Alright need some help parsing the text. Our Tech got a cyberdeck and is now a wannabe hacker.
Basically I’m trying to get a handle on alerts, alarms, and mission clocks. Here are some of the questions i’m wrestling with now:
1.) Now when shut down happens at 2100 the hacker can reverse this from the security node. But this does not necesarily move the mission clock back, right?
2.) When an IC triggers an alarm in an area it advances the mission clock and lets the system know where the hacker is. So when the hacker turns off an alarm does this reduce the mission clock? I’m seeing the possibility for a tug of war on the mission clock and its so radically different from the rest of my sprawl play, that I’m doubting whether i’m reading the rules right.
3.) Are physical alarms the same thing? If someone gets a 7-9 on a fast talk and lets the runners past but radios up to HQ… Can the hacker use a hold to reduce physical alarms and say that HQ doesn’t do anything and no clocks are advanced? I think part of my worry here is the npc guards are becoming increasingly like video game characters in that they’ll forget substantial evidence because the move says so. Or atleast i’m not seeing how the fiction works here.
4.) How would you ‘show approaching danger’ with a native User heading to the ROOT module to defend the matrix space? The hacker was in the Security module and I felt I didn’t know how to demonstrate the User going to ROOT, so instead the User went to the Security module to try to undo the damage. The User was ambushed and thrashed, which was fine but if I wanted a smarter User who went to the ROOT module how would the hacker be aware and fight against it? Is it just about moving fast to ROOT to stop the tampering? Or is it that the User can’t know where the hacker is without alarms?
I know these things might be handled differently at every table but I’m interested in how anyone else has handled these things.
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Total PBTA noob here. Not GMed The Sprawl yet either. So you know.
If I get the “fiction first, mechanics follow” principle of the system right, I would allow setting the clocks back in point 2 and 3 but I think you are right on point 1.
Regarding point 4, if the hacker character is in some VR or AR space the whole interface could change to something meaner with cold bluish lights. Also everything would slow down and graphic quality would drop as resources are reallocated. Some new characters (cops?guards?) Could appear in the Virtuality, impersonating security processes going through the system.
I’ll toss out my thoughts here.
1) I’m not sure what “shut down at 2100” you mean. Are you referring to an event on a mission Action Clock?
2) I don’t think an alarm automatically lets the system know where the Hacker is. I think an alarm just tells the system and the sysops “something weird is going on here come check it out”.
I would also say that canceling an alarm does not reduce the mission clock. Advancing the mission clock represents the target paying attention, looking into things, and then deploying countermeasures to stop a threat. Early segments are just heightened suspicion, but as the clock fills up, the target takes definite action.
I look at it like this: any system alarm is going to make the sysops put down their coffee and check out the problem. People are paying attention now, making the rest of the mission a bit harder.
3) Again, no. You really shouldn’t make things “un-happen”. If the Pusher gets past the guards with a 7-9 on their Fast Talk, and the consequence is the guards radio up to HQ? That happens. You can’t “undo” that with anything after the fact.
If the Hacker wants to do something to help the Pusher while in the matrix, I’d say that would still be Help or Interfere as normal.
Basically, don’t treat anyone like a video game character. It’s your job as MC to portray a world that feels real, so have your NPCc act as intelligently as the fiction dictates.
4) This one’s tricky, but you’d need to describe some kind of “matrix-y” effect or visual to let the Hacker know what’s happening. You chose Show Approaching Danger, and so you have to show the player something is up. (If you’d chosen another move, you might not have had to let them know what was happening.)
Thanks for the questions, Aaron!
1) Like Chris, I’m not sure what you’re referring to here.
The usual caveats about following the fiction apply. That said…
2 & 3) If the Hacker is in a system while when an alarm is triggered (either by the Hacker themselves or by someone in meatspace), they can spent relevant hold to stop the alarm being triggered, but they can’t untrigger an alarm later. They could turn off the klaxons and annoying flashing lights (or convince the guard that everything is cool), but the clock stays advanced. As Chris said, once the sysops put down their coffee, its on.
4) If the Hacker is in Root themselves when the User tries to assert control it might look like changes in scenery or programs in the node “paying attention” to a source of external commands. If the Hacker is elsewhere, they might not notice until the User in Root starts tampering with their access. Maybe they notice changes in the environment or their connection becomes glitchy or laggy. If a counter-hacker goes to Root, you might actually be making their lives complicated now.
There are very few moves that allow a Mission Clock to be lowered. The tension is always rises.
Something you mentioned interested me Hamish Cameron. So a Hacker currently in a system and with hold available to spend could prevent an alarm from going off? Is that correct?
It makes sense. Though if the Hacker is trying to multi-task I could see asking them to Act Under Pressure. Though spending a hold for an uncertain result feels a little unfair.
Yeah, that’s how I run it. When I was revisiting the chapter just now it’s not as explicit as it should be though.
Good to know. It hasn’t happened yet, but I can see my players asking about it.
1.) in the mission chapter they show an example mission clock. at 2100 it talks about deploying internal assets and locking down the facility. in the security module there is an option to “activate or deactivate lockdown”. So I was asking about how a hacker deactivating the lock down effects the mission clocks, which from what i can tell now doesn’t.
2.) and 3.) interesting to think how a hacker could block alarms as they come in. They would of had to preemptively done compromise security or manipulate systems right? The ability to block alarms is pretty powerful but not as big as tug of war i was imagining. So if the hacker wanted to stop a fast talk penalty they would have to be in the Security module and have a hold on manipulate system in check?
4.) still having a hard time imagining the ramp up of matrix security. I think I need to tie it to the mission clock to get a better handle. A counter-hacker in the root is pretty powerful and its hard to tell when that should be deployed.
As a side note, its interesting to read the matrix modules because you can sort of reverse engineer how a GM would assemble a facility. Reading the routines in the security module lets you imagine the sort of obstacles you could put in front of the runners. Its a very different beast than when you are running without a hacker.
1.) OK. I see what you mean now.
In that case, I would say if the Hacker is in a Building Security Node and has hold to spend when the lockdown is triggered, the Hacker could prevent the lockdown from happening. But once the lockdown happens, I wouldn’t let the Hacker “undo” it. And I certainly wouldn’t let them erase a section of the Mission Clock.
3.) I’m having a hard time seeing how a Hacker currently jacked into the matrix could use their control of a system to help someone Fast Talk in meat space. What would that look.like fictionally?
1) I would let the hacker cancel a lockdown, but it wouldn’t lower the mission clock. The people on site are still going to be on full alert. In fact, cancelling a lockdown in a suspicious way might even raise the clock again (a potential move if they miss that manipulate systems roll).
3) Cancelling a fast talk penalty (like a triggered alarm) is a different thing from helping someone fast talk. That said, creative control of flashing lights, ID verification systems, and potentially local monitors could all be legitimate ways of helping a fast talk in meatspace, depending on the fictional situation, of course.