Netrunning
I'm not a fan of Dramatic Tasks that the Science Fiction Companion uses for resolution of hacking, they tend to fall flat with no dramatic tension that the task hypes. Maybe it is me and my group, but I prefer to use a more combat resolution mechanics. To that end I present what I consider the hacking / netrunning rules for Xethos Lands.
Gaining Access
To gain access to a system, the netrunner must first find an access point. This can be a physical terminal or a wireless signal. Once they have found an access point, they must make a Hacking check against the system's Firewall. If they succeed, they gain access to the system and can begin to navigate it. Each system is denoted by its difficulty, which is the target modifier for the Hacking check to gain access and while within the system.
| System Difficulty | System Rating | Target Modifier | System Skill | IC Damage | IC Wounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | 1 | 0 | d6 | 2d4, AP 0 | Extra, 0 Wounds |
| Medium | 2 | -1 | d6 | d4+d6, AP 0 | Extra, 0 Wounds |
| Challenging | 2 | -1 | d6+1, AP 0 | 2d6 | Extra, 1 Wounds |
| Hard | 3 | -2 | d6+1 | d6+d8, AP 0 | Extra, 1 Wounds |
| Very Hard | 3 | -2 | d6+2 | 2d8, AP 1 | Extra, 2 Wounds |
| Extreme | 4 | -3 | d6+2 | d8+d10, AP 1 | Extra, 2 Wounds |
| Sheer Folly | 4 | -3 | d6+3 | 2d10, AP 2 | Wild Card, 3 Wounds |
| Absurd | 5 | -4 | d6+3 | d10+d12, AP 2 | Wild Card, 4 Wounds |
| Insane | 6 | -5 | d6+4 | 2d12, AP 3 | Wild Card, 5 Wounds |
Gaining Access
Once you have found an access port, then you need to log into the system. You do this by making a Hacking check modified by the system's Target Modifier. If you succeed or raise you gain access to the system, if you fail you do not gain access, and can try again. A critical failure alerts the system, and if you try to log in again, the system will have a combat and tracer IC waiting for you to attack you as soon as you log in.
After logging in the system makes a Skill check against your Stealth rating on your cyberdeck, if it detects you, it will send a combat and tracer IC to boot you from the system. If you got raise on gaining access, the initial Skill check is made at -2 to detect your entry. If it does not detect you, you log in undetected and can navigate the system freely, but be warned the longer you dally in the system, the more likely you are to be detected.
Navigating the System
Once you logged in, past the Firewall, you can navigate the system to find the data you are looking for. This is done in a more combat like way, where you and the system draw Action Cards each round. If your allies are defending your body they draw cards to as the hacking time is the same amount of time that passes in the real world, so if you are being attacked in the real world, you can not just ignore it while you hack.
Flow of Hacking
Initiative
All participants in the hacking and defense of the hacker's body draw Action Cards, including the System and Intrusion Countermeasures (IC). Compare initiative as normal, and resolve any Edges that allow drawing more cards as normal.
System Actions
- Notice Check: The system starts off only able to detect the hackers presence with its Notice skill. It rolls a Notice check against the the Cyberdeck's Stealth Rating listed with the hacker's cyberdeck. If it detect the hacker, it will send a combat and tracer IC to boot the hacker from the system.
- Combat IC: This is the system's defense against hackers, it will attack the hacker like normal, but it can not leave the system. If it is defeated, there is a one round pause before another IC is sent to continue the fight. Damage from IC effects the wounds of the Cyberdeck first, but if there is enough damage to exceed the health of the Cyberdeck, the excess is applied to the hacker's health, by passing his Toughness.
- Tracer IC: This is the system's way of tracking down hackers, it will make a Hacking Test check against the hacker, if it succeeds the hacker is distracted or vulnerable and it learn the hacker's physical location, and releases in world agents to hunt the hacker down. Once the location is known the Tracer IC will continue to make Tests against the hacker, attempting to keep him distracted or vulnerable.
- Physical World Agents: Post Detection by Tracer IC, roll a secret d6+2, this is the number of rounds until the agents will arrive on site, if offsite hacking increase the time to minutes. Pull Action Cards for them when they arrive. Their goal is to capture the hacker and turn them over to the authorities, but they will attack if they have to. They are armed with pistols and tasers, and have a combat skill of d6, a damage of 2d4, and they are Extras. Usually d6 arrive at the site, but if the hacker is a repeat offender or is hacking into a high profile system, increase the number of agents by d6. If the agents are defeated, another wave will show up in d4 rounds, this continues until the hacker and team are captured or escape.
Hacker Actions
- Research Check: The hacker can at any time make a limited action Research check to find the data they are looking for, but they take the target modifier for the system's difficulty to the check.
- On a critical failure, the system will trigger an alarm, and if not already in combat, IC is released to attack the hacker.
- On a failure, the hacker finds nothing.
- On a success, the hacker finds a data cache, which may or may not contain the data they are looking for.
- On a raise, the hacker finds a more promising data cache, which is more likely to contain the data they are looking for.
- Open a Data Cache: If the hacker has found a data cache, they can take a limited action to open it, by making a Hacking check with the target modifier for the system's difficulty. If they had a raise on the Research check to find the data cache, they get +2 to the Hacking check to open the data cache.
- On a critical failure, the system will trigger an alarm, and if not already in combat, IC is released to attack the hacker.
- On a failure, the hacker finds nothing in the data cache.
- On a success, the hacker finds some data in the data cache, but not what they are looking for. It is worth System Rating x d6 x 1,000 credits on the black market.
- For example: an Extreme system has a system rating of 4, so the data is worth 4 x d6 x 1,000 credits.
- On a raise, the hacker finds the data they are looking for in the data cache.
- Combat: The hacker can fight the IC like normal, using their Hacking skill as their combat skill, and using the damage of their cyberdeck. If they are victorious, there is a one round pause before another IC is sent to continue the fight.
- Jack Out: The hacker can use thier action to pull the plug on the hacking session and jack out of the system. This is an limited action, and this leaves behind all the traces of the hacker's presence in the system. This also causes a point of Fatigue on the hacker, as the sudden disconnection causes a shock to the system.
- Clean Log Out: The hacker can use a limited action to cleanly log out of the system, this removes all traces of the hacker's presence in the system, but it takes a full round to do, and the hacker is vulnerable during this time. Also can not be done during combat.