One of my players asked if it was possible to create a system to automatically scan the area for cameras, hack into their visual feeds, and route them to his image link. I am using 3 house rules that are applicable to what I'm going to review below. The first is that I am using the rule that matrix actions are Logic+Skill (Pilot+Autosoft for Drones), with hits limited by the program rating. The second is that breaking encryption is a (Rating x 4, Rating Turns) extended test. Finally, I have a rule that certain extended tests are skill critical, and you can only roll a number of times equal to your skill + 1 (the decryption test is one of these).

So basically I got to thinking about how I would approach this. I came up with two possible methods. Both methods first require that the wireless nodes for cameras in the area be identified visually. Once this is done, the first method simply intercepts and decrypts the video stream from the camera. The second method involves hacking into the wireless node to gain complete control over the camera. I'm going with the first option here because the intrusion can not be detected and should be much easier to accomplish. The player in question is not a hacker, and I'm NPCing one for the team, so if they really want someone to take control of a camera, they already have someone to do that.

So, after browsing through Arsenal and Unwired, here's what I came up with:

Beholder Tactical Minidrone

Base Drone: Bust-a-Move: AV: 4 Cost: 350 Pilot: 2 Bod: 1 Armor: 0 Sens: 1 Slots 4 (I'm replacing the sensors and pilot, so this is the cheapest minidrone)

Vehicle Mods:
Name Slots Thresh. Tools Cost AV Skill
Limited Maneuv. (Minidrones) +4 8 Shop 100 4 -
Enhanced Image Screens 1 16 Shop 100 10R -
Optimization (Commlink, EW) 1 12 Shop 500 6 Software
(optimize the system to gain +1 with the Electronic Warfare autosoft)

Add Skinlink (+50 Y)

Minidrone Sensor Suite: Cap 3, Sig. 4 <- boosted slightly due to replacing all sensors

Sensors:

Camera: Cap [1] AV: - Cost: 100
+ Low Light: AV +4, Cost +100
+ Thermo: AV + 6, Cost +100
+ Vision Mag." AV + 2 Cost +100
+ Vision Enhancement (Rat 3): AV: +4 Cost : +300
I'm ruling that this camera setup is a rating 5 sensor when used to visually locate items.

Radio Signal Scanner (Rat 4): Cap [1] AV: 4R Cost: 100

Drone Device Ratings (Base 3):
System 5 Cost: 2500
Firewall 3
Response 5 (2000, AV 12, Thresh 10,1 day) (buy parts and build myself)
Signal - (removed and skin-linked)

Software:
Visual Spotter Rat. 3: AV: 6 Cost: 600 (I am treating this as Clearsight with a specialization in (Videocameras) for rolling purposes)
Pilot 5
Scan 5 (free)
Decrypt 5 (free)
Electronic Warfare Autosoft 5 (AV 10: Cost :3000)
(Sniffer 4 from RSS)
Edit?

Various Tests involved:
To create own plans, Logic+know. Skill Ext. Test, can't be AR
Sensor Mods: Logic + Hardware (8,1 Hour) Ext. Test (non-Skill Crit.)
Code Custom Pilot Program: (Using Nexus Programming: Logic+Software+Mods (15,1.5 months) (11 dice/roll, takes on average ~6 months
Replace Pilot: Logic + Software (10,10 Minutes) Ext. Test (non-Skill Crit.)

Drone uses these steps to add feeds:
1. Visually Detect Cameras (Sensor+Visual Spotter+Mods: 5+5+3, avg. 4.33 hits) Simple Action
2. Find Wireless nodes (If hidden, EW + Pilot (Scan) (4, 1 Turn), otherwise given (rolls 6+5 dice, avg. 3.67 hits) Free or Complex Action
3. Intercept wireless traffic from node (EW + Pilot (Sniffer - RSS) (3) rolls 6+5 dice, avg. 3.67 hits) Complex Action
4. Decrypt Video Feed (EW + Pilot (Decrypt) (Encrypt Rat. x 4, Encrypt Rat Combat Turns), rolls 6+5 dice, avg. 3.67 hits, can only roll 6 times for an average of 22 hits, enough to break rating 5 encryption on average) Complex Action

Can I get some comments on if I have all my rolls and stuff correct and how viable this might be (I know this won't apply to most moderately secure non-public locales where the cameras will be hardwired, and I've told my player that)? Also, the most painful part creating this thing is the time involved to code the custom Pilot program. Is there some relatively painless way to make that a bit easier? I don't mind making my guys pay for stuff, but this little toy isn't so useful that I think it should cost more than 10K AND take 6 months of programming to accomplish (one or the other is fine).

Have you considered adapdting the Camera Neturalizer sensor package from p.59 of Arsenal? You'd have to disconnect the part with the blinding laser, but the sensor end of it is purpose-built for this task.

And that will bring us back to: "Cybereyes are cameras too, right?"

I had considered it. I would still need to somehow get a custom coded-Pilot. I don't want this to just be some magically available piece of already existing hardware, but I'm having trouble seeing a way around the Pilot thing.

Well they are.....

is there not a drone in unwired custom designed for something like this?

Couldn't the player just get cybereyes (or a mounted camera), and program a mook to do it all from his/her commlink? Even better, SHOULDN'T the player do this him/herself?

If the player were really excited about the details of hacking, they'd probably be playing the hacker themselves instead of letting a GMPC handle it. This is someone with a different specialty who wants a box with a big green "Go" button on the side to handle this task for when the GM's hacker is unavailable or preoccupied.

All of my players in this campaign are more or less new to Shadowrun (a few have played SR2 years ago, but that's it). Because of that, they mostly shied away from both hacking and magic at chargen (they do have one physad, but no full mage). This player might be interested in picking up some basic hacking skills over time, but there will be a learning curve, and like the previous poster mentioned he just wants a box with a green "go" button on it for now. He already has cyber eyes, the reason I'm not doing this with a mook is I was given to understand that a mook couldn't use an Electronic Warfare autosoft. If that is not correct, then I may have to rethink some stuff.

I would think all you need to accomplish this is a Camera Neutralizer sensor package hooked up to an processor with an Agent - the camera neutralizer is configured to detect, report, but skip the blinding phase of this.

Scan 6, with Optimize 3. Ditto analyze. From the hacking department, you'll also want Exploit, Stealth, and Decryption.
In the hardware department, you may want to Optimize(the commlink mod) your setup for either Scan(that threshold 4 can suck) or Decrypt.
Possibly a tacnet 1, just to point out to your team "HEY! CAMERA HERE! AVOID IT."

When the Camneut detects a camera, it points it out on the network. The agent takes over, and scans it for wireless. If it finds a wireless, it starts to decrypt and hack it. You may want to stack your EW+Scan test, in order to meet the thresholf 15 for scanning everything in mutual signal range.

If this thing is on a Drone, you're almost certainly going to want an Optical Tap(unwired), a hardware toolkit, and a way to get close to a camera for a physical hack. Some combination of sensor masking, chameleon coating, and gecko tips(to climb up and hack the camera). Possibly a Hardware autosoft for the Pilot of the drone - there's no reason, aside from processor limit, that you can't have both an agent and a pilot in the same node. Then again, the Command program on an agent could handle it as well, at the cost of making the agent not being able to do anything else.

edit: On second thought, something like this is exactly what a Shutterworm out of unwired is for.

Am I wrong that Agents can't use the Electronic Warfare Autosoft? Because if that isn't the case, I may be able to get around the programming times using a Mook. Oh, and Udoshi, remember I'm not trying to hack into the nodes themselves. The player is going to walk around with this box active almost all of the time, and the law of averages says that he should be causing alerts several times a day if he does this. Since intercepting the wireless traffic is undetectable, he can do that freely.

Burn him with wired cameras and make him drop the idea himself. Any chump can run the shadows. The ones who survive rely on themselves first, not the toys. There's no substitute for patience, attention to detail, and staying sharp at all times.

If you need more ammo, things like this won't work at full strength forever. Hackers can adapt and keep their programs sota, but how's this thing going to work in a month once all the wired cameras pull down exploit patches and updates? Upkeep on this would be beyond their skillset or expensive.

Feeling really nasty? Have an opponent hacker catch on to the runner's gadget trick and exploit it to send his own feed straight to the open pathway in the runner's image link. Distracting? Maybe, until he sends 50 feeds to spam the image link and blind the guy. I hope the guy's not epileptic either or some crazy flashing sequences will trigger a seizure.

Your game though. If you think it's cool a player is interested in coming up with ideas, then have at it!

Mesh

I don't mind the player wanting this device. It will provide a mild bonus in non-secure locations, and he'll have to pay for it (my lowest price tags are still coming in at around 10K). I'm not going to allow it to work for cameras attached to a dedicated security system for anywhere important, and the player knows this. I also want to encourage the players to branch out a bit past the pure combat skills, so this is a good way to do that. I guess if worst comes to worst I'll just hand-wave the programming time (mostly) away (the GMPC does have a Pirate group as a contact, maybe someone has something close to what he needs that he can just modify).

Unwired 113: "Agent autosofts follow the same rule for cost and programming as drone autosofts."

So yes, it is possible to code an electronic warfare autosoft for an agent. And if its possible, someone's probably already done it and is selling it for a profit.

Off Topic: You shouldn't have attacked the Two Rivers Isam. Perrin is going to kill you for that. (And, aren't you Lan's brother? So, maybe he'll kill you.)

Back on Topic: It does seem that an agent is the way to go with this, one loaded with the appropriate hacking skills. Also, I like your house rule on limiting the number of extended test rolls one can do, and I use a similar one (their willpower stat = # of rolls, I use willpower because it is what determines someones "frustration level" that point at which they give up in frustration). Your method gave me this idea (a blending of the two): the lower of their skill rating or willpower.

Naah... We just use a reducing Dicepool (one of the Optional Rules)...

Keep the Faith

That's another way. Just don't like the "roll until you succeded or critically fail" ideology.

Of course, a rule can be instated that determines how many rolls you are allowed to make depending upon the difficulty and other factors. That way, when you first determine what you are doing to do, the GM can determine how many rolls you may take before failing.

Sure... I get that.... You are in control of the dice rolls, however, and can stop whenver you feel that you have reached the best output... which would mimic the "Frustration" level that was mentioned above fairly well in my opinion...

Keep the Faith

I'm using several of Serbitar's House Rules, which predate SR4A, including the one about having skill critical tests and limiting the rolling. If my hardcopy book wasn't SR4, I might use the optional rule from SR4A, but I wasn't aware of it when I was finalizing my house rules for this game. Rolling for gear availability is another time I apply that rule, it encourages people to have good contacts or some social skill.

Oh, and Rand, tell me they didn't have it coming. Dirty goat-kissers. And Lan always was a momma's boy, look who he ended up with. I'm not scared of Perrin. "Oh I can talk to wolves, I'm scary!" Please.

Back on topic, it sounds like the way to go is to do exactly what I'm thinking of doing with the exception of using a mook instead of a pilot so that it can just be bought instead of custom coded. Thanks for the feedback, I'm GMing after a two year hiatus, so it's taking me a bit to get back into the swing of things (Especially the Matrix rules, which is amusing considering I'm the lead in-house developer for one of the purchased database programs where I work).

The simple solution at least to me is to say that it can't be done. Anything that works the way the original poster's player describes it as working would instantly crash the commlink via all the required subscriptions and processing power. Practically everything has a camera or other sensor in it. Every commlink every credstick every person with cybereyes every vehicle every stoplight every traffic light, well you get the picture. And every single one of them has a chance of winning a contest against the players device, signally alarms, traces, and worse.

I really don't see the point in it either. Why would he want access to every camera in the area at all times?

A regular agent that you tell you to hack into specific cameras makes a lot more sense and has the bonus of not needing any house rules.