this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
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(From cyberpunk-ish perspective)
Let's re-frame this. Instead of thinking about hacking, let's think the goal here is to shoot someone. Of course, they can just walk up and shoot. But that is not enough to spend time on this. Especially when one of the PCs is a cybered-up shoot-first-ask-later kind of character. So what do we do, so there is a challenge to that? You can have bodyguards, secure buildings, time-frames, additional entanglements. Just as we don't envision a mission where they could just walk up to the target on the street and pull the trigger, we need to add layers to hacking too.
And before I get to giving some examples. Take a look how investigation flows in noir films. Our hero is often and oddball that somehow manages to sleaze his way into possession of some info but then hits a snag, it all ties to someone with power. Some scheme where a few bad steps can buy you a bullet. So the hero had their shining moment but there's more to it. And btw that tie is why we are telling the story in the first place.
Of course, there is little point to saturate every investigation hack with so much happening in the background. But again, it's the same as with shooting. A trigger-finger-character is trying to get some info on the street and dice or pacing says you want to spend some additional time on that? The ensuing shoot out on the streets doesn't have to be machinated by a corp secret forces, it can be just a case of Monday.
Same with hacking, if what they are looking for is just one piece of intel that is needed to continue, and PCs will obtain it this way or the other because that's where story is going, just toss them an IC or two to keep things real and let's call it a day
So the real hack, the beat-important hack is not just a hack on the go of a low level place. It should be like shooting a mid-level manager in the face. So layer it up with air-gapped systems, time-based response, public visibility, rouge AI, mysterious AI, script-kiddies wrecking the place, prototype ICE, etc. A complication that makes it a story and provides pressure
And just to rant a little bit, I think Shadowrun and Cyberpunk really dropped the ball on hacking. It shouldn't have been a dungeon crawl. Currently we either have matrix-crawl or whole full-narrative systems. There is little in between and IMO in no way it resembles the source material like Neuromancer hacking