Qualities/Kill Code

Deck Builder

Kill Code, p.76

Cost

4 Karma

The character has been messing around with tech their whole life; it was only a matter of time before they found a way to push their deck’s hardware further so that it could do more than it was supposed to.

The character may install 1 additional cyberdeck module,^(DT-64) into their deck. This quality may only be selected once.

Impenetrable Logic

Kill Code, p.76

Cost

3 Karma

Some would call it precognition—this hacker calls it quick thinking. When things in the Matrix start going sideways, they keep their cool, maintain their focus, and think their way around the problem. Which may well be some brutal IC bearing down on them.

This quality allows the character to use their Logic in place of their Willpower attribute while using Matrix Full Defense.

Rootkit

Kill Code, p.76

Cost

8 Karma

The character knows how to find the crack in any system, even if it’s a minuscule one. Getting the code just right, and hitting that chain on its weakest link take a lot of mental fortitude and accuracy. A helping of luck doesn’t hurt.

As a Free Action, a character may take a −8 penalty to their dice pool when they are performing a Data Spike or Resonance Spike Action one that same turn. On a successful hit, the character may add their device rating to the DV of the attack.

Silence is Golden

Kill Code, p.76

Cost

9 Karma

It might be anemia from all that soykaf, or perhaps there’s something about the character—maybe the Matrix just likes them. Whatever the case, for some reason the ever-present noise of the Matrix is muted near this character.

The noise penalty for the character and anyone within ten meters of them is reduced by 2. Anyone outside the radius who attempts to connect to the character does not benefit from the noise reduction.

Avrse

Kill Code, p.76

Bonus

9 Karma

The character knows too many hackers who have been taken out while in VR, and they never saw it coming. They see VR as a trap—how can you get out of a bad situation if your consciousness is not firmly inside your body? Unwilling to take that sort of risk, the character has made AR their mode of choice.

When in VR, the character suffers a −4 penalty to all actions if they are not in a secure location (such as a secured lair or safehouse). This location must be a place that they believe will not offer access to anyone besides themselves and their closest allies.

Basement Dweller

Kill Code, p.77

Bonus

8 Karma

The character didn’t have a lot of friends when they were a kid … and now they still don’t have that many. What friends the character has tend to be on the Matrix, and the character’s social anxiety prompts them to keep it that way. Basically, people in real life are unpredictable and scary, and the character would rather interface from the comfort of their home.

The character suffers a −2 dice pool modifier for all Social tests when meeting a someone in person for the first time. This modifier does not apply to second and subsequent encounters.

Big Baby

Kill Code, p.77

Bonus

4 Karma

Pain is a fact of life in the Sixth World, and shadowrunners know that better than most. While most runners accept that they are going to get hurt and are prepared to deal with it, others flinch from the possibility of damage, and this gets more severe each time they actually get hurt. When they’re out on the job, if they are burned, shot, zapped, punched, or otherwise damaged, the character becomes extremely reluctant to rejoin the fray.

When a character with this quality is dealt Physical damage, they suffer a −1 penalty to combat dice pools until the enemy or obstacle that dealt the damage is overcome or destroyed.

Buddy System

Kill Code, p.77

Bonus

9 Karma

Every runner knows that working with a team is always safer than acting alone. Because of stories they’ve heard or personal experience, the character gets anxious when no one’s watching their back.

The character suffers a −2 to all Matrix actions other than Matrix Perception and the Hide action if they are alone, or a −1 penalty if they have an agent slotted in or a sprite compiled to back them up.

Discombobulated

Kill Code, p.77

Bonus

12 Karma

Whoever thought up simsense was a genius. A character with this quality doesn’t want to imagine life without it, especially because everything is a little too real. Characters who suffer from discombobulation experience feelings of disorientation whenever they work in the physical world, without virtual reality to steady their all-too-tactile hands.

The character receives a −2 dice pool modifier to all tests when acting outside of AR or VR.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Kill Code, p.77

Bonus

2 Karma per Level (Max 4)

The character is a sucker for clickbait, even when it’s obvious that it has nothing to do with the search they’re pursuing. They’ll start searching for building schematics for a heist, and end reading rumors about Dunkelzahn’s assassination. How did the search lead them there? No idea, but at least they learned a lot of rubbish along the way.

For each level of Down the Rabbit Hole (maximum 4), reduce the number of 1s necessary to roll a glitch by one whenever the character attempts to search the Matrix (so that on a roll of 8 dice with two levels of the quality, the character can glitch with only three 1s, instead of the normal five). The gamemaster may also require the character to make Matrix Search tests that would otherwise succeed automatically to see whether or not a glitch occurs.

Echo Chamber

Kill Code, p.78

Bonus

10 Karma

The character has a trusty source or two who align with their social, political, psychological, and criminal aims, which makes some information gathering a cinch. Finding info outside of your echo chamber, however, is pretty hard work, especially when wading through all the idiot drek that’s out there.

When Matrix Searching as an extended test, the character benefits from a +2 dice pool bonus, but the number of rolls needed to get a glitch is decreased by 1.

Frostbite

Kill Code, p.78

Bonus

3 Karma

The character tussled with Black IC, and it got the better of them. They lost something to it that they can never get back.

Select one skill from the following group: Compiling, Computer, Cybercombat, Decompiling, Electronic Warfare, Hacking, Registering, Software. The selected skill must be one in which the character has ranks. The character permanently suffers a −2 dice pool penalty to that skill whenever IC (besides Patrol IC) is active in a host they are occupying.

Information Auctioneer

Kill Code, p.78

Bonus

4 Karma

Now and then a hacker will grab some data that’s outside the lines of the job. Everyone will pay to keep their secrets, and this data will end up with whoever is willing to pay the most for it. The character earns a minimum 1,000¥ extra per job during which they collected paydata. Their Matrix persona is familiar to any former auction attendee. When interacting with a character with this quality, an NPC may make a memory test to recognize the character’s persona; the NPC gains +1 to their dice pool for every 10,000¥ they spent buying data. If the NPC recognizes the player character, the gamemaster may decide if this NPC was slighted or aided by one of the character’s auctions—that is, whether they are angry at or happy with the character. Either way, the recognition should cause a disturbance.

Lazy Fingers

Kill Code, p.79

Bonus

10 Karma

Never overextend—the risks aren’t worth the rewards. Reckless runners are dead runners. That’s the basic code of characters with this quality.

Whenever the character attempts to use the Brute Force or Hack on the Fly Matrix Actions to gain multiple marks in a single action, they suffer additional dice pool penalties: −6 for two marks and −15 for three marks.

Malware Infection

Kill Code, p.79

Bonus

6 Karma

Somewhere along the way the character got pinged as an easy mark for spam adverts and messages and horrible visits that bring to mind questions about the worth of humanity. The character’s view is always at least slightly obscured by pop-ups that definitely have to be closed as soon as possible.

The character suffers a −2 penalty to all Matrix Perception tests.

Matrix Troll

Kill Code, p.79

Bonus

7 Karma

The character can’t help but plant misinformation when given the opportunity. In fact, it’s their method of choice when interacting with foes. It’s hilarious when it’s harmless fun with friendlies. Or when it’s something they do to total strangers. They have a problem controlling it, is the point.

The character must make a Composure (3) Test to stop from spreading some detrimental misinformation or pulling a Matrix prank, even if it’s to the disadvantage of the character’s friends.

Sloppy Code

Kill Code, p.79

Bonus

3 Karma

No matter how hard they try, the character can never get their icon to look quite right in hosts. A red fedora in a room full of g-men, a cat in a dog park, no matter what, there’s always just something off. Blending simply is not their thing. The character receives a −2 dice pool penalty to Stealth tests when they are in hosts.

Well, Actually…

Kill Code, p.79

Bonus

12 Karma

The character has a deep drive to settle disagreements the only way they know how— by checking the facts on the Matrix.

Any time the character disagrees with another character (friend or foe), they must spend time, up to thirty minutes, searching for something they will accept as the correct answer to the argument. During this time, the character is multitasking and counts as distracted. The distraction time might be short if the information is fairly concrete and easy to find, but more obscure and obtuse data will require more searching.

In cases where existing canon or reality does not determine the correct answer, the gamemaster acts as the final arbiter as to what information is correct.

Kill Code (technomancer)

Better on the Net

Kill Code, p.96

Type

Technomancer

Cost

9 Karma

Being a technomancer is like being a part of two worlds, and for some, the real world is far less tangible than the digital one. When they’re acting in the Matrix, they’re better, faster, stronger, and they can do things that they could never accomplish in the “real” world. They are part of the Matrix and the Matrix is part of them.

When this quality is selected, the player selects a Matrix attribute. They gain a +2 bonus to that attribute. The quality may be selected multiple times, once for each Matrix attribute.

Brilliant Heuristics

Kill Code, p.96

Type

Technomancer

Cost

5 Karma

A character with this quality is superlative at performing complex, processor-intensive tasks. Any Matrix Action that depends on the Data Processing attribute is completed in half the time. This quality stacks with other similar qualities, such as Analytical Mind, meaning the time could be quartered.

Groveler

Kill Code, p.96

Type

Technomancer

Cost

10 Karma

This quality allows a technomancer to consume data stored on optical chips as a means of reducing their Fading Value when performing several tasks connected to Resonance. To do so, the technomancer must destroy several datachips. For every four datachips destroyed by the technomancer, reduce the Fading Value on the next Compiling, Decompiling, Registering, or Threading test by 1 point.

Hold the Door

Kill Code, p.96

Type

Technomancer

Cost

7 Karma

Hosts have a nasty habit of creating an infinite onslaught of IC. You might take one down, but there’s another just waiting to ruin your day. A character with this quality has learned to adapt to this, learning how to time their attacks and create a flow to keep the IC at bay. When an attack from the character fills a persona’s Matrix Condition Monitor, they get a +2 bonus on their next attack. If their next attack successfully destroys its target, the character gets another +2 bonus on the next attack. This continues to accrue until an attack fails to destroy a target or the character takes an action other than attacking.

Fractal Punch

Kill Code, p.96

Type

Technomancer

Cost

5 Karma

When it’s time to put the hurt on someone, a character with Fractal Punch does it as hard and as fast as possible. When you use a Data Spike or Resonance Spike action, you can choose to overclock your attack. To do this, declare that you are using Fractal Punch with a Free Action prior to your attack. Doing so imposes a −4 Dice Pool modifier but confers a +2 damage bonus to your next attack.

Lone Wolf

Kill Code, p.96

Type

Technomancer

Restriction

Incompatible with Team Player

Cost

5 Karma

Lone Wolf characters hate to work on teams—they feel other people only slow them down. When operating in the Matrix by themselves (not counting their own sprites), they get a +2 bonus to their Initiative Score. This bonus is negated if any ally is working in the Matrix with the character at the same time.

Natural Hacker

Kill Code, p.97

Type

Technomancer

Restriction

May only be taken once.

Cost

14 Karma

Technomancers have an instinct for the Matrix, and there sometimes are moves or skills where they have a particular gift simple because they have done them so often, and for so long.

When this quality is purchased, the player selects one Matrix action. When creating a dice pool for this action, a technomancer may replace the relevant mental attribute with their Resonance rating.

One With the Matrix

Kill Code, p.97

Type

Technomancer

Cost

2/8/10 Karma

The Resonance is so ingrained in the character that they’ve begun to see it manifest in their everyday life. They have reached a point where they no longer need things that are necessary for everyone else to interact with the Matrix. They are one with the Matrix, and they process it on their own.

2 Karma level

The character’s living persona is innately able to join a PAN or WAN as a slave to another deck or commlink (though requisite authorizations must still be obtained).

8 Karma level

The character’s living persona can act as a master device of a PAN, with a maximum number of slaves equal to the Resonane rating × 3.

10 Karma level

Characters receive both effects. Characters who had previously purchased one part of the quality may subsequently purchase the other.

Reverberant

Kill Code, p.97

Type

Technomancer

Restriction

Can only be taken by those who are not Emerged

Cost

5 Karma

This character is not a technomancer, but there is a slight touch of the Resonance upon them. This means that even though they can’t perceive the Matrix in that special technomancer way, and they cannot operate with a living persona, they receive a +1 dice pool bonus on any Matrix actions specifically directed at technomancers, sprites, and Resonance entities.

Sprite Affinity

Kill Code, p.97

Type

Technomancer

Cost

7 Karma

The Sprite Affinity quality allows a technomancer to resonate better with one type of sprite. This type of sprite jives with the technomancer’s coding style in just the right way. The sprites seem more inclined to serve their compiler with distinction, and because of the ease of creation they tend to have fewer bugs.

When choosing this quality, the player selects a specific type of sprite. When compiling that type of sprite, the character receives a +1 dice pool bonus to Compiling tests. If the sprite is successfully compiled, the character gets 1 more task than they normally would. This quality cannot be selected more than once.

Team Player

Kill Code, p.97

Type

Technomancer

Restriction

Incompatible with Lone Wolf

Cost

5 Karma

Team Players were always taught that it’s good to share with others. This quality enables the Brute Force and Hack on the Fly actions to be done as teamwork tests. Only the leader of the teamwork test needs to possess this quality. The team leader determines the number of marks that will be attempted, and the resulting modifiers are applied to all participants. Agents, sprites, and Resonance constructs may not participate in this teamwork test. If the test succeeds, all participants gain one or more marks. On a failure or a glitch, the effects are applied to all participants.

Trust Data, Not Lore

Kill Code, p.97

Type

Technomancer

Restriction

Incompatible with Trust Lore, Not Data

Cost

5 Karma

This character has learned over time that their instincts can get them into trouble. As a result, they tend to trust the data in front of them rather than the gut feeling that others may rely upon. Use Logic instead of Intuition on the following Matrix actions:

• Control Device
• Disarm Data Bomb
• Hide
• Matrix Perception
• Matrix Search
• Snoop
• Spoof Command
• Trace Icon

Trust Lore, Not Data

Kill Code, p.97

Type

Technomancer

Restriction

Incompatible with Trust Data, Not Lore

Cost

5 Karma

This character has learned over time that data can be manipulated easily, leading people to make poor decisions. As a result, they trust their gut feeling instead of what people present to them. Use Intuition instead of Logic on the following Matrix actions:

• Check Overwatch Score
• Crack File
• Crash Program
• Data Spike
• Edit File
• Erase Mark
• Format Device
• Jam Signals
• Reboot Device
• Set Data Bomb

Unique Avatar

Kill Code, p.98

Type

Technomancer

Restriction

Incompatible with Digital Doppelganger

Cost

5 Karma

In a world full of customization, the only limit to an avatar’s appearance is one’s creativity. Is it any wonder that so many people do not have truly unique avatars? The fact is that the spark that makes one truly unique is lost in many people— but not characters with this quality. Their avatar is completely unique, and they’ve gone to the effort of ensuring that it cannot be replicated by anyone. This gives them an edge in dealing with those who are Matrix-savvy and ensures that when someone sees their avatar, they know they are dealing with a pro. The character receives a +2 bonus in Social Tests in the Matrix when their persona is visible. The drawback is that if someone tries to remember who they were dealing with, they also get a +2 bonus to their Memory Test, and they reduce the Difficulty Threshold by 1 (to a minimum of 1).

Brittle (Attribute)

Kill Code, p.99

Type

Technomancer

Bonus

5 Karma

This character’s living persona is just not efficient at a particular aspect of operation. They’ve tried everything to try to boost it it, but they can’t find the right technique to make it perform as well as it should. The player selects a Matrix attribute when this quality is selected. That Matrix attribute always functions at 1 lower than its assigned attribute level. This quality may be taken multiple times, with a different Matrix attribute chosen each time.

Data Hog

Kill Code, p.99

Type

Technomancer

Bonus

10 Karma

Not all hackers are efficient, god-like beings of the Matrix. Data Hogs are particularly inefficient with their code, which leads to making a big ripple in the Matrix. This means that GOD can track their location more easily, leading to a reduction in the threshold for Convergence. Instead of Converging when Overwatch Score reaches 40+, the threshold for characters with this quality is 30.

Escaped Custody

Kill Code, p.99

Type

Technomancer

Prerequisite

Records on File

Bonus

5 Karma

A character with this quality escaped a megacorporate experiment, and they have the scars to prove it. These scars are not necessarily physical, and while they’ve done their best to heal and move on, when faced with their former captors they have a tendency to lose control. The player selects any megacorporation with which the character has Records on File; when dealing with that megacorporation, they receive a −2 dice pool penalty on Composure Tests.

This quality can only be taken once.

Know Your Limit

Kill Code, p.99

Type

Technomancer

Bonus

4 Karma

The character has experienced some serious fade, and omae, they never want to do that again. But fading is a part of a technomancer’s life, and past battles with it seem to have left their scars. The character suffers a −2 dice pool penalty to resist Physical fade damage.

On the Wagon

Kill Code, p.99

Type

Technomancer

Restriction

Incompatible with Addicted, Codeblock, Wired User, or any variant of Incompetent affecting Matrix-based skills.

Bonus

5 Karma

Winners don’t use drugs! That’s what you’ve been told your whole life, and it has been your guiding principle. Maybe you experimented with mixing drugs and the Matrix at one point and decided you hate it. Maybe you have decided that the Matrix is a confusing enough place without adding a layer of confusion to it. When you are not sober, you take −2 penalty on all Matrix actions.

Resonant Burnout

Kill Code, p.99

Type

Technomancer

Bonus

15 Karma

Whether willingly or not, the character’s body has been implanted repeatedly. You may not have a lot of cyberware in your system right now, but you’ve had a lot put in and pulled out over time. As a result of all this modification, you treat all Resonance lost to Essence loss as twenty percent worse than normal. Fractional Resonance is rounded down.

Sprite Combustion

Kill Code, p.99

Type

Technomancer

Bonus

13 Karma

The sprites the character compiles are never as stable as they’d like. The sprites tend to break down more easily and have fewer services tied to them than other people’s sprites on average. A few have even exploded into code right in front of the character’s eyes. It’s almost as if the character did something to offend sprites.

When a sprite is successfully compiled, the character’s sprites come with 1 less task than rolled, to a minimum of 1. The character suffers a −1 dice pool penalty when registering sprites.

Taint of Dissonance

Kill Code, p.100

Type

Technomancer

Bonus

5 Karma

Despite an extreme effort on your part to avoid the Dissonance, it seems to follow you around wherever you go. Not quite like Gremlins, this little trace of Dissonance has no impact on your normal day-today operations. However, when dealing with Resonance entities like sprites, they can sense the taint of Dissonance on you. When in any Opposed Test with a Resonance entity (such as a sprite, but not a technomancer), lower the applicable limit by 1.

’Ware Intolerance

Kill Code, p.100

Type

Technomancer

Bonus

15 Karma

In a world full of cyberware, bioware, and nanoware, it seems that augmentations are nearly impossible to avoid. A character with ’Ware Intolerance, though, needs to avoid them all like the plague. Their system is especially sensitive to any kind of invasive ’ware. As a result, all Essence lost to cyberware, bioware, or nanoware is twenty percent worse than normal.

Wired User

Kill Code, p.100

Type

Technomancer

Prerequisite

Addicted

Restriction

Cannot be combined with Codeblock, On the Wagon, or any variant of Incompetent affecting Matrix-based skills.

Bonus

5 Karma

Winners don’t use drugs! That’s what you’ve been told your whole life. It was all a lie. You got that first sweet taste and decided to take it a step further by using while you were jacked into the Matrix. Now, you don’t know what you’d do without the drug cocktail you rely on while in the Matrix. When you are sober, you take a −2 penalty on all Matrix actions.