Hacking

A hacking module remotely overpowers another starship’s onboard computer systems. An affected starship loses all control of its integrated control module (ICM) for 1 round, plus 1 additional round for every 5 by which the science officer’s special gunnery check exceeds the target’s TL. Instead, the hacking module’s science officer gains control of the affected starship’s ICM and can apply the flat circumstance bonuses the ICM would typically apply as penalties of equal value to one or more starship combat checks, representing the hacker’s interference with the thrusters, communications, and even the internal lights of the targeted starship. For example, a science officer who has taken control of a starship’s mk 2 trinode computer (which normally grants +2 bonuses to three different checks) could apply a –2 penalty to three different starship combat checks per round. A heavy or capital hacking module increases the flat penalty value by 1. A capital hacking module can also apply the penalty to one additional starship combat check per round.

The science officer must apply a penalty before the affected starship’s crew attempts a check. Although the science officer knows when one of the affected starship’s crew members is attempting a check and the type of check (such as knowing that a gunner is about to use the shoot action), hacking into the starship provides the science officer no special knowledge of the starship’s armaments or its crew’s capabilities.

A starship’s effective TL against gunnery checks attempted by a hacking module increases by 1 for each anti-hacking system (Core Rulebook 300) it has. During the engineering phase, an affected starship’s science officer can use their action to end the hacking effects with a successful Computers check (DC = 15 + 1-1/2 × the enemy starship’s tier). This science officer gains a circumstance bonus to this check equal to their starship’s number of anti-hacking systems.