How to make a hacker

[Kaje]

For fun, I'm working on translating the characters from our action heroes game into 3.5. The investigator, thief and wizard are all easy, but what to do with the hacker. He's an elf, with abilities to use computers, research information, and do cool stuff with technology. How would you translate this hacker to a 10th level character in fake-medieval times?

[Icarium]

Tbh, I wouldn't...

But since that's probably not what you're looking for I'd make him with any class/prc that's even remotly conected to artificing/tinkering ;) Also, with some social skills for that manual info-gathering.. So maybe some kind of bard/tinkerer hybrid...

[Crake]

Tbh, I wouldn't...

I second this statement. Hackers are basically people who are proficient with technology and able to manipulate it with their skills. If you consider magic as technology then wizard fits the role of a magical hacker, they can make their own programs (spells), they can decode and decipher other people's programs (identify spells with spellcraft), and they can shutdown and reverse engineer other people's programs (spell research, dispel magic and counterspelling).

Without any technology to hack, hackers essentially become pointless, wizards fulfill the magical hacker niche, so at best, a hacker could be an artisan, someone who makes things, essentially a life hacker/inventor maybe? That doesn't really fit the theme though. You just can't really have a hacker without modern tech.

[The Glyphstone]

Variant Ur-Priest maybe? If you re-interpret the gods as the 'administrators' of the universe and its rules, a 'hacker' would be writing themselves a false access ID to manipulate its 'source code'. Could even give some inter-party banter if he then derides the wizard for being a script-kiddy who relies on arcane 'viruses' to mess with the universe from an outside perspective.

[Blue Jay]

I second this statement. Hackers are basically people who are proficient with technology and able to manipulate it with their skills. If you consider magic as technology then wizard fits the role of a magical hacker, they can make their own programs (spells), they can decode and decipher other people's programs (identify spells with spellcraft), and they can shutdown and reverse engineer other people's programs (spell research, dispel magic and counterspelling).

Without any technology to hack, hackers essentially become pointless, wizards fulfill the magical hacker niche, so at best, a hacker could be an artisan, someone who makes things, essentially a life hacker/inventor maybe? That doesn't really fit the theme though. You just can't really have a hacker without modern tech.

If you're going with "magic is technology," then surely the Spellthief is a fairly decent approximation of the hacker concept?

[Crake]

If you're going with "magic is technology," then surely the Spellthief is a fairly decent approximation of the hacker concept?

I did think about that, but a spellthief would be more analogous to a covert agent with some hacking experience. I'm going by colloquial terms here, maybe the hacker class is more rogue-y than nerdy, but spellthief would be the equivilent of stealing someone else's programs to use for yourself, which isn't really hacker-y.

[Uncle Pine]

Ur-Priest and getting wired (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20031225a) are the first two things that come to mind. Mixing both and ending up as a Psion/Ur-Priest wouldn't be terrible either (if anything, by virtue of having access to both powers and divine spells).

Something like Shaper 4/Factotum 1/Ur-Priest 2/Psychic Theurge (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040925b) 3 ends up with 4th level power and 5th level spells. Picking up Sanctum Spell will allow you to squeeze an extra Psychic Theurge level in place of your second Ur-Priest level, whereas a method to get Spellcraft as a class-skill that doesn't involve dipping into Factotum could get you 5th level power and spells.
Note that Shapers can also "hack the universe" and materialise tools out of thin air (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070411a) with minimum effort, all day long. And that's without mentioning save/load psionic shenanigans, although those won't be online at 10th level... :smallwink:

[unseenmage]

Yeah you definitely need to decide if items, alchemy, and magic items are the tech you want to hack or if magic itself is the tech you want to hack.

IMO the items are more engineering than computing. Magic, with its info gathering and remote action abilities is more analogous to modern tech.

So yeah, agreeing with Spellthief or Urpriest.

[Malphegor]

Archivist- getting dark knowledge from esoteric sources and tapping into weird systems

[daremetoidareyo]

Disable device optimization? Pair with mage hand or the umbral hand mystery and the instant locksmith spell for a free action disable device once per round per caster level. Sabotage weapons, hinges, wheels, buckles, armor, traps, glyphs, hack an airships controls, etc.





Here's a guide: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?520223-Saboteur-s-Cookbook-Masterwork-Disable-Device-tools

[Bronk]

He's an elf, with abilities to use computers, research information, and do cool stuff with technology. How would you translate this hacker to a 10th level character in fake-medieval times?

Researching information: Rogue or Cloistered Cleric

Cool stuff with technology: Tinker Gnome, Cleric of Gond the Wonderbringer

Hacking information systems: Mental infiltration, Dream infiltration



Well, there are no computers, everything's wetware here.

If you want to be the sort of hacker that steals documents and so on, you should go rogue.

If you want the equivalent of computer hacking with a side of tinkering while remaining an elf, I think you could be a Cloistered Cleric of Gond, focusing on gaining information by infiltrating dreams. There's a line of feats (Dreamtelling, Oneiromancy, etc.) that can help with that, as well as the Lucid Dreaming skill from - I think - the Manual of the Planes.

[Zaq]

What about a binder, from Tome of Magic? Vestiges are a tiny bit like programs or software packages: their abilities are useful but kind of random, you learn about them through weird and (in typical fluff) vaguely antisocial fashion despite separate binders using them in basically the same ways, and you often need to combine them with each other to really get where you’re going. Binders work outside of and yet kind of adjacent to the typical magic system, which seems a little bit like fantasy hacking. Oh, and the seals they draw can maybe be charitably described as circuit diagrams passed through an extremely thick fantasy lens.

[Hackulator]

Maybe a Factotum or Chameleon, he can hack reality to get access to commands he shouldn't have.

[rel]

research can be covered by skill and divinatory effects.
tech subversion could be modeled as dungeon and monster control.

Try beguiler with a dip into divine oracle

You could also dip mindbender; telepathy representing setting up a com network for your team
mindsight representing tapping into cameras and other on the fly info gathering

maybe prestige into unseen seer for more divination support.

You could also take wedded to history (golden ager) > masters voice.
You come from the lost golden age and remember the old admin passwords to control the undead and robots hanging around from the lost days.

[Analytica]

For fun, I'm working on translating the characters from our action heroes game into 3.5. The investigator, thief and wizard are all easy, but what to do with the hacker. He's an elf, with abilities to use computers, research information, and do cool stuff with technology. How would you translate this hacker to a 10th level character in fake-medieval times?

Artificer. You can make magic things, alter their capacities beyond what they should on the fly, and access things you should not.

[Uncle Pine]

Ur-Priest and getting wired (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20031225a) are the first two things that come to mind. Mixing both and ending up as a Psion/Ur-Priest wouldn't be terrible either (if anything, by virtue of having access to both powers and divine spells).

Something like Shaper 4/Factotum 1/Ur-Priest 2/Psychic Theurge (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040925b) 3 ends up with 4th level power and 5th level spells. Picking up Sanctum Spell will allow you to squeeze an extra Psychic Theurge level in place of your second Ur-Priest level, whereas a method to get Spellcraft as a class-skill that doesn't involve dipping into Factotum could get you 5th level power and spells.
Note that Shapers can also "hack the universe" and materialise tools out of thin air (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070411a) with minimum effort, all day long. And that's without mentioning save/load psionic shenanigans, although those won't be online at 10th level... :smallwink:

As an update on this, joining the Paragnostic Assembly (an organization devoted to the gathering and sharing of information without a strict focus on any spot of the ethical and moral axes; Complete Champion) or playing as a jaebrin (a race of faithless CN fey tricksters; LA +1 from MMV) are two flavourful hacker-like ways of getting Spellcraft as a class-skill. This opens up the aforementioned Shaper 5/Ur-Priest 1/Psychic Theurge 4 option.

I forgot to mention you can use your psycristal as a living, psionic flash drive.

Dragon Magazine #327 also has an article on "modern magic", aka magic items modeled after existing technologies: parcel service, internet maps, compact discs, cameras, video phones, and PDAs. Any such item could help enhancing the futuristic vibe of your hacker.

[ShurikVch]

There is a rather obvious problem with being a hacker in a fantasy world :smallwink:

It's like PrCs in the Bride Of Portable Hole, one of which is "Usenet Monk"; in the end of the chapter, they listed which of PrC may be actually used in a more-or-less-serious game - Usenet Monk wasn't on the list, and for unmentioned PrC they said: "None of the remaining classes will integrate at all well into a serious d20 fantasy campaign, as they rely on metagame, silly dances and the existence of the Internet."

Still, how its (i. e. "technology in mostly-fantasy world") works in related media?

There is Mercenaries of Destiny series, in which early-Renaissance world (with a side dish of common medium-fantasy stuff) littered with much more advanced technology - from simple pistols to freaking rocket base with nuke-carrying MBRs. Depending on how widespread it is, and how much of extradimensional tech is in workable condition - hacker may have some use

Also, generic "X from space!" variant - either new people appeared, or one of previously-existed races are actually were space aliens all along. Anyway - they would have some (probably, well-hidden) technology, which may be hacked

In the Strange Kingdom's Chronicles series, there are several adjacent worlds; one of them is mostly our IRL, another one - medieval (but with magic, elves, and dragons), third one - Fallout-esque postapocalypse, and fourth one - cyberpunk. When somebody magically-gifted dies, interdimensional borders are breached, and stuff go from one world to another. Also, people from the cyberpunk world are observing other worlds, and occasionally you may stumble on their tech.

In the Ancient Russian Game series, local Net was supported by a spirits (vaguely resembling Kancolle fairies). Once in the book, there was planned very important meeting in a bathhouse, but spirit of the bathhouse, unfortunately, streamed live porn non-stop. MC fixed it by unleashing his ninja on the spirit, after which relevant page said: "Server is down"

[Segev]

To capture play-style, you probably want wizard or psion. Hackers are about remote action and controlling environments and data acquisition. That's summoning and divination and battlefield control.