From:	reynardsurface@*****.com (Pace)
Subject:	Hacking a Smartlink in SR4
Date:	Tue, 4 Oct 2005 04:57:00 -0500

On 10/4/05, Ray Macey <raymacey@*****.com> wrote:
>
>
> Hacking cyberware is a tactical consideration that may very rarely
> produce a benefit worth the risk. It's not capable of the gross
> damage dealing and problem causing you attribute it
>

See, I was thinking the same thing. Even if you manage to disable said
smartlink... it's a loss of 2 dice. You could impose a vision mod and
achieve the same effect. Personally, I like the interconnected nature of the
technology, from what I've seen, and discussing the realism of a ruleset
outlined a scant few pages from the rules for summoning personifications of
nature to do your dirty work seems like folly.

It's a bidding system, just like the TN modifier shuffle of SR3. The
aggressor is attempting to lower the defenders capacity for response. The
defender is attempting to mitigate the aggressor's impact on said capacity.
This is not an unknown dynamic in the world of game design.

If it's a choice between a hacker boning my smartlink in SR4 over the course
of several turns and costing me two dice, or a guy with venomed hand razors
hitting me with 3 soak rolls and a cumulative +10 or more modifier with one
complex action in SR3, I know which i'll pick.