A hacker must locate and defeat the system core before he/she is out of clock cycles or else the hack fails. The system core is hidden somewhere in the hacking deck. In order to find the system core the hacker must flip over tiles from the deck and connect the paths shown on the face of the tile. A tile could have multiple paths, dead ends, or traps. If, for whatever reason, the hacker cannot defeat the system core before running out of clock cycles the hack has failed.

The hacker uses a token to mark his/her position in the system. Moving the token costs 1 clock cycle, which should be tracked with percentile dice. The token starts on a special tile called the Jackpoint. The token can move along any pathway. The hacker must place a tile any time his/her token would move to a space where there is no tile. Tiles must be placed to line up with the path the hacker is on, even if this creates dead-ends on previously placed tiles.

In order to defeat the system core the hacker must have more clock cycles left than the number listed on the system core tile. It is entirely possible for a hacker to reach the system core with fewer clock cycles than the core has defense. In this instance, the hacker must branch off and look for special tiles called Exploits which will grant the hacker additional cycles with which they can use to further fight countermeasures or bring down the system core once and for all.

As tiles are placed, special objects may be revealed which help or hinder the hacker. The hacker may encounter firewalls, DoS (Denial of Service) spikes, intrusion countermeasure expert systems (ICE), exploits, or the system core. These tiles have special rules which are detailed below.

Jackpoint

System Core

The system core is the kernel of the program the hacker is attempting to crack. The system core will have a number on the tile which indicates its defense. This is the amount of clock cycles it will take to penetrate it. If the hacker has more clock cycles left than the defense of the system core, the system was hacked! The defenses go down, the mag-locks opens, or that pulse rifle is ready to fire.

Firewalls

Firewalls block a pathway. The hacker may choose to pierce a firewall or circumnavigate it. Each firewall tile has a defense number which indicates the number of clock cycles it will take a hacker to crack it. Once the firewall has been defeated its tile will act like a normal pathway. Until a firewall is cracked no tiles may connect off of it and the hacker must branch out his/her search.

DoS (Denial of Service) Spikes

DoS spikes are sudden attacks by the system to overwhelm the hacker’s. Each DoS spike tile has a number which indicates an immediate clock cycle penalty that the hacker must pay. The hacker adds the number on the tile to his/her current clock cycles. If the hacker runs out of clock cycles, he/she was overwhelmed by the DoS attack and the hack fails.

Exploits

Exploits are vulnerabilities in the system’s code. When a hacker encounters an Exploit he/she increases her maximum clock cycles by the number listed on the tile.

Intrusion Countermeasure Expert Systems (ICE)

ICE represents a special AI defense algorithm inside a program. When an ICE tile is revealed a special token is placed the tile. The ICE will then move towards the hacker’s jackpoint at a rate of 1d3 tiles per clock cycle. ICE can bypass any system defenses such as firewalls without penalty. If the ICE reaches the hacker’s jackpoint it will inject malicious code into the hacker’s NETCAT and destroy it. If the hacker was jacked in through a direct neural link the ICE will physically damage the hacker or worse. The hacker may learn skills which will help defense against ICE.

What To Do After You Successfully Hack The Core?

Once you’ve cracked the system core you have complete control of the computer system. There are a number of generic commands that you may execute to help you find information or take control of a subsystem. These commands are only suggestions. Please do not feel bound to them.