Shadowrun questions

[Bearpunch]

Okay, I bought this book (20th Anniversary edition) a couple days after christmas, and I'm still deciphering all of the little details, I think I understand the basics pretty well, but I have a few nagging questions:

In the listing for the price for Credsticks, it claims that they are only twenty-five bucks (nuyen, right?). Now, I read in an earlier section that Credsticks limits' are up to like 1 million. Does the buyer pay the 25 AND the 1 million?

Are there any introductory adventures I could use (preferably for free), or ideas anyone has?

Is the matrix really as complicated as everyone says it is? I am about halfway through that chapter (I've been skipping around, I know), and I don't find it to be very complex, a little focused on one character, yeah, but it isn't very confusing. So am I missing something?

I think I am just having a system overload. In the last few weeks, I have been reading 4 different books and managing three campaigns, so I think my brain is a little shot, so have patience please.

[TheCountAlucard]

In the listing for the price for Credsticks, it claims that they are only twenty-five bucks (nuyen, right?).Dollars don't quite equate to nuyen, but yeah, nuyen is pretty much the standard for cash in 2070.


Now, I read in an earlier section that Credsticks limits' are up to like 1 million. Does the buyer pay the 25 AND the 1 million?Pretty much. Credsticks are a good way of anonymizing the money.


Are there any introductory adventures I could use (preferably for free), or ideas anyone has?Might I suggest the Denver Missions? You can get 'em for free off their website.


Is the matrix really as complicated as everyone says it is?It ain't easy, but it's only harder than it has to be due to even the 20th anniversary edition version remaining relatively unclear about a few things.

[Bearpunch]

But isn't cash in itself anonymous? Or is cash not an accepted currency any more?

[Earthwalker]

Alot of things are automated.
Convinence stores where you walk into an "aitlock" type doorway.
It scans the RFID tags on the items you have taken, then your comlink connects and it takes the money for the goods and opens the outer door.

No slot for coins or paper. It just gets habdled wirelessly.

(this is an example of how it can work)

Paper money is around but the majority of people just transfer credits wirelessly (leaving a trail) so paper money is good but some places just won't take it.

[TheCountAlucard]

But isn't cash in itself anonymous?Not in 2070, it ain't. Pretty much everything else leaves a noticable datatrail.


Or is cash not an accepted currency any more?Well, the only cash cash out there these days is corp scrip, which is used to make purchases within that corp, so again, you lose out on the whole "anonymity" thing.

[Bearpunch]

Okay, I think I get it. It's like everyone has a bank account, but it is used for literelly every transaction, so buying a credstick is like buying a gift card to any store?

[The Random NPC]

You hit the nail on the head.

[Bearpunch]

Wow, I feel kind of dumb for not realizing that before.

[Lost Demiurge]

You can find hard currency in some places, but the problem is that there's no universal hard currency, and a LOT more countries around that all make their own. So trying to get UCAS dollars converted into CAS dollars or Salish-Sidhe wampum takes time and effort. Easier to use nuyen, just wave your comm at the station and hit AUTHORIZE.

[Bearpunch]

But that can be tracked, unless you use a credstick. So it really provides a really interesting level of intrigue in something as simple as money. My players will cry.

[Drglenn]

That's one of the main jobs of the hacker (wether decker or technomancer) in the party: they can go back and remove the digital trail left from transactions. Almost all shops will have a node that can be hacked, and unless its a main corp branch the security on it isn't going to be that tight in most cases.

Also cameras are EVERYWHERE, again the regular street cameras will be relatively easy to hack unless its an important area.

[The Random NPC]

Shadowrun can basicly have intrigue at any level, about anything. Its one of the things I like about it.

[Bearpunch]

I think I am really going to love this game.

[LibraryOgre]

A certified credstick is essentially like buying a Visa gift card... pretty much everywhere will accept it, and you pay Visa for them holding onto your money and processing transactions.

[The Glyphstone]

As for introductory adventures, I'm pretty sure the more or less mandated first run for any team has to be Food Fight.

[Trekkin]

As for introductory adventures, I'm pretty sure the more or less mandated first run for any team has to be Food Fight.

This is very true. It's one of my favorite modules for any system I've ever seen for precisely this reason.

It isn't quite a typical run, though, and if there is a mandated second run, it probably fairly closely follows the Johnson-legwork-heist-complications-Johnson betrayal framework.

[LibraryOgre]

For all it's nostalgia value, Food Fight is not my ideal first run. It's my ideal THIRD run. The team knows each other. They've done well, and while they're a little hurt and tired, they're not limping home, barely stable. Spring it on them on the way back from a run that was a little bit of a cakewalk. That puts them more on the level with their opposition, and makes it less likely they'll be carrying their huge gear.

[Need_A_Life]

In the listing for the price for Credsticks, it claims that they are only twenty-five bucks (nuyen, right?). Now, I read in an earlier section that Credsticks limits' are up to like 1 million. Does the buyer pay the 25 AND the 1 million?It's like a digital wallet. The wallet doesn't come with cash (or, if it does, worry!)


Are there any introductory adventures I could use (preferably for free), or ideas anyone has?http://www.shadowrun4.com has a lot of good, free ones IIRC.


Is the matrix really as complicated as everyone says it is? I am about halfway through that chapter (I've been skipping around, I know), and I don't find it to be very complex, a little focused on one character, yeah, but it isn't very confusing. So am I missing something?It's fairly easy to get the basic grasp of it, but it is time-consuming to run and there are enough options (especially using Unwired) that mastering the system is quite complicated. It's like chess in that way.

[Drglenn]

It's fairly easy to get the basic grasp of it, but it is time-consuming to run
This is the main problem with matrix (and astral) combat, it takes a lot of time where the other players are sitting around doing nothing.
Ways to speed it up or make it more interesting:
Have the other players roll for the enemies
Have all the rolls be average for what they can get (for this you just divide the number of dice by 3 (e.g. if you're rolling 12 dice, you would get 12/3=4 successes) unless the player spends edge before the roll which complicates things)
Decide the outcome of the combat in one roll

[Dimers]

It's like a digital wallet. The wallet doesn't come with cash (or, if it does, worry!)

More than true -- a credstick, like a wallet, can also be used to carry ID. When a mundane swipes their stick they're also telling the seller their name, contact information, credit history, rough family outline (married, # of kids, etc) and buying habits. "Certified credsticks" typically have preset and neutral ID encoded in them if they're made for the corp world, though most shadow sources of certsticks are thoroughly anonymized. If certsticks are universal gift cards printed with the presumed user's name and address, the info on an underworld certified credstick would say "John Doe, 123 Main Street, Anytown, CAS".

[Daremonai]

More than true -- a credstick, like a wallet, can also be used to carry ID. When a mundane swipes their stick they're also telling the seller their name, contact information, credit history, rough family outline (married, # of kids, etc) and buying habits. "Certified credsticks" typically have preset and neutral ID encoded in them if they're made for the corp world, though most shadow sources of certsticks are thoroughly anonymized. If certsticks are universal gift cards printed with the presumed user's name and address, the info on an underworld certified credstick would say "John Doe, 123 Main Street, Anytown, CAS".

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in 4th ed your commlink does all the normal payment/ID stuff, and the only credsticks left in use are certified.

[The Random NPC]

I thought credsticks were the anonymous cash equivilant of the future. If they aren't what's the point? Runners that don't use fake SINs tend to run into problems.

[Bearpunch]

I thought credsticks were the anonymous cash equivilant of the future. If they aren't what's the point? Runners that don't use fake SINs tend to run into problems.

That's how I interpreted the fluff in the book. Anonymous, quick, simple.

[Dimers]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in 4th ed your commlink does all the normal payment/ID stuff, and the only credsticks left in use are certified.

You're correct. I inferred from the fact that credsticks were mentioned at all that this must be a 3rd-ed thread. In 4th, there are far more vendors that don't accept credsticks at all (much less physical cash) -- almost all transactions have to be done via commlink. Which means every shadowrunner ever had better be on good terms with a hacker, for some basic spoof work.

[Daremonai]

That's how I interpreted the fluff in the book. Anonymous, quick, simple.

Certified sticks are anonymous, quick & simple - they're just not the norm. Your commlink is used for everyday payments and stores your ID, and certified sticks are the equivalent of a briefcase full of cash.

EDIT: As mentioned above, some places are a little touchy about taking certified credsticks, but then right now in the UK anti-landering laws mean that you can't spend more than (I think) 2k in cash, so folk would be touchy about a briefcase full of cash too - the more I think about it, the better a comparison it is.

[ShadowFighter15]

Certified sticks are anonymous, quick & simple - they're just not the norm. Your commlink is used for everyday payments and stores your ID, and certified sticks are the equivalent of a briefcase full of cash.

EDIT: As mentioned above, some places are a little touchy about taking certified credsticks, but then right now in the UK anti-landering laws mean that you can't spend more than (I think) 2k in cash, so folk would be touchy about a briefcase full of cash too - the more I think about it, the better a comparison it is.

Sadly, this does make a campaign based on Hustle somewhat lacking once you've gotten away with the score - what with it just being one or two pieces of plastic and circuitry the size of a flashdrive rather than a big briefcase full of money that you get to throw around the apartment in celebration.:smallbiggrin:

[DigoDragon]

Is the matrix really as complicated as everyone says it is? I am about halfway through that chapter (I've been skipping around, I know), and I don't find it to be very complex, a little focused on one character, yeah, but it isn't very confusing.

I've run a campaign and found that the aspect of "focused on one character" is what makes the Matrix difficult in my mind.

Often I found myself trying to work out encounters where physical security was nearby important nodes so that while the hacker was trying to shut down the building's security cameras, the rest of the team can be combating the local rent-a-cops to prevent soemone from just running off to another station for help.

As a somewhat related note, I found Technomancers to be easier to figure out than hackers with respect to Matrix interactions.

[comicshorse]

Sadly, this does make a campaign based on Hustle somewhat lacking once you've gotten away with the score - what with it just being one or two pieces of plastic and circuitry the size of a flashdrive rather than a big briefcase full of money that you get to throw around the apartment in celebration.:smallbiggrin:


I watched zeros pile up behind a meaningless figure on the monitor. I was rich
Burning Chrome, William Gibson

The Shadowrun equivalent

[Necroticplague]

Certified sticks are anonymous, quick & simple - they're just not the norm. Your commlink is used for everyday payments and stores your ID, and certified sticks are the equivalent of a briefcase full of cash.

EDIT: As mentioned above, some places are a little touchy about taking certified credsticks, but then right now in the UK anti-landering laws mean that you can't spend more than (I think) 2k in cash, so folk would be touchy about a briefcase full of cash too - the more I think about it, the better a comparison it is.

Plus, the analogy can be continued. If a credstick is hacked, it could still theoretically be traced, just like how some of the bills in the suitcase full of money might be bills marked with something to make them traceable.

[ShadowFighter15]

Burning Chrome, William Gibson

The Shadowrun equivalent

Yeah, but messing around with the cash (even just throwing one bundle of bills up into the air for the last shot before the credits) was a pretty regular thing in Hustle. A digital funds transfer just seems to lack the same satisfaction. Might just be me, though.

[LibraryOgre]

Yeah, but messing around with the cash (even just throwing one bundle of bills up into the air for the last shot before the credits) was a pretty regular thing in Hustle. A digital funds transfer just seems to lack the same satisfaction. Might just be me, though.

Represent your bank account as piles of cash. Create a Scrooge McDuck avatar. Go swimming in it in HotSim.

[Dimers]

Represent your bank account as piles of cash. Create a Scrooge McDuck avatar. Go swimming in it in HotSim.

:smallbiggrin: I am so happy to see this idea.