"A toolkit's a crutch. The signal's everywhere—you just have to know how to listen."
In every cantina, cargo bay, and back-alley terminal across the Galaxy, some see a locked system as an invitation. Phreakers don't wait for the right equipment—they make whatever's at hand work. A scratched comm unit, a busted vidgame console, a flickering public terminal; in the hands of a phreaker, any of these becomes a skeleton key.
The name dates back to the pre-Riftstorm era, when Terran hackers exploited audio signals to breach communication networks. Today, phreakers operate on every world and station, from Inner Sphere megacities to Frontier outposts where a single functioning terminal might be the only lifeline to the infosphere.
Guild enforcers and corporate security despise phreakers—their improvised methods leave fewer traces, bypass standard countermeasures, and make them nearly impossible to profile. For scavengers, smugglers, and freelance operatives, phreaking is a survival skill as fundamental as knowing how to patch a hull breach.
Phreaker is a level 1 general skill feat that transforms any connected device into a hacking platform. Where survival often hinges on improvisation and the right tech at the wrong time, Phreaker enables computer-focused characters to bypass, subvert, and manipulate secured systems without carrying specialized gear.
This feat is the cornerstone of "on-the-fly" hacking builds. It synergizes with Combat Hack and Digital Diversion, allowing characters who invest in those feats to perform their signature moves with improvised equipment rather than a dedicated hacking toolkit. For characters who expect to lose gear, operate undercover, or simply want versatility, Phreaker is essential.
Phreaker Feat 1
Source Player Core pg. 225
Prerequisites: trained in Computers
You’ve learned how to hack using alternative methods. You can use Computers to Disable a Device or Hack a system using any computer, comm unit, or terminal instead of a hacking toolkit. If you’re an expert in Computers and the equipment you use is at least 3rd level, you gain a +1 item bonus to Disable a Device or Hack. Special If you have the Combat Hack or Digital Diversion skill feat, you can use this feat to Combat Hack or Create a Diversion without a hacking toolkit.
Applications
Phreaker isn't just for infiltrators and criminals. In the Starfall Galaxy, the feat enables a wide range of non-combat and social uses:
Scavengers and Salvagers: Access derelict ship systems using whatever terminals survived the wreck.
Undercover Operatives: Hack security without carrying incriminating gear.
Guild Technicians: Interface with unfamiliar or proprietary systems during field repairs.
Rift Explorers: Bypass alien magitech locks using improvised human-standard devices.
Streetwise Survivors: Extract data, disable alarms, or create diversions using public terminals or stolen comm units.
Adventure Hooks
The Junkyard Run: The party is stripped of equipment and dumped in a scrapyard controlled by a rival faction. The phreaker must improvise access to a derelict terminal to call for extraction.
Undercover on the Void Exchange: An operative must infiltrate a corporate gala without carrying suspicious gear. A borrowed comm unit becomes the only tool for accessing the target's encrypted files.
Rift Salvage Gone Wrong: An alien system's locks don't respond to standard toolkits. Only by phreaking through a salvaged alien terminal can the party unlock the vault.
Guild Audit: A Chronologists Guild adjutant suspects a rogue archivist is hiding data. A phreaker PC is hired to access the suspect's personal devices without leaving a trace.
Phreaker is the essential feat for any character who wants to hack their way through the Starfall Galaxy using nothing but wit and whatever tech is at hand. It enables improvisation, rewards investment in Computers proficiency, and synergizes with combat and social skill feats to create a versatile, story-driving build.
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