Matrix: awesome clothing and spring showers

March 4th, 2009

So yes, I will actually play the Matrix game some time, cobbling together the hacks. I think I have enough for a complete-enough freeform game. Spring might be a good time for it: rainy evenings are kind of vital for the environment. (Of course, spring lasts all of four hours in New England so we’d only have time for a one-shot.)

Matrix: Handle. Your character sheet is obviously an index card. On the top of one side, write “MY NAME IS _____” where the last bit is your cool Matrix handle, like “Dingo” or “Chmod”. (I’m trying to channel the “My name is NEO” bit from the first film.) Add the descriptions of your cool badass attributes in the matrix. Some prefer trenchcoats, other prefer form-fitting leather. This is also a good place to brainstorm some ways you might be a badass. You’ll add to this, of course.

Flip the card around, and on the other side write “ONLY HUMAN”. Write the attributes about how you look frail, ghoulish, weak, vulnerable in the real world. Neo’s clothing fits him poorly. Trinity’s arms are long and thin. Mouse is a scrawny little script kiddie. Maybe you’re clumsy with your hands, or an awkward limp. You will add attributes to this throughout the game.

This next part is wicked obvious, but of course: in the real world, you invoke your “only human” attributes in a scene to give yourself trouble or to look weak. When you do this, add a box. to the middle of the card. Now in the Matrix, you can check off boxes to get some minor bonus (like a redraw or whatnot) when doing things in a characteristically cool fashion. But, the main thing is to keep a balance between these two sides of your character. I think that once you’ve checked off the last of your boxes in the Matrix, you are flagged as vulnerable for the rest of the mission. If you pull on Agent on any draw, the GM may make it an instant kill: end of story.

Ideas | Comments | Trackback