This article originally appeared in Pyramid #6

Q & A on...
HACKER®

1. Can you nark on a wormy system?
Sure. Why not?
1a. Can you cause a "wormhouseclean" by narking?
No.
2. Can you offer freaks onto a wormy system?
Yes. You can try operations on a wormy system - just not through it.
3. When dealing with systems that never houseclean:
a. When black ice traces through the system, does the black ice force a housecleaning?
No.
b. On such a system, can we do selective housecleanings?
Yes. A hacker can always do his own housecleaning.
c. Does Traffic Analysis work on such a system?
Yes. This is you housecleaning, not the sysadmin.
d. How about Hacker Hysteria?
No. The sysadmin doesn't believe in that hacker stuff.
4. Now the game allows for eight players. On page 2 of the original rules, there is a table that lists the number of systems and indials which form the starting net based on the number of players. But how does this work for 7 or 8 players?
Whoops . . .
7-player game: 17 regular systems, 4 indials
8-player game: 19 regular systems, 5 indials
5. If you use a defense card (e.g., Congressional Inquiry, Whoops, Dummy Equipment, etc.), after being raided, do you still lose the rest of your turn?
If you lose your equipment, you lose your turn, but not otherwise.
6. Divine Meditation says that your turn ends immediately. If it is played on you just as you start your turn, do you still go through the automatic steps of your turn like rolling for crashed systems, housecleaning, and drawing a card?
No. Your turn ends the moment the card is played on you. Carry out the consequences of any die-roll you have actually made, and stop.
7. Since you can automatically crash any system where you have root, what does the "to crash his favorite system" line mean under Forced Favors? How can you get a bonus to crash a system?
This is what we call a "mistake." You can't get bonuses to crash; if you can do it at all, it's automatic. My fault. Thanks for pointing it out.

- Steve Jackson

ARCHIVIST NOTE: The questions were unattributed in the original column.


Article publication date: April 1, 1994


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