Thursday 29 December 2011

Hacking: Older Than You Think

As in 1903 older. (Thanks to SteveD for the link!)

Intercepting and sabotaging communications is a classic tactic in espionage and warfare, and sometimes as here in social commentary. What methods are there in your game, how could they be subverted?

Communication in Star Wars is super-advanced with across-the-galaxy holograms in some places and pretty basic with radios and camera-to-screen relays in other, so anyone can break into the latter to say “situation normal!” but it’s not the kind of setting that lends itself to hackers even though the Expanded Universe has them.

The psychic message boxes in Doctor Who, last seen in black and white, reappeared in the Doctor’s Wife as a lure to draw the Doctor and companions into danger. So does River Song leaving Gallifreyan messages across history, but at least then he knows he’s being lured into danger.

Kindred in Vampire: The Requiem often suffer the amnesia Fog of Eternity after sleeping in torpor, and some groups have ways of turning this to their advantage - like the German Carthians who find sleeping Elders and indoctrinate them when they wake.

Any giant robot is prone to having a superhero cross its wires. Armoured heroes are in danger of having their technology turned against them.

And scrying stones in fantasy can be bent to the will of any mind powerful enough. So watch out for crystal balls...

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