Building Constructs and Set-Pieces

Every mission happens somewhere inside the Matrix. That somewhere is not geography — it's code pretending to be geography. As the builder, you decide what the construct looks like, what it wants the operatives to believe, and where it breaks.

Locations are sets, not maps

A Location file is a film set. It needs to answer four questions in the order a GM will need them at the table:

1. What does the Operator see? (atmosphere)
2. What does the camera see? (description + image)
3. How does it play? (notes — exits, cover, verticality, threats)
4. Where does it crack? (the tell that this is code)

The existing schema gives you name, type, atmosphere, description, notes, and image. That's enough if you use each field for one job and keep a consistent pattern in notes.

The four fields that matter

name + type — Name it like a location scout would. Not "Dungeon Room 3" but "Lethe Corporation Lobby" or "Merovingian's Restaurant." Use type as a quick tag the GM can filter on: Lobby, Rooftop, Subway, Nightclub, Construct, Hard Line, Corporate Office, Street. Keep the list short — ten types cover ninety percent of Matrix missions.

atmosphere — Write this as the Operator's voice over the phone. One or two sentences, present tense, sensory. The Example Location — "Inviting at first glance, with one detail that tells players something is waiting beneath the surface" — is exactly right. Bad atmosphere tells lore; good atmosphere tells the GM what to say:

• Good: "Rain on chrome. The lobby is too clean, too quiet — three dogs by the reception desk that never blink at the same time."
• Bad: "This was built in 1998 to serve as a corporate headquarters for the Machines' backup routines."

description — What the camera sees on entry. Wide shot, then detail. Include mirrors, glass, and chrome whenever you can — the Builder chapter On Running the Game is not joking about this; reflective surfaces are where the Matrix shows its seams. Name two or three interactables per location: a chandelier to swing from, a pillar to hide behind, a window to leap through.

notes — Your staging area and the GM's cheat sheet. Until you promote these to real fields (see Hacking the System), keep a fixed block:

Exits: Payphone — lobby east wall (hard line, needs operator) / Service door — stairwell to rooftop / Window — 40-story drop
Cover / Verticality: Marble pillars (hard cover), mezzanine 15ft up, chandelier rated for one operative
Threat: 4 guards = 2 Advantage Dice (Gun Fu 3) / Agent arrival 2 rounds after alarm
Mirrors/Glass: Mirrored ceiling, chrome elevators, lobby phone glass
Soundtrack: Lobby — low hum + heels on marble; Combat — switch to industrial
Tell: The clock above reception is stuck at 12:00, second hand stutters

That block lets a GM run the location cold. The Tell is optional but powerful — the small wrongness that rewards Perception or a Matrix Test.

Designing set-pieces, not rooms

A Matrix location should never be just a backdrop. Each one needs a reason to move through it in a specific, cinematic way. Think in verbs:

Build every location with one intended stunt. Not a requirement, an invitation. "The mezzanine is exactly one Matrix-leap away" or "the chandelier will hold one person if they get a Matrix success on Acrobatics." Write that invitation in notes so the GM knows to offer it.

The hard line rule

Every location that matters needs a hard line — a phone the Operator can route an exit through. Mark it explicitly in notes every time:

• Hard line: Yes — lobby payphone, Operator must hold 1 round
• Hard line: No — construct, Operator must code one (1 round + Intrusion check)
• Hard line: Compromised — Agents are listening on this one

Players plan missions around exits. If you don't tell the GM where they are, they'll improvise badly under pressure.

Batch checklist

Before you call a location done:

• type is one of your short list, not a sentence
• atmosphere is Operator-voice, 1–2 sentences, says what the phone hears
• description names 2–3 interactables and at least one reflective surface
• notes has the Exits / Cover / Threat / Mirrors / Tell block in that order
• At least one intended stunt is written down
• Hard line status is explicit — yes, no, or compromised
• image is top-down set dressing or wide-angle lobby/street, not a portrait