Im a long time SR player, since 2nd ed., and now witrh 4th edition out and a lot of people wanting to play it, I have been choosen to run 4th ed. Now i have a slight problem, I have never played a hacker. I know the basic concepts and i have a player who wants to play one, however i have no idea what to advise him to take or get. Im using the standard 400 pt build for characters, so now i ask:
What do you feel is nessassary for a hacker to have as far as IC, Autosofts, programs, Active skills, Knowledge skills, and type of comms?
I want to have a use for one in game play but, to be honest im leary of having to try to keep one involveed in game play, considering how they faired in previous editions. Suggestions and comments are a welcomed.
Full Version: Hackers... What is essential?
I'm playing a rigger for the first time, and I had a similar problem
I started with the Rigger archtype, then went throught the wireless chapter looking at all the rigger type actions to take, and noted what skills or programs were involved.
I started with the Rigger archtype, then went throught the wireless chapter looking at all the rigger type actions to take, and noted what skills or programs were involved.
Autosofts are for drones, and give skills pilot dosent cover. hackers dont need em.
IC is a type of agent, a program that runs other programs. nice to have, but can quickly reduce your response.
With the way commlinks work, a hacker will want to have 2 high-end commlinks, one for himself and one for his agent. also, grab a low-end metalink for when you need a 'decoy' signal.
for active skills, the electronics and cracking skill groups are a must-have.
IC is a type of agent, a program that runs other programs. nice to have, but can quickly reduce your response.
With the way commlinks work, a hacker will want to have 2 high-end commlinks, one for himself and one for his agent. also, grab a low-end metalink for when you need a 'decoy' signal.
for active skills, the electronics and cracking skill groups are a must-have.
Offhand, I recommend getting as high of a Stealth program as you can afford to (keeping in mind that the Program's rating is capped by your comm's System rating).
SOUNDS GREAT SO FAR. What else does a hacker need as far as knowledges and what about attributes, its not like they can power out high mentals and be screwed physically because they will still have to survive combat.
as written, you can completely ditch your mental attributes iirc. well, at least as far as within the matrix is concerned. if you plan on also being the electronics wizard, you would need a good logic, and whatnot, but right now, the only thing that matters in the matrix is your software and your skills.
| QUOTE (Jaid @ Nov 8 2005, 07:12 PM) |
| as written, you can completely ditch your mental attributes iirc. |
You don't. Logic isn't used inside VR, but Intuition+Response = Initiative Pool. On top of Willpower determining the boxes in your own Stun Damage track (EDIT: but not your persona's track, which is 8 + System/2), Willpower + Biofeedback is used to resist dumpshock and close a connection held open by Black IC. Plus the disorientation from dumpshock lasts (10-Willpower) minutes.
which, scarily enough, fits the flavour... the original Echo Mirage were methodical Gummint types (high logic low intuition) and got ownzed by the crash virus
the next batch of mavericks (low logic HIGH intuition) won
the next batch of mavericks (low logic HIGH intuition) won
you need logic to build hardware and compile programs. its for all the stuff you do when not online. and for 20k, you can get bioware to give you +2 logic. 7 starting logic is a wonderfull thing. with a skill group at 4, it gives you 11 dice for many fun things.
willpower is a must if you want to stay alive for long. and a high inititive is always nice.
the natural hardening quality is a good thing to have. only 10 points, so it costs the same as 1 willpower, but without the bp limit on atributes.
for knowledge skills, look at some of the older books. the fluff is still the same. Matrix security, data havens, commlink design, software design, ect.
willpower is a must if you want to stay alive for long. and a high inititive is always nice.
the natural hardening quality is a good thing to have. only 10 points, so it costs the same as 1 willpower, but without the bp limit on atributes.
for knowledge skills, look at some of the older books. the fluff is still the same. Matrix security, data havens, commlink design, software design, ect.
| QUOTE (Kremlin KOA) |
| which, scarily enough, fits the flavour... the original Echo Mirage were methodical Gummint types (high logic low intuition) and got ownzed by the crash virus the next batch of mavericks (low logic HIGH intuition) won |
i dont think it was much high vs low as more a willingness to get the job done without realy caring about stuff like chain of command or order of engagement.
ie, screw the "system" we are here to stop the virus, no matter the costs.
its the same kind of mindset that powers people that crack admin passwords on school networks just because they want to see if they can do so and so on.
kinda like the biggest part of the people you will run into on the con in las vegas that i dont recall the name of right now. people that build bluetooth sniper rifles just to show that it can be done. people that love tech because its tech, not because it may lead to a high paying desk job or anything like that.
| QUOTE (hobgoblin) | ||
i dont think it was much high vs low as more a willingness to get the job done without realy caring about stuff like chain of command or order of engagement. ie, screw the "system" we are here to stop the virus, no matter the costs. |
And you can't exactly say that someone who played the big D in chess and didn't always lose was low logic.
| QUOTE (Vector @ Nov 9 2005, 07:38 AM) | ||||
And you can't exactly say that someone who played the big D in chess and didn't always lose was low logic. |
Of course being high Logic and high Intuition is certainly a possibility.
I think Kremlin KOA's point is that the later, the Intuition, was the key to EM Mark II not just getting fried straight off.P.S. RL intuition is not the antilogic. It might sometimes get that rap because of the concept of "women's intuition" manifesting in someone that is generally illogical (and no i'm not talking about women being illogical
). Intuition, at least as i see it, is reasoning done by and communicated from the subconcious. The main difference from logic being that the reasoning is not as transparent (as in you are not fully concious of it in total). Logic can get in the way of this if you always, or nearly always, choose to have logic veto intuition. But you don't actually have to do that to still remain a reasonably acting person. Used together solid logic and a well maintained, and observed intuition are a powerful team utilizing different but complementary thinking skills.
| QUOTE (Teulisch @ Nov 8 2005, 10:06 PM) |
| you need logic to build hardware and compile programs. its for all the stuff you do when not online. and for 20k, you can get bioware to give you +2 logic. 7 starting logic is a wonderfull thing. with a skill group at 4, it gives you 11 dice for many fun things. |
Keep in mind though that you want to have all your programs at 6, even though at chargen your hardware doesn't go high enough to make use of it. The reason for this is that the programming rules are specifically designed to basically forbid a character from ever writing his own suite of programs, what with the relevant tests having intervals based in months. Unless you're planning on seeing the next century up close--in which case SOTA rules will devalue your whole commlink to useless junk--no hacker can possibly upgrade all or even a good fraction of his programs over the course of a campaign.
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