New free Cyberpunk 2020 Sourcebook

Deric Bernier (and his helpers) managed to publish an impressive online cyberpunk 2020 Sourcebook for South and Central America, Conflict II.

It’s great! Everything you need to know to run adventures in the jungles of the Americas,

I’m most impressed with the amazing detail of the sourcebook, the lifepath and they even thought of random encounter tables to help the GM with slow moments! From Derics “advertising”:

Well folks, I am pleased to announce, THE CURSE IS BROKEN. After exactly 361 days of work, and a collaborative effort of 6 writers, and 20 other contributors, Conflict II: The Central And South American sourcebook. That’s right, from the only site that could possibly do it justice, the long awaited project is finally finished and available to you. Detailing every country in the region, the people, the resources, the wildlife, travel, and more, the Sourcebook also sets the stage for the Third South American War. With full descriptions of all the major armed forces involved including detailed weapon and equipment lists for the U.S., EDF, Neo-Soviet, Chinese, Mexican, Militech, Arasaka, Argentina, Chile, ICMF, and the South American Alliance armed forces. It also contains information on the Media presence covering the conflict as well as a more detailed look at the previous wars and a Journal of the Long Walk. There are even Lifepath charts and Random Encounter tables to make the experience complete. More than just a sequel to Conflict: Africa, this sourcebook is twice the size and much more detailed and comprehensive.

Link: Conflict II: Sourcebook for South and Central America.

Virtuelle 3D Kampfweste

Wir leben längst im Zeitalter des Cyberpunk. Aber meist geht die Entwicklung so schleichend voran, dass wir es gar nicht mitbekommmen. Siehe die riesigen Werbebildschirme im Stadtbild. Die schlichen sich auch Quadratmeter um Quadratmeter und Farbtiefe für Farbtiefe in unser Bewusstsein. Wie schön, dass es gelegentlich aber doch noch Dinge gibt, bei denen man als Cyberpunk-Fan ins Schmunzeln gerät. So z.B. die “iWallet” Brieftasche mit eingebautem Fotodisplay, das aus dem gleichen Shop stammende “Elektro-Skateboard” nebst dazugehöriger Infrarot-Steuerung, mit dem man immerhin 11 mph erzielen soll – oder eben die 3D Weste für Ego-Shooter und Prügelspiele, die dem Spieler per Force-Feedback-Zonen einen physischen 3D-Reiz bei Treffern gibt. Dagegen nimmt sich eine der ersten kommerziellen Drohnen für den Heimgebrauch noch harmlos aus: Der iRobot ConnectR sieht zwar aus wie eine Klobrille auf Rädern, kann aber via Fernbedienung und WLAN durch die Wohnung zuckeln und z.B. nachsehen, was die Kinder nebenan treiben. Die gleiche Firma vertreibt übrigens neben verschiedenen Reinigungsrobotern auch verschiedene Roboter für Regierungen und Sicherheitsunternehmen.

Cyberpunk Lifestyles

Hier eine optionale Regel-Idee zum Thema “Lifestyle oder wie man die Charaktere seiner Spieler dazu bringt, zwischen zwei Modulen genug Geld zu verblasen, um einen neuen Job auch bei mieser Bezahlung annehmen zu müssen.

LifeStyle
Ein cyb3rpunk hat Ausgaben abseits von dem, was der Spieler sich aus den Chromebooks zusammenschreibt. Diese laufenden Ausgaben realistisch zu erfassen und individuell anzupassen, ist ein unglaublicher Pain in the Ass. Daher werden im Folgenden „Packages“ vorgestellt, die mit einer monatlichen Flatrate abgedeckt sind. Kann oder will ein Punk seine Flatrate nicht bezahlen, aber will er am gewählten Package festhalten, werden die Fehlbeträge als Schulden notiert. Die der SL dann als Ansatzpunkt für weitere Abenteuer nehmen kann.

Optional dazu kann der Punk natürlich auch auf ein anderes Package überwechseln, das mehr seinem Finanzrahmen entspricht. WICHTIG: Will ein Punk im Spiel von einem Package zu einem besseren „hochwechseln“, muss er zusätzliche „Eintrittskosten“ in Höhe von 6 Monats-Flatrates des neuen Packages aufwenden. Dies reflektiert seine Kosten für Basisausstattung, Möbel, Umzugswagen, Provisionen, Bestechungsgelder etc.

zero | 0 eb
Der Lebensstil der Gescheiterten, mit denen man sich nicht abgeben möchte. Quasi nur hauchzart über dem Stand einer Küchenschabe. Und im Gegensatz zu 2020 ist es 2035+ extremst UNCOOL, wie eine abgeranzte Ratte auszusehen. Egal, welcher Szene man angehört.

Hier wohnst du: Nirgendwo (mobiler Lebensstil) Continue reading “Cyberpunk Lifestyles”

Cyberpunk Band Names?

The AV Club has a list of the worst bandnames of 2007

its great fodder if you need to compile some kind of Top 10 list or being asked by your players whats on the radio. Also, remember that Boosters are music fans gone hooligan. So they need bands to adore, too. I selected my top names, but check out the original post for lots more.

William Gibsons take on giving a city description shames my GM skills

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Here in my Akasaka hotel, I can’t sleep. I get dressed and walk to Roppongi, through a not-unpleasantly humid night in the shadows of an exhaust-stained multilevel expressway that feels like the oldest thing in town. Roppongi is an interzone, the land of gaijin bars, always up late. I’m waiting at a pedestrian crossing when I see her. She’s probably Australian, young and quite serviceably beautiful. She wears very expensive, very sheer black undergarments, and little else, save for some black outer layer – equally sheer, skintight, and microshort – and some gold and diamonds to give potential clients the right idea. She steps past me, into four lanes of traffic, conversing on her phone in urgent Japanese. Traffic halts obediently for this triumphantly jaywalking gaijin in her black suede spikes. I watch her make the opposite curb, the brain-cancer deflector on her slender little phone swaying in counterpoint to her hips. When the light changes, I cross, and watch her high-five a bouncer who looks like Oddjob in a Paul Smith suit, his skinny lip beard razored with micrometer precision. There’s a flash of white as their palms meet. Folded paper. Junkie origami.

William Gibson is god. The bits of text are from a piece he wrote for Wired, the cyberpunk geek monthly.

Snitch-Chip today its for pupils, tomorrow for the wage-slave

The ARCH Blog informs us about a projekt in a british secondary school where pupils have RFID chips in their uniform that transmits rather sensitive data:

The chip connects with teachers’ computers to show a photograph of the pupil, data about academic performance and whether he or she is in the correct classroom.

Well, next time you start your Cyberpunk 2020 game with the PCs flipping burgers somewhere, you know how to make them rebel… why wouldn’t they be chipped, too?

“Mr. Anderson, we noticed that your average toilet time is 0.4% higher then the average for male employees. This reduces your productivity and costs the company a lot of money. See to it that you come to terms with this problem!”

Its stunning what you would be able to learn about the person chipped.

With this amount of spying, its easy to rationalise why someone would feel punk enough to grab a gun and become an outlaw…

Martial Art for Normads in Cyberpunk 2020

El Ciendo Rock – A Martial Art for Normads

Author: Gryphon

[The article deals with a fictional martial arts style for the normads in RTG’s Cyberpunk 2020 roleplaying game.]

So here is a contribution worked up by me with the assistance of Sharps, one of my players. This “Form” was developed by Nomad culture as an outgrowth of the Warrior sub-culture. It is a distilation of the techniques used by the Warriors of a tribe in situations like bars, vehicles, and town alleyways. This is a Close-in Combat Form. Its availability is pretty good for Nomads, not so good for everyone else.

Stat Colume Random Notes/Explanations
Multiplier: 3 -1 for any true Nomad
Strike: 2 Knives,Bottles,Chairs,Etc
Punch: 2 Elbow,Headbutt,Etc
Kick: 1 Knee,Heel Kick,Etc
Disarm: Take his Weapon? Why?
Sweep: Too many chairs in bars.
Block: 1
Dodge: Close in Form,Not Mobile
Grapple: 1 Grab the Gonk by his Nads
Throw: 1 Pick him up and toss him
Hold: 1
Choke: 1 Or the throat works too
Escape: 1 Defense against above
Ram:
Breakfall: 1 If you use this manuver.

Breakfall works like Block or Dodge vs. Throw, succeed for no damage,fail for MA rank less damage.

Any Questions, Just drop me a line in the comments.

Online enhanced Lifepath Generator

Arcady0 has created a fantastic lifepath generator. Its useable for all kinds of cyberpunk games, so that even those orknosed Shadowrunners can get the benefit of great lifepath, cyberpunk 2020 like. They use the “fantastic punk” setting.

Real cpunks like us use “classic gamer” or “literary C-punk”. The former is a bit munchkin, the latter just right.

Great work, Arcady0

Here is a thread for comments in the “View from the edge” forum to discuss the generator.

Dark Future Cereals

  • new better-smelling grilly sugaries
  • iron-packed replicating celestios
  • simply real grainy greens
  • haptic-responsive shiny l00pz

are just some great ideas for Cereal-Brandnames this generator produces…

The sister of this generator is The Bullshit Job Title Generator who actually might be helpful to generate your NPC Corps business card. These examples

  • Legacy Group Developer
  • Customer Factors Developer
  • Dynamic Marketing Supervisor
  • Chief Communications Architect

don’t sound much weirder then Googles Chief Internet Evangelist, right?