Hack the Matrix is a supplement on hacking computers in Modern d20, by LPJ Design. The zipped file isn?t quite a full megabyte in size, and contains a single PDF. The file is eighteen pages long, including a page for the OGL, and a cover image taking up most of the first page. No table of contents or bookmarks are given.
The cover image is a dotted image of grey on white, with a heavy dash of red thrown in. A section of this is repeated along alternating sides of pages as borders throughout the book. Other than this, there?s no art in the product, meaning that this shouldn?t be too hard to print out.
Hack the Matrix is a supplement designed to expand on the rules for computer hacking in Modern d20 games. It opens with a discussion on levels of security that various systems have, which affects not only how hard it is to break into them, but also how well the systems can detect such intrusions. Things such as breaking through firewalls, having multiple firewalls, tracing a hacker?s signal back to the source and more are all discussed.
The remainder of the book is then given to various options you can use to customize your computer and its functions, as well as several feats that can make you a better hacker. By customizing the terminal, OS, and program you use, hacking another computer can be very easy or very hard, even if you?re already a skilled hacker, though the new feats at the end of the book help in that regard also. There?s even a section near the end discussing using beta and shareware versions of existing programs (though they?re never as good as the real thing).
While a good product, Hack the Matrix has a few bugs in it. Several programs are a half-action to use. Presumably this is half of a full-round action, but how does that compare to a move or standard action? Despite this though, Hack the Matrix does a good job of providing new options for customization and use in hacking computers in a Modern d20 game.
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<b>LIKED</b>: This product provides quite a few new ways to hack a computer, giving options to customize the physical computer, its operating system, and its programs, as well as new feats for hackers.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Several programs used a half-action, which should probably be a move or standard action instead.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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