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Full Version: How do I make a mind-boggling Matrix?
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TheMadderHatter
So i finally have the group for which I will GM: hacker, AI, and TM.

Given that they're all Matrix-heavy characters, I'm devoting a lot of thought to how to make a Matrix to hack that's not just a series of Exploit tests and cybercombat. I'd really like to make something that's both thematically appropriate and convoluted/intriguing enough to engage them as players as well as characters; all of the players are intellectual enough to appreciate a puzzle that can't be solved simply by chucking dice at the problem and it seems like a nice way of sucking them into the story in conjunction with an engaging world.

Thus my twofold request: Firstly, if there's any material out there on how to make a convincing Matrix it will be dearly appreciated; I could use as many tips, hints, and pieces of Dumpshock advice as I can find. In particular, any way of conveying an appropriate level of security for any given target, as well as a means of expressing its nature in terms of the security it employs, would be invaluable.

Secondly and perhaps more amusingly, I need Matrix-based puzzles, logic traps, and any other dirty tricks of node linking and agent scripting that I can throw at them sparingly to leave the players scratching their heads and reaching for pencil and paper,and I can think of no better source for such deviousness than here. Any electronic deviousness of the not-necessarily-lethal sort will be given a good home in their nightmares.
hermit
A tip for the mechanical side, to make that also a challenge:

[ Spoiler ]


You can do puzzles with a network of nodes that only connectb for limited time among each other and only randomly, forming an ever-changing maze. A persona needs to occupy a node to keep the connections stable, which makes this thtreaded hacking option often forgotten actually sensible. If you feel like being mean (I would), have IC patrol this maze.

Also, this maze only has a starting point that connects wirelessly, all other nodes have wireless removed and are connecting via hardware. The node behind this maze of nodes is a Nexus full of whatever the players are looking for.

Another idea would be ultra-secure access as detailed above. If you need a specific commlink with a built-in codekey and a specific brainwave pattern AND to connect at an exact time to identify yourself to a live spider, getting whatever is needed to hack in becomes a run in itself.

And if the mancer hacks via resonance quest, have his character overwhelmed by Novatech during that quest and used up in some sort of twisted experiment, because that is just not done. wink.gif

If you're purely going for a weird, otherworldly matric place, try a resonance quest.
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