I MC’d my first con-game at New Mexicon last Sunday (Downtown Dataheist). I experimented with the following Matrix moves for the session.
Login (SYNTH)
>>10+: You are in clean
>>7-9: choose one
>>Blue Ice executes a routine
>>Encrypted (takes time)
>>Restricted access (-1 ongoing to matrix moves while access is restricted)
Compromise Security (MIND)
Manipulate Systems (SYNTH)
>>10+: +1 Hold +[Intel]
>>7-9: +1 Hold & Blue Ice executes a routine
Spend Hold to effect sub-systems (except Deactivate ICE- use MELT ICE)
Search for Paydata (MIND)
>>10+: +1 Paydata +[Intel]
>>7-9: +1 Paydata & Blue Ice executes a routine
(sell it with Hit the Street)
Console Cowboy: spend [Intel] for one of the following effects
>>Gain +1 Hold on Compromise Security or Manipulate Systems
>>Avoid one ICE routine
>>Upgrade access from Restricted to Unrestricted
No one picked the Hacker, but the Fixer took a Neural Interface with Data Storage, and thus he was in charge of NetRunning for the mission (so the Console Cowboy modification wasn’t used). The Fixer enacted approximately 7-9 rolls while in the Matrix during the action phase (including the Login), and probably because he was sub-optimized for NetRunning, he got ~2 Hits, ~2 Misses and the rest were Weak Hits. With this set of modified moves I felt like I was able to utilize more of the “Running the Matrix” chapter (Activate Trace, Alert Sys-op, Sever a connection, Melt ICE) while the player was still able to overcome security measures within the mission and complete his secondary mission (I don’t think he found Paydata, but he tried). It seemed like a lot of moves compared to some of the other players, by contrast the Killer and Driver probably only rolled 4-5 rolls each for the whole game (I could have done better with spotlight management). Overall, I would like to playtest these moves again, or perhaps think of a way to streamline the Matrix moves besides just doing a mission with in a mission.