Hi! Okay, so, apologies in advance for the long post. Looking for a hand from some more experienced players...
I've played a couple Shadowrun games before, but they've all been pretty low-tech and neither I nor my GM have had to worry too much about the Matrix before. He's okayed my playing a Hacker for a new session he's starting up, though, so I wanted to give it a shot. We're running 4e because we both still have the books for that and it's what we've run before.
I don't want to be the guy who holds everyone up with "uhhh, hold on, lemme check the book" when game time happens, though (he's GMing remotely from another country, so I wanna be able to be at the table with the others to help where I can), so I've been reading through SR4A, Runners Companion, Unwired & Arsenal to try and get everything straight in my head before we get started. With that in mind, I'd like to go over what I understand and see if anyone can point out any errors or oversights.
Just to complicate things, I'm playing an AI because it seems like a fun concept.
=====Relevant Stats=====
Cha: 5 Int: 5 Log: 4 Will: 3 Edg: 2
Rating: 5 System: 5 Firewall: 4
Inherent Programs:
Command 5, Spoof 5, Scan 5, Sniffer 5, Stealth 5
Qualities: Code Flux (UW.168), Authority(UW.168), Rootkit(UW.169)
Commlink: Hermes Ikon; Response 5, Signal 5, Firewall 5, System 6
Home Node: Custom-built Nexus; Response 3(6), Signal 5(
, Firewall 5(7), System 5(7)
=====================
So I figured I'd try running against a sample from the book to see how I understood things. Let's say the Johnson wants us to retrieve some item from a rival - the team has to get into the building, get the item and haul it out again. Ideally, without getting caught on camera.
The building is running on the following system:
=====System Info=====
Hardware: Persona Limit 5, Processor Limit 45
Authentication: Passcode
Privileges: Standard
Attributes: Firewall 4, Response 3, Signal 5, System 4
Spiders: 1 Professional Spider on duty at all times
IC: Juhseung Saja 4 (loaded), Watanabe Electric Kitsune 4 (patrolling)
Resident Programs: Analyze 4, Encrypt 4
ARC: Launch IC (Saja)
Topology: Single encrypted node
==================
And let's say there's six guards who patrol various areas of the building in pairs, with Commlinks at rating 3.
On with the show!
So I wanna get into that system and gain control of the door locks, security cameras, lighting and so on. I'd also like to be able to track the movement of the guards, and maybe move them off their patrol routes if necessary.
- Question: To do this without hacking, I'd need to get hold of a legit account somehow. Maybe tail one of the guards when they leave their shift, get their Passcode out of them and take their Commlink (which holds their Access ID). If I have those, then anyone holding the commlink can pass as that guard and gain access to their security privileges on the system.
If someone else on the team needed to do my job that's how he'd do it, right?
- Question: Would this work for an AI? I'm an agent with my own hardcoded Access ID. The node would read the access ID on my program as I tried to log on, and reject it as invalid, right? I'd have to take the extra day or two to spoof my Access ID to match, then use the stolen passcode for authentication?
If I get myself an account on the stolen commlink, can I do something like Send Command to the stolen device, to Send Command to the node, to shut down the trash compactors on the detention level? Like a poor man's AR interface for just pressing buttons on the stolen comm?
If I can do that, can I use Spoof Command to do the same thing without needing to go through all the hassle of tailing a guard and taking his stuff?
Let's say I don't have time for any of that, and I want to hack in the old fashioned way...
Assume this isn't a public building and the node is running in Hidden mode, which means I have to find it on the Matrix before I can do anything. That's a Detect Hidden Node action, and I have a general idea of where the node is (i.e. it's inside the building), so I roll Electronic Warfare + Scan vs a Threshold of 4.
This action is centered on the device I'm currently occupying, and is based on the Signal rating of that device. With a Signal of 8, I can Detect Hidden Nodes within 100km of my Home Node's physical location. Alternatively, I can move into my Commlink in the field and (with Signal 5), Detect Hidden Nodes from 4km away. I don't need to be within Mutual Signal Range of the target node, unless I have no clue at all where I'm supposed to be looking, in which case I can make a general search to get a list of every hidden node within MSR (unlikely to be helpful at high Signal in an urban environment).
I eventually beat the threshold and the node becomes visible. I don't know anything about it yet other than it's there, so now I need to figure out what I'm looking at. This is an Analyze Node action, so I roll Computer + Analyze + 3 (AI bonus to Matrix Perception tests) vs nothing and my hits give me questions I can ask about the node. I get 3 hits, so 3 questions. I go for the most important ones:
- Firewall Rating
- System Rating
- Is the node encrypted
- Question: Are these the most important questions? Firewall and System ratings let me know what I'm up against, and Encryption lets me know if I need to Decrypt the node before trying to hack in. But wouldn't I know about Encryption just by trying to access the node to hack it, and being rejected for not running encryption?
I figure I can beat a dice pool of 8, so I start by Decrypting the node. Because this is an Encrypted connection, I need a Subscription. There's nothing special about a Subscription, except that I can only maintain (System x2) 14 of them before they start to count towards my Home Node's Processor Limit or my Commlink's program limit (UW pg.55).
I can Subscribe to a node from anywhere, even outside of my Signal range, because Routing.
I Initiate Cryptanalysis and roll Electronic Warfare + Decrypt against a Threshold of 8.
- Question: SR4A pg.230 says that the program "runs autonomously", which I take to mean it doesn't require any attention from me once it starts running. I spend a Complex Action to Initiate the program, then let it run. I can spend my other 2 Initiative passes this turn doing anything else I like, is that right?
Eventually I get through that, and now the node is ready to be hacked! Phew!
We're short on time, so Hack on the Fly is the one I want to look at. Accessing a node also requires a Subscription, but I'm already Subscribed as part of the Decryption process so nothing changes there. Again, because the only requirement is a Subscription, I can do this from the other side of the planet if I want to.
I figure the stuff I want to do (control lights, cameras, locks) is available to Security accounts, so I shoot for one of those instead of an Admin account. Authority quality means this only adds +1 to the threshold.
I roll Hacking + Exploit (5, Complex Action). Each time I roll, the node also rolls its Analyze + Firewall (5) to detect me through my Stealth program.
I beat the Hacking test without being spotted, and now I'm in! I move into the target node, and my Response and Signal are now based on the stats of that node, dropping to 3 and 5 respectively. I bring along my Inherent programs, which cost nothing and always run at their Rating regardless of the System of the node I'm on. I also bring along whichever loaded programs I want to bring with me from my Home Node (Analyze 6, Edit 6, Exploit 6 etc). These are reduced to Rating 4 to match the System of the node they're in. Myself and my Inherent Programs count as 1 loaded program on the processor, and each other program takes up 1 additional slot as it's run.
The requirements under Authentication (Passcode, Passkey, whatever) don't apply to me if I'm hacking my way in, because I'm finding a loophole around that whole system anyway. I only need a genuine finger/voiceprint and stool sample if I'm trying to log in with a stolen commlink.
As I am now running in that node, I can become trapped there if that node loses its Matrix connection. I can be killed if someone puts a shotgun shell through the target node, but not if it just crashes or reboots. If it crashes or reboots, I just load back up when it does.
I view the node according to the Sculpting set by the admin. This can be a confusing mess and requires me to Matrix Perception/Analyze everything I see before I can tell what it does. I can Observe in Detail to get a list of every icon not running Stealth, and I can override this and set my own VR sculpting with a Reality Filter + Response vs System + Response test. Success means I can set my own rules for what a file looks like, what a slaved device looks like etc, and I gain +1 Response. Failure means I get nothing, and take -1 Response as a kick in the pants for my trouble.
Any changes in the sculpting created by Reality Filter are unique to me, and don't translate to the node itself.
At this point, the Watanabe Electric Kitsune gets to start rolling Matrix Perception to ensure I'm a legit user with a legit passcode. She rolls her rating 4 + Analyze 4 vs my Stealth 5, but my Rootkit quality gives her a -6 dice pool penalty so it's physically impossible for her to succeed in detecting me that way. Because of this, the only way the node could go on Alert is if someone in meatspace notices weird things happening with the lights and calls it in, or if I take an action the agent is programmed to flag an alert about.
Now that I'm in, I can use my security privileges to Send Commands or Change Linked Device Mode to any security cameras, doors, lights, sprinkler systems, etc etc that are slaved to the node. I have to Analyze each icon to figure out what it does, though.
- Question: What happens if I Send Commands to every device attached to the node, commanding them all to stop recording video with a single action? Only the cameras would know what I'm talking about, and everything else should just reject the command as something they don't know how to do, regardless of whether I know their function or not, right? Would this trigger an alert?
If the node is being used as the start or end point for communications, then all that comms traffic flows through this node and I can Intercept Traffic with a Hacking + Sniffer test, or insert fake traffic with Hacking + Sniffer vs Firewall + System. This seems like it would be mostly useless, because the traffic I'm interested in would be between the guards commlinks, and not going to or coming from the node itself. If I hacked an individual commlink, I could use this to affect messages to/from that specific commlink, but not to the entire group of 6.
I could, however, listen in on the comms with a Capture Wireless Traffic action. This gives me no ability to edit the content of the messages.
One the run is over I Log Off and return to whichever device I was on before entering the node, closing the Subscription. It's a good idea to edit the Access Log (admin rights) to cover my tracks. Code Flux changes my Access ID pretty frequently, though, so if anyone does try to Trace me later, the trail should end at the point the ID changes and any nodes I passed through on my way in (such as my commlink or home node) should just look like forwarding nodes on the route in.
- Question: I have a Security account. If I find that I need an admin account, do I have to Hack on the Fly my way back up to Admin, or does my success in getting this far help me at all? Can I increase my privileges some other way from where I am?
- Question: This all assumes I get in without raising an alert. What happens if I do?
Is my cover blown for all IC within the node, or do they still have to pass a Matrix Perception vs Hacking + Stealth to be able to identify me? Can the Spider identify me without a test, as the admin? If not, is he limited to only trying to Terminate Connection or Reset the system? If my Rootkit quality drops everything's perception down to 4 or less, am I effectively immune to direct attacks, because nothing can beat my Stealth 5?
If an alert is raised, the node runs the Juhseung Saja Black IC, which has Black Hammer and Blackout attack programs. These are biofeedback-type attacks that have no effect on programs, agents, IC or Sprites. AI are autonomous programs like Agents, so those attacks don't even touch my Matrix Condition monitor.
Do they still "lock open" my connection until the attacking IC is shut down, if I am otherwise immune to their damage?
General Questions- Is Mutual Signal Range really only required for Capture Wireless Traffic and the wide-scan version of Detect Hidden Node? With regards to MSR and drones, SR4A pg.246 says I CAN connect from anywhere, but MSR is "safer". The next sentence says I MUST connect from MSR. Do these two sentences not contradict one another? What makes MSR safer? Is that just a poorly-worded requirement for tacnet use?
- I have no physical body. When I place a video commcall, what do people see? Can I use my Icon as a stand-in, or to make "disguises" to impersonate others, as I might if we were meeting in the Matrix? If not, is there a skill/action combination that can? Edit?
- What happens to alert status, ICs and combat if a node crashes or reboots while I'm inside it? I know I get stuck in the node hardware and have to wait for the reboot to finish before I wake up again, but do previously-running programs/personas retain their awareness of me when the node is back up and running, or do they have to start making Matrix Perception tests to locate me again?
Thanks in advance for being able to answer any of these questions, or for pointing out any mistakes I've made. Hopefully, I can get up to speed with this Matrix stuff before gametime and focus on getting at least one person out of the run alive!
