I was under the impression that each trooper capable of using White Noise can only have one such zone active at a given time. If that's the case, how does that interact with using White Noise when one already has a zone in play? And what does the NFB mean in this context? For example: Order 1: Umbra legate never gains LoF to the Riot Grrl w/ ML during the order, and throws a White Noise zone down. Order 2: Umbra legate advances into said White Noise Zone, using it to avoid LoF to the Riot Grrl, and then, with his second short skill, throws another White Noise zone down ahead of his current position. Order 3: Umbra Legate advances into the new White Noise zone, and throws another one ahead of his position. Does he grant AROs to the ML-toting Riot Grrl at any point?
I believe that when you execute the second one the first will vanish, granting LoF. So in both orders 2 and 3 the Legate would take a normal roll missile ARO.
Let's see. Activation 1: Move, use White noise. At end of resolution, White Noise activates and appears on table. Activation 2: Move into White Noise , use White Noise. At end of resolution new White Noise appears on table. I think this hinges on whether or not you need to be successful at your WIP roll in order for NFB to trigger. If success is required, then the first White Noise zone doesn't go away until the after the second activation has resolved. If success is not required, then the first White Noise will go away whether or not you successfully activate the second once, which seems to make less sense, since at that point no White Noise could be on the table if you fail.
Somewhat related, doesn't white noise need to be centered on the hacker? By passing a WIP Roll, the user may place a White Noise Circular Template inside his Hacking Area. The White Noise Template must be entirely within the Hacking Area. The effects of this program persist until the end of the Player Turn, at which point you must remove the White Noise Circular Template. The range of this program is the Hacker's Hacking Area. Though I guess you still leapfrog (assuming there's an interpretation that would allow that in the first) by just walking up to the edge of the template and then dropping another on your head.
I have the same interpretation as @toadchild but more out of a gut feeling rather than specific rules citations currently.
I think if it's NFB you'd have to declare at the start of the order that you're not using the extant White Noise zone, you don't get to decide on the fly.
Interesting question. What exactly does activate mean and when does the activation/deactivation take place? I'm pretty sure it's not referring to this, it just uses the same term unfortunately. http://infinitythewiki.com/en/Activate
Negative Feedback (NFB). Troopers can only use one Special Skill or piece of Equipment with this Label or Trait at a time. Activating any NFB Special Skill, Equipment, Hacking Program, special rule, etc. automatically cancels and deactivates any other NFB Special Skills, pieces of Equipment, Hacking Programs, etc. the trooper might have. This effect remains until the newly activated Feedback Skill, Equipment, etc. is canceled. Seems to me that all you have to do is activate the new one. The other cancels automatically.
Nevermind, I'm a ding dong. I was thinking "oh yeah, zone of control is 8" but that actually makes a 16" circle which is more than enough space to move the circular template around in.
It disappears upon 'activation [of the Skill, Equipment, Program]', because the program has NFB 'on activation' should be read as 'on Declaration of the White Noise program'. So @toadchild has it correct. (See the NFB labels section of the rules) Also note, you can't declare that you're 'not using the existing White Noise zone'. The zone disappears for only two reasons: 1. the Turn ends, 2. the Hacker to whom the zone belongs activates another Program, Equivalent or Skill with the NFB label. (1 is the clause in the White Noise program and 2 is a consequence of the NFB rules). Further note, ODD is not an optional skill so you can't choose to activate it. It reactivates automatically when the NFB suppressing it disappears (see FAQ and Palanka rulings on Cybeemask vs ODD and activating Automatic, Optional skills). Tangential to the ZOC vs Hacking Area discussion. White Noise zones are infinitely high, Hacking Areas are not. It's theoretically impossible to ensure that the zone is entirely inside the hacking area vertically: the consensus is that you only check the horizontal.
How do we know that Negative Feedback even applies in this case? Since both are the White Noise skill, shouldn't you be able to have multiple instances of it going at once, and be able to benefit from all of them?
Because that's the way multiple arguments on this have come out. But admittedly you could argue that "other NFB Special Skills, pieces of Equipment, Hacking Programs, etc. the trooper might have" is referring to different things rather than different instances of the same thing. It's a reasonable reading of that sentence. Good luck with that, and I mean that sincerely. White Noise frustrates the fuck out of me.
Lol imp is like the last person you want to argue about this with. 1)he hates how it works but knows 2) hes had extended discussions with ijw about it in depth 3) he knows his sh*t and tries ti find breaks in the rules for fun
Threads. Multiple. And FB conversations. Multiple. I have no idea which one this aspect was hashed out in: look for a thread both @ijw and I posted in with the words 'White Noise' and 'NFB' The one place where the White Noise interactions are spelled out basically in full* is the Hacking FAQ, which admittedly is a work in progress (I got disenfranchised with it, but will probably pick it up again once the big official FAQ drops) but collates the collected wisdom on White Noise accurately. I thoroughly dislike the way it's interpreted (which I generally summarise as 'fuck Custodiers in particular'), so I have no incentive to distort it. * It's missing the fact that the Zone exceeds a Hacking Area vertically.
