I've put answers below the various questions!
1. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Grids, GOD, and the G-Men. I love these concepts, but feel a bit starved for information on some of them as the main book focused heavily on shadowruns and not as much outside of hosts. How do you envison the grids? Is there some way around the problem of Street sams having their PAN on the public grid in order to cause deckers a -2 penalty from lag? What kind of things can the G-Men do in the Matrix to track down criminals, especially ones who do things like attack someone then log out immediately to evade GOD? Are the G-Men especially skilled and intense on the Megacorp Grids? Do the corps have any other defenses on the Megacorp grids?
Abstruse was essentially correct in his answer about the –2 public grid penalty--if you're close enough to the street sammie, don't bother worrying about a grid, just go after them directly.
The biggest thing the G-Men do is the Overwatch Score. If someone logs out, they are somewhat handcuffed--that's the nature of the Matrix. Quick hits are the name of the game. They can try the Trace Icon action to find the location of someone as long as they're online, but once someone logs off, it's awfully tough to track them through the Matrix.
G-Men are definitely intense on megacorp grids, even more so on megacorp hosts. More details about hosts and deep runs will be in the eventually forthcoming Matrix sourcebook. There aren't too many other defenses to speak of other than G-Men, but there really doesn't need to be …
2. What's are the best defenses in SR5 from grenades? Just running really fast with the new streamlined movement system?
In general, yeah, I'd saying getting out of the blast area quickly is the best strategy. If the grenade is wireless enabled, you can try to mess with the trigger, but that's risky. Throwing a troll on top of it may help absorb some of the damage, but it makes them cranky.
3. What kinds of things can Technomancers do better than Deckers in this edition? Any future plans for the TMs, especially as it pertains to outside of hosts out on the grids?
With TMs we tried to go for "different" without necessarily being "better." Complex forms have different functions than programs, making TMs operate in different ways. They also have some advantage when it comes to Overwatch Score, but that's only in relation to their particular actions, not when they try Matrix Actions that normally accumulate OS. Since hosts will be more detailed in the Matrix sourcebook, you can expect to see more discussion of TMs in relation to them as well.
4. Since Jackpoint exists still in new Matrix, can we assume there are all sorts of darknets for software pirates and the like?
Absolutely! In fact, the freelancers have had plenty of fun coming up with names of these various secret spots and hacker hideaways. The upcoming season of Missions will talk some about the underground Matrix in Chicago.
5. What are the best defenses for a street sam who wants to remain online? Are there any upcoming technologies to help out online street sams? (i.e. skinlinks, some kind of alternative network, use of a PAN in areas the Matrix can't be reached, and so on) Are online SAMS able to be anonymis through an online service like the Onion Router or the like? Can they be tracked? (That's probaly going to be my players big worry when we play our first SR5 game)
First, don't do anything that accumulates an OS, though that shouldn't be a problem. Second, if you've got a hacker handy, have them slave your devices to them to provide a defensive boost (and get faster alerts about incoming attacks). Third, yeah, you can be tracked, but remember that there are a crapload of PANs out there, so people have to know what they're looking for to find you. And the occasional quick reboot can make life difficult for anyone looking to track you down through the Matrix.
thank you,
Skyscraper the Giraffe Shaman
My pleasure. Have fun!
Jason H.
