A Splinter in Your Mind - Matrix Quest

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◉ 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.​
 
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open_sketch said:
Roll Refresh. Then you're going to want to Dodge that, so input 1 and write in your followup plan.
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Rolling?

Torgamous said:
Do not headbutt knives.
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I mean, this is a Messianistic meeting. Showing of martial arts isn't so much the point, it's just one part of demonstrating that we can hold our own in the matrix.

Getting hit with blades and not caring is a way to demonstrate that.
10ebbor10 threw 6 6-faced dice. Reason: Refresh Total: 20
5 5 4 4 2 2 5 5 2 2 2 2
 
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shit, im sorry, please disregard. the two similarly named plans meant i accidentally followed the wrong one. that's on me, i should have double-checked. i need to rewrite the update. im sorry everyone
 
4.5: Knife Dance
  • Threadmarks
    • You moved. One of her knives left its sheath, spinning around her finger and into her grip, creating a solid silver arc through the air just inches from your body. Another sprang out toward your middle, momentarily catching the edge of your coat as you leapt back, the other already on the return swing toward your neck.

    It clipped your jaw. You didn't even feel pain at first, just cold. Metal in your flesh, an increasingly familiar sensation.

    The heat came a moment later, and the pain a moment after that.

    She was fast, but more than that she was coordinated. It was almost too much to keep up with. You never had a moment, never had a way in, and that was the point. If you kept dancing back, she'd just keep pushing forward until you ran out of room.

    As she withdrew a blade, your hand followed, reaching after it as you twisted past the next blade, and it put you close enough that suddenly the reach of the steel was a liability. You got a hand to her forearm and pushed the blade aside, catching her other wrist as she tried to thrust the blade back, and then you were stuck. Inches from her. Stalemate.

    Your gaze met hers through the twin barriers of polarised glass.

    "You think the thing stopping people from beating agents is they aren't angry enough?" you asked.

    "Didn't say that," she replied, amusement clear even through the strain as she struggled against your grip. "So, you ever going to try to hit me?" Then, grinning, she leapt off the ground and tried to plant both her feet in your chest.

    You'd already neatly sidestepped it, and your fist came down in a wide arc, down into her face. Whatever momentum she had before was instantly transformed into downward motion as you spiked her head into the dirt, a blow that probably would have shattered her skull and your fist if either of you were normal.

    She was already rolling back onto her feet, your boot stomping on nothing. She backed up a step, one knife held out, the other rubbing her jaw.

    "There we go, wow. More like it!" She beamed, blood on her teeth. "That was good as hell."

    That gave you pause. This wasn't right. Inside the simulation, you were supposed to be calm, unaffected, above it. Cynical stoicism and sarcastic dismissal was power against a machine which fed on anything else. Real feelings stayed in the real world. Something about her earnestness struck you as fake; this was serious. A test of your abilities in a war. She'd have to be an idiot to smile.

    Unless she was trying to get you to break your concentration.

    "Yeah. Come, let's go," you insisted, squaring up again. You couldn't see it, behind the lenses, but she somehow managed to convey rolling her eyes anyway.

    She was wasting your time.

    ---

    Roll Refresh, and describe how you rejoin battle.​
     
  • Threadmarks
    • That "machines feed on anything else" mindset is interesting and I sincerely wonder to what extent it's true and to what extent it's acculturation.
     
    Being emotionless and cynical is a way to detach from the system, but I think it's a means, not an end. It's about taking actions that the system doesn't want you to.

    I'm getting sort of a Fight Club nihilism vibe from our opponent. Yeah, she enjoys smashing faces, what's the system gonna do about it? Hurt her?

    Edit: Pretty good rolls, we could do something cool.
    beleester threw 6 6-faced dice. Reason: Refresh Total: 26
    3 3 2 2 6 6 4 4 5 5 6 6
     
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    For our Refresh, we only roll the dice we've expended, not our full charge, IIRC.

    Haven't got an especially cool idea for how we re-engage, so I'll take a cue from the update?

    [X] Stay centered, don't let her break your composure, we're not owned, we're not owned!

    EDIT: Wait, by describing how we rejoin battle, I think we're being asked for another plan?

    In which case we need to do that, but probably better that we know what dice we gave to work with first.

    I think the idea to try a new Disconnect is a good one, and favour the sleight of hand idea.
    Skippy threw 4 6-faced dice. Reason: Refresh Total: 20
    4 4 6 6 5 5 5 5
     
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    Does the Mine Now dice bonus only count for shooting or does stabbing her with her own knife also get +1?
     
    So, rather than choosing which of the two Disconnects that @Tetra and others discussed to try, it occurred to me that we could do both and fail at one. This whole fight is a learning experience and we have a Move which incentivises us to try Disconnects and fail the first time. We get more EXP as well, and I think we can tie it together into something cinematic...

    [X] Plan Two Disconnects for the Price of One
    -[X] Determined to prove Apogee wrong, Coda attempts to blitz in past her guard and hit her with a simulation-bending punch, but it goes terribly wrong!
    --[X] [5 = 5] Disconnect.exe : One Inch Punch (1 Dice) (A physics-bendingly powerful blow that generates the incredible power with seemingly no wind-up, dealing Harm or sending someone flying.) - Coda tries this and fails, getting cut, taking -1 (?) Resolve.
    -[X] Hurt and on the back foot, Coda is forced on the defensive, desperately failing, seemingly proving Apogee right. There's a brief pause as they talk, giving Coda the chance to find some new resolve at the last second...
    -[X] [1] Prompt.exe: "I know what you're trying to do."
    --[X] [4, 5] Fight.exe (Defensive): Take and Deal 0 Harm
    --[X] [6 +1D = 7] Disconnect.exe : Sleight of Hand (1 Dice) (While someone is close enough and distracted, you can vanish something from their pockets or plant something on them, stretching the bounds of plausibility for pickpocketing or prestidigitation.) - Coda plants a stun grenade from her Gear on Apogee, minus the pin.
    -[X] Backing away, forearms cut to ribbons, Coda seems defeated... until she grins through bloody teeth, and flourishes an empty pin. (Stun Grenade goes off immediately next round.)
    -[X] Charge: +1 Detachment
    -[X] Net: +/- 0 Detachment, - 1 Resolve, - 1 Gear
    -[X] XP Gain: +1 RXP (Fight.exe), +1 TXP (Prompt.exe), +1 EXP (Disonnect.exe) +1 EXP (Disonnect.exe) +1 EXP (Going to 0 Resolve from the first time)

    Notes
    Here's what this plan is doing:
    - We gain a metric ton of Enlightenment XP from the two Disconnects going down to 0 Resolve for the first time in a session.
    - On that note, I've assumed that futzing a Disconnect against someone with a knife will get us cut, hence the -1 Resolve. If this should be changed, then @open_sketch can of course say if it should be different.
    - By spending all our dice, we get to Charge rather than Refresh, which is better.
    - Going on the Defensive on fight.exe this turn makes the Threat go up to 3 next turn, making it easier to spend all our dice and Charge.
    - This activates Try Again, meaning we only need a six to use One Inch Punch next turn.
    - Essentially, this is setting us up for a dramatic comeback next turn. The grenade will send her reeling, and we'll come out swinging and successfully pull off the Disconnect we failed at this turn. Almost like some sort of famous franchise of action films!

    So, I hope you guys like it, and I also would very much like your opinions on the names for the Disconnects. I tried to follow along the lines of what was discussed, but since these are names we'll need to live with for the rest of the game, I'm open to suggestions if people have something they like better!
     
    Skippy said:
    EDIT: Wait, by describing how we rejoin battle, I think we're being asked for another plan?
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    It's a little unclear - are we being asked for a Fight action or just some flavor text for how we recharge? I think it's the second one.

    [X] Shift stances Neo-style, ending in a wide, sturdy stance. "I'm not going to try to hit you. I'm going to hit you."
     
    beleester said:
    It's a little unclear - are we being asked for a Fight action or just some flavor text for how we recharge? I think it's the second one.

    [X] Shift stances Neo-style, ending in a wide, sturdy stance. "I'm not going to try to hit you. I'm going to hit you."
    Click to expand...
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    Well, I just posted a full plan. 😅

    On consideration I think we are probably being asked for a vote here, because there's not really a lot to update on otherwise? But of course if this isn't the case then that's fine, and I can hold the plan until it's time.
     
    Skippy's is very cool, but for the sake of having options, here's one with a bigger disconnect:

    [X] Do the Samurai Thing
    -[X] She moves faster than us. When the fight started, she closed the gap with impossible speed. Let's try and copy that.
    -[X] Spend 5,6 -> 7,7 for a Disconnect - "Dash with impossible speed."
    -[X] Draw our katana, and spend its bonuses to turn 4,5 into 4,6 (Trade harm, Inflict harm)
    -[X] We flash-step past her, our sword flashes twice, and when we become visible again, we're both bleeding, but she took the worst of it.
    -[X] Spend the last 1 on Prompt - "Is that aggressive enough for you?"

    We've already traded 2 harm, so inflicting 2 more will probably settle this. We learn a new movement power, we take 1 more harm just so we can hit our XP trigger, we recharge, and we drop a cool one-liner.

    And if she's still not down, we have 4 more points on the katana, which can probably get us more full hits.
     
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    [X] Plan Two Disconnects for the Price of One
     
    Derpmind said:
    This plan uses 1,4,4,5,6. But our dice are 1,4,5,5,6. We have two 5s and one 4, not the other way around.
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    Oh snap, good point. I'll change one of the 4s to a 5 right now.

    I think I was treating them as indistinguishable in my head since they're both partials.

    EDIT:

    Also, if anyone has any suggestions for different names for the Disconnects, or tweaking the descriptions somewhat, then I'm open for it!

    Basically, I'm thinking One Inch Punch is functionally the same as getting a Full Hit on a Fight.exe, which begs the question of why we'd use it versus just inputting the 6 into the regular fight move. But it has the advantage of not suffering a penalty against against Agents, and do damage even while remaining on the defensive and inputting partials, or even without doing a Fight.exe at all if we can find a way to weave it into a sequence of events. Narratively I'm sure we could also justify using it if we need to punch our way out of a coffin at some point.
     
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