FV's chargen guide

Mon, 2017-10-16 11:12

#102

FrivolousVector FrivolousVector's picture

Benny89 wrote:But there is

Benny89 wrote:
But there is not a lot of good combat synth moprhs with 40 Attribute cap, that a at the same time have high Durability and Armor. So I was thinking about Steel Morph or Fighting Kite but they both are 30 max. Which Synth morph would recommend the most for Synth Combat?

Far as I'm concerned, most of the time having a 40 is excessive and causes problems when your GM wants to cram you in a Spare for a while. (especially since I am actually *teaching* you the min-maxiest loopholes I know) Again, it depends a lot on what you want out of it... Let me check my notes. Steel is actually an excellent choice, I've worked through it a few times. It's got a good number of stat bonuses, and it's pretty good as to economy. Definitely one of the best all-around synth morphs. Unfortunately, now we're getting down into specifics that require me to look things up more and more. Arachnoids are well worth your consideration if you are ok being fairly big. It's also really easy to disguise yourself as a drone. The basic Synth isn't bad for being cheap. Kytes are great if you have low stats and want to be a ranged barrage character (I can't remember the fighting kyte so well, so I assume it's similar if not better). I do remember that Panopticon, Transhuman, and Rimward had some good morphs in there. Panopticon also has a couple mods that let you turn into a stealth fighter (super cool). As far as Durability, don't bother looking at the morph's armor - you can just buy it on the cheap. Durability is hard to get, it becomes a balancing act, but by default synths are tougher than biomorphs so don't sweat it too hard. Personally, I stay away from most combat morphs. The only one I've ever gotten was a Ghost, for its COO bonus. Otherwise 9 times in 10 they aren't economical and local police don't like it. Rolling up in a Fenrir, people expect a fight. If you are rolling around in a combat capable Case, people really don't know what to expect. Fear the battle-Spare! Also, remember: You may be a battlebot, but you are just one battlebot. There are ways to do missile barrages with drones, and all sorts of other ways to teach one... discretion. So when it comes down to it, no matter how well built your character is, take cover and use your head. From the practical perspective a battlebot can survive in combat *longer* than most, but that doesn't mean you're invincible. It is hella fun, though.

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Sudo drop your weapon.

Mon, 2017-10-16 11:24

#103

FrivolousVector FrivolousVector's picture

Benny89 wrote:

Benny89 wrote:
Ow, ok, I bought EP Core that has Release Date: October 13, 2009. Is that a problem if I don't have 2 edition?? I didn't know there is even one.

GODSDANGIT. I've been reading up on the EP2 kickstarter, and now I got myself confused. Yes, right edition, wrong commenter >_<

Benny89 wrote:
Back to topic- thank you very much for this. I have better overview for my synth now :).

Always a pleasure. I love to stress test systems, because I have terrible dice luck. So any time I can guarantee that people will have fun with a game makes me happy.

Benny89 wrote:
Also since I can install bunch of mods to my snyth- I think Flight would be sligthly better than Freefall? And Free running is always useful I think.

I always love installing Vector Thrust, personally. That Galatea I mentioned before, she disguised herself as a bouncer. People were always surprised when the bouncer had a rocket pack.

Benny89 wrote:
But if I take the Brain Case inside my Synth Morph- I can avoid highest synth risk which is cyberbrain hacking, no?

Yes, I kept thinking about that and kept having to finish the next sentence first. On the one hand a brain case is amazing for immunity to brain hacks. On the other hand, it means you have to have access to air every once in a while (oh no, have to breathe every other day... how awful), it takes longer to sleeve in, and you can't do some of the nifty parlor tricks that hackers can benefit from. Also, incidentally, it is the funniest way to get an Async in the party (the Galatea again, actually). "what do you MEAN the Reaper is using Static?" So for the combat morph - yeah, it might be a very good investment. I was trying to focus bare bones and broad strokes because eventually your GM might make you swap bodies, and I'd hate to have you invest too much in one morph at the cost of skills. That was my first mistake, my second, and my third when making characters. I'll be around if any of the other players (or the GM, muahahaha) have questions too.

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Sudo drop your weapon.

Fri, 2017-10-27 09:10

#104

Benny89

More questions/builds

FrivolousVector wrote:
I'll be around if any of the other players (or the GM, muahahaha) have questions too.

More questions 1. Do you think it is possible to make a character that would be using for combat things like nanoswarms, demolitions, toxins/nanotoxins/pathogens and maybe viruses? I was also thinking how to combine into it Liquid Thermite and Scrapper Gel (making grenades with it, using Injections Nanoswarms?). In short - I am thinking of a guy who use "nasty" and dirty ways of dealing with enemies. No clean kills, only nasty, brutal and effecive killing/disabling enemies without carrying about damage or collateral victims. Guy who you don't call for quite black ops but for 100% effective black ops. Just something else than shooting a gun (though taking Sprey weapons for toxins might be good). 2. And second question: You wrote about your Async TITAN buster build- could you elaborate more how you build that and how exaclty his Psi is any effective in combat apart from defensive? Or is it just "I am pain for other psi users to deal with while I shoot them with gun" kind of build. Because I like the concept of ASYNC TITAN buster but I don't fully understand how would that work. Thanks as always FrivolousVector

Fri, 2017-10-27 17:36

#105

ubik2

As FrivolousVector pointed

As FrivolousVector pointed out, the references were EP1 Core, etc.. There is an EP2 currently being developed, and there are quickstart rules freely available for that now. They don't have the breadth of content that has been developed for EP1, and until that's fleshed out, you'll probably end up referring to EP1 rules if you're running an EP2 campaign. Check the Eclipse Phase, Second Edition: Open Playtest forum for more details on that.

Sat, 2017-10-28 10:55

#106

FrivolousVector FrivolousVector's picture

Psi is your friend sometimes, maybe.

ubik2 wrote:
There is an EP2 currently being developed, and there are quickstart rules freely available for that now.

Very excited, probably going to do a chargen guide within a month or two for that as well.

Benny89 wrote:
1. Do you think it is possible to make a character that would be using for combat things like nanoswarms, demolitions, toxins/nanotoxins/pathogens and maybe viruses?

That would require decent COG with Demolitions; Profession/Interest: Chemistry, Biotech, Nanotech; Hardware: Nanotech... It's very doable, especially since I intentionally went vague on how much you invest in combat or not. Your primary required skills for a combat character are pretty much the core skills I recommend for *any* character, a gunner just invests in them *more*. As a matter of fact, you are required by the core rules to invest in knowledge skills, so the above and some Profession: Insurgent/Guerilla and Profession: EOD only help you to flesh out your character. The only problem comes with finding the balance on the character, which can get tricky. Up to a point you can multitask with characters (example, one of my most effective characters was a Rep Requisitions Specialist/negotiator with strong social skills, killer combat, and was an Async - *but it took some doing*). However, there is a tipping point where getting better at one aspect will mean stealing points from another. Personal preference, I usually steal off of your purchases *first*, because you only have to resleeve once to lose all of that. However, EP is a very multiclass game, probably by design. If you plan out your character a little bit, you can do a surprising amount. The problem is figuring out exactly how and where these ancillary goals get in the way of the primary. As far as your design goals go, you *can* design your own nanotech but that will require a shitload of investment in other skills (several computer skills, for example). If all you want to do is change paint grenades into pain grenades, all you need is a hacker who knows how to do workarounds on a fabber. Usually biotech isn't approached from the virological perspective because it's the only in-universe science that takes lots of time. Personally, I'd save up some after-game money on nanite hives and blueprints for some of the fun ones (scourers and Neuropath, for example). If you are going to actively use nanite agents, invest in Infosec (maintain control of your hives) and Interface (program your hives to do stuff). Chemwar agents are easier. You don't need much more than Profession: Chemist and a hacked fabber or maker. Consider specializations in either Manufacturing or Chemical Warfare. If you just want to focus on *using* them, pick up a couple Profession or Interest skills and buy the gear before an op. Just remember that breaching a hab is usually a very bad thing. Breaching a hab while you are *inside* it is... ill advised.

Benny89 wrote:
2. You wrote about your Async TITAN buster build- could you elaborate more how you build that and how exaclty his Psi is any effective in combat apart from defensive? Or is it just "I am pain for other psi users to deal with while I shoot them with gun" kind of build. Because I like the concept of ASYNC TITAN buster but I don't fully understand how would that work.

Some of it goes into digging through the rules for different Exsurgent attack vectors. I cracked open the meta (which I wouldn't recommend until you've had your fun being a small fish in a big pond) and allotted stats specifically to protect against their different attack vectors. By the end, with stats and a little gear I had better than a 50/50 chance of surviving infection as written in the books. The rest of it was a bit of a metagaming rules-lawyer thought experiment which required very serious investment, almost to the point of crippling overspecialization. I made a very effective TiTAN hunter but Ed Sabien may have turned out to be my least effective character overall. I wouldn't recommend the build for first-time play, since it kinda loops in on itself in a few places. The core design principles were basically: Pod morphs are biomorphs with half-cyberbrains. This makes them resistant to psi attacks. Asyncs in them start to go nuts, but if you have the Downtime sleight - nothing you can't handle by taking a nap every couple of months. Pods also heal on their own. Buying a hardsuit vacuum suit (because combat exos are expensive as balls and most GMs will steal them from you during the intro scene... but I'm not *bitter*) protects you from most biowarfare attacks, especially if you have Guardian hives and a few armor mods. Asyncs usually have a serious weakness to Exsurgent Infection. If you invest heavily in sleights and traits, though, you can pick up Static, Emotive Control, and Psi Shield which make it really hard to hit you with active psi. If you get a psi jammer too, it might stack and make it near impossible for asyncs to hurt you at all, and makes it harder for any party member within ~20-40 meters to get hit as well. The Dominant Strain trait makes it so that your W-M Async strain infection makes you go temporarily loopy but gives you a bonus on tests to resist infection. This is literally the only trait in the game that straight up gives you a resistance to Exsurgent infection, but it requires a minimum of 20 (or was it 25?) points invested in edges. So in effect, this is a character who can operate for a very long periods in high infection areas, and can headhunt psi-active TiTANS pretty effectively. Unfortunately, this character also has almost no secondary utility (he's a vaguely functional private-eye) when he's not a soldier, and I actually ran out of money completely before I could buy him weapons. There's also a fun trick I pull with the Multiple Personalities implant, 2 alpha forks of the same Async and the Down Time sleight, but that's mostly useful for self-medicating against stress. Oh, and as an informational note that is actively useful to you: when hunting TiTANS and other exsurgents: Energy Weapons, Seekers, Explosives and Swords are your best bet. AOE damage or plasma is the best choice when taking on nanite clouds (Seekers are expensive as hell, but they can wail on people if you have the money for a proper set-up). However, EW fall off seriously against most mech enemies because most have lots of refractive armor mods; and most of the really serious stuff also has point defenses vs seekers. In the Firewall supplement, there is a lightsaber which is pretty nifty but, again, expensive as balls. The brief assessment on the plasma sword is: mechanically it is no better than just buying a monosword. However, the ancillary effects (read: Plasma) can technically reduce contaminant-based infection chances, has solid AP vs armor, and swarms. However, if you or any of your party decide to go mano-a-droid-o with a TiTAN battlemech before exhausting literally every other tactic... IMO Asyncs are best for getting some REALLY nifty gear bonuses permanently attached to your character, as long as you are in a biomorph, pod, or brain case. Some of the passive sleights are pretty boss. There are, however major drawbacks and it gets very expensive, very quickly.

Benny89 wrote:
Thanks as always FrivolousVector

Always a pleasure.

—

Sudo drop your weapon.

Sat, 2017-10-28 11:02

#107

FrivolousVector FrivolousVector's picture

because brain hacking is a thing

Almost forgot, if you are seriously considering going TiTAN hunting, tell your GM that your character has either surgically removed their Mesh Inserts, or have installed a hardwired cutoff with a physical switch (like, say, a toggle switch hidden in the roof of your mouth that you can flip with your tongue) between the tasty data portions of your mesh implants and the radio/bluetooth/wifi connection components. Then turn it off again, and only use Ectos when broadcasting. Carry a stack of them, they're cheap. When they get hacked, you drop them, burn them, and pull out a clean one. Edit: In case I never overtly stated, my older brother was the one who introduced me to D&D 3.5, Shadowrun 3rd, Cyberpunk 2020 2e, and Eclipse Phase in that order. He was a very Loki GM, which has made me sufficiently paranoid when making characters. Most of my suggestions are because he used something like that on me, or because I knew he *would*.

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Sudo drop your weapon.

Sat, 2017-10-28 15:40

#108

Benny89

Thanks FV, now

I want to build Combat Character but with some twist so he is not totally one-dimension Terminator. I have 2 concepts after your posts FV: 1. Black Ops Interrogator: so combat monster but with Psychosurgery (it's INT so even better) with Academics: Phychology and Proffession: Physchoterapy (plus others Knowlege skills typical for ops/soldiers). Little Medicine for retriving cortical stacks (only little, can take bonuses from taking my time). Kinetic Weapons, Demolitions (for creating breaches, mining battlefield, crafting grenades/missles etc.) with either Seeker or Throw weapons, Frey and either unarmed for Synth unamred combos or melee for Wasp Knife + Liquid Thermite combo. Should probably add some freefall or flight (either). Synthethic morph user. This guy breaches in with brute force, retrives target and either interrogate him to get crucial information (breaking his mind) or convert him to double agent, twist his memories etc. Focus on INT, REF and COO (20-25). Low COG and SAV (5-10), moderate SOM and WIL (15). I don't want to invest low in Infosec (I don't know if needed really) so I should just invest in good firewall, Ectos and infosec AI? 3. Combat Async agent: Biomorph user. PSI user, Defensive Sleights only to boost himself. Kinetic weapons, Frey, Infosec, Interfacing, Infiltration, Investigation, Intimidation/Deception, Programming, Exotic Melee: Garrot (or blades for wasp knife + thermite combo). Knowledge skills around chemistry and nanotechnology for Chemicals and Nanotoxins crafting (especially Liquid Thermite). Basicelly guy to track, find an objective, get info/head and get out. What do you think about those? What would you twist/recommend for them? PS. What skill you need to craft chemicals? Only Academic Chemistry it seems, as there is no active skill for chemicals/drugs/toxins. Power Build idea!: Is it possible to replace cyberbrain in morph with ghostrider module, add puppet socket and be Eidolon Infomorph in ghost rider module, piloting combat synthmorph and then have all the benefits from both Eidolon and Morph? That sounds like sick combo! Infomorph mental speed + synth combat body!

Sat, 2017-10-28 17:34

#109

FrivolousVector FrivolousVector's picture

Benny89 wrote:Black Ops

Benny89 wrote:
Black Ops Interrogator: so combat monster but with Psychosurgery (it's INT so even better) with Academics: Phychology and Proffession: Physchoterapy (plus others Knowlege skills typical for ops/soldiers). Little Medicine for retriving cortical stacks (only little, can take bonuses from taking my time).

That would work, and has a number of bonuses that you can bring to the table for the rest of the party. Amusingly enough, your evil black-bag-man can also actively heal parties of Stress, which is a real killer in EP. Wounds heal, insanity accumulates. I would also take a look at the Ego Hunter example character for other ideas on useful skills, since combat+PsychSurg really lends itself to that. So you can be the combat monster who moonlights as a bounty hunter to pay the bills. Character concept like that, I'd go for a background that gives C-rep and G-rep, since that's where most of your "money" would probably come from. @-rep would also be useful for finding folks.

Benny89 wrote:
Kinetic Weapons, Demolitions (for creating breaches, mining battlefield, crafting grenades/missles etc.) with either Seeker or Throw weapons, Frey and either unarmed for Synth unamred combos or melee for Wasp Knife + Liquid Thermite combo. Should probably add some freefall or flight (either). Synthethic morph user. This guy breaches in with brute force, retrives target and either interrogate him to get crucial information (breaking his mind) or convert him to double agent, twist his memories etc. Focus on INT, REF and COO (20-25). Low COG and SAV (5-10), moderate SOM and WIL (15).

Usually I choose between having Freefall, Freerunning or Flight for any one character, because most GMs will allow you to default one way or another if you can make a case for it. Of the 3, I usually go Freerun unless I go for a flying morph. The rest of the combo sounds solid.

Benny89 wrote:
Wasp Knife + Liquid Thermite combo

Now that's just *mean*!

Benny89 wrote:
I don't want to invest low in Infosec (I don't know if needed really) so I should just invest in good firewall, Ectos and infosec AI?

Ectos don't really gain a benefit from quality, and most hacker characters can build you a better firewall for free (and since I think you start with a Firewall, that's double savings right there). Your Muse does have Infosec, and can actively monitor your comms, I just tend to let the paranoia take a couple skill points. As long as you are careful and trust the team hacker to maintain your tacnet (or use a good firewall and ecto) you should be fine.

Benny89 wrote:
Combat Async agent: Biomorph user. PSI user, Defensive Sleights only to boost himself. Kinetic weapons, Frey, Infosec, Interfacing, Infiltration, Investigation, Intimidation/Deception, Programming, Exotic Melee: Garrot (or blades for wasp knife + thermite combo). Knowledge skills around chemistry and nanotechnology for Chemicals and Nanotoxins crafting (especially Liquid Thermite). Basicelly guy to track, find an objective, get info/head and get out.

I'd pass on the garotte. Across all the games I play, I've only ever used Exotic Weapon skills once for the kusarigama in Shadowrun 3rd ed. This build could work as well, but especially for a first character be careful not to spread yourself too thin. For one thing, look up the rules for running Asyncs - you lose one point of Trauma Threshold just by taking it. A robot-pirate-zombie-ninja is less cool than just a robot-ninja. My usual deal with Asyncs is I shy away from them unless there is a specific benefit I can't get elsewhere (of all my characters, I've made... 2 asyncs, I think). They can be useful, but they are definitely not OP.

Benny89 wrote:
What skill you need to craft chemicals? Only Academic Chemistry it seems, as there is no active skill for chemicals/drugs/toxins.

That would be it. Fabbers require a computer skill or two if you want the chemicals fast, but a bottle and a collection of fun chems is all that you really need. Added advantage being, you can play CSI for your party.

Benny89 wrote:
Is it possible to replace cyberbrain in morph with ghostrider module, add puppet socket and be Eidolon Infomorph in ghost rider module, piloting combat synthmorph and then have all the benefits from both Eidolon and Morph? That sounds like sick combo! Infomorph mental speed + synth combat body!

You can treat a synth/pod as a drone as long as it has the Puppet Sock implant, which means a hacker+drone rigger can be a ridiculously effective (if evil) combo. Can't replace the cyberbrain, but adding the ghostrider would technically allow you to jam the body like a drone. Unfortunately, that means that you have to have the infosec skill to not have your own body stolen out from under you by a better rigger, and it involves a lot more rules (and possibly the Gunnery skill depending on your GM). Drones make everything complicated, but if that is your character's focus you become hell on wheels. Personal preference, I go the opposite route - ghostrider on a Guardian Angel. Buy a bazillion Angels for the price of a Morph.

—

Sudo drop your weapon.

Sat, 2017-10-28 21:41

#110

Benny89

FrivolousVector wrote:Benny89

FrivolousVector wrote:
Benny89 wrote:
Black Ops Interrogator: so combat monster but with Psychosurgery (it's INT so even better) with Academics: Phychology and Proffession: Physchoterapy (plus others Knowlege skills typical for ops/soldiers). Little Medicine for retriving cortical stacks (only little, can take bonuses from taking my time).
That would work, and has a number of bonuses that you can bring to the table for the rest of the party. Amusingly enough, your evil black-bag-man can also actively heal parties of Stress, which is a real killer in EP. Wounds heal, insanity accumulates. I would also take a look at the Ego Hunter example character for other ideas on useful skills, since combat+PsychSurg really lends itself to that. So you can be the combat monster who moonlights as a bounty hunter to pay the bills. Character concept like that, I'd go for a background that gives C-rep and G-rep, since that's where most of your "money" would probably come from. @-rep would also be useful for finding folks.
Benny89 wrote:
Kinetic Weapons, Demolitions (for creating breaches, mining battlefield, crafting grenades/missles etc.) with either Seeker or Throw weapons, Frey and either unarmed for Synth unamred combos or melee for Wasp Knife + Liquid Thermite combo. Should probably add some freefall or flight (either). Synthethic morph user. This guy breaches in with brute force, retrives target and either interrogate him to get crucial information (breaking his mind) or convert him to double agent, twist his memories etc. Focus on INT, REF and COO (20-25). Low COG and SAV (5-10), moderate SOM and WIL (15).
Usually I choose between having Freefall, Freerunning or Flight for any one character, because most GMs will allow you to default one way or another if you can make a case for it. Of the 3, I usually go Freerun unless I go for a flying morph. The rest of the combo sounds solid.
Benny89 wrote:
Wasp Knife + Liquid Thermite combo
Now that's just *mean*!

Nice, thanks. Ok, so lets focus on that. So theorycrafting around Black Ops Interrogator: 1. Demolitions + Academics Chemistry and I should have no problem (aprt from funds) to craft Liquid Thermite grenades/missles/seekers for myself, yes? Since micromissles and grenades loses 1d10 damage for "micro", I can craft splash grenade/seeker and put inside Liquid Thermide and deal full 3d10 +5 for 3 action turns (burning enemy armor too!) without losing damage for micro this way and it is basicelly better plasmaburst since it's cheaper and deals damage for 3 turns, not only once. Add to that Seeker Armband + Zap rounds and I can send splash seekers with Thermite all day :). Same I can use dual Pistols, one Seeker that fires micro splash missles with Liquid Thermite inside :P and second one with zap round to automaticaly set them off (becuase both pistols shot same target) on target. Or use Seeker Pistol plus zap-SMG in second hand. Being hit 2-4 times in one turn by Liquid Thermite would be..well... I guess the end. EDIT: Same can be done with Elware + Wasp Knife with Liquid Termite. Since Elware makes your send shock even through touch/grab (as per descrtiption) you can send shock through knife to activate Liquid Thermite inside someones body :D. If your Wasp Knife is made from metal, but that should not be a problem for cheap custom order. 2. Best Kinetic weapons specialization seems Assault Rifles for me- most versitle, best all around range, semi, burst and auto fire mods. 3. Which Medicine spec is best for retriving cortical stacks fast? 4. Synthmorph seems like best bet for combat morph for me, but what biomorph would work good here too? From synths I will be probably grabbig Guard Deluxe, same cost as Fury but far superior. 5. I don't think Sprey weapons are worth really, that is why I opted for Seekers (and they combo best with Demilitions). I mean Shredder on full auto is BEAST. But it has low range, two handed and you can do same damage with dual railgun Smgs with smart magazines. 6. Now melee is my big grip: Between Unarmed combat, where you can deal a lot of damage but only if you "pimp" yourself properly (pneumatic limbs, telescopic limbs, cyberclaws, extra limbs + elware) or go for blades and rely on wasp knife + liquide Thermite combo or monosword? Also - does extra limb works as extra weapon (like equiping another blade?) - will it add 1d10 to unarmed. Because so far (correct me if wrong) unarmed for synth can be 1d10 + 2 for synth + cyberclaw damage + pneumatic limb damage. Rules does not say that unarmed benefits from multi-weapon bonuses (so like extra limb or extra cyber claws won't add 1d10 damage), and so far also it seems even if you have cyberclaws in both hands- they still only attack as one :(. So blades would actually be little better I think?

Mon, 2017-10-30 18:12

#111

FrivolousVector FrivolousVector's picture

Beepboop

Most of these are questions that specifically come down to your GM's preferences. The loadout looks solid but I've never tried the splash combo that you came up with. Building the grenades themselves would conceivaprobably require Hardware: Armorer, probably easier to just buy them at that point. I usually go Pistol & Sniper, but you are probably better off with an AR. I still have never fought at a range that AR's can't reach. Only problem you might encounter is concealability - I'd buy a pistol just in case. All guns feature Smartlinks free as of last errata update. Remember that Rail upgrades mean you can only use standard or AP ammo, and no nano upgrades. First Aid or Trauma medicine would be best for cort stacks. Ask your GM. To be honest, if you don't care about murdering the morph, then Interest: Morph Design and some skill with blades will do just as well. Medicine is for when you want to do it... without murdering someone. If you're going straight combat biomorph, I go Ghost. The Theseus is awesome, but expensive. Ghost is one of the few that gives a COO boost, and is just as good, but notably cheaper. I have managed to make a pleasure pod into a combat morph once, though. Edged wpns vs Unarmed: I can only show you the door, you are the one who has to punch through it. According to the rules, extra limbs (and even your off hand) do not count as extra weapons for Unarmed. However, I have had GM's concede that cyberclaws do. I've also pointed out that, since you don't need actual skill with the weapon (OHW requires no rolls, after all), all you need is a shiv or a piece of rebar in each off hand for it to count. So ultimately, all you have to do is keep a few knives in your inventory and it's all good.

—

Sudo drop your weapon.

Mon, 2017-10-30 20:19

#112

Benny89

FrivolousVector wrote

FrivolousVector wrote:
Building the grenades themselves would conceivaprobably require Hardware: Armorer All guns feature Smartlinks free as of last errata update. If you're going straight combat biomorph, I go Ghost. However, I have had GM's concede that cyberclaws do. I've also pointed out that, since you don't need actual skill with the weapon (OHW requires no rolls, after all), all you need is a shiv or a piece of rebar in each off hand for it to count. So ultimately, all you have to do is keep a few knives in your inventory and it's all good.

Hardware: Armorer is for armors and weapons/guns. Demolitions is for grenades and missles. Smartlink is now default? Which errata is that? To core book? Hm, I think I will stick with Guard Deluxe as morph for now + Brain Case. I also think that if you have cyberclaws in both hands it should count as two weapons. I mean you use both hands, right? But having cyberclaws + knifes in other hands just to stack a 1d10 damage is too big "mechanic hole" even for me :D. That would really not look good in RPG game :). I mean guy punches you with cyberclaw fist and just hold behind his back 2x knifes in 2 of his 3 additional hands saying "don't worry about knifes, just stacking damage for my fist" :P.

Tue, 2017-10-31 17:06

#113

FrivolousVector FrivolousVector's picture

Benny89 wrote:Hardware:

Benny89 wrote:
Hardware: Armorer is for armors and weapons/guns. Demolitions is for grenades and missles.

depends on the GM, I can see it going either way so ask them ahead of time. If you can get it in writing, more's the better.

Benny89 wrote:
Smartlink is now default? Which errata is that? To core book?

Yeah, there was an errata update to the core book. I can figure out which if you need me to look it up.

Benny89 wrote:
I also think that if you have cyberclaws in both hands it should count as two weapons. I mean you use both hands, right? But having cyberclaws + knifes in other hands just to stack a 1d10 damage is too big "mechanic hole" even for me :D.

Tell your GM you studied martial arts by watching Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek TV show. HAYMAKER! DOUBLE FIST PUNCH! KIRKPEDO! Romance and PUNCH TO THE FACE! You might even get a bonus to seduction checks, but you will rip your shirt more often.

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Sudo drop your weapon.

Fri, 2018-01-12 05:44

#114

Xagroth

Sooo... A couple of small

Sooo... A couple of small doubts here... First, if I go full swarmlord with E/M protected bots using laser-based comms to keep the tacnet up and free of enemy hacking (barring physical contact with one drone or party member), can I also ignore the disruptions to tacnets froms E/M pulses? At least after a round or two... I am also interested in everybody's take on drone "total annihilation / Supreme Commander" combat style, in a way that can be used in actual combat effectively (which also means not bogging the combat for everybody!). Second, what about "forking builds"? By RAW, if I remember right, Beta forks are capped at 60 on skills and Gamma at 40, personally I tend to go for 2-3 big skills and the rest at 60 or around for maximun fork coverage... Then I ask for ghostriders in the other players to place a fork that can be "woken up" to provide team bonuses with a lot of skills... I can also go for blueprint creation with that, placing a bunch of forks with the right skills in accelerated simulspace and get gear (I doubt you can pull that off with hacking programs to get +30, since then they would either go down in price or everybody would be on the +30 level for all that, effectively "readjusting" the system... they would even reach +60 against somebody who has been asleep for a few years, but against anyone in the game...). Third, while the mechanical aspects of the system are useful and interesting, what about situations you have encountered? War stories, essentially. And ideas, background, etc...

Sun, 2018-01-14 04:18

#115

CordialUltimate2 CordialUltimate2's picture

1. If your microbots are "EM

1. If your microbots are "EM proofed" then when they're hit with EMP they should only lose radio comms. Since you use laser links it wouldn't impede their internal communications. I don't recall that microbots can be EMP resistant and I think they take 3d10+3 DV from EMPs. You would have to check swarmanoids rules 2. I don't know what you are talking about. 3. Forking is a valid strategy. You just have to track stress incurred from making the fork, Integration into morph/infomorph, Alienation and Continuity especially in the last case. Then seeing yourself die, when you delete forks or they delete themselves. If they don't become rogue forks at that point. Alternatively all the stress from merging. When you take that into account it becomes a substantial cost of the powerful strategy that is forking. 5. Exploits and Firewall software devalue over time due to the things you mentioned. The rate is up to GM. If you make them yourself and do not actively upgrade them they will go back to 0 and then to -10,-20,-30 after sufficiently long time. My team pays fat money for premium subscription to +30 Firewall Software. It is maintained by a trusted external team. It is worth the price and reduces hassle of doing it ourselves. 6. I think there are other threads about that.

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Sun, 2018-01-14 07:54

#116

Xagroth

CordialUltimate2 wrote:1. If

CordialUltimate2 wrote:
1. If your microbots are "EM proofed" then when they're hit with EMP they should only lose radio comms. Since you use laser links it wouldn't impede their internal communications. I don't recall that microbots can be EMP resistant and I think they take 3d10+3 DV from EMPs. You would have to check swarmanoids rules

No, the idea was to make a "swarm" of big bots, not microbots. More on the lines of ye olde Total Annihilation (or the new Supreme Commander, or the newer Planetary Annihilation) but a much smaller scale. As for the forking, there are ways around it if one wants a dedicated build, the same way others have used a second alpha fork to run shotgun on their morph and change sides. Right now, the idea could be a combo of an AGI with Right at Home (Flexbot), Ego Plascticity III, Tacnet Sniper, get Hardening against "being responsible for the death of a Loved One" ingame ("deleting" own's forks, or sending them to suicide missions), using several sections for flexbotting, and tons of drones. The flexbots can be used as "command nodes", while the drones are "the swarm". The roles of the character would be hacking and fire support, essentially, with "jamming in" a drone to infiltrate it in a precise location, buth remote ordening most of the time. Also, one module of the flexbot can be "primary combat" (with Neurachem) while other can be "command" (with extra mental actions by way of several implants). Plus, given a big eough body, you cram a quantum computer, accelerate time, and play more like an RTS in slow motion than anything else.

Mon, 2018-01-15 19:10

#117

FrivolousVector FrivolousVector's picture

Riposte!

Laser commlinks are spiffy, an excellent way to get around EMP damage, but especially in a swarm build I've always advocated "the best way to avoid damage is to not be near it". Guardian Angels with sniper rifles (or rocket launchers) can be very cost effective. Very few people invest in EM weapons because of their limited use, fewer still will pay the boatload for EM missiles. Even so, Guardians come with integral AIs which you can leave deadman switch instructions - like evade and repair comms. Or better, shoot the bastard what done it. As far as forking, I tend to overlook betas and deltas. They take long enough to build and prune, a lot of times it's easier to just whip up an Alpha (with no skill caps) with a kill command. If it becomes an issue, invest in Phoenix, Hardening (Forking), and some Comfruit glands/programs. One of the biggest advantages of forking (aside from simultaneity) is teamwork bonuses. Hackers and forking go together well. Some players will exploit simulspaces to upgrade their programs. a 60x sped up simspace lets you upgrade your entire array in a couple hours. Programs degrade, but tweaking lets you keep up. Unfortunately simspaces don't speed up your ability to interact in real life, unless your GM isn't paying attention to the drone rigger. Fortunate for you, or else all of Direct Action would be controlled by one cheeto-powered ubernerd with hundreds of simultaneous actions each turn. As cool as they are, I've found Flexbots to be massively impractical for the simple reason that the game counts Flexbots as individual morphs. You can accidentally drop a hundred CP on a single morph, how much are you going to spend on a dozen morphs that *all cost full price*? To fall back to TVTropes: Awesome but Impractical. There's some really cool rules to the morph, but they are simply too expensive without a system overhaul. Like I said a while back, I made a pleasure pod into a combat morph. It's not hard to make a morph good, but it's prohibitively expensive to do it more than once. TBH my next project is to make a combat Spare, because that's the only morph I could buy 5 of and not lose all my investment. Fear the beach-ball-o-death! It's possible to use a Swarmanoid as a control morph, but even after being involved with the overhaul, I still won't use them after my first misadventure. The most cost effective method is to invest in an Eidolon, since that is the only morph that cannot* be taken* away* from you*. *unless your GM knows what they're doing.

—

Sudo drop your weapon.

Tue, 2018-01-16 04:41

#118

Xagroth

FrivolousVector wrote:

FrivolousVector wrote:
As far as forking, I tend to overlook betas and deltas. They take long enough to build and prune, a lot of times it's easier to just whip up an Alpha (with no skill caps) with a kill command. If it becomes an issue, invest in Phoenix, Hardening (Forking), and some Comfruit glands/programs. One of the biggest advantages of forking (aside from simultaneity) is teamwork bonuses. Hackers and forking go together well.

Well, the bigger issue here is being on the same page XD. While spawning Alpha forks is even done by an implant, once you have a Beta Fork you can copy it as needed, and the same can be said for the gamma. The tricky part would be to have them up to date...

FrivolousVector wrote:
As cool as they are, I've found Flexbots to be massively impractical for the simple reason that the game counts Flexbots as individual morphs. You can accidentally drop a hundred CP on a single morph, how much are you going to spend on a dozen morphs that *all cost full price*? To fall back to TVTropes: Awesome but Impractical. There's some really cool rules to the morph, but they are simply too expensive without a system overhaul. Like I said a while back, I made a pleasure pod into a combat morph. It's not hard to make a morph good, but it's prohibitively expensive to do it more than once. TBH my next project is to make a combat Spare, because that's the only morph I could buy 5 of and not lose all my investment. Fear the beach-ball-o-death!

Well, the idea here would be to invest into blueprints and the like, but I agree the most cost-effective morph inversion would be steel synths or modified cases (which are little else than walking ectos with a place to plug in a cortical stack). The good part is, however, that you can sleeve in a single Flexbot depending of the mission and they would still be like "having the Right at Home advantage for a ton of morphs paying once". And yeah, in the end the best control platform for a drone controller is to install some ghostrider modules in his drones and friends, and jump as needed to coordinate the drones.

Tue, 2018-01-16 19:23

#119

FrivolousVector FrivolousVector's picture

Xagroth wrote:

Xagroth wrote:
Well, the bigger issue here is being on the same page XD. While spawning Alpha forks is even done by an implant, once you have a Beta Fork you can copy it as needed, and the same can be said for the gamma. The tricky part would be to have them up to date...

Eh, all you need is a cyberbrain and you can make alpha forks on the fly. Less bookkeeping.

—

Sudo drop your weapon.

Wed, 2018-01-17 05:05

#120

Xagroth

FrivolousVector wrote:

FrivolousVector wrote:
Eh, all you need is a cyberbrain and you can make alpha forks on the fly. Less bookkeeping.

Yeah, but Alpha Forking without remerging is so... extreme. On the plus side, of course, you can use the Ego Plasticity x3 trait to reintegrate at +60 wit a top SV damage of 1 per failure if you spend a couple of actions every hour or so to remerge and recreate forks. Anyway, no "build" for a dronemaster PC with its main job being a Hacker/blueprint designer?

Wed, 2018-01-17 14:09

#121

CordialUltimate2 CordialUltimate2's picture

I created blueprint designer

I created blueprint designer/backup hacker with enough points left to have decent Networking and combat survavibility. But it strongly depends on your GMs interpretation of blueprint design process. And fabber accessibility. In my campaign we got our hands on CM after a year of play. Swapping few skills around would make an excellent drone and logistics support character.

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