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Greetings all,

I recently finished V5 of my Highlander theme game, played it, and had a really good time. The group will probably play it as one-shots again until our Curse of Strahd game got done.

I also went to see the new Matrix movie. I have long wanted to create a Matrix themed RPG that captured both the Real World/Matrix world elements of the films. I have always struggled with how to do this mechanically. Recently, I have come to some decisions about how to approach it, after reading some Monster of the Week, and the fun, free There is No Spoon rules.

However, before I get into that; how would YOU go about trying to make a Matrix RPG that captured the real/matrix world together in the game?

So.

I would make a mechanic that was basically your belief/understanding that the matrix is the matrix. That "there is no spoon".

If this were to go with a White Wolf/World of Darkness style dots system.

1 dot - You are aware of the Matrix. That the world is a lie. The laws of physics while coded into a system can be bent and broken if your will is strong enough.
2 dot -
3 dot -
4 dot -
5 dot - You have freed your mind.

When in the matrix you would add your "There is no Spoon" (TinS) to skill rolls when trying to do things. But you wouldn't be able to do anything super crazy by default. However, there would be a number of "feats" with TinS minimal requirements.

At level 1 you could purchase "super jump" as an example.

By level 4 you can dodge bullets.

By level 5 you can stop them mid air or fly.

The costs would get exceptionally higher the higher you went to keep "the one" style feats out of most peoples hands and when/if someone reached them a player would be unlikely to have more than 1 or 2.

Agents should generally sit around 4 with several feats which is what makes them such incredible threats.



And the thing is buying into general skills and talents/feats or whatever help you in both worlds. The Matrix feats only really help you in the matrix. That would help balance them out a bit considering how bonkers the matrix stuff can get.

And while you can download information like how to pilot a helicopter or whatever. The player still needs their own coordination to keep it going. So if this was some kind of stats + Skill system.

It would be like.... :: Phone call :: "I need to pilot a helicopter." "Done" Dex + Drive + TinS. This skill roll wouldn't be used for general piloting or weaving around regular traffic. That gak is assumed. It's used when dodging the attacks of Agents or other programs who are hunting you.

I've not played it much but FATE with its narrative based bonuses would probably be the first thing i'd look at.

In particular the dresden files rules - the more powerful characters were with 'magic', the fewer rerolls they had. So Neo might be able to stop bullets but other characters are just downright lucky when it comes to agents not hitting them - so long as they don't push that luck too far.

-----------------------------------

A more rules heavy alternative would be a hybrid 2e-3e exalted-style system could work to a degree.

-There is the core 'essence/free mind' value which determines both how what abilities you can take and how powerful some of the more reality bending ones are.

-Then 'motes/belief' which are spent on those effects round by round, with a finite pool and round by round regen

-'Charms/talents' are your super jump, etc. A mix of dice adders, one-off special actions, and long-duration effects that tie up motes.

-And then skills for your mundane rolls. For learning temporary abilities in the matrix it would be as simple as setting aside a few of your motes as unavailable while you have a skill locked in.

-For a matrix-style adaptation you'd probably want to tie the four 'virtue' values from 2e in to the talents. Originally for instance any 'perfect' effect in the game was tied to a virtue and if that virtue was compromised you couldn't use the effect (i.e. a perfect dodge tied to compassion couldn't be used to dodge an effect that would go on and hit an innocent, nor could it be used in the middle of a slaughter of innocents by the player).

Good thoughts. I was thinking about Fate as the system as well. I tend to prefer rules light approaches.

That said, Lance and I also think a lot alike on the topic.

I was thinking the basic attributes would be something like:

Move: Ability to get from Point A to Point B
Brains: How a person thinks
Brawns: Their meat bag body
Cool: How they deal with others
Matrix: How they respond in the Matrix

I think they would get a -2, -1, 0, +1, and +2 to spread around over these 5. This system would have no skill checks at all, it would all be based on attributes.

Tests would be simple 2d6 + Attribute. If you had suitable Equipment you might be able to add +1 for basic, +2 for high quality, and +4 for something unique.

2 is Crit Fail- Lots of bad things happen
3-6 is Failure - You can not do what you are trying to do, and some complications occur because of it.
7-9 is a Complicated success. You do what you were trying to do, but not without some challenges.
10-11 is a success. You succeed and nothing bad happens.
12+ is a Crit success. You succeed and good things happen too!

Pretty simple.

To help build out characters I would also have them choose two attributes and add a Drove sentence. If the Drive sentence is tied into the test, you roll +1d6 and choose the two highest dice. On the flip side, you would have two attributes with a Fate sentence. If it applies, you would also roll +1d6 but you have to choose the lowest result of the three dice.

Actions would be Matrix themed, but follow the basics of Fight, Spy, Maneuver, Equip/Acquire, Intrigue, Protect, Help out, Investigate, etc. Space would be broad abstractions called zones.

This allows for actions outside and inside the Matrix for your RPG, or even both at the "same" time. Pretty basic and high level, but a good start.

 Easy E wrote:
I think they would get a -2, -1, 0, +1, and +2 to spread around over these 5. This system would have no skill checks at all, it would all be based on attributes.

Makes me think a little of the original 1st edtion ConX system, though it was primarily skill based vs target. It's relatively obscure.
The dice system was :
Equal difficulty and skill: pass on 7+
One higher difficulty: pass on 10+
One higher skill: pass on 4+ (or autopass in most cases)

Stats and equipment would give -2 to +2, with the exception of good/bad luck which the player could use in place of a roll. They also separated characters in distinct ways - the player with the high reflexes would act first but get to declare his action last, the player built like a tank would just walk through a smaller guys punches, the player with high INT would learn abilities more quickly, and so on.

The weirdest (and most matrix-y) system though was psionics. All characters had a few basic abilities - sixth sense, hunch, etc, and you could buy both more of these basics and some stronger 'there is no spoon' stuff, though it was too expensive to overdo. In order to use one of these abilities the GM would hold up one of five zed cards (circle, square, wavy lines, etc) - if the player guessed right the ability worked, if not it didn't, and some of the character advancements would get you more guesses and some auto-passes.

It would probably work as a matrix game up to a point as simply giving players +1 stats in the matrix make them significantly stronger, but at the same time the game didn't do subtle differences so well and its kung-fu (and gun-fu) system is ludicrously overcomplicated - you have to allocated out your moves known into set combinations and then pick a combo to throw, but those combos also contain the blocks and counters you have and most peoples eyes glaze over when they read it for the first time.

I would ad an actual matrix, maybe invertable.

After talking to my group, my Matrix dream died. They had 0-interest in playing a Matrix game at all! I was surprised.

I'm not. The Matrix is a pretty bland take on an overplayed pair of concepts (VR and AI uprising). The most notable aspects of the film (for its time and audience) are the effects and wire-fu, neither of which mean squat for an RPG.

The most fundamental problem is the 'Matrix' explicitly doesn't mean anything, and that's where the super-powers work. Its... ok, so you have the cheat codes for Counterstrike while everyone else is trapped playing Hipsters and Homebodies. So what? Back in reality, the AIs have already won, and all the 'protagonists' can do is run away- the real hero of the movie is the ship's pilot (despite being a completely forgettable character). because he keeps them alive while the main cast is screwing around in the meaningless MMO.

The reverse of the concept (where you try to unlock a virtual secret that matters in the real world) is actually far more interesting, though you need to come up with a real good reason why someone hid that knowledge in a simulation.
But at least there is a reason why you want to have a party spending time 'adventuring' and unlocking abilities in the Matrix. The main benefit of this is being able to switch settings, rulesets and stories on a whim, while keeping the same characters.

Voss wrote:
The most fundamental problem is the 'Matrix' explicitly doesn't mean anything, and that's where the super-powers work. Its... ok, so you have the cheat codes for Counterstrike while everyone else is trapped playing Hipsters and Homebodies. So what?

I'd guess the best way to plot out a matrix game would be as a kind of cold war between the humans and exiled programs over various macguffins, with both sides trying to stay under the radar as far as agents go.

To me the interesting part was being pretty powerful in one space, while being ordinary in the other, and the crossing over of the two worlds.

It would be more of a cloak and dagger genre in the Matrix mixed with Supers, and outside would be more of a survival horror mixed with some space opera. All in one game!

That sounded fun to me!

Use a dice pool system where any roll of 6 = success. If you roll a 6 you succeed.

Additional 6's resulting from the pool can be used to do stunts, which scale from 'you do kung fu' to 'super jumping' as enhancements to your action.

You could do this fairly easily in the Year Zero engine or using Genesys.

I think that the most important part of the matrix is that there are two "worlds", and limited ability to communicate between them.

The game would work best if the players were split into two groups each time (nobody born outside the matrix, or it'll be less fun for them). One team stays on the ship, the other goes into the matrix.

The games would need to be run at the same time by two GM's, in different locations (or online), probably with a prop phone available for the teams to call one another when they have the chance to do so. The ship would itself be a recurring battlefield which the players can steer, try to hide, avoid the sentinels, and so on. They would have ineffective weapons which they can use, and an EMP which they need to use to kill the sentinels, but which can kill the players in the matrix.

You would need to create missions which they have to complete, with a timeline in which they need to complete it (both internally, EG before morpheus' brain cracks, and externally, EG when the sentinels arrive).

I would consider this needing to be more of a board game than a TTRPG, because it will have very strict rules for survival and high likelihoods of Character Death. I would consider even removing the need for a GM entirely and having the mission run through a system of cards to represent the ticking clock, and then make a system where you add cards in depending on how well the machines do in each mission - the better you do, the longer you can stay hidden from the sentinels. Have each mission require that you choose from your team, and your team rarely grows (one trip to Xion each game for recruits, no trips after the machines find it). The machines goal is to access Xion, and your missions will be to defeat the machines and prove that Neo is the One, that sort of thing.

goes a bit sideways from your original plan of TTRPG, but thats how I'd do it.

Honestly, Forged in the Dark would be a good engine for this. You'd have to redo the playbooks and skills, but the defined nature of a trip into the matrix and how literally separate it is from events outside the matrix go well with the way Forged in the Dark games structure sessions.

 some bloke wrote:
I think that the most important part of the matrix is that there are two "worlds", and limited ability to communicate between them.

The game would work best if the players were split into two groups each time (nobody born outside the matrix, or it'll be less fun for them). One team stays on the ship, the other goes into the matrix.

The games would need to be run at the same time by two GM's, in different locations (or online), probably with a prop phone available for the teams to call one another when they have the chance to do so. The ship would itself be a recurring battlefield which the players can steer, try to hide, avoid the sentinels, and so on. They would have ineffective weapons which they can use, and an EMP which they need to use to kill the sentinels, but which can kill the players in the matrix.

You would need to create missions which they have to complete, with a timeline in which they need to complete it (both internally, EG before morpheus' brain cracks, and externally, EG when the sentinels arrive).

I would consider this needing to be more of a board game than a TTRPG, because it will have very strict rules for survival and high likelihoods of Character Death. I would consider even removing the need for a GM entirely and having the mission run through a system of cards to represent the ticking clock, and then make a system where you add cards in depending on how well the machines do in each mission - the better you do, the longer you can stay hidden from the sentinels. Have each mission require that you choose from your team, and your team rarely grows (one trip to Xion each game for recruits, no trips after the machines find it). The machines goal is to access Xion, and your missions will be to defeat the machines and prove that Neo is the One, that sort of thing.

goes a bit sideways from your original plan of TTRPG, but thats how I'd do it.

My first swing at it was a board game, with two boards and a pre-defined set of threats to resolve. Threats were randomly pulled from a deck. Then, players would need to get to certain positions on the two boards depending on the threat drawn. Think of how in ReLoaded they needed a crew to take out the power generator, while another was dealing with Sentinels, while a third was going after the keymaker. It would be a co-op game with the players taking on the escalating level of threat from the threat deck, by manning or stationing players at various points in the Real world and the Matrix.

But then I wanted to do a TTRPG instead, because making boards for a board game is work and materials, and theatre of the mind is free and simple! LOL

It kind of looked like Space Alert.

You do not make a system for the Matrix.



I am not saying "Do Not Play THE Matrix".. Play tabletop Matrix .Outside of Health dont make any rules for it . If your a hard ass dm throw ammo in there.