| From: | Bruce gyro@********.co.za |
|---|---|
| Subject: | NPC Deckers [was: Construction of items...] |
| Date: | Thu, 26 Aug 1999 09:58:55 +0200 |
Date: 26 August 1999 04:47
Subject: Re: NPC Deckers [was: Construction of items...]
>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
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>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.
It's pity that many of us that love this game gloss over this
character type.
>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.
That would be me :) The mage example was poor I admit.
<snip>
>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.
What about setting up a secure location for the satlink to go from?
The other team members may have to sit around a bit, but that does not
preclude them from roleplaying among themselves, discussing the
current mission or swapping stories about their weekends or previous
missions or whatever. When the corp response team comes over
the rise, they'll be plenty busy. :)
<snip>
<snip some more>
>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.
Agreed here. I feel that we can make a difference here by pointing
out the good parts of having a decker PC in the group. If all the
players and the GM make an efort there is no reason why the decker
should slow things down. The emphasis is on the player to know what
he wants to do, know the rules WELL, and have the appropriate dice
in hand at the time they are needed. This speeds things up, I assure
you.
<snip wireless>
<snip immersiveness>
>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.
I dont ask deckers to make runs on a regular basis. A really
intense Matrix run does NOT occur every session. The deckers
functions of inpho gathering can be handled by smart frames and other
goodies. Not every function of the decker has to do with Black IC and
Red Host loaded for bear. Intruding into a corp, org. crime or .mil
host is
a major risk and the same way that the group does not invade a corp
zero zone every session, it is unreasonable to assume that deckers
would have to risk that much all the time.
<snipp hitcherjacks and .sig>
- + - BRUCE <gyro@********.co.za> -
MiX it UP!
