[Hobbes]

PAN Protection tips for non-deckers.

So with the release of Data Trails we have a several new options for keeping hackers out of our cyber-eyes.  Unfourtunatly, you can't actually keep a hacker out of your Cyber-eyes.  But you can set up your PAN to slow down a potential hacker long enough to shut off your wireless.  Or at least make the GM spend 20 minuets rolling dice behind the screen to screw you, and hopefully he gets bored and just data spikes the decker to get things started.

The Basic Package:
Nixdorf Sekretar running Diagnostics Commlink App; Device Modification, Add a Module (Program Carrier, Wrapper),2 Electronic parts (get consumed), 10 Standard RFID tags,  Total cost 5,401 Nuyen, up to 12 Devices in your PAN. 

Step one, Create your Pan.  Add the devices that have a wireless bonus that you always want running, starting with your Data Jack. 

Step two, if you've got spaces left in your PAN add RFID tags until you hit the PAN limit of devices.

Step three, go through and Wrapper everything important to be less important.  Wrapper the RFID tags as important stuff.

Step four, set your Nixdorf Agent to do a continuous Matrix Perception test on your Commlink and ask for a list of Marks.  Put the output in a tiny AR window, it should always read 4.

Step five, turn on your Diagnostic App. 

Example Samurai set up:

Nixdorf PAN, Device Rating 4; Data Processing 6; Firewall 2; Running Wrapper and Diagnostics.
Nixie the Agent; Computer 4 Pool 8 ; Hacking 4 Pool 8 ; Cybercombat 4 Pool 8; 

     Device                         Icon Wrapper
1.   Datajack                          Chipjack   
2.   Cybereyes                      Olfactory Booster
3.   Wired Reflexes                   Skill Wires
4.   Reaction Enhancement   Cyberears
5.   Earbuds                         Earbuds – because if they're hacking your earbuds you win.
6.   Ingram Smartgun             Concealable holster
7.   RFID                                Cybereyes
8.   RFID                                Wired Reflexes
9.   RFID                                Reaction Enhancer
10.  RFID                        Ingram Smartgun
11.  RFID                        Datajack
12.  RFID                        Fingertip Monowhip


How does this all work?  So a hostile hacker spots your PAN, if you're not a decker you can't run silent enough to stop a hacker from spotting you so don't waste your Nuyen trying.  Run silent when you're up to no good, but don't expect to actually slip past anyone actively looking. 

If the GM is being honest the hacker will likely go after one of your decoy RFID tags.  The Diagnostics app will immediately alert you to the matrix damage and you shut off your wireless.

If the hacker is the more patient sort they'll do Hack on the Fly and get some marks on your RFID tag first.  Since the tag is slaved to your Commlink PAN the hacker will also get Marks on your Commlink.  Your Agent will spot the Marks on the Agents next action, and you'll shut off your wireless.

So really, if the hacker wants to do anything clever, they need marks.  Your Agent spots the marks and you shut off your wireless.  If the hacker is brute force, they'll spike something, your Diagnostic app will alert you, and you'll shut off your wireless. 

The worst that can happen is you piss off a patient brute force hacker.  They take several turns doing a matrix perception test on every Icon in the group.  Then go all out on something important.  If they can take it out in one shot, not much you can do, other then yell at your teams decker for not spotting the guy creeping on you in cyberspace for the last two minuets. 

Advanced packages.  If (when) you've got a little more Nuyen to burn you can get a second Commlink like the MCT Defender or the Transys Avalon with a higher Firewall rating.  Put your Program Carrier mod on the higher Firewall device and use that to set up your PAN.  This will give your devices a few more dice to resist any Matrix damage and lower the odds of getting one-shot by a hacker.  Also buy more RFID chips and have the Nixdorf running a completely dummy PAN for the lulz.     

Please note the lower Device rating on the MCT Defender.  Not recommended for heavily cybered character, but for Mages and Adepts will be fine.  Also note, Deckers/Riggers should be doing something similar but with better hardware and RFID chips scattered around the team wrappered up as something critical.

So there you go.  Jot down your list of important wireless bonus things, what you've wrappered them as, and some RFID decoys and set the Agent to autopilot when it's not out tracking down Catgirls for you.  This isn't fool proof.  A bastard GM will find clever ways around it, a really determined hacker will eventually figure out a way to make you miserable.  But, just getting randomly bricked by a security spider will be unlikely.     

[Rooks]

Or get an internal router installed and ignore all that BS entirely

[Hobbes]

Internal Router is best, but you pay for that.  0.7 Essence even.  Bit rough for a Gun Adept to squeeze that in if really all they're after is protecting the Smartgun link, for example.  0.7 Essence gets a bit much for heavily augmented characters to squeeze in.

Anyway, yes, Internal Router for anyone with the 0.7 Essence to spare. 

[Xenon]

GM "In front you see Hobbes. Via your augmented reality overlay you see that he is not running his cybereyes silent, but the Matrix Device Icon look a lot like an Olfactory Booster rather than a pair of cybereyes. You suspect that he is running some sort of Wrapper Cyberprogram, but you would need to take a closer look to be sure."

[Hobbes]

As I said, you'd still be running silent.  No reason not to, you're just not going to expect to beat a real hacker.  And if you can tell what an Icon while wrapper is running, what is the point of Wrapper?

[Xenon]

As I said, you'd still be running silent. 

GM "In front you see Hobbes."
Player "I automatically see the Device Icon of his cybereyes, right"?
GM "Normally yes, but no - you don't see the device icon of his cybereyes. This might be because he don't have any cybereyes, because his cybereyes are wireless OFF or because he is trying to hide the Matrix Device Icon."
Player "I am trying to spot his cybereyes Device Icon with Matrix Perception"
GM "You fail to spot the Device Icon of his cybereyes. You can use Trying Again for a negative dice pool modifier of 2 dice if you want" -or- "When you successfully spot the Device Icon of his cybereyes you also notice that the actual Icon look like an Olfactory Booster rather than a pair of cybereyes."

And if you can tell what an Icon while wrapper is running, what is the point of Wrapper?

You use Change Icon (or Wrapper + Change Icon) to impress or fool people that doesn't take the time to actually look at your icon, but if you for example physically look at a RFID-tag and see that it have a device icon of a SMG you will probably suspect that its not legit.

GM "There are three GMC Banshee Icons approaching at low altitude."
Player "w00t?"
GM "Roll normal Perception"
GM "You notice that they move very slow... not at all like a lightning-fast aircraft. You also don't hear the sound of a supersonic vehicle. When you look towards where they should be on the sky you also don't see any iconic t-birds...."
Player "I spend a Simple Action to verify that the middle of the three Icons really is a GMC Banshee"
GM "Roll Matrix Perception"
GM "The Icon you look at in detail really does look like a genuine GMC Banshee Device Icon, but it seem as it actually belong to a MCT Fly-Spy drone. The GMC Banshee thing is probably the result of a Change Icon action, possible in combination with a wrapper cyberprogram running."
Player "Hobbes! Only Hobbes would pull something like that....! I'm gonna kill him if he does that again...."



Player "I am in hot-sim VR looking at what devices Hobbes have running wireless and not silent".
GM "Since he is within 100 meters of your cyberdeck you automatically see several device icons without taking a matrix perception test to look more closely; a Chipjack, Olfactory Booster, Skill Wires, Cyberears, Earbuds, Concealable holster, Cybereyes, Wired Reflexes, Reaction Enhancer, Ingram Smartgun, Datajack, Fingertip Monowhip"
Player "He is not trying to hide his SMG icon... strange... OK, I am forcing my mark on the SMG icon!"
GM "Roll Brute Force"
Player "I am spending a free action to eject the clip out of the SMG"
GM "This is not an action this device icon can perform"
Player "....... Is this really a wireless firearm i just marked?"
GM "Roll Matrix Perception"
GM "The Icon does indeed look like it is a genuine Ingram Smartgun Device Icon, but it actually belong to a wireless RFID tag."
Player "grr.... Guess that explains why he didn't run them silent!"
Player "I am trying to spot the device icon of his Olfactory Booster"
GM "Roll Matrix Perception"
GM "You fail to see his Olfactory Booster Device Icon. Maybe he doesn't have one to begin with, maybe it is running wireless OFF or maybe you just failed to spot it. You can use Trying Again for a negative dice pool modifier of 2 dice if you want."

[Hobbes]

I gotcha.  I was presuming the Hostile deckers Matrix search action was a more generic "What Icon's does Hobbes have running Silent?"  Or "What devices are hooked to Hobbes' PAN?"

"Go for the eyes Boo!" is more direct, presuming Cybereyes       If the target doesn't have whatever it is the decker is asking about its a wasted action, but it's likely the best approach to counter suspected masking.

Hostile decker still needs to burn an action searching for Icons to target.  Like I said the patient Brute Force Decker is going to get his shot.  Sort through the crap, take a shot at what he wants.  A hostile Decker putting marks on anything will get found by the Agent in the Agents next action pass.  A Brute force attack will either announce itself or get pinged by diagnostics.   

You could not run silent and use the RFIDs as bait.  Tough to say what would work better.  Depends on the GM and the NPC I suppose.   

[gilga]

Honestly questioning - if we abstract the whole hacking, searching etc why not abstract the way the PAN is ordered.  It seems to be a classic guy in the gym case. You wouldn't ask the mage how he does the magic. The actual job of the decker is extremely technical - a lot less technical than the 20 questions.

I'd give him something like "you see the cyber-eyes and can target them. (after a matrix perception action). Their icon is wrong - it would fool the non experienced, 1337 deckers can see through these simple matrix tricks. "

The only time I'd make the wrapper work is if there is a large crowd and you do not carefully look at the devices you try to find a deck to find the decker but you do not actually see the deck, you just know it is there. If the decker can see the eyes I'd assume he can see their icon and know it is the eyes icon even if it does not appear like that.  As a rule, since we can picture technical tricks but not for example magic. We have to be careful not to make deckers idiots this his the Deckers job he lives int he matrix - he did every possible trick as he learned hacking - this can be a cool RP for a sleaze attribute tough.

Also - for an agent I'd require you to spend your own actions to use the agent. So no periodic matrix perception with no consequences to yourself. Just like medik kits cannot be ordered heal me when ever I get hurt and give you regeneration. Even if the medikit is working on its own I'd make you spend an action setting it - same with drones.

[Hobbes]

The whole point of wrapper is to force someone to burn an action with Matrix perception.  If you're going to house rule Wrapper doesn't work, then Wrapper doesn't work.  *shrug*  Same with running silent, you've got 0 Sleaze and 2 or 3 Logic to resist a hostile hackers Matrix perception that is likely 10 or more.  You've not going to hide from a hacker with that kind of dice pool.  The point of these things is to force a hostile decker to waste precious actions.  As a minor benefit, running Silent and/or Wrapper will likely fool a rent-a-cop scanning around in AR.     

You can't actually stop a hacker from doing what they're going to do, you can only slow them down.  Given unlimited time any Hacker will spend however many actions checking out the icons of your teams gear.  Figuring out what the Agent(s) is doing.  And then start mucking with your stuff.  It just takes an extra action or more if you're throwing out roadblocks.  Sometimes that doesn't matter, but most of the time in Shadowrun, it does. 

The point to delaying the hostile hacker is that if you're in initiative passes, that extra action really matters.  Or if you're in narrative time your teams decker should be given a chance to make Matrix perception checks to spot the other persona.  (Presuming your Decker is actually trying to do their job....) Plus the more checks the hostile has to make, the greater the chance of blowing a roll. 

Agent stuff...  Checking how many Marks is on a piece of gear you own shouldn't take a borderline AI, it should be a simple script.  However, RAW, the only way to get a list of marks on an icon is with Matrix Perception action.  To perform a Matrix perception action you need a Persona with a Computer skill.  If you want to say that agents can't perform a repetitive, routine action, go ahead, but really that is something that Agents should be good at IMO.  Agents use the same rules as pilot programs.  From p. 269 of the big basic book.

 "When faced with something novel or unexpected, or a complicated command, a Pilot program
must make a Device Rating x 2 Test against a threshold set by the gamemaster based on how confusing
the situation is."   

IMO, "Continuously do a Matrix Perception Check on this Commlink and report out a list of Marks."  isn't a particularly novel use of an Agent.  I would honestly think that monitoring tasks and processes is a routine use for Agents.  Obviously YMMV.

I came up with this when working out how to get a missions Samurai not totally screwed if the P.U.G. doesn't have a decker (or has a bad decker).  The benefits to this set up are that its cheap.  You're a shadowrunner, you'll be buying commlinks anyway.  Only requires one skill check, to install the Modification on the Commlink, after that its all automatic diceless actions.  It limits the damage a Hacker can do in the most common situations you'll run into hostile hackers.  And it's simple to record and explain to a GM.  Two columns on a notepad, and "hey my agent is doing this thing".  And any non-decker character can benefit.  Even if you're a mage just trying to protect your non-essential gear.  It still sucks when your Commlink, contacts, and earbuds all have their boot sectors re-written and you've gotta track down a contact to fix them all.   

[Fabe]

Sounds to me that some of these trick will  only work with gear that you can't actually  see with your eyes. If I'm holding a gun in my hand then it doesn't matter if I'm using wrapper. your AR over lay may say its a cheap comlink but you can see its really a Predator V. However if I have the same gun under my jacket then all you have to  rely on is the AR icon saying its a comlink.  IS that argument some of you are making as well?

[Xenon]

Sounds to me that some of these trick will  only work with gear that you can't actually  see with your eyes. If I'm holding a gun in my hand then it doesn't matter if I'm using wrapper. your AR over lay may say its a cheap comlink but you can see its really a Predator V. However if I have the same gun under my jacket then all you have to  rely on is the AR icon saying its a comlink.  IS that argument some of you are making as well?

Yes. Sort of. If you give me a reason to suspect that the device icon is fake then I will probably spend the time to investigate it.

If I (for some reason) spend a simple action to observe the commlink device icon then i will realize that it is actually a predator V heavy pistol you have inside your jacket - and not at all a commlink.

Even if i don't physically see the coffee machine in the next room I will probably suspect something is wrong if you use wrapper on it to make it look like an Aztechnology Lobo...!

But if I don't have a reason to suspect that it is anything else than a commlink you have under your jacket then why would i look closer at it...? Wrapper is probably best used on device icons that are not running silent... Hiding things in plain sight.



SR5 p. 238 Change Icon
Changing an icon doesn’t change the results of a Matrix Perception action, but might fool personas who don’t take the time to inspect your new look.

SR5 p. 246 Wrapper
Another persona can see what the disguised icon really is with a Matrix Perception Test, but they need to at least suspect enough to check

[Hobbes]

Sounds to me that some of these trick will  only work with gear that you can't actually  see with your eyes. If I'm holding a gun in my hand then it doesn't matter if I'm using wrapper. your AR over lay may say its a cheap comlink but you can see its really a Predator V. However if I have the same gun under my jacket then all you have to  rely on is the AR icon saying its a comlink.  IS that argument some of you are making as well?

Million and one permutations of this, so no way to cover it with a blanket statement.  RFIDs are small and go anywhere, mount one right on your gun.  Piercings, Jewelry, whatever.

For a weapon, I'd wrapper the actual weapon Icon as some likely weapon accessory.  Concealable holster, Personal Safety system, whatever.  And then stick an RFID right on the gun and wrapper the RFID as the smartlinked weapon. 

As Xenon pointed out a hostile Decker specifically searching for the weapon Icon will essentially ignore the wrapper. 

[quote author = Xenon]

Player "I am trying to spot his cybereyes Device Icon with Matrix Perception"
GM "You fail to spot the Device Icon of his cybereyes. You can use Trying Again for a negative dice pool modifier of 2 dice if you want" -or- "When you successfully spot the Device Icon of his cybereyes you also notice that the actual Icon look like an Olfactory Booster rather than a pair of cybereyes."

[/quote] 

edit: ninja'd

[NovaHot1]

You can very, very easily "actually stop" a decker. The first way sacrifices wireless bonuses and you just plug your smartgun into your datajack to be able to use a smartlink. The second way is to interrupt their train of thought with a semi-auto burst of APDS rounds. 

Otherwise, it's a good idea to use misdirection if you actually want those wireless bonuses. Then you leave yourself open to deckers, but c'est la vie.

This is why I play a Gunslinger Adept with a metalink. Built right, you don't need the extra two dice from a smartlink to be astonishingly effective. There are some players want to stack every kind of bonus you possibly can for whatever area your PC specializes in, but I'm not one of them. That's rollplaying vs roleplaying anyway.

Plus SR5 is so heavily weighted in Magic's favor already that it can be hard for tech based characters to keep up after a chance to heavily invest in karma.

[Whiskeyjack]

I think abusing RFID tags is extremely against the spirit of the game.

Which isn't to say Wrapper is inherently bad or a bad idea or nonsensical, it's just...while this is a realistic thing for people to do to improve information security, it's not a fun system for gameplay.

By all rights if you do this, the GM should be doing this to the decker, but that would be no fun for the decker player, and that would make that GM kind of a bad GM. However it's a double standard if this is bad for a GM to do but OK for a player.

If your actual goal is "make the GM so frustrated that he gives up and just Data Spikes someone," which you said it was, then maybe examining your own motivations with this should be a priority, because if the GM is constantly being asked to slog through tedium like this in order to put the party in interesting or challenging situations, what do you think is going to happen to their interest in continuing to run the game?

This is a case where these actions would make a lot of sense in-setting but also make for a much less enjoyable game. As the game is supposed to be fun and not an InfoSec reality simulator, I think playability uber alles, and this really affects playability.

Hobbes, I'm not trying to say your idea itself is inherently bad - I really do commend you on a very creative solution to the age old sam vs hacker problem. I do think that combos like this being allowable under the rules are bad for actually being able to play the game, though.

[Hobbes]

You can very, very easily "actually stop" a decker. The first way sacrifices wireless bonuses and you just plug your smartgun into your datajack to be able to use a smartlink. The second way is to interrupt their train of thought with a semi-auto burst of APDS rounds. 

Absosmurfly correct. 

But just turning off all the wireless stuff, all the time, just to prevent it from getting shut off by a hacker occasionally seems silly.  All you're really trying to do is know when go wireless off.