| From: | runnerpaul@*****.com runnerpaul@*****.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | NPC Deckers [was: Construction of items...] |
| Date: | Wed, 25 Aug 1999 22:28:04 -0400 (EDT) |
Let me preface this with a disclaimer: I love deckers. I love the
matrix rules as they stand now, especially compared to what came
before in SR1 and VR1. I know how important deckers are to any runner
team, and how important they are to 205X-206X society in general.
The whole reason I started this thread was because someone expressed
distress at how many GMs on the list here use NPCs for the team's
decker. He said it was like making the team's mage an NPC because
they spend so much time on the astral. I merely wanted to point out
why I think so many deckers do get the NPC treatment.
At 12:46 PM 8/25/99 -0500, Caxal Balam wrote:
::Sure mages go on the Astral, which requires the same kind of GM to
::Player one-on-one interaction that deckers require, but mages also
::have lots of mage-specific things they can do that don't require
::the GM's 100% attention.
:
:Wrong, remember that each action in real world its one action in the
:Matrix,
<<Snip>>
:So you must roll your initiative in the same time as your
:buddies and see how well it will be.
:
:In this kind of situations my GM swaps in my turn of initiative as
:well as in the rest of the party, so the Gm doesnt gives me a his
:whole attention.
I concede that the phrase "require the GM's 100% attention" is a poor
choice of words that doesn't describe the situation properly.
However, decking (and astral projection too, generally) is still
essentially a one-on-one interaction between player and GM. Short of
guarding the decker's meatbod, keeping harm at bay, there is nothing
that the other PCs can do to help the decker. The players can only
sit back and watch passively while things are going on in an entire
other world from the one their own characters are in, no chance for
interaction.
This is true not only when the GM pulls the decker aside for a
"side-session" but also true when the GM handles the decker's combat
turns the same time as everyone elses. When decking becomes involved,
the game's focus is suddenly divided between two separate and
independent worlds, even if you handle it on a timesharing basis
during the same combat turn.
::When they're not jacked in, the decker is relegated to doing the
::generic tasks that really anyone on the team can take care of.
:
:Ok, what are the relegated activities? Every activity its just as
:important as the other.
I'm not saying that these sorts of activities aren't mission
critical. Negotiation, electronic lockpicking, pre-run research,
on-the-spot tactical planning, and even seduction are all valid
activities that are highly important in many runs. However, they're
generic activities, in that any member of the team can learn how to
do them. There's nothing inherently "decker" about them.
::While a decker might be good at some of these auxiliary tasks, and
::possibly better than anyone else on the team, they're not dependent
:: on the character being a decker. Decker players have to strike a
::delicate balance: if they focus on trying to be the best decker
::they can be, they're not as effective in the meat world.
:
:No way, the only thing a decker needs its a Datajack, a fair
:computer skill thats it (mainly), so you could give him a Booster
:Reflexes just in case, a good Athletics, a hell of Negotiations,
:and a fair Pistols and you got a really nice Semi Street Sam how
:can be just as deadly as any recently new char.
Only the datajack and a fair computer skill? What about the
cyberdeck, and the programs you run on it?
Those cost nuyen, and the better ones cost lots of nuyen. Take a high
nuyen amount at chargen to buy decker necessities and combat
cyberware, and you've limited yourself in how good your starting
attributes are, and how many skills you can take (especially under
SR3 where the skills can cost more if you have low attributes),
especially if you're also playing a metahuman decker.
It is something to work for as character development, I suppose.
::It would be nice if deckers were allowed to use some form of
::wireless communication.
:
:Ok, what about the cell phones?
What about cell phones?
p.287, BBB3
"Decking cannot be done over cellular frequencies."
Easy enough to houserule around, but houserules vary from GM to GM.
As published, the only wireless form of decking available is satlink,
with that several kilogram half-meter dish you have to line up.
::The other big part of the problem, a decker needs to drop into an
::immersive VR simulation to do anything on the matrix. While
::normally, this is a good thing, it'd be nice if they could do some
::stuff without having to go into their own little world all the
::time.
:
:Come on... ok its hard to deck and see the real world at the same
:time, but thats part of the cool thing in a decker you could enter
:get the info and run.
IMO, the reason deckers get pigeonholed into NPC status so much, is
that they have to go off into their own little world to "do their
thing". Compare this to mages. A mage can still do plenty of
mage-specific stuff in the meatworld, they don't have to go on a
metaplanar quest every time they want to cast a spell.
:Besides while you are in the matrix there are some stuff called
:"Hikerjacks" that lets anyone to see what are you doing in the
:matrix
Hitcherjacks, vidscreens, or even just letting the other players
listen in and trust them to keep player knowledge separate from
character knowledge all suffer from the same general problem. A
matrix run provides no good chance for the other players to interact
with the situation. No matter how compelling a story the GM can
develop for what's happening in the matrix, everyone but the decker
have to sit back and just watch.
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