A Splinter in Your Mind - Matrix Quest

[open_sketch]

◉ CODA ◉​

Alice Lovelace
​

Resolve 3/3​

Detachment 2​

Skill 6​

Gear 6/10​

Paths​

Path of Resistance Level 1 When you Fight.exe. When you gratuitously blow something up as an act of resistance. The first time in a session you tell an authority to go fuck itself. XP: ◉◉◉◉◎ You may spend Resistance XP to add or subtract Harm you give or take, 1-1.​

Path of Truth Level 1 When you Prompt.exe. When you follow your curiosity in a way that doesn't advance the mission. The first time in a session you discover something new about the Matrix. XP: ◉◉◉◎◎ You may spend Truth XP to reroll dice when you Charge or Refresh, 1-1d6.​

Path of Enlightenment Level 1 When you Disconnect.exe. When you refuse to back down or run away from impossible odds. The first time you run out of Resolve in a session. XP: ◉◉◎◎◎ You may spend Enlightenment XP as if they were Detachment, 1-1.​

Moves
Beginning to Believe: You gain +1 Detachment the first time you Charge.
Stop Trying to Hit Me: You take -1 Harm when on the Defensive in Fights.
Mine Now: Spend a Full Hit in Fight to disarm an enemy of their weapon. If you then shoot them with it, take +1.
Try Again: When you attempt a Disconnect you failed before and have not yet succeeded at, you may input one 6 as a True Hit.
Bit of Help: When you spend Detachment on any move other than Disconnect, you get two +1s. They can be applied to the same die or different ones.

Stunts
Jump Impossible Distances Lvl 2*
Hit with Implausible Force Lvl 1
Dodge Implausible Ways Lvl 1
Act with Implausible Slight of Hand Lvl 1

​

---

CW: Very 90s.

Also, this is going to be a seriously fucked up quest. I'm going to be doing my damndest to channel an appropriately edgy, teen-rage vibe. Expect violence, drugs, sex, etc.

There's also going to be some Pretty Uncomfortable Dysphoria-ing, trans readers be warned.​

 

[MordredRaal]

Do we use dice to move around like that (when we don't need a Disconnect to defy physics)? I'm not aware of anything like that in the rules. Maybe Run.exe I guess, though I'm to understand that's more about escaping from attacking hostiles than moving from point A to B.

Click to shrink...

I figured that avoiding the car crash is avoiding harm and that that needs dice.

Though now that I think about it, if I'm wrong and it does use a die why not use the car's 5 to leap instead of ours? Or our 4, which is a partial like the 5, but easier to bump up with Detachment, in case you're trying to burn dice to go for a Charge.

Click to shrink...

I was assuming we are supposed to use the dice pool more appropriate to the action and so used a dice from the car for the crash and a dice from us for the jump.

You're definitely right about a four being good enough though. Edited the plan to use that instead of the five.

 

[Tetra]

I figured that avoiding the car crash is avoiding harm and that that needs dice.



I was assuming we are supposed to use the dice pool more appropriate to the action and so used a dice from the car for the crash and a dice from us for the jump.

You're definitely right about a four being good enough though. Edited the plan to use that instead of the five.

Click to shrink...

I see. My general understanding is that damage due to cars ramming into each other is still governed by Fight.exe. Input a 6, get away clean whatever that entails (I guess in this scenario that means it covers the jump). We'll see if that holds true.

As for car dice that would make sense but we did enact this Plan which involved using a car's 6 to fire a Rocket Launcher:

[X] Plan: Start with a Bang
-[X] Tell Cache to hold steady and give you a clean shot
-[X] Spend the car's 6 and 8 Gear to whip out a rocket launcher and annihilate the lead cop car, blocking the convoy's path with flaming wreckage.

We can only do full damage with a gun once, which means that sadly the minigun would be a waste of ammo. But the rocket launcher sounds almost as much fun.

Click to shrink...

Also the car rules currently state "Cars, whether brought into the Matrix or stolen, consist of a pile of dice which can be used in place of your regular dice, spent in place of any other." which seems pretty broad.

If both my assumptions about the rules hold, then the best implementation of the rough idea "use the car to ram the van then go back to Cache's car" would probably be using the car's 5 or our 4 (depending on whether you think the 4 is something to save or burn through) for the crash (partial success, 1 Harm to both parties) then use the car's 6 for a Dodge Implausible Ways to avoid our share of the Harm like we did in the werewolf fight a while back, landing with Cache. We get a free EP and XP for our trouble, result otherwise identical to your suggestion.

 

[open_sketch]

Step one complete, escorts cleared. Step two was the truck.

You shifted the car back in gear and slammed on the accelerator, lining yourself up in front of the armoured car and waving Cache closer. He looked exasperated, but he did it, slowing down until his bumped was almost touching yours.

Okay Coda, you've done this once, you know the drill. Easy. You steadied yourself in the middle of the two seats, made sure the car was still square in front of the truck, and pulled the parking brake.

There was a hideous squeal from the tires as you pushed off forward, throwing yourself clumsily onto the back of Cache's car. No grace this time, just a desperate scramble as one car was left behind and the other arrived, and you tumbled over the trunk and barely managed to grab hold of the headrest. Cache's hand met yours as he pulled you forward.

"You crazy, stupid bitch, I gotcha."

Behind you, there was a crash and a horrid noise of metal grinding on metal, and you turned to see the armoured truck with the police car half-rolled under its tires, swerving madly. The whole affair jackknifed a moment later, the police car spinning away as the truck pitched onto its side.

Cache hit the brakes, and you slid into the seat. Smiling incredulously, he snatched his pistol back up off the dash and opened the door.

"Fucking hell Coda, stop showing us up. Come on, we gotta do this before reinforcements show up."

The black SUV, stitched all over with bullet holes, rolled to a stop next to the tipped van and Frag got out, a boxy SMG in her hands. Page emerged from the other side with a long rifle of some kind and fired it dispassionately into the roof of the cab, then discarded smoking weapon onto the pavement as you all closed to the van.

"Guys, you will not believe the shit that Coda just pulled," Cache said. Frag just gave a small smile.

"Oh, I think I can believe it. Start peeling that open," she said, indicating to the van, then she drew her phone. You followed Cache around to the back doors as Page tossed him something.

"Where's Enigma?" you asked, and he indicated vaguely around.

"Overwatch somewhere, keeping an eye out. Alright, here we go," he said, slapping the package onto the door near the lock.

"What is that?" you asked, and he laughed and indicated to step back.

"Thermite. Gonna melt the lock off and then pry it open, should take a few seconds. Here we go," he said. There was a light and a wave of heat from the door, brighter than anything you'd ever seen, but it lasted only a few seconds. Something heavy inside clanged, and Cache was stepping back up with a crowbar in hand.

"Alright, let's see what we got," he said. "Access codes, full backdoors… this is big."

You pressed in a little deeper into the smoke to watch as he stuck the prybar against the doorframe and, with an almost casual motion, the door popped. He stepped back and, slowly, deliberately, the door crashed opened, sparks jumping on the pavement. It had been burnt clear through at the lock, and the interior was filled with smoke that was billowing out.

Page stepped up, holding her pistol to the interior as she stepped up the impromptu ramp that had been created.

"We got the goods?" Cache called. Page leaned in closer.

"I can't see a bloody thi-"

There was a gunshot and Page tumbled back down, leaving a red smear across the metal door. She was still breathing, which you could tell because she was screaming. Her pistol slid across the pavement to your feet.

A figure emerged from the smoke. Dark green suit, dark sunglasses, a dispassionate expression.

---

​

[ ] What do you do?​

​

Remember, all dice against Agents are -2 unless you are running.​

​

The Resistance needs these codes.​

​

⚅⚃⚃⚃◻​

 

[Tetra]

⚅⚃⚃⚃◻

Click to shrink...

The plan was altered to use a 4 from us instead of a 5, so I think we should be at 6, 5, 4, 4.

Also these concerns were not addressed from last "turn" as far as I can tell:

Also regarding our various numbers, I'm to understand that Charging would heal us back to 2/3 Resolve, and that there's at least a couple sources of XP from that chain of moves (one from the disconnect, one or two from the Harm depending on if multiple instances of harm from a single Fight action count separately) which would leave us net positive on XP rather than net zero. Does that track?

Click to shrink...

Lastly a rules question: do we get -2 on our attempts to Disconnect when they're against Agents? I'm guessing yes, but figured I'd double check.

 

[open_sketch]

The plan was altered to use a 4 from us instead of a 5, so I think we should be at 6, 5, 4, 4.

Also these concerns were not addressed from last "turn" as far as I can tell:


Lastly a rules question: do we get -2 on our attempts to Disconnect when they're against Agents? I'm guessing yes, but figured I'd double check.

Click to shrink...

oops.

i'm in bed now but consider the dice updated. ill fix your XP in the morning. charges do not heal you, refreshes do (ie: it's a choice between healing and getting bonuses). disconnects are not at -2 unless you are directly attacking the agent with them.

 

[Tetra]

oops.

i'm in bed now but consider the dice updated. ill fix your XP in the morning. charges do not heal you, refreshes do (ie: it's a choice between healing and getting bonuses). disconnects are not at -2 unless you are directly attacking the agent with them.

Click to shrink...

Ah, my bad on the charges then, good to know! Oh, and one last minor note: was Jump Impossible Distances in orange and/or bearing an asterisk because we hadn't done it yet? If so it should probably get updated along with the rest. No rush though.

Another question for when you're next around: What are the rules for sequencing our Dodge Implausible Ways into Fight consequences? Like, Fight demands 3 dice from the Agent's 3 Threat, but could we interlace the Disconnects to dodge attacks in between Fight inputs? (e.g. could we input 4-2=2 into Fight.exe, input 6 to Disconnect (Dodge), input another 4-2=2 into Fight.exe, input 5+1=6 to Disconnect (Dodge), Charge to find a third Fight die?)

 

[open_sketch]

Ah, my bad on the charges then, good to know! Oh, and one last minor note: was Jump Impossible Distances in orange and/or bearing an asterisk because we hadn't done it yet? If so it should probably get updated along with the rest. No rush though.

Another question for when you're next around: What are the rules for sequencing our Dodge Implausible Ways into Fight consequences? Like, Fight demands 3 dice from the Agent's 3 Threat, but could we interlace the Disconnects to dodge attacks in between Fight inputs? (e.g. could we input 4-2=2 into Fight.exe, input 6 to Disconnect (Dodge), input another 4-2=2 into Fight.exe, input 5+1=6 to Disconnect (Dodge), Charge to find a third Fight die?)

Click to shrink...

it won't apply to the fight itself, but it could be used to negate an injury you would take from it. so like…. you could throw a shit dice in to deal with Threat and get hit, then use the disconnect to dodge the attack, sort of spoofing the agent's -2 penalty if you understand

 

[Tetra]

it won't apply to the fight itself, but it could be used to negate an injury you would take from it. so like…. you could throw a shit dice in to deal with Threat and get hit, then use the disconnect to dodge the attack, sort of spoofing the agent's -2 penalty if you understand

Click to shrink...

I understand, that is essentially the core of my plan. What I'm asking is this: Fight demands 3 dice, and we have 4 dice. do we have to throw in those 3 all at once before any Disconnect shenanigans, or can we throw in a Disconnect in between each bad Fight die? In the former case we'd have to put that [5] into Fight before we even think about Disconnecting, where in the latter case we can use both of our decent rolls on avoiding Harm.

 

[open_sketch]

I understand, that is essentially the core of my plan. What I'm asking is this: Fight demands 3 dice, and we have 4 dice. do we have to throw in those 3 all at once before any Disconnect shenanigans, or can we throw in a Disconnect in between each bad Fight die? In the former case we'd have to put that [5] into Fight before we even think about Disconnecting, where in the latter case we can use both of our decent rolls on avoiding Harm.

Click to shrink...

i'm not fully sure i understand, and i think the ruling is simply that you can do whatever stupid dice tricks you want. you can even say "i want to spend these dice, roll new ones, and then do a part two on this vote before we resolve anything", im down with that.

 

[Tetra]

i'm not fully sure i understand, and i think the ruling is simply that you can do whatever stupid dice tricks you want. you can even say "i want to spend these dice, roll new ones, and then do a part two on this vote before we resolve anything", im down with that.

Click to shrink...

Stupid dice tricks, ho!

[X] Plan: STALL
-[X] Start swinging at the Agent in an attempt to keep him distracted. Nothing lands, but you manage to bend just out of the way of each of his moves so far.
-[X] Fight.exe: Input 2x 4-2=2
-[X] Disconnect: Dodge Implausible Ways x2 (6, 5+1=6)
-[X] Gain Enlightenment Ability "Beginning to Believe: You gain +1 Detachment the first time you Charge."
-[X] Charge to get new dice to handle his last point of Threat

Net effects should be +1 Detachment, +2 XP, +2 EP if I calculated everything right.

 

[ancusohm]

Wow! Great work, everyone. You're collectively really nailing the awesome/slightly-ridiculous Matrix fight scenes.

A figure emerged from the smoke. Dark green suit, dark sunglasses, a dispassionate expression.

Click to shrink...

Ah, shit. Of course they'd stick an agent inside the truck. That's the best way to make sure we don't just grab the codes somehow and run.

So... Now we have to fight an agent, and we're /not/ The One.

Plan: STALL

Click to shrink...

I like this plan, but I think you need to include the '[X]' in the plan's name

[X] Plan: STALL

 

[Tetra]

Wow! Great work, everyone. You're collectively really nailing the awesome/slightly-ridiculous Matrix fight scenes.


Ah, shit. Of course they'd stick an agent inside the truck. That's the best way to make sure we don't just grab the codes somehow and run.

So... Now we have to fight an agent, and we're /not/ The One.


I like this plan, but I think you need to include the '[X]' in the plan's name

[X] Plan: STALL

Click to shrink...

Since the Agents can be anyone I doubt they stuck one inside. A guard inside each truck, and you could have a single Agent cover the whole damn instance. Or I'm hoping that's what they did, otherwise we're liable to have even more of them on us shortly.

I very much do need the [X] in the plan name, thank you! Also going to edit it to take the Enlightenment Ability "Beginning to Believe: You gain +1 Detachment the first time you Charge." since I think we could very much use the extra point of Detachment right now, minor though it is.

 

[Inquiring Mind]

[X] Plan: STALL

This quest is a lot of fun. We are enjoying it.

 

[Anchises]

[X] Plan: STALL

 

[tinkerware]

[X] Plan: STALL

 

[Night_stalker]

[X] Plan: STALL

 

[Stardust&Scotch]

Like, I know this is IC really dramatic and really dangerous, but OOC I'm just imagining Coda's thought process as: "imma slapfight an Agent" and I'm living for this.

[X] Plan: STALL

 

[PurposefulZephyr]

[X] Plan: STALL

 

[CallmeIshma3l]

[X] Plan: STALL

 

[Solarstream]

[X] Plan: STALL

 

[open_sketch]

[X] Plan: STALL
-[X] Start swinging at the Agent in an attempt to keep him distracted. Nothing lands, but you manage to bend just out of the way of each of his moves so far.
-[X] Fight.exe: Input 2x 4-2=2
-[X] Disconnect: Dodge Implausible Ways x2 (6, 5+1=6)
-[X] Gain Enlightenment Ability "Beginning to Believe: You gain +1 Detachment the first time you Charge."
-[X] Charge to get new dice to handle his last point of Threat

After months of lethargic depression, i have taken a vacation and im BACK.

Roll me 6d6 please!

 

[GAWR]

Rolling

GAWR threw 6 6-faced dice. Total: 22

 

[open_sketch]

He raised his gun and fired twice, dispassionately, somewhere away from you, then swung it toward you. Instantly, the image flashed into your mind unbidden, the image of an Agent, maybe that same Agent, levelling a gun at your forehead, his finger tightening on the trigger, the impossible awareness of the sear moving and the hammer dropping and the bullet racing out the barrel. Faster than you, stronger than you, run, run, run, run-

Somebody yelled your name, you knew they were running. You ran too.

You ran right for him, feeling utterly detached from your limbs, knowing only that if you ran now Ram was dead, the mission was for nothing, it was all pointless. And you ran with the full knowledge that he was a part of the lies that you refused to believe anymore, just another figment. You ran knowing you'd rather die here on your feet than give up now.

You ran knowing it was the last thing you'd ever do.

His pistol came up, but you were already in his guard. You slammed your shoulder into him, elbows first, a leg looped around the back of his. He'd fall, he'd stumble, he'd have to.

He stayed put like you'd just ran into a brick fucking wall.

You had just enough time to throw yourself back, narrowly avoiding a wild haymaker, then he almost seemed to teleport forward into his next step, clearing the distance impossibly quickly and leading with his pistol butt toward your temple. You threw your arm in the way and it was like trying to block a speeding car, you were hit so hard you felt it in your knees. It was seismic.

This is suicide. I'm going to die here. He's going to kill me.

Shut up, shut up, it's not real, he's not real. You drove an open-palm strike into his nose, the sort that would break a man's skull if it hit clean, and he didn't even try to dodge or block or anything. It connected perfectly and he didn't even move. You doubted he blinked behind his sunglasses. You hit him again. The bones of your hand rang like a bell.

He drove a punch toward your gut and you leaned back away from it with inches to spare. It was like standing too close to the subway train as it rushed by, knowing it could have crushed you with one hit. Too close, too close.

I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead-

Shut up he's ones and zeroes, you're real, he's nothing. You let your momentum carry you down, kicked your leg out into the inside of his knee, and finally something, a momentary reflex, a twitch as his leg buckled for just a moment. He didn't hesitate to bring his fist down as you desperately rolled aside, the pavement cracking, and you rolled back to your feet and kicked him hard in the chest.

He actually fell, his impossible strength couldn't overcome the instability of his stance, it was simple physics, but you knew you hadn't hurt him even a little. His pistol whipped up, once again you were staring down the barrel, once again feeling the impossible awareness as you shifted your head to the side and the weapon barked next to your ear. The bullet came so close you swore it clipped your ear. Another two reports, wide as you entered his guard.

You drove a knee for his chest to pin him down, but he was already, somehow, standing. His fist connected with your jaw and you blacked out a moment, coming to lying on your back with something warm running from your nose and one lens of your sunglasses missing, the world half dark blue and half too bright.

He levelled his pistol again, but itl was empty now, smoking in his hand. You took the moment to pick yourself up as he threw it aside with complete disregard. It hurt, it hurt almost like the taser, but there was something else. All the terror, the pain, the certainty of death, it was giving away to a new kind of certainty.

You'd made him stumble.

"Interesting," he said simply, adjusting his suit jacket.

---

I spent the 1 for you, because I thought it was a safe bet you'd want to have three sixes. Your stats have been updated, including with some stat changes I overlooked from previous updates to the best of my abilities.​

​

What do you do?​

​

Your Charge:​

⚅⚅⚅⚁◻​

 

[DocSpooky]

We have enough 6s to at least hurt this agent very badly. The question is do we want to try and risk decommissioning it, or do we want to make a clean getaway?

 

[DragonCobolt]

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! THAT WAS SO FUCKING COOL

i will post an idea when I stop screaming