Rules Questions Archive

This page is a list of answers to questions in the Rules Questions channel of the Discord server. All answers placed here have been approved by the Balance Team. References have been made whenever available.

Bonuses

 * 1) If a bonus effect comes from an identical mechanical source, only the highest applies.
 * 2) Bonus effects that come from different mechanical sources are allowed to stack unless they specify otherwise. We treat drugs as a chemical, not technological, effect. We consider only ‘ware to be augmentations.
 * 3) When adding your Edge rating to a test, you do not count that increase toward the Dice Pool Bonus house rule.
 * 4) When you apply multiplicative and additive effects to an event, such as with Sharpshooter and Strive for Perfection, apply the additive effect first, and then the multiplicative effect. Ex. Standard Called Shot -4 is reduced to -2, then divided by 2 for a -1 final penalty.
 * 5) Only a single +2 bonus dice can ever be added to a roll from specializations in skills.
 * 6) The bonus dice offered by a Leadership [Direct] action are restricted by the bonus dice house rule, but the action taken is not considered a Teamwork test.
 * 7) When making downtime tests, players may consider themselves to be receiving any bonus effects that are not mutually exclusive so long as they explain how they achieve that bonus. They may not claim bonus effects that depend on control of an encounter. They must also apply any negative penalties that would apply to the test unless they can ensure that the penalty does not apply (by selecting a negotiating arena, for example, but not by deciding to negotiate with a new or a known face).
 * 8) Temporary Attribute reductions also apply to your augmented maximum, to a minimum of 0.
 * 9) Noise Reduction is a bonus effect for the purpose of our stacking rule.
 * 10) Brand Loyalty sees the brand listed on a gear item in your inventory when checking. You can list any printed Similar Model for that item at time of purchase in the item’s Note or Gear Name, should you want a brand other than the default.
 * 11) The Cynic Quality applies its penalty to an opponent’s Social Test dice pool during an Opposed Test in which the opponent is the ‘aggressor’.
 * 12) Anti-toxin effects do not apply to Disease Resistance tests. Only anti-pathogen or anti-disease effects apply to such tests.
 * 13) The Special Modifications quality cannot be used to change standard weapon statistics of the chosen weapon that are not enumerated in the quality (Firing Mode, Ranges, Ammo Type). Thematic changes must be approved by a GM. There is no restriction on how many levels of Reach this can add to a weapon.
 * 14) The Home Ground quality applies to either a named neighborhood or a four square kilometer area that your character calls home. We do not at this time permit players to own hosts, and for information about everpresent background counts or noise ratings, a player considering this quality should speak to the Plot Team.

Gear

 * 1) Size differences in gear made for different metatypes have two effects.
 * 2) Armor/clothing made for a large/medium/small metatype cannot be worn by metatypes of significantly different stature.
 * 3) Weapons and other usable gear apply a -2 penalty to metatypes of significantly different stature who attempt to use them.
 * 4) Fake SINs must be given a full name and an issuing body when purchased.
 * 5) Weapon Foci can take the form of cyber-implanted melee weapons; you must pay for both the weapon and the focus.
 * 6) Alchemical Preparations that have a Contact trigger can be safely stored in a backpack, but will trigger when handled directly by any applicable person not wearing enchanter’s gloves, regardless of what other materials are between the preparation and the handler.
 * 7) The Cougar Collapsible Spear can be extended as a Simple Action.
 * 8) If a gear item is a weapon, it is obviously a weapon unless it specifically says otherwise. This includes icons for any weapon with a wireless function.
 * 9) If a gear item does not have a RAW effect, it does not do anything mechanically on this server.
 * 10) A Sensor Array allows you to use Electronic Warfare in the place of Perception when making Perception Tests through them, and also allows you to replace your Mental Limit with the Sensor Rating. Both of these effects are optional and independent of the other. Vision/Audio enhancements in the array can apply to the test, but only if called for.
 * 11) A Katana is a two-handed weapon in Shadowrun 5e. This means you cannot use your katana while holding another piece of gear in one hand.
 * 12) A smartlink dice pool bonus can only be received if you have a wirelessly active smartlink connected to a wirelessly active smartgun. The bonus is +1 unless you paid essence for the smartlink, in which case it is +2. The internal router cyberware does not circumvent this requirement.
 * 13) All gear may be fenced, including spell formulae. Fencing is considered a use of a contact.
 * 14) If a quality -or other effect increases the cost of your lifestyle, it applies to the base lifestyle cost. If you have multiple effects/qualities that modify the cost of your lifestyle, they are cumulative. If you use the Better than Bad cost reduction, the new cost is the same as though your lifestyle was one level lower (High -> Medium) and the karma expense is equal to the number of thousands of nuyen the cost is reduced by (round the thousands saved up). The BtB cost reduction can only be used once per lifestyle, applies after roommates, and can only affect your primary lifestyle. If you modify a BtB-discounted lifestyle, the discount expires and you pay the full price once again.
 * 15) Availability modifying add-ons affect the availability of the item they are attached directly to, not the availability of the entire piece (helmet mods with + avail affect the helmet’s avail, not the armor’s avail).
 * 16) We do not allow headware to be installed in cyberlimbs. Implanted Decks / Commlinks are considered headware.
 * 17) Integral weapon mods do not take up mount slots.
 * 18) We do not have rules for renting or purchasing used gear on this server. Any options to do so are dependent on the GM of your run.
 * 19) Hydraulic Jacks add 20% to your maximum jump distance per rating, and this distance includes vertical jumps. Their wireless bonus is a +1 regardless of rating.
 * 20) If a piece of gear does not explicitly say that it only comes in a particular metatype’s configuration, it can be acquired in an appropriate make for your character.
 * 21) No amount of Concealability modifications will make a weapon count as another weapon type for the purposes of visibility or storage.
 * 22) Characters do receive a corresponding outfit each time they purchase a month of their lifestyle; this may be added using the Free option.
 * 23) Armor Mods may not be added to helmets, ballistic masks, or clothing. You may use Add Gear to put applicable gear items in them.
 * 24) Sequencers and other technical B&E gear are considered Electronics swag.
 * 25) Gear with a damage value is either Demolitions or Weapons swag.
 * 26) Internal Smartgun Systems can be installed in compound bows, including dynamic tension bows.
 * 27) Weapon Mods that require a slot can be installed on any weapon that has the slot required.
 * 28) The HMK configurable assault rifle can swap any mods that are not barrel, stock, or internal when it is reconfigured. Each barrel needs its own mods, while the stock and internal mods apply to all modes. The shotgun and grenade launcher are underbarrel mods.
 * 29) Weapons that are treated with Chameleon Coating allow you to wield them while gaining the benefit of Ruthenium Polymer Coating outfits. If they are not coated, you may attempt to conceal them under an RPC cloak with a Palming roll with a threshold of half the positive Concealability modifier of the weapon, or against your silhouette with a threshold of the positive Concealability modifier of the weapon.
 * 30) You may not take Modifications out of gear and move them to other gear.
 * 31) A gear acquisition roll can include a ‘bundle’ of closely related items. It rolls against the highest availability in the bundle, and the delivery time is determined using the total cost of all items.
 * 32) Per RAW, a gas mask and a respirator may not be combined. You may carry both, but not install both on a single piece of headgear. You may not wear either under a piece of headgear.
 * 33) Radiation Shielding, whether on a vehicle or personal armor, applies to your toxin resistance tests against the power of radiation for the purpose of resisting nausea. It does not change the time periods for incurring incapacitating or lethal doses of radiation.
 * 34) All forms of ‘ware that do not involve replacing an organ are compatible with metatype effects that augment that organ. (tetrachromacy/low-light work with implanted smartlink, but not cybereyes) (dermal plating / orthoskin do replace the effect of the dermal deposit)
 * 35) There are no RAW instructions for purchasing animals, so animal acquisitions are limited to GM discretion.
 * 36) Ruthenium Polymer Coating is not obvious while inactive. If you are seen despite it being active, it is obvious that RPC is functioning.
 * 37) The Hornet Direct-Fire Minigrenade does not have a blast radius. Instead, firing one gives a recoil penalty of firing 6 bullets and applies a -5 defense penalty to the target if you do not glitch the test.
 * 38) Cyber-implanted ranged weapons use Exotic Ranged Weapon: _______.
 * 39) An ultrasound noise generator gives its user a +Rating dice pool bonus to Sneaking tests; hits from these dice only apply against ultrasound sensors.
 * 40) A sensor array of up to Rating 2 can be installed in a helmet or ballistic mask.
 * 41) The Translat-Ear cyberware’s rating determines what the highest rating linguasoft you can run using it is. It can only run one linguasoft at a time.
 * 42) Missiles can be purchased at +4 Availability over their rocket version, at a cost increase of +(Sensor Rating * 500)ny.
 * 43) When using passive sensor targeting for a missile, roll your normal missile attack test with a limit of the missile’s Sensor Rating instead of the launcher’s Accuracy and a Signature modifier to your dice pool based on the target using the table on CRB 184. When using active sensor targeting for a missile, make a Simple Action Sensor Attack against the target with the Signature modifier applied to your dice pool and a limit of the missile’s Sensor Rating, and once you have a successful target lock make your normal missile attack test.
 * 44) The Ceramic/Plasteel Components mod may only be applied to a weapon that does not come with a smartgun system; any wireless bonus the gun offers can no longer be used. You may apply basic electronic modifications to the gun if the modification does not have a wireless bonus or other computer based functionality.
 * 45) Assault Cannon concealability is +6 (sourced from chummer)
 * 46) A nanohive’s wireless function can increase the effective rating of the nanoware it supports above the purchasable ratings.
 * 47) Nanoware is not cyberware.
 * 48) Hawk Eye is incompatible with cameras, imaging scopes, cybereyes, and any vision modification that is not part of your natural vision. Geneware, critter powers, and magical effects applied to your vision are considered part of your natural vision, but any of these effects that replace your vision are not compatible with Hawk Eye. You may benefit from Smartlink with Hawk Eye if it is overlaid onto your natural vision.
 * 49) Clothing and accessories without an armor rating or an explicit capacity cannot accept modifications.
 * 50) Weapons mounted in a Weapon Mount can receive normal accessories. Weapons cyberimplanted cannot, but are automatically converted into smartguns.
 * 51) Cyberlimbs do not prevent most adept powers from working, and you can benefit from adept powers that affect actions you are performing with cyberlimbs.
 * 52) Cameras and other sensor devices are necessary to transmit sensory information through your commlink. Alternatively, you can equip your commlink with a simrig, sim module, and a Direct Neural Interface (or use Responsive Interface Gear clothing) to codify your actual physical senses for transmission
 * 53) You need an image / sound link to conveniently receive information without pulling out your commlink and accessing it directly. Alternatively, a Direct Neural Interface to your commlink allows you to receive image / audio directly overlaid on your senses. A sim module must be equipped to your commlink with a Direct Neural Interface to receive other sensory data or enter full dive VR.
 * 54) The Vasotech Autoinjection Gun uses the same rules as the autoinjector, but can be used to administer drugs to willing or unconscious patients.

Combat

 * 1) Acrobatic / Perceptive Defender allows you to replace your Willpower with the relevant skill and all modifiers you have for that skill. You do not add the linked attribute, but you do apply the limit for that skill to each defense test. The Dodging or Full Defense specializations for Acrobatic Defender can apply to this, and the Full Defense specialization for Perceptive Defender can apply to this.
 * 2) A melee attack made from a moving vehicle has its damage increased by the Speed value of the vehicle; however, if the Speed value is greater than the attacker’s Strength, the attacker must make a Strength test against threshold Speed to hold onto the weapon after the attack is made.
 * 3) Throwing large objects can be done by any character with sufficient strength to Overhead Lift that item. If necessary, a Lifting test must be made before you make the test to throw the item. The ranges, damage values, and applicable specializations for the Throwing Weapons test will be ruled in-game by the GM.
 * 4) Initiative Scores are affected only by your Reaction, Intuition, Initiative Bonus, Initiative Dice, and your Wound Modifier. Rolling Initiative is not a test, and is unaffected by effects that care about tests.
 * 5) The ‘Up the Ante’ Called Shot is declared as part of the Location Called Shot you are using. Only 1 Free Action is necessary to do so.
 * 6) The Crystalline Blade quality can use either Blades or Unarmed, decided when you purchase the quality and included as a note on the quality.
 * 7) Bullets/bolts/arrows use the Penetrating Weapon rule when targets are behind a barrier. If the target is directly (within weapon size distance) behind the barrier, swords and throwing weapons can use the Penetrating Weapon rule. No other attacks use the Penetrating Weapon rule. Explosive, Stick-n-Shock, Frangible, and Gel rounds do not use the Penetrating Weapon rule.
 * 8) Suppressive Fire against a Vehicle: If a vehicle is in a suppressive fire area, the GM checks the weapon damage against the vehicle’s Armor rating (+ Personal Armor) to see if the passengers are vulnerable. If the damage is insufficient, only the vehicle’s driver makes a Reaction + Edge test to get out of the suppressed area. If the driver does not, the weapon damage is dealt to the vehicle. If the damage is sufficient and of a penetrating type, passengers can either make a Reaction + Edge + Cover test against the suppressive fire or Hit the Deck without making a defense test to gain the vehicle’s full armor rating as a bonus to their resistance test.
 * 9) Discharging a touch spell requires making an unarmed attack as part of the casting action, rolled during Step 4 immediately after making your spellcasting roll, unless you have already established contact with the target. This unarmed attack must use the Touch-Only Attack rules on Run & Gun page 124 (+2, win on tie, no damage).
 * 10) Harmonious Defense is a Free Action separate from Spell Defense. The two must be activated separately, but if both are active you may use their dice pools for the same spells. Harmonious Defense cannot be activated by accepting a -5 Initiative reduction.
 * 11) Recoil Compensation is only totalled between your weapons if you are/have firing/fired both weapons in your current Progressive Recoil set. If you are dual-wielding but only fire one weapon, only that weapon’s RC is applied to your Recoil. If you start firing a second weapon without resetting your Recoil first, you may then add that weapon’s RC to your total RC. Remember that your Strength (or vehicle’s Body) can only apply to RC once, and chummer also automatically adds the 1 free bullet RC to each weapon.
 * 12) You may fire multiple weapons with the same action if you use the Multiple Attacks Free Action with your firing action; you must pick different targets for each weapon, and your dice pool is split evenly among all targets. (apply all modifiers to the dice pool prior to splitting it, including range penalties, off hand penalties, and up to one weapon specialization)
 * 13) A Smart Firing Platform can be set up with a Complex Action if you are holding the firearm it is attached to. The Smart Firing Platform needs a Smartsoft to benefit from smartgun bonus effects; it can receive Autosofts directly or using an RCC’s Sharing function.
 * 14) Taking a teamwork test in combat turns requires that you hold your action until each participant can act sequentially, with the leader going last.
 * 15) A Combat Turn and a Combat Round are synonymous, and refer to the game interval from the rolling of initiative to the last character reaching 0 initiative. An Initiative Pass is the sequence of the character with the highest initiative moving until the last character involved in the combat moves. An Action Phase is one character’s set of movement, a free action, and either two simple actions or a complex action.
 * 16) Called Shot (Engine Block) causes a Vehicle to turn off. It can be rebooted, but it takes a full Combat Turn to do so, and the Vehicle cannot be controlled remotely while it is off.
 * 17) Thrown items are generally considered to land ‘point first’ on a successful attack. A GM may rule against this for a specific situational reason.
 * 18) Chummer does not add unarmed combat bonus effects to attacks using Claws / Bite / Goring Horns. Unless an unarmed combat bonus you would receive applies specifically to punches or kicks, it does apply to your natural weapon attacks.
 * 19) The Hardened Armor from the metagenic quality Granite Shell does not add its armor bonus to worn armor; you receive +4 armor only if you are not wearing armor. If an attack has AP of -1 or -2, your current Armor rating is reduced AND you only get one automatic hit on the resistance test. If an attack has an AP of -3 or more, your current Armor rating is reduced AND you do not get any automatic hits on the resistance test.
 * 20) Elemental damage secondary effects stack with the effects of called shots.
 * 21) Rockets, Missiles, and launched Grenades can be directly targeted using the normal ranged attack rules when using the Motion Sensor trigger.
 * 22) The Rapid Draw adept power can be used in response to an attack to allow you to Riposte instead of make a Defense Test if you have a properly holstered blade.
 * 23) Toxins can be used in combat in several ways.
 * 24) Melee weapons can be coated in a dose of a toxin with an Extended Logic + Armorer [Mental] (threshold 3, interval Complex Action) test; the coating lasts up to one minute or one grazing hit or better attack. If the toxin has a Contact vector, it is applied on a grazing hit or better. If the toxin has an Injection vector, it is applied only on a successful attack on an edged weapon that deals damage.
 * 25) Gas grenades can be filled with a dose of a toxin. Anybody in the radius of the grenade when it detonates will be exposed to the toxin if it has an Inhalation or Contact vector they are not protected from.
 * 26) Injection Darts/Arrows/Bolts can be filled with a dose of a toxin. Arrows and bolts apply their toxin if they deal at least one box of damage. A dart applies its toxin if the attack scores at least one net hit on an unarmored target or three net hits against an armored one.
 * 27) A Cybergland installed in conjunction with a cyberweapon can coat the weapon or projectile in a dose each time the weapon is used, up to the number of doses it stores.
 * 28) Capsule Rounds can be filled with a dose of a toxin (1 dose for 5 capsules). A Contact Vector toxin is applied on a grazing hit or better.
 * 29) The Called Shot Location attack is handled in the following way.
 * 30) Declare Called Shot for free action
 * 31) Make the attack and defense tests
 * 32) Use each net hit to pick one of the listed effects
 * 33) Target rolls damage resistance against your base attack DV (no net hits)
 * 34) Apply DV limit if remaining damage exceeds the limit.
 * 35) Apply selected effects
 * 36) A Smoke Grenade (or similar effect with undefined severity) applies Moderate Smoke on the first combat turn, Heavy Smoke on intervening combat turns, and Light Smoke on the last combat turn.
 * 37) The Smackdown use of burning edge can only be applied to actions; it does not work on defense or resistance tests.
 * 38) Modifications to your Initiative Attributes cause a direct change to your Initiative Score as soon as they occur.
 * 39) If you are using a weapon loaded with multiple types of ammunition, you must have the order noted on the weapon and track it during combat. If you would fire a burst that contains multiple ammunition types, the effect of the ammunition will be determined randomly with proportional odds given to the composition of the burst. You may not fire a burst containing both flechette and slug ammunition from a shotgun.
 * 40) The Exotic Ranged Weapon skills are used for any attack test using a weapon/strike that is not ruled as a regular weapon type or unarmed. Natural Venom breath, spit, and atomizer / steamer vapor all require this.
 * 41) When an uncontrolled fire is started, the GM will usually either rule that it will go out on its own or that it will burn down the building/area. If detail is necessary, fires start at DV3 with an AP of -2; every Combat Turn the DV is increased by 1 and the objects/terrain adjacent to the fire must resist the fire. Failure to resist the fire means that the fire has spread to those materials and objects adjacent to them will have to begin resisting the fire each Combat Turn. Characters can fight fires by rolling Agility + Intuition to use fire-fighting techniques; each hit reduces the current DV of the targeted fire by 1.

Magic

 * 1) The Oracle Mentor spirit requires that a follower take Divination as their first Art, and therefore the Augury and Sortilege Ritual as your first initiation. This applies to all followers, no matter their awakened type.
 * 2) Tests to Perceive Magic are subject to Perception test modifiers.
 * 3) You do not need any hits on an Assensing test on an aura to meet the criteria for having seen the aura in the past when you assense it later. However, you need 3 hits to get the Astral Signature of the subject, which is necessary if you want to identify a connection between other astral forms and the subject.
 * 4) A character using astral perception can perceive normally as long as they are not wearing a mage hood; such an item obscures all of the astral and physical planes from vision.
 * 5) The Dedicated Conjurer quality allows you to add a spirit type to the list of spirit types you can conjure. This spirit type does not have to be of your tradition, but if it requires a specific metamagic to conjure, you must still meet that prerequisite.
 * 6) The Noble Sacrifice metamagic can be used to receive all forms of damage, including Drain, Fade, Biofeedback, Stun, and Physical damage.
 * 7) The Sensing metamagic does not confer the ability to detect any non-magical activity or traits that the user could not already perceive. Its passive version should be used by the GM to alert the character to the stated magical phenomena, though the GM may also use it to alert the character to any magical phenomena not specifically forbidden by the metamagic.
 * 8) The Digital Celerity Enhancement applies to all uses of Palming.
 * 9) The Improved Sense Adept Power cannot add a sense that requires a wireless function to operate, which includes the Radar Sensor cyberware. Senses that say they replace your vision still replace your natural vision.
 * 10) Heightened Concern: This adept power can be used on any situational modifier currently affecting you, but only on the chosen modifier for as long as it lasts. For example, the penalty applied by a background count, for as long as you are exposed to it, or attempting to fire unmounted weapons on a moving vehicle.
 * 11) Combat Sense: This Adept Power guarantees a Perception Test before being surprised (the GM can roll this for you). Success gives you a +3 bonus to the Surprise Test.
 * 12) Flaming Water elemental damage does not reduce the damage of fires, but it does create the slippery area, force a knockdown test (DV vs Agility, threshold Physical Limit), force an ignition test (net hits vs (Armor + Resistance - Force)), and deal its damage.
 * 13) The Flesh Sculptor and Skinwalker qualities do not stack to allow you to exceed both of their limits when using the [Critter] Form spell on yourself.
 * 14) The Sun mentor spirit does not recognize the Light, Alter Temperature, or Personal Warmth spells as being sun or fire based. It does recognize Ignite spell as being fire based.
 * 15) Corrode / Melt / Sludge [Object]: An object must be a solid composite with a structure or body, such as firearms, blades, armor, etc.
 * 16) Shape [Material]: This spell must specify the exact element, compound, or mixture that you can manipulate (Blight, Blight+DMS0, Carbon, Carbon Monoxide, Air, etc). If the material is not a solid, you cannot make it a solid for any purpose, including blocking other materials from passing through it. You cannot create a vacuum because of this.
 * 17) [Element] Aura: This spell does not apply Armor Penetration to your attacks, regardless of the element selected. You instead use the Armor Penetration of the attack you are making.
 * 18) [Element] Wall: This spell deals no damage if the learned element does not have an elemental damage effect. As a Physical spell, damage it deals can affect anything with a structure, body, or barrier rating. The spell can conjure a wall or dome in any orientation and position that is entirely within LoS; if the wall is a solid object, it cannot appear in another solid object. Taking a complex action to relocate the spell causes it to vanish and appear in the new location, rather than move through space. Elemental damage rules can be found in CRB 170 and SG 105.
 * 19) Fire is not solid, but does apply a visibility penalty of -3 and deals fire damage.
 * 20) Smoke is not solid, but does apply a visibility penalty of -6.
 * 21) Air is not solid, but does apply a wind penalty of -6.
 * 22) Water is not solid, but does apply a visibility penalty of -1, a ‘wind’ penalty of -3, and water damage.
 * 23) Ice is solid, applies a visibility penalty of -1, and deals cold damage.
 * 24) Earth is solid, and applies a visibility penalty of -6.-
 * 25) Lightning is not solid, but does apply a glare penalty of -3 and deals electricity damage.
 * 26) Magical Lodges must have a permanent, immobile location with space at least two meters across. They can be moved with the appropriate time investment.
 * 27) Critter powers with a terrain/domain limitation can only affect targets while they are in MAG * 10 meters of the critter.
 * 28) Group Bond rituals calculate the necessary force based on the make-up of the ritual leader and all ritual participants, not the entire group.
 * 29) The Animate / Mass Animate spells cannot replicate complex or skill interactions with animated devices, but has a provision for breaking restraints/etc. If the opposed test is successful, animated objects can break free, refuse to operate, or whatever other simple commands the caster provides.
 * 30) A Powerblade spell cannot be conjured in a sheath, and it cannot be Quick Drawn, even with the Rapid Draw power. It cannot benefit from a Weapon Focus, as it has no physical relation to other
 * 31) The Rapid Healing adept power can still apply its bonus to Natural Recovery tests to recover from Drain.
 * 32) A dual-natured object cannot be moved from the astral; its astral form is locked onto its physical form.
 * 33) Elemental Focus types drain you take, but does not prevent the Stun / Physical damage sustained from your drain test. It only types the drain of spells that are explicitly marked or can cause the relevant damage type. You may not apply Special Resistances to drain, but those effects can be applied to the secondary effect rolls if your armor/gear is affected.
 * 34) Elemental Master does not reduce drain, whether it is typed or not.
 * 35) The Path of the Wheel tradition does not have any server restrictions on it beyond the usual background check requirements.
 * 36) A character sustaining a spell or managing a summoned spirit cannot rest while doing so.
 * 37) By RAW, Killing Hands can change your unarmed damage to S even if it would be P without the effect of the power.
 * 38) A magical lodge, if in place for at least a month, generates a background count of 1 aligned to the tradition of the owner.
 * 39) A Watcher Spirit functions identically to a spirit with the exception of the differences itemized in the Watcher Ritual and statblock.
 * 40) Regeneration does not cause a character to reject Blood Crystals. If the character loses the Blood Crystals, however, regeneration will restore the natural parts of the body that were originally lost. Regeneration also does not reject geneware.
 * 41) A Shifter gets the critter power Shift (Metahuman Form). It does not receive any other critter powers or gain the ability to purchase them.
 * 42) The Attunement Ritual uses the full value of the Object Resistance table to determine the minimum Force. An object with 15 dice on the table necessitates a Force 15 ritual, not a Force 5.
 * 43) Spells do not travel through barriers unless they are Indirect Combat spells. This includes Area spells.
 * 44) A paralyzed character cannot have LoS for spellcasting. It may cast Touch spells on itself or characters in sustained contact with it, cast LoS(A) indirect combat spells centered on itself, use Astral Perception to become Dual-Natured (but not to establish LoS), use Astral Projection (this allows astral LoS), use DNI, deactivate foci/powers/spells, command spirits, and use any action explicitly provided by the paralyzing effect. Breathing is not an action.
 * 45) The rules for Noticing Magic apply to every astral form that a character ‘sees’ regardless of when it was created. A character who succeeds on the test to notice magic is certain that there is magic present, but must make his own assumptions about what that magic might be.
 * 46) A magician with both Kinesics adept power and Masking metamagic rolls both dice pools separately when assensed, but considers it one roll for the purpose of checking for glitches. The observer’s hits are reduced accordingly by the Masking dice pool, and determining the true emotional state of the magician has its threshold raised from 1 by the number of hits on the Kinesics dice pool.
 * 47) When multiple astral forms or auras ‘blend’ together in one shape, such as a magician under the effects of a sustained spell and wielding a metamagic focus, a single assensing test ‘reads’ all of them together. If the magician has Masking, he will roll his opposed pool once against the test, and results on each astral form and aura are determined with those hits.
 * 48) Mentor’s Mask can be taken for magicians or for adepts (Mystic Adepts receive the Mask effects associated with their Mentor Spirit perk choice). Adepts receive +1 power point, but gain a magical mask of their mentor when using an active adept power; the threshold to notice this mask is 6 - (4*standard power cost). Magicians take 1 less drain for casting spells (minimum 2 drain), but gain a magical mask of their mentor when casting; the threshold to notice this mask is (6 - (3+Force)), minimum 1. Characters with a mentor’s mask must still be spotted before their mentor’s mask can be noticed. Noticing the mentor’s mask marks that character as obviously Awakened.
 * 49) Blight is a magical toxin and cannot be selected as the subject of a Natural Immunity quality.
 * 50) The Spectral Warden quality allows a character to use the Binding skill in a test to summon a spirit, and obligates them to make a Binding test immediately. The initial test is still a summoning test, with all effects except the skill used. The summoning skill for that character is still an Active skill, with the appropriate costs.
 * 51) The attribute substitution granted by Supernatural Prowess does not replace all aspects of the attribute. It only affects Physical Actions concerning that attribute (Attack tests, melee damage, jumping, sprinting, climbing, etc). Defense tests are not actions, and do not receive the benefit of such a substitution.
 * 52) The Mana Barrier spell uses the spell’s hits to set the barrier’s Structure and Armor ratings, not the Force. (other mana barriers use their Force as both Structure and Armor)
 * 53) Visibility modifiers apply to ‘visually targeted spells’ whether on the astral or on the physical. Spells cast using visual targeting on the physical plane are subject to Lighting modifiers, but vision enhancements that have been paid for with essence can be applied to both Lighting and Visibility modifiers. If either modifier would be a -6, the spell cannot be targeted.
 * 54) Body Sculpt allows you to spend ten minutes to make a Magic + Body test on which each hit can be used to change a feature of your body. A full body rework is considered six features’ worth of changes. Each feature takes one full minute to undo. False Face cyberware, while it only affects the face, can be reconfigured using one minute of time.
 * 55) When an Area spell is moved, it travels physically but cannot have any offensive effects as part of its movement. No characters other than those in the new area are affected by the spell or can be moved or dealt damage by its movement.
 * 56) The Manascape spell has an upper limit of causing astral forms and auras to appear like other astral forms and auras - it cannot make them disappear. Spells can be made to appear to be fluctuations in the natural background count, however. Its own astral form is not hidden from view without Extended Masking.
 * 57) A background count’s reduction of Force for a focus applies to all foci. A Qi focus does not lose a level of the adept power it confers until it has had its Force reduced by the entire cost of the upper level of the power it confers.
 * 58) A spell that refers to a subject is referring to a living subject. They can only be cast on such, though Area spells can be centered on any target or point.
 * 59) Adept Way Qualities are the only prerequisite to taking a metamagic or enhancement listed under the correlated Physical Art at your Initiation.
 * 60) Attune Item: this cannot be used on foci, prepared vessels, enchanted items, or items controlled electronically. The ritual can only bond the item to the ritual leader.
 * 61) Imbue Item: this can only be used on an item bonded to the ritual leader. An item can only receive a given trait once.
 * 62) Hapsum-Do can only be taken by Awakened characters. Its techniques can only be learned by Awakened characters.
 * 63) The Tohu wa-bohu mentor's Driven quality is permissible on this server. When a player takes it, we will ask them to include a note on the quality stressing what lens the character should evaluate 'meaning' through. The lens should be approved by a GM on the acquisition.

The Matrix

 * 1) When using the option to substitute your Electronic Warfare skill for Perception tests using sensors, the relevant modifiers include all Perception modifiers, modifiers to Matrix actions, and modifiers to Electronic Warfare that specify Sensor Operations.
 * 2) When a character loses consciousness while in VR, their persona switches them to AR unless they are link-locked. A technomancer unconscious in AR can still be dealt stun damage as a result of taking Matrix Damage to their persona.
 * 3) The Hyperthreading complex form is a single complex form that possesses the effects of all chosen complex forms when threaded; sustaining it is still just sustaining a single form.
 * 4) The Resonance [Program] echo can be used to make a Cry Wolf program, but GOD will recognize the technomancer’s Cry Wolf if it is triggered a second time.
 * 5) The Mathemagics echo specifies a Mental Limit, so it would only apply to mathematical tests that use that limit. There are no such tests encoded into RAW at this time.
 * 6) An AI character pays a standard lifestyle based on the device rating of their home device. Reference table Data Trails 157.
 * 7) If an AI character burns an edge to avoid disruption, they escape to a random Destination Host of the GM’s choice.
 * 8) A Direct Connection requires a physical link between you and the target device, with the exception of Host Connections, which act as the only Direct Connections that can be done at distance.
 * 9) A Rigger Command Console can run cyberprograms in its program slots, the number of which is equal to its Sharing Rating. Drones do not benefit from cyberprograms running in an RCC program slot. The MOS and Datajack Plus can run cyberprograms for the RCC, but those programs cannot be Shared.
 * 10) Cyberdecks cannot run programs for any devices they are connected to.
 * 11) Programs can be stored on a datachip.
 * 12) A character sustaining a complex form cannot rest while doing so.
 * 13) A Sprite’s Skill Ratings are equal to its Level.
 * 14) Technomancers do not benefit from the sustain reduction of Psyche.
 * 15) A Direct Connection cannot be shared to personas you are not directly connected to.
 * 16) Only personas can spot icons, and you may not spot an icon for another persona (you can teamwork a test to spot an icon though, allowing multiple personas to spot an icon at once).
 * 17) A Datajack Plus or a Multiprogram Operating System both run programs on a device they are connected to that is capable of running programs, they do not run the programs on themselves.
 * 18) A Master device/Persona may never be a Slave. A Persona device may never be a Slave.
 * 19) Forming a Master/Slave connection takes a nondescript amount of time that can be done in any noncombat situation.
 * 20) A Control Rig’s dice pool bonus applies to all skill tests that use a vehicle/drone you are jumped into. Skill tests that use the vehicle/drone are considered to be any test that requires physical ability, including most Social / Physical / Technical skills and Small Unit Tactics.
 * 21) Jumping into a vehicle/drone makes all of the actions you take with that vehicle/drone Matrix Actions.
 * 22) Noise is calculated for an action by checking the Noise in the actor’s area, the Noise in the target’s area, and using the higher value. Add Noise due to distance to this value to get the final Noise value. The Noise value to a host is always 0 (but you cannot connect to a host while in a faraday cage).
 * 23) Slaved devices remain wireless on and slaved as long as the slave’s area Noise, modified by any Noise Reduction it gains from the master (regardless of where the master is) does not exceed the slave’s Device Rating.
 * 24) Noise does not apply to Matrix Defense Tests.
 * 25) The Squelch action specifically only applies to the Send Message action. A device affected by Squelch can still use other Matrix Actions, including commanding drones with an RCC.
 * 26) A Cyberadept’s Daemon applies retroactively, and applies to subsequent submersions. If you change streams, the benefit goes away. The points given by it cannot exceed the number of points lost to cyberware implantation, but there are no other restrictions on it.
 * 27) A technomancer’s Living Persona cannot benefit from most electronics, but can use any devices paid for with essence for functionality provided by the device that does not require another device. At present, this just includes datajacks and the control rig (the datajack plus cannot run programs for the Living Persona, only for persona devices).
 * 28) Technomancers who take the Resonance [Smoke and Mirrors] echo can adjust their Sleaze/Noise modifier as a Free Action.
 * 29) If a Matrix Attribute for a device is reduced (not ‘starts at’, just ‘reduced) to 0, you can still attempt Matrix Actions which use the specified attribute for a limit. Your limit will be 0 if there is a test necessary.
 * 30) The Codeslinger quality cannot be applied to actions that are not a listed Matrix Action, even if they might count as one under specific situations.

Vehicles and Drones

 * 1) If attempting to rig a drone that is manually piloting a vehicle, you’ll roll INT + Pilot Vehicle [Handling of vehicle or Sensor of drone, whichever is lower]. If remotely piloting the drone, you’ll roll INT + Pilot Vehicle [Handling of vehicle or Sensor of drone or Data Processing, whichever is lowest]
 * 2) Personal Armor on a vehicle is added to the vehicle’s armor value when attacks are targeting characters inside the vehicle, not when the vehicle itself is resisting damage. PPS systems apply to all characters in a vehicle’s listed Seats as a +Rating bonus to damage resistance tests against crash damage. Personal Armor is not an obvious vehicle mod, and has no perception threshold to notice.
 * 3) Electromagnetic Shielding causes a vehicle to function like a Faraday Cage. If the vehicle has an opening, like an open skyroof, window, or door, it does not maintain that function until it is closed again.
 * 4) A Manual Control Override does not kick out a Jumped-In Rigger, but does make the vehicle unable to be controlled electronically, which means that the Rigger would be unable to control the vehicle.
 * 5) A Standard Drone Rack and a Landing Drone Rack are separate items; one may not be converted into the other.
 * 6) Drone Racks are internal mods only visible to the exterior when deploying or receiving drones.
 * 7) An anthrodrone wearing High Fashion armor can benefit from its social effects. This is independent from whether the anthrodrone is recognized as a drone or not.
 * 8) All sensors in mounted weapons are considered part of the vehicle for the purposes of remotely operating or jumping into that vehicle.
 * 9) External weapon mounts are always obvious. Internal and concealed weapon mounts that are actively engaged are also obvious. Chameleon coating is the only weapon mod that affects this, and all it does is allow the vehicle’s chameleon coating to function while the weapon is engaged.
 * 10) Anthrodrones may wear and use appropriate metahuman gear. If such gear would give them an armor rating (or specialized armor) then the gear replaces the anthrodrone’s own ratings.
 * 11) Characters piloting an anthrodrone can use Martial Arts and any skills they possess through that drone. A Pilot program will never use Martial Arts.
 * 12) Drone arms can be modified to have up to twice their derived attribute rating. This can be done with Customized Attribute and up to one Enhanced Attribute.
 * 13) You may assume the Toyota Gopher comes with a cover for the cargo bay that can be removed when carrying particularly large loads. You only get one, don’t lose it.
 * 14) Commanding a drone (or set of drones) using an RCC requires a Simple Action, no matter how you have it set up. You also must have access to the RCC (in your hands, using peripherals, or using DNI)
 * 15) The Special Equipment modification can be used to add a datatap to a drone using 2 mod points and 600 nuyen.
 * 16) The Increased Seating modification cannot add a seat to a vehicle with 1 seat.
 * 17) The Valkyrie Module and Metahuman Smuggling Compartment modifications cannot be combined with any other modifications, and do not require a Seat. The Rigger Cocoon modification occupies a Seat, and cannot be combined with any other modification.
 * 18) A drone cannot receive both [Attribute] Downgrade and [Attribute] Upgrades to the same attribute.

House Rules

 * 1) Our Availability rule applies only during play. Character creation Availability follows the standard rules.
 * 2) We allow mechanics and gear to be ‘refluffed’ to appear in the style of your preference, but these changes cannot have a mechanical impact on the game. You cannot something obvious less obvious, or trigger Brand Loyalty when reflavoring gear to be from a different manufacturer.
 * 3) You may edge a downtime roll once per day, whether or not you played in a session that day or how much edge you had remaining. This is based on calendar date, but you may not skirt this by timing your rolls before and after midnight. Spirits must be bound on the same day; you may not edge both the summon and the bind in downtime. Sprites can technically delay registration, but you will need a GM rolling overwatch.
 * 4) A contact does not offer or accept teamwork unless that is their explicit function.
 * 5) Group Contacts use the standard Uses per Month rule at Loyalty 1.
 * 6) The Starting Contacts document is a resource, not a requirement. You may submit your own contacts during character creation, though we do not allow metasapient or pixie contacts with starting characters. If you do take any of the provided contacts, their Loyalty can be lowered if you prefer, but not increased, and their Connection Rating is a constant.
 * 7) Players with multiple characters should never have any interactions between their characters, including lifestyle sharing, nuyen transfer, and services.
 * 8) All rolls players are instructed to make in downtime or character creation should be made in the bot-house. This includes Surge and other niche rolls.
 * 9) If you fail an Availability roll, the cooldown applies to any attempt to get it, whether you would use different contacts or not.
 * 10) In order to teamwork assist another character, you must be able to perform the task being attempted; for example, you cannot teamwork hack an icon that you have not spotted.
 * 11) We allow players to use the Advanced Lifestyle build rules. We do not use the Lifestyle Fatigue optional rule.
 * 12) Only GMs may assign negative qualities. A player may only take a negative quality on their own initiative if a server rule permits it.
 * 13) We allow buying hits (at 1 hit for 4 dice) on downtime recovery and standard initiation. At this time all other tests must be rolled.
 * 14) Filling an essence hole, or burning the remainder of a point of essence, does not require flag points. Only burning a new point of essence costs a flag point.
 * 15) If an Oppo Team member must permanently drop, that team is by default no longer eligible for subsidized game counts. An admin review can be requested if the drop is caused by events outside of the server.

Chemicals

 * 1) Overdose Rule: If a drug and a BTL have a shared effect, taking both will trigger the overdose rule from CRB 415.
 * 2) Stim / Trauma patches cannot be injected or in any way modified into other containers or vectors.
 * 3) A Trauma patch functioning wireless-off allows a character in bleed out to make a Body + Logic (3) test to stabilize instead of a Logic + First Aid [Mental] (3) test from the caretaker. A Trauma patch has a Device Rating of 3 for the purpose of determining wireless availability.
 * 4) The Crash drug has the same effect as a wireless off Trauma patch above.
 * 5) An Autoinjector can be used to administer any drug, regardless of default Vector.
 * 6) The toxin Blight has a ruleset for its normal version as an Injection Vector Toxin, but has additional rules that apply if you mix it to DMSO to make it a Contact Vector Toxin.
 * 7) Injected Blight is a magical toxin that follows standard toxin resistance rules. If the Power of the Blight is not completely resisted, the victim’s “connection to the manasphere is severed”. This has several effects.
 * 8) All adept powers, spells, and other magical effects controlled or sustained by the character end. Bondings and attunements are not permanently severed, just disrupted until the effects wear off.
 * 9) The character cannot astrally perceive, project, or activate any magical power or skill.
 * 10) Dual-natured victims take a -4 penalty to all actions while affected.
 * 11) Contact Blight has all the same penalties to a character affected by it. It has two distinct traits from Injection Blight though.
 * 12) Awakened characters exposed to this toxin make a Drain Resistance test in place of a Toxin resistance test when determining if they resist the effects. Any unresisted Drain is taken as Stun and causes the normal effects of unresisted Blight.
 * 13) Attacks coated in this Blight ignore Immunity to Normal Weapons.
 * 14) If a living creature possessed by a spirit is exposed to Blight and fails to resist it, both the creature and the spirit are subject to the penalty to dual-natured victims, but the spirit is otherwise unaffected. Spirits possessing nonliving objects are completely unaffected.

Armor and Clothing

 * 1) Armor Stacking: You may only benefit from one instance of each armor modification or bonus. This includes Gel Packs, Concealability, Limit Increases, and Specialized Protections. The Custom Fit (Stack) trait allows you to add the armor accessory rating of an armor with both a base and accessory rating to your armor total instead of replacing the base piece’s rating, but does not allow for the stacking of other effects. When choosing which instance of a bonus/effect to apply, use your outermost armor’s, except for Specialized Protections, which can use the highest rating when called for.
 * 2) Civilian clothing: you are assumed to have available streetwear based on your lifestyle level for general use. If you intend to dress better than someone in your lifestyle usually can, you’ll need to buy the desired level of clothing manually.
 * 3) Gel Packs are treated as a binary yes or no bonus, and can only be applied to primary armors. The flavor text about tracking isotopes is not used on this server.
 * 4) Gel Packs go on the exterior of an armor, making any stealth coating on that armor less effective. (Ruthenium Polymer Coating or Voidblack Coating) We interpret this as a 2 point reduction in whatever bonus or penalty the armor applies for its sneaking purposes. This reduction also applies if you are wearing separate gear or armor pieces not integrated into the armor (making full-body RPC function like base RPC).
 * 5) You may wear up to three layers of armor, if the bottom layer is a skintight armor and the exterior armor is a coat or cloak type. You still can only use one armor rating and any applicable Amor +Ratings are restricted by the encumbrance rules. All helmets, including the FBA helmet, apply to encumbrance. You can wear Forearm Guards on top of full body armors, but not PPP.
 * 6) The Ares Victory: Industrious has its corporation selected on purchase.

Cyberware

 * 1) Greyware cannot grant a wireless bonus even when paired with an internal router. A piece of cyberware may only be greyware if it can be obvious or if it had a wireless bonus to lose.
 * 2) The Ear Mount cyberware can mount a weapon accessory, but that accessory does not do anything while mounted (unless it is a flashlight/etc). It is purely storage for most weapon accessories.
 * 3) All Skillsoft functionality, regardless of what offers it, prevents the use of Edge on rolls using that skill.
 * 4) Characters may not leave Character Creation with an Essence Hole.

Bioware

 * 1) A chemical gland can only be purchased for a chemical that is explicitly naturally occurring. This means no chemical that says synthetic or tailored, or fails to mention a source in its description is a legal choice. Selected chemicals must also have an availability and cost per dose.

Geneware

 * 1) Synaptic Acceleration can be combined with any Initiative increase that is not ‘ware and does not prohibit ‘ware.
 * 2) Geneware never leaves an essence hole, even after it has ceased providing any functionality.

Nanoware

 * 1) Smartskin’s wireless mode can stack with any increases to your basic unarmed damage that do not replace it. It will not convert P to S, if your basic unarmed damage is P.

Qualities

 * 1) Prototype Transhuman does not require that you play a Human.
 * 2) Prototype Transhuman does not allow you to apply it toward Geneware, even though chummer allows it.
 * 3) If you take the Biocompatibility quality, it applies to all applicable ‘ware (not Geneware) at the time you take it, but does not increase your essence. If you would regain essence, you need to add an essence hole equal to the difference.
 * 4) A SINner quality’s tax cannot be evaded. It applies to nuyen rewards, Working for the Man, and fencing / reselling / thieving. Karma and items are not measured. Day Job specifies that the income from that quality is after-tax.
 * 5) The In Debt quality has two forms of payment. Your starting debt is 150% of the amount this quality gave you in character creation.
 * 6) Interest payment: Every month, interest equal to 10% of your debt accumulates. If you fail to pay the interest on the first of the month, the penalty applies and cannot be removed until you have paid the interest off.
 * 7) Principal payment: At any time that your interest is completely paid off, you may make a payment of 7500nuyen and 2 karma to remove a rank of In Debt and adjust the total debt that your interest is calculated from. This is the minimum increment for a principal payment, and you must pay both the karma and nuyen; if you want to pay just cash and swap qualities, see the Plot Team.
 * 8) The Juryrigger’s Performance Increase option for drones and vehicles lasts 1d6 minutes. If you combine it with the Gearhead boost, the ‘critical component burnout’ causes the device to be bricked with a full Matrix Condition Monitor.