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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Doctor Doom <JCH8169@*****.TAMU.EDU>
Subject: Technomancing
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1993 16:53:32 -0600
Von Herrn Joseph Cotton

>I posted this on r.g.f.cyber a while back, where it mostly sank without
>a trace. My question is this: If Combat pool use is limited by skill,
>Rigging pool use is limited by skill, and Magic pool use limited by ability
>(Magic Rating), why is your hacking pool limited by your program?

[...]

>I feel that John the Super Hacker _should_ be able to get that Sleaze-2
>to do more than Joe the "What's an any key?" l-user. But under the
>present system they both roll 4 dice (assuming they both have 2 dice
>in their hacking pools, of course).

I can recall my considerable chagrin at being informed that the Hacking Pool no
longer could be utilized in its entirety in Decking Tests. Certainly there are
arguments for either side; however, I feel I understand why this decision was
made... Given the examples you cited above, there is heavy emphasis upon the
limiting of dice available to bring to bear in a specific test, the logical
conclusion would be to make it applicable to Technomancing as well.

It is, in some ways, a Balancing Factor, if you will...

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Von Herrn Warlok:

>Excuse me, but where are you getting these numbers for the hacking pool???

>Did version 2 redo the decking parts???

There has been a small degree of modification of the Decking Rules, deviating
slightly from their appearance in Virtual Realities.

>I thought Virtual Realities was still the big book of decking??

It is. As the Dark Lord stated in my most recent audience with him, Virtual
Realities has not been abandoned. SOME of it has been modified in the
ShadowRun Second Edtion manual, but that which remains is still valid.

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VonHerrn Roberts:

> I am a begining human Decker and I need advice as to what types of
>Cyberware is best for a decker and still be efective outside the net.

Possibilites would include...(assuming your Game Master permits ShadowTech)

Datajack (levels 1-4...if no Headware memory is present, opt for Level 1)

Besides this, other systems may be selected...although they should be
considered optional:

Encephalon (levels 1-4)
SPU (Math) (levels 1-4)
Headware Memory...probably on the order of 200-300Mps
Cerebral Booster (levels 1-2) <Bioware system>

It is important to realize when selecting cyberware that Wired Reflexes, and
similar Initiative augmenting systems DO NOT apply to the Matrix. The only
method for doing so is via the cyberdeck's Response Increase.

> I also heard that you can get something called Alpha, and Beta, to
>reduce the Essince cost of the CyberWear.

Exactly.

The designation "Alpha" or "Beta" denotes customized cyberware
systems.
Hence, they are significantly more forgiving towards Essence; however,
such apparatus are quite a great deal (almost prohibitively) more expensive.

Alpha's Essence cost is only 80% of the original system. It comes at triple
the price; however.

Beta occupies a mere 60% of the orignal Essence value...but is seven times as
expensive as the less refined variant.

PLEASE NOTE: The above systems are included in ShadowTech, and as such, ARE
NOT available in either Alpha or Beta grades at present.

> I Would like all the help that I can get in this matter.

Certainly.

> Is it possible to combine magic with the Deck or the net.

Absolutely not.


Colonel Count von Hohenzollern und von Doom, DMSc, DSc, PhD.

Doom Technologies & Weapon Systems -- Dark Thought Publications
>>> Working on solutions best left in the dark.
<<<
[ Doctor Doom : jch8169@********.tamu.edu ]
^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
"The sciences...will open up such terrifying vistas of reality,
and of our frightful position therein, that we shall go mad...
or flee from the deadly light into...a new dark age."
-- H. P. Lovecraft
Message no. 2
From: Warlok <EHULTGRE@******.BITNET>
Subject: Re: Technomancing
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1993 14:46:03 EST
Herr Doctor ( or anyone else),
Please illuminate me with the changes to Hacking Pool Use from Shadowrun 2.
I am still using VR and enjoy it quite a bit. I see no problem with the system
as I have it. ( Except for not being able to crunch MPCPs or brain cells!)

-Warlok

"With tomahawks of candy cane, we split the head and eat the brain!"
Message no. 3
From: Dave Sherohman <esper@*****.IMA.UMN.EDU>
Subject: Re: Technomancing
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1993 16:05:43 -0600
The main change in Hacking Pool use is that, in SR2, your program's rating is
the maximum number of Hacking Pool dice that can be added to a test.

esper@***.umn.edu
Message no. 4
From: Warlok <EHULTGRE@******.BITNET>
Subject: Re: Technomancing
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1993 13:26:36 EST
WHAT???????? Oh for Chrissake!!!!! I'm sorry, but I just don't see this point!!
Guess that's one rule I won't be putting in my house version. <Pheh!!>
I am not even going ot ask how they justified this!!!
Sure, lets go and cripple deckers some more!!( "Yeah, he don't need this leg, d
o he Boss??" " No, he can hobble around perfectly well on one!!")

Gawd!

-Warlok

<Stands defiant and shakes his fist at nothing in particular>

"With tomahawks of candy cane, we split the head and eat the brains"
Message no. 5
From: Robert Watkins <bob@**.NTU.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Technomancing
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 12:48:14 +0930
>
>Von Herrn Joseph Cotton
>
>>I posted this on r.g.f.cyber a while back, where it mostly sank without
>>a trace. My question is this: If Combat pool use is limited by skill,
>>Rigging pool use is limited by skill, and Magic pool use limited by ability
>>(Magic Rating), why is your hacking pool limited by your program?
>
>[...]
>
>>I feel that John the Super Hacker _should_ be able to get that Sleaze-2
>>to do more than Joe the "What's an any key?" l-user. But under the
>>present system they both roll 4 dice (assuming they both have 2 dice
>>in their hacking pools, of course).
>

Of course, John the Super Hacker can create a Sleaze-3 and pump 3 dice in,
if he's got 12 points in his Hacking Pool. Sleaze-4, and 4 dice, if he's
got the ungodly Pool of 20. (That'll be Reaction 6, Response 2, and Decking
Specialization of 12. Guess he really is a super hacker).

More importantly, John the Super Hacker can write a Sleaze-4 in about 12
days, on average, with a starting computer skill of 6. Can Joe the Super
L-user do that?

What it reflects is the fact that a decker without his programs is like a
sammie in his long johns with no weapons. That is, unprepared.

--
Robert Watkins bob@******.cs.ntu.edu.au
Real Programmers never work 9 to 5. If any real programmers are around at 9 am,
it's because they were up all night.

Further Reading

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Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.