THE MATRIX: FOR YOU AND AGAINST YOU
It’s important to remember that the Matrix exists to be used. That means that for the most part, the look and feel of various hosts is geared toward being approachable, not putting up obstacles that might prevent people from doing their work or conducting their business. It is a safe environment, with security built into its operating systems and protocols. Ever since the recent change in Matrix protocols, the structure is monitored by the Grid Overwatch Division of the Corporate Court, which acts as a sort of Matrix police force devoted to protecting users (including innocent children, natch) from online predators, piracy, and fraud.
That’s the corp brochure version of the Matrix, anyway. The real motives behind the Matrix, particularly its current structure, are profit and control. The megacorporations and the Grid Overwatch Division have been working on “The Matrix Problem” for decades, searching for a holy grail of Matrix design that will let them maximize their profits while minimizing their risks, and they may have finally found something close. The system is set up so that the corps always has the advantage, hackers always are at a disadvantage, and everybody else is stuck somewhere between.
One of the keys to the new system is the network of overlapping grids, which needs to be understood if you plan on doing any serious Matrix work.
LOOKING DOWN: GRID OvERWATCH DIVISION
The Grid Overwatch Division, or GOD for short, is responsible for securing the Matrix from hackers and other unwanted intruders, especially the parts connecting the various hosts and users (security with hosts falls more on the heads of the host owners). Each grid has its own sub-division (even the public grid), with its own financing and operatives. A sub-division (referred to as a demiGOD) watches its entire grid, keeping an eye out for misbehaving users and illegal activity. The grids have a warning system built-in, a subtle but telltale ripple that occurs when the automated software detects illegal or unauthorized use of the grid. It’s not much, but GOD is watching, and if they see enough ripples to find and identify a hacker, they can trace his physical location and boot him off the Matrix using the mechanisms built into each grid.
OVERWATCH SCORE AND CONVERGENCE
CityNets
The greatest ninjas in the world can’t walk through the desert without moving some sand, and the best hackers in the world can’t hack the Matrix without leaving tiny clues to their passing. GOD and the demiGODs are on the lookout for these kinds of clues, but luckily the Matrix is a really big place, with plenty of places to hide. They’re good, though, and they’ll get you eventually. The more hacking you do, the easier you are to find.
When you start using the Matrix after a fresh boot, you’re as pure and innocent as the driven snow (at least as far as the demiGODs are concerned). The moment you perform an illegal action (Attack or Sleaze), you get an Overwatch Score, or OS, that your gamemaster uses to track how much evidence you’ve been leaving in your wake. When you perform an Attack or Sleaze action, OS increases by 1.
The Overwatch Score also increases as time goes by. If the demiGODs have time to analyze your activities, they’ll notice traces of your passing and will start to get closer and closer. Every fifteen minutes after you first start tallying an OS, it increases by another 1d4 (rolled by the gamemaster in secret).
When your Overwatch Score hits 40, the jig is up. The nastiness that follows is called convergence.
Public World Wide Web
This is the wild west and the most dangerous place on the planet. The World Wide Planet Net is where we trapped the AIs that were attacking us in the war. They used the Web to travel across to attack us, When we destroyed all the PL 8 computers we locked all access back into the real world. Those who were not insane before have since lost it trapped there. There are a handful of gateways from cityNets that connect to the Public which is manned by 24-hour spiders of the highest level. These gateways are attacked daily but they are reinforced so well that not even the best AIs can get far. There are dead switches in the real world that cut power to the gate if any breach even tone of the 6 firewalls. Getting out from CityNet is not hard a Computer Use(data) DC 15 lets you pass. Then your time starts.
The DM rolls 2d6 secretly and that is the amount of rounds you have until the AIs start to notice you. You can run some masking programming to extend your time but you better use your time to get where you going instead. Getting off the WWW is your goal. There are some lost and hidden data stores and other locations that are cash cows out in the wilds, but you don't have the time to search for them, Anyone risking a run like this has a location set and they speed to it, and try to get in before the AIs put them in the deadbook. Once your time is up then you are hit with Convergence.
Convergence
The grid’s defenders converge on your trail, and then the fun begins. First, they hit you for 12d6 DC 27 Matrix damage attack, which you resist normally with your check. Then they force your persona to reboot, erasing all of your marks and dumping you from the Matrix (causing dumpshock if you were in VR at the time). As if that wasn’t enough, they also report your physical location to the owner of the grid you were just using and the host you were in (if you were in a host), so you might have to deal with some real-life security forces coming to track your ass down.
Your gamemaster keeps your Overwatch Score a secret from you. You can use the Check Overwatch Score action or the Baby Monitor program to keep tabs on your OS. You could just wing it, too, if you’ve got a good memory. Of course, G-men, security spiders, IC, and other users who are officially sanctioned by GOD never rack up an Overwatch Score, even if they’re really misbehaving. Such is life in the Matrix. And in the meat world, too, come to think about it.
