It's the start of the last week, and we're back with more Designer Thoughts on one of the pillars of the book: 

I meant to talk more about the Data Heist when I sat down to compose the last Diary. But instead, you got a preview of the Boilerplates. I'm still excited about them. But, I'm also excited about heists.

For the last 11 years, my day job has been in cybersecurity. I'm a technical editor (also now a content manager), but I read a lot of reports, vulnerability descriptions, and research accounts about cybersecurity weaknesses (related: Don't reuse your passwords. A password manager is likely a good investment). I'm not like, an Expert, but I know my way around the cybersecurity sphere.

And they're always saying "write what you know."

You see where I'm going with this? I'm structuring the data heist around cybersecurity attack research. The planning and execution of the attack is currently written to follow the flow of Reconnaissance to Initial Access to Exfiltration that I've been writing about for about a decade (unless I get an editor who tells me that's too boring).

As for the target, I'm bringing back some of the Media-centric bad guys from Station-bound Semitones: Maile-Wildner Multinational Industries. MWMI isn't just in contract disputes with a specific jazz band anymore, they're now playing the part of my Space Disney megacorp mentioned in the last update. They're also the parent company of Wildplay, who sponsor the DreamScape Gamecade, the collection in-game games that players can play. 

Commway Communications has essentially been a payphone company up until they launched the DreamScape, I figured they'd need a little help from someone who knows how to do Media--thus MWMI's partnership was born. 

The Data Heist is around a piece of what should be Public Domain media that MWMI is putting in their "Vault", after buying up and acquiring as many legal and bootleg copies they can get their hands on. They'll tell people that they're working on a Collector's Edition, but the reality is that they're trying to drive up the prices and create demand. 

And the Vade Mecum don't jive with that. Which is where they come in--and why they're hiring your team. 

I still have a ton of editing to do on this, so it's possible a lot will change, but I hope that the cybersecurity framing stays in place, and is a useful and interesting way to structure the Planning and Heist phases of the mission (also, I'll likely crib a flashback mechanic from Forged in the Dark games or something similar, because as much as you want to plan ahead, Heists never go to plan--and I wouldn't expect players to just know how to plan a heist--that's what TTRPGs are for!)