From:	shadowrn@*********.com (Damion Milliken)
Subject:	Deckers, need new system
Date:	Fri Mar 15 01:50:02 2002

chipeloi@***.nl writes:

> I need a system that's simple to use but stil have inuf fun in it to get
> ppl to play a decker And chalenging inuf to stil be good fun to play

I've got this handy system that Ice Heart posted a while back. It might be
usable.

-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-
My current campaign involves a DocWagon HRT that gets hung out to dry after
a botched response. Obviously, no decker in the group. The rigger has some
minor computer skill, but no interest in investing in a deck on top of all
his other expenses. The group has two different decker contacts that they
farm out all decking jobs to. One of the contacts only does matrix legwork
(personal paranoia) and the other has very limited equipment (member of a
small gang). I wrestled with how to make the decking completely background
without being completely arbitrary. After all, there is always some random
chance to everthing. I came up with a quick system that works fairly well.
Each system level has a success/failure threshhold, a risk/reward threshold,
and a degree of success/failure. It is all decided with a roll of three or
four dice.

success threshold = number to roll for success
degree of danger = number to roll to get a complication
risk/reward = percentage success, and possibly damage from run

Blue
success threshold: 2 (only a roll of 1 is a failure)
degree of danger: 6 (only a 6 results in complication)
risk/reward: -1/+4
risk: 0-50% [(D6-1)*10] utility/deck damage, sytem alerts, trace IC
success, etc
reward: 50-100% [(D6+4)*10] paydata points, information
retrieval/implant, etc.

Green
success: 3 (1 or 2 is failure)
degree: 5 (5 or 6 is complication)
risk/reward: +0/+3
risk: 20-70% damage, alerts, etc.
reward: 40-90% paydata, info, etc.

Orange
success: 4
degree: 4
risk/reward: +1/+2

Red
success: 5
degree: 3
risk/reward +2/+1

UV
deckers-for-hire do not risk these systems on purpose
if they end up in one it is a story event and the NPC is about to suffer
some serious deus ex machina courtesy of the GM :>

the NPC can subtract some or all of their proffesional rating from the
threshholds and risk factor, and add it to reward factors. minimum
threshold is 2, and min/max percentages are 0/100. if the decker still
fails, they raise the risk factor instead of lowering it. this means that a
decker who subtracts their proffesional rating of 4 from the success
threshold on a red system and still rolls a 1 now faces a 4 in 6 chance of
complication, but with a risk factor of +6. That gives him 70-100% deck
damage, etc!
lets look at a couple of examples of this system

Joe Decker is hired by PCs to run overwatch for their run. The host is
Orange. GM rolls a 5: success. Then he rolls a 2: no complication. Joe
Decker is successfully observing the runners, opening doors and turning off
cameras. Say he rolls a 4 on the reward roll. He has a 60% success. He
covers most of his tracks, altering or deleting logs. The host does not
even know that some of the tampering was done. Had Joe opted to use his
prof. rating of 2 to lower the threshold, he would have also have added 2 to
the reward percentage. Joe did not want to push the envelope, so he just
pulled a decent run.

Joe is hired to track down some info for the runners on a potential target.
He faces a red system. He throws his prof. rating into the mix, needing the
extra edge. He rolls a 2. Oops. He then rolls a 2 again. That is a big
failure. Adding his prof. rating to the risk factor and rolling the die
(4), Joe is looking at an 80% extraordinary failure. All the utilities he
used are fried, his MPCP is degraded , and the corp has a rough idea of
which grid he was decking from. Had he not given his maximum effort, he
could have aborted sooner and suffered much smaller problems.

Joe gets a call for a cake job. Post some annoying grafitti about a corp
veep on some matrix adverts. The decker sleezes onto the blue host without
a sweat. (GM rolls a 3). Then Joe's luck goes away. The GM rolls a 6 on
the degree of danger. He then rolls a 4 on the risk roll. That is a result
of 3, or 30% damage/host successes against Joe. Had Joe rolled a 4 on the
second roll, he would have just had a successful run. He then rolls for
reward, with anywhere from 50-100% success.

Note that Joe can achieve some percentage of success AND complicate as well,
facing some percentage of difficulties. (Thus the potential fourth roll.)

This system has worked well in my games for over four years. It saves me a
lot of time, and keeps the players tense about hired help. NPC deckers
usually charge a certain fee, with complication expenses negotiable on
completion. Sunday night, our last session, the group paid their decker to
scare up some information on a missing person. The dekcer got the info, but
charged an extra grand because an unexpected bouncing host turned red and
ate all her copies of an attack utility with a tar pit.

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong
Unofficial Shadowrun Guru E-mail: dam01@***.edu.au
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