New demonic attunement--and some questions

[ISNorden]

Hack

By spending 1 Essence and making an unmodified Will roll, the demon can force his way past copy protection or passwords; this works much like the Library Card attunement granted to some Destinians, but applies only to electronic data. An Infernal Intervention amplifies the Hack, granting better access--permanent for software applications, 1d6 days for web sites and databases. (The attunement still grants access only to the original user, though; others must use the item normally or attempt their own Hack.)

A Divine Intervention botches the Hack badly; the user forfeits all access to that item for 1d6 days, and may alert relevant authorities (system admins, software company lawyers, etc.) to his actions as well.

In campaigns that use Ethereal Interventions, the Hack has an unexpected result: either the user affects the wrong item, or he actiivates an "Easter egg" (surprise feature) in the code.

A few questions that came to mind when I designed this:

1. Which Demon Prince actually designed the Hack attunement first? I can see Vapula and Valefor both taking credit for it.
2. If you wanted to change any rules I'd written for this attunement, which one(s) would you choose?

[Jason]

I'd assume Vapula, as there's significant overlap with Valefor's Passage attunement. Plus, while stuff like Passage and Library Card (and the Ofanite of Revelation Choir attunement) might broadly represent the Word behind it, this one is very specific to contemporary technology. (Of course, if Valefor felt it was sufficiently more effective than Passage for certain uses, he might just consider stealing it.)

If it is an attunement by Technology, it might be worth specifying whether Computer Operation has any bearing whatsoever on the attunement's effectiveness. Ofanite of Revelation specifies that the attunement will get you through passwords, but it won't fix computer illiteracy...

[Rocket Man]

First thoughts:

1) The attunement was developed by a tech-savvy servitor of Valefor's (maybe a fallen Lightning angel who got snapped up). Vapula, out of jealousy, is trying experiment after experiment to re-create it.

2) Vapula developed it first, trying to mimic the most accesible portion of Valefor's Passage gift. Valefor, as predicted above, stole it for his own Servitors within 24 hours.

3) Lilith developed it and is willing to "sublicense" it for the right price. This reflects the old saying about how information wants to be Free AND expensive.

Either way, Nybbas isn't likely to be terribly fond of it: "That's my market share you're bleeding off, baby!" This is where it doesn't pay to have ****** off the Prince of the Game, who might otherwise be motivated to jerk some of these folks into line.

[Attercap]

Ooh, I like the Lilith on it, Rocket Man.

I imagine Alaemon isn't too fond of the attunement, either. I mean, he wants it, but he doesn't want anyone else to have it.

[ISNorden]

Originally Posted by Attercap

Ooh, I like the Lilith on it, Rocket Man.

I imagine Alaemon isn't too fond of the attunement, either. I mean, he wants it, but he doesn't want anyone else to have it.

Lilith makes sense for the reasons Rocket Man already cited; even mundane "hacking" is a subversive act in Freedom's favor, but usually has dangerous consequences. (I imagine that the few Lilim serving Vapula pick up the Hack attunement as soon as possible.)

Judging by the responses I've seen so far, it makes sense that Lilith created Hack...Vapula learned it from her for a price...and Valefor is itching to get reliable access. (A Techie IST Theft, like my Demon of Computer Viruses, would be Valefor's best bet.)

EDITED TO ADD: Yes, Computer Operation skill would improve the chances of using the attunement correctly. The player can use his skill level to modify the needed Will roll; however, this modifier won't cause an Intervention (or avert one that was rolled naturally).