[Turtlicious]

I'm brand new to Shadowrun, playing DnD for the last 5 years, I recently decided to try and pick up Shadowrun (Loving the Sega Genesis game as a kid, in fact I'm pretty sure it was my first video-game RPG,) I've gotten most of it down, I dropped some money on the Runners tool kit, I already have an idea for a campaign, but still the cheat sheets and GM Screen (PDF, got it off of Drive Through RPG) are a real help. A little bit about my campaign, I set it up, where my four players were not allowed to get Lifestyles over middle class, and they start in a bar, There Johnson comes over and gives them a job to steal a car, the car looks like a plain ole sedan, but when they notice no locks, and no visible way to get into it, they'll realize it's a rig, and their hacker will have to open the doors/turn on the car. Then (once I read a bit more about AI's and how they're treated in the Shadowrun universe) they'll find a macguffin that they'll need to protect, (It'll either be an AI, or the car itself will be a super advanced stealth vehicle, again have to learn a bit more about AI's.) Also, we have two gunslingers, a Face, and a Technomancer. (I said no magic, this is complicated enough as it is, but I allowed the technomancer because that's just rad.)

My main problem is that hacking in the matrix is such and abstract concept for me that I can't grasp at it what-so-ever, (Which is really bad, seeing how our game is Friday, my friends haven't played either, but still, I'm the one they'll ask,) my main question, is when my hacker attempts to hack the car, is the following correct.

1. He has to do a search for the signal (DC Check)
2. He has to hack the car (DC Check)
3. He has to log in and send commands (DC Check)

I mean, hopefully my players come prepared, I asked them to learn their archetypes, and the stuff they plan to do the most, that way we can all decide together on the proper interpretations of the rule, and maybe he'll have a better idea of this then I do, but I feel like I'm missing something, the matrix is a whole nother world, with its own laws and stuff, I feel like there should be Roleplaying bits in between, but when I read the source book and unwired, it seems to just boil down to a set of skill checks.

Can someone help clarify this for me? Thanks.

[Turtlicious]

I'm hoping no-one's saying anything because I have a lot of good idea's and trust me to figure it out myself.

[Cass100199]

I try to run the matrix as little as possible, so I am no help.

[Eugene]

Yes, you've essentially got it right.  The vehicle is a peripheral device and so there isn't a need to have a fancy narrative Matrix description.  Most peripherals are abstracted with a Device Rating (1-6; see p. 222 SR4A) that determines its Matrix attributes, so you'll need to decide where the car fits in that scheme.  Given your description, the car would likely be 4 or 5.

The default mode for peripherals is "passive"; that means that it will be visibile automatically to anyone looking for it, but it won't provide access.  It's possible that car could be operating in Hidden mode, of course, in which case you'd have to roll a Detect Hidden Node test (p. 230 SR4A).  The Threshold would be 4 since the hacker will know where the car is.

To break in, a hacker will likely want to do it "on-the-fly," since he/she doesn't know how long the car is going to be there.  That's a Hacking + Exploit test with the threshold equal to the vehicle's Firewall (by default the Device Rating).  I'd say that User Access is sufficient if all the hacker wants to do is get in the car and/or drive it around.  You could rule that a higher level of access is required if the car has "special features" that the hacker wants to use, in which case the threshold will increase (p. 235, SR4A) to hack in. 

Remember that the vehicle will get a test (also Firewall + Analyze; rolled every time the hacker rolls the Exploit test) with a threshold equal to the hacker's Stealth program - if that threshold is reached at any time (even if the hacker successfully gets in), the system will go on alert (see p. 238 SR4A for what this means).

The other option for getting the car is to use a Capture Wireless Signal text (p. 229) and hope that a legitimate user is sending it commands from time to time.  If so, the hacker can use that datatrail to get the Matrix ID of that user and then Spoof a Command (p. 232) to the car as if he/she -were- that user!

Things can, of course, get more complicated if there's a rigger jumped in, but that's the general idea.  Hope that was helpful!

[Turtlicious]

Thank you so much Eugene, this clears a lot about the matrix actually, I really appreciate it, it's pretty hard switching systems, but fun.

[Mantis]

To expand a bit on your comment about the Matrix and it having roleplaying bits, you are correct in that it should. Most GMs I think, do not do this and it does just boil down to numbers and tests. Part of that stems from the fact the matrix can be whatever a programmer wants and that can change when a user uses a reality filter.
If you want your matrix to have more to it than just dice rolls, get the player to describe his matrix persona much as he would his character's meat body and go a step further getting a description of how the various programs he uses appear. Obvious ones are things like Attack and Armour. Does he use a gun as an attack or does it appear as a sword or maybe a bucket of acid he tosses on his foes. Who knows?
It is easier as a GM to describe the matrix if the player has a reality filter, since everything will be changed to follow the paradigm the reality filter sets. If the player doesn't want to go to this level of detail (tough for first time players), then just think about how a company would style the node. Is it their pride and joy public face? Maybe it looks just like the corporate offices only with flights of fancy added in that aren't possible in the real world.
For the car you describe, if it is going to be the home of an AI, it should be different from a standard car node. Perhaps it is of higher resolution than expected or maybe it doesn't appear as a car at all but rather some other place. Maybe a castle. Whatever works for you as GM.
Most nodes don't need this level of detail described but the important ones should be. This will help make the matrix more than just a series of dice rolls and test. It lets you as GM add those descriptive bits which add so much flavour to the game and helps the players visualize what is going on.
Hope this helps and good luck with the game.

[Glorthoron]

What's a DC Check?

[Medicineman]

Thats a D&D Term it means Difficulty Class. The # You have to beat on a D20

@Turtleicious
I've got a Thread for You
http://forums.shadowrun4.com/index.php?topic=6175.msg107442#msg107442

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Medicineman