Cybernoir (System Based Murder Mystery)

[GloomCookie]

Cybernoir

A story about crime in the 24th Century


Prologue
Mt. Cheshire, Planet Vermilion
It was raining again.  It always rained on Mt. Cheshire, as if the sky itself wept for the humans who called it home.  It never went away, the sun never shone, and life always seemed miserable here on this little ball of dirt that almost a billion called home.  It was in sorry shape, always had been, and now there was yet another body lying in a rain soaked gutter.

Inspector Jacob Hobbs knelt beside the body of the dead woman.  Her throat had been slashed, her blouse torn open, and her pants yanked down.  Probably another Murder-Rape, Murape as it was shortened in unofficial police jargon.  They were common enough... poor woman walking down the street, catches the eye of a bunch of thugs, they decide to have a little fun with a warm corpse rather than spend the effort to hold her down.

The rain momentarily stopped pelting him, and Hobbs looked up to spot another Inspector dressed in a black trench coat, holding an umbrella.  He stood, "Another Murape.  Nothing spectacular."

The other inspector nodded, looked at the body, then knelt.  He picked up a slip of paper that was just peeking out of the woman's pocket, and held it up for examination.  The ink had begun to run, but it had a single word still legible.  Jacobstown.  The new man raised a brow, before a laser from his eye began scanning the paper.  He nodded, and handed it off to Inspector Hobbs.

Hobbs took the paper and scowled.  He'd hoped to avoid such a piece of evidence.  Almost all Murapes were random, but for the past month, several young women had been found with a note scrawled simply with Jacobstown on it, and no one knew why.  The grapevine said a new group was being rounded up and was being put on the case, and it would be left in their hands.  Hobbs was more than happy to let them have it.

"Let's get going.  We'll let the Men in White handle the body," Hobbs said.

The silent inspector followed, leaving the body to be picked up by the men in white uniforms who were from forensics.  One watched the two go, before helping the others load up the body.  And the rain continued to fall on Mt. Cheshire.



Cybernoir is an RPG taking place on Planet Vermilion, a rain soaked planet on the rim of human space, full of mystery and intrigue.  This will be a home-cooked system using dice rolls. There will be six players, each one tasked with trying to solve the mystery of who is murdering these young women, and why.  Is it a gang problem?  A corporation killing off witnesses?  A government cover-up?  The questions will keep coming, and answers to one question will raise more.  Will you use your muscles and guns?  Or your wit and determination?

Traits:
Strength - Your ability to lift objects.  The stronger you are, the more likely you can break something or overpower an opponent.
Perception - Your ability to notice objects.  What most would overlook, you can see the spots of blood in the corner, or hear the heavy breathing of an assailant.
Endurance - Your ability to carry on.  While others tire out, you keep running and keep moving, never letting up.
Charisma - Your ability to charm people into what you want.  A witness may not like your partner, but you seem like a trustworthy sort, and can certainly share a secret.
Intelligence - Your ability to think and reason.  While your partner can bench-press 500lbs, can he out-think your opponents into making them slip on their own lies?
Agility - Your ability to move.  While most are still reaching for their guns, you've already gotten yours out and pulled the trigger and dodged a round at the same time.
Luck - How lucky you are.  You got up this morning and ate a bowl of four leaf clovers and found a winning lottery ticket on the ground on your way to work.

Each player starts with 35 points to spend on each trait.  At the end of each round, you'll be allowed a certain number of trait points to spend on your character, to further their abilities.

Perks:
Lockpick You and your tools leave almost any door unlocked and vulnerable.  You have a 1d6 chance of picking the lock, a 1d4 chance of breaking the lock.  If the lock is broken, it cannot be picked again.
First Aid With the first aid perk, any time you have a first aid kit you can restore 2d20 points to another player's HP or 1d20 to your own.  If a player is unconscious, however, they cannot be awoken until after the fight.  A first aid kit can only be used twice.
Grenade If you can fashion an explosive, or get your hands on one, you can throw it.  Any improvised explosive deals 3d6 damage with 1d6 for three turns, a real grenade deals 4d6 damage and 1d6 for three turns.
Five Finger Discount When in a market setting, roll a 2d6 and, if successful, you can pocket any small item.  If unsuccessful, the shop keeper will yell and try to attack you.
Gun Runner With the Gun Runner perk, your bullets are illegal and thus, more powerful.  Your weapons deal 1.5x damage to unarmored opponents.
SWAT Training With the SWAT training perk, you get +1 Strength and +2 Endurance, up to a maximum of 10.
Sneak Attack If you are not in combat, roll a 2d6 + Agil.  If successful, your first attack is an automatic Critical Hit.
Femme Fatale If a female, this perk grants you a +2 modifier to Charisma.
Drunk and Disorderly With this perk, when drunk, you get +2 Strength and +3 Endurance, though at the cost of -1 Charisma and -2 Perception.
Good Cop This perk is for good cops only, and grants them +2 Charisma with witnesses.
Bad Cop This perk is for bad cops only, and grants them +2 Charisma with Criminals.

Each player gets two perks, will be allowed to change perks if new ones become available.

NPCs:
Bystanders These people mill about and don't generally do anything to help the cops, though they do provide excellent cover for sneaking away.
Witnesses These people have seen something important, and might be willing to tell the cops, if they think they're not in danger by doing so.
Thugs These are the local toughs, the guys who know a bit about the area but don't like talking to cops.
Pushers These are the local snakes.  They push drugs and chemicals, and often know where the money goes, but often won't tell for free.
Criminals Caught for various crimes, they might know something, but then again might not.  They usually will talk if they get something in exchange.

Cops Often running patrols, these are the guys who see the streets every day and often know who some of the thugs and pushers are.
Inspectors The guys doing the heavy thinking, these cops have seen a bit of everything, and know a bit about what will make criminals talk.

Agents The lowest of Government types, these guys often have a job and stick to it, not helping police unless absolutely necessary.
Special Agents Sent by the government with an agenda, these guys will trip up the police if it means getting what they want.
Secret Agents Unscrupulous in their goals, these guys don't play around.  They'll do anything and everything to get the job done.
Senators Controlling the Agents, the Senators often know secret things that are, at best, top secret, and can make any inspector's job a nightmare.

Toughs The lowest of the criminal underworld, these guys aren't really that smart, but they're numerous and often love to fight.
Lieutenants Answering directly to the Boss, these guys often lead packs of Toughs, but will cut and run if they see the fight going bad.
Boss Pulling the strings on a local level, the Bosses direct local gangs and often make decent money, answering to the Kingpen himself.
Kingpen The Kingpen is the uberboss.  He controls it all, and often knows what's going on behind closed doors.

Security Guard The lowest of the Corporate branch, these guys are there to keep the general rif-raf out and protect corporate interests.
Researcher Tasked with discovering things for their corporate masters, these men and women are super smart, but lack any fighting abilities.
Ninjas While not technically ninjas, they aren't afraid to fight dirty, and often use tactics straight out of a SWAT manual.
Managers Running the local show, the managers will often be trying to take down anyone who gets in the way of his next bonus.
CEO Running the entire corporate show, he isn't afraid to use dirty tricks and numerous ways to dispatch threats to his company.

Not all NPCs will make an appearance at first, but each one has a piece of the overall puzzle.

Weapons:
Handguns All handguns deal 1d20 damage to opponents up to 50 meters.
Rifles Rifles deal 1d20 + 5 damage to opponents up to 75 meters away.
Sniper Rifles Sniper rifles can deal 2d20 damage, but must roll a 1d6 to determine if the shot is on target.  If both the 1d6 and one of the 1d20 gets a critical, the opponent is knocked out instantly.
Melee Weapons All Melee weapons deal 1d20 but the player must roll a 1d6 on the first attack to determine if they close the distance to the target.  If the 1d6 fails, they must roll again before the next attack.  If the opponent is using a ranged weapon, they take 2x damage, and only give 0.75x dam for handguns, 0.5x dam for rifles.
Explosives Explosives can only be used with the Grenade perk.

Each player is allowed two weapons.  Every six attacks, a player only deals 0.5x dam due to reloading.  If a player chooses two handguns, they may be duel wielded for 1.5x dam, but cannot attack during the reloading round.  When switching from one weapon to the other, it is treated as a reloading round, but if the same weapon is used again, it begins as if it has just been reloaded.  e.g., if you switch from a pistol to a rifle after five shots, then back to pistol, you can shoot the pistol six times before a reload round.

Character Sheets

Code Select Expand

(Picture)
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Traits:[/b] (35 Points total, 10 max for each)
   [i]Strength:[/i]
   [i]Perception:[/i]
   [i]Endurance:[/i]
   [i]Charisma:[/i]
   [i]Intelligence:[/i]
   [i]Agility:[/i]
   [i]Luck:[/i]
[b]Perks:[/b] (Maximum of Two)
   [i]Perk 1:[/i]
   [i]Perk 2:[/i]
[b]Alignment:[/b] [Lawful/Neutral/Chaotic][Good/Neutral/Bad]
[b]Brief Bio:[/b]

[GloomCookie]

If anyone wants to help me tweak the system to make it more user-friendly, customizable, anything like that, please let me know.  I haven't ever cooked up my own system before.

[Shisui]

I am quite interested, but I am also curious: How much writing is expected of players and what literacy level players should have?

[Kamakura]

Also interested. How do you plan on arranging the game? Are we able to post at our leisure or will you try to organize a dedicated play time?

[GloomCookie]

Ideally, everyone should post about... once a day.  I figure a post that's about three or four paragraphs long, with any necessary dice rolls at the bottom.  This will let everyone get a turn, and doesn't require them to sit around waiting for the person that's ahead of them post.  The reason I want a few paragraphs is because everyone should be able to write up a decent bit if it's only once a day.  It'll make the gameplay a little slower, since we can only post once a day, but everyone will get a turn.

I'm currently browsing a website for a few ideas for backgrounds, which I'll try and throw into each post to make it easier to visualize.  Creatures especially, since they're often hard to describe in full detail.  And since we're on the subject, here's a few of the pics that will help to define the city of Mt. Cheshire.




Also, while I'm at it, I'll post a few of the factions you can expect to encounter in the game :)
Info-Dyne Research - Founded 35 years ago by CEO Jacob Vice, Info-Dyne is the leading producer of biomechanical devices in the sector.  Located within three massive towers, Info-Dyne is one of the few organizations that remains an enigma to outside corporations and the police.  Their current CEO, Gregory Vice, has recently begun pouring funds into secret projects that require outside consultants, though few are able to explain what they were working on inside.  What is known is that Info-Dyne has also begun increasing security around the towers, with many of their security guards in full combat armor and backed up with battle machines.

Peterwald Shipping - One of the few large shipping companies to travel to Vermilion, Peterwald Shipping is one of the only companies outside of a private charter that makes runs to Vermilion.  Their near-complete control over shipping means they control who and what arrives on the planet, and use this control to extort companies and the local government.  Despite pouring funds into a more domestic shipping company, the price of Peterwald shipping is still lower than trying to invest.  Their shady tactics make them a frequent target for anti-corporate demonstrations, and an emissary from the government is on standby if matters deteriorate.

Unity Divine Construction - Once a missionary group that built homes for planets ravished by disaster, Unity Divine has since become one of the most well-known faces of The Church, though not always in a positive light.  Little is known about them, except that Unity Divine often offers 'rehabilitation' services to local governments in exchange for lowering the costs of building permits.  The rehabilitated, often criminals guilty of lesser crimes, are often found working and seem to be completely different than how they behaved prior to working for Unity Divine, but so far, no official investigation has turned up anything.

The Church - An off-shoot of the Roman Catholic Church, The Church of the Holy Stars is made up of priests who believed that Jesus would be reborn amongst the stars as an AI, and that those who did not join the Church would be cleansed by the fire of a thousand novas.  Located in a trinary star system known as Trinity, they are firm believers in behavioral modification via implants, and have an unofficial tie to Info-Dyne for the manufacturing of their implants.  The higher in level a priest is, the more he gives his body to implants, believing that to be perfect, one must shed the inefficient organic systems that one was born with.

[Shisui]

I think I will pass then. Typing so much on daily basis would be too much for me when considering my daily tasks and responsibilities.
Good luck,hope you find more people who are interested.