The Matrix: Items: Asking for Opinions

Okay, so development of the (totally unofficial and not-to-be-published and for god's sake, man, don't fucking sue me!) Matrix Exemplar rules (AKA Matrix.exe, ) is running along at a good pace and in fact almost done; there's just one or two great big PAIN IN THE ASS things to do, one of which is the bane of all Exemplar developers: item lists.

And it occurred to me (because hell, if there's a way I can avoid work get this up and running sooner for Lyko to tweak as she's the one running the damn thing, I'll take it!): do I really need separate item and item ability lists for Matrix? It's mostly just modern-day action, right? Just grab the appropriate stats from SF, Icons, and/or TPA (though be careful with that last one since hey - computer tech in 2047 and '1999' are in NO way comparable) and go for it, right?

There is the small problem of Real World equipment, though - hovercrafts need stats too! - so I'll have to get to it eventually, I guess, but as a component of character creation, do I really need it? What do you guys think?

Well, it depends on the character you're making, I suppose. If the person making the character is familiar with items in Exemplar, which I think you're assuming, then they could probably estimate what their gear is going to cost and go ahead and make the rest of the character without finalizing that. Especially if you were to produce a list estimating the final cost of the template versions of the things you plan to eventually have, like "Hovercraft: 28 gear points".

On the other hand, I recently made a character for the pick-up Phoenix Agenda game that depended mainly on gear. Kind of like Iron Man. He's not particularly awesome in and of himself, but he's rich and he's got great engineers working for him, so he's got all the latest in Stuff. Characters like that probably don't show up often, but I guess my point is, I couldn't really have made him without a gear list. Not that I'm planning to make one like him in Matrix.

You know what, all I'm really trying to say is there may be exceptions, but you don't really need a *complete* gear list to make most characters.

I am wholeheartedly in favour of doing as little "reinventing the wheel" as we can get away with. A frankenlist pulled from the existing modern action settings and a good-sized grain of salt should get the job done. If there are cases where list costs differ on a given item, we go with whichever breakdown suits the setting best. It's quick 'n' dirty, sure, but it works. A gearhead character, like the one Laura mentions, would almost certainly be building their toys a la carte in any case, so as long as we've got a master list of item features, we'll be good to go there, as well.

As for real-world equipment... mrr? Looking specifically at Class of '99, the first half (give or take) of the action is going to be taking place within the Matrix, so I'm not in any particular rush to get hovercraft statted out. That said, though, I would like to see something viable along those lines by the time I get you lot established with the Gnosis. Shouldn't be too terribly hard, I think, so long as we approach it from a modular design approach... a hovercraft isn't a singular item, but rather a collection of the chassis (armour and speed), weapons (damage multiplier, range, done), the special-case weapon of the EMP (Cripple, only against machines), the Construct (*helpless flailing*), assorted tools (bonus to appropriate Aptitudes), and any other stat-affecting components the crew feels like tossing in there. Total it all up and there you go.

The Construct itself is a Tools Feature for those items or tasks which require "A virtual environment" or "a controlled virtual environment".

Admin wrote:The Construct itself is a Tools Feature for those items or tasks which require "A virtual environment" or "a controlled virtual environment".

Oh, I LIKE that. Simple. Elegant. Functional.