When casting a spell, the spellcaster speaks an incantation (verbal), performs an arcane movement with his hands (somatic), but does not use a material component unless the spell explicitly calls it out (material).
This means that for a spellcaster to cast, they must both be able to speak and be able to move both their hands.
At the end of adventures (not necessarily sessions), Karma is awarded to the players. The first 9 points of Karma awarded are Good Karma. The 10th point of Karma awarded is not Good Karma and is instead added to the character's Karma Pool.
Players should record
- Total Historical Good Karma : The running total of all Good Karma obtained. This will always increase (never decrease).
- Good Karma : The current Good Karma. This is the balance of Good Karma that has yet to be used to increase attributes and skills
- Max Karma Pool : The max Karma Pool. This value will only increase and will relate to the Total Historical Good Karma as the first 9 points awarded go to Total Historical Good Karma and the 10th point goes to Max Karma Pool
- Karma Pool : This will often be the same as Max Karma Pool. The only case where this will diverge is if the player has utilized the feature of Karma Pool to "Buy Successes" (pg 191) which will permanently burn a Karma Pool point. This means that a character could have a Max Karma Pool of 4 and a Karma Pool of 4, then that character "Buys a success", permanently burning a Karma Pool point, after which, the character would have Max Karma Pool of 4 and Karma Pool of 3.
- Current Karma Pool : This is the current remaining number of Karma Pool points that the character has to use before they are refreshed at the end of an encounter. This value could be tracked in the same area as Karma Pool if players wish. A player could, for example, write in the Karma Pool field
3 / 4meaning that the Karma Pool is 4 and the Current Karma Pool is 3.
pg 245
Makes mobile voice and video calls to other phone numbers. This is made possible over analog radio waves to towers which exist in urban environments. Range is limited on a portable phone and there isn't a pervasive ubiquiotos physical network of portable phone radio receiver towers outside of urban areas.
Portable Phones are subject to jamming. As Portable Phones use analog RF transmissions, radios that have been hacked to function on Portable Phone bands can enable someone to listen in on a conversation.
The rationale for why we're interpreting portable phones as analog (not digital) is because of
- In the descriptions of Portable Phones, no mention is made of sending anything other than voice or video over the link. In a futuristic world, if it were possible to send other things over a Portable Phone, they would have mentioned it. This likely stems from the fact that at the time the game was written sending digital data over a mobile phone was still 4 to 7 years in the future
- In the description of the Cyberware Telephone (pg 247) says "Like all mobile phones, the quality of the link is unsuitable for a decking connection."
- pg 173 talks about Cyberdecks and mentions "If anyone has developed wireless deck connections yet, they aren't telling", implying that data is something passed over wires.
- All of the Surveillance Countermeasures listed on pg 243 either address Dataline (wired) encryption or Jamming of wireless signals "filling the band with garbage". In this section, if there were any capability to to encrypt digital wireless signals, it would have been mentioned.
pg 246
Same as a portable phone, but also includes a non-matrix connected computer. The computer functions possible are all local.
pg 246
Enables broadcast communication in a nearby area. Long distance radio is not possible as there is not a suitable antennae. Jamming can potentially be avoided by switching frequencies. Any other radio that can receive the frequency being transmitted can listen in. Does not enable broadcasting on or listening on Portable Phone frequencies.
pg 247
Same as a Portable Phone
Street Samurai Catalog pg 76
Same as a combination of a Portable Phone and a Radio
pg 242
This is a one way communication device which transmits audio that it hears on a single fixed frequency up to 5km
There is no wireless data network (pg 173). No wifi. No cellular data. No web sites.
For characters that aren't Deckers with a
- Cyberware datajack (a jack in your head)
- Cyberdeck. A Cyberdeck is a keyboard like object with one fiber cable to the characters datajack and one fiber cable to the physical STJ-400 wired jack to the Local Regional Telecommunications Grid (LTG / The Grid)
they can use a Tortoise. Tortoises (pg 178) are terminals with a view screen, keyboard and mouse.
- Radio Shack PCD-100 Tortoise : 680¥
- Allegiance Alpha Torotoise : 1,260¥
- Sony CTY-360 Tortoise : 9,940¥
- Fuchi Cyber-4 Tortoise : 12,140¥
The non-decker traverses The Matrix the same way a decker would using a Tortoise though with some restrictions
- All persona programs (pg 174) have rating 3
- All other program ratings are reduced by 1