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ICE comes in a few flavors, depending on how
it deals with the intruder that sets it off.
| White ICE has no
direct negative affect on the user at all. It will deny access, trace, and
cut the connection of the user. Bouncers, data walls, and of course,
tracers, all full under this category. |
| Yellow ICE is a
step up from white. It attempts to exploit a basic weakness in the internet,
be it in the software of the various nodes or the actual hard-points that
glue it all together. |
| Brown ICE attacks
your computer. Injecting virii, sending it damaging commands, and generally
trying to crash and inflict harm on the computer is what this level of ICE
does. |
| Black ICE attacks the user. Direct and to the point, this
ICE has no mercy. Delivering heart attacks, mind wipes, and reducing the
hacker to a vegetable in the name of security. |
ICE on this page will be color coded in just this fashion
to make it easy to find the type of ICE you may be interested in.
|
Data Wall |
| A data wall attempts to bar entry.
This is its sole purpose. Visually, it takes on a very obvious appearance. A
tall slab of concrete or even a swirling mass of 1's and 0's that prevent a
user from stepping forward. Log in systems for Data Walls tend to take the
form of gates and doors in the wall itself, sometimes with a friendly, or
not, guard-representation besides it. Sometimes the guard is more than for
show and is actually higher level ICE ready to be triggered if the wall is
attacked. This ICE does not make actions, it simply bars progress. It has a
lot of durability in comparison to some ICE. The Data Wall has 5 succs worth
of durability per rating and takes up 0.1 space per rating. If determining
randomly, roll 1d10 for the rating. Add 10 if it's a corporation and 15 for
military. |
|
Bouncer |
| The bouncer attempts to send the user
back to his home site. Like a raw attack in cyber combat, it's very simple
and basic. The ICE version is sufficiently advanced over basic typing that
it does not bounce so easily off of armor or shields. Every round that the
Bouncer is active, it will roll its rating X 5. These successes are ONLY
countered by active defense OR a shield/armor designed specifically against
the bouncer. When ten successes are gathered, the user gets bumped out of
the system and back to square one. Appearance wise, Bouncers can take the
form of typical fleshy bouncers, huge and intimidating, escorting the hacker
out of the system. Some bouncers have no appearance at all, just a strong
wind that blows the intruder away. A bouncer has 4 succs worth of durability
per rating and takes up 0.15 space per rating. |
|
Nag |
| The nag is an interesting bit of ICE.
It follows the intruder around and asks them to leave, repeatedly, without
end. It doesn't stop them from moving through the system and it doesn't
attack, it just drones on and on and on. It's very distracting. The visage
of the Nag ranges from snooty secretaries to dogs to high pitched and
screeching fractal patterns. Whatever the appearance, the result is +1
difficulty to all rolls the hacker makes while the Nag is functioning unless
he can beat the Nag's rating in a straight Willpower roll. This roll has to
be made every round the hacker needs to roll something else. A Nag has a
durability of 4 per rating and takes up 0.1 per rating. |
|
Trace |
| The trace. Simple, dependable. The
trace is used as the backbone of almost any security system. Many types of
Yellow ICE can't even run without knowing the hacker's physical location.
Also, corp cops can stop a hacker quite quickly once they know where to go
and bust heads open. Tracing uses the navigational rules for the system
finding the hacker. If the hacker is running a masking program, then the
address is not known. If the hacker is running a hider, then they are
considered hidden. The dice pool of the tracer is Rating X 5 with the
standard rules for how often rolls can be made. Tracers almost universally
appear as a white thread that attaches to the user. Some variations
have the string change color as it gets closer. The durability of a trace
program is intense, largely due to its simplicity and the need for it to
remain standing long enough to get a lock. Rating X 6. Trace takes up 0.1
per rating in size. |
|
Second House |
| An ingenious bit of code. This ICE
appears to be a data wall, but when the user enters, it entraps their
perceptions and they enter an illusional system. Everything they do is
reacted to as if they were really doing it, but no real effect occurs to the
computer. It's startlingly effective. Hackers who don't run active scanning
programs are almost always caught still sitting at their computers, thinking
they're doing great. The Second House can be detected with ICE scanning
before or System scanning software after entering. The program+user succs
have to double the rating of Second House or it continues to appear as an
innocent and largely flimsy Data Wall prog. Durability is low, at 2 X
rating. Second House is large for a white ice, taking up 0.3 per rating. |
|
Freezer |
| An ICE that makes all other ICE more
effective. The freezer attempts to seize up and lock the carrier signal
between the hacker and the target computer. The result is that the hacker
loses turns completely when it works. A hacker that is flying blind can
still take physical actions, but the computer is quite locked up for the
duration. The freezer takes several popular forms, including the
name-fitting cold wind to more visceral tentacles that grip and hold the
hacker still. Every round the Freezer attacks, it rolls its Rating X 5. Any
successes that penetrate the hacker's defenses cause a +1 difficulty until
the next round when the freezer's turn comes again. If it manages to inflict
+8 or more difficulty, the user is frozen in place and cannot take actions
for the same time period. The freezer has a durability of 3 X rating and
takes up 0.17 per rating. |
|
Redirector |
| The redirector works on the same
principle as the bouncer, except instead of sending the user home, it sends
them to a specific other site. See bouncer for specific rules, increase size
by 20% and it needs 15 succs. |
|
Socket Burn |
| The Socket Burn works off of an
existing trace. If the user is connected via a phone modem, a flood of
signals bombards the wall jack, causing it to melt down into smelly slag.
Visually, socket burn tends to appear as some form of fire breathing entity.
Socket Burn makes a roll of 5 X rating every round. No armor or shield
protects from this attack. Once ten successes are gathered, the socket is
melted beyond use and the user is kicked offline until he can get a new
socket. Chances are good whatever cable was hooked to the wall is also
destroyed. Socket Burn does not work against satellite based modems. Socket
burn has a durability of 3 X rating and takes up 0.15 per rating. |
|
Tattle Tell |
| Appearing often as a small girl in
sun dress, the tattle tell employs a technique more often used about fifty
years ago. There are no ISPs in this day and age, but, there are companies
in charge of cyberspace access and maintenance. Once the user's physical
location is traced, this program will scurry off and alert the company in
charge of the hacker's district to his illicit activities. This gets the
user kicked offline in 1d30 cyber rounds. The company is also bound by law
to blacklist the modem hardware used to do the hacking, locking the user
from the online world until the identification chip in the modem is replaced
or the user gets a new modem. Tattle Tell has a durability of 2X rating and
takes up 0.1 space per rating. |
|
Sky Spring |
| Sky Spring works off of some basic
weaknesses in the satellite design. Once the user is tracked, the Sky Spring
contacts the satellite they're using and sends it a confusing string of
positional and protocol information in the hacker's name. The result is that
the hacker is immediately thrown offline with a dropped carrier and can't
log in for 1d10 real minutes. Sky Spring has a 3 X rating durability and
takes up 0.1 space per rating. |
|
Spam |
| The name says it all. Appearing as a
flood, sometimes of meat, this ICE slows the user down by sending a
never-ending stream of junk down their dataline. Every round, Spam rolls its
rating X 5. Every success subtracts 1 from the hacker's initiative, slowing
them down. Every program actively affecting combat that round -increases-
the effect of Spam by 25%. If your initiative is reduced to -20 or worse,
you lose connection to the net and must reconnect. Spam has a durability of
3 X rating and a size of 0.05 per rating. |
|
Clipper |
| The Clipper appears as a huge set of
gardening shears. If the tracer program finds that the first target is a
hoax, the Clipper can be called in to sever the connection to the host
there. Sending a series of commands to the nearest internet node between the
dummy host and the assaulted site, it sends the user hurtling back and away
from his quarry. Every round the Clipper rolls its rating X 5. No armor or
shielding protects from this. Once 15 succs are garnered, the user is
ejected from the system and sent 1d20 navigational succs away. Durability is
3 X rating and size is 0.2 per rating. |
|
Tar Baby |
| The Tar Baby ICE hides, lurking
quietly in inactive mode until the hacker attempts to attack one of the
other running ICE on the system. Once it strikes, it lashes out at the very
program being used to attack. If the user isn't using a program to attack,
the Tar Baby has no effect. If, more likely, a program is being used, the
Tar Baby rolls its rating X 5. If as many succs as 0.2 segments the attack
program takes up is scored, the attack program dissolves instantly. To add
insult to injury, if this occurs, the attack that was in progress fizzles
harmlessly. The next round, at the Tar Baby's initiative, it returns to
inactive mode. The Tar Baby has a feeble 1 durability per rating and takes up
0.3 per rating. |
|
Look at Me |
| Designed especially for the low-grade
hackers that come from bored corporate workers looking for a thrill. This
ICE infiltrates the computer and seizes control of the speakers, causing it
to play out anything the designer wants it to say. Very embarrassing. This
ICE tends to appear as an extremely ethnic man who shouts out what is coming
from the speakers as loudly as he can. The ICE rolls its rating X 5, which
is countered only by defensive programs or active user defense, as it only
needs one success to do its dirty business. Durability is 3 X rating and it
takes up 0.2 per rating. |
|
Goatse |
| Goatse is a particularly nasty little bit of black ICE. It
floods the user's sensory input with images of horrible depravity and
stomach unsettling visceral the likes to make the most hardened mass
murderer think twice. This combined with some low-level brain commands sends
the user into a state of shock. Every round a user is exposed to Goatse they
must make a willpower roll and lose as much willpower as the successes they
score under the rating of the ICE. Armor is ineffective against Goatse, but
shields do function, adding their succs to the willpower roll. Durability of
Goatse is 4 X rating and size is 0.5 per. |
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