Matron - The Matrix in the Donjon

[Drew Stevens]

Whee, brain explosions!

So, one of the Persistant Problems of Neuromancer style cyberpunk is that of the Decker- the person who isn't directly in the action, but exists in a strange Otherspace.

Matrix takes this problem to the Nth degree- one or two players should stay out as Operators (the fellows who monitor the Infiltrators in the Matrix), but that'd be boring as hell compared to being the people inside the Matrix itself.

And Donjon shall lead the way :)  The Operators could be characters who's rolls let them create facts- but not roll successes.  Characters in the Matrix proper, OTOH, can roll successes- but not state facts.

Or something.  I'll have to ponder this a bit more... it's really pretty outta Donjon's normal fantasy genre/setting...

[Mike Holmes]

I'll have to ponder this a bit more... it's really pretty outta Donjon's normal fantasy genre/setting...

I doubt that's a problem. I think Donjon would work well in most any genre. Sounds like a nifty notion to me.

Mike

[Drew Stevens]

Having left work, I can now devote a little more thought to this.

First, the primary thing we see Operators do in the Matrix movie is monitor the Infiltrators and the Matrix around them.  They acted as an Uber Spot Stuff monitor, and uploaded skills into the Agents.

Posit: People in the Matrix play Donjon just like normal.  Need to make stats for guns and stuff, but that can be handled.  Likewise, 'magic' is anything that totally breaks the Matrix.  However, unlike in normal Donjon, Infiltrators can not State Facts.  They can roll successes (or use Magic as additional successes on otherwise 'mundane' actions).  Infiltrators, on the other hand, are the only people who can actually do /anything/ to the Matrix itself.

Monitors can follow any Infiltrator- but changing which one you're following after they have split up requires a Cerebility test.  They can, at any time, ask for a Look Around test.  The successes from this can either translate into Facts or bonus dice granted to the Infiltrator they are following (in the form of more accurate information).  These checks can't be performed in direct combat, although they can help someone on the run (like Neo, running through the City to try and find a way out).

...There is a creepy amount of potential here...

[Bob McNamee]

You might want Operators/Monitors to be able to state Facts in their own Realm (the real world)

You can only state Facts in the area you inhabit... Infiltrator inhabit the Matrix...Operator inhabit the Real world.

Let them state Facts in the Realm they are in (as against the cyber-squid thing)... or add dice to actions in the other Realm... Neo adds dice through Matrix Manipulation to deep six the squid things attacking the ops in the real world

[Drew Stevens]

Ooh.  Actually, reverse that.

Infiltrators can state Facts about the Real World, making them true via Matrix Manipulation stuff.  They can roll and move successes around in the Matrix.

Operators can state Facts about the Matrix, making them true via superior knowledge of the situation.  They can roll and move successes around in the real World.

An interesting dichotemy... :)

[Clinton R. Nixon]

Drew,

Pardon my language, but - this is so fucking cool that I want a supplement on it, with the Matrix copyright filed off. I'm going to try running this on one of my Indie Game Nights, and tell you how it went.

Best,
Clinton

[John Harper]

I like the sound of this. I wonder if playing an Operator will be any fun, though, even with the cool rules gimmick you've set up. I know I for one would always choose to play an Infiltrator, since that's where the action is, and where all the "cool" happens in the film.

Sitting at a Matrix terminal and saying "There's an exit at 14th and Lake" doens't sound like loads of fun. My current Buffy players are all big Matrix fans, and when the new film comes out I'm sure they'll want to play a Matrix rpg. Since by then they will be very much used to Donjon (I'm using it to run Buffy) I will probably run the Matrix with Donjon as well. The Operator will be an NPC, though. The players want to be the stars, and that means Infiltrators. I may even blur the line a bit between GM and Operator, and "play" the operator as my character in the game.

I agree that the successes = facts element of Donjon seems to fit perfectly for a reality-warping setting like the Matrix. I'm just not sure that the strict division of fact-narration for Operators and successes for Infiltrators is the way to go.

[Drew Stevens]

Feng, I'd agree with you absolutely.  Except I'd want to be an Operator.  :)

There's some class of player personalities (I think my group is oversaturated with 'em, but even so) that really like background/support roles.  The problem with such character usally is that they can't make a significant contribution to the story- they play the clerics who are bags of healing after the fight.

Donjon's Fact Statement mechanic allows for those same players to suddenly make a MASSIVE contribution to the story, by their very nature of being very good support characters.

Hm.  I dunno.  I do know the reason I didn't like Shadowrun was because I played a Decker, and wasn't terribly useful either mechanically or to the story.  (Sucked at combat, got through the security systems by rolling instead of neat subplot cause the subplot of decking would have taken too long.)  The Operators gimmick is meant to counter that.

Additional rules gimmick- operators can give an Infiltrator they are following dice in an ability on a one to one basis for the duration of a given scene (or perhaps chapter).

[John Harper]

Like I said, this thread is giving me ideas. I just pounded out the first 5 pages of a Matrix-like supplement for Donjon, which I'm calling Awaken. I'll post more on this as I get it hammered into shape.