Hi all,
Gearing up to run our first SR4 runs and I'd like to get an idea of how anyone else might be handling connectivity for things like office buildings, R&D sites, etc. Examples with ratings are fine, full-sim iconography, AR ideas, alarm types, reponses, actual run experince or just a general idea/overview would be great.
Any feedback is welcome!
Thanks,
~GTT
Full Version: The wireless corp world
For an "easy" place, they have a wireless network that can be accessed from outside. Some IC, maybe one attack and one blackout. A hacker on call from wherever their security is contracted with. Maybe they rely on IC and encryption, or maybe they only have boring stuff on their network and keep everything really important on devices that are not wireless-enabled.
Next up would be wireless cameras outside, all subscribed to a single node outside that connects through a fiberoptic line going into the building to another node. So there's a chokepoint, and one or both of the nodes making up that chokepoint can be much higher security.
For a company with good resources, anything really sensitive (like research data, patient information at a hospital, clients of an illegal operation) would probably be stored on a physically isolated system or network. Whatever it says in the rulebook about "spaghetti" in the walls, you've already got plumbing, electricity, and HVAC going on, so would a bunch of fiberoptic cables really be a problem? Employees can plug their commlinks (or whatever) into good old-fashioned jackpoints (but what if they didn't secure their commlinks first? Whoops). Cameras don't change their location, so why should they be wireless (except as above)? Of course there's always a detail that gets overlooked. Like for example it turns out a good hacker could get in through one of the security drones outside, or there's a way to slip one commlink into the building, connected by a line to another commlink outside, connected to the wireless matrix. Or maybe you have to really be inside the building to do anything.
Some straightforward alarm types would be a loud bell throughout the building, for things like "there's a fire" or "there's a terrorist attack", a silent alarm that connects outside the building to Lone Star or whoever, some more subtle alarms that alert only the guards (a flashing red light in the peripheral vision along with a distinctive beep, maybe?) and whoever's monitoring what the guards see.
Next up would be wireless cameras outside, all subscribed to a single node outside that connects through a fiberoptic line going into the building to another node. So there's a chokepoint, and one or both of the nodes making up that chokepoint can be much higher security.
For a company with good resources, anything really sensitive (like research data, patient information at a hospital, clients of an illegal operation) would probably be stored on a physically isolated system or network. Whatever it says in the rulebook about "spaghetti" in the walls, you've already got plumbing, electricity, and HVAC going on, so would a bunch of fiberoptic cables really be a problem? Employees can plug their commlinks (or whatever) into good old-fashioned jackpoints (but what if they didn't secure their commlinks first? Whoops). Cameras don't change their location, so why should they be wireless (except as above)? Of course there's always a detail that gets overlooked. Like for example it turns out a good hacker could get in through one of the security drones outside, or there's a way to slip one commlink into the building, connected by a line to another commlink outside, connected to the wireless matrix. Or maybe you have to really be inside the building to do anything.
Some straightforward alarm types would be a loud bell throughout the building, for things like "there's a fire" or "there's a terrorist attack", a silent alarm that connects outside the building to Lone Star or whoever, some more subtle alarms that alert only the guards (a flashing red light in the peripheral vision along with a distinctive beep, maybe?) and whoever's monitoring what the guards see.
The first thing I decided on was that admin access could only be obtained via DNI directly to the mainframe. It stopped players accessing the system and taking complete control of it via wireless, and it gave a reason to actually enter buildings if they wanted something that could only be obtained via admin access.
The biggest tool of the GM is IMO wi-fi wallpaper. Gives another good reason for the hacker to go in there in the flesh.
| QUOTE (b1ffov3rfl0w) |
| Cameras don't change their location, so why should they be wireless ... ? |
I made this comment in a different thread, but I'm not so humble as to avoid touting my own game techniques a second time
For cameras, doors locks, and other devices, I often give them a signal of zero, like cyberware, so that you essentially need to be within a meter or so of the device to have two-way communication with it. Thus, people could use passcodes to open doors for them as they approach, or technicians could stand beneath a camera to access its logs for security or upgrading purposes.
Plus, I have found that while it may be realistic to force the hacker to access the system through a wired jackpoint in order to deal with the most sensitive of equipment, it seems to undo a major change to the matrix in SR4: that the hacker need not monopolize the GM's time while working similar to SR3. By allowing limited wireless access to devices, realistic or not, it helps keep the hacker with the group and engaged in the run instead of locked down in an abandoned or empty office wired into the system. Plus, it gets the hacker shot at every now and again.
| QUOTE (Dashifen) | ||
I made this comment in a different thread, but I'm not so humble as to avoid touting my own game techniques a second time For cameras, doors locks, and other devices, I often give them a signal of zero, like cyberware, so that you essentially need to be within a meter or so of the device to have two-way communication with it. Thus, people could use passcodes to open doors for them as they approach, or technicians could stand beneath a camera to access its logs for security or upgrading purposes. Plus, I have found that while it may be realistic to force the hacker to access the system through a wired jackpoint in order to deal with the most sensitive of equipment, it seems to undo a major change to the matrix in SR4: that the hacker need not monopolize the GM's time while working similar to SR3. By allowing limited wireless access to devices, realistic or not, it helps keep the hacker with the group and engaged in the run instead of locked down in an abandoned or empty office wired into the system. Plus, it gets the hacker shot at every now and again. |
I find myself agreeing with you entirely too much.
I seem to recall the days in SR2/3 when no one would play a decker due to the rules. Now we're seeing a much larger influx of them. I'd hate to discourage that by implementing what sucked about the old days.
Do you mean walking up to items and wirelessly hacking them there as opposed to plugging in at an isolated part of the facility, or do you mean to contrast it with just sitting in your apartment and hacking into the SCIRE through the centralized internet? Because I don't see a problem with having to take the hacker/technomancer up to the centralized mainframe that has the plans to the next paradigm shift as part of the run, or even an on-site jackpoint.
I loved decker and still do Me> I wanna do this GM> looks at the 19+ dice ok you pass
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| Do you mean walking up to items and wirelessly hacking them there as opposed to plugging in at an isolated part of the facility, or do you mean to contrast it with just sitting in your apartment and hacking into the SCIRE through the centralized internet? Because I don't see a problem with having to take the hacker/technomancer up to the centralized mainframe that has the plans to the next paradigm shift as part of the run, or even an on-site jackpoint. |
I'm not saying that an on-site jackpoint or centralized mainframe wouldn't provide access to the devices connected to it, just that with a low signal on such devices, it also provides the opportunity for the enterprising hacker to sneak up to the devices and hack them wirelessly if necessary.
Consider this: a tier security structure where 95% of the devices in the system are controled by a centralized mainframe but 5% are kept off the mainframe to provide extra security. For example, I have to imaging the Lofwyr has his own set of security feeds seperate and inaccessable from the normal S-K mainframes. Anyway, if the hacker gets control of the 95% of the devices, but the players have to get by that a devices in the 5%, then the hacker may have to try and hack the device.
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| Do you mean walking up to items and wirelessly hacking them there as opposed to plugging in at an isolated part of the facility, or do you mean to contrast it with just sitting in your apartment and hacking into the SCIRE through the centralized internet? Because I don't see a problem with having to take the hacker/technomancer up to the centralized mainframe that has the plans to the next paradigm shift as part of the run, or even an on-site jackpoint. |
I been tempering what would be convienent (as mentioned about about testing, troubeshooting devices) and weighing that against what's a critical system that would probably not be easily accessed from say, the front lobby.
IMO, if a paranoid corp is worth it's rating, it's probably got the key systems requiring you to be in the same room to get to them wirelessly.
actually loffy would want access to the world
so he would have a string of 3 rating 6 systems as a chokepoint between his feed and the world what he wants in gets in, everything else faces black ice
so he would have a string of 3 rating 6 systems as a chokepoint between his feed and the world what he wants in gets in, everything else faces black ice
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