Freeform Cyberpunk 2070s

[Ixy]

Looking for a roleplayer or three for a small group collaborative fiction Cyberpunk story, where the writers take the roles of edgerunners and do some basic ops.  I'd like to commit to at least 2 posts per week, with a heavy emphasis on atmosphere and character development.  If anyone has ideas, feel free to DM or post and we'll talk it over-- a "GM" would basically act as a referee or cinematic director, but could also write with the group, but primarily this role would be a shared one.

I'd like it to be forum based, a little smutty, but silliness kind of kept 'in tone' with the dark and unique setting.  Thanks for taking a look!

[Zenkai]

The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.

IMNSHO (and you know what they say about opinions, but I base mine on running cyberpunk things for 20+ years) you will benefit from having a director for something like this - to reduce the chance of the narrative spiraling into a bad trip and crashing hard. Cyberpunk also needs a gauge of how far the characters can be pushed, so at least a little bit of system is needed - I found having a single stat (Cool) is enough, a simple d10 roll to keep things interesting, and failing forward all keep things manageable.

Of course, YMMV. But I'll gladly take the GM spot if there's interest.

[Ixy]

Thanks for the offer, and I'm glad to hear that... in fact, I'm just glad to see someone interested in writing some Cyberpunk together-- the offer of a GM was utterly unexpected and is COMPLETELY appreciated. 

For what it's worth, I was envisioning NC as the setting, with as many liberties to be taken as necessary/desired.  I don't have any particular attachment to canon, but it seems like there's such a trove of interesting gangs, corps, tech, locations, and lore, that it makes sense to borrow liberally and change however participants desire.  Any thoughts on that?

And cool is, of course, the single most important stat.  Cool is everything.

[Zenkai]

The cp2077 computer game and its spinoff cartoon are what most people are familiar with, so we probably should stick with that. And the music they made for those, it hits hard and fits in the lore. Night City is probably still too bright and clean compared to what is in the books. The average lifespan of an edgerunner once engaged in top-level stuff is measured in hours, so liberties can be taken.

The usual pitch I give new players is "this session you're members of a Trauma Team", let them learn the way the world works, and once they're comfy we can do otber ideas.

[MetroFallout]

So I'm curious, three total or three plus yourself at max capacity?

[Ixy]

Hey Metro- was going for a total of 4 participants, because more than that can mean a lot of waiting and/or confusion.  But it's sure not 'hardcoded'.

So Zenkai: in your potential scenario as described, would a kid from the Republic of Texas who trained as a corpsman- hoping for a medical degree out of it, but deeply traumatized by the Unification War, be a decent starting point for a character?

More importantly, is this a good time for you to consider starting up a game, if an interest thread were to get some writers you'd take on?

[MetroFallout]

Count me in as a player.

[Ixy]

Quick character background write-up to get things stirring... dunno if it helps.  Just... felt like writing it.

   

Romina Cruz (Mina)
Born on a sugarcane farm a hundred miles from Sherman, TX in the late 2040s, Mina was raised to understand 'her place'-- to maintain the careful balance between communal interdependence and corporate slavery.  Her family maintained its land year-to-year by letting the NUSA do its bit to keep that balance, by paying dues to Biotechnica so the crops wouldn't shrivel up while keeping cash, able bodies, and bullets ready to stay on the right side of the NUSA when necessary.
The indiscriminate enemy that couldn't be bargained with was disease-- over years, they suffered bizarre outbreaks, blamed alternately (by both corporations and government agencies) on water pollution, acid rain, Central American terrorism, illicit drugs, and locally-sourced fertilizers.  Anyone who postulated Biotechnica's 'terminator' crops as a cause was urged, strongly, to cease their unfounded slander.
When Mina went with her family to Sherman to oversee an expensive, desperate, and ultimately futile treatment for a younger sibling's inexplicable neural collapse, her life was changed by the detachment of disinterested doctors and clinicians who watched her sister suffer and fade.  Although a backwater by comparison to other cities, and barely a parking lot compared to the sprawling megalopolises of Night City or SoCal, it was the biggest city she'd known... but that hate turned to awe when a chance interruption of an emergency landing by an aerial medical evac from Militec made an emergency landing to commandeer the facilities at the hospital. 
Mina witnessed their authority, their impunity, and from the medics-- their competence.  Being insignificant and small, she was able to observe, unnoticed, from within the chambers of the hospital as they stabilized and performed field operations on wounded operatives who had suffered grievous injuries.  By comparison, Mina had known a man who died in the fields because the autoharvester he was repairing had a shortcirc malfunction.  And just like that, she knew she wanted to be a doctor... she wouldn't be like these hospital doctors who cowed before corporate logos, whose degrees were only good for wiping their asses.  She would carry technology that could keep people alive.  She would close wounds, heal shock, still seizures, rip away pain... and even if a Corp was the way to do it, she would learn their ways and technology, and she would never turn away from a child because they were not rich.
Years later, in the Unification War, somewhere between rappelling into a live-fire zone with a NUSA patch under her rifle strap and an ocean of bodies too scattered to sew together strewn before her, she would remember that air transport landing in Sherman, and she would hope that the medical cross on her helmet might dissuade one-- just one-- soldier from shooting her, rather than serving as a simple target.

[MetroFallout]

I had this for a previous game, not sure how he'd fit or if he'd fit but here he is (with some editing).

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Name: Garth Munsen
Alias(es): 極道の竜 (Gokudō no ryū , lit. Dragon of the Extreme Path), Yankee Dragon, Steel Cowboy
Role: Solo Netrunner Nomad

Age: 83
Sex: Male
Height: 6'1"
Hair: Dark Blonde
Eyes: Electric Blue Eyes

Brief:

Born in '94, Garth was an unremarkable boy born to parents who worked in separate Arasaka affiliate companies in the U.S and were exceptional in their field. During The Collapse that started in '96, his parents read the tides and used their connections to Arasaka to move to Japan in search of a more stable life, finding it in Tokyo as full-time Arasaka employees. There in Japan, Garth would be groomed to be yet another Arasaka employee like his parents, though in the field of security and combat rather than commerce as per his relative stature as well as his academic tendencies in the Japanese Arasaka Academy. Unfortunately, tragedy struck while he was well underway to starting as a decently ranked corporate security guard. His parents were killed on April 16th 2013 during a business trip to the Arasaka American Division HQ, unfortunate casualties of Johnny Silverhand's assault on Arasaka Tower to retrieve Alt Cunningham.

With his parents gone, Garth ended up with no sponsors and was left utterly defenceless. An overnight pariah, he had to beg his way to completing his studies and faced discrimination from his more fortunate classmates. By some miracle, he managed to graduate and eventually became a corporate security guard just like what he and his late parents wanted. For a while, it would seem things were looking up for Garth as he climbed the ranks and was on the right path to becoming a bodyguard after serving dutifully in Arasaka's employ while shedding both his and his enemies blood as a corporate soldier.

A perfect record that was unblemished save for his rocky start was completely derailed when he took on his first bodyguarding assignment. While the events that occurred were something that he keeps close to his heart now, the result was that he ended up expelled from the company with nothing to his name that he hadn't secretly squirrelled away in cold hard Eddies after learning it the hard way from his parents' death. While he was planning on becoming a solo at some point in his life, he was expecting that to come after he had quit the company once he had paid his dues, not from a dismissal from the company that would have left him destitute were it not for some forward thinking on his part. The alternative of simply wasting away never really came to pass as a chance encounter while he was still employed by Arasaka left him a lifeline. The Steel Dragons came a-knocking once they had caught wind of a skilled ex-Arasaka bodyguard was ready to go the path of the Netrunning Solo and it was then and there that he met Yorinobu Arasaka himself who had deemed it a worthwhile thing to funnel some of his not inconsiderable resources in helping Garth get back to form as a Netrunning Solo Nomad thanks to his service record for most of the Fourth Corporate War.

As the years went on, the Steel Dragons came to rely on him more and more and he regained his lost prestige among people who actually cared about him and shared his hatred of the Arasaka Corporation for being the source of his life's misfortunes. Travelling the world where Steel Dragon has a presence, he ended up in Night City once again in the current year.

Cyberware:
Arasaka "Iaijutsu Joshu/居合術助手" Sandevistan Type 6 (4% Time Slow/x25 Time Dilation, 14 second duration)
Arasaka Phantom Mk.6 Cyberdeck (8 Quickhacks)
Limbic System Enhancement
Visual Cortex Support
Self-ICE
Kiroshi Optics Mk. III
Bioconductor
Pain Editor
Nanorelays
Subdermal Armor
Optical Camo
Titanium Bones
Ballistic Coprocessor
Steel Dragons Smart Dermal Imprint
Lynx Paws


Weapons:

Talon

A Malorian Arms RL (Retro Line) 1873 given to Garth personally by Yorinobu Arasaka after decades of service, the Malorian Talon is a power revolver that harkens back to a past that is over two hundred years old as of 2077. Single-action, 7 1/2-inch barrel, .45-caliber, and thanks to modern high-velocity ammunition and significantly sturdier construction, capable of some truly heinous damage that was only dreamed of back when the original design first came about. Not the fastest weapon to reload, sure, but whatever it hits will definitely feel it.

Howler

A Militech CM15-300S (Classic, Suppressed) Power-class Assault Rifle, the ironically named Howler is relatively whisper-quiet. Each report emanating from its muzzle is a mere pop that is so quiet that you could actually shoot it without using hearing protection or an audio implant thanks to its integral suppressor and heavy weight subsonic ammunition. While it is an unusual choice, it is undoubtedly a heavy-hitter of a rifle with the only drawback being that of a shorter effective range due to the use of subsonic ammunition and a suppressor.

Faith and Duty

A pair of relatively early-production Militech M-10AF Lexingtons, these two pistols were Garth's go-to weapons early on in his time with the Steel Dragons after he had proven himself to the rest of the Steel Dragons and "graduated" from using knives and such. They had been lovingly maintained and modified over the years to keep up with the weapons landscape though the use of micro-explosives for the 9mm ammunition certainly helps even things out a little.

Butter Knife

A katana of unknown manufacture with a magnetic linear scabbard, the Butter Knife (so-named to allude to its ability to cut through things like a hot knife through butter), has a titanium blade with a carbide edge and thin hardened steel core for the scabbard to act upon the blade and launch it at speed to hasten a draw.

Toothpick

Literally just a really nicely made knife with quality steel and a wood grip.

[Ixy]

Guessing from radio silence it's a 'not gonna happen for now', so door's still open. 

Metro - was hoping this would be for characters more entry-level.

[MetroFallout]

Gotcha, I think I could adjust him a little timeline-wise and have him be an experienced-but-not-veteran Steel Dragon.

[FortunateTaboo]

Hello

I'd be interested in exploring some world building and basic ops shenanigans in a group game. I really like the genre but haven't had much chance to explore/write with it so it'd be a fun exploration.

I do like GMing but would be interested in sharing the role and have a character of my own to roam with the team. While I do have a bit of exposure to cyberpunk2077's and edgerunner's lore, I am not fully knowledgeable with all the details, but get pretty involved going down the rabbit hole.

As for actually organizing things, would you guys be interested in having a discord server for chats/plots/setups? Ixy, I know you stated you want a forum style of play, and I am up for that, but for OOC related things, discord would be preferable. Easier to organize things and communicate more effectively.

But also, just realized you might already have a dedicated GM, either way, I am available to at least join as a character. Hopefully can come together as a group ^^

[Ixy]

Thanks for expressing your interest.  So far, there have been interests expressed, but no commitments made. Still very much in a formative phase. I'm not adverse to Discord, and I admit it would make it easy to throw together multimedia posts quickly. If you were to GM and write a character as well, what kind of story do you see taking place, and keeping the story moving?

[FortunateTaboo]

Sounds good, glad that I can get in at the ground floor ^^ Will be happy to slug away at logistics. Tend to enjoy the brainstorming/setup process.

Hmmm, I usually take in player feedback of the tone/content that they wish to explore. I would probably gravitate and use inspiration from cp2077's gameplay to help form some sort of narrative and from their branch out as characters find interest in other things. Zenkai mentioned about putting the characters on trauma team to learn the ropes of the world and I think that'd be an interesting start.

I like in media res type of starts as well, get us right into some sort of action, whether physical or interactive that gets us going towards a goal instead of a "we all meet at a tavern" and have to scrounge up some collective goal/objective. Helps keep the momentum going.

And considering that you have a medic related character, that seems like it'd be a good place to start. Metro's character seems like it'd fit well as part of trauma team as more of a muscle or logistics with netrunning depending on the direction he wants to go.

And if I were to take more of a GM role but put in a character, I suppose I should play a more of a leader type role. I don't know if that is the correct move, I don't intend to dictate the group's direction, but it might help with narrative and interactive purposes. The character might be more of a muscle type that manages the group's well being and relies on the expertise of the other characters to get us through the story/settings.

So ya, I don't mean to steal Zenkai's thunder, it is a very good idea and would be willing to come up with something entirely different if it's in poor taste to run with his setup.

Also, don't mean to fast track anything, but will be willing to make and organize a discord server if interested. I will be heading out for a bit atm, but if interested, you, Metro, and Zenkai can PM me and I'll pass along a server invite.

[Zenkai]

jeez, I just step away for a bit and get declared dead  ;D

So, those characters seem way too detailed and invested-in for the quick and dirty introductory scenario I had in mind (in medias crap, as it were). Life is cheap on the streets, chooms.

I'm up for discording the OOC part and brainstorming, as well as combat stuff. Still, I'd like to keep in character threads here on E. This allows me to make nice maps and other silliness. I'll be slow for one more week, but then I should be able to make more posts.

[FortunateTaboo]

My apologies Zenkai, do not mean to overstep what you've initiated. ^^

More than happy to be able to just vibe along! Am definitely interested in getting dirty with the grunge and filth of the streets.

[MetroFallout]

I think what it might be is that Garth could be a rescue specialist affiliated with Trauma Team while as a member of Steel Dragons.

[MetroFallout]

Newer version of Garth more in-tune with expectations.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Name: Garth Munsen
Alias(es): 極道の竜 (Gokudō no ryū , lit. Dragon of the Extreme Path), Yankee Dragon, Steel Cowboy
Role: Solo Netrunner Nomad

Age: 33
Sex: Male
Height: 6'1"
Hair: Dark Blonde
Eyes: Electric Blue Eyes

Brief:

Garth was an unremarkable boy born to parents who worked in separate Arasaka affiliate companies in the U.S and were exceptional in their field. Through their connections to Arasaka they found a more stable life in Tokyo directly working as liasons between Arasaka Japan and Arasaka USA. There in Japan, Garth would be groomed to be yet another Arasaka employee like his parents, though in the field of security and combat rather than commerce as per his relative stature as well as his academic tendencies in the Japanese Arasaka Academy. Unfortunately, tragedy struck while he was well underway to starting as a decently ranked corporate security guard. His parents were killed during a business trip to the Arasaka American Division HQ, unfortunate casualties of an assault on their convoy that was rumoured to be from Militech or Militech-affiliates.

With his parents gone, Garth ended up with no sponsors and was left utterly defenceless. An overnight pariah, he had to beg his way to completing his studies and faced discrimination from his more fortunate classmates. By some miracle, he managed to graduate and eventually became a corporate security guard just like what he and his late parents wanted. For a while, it would seem things were looking up for Garth as he climbed the ranks and was on the right path to becoming a bodyguard after serving dutifully in Arasaka's employ while shedding both his and his enemies blood as a corporate soldier.

A perfect record that was unblemished save for his rocky start was completely derailed when he took on his first bodyguarding assignment. While the events that occurred were something that he keeps close to his heart now, the result was that he ended up expelled from the company with nothing to his name that he hadn't secretly squirrelled away in cold hard Eddies after learning it the hard way from his parents' death. While he was planning on becoming a solo at some point in his life, he was expecting that to come after he had quit the company once he had paid his dues, not from a dismissal from the company that would have left him destitute were it not for some forward thinking on his part. The alternative of simply wasting away never really came to pass as a chance encounter while he was still employed by Arasaka left him a lifeline. The Steel Dragons came a-knocking once they had caught wind of a skilled ex-Arasaka bodyguard was ready to go the path of the Netrunning Solo and it was then and there that he met Yorinobu Arasaka himself who had deemed it a worthwhile thing to funnel some of his not inconsiderable resources in helping Garth get back to form as a Netrunning Solo Nomad thanks to his service record for most of the Fourth Corporate War.

As an American by blood who still kept in touch with his roots, it was a no-brainer for Yorinobu to send him to Night City to help set up a foothold for the Steel Dragons to operate, just in case and he'd plied his trade as a solo ever since, his fealties kept close to his heart.

Cyberware:
Arasaka "Iaijutsu Joshu/居合術助手" Sandevistan Type 6 (4% Time Slow/x25 Time Dilation, 14 second duration)
Arasaka Phantom Mk.6 Cyberdeck (8 Quickhacks)
Limbic System Enhancement
Visual Cortex Support
Self-ICE
Kiroshi Optics Mk. III
Bioconductor
Pain Editor
Nanorelays
Subdermal Armor
Optical Camo
Titanium Bones
Ballistic Coprocessor
Steel Dragons Smart Dermal Imprint
Lynx Paws


Weapons:

Talon

A Malorian Arms RL (Retro Line) 1873 given to Garth personally by Yorinobu Arasaka after decades of service, the Malorian Talon is a power revolver that harkens back to a past that is over two hundred years old as of 2077. Single-action, 7 1/2-inch barrel, .45-caliber, and thanks to modern high-velocity ammunition and significantly sturdier construction, capable of some truly heinous damage that was only dreamed of back when the original design first came about. Not the fastest weapon to reload, sure, but whatever it hits will definitely feel it.

Howler

A Militech CM15-300S (Classic, Suppressed) Power-class Assault Rifle, the ironically named Howler is relatively whisper-quiet. Each report emanating from its muzzle is a mere pop that is so quiet that you could actually shoot it without using hearing protection or an audio implant thanks to its integral suppressor and heavy weight subsonic ammunition. While it is an unusual choice, it is undoubtedly a heavy-hitter of a rifle with the only drawback being that of a shorter effective range due to the use of subsonic ammunition and a suppressor.

Faith and Duty

A pair of relatively early-production Militech M-10AF Lexingtons, these two pistols were Garth's go-to weapons early on in his time with the Steel Dragons after he had proven himself to the rest of the Steel Dragons and "graduated" from using knives and such. They had been lovingly maintained and modified over the years to keep up with the weapons landscape though the use of micro-explosives for the 9mm ammunition certainly helps even things out a little.

Butter Knife

A katana of unknown manufacture with a magnetic linear scabbard, the Butter Knife (so-named to allude to its ability to cut through things like a hot knife through butter), has a titanium blade with a carbide edge and thin hardened steel core for the scabbard to act upon the blade and launch it at speed to hasten a draw.

Toothpick

Literally just a really nicely made knife with quality steel and a wood grip.

[Zenkai]

I'm brewing something up, character creation guidelines (picking a name and a few cyberware from a list) are coming this Saturday along with the first IC post. I'll use this short scene to sound you out, kick ideas around, and see how we progress ;) After the scene we'll talk about what went right and what didn't.

"Seven minutes or a refund." - the Trauma Team guarantee

The trauma team typically has a solo as the security expert, a medtech to provide emergency medical care, a runner or tech that doubles as assistant medtech, and a fourth member, usually a solo, that assists with security. The pilot (NPC) stays in the AV4 at the stick.

If you're unfamiliar with how Trauma Team works in the game, give me a holler and I'll do a lore dump.

Lady and gents, pick the name and role for your Trauma Team Inc. employee. This is NOT your main character, but rather a member of a Trauma Team. It's first come, first serve.

[MetroFallout]

Uh... Garth isn't a member of Trauma Team, not officially at least. He's a Nomad solo with an ongoing contract held by Trauma Team.

[Ixy]

Do you want to try to recruit other players?  And Metro, you may want to read the earlier posts about the setting and scenario.

[MetroFallout]

I have to ask a question here, does it matter if Garth is wearing the Trauma Team uniform? It could be interesting/worthwhile having a person who isn't formally part of TT sort of being “on the team” as it were. I have no doubts that TT would treat a (sub?)contractor differently to an employee so that could be an extra interesting wrinkle.

[Zenkai]

I think 3 players is enough, for now. I'll run even if we do it solo (punny, I know).

Metro, for the first scene you won't be playing Garth, but an expendable Trauma Team guy.

In 2077, Trauma Team really doesn't have an uniform as they did in 2013. Instead they are outfitted in used military gear that's sometimes painted in the blues and yellows of the company. Sure, Garth could walk around in those colours, but in 2077 real undamaged Trauma Team uniforms are in museums and private collections, and worth serous eddies. Also, if you're riding in a TTI AV-4 on a mission, you are a Trauma Team employee. TTI employs freelance medics and solos for other duties, but interventions in an AV-4 are all done exclusively by TTI personnel. It's a matter of eddies.

so, your preferred names and positions?

[MetroFallout]

Oh I'm dumb lol. Yeah, put me down as the Solo. Going by the name of Patrick Morris.

[Ixy]

Let's go with a medic named Dee Livingston for me.

[FortunateTaboo]

I'll pick up as a tech runner and fill in for assisting the medtech. A freshie named Mira Park.

[Zenkai]

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=352501.0

[MetroFallout]

Motherfucker, my test roll was an 8 and I landed a 2 when I rolled for real...

[Zenkai]

You are blessed by the Random Number God.