[pts]

Hi, i wonder that you guys think of the following piece of Headware for an AR Decker. Did i overlook some glaring abuse possibilities or do you think that would be ok?

Brainwires:
This somewhat less invasive modified version of the standard wired reflexes adds neural boosters to the brain only, Due to the lack of boosters and adrenaline
stimulaters throughout the body, the Brainwires can only be used to enhance mental tasks performed via a DNI. In fact, any conscious non-mental interaction
with the world is hampered by the inevitable delay between the enhanced brain vs. the rest of the body. Activating or deactivating the Brainwires manually requires a
Complex Action, doing so wirelessly is a Simple Action. When activated, each rating point of Brainwires gives you +1 Reaction and +1d6 Initiative Die for all DNI tasks, and a flat -1 Agility and -1 Reaction for all other tasks. Brainwires are incompatible with with augmentations that affect Reaction or Initiative (with the exception below). 
Wireless: The system is compatible with wireless reaction enhancers, and the total Reaction bonus from both systems can be above +4 if both systems have wireless active.

Max Rating 3
Essence: 0.4 / 1.0 / 1.8
Cost: 22.000¥ / 48.000¥ / 75.000¥
Avail: Rating x6

[adzling]

That's what hot sim and good decks are for.

[Whiskeyjack]

Hot sim nothing, this is what wired AR decking is for.

[pts]

That's what hot sim and good decks are for.

Nope, it's about AR decking without taking adept magic (or a crappy deck due to lack of resources for both wired reflexes a decent deck)

Hot sim nothing, this is what wired AR decking is for.

Yep, its essentially supposed to be reflex wires that only work with AR (which lowers the cost essence and ¥)

[Darzil]

So, with Resources A, you can take this at rating 2 Standard, Cerebral Boosters rating 2 and Renraku Tsurugi deck, and still have 125k left over (rather than the 25k you'd have with Wired Reflexes. For this you pretty much gain immunity to be damaged in the matrix, lose 2 dice over hot sim, and d6-2 initiative. You can also pretty much dump the low matrix attribute into data processing, as you can always swap back as needed, not needing it for initiative.

Balance issues aside (a saving of 100k plus essence for using this for it's main purpose for the character), I'd think about how it'll work in play. Say you are decking and then want to shoot someone. In VR, you swap to AR with a change interface mode simple action, lose 3D6 initiative, then shoot with a simple action if you still can. With this, you don't change mode, but if you want to shoot you'd still lose initiative when not doing anything?

[pts]

So, with Resources A, you can take this at rating 2 Standard, Cerebral Boosters rating 2 and Renraku Tsurugi deck, and still have 125k left over (rather than the 25k you'd have with Wired Reflexes. For this you pretty much gain immunity to be damaged in the matrix, lose 2 dice over hot sim, and d6-2 initiative. You can also pretty much dump the low matrix attribute into data processing, as you can always swap back as needed, not needing it for initiative.

I balance it against the usual rating D Adept Decker with reflexes 2 and a reflex 1 qi focus. Don't think its OP in comparison...

[Namikaze]

I balance it against the usual rating D Adept Decker with reflexes 2 and a reflex 1 qi focus. Don't think its OP in comparison...

First off, Adept Deckers aren't "usual."  Second, this is the second or third time you mentioned adept deckers, so obviously this equipment is for that one type of hacker.  I think it's a terribly narrow-focused piece of equipment, but if you want it for magically-active characters only, just make that a limitation of the equipment.

[Whiskeyjack]

Second, this is the second or third time you mentioned adept deckers, so obviously this equipment is for that one type of hacker.  I think it's a terribly narrow-focused piece of equipment, but if you want it for magically-active characters only, just make that a limitation of the equipment.

My impression is that this piece is designed for augmented (i.e. wared) deckers that primarily hack in AR, as an alternative to Wired Reflexes (which are quite a bit more expensive in Essence and nuyen than these limited things).

For an adept you just cannot beat Improved Reflexes for anything. This ware isn't even that competitive with the power as an AR decker, because you're going to lose 1 (probably 2 with Cerebral Boosters) Essence getting the most out of ware as a wired adept decker.

Seems pretty clear to me that this ware was made for non-magic deckers as a cheaper and more limited method to deck in AR than buying Wired Reflexes.

[ScytheKnight]

*cough* Synaptic Booster *couch*

[Whiskeyjack]

*cough* Synaptic Booster *couch*

I think part of the point was to reduce the nuyen cost compared to Wired Reflexes...Boosters certainly don't do that.

[ScytheKnight]

True, but they basically want Wired Reflexes without the Essence cost, this is where Synaptic Boosters come in. Never mind the whole "Ohh it's just for AR" because AR uses physical initiative, again Synaptic Boosters does that will less Essence cost. If you're looking at getting more speed out of the Matrix, that's where VR comes in.

Pretty much they're just wanting the extra speed of VR while still in AR.

[Whiskeyjack]

Pretty much they're just wanting the extra speed of VR while still in AR.

You can already get close to similar speeds in AR (at reduced risk because no biofeedback). Of course, it does require a bigger investment, either in ware or PP, to get what you get for free just going limp noodle hot sim.

I think this ware is more about roughly-equivalent speed at reduced nuyen cost (Wired Reflexes minus a degree of functionality equaling lower cost, I guess) than anything else.

[ScytheKnight]

Pretty much they're just wanting the extra speed of VR while still in AR.

You can already get close to similar speeds in AR (at reduced risk because no biofeedback). Of course, it does require a bigger investment, either in ware or PP, to get what you get for free just going limp noodle hot sim.

I think this ware is more about roughly-equivalent speed at reduced nuyen cost (Wired Reflexes minus a degree of functionality equaling lower cost, I guess) than anything else.

Hey if his GM is fine with it more power to him... but it's definitely not something I'd allow at my table.

[pts]

One could say good AR decking is the domain of adepts only, but i think a no-magic AR decker should be be competitive with an adept AR decker, at least in his chosen area of expertise. Due to limited resources, you currently simply cannot get a competitive AR initiative without magic. So i could make reflex boosters cheaper - but that would upset the game balance imo. Looking at the description of the reflex boosters, i thought modifying only the brain instead of the whole body might be cheaper, and to balance the reduced cost, it also won't help you to be faster with your body, just with your mind... 

(the Brainwires are not intended for adepts, the essence cost is to high for this, they are intended as a balance measure compared to adepts)

[Whiskeyjack]

One could say good AR decking is the domain of adepts only, but i think a no-magic AR decker should be be competitive with an adept AR decker, at least in his chosen area of expertise. Due to limited resources, you currently simply cannot get a competitive AR initiative without magic.
I don't really agree with this premise. You can be competitive as a wared AR decker, but it's certainly expensive to try it. That doesn't mean that the AR wared decker is shat on. Just that there are trade-offs.

(the Brainwires are not intended for adepts, the essence cost is to high for this, they are intended as a balance measure compared to adepts)

It does come across like artificial balance.