During our last game session we had some interparty conflict which resulted in 2 of the characters having microbombs implanted in their heads.

The implanting character was subsequently turned to goo and quickened that way leaving the other two with less than 24 hours to live as the bombs required a code to be entered every day or they detonate.

The problem is that we have a technomancer in the group and the prevailing 'wisdom' is that it will be simple to just hack in and disable them.

I'd like to make this a real threat, one that the runners have a slim to none chance of surviving. But I'd like to still give them a chance.

I've pretty much decided that the bombs will only be wireless for a short time every day and I have some other plans but I'm curious what you guys think would be involved with getting rid of the bombs in such a short period of time.

Get the technomancer an SNES emulator and Rom for the SNES Shadowrun game. If he can survive the opening scenes where the main character wakes up with no memory and a cranial bomb he'll have successfully defused the bombs.

Warn them that typically such a setup is built with an anti-tampering safeguard, such as a limited number of attempts to introduce the right code (which would be exceeded using normal decryption rules).

Synner, then it would break the normal hacking rules.

I have obvious bias as I'm in this party. Although I'm neither the dead guy with the timer nor am I the guy with the bomb in his head.

I would do it by first thinking logically about how the process would go down from a business standpoint, that way the run makes sense. Once you understand how the process is going to work it becomes easier to make a run out of it.

Picked on Elven Street Sam gets access to the two unconscious mages who attacked him. They're unconscious because a totally awesome Orc wasted them both in one round with stick and shocks BTW...

*speculation on my part*
Elven Street Sam calls up fixer and says he'd like some insurance in the form of a cranial bomb. He'd like it done soon and pays extra. Fixer calls up the mob or some criminal organization that does this. Probably a criminal organization as they like blackmail ops and cranial bombs are awesome that way. The contact their own doc's who implant the device. They also take DNA samples and cross check with SIN's to know who they're pissing off.

I'll go on the assumption that his is all done fairly professionally and organized on the other end. They need to watch over their charges of course and getting the bomb probably includes some monthly fee for continued maintenance of the bomb. As well as safeguards that the guy will be dead It's basically a contract on his life that hasn't been activated yet. And loots of nuyen buys a lot of insurance. The information is entered by the mob who passes it on to the doc and monitoring company. Once it's there they keep a wireless watch over the cranial bomb when it activates every day at a certain time. They also download the information onto a data chip and take it to a wireless of non-matrix node where it can be monitored by RL people to cross check with the online data. They know that people with bombs in their heads will usually try to contact a hacker and it helps having a non-matrix backup to compare to from time to time.

Post implant procedures:
Every day at X time the device activates in hidden mode and looks for a code to detonate or get regular info. Lets assume it doesn't automatically detonate if the local node is down and that there are built in safeguards to avoid killing that prized prostitute you want to keep loyal just because she was in an area with no signal.

If it misses a signal one day a computerized notation is recorded. People check the log for these from time to time. If a second signal is missed it informs a RL person (sends an email to the on-duty person). That person checks other records (matrix searches, etc) for that persons info. If they had his DNA and SIN they could search for him being at certain restaurants, etc. The on duty operator would also maybe call the person that paid for the service and inform them that it's been two days and ask for further instructions? Maybe trying several times to get a hold of them even. If the person was in danger of their life as in this case they probably left instructions on what to do in the event of their untimely demise.

A third day comes and they dispatch an investigator to check out the situation. They look at the guys place of residence or known hangouts and look for recent activity. There should be a record of where he is every day at X time which gives the investigator a solid lead on where to work.

Now if they still can't get a hold of the guy with the bomb they probably have rules. In this case it's to blow him up. I assume they send a signal to detonate and get some sort of confirmation signal back. Perhaps even send someone to investigate or witness first hand? If that doesn't work because of some jamming I assume they watch known hangouts and put a bullet in him with a rifle from across the street, car bomb, poison his drink, or something else.

The run:
Guy who set it up is already dead. Hack into his comlink and get the information on who was contacted by home. Get a receipt for the Waterworld Surgery (big bomb!) with a Enemy of the State surveillance package (continual monitoring), and the WD40 backup plan (grease him!). Matrix data searches to find out what type of bomb and what will happen at the various stages.

Wireless hack into the device the first day to try to shut it off or temporarily spoof the signal saying everything is normal.

Bribe/threaten a street doc to remove the device after that.

Get info from the mob or hack/data search to find out the physical location of this monitoring facility. Break into it and edit the offline backup so it can't be discovered later. Or burn it to the ground capturing all the codes and possibly sell that data to another mob or blackmail those people yourself. Or detonate them in a mass killing spree…

If you're too late and alarms are triggered you'll also have to fight off the security teams at your known hangouts or other places.

At the very minimum you've managed to let it be known where your hangouts are and pissed off some shady criminal organization. At the worst your brain is charcoal.

Easier solution - Let the technomancer win.
Just let him stop the cranial bomb controls and deactivate it.
But have a mechanical backup that needs to be deactivated when they take it out. The mechanical backup will go off anywhere from a day later to a week, nobody is sure, if you don't put in a certain physical key during surgery.

Or you have them succeed at deactivating it but it has a specific antitamper device that needs a specialist that will take a while to find. The explosives are sensitive to severe jarring so they need to be carefull and then have the bad guys chasing them around the city and aiming for the head, while they are on their way to the doc. They have to loose the badguys or kill them because the specialist wont help them if they are being followed.

Or the cranial bombs have poisons instead of explosives and the container is slowly degrading!

That might be a little too evil but I figure if you are putting cranial bombs in them in the first place....

Try this setup and the technomancer is out of luck.

- The system doesn't have a transmitter. only a receiver.

- The operator wirelessly send a code to the bomb that todays password will be transmitted now then the password. If the correct password is sent then bomb's clock is then reset.

- The password is not encrypted it is just a plain text word. The password is compared to a list in the bomb if it is todays word then the bomb resets. If not boom.

This is unhackable because the device is not truly interactive, and the password can't be hacked because there is no system or logic to it. The password is just a word off a list.

Its like spys using fake classified adds to signal home. "For sale gray Ford POS with 3 new tiers" when the home base sees this message they know that the spy is ready to come home and will use plan B for pickup. There is no code the to the message it is just a signal.

Personally, I'd require the Technomancer to have a wired connection to the cranial bomb to try and deactivate it. No wireless freebie. If you allow wireless deactivation of most cranial bombs, then they're just not much of a threat anymore. I'd require the guys to find a street doc who will open up their heads, and then let the Technomancer do his trick on the bomb, and then the street doc could remove the (deactivated) bomb from the guys' heads and sew them back up. That way, they'll have a hard time finding a doc who'll help as it will be dangerous for him and it will cost a lot of money to convince one.

Cranial bombs, in my opinion, should be a truly major PITA to get rid off. Don't let them off the hook too easily.

I think the solution to this is simple. Get a street doc to remove the bomb from your head. He might want to charge extra for the hazard. If your street doc says something along the lines of "Dammit Jim! I'm a doctor not the bomb squad!" you always have the legal alternative. If you have a good enough SIN you can make up some story about blackmail and go to a regular hospital to have it taken out. Most hospitals tend to ask questions like "Why do you have an extremly dangerous, illegal piece of cyberwear in your head?"

Going back to that SNES Rom thing, in that game he just kinda got a doc to remove it. That sounds like a pretty good solution to me... All ir requires from the players is money, not necessarily like skills. Though I guess they'd have to find a reliable doctor. So maybe the doc will do it in exchange for something? See that? You could use it to introduce your next run!

Remember that the doctor in the SNES game was so skilled that he could use the Reduced Essence Cost surgery option in the advanced surgery rules to reduce the essence cost of Wired Reflexes 3 to 0 (which was technically possible according to those rules).

So what coutermeasures would there be against manually removing it?

Just say that "detonate" is a usuall login-event for all cranial bomb - user accounts, except for one admin account to remove it. Breaking through the firewall would gain you nothing, as that might give you an admin account, but not the pre-established stop-bomb-account.

FYI, they both died.

#1 was turned to go in an attempt to absorb the bomb with the barrier rating. The spell was dropped and the guy was mostly missing his head.

#2 went after an enemy of ours who was well guarded. Ambushed and killed him and was killed by physical overdrain instead. He went out that way instead of letting the bomb get him.