Hacking Setting Rule Plug Ins

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High Command
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Hacking Setting Rule Plug Ins

Post by High Command »

Cybercombat Plugins
BRING THE PAIN - A way to hurt PCs, Wild Cards, and Extras through their TAP. I think its a bit overkill, but your milage may vary
COUNTER HACKING - Not sure if this is worth the time or not, but its mostly a bunch of opposed rolls in specific situations, so probably ok.
CRASH AND BURN - Treating Hacking Rigs and TAPS like vehicles (can't be shaken, but do impoise penalties until 3 wounds are taken, at which point it no longer works) seems pretty FFF and allows going after hardware instead of meat as an option
CYBER HACKING - Basically adds a ton of complexity; I think allow tests with Hacking solves this particular niche
PROGRAMS - Powers are cool, even if you get them from the net. :D
General Purpose Plugins
ACTIVE MONITORING - This makes Hacking more tense, and I like the drama aspect
DRAMATIC TASKS - Useful as a tool, but every hack being a dramatic task is tiresome. That said, that's effectively what Fast Lane Hacking does
DUE DILIGENCE - as a Downtime/Prep activity, this makes sense, but this only works if the entire group is doing some downtime/prep activities IMO
NETWORKS WITHIN NETWORKS - I think used judiciously, this is fine, but too much is too much.
ONE ROLL TO RULE THEM ALL - Basically all Hacking is a single Quick Encounter; used sparingly this is fine. But not every time
ONE SKILL TO BIND THEM - All Hacking and programs use Hacking, period. Simpler from a build perspective. Thoughts?
QUICK ENCOUNTERS - I mean, yes?
REMOTE HACKING - No, I like the idea of the Hacker being in the run thematically.
TIME - Reasonable options

I added a voting template
Voting Template

Code: Select all

BRING THE PAIN - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
COUNTER HACKING - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
CRASH AND BURN - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
CYBER HACKING - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
PROGRAMS - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No

ACTIVE MONITORING - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
DRAMATIC TASKS - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
DUE DILIGENCE - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
NETWORKS WITHIN NETWORKS - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
ONE ROLL TO RULE THEM ALL - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
ONE SKILL TO BIND THEM - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
QUICK ENCOUNTERS - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
REMOTE HACKING -Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
TIME - Yes (all the time)/Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)/No
Tales of the 17th SOG
"In so far as you are concerned, I am the right arm of High Command itself. You are my Fist, be ready to strike at any moment." Major Killian Gregor, 3rd SOG Battalion, CSSD, Chi-Town.
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Koshnek
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Re: Hacking Setting Rule Plug Ins

Post by Koshnek »

Bold=Baseline Plugins I intend to include. (if no one heavily objects)
Italic=My preferences (But very open for discussion)
Strikethrough=Probably not happening
Unformatted=Completely up to y'all.

BRING THE PAIN - I don't really want to deal with the bookkeeping of attacking and/or damaging each other's gear. But I don't mind if its fun for y'all.
COUNTER HACKING - This seems fun to me, and is a fairly simple way to react to being hacked.
CRASH AND BURN - Again, I don't see any reason to bog us down with breaking and repairing equipment, especially such equipment that could be central to a character's concept and role. Without this plugin, there's still the possibility of a critical failure, or the hacker getting a massive success against an enemy, and disabling/damaging/breaking something. In cases like this we could use this plug-in as a guideline. If we turn this plugin on, though, we'll use it to its fullest.
CYBER HACKING - I think, if I was a hacker, this would be fun. Turning off that cybered super soldier? Yes please. Just remember, anything you can do...
PROGRAMS - I think programs would be fun. I can go either way with this, but I think its fun enough to give it italics.

ACTIVE MONITORING - CAVEAT: I think this is the intent of this plugin, but Active Monitoring will not be the standard setting for networks in most cases. Some networks may only employee active monitoring when a threat is detected because they can't afford around-the-clock monitoring. Maybe its a shit network with shit employees/systems, so it never goes active. You betcha, though, that some networks will always be active.
DRAMATIC TASKS - CAVEAT: This will only come up when it's important. Trying to sleuth your way into a major corporation's network? Might just be a DT. Trying to access the cameras in some unimportant warehouse? That's (probably) not a DT.
DUE DILIGENCE - I think this would be really nice for you guys, but its not something I think is necessary. I highly recommend you guys to opt for this, honestly.
NETWORKS WITHIN NETWORKS - Yep. This is a thing!
ONE ROLL TO RULE THEM ALL - Ill let you guys figure this one out. I can work with it either way. Just remember, what works for you...
ONE SKILL TO BIND THEM - I could see you guys going for this, but I like the flavor hacking has in the game. Just remember, what makes hacking easier for you... (As in, if you only need the hacking skill and specializations to hack, you can front load your skill points into hacking and its specializations to be a much more effective hacker. NPCs could do that too!)
QUICK ENCOUNTERS - I really like DT's and QE's. I feel like they give you guys the opportunity to shine (or fail miserably) without the time constraints of a 6 second round. They also only require a minimal number of rolls, which is great for PBP. So just like the plugin says, when the roll isn't critical, we can just cover it with a QE.
REMOTE HACKING - I'm with Patrick on this one. If you want to hack in, you're going to have to be on site (or possibly within the range of your TAP/Rig's wireless functionality).
TIME - I really think this would be fun. I feel like it would tie in with Due Diligence pretty well, too. I leave this one up to yall, but I recommend it.
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High Command
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Re: Hacking Setting Rule Plug Ins

Post by High Command »

BRING THE PAIN - No
COUNTER HACKING - Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)
CRASH AND BURN - Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)
CYBER HACKING - No (use Tests)
PROGRAMS - Yes (all the time)

ACTIVE MONITORING - Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)
DRAMATIC TASKS - Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)
DUE DILIGENCE - Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)
NETWORKS WITHIN NETWORKS - es (in a specific GM Scenario)
ONE ROLL TO RULE THEM ALL - Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)
ONE SKILL TO BIND THEM - Yes (all the time)
QUICK ENCOUNTERS - Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)
REMOTE HACKING -No
TIME - Yes (in a specific GM Scenario)
Tales of the 17th SOG
"In so far as you are concerned, I am the right arm of High Command itself. You are my Fist, be ready to strike at any moment." Major Killian Gregor, 3rd SOG Battalion, CSSD, Chi-Town.
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Emi
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Re: Hacking Setting Rule Plug Ins

Post by Emi »

Cybercombat Plugins
BRING THE PAIN - I have concerns about this, considering that a nonhacker character has very, very limited options to avoid the damage. This applies both to NPCs and PCs.

COUNTER HACKING - It's one of the 'classic' roles of the team hacker to provide info-security for the squad. I'm in favor of at least giving it a try and seeing if it bogs things down.

CRASH AND BURN - I think I'd be ok with this if the damage done to the gear was a little easier to deal with. The fact that a TAP has to be repaired with major surgery, and the hyper-expensive Rig becomes so much Mr Fusion fuel seems...really harsh. Maybe the devices have automatic cutoffs that kick in to avoid catastrophic damage...so exceeding a damage threshold forces the device offline for a lengthy period of time, but doesn't do lasting damage?

CYBER HACKING - Cautiously in favor of. I think Patrick has a point about tests to simulate 'generic' cyberhacking, but I like these rules to encompass very targeted hacks. If there's something specific you want to take out/interfere with, you can try to hack it...otherwise just do a Hacking Test vs their Smarts or Agility to DDOS their cybereyes or give them the twitchy arms/legs.

PROGRAMS - I'm not opposed, but it seems like kind of an Advance sink. :)

General Purpose Plugins
ACTIVE MONITORING - This makes sense for some systems; highly secure ones. Having round the clock staff to monitor a large system wouldn't be cheap or easily accessible.

DRAMATIC TASKS - Dramatic tasks are good for some situations...when a particular action isn't where the dramatic focus is, for example, and this applies to hacking as well as it does to every other kind.

DUE DILIGENCE - Agreed that this sort of activity would be great to do over 'extended times' like downtimes and similar. Could also be done during 'legwork' phases of heist style runs.

NETWORKS WITHIN NETWORKS - Fine in moderation...best used sparingly though, or perhaps used to flavor certain mission parameters. You have to get into the building to a terminal on the second floor, because it's the only one that links to the secure datavault that has the info we need...etc etc...

ONE ROLL TO RULE THEM ALL - See dramatic tasks; it's the same answer.

ONE SKILL TO BIND THEM - I'm not opposed to this...it would definitely help the little issue I have where I need a ton of skills to do my basic job, and I can't get all of them at competent levels. :)

QUICK ENCOUNTERS - See Dramatic Tasks, etc etc...

REMOTE HACKING - I can see the argument that it could be possible, but there should be reasons it's not always desirable or feasible. For example, sensitive systems not being connected to outward-facing networks, or security concerns about the hacker being alone during the hack, or increased opportunities for network security scrutiny over long-distance hacks possibly increasing skill penalties for hacking at range...

TIME - I'm good with this...it does seem like there should be SOME rule to cover the difference between 'realtime' hacking and the more methodical hacking used in other situations. Works well with Due Diligence as well.
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Koshnek
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Re: Hacking Setting Rule Plug Ins

Post by Koshnek »

Hacking
  • Cyber Combat Plugins: Bring the Pain (no Hard Mode), Counter Hacking, Cyber Hacking, Programs
    • Program List: Autoscanner, BlackRAT, Blaster, DeletePro, Hyper Editor, ICEpick, Mask Maker, Mindfrag, Partition Viper, Reality Editor, Traceroute, Traceroute Deluxe, TraceroutePro
  • General Purpose Plugins: Active Monitoring, Dramatic Tasks (IC as Complications), Due Diligence, One Roll to Rule them All, Networks within Networks, Quick encounters, Sprites, Time.
This is the list I've put together. I think it more or less combines everything I intended in my first post with the inputs from the two of you.

I added Sprites because we all three seem to have forgotten about them ;). I also went back and added in Bring the Pain. I don't think either of you were for it, but I would like to try it out. It gives the hackers a shot at doing some damage with their core skill, but it also pads the program list a little, too. Four programs are already removed by merit of not using Crash and Burn (Autodoc, Corruptokhan, Pestilence, and Surge Infection).

I also added One Roll to Rule them All. I'm not sure itll get much use, but it could make for a nice option to "brute force" a door without going through the trouble of hacking, a dramatic task or a quick encounter.
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