Eric vanDorne, known by the handle 'Complex', is a slick, smooth Eurosolo.
Clad in the highest of fashions, and feted by the social elite, this well-renowned Solo slays in the streets and the nightclubs with equal skill. His parties are legendary, his deeds in combat even more so, and his easy-going and confident manner has offended more than one Solo with a monomolecular axe to grind. The tabloids tell that his story is being optioned for a three-movie series, in black and white, of course. It is whispered that he trained with some of the legendary Angels of Euro Crystal Palace, in L5 orbit, and that he is being fast-tracked for membership himself. He is spending some time outside of Europe to hone and test his skills, and so far, they are not being found lacking. Statistics: As a Eurosolo, Complex's skills are highly respectable, and his Humanity is near-impeccable. He has the best of everything- tailored fashion, custom-made equipment, and a well-oiled support squad running electronic and physical overwatch. He often works alone, and bristles at working with 'common street trash'. He usually runs with Skinweave and Subdermal armour, as well as Black Ops-grade reflex boosters. He prefers Belgian-manufactured firearms, with concealed smartlinks. How you can use Complex, Eurosolo in your games: - Complex might be hired to work with the PCs in a Cyberpunk game. Those who uncivilized will find the slick and polished Eurosolo abrasive and disdainful, but those who appreciate his skill might earn a rare smile and the glory that being in his aura conveys. Or if their usual security has been trashed, a powerful target might spend up big and hire Complex to take out their opposition. - Those who have worked with Complex before might be uncomfortably asked for help if the professional warrior has somehow gotten into trouble bigger than he can handle alone. He's had trouble with breakups in his support squad before, and if his usual support network has been compromised, he might need unlikely allies. - People who have done Complex a favour will be owed by someone who very well might end up among the top 1% of the top 1% of the industry. Such a favour could be very useful if the PCs find themselves in deep trouble- an orbital-striking squad of utterly lethal badasses pulling your butt out of the fire, even once, is a glorious thing to behold. Or the favour might even just be a connection- putting the PCs in the same room as someone they need to talk to can be incredibly valuable. Today, the Game Masters Stash group are playing a game of Cyberpunk 2020- and this is my character. I'm hoping things will be fun! Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 19 September 2020. Forgedhounds, an offshoot of Warforged technology, created unique, individially machined constructs with a modicum of intelligence, and excess of animation, and cool, logical, souls. They are highly-valued as curiosities, although there are rumours that some have weapons installed within them for unorthodox assassination attempts.
Statistics: Forgedhounds operate much like Eberron's Iron Defenders, and roughly similar to an actual dog, but weight at least twice as much due to their metal manufacture. All Forgehounds have the ability to piston their rear legs, forcing them into someone and generally knocking them over. Some rare items have poisoned needles or a pump fitted with pressurized Alchemists' Fire installed within their faces, for direct access to a victim. How you can use Forgedhounds in your game: - A Forgedhound might fall from a passing skyship high overhead and wreathed in flames, allowing an enterprising young artificer to repair and keep the creature, growing more fond until they discover that their 'hound has more secrets than they knew- and that the original owners deperately want it back. - A noble estate might have a fleet of motionless Forgehounds flanking their gardens, a warning and demonstration of their wealth and ruthlessness. - Warforged might feel oddly about Forgedhounds- they generally lack the soulspark that gives them true animation, and whether that makes them more, or less, worthy of liberation may be a matter for spirited debate. Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 12 September 2020. Moore's Network is a hacktivist collective/cult that aims to unify all of humanity into a glorious networked group mind. Worryingly, they seem to be succeeding beyond any expectations.
This began as a group of MIT graduates building a specialized network for speedrunning Simsense games, and quickly developed as they realized the inherent power in their groupmind. It requires expensive components, some looted from military or high-end Corporate sources, and a great deal of designer cyberware, but once eight trained people use this technology at the same time, they become effectively a very powerful AI, able to process information as quickly as a full server bank. This allows them to brute-force their way past many threats when hacking or processing programs, in addition to some minor telekinesis, through unexplained methods of psychic potential. However, the local power drain is immense, and can be tracked if an agency is aware what to look for. When 8 cells are active at once with one another (64 operators, or an Octocell), this doubles the capacity of the network, and increases the power of the telekinesis to the ability where it can lift cars, tear apart buildings, and so on. 8 Octocells, known as a Chessboard (512 networked operators), creates one of the most powerful computing networks on the face of the planet, and grants telekinetic ability strong enough to influence major weather events like tornadoes, and devastate a small town almost without the ability to stop it. 8 Chessboards (4,096 networked operators) is a theoretical construct known only as a Superperfect, and its true power is unknown. It would likely require the GDP of several small nations to craft, with the power requirements of an entire large one. How you can use a Moore's Network in your game: - A small local collective might be able to assist when more computing power is called for, for a particularly difficult job. They are creepy and super-wierd, but definitely effective. They'll likely need on-site anti-intrusion bodyguards, as they're completely vulnerable while networked. - When local people are getting recruited more and more often by a weird technology cult, this group may offer an alternative- or might be the power behind the throne, secretly testing recruits for aptitude and suitability. - Cells like this can be defeated locally, but might activate larger groups of allies in other locations. An Octocell or Chessboard could be a campaign-ending threat if roused to anger against their members. Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 27 March 2019. “Hey there, choombata, good to scope you. We got a tourist job for you this time. This bit jockey, name of Garrett Engstrom, is headed to a big meetup called CultureCon. It’ll be full of cosplayers, chipheads, BTL enthusiasts, and a few actual Cyberpunk themselves. “He’s also known to have two other operators, prob’ly chipped, with contracts on his head. It’s your job to make sure he doesn’t get checked out by the competition. So, up for a swing through a target-rich environment with no can openers, unknown hostiles, and a bunch of downtime?” Performing a guard mission at a pop-culture convention with a population density that makes NeoTokio look deserted will be a challenge. Doing so in a place with security guards and inquisitive cosplayers wanting to inspect all their interesting gear, will make it really exciting. Having two disguised assassins going after their target, who is blissfully unaware of any threat to his life, is going to make this reeeeally difficult. The convention, CultureCon, will be very crowded, and have a variety of BTL stars, pop culture personalities, sales booths with a dazzling number of esoteric Pop Vinyls and collectibles, and even a few booths selling the latest Militech gadgets which may draw the attention of PCs. Just about everyone will be AR-active, and even hopping into the Matris going to cause some serious lag. Pounding K-pop and thrashmetal compete for volume, and the air conditioning struggles to keep up with the warmth and number of bodies. One of the assassins, by the street name of ShadyEve, is dressed in Geisha costume, and he attacks using a concealed stutterpistol, willing to shred anyone in the vicinity of the target. The other is a full-body mod cyborg, cosplaying as a character from the latest AR-nime, who will reveal herself out of the midst of a group of schoolgirls. The ends of her weapons are painted orange, which might catch people by surprise. No matter what, this will be a memorable run! (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 27 January 2019) Categories All The Katerpillar “When you need to take a trip in Night City, the Katerpillar is your lady. Just don’t make a fuss, don’t stare, and whatever you do, don’t take offense when she says “Bite me”...” The Katerpillar comes from some seriously mysterious background. No-one knows where you even would get the kind of full-body borg mods that turn someone into a twenty-eight-foot-long gigantic caterpillar with thermal lenses for eyes, servo claws, and hazard stripes, let alone who’d be the target market for that. And certainly, no-one would expect it to come with an honest-to God warm Tennessee accent. All that people know is that the Katerpillar turned up in Night City a few years back and quickly established herself as *the name* in the exotic and designer pharmaceuticals market. She’s occasionally contracted to some of the Corps, but she doesn’t talk about it. When you need something that’ll turn your enemy’s insides into outsides, blow your mind without blowing a workplace drug check or impairing your trigger finger, let you feel sound on your skin as the latest technothrash, or let someone keep functioning at -32°F body temperature, the Katerpillar is the lady you need to talk to. Plus, it’ll come as a pot of Gingko tea, or a polka-dot cupcake, or a blue mushroom, wrapped in brown paper with a neatly handwritten label. Statistics: The Katerpillar’s full-body borg-mod has an enormous amount of mass, and although she doesn’t have combat training, she is quite dangerous. She is owed favours by some big names from big corporations, and has no compunction about calling them in, as we as providing full-spectrum scans of any customer who’s harmed her. She is an absolute genius at any kind of chemistry, and can synthesize or invent just about anything, given time and a budget for it. She is occasionally quixotic, and a sucker for a sob story, but insists on one thing from each and every client, or the intended target- a blood sample. She says this is to make sure there won’t be any interaction issues, and all her drugs are guaranteed to function perfectly. How you can use the Katerpillar in your game: • Designer drugs can create, and solve, an awful lot of problems. Maybe a friendly Fixer can put in a good word for you? • The Katerpillar doesn’t just make drugs- she can synthesize anything made of chemicals, given the resources. If you’ve been hit up by some dirty Mr Johnson with some kinda filthy toxin, she’s your best bet- but she won’t be cheap. Hell, if you’re lucky, she made the original poison! • The Katerpillar may also arrange services through a Fixer herself, if there’s something she needs for a job. If that’s the case, she may turn to people she already knows can be confidential and reliable. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash 19 January 2019) Categories All They say everyone gets fifteen minutes of fame. The Titanium Saint, heroine of the Fourth Corporate Wars, is certainly getting hers. Gloria Ordóñez was born in Los Angeles, shortly after the ‘Diez Punto Cinco’ earthquake of ‘98, a city ravaged by natural disaster, crime, and abandonment by the failing government. She had a decent home life, as much education as she could get, and membership in a gang by age ten. It was at age fifteen that she was grabbed in relation to a shooting, one she had nothing to do with, and given an option of service with Militech, or jail. In nine years she had reached the rank of Staff Sergeant, taking lead of a squad of power-armoured soldiers and dropping into some of the hottest fighting in the Fourth Corporate War. She fought all over, battles in Hong Kong and Rio de Janeiro before both were ruined, and then at the battle of Night City. There, at the foot of Arasaka Tower, she and her squad fought a furious action against Arasaka hit squads, which was filmed by several huddling wageslaves with commlinks. Their desperate holding action was recorded, and the image of SSgt Ordóñez, helmet shattered, sliding on one knee through the rubble, her sword almost glowing in the reflected neon, was captured and went global. Her squad was obliterated in the subsequent nuclear explosion deep beneath Arasaka Tower, but SSgt Ordóñez survived and was retired from Militech with some cyber replacements, and became a celebrity of sorts. These days, she’s become a Runner, and plays on her reputation. She’s a deadly combatant, a gifted small-unit tactics commander, and the owner of a JetFlix account with an astounding amount of Telenovelas. How you can use the Titanium Saint in your game: • Gloria might be hired on for a job with your PCs. Her fame, skill, and tactical knowledge will certainly help your players in their mission, but they’ll have to be careful that they’re not too expendable- they need to pull their own weight. • Running on a mission against Gloria will be a lethal prospect- any smart runner will look at taking her out of the contract without drawing her ire. As a professional, she’ll take this with a certain amount of respect, and return the favour if she can. • As someone publicly recognizable, she has vulnerabilities in her family and friends. If they’re threatened because of something she’s drawn fire over, she’ll need allies, and she’ll try to call on people she’s dealt with in the past- old military buddies, people she’s run with, or against. • Finally, if your PCs reach a high enough level of power, they might want to hire her on. Doing so will cost them dearly- and be worth every nuyen they spend. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash 17 January 2019) Categories All You see strange marks everywhere- odd graffiti, spilled drinks, but sometimes you spy something that makes you really wonder. I’ve been traveling in a different city for the last week, and have spied a lot of these marks outside various shops, on street corners, and so on. They’re very definitely deliberate, and each of the ones I’ve seen is different, but I have no clue what they mean, which of course made me think “how can I use this for a post?”. Markings like these could be similar to real-world ‘hobo signs’, indicating friendliness of the occupants and pets, likelihood to pass on food, danger, where to find medical help, stashed of goods, and so on. A thieves’ guild or group of urban rangers might make use of this kind of sign to evade notice by regular folk, and leave warnings to each other (maybe it’s the written form of Thieves’ Cant?). However, it’s hard to not want to go the full-on magic route this, and make them some sort of arcane sigils. Are these wards to stop a house or business burning down (“nice place you got here... sure would be a shame if something... happened to it”), or even alignment protection wards, keeping out evil spirits or demons? On a side note, Peter V. Brett’s Demon Cycle novels have magical warding circles which keep out the demons rising up from the earth each night- well worth a read, and will definitely have some great ideas for any D&D style game! A last option is that these markings could be some kind of bizarre map. Maybe a cult to a Great Old One leaves these marks, and finding/following them leaves a person just slightly less sane, but able to discover the cult. The circles might represent specific turns that have to be made to reach the next spot, while the lines might represent the number of buildings or blocks you have to pass. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 4 January 2019) Fyodor is a giant of a man, a pilot who will ferry you wherever you want in his (somehow) military surplus C-130 plane “Georgina”- for a hefty fee. Starting out in commercial flights, Fyodor crashed his way through many different mundane employers and types of conveyance. He served some military time, though he’s cagey about disclosing whose military that was. He’s finally found his niche though, as a smuggler and general danger pilot. It turns out he is very comfortable dodging missiles over the Ural Mountains, or using nap-of-the-land navigation with near-zero visibility, and getting into and out of dangerous spots. He enjoys the thrill, and the freedom. Using Georgina, he doesn’t need a specific landing strip, so he’s able to stop at irregular places and make unusual pickups. In his free time, Fyodor watches old episodes of some Disney cartoon about a bear flying a seaplane and getting into mischief, and chuckles to himself. He does demand that his passengers respect Georgina, and once out the plane on autopilot and walked back to the crew area before throwing a passenger out the door without a parachute, after constantly complaining about her state. He was happy to take the penalty on his pay to make it clear. So if you need an irregular pickup, or help getting out of a rough spot, Fyodor’s your man. But it’ll cost you! (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 29 December 2018) Categories All ArchivesHiring disposable assets for day-to-day corporate skullduggery is acceptable. But when a package absolutely must get through, the guy you want is the Miracle Courier. This guy keeps his background pretty quiet- at least, no-one in Research Division has been able to turn up any leverage on him. He’s utterly reliable, and comes with commendations on his profile from no less than three VPs and a CEO. When it absolutely has to get there overnight, he’s definitely ourfavoured guy. The Miracle Courier is a slightly overweight, bearded male of late-40s appearance. He has some custom-decorated military-grade body armour, and some kind of ethnic hat with a pom-pom on the end. Guy’s a pacifist, but an absolute genius. Once hired fifty guys to turn up as him in seasonal costume at the lobby of a corporate HQ, while he crashed an AV-4 through the ballistic glass window to the Boardroom. He delivered, and they nailed the VP who was trying to stop him. As a matter of fact, that guy’s one of the people who left him good reviews! So yeah, nothing stops this guy. He’s expensive, but all we’ve been able to trace is that the credsticks he’s paid with end up dropped through the letterbox of nearby charities. We’ve got no clue how he operates or what his funding model is... but he’s a really good bloke. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 23 December 2018) Categories All In the grim darkness of the far future... no, wait, wrong franchise. In the Awakened World of the Shadowrun universe, Cybermancy is a hideously dangerous art, forbidden by the Corporate Court and mundane laws alike.
This abominable concept involves quickened (permanent-ish) magical spells keeping a cyborged-up monster alive, regenerating damage to it, and generally making it unstoppable. What you end up with is like if the Terminator got possessed by Violator from the Spawn comics. These creatures take BIG-TIME firepower to put down, are mostly immune to magic due to their zero or less Essence (presence of a soul), and are going to cause large amounts of collateral damage. Any time you introduce one of these should be like those levels in Crash Bandicoot where you’re constantly running towards the screen away from a rolling boulder. But in this case, the boulder is wearing skin that used to be a person, laughing, and tearing through CyberSWAT teams. Without influential and powerful friends, pretty much your best bet is to hop on a plane to a different continent and hope it doesn’t just try to walk through the Pacific after you. There’s a good reason these things are forbidden by law and corporate agreement- so kiting then through another Corp’s arcology might be enough to distract it... and if you’re really lucky, that Corp will throw some big resources at it, and maybe even go after the people who sent it in the first place. Of course, they might also decide to chase you down for bringing it into their house in the first place... (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 19 December 2018) The law may have a long arm, but sometimes it has a short memory... or deep pockets. Having traveled overseas recently, I can personally advise that dealing with law enforcement and civil authorities in different countries can be a really odd experience. Depending on where you go, authorities can be casual and easy-going, or strict, no-nonsense, and threatening. For example, in England, I stayed near the Tower of London, which is an active military barracks. The people patrolling nearby wore body armour and submachine guns, but also smiled at people and stopped at the nearby ice cream shop. In France, however, the police cars use their sirens and lights *any time* they’re moving (which is worrying when a dozen cars scream past at shift change), and the military moved through crowds in tight formation, hands on weapons at all times, and with no eye contact, which was very intimidating. Similarly, these kinds of experiences can affect how your PCs feel in a foreign country. In a small farming town, there might be. A single Sheriff, who spends their time at a location where they can be found. A town might have a militia, but they’re all going to be people who live and have families in town. A city will have a lot more guards, and they may not be local- they might even be foreign mercenaries (or more exotic, like a garrison of Hobgoblins). Having external sources for guards allows the rulers to avoid personal conflicts of interest, but it also means they often don’t have qualms about putting down rebellions, punishing regular folk, and the forcing the will of the ruler, rather than the spirit of the law. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 29 November 2018) Categories All Where you set an encounter can really make a difference. Sure, it can just be another blank white unremarkable corridor, but when you need to pull out the stops and make an firefight or laser sword battle worth remembering, here are some ideas: • Inside an alien wildlife park, with loose exhibits running past (maybe threatening people) • Inside a clifftop science facility with quarantine rooms • In the landing bay of a massive cruiser, open to vacuum • Inside a failing ship in decaying orbit around a dying sun • Within a city-sized open-cut mine, with skyscraper-sized cutting and digging machines • Atop a towering structure above a glittering city • Inside an underwater facility with flooded sections • Hide-and-seek through the accessways and hatches of an enormous factory ship • Inside a futuristic weapons manufacturing plant, with lots of explosive parts scattered around • In a howling blizzard, on a planet deep in a nuclear winter • In the middle of an active warzone, trying to avoid attention from both sides • On high mountain plateaus with primitive rope bridges connecting them • In a cloud-mining facility, held up by tremendous gravity fields • A lush tourist resort on a ‘paradise planet’ • In a neon-lit futuristic city, swept by driving acid rain • A facility built atop the caldera of an active volcano • In an active manufacturing facility, with whirring machinery all around • On construction scaffolding around a partially-built stratoscaper • Under immense gravity, on the outside of a moving warship • In a colossal server-farm, with tight fields of view and fragile electronics all around • Inside a “professionally neutral” bank vault I originally wrote this list for a 4e-based Mass Effect game, but it can work as easily for Star Wars, Star Trek, Starfinder, Traveller, whatever you’d like, really (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 16 August 2018) Categories All |
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