Matrix Mechanics
Decking from scratch — what a decker does, the gear that lets them do it, and the dice behind every step. No technomancers in 2057: the Matrix belongs to deckers and their cyberdecks. Sources: SR2 core Matrix chapter (pp. 170–189) plus Virtual Realities 2.0 (FASA7904) for the subsystem / Detection-Factor / Security-Tally model.
This page is the player's side of the Matrix — how to run a decker. The IC & Host Design page is the GM's side — building the systems you break into — and the Host Builder generates one for you. New to the dice? The refresher below covers everything you need.
- Test = roll a pool of d6 vs a Target Number (TN); every die ≥ TN is a success. (A rolled 6 explodes — reroll & add — so high TNs aren't impossible.)
- Hacking Pool = bonus dice a decker adds to Matrix tests; it refills every Combat Turn (~3 sec).
- Condition Monitor = a 10-box damage track (Light 1 · Moderate 3 · Serious 6 · Deadly 10). Fill it and the thing crashes / drops.
- Initiative = Reaction + dice; highest acts first.
// THE CYBERDECK — YOUR BODY IN THE MATRIX
A decker lies down, jacks a cable from their datajack into the deck, and their mind enters the Matrix as an avatar — the persona. Everything they can do is the deck and its programs.
- MPCP
- Master Persona Control Program — the deck's core rating and your persona's health bar. It has its own Condition Monitor; fill it and you're violently ejected ("dumped").
- Persona programs
- Your avatar's body stats: Bod (soak damage), Evasion (dodge), Masking (stealth), Sensor (perception). Each is rated, capped by the MPCP.
- Utility programs
- Your tools, each rated: Sleaze/Deception (sneak), Analyze, Browse, Decrypt, Attack (your weapon), Medic (repair the deck), Shield, etc.
- Memory & I/O
- Active memory runs programs; storage memory holds programs and downloaded paydata; I/O / Load speed set how fast programs load and data moves.
// ACCESSING THE MATRIX
Jack in, ride the phone grids — RTG (Regional Telecom Grid) → LTG (Local Telecom Grid) → the target host, addressed like NA/UCAS-SEA-2206 — and enter through the host's SAN (System Access Node) with a logon. (SR2 p. 172; VR2.0 p. 20)
// WHAT A DECKER DOES — SYSTEM OPERATIONS
A host isn't one difficulty number; it's rated in five subsystems, each governing a kind of action. To do anything you run the matching utility as a System Test: roll Computer skill + Hacking Pool + the utility against that subsystem's rating. (VR2.0 p. 16)
| Subsystem | The action it resists |
|---|---|
| Access | Logging on / getting in |
| Control | Issuing system commands (reroute power, spoof a sensor) |
| Index | Searching for files / locating paydata |
| Files | Reading, editing, downloading data |
| Slave | Operating slaved devices — cameras, maglocks, doors |
// STAYING UNSEEN — DETECTION FACTOR & SECURITY TALLY
Every System Test is opposed: while you act, the host rolls to notice you. Two numbers govern it (VR2.0 pp. 18–19):
- Detection Factor
- The TN the host rolls against to spot you = (Masking + Sleaze) ÷ 2, round up (half your Masking if you run no Sleaze). Higher = stealthier. This is why every serious decker runs a Sleaze program.
- Security Tally
- A hidden suspicion meter. Each action, the host rolls its subsystem vs your Detection Factor; every success it scores is added to the tally. It only climbs, and you never see it — so you never quite know how many more actions you can risk.
As the tally crosses thresholds the GM set in advance, the host fires IC and raises alerts (Passive → Active). The decker's whole game is a race against their own rising tally — get in, get the paydata, get out before it turns lethal. (How the GM builds those thresholds: IC & Host Design.)
// CYBERCOMBAT
When IC engages you (or you attack it), it plays out in Combat Turns much like meat combat. (SR2 p. 178)
- 01
Initiative
Reaction + dice (deck response boosts add dice). Deckers act fast; highest goes first.
- 02
Declare range & lock on
Move to sensor range and pass a Sensor/Execution Test to bring a combat utility online.
- 03
Attack
Run your Attack utility: roll Attack rating + Hacking Pool vs the IC's rating (its rating is the TN). Each success = one box on the IC's Condition Monitor. Fill it and the IC crashes.
- 04
IC hits back
It attacks your persona; you soak with Bod (use Shield as armor). Leftover successes mark your MPCP Condition Monitor.
- 05
Patch & press
Spend an action on Medic to repair deck damage; Mirrors/Smoke boost evasion/obscure you. If your MPCP fills, you're dumped (and take dump shock). (SR2 p. 175)
// IC AT A GLANCE
White IC is non-lethal — it blocks, traces, and scrambles (Access, Barrier, Probe, Tar Baby). Gray IC attacks your deck & programs — Blaster (crashes your MPCP, can fry chips), Killer, Tar Pit (destroys utilities), Trace (hunts your location).
Black IC attacks your brain through biofeedback — real Physical (or Stun) damage to the person; it can knock out, kill, or fry your deck. Jacking out while it has you risks a parting jolt. This is the decker's lethal risk. (SR2 p. 171)
Full IC list and behaviours: IC & Host Design.
// GETTING OUT
You can jack out as a simple action any time — unless Black IC has latched on, where bailing means a Willpower Test vs the IC's rating to avoid damage. Otherwise: grab the paydata and go before the tally turns the host lethal.
// RUN WALKTHROUGH
- Log on (Access Test). Host rolls Access vs his Detection Factor 5 → 2 successes → Tally 2.
- Search the index for payroll (Index Test) → host scores 1 → Tally 3.
- Read the file (Files Test) → host scores 2 → Tally 5, which crosses a trigger step → a Trace IC wakes and starts hunting him.
- Download → host scores 3 → Tally 8 → Killer IC + Passive Alert. Cybercombat: he Attacks (Attack 5 + Pool 6 vs IC rating) and crashes it in two turns, taking a couple of MPCP boxes, then Medics them off.
- Paydata in hand and the tally climbing toward the lethal steps, he jacks out — seconds of Matrix time while the street team was still in the lobby.
- This page uses the VR2.0 subsystem / Detection-Factor / Security-Tally model on top of the SR2 core decking actions ("B-clean"). It's the runnable middle path.
- Deliberately omitted (it's deep VR2.0 crunch): cyberdeck construction, custom programming, frames, and the full program/IC catalogue.
- Cybercombat damage staging mirrors meat combat — the summary here covers the working loop; SR2 pp. 178–189 has the full detail.