Now that you're feeling comfortable in your Persona, let's get to the action! Time to hack shit WOO!
Sorry, got a bit excited. There's a lot to keep up with here, a thousand different programs and all that, so we'll be taking it step by step. I'm preparing a dummy icon for you to attack now! Remember, you're not going to be able to do all of it, so now's an excellent introduction to Complex Forms, and one of your Fade creating moves, Threading!
Your Complex Forms are all the programs you're able to run in your Persona. For example, if some normal decker wanted to run a Decrypt program on a fresh Commlink, they'd buy a Decrypt program or make one. If we don't have the Decrypt CF, we can either learn from each other or the Resonance to make it, or we can Thread a temporary one! Now, this is different for every technomancer, so I'll be walking you through how I do it.
I imagine my CFs as all the trideos I've watched over the years. Look! My Attack CF is based on Vash's revolver, and my Armor CF looks like an energy shield! But, since I'm no killer, I don't have a Black Hammer CF. So, I let my brain scan through the Matrix, until I find something that can fit the need of a killing code! ...HERE IT IS! I SUMMON THE GRAFTED DRAGON!
Whew! That took a lot outta me!... What, never heard of this weapon? Oh right, timeline shenanigans, you diverged before Elden Ring existed. Don't worry about it.
Anyways, Threading like I just did has a few limitations. First off, you can make a new CF or improve one you already have, but it's quality rating can NOT exceed double your Resonance! So if you're completely new and only have 2 Resonance, the strongest CF you can possibly thread will have a Rating of 4. Second, Threading requires a Software + Resonance roll. Every hit increases the Rating by 1, starting from 0 if you make a new Complex Form. Third, and extremely important, maintaining a Threaded CF removes two dice from the pool of ALL TESTS. THIS AMOUNT INCREASES BY 2 FOR EVERY EXTRA THREADED CF.
Now then, let's... oh, you feel tired?... Right, sorry, I forgot about Fading! Now, there's a decent bit around that, so I'll put this all on a different page so it's easy to see, but I'll go over it now before you thread a new thing and black out! Despite there being... very few mages who know about us or can be trusted, their experiences with Drain are similar to our experience with Fade. Whenever you Thread, you'll be hit with Stun Damage equal to the Rating of the Threaded CF. If the value goes over your Resonance, the damage will be Physical instead. Which sucks to take! So, how do we not die any time we do a big hack? Simple, steel yourself and ride the wave out! The Technomancer makes a Resist Test by rolling their Willpower + Resonance. Every hit reduces damage by 1 point.
Done taking that breather? Nice. Now then, let's get to causing some trouble! (Psst! This link's also on the hub, feel free to use it if you need to!)