[joe15552]

Apparently, technomancers don't need to Hack on the Fly or Brute Force in order to gain access to a grid. All they have to do is Thread Transcendent Grid, and they have access...wait... no not just access, they are actually connected to all grids. Okay, so.... the description for "Transcendent Grid" says that "You broaden your connection to the matrix..." implying that before the technomancer threaded this complex form, they had access to the matrix. Which grid were they using? Did they need to ask their neighbor if they can use their IP, or did they just pop up on whatever grid was closest to them?

[TormDK]

Would it matter?

Assume the public grid, but remember that the lifestyles have access to a grid as well.

[joe15552]

Would it matter?

Assume the public grid, but remember that the lifestyles have access to a grid as well.

It matters because performing actions on a grid that you are not on incurs a -2 dice pool penalty. It also matters because if a technomancer's living persona appears on a grid besides the public node, it means one of 3 things:
1) The technomancer is a registered technomancer and has legal access to the grid.
2) The technomancer has gained access via hack on the fly or brute force
3) The technomancer has connected by threading Treanscendent Grid

And all 3 of those things are traceable.

If a technomancer's living persona is on some kind of fancy grid because of their lifestyle, that implies they are a registered technomancer.... which is not what your average shadowrunner wants to be.

[SavarWallk]

Life style doesn't mean legal, just access.  It could be a semi permanent hack.

[Agonar]

Would it matter?

Assume the public grid, but remember that the lifestyles have access to a grid as well.

It matters because performing actions on a grid that you are not on incurs a -2 dice pool penalty. It also matters because if a technomancer's living persona appears on a grid besides the public node, it means one of 3 things:
1) The technomancer is a registered technomancer and has legal access to the grid.
2) The technomancer has gained access via hack on the fly or brute force
3) The technomancer has connected by threading Treanscendent Grid

And all 3 of those things are traceable.

If a technomancer's living persona is on some kind of fancy grid because of their lifestyle, that implies they are a registered technomancer.... which is not what your average shadowrunner wants to be.

I think you might be over-thinking things.  A Person (not a type of person) is what gets access to a Grid through lifestyle.  It's how you get onto the Matrix that matters.  Anyone can slip on a pair of trodes and have access to the public grid.  Just because a TM is on a grid doesn't mean he's registered as a Technomancer.  He's just registered as a person with access to a specific grid.  It doesn't set off any flags until someone stops to wonder what kind of device someone is using to access the grid, and finds none.  That's why it is sometimes advisable for a TM to carry an active commlink, because if someone looks at a TM and sees an active commlink, then the common assumption is that the commlink is getting them there.

As for tracing a TM's use of Transcendent Grid, Resonance Actions are typically seen as matrix anomalies.  Matrix Devices don't always know how to deal with them, so I wouldn't assume that anyone could just trace a TM's use of it.  Only other TMs and Resonance Critters can trace Resonance Signitures (p.250)

[Triskavanski]

Problem though.. having an active commlink means its going to show up as a device online, when normally a persons persona overtakes the device icon. You can only have one persona though

[joe15552]

Life style doesn't mean legal, just access.  It could be a semi permanent hack.

How does a semi permanent hack work? I've never heard of that before.... and it sounds like a hacker or a technomancer could do it for free and not have it depend on how wealthy he/she is.

[joe15552]

Problem though.. having an active commlink means its going to show up as a device online, when normally a persons persona overtakes the device icon. You can only have one persona though

This is an issue I am having, too.

[MaxKojote]

Lie and say it's an implanted commlink? And then hope they don't have a way of detecting it, which could raise problems.

[JackVII]

You seem to be looking for a lot of specificity where the writers seemed to prefer vagueness. If the basic rules of the book don't work for you (Lifestyle determining grid access) then I guess you just need to make something up or wait for whatever supplement is going to cover purchasing grid access a la carte where it may be explained better.

To me, the basic route isn't that much of a problem. The character pays for lifestyle costs which can represent legal payments or bribes to gain access to certain utilities including water, power, and telecommunication services.

Not sure what the issue with the commlink is. You can carry one and just turn the wireless off, with your LP hanging around in the matrix. It should pass muster in the majority of cases.

[joe15552]

Lie and say it's an implanted commlink? And then hope they don't have a way of detecting it, which could raise problems.

Yeah, the purpose of having an active comlink in the first place would be so people that DO have a way of detecting it will detect it and assume that's how you're on the matrix.

[Xenon]

Which grid were they using?

It depend on their lifestyle.
At least of you go by RAW.

[firebug]

You can have the commlink on and not being your Persona.  Otherwise, how would they act as masters of a PAN (since a Persona can't be part of one)?

[Triskavanski]

Yes, but it shows up as a device. Your trying to fool someone looking at you online and is goid enough to detect the device you are using

[Xenon]

You can have the commlink on and not being your Persona.  Otherwise, how would they act as masters of a PAN (since a Persona can't be part of one)?

Assuming that you can use your commlink to both form your persona and be a master of a PAN at the same time. Can't really find any rules to support that interpretation...

Yes, but it shows up as a device. Your trying to fool someone looking at you online and is goid enough to detect the device you are using

as i read it;
commlink show up as a device icon when you don't form a persona icon on it.
when you use it to form a persona icon it will no longer show up as a device icon.