I've been DMing RPG's for about ten years now, but the vast majority of the games I've played have been in the fantasy setting... DnD and the Iron Kingdoms RPG are my most recent games, with the only game that ISN'T set in a Fantasy realm being Vampire the Masquerade. My point being, I don't seem to know how to Science Fiction.

I've been having some issues getting the Slicer in my group engaged; I'm not much of a computer person myself, so basically everything I know about "slicing" is based off of what I've seen in the KotOR games. The slicer should be at a terminal, he should have access to doors, cameras, air vents, records, that sort of thing.

My question is, should I be smashing this players face into the slicing encounters? He doesn't seem to take any initiative with the narrative, and the only time I'm able to get him to interact with a computer is when it's explicitly what he's been told to do by a heavy handed NPC. He actually took up a turret in the ship once, ensuring the Hired Gun couldn't use it, because he thought the checks for Slicing the opponent's ship were too hard.

It half seems to me that the player doesn't want to play a Slicer, but he's got a degree in computer science (of some sort), is really excited about Special Modifications, keeps taking slicing talents, and didn't take the opportunity I gave everyone to make new characters.

How do you guys incorporate Slicing into your sessions? Is this something that I need to be fixing with my DMing, by spelling out that most places have computers of some capacity, or does this seem like a player/DM communication issue?

Decrypting communications.

Turning off security systems.

Using sensors to gather information.

Electronic warfare checks in ship combat.

Generating false identities in databases.

Tracking NPCs movements through searching holonet access.

Tapping into an opponent's comlink.

Implanting bad information into someone's system.

Creating false stories about someone and getting it circulating in the media.

Generating ghost sensor images to cause confusion.

Crashing power grids.

Lots of things they could do, how you incorporate them is up to you. A PC not clever enough to think of how to do something is a tough nut to crack. Maybe make some suggestions out of game of things he could do to jump start his own imagination.

Keep pushing computers on him. Whenever he engages with one, tell him a virtual intelligence pops up as a helper or a tutorial. "A small, animated, anthropomorphized astromech appears on the display, a voice bubble spreads over its head, 'It looks like you're trying to open the air locks; would you like some help with that?' it asks of you."

And I SHOULD be forcing him to interact with computers in person, right? He's tried to cut the power to a building before, but he seems to refuse to be willing to actually go to the building to interact with it. I think that he's having a hard time understanding that Star Wars doesn't have Wi-Fi... Unless I should be letting him do that? It just seems that if wireless capabilities were a thing, R2 wouldn't have had to walk Leia's email to Obi Wan.

It's all your call. The droid control ship in Phantom Menace certainly implies there is wireless commands to machines. It's worth bearing in mind the civilization in Star Wars has been using hyperspace for 20,000 years and we've had the internet for less than 30? Pretty sure they've worked out some of our kinks already, so slicing in wireless might just be a real crappy option in Star Wars.

It's all your call. The droid control ship in Phantom Menace certainly implies there is wireless commands to machines.

Well, there WAS, until some bratty little kid blew up just one ship and took out a whole army.

It's worth bearing in mind the civilization in Star Wars has been using hyperspace for 20,000 years and we've had the internet for less than 30? Pretty sure they've worked out some of our kinks already, so slicing in wireless might just be a real crappy option in Star Wars.

IMO, this issue has been discussed pretty extensively in other threads in this forum.

There’s a variety of reasons that can be given, some based on the history of how the story concepts were originally created, some based on in-game rationalizations.

But it all comes down to this — wireless communications itself is not necessarily a hard thing. They’ve got comlinks and holonet transceivers, no problem. But wireless command and control? That’s much tougher.

So, if you want to talk to a sentient entity on board that ship over there, that should be a relatively easy thing to do. But if you want to remotely hack their computer systems and vent all the atmosphere, that should be virtually impossible, if not completely and totally impossible. The communications and command/control systems should be fully air-gapped, because over the millenia they’ve have way too many people getting spaced out of their own ships by wireless pirate hackers.

No, if you want to hack command and control systems, you’re going to have to go plug directly into their hardened computer networks, and you’re going to have to get past the guards at all the doors, and all their other security systems, in order to do that — like R2 in ANH.

R2 could only do the things he did on the Death Star because he was physically inside the ship, and had direct physical access to their supposedly secure networks. And he must be a pretty **** good slicer, too.

At least, that’s the way that makes the most sense to me, based on a combination of things, like my own personal experience working for a number of years on classified systems in the basement of the Pentagon, what we see in the Star Wars movies, and the way that FFG has written the game that we play.

The droid control ship in Phantom Menace certainly implies there is wireless commands to machines.

This was one of the things that had occurred to me, but the way I see it, it took an entire control ship to get poor quality data (Those were some pretty bad droids) to droids on the planet directly below them.

I think that R2 is probably the most iconic slicer in the franchise, and he always had to plug in. That was actually my original reasoning with the player, probably just going to stick to my guns on that one.

1) Leia wanted to recruit Obi-Wan not lead the Empire to his front door!

Yes they could use wireless but that means the Empire can also do the same and unless you self destruct the entire network there is no way to be sure you've covered your tracks.

2) What's stopping the slicer on the other ship?

There was something about moving a scene by having 3 thugs bust in shooting!

Do the same give him either ai or enemy slicers to counter.

3) Remind him that gunnery seat is more likely to be the first thing shot given their foe doesn't want to be shot!

Most slicers prefer somewhere safer, if he wants to kill off his character use the airlock as the others don't share his feelings on the matter!

Sorry but seriously ruining the game for the others because he doesn't fancy playing his character?

Maybe you should ask if he wants to create a new character but instead of killing his old one keep it in case one of the others wants to try running it?

I don't know if Obi-Wan comlink/holo communicator, so Leia had no choice but to sent the message via R2. I think that using a datapad could work for slicing but it is much easier to plug directly into the terminal related to what they want to hack.

The droid control ship in Phantom Menace certainly implies there is wireless commands to machines.

This was one of the things that had occurred to me, but the way I see it, it took an entire control ship to get poor quality data (Those were some pretty bad droids) to droids on the planet directly below them.

I think that R2 is probably the most iconic slicer in the franchise, and he always had to plug in. That was actually my original reasoning with the player, probably just going to stick to my guns on that one.

Even in our reality we use stand alone systems for greater security. Not as much as we should so in Star Wars they just aren't cheap and have lots of independent systems. That's how I view it.

Honestly the answer to all your questions is (probably) coming in two weeks with the Technicians book. There will no doubt be all kinds of slicing rules, ideas for engaging your netrunning players and information on how Star Wars doesn't have wireless.

And yes, obviously it doesn't. R2 had to plug in to find the tractor beam controls, shut down the garbage reactor, open the cloud city security doors and the doors on the Imperial bunker. Plus Kenobi had to physically go down to the tractor beam and turn it off by hand instead of flipping a switch on a console hundreds of miles away.

The droid control ship in Phantom Menace certainly implies there is wireless commands to machines.

Not necessarily. I've always through that the droid control ship is just there to send a "Activate and remain active" signal. All processing is done on site, that the droids themselves are autonomous. And we've seen battledroids operating without a command ship, well after the end of the clone wars.

Honestly the answer to all your questions is (probably) coming in two weeks with the Technicians book. There will no doubt be all kinds of slicing rules, ideas for engaging your netrunning players and information on how Star Wars doesn't have wireless.

And yes, obviously it doesn't. R2 had to plug in to find the tractor beam controls, shut down the garbage reactor, open the cloud city security doors and the doors on the Imperial bunker. Plus Kenobi had to physically go down to the tractor beam and turn it off by hand instead of flipping a switch on a console hundreds of miles away.

The droid control ship in Phantom Menace certainly implies there is wireless commands to machines.

Not necessarily. I've always through that the droid control ship is just there to send a "Activate and remain active" signal. All processing is done on site, that the droids themselves are autonomous. And we've seen battledroids operating without a command ship, well after the end of the clone wars.

Maybe they decided the control ship was a bad design and fielded something new? That was the beginning of the conflict and probably what they just had on hand to start with. We also see comms jamming constantly, from the Falcon and speeder bikes. The DS plans were transmitted to Leia's ship. The kill signal was broadcast galaxy wide by Anakin to disable all droid forces.

I feel there is sufficient literary leeway in the story that a GM that wants some level of remote access available they aren't retconning the universe.

The droid control ship in Phantom Menace certainly implies there is wireless commands to machines.

Not necessarily. I've always through that the droid control ship is just there to send a "Activate and remain active" signal. All processing is done on site, that the droids themselves are autonomous. And we've seen battledroids operating without a command ship, well after the end of the clone wars.

So you're proposing that an entire army of autonomous combat droids are only active because of a radio beacon from a ship in orbit? Now I've heard everything!

I feel there is sufficient literary leeway in the story that a GM that wants some level of remote access available they aren't retconning the universe.

Does one need to plug in a datapad to send and receive data? My gut says no. And where there is data being transmitted, there is an access vulnerability.

I feel there is sufficient literary leeway in the story that a GM that wants some level of remote access available they aren't retconning the universe.

Does one need to plug in a datapad to send and receive data? My gut says no. And where there is data being transmitted, there is an access vulnerability.

I just think people focus too much on our internet as the comparison. There is remote access in Star Wars, we see that. However, there are likely billions of different systems.

Over tens of thousands of years all manner of entities likely built their own stand alone networks. They probably have proprietary hardware/firmware/software that is required to access more sensitive sites. If you want to keep a particular site secure, you just don't tell anyone. A Slicer would have to know there is a system to even slice into.

Something like the Death Star is an electromagnetic/gravitational maelstrom just by its very existence. The last thing you probably want to do is add to that with wireless systems which is why everything is plug and play. In fact the need to control signals means at their level of tech it's child's play to just shut down transmissions beyond set boundaries making remote slicing an issue, If they've solved the physics involved in moving planets FTL I'm confident they can manipulate wireless signals in ways we certainly can't.

I feel there is sufficient literary leeway in the story that a GM that wants some level of remote access available they aren't retconning the universe.

Does one need to plug in a datapad to send and receive data? My gut says no. And where there is data being transmitted, there is an access vulnerability.

I just think people focus too much on our internet as the comparison.

Agreed - I tend to think less about the technology behind how a thing is done, and just determine if it can be, logically. Of course secure comm stations don't take wireless input, you need to have physical access. But conversely, you don't need to plug in a datapad to browse the local info net. The how is less important than the why in my mind.

As a lifelong technologist who makes his money slinging bits, I love the postulation around computing and communication in Star Wars. It has to be so far beyond our current comprehension as to be beyond any sort of rules we can apply to both. Once you start talking multidimensional communications to eschew the speed of light....

I feel there is sufficient literary leeway in the story that a GM that wants some level of remote access available they aren't retconning the universe.

Does one need to plug in a datapad to send and receive data? My gut says no. And where there is data being transmitted, there is an access vulnerability.

I just think people focus too much on our internet as the comparison.

Agreed - I tend to think less about the technology behind how a thing is done, and just determine if it can be, logically. Of course secure comm stations don't take wireless input, you need to have physical access. But conversely, you don't need to plug in a datapad to browse the local info net. The how is less important than the why in my mind.

As a lifelong technologist who makes his money slinging bits, I love the postulation around computing and communication in Star Wars. It has to be so far beyond our current comprehension as to be beyond any sort of rules we can apply to both. Once you start talking multidimensional communications to eschew the speed of light....

Another thing that occurred to me in the whole Star Wars/WiFi/wireless thing, is that we all assume R2 is plugging into a wire. Here on Earth we have a handful of OS's for the internet, a couple major cellphone protocols, a standardized WifI protocol that changes. Multiply that across millions of worlds with private and public entities all wanting different things based on the multitude of different needs.

It's just as likely what we see R2 plug into is a bridging terminal that allows a more standardized piece of equipment to interface with the 'house' specialty network, and it just isn't possible to carry around the myriad of different kinds of software and hardware required to get things done on different systems. That terminal might very well be wireless in the facility but unless you have the correct transmitter, correct firmware, correct software versions, and correct frequency, you can't access it remotely, unless you plug in your handy dandy R2 Slicer god....

I feel there is sufficient literary leeway in the story that a GM that wants some level of remote access available they aren't retconning the universe.

Fair point. The galaxy is big enough to have all manner of technology levels, from 300 baud modems to ultra secure hypernodes. Whatever the GM wants or needs to move his story forward. I would probably lean towards more secure, less wi-fiy than the modern world. It's more interesting to force Kenobi's player to sneak through the death star to turn off the tractor beam than it is for him to flip a switch in a control room. "

Think of it this way. When they landed on the Death Star it was using the latest version of the iPhone wireless system and they had these in their pockets.....

They just didn't have the necessary hardware to be able to remotely access anything.

Another thing that occurred to me in the whole Star Wars/WiFi/wireless thing, is that we all assume R2 is plugging into a wire. Here on Earth we have a handful of OS's for the internet, a couple major cellphone protocols, a standardized WifI protocol that changes. Multiply that across millions of worlds with private and public entities all wanting different things based on the multitude of different needs.

It's just as likely what we see R2 plug into is a bridging terminal that allows a more standardized piece of equipment to interface with the 'house' specialty network, and it just isn't possible to carry around the myriad of different kinds of software and hardware required to get things done on different systems. That terminal might very well be wireless in the facility but unless you have the correct transmitter, correct firmware, correct software versions, and correct frequency, you can't access it remotely, unless you plug in your handy dandy R2 Slicer god....

That reminds me of how Chopper is able to use a manipulator claw to interface with computers - that ain't no plug he's sticking in there!

I agree there's likely a miasma of interface protocols, but I suspect the concept of the API is what keeps everything interoperable. I can envision interoperability becoming important as planets rise to join the galactic community. Once there, they would either adapt to the community standard or risk remaining isolated. Only larger powers capable of deploying their own set of protocols would be immune to this.

Another interesting tidbit is the inclusion of minor AI into many computer systems. In "Smuggler's Run" Chewie describes how the Falcon's systems are pretty unique and have developed their own dialects, which C-3PO notes in the films. So the computers themselves can determine the best way to communicate.

So you're proposing that an entire army of autonomous combat droids are only active because of a radio beacon from a ship in orbit?

Why not? Think of it as a giant, transmitted Photoshop Dongle. Is it that unreasonable to assume that an organization as paranoid and self serving and greedy as the Trade Federation wouldn't have some kind of proprietary security measure like a dongle? "You've bought a bunch of our droids on a secondary market? Too bad they're useless without this software patch!"

In fact, a giant money-grubbing Trade Federation is about the only entity I can envision thinking such a system is a good idea. "It is a bargain at this price! We would be fools not to purchase this army!"

Maybe my experiences with large enterprises has jaded me.

Fair point. The galaxy is big enough to have all manner of technology levels, from 300 baud modems to ultra secure hypernodes. Whatever the GM wants or needs to move his story forward. I would probably lean towards more secure, less wi-fiy than the modern world. It's more interesting to force Kenobi's player to sneak through the death star to turn off the tractor beam than it is for him to flip a switch in a control room.

"Air Gapping" is something we puny non-intergalactic humans already do, and I don't see why that logic would not be present a long time ago, far far away. The Empire has paranoia in spades.

Regarding Obi-Wan he probably asked R2 to locate a remote station that if he manually switched off would take the Death Star techs hours to realise why there was a problem with the tractor beam projectors let alone the fact they'd only realise there was a problem when the Millennium Falcon launched and if they bothered to check the tractor beam controls since they were supposed to let them escape...

Did the Death Star novel mention any problems with the tractor beam projectors?

That's Legends canon now isn't it?

i dont really what to say about the player/character, i mean its your universe so you can always change it if you choose, but as has been said here, the general feel of the star wars universe means you have to be at a hard terminal.

As for getting the character into slicing, i dont really know. In the past when ive made hackers/slicers in systems, ive always been looking at ways i can use my expertise in any given situation, i didnt need the GM being like "EVERYTHING IS LOCKED< HEY THERES A LONE COMPUTER TERMINAL ONLY THE SLICER CAN SAVE US NOW" xD

But at the same time he didnt re-roll when you offered him the option, so i guess just take him aside and talk to him. find out what hes feeling.

In the game I play in, my character is the slicer. I've had to explain that when my character remotely accesses a system that it is using a low powered comm frequency to gain access. Yes, it raised the difficulty of doing what was needed, but it led to a priceless situation of taking over an entire group of pirates without a shot being fired. However, on the other hand, any slicer trying to detect my character trying to access their systems is also increased as I'm using a non-standard way of accessing their systems.