Computer Use
Dice Pool: [Intelligence/Wits + Computer]
Discussion: Most business and political transactions involve the use of computers, which can give neonates a surprising advantage in the Jyhad. In times when almost everyone carries some sort of computer, the edge truly belongs to those who can collect information as it is needed, as well as quickly disseminating it. Haughty elders may sneer at fledglings hunched over their smart-phones instead of dispensing bon mots at Elysium, but if those fledglings are using social media to coordinate an ambush on one of those hated elders once court comes to a close, it’s undeniable that a little computer savvy can even the odds that formerly favored the elders greatly.
Generally, Computer rolls are those that collect, display, or transfer information. Creating physical results (like remotely turning off a security system or activating a restricted elevator) is usually the purview of the Technology Knowledge. Of course, a single end result can sometimes be achieved by multiple methods.
Using computers typically falls under two distinct types of behavior.
The first type is comparatively benign or personal use. Tasks such as performing research, writing software, building a website, or participating in social networks can involve Computer in their dice pools if using the computer is the primary component of the action. For example, performing search-engine research on a topic might invoke an Intelligence + Computers roll to yield facts, while a botch would turn up completely misleading information. In most cases, these won’t see much stressful dice-pool action unless performed in bizarre circumstances or with devices the user isn’t familiar with. Additionally, what constitutes a computer can vary wildly, from a netbook in a cafe to a smartphone on the go to a traditional desktop machine.
Storytellers, life in a modern world inherently involves a certain quantity of computer use, so ask if it’s really necessary to have a player roll to check his email unless there are interesting dramatic outcomes of failure. Note, too, that in some cases, even though the character is using a computer, the Computer Knowledge might not be the relevant Ability. For example, a player trying to join an online community of vampire hunters is probably using Wits + Subterfuge or Charisma + Expression, even though she’s at a keyboard.
The second type of behavior is generally referred to as “hacking.” In game terms, hacking is subverting computer security to obtain information that someone has made secure in order to control that information. Even more broadly, hacking can also describe turning a device or computer program against or beyond its original intent. Often, the result of this latter type of hacking is also to gain information, but in some cases, the hacker seeks to create a specific result. He might display a message on a screen that wouldn’t normally receive it or create a nonexistent mortgage on the Ventrue Primogen’s haven and marking it as in foreclosure. Resolve these situations in the same way as information-driven hacking, for the sake of simplicity.
A would-be hacker’s player rolls Intelligence or Wits + Computer versus a variable difficulty (6 for standard systems, up to 9 for complicated situations like corporate server clusters, old government mainframes, and the like). Successes indicate the number of dice (up to the normal dice pool) that can be rolled to interact with the system once it’s been breached.
Actively blocking a hacker is a resisted action; the opponent with the most successes wins. On a botch, the character may alert security to her presence or even reveal her identity to the system she’s trying to breach.
Remember, too, that hacking is almost always an extended action. Storytellers, set the number of successes for extended actions via hacking high — it’s all too tempting for players to use this as the “do anything I want because, you know, computers” Ability. It should take far more than a single success to evict a Kindred from her haven or to delete one’s own birth records, for example.
