Possibly the best part of being a hacker is the open ended power... unfortunately for new players, they do not know how to use programs to their optimal effectiveness...

I will start with the posting of tactics and uses of programs:

Spoofing a drone to shut down.
Spoofing a drone to "unload" its weapon.

During a Fire fight, hacking into the light system of a building and create a strobe effect to distract opponents.
During a Fire fight, hacking into the fire-sprinklers and have them go off.

Don't be afraid to also post tactics involving agents and sprites... I am going for a list of things I could keep in my head as opportunities present themselves...

If your enemies don't have skinlinks or advanced safeties, spoof "eject magazine" into their smartlinked guns.

As demonstrated in the opening fluff of the BBB, hack the cameras and feed the new targeting data to your team - great for shooting through cover or lobbing grenades.

Smartlink trick MK2 - turn their airburst links off, watch the scatter play havoc.

Bring down the filters and let the AR spam in. Let's see them aim through five layers of "Why paying for what free being should? Authentic trol-dwarf action!"

This thread should be moved, or at least re-cast in character, but some random thoughts from my bag of marbles:

- For those lovely fellows with advanced safeties that rely on their Smartlink to identify a friend and stop the cycle when their autofiring weapon is about to hit a friend, hack in and modify the frequency it's looking for to match something on your teammates;
- Airburst = wonderful, why turn it off when you can override the safety limit on that now wireless enabled grenade, and make it explode right out of the barrel;
- While R&D and security nodes might be a bitch to crack, personnel files often aren't. Hack into the personnel files, find the current duty roster, and then spoof a message from one of the duty guard's next of kin citing an emergency (better for small guard details, and especially if you pull the logs and use voice replication to fake the call, only to have it frantically cut off partway through).

It's all about creative mayhem. You have the tools, now you must paint with them.

Moved to the Shadowrun Discussion Forum. Welcome to the Shadows is for pbp (Play By Post) games.

Not sure this safety is wireless-based: it also exists for non-smart grenade launchers, and you probably want your smart grenades to be valid ammunition for both kinds of weapons, so the safety should be physical rather than wireless. You can still have the grenade explode at minimal range, though, which is safe for you and may hurt the opposition if the grenade launcher was not on front line.

Disabling the safety is an Armourer test so not something you can hack.

Still setting them all to airburst at 5m is just fine or you could just disable the detonators entirely.

I'll put up a proper reply in a bit now that this is in the right forum....

Thanks for Moving the Thread...



Could I tell a "Fault" Sprite to do that through their Com-Link



Is that something that could happen if a Machine Sprite Used Gremlins?



What Kind of Threshold am I looking at... or would I just need Administrator Privileges?

Possibly if you were able to get the four net hits for a Critical Glitch but it would be up to the GM.

That's very much beyond what you would expect to get from even a Critical Glitch. Usual results would be unpleasant but could be compensated for with a Skill check like the Crash Test suggested in the body of the Power.

My team was tracking down a BTL junkie who had inadvertently come into some very valuable information. They had just gotten the data from him when some Seraphim agents (we're playing in 2061) showed up to retrieve the same data. The team quickly found out they were outgunned/overmatched by the Seraphim team and needed something to cover their escape.

The group's Hacker (normally a mischievous fellow) knew that the BTL parlor was running on a "subscription" system where people pay for time with the BTL programs running on a central server. He Hacked into the BTL parlor's main node with Admin access, shut off everyone's RAS Override, then switched everyone over to a Rage BTL. Dozens of crazied junkies came pouring out of their rooms with homicidal energy. The runners quietly left the parlor with their wounded while BTL junkies swarmed the Seraphim.

This is why I love SR4's Matrix rules. It's not so much a "board game" anymore as it is all about being creative.

Is it possible to "inject" my sprites (Crack, Fault and maybe Data come to mind) into a network as I come into contact with its signal, or will that just alert Spiders to my location/presence... If it is possible would I have to keep "radio Silence" or can I communicate with them with out giving their position away.

Hacked the drug lab guard's PAN, into his Cyber Eyes, so we can see how many people and guards were in the room, and shoot them through the walls. Once the fire fight starts, shut off his eyes so he can't see us.

Hack into the drug dealer's PAN and feed pulsating light into his goggles and loud tones into this ear buds. (Acutally set off a seasure with this trick.)

Drop a replicating stealth agent into a crowded public environment so it spreads through the various user's PANs, and then launch a small scale denial of service attack against a target's system, or change all their ID tags to Lonestar Undercover when the Star Assault squad shows up.

Instead of trying to hack the police car, I hacked a passing delivery truck and slammed it into the police car.

Hacked into the Aztech Goon Squad's armored SUV and revoke all user acounts preventing them from being able to drive, use the microwave cannon, or even unlock the car doors to get out.

Hacked into the hotel's primary security node and dropped off a stealth agent to sit and watch the security video feeds looking for the faces of our targets.

While on a run in a high security zone with the goal of disabling some other runner team, I hacked into the team's decoy commlinks and set them hidden mode. Running in hidden mode was illegal and there was a lot of security around. It got them noticed and hassled by the security... who were very interested in all their concealed weapons and armor.

I haven't tried it yet, but my hacker has a Negator AR program (Unwired p108) designed to block out the shadow running team and it's been loaded into a Stealth Agent program. It's a fun idea for dropping into an enemy's commlink so that he won't even be able to see, hear, or otherwise sense us. Useful in a crowd where we can just be changed to look like normal people on the street. I could also see a variation of this used on guards to make us look like guards (but you'd have to setup the Negator for that.)

Another trick I'm waiting to pull out at the right time is to drop an encryption IC program into a node (Full node encryption) and leave it on cycling encryption so the normal users and functions can't connect to the node... forcing a quality white hat hacker to clear the node, or a physical reset of the system.

The Sprites need an Account on the target node/network in order to do anything. That means either they must Hack their way in, or you can Hack in and then upload/compile the Sprite. After the Sprite has been loaded, if you want to leave you would be sending the Sprite on a Remote Service. As long as you are online, you have a "mental link" with the Sprite, so you can exchange messages and information with it. I don't believe a "normal" user can trace the link between a Sprite and its TM, only another TM can do that (in the same way a Magician can track a spirit back to its summoner). If you really want to maintain absolute secrecy you can send your Sprite on a Remote Service and then shut off your wireless. At that point you would lose communication with your Sprite, but it would continue to function as best it could (GM's discretion). When you come back online, you must succeed in a Resonance + Intuition (3) Test to reconnect with the Sprite. If your Sprite is Unregistered it will disappear when it believes its Service is complete, or after 8 hours. If your Sprite is Registered it will go back "on standby" after it believes its Service is done.

I'm getting all of this from SR4A p. 241.

I am making my T-Mancer, and I need to pick 10 Complex Forms... I know I am picking the following...

Attack, Armor, Spoof, Stealth, ECCM (cannot thread it if I am Jammed), Exploit...

I cannot decide on the other 4 as I can thread things as I need them...

Shield. Shield Shield Shield. If you don't know what i'm talking about, get Unwired. I generally don't recommend Unwired, but for a technomancer, it's necessary. You may even want to replace Armor with Shield depending on how much matrix combat you plan on doing.

Other than Shield: Analyze (you use analyze on damn near everything in the matrix).
Command (spring for a Steel Lynx, thread up command, have sprite assist operation, laugh)

You can also add on Program options (from unwired) at 1 option per bp I believe (or 2 karma in karmagen). I'm not entirely certain on the price, but adding some options to Attack, for example, can be pretty nasty.

A tacsoft (unwired) of some rating can be a godsend, cause they're quite cheap (max rating 4) and give all kinds of bonuses. Of course, you have to have a largish team (6 for a R4) and make sure that they all have the requisite number of sensor channels.

Other than that, Shield is a must. Command is nice, but unless you've got drones it's threadable. Browse and edit. Often extended tests, and you don't want to be trying to delete access logs under fire while still taking a threading penalty.

I have to keep everything to the 4e book because the Gm does not have Unwired and is only allow things from it on a case by case basis... chances are he would not allow programs as they will be needed to referenced often, unlike qualities...

So my list has grown to...

Analyze, Armor, Attack, Browse, ECCM, Edit, Exploit, Spoof, Stealth...

The final choice is between Reality Filter for the +1 Response and avoiding the -1 penalty, Decrypt which allows me to break into files, and Sniffer which allows me to Spy on others...

I jokingly thought about having Data Bomb but my GM made a serious face at me and said, "Go ahead, that is Fine..." So I do not want to deal with Data Bomb because it is not subtle and I can always just thread it and enhance with a sprite ... Medic seems tempting if I wasn't Hot Simmed all the time...

That's too bad, because the Echos in Unwired really go a long way to make TM's good.

As for shield, it is a very, very simple program. It's available only to TM's, and each level adds +1 to your defense pool in matrix combat. That's it- it has all of two sentances in Unwired, so it shouldn't be hard to remember.

Don't bother with reality filter, all you do when you enter a node is thread it up (threading does not require an action), take the test, then dismiss it. I can't recommend sniffer or decrypt either - have a sprite do those for you (at 10 dice for a rating 5 sprite, you should be ok.)

Medic doesn't work with TMs.

The previous poster does not comprehend the power that Command can give a tm who spends the paltry amount of nuyen on combat drones (What else are they going to spend it on?). Drones are about the only way you will have a physical presence to help your team out on runs. Command is worth it.

You don't have to take another CF if you don't want to. Spend the points on your Compiling skill instead .

TM complex forms should only be used on programs you expect to use a great deal(exploit/attack) or programs that you want active while you do other things (stealth, shield).

You can use threading/sprites for everything else.

Alright it is settled.. the list now includes

Analyze,Armor,Attack,Browse,Command,ECCM,Edit,Exploit,Spoof,Stealth...

I can always have my sprites do the decryptions or the Spying using the Sniffer program...

Can anyone tell me if the above list needs to change something out...

I would relegate Browse to the realm of "thread if needed, or have a sprite do it".

I always assumed reality filter had to be sustained. I mean i've always run it as an active program for hackers in regards to their system resources (process limits).

Could you clarify, as maybe i'm missing something and shafting the hacker since if he runs RF and too many other programs, its kind of a wash.

It does.

Well, I have learned something new . Still don't think it's a good by though, but ymmv.

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but... Aren't Armor and Shield basically the same? It's late at night so again, I'm probably reading it wrong...

In any case, if they are two different CFs, wouldn't they then be able to stack with each other? I mean System + Armor and Shield says: Each rating in the Shield complex form adds +1 die to the Matrix defense pool. Which would be 15 total if your System/Armor/Shield are all at 5?

Armour adds to your Resistance roll not your defence pool.

Difference between Ballistic Armour and Dodge.

Massive.

In other words: Armor helps resisting damage after getting hit. Shield helps not getting hit in the first place.

I will stick with Armor as it appears in the Core rulebook...

Some other program tactics I've uncovered is to use swiss cheese virus infected worms or more appropriately have the duplication program on the worms infected. so that when they duplicate the infect the duplicate. Swiss cheese lowers the firewall rating of the system they are loaded onto by one per program infected by the swiss cheese virus. Since agents and what not a run on the node the are used in this means that you can easily use these guys to crippled the systems security abilities. I would suggest that after getting access to the system create a low security account and then send them a message to move from ether your public commlink or some low security node you use as a haven for hiding things like paydata and the like.

Another really nasty thing is to get an agent with an infected attack program. infect his attack program with a inertia virus with the biofeedback program option and a few program limitations. This makes it so that when the attack program is used nothing happens and the virus tries to replicate which also damages the user as well. Add in a few limitations to the virus so it can't spread back to you or your agents and you've essentually neutralized enemy attacking capabilities and in the case of spiders turned it against them.

Slightly changing my original question here...

Is there a good rule of thumb for how difficult it would be to hack something or spoof commands into things and if it would require an extended test... I want to play a hacker but I do not want to have to keep flipping back and limit myself to the book to see what I can do...

An example would be to hack an intersection to turn the lights from red to green...
Spoof a Doc Wagon Bio-reading...
Produce a distress call to Lone-Star, such as Officer Down...
Hack into a building's maintenance information to find the building layout, and trigger fire alarms or sprinklers (remember laser sigh does not work in the rain...)

This would be a great help...

How reliable is a Machine Sprite in combat... This is to say, as a Technomancer with no combat skills is it in my best interest to compile one on the spot and launch it into a Street Samurai or a Ganger through their commlink...

How many task would it task if I just told the sprite to mess everything up and how, mechanically, would I order the sprite to do that...

This Idea came to mind as I realized how hard it is to hack something quickly....

A Machine Sprite is rubbish in combat, it lacks the Exploit Complex Form.

You could use a Fault Sprite with Exploit as one of it's optional CF's or a Crack Sprite.

You could have it cause havoc to everybody on the other side for the entire duration of the combat with a single service.

Tell it to trash all the nodes attached to everyone identified on your TacNet as hostile.

I thought a Machine would be good because it has Gremlins... What would Gremlins be good against?

What kind of damage would a fault/crack sprite be expected to do? What effect would this have on the equipment?

The crack sprite (or fault sprite with exploit) isn't going after doing damage to the device. They're going after taking control of it. Close the door corp-sec is coming through when only half of them have gotten into the room, shut the lights off on the team that forgot to bring the right gear for operating in the dark, or turn them up extra bright to screw anyone who doesn't have flare compensation. Turn the automated security on the live grunts. Shut off smartguns or cyberware. Cause the car Lone Star is chasing you in to make a sharp turn off the bridge you're crossing. Replace the IFF data on the enemy's tacnet with false info that leads to a shootout between their people while you and your team watch and munch on popcorn. What you can accomplish through this is depentent on a: what devices you can get into, what those devices are capable of (and can be told to do via programs), how complete of control you can get (and how long you can keep it), and how creative you/your sprite is with the orders it gives.

Always a favourite that one.

Break them into three groups, re-encrypt their comms and give each group one of the others as the red team. Each group is aware of one other group which they are hunting and unaware of another which is hunting them.

Hours of entertainment.