USH'S MATRIX GAME- Agent Intelligence Thread

This thread serves a very specific purpose. It is for the gathering of data about Agents.

As the game starts, whilst I know some of you have included Agents in your backgrounds, my idea is that all each of you really know about Agents is what in the real world you have seen in the films. As in, you know they can dodge bullets, hit hard, leap from person to person etc. but you have no details about any of it- you do not have the Agent 'Manual' in the way I have provided complete details as to how YOU guys fight. You can always look up what move an opponent in the Dojo does and identify it. With Agents you don't have a clue.

However, the more you experience Agents- and that is a very dangerous thing to do so it is nice to have SOME reward- the more you will learn about them. And everything you learn about them, you and I can place here.

Information about Agents comes under three categories

1. General Operation- how they work and how they go about things. You know a little of this already.

2. Stats. Just what ARE an Agent's stats and skills compared you yours?

3. Powers. As noted elsewhere Agents do not know Kung Fu. They are programmed with their own, very direct fighting style. Hence, Agents do not have Paths, they instead have Agent Powers.

If you like, you can prefer to see this as them having one single Path- The Path of the Unstoppable Machine. It has many powers.

Whenever I use an Agent power I will simply name it and tell you what just happened, I won't give the details. But if you ever spot me using one I have not used before- ask me what it is here, and I shall reveal it to you! Except for its cost- you have no way of discerning that.

Any questions about Agents, ask them here but I will not answer everything. I think it might also be fun for people to SPECULATE over what Agents can do.

Do remember the basic advice Dallas gave you though- whilst you must run from an Agent, they are not unstoppable instant killing machines of death! I would not bother for a system for them if they were- I would just say you were dead as soon as one got near you. You are not, I DO have a system and you can fight, so long as you don't try and win...

1. General Operation

Agents cannot exist independantly in the system. When they insert themselves for direct intervention, they overwrite an existing mind pattern in the Matrix. Obviously, this only works for people plugged into the System. When Agents so 'load' themselves threy come with all their basic equipment regardless of what the overwritten person was doing. Whilst they do not do it often, Agents CAN leave a mind pattern if they so wish, leaving it confused but unharmed.

Agents are equipped with Desert Eagle .50 AE pistols that carry quite a punch. They do not appear to carry spare clips. But whenever they overwrite a person they come with a new gun fully loaded.

Agents have programme senses rather than human ones which makes them very acute at, effectively, seeing and hearing. They also have a highly tuned danger sense which allows them to realise when they are under threat. This is not an infinite resource- Agents can be distracted by existing threats and not sense new ones. Also, Agents may have superior sense equivalents but they do not appear to be able to see through walls and the like- you can hide from them.

Agents need guidance just as you do. Their earpieces connect them to the Source which guides their actions as Operators guide yours. The Matrix, however, is a VERY complex programme, and a search operation takes time for the System to complete. The Source does not know all things that are happening at all times; only someone they have 'bugged' can be instantly found. However, whilst an Agent has you in visual range, the Source will continually keep ALL Agents appraised as to your location.

Agents tend to operate in teams of 3. It is unclear whether they always have a leader.

Agents are Artificially Intelligent Life Forms, NOT pre-programmed machines. Whilst they think in machine ways they are fully realised beings like you or I. Whilst they have little need to, they are fully capable of intelligent conversation. They enjoy their work and often enjoy gloating over defeated humans. They have an enormous superiority complex.

However, this means that whilst Agents all look roughly the same, they are not actually ALL the same. They can develop personality and behaviour quirks, ambition, greed, bad temper, anything a human can. Smith was, obviously, an extreme example of this. It is therefore possible to meet distinctive Agents who have stats or an attack pattern different to that of a 'standard' Agent. Most, however, will follow the lay-out you will discover here.

Agents follow a standard attack pattern against hostile targets- learn it.

Agents will, of course, be used sparingly. Like Reloaded, the majority of the game will cover other things- to preserve both the impact of an Agent, and the air of mystery and danger around them.

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ADDED (28/11/03): AGENT PRIVILEGE: When an Agent and others are acting with the same amount of exertion, Agents always act before players, in the same way that players always (normally!) act before others.

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ADDED (1/12/03): AGENT ARROGANCE: Agents are extremely arrogant and this can occasionally be their downfall.

Unlike the Focus/Path power system, into which a lot of effort has gone towards balancing, Agent Powers are less finely honed, though as much effort as possible has been made to making their costs and effects fit. But the point is, if in the hands of a player aiming to kill another player, an Agent really WOULD be too dangerous. They would overpower any of you if 'hosed' in this way.

But they are NOT played by players, they are played by me. So they don't always do the most lethal thing in a situation. They like to play with you, gloat at you, try different things with you. The system is therefore self-balancing.

Arrogance allowed Trinity to shoot an Agent 'dead'; I'll probably never go that far but I will never abuse the system to kill a player in no time at all.

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ADDED (1/12/03): AGENT DODGES.

Considering their normally uninventive attacks in the films, Agents often seem curiously good at defending, normally using their bodies to interpose attacks. Neo performs a fantastic Flying Whirlwhind Kick on Smith in the Subway but Smith just falls back, arms up, and each blow just bounces off his arms. Time and time again Agents simply use their limbs to shrug off blows.

When Agents perform a Basic Dodge, they add +3 to their defence value, not +2. Agents may perform Basic Dodges even when Prone.

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ADDED (5/1/04): AGENT ANGER

It has been observed that when someone starts to do well against an Agent... that Agent comes back far harder! This is a system rule. The extent of that rule I leave for you to guess.

2. Stats

Body: 12
Reflexes: 9
Martial Arts: 13
Guns: 13
System Resources: ?

'System Resources' is what Agents use instead of Focus as they draw power from the system to aid them. It is spent and refreshes just like Focus. It acts as an important limiter on what they do- like Paths many of their powers will look devastating but they simply cannot continually use them.

29/11/03: Added Body. Agents always display strength conspicuously in advance of the maximum possible human norm.

19/12/03: Added Reflexes after the v2.0 change as that would become obvious as soon as a round starts now. Agents are fast but it is possible to be faster.

Note that Agent Secondary stats always match the Primaries.

4/1/04: Added Martial Arts and Guns of 13. Lower than many expected, I am sure, As was intimated to people beforehand, when an Agent turns up and engages you he tneds to show less skill than the Rebel he is fighting, and they never appear to be gun marksmen, good shots though a 13 makes them.

3. Powers

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Bullet Dodge- Added 28/11/03

Reference: "Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air..." As demonstrated when Neo shoots at the Agent in M1, and when Morpheus/one of the Twins does in Reloaded, the Agent ability to dodge bullets is just as advertised

Most obvious of all the Agent powers, it allows them to completely negate bullet attacks.

Bullet Dodge only needs to be declared by an Agent on a gun attack that would hit. They never need to waste time dodging an attack that would miss anyway.

When an Agent performs a Bullet Dodge, he gains X exertion and the attack misses as he blurs at superhuman speed to literally dodge the bullets- with some effort.

X is unknown.

(Added 28/11/03). It has been theorised that X gets higher the better your shot is. This is correct. However, you do not know the scale involved.

(Added 1/12/03). Multiple bullets and/or burst fire can increase X.

X has other factors- find them!

Cost: ?

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Pose- added 28/11/03

Reference: Agents in the films love to pose. They stop to straighten ties, adjust glasses, make pithy comments... some of it is just toying. But sometimes there seems to be more of a purpose to it...

Agents will sometimes stop to pose during actions; these are Extremely Fast actions.

Added 1/5/04 An Agent that is posing increases his power in some manner. There are three poses he can perform:

Stronger, Tougher: This increases the Agent's Body by one

Adaptive Learning: This increases the Agent's MA score by one

Faster, Quicker: This increases the Agent's Reflexes by one

These increases last for the entire combat.

Cost: ?

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Straight Punch- added 28/11/03

Reference: Smith's signature move. He performs it several times in the fight with Neo in M1, including the blow that sends Neo flying across the station. It is the very last blow Smith attempts on Neo before Smith 'dies' in M1, fist behind his head.

The Straight Punch is the most straightforwardly devastating move in an Agent's arsenal in that it is highly destructive and needs no pre-requisite to use. The Agent draws his arm and clenched fist behind his head and slams it straight forwards for the most mighty of blows.

A Straight Punch hits as if the Agent's Strength is doubled.

(Added 1/12/03). Straight Punch is a Predictable attack.

(Added 1/12/03). Reference: "I have seen an Agent punch through a concrete wall..." Straight Punch does double damage to inanimate objects- this is enough to destroy nearly anything.

Cost: ?

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Intercept Punch- added 1/12/03

Reference: Morpheus fights Smith in the bathroom in M1. Morpheus gets off many good blows but to little effect. One blow is brilliantly intercepted by Smith in mid-blow by a punch of Smith's own into the blow Morpheus was making- not only breaking the blow but leaving Morpheus defenceless against Smith's follow up attack, a double chop to Morpheus' chest.

Intercept Punch, made possible by the superlative timing available to computer programmes, is a Defensive Action Agents may declare. When they perform it, an attack made against them is automatically countered. The Agent then gets an immediate bonus Punch attack against his opponent. This attack automatically hits, as if the Agent had rolled 1 past the amount needed to hit. This reflex attack does not in any way impede the Agent's own attack to follow.

Cost: ?

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Staggered- added 5/1/04

Reference: In the films, the heroes land some good blows on Agents. But whilst they can be knocked down or back, even Neo cannot land one superblow to knock them out. But if you do hit one hard, it makes them angry. Morpheus lands a solid sword blow on the Agent he fought atop the lorry... but in the next exchange of blows, the Agent gets the upper hand

Agents peform a Staggered whenever they receive a blow that does more than five points of damage. The Agent gains an exertion. Damage from the blow is reduced to five. The Agent regains a System Resources Pool

Cost: 0. It gains pool, it does not cost.

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Catch and Throw- added 5/1/04

Reference: Confronting the Agent at the top of the power reserve building in Reloaded, Trinity gets off a number of good blows. But one such sequence ends when she attampts a kick. The Agent simply reaches forwards and grabs Trinity by the leg and body, lifts her bodily upwards, and slams her into the wall

Catch and Throw is a superior Intercept Punch, normally used against flashy or mid-air attacks, but not always. It is a Defensive Action that automatically counters the attack being made on the Agent as the Agent grabs the attacker; he then performs a throw that is automatically successful. The range (and base damage) of the throw is equal to a d6 roll +2, the Agent's strength is then added to that damage. This sends the original attacker Prone. The Agent may follow up this defence.

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Rise- added 6/1/04

Reference: Fighting Smith in the bathroom in the original film, Morpheus knocks Smith to the floor. But Smith rises quickly, almost as if propelled back to his feet under his own muscle power, with no apparent effort. However, this is not something Agents consistently do...

Rise is a power that can be used by an Agent who has been knocked Prone. The Agent immediately returns to his feet, with no time taken.

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Low Kick- added 8/1/04

Reference: Whilst the heroes... well, Morpheus... make very flashy aerial attacks on downed opponents, Agents have only ever been seen to perform a rather more sedate, but equally vicious, low kick, just to hammer the point home

Low Kick is an attack Agents may use on Prone opponents. It gets +3 to hit and does +5 damage.

Well, the first bits of Agent intelligence are now being added! Go check out the first posts again...

Jesus, that will be a pain in my ass.

What, you mean "Oh woe, bullets don't work against Agents"?

I think they taught you that at Matrix school...

Well, Ares is a bit of a guns nut. 😛

Also, I would think he'd have to call off his attack on Burn if he was being shot at.

You'll have to do better than that...

Well, it would be nice to run it over with a car, but it has to, of course, be in the wrong direction.

You need to make an Agent gain enough exertion to lose an action to save someone with gunfire.

Which means working out what X is.

Goody...

Didn't you just say that he gained an exertion?

yup. But look at when Burn shot him. X is variable.

ok
to gain an action you need to hit him with +2 for one, +3 for 2, +4 for 3 ect.
i think,
KEEP SHOOTING!

Interesting theory.

Put your hand up if you just learned that fleeing from an Agent is... 'risky'...

*hand shoots up*

Note- I have just updated the power Bullet Dodge to reflect a correct educated guess Burn made of how it works.

Note- there are currently two Agent powers that have been used that have not yet been queried!

the walking/jumping on to the cars? the way he catched up with burn

That was just him being flashy when he caught him- Burn dodged which slowed him down (not saying dodging was a mistake though)

Agent powers are always named in italics.