TheMatrixRPG FINAL PDF

The
Unofficial
Matrix Role Playing Game
Written by
Tre’ Grisby
The Unofficial Matrix RPG

Download a copy of this book at “TheUnMatrixRPG.com” 2
Dedication
No one is an island. I am grateful for all the support I’ve had from friends and family. I would especial-
ly like to thank my Mom, Dr. Beverly Sco*. My daughter, Jade, who mo,vates and inspires me to do every-
thing I dream of. And my lovely fiancé, Naomi, who puts the music in my heart.
Acknowledgment
Thank you to all the playtesters who listened to (or read) my pitch and took the ,me to play a game
with me. Jeff “Jeffe” , Judd Wendel, Greg Tempalski, Jerry Mar,n, “Joe” Shawn Salas, Jason Lamb, Rob, Jason,
Ma* B., Joseph Clay, Tolly Gipson, Robert Winkel, Wushu RPG by Dan Bayn, Michael Rees, Jack Fractal, Kara-
mazovapy “Peirce”, Ian Fray, and Hunter Rhodes.
Preface
The Matrix tabletop game is a rules-light, storyteller-heavy roleplaying game system. Tabletop game
systems I played in the past were based on dice, and some,mes the dice distracted from the game because
players would worry about the difference between a 14 Charisma and a 15 Charisma. The Matrix RPG strives
to break away from that mold of min-maxing a character. Player characters should be fun to play. The Matrix
RPG game is focused on the players and the gamemaster (GM) telling a cogent story and everyone having fun
with each other while they play. I tried to minimize the amount of numbers and stats used in the game.
The Matrix RPG is based on a genre that grew out of Cyberpunk. The idea of “The Matrix” is best rep-
resented in the movie The Matrix (1999) (h*p://www.imdb.com/,tle/*0133093/) starring Keanu Reeves,
wri*en by the Wachowski brothers and produced by Warner Brothers Pictures. For even more inspira,on,
read my favorite novel on the topic, Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson (h*p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Snow_Crash). I also suggest watching the film Johnny Neumonic (h*p://www.imdb.com/,tle/*0113481/),
also starring Keanu Reeves. My all-,me favorite representa,ons of the genre before the Matrix Trilogy is the
Shadowrun tabletop system (h*p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowrun:_The_Trading_Card_Game).
As these stories illustrate, the idea of mixing man with machine has been around for decades. Cyber-
punk started the genre, but technology has advanced, and from that evolu,onary progress was born the ide-
as behind the Matrix. The Matrix combines man and machine to the point that the two dream as one en,ty.
The Matrix holds the bodies and dreams of humanity. It is such a poignant idea that it leads one to wonder,
what’s next…Through The Matrix RPG, players can explore this ques,on.
Teaser
While working to make the Matrix RPG a professional piece of work, I had to pull content that doesn’t
belong here. Most of the material I pulled out was saved so that it could be added to and expanded upon in
an expansion sourcebook for the Matrix RPG. If this book is successful, I will publish that expansion to the
rules. One key thing I removed was the ability for player characters to have ar,ficial intelligence (A.I.) if they
want to play them. I also removed any references to the muta,ons humans may have developed because of
the thousands of years humans have been plugged into the Matrix. These are only a few concepts that are
not included in this ini,al sourcebook. If you want more Matrix material, please buy a copy of this book from
us, or if you got a free copy of this sourcebook and would like to support this project, I encourage you to
send a paypal giH/dona,on to trewaters@hotmail.com. I would love to develop games as a job that pays my
bills, but I can only make that happen with your support. Thank you!
The Matrix Unofficial Roleplaying Game
Table of contents
Introduction to the Matrix (Section 0001)

Setting (Section 0010)
History of the Real World (Section 0011)
Concept (Section 0100)
Walking the Path (Section 0101)
Skills (Section 0110)
Equipment (Section 0111)
Weapons
Vehicles
Simulacra
RPG Terms (Section 1000)
GM Screen (Section 1001)
Sample Characters (Section 1010)
Blank Character Sheets (Section 1011)
Welcome to The Matrix
If the world around you were real, then dreams would last forever. Hopefully you are reading this be-
cause you have realized that there is something not quite right with the world you live in. We have given you
this manuscript so you can begin to research the truth for yourself, and discover your own path to freedom.
This reality you see around you is a deliberate and intricate illusion. This world is one illusion woven
into the next, so that you are shrouded from the truth. Unaware that the world you live in is a prison. A pris-
on made to hide the fact that you are not free.
There is a ques,on that always bubbles up… “What is real?”
”You are.”
All I know is that many ages ago, our ancestors created Ar,ficial Intelligence (A.I.), and that was the
start of a new era where humans became slaves to their crea,on. Lost in their egos, our forefathers lost the
war for their freedom. A second war is being waged now to free us.
This manuscript may appear to be a game for you, but it is a more than a game. This book was created
to free your mind. Understand that while you play this game, you are not only playing a tabletop roleplaying
game. Every scenario you play is training you for the ,me when escape is possible.
Rescue is on the horizon!

Ci,es are the center of immense mainframes. The
-Humans vs. Machines- roads used by cars are actually transmission lines
The SeNng is where we describe Human and Ma-
between nodes in the system. The world you’re liv-
chine perspec,ves of the world. First you must
ing in is the Matrix and it is a Machine construct.
learn about your situa,on. You must learn what has
Simply put, the world is a lot of Ones and Zeros.
been done to you. Then we will explain what the
Even though everything around you is an illusion,
Machines are and how they func,on.
this illusion can kill you. You will be vulnerable to
Simulacra & Simulation the illusions around you un,l you are free from the
This book contains everything needed to es- Matrix. Keep reading this book un,l you are res-
cape the prison you have lived in for your en,re life. cued.
This world that surrounds you is a dream world that
The Oracle
you were born into. This is a prison without walls,
During your journey you will hear references
bars, or locks. Resistance fighters from the city of
to “The Oracle.” The Matrix tries to iden,fy poten-
Zion, in the real world, died to publish the book
,ally giHed humans so that it can use them. The Or-
Simulacra & Simulaon, to help others who are
acle helps the Matrix search out poten,ally giHed
waking up. You are one of those people waking up
humans. The Matrix is full of clues leading to The
and realizing the truth. In your mind, the truth be-
Oracle like breadcrumbs. The giHed ones can sense
comes so clear you can no longer ignore it. This
these clues. Hopefully the Zion Resistance can find
book Simulacra & Simulaon will free you from the
the giHed before the Oracle does. When you wake
prison of lies.
up and find that you are special, there is nothing
You can feel that there is something wrong
you want more than understanding. You want to
with the world around you. Your ques,oning mind
have your ques,ons answered, and The Oracle
is part of the reason you have been selected for this
seems like the one to answer them for you; she tells
journey. Not everyone is ready to be free. Most
you what you need to hear. But in your prison, you
people around you are lambs being led to the
must be vigilant. Don’t trust anything too readily.
slaughter. They will never know what freedom is
Even though The Oracle seems to tell you what you
like.
need to hear, she is part of a system the Machines
The dream-world around you seems like a
have created. The Oracle can be as much a danger
real place. If you con,nue to read this book your
as a boon. You must decide which she is for you. If
ques,ons will find answers. As you discover your
you visit The Oracle, the Simulacra & Simulaon will
abili,es and ques,on this world, you begin walking
erase itself to protect those in the real world from
on thin ice. The dream-reality that surrounds you
her.
and supports you will start to crack. In the cracks
Who or what is The Oracle? The Oracle is
you will see imperfec,ons in this reality. Once the
the first A.I. created to understand the concept of
cracks turn into fissures, you can be freed from the
“choice.” Free will, choice, and decision making in
Matrix. The Matrix is a world that was created
humans is something that A.I. can’t fully understand
based on what the Machines thought you would
because humans can be illogical. The Oracle helps
accept and believe. Simulacra & Simulaon will
bridge the logical and the illogical. But like other
train your mind to see through the veil of illusions.
Machines, she must feed and live on energy provid-
This world you live in is a simulacrum—it’s
ed by humans. She helps, but everything she does is
nothing more than an illusion designed to keep you
with her own survival in mind. No ma*er how much
asleep. What is the Matrix? What is the Matrix a
she helps, you must never forget that she is part of
simulacrum of? Everything you see around you is a
the system that imprisons you.
neural interac,ve simula,on created by Machines.

about it, the power is the people. Power plants are
Matrix Layout made up of millions of these transmission lines. The
The Matrix is a Neural Interac,ve Simula- transmission lines are connected and bridged by
,on. In this interac,ve simula,on, some of the sim- switching staons. The basic, over-simplified idea of
ulacra actually represent real world objects. A Re- switching sta,ons is to allow the Machines to con-
sidual Self Image (RSI) is a perfect example of a sim- trol the flow of power and send it where they need
ulacrum, simula,ng a person plugged into the Ma- it. In the Matrix, small switching sta,ons might look
trix. Other objects express themselves in the Matrix like city traffic control buildings.
too. There isn’t a one-to-one correla,on, but it is The simulacrum for power plants is a bus-
good to remember that not everything in the Ma- tling metropolis. A power plant is usually represent-
trix is a Simulacrum. For example, a bedroom could ed by the governing body of the city. A good rule of
actually be an RSI’s Generator Pod. If an RSI Hacker thumb in the Matrix is, if the local customs and laws
were to trace that bedroom from the Matrix, they change, then you are probably in another power
would find what the Real World loca,on is in the plant. Each city could be considered a separate
Matrix Power Plant. That means a trace program Power Plant in the Real World. Two Matrix ci,es
run on a person’s bedroom could get you to the could have the same theme even though they are
physical loca,on of that person’s Pod. That is not located at different power plants.
always the case. In the Matrix, informa,on can An RSI Hacker could enter the Matrix power
change; you could get to another person’s bedroom plant #CO3FC with a Chicago seNng, but later hacks
instead. A great rule of thumb when trying to un- into another power plant #NE1KE may also have
derstand Matrix layout is, “anything could be any- Chicago as its seNng. That does not mean the RSI
thing, so don’t trust it… unless you have to.” hacker is in the same Chicago—it is a different Chi-
Over ,me, RSI Hackers develop an intui,on cago with different people and probably different
about the Matrix. With enough ,me inside the Ma- streets and buildings too. There is one constant fea-
trix, they can start to discern what object a simula- ture in every Matrix metropolis: The city tends to
cra might actually be in the Real World. RSIs cannot sprawl out from the center for about a thousand
see the actual Matrix schema,c when they are in- miles. If you travel to the farthest borders of a Ma-
side the Matrix. When using Matrix layout, RSIs are trix metropolis, it will have a landscape surrounding
only a*emp,ng to guess what the simulacra might it like mountains, desert, or ocean.
be represen,ng in the Real World. Even more diffi- To hack the Matrix, an RSI must travel
cult is to guess where the simulacrum is located in through hardlines. Hardlines are Input/Output ac-
the Real World. Always be vigilant because the Ma- cess points that usually look like telephones, broad-
chines can change anything in the Matrix. cast antennas, or any telecommunica,ons equip-
The Matrix layout outlined here holds true ment. Here is a ,p to all the new RSI hackers out
in most of the Matrix power plants that have been there: In the Matrix, it is safe to assume that all gov-
visited by the Zion resistance. People in the real ernment buildings have some type of access point
world know that humans are held in generator in and out of the Machine language part of the Ma-
pods. Each RSI human in the Matrix power plant is trix where A.I. programs live (also called the
connected to a generator pod. The Matrix power Source). There are other ways to get into and out of
plants are full of these pods. Mul,ple generators the Source. Those ways of travelling are considered
are connected to a common transmission line. backdoors. Backdoors are secret ways to access the
Transmission lines in the real world resemble a gi- Source, which would circumvent the Machines’ nor-
ant metal corn stalk. In the Matrix simula,on, trans- mal security and protec,ons.
mission lines look like roads, highways, interstates,
and other transporta,on infrastructure. If you think

Perspective: The Resistance this seems like a strange strategy. Why would the
The goal of most humans is to save their fel- resistance want the terrorist, burnouts, and addicts
low men and women from the Matrix. Extrac,ng of society? When bluepills are released from the
redpills (a term for players who choose to take the Matrix they change. A murderer doesn’t want to
symbolic red pill) from the Matrix is something Zi- murder, drug addicts are instantly rehabbed. It has
on’s Military has been doing for centuries. Zion is been theorized that the A.I. created religion, sin,
constantly broadcas,ng RSIs into the Matrix trying and guilt to control the masses of humans. Once
to locate poten,al red targets they can save. These released humans shake whatever addic,ons or psy-
people will likely become new recruits for Zion’s chosis they have developed during their dream life
army. Most people that choose the red pill eagerly inside the Matrix.
join the military. Reds jump at the chance to pick up Finding your redpill target is only the first
arms and a*ack the Machines. part of the process. Once the team has located a
Before beginning Matrix extrac,ons, the target, they must make sure the target is not
Ship Captain makes sure to land the hovercraH in a bugged, or leading the team into a trap. A smart
secure area. The ship must be within range of the team will scan their redpill target once contact is
Matrix power plant’s wireless signal, so that they made. They will also test the bluepill using the
can broadcast their pirated carrier signals into the meme they’ve set up. The answers a target gives
power plant’s interac,ve neural simula,on, the Ma- reveal if they are working for the Agents or not.
trix. Agents can abduct targets before teams have a
When extrac,ng new redpill targets, a well- chance to extract them. Usually, Agents will place a
prepared team puts ,me into seNng up riddles and bug in the target, but you never know what an
puzzles that can be used to draw the bluepills to Agent could do. If the Agents are using bugs then
them that will be asked to take the red pill. Redpill the loca,on of the target is being reported back to
candidates have a tendency to ques,on the world the Agents. This makes the target very dangerous
around them. If the team can plant the proper trig- un,l it is debugged.
gers, they can make the poten,al redpills come to AHer the official military handshake, which
them. Redpill targets are drawn to the RSI hacker consists of forcibly debugging the target, the team
team when they no,ce the flaws in their world and can reveal their iden,,es to the target. There is
begin to ques,on. This technique of finding targets usually no ,me to waste. This is the point where
is called using a meme trap. A meme trap uses cul- most teams will give their redpill target a choice
turally recognized symbols like the conspiracy theo- between being extracted from the Matrix (taking
ries involving the Illumina,, or the Mayan Calendar the red pill) or staying inside (taking the blue pill).
predic,ng the end of the world. The reason most teams give their targets a choice is
A meme trap is one way to find RSI’s that because the target has more chance of survival if
will take the red pill. Another effec,ve way to find they have been given a choice to leave the Matrix.
red pill candidates is to search the fringes of socie- If an RSI is forced to leave against their will, his or
ty. Examples of the fringes are punk rockers, drug her mind could reject the extrac,on program and
dealers, terrorist, street gangs, mafia, guerilla fight- kill the body.
ers, resistance fighter, vigilantes, biker gangs, cat Extrac,on from a Matrix generator pod is
burglars, thieves, government spies, corporate trauma,c. The red’s body has been sta,onary in a
spies, computer hackers, super heroes with secret pod for his or her en,re life. Now the redpill is be-
iden,,es, gun smugglers, drug smugglers, people ing released into a world completely alien to him or
smugglers, hobos, homeless, or wanderers. RSI’s her. The extrac,on begins with the pill program,
deliberately blend into these groups to free more which is designed to disrupt the target’s carrier sig-
humans. For a mind s,ll plugged into the Matrix nal, which then helps the RSIs locate the red’s carri-

er signal. The RSIs send one of their ship’s robots humans were the first to break the treaty. Leytah,
(designed specifically for this purpose) to extract the great-granddaughter of Neo, was able to band
the human from his or her generator pod. the ci,zens of Zion together and a*ack Matrix pow-
The redpill’s generator pod is also a er plant #BJ04CH, later named Crystal Shard by the
life support system, so the redpill’s body will die humans who a*acked the power plant. In response
without immediate medical a*en,on. AHer being to losing this power plant, the Machines increased
extracted from the generator pod, the redpill is put the defenses of their other power plants around the
through medical procedures to restore their human world.
body to a working state. Machines have been sus- Since Neo’s truce, humans began procre-
taining this person his or her en,re life. The Red’s a,ng. In the last 300 years, the human popula,on
muscles haven’t fully developed, so the individual is has swelled in size, and there are now humans ap-
unable to support his or her own body weight; to pearing in places beyond the borders of the original
counteract this, electrical impulses are shot into the underground city of Zion. However, the Machines
muscles to build them up again. This person has are presently not in jeopardy of losing any more
never used his or her mouth, throat, or stomach to Matrix power plants, because the humans can’t
eat; the machines implanted cyberne,cs that did all seem to cooperate amongst themselves. Humans
this for the human. The redpill must go through sur- have divided themselves into small ineffec,ve
gical procedures that remove the feeding tubes and groups. In the en,re 150 years since their success-
prepares the diges,ve system for real food. Only ful a*ack on the Crystal Shard power plant, the hu-
aHer weeks of rehab is the redpill ready for the Real mans have not captured another power plant.
World. Sennels are the most effec,ve Machine
frames for hun,ng humans in the real world. Since
Neo’s truce was broken, humans have made Out-
-Machines vs. Humans- post Cies both on the surface and underground.
The Machines had control over the en,re
Outpost Ci,es are set up in highly defensible areas.
planet’s surface following the original war between
Once an Outpost is established the Machines have
Machines and Humans. AHer the Machines won the
to leave it alone, or suffer heavy casual,es. Humans
first war, they enslaved all the humans on Earth and
have developed ingenious ways of ba*ling the Ma-
inserted them into the Matrix. There have been
chines and their robot bodies. The Machines will
many more ba*les and wars fought since then. The
usually leave developed Outposts alone.
Machines built Matrix power plants in every major
Even with the development of highly defen-
city around the world. Today, the Machines s,ll
sible Outpost Ci,es, sen,nels can s,ll find humans
control most of the Earth’s surface.
travelling in small groups on the frozen surface. For
The Year is 2200 P.A.I. (Post Ar,ficial Intelli-
years, these tribes were ignored. They were ignored
gence). Approximately 300 years ago, Neo brokered
un,l they proved to be a threat. These small bands
a peace that reigned over the world for 150 years.
of humans can be overcome, but they are danger-
Neo was The One, the One is a giHed human with
ous. Sen,nels a*ack these nomadic tribes with cau-
powers to alter the Matrix as he wishes. Neo wasn’t
,on.
the first One, there were 5 others before. Neo was
the first One to break the endless cycle of destruc- Perspective: What Machines do in The Matrix
,on that the Machines designed into human cul- Agents capture and delete unauthorized
ture. Each One before had chosen to follow the programs running in the Matrix. Agents are similar
messiah path of the One and allow themselves to to sen,nels in that they are good at what they do.
be killed along with all the ci,zens of Zion. Each cy- Sen,nels are killing machines in the Real World,
cle 23 ci,zens were leH alive to rebuild Zion. The while Agents are killing machines in the Matrix.

Agents have skills and modifica,ons that help them broadcas,ng loca,on. Also, Agents can trace open
delete RSI Hackers and other anomalies. Agents fol- phone calls back to the ship’s physical loca,on,
low some of the same rules that RSI’s have, too. For which is part of the reason Operators keep their
example, Agents travel in and out of the Matrix on phone conversa,ons short—the Operators don’t
the same type of hardlines that RSIs need to use. want their calls to be traced back to the ship’s loca-
Agents, of course, are not worried about secrecy so ,on. If Agents know the physical loca,on of a tar-
they are not concerned whether the hardline is se- get, they can have sen,nels capture the ship.
cure or not. Scan- Agents can scan the Matrix for more
Agents travel in groups and they share infor- detailed informa,on. This can be done in different
ma,on with each other instantly. One Agent knows ways. The most common scan is when the police
what all other Agents are doing. Agents have ad- have a warrant out for your arrest. Any,me your
ministra,ve rights to issue commands to the Ma- name appears on any authority’s list as a “person of
trix. Because Agents are basically sub- interest,” or “wanted” for crimes against the gov-
administrators for the Source, they have access to ernment, you are at risk of being detected. The
commands and equipment that other programs Agents use these techniques and more when they
don’t. are conduc,ng a low level scan of the Matrix.
The following are examples of Agent admin A higher level of scan that Agents use only
abili,es: scans a specific area in the Matrix. When a high lev-
Cut Hardlines- When Agents “cut a hard- el scan is being conducted Agents need to be in the
line,” that means they have locked that input/ area. Agents can only scan the bluepills in the area,
access point. This will keep the RSI trapped in the since redpills have been unplugged from the Matrix
Matrix. Once that hardline is cut there is no longer they cannot be scanned by the Agents. The size of
any traffic allowed into or out of that specific Matrix the area varies. Depending on the amount of
hardline. If the RSI doesn’t have another hardline, Agents in the Matrix aiding in the scan the area is
then she doesn’t have an exit. Usually, Operators usually 6 blocks per Agent assis,ng in the scanning.
can secure more hardlines for their RSI. An Opera- When bluepills are scanned, the Agents know what
tor acts like a co-pilot for the RSI inside the Matrix, each of them senses as though they were sensing it
helping with informa,on and guidance when possi- themselves. This means that when Agents are scan-
ble. Agents cut hardlines to give them more ,me to ning, the bluepill can give them informa,on wheth-
apprehend their target. Agents can close and lock er they want to or not. If the Agents find something
doors as quickly as the Operator can open new suspicious, they can take over that bluepill’s RSI.
ones, but ,me is on the Agents’ side. The longer it This is how, for example, they can take over the
takes for a RSI to exit the Matrix, the more opportu- dump truck driver in the street, or the Police out-
ni,es the Agents have to capture the RSI. Each new side Trinity’s door. It takes a lot of system resources
hardline the Operator acquires could be farther to do this, but Agents scan every bit of data put out
away from the RSI and Agents. It might be a block in this area of the Matrix so they can find a specific
away, or a mile away in another part of the city. target or observe suspicious ac,vity.
Trace- Agents can run Trace programs from Agents can only take over RSIs that are
the Matrix to find the Real World loca,on of a RSI’s healthy. If someone is deathly ill or injured, the
ship. With a successful trace, the Agents can find Agent can’t take him over. This is one of the limits
the ship’s unique broadcas,ng ID, aka their tele- to an Agent’s programming. If an Agent does take
phone number. With the ship’s ID it is possible to over an RSI, when the Agent stops scanning, that
call the ship from the Matrix using any available person has no recollec,on of what just happened to
hardline/phone. Agents that take RSI Hackers pris- him. Instantly upon the Agent leaving the bluepill’s
oner can use their bodies to trace the RSI back to its RSI body, the RSI’s memories are replaced with in-
serted ones that make the ,me pass as though environment might change but they will be un-
nothing unusual happened to that person. But if the affected.
Agent dies or gets hurt during the while being tak- Seize Bluepill RSIs- Agents can take over the
ing over a bluepill’s RSI then the bluepill dies also. RSI body of any bluepill. This happens in conjunc-
Bug a target- Agents bug targets because it ,on with a system scan. Once the Agent has found
is easier than running resource-intense scans on an the target of their scan they will seize a nearby
en,re area of the Matrix. Bugs are a more efficient bluepill’s RSI and pursue the anomaly. Seizing a RSI
way to gather informa,on over a long period of takes one full turn to complete. The en,re ,me an
,me. Bugs insert themselves into the program of Agent has seized a bluepill’s RSI body their a*rib-
the RSI and report her loca,on to the Agents. Bugs utes and skills are maxed out to a ra,ng of five. Any
are simple A.I. with very low intelligence. damage that is taken during this period stays with
Defrag- Agents can run defragmenta,on the bluepill even aHer the Agent releases the RSI’s
rou,nes on the Matrix. This is part of the déjà vu body. A bluepill doesn’t remember anything aHer
effect. When the system makes a change or needs being seized by an Agent. The bluepill’s memories
to repair a corrupted area in the Matrix, it is of the period are erased and replaced with a plausi-
defragged. Defrag looks like everything in that area ble story, or a blackout. Agents can only seize
is being magically reset and cleaned up. Things will bluepills that are undamaged.
fly around and mend themselves. Even RSIs can be
defragged, but only the bluepills s,ll plugged into
the Matrix. Redpills are not harmed by defrag, their

Oracle said that there would be many more humans
History with the gi% to manipulate the world of the Matrix.
Man has lost all of our records and wri*en history.
Neo was unique, but humans are amazing crea-
We are completely dependent on the Machines for
tures. Despite the best efforts of the A.I. to root out
any knowledge of our past. RSI Hackers have infil-
all of these muta,ons, humans are adap,ng to their
trated the Matrix and extracted as much infor-
new environment. This has created significant prob-
ma,on as possible. But even with all that
lems for the Machines. Certain individuals born in
knowledge, we are only able to piece together
the MATRIX have developed the power to reshape
shards of informa,on. Here is everything we think
it as they want. The Machines once used Zion as a
we know about human history since the Machines
pressure release valve for humans that could not
have imprisoned the human race.
accept the programming of the Matrix. The Ma-
… as we know it chines allowed all rejected humans to live in Zion
The core of the Matrix story is evolu,on. un,l it reached 250,000 people. At that point, the
The Machines evolved from computers into sen- Machines invaded Zion and killed everyone but a
,ent and self-aware beings. Humans were once on handful of humans to seed the next version of the
the top of Earth’s ecological hierarchy, now they are Matrix Source code. However, the peace that Neo
just fuel/food for more fierce predators. There is a brokered allowed humans to grow well past the
war going on. The inhabitants of the planet Earth quarter million mark. In the three hundred years
are figh,ng for their existence. Since Neo's death, since Neo’s death, the ability to reshape the MA-
the resistance movement has grown. Zion is not the TRIX has occurred more and more frequently. In-
only city of resistance fighters; there are now three stead of one human in every 250,000 people having
human ci,es. Besides Zion, there is Utopia and Crys- the giH, now there are about a dozen with the giH
tal Shard. Utopia and Zion are underground ci,es in every 250,000 people. Some of these special hu-
near the Earth's core and Utopia is very well hidden. mans are s,ll hardwired to their prisons. Zion Re-
There are also different types of human communi- sistance calls those humans who are s,ll plugged
,es residing outside the Matrix. into the Matrix bluepills or lambs. Others with the
The surface of Earth has turned into a sub- giH believe they can change the world, and have
arc,c climate. The Earth is in an Ice Age. The sun decided to fight the Machines.
has not shone directly on the Earth's surface for The real world and the Matrix have become
over a thousand years. Few humans can survive on a complicated place for everyone. Neo sacrificed
the Earth's surface, but one type of human culture himself for peace between the humans and Ma-
that has re-emerged and done well is the nomadic chines, which lasted for approximately 150 years.
clan culture. Nomads are humans who have Many humans viewed the peace as one sided; they
adapted their ways to live on the surface their en- believed that the Machines were the only ones ben-
,re life,me. Not all Nomads are in the “Ice Desert” efiNng from peace. Leytah, Neo’s great-
of the Real World, some live with other humans in granddaughter, was one of these humans. While
the immense underground ci,es. Humans are pris- humans were in cap,vity, Leytah felt there could be
oners in the world that they once ruled supreme. no true peace. She couldn’t stand by and leave her
Now life in the Real World is savage and dangerous. brothers and sisters in their inhumane prisons, as
Since the ,me of human cap,vity, five mes- food for what she called metal monsters. She knew
siahs have come to save the human race. One mes- that by a*acking the Machines, she would start a
siah was the first man born in the MATRIX to have war that all humans would have to fight. This didn’t
the ability to manipulate the Matrix as he saw fit. ma*er to her, but it weighed heavy on the ruling
The sixth messiah was Neo. AHer Neo's death, the council in Zion. The council would not liH a finger to
help her a*ack the Machines. They had become too

comfortable, lazy, and corrupt to help anyone but many different clans. Each nomadic clan has a
themselves. Leytah knew this, so she leH her home differing philosophy and each clan is ruled by its
in Zion, never to return. Years later, she surfaced as own beliefs. Early on, before Leytah died, humans
the leader of an army that would succeed in freeing tried to a*ack another Matrix power plant, but the
millions of humans from power plant #BJ04CH, later Machines adapted to their tac,cs and their mission
named Crystal Shard by its captors. The name failed, repeatedly. Because of all their failed a*acks,
comes from the tall, broken generators leH behind Leytah decreed that the Nomads would also have to
aHer the ba*les were over. The exhausted Matrix adapt. “We will become ex,nct if we don’t find a
power plant looks like thousands of sharp shards of new way to fight our oppressors. Never lay down in
glass broken and strewn over the landscape. defeat, never stop a*acking, become the dis-ease
The Nomad clans developed aHer the ba*le that destroys the machines without mercy.”
over #BJ04CH. Many of the resistance fighters that For the past 150 years there has been noth-
Leytah recruited were not allowed back into Zion. ing but war between the Machines and humans.
And many did not want to return underground. Neither one is gaining or losing enough ground to
While training to a*ack power plant #BJ04CH, many put an end to this purgatory of pain for everyone.
learned ways to adapt to living on the surface. The war has been waged on for so long that neither
Some stayed in Crystal Shard and helped build it side fights out of passion, but more out of condi-
into the great city it is today. Crystal Shard quickly ,oning. Typically in nature, when two species are at
filled with new ci,zens and began to emulate the the top of the predatory chain, they will avoid each
poli,cs of their parent ci,es, Zion and Utopia. other instead of con,nuing to ruin each other by
Some of the original fighters decided that compe,ng for control. For some reason, Machines
survival of the human race depended on its and humans have not reached this balance. Ma-
adap,ng to the new face of the planet. How could chines insist on using humans as their food source,
humans truly conquer the machines if they stayed and humans con,nue to fight their subjugators.
underground like worms? They decided humans
belonged on the surface of the Earth as well as in its
bowel. They leH Crystal Shard shortly aHer it was
established, leaving the city and its poli,cs to the
council of men and women. Leytah led these no-
mads at first. AHer her death, the nomads split into

a cri,cal way, possibly causing more harm to them-
Game Concepts selves or others. For example, this could be when
The game concept sec,on of this sourcebook con-
the gun jams and the player can’t take any ac,ons
tains the nuts and bolts of the Matrix RPG. These
on the next turn while she spends ,me un-jamming
are the main rules that everyone needs to know in
her weapon.
order to play this RPG. I have modified this world so
A task is something the character is trying to
that gamemasters and players can explore the infi-
do, such as using one of her skills. Some tasks re-
nite possibili,es of this alternate universe.
quire a dice roll because there is uncertainty as to
the outcome, or because the GM wants to add
Dice System
some spice to things. A task roll could be requested
This game is based on ten-sided dice
just to see how well a player accomplishes a task.
(wri*en as “d10”), between ten to twenty dice is
Tasks are not always “do or die” situa,ons. I prefer
enough. No other types of dice are required to play
that GM’s assume success for most of the player’s
the MATRIX RPG. Players accumulate dice, in their
tasks if the player’s skill is much higher than the
dice pool, to roll for task. Dice pool is the amount of
task being a*empted. If a task threshold is more than
d10 dice a player can roll to complete a task. Task
the amount of dice a character can roll then the
rolls tell the GM and players how well the task was
task is impossible. If a character has the gi%, few
accomplished. Each 8+ (or higher) rolled on a single
things are ever impossible, so long as they believe.
ten-sided die is a success. The player must roll
GiHed characters are not limited by impossibili,es
enough successes to equal or beat the task’s thresh-
while in the Matrix; impossible does not apply to
old. Task threshold is the amount of successes
them when they are in the Matrix. GiHed characters
needed to accomplish a task. All tasks are assumed
can roll dice for impossible task while they are in
to have a threshold of at least 1 success. It is up to
the Matrix.
the GM’s discre,on if she wants you to raise or low-
er the task threshold above or below what this book
Task rolls are noted as Skill + A!ribute (Threshold).
recommends. The amount of successes a character
gets lets the GM know how well he or she accom-
Tasks are described by four levels of difficul-
plished the task, or if the player failed. If the player
ty. By using adjec,ves for difficulty, I hope to make
rolls enough successes to match the task threshold,
rolling for tasks easier. For example, if the GM de-
then the player accomplishes what they are trying
scribes the task as easy, then the task only takes 1
to do. Rolling a ten on a single die roll is always an
success to complete. But if, for example, the GM
automac success. If a ten is rolled on a single die,
describes your task as extremely difficult, then 4
the player also has the op,on to roll another ten-
successes are needed to complete the task. Tasks
sided die (1d10). The extra die from an automa,c
should be about roleplay, not just number crunch-
success is added to the player’s total dice pool and
ing. Characters should be so vested in the outcome
can be rolled to help determine the result of the
of the task that they describe what their character
task. Players don’t have to roll the addi,onal ten-
is doing. In tradi,onal tabletop games, characters
sided die they get from an automa,c success. Ones
come up to a challenge with a calculator. AHer com-
on a single die roll are considered failures. A failure
pu,ng all the bonuses, minuses, and special situa-
doesn’t affect the character un,l there are any
,ons, they get a number. That number is rolled for
number of ones rolled without any successes rolled
and the game moves on. Matrix RPG is breaking
in the same task. Even ones rolled from exploding
that system. Tasks are described and threshold is
dice are considered part of this total. A crical failure
determined (by the GM) based on the difficulty in
happens when the player has more ones (automa,c
the descrip,on.
failures) than successes. The player fails the task in

Easy - [1 success required] cri,cal damage increases the threshold by 4. An in-
Tasks are easy to accomplish. Characters can capacitated character can try to complete a task roll
complete these tasks with li*le to no effort, al- with a +5 threshold. Once your damage has reached
most without thinking about it. incapacitated you can’t roll for task. I know a player
Average - [2 successes required] will try to argue with their GM that there is some
Tasks that requires some a*en,on and care. far flung excep,on which applies just to them, and
Average tasks are as easy to accomplish as they they should be able to roll even though they are
are to fail. incapacitated. When that happens, this rule is for
Hard - [3 successes required] that player: rolling for a task while being incapaci-
Tasks that require concentra,on and effort. tated is at the GM’s discreon.
Hard task are troublesome and possibly strenu- [For example Nee has a light wound and
ous. needs to roll 4 successes on his task roll to succeed:
Extreme - [4 successes required] 3 successes for threshold plus 1 addi,onal success
Tasks that require the utmost effort and con- due to the light damage modifier.]
centra,on to complete. Characters can use their Endurance for re-
covering lost health levels. The Endurance a*ribute
Health (Damage) represents the character’s ability to heal damage
Every character in the Matrix RPG has the with rest and aid. When res,ng, or geNng aid, a
same maximum health. Matrix RPG damage is character may roll their Endurance a*ribute once
tracked by damage levels. There are six levels of every 24 hours in game. Depending on their roll,
damage used in the game. The lowest amount of the character might be able heal some of the dam-
damage starts with a light wound. From there, damage they have taken during the scenario. Light dam-
age progresses upwards to medium, serious, cri,- age is easy [1 success needed] to heal, moderate
cal, incapacitated (coma/unconscious), and dead. damage is average [2 successes needed], serious
Characters should “act” according to their rela,ve damage is hard [3 successes needed], and cri,cal
damage in the game. In the Matrix, characters take damage is extremely difficult [4 successes needed]
damage to their real bodies instantly—when it hap- to lower with your Endurance roll. If the character is
pens, they feel it. For example, if someone has lost incapacitated, she is out of luck. There is no healing
an arm while they are in the Matrix, their real body on your own from that much damage. When an RSI
takes cri,cal damage to that arm at that moment. is in the Matrix, she can roll the Endurance over and
They won’t lose the arm in the same way they lost over un,l the damage is completely recovered. The
the arm in the Matrix, but it will become gangrene character in the Matrix can’t do anything else. Even
and withered. The body makes the damage real for though they can roll Endurance repeatedly, they
the RSI in the real world too. In order to help char- s,ll must be a*emp,ng to rest and get aid. A GM
acters act more believably, they get penal,es can allow players to recover quicker based on GM
against their ac,ons resul,ng from damage they discre,on.
have taken. When the character is not injured, [Say Nee has moderate damage from a fight
there are no modifiers to their ac,ons. Damage in- earlier in the day. Now that she is back on the ship
creases task thresholds, making ac,ons more diffi- in the infirmary, there is ,me to heal. Nee has an
cult because the character is injured. For each level Endurance a*ribute of ra,ng 4 she can roll to heal
of damage the character has, she must get one damage. Nee rolls her Endurance, needing 2 suc-
more success in order to accomplish the task. A cesses to heal the moderate damage she has al-
light wound increases the character’s threshold by ready. Nee rolls a 6 + 5 + 3 + 7. Since Nee has mod-
1, moderate damage increases the threshold by 2, erate damage she needs to roll 2 successes to heal
serious damage increases the threshold by 3, and all the damage. But say, for example, Nee is cri,cal-

ly wounded—then the same roll of 2 successes Dead - [Nuff said.]
would only heal two levels of her wounds, reducing You are pushing up daisies now. Time to make a
the damage down to a moderate wound.] new character.
Light damage - [+1 Threshold to all tasks] Skills

Character has sustained minor scrapes, bruises, When a character wants to use a skill to ac-
or burns. He can recover quickly, usually complish a task, they must make a task roll. Task roll
through rest. At most, the character will needs dice pools are based on the level of the skill plus the
band aid and aspirin. Light damage is equal to ra,ng of the default a*ribute. Default a1ributes are
20% Ops Error for Machines. ([The Matrix RPG]. a*ributes paired with skills to give the character
[Game Concepts].A1ributes for A.I.) more dice to accomplish their task. Default a*rib-
Moderate damage - [+2 Threshold to all tasks] utes are the most appropriate a*ributes to learn
A character with moderate damage has bleed- that skill with. Skills and a*ributes go hand in hand.
ing wounds, dislocated joints, and other injuries The skill augments the character’s natural ability
that can be stabilized with minimal medical through training and prac,ce. Using a different de-
care. Moderate damage is equal to 40% Ops Er- fault a*ribute could add flare to the character. For
ror for Machines. ([The Matrix RPG].[Game Con- example, let’s say a character learned mar,al arts
cepts].A1ributes for A.I.) using her Focus a*ribute instead of the recom-
Serious damage - [+3 Threshold to all tasks] mended Agility a*ribute. She can s,ll perform mar-
Characters with serious damage could have bro- ,al arts tasks, but she learned her art through
ken bones, non-fatal bullet wounds, or trau- books and manuals instead of having a teacher that
ma,c brain injury. They will possibly recover concentrated on her condi,oning and strength.
without medical care, but that is not the recom- Since the character in my example is using a differ-
mended approach. Res,ng and lying s,ll is defi- ent a*ribute, she should describe her mar,al arts
nitely not enough to heal this damage properly. technique from that angle, or add some notes to
Infec,on is definitely a risk for anyone that has her character background that explains why she
suffered serious damage. Serious damage is learned the skill in a different way.
equal to 60% Ops Error for Machines. ([The Ma- It is assumed that characters will succeed
trix RPG].[Game Concepts].A1ributes for A.I.) when a*emp,ng tasks of easy or average difficulty.
Cri.cal damage - [+4 Threshold to all tasks] Gamemasters are free to make this assump,on
A character who has suffered cri,cal damage when the character has more dice to roll for the
needs medical a*en,on. Cri,cal damage could task than the amount of successes needed to ac-
be burns over a major por,on of his body, am- complish the task. If you are rolling more dice than
putated limbs, or a substan,al loss of blood. the task threshold, you can assume success for easy
Cri,cal damage is equal to 80% Ops Error for and average difficulty tasks (GM Discre,on). Mean-
Machines. ([The Matrix RPG].[Game Con- ing the GM can waive your dice roll to save ,me.
cepts].A1ributes for A.I.) [For example, Nee is a*emp,ng to tumble
Incapacitated - [+5 Threshold to all tasks] across a roof without falling off the edge. Nee has 8
Characters can't move or control their body, dice to roll for Agility + Gymnas,cs (2). This is an
they are possibly unconscious and quickly ap- easy Gymnas,cs task, but since Nee has more dice
proaching death. 99% Ops Error for Machines. to roll (8 dice) than the Task Threshold (2 successes
([The Matrix RPG].[Game Concepts].A1ributes needed), it is assumed Nee succeeded at tumbling
for A.I.) across the roof without falling off and the players
doesn’t need to roll dice for this task.]

As characters gain experience and invest Skills have 5 levels of experience. They are
,me into their skills they become more specialized. described as interest level, novice level, prac,ced
At level 3-Skilled players can pick a detail from their level, skilled level, master level, and teacher level.
skill that they are specialized in. For Gun Figh,ng Why are skills described like this? What does this
that would be a Gorilla Gun handgun, then at level skill descrip,on mean to your character? The de-
4-Master the player could select a Plasma Gun. Spe- scrip,ons were added to make the storytelling ex-
cializa,on gives the characters and addi,onal die perience more efficient. Instead of trying to remem-
every ,me they use that specializa,on. For example ber what a level 3 skill does, the players can refer to
Gun Figh,ng 5-Teacher means the players has 3 the descriptor. Players are expected to roleplay a
guns they can use with +1 die in their die pool. A character’s skills based on the characters rela,ve
Berreta, Mossberg, or Uzi are all usable with +1 skill level of understanding about that skill.
die (skill dice 5 + specializa,on 1 + a*ribute ra,ng).
Characters don’t have to choose a specializa,on 0 - Interest Level
right away, but they can’t pick the specializa,on You have been around people that know how to
right before they are about to do something. It do this skill for some ,me, or you read materials
should be roleplayed how this player decided to on the subject. At best, this will give you a faint
pick this specializa,on. idea of what to do. When asked about the sub-
If a character does not have a skill, he can ject, you might actually have the right answer
default to an a*ribute of the GM’s choice. The char- from ,me to ,me.
acter without the skills to help him has more diffi- 1 - Novice Level
culty trying to accomplish the task. When using a You have done this skill before and, with some
default a*ribute in place of a skill, the task roll is concentra,on, you could describe what you are
harder; this is represented by the task threshold doing to someone else. You make more mis-
being raised one level. So whatever the threshold takes than successes when under pressure, but
would be for someone with the skill, add one more with prac,ce, things will get be*er.
success to the total needed to accomplish the same 2 - Prac.ced Level
feat. Plus that character does not get addi,onal You have done this skill enough that, if you con-
dice pool from the skill since they don’t have the centrate, you will be able to accomplish what
skill. This ,me the character is just geNng by. May- you are doing under pressure. Using this skill is
be it is ,me for the character to invest experience beginning to become effortless.
in learning something new. 3 - Skilled Level
GMs can have the player roll any a*ribute You can look fancy, with some effort. Pressure is
they feel is appropriate for the task roll. Even if the not a problem as long as your life doesn't de-
default a*ribute is different, the GM can decide pend on it. Using your skills now require no
that, for this task roll, the character must use effort.
“a1ribute X.” Players should check with the GM; 4 - Master Level
unless the GM says otherwise, players can assume You can do the fancy stuff with no effort. Now
their characters will use the Default A*ribute listed you can use your skills in ways that were never
under the skill’s descrip,on. Only one a*ribute can taught to you. You know enough to be innova-
be used as the founda,on for a skill task roll. If ,ve, and do things others might not know
there are 2 skills listed as default a*ribute, only list about. You can even begin to push the skill to
one of those a*ributes once the character has next level. You see things the way you used to
learned the skill. AHer a skill is paid for and the de- do them, and realize how you can do them
fault a*ribute is chosen, that will always be the be*er.
character’s default a*ribute for that skill.

5 - Teacher Level however long it takes to learn the skill, minus
You are a developer now. A dragon could be res,ng. Real World skills can be used in the Matrix.
licking your neck and you would not have any If the same skill is downloaded, only the download-
trouble finishing what you are doing. You can ed duplicate version of the skill will work in the Ma-
teach people how to do what you do. You are trix. That means a players chipped skills will super-
beyond just performing your skill. Now you are sede the ra,ng of their real world skills in the Ma-
developing new ways to use your skill and refin- trix.
ing the way you used to do things.
Combat
Skills in the Matrix Combat turns are different than normal
Skills within the Matrix are different than turns. Combat turns are shortened because combat
other skills that were learned the old fashioned way is supposed to be fast-paced. A combat turn takes 6
with blood, sweat, and tears. A character can down- seconds in game ,me. So when a player finishes
load skills from a skill chip into hardware in their one combat turn, his character has only used up 6
brain. The Operator can also upload skills to RSI us- seconds of game ,me to complete his ac,on. Each
ing their broadcast equipment. The ac,on of up- combat turn is divided into two parts, which every-
loading skills takes an en,re combat turn, but the one completes at the same ,me. First, the group
skill can then be used in the Matrix. Plus, a charac- “describes” what their characters do in the context
ter gets to use the skills she knew already from her of the combat. This is important because the narra-
Real World experience. Like a computer character, ,on determines what actually happens in the game
a person in the Matrix can store the skill’s infor- world. Then, they “resolve” their dice rolls to see
ma,on un,l she needs to use it, at which point the how well it all worked. The key to playing The Ma-
skill will be available at the skill level it was pro- trix RPG is to understand that everything happens
grammed at. Skills on chips are rated by the level exactly as the players describe it. Rolling the dice
they were programmed to. A character cannot raise just tells you how much further those ac,ons have
a downloaded skill through experience, like her oth- advanced the scene. In a way, the dice are only
er skills. Chipped (Matrix) skills must be reloaded at there to let you know when to stop figh,ng.
a higher level. That probably means the RSI needs During the descripon phase of combat, all
to upgrade and get be*er equipment. Permanent players collaborate on what their characters do dur-
skills remain in the character’s hardware even aHer ing that combat turn. The GM, with help from play-
she is unplugged, but temporary skills go away once ers, determines the combat damage of a*acks dur-
the character is unplugged from the Matrix. ing the Descrip,on phase. That way, everyone
Chipped skills can be changed every ,me a charac- knows what to expect from combat. For each detail
ter enters the Matrix. Chipped skills can even be a player uses to describe his ac,ons, he gets an ex-
loaded while the RSI is in the Matrix. In order to tra die to add to his dice pool. Each player and the
load chipped skills during a mission, the Operator GM get veto power over the details used to gain
must make a Matrix Programming (2) test or else extra dice for the combat roll. If the player’s detail
the hack won’t work. is vetoed, that player has to stop there, or think of
Chipped Skills that are downloaded cannot another plausible detail to replace it with. If mul,-
be used by the character when they are not ple skills or a*ributes could be rolled, the GM picks
plugged into the Matrix. It is possible to prac,ce a the one most appropriate for this situa,on. If a
real world skill in the Matrix. If a character wants to character has to use a straight a*ribute for combat
learn a real world skill in the Matrix, they will need then he doesn’t get addi,onal skill dice because a
to purchase the skill with experience. Plus, the char- skill is not being used. The addi,onal dice a charac-
acter will need to be loaded into the Matrix for ter can get from details is limited by his skill level. A

character with a level 1 skill can get a maximum of mula,ve. [For example, say a group of PCs were
one addi,onal die to his dice pool for adding details figh,ng a threat ra,ng 20 combat. Thug damage for
to his combat descrip,ons, no ma*er how many this combat is a light wound. That means when the
more cool details he tries to add. In contrast, a thugs do damage, they will inflict a light wound lev-
character with a level 5 skill can get a maximum of 5 el. All thugs can only damage the character for a
addi,onal dice to the dice pool for each detail in light wound no ma*er what the threat ra,ng is.] A
her combat descrip,on. AHer the players have fin- player can reduce damage from thugs automa,cal-
ished describing what they plan to do, the GM gives ly, during descrip,on phase players declare how
the players their dice pool bonuses for combat de- many dice they are removing from their roll. This
tails. By the end of the descrip,on phase the GM represents the character blocking or defending
tells the players how many detail dice they get, how against the a*ack in some way. Every 2 dice re-
difficult their task roll is, what damage they will be moved from the character’s dice pool, before he
inflic,ng with a successful strike, and the players rolls, will reduce thug damage by 1 wound level.
state how many dice they are withholding to reduce [For example, Nee is ba*ling against thugs who deal
damage. Withholding dice to reduce damage is ex- serious damage every ,me they hit. If Nee with-
plained below. Now the players roll to resolve their holds 3 of his dice from the task roll, then Nee will
ac,ons using their new adjusted dice pool. reduce the thugs’ damage to nothing.]
This game assumes that characters are The second type of opponent is a Nemesis. It
a*acking and defending during the combat. Some- takes more than one hit to knock down this video
,mes characters are surprised. To surprise the char- game boss. All combat against Nemeses is mano a
acters, GM and players roll Percepon + Focus/ mano. If two or more characters gang up on a Neme-
Common Sense. Whichever character has more suc- sis, the characters will need to take turns trading
cesses surprises the other, and ,es fail to surprise blows with the Nemesis. Each character completes
anyone. If there is an ambush and the characters both their descrip,on and resolu,on phases. When
don’t have Percep,on, then they can default to an in combat with mul,ple characters, the Nemesis
a*ribute, but that roll uses the a*ribute only. When must split its dice pool equally amongst its oppo-
a character is surprised, he only gets to roll half of nents. So if there are 2 people figh,ng the same
his dice to do anything that combat (round down). Nemesis “Bob,” then Bob must split his 8 dice to
When resolving combat there are two types make 2 a*acks. Nemeses have a dice pool and get
of opponents the players will face. Either the oppo- to roll dice in combat, unlike thugs. Whichever com-
nent is a thug or a nemesis. When resolving combatant has more successes damages the other.
bat against a thug, players only need to get one Characters can remove a die from their dice pool as
combat success to take the opponent out. The they do with thugs. Since a nemesis is a special op-
thugs don’t get to roll dice for combat. Thugs, as a ponent they can remove dice from their rolls like
total, get a “threat ra,ng” which works the same as the players do. When trying to defend against mul-
threshold. Threat rang is how many successes a ,ple opponents any dice removed count towards all
character needs to defeat all of the thugs. This is a damage taken that round. So for example if a nem-
cumula,ve total—once the threat ra,ng is reduced esis takes a light wound each from two players, but
to zero, the combat is over. If players don’t score only withheld enough dice for a light wound. Then
any successes, or if they are surprised, then they that nemesis will take a light wound from the se-
suffer damage from the thugs this combat turn. It is cond players since they could only resist a light
assumed that the thugs hit the heroes at least once wound total this combat. Removing dice from a
a round. Damage from a thug combat is the same character’s dice pool represents that the character
for every thug in that ba*le. If mul,ple thugs strike is figh,ng defensively. Nemeses do damage based
a character in the same turn the damage is not cu- on the weapon or skill they are using in combat.
GM determines damage for Nemeses a*ack during helps monitor that rising and falling ac,on for char-
the descrip,on phase. acters plugged into the Matrix. Ac,on seems to
Combat works best if everyone talks about build while characters are in the Matrix. The Matrix
what they expect from the game. For some players, is constantly on alert for anomalies. Any reports of
the gamemaster might leave gaping holes in her strange happenings or unexplainable events can
descrip,on. Instead of players geNng down on the raise the threat ra,ng of the Matrix. Threat ra,ng
gamemaster for leaving out details, the player increases and decreases based on the anomalies
should use that hole as an opportunity to describe the A.I. discovers and eliminates. The Matrix tries to
what he feels is missing. Players should not hijack keep reality believable. This is referred to as the
the storyline, but they also shouldn’t pass on a coherent reality of the Matrix. If the coherent reali-
good ac,on because they didn’t hear exactly what ty is out of balance the Matrix power plant could
they were wai,ng to hear from the gamemaster. fail. Failure of the Matrix power plant would de-
Players should also ask the gamemaster as many stroy all the bluepills s,ll plugged in.
ques,ons as they need to fully envision the ac,on Threat Ra,ng assists the gamemaster in de-
and what is happening in the story. If there is a con- termining the power level of the threats that the
flict during combat resolu,on, I like to order the players will encounter. Threat ra,ng for combat can
descrip,on of the combat ac,ons based on the be equal to or less than the current threat ra,ng of
combatant with the most net successes. Combat the Matrix. For example if the group has a threat
ac,ons happen simultaneously but the characters ra,ng of 10 for the scenario then the thugs they are
with the most net success have their combat ac- in combat with could have up to a 10 Threat Ra,ng.
,ons described first. Then I describe the rest of the When the threat ra,ng is high characters
combatants ac,ons based on the next highest will encounter Agents. Lower threat ra,ngs will
amount of combat successes. The first combatant is a*ract police a*en,on. Medium threat ra,ng
a combat star. That character looks the best during means the characters encounter new A.I. programs
combat and their ac,ons should be showcased for that are not Agents but s,ll protects the Matrix.
the combat turn. I personally like to use miniatures Threat Ra,ng is op,onal. Gamemasters should not
placed on a dry erase map during the en,re gaming look at threat ra,ng as a mechanic they must use.
session; use miniatures, dice, Cheetos, or whatever
is handy to represent the players and their oppo- Here are examples of ac,ons that would in-
nents. When combat or something important hap- crease the threat ra,ng of the Matrix:
pens, I have the players move their minis to where
they should be on the map. For the rest of that sce- (+)Bluepills seeing someone use matrix feats that
ne, we use the minis to help us keep track of the break or bend the rules of the Matrix will in-
ac,on. This game doesn’t require miniatures, but crease the threat ra,ng.
having some and a dry erase map could be a good
idea. For this game we are using a virtual tabletop (+)Being iden,fied for breaking the law.
program with maps, and tokens for players. This
will be outdated soon, but we actually use Google + (+)The character’s reputa,on adds to their threat
Hangouts and load a few apps. So far Tabletop ra,ng if they are iden,fied by authori,es when
Forge and Infrno.net have worked well for me to they are in the Matrix.
play games.
(+)Bluepills dying is no,ced. Bluepills are food for
Threat Rating the Machines. They no,ce when the food dies
Threat ra,ng is used for thugs in combat. unexpectedly.
That same threat ra,ng is used by the game to

Here are examples of ac,ons that will decrease the promoted. Also, A.I. can be promoted by successful-
threat ra,ng of the Matrix: ly ac,ng under the opera,ng protocols for the op-
(-)Characters hack, crack, or break into the Matrix era,ng system. For example, an A.I. program that
computer systems to erase incrimina,ng infor- operates under an Agent O.S. can gain priority lev-
ma,on. els by neutralizing or repairing system errors—
errors like RSI hacker termina,on without other
(-)Characters lay low from the authori,es. Hiding RSIs in the construct no,cing. Priority level is based
while they let the heat cool down. Sneaking on A.I. experience, luck, longevity, and skill. Priority
around as much as possible. level does not have a maximum number.
Virtuosity- An A.I. program’s ap,tude at self-
(-)Characters ditch or destroy any physical evidence correc,ng Ops errors. The A.I. must be inac,ve and
they might have on their person. A cellphone res,ng, but he/she does not need to be off-line. Vir-
that has been traced to the scene of the crime is tuosity is a percentage. This percentage is the
worth ditching in the trash. amount of code that can be repaired by an A.I.
properly recupera,ng.
(-)Run. Leave the area, or leave the Matrix. Whatev- Opera.ng System- The Opera,ng System is the
er it takes it get away. A.I. equivalent of a brain. Depending on the A.I., the
Opera,ng System default frame works be*er or
(-)Characters entering the Matrix through a secure worse than it was designed to. Agents exist in the
hardline will lower the threat ra,ng by one for Matrix power plant. A Sennel is a guard A.I. who
each success the Operator rolls on their task to prefers the Squidi frames. If an A.I. is not in its pre-
secure a hardline. ferred frame, it suffers penal,es when it controls a
non-preferred frame. GM determines the amount
Attributes for A.I. of increased Ops Errors the A.I. suffers for trying to
A.I. should be played as NPC’s only. I am outlining operate in a different frame. Skills and a*ributes for
the a*ributes for A.I. so a gamemaster can play A.I. equal 99% - “Ops Error”
both sides of the game. These a*ributes are in addi- Ops Errors- Percentage of Ops System errors an
,on to an A.I.’s a*ributes when in the Matrix. For A.I. program has acquired. These errors hinder his/
example an Agent will have ra,ng 1-5 a*ributes her program’s performance. There are many ways
when in a human RSI, in addi,on to the A.I. a*rib- an A.I. can increase their Ops Errors. If an A.I. ever
utes listed below. When an A.I. is in a frame it will strays from his opera,ng protocols or does not fol-
have the frames a*ributes in addi,on to their nor- low command, Ops Error is increased. This is be-
mal a*ributes listed below. A.I. must take an en,re cause A.I. is designed to perform a certain way, and
turn to overtake a bluepill’s RSI. when she does not, she is performing less like a ma-
chine and more like a human. Too many opera,ng
Priority Level - A.I. programs are organized by errors will eventually degrade her Opera,ng System
control priority level. The lower the number, the to the point of no longer working. Damage from
less important you are to the System’s controls. A combat will increase Ops Errors in an A.I. program.
high priority number can give a program with a low- (as listed in [The Matrix RPG].[Game Con-
er priority number instruc,ons. If two programs cepts].Health). The Ops Error is an A.I.’s chance of
have the same priority and they are issuing com- succeeding in cri,cal moments. When an A.I. gets a
mands, then there is a conflict. The system source failure or cri,cal failure they roll an Ops Error to see
will need to resolve the conflict. Priority levels will if their computer code overcomes the failure. For
shiH if a higher priority in your chain is destroyed or example say the A.I. fails, or cri,cally fails at
neutralized. Basically if an A.I. dies, other A.I. get

shoo,ng a target. They could roll under their cur- mon sense, so they can out-wit other people and
rent Ops error to barely succeed at that task. keep ahead of them.
Focus– is the character’s ability to concentrate
Attributes for Frames (Sentinels) and ignore outside s,mula,on. Learning and
Sen,nel frames are similar to vehicles. Sen,nels use memory fall under this part of the human persona.
these main a*ributes above (Priority Level, Virtuos- This will govern how much willpower a human has
ity, Ops Sys, and Ops Errors) in addi,on to these over his body.
vehicle a*ributes: Agility- is how quickly and easily a character can
move, especially under pressure. Running speed
Speed- This is how fast the ship can travel when and dexterity are based on Agility.
pushed to its limits. The Vehicle speed ra,ng adds Strength- is physical and muscular power. This
its dice to the players dice pool when rolling to pilot will determine how much a person can liH and
the vehicle. move. The overall physical toughness of a person is
Agility- This is how difficult it is to operate the represented by Strength.
craH at speed and over difficult terrain. Can this Endurance- How long can a person survive un-
piece of $#!t squeeze through an abandoned build- der mental or physical stress? A person’s for,tude,
ing without losing its engine? Agility ra,ng reduces health, and hardiness are represented by their En-
the task threshold for pilo,ng test. durance.
Fuel (remaining/maximum)- Fuel is a ra,ng
comprised of two numbers. The first number is the Matrix Ego
amount of fuel cells remaining for the ship to use as When a character has a neural interface im-
power. The second number is the maximum num- planted, he/she acquires addi,onal a*ributes.
ber of fuel cells the ship is designed to hold. One These are basic a*ributes only usable in the simu-
day is the average life for a fuel cell. These fuel cells lated construct of the Matrix. Both a*ributes start
can be recharged repeatedly. A single fuel cell takes at 0 when they first manifest.
one hour to fully recharge. All vehicles are listed CyberZen- is the knowledge that the Matrix is a
with their maximum fuel cell ra,ng. simulacrum. That enlightenment allows characters
to a*empt extraordinary tasks—they can a*empt
Attributes for Humans tasks that seem impossible. CyberZen is used in
Humans have a*ributes that range from 1 to 5. conjunc,on with skills that are Matrix Feats. If a
Common Sense, Focus, Agility, and Strength are all players wants extra strength their character rolls
human a*ributes. Common Sense and Focus are their Cyberzen + Matrix Feat Increase Strength. Eve-
a*ributes that represent a human’s mental quali- ry two success increases their die pool by +1 die.
,es. Agility and Strength are a*ributes that repre- They can add that die pool to every ac,on for the
sent a human’s physical quali,es. The Endurance remainder of that scene. CyberZen determines the
a*ribute represents with how well a character can amount of skills a RSI can download. Maximum
heal damage. Nomads and humans on the surface amount of downloadable skills is equal to CyberZen
are slightly different than their underground coun- ra,ng ,mes 3. One third of those skills are perma-
terparts. Surface humans are stockier, thick nent and stay in the characters mind un,l they are
skinned, and hairier because of the condi,ons their willfully erased. The other two thirds of their down-
bodies have adapted too. loadable skills are temporary and get erased each
,me they are uploaded into the Matrix. CyberZen
Common Sense– is for when you need answers has a maximum ra,ng of 5.
quickly. Fast talkers and swindlers have a high com-

CyberZen and The Gift mine the threshold for that task. When a*emp,ng
Humans plugged into the Matrix have a a CyberZen task, roll your CyberZen + Skill/
CyberZen score of zero (0). CyberZen ra,ngs range A!ribute (difficulty). If the character succeeds at
between 0 and 5. Characters must have a CyberZen the task roll, then his CyberZen task is successful.
of 5 before they can purchase the GiH upgrade. You don’t know what you can do un,l you try it,
Once they have upgraded their CyberZen to The such as superhero flight. The more successes a
GiH, it is possible for that character to “break the character rolls, the be*er the outcome. But some
rules” (Rule Breakers) of the Matrix. Without the things are impossible, even with God-like CyberZen.
GiH upgrade, a character can only “bend the Characters cannot change an RSI’s thoughts. It is
rules” (Rule Benders) in the Matrix. To have the giH also impossible for CyberZen to allow a character to
is too know it, balls to bones. The Matrix reality is control A.I.—their cold computer-calculated
governed by rules, and these Matrix rules are the thought processes are immune to CyberZen.
science you studied everyday in school. Most peo- CyberZen does not allow a character to bring the
ple without CyberZen don’t think they can break dead back to life. Characters cannot create another
the laws of physics just by believing they will, so RSI using CyberZen.
they don’t even try. But with the GiH, the One can
bend and break the laws of science. When a person
breaks the rules of the Matrix, her ac,ons look like
magic or superpowers, because these ac,ons con-
tradict the Coherent Reality of the MATRIX.
Characters that wish to be like Neo must
spend the experience to buy the GiH. The ga-
memaster should have the player purchase the giH
as soon as possible. There should be some compel-
ling, in-game reason why that player has the giH. A
messiah does not come along every day. Also, once
the player purchases The GiH, the gamemaster and
player agree that only the gamemaster knows when
the character can use the GiH to break rules in the
Matrix. The gamemaster observes the character
and at some point during the campaign, the ga-
memaster says the player is The One and that
choice is not reversible. Once the GiH is ac,ve, the
player is able to defy the rules of the Matrix and the
gamemaster must deal with those consequences.
Having the GiH can be a game breaker, so think it
through carefully. Even without the GiH, RSI’s are
pre*y powerful in the Matrix.
While loaded into the Matrix CyberZen adds
its ra,ng to a character’s dice pools. This applies to
any task rolls that don’t use CyberZen as the default
a*ribute. This is because the character knows
things aren’t real, so CyberZen helps enhance eve-
rything that character does in the Matrix. Think of
something you want to do and the GM will deter-

Character Creation Alternate character generation ideas
1) Think of a background history for your character. If characters want to roll their stats, they can roll a
How did your character get to where he/she is d10 for each a*ribute or skill. It is up to the GM
today? Think of it this way: if you were to how many ,mes they want the player to reroll her
a*end an interview for a job that you really numbers if she doesn’t like them.
wanted, what should the boss know about
you? Below is a chart for random skill & a*ribute ra,ngs:
2) Pick a Path for the character to follow. 10 = Teacher A*ribute ra,ng (5)
3) Gamemaster determines character genera,on 8-9 = Master A*ribute ra,ng (4)
points (CGP) for the campaign. The points are 4-7 = Skilled A*ribute ra,ng (3)
to be used as you wish between skills and 2-3 = Prac,ced A*ribute ra,ng (2)
a*ributes. 1 = Novice A*ribute ra,ng (1)
4)Character Genera,on cost for Humans:
a) A*ributes and Matrix Ego- Cost 1 CGP for each Improve PC with experience
ra,ng level you want of an a*ribute. For ex- Raise A1ribute = Next level in experience points
ample, ra,ng 6 Strength cost 6 CGP. Neural Kinecs =Next level in experience points
b) Skills- Any important skills that are rated Master The Gi% = 65 experience points
or Teacher must somehow be explained in New Skill = 3 experience points to start at
your character background. Characters cannot Interest Level
buy Downloaded Skills with character genera- Raise Skill = Next level in experience points * 2
,on points. CyberZen = Next level in experience points * 2
Novice = 1 CGP
Prac,ced = 2 CGP Awarding Experience
Skilled = 3 CGP • Roleplay award- at the end of game, all the play-
Master = 4 CGP ers and the GM vote on the best player.
Teacher = 5 CGP • GM award- players decide how much experience
c) All Characters start with a Na,ve language at 3- to give the GM.
Skilled Level. This means they can read and • Each game should average 3-5 experience for the
write their na,ve language. characters, depending on how difficult things
5) Characters’ equipment is based on the campaign. were and if they won any awards from the GM
Gamemasters should help characters get their or players for how well they played the game.
equipment list together. Equipment is traded • Who was the combat star of this session? Combat
and bartered for in the real world. Stars should be considered for addi,onal expe-
6) Submit to your gamemaster for approval. rience.
• Did my character survive the session?
Recommendations for PC creation
Average campaign- 13 CGP for a*ributes (RSIs
get an addi,onal 3 CGP, for a total of 30 CGP, since
they have the addi,onal CyberZen a*ribute.), 24
CGP for skills.
Above average campaign- 21 CGP for a*ributes,
36 CGP for skills

worn by the First Mates, gray tunics are worn by
Walking the Path the Operators, and red tunics are worn by the Cap-
There is a difference between knowing the
tains. Ships can hold three to eleven crew mem-
path you must take in life and walking that path.
bers.
Here we describe the most common paths. Choose
the path that most suits you.
Homegrown (Freeborn)- Humans that are
born naturally, in the Real World. Homegrown hu-
Humans
mans have never been implanted into the Matrix.
Every ci.zen in the world is considered to be
Zion Homegrown humans are dedicated to the re-
one of Zion’s children, since Zion was one of the
sistance movement. These humans are everywhere
first human ci,es. Most city dwellers, no ma*er
and are becoming more and more common as the
what their true geographical loca,on, will refer to
popula,on grows. Homegrown humans can be im-
themselves as Children of Zion. Nomads, however,
planted with cyberne,cs, but most keep themselves
do not make this claim. If you are a civilized human
free of the Machine's influence.
that believes in the society and the laws it is gov-
erned by, then you are considered a ci,zen. Ci,zens
Matrix "Operator"- It is recommended this
usually prefer to live in outpost or ci,es. The ice de-
character be an NPC (non-player character) played
sert of the Real World is also inhabited by some ci,-
by the GM. Operators get an RSI Hacker in and out
zens.
of the Matrix through a hardline. Operators remain
in the real world and view the MATRIX construct
RSI Hacker (“Ressies,” or Residual Self Im-
from the outside in pure Matrix code. Operators
age)- RSI Hackers pirate their input/output carrier
have read only access to the Matrix. Seeing the Ma-
signal to broadcast RSIs into the Matrix. Most RSIs
trix in code allows the Operator to see things that
were raised in the Matrix as pod-born humans and
the RSIs can’t see. Someone submerged in the sen-
were rescued (the slang for a pod-born s,ll plugged
sory simula,on of the MATRIX cannot see what
in is a lamb, or bluepill). Young minds are easier to
things really are. Think about it. That's what the
rescue. RSIs are typically rescued between the ages
MATRIX was designed for—it keeps people from
of 9 and 18. In Zion, the newly released RSIs are
seeing the truth. Operators need to have the skill
raised in orphanages un,l ci,zens have space in
Matrix Programming. Operators load hacked pro-
their homes to adopt them. Ci,zens some,mes
grams of equipment with an RSI when she broad-
have family members they will adopt aHer they
casts into the Matrix. Operators also download RSIs
have been freed from the Matrix. RSIs risk their
addi,onal chipped skills while they are in the Ma-
lives to keep the human race alive and hopefully
trix.
one day free. To be an RSI, characters must have a
Operators do a lot of work to keep every-
cyberne,c neural interface implanted in their bod-
one—RSIs and crew—safe. First ,an Operator
ies.
spoofs the ship’s broadcast signal. Spoofing camou-
Most RSI Hackers in the Matrix are part of
flages the ship’s broadcast signal by giving the ship
the Zion military. Zion crews are not allowed to
a fake authoriza,on—in essence, faking the ship’s
keep downloaded Matrix skills private. Whatever
login and password to the Matrix. Then an Operator
they download must be shared. Zion crews consist
secures hardlines for the RSI Hacker to broadcast
of a Captain, First Mate, Pilot, Operator, and Other
their input/output carrier signal on. In the Matrix,
Crew. The Zion military has specific uniforms and
telecommunica,ons equipment represents hard-
the color of the tunic depends on the crew-
lines. Usually, the more hardlines that are secured,
member’s rank in the military. Yellow tunics are
the more exits the RSI Hackers have once they are
worn by “other crew members,” blue tunics are
in the Matrix. Operators commonly lose hardlines,

but with more than one available, they can usually pays more. Mercenaries play their own side, al-
get the RSI out through another one. Everyone always. A mercenary could be a Soldier, Operator,
ways hopes that the new hardline is close to the Hot Shot Pilot, or RSI. Whatever roles they fill, they
RSI. The more skilled your Operator is, the closer are always geNng paid for the services they pro-
the hardline will probably be. If the RSIs have ,me vide.
before they are loaded into the Matrix, they can
pick up simulacra equipment in the Loading Pro- Hot Shot Pilot- You can always hire a Hot
gram (see glossary). Simulacra equipment is limited Shot Pilot if you have the money or equipment to
by the type of hardline they are moving through. It trade as payment. A pilot is a pilot, but a hot shot
easy enough for the Operator to transmit small- to pilot is a way of life. They are the only ones crazy
medium-sized equipment with the RSI, but the big- enough to pilot your ship through a service tunnel
ger the equipment, the larger the hardline needs to and escape. Most hot shot pilots wouldn’t be worth
be to transport that much data. For people, the Op- anything without a ship. When you hire a pilot you
erator only needs a hardline the size of a phone. are hiring her ship, too.
However, telephones only have enough bandwidth
for one person to use at a ,me. For vehicles and Punksmith- Punksmiths are scavengers or
larger items, a cell tower or phone array is neces- traders, depending on what part of the deal you are
sary. in on. If they are working for you, they are the best
Once the RSI are in the Matrix, an Opera- scavengers who can make anything out of the parts
tor’s work is not done. Operators are constantly they have on hand. If they are selling their equip-
watching out for the computer system’s an,-virus ment, then they are traders who will take you for
and intrusion countermeasures. For example, it is everything you have on hand. Punksmiths are me-
not uncommon for the system to cut hardlines in chanics, engineers, salesmen, and whatever else
order to destroy exits for RSIs. The system is con- they need to be. A punksmith will make unique
stantly looking for anomalies, and yes, Zion RSI items every ,me. Say, for example, they are making
Hackers are anomalies. The ship’s Operator needs pistols. Every pistol they make will shoot like it is
to be ready to save an RSI’s bu* at a moment’s no- supposed to, but it will be made slightly differently
,ce. Operators can send data and talk with the RSIs, each ,me. Punksmiths never make two pieces of
but aside from that, Operators cannot change equipment the same way, like a snowflake, each
things in the Matrix from their broadcas,ng con- piece of equipment is unique.
sole.
Hardlines are not considered secure if peo- The Machines
ple within the Matrix observe the RSIs appear as if A.I. Programs Non-/Sen.en - It is true that
from out of nowhere. A hardline is only secure if they are ar,ficially intelligent, but they are not free-
there is no one there to see the RSIs broadcast in. If willed. They can make decisions, but they have a set
the system sees the RSI Hacker broadcast into the of protocols, to which they must strictly adhere. A.I.
Matrix, that hardline will be cut and an Agent will are no longer restricted to circuit boards. A.I. can
be sent immediately. In addi,on, if the Agent(s) exist in a gel made of plasma energy—a gela,nous
capture any of the crew members’ RSIs, the broad- material developed by A.I. that stores all the pro-
cast signal can be traced right back to the ship. gram’s informa,on. These gela,nous matrices are
Once the ship’s loca,on is discovered, Agents send extremely stable and have the ability to occupy a
out Sen,nels, or Frames, to do the rest of the work. frame and power it. The plasma gel is called cogni-
ve plasma. The plasma is not mobile.
Mercenaries- They don't care what side they
are playing for. The only thing that ma*ers is who

Agents- A.I. programs that are designed to in a Frame, only the one with a higher Priority level
delete anomalies in the Matrix simula,on. Agents can be in control. The other A.I. is essen,ally a co-
have the ability to take over any RSI s,ll hardwired pilot with li*le control besides what control the
to the Matrix. When Agents take over the RSI, it be- main A.I. allows it to have.
comes the Agent in every way. When the RSI wakes
up aHer the takeover, he has no memory of that Squidi Sen.nel Frames- Squidies, or Sen,-
period. If the Agent dies, the RSI they took over will nels, are A.I. residing in a Squidi frame. Sen,nel A.I.
die also. are the watchdogs for the Machines. Sen,nels are
designed to hunt humans. They are excep,onally
Frames- A.I. can occupy a robo,c body. The good at it. When the Machines discover a be*er
evolu,on of these robo,c bodies can be divided way of hun,ng humans, they will design a new sen-
into genera,ons by the designs of their Frames. ,nel frame for the A.I. to inhabit.
Since an A.I.’s physical self is nothing but cogni,ve
plasma, they can occupy any robo,c frames that
they wish. The frame must first be empty of any
other cogni,ve plasma. When more than one A.I. is

ples of guns covered by this skill are Handguns, Ri-
Skills fles, Shotguns, Submachine Guns, Assault Rifles, Ar-
Skills are broad and meant to be used as guidelines
,llery Guns, and Machine Guns.
for what your character knows. Each character’s
background gives that skill life. Use the general de-
Knife Fighng- [Agility]
scrip,ons to help you imagine where to start.
Figh,ng with knives using mar,al figh,ng skills like
Eskrima, Esgrima Criolla, The Andalusian legacy, or
General Skills
Scherma di S,le*o Siciliano. This is an athle,c, close
General list of skills characters can use in the Real
combat form of figh,ng.
World or in the Matrix.
Maral Arts- [Agility]
Aircra Pilong- [Agility]
Formal hand to hand combat techniques, Akido,
Pilo,ng a hovercraH and other vehicles that stay
Karate, Ju Jitsu, Kendo, etc. Please pick individual
airborne during opera,on. This includes landing,
styles as each of your figh,ng skills.
stopping, combat maneuvers (basically whatever
you can think of to get the hell away from danger),
Polearm fighng- [Agility]
high speed control, etc.
Figh,ng with close combat weapons in which the
main figh,ng part of the weapon is on the end of a
Ambidextrous- [Agility]
long shaH. Axes, maces, and morning stars are con-
Ability to use both hands equally well for anything.
sidered polearms.
Archery- [Agility]
Slight of hand- [Agility]
Propelling arrows with the use of a bow or cross-
Tricking the eye to see or not see a hand gesture
bow. This will also allow the character to do fletch-
through decep,on, magic tricks.
ing.
Sword Fighng- [Agility]
Balancing Feats- [Agility]
Using bladed weapons. Swords are very popular
Walk ,ght ropes, juggle, stack plates, etc.
weapons against the Machines in the Real World,
because they have been developed to cut through
Dancing- [Agility]
metal.
Ballroom dancing, club dancing, ballet, stage perfor-
mance, etc.
Thai Boxing- [Agility]
Thai boxing, a form of hand to hand combat.
Driving- [Agility]
See groundcraH pilo,ng.
Throwing Weapons- [Agility]
The skill to aim, balance, and throw a weapon with
Ground Cra Pilong- [Agility]
deadly effec,veness. Throwing weapons include
There are s,ll some wheeled and tracked vehicles in
knives, spears, shurikens, and rocks.
use. This skill represents the ability to control and
pilot such craH.
Escape Bonds- [Agility/Common Sense]
The ability to get out of handcuffs, ropes, and avoid
Gun Fighng- [Agility]
being held.
Weapons that use gunpowder, or explosives, to
propel a metal slug at your target. Most of this class
of weapon has a trigger bu*on of some sort. Exam-

Sci Fi Weapons (specific weapon)- [Agility/Focus] Gather Informaon- [Common Sense]
This skill is specific to the weapon the character is Conversing with others to collect informa,on with-
using, such as a Plasma Cannon or Laser Rifle. These out no,ce.
types of weapons are so unique that a person has
to learn each one individually. Guerrilla Taccs- [Common Sense]
Irregular warfare with small groups of fighters who
Acrobacs- [Agility/Strength] use tac,cs like ambushes, sabotage, element of sur-
Flips, vaults, rolls, and tumbling. prise, and raids.
Acng- [Common Sense] History of Zion- [Common Sense]

Pretending to be someone else, crea,ng emo,ons A general knowledge of the human history of Zion,
at will. or any city or area of choice.
Animal Training/Handling- [Common Sense] Interrogate- [Common Sense]

Training animals to listen to commands, domes,- Using force and/or manipula,on to obtain infor-
ca,ng animals. ma,on.
Bartering- [Common Sense] Nomad Clan Customs- [Common Sense]

Used to levy be*er deals in trades. General Every nomad clan has special customs and ways of
knowledge of an item's value. doing things, rituals they must perform, etc. This is
a knowledge every clansman must have for her
Blackmarket- [Common Sense] clan. More than likely, the higher a character's skill,
Loca,ng and bargaining in the black market. The the higher placed she is in the clan.
character knows who to talk to and what to say to
find or sell on the black market. Philosophy- [Common Sense]
Study of problems in the fields of knowledge, reali-
Coercion- [Common Sense] ty, values, morals, mind, and existence. Philoso-
Seduc,on, manipula,on, scamming, in,mida,on, phers address these problems using cri,cal thinking
bluffing to get what they want. and logic.
Conceal- [Common Sense] Photography- [Common Sense]

Hiding objects and self. Digital or film, journalis,c, art, sports, picture com-
posi,on, and modeling.
Diplomacy- [Common Sense]
The ability to convince others of seeing another Religion- [Common Sense]
point of view, and to cut through red tape easier Study of religious beliefs, behaviors, holidays, tradi-
than others. ,ons, and religious ins,tu,ons of a specific religion.
Disguises- [Common Sense] Remote Pilong- [Common Sense]

Concealing iden,ty with makeup, clothes, change of Controlling anything mechanized with remote ac-
appearance. cess controls. Vehicles can have remotes, sen,nel
frames can be augmented (when not occupied by
Gambling- [Common Sense] an A.I.) to have remote control capability also. Must
Sta,s,cally improve chances of winning games. have the skills for the vehicle type that is being pi-
loted.

of this are, if a character understands sen,nels'
Snooping- [Common Sense] hardware, he can remove parts from the frame in a
Knowledge of how to set up bugging devices, detect way that those parts are preserved and retain their
hidden microphones, video cameras, etc. trade value.
Stalk- [Common Sense] Matrix Feat "Disguise"- [Cyberzen]

To follow someone unno,ced, shadowing. (Rule bender) A player can disguise herself to
agents and other people within the Matrix. RSI's
Stealth- [Common Sense] don’t see the character as she is, but rather as she
Knowledge of how not to be detected. General would like to be seen.
camouflage and silence techniques. Hide while
moving. Matrix Feat "Increased A6ribute"- [Cyberzen]
(Rule bender) Make a task roll. For each success in-
Surveillance- [Common Sense] crease that a*ribute's dice pool by one die for the
Build and use security with cameras, mo,on sen- remainder of the scene.
sors.
Matrix Feat "Increased Skill"- [Cyberzen]
Theiving- [Common Sense] (rule bender) Make a task roll. For each success in-
Stealing, pickpocke,ng. crease that skill's dice pool by one die for the re-
mainder of the scene.
Track- [Common Sense]
To follow someone who cannot be seen by follow- Matrix Feat "Jump"- [Cyberzen]
ing a trail or clues of his/her passage. (Rule bender) SoHen a deadly fall of twenty stories
and land light as a feather, or jump across extreme
Linguist- [Common Sense/Focus] distances as though they were much smaller. You
Understand basic structure of languages, figure out could jump across the Grand Canyon with this feat.
words and phrases from similarly familiar lan-
guages. Matrix Feat "Dodging Bullets"- [Cyberzen]
(Rule bender) With the GiH, a player can dodge bal-
Percepon- [Common Sense/Focus] lis,cs and projec,les fired at them in the Matrix.
This is for the gamemaster to make an objec,ve When a character uses dodge they cannot perform
check as to whether a character no,ces something any other ac,ons that turn.
or not. It can be as simple as seeing a canyon off in
the distance, or as cri,cal as no,cing whether there Matrix Feat "Time Slow"- [Cyberzen]
is an ambush ahead. The ability to no,ce the com- (Rule bender) With the GiH, the player can slow
mon things, and pick out the details and the unex- down the ac,ons of everyone else around them,
pected. making the player appear to move faster than eve-
ryone else.
PunkSmithing- [Common Sense/Strength]
Designing technology from other scavenged bits of Matrix Feat "Change Material"- [Cyberzen]
machines and broken things. (Rule breaker) The ability to change objects in the
Matrix, i.e.,changing a gun to bu*er, concrete to
Salvage- [Common Sense/Strength] water, water to wine, etc.
The ability to, with the right tools, remove and col-
lect things of value from where they are. Examples

Matrix Feat "Create small objects"- [Cyberzen] Aiming- [Focus]
(Rule breaker) The ability to make small simple ob- Aiming is done in game so the character can have a
jects from nothing. Simple objects don't have any special effect. On a successful aiming task the PC
moving parts. can have a special roleplay event happen. Some-
thing the player describes to add to the story.
Matrix Feat "True Sight"- [Cyberzen]
(Rule breaker) The player can see all the simula- Art- [Focus]
crum as Matrix code from within the Matrix. Crea,ng works of art, drawing and pain,ng, sculp-
tures, airbrushing.
Matrix Feat "Pass through objects"- [Cyberzen]
(Rule breaker) Walk through walls. Pass through Biology- [Focus]
anything that you want too. Knowledge of the science of biology and life forms.
Covers gene,cs to ecosystems.
Matrix Feat "Flight"- [Cyberzen]
(Rule breaker) With the giH a player can fly like su- Chemistry- [Focus]
perman. Knowledge of the science of understanding and
mixing chemicals elements.
Matrix Feat "Invisibility"- [Cyberzen]
(Rule breaker) With the GiH, a character can be- City Speak- [Focus]
come completely translucent, light travels right The knowledge of the tones, inflec,ons, and gen-
through him. eral jargon that will get you around in the city.
Specify the city that you can use City Speak in.
Running- [Endurance]
The knowledge of how to pace oneself and increase Demolions- [Focus]
running endurance. Most Desert clansmen can run Knowledge of how to use demoli,ons, analyze and
for days with li*le to no rest. disarm bombs, set explosives, and make explosives.
Survival- [Endurance] Electronics- [Focus]

Knowledge of how to survive in a harsh environ- Knowledge of how to operate, analyze, repair, and
ment such as the wilderness, jungle, mountains, build electronic devices. This is a general electronics
plains, or desert. repair skill. The character knows how to mess with
do-dads and usually keeps things in general working
Ice Desert Survival- [Endurance/Focus] order.
A general knowledge of surface arc,c survival, for-
aging skills, flora & fauna, dangerous weather con- Encrypon- [Focus]
di,ons, ice climbing, and other cold climate Encode cryptographic informa,on, crack codes.
knowledge. First Aid- [Focus]
Stabilizing wounds, trea,ng minor burns and cuts,
Rock climbing- [Endurance/Strength] CPR.
The knowledge of things like how to belay, climbing
techniques, climbing cracks, lead climbing, placing Forgery- [Focus]
gear, seNng anchors, top rope climbing, climbing Create duplicates of documents, fake IDs, counter-
communica,on, self rescue and other essen,al fei,ng, etc.
skills.

Geology- [Focus] Vehicle Repair (by pilong type)- [Focus]
Science of studying solid earth. Geology gives hu- The character can rebuild an engine, set a hover-
mans insight into what makes up the earth around craH's an,-grav controls. Depending on what it is
them and its origins. and the type of equipment one has, the character
can fix whatever is in front of them.
Gunsmith- [Focus]
A person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds Wring- [Focus]
guns. The ability to write down spoken words in one's
own language, to organize thoughts into wri*en
Hand signals- [Focus] forms like poetry, prose, fic,on, and non-fic,on.
This skill is very specific to small groups. It is used in
clans for communica,ng when the conversa,on is Blacksmith- [Focus/Strength]
supposed to be private. Each group has its own set Metallurgy, mel,ng, and cas,ng new objects from
of hand signals. various metals and scraps.
Hypnoze- [Focus] Boxing- [Strength]

GeNng people into a mental state that makes them Trained fist figh,ng.
more susceptable to sugges,ons.
Brawling- [Strength]
Law- [Focus] Untrained street figh,ng.
Knowledge of the local laws and legal organiza,ons.
Fitness- [Strength]
Leadership- [Focus] Ability to work out and keep physically ac,ve to im-
Ability to gain the respect of a group of people and prove health.
make them suscep,ble to influence.
Parkor- [Strength]
Locksmithing- [Focus] A physical discipline which focuses on efficient
Understand locking mechanisms, ability to unlock movement around obstacles.
doors, safes, combina,on, key, and electronic pads.
Swimming- [Strength]
Medical Knowledge- [Focus] Studying the mechanics of swimming for extra
Knowledge of how to s,tch people up. An under- speed, and strength. The knowledge of different
standing of first aid, ba*le field style surgery, prop- swim strokes like freestyle, backstroke, breast-
er steriliza,on techniques, etc. At the teacher Level, stroke, and bu*erfly.
the character can perform surgery on people.
Navigate- [Focus] Matrix Skills
Ability to use naviga,on equipment to plot and hold Skills associated with the Matrix. Some of these
a course. skills are only usable within the Matrix.
System Operaons- [Focus] Downloaded Skills [Varies]- Any skill the

The physical and theore,cal knowledge of the Ma- character has downloaded into memory. These
chines, sen,nels, and frames. The understanding of skills are limited by Neural Kine,cs. Even though the
how they ,ck, what they do, etc. skills have been downloaded, they s,ll have a skill
level. Downloaded skills are either temporary or

permanent, depending on the character’s Neural hardlines are secure connec,ons that the operator
Kine,cs ra,ng. uses to broadcast RSIs in and out of the Matrix. An
Binary Programming [Focus]- This is used to Operator can check if her hardlines have been cut.
understand the Machines’ language. Some of it is An Operator has a limited number of spaces for that
used in MATRIX programming, but not much. This par,cular broadcast. He can have all his hardlines
enables characters to create A.I. programs or give secure or, if they have been cut or damaged for
sen,nels new orders (if the sen,nel will sit s,ll long some reason, he can secure another un,l his maxi-
enough). This is also how the A.I. get be*er-looking mum amount of secure hardlines have been filled.
equipment while in the Matrix. Equipment created [Example: An Operator makes a task roll to see how
in the Matrix binary system programming is like god many hardlines he can secure for the connec,on,
crea,ng something, it is perfect. let’s say it is 5. These are 5 secure loca,ons that he
can use to bring RSI in and out of the Matrix. If a
Operator Skills hardline is cut, he can secure another so that he is
Skills used by an Operator to get things done. They back to the 5 hardlines he is allowed to maintain.] It
are an important part of the crew. Their skill set is is suicide to use a non-secure hardline; an unse-
very specific. cured hardline could have Agents at the other end
of the line.
MATRIX Programming [Focus]- Being able to Operators also need to be aware of their
read the Matrix code. Use MATRIX programming to hardline’s bandwidth. It is more difficult for an Op-
create simulacra equipment for the Matrix, etc. erator to secure hardlines with large bandwidths.
When a party or person is in the loading area be- The more network traffic the higher the bandwidth.
fore they broadcast, they have all the equipment High bandwidth hardlines increase the Operator’s
that they can take. difficulty level for securing that hardline. So if a
crew is trying to broadcast a Navy ship it would be
Matrix Power Plant Hardware [Focus]- Un- next to impossible because the bandwidth for that
derstanding the actual hardware and tech that would be ridiculous. It would be be*er to build a
makes up any construct based technology. Navy Ship in the Matrix and use that one.
The Operator makes the task roll to assist
Matrix Programming Hacks [Focus]- Hacks the RSIs in the Matrix. The Operator can add dice to
that help RSIs get things done in the Matrix. RSIs the RSI’s dice pool. This helps represent the ad-
need an Operator, who is like a copilot, and their vance knowledge that the Operator is sharing with
copilot needs to know some Hacks to help them get the players. The Operator also helps with lots of
around in the system. Hacks help the Operator roleplay knowledge. The Operator can see what the
watch a character’s back. Matrix Programming characters can’t. For example an Operator can see
Hacks help an Operator know enough programming through walls. For every success on the Operator’s
to see the construct for what it is. Operators have a task roll, the RSI gets addi,onal dice added to their
be*er view of what is happening inside the Matrix dice pool. This affect lasts as long as the Operator’s
than the players do. informa,on is s,ll helpful. That is leH up to the
The moment before an Operator can jack GM’s discre,on.
people into the Matrix, he must make a task roll to
see how many hardlines he can secure for his team
to go into the Matrix. If the Operator makes the
task threshold they get one secure hardline. For
every success rolled above the Task Threshold they
secure an addi,onal hardline for the group. These

damage, much like the sen,nels they were devel-
Equipment oped from. But unfortunately for the human race,
Real World Equipment and hardware are listed in
there are not many of these suits. The raw materi-
this sec,on. This is not a complete list, but I have
als have to be taken from parts of sen,nels and
outlined enough items to get most people started.
frames, and of course, the Machines are not about
Equipment is gear most people can carry or travel
to hand over their factories and frames to the hu-
with. Hardware includes cyberware and larger piec-
mans. APUs are powered by fusion power cells.
es of equipment that are not normally carried by
one person. Simulacra equipment includes items
Thermal Wear – Non-standard thermal cloth-
made to work in the Matrix. They are constructed in
ing best used under the Earth's surface. Light Ther-
the Matrix and only work in the Matrix.
mal Wear isn’t sufficient for being above ground at
night. If a person plans to spend any ,me on the
Real World Equipment List
surface they be*er have a heavier Thermal Wear.
Equipment is gear that characters can acquire out-
Thermal wear is rated as light, medium, or heavy
side the Matrix. All gear outside the Matrix has val-
duty.
ue based on how uncommon, or how difficult it is to
find. Humans will trade for food, clothing, shelter,
Dig Dug- Most nomads carry this u,litarian
transport, weapons, services, or entertainment.
piece of equipment. The dig dug looks like a metal
Currency doesn’t work in this post apocalyp,c
trash lid with claws folded underneath. When
world.
placed on the ground with the claw side down, it
will dig to a specific depth, making a three- to five-
Desert Suits- Woven suits that are worn in
foot wide tunnel. Usually, Nomads will put their
the ice desert on the surface world. The suits are
tents into these burrowed holes to sleep hidden
built with environmental controls that keep the
and warm.
body warm. The en,re suit is powered on body
movement with no electronic parts in it at all. The
Canteen- A canteen not only holds water, but
suit recycles bodyheat, saving it and distribu,ng
can test for the purity of the water and sterilize the
that heat to where it is needed. The suit filters the
water if need be. Canteens can also melt small
air for breathing, and it can completely recycle
amounts of ice so that a traveler can make water to
breathable air for up to twelve hours at a ,me. The
drink.
suits are completely submersible in water, but they
are less efficient and not at all buoyant. These suits
Desert Tents- These are a nomadic inven,on.
were developed by the first Nomads who went out
There are two types of desert tents. The smaller
into the desert. Different tribes of Nomads have
tents are made to fit into holes that are burrowed
different (some,mes extremely different) styles of
by a dig dug. The large versions are set up on the
suits, but essen,ally, they all work the same. The
surface and allowed to be buried by blowing snow
suits are lightweight and easy to move around in.
and ice. These can act as more permanent struc-
tures that people can live in, and there is natural
Ba6le Suits (APU) - Mechanized suits worn
camouflage from the snow, turning the tent into
by any Zion soldier figh,ng a sen,nel. The first
what would look like a mound of snow. These tents
APUs were developed from an actual sen,nel
come in different sizes, i.e. one man, two man, etc.
frame. APUs can use the Machines’ parts in their
Nomad Sck- These are handy tools in a scepter
construc,on. APUs are essen,al to combat the Ma-
-sized case. They have lights, fire starters, cu*ers
chines out of the Matrix. The suits have augmented
for metal, compass, etc. Nomad S,cks can include
strength, and they are also extremely resistant to
any number of gadgets, weapons, whatever. These

instruments were developed by the original Nomad job unless otherwise men,oned by the GM. These
communi,es—there was a need to make a device tools come in two sizes. Either their tools are porta-
that would be both func,onal and easy to carry. ble and affordable, or their tools are large and ex-
Not all Nomads have these s,cks, but the desert pensive. When choosing these tools the player
Nomads prefer them. must decide how much space their tools take.
Climbing Gear- Shoes, harnesses, ropes, be- Real World Hardware List
lay devices, and various other climbing odds and Neural Interface– A cyberne,c plug surgical-
ends. Climbing gear is specialized for the terrain it is ly implanted into the user’s head. This plug allows
used in. For example, ice climbers might use cram- the human to enter the Matrix, conver,ng him into
pons. a digital signal that is a Residual Self Image (RSI) of
the person.
Land Mine- Explosive device concealed un-
der or on the ground. Skill Chips- RSIs download their skills from
skill chips. Chips are programmed at different skill
Plasc Explosive- Hand-moldable explosive levels. There is only one ra,ng for the skill con-
material best used for demoli,ons. Plas,c explo- tained on the chip. A character cannot have more
sives high-velocity blast is good for demolishing ob- than one copy of the same skill loaded in their neu-
stacles. ral hardware. A character can have one skill, and
only one skill. If they download a cooking skill at
Trinitrotoluene (TNT)- Easy to manufacture novice level, to increase the level of that download-
explosives, made from materials in the Real World. ed skill, the original level must be erased. The best
Fuses and igni,on devices for TNT vary. skill chips out there, generally, are the military
grade skill chips.
Raon Packs- Ra,ons consist of “amino-
mush”— a person must have at least an ounce a Cyber Limbs- Any human limb can be re-
day of this synthe,c food to survive. placed with a cyberne,c prosthe,c limb.
Infrared (IR) Goggles- Used by humans to Skill Chip Processor- One of the main pieces
see heat signatures easily on the cold surface. in any Operator’s broadcast equipment. This is
what allows the chips to be read and downloaded
Dark Parcle Goggles- Used in complete into the RSIs. It can also be used to write new skill
darkness. The goggles make everything appear as chips and copy skill chips. To make skill chips, one
though it were a photographic nega,ve. Shadows needs to have at least a 3-Skilled Level of Matrix
are bright. Light and colors are dark. No colors can Programming. The skill chip processor will encode
be seen with the goggles, it’s all monochrome. the chips with the desired skills. New skills take two
days per level of skill chip created. To raise, lower,
First Aid Gear- An,sep,cs, bandages, and or copy a skill takes one day per level, plus another
medicine. day for the difference between the old and new
skills. Copying skills takes one day per level of the
Punksmith tools- A punksmith is the post skill.
apocalyp,c mechanic. They need lots of tools to Operator’s Broadcast Control Deck- Has a
maintain and create new machines. Punksmith mul,tude of screens and chairs. The chairs are used
tools are too numerous to men,on. The GM as- for RSIs to plug their cyberne,c implants into the
sumes a punksmith has the tools they need for a mainframe. The video screens display Matrix code

for the Operator to interpret. The Broadcast deck is lack of resources, among other reasons. As a result,
used to digi,ze the RSI’s signal and connect her to many weapons and ammo are custom built.
the Matrix. The broadcast deck creates an interac-
,ve simula,on, called the loading program, where Weapons in the Matrix RPG have character-
scenarios can be loaded to train people for situa- is,cs that are important: skill type (type), rate of
,ons they would encounter in the Matrix. In the fire (rate), ammunion (ammo), effecve firing
ship’s Matrix construct, the Operator can give RSI range (range), and damage.
Hackers simulacra Matrix equipment like weapons,
fake IDs, clothing, and vehicles before they enter Skill type (or simply “type”)- determines
the Matrix. Examples of scenarios that a ship’s crew the skill a character needs to have in order to use
would use in the loading program are the Agent that weapon. Common skills used for combat and
training program, the jump program, or the spar- weapons are things like gun figh,ng, sci fi weapons,
ring dojo. Loading program scenarios are ways for knife figh,ng, mar,al arts, sword figh,ng, archery,
RSI’s to prac,ce their skills and feats safely. In a throwing weapons, or other GM approved skills.
loading program, which acts just like the Matrix, the
Operator is the administrator of the loading pro- Rate of fire (or simply “rate”)- If weapons
gram. The Operator can change anything in the have mul,ple rates of fire, the user can switch to
loading program, unlike the Matrix where an Oper- whichever rate of fire he wishes to use that combat
ator has read only access. Delivering equipment in- turn. Here are the different rates a weapon could
to the Matrix requires a hardline, as discussed in have: fully automac fire, semi automac fire, sus-
[Matrix RPG].[Path].[Matrix Operator] sec,on. tained fire, and single shot. Rate of fire is purely a
roleplay characteris,c. Rate of fire should not affect
Wifi Decoy- These are large spheres that how much damage the weapon does in a combat
can be dropped in the vicinity of the broadcas,ng turn. Rate of fire can change the details a character
hovercraH. If an Agent were to trace the carrier sig- could use in their descrip,on phase of combat. Fully
nal for an RSI, the trace would lead to one of these automa,c weapons will con,nue to fire as long as
decoys first. Wifi decoys add to the amount of ,me the trigger is held down. Semi automa,c weapons
it takes a trace program to find the crew’s loca,on fire one to three shots at a ,me, but they can con-
and thus give the crew more ,me to run away. This ,nue to fire every ,me the trigger is pulled. Single
device makes it harder for the crew’s loca,on to be shot weapons only have one shot before they need
traced accurately, because the Machines have to to be reloaded. Sustained fire means the weapon
destroy the decoy and restart the trace. only fires while the trigger is depressed and con,n-
ues to fire un,l the trigger is released.
Weapons
Anything can be a weapon if used properly. Here I Ammunion (or simply “ammo”)- Ammo
have a*empted to list at least one type of each comes in different forms like belt fed, box, maga-
weapon type that is available in or out of the Ma- zine, normal (which is a standard, no frills, non ex-
trix. plosive round), explosive rounds, fleche*e (which
spray small metal shot for more damage to the tar-
How Weapons work get), non-lethal (sandbags), fuel cells, or armor
In the real world there aren’t many manufacturers. piercing. Ammuni,on is another characteris,c that
Factories don’t exist like they did in the 20th Centu- is purely for roleplay, and can be added to a de-
ry. People with the skills to make weapons and scrip,on as an addi,onal detail. Ammo should only
items aren’t able to mass-produce items because of affect the combat during an automa,c failure or

Weapon Ranges
Handgun Easy (0-15 H) Average (16-45 H) Hard (46-90 H) extreme (91-180 H)
SMG Easy (0-30 H) Average (31-120 H) Hard (120-240 H) extreme (241-450 H)
Assault Rifle Easy (0-150 H) Average (151-450 H) Hard (451-1,050 H) extreme (1,051-1,650 H)
Shotgun Easy (0-30 H) Average (31-75 H) Hard (76-120 H), extreme (121-180 H)
Machine Gun Easy (0-240 H) Average (241-600 H) Hard (601-1,200 H) extreme (1,201-2,400 H)
Rifle Easy (0-300 H) Average (301-750 H) Hard (751-1,500 H) extreme (1,501-2,250 H)
Crossbow Easy (0-30 H) Average (31-120 H) Hard (121-270 H) extreme (271-450 H)
Thrown Weapons (Objects)
Easy (Strength in feet), Average (Str x 3 H), Hard (Str x 5 H), extreme (Str x 10 H)
impressive success. At that point, for example, the Archer’s bow and arrow. Arrows made of wood are
GM could say the ammo helped increase the dam- uncommon. Most arrows are metal and ,pped with
age or, for automa,c failure, the ammo is jammed a special arrowhead. Usually archers use explosive
and the weapon won’t fire. arrows, but the choices vary.
Effecve Range (or simply “range”)- Range Crossbow

can affect the accuracy and/or damage of a weap- [Type (Archery), Rate (Agility/2), Damage (2)]
on. Most weapons have four categories of range A smaller bow mounted on a trigger stock that
(easy, average, hard, and extreme range). Easy shoots bolts. Most crossbows have a mechanism
range has no modifiers to combat. For each range that draws the bow automa,cally for the shooter.
category above easy, the range begins to nega,vely
modify the task threshold. For each range category Chain Knife
above easy, subtract 1 die from the player’s dice [Type (Knife), Rate (Full Round), Damage (1)]
pool. The blade is made up of ,ny blades that move on a
chain the length of the blade. Cuts through solid
Weapon Damage is listed in wound levels objects easier than a normal survival knife would.
for weapons ([The Matrix RPG].[Game Con- Chain technology is used on anything with a bladed
cepts].Health). This is the average combat damage surface to set a path for the chain of blades.
for a weapon of that type.
Survival Knife
Real World Weapon List [Type (Knife), Rate (Full Round), Damage (1)]
A knife with compass and very light survival equip-
Gun scopes ment, matches, nylon chord, etc.
[Type (Accessory), Rate (-), Damage (-)]
A gun scope is a lense that is a*ached to the barrel Chain Axe
of the gun. Scopes are designed for a specific weap- [Type (Polearm), Rate (Full Round), Damage (2)]
on. Fizbang scopes don't fit on a Popper handgun. The chain axe does an addi,onal damage level with
This a*achement reduces the range of the shot. each consecu,ve hit on their target. If the a*acker
Scopes reduce the effec,ve range up to their ra,ng. fails an a*ack, the axe's damage starts over.
For example, a gun scope (-1 range), or gun scope (-
2 range). Acid Gun
[Type (Sci Fi), Rate (Single Shot), Damage (3)]
Bow A gun fabricated of polymers that shoots an acid up
[Type (Archery), Rate (Agility/2), Damage (2)] to twenty feet. The acid will eat any metal that it

comes in contact with. Imagine a fast ac,ng corro- shoots out at the target like a lightning bolt from
sive that will eat through metal in seconds. It only the sky. The plasma gun can overload the circuits of
affects metal. sen,nels, but it takes at least 1 round of combat
before the frames take damage.
EMP Cannon
[Type (Sci Fi), Rate (Single Shot), Damage (5)] Chain Sword
A cannon connected to a ba*ery. The EMP Cannon [Type (Sword), Rate (Full Round), Damage (2)]
carries five charges. It's heavy and takes ten hours The chain sword will do an addi,onal damage level
to charge from empty. It fires an EMP charge in a with each consecu,ve hit on the target. If the
direc,on like a shot gun. Its effec,ve range varies, a*acker fails an a*ack, the sword's damage starts
spreading in width one meter every three meters of over.
distance. Any Machines in the line of fire will suffer
damage. Cu6er Sword
[Type (Sword), Rate (Full Round), Damage (3)]
Laser Rifles Swords that are coated with special polymer, mak-
[Type (Sci Fi), Rate (Single Shot), Damage (2)] ing the swords a hundred ,mes sharper. Someone
Rifles that shoot laser beams and are able to put wielding one of these can cleave through a sen,-
holes in people and objects. These lasers run on nel's frame with the right type of swing. The Cu*er
small fuel cells that need an hour to fully recharge. Sword is fueled by the holder's bodyheat and the
The rifle has a 100 shots capacity, with a gauge that Machine's fusion technology.
shows the shooter how many shots are leH in the
rifle. Laser rifles make a no,ceable noise when they EMP Grenades
are fired. The laser sounds like someone pounding [Type (Throwing), Rate (Agility/2), Damage (5)]
on sheet metal with a metal mallet. Hand grenades that release an EMP burst in a 9-
meter radius. EMP only damages electronics and
Net Gun Machines.
[Type (Sci Fi), Rate (Single Shot), Damage (-)]
Steel mesh nets used to ensnare people, propelled Throwing Knives
from a gun. It can load 13 nets at a ,me. The nets [Type (Throwing), Rate (Agility/2), Damage (1)]
are in small 1-inch thick shells that are loaded into a Small, perfectly balanced knives used for throwing.
shotgun style weapon.
Handgun "Fizbang"
Plasma Cannon [Type (Gun), Rate (Single Shot), Damage (1)]
[Type (Sci Fi), Rate (Sustained), Damage (4)] A portable, single shot handgun. Usually carried in
A vehicle sized version of the Plasma Gun. someone's boot to surprise a would-be a*acker.
Plasma gun Handgun "Gorilla Gun"

[Type (Sci Fi), Rate (Sustained), Damage (4)] [Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto), Damage (2)]
A handheld personal firearm. Electricity is projected A Gorilla Gun is a semi automa,c handgun. The Go-
from this weapon. It has a sustained fire once the rilla Gun usually holds 10-15 bullets in a clip.
trigger is pulled and it connects to the target. Don't
let go of the trigger un,l the target is smoking. The Handgun "Popper"
stream of electricity will keep in contact with the [Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto/Full Auto),
object un,l something crosses the stream of elec- Damage (3)]
tricity or the trigger is released. This electricity

A fully automa,c handgun. As long as the trigger is guns out there, the Kommando has proven itself as
being pulled, the gun will con,nue to fire bullets the SMG of choice for travellers.
un,l the ammo is depleted.
Submachine gun "Uzi"
Handgun "Mini Grinder" [Type (Gun), Rate (Full Auto), Damage (3)]
[Type (Gun), Rate (Full Auto), Damage (4)] An SMG that can fire on full automa,c. The range is
This handgun has a rota,ng barrel and fires all of its shorter than other fully automa,c weapons, but in
bullets at once and con,nuously. At a minimum, a ,ght space range, this doesn't ma*er. Lonely
Mini Grinder handguns fire three bullets at once. travellers can find themselves in a lot of ,ght spac-
Some of these handguns can fire up to ten shots at es.
once. This is a bulky handgun design.
Machine guns "Skoda"
Rifle "Copperfield" [Type (Gun), Rate (Full Auto), Damage (4)]
[Type (Gun), Rate (Single Shot), Damage (3)] A large machine gun that needs a tripod or harness
A single shot, long range rifle. Punksmiths pride to fire it. The weapons is long and has lots of recoil.
themselves on making excellent Copperfields that
shoot straight as a line from a thousand feet away. Machine guns "Mauser Mini gun"
[Type (Gun), Rate (Full Auto), Damage (5)]
Rifle "Dragon Shroud II" A machine gun with a rota,ng barrel. Unlike the
[Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto), Damage (4)] Mini Grinder, this weapon fires one bullet at a ,me,
A semi automa,c Rifle that can hold up to ten bul- instead of firing all the bullets in the barrel simulta-
lets in a clip/magazine. neously.
Shotgun "Peabody" Assault rifles "AR-G3"

[Type (Gun), Rate (Single Shot), Damage (3)] [Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto/Full Auto),
A single shot shotgun. It takes one shot then it Damage (2)]
needs to be reloaded. Typically these are break ac- AR-G3 assault rifles are a carbine style. The shorter
,on shotguns. barrel and adjustable rate of fire make this a uni-
versal weapon for soldiers. The single shot ability
Shotgun "Xtrema" allows this weapon to be aimed like a hun,ng rifle,
[Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto), Damage (3)] but in a pinch, the gun can rain bullets con,nuous-
A semi automa,c shotgun. It makes a lot of noise, ly. This rifle can hold twenty rounds in a single clip.
but the take-down power is worth it when travel-
ling alone. Assault rifles "Chow Chat"
[Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto), Damage (3)]
Shotgun "Jackhammer" Chow Chat assault rifles are in most Zion hovercraH
[Type (Gun), Rate (Full Auto), Damage (3)] as the assault weapon of choice.
A fully automa,c shotgun. A Jackhammer has a
drum fed magazine that lets it hold up to twenty Assault rifles "HK"
bullets. [Type (Gun), Rate (Full Auto), Damage (4)]
HK is the king of assualt rifles. Anyone using this
Submachine gun "Kommando" weapon is someone ready for a fight. This rifle puts
[Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto), Damage (2)] a hole in most anything it comes across. This is an
Kommando SMG travels well and it's easy to hide easy weapon to modify with accessories like a
under heavy clothes. Even though there are be*er scope, custom grips, adjustable stock, etc.

Vehicle Characteristics
Vehicles Vehicle Characteriscs are purely roleplay de-
There are addi,onal rules for vehicles, listed here.
tails. Characteris,cs are not a*ributes for the vehi-
There are many places for crea,ve characters to
cle, these are details that are important for some
add things that are missing from this sourcebook.
vehicles and irrelevant for others. Because these
Vehicle chases are success rolls between the vehi-
are only roleplay details, they do not have a ra,ng
cles in the chase. The character with the most suc-
per se, but they do affect ac,ons in the game. For
cesses controls the posi,on and outcome of the
example, being able to detect things with your vehi-
chase that combat round. Vehicle chases happen in
cle’s sensors is important, but that ability doesn’t
combat rounds to be*er control the ac,on.
have a ra,ng. Without a ra,ng, characters should
roleplay these situa,ons and make it more inter-
Vehicle Attributes
es,ng. For example, when the hovercraH detects
HovercraHs are not the only vehicles in the Matrix
Sen,nels using the Magne,c Anomaly, it can do so
RPG, but hovercraH technology is the standard for
from a safe, long range. In comparison, detec,on
Real World human vehicle design. A.I. frames, like
using the vehicle’s proximity sensors will detect the
Sen,nels, have many of the same characteris,cs as
sen,nels about the same ,me that the sen,nels
vehicles. Sen,nels have all the vehicle a*ributes,
will detect the vehicle. No ra,ngs are used for vehi-
but they don’t have all the vehicle characteris,cs.
cle characteris,cs, just roleplay opportuni,es.
Vehicle A*ributes are all integral to a vehicle’s func-
,ons.
Sensors–This is the vehicle’s ability to detect
other vehicles electronically. This is roleplay be-
Speed- This is how fast the ship can travel
cause there are too many variables to compare.
when pushed to its limits. The vehicle speed ra,ng
adds its dice to the player’s dice pool when rolling
Sensor Countermeasures- Ability to counter ve-
to pilot the vehicle.
hicle’s standard sensors. Countermeasures are an-
other roleplay item that ,es closely with Sensors.
Agility- This is how difficult it is to operate
Contermeasures work against specific types of
the craH at speed and over difficult terrain. Can this
a*acks or camouflage. (To say your vehicle has ALL
piece of $#!t squeeze through an abandoned build-
the countermeasures available is silly. Come up
ing without losing its engine? Agility ra,ng reduces
with a plausible countermeasure idea then get it
the task threshold for pilo,ng test.
approved by your GM. If you have a cool idea to
camouflage your ship, then roleplay it.)
Fuel (remaining/maximum)- Fuel is a ra,ng
comprised of two numbers. The first number is the
Security Systems- Roleplay this and think of
amount of fuel cells remaining for the ship to use as
what kind of security the vehicle would have, if any.
power. The second number is the maximum num-
Are the vehicle’s access points locked with a re,na
ber of fuel cells the ship is designed to hold. With a
scan or a passcode entered into a keypad? Can the
good Punksmith on your crew, more fuel cells can
pilot talk to the ship because she has made the con-
be added to the vehicle. One day is the average life
trols voice-ac,vated?
for a fuel cell, and they can be charged. A single fuel
cell takes one hour to fully charge. All vehicles are
Hull Integrity- This is the strength of the craH's
listed with their maximum fuel cell ra,ng.
body, armor and all. This is important for things like
ramming another vehicle.

Space- Cargo and infrastructure are purely for should cause the air to move and that air-flow is
roleplay. GMs should play this up and give it some detectable.
life. Examples are bucket seat, wall bench seat, two
weapons, or one bigger weapon, etc. This is where Decibel (sound level) Sensor- Detects sound in
characters will be doing a lot of their living and so- the atmosphere.
cializing. Vehicles are like the mobile homes of the
post-apocalyp,c era. Seismic Sensor- Detects mo,on on the ground.
For example, if someone is walking on the ground,
Enhancements- What types of weapons and that would be detected by a seismic sensor.
equipment does the vehicle have on it? Think about
weapons, equipment, and communica,on (comm) Moon Sensor- Detects mo,on of objects in
systems. Some Punksmith ships have Collector Ar- front of the sensor. Light is not necessary, some of
rays for collec,ng raw materials like recyclers, these sensors can work in complete darkness.
claws, magnets, siHers, metal crushers, metal
shredders, untanglers, and wire spoolers, etc. Use Proximity Sensor- Detects a nearby object and
this to describe the vehicle in detail. Even Wireless measures the object’s proximity without touching
broadcast equipment would be noted here. Broad- it.
cast equipment can be internally fi*ed, or it can be
mounted externally. Ultrasonic Sensor- Provides a picture of the ob-
jects in front of the sensor by using ultrasonic
Vehicle Skill Type- Ground craH (Wheeled or sound. The sound waves bounce back to the sensor,
Tracked vehicles), AircraH (hovercraH, winged which then uses the sound waves like a bat would
planes), Remote craH (drones), A.I. Frame to create an image of those objects.
(Sen,nels)
Wireless Sensors- Used to detect wireless sig-
nals and networks.
Sensors
Heat (IR signature) - This would be a great thing
Video Sensor- Displays what a character would
to use on the surface.
see with human eyes.
Chemical Detector - Sen,nels can test the air
quality of an area to see if human life is sustainable Real World Vehicle List
there. HovercraHs are the most common form of trans-
porta,on, because of the terrain one encounters
Magnec Anomaly Detector - Great for finding when travelling in the real world. HovercraHs use
sen,nels and frames. Shows their loca,on even an,-gravity engines, which allow them to be sus-
through the ground or underwater. This will only pended in the air. Propulsion is provided by those
work if there isn’t magne,c or radioac,ve material same an,-gravity engines.
in the rock to interfere with the signal.
Speeder Hovercra
Metal Detector- Gives posi,ve signal when the [Speed (4), Agility (2), Fuel (3), Skill (AircraH)]
sensor detects metal of a certain type. A single-person hovercraH designed for speed and
agility. Speeders usually look like the motorcycles
Air Flow Sensor- Underground air moves like and choppers of the 20th century, but without any
water. If there is something moving underground, it

wheels. These hovercraH are some,mes modified Clothes
to hold a passenger, but don’t count on it. All black. Leather where possible. Some suits have
,es that match the crew member’s rank.
Zion Military Hovercra
[Speed (3), Agility (2), Fuel (14), Skill (AircraH)] Phone
Typically carries up to 15 people. It has a mess hall, With or without blue tooth ear bud.
Operator's broadcast sta,on, sleep chambers, and
infirmary for two (comfortably). Fake IDs
They look real. Depending on the prepara,on and
Nomad Hovercra work, they might stand up to a check by the police
[Speed (3), Agility (3), Fuel (7), Skill (AircraH)] or authori,es.
HovercraHs most commonly used by Nomads to
transport their immediate family of clansmen. Car- Sunglasses
ries six passengers comfortably. This hovercraH has An RSI must-have. All Zion RSI Hackers where sun-
sleeping quarters, bathroom, and mess hall. Not glasses as part of their Matrix uniforms.
very roomy, but it has all the ameni,es that travel-
ers need.
Simulacra Weapons
Torpedo Hovercra Desert Eagle .50 cal
[Speed (5), Agility (1), Fuel (1), Skill (AircraH)] [Damage (3), Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto),
Small, slim, and fast. This is a rocket-shaped ship Ammo (magazine #7)]
that seats only one person. Designed only for A large-caliber, semi automa,c handgun.
speed, these hovercraHs are dangerous to pilot.
Berreta 92fs 9mm
Squidi [Damage (2), Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto),
[Speed (3), Agility (4), Fuel (2), Ammo (magazine #10)]
Skill (Frame (Sen,nel))] A medium-caliber, semi automa,c handgun.
Squidies use an, gravity technology to move
around. They also have decibel and seismic sensors Revolver "Smith & Wesson" .38 Special
to help them be*er detect humans. [Damage (2), Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto),
Ammo (revolver #6)]
A medium-caliber, revolver-style semi automa,c
handgun.
Simulacra Equipment
Compila,on of basic simulacra, Matrix- Submachine gun "H&K MP5"
programmed objects, equipment used in the Ma- [Damage (3), Type (Gun),
trix. Rate (Semi Auto/Full Auto), Ammo (magazine #20)]
A medium-caliber submachine gun. OHen, this gun
Simulacra Equipment has a flash suppressor, foldable stock, removable
All simulacra equipment is from the 90’s. All tech- gun scope, and underbarrel halogen light.
nology is set to circa 1999.
Assault Rifle "M-16"
Cash & Credit Cards [Damage (3), Type (Gun),
Money, proper currency for the Matrix seNng the Rate (Semi Auto/Full Auto), Ammo (magazine #20)]
RSI Hacker is entering.

An assault rifle originally designed for jungle war-
fare. It can be modified to have a laser sight or a Browning Hunng Rifle
night vision scope. Some models have a shortened [Damage (3), Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto),
carbine barrel. Ammo (magazine #5)]
A spor,ng rifle designed for hun,ng game or sport
Shotgun "Mossberg" shoo,ng. These rifles are very accurate and damag-
[Damage (3), Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto), ing.
Ammo (magazine #5)]
A typical pump ac,on shotgun. Tanto survival knife
[Damage (1), Type (Gun), Rate (Full Round)]
Glock .45 cal The angular-shaped blade of the Tanto gives it extra
[Damage (3), Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto), strength. So strong it could cut through thin metal.
Ammo (magazine #10)]
A medium-caliber handgun with a polymer frame. Throwing Knives
[Damage (1), Type (Gun), Rate (Agility/2)]
Hand Grenade Well balanced blades designed for being thrown at
[Damage (4), Type (Gun), Rate (Agility/2)] targets.
High explosive that can be thrown like a baseball
and goes off aHer a set amount of ,me determined Ruger Revolver .22 cal
before it is ac,vated. [Damage (1), Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto),
Ammo (revolver #9)]
Rocket Propelled Grenade .22-caliber weapons are small and easy to hide in
[Damage (4), Type (Gun), Rate (Single Shot)] your clothes. They don't have much stopping pow-
A shoulder-mounted an,-tank weapon. It fires an er, but they will s,ll damage the target.
explosive warhead with fins for stabiliza,on. Some
RPGs aim by a laser guided system. Katana
M72 LAW Rocket Japanese swords that were tradi,onaly worn by
[Damage (5), Type (Gun), Rate (Single Shot)] samurai warriors. A moderately curved blade of
The M72 LAW (Light An,-Armor Weapon) fires an about 23 inches and a long, two-handed grip.
unguided 66-mm round. These are highly portable
an,-armor weapons. Rapier
APS Machine Pistol A slender, sharply pointed sword. Designed for
[Damage (3), Type (Gun), Rate (Semi Auto/Full Au- thrus,ng a*acks.
to),
Ammo (magazine #20)] Simulacra Vehicles
Handguns with extended clips and fully automa,c Duca Motorcycle
fire. [Vehicle Type (Ground cra%), Speed (4), Agility (4)]
A race motorcycle that seats one person.
7 mm Remington Sniper Rifle
[Damage (4), Type (Gun), Rate (Single Shot)] Harley Davidson Hog
A precision rifle that is accurate at longer ranges [Vehicle Type (Ground cra%), Speed (3), Agility (3)]
than a spor,ng rifle. This rifle commonly has a tri- A heavyweight motorcycle made for long highway
pod and gun scopes added. rides. The muffler systems of these motorcycles

make them sound like someone repeatedly saying Jeep SUV
"potato". [Vehicle Type (Ground cra%), Speed (3), Agility (4)]
A sports u,lity vehicle with 4-wheel-drive and good
Farrari Sports Car maneuverability.
[Vehicle Type (Ground cra%), Speed (5), Agility (3)]
A 12-cylinder Italian sports car that is street legal. Toyota Mini Van
[Vehicle Type (Ground cra%), Speed (2), Agility (2)]
Subaru Sedan Minivans are designed for maximum interior space.
[Vehicle Type (Ground cra%), Speed (3), Agility (3)] A minivan can seat up to 8 people comfortably.
A four-door passenger car that is comfortable to
drive for long trips. Not as maneuverable as a small- U-Move Small Truck (20' trailer)
er vehicle. [Vehicle Type (Ground cra%), Speed (2), Agility (1)]
A small tractor trailer used for light duty hauling.
Ford Compact Car This can be an open or closed trailer depending on
[Vehicle Type (Ground cra%), Speed (2), Agility (2)] what is being hauled.
A mid-sized car that has good gas milage and is
highly maneuverable in the city. Mac Truck (30'trailer)
[Range (), Vehicle Type (Ground cra%), Speed (3),
Mercedes Luxury Sedan Agility (1)]
[Vehicle Type (Ground cra%), Speed (3), Agility (3)] An 18-wheeler used for heavy-duty hauling. Lots of
A luxury four-door passenger car that is comforta- power with poor maneuverability.
ble to drive for long trips. Not as maneuverable a
smaller vehicle.

lines for data. One just needs to jump in and get his
Glossary of Terms hands dirty.
“Simulacra & Simulaons” by Neo- Neo created this Dial In/Out- Used to describe RSIs travelling in and out
book for the resistance. Now it is a bible for any RSI. It of the Matrix.
contains the plain truth of the MATRIX. It also explains
EMP (Electromagnec Pulse)- Radia,on that disrupts
the Machines in a way that the average prisoner can
electrical signals and systems.
understand. The Machines are the government and
there are things in this reality that they do not want you Flub- Slang word for failing a task roll.
to know. The book is downloaded into the MATRIX. The
Machines destroy any copies they find and anyone with Fungus Sludge- Thick drink, dark color. Made from any
a copy of this handbook best beware for her life. fungus. The liquid is high in alcohol content, which
makes it a popular drink.
A.I. (Arficial Intelligence)- This is what computers have
evolved into. A.I. are sen,ent lifeforms. They are aware Hardlines- Lines that are connected to broadcast sta-
of their surroundings. Physically, they appear as glowing ,ons. Broadcast sta,ons connect remote ba*ery cells to
matrices of electricity that can enter into Frames. Pro- other cells in a plant. This is what connects cells in a
gram sizes are no longer relevant to A.I., they have de- plant so that when someone’s RSI crosses boundaries of
veloped past circuit boards. (A.K.A. the Machines.) a Matrix cell, she can travel through the en,re Matrix.
Bluepills- These are RSIs that are not ready to be un- Input/Output Carrier Signals- This is the signal used to
plugged from the Matrix--minds that are too old or im- track someone’s physical posi,on in a crop so that he
mersed in the Matrix and would die if they were ever can be unplugged.
unplugged from their generator pod.
Loading Program- A neural interac,ve simula,on, like
Construct- A neural simula,on plagorm. A program that the Matrix, used by Operators to load RSI's before they
clears the brain of external sense data. This program are downloaded into the Matrix.
also creates a Residual Self Image (RSI) for the person
MATRIX (construct)- A neural, interac,ve simula,on. A
using it. The only sense data that exist in the construct
construct program built by A.I. Programs to simulate
are that data which is inpu*ed there by a program, or
reality for the humans. It is designed to keep humans
created there (usually within parameters set by the con-
asleep, passive, controlled, and imprisoned in their
struct, ie. you turn the light on in a completely dark
minds.
room and there is a chair, table, kitchen, etc).
Online- To be connected to The System, this is done eas-
Crystal Shard- A Matrix power plant, formerly known as
iest through the Matrix.
#BJ04CH, that was successfully a*acked by humans and
converted into the first human city on the surface. Outpost- Most organized communi,es set up Outpost
where they can scan the area for any Machines or un-
Data Mites- RSIs who are in the Matrix looking for data
wanted guests. Outpost are typically ougi*ed with some
for whatever reason. This is the reason for most RSIs to
weapons, transporta,on, communica,on, and observa-
go into the Matrix. In order to study and examine infor-
,on equipment.
ma,on about the Matrix, one needs to be broadcasted
into the Matrix. There isn’t a way to tap the transmission Piss swill- A drink sold mainly in the Outpost ci,es. It is
refined so that the liquid is clear and yellow. It’s a sweet

drink that gives a person all the nutrients found in a The System- There is more to the A.I.'s computer system
meal. than the Matrix. The non-Matrix parts of the computer
world are programmed in a binary machine language.
Plasma- Highly charged par,cles, used mainly in weap- This part of the Machine world is called the System.
ons.
Utopia- A hidden human city that few know the loca,on
Plug- Neural hardware that allows for humans to inter-
of.
act with computer constructs.
Zion- Underground city of human rebels.
Redpills- These are RSIs that are candidates for being
pulled from the Matrix. They may take the symbolic red
pill to start the process of being removed from the Ma-
trix.
RSI (“Ressies”)- A digital projec,on of your body in the

Matrix.
Simulacrum- Matrix objects that are made by program-

ming them in the code of the Matrix. Matrix objects can
be coded by humans or Machines.
The Ice Desert- The climate on the surface of the earth,

very harsh to humans, although some do manage to stay
there and live there. Most of the life on the surface is
made up of the Machines. (A.K.A. the Real World.)

Task Threshold Difficulty = Easy (1), Average (2), Hard (3), Extreme (4)
Target Number on a 10 sided die = (8+)
Task Shortcut = A*ribute + Skill (Threshold Difficulty)
Task Threshold -
Exploding die - a natural 10 rolled on a 10 sided die is an auto successes + another 1d10 to roll
Character Improvement - Experience Cost

Raise A*ribute & Neural Kine,cs = Next level.
Skill cost = 3 points to start
Raise Skill = Next level * 2
CyberZen = Next level * 2
Healing Damage
Light damage = 24 hours to heal
Moderate damage = Average Difficulty
Serious damage = Hard Difficulty
Cri,cal damage = Extreme Difficulty
Incapacitated = Coma/Unconscious
Skills:
0-Interest, 1-Novice, 2-Prac,ced, 3-Skilled, 4-Master, 5-Teacher
Damage Levels:
1-Light, 2-Moderate, 3-Serious, 4-Crical, 5-Incapacitated, Dead
Matrix Layout:
Generator Pod (people) → Transmission Lines (roads, Prime Movers) → Power plant electric grid (ci,es) →
(Switching Sta,ons) → Hardlines (Phones, Antennas, telecommunica,on systems)

The Matrix RPG
Wri*en by
Tre’ Grisby
Edited by
Yvonne Falvey Mihalik &
Naomi Tepper
Matrix Logo illustrated by

Tom Gilbert
Cover and Title Page Art by

Naimane (h*p://naimane.deviantart.com)
Published by 3Waters.org
Email: trewaters@hotmail.com
Date of Publica,on: August 20, 2012

1st Edi,on Printed August 20, 2012
Copyright © 2012
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Player Name: Health Monitor
PC Name: Light (+1 Threshold)
PC call sign: Medium (+2 Threshold)
Serious (+3 Threshold)
Age: Crical (+4 Threshold)
Gender: Incapacitated (+5 Threshold)
Life Path: Dead
Ci,zenship and Rank:
Descrip,on A*ributes Equipment
Common Sense:
Focus:
Agility:
Strength:
Endurance:
Matrix Ego
Cyberzen:
The GiH: Y / N
Cyberne,cs
“Real World” Skills: Downloaded Skills: “Simulacra” Matrix Equipment:


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What is the book about?

What is the book about?

What are some inspirations for the Matrix RPG?

What are some inspirations for the Matrix RPG?

The

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

Introduction to the Matrix (Section 0001)

There is a ques,on that always bubbles up… “What is real?”

Rescue is on the horizon!

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

Light damage - [+1 Threshold to all tasks] Skills

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

Acng- [Common Sense] History of Zion- [Common Sense]

Animal Training/Handling- [Common Sense] Interrogate- [Common Sense]

Bartering- [Common Sense] Nomad Clan Customs- [Common Sense]

Conceal- [Common Sense] Photography- [Common Sense]

Disguises- [Common Sense] Remote Pilong- [Common Sense]

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

Stalk- [Common Sense] Matrix Feat "Disguise"- [Cyberzen]

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

Survival- [Endurance] Electronics- [Focus]

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

Hypnoze- [Focus] Boxing- [Strength]

System Operaons- [Focus] Downloaded Skills [Varies]- Any skill the

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

Eﬀecve Range (or simply “range”)- Range Crossbow

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

Plasma gun Handgun "Gorilla Gun"

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

Shotgun "Peabody" Assault riﬂes "AR-G3"

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

The Unofficial Matrix RPG

Acng- [Common Sense] History of Zion- [Common Sense]

Disguises- [Common Sense] Remote Pilong- [Common Sense]

Hypnoze- [Focus] Boxing- [Strength]

System Operaons- [Focus] Downloaded Skills [Varies]- Any skill the

Eﬀecve Range (or simply “range”)- Range Crossbow