Hacking

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Every electronic device or creature with augments has a Hackability Score, and many creatures have a Hacking bonus; unless otherwise specified, the Hackability Score is equal to 3 + their Will Save bonus. When a hacker wishes to hack something, it makes a Hacking Check as a standard action to roll 1d6 + its Hacking bonus and compare the result to the target's Hackability Score + the action's difficulty. Failure means that the target becomes aware of the hacking attempt, and knows the ID of the hacker. Success means that the hacker can perform the action, and without their knowledge, a number of Serious or Hitch problem dice are rolled for them, as indicated in the table below:

Table: Hacking Success

Roll value relative to difficulty Problem Dice
0 (equal to difficulty) 2 Serious Dice
1 1 Serious Die
2-3 1 Hitch Die
4+ No Dice

Table: Serious Die (d6)

Roll Value Problem
1 Hack fails, the target is alerted to the hack attempt, and knows your ID,
and is given continuous updates on what you're trying to do with the hack so they can pretend that it's working.
2 The target becomes aware of the hack and your ID.
3 Everyone involved, including yourself, becomes aware of the hack, but not your ID.
4-6 No effect.

Table: Hitch Die (d6)

Roll Value Problem
1 The target becomes aware of the hack and your ID.
2-6 No effect.

If a hack is canceled in the middle, the hacker can try again later.

Maintained: Some hacks require constant monitoring by the hacker. The hacker must spend a move action each round maintaining the Hack, or it ends.

Connections

A device or creature is considered connected to another device or creature if wires or wireless connections link them to each other, directly or indirectly (therefore, all entities connected to the Internet are connected to each other). It is not possible to hack a creature or object without being connected to it. If a device or creature has a wireless connection, it can always be connected with a wired connection as well.

A standard Wireless connection links directly with all other wireless devices within 30 meters. In a typical city or populated area, this means 5-20 minor devices in the area.

Available Actions

The following actions are possible with hacking:

Any Device

Locate Physically (Difficulty 0): You determine the object or creature's location, with a random error of 1d6×15 meters. If the target logged off or changed its ID, this gives you the last known position the entity with that ID had, with the same random error.

Identify Hackers (Difficulty 0): You ID a hacker who is currently hacking the target device, so long as you know that object is being hacked. The total difficulty depends on the Hackability score of the hacker theirself.

Poll Connections (Difficulty 1): You enumerate all the creatures and devices that are directly connected to this device. This lists item and augment types, like "Personal Computer" or "Bioport-Equipped Creature", and IDs, but nothing else.

Monitor Connections (Difficulty 1, Maintained): You may identify the destinations of any messages originating from this device, and the sources of any messages with this device as the destination. The destinations and sources are listed as item and augment types, like "Personal Computer" or "Bioport-Equipped Creature", and IDs, as well as a number indicating the minimum number of links connecting the two devices. This does not detect hack messages, unless you already know the ID of the hacker.

Connect Secretly (Difficulty 1): Connect to a non-internet network without your ID being shown to everyone watching the system. When connecting to the internet, so many IDs are connecting and disconnecting all the time that this hack is unnecessary. This hack does not let you secretly attach someone's non-internet network to the internet.

Screen Peek (Difficulty 2, Maintained): You sense what the creature or object senses, using any senses it has augments or machines for.

Access Files (Difficulty 2, Maintained): You gain access to data files saved in the system. Each round, you can search the device for a keyword, group of keywords, image, or sound, and get the 20 most relevant results, or the 20 next most relevant results if continuing the same search. Every four rounds, you suffer another Hitch Die.

Disable (Difficulty 3): The object or creature shuts down, and can be reactivated by pressing the power button or slapping the creature.

Modify Files (Difficulty 3): You can modify or delete a data file saved in the system that you have previously accessed. Creatures viewing the file can tell that it's been hacked.

Modify Files Invisibly (Difficulty 6): As Modify Files, but the file does not look hacked.

Choke Point

Every networked device or creature can possibly be a choke point. It counts as a choke point between two devices or creatures if messages must pass through it to communicate between them. The communicating devices and creatures themselves are choke points for this purpose.

DDoS (Difficulty 0): Dealing with many randomized useless messages disables the choke point's message transferring functionality for 1d6 rounds as its algorithms adapt, or until you stop being connected to the choke point, whichever comes first. DDoSing requires an internet connection.

Monitoring (Difficulty 2, Maintained): You may read any message that passes through the choke point, potentially discovering images being looked at, passwords being used, or what hacking is being performed. Sufficiently well-encrypted messages can't be read in this way: encrypting a message to pass it through unread requires a move action Hacking check with a difficulty equal to the total value of your Monitoring check; if they fail by 3 or less, it takes you 1 minute to identify the message. Monitoring lasts for as long as you continue to be connected to the choke point. For passing hacks past you undetected, the hacker may simply use your Hackability score rather than that of the target, if yours is higher. Before actually performing the hack, any hacker is made aware that a character with your Hackability score value is monitoring the connection.

It's possible to perform Monitoring without alerting hackers of your interference: this also prevents the Monitoring from detecting hacks when they're passed through the choke point.

Hijack (Difficulty 5, Maintained): This functions as Monitoring, but you may also edit any messages monitored in this way.

Creature or Vehicle

DDoS (Difficulty 1): Dealing with a sudden onset of randomized useless messages briefly stuns the creature until the beginning of its turn, and makes it fall prone. DDoSing requires an internet connection.

Body Control (Difficulty 2): You gain control of the creature's electromotive functions for its next standard action, using the lower of your or its Accuracy and Agility for any actions you force it to perform. You can't control organic body parts.

Hallucinations (Difficulty 3, Maintained): You alter what the creature senses using any of its augment-enhanced or -derived senses. If the creature succeeds on an insight check against your bluff, it can determine which parts of the sensory data are modified, but not what they were originally.

Assume Complete Control (Difficulty 6, Maintained): You gain control of the creature's electromotive functions, using the lower of your or its Accuracy and Agility for any actions you force it to perform. You can't control organic body parts. You also have access to any of the creature's augment-enhanced or -derived senses.

Hacking Modifiers

The following modifiers may apply when attempting a hack:

Proximity (Hacking +1): The target is within 300 meters.

TEMPEST Corroboration (Hacking +1): You can watch the target with a TEMPEST sense (either your own or one to which you have a live feed).

Antivirus

A device or creature with a hacking bonus may sacrifice some or all of that bonus to raise their Hackability Score.

Firewall: Grants +1 Hackability Score for every 3 points of hacking bonus sacrificed. Can be reconfigured as a standard action.

Antivirus: Grants +1 Hackability Score for every 2 points of hacking bonus sacrificed. Can be reconfigured, but doing so takes 10 hours.

Programs

Hacker View.png

The following can be used by any device or creature capable of running Programs. Some of them require an internet connection. Others require a database connection: an internet connection is sufficient to find many free databases.

Communication: You can send messages (text, voice, sensor data you are currently recording, or previously designated sensor data) to creatures you are connected to as a lesser action. Unless you are a bioport-equipped creature or AI, changing which creatures to send the messages to is a standard action.

Remote Viewing: You can detect using a connected sensory device, like a camera (including audio) or a seismometer. Choosing which sensory device is a standard action, or a lesser action for a bioport-equipped creature or AI.

Satellite Vision (Internet only): You can see as though you were high in the sky over any location. As a move action you can zoom in or out; with a 25 by 25 meter region, you can see things as though they were 100 meters away, and multiplying the lengths of the sides of this area multiplies the effective distance. Zooming out again or changing the location is a move action. Both actions are lesser actions for a bioport-equipped creature or AI.

Omnilingualism (Database connection): You can speak, read, and write every language that has been spoken by at least 1000 internet-connected people before. Getting and producing the relevant translations for a round takes a standard action, or a lesser action for a bioport-equipped creature or AI.

Research (Database connection): You can retry a history, people, nature, or items check to know something, with a successful DC 6 Hacking check and 30 minutes of concentration. If someone is manipulating the messages you get by hacking a relevant choke point or the database, they can fool you with false information if they roll an equal or higher check in the relevant skill than you did.