Server Crash

This is for the crunch of the /tg/ homebrew system Server Crash.

For the fluff, follow the link: Server Crash Fluff

For the archived threads go to sup/tg/.

Character Creation

Stats for the "human" limit go from 1-10. You get 100 Points to distribute your stats, powers, and skills.

Interface - The ability to competently interact with the environment and other intelligences.

Power - Offensive ability.

Capacity - Size, determines how much data you can drag along and how large you are, might severely impact "movement", i.e. when you are a hulking block of tools or just the bare bone ware.

Data scanning - The ability to assess code and the environment.

Integration - The opposite of one's humanity; the closer you are to pure code, the more integrated you are. Take care! Become too integrated and you become nothing BUT code, a special kind of PC death.

Average NPC user

This is an example user that gets by harvesting data from inside the web-fort, having a family of little users, and is mostly average in terms of everything else. This is a "starting point", just to have an idea of what normal is.

Job-bob, Data Farmer

Total Points: 40

Interface (FACE): 3

Power (POW): 3

Capacity (CAP): 3

Data Scanning (DS):3

Integration (INT):3

Corruption Capacity (CC): - 12

Skills

Search Bar (Local, /tg/ Fort) = 5

Program Goods .exe = 5

The average PC Adventurer, however, is a whole different string of code. They will, on average, have a 5 on their core stats, with the possible exception of INT, and more varied skills.

Creating A Character

VirusFags Rulebook Attempt

In Server Crash, many of the humans who survived the fall are simple Data Miners, with the occasional Programmer, Merchant, and Guardsmen thrown into the mix. But adventurers are made of sterner stuff, and usually have access to more skills, programs, and usually have a specialized set of tricks up their sleeves that help them safely traverse the net.

Instead of choosing one class, and rolling ability scores, Server Crash uses a point buy system, allowing for greater customization of your character. You will be given 100 points to put into your abilities, tiers, and general skills. However, these are not always bought on a one to one basis, so keep an eye on your point total.

Ability Scores

Characters in Server Crash have five different ability scores that represent their ability to traverse and survive in the Net. Your ability scores can range from one to ten. The first five ranks in any ability cost one point, the sixth, seventh, and eighth cost two points, and the ninth and tenth rank cost three points each.

INTERFACE – Interface (FACE) is your character’s ability to successfully interact with the environment and other denizens of the net.

POWER – Power (POW) is your character’s strength and general offensive ability.

CAPACITY – Capacity (CAP) is how large your character is. The larger your character, the more they can carry, the more noticeable they are, and the more likely they are to be slowed down in low bandwidth areas.

DATA SCANNING – Data Scanning (DS) is your character’s ability to assess and identify code, links and other parts of the environment.

INTEGRATION – Integration (INT) is how connected your character is to the internet. A character with a low integration score is still very human and most of their original code. A character with a high integration score has made many modifications to their code consisting of removal of data mimicking normal human functions, such as simulated breathing or human emotions. Careful! Integration, and the lack thereof can be dangerous! An INT score of 0 means you’ve been disconnected from the net, and an INT score of 10 means you’ve become fully codified, with effects ranging from becoming an unplayable Cyber to dissolving into background data.

Tiers Unlike some other RPGs, Server Crash uses a tier system of open skills and archetype-restricted powers. However, keep in mind that not all skills are compatible with one another, so take a careful look before you choose. A Tiered skill's cost is equal to its Tier, so a Tier 1 skill costs one point, whereas a Tier 5 skill costs 5 (plus to get there, you have to buy Tiers 1-4)

Skills In addition to each class’ skill tier, there are non specific skills in Server Crash as well. These skills are also tiered. you buy points in them to increase your ability to perform that skill.

Ranks in General Skills may be bought up to 10, at an increasing cost, much like your ability scores. The point cost is different, however. Ranks 1-5 cost two point each, 6-8 cost five, and ranks 9 and 10 cost a whopping eight points! This encourages different party members to have different skills, and keeps the characters from being the same sheet with a different name.

Resolution of Actions

Subtract your relevant skills vs. opponent's relevant skills or static challenges, minimum of 1. Roll that many d10 to see how affective you are. You could also directly roll against an opponent's stats or with your own stats, though this is rarer. For example, Hacker Bob is rolling his Power vs. a static challenge - he's trying to crack open a passworded link that's blocking the party's path. The static challenge is 6 (it's a tough wall) but Hacker Bob's Power is a 9. He rolls 3d10 (9-6=3) to see is he can get through.

1-5: Critical Miss

6-10: Failure

11-20: Success

21-30: Improved Success

31-40: Major Success

41-50: Major Success + Resource

Resource Points

Everyone has 0 resources when starting, you can earn more by getting over 40 on a check.

Things you can use resource points for by any class:

• Use a skill you are too damaged to access.
• Heal 1 damage from any stat but Integration.
• Start accessing a new skill tree.
• Advance an old skill tree.

Bonus resources you win can only be won by doing something meaningful in game to progress through any current story arcs. This is up to a GM to decide whether your action does so.

Design note - This makes players DO stuff and keeps people from IRL lurking in their games. Also, it builds momentum as you get enough resources to pull off major class skills during a session at the climax.

Damage and the Corruption Stat

Cybers, viruses, and Olds primarily damage you by driving up your Corruption level. The more Corrupted your data becomes, the harder it is to function, and after a certain point you can't function at all! Your growing inability to function is reflected by a universal generic modifier to all dice you roll -- 10% of your total Corruption, rounded down. Once your Corruption exceeds your maximum threshold [(Integration)+(Capacity)x(Level)x2], you can take no more actions until you are healed. If you exceed three times this limit, you have become too corrupted to repair and have a copy activated...if you are lucky enough to be able to afford one.

How Damage is Dealt

Success - Normal Damage

Improved Success - One-and-a-half times damage, rounded down

Major Success - Double Damage

Time

All actions in combat are measure in milliseconds. For example, Hacker Joe uses pingblade.exe, a basic attack, which takes 2 ms to use. If you have a Cracker using powerful code to burn up swarm of weak virus, it could take 10 ms but deal massive damage to an area. Different non-combat actions will take a different number of rounds.

Rounds are called milliseconds because they take a millisecond of time, a standard in computer science.

Combat

In combat, you can use any of your .exe files to attack the opponent's code core. Your varying weapons can take a certain amount of ms to use. The attack goes off immediately, but then you have to wait the amount of ms given before taking another action. Along the same lines, certain abilities can make you wait longer. Every 10 ms, varying effects are calculated (glitch damage, poison, regeneration).

There are three things you can do to defend yourself against an attacker that's specifically attacking you.

1. Use a Firewall.

• Firewalls add a static defense against an opponent, and the most basic defense of users. If you decide to use a Firewall, you add the opponent's attack ms to the time you wait before you act.

• Example: Starting the fight, Joe the Script Kiddie uses dezerteagle.exe against a Virus Bot. Joe has a POWer of 4, and the Virus Bot uses Firewall 1. The difference is 3, and would roll 3d10 to see his success against the Bot. After damage, if the Bot is still alive, add +5 ms (time cost of the action) before they get to act again.

2. Dodge the Attack

• Use your InterFACE versus your opponent's POWer. This takes 10 ms.

3. Take the Hit

• Your opponent just hits you. You lose no time, but your opponent rolls an unmodified POWer to see how successful the strike becomes.

Classes

Virus Rider

No human understands how a virus works more than the virus rider. They've taken programming and reprogramming virus and Cybers into an art form, and exhibit their art with bravado. By riding the virus they have coded or tamed, they are able to increase the potency of their pet's abilities. There are, generally speaking, two Virus Rider schools of thought: overtake your opponents with swarms of virus or use virus riding to pump up the power of a single beastly pet. Very few have the experience and knowledge necessary to do both. Main stat is Interface.

Old Powers

1. Control Virus
2. Multiply Virus
3. Amplify Virus
4. Resist Corruption

Delicious CopyPasta: Virus Rider Abilities

1st Tier - Tame Virus -Allows the Virus Rider to attempt an Interface Check to bring a virus under his control. The Virus Rider may tame a number of Virus whose challenge rating is equal to or lower than his Level.

2nd TierL - Amplify Virus -You have a program that temporarily increases your Virus' Power during battle.

2nd Tier - Ride Virus -You are familiar enough with your Virus/Virus to be able to ride them, increasing your travel speed, and letting you both attack at the same time.

2nd TierR - Swarm Specialization -You are skilled enough to be able to control multiple virus at once. Taking this skill will allow you control over X more CRs worth of virus, where X is the number of ranks you have in Interface

3rd TierL - Streamline Virus -You have a program that temporarily increases the speed of your virus during battle.

3rd Tier - Viral Resistance -The Virus Rider understands enough on how Virus attack humans to code into himself an anti viral corruption code. While basic at first, as the Rider gains experience and strength,and tames and studies more powerful virus, his immunity will grow as well.

3rd TierR - Increased Swarm -This skill replaces Swarm Specialization, letting you control X more CRs of Virus, where X is twice your ranks in Interface

4th Tier - Create Virus - You have extensive knowledge of Virus and their inner workings. Through your prolonged exposure and studies, you've figured out how to design your own, and replicate other Virus. While you will not need to tame Created Virus, they still count towards your maximum Virus limit. This will also give you the General Skill: Program Virus, with ranks equal to your DS/2 (rounds down, minimum 1).

4th TierL - Greater Amplification

4th TierR - Viral Shield - Due to the swarm of virus surrounding you, it is very difficult to hit you. During each combat, you may have one attacker re-roll their to hit roll against you.

5th Tier - Viral Symbiosis. - You and your virus are almost as one. You have an extremely powerful bond, and work in perfect unison. Anytime either of you must roll an ability check, you may use either your stats, or your virus' (Note, cannot apply to Integration)

5th TierL - Viral Attrition -You have a program that allows you to sap skills to make your virus more powerful. Whenever your virus attacks, you may take X skill point damage, and add that many dice to his power pool.

5th TierR - Viral Integration - Instead of standard integrations, you have fashioned viral extensions for yourself, allowing you to better control and fight with your virus. Integration penalties still apply, you just become a Virus at INT10. The plus side to this is, each time one of your skills is attacked, you may make an INT check against the opponents POW to attempt to keep that skill online.

Hacker

Wizard type who uses hacks and other .exe files to buff himself and his allies, debuff his opponents through glitches and exploit files, and use hacks to provide a host of utilities and information gathering. When a powerful hacker's about, no data is private! Main stat is Interface.

Powers

1. Modify Value - (Integration cannot be modified.)
2. Open System
3. Exploit: .exe ranged
4. All .exe allowed, except Cracker and Lurker
5. End Process

Cracker

Wizard type who uses cracks, hacks and other .exe files to take the offensive against Cybers. Fear the Cracker who has backups of his persona! Some .exe files are powerful enough to even take out the user in the blast! Main stat is Power.

Powers

1. Allow Cracker .exe
2. Exploit: .exe ranged
3. Brute Force

Script Kiddie

Warrior type who creates nothing but is a master at wielding programs. A Script Kiddie's best friend is a Coder who can use the things they have programmed to their full advantage. Master of knowing how and when to use a lot of files. Main stat is Power.

Powers

Amplify .exe

The Script Kiddie goes by the following damage table.

Success - 1.5x Damage

Improved Success - 3x Damage

Major Success - 4x Damage

In addition, Script Kiddies add 5% of their level as a damage bonus to their final pool, rounded up.

Make It Work!

From level four onwards, you may reroll any 1 die in your dice pool. You must take the result. You can reroll an additional die at level 8, another at level 12, and so on.

.bat Creation

A Script Kiddie can use up to 3 .exe at once, incurring all ms costs of the .exe.

Lurker

The Lurker is one part internet ranger and one part security-subverting net-rogue. If you need to traverse tough terrain, bypass a Cyber's firewalls for a critical hit, or get where the Internet doesn't want you to be, a Lurker is essential to have around. Main stat is Data Scanning.

Powers

1. Search Bar Mastery - You can use any search bar skill as if you were trained in it. Treat it as if you had ranks equal to your Data Scanning.
2. Firewall Avoidance - When attacking an opponent that chooses to raise a firewall, a Lurker only has to beat half of its strength. Firewalls as a defensive structure are always useless, with Admin exceptions.
3. Allow Lurker .exe

Skills

Coding

Programming: Virus

Investing into this tree allows more powerful virus to be created.

Program Cyber

This path requires a level perquisite.

Program Trojan

This path requires a level perquisite and a certain amount of ranks in the Programming: Virus tree.

Programming: .exe

Investing into this tree allows more powerful .exes to be created.

Reconstruction

Investing into this path increases the chance of successful Reconstruction.

Remove Corruption: Cost - 10

In order to heal a corrupted ally, a character makes a Reconstruction roll vs. a static challenge equal the tens place of half of the total Corruption of said ally + 1. On a success, the Corruption is reset to 0. On a failure, half of the total Corruption is added again.

Probing

Link Sense

Successful Link Sense checks will yield information about a link's destination. Higher successes will reveal harder to find information.

Manipulation

Security Bypass

Investing in this skill path allows you to slip past programmed defences undetected. Each rank in this skill gives a +3 bonus to your roll.

Firewall Bypass

Investing in this skill allows you to make an opposed roll (FACE V firewall level) to ignore the opponents firewall. This part of the path requires 5 points in security bypass. Each rank in this skill gives a +3 bonus to your roll. it takes an extra 1ms when doing an attack with the firewall bypass ability i.e: a 2ms attack would need 3ms if you were using firewall bypass with it.

Password Crack

This step in the skill tree allows you to open password-locked files and systems. Each rank in this skill gives a +3 bonus to your roll. A password crack attempt typically takes 10ms to complete.

Modify Value: Interface

Investing in this skill allows you to modify you or ally's stat value by 1 for each rank in this skill. The modification lasts 1d4+skill rank, then reverts back to normal. To modify a stat value, you must roll under your FACE value, taking your ranks in this skill away from your roll.

Modify Value: Power

Investing in this skill allows you to modify you or ally's stat value by 1 for each rank in this skill. The modification lasts 1d4+skill rank, then reverts back to normal. To modify a stat value, you must roll under your FACE value, taking your ranks in this skill away from your roll.

Modify Value: Capacity

Investing in this skill allows you to modify you or ally's stat value by 1 for each rank in this skill. The modification lasts 1d4+skill rank, then reverts back to normal. To modify a stat value, you must roll under your FACE value, taking your ranks in this skill away from your roll.

Modify Value: Data Scanning

Investing in this skill allows you to modify you or ally's stat value by 1 for each rank in this skill. The modification lasts 1d4+skill rank, then reverts back to normal. To modify a stat value, you must roll under your FACE value, taking your ranks in this skill away from your roll.

Modify Non-Manipulation Skill Value

Investing into this skill path will allow greater increases for longer periods of time. each rank in this skill increases the duration of the modification by 2.

Forced Interface: Charm

Add rank as a final bonus to the total dice pool of any attempt to persuade an NPC into liking you more. Resolution check = FACE vs. opponent's FACE

Forced Interface: Frighten

Add rank as a final bonus to the total dice pool of any attempt to persuade an NPC into succumbing to the Fear mechanic. Resolution check = FACE vs. opponent's FACE

Forced Interface: Instigate

Add rank as a final bonus to the total dice pool of any attempt to goad a NPC into attacking a character of your choice. Resolution check = FACE vs. opponent's FACE

Conventional Skills

Modify Transparency

Investing into this path allows one to become progressively more difficult to spot.

Each rank costs 10 points. There are 5 ranks, which confer a negative bonus on each die of each resolution roll to spot you. To spot a character that is hiding, one must roll their Data Scanning vs. a static challenge determined by the Admin.

Suppress Audio

Investing into this path allows one to become progressively more difficult to hear.

Each rank costs 5 points. There are 5 ranks, which confer a negative bonus on each die of each resolution roll to spot you. To spot a character that is hiding, one must roll their Data Scanning vs. a static challenge determined by the Admin.

Search Bar: Local

Cost Per Level - 5

Stats to Roll - None

You must have a separate Search Bar: Local for each area. If you hit 40+ and want the resource, the question asked must get you to the next part of the arc. Also, you can only get 1 resource per game with this skill.

By making a successful check, you can use your knowledge and experience of the area to locate goods and services, find people, and know the 'customs' that a certain webfort implements.

Minor Success - Know where the center of activity is, famous landmarks.

Success - Able to point out specific services, relaxation centers, data trade centers and other helpful tidbits.

Improved Success - Can find 'celebrities' and other well-known people and where they hang out, as well as activities that the admins shouldn't know about. (You know Leetz has a n00d pix trade in his basement? I know someone who deals with him all the time.)

Major Success - Should be able to answer roughly any ONE question. When using this, if you hit this success, you have to hit it for each 'specific' question of the area.

Modifications: The size of the area will give each dice roll an modifier based on the size. An average webfort gives no rolls. A tiny outpost gives you +2 to each die. A massive uncorrupted area like rpg.net would give someone a -2.

Firewall Mastery

Crackers and Hackers will experience -3 per die per rank above 3. Virus Riders and Lurkers will experience -3 per die per rank above 5. Script Kiddies will experience -3 per die at rank 10.

LOL RANDOM

The Admin is the player running the game. They are this system's Game Master. They abide by two rules:

• Rule 0.0 - The Admin has the final say. A good Admin focuses on the fun of the other players and not on his ego.
• Rule 0.1 - Rule of Fun: The Admin can change any rule, fudge any dice, and allow anything not foreseen by the designers. Entertainment and a great story are the goals, and if the system is getting in the way of that, the system should be changed.

See Also

• Server Crash Bestiarum Vocabulum
• Server Crash Fluff

External Links

Threads archived in sup/tg/