MonSTeR

I remember there was a short story about 10 years ago in a Games Workshop "Dark Future" rulebook. It's a winter's day, the hunter tails his quarry all over town. The quarry thinks he's lost his tail. The hunter checks with his superiors using his mastoid commo and a department store falls to the ground. The hunter watches eating his roast chestnuts.

 

In 2020 there might be a taskforce of equivalent size. There might also be a corporation after such ingenious freelancers to put on it's payroll and there might be the Yakuza Guy's long lost Brother/Father/Son/Cousin Bert who's out for revenge/restoration of family honor etc. There might be the sort of surveillance that was shown in the movie "Enemy of the State".It might even have been focused onthe PCs as they'd been fingered (rightly or wrongly) for another crime. But the technology is now extrapolated 25 years into the future, so that the satellites and cameras and drones etc. can tell what the PCs had for breakfast. Last Tuesday. Or there might just be apathy. This sort of thing might happen a lot in someone else's CP game and collateral damage may be an everyday occurance?

Bloodbath moves off again hungrily devouring the takeaway food. The van continues through the city. The areas rise and fall in their desirability until they begin to tail off. The city, barely 30 years old, looks so run down in places. This is one of those places.

 

7th street. Rows of decaying low-rise housing and businesses, a far cry from the glass and steel monoliths that make up the corporate areas of the city.

 

The 7th Street Mission is a 4 story tenement. Lights are on outside on the street illuminating a few groups of people hanging around outside. You pass a parking lot a short way back or you can leave the van outside on the roadside.

 

The ride is short, the restaurant is just around the corner. Bloodbath pulls up outside the front door and leaves the engine running.

Quote (Snowtiger @ Nov. 27 2001,12:26)

But What about if a character is a half-breed, like american-japanese, who would speak japanese at home(usually done this way) and english in public. What would you have to do then, are both the character's native languages(in this case English and Japanese) on the level +8 or is one of them lower? Not to mention this, but do I sound like a bilingual person, I'm a Finn but have an A-grade on all english classes, and I do think so.

To be honest Snowtiger I think most English folks can tell you're not English. But that's about it. I've never had any trouble understanding what you're saying Your English is suberb

Paulo nods and finishes dealing with the purchase carefully loading the phones and comm units into a brown paper bag bearing the DaSilva Electronics logo.

 

In the doorway of the store Thumper scans the locale. It seems as quiet as it could for this time of night, the usual activity goes on with no sign of anything suspicious.

 

Mexican food awaits.

Quote (psychophipps @ Nov. 26 2001,09:40)

good call!  i tend to be in situations where i have the two choices a) get stomped into mush or jap-slap the SOB before he can do option "a".  i will actually run away like a little girl if i can, but y'know... Mark(psycho)Phipps( HAHAHA! )

Ahhhh yes I use a similar but more highly advanced technique if I have the opportunity.

 

It's called (drum roll please)...

 

 

 

Run away like... an olympic sprinter.

 

it's the same as running like a little girl but you cover more ground in less time

Inside the shop admidst the transaction Rat's coat starts to ring. He fumbles in one of the many pockets for one of his many cell phones, presses the talk button and holds it to his ear.

 

You hear him go silent for a while.

I've encountered a whole range of "work ethics" from "edgerunners" since the late 80s. I've seen the "no women -no kids" to real "slash and burn" urban warfare. And.. I think in the right time and place, all have equal merit to a CP2020 character.

 

I've seen teams of PCs do their absolute best to minimise background and I've seen them do whatever it takes to exact revenge. During professionaly motivated work, ie paid jobs etc. usually I find that PCs tend to try to cause as few casualties as they can as much in order to make thier lives easier in the long run as anything. To paraphrase "robocop 2" "There won't be any trouble from the dead ones, but they''ll have relatives.. they always do"

 

I've had one overzealous PC kill a cop in cold blood on a B&E. This lead to an interesting situation where the rest of the team considered turning him in, initially for the reward money on the cop killer, but also as one of the team was very upset by the "loose cannon" in their midst simply doing "wrong", breaking the "code" if you will, but the team as a whole decided that loyalty to their teammate was more important and they worked together to get the guy a new pair of shoes.

 

I've occasionally seen employers screwed over, but usually not for the money, it's for the direct act of acting against an organisation or individual . In most cases the PCs set up the situation specifically in order to hit their employers from the inside rather than just running off with the deposit on a paid job.

 

But I'll sgree that most teams of PCs tend to have a moral code that they live by and I guess it's just a part, to the players I've worked with as a GM, of their PCs' character and I've seen all levels of code, but I would agree that whatever that code actually is, the PCs tend to stick to it.

Quote from psychophipps, posted on Nov. 23 2001,10:05

 

I think I've been very lucky with my players then. Most have wanted to get some real motivation into the games as much as anyone I've seen. I class myself as very fortuntate for that reason. It IS a Cyberpunk game and my gaming group has always tried to play it as such and thus Kudos to them

 

And I wouldn't let the door smack me in the ass, quite simply cos I never got into the room. I'm just pulling faces and shouting through the window

 

Quote from SpiderMurphy2020, posted on Nov. 22 2001,16:53Quote:

 

Actually when it is boiled down to that simple a concept, you're not that far off

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Expanding the boundaries is great, it's fantastic. As long as you really are expanding the boundaries and not shrinking further away from them. Which, to me, is what running a whole campaign around building an AV for no other reason would be. I don¡¦t really see a struggle against the weight of the corporate machine, there¡¦s no rebellion, no heroics by choosing to go to a scrapyard for parts.

 

I stand adamant on the certain divides between Cyberpunk, and dystopian near future science fiction. Both are equally valid, but they are not exactly the same thing.

 

 

 

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Yes wanting to go home above all else is definitely more "cyberpunk" albeit in a D&D setting, especially when there's no special abilities of the peasants to help them out. Thats definitely a great extension on the genre. But to have a group of peasants decide to make a really great wagon?!?!? (the D&D equivalent of an AV?!?!) Is that really an extension? Is that really the sort of theme, without further motivation, that a cyberpunk story should focus on?

 

 

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Trying to survive in the world rather than giving up is great, it¡¦s very definitely Cyberpunk, it is real heroism. But trying to build a new toy like an AV for no other reason? There¡¦s no self interest even if the focus is on the how of the  building of the machine rather than the why. I¡¦m sorry but I still can¡¦t see anything really cyberpunk there

Thumper peruses the racks of tech gear on the back wall behind the counter. Rows of prepackaged cables and phones and connectors and walkie talkies and civilian scrambler devices and... line the wall. Like they and the miscellaneous sometimes unspecified devices in ubiquitous cardboard packaging do. The deivces have names like "DeltaVox ZT4800" or "S.I. CPS 6.0" or... This is definately techie heaven.

Paulo shuffles backwards a couple of inches and stands up with the comm units in her hands and one packet held precariously between her lips. She nods over to the wall behind the counter.

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Cyberpunk doesn’t have to involve crime. It can and often does but it doesn’t have to. I think that with cyberpunk though, it is a genre that is that is defined by what you are actually doing but it also has to be within a science fiction setting. The setting in itself isn’t enough.

 

 

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With FIX’s description in his first paragraph, I’d say that cyberpunk has poked it’s nose around the door. For it to come back into the room and sit down at the table, I’d suggest that having charged the the AV engines to Otec, an organisation that one of the characters had a bitter and justified hatred against. The characters then use said AV to destroy the new corporate development Otec had made to further tighten it’s grip on the world’s populace. Preferably as Otec was unveiling it during the opening ceremony not only destroying corporate property A but also hopefully Otec’s reputation throughout the world, causing widescale public outrage bringing Otec’s grip on the world to an end etc through mass public revolt when the truth comes out. If the truth doesn’t come out and Otec successfully pulls a cover-up and the characters die trying, it doesn’t matter because the characters died trying to make a difference.

 

 

I like very much what FIX says in his second paragraph, and it fits in well with what Maximum Mike Pondsmith wrote in the CP2020 rulebook.

 

“the quintessential Cyberpunk character is a rebel with a cause. As a cyberpunk roleplayer, it’s up to you to find that cause and go to the wall with it.

 

This is the essence of Cyberpunk – playing your character with the proper disaffected, cynical-yet-idealistic style”

 

Remember… Style over substance, Attitude is everything, Live on the edge.

 

 

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Yes the usual Smith employs you to do X to Y is just as cyberpunk as Scrap heap challenge. Because in truth that, as a whole, isn’t cyberpunk either. There seems to be a great deal of concern with the what and not enough of the why. Cyberpunk is all about the cause. If the characters as a plot decide to work for Mr.Smith then it should be for a reason other than money. Maybe it’s in order to get close enough to kill him for what he did to one of the character’s family or etc. etc. I started my MonSTeRpunk 2020 game off that way true. But it’s an introduction, not the plot of the game itself in truth very little more than a prologue. If that was the game, if just building an AV was the game itself, then it’s not imho employing imagination or pushing the boundaries. In fact it’s so far away from pushing that it can’t even see the boundaries from there.

 

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No not really. Cyberpunk is usually defined by the works of guys like Gibson, Sterling, Williams. Oh, and in the case of CP2020 … Pondsmith, I try to play in the style these guys created:D

 

Quote from DragoonCav, posted on Nov. 21 2001,03:01

 

LMAO!!! You just don't seem to get it do you DragoonCav?!?!? Yes building an AV out of spare parts is fun, but it's not Cyberpunk.

 

Like I said before, you can run a near future high tech game using the interlock system or the Cp2020 rules. It may be a "cool roleplaying side-plot that can easily become a big campaign" but it's NOT Cyberpunk.

 

I never have to railroad a good player. I may have to drop hints in game or discuss where we as a group see the game going with the other players to come up with an idea for an entertaining plot so that the game as a whole runs smoothly and in a fun way for everybody. The only players who need railroading are those who cannot play a "role", who cannot see the bigger gaming picture.

 

Yes some people in 2020 have to lead semi normal lives, but those "semi-normal" people at those "semi-normal" times are not the ones I focus on in my games. Why..?

 

Because that isn't Cyberpunk either.

Quote from Dragon, posted on Nov. 20 2001,23:30Quote:

 

I tried not to get specific as to "your" AV Dragon, and I apologise if you think I got personal on the issue.

 

As for players trying something different. That's great As long as it's in the scope of the game. A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I used to Ref a "Star Wars" game. I had a waiting list of players from the local (and not so local) area because I ran a game that was allegedly very true to the essence of the first 3 Star Wars films. There was a guy who wanted to play in my game and he was telling me about how he had this great character who stole an Imperial Star Destroyer and was using for his own ends etc etc. When he was expecting me to invite him to join the game, I laughed at the guy.

 

Why?

 

Because although it may have made a "kicking campaign" as DragoonCav puts it, it wasn't the sort of thing MY game dealt with. I tried to stay true to the spirit of the films and work against the Empire as a group of rebels. Usually not purely for money (ok sometimes in the case of financially motivated character roles), sometimes for honour, or love,  or family etc. That was what the rest of my players wanted, that's what I wanted and so that's how the game was played. When I play as a player I expect the GM to put guidelines in place it's usually better that way it gives the game focus and direction and dare I say it... plot!!!

 

Like I said before, if the game is supposed to focus on a group of characters building an AV then great, it could well be a really fun game. But if the Players and GM had already decided that the game should be about overthrowing a tyrannical corporation because it's chairman stole a PC's mother away from his father then building teh coolest AV  possible from scrap parts should probably not feature. The player who just in the middle of a game decides they want their character to abandon all their previous motivations and goals and responsibilities in order to build a cool toy is, to me, just a poor role-player.

 

 

Quote from DragoonCav, posted on Nov. 20 2001,18:10

 

DragoonCav...

 

Tell me one thing aside from an elevated tech level, that "a kicking campaign out of building an AV of doom" has to do with "Cyberpunk"...?

 

If all the player wants to do is to get the biggest shiniest toys with the largest guns he can find, again... not Cyberpunk. Yes, you can run a fantastic and fun near future game using the interlock system in which the players build an AV from spare parts, but it's not and never is going to be Cyberpunk. Cyberpunk would be to steal one use it and discard it. Afterall in Cyberpunk the future is disposable.

 

Aberrant players are, in my opinion, the worst roleplayers in that they never play a role in the story they just run around a game world often being no more than a few figures on a piece of paper. If they do have a well developed character then often it's only in isolation and not suitable for the game being played, hence calling them aberrant. If they do something that is creative that's great, but only if it moves the game forwards. There's a huge difference between creative and disruptive.

 

A good player won't need railroading. They'll understand the point of the game, they'll take a small hint. As for the bad players, those who don't understand the game's bigger picture both for players AND characters... In the case of the inappropriate AV? Well I'm sorry but it's bye-bye AV and if that doesn't work, bye-bye character and bye-bye player

 

 

 

If, however, the players and myself as GM want to play a game about making AV's out of scrap, then I'd do my absolute best to give them free reign in that sphere. I just wouldn't call it Cyberpunk!!! If I'm running a Cyberpunk Game I expect the players to stick to the theme of that game

Whether a GM allows a player an AV is very much like what characters he allows in the game.

 

A game that revolves around a covert corporate special ops team shouldn't maybe contain a Rockerboy.

 

Or a street level gutterpunk style campaign shouldn't maybe contain a 7'9" white bengal tiger/human hybrid that escaped from a secret government research lab.

 

Some games will do fine if the players have their own AV. Some games would be totally unbalanced by one. It's the GM's job to ensure that the game doesn't become unbalanced one way OR the other.

Quote from DragoonCav, posted on Nov. 20 2001,01:10

 

A good referee will have set out the boundaries of the story (the tech level, power level and game themes to be explored in the campaign) to the players, albeit perhaps briefly, before play started when the characters are drawn up. This hopefully stops morons going off on the "I want a +6 AV of  doom" quest. Munchkin players like that are bad for any game and perhaps shouldn't be playing an adult themed game like cyberpunk. If the aberrant player refuses to be guided back on track either in or out of character then I'd rather lose those players from my game ASAP and get on with telling a story in the cyberpunk mold.

 

 

"well sugar" she says, her hair returning to it's blonde colour, "5 mastoid units will run you $500, but I'll run you a 25% discount and call it 375eb"

 

She smiles at Rat this could be the start of a negotiation. Paulo hops off the counter again and walks towards the back of the small shop her heels clicking on the shop's floor as she does so. The mastoid comm units are located on the back wall in individually packed boxes hanging off one of the racks. You can tell she's toying with you as she bends over to collect the units from the lower rows of stock, sticking her behind out playfully as she does so.

Paulo sits on the edge of the counter, legs swinging, amused by the techie talk.

 

She closes her eyes for a moment and her hair starts to turn deep red.

Quote from Dragon, posted on Nov. 18 2001,04:57

 

The thing is Dragon, the GM controls the game world. If the GM says no AV, then the player that demands one is not gonna last long in that game. The player that can creatively come up with a way for his PC to have an AV is gonna last a little longer but the AV won't if the GM is dead set against them.

Like folks have said, it'll be stolen, shot, burned, impounded scrapped or just unable to find a landing space.

 

However in my games AV's are like Archangel said .  

 

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Most of them in my world tend to be corporate and thus either AV4 shuttle type things or a big posh limo for the uber rich, like when corporate names come to town, with only the very rich like the afforementioned corporate names, owning a private AV.

Paulo hops her bum up onto the counter and swings her long legs finished off by designer Italian heels over to the customers side. Man do they seem to go on forever.

 

"Hi Sugar" she says "you know I'll do anything for you" she pouts and winks at Rat. "What can I do for you this time?"

 

 

Paulo's electronic hardware store is a lot smaller on the inside than it looks on the outside.

 

The shop front is about 7m wide and the shop itself extends back about 12m or so. There's a long counter on the left as you enter the store and the right hand wall is covered in display racks with little baggies of components and cables and plugs and so on in row after row after row.

 

In the centre of the store 3 more racks of "techie" items can be seen and on the far wall there's a door that leads presumably to the alley out back.

 

Behind the counter stands a tall woman, maybe about 6'0".  she has long blonde hair tied up into a high pony tail and beautiful blue eyes. She wears black leather pants and a white baby doll t-shirt pulled tight across her chest it bears the DaSilva Electronics logo.

 

This is Paulo.

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