Came up with this idea when pondering my idea for an AGI white-hat hacker whose job was to hack into hypercorp databases and get back out, then let the hypercorp know how to improve their security. It's a bit of a spinoff of the 'Edited Memories' trait--possibly the upgraded, 20-point version.
Secret Programming
Bonus: 10 points
The character's ego has been altered with psychosurgery to perform a specific task in specific circumstances (to be worked out with the gamemaster). For example, a programmer might have been programmed to leave a specific backdoor in every firewall they write, or a media personality may have been programmed to always obey the orders of someone who says the code phrase "The flowers of Babylon are lovely at this time of the year".
The ego in question usually has no knowledge or memory of the programming, nor do they find anything remarkable about the actions that they do as a result of it--the programmer incorporates the backdoor as part of their regular coding practice, and the media personality follows the orders of the speaker of the code phrase (seemingly) of their own volition. The character must succeed at an INT test in order to realize that anything is odd (this becomes INTx2 if a third party points it out for them); if they succeed, they may attempt to break free of the program by succeeding at a WILx3 test.
The 'leaves a backdoor in all programs' is what made me come up with the trait, as it works well with the character's Edited Memories (which obscure the identity and goals of her creator). I'm not 100% on the mechanics; I want it to be hard to figure out that you're doing something weird and to break out of it, but I might have messed something up along the way.
Thoughts?
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New Negative Trait: Secret Programming
Wed, 2009-12-23 05:56
#1
New Negative Trait: Secret Programming
+1 r-Rep , +1 @-rep


Trentin C Bergeron (TreChriron)
Bard, Dreamer, Computer Nerd, & RPG Enthusiast
October Northwest
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