The Matrix

Decking and the Matrix

Or, how I burned the BBB to ashes and learned to love the Matrix

This and Magic are the biggest slash-and-burn parts of my hack.

My Matrix is Wireless, a'la Shadowrun 4th Edition.

Having a Decker Aspect and the Computer Skill allows you to access the Matrix and do awful, terrible things within it.

Systems

Systems have a rating on the Ladder. Most systems are Average (go figure, right?) but secure networks will be rated at Great (+4) or higher. Systems rated higher than Great are rare and full of valuable paydata, most likely. Systems higher than Fantastic (+6) are super rare and cross into Ultra-violet territory. That means, unless specified, everything within the system uses the system's rating as its rating. Grey ice trying to track a Decker? If the system is Superb, so is it and any relevant skills it needs.

IC - Intrusion Countermeasures - provide Passive Resistance equal to their rating when applicable, they only roll when providing Active Opposition, of course. That means that, for most PC Deckers, a majority of the Matrix will be an open playground, requiring really no rolls to accomplish anything they want - until they reach a Secured system. Hacking the scrolling marquee in front of a building is child's play for most deckers. Hacking the System that controls the traffic grid to re-route a convoy to an ambush spot however, will require work.

Cyberware is built to offer some protection against hacking and as such always starts at the character's highest possible skill rating +2. That means, for my default campaign, the System Rating for Cyberware is Fantastic (+6). Military-Hardened Cyberware would be Legendary (+8) when that Aspect is invoked.

Matrix Actions and Combat

The traditional rules have an assortment of actions you can do in the Matrix. We're going to have four - Attack, Defend, Overcome an Obstacle and Create an Advantage. All of them use your Computer Skill.

The Advantages your create or Obstacles you Overcome can either be based in the Matrix or in the Meat-world. Overcoming a Matrix Obstacle might be sneaking past IC or fooling a system into giving you Admin rights. Overcoming a physical Obstacle in the Matrix could be unlocking a door or taking control of an automated turret.

IC can either affect your Mental Stress Track or, if Black IC, your Physical Stress track.

If you are Taken Out in the Matrix, you are unconscious in the real world, unless Black Ice is involved, in which case it can kill you.

We're going to break IC down into three categories and give each a Goal that it will attempt when engaging or engaged by a Decker.

White IC

White IC isn't interested in attacking the Decker or his 'deck. They want to create Aspects on the Decker's Matrix Persona. The first Aspects they want to create would be things like Intruder or Access not Allowed. If the Decker doesn't leave the system (or make the IC think they've let the system) White IC will call out to Grey IC which has the ability to nullify an Intruder and White IC will also alert any active personnel monitoring the System. Any Aspects White IC lands on a Persona should add to the difficulty of any Actions the Persona undertakes. Left on its own, the White IC will nail a Persona with so many Aspects that they are unable to do anything on the system, which is what blocks most "normal" Matrix users. Try to log in and put in the wrong password? The screen that pops up telling you your password is incorrect is a piece of White IC that has Denied Access to you. Supply the correct password and it will remove the Aspect from you.

Grey IC

These programs have the ability to inflict Mental Stress over the Matrix by amping up the ASIST signal cyberdecks use to create virtual reality in your head. They want to Create Aspects, but more than that, they want to Log you off. Grey Ice only shows up once an Alarm is tripped, usually by White IC. Some high-security systems don't have White IC, they start with Grey. In that case, the thing that trips the alarm is immediately going to try to force you to log off.

Once Grey IC begins to engage you in Matrix Combat, it will not stop unless you jack out, leave the system or it forcibly renders you unconscious. You may Concede the conflict at any time, doing so forces you out of the System and gives you the Aspect Dumpshock but prevents the worst part of the conflict - the Trace. If Grey IC renders you Taken Out in a Matrix Conflict, it forces you out of the system, logs your identify information it can steal from your 'deck and creates the Aspect Traced! The authorities know at least where your now unconscious body is and are closing in to arrest you for the crimes you committed or attempted to commit.

Black IC

Black IC isn't supposed to even exist. Its status is quasi-legal at best. They're the nukes of the Matrix world - believing someone possesses and uses Black IC to protect a system should deter most people from even trying to hack it. Sometimes, it's not even rumored to be there and shows up as a nasty surprise. Find Black IC in an otherwise innocuous system can be a real shocker. Black IC is the type of Program that is most often found with a higher rating than its system. That mom-and-pop Stuffer Shack System the Mob's using as a front may look so tasty, but you can bet even though it's an Average system, the Black IC guarding the paydata is gonna be at least Superb.

Black IC isn't subtle. It leaves the Aspect creation to White and Grey IC. It isn't interested in forcing you to log off, it's interested in killing you. It does this by creating Passive Opposition to any attempt to leave the system. Once it has its hooks in you, you need to succeed against the Black IC rating to leave the Matrix, otherwise it will hold you in place and fry your brain. Conceding on this battle keeps you from dying, but automatically creates the Traced! Aspect along with any Physical consequences it creates. Being Taken Out by Black IC but not killed results in the Severe Consequence of Brain Burned, the effects of which are left up to individual groups to determine.

Other Deckers

When engaging other Deckers in Matrix Combat, the rules that govern Matrix Combat are similar to physical Conflict. Initiative is still determined by Notice. In most cases, Matrix combat affects the Mental Stress Track - unless special, deadly programs are used. These programs are very illegal. Matrix combat is meant to be as tense and narrative as Physical Conflict. Deckers can create Advantages, Attack each other, maneuver, just like physical opponents can. While you may be able to set the warehouse On Fire to use the smoke as cover, in the Matrix, you could cause a Memory Leak to create the same idea - a mess of conflicting data (smoke) to hide behind and the threat of imminent collapse.

Use your imagination and have fun!


And that's pretty much it. The rest of it is narrative details, but that's the nuts and bolts of how the Matrix runs in Shadows of FATE.