Cutting Edge Russian Attack Software
After their first mission, two of the team members bought some new gear. The Pusher went to her Haas-Bioroid handlers and had dermal plating implanted (she’d taken a bullet while extracting Kurosawa and didn’t like it much), and the Hacker bought some “cutting edge Russian attack software”.
We discussed what that might be, and as it was rather late, I foolishly suggested a Manipulate program that granted +2 hold on a successful Manipulate Systems move. Seemed fine at the time.
Cut to the middle of the last mission. Between Console Cowboy, Programming On the Fly, and the improved Manipulate program, the Hacker has a whopping 6 hold on the Building Security node. I’m all for being a fan of the characters, but that is way too much and I’m already having trouble challenging the Hacker on their matrix runs.
So can people help me come up with an alternative program? I don’t want to give the 4 credits back and tell the player to pick something else. What about a Manipulate program that grants +1 hold even on a missed roll? Or a Manipulate program that also created 1 hold of Security on a 10+?
It sounds like you aren’t threatening him enough. I’ve played hackers before and each initial hold was a scarce resource that I’d need in order to have any chance of getting in and out with the data.
Give him complications. The paydata is right in front of you, but you’ll need the decryption keys that’s guarded by ice down the way and multiple layers of security.
Threaten him. Other hackers claim territory and the security network want to find him and destroy him. Use traces and have people find him in meatspace.
Push clocks. If someone bankrolled a network they are loaded and ruthless.
If you drastically change the threat level I’d give it an in game reason. The corporations have taken note of a wave of new hackers and are coming up with better defenses. Coincidentally, a new kind of ice is being sold for a sum corps can deploy enmass. Play it up! Make the ICE unique in someway. Maybe it looks like a cat.
Or maybe the Russian Manipulate program has its own agenda. Why else would the let him have such fantastic tool? Obviously, it’s got a downside. Perhaps a side channel. Or a trace program that says where your hacker is all the time.