Peeping Tom

Peeping Tom 4[credit]

Ice: Code Gate
Strength: 4
Influence: 3

When the Runner encounters this ice, choose a card type, then reveal all cards in the grip. For the remainder of this run, this ice gains "[subroutine] End the run unless the Runner takes 1 tag." for each revealed card of the chosen type.

"I lost the staring contest. And all seven rematches." -Kabonesa Wu
Illustrated by Liiga Smilshkalne
Decklists with this card

Reign and Reverie (rar)

#45 • English
Startup Card Pool
Standard Card Pool
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Reviews

Seems FFG still didn't get the memo that Black Orchestra is omnipresent in the meta. I thought that after Sandman was welcomed with a collective 'eh', they learned that all the cool multisub code gates are strength 5+ nowadays. But now here is Peeping Tom anyway.

To be fair, this card is not nearly as bad as Sandman. First of, it costs 1 credit less while having 1 more strength, which is nice VS not-BO decoders. Also, it has end the run subroutines, always good to have on a code gate, meaning it is more like Authenticator. The issue is that, just like said ICE, the ETR is a lie. While often not advisable, the runner can always opt to take the tags and be on their merry way, if needed. For a runner going full tag me, this card is essentially porous.

And not only that, this card is entirely dependent on the runner's hand. While an educated guess can land you 2 or more subs if you know your opponent's deck, if you do happen to guess wrong at a bad time, this ice could end up being a blank 4-credit investment. At least it promotes remembering what is in your opponent's hand, a mechanic I have always enjoyed about card games.

Two additional pluses to end on a high note: it synergizes perfectly with Salem's Hospitality, so maybe play this in Harishchandra. And I would love to see someone use this ice against those Origami Wu decks, and have it end up with 10 subroutines. That would be hilarious.

(Reign and Reverie era)
1954
I think you are underselling this a little bit. Even a single card turns this into a Hortum, which is already widely played. It's also an in faction ETR Code Gate for NBN, of which they only had what, Tollbooth? It's fairly affordable, comes with a free Snoop, and HPT/Market Forces already took care of Tagme. —