Can a mechanic's drone be hacked?


Rules Questions


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As the title above. Was playing a game earlier today when suddenly my GM said that my drone's camera stopped recording in an interview thing (I was playing a journalist/reporter type person) It looks more like story reasons but I'm pretty wary that something can just shut off one of my drone's modules like that without any way of knowing/stopping it until its done.


One of the Drone mods, Hardened AI, gives enemies a -4 penalty to attempts to hack your drone.

So it does look like it is intended for a mechanic's drone to be targeted by enemy hackers.


Note that only a mechanic with an exocortex can hack your drone without walking up to it and making a physical connection to it. Good luck with that.


Xenocrat wrote:
Note that only a mechanic with an exocortex can hack your drone without walking up to it and making a physical connection to it. Good luck with that.

Mechanic in general can- custom rig allows remote hacking.


A quick scan doesn't reveal anything that gives a drone a computer tier, although I may have missed it, and you can only hack computers. So is Hardened AI a mistake or did I miss the computer equivalency?


We'll have to see what a construct with the technological subtype is vulnerable to, but even then the Hardened AI does give a bonus to saves vs effects to control it.


There is a wireless function with the custom rig, however it is also specified that its encrypted.

I guess one thing to consider is how encrypted is encrypted.

If a drone can easily be hacked this way and have its modules disabled so easily, I guess there is more reason to go exocortex than drone mechanic imo.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Doesn't the mechanic's class abilities say it can't target drones unless it takes specific options?

If a mechanic can't hack it, I don't see how anyone else is going to.


This is one of those areas where real-life experience with Information Security is going to make it very hard to separate real-life experience from game conventions. :) To me, if it has wireless capability, anything's hackable, even if the DC is super-high. I'd be curious to get a ruling or FAQ on the hackability of mechanic drones, even if it's "for purposes of hacking, a mechanic's drone is equal to a computer of a tier equal to the mechanic's level" or something similar.


Ravingdork wrote:

Doesn't the mechanic's class abilities say it can't target drones unless it takes specific options?

If a mechanic can't hack it, I don't see how anyone else is going to.

You're thinking of the Overload trick, which isn't hacking but can be upgraded through the Override and Ghost in the Machine talents to affect drones.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Okay, but how is that not hacking? How do you overload anything without first hacking into it?


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Ravingdork wrote:
Okay, but how is that not hacking? How do you overload anything without first hacking into it?

Hacking is a Computers skill check against a difficult DC based on a computer's tier, often requires more than a standard action, can be subject to countermeasures on a failed attempt, and when successful let's you order the computer to do things that an authorized user can do.

Overload is always a standard action, doesn't allow a save for unattended items, doesn't care if the item does or doesn't have a computer tier, can only shut down an item (not order it to open or give data or attack someone), and only lasts one round.

It's worth it to read the computers skill and the computers equipment section back to back more than once. Hacking is very powerful and very difficult against a defender or sophisticated system. Other options, like overload and disable device (which uses engineering skill, not computers) are less powerful and more narrow but often easier.

Example of a door controlled by a Tier 5 computer:

1. You can hack the controlling computer with a DC of 33 to imitate an authorized user and let yourself in.

2. You can hack root access at a DC of 53 to erase all other access and only let yourself in.

3. Depending on how it is set up, you can hack a data module to learn when past users went through the door.

4. A mechanic can use Overload to prevent anyone (including him) from using the door for one round. No check required.

5. Anyone can use Engineering skill at a DC of 20-40 (depending on quality) to disable the door lock and let anyone through until it is reset or repaired.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Thanks for the detailed rundown. I know how the rules work though (I've read them like 5 times). It just doesn't make logical sense to me is all.


Ah but there's your fatal mistake, looking for logic in a game unfortunately doesn't always work :(


Ravingdork wrote:
Okay, but how is that not hacking? How do you overload anything without first hacking into it?

You just "shout" at the circuits on the electromagnetic spectrum until they stop performing properly. The "residual static" excuse for the one minute time limit makes it clear that it's more of a brute-force deal than persuading the computer to stop. You can do a DDoS attack on a website without hacking into it.

Grand Lodge

So has there been any kind of update on how a mechanic's drone can be hacked? Is the drone considered as protected by the mechanic's custom rig? If that is the case then one would have to bypass the protections on the custom rig to hack the drone I'd think, which with Expert Rig makes it count as a computer of half your level in tier.


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I've been enjoying the drone mechanic a lot so far and I've read my fair share of the rules. Here's my take on it, I hope it's helpful.

As mentioned previously, there's obvious intent for a drone to be hacked(Hardened AI Drone Mod, +4 DC against drone hack attempts), the only question is the DC. Based on other rules, I would assume you treat it as a computer with a level equal to your Mechanic Level/2.

With that said, the drone would be able to be hacked just like anything else. A physical connection would be needed in most cases. Personally, I have a tiny computer with a range module in my drone. This computer could be hacked remotely, which would give someone an access point to then wirelessly hack the drone.

Now as far as I can tell, your custom rig cannot be hacked. At level 7, when it becomes a computer, the computer portion of it could be hacked separately. You control your drone with an encrypted wireless signal, eventually at a planetary range. The encrypted part of this implies that this signal can't be hacked, otherwise your class bonus of increased drone control range would become a huge liability, allowing your drone to be hacked from anywhere on the planet.


I would disagree that its "obvious" the drone is "meant" to be Hacked, in the sense of using the Computers Skill against it directly. A drone is not a Computer, a drone is effectively a creature. You can't hack a creature unless it has some specific explicit vulnerability.

So how can you "hack" a drone? By using an ability that targets automatons of the technology subtype. If you want to "hack" a mechanic's drone, you need more than a high skill bonus. Most said abilities will not involve actual skill checks, but saving throws against mind-affecting results. The various defensive abilities help protect a drone from such.


True, drone hacking certainly isn't obvious, we wouldn't be here if it was haha. The drone mod however shows obvious intent for it because half of the mod would be invalidated if the drone can't be hacked. Invalidating a character option tells me that's not the right interpretation. The drone section could really use a short paragraph with details on hacking and a DC, at least a sentence saying it can't be done if that is the case.

Mind effecting spells definitely wouldn't apply, neither would a lot of abilities(unless specifically noted of course). Drones are constructs and constructs are immune to poisons, sleep, mind effecting abilities, and more(pg 153 Alien Archive). Robots are constructs too so let's shift to can a robot be hacked? If it has a data port or WiFi, it would be susceptible to hacking. A robot is just a computer with a control module controlling machinery, which seems like a prime candidate for hacking. If a robot can be hacked, I would assume other technological constructs, like a drone, are susceptible. Again though, a clear DC would be nice. Does anyone know the DC for hacking a robot?

I will point out that like so many rules, drones are "considered" to be a construct. That wording opens up a lot of loopholes. I still say that the Hardened AI mod is a solid argument in favor of drone hacking as it helps prevent exactly that. With the lack of a clear DC and specific rules though, it's completely possible that drone hacking had been intended, was removed, and the mod was never revised. It wouldn't be the first leftover from earlier revisions.

The Exchange

Starfinder Charter Superscriber

I would be careful about any blanket rule that allows any technlogical construct to be hacked, I'm pretty sure SROs would not appreciate that.


Androids don’t appreciate it when our groups other mechanic tries to hack them either, unsuccessfully I’ll add. That’s a good point, I didn’t think about androids and SROs being in that category. I certainly don’t mean to include them as hackable. Free will, sentience, and a soul sets them apart from a computer program.

Grand Lodge

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I honestly feel that treating the drone as a computer whose tier is equal to half the Mechanic's level is rather fair. Common sense says that unless something has a hard line connection, then it can be hacked wirelessly. All that is needed is for someone with tech enough to tap the wireless signal and then bypass the security measures, which happens often enough today let alone in a futuristic setting like Starfinder. Another option in my mind is for the drone to be protected by the Mechanic's control rig, since the drone is controled by such anyways. This would be greatly similar to the Rigger's Control Rig from systems like Shadowrun and Cyberpunk, where to get control of a drone you have to bypass the protections on the control rig of the drone controller. I do rather wish that we'd get an official decision on this, it's kinda frustrating to have all this supposition and guessing. There is always houseruling to consider, but then what about Society? There isn't much room for houseruling in Society play, and there doesn't seem to be a firm consensus on this matter.


Hi guys, late to this thread. As a GM, I am going to make a rule for my party:

Depending on the challenge level of the drone, it will dictate how hard it is to hack. 10, 15 or 20 +1.5 the average party level.

It takes a full round to gain access and attempt to hack it. The next turn the hacker can try to damage it's systems making the drone's basic functions like move and attack not work, which would be 1 level easier. Complex functions like controlling it are almost impossible in battle unless you have intimate knowledge of it's software beforehand.

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