[SR5] Matrix rules summary

Opti has a neat flowchart for Matrix actions here.

Anything in curly braces {{{ }}} is a house rule. Usually the original rule or an explanation as to why is
listed right after it.

Everything in the Matrix is an icon

o

Rules prevent icons from not resembling their actual identity (e.g. must look like a person,
or a file)

Matrix appears by default as a "black flatland under a black sky"

Typically displays one icon per PAN

But will still display dangerous devices on that network separately

Terminology
o

Hosts are a "self-contained place in the Matrix... [with] no physical location, as they exist
purely in the Matrix cloud"

Everything in the matrix is one of these six things: persona, device, PAN, file, host, or a
mark

Datastream visibility is filtered out by default but can be shown (but are useless without
snooping)

Personas are usually based on a commlink, cyberdeck, rigged vehicle/drone, or

technomancer

Devices represent electronic devices (such as cars, music players, maglocks, etc.).
Typically they do something in the physical world

Files are a collection of data, or possibly a collection of files (a "folder")

Marks (matrix authentication recognition key) "keeps track of which personas have
access to which devices, files hosts, and other personas"

Grids are a Matrix Service Provider

All public and global grids are accessible at any time

Local grids are only accessible if you are physically in the area

Hopping between grids is still confined to what is available in your area

Grid by lifestyle:

Middle = local grid

High = global grid (pick a Big Ten megacorp as provider)

Luxury = any grid you want

Data Processing and Firewall are = commlink's Device Rating

about the size of a small tablet or notebook

built-in sim module

Direct Neural Interface is required for VR

This can come from trodes or having an implanted (datajacks|commlink|
cyberdeck)

Matrix Attributes
o

Cyberdecks (p. 227)

Low or lower = public grid

Commlinks are a "combination computer, smartphone, media player, passport, wallet,

credit card, Matrix browser, chip reader, GPS navigator, digital camera, and portable
gaming device"

Attack, Sleaze, Data Processing, Firewall

Matrix Condition Monitor

o

Every device in the Matrix has health = 8 + (Device Rating / 2)

Damage is resisted by Device Rating + Firewall

No wound modifiers (except Technomancers since they take Stun damage)

Filling the Matrix damage track "dumps" you

Repairing device Matrix damage requires:

toolkit

an hour of work

Hardware + Logic [Mental] test (every hit repairs one box or cuts future repair
session times in half)

Device is not usable during the repair process

IC and sprites also take matrix damage but cannot be repaired

o

Biofeedback damage

Resisted by Willpower + Firewall

Stun if cold-cim, Physical if hot-sim

Dumpshock
o

If you disconnect from the Matrix while in VR without going to AR first, you get
dumpshock

6S or 6P depending on cold/hot sim

Resisted as normal Biofeedback (but if you got dumped due to a bricked deck you don't
get Firewall to help resist)

You also suffer 2 to all actions for (10 - Willpower) minutes

Link-locked
o

Any persona (includes agent, techno, sprite) can be link-locked

When locked, you cannot use Switch Interface mode, Enter/Exit Host, or Reboot actions
on your device

You can escape with a successful Jack Out (p. 240) action but you still suffer dumpshock

Typically falling unconscious during VR will switch you to AR automatically, but link-lock
prevents this

Critical glitches permanently break the device

IC will keep attacking you even when unconscious

User Modes
o

AR

Can be used without falling into a trance

-2 to Perception tests in physical space

Cold-sim VR

All physical senses blocked (as if asleep)

Initiative is Data Processing + Intuition + 3d6

Biofeedback damage is Stun

Hot-sim VR

All physical senses blocked (as if asleep)

Initiative is Data Processing + Intuition + 4d6

Biofeedback damage is Physical

+2 to all Matrix actions

Noise
o

Caused by distance, nearby electronics, natural/artificial dampening, cosmic background

radiation, etc.

Spam zones has huge Matrix traffic and everything is slowed

Static zones have electromagnetic blockage (tunnels, sewers, deep in a steel building) or
are far away from civilization (deserts, north pole, in the middle of the ocean)

Noise penalty = distance + situational - noise reduction

Penalty never applied to defense or resistance tests

Distance table (p.231):

Direct connection = 0

0 - 100m = 0

.1 - 1.0km = 1

1.01 - 10km = 3

10.01 - 100km = 5

> 100.01km = 8

Situational modifier table:

Faraday cage = no signal

Salt water = 1 per cm

Fresh water = 1 per 10cm

Dense foliage = 1 per 5m

Metal-laced earth or wall = 1 per 5m

Wireless negation (wallpaper or paint) = Rating

Spam or Static zone = Rating

1 = City downtown | Abandoned building

2 = Sprawl downtown | Abandoned neighborhood, barrens

3 = Major event or advertising blitz | Rural area, abandoned underground

area, heavy rain/snow

4 = Commercial area in a city | Wilderness, severe storm

5 = Commercial area in a sprawl | Remote place with satellite access

only

6 = Massive gathering or widespread emergency | Remote enclosed

place (cave, desert ruin)

{{{For Spam and Static Zones, take the worst of the target and the source. If the
target is in a 4 noise spam zone and the source is in a 2 Static zone, they both
have 4 noise to interact with each other.}}}

Illegal Actions
o

Failed Attack deals 1 damage per net defense hit (UNRESISTABLE)

Failed Sleaze puts a mark on you and informs host, who launches IC

Overwatch score
o

Accumulates whenever you perform an illegal action

Rebooting clears your marks and score

Each hit on a defense test (regardless of test success or failure) adds to the score

Every {{{5 + 3d6}}} minutes from the first tally, it increases another 2D6 (rolled in secret
by the DM)

Rules-as-written: 15 minutes

If outside a host or when leaving a host with score 40+, convergence occurs

You get hit with 12 DV Matrix damage (resist normally)

forced to reboot (dumpshock applied if in VR)

DM should not tell player how many hits the defense is getting

PANs & WANs

o

Can slave (Device Rating x 3) devices to your commlink or deck

Whenever slaves defend, they can use master's firewall or their own rating for the test

Marks on slaves apply to master as well

In reverse, if you fail a sleaze on a slaved device only its owner marks you, not the
master as well

WANs can slave unlimited devices

physical location reported to owner of the grid and your current host

Can use the Check Overwatch Score action or Baby Monitor program to check your
score

This even applies to technomancers

Being inside a host that has a WAN makes you "directly connected" to all devices
in the WAN

Only devices can be slaves/masters/part of a PAN (not personas, files, etc.)

When directly connected to a device: (p. 358-359)

you can target a device on a network independently without being on the host

the device cannot use the host rating in tests

Grids
o

Targets must always be on a grid

Megacorps would be on their global grid

Smaller companies and wealthier people would be on the local or private grid

Lower class people/organizations would be on the public grid

Matrix actions against a target on a different grid have a -2 penalty (including trying to
grid jump!)

Changing grids requires either Grid-Hop (if you have access) or Brute Force/Hack on the
Fly

Penalties only apply when you're outside of a host

The public grid has a -2 penalty always, even in a host (on a public grid)

Typical Device Ratings

o

1 = General appliances, public terminals, entertainment systems

2 = Standard personal electronics, basic cyberware, vehicles, drones, weapons,

residential security devices

3 = Security vehicles, alphaware, corporate security devices

4 = High-end devices, betaware, military vehicles and security devices

5 = Deltaware, credsticks, black-ops vehicles and security devices

6 = Billion-nuyen experimental devices, space craft

Matrix Spotting Table

o

Not running silent

< 100m = Automatic

100+ m = Simple Computer + Intuition [Data Processing]

a host (any distance) = automatic

Running silent

Must first check if there are any silent icons in the vicinity (within 100m or in the
same host)

Opposed Computer + Intuition [Data Processing] vs. Logic + Sleaze (1 net hit =
detect)

If there are multiple silent running icons, you roll once against a random one

{{{If you know "a feature" of an icon running silent (e.g. the last one who
attacked you), you can look for a specific one}}}

Matrix Perception
o

Autospot anything within 100m that is not running silent

Spotting beyond 100m or any silent device requires a test (see Matrix Spotting Table)

Any marked icon is always visible

Any spotted icon will stay visible even if it starts running silent

Icon can use the Hide action or reboot/jack out

If you are running silent you have a -2 modifier to all Matrix actions

Sample things you can perceive per hit:

Spot a target

The most recent edit date of a file.

The number of boxes of Matrix damage on the targets Condition Monitor.

The presence of a data bomb on a file.

The programs being run by a persona.

The targets device rating.

The targets commode.

The rating of one of the targets Matrix attributes.

The type of icon (host, persona, device, file), if it is using a non-standard (or even
illegal) look.

Whether a file is protected, and at what rating.

The grid a persona, device, or host is using.

If youre out on the grid, whether there is an icon running silent within 100
meters.

If youre in a host, whether there is an icon running silent in the host.

If you know at least one feature of an icon running silent, you can spot the icon
(Running Silent, below).

The last Matrix action an icon performed, and when.

The marks on an icon, but not their owners.

Running Silent
o

Switching to silent running is a Simple Action

-2 to all Matrix Actions while running silent

See "Matrix Spotting Table->Running silent" for spotting rules

Any owner can set a Matrix object to silent running

Noticing Hackers
o

A successful Attack or a failed Sleaze will result in detection

IC may be launched (only if in a host)

Recognition Keys (marks)

o

Marks are individualized to their owner

Icons can invite other icons for 1-3 marks (Invite Mark action)

Otherwise, Brute Force and Hack on the Fly are the only other options

Marks are invisible to everyone but the mark owner, but can be spotted with Matrix
Perception

All marks you have and are on you are removed when you reboot

Marks can never be given or transferred

Owners
o

Every device, persona, host, and file has an owner.

Each Matrix object can only have one owner.

"For all intents and purposes, owning an icon is the same as having four marks on it."
(p.236)

Owning a device and being its owner are not necessarily the same (e.g. if you steal
someone else's commlink)

Matrix Ownership is registered with the device and the grids

Ownership can be transferred (if you are the owner) in a ~1 minute process

You can illegally change a device's owner with:

Hardware toolkit

Extended Hardware + Logic [Mental] (24, 1 hour)

Glitch results in an alert sent out to the authorities

Note that changing a file's ownership can be done with Edit File to copy, then
delete original

Personas and hosts can never have ownership changed

Matrix Teamwork Tests

o

{{{There is no specific ruling on how teamwork should work on Matrix actions, so all of the
below is a house rule}}}

When trying to assist another on a Matrix action, they both must be in the same
host (if any)

If they are on different grids, the normal "different grid" penalty applies

Both characters accrue overwatch score from the action

Add 1 to OS for both characters for each hit on the teamwork test

Programs
o

Come in Common and Hacking types (Hacking programs are illegal)

Cannot duplicate programs on the deck

Only provides benefit while the program is running

Programs appear as icons connected to your persona

Agents
o

Autonomous programs rated from 1-6

Take up one program slot on your deck

Can use programs running on the same device as them

Use the Matrix attributes of the device they run on (e.g. your cyberdeck)

Use their own rating for other attributes (e.g. Mental)

Intelligence is equivalent to Pilot Programs (p. 269) of the same rating

Attacks on the agent are attacks on you

Agents can run independently of you and have their own persona when doing so

Hosts (p.246)

No physical spot, but could be tethered to one (e.g. clubs, stores)

Entering a host requires going through the actual host icon

Always on a specific grid, but once inside the originating grid is irrelevant

Can run IC

Patrol IC behavior and host security levels

Have file archives that hold files that aren't in use, cannot be hacked

Hosts have a Host Rating (HR)

Attack, Sleaze, Data Processing, Firewall

Ratings are typically (HR + 3), (HR + 2), (HR + 1), (HR)

IC have the same ratings as their host

Host Convergence

Overwatch Score accumulates while inside the host

When convergence occurs, host gets three marks on you and deploys IC

Leaving a host after convergence results in immediately grid convergence

(should just jack out)

Intrusion Countermeasures (IC)

{{{Data Processing + Host Rating + 4D6}}}

Rules-as-written is (Initiative = Data Processing + Intuition + 4D6)

Hosts can launch one IC per turn, at the START of the turn

Hosts typically have Patrol IC running all the time

Hosts can run # of ICs equal to their Rating

Hosts are capped to only one per type of IC at a time

IC condition monitor = 8 + (Host Rating / 2) (p.228)

IC resist attacks with Device Rating + Firewall

IC attacks are:

(Host Rating) * 2 [Attack]

Complex Action

Note that failed attacks damage the IC as normal

Matrix Actions

Brute Force
o

attack and add a mark

Change Icon

Check Overwatch Score

Control Device

Crack File

Crash Program

Data Spike (Complex Action)

o

Cybercombat + Logic [Attack] v. Intuition + Firewall

Matrix Damage = Attack + 1/net hit + 2/mark

If you are Data Spiking an icon you are the owner of, that counts as 4 marks (+8 DV)

Disarm Data Bomb

Edit File
o

Can be used to protect files

Enter/Exit Host

Erase Mark

Erase Matrix Signature

Full Matrix Defense

Grid Hop

Hack on the Fly

Stealth add a mark

Hide

Invite Mark

Jack Out

Jam Signals

Jump Into Rigged Device

Matrix Perception
o

Matrix Search
o

Search matrix for info

Can be public info, or private info on this host

Info:

Analyze an object or vicinity

General = 1 (1 minute)

Limited = 3 (30 mins)

Hidden = 6 (12 hours)

Modifiers:

-1 intricate or specialized

-2 obscure

-2 on another grid

Reboot Device
o

if mark = 3, reboot device (specify delay to start back up 0-infinite)

only works on devices

Doesn't work on link-locked

Send Message

Set Data Bomb

Snoop
o

if mark >=1, intercept traffic to and from target

Spoof Command
o

if mark >=1, send a command

only works on devices and agents

Switch Interface mode

Trace Icon
o

Find physical location of device or persona if mark >= 1

Doesn't work on hosts or IC (no physical presence)