| From: | Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: VR 2.0 |
| Date: | Thu, 28 May 1998 17:42:33 -0400 |
>In my opinion, Virtual Realities 2.0 is an excellent book; the rules and
>systems described are robust and detailed, and the wealth of information
>provided allows for campaigns set entirely within the Matrix, in which
>every character is a decker.
Good book, but it still confuses me for some reason. Maybe it's because
I'm math-phobic, maybe it's because I simply don't allow deckers in my
games. But parts of that and Rigger 2 leave me scratching my head. Gimme
my Grimmy or Awakening or FoF anyday!
>Both of these systems seem at odds with one of the aspects of deckers
>which I have always thought to be important: the idea that deckers write
>their own programs on a regular basis, indeed, use their own programs
>almost exclusively.
Well, what does a decker do when they're not running? Sure, they're
playing Matrix Quake 23 part of that time. And probably some eating and
sleeping in there too. But I would imagine the bulk of their time would be
spent programming. That's what they do after all.
See, I imagine the bulk of a PCs off-time to be devoted to appropriate skills.
A street sam probably lifts weights, practices martial arts and does target
practice at least 20 hours a week.
A hermetic has his head in a magic book (or on MagicNet) and that sort of
thing at least 30-40 hours a week.
A decker would be programming 30-40 hours a week.
A rigger would be tinkering with their drones and vehicles 20-30 hours a
week, probably stuff like target practice also.
That leaves plenty of time for partying and shadowrunning.
So maybe the base time is a bit high, but not grotesquely high in my
opinion. A serious kick-ass attack program (which is what an 8 is to me)
should take a few weeks to a month.
Erik J.
"Ladies & Gentleman, the newest member of the band, the one and only Spice
Boy, GRUMPY SPICE!!!" <and the crowd goes wild!!!>
