[Annoch]

I'm looking at the newest pdf of the rulebook and I noticed a bit of a contradiction in the convergence rules, so I figured I would ask here to see if I have it correct.

On page 176 the overwatch score rules list three ways that the score increases; using a hacking program, maintining illegal access, and performing illegal actions.  It is the third one that seems inconsistent.  The rules state that you 1 OS from each hit from opposing roles when doing illegal actions.

In the examples on page 176 and 178 appear to be attributing overwatch score to the decker for every illegal action he takes regardless of whether it is opposed or if the opponent got hits.  Normally I would assume you just go with the rules, but the fact that it shows up twice makes me want to check that I am not missing something.

Question #2:  The second thing that gets you +OS is maintaining illegal access.  The only way to gain access in the rules that I have found are probe/backdoor and brute force.  Since backdoor gives you 'legal' admin access, is the only way to actually increase your score this way to use brute force?

Question #2a:  If you have backdoor access (treated as 'legal') do you ever lose that and start accumulating OS...perhaps if you screw up a sleaze action or succeed at an attack and the system is alerted?

Question#2b:  Is there much of a reason to use brute force other than the fact that it saves one combat turn?  It appears to be essentially the same test with no benefit, other than being marginally quicker...

Question #3:  Finally, patrol IC states that 'when...activated, make Matrix perception roll...that serves as hits on Matrix perception actions it takes every in game minute it is active.  That means one of the Patrol IC's minor actions is always given over to Matrix Perception.  Reroll the Matrix perception once per minute."

This seems like very odd wording to me.  Can someone give an example of how this works over multiple turns?

Does the Patrol IC keep adding its hits together or is a new test taken each time?

When does it take the test.  Is it taking a test every time it has a minor action (each combat turn), or is it doing it once a minute (every 20 combat turns).  The text above seems to indicate both...

What about if the patrol IC was active when the decker enters the host?

Thanks in advance

[Michael Chandra]

Examples are always risky. I don't see support for it right now, so my guts say the examples are outdated.

Sounds like Brute Force access right now is the only way access makes OS go up over time.

No, you don't lose the legal access, you simply face OS and consequences of your actions, but the access itself doesn't suddenly trigger alarm bells.

If you're doing a Sleaze/Attack action, and your Attack/Sleaze is higher, you face a dice penalty equal to the difference. Backdoor Entry is Sleaze-based, so for when you're sneaking. So either you're taking a penalty on the Backdoor, or on any Attack-linked actions afterwards. On the other hand, Brute Force is not only better when you're in a rush (combat decking that one round can matter greatly), but also better if you're convinced you're going to end up in a Matrix battle anyway.

For Patrol IC, basically it has 1 Matrix Perception roll-value per minute, and 1 Minor per Round is spent investigating. In a quiet node, it may be constantly scanning you. In a crowded node, likely it will only scan you once per minute. In the end, the exact frequency is up to the GM. It's a new roll every minute, opposed and without Try Again penalty because it's a constant opposed test.

Say there's ten people. It scans everyone twice per minute. The first roll, of let's say 4, applies twice. Then it rolls again.

If it faces just 5 people, probably it scans you 4x per minute. So you resist the same roll 4x over time. Then it rolls again.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

1)  Yes they are in conflict with the rules presented on pg 176.  I'd recommend just ignoring the bit where they say gain a blanket +1 OS for attempting an illegal action, and go by what the rules say where you get +OS for each hit.

2) Yes, as of the CRB the only two ways to gain access is via Brute Force and Backdoor.  Since Backdoor gives an exemption from that, yes it ends up in practice only applying to Brute Force access.  But note that Backdoor isn't 'legal' access. It's still 100% illegal, you're just not accruing OS while maintaining it.

2a) You lose your Backdoor access if you reboot your Matrix session. Or if you're forced to reboot (knocked offline, convergence, etc)  Also, it's still within GM prerogative to say that a backdoor access may be found and removed after some period of time, if you're keeping the access for that long.

2b) So long as you have the time to spare, yes Probe + Backdoor is going to be more attractive most of the time.  However, note that you can't reconfigure your matrix attributes once you begin taking illegal actions (see pg. 178) and Backdoor is linked to Sleaze.  If you plan on doing a lot of Attack linked things in the course of your hack, it's better to go in with Attack configured higher, and therefore you'll avoid penalties if you use Brute Force to get your access.

3) Basically... consider it GM whim.  Combat rounds are only 3 seconds long, but unless you're IN combat you usually don't track game time in combat turns, right?  So while the hacker is hacking a host, unless there's cybercombat going on, odds are you're not rolling initiative and resolving things turn by turn.  Patrol IC is supposed to be scanning everything in the host, so it's not fair or realistic for it to be trying to spot the PC hacker every 3 seconds. It should be looking around at lots of other things too.  So this manifests as the "suggestion" to just have the patrol IC try to spot the hacker once every minute while he's hacking the host.