Hackers are known for their technological wizardry, adept at manipulating the ubiquitous computerized systems people take for granted. However in space Hackers more often find their skills useful as Electronic Warfare (EW) specialists. While the threats of guns and torpedoes are perhaps more direct, an EW assault that shuts down a ship’s Void Sails, jams their sensors, or changes their transponder registry can be just as deadly…and harder to trace.

In space, Hackers must defend their ships against Electronic Warfare, while launching attacks of their own to neutralize enemy ships–especially those with superior firepower. On the ground, a skilled Hacker can be an asset to a special ops team, both for interfacing with doors and other technology, but even for hacking the harness (power armor) and technological weapons of enemy units. =

Electronic Warfare

Modern space and planetary operations relies heavily on EW, both attack and defense. In military units, the best Electronic Warfare Officers are Hackers, going beyond standard operating procedures to innovate and out-think their potentially highly skilled adversaries.

Firewalls

Most EW attacks begin with delivery of a malicious data payload into a ship or harness. Firewalls are like armor against EW, blocking hostile signals and identifying possible attacks embedded in friendly data. However, since attacks can come from both electromagnetic and Dark Energy spectrums, no firewall is foolproof, even military grade firewalls. Thus, Hackers must use their own skills and intuition to defend their ships against Electronic Warfare attacks, especially if flying a civilian ship not equipped with robust firewalls.

Combat Hacks

Hackers can make a “hack” as a kind of attack during combat, such as opening an airlock or locking the limbs of an enemy’s harness.
The player makes a Targeting check to deliver the hack, followed by a normal Attack and Damage rolls to see if the hack worked. The Damage roll is to see if the hack defeated any firewalls or countermeasures, which are equivalent to armor against a normal weapon. Rolling Extra Bad Stuff on the Attack roll can open the Hacker to a counterattack, possibly a counter-hack such as a virus, power surge, or EMP.
Here is one example hack.
Hack Harness – The hacker attempts to assume control over a harness. As with any Targeting roll this is more difficult if the harness is occupied and resisting the hacking attempt. If the hacker is successful then the player describes Good Stuff normally, similar as if the character fired a weapon. For example, the hack might freeze an arm, or blind the driver.

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