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From:	steelwolf@*.net (steelwolf@*.net)
Subject:	help with decking
Date:	Mon, 10 Feb 2003 12:19:27 -0600

Message no. 1 Help! I know you folks should be the perfect ones to talk to about a problem that has
come up in recent sessions of our local SR campaign. In past Chronicles the adventures
have for the most part been very real world and/or magical in nature. No one ever played
a decker. Now a character has sprung up who is an expert decker and the GM is at a loss
for exactly how to handle the variety of situations that can arise in the Matrix.

I should add that all parties involved are fairly up on the history and roleplaying
aspects of the Matrix. We know what Shadowland is, what a SAN and a Host are....etc...

What we really need is a walkthrough of a Matrix adventure/session. I don't know what you
would call the format, but it looks like this:

GM: roll some dice...blah,blah..
player1:I rolled 2000*rule of 6* :)
psychotroll: I hit him in the head...

etc...

Any help that is forthcoming would be most appreciated.
Later...
Steelwolf

From:	gte138j@****.gatech.edu (Jeff Stewart)
Subject:	help with decking
Date:	Mon, 10 Feb 2003 14:40:00 -0500 (EST)

Message no. 2 On Mon, 10 Feb 2003 steelwolf@***.net wrote:

> Help! I know you folks should be the perfect ones to talk to about
> a problem that has come up in recent sessions of our local SR
> campaign. In past Chronicles the adventures have for the most part
> been very real world and/or magical in nature. No one ever played a
> decker. Now a character has sprung up who is an expert decker and
> the GM is at a loss for exactly how to handle the variety of
> situations that can arise in the Matrix.

Ooookay, well...decking is much easier than magic, I assure you. ^_^
I'll try to give you a brief tutorial below.

(A whole bunch of people in the computer lab here at college just
stared at me when I whipped out my Matrix book. This can't be good)

> What we really need is a walkthrough of a Matrix adventure/session.
> I don't know what you would call the format, but it looks like this:
>
> GM: roll some dice...blah,blah..
> player1:I rolled 2000*rule of 6* :)
> psychotroll: I hit him in the head...
>
> etc...
>
> Any help that is forthcoming would be most appreciated.
> Later...
> Steelwolf

Player: Okay, I want to hack into "X host on the Seattle LTG".

GM: First you have to log onto the Seattle LTG, so jack in and do a
Log on to LTG system operation. (GM rolls the security value of the
Seattle LTG against the decker's deception rating, gets no successes)

Player: (Rolls his computer skill plus hacking pool against a target
number equal to the Access rating of the Seattle LTG minus the
decker's Deception utility. He gets 6 successes.)

GM: (Since the decker needs 1 net success to be able to log on, we
compare the decker's successes to the LTG's successes. The decker got
6 net successes, so he can log on) Okay, you're on the Seattle LTG. Do
you have an LTG number for the host?

Player: No, but I know the name of it.

GM: Okay, you have to perform a Locate Host System Operation. (GM
rolls the Seattle LTG's security value against a target number equal
to the decker's deception rating. He gets 0 successes again)

Player: (Rolls his computer skill plus hacking pool against a target
number equal to the LTG's Index rating minus the decker's browse
utility rating. The decker gets 3 successes)

GM: (Since Locate Host is an interrogation operation, the decker needs
a total of 5 net successes to be able to Locate the host. Comparing
successes, we see that the decker got 3 net successes so far) Okay,
you'll need to perform the Locate Host operation again. You've looked
around and you're fairly sure you know where it is, but you haven't
pinned down which host it is yet. (Rolls the LTG's security value
against the decker's deception rating. Gets 0 successes again)

Player: Okay. (Rolls computer plus hacking pool against a target
number equal to the LTG's Index rating minus the decker's browse
utility rating. He gets 2 successes)

GM: (Since this is an interrogation operation, net successes stack
over a number of subsequent rolls. The GM takes the decker's previous
net successes - 3 successes, and adds them to the number of net
successes he got this time - 2 successes. Since the total is 5
successes, the decker succeeds at locating the Host) Okay, you found
the host. It is a towering black Tesla coil with the letters AG formed
in blue electricity at the top.

Player: Okay, I want to log on to the host.

GM: Okay, make a Log on to Host system operation (The host the decker
is trying to log on to is an Orange-8/10/12/15/10/12, a very tough
host. So, the GM rolls the system's security value against the
decker's deception rating. This time he gets 1 success)

Player: (Rolls his computer rating plus hacking pool against a target
number equal to the Host's Access rating minus his Deception utility.
The decker only gets 2 successes this time)

GM: (Since the decker needs 1 net success to log on, he compares the
decker's successes to the host's successes. The decker got the one net
success he needed, so he manages to log on - just barely! Since the
Host got 1 success against the decker, the decker's security tally
goes up by 1) Okay, you've logged onto the host. The interior of the
host is a large cylindrical pyramid with blue lines criss crossing the
"ground" and passing through the air. Files hang in midair, they look
like small sparks dancing in the sky. You see large electrical bursts
passing along the blue lines, moving around the host. What do you do?

....Continue on from here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Essentially, decking is just a series of tests that determine how
effectively the decker is at doing something. It should be noted that
decking is a PROACTIVE activity, meaning that the decker is the one
that initiates most of the activity (At least until the IC/Security
deckers start showing up and everything goes down the drekker). Hope
this helps some.

Jeff Stewart |
Email: gte138j@****.gatech.edu | Post no bills

From:	gte138j@****.gatech.edu (Jeff Stewart)
Subject:	help with decking
Date:	Mon, 10 Feb 2003 16:30:11 -0500 (EST)

Message no. 3 > <snip>

I apologize if my previous email got sent out 3 times. Apparently the
school's email server...hic-up'd? Late this afternoon, it apparently
started vomitting out copies of emails for what our IT guys tell us
is "No readily apparent reason". Hopefully this issue has been
resolved.

Jeff Stewart |
Email: gte138j@****.gatech.edu | Post no bills

From:	matrix@*******.nu (MatrixRat)
Subject:	help with decking
Date:	Mon, 10 Feb 2003 16:35:07 -0800

Message no. 4 http://seattle.darkrelic.net/DeckingMain.shtml
has a couple links for use. also a good GMing tool is at
www.cattail.nu/cgi-bin/matrix.cgi

MatrixRat

----- Original Message -----
From: <steelwolf@***.net>
To: <shadowrn@*****.dumpshock.com>
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2003 10:19 AM
Subject: help with decking

> Help! I know you folks should be the perfect ones to talk to about a
problem that has come up in recent sessions of our local SR campaign. In
past Chronicles the adventures have for the most part been very real world
and/or magical in nature. No one ever played a decker. Now a character has
sprung up who is an expert decker and the GM is at a loss for exactly how to
handle the variety of situations that can arise in the Matrix.
>
> I should add that all parties involved are fairly up on the history and
roleplaying aspects of the Matrix. We know what Shadowland is, what a SAN
and a Host are....etc...
>
> What we really need is a walkthrough of a Matrix adventure/session. I
don't know what you would call the format, but it looks like this:
>
> GM: roll some dice...blah,blah..
> player1:I rolled 2000*rule of 6* :)
> psychotroll: I hit him in the head...
>
> etc...
>
> Any help that is forthcoming would be most appreciated.
> Later...
> Steelwolf
>

From:	jzealey@***.edu.au (James Zealey)
Subject:	help with decking
Date:	Tue, 11 Feb 2003 09:40:02 +1100

Message no. 5 > <steelwolf@***.net> wrote
>
>
> Help! I know you folks should be the perfect ones to talk to about a problem that
has come up in recent sessions of our local SR campaign. In past Chronicles the
adventures have for the most part been very real world and/or magical in nature. No one
ever played a decker. Now a character has sprung up who is an expert decker and the GM is
at a loss for exactly how to handle the variety of situations that can arise in the
Matrix.
>
> I should add that all parties involved are fairly up on the history and roleplaying
aspects of the Matrix. We know what Shadowland is, what a SAN and a Host are....etc...
>
> What we really need is a walkthrough of a Matrix adventure/session. I don't know
what you would call the format, but it looks like this:
>
> GM: roll some dice...blah,blah..
> player1:I rolled 2000*rule of 6* :)
> psychotroll: I hit him in the head...
>
> etc...
>

Ok, here's how the run goes. Bear in mind that I'm doing this from
memory, so there may be errors, or missing steps.

It's assumed that the decker has a connection point already. He's going
to a site which is on an LTG, finding a file, and then copying it. The
LTG is an orange 5, with an ACIFS of 7/5/5/6/7. The host is a red 8 with
an ACIFS of 10/9/8/10/9. His deck is a rating 8, with a BEMS of 6/6/6/6
a response increase of 2, and hardening 3. The decker himself has an
intelligence of 4, giving him a hacking pool of ((8+4)/3 =) 4, and a
computer skill of 6. His initiative is 4 + 3d6. His utilities are:

Analyse 4
Attack 4M
Browse 4
Deception 4
Sleaze 4
Read/Write 4

This gives him a detection factor of (Sleaze+Masking)/2=(4+6)/2 = 5

Player: OK, I log onto the LTG

GM: Roll initiative (this is necessary to find out when hacking pool
recharges, and therefore whether the decker hangs around waiting for it
to refill before he does things)

Player: 18 - that's two goes.

GM: OK, roll to log on (Rolls the host rating, 5d6, versus a TN of the
decker's detection factor - he gets a 5 and a 6, both of which beat it,
so he adds two to the security tally)

Player: (Note - the GM doesn't give a TN because the player doesn't know
the rating of the system yet) I got two 2's, a 3, two 5's and an 8. I
didn't use any hacking pool

GM: (Works out the numbers - this is a test versus the Access rating of
the LTG, which is a 7. The rating of the appropriate utility is
subtracted from that to give the final TN. In this case, the utility is
Deception, so the TN is 3. The player got 4 successes, versus the host's
2, so the decker is in. Note that the players roll doesn't affect the
security tally at all)

Player: OK, now I need to find the host I'm looking for.

GM: "You know the procedure." (ie - that every roll the decker makes to
attempt things is his computer skill plus his hacking pool if he chooses)

Player: "This is important, and it's also my last action for the round,
so I may as well throw all of my hacking pool in. I get 11, 3, 1, 1, 4,
3, 2, 1, 10, 4."

GM: (Rolls the host vs detection factor again - this is the same for
every test. He gets 3 successes so he adds 3 to the security tally. This
test was using the browse utility versus the host's index, or a TN of 1.
The decker got 7 successes, so he caned the host, and got the info. That
still doesn't change his tally, which is at 5) "You found the host."

GM: OK, initiative again.

Player: 14. I go to access the host. I put in full pool, and I get 7, 1,
3, 4, 2, 10, 9, 1, 8, 3. (note that this is unwise - he'd be much better
off saving some pool for when he actually gets into the host - in case
he immediately gets hit by IC. He can't actually find out how tough the
host is from outside, so he's basically going in blind)

GM: (Rolls the red host vs detection factor. 3 successes. The test is
using Deception vs Access again, so the TN is 10-4, or 6. The guy
scrapes in, but adds another 3 to his security tally, which is now 8.
Since this is a semi-secure host, the security tally for it contains a
probe IC 6 at 4 on the tally, and some white IC(anyone remember the name
of this stuff? It causes stun) 7 at 8 on the tally). OK, you're in. Roll
me a sensor test (just like perception normally - TN is the IC rating).

Player: Craaaap! I got a 5, 1, 3, 3, 1, 1!

GM: OK, you see a man in a formal suit approach you - he taps you on the
shoulder and asks what you're doing?

Player: Oh, probe IC, thank goodness.

GM: (Rolls initiative for the white IC - I can't remember how to do it
though... I think it's based off the host rating? Anyway, it gets an 8.
The player goes at 4) While you're distracted, a big bruiser comes up
from behind you and starts to strangle you. (IC combat has started)

Can someone finish this off? I'm not too clear on the combat rules - my
character kinda started his decking career with an expensive deck, and
good utilities, so I didn't ever actually get attacked by IC much.

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