What matrix rules do you want?, if you could choose Options

[Serbitar]

There are two concepts to do matrix rules:

Open rules, where lots of stuff is left to the GM. He can invent different mechanics and play the matrix just like the "real world" in SR, where agents are sneaking around, looking for you just like normal guards, and you can do lots of different things like "climbing" over the wall that represents the firewall.
This rule style calls for a creative GM and needs some effort on his side. The player will not be able to judge situations just by the raw "numbers" regarding nodes and commlinks, as the situation is much more complex. These rules are generally slower. If the GM wants to speed them up he can just invent shortcut rolls that summarize a whole set of actions.
A creative player with knowledge about computers might have an advantage, because he can invent creative ways to deal with problems (like editing data streams coming into a node to get admin access).

Closed rules, where the hacker has only a defined set of allowed actions and the node/IC/Agents a set of counter actions. Everything is defined. A GM does only have to make up the system topology (including matrix tricks like back doors) and the rest is set. Matrix is more like very complex chess game, which can be speed up if need be, by just rolling the dice for every test and leaving out the GM descriptions. The player is able to judge his situation very well because there is nothing to be invented by the GM or the player. This rule set needs no computer knowledge, as everything you can do is already described in the game mechanics.


At the moment SR4 has a very open rule set.