The evil guys – how to paint them black in a greyscale world

Villians are difficult do create and play for an Cyberpunk 2020 GM. In D&D, a evil aura is all you need for the groups paladin to cry “I shall smite this evil” and a fight will occur. Which will be Level-appropriate. And be won by the group after having expended the precalculated amount of spells, magic item charges and hitpoints. Boring.

So how do you give your PCs a villian they will remember? When I was young, you could identify them rather easily. They wore a tie. This is no longer an option – I have to wear a tie at work myself. But then, I’m probably a villian, too. Only less well payed. And no, we don’t get any cool guns or explosives. Not even super-powers.

Where was I? Ah, right. Yax, over at dungeonmastering.com, wrote an D&D related article on how to greate a love-to-hate villain. Some stuff (also taken from the comments) might be useful for cyberpunk, too. In the comments I found

Make the villain an ally, until story arcs climax, then betrayal then return in reacuring arcs. Annoying, frustrating, and appealing. Plus, get one of the players intimatly connected, like a relative, or childhood friend or lover. thats a hard thing to kill.

Okay, that’s basic for us. What else is there? Lot of stuff that might be innovative for D&D, but not new for cyberpunk. A selection of the best ideas:

The love-to-hate-them villains should:

  1. Speak slowly. Very slowly. Or have any other annoying vocal habit.
  2. Be good. That villain is lawful and good, but stupid or manipulated so that he doesn’t realize he’s causing harm. It’s hard to deal with someone who well-meaning, but they’re still annoying.
  3. Have the villain send a thug to beat the tar out of one of the PCs – not permanently damage them but beat them into unconsciousness (if they can). Of course the villain has an alibi but everyone KNOWS it was his/her order.
  4. Have the villain steal a prized magic item from one of the PCs and then wear/use it publicly, much to the adoration and amusement of the commonors in town.

I would love to collect your tips on how to create the most memorable and well-hated villians for cyberpunk 2020 in the comments. Yes, comments in german are willkommen.

Programming 108: It's the Law, 'punk!

Programming 108: It’s the Law, ‘punk!

Snitch
CLASS: Alarm COST: 580eb
STRENGTH: 4 MU: 4
PROGRAMMING: 174 DIFFICULTY: 29
FUNCTION(S): Alarm
OPTION(S): Memory, Icon (superrealistic)
COST MULTIPLIER: x2 (Alarm x2)
ICON: Snitch has a database consisting of thousands of pictures. You nevah know who can be airin’ your dirty laundry.
DATA: After the intruding netrunner has been detected, the program will alert the sysop on duty so he can deal with the threat first hand.
Handcuffs
CLASS: Anti-Personnel COST: 7,000eb
STRENGTH: 3 MU: 4
PROGRAMMING:168 DIFFICULTY: 28
FUNCTION(S): Anti-Personnel Continue reading “Programming 108: It's the Law, 'punk!”

Programming 107

Programming 107

Medusa
CLASS: Anti-Personnel COST: 11,250eb
STRENGTH: 5 MU: 7
PROGRAMMING: 258 DIFFICULTY: 43
FUNCTION(S): Anti-Personnel
OPTION(S): Movement Ability, Recognition, Conversational Ability, Pseudo-Intellect, Contextural Icon
COST MULTIPLIER: x25 (Anti-Personnel x25)
ICON: A lovely young woman dressed in an elegant evening gown and the snakes that pose as her hair pulled back into a topknot. She speaks with a sultry voice, alluring the ‘runner to glance upon her magnificient beauty.
DATA: This was truly an interesting program to put together. She does 8d6 points of damage to the ‘runner while turning him/her Icon into a stone statue that will remain in the matrix where it was frozen.
Netmare
CLASS: Anti-Personnel COST: 7,000eb
STRENGTH: 6 MU: 4
PROGRAMMING: 168 DIFFICULTY: 28
FUNCTION(S): Anti-Personnel
OPTION(S): Contextural Icon
COST MULTIPLIER: x25 (Anti-Personnel x25)
ICON: Whatever you’re afraid of, this program will construct an Icon to resemble that special someone or something that haunts your dreams. And in some cases, your every waking moment.
DATA: Everyone is afraid of something. This program will search your psyche until it uncovers that special something that causes even the most stout of heart to cringe in fear. For us netrunners, this program can be particularly unsettling. It can cause us to fear interfacing with Ma Matrix. Personally, if I can’t feel the loving touch of Ma Matrix at least once per day, I get mighty cranky. Whomever has fallen victim to this program must make a roll: Difficulty vs. 20. If the roll is failed, the person is incapable of performing their so-called duty for 1d10 minutes. Once this period has passed, a second roll is made. If this roll is passed, the person can perform as normal. If the second rolled failed, there is a 50% chance that that person ain’t nothing more than a blabbering idiot on the floor for 6d10 minutes. Or that person will become extremely violent for 6d10 in an attempt to escape his/her fear. Oh look. Here comes Max-Tac to handle your little psychotic episode.Whenever the victim of this program comes across the situation/person/what-have-you he/she/it fears, he/she/it must make a roll: Difficulty vs. 20. If the roll is passed, the victim can perform the task at hand. If the roll failed, the victim cannot perform the task needed to be done until they recover: Difficulty vs. 25. Awww. Havin’ another psychotic episode? Here comes Max-Tac to deal with it permanently.
Hydra of Domain
CLASS: Anti-Personnel, Detection COST: 24,000eb
STRENGTH: 5 MU: 8
PROGRAMMING: 288 DIFFICULTY: 48
FUNCTION(S): Anti-Personnel, Detection
OPTION(S): Movement Ability, Auto Re-Rez, Endurance, Contextural Icon
COST MULTIPLIER: x50 (Anti-Personnel x25, Detection x2)
ICON: A contextural Icon of an enormous creature with five heads and a twin tail.
DATA: This is a program that you don’t wanna be on the recieving end of. The program starts out with five heads and each auto re-rez causes a new head to grow. Example: the program starts with five head, then you hack one off. If the program re-rezzes, the original head and a new head will appear. Thus making a total of six heads. Each additional head after the fifth adds +1 to the program’s current STR. Six heads, STR: 6. Ten heads, STR: 10. There can only be a maximum of ten heads and a maximum STR of 10. Each attack against the netrunner will produce 1d6 per head. Oh my! That’s gonna leave a mark!
Wyvern
CLASS: Anti-Personnel, Detection COST: 22,500eb
STRENGTH: 5 MU: 7
PROGRAMMING: 270 DIFFICULTY: 45
FUNCTION(S): Anti-Personnel, Detection
OPTION(S): Memory, Endurance, Photorealistic Icon
COST MULTIPLIER: x50 (Anti-Personnel x25, Detection x2)
ICON: I took great pride and joy in creating this Icon. It is an adult wyvern. It looks as good as any tri-vid image you’re gonna find in the movie industry or generated on the Net.
DATA: What can be said about such a magnificient creature? Noble and majestic. Arrogant, proud, and aloof. Lord of all they survey and master of what they keep their lairs. They will do 5d10 points of damage to the netrunner that disturbs its lair.
Cloak of Invisibility
CLASS: Stealth COST: 540eb
STRENGTH: 4 MU: 4
PROGRAMMING: 162 DIFFICULTY: 27
FUNCTION(S): Stealth
OPTION(S): Invisibility, Superrealistic Icon
COST MULTIPLIER: x2 (Stealth x2)
ICON: A cloak made of the finest cloth euro can buy.
DATA: The best way to sneak around on the Net is not to let the enemy see ya.

Please also repeat lessons:

Programming 106: Everyone's Kung Fu Fighting!

Programming 106:
Everyone’s Kung Fu Fighting!

Clap of Thunder
CLASS: Anti-Personnel COST: 4,650eb
STRENGTH: 6 MU: 5
PROGRAMMING: 186 DIFFICULTY: 31
FUNCTION(S): Anti-Personnel
OPTION(S): Superrealistic Icon
COST MULTIPLIER: x25 (Anti-Personnel x25)
ICON: A rippling wave of black electricity.
DATA: The Icon of the netrunner shouts, “Clap of thunder!”, then claps his/her hands together to cause the rippling effect in the ‘net. The attack will cause 4d6 points of neural damage to the target ‘runner and will push him/her back 1d6+1 spaces. Continue reading “Programming 106: Everyone's Kung Fu Fighting!”

Programming 105: It Ain't Over 'til the Fat Lady Sings!

Programming 105: It Ain’t Over ’til the Fat Lady Sings!

Faceless Hunter
CLASS: Anti-Personnel COST: 15,250eb
STRENGTH: 8 MU: 11
PROGRAMMING: 366 DIFFICULTY: 61
FUNCTION(S): Anti-Personnel, Disguise
OPTION(S): Movement Ability, Trace, Auto Re-Rezz, Recognition, Invisibility, Memory, Speed, Endurance, Pseudo-Intellect, Superrealistic icon
COST MULTIPLIER: x25 (Anti-Personnel x25)
ICON: A silver humanoid figure with no facial or sexual features to distinguish it. However, with its Disguise function it can assume the structure of any program or form of any netrunner it has come across in its past.
DATA: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Unfortunately, with a Faceless Hunter after you, you’ll never know which is which. Continue reading “Programming 105: It Ain't Over 'til the Fat Lady Sings!”

Abenteuer: Der verfluchte Koffer

Abenteuer: Der verfluchte Koffer

Autor: TheOzz

18.01.08, 16:47

Ist ein Szenario, welches ich gestern [17. Jan. 2008 – Die Redaktion] erfolgreich geleitet habe. (=> Erfolgreich: Spieler überlebt und Ziel erreicht.)

Einleitung

Night City: 3. Sept. 2020, 21 Uhr, ein beschissener Mittwoch, mit noch beschissenerem Wetter.
Die Stadt, die nie müde wird. Nie müde, dich zu ficken…
Dein Kopf beklagt sich noch über die Dosierung des Alks und der Designerdrogen vom gestrigem Tag. Der heftige Regen der rhythmisch gegen das verdreckte Fenster knallt ist auch nicht das Beste für deine Kopfschmerzen. Aber was zur Hölle hat dich Continue reading “Abenteuer: Der verfluchte Koffer”

Hello Kitty craze – the female 'punk no longer wears leather

Damn, wasn’t I in love with tough Molly Millions when I read William Gibsons Neuromancer for the first time. Implanted Mirrorshades, Rippers under the fingernails and tight leather pants… he defined the look of tough ladies for ages. But these days, a girl with crowd approval needs to be cute. Even if you are a cyberpunk. Especially, if you’re a cyberpunk!

But we from www.cyberpunk2020.de are well aware of the difficulties to brave a dangerous dystopian world and look cute while firing an fully automated shotgun at a gang of cybercrazed boosters. We gave you the Hello Kitty assault rifle, a Hello Kitty handgun, and more pink guns than you can shake a stick at. But we realize that a gun is not the only fashion statement the female punk can make. You ladies are usually very interested in your fingernails, so we can help you there.

If that’s overdoing for you, check out these Hello Kitty Contact Lenses – they really freak me out!

Depending on the change in your pocket, there is cheaper or more expensive transport available for you. As you can see, the Hello Kitty franchise keeps the girl punk covered: Look cute while being deadlier then Molly Millions ever was!

Defending CP2020

Many people think that Cyberpunk 2020 is outdated, because the game makes assumptions on the future that – meanwhile – have proven to be wrong.

That’s okay. Let them. They are right.

But: What can be done about that? There are three basic “roads” open to “revamp” or adjust Cyberpunk 2020 to keep it up with the pace of technology and society:

  1. Ignore the problem. Hey, to err is human. To ignore is divine. You can just say that Cyberpunk 2020 follows a timeline that may have been our own up until nineteen80something. But which went another way since then. This way you can just stick with the oversized mobile phones and the huge “computer in a suitcase” stuff from CP2020. Our world went iPod. CP2020 went Cyber. Deal with it – by not dealing with it.
  2. Revamp the system. This is the Cyb3rpunk way to go: Either redo the whole system (or use the HARDWIRED setting instead, which is less of a contradiction to our “real here and now”) or – if you don’t want to trash your ongoing CP2020 campaign – move the timeline ahead 5-10 years and use this “gap” to place historical events that explain the change in the setup (you can use the articles tagged “cyb3rpunk” on this website for inspiration).
  3. Use your imagination, dammit! “So a mobile phone costs over a hundred eb and still looks rather huge in CP2020? Well, players, of course you can have a sleek mobile phone for free from one of the corporations – but I thought we were playing CYBERPUNK here. And Edgerunners sure are paranoid, so they use “overexpensive” (and dead-ugly) mobile phones from a small manufacturer in some far-away land that doesn’t sell out its customers to the IRS and the LEDiv.” This third road is somewhat a mix of the 1st and 2nd way to handle “contradictions”. It’s not the most elegant (that would be totally revamping the setting) nor the most time-efficient (that would be to ignore everything), but it takes “the best of both worlds”. The only thing you have to do is take a fresh look at CP2020 tech and gear and make up explanations for seemingly (key word!) incorrect prices and stats. Memory Unit seem too small? “That’s 1 MU for Data PLUS the necessary encryption or license attachment”. Laptop computer seem too huge? “That’s because in 2020 you need extra powerful radio transmitters to cut through all the electronic smog”/”That’s including acid rain protection”/”That’s the model of the only independent manufacturer left in the ISA”/”That’s pimp style, because size DOES matter”.

Have fun!

Programming 104

Programming 104

Hit Man
CLASS: Anti-Personnel COST: 10,500eb
STRENGTH: 8 MU: 8
FUNCTION(S): Anti-Personnel
OPTION(S): Movement Ability, Recognition, Invisibility, Endurance, Superrealistic icon
COST MULTIPLIER: x25 (Anti-Personnel x25)
ICON: A well dressed gentleman in a black or navy blue suit, a white, gray, or baby blue dress shirt, a black tie and shoes, and a pair of mirrorshades.
DATA: This program was an inspiration after a rogue hunter/bounty hunter tried to flatline me and my crew during a netrun to Afrikani. He was good, real good! But like Icebreaker says, “There is safety in numbers especially when the enemy doesn’t know when they’re there.” Hit Man can be programmed with the necessary data it needs to kill it’s intended target as well as containing a short message. It will attack from teh shadows of the ‘net and do 1d10 points of neural damage to the drekhead until it’s dispatched or the ‘runner is dispatched. Either way, someone or somethin’ is gonna die!
Shark
CLASS: Anti-Personnel COST: 9,750eb
STRENGTH: 4 MU: 6
PROGRAMMING: 234 DIFFICULTY: 39 Continue reading “Programming 104”