I’m interested in hearing about how you guys GM the Matrix for your games. In particular, how much descriptive flavor do you put on a given corporate server when your Hackers are poking around?
I’ve actually taken to prepping some notes about each MegaCorp in our setting and what a standard system for each of them might look like so that I don’t have to think about it on the spot. For instance, one of our Corps, Haitekko, is a child focused MegaCorp (think Disney) where they manufacture entertainment, food stuffs, etc. The system tends to look like something out of Winnie The Pooh, with colorful cartoon characters acting as ICE, the various nodes being represented by cottages in a 100 Acre Woods style village that’s populated by anthropomorphic animals, etc. (Not very cyberpunk, I know)
So yeah, when you’re setting a scene for your Hacker, how do you tend to describe to them the various spots like Login Gates, Databases, etc. or do you just kind of list it off and keep it very straight forward?
I’d let the hacker’s player give it a stab if they’re feeling it. They might have some good ideas as well.
I like your idea of the child-like nature of your Haitekko corp. I expect mine will generally conform to the look and feel of the corp’s physical space. I may also relate it to players at the table by suggesting that they somewhat resemble the web presence of companies on our own internet. If Google and Yahoo had matrix space, I’d expect Google’s to be clean and minimalistic, and Yahoo’s to be super cluttered and busy.
I had an idea that for smaller corps, they’d end up with “prefab” matrix presence. Think wordpress sites for small businesses today. Hackers might find that these companies just buy a basic matrix presence package and do some customization.
Interfacing to sub-systems is interesting to me. Some matrix nodes might have them setup to look like kiosks, or terminals, or doorways. I guess it would depend some on the look and feel of the matrix presence overall.
Jeremy Williams Bouncing it off the players does seem like a good idea, but I definitely want to have an idea on the back burner in case they come up clueless. My players have a background in traditional games and being creative on the spot is something they’re still getting used to.
I also totally agree on the smaller corps and their pre-fab matrix system looks. I imagine it’s super costly to have a fancy matrix system built, so a smaller corp would definitely cut corners and just buy a generic build.
One thing I’m still kind of figuring out is what steps a Hacker should be taking when his/her team is making their way through a building. The example Hamish Cameron where the hacker is somehow monitoring the location of his ally just gives us a small aspect of the scene. Is the Hacker utilizing something in the system to monitor his ally (camera in the room perhaps)? Is there another means of keeping tabs on someone’s location from within the Matrix? Is the hiding ally in the example somehow sending him messages? I’m sure I’m overthinking all of this, but I’ll admit I’m having trouble mastering the Matrix.
My players haven’t actually been too interested in the Matrix side of the game. We had discussions early on and settled on a few things. It’s called The Weave or the Grid depending on the group or person. Me and the player who recently changed to a Tech had a brief discussion and agreed we’d rather how it presented as a AR with video game HUD style alerts and messages.
Something akin to this: youtube.com – HYPER-REALITY
I feel like one would want to run things in such a way that the hacker remains as engaged in the run as the rest of the team. I would guess that it would be pretty simple for the hacker to be able to communicate back and forth with the team. “Cypher, come in. We’re in the interior corridor. Looks like there’s a couple of cameras up ahead, and a secure door at the end. Can you get those?” And the hacker jumps into action, making a roll or two so the party can advance, and so on.
Which example are you thinking of, Brandon? In the book? In terms of how a hacker or soldier might remotely monitor a team inside a location, flicking between cameras or GPS tracking blips in a screen are the first that come to mind. It could depend on what kind of future-tech your game has as well. I could see something with AR or Simsense displays working too.
The Matrix is every screaming pop-up ad and autoplay video you ever dreamed of demanding your money at 1000 decibels forever. It is hell and I describe it as hellish.
Hamish Cameron The example I was referencing in particular was the one involving the Manipulate Systems move where Hazer is aware of what’s going on with Nebula (she seems to be trapped behind a desk as CorpSec comes in). It implies that Hazer is some place else monitoring Nebula somehow. I guess I was just getting caught up in where he was and how that’s possible. I realize it’s an easy enough explanation and could vary in my own game depending on what sort of tech we establish. I feel like I’m making all of this a lot harder than you intended for it to be. Could I PM send you some questions my Hacker and I put together for some clarification?
Ah yes, I remember it now.
Yup, you can PM. You could also post them here if you think other people would find them useful! Just tag me in the post so I know to chime in too.
Jeremy Williams “I expect mine will generally conform to the look and feel of the corp’s physical space. I may also relate it to players at the table by suggesting that they somewhat resemble the web presence of companies on our own internet.”
Yes, exactly so. A corporate Matrix system is basically the cyberpunk equivalent of a website, and as such, will reflect the branding and image the company uses everywhere else. So some companies will favour a clean minimalist look – stark-white with the occasional corporate logo to remind you where you are. Others might be a bit more casual, or a bit more decorative… it all depends on the image the company wants to project both internally and externally.
I like using matrix systems as an exercise in fantastic imagery. I keep a pinterest board for visual inspiration, and occasionally create quick-reference lines for different themes.
Having some stock concepts in mind gives me a solid jumping off point for more detailed imagery.
Here’s the pinterest board I use as inspiration when writing up Matrix System Styles
https://www.pinterest.com/simonmaxhill/cyberpunk-matrix-systems/
And here’s a screen cap of a section of my generic environments:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/2IpUYQscR0fhaPbSV1OYIjCm6kzYuLVxqJbfiXJ0W3mQ4vcJCHYHR15pjaWUyMDZ4-xgNUQJeIv_Dm3QFjaKuH6bo0VjuvkRXBfL=s0
simon max hill Great stuff! This is very similar to the approach I’ve been taking by designing the matrix environments for the various megacorps in our setting based on things our players have been sharing with me, so it’s good to see this approach working for other MCs.