I have a mundane character I'm developing that is attempting to be self-sufficient. Not a jack-of-all trades, but rather someone who can survive on his own as a 'runnner. Stealth skills, infiltration and influence, athletics and both ranged and close combat skills.

He lacks magical capabilities, of course. But hacking to me seems to be an essential bit of 'runner kit. You may not always have a wiz Hacker on hand to do these things for you. And sometimes you don't want to bring them along either.

But I don't want to turn the guy into a minor hacker. All he needs is the ability to search for data, listen in on wireless convos, and bypass surveillance equipment. Along with decrypting and removing data bombs and the like.

Would this be done better by giving him skills (no Skillwires) or buying an Agent or two to handle these tasks?

I don't intend to do any Cybercombat at all, in either form.

well, the main problem with agents is that they're going to be relatively easy for a skilled hacker to turn against you if you have no idea what you're doing.

that said, if you only take minimal skills, you aren't exactly going to be able to do much with your own skills if you're up against a skilled hacker... so you're probably still better off with the agents, mechanically.

so basically, it comes down to a choice between consistent but not very good, or good but easily turned against you.

which is better? well, that's up to you. my advice would be to go with the agents, but it really depends on how likely your GM is to try to turn the agents against you.

edit: another way to put it: if you take the skills yourself, you'll be mediocre vs everything, including those that are skilled, but you won't be much better than the unskilled either. if you use an agent, you'll rock vs the unskilled, but will be summarily executed vs the skilled.

The thing with extended tests is that there is very little difference between you having no chance of succeeding and you will succeed, given time. Sure over that threshold more dice will make you quicker, but since hacking is mostly extended tests you need to be at a certain threshold before you are relevant on anything by basic systems.

What that means is that a few skill points likely won't cut it, so in order to be good enough to matter, you will have to purchase quite a few skill points. In other words, unless you are planning on being a good hacker, just use an agent(sometimes called a mook). There are many disadvantages, be they are surprisingly effective for their cost.

Even so, I'd suggest having at least a little skill in order to justify understanding enough about your toys to use them properly.

Indeed.

I was thinking of giving him a skill of 2 in Hacking, Electronic Warfare, and Data Search. I don't really want to get into the Matrix thing and fight it out and so on. I just want him to slice into security systems, listen in on convos, maybe even grab some paydata, and so on. Stuff an Infiltrator would do. Maybe even some know-how with drones.

A bit of hacking self-sufficiency. Not enough to threaten a real Hacker but enough that he's not completely clueless.

Ideas on which skills I should focus on? And specializations to grab?


Also, how easy would it be for an NPC hacker to turn my Agent 4 against me?

A decent Spoof can have that Agent attacking you next round. Might want to take the skill group at rating 2 instead of three skills at 2. You might not need Cybercombat now, but one day you just might and you'll be glad you don't have to default to the attribute.

A good portion of being stealthy in the matrix is being smart about how you do it. Hack slow, hack deliberately. But if the GM wants you to fight, you're gonna fight.

So I'm looking at Logic 3 (5 with +2 Cerebral Boosters) and a 3 in Cracking.

It's doable without sacrificing much. Though in the end he's becoming more of a mediocre hacker that's great at infiltrating than an infiltrator with hacking skills.

I consider hacking to be part of infiltration. You'll have to move through one world to get your meat through another. Hand in hand.

Good point!

Which particular programs do you think will be essential for such a smalltime hacker?

Stealth is obvious, Analyze nearly as much. Exploit is a necessity, Spoof a close second. Armor and Attack are a good idea, but not strictly necessary in this case. Command and Edit are the two most useful programs once you're in a system. I would strongly suggest Encrypt for personal use and Decrypt, Disarm and Disinfect for utility, safety and safety respectively. You might want to focus on open source software for cost reasons, and that you really don't need bleeding edge programs. Even if you only minor in hacking, a loyal hacker contact will go a long way.

Good stuff, thanks a lot otakusensei! You live up to your name.

I'll post a rough version of this character soon.