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Cybermodem CPU LOAD Rules
(for Cyberpunk 2020)
By Todd Bradley
Oompa Loompas Ultimate Frisbee Team 7-3
303-443-6317 home, 303-492-5826 office, 303-530-9000 other office
Have a look at these new rules and let me know what you think.
They have yet to be playtested. All comments are welcome.

Introduction:

It is naive to think that any computer operating system in common use in the year 2020 will not be multitasking. However, the Cyberpunk 2020 rules imply that Netrunners may only run a single program at a time on their cybermodems. We could probably think of several reasons to explain away this rule, but it makes more sense to use a more realistic, and hopefully more interesting, set of rules. The original idea for these CPU load rules came from Tom Hoople and the rest of my gaming group. I quantified those ideas into a set of rules and wrote them up below.

Basic Concepts:

The fundamental idea of these rules is that each and every program a netrunner runs on his or her deck uses some percentage of the available CPU. More than one program may be run simultaneously as long as the total LOAD number doesn't exceed what is available from the hardware. Netrunners can intentionally give a program less than its required LOAD in order to be able to run multiple programs. A given cybermodem will have a LOAD number associated with it which reflects the speed and number of processors of the basic CPU and any additional speed modifications which have been made. Also, a cyberdeck's operating system may affect its LOAD number. Similarly, every program has a LOAD number associated with it which is the optimal number of LOAD points which should be allocated with it.

Figuring Hardware LOAD Numbers:

A basic, new, 2020 model cybermodem, listed in the rulebook for a price of $1000, has 10 LOAD points. Used decks, which are by definition older technology, will probably have less. Each additional Speed point you buy increases the available LOAD by 3. Therefore, the maximum LOAD you can have with a single processor, assuming you buy five speed increases, would be 10 + 5 x 3 = 25, which, you'll see in a minute, is a lot. Some cyberdecks, mostly customized or experimental models, are available with more than one CPU. Each additional CPU adds another 10 available LOAD points. However, since the standard deck OS's aren't designed for more than one CPU, custom modifications will need to be made to the operating system (no small feat) and between 1 and 5 LOAD points will be used just for synchronization purposes.

Figuring Software LOAD Numbers:

The CPU overhead for the operating system (for computing the mysterious Ihara-Grubb Transformations) is LOAD 3 for the main operator and an extra LOAD 1 for each person riding piggyback. These numbers, unlike LOADs for other software, do not change. CPU LOADS for normal software is listed here by program type:

*(the programs the demon carries do not count to your LOAD)

Using LOAD Numbers:

A program may be run faster than the given LOAD number. A netrunner may intentionally use up to two more LOAD points on a program than is needed. Each extra LOAD point adds one to that program's effective strength. Similarly, a program may be run slower than the given number. A decker can decrease the LOAD down to a minimum of 1 with a corresponding decrease in the program's effective strength. At the start of a netrunning excursion, a decker should determine what programs are loaded (just like before) and also what LOAD is given to each one. Changing the LOAD settings requires one round (a second), during which the netrunner may not make any attacks. If he or she chooses to run a new program without doing any LOAD balancing, the new program will start up using its normal LOAD number. Other programs will be forced to automatically decrease their LOAD so that the maximum LOAD for the deck is not exceeded. If the LOAD is still over the max, the operating system will begin terminating programs to bring the LOAD down. Using these new rules, more than one attack may be made per round. However, each attack program (Anti-System, Anti-Personnel, or Anti- IC) requires 1.5 times its normal LOAD when running on a deck with another attack program. Also, due to hardware and physiological limitations, no program may ever use more than 10 LOAD points.

Example:

Joe Friday, decker at large, has a Zetatech Parraline 5750 deck which has a single CPU with a Speed of +2. This gives a total of 16 LOAD points. Joe's operating system will require 3 of those LOAD points, leaving him with 13 to work with.

In preparation for a quest into some megacorp's datafortress, he loads Shield, Reflector, Invisibility, Wizard's Book, Poison Flatline, Krash, Killer IV, Soundmachine, Genie, Crystal Ball, and Net Map.

He decides to run Shield, Net Map, and Invisibility simultaneously. Their base LOADs are 4, 2, and 4. He has three leftover LOAD points, so he turns the speed of Shield up one point and Invisibility up two points, raising their effective strengths to 4 and 5.

After some navigating, he comes to a code gate he's ready to crack. Joe is not in an extreme hurry and takes one round to start up his Wizard's Book program with LOAD 8 (two more than the normal 6) while deactivating his Shield and Net Map programs and lowering Invisibility down to LOAD 5. This brings his total LOAD to 16, which is good. The Wizard's Book now has an effective Strength of 8 (6 against Code Gates + 2 for using extra LOAD). Joe easily gets through the gate.

Unfortunately, there is not one, but two Pit Bull's waiting on the other side for him. Not wanting to wait for a round to adjust his LOAD values, he immediately fires off Killer IV twice.

Running two simultaneous attack programs will cost 1.5 times the normal load and each Killer uses 9 LOAD points. Clearly, Joe's deck can't handle this kind of excessive CPU load. His operating system automatically kills his Invisibility and Wizard's Book (which he would have turned off anyhow after getting through the gate) programs. Still, he's exceeded his deck's LOAD limit. The best the deck can do is run one Killer with a LOAD 4 (-2 on the attack) and the other with a LOAD 5 (-1 on the attack). With this configuration, he is only slightly over his limit at LOAD 16.5: (4 + 5) x 1.5 + 3 for the OS = 16.5. (Which means it still wouldn't work, according to the previous rules...? - Winterfost)

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