Cyberpunk campaign (Metachat)

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BMR
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Cyberpunk campaign (Metachat)

Post by BMR »

Righto, so I know we've already got three campaigns running (two by James, and one by Spoon) but seeing as how they're all fantasy campaigns, might be interesting to do something a little different.

So, question, how many people here would be interested in joining up if I were to run a cyberpunk campaign? I would be using this but without the magic and psionics stuff.

If enough people are interested, I'll start up a metachat thread for the campaign with details about rolling up characters, restrictions, etc...
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Sazae
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Post by Sazae »

Sounds interesting!
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Gizmog
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Post by Gizmog »

I haven't been doin too good in the other threads, but CyberPunk seems intriguing and I'd love to give it a go.
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

I love the idea-- probably won't manage to participate, but I still say go for it.

I have been listening to a Roleplaying Podcast recently that does a lot of Star Wars campaigns and other Sci-Fi campaigns. There are a lot of fun opportunities in futuristic stuff that doesn't come up as easily in a Fantasy D&D setting
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Post by Gizmog »

IRC looked into playing Star Wars a long time ago (A few rulesets back, maybe. We were gonna have to buy books and slime). I would love to play R2-D2 in pretty much any campaign.
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Post by BMR »

Hmm, just two people so far. Doable, I guess, I can run a campaign with just two players. Although it'll limit the amount of abuse I can throw at you guys, so that's one thing =p I'll have something up later that details character creation and stuff.
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Post by Gizmog »

Anything we should know tone-wise about the campaign? Level of violence, level of computer-geekery? IE: Are we going to be in bad shape if we don't focus on combat skills and/or aren't ace hackers? What kind of jobs have we taken before and why has this particular crew gathered?

If things are PL-6 (The Fusion Age) then how does that effect our day to day lives? Are old fashioned bullet guns still in common use?
And for that matter, why the hell is the Colt Python so cheap? It's the only gun that gets a bonus and it's also cheap FFS!

My first character concept, pending further advice, is former Linebacker (Or future-sports equivalent) and current strong hero Teddy Tonkin. He was a stud in college but never made the big time. For five years he made the rounds in the German League, trying to find his way back to fame and glory. When that didn't work, he spent five more years going through the motions in Switzerland, just for the satisfying crack of hitting somebody. And when he went to Turkey to take it to the next level, he was the one who got cracked.

Now approaching middle age, he's got artificial lungs that need upkeep. He's got a kid who needs to learn to love football. He's got an ex-wife who needs her alimony checks. And most importantly, he's got a job doing what he loves best, makin' people hurt.

Combat-wise, Teddy's going to focus on unarmed combat, but I imagine he probably owns a gun or two for show. Out of combat, I think his interests are more limited. He likes to gamble on football and keeping up to date on the scores. He may or may not try to coach a little league team from time to time. He may or may not have killed a referee and buried him in the woods.

One of the big downsides of this character is that, outside of a football injury ruining his lungs (damn those Turkish cyberfreaks!) there isn't a whole lot of cyberpunk about the guy. He's more Zapp Rowsdower than Neo and depending on the campaign and other players, that could be a bad thing or the worst possible thing.

Still super interested! Something about modern/near-future stuff feels more human and easier to roleplay/relate to than the fantasy campaigns (which I still love.)
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Post by BMR »

Good questions.



Q:What is the expected level of violence in the campaign?
A:There will be violence in the game, but there will be more focus on out-of-combat stuff. Sure, you would be able to barrel your way through stuff at times, but you should also expect to face situations where it would be more sensible to find another solution to the problem. You'll be spending just as much time in the dirty back-alleys of the city as you will in the richer (and chrome-ier) tech-heavy areas, so combat could be against anything from your two-bit petty thugs to trained security in the latest body-armor. Of course, as always you should be able to find a way around things if you so desire.



Q:What's the computer-geekery level?
A:There will be some computer-geekery and hacking involved. Part of the main campaign is the guy hiring your crew to track down a rogue AI (cliche, I know, but what the hell, it works) along with some new cutting-edge military tech. That said, you don't have to have a hacker as a character, as you can always just track down and bully some dweeb nerd into doing the computery bits for you.



Q:What sorts of focus skill-wise will there be?
A:Expect a lot of snooping, talking, and the sort. Combat/computer skills are fine, but as mentioned above you can always track down a hireling of sorts to do the things that your characters are not able to do.



Q:What kinds of jobs have your guys taken before?
A:A lot of different things. Bodyguard work is a common one, as is going in the opposite direction and having to get past bodyguard to hurt and/or kill the dude. On occasion, you've been hired to track down a certain item (new technology, chemical supplies, data, etc... typical mega-corporate espionage) for the megacorps, but those jobs are more rare. This job looks to be one of those.



Q:Why was this current crew gathered?
A:No reason, you were the dudes who were mucking about with nothing better to do at the time.



Q:How does technology affect your daily life?
A:The major players on the global scale are the megacorps. They are powerful enough to be almost like small nations themselves, and their touch can be felt everywhere. With that level of power though, they can often be rather heavy-handed in their approach to things, as usually nothing less than another megacorp can do much to deter them.

There is a fairly wide gap with tech. The richer parts of town, where the megacorps reside, are on the cutting-edge of technology. Those areas are clean, fancy, and as is wont with cyberpunk, shiny. Robots are a common sight there, mostly doing the menial tasks associated with big cities. These robots are sometimes bipedal, but many aren't. They are also pretty easy to distinguish from humans, as perfect android types have not yet been developed. A few are used as security, but people aren't too comfortable around armed robots so these are rare. In addition, computers are pretty much universal here, with just about everything being computerized to some degree or other.

In the poorer part of town though, tech is not quite as ubiquitous. Computerized stuff is still fairly common, but the equipment here is much older and shoddier than in the richer parts of town. The stuff you'd see near where you are would roughly correspond to high-end computer gear nowadays. Robots are still seen here and there, but mostly only among the richer gang-bosses and the sort.

With robots, true AI has not yet been developed. There are close approximations that can learn to some extent, but truly sentient and thinking AI is still the holy grail for robotics and computer science.

Wherever you go though, everyone typically has access to a computer, usually on their person. This could take the form of phones or portable computers, and as in real life the quality of that computer varies greatly depending on who owns it.




Q:Are old-fashioned bullet guns still common
A:Old-fashioned bullet guns are still very common. Not everyone can afford a laser pistol, and the higher tech blaster types are usually much too difficult to maintain and repair for the average joe. What's more, many higher-tech weapons require special licenses to own and operate, and those are even harder for average people to acquire. Megacorps will of course use cutting-edge weaponry, while police use higher-tech, but not top-of-the-line, equipment. The military has great equipment, but again not as good as the megacorps.





EDIT:
Also, as for the Colt Python, I just looked it up in the official docs. The price on that page is a typo, it should have a purchase DC of 15.
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Post by Gizmog »

Great answers to everything. You can never go wrong with a Rogue AI, I can definitely get a character who'll fit into all of this. Really sad about the Colt Python though. I was going to pass 'em out like candy.
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

So I said before I wasn't gonna play, but now I am making a character sheet. I hope this campaign is still happening :)
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

My plan is to make a Fast Hero on the Daredevil track (with a possible eye towards Dogfighter or Mecha pilot)

Her name will be Tokamak Coca-Cola ("Mac" for short)

She is in her mid 30s, and is small and tough. She shaves her head, but usually has a few days scalp stubble. Her nose and ears and peppered with empty piercing holes, but she no longer ever wears any jewelry in them. Her face and arms are both heavily scarred from numerous past motorcycle crashes. Her preferred clothing is anything that minimizes road-rash when tumbling at high-speed.

What kind of vehicles are available in this setting? I definitely want her to be into motorcycles, but depending on what is more appropriate for the setting I also want her to be skilled with aircraft, or rideable mechas, or some other appropriate heavy vehicle.

She will have the Adventurer background, and will have a reckless self-destructive streak. She says she is in the business for the money, but she is really in the business for the car chases.
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Post by BMR »

The campaign is definitely still on. Not sure if Giz is still interested though.

Motorcycles are fine. Being skilled with aircraft and mecha is fine, but they'll probably be waaaay out of your price range. You might run into a few (albeit very rarely), so having the skill to pilot them might be beneficial.
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Post by Gizmog »

Yeah, I'm still interested. I don't even remember coming up with that character concept, but it'll be fun to stat him.
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Post by Taco Bot »

I might actually be interested in this, if there's still any room. I've been really getting into System Shock lately so this sounds totally awesome.
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Post by BMR »

Sure thing, if you need any help rolling up a character, hit me up.
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