running slicers

[ifurin]

ok i have a player who wants to play a slicer. he usually plays cyberpunk and is used to playing with in-depth computer rules. now here's the question. do any of you have rules concerning computrers and slicing? all i have is the 2ed r&e book, the source books, and a few others. i have access to quite a few others through friends, friends of friends, relitives of friends, ect. i've mostly been running slicing as "roll your computer skill.... ok you find out...." for both the player and i his character is feeling more like a plot director (what i use npc's for) than a player character. does anybody have some suggestions or sources i can use?

[Gry Sarth]

Well, for sources on computer systems, I'd recommend Cracken's Rebel Field Guide, for some info on aquiring intelligence and some computer systems. Other than that, you should really try to avoid putting too much emphasis solely on the "hacking" aspect of the character, as that can be quite boring and repetitive. As I see it, hacking scenes should be quite brief, just some quick gathering of information, like what R2 does in the movies. Also, try to diversify the computer activities (opening electronic locks, reprogramming droids, disabling a ship's system, tinkering with cybernetics, etc...)
_________________
"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[kyledon Mystic]

My experience with slicers is that it is very time consuming unless you have programs installed already to do the work for you. I have played them and it pretty much came down to die rolls and waiting. Unless I had a program that sped up the process and allowed me to do other things as well.

I think the Crakens field guide has a couple of pages on it and it is good source to read.
_________________
Kyledon Mystic

[Tupteq]

You can take look at this. I never used it, but you may find it interesting.

[ifurin]

thanks alot! this should alow me to come up with some decent rules and systems (i'm thiking similar to what is in the deathstar tech manual) to keep my player happy with his slicer.

[garhkal]

[Gry Sarth]

I know thay are different skills, and that's what I meant. Even though the character is a slicer, he shouldn't only be good at "computer programming/repair". All those other activities I described are related to computers and could provide some diversity to the character's activities, some different challenges and means of achieving a goal.

That said, "computer programming/repair" could still be used to perform some aspects of the activities previously mentioned. Some locks are purely digital, and thus use the "computer" skill (it's in their stats), the computer part of a ship's system could be disabled using the "computer" skill, and although installing cybernetics is a Medicine task, tinkering with some parts of it could be considered "computer programming" or "droid repair".
_________________
"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[ifurin]

[Gry Sarth]

Depending on the modification, yes. However there are some that I wouldn't either consider a Medicine: cybernetics task at all, but a computer programming task, like modifying a brain computer like Lobot's to perform spike operations and such. When you're not dealing with the machine's relationship with the body but with just the machine itself, then I wouldn't consider it Medicine.
_________________
"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[masque]

We have a slicer/thief in our campaign. The dominant skills are Computer Program/Repair, Electronic Security, and Droid Program/Repair. We don't get bogged down in computer minutiae, her main function in the field is in door/safe cracking, as well as ripping data out of computer systems, to be analyzed later when we get back to the ship. We think it works pretty well, particularly when there's a firefight going on or something, and we're covering her while she gets the info.
_________________
Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

[Jedi Skyler]

You also have to keep in mind that in the SW universe, there are so many more items that have SOME form of computerization in them. Blasters, for example, have computer circuitry to help regulate the power of the blast, since firing a blaster bolt is much more complicated (and potentially hazardous) than a traditional firearm. A slicer could augment this circuitry.

Slicers also have a much more intimate working knowledge of computers and programming than the average joe. They can interface with computer systems much more easily and, because their skills are centered around the logical nature of the computer in the first place, they understand the workings and how to phrase inquiries and commands more efficiently and properly to achieve the desired effect.

I have to look for it on my disks, but I have a reference I downloaded from the web concerning slicers and how to run them. Too many people simply think of them as hackers or Deckers, if you're familiar at all with the game Shadowrun. These aren't people who are only able to shine (close to their creation, anyway) when they jack into the Matrix and get their freak on. Slicers are able to use their computer skills to achieve a great many things, if they're played correctly.

[Space Coyote]

I view Computer Programming/Repair as a skill that could become unbalancing at high levels because it has so many applications. I'd be more inclined to try to get the slicer to spread his character points around.

Don't forget that if the slicer wants to plant false information in a computer system, it's not a Programming roll, it's Forgery.

And while a successful Programming roll can get you access to the data, there's usually a LOT of data or the system is completely unfamiliar. Maybe the slicer needs to make a Bureaucracy, Business, or Law Enforcement skill check to find what he's after, or at least to find it within a reasonable time. The success of this "interpreting" roll could modify the time it takes find the right data.

There's also the chance the slicer can access and copy the data, but can't decrypt it, prompting the search for an underworld contact or illegal software, or even breaking into that Imperial comm center to use the new supercomputer they just installed. Assuming, of course, he's not digitized by experimental technology and forced to play life or death video games!

[jmanski]

Very good points.

[Gry Sarth]

[Ankhanu]