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| There's more to Running than Guns, Armor,
and Vehicles. Quite a few other tools of the trade come in very
handy. |
| DRIVERS |
| So-called "Drivers" are a recognizable
archetype of Runner that
specialize in having, maintaining, and piloting tricked out
Vehicles in a fashion conducive to the accomplishment of a
Run. Whether said Vehicles are a more conventional conveyance
such as an Urban Assault Vehicle of some sort, or more unusual
machines such as Drones (remotely piloted robotic devices)
really doesn't matter; though Runners that only work with Drones
are sometimes referred to as "Droners" or "Slavers" to
differentiate them. |
| While any Runner might have a Vehicle, the
following document refers to "Drivers" in various place,
operating from the assumption that characters making a
significant investment in Vehicles and associated technology are
Drivers to some extent, even if that isn't their main focus.
However, this is purely a matter of semantics; the text is
equally applicable to all types of characters. |
| VEHICLE PRICES |
| In the MetaCyber campaign Vehicles are
acquired via money, not points, but combat capable Vehicles must
also be covered by a character's Equipment Pool allotments for
Vehicles. All PC's and significant NPC's start with 10 Vehicle /
Base points, but this can be bought higher as explained on page
151of the
Dark Champions Supplement. |
| The credit cost
of Vehicles is determined by a simple formula as illustrated
in the adjoining table. |
|
Base |
Total Points x 5000 |
|
Ground HoverCars |
x1.5 |
|
SkyCar |
x 2+ |
|
JetCar |
x2.5+ |
|
Military/Rare |
x3+ |
|
| The Base cost
represents the cost of a normal ground Vehicle. Ground
HoverCars, SkyCars, and JetCars all cost more, as do
Military and certain rare / custom Vehicles. |
|
| The costs listed are the costs to purchase a
Vehicle, either legitimately in the case of most Vehicles, or on
the black market in the case of Military and other similar
Vehicles. The cost to build such a Vehicle, assuming the parts
and skilled labor were available, would be less as determined by
the GM. And of course theft is always an option. |
| CONTROLLINK |
| A device similar to but much more advanced
than a standard Brainjack can be used to control Vehicles
equipped to allow a Neural Interface. To do this a person has to
get a
cybernetic implant called a ControlLink, which is essentially an
upgraded Brainjack with all the functionality thereof plus
extra circuitry. Further each Vehicle to be controlled must be
fitted with a specially encrypted interface card called a
VehicleLink. |
| The VehicleLink in the Vehicle and the
operator's ControlLink must be synched up, which is a process
that takes about 10 minutes and requires a physical connection
via a wire after which the VehicleLink and the ControlLink are
specifically keyed to each other and the operator can issue
commands to Vehicle via thought alone and from a respectable
range. However, it should be noted that unless the Vehicle has a sense relay
system also set up the controller is "flying blind", unaware of
the surroundings of the Vehicle unless they happen to have LOS
on it. |
| Basic Control Links can only be keyed to one
Vehicle at a time, but better versions can be keyed to two at
once and also have a slightly better range. For Drone
controllers that don't mind being up close and personal, there
is a "Swarm" version that allows up to 8 Vehicles to be keyed at
once, but it has a very short range. There are also even better
systems that can be keyed to four or more Vehicles at the same
time, but they are custom made (i.e. exceed the 30 Active Point
cap for cybernetics). |
| The alternative is having multiple Neural
Connectors installed. However even the most jaded of cyberdocs
would refuse to put more that three into the same person; more
than that is just not safe and very likely to result in death.
Further a third ControlLink prevents a character from also using
a Combat Assist Computer since the Neural hookups for the two
systems are competing for the same real estate in the host's
spine so to speak. |
|
|
|
ControlLink Basic |
|
Brainjack: Computer Link (5 Active Points); Restrainable (by EMP's; -1/4); Real
Cost: 4 points, ~20,000 credits |
|
Computer Link (Neural Connector) Mind Link , One Specific Mind
(Vehicle), No LOS Needed, Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +1/2)
(22 Active Points); Only With Others Who Have Mind Link (-1), Does Not
Provide Mental Awareness (-1/4), Restrainable (By EMP's and Interference;
-1/4); Real Cost: 7 points, ~230,000 credits |
|
Total Real Cost: 11 points; ~250,000 credits |
|
|
|
ControlLink Elite |
|
Brainjack: Computer Link (5 Active Points); Restrainable (by EMP's; -1/4); Real
Cost: 4 points, ~20,000 credits |
|
Computer Link (Neural Connector) Neural Connector: Mind Link , One
Specific Mind (Pilot), No LOS Needed, Number of Minds (x2), Invisible Power
Effects (Fully Invisible; +1/2) (30 Active Points); Only With Others Who
Have Mind Link (-1), Does Not Provide Mental Awareness (-1/4), Restrainable
(By EMP's; -1/4); Real Cost: 9 points, ~405,000 credits |
|
Total Real Cost: 13 points; ~425,000 credits |
|
|
|
ControlLink Swarm |
|
Brainjack: Computer Link (5 Active Points); Restrainable (by EMP's; -1/4); Real
Cost: 4 points, ~20,000 credits |
|
Computer Link (Neural Connector) Neural Connector: Mind Link , One
Specific Mind (Pilot), Number of Minds (x8), Invisible Power Effects (Fully
Invisible; +1/2) (30 Active Points); Only With Others Who Have Mind Link
(-1), Does Not Provide Mental Awareness (-1/4), Restrainable (By EMP's;
-1/4); Real Cost: 9 points, ~405,000 credits |
|
Total Real Cost: 13 points; ~425,000 credits |
|
c |
|
VehicleLink |
|
Link Card (Neural Connector) Mind Link , One Specific Mind (Pilot),
No LOS Needed, Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +1/2) (22 Active
Points); Only With Others Who Have Mind Link (-1), Does Not Provide Mental
Awareness (-1/4), Restrainable (By EMP's and Interference; -1/4), ~35,000 credits |
|
Total Real Cost: 9 points; ~45,000 credits |
|
|
| LINKFRAGGER |
| Because VehicleLinks must be keyed to a
particular ControlLink, it is possible to determine a match
between a captured VehicleLink and a particular ControlLink
assuming you have both in the same room and can run a diagnostic
test on them. While this is low risk in most situations, some
people like to make sure. |
| A VehicleLink can be fitted with a device
that scrambles the key on demand. This can either be done
manually or by an Onboard computer with an apropriate Program.
LinkFraggers are only good for one use; for added security the
unit burns itself out so that its encryption key can't be
reverse engineered and undone. |
|
c |
|
LinkFragger: Cosmetic Transform 6d6 (standard effect: 18 points)
(VehicleLink Code Key to Scrambled Code Key) (30 Active Points); 1 Charge which Never Recovers (-4);
Real Cost: 6 points, ~30,000 credits |
|
|
| ONBOARD COMPUTER |
| Though it is possible to actively control a
Vehicle in this fashion, it is seldom practical and thus most
such Vehicles also have a Control Computer onboard which can be given
commands and handle the basic operation of the Vehicle in
accordance with the software it has installed. |
| In lower tech scenarios the Control Computer
will operate any sensors avaialble to it and relay data back to the
controller, but more deluxe versions stream video and sometimes
even sound. However, this is more a function of the Computer and
Sensors than the ControlLink -- out of the box it can handle
just about any kind of data feed. |
| CONTROL COMPUTERS |
| Control Computers can be a very important
item in the MetaCyber setting. Control Computers are bought as
normal (non-AI) Computers, and can run a number of Programs
simultaneously equal to their (INT / 5) or the rating of the
Computer Link they are hooked up to, whichever is lower. Thus a
Computer with an INT 30 hooked up via a Computer Link (3) could
run 3 Programs simultaneously; though it is capable of running
more the I/O busline (Computer Link (3)) lacks sufficient
throughput and acts as a bottleneck. |
| Control Computers vary widely in power and
capability, but there are three basic variations used. |
| INTEGRATED |
| Integrated Computers are part of whatever
Vehicle they belong to, and their cost (both points and
monetary) is part of the Vehicle's cost (and thus are much less
expensive to an actual character). Because such a Computer is
specifically fitted to a particular Vehicle, it usually has
very specific Programs and abilities tailored to that Vehicles
capabilities and thus tend to be efficiently designed.
Integrated Computers are used in the vast majority of Vehicles
that have an Onboard Computer. However there are a few downsides
to Integrated Computers. |
| As a further benefit, it is assumed that a
person with a ControlLink and an Integrated Control Computer on
a Vehicle with a keyed VehicleLink can interface with each other
without the Control Computer needing a specific Program or
Programs to handle it. |
| However there are a few downsides
to Integrated Computers. |
| First off, Drivers (and other characters)
that have multiple Vehicles might need to have an Integrated
Computer in each of them and further a certain lowest common
denominator of features and Programs is likely to be the same
across all of them; thus |