Ocelot

If you're talking about an agency, yes, then I agree with you.  Agencies are bound by budget restrictions, and would likely buy the cheaper weapon, especially if it were more effective.  I, on the other hand, was speaking from the position of an independant "edgerunner" type.  I wasn't aware that you were using a professional organization as a basis for your argument.

In my opinion, that's all that a booster should need.  A booster on the street, carrying a Cockburn Plastic Fantastic .22 pistol in safety yellow with glow-in-the-dark grips, should be able to successfully threaten a normal character with a weapon like that.  To any wage-slave, beaver, or corporate suit trying to hail a taxi, it's a gun, it's dangerous, and their life is in danger.

Realistically, no character in Cyberpunk is going to look at the pistol, laugh, and think, "Your average damage with that thing is only 3.5 points.  I can shrug that off with my BTM."  That's meta-gaming.

My issue comes from the fact that CP2020 is a role-playing game.  Data based on game mechanics is not available to characters in the game world.  The difference in the average damage between Gun A and Gun B would be lost on the typical Cyberpunker, unless he'd done his research.  It's possible that a character could keep up with all the latest reviews, tests, and ballistics data, etc, but not entirely likely (considering the typical Edgerunner's education level).  Once you start quantifying things in terms of points, averages, and statistical data, you're creeping into the domain of roll-playing.

Cyberpunk 2020 was not designed as a war game, though Maximum Metal was an attempt (that, in the opinions of some of the authors, failed dramatically).

I tend to agree.  My players aren't the kind of people who, while playing the stereotypical low-lives, even consider going into a Militech showroom to buy their toys.  They're far more likely to go to an unlicensed dealer who works out of a motel room or the trunk of his car.

Gary

It's all in a name.  If you allow that Arasaka is like the Calvin Klein of the paramilitary world in 2020, having that brand name on a gun will bump the price up a little bit, even if the quality or effectiveness of the weapon isn't up to snuff.  After all, the Cyberpunk RPG was all about style before substance.

Standard damage for a 20mm round (from a cannon or gatling) is 8d10 (in MaxMetal).  Fix is right about the B/A Light 20 being a sub-caliber round.

I've never really had a problem with the discrepancies in the damage ratings.  I don't often give my players such big toys to play with.  I ran a game once where one player had to work out an arrangement between himself and his brother to see who could pack their plastic 9mm on different nights of the week.  I think he had it on odd-numbered days.

Gary

Hit them with some interesting psychotropic drugs that induce slight delusions.  There are several delusions and forms of mild insanity that are really creepy, and that can do a job on just about any PC.

In one example, the delusional person believes that everyone around him has been replaced with a perfect duplicate.  Drop subtle hints that the people the players associate with are somehow "wrong," but avoid specifics.

Given enough of these drugs, the damage might be permanent.  Hallucinations in conjunction with delusions can make things really interesting.

Gary

Let me jump on the bandwagon here...

My early CP games (2013) were soundtracked with Queensryche (lots of Mindcrime and Rage for Order), Metallica (the early stuff), Bang Tango, Guns & Roses, as well as any soundtracks I could get my hands on.

One day, browsing in a CD store, I caught the cover of Front Line Assembly's Tactical Neural Implant and thought, "Wow, that looks pretty cyberpunkesque."  I picked it up, never having listened to it, and got my first appreciation for techno-industrial music.

Most recently, I'll play anything from FLA (my collection is, erm, large) or their side projects (ie, Delerium, Synaesthesia, and especially Intermix).  Past that, there's always Ministry, Manufacture, Tool, Marilyn Manson (so sue me), Alice in Chains, White Zombie & Rob Zombie, Corrosion of Conformity, The Cramps, and Nine Inch Nails.

If I'm feeling particularly goofy, I'll throw on the occasional GWAR album.  "Slaughterama" is a wonderful idea for a Cyberpunk game show ("Because when your life is sh*t, then you haven't got much to lose...").  The problem with GWAR is that the players start to listen to the lyrics more than they're listening to the GM.

For soundtracks, I have to echo some of Chrysalis' sentiments.  Add to the list soundtracks from The Fifth Element, Black Hawk Down, Get Carter, and Wipeout.

Gary

Oh, man.  Ack.  If I could, would I?

Depends totally on the technology involved.  New arms or legs?  Hell, no.  Not unless I was lacking one or both.  I hate surgery of any kind.

However...

I might make an exception in the case of a chipware socket.  I like the idea of learning/knowing skills without actually having to work for them.  I mean, how cool would it be to upload all your game notes and rules into chips, stick them into your head, and then run all your games that way?

I am geek, hear me roar.

Gary

Okay, slap me upside the head and call me ignorant.  I've found plenty of info on the Udar revolver itself, but not much on the weight of the weapon, or the muzzle velocity.

G

Are you sure the Udar is a revolver?  It seems to be a non-lethal weapon for self-defense, as seen here:

Ustroistvo Dozirovannogo Aerozolnogo Raspylenia (UDAR)

Kind of neat, actually.

Gary

I had a funky idea to run a game where the world devolves in preparation for the Great Old Ones to return.  I think I've seen "In The Mouth of Madness" too many times.  I never got much past the concept stage, though.

Heck, you *really* want to mess with your players, throw in disasters that mimic events in the Christian Book of Revelations.

"Those aren't locusts!  They're AV-6's!  Run away!"

::cough::

There were plenty of interesting (though not particularly good) RPGs that came out centered on the Apocalypse (with a capital 'A').  I've even got a few on my book shelf that I mine for inspiration when I'm feeling particularly brain dead.  "The End" was one.  "Rapture: The Second Coming" was an attempt to cash in on White Wolf's rampant popularity in the mid-nineties.  C.J. Carella did one called "Armageddon" (I traded him a copy of "Champions: New Millenium" for it at GenCon '97, heh).  There is, of course, the daddy of all NASSSSTY horror RPGs, "Kult."

I know you're talking more about natural disasters, but supernatural disasters work just as well.  Throw the players a curve ball.  Heck, maybe their next Mr. Johnson will turn out to be the Antichrist himself.

Okay, cheesy, cheesy.  I'm going away.

Gary

Not to toot my own horn, but I wrote some rules for playing children a while back.  They might be a bit dated and clunky (heck, they're at least three or four years old), but they seem to work okay.  Might be a bit more number crunching than you'd like, but take a look.

MOMMY, I WANT TO BE A SOLO WHEN I GROW UP!

Hope that helps.

Gary

Which is a good thing.  Guns (and other weapons) are probably one of the easiest things to produce, especially in a game where violence is the rule.

I enjoy a good firefight, but if that's all you end up doing it can get pretty stale.

Okay, I'm taking notes here.

Gary

No, not dead.  Not exactly.  They had to place me into cyrogenic suspension so they could find a cure for my overdeveloped ego.  Now, after all that hard work, you go and ruin it for them.

Damn.  I'm gonna need a bigger hat.

Gary

That's the big trick, we gotta keep you junkies coming back for more.  ::grin::

We've got a few more things lined up for future updates.  To be honest, I'm not really sure what the typical CP player/GM is interested in these days.  Any thoughts on that, or am I drifting into an off-topic area?

Cheers,

G

Most of the old stuff should be there, yeah.  If there's anything you think we're missing, let us know.  I'm pretty sure we got most of it, with a couple of exceptions.

G

Back into ancient history...

The first RPG I ever played has to have been either Recon (Vietnam War-themed) or the Morrow Project.  I have trouble figuring out which one was the first, exactly, because I was thirteen, didn't understand the rules, and all I wanted to do was blow crap up.

My friend's older brother used to run us through these incredibly difficult scenarios.  We'd always end up dead or worse.  I think he did it on purpose, because he got sick of us constantly begging him to run something.  His efforts had the opposite effect, though; we always wanted more, just to prove that this time we'd actually survive.

Eventually I started running games for my friend.  The first game I ever bought and GMed was Top Secret/S.I.  We played the hell out of that game, and it's still surprisingly good compared to some of the newer game systems out there.

Gary

Thanks, guys!  It's good to be back.  I've been out of the loop for so long, it's taking some time to readjust.  I have yet to fully investigate the forum here.  With luck, I can make some intelligent contribution.  

Gary

A complete and utter coincidence, I assure you.  ::chuckle::

Just a quick note to let all interested parties know that Mockery's CP2020 Page is back in business at a new URL.  Come on by and take a look around:

http://www.verminary.com/cyberpunk/

Cheers,

G