As far as gear goes, the beginning post says gear was limited to “Rating” 4. That to me meant Device rating. I did not realize you were talking about availability. Need to go through gear and check availabilities real quick.

My bad. I should have checked my post. Yes, please keep gear to Availability 4 or less unless purchasing a High (5) or Luxury (6) lifestyle.

I'm in the same situation about Availability 4. I need to figure out whether I should downgrade my 'ware or upgrade my Lifestyle.

@All
I'm not strong on the Matrix rules. What's a good commlink for a non-decker?

@Glitch
mounted HMG, you say

@Tu Bahd
If you're a combat character then your Reaction is probably pretty good. A point in Piloting (maybe with a specialization in Ground Craft) could make you a back-up driver in case Glitch or Glitch's spirits are otherwise occupied.

Oof.  There goes a chunk of my bioware...  (all cultured bioware is Availability 5)

Sony Emperor and Erika Elite are both decent...  the Erika Elite has a Defense of 3 versus your common schlub hackernewb and the Sony a 2 (it's Data Processing + Firewall=Defense).

In a commlink's stat lines the "D/F" is "Data Processing/Firewall", so if you're just lookinf to 'keep the clubkiddies' out of your commlink, either are fine, but the Erika has just that little bit of extra processing power.

You aren't going to keep a dedicated hacker out with a standard commlink.  So buy two, one you use everywhere with nothing important attached to it, and one to use only when you turn it on that may have more important files, info, programs.

In reply to Ex-Cop (msg # 59):

It may be better to upgrade the lifestyle to start. You would have to spend an extra 5000 nuyen to upgrade the lifestyle, but may be easier than redoing all your bioware.

My reason for implementing this, and again I apologize for the confusion, is simply that as starting runners there have to be extenuating circumstances for you to have access to such high tech gear. Looking at the core rules on availability ratings:

4. Now we’re getting into specialty markets. These are things not intended for mass markets, and their specialized function isn’t for everyone. Few people in any given sprawl carry them, and their supplies are limited.
5. True specialty items. These may be collector’s items or things deliberately made for a niche audience, but they are not at all easy to find.
6. These are quite rare, often hand-crafted items. Small workshops and specialty manufacturers make them, and you’ll never find them at a major retailer. Work hard, and you might track a by-appointment seller who will sell you one.

So given that how would your runners on low or middle lifestyles, just starting out in the business, have come by these items? That's why I'm suggesting the limits based on lifestyle. Remember however you can allow the lifestyle to lapse. It is throwing away money but if it'll get you that cultured bioware maybe it's worth it.

As far as getting hacked, as long as my deck is the master device over everyone’s commlinks then most people won’t be able to find them and be hard to hack if they do since they would be going up against Glitch in his element.

In reply to Glitch (msg # 62):

Remember there is no penalty to run silent in Shadowrun 6e. I'll be assuming everyone is running silent unless they tell me otherwise.

On the subject of Matrix shenanigans, am I being a bit dumb or have Agents disappeared for the time being?

Agent programs are still here.

While on matrix items one point I want to make about networking the team PANs behind the decker's improved PAN is that obviously this only works if the decker is physically within range of the team. The range I will be using is Data Processing x 100 meters. Outside of this range team members will have to connect directly to the matrix.

In order to increase the range you can purchase an accessory:

PAN Range Extender    DR 2, Avail 1, Cost  250Y - extends range to DP x 200 meters

and slave it to your PAN.

Damn, there goes my Mortimer suit & greatcoat. Also, it looks as though Mason never learned to drive (cue Inbetweeners bus wankers references).
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 22:49, Mon 28 June 2021.

In reply to FreeMason (msg # 67):

What prevented him from driving? Lack of skill? After all for the money of the suit and greatcoat you can get a Vespa (Dodge Scoot) and a good pair of Chelsea boots. Go for the Mod look (though I think I just aged myself)

I think it's going to be more a lack of skills, with the corp not having his driving as a priority. Unless I drop enchanting a bit to give extra points.

Oh, yeah, that would work.  And it would fit with the character being a "rising media" personality to spend big and not save for the rainiest of days...

Get used to me occasionally misreading something, I'm pulling 12 hour shifts and the insomnia is kicking back in hard.




I remember the Mods... man... *cough* I mean, waaaaay before my time.

(The scene rolled into my area in the mid 80s when I was in grade/high school school, so yeah, the actual Mod scene was a bit before my glory days, just a wee bit.)

Def buying that PAN extender, but got some questions about slaving devices.

I've read the book up and down, and there isn't much to go off as to how exactly slaving works (or maybe I'm just blind).

• I've got two commlinks (Renraku built into clothes), one or two meta links, and a micro-transceiver.
• Both of my commlinks have DP 2, so they can slave up to two devices Metalink has one.
• I slave my micro to a metalink
• Slave said meta to Renraku
• Slave extra meta to Erika
• Slave both Commlinks to PAN

At this point, I presume I am able to switch between both meta links; one for personal, one for ops. I also guess that with an action I can switch which meta link I'm using for the micro. The meta links each use the Firewall rating of the commlinks. If a decker tries to hack my ish, they would have to go through the micro first, then the meta, then the commlink, then my PAN. Is this all correct? Can a decker just jump straight to the PAN?

Next:

• Micro > Meta Link > Renraku
• Slave Renraku to Erika

So now, does Erika's FW serve as another layer of defense for the Renraku for my personal use? Also, would Erika be tracked/trackable if I used Renraku?

Lastly:

• Micro > Meta Link > Erika
• Meta Link > Renraku > Erika
• Erika to Captain Glitch's Deck

So in this long chain, my micro-transceiver simply benefits from Glitch's good stuff, correct?

Def feel like I'm over thinking this. Sheet's almost done!

But counting all the cost is a bummer.

In reply to Tu Bahd (msg # 71):

Here's what I think your PAN should look like:

                                            +-Meta-Link
                                            |
(Access Point)Erika Elite--+-Renraku Sensai-+-Meta Link-+-Micro-Transceiver
                           |
                           +-PAN Extender

This would allow you to leave the Erika Elite up to 600m away from your location and still allow your Renraku Sensai to connect to it, assuming the Sensai and Meta Links are on your person. (See alternate stats below)

Assuming Hacker is Remote:

If the Erika is connected directly to the Matrix a hacker would use the Erika's stats to hack your system (3/4), but if connected to Glitch's PAN would use his defensive rating (assuming it is better)

If someone accesses you Erika host then the PAN Extender and the Sensai can use the Erika's FW stat as their defense against further intrusion.

If they then access the Sensai the Meta Link can use the Sensai's stats (2/3) and then the Micro-Transceiver will use the Meta-Link's stats (1/2).

Assuming Hacker is Local:

If the opposing decker is within the range of your PAN extender (600m) and are working on a wireless enabled deck (note that most corporate deckers do not have wireless enabled decks, they have a hard-wired connection to their network and use the capabilities of the host to provide defensive and offensive capabilities) then they can attempt to hack your Erika host directly (without first hacking into a protecting host of course the Erika can still use the host's defensive ratings) and if they are within 300m they can attempt to hack your Sensai directly and if they are within 100m they can attempt to hack your Meta Links directly. The reason for this is that they are within the connection range for your device's "hotspot".

There is a lot of noise about how the stats on commlinks are too low. I will post an alternate table in the house rules that we will use. This also increases the number of devices that can be slaved to a commlink.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:23, Tue 29 June 2021.

Thanks for that clean explanation. I don't plan on getting bogged down with the deets anymore than that, but just wanted to make sure I had my head right for it.

On the topic of PANs, have I understood how they work if the below is what I have in mind for Mason's when out in public?

                      Sony Emperor (Slaved, Not Silent. SINS/Licences & none suspicious drek)
                           |
(Master Device, Silent)Erika Elite--+--Guns 'n' Gear

In reply to FreeMason (msg # 74):

Pretty much. A couple of things to note:

1. You can slave 3 devices to the Erika. One is the Sony Emperor so you can slave 2 additional devices. Other devices can be connected to your PAN but will be unprotected (0 FW) and can be hacked directly. You can also slave 2 devices to the Sony.
2. SINs/Licenses can exist on any device but you might want to consider the way Tu Bahd is doing it and rather than one Sony Emperor get a Meta Link for each SIN. That way if/when the SIN gets burnt you only have to junk a cheap commlink. Just like cellphones today commlinks leave a digital trace, communications can not only be traced to personal information but to hardware too. So using the same commlink for multiple SINs leaves you open to someone piecing together that these two identities are the same person.
3. If you run your Master device silent then all other devices on your PAN are running silent. There is no penalty to run silent.
4. From outside your PAN a hacker can see and spoof the devices connected to your master host. Ideally you want that to be only other hosts. If your smartgun is connected to your Erika then a hostile hacker can spoof it to eject the clip or data spike it to fail without hacking into your master. Obviously as a slaved device the smartgun will use the Erika's stats for defense but it's safer for those functions to be buried behind a secondary host.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:26, Wed 30 June 2021.

Well, I've had to bite the bullet & get a Dodge Scoot to get around until I can upgrade. As a biker, I think there should be a social penalty for turning up to a meet on one of those things :D

How does one pronounce Xaays?

And how're you cats coming along?

The X is a "ks" sound like you get at the end of box or fox.

There's also an accent on the first a, Xáays, so there's an extra syllable there, with emphasis on the first syllable.

The trick is that it's actually plural, referring to four brothers / spirit-beings, almost like a collective family name. It's just a runner name, not a given name, so perhaps it makes sense for someone with a bit of Con who can be lots of things to lots of people.

Another option is Xelas, which has the advantages of being singular and an easier abbreviation (Xe/Ze).

My mechanics and background are done. My main challenge is now transcribing a tremendous amount of gear/ware/contacts/etc. into the sheet. I'm working on that now and hope to finish today.

Unfortunately the site won't allow accented characters in a name. I'll change it to Xelas to be more phonetically correct.

Thanks for the updates. If everyone else can update I would appreciate it. I realize it's 4th July weekend here in the US and Euro quarter finals this weekend in Europe so understand that everyone may not be focused on the game.

I've got most of my numbers crunched, might have a touch more nuyen to spend. Then  typing up fluff. Should I be disappointed that most of my gear purchases are legal?