Cyberpunk RP

[DonScorpio]

Reading through the forums, I see a lot of Fantasy roleplay but no sci-fi. After testing the waters with an urban horror roleplay much smaller in scope than the sweeping epics involving elves and Jedi, the urge to write took hold and I decided to start fleshing out a sweeping epic of my own.

Wanted:
A dedicated group of up to 8 players.

Setting:
A near-future planet earth. Technology has advanced to the point of high-fantasy, essentially making all sci-fi "real". Teleporters, lightsabers, laser blasters are all functional, everyday items. The massive overpopulation and inflation caused by the existence of galactic wealth has created a class structure so rigid it may as well be feudal.

Character Choices:
Character builds are based on a 33 point system. Skills and Abilities are mapped to tools the character knows how to use or devices that have been surgucally implanted in their bodies, enhancing them. There are four "races" to choose from to maintain the fantasy RPG parallel.

Meta Human-
The perfect human specimen. Your genetic line has remained uncorrupted through the massive evolutionary upheaval that followed the scientific and technological discoveries of the late 22nd century. Now you are faster, smarter, and stronger than all natually born humans. You do not need cybernetic implants or genetic modification to attain a stat higher than average. Excessive cybernetics will cause you to lose this status however, as you will have cut the "special" out of you to replace it with machinery, or organs grown in a vat.

Cyborg-
While a civilian can have up to 15% of their base replaced by cybernatic hardware and remain a normal citizen, those who choose to go beyond this trade their first-class citizenship for something less. Due to the upkeep for a cybernetic body being outside the earning potential of a single individual, the credit bureau has deemed cyborgs as welfare cases. A share of all earnings go toward the state for the cost of maintaining the cyberhost.

Splicers-
Usually limited to galactic military forces, the practice of replacing human organs with genetically enganced synthetic organs has become popular among the wealthy and criminal elements of society. A cold-blooded circulatory system to withstand atmospheric extremes or venom glands to fight off attackers in prison can all be obtained for a price. These enhancements also reduce a character's citizenship if more than 15% nonhuman tissue is implanted. Beyond that point, the nonhuman genetic imprint will cause the host to look decidely non-human.

Mutants-
Mutants start off as second-class citizens. Their mutations may not be obvious as less than 15 percent will allow a mutant to "pass" as human. Mutants suffer from a condition that forces them to evolve rapidly. A sickness that emerged shortly after space travel was perfected, it was initially used to create galatic colonists that could withstand the extreme atmospheric conditiojns of a planetary ecosystem as it went through the terraforming process. However with the invention of gene therapy allowing scientists to simply "grow" a human capable of that, mutants have become the dregs of society.

Building a character.

Strength
Stamina
Perception
Reflex
Intellect

A character's stats can range from 0 (with good reason) to 10. Metahumans can simply take an ability score of 10, while a non-meta will have to use other means to elevate their base stats past 6.

Implants, Mutations, and Designer Organs

Unique abilities are the result of purchased technorganic hardware rather than hard work and skill. Want to look through walls, you need a cybernetic eye. Want to sense enemies through walls, you need to find a doctor willing to surgically implant you with a snake's heat sensors. Each of these things costs points (which translates into the vast amount of wealth you now owe the credit bureau) that are applied to your character.

Getting started:
Depends on the group I wind up with, but since most of the characters will be swamped by debt from character creation anyway, the standard "fetch the shiny thing" plot will probably be the icebreaker. Group makeup will determine the shiny thing.

PM if interested. As always, anyone who wants to add to the flavor text by contributing sci-fi technology is welcome to do so here.

 

[DonScorpio]

Character Creation

Using the 33 points you get at character creation, you would create a character sheet. We'll go with a Meta Human for a basic "fighter".

Example Meta Human:

"Bruce Leroy"
Trained in an abandoned warehouse by an old fortune-cookie writing printer that he hacked into as a child, Bruce's innate understanding of physics transformed the seemingly random gibberish into a mathematical code that he applied both to his fighting style and his nuanced approach to hacking a solidly built program.

Strength = 6
Perception = 4
Stamina = 7
Reflex =5
Intellect = 6

22 Points

5 = Hacker (mission impossible level)
5 = Martial Artist (the moves they never show on TV)
1 = Favorite Weapon/Staff (the moves they never show on TV)

Meta Humans are prodigies. They are the one-in-a-million shining example of whatever they do. They can take skillsets for 5 points each that set them aside as the best in whatever that is. Regular attributes that expect to be referenced in gameplay (a weapon, a vehicle, a relentless pursuer, etc.) must be referenced here as well.

Example Cyborg Character

Cyborgs have to maintain their expensive organs, forcing them to take whatever job will keep the harvesters at bay. Their point totals can be elevated to 50 through the drawbacks of having their living tissue replaced with a machine however, and they can be extremely versatile characters. Here you'll see where a point total above 33 costs a subsequent penalty point.


"The Lieutenant"
A police officer in Old Detroit, the Lieutenant was gunned down in a stim bust gone bad. However, as the legal property of Dynamicorp, the Lieutenant's still viable brain stem was implanted in an experimental cybernatic chassis. After a few adventures, some toy merchandising, and a failed saturday morning carton show, the lieutenant has traded in his robotic cop uniform for a high-grade custom model body and now he sells his services as a mercenary to the highest bidder.

Strength = 7
Perception = 7
Stamina = 7
Reflex =7
Intellect = 7

-5 = Relentless Pursuer: Red Dagger Clan (vampires)
-5 = Relentless Pursuer: Order of the Black Hand (ninjas)
-5 = Relentless Pursuer: The Unseeing Eye (shamans)
-1 = Uncanny Sight (unable to detect non-interfaced organic objects)
-1 = Diagnosed with Disembodiment Syndrome (Must maintain 18 hour drug cycle or experience neural collapse)

45 = "Nanoshell" symthetic carapace with cosmetic upgrade. (300 pts structure rating/All stats base 7)
1 = Enhanced Ballistic Targeting Software (can't miss within the factory set range of the weapon)
1 = Forearm-mounted fusion cannon (forearm-mounted energy weapon)
1 = nanoloader (limitless amunition for a mounted weapon)
2 = LandNav transit upgrade (mountain-gear rated climing rig mounted in the body)
5 = Multi-Millionare Level Wealth (private car, private jet, card that's accepted everywhere...)

Cyborgs live on a constant quest to maintain their expensive organs. multi-million dollar debt tends to earn them relentless pursuers in the form of creditors. However the high-end, black market hardware they get in return is often worth it.

Example Splicer:

Splicers, depending on how much of their bodies they intend to sacrifice to gene therapy, can obtain up to 50 points in character creation. I'll go with a 40 point build this time

Relmin Lightfinger
After his escape from the Farm, Relmin was forced to live in the slums, far from the well-to-do of the city. However, after others like him began disappearing he discovered that the fire didn't destroy the facility (how could it? he was stupid to think it might) and that the harvesters were coming to reclaim what they'd put so much time and money into.

Strength = 7
Perception = 3
Stamina =4
Intellect = 4
Reflex = 7

3 = Combat Reflexes (responds to all incoming threats)
2 = Executioners Eyes (strikes vital organs when fighting)
1 = Armored Skin (blades, shrapnel, and small-caliber ballistics)
1 = "PitBull" Locking Combat Jaw
1 = Prehensile Tail
2 = Ghost (can sneak like a ninja)
5 = Venom Combat System (a stinger, a squirter, a shooter, glue, acid, gas, etc.)

-3 = Ghastly Appearance (face to face is not your thing)
-1 = Eyeshine (even from a distance...they can tell)
-1 = Deformed (even when you cover it up)
-2 = Wanted By: Green Valley Farms

Splicers have non-human DNA and that makes them either valuable research specimens (organ theft targets) or feared outcasts. A general bounty exists on pureborn splicers that grow to puberty to reveal "corrupted" DNA (likely from atmospheric pollutants) that nonetheless function. Most splicers are wealthy socialites who want the latest in designer genetics however a minority of volountary gene therapy patients are criminals or mercenaries looking for the latest edge on the competition.

Mutants-

Mutants cannot control the rate of their mutation and so they will evolve new abilites as they progress. However, their genetic template is still set at 50 points. The powers themselves just get stronger. Their mutation advances in kind, eventually progressing past the point where "passing" is possible.

Example Mutant:

Mother Willow
No one knows how long she's been here, but she's always been here. Her corner store has been the center of this community since before the first towers went up. She's always there with good advice, and her home remedies have brought even the sickest of the sick back from the brink of death.

Strength: 0
Perception: 10
Reflex: 0
Intellect: 10
Stamina: 10

3 = Summon Nature's Guardian (Character summon level 3 nature familiars into combat)
2 = Master: Dimension Magic (Character has mastered time and reality manipulation)
2 = Lair: The Corner Store (Character has their own mapped area, the size of a small town)
5 = Immortal (Character cannot be wiped from this plane of existence)
5 = Psionics Grandmaster (Character can perform all psionic techniques)
5 = Planewalker (Character can teleport, astral project, and summon to any consious mind in existence)

-5 Masquerade (she hasn''t been discovered...yet)
-5 Homebound (character cannot move from this spot)
-3 Well-Known (The downside of being "famous")
-4 Haunted (character is actively pursued by demons and other chaotic trans-dimensional creatures)

Mutants have a unique set of problems as the majority of the population, but having no legal rights aside from the right to continue to exist. That there are no current laws outright advocating the "genetic cleansing" of all mutants is considered by some to be humanity's greatest act of mercy. Aside from the hollows down in the foreclosed sections of the city, there are no mutant "communities" and those that have not been discovered as mutants do their best to hide it.

Go ahead and start making characters if you're interested. I plan on fleshing out the menu for character attributes here as well.

 

[DonScorpio]

Still more...

Players are welcome to create skills and abilities in character creation. The goal would be to create the future badass you've always wanted to be. You want a Jedi, we'll create one in-universe. You want a mad scientist, no problem. Once I have a working playerbase, the character's backgrounds will be woven into a single story of appropriate epic-ness.

Characters can apply abilities from the following schools of knowledge:

Military
Ballistics, Tactics, Combat

Science
Economics, Quantum Physics, Engineering

Liberal Arts
Mass Media, Internet, Personal Interaction

Technology within reason is used to explain why you would have the complete works of the latest quantum physicist in your immediate memory. The player's "skill" would relate to the ability to use such a high-end piece of equipment. The experience that would be needed to use the device at that level is presumed through their having it. In this world, only a college literary professor would be able to navigate the complete works of english literature in order to make it appear as if they were reading over the author's shoulder in the first place.

Combat

Combat actions are declared and then taken. Unless the weapon is unfamiliar, the attempt is successful within the ability of the weapon. Trick shots, called shots, and the like must be vetted against the character sheet.

Any non-combat actions are simply declared and then either challenged by the GM (an unnoticed complication arises i.e. the lock is damaged and hacking it isn't a pre-determined success) or the game progresses.

 

[DonScorpio]

Weapon: Firearm

Sample weapon:

Shrike Autopistol

· Caliber: .40
· Action: Single/3 Round Burst
· Length: 6.85 inch / 174 mm slide
· Height: 5.00 inch / 127 mm
· Width: 1.18 inch / 30 mm
· Length: 6.02 inch / 153 mm between sights
· Magazine Capacity: 10 / 13 / 15 Subject to local laws and regs.
· Gun Weight: 21.16 oz / 600 g empty without magazine.
· Magazine Weight: 2.46 oz / 70 g empty
· Magazine Weight: 9.87 oz / 280 g Full. Approximate subject to ammunition type.
· Range 20 Meters

 

[DonScorpio]

Universal Century Zero One One

Thalia woke to the chemical smell of burning plastic at the back of her throat. She silently cursed the inventor of the "silent alarm" feature coded into her neurodex and forced a few sneezes out to clear her head. An internal switch recognized her thought patterns and a series of lights streamed images across her retina. Her schedule appeard in front of her, floating in midair as a series of orange, semi-transparent images.

There were only two items on her schedule, an appointment with her cybersurgeon to get the latest neuroface upgrade, and a delivery scheduled for...now.

Thalia disabled her augmented overlay and got out of bed. Walking across the room to her desk, she confirmed the time and the date three times before returning to her bedside to retrive her phone just as it began ringing. There was a delivery at the front door. Security would bring her the package shortly.

Turning to the windows, Thalia accessed her neurodex to open the shades. The sky was an ugly purple and rain poured from the night sky. Lighting streaked the sky over the mountains in the distance. She stared out at the view for a few moments before closing the shades again. She wondered for the umpteenth time if that feature was meant to be a "perk", or if the higher-ups were having fun with her by installing a window that looked out onto the filthiest, most corrupt city in the American Territories. After all, if the assignment itself was a punishment, what could the executive-level picture window be if not a reminder of that fact.

Still, when rain hit the slouched hulk of the city, making it shine like black glass...it was kind of pretty.

When the package arrived, dripping wet and clutching a teddy-bear, Thalia could not suppress the urge to run to her. The neurodex was streaming the news reports to her, each report came accompanied by an undoctored newsfeed from her company's own security cameras. Thalia had turned the interface off, so what blurred her vision as she walked toward the little girl were genuine tears. Still, as each new nibble of data was streamed into her forward consiousness, her heart broke a little more.

When her friends who hadn't yet had a neuroface implant asked what it was like, she would often compare it to having a little angel sitting on each shoulder. It seemed a simple enough analogy and, for the most part, was accurate. What she didn't tell them is that it's more like a pirate's parrot, depending on what you've trained them to say, you are going to have to deal with a lot of background noise.

Thalia's neuroface was a company build, hard-wiring her into the network sector she was hired to manage.

Kneeling, unable to speak under the weight of the input being put on her brain, Thalia wrapped her arms around the shivering child.

Killing the public media feeds, Thalia focused her consiousness only on the feeds from her network security cameras. She set these to track the invaders, recording their movements and reporting them to the remaining security personnel. She didn't expect any of the guards to live, but perhaps more of the children might.

She thought of the images of the facility in flames that the media was reporting. The media's news stream was real-time. Thalia then realized she was doubtless sending orders to an empty building. The child in her arms was the only one left. Thalia then looked the child in the eyes, realizing that shock had likely caused irreperable damage to her ability to understand her, she spoke anyway.

"We'll make them pay for this."

She girl stared at her, uncomprehending, as Thalia accessed her phone through the private channel in her neurodex and called an unlisted number down in the filthiest part of the city, called "The Snarl". While she waited for someone to pick up, the little girl squeezed down on her finger tightly.

"Hurt them," she said.

 

[DonScorpio]

Character Profile: Thalia Winterlight

Bio:
Discovered at an early age to be gifted, Thalia was one of the first registered Meta Humans of the Universal Century. She has authored numerous papers on business and economic strategy and is currently one of Time Magazine's fifty hottest corporate stars.

Occupation: Currently running the Public Safety Division of Weyland-Tulani's North American holdings as appointed governor.

Upgrades and Implants

"Triton" Neruodeck Array
* Media streamer (real-time multimedia)
* Burst Wi-FI (enter closed networks)
* Intermediate Level Skill-burner (Purchase skills and use them at Intermediate Level)

Abilities and Skills

Master's Degree Business
Doctorate Degree Economics
Bachelor's Military History

Civilian-Level Firearms Certification
Rifle
Sub-Machine Gun
Pistol

Civiian-Level Vehicle Certification
Light Watercraft
Automobiles (International)
Aircraft (Regional)

 

[DonScorpio]

Cyberpunk is a kind of broad term, so I think I'll narrow the setting down some and see if anything grows from there.

Players for this first mission pilot massive war machines. Character builds would follow the basic "soldier" prototype with some specialization that better defines their role in the group.

Examples:

Soldier/Grunt:
Weapons skills and more weapons skills. Intended to be versatile in their offense, this character would have multiple ways to solve a problem, all involving violence.

Scout/Spy
Would likely employ a specialized weapon to go with their specialized skillset such as poison, or close-quarters combat. Primarily, this character has the ability to get in and out of places people don't want them to be.

Engineer/Demolitions
Weapon skills would likely lean toward the simple and effective as this character uses their gadgets, or knowledge of the enemies gadgets, to cause havoc. Explosives are this character's speciality, so indirect fire is another way they can contribute to the squad.

Medic/Chem
This character might not appear offensive at first, but their use of chemical weapons makes them a frightening opponent in the field. Primarily however, their job is to ensure the pilots get back alive.

The war machines themselves are any design that the player wants, scaled down to the setting, of course. Flying tanks, transforming robots, galaxy-class starships...all legit, but we're going to roll some of that awesome back to a lower level character for the first go-round.

So, let me know how this one grabs you. Judging by PMs, The initial cyberpunk idea got a lot of interest initially, I'm hoping that by adding a little direction and focus, we can get this thing off the ground.