comStar Firewall alert - PhaseThrough

• It may raise one complex form it already possesses by a number
of points equal to half the rating (round down) of the absorbed
sprite up to a new maximum of the absorbed sprite’s rating. The
absorbed sprite must also have possessed that complex form.
• It may raise one skill it already possesses by a number of points
equal to one-third of the rating (round down) of the absorbed
sprite, up to a new maximum of the absorbed sprite’s rating. The
absorbed sprite must also have possessed that skill.
• It may raise its Edge by 1, granting it a new power, if the rating
of the sprite was equal or greater than its own.
• It may increase its total rating by 1, thereby increasing its Pilot
and Firewall stats, as long as the rating of the sprite was equal or
greater than its own.
• It may change its source code, to prevent technomancers that have
acquired its source code from tracking and registering it (p. 159).
regiStering and decoMpiLing free SpriteS
To register a free sprite, a technomancer must have the source
code (p. 142) of the sprite in question.
accessing a Sprite’s Source code
A sprite’s source code can only be acquired by a submerged
technomancer through a resonance realm search (p. 174). Since
resonance realms are hyper-virtual places yet to be thoroughly
explored, it is often hard to find the place where the true source
code of a free sprite can be accessed (or cracked). Even the sprite
most likely does not know. The gamemaster should ensure that
a resonance quest of this type is an appropriately confusing and
unsettling experience. A successful quest imprints the code of the
free sprite into the mind of the technomancer.
Unwired
Bossing the code
Technomancers who have acquired the source code of a free
sprite may use it to track down the sprite in the Matrix by performing
a Resonance + Track (free sprite’s Rating x 2, 1 Combat Turn)
Extended Test. No usual Track Modifiers (including Stealth complex
forms that the free sprite may possess) are applied to this test.
If they are in the same node, the technomancer may challenge
the sprite and attempt to register it. Technomancers who
have performed this sort of registering session report it to be
like a state of digital transcendence, diving into the code of the
sprite. In game terms, the registration session takes a number of
hours equal to the rating of the sprite. During the session, the
technomancer imprints his will into the sprite’s code, pitting his
Willpower + Registering against the sprite’s Rating + Edge in
an Opposed Test. If the technomancer wins, the free sprite is
registered to him and owes him a number of tasks equal to the
net hits. Unlike most other registrations, this sort of registering
produces no Fading. During the registration session, and until a
registered sprite’s tasks are used up, the sprite cannot do anything
to harm its “operator.”
Free sprites that have been registered against their will are
not usually vindictive or determined to inflict harm on the operator,
but will go to any means to counterbalance an “unsatisfied
equation.” What this may mean in particular cases depends on the
nature and profile of the free sprite and is left to the gamemaster.
The sprite can be re-registered through a new registering session,
as long as the free sprite source code is not altered. This can
be done an unlimited number of times, but if the operator glitches
on the re-registering test, the free sprite will get 1 Combat Turn
to do anything it wants before it is brought back under control.
If the technomancer character scores a critical glitch on the reregistering,
he forfeits all remaining owed tasks and the sprite can
do anything it wants.
decompiling a free Sprite
A free sprite can be decompiled like any other sprite (p. 236,
SR4), though their Denial power makes this more difficult. Since
a free sprite is normally unregistered to any technomancer, it lacks
tasks that can be reduced in this manner. Instead, its unspent Edge
is reduced for each net hit the decompiler achieves.
A free sprite whose available Edge is reduced to 0 this way
is temporarily disrupted to code fragments, but reforms when its
Edge replenishes. Whether the free sprite just dissipates into code
or transfers to a resonance realm is currently unknown. To permanently
destroy a free sprite, it must be decompiled by someone
who knows its source code.
free Sprite powerS
The following powers are available only to free sprites.
Blend
A sprite can blend with the node’s environment to digitally
“hide,” applying a –2 dice pool modifier to any Matrix Perception
Tests performed to spot the sprite. This power also enables the sprite
to cloak its presence in terms of resource allocation within the node,
so it is harder to target during combat; apply a –2 dice pool modifier
to all Matrix Attack Tests against the blended sprite.
Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9
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sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .