[Crossbow]

Panic button is like a 911 system, not tied to the building network.  In an area like this, it is only about a 50/50 chance someone would respond anyway. but it gives you something to do

[Crossbow]

Hydroraven, is Clem doing a cursory inspection or is she really tossing the place?  It is pretty disgusting all things considered.

[HydroRaven]

For now she will just wait for Sammy to look at the astral first and then she'll have a look around. Since they have nothing to go on for now, she'll definitely dig through until she's tossed the whole room.

[farothel]

Sorry for the delay.  I had some problem to get that other diceroller to work as it should (stupid firewall).

[Mercy Merchant]

Not too bad on the hacking attempt so I hope it works.  I will try to capture the feed and look for recordings.  There may also be something in the guidance software that can tell me who is getting the data and where. 

[Crossbow]

Okay, given Snow's impulsive and eager to please attitude, I am going to take advantage of the dice she has already given me so kindly and tell you all what she actually just did.    (Don't get wound up about it Mercy, I am just trying to get things back on track without major rewrite...and having a little fun with it)

Upon examination of the device in Clem's image link, she makes a memory check to see if she recognizes the device, -1 to the check because she is opening doors for the infiltrators at the same time. (1,1,6,1,2,3, one success, but it is a glitch too)  She has seen it before, but she has mistaken it because of Sammy's reference.  Following that incorrect information, she begins to try and find the hidden node that the device would be linked to (if it's active, which is likely given that some of the sensor wires are unspooled and in a room).

Unfortunately, Snow's abilities as a Power User and not a full fledged Hacker are not really up to the task of detecting a hidden node by herself.  (Previously doing this she would be working with a team, either Fionn or the spy folk she learned this kinda stuff from originally)  Having no Electronic Warfare skill, (something I bet she will want to pick up after this) her chance of finding a hidden node on her own are almost non-existent.  (Electronic Warfare + Scan (15+, 1 Combat Turn) Extended Test )  That said, her successes on the initial check (3 6s and a 1) should have started to give her an inkling of the node considering it is running an active periphery.

It doesn't, this make her stop her search and take a closer look at the image of the device.  Then she realizes why she can't find it.  It is not an uplink device (satellite or otherwise) it is a laser repeater, it is tight-beaming the data from the recorder to a receiving device that the laser is pointed at.  She wouldn't be able to hack it because if it is not wirelessly controlled, which they usually aren't, it is not on the Matrix to hack.

Sammy and Clem, once they get this information, can do Perception checks to see if the can spot a receiver, which will be in line-of-sight, but not necessarily easy to find..

[Crossbow]

Excellent job Mercy.

[Crossbow]

Thvor and Necro, your characters completely have the drop on these two so rather that so some clunky back and forth I was thinking I might put it in your hands to creatively write up the initial contact in a way that makes you feel good, just give me an opening to give any real answers you need.  I will try and roll with whatever you guys come up with.

[Crossbow]

It is about 5am, so the club is closed to the public.  Sammy determines there are still several people on the premises, but no magical activity. 

[Mercy Merchant]

I am very sorry that my character is as weak at the matrix stuff as she is.  Having a dice pool of 4 to do some of the basic things she needs to do is very weak.  Based on the chart I was given she would absolutely have zero chance of locating a well hidden node since the threshold is 15.  If you have the patience, Snow will get better, but it will obviously take time and access to people to train her.  In the meantime her self confidence is now badly shaken from just this one night.  Her computer skills are sadly lacking.  Again, my apologies. 

[HydroRaven]

Don't worry about that MM, characters with shortcomings and flaws are what make Shadowrun more enjoyable Seriously, I don't think anyone here will be upset because your character has a small dice pool. If anything, it will make the story more interesting

[farothel]

I also have only 6 dice for assensing, one of the most used skills for a mage.  So you're not the only one.

[Crossbow]

Mercy, Electronic Warfare is your only significant hole and you use it on only 2 common tasks, outside of cybercombat, neither of which is in play here.  You do not need to detect a hidden node in this case, the node is a giant glowing nekkid lady.

Your skillset is one of broad use, not specialized.  We had to compromise somewhere.  On the upside, you can get EW on a skill chip if you really want it, just don't shoot for the moon on the rating.

What you are doing is trying to crack the system, that is Hacking + Exploit, and doing that you have to ask 2 questions.  What level of privileges are you going for, and how quickly do you want to do it.

The answer to the first is either Personal (legal user level stuff), Security (slightly harder, probably minimum that you should be going for, for cameras and secret stuff the common user shouldn't see, like bank account and personal records) or Admin (very hard, but you have the run of the system).

The second part is tricky, you do it quick, you are fighting against just the system's firewall, you get a hack per action to beat it, but the system gets a chance every time you roll to find you.  You do it slow, you have to chew through the System Rating AND the Firewall, but the system only gets a shot at you once, when you penetrate, because you are taking an hour between attempts.

 

[Mercy Merchant]

Yeah, I get the whole concept.  I really do.  It takes the fun away when a character can do all of it all the time.  Snow has some training gaps that she needs to work on.  Hopefully the system + firewall of this node is not too high.  But the slow way could take three or more hours and I don't know if the team has that much time. 

[Crossbow]

They will have even less time if the cops are looking for you or you get your brain fried by Black IC.  Get your skills up, then try a hack on the fly.  In the mean time, take this one slow your first go and only go for Security privileges.