Hello, need a little help with droids as NPC and as PC. I'm a player that playing a Droid that is a Droid Tech. In combat if I see a droid I will always try to shut it down in combat to salvage and reprogram later. Recently the DM had a mission where the enemy droid did it to my NPC droids and attempted to do it to me. But here's the thing how do it with PC droids? I know restraining bolts work differently with PC droids and it should be the same for hacking PC droids otherwise there's no point playing a droid because a hacker can steal the PC droid as easily as a NPC. How to properly handle shutting down combat NPC droids and slicing PC droids? Not looking for "taste of your own medicine" answer but fair and balanced solutions.

How does your GM allow reprogramming NPCs? Once they are shut down is it an opposed check? Is it a difficulty set by the GM?

I might run it as opposed check, the Hacker's computer skill vs the Target's Discipline or Computer, whichever is higher. (In your case it sounds like computer)

Generally speaking, PCs are immune to that sort of thing. You can rationalize it however you like.

With NPC droids, while it's certainly possible to shut them down and reprogram them, it isn't a quick process and requires direct access - you can't do a remote mass shutdown.

It sounds like a good use of an extended opposed slicing encounter from Special Modifications. I would definitely not let this be a one-roll wonder for non-minion droids and most certainly not for important NPCs or PCs.

Sounds like the person you need to talk to is your GM. What we say here is utterly irrelevant to his game. You may have annoyed him and he is being passive aggressive about it.

Without knowing exactly what rules you are using it is hard to say much. If it were me, and you had been trying to shut down nemesis droids, I would have just said that turnabout is fair play. Not the answer you wanted, but that may be the answer you are suffering under right now.

I would probably make it a computer vs discipline check; the discipline standing for the strength of your programming under exterior interference. Reprogramming can be anything from a change in purpose (for more simplier droids, or can even be done to a PC on the short term, though eventurally they will recover from the robust programming.) to full on rewritting and memory wipe (which for a PC droid is effectively death under most circumstances.). Although droids are purely mechanical constructs, that doesn't necessarily mean they are a master of themselves; all the computer theory in the world doesn't help when you itself is being hacked.

That being said; if you are consistently hacking droids to take them over then this seems like an direct counter to that. I would talk to your DM more directly about his intentions. If he is tiring of your constant attempts to turn his NPC's against you, then it is best to talk about it directly and come to a compromise. He might be just worried that your acquiring too much manpower and has no idea how to deal with it. Personally I like a PC with a bit of ambition, but I would groan if I had to deal with a droid rebellion again (a very similar situation has happened before.)

That being said, as all droid systems are closed circuits, I would narrative ensure that the droid is incapacitated before direct hacking is possible because the hacking ports are usually very well protected and requires fairly uninterrupted free access; K2-SO had to disable his for that.

I think your GM had a genius idea. You play a machine after all. As for How to resolve it, I would say an opposed or a series of opposed Computer/Discipline rolls.

I would be tempted to treat it using the interrogation rules, just sub Computer for Coercion. Effectively torture a droid to change its mind.

Get yourself some ranks in the Defensive Slicing talent and beef up either your Discipline or Computers skill...as a GM, I would use the better skill in a PC or Nemesis droid to combat hostile Computer checks.

First idea: Beat the strain threshold with attacks using computer skill. Difficulty is targets computer skill, or discipline. Or use slicing rules, if there were some.

Personally I'd be very cautious about allowing hacking. With physical access, yes no problem. But with wireless access in field, IMO it's not very star wars. This of course depends on how it is done, proper description about how to flood droids senses with e.g. radio signal, and I'm good. IMO whole slicing is bit problematic in star wars. We think about it in 2017 standards (wireless networks, global internet), but that is not star wars. IMO star wars slicing is more like Phreaking than modern computer (/network) hacking.

And lastly I want to say that I'm not saying anyone did or does anything wrong in OP's case.

On ‎8‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 11:27 AM, korjik said:

Sounds like the person you need to talk to is your GM. What we say here is utterly irrelevant to his game. You may have annoyed him and he is being passive aggressive about it.

Without knowing exactly what rules you are using it is hard to say much. If it were me, and you had been trying to shut down nemesis droids, I would have just said that turnabout is fair play. Not the answer you wanted, but that may be the answer you are suffering under right now.

This post assumes that I haven't talked to the GM. For those that don't know, YES I have tried talking to the DM and we both are searching for help on this question.

On ‎8‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 2:13 PM, vilainn6 said:

I think your GM had a genius idea. You play a machine after all. As for How to resolve it, I would say an opposed or a series of opposed Computer/Discipline rolls.

This what I sent him. a day or two after the game.

So i trying to come up with a fair solution for the PC Droid vs Slicing. Looking at the restraining bolt as a start example, if a PC droid has a restraining bolt attached it would be a Daunting Discipline check to resist the Bolt. So maybe something similiar to how 5e does everyturn to resist a mgic effects of some spells this can be applied to a successful first hack on the PC droid and everytime the PC droid takes a turn it has to role to see if resist/break free from the slicing. So Computers vs computer check if every turn until it breaks free. Shut a PC droid down would be one attempt only of course. Does that help?

please only respond in one of the threads, not both