This will require some explaining

[AirborneRob]

Hey folks, i posted a H2B for EMP and have had alot of great feedback for it. This next item has me baffled..... I want to create an ability that will allow my character to perceive Internet transmissions, wireless and hardline, view the content of the transmission and perhaps alter the information as it's being sent/received. I know it might sound a little wonky In looking at the 6E1 book, i figured i should start with a Detect to perceive with Analyze ( normal vision? ), Fully Penetrative, Range, Megascaled at 1m= 1km with Telescopic +10 PER to offset range modifiers. The problem is that im not sure if the overall concept needs to be several powers to get the effect im looking for. The AP cap is 80 and alot can be done with 80 points but this has me wondering whether or not its too wonky to build right Now the real trick for me is that information sent via Internet moves at incredible speeds....so if the concept ability im looking to create can be done, how do you perceive the information at those speeds?

[Starcloud]

Re: This will require some explaining

 

It's currently measured in, um.. gigabits. And you need to be able to see every bit to be sure you're reading it right. So you'll need multiple levels of Rapid, plus a Language Group. "TCP/IP" bought to the Idiomatic level. Or maybe just "Universal Translator, only to interpret computer to computer communication".

[Sean Waters]

Re: This will require some explaining

 

You want to be able to control the internet over massive areas?

 

Hmm.

 

As a GM I'd be wary of allowing it (or any massively powerful 'sense' as they can unbalance the game, or at least require major re-writes), but if I did I'd require a LOT of 'rapid sense' because otherwise you just wouldn't be able to usefully handle the dataflow.

[Sean Waters]

Re: This will require some explaining

 

Also, bear in mind you might want to buy cryptography as a superskill because you might be able to use the sense to read encrypted transmissions, but you are reading the code, not the original - it will still look like gibberish.

[prestidigitator]

Re: This will require some explaining

 

Hmm. Yeah. I'd probably go with HRRP, add in some Discriminatory, Analyze, and Transmit, and compliment it with some skills like Systems Operation ("...allow characters to send or intercept navigational or encoded data."), maybe Computer Programming, and optionally Cryptography. Slap some Limitations on the sense and the skills if you want to restrict it to wireless Internet access only, and I'd call it good.

[McCoy]

Re: This will require some explaining

 

Humm.

 

HRRP (or telepathy vs machines)

 

A computer access perk (without a focus)

 

extra levels of perception to find the transmission you want

 

Security systems can probably be abstracted to cover both passworded systems and coded transmissions

 

And a forgery skill to change the transmission.

 

Add as much rapid as you can afford.

[McCoy]

Re: This will require some explaining

 

Humm.

 

HRRP (or telepathy vs machines)

 

A computer access perk (without a focus)

On second thought, how about a mindlink with the internet? Solves the access issue but leaves you character vulnerable to being hacked.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: This will require some explaining

 

Also' date=' bear in mind you might want to buy cryptography as a superskill because you might be able to use the sense to read encrypted transmissions, but you are reading the code, not the original - it will still look like gibberish.[/quote']

 

Sometimes even if you are reading the original, it will still look like gibberish! ;-)

 

It is the internet after all.

 

As for Sean's concerns about the Sense, I am not so convinced. Anyone who relies on the internet without any supplementary knowledge is asking to be mislead. Even a big sense supplemented with a big analysis will only really say what most people on the internet have written. If you do not have the necessary knowledge to filter the data then you are at the mercy of what the majority think about certain things. I am not sure I would charge too many points for this - I would, as a GM, look forward to the player using it to provide real and false information in a judicious way.

 

Doc

[AirborneRob]

Re: This will require some explaining

 

Sean, i can understand your apprehension regarding this power concept but keep in mind that most anything has the potential of being unbalancing. Like most abilities, there is a certain amount of restraint that a player is obligated to adhere to. I try to follow the idea of just because i can do a thing doesn't mean i should I will take a gander at the HRRP under the detect catagory as well as Telepathy and/or Mind Link to see what would fit best, ty folks