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Brainjacking is the practice of highjacking cyberware through the adept use of short range signals and software exploits.
Brainjacking can only be done with people with the Brainjacking Role Ability. Brainjackers use Braindecks to detect exploitable "access points", which can then be "decoded". Once the brainjockey has decoded a target, they can upload brainjacking programs to the target.
In a hyper-computerized and data-rich world, cyberware technology is strangely paradoxical. Because cyberware needs to interface with the human body, cyberware generally uses very little data, instead relying on micro-computers which can receive, interpret, and generate neural impulses to and from the wearer’s nervous system. While cyberware is filled with microcomputers, processors and datapoints, every piece of cyberware is generally a closed off system.
That’s where dnaMETA comes in. dnaMETA is the computer language through which cyberware translates neural impulses from the wearer’s body into useable computer code. This is the process which allows a wearer to extend their wolvers by thinking about it, or to activate their Sandevistan implant in a microsecond. This process is what brainjockeys devote many sleepless nights to exploit.
Once a brainjockey gains access to a body with a dnaMETA Decoder, they are not actually "in a network". Instead, they rely way cyberware translates the body’s neural impulses to access every other piece of cyberware within that body.
A BRAINDECK is a specialized computer with antennas and arrays that can remotely find and exploit a target’s ACCESS POINTS. It also maintains DECODERS, which are installed to interface with a target’s cyberware.
A brainjockey needs to be Jacked Into the Braindeck to Scan, install Decoders and upload Brainjacking Programs. Jacking in or Out of a Braindeck is a Free Action.
SCAN: As a free action, you make your braindeck scan the people around you. Your Braindeck tells you if every person you can see within 30 m/yds has an Access Point or not. If they have an Access Point, you learn its type.
DECODING: As an Action, you install a Decoder to a target with an Access Point within 6 m/yds of you. If you maintain access to the Decoder, you immediately learn every relevant piece of cyberware that the target is wearing. When you take the Decoding action and maintain access to the Decoder, you can also immediately upload a Brainjacking Program as part of that action.
Your Decoder fails at the end of its duration or if its target falls unconscious/dies.
| Decoder Name | Duration | Price |
| Tapeworm | 1 minute | 100 eb. (Premium) |
| Loa Loa | 1 hour (can be disabled as an action) | 1,000 eb. (Very Expensive) |
| Guinea Worm | Until removed (can be disabled as an action) | 5,000 eb. (Luxury) |
UPLOAD PROGRAM: As an Action, you upload a Brainjacking Program to a Decoder you have installed. You must be within 6 m/yds of your Decoder to upload a Brainjacking Program.
A Braindeck can only maintain a certain number of Decoders at a time. Once the Braindeck reaches its maximum number of simultaneous connections, it becomes OVERLOADED and cannot install any additional Decoders until it finishes cooling down. The cooldown period is 5 minutes.
| Braindeck Type | Decoder Maximum | Program Storage | Price |
| Poor Quality Braindeck | 2 | 6 | 500 eb. (Expensive) |
| Standard Quality Braindeck | 3 | 10 | 1,000 eb. (Very Expensive) |
| Excellent Quality Braindeck | 4 | 20 | 5,000 eb. (Luxury) |
The bread and butter of the Brainjockey, BRAINJACKING PROGRAMS are the programs that the brainjockey uploads to the DECODER to exploit the target’s cyberware.
Uploading a Brainjacking Program results in a contested Brainjacking Check, as the Defender instinctually attempts to resist the effects of the program. Each program specifies the Skill Check that the Defender must attempt.
If they are the target of a program which lasts more than one round, the Defender can use an action to attempt to make the program fail. If they do, they must beat the result of the Brainjacking Check made when uploading the program. The Defender can only do this if they are aware that they have been brainjacked.
If the Brainjockey fails the Brainjacking Check, the program fails.
GENERIC BRAINJACKING PROGRAMS exploit the defender’s neural network in some way. These programs can be uploaded into any target with a Decoder.
Programs that hurt Defenders directly.
| Name | Class | Prerequisite | Effect | Duration | Brainjacking Check VS | Cost |
| zap.dmt | Anti-Personnel | None | Triggers painful neural impulses. Deals 1d6 direct damage. | 1 round | Resist Torture/Drugs | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: a lightning bolt | ||||||
Programs that disrupts the Defender's actions or cyberware.
| Name | Class | Prerequisite | Effect | Duration | Brainjacking Check VS | Cost |
| freeze.dmt | Disruption | None | Affects the motor nerves. Muscles from leg seize, reducing MOVE by 2, or muscles from arm seize, reducing ROF by 1. | 1 round | Athletics | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: a snowflake | ||||||
| teehee.dmt | Disruption | None | Triggers neural impulses to erogenous areas, tickling the Defender. They giggle and suffer -1 to all Skill Checks, or -4 for Social Skill Checks. | 1 round | Resist Torture/Drugs | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: a smiley face with a tear | ||||||
| painkiller.dmt | Disruption | None | Suppresses pain signals in neural system. Defender ignores effects of Seriously Wounded. | 1 round | Resist Torture/Drugs | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: a smiley face with a tear | ||||||
Programs that gather information about the Defender through their cyberware.
| Name | Class | Prerequisite | Effect | Duration | Brainjacking Check VS | Cost |
| u_home.dmt | Monitoring | None | Know the target’s location. | Until decoder expires. | Perception | 20 eb. (Everyday) |
| Icon: a pin on a map | ||||||
| consent_form.dmt | Monitoring | None | Small tingle makes Defender aware of upload. Defender can choose to consent or not to all program upload. Consenting allows programs to be uploaded without a Brainjacking Check. | Until decoder expires. | None | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: a signature form with a quill | ||||||
| satellite.dmt | Monitoring | None | Programs can be uploaded from any distance as long as a NET connection is maintained. | Until decoder expires. | Tracking | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: a network of dots | ||||||
| contagion.dmt | Monitoring | None | Decoder scans for nearby Access Points and transmits programs to them. When a program is uploaded to Defender’s Decoder, the program is also uploaded to other people with an Access Point within 6 m/yd. | Until decoder expires. | DV20 | 500 eb. (Expensive) |
| Icon: a virus cell | ||||||
SPECIALIZED BRAINJACKING PROGRAMS exploit one or more pieces of cyberware that the Defender is wearing. These programs automatically fail if they are uploaded in a Defender which does not have the cyberware specified in the program’s prerequisites.
Programs that hurt Defenders directly.
| Name | Class | Prerequisite | Effect | Duration | Brainjacking Check VS | Cost |
| synapse_burnout.dmt | Anti-personnel | Neural Link | The neuralware module becomes overloaded with commands. After 1 round, Defender’s brain starts suffering from stroke-like symptoms. Deals 2d6 direct damage and Defender suffers from the Brain Injury Critical Injury. | 2 rounds | Resist Torture/Drugs | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: a person holding their head | ||||||
| this_never_happens.dmt | Anti-personnel | Neural Link with subdermal grip or Interface Plug. Connected smartlinked weapon. | Triggers the smartlinked weapon when aiming at anything human shaped. Roll 1d6 at the start of the Defender’s turn. On a result of 5 or higher, the target accidentally fires at a random target and makes an attack against them, using their weapon. | 3 rounds | Evasion | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: a person holding their head | ||||||
| lord_forgive_me.dmt | Anti-personnel | Midnight Lady Sexual Implant OR Mr. Studd Sexual Implant | Send a series of overcomplex command to the cyberware, overheating the onboard computer systems. Deals 1d6 direct damage to the target at the start of their turn. If the program deals 6 damage in a round, Defender is knocked prone and the cyberware visibly catches fire. | 3 rounds | Resist Torture/Drugs | 100 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: a hand holding a cross | ||||||
| nap.dmt | Anti-personnel | Neural Link | A shock of electricity from the neural link causes blood vessels to seize. Defender falls unconscious for 1 minute. | 1 round | Endurance | 500 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: three Zs | ||||||
Programs that gather information about the Defender through their cyberware.
| Name | Class | Prerequisite | Effect | Duration | Brainjacking Check VS | Cost |
| voyeur.dmt | Monitoring | Cybereye with MicroVideo option. | See through somebody's cybereye module. Up to 30 minutes of footage received can be saved in the Braindeck. | Until decoder expires. | Perception (sight) | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: a trench-coat wearing person with an old-school photo camera | ||||||
| hear_here.dmt | Monitoring | Cyberaudio with Audio Recorder option and Remote Access Point. | Hear through somebody's cyberaudio. Up to 30 minutes of data received can be saved in the Braindeck. | Until decoder expires. | Perception (hearing) | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: an ear with wires coming out | ||||||
| body language.dmt | Monitoring | Biomonitor | At the end of your turn, learn one of the Defender’s STAT values (your choice). | Until decoder expires. | Resist Torture/Drugs | 100 eb. (Premium) |
| Icon: a DNA helix under a viewing glass | ||||||
Programs that disrupts the Defender's actions or cyberware.
| Name | Class | Prerequisite | Effect | Duration | Brainjacking Check VS | Cost |
| distraction.dmt | Disruption | Cyberaudio suite. | The Defender hears a 1 second noise of your choice from a direction of your choice. | 1 rounds. | Perception (Hearing) | 20 eb. (Everyday) |
| Icon: a little bell being shaken. | ||||||
| slide_in.dmt | Disruption | Biomonitor, Skinwatch, or Cybereye w/ Chyron, or Cyberarm w/ Medscanner or Techscanner | Write anything on the cyberware display using an Action. Can also choose to disable or reenable the cyberware as part of the Action. | Until decoder expires. | Basic Tech | 20 eb. |
| Icon: a blank text bubble | ||||||
| blinding_love.dmt | Disruption | 1 or 2 cybereyes. | The cybereyes’ output blurs. Defender suffers the Damaged Eye critical injury until the end of the program’s duration (does not take damage from the Critical Injury). | 3 rounds. | Perception (Sight) | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: an eye with an heart-shaped iris. | ||||||
| tinnitus.dmt | Disruption | Cyberaudio Suite | Create a buzzing noise in ear. Defender suffers the Damaged Ear critical injury until the end of the program’s duration (does not take damage from the Critical Injury). | 3 rounds. | Perception (Hearing) | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: a shockwave. | ||||||
| focus_on_the_trees.dmt | Disruption | 1 or 2 cybereyes with MicroOptics, Targeting Scope or TeleOptics. | Forces the cybereye to zoom to its maximum extent and locks the feature. Defender suffers the Lost Eye critical injury until the end of the program’s duration (does not take damage from the Critical Injury). | Until decoder expires. | Perception (Sight) | 100 eb. (Premium) |
| Icon: horizontal squiggly lines that can be interpreted as bark. | ||||||
| listen_to_this.dmt | Disruption | Cyberaudio Suite with Music Player, Radio Communicator or Internal Agent. | Replaces all sounds heard by the target with a sound of your choice. Defender suffers the Lost Ear critical injury until the end of the program’s duration (does not take damage from the Critical Injury). | 3 rounds. | Perception (Hearing) | 100 eb. (Premium) |
| Icon: an ear with earphones in | ||||||
| stop/arret.dmt | Disruption | Any piece of cyberware. | Choose one piece of cyberware or a cyberware option you can access. That piece of cyberware stops responding to Defender’s commands. | 3 rounds. | Athletics | 100 eb. (Premium) |
| Icon: a bilingual stop sign | ||||||
| solo_down.dmt | Disruption | Neural Link with Kerenzikov or Sandevistan. | Scrambles the Defender's boosted Reflexes. Defender has -5 Initiative. | 3 rounds. | Initiative Check | 100 eb. (Premium) |
| Icon: a bald man with spirals instead of eyes | ||||||
Programs that take direct control of the Defender's cyberware.
| Name | Class | Prerequisite | Effect | Duration | Brainjacking Check VS | Cost |
| peace_n_love.dmt | Control | Cyberhand or cyberlimb that is holding something. | Cyberhand drops whatever it was holding. If the Defender has a cyberarm, the arm instead throws whatever it is holding as far away as it can from itself. | 1 round. | Athletics | 50 eb. (Costly) |
| Icon: a hippy peace sign | ||||||
| run_forrest.dmt | Control | 1 or 2 cyberlegs. | Defender with 1 cyberleg is knocked prone. Defender with 2 cyberlegs sprints in a direction chosen by the brainjockey. If the Defender hits an obstacle, they take 2d6 damage. | 1 round. | Athletics | 100 eb. (Premium) |
| Icon: running legs with pants and dress shoes | ||||||
| im_armed.dmt | Control | Any cyberlimb | Take control of a cyberlimb for one round. You can use any cyberlimb option installed in that cyberlimb. If the action causes a Skill Check, use the Defender’s Base Skill. | 1 round. | Athletics | 500 eb. (Expensive) |
| Icon: a cyberhand doing a thumbs up | ||||||
| would_you_kindly.dmt | Control | Cyberaudio with Audio Recorder and any piece of cyberware | Assign a word to an action a piece of cyberware that the Defender has can do. When the word is heard by the cyberaudio suite, the cyberware executes that action. The Defender can resist the triggered action. | Until decoder expires. | Resist Torture/Drugs | 500 eb. (Expensive) |
| Icon: an old-school radio microphone | ||||||
Brainjacking is rare, but VIPs, corpos and organized crime honchos around the world know better than to assume that they won’t receive a visit from a brainjockey. In response to this highly advanced form of hacking, some people have developed a subtype of Black ICE to resist brainjacking attempts.
A person needs to be wearing at least one piece of cyberware to install a Brainjacking Black ICE. A person can only install one Brainjacking Black ICE.
It is impossible to know if a Defender has a brainjacking Black ICE before installing a DECODER. If the target has a Black ICE, the brainjockey installs the DECODER, but immediately loses access to it. This is how they discover the Black ICE. The DECODER remains installed for its normal duration, but the brainjockey cannot upload programs to it until the BLACK ICE is defeated.
As an Action, the brainjockey can attack a Black ICE. Roll a BRAINJACKING CHECK VS the BLACK ICE DV
If the Brainjockey beats the DV, they defeat the Black ICE and regain access to their DECODER.
If the brainjockey fails the BRAINJACKING CHECK, they suffer from the effect specified by the Black ICE.
| Black ICE name | Effect | BLACK ICE DV | Price |
| Stronghold | No effect after failed Brainjacking Check. | 13 | 500 eb. (Expensive) |
| Icon: a brick wall. | |||
| Enigma | No effect after failed Brainjacking Check. However, the Defender gains +2 when doing Skill Checks against Brainjacking Checks for the next hour. | 12 | 500 eb. (Expensive) |
| Icon: an old computer. | |||
| Shatter | The brainjockey takes 2d6 direct damage. | 15 | 1000 eb. (V. Expensive) |
| Icon: a hammer. | |||
| Headshot | The brainjockey takes 3d6 direct damage. | 18 | 5,000 eb. (Luxury) |
| Icon: a hand holding a pistol. | |||
| Lucy | This BLACK ICE is an AI programmed to actively brainjack the intruder. Lucy is loaded with 4 brainjacking programs. Lucy installs a DECODER into the brainjockey and uploads all 4 of its loaded brainjacking programs. | 20 | 10,000 eb. (Super Luxury) |
| Icon: a woman with three eyes. |
