Hi everybody!
New to The Sprawl, running a session of it this weekend.
For prep, I’ve gone through the book and have a couple of questions.
1. I’m confused about the Search for Paydata routine on page 155. “On a hit you find something hot that you can sell; on a 10+, when you hit the street to sell it and roll a 7-9, choose one fewer result)” Did part of that sentence get deleted, or does the hacker take one fewer result from Hit the Street when s/he goes to sell paydata?
2. The starter deck for Hacker characters are 6 point decks (p82). On page 136 when it discusses deck ratings it indicates that basic decks split 5 points and advanced decks split 6. When a hacker goes to upgrade, what point split and highest rating should I be offering?
3. I’m a little curious about Root access in the matrix (p155). Can a hacker enter a system and just go straight for Root? Is there a mechanical or fictional reason for that not to happen?
4. There’s a Safety Cutout program mentioned on page 137, but not listed on the Hacker sheet under programs. Was it meant to be eliminated entirely?
5. On page 83, when suggesting balancing cyberdecks, it mentions a “tactician” program, but that’s not detailed anywhere. Was it removed, or supposed to be included?
6. Since a Hacker’s programs can be destroyed during a matrix run, I’m curious about pricing for replacements, or simply buying new programs. A hardware cost of 1 is mentioned elsewhere, but I’m curious what they’d need to pay when they Hit the Streets for new software.
7. Matrix security measures in sub-systems include “Activate or deactivate ICE”, but the melt ICE program indicates that its the only way to deal with activated ICE. Can a hacker use a security measure to deactivate ICE?
8. Is it correct that every time a Hacker rolls a miss, that an Alert is triggered, and the Mission Clock advances (p158, 159)?
9. Passive trace seems really difficult. Max starting stealth is 2 (unmodified), so a system needs to reach passive trace of 3, and then it immediately has the Hacker’s physical location?
Thanks for any feedback! This is an awesome system and I’m really excited about running it for the first time!
1. The Hacker chooses one less option when they Hit the Street to sell that pay data and roll a 7-9. As the 7-9 options cause trouble, choosing one less is a good thing.
2. The cyberdeck for the Hacker is better than what another character would usually be able to get, I believe. Under gear, it says you’re looking at 8 credits for cutting edge stuff, like cyberdecks. As far as I know, there isn’t a list of cyberdecks ratings.
3. The Hacker could go straight for the Root node. As that’s where an intruder could do all sorts of bad stuff, that node is going to be heavily protected.
4. I’m not sure. But I don’t see why the Hacker couldn’t choose that program as well.
5. I’m not sure.
6. Under Fair Prices in the Gear chapter it says bsic hacking software is 2 cred and cutting edge Russian stuff is 4 cred.
7. I would say yes. I think a Hacker could use Compromise Security to gain hold, and then spend a point of that hold to deactivate a piece of activated ICE. But they’d have to deal with the ICE first, getting past it with Melt ICE. If they ignore a piece of activated ICE that’s right on top of them to do something else, that’s a golden opportunity for the MC to have the ICE do something nasty.
8. I don’t think so. Only Compromise Security notes an alert on a 6-. For any other move the Hacker makes while in the matrix, the MC makes a move as normal. That might be trigger an alert, or it might be something else.
9. The Hacker in my game has a Stealth of 5, I think. 😛
1. When the Hacker uses Hit The Street (pg 31), they choose one fewer result from the 7-9 result “choose 2 from the list below.” Note the list is one of complications: extra cost, extra time, unwanted attention, etc. This means that you’re able to Hit The Street with fewer problems.
2. 5 points is a more basic deck (like a Tech gets); 6 points is the “better” hacker deck. They can get arbitrarily better than that, in principle. It should be noted that the cred chapter offers up “replacement parts for a basic deck” at 1 cred, and cyberdecks come in at 8 cred. I consider those prices maybe a bit vague, and would say a Tech’s basic deck comes in at 4 credit (alongside basic cyberware), and a hacker’s 6 point deck comes in at the 8 cred price. If they spend more than 8 cred, then the quality should go up – though be prepared to justify fictionally how they have a more-than-cutting-edge deck. Stolen from a relevant corp, maybe?
3. There are two major reasons not to go straight for root:
(a) You probably don’t need to. Every additional roll you make is an opportunity for complications to arise and, most of the time, the nodes you need will be available after you complete your Login roll. going for root will almost inevitably put you in the position of risking a 7-9 or a Miss without additional benefit. Of course, if your GM is putting every target three layers of ICE deep, just… you know, smack them upside the head.
(b) Root is likely buried, in most places its worth pursuing, so you’ve gotta play odds. I mean, for various levels of security, it probably looks something like:
Physical infiltration team going on, just trying to keep security off their asses, in a (relatively) low security setting:
(i) Login to get into the system
(ii) Manipulate Systems at Building Security Node -> stay here to play with videos, sensors, etc. to help the team out. Don’t need to go anywhere else.
And out. What would have been the benefit of rooting around for root?
Now picture a medium-security set-up, where I’m trying to get at a data-base:
(i) Login to get in
(ii) Fight off some basic ICE
(iii) Find another Login for the Database subsystem
(iv) Manipulate Systems on the Database
Elsewhere, if I’d hunted for it, I’d have found another Login, with a Root behind it. I could have gone looking for it, but it would have taken up more dice rolls. Note that I’m already rolling 4 times here; odds are good I’m going to rack up a Miss or a Weak Hit or two, so things will already be snowballing. Extra rolls can ruin the mission here.
And, lastly, a high security alternative to the medium guy above:
(i) Login to get in
(ii) Fight off some ICE
(iii) Login to database subsystem
(iv) Oh, how lovely, more ICE
(v) Manipulate Systems on the database
Again, I could have gone root, but it would have looked like:
Login -> Fight off some Ice -> Login to root subsystem -> Fight off ICE -> manipulate systems on root -> enter database subsystem (assume Login is lifted by Root) -> Manipulate systems on database
It saves no effort; in fact, it adds 1 roll to the pile. But it does take up time (since you now have to go look up the data afterwards), which makes it more likely you’re ending up without what you came for.
The virtue of root access isn’t because it makes you God. It’s beacuse it allows you to fight off other hackers. Note that the key security measures under root (p 155) are:
(1) Change user permissions (including forcing your opponent to lose Login ability)
(2) Isolate a sub-system
(3) Sever all external logins
IMO, those are the key abilities in Root. It’s hacker-on-hacker combat, that no other move or location really allows you to do as well.
4. You got me. I generally go with playbooks > corebooks (the playbooks get a lot more scrutiny). Ruining your deck on the first good blow from Black ICE is a good way to ruin the fun for the Hacker’s Player for the rest of the evening, though, so I could see why it’s the sort of thing that makes sense in the fiction but may not have survived play-testing. It’s like telling a Killer they can ignore one good hit if they play dead for the rest of the night. It’s not a terrible move in and of itself, but it’s literally “a move that will ruin someone’s night every time they play it.” Maybe better to pretend it’s not there.
5. It’s nowhere else in the book, nor in the playbooks. I think it’s fair to say it was meant to be removed.
6. Hit The Street gives you gear /software at fair or double price: if you choose “fair price,” you buy it at the prices listed under Fair Prices, pg 128. (And the repair pricing you’re looking for is on pg 137). Programs cannot be repaired: you must buy new ones. You can repair deck ratings.
7. ICE cannot be deactivated with a compromise security routine like other subsystems (pg 156); this is confirmed by the description of Melt Ice (“Destroying, disabling, or evading ICE is covered by melt ICE”). As always: what you do fictionally is what triggers the move. Accordingly, if you try to use a subsystem routine to deactivate ICE, then you will not be using compromise security or manipulate systems – you’ll be using Melt ICE. I agree this doesn’t seem super intuitive with the way Compromise Security was built alongside “Deactive ICE” under every security subsystem. The Matrix rules in general, I imagine, will look a bit different if Sprawl 2.0 ever becomes a thing.
8. It is correct that every time a hacker rolls a miss on Compromise Security they trigger an alert. They may do so under Login: the outcome there is “MC chooses two.” Manipulate systems does not require an alert on a miss. Neither does melt ICE. These are all Hacker moves.
“Alerts are local alarms to let corporate employees and contractors in physical and virtual space know that someone is tampering with the system,” which is really just… fictional representations of advancing Mission Clocks.
9. It does not immediately dispatch to the physical location. It allows the ICE the opportunity to activate the routine Identify Intruder (you may Melt it before it succeeds). It allows the ICE the opportunity to activate the routien Sever Connection (you might Melt it before it succeeds). It may advance the Corporate Clock. Each of these are separate and independent moves that the corp has to succeed on to get their respective benefits. Obviously, the corp isn’t sending headhunters after you unless the Corp Clock has advanced high enough to warrant that. Obviously, the corp isn’t sending headhunters after you unless it’s successfully executed Identify Intruder. That’s my reading, at least, of pg 163.