[RPG] Droid hacking in Star Wars?

star-wars

Are droids hackable in the Star Wars universe?

For example,

  • could an Imperial hacker hack into C3P0's memory (let's say while
    the poor robot is in pieces in the Cloud City, before Chewie finds
    and rebuilds "him")? Could said hacker read and possibly alter C3P0's
    memories? Could he install "subliminal suggestions", in other words,
    viruses?
  • could the Rebels hack, in the very beginning of "The Empire Strikes
    Back", into the Imperial Probe's AI remotely (via a WiFi or similar channel)
    and alter either or both the droid's perception (so that it sees only
    the snow fields, not the Rebel Base) and the signals it sends out,
    back to the Imperial recon divisions?
  • could Imperial hackers aboard the Death Star hack into the attacking X-Wings'
    astromech droids (R2s) and cause the starfighters to crash into the
    walls or at least malfunction?

If so, what are the game mechanics for droid hacking, in any Star Wars roleplaying game (d6, d20 etc)?

I know the idea itself feels somewhat strange to the world — even though R2D2 does hack into the systems of the Death Star in "A New Hope", finding out where Leia is held captive and stopping the walls of the trash compactor before it would kill the "party" –, yet gaming in this day and age brings up such "technological updates" almost unavoidably, as both players and GMs think about computers and systems with an up-to-date mindset.

Note: Should you feel interested, I have asked practically the same Q on scifi.SE without the gaming part. 🙂

Best Answer

From Star Wars: Edge of the Empire p. 107, which describes the Computers skill:

This skill also governs the repair of a damaged computer system, defensive actions against an intruding slicer, and routine maintenance necessary to keep the software on a computer or a droid running effectively.

Further down the page:

Efforts to alter a droid's programming or gain access to its memories require the acting character to make a Computers check.

And further:

The difficulty for a Computers check is calculated based upon any defenses present within the system and the inherent sophistication of the system against intrusion.

How long it takes to hack a droid seems to be left to the gamemaster's discretion:

The difficulty for a Computers check is calculated based upon any defenses present within the system and the inherent sophistication of the system against intrusion. Slicing into a tapcafe's systems to alter a transaction might be trivially easy, while a military outpost could be hardened and prepared for a slicer's assault. In general the more vital the materials protected by the system, the more difficult the system should be to overcome.

Additional [successes] may be spent to reduce the time required for the action undertaken. This is generally representative of the character's extensive familiarity with systems of the type targeted.

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