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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2012 12:58:34 GMT
Technomancy in what it can do is identical to straight hacker its just the way you do it that differs.
Technomancers have pros and cons when it comes to matrix use, they generally have the edge over a hacker but are more vulnerable to damage and death from matrix damage. Also be aware that if you play a technomancer it is highly likely you will get smacked with a plot stick. Technomancers being screwed over and vicimised is going to be part of the plot. I dont want to say more but choosing to play one might cause difficulties down the line so figured you should get fair warning.
Hacking security systems is the same skills as hacking someone PAN and taking control of thier cyberwear.
Rigging drones is a different set of skills but both can be done by same character. I would suggest if you want to do both that you concentrate on the hacking side as that is the one where a failed roll due to low dice pool is more likely to cause you problems. And drones can manage to a degree if given orders and left to it.
If you want to combine with infiltration it gets tricky. To be relly fast in the matrix you need to go full VR which means falling limply on the floor. Most hackers work remotly from a secured vehical using the team network as thier link. Having some sneaky skills for when you need to get to a standalone system doesnt hurt. To be a good hacker/ rigger you cant really do other stuff at the same time. But you can be in your armoured car in a rigger cacoon hacking networks and controlling various drones that are on the front line spying, sneaking or killing.
Remember that drones cost money so while they are easier to replace than a team member loosing them regularly will cost you a lot.
If you want to buy the book you can, but please dont feel you need to do so. I would wait until we have played it a bit to see if people get into it before buying books. Also you definatly dont need to print the whole book you pick out the few bits you need on a regular basis and print those. If you playing a hacker you dont need the general background, magic, creatures or gear listings (thats most of the book). Pick out the rules that apply to you and the abilities and gear you have and put those into one document it will come to a few pages.
Ok so at moment we have: -Chris is playing a voodoo pimp mage. -Marv is playing a gun bunny of some flavour. -Steve was looking at hardcore infiltrator with limited magic skills -Kris has suggested he might be interested in the transport/ mechanic side. -James seems to want to play eveything :-p But at moment seems to be favouring hacker/ rigger. -Sarah is undecided as yet but doesnt want to play anything critical as she misses half of the game most weeks, so will double up on stuff the team already has covered in her own special way. -Diane I havent really discussed it with yet.
-At moment you dont have dedicated close combat (although spirits can pick up some of that slack) and I think Steve might cover that role to some degree. -You dont have a Hacker at moment. James might cover. -You dont have a rigger at moment. James and Kris might cover. -You dont have a solid investigator.
The team might also benfit from a high end face as from the description the voodoo mage is very much a lower end of society style face. But that isnt needed as most of your dealings will probably be criminal low end or with Mr Johnsons who expect you to be rough as hell. But someone with a slick corp friendly style with sutiable contacts and half decent face skills would increase the range of jobs that you get offered.
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Post by Kristian on Mar 5, 2012 14:06:22 GMT
Yep (still haven't looked as the books yet) but the rigging side of things sounds like something my dwarf could get into ...maybe with (what look like) welding goggles with drone video overlays inside ...and possibly some kind of flip-out wrist joystick type-things to take manual control of drones etc. Basically no implants or anything like that... it's all done the old fashioned way ...as least stylistically - it can of course use the rules for cyberware (or whatever the rules say) in game terms. (yep I really have to take a look at the books sometime this week if I can ...to make sure my concept isn't utter b****cks ).
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2012 14:21:38 GMT
Nope your concept is fine, everything can be done be with external devices. Tricked out goggles, exteral sim module and a good comlink are your main things for rigging. That with the driver/ mechanic side of things makes for a strong character. You might also want to consider skills like armourer for the maintaining and modifiying of the teams gear. Also are you purely ground based or do you do air and sea as well?
Its all worth considering as having a strong idea of your character makes creation easier.
You will probably want to put alot of Build points into cash so you can have a pimped vehical and a selection of drones
Stright away I am thinking you like working with machines but having no cyberware at all suggests maybe you have stong feelings about keeping man and machine seperate. But thats just my take on it. If that is the case what is his oppinion on using magic to improve people? You dont need to decide this stuff straight away but can help to flesh out who you are predudiced against and why. Cos predudice makes games more fun :-)
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Post by Kristian on Mar 5, 2012 17:01:42 GMT
Also are you purely ground based or do you do air and sea as well? Definitely ground based ...maybe underground if I can get a tunnelling device/drill fitted to the front of the 'van' Stright away I am thinking you like working with machines but having no cyberware at all suggests maybe you have stong feelings about keeping man and machine separate. If that is the case what is his oppinion on using magic to improve people? Possibly ...but also because it takes more skill to do things manually (at least that'll be his take on it) ...and even with magic there should be a tech/mech way of achieving a simailar effect (i.e. if there's an easy way and a hard way to do something ...then it's a dwarf's duty to attempt the hard way first). e.g. you could get lots of cyberware/bionics and an equivalent 'bulls strength' spell cast on you and ready your 'maximised fireball' before entering battle ...and thats fine (especially if you're a bit of a sissy). Or you could keep something like this in the garage for when the sh!t hits the fan:
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Post by brumguvnor on Mar 6, 2012 8:53:50 GMT
what... an insurance policy?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2012 14:32:16 GMT
I can cover the high end face guy, i'm emotionless with no people skills, cold and uninviting and only talk when there is a real need...sounds very corperate officer to me....
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gilbo
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Post by gilbo on Mar 6, 2012 22:05:04 GMT
I've been messing with character creation and this is what I have so far: He will be a human midget, very poor social skills, used to getting what he wants by stealing or influencing others with magic. He is the guy who is on the team cos he can get into buildings and past security.
Agi 5 Body 3 React 3 Str 3 Cha 1 Int 3 Logic 3 Will 2 (cost 150) Edge 3 Magic 3 (cost 40) Magician (15) Double jointed (5) Uncouth (+20) Skills: Stealth group 4 Blades 4 Spellcasting 4 Hacking 4 Climb 4 Gym 4 Locksmith 4 Escape 2 Pistols 2 Dodge 2 Perception 2 First aid 2 (cost 176) Spells Invis + Improved Invis (do I need both?), Phantasm, Mind Probe, Influence, Control Thoughts (cost 18) Which leaves 16 for gear, similar to covert ops character in book.
Am I spreading myself too thin here? Will I need anything else or should I cut out stuff like perception in favour of higher scores in locks or hacking?
Steve
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2012 11:22:07 GMT
Nope that looks ok to me, few suggestions for minor alterations.
Do be aware that with that build you will struggle to cope in even the simplest of social situations, you will not be able to talk your way out of a wet paper bag. Just making you aware that it does limit your options and may cause problems if you have to talk to anyone.
You probably want the Hardware skill instead of Hacking. Hardware is dealing with physical security system ie rewiring the keypad to let you in. Hacking is logging to the wireless node and hacking into the computer system and telling it to open the door. To do stuff like that you really want to be in VR and have the other Hacking group skills and thats not what your built for.
You might want to put a point into Computer skill to give you an average level of knowledge but thats up to you.
I wouldnt bother with invisibility and improved invisibility i would just take the improved one. Admittedly the drain on improved is higher and resisting drain isnt your best ability but its not a big difference and the improved version is worth it and those 3 bp can be spent on another spell or more money/contacts or to bond a foci.
I would recomend investing in a sustaining foci - illusion - Force 3, that will allow you to cast improved invis at your standard force then dump it in there, otherwise you suffer a -2 penalty to your other actions for sustaining a spell. That would cost you 30,000 and 3 BP to bond it.
You will need to pay your months rent at what everlife style you choose. I am happy for people to use standard life style levels but will also quite happily use the runners companion rules to make a custom one if someone wants.
Do you want a mentor spirit? They give you bonuses but also apply restrictions? They are a 5 BP Quality.
Gear wise you will want at least a fake SIN, a combat weapon, a pistol, a comlink, and some form of armour. You will also want to look at getting a Tool kit (Hardware), Autopicker, Maglock passkey, sequencer, wire clippers at the very least but everything in the B&E section is usefull.
Getting some glasses or goggles and some earbuds and loading them with vision and hearing enhancements would be a good way to go.
Not relying on having a high magic rating, cyber and bioware is worth looking at. Wired reflexes might be worth considering cost 11,000 and give you +1 Reaction and +1 IP (so you get two actions a round. There is a spell that does the same thing but that would require a Health sustaining focus if you want to avoid the -2.
You could also look at Weapon Foci, a level 2 weapon foci would cost 20,000 and 2BP to bond would give you +2 dice when using it and allows you to hurt magical critters easier.
General: I have a feeling that contacts might be a bit neglected in general cos people will want o spend all thier BP on skills and stuff. As is right and proper :-D
So everyone starts with a contact for free: Brit - fixer - conection: 2 loyalty:1 (you can increase loyalty as normal) You can also all have an additional 5 BP to spend on contacts only. This doesnt mean you shouldnt spend your own BP on additional contacts it just gives you a bit of a boost.
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Post by brumguvnor on Mar 10, 2012 15:54:38 GMT
So... - your average hacker logs into the matrix by full body VR then? - and would end to do so from a van parked near the rest of the players?
So: would you be able to control and drive the van if necessary as if it was a drone from inside the VR? - obviously only if the van had been fitted with the relevant automated controls... - and if you had any weapons and cameras / sensors fitted to the van, would you be able to control them from inside the VR too?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2012 10:12:06 GMT
Well they can use AR while doing real world stuff. Or use VR and just work in the matrix. VR has two was of opperating Cold sim, which is the standard which is has saftey crotocols still in place. Or you can get the illegal hot sim mod which removes the saftey protocola meaning you can act faster in the matrix but means you take physical damage rather than stun in matric combat.
Most hackers use hot sim.
If you trt and split you attention between doing things in mutliple nodes (flicking between windows) at the same tine you take a penalty, but you can do. Generally hackers and riggers use agents and pilot programs to keep an eye of other stuff while they concentrate on the main task, jumping in as and when needed. A van with rigger addaption can be driven remotly. It doesnt have to be a van, but the van gives you lots of room to install toys and means other runners can get a lift if needs be. Yup as long as it was all tied into the vans wireless PAN (personal area network) or hard wired into the network you can control them as a rigger. If they were wirelessly tied in you could in an emergency allow other to subscribe to them so you could be driving the van wirelessly anf have the extenal guns being controlled by team member on the otherside of the city for maximum effect. When you get your head around everything can be indpenedant system tied into the wireless network you can start getting silly :-D
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Post by brumguvnor on Mar 11, 2012 16:24:33 GMT
Hmmm - very interesting... - would a new character be able to convert enough build points into cash to afford that?
And I am still dithering between full-on hacker; martial arts adept; street fixer / face / contacts monkey and many other options...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2012 21:55:05 GMT
well a standard character can turn upto 50 bp in nuyen at a rate of 5000 per bp which means you can get 250,000 build cash.
A bulldog step van cost 35,000 i think plus any mods.
You can buy alot of stuff with that much cash.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2012 15:00:55 GMT
Steve - Having had a closer read of Uncouth rules just want to make something clear. They mean you count as unaware in any social skill you havent put any points in. As you dont have any soical skills at moment what that would mean is that you automatically fail any form of social interaction roll, and due to being uncouth you may be asked to make a roll when normal people wouldnt have to, which you would automatically fail. If you are ok with that its fine by me, just want to make you aware that it is may be a serious problem at times.
Chris - You have an option with your pimp mage. You can either have him as a basic shaman tradition out of the main book with a voodoo flavour. Or you can use the actual voodoo tradition out of the street magic book. The main difference is how you summon spirits to the phsical world. You can summon and bind normally but spirits summoned by a voodoo mage cant manifest into the real world like normal spirits. Instead they take possession of a host and control that, that host can be you, another living creature, an object or a dead body (that is generaly considered a no no). The person or object possessed gains physical bonuses but is contolled by the spirit so cannot use thier own skills or interact with tech interfaces. Neither approach is better or worse overall they just work differently. A voodoo mage cant summon spirits into the physical world as easily and the subject of the possession will impose thier own constraints on the spirits actions, but being able to possess things with spirits does create a whole bunch of different options. eg. take a car, possess it with a spirit it gets alot tougher and smarter but it looses it gridlink so might not be a great navigator.
Or if the things go badly you could possess yourself with a spirit, you loose access to your skills so cant summon or spell cast but your physical attributes go up and you gain some resistance to normal weapons :-)
In terms of how you play the character either tradition works. I am happy for you to go with either tradition so you just need to decide which flavour you want.
If people want to chat about character concept stuff in person let me know and I can turn up earlier on a thursday at some point.
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Post by brumguvnor on Mar 14, 2012 16:20:11 GMT
hell yeah - I'll be there as early as possible for me on Thursday; which is nowadays about 7:15...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2012 16:30:38 GMT
Tomorrow should be do able. Have you settled on a what you want to do yet :-p
Was looking into hard copies of core books recently and some of them are out of print but should be re-printed soonish. The others I intend to pick up in the near future.
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