Cyberpunk 2020

[One Step Two]

So, with CD Projekt Red Working on Cyberpunk 2077, I've been inspired to run a game based on the awesome retro-futurism that only the 80's could bring. I've gotten myself a copy of Cyberpunk 2020, and found some handy reference documents online, but I am still feeling a little lost!

Initial notes I have made are as follows:

Run the game as a William Gibson alternate timeline, modern technology outpaced the imagination of the original works by a far wider margin.
Rules are a little all over the place, so I am keeping actual notes on what I find.
Netrunning? In short? Skip!


Does anyone here on the playground have experience with the system, and have any advice to offer? Any anecdotes or memorable moments that people would like to share in playing the game would be welcome too!

[lightningcat]

It has been a long time since I played it, but I remember it being lots of fun, but the rules being a total cluster.
Possibly the worst thing I remember is it uses 1d10+skill for resolution, but almost everything needs a10+ to succeed. My GM also liked botches, which may have been houseruled. But a 10% chance of something aweful happening each roll, wtf?

[RazorChain]

I have played Cyperpunk 2020 extensively


We tended to use Night City as the campaign hub and as I mostly played in the 90's then 2020 seemed so far away :smallsmile:

I suggest that you don't treat 1s as botches just failures and maybe make them roll again and if that is 1 then it's a botch. The 1d10+Skill+Stat works but the interlock system isn't the best system I have tried. The system is pretty deadly, especially head shots.

Don't bother with netrunning, we just fudged it and it usually just boiled down to a die roll against a certain difficulty, else netrunning becomes a one man dungeon crawl.


A memorable moment. After a succesful op the team was awarded penthouse apartments by the corporation we were working for. My character, Kwani, was borderline cyberpsycho and suffering from healthy paranoia after getting her arm shot off and replacing the meat with chrome.

So due to my character not trusting the corporation she found herself a body double and let her stay in her apartment for free. Then fast forward to the day the Corp decided we were a liability and the best course of action was to have us eliminated.

In a bout of paranoia Kwani had decided to sleep in Bullseye's (another PC) bedroom closet for the night without him knowing about it. Not only that, she was camping there armored and with an assault rifle. This was an happy coincidence for poor Bullseye.

So the scene was something like this. D

Referee: "Bullseye you wake up during the middle of the night when your door gets kicked in"

Bullseye: "I roll down from the bed onto the floor"

Referee: "Roll evasion against 19"

Bullseye: "Make it, what do I see when I try to reach for my pistol on the nightstand"

Referee: "Your bed explodes into a mess as it gets riddled with bullets, you barely make it down onto the floor. With your thermographic vision you make out two pair of legs from the floor"

Me: "Eh, you know where I am right?"

Referee: "Yep, what's your action?"

Me "I kick open the door of the closet screaming "suprise mother ****ers!" as I fired full auto with my assault rifle"

Referee after my hit roll " The Corp assassins didn't see that coming and are taken by surprise by your ambush and go down in a hail of bullets"

Bullseye " I didn't see that one coming either, next time around I'm going to put a pillow in my bedroom closet."

[One Step Two]

Thanks for the replies! my initial reading of the netrunning rules said as much, definitely too clunky. I think I am going to settle on the Netrunners Interface skill as a bonus to most things computer based, like Library Search, Electronic Security, etc. Basically, anything that turns their brain into a co-processor enabling them to just be better at it than others.

Combat is short and brutal, 8 points of damage to any limb and it's gone? Harsh! To the head? Dead. Also, the modifiers might be a little clunky when we begin, but I think a little early book-keeping to make sure everyone knows what their base rolls are before hand will be essential.

Speaking of book-keeping, Empathy and humanity costs can be pretty wicked, but there's one section in the Cyberware pages about the Psycho squad, that you can voluntarily choose to register yourself, but also get sweet sweet therapy to return your humanity, and I've also found some reference materials that say that you can hire psychiatrists for 1000-3000EB to help restore your lost points too.
It seems like an easy out to restore lost empathy for all the parts you've slapped on yourself, negating the drawbacks... but then, money is everything, and every session you pay to get your humanity back is less Cyberware, so I think it should work out

There's only one tiny issue that might just be me going a little overboard with RAW, the combat rules state that you can move upto your MA and have an action with no penalty, and that all additional actions have a cumulative -3 added. While it might stretch credibility of time, you could take any arbitrary number of actions, because exploding 10's mean even with a -21 penalty, you might still succeed.
I don't mind the idea of letting players having 2-3 actions per round depending on certain conditions. For example making multiple shots up to their weapons Rate of Fire, before diving for cover (up to their MA). With that said, if anyone knows of errata or common house rules to this, I would appreciate it greatly!

[Destro_Yersul]

There's only one tiny issue that might just be me going a little overboard with RAW, the combat rules state that you can move upto your MA and have an action with no penalty, and that all additional actions have a cumulative -3 added. While it might stretch credibility of time, you could take any arbitrary number of actions, because exploding 10's mean even with a -21 penalty, you might still succeed.
I don't mind the idea of letting players having 2-3 actions per round depending on certain conditions. For example making multiple shots up to their weapons Rate of Fire, before diving for cover (up to their MA). With that said, if anyone knows of errata or common house rules to this, I would appreciate it greatly!

While I'm not sure how common it is, I think there are two easy solutions.

1: cap the number of actions per round.
2: Say that if the penalty is ever greater than your skill+10, you automatically fail.

[One Step Two]

While I'm not sure how common it is, I think there are two easy solutions.

1: cap the number of actions per round.
2: Say that if the penalty is ever greater than your skill+10, you automatically fail.

Thanks for the suggestions, it's given me some good food for thought and I decided to use a mixture of your ideas. Firstly, a little common sense, a combat turn is roughly 3.2 seconds according to Friday Night Fire Fight (FNFF), so if they want to empty 30 rounds form their weapon, reload and do it again after doing a full run, the answer will likely be no.

And as a middle ground and a way to manage fumbles I am going to use this as a solution:

For any roll that does not have a penalty, a natural 1 is not a an automatic failure.
This represents that a skilled enough individual can still succeed on a 1 in normal conditions.

For rolls that have penalties applied, a natural 1 is considered a fumble, and the appropriate table is used.
This represents that taking actions in adverse or high-pressure conditions means a margin for error, and catastrophic results. The reason I am not using another roll of 1 to fumble again, is that the Cyberpunk 2020 fumble tables have results which are basically, a normal failure without a critical error.

Finally, when attempting an action when the sum of the penalties is greater than their Skill+10, any failure is considered a fumble.
Luck cuts both ways, if one of my players wants to pray for exploding successes to overcome a -25 modifier to their roll, more power to them, but I will ensure they are aware of the risks involved.

[RazorChain]

Yes in Cyberpunk money is everything. More money equals better equipment and cyberwear or biowear. Also if you have enough money you can have therapy and get part of your humanity back. IIRC regaining humanity was in Eurosource book.

[comicshorse]

Speaking of book-keeping, Empathy and humanity costs can be pretty wicked, but there's one section in the Cyberware pages about the Psycho squad, that you can voluntarily choose to register yourself, but also get sweet sweet therapy to return your humanity, and I've also found some reference materials that say that you can hire psychiatrists for 1000-3000EB to help restore your lost points too.
It seems like an easy out to restore lost empathy for all the parts you've slapped on yourself, negating the drawbacks... but then, money is everything, and every session you pay to get your humanity back is less Cyberware, so I think it should work out



If I remember rightly you can only get Humanity back, even with therapy, IF you have the Cyberware that cause you to lose it in the first place removed. Then they can start working on fixing your mind.

[One Step Two]

We wrapped up out first session over the weekend, people are pretty happy with the changes I made to the fumble rules, and they worked out pretty okay! Time will tell though as we only had 1 fumble under adverse conditions, the team Techie wanted to try messing with a Dataterm to add a logging device to record who used it, they rolled a nat 1 while attempting, but a further roll of 1 on the fumble charts, they just messed up, no catastrophic failure.

As for humanity recovery comicshorse, there's four methods I have been able to find so far!

From the 2020 Main book:
Registering with the Pyscho Squad and forced to goto your weekly therapist meeting earns you back 2 HC per week. If the players don't want to register (and avoid getting lojack'd by the police) they need to pay for this out of pocket.

Being Forcibly deactivated by the Psycho Squad, having all your cybernetics removed or disabled and forced into therapy with Braindances in the mix gets you back 2 EMP back per week, but braindance personality editing may mean you come out as someone different than when you went in!

From Chrome 2:
After getting Cyberware installed you can get several degrees of post-surgery therapy which can recover upto 50% of whatever humanity that may have been lost, but the costs are exorbitant!

Lastly, from EurosourcePlus:
If you can afford entry into Europe, and actually get a booking into a Scandinavian Cyber clinic, because of their advanced long-term care techniques you roll for Humanity loss twice, subtracting the second number from the first, meaning you can walk out of a Clinic in Copenhagen having lost nothing but some time, and serious amounts of EB.

Welcome to the future Choomba, you gotta pay!


In other notes, having found a good, if dog-earred, copies of Solo of Fortune 1 and 2, there's rules for recoil on certain weapons, and they are pretty brutal. If you're packing some of the heavy hardware and haven't got the BOD (or tech) to fire those guns, you can take boxes of damage!

I think my largest take away from all this so far is a simple sort of problem: the players will want to try all the shiny things, but they will never really be able to afford it, either in Humanity, or EB. Not the way that the book describes how Edgerunners are supposed to act at least. Which is to say, a standard DnD adventuring party waiting for a new gig, and spending money as it comes.

My suggestions out there to anyone else considering running Cyberpunk is to have the team work for a corperation already, for example, their role is to act as members of a Trauma Team ambulance. Give them a little more tools and toys to play with (all of them company owned of course) but it also gives them set goals, in vignette style adventures, and also, allow them time to heal if things go sideways. Medtech is amazing in 2020, but you're still talking a week or so downtime needed at the minimum for near-fatal incidents.

[comicshorse]

I think my most memorable Cyberpunk moments came when I was GM'ing. This was with a group who had no really idea what the game was about beyond the thumb nail sketch I'd given them.
The P.C.s were investigating disappearances from a fun fair unaware the victims were being kidnapped by members of a poseur gang based on 'The Lost Boys' movie. With many of the gang having been sculpted to look like the actors from the film
In an early encounter the P.C.s had blown the head of one of the gangers with a .44 Magnum. They trailed some more of the gang to a car park and watched as they were joined by a biker, dressed all in black leather and wearing a motorcycle helmet with a mirrored visor.
The gangers all got on bikes and pulled away, then the new biker flipped up his visor to reveal ( as far as the P.C.s were concerned) the face of the man they were sure they had killed. He gave them a wide grin revealing elongated canines (cyberware) and peeled off.
It was one of the few times as a G.M. I've reduced the whole group to horrified silence !

(One of the players later ran the same scenario on a different group and got them to go up against the gang carrying crosses and squirt guns with Holy Water)

[Wraith]

As has already been stated in the thread so far, netrunning is terribly designed and a lot of people just skip it. I would like to suggest one possible work around, however; treat it like The Matrix rather than Tron and everyone has more fun.

I mean that quite literally. Rather than having to plot out a minigame on graph paper and abstract out programmes to be cyberwarriors and the likes, make it so that everyone can just plug their brain into a computer, hit a switch and then they're "in", and in a new computer-themed environment where they can act and use skills normally. They can have a separate set of Online weapons and you can mix things up by having Matrix-style aversion to gravity and such, but it means that everyone takes part and you don't have to try and juggle the 10-to-1 time passing between inside and outside the net; When they're done, they all unplug and .05 seconds have passed in Meatspace, because computers.

It can be a bit weird. You have to really sell them on how strange and alien the new environment is compared to that of real life, you might even ask your players to keep two copies of their character sheet (one for Online and one for Offline where their guns and cyberware are different), and your players really have to be able to trust you when you tell them that "this next part of the adventure is online; time passes much more quickly and you will be out of there before the Security Guards burst and and kill your mindless meatbodies".
I however prefer it this way because you can really let your imagination loose and throw some crazy "programmed" enemies at tghem if you want, and similarly it doesn't invalidate the Netrunner class and make them completely redundant. Instead, their benefit is that they are acclimatised to being Online and so they get to add their Job Rank to any skill check that they make while plugged in, to represent their superior coding abilities.

Everyone gets to take part, no one is sat watching someone else play a boardgame for an hour, and the Netrunner still gets to be the VR badass that he always wanted to be. Just a thought. :smallsmile:

[JellyPooga]

As has already been stated in the thread so far, netrunning is terribly designed and a lot of people just skip it. I would like to suggest one possible work around, however; treat it like The Matrix rather than Tron and everyone has more fun.

I mean that quite literally. Rather than having to plot out a minigame on graph paper and abstract out programmes to be cyberwarriors and the likes, make it so that everyone can just plug their brain into a computer, hit a switch and then they're "in", and in a new computer-themed environment where they can act and use skills normally. They can have a separate set of Online weapons and you can mix things up by having Matrix-style aversion to gravity and such, but it means that everyone takes part and you don't have to try and juggle the 10-to-1 time passing between inside and outside the net; When they're done, they all unplug and .05 seconds have passed in Meatspace, because computers.

It can be a bit weird. You have to really sell them on how strange and alien the new environment is compared to that of real life, you might even ask your players to keep two copies of their character sheet (one for Online and one for Offline where their guns and cyberware are different), and your players really have to be able to trust you when you tell them that "this next part of the adventure is online; time passes much more quickly and you will be out of there before the Security Guards burst and and kill your mindless meatbodies".
I however prefer it this way because you can really let your imagination loose and throw some crazy "programmed" enemies at tghem if you want, and similarly it doesn't invalidate the Netrunner class and make them completely redundant. Instead, their benefit is that they are acclimatised to being Online and so they get to add their Job Rank to any skill check that they make while plugged in, to represent their superior coding abilities.

Everyone gets to take part, no one is sat watching someone else play a boardgame for an hour, and the Netrunner still gets to be the VR badass that he always wanted to be. Just a thought. :smallsmile:

This is, I think, a fundamental flaw in the way players perceive netrunning; as written, it is like The Matrix. The only difference in netrunning and normal combat is the skills being used, the 1/10th time factor and the fact that it uses a grid for combat, just like many other RPG's do (D&D, GURPS, etc.). Instead of equipment you have a deck, instead of weapons you have programmes. You can easily forgo the grid aspect and play more freeform, "psuedo-Matrix style", using the rules as written.

The difference between a netrunner and a "casual" is that a netrunner knows what he's doing when he's not "playing by the rules". Anyone can jack in, but only a netrunner knows how to exploit the potential there, just as a samurai knows how to exploit a combat situation or a nomad does while socialising among the clans. That doesn't mean "casuals" can't run the net, they'll just be vastly inferior to a netrunner and just like going up against a security team, anyone netrunning against even some of the most basic ICE, without being properly prepared, is going to get burned.

[One Step Two]

Okay, so I sat down and actually gave Netrunning the attention it needs, and wow. While Building a Cyberdeck can be an expensive procedure, I forgot the simplest core tenant of RPGs: You can still try it.
The interface skill gives netrunners their advantage, and a sizeable one! But nothing stops anyone else getting their interface plugs and giving it a red-hot go!

I love the idea of Netrunners being the "Wizards" of the Cyberpunk setting, the Cyberdeck is their spellbook giving them greater dimensions of control and access while plugged in. I don't want to wholesale revamp the system, but I might give take the advice of you guys and add a couple of basic commands to attack and evade while in net space, and if they want to do more than that, it needs the investment of a decent 'Deck. Beyond that, the rules for building Virtual Realities is interesting, for actual gameplay, I think I'll use abstractions more than hard maps for breaking into data fortresses. For now, no-one in the group is really looking for the chance to some net diving....

Because now, it is Story time!

[One Step Two]

Prelude session, about 4 weeks ago.
It was meant to be a simple intro game to get people testing some modified char gen rules (50 point buy for stats, + 3d10 to give the characters a little variance), and a brief combat to give everyone a little experience of how fast and frightening a Friday Night Firefight can be.

Two new Edgerunners on the scene:

The group Techie is Tsuki. Tsuki's parents got out of the Pacific Rim hoping her daughter would have a more wholesome life in the US, but her time helping her dad fix stuff around the house and an engineering degree should have meant an easy and humble life. But growing up in the streets meant that she got thrills from living on the edge, she has a knack for BnE's and GTA.

And fresh from Germany, going by the handle Ludwig (you don't like classics or something?), the new Solo on the streets. He's running from the law in Europe, for a crime he claims he didn't commit (and doesn't that tale sound old chomba?). He's loaded up with some basic items, boosterware, smartlink and the plugs to make his rifle sing, so while he's not fully cyberd up, but he can get the job done.

But when you're two kibble munchers who've got nothing else to do and no cash to your name, what's next?

Their first job was through a fixer who didn't ask for names and didn't give any in return; hit an armoured truck carrying a shipment of basic cyberware, Neuralware processors, and interface implants, no biggie. The sort of thing any Corp can claim on insurance and won't get too pissed about losing, hopefully. They were given a driver, a getaway car and a planned stop on the route for truck making the haul.

When the armoured truck stopped, two of the guards got out to grab a quick meal from the local servomat, leaving one in the cab, that was the signal to go. Tsuki showed why the grey matter is so important; when the guards got out she made use of a jamming kit in the back of the getaway van to make sure there were no calls for help. Ludwig took no chances and ran for the nearest guard, with a good chokehold he had a human shield and called down the others, telling them to drop their weapons before it got ugly. If you think a 6'4 German guy telling you to hit the deck ain't scary, well the 5-foot-nothing cutie from japan carrying an Arasaka Rapid Assault 12 shotgun and a smile should change your mind!

Course, life is never that easy, the one left in the cab decided to get out and play Hero, turning it into a Mexican stand-off, but Ludwig let ‘em know who was in charge of the situation. He had the look of a brute, and the skills to prove, with a mighty throw, the Hero was suddenly wearing an extra 200 pounds of co-worker on top of him thanks to an impressive throw from the team Solo. Tsuki followed suit with a firm hit from the butt of her shotgun to the last one standing to get him on the ground. With the guards momentarily stunned, she also showed off why she carries no-less than 200ft of duct tape with her at all times. She didn't need to add the bow, but she said it was incomplete without it.

With the guards secured and the goods in the back of the getaway van, it was time to go. With a successful run and money in their pockets, it was time to relax.



Session number one, 3 Weeks ago.

The job to hit the van was a year ago, and money was drying up. Well, for Ludwig anyway. Taking the influx of cash to a legit hospital (they had a front desk and everything!). He got himself some Grafted muscle, and a Muscle and Bone Lace treatment to make him a tougher and meaner prospect for those who want to face him down, plus staying in hospital to recover meant it was a perfect place to lay low. Can’t cause trouble from a hospital bed!

Tsuki however had a good time, nothing too crazy, just living life. She did cave to parental pressure and applied to get a nice stable job. She managed to pick up a gig with a local firm called Seraph Cybersystems, working as a research assistant in the Engineering department. This is where she met a somewhat creepy if enthusiastic Medtech named VK. Enter player number 3.

Viktor, or VK as he prefers to be called is a medical researcher working for Seraph who came straight from the Soviet bloc, he used some forged credentials to get to the US, but having done some favours for another corp he was able to secure a legit job working for Seraph who were willing to cover up some of the mistakes he made getting to the home of the brave. His medical license is up to code, and as long as he keeps his personal hobby of playing ripperdoc for some of the local boosters on the quiet side his job is secure. He sports high grade Lifesaver™ Skinweave, and a medical Cyberhand to help him in the field.

The Corporation:
Seraph Cybersystems has been providing quality cyberlimbs and other ‘wares for years now, but is about to reveal its new products. First is a set of competitively priced Full ‘Borg conversions complete with Seraph’s newest cybertech to try and grab the market’s eye before showing off their game changer: A new line of biomechanical cyberlimbs which are designed to operate without batteries and low maintenance overhead, offering close to the same strength as modern cyberlimbs, though less durable. Most importantly, with a Realskinn™ cover, psychological impact is almost totally neutralized, this along with the reduced cost of ownership, more and more people can finally embrace the future!
Of course, such bold endeavours will draw the eye of competitors, and added security is a must. Tsuki called in her old friend Ludwig letting him know that there were openings at Seraph Cybersystems.

Ludwig was hesitant of course, his criminal record meant that going legit was a hard prospect, but a corp could make his troubles go away. She he took the chance and made a call. A few days later he was walking the beat around the Seraph fabrication plant wearing a crisp corporate uniform with no name badge. Not formally hired to the company, he still managed to impress the higher ups enough for an under the table contract as a trial run for the Corps’ black ops division.

The work day was going mostly smoothly for Tsuki and VK, both tech and medtech showing off their skills in the R&D department, when Ludwig noticed an open vent cover on his patrol. The vent being no more than six inches wide and four high shouldn’t have been a big deal, but Ludwig had earned his paranoia. He called it in, and a general warning was patched through to the plant. With the alert sounding, Tsuki and VK were put on edge for anything suspicious, searching their work environment carefully.
They had cushy jobs, but at the end of the day, an Edgerunners’ gonna do what an Edgerunner’s gonna do. Grabbing their hidden weapons, they began to scout the building to the shock of the other employees. How they got it through security was my oversight. Remember Chomba, if you don’t tell ‘em not to, they’ll be packing heat, even while in a cubicle!

It wasn’t long before Tsuki and VK found a potential source for mischief, each of them spotting separate hand-sized spider drones crawling on the walls. VK knew shooting up where he worked was a bad idea and instead called it in. Tsuki taking a little more initiative grabbed a shielded box and managed to knock the little mech into it, just in the nick of time too, as VK’s call to security meant another sound was being alerted through the building. They were going to EMP the offices to make sure the info-grabbers didn’t get out. Tsuki watched as every other engineer in the place began to scurry to secure prototypes into shielded containers as fast as possible

Ludwig however waited by the vent cover at the ready and nabbed two of the little buggers before they could escape the EM wave that finally passed through the building. The team got to learn the fun way what happens when your Neuralware processor gets hit with an EMP. VK got knocked out for a few seconds, his med hand would take a little longer to reboot however. Ludwig managed to shrug off the worst of it pretty coolly, but that’s what Solo’s do, and Tsuki, still free of Cyberware (the freak!), made it out okay.

With the spider drones brought in and examined, they were able to identify a tight-beam radio link unit which meant that the controller needed to be within a short distance to be able to transfer huge loads of data, and he couldn’t be far away. After all, who was to say they caught all of the drones?
A wide permitter search by Ludwig and the Seraph Security team found evidence of a tight-beam radio intercepting tripod on the roof of a building not too far away, but the culprit was long gone. The team was going to need some help….



Session two, 2 weeks ago.

Seraph Cybercystems has a joint program with the local PD to help their wounded officers in their state of the art medical facility if they are injured in the line of duty, as a result of this; they have a special Liaison officer at their disposal.

Enter player four, Detective Colt Striker, a Cop who will do what it takes to get the job done. A wily loose cannon (aren’t they all?), he’s not one to shy away from the brutalities of living in 2020, but if he gives you his word, you better believe he’s going to keep it. He sports a slick optics shield to keep his pretty brown eyes safe, and a cyberhand with smartplate so he can wield his department issued Multi-ammo selection pistol with supreme efficacy. Also hosting a full suite of Cyberaudio to better protect, and serve.

Called in by Seraph security minutes after the tripod was found by Ludwig, he acted fast, using his authority to gain access to local traffic cams to find their man fleeing the scene, tripod under arm. Able to track the guy all the way down to 99th Street where the cams cut off, that was the home of the 9-Lives booster gang. The 9’s carved our two city blocks for themselves, and they run the show. Cops haven’t got the manpower to go in, and most sane residents stay out, so they let sleeping dogs lay.
Due to this issue, Colt knew he couldn’t call backup without turning it into an all-out war with the boosters, so he asked Seraph for a security contingent. Ludwig volunteered, along with VK and Tsuki, they coulda stayed out of it sure, but where’s the fun in that choomba?

The team approached on foot a little over and hour later, Ludwig sporting his fresh combat-ready body armour, he likes keeping clean, it's professionl after all. Colt going subtle with his bullet proof trechcoat, standard fare for a Cop these days really. Tsuki sporting her own edger style, where she found a bullet proof Haori is her business, but she makes it look good. VK having done some work with for the 9-Lives before wore his least blood-stained lab coat and did the talking, getting them inside with a simple nod from the boosters hanging by the border. From there, it was time to start looking.

Along the way, Colt reached out to an informant of his, a netrunner friend of his who could get some basic info on who might have bought a tight-beam link tripod in the last while, and got them a name, Lewis “L-shock” Sims, another netrunner who works the area, and made his home in the 9-Lives district. L-shock lived on the sixth floor of an eight floor building; the place was home to squatters, addicts, and the occasional civilian who didn’t get in their way as they went up the stairs. That was because floors six through eight belonged to the 9-lives, and violence was their business.

They reached the building and climbed to the sixth floor. From the stairwell they had line of sight to two 9’s milling in the hall before it reached a T-section to the right were L-Shock was supposed to live. Taking quick assessment, Colt decided to act first, without hesitating he drew his weapon and put the two Boosters down, before they knew what happened. The fight was on from there.

Ludwig took point immediately, moving to get an angle on the t-intersection and mowing down the last Booster in the halls. VK opted to cover the stairwell down in case they had company, and Tsuki advanced to the stairwell on the opposite end of the hall to do the same from those coming from above. To Ludwig’s surprise a gang member opened the doorway he was using as cover and proceeded to empty his mac-10 into the Solo’s side, but wearing combat armour, meant that the light SMG tickled him at best. Colt made use of his pistol once more to put the booster down, then moved up to the middle of the hall intersection point and used all of his Authority to demand that everyone remain in their apartments.

Silence followed the command, interrupted only the sound of a hollow “thunk” hitting the wall as a small object bounced off of it and landed right at Colt’s feet. He had enough time look down and realize he was standing ontop of a grenade.

Before the argument began that he could kick it out of the way could begin, he was informed that it was a flash-bang.
Colt of course was wearing an anti-dazzle optic shield, but the Bang part of the grenade meant he was stunned. Tsuki was caught totally off guard and was both blinded and stunned. For VK, he managed to avoid getting deafened by the grenade but didn’t cover his eyes in time, which left Ludwig who was otherwise unphased, the Solo had seen worse before. With his hearing intact, he could make out the sound of a window breaking as L-shock was about to get out through the fire escape, Ludwig moved fast and snapped off a quick shot taking off one of the target’s legs. The solo was feeling pleased with himself, and dragged the screaming net-limper over to VK who was getting his vision back to stop him from dying of shock. Colt in the meantime grabbed Tsuki and helped get her out of the hall before the rest of the 9’s who were above them could descend.

A hasty retreat from the building and down through the alleys of the 9-Lives territory got them to a safe haven where they could interrogate L-Shock thoroughly. It was a smooth process between the threat of more bullets and the promise of more morphine; he gave up the stolen data and the way to contact the buyer. Once the data was verified, Colt decided justice was served enough for now, and graciously dropped L-Shock off at a clinic with a warning to get the hell out of town when he was healed, and the team headed back to Seraph.

After debrief the corps were impressed by the speedy return of their data, along with the overall discretion (relatively speaking). They decided to offer Ludwig a formal contract, which would also solve his legal problems as well, but they wanted 20 years and just his brain. Ludwig decided the temptation of the full ‘borg conversion was too much, and signed on gladly.



Session three, most recent session

Tsuki was not available this session, so was assigned some leave for the time being.

VK was given the chance to try his hand in assisting in Ludwig’s Full Borg conversion. Two truly excellent Medtech rolls later and moderate Surgery Damage later, Ludwig was the proud operator of a Seraph Cybersystems ‘Archon’ model Combat recon Full borg Conversion, pending 16 weeks intensive therapy to realign his psyche, gotta moderate that Humanity cost (112 points in total, down to a more managable 56 after therapy!).

In the meantime Colt was able to arrange to meet the buyers that L-Shock told him about, and even got himself a memory chip with a false set of data and hidden tracer program to try and find out who was trying to steal Seraph’s nutech plans. VK to tagged along as an extra set of eyes, and with Ludwig still in Post-op, they wanted to play it safe. Just a simple drop off, and walk away, they needed info, not bodies.

After getting an unmarked police car, met with the buyer at an abandoned gas station on the edge of town. Tensions were high as the buyer was guarded by two goons who looked like they meant business, so they didn’t try to haggle, traded data for a small box containing 5 credit chips worth 50k EB in total.

This is when things went south.

8d10 worth of explosives from underneath Colt’s seat where he stored the box meant that he and VK were send into mortal rolls real quick. Colt was stunned and dying (but not dead), VK was miraculously still conscious despite the fact he was bleeding out, (Lifesaver™ Skinweave, does what it says!). The good doctor immediately tried his best to stabilize Colt, but the wounds were too much to handle. Colt regained consciousness long enough to call for Medivac before giving up his last gasp, entering the Death State while the ambulance was on the way. VK did his best to stay alive, but the Bee Gee’s track ended early, and he was close to shuffling off the mortal coil.

Sometime later, VK would awaken to find himself now encased in metal and polymer, in a Seraph Cybersystems ‘Mercy’ model Medtech Full Borg conversion.

As for Colt, he’s now wearing a Seraph Cybersystems ‘Deva’ model Full Borg, a direct competitor to the Raven Micro Systems Gemini.



The last session ended on a mixed note. I gave the players the usual “Three Clues” something was amiss. The first being when Colt pulled the cred chips from the box, the buyer was insistent he take the box because “It shields the chips against EM, for safety”. Colt’s player did not bother to roll Human Perception to detect a lie, even when I roleplayed the NPC acting suspiciously. The second clue was the weight of the box, almost a whole kilogram, I was hoping that might set off some alarms.
The final clue was when they were leaving the Gas station, I let them make an awareness/notice check to realize the buyer and his two goons were leaving, and fast “Almost as if they were worried about something.”

I decided to offer something more visceral that something was afoot. I looked at Colt’s player over the table and asked him what he did with the box, as I was reaching for my d10’s. His answer was “I stick it under the car seat for now, once I put the cred chips into my chipware socket.” I was hoping he might get the almost blatant clue and try to throw it out the car window or something… anything!

So now, with the exception of Tsuki, they’re all owned wholesale by Seraph Cybersystems, and adventures will be taking a significant step up.

[comicshorse]

Good stuff.
I'm interested to see how you handle things in the future 'cause it seems that anything that could even vaguely challenge the 'Borged out characters is going to annihilate the non Borg

[One Step Two]

I'm tossing around a few ideas on how to handle things while most the team is full 'borg.
I believe the team is well aware that now that Tsuki is not like the rest. Being the only remaining human, she is most fragile, and most importantly, she's the team Tech. She's the only one who can repair them when they are away from their support network, so this leads me to:

1: Remove them from their stomping grounds. If I have Seraph send the team to do some away missions, they'll be more reliant on each other, and it will help remind them that they're supposed to work as a team. Protect the more fragile party member, who in turn keeps the others in working order.

2: Let them play as cyberpunk heroes. Let them gain a lot of Rep really quickly, which means the more well known they are, the more likely enemies will start escalating to fight them. This is the more dangerous path as Tsuki getting fragged, or almost fragged early on is the wake up call for their caution.

2: Split the party. This may seem dangerous to a certain degree, but all three of the Full 'Borg members have different specifications to their kits, and because of how hardy they are, they can survive things which a full team would not. Sending Colt out back on the beat like nothing happened to chase down perps as the city's new super cop. Having Ludwig perform stealth infiltration missions by himself, and putting VK in the city's warzone as a medic to help civilians (and line his pockets with some errant goodies). Let them each act in the theater of their excellence that their new bodies can handle. This might be unsatisfactory for Tsuki of course, depending on how much they enjoy staying back at the base tinkering on new tech, and playing the teams grease monkey when they come back into the shop.


I'll chat about this to the group and get their opinions of course, but two other thoughts remain:
Firstly, see if Tsuki's player wants to go full 'borg. For the moment, she's opted out of having any cyberware installed at all without really telling me about any endgame that might be had for the cash she's saving, I wont push the issue if she wants to keep it a secret.

The other is talking to VK and Colt's players. Clone body parts and partial cyberware implants could have saved their lives as easily as the full 'borg option. I might have jumped a little too far with the idea since I had sold Ludwig on full conversion, and they may want to opt to keep some of their fleshy bits back instead, this would in turn deescalate the issue.

As always, input and opinions from the playground are always appreciated!

[Cluedrew]

If you can afford entry into EuropeI don't know much about Cyberpunk 2020, but has Europe turned into an exclusive upper class resort?


The difference between a netrunner and a "casual" is that a netrunner knows what he's doing when he's not "playing by the rules". [...] That doesn't mean "casuals" can't run the net, they'll just be vastly inferior to a netrunner and just like going up against a security team, anyone netrunning against even some of the most basic ICE, without being properly prepared, is going to get burned.So it is more the "face problem" than the "decker problem"? Again I don't know much about the system, I'm just curious.

(I think the decker problem is well established. The face problem is that no one but the party face makes social roles, because it is better to just wait for the face to come over and make the role than risk doing it yourself.

[One Step Two]

I don't know much about Cyberpunk 2020, but has Europe turned into an exclusive upper class resort?

Exclusive yes, resort... kinda? The timeline of 2020 outlines that during the corporate wars, Europe locked down it's borders, and few people are allowed casual travel. If you're not a citizen, you need to submit medical, criminal and financial and DNA records to get in even on a temporary Euro Card. That's the short version of the process, legally anyway. In all cases, it still costs serious cash.


So it is more the "face problem" than the "decker problem"? Again I don't know much about the system, I'm just curious.

(I think the decker problem is well established. The face problem is that no one but the party face makes social roles, because it is better to just wait for the face to come over and make the role than risk doing it yourself.

My take on netrunning is that it's a little of both. Anyone can try to be the Face, and anyone can try to be the Decker, but the dedicated Decker can only really do his one thing really well.

Using 3.5 D&D as an example, you can make a Bard the Face. He has natural Charisma synergy, decent skill points, and he only needs to invest moderately in social skills to do quite well as the Face. But even with that investment, in battle he can provide decent buffs, and has a good smattering of spells to shore up the party, and even a little bit of damage to boot. This gives the party face their core niche, but they can still assist the party in other areas without missing out too badly, or outshining anyone else.

A netrunner however has to invest a third of their skills Netrunning exclusive skills (Interface, Programming, System Knowledge and Cyberdeck Design). Their starting funds, and indeed cash from over their entire career needs to be dedicated to making sure their Cyberdeck and it's components are competitive. Oh, and of course some Programs exist only to fry Cyberdecks and all their installed programs. But assuming he's made backups, and can get his hands on the gear he needs to do his job, that's awesome.... but what happens when the answer to many problems can be to smash and grab, then shoot your way out? Sure there's pickup points to give him some combat skills, but the issue is in a party, when he asks everyone to try out logging on with him, and they're all worse off for it, why would they?

Which is another hard issue I'm seeing in netrunning as a whole system. If you're not fighting automated programs, but other Deckers, Non-deckers are at a significant disadvantage. The interface skill, even average ones, means that in an even fight of stats+skills, they'll always come out ahead.
It might be overkill, but in my opinion, due to the paranoid and dangerous world of 2020, any Datafortress worth breaking into would be one with small teams of active netrunners actively trying to keep it safe.

The party Decker can be vital, but he starts leaning towards being too specialized to work with a party outside of the idea I had above, letting them use the interface skill for more than just 'running.

[JellyPooga]

My take on netrunning is that it's a little of both. Anyone can try to be the Face, and anyone can try to be the Decker, but the dedicated Decker can only really do his one thing really well.

Using 3.5 D&D as an example, you can make a Bard the Face. He has natural Charisma synergy, decent skill points, and he only needs to invest moderately in social skills to do quite well as the Face. But even with that investment, in battle he can provide decent buffs, and has a good smattering of spells to shore up the party, and even a little bit of damage to boot. This gives the party face their core niche, but they can still assist the party in other areas without missing out too badly, or outshining anyone else.

A netrunner however has to invest a third of their skills Netrunning exclusive skills (Interface, Programming, System Knowledge and Cyberdeck Design). Their starting funds, and indeed cash from over their entire career needs to be dedicated to making sure their Cyberdeck and it's components are competitive. Oh, and of course some Programs exist only to fry Cyberdecks and all their installed programs. But assuming he's made backups, and can get his hands on the gear he needs to do his job, that's awesome.... but what happens when the answer to many problems can be to smash and grab, then shoot your way out? Sure there's pickup points to give him some combat skills, but the issue is in a party, when he asks everyone to try out logging on with him, and they're all worse off for it, why would they?

Which is another hard issue I'm seeing in netrunning as a whole system. If you're not fighting automated programs, but other Deckers, Non-deckers are at a significant disadvantage. The interface skill, even average ones, means that in an even fight of stats+skills, they'll always come out ahead.
It might be overkill, but in my opinion, due to the paranoid and dangerous world of 2020, any Datafortress worth breaking into would be one with small teams of active netrunners actively trying to keep it safe.

The party Decker can be vital, but he starts leaning towards being too specialized to work with a party outside of the idea I had above, letting them use the interface skill for more than just 'running.

This is...kind of the case.

What you're missing is that Netrunning isn't just about hacking data-fortresses; you can control remotes, pilot a vehicle...heck, you can even shoot fools with their own security turrets. Yes, Netrunners have a very small set of skills, but those skills are so incredibly diverse if you have the imagination and the programmes. They truly are the Wizards of the Cyberpunk universe.

By way of example, one character I played once was a Netrunner; he rode a cyberbike at breakneck speeds through Night City, turning traffic-cams to avoid getting a speeding ticket, shooting at a fleeing suspect with the mounted AR on his bike, all while hacking a datafortress in London. All through net-space. Netrunning literally lets you do stuff ten times faster than in meat-space, so long as those things don't involve physically moving.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

...

There's only one tiny issue that might just be me going a little overboard with RAW, the combat rules state that you can move upto your MA and have an action with no penalty, and that all additional actions have a cumulative -3 added. While it might stretch credibility of time, you could take any arbitrary number of actions, because exploding 10's mean even with a -21 penalty, you might still succeed.
I don't mind the idea of letting players having 2-3 actions per round depending on certain conditions. For example making multiple shots up to their weapons Rate of Fire, before diving for cover (up to their MA). With that said, if anyone knows of errata or common house rules to this, I would appreciate it greatly!

I'd say don't cap it! Putting a cap on it would have got my Nomad killed when he went toe-to-toe on a skyscraper roof with a few goons. It was only because I could keep acting (and accepting the -3 penalties) that I managed to pull it off.

At gun-point, on my own, one of the goons goes to open the door of my AV - gets fried by the electro-shock alarm system. I use the moment of distraction to sweep the legs out from one of them (after a couple of exchanged kung-fu moves: -3 to actions), toss a grenade over my shoulder (athletics at -6, DC10... missed but it scattered okay for my haphazard purposes), jump into the only hard cover available (athletics at -9, DC10 ... spent all my Luck to guarantee success).

That encounter was played out in like 1995. I still remember it clearly.

[One Step Two]

This is...kind of the case.

What you're missing is that Netrunning isn't just about hacking data-fortresses; you can control remotes, pilot a vehicle...heck, you can even shoot fools with their own security turrets. Yes, Netrunners have a very small set of skills, but those skills are so incredibly diverse if you have the imagination and the programmes. They truly are the Wizards of the Cyberpunk universe.

By way of example, one character I played once was a Netrunner; he rode a cyberbike at breakneck speeds through Night City, turning traffic-cams to avoid getting a speeding ticket, shooting at a fleeing suspect with the mounted AR on his bike, all while hacking a datafortress in London. All through net-space. Netrunning literally lets you do stuff ten times faster than in meat-space, so long as those things don't involve physically moving.

That sounds freaking amazing! How does that work exactly though? As far as I can tell, unless you're logging on and off the city network between actions, I thought you couldn't be in cyberspace and meat-space at the same time?


I'd say don't cap it! Putting a cap on it would have got my Nomad killed when he went toe-to-toe on a skyscraper roof with a few goons. It was only because I could keep acting (and accepting the -3 penalties) that I managed to pull it off.

At gun-point, on my own, one of the goons goes to open the door of my AV - gets fried by the electro-shock alarm system. I use the moment of distraction to sweep the legs out from one of them (after a couple of exchanged kung-fu moves: -3 to actions), toss a grenade over my shoulder (athletics at -6, DC10... missed but it scattered okay for my haphazard purposes), jump into the only hard cover available (athletics at -9, DC10 ... spent all my Luck to guarantee success).

That encounter was played out in like 1995. I still remember it clearly.

That also sounds freaking cool, I'd allow those actions short window of time, definitely! The soft cap idea is more to prevent weirdness such as player taking n+1 actions and stopping combat because they believe that they can use a pistol like a SMG.

I'd love to hear any more stories like these two if anyone one has them!

I can't add any more this week myself as we had a brief hiatus from the game session on the weekend. To make up for it, I will share the stats of the new Cyberbodies that Ludwig, VK and Colt are now sporting a little later today once I upload them to google docs.

[JellyPooga]

That sounds freaking amazing! How does that work exactly though? As far as I can tell, unless you're logging on and off the city network between actions, I thought you couldn't be in cyberspace and meat-space at the same time?

You're quite correct, but there's a lot you can do from net-space. Cameras mounted on a cyberbike can give you visual access to meatspace from the net, allowing you to pilot said bike and use any linked weapons. In effect, your character becomes the nerve-center of whatever tools you can afford and plug yourself into, whether that be a cyberbike, a weapon platform or (my personal favourite) a mechanised cargo loader (Ripley eat your heart out!).