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Properly exploiting the Matrix

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SamTwist

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« on: <04-01-14/1514:49> »
Hi everyone!

This may seem pretty dumb for some of you but since I'm a fairly new GM to Shadowrun, I would like some suggestions regarding how the Matrix can be exploited in a specific situation.

For my next game, I'm planning for the players to be contacted by a Mr. Johnson in order to clear out a small building which is occupied by street gangers. However, there is a Technomancer in the group. He does have some pistols skill but I am looking for suggestions on how he can use the Matrix for this specific mission.

I haven't completely established the building's layout and equipement, but since it's being used by a Street Gang, I wasn't planning on adding too much technology.  I was thinking perhaps he could hijack the electricity system to turn off the lights, or maybe set up a trap and send a fake message on the thugs phones in order to lure them into an ambush.

If you could share any suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated!


Michael Chandra

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« Reply #1 on: <04-01-14/1518:27> »
If they're using commlinks, he can (carefully) score marks on those and Trace Icon, then translate that to AROs so the team can see the location of all enemies (and even attack through walls if they want). Note that this means Overwatch gathers up quick, what with 3 actions to score 2 marks + trace icon, so a DR2 commlink scores 4 hits on average. Against 8 gangers we'd be talking 32 OS, so once he marks and traces, you'd want to hit them within 15 minutes.
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Lanaya

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« Reply #2 on: <04-01-14/1608:31> »
Though with the right complex forms a technomancer can pretty much ignore OS.

Bladebite

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« Reply #3 on: <04-03-14/1420:19> »
Two words: Resonance Spike. A technomancer can brick devices like no other. Have him target any weapon or cyberwear the gang is using wirelessly (smartgun system, for example) and use the resonance spike complex form. If you want, he can be hidden away in another room and in hot-sim VR which will allow him to attack multiple times each combat turn. You may want the gang to also have a decker to fight the technomancer in the Matrix. Don't forget that the gangers can use the Full Matrix Defense action and also take a simple action to shut off their device's wireless capabilities.

firebug

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« Reply #4 on: <04-03-14/1831:57> »
Ignoring the fact that your average street ganger shouldn't have smartguns (especially if the players or their characters are new)...  There's no reason for the TM to use Resonance Spike unless he's just total crap at Data Spike.  Resonance Spike deals way less damage, and I'm pretty sure people know when their gear takes matrix damage.  Because any amount of matrix damage on a weapon lowers its accuracy by 1 (as it counts as damaged), so this is a physically noticeable effect.  Combined with the fact that I'm positive there'd be some kind of error messages or something (it's 'damage', it's screwing stuff up and fragging up software)...  It's gotta be noticable.

If the TM has enough matrix access to do things like turn off lights, they would also be able to open and control doors or elevators, meaning with proper teamwork he could manipulate how the gangers can move through the building, cutting them off from eachother, preventing them from ganging up on the team, or even to stop them from running if they try to flee.
« Last Edit: <04-03-14/1834:06> by firebug »
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Namikaze

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« Reply #5 on: <04-03-14/1841:44> »
Resonance Spike deals way less damage

How do you figure?  Data Spike gets resisted, Resonance Spike is just straight damage with no resistance.  For consistency's sake, I think Resonance Spike is the better option (assuming you can handle the fading of course).
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firebug

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« Reply #6 on: <04-03-14/1938:24> »
Mainly that at base, Data Spike has a DV of your Attack plus net hits; whereas Resonance Spike is your net hits, with likely a lower limit (unless you're comfortable with resisting Fading equal to or higher than your Charisma).  While Data Spike is resisted twice, (Intuition + Firewall, then Device Rating + Firewall) it will generally still score more damage due to it's dramatically increased DV.

Lemme do some maths to make sure I'm not talking out of my butt.  First on someone with a Renraku Sensei (DR 3) because that seems to be a common one (looking at the NPC stat blocks in the book).

Software 6 + Resonance 6 VS Willpower 4 + 3 Firewall.  Without looking at limits, that's...  One or two net hits on average, with you needing at least Level 4.  Assuming you have Willpower 6 (best case scenario) you've got 12 dice to resist it, so I suppose on average you're okay.  Two damage an action with prettymuch no recoil.

Cybercombat 6 + Logic 6 (possibly more common than Willpower 6?  Or a Logic 5 using Psyche) vs Intuition 4 + Firewall 3.  Assuming you've got a Charisma of 4 (for the same limit) you've got the same number of net hits on average.  However, you're also adding Attack (4) to the DV.  However however, now they're rolling DR + Firewall (only 6 dice) and so get an average of two more hits.  This leave you doing 4 damage a pass.  You have a lower chance of hurting yourself as well; as they'd need to beat your roll, which is less likely than you rolling one less hit with your 12 Fade Resist dice.

If you've got any marks on them, the damage increases more dramatically, but then you'd have to math out "is the increase in DV enough to make up for the lost actions" along with taking into account using Brute Force or Hack on the Fly with penalties to put multiple marks on...  Which I wouldn't know how to take account for.

If the TM has higher Charisma (even just one more, and if they're an elf...) then Data Spike is even more potent, and you'd have to start expecting drain damage every turn to get at least as high a limit.

Quickly though, if the target has a Transys Avalon, then they're resisting with much more dice.  Assuming the rules work to allow DR used in place of attributes whenever it's higher, then Resonance Spike and Data Spike are both 12 vs 12 dice, and Data Spike begins to carry more risk of causing damage while Resonance Spike's average damage drops to almost nothing.  In this scenario, getting lucky with Resonance Spike would require higher Fading values and result in one or two damage at best.  Data Spike however, keeping with 4 Charisma, doesn't pull enough weight either with about the same chance of the TM damaging themselves in the attempt.  At this point though, higher Charisma or putting marks on the opponent causes Data Spike to become capable of actually doing damage.  Quite a bit with three marks; each one adding 2 more potential damage.  If we assume that Resonance Spike is still going at Level 6 and getting pretty lucky to get 2 net hits for three straight actions, it still only breaks even with Data Spike while almost certainly causing damage to the TM every time.  If the TM is instead using Hack on the Fly, they won't risk hurting themselves, and there's prettymuch nothing a ganger's commlink can do to a TM after it has marks on them since it can't be used to attack back.
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« Reply #7 on: <04-03-14/2140:25> »
Hmm..  yeah, looks like the overall usefulness of Resonance Spike is inversely proportional to how good your opposition's equipment is.  If they have a great commlink, then Resonance Spike seems better.  Of course this doesn't take the marks situation into consideration.

Just one question though: why are you using Charisma as a limiter on your Resonance Spike?  IIRC, the limit is the level.
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firebug

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« Reply #8 on: <04-03-14/2240:18> »
Hmm..  yeah, looks like the overall usefulness of Resonance Spike is inversely proportional to how good your opposition's equipment is.  If they have a great commlink, then Resonance Spike seems better.  Of course this doesn't take the marks situation into consideration.

Just one question though: why are you using Charisma as a limiter on your Resonance Spike?  IIRC, the limit is the level.

I don't think I was?  I didn't intend to.  One of us was/is confused.  I was using it as the limit for Data Spike though, and assuming that Resonance Spike would be cast at a high enough level to have the same limit for the sake of argument.

Against higher DR stuff, Resonance Spike can have less potential for self-harm as it's based on your Fading Resist, while Data Spike can get you hurt based on their defense pool.  That said, you need to increase its Level just to be able increase your limit to overcome their defense roll (which won't have a limit).  In that example where both Data Spike and Resonance Spike have 12 dice, and the commlink resists with 12 dice, I suppose it's up to the player to decide if they're more comfortable resisting 5 or 6 Fading with 12 dice every shot, or taking 1 or 2 unmitigatable damage when you roll low and/or the target rolls high.

Again not taking marks into account.  But IMO, looking at stuff like Puppeteer and Editor, the ability to do stuff without marks is supposed to be a theme with Complex Forms.  Part of why I feel Res. Spike falls short since it's direct comparison doesn't need marks like say, Edit (Editor) or Control Device (Puppeteer) would.

It should be like Stunbolt; lower damage, but only resisted by one attribute to allow it to work on otherwise highly defended targets.
« Last Edit: <04-03-14/2250:54> by firebug »
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« Reply #9 on: <04-04-14/1035:42> »
I was using it as the limit for Data Spike though, and assuming that Resonance Spike would be cast at a high enough level to have the same limit for the sake of argument.

I was confused then - I understand now.  :)

Again not taking marks into account.  But IMO, looking at stuff like Puppeteer and Editor, the ability to do stuff without marks is supposed to be a theme with Complex Forms.  Part of why I feel Res. Spike falls short since it's direct comparison doesn't need marks like say, Edit (Editor) or Control Device (Puppeteer) would.

Yeah, you're right - Data Spike doesn't need marks, which definitely makes it much more versatile than Edit and Control Device.  I also agree that part of what makes Complex Forms powerful is the ability to do things without marks - and as you pointed out Data Spike already does this same function without marks.

It should be like Stunbolt; lower damage, but only resisted by one attribute to allow it to work on otherwise highly defended targets.

I could see that - but isn't it already like Stunbolt?  Resonance Spike isn't resisted with anything, so highly defended targets are even more vulnerable to it.  Even if the damage is less per shot, the ability to deal consistent damage to highly defended targets is pretty utile.
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JackVII

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« Reply #10 on: <04-04-14/1044:51> »
I could see that - but isn't it already like Stunbolt?  Resonance Spike isn't resisted with anything, so highly defended targets are even more vulnerable to it.  Even if the damage is less per shot, the ability to deal consistent damage to highly defended targets is pretty utile.
Almost. Stunbolt is only opposed by Willpower whereas Resonance Spike is opposed by Willpower + Firewall. They both use the same net hits damage convention.

Data Spike does face two opposed tests as part of the resistance (Intuition + Firewall to oppose, then DR + Firewall to resist). But it also does damage similar to indirect spells at (Force or Attack) + net hits, so the bar can start a lot higher with higher force or a pimped attack attribute.
« Last Edit: <04-04-14/1046:32> by JackVII »
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Bladebite

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« Reply #11 on: <04-05-14/1431:37> »
The main reason I recommended Resonance Spike was to let the TM feel like a TM. If his build makes Data Spike the better choice, then by all means. Keep in mind that since Data Spikeias an attack action, the TM will still take damage if he misses and it's stun or physical not matrix damage because he's a TM. You can control the amount of fade you have to resist but not the amount of damage you take from your opponents net hits on his defense test with Data Spike.