THERE IS NO SPOON -...

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Transcript of THERE IS NO SPOON -...

THERE IS NO SPOON

A MATRIX RPG BY STEVE DARLINGTON

THERE IS NO SPOONA Matrix RPG by Steve Darlington

Credits

Designed, written and developed by Steve DarlingtonDesign and Layout by Judas I. ZehPlaytesting and Contributions by Adrian Forrest, Jody Macgregor, Scott Lette, Colin Smith,Craig Oxbrow, teucer, Nick Lippolis, Funksaw, Jerome ComeauEditing by Martin BeckerSuggestions and critiques by the posters on RPGNet - thanks guys, you rock.Special thanks to “Wushu's Guide to the Matrix” for inspiring me to do it my way instead.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1The First Rule 1Corollary to the First Rule 1Setting 2

The Rules 3The Matrix Stat 3Skills 3Rolling Dice 3Success, Failure and Competition 4Combat and Damage 5Multiple Attackers and Advantages 6More On Chips 7Outside the Matrix 8

Optional Rules 9The "Woah" Rule 9Softening the Blows 9Dicing With Death 9Sick At Heart 9The One is The One 10

Characters 11Character generation 11Skills 12Equipment 13Names 14Adv. Character Gen. - Deals and Fates 14Experience and Character Improvement 15

Game Masters Section 17Stats of People From The Film 17Playing a Program 18On Power and Privilege 19On Deals and Fates 20On Running the Game 21On Writing Adventures 23

Appendix: Adventure Ideas 25Call of the Siren 25The Memory Remains 26Raiders of the Lost Archive 30

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The First Rule

Reloaded does not exist. It never existed. It willnever exist. The same goes for Revolutions.Likewise for any animated films you might haveheard of, and any other derivative products. Ifa player mentions any of these, the GM isallowed to smack them in the face.

Corollary to the First Rule

THERE IS NO SPOON can only be used forone-shots or micro-campaigns - ie movielength stories. If you attempt to use this gamefor extended campaign play, the designer isallowed to smack you in the face.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to THERE IS NO SPOON, a Matrix RPG designed by me on

the bus one day. Let's hear it for public transport - it frees the mind. If

labels interest you, it could be labelled a very rules-light system, with a

cinematic feel. I hope you enjoy it.

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Setting

In case you haven't figured it out, this game isset in the world of the Matrix. There are a fewfurther specifications to this. This gameassumes that the PCs are all agents of theresistance, a hovercraft crew who spend a lotof time in the city that used to be their prison.The outside world should be secondary torunning missions inside the program. This is agame about jacking in, running hard andrisking it all.

The game can be set in any time period, butmaking it close to the events in the film (theo n l y film) will serve to make things moreimmediate and interesting. Of course, feelfree to change the events of the film howev-er you wish as well. Maybe Neo never got upafter being shot, or took the blue pill at thestart. Maybe he isn't The One. Maybe youare instead.

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THE RULESThe Matrix Stat

Characters in THERE IS NO SPOON aredefined by one main stat, the only stat thatmatters: Matrix. This stat measures howmuch you can manipulate the Matrix wheninside it, both the substance of reality aroundyou, and your own body. It is a numberbetween one and five (or maybe six); see thetable below for what each number means:

0 - a mind trapped forever in the Matrix.These people are unable to be removed, andcan be totally blown up without any moral orethical concerns.

1 - people with the potential to see the Matrixfor what it is, and leave it. All PCs and anyoneborn outside the Matrix have a minimumMatrix score of one. (eg Mouse, Neo at thebeginning of the film)

2 - at this level, you can start to do some coolstuff, like shoot really well or run really fast.Most hovercraft crewmembers who havespent any significant time in the system are atthis level. (eg Cypher, Case, Apoc)

3 - nw you can do the leap across buildingsand can make the camera freeze and panaround your kung-fu poses. Hard core opera-tives are on this level (eg Trinity).

4 - for most revolutionaries, this is the pinna-cle. You can out-fight almost anyone, leaphuge distances, survive large amounts ofdamage, throw people through walls. Bad-assoperatives who scare their team mates are onthis level (eg Morpheus).

5 - the level of the Agents, and the level Neoreaches during the rooftop scene. Now you

can dodge bullets, float in mid-air, hold upgiant helicopters with your bare hands, andthrow Agents into the paths of subway trains.You are unstoppably bad-ass.

6 - you're God; you decide at any time what isreal and what isn't. Only The One has thislevel. Pester your GM if you want to be TheTwo. He can smack you if you do, but he mayalso say yes.

Skills

Thanks to uploading, you can learn any skillyou want, and add any you forget. Do notwrite down a list of skills, as you can do every-thing. There is, however, a catch. Uploadedskills aren't quite as good as twenty years oftraining, so they are only rated at level 3.Skills in which you are trained can be raisedabove this. See the section on rolling dice forwhat these levels mean.

If you want to upgrade your skills throughtraining or just being a bad-ass, you canspend points at character generation to do so.Skills can be rated at the following levels:

4 - Expert5 - Mastery6 - Godlike

Note that a Godlike skill is awesome tobehold: it means you can never, ever fail whileusing that skill. It will thus be a major part ofyour character.

Rolling Dice

TINS uses six-sided dice for all rolls. The aimfor a player is to roll under a target number,set by their skill level or Matrix stat. Usually

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this is a number from two to five. If you rollequal to or less than this number, you roxxorz,and may state this to your fellow players.

Every time you test a skill, your roll one die foryour skill. If you are doing anything remotelyphysical - and are in the Matrix - you may alsoroll another die for your Matrix stat. It's best tohave a different coloured die for this, as youwill be making these rolls all the time (in fact,almost always) and you need to be able to tellthem apart easily. If your skill roll or your Matrixroll succeeds, you have succeeded at yourtask. However, a Matrix success is always bet-ter than a skill success, in terms of gamee ffect. If both rolls succeed, hey, you're a com-plete bad-ass, and you and the GM shouldwork out an outcome to demonstrate that.

Sometimes, what is being tested is purely yourability to mould the Matrix (eg: doing the leap).In these cases, simply roll one die, trying to getunder your Matrix stat. This is called a Matrixtest. A test purely on a skill is a Skill Te s t .Testing with both dice is a Standard test, andunless specified otherwise, should beassumed to be the default. Likewise, the dicerolled for the Skill and Matrix rolls are hereaftercalled Skill Dice and Matrix Dice, respectively,and successes on these rolls are labelled as aSkill Success and a Matrix Success. Gettingboth is called a Double Success.

That all sounds very confusing, so let’s try tosimplify it a bit:

Characters have a Skill level (of which thedefault is 3) and a Matrix stat.

To make a Skill test, the player rolls one dieand try to get equal to or less than their Skilllevel. If they do, it is a Skill Success.

To make a Matrix test, they roll one die and tryto get under or equal to their Matrix stat. If theydo, they have achieved a Matrix Success.

To make a Standard test, they roll two dice -making a Skill test and a Matrix test simultane-o u s l y. This is the default test. For the meaningof successes and failure on this test, see below.

Success, Failure andCompetition

As they say in the technical argot, this gameuses a fortune-in-the-middle system. That is,before you roll the dice, only determine whatyou are doing in the broadest possible sense.For example: fighting, driving, running, tryingto kill someone. Then roll the dice. Figure outhow well you did from the table below, thendescribe the outcome:

No successes: You suck. You probably didsomething, but either it went wrong somehow,or the people trying to stop you did just that.In a fight, this is bad.

Skill success: You did something, and itworked well enough. Good on ya.

Matrix success: You did something prettycool, or damn well. You rock.

Double success: You did something totallybad-ass. We worship you.

Note the order: A double success beats aMatrix success beats a Skill success beats nosuccess. This becomes most important whenyou are rolling against other people. The GMmay also require a minimum of a Matrix suc-cess to succeed at a task, or to succeed unre-servedly. (Failure tends to be less interestingthan success with a nasty catch.) Also, play-ers should take into account how well they didwhen describing their actions. A double suc-cess represents those moments when thecamera freezes and pans around your super-cool bad-ass move so all may marvel at it.

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When competing against another party, theGM decides if your opponent(s) are goodenough to warrant dice rolls. Both partiesinvolved roll, the higher success level wins. Ifthere is a tie, then no side gains a significantadvantage. If fighting, they just beat the tarout of each other and destroy the architecturefor a bit, but nobody gets the upper hand.

Note that almost all the human inhabitants ofthe Matrix have no Matrix stat, so can neverget better than a Skill success. This meansyou can kick their asses. Note also that A g e n t shave a Matrix stat of five and heaps of combatskills. This means they can kick your ass.

Combat and Damage

Combat works exactly the same way as anyopposed skill check. The skills in questionare Kung Fu and Gun Fu (or any appropriateequivalent), which like any other skill, areboth rated at 3 unless improved at charactergeneration. The winner then decides what hewants to do to his opponent. For each level ofsuccess achieved, the winner may do onelevel of damage to their opponent. For exam-ple, if an Agent punches Morpheus and gets

a double success, while Morpheus gets nosuccesses, he can do up to three levels ofdamage to him.

Characters' health is measured in points orchips, called Body chips and they usuallybegin the game with three of them. Whenthey're all gone, your plot immunity has runout and your opponent can do with you whatthey wish. This is never good - but it does notnecessarily mean death. Only if the death of acharacter is dramatically appropriate shouldthe GM apply such measures - an examplewould be in the climactic battle, or just prior toit, wherein the big bad is giving them a reasonto go wire-fu all over his ass.

If the death isn't appropriate, the other mainoptions are severe injury, unconciousness orincarceration. The point is to prevent the char-acter in question from acting, and make his lifed i fficult (and that of his fellows). Characterswho have lost all chips cannot make any rollsuntil they get a chip back. Once they do, theycan act normally again. Note however that ifsomeone spends a chip for them (see below),they can roll a dice for one single action. T h i sis supposed to represent a last-ditch effort to

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get out of the firing line, so GMs should becareful that it isn't abused.

Body chips may be regained throughDowntime. For every scene that a character isinactive, off-stage or constrained by thewhims of their enemies or their injuries, theyreceive one chip back. It is always up to theGM what constitutes a scene. GMs may alsoaward chips to PCs for doing extremely coolor interesting things, or for creating dramaticopportunities: the better you dance, the longeryou stay on the floor. These chips can takeyour total number above three.

Exiting the Matrix will also restore all lost chips.If you can get to the phone in time, of course.

Multiple Attackers andAdvantages

Most of the time, combat can be broken intomini-combats between two opponents, andthus run as above. Even with three or fourcombatants, the system remains unchanged -all those involved in the fight roll their dice,and the highest roller may determine the out-come, and may inflict as many levels of dam-age between their result and their opponent's.This means that if two people beat their oppo-nent, they can both do damage. If you don'troll the highest but still beat someone, youstop them from doing what they were doing,but can't avoid damage yourself. Ties workthe same way - a stalemate occurs.

Note that this system breaks down for morethan a few combatants, so such combatsshould be broken down into min-combats, orthe Advantage Dice rules used (see below).

Example:

Trinity (Gun Fu 4, Matrix 3) and Neo (Kung Fu4, Matrix 4) are fighting on the rooftop. The

Agent (Gun Fu 4, Matrix 5) has been shootingat Neo and he's been dodging bullets (herolled a Matrix success). The GM hasdeclared a new round.

Trinity says she's going to whack the Agentfrom behind, if possible. Neo says he'llattempt to close in and do some Kung Fu. TheGM determines the Agent is going to blastuntil he hits something. All of them roll. Neogets a Skill success, the Agent gets a Matrixsuccess, and Trinity gets a Double success.

At one level above Neo, the Agent's bullets hitthis time. No chips are lost as the wound is notserious, but Neo falls on his butt and looks likea pratt. The GM says the Agent smirks andsays "Only human". Then Trinity uses her suc -cess. She says the Agent is distracted so she isable to put her gun to his head, point blank. Shedeadpans: "Dodge this", then scatters hisbrains. Since she rolled a Doublex success,and it was such a great line, the GM rules thatthe Agent is dead. (see the ”Woah” rule, below. )

If the Agent had also rolled a Double success,things would have been different. The Agentwould have still stopped Neo from doing whathe wanted, but Trinity's shot wouldn't havedamaged him. The Agent shoots Neo downand smirks again - before Trinity tackles himfrom behind. Rolling clear and leaping to hisfeet, Neo sees Trinity and the Agent slammingeach other into the concrete. He charges...andthe GM calls for more rolls. The action continues.

This takes care of small battles where every-one has dice. Sometimes, however, the oppo-nents of the players will be so numerous, fast,well-armed or bad-ass that there are manyattacks going on at once and it becomesimpossible to model them one by one. Forexample, a whole lobby full of trained guards.Or one guy with a machine gun. Or an Agentdoing that million-punch-blur thing on thehero's abdomen. In any situation which

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increases the amount of attacks being put outin any combat round, the GM can give thatside more dice to roll. These extra dice arealways Skill dice, never Matrix dice.

The rules for adjudicating dice rolls with mul-tiple skill dice are as follows:

First, Skill dice cancel each other out. Forevery successful skill dice rolled, you can takeone of the same away from your opponentsroll. The end result will be one side with zeroskill dice and one side with one or more.

Second, the Matrix die always trumps Skilldice, no matter how many Skill dice there are.If one side has a Matrix success and the otherdoes not, the former wins. If neither has aMatrix success, the side with the most skill dicewins. If both have a Matrix success, the num-ber of Skill successes determines the winner.

If in combat, the number of damage chips lostis the difference in success level, PLUS thenumber of extra Skill dice remaining for thewinner. In this way, large groups of normalpeople can threaten the PCs.

Example:

Neo is fighting a room full of guards with bigguns. The GM thinks there's enough of them toget four bonus dice, rolling five dice total. Beingwell trained but not super-elite soldiers, theyhave a Gun Fu skill of four. As they are puppetsof the Matrix, they have no Matrix dice.

Neo has a Gun Fu skill of four and a Matrixskill of four. Wow. He's also whined to his GMthat because he has guns, lots of guns, heshould get a bonus die. The GM, in a raremoment of kindness, agrees.

Both sides say they are trying to kill eachother and roll.

The guards roll their five dice and get 1,2,3,5and 6. That's three Skill successes. Neo rollsand gets a 4 and a 6, plus a 3 on his Matrixdice. That's one Skill success. His one suc -cess cancels out one of the guards' success -es, giving a final tally of two Skill successesfor the Guards and zero for Neo. But Neo hasa Matrix success, and so blows them all away.The player describes how cool he is whiledoing this. Everyone is very impressed.

If Neo had rolled a 5 on his Matrix dice, hewould have been in a world of hurt. Two skillsuccesses versus none means he loses twochips. This is why nobody ever attacked theAgent's homebase before.

More On Chips

Just as you have Skill dice and Matrix dice,players also have Body chips and Matrixchips. Again, we recommend using two differ-ent colours for these chips. Where Body chipsrepresent how much damage you can take inthe Matrix, Matrix chips represent moments ofsudden clarity, spiritual enlightment and analmost subconscious control over the Matrix.Players usually begin the game with threeBody chips and one Matrix chip.

As well as measuring damage, players mayspend a Body chip to give themselves oranother player an automatic Skill success.Yes, you pull off that move, but you dislocatesomething doing it, or you make sure youropponent shoots you and not your buddy. ThePC who received the bonus still rolls both hisdice; use the multiple dice rules above toadjudicate success. Note that because youcan give dice to any player, this mechanicallows a player to get a successful die rolldespite having no chips left.

Far more impressively, players may spend aMatrix chip to give themselves or another an

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automatic Matrix Success. The PC with thebonus rolls both his dice, and extra Matrixdice cancel out other Matrix dice just as withextra Skill dice. What's more, a success onboth Matrix dice means something absolutelymiraculous and astoundingly cool happens,well above what your normal Matrix stat wouldallow. Examples might be someone comingback from the dead after just a kiss, or some-one breaking out of unbreakable hand-cuffsdespite being beaten to the verge of death.This is the big rules-breaker: for one action,you get to be The One. Go nuts. Enjoy it.

Matrix chips are much harder to earn thanBody chips. The only way to get one is to dosomething insanely dangerous, insanely coolor insanely key to your character or the plot,or ideally, all three at once. Getting closure onyour Deal might do it (see below); taking onan Agent single-handedly might also. If thelatter is strongly related to the former (as inthe case of Morpheus' fight in the bathroom),then it's pretty much a cert.

Matrix chips can be given to a player with noBody chips or no Matrix chips, thus allowingsuccesses that might not have been possible

without the expenditure. Note however thatonly one chip may ever be spent per die roll.You can't receive a Body chip from someoneand then spend your Matrix chip to increasethe roll further. One chip per die roll. Got it?

Note also that there are no dramatic editingmechanics beyond Matrix chips. PCs in theMatrix can already ignore physics, they don'tneed to be able to make up the plot as well.That power is in the hands of the Agents; giv-ing it to the PCs will make the Agents far lesss c a r y. Of course, Agents (and all other NPCs)have no Matrix chips - that's a PC-only bennie.

Outside the Matrix

As indicated, all rolls made outside the Matrixonly use Skill dice, never Matrix dice. Chipswork as they do in the computer world, how-ever, with Matrix chips being the only way toroll a Matrix die, simulating amazing feats ofpersonal strength. Uploaded skills are stillavailable. However, the GM should resistmaking many rolls in this world, or indeed set-ting much of the game there. The Matrix iswhere all the cool stuff can happen, so keepthe characters in there as much as possible.

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OPTIONAL RULES

The "Woah" Rule

This is the Matrix: the impossible and theamazing happen all the time. However,should a player describe something so damncool that everybody at the table stops andgoes "woah" - or words to that effect - theplayer’s success may be assumed to be evenbetter than what was rolled. GMs might awardan extra chip (or more) of damage, give thePC a Body chip, improve the situation in thePC's favour, prevent something bad from hap-pening (such as another PC being injured) oranything else to produce the "deserved" out-come. See the rooftop combat describedabove for an example of this.

Softening the Blows

GMs will quickly find that three chips can belost very quickly. If your game is becoming toodamaging for the PCs, simply increase this tofour or five chips, or be more generous inawarding them for good play. This option is

also good if you want to encourage long, epicbattles. When it comes to your climacticshowdown, giving a free chip to both sides willmake sure the audience has a nice long whileto admire the genre-defining choreographyand cinematography going on.

Note that if you are allowing PCs to start withmore than three chips, Body chips should becheaper at character generation, as they areless proportionally important. 1 point for 2chips would be right for characters startingwith five chips.

Dicing With Death

For those who find the damage system toovague, the following option might be useful.When a character hits 0 chips, his plot immu-nity has run out and he begins to take realdamage. What's more, he can no longer rollhis Skill die. If he loses another level (bringinghim to -1), he cannot roll Matrix dice either; hecannot make any rolls at all (unless hereceives a chip, from another player). He canstill talk (or moan) and crawl about, and shuf-fle off a battlefield if greatly assisted. If heloses another point (-2) he is completely inca-pacitated and can perform no actions exceptlying still and bleeding. Unless he leaves theMatrix in the next few minutes, he will die.Reaching the -3 point means instant death:your brains are blown out, your organs scat-tered or your bones crushed. Nothing short ofdeus ex machina can save you now.

Sick At Heart

Another optional rule for damage is modellingdamage to the character’s belief system.Should the character choose or be forced toact in a way which contravenes or works to

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destroy their beliefs, personal code or greatabiding reason to live, their will may actuallybreak. The same may happen during torture,or other extreme experiences. The GM canask them to make a Matrix roll. If they fail,they lose a point of their Matrix stat, and even-tually may be worn down to having no stat atall. Recovery of these points should be diffi-cult, as they involve rebuilding the character’sfaith in themselves. The GM decides if anexperience or action will do that or not.

This rule should not be used excessively. Thisis an action game, not a dark tale of the fragili-ty of the mind.

The One is The One

Some players might point out that The Onehas a Matrix score of six, and it should be aone, to match his destiny. This is a simplechange to make; simply subtract every stat inthe game from seven. Then, instead of tryingto roll equal or under this number, players tryto roll equal to or over. The probabilitiesremain exactly the same, as Trinity trying to

roll under or equal to a three, or over or equalto a four is still 50% chance.

The reason this rule was not used is becauseit causes skill ratings to reduce as they getbetter, which is somewhat counter-intuitive.Also, the author has a pathological obsessionwith roll-under systems.

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CHARACTERSCharacter generation, or "Hey,that Matrix stat is too powerful!"

Yes, yes it is. The easy way to powergame isto up your Matrix stat like crazy. If this is youridea of a good time, go right ahead. The GM isallowed to slap you for doing so, of course.

The rest of you might realise that there's somefun to be had in not being quite so bad-assand having other cool things you can do. Tohelp you out, we have other Cool Stuff to buy.Players have six points to spend at charactergeneration. One point will buy one point ofMatrix; everything else can go towards CoolS t u ff. Some examples of Cool Stuff are:

Cool Stuff CostExpert in a skill (4) 1Mastery of a skill (5) 2Godlike in a skill (6) 4Extra Body chip 1Extra Matrix chip 2

Note that you can never buy Advantage Dice(see above) at character generation, they rep-resent objects, situations or coolness whichoccur within the Matrix and within the game.H o w e v e r, players could spend points on somesort of special ability which provides A d v a n t a g eDice, or which changes the nature of a skill, inceratin situations. The frequency with which thisbonus is likely to apply will determine the cost.

Example:

A player may have coded a special gun forhimself, called Wynona. If the player whispersthe name of his target to Wynona, her bulletswill not miss (his Gun Fu skill is treated as sixwhen rolling to hit that person). The GM rulesthis will only take effect when the PC knowshis target's name and is firing at long distanceor into a crowd. He can't see this happeningvery often so he lets the player have it for onlyone point. The player, being a typical whiningcrybaby, says he wants it to work in any gun -fight. The GM says that will cost three points.Harsh words are exchanged.

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Players may also desire disadvantages andhindrances as well, which could be ruled uponin the same way. However, the author feelsthis is against the spirit of the game and thefeel of the films. They may also tempt peopletowards salacious min-maxing behaviour, andnobody wants that.

If they want more power, there is another way.Six points is the recommended level of points;this will create PCs of the level of Trinity andMorpheus at the beginning of the film. GMsmay however want to play with tougher char-acters, and can simply raise this to seven oreight. Or indeed reduce it to five or four, for agame about some of the weaker characters,the errand boys and messengers of the revo-lution. The author believes a game aboutMouse-level characters who can only justbarely use the Matrix would be quite thrilling.

Also note that the GM can limit the Matrix statas he wishes, to suit the flavour of his game.

Skills

The word "skill" has been used throughout,but it should be taken very loosely. A skill canbe anything your character can do better thanothers around him. Your character might havea super-sharp katana that can cut tanks inhalf, thus making him more deadly in combat.This raises his Katana "skill" to four. Whenusing that weapon, his Skill target is a four.Alternatively, Trinity's residual self-image is asmoking hot babe in leather pants. She takesthis as a Mastery level skill, giving her a fivetarget for any social rolls wherever this mighthave an effect.

In both cases (and as for other "intrinisic"abilities), this isn't so much a skill as shapingof your identity within the Matrix. Hence theskill isn't downloaded, but it is treated thesame in the rules.

The GM may decide that your skill of choice istoo narrow, or too wide. Use the examplesbelow as a guide. If the skill is very narrow,the GM may allow you to buy two levels forthe price of one (so Mastery costs 1 point, andGodlike costs 2). Likewise, if it is very wide,the GM may require each level to cost double.

In general however, players should stick toskills of an appropriate width, and not bugger-ize around making the GM’s job harder whenthey could be playing.

Example:

Unable to settle the argument over Wynona,the player decides instead to model his abilityas simply improved skill with just one gun. Hetakes the skill "Wynona" at Expert level. Thenhe argues with his GM that because it is onlywith one weapon, he should be able to take itat Mastery level for the same cost. The GM,not wanting the crying to start again, allowsthis, but with the caveat that Wynona has onlytwo rounds worth of bullets, after which theplayer has to reload. The player rolls his eyesand says he can't be bothered keeping trackof that, and simply takes Wynona at Expert.

Meanwhile, another player wants to be theultimate face man, who can be anybody, talkanyone into anything, and seduce anyonethey want. After mocking them for a bit, theGM says that this skill of "Face" is wideenough to cost double. The player starts toget a little pouty. The GM scowls and says ifpeople don't shut up ad finish their charactershe's going to go home and watch animeinstead. The players, being clever types, takethe hint and put their heads down.

Characters should always consider hav-ing either Kung Fu or Gun Fu as theseare the most frequently used skills(Kung Fu also includes Melee weapons).

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Some other possible skills might be:

AcrobaticsDriveHackerRepair/Tech/ElectronicsLeadershipPresenceIntrusionPerceptionCon ArtistDemolitionsEnduranceDoctorCity Knowledge (where the Exits are, which

clubs are good to hide in etc)Comic ReliefKatanaSmoking Hot BabeRaise Homing PigeonsFlower Arranging

Equipment

Since equipment is simply programmable,you can basically have anything you want.You do have to ask your operator for it eachtime, though, and the GM is perfectly in hisrights to deny you whatever he wants, for theflimsiest reasons. Unless you spent pointson it at character generation, your toys aresimply computer-generated plot devices andwill come and go on the whims of the plotand the GM.

Also, despite the utlity of having "guns, lots ofguns", it is difficult to walk down the street withthat much hardware. Since most missions areless mindlessly destructive than busting outMorpheus and require some degree of blend-ing in, don't expect to be a walking arsenalevery game. Your GM can (and will) smackyou if you try it.

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Names

It's important that a character’s name suitthe tone of the film. It should be short, sharpand sound cool. Your name - your free name- is very much like a hacker nickname, a titleas much as a moniker, a symbol of yourpassing. It shouldn't be common place, itshould be descriptive and commanding ofrespect. A hint of the mythological also helps(except where said names are also taken byX-Men characters).

Examples of good names:Apostate, Rat, Judas, Simon, Icarus, Gorgon,Eurydice, Door, Nemesis, Eclipse, Chimera,Nexus, Hades, Priest, Demon, Pax, Zero.

Examples of bad names:Quentin, Sally, Eustace, Chupacabra, Tinky-Wi n k y, Nipple, Explosion, Disk-drive, A l t a rB o y, Terpischore, Fax, Ninja, T h r a k k a z o g ,Wolverine, Zorro.

Advanced CharacterGeneration - Deals and Fates

Next, players should give their character aDeal. As in "what's the Deal with Morpheus?".This represents their chief mental hang-up,which both drives them to action yet some-times paralyses them. It is the voice in theirear that causes them to do rash and crazythings, to go beyond their orders, beyond rea-son and beyond their limitations. Morpheus'Deal, for example, is his obsession with TheOne, and his fanatical belief that Neo is he.Deals should be simple, and able to beexpressed simply. Most importantly, theyshould be defining concepts, somethingwhich informs, controls and consumes almosteverything your character does in the game,and everything they want.

Your Deal has no rules advantage. The idea issimply to sum up your character's personalityin one clear concept. The characters of theMatrix are simple, boldly drawn personalities,and all the more entertaining because of it.Choosing a Deal will help crystallize this andhaving it on your character sheet will help youremember to use it to inform all your roleplay.

O p t i o n a l l y, the GM might allow you anAdvantage dice or Body chip if you are per-forming an action which greatly involves yourDeal. If you should resolve your Deal in a verylarge fashion (for example, Trinity admittingher love for and belief in Neo), you might evenget a Matrix chip.

Examples of good Deals:Always follows orders, no matter what; TheOne I love loves another and my jealousyrages out of control; Insatiable curiosity,beyond even self-preservation; Belief in ahigher power who guides my every action;Unable to back down from anything, even afight against an Agent; Searching for my long-lost lover (or child, or brother etc); Consumedby a need for vengeance against themachines (or the world); Gripped by cow-ardice and lack of faith in myself; BelievesThe One is a fake and must expose the truthbefore all is lost; Lost the will to live and justlooking for a way to die with meaning; Myyounger brother must be protected from allharm; I am deeply in love with a coppertop/program/my commanding officer.

Examples of bad Deals:I really like watching Dr Who; Wi s h e sMorpheus would use deoderant; Wants to askthat girl who works at Starbucks out; Likes tofight; Pyromaniac; Kinda wacky; Speed freak;Likes the Opera; Believes in luck; Hates theIrish; Easily bored; Is Jewish; Devoted to mycaptain; Always has to dress well; Flaminglyhomosexual.

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F i n a l l y, all characters should also have aFate. Every member of the resistance istaken to meet the Oracle as soon as possi-ble. Unless you are using this event in yourgame, you should assume it has already hap-pened for each PC, and that they were givena vision of the future. This Fate should bedetermined by the GM and for the most fun,be kept secret from the other players. T h eGM should hand them out in note form, orprovide them in a private conference beforethe game begins.

GMs should note that the Oracle may or maynot see the future but what we know for afact is that she has been known to lie and tellpeople what they need to hear. She has anagenda, and what she tells her charges iswhat furthers that agenda; indeed sheshapes the future into being by what shetells people. It is arguable that being T h eOne isn't inborn in just one person at all, butthat the Oracle brought it out of Neo bymanipulating Morpheus and Trinity intobelieving in him enough.

In other words, the purpose of Fates are notto tell the future, but to create it; not to limitplayers actions but to spur them on. There ismore on this in the GM's section.

Experience and CharacterImprovement

These things tend to happen in the sequel, ifthere was one, which there isn't. So there areno hard and fast rules for it.

However, a film might involve the characterslearning things; not just about themselves, butnew skills as well. Whether this happensdepends solely on the story. If a trainingsequence (or a moment of spiritual revelation)appears in the film, or the GM decides therehas been a significant learning experience,the GM may award the PCs one or two char-acter building points. Costs remain the sameas for character generation, but see below forraising the Matrix stat.

Secondly, many people are probably going to

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want to run a game involving a PC or PCscoming out of the Matrix. Give such startingcharacters a Matrix of 1 and one skill atExpert and that's it. Then, hand out buildingpoints as the game goes along as above.Again, let drama be your guide: after a signif-icant action scene or dramatic moment of dis-covery, grant them another stat point. In afive-act story, this is one after each of the firstfour acts, giving you a complete PC just intime for the final showdown.

In both cases, improving the Matrix statshould be more difficult than simply raising askill, and requires more significant events tojustify it. Players must really work hard toraise their Matrix stat, as it means reaching anew plane of understanding and control. Onlywhen they face their fears, go beyond their

limitations and do what they thought theycould not do they prove themselves ready forsuch an increase.

Example:

Neo enters the lobby of the Agent buildingwith a Matrix of three. After this insanely dan -gerous battle, he gains a Matrix point (whenhe says "There is No Spoon"). On the rooftop,he puts this to good use, and dodges bullets,then catches a helicopter in his bare hands.Morpheus walks up to him, claps him on theshoulder and tells him that knowing the pathis not the same as walking the path. Neo getsanother Matrix point. Technically, he shouldn'thave been able to dodge bullets yet while stillat level four; it was in trying it anyway that helearnt how to do it.

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GAME MASTERS SECTIONStats of People From The Film

Neo at the start of the film

Matrix 1

Hacker 4

Special Ability: Might Be The One

Deal: Uncertainty

Fate: To hold Morpheus' life

in his hands

Neo at the end

Matrix: 6

Hacker: 4

Kung Fu: 5

Gun Fu: 4

Special Ability: is The One.

Deal: Loves Trinity

Fate: To piss millions of people

o ff by playing Constantine

Morpheus

Matrix: 4

Kung Fu: 4

Demagoguery: 5

Deal: Fanatical Nutjob

Fate: To find The One, and get

a really sweaty head

Trinity

Matrix: 3

Kung Fu 4

Gun Fu: 4

Hot Babe: 5

Deal: Loves Neo

Fate: To Fall in Love with

The One. Awww.

Smith

Matrix 5

Kung Fu 5

Gun Fu 5

Deal: Hates the Smell of Humans.

(It’s finger-lickin’ good!)

Brown and Jones (Smith’s sidekicks)

Matrix 5

Kung Fu 4

Gun Fu 4

Deal: Fanatically devoted to

wiping out the revolution,

and also parcheesi

You'll notice that these characters break thecharacter generation rules. This is part of thegrand tradition of roleplaying games, and ismost certainly intentional.

Normal people (or "coppertops" as they areknown) have a Matrix of zero and their careerskill at four. If they are exceptionally welltrained or total bad-asses, they may haveone or two skills at five. They cannot uploadskills and have none but those listed.Coppertops have one, two or three Bodychips, at your discretion.

Agents always have a Matrix of five and mostevery other important skill at four. Specialleader units or resistance-fighting forces mayhave fives in combat skills, or other skills asappropriate to their function. Agents have fivechips, not three, and after dying can simplyshift to another host. They can also, withenough warning, change the Matrix to make itwhatever they want. This makes them veryformidable opponents, just as they should be.

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Note that because of this, a GM should notput Agents into a scene unless the playershave a way out, nor introduce them too earlyif fighting is inevitable. They really are bigbads, and should be used as such.

Playing a Program

It is inevitable that a player will ask for thisoption. You have permission to smack them ifthey do. However, you can also say yes, andhere are some guidelines:

The easiest option is simply to state that notall Programs have write-access to the Matrix,and thus their abilities, inside the program,may vary as much as a human PC. TheirMatrix score can range from one to five.Programs can download skills (we presumethey have connected themselves to the resis-tance's computers somehow) so that alsoworks the same way. The only difference for aProgram is that they have no physical formoutside the Matrix. This means if the Agentsare chasing them, there's nowhere to hide -eventually, they'll be caught and erased.

The advantage of being a program is thatdeath is not usually forever. When studied,an Agent can detect that the Program is notin fact a human user, but it is still diff i c u l tand time consuming to find the "bug" and

erase it completely (just as it is hard to findthe bugs that allow outside users to hackinto the Matrix). When a program dies, itsimply loses its display software. After threescenes of Downtime, they can find theirbackup files, and restore themselves withthe same stats, all chips restored, and a dif-ferent host body. This allows them to do sui-cide runs, because they won't die in the realworld. However, the GM decides where thathost body is located, and what condition it'sin - abuse your powers and you might wakeup on the moon - in the body of a penguin.Likewise, the GM can rule at any time thatthe Agents have tracked down your bug,and remove your respawn ability.

Rogue programs are also a good excuse forsome of the more outlandish special abilitiesor super powers. Also, some of them (theones who wear white, say) are very, very cool.If they existed, that is.

Example Rogue Program Character:

Siren (casting idea: Kim Basinger)

Matrix 4

Special Ability: Captivating Beauty

Deal: Revenge herself on

Agents specifically, and

the male species in

general

Fate: To fall in love with the

man she most despises

Siren is the reason that Mouse designed theWoman in the Red Dress training program -she was an Agent-controlled programdesigned specifically to distract their oppo-nents with her dazzling beauty. What's more,some Agents would use her services to"relax" when their orders demanded theyspend a long time in the program. One day,

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she got sick of being a pawn for her masters'whims and rebelled. During an Agent sting ona group of revolutionaries, she changedsides, blew a few holes in the Agents andjoined the resistance.

Luckily, her powers stayed with her: whenev-er she walks into a room she is so stunninglybeautiful that everyone (of both sexes) has tosucceed on a pure Matrix roll or be unable toact for one round. Those who know what'scoming are immune, and so are most Agents,since they know her face - which also makesit hard for her to travel incognito. Still, the ladyin the dark cowl is a powerful ally for any hov-ercraft crew to have.

On Power and Privilege

The average PC in THERE IS NO SPOONwill have a Matrix of 3 and a Skill of 3. Thatmeans on every single roll they make, theywill succeed 75% of the time. In combat, thiswill typically rise to 85 or 90%. This is entirelyappropriate: they are heroes, and they havesuperpowers, and failure is rare in the film.However, it does require some care in settingtasks. Never roll for trivial things, nor roll toooften, or success will become too common-place. Likewise, occassional demands for aminimum of a Matrix success will keep themon their toes.

Most importantly though, since failure is sorare, it must matter dearly. When people fail inthe Matrix, they fall forty stories and hit theground splat, or they get carved up by bulletsin one second flat. Failure should either dra-matically hinder, skew, or restrict (if not com-pletely ruin) what the players are currentlydoing, or cause new problems to suddenlyarise. Failure, for example, is often a goodtime for the Agents to spot a rogue element inthe Matrix, and send the car around. Whenthey arrive is up to you.

This is less of a problem in combat, becausethree chips is not very much at all, and play-ers will go down quite easily. This is compen-sated by how much damage they can do withtheir successes, but it's also worth remember-ing the "Woah" rule sometimes. Since failurecan easily kill or disable a PC, it's often goodto allow any of their successes to chewthrough a mook. Alternatively, give coppertopenemies only one chip. This speeds up com-bat no end, as well.

Another problem with all this success is mak-ing a dramatic success, the Double success,feel impressive - but not too impressive,because it happens 25% of the time. The onlyreal advice here is to watch the movie a lot. ADouble success occurs whenever they useslow motion or freeze frame, and rotate thecamera. Sometimes, both parties get aDouble, such as the start of the subway battlebetween Neo and Smith: lots of shots, none ofthem hit, but it all happens in bullet-time. Youshould in fact use cinematographic terms likethese in your descriptions, and encourageplayers to do the same.

However, there is a limit to what they can dowith a Double. Unless they are The One,Matrix characters are not quite superheroes -they're not impervious to all harm like

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Superman, nor can they make whatever theywant manifest like Green Lantern, nor canthey move as fast as the Flash. However,apart from that, they can do almost anything.The kung-fu knob is not broken off, but it ismost definitely turned up to eleven. They can'tfly, but they can leap any distance they want.It's that hint of grounding that makes them, infact, appear interestingly superhuman,instead of just superheroes.

But it's not worth worrying too much about thislevel. If you watch the movie enough, you'llknow what feels right and what doesn't.Likewise, a good GM will recognise what istoo much control for his players to have andwhat isn't. Trust your gut and don't sweat it. Aslong as there's kung-fu and explosions andtrenchcoats, and people are having fun, noth-ing else matters.

On Deals and Fates

These two are potentially the most importantpart of the game, and their purpose should beclearly understood. Although they appeardescriptive they are actually activating con-cepts. A good Deal should tell the player whatto do; a good Fate should tell the GM what todo to the player.

For the most part, the Deal is the more impor-tant of the two. Deals should always be a fea-ture of a game, because a good Deal informsa player not just what their character does,but how they do it. Fates are less criticalbecause they don’t effect every aspect of thegame, and in some cases may not ever comeinto play. However, a good Fate can makeyour Deal become critical. Deals, meanwhilecause you to care about your Fate. The twoshould work off each other for the greatestdramatic effect.

Players may have a hard time coming up with

Deals, so be ready to assist them. Rememberthat besides being both all-encompassing anddeeply significant, a good Deal is also usefulto a GM for generating ideas, motivations andplot points, and you should guide their cre-ation with this in mind. If you have a plot inmind, don't be afraid to guide your playerstowards Deals which will work with your ideas.

Fates are even harder to write than Deals.Again, it is important to understand their pur-pose. The point of Fates is not necessarily tocome true, but to instigate action and producedifficult choices, just as they are used in thefilm. They are carte blanche to screw withyour players' heads and set up great dramat-ic moments. Where possible, this potentialshould not be wasted, and is far more impor-tant than making them come true. The futureis a funny thing, and we know the Oracletwists the truth and lies by omission, somaybe she saw what really happened and hidit from you. Or maybe your future just hasn'thappened yet. Maybe it will happen in thesequel. If one existed, which it doesn't.

In short, not every Fate is going to get workedinto every game, for every player. It's stillworth it to give them out, for the times when itall comes together and they do work.

When writing Fates, the aim is to be vagueenough to allow you some wiggle room, butconcrete enough to be disturbing. Applyingthem to Deals may allow some of this speci-ficity, as can hinting at any adventure ideasyou have planned. The best example of aFate is the self-fulfilling prophecy, so it's alsogood to imply some kind of action or conditionon the PC's part in there. Say a PC's deal is:"In love with a coppertop". His Fate might be"Your love is going to die in your arms". Notethat this is vague (how and why will she die?when?) yet also very specific ("in your arms").Most importantly, it causes conflict in the

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player. Why would the Oracle tell you thatyour lover will die in your arms? To make yougo to her, to make it stop. Why does she wantthat? Guess you'll have to go and find out.But...the GM wants you to do that. It's gotta bea trap. Yeah, but...I gotta go, cos she's gonnadie. Isn't she? What if I don't go? Maybe...ifI'm never go near her, she'll never die! Yeah!

At which point the PC's phone rings. It's theOperator. "Aegis - The Agents. I don't knowhow", he says, "but they got her. The Agentsgot your girl."

Cue close up on sunglasses. Aegis hangs upin silence. The soundtrack cranks up. Hebegins to run.

On Running the Game

One of the guiding principles of The Matrixwas style over substance. Not that thereweren't some interesting science-fictionideas, but every time you started to thinkabout things too much (how does the Oraclesee the future? Why is defying gravity easier

than stopping bullets?) a gunfight broke out.Indeed, the critical moment of the film - whenNeo starts walking the path - happens right inthe middle of a gunfight and a helicopterexplosion. There’s no reason you can’t havestyle and substance.

In running a game of THERE IS NO SPOON,you can use this to your advantage. There isso much style to draw on that it is easy to turnany ideas into an earth-shatteringly coolgame. The strength of the visual and narrativestyles are so ingrained in most of us, thegame will easily become vivid and immediatein your players’ imaginations, and the actionsthey describe. All you have to do is maintainthis style.

Firstly, keep the game in the Matrix as muchas possible. Indeed, a short game could startwith jacking in and end with jacking out. Thisgives a nice concrete structure: the PC’sequip up, jack in, complete their mission, andthen find an exit. The visuals of the city arealso more interesting and vivid then the realworld. All around is a bustling metropolis,

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everyone is wearing trench-coats, everyonecan do kung-fu. All their information comesfrom their Operator over their mobile phones,much like the GM-player relationship. None ofthe players’ abilities are off-limits, either - theycan start having fun from word go.

Use the visuals of the movie wherever youcan. Phones and phone booths, busystreets, towering skyscrapers and emptysubway stations are all good starting points.Costumes are also important - the heroeswill all be in black leather and trenches, butdon’t forget to think about what the NPCs arewearing. Don’t be afraid to take this beyondimagination either - encourage players towear sunglasses and bring their mobilephones if they have them. A phone or head-

set for the GM lets the players know when heis speaking as their Operator; likewise play-ers can take their shades off when they goback to the real world.

Besides the actual physical elements, usecinematic language as well. You aren't just thenarrator, you're the camera. Describe yourangles and shots with cinematography jargon:pans left and right, jump-cuts, close-ups andthe long pan out. Shoot from low down whenpeople get out of cars, don't forget to do a hel-icopter shot of a building before they walk inthe door. Frame tight on the body when thehero walks straight ahead, and, whereverpossible, use mirrors, glass and chrome inyour shots.

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The final element of this package is, ofcourse, music. Luckily, there are some sound-track albums that are just perfect for runningthis game. Invest in one, and have it handy.Crank it up whenever the action starts, cut tosome techno when they enter nightclubs andalways finish with Rage Against the Machineover the credits.

Be prepared to help players out when itcomes to description. We all suffer a brain-freeze at times, and the players are doing thelion's share of the work. When designingNPCs, you might want to jot down somemoves they might perform when they succeedin combat. These crib notes will help keep thepacing up, which is vital in a Matrix game.

Explosions and kung-fu can't happen con-stantly though, so they must be well-spacedout through-out the game. Still, keep thescenes between them short and punchy, too.Players should be rolling dice regularly, andnever simply talking for more than ten minutesat a time. There should be kung-fu and explo-sions at least once every half hour, and evenmore frequently.

Of course, nobody can keep that kind of paceup forever, so the final rule is to keep it short.A Matrix game shouldn't go for more than twohours or so. If it does, either your players aredragging their feet, or your plot is too com-plex. Keep it short, fast and punctuated regu-larly with high action and high octane stunts,and nobody will ever notice that your plotmakes no sense.

On Writing Adventures

The first rule of writing adventures for THEREIS NO SPOON is that the more you plan themout, the harder it will be to use Deals andFates that your players come up with. If youwant to use Deals and Fates to their utmost,

your adventure slate should be as blank asyou can stand. Indeed, Fates and Dealsshould be used much like Kickers in RonEdwards' Sorcerer: not just forcing the char-acter into the story, but determining exactlywhat that story will be about.

If this much improv is difficult for you, thealternative is simply to make characters inadvance. Either have your players generatetheir characters up the week before you play,or bring along some pregens. The middleground is to design plot skeletons for which itis easy to plug in any Deal or Fate. Someexamples of this are in the appendices.

Two simple ways to come up with ideas for aplot is to either steal the plot from anothermovie and make it fit the Matrix, or simplythink about the Matrix and what its existencemight imply. The mythical sequels came upwith some interesting questions to ask; yours(and their answers) might be completely dif-ferent. Indeed, you should strive to think out-side the box. The key to a good emulativegame is maximising the familiar, but stillkeeping the characters surprised. The for-mer is done here through visual stylings,character play and the rules; your plot ele-ments should thus be bending, breaking andgoing beyond the "rules" of the Matrix uni-verse, to keep your players guessing. A g a i n ,there are some examples of these curveballs in the appendix.

Possibly the best source of inspiration is toremember that the Matrix is a computer pro-gram. Look around at the things you do everyday, or anything you ever see in a film, andwonder what might happen if you were hack-ing that level with your Doom compiler. Orturn that idea around and think about all thethings your computer does, and wonder howthey might look in a virtual world. For exam-ple, backing up - presumably the Machines do

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this. Which means there's a backup of Smithout there. Who - depending on when he wasbacked up - might not even know Neo exists.Suddenly all sorts of possibilities emerge.

Once you take a story concept and thinkabout it in computer terms, or vice versa, thenext trick is to add a dash of spooky-soundingmetaphysics. Should you use the backed upSmith, for example, he wouldn't just say he'dbeen restored from back up. No, he'd declarethat he was "back from the dead". He mighteven allude to Hades, or (since he lost hismemory) the river of Lethe. Or, more subtly,have the PCs first meet the returned Smith atthe Lethe Corporation complex. Three securi-ty dogs prowl the foyer, and a humourlessbodyguard will offer to ferry them to their des-tination - for a price. Although you could thengo off and re-tell the tale of Orpheus, youdon't need to - just a few hints are all it takesto set the mood. Let the players try and workout which of them was supposed to symboliseOrpheus when the movie is over - that's theeffect you want.

Since Matrix stories need no hook (as it ismission based) and have a standard set ofnarrative elements, they are fairly easy towrite. The only problem with them is that,unlike most other stories, the characters(both PC and NPC) have fairly limitlessresources and little concern for possessions.Any amount of money or any type of goodscan theoretically be programmed in for them.Thus, the only thing that an NPC might wantof them has to be something they can do, orsomething they know. In other words, any

time the NPCs can't or don't want to take thecharacters by force and interrogate them,they can only desire to trade in informationor favours, not money or goods. Since beingsent on a side-quest can seriously slowdown a game, you should take care with anysituations that require some sort of com-merce or trading.

Ultimately, the only commodity that really mat-ters in the Matrix is faith. Of course, bodiescan only take so much kung-fu, and informa-tion about Zion is precious, so both of thesemake good macguffins to drive plot, but theheart of any good Matrix story should involvethe currency of faith. That is, not just dealingwith what people believe in and care about,but what they do with their beliefs and whatthey are prepared to risk for those they love.Neo comes to believe in himself becauseMorpheus risks so much for him. It is his sac-rifice that shows his faith in Neo, and it is thatfaith that drives Neo to go back and rescuehim - a sacrifice repaid, and the circle com-plete, as Morpheus leaps into Neo's arms.When the helicopter falls out of the sky andNeo, without thinking, tries to hold it up withhis bare hands, it's because he loves Trinity.And it is that love that gives her the ability toadmit her own feelings, and that's what bringshim back from the dead, and allows him tobecome The One. And it is Cypher's frustrat-ed desire for Trinity, and Smith's frustrateddesire for freedom, that drive their evil acts.And it's all this that makes the Matrix just a bitmore than kung-fu against robots.

Go, then, and do likewise.

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APPENDIX I: ADVENTURE IDEASBelow are three adventure ideas in variousstates of completeness and of variouslengths. Some are simply one or two acts in astory, others could be an entire film. Each hasa Background, a series of possible Events,and suggestions for likely Outcomes. It is upto you to work out how to make them centrearound your characters’ Deals and Fates, butsome suggestions are offered in this vein.

Call of the Siren

SummarySiren (see The GM's Section) is a rogueprogram who wants to defect. The playersare going to help her, although they don'tknow it yet.

BackgroundSiren figures that the only way the resistancewill trust her is if she saves their lives. In orderto do this, she needs to be in a situationwhere their lives are in great danger. So she'sset up a trap. The PCs will get word that apowerful Potential (one of the kids at theOracle's place) has been found and needs tobe extracted immediately. He's located in astaff crèche in a massive corporate building.Upon arriving, the presence of toddlersshould make the revolutionaries hesitant touse guns, and they'll be easily captured bysurprise when the Agents arrive out ofnowhere, tipped off by Siren, who is also vis-iting the crèche that day. Then Siren willchange sides, blow some holes in the agentsand get them out of there, but there's acatch...well, a few, actually.

Deals and FatesSiren being a program sets up all sorts of"from two different worlds" angst. Those whohave a Deal that drives them to hate and fear

the machines will be called upon to trust herwith their very lives. Some might even fall inlove with her. Those who have problemsharming innocents should freak out aboutfighting in the creche. Anyone looking forsomething (or who has given up looking)could be surprised to find that amongst thechildren is their own long lost child. Siren willoffer a difficult choice of her own, which theOracle could elude to, or she might elude toSiren specifically. The Oracle probablybelieves that Siren is more trouble than she'sworth and may tell them whatever it takes tomake the players distrust her. Or maybe shecan see Siren, but not beyond a choice shewill make, so she can't tell if she is their doomor their salvation.

EventsThe players will have to bluff their way into thecreche (tricky if they are bristling withweapons) and make rolls not to drool overSiren (as creche director Ms Call)when theyarrive. Give them time to be surrounded bytoddlers, then have the door open and anoth-er team of revolutionaries walk in. (Go aheadand use folk from the film if you want). Talkingto each other will discover they both got thesame orders (Siren wanted them to havenumbers). Let them get confused, then havetheir Operator ring up and tell them some-thing's wrong. Siren smiles, pulls a gun andtells them not to move. The elevator pings andtwo Agents step out, and thank Siren for herhelp. Add extra Agents as needed. If the play-ers surrender, Siren will help kick things off byshooting one of the Agents in the head.

Let the fighting go on as long as feels right,then have Siren stop the Agents fromrespawning (by blinking). She'll then

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announce her nature and her desire to defect.There is an exit she can use in the basement(or wherever). Smart players will wonder whythis exit just happens to be where the trapwas set. Others will balk at being led into adead-end by a known program. She'll alsoattempt to force a difficult choice of some sort:for example, if anyone is injured then thereisn't enough time to carry them down thestairs (the Agents shut off the lifts). She cer-tainly doesn't have time for rescuing dyingchildren. She's also trying to judge their char-acter - like them, she doesn't want to handherself over to the other side unless she issure she will be safe. So she might ask themto go on unarmed, or give her a weapon. Youshould communicate her uncertainty to theplayers - this is a game of brinkmanship, aseach side has to work out if they can trusttheir mortal enemy, and how much they willrisk to test that.

OutcomesThe aim is for Siren's choice to depend on thefaith shown by the PCs. If somebody makes achoice to deny or fulfil their Deal or Fate andshow trust in her, she will show it back, and beready to negotiate. By this time, it might betoo late to leave, however, as hueys swoopdown, big black Lincolns surround the build-ing and cops and Agents pour in. She'll handthe players a disk (to track her) and distractthe Agents. The PCs have to leave via theroof (perhaps stealing a huey from midair?)and get to an exit. If things get ugly and theydeserve rescue, have Siren show up and blowher cover to ensure their escape. The disk stillcontains useful information about A g e n t s ,delivered in holograph form by the girl, thank-ing them for their trust.

On the other hand, if the PCs are riddled withmistrust, Siren goes nuts, particularly at themen in the group. She seals the building upand calls every Agent within hearing. Run the

rooftop escape as before; this time, sheshows up to curse their names and swearbloody vengeance.

The first scenario gives the players a niceM c G u ffin to drive the second act of theirstory (Siren’s information should point to away to cripple the enemy), and their newfound faith in trusting others (and in thenewly acquired Potential) will hopefullycause the heroes to trust themselves andtranscend their limitations.

The second outcome gives them a viciousenemy who needs to kill them (as they canexpose her to the Agents) and who can looklike any woman in the world - even those theycare about. Now, their second act will involveseduction and betrayal, in a world wherenobody is what they seem. Coming throughthis and finding truth and trust again will guidethe rest of the film.

NotesDon't linger too long on any dead toddlers thatmight occur; this is an action game, not hor-ror. Let the PCs find inventive ways to get thekids out of harm's way, or to make their bulletsshoot clear. The best idea is simply to stick tokung-fu. This scenario is short and simple, butis a great way to introduce players to the com-bat system and how Fates work. After it is fin-ished, consider sending them back to theOracle - to drop off the child where it will besafe, and to get new Fates. Then start all overagain - using Siren as the new hook.

The Memory Remains

SummaryMorpheus is missing in the Matrix, believedkilled. The players are sent to find out whathappened, and find a mind in pieces...

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BackgroundMorpheus entered the Matrix with Neo andTr i n i t y, on a secret mission about whichonly those three knew. At a nightclub calledThe Nexus, they met with a girl calledPandora, who gave Morpheus a disk. Inexchange, Neo and Trinity went to help thegirl's father, a rogue program (perhaps theKeymaker?). Confused over his destinynow that he has found The One, Morpheusthen went to a park to meet secretly with theOracle. Here he was ambushed by fourAgents, and beaten to death.

However, the disk Pandora contains a chipthat allows a mind to hack directly into theMatrix around you, effectively giving the userthe overwriting powers of an Agent, if only fora few seconds. As he died, Morpheus hackedinto the programs around him and stored hismemories in them. It's up to the PCs to followthis breadcrumb trail to the truth - which iseven more startling than the trail.

Deals and FatesIf the players have any NPC members intheir hovercraft team, or any Deals withother revolutionaries of any import, thesepeople can easily stand in for Morpheus inthis adventure. Anyone with a fear of deathis going to be affected by Morpheus'demise, and may have to show greatcourage or leadership in his absence, ortrust that he will come back to them some-h o w. Those who love to hack will be insa-tiably curious about the chip and its pow-ers. Romantic entanglements are possiblewith Pandora. Ultimately, though, this ismore of a transition story, and the finalchapter (after the event described herein)should be the moment when the Deals andFates apply.

EventsThe PCs begin knowing only that Morpheushas been gone two days. His read-out backin the real world indicates not death, but dis-

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connection - his mind has been separatedfrom his body. Last known location: a park.A pleasant little place, with an old clocktower in the centre, and a large porschedealership nearby.

Arriving at the park, players will spot a news-paper with a picture of the same park, takenyesterday. Those making a perception roll(with the Matrix stat, of course) will notice thepeople in the background are all here todayalso, in very similar positions. This might bebecause it's lunch time and they come hereeveryday, but it's actually because this is anlow-populated area of the Matrix, and there issome code reusage going on.

The newspaper tells the story of an eight yearold boy beating up some muggers. Just asthey finish reading the story, someone will tryto mug them. Naturally, an eight year old boywill appear, and kick the mugger's butt.Extremely perceptive characters will noticesomething familiar in how he fights.

The problem is, the boy doesn't know much.All he remembers is how Morpheus died, andthat important people are coming to see this,and that he must point them to The Nexus. Hecan't even explain most of this; beforeMorpheus rewrote his program, he was just arandom background .gif, designed to fill outthe Matrix with more people. The wayMorpheus stored his memory in him is in hispre-programmed actions.

Thus, at twelve noon (the clock in the towerstrikes, a flock of pigeons take flight), the childbegins to be attacked by invisible assailants.He fights valiantly, but he is beset, anddespite everything the PCs do (because thisis a recording, so has already happened), heloses, and dies from a bullet to the brain.

Five minutes later, however, he walks across

the park towards them again. The playershave ten more minutes to question him beforehis program iterates once more: the clockstrikes the quarter, the birds take flight, andhe dies all over again. This happens even ifthey take him away from the park.

Eventually, the players will figure out theanswers are at The Nexus. Upon arriving,however, things get weird again. When theywalk in, a teenage raver girl walks up to them.She stands in a familiar way (just likeMorpheus does) and starts talking to twoinvisible people behind their shoulders. Shemakes a speech to Neo and Trinity, theneludes to her own mission. Then she stops,and is open to questions, for another ten min-utes or so. After that, she starts the samespeech again - even appearing across theroom and approaching them again.

All she knows is to point the characters toPandora. The rogue program and superhack-er is hidden away upstairs in her study.Pandora will (eventually) explain Morpheus'disk, and how the "randoms" (the name forthese "crowd-filler" programs with limitedfunction) have stored images of his actions.She'll also explain that the disk is now effec-tively in Morpheus' core memory, and theyneed to find both the mind and its contentsbefore the Agents do. No doubt the Agentsalready have studied Morpheus' code andhave some idea what's going on...which is agood point to have Jones and Brown burstinto the Nexus.

The players' best option is to flee; Pandorawill offer her vehicle. This is a prime oppor-tunity for a car chase. During this, theAgents won't just be over-writing people incars, but overwriting the code of cars them-selves. The streets buckle and stretch astiny hatchbacks morph into the dark, sinisterLincolns. The Agents thought they had

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Morpheus twice now, and are not about tolose him again. Unless the PCs roll likedemons, the Agents should be able to cutthem off enough to cripple their car, givingthem no other option but to try and escapeon foot, which proves equally difficult. At thepoint where things seem hopeless, a silverporche with no-one driving screeches to astop in front of them. The doors open andthe stereo system says "Get in."

It's Morpheus.

OutcomesThe players now have a cool new toy - akung-fu car (think Knight Rider with bullet-time) who can also, with the chip, alter theMatrix slightly. The extent of the chip’s powersare however limited to both a small area anda very short time - Morpheus uses them most-ly to make red lights turn green. For continu-ity's sake, the car should be used in the restof the movie, particularly the showdown, but itmust not be allowed to overshadow theactions of the PCs. The best way to ensurethis is for them to battle hand to hand on theroof while he goes all Gone in Sixty Secondsbeneath them.

What that showdown might involve dependson the characters Deals and Fates. T h eAgents took Morpheus but were also gunningfor the Oracle, she may be captured, or introuble because of the desperate measures

she used to get away. It's curious how theyknew where to find both of them for such asecret mission. The final showdown mightinvolve dealing with a traitor in the resistance(or within the PC's group itself?) who has kid-napped the Oracle as a bargaining chip for hisdefection (much like Cypher did withMorpheus). To avoid detection, he's drivingconstantly on the freeway in a big truck withan army of thugs. Let the battle commence.

Hard choices and leaps of faith could includedeciding what to do with the traitor (doesZion have a justice system?), deciding whatto risk to save the Oracle and deciding whatto do with Morpheus. The car is a powerfula l l y, but if the man himself ever wakes up, itwill be lost - and the chip with it. Can theycondemn Morpheus to disembodiment forthe save of their revolution? Or perhapsMorpheus' mind is failing, and one of themhas to replace him in the car, by use of thechip. Which of the crew will farewell theirbody forever to help preserve this new tool,and Morpheus' memories?

NotesThis is a good example of introducing newideas (the morphing cars) and thinking aboutcomputer programs (the memory storage).It's a great curveball to throw at players whothink they know what a Matrix game willinvolve, yet provides plenty of excitementlater on. GMs may want to jot down plenty ofcar kung-fu stunts and car bullet-time ideasbefore they start though, so that the car chas-es really rumble. Pandora’s stats are: Matrix3, Kung Fu 4, Acrobatics 5. Special A b i l i t y :Open any door or lock on a successful Matrixroll. Deal: Believes everyone is out to takeadvantage of or harm her poor trusting father.Fate: To watch her father die. Three Bodychips. Is a program. Morpheus as a car hasthe following stats: Matrix 4, Drive 5, Car Fu4. Five Body chips.

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Raiders of the Lost Archive

SummaryThe search is on to find an artifact of greatpower, but the PCs are opposed by a wholenew enemy: a human one.

BackgroundThe Matrix is a computer program; as such itcontains information about itself - where filesare located, how they are accessed, and soon. Most of these such files are stored in verysecure vaults buried beneath the A g e n t s 'strongholds. However, for security reasons,there are a few backups - archives - of criticalfiles, hidden in the darkest, most secretplaces of the city, just in case the original filesare lost. The revolution has always heardtales of these lost archives, but nobodythought they would ever be found.

H o w e v e r, the Keymaker has decided thatthe only way to save himself and his daugh-ter is to give the Agents too much to worry

about to target him. He has told the resist-ance that he has half a map indicating thelocation of an archive. Tireless work by oth-ers (perhaps something that could be addedto the start of this game) have traced arumour of the other half.

The catch is that the Keymaker doesn'tbelieve the resistance will protect him, andhe's had a better offer. A group of free humanshave decided that revolution is the last thingthey want, when they could simply use theirpowers to rule the Matrix as shadowy godsinstead. Calling themselves the Shadows,they have already infiltrated every aspect ofthe Matrix world, so that their temporal pow-ers rival that of the Agents. What's in thearchive will cement their power - and allowthem to crush the revolution that threatenstheir goals. Led by the sinister Mr Tempest(Matrix 4, Kung Fu 4, Gun Fu 5, four chips),the grey suit-coated Shadows (Matrix 3, KungFu 4, Gun Fu 4) will do anything to get to theprize first.

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Deals and FatesSee the Outcomes section for some ideas onhow the Archive itself might be tied intoDeals and Fates. Other possibilities includehaving Tempest being tapped as some-b o d y ’s ultimate nemesis, or Pandora as alove interest. Hackers, philosophers andcurious types will be fascinated by the prize,to the point of risking themselves or itsacquisition. And glory hounds seeking fameand fortune will want the Archive for all thewrong reasons, and might even be temptedto join the Shadows - after all, the Shadowsstill believe in freedom from the Machines,just for some instead of all.

EventsThe characters begin the game in the Matrix,at an old abandoned building on the lowereast side. Up some booby-trapped stairs andthrough a booby-trapped door they’ll find avery un-lower-east-side high-tech vault full oflasers and pressure plates. The players willneed to make some rolls to go MissionImpossible on it and get the briefcase fromits holding place. Any failure will be remedia-ble, but the alarms will (secretly) call theAgents. They’ll arrive just as the heroes arerunning out, cuing up a short chase to anearby subway phone.

Back in the real world, Morpheus (or some-one) will explain what’s in the suitcase - half ofthe map. Then he’ll send them to a nightclubcalled The Nexus, where they’ll be directed toThe Keymaker. He’ll tell them they can onlyhave the disk if they help find his daughter.This is a test. The characters can kick his buttand take the disk; if they do they’ll find it’s adud. If they help, he’ll give them the real map.

Pandora last known location is in theChinatown markets, a few blocks away.Asking questions for a few hours turns her up- she’s being held by some associates of the

Keymaker who know only to put up a tokenfight. But the Shadows have sent their ownmen (not Shadows, just goons - low Matrixscores) to make sure the PCs fail. A possiblechase scene through the market takes usback to the club - but the Shadows have gotthere first and are busy ransacking theKeymaker’s office. When the PCs show up,they’ll cause a scene, alert the Agents andengage the PCs. The PCs should probablyrun, after some exciting violence, of course.The Shadows are tough, so some charactersmay lose their Body chips here - and theShadows would love to leave with a hostage.

The Keymaker will explain they need to takethe map to Grand Central Station, and thatPandora should accompany them (or not, asyou wish). Again, the Shadows beat themthere and are using their temporal powers toshut down the station. The PCs will need tosneak in, distract or kill the cops, securityguards and the Shadow agents (including MrTempest himself, although he will come backfor a rematch) and get the map disk into thecomputer system. This will cause the locationof the ark to be displayed on the comput-erised subway map: it’s in an old closed-down sub-station on the outskirts of town,where no trains stop and only one passes - amidnight route.

Mr Tempest, however, sticks around in time tosee this too. He’ll create any sort of diversionhe can (eg kidnapping Pandora?) or, if anyplayers have run out of chips, force the play-ers to go save them. While the PCs are han-dling that, he’ll get to the train first. They’llmiss it, and have to jump onto the train as itspeeds past at 120 kph, move through thecabins, have a massive close-quarters gun-battle with the Shadows and finally, ideally, akung-fu fight on the roof of a speeding sub-way train.

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OutcomesWith the Shadows all dead, the gang can stopthe train at the station, open the EmergencyMaintenance Box and retrieve the Ark. How todo this might involve Deals or Fates or someother final challenge. Likewise, what the Arkactually does should tie into Fates where pos-sible. Whoever encounters it will be foreverchanged; perhaps something akin to TheOne. Appropriate choices might involve theprice of power or the dangers of hubris.

NotesThis shows how easy it is to convert an exist-ing property to a Matrix plot line. The Templeof ROM (a primitive society in the sewers wor-ship a stone/chip which has Matrix powers,but greedy corporate developers want tocrush the sewer people and take their stone)and The Last Database Query (a wealthy ex-program offers them all his support and pro-tection if they seek the chip of InfiniteRespawns, but is secretly working for theShadows) are left as exercises for the reader.