Cyberpunk Roleplay forming

Started by Ixy, May 24, 2021, 07:44:31 PM

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Ixy

I'm going to start recruiting soon for a Cyperpunk roleplay.  The game will be primarily freeform and based in a world familiar enough to Cyperpunk 2077 players, but with significant original and shamelessly stolen ideas from such authors as Gibson, Sterling, Roys, and Sterling.  This will not be Shadowrun and will not be cyberpunk-fantasy.  However, there may be scifi-supernatural-horror elements... I just haven't settled on it entirely. And let's be frank.  What do we call technology we don't understand?

The characters will be recruited from various walks of life based on specific skillsets and background factors.  That is why your character will be chosen-- they should be created based on histories, passions, desires, weaknesses, talents, and training... they are not combat monkeys. We make machines for that.  If you find yourself interested, please reply with a short character idea by June 1st's midnight and we'll give it a go.

The setting is 2107 in the sprawltropolis of Cruz del Sur, a spreading patchwork of what used to be Phoenix, Glendale, Scottsdale, and Tuscon Arizona-- among others.  It touches the Arizona (hope those glad-hands knew how to swim) and bleeds into Mexico as a soft-crossing, and its outliers are prime territory for organized gangs to stake out old civilian, military, and abandoned government properties no longer inhabitable, where the trade in illicit goods and services thrives.  In the country clubs of the Glen, you might find champagne and fresh strawberries.   In the desert, it's fucking Road Warrior with jet fuel and laser-guided munitions, and they don't eat you (usually)-- they just sell you for parts, or wholesale if you're worth any money.

Think about the worlds of the Cyberpunk stories you've read... hell, think about your own world.  Think about the lives you want to dabble in... the performers, the students, the dealers, the artistes, the dilettantes, the fashionistas, the bums, the survivalists, the kids and thugs and librarians and copier-repair techs and secretaries and sanitation workers you rub elbows with, or used to, day to day, hour to hour.  What's going through their heads, their lives?  What would they give to change it?  Most importantly, what would they risk?  The technology in this story is just to help us tell the story of dehumanization and alienation from our own world; it's just a vehicle.  I need 3-5 drivers to jump into this bitch with me, and it ain't first-come, first-served.

Thanks for reading.
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The big print giveth, the small print taketh away.

PhantomPistoleer

Always seeking 5E games.
O/O

Arcanist

I am definitely interested. Will reply with a character concept by the 1st
Choice is but an Illusion. Consequences are however real.

TheGrandAdmiral

Interested! Will think about a character.

wander

Gonna see how this turns out.

I love me some classic cyberpunk. I'm interested for now for sure.

PhantomPistoleer

#5
Gulliver "Gully" Jimenez


Race:  Caucasian Ethnicity: Hispanic

Brief History:  Gully used to be a detective, but those days are long over.  He now bounces at LEGS, LEGS, LEGS, a seedy strip joint in the SCOTTSDALE DISTRICT.  He also moonlights as a limo driver for escorts, driving them to and from their outcalls with Johns throughout Cruz del Sur.  From time to time, he takes more... dangerous jobs.

Brief Personality:  Gully is friendly, loyal, and confident.  He likes broads, booze, and baseball.

Skills:  Gully has a master's degree in criminal justice.  He has received extensive police training, possessing extensive knowledge in small-arms, hand-to-hand combat, and criminal procedure.  He is a highly competent wheelman.  He has street savoir faire and is familiar with the players in the Cruz's criminal underbelly.  Lastly, he has a really good arm, as Gully was a relief pitcher for his college's baseball team.
Always seeking 5E games.
O/O

stormwyrm

Hmm... Let's see where this goes. I got a number of character concepts floating around that I could use for this.
If there is such a phenomenon as absolute evil, it consists in treating another human being as a thing.
O/OA/A, Requests

Foxy DeVille

#7
Interested! Idea!

Character Concept

All throughout the history of mankind, some truths remain the same. One is that everyone needs a roof over their heads, a sanctuary, a place to call home. That's where people like Valentina Vladimirovna Vostokova come in. She's a real estate broker at Encantada Associates, one of the top firms in Cruz de Sur. Connecting the right people with the right property is her mission. It could be a billionaire looking for his next mega-mansion or a business venture that requires some off-the-grid storage space, Valentina is there to help. And when you find the perfect place, she'll assist you in negotiating the price that fits you through whatever means she can. Sometimes the previous owner weren't even interested in selling at all until she speaks with them. It's that kind of hands-on service Valentina provides. She's available day or night, it's like she never sleeps because she's perpetually hopped up on stimulants or something. So give her a call.

Valentina is ex-Russian intelligence who went to work for an oligarch because the money was better and the risks lower. A money laundering scheme involving condos sparked an interest in real estate. Valentina relocated to Cruz del Sur where her less savory connections enable her to close some impressive deals. Her intelligence training helps her keep track of the cool people and hot properties available. It also helps her be very persuasive if the situation call for it. Her job involves a lot of socializing and schmoozing so it pretty much makes up her personal life too. Even in what free time she has she's looking at properties that catch her eye. In particular she thinks about some of the places that have been left to fall into ruin and wonders what could be developed by someone industrious enough.


PhantomPistoleer

Always seeking 5E games.
O/O

Envious

Quote from: Ixy on May 24, 2021, 07:44:31 PM
The characters will be recruited from various walks of life based on specific skillsets and background factors.  That is why your character will be chosen-- they should be created based on histories, passions, desires, weaknesses, talents, and training... they are not combat monkeys. We make machines for that.  If you find yourself interested, please reply with a short character idea by June 1st's midnight and we'll give it a go.

Just to clarify, do you mean that characters are being recruited for an in-game mission, or do you mean you're just seeking to recruit a diverse cast of characters?

PhantomPistoleer

Quote from: Envious on May 25, 2021, 12:44:26 PM
Just to clarify, do you mean that characters are being recruited for an in-game mission, or do you mean you're just seeking to recruit a diverse cast of characters?

I am so excited that you are considering this game, Envious!
Always seeking 5E games.
O/O

Ixy

Quote from: Envious on May 25, 2021, 12:44:26 PM
Just to clarify, do you mean that characters are being recruited for an in-game mission, or do you mean you're just seeking to recruit a diverse cast of characters?
Technically both?  The scenario I have in mind isn't a 'gather the party and let's optimize our skillz' gimmick, but I want to be selective so we hope for a story everyone enjoys... the characters complement the setting and gimmicks I'm working on, there's sufficient but not overbearing personality conflict, writing styles/post rates mesh, etc.  IC, there will be a factor of influence that motivates participation toward a mutual goal.
______________________
The big print giveth, the small print taketh away.

Envious

Quote from: PhantomPistoleer on May 25, 2021, 12:50:02 PM
I am so excited that you are considering this game, Envious!

It would be a pleasure to write with you again!

@Ixy: As I typed my question, I was thinking "it's probably both" was the answer! Thank you for the clarification.

wander

Question - will combat factor and if so, how will it get dealt with?

Players have a hard time taking the L at the best of times.

Doomblade403xxx


Nothing had ever been easy for Sasha Price. She grew up on the streets of Portland Oregon fighting to survive in a world where nomads took a backseat to the rest of society. She took odd jobs, mostly as a getaway driver and lookout through her formative years. Two years ago she and several pack members took a job transporting some questionable freight to Arizona. Sasha was the only member of her pack that survived the trip. The psychos in the desert and the elements took the rest. The situation was compounded when the contractors turned on the survivors and attempted to kill the survivors. {It turns out bullets are cheaper than paying on a contract} Whether this was the corporations plan all along, she never knew, but again she was able to escape before the hammer fell.

She attempted to flee only to find the pack had scattered and she was truly on her own. With the Dynatex corporation still wanting to silence her, edgerunning was a risky proposition for the time being. She answered an online ad and began working as an exotic dancer under the name 'Lavender'. It turns out she became somewhat popular at the club, and has settled in the area. She lives in a decent apartment, eats well, and uses most of her spare cash to fix up the old military surplus Humvee she owns.

She is a decent shot, fair at surviving in the wild, but once she gets in the pilots seat of any vehicle, she rules the road.

Ixy

Quote from: wander on May 25, 2021, 09:14:00 PM
Question - will combat factor and if so, how will it get dealt with?

Players have a hard time taking the L at the best of times.

That's an excellent question.  As we're doing this freeform, the end goal is dramatic story, not winning.  I would arbitrate any conflicts in desired outcome based on an overview of what helps the expected plotline, and I ask that players write any story-affecting opposed actions (combat maneuvers, outwitting the opposition, eluding an observer, conducting a search for hidden information, etc.) with a description of their character's method and an open-ended outcome.

I should note that I get a little over-dramatic with injury descriptions, so if one doesn't want to hear about the blossoming of an enemy's ribcage or something, please let me know :)




On an additional note, I am very encouraged by the interest and the concepts I've seen so far.  Already I have notes for character tie-ins that line up with key story elements I've been sketching out so far, but I am reserving final decisions for the June 1 concept deadline.  Thank you all for your continued interest, and more to follow.
______________________
The big print giveth, the small print taketh away.

PhantomPistoleer

#16
This game needs more sultry women with scandalous pasts and a penchant for wearing latex.  :d

Doomblade gets it.

****************
Advertisement:

Wanted, FWB, former/current prostitute/dancer.  Must like exhibitionism.
Always seeking 5E games.
O/O

TheGrandAdmiral

I will work on a character concept in the next couple of days, I have a general idea, but need to flesh her out.

Wilderness Soul

I have been hunting for a good Cyberpunk story since I joined this site. It's actually the one thing I've got in my raving spoiler of my request thread.

I have a character already made for a story like this, but he is really the definition of combat monkey, made with combat enhancing augs and a love of rifles, shotguns, and pistols. XD

I have a couple more concept that could be adapted to this though.

1: Is a vigilante lawman akin to Dirty Harry by the name of Jackal Lawless.

2: A mad one armed truck driver going by the name Girzzwald Night.

Would any of these work for this story?

stormwyrm

Well, here's my character idea. I hope he can be made to fit into the intended storyline.

Kim Sam-hyeong (김상현) known in the hacker underground as the Azure Dragon (청룡, CheongRyong), was the only son of a family that had once belonged to a powerful multinational chaebol and was being groomed to join his father in the corporate ranks. However, as a teenager he had a rebellious streak and had been a problem student in the expensive prep school his parents sent him to, despite having excellent grades. He spent all of his free time at first in VRMMO gaming, and from there had gotten into the seedier side of the Metaverse and had become an acknowledged master of the art of hacking before he turned sixteen, earning a strong reputation in the hacker underground unknown to his parents or anyone who knew him IRL.

When he was sixteen his parents were assassinated by a rival in a corporate power struggle, and he himself barely escaped with his life with the help of an AI agent that had been with him since childhood. After his escape and struggles to survive on his own he found his hacking skills were much in demand and that quickly became his main livelihood. He still seeks to find the ones who engineered the deaths of his parents long ago and bring them down.

Besides his hacking expertise, he is a reasonably okay shot with small arms, and has moderate skill in martial arts.
If there is such a phenomenon as absolute evil, it consists in treating another human being as a thing.
O/OA/A, Requests

Ixy

I've seen a number of excellent concepts posted so far, and none at all that I couldn't see fitting into the story in a fashion. 
Quote from: Wilderness Soul on May 26, 2021, 11:30:56 PM
I have a couple more concept that could be adapted to this though.
1: Is a vigilante lawman akin to Dirty Harry by the name of Jackal Lawless.
2: A mad one armed truck driver going by the name Girzzwald Night.
Would any of these work for this story?
Either could potentially work, but in order to be fully considered, I'd need you to consider more about them.
1) Why's the vigilante lawman a vigilante, and what methods does he use to select and locate his targets?  I mean, if he scrubbed a couple of chem-wasted jackboots mid-robbery, yeah... that's not going to draw a lot of heat.  But how successful is he going to be prowling the badlands waiting to find a mugging/hoping to get mugged so he can fire back?  There's a short life expectancy before the wasters get wise and start shooting first and picking the bones clean.  Heaven forbid he be successful and take a high-value target, cause that's going to draw heat right back.
2) I love me some mad one-armed truck drivers.  Is he a vet, using the standard-issue low-grade bioware from the VA, or is he constantly working to pay for maintenance on a higher-end model for his rig (arm) and his rig (truck)?  Opening up that route, or a former/current family, or an outstanding debt, etc. gives me avenues to play around with.
______________________
The big print giveth, the small print taketh away.

TheGrandAdmiral

Ekaterina Belova, ex-detective turned Private Investigator, was born in an immigrant family who moved from Eastern Europe to the States in the hopes of finding a better life. Growing up in a predominantly Russian speaking community in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, Ekaterina or Katheryn, was exposed to the Bratva which had its tentacles wrapped around tightly around her family's expats. That determined her future - being part of the law enforcement. Her serious, no-nonsense attitude and attention to detail helped her reach the detective's position.

Which also was her downfall as her crashed and burned as she exposed the son of a prominent politician who indulged in narcotics and killing hookers (especially illegal immigrants). Katya, did not take the offered bribe to drop the charges, so the politician made sure her days as a detective were over.

And somehow her private information had reached the Bratva and the threats started. Due to her father being respected in the community and had some connections with the organization she was not killed but was offered a choice. Leaver or suffer the consequences.

Hence she moved to Cruz del Sur, where she started a career as a Private Investigator...

Likes: Booze, women, uncovering mysteries
Hates: Cybernetic modification, criminals

Hellion

Hi! Now that I have finally been approved and can actually respond here after a few days of salivating over the interest check, I very much would love to join this if there's still room.

I do have a Netrunner who I'd love to play as a "support" type character, much like T-Bug was in the 2077 game. She's highly intelligent, and quick-thinking, especially in the Net.  Originally, she is a Netwatch Agent, but if that role doesn't fit into the game, then I can simply RP her as a Netrunner.

In any case, I'll be keeping an eye on this one :)

Envious

I haven't decided on pics or gender yet. A brief concept:

The Doc

Skills: Doc is trained as a biomedical engineer to create artificial organs intended to be used as replacements to keep the rich young and healthy. It does an excellent job of paying the bills and Doc's services are often extended for discreet medical issues that arise in wealthy homes. Take it too far with the prostitute? Doc can patch that up. Jealous sibling stick a knife in your back to get your inheritance? Doc can patch that up. Overdose on the latest synthetic drug? Doc can patch that up. Doc's true passion is genetically engineering plants. Doc could have pursued it as a career, but the profession was full of dreamers hoping to save the world and Doc is far too cynical to believe in that nonsense - Doc just wants pretty flowers that are psychedelic.

Personality: Charming, discreet, professional, and ethically ambiguous when it comes to dealing with rich clientele. Squeamish and reluctant when dealing with medical issues by hand instead of by machine. Has no problem doing the wrong thing for the right (ie: selfish) reason. Can be dismissive and judgmental towards people who aren't in the right society circles.

MetroFallout

My concept:

I've been recently enamored with the concept of a mercenary who'd survived a headshot and went on to exact revenge on the one who shot him in the head before going on to "haunt" various conflict zones thanks to Warren Zevon's Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner. I am wondering if there's a way to truly make him truly headless or if his being headless is metaphorical, needing extensive reconstructive surgery and cybernetic replacements.