hi /tg/,
my group wants to get into shadowrun 5e. I'm usually the DM, because I pick up new systems quite easily, and I used to play SR 3e like 10 years ago, so I know a little bit about the setting.
however, one of my player wants to run a decker, one concept I never really wrapped my head around.
can someone explain how decking works like I'm 5?
I understand 5e embraced the idea that now everything is wireless, but it still talks about jacking in and stuff. Also, apparently there are VR glasses now, so you don't actually have to waste essence for a cyberjack just to get onto the Matrix.
so how does it all work? in what situations do I need to jack in? how much can I access wirelessly? do I need to bring a decker on site if a run needs hacking, or can the guy stay in the other side of the city in a safehouse?
I also played Shadowrun: Hong Kong to get a general idea on how stuff works now, but in the game if there was no jack point in a mission, then there was no decking.
>tl;dr how do I into decking?
Ok here's the deal chummer.
First of all, every aspect of the job can in theory be done over the Matrix. There's exceptions, but for 90% of jobs, your decker can stay at home, in the party van, or in a café across the street drinking a latte.
Those expections come in when corp internal security decided security for a facility trumps work flow. There's stages here, but if they decide no other facility needs access to some or all of a facilities features, then they can either disable wireless for [b]every device[/b] that is part of that network, and have it all be hardwired, or invest in a Faraday cage fitted into the walls.
In these cases, your decker needs to physically jack in into any device that is part of that network. From there, the PAN rules apply.
Hosts are ALWAYS on the matrix, however. Which means that all the neat functionality of a host can only be used if you're online. Now, a host can run silent, but it still is on the matrix, somewhere.
Another aspect of why your decker might not want to spent 24 hours a day in his basement is Noise. The further away you are from the physical location of what you're trying to hack, the higher the negative Noise modifier. Hosts themselves however do not suffer noise, because they're omnipresent on the Matrix. (You might want to doublecheck that part)
Virtual Reality comes in many degrees. For the basic user, there's VR glasses. A pair of glasses with imagelink allows you to perceive AR and VR. Yes, you can enter the VR without a jack, but you're basically looking at VR from the other side of a window. You have no direct link and you're slow as a result.
Next come Feedback Clothes, which in combination allow you tactility in VR and AR.
Now, if your comlink is equipped with a SimSense module, that enables it to translate the VR and AR signals into neural signals. You combine that with a Direct Neural Interface (either jack, trodes, or custom headware comlinks) and you can immerse yourself fully. This is Cold Sim.
>>43907530
What Deckers will want to use 99% of the time is called Hot Sim. That's a specifically modified SimSense module. It disables the feedback filters and all the post processing your SimSense does for you to avoid any accidents from frying the brains of consumers.
HotSim with custom coded neural layers is how you make BTLs by the way.
HotSim and Cold Sim both have an addiction rating, but it's pretty low.
Any questions?
>>43906807
Shadowrun Hong Kong uses 3rd edition rules. Hacking works differently in 5th. There's no exit points from VR for example. You just switch to AR mode and you're no longer in VR. If you straight switch from VR to no-input, you get dumpshock.
That happens mostly if you get link-locked.
Read the Decking section of the book 8 times and have the quicksheets up that are in /srg/ while reading.
An unfortunate part of Decking is that GM handwaving typically makes it weaker. Good Luck Omae, I've been GMing SR 5e for 2 years and I'm still not great with Decking.
Key points to remember as a GM:
1)If the Decker wants to be as effective at what he/she does as the mage/sammie, they need to be present for the run in 5e.
2) Nearly everything electronic in 5e is breakable by decking.
3) Decking really slows down combat unless you and the player know your shit.
>Tesseract the decker is strolling down his favorite dark alley when he is accosted by a large and mean-looking ork. Being in no mood to trifle, Tesseract stares down the barrel of the ork’s gun and sees it in his AR display as a Rating 2 smartgun.
>With a mental command to his Hermes Chariot cyberdeck (he’s got a datajack and DNI, of course), he tosses a Data Spike at the weapon’s Matrix icon, first swapping his Firewall 5 with his Attack 2 as a Free Action. He rolls his Cybercombat + Logic (12 dice) against the ork’s Intuition + Firewall (a whopping 4 dice), getting 5 hits to the ork’s 1 (4 net hits).
>The base DV of the attack is 5 Matrix damage (since it’s an Attack 5 program), plus 4 for the net hits, for a total of 9 DV. The ork rolls the gun’s Device Rating + Firewall to resist the damage and comes up with nothing. This fills all 9 boxes of the gun’s Matrix Condition Monitor, bricking the weapon.
>The gun sparks, crackles, and smokes in the ork’s hand, which distracts him enough for Tesseract to draw his own fuck-off-sized pistol from his coat.
So, how do I stop a mage from Mob Controlling huge swathes of mooks and getting them to just waste each other?
>>43909109
In order to detect magic, it's a perception test for everyone else with a difficulty of spellcasting-force. If it's a really low force spell, them they've got a chance of resisting, if not, everyone and their grandma can see its magic, and call the police.
>>43909109
Mix a few higher-rated mooks or a supporting mage somewhere or add in some environmental factors that make your mage choose between mass mind control or manageable drain
is this the shadowrun general?
Anyway.. how do riggers defend their shit from malicious deckers? I feel like riggers and deckers can be big rivals but deckers always come out on top because well.. they can hack your shit!
I read in the 5e book that deckers can fuck up riggers in the matrix but riggers can fuck up deckers in meat space. Which is more correct?
>>4390909
Most GMs do not allow control mind/thoughts type spells. An ingame balance is that spells like that are frowned upon more than necromancy in DnD.
Don't be afraid to use background counts either, typically my mages cast at -1 or -2.
>>43909461
No, last one got archived, this may become /srg/ tho.
To answer your question:Best way is to have a decker backing you up. Next is by having a good Control Rig. Lastly, in a run when you see a guy comatose with a data jack/typing furiously/pretty much not shooting or hitting people, kill him first.
Both are correct. A rigger has tiny bots that can, hypothetically, count for 2 or 3 sammies in terms of guns alone, but the decker can fry/take control of (in a shitty way) those bots quickly.
>>43909606
what do you mean by "shitty way"? Also.. RIGGER BOOK WHEN!? I want to be a fucking rigger very badly but they don't seem to do much. I don't want to be the game of drones kind of rigger either. I like the idea of being the wheelman but how important are they?
>>43909627
>I like the idea of being the wheelman but how important are they?
If you have a good DM, being the wheelman can be interesting. If not you are going to be useless.
>>43909644
god dammit. This always happens in any table top rpg i play. The role I want to play in is complete ass for whatever reason. I initially wanted to be a rigger who uses almost all vehicles.
>>43909704
Yeah, ideally it's fucking cool to drive all vehicles from a rigger POV. But you know, it's still driving and that means that half the crew is out of their specialization.
>>43909704
As a general rule in SR, don't be a one-trick pony. See, if you are going to be a rigger, you need driving skill, the control rig implant, REA and INT stats high. After that you can take a good skill in some weapon, said weapon and if you feel feisty and rich drones equipped with the weapon too.
Shotgun-wielding driver can be actually good.
>>43909789
Not that guy, but, with the assumption of completely foregoing physical stats for mental, could you be a rigger AND decker? Or would that require some multitasking that doesn't overlap well
>>43909627
As in, a rigger can issue commands to several drones at once, has higher dicepools, can use programs for drones.
But the decker who hacked it off you can still tell it to shoot X, apply emergency brake, etc.
Yes, rigger is a niche class. It can rock, but typically you are a support role who shines once in a great while and has huge costa because drones are flimsy and expensive to repair..
>>43909848
>Or would that require some multitasking that doesn't overlap well
It would work pretty well, since it's mostly the same stats and the roles compliment each others, but the gear would cost a fucking leg.
>>43909848
Viable but not comparable. Also, your expenses will be through the roof.
>>43909879
Well, 450k nuyen is enough to buy a good arm and leg. If you're not buying a bunch of ware for yourself, it seems easier.
It was just an idea for the ultimate at-home tech dude
Are the drones very shityy?
>>43909914
With A priority on ressources it would work well, but a decker is more useful on site, or at least on his Ares Roadmaster not too far.
>>43909935
Eyebots of flyspies are actually really useful. Gun drones are situational.
>>43909704
you can be a vehicle rigger, but you got to be clever about it and have a little help from the DM.
Helicopter gunship works well in endgme, iirc
>>43909935
Your SR may vary, but Ive only seen them as good survelance and vehicle bots. Combat bots RAW arent worth.
>>43909978
Is it possible to go silent with the eyebots to infiltrate some facilities in reconnaissance missions?
>>43910331
Yes, but with -2 to perception-based tests.
>>43909903
What about if you did Technomancer/Rigger?
That way, you don't have to drop tons of cash on a deck
Just thought of a cool way to kill people if they use gas for cooking: hack their stove, have it release gas, don't ignite for an hour or two.
>>43910522
It's pretty good since you can assist your drones even if they are on auto.
>>43910533
>Gas cooking
Is this the 1800s?
Nigga resources are slim. We can't even feed the population without algae farms and soylent. You get your fucking electric induction oven. Nobody cares what you think about it.
>>43910533
Maybe some rich fuck who thinks it'd be cool to cook food like they did 100 years ago. But most people use electric.
And, let's be honest, if you try it on any real rich fuck, the only person you'll kill is their hired cook
>>43910522
the problem is that you need to initiate to dive into the drone, you cant be part of a PAN, and you still need a RCC to do drone swarms.
>>43910543
as this guy said, you can use machine sprites to help your drones even if theyre on auto, so you can support your rigger pretty well.
>>43910548
Point, I forgot that most people probably get their food from a soy extruder or something equally stupid.
>>43910611
>100 years ago
Judging by my stove, it'd be 60 years ago. But my apartment predates three prong electric sockets, so I probably don't get to talk.
>>43910729
But, if I were a Technomancer looking for a backup role, rigger would be good, right?
>>43910820
really depends if you can get all the moving parts. If you can without ham stringing yourself as the hacker, good on ya.
if you want to do it without an RCC you could just have a single large drone. If you wanted to do it without sprites, dont invest in the sprite skill group. so on and so forth.
>Ferns are not cacti captcha
