Online Research
The mesh is a treasure trove of data for those skilled in exploring its nooks and filtering out the detritus. Use Research skill when looking things up online. You can search for news, research papers, public sensor feeds, social network activity, personal information, corporate info, SolArchive entries, criminal records, government data, leaked reports, mesh-connected devices, and much, much more. Digitized data of all kinds can be searched: text, pictures, audio, video, XP, raw data, software, etc. This data is culled from all manner of sources: archives, databases, directories, social networks, cloud services, blogs/vlogs, forums, chat rooms, and regular mesh sites. Research is conducted using various public and private search engines, both general and specialized, as well as data indices and search AIs.
You also use Research when looking for information on a specific network or device to which you have access: a sensor mote, someone’s ecto or tablet, a robot, or an opponent’s mesh inserts (Searching Specific Systems). Likewise, since everyone inevitably uses and interacts with the mesh, Research skill is also a way to identify, backtrack, and/or gather information on people as long as they have not hidden their identity, worked anonymously, or covered their identity with a shroud of disinformation (Tracking).
Search Challenges
Due to the sheer amount of data available, finding what you’re looking for can be a daunting task. Thankfully, information is fairly well organized, thanks to the hard work of “spider” AIs that cruise the mesh and update data and search indices.
Another impediment to online searches is the amount of incorrect data and misinformation. Much data is simply wrong (mistakes happen) or outdated. Falsehoods are intentionally perpetuated and spread for memetic warfare purposes. Hacktivist groups actively seed false data in an effort to combat out-of-control surveillance data mining. This misinformation can linger for years and propagate far and wide as it is circulated without fact-checking. To counteract this, many data sources incorporate reputation scores so that untrustworthy or disreputable sources can be identified and ranked lower in search results. Many archives also harness the collaborative power of mesh users and ALIs to crowdsource verification of their data.
Search Capabilities
Online research in Eclipse Phase is not the same as just googling something. Here are five ways in which it is vastly improved:
Pattern Recognition: Biometrics and other forms of pattern recognition are efficient and intelligent. It is not only possible to run image recognition searches (in real time, via all available motes and XP feeds) but to search for patterns such as gait, sounds, colors, emotive displays, traffic, crowd movement, etc. Kinesics and behavioral analysis even allow sensor searches for people exhibiting certain patterns such as suspicious loitering, nervousness, or agitation.
Metadata: Information and files online come with hidden data about their creation, alteration, and access. A photo’s metadata, for example, will note what gear it was taken on, who took it, when and where, as well as who accessed it online, though such metadata may be easily scrubbed or anonymized.
Semantic Tags: Most data is semantically tagged, meaning that it’s accompanied by code that an ALI can use to understand the context of that information as a transhuman would.
Translation: Real-time translation of audio and video is available from open-source translation bots.
Forecasting: A significant percentage of what people do on any day or in response to certain situations conforms to routines, enabling easy behavioral prediction. Muses take advantage of this to anticipate needs and provide whatever is desired by their user at the right moment and in the right context. The same logic applies to actions by groups of people, such as economics and social discourse. ALIs use algorithms to cross-index data and contexts to predict most likely outcomes. Security forces use this to place patrols where trouble is likely to occur.
Data Mash-Ups: The combination of abundant computing, archived data, and ubiquitous public sensors, along with intricate algorithms, means that intriguing correlations can be drawn from data that is mined and collated. In the midst of a habitat emergency such as a terrorist bombing, for example, the ID of everyone in the vicinity could be scanned, compared to data archives to separate out those who have a history of being in the vicinity at that particular time, with those remaining checked against databases of criminal/suspect history, their recorded actions analyzed for unusual behavior, and anything they’ve spoken compared to keyword lists.
Research Tests
Online research is a crucial element of most Eclipse Phase scenarios, as characters take to the mesh to unearth backgrounds and uncover clues. Common and inconsequential public information is immediately available without requiring a roll at all. Your muse will handle these searches for you, passing on the results while you focus on other things.
For searches that are more detailed, difficult, or central to the plot, make a Research Test (or have your muse make one for you). If you are searching for data tied to a particular subject or field of study, you can use an appropriate Know skill as a complementary skill.
Research Tests are handled as task actions. The suggested timeframe is 1 hour, though this should be modified by the GM according to the amount of data you must sift through to get the result and the needs of the plot. Searches that require you to access non-local parts of the mesh may increase the timeframe due to distance lag (Islands in the Net). Superior successes provide bonus details and nuance. A critical success leads to a breakthrough understanding. A critical failure, however, results in false and misleading information.
Private and Proprietary Data
Not everything can be found online. Some data may only be acquired by asking the right people (Networking). Information that is considered secret or proprietary could be stored away in private networks behind firewalls, in off-mesh hardwired networks, or in commercial archives. This would require you to gain access to such networks in order to get the data you need (though a successful Research Test may tell you where to look).
Analyzing the Results
Just because you’ve acquired the data doesn’t mean you understand it. You may need to make a skill test using Know or another appropriate skill to analyze the results and discover what you’re looking for. For example, a Research Test might pull up the chemical details of a particular alien toxin, but a Know: Chemistry Test may be necessary to actually understand the repercussions and concoct an antidote.
Online Research
Situation Modifiers Conflicting Sources −10 Possess Hints, Traces, or Corroborating Details +10 to +30 Availability timeframe ÷ 2 timeframe × 2 −10 to −30 −30 or NA Analysis/Comparison of Data Sets timeframe ÷ 2 — timeframe × 4 timeframe × 20 Real-Time Biometric Scanning — −10 −30 Forecasting −30 — +10 +30
Real-Time Alerts
You may ask your muse to monitor mesh feeds for news or other mentions as they occur in real time. You can also monitor existing data for any updates or changes. If and when the information comes up, the GM makes a secret Research Test on your muse’s behalf. If successful, the update is noted. If not, it is missed, though the GM may allow another test if and when the topic reaches a wider range of circulation or interest.
Searching Specific Systems
You can also use Research skill to scan for specific keywords, file names, media, or other data on a system. When searching a single device such as a mote or host, this simply takes a complex action. For larger devices and networks, this is a task action with a longer timeframe; see the Searching Timeframes table for suggestions.
The above rules assume you are looking for something specific. Sometimes, however, you may simply be browsing through an opponent’s captured device, looking for something interesting, incriminating, or that otherwise stands out as a clue. If you are searching a system without knowing exactly what you are looking for, the process can take significantly longer. In this case, make a Research Test for every hour you search. The GM should apply a negative modifier between 0 and −30 based on the size on the system and the density of information it contains. If you succeed, you find one clue or other intriguing bit of data, plus one per superior success.
Note that encrypted files must first be decrypted before they can be searched.
Searching Timeframes
System Timeframe Small Server 1d6 action turns Large Server 1d6 minutes PAN 1d6 action turns TacNet 1d6 minutes Small Network (Mesh Site, Lab, Ship Net) 1d6 × 5 minutes Large Network (Hypercorp Division, Habitat Net) 1d6 × 10 minutes
GMing Research Tests
Research Tests are often important for the story line as one of the main methods PCs have for acquiring clues. For this reason, it is important for GMs to have some flexibility. If the timeframes provided in the rules don’t plug so well into your plot framework, modify them to fit your needs. Some evidence may simply take more work to dig up, and sometimes clues will fall right into the PCs’ outstretched mandibles. Especially sleuthful PCs sometimes get ahead of the game — for this reason, it helps to structure your story so that they don’t even know what clue they next need until it comes close to the time they will need it.
If the PCs fail their Research Tests, they should have other opportunities for discovering the information they need. Insight Pool can also be useful here, when spent to acquire a clue. Insight expenditures should still come with some effort, however. A PC that buys intel with an Insight point may still need to spend a few hours crawling through the mesh.
Chaining Results
The path to the information you need may not always be obvious or direct. GMs are encouraged to structure necessary data and clues in such a way that several separate Research Tests are required and the next step is not apparent until the previous step is uncovered. For example, when researching a strange alien relic, a search may first lead to an account of a gatecrasher who saw something similar, so the trail takes you towards the logs from a specific pandora gate, which then leads to a mission report, which then points you towards a specific hypercorp that may have smuggled the device back to the Solar System. GMs should be careful to allow multiple paths towards the end-goal data, in case one trail goes cold.