[Triskavanski]

For me, the core technomancer also doesn't quite do it for me either.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m5bR1cFOlc9MmvlRGaPpuhfHdE4ze26pZIFHEEFlahU/edit?usp=sharing

That there is my attempts at reimagining it.

Particularly I looked at "Technomancers" from other things out there. Like laughing man from Ghost in the Shell who can simultaneously hack every single feed that is watching him and replace  his face with the logo.

In current rules, you'd have to hack every single one of those things individually. A mage however could just physical mask it into place.

So I figured that hey, why not give Technomancers complex forms that affect multiple targets? Then again how to do that? In 4th Technomancers had a signal range.. So we'll bring that back, base it off resonance as its already pretty lacking

And Poof, now we've got an attack radius the technomancer can use to hit multiple devices at the same time.


The second thing is to remove the bottleneck from the technomancer. After character creation, they grow so slowly, because everything they do needs large amounts of karma. Learn complex forms, initiate, learn skills, etc. Mages can get by with lots of things that don't use karma, or have big effects for small karma (foci)

So this is why the echos are edited a bit.

[firebug]

RESONANCE BUFFER
Target: Self • Duration: S • FV: L+0
 You create a personal shield out of pure Resonance to protect yourself from harmful Matrix code. For every hit, you gain 1 box of Matrix Condition Monitor, separate from your Stun track. Matrix damage you take is dealt to this damage track instead of your Stun track. This has no effect on biofeedback damage, which bypasses your Matrix Condition Monitor as normal. Should your Buffer track completely fill, it is destroyed, and you must immediately resist an amount of Matrix damage equal to the number of boxes of damage in your Buffer.

I personally wouldn't use it.  My gut reaction is that with an average of 4 hits on 12 dice, I'd want it at Level 4...  But 4 more boxes isn't much in Matrix combat.  When it's destroyed (which would happen in the first hit, most likely) I'd resist the 4 again, which would let me mitigate some of it...  But combine the chance of rolling low on the second test with the chance of rolling low on the fading resist test, and the -2 for sustaining, and it'd be too much of a hassle IMO.  Especially since it'd take a Complex Action to use, and so using it repeatedly in combat would be pointless (I recast, they hit me again, net loss for me).

However, if I used it as a very low Level with Focused Concentration (say, 2) then I'd probably be effectively just taking 2 damage off of every hit since I'd definitely roll at least two hits.  But again, just constantly recasting it would be a big waste of actions...

It'd need a bit of tweaking for me personally to bother using it; but it seems like a very very difficult ability to balance.  If it's good enough to last a fight, then re-casting it mid-battle would be too good of an option, but if it's one you'd need to recast a lot, then it could quickly become a waste of time...  And of course, it can't be so good that a TM can rely on it to never take matrix damage...  If someone else playtests it, I'm interested in hearing how it works out.

[Ryo]

Yeah, those are all issues I've noticed. The main advantage becomes that it lets you resist the same blast of damage twice. Once before it goes into your buffer, and then again when your buffer explodes. And that has its uses, but since its so easy to One-shot people with Data Spike, it's not too handy.

But I also don't want it to be so good that it becomes a must-have that every Technomancer takes and keeps sustained at all times. So there's a fine line to look for inbetween 'almost worthless' and 'Totally OP'.

[Zweiblumen]

On another note, there's something I've been considering when it comes to the fragility of Technomancers in cybercombat. Let me know what you guys think of the following Complex Form. I haven't tested it, so I'm looking for some feedback on the design of it.

RESONANCE BUFFER
Target: Self • Duration: S • FV: L+0
 You create a personal shield out of pure Resonance to protect yourself from harmful Matrix code. For every hit, you gain 1 box of Matrix Condition Monitor, separate from your Stun track. Matrix damage you take is dealt to this damage track instead of your Stun track. This has no effect on biofeedback damage, which bypasses your Matrix Condition Monitor as normal. Should your Buffer track completely fill, it is destroyed, and you must immediately resist an amount of Matrix damage equal to the number of boxes of damage in your Buffer.

If Buffer > Resonance damage is P instead of S.

I'd also make the damage unresistable?  That way it's more like an actual buffer.  If they didn't have the buffer they would have taken the damage in the first place, otherwise they get 2 chances to soak the damage which seems a bit over powered to me.  My thinking is this is literally stashing the incoming harmful code until it can be safely processed, overflow would prevent the TM from properly vetting the harmful code and it acts as originally intended. Having too much makes it so the TM takes it hard.

Hope that's helpful!