Patch Notes

Backfill Policy Update
We have expanded and clarified our Backfill Policy, as there was some confusion in how the previous iteration was supposed to be used. Hopefully, the newly written version will be clearer and better executed. Until 10/22/2020 Backfills will need to be approved by the Admin team or the Head GM, to ensure it is being properly utilized.

Anti-Harassment Statement Addition
We have added "Political Opinions" as a specifically protected group within our Anti-Harassment Policy. We strive to be an inclusive server, to a very wide range of opinions, views, and stances. We do not want anyone to feel unwelcome or encourage inflammatory behaviour centered around something like politics. We will still be holding any political conversations to the highest standard of respect, and this isn't an open allowance for people to use the server as a platform to proselytize their own political stances.

Full Flag Points rework
The old Flag Point system was a system carried over from Cast of Shadows, and it wasn't really serving the purposes we wanted for it. It was focused on limiting Character Generation options and trying to maintain a roughly equal power level of newly created characters. It didn't really do this very well either. The new system will hopefully be able to better estimate very loose power brackets of characters and provide some gentle gating to better help keep the mechanical power of characters more in line with our server goals.

Bonus Dice Exception Clarified
The Bonus Dice Limit rules wording has been changed, Mystic Adepts no longer gain the benefit of Adept Powers not counting against their Bonus Dice Limit. This change was made because the original goal of the exception was to allow Adepts to shine in specialization and be rewarded for it. MysAds being able to take advantage of it was an unintended effect. Given the already powerful toolbox of MysAds and their natural potency, we've removed this benefit from them to give Adepts a little more breathing room in their primary role.

Bonus Dice Limit Expansion
In the interest of trying to shift some more power into Face type characters, aside from them just being someone who puts more money into the team's pockets, we've performed a two-fold change. First, bonus dice are split into three categories. The second part of this change is that while Leadership Dice still follow the rules of Teamwork Tests, they are not themselves considered Teamwork Tests. This means they do stack with the latter. We'll be keeping a close eye on how this change seems to impact effective dice pools server-wide and may revisit it to tune it down a bit if it's too impactful.
 * Controlled
 * Controlled bonuses are things provided by any source listed in the rules, apart from Leadership, which the player has a degree of control or influence over. Examples include but are not limited to: Smartlink, Take Aim, Magical Foci, Qualities, Gear, etc.
 * Leadership
 * Leadership maintains its own rules, by RAW, but is now no longer included in the Bonus Dice Limits
 * Circumstantial
 * GMs are now allowed to provide bonus dice for clever execution or approaches to a problem.

Seasonal XP Cap
Characters may not accrue more than 150 XP per Season. This is per a character, not per a player.
 * 1 XP is equal to 1 Karma, or 3000 Nuyen
 * Serverworks and Side RP rewards do NOT count against this cap.

Astral Tracking changes
RAW Astral Tracking was in a strange place, where it took so long to actually try and follow a trail that it was only effective in the incredibly where cases that a runner was unable to wipe their Astral Signature.
 * The test for tracking an astral signature is now Assensing + Intuition - Mana Barrier or Background Count [Astral] (3 + kilometers). If you are tracking an unbound spirit signature, increase the threshold by 2. The interval now varies based on how you are tracking and how old the signature is. Astral forms have a base interval of one minute, and dual-natured trackers have a base interval of ten minutes. Multiply the base interval by the number of hours since the signature was active to get the practical interval for your specific tracking effort.

Lifestyle Penalties
In an effort to make Lifestyle levels actually feel like they matter, and aren't just some arbitrary character tax, we've added some elements of minor risk to them. (As a note, this was originally set to treat Medium as the breakeven point, but after feedback we've shifted it so that Low Lifestyles do not receive any negative effects.) More information can be found on the Lifestyle Events page.
 * We allow players to build lifestyles using the Run Faster Advanced Lifestyle options. We do not apply Fatigue damage, and seven lifestyle qualities have a new effect addressed on the first of each month in the Lifestyle Events document. Lifestyle levels below Low now have a similar effect. High lifestyle characters can now purchase gear at 8 or lower availability without making an availability test or waiting for delivery times. Luxury lifestyle characters can now purchase gear at 10 or lower availability without making an availability test or waiting for delivery times.