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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SnowDog" data-source="post: 1226352" data-attributes="member: 2225">That sounds like an interesting concept!Clearly you want a system that encourages and rewards creativity on your players' parts.  If you spell out every cheat as if it were just an alternate magic spell list, I think it's a bit boring.  My gut instinct would be to approach it like the magic system in Ars Magica or Mage: The Ascension; provide your players with ways to build their skill in various "hacking spheres" and then let them combine effects from the spheres in interesting and creative ways.  You keep track of guidelines as to the raw power allowed by each level in each sphere, and take it from there.  For example:Maphacking: Allows reading and writing of the in-game map.Level 1: Any effect which locates a stationary object within X rangeLevel 2: Determination of type of stationary objectLevel 3: Location of moving objectLevel 4: Determining type of moving objectLevel 5: Adjusting what other people see as your position (game knows where you really are)etc.You rank up to say 10 in each hack, and come up with a half-dozen or more types of hacking profiencies.You then come up with some premade hacks, and then let your players go nuts thinking of more.  Like:Homing Run: Maphacking 4, Packet-Adding 3Successful use of this hack tells the player the exact location on the map of his nearest enemy within X distance, regardless of any in-game hiding mechanic (invisibility, hiding, etc).  By manipulating the command buffer, the character moves to that location at triple speed with no chance of error.Armor Grabber: Maphacking 2, Packet-Adding 5Successful use of this hack places the character in a mode where any armor which falls to the ground within reach will instantly be removed from the ground and placed in the character's inventory.Etc.  You do the same, with cheats the players' enemies may possess.An alternative thought: creating a cheat for the game is like creating a magic item.  It takes feats (or skills) to learn how to do it (with better feats granting better cheats), and it takes time and resources to accomplish it.  Once you create the cheat, though, it works (until the developers patch the system, say).  You could then have an economy where you buy premade cheats and use them, but you never know if the cheat works as advertised, or has a backdoor that is telling your archnemesis your every move.  No matter how you do it, I like the idea that if you get tired of a cheat, or if it's overused, you say the game is patched and it no longer works.  This encourages your players to use the cheats more rarely, and in creative ways.I'm reminded of a game we used to play as kids: Parcheatsi.  Basically, you played Parcheesi but cheating was encouraged.  If you got caught cheating, though, you got sent back to start or something.  Eventually my mother figured out we were playing a game designed to help us become effective liars and nipped it in the bud.  Oh well.</blockquote>

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