Slicing Signatures

T-SM p. 90

About Slicing Signatures

Every slicer leaves a unique trail, thanks to the character's signature assemblage of slicing tools and gear, as well as personal habits and tricks. Even slicers working for the same organization or syndicate and acquiring gear from the same source inevitably need to tweak their equipment in subtle ways, and these modifications lead to the creation of slicing signatures. If detected in a system, this signature can be used by other slicers similarly to how detectives might use fingerprints or other biometrics found at a crime scene. Slicers rarely leave more than fragments of their signatures behind, but even these small chunks can assist in tracking their movements and actions.

Using Slicing Signatures

A character who has one or more fragments of another slicer's signature adds to opposed Computers checks against that slicer for each fragment, up to for a complete signature.

Complete Signatures

At the GM's discretion, a complete signature might also be worth a bundle of credits, or even a reduction in Obligation, if the PC can sell it to one or more interested parties.

NPC Defensive Slicers

If a defensive slicer discovers a PC's slicing signature, that PC can expect a great deal of trouble. In addition to the benefits the signature grants an NPC slicer in opposing the character's actions, slicing signatures can be tracked or logged by individuals with the right resources. If a PC's signature makes its way into the hands of local law enforcement, such an organization might be able to detect the character's intrusions anywhere within their jurisdiction. If an organization like the Imperial Security Bureau or Black Sun acquires the PC's slicing signature, it may not be safe to operate throughout much of the galaxy, especially if one of these organizations is able to connect the character's signature with other forms of identification. This level of notoriety can come into play through narrative dice results, such as when or are rolled on appropriate checks, the addition of an Obligation for the PC whose signature has been exposed, or custom encounters created by the GM.

Altering a Slicing Signature

Fortunately for slicers who have had their signature discovered, it is possible to change the signature associated with one's work. A slicing signature is heavily tied to the gear that creates it, so a slicer who replaces these tools modifies their signature.

Each piece of slicing equipment that the slicer replaces this way causes anyone who has the slicer's signature to lose two fragments of it (and the associated from those fragments). If none of the fragments of a captured signature (or none of the slicer's old gear) remain after such a change to the slicer's gear, the slicer is no longer mechanically associated with the old signature. However, this might not completely eliminate Obligation and other narrative ramifications related to the old signature.