This is one area of Netrunning that few people ever really think to play hassles with. Every runner worth the cost has a reputation to maintain. Each is accustomed to running the net with a grace and ease unknown to turtle runners. What happens if those things are distorted?

Icon Distortion: Gooped
Not every attack should be lethal, some can be done just for fun, or for the effects it will have on an opponents rep. Gooping his icon is one such option. Eassentially this program if successful rewrites the target's net icon to include a large amount of noxious green slime the perptually drips from him. Or if you like his programs can show the blight.

Icon Distortion: Gender Bender
This program attempts to redesign the target's icon, is generates a fairly effective conversion from one gender to the other. It can even be used to alter the icons of various subroutines. Imagine turning all your foes killer's into Red Sonja wannabe's?

Icon Functionality: Quick Sand
This program attempts to rewrite the movement subroutines of a runner's various programs. In effect reducing their ability to move to fractions of a single grid. Hours might pass before they cna reach their targets.

Icon Functionality: Target lock
This program alters the traget programs abilities to follow precise targetting instructions. Varients on this program can have an enemy runner's killers going after bystranders, netwatch or himself.

Net Functionailty: Blink
This program scambles the target's position referents in the Net, essentially what it does is adds a random number generator to each position value. When the sequence starts each turn a new random number is added tot he runner's soordinates andhe blinks about teleporting randomly from point to point.

Net Functionality: Webbed
This program functions to remove the user's ability to input new web coordinates, in essence trapping him in one place. This is a favorite of netwatch. Especially when added to an escape clause blocker.

Net Functionality: Banana Peel
This adds a random value to each normal movement, in essence forcing the runner to move further than anticipated with each movement, making him skid about hectically.

Sensory Distortion: Scrambled Eggs
The netrunner relies on his deck toprovide meaningfula nd useful sensory stimuli. In particular the visual aspect of VR is very important. This program attempts to add a randomizer to the visual data stream making all visual stimuli seem distorted and meaningless.

Pain Induction: Severe
The sensation of pain is the only sense we truly have mental control over. Unlike our awareness of temperature or light we never grow accustomed to a set level of stimuli when pain is involved, but we can choose to ignore it. Or create it. This code sequence is designed to trigger a massive sensation of pain, customizable options allow for various real world injuries to be simulated. But of course pain is one of those options that no RPG can really convey, so I recommend adding a penalty to action equal to the strength of the program. And of course the program must manage to strike the 'runner before it can do anything.

Pain Induction: Annoyance
One of the aspects of hackers and cyberpunk's netrunners that has been largely lost is the element of practical jokes, or doing something just to prove you can. But for something that amounts to a complicated way of saying "I can see you", the full crippling pain function is too heavy handed. And if ya just wanna pull someone's chain wouldn't an itch that doesn't go away be more amusing? Or giving him the sensation of a burning genital rash? You see the idea. This wouldn't really have any game effect, except maybe in social tests (scratching your balls while trying to score with that socket could be embarrassing) or critical moments (is it the red or the black wire?), but I'd be willing to award IP for amusing play.

Net Alert: Siren
The player's icon presence is altered to transmit an ear spiltting siren at all times.

Deck Functionality: See Me Not
What if your target couldn't even see the things you've done to his icon and the alerts he now gives off? This program installs a filter to make all the user's sensory perceptions normal in everyway. This makes VR attacks look a lot like a sign on his back saying "Kick Me" he may never even know about it.

Net Structure: Mazed
This program loads a new VR structure into the user's deck. It adds a randomly created maze designed to impeed the runner on his journey, as no travel may be performed until such time as the maze is completed.

Sensory Distortion: Mix Up
The program rearranges the deck's ability to send the appropriate icons to the user. there for he will receive randomly selected icons for each new program he encounters. Imagine how alarming this could get is every other user he sees looks just like a hellhound?

Last Update: July 1st, 1999