the Drain is Physical, otherwise it’s Stun.

No mention of calculating hits after applying the limit. The exemplar on the same page makes me think that the final potency should be used for determining whether drain is Phyiscal or Stun, but I can't find anything that clarifies that.

[SoulGambit]

Oi. I need to stop exhausting discussion on things.

The Subject: Machine Sprites and Diagnostics
1. Is anything with wireless considered an "Electronic Device?" If not, what is considered an Electronic Device?
2. May a Machine Sprite use Diagnostics on an item through a wireless connection?
3. May a Machine Sprite use Diagnostics on an item through a DNI?
4. May a Machine Sprite use Diagnostics on an item if its only connection is visual / through sensors?
5. May a Machine Sprite use Diagnostics on a Living Persona or a fellow Sprite?
6. What is required to be "using" the item? Is it
a. The item in question is modifying the diceroll somehow. I.E. Diagnostics on a Smartlink applies to guns benefiting from its bonus.
b. The item in question is required for the diceroll period. I.E. It works when performing Matrix actions with a Cyberdeck because you can't perform Matrix actions without it.
c. Something else entirely.
7. Technically a repeat of 6, but its the one I actually care about so I want to be extra sure. Can a Technomancer use Diagnostics on Trodes or a Satellite Uplink to gain the benefits on their Living Persona while using those Trodes or Satellite Uplink with their Living Persona.