Cyberpunk 2040

Gear for Old Guns

2008-12-09T20:56:00.002-05:00

Old guns are those that use cased ammunition only. Guns that utilize caseless ammo have their own modifications, with requisite prices.

Image by simonov via FlickrMagazine Extensions: These handy redesigns and aftermarkets allow you to carry double the amount of ammo originally specified for the weapon. $40 each.

Interchangeable Barrel/Receiver Groups: These modern polymer-alloy re-kits allow you to change the weapon to carry different calibers of ammunition. $200 each.

Smart Gun Interlocks: These units replace the mechanical firing pin with an electronic one. Driven by an interlink between your cyber-optics and a detached IR or sonic pulse scope, the gun fires soon as the optimal target has been locked on. $200.

Braces and Stocks: Gyrocompensating stocks and recoil compensators allow greater accuracy, particularly with older heavy caliber weapons. (Add +1 WA) $50.

New Frames: Many new frames exist for old standards, converting these weapons to bullpup or other configurations. The old parts are simply screwed into the new frames, with the various adapters built in. $100 -$300.

Caseless Ammunition

2008-12-08T21:00:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipediaan Excerpt from Solo of Fortune Volume 1 Page 41

There are a couple of problems that caseless and cased ammunition do not share. First, since there is no casing, the propellant is exposed to the elements. The oxidizers in the propellant do not combine with the propellant until combustion. However, the oxygen in the atmosphere is free to do so. The rounds are then said to be stale. This can be checked by looking for whitish or light gray deposits on the outside of the round. A stale round will most likely fire, but the more stale it is, the higher percentage of inert substances will be left behind when the bullet leaves, causing fouling and a baked on build up in the chamber. With less propellant available, the performance of the round is also degraded.

A related problem is moisture. While not combining with the propellant, it may affect the binder on some brands of ammo, causing it to become somewhat chalky and crumbly. A remedy for this has been to coat the outside of the round with a thin phenolic lacquer that is considered by combustion (and may aid it). ... Many of these problems can be avoided by using fresh ammunition from factory sealed containers, and keeping it dry after it is broken out.... Cased ammunition has the advantage of being able to be stored for long periods.

Game Log Nov 28th

2008-12-07T20:35:00.001-05:00

Image via WikipediaAfter their last adventure, the characters were in the mall ready to spend their money.as they were walking along the second-level, they noticed several people rushing out of a local cyberdoc shop. After a moment, they saw things shambling out of the shop. These things didn't seem to be alive. It didn't take them long to relate them to the file they had found on the last mission. These clinically dead people obviously were not acting very at all. The players soon decided that being in the mall was not what they needed to do and left quickly, shooting people as they left to provide food other than themselves for the shambling dead things.

They went first to Johnny's place, then to the junkyard, and tried to contact Ed as well. They failed to contact Ed but were able to contact the detective, Tarina Carin. Not surprisingly, Ms. Carin chose to stay in the city. They collected what they felt they needed from Johnny's place and from the junkyard, and then left town. They decided to go to Thane's house out in the country, feeling that that was probably the most defensible place they knew.

While Thane wasn't at home, they didn't think it would be long before he got back and they decided to get food and hardware from the whistle stop nearby. They got food by buying it from the gas station, with money they felt would soon be worthless. They stopped at the hardware store and made a deal with the owner, he and his wife could stay at the house if in exchange they took everything useful from the store. He agreed and they loaded up the vehicles and took everything back to the house.

As they were unloading, shambling dead things began coming out of the woods. They were faster than the characters expected them to be. They for the wave of dead things, christened as zombies, but failed to take further precautionary steps to protect the house. It wasn't long before there were successive waves of zombies.

When Thane returned with a deer he had gotten while hunting nearby, they showed him the corpses. He couldn't believe it and went out into the yard check out what they were. More zombies attacked while he was doing so and while Johnny was short shooting from the roof, GW is shooting from the second floor, Maxwell then on the yard to rescue Thane. They fought off the wave but it wasn't long before they were putting in defenses.

Ed

2008-11-25T07:31:00.000-05:00

"Ed has hobbies." A gentleman explaining to his lady friend why Ed was sitting upside down in a seat at a local combat handball game.

Based on Ed from Cowboy Bebop, this NPC ally has been of great help to many street teams and a source of humor for several gamer groups :)

Stats: Unknown. Ed excels at INT, TECH and COOL with lower scores in BODY and EMP.

Gear: Whatever Ed wants.

Notes: Ed is easily distracted and often offers the PCs something related to what they want but never the actual item, piece of information, etc. Ed is super-capable at what Ed does and has a reputation to match. Ed is often available but Ed's reliability is... odd. This contact is worth 80 points.

Most recently, the team encountered Ed when hired by Roche Pharmaceuticals.

Game Log Nov 21st

2008-11-23T06:56:00.000-05:00

Image via WikipediaNote: Sorry about the lack of posting for the last 5-6 weeks. We had a bit of a hiatus from gaming to take care of some other things but we're now back! Also, I haven't really written much lately so this log will be very short form.

GW got a phone call from a contact who offered them to get some data. The hire was from Roche Pharmaceuticals, the target was Genentech. The team tried to track down the target and found she tried to get out of town. Took them forever, but they finally checked for accident reports.

The team contacted Tarina Carin but even with her help, they couldn't get to the car, which was totaled in the police impound lot but did find her home and some data there which they then turned in for the cash. They looked over the data before turning it in and learned that the Solanum virus doesn't always cause heart problems but sometimes the clinically dead people don't act very dead....

Notably, they dealt with a contact of GW's named Ed for the first time. Ed has hobbies.

Charismatic Leadership

2008-11-21T07:15:00.000-05:00

Image via WikipediaThe Charismatic Leadership ability, as written in the Cyberpunk 2020 corebook, does not work well in my games. I rarely have crowds of any size featured as part of the game so there's no incentive to raise it beyond 1. To address this problem, a friend of mine (Eric Haverberg) and I put our heads together and came up with this:

Charismatic Leadership (CL) gives you "friends". A star always has "friends" - some really love him, some are just groupies. And he never, ever knows what they really want of him and probably doesn't care As long as people love him, he's a star.

In the game this translates into 3 levels of contacts. Level 1 is much like a Fixer's contact web but is very limited in numbers: He has a number of very good contacts equal to half his CL score. These people would die for him and more than one is probably a stalker. Use Wildside to detail these people and remember, they are obsessed with the star!

Level 2 is the more usual type of obsessed fan and is equal to his CL x2. He can crash at their place, ask for money or other resources but putting their life in danger will cause them to back off and regroup, possibly to the point of hating the star. He's their idol! An idol would never endanger them!

Level 3 are groupies. He has CL x 10 in groupies. This is the crowd of people who see every concert, can be called on a moment's notice to make an appearance he's at, scream his name in the crowd. They act like the people in the more traditional definition of CL as defined by the CP2020 basic book. Generally, these are the fans who pay his rent.

If the star is in an area that's not his usual venue, even an impromptu performance will generate level 2 & 3 fans but they won't add to the number usually available as they won't change residence to follow the star. Level 1 fans can only be generated when former ones die or the CL level rises.

Tarina Carin

2008-11-19T05:15:00.000-05:00

Stats: Unknown

Gear: Medium Autopistol with AP ammo, Armor Jacket

Notes: A detective with the Night City PD who actually gives a damn. She helped out Thane and the PCs one time. Ms. Carin helped the team out in November as well, leading them to the address they needed to finish a job.

Game Log Oct 3rd-4th

2008-10-03T23:49:00.003-04:00

Johnny spent some time over the last couple of weeks having fliers for his band printed up while GW worked on expanding his social network. Maxwell scavenged his junkyard for bits and pieces to build planting trays.

On October 3rd, Thane called Johnny, worried about his friend Liz. Thane said she had called him several days ago, worried about being followed. He'd told her not to worry - it was probably nothing. Now he can't reach her and he's worried. He asked Johnny to head over to her place and check on her.

GW and Maxwell went along, GW drove. When they arrived in Little Italy and parked near the run-down, red brick apartment building, a local vendor named Adam yelled offering them samples of the new Sarah Lee cake. He sold the snack cakes to the characters for 1eb apiece. Adam had wrapped the cakes in brightly colored origami papers after being taken from a box. Johnny asked Adam if anything was written on the paper and Adam replied, "Yes! Ancient Chinese proverb for good luck in invisible ink!" Johnny and GW eat theirs, but Maxwell gives his to Johnny.

The characters then entered the apartment building and went to Liz's place and knocked. After no answer, they knocked louder and got the attention of her nosy neighbor, an old lady in the apartment next door. She takes a dislike to Johnny but tells them she saw Liz snatched in the parking lot next to the building below her window a few days ago. The men who snatched her wore suits and drove a dark blue sedan.

Johnny found himself unable to lie to the old lady when questioned about who he was and why he was there (the snack cakes were laced with a truth drug). She finds out he's Thane's son and trying to help Liz out so she uses a key Liz gave her and lets them into the apartment. The characters search the place for clues, finding 21eb stashed in the sofa bed, 12 bottles of beer in the fridge and several cut crystal salt and pepper shakers on a shelf around the kitchenette.

They don't find any small hiding places where Liz may have stashed something related to the kidnapping or anything else, including any signs the place was ever searched before by anyone else or any clues that she meant to move soon.

Maxwell goes down to the parking lot and searches the area, finding an orange piece of origami paper on the ground behind a car tire. Meanwhile, Johnny goes across the street and intimidates the food vendor into admitting he couldn't have seen Liz sntached by anyone as the parking lot isn't in sight of his cart.

Maxwell fails to find any working security cameras that might have taped the incident and takes the orange paper to Adam, who remembers that it was on the first cake he'd sold. He hadn't used the color orange again until today, when he'd sold an orange-wrapped cake to Johnny. Adam got an order from the man who'd bought it for a delivery Thursday and gave the characters the man's business card. The goon worked for Roche Pharmaceuticals and had a building address.

Johnny calls Thane to tell him what happened and Thane offers them the job of finding and rescuing her for 300eb each. They agree and as they head for the car to find the Roche building, 4 gang members start hassling Adam. Johnny gets into a shouting match with one, who pulls a gun. The characters fight it out and kill 3 of the gangers, the 4th running away at the end of the combat. Maxwell shoots him in the leg, disabling him so GW can question him about what happened to Liz.

GW stops the bleeding in the ganger's leg but he doesn't know anything and falls unconscious. The players leave and head for the junkyard so Johnny can rest a bit, since he was hit in the head in the firefight.

In the morning, the party heads over to the Corp Center of Night City and find the Roche building. The area is clean, shiney and crawling with cops and security. Shooting their way in doesn't seem to be the best option so GW heads in, fills out an employment application and asks the receptionist some pointed questions.

The questions, which are being observed on camera, prompt an exec named Mr. Johnson to call down and instruct her to send GW up to a conference room on the 4th floor so they can speak of the matter. GW collects Maxwell and Johnny from the car and in the ensuing discussion with the exec, determine it was a case of mistaken identity. Mr. Johnson learns just how much the group has learned to hate Genentech and might even have work for them at a later date.

On Liz's release, she takes them clubbing as thanks and attaches herself to Johnny for the night.

RPG Bloggers Network

2008-10-01T16:21:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Karsten at Cyberpunk.de, I've been getting alot of traffic. I looked around her blog a bit more and found the RPG Bloggers Network and signed up today. Go check it out!

Night City Screamsheet

2008-10-01T06:43:00.006-04:00

October 3, 2040

Tenzin Heath in the next Harry Potter Film

Walt Disney is in talks to license former Roaring Serpent star Tenzin Heath to the animated movie Harry Potter and the Sorceress of Elysium, as the film’s male lead. Other names under discussion include Nicholas Cage, Bill Nighy, and Nathan Lane as providing additional voices in support of the AI.

Since August 24, 2030 when the first full-length animated movie with realistic-looking humans, Tickle opened, AI actors who've established a "role" have commanded higher salaries and more perks and Heath is no exception. Rumor has the talks starting at 10 million eurobucks. Given Heath commanded 12.5 million eb in his last feature length film role as King Ludwig II of Bavari in Accepted and Great Monarchy, no one will be surprised if the license reaches as high as 15 million this time around.

Earthquake Report September 27, 2040 - Minor tremors were felt in and around the Night City Metro area early Thursday morning. Magnitude did not exceed 3.0 and there was no reported damage.

Pine Plantations Continue to Spread

In the southern US states pine plantations now cover an area of 52 million acres. This increase of 67% in the last 45 years is mainly because of the demand of paper products. Pine plantations now account for almost half of southern timber volume growth. During this same period of 45 years, all 13 southern states have lost acreage of natural forest, a total of 25 million acres, due to the increase of pine plantation expansion and loss of forest to residential and urban uses. Florida has had the greatest loss with almost 58%, South Carolina with 35% and North Carolina with 30%. More than 270 million acres of forest have been harvested in the southern states since 1995.

The most pine plantations are found in Georgia with a total of 9.3 million acres, with Alabama as second with 7.5 million acres.

Downtime between Games

2008-09-27T09:29:00.006-04:00

Sometimes there is a significant amount of time in-game between adventures. These are the rules that govern what player characters can and cannot do during this time in my campaign.

Train - Spend General IP and cash to increase non-skill stats. They cannot increase REP this way. The only skill that may be improved in this manner is Language.
Buy Things - Spending money is certainly allowed.
Convalesce - Although with a medtech in the party, I don't see this as something they'll often take advantage of, I include it for completeness sake.
Create Something - Several of them have technical/knowledge skills they may wish to use during downtime.
Network - Contacts and friends are important in Cyberpunk. Characters certainly have enough enemies, friends should not be neglected. This also includes gigs and other social activities.

These are reserved for adventures:

Increase Skill IP points (except learn a new language).
Increase REP.
Make money beyond that which pays for basic living expenses.

________________________________________

To facilitate and encourage efficient use of playing time, I would like the players to think about these things and perhaps make a list of what their characters would prefer to do during downtime in many cases, so that when it happens we're not spending all night on this. I also encourage them to email me at viri underscore cordova at yahoo dot com and let me know what they might be interested in when this situation arises.

September 2040 Calendar

2008-09-26T09:23:00.000-04:00

Northern California Republic Timeline

2008-09-25T01:20:00.010-04:00

I didn't like how the timeline was turning out so I've decided to rebuild it from the ground up. This edition is currently missing some important events and ideas but will be frequently updated as I rewrite it.

2010 The Texas Turner Rewilding Ranch is opened by Connie Barlow and Ted Turner in east Texas. It begins efforts to re-introduce camels, lions, cheetah and elephants to North America.

The United States launches the next Moon expedition, using an updated version of the Apollo lander.

2011 Ethiopia and Sudan form the nucleus of the African Islamic Association (AIA).

2013 Chad, Nigeria and Somalia join the AIA.

2014 Space travel is privatized in the United States and the building of the Crystal Palace Space Station begins at the 5th LaGrange Point, funded by a new corporation, Orbital Air. Orbital Air is a consortium with interests in the US, Europe and Japan. Chinese Aerospace announces plans to establish a lunar colony by 2025.

2018 Over 50% of African countries have joined the AIA and efforts are underway to form an “African Union” similar to the EU.

The Crystal Palace construction is finished and it opens for business to tourists, science interests and gamblers. Residents have citizenship in the European Union.

2020 After the death of Ted Turner, a fight ensues amongst his heirs. In the meantime, his Texas ranch is neglected and the animals begin infested the American plains.

2021 Cybermodem invented.

2022 The Crystal Palace declares itself an independent nation and is immediately recognized by Russia and China. Orbital Air headquarters are moved into orbit.

2023 The European Union creates an “Amphibian Ark” in southern France.

2024 Arasaka, a Japanese-owned conglomerate, is hired by the European Space Agency (ESA) to infiltrate and recapture the Crystal Palace. The attempt fails but the Crystal Palace is forced to sign treaties and contracts with the ESA and most of western Europe, giving them financial preferences which leads to the stability of the Euro, now called a "eurobuck" by most people.

Coronado City, “The City on the Edge of Tomorrow”, founded in California by entrepreneur Richard Night.

2025 Japan establishes the first lunar colony, Hisakata.

The last known American Black Bear is seen in Alaska.

Due to the over-farming of megacorporate farms, the American Midwest becomes a dustbowl for the second time and food prices double in a year. Flash floods and mudslides kill hundreds of dispossessed families.

2026 First full human clone grown. Mindless, it only lives 6 hours.

2027 An “African Union” is formed, modeled on the European Union, and named the Mali Miungano (MM).

2027 Yeast becomes a common component of cheap food products and “Kibble” is marketed to the American public for the first time.

Kei Arasaka marries the daughter of Japanese magnate.

2028 Europe and Russia team up to launch the first manned mission to Mars.
Richard Night is killed. Coronado City is renamed Night City in his memory.

2029 The EU/Russian mission lands on Mars. Construction on an interim base is begun.

2030 Lions are sighted throughout the Americas from Alaska to Peru. The last known polar bear is seen in northern Canada.

The population of sub-Saharan Africa reaches 1.32 million people.

The EU/Russian Mars mission heads for home.

2031 The EU/Russian Mars mission arrives back on Earth and plans are immediately begun for a colony.

Google Charities funds diabetic research.

2033 Mob boss Angelo Faustino is killed in Night City by random gang violence.

2035 First self-aware human clone created but it dies within a few weeks.

Mammoth are finally cloned by experts in Siberia and released into the wilds of the Russian steppes.

2036 The MM replaces various national currencies with the Riale. It debuts as 1/10th of a euro but quickly gains momentum and reaches 3/4 of a euro before the year is out.

A cure to Type I Diabetes is found based on benign bacteria. A decision is made to make the cure freely available by releasing it into the ecosystem in 15 countries.

2038 Hundreds die as the worst heat wave in American history is recorded as temperatures soar from June to August, reaching 123 degrees Farenheit in Montana on July 23rd.

At 119 years of age, Saburo Arasaka retires and his eldest son Kei becomes Chairman of the Board of the Arasaka Corporation.

2039 The first Mars colony attempt lands on July 20th.

Saburo Araska dies in Japan. His funeral rivals that of most Japanese Emperors, attended by corporation executives and heads of state from around the world.

2040 Today!

Source Material: Basic Book, Home of the Brave, Night City Sourcebook, Corporation Report Vol. 1

Adam Kalash

2008-09-22T07:32:00.001-04:00

Elisabeth Alexander

2008-09-21T04:55:00.006-04:00

Carnage

2008-09-20T19:44:00.005-04:00

Image via WikipediaA few years ago a group of disaffected youth led by a punk who calls himself Havoc started ripping their way through the combat zone of Night City. They are constantly recruiting new members and killing off older ones as they fight their way through the Zone. Havoc once read an old Spiderman comic he lifted from a kid's dead body and named the gang Carnage.

Carnage fights with anyone and anything they come across unless there's some good reason not to and dying of it isn't a good reason. They have cyberware, when they can afford it, and as many weapons as they can carry in the hands that aren't holding booze or drugs. The gang hovers around 6-10 members with few besides Havoc living beyond 20. They control a few buildings in the combat zone, mostly because no one else wants them as this group isn't organized enough to actually take and hold turf.

Carnage recently encountered the PC's and Johnny talked them into helping out a bit for some drugs. The gang let them live because there might be more where that came from since Johnny seems to be a soft touch.

Tag: None except a trail of bodies.
Colors: Red, as bright as possible.

Johnny

2008-09-20T14:08:00.005-04:00

Stats: INT 2 REF 10 TECH 9 COOL 10 ATTR 5 LUCK 8 MA 9 BODY 6 EMP 9

Skills: Charismatic Leadership, Credibility, Resist Torture, Persuasion, Awareness, Handgun, Stealth, Play Instrument, Perform, Melee

Gear: Guitar, Flak Pants & Vest, Armalite .44, Ammo, Fashion Clothing, Drugs, Monokatana

Abilities:

TEAMWORK [Special]
Benefit: This character may use his action dice to affect actions by other PCs, as well as himself, so long as he can speak to them.
IP Cost: None

LEADERSHIP [Special]
Benefit: Once per game, this character may issue instructions to the group, such as "Cover Molly while she opens the door." While they attempt to follow this order, they have a +2 to all rolls. He may do this an additional time per game each time this ability is purchased.
IP Cost: 70

TOUGHNESS [General] You are tougher than average.
Benefit: You gain an extra set of damage boxes equal to the Light set. You can only buy this ability once.

Other: He's the son of Thane Wolf. His mother died to Solanum.

Johnny lives in a run-down apartment building slum with other would-be "stars" and tells himself it's an "artist colony" to excuse the poverty and squalor.

Credits

2008-09-20T10:03:00.001-04:00

I wish I'd thought of this earlier. Often I'm online researching things for my game. This is where I'll give credit if I use an idea by someone else but haven't already linked it in the post. Deviant Art pictures used for NPCs are linked back to the source via the picture itself.

All original material © its respective owner. Cyberpunk:2020 is a Registered Trademark of R.Talsorian Corporation. Original Cyberpunk:2020 material Copyright 1994,1995,1996,1997, 1998, 1999, 2000,2001,2002,2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, by R.Talsorian Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission. Any use of R.Talsorian Corporation's copyrighted material or trademarks in this archive should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks.

Downtime Bewteen Games was helped greatly by Eero Tuovinen.
The Oct. 3rd Screamsheet used an idea from News of the Future.

Game Log Sept 12-13

2008-09-20T00:27:00.003-04:00

Image via WikipediaJaime's and Johnny's dad, Thane, used his cellphone at the end of the last adventure to record the confrontation with the armed men as a transcript using the multi-voice recognition technology in the Screamsheet story. He'd since contacted Genentech, the company who owned the boar, threatening a lawsuit. Their response was less than complimentary and Thane felt he was in danger for his life. He asked the PCs to come to his home and help him out. Thane also contacted the Night City police and a detective, Tarina Carin, was present.

Once they arrived at the scene, Thane gave them the run of the house and the junk in it. Maxwell jury-rigged up a turret from assorted parts to fire at anyone coming in the front door while GW rigged up tripwires outside attached to empty cans with stones. Johnny spent the time tuning his guitar and scoring grub from the kitchen. GW then sacked out in a chair while Johnny searched out his dad's drug stash then went downstairs and helped Maxwell find sounds from old Rambo movies to play when the turret fired.

They heard noise from outside but it just turned out to be a deer hitting one of the tripwires. Thane and Tarina were both disgusted with their incompetence as they didn't even manage to shoot the deer for dinner. Yet later, they again heard noise from outside and this time it turned out to be an unknown goon leaving the property. While the guys slept and watched Rambo, Genentech had infiltrated the house and stolen the phone. Thane yells for them to follow the guy and get the phone but he escapes into a car and takes off before they can do more than wing him.

The guys and Tarina all pile into GW's car and begin chasing the guy, shooting out one of the tires as they do. The PCs shoot out a second tire, seriously slowing the target before the goon tosses a grenade out the passenger's side window which explodes under GW's car, disabling it about 1/4 mile from a nearby whistle-stop.

Maxwell jury-rigs the car well enough to make it the intersection where there is an old fueling station, a run-down diner and a small hardware store. Four guys are in the process of breaking into the gas station when the PC's pull up. The target's car is parked here, abandoned with the two flat tires along with a horse trailer. Johnny persuades them to disclose which direction the target went and gives them some of Thane's stash while Maxwell switches good tires from GW's car over to the target's car and hotwires it. The four guys finish breaking into the store for beer while the PC's drive off in the new car.

About half a block down the road, Maxwell and GW are shot from nearby rooftops. GW parks near another vehicle to give them all cover and they exit the car and begin shooting back. After several rounds of fire, the PC's take the goons out and the bodies fall from the roofs.

The Pc's and Tarina search the bodies and while they find some decent loot and a walkie-talkie, there's no sign of Thane's phone. They go back to the store and fix up GW's car well enough to get back to Thane's cabin and begin driving slowly down the road, calling Thane's phone as they go, hoping the goons jut tossed it into the woods on the way to keep it out of court and hoping they can hear the ringtone.

The walkie-talkie squawks part way back and GW impersonates a generic corporate goon to find out that a fourth person drove off in yet a different vehicle with the phone. They drive back to Thane, who gives them each 500eb for helping out anyhow.

Welcome, cyberpunk2020.de readers!

2008-09-18T04:50:00.018-04:00

My thanks to Karsten for writing about Cyberpunk 2040 and welcoming us to the community.

Cyberpunk 2040 is the blog for a game I run on Friday nights in Columbus, Georgia; someplace to put all the content they use in the game in an easily accessible format that I can share with friends around the world. Posts have the date changed as they're updated so that the players can easily see what needs their attention so if a post you've seen before suddenly looks "new", I've added or changed something that will affect our game.

Tip: Ignore the more tag in the label list to the right. It's just a trick used to define posts that are expandable.

I can be contacted at viri_cordova at yahoo dot com.

Edit: I am sooo sorry I misspelled your name! Please forgive me :(

Thane Wolf

2008-09-16T23:20:00.003-04:00

INT 2 REF 8 TECH 8 COOL 7 ATTR 4
LUCK 2 MA 10 BODY 4 EMP 4

Gear: Thane typically carries a medium autopistol with regular ammunition. He wears a medium armor jacket when expecting trouble, which is nearly always, and had his signature Lakers baseball cap modified with steel inserts (functions as steel helmet). Thane is a packrat and his house has a bunch of assorted junk and trash piling up in all the rooms.

Notes: A backwoods "hillbilly" in 2040, with a small run-down cabin near one of the few wilderness areas left in the NCR, he knows most of the PCs either personally or "through a friend". His son was killed by an escaped genetically engineered boar. Later that week, he got the help of the PCs to kill it although GenenTech then showed up and ran them all off the animal's corpse. Later, he threatened to take Genentech to court and the PCs had to help him out again.

The Cabin

Night City Screamsheet

2008-09-11T23:51:00.001-04:00

Image by avlxyz via Flickr September 12, 2040

Revolutionary Transcript to be used as Evidence

For the first time a court case is based on a multi-voice recognition transcript as the main evidence. It was when Frank Levin took part in a dispute with four people that resulted in a fired gun that killed Adam Denny. The three other all testified that Frank had pulled the trigger, while Frank claims that according to the transcript, it clearly states that he was not the one holding the gun. The challenge for Frank Levin's attorney in this case is to make a multi-voice recognition transcript valid as proof of evidence in itself, since the conversation was not recorded. Frank had his voice recognition software in "text mode only" on his cell phone, so during the conversation no talk was saved; only a text file was created. The case is assumed to mainly be about the reliance in this technology which in the long run could benefit the development of voice recognition software.

Multi-voice recognition has become widely popular for the last years, especially within the business world, since it allows all meetings to be recorded and transcripted simultaneously, with every quote related to the correct person. When the meeting is over, everyone gets a transcript of the meeting, easily searchable for the correct information. More and more people are also creating official "talklogs" where they record everything they say and publish it as diaries.

Your Birthday Today Palm-reading has long been used to foretell the future, but it won't really be an option for you after this Friday.

California Saddlebred Futurity Horse Show California Saddle Horse Breeders Association hosts the ASHA West Coast Regional Championships - American Saddlebred Grand National September 9, 2008 to September 14, 2008 at the Night City County Fair.

In-atmosphere Travel is Increasing

For the first time ever, in-atmosphere passenger kilometers have passed 8,000 billion per year worldwide, according to the latest statistics, which is an increase by three times during the last 30 years. The introduction of the super-jumbo (600-seat airliners) combined with the low price level for flight traveling has kept the numbers steadily increasing.

The number of fatal accidents with jet planes in commercial airlines has continued to decrease down to 0.42 per 1 million flights, which is almost down 60% compared to 30 years ago. These figures do not include the out-of-atmosphere traveling that continues to increase every year, and is mainly counted by number of passengers that are going by space shuttles out of the atmosphere, than by kilometres.

Shopping

2008-09-08T12:43:00.016-04:00

Image via Wikipedia Glazitor - Drug

There are many causes of fatigue but when you're on the street, Glazitor knows you need to be aware of the world around you. Based on dopamine, Glazitor is a revolutionary new way to help your body keep you alive by using natural substances you already produce to stay awake. At only 100eb a dose, Glazitor is a must have!

Game effects: Increase Awareness +1 for 1d10 hours. Resist Drugs vs 15 or REF -1 for the duration of the drug from uncontrollable shaking. Resist Drugs vs 12 or Awareness -1 permenantly due to nerve damage from increased dopamine production. Increase both difficulties by 5 for every dose taken in a 24-hour period, side effects are cumulative per dose.

Morph - Gear

Morph, jointly developed by the Nokia Research Center and the University of Cambridge in England, is a bendable, flexible and stretchable device that can be folded into pocket size and used as a PDA, or unfolded and opened up to display more detailed information. Nokia's technology uses Fibril proteins woven into a three-dimensional mesh that reinforces thin elastic structures. Built-in solar absorption charges the devices. 448eb

EPOC Game Controller - Gear

Emotiv's EPOC headset is a game controller fitted with 16 brainwave sensors. After some calibrating, the gamer is able to control the action on the screen with his or her thoughts. Those who've tried it say it takes a little getting used to, and it's perhaps not as precise as they'd like to see in a video game controller. But, they add, when the action on the screen mirrors your actual thoughts, the effect is "surreal." 540eb

The Martin Jet Pack - Gear

The Martin Jet Pack has touched down, and its creators say it could allow a solo pilot to reach 8,000 feet and fly for half an hour. The device made its first public appearance at an air show in Wisconsin, though it may not be a true jet pack in the strictest sense. It uses twin rotary fans, rather than a jet engine, to generate lift. The device unveiled this week uses a gas-powered engine and two fans that actually let it lift off the ground. Altogether, the machine weighs about 250 pounds. It's being marketed as a recreational sport vehicle of sorts -- a "Jet Ski for the sky," its creator says. (MA 7) 180,000eb

Voice Pay - Service

Voice Pay uses advanced multi factor voice biometric authentication and authorisations to sign any financial transaction and is leading the change from face to face transactional banking to the world of the mobile teller and any location banking including ATM's. Voice Pay requires no software to download. All you need is acess to a phone, and we will even pay for the cost of your call. 15eb/month

RFID - Gear

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) system that uses an implantable microchip for human use. When inserted just under your skin, the implantable microchip which is approximately the size of a grain of rice is barely felt. The RFID microchip contains a unique identification number that ER's, Ambulances and other medical personnel can scan immediately to identify and access your personal health information. Immediate retrieval of your medical information can facilitate appropriate treatment with less delay and save your life. 270eb and 90eb annual fee.

Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) - Vehicle

With both diesel and hybrid electric engine options, the JLTV is the replacement of the outmoded high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV) and it has been specifically designed for patrol and combat operations. (SDP 90, SP 40 all locations) The design includes a 30kW generator to give sustained power, a trailer capable of carrying the same payload as the vehicle at speed (up to 4000lb), jam-resistant doors for easy escape after attack or damage, an automatic fire-extinguishing system, and an electronic monitoring to diagnose equipment and system failures so that they can be fixed. Range 400 miles, top speed 125 km/h. 162,000eb

Surgery Rules

2008-09-06T15:03:00.002-04:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Excerpted from here. Although this isn't my original work, even if I've made modifications to suit my own game, it's quoted here almost word for word so that my players and I have an easy reference.

WHY THEY CALL THEM “RIPPER” DOCS While Difficulties are given for each surgery (Negligible is Easy, Minor is Average, etc), nowhere does the book mention what happens if the ripperdoc, or player-controlled medtech, flubs his Surgery roll.

The GM should privately determine the TECH and Med Tech skill of the ‘doc performing the surgery. Difficulties are as listed in CP2020, p. 75 and 80. Normal task modifiers apply: if the ‘doc is drunk, add +4, if the ‘doc’s never seen the part you’re trying to get him to implant, add +2, if the operation is being performed in the dimly lit back room of a bar with people kibitzing all around, add +6 (or more!)

Other modifiers also apply, depending on the operating conditions. “Operating Conditions” describes a bunch of factors, like the sterility of the operating environment, the upkeep of the surgical equipment, the ready availability of drugs and revival gear should the patient kick it, etc. Operating conditions can raise or lower the difficulty of an operation and are rated as follows:

Excellent operating conditions = -5 to the total difficulty of the operation.
Good operating conditions = -3 to the total difficulty of the operation.
Average operating conditions = No modifier.
Poor operating conditions = +3 to the total difficulty of the operation.
Horrible operating conditions = +5 to the total difficulty of the operation.

Also, for every level the current operating facility is below the one required, add 3 to the difficulty (equivalent to “Don’t have the right tools,” from CP2020 p. 42). For instance, wolvers require a “full hospital with surgery center.” Attempting to implant wolvers in a “drop-in bodyshop” would increase the difficulty by 6, making it a Very Difficult (26) task — not impossible for an expert, but tough for the staff of the average on-the-mall clinic.

A couple of examples:
Cyberpsycho goes to a local ripperdoc to have a set of wolvers implanted. When ‘Psycho arrives, the “operating room” consists of a filthy pool table under a flickering incandescent lamp. Roaches scurry around the base of the dented anesthesia canister, and a half-eaten burrito sits cheek and jowl with the scalpels on the instrument tray. The doc’s of average ability (+4 Med Tech) and TECH (6), but he’s on his fifteenth operation today, and he’s damned tired. Horrible Operating Conditions is +5, Tired is +4, drop-in clinic when a full hospital is required is +6, all added to a Major Surgery Code difficulty of 20 equals a full difficulty of 35. Ouch.

On the other end of the spectrum, Golden Boy the Eurosolo checks into an exclusive Swiss clinic to get a cybereye installed. Need we say that the operating room is state-of-the-art? The medtech is legendary (Med Tech +8, TECH 9) and has been scrubbing to Vivaldi for the last half hour. Excellent Operating Conditions is -5 to the total difficulty, dropping it to Average (15). The tech’s already got a base 17, so unless he fumbles, Golden Boy’s going home with a smile on his face.

WHEN THE DOC’S HAD ONE TOO MANY Well, when the ‘doc fails his roll, problems result. These range from a simple operation failure (”I’m sorry, sir, but the contract clearly states that there are no refunds,”) to nasty side effects (”I’m sorry, sir, but the contract clearly states that the clinic is not liable for malpractice,”) to outright death (”I’m sorry, sir, but the release form clearly states that the deceased remits ownership of his organs to the clinic.”).

Note that these effects are in addition to normal surgery damage. Which effect occurs could depend on the GMs whim or the amount the ‘doc failed his roll by, with each point subtracting 10% from the following table.

01 - 10 (or less): Death. Once the operation is completed, have the character make a Death Save. If the save fails, the character dies. If the player wants to be pissy, inform him that he went straight to Death State 10 while the surgeon was frantically searching for a clamp. You get what you pay for, chombatta.
11 - 20: Cyber-rejection. The character’s body refuses to accept the cybernetics. Unfortunately, no-body realizes this until the character is well into his recuperation. 2D10 days after receiving a piece of cyberware, the character must make a Death Save. If the save fails, the character must make a Death Save once per hour until the cybernetics are removed. If the save succeeds, the cybernetic will NOT function normally, the character will NOT heal normally, and he will take an additional 2 points of damage daily until it is removed or the character dies.
21 - 30: Major infection. The flesh around the cybernetics is inflamed and painful. Blood poisoning has set in, along with other untoward effects. No additional damage is taken, but normal healing does NOT proceed, and each day REF, BOD, and MA are reduced by one point until the character gets medical attention. If any stat reaches 2, Death Saves due to wound shock, fever, and general debilitation will be required each day. If any stat reaches zero, the character dies. Band-Aid type treatment (drug store antibiotics, First Aid) can stabilize the character ONCE for 1D10/2 days, but cannot cure the infection.
31 - 40: Permanent and unnecessary scarring. Depending on the location of the implant, certain stats will be affected. Facial implants like cyberoptics or tech hair may reduce ATT by 1D6/2 points, cyberarms could drop REF by the same amount, and cyberlegs would reduce MA.
41 - 50: Permanent neural or biochemical side effect causes brain damage. Drop INT, REF, EMP, or TECH by 1D6/2 points, according to the GM’s whim or the location of the implant.
51 - 60: Chronic pain, which persists until the implants are taken out. A pain editor or the appropriate drugs will temporarily prevent this side effect. Otherwise, increase the difficulty of all tasks attempted by the character by 5. Forever.
61 -70: Operation failure. For some reason, the implant just refuses to take. The character is back where he started, plus surgery damage, less operation costs, and possibly without an important piece of his anatomy (in the case of a cyberoptic or cyberlimb). Refunds are unlikely, although he’ll probably retain the cybernetic if he purchased it along with the surgery or supplied it to the clinic for the operation.
71 - 80: Temporary but debilitating bruising and swelling. Halve REF, MA, and ATTR until the surgery damage has healed. Note that this is in addition to any other stat penalties incurred by the surgery damage itself.
81 - 90: Minor infection. Surgery damage heals at half its normal rate.
91 - 00: No serious problems, although the character will suffer from mild soreness and aches until the surgery damage has healed. Subtract 1 from REF until it's done so.

GW

2008-09-06T08:08:00.018-04:00

Stats: INT 9 REF 10 TECH 7 COOL 10 ATTR 4 LUCK 6 MA 8 BODY 5 EMP 9

Skills: Combat Sense, Streetdeal, Perform, Awareness/Notice, Driving, Handgun, Stealth, SMG

Gear: Car, Flak Pants, Heavy Armor Jacket, Armalite .44, 50 rounds ammo, 725eb

Abilities:

GREAT DEAL [Special]
Benefit: This character may spend an action point to get a great deal. When buying something, even black market hardware, he rolls 5d10 and adds the dice to produce the percentage discount, which will be 5-50%.
IP Cost: None

DISGUISE [Special]
Benefit: The player may purchase this ability to perfectly imitate the appearance, speech and mannerisms of any one person once per game. This ability gives no special knowledge of the target and may be purchased more than once.
IP Cost: 180 (Note: First time purchase, -70 IP)

MIMICRY [General]
You can replicate almost any natural sound you have ever heard
Prerequisite: Perform 1+
Benefit: You can imitate almost any sound (footsteps, a door opening or closing, or two people fighting). You cannot simulate anything louder than a shout. Use the Perform skill opposed by the audience's listen skill to be convincing.
Special: You cannot make the sounds appear to come from somewhere else without other abilities in addition to this one.

Other: He's a friend of Thane Wolf.

Game Log Sept 5-6

2008-09-06T06:40:00.008-04:00

Image via Wikipedia The characters were all connected to Jaime from the Screamsheet in some way. Johnny, a musician and wanna-be Brit, was his older brother; Maxwell, a tech and junkyard squatter, was his cousin; and GW, job unknown, was a friend of Thane's.

Thane called them on September 5th, 2040, wanting this animal that killed his youngest offspring taken down. They drove to Thane's cabin from the city and set out with Thane the next morning to track the boar. It didn't take long, maybe 20 minutes, before Maxwell, moving out in front of the rest of the group, found it eating a tree in a clearing near Thane's cabin. The clearing wasn't very large, maybe three to five meters wide, and he backed away quietly.

GW also tried moving away but fell over a fallen branch, breaking it, getting the boar's attention. Maxwell, realizing they didn't have alot of choice but to try taking it down now, tried shooting it but it just shook its head at them and charged. Maxwell dodged the near-sighted boar as Johnny shot at it. Johnny's bullet found its mark in the boar's eye and took the huge animal down.

Johnny danced around the corpse and urinated on the beast that killed his younger brother as Maxwell caught sight of a tag in the boar's ear. Examination revealed it to be a two-tone blue tag with a beaker graphic and a barcode. He recognized it as the Genentech corporate logo.

Soon everyone could hear a helicopter flying overhead which shortly landed in the nearby clearing. The chopper also had the two-tone blue logo and GW called the police. After the helicopter landed, four men with rifles and body armor unloaded, followed by a gentleman in a suit. The suit was soon on his cell phone and the police never did show up. Thane went into the clearing to confront the men as the other 3 party members faded into the woods.

Thane got into a shouting match with the suit and was soon run off by the armored men with guns. Maxwell met Thane part way back to the cabin and they both walked back to meet up with GW and Johnny. Thane paid them each 500eb.

GM Notes: I screwed up in this game, the first I'd run in several years, and forgot to give the boar the 15SP I'd decided on so he went down a lot faster than planned. It was to continue being near-misses so long as they tried to dodge - Jaime had panicked and stood still, allowing the near-sighted animal to actually hit him.

Special Abilities - General

2008-08-20T09:35:00.005-04:00

Image via Wikipedia Something new I'm trying in this campaign is the introduction of special abilities. These are similar to feats from the d20 system except that they're bought with General IP Points instead of awarded for level gain. I reserve the right to change the IP Cost of Abilities without notice. I also reserve the right to change or outright remove any ability I think is imbalancing the game. If I remove an ability, I will refund a portion of the IP Cost to the player based on how useful I think it was to them, not to be less than 50%.

ACCURATE ASSESSMENT [General]
Benefit: Select a target creature within 20m. By taking a turn to observe them, you can learn one current statistical value of the target (such as a stat, skill level, etc… anything that has a numeric value). A statistical value is anything in a stat block or character sheet represented by a formula or numerical value. The value learned is the current modified value.
IP Cost: 75

AMBIDEXTERITY [General]
Prerequisite: REF 7
Benefit: When using two weapons in an attack, you are at -3 to hit with the second weapon.
Normal: You are normally at -3 to hit with each weapon.
IP Cost: 100

ATTACK BONUS [General]
Benefit: You get a +1 to attack with a specific weapon. You can take this ability multiple times, the effects stack.
IP Cost: 40 + 30 per level. Taking it the first time costs 70 IP, the 2nd 100 IP, etc.

AWARENESS [General] By intuitively predicting your opponent’s next move, you can get the jump on them.
Prerequisite: INT 7
Benefit: You may use your INT instead of your REF to determine your initiative.
IP Cost: 75

BATTLE LEADER [General] You inspire your followers and cohorts in battle
Prerequisite: EMP 7, Leadership 1
Benefit: All cohorts and followers that can directly see you gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls and on RESIST rolls versus all fear effects. If you fall in battle, all followers and cohorts instead get a -2 penalty to attack and on RESIST rolls versus all fear effects until you are restored or one minute elapses.
IP Cost: 75

CAMOUFLAGE [General] You have mastered the art of concealing objects and other creatures.
Prerequisite: Hide/Evade 1+
Benefit: You can apply your Hide/Evade skill to objects or even other people in one round. Often this requires arranging scenery to provide superior concealment. All normal Hide/Evade modifiers, including size, apply. A person hidden in this manner cannot move about without breaking concealment.
Notes: Your GM may allow anyone to use the Hide skill for this, without requiring a feat, it just takes more time.
IP Cost: 75

CHAMELEON [General] You may fool electronic detection devices.
Prerequisite: TECH 7, Disguise 5+, Perform 5+, Electronic Security 5+
Benefit: While in disguise and as part of a role, you may attempt to use your Electronic Security skill to disguise yourself to emulate any, or all, of the following: Ability Score (DC 15+Score); Special Ability (DC 20); Race (DC 25); Skill (DC 20). You have to make a check each time someone tests your disguise.
IP Cost: 75

COMBAT INTIMIDATION [General] You are capable of intimidating others more easily in combat.
Prerequisite: Intimidate 4+, COOL 7
Benefit: You can make one Intimidate skill check each round without incurring a penalty, but only to demoralize an opponent in combat. You can try to demoralize all opponents you threaten in melee combat forcing them to make COOL checks or flee.
Normal: Intimidating others in combat is a one-round action.
IP COST: 75

DIEHARD [General] You can keep going until your final breath.
Prerequisite: Endurance 3+
Benefit: When you fail a Stun check based on health loss, you may choose to act as if you were disabled, rather than dying thus retaining consciousness. You must make this decision as soon as you fail the check even if it isn’t your turn. If you do not choose to act as if you were disabled, you immediately fall unconscious. When using this ability, you can take a single action per round that doesn't include movement.
IP Cost: 75

DISEASE RESISTANCE [General] You are naturally resistant to disease.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all BODY checks against disease.
IP Cost: 75

IMPROVED STEALTH [General] You are a fleeting shadow, nearly invisible even as you rush past opponents.
Prerequisite: REF 7, Hide/Evade 8+, Stealth 8+
Benefit: You may move up to your normal speed with no penalty to your Hide/Evade or Stealth checks.
IP Cost: 75

JACK OF ALL TRADES [General]
Benefit: When using an unknown skill for the first time, you get an extra 2d10 IP at the end of the game for that skill in addition to your normal IP awards.
IP Cost: 100

LAST DITCH [General] The heart of a hero beats in your chest, allowing you one last attack.
Benefit: Whenever you fail a SAVE check and are about to be unconscious, you may take a single attack at whatever hit you, as long as the target is within your attack range. This attack is made with a special +1 bonus to hit and damage.
IP Cost: 75

METALINGUIST [General] You have an intuitive understanding of the basics of communication.
Benefit: By making a Lnaguage check versus a DC of 20, if you do not share a language with another person/creature, you may, over the course of a minute, convey an abstract thought, idea or question that you could otherwise express with a full round of speech. If the other party also takes the time to communicate at the same pace, you can understand in return. Of course, there is always some risk of mistranslation.
IP Cost: 75

MIMICRY [General] You can replicate almost any natural sound you have ever heard
Prerequisite: Perform 1+
Benefit: You can imitate almost any sound (footsteps, a door opening or closing, or two people fighting). You cannot simulate anything louder than a shout. Use the Perform skill opposed by the audience's listen skill to be convincing.
Special: You cannot make the sounds appear to come from somewhere else without additional abilities in addition to this one.
IP Cost: 75

MIND OVER BODY [General] Your ability damage heals more rapidly.
Prerequisite: BODY 7
Benefit: You heal damage more quickly than normal. You heal a number of points per day equal to 1d6 + your BODY.
Normal: You heal damage at a rate of 1d6 points per day.
IP COST: 75

OPEN MINDED [General] You are naturally able to reroute your memory, mind, and skill expertise.
Benefit: You immediately gain an extra 5 skill points.
Special: You can gain this ability multiple times. Each time, you immediately gain another 5 skill points.
IP Cost: 200

SILVER SPOON [General] You were born into some privilege and your character starts out with a monetary advantage
Benefit: When creating your character you start with double the starting cash.
Special: This ability may only be taken at character creation.
IP Cost: None

TAUNT [General] You are adept at angering your opponents and provoking them to attack you.
Benefit: You may target a specific opponent who can clearly see and hear you within 20m and who understands the language you're speaking. Make an Intimidation check. If successful the target is compelled to direct any attacks it makes at you until one of you is defeated or until the target is attacked by another opponent. If you move out of sight or if it is impossible for your opponent to attack you they are free from the compulsion.
IP Cost: 75

TOUGHNESS [General] You are tougher than average.
Benefit: You gain an extra set of damage boxes equal to the Light set. You can only buy this ability once.
IP Cost: 100

VENTRILOQUISM [General] You have learned to throw your voice, making it appear to come from someplace else.
Prerequisite: Perform 1+
Benefit: You can use the Perform skill to make your voice appear to come from another location. You must decide where you want your voice to appear to come from; the DC is equal to the number of meters away from you x3 that you wish to throw your voice. If there is something there that moves in a manner suggestive of speech or of making the sounds you are throwing, reduce the difficulty by 10. Listeners can try to realize what you are doing with an opposed listen roll.
IP Cost: 50

Genentech

2008-08-19T06:30:00.002-04:00

Disclaimer: I love Genentech and the work they do and while the corporation is a "bad guy" in my game, all corporations are bad guys and nothing should be inferred from this about Genentech in real life.

Our Mission

Our mission is to be the leading biotechnology company, using human genetic information to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize biotherapeutics that address significant unmet medical needs. We commit ourselves to high standards of integrity in contributing to the best interests of patients, the medical profession, our employees and our communities, and to seeking significant returns to our stockholders, based on the continual pursuit of scientific and operational excellence.

A Unique History

Genentech was founded by venture capitalist Robert A. Swanson and biochemist Dr. Herbert W. Boyer. After a fateful meeting in 1976, the two decided to start the first biotechnology company, Genentech.

Corporate Growth Strategy

Genentech is committed to long-term planning for growth. With this in mind, Genentech has developed the Horizon 2050 goals, five goals it plans to meet by 2050. These goals help the company stay focused on its top priorities and make Genentech's plans transparent to investors and others.

Corporate Headquarters:
1 DNA Way South
San Francisco, CA 94080-4990
(650)226-1000

Night City Office:
1000 New Horizons Way
Night City, CA 95688
(707)455-1000

CEO Roland Labrash

Roland Labrash was born in 1976 and has been CEO since 2031. received his bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from Saint Vincent College in the Pittsburgh suburb of Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1998. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Washington in Seattle in 2002, and his PhD in Biochemistry from Princeton University in 2007. He's a devout member of the Children of God and a vegetarian.

Night City Screamsheet

2008-08-18T11:56:00.005-04:00

September 5th, 2040

Image via WikipediaGiant Hogs Migrate West

The first boar was killed in south Georgia in 2004; the second in Alabama in 2008. Now, 22 years later, they've gotten revenge by killing an 11-year-old boy just west of Night City.

Hogzilla was made into a horror movie. but the sequel may be even bigger: Meet Monster Pig. An NCR boy was killed by a giant boar after firing a pistol at it. His father says it was over 9 feet long from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. Think hams as big as car tires.

If the claims are accurate, this boar would be bigger than Hogzilla, the famed wild hog that grew to seemingly mythical proportions after being killed in south Georgia in 2004. Hogzilla originally was thought to weigh 1,000 pounds and measure 12 feet in length. National Geographic experts who unearthed its remains believe the animal actually weighed about 800 pounds and was 8 feet long.

Regardless of the comparison, young Jamie Wolf will never see another sunrise. He was killed on September 3 when he shot the huge animal eight times with a .50-caliber revolver and chased it for three hours through hilly woods. Finally, the animal turned and charged them, as wild boars have a reputation of doing.

Jamie, who just finished the sixth grade on the honor roll at Christian Heritage Academy, a small, private school, was gored violently and died on the scene. His father, Thane Wolf, said that he and the guides had high-powered rifles which seemed to merely bounce off the animal's thick hide.

TV Listings Mad Men AMC 10:00 p.m. EDT/9:00 p.m. CDT Don is late to a meeting after chasing a $100 bill on a string down Madison Avenue.

Your Birthday Today Lady Luck will be on your side this week. Unfortunately for you, Lady Skill, Lady Experience, and Lady Applied Probability Theory won't.

Cop Vows To Hunt Down Punk

DETROIT—Christopher O'Dell, a 16-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department, told reporters Monday that he will not rest until he exacts revenge on the man who got his long-time partner, Officer Rick Noonan, 38, suspended for using excessive force during an arrest at a peaceful demonstration last March.

"That punk is going to get what's coming to him again," O'Dell said. "If it's the last thing I do, I'll make sure that scumbag is taken off the streets, not properly informed of his Miranda rights, chained to a radiator beneath the station, and kept awake for days of interrogation without being formally charged." O'Dell added that the suspect in question is going to wish he had never filed a complaint for a broken collarbone after O'Dell is finished breaking his leg and giving him a concussion.

Character Creation

2008-08-18T08:11:00.002-04:00

Image via WikipediOverview

Since 3 of my five players have never used this system before and a fourth has only done so once, I've decided to use a modular form of character creation. Session one will not involve character sheets but rather pieces of ordinary notebook paper. Stats will be generated as some key concepts are explained to the group, several of which will be different even for the fifth player, who's had 15+ years of experience at this game.

At that point, I'll give 5 handouts to each of the players, one for each character. On the handout will be "templates of a sort" that the players can choose from, one to a character and only one of each for the party. Each handout will include some abilities and a bit of starting equipment. Then I'll run a small introductory game and since Cyberpunk 2020 lends itself especially well to picking up skills on the fly, choosing skills won't be needed at this point. As each player is asked to make a roll, they'll write down the skill they make the roll for with an initial skill level of 0. This should give them a better idea of what sorts of skills those characters will be using as the game progresses and will certainly give us all an excellent idea for what the player enjoys doing.

Key Concepts

Party Make-up

Two of the huge problems in previous CP2020 games that I'm going to try to avoid here are 1) Parties made of five people who are all in it for themselves and no one else and 2) Players who use the world as an excuse to play characters who can do anything they want without consequence.

Games work best when everyone is part of the team and working for the same overall goals, even if they all have individual goals as well. Everyone has more fun and things are better accomplished when players work together to achieve the same things in general. This does not mean they can't have individual goals, indeed they should, but those should never tear at party cohesion. Tying in with this, character personalities should be chosen that again, work together. Players should not deliberately create characters that automatically dislike other PCs in the group. To this end, I'm gathering the players together to creating characters and I hope they'll discuss their ideas and work together even from the beginning to make a party that everyone can enjoy.

No one in my group is named Braxton. I realize that most of the players won't get that joke but it's a good place to start. We all know the player who makes the thoughtless fighter-type that kills everything that moves and asks questions later or the thief who steals even from the Lord to whom he owes loyalty just because he can. Cyberpunk is a reality-based game. If a player runs around doing anything he wants, anytime he wants without regard to the consequences, I promise that it will catch up to you - and everyone else. It's also a stale concept and boring, both for me the GM and the other players in the group.

Improvement Points

Improvement points are the Cyberpunk version of experience points but work a little differently than in most games since CP2020 has no level system. There are two kinds of IP: those for skills and those for everything else. They are separate and distinct and one type can't be used to improve things covered by the other kind.

Players need to keep track of the skills they use! I cannot emphasize this enough! If a character rolls a skill check, mark the skill. I don't know how many players over the years have forgotten this very key and basic thing during a game. I know it's not something people often need to do in other systems and can take some time getting used to but if a player doesn't mark a skill used, that skill will never get better. I'll detail exactly how to use IP to make skills better in the next session but for now, players should school themselves to keep track of what they use.

General IP is awarded after every game and can be used to improve stats, abilities, everything that can be improved in the game except skills. When General IP are used to improve skills, it will also cost cash which reflects the time and money spent on training, therapy, schooling, etc. The cost is equal to the desired STAT level x 5,000eb. This cost might be changed at the GM's discretion to better reflect desired game balance.

Action Points

Action points are equal to the character's LUCK stat, divided by half and rounded down. This is the number of points the player has to spend during an adventure to affect the outcome of dice rolls. For each Action point spent the player may roll an additional 1d10 to any roll made during the game. The player can add this after a roll is made but need to do so before the GM details the results of the roll. Given I do math faster than most people, players may need to be fairly quick or even give me a heads' up when rolling that they may wish to do this.

The player may keep spending action dice to add to a roll as long as he still has action dice left to spend during that adventure. Action dice do not reroll on 10s as normal die rolls do and it should be noted that this is an experimental idea and I reserve the right to either exclude a given type of roll from this ability to remove the system altogether.

Action dice may also be rolled to add to the character's SP for the duration of a given combat round, be rolled to add to the amount healed overnight

Languages

In Cyberpunk 2020, the character has a separate language skill for each language they choose to be able to speak. Due to the nature of this campaign, instead the character is able to speak a number of languages equal to their language skill. They can do so as a native, making language checks only for tricky concepts and complicated ideas.

However, new languages can't be learned by merely "leveling" this skill. If the player wishes to learn a new language, he must first inform me. I'll then look it up to see if it's related to any of the languages the character currently knows. If not at all related currently known, it will take 1000 hours of study minus 100 hours per point of intelligence to become fluent. If related, it will take 500 hours minus 50 hours per point of intelligence. Given that most campaigns have significant downtime between adventures or even during them, this isn't as daunting as it first seems.

Netrunning

Characters with computers do not use the CP2020 netrunning system. Instead, if that character owns a computer of some sort with the appropriate specs (such as a Net connection if trying to break into a different system), then they can roll Interface to see if they succeed at related tasks. These include (with some DC numbers):

Modify a Program (DC depends on the complexity)
Create a new Program (as above)
Break into secure system (20+)
Review a system (15+)
Trace User (Opposed)
Root Account Access (DC for breaking in +5-10)

DCs can be modified by things such viruses present in a given system, the character's familiarity with the code involved and the strength rating of the computer used to do the task. Reviewing a system can either reveal if it's been broken into recently or to find information from a system the character has broken into. Most of these checks can be attempted more than once unless a critical failure is rolled.

Aftermath

After the first game, players will be given 10 points to spend on skills and 1/4 their starting cash, plus whatever they got paid for the first job, to spend on gear, etc. If they want, they can save all the money, but the skill points must be spent or lost. Lastly, each player must choose or roll a birthday.