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Cyberpunk 2020 - Core Rulebook
Cyberpunk 2020 - Core Rulebook
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CP 3002
h. I 71.12
P
2',0
Contains corrections and clarifications to CYBERPUNK 2.0.2.0., Version 2.0, including
bound-in version of SCREAMSHEETS adventures and new artwork. For a free CP
2.0.2.0.update to bring your Version 1.O online with the new data in this version, as
well as a free DATA SCREEN correction overlay, just send an SASE to R. Talsorian
Games, Inc. P.O. Box 7356, Dept H, Berkeley, CA. 94707.
71.12
Cast & Crew
Writers Matteo Resinanti Lisa Pondsmith
Mike Pondsmith Mike Hernandez JanetPiercy
Colin Fisk Fiddly Bits: Ed Bolme
Will Moss Layout & Design
Scott Ruggels Matt Anacleto Playtesters
Dave Friedland Mike Pondsmith Anders Swenson
Mike Blum (Screamsheets) Diana "Fritz" Coldman Mike Blum
Screamsheets: JanetPiercy Chris Hockabout
Cover & Ted Talsorian Kevin DeAntonio
Doug Anderson Art Recovery: Mike MacDonald Thaddeus Howze
Barton Bolmen
Illustration TYPomPhY Sean Fitzpatric
Justin Chin Diana "Fritz" Coldman Steve lsom
Paolo Parente Ted Talsorian Lucien Stalls
Chris Hockabout Ian Studebaker
Sam Liu Editing Magnus Seder
Riccardo Crosa Will Moss Rob Pruden
Angelo Montanini Derek Quintanar Brian Perry
Scott Ruggels Mike Pondsmith Jesse VanValkenburg
Charlie Moore
Steven Lorenz
Eric Huber
Randy Roosa
c
-
P.0.Box 7356, Berkeley, CA USA 94706 To Lisa.
Copyright 0 1990, 1991, 1993 by R.Talsorian Games, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cyberpunhm is R.Talsorian's
Trademark name tor it's adventure game of the dark future. The terms Netrunner. Chromebook and Night City are What a long, strange trip it's been!
trademarks of R.Talsorian Games, Inc. All Rights Reserved under Universal Copyright Convention. All incidents,
situtations. and persons portrayedwithin are ficlional. and any similarity, without satiric intenl, of characters living or
dead is strictly coincidental.
CP 3002 ISBN 0-937-279-13-7
71.12
Soul 6r The New Machine ............... 34
Roles ..................................................
Cyberoptics ..................................... 86 Exotic Fashion ............................ 121
Cyberaudio ...................................... 87
Special Abilities ..................................
Rockerboys .....................................
4 Cyberlimbs ...................................... 88
Cyberlimb Cyberweapons................91
Drugs ........................................ 122
6 Building Your Own ..................... 123
Solos.............................................. 8 Linear Frames................................... 91
Netrunners................................... 10 Body Plating .................................... 92 Netrunner ................................. 127
Techiesl2 Running Out of Cash ....................... 93 Geography..................................... 128
Medias ......................................... 14 Islands of the Net ........................... 129
Cops ............................................
Corporates ...................................
16 Friday Night Fireffght .................. 96 Regions ...................................... 129
18 Rounds & Turn Order ...................... 97 Long Distance Links .................... 131
Fixers............................................ 20 Initiative........................................... 97 Wilderspace ................................ 131
Nomads ....................................... 24 Fast Draw ........................................ 97 NetWatch ................................... 131
Actions ............................................ 98 Bulletin Boards (BBS) ..................131
Getting Cyberpunk ........... 25 More Than One Action .................98 Net Gear ........................................ 132
Character Points ........................... 25 Two Weapon Attacks .................... 98 Interfaces.................................... 132
Statistics ....................................... 26 Ambushes & Backstabs.................98 ICONS........................................ 132
Fast 8 Dirty Expendables ..............30 Line of Sight/Facing ....................... 101 lnterface Plugs ............................ 132
Damage......................................... 101 Cyberdecks................................. 132
Tales From the Street (Lifepath) 33 ... Hit Locations .................................. 101 Improving Your Deck ..................134
Origins & Style ................................ 34 Armor ............................................ 101 Deck Options ............................. 134
Family Background .......................... 35 Cover ............................................. 102 Programs ....................................... 137
Motivations & Life Events.................36 Body Type Modifier ....................... 103 Live Link Up ................................... 141
Big Problems. Big Wins .................... 37 Wounds ......................................... 103 Program List ........................... 142-143
Friends & Enemies ........................... 38 Stun/Shock Saves ........................... 104 Running the Net ............................ 144
Romantic Life ................................... 39 Death Saves ................................... 104 Security Levels ............................... 144
Making Attacks .............................. 104 Tracing .......................................... 145
Working ...................................... 41 Ranged Weapons ........................... 105 Subgrids ........................................ 149
Skill Checks ...................................... 41 Automatic Weapons ...................106 The Menu ...................................... 149
Starting Skills ................................... 43 Unusual Ranged Weapons ..........107 Combat ......................................... 149
Career Skill List ................................. 44 Beam Weapons .......................... 108 Initiative ..................................... 151
Master Skill List ................................ 45 Area Effect Weapons ...................... 108 Turns & Actions .......................... 151
Pickup Skills ..................................... 46 Shotguns.................................... 108 Range ......................................... 152
Skill Descriptions......................... 46-53 Grenades.................................... 108 Movement ................................. 152
Learning New Skills .......................... 53 Flamethrowers............................ 108 Stealth & Evasion ....................... 152
IP Multipliers.................................... 53 Rocket Powered Grenades ..........110 Attacks Against Systems/Decks ..152
Getting More IP ............................... 54 Missiles....................................... 110 Anti-personnel Attacks ................153
Inventing New Skills ......................... 54 Explosives ................................... 110 Anti-IC Attacks ............................ 153
Reputation ....................................... 54 Molotov Cocktails....................... 111 Controllers & Utilities .................153
Melee Attacks ................................ 111 Designing Data Fortresses ..............154
Getting Fitted For the Future .......
57 MartialArts & Brawling..................111 Playing Artificial Intelligences......155
Starting Funds ................................. 57 Dodging ........................................ 112 Fast Fortress Construction...........164
Encumberance................................. 59 Parrying ......................................... 112 Programming 101 ......................... 167
Weapons ......................................... 60 Melee Damage .............................. 112 Virtually There ........................ 170-174
Weapons List ........................... 61-62 Monoknives, Mono Katanas & Slice n'
Weapons Descriptions.............62-63
Old Guns ...................................... 66
Dice ...............................................
Vehicles in FNFF .............................
112
112
Ail Things Dark & Cyberpunk
Future Shock ...........................
175
176-1'85
.....
Armor .............................................. 67 Vehicle Combat .......................... 112
Special Equipment ...........................
2020 Gear List .................................
67
68
Vehicle Damage ......................... 113 Running Cyberpunk ............186-189
Gear Descriptions ....................... 69-71 Traumo Team ........................... 175 Never Fade Away: A Cyberpunk
Putting the Cyber lnto the Punk 72 ...
Stabilization ...................................
Death State ....................................
115
115
..................
Story/Adventure 190-203
Cyberfashion.................................... 72 Healing .......................................... 116 Megacorps 2020 .................204-208
Cyberpsychosis ................................ 73 First Aid ......................................... 116 Corporate Profiles................209-214
Humanity Costs ............................... 74 Medical Tech ................................. 116
Cybertechnology .............................
Cyberware List ............................
75 Speed Healing Drugs .................. 117
Nanotech ...................................
Night City .......................... 275-219
76-79 118 Encounters .......................... 220-221
Surgery Codes ................................. 75 Elective Surgery .......................... 118 Personalities ........................ 222-223
Fashionware..................................... 80 Replacement Surgery..................119
Neuralware ......................................
Implants ..........................................
80
83
Trauma TeamTM.............................
Body Banks ....................................
119
120
Face of the City ..................224-237
Bioware ...........................................
Cyberweapons.................................
85
85
Vat Grown Tissue Banks .................120
Bodysculpting................................ 120
Screamsheets ........... 232-250
71.12
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VIEW FROM THE EDGE
THE 1
MACHINE
Theworld of Cyberpunk is a violent, they can. Whether it takes committing
dangerousplace, filled with people crimes, defying authority or even outright
who’d love to rip your ann off and revolution, the quintessential Cyberpunkchar-
acter is a rebel
eat it. The traditional concepts of with a cause. As
good and evil are replaced by the a Cyberpunkrole-
valuesof expedience-you do what player, it’s up to
you have to do to survive. If you you to find that
L=
can do some good along the way, cause and go to
the wall with it.
great.
But don’t count on it. This is the essence
of Cyberpunk-
Cyberpunk characters are survivors in a playingyourchar-
tough, grim world, faced with life and acter with the
death choices. How they make thesechoices proper disaffected, cynical-yet-idealistic style.
will have a lot to do with whether they end Whether you’re a biker with leatheredskin and
up as vicious animals roaming a ruined metal claws, ora debutante in satin sporting the
world, or retain something of their basic latest in designer cyberoptics, you’re going to
humanity. Cyberpunk characters are the need a certain panach- certain flair, in por-
heroes of a bad situation, working to make traying yourself. To achieve the essence of the
it better (or at least survivable) whenever 2000’s,you need to master three concepts:
71.12
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-
b
If you live to rock, this is where you belong.place to challenge authority, whether in
Rockerboys are the street poets, social con- straight-out protest songs that tell it like it is,
sciences and rebels of the 2000's. With the or just by playing kick-ass rock n' roll to get
advent of digital porta-studios and garage the people away from the N sets and into
laser disk mastering, every Rocker with a the Streets. You have a proud history as a
message can take itto thestreet; put it in theRockerboy-Dylan, Springsteen, Who, Elvis,
record stores, bounce it off the comsats. the Stones-the legions of hardrock heroes
who told the truth with screaming guitars
Sometimes, this message isn't something and gut-honest lyrics. -
the Corporations or the Government wants
to hear. Sometimes what you say is going to As a Rockerboy, you have the power to get
get right in the faces of the powerful people the people up-to lead, inspire and inform.
who really run this world. Butyou don't care, A song from you can give the timid courage,
because as a Rockerboy, you know it's your the weak stren-gth, and the blind vision.
Rockerboy legends have
led armies against Corpo-
rations and Governments.
Rockerboy songs have ex-
posed corruption, brought
down dictators. It's a lot of
power for a guy doing gigs
every night in another city.
But you can handle it. After
all-you came to play!
71.12
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71.12
~ _ _ ~
Sounds good?There’sa price-a heavy one. And you’re willing to pay it. Because you’re
You’ve lost so much of your original meat a Solo.
71.12
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1 I
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-~
4.
At three, your parents bought you an old Sometimes you uncover importantthings-
Apple IV CS with a Radius 241 wall screen, Corporate treachery or deadly secrets. But
and your life was changed. By fifth grade, that’s not why you Netrun. You live for the
you’d already masteredeverything the school new program, the next satellite downlink-
computer literacy lab could throw at you- the next piece of hot data that comes your
you were already using C and META-LINGUA way. It‘s only a matter of time, you think-
to crack into the district’s mainframe and every year, the counter intrustion programs
change your grades. When you were thir- get better, the Artificial Intelligencessmarter.
teen,youshifted enough fundsoutof unpro- Sooner or later, a faster program or
tected TransAmerican Bank accounts to fi- programmer’s going to catch up; reach out
nance your first neural interface plugs. with electronic fingers through your inter-
face plugs, and stop your heart. Buttime‘son
Now, nothing can stop you. With your direct yourside, and until the riderunsout,you’ll be
mental link to the computer, you can plunge there, barebrained and headfirst in the Net.
71.12
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71.12
~~ VIEW FROM THE EDGE
@
I T
I
I
"So you want me
to build a delay
71.12
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-
c c -
4.
It isn’t easy. They’ve tried to pressure your This time, for Sure.
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n
1.1 armored sauadcar., I oa-
trollirig this jungle withI
the hseavy predators.
The corporate O LP
S
-
nowthat's the life. Heavy
weapons, full combat ar-
mor, Trauma Teamm
F- backup, AV-4 assault ve-
71.12
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71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Right now,
junior execul
but easy. Tnere are guys
underneath you who’d kill
for a shot a t your job. There
are guys over you who‘d kill
to keepyou outoftheirjobs.
And they’re not kidding
aboutthe killing+veryupand comer in the Solos, ‘Runners andTechiesona headhunting
Corporation has his own crew of Solos and run to kidnap a researcher from a rival com-
Netrunners to cover his pet projects. Sabo- pany. The week before, your project was to
tage? Constantly. Bribery? Routine. Black- steal plans for a new suborbital shuttle from
mail? Common. Promotion by assassina- the EuroSpace Agency (so that the Aero-
tion?Always a possibilty. The stakes are that space Division could copy the design and sell
high-one slip and you could be out on the it to the Soviets).
Street with the rest of the trash. Or dead.
You told yourselfyou joined the Corporation
And the projects your supervisors give you! to make it a better place-work from the
Some are pretty straightforward; design a inside, you said. But now you’re not so sure.
new productivity schedule for the Your ideals are a little tarnished and things
Corporation’s medical subsidiary. Some are are getting pretty bleak. But you can’t worry
pretty raw-send a “blackoperations” team about ethics now. You’ve got a report due in
into the City to spread a designer plague so an hour, and it looks like that guy in Sales is
the Marketingteam can clean up selling the planning to ice your database for good.
vaccine. Last week, you led a mixed team of You’re gonna ice him first.
71.12
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D
A T/ON BR(
enough to be a Solo either. But as a small sell favors like an old-style Mafia godfather.
time punk, you knew you had a knack for You have connections into all kinds of busi-
figuring out what other people wanted, and nesses, deals and politicalgroups. You don’t
how to get itfor them. For a price, of course.
do this directly, of course-no, you use your
contacts and allies as part of a vast web of
Now your deals have moved past the nickle- intrigue and coersion. If there’s a hot night-
and-dimestuff into the big time. Maybe you club in the City, you’vle boughtinto it.lfthere!
move illegal weapons over the border. Or arenewmilitary-classweaponson thestreet,
steal and resell medical supplies from the you smuggled ‘em in. II LI KIC 3 a L ~p I i
Corporations.Perhapsyou’re a skill broker- War going down, you‘re negotiating be-
tween sides with an eye on
the rnain chance.
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~
FROM ED(
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
a GETTING
CYBERPUNK
Headware is the hardwar-the frame 2) Fast: Roll 1 D10 for each stat (9 in all), re-
which allows the character to interface rolling any scores of 2 or less. Place rolls in
with the rules. Remember, the disk is each stat as desired.
not the software, and dice rolls are not
your character. Don 't get too caught up 3) Cinematic: This option is for Referees
in the statistics. only. As the designer of the adventure, the
Referee has the option of choosing the
Character Points number of points for each character based
Character points are the cash of character on its position in his or her game.
creation-you use them to "buy" the vari-
ous "mechan- Major Hero .......................... 80pts
ics" aspects of Major Supporting Char. ......70pts
the character, Minor Hero ......................... 75pts
like good looks, Minor Supporting Char. ......60pts
a strong, hard Average ............................... SOpts
body, unshak-
able cool and Note: We could, at this point, warn
street smarts prospective Referees about the vari-
(but not Skills). ous dodges their players will have for
We've given creating "supercharacters." But face
you three ways it; if they want to create a mondo
to generate characte;, who are we to stop them?
Character You're all big boys and girls now, and
Points: if you, as Referee, think your players
are getting wayouta line, why not just
1 ) Random: go ahead and waste 'em?
Roll 9 D10 and total them. You have this
many Character Points. That's the Cyberpunk way.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Statistics
Each Cyberpunk character has nine Statis- have a decent Tech Stat, potential Techies
tics-values representing the level of na- should always opt for the highest possible
tive ability of the character in specific areas score in this area.
of activity. These Stats are rated from two
to ten, with two being the worst possible, Luck (LK):
ten being the best possible, and the aver- This is the intangible “something” that
age falling a t about five or six. Divide yourthrows the balance of events into your
total number of Character Points between favor.Your luck represents how many points
each of your nine Stats, adjusting the you may use each game to influence the
amounts in each one as you think best outcome of a critical event. To use Luck,
describes the character’s natural abilities. you may add any or all of the points of luck
No Statistic may be less than two or greater a character has to a critical die roll (declar-
than ten. ing your inetntion to use Luck before the
roll is made) until all of your Luck stat is
Intelligence (INT): used up. Luck is always restored a t the end
This is a measure of your problem solving of each game session.
ability; figuring out problems, noticing
things, remembering information. Almost Attractivene
every character type will need a high Intel- This is how gooU-lUUKllly yuu die. III cy’
ligence, with Netrunners and Corporates berpunk, it‘s not enough to be good-you
requiring the highest of all. have to look good while you’re doing it
(Attitude is Everything). Attractiveness is
Reflexes (REF): especially important to Medias and Rock-
This is a combined index, covering not erboys, as being good-looking is part of
only your basic dexterity, but also how their jobs.
your level of physical coordination will
affect feats of driving, piloting, fighting Movement Allowance (MA):
and athletics. Characters who intend to This is an index of how fast your character
engage in a great deal of combat (such as can run (important in combat situations).
Solos, Nomads or Rockerboys) should The higher your Movement Allowance
always invest in the highest possible Reflex. (MA), the more distance you can cover in
a turn.
Cool (CL):
This index measures how well the charac- RUN: To determine how far your charac-
terstandsuptostress,fear, pressure, physi- ter can run in a single combat round
cal pain and/or torture. In determining (C33.2seconds) in meters, multiply your
yourwillingnesstofightondespitewounds MA by 3. The character can run three
oryourfighting ability underfire, Cool(CL) times this distance in a full 10 second
is essential. It is also the measure of how turn. Write this in the RUN section ofyour
“together” your character is and how Hardcopy Form.
tough he appears to others. Rockerboys
and Fixers should always have a high Cool, LEAP: To determine how far your charac-
with Solos and Nomads having the highest ter can leap (from a running start), divide
of all. your RUN by 4. Write this in the LEAP
section of your Hardcopy Form.
Technical Ability (TECH):
This is an index of how well you relate to Empathy:
hardware and other technically oriented This Stat represents how well you relate to
things. In Cyberpunk, the ability to use and other living things-a measure of charisma
repair technology is of paramount impor- and sympathetic emotions. In a world of
tance-TECH will be the Stat used when alienated, future-shocked survivors, the
fixing, repairing and attempting to use ability to be “human” can no longer be
unfamiliartech. Whileall charactersshould taken for granted. Empathy (EM) is critical
71.12
4- 0 Solo 0 Rocker Netrunner MediamNornad
UFixer 0 Cop UCorp Techie Medtechie
DRAWING OF CHARACTER
m]
INTI REF[ / ] T E C H [ ] COOL[ ]
A l T R [ ] L U C K [ ] M A [ ] BODY[ ]
EMP[ / ] R u n [ ] Leap[ ] Lift [ ]
I I
MORTAL 2 MORTAL3 MORTAL4 MORTAL 5 MORTAL 6
71.12
-
LIFEPATH
Clothes
Hair
Affectations
Ethniclty
Language
Type cost wt
e
Traits
Valued Person
Value Most
Feel About People
~
Valued Posession
yEA
~~~ ~
0 R.Talsorian Games, 1991. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for Personal Photocopying only.
71.12
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71.12
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Interlace (Netrunner) As you'll soon realize, the Cyberpunk char- 3) Cyberaudio (Roll 1D6 for type)
jury Rig (Tcchic)
Medical Tech (Medtechie) acter generationsystem is designedto give 1 WearmanTM
Remurces (Corp)
Streetdeal(Fixer) you a lot of flexibility. You can tailor the 2 Radio Splice
ATTI character the way you want it, with lots of 3 Phonelink
PersonalGrooming 4 Amplified Hearing
Wardrobe & Slylc personal touches all through the process. 5 Sound Editing
BODY 6 Digital Recording Link
Endurance
Strength Feat But when you need to generate a horde of
Swimming
faceless boostergangers, you're not going 4) Big Knucks
CoovWlLL
lntmogalion to want to invest this kind of time and 5) RiDDerS
- I 1 ,
Intimidate
ora1ory energy. Instead, 1IOU'IIneed something 6 ) Vamplires
Resist TorlureIDrugs
Streelwise fast and easy to help you create endless 7) Slice Ii'dice
-I -I-...- I:L- -,
EMPATHY suppliesof baddies LO ue I-...-
2.- I_-
riiuweu U W W I IIIKC u) Kenex Boost (Kerenzikov)
.L
. I,
numan Perception
Interview chaff by your player characters. 9) Reflex Boost (Sandevistan)
Leadership
Seduction 1O)Nothing
Social
Persuasion & Fast Talk The five step FAST CHARACTER SYSTEM
Perform
INT
below allows you to generate a large sup- Step 4: Armor & Weapons
Accounting ply of faceless guards, killers, corps and Roll 1 D10, adding modifier below:
Anthropology
AwarenelrlNotice bad guys on demand. A quick run through Roll Armor Weapon
Biology
Botany Lifepath can create a fast and dirty back- 1 Heavy Leather Knife
Chemistry 2 Armorvest Light Pistol
Composition ground to match your fast and dirty NPCs. 3 Light Armor Jacket Medium Pistol
Diagnose Illness
Education fa Gen.Know So go ahead and waste 'em! We'll make 4 Light Armor Jacket Heavy Pistol
Eiptrt
Gamble more! 5 Med Armor Jacket Heavy Pistol
Geology 6 Med. Armor Jacket Light SMC
nidelhade
History 7 Med. Armor Jacket Lt. Assault Rifle
Know Language (choose) Step One: Generate Stats 8 Hvy. Armor Jacket Med. Assault Rifle
Libmy Search
MathematiCI 1) Roll 2D6 nine times, writing down each 9 Hvy. Armor Jacket Hvy. Assault Rifle
Physics +10 MetalCearTM Hvy. Assault Rifle
Programming roll. If a roll is 11 or qreater, reroll that
Shadownrack
Slock Market value. Place each numGer in one Stat until Rockers, Corps, Netrunners, Fixers, Techies:
System Knowledge
Teaching all Stats are filled. add 0 to roll.
Wilderness Survival Nomads, Cops: add +2 to roll.
ZmlqlY
Solos: add +3 to roll.
REF Step 2: Pick a Role & Skills
Archery
Athletics 1) Select a role for the character. Write i t s Step 5: Write it down.
Brawling
Dance Career Skill Package (pg.44)in the appro- Fill out an NPC (Non-player Character)
Dodge 8 Escape
Driving priate space, dividing 40 points between sheet, as shown below:
Fencing
nandgun these skills.
Heavy Weapons
Martial Art (choose type)
Melee
Motorcycle 2) If the character is an advanced NPC, roll m-mn
Operate nvy. Machinery
Pilot (Gyro) an additional 2D10 and distribute these INT [ 1 REF[ / ] TECH[ 1 COOL[ ]
Pilot (Fixed Wing)
Pilot (Dingiblc) points among 5 pickup skills. AlTR[ ] LUCK[ ] M A [ ] BODY[ ]
Pilot (Vect.Thrur1Vehicle)
Rille
Stealth
Submachinzgun Step 3: Pick Cyberware (see
TECH pgs. 76-79)
Aero Tech
AV Tech Roll 1D10. Solos roll 6 times. All others roll
Basic Tech
Cryotank Operation 3 times. If duplicate rolls, re-roll.
Cyberdeck Design
CyberTech 1) Cyberoptics (Roll 1D6 for type)
Demolitions
Disguise 1 Infrared
Electronics
Elect. security 2 Lowlight
Firs1Aid 3 Camera
Forgery
Gyro Tech 4 Dartgun
Paint or Draw 5 Antidazzle
Phola & Film
Pharmacculicals 6 Targeting scope
Pick Lock
Pick Pocket
2) Cyberarm with gun (Roll 1D6 for type)
Play Instrument
Weaponsmith
1 Med. Pistol
2 Light Pistol
71.12
m3
INT [ REF [ / 3 TEC
m
I N T C 1 REF[ 1 TECH^ 1 COOL[ 1
ATTR[ 3 LUCK[ ] N ATTR[ ] LUCi 1 BODY[ 1
I I I 1 I
EMP[ / ] R u n [ ] Le I EMP[ / ] R u n 1 Lift [ 3
Head iorso twwm L.Arm R.Leg L.Leg
1 I 2-4 I 5 6 7-8 9-0
I
I
Cybernetics Cybernetics
I
II Possessions
=E
lm REF[ / 3 TECH[ ] COOL[ ]
E m
INT[ ] REF[ ,
1, Head
7
Torso
2-4
R.Arm L.Arm
5 6
R.Leg
7-8
LLeg
9-0
U
ICybernetics
I
Cybei
I
Possessions Possessions
0 R.Talsorian Games, 1991. Permissiongranted for personal photocopyingonly. 0 R.Talsorian Games, 1991. Permissiongranted for personal photocopyingonly.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
--johnny Silverhand
E! TALES
WERYONE ON THE
STREET HAS A
STORY.
WHAT'S YOURS?
The way to find out is by
using this Lifepath.
You got this half-formed person standing Its seven sections cover your national and
there, dripping with slime. You got some ethnic origins, your family, friends, ene-
stats, maybe an vague idea of where you're mies, personal habits and even key events
going with the character, but nothing else. on a yearly basis. It's intended primarily as
a guide; if you encounter something you
So how do you take this Blank and make don't think fits the character you've envi-
him really Cyberpunk? sioned, feel free to change the path as you
see fit. Use the back of your Hardcopy
You start with the Lifepath. Lifepath is a sheet to record your Lifepath. Remember;
flowchart of "plot complications", designed Cyberpunk hinges on roleplaying, so make
to help you give your Cyberpunk character use of the information in your Lifepath run.
an authentically dark future background. It's a guaranteed adventure generator!
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
STREETSLANG
SOME COMMON TERMS OF
THE 21ST CENTURY
AI: Artificial Intelligence; a com-
puter with full self awareness. 1)Origins and Personal Style
Booster: any member of a gang What do you look like and where do you come from?
that affectscyberwear, leather cloth-.
ing and random violence.
Combat drugs: any one of a series
of designer drugs created to in- DRESS &PERSONAL STYLE
crease speed, stamina and reflexes. In Cyberpunk, what you look like i s what you are. Fashion is action, and style i s
Chilled: to be cool; to be together. everything. Roll 1D10 three times (once per column) t o decide what your style is.
Chippin' In: To buy cyberwear for
the first time. To cast your lot with
a group. To connect with a ma- Die Roil Ciothes Hairstyle Affectations
I chine.
Chombatta Khoornba): Neo-Afro
1 ......................... Biker leathers ..........
Mohawk ..................... Tatoos
American sling for friend, family 2 ......................... Blue jeans ................
Long & Ratty ..............
Mirrorshades
member. 3 ......................... Corporate Suits ......Short & Spiked ............Ritual Scars
CHOOH2 ("choo") Streetslang for
alcohol, as used in vehicle power
4 .......................... umpsuits ...............
Wild & all over ............Spiked gloves
plants. Thevast majority of vehicles 5 ......................... Miniskirts ................ Bald ............................
Nose Rings
in the 2000's are fueled by an 6 ......................... High Fashion ..........Striped ........................ Earrings
advanced form of alcohol with a 7 ......................... Cammos ................Tinted ......................... Long fingernails
higher burning temperature than
normal methanol. 8 ......................... Normal clothes .......
Neat, short ..................
Spike heeled boots
Chromer:21 stcenturyheavymetal 9 ......................... Nude ......................
Short, curly .................
Weird Contact Lenses
rock fan. See also Chromaticrocker,
Chromatic rock.
10 ....................... Bag Lady chic .........Long, straight .............Fingerless gloves
Chromatic rock a type of heavy
metal characterized by heavy elec-
tronics, simple rhythms and violent
lyrics. ETHNIC ORIGINS
Cybered Up: to get as much cyber- The Cyberpunk world i s multi-cultural and multinational. Where you come
wear implanted as possible before from determines your native language, customs and allegiances. Choose or
you go over the Edge.
DataTerm: a streetcomerinforma-. roll one nationality, then choose a native tongue from the options listed for
tion machine, with a screen, Net the ethnic type. This i s your native lanquage, which you speak a t +8. In
inputs, and keyboard. addition ,you also automatically know streetslang, a universal polyglot of
Disk record, recording; a laser disk.
'Dorphs: Streetslang for synthetic English, French, German, Japaneseand a half dozen other languages:
endorphins, a designer drug that
increases healing powers, limits 1 Anglo-American (English)
fatigue, and produces a "rush" 2 African (Bantu, Fante, Kongo, Ashanti, Zulu, Swahili)
similar to a second wind. 3 Japanese/Korean(Japaneseor Korean)
Exotic: a human biosculpted with 4 Central European/Soviet (Bulgarian, Russian, Czech, Polish, Ukranian, Slovak)
non-humanelements; fur, longears,
5 Pacific Islander (Microneasian, Tagalog, Polynesian, Malayan, Sudanese, Indonesian, Hawaiian)
fangs, etc. 6 Chinese/Southeast Asian (Burmese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Thai, Tibetan, Vietnamese)
The Face: The Interface. Jacking
into the Net.
7 Black American (English, Blackfolk)
Flatline: to kill. A dead person or 8 Hispanic American (Spanish, English)
thing. 9 Central /SouthAmerican (Spanish, Portuguese)
Go LEO to make the trip into Low 10 European (French, German, English, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish,
Earth Orbit; i.e., to visit one of the Finnish)
inner space stations.
Gyro: small one or two man heli-
copters, used mostly in police work Output: boyfriend. ments. Rockerboys are not the
and Corporate strike operations. Polymer one shot: any cheap same as rockstars, who are usu-
Handle: a nickname; a working plastic pistol, usually in the 5 to ally "owned" by recording medi-
name vou are known bv on the 6mm range. acorps and are apolitical.
Street. Posergang: any group whose Samurai: a corporate assassin or
Hydro: Streetslang for hydrogen members all affectaspecificlook, mercenary, hiredto protect Cor-
fuel, usedtopowerasizablenumber style or bodysculpt job. porationproperty or makestrikes
of vehicles in the 2000's. Ripperdoc: surgeonspecializing against other Corporate holdings.
Input: girlfriend. in implanting illegal cyberwear. Slammit On: to get violent; to
Keyboard: Streetslang for a com- Ronin: a freelance assassin or attacksomeonewithout reason.
puter interface deck with manual mercenary. Usually considered The Street: wherever you live,
keys. Also a terminal. to be untrustworthy. 1ateatnight.TheSubculture;the
Netrun: to interface with the Net Rockerboy/girl: a musician or Underground.
and use it to hack into Data For- performer who uses his or her art Stuffit: to have sex. Also; to for-
tresses. to make political or social state- qet about somethinq.
71.12
2) Family Background
Who are you, and where did you come from? Everybody on the Street has a story and a past
they're trying to live with. What's yours?
SOMETHING
HAPPENED TO
YOUR PARENTS
Choose or roll one:
ENVIRONMENT
1 Your parent(s) died in Your Childhood was
warfare (choose or roll one):
2 Your parent(s) died in 1 Spent on the Street,
an accident with no adult
3 Your parent(s) were
murdered 2 Spent in a safe
4 Your parent@)have Corporate Suburbia
amnesia and don't 3 In a Nomad Pack
remember you moving from town You may have up to 7 brothers/sisters.
5 You never knew your to town Roll 1D10. 1-7 i s equal to the number of siblings
parent(s) 4 In a decaying, once you have. On 8-10, you are an only child. For
6 Your parent(s) are in upscale neighborhood each brother or sister:
hiding to protect you 5 In a defended 1) Roll 1D10. Even: the sibling i s male. Odd: the
7 You were left with Corporate Zone in the sibling i s female.
relatives for safekeeping central City 2) Roll age, relative t o yourself
8 You grew up on the 6 In the heart of the 1-5 =older
Street and never had Combat Zone
6-9=younger
parents 7 In a small village or
1O=twin
9 Your parent(s) gave you town far from the City
3) For each sibling, chose or roll their feelings
up for adoption 8 In a large arcology city
10 Your parent@)sold you 9 In an aquatic Pirate about you:
for money Pack 1-2 Sibling dislikes you
Go to FAMILY STATUS 10 On a Corporate 3-4 Sibling likes you
controlled Farm or 5-6 Sibliing neutral
Research Facility 7-8 They hero worship you
Go to SIBLINGS 9-10 They hate you
1 Go to MOTlWATlONS
' I
L
71.12
3)Motivations
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
4(a) Big Problems, Big Wins
Living on the Edge means taking big risks. This year, you took some serious chances. Did it
pay off or did you go down in the street? Roll lD10. On an even roll, you scored big. On an odd
roll, you took a hit.
DISASTER STRIKES!
Roll 1D10:
1 FinancialLossor Debt: Roll 1D10x100.You have 1 Makea Powerful Connection in City Goverment.
lost this much in Eurodollars. If you can't paythis now, Roll 1D10. 1-4, it's in the Police Dept. 5-7, it's in the
you have a debt to pay, in cash-or blood. District Attorney's Office. 8-10, it's in the Mayor's
3 Illness or addiction:You have contracted either 3 Big Score on job or deal! Roll l D l O x l 0 0 for
an illness or drug habit in this time. Lost 1 pt of REF amount in Eurodollars.
permanently as a result.
4 Find a Sensei (teacher) Begin at +2 or add +1 to
4 Betrayal: you have been backstabbed in some a Martial Arts Skill of your choice.
manner. Roll another D10. 1-3, you are being
blackmailed. 4-7, a secret was exposed. 8-10, you 5 Find a Teacher: Add +1 to any INT based skill, or
were betrayed by a close friend in either romance or begin a new INT based skill a t +2.
career (you choose).
6 Powerful Corporate Exec owes you one favor.
5 Accident: You were in some kind of terrible
accident. Roll 1D10.1-4, you were terribly disfigured 7 Local Nomad Pack befriends you. You can call
and must subtract -5 from your A T . 5-6, you were upon them for one favor a month, equivalent to a
hospitalized for 1D10 months that year. 7-8, you Family Special Ability of +2.
have lost 1D10 months of memory of that year. 9-10,
you constantlyrelivenightmares(8in 1Ochanceeach 8 Make a Friend on the Police Force. You mayuse
night) of the accident and wake up screaming. him for inside information a t a level of +2 Streetwise
on any police related situation.
6 Lover, friend or relative killed:You lost someone
you really cared about. 1-5, they died accidentally. 6- 9 Local Boostergang likes you (Who knows why.
8, they were murdered by unknown parties. 9-10, These are Boosters, right?) You can call upon them for
they were murdered and you know who did it. You 1 favor a month, equivalent to a Family Special Ability
just need the proof. of +2. But don't push it.
7 Fa1seAccusation:You were set up. Roll 1D10.1- 10 Find a Combat Teacher. Add +1 to any weapon
3, the accusation is theft. 4-5 it's cowardice. 6-8 it's skill with the exception of Martial Arts or Brawling, or
murder. 9 it's rape. 10, it's lying or betrayal. begin a new combat skill a t +2.
8 Hunted by the Law: You are hunted by the law Go back to LIFE EVENTS AND ROLL THE NEXT
for crimesyou may or may not have committed (your
choice). Roll 1D10.1-3, onlya couple local copswant
you. 4-6, it's the entire local force. 7-8 it's the State
Police or Militia. 9-10, it's the FBI or equivalent
national police force.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
4b) Friends & Enemies I
Living on the Edge means you do
enemies ruthless. If you're here, it-s 1)ecause your social lire EOOK a major turn (for tne
worse?) this year. Roll 1DlO. On a 1-5, you made a friend. On a 6-10, you made an enemy.
MAKE AN ENEMY
You've gotten in This emnity started FRACKED OFF? THROW AGAINST
someone's face. when one of you Choose or roll one:
Enemies are a way (choose or roll 1-4 They hate you What kind of forces
of life in Cyberpunk, one): 5-7 You hate them can your enemy put
8-10 The feeling's mutual on the table to stop
so don't skip this 1 Caused the other to
step. For each lose face or status you? (Choose or
2 Caused the loss of a roll one):
enemy, choose or lover, friend or relative
roll sex on 1D10. 1-3 Justhimself
3 Caused a major
4-5 Himself and a few
I
EVEN=Maie humilitiation
friends
ODD=Female 4 Accused the other of
6-7 An entire Gang
cowardice or some 0 A _--I1 P
-0rporation
other personal flaw
This enemy Is '
I n large Corporation
5 Caused a physical
10 An entire Government
(choose or roll disability: (Roll 1D6. met face tn face, Agency
one): 1-2= lose eye. 34=lose
Go back to LIFE EVENTS
1 Ex friend arm. 5-6=badlv scarred)
6 Deserted or bitrayed would mosi AND ROLL THE NEXT YEAR.
2 Ex lover
3 Relative the other
4 Childhood enemy 7 Turned down other's
5 Person working for offer of job or romantic
1-2 Go into a
you. involvement
killing rag1
6 Person you work for 8 You just didn't like each rip his fact
7 Partner or co-worker other 3-4 Avoid the
8 Booster gang member 9 Was a romantic rival 5-6 Backstab t
9 Corporate Exec 10 Foiled a plan of the indirectly
other's
10 Government Official
Go to THE CAUSE Go to WHO'S FRACKED
7-8
n .In
7- Iv
n:- :-.-
Ignore the! scum
KIP i r i w L'
rim
Go to WHAT CAN HE ..
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I I
4c) Romantic Life
There's more t o life than j
also part of living on the Edge. If you're here, you had some
WITH PROBLEMS
Choose or roll one:
that section: 1 Your lover's friends/
1-4 Happy love affair (go
back to LIFE EVENTI)
5 TRAGIC LOVE AFFAIR family would use any
means to get rid of you
3 Your friends/family hate
romantic rival
5 You are separated in
7 You're professional
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
..
f ong pause. Click. Whir. Click. "Uh...Ice?"
Fixing a simple electronic
device ........................
5 min.
'' Ripper, shut up before I cross a wire and wipe out half Fixing a complex electronic
.
the City in a thermonuclear accident.
...
"Uh right. Click. Whir. Rattle.
device .......................
2Ornin.
UWorlKlNG
Rebuilding
an engine ...................2 days
Opening a simple
mechanical lock ......1-2 min.
Skill Checks Opening a complex mechanical
lock ...................... 5-10 min.
Most of the time, your character will be Next, if you have any one Skill directly
able to do most ordinary things without relating to the taskat hand, add thatskill to Opening a simple electronic
lock ........................ 3-4 min.
difficulty; walk, talk, open a can of Protein the stat. You may apply only one Skill to a
Food Complex 35 without gagging. But task at any time. The subject of Skills (and Opening a complex
certain things will require that the charac- how you get them) is covered on pages 42 electronic lock 5-10 min. ......
ter make a Skill Check to see if he can through 54, but right now, we're just inter- Searching a
actually do what he wanted to. facing you with the concept of tasks. database ............... 5-20 min.
Designing
Ref-Set Difficulties Finally, roll 1D10 and add the combined a cyberdeck ............1-3 days
Each task is rated by the Refereefrom Easy total of your die roll, your Stat, and your
to Nearly Impossible. Each rating has a selected Skill. Compare your total with the Putting on a
corresponding numerical value, called a Task's Difficulty (as determined by the disguise ..................... 3 min.
Difficulty. Referee). If your total i s equal or higher,
~ ~~
71.12
VIEW
L
..................+2
Very Complex Repair ..........+4
"It's Never Been Done
Before" ............................... +6
I
- +3 things you've specifically
players will want every ad- taken the time to learn and
Complex program ...............+3 vantage they can get, and a possibly master, (as op-
Very complex program ........+5
simple decision like "The task is Very Diffi- posed to your stats, which only indicate a
cult. " will create more. friction than its basic, natural ability a t doing something).
Complex lock ..................... +3 worth. At these times, you will probably For example, if you had very good REF, you
want to make the steps of the task clear by would probably pick up driving a car very
Very complex lock ...............+5 creating a Difficulty through stacking easily. But you would not know how to
Target on guard or alerted ...+3 modifiers. In addition, modifiersallow you, drive a car until you had learned the skill of
as the Referee, to determine the relative Driving. Each skill is related in some way to
Brightly lit area.................... +3 difficulty of doing something and the ef- one of your basic stats. For example, the
Insufficient light ...................+3 fect of prevailing conditions. skill of Handgun is always related to the
character's REF stat. Skills are always rated
Pitch Blackness .................... +4 Automatic Failure, Critical from 0 to 10, with 1 being a novice level of
T ing to perform secretive task
Success knowledge, and 10 being a master's level
wTile under observation ......+4 On a natural die roll of 1, you have failed of ability. Skills are described on pgs.46 to
Roll an additional 1D10 and checkthe result 53, along with all pertinent notes and
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
FUMBLE TABLE
AREA I
1-4 No fumble. You just screw up.
Important: It is required
that one of your
character's Career Skills be
5 You drop your weapon.
REFLEX 6 Weawn dischames (make reliabilii roll for mn- the Special Ability for his
autoweap.) or stzkes'somethingharmless.
(Corn bat) 7 Weaponjams (makereliabilityrollfor non-autoweap.) or her class (pg. 46). These
or imbeds itself in the ground for one tum.
8 You manage to to wound yourself. Roll for
Skills are unique to the class
and reflect abilities and re-
I/ :
location.
g-lOYournanagetowoundammberofyourawnpalt
' EMP convice them; you leave them totally cold (-4 to
your next EMP die roll) to any other suggestion
you might have.
Ability (up to, but not
greater than 10) reflects
that takes skill, I
(Convince, choomba. Not I
Fast talk,
Seduce)
7-10 Yowl You blew it royally. You not only didn't
convincethem. but now they're actually,violently
opposed to anything you want to do. Roll 1D10.
On a 1-4, they actually attempt to do you physical
your position in your
chosen field and the de- chips .....
harm. velopment of your unique --johnny Silverhand I
1-4 No tumble; YOU just don't know how to do It. YOU careerskill. Becauseof this, I
don't know what's going on. You carry on,
your Special Abilityalsode- I
INT oblivious lo higher concerns.
5-7 You don't know anything about what's going on, I
(Figure out, and you haven't a clue about how to do anything termines how much A
about it. Make a Convince check at -2 to see if money you have to start
Notice, catch a anyone else notices how dumb you are.
clue) 8-10 Wow, are youoblivious. You not only don't know with (page 58).
what's going on or anything about the subject.
but evervone knows how ignorant you are.
Obviously while spreading
those Career Points around
explanations. In addition, players may opt it's going to be pretty tempting to make
to invent their own Skills (see Inventing yourself a wealthy Superstar, but remem-
New Skills, pg. 54). ber a Rocker with lots of Charismatic Lead-
ership and no performance skills will find
Starting Skills that things can get ugly fast. They may
There are two types of starting Skills: Ca- love you but they paid 60 eb for those
reer Skill Packages and Pickup Skills: tickets so you'd better be smokin'.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
CREATING NEW
CHARACTER ROLES
Pick any nine skills (not Special
Ability Skills) to be your Career SOLO CORPORATE MEDIA
skills. These should be skills Combat Sense Resources Credibility
that directly relate to what the Awareness/Notice Awareness/Notice Awareness/Notice
character does for a living; a Handgun Human Perception Composition
Rockerboy, for example, Brawling or Martial Arts Education Education
Melee Library Search Persuasion
wouldn't have Brain Surgery
Weapons Tech Social Human Perception
as a Career Skill. Now pick or
Rifle Persuasion Social
create a Special Ability with Athletics Streetwise
Stock Market
your Ref's help. Divide 40 Submachinegun Wardrobe & Style Photo & Film
points betweenthese ten Stealth Personal Grooming Interview
skills.
NOMAD TECHIE COP
MODEL/ACTRESS Family Iurv Rig Authority
Pose AwarenesdNotice Awareness/Notice AwarenesdNotice
Notice Endurance Handgun
Basic Tech
Personal Grooming Melee
Wardrobe & Style CyberTech Human Perception
Rifle Teaching Athletics
Education
Photo & Film Drive Education Education
Seduction Basic Tech Electronics Brawling
Persuasion Wilderness Survival Any three other Melee
Perform Brawling Tech Skills (Gyro, Aero, Interrogation
Social Athletics Weapons, Elect. Security) Streetwise
POLITICIAN ROCKERBOY
Charismatic leadership MED TECH FIXER
Charismatic Leadership Medical Tech Streetdeal
Notice
Education Awareness/Notice AwarenesdNotice Awareness/Notice
Wardrobe & Style Perform Basic Tech Forgery
Composition Wardrobe 6r Style Diagnose Handgun
Persuasion Composition Education Brawling
Oratory Brawling Cryotank Operation Melee
Social Play Instrument Library Search Pick Lock
History Streetwise Pick Pocket
Library Search Pharmaceuticals
Persuasion Zoology Intimidate
Seduction Human Perception Persuasion
NETRUNNER
lnterfoce I 1
Awareness/Notice
Basic Tech
Education
System Knowledge
CyberTech
Cyberdeck Design
Composition
Electronics
Programming
71.12
... . . . . . . . ~-
71.12
deal with the underground information the right clothes to wear, when to wear Cool/Willpower Skills
network. With Streetdeal, a Fixer can un- them, and how to look cool even in a Interrogation: The skill of drawing
cover rumors and information, locate spacesuit.With a Wardrobeof +2 or better, information from a subject and forcing
missing persons or things, put gossip out you are good a t choosing clothes off the his secrets into the open. An lnterrogation
on the Street, pick up clues and score big rack. At +6,your friends ask you for ward- of +2 or better will allow you to infallibly
deals.The higheryour Streetdealability, the robe tips, and you never buy anything off find out if your boyfriendis lyingto you. At
more information you can gather about the rack. A t +8 or better, you are one of +SI you are a professional level interroga-
things happening around you, the more those rare people whose personal style tor-equivalent to a skilled detective
informantsyou have, and the more secre- influences major fashion trends. grilling a suspect. Mike Wallace of 60
tive the information you can dig up. A Minutes has an lnterrogationof +9,allow-
level+3 Streetdealcanget you contactsfor ing him to make even the most powerful
weapons, tools, or minor illegal opera- Body Type Skills people squirm.
tions. At level +5, you can penetrate the Endurance:This is the ability to withstand
secrets of all but the most powerfulcrime pain or hardship, particularly over long Intimidate: The skill of getting people to
families. At level +9,you are the equiva- periodsof time, by knowingthe best ways do what you want by force of personality
lent of a Mafia crimelordyourself, privy to to conserve strength and energy. Endur- or physical coercion. At +3, you can
every secret that's on the Street. Apply ance Skill checks would be made when- frighten almost any typical citizen, politi-
Streetdealto your Cool stat. ever a character must continue to be ac- cian or low-level thug. At +6, you can
tive aftera long period without food, sleep intimidate Sylvester Stallone or any mod-
Attractiveness Skills or water. erate "tough guy". At +9, you could
Personal Grooming: This is the skill of intimidateArnold Schwartzenegger.
knowing proper grooming, hair styling, Strength Feat: The user of this skill has
etc., to maximizeyour physicalattractive- practicedthe art of bending bars, crush- Oratory: The skill of public speaking. A t
ness. Use of this skill allows players to ing objects, ripping phone books apart +2, you can wing high school speech
increasetheir Attractiveness, and thus their and other useful parlor tricks. At +2 you contests. At +6,you can be paid to speak
chances of successful Relationshipsor Per- can crush cans, rip thin books in half, and in public. At +lo, you are capable of
suasions. A basically good looking person bend thin rods. At +8, no phonebook is deliveringa speech to rival Kennedy's "Ich
would be at +2. A fashion model might safe, you can bend thin rebar, and snap Bin Ein Berliner" or Lincoln's Cettysburg
have a Personal Grooming of +5 or +6. At handcuffs. At +lo, you can bend prison Address. Rockers with an Oratory Skill of
+8 or better, you could be a major fashion bars, rip up the Cutenberg Bible, and dent +6 or better can add +1 when using their
model, film star, or trendsetter. You are car fenders with one blow. Charismatic 1eadership ability.
always "together". And you know it.
Swimming: This skill is required to know ResistTorture/Drugs: Characterswith this
Wardrobe & Style: The skill of knowing how to swim (see Athletics for details). skill are especially toughened against in-
71.12
terrogation, torture and mind control Kirk of Star Trek has a Leadership of +11, example, with Streetwise, you know what
drugs. A successful use of this skill will but you never will. alleys to avoid and what gangsare danger-
automatically increasethe difficulty of any ous. With Social, you knowtheproperforms
interrogation attempt made by another Seduction:The skill of forming and main- of address for a high ranking Japanese
party by one level. taining romantic relationships (this in- zaibatsuhead. WithAnthropology, you know
cludes your abilities as a lover). This skill that the customs of a N'Tanga tribesman
Streetwise:The knowledgeofthe "seamy" may be used to determinewhether or not requirethata young man kill a lion in order
side of life-where to get illegal and con- players can form relationships with other to be accepted as an adult male.
traband things, how to talk to the criminal non-playercharacters and the intensityof
element, and avoiding bad situations in these relationships. In certain cases, Refe- Awareness/Notice: This is the equivalent
bad neighborhoods. With a Streetwiseof rees may want to average this skill with a of a "trained observer" skill, allowingchar-
+2 or better, you can get "hot" items, player's Attractivenessto get a more real- acters to notice or be aware of clues,
score drugs, etc. A Streetwiseof +5 would istic outcome. shadowers and other events. With an
allow you to arrange a murder contract, Awareness of +2 you will usually spot small
know a few mobsterswho might owe you Social: The ability to deal with social situ- piecesof paper with notes on them, doors
favors, and be able to call on muscle when ations, like knowingthe right forkto useor left ajar, and obvious expressions of lying
you need it. At +8 or better, you could when nottotellthejokeaboutthefarmer's or dislike. An Awarenessof +5 or betterallows
become a major crimelord yourself and daughter and the travelling cyberware you to spot fairly well hidden clues, notice
skip the middlemen. salesman. A SocialSkill of +2 or better will small changes in expression, and fairly
allow you to get by a t any fine restaurant sophisticated attempts to "shadow" you.
Empathy Skills or social function. At +5, you can lunch With an Awareness of +8 or greater, you
Human Perception:The skill of detecting with the President with aplomb. No social routinely perform the sorts of deductive
lies, evasions, moodsand other emotional situation will faze you, no matterwhat. At reasoningseen in the averageTVcopshow
clues from others. At +2, you can usually +8 or above, you can lectureEmily Post on ("The murderer was left handed because
tell when you're not getting the whole what's proper. this knife has a specialized handle").
truth. At +6, you can detect subtle eva- Sherlock Holmes has a +10 Awareness.
sions and mood swings. At +8,you can Persuasion & Fast Talk The ability to talk Players without this skill may only use their
not only detect subtle emotional clues, others into doing what you want. This Intelligence Stat.
but can usually tell what the subject is may be used individually or on large
hiding in a general way. groups. At +3, you can win most debates Biology: General knowledge of animals,
or convinceyour girlfriendthat the blonde plants, and other biological systems. At
Interview: The skill of eliciting interesting you were with was your sister. At +SI you level +3, you know most types of common
annecdotes from an interview subject. are a smooth talker of professional caliber. animals, plants. At +6, you have a general
This information will be of a more non- RonaldReaganhas a Persuasionof+7. Hitler understanding of genetics, cellular biol-
specific and personal nature rather than had a Persuasion of +9. ogy, etc. At +lo, you can perform most
specific knowledge(distinguishingthis skill bio-lab procedures, including gene map-
from the skill of Interrogation, where the Perform: The skill of trained acting, sing- ping and splicing.
user is trying to extract exact information. ing, etc. A trained performer of +4 or
Example: BarbaraWalters interviews, Mike greater can successfully sing for payment Botany: The general knowledge of plants
Wallace interrogates). At +3 or better, the at weddings or small clubs. Performers+6 and plant identification. At level +3, you
subject will usually tell you only informa- or greater will be considered to be of know most common plants and can iden-
tion relating to what he/she is well known professionalcaliber, and may havelucrative tify which ones are dangerousand why. At
for. At +6 or better, the subject will tell you contracts and fans. Performers of +9 or a +6, you can identify most important
anecdotes about the past, pontificate greater are of "star" caliber, have a large plantsfoundworldwideand havea working
about favorite interests and philosophies, number of fans, and may be recognized knowledge of their uses. At +8,you have
etc. At +9 or better, he/she tells you eve- on the street. the equivalent of a doctorate in Botanyand
rything-including personal information know all about rare poisons, exotic orchids
about their illegitimateson, the time they Intelligence Skills and other useful plants.
stolea cookieatage4,and thefactthat no Accounting: Theability to balance books
one ever loved them. (or create false books), juggle numbers, Chemistry: The required skill for mixing
create budgets and handle day to day chemicalsandcreatingvariouscompounds.
Leadership: The skill of leading and con- business operations. A level +2 Chemistvis equal to high school
vincing people to follow you. A leader chemistry. A level +4 is equal to a trained
with a skill of +2 can manage a small office Anthropology: The knowledgeof human pharmacist or college level chemist. A +8
successfully and be respected for it. A cultures, habits and customs. Unlike is a trained laboratory chemist.
leader with a skill of +4 or better can lead Streetwise(which covers only the cultures
a small band of troops into battle and not andcustoms of the Street), or Social(which Composition:The requiredskillfor writing
get backshot. A leader with a skill of +7 or covers only what you should do in a given songs, articles, or stories. A ComposingSkill
bettercan leadthe entireCamelonEmpire situation), Anthropology covers general of +4 or greater gives your character the
into battle and look good doing it. James customsand backgroundof a culture. For abilityto producesalablework. ASkill of +8
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
or more produces work of such a high caliber gangers on the rampage. At +6,you can ditch
that the creator may have a strong literary cops and private eyes. At +8, you can ditch LINCUISTIC
following and not a little critical acclaim. most Solos. FAMILIES
Languages group together
DiagnoseIllness: The skill of clinically diagnos- History: The knowledgeof facts and figures of into "families" sharing
ing symptoms and medical problems. A +3 is past events. In game play, this might be usedto many common root words
and sentence structures.
the equivalent of a high school nurse-you can determine if a character is familiar with a par- Once you've learned one
recognize most common injuries and com- ticular clue related to a past event. At +2, you language in a linguistic
plaints. At +6, you would be equivalent to a have the equivalent of a grade school history family, you may learn any
trained intern; you can recognize many uncom- education. At +6,you would have the equiva- otherlanguage in arelated
mon illnesses and know 'how to treat most lent of a college grasp on the subject. At +8, linguistic family a t - 1 to
common ones. A+9 is the equivalentof a skilled you could teach history in high school. At +9, the normal IP cost. The
diagnostician; other physicianscome to you to values in parentheses are
you may have written a few of the most oft-
t h e I P multipliers for
get a diagnosis. used texts on a particular historical personage learning the languages in
or epoch. that famiiy.
Education 8 General Knowledge: This skill is
the equivalent of a basic public school educa- Know Language: The knowledgeof a foreign AFRICAN (2)
tion, allowing you to know how to read, write, tongue. At +2, you can "get by" with speaking Bantu, Fante, Ashanti, Kongo,
use basic math, and knowenough historyto get the language. At +3, you can actually read a Zulu, Swahili, Blackfolk
by. In effect, it is a "lore" or trivia skill. A level of written form of it. At +6 and above, you are
BALTIC(2) Lithuanian, Gto-
+1 is a basicgradeschooleducation.Askil1of+2 fairly fluent, although no native will be fooled nian, Latvian,Finnish
is equal to a high school equivalency. A byyourability. At +8andabove, you speak and
Knowledge Skill of +3 is equal to a college read the lanquage like a native. CELTK (2)
education, +4 or higher is equal to a Mastersor Gaelic, Welsh, Breton
Doctorate. At +7, you are an extremely well- Eachlanguage knownrequiresa separate Know
educated person, and are asked to play Trivial Lanquage Skill, however, one may use the FARSI (2)
Pursuit a lot. At +9 and above, you are one of knowledgeof a particularLanguagewith up to
GERMANIC (7)
those peoplewho knows a lot about everything 1/2 (round down) proficiency with any lan- Danish, Dutch, English, Cer-
(and hopefully has the good sense to keep his guage in the same linguistic family (example: man, Norwegian, Swedish,
mouth shut). knowing Cantonese a t +4 will give you the Yiddish
ability to understand and speak Mandarin a t
Expert: You may use this skill to be an expert on +2). CREEK (2)
onespecificsubject, such as rare postagestamps,
JAPANESE (2)
obscure weapons, a foreign language, etc. At Library Search: The skill of using databases,
+3, you are the local expert. At +6,you know DataTermP, libraries and other compiled in- KOREAN (2)
enough to publish a few books on the subject. formationsources to find facts. With a skill of +2
At +8 or better, your books are recognized as you can use most simple databases. With a skill PACIFIC ISLAND GROUP (2)
majortexts on the subject, and you could do the of +6, you can easily access the Library Con- Micronesian, Tagalog, Poly-
talk-show circuit if you wanted to. gress. At +9, you can comprehend almost any nesian, Javanese, Malayan,
public database and find very obscure facts. Sudanese, Indonesian,
Hawaiian
Gamb1e:Theskill of knowinghowtomakebets,
figure odds, and play games of chance success- Mathematics: The skill of understanding cal- ROMANTIC (1)
fully. As any professionalgambler knows, this is culations and mathematical formulas. At +3, French, Italian, Spanish, Por-
notaluckskill. At+2,youarethelocalcardshark you havethe ability to add, subtract, divide and tuguese, Latin
a t the Saturday night poker game. At +6,you multiply. At +4, you can do algebra and ge-
can make a living a t the tables in Vegas and ometry. At +6, you can performcalculus. At +9 SEMETiC (1)
Monte Carlo. A t +9 or better, you can take on you can deduce your own mathematical for- Arabic, Hebrew
JamesBond a t rouletteand stand a good chance mulas. SINO-TIBETAN and S.E.
of breaking the bank. ASIAN (3)
Physics: The ability to calculate physical prin- Burmese, Cantonese, Man-
Geology:Afunctional knowledgeof rocks, min- ciples, such as gas pressures, mechanical ener- darin, Thai, Tibetan,
erals and geologic structures. At +3, you can gies, etc. This skill requiresa basic Mathematics Vietnamese
identify most common rocks and minerals. At Skill of +4.
SLAVIC (3)
+6,you have the equivalent of a college degree
Bulgarian, Russian, Czech,
in Geology and can identify minerals and geo- Programming: The required skill to write pro- Polish, Ukranian, Slovak
logical structures with ease. A t +8, you can grams and to re-program computer systems.
teach geology in high school. This skill does not allow players to actually do
repairsona computer(this requiresElectronics).
Hide/Evade: The skill of losing pursuers, cover- With a Programming Skill of +1, you can do
ing tracks and otherwise evading people on simple EBASIC programs. A Programming Skill
your trail. At +3, you can lose most booster- of +3 or better allowsyou to know some higher
71.12
level languages and be able to write rea- are recognized by others in the field as Brawling: The skill of fighting man to man
sonably complex programs (including good enough to guest lecture a t MIT or with fist, feet and other parts of the body.
video games). Playerswith a Programming Cal Tech; your texts on the subject are Brawlingis not a trained skill- it is learned
Skill +6 or better are considered to be quoted as the major references, and you on the Street by getting into a lot of fights.
professionals, who can build operating might havea TVshowonthe equivalentof Unlike MartialArts, there are no specialized
software, design mainframesystems, and the PBS channel. attacks and no damage bonuses based on
hold down a steady job a t your average level of mastery.
Silicon Valley firm. With a frogramming Wilderness Survival: The requiredskillfor
Skill of +9 or better, other programmers knowing how to survive in the wilds. Dance: The specific skill neededto become
speak your name with reverence ("You Knowledge includes how to set traps, a professional dancer. A trained dancer +4
invented Q? Wow!"), young hackers set forage for wood, trackgame, buildshelters, or greater can successfully dance for pay-
out to crack your systems, and any make fires. The average Boy Scout has a ment in small clubs or dance troupes.
computer software you design instantly Survival of +3. A Special Forces Green Dancers+6 or greater will be considered to
gets used by every businessapplication in Beret has a Survivalof +6 or above. Grizzly be of professional caliber, and regularly
the world. Adams, Mountain Man of the Wilderness, give performancesand have fans. Dancers
would have a +9 or +10 Survival Skill. +9 or greater are of "star" caliber, have a
Shadow/Track The skill of shadowing large number of fans, and may be recog-
and following people. Thisskill is primarily nized on the street.
used in urban or inhabited areas rather
than in wilderness (where the skill of Sur- Dodge h Escape: This skill is required to
vival incorporates tracking game in the dodge attacks and escape grapples and
wilds). holds. If an attack is made without your
knowledge, you may not apply this skill to
Stock Market: The ability to play the your Defense roll.
stock market, engage in routine stock
transactions and manipulate stocks prof- Driving: This skill allows you to pilot all
itably. At +2, you know enough to invest ground vehicles like cars, trucks, tanks and
in junk bonds and lose your shirt. At +6, hovercraft. This skill is not useablefor pilot-
your investments pay off 75% of the time. ing aircraft. A skill of +3 is equal to that of a
At +9, you are a major heavy on the very good non-professionaldriver. A skill of
Market, routinely dabble in international +6 allows you to drive with the skill of a
stocks, and can write learned articles on moderately skilled race driver. An driver
the subject of investment. with a skill of +8 or greater will be nationally
known as a racer, regularlywin champion-
System Knowledge: Basic knowledgeof ship races, and possibly have access to the
the geography of the Net, it's lore and most advanced ground vehicles available
history, as well as knowledge of the im- Zoology: Knowledgeof lifeforms, biologi- (as long as he makes an endorsement).
portant computer systems, their strengths cal processes and their relation to the
and their weaknesses. At +2, you can environment. At +2, you know most com- Fencing: The mastery of swords, rapiers
generally navigate around the Net and mon animals. At +5, you know not only and monoblades. AFencingSkill of +3 allows
know where all the local places are. At +6, well known animals, but also about many you to be competentwith a blade. A Skill of
you know the locations of most places in exotics and endangered species. At +8, +5 makesyou fairly skilled. A FencingSkill of
the Net, and have a working you are knowledgable on almost all ani- +6 might win you the National Fencing
understandingof its largestand most well mals, knowtheirhabitswel1,and havea+l Competitions. A Skill of +8 will get you a
known systems. At +9, you know the advantage to any Wilderness Survival Skills reputation for being a true swordsman of
entire Net like the back of your hand, (you know where to find the game). duellist caliber. People like D'Artagnan or
knowthe generallayoutsof the important Miyamoto Musashi have Skills of +lo.They
systems cold, and are aware of the layouts Reflex Skills are legendary masters of the blade; the
for the rest of them. Archery: The skill required to use bows, mention of whom will cause all but the
crossbows and other arrow-based ranged stupidest young bravo to run for cover.
Teaching: The skill of imparting knowl- weapons. See Handgun for details.
edge to someone else (if you don't think Handgun: You must have this skill to effec-
this isa skill, you ought to try it sometime). Athletics: This skill i s requiredfor accurate tively use handguns of any type, including
Players may not teach any skill unless they throwing, climbing, and balancing. It cyberwear types. At +2, you can use a
have a higher skill level than the student. combines the basic elements of any high handgun effectively on a target range,
The referee is the final arbiter of how long school level sports program. At +3 and though combat will still rattle you. At +5,
it takes to teach a skill. At a Teaching Skill above, you are the equivalent of a real you are as skilled as most military officers or
of +3 or better, you can professionally high school "jock". At +5 and above, you policemen. At +7, you can do the sort of
teach students up to High School. At +6, can performin collegelevel competitions. fancy shooting you see on TV, and have
you know enough to be a college profes- At +8 and above, you are of Olympic or begun to get a reputation of being "good
sor (if you wanted ). At +9 or greater, you Professional caliber. with a gun". At +8, you are a recognized
71.12
gunslinger with a “rep”. The very sound
of your name makes some people back
down in fear. At +lo, you are a legendary
gunslinger, feared by all exceptthe stupid
young punks who keep trying to “take”
you in innumerable gunfight challenges.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
uevers. Pilotswith a Skill of +9 or greater are so tear down engines and modify an AV. Ai +lV,
good, they have a rep as pilots, and are widely you can design your own AVs on common
knownamong the pilotingfraternityfor having airframes.
the "right stuff".
Basic Tech (2): The required skills for building
Pilot Gyro (3): The ability to pilot all types of or repairing simple mechanical and electrical
rotorwing aircraft, including gyros, copters and devices, such as car engines, television sets, etc.
Ospreys. With a Basic TechSkill of +3 or better, you can fix
minor car problems, repair basic wiring, etc. A
"A lot of solos '
Pilot Fixed Wing(2): The ability to pilot fixed Basic TechSkill of +6 or better can repair stereos
I wing jets and light aircraft. Ospreys may be
and TVs, rebuild an engine, etc. A Basic Tech
think you don't I flown with this skill, but only in the straight
Skill of +9 or bettercan build a simple computer
I ahead (non-hover) mode.
need any Tech I from scratch, put together a race car engine,
' skills. They think I Pilot Dirigible (2): The ability to pilot all lighter
than air vehicles, including cargo dirigibles,
and maintain any kind of industrial machinery.
However, they do not know enough specialized
I that when they I blimps and powered balloons. knowledgeto apply it to complex thingssuch as
I need to get a fast I aircraft(just like Mr. Goodwrenchdoesn't know
Pilot Vectored Thrust Vehicle (3): The skill of how to build and service an F-16).
piloting all types of vectored thrust vehicles,
includinghovercars, hover rafts
Cryotank Operation: The
I the nearest Techie and AV-4, 6 and 7 vehicles.
required skill for operating,
repairing and maintaining life
Rifle: You must have this skill suspension and body chilling
t o use rifles/shotguns devices. A minimumskill of +4
effectively (see Handguns for is required to chill down a
limitations and modifiers). healthy person. A minumum
Stealth (2): The skill of hiding b v / ~ ~ / ~ ~ r xskill
t wof +6
m for chilling a
wounded person.
in shadows, moving silently,
evadingguards, etc. A Stealth Cyberdeck Design (2): The
Skill of +1 is about the level of
required skill for designing
averysneakylOyearoldsteal-
cyberdecks. At level +4, you
ing cookies. At +3, you are can modify an existing cyber-
able to get past most guards, deck for greater speed or
or your parents if you've been memory. A t level +6, you can
grounded. A t +6, you are design a deck equal to most
good enough toslip smoothly existing designs. At +8, you
from shadow to shadow and can design decks that are
not make any noise. At +8, substantially improved over
youaretheequalofmost Ninja existing designs.
warriors. At +lo, you move as silently as a
making the Ninja sound likeelephants*
CyberTech (2): The required for repairing
and maintaining cyberwear. At level +2, you
Submachinegun: You must have this skill to
-Morgan Blackhand can keep your cyberwear tuned up and can
use any type Of submachine gun effectively
replace its power batteries.A t level +6, you can
(see Handguns for limitations and modifiers). strip down most cybeMear and even make
simple modifications. At level +8, you can
design your own cyberwear to order.
Technical Skills
Aero Tech (2): The required skill for repairing Demolitions(2): This skill allows the character
fixed wing aircraft, includingOspreys, jets, and to be knowledgeablein the use of explosives, as
light aircraft. With a Skillof +3, you can perform well as knowing the best explosives to use for
most routine maintenance tasks. With a Skill of which jobs, how to set timers and detonators,
+6, you can do engine teardowns and major and how much explosive to use to accomplish
structural repairs. With a Skill of +9 or better, a desired result.
you are capable of designing and building your
own aircraft. Disguise: The skill of disguising your character
to resemble someone else, whether real or
AV Tech (3): The required skill for repairing all fictitious. This skill incorporates elements of
ducted fan aerodyne vehicles. At +3, you can both makeup and acting, although it is not the
perform routine maintenance. At +6, you can same as the ability to actually be an actor.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Electronics: The requiredskill for maintaining, crack most safes. At +9 or better, you have a rep
repairingand modifyingelectronic instruments as a master cracksman, and are knownto all the
such as computers, personal electronics hard- major players in the Cyberpunkworld.
w a electronic
~ security systems, cameras and
monitors. Pick Pocket: The requiredskill for picking pock-
ets without being noticed, as well as ”shoplift-
Electronic Security (2): The skill of installingor ing” small items. For ideas on levels of ability, “Whenlwas 1
countering electronic eyes, electronic locks, see Pick lock, above. downtim-
bugs and tracers, security cameras, pressure 6etweenjobs-
plates, etc. At level +3, you can jimmy or installPlay Instrument: The skill of knowing how to
most apartmentlocks and security cams. At +6, play a musical instrument. You must take this I made a fair ;
you can override most corporate office locks skill separately for each type of instrument livin’ fixin’ I
and traps. At +9, you can enter most high played. A Skill of +4 or higher will qualify your uerodynes and
security areas with impunity. character to play professional“gigs”. A Skill of
+8 and above will gain the musician some
choppers. Clad
First Aid: This skill allows the user to bind professional acclaim, possibly with recording toseemy ;
wounds, stop bleeding, and revive a stunned contractsand command performances.At +lo, military I
patient (see Trauma Team, pg. 116 for details). you are widely acclaimed, have lots of Cram-
mys, and regularly jam with Kerry Eurodyne.
training paid ;
Forgery: The skill of copying and creating false { offsomewhere
documents and identifications. This skill may Weaponsmith (2): The requiredskill for repair- I besides behind
also be applied to the detection of same; if you ing and maintaining weapons of all types. At
can fake it, you can usually tell a fake as well. level +2, you can do repairs and field stripping.
At level +6,you can repair all types of weapons
Gyro Tech (3): The skill of repairing and main- and make simple modifications. At level +8,
taining rotorwing aircraft such as helicopters you can design your own weapons to order.
and gyrocopters.
Paint or Draw: The skill of producing profes- Learning New Skills and
sional drawings. A Skill of +3 allows you to Improving Old Ones
producesalable “modern” art. A Skill of +6 will
Players can improve their skills or begin
produce artwork that is recognizable and ex-
tremely pleasantto the eye-as well as salable. new ones by accumulating Improvement
An artist with a Skill of +8 or greater will be Points (IP) . As you gain more IP, you’ll
nationallyknown, haveexhibitsin galleries, and record these points in the area next to the
skills listing on your Hardcopy Form. When
have other lesser artists studying his style in a r t
school. you have collected enough Improvement
Points in a skill, the skill’s level increases by
Photography 8 Film: The skill of producing one.
professional-caliber photographs or motion
pictures. ASkill of+2allowsyou tomakedecent The first level of a skill will always cost 10 IP.
home movies. A Skill of +4 or better creates To determine how many points are re-
work capable of winning amateur contests. A quired t o raise a skill higher than this,
Skill of +6 or better will produce work of the
levelof the average Playboy cover or rockvideo.
multiplythe current level of skill by 10. This
A photographer or cinematographer with a is how many points are required to raise a
Skill of +8 or betterwill be nationallyknown and simple (IP multiplier=l) skill to the next
probably famous. level.
71.12
Example: Choi Li fut has a multiplier of 3. To IP A WARD CUlDELINE TABLE
raise my Choi Li Fut skill from +4 to +5 would Award Based on:
require 120 IP, not 40. 1 Used Skills in this area often ,
even if not effectively.
Getting More IP 2 Used Skills effectively.
There are three ways to accumulate Im- 3 Frequent and effective use of
provement Points: Study & Practice, Being Skill.
Taught, and Direct Experience. In all three 4 Did something out of the ordi-
cases, the amount of improvement is de- nary with this Skill.
termined by the Referee of your game. 5 Very clever or effective use of this
Skill.
Study & Practice: In its simplestform, you 6 Extremely clever or effective use
g e t a how-to book and begin practicing. of Skill.
e:
-Unknown Rocker,
:* Study is pretty tough-you have no idea of 7 Skill was critical to player in this
1 I
where to begin, and no one to correct your adventure session.
e: 2018 8 Skill use was critical to entire
mistakes. The biggest limit to this type of
learning is that you can only improve your group this adventure session.
skill from a level of +O to a level of +2. In 9 Did something really incredible
general, it takes about 1 day of book learn- with this Skill.
ing to gain 1 IP.
Inventing New Skills
You can also invent new skills to cover new
Being Taught: Finding a teacher is far needs, should you want to do so. To do so,
superior to self-teaching or book learning. you must first convince the Referee of your
The teacher must have a higher level of skill game to let you have that skill. You and the
than the student, and must have the time Referee should work together to deter-
to teach you (how long this takes, of course, mine:
is determined by the Referee). But even
the most knowledgeable of teachers may 1) Exactly what does this skill allow you to
not be able to transfer that knowledge. do?
That’s where the skill of Teaching comes 2) How (according to your character con-
into play. The teacher must average hisskill ception) did you acquire this skill?
in the subject to be taught with his teach- 3) What are the specific limits of this skill
ing skill. He may then teach the student up (what can‘t I do with it?).
to that level of skill. How long this takes is, 4) What stat is this skill connected to and
of course, up to the Referee, who awards IP why?
over the passage of time (usually 1-5 IP per
lesson). Referees should be careful to make sure
that player skills are neither too specific
Experience: Still the best teacher. When- (“Shoot .45 Caliber Handgun With Laser
ever you do something well, the Referee Sight”), or too general (“Shoot Anything
rewards you with lmprovement Points Well”). You should insist on a middle
right on the spot. The problem is that ground which covers a general ability to
these points will be applied to the skill you use the skill, yet does not give the player an
were using when you got the reward. unreasonable advantage in all possible
Therefore, if you want to get better in a situations (“Shoot Handguns”). The Referee
particular skill, it’s important to use that is always the final arbiter of decisions on
skill every chance you get. Referees should ski IIs.
use an even hand when rewarding
Improvement Points, not only rewarding Another Kind of Experience:
players for doing things well, but also for Reputation
demonstrating both role-playing ability Reputation is a measure of things your
and teamwork. In general, wesuggest not character may do so well (or badly) that he
awarding more than six points per skill per has actually become well known for them.
game session. A reputation for something is always es-
71.12
tablished by a character's actions, and is mous deeds (once again, roll 1010).
then awarded by the Referee. Whenever a However, this time they won't be im-
character encounters new people in new pressed. If your rep is for cowardice, it can
situations , his reputation may actually even work against you.
influence how they react to him. Some-
I
times this can be very good. Other times, Reputation in Cyberpunk has one other big I "A lot of battles
it can be very bad: effect- facedowns. Remember; a lot of I get won before I
combat in this genre comes down to a
Example: lake the Hammer is known far and duel of wills; who's tougher, meaner, and I
I the first shot is I
wide as a streetfighter; he is feared through- looks more ready to prove it. This often I fired. When your:
out Night City for his trademark killerpunch. leads to what are called facedowns; when I eyes meet his, and I
I
Over time, the Referee has awarded lake a two heavies on the Street square off just I he knows that
Reputation of 6 points. Anyone who meets before a fight, or to see who'll back down I you're willing to I
jake for the first time must roll higher than 6 from a confrontation. I
on 7 D 7 0 in order to have not heard of lake's I
pay the price in I
name. On this particular night, jake swag- When making a facedown, both pirrtiri- I blood. His blood,
gers into the Totentanz and orders a drink. pants will roll: I your blood- it I
I
Down the bar, Ripperjack hears the bar- doesn't matter to II
tender addressJakeby name. Ripperjack puts
two and two together (a 3 on 7 D 7 0). This
1D 1O+ COOL+ REPUTATIO, . I
I you. You're,
I
'yake" must be the sonovagun who caught Note: If one of the opponents has a repu-
committed. l1I
I I
The lack's kid brother in an alley and beat tation for cowardice, his value will be I I
him to death with his metalshod fists. Ripper- treated as a negative number. I -Morgan Blackhand I
71.12
____ - ~~-
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
i MONEY IN 2020
For years, everyone in the
late20thcentury thoughtthe
currencyof the futurewould
be the Japanese yen. But
only one country uses the
yen on a regular basis, wheras
""UG
a lot of countries use the
dollar interchangeablywith
their own.
I 'OR
based in part on the U.S.
Dollar's universal appeal. At
the start of the 1992 Treaty
that established the Euro-
peanEconomicCommunity,
the EEC created the EURO-
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
h, even in the
Dark Future, ya gotta pay
.at out, then the bills, chombatta. And
ones? You'll you want a job, because it's
a real short slip between
OCCUPATION TABLE
ROLE 1-5 6 7 8 9
Desperatefor Regular Club Play the Big You've got a Concert Band Major Act
Rocker gigs
1 . m month
Jobs
1.500 month
Clubs
2,000 month
Contract
5.000 month
8,000 month 12,000 month
Street Ronin Private Enforcer Corporate Professional Major League Solo Elite
Solo 2,000 month 3,000 month Muscle Operative Hitter 12,000 month
4,500 month 7,000 month 9,000month
Private Guard city cop Corporate Guard/ Corp. Security/ Enforcement Security Head/
COP 1.000 month 1,200 month Detective Psycho Squad Team Leader Police Chief
3,000 month 5,000 month 7,000 month 9,000 month
Stringer Reporter Staff Reporter Section Editor ' Producer/ Local Media National Media
Media 1,000 month 1,200 month 3,or~omonth Managing Editor Personality Personality
5,000 month 7,000month 10,000 month
Senior
Local Fixit Man Private Corporate Tech Ir. Engineer Engineer Engineer
Techie 1.000 month Operator
2,000 month
3,000 month 4r000 month 5.000 month
8,000 month
Weefle Runner
1.000 month
Hacker
2,000 month
Bit jockey
3,000 month
Net Cowboy
5,000 month
Deckslinger
7,000 month
I 10,000 month
sysop I
~~
Medtechie 1 Patchman
1,600 month 1 Medical
Technician
3.000 month
I RipperDoc
5,000 month
Trauma Team
Medic
7.000 month
General
Practitioner
10,000 month
Specialist
Physician
15.000 month I
Nomad Clanmember
1,000 month
Warrior
1,500 month
Head of
Household
2.000 month
scout
3,000 month
Clan Senior
4.000 month
Family Head
5.000 month
I
71.12
~~~ ~~
he can get them; sleazoid dives, bar-mitz- Example: I have spent 6 points to get an
vahs, weddings, bar fights; you name it. Average Body Type. I can carry up to 60
kilograms; roughly 7 32 lbs. l can deadlift 24 0
Take a quick jump to the Occupation Table kg-about 528 Ibs.
on page 58. Find your Role (or the role
closest to it), cross reference it to your Rather than list exact weights of everything
current Special Ability level, and that'll give you could possibly want to carry, we have
you a monthlysalary. Multiplythisamount arranged a simpler system of classification.
by a 1D6/3 to determine the number of The following weight groups are more
monthsyou've currently been employed, useful to the Referee who must make a
and that gives you the total amount of general determination of how much a player
cash your character s t a r t s with. can carry.
I better cars... I f I
One last thing. Roll one more D6. If you roll 1 Kilo or less
higher than a four, you just got unem- Medium to Heavy handgun sleeping bag
ployed. radio/chip player video camera toolkit
medical kit laptop computer armor
Congratulations. Betcha can taste that vest/T-shirt.
kibble already.
3 Kilos
Encumbrance Submachine gun Very Heavy Pistol
In most cases, encumb electric guitar drum synthesizer inflat-
rance isn't a big problem for a Cyberpunk able bed Light to Medium assault rifle
character4e's going to keep the majority of Shotgun Armor jacket. Kevlarflack pants
hisgearinhisapartmentorhiscar. ACy6epunk or vest.
charactercancanyaroundasmuchin kilograms
as the number of points invested in his bdy 4 Kilos
Typestat, multipliedby 10. He can deadlift 40 Electric keyboard amplifier Heavy as-
times his Body Type stat sault rifle.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
flechette pistols, airguns and microwave weap- Specialty weapons, black market, stolen
ons- the real "sci-fi"weapons of the Cyberpunk military.
universe. Rare ...............................................
(R)
Stolen, one of a kind, special military
Weapon Codes issue, may be highly illegal.
Each weapon is represented by certain
characteristics, such as its type, damage, Damage/Ammunition: Each weapon is
range, accuracy, concealability, availability rated as to the type of ammunition it
and cost. These factors are recorded as a carries, and the damage of that ammuni-
weapon code -a profile of the weapon in tion (in numbers of dice thrown).
order of:
Number of Shots: This is how many shots
Name Type Accuracy are held in the standard clip, magazine or
Concealability quiver for the weapon type.
Availability Damage/Ammunition
Number of Shots Rate of Fire Rate of Fire: This is how many shots the
Reliability weapon can fire in a single combat round
(3.2 seconds).
For an example, a weapon with the code:
Minami 70 SMC 0 E 206+3/ Reliability: This is how reliablethe weapon
7 Ornm 40 20 VR would be an Accurate is in combat-its chance of jamming while
( 7 ) Minami 7 0 Submachinegun (SMC) which on autofire, etc.
can be hidden under a jacket (I), with Very Reliable................................ (VR)
excellent availability (€), fires 7 Omm ammu- Standard ...................................... (ST)
nition, has a 40 shot clip, can fire up to 20 Unreliable ................................... (U R)
71.12
,
Name
LICHT AUTOPISTOLS
BudgetArms C-13
Type
P
WA
-1
Con.
P
Avail.
E
Damage/Ammo
1D6(5mm)
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
#Shots
8
ROF
2
Re/.
ST
Range
50m
Cost
75.00
Dai Lung Cybermag 15 P -1 P C 1D6+1(6mm) 10 2 UR 50m 50.O0
FederatedArms X-22 P O P E 1D6+1(6mm) 10 2 ST 50m 150.O"
LS
Militech Arms Avenger P O 25O.Oo
Dai Lung Streetmaster P O ] E 2D6+3(1Omm) 12 2 UR 50m 25O.Oo
federated Arms X-9mm P O J E 206+1(9mm) 12 2 ST SOm 30O.Oo
HEAVY AUTOPISTOLS
BudgetArms Auto 3 P -1 J E 3D6(11mm) 8 2 UR 50m 350.O0
Sternmeyer Type 35 P O J C 3D6(11mm) 8 2 VR 50m 400.0°
PIS
Armalite 44 P O I E 4D6+1(12mm) 8 1 ST 50m 45O.Oo
Colt AMT Model 2000 P O J C 4D6+1(12mm) 8 1 VR 50m 5oo.m
LIGHT SUBMACHINEGUNS
Uzi Miniauto 9 SMC +1 J E 2D6+1(9mm) 30 35 VR 150m 475.00
H&K MP-2013 SMC +1 J C 2D6+3(1Omm) 35 32 ST 150m 450.""
Fed. Arms Tech Assault II SMC +1 J C 1D6+1(6mm) 50 25 ST 150m 40O.Oo
NS
Arasaka Minami 10 SMC 0 j E 2D6+3(1Omm) 40 20 VR 200m 50O.Oo
H&K MPK-9 SMC +1 J C 2D6+1(9mm) 35 25 ST 200m 520."
HEAVY SUBMACHINEGUNS
Sternmeyer SMC 21 SMC -1 L E 3D6(11mm) 30 15 VR 200m 500.0°
H&K MPK-11 SMC 0 L C 4D6+1(12mm) 30 20 ST 200m 700.0°
lngram MAC 14 SMC -2 L E 4D6+1(12mm) 20 10 ST 200m 650.0°
SHOTGUNS
Arasaka Rapid Assault 12 SHT -1 N C 4D6(00) 20 10 ST 50m 900.00
Sternmeyer Stakeout 10 SHT -2 N R 4D6(00) 10 2 ST 50m 450.0°
I WA=WeaponAccuracy. Concealability:P=Pocket J=JacketL=Long Coat N K a n ' tbe hidden. Availability: E=Excellent (can be found anywhere) C=Common (sports & gun shops) P=Poor (stolen
militafy, black market) &Rare (one of a kind, special military issue, highly illegal). Damage/Ammo: most 2000's weapons are rated in rnilimeters. # Shots (in a standard clip or load). ROkRate
KEY
of fire per turn. Range=Long range.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
NamC TYPO WA Con. Avall. Damage/Ammo #Shots ROF Rel. Range cost
EXOTICS
Techtronica 15 Microwaver P 0 I P 1D6t 10 2 VR 20m 40O.Oo
Militech Elect. Lasercannon RIF 0 N R 1-5D6 10 2 UR 200m 8,00O.Oo
Avante P-1135 Needlegun P 0 P P Drugs 15 2 ST 40m 200.00
Enertex AKM Power Squirt P -2 I C Drugs 50 1 VR 1Om 15.00
Nelspot "Wombat" P -1 I C Drugs 20 2 UR 40m 200.00
Miltech Electronics Taser P -1 I C Stun 10 1 ST 1Om 6O.Oo
EagleTech "Tomcat" C- Bow EX 0 N C 4D6 12 1 VR 150m 150.00
EagleTech "Stryker" X-bow EX -1 N C 3D6+3 12 1 VR 50m 220.00
€E WEA
Note: Most melee weapons are available on the open market and have a ROF of 1, a WA of 0, and no reloads.
Kendachi MonoknifeB Melee +1 P P 206 - VR lm 200.00
Kendachi MonoKatanaO Melee +1 N R 406 - VR lm 600.0°
SPM-1 BattlegloveTM Melee -2 N P 306/2D6 - VR lm 900.00
tSee pg.98 for microwave damage.
signer colors. Designed as an alternate to the 1998 The standard Arasaka Security weapon,,
U.S. Army sidearm trials. A solid con- foundworldwide.Agood, allroundweapon.
Medium Autopistols tender.
Militech Arms Avenger H&K MPK-9
P 0 J E 2D6+1(9mm) 10 2 VR Colt AMT Model 2000 SMC +1 J C tD6+1(9mm) 35 25 ST
Awell-made autopistolwith good range P 0 J C 4D6+1(12mm) 8 1 VR A light composite submachinegun with
and accuracy. A professional's gun. Now the standard officer's sidearm for integral sights. Used by many Euro Solos.
the U.S. Army, the M-2000 served M
Dai Lung Streetmaster in the Central American Wars.
P 0 1 E 2D6+3(10mm)12 2 UR
Another Dai Lung cheapie, built for the Light Submachineguns
Street. Uzi Miniauto 9
SMG +1 J E ZD6+1(9mm) 30 35 VR terrorist category, with wide use on C-
Federated Arms X-9mm Uzi's entry into the 21st century, all SWAT teams and PsychoSquads.
P 0 J E 2D6+1(9mm) 12 2 ST plastic, with a rotary electric clip and
A sturdy Solo's gun, used as a standard adjustable trigger. The choice for many H&K MPK-11
military sidearm in the U.S. and E.C.C. security Solos. SMC 0 L C 4D6+1(12mm)30 20 ST
71.12
Possibly the most used Solo's gun in sonic speeds. Heavy AP sub-caliber Avante P-1135 Needlegun
existence, the MPK-11can be modified penetrator damages armor 2pts/hit. P 0 P P Drugs 15 2 ST
into four different designs, including a Lightweight, plastic, compressed air
bullpup configuration, standard SMC, Scorpion 16 Missile Launcher powered. Can be doped with drugs,
an assault carbine, and a grenade HVY -1 N R 7D10 1 1 VR poison. See FNFF, pg. 107 for details.
launcher mount. The third generation of the Stinger missile
launcher, thisshoulder armfires one missile. Enertex AKM Power Squirt
lngram MAC 14 P -2 J C Drugs 50 1 VR
SMC -2 L E 4D6+1(12mm)20 10 ST Militech Rocket-Grenade Launcher A squirtgun. Yes, a poweredsquirtgun.
Updated MAC-10, with composite HVY -2 N R 6D10 1 1 VR See FNFF, pg. 108 before you laugh.
body and cylindrical feeding magazine. S houlder-mounted, rocket-poweredgre-
nade launcher. Heavilyusedinthecentral Nelspot "Wombat" Airpistol
Assault Rifles American conflicts underthe name RPC-A. P -1 J C Drugs 20 2 UR
Militech Ronin Light Assault Paintball gun from hell. Can fire acid,
RIF +1 N C 5D6(5.56) 35 30 VR Grenade paint, drugs, poison. See FNFF, pg.107.
A light, all purpose update, similar to HVY 0 P P Varies 1 1 VR
the M-169. Types includeFragmentation(7D6), Incen- Miltech Electronics Taser
diary (4D6 for 3 turns), Stun (-5 to Stun), P -1 J C Stun 10 1 ST
AKR-20 Medium Assault Dazzle (Blind for 4 tums), Sonic (deafened Zap. About the size of a small hand
RIF 0 N C 5D6(5.56) 30 30 ST 4 turns), Cas (see FNFF Gas Table). flashlight. See FNFF, pg.lO7fordetails.
A plastic and carbon fiber update of the
AKM, distributed throughout the re- Grenade Launchers EagleTech"Tomcat" Compound Bow
mains of the Soviet Bloc. HVY 0 L/N R Varies 1 1 ST EX 0 N C 406 12 1 VR
Launcher may be attached (under Cyrobalanced, stabilized compound
FN-RAL Heavy Assault Rifle barrel) to any assault rifle, or hand- bow. Silent & deadly.
RIF -1 N C 606+2(7.62) 30 30 VR held. Range 225m, Cost 150eb. Not
The standard NATO assault weapon compatible with Militech RPC-A. EagleTech "Stryker" Crossbow
for battlefield work. Bullpup design, EX -1 N C 3D6+3 12 1 VR
collapsing stock. C-6 "Flatfire" Plastic Explosive Plastic and bimetal crossbow. Silent,
HVY 0 P P 8DlOperkg. 1 1 VR deadly, andyou usuallygetyourammo
Kalishnikov A-80 Hvy. Assault Rifle Grey block of plastique, can be deto- back.
RIF -1 N E 6D6+2(7.62) 35 25 ST nated by timer, tripwire or signal.
Another Soviet retread, with improved Melee Weapons
sighting and lightenedwith composites. Mine (all types) Kendachi MonoknifeB
HVY 0 J P 4D10 1 1 VR MELEE+l P P 206 NA 1 VR
Shotguns Can be detonated by timer, tripwire, Mono-sectional crystal blade. Incredi-
Arasaka Rapid Assault Shot 12 signal or motion detector. blysharp. In the Japanese"tanto" style.
SHT -1 N C 4D6(00) 20 10 ST Also available in a naginata form for
A high powered auto-shotgun with Kenshiri Adachi F-253 Flamethrower 1O0.Oo extra.
lethal firepower. Used by Arasaka HVY -2 N R ZDlO 10 1 ST
worldwide. Another good reason to Liquifiednapalmsprayer.Back mounted Kendachi MonoKatanaB
avoid the Boys in Black. and bulky. Does extra damagefollowing MELEE+l N R 4D6 NA 1 VR
initial hit (see FNFF, pg.110). Sword length version of monoblade.
Sternmeyer Stakeout 10 Resembles a hightech katana with a
SHT -2 N R 4D6(00) 10 2 ST Exotics milky, nearly transparent blade.
Light duty stakeout shotgun, used by Techtronica 15 Microwaver
city police departments. P 0 J P 1D6 10 2 VR SPM-1 Battleglove
Flashlight sized microwave projector. MELEE -2 N P 3D6/2D6 NA 1 VR
Heavy Weapons See FNFF, pg. 108 for details. This is a large gauntlet covering the
Barrett-Arasaka Light 20mm hand and forearm. It does 3D6 in
HVY 0 N R 4D10(20/9mm)10 1 VR Militech Electronics Lasercannon crush damage, 2D6 punch damage,
The cyberpsycho hunter's favorite. RIF 0 N R 1-5D6 10 2 UR and has three spaces which can be
Almost 2 meters long, this "cannon" Milspec laser cannon, rarely seen. See used to store any standard cyberarm
fires a depleted uranium shell a t super- FNFF, pg. 108 for details. option.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
Name TYPC WA Con. Avail. Damage #Shots ROF Rei. Range cost
Club Melee 0 L C 1D6 NA NA NA lm Free
Knife Melee 0 P C 1D6 NA NA NA lm 1-20"
Sword Melee 0 N C 2D6+2 NA NA NA lm 20-200."
Axe Melee -1 N C 2D6+3 NA NA NA lm 20."
ncha M 0 306 A
Naginata Melee 0 N P 3D6 NA NA NA 2m 100.-
Shiriken Melee 0 P C 1D6/3 NA NA NA Throw 2-3."
Kendachl
RELOADS 6 OPTIONS
MonoKatanaB Amrnunitiont cost
MELEE*+l *N*R*4D6* Light Pistol, Lt. SMC (box of 1OO)f ......................................................... 15."
NA*I*VR
Medium Autopistol, SMC (box of 50) ..................................................... 15."
Heavy Pistol, Hvy. SMG (box of 50) ........................................................18."
Very Heavy Pistol (box of 50) .................................................................. 20"
Assault Rifle (box 100) ............................................................................ 40"
Shotgun (box of 12) ...............................................................................15."
20mm Cannon round (1) ....................................................................... 25."
Arrows (1 2) ............................................................................................ 24."
Crossbow Bolts (1 2) ............................................................................... 30"
Airgun pellets (1OO)* ................................................................................ 6"
Needlegun rounds (SO) .......................................................................... 25."
Flamethrower Reload .............................................................................. 50"
Micro Missile Reload (4ea) .................................................................... 100."
Options
Silencer ................................................................................................ 100"
Holster (all types) .................................................................................... 20"
Shoulder sling ..........................................................................................5."
tArmor piercing=3x cost Brass Cased loads for old guns=2xcost *Drugs, Acid =Sx cost
Sternmeyer CG-13t
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
71.12
Bushmaster
Old Guns Never Die SMC 0 C R 4D6 (5.56) 30 m ST
As late as the 1990'sthere were still used A bullpup configured SMC designed to be fired one handed.
The Bushmaster uses the M-16A1 clip, making it technically
models of thevenerable Beretta and Webley closer to an assault rifle than a submachinegun.
for sale (particularly in pawnshops and on
FN-FAL
the black market). The same can be as- RIF 0 N E 6D6+2 (7.56) 20 21 VR
sumed for 20th century weapons in 21s t Standard NATO rifle. A very deadly assault weapon; durable
and handles well.
II face it; I century- large numbers of "obsolete"
for all the new I weapons that can be found at reasonable AK 47, AKM, AKMS
I RIF 0 N E 5D6 (7.565) 30 20 VR
I
prices in any pawn shop. Prices are usually Standard Soviet military rifle, exported worldwide, particu-
half that of a comparable new weapon of larly to Soviet client-states. Reliable, rugged, but rather
difficulttocontrol, theAK-47isprobablythemostwellknown
there, most of the type, although final price is up to the weapon of it's type in the world.
Referee.
it still does the , I
M-16A & M-16A2
RIF 2 N C 4D6(5.56) 30 25 UR
S&W Combat Magnum
samejob- I P 1 J C 2D6+3(.357) 6 2 VR
Standard US military rifle since the 1960's, the M-16 has high
accuracy and a staggering ROF. A built in "tumble" effect
throw a chunk I Designed for US Border Patrol use, the Combat Magnum is
compensates for the light 5.56 round. Earlier M-16 models
a popular choice among police officers. Its "small frame" and
were cantankerous and unrealiable in the extreme, with a n
of lead through 1 reliable action make it a best seller.
accuracy of 1, not 2. The Ar-15 and the AR-180 are civilian
models used by police and home defense.
a man's body I
P 0 J C 4D6(.44) 6 1 ST
at near I An excellent .44 revolver, used in home defense and police
Styer Aug
RIF 2 N C 4D6(5.M) 30 20 VR
work. It's long barrel makes it hard to conceal.
I supersonic A bullpupconfigured rifle using high tech plasticsand alumi-
num, the AUC is the wave of the future. The scope is built in,
I speeds. Plastic Colt .45 "Peacemaker"
giving it great accuracy, while it's ruggedplastic construction
P 0 J R 2D6+2(.45) 6 1 VR
gives it reliability and strength.
I frames and The gun "that won the West", the .45 was the most common
US sidearm throughout the 1800's. A single action weapon,
I caseless ammo it must be cocked before firing, although later models had a
Winchester M70
RIF 3 N C SD6+1(30-06) 5 1 VR
flattened hammer allowing the gun to be fired by "fanning"
I are just icing the hammer.
A basic scoped hunting rifle, used to hunt deer.
Thompson M1
Kevlar Armor Jacket SP=14 (Lt), 18 (Med) or
SMC 2 N C 2D6+2(.45) 30 20 VR 20 (Hvy)
Standard US military SMC during WWII, the Thompson is Personal protection for the fashion conscious,
rugged, reliable and easy to use. The Ml928 version, of these lightweight Kevlar jackets have nylon
gangster fame, was less reliable (UR), but could carry a 50
round drum magazine.
coverings that resemble normal jackets.
71.12
BODY ARMOR
Type of Armor Covers SP" EVt Cost
Cloth, leathed Arms, Torso, possibly legs 0 +O Varies
Heavy leather Arms, Torso, possibly legs 4 +O 50.""
Kevlar T-Shirt, Vest4 Torso 10 +O 90."
Steel helmet Head 14 +O 20."
Light Armor jacked Torso, Arms 14 +O 150,""
Med Armor jacked Torso, Arms 18 +1 200."
Flack vest Torso 20 +1 200." I you slower? l e
Flack pants Legs 20 +1 200." I YOUstill can't {
Nylon helmet Head 20 +o 100."
Heavy Armor jacket4 Torso, Arms 20 +2 250."
Door Gunner's vest Torso 25 +3 250,""
MetalCeaP Whole Body 25 +2 600.""
Stopping Power (SP) refers to the abili of the armor to stop dama e
*AP rounds: treat all Armor as 1/2xSP %Ed ed weapons treat SP aslalf
t (EV) Encumbrancevalues should be addeJtogether and subtracted from character's total REF stat.
71.12
Low Impedance cables ..................60.0° Drug Analyser ...............................
75.0°
'Trode Set ...................................... 20.0° Airhypo ....................................... 1OO.Oo
Keyboard .................................... 1OO.Oo Clinic Visit ...................................
200.0°
Following I s a l i s t of useful items for Terminal ...................................... 400.0° Day in Hospital ............................
300.0°
the cyberpunk on the move. Day in Intensive Care ...............
l,OOO.Oo
COMMUNICATIONS Clone Limb Replacement .........
1,500.0°
FASHlONt Mastoid Commo ......................... 1OO.Oo
Pants ............................................. 20.0° Pocket Commo ............................. FURNISHINGS
Top ............................................... 15.0° Cellular Phone ............................. 4O0.Oo Nylon Carrybag ............................... 5.0°
Jacket ............................................ 350° Mini Cell Phone ........................... 800.0° Sleeping Bag ................................. 25.0°
Footwear ....................................... 25.0° Inflatable Bed ................................ 25.0°
Jewelry................................... 10-1O0.Oo SURVEILLANCE Futon ............................................ 90.0°
Mirrorshades .............................. 5-50.0° Binoglasses .................................. 200.0° Real Wood Furniture .......200.0° per piece
Contact Lenses ............................1OO.OO Binocutars ..................................... 20.0° Synthetic Furniture ..........100.OOperpiece
Glasses .......................................... 50.0° Light Booster Goggles ................. 2O0.Oo Apartment Cube ...................... 5,000.0°
TMultiply base cost by style: IR Goggles ................................... 250.0° Lamp ............................................ 200°
Generic Chic .......................
1x cost IR Flash .......................................... 50.0° Cleaning Bot ............................ l,OOO~Oo
Leisurewear......................... 2x cost Vocal Switcher System .................1OO.Oo
Businesswear .......................
3x cost ENTERTAINMENT
High Fashion .......................
4x cost Movie ...........................................
10:O0 VEHICLES
Urban Flash .........................
2x cost VCR/Chip Rental ............................. 4.00 Scooter .......................................
500.0°
Braindance ................................... .2O.OO Motorcycle ...............................
1,500.0°
TOOLS Live Concert/Sports Event .............
50.0° CityCar .....................................
2,000.0°
Techscanner ................................ 600.0° Fast Food Meal ................................
5 .oo Small Subcompact ...................6,000.0°
Cutting torch
Tech Toolkit
B & E TOOIS
................................
...................... ......,...
.................................
40.0°
1O0.Oo
120.0°
Well Drinkt
Restaurant Meal?
.....................................
tMultiply by level of restaurant or
3.0°
...........................
20.0°
Medium Sedan
Sportscar
Luxury Sedan
.......................
1O,OOO.Oo
................................
~O#OOO.~
.........................
40,000~0°
'
Electronics Toolkit ....................... 1OO.Oo bar: Note: 2x cost for cybercontrols
Protective Goggles ........................ 20.0° Fair ..................................... 1x cost
Flashtube ....................................... ..2.0° Good .................................. 2x cost LIFESTYLE
Glowstik .......................................... 1.OO Excellent ............................. 3x cost Cell Phone Service ............1OO.OOmonth+
Flash Paint ............................
1O m per pt. Standard Phone Service .......
3Oo0rnonth+
Flash Tape ..........................
10."" per foot SECURITY Pay Phone Call .................50a per minute
Rope ....................................2.0° per foot Keylock .............................. 20.'' per level Data Term Use ..................1.OO per minute
Breathing Mask .............................
30.0° Cardlock ........................ 1O0.Oo per level CredChip Account ..........2OWper month
Vocolock ....................... 200.0° per level Health Plan ................ l,OOO.Oo per month
PERSONAL ELECTRONICS Line Tap ...................................... 2O0.Oo Trauma Team Acct. ............500.0°month
Holo Generator ........................... 500.0° CodeDecryptor ........................... 500.00 Air .................................... 5.0° per minute
Video Board .....................
1OO.Oo per sq ft VocDecryptor ........................... l,OOO.oo Mag Lev Chit ...................25a per station
Data Chip ..................................... 1O.OO Security Scanner ....................... 1,500.00 Taxi ...................................... 3.0° per mile
Logcompass ..................................
50.0° Poison Sniffer ...........................1,500.00 AV-Taxi .............................. 10."''per mile
Digital Recorder ..........................
300.0° JammingTransmitter ................... 500.00 Cable TV .......................... 40.0°per month
Digital Camera ............................ 150.0° Scanner Plate ..............................500.0°
VideoCam ...................................
800.0° Movement Sensor ......................... 40.0° GROCERIES
Video/Audio Tape Player ..............
.40.0° Passcard ........................................ 1O.Oo Kibble ............................... 50" per week
VideoTape ....................................... 4.0° Tracking Device ........................ 1,OOO.OO Generic Prepak ................1SOoo per week
Pocket TV ...................................... 80.0° Tracer Button ................................ Good Prepak ................... 200.0° per week
Digital Chip Player .......................
1 Remote Sensors ........................... 700.0° Fresh Food ...................... 3OOo0 per week
Digital Music Chip .........................
20.0° PlasKuffs ...................................... 1O0.Oo
Electric Guitar ...................... 100-500.0° Stripwire Binders ............................. 5.00
HOUSlNGt
Electronic Keyboard .............
200-900~O' Coffin ............................. 20.0°per night
Drum Synthesizer .................
200-800.0° MEDICAL Hotel Room .................... 100 per night
Amplifier ............................ 500-1 OOO.oo Dermal Stapler ......................... l,OOO.oo AptJCondo ......200.0° per room/per month
Spray Skin .......................... SOoo per can House ...............1 per room/per month
DATA SYSTEMS Slap Patch ....................
varies by drug type TMultipIy base cost by location:
Laptop Computer ........................
900.0° Cryotank .............................. 1OO,OOO.Oo Combat Zone ..................... 1x cost
Pocket Computer ........................
1OO.Oo Medkit .......................................... Moderate Zone ...................
2x cost
Cybermodem ...................Varies by design Surgical Kit ..................................
4O0.Oo Corporate Zone ..................4x cost
Cellular Cybermodem ......
Varies by design First Aid Kit ....................................
1O.OO Executive Zone ...................6x cost
Interface Cables .......................
20-30.0° Medscanner ................................
300.0° Utilities ............................100." month
71.12
Fashion that keeps track of your changes in direction from a fixed
bearing or point.
The clothing styles of 2020 break into five basic fashion
statements Digital Recorder: audio recording device using datachip
Generic Chic: This is the standard Streetwear, made up of
technology, most are the size of two paperbackbooks stacked
colorful modular components in many colors. Belts, coats,
flat. Some are smaller that a pack of cards.
sashes, boots predominate.
Leisurewear: This is the equivalent of 21st century athletic
Digital Camera: still images are "digitized" onto a chip
wear. Padded fleece, corporate and athletic logos.
cartridge. About the size of a pack of cigarettes. "Sure, you got
BusinessweanThisisthe equivalentof thestandardbusiness
suit; understated colors, pinstripes, real leather shoes etc.
Videocam: can be mounted on a headset, a shoulder clamp,
yer cyberwear.
Wool and other natural fabrics are considered the proper
outfitting for the up and coming Corp.
or hand-held depending on size (This affects price, size of you got yer
recorded image, duration of recording time,etc. The price
High Fashion: Sophisticated and expensive dressing for
the upper class. Designer labels like Miyake, Si-fuiYan, and
given is for the most inexpensive shoulder-carried model.) guns and yer
Sound and image are usually recorded on a tape-pak that is
Anne Calvin.
the size of a card deck or smaller, but you can direct-feed to armor. But you
Urban Flash Video jackets, colorshift fabrics, cammo, a transmission device with a set of cables.
leathers, metalspikes, Logowear, jeans, leatherskirts, boots. gotta sleep
The wildest and most utterly chilled in cyberfashion.
Video/audio Tape Player: this device plays the videocam I somewhere.
tape-paks, along with many older-style audio tapes.
You yotta eat
Tools Video Tape: see Videocam. Note: the video tape of 2020 is
Techscanner: a small handheld microcompwith various I/O a high density digital media capable of handling both audio somethin I
connecters and probes. Techscanners run diagnostic
programs, identifyand examine malfunctioningcomponents,
and visual images. I besides kibble
and display internal schematics on a small screen. Pocket Tv: uses a flat-scan screen in a package S"xS"x3/4" or and bits. An' it
smaller. Picks up the majority of VHF, UHF stations.
Cutting Torch common oxylacetalyne type out of a bottle. , don't hurt if I
Hand held, about a foot long. More powerful models are Digital Chip Player: this plays audio- and video-recorded
available, up to thermite lances a t Sx-1Sx cost. chips. You must plug into a video board to play the video youcatchan I
track of a digital chip.
Tech Tool Kit: mixed kit of tools for repair of mechanical
occasional I
items, usually in a 4"xl6"x2" case. Digital Music Chip:l to 6 pop album favorites (or any other I braindanceor I
music) slapped into semiconductors and plastic. These chip
Electronics Kit: see above. are also available in a read-writeformat as well. I a little video I
I
Protective Goggles: protective eyewear for welding, metal Electric Guitar: no longer the classic "axe", it's now lighter, action." I
machiningwork, chemical mixing, etc. more flexible in its applications, and sometimes not even in a I I
recognizable shape. It may have even replaced the strings I I
Flashlight: you all know what this is. Beam range 100'-120'
Can buy smaller pocket lights (1/4 range) for half the normal
and frets with a series of key banks! I -TheBogLady ,
price. ElectronicKeyboard little changedfrom the present, except
in size and power.
Glowstik chemlight in a 6" plastic tube. Shake or break to
activate. Soft light lasts up to 6 hours. Comes in green, blue, Drum Synthesizers: common "new-wave"musicequipment;
red. a series of percussion pads and a sound box. It will fit in a
coupleof suitcasesandcanbearrangedanywaythedrummer
Flashpaint: fluorescent paint gives off soft light equal to pleases.
Glowstik, lasts up to 4 hours.
Amplifier: see electronic keyboard. (For more on the
Flashtape: same as Flashpaint. Lasts6 hours, comes invariety instruments of the 201Os-2Os, check out the supplement
of widths. Rockerboy.)
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Difficulty Level
rity ........................... Average (15)
Medium Security .......... Difficult (20)
High Security .......................... Very Difficult (25)
Maximum Security .................
Nearly Impossible (30)
Cellular Phone: communication on the move, anywhere Tracking Device: hand held or suitcased equipment for
I dead guy here I within reach of a radiotelephone transceiver network. There detecting/following tracer buttons. Range is 1 mile.
is a1 OOeb per month phone service charge.
Tracer Buttons: can be any size from a matchbook to a pin.
Minicell Phone: it fits in a cigarette pack. Uses radioactivity or constant/pulsed radio transmission to
pinpoint who or what it’s attached to. Some can be turned
on/off remotely. Usually bought in sets of 6.
71.12
Cryotank an advanced refrigerationtank; the cryotank will Motorcycle: these are updated versions of standard
cool a body down to preservation levels while life-support motorcycles. Mostarerecumbentdesigns, with plasticfarings
machines maintain the blood/oxygen flow. Designed to that close over the driver. About half are electrically powered,
keep a dying body in relative stasis. with top speeds of 65mph and about 8 hours travel per
fastcharge. CHOOH' powered versions have a top end of
Medkit: standard doctor's or military corpsman's bag. It 140mph and a four gallon tank.
contains antidotes, dressings, drugs, applicators, medicines,
and examininginstruments(probes, depressors, ocular light, CltyCar: one man (two in a pinch), three wheelers common
stethoscope). in the Corporate Zones. Top speed about 40mph, with 4
hours travel per fastcharge. CityCars can also be rented ( 2 O 0 "The new
Surgical Set: a full set of surgeon's tools (scalpel, retractor,
probe, clamp, tweezer, etc.), and chemicalsor equipmentfor
eb per mile) from convenient kiosks located around most
corporate areas; you use your debit card to rent from the
BM W-lnfiniti
maintaining a sterile operating field. vendor, drive where you want, and drop the car off a t the aerodyne.
nearest vendor.
Flrst Aid Kit: the common household medic's box. It has Fifteen
bandages, antiseptics, and a simple painkiller. Small Subcompact: usually methanol or CHOOH' powered,
thesevehicleshavea topspeed of around 90mph, a ten gallon thousand
Slap Patch: a small plastic pad containing a measured
amount of medicine. The pad is applied to the skin and the
tank and seat four in relative comfort. pounds of
medicine is absorbed in steady doses. See the Trauma Team Medium Sedan: methanol or CHOOH' powered, these raw thrust.
section for drugs and prices. vehicles have a top speed of around 90mph, a fifteen gallon
tank and seat four. Available on
Airhypo: the "Bones McCoy" usesaquickburstofcompressed
air to force a liquid drug through the skin. See the Tmumo Sportscar: almost always CHOOH' powered (electrics just demand
Team section for drugs and prices. don'thave thespeed).Topspeedabout210,witha tengallon
tank. Seats 2.
cyber-
Medscanner: Readouts for body temperature, heartrate, avionics. And
blood pressure, respiration, and blood sugar levels. A small Luxury Sedan: methanolor CHOOH' powered, these vehicles
chipped database adds a +2 to your Diagnose Skill. have a top speed of around 90mph, a twenty gallon tank and the most
seat six.
DrugAnaiyser: rangingin size from a book to a briefcase, this sophisticated
gaget operates in a mannersimularto the chemical sniffer. It
willdeterminethepurityofadrugwith a knowncomposition,
Fastcharge: rapid (5 minutes) battery-recharge for electric
vehicles. Available at most service stations for 20 eb per
audio system
or identfy the molecular makeup and possible effects of an charge. ever installed
unknown substance that i s simular to a drug already
programmed into its library. CHOOH': synthetic meta-alcohol fuel. About 1D6/3+ 1 euro in an AV-7.
per gallon (the cost fluctuates wildly due to supply, demand
and eco-terrorist activities).
B M W-lnfiniti.
Furnishings
Nylon Carrybag: the athletic bag/kitbag of the 2000's, with You can't call
a variety of logos to choose from. Sizes vary. Lifestyle
Data Term": this is a curbside computer terminal, with yourself a
Sleeping Bag: they're lighter weight, and can now take
temperatures down to -1 OOF. Compresses to a l2"x6"x4"
access to news, weather, city maps, events schedules and
other useful stuff. A DataTerm can also be used as a plug-in
Cyberpunk
wad. point to the Net. Terms are mounted in concrete pillars and until you've
are nearly indestructable. Theoretically.
Inflatable Bed: self-inflating, highly-compressed mattress bought one. "
package. About 6"x2"x4" folded. CredChip Account: a "debit card" that you use to carry your -Radio Ad,
cash around in instead of a wallet.
Real Wood Furniture/ Synthetic Furniture: what more can 2019
we say? Air: just what it says. In the U.S., Britain, and some parts of
Eastern Europe, the daily pollution gets so bad that you need
Futon: portablefolding bed and pad; of Japaneseorigin. to go to a miscellany of 'air bars', vendors, or streetcorner
machines to buy a decent breath.
Apartment Cube: lO'xlO'x8' living module in which all
major furnishings and appliances are hidden in flush wall
recessesand are extended only for use. Contains bed, closet, Groceries
small stove, refrigerator, N a n d digital entertainment center, Kibble: a mass-produced nutrient that satisfies most
two chairs, fold down desk, removable table. Rolls into place requirements for sustenance, but tends to look, smell, and
andcan beeasily transported. Cubes are usuallysosmall that taste like the dry pet food it takes its name from.
if you had all your furnishings extended at once, there'd be
no room for you to stand! Generic Prepack a step up from the common N dinner,
these meal packscan be microwavedor refrigerateddepending
Lamp: it gives light. Comes in an infinity of shapes and on what's inside. Many come with their own chemtabs for
colors. heating or cooling. The cuisine isn't inspired, but it beats kibble.
CleaningBot: small preprcgrammedroboticcleaning device. Good Prepack: good restaurant meals ina package. The best
Usually about the size of a portabl'e cannister vacuum. Not quality pre-made meals you're going to find. For anything
too smart. better, eat out, or prep it yourself (and who really knows how
to do that anymore?).
Vocal Switching System: voice-activated controls for lights
and appliances. Fresh: you know what that is. Well, a t least you've met
someone who's eaten it.
Vehicles
Following are typical vehicles of the early 2lst Century. Housing
For specific models, see A l l Things Dork & Cyberpunk, pgs. Coffin: one step up from a sleeping bag on the street. A
180 through 182. stacked accomodation which resembles its namesake, these
sleeping boxesare found in airports and flophouses worldwide.
Scooter: this is an updated, electrically powered version of Usually coin-operated with a time limit, the coffin gives you
the old Riva and Vespa motorscooters of the 1990's. Top just enough room to turn around or read in bed; restroom
speed about 50 mph, scooterscan get about 6 hoursof travel accomodations to be found elsewhere. More expensive
per fastcharge (about 5 minutes a t any service station). models will have a phone or mini-TV inside.
71.12
~
PUNK
Forget everything you ever thought
about cyborgs. Everything.
This is the 2000's.Today's cyborg is stylish. His cybernetics
are designed for a streamlined, highmover lifestyle.
Whether equipped with implanted data chips in his
nervous system to enhance his tennis game, or bio-
engineered miniweaponsfor his personal protection, the
cyborg of the 2000's is the cutting edge of high tech
living.
Cyberfashion
It's hip and aware to have high tech grafted onto your body
somewhere. If you can afford it, you probably have at least
a couple of "enhancements"; a few software chips installed
in your nervous system to interface with your computer,
rememberyour appointments (the ever popular Daytimerm
chip for example), and improveyour raquetball reflexes. If
you're cybered up you probably have interface plugs to
operate computers and vehicles mentally. Maybeyoureyes
are cyberoptics with a recordingfunction and the latest iris
tint (polychrome is in this year), or your hearing is boosted
to better hear the gossip in the Executive Lounge.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
of combat aspect), you probably have two people, and is the basis of such skills as
or three types of combat software, as well leadership, lying, convincingand romantic
as plugs and interfaces for a smartgun. As relationships.
a Solo, you may have had one or more
limbs replaced with cyberware prosthetics, Likewise, every major cybernetic enhance-
allowing you to hide a variety of tools and ment hasa corresponding HumanityCost,
weapons in your body, as well as giving which is added together to get an overall
you an edge in speed and strength. Humanity Cost of all enhancements.
Humanity Costs are rated from VERY LOW
As a cyberpunk, you're going to want to to VERY HIGH, and correspond to the
get your hands on the best of this exciting general effect this enhancement will have
and expensive new tech. And expensive is on the human psyche. In addition, each
the word. The average enhanced charac- option added to an enhancement has an
ter with, say, one cyberoptic (Targeting additional point value as well.
I I 11
Punkalreadyknowsat least ity Cost of 36. I will lose .9s
you counted in
twenty-five ways (most of 3 points of Empathy. I themetal. When
them illegal) to raise that
sort of paltry sum. This can start to cost I we took him
you. With an Empathy I down in the
But before you start load- of 3 the character is , maglev station,
ing up, there's a catch. something of a "cold
fish"; emotionless and cold. With an Empa- I1 ' I
he'd already
killed fifteen
-
Hesaid
_..
So, how do I get cyberpsychosis? Not all cyberpsychos are the rampaging
type. Many exhibit moresubtlesymptoms;
Every character in Cyberpunk has an compulsive lying, kleptomania, sadism,
Empathy stat (EMP). This stat is a measure brutality, split personality and extremely
of how well the character relates to other violent mood swings.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
implant a small explosive charge and a For example: Savage is dragged into Dr.
radio detonator, but we all know that's Risk's office with a HC total of -3. It will take
against the Criminal Code, don't we? at least five weeks of therapy before Savage
will be back to his original Empathy of 6.
I
Besides, you don't have to register. But we I
thought you'd like to know. After all, there Now you know. Walk carefully. Guardyour I "This isn't going I
are those public-spiritedcitizensout there... mind. I
to hurt a bit. 'I
I I
Humanity Costs I
W ell, maybe a I
I
little. lr
So how does all this apply to me? Cybertechnology I
I
I
I
71.12
Cyberware Surg. ID Code Description cost .
H Loss
- - - -
1
FASHIONWARE APPEARANCE AND COSMETIC CYBERWARE
ChemSkins
O I
Synthskins I (N) I (SYN) I Color/pattern changing artificial skin I 400 I 1D6
Techhair (M) (TEH) Color/light emitting artificial hair
NEURALWARE (Processor) I (M) I -I BASIC PROCESSOR. MUST HAVE FOR ALL SYSTEMS I 1000 I 1D6
Kerenzikov Boosterware I (RFB) I Adds +l
to Initiative rolls revery level bought. 6/2D
Speedware (Sandevistan) I (N) I (SW) I Adds +3 to Initiative rolls for 5 turns. I 1600 I 1D6/2
Tactile Boost ed sensitivity. +2 on any touc check, 2
Olifactory Boost I (N) I (OLF) I Increase Awareness via smell by +2. Allows scent tracking. I 100 I 2
Pain Editor ) I (TE) 1 Tunes
Cybermoden Link I (N) I (PE) I Allows direct connection to a cybermodem. I 100 I lpt
Vehicle Link LNK) I For direct vehicle operation only.
Smartgun Link I (N) I (WLNK) I For direct smartweapon operation only. I loo I 2
Machine/Tech Link LNK) I Allows control of autofactories, large & small machine 2
DataTerm Link I (N) I (DLNK) I Allows downloading from DataTerms to internal memory. I 100 I 2
Digital Recorder I (M) I (DCR) I 2 hrs storage from any digital source. I 200 1 2pts
71.12
BIOWARE BIOLOGICAL BASED ENHANCEMENTS
71.12
Cyberware I Surg. I ID Code I Description I Cost I H.Loss
Thickened Myomar (N) (THK) Increase limb SDP to 25, Zx normal damage. +50% on 2
Reinforced Joints (N) (RJ) Increase limb SDP by +5. 1
Artificial Shoulder Mount (CR) (ASHO) Mount extra arms (2) below first set. 1 only. 2D6
Microwave/ EMP Shielding (N) (MSR) Limb is unaffected by Microwave side effects. 1
Plastic Covering (N) 1
Rea ISkinnm Limb looks real (DIFFICU k) Lowers HC by 1D
Superchrome 8 Highgloss metallic cover
Armor (N) (ARM) Armors Cyberlimb to SP20. 1D6
HANDS & FEET - - A l T A C H TO CYBERLIMBS -
Standard Hand (STD) Resembles normal hand 0
Ripper Hand (N) (RPH) Standard hand with rippers built in. 2D6
HammerHand (N) (HAM) Hydraulic Ram fist does 1D 206
BuuHand (N) (BUZ) Wire circular saw. 2D6+2 damage, soft armor reduced. 2D6
fool Hand (N) (TOL) Fingers contain screwdriver, wr 2
Grapple Hand (N) (CRP) Extends rocket-propelledgrapple, 100' line. 3
Extension Hand (N) (EXT) Hand extends on collapsable sleeve 1m. 2
71.12
BUILT INTO CYBERLIMBS
Micro-Missile Launcher
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
processing chips and nerve amplifiers that in Solo of Fortune. You may only select one type
increase existing abilities. of boosterware (and you may not combine
multiples of a single type of boost).
The basic neural processor is a "switch-
box" implanted into the lower spine, and Kerenzikov boosteware is always activated;
the character is always reacting with a higher V
is used to route signals from external cy-
than normal reaction speed. Since Kerenzikov
I
berwear to the central nervous system. It is
the main system for any type of neural
often boosts responsesto greater than 10, it has I "Let me give you
a high humanity cost, as the user must learn to an idea of how
interface, including reflex boosters, inter- readjust his or her actions to a world that I fast boosteware
face plugs, weapon, DataTerm andvehicle
/I
appears to be moving in slow motion. Because
links, mini-computers and sensory aug- of this, Kerenzikov boost can be installeda t two
I is. There was a
mentations. The Neural processor has a levelsof auclmentation(+1 or+2 tolnitiative. HL guy in the
I
small inspection space which allows sec- is 1D6 or 2D6). 702nd Cybercav
ondary co-processors to be inserted into 1 back in Panama
the basic processor module. This makes Speedware (also known as Sandevistan) kicks
upgrading a process of opening the in- in only when desired, eliminating much of the I City. One night,
need to adapt one's entire life to an inhumanly we were a//real
spection space in a sterile environment
and inserting the new co-processors.
fast reaction time. The character must first
-
hiqh on
I/ ,
subvocalize a mental command word before
boost is activated, then wait one turn beforethe
I something-must
Implanting a neural processor is far easier boost kicksin.Hewill remain boostedforfivefull have been ' f a c e
than one would expect, thanks t o the turns (+3 to Initiativerolls) beforethe boost cuts
' and some
science of nanotech. The basic module is out. He must then subvocalize the command I flathead fired off
surgically affixed t o the spine, where it again, and wait 2 turns before regaining a
a round. This
releases a flood of nanosurgical units into boosted state. I
the spinal column. These microscopic guy actual/y-
machines thread tiny linkages through the Speedware's biq advantaqes are in lower hu- believe it or
central nervous system, hooking nerve manity costs a i d improvid performance; be- I not- caught the
cause the body isn't "on" all the time, more can I
endings to the neural processor. This proc-
be drawn from it during the boost mode. round in his
ess takes some time (1 D6+7 days) before I hand- a one in I
the nanosurgeons have worked their way Tactile Boost: This increasesany Awareness roll
through the entire body and all the con-
I a mj//jon chance, I
involving touch by +2. The boost can be turned
nections are hooked up to the neural proc- sure, but he & d
on or off a t will, taking one turn to do so. I
essor. it. I
Pain Editor: This coprocessor overides the pain I1 I
Coprocessors receptors of the brain, making the subject im-
pervious to torture, deprivation or physical
I 1 , of course, it blew
These are specialized "add-ons" which can his hand right
be plugged into the main neural processor hardship, It doesn't mean he isn't getting hurt,
at any time; the whole process takes about
just that he won't notice it until he collapses ' O KBut theway
an hour and can be performed in any walk-
(make Endurance Skill checks, but a t two levels %?I & figured it, he
in clinic. Some, like reflex boosters, allow of difficulty lower than normal) could always buy
you to improve your reactions and percep- Olfactory Boost: This increases any Awareness
I a new hand, and
tive abilities to inhuman levels; others, like roll involving smell by +2. In addition, the I he'd be gettin'
link co-processors, allow you to interface subject adds +2 to his Shadownrack skills (he I drinks off that
with computers, databases, vehicles and can track by smell), and has a 50% chance of
other machines. Once you have the basic locating a scent to begin tracking with unless
neural processor, you can jack in as many the target has taken particular pains to disguise
options as you like. its scent). The boost can be turned on or off a t
will, taking one turn to do so. -Morgan Blackhand
Reflex Boosters: These are specialized TRC co-
processors that amplify and speed up signal Links: Links are specialized co-processors that
processing. The biggestadvantage to a REFLEX allow you to translate signals from the device
boost is i t s ability to increase a character's you wanttorun into yourneuralcode.Thereare
initiative rolls in combat.There are two types of five major types of link; you must have the
Reflex co-processors (also known as booster- proper link in order to run that type of device.
ware). Note: this is the only type of boost which
can be usedwith the Boostmusterenhancement Cybermodem Link: This is the basic proces-
71.12
sor that translates Net information into im- essor to send and receive signals. The plug itself
ages. It replaces the more limited interface can be used to insert information and reflex
programs of the early 'teens, and allows the "skill chips", or as a plug in for a set of interface
Netrunner to perceive a wider variety of cables (allowing you to directly control any
environments than its predecessors. device you have the proper "link" with). In
game terms, interface plugs allow the player to
Vehicle Link This allows the user to control directly link to many types of machines, such as
a vehicle through direct mental control. Cy- cybermodems or cybervehicles.
bervehicles include cars, A V - ~ S aircraft,
, ro-
torcraft or motorcycleswhich have had their Interface plugs are quite common; many com-
normal control systems replaced by a com- panies will even pay for their installation. Quite
puter. The character plugs directly into the a few factory and construction workers now
computer using interface plugs and cables, "stud" directly into their machines. Interface
sending commands thru his own nervous plugs are critical to people like Netrunners
system. Power servos then steer wheels, (who must have them to gain the speed and
depress accelerators, and control braking. abilityto run the Net), and Solos (who use them
Cybervehicles are inhumanly responsive- to operate smartguns).
like driving an extension of yourself. As a
result, a cyberassisted vehicle will automati- Most people wear their plugs on wrists for ease
cally give you a +2 on any driving, piloting or of use. Occasionally, a true cybertechie will
motorcycle driving skill you are using a t the mount them at the temples (a plug head), just
time. To modify a normal vehicle to cyber- behind the ears (called a frankenstein) or in the
vehicle stats costs an additional 4Ooh of the back of the head (a puppethead). Some cover
base vehicle cost. them with inlaid silver or gold caps, others with
wristwarmers. Once again, a matter of style.
Smartgun Link: Smartguns are modifiedver-
sions of normal firearms, linked to an internal Chipware
microcomputer, which in turn is jacked to a There are a wide variety of cybernetic
human operator. A smartgun uses a small devices available t o the man on the move
sonic or laser projector to lock onto the
in the 2000's. But the basis for all these
target, scanning it thousands of times per
newtechs is chipware (also known as wet-
second. As the gun traverses the desired
target, thecomputer link picksupyour mental ware by some), bio-plastic circuitry that
fire signal (or incoming data from the target- allows the human body to mesh with the
ing reticule of your cyberoptic) and triggers power of silicon microprocessors.
the gun. Smartguns are far more accurate
than most other guns; using them automati- There are t w o types of chipware; reflex
callygivesyoua +2 to anyfirearmsattackyou (APTR) chips and rnernoryware (MRAM)
are making. The cost of adapting a normal chips. Each piece of chipware operates
gun to smartgun configuration is twice the exactly like the skill of the same name. To
normal cost of the gun. use chips requires two separate installa-
tions: a neural processor located at the
Machinenech Link This allows the user to
base of the spine, which translates the chip
interface with (and control) any autofactory
or heavy machine operating from a MLINK- data into useful information, and a set of
based control system. You can also control interface plugs or chipware sockets.
small machines/appliances in non-factory
situations. The chip itself is a small, transparent sliver
about an inch long, often color-coded for
DataTerm Link This co-processorallows the identification. It is inserted into the inter-
user to directly access and store information face plug point down. It takes one turn t o
from a DataTerm, transferring it to a Times change chips. You may "run" as many
Square Marquee, or a LCD screen for display separate chip programs at one time as your
(in game terms, this allows the character to
current INT stat.
access information as if a DataTerm were
available, even if it isn't)
Example: My INT is 7. This means I can have
Interface Plugs: These are the staple of Cy- up to seven different program chips operat-
berpunk culture. Usually installed in the bones ing ut one time. I could be chipped for Karate,
of the wrist, spine or skull, they tap into major A V-4 Piloting, Pistol, Assault Weapons, AV-4
nerve trunks and interfacewith the neural proc- repair, Play Instrument and Specific Knowl-
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
.
edge: Rock Songs of the 1960s However, I of programming restrict what you can learn
could not use any other chips until I'd re- from a chip to a relatively low level(about +1 to
moved one of these seven . +3) .
CHIPS 6 PRICES
Having chipware is like having instant skills In addition. a Reflex chip must adapt to your TY pa Price Per Level
whenever you want them.The problem is. specific neural and muscular patterns. adjust- ATTR (MRAM)
ing its instructions to fit your body and vice Personal Grooming 100 ...............
chipware is expensive. and limited to only
versa (after all. the karate master who was the Wardrobe 8 Style 100 .................
the lowest levels of a specific skill (from +1 pattern for the chip might have been five foot BODY (APTR)
to +3) . To progress further. you would t e n and you might be six foot three). It learns Swimming ............... 100
haveto havea specially designedchip built your body movements by sampling your re-
at a higher level (not an easy proposition) . sponses as you practice using the chip. This
I N 1 (MRAM)
Accounting ..............
150
A natural skill. on the other hand. pro- process is known as chipping in and is required Anthropology ............
150
gresses by use and this increase in ability before the chip can be fully functional. Biology ..................................
150
. Botany ..................................
150
costs nothing except time Chemistry ...............
150
Chipping in takes two full days of practice for Education CI Gen.Know 200 .........
every level of the chip. This means. for ex- Expert (pick subject)
Another problem with chips is that unlike ................................
Ref Decision
natural skills. you can't ample. if you've been Geology .................
150
. chipped for MartialArts +3. History .................
150
learn to become better .....
I
itwill takesixdaysof practice Know Language (choose) 200
If you're chipped for a Mathematics .............
200
Karuteof +2. you'll be a t
before thechip has "learned" Physics ..................................
200
enough about your body to Programming ............
300
that level of skill until befullyfunctional.lfyou only Stock Market ............
300
you die. no matter how Wilderness Survival 200 ..............
get two days of practice. the Zoology .................................
150
many fights you get chip will function as a level Daytimer Chip 100...........
into. You also can't +1- practice for four days.
combine natural and and it's raised to +2 . REF (APTR)
Archery ................................. 300
chipwared skills; for ex- Dance .................................... 150
ample. combining a Memory (MRAM) Chips: Driving .................................. 150
These arechips for informa- Fencing ................................. 300
chipped Karate of +2 Handgun ............................... 300
and a natural Kurateskill
tion only. used for storage Heavy Weapons .......... 400
of +5 for a total of +7.
of raw data on a specific Martial Art (choose type) ....350
subject . A memory chip Melee .................................... 150
.............. 150
I
The programmed re- Motorcycle
sponses of a chip will
operates just like a skill of the Operate Hvy Machinery . .......ZOO
same type. is rated from +1 Pilot (Gyro) .............. 300
always override natural to +3. and is applied to the Pilot (Fixed Wing) ................ 300
responses. setting the Pilot (Dirigible) .......... 300
same stat as the original skill Pilot (Vect.ThrustVehicle) ....350
user's level of skill equal (for example. AV-4 Tech Rifle ...................................... 300
to that of the chip. would be combined with your TECH stat. while Submachinegun .......... 300
a Language chip would relate to your INT stat) .
TECH (APTR)
Chips are best used when you need to MRAM chips do not require a previous knowl- Aero Tech ............................. 250
edge of the skill involved and have no chipping- AV Tech ................................ 300
know a lot of things all atonce. but notvety
in time. Basic Tech ............... 200
well.With chips. you can become a limited Cryotank Operation ............. 150
martial artist. pilot. driver. marksman.You Chipware Socket: A small socket used only for Cyberdeck Design ................. 200
Cyberlech ............................. 300
can know a little bit more than you did insertingchipware(see above).With a chipwear Demolitions ............. 300
before about a variety of subjects. but socket. you can use your interface plugs to Disguise ................ 150
Electronics ............................ 150
nowhere near as much as you would if control other things (such as weapons or ve- .
Elect Security ............ 200
you'd hit the books and.studied. hicles). while still having access to MRAM and First Aid ................................ 150
APTR information. Holds 10 chips.
Forgery ................................. 200
Gyro Tech ............... 300
Reflex (APTR) Chips: These are chips for Re- Pharmaceuticals ................... 200
flex-based skills only. such as weapon firing or Pick Lock ............................... 150
hand-to-handcombat knowledge.These Aug- Implants Pick Pocket
Play Instrument
..............
..........
150
150
mented Programm TRCs feedloop -record a Implants are the useful little things you get Weaponsmith ............ 200
specific neural signal from one source. record it
plugged in to make living easier; things
in memory. then use the recording to activate
a series of muscle reactions in another source. that you can't replacefrom a Body Bank. or
Theoretically. these chips should allow even that you may want for a specific job Note: .
the lowliest "grunt" to have the skills of a karate Motion detectors. radiation detectors. and
master. the shooting ability of Wyatt Earp. and chemical analysers are 360" systems. Ra-
the reflexes of an Olympicathlete. But the limits dars/Sonars are 180" systems.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
sults can be output to an LCD screen, Biomoni- damage. This enhancement is virtually inde-
tor or Times Square marquee. tectableand takesabouttwo weeks(8odyType
increases by 1 each week).
Voice Synthesizer: This system allows the user
to mimic any voice or tone previously recorded Skin Weave: This enhancement uses nanoidsto
byit'smemorychip.Thechipcanstoreup to1 0 weave the top three layers of skin with a dense
"voices". This system also gives the user a +4 to polymer thread. The result is a a bare skin SP of
any Disguiseattempt (now you reallysound like 12, equivalent to light body armor. The process
the person you're imitating). is relatively discreet (a DIFFICULT Awareness
check to notice), and takes about two weeks (SP
AudioVox: This system allows the user to control increases by 6 each week).
vocal tones, volume and tone quality with the
precisionof a musical synthesizer. Special effects EnhancedAntibodies: These are tailored anti-
(reverb, tremolo, sustain and choral voices), bodies capable of attacking the most powerful
loudspeaker volumes and vocal
I
delay programming (for singing
with yourself) are also possible.
This effect adds +2 to any vocal
Performance Skill check.
Bioware
Bioware is anything which is
primarily low-impact technol-
ogy that is designed along
biological rather than me-
I viruses. In game play, they double the rate of
chanical lines. healing.
Most bioware enhancements involve the Toxin Binders: These are nanoids designed to
use of nanotechnology; tiny machines the bond with body toxins and poisons. This en-
size of microbes, which can perform surgi- hancement adds +4 to all poison saves.
caltasksonthecellularlevel.These"nanoids"
Nanosurgeons: These are microscopic ma-
are injected into the area t o be affected,
chines adapted to surgical repair. Some seal off
along with a supply of the raw materials damaged blood vessels, while others repair
needed t o perform their jobs (for example, damaged tissue, cartilage and bone with poly-
long string polymerswhich can be woven by mer microstiches. This enhancement doubles
the nanoids into a type of subdermal armor normal healing time.
called skinweave). Powered by body heat
and nutrient chemicals, these tiny machines
quietlygo about their business, strengthening Cyberweapons
muscles and altering body chemistry. At the top of the Black Cyberware hit list are
cyberweapons; hidden killing tools that can
Grafted Muscle: This is vat-grown muscle be buried in your skin until the moment you
grafted onto your own, with healing. With this want to take someone out. Cyberweapons
modification, you may increaseyour BodyType
are normallynotavailableontheopen market
stat up to 2 points, paying 1000 eb per point.
It can be combined with Muscle/Bone Lace.
(the only exception are scratchers and
vampires), and locating them usually in-
Muscle 8 Bone Lace: Also known as viral volves going down into the local Combat
transformation, this enhancement involves two Zone, finding a Fixer, and paying a lot of euro
types of nanoids. The first type threads syn- to ugly, nasty, violent people who would
thetic muscle through the natural muscle fi- normally consider you spare parts.
bers, anchoring and strengthening them. The
second type wraps the bones in a light weave of Boosters, of course, are drawn t o cyber-
metal and plasticthreads, making them stronger weapons like a 'zoner t o zoom dust.
and thicker.The result is an increaseof +2 to the
character's BodyType stat.This increase is both Scratchers: Implanted metal or carbo-glas fin-
in strength and the ability to absorb physical gernails. The incredible sharpness of the mate-
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
rial makes these as deadly as razor blades (1 D6/ Thisversion has far less features and is limitedto
2 per hand damage). Scratcherscut on the bias, making a rake attack only. The rake has a range
requiring the user to slice crossways, not rip of 1 meterand inflicts 1D6 in damageeach time
downwards. Most people lacquer their scratch- it hits. The cybersnake may be mounted in any
ers, making them indistinguishable from nor- body orifice 1" or larger, or may be implanted
mal nails (the enamel has no effect on the in the shoulders using a special mount.
sharpness). These are not considered lethal
"Rippers. I (and therefore black market) cyberwear, and
Vampires. Skin I can be purchased in any local clinic. Cyberoptics
grafts. I Vampires: lmplantedfangs, usually made up of
A combination of digital processor and
Sometimes I I carbo-glas or superchromed metal. You can camera, cyberoptics are replacements for
have a full set implanted (called the Sharkgrin normal eyes. Cybervision is just like regular
think we've got I vision, only better. Colors are brighter,
Special, it causes 1D6/2 in bite damage), or
(I population I
canines only (1D6/3 damage). These are con- images sharper. And that's just the start.
explosion of I sidered to be "decorative," not black market
werewolves on I cyberwear, and can be purchased in any local Want t o see life as a 30's black and white
clinic. Vampires can be augmentedwith poison movie? No problem. Telescopic or micro-
injectors(which are black cyberware) for double scopic vision? Optional. Infrared and low
the normal price. light vision? Standard for Solos.
-1t.
Rippers: Longer, heavier versions of scratchers
I Cyberoptics can look exactly like normal
(1 D6+3 per hand damage). The top two joints
I of each finger are replaced with a plastic and eyes, although a wide variety of fashion iris
I metal sheath, in which three inch carbo-glas colors are available (amber, white, bur-
Werewolves. I claws are housed. The rippers can be extended gundy and violet are very popular). Some
Whoa, whatta I by clawing the hand in a catlike fashion. Most versions are transparent, with glitter or
great idea. I I people wear false fingernails over their rippers, lights swirling inside of them. Other are
making them much harder to spot (a DlFF task). superchromed for a more "cyber" look.
gotta work on I Rippers are considered a form of black market Others can change eye color at will or t o
that... 'I I cybertech and assuch is not accessible through match clothes and surroundings. Some
-Ripperjack I
the average on-the-Mallclinic. Ripperscut in all even have tiny designer logos around the
directions, and are considered Edged weapons
I iris. Cyberoptics with cameras or weapons
for AP purposes.
I usually load from the front, with the iris
I Wolvers: The longest and deadliest of the opening up when the front of the eye is
implant blades, wolvers are implanted along depressed.
the backofthe hand. When the hand isclenched
in a fist, the thin, triangular blades telescope Color Shift: These cyberoptics can shift color or
and lock into place, remaining extended a full iris pattern on demand. A full color shift takes
foot until the hand is relaxed. Damage is 3D6/ about a minute. Mirrored, transparent, glitter-
hand. Treat as Edged weaponsfor AP purposes. filled or lighted versions are also available.
BigKnucks: Reinforcedknucklebones, giving the Infrared: Allows user to see in near total dark-
fist the impact value of a pair of brass knuckles ness, using heat emissionsfor image reception.
(1D6 +2). This is considered a form of black
market cybertech, and as such is not accessible Times Squarem Marquee: Scrolling red-letter
through the average on-the-Mallclinic. screen in upper edge of vision, linked to either
a software chip readout or a radio link.
Slice N' Dice: Mono-filament wire spool
mounted in end of one finger, with a weighted, Targeting Scope: This projects a targeting
false fingernail to give it balance and swing. sight into the field of vision a t will.The targeting
Monomolecular wire will cut through almost scope will read range to specific objects, speed
any organic material and most plastics. Can be of movement, bearing and size, as well as
used as a garrotte, cutter or slicewhip. This is providing several types of scope reticle for
considered a form of black market cybertech, aligning weapons. When chipped into a
and as such is not accessible through the aver- smartgun, the scope will match the targeting
age on-the-Mallclinic. sensors of thegun with whatyou are lookingat,
then flash a "ready signal" when the target is
Cybersnake: This is a simpler version of the acquired. In game terms, thisoption allowsyou
cybersnakefoundin the Hardwiredsupplement. to add +1 only to smartgun attacks.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Anti-dazzle protection: Auto stepdown com- internal LCD screen. As new pictures are taken,
pensatesfor harsh sunlight, flares, etc., neutral- the previous ones are erased,
izing effects from strobes, flashbombs and
bright headlights. Never needsunglassesagain.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
make a small beeping noise in the back of your long as both partiesarewithinlineofsighttoeach
head, getting louder asyou get closer tothe bug. other and not blocked by any object thicker than
Ingameterms, thisgivesyoua6outof1Ochance 1 foot.
(roll 1D10, choose your six numbers) of detect-
ing any bugs within 10 feet of you. A normal Wide Band Radio Scanner: This option auto-
option for Corporates, Fixers and Solos. matically scans all major police, fire, ambulance,
and Trauma Team communication bands. The
I WearManm: A variant of the radio splice, the user can set this scanner to cover one specific
"lt'sone thing to WearMan mounts twin vibrationspeakers on your band, downloading any incoming messages to
I smell the fear on mastoid bones, making your skull into a audio his own internal radio link or Times Square
system of concert hall quality. A tiny chip mount marquee.
I your Opponent$ I wiredinto theearlobeallowsyoutopluginavariety
I skin* But it's I of musicchips, allfashioned to look likeearrings. Or Micro-recorderLink Downloadsanythingheard
I another t o uet a . II you can pluq in direct toyour interface plugs. Each by the user to either an internal or external (via
I!
I
71.12
kinds of superheroic feats. To a point, it's Leaping: Cyberlegs employ powerful pis-
true; cyberlimbs can be designed with tons and microservos, backed by bundles of
boostedstrength and speed, usingsynthetic synthetic muscles. With a pair of them, you
muscle fibers and silicon chips. What you can leap tremendous distances. Characters
won't find are people running at 200 miles with pairedcyberlegscanleap6 metersstraight
an hour, bending steel bars with their hands up, or make a runningjump of up to 8 meters.
or throwingVolkswagens around. Why can't I
you go around lifting cars and punching Options
down walls like the cyborgs in the comics? I
These are things which can be done to a "So I kicked off
Simple physiology. The replacement limb
must be able to work in concert with the
basic cyberlimb to improve its strength,
damagecapacity, orflexibility. Inadditionto
th ' roof and '
remaining "meat" parts of the body. Even if these immovements. artificial shoulders can
jumped the gap
yourarm was ten timesstrongerthan before, be mounted at waist level to provide extra between
the back and shoulder muscles supporting arms. A cyberlimb can hold up to 4 options rooftops.
that cyberlimb wouldn't be-and they'd or built-ins. A hand or foot is considered to Whammo. My
shred long before the artificial muscles did. be one option. (Cyberlimbs automatically right cyberleg
But within limits, a cyber-equipped person come with basic foot modules.) I punched through
can do some pretiy impressive party tricks:
Quick-change mounts: These allow the user to I the cheap 'Crete
Crushing: A cybernetic arm uses synthetic changecyberlimbswithoutusing tools. The limb
as I hit the other
muscle fibres instead of flesh and blood. is bayonet mounted, and can be removed by side.
I/
depressing a thumb catch and twisting to the 'Reached out and
They don't get tired, and they don't feel
left. Quick-change mounts may also be used a t
pain. They are also much stronger than thewristorankle iointstoallowavarietvofhands , grabbed a big
normal muscle tissue. This gives a cyberarm or feet to be used. To calculate HL, a;erage the 'pipe to keep from
tremendous gripping power. All cyberlimbs HC's of all the options you're using with the fa//;n',and my
can easily crush light metals, woods and mount, then double it.
plastics. They can crush glass and plastic to cyberhand
dust (although they can't crush lumps of Hydraulic rams: Common to Soviet cyberwear,
coal into diamonds!). In combat, any rams are bulkier and heavier than myomar fibers metal
crushing grip with a cyberarm will do 2D6 (the limb will not pass inspection as real no pretzel.. .Just
matter how well covered by Realskinnm), but
damage. wasn't my
71.12
colors, with airbrushing, or transparent with Grapple Hand: This hand'sfingersextendback-
imbedded lights and holography. A plastic wards to create a five fingered throwing grapple.
covering may also be chromed (a popular A small spool in the wrist contains 30 meters of
option), or covered with a metallicskintinted in fine, super strong line capable of supporting
golds, blues, greens, reds or silvers. The most 200 Ibs.
expensive option is Realskinnm, a flexible plas-
tic that looks very much like skin; with follicles, Extension Hand: This hand can extend from a
hairs, small scars and imperfections, it has a telescoping wrist mount up to 1 meter. Can
75% chance of passing as a "meat" limb to all support up to 200 Ibs.
I Cybermodem up 1 but the closest inspection.
I the bicep, with a : Spike Hand: This hand contains a hardened
I popup 9 mm. i In lieu of a covering, the cyberlimb can be titanium spike which telescopesout of the wrist
and through the lower palm. Can be Poisoned
]eeze. Guy's left I armored with Kevlar and ballistic plastic. This
I
I and is usefulfor climbing. Damageis 1D6+3 AP.
armor covering protects the limb with an SP of
I arm looks like a 20. However, you may not cover or chrome an
I
frackin' Swiss armored limb. Modular Hand: This unit contains 1) Drug
I
I
I
Army knife.. . Hands & Feet
injector, 2) 1 meter garotte line extending out
of fingertip, 3) One-inch monomolecular blade
I
The basic cyberlimb comes without hands for cutting, 4) Picklock. In addition, there is a
I flshaddup and Il or feet attached; these are purchasedsepa-
2"x2" Palm Storage Space.
I
me loot the I
I
I
I
body, Ripper*I' : rately, allowing the user to tailor the limb
to his or her specific needs. These parts can
Talon Foot: This foot can extend narrow blades
similar to scratchers for 1D6 damage. Treat as
be changed' by unfastening a series of Edged weapon for AP damage.
I
I -Ripperjack connection bolts, and reconnecting the
I new hand or foot (taking aboutfour turns). Tool Foot: The toes of this foot contain (1)
screwdriver with changeable heads, (2) adjust-
No, you can't put hands on legs and vice able wrench, (3) battery-powered soldiering
versa. Get a life. iron, (4) adjustable socket wrench, (5) wire saw
blade.
Standard Hand:This resemblesanormal hand;
four fingers and a thumb. The hand i s covered, Web Foot: Extendsthinwebsfrom either sideof
superchromed or armored as part of the arm. foot, as well as webs between toes. Doubles
normal swimming speed, plus add +3 to swim-
Ripper Hand: This is a normal hand with ripper ming skills.
blades mounted in the upper hand and wrist
area. Grip Foot: Toes of this foot can extend and curl
around a 2" bar. The soles are covered in a tacky
Hammer Hand:This hand is made of hardened rubberized materialfor increasedtraction. Adds
titanium and has a powerful explosive shell- +2 to climbing skills.
driven ram that acts like a jackhammer. You
punch, the shell goes off, driving the fist for- Spike Heel: A 6" spike projects from the heel of
ward with incrediblevelocityand power (1 D10 this foot, allowing the user to make deadly rear
damage). A port in the top ejects the shell and kicks (damage is 2D6AP). Can be used for
opens to receive a new one (replacements cost anchoring or climbing.
3eb).
Built Ins
Buzz Hand: This hand can be pulled back to These are options which are constructed
reveal small, spinning mono-wires around a within the cyberlimb for specific tasks. Like
titanium hub. The high speed "weed wacker" most cyberweapons, they are designed for
shears through most materials like butter.
maximum concealability, and have a 60%
Damage is 2D6+2, soft armors reduced 2 pts.1
hit.
chance of passing a casual inspection if
covered with RealskinnTM or a suitably real-
Tool Hand: This hand's four fingers conceal istic covering.
small microtools: 1) screwdriver with change-
able heads, 2) adjustable wrench, 3) battery- Cybermodem: This option allows the user to
powered soldiering iron, 4) adjustable socket carry a small (and very expensive) cybermodem
wrench. The lower edge of the palm is hard- with him a t all times. The modem must be
ened to make a dandy hammer. jacked into a DataTerm, computer or other
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
telecommunications line in order to be used.
Power (for up to 3 hours) is provided by a
rechargeable battery (recharges in 1 hour), or
through an external power cord. Program chips
are changed through an access port in the limb.
The cybermodem is directly jacked into the
nervous system through its own internal cables,
and does not require external interface plugs.
I
than 100,000) where a cell net is present. If used
while in a movingvehicle, there is a 25% chance
each turn that the connection will be broken and
need to be re-established in the next turn.
Combat Cybermodem
Reliability is 60%. On a successful roll, the
Digital Recorder: This unit can record input
difficulty of a repair task is reduced by -3 (you
from internalmicrophones,digital recordinglinks,
know what’s wrong, and you just have to fix it).
digital cameras, or all three.
71.12
~
Grenade Launcher: This launcher is a modified For example, if you exert enough force t o
support grenade launcher, stored in a popup lift ten pounds, the linear frame provides
mount. One grenade (you may use any standard no more power than would be required t o
type) is stored in the launcher; a reload may be move its own bulk. If you lift a hundred
dropped in after the first one is used. Note: a pounds, the linear frame splits the differ-
standard storage space can hold 2 grenade. ence, lifting 20% of this mass so that you lift
80 Ibs. If you lift 500 pounds, the linear
Weapon Mount and Link This is an heavy duty
frame takes 80% (400 Ibs), leaving you t o
hardpoint mountedeither on the underside of a
cyberarm, the outside thigh of a cyberlimb, or lift 1001bs. At the top end of the scale
the top of a shoulder. You may attach externally (almost 1800 Ibs for Linear Q), the frame
mounted versions of standard weapons to this lifts 90% of the weight, while you only lift
mount, jacking their control cables into the side about 1801bs.
of the hardpoint. You may not wear armor or
clothing on the limb while the mount is in use. But hey, you didn't come here for a physics
Available weapons include: lesson, right? You wanna know how much
you can pick up and throw around.
Grenade Launcher
Micro Missile Launcher
Linear frames come in three strengths.
Externally Mounted Autopistol (based on
When using the linear frame, you will use
body t\/pe>
its strength value instead of your normal
2 Shot Capacitor Laser: This micro laser is Body Type value for any lifting, bending,
designed to produce a very powerful pulse of carrying or breaking task. Remember; for
limitedduration (3D6for each onesecondshot). all their advanced construction, implanted
Range is attrocious (1 Ometers), and recharging linear frames are still quite heavy (50-1 00
requires plugging into a power socket for one kg) and bulky. You can't swim in them, and
hour. However, it can be a particularly effective they have a -1 penalty t o your REF. But if
weaponforassassinationorsilent attacks. WA=+3 you want t o toss a car out of the way,
they're just the ticket. All linear frames lift
SOX their Strength value. (Example: can
dead lift 600 kg.)
Linear Frames
Linear frames are the 2020 version of the Frame Strength Damage Modifiers
exoskeleton. An exoskeleton is basically a Linear C 12 +4
metal framework with synthetic muscles Linear I3 14 +6
for movement; you sit in the exoskeleton Linear R 16 +8
SkOrnega R=Beta Z=Sigma
and steer while it does the work. Early
exoskeletons were rarely used for anything
important; clumsy and hard t o control,
hapless operators often tossed half-ton
cargo modules through walls and ripped Body Plating
loading doors off hinges. It was not until Body plating covers any situation where
the advanced bio-feedback systems of the armored plastics and metals are layered over
2000's that the more practical linear frame and directly anchored t o the skin. The armor
could be developed. is microscopically porous, allowing the skin
underneath to breathe, and made by
A linear frame resembles a suit of con- sandwiching an ablative plastic shell with
toured metal body armor. The frame is energy absorbing microcellularhoneycomb.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Body platingdoesn’t makeyou any stronger feet long. A single cyberoptic and a micro-
or faster, but it’s perfect for the cyborg phone are mounted in the tip, allowing you to
who wants all over protection all the observe things around corners without sticking
time- and doesn‘t care who knows it. It is your whole body into the line of fire. Sensory
the ultimate expression of the “metal is ”booms” are usually mounted on the head or
on the upper spine.
better than meat” philosophy; the body-
plated look more like robots than they do
humans, and are imperviousto most of the
physical damage that besets us mere
Running Out of “By the second
tour, I didn’t
mortals. Body plating also includes spe- Cash?
- -- - - - - mind too much.
cialized mounts for sensors as well as body
armor. Justabout this time, you’re starting to look
’ We were makin’
over the list of cyberenhancements, and good time
Body plating is sold in parts, each covering a you’re thinking, “I don’t have the kind of against the
specificarea. It maybeplaceddirectlyonthe Eurobucks I need to swing this newtech.” Sandies, and the
skin, or layeredover alinearframeexoskeleton At this point, you have to ask yourself “How new cwberarm
-1
for the ultimate in cyborg chic. desperate am I?AmIreally hard up enough paid ;tis way in
to risk death and dismemberment just to
the first two
Cowl: This is a body plate that covers the skull. get a lousy cyberarm?”
I firefights. Then
It is anchored by minibolts to the scalp, and
resembles the old skullcaps from bad science
fiction or fantasy epics. S?=25.
Sure you are.
71.12
VIEW_FROMTHE EDGE
1
S e l l Out to a Corporation
Joina Corporationand see the world.
While you’re at it, they’ll bankrollyou
for ten thousand dollars in newtech.
I
Butremember, with all businessdeals,
I there’s a price. In this case, you have
Own you/ I to workfor the Corporation.The jobs
I Banner* Body I you get to do are all the fun, suicidal
I
and soul. We I ones on which they don’t want to
don‘t care how I waste their good people: executive
I much metal you I kidnappings, black operations and
I have, or how I espionage missions. If you’re really
lucky, you‘ll even get to be a grunt in
a Corporate war-you know, the
ones that make Vietnam and
Afghanistan look like picnics, where
you get to defend the Corporation‘s
interests in some backwater hellhole
I and better with a population of natives you‘re
suppressing. sensors or other monitoring devices on you-
I praythat we
just to ensure your loyalty. You can’t say or do
I don‘t have to Big business is fun. anything withoutthem knowing. You can’t go
1 come looking for I anywhere without them finding you. The
I you first. Because I The Catch worst part is, you don‘t know where in your
I you’re Company Like most “free” offers, these employment body they’ve hidden these devices.
I property/ and we I
opportunities are boobytrapped in creative
and dangerousways. Each requiresthat you Command Kill: A reallyvicious sabotagechip-
I can do anything on the commandword, you will kill whomever
‘ we want with
work for an indeterminate amount of time
(forever) for peopleyou may not like. You’ll
you are directedto kill-without control, regret
or mercy. Your mother. Your lover. Your cat.
haveto do what they tell you, no matter how Anyone.
cruddy, dangerous or suicidal. Like most
powerful people in the Cyberpunk future, Company Safeguard: Another nasty sabo-
they don‘t like to be crossed, and have a tage chip. You can‘twillingly harm any member
variety of awful ways to ensure your of the controlling agency-to do so will cause
you excruciating pain. To continue will cause
even more pain, culminating in full heart
Hostages: To ensure your good behavior, the stoppage and a screaming death.
controlling agency is holding someone you
care about hostage. You mess up, they die- Remote Detonator: One of the favorite corpo-
or worse. rate tricks, this is a small package of inertexplosive
buried somewhere in your body, activated by a
Blackmail: Somewhere in your past, you did remote radio signal. You don’t know where they
somethingyou can’t afford to let out. It could put it, the scanners can’t find it, and if you did go
be as small as cheating on your taxes (with a around looking, you’re likely to set it off (6OOh).
20-yearjailterm), ora murderrap. It may even Wanna bet your life, cobber?
be fictional-created by your new employers
to make sure you toe the line. Are you willing Sounds fun? Remember, if you join one of
to take the chance? these groups, any one (or more) of these
little goodies applies directly to making you
SabotageChipware:To makesureyoustay in a puppet of your employers. What you are
line, the controlling agency has buried lethal
forced to do, and what they hold over you,
glitchesin your cyberneticsoftware. Things to
makeyour heartstopon command. Programs
is up to the Referee. He doesn‘t even have to
that give you blinding headachesif you refuse tell you. You don‘t have a choice. You just
to follow an order. sold your soul.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
7 /
4
I lames Bond I
I novel. " I
-Morgan Black-
I hand I
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I I
I
I Savugethrew ,
I
I himself I
I
I
against the I
I
I wallas the I
I firstslugs I
I
I slammed in. I
I Bricks shat- I
I 1
I tered around I
I him like I Sternmeyer SMG 27 [pg. 621
SMGm-7 L E 7 7mm 30 7 5 VR* 5 t h
I cheap glass
I
I
I a s he I
I propped the I
I I
I Scorpion 16
I
I against the I
I wallandcut I
I
I
I
‘RIDAY
NIGHT
FIREFIGHT
Friday Night Firefight (FNFF) is a crept on little flat feet into the design of
weapons combat system for using many roleplaying games, leading to char-
modern, futuristic and archaic firearms acters who can be repeatedly shot with
in Cyberpunk adventures. It‘s designed large caliber handguns until they run out
to cover all major elements of weapons of “hit points” and who can fire lngram
combat in an easy to use format, allow- MAC-10’s one-handed and hit with every
ing realistic firefight action without bullet.
resorting to lots of tables and charts.
FNFF also covers melee weapons, hand In otherwords, good, clean fun.
to hand combat and martial artsas well,
all in a simple system that allows you to FNFF is not good, clean fun. Most of the
use strategy over firepower. data herein has been complied from ballis-
tics reports, police data, FBI statistics and
There’s a lot of vague ideasand theories other not-clean fun sources. These sources
about modern weapons encounters- tend to point to a couple of basic truths
most of them from the Hollywood about firefight combat.
Never-Empty-Six-Cun-School of Armed
Combat. These misconceptions have 80% of most gunfights occur between
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
On the other hand, this NEWS
is Cyberpunk, right? So Example: Turn order is The advantage of the Solo is
why are we telling you player A, then B, then C. Combat Sense. For each level of
all this if we don't in- Player A decides to wait Combat Sense, you'll add +1 to
tend for you to go in until player C has moved your Initiativerolls. BetweenSolos,
there with guns blaz- from cover, then take his this advantage is going to even
ing? If a large caliber shot. 6y waiting, the new out, but when Solos meet other
handgun is trulysome- turn order will be B, C types of characters, look out.
thing to be respected, then A.
who wants to lose character after character Remember: Solos are the
until they get the point? Party Initiative equivalent of hired killers, and
killing is what they do best.
You may want to speed up your play by
Here'swhere we get interfaced, gangboys. designating one member of the group as
We've made this edition of FNFF simpler, the party leader and have him roll initiative
faster and more direct, so you can concen- forthe wholegroup. His roll isadded to REF
trate on how to fight; how to win every scores of everyone in the group to deter-
encounter (you'll only get to lose once). mine when each member of the group will
We're going to give you all the tips we've act.
learned over hundreds of our own encoun-
ters, plus hottipsfrom cops, combatgrunts, The Fast Draw or Snapshot
SWATmasters and other veterans who've By declaring a fast draw (aka snapshot) a t
put it on the line for real. the start of the round, you automatically
add +3 to your initiative roll, taking a -3
It's true- a firefight is dangerous. But you penalty to hit (you're rushing into combat
can handle it. That'swhyyou're Cyberpunk. instead of preparing carefully). You also
may not take advantage of scope, sights or
THE BASICS other aiming advantages. The martial arts
Rounds & Turn Order or melee verson of this technique is called
Combat in FNFF is divided up into rounds, the iai-jutsu or ightning strike.
each representing0 3 seconds. Every round,
each player gets to do something. The
order of the round is based on an inititative
roll of 1D10 plus the players REF stat, with
highest rolls moving first to lowest rolls
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Example: Ripperjack is faced with his long ambush. Ambushes gain a +5 to hit advan-
time enemy, Hargan. He knows Hargan has .
tage You may ambush or backstab by
AWARENESS a higher REF than he does, so he elects to announcing your intent to hide or lie in
0PTIO NS make an all out, blazing attack before the ambush for a target. You can elect to set up
One way to makeAwareness giant can get in a move. The snapshooting an ambush any time:
rolls a real surprise is to have bonus will give him the +3 advantage he
your players make ten needs. Ripperjack’s mono-katana arcs out in a) The opponent is unaware of your loca-
Awareness rolls before the a searing iai-jutsu before Hargan can raise tion and your intention to attack. This can
game commences. Write them his own sword. Unfortunantly, the -3 point be accomplished by setting up a hiding
down in order for each player. penalty for snapshots works against Ripper- place ahead of time or taking advantage of
When an Awareness roll is jack, and his attack misses his opponent by a a melee to get under cover and waiting for
required, go down the list in mile. a shot. A victim of an ambush must make
order, checkingto see if the an Awareness roll greater than your Stealth
rolls are high enough to Skill+lNT+l D10, oryou haveautomatically
succeed. The same table can Actions succeeded.
be used over and over again During your part of the round, you may
by rolling 1D10 at the perform one action without penalty. This b) The opponent’s attention is on another
beginningof a new combat, includes: situation, such as another attack or a task
then readingthe list starting a t requiringgreat concentration. This can be
the rolled number (ie: you roll ACTIONS accomplishedby creating a distractionfor
Move up to your full Movement (3x your opponent, or by sneaking up on him
a 5. You will start your new
your Movement Allowance in meters)
Awareness rolls a t the 5th while he is in combat with another com-
per round.
check, going through the rest batant.
of the list in order of Attack up to your weapon’s maxi
6,7,8,9,10,1,2,3,4,5. mum Rate of Fire (ROO, or make a AMBUSH=+S TO ATTACK FOR
Melee attack. 7 ROUND
Dodge (making yourself harder to hit.
Melee attacks only.) An ambush doesn’t mean you act first- it
just means you have an attack advantage.
Parry (deflecting damage onto some- Initiative for the round is made as usual,
thing else.) and the ambushing character can spring
the trap on his part of the round orcan wait
Escape a hold or trap.
to see what develops before making his
Aim (gaining + 7 to hit for every con- attack. Until the attack is made, his
secutive turn of aiming up to 3 rounds) opponent may not attack him, because he
doesn‘t know he’s in danger. An ambush
Reload or change weapons.
may only be used for one attack; another
Mount or dismount from a vehicle. ambush must be set up before the bonus
can be employed again.
Repair or give Medical Aid.
Example: Ripperjack decides to set up an
Perform a non-combat task. ambush in a dark alley of the City. He rolls his
Stealth Skill+lnt+7D7O for a total of 78.
Along come Scarr and Hargan, his mortal
More Than One Action enemies.
You may perform more than one action a t
a -3 penalty to each successive action. At the start of the combat turn, initiative is
Scarr, Ripperjack and Hargan. As they enter
Two Weapon Attacks the trap, both Scarrand Hargan makeAware-
Two weapon attacks can be made a t a -3 to ness Rolls. Scarr‘s roll is 7 2; Hargan’s is 20.
hit penalty on both weapons used. “It 3 a trap!” yells Hargan, but too late; Scarr
didn’t know what was coming and couldn’t
Ambushes 4% Backstabs declare an attack or defense. Ripperack pegs
Sometimes, the best way to deal with a him with a shot from his H&K Hellfire, using
very powerful opponent is to get the drop the +5 Ambush bonus. He won’t get the
on him from behind; in short, setting an bonus on Hargan, because the blond giant
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
DO UNTO OTHERS,
THEN CUT THE
CARDS
AJways make your enemy play the
Game your way. Lure him into
chasing you . Pick a place where
you can see him coming. Stash
some food and ammo for a long
stay, if need be.
SHOTGUN TABLE shots must be within 1 meter of each other. One slick trick is to bury your best
Range Size of Pattern Damage Each attack has a -2 penalty for every bolthole in the territory of your
Close,PB 1 meters 406 additional shot past the first. However, enemy's worst adversary; say,
Medium 2meters when this means you can put five two hiding from Arasaka in the middle
306
Long 3meters meter clouds of lead all over an area, a -4 or of a Militech training camp.
206
-6 penalty is a small price to pay. Autoshot
Any target within the pattern will take guns are slow, bulky and have lousy range, Let them do the work.
damage based on the range (damage but they are hell on wheels when it comes
listed on the Weapons Table on pg. 51 is to house to house, short range combat.
based on maximum damage).
Example: Ripperjack opens up with a CA WS,
Example: Ripperjack opens up his shotgun firing 5 shots. He takes a -8 penalty to his
on two boosters at medium range (pattern attack rolf to do this. He targets a 5 meter
width=2m). He hits the first booster dead on. hallway, spacing his shots in 7 meter inter
However, the second booster is within 7 vals. The hal/way becomes Hamburger
meter of the first- the pattern overlaps him Heaven.
as well. Both take damage.
71.1
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Type in meters (-10m for every extra kg. A land mine is designed to stop vehicles
DO UNTO OTHERS, past the initial 1), or launched to a range of or other heavy objects; it is easily detected
THEN LOOT THE 300 meters. with most magnetic sensors (7 in 10
BODIES chance). You step on it and it blows up.
Got a team in hot pursuit? Here's a Gas: Gas differs from other grenade effects Simple. Damage is 4D1 O.
trick. Before you go into the sharp in that it moves around. To use gas, first
end, plant a few claymores along determine the pOint of impact. All targets A claymore is designed to stop people, not
your escape route. Put 'em under within 3 meters are immediately affected. vehicles. Claymores can be triggered by
some trash or dirt, and mark the tripwires, time delays" or remote switches.
locations with a can or something. On the next turn, determine which way the Claymore mines have an hourglass shaped
When you make your retreat, you wind is blowing by rolling again on the area of effect, rather than a circular one
dodge the mines and let the lunch· Area Effect Table. Place the new area of (see illustration). The dimensions of the
meat on your trail walk the line. effect. Any target within the first and sec "front" cone of destruction are 6m wide by
ond areas of effect must save vs the gas, as 75m long; the dimensions of the "rear"
Boom. well as any targets in a straight line the cone of destruction are 6m wide by 6m
width of the gas cloud between the two long. At the juncture of the two cones is a
Another trick from the School of points. On the third turn, the gas dissap 6 meter wide circle. Damage is 4D1 O.
Low Blows and Assassin's tricks. Got pates.
a standoff situation? You can't get
them out and you can't get in? Gas grenades have either fatal or incapaci
Distract them while your mates get tating effects. To avoid the effects, the
to all the doors and windows and character must make a save; armor doesn't
set up tripwired claymores. Then, help (although filters or gas masks Will). On
just go away. a successful Save, he will take half effects (a
-2 REF reduced to -1, 4D6 reduced to 2,
Claymore Diagram
Eventually, they'll have to come etc.).
out.
CAS EFFECTS Rocket Powered Grenades
Boom. Type Effect Damage Rocket Powered Grenades (RPGs) are a
Nausea Illness -4 REF hybrid of grenade and rocket projectile,
Here's a freebie. Tired of stalking Teargas Tearing -2 REF with far greater range and accuracy. They
that heavy hitter on the Street? Sleep Drugs Sleept None are also easier to acquire than missiles.
Find out where he sleeps. Put a Biotoxin 1 Death 4D6 With the exception of the disposable
mine under his mattress Biototoxin II Death 8D6 Armbrust RPG, most have the disadvan
(gently.. .), then to make sure, Nerve Gas Death 8D10 tage of backblast, making them impossible
tripwire it to one end of the box t Half effect Is d rOWSiness, .] to all stats. to fire in a confined space. RPGS are fired
springs. He'll either sit on it, or he'll as with other grenade launchers or shoul
ffip the mattress back to check for Flamethrowers der arms, using the character's HeavyWeap
traps. Flamethrowers are much like other area ons Skill. Damage is 6D1 O.
effect weapons, with one difference; they
Too late. Boom. can be "swept" between two pOints. When Missiles
using flamethrowing weapons, you must Missiles and Rockets include radar and
decide both your starting point and your optically guided missiles, mini-rockets and
ending point, roll on the Area Effect chart shoulder rocket launchers. Using missiles
for both, and determine if you're on target. requires use of the Heavy Weapons Skill.
Anything caught in the sweep between the When firing missiles and rockets, treat them
first point and the second is ignited. Using as rifle-fired grenades with longer ranges
these weapons in anything other than the and larger areas of effect. Damage varies.
cyberweapon form requires use of the Heavy
Weapons Skill; cyberweapon flamers use Expl'oslves
Handgun Skill as the default. Damage is Explosives vary from grenades in that the
2D10. more you use, the bigger the blast area.
Explosive amounts are defined as units;
Mines one unit of TNT would equal one stick; one
Mines come in two types; standard land unit of plastique would be an ounce, etc.
mines and "claymore" antipersonnel mines.
71.1
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
damage done by the hit. The remaining ioned armor plate, it's very encumberin!
damage is then applied to the target area. from the movement angleStraps, buckles
If the damage done is less than the SP of padding and stiff plastic add up to restric ARMOR
Let'sclearupacouplethingsabout
the armor, no damage is done. arm movement, chafe the torso, and weigt
ARMOR right now. When we talk
down the legs. Pillsbury-doughboy pad
about Armor Stopping power,
Example: Rippetjackis wearinga Kevlarjacket ded arms don't lift guns very well, and well
we're not talking about whether
with an SP of 78. A 5.56 round strikes him in stuffed legs aren't muchfor bending, climb
the bullet(knife, club, sword, etc.)
the chest, causing 7 4 points of damage. The ing and running.
armor's higher SP thwarts the attack. The has actually gone through the
armor. What we're really rneasur-
next shot does 22 points of damage. The For this reason, every armor type in FNF
ing is the abstract idea of whether
armor reduces this by 78 points. Only 4 has an encumberance value (EV). Whei
pointsget through to cause Rippetjack harm. wearing body armor, add up the total o any damage got through. This
might not be an actual bullet or
EV's (listed in the Armor Table), and sub
blade, butratherabruisedribfrom
Hard and Soft Armors tract this from your character's REFLEX stat
a bigslugoreven minorconcussive
Body armors are divided up by whether or Even if you're cybered up, a lot of armor i
damage from a baseball bat.
not the majority of their protection is based gonna cost you.
on rigid metals/ceramics/composites, or on
In short, if the armor stopped the
softer, more flexible ballistic fabrics. This is
attack, this means that no harm
done for layering purposes and for some
actually goes through to the char-
weapon damage effects. The table below is rhese new rules(previous1y published in acter, regardlessof thefactofwhere
arranged with heaviest protection at the CP 2020 erratta sheets) have been added
the bulletended up. Sure, even if a
top, lightest a t bottom. :o clarify the armor question and deal vest physicallystops a .357 Mag-
Nith a reoccurring problem. num round, at pointblank range,
HARD/SOFT ARMOR TABLE
you'll get some big bruises.
New Rule I :Maximum Armor
HARDARMORS SonARMORs Now, in addition to Encumberance The idea of armor piercing also
Metal Gear HeavyArmor jacket Values, only a maximumof 3 layers of works into this; the chances that a
Policeriot armor Med. Armor jacket Armor can be worn at any one time ; knifewill slice throughthe layersof
Door Gunner's vest Police patrol armor no more than one of these layers can kevlar are higher than for a blunt
Steel helmet M-78 RPA jacket be HardArmor (see Hard/Soft Armors bullet, and this meansthat moreof
Flak vest/pants LightArmor jacket Table). The 2nd layer has an extra EV the knife will actually get through
Ballistic Nylon helmet Kevlar T-shirt/vest penalty of -1; the 3rd layer, an toyourribs. Armor piercingattacks
M-78 RPA heavy vest M-78 RPA T-shirt additional penalty of -2. Subdermal
aredeadly becausetheycanignore
C o p Mil body armor Heavy Leather Armor and Bodyplating cyberware modern armor's biggest
C-Ballistic Light Meshm SkinTightTM armor options are considered to be armor advantage: the ability to spread
padding layers; Skinweaveis considereda layer,
RPA=Militech Revised Personal Armor, APdefeating, CorpBodc kinetic impact over a wide area,
2 C-Ballistic Mesh, Skinlight Padding=/nterfocevoll, #1-2
but receives no penalty. slowingthe bulletdown and stop-
ping it from actually entering the
New Rule 2: Proportional Armor
Layering Armor: "What a concept", you body.
When layering armor, or wearing
think, shrugging into a bulletproof T-shirt,
armor behind an obstacle or cover,
bulletproof vest and a Kevlar armor jacket. Evenblows and energybeamscan
subtract the smaller SPfrom the larger
Theoretically, one should be able to layer be stopped by modern armor;
one. Find the difference on the table
protection upon itself until he becomes made of compositefabrics andce-
below and read across to the other
invulnerable. ramic inserts, armor will tend to
column. This is the bonus numberyou ablate under energy attacks, and
add to the larger SP to determine
Wrongo. First of all, let's look a t reality. If absorb kinetic energy.
overall protection from the armor/
the averagecop could stack layersof armor
armor, or armor/cover combination.
on himself before tackling a domestic dis-
If you have three or more layers of
turbance call, you can bet he'd do it. But
protection, calculate in pairs from the
he doesn't, because it just isn't practical.
inside out. (example: For armors A, B,
Here's why.
C, you compare A and 6;determine
the bonus number, and then compare
When you layer flack jackets, you aren't
the new strength of the larger of the
invulnerable; you're just immobile. While
pair to armor C.)
modern armor isn't as heavy as old fash-
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
~~
II I
example, Mortal 5 means I
subtract the SP of the armor would roll my Save number
from theamount of damage -5.
taken. The remainder, if any,
iswhatgetsthrough toYOU.
71.12
I
Use Cover sionally, you'll encounter a situation where
You don't have to lug around an armor the combination of armor and Body Type
jacket with you-often the best armor is Modifier will seem to reduce the damage DO UNTO OTHERS,
what you can find around you. Cover done to zero or less. A Body Type Modi- BUT COVER YOUR
allows you to move from place to place, fier may never reduce damage to less BUTT
letting something else soak up the gun- than one- in these cases, the character Remember that cover doesn't
fire. will automatically take 1 point of dam- always mean automatic safety. If
age. yourtargetis hidingbehindawood
COMMON COVER SPS doorandyouhavearifle,goahead
Sheetrock Wall 5 Wounds and shoot through the door; the
Stone Wall 30 Okay, so the Armor didn't stop all of the penaltiesforblindfiringwon'tstop
Large Tree, Phone pole 30 damage, andyour Body TypeModifierwasn't you if you're at point blank range.
Brick wall 25 enough to shrug off the rest. It's time to
Concrete Block Wall 10 take a Wound. If he's behind a car door, so much
Wooddoor 5 the better; it takes an engineblock
Heavy \flood Door 15 The Wound section of the Hardcopy Form to stopaserious bullet. If youthink
Steel Door 20 is used to record damage. For each point he's hidingbehindthe door of the
Concrete Ultility Pole 35 of damagetaken, checkoff one box, moving apartment you're about to enter,
DIataTermW 25 from left to right, top to bottom. The top make an Awareness check to see
Car body, door 10 line of this section (marked LIGHT, SERI- what side he's on, then shoot
Armore, A T__.
arhnriv
J _-_ 4n
'- OUS, CRITICAL, MORTAL, etc.) tells the through that sheetrock wall.
AV-4 Body 40 overall state of the character's health.
Engine block 35 When you're on the Street, make
Mailbox 25 WOUND EFFECTS sure you not only know where
Hydrant 35 A t a LIGHT wound level, a character suffers
cover is, but its general SP value. If
Curb 25 no penaltiesto his activities. He just hurts a lot
the hit team comes down on you,
("It's only a flesh wound...").
makesureyouhaveaDataTermto
The Body Type Modifier dodge behind-they make those
A t a SERIOUS wound level, the character
The next step after Armor is to apply your things tough enough to stand an
will be a t -2 to his REF stat for all actions. He's
character's Body Type Modifier to the hurting, bleeding, and definitely hampered. automobile crash. If there's no
damage. This is a special bonus which cover available, try lying in the
reduces the effects of damage, reflecting A t a CRITICAL wound level, the character's gutter; curbs work great if they're
the stamina and general toughness of the REF, INT and CL stats are automatically re- high enough.
character. Each time your character takes duced by half (round up). The character is
damage, subtract your Body Type Modi- holding his guts in with one hand and doing Also, check your lines of sight.
fier from the total amount of damage his damndest to stay in the battle. Remember, cover doesn't count
before applying it to your character. jack if the guy shooting at you is
If MORTALLY wounded, the character's
REF, INT and CL stats are reduced to 1/3rd higher than you are. And don't
BODY TYPE MODIFIER TABLE neglect the power of suppressive
Very Weak ........................................ -0 normal (divide by 3, roundingup). Most char-
fire as cover; sure, you probably
actersarealreadyoutof theaction by now, and
Weak ............................................... -1 are quietly going about the business of expir- won't hit at a long range, but the
Average ........................................... -2 chance that you might will make
ing. Messily.
Strong ............................................. -3 him keep his head down.
:..
Very Strong ................ ...................-4
Special Wound Cases
Superhuman* ................................... -5 Pay attentionto this, punkers.The
Limb Loss: If a character takes more than
'Possible only with cybernetics
eight points of damage to a limb area in graveyards are full of real people
any one attack, the area is severed or who didn't.
Forexample,say you took tenpoints ofdamage.
If you were a Very Weak Body Type, you would crushed beyond recognition. The charac-
take the full ten. But with a Very Strong Body ter must make an immediate Death Saveat
Type, you'd only take ( 7 0-4=6) six points of Mortal 0. A head wound of this type will
damage. kill automatically.
The A. Swenson Memorial He Shrugs Of7 Head Hits: A head hit always doubles
Damage Like An Old Overcoot Rule: Occa- damage.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
Stun/Shock Saves A Stun/Shock roll can be recoveredfrom by
Every time a character takes damage, he rolling a successful check in a subsequent
KNOCKBACK must make a save against the effects of turn.
Okay, let's talk about knock-
back. You know, where you
pain, shock, fear and blood loss. This is
shoot the guy and he hurtles what you see in most Hollywoodgunfights Very Important: Death Saves
backtenfeet, armswindmilling, when the bad guy gets hit-staggering, Unless you have taken a Mortal Wound,
to crash through a convenient falling back and so on, all caused by pain your character is in no danger of dying; he
plate glass window? and shock (see the sidebar for a general only needs to make his initial Stun save to
tirade about the fiction of knockback). remain conscious. But if the wound is a
Unfortunately, this is another MORTAL one, he has a chance of dying.
Hollywoodism. Why don't we The Stun Shock Save is a serious thing, Determining
have knockback? Blame lssac because it can put an opponent out of the whether he
Newton's Third Law (of Equal picturefasterthanthe actual damagefrom survives re-
and Opposite Reactions). The quires that a
the wound. Police officers have actually
fact is, if you can deliver enough
died from the shock of a minor bullet Death Save
energy to knock a man off his
feet, Physics says that the guy wound in the foot (but we won't do that to be made, with
firing the gun will also fly back your character). Other people have taken a new save re-
ten feet as well. And that just as many as thirty or forty gunshots and quired every
doesn't happen. managed to keep moving for up to ten turn that the
minutes before their minds got the mes- character re-
A real gun can't deliver that sage their bodies were telling them ("Hey mains un-
much energy anyway; a bullet Bob, you're dead!"). treated.
hasn't got the mass. For ex-
ample, a Winchester 458 Mag- The Stun Save is equal to your character's Like a Stun
num SuperXonlydelivers4712
Body Typevalue, minus a penalty based on Save, a Death
foot-pounds of energy direct
from the muzzle(that drops off his current Wound State. Save requires that you roll a value on 1D10
to 1200 ft-lbs past the first 500 equal to or lower than your character's
yards). You can deliver more STUN/SHOCK SAVE Body Type score, subtracting the level of
energy by hitting your target MODIFIERS severity for the wound from your base
with a pair of nunchucks. Wound State Penalty chance to save. Mortal Wounds are rated
Light .............................................. 0 from 0 to 8.
Okay, so what do gun experts Serious .......................................... -1
mean when they talk about Critical .......................................... -2 Example: Hargan is Very Strong and takes a
nstopping power"? What they Mortal ........................................... -3 Mortal 4 wound. He must roll lower than
really mean is the amount of Mortal 1 ........................................ -4 (7 0-4)=6 to stay alive.
tissue damage the weapon can
Mortal 2 ........................................ -5
cause on impact. The bigger
and heavierthebullet, the more Mortal 3 ........................................ -6 Each turn, you must make another Death
ripping andtearing damage it'll Mortal 4 ........................................ -7 Save to see if you survive to the next turn.
do, and the faster the target Mortal 5 ........................................ -8 On a successful roll, you make it; on a failed
will drop from shock and tissue Mortal 6 ........................................ -9 roll, you will die a t the end of the turn in
damage. which the roll was made.
A failed roll means the character is out of
Which is what a Stun/Shock combat. You can add the special effects Sooner or later, you'll fail a roll and die. The
Save is all about. yourself : only way out is stabilization.
71.12
A successful stabilization is made by add-
HIT NUMBERS
ing your TECH stat, any Medical Skill and
Point Blank ..........................
10
one D1Ofor a result equal to or higher than
Close .....................................
15
the total number of damage points the
Medium ................................
20
patient has taken. For example, Ripperjack
Long .....................................
25
has taken 20 points of damage, placing him
in a Mortal 7 Wound State. To stabilize him
Extreme ................................
30
will require a roll of 20 or greater. Once I
Range Definiitions
stabilized, the character is no longer in
Point Blank: The weapon is very close
'
I
"Tonight's Body-
danger of dying unless another wound is to or in actual physical contact with the - I Lotto scores just
taken. At this point, the whole messy target. It will almost always hit, doing maxi- I in. In the South I
business begins again ... mum damage.
I Side Combat I
I
The chances of a successful stabilization Close: The weapon is attacking a t one I
Zone, 73. North I
roll can be increased by the following quarter of the listed range. I Highlands an d :
modifiers, added to your die roll. 1 University Dis- I
Medium: The weapon is attacking a t I
one half of the listed range for i t s type. trict, 4. And this I
Advantage Add to die roll I
Full Hospital & Surgery ....................
+5 I just in- a light:
Long: The weapon is attacking a t the plane crash at I
Trauma Team Ambulance ................ +3 listed range for its type.
I
out the Trauma Teamsection, pages 114to bat situation to your final Attack Roll. There -Nightly News I
125. are modifiers for Target, Aiming, Weapon Program, c. 2020
I
Type, Type of Firing, Position and Move- I
ment, all listed on pg. 99.
Making Attacks I
equal to or greater than a specific hit Fumbles can encompass a wide variety of
number. The hit number i s determined by effects. Mostweaponfumbles includejam-
the range between you and your target. ming or misfires.
Automatic weapons have the highest
chance of fumbling, and will jam based on
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I I
the Reliability of the weapon: When a Using a scope or taking aim is also impos-
fumble is rolled while using an automatic sible. Therefore, range is critical in the full
weapon, ignore the table on pg. 33, and auto technique.
roll a value on 1D10 higher than the Relia-
bliity value for the weapon. The full auto option is based on the rate
I I of fire (ROF) of the weapon. If attacking
I I
RELIABILITY TABLE more than one target, you must divide the
Weapon ROF of the weapon by the total number of
I "It's not just 1 Very Reliable ............ 3 or lower targets (round down), then roll for each
I having an lei Standard .................. 5 or lower target individually.
Unreliable .................8 or lower
automatic
weapon that
1 II
I
I
I FULL AUTO RULES
It takes 1D6 turns to unjam a jammed At Close Range:
makes you a For every 10 rounds fired at Close
weapon.
hard case. It's range, add 1 t o your Attack Total.
knowing how Automatic Weapons
to use that There are three
At Medium, Long and Extreme
weapon Ranges:
ways to use auto-
For every 70 rounds tired at Me-
effectively. A matic weapons.
dium, Long and Extreme ranges,
good combat The three
subtract 1 from your Attack Total.
gunner can round burst is
used to put mul-
deny an area, tiple shots on a
For every point of success over the re-
rake a group, quired to Hit roll, one round hits the target,
single target a t
up to the maximum ROF for the weapon.
or put a any range. Full
single round Auto is used to
NUMBER OF HITS=# POINTS >
dead on deliver a lot of
THAN TO HIT NUMBER
bullets a t close range to one or more
target. And targets. Suppressive fire is used to force
never run out Suppressive Fire
an opponent to keep his head down or risk
Suppressive fire is used to cover an area
taking a slug. Each form has its own
(called a fire zone)with bullets, making
advantages and disadvantages in combat,
the area hazardous to pass through. All
and the smart street warrior knows when
targets entering or crossing the fire zone
to use the right technique for the right job.
during this attack must make a "save"
against taking a bullet by rolling their
Three Round Burst Athletics Skill+ REF + l D l O and beat-
The three round burst is a setting used
ing a save number. Afailed save means the
on most automatic weapons to conserve
target takes 1D6 rounds, each randomly
ammunition and improve accuracy. The
located.
three round burst gives you an automatic
+3 to hit advantage a t certain ranges. The
This save number is determined by divid-
attack is made as one action. If successful,
ing the total number of bullets fired by the
roll 1D6/2 to see how many rounds actu-
width of the fire zone.
ally hit the target. This technique may only
be used against single targets. Example: 64 rounds into a 2 meter area
would require a save of 32 or higher. 64
3 ROUND BURST= +3, CLOSE & rounds into a 5 meter area would require a
MEDIUM ONLY save of 72 or greater.
Full Auto
This attack is best used to cover a wide
range of targets or to make sure a single
target is dead, dead, dead. A weapon on
full auto is a bucking bronco; hard to hold
1
SAVE= NUMBER OF ROUNDS
DIVIDED BY THE WIDTH OF
THE FIRE ZONE IN METERS -1
You may overlap the fire zones of more
I
on a target more than a few meters away. than one weapon, dividing the total num-
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
TARGET CAUGHT
BEHIND COVER
ber of shots to determinethe save number. Poison & Drugs: To avoid the effects,
For example, two Uzis with an ROF of 32 the character must make a save roll. On
would place 64 bullets into the fire zone. a successful save, damage is reduced by
half.
Two rules are immediately apparent with
suppressive fire. First, it's only useful when DRUG & POISON EFFECTS
you can fire a LOT of rounds into a small Type Effect Damage
space. This means teams should coordi- Hallucinogen Confusion -4 INT
nate their actionsandfire at the same time, Nausea Drugs Illness
placing the maximum number of rounds Sleep Drugs
into the firezone. Also, the firezoneshould Biotoxin I
be a tight as possible (the minimum width Biototoxin II
of a fire zone is two meters). Nerve toxin/gas Death
+Half effect is drowsiness, -2 to all stats.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
MICROWAVER SIDE EFFECTS
Dartguns can b e loaded with poison or 1 Cyberoptics short for 1D6 turns
Do OTHERS) drugs. Each hitdoes 1D6/2, pluseffectofthe 2 Neural pulse! If character has inter
THEN SPLIT drug or poison used (see Airguns, above). face plugs, reflex boosts or other
You don't have to tackle that 400 hardwiring, REF stat reduced by
Ib.cyberpsycho with a handgun. 1D6/2 until repaired.
powerSquirtguns
Shoot from rooftopsf Power squirtguns can be loadedwith drugs 3 Cyberaudio shorts for 1D6 turns
then fade* a high powered, 4 Cyberlimb malfunction: Lose all
or acids. Effects are as with Airguns (above),
scoped rifle to take on that Euro- with eachIlsquirtllequalto 2 pellets. useof cyberlimb for 1D10 turns.
solo. String some mono-wire a t Roll 1D6 for limb, re-rolling if no
neck height between two posts Bows, Crossbows, Spears cyberlimb limb is present:
then bail that Nomad Gang into & Throwing Stars 1-2 Right Arm
trying to run you down. 3 Left Leg
Although they are not common, bows,
crossbows, spears and throwing stars 4 Right Leg
In short, never tackle something 5-6 Left Arm
are available in the 2000s. These weapons
head on if you can do it quieter 5 Total Neural breakdown! Char-
are either thrown (using the character's
and neater another way. acter reduced to twitching, epilep-
Throwing Skill for shiriken, darts, knives and
spears), or fired (using Archery Skill). All non- tic fit for 1D6/3 turns.
You Referees paying attention? 6 No Effect.
grenadethrown weapons havea rangeequal
They're going to use these tricks
to the thrower's BODx3 in meters.
on you.
Area Effect Weapons
Now you're ready for 'em. Beam Weapons Area Effect weapons are fired just like any
Beam Weapons include lasers and micro- other type of ranged weapon. However,
wave weapons. Powerful beam weapons are they are capable of covering more than
extremely rare in the Cykpunk universe (1 in one target a t a time with a cloud of pellets,
10 chance of availability, and even then only flame, explosive force or gas. Area effect
from majorCorporationsand/orgovemments). weapons include shotguns, grenades 62
explosives, flamethrowers, missiles
lasers &rockets, mines and rocket powered
Lasers have a rechargeable powerpack grenades (RPGs).
holding a total of 10 six sided dice of dam-
age. You can use as little as 1D6 or as much Attacks are made as with other ranged
as 5D6 in a single shot, until you have used weapons, with the centerof the area effect
all 1Odice. Lasers rechargefrom wall current falling on the designated target, and any-
at a rate of 1D6 per hour. thing within the area of effect taking dam-
age as well. If the target is missed, the true
Example: Rippeq'ack has recently captured a center of the attack must be determined.
laser from an Arasaka guard. He has 7 OD6 to When calculating where a grenade or other
work with; he dials thepowergtudgeup to 506 Area weapon has hit, roll 1D10 to deter-
and fires. At this rate, he'll only have one more mine the directrion on the Grenade Table,
shot before it's recharge time. then roll a second D10 to see how many
meters away it hit.
Microwavers
Microwavers are fired like any other ranged Shotguns
weapon, delivering 106 in burn damage. In Shotguns fire a cloud of small metal pellets
addition, any target within 1 meter of the called a "pattern". The width of the pat-
path of the beam must roll 1D6 on the tern is based on the distance between the
microwaverside effects table to determine if attacker and the defender. Any target in a
there are electrical side effects on exposed straight path between attacker and in-
cyberwear.Shieldedcyberwearisnoteffected tended target is also consideredto be in the
by electrical side effects. area of effect. Note: if something is be-
tween the path of the shotgun and its
Like lasers, microwavers recharge from a intended target, the intervening spaces
wall socket, taking one hour to reach a behind that object are considered to be
usable charge. exempt from the effects of fire.
71.12
.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
cendlary, stun, dazzle, sonic, concus- the cyberweapon form requires the Heavy
DO UNTO OTHERS, sion and gasvarieties. Eachtype has its own Weapons Skill; cyberweapon flamers use
THEN LOOT THE area of effect, usually between 2 to 5 meters. Handgun Skill as the default. Damage is
BODIES Grenades and explosives can be detonated 2D10 the 1st turn, 1D10 and 1D6 the
Got a team in hot pursuit?Here's a using timers, radio controls, tripwires or following two turns. Hard armors protect
trick. Before you go into the sharp remote detonators. All grenade types are normally. Softarmorsmust be>l5SPto protect
end, plant a few claymores along available in hand or rifle-propelled versions, the target, and are damaged 2pts/hit
your escape route. Put 'em under and are described in the Area Effect
some trash or dirt, and mark the Weapons & Grenade Table, pg. 89. Mines
locations with a can or something. Grenades may be thrown up to l o x the Mines come in two types; standard land
When you make your retreat, you character's Body Type in meters (-1 Om for mines and "claymore" antipersonnelmines.
dodge the mines and let the lunch- every extra kg. pastthe initiall),or launched
A land mine is designed to stop vehicles or
meat on your trail walk the line. to a range of 225 meters. other heavyobjects; it is easily detected with
most magneticsensors (7 in 10 chance). You
Boom. Cas :Gas differs from other grenade effects step on it and it blows up. Simple. Damage
in that it moves around. To use gas, first is 4D10.
Another trick from the School of determine the point of impact. All targets
Low BlowsandAssassin'stricks. Got within 3 meters are immediately affected.
a standoff situation?You can't get
them out and you can't get in? On the next turn, determine which way the
Distractthem while your mates get wind is blowing by rolling again on the Area
to all the doors and windows and Effect Table. Placethe new area of effect. Any
set up tripwired claymores. Then, target within the first and second areas of
just go away. effect must save vs the gas, as well as any
targets in a straight line the width of the gas
Eventually, they'll have to come cloud between the two points. On the third I Claymore Diagram I
out. turn, the gas dissappates.
A claymore is designed to stop people, not
Boom. Gas grenades have either fatal orincapacitat- vehicles. Claymores can be triggered by
ing effects.Toavoid theeffects, thecharacter tripwires, time delays, or remote switches.
Here's a freebie. Tired of stalking must make a save; armor doesn't help Claymore mines have an hourglass shaped
that heavyhitter on the Street?Find (although filters or gas masks will). On a area of effect, rather than a circular one (see
out where he sleeps. Put a mine successful Save, he will take half effects (a -2 illustration). The dimensions of the "front"
under his mattress REF reduced to -1,4D6 reduced to 2, etc.). cone of destruction are 6m wide by 75m
(gently...), then to make sure, long; the dimensions of the "rear" cone of
tripwire it to one end of the box CAS EFFECTS destruction are 6m wide by 6m long. At the
springs. He'll either sit on it, or he'll Type Effect Damage juncture of the two cones is a 6 meter wide
flip the mattress back to check for Nausea I Ilness -4 REF circle. Damage is 4D10.
traps. Teargas Tearing -2 REF
Sleep Drugs Sleep? None Rocket Powered Grenades
Too late. Boom. Biotoxin 1 Death 406 Rocket Powered Grenades (RPGs) are a
Biototoxin II Death 8D6 hybrid of grenadeand rocket projectile, with
Nerve Gas Death 8D10 far greater range and accuracy.They are also
tHalf effect is drowsiness, -2 to all stab. easier to acquire than missiles. With the
exception of the disposable Armbrust RPG,
Flamethrowers most have the disadvantage of backblast,
Flamethrowersaremuch likeotherareaeffect making them impossible to fire in a confined
weapons, with one difference; they can be space. RPCS are fired as with other grenade
"swept" between two points. When using launchers or shoulder arms, using the
flamethrowing weapons, you may decide character's Heavy Weapons Skill. Damage is
both a starting point and an ending point; 6D10.
then roll to Hit, determining if you're on
target. Missed rolls refer to the Grenade Missiles
scatterchart(pg.99). Anything caught in the Missiles and Rockets include radar and
sweep between the two points is ignited. optically guided missiles, mini-rockets and
Usingthese weapons in anything other than shoulder rocket launchers. Using missiles
71.12
requires use of the Heavy Weapons Skill. target. To make a melee attack, the formula
When firing missiles and rockets, treat them is:
as rifle-fired grenades with longer ranges
and larger areas of effect. Damage varies. A77ACKER REF+SKILL+lD70
vs V
Note for Rocketsand Missiles: If a rocketor DEFENDER'S R€~+SKILL*+lDlO
'Martial arts, Fencing, Melee, Dodge or Athletics can be used,
missile has an Armor-Piercing warhead, the
I!
depending on situation and Referee decision. I "I didn't have
armor's SP is halved, but the damage that I I I time to draw
penetrates is not.
my gun. But I I
Martial Arts & Brawling
Explosives Brawling and Martial Arts attacks are I did have time
Explosives vary from grenades in that the I to snap a wheel
different from other meleeattacks in that an
more you use, the bigger the blast area.
Explosive amounts are defined as units; one
attackcan bemadeina numberofways.You
I kick into his
could, as an attack, use: face, followed
unit of TNT would equal one stick; one unit
of plastique would be an ounce, etc. Strike: Cause 1 D6/2+ Damage Modifier. I by a spinning
I crescent off the
EXPLOSIVE RANGES Kick: Cause 1 D6+Damage Modifier.
back heel. That
Explosive Unit Area Damage
Block/Parry: Stop or absorb damage. I took him down
Plastique 1kg 4m 7D10
C6 1kg 5m 8D10 Dodge: -2 to Attacker's hit roll. long enough
TNT lstick 3m 4D10 I forme t o g et
Disarm: On successful roll, knock or re- the Minami out
Take the area covered by one unit of explo- move weapon from opponent's hand.
of my armor-
sive and multiply this by the total number of Throw: Requiresa Grapplefirst. Opponent jacket.
units. Damage is appliedto the overall body, is knockedtoground, taking 1D6+Damage
rather than to a location. Modifier, plus making a stun roll a t -2.
"Good thing
Hold: A painful joint or body hold. You
Example: Rippetjack lumps four sticks of TNT
must Grapple your opponent first. Foe is
to- his
together and tosses them into an abandoned immobilized until an escape is made. I partnerwas
building 7 0 meters away. One stick has a blast
area of 3 m e t e n 4 x 3 = 7 2 meters. Rippetjack Escape: On successful roll, you are free of
right on me
is caught in his own explosion and takes big the hold and mav move. with a backfist
damage. Bad move, 'lack. I andahand- I
Choke: Requires hold or grapple
as the previous move. Opponent
.. takes 1 strike combo.
Molotov Cocktails I
1D6 damage per turn. All of it pure
Molotov cocktails are the favorite of would- I
Sweep/Trip: Knockopponentto ground. I chipped skills.
be terrorists and people with a lot of gaso-
line, rags and empty bottles around. A He is -2 to next his attack; you gain +2 to I Too bad for I
your next attack. I her- a 7Omm
molotovcovers2metersforevery liter of fuel
I
used (a standard soft drink bottle would * Grapple: A grabbing or holding move, , slug at hyper-
VeIocity beats
I
cover 2 meters). Damage (2D10) is applied prerequisite to applying a throw, choke or I I
to the overall body, rather than to a location. hold as the next action.
I kung-fu any I
Melee Attacks
Martial Arts: Martial Arts are traditional
forms of melee combat that have been
.
day.. ' I
I
-Morgan
Melee attacks include clubs, knives, developedto be deadlier than regular brawl- Blackhand
swords, axes, chainsaws, sledgeham- ing. All martial arts techniques have key
mers, monokatanas and monoknives, attacks- attacks which reflect the particu-
monomolecular chains, cyberbeasts, lar strengths of the technique. When a key
battlegloves, rippers, scratchers, attack is used, such as a karate kick, the
martial arts weapons, hand t o hand character gains an +2 to +4 attack bonus
attacks and brawling. (depending on the style of martial art).
Melee attacks differ from ranged attacks in For example, Karatewould have the follow-
that you are opposing a person, instead of a ing moves:
71.12
Strike ......................................
must make a save ( 9 or lower on 1D10 for
+2
Block/Parry .............................
normal weapons) to avoid breaking. Any
+2
Kick ........................................
+2 other actions the defender makes will have a
corresponding-3 penaltyforeachsuccessive
A Kurute Master would be able to do any action.
other type of move, but would be better at
these three. PARRY= STOPS THE ATTACK AT
-3 TO DEFENDER'S OTHER
A Master of Cboi Li Fut would have: ACTlONS
Strike ....................................... +2
Block/Parry............................... +2 Melee Damage
Kick .........................................
+2 When making melee attacks with weapons,
Throw ...................................... +1 the damage is listed as part of the weapons
Dodge ..................................... +1 description.
-making him far more versatile than our When making a melee attack, you must also
Karate Master. add a damage modifier based on your
character's body type to any damage. This
Of course, it would far more difficult to learn damage modifier is listed in the Dumuge
Choi Li Fut than Karate; this is reflected in the Modiffer Table below.
difflculty level of the form. The number of
Improvement points normally required to DAMAGE MODIFIERS
increase your level of skill is multiplied by the Strength Add to Dumage
difficulty level to show this. A full list of Very Weak ..................................
-2
martial arts, difficulty levels and key attacks Weak ..........................................
-1
is on pg. 100. Average .....................................
+O
Strong .......................................
+1
Damage: In addition, martial arts are far Very Strong ...............................
+2
more deadly than regular brawling. When Body Type 11-12 .......................
+4
using martial arts, you will gain a damage Body Type 13-14 ....................... +6
bonus equal to your current level of martial Body Type 15+ .........................+ 8
arts in addition to any strength bonuses.
Monoknives, Monokatanas and
Slice & Dice
Defenders can try to dodge melee attacks Monoknives, monokatanasand Slice &
by announcing their intention to dodge at Dices do double damage on a naturalattack
the start of the turn. This will impose a -2 roll of 10. These weapons will always break
attack penalty to any attacks made against on a fumble (a natural l), and require a
them in thatturn; however, any otheractions special roll to determine if they shatter when
the defender makes will have a correspond- used to parry (4 or less on 1D10). Unless
ing -3 penalty for each successive action. otherwise noted in theweapon'sdescription,
all mono-edge weapons are at 1/3xSP vs.
soft armors, 2/3xSP vs. hard armors.
ROLL, -3 TO DEFENDER'S
OTHER ACTIONS Cyberbeasts
"Cyberbeast" is the popular term used to
Parrying describe any cybernetically controlled
Defenders may also elect to parry melee weapon that isstoredin the body andyet has
attacks by announcing their intention to thecapacitytoattackon itsown. Cyberbeasts
parry at the start of the turn. Any attacks may make one attack per turn. They have a
made during the turn must expend their total attack skill of 10+1D10; in all other
damage against the parrying object first. aspects, theyattackascharacterswould.The
most common type of cyberbeast is the
Swords and other bladed weapons can be cybersnake, which cause 1D6 in damage
used to parry without taking damage, but per attack.
71.12
.
1 REF+ DRIVlNG/PlLOTINC
SKILL+ 7 07 O+ MODIFIERS
equal to or greater than a specific control
Aircraft goes into spin, lose
1D10x100 feet of altitude .
Vehicle Combat
number. The control number is determined Vehicle combat is performed exactly as with
bythedifficultyofthe maneuveryouwantto othercombat,applying allappropriatemodiiers,
perform. and usingthe Weapon Skillsappropriateforthe
type of weapon. Shots are not targeted and
Simple (swerve, take off or land, hover, there are no location for damage. Vehicles are
rotate) ......................................... 15 usually armed with lasers, missiles, machine
guns and railguns, and may receivebonusesfor
Difficult (tight turn, control a skid, re- turret mounted weapons.
cover from a stal1,emergency stop, pull
out of dive, Vehicle Damage
reverse or pull away) ....................
20 Vehicles have both SP values and Structural
DamagePoints(SDP).Ifarmored,thevehicle's
Very Difficult(bootleggerturn, regain SP is subtracted from the damage taken, with
control from spin) ........................ 25 the remaining damage subtracted from the
vehicle's SDP.
b) When makingyour roll: you mustadd any
and all modifiers that apply to the situation to When a vehicle is reduced to 0 SDP, it is
your final Control Roll. There are modifiers for considered to be destroyed or inoperable. In
both vehicles and speed of travel: this simplified system, there are no locations
fordamage-all pointsaresubtracted directly
CONTROL MODlFlERS from the vehicle's SDP.
Standard car ............................... -0
Limousine ...................................
-3 Crashing & Ramming
Sportscar ...................................
+2 Crash and ram damage is determined by
AV-4 .......................................... -2 dividing the speed of the movingvehicle by
AV-6 ..........................................+2 20 (round down), to determine the number
AV-7 ..........................................+ 1 of six-sided dice thrown. This value is multi-
Motorcycle ................................ +1 plied by a modifier based on the mass of the
Truck .......................................... -4 object collided with, listed in the Weight
Rotorcraft ................................... -0 Modifier Table below. Thevehicle takes this
Osprey ....................................... -0 many dice in damage to its SDP, while all
Boat ........................................... -1 occupants take one-half of this die amount.
Double safe speed ....................... -2
Triple safe speed ......................... -4 WEIGHT MODIFIER TABLE
Four times safe speed ..................-6 Size Multiplier
Very Light (small box, feathers) x.5 .
On a failed roll, roll 1D6 and consult the Light (man, large box) ................x l
Control Loss Table below: Medium (motorcycle) .................x2
Heavy (car) ................................ x3
Very Heavy (truck, ground) .........x4
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
'RAUMA
TEAM
So let'slook at the most important For example, say Savage has a Body Type of
question first-is this gu going
to survive orshould we cal Savage
Doc's and arrange for a body
r 7 0 (Very Strong) and takes a Mortal4 wound.
He must roll lower than ( 7 0-4)=6 to stay
alive. The first turn he rolls a 5. Whew. The
pickup? next turn, he rolls a 7 and expires. Immedi-
ately, his mates start fighting over who gets
his boots.
Wheneveracharacter's Wound Statedrops Get the point? Sooner or later, you'll fail a
to MORTAL, he has a pretty good chance roll and die. The only way out is stabili-
of dying. Butwhen?In Cyberpunk,each time zation.
you are a t a MORTAL wound state, you
must make a Death Save to avoid dying. Stabilization means the patient is no longer
To make the Save, roll a 1D10 value lower losing blood and that his major damage has
than your character's Body Type, been contained through use of drugs,
subtracting the level of Mortalityfromyour battlefield surgery, and/or wound dressing.
base chance to save. Each turn, you must A stabilized character will no longer be
make another death save to see if the required to make Death saves each turn.
character makes it through another turn. Anyone (except the patient himself) can
On a successful roll, you make it; on afailed attempt to stabilize a mortally wounded
roll, you will die a t the end of the turn in character; it just works better if the physician
which the roll was made. has had some medical training. A lot better.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Asuccessful stabilization is made by rolling mine if the patient can be revived. This roll,
a total of your TECH stat, any Medical Skill on 1D10, must be higher than the current
and one D10 for a resulteqial to or higher Death State number, or the patient is a
VERY lMPORlAN1 than the total number of damage points candidate forthe Body Bank. On a success-
A Trauma Team will the patient has taken. Forexample, Savage ful roll, the patient is stabilized at his last
always arrive w i t h i n has taken 20 points of damage, placing him Wound State and the process of healing
in a Mortal 7 Wound State. To stabilize him can begin.
will require a roll of 2 0 or greater. Once
stabilized, the character is no longer in
danger of dying unless another wound is Healing
taken. At that point, the whole messy Okay, so you‘re not on a slab in Savage
business begins again ... Doc’s place ...
The chances of a successful stabilization In order to recover from damage, charac-
roll can be increased by the following ters must make some tvPe of medical skill
. I
modifiers, added to your die roll. check. Otherwise, the patient continues to
take damage (from infection and system
Advantage Add to die roll shock) a t the rate of 2 points per day. If the
Full Hospital & Surgery .................... +5 patient is at a Mortal Wound State, he must
Trauma Team Ambulance ................ +3 make a daily Death Save as well as taking
Cry0 Tank ....................................... +3 this damage. Without medical aid, you’re
Treatment Pts./day going to run out of luck pretty soon. This is
Rrst Aid... .................. 0.5 Death State probably why humans invented medicine
But let’s say your ripperdoc had a Medical in the first place.
Tech Skill of 2...
To make a successful medical skill check,
M e d Tech+Speed We can do some pretty amazing things you must roll a value (using TECH, your
Heal ............... 2 these days. We can grow skin, blood, medical Skill and 1D10) greater than the
organs, limbs and muscle tissue in colla- total number of points of damage the
Med Tech+Nanotech .....2 gen-saccharide tissue tanks. Other parts, patient has taken. Medical skill checks are
M e d Tech+Nano like toes, fingers, eyes and internal organs made with two skills, First Aid or Medical
+Spa. Heal ................... can also be purchasedfrom the local Body Tech.
Bank and grafted on with advanced micro-
surgery. What we can’t do is regrow souls. First Aid
Once you’re dead, you‘re dead. First Aid involves cleaning and dressing the
wounds, administering medication, setting
Let’s amend that: once you‘re DEAD 10, broken limbs and putting on splints. When
you‘re dead. Because twenty-first century a character makes a successful First Aid skill
medicine is so good a t reviving the clini- check, the patient will recover a t the rate of
callydead,TraumaTeamTMInc. (the world’s 0.5 points per day. Example: A Light wound
largest paramedical service, with offices would be healed in 8 days. A Critical wound
worldwide), has established ten levels of would heal in 2 4 days, a Mortal 3 wound in
death, each succeeding level a measure of 56 days. Only one check need be made.
how difficult it will be to revive the patient. You may (within reason and at Referee’s
This measuringsystem is called Death State. discretion), perform first aid on yourself.
For every minute (six turns) that you are On an unsuccessful roll, the patient regains
clinically dead, your death state increases no points. New attempts may be made
by two levels. Example: l am killed at 9:OO. once per day until a successful roll is made.
Three minutes pass before the Trauma
Teamm AV-4 arrives. I um now at Death Medical Tech
State 6. Medical Tech skill assumes that the charac-
ter has studied medicine in a professional
This is of critical importance to the dead setting. This gives him the ability to per-
Cyberpunk character. When the Trauma form surgery, prescribe drugs, and know
Team arrives, a roll must be made to deter- the proper treatment of injuries. He can
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
replace damaged organs with vatgrown able only in certain hospitals (1 in 10). But
pieces, graft on new limbs, or install cyber- if you’ve got the money, it’s the best option
limbs. You cannot perform Medical Tech for getting back on the Street fast.
skills on yourself.
Belng Patient
A character with Medical Tech skills makes The first thing to remember is that after a
a check as if using the first Aid skill, how- first Aid or Medicul Tech roll is made, the I “you got a I
ever, with Medical Tech, the patient will patient stillhas to actually recover (this isn‘t
recover a t the rate of 1 point per day. For a fantasy game where a magician can lay I in the belly- I
example, a lightwoundwould be healed in on hands and thegutshotvictimspringsup that’s a Light
4 days. A Mortal 3 wound would heal in 28 ready to tackle the next challenge). Each Wound. You I
days. Using Medical Tech skills supersedes Wound State imposes certain limits on the got a ten-inch I
the use of FirstAid skills; a patient on which character: wedge taken I
both have been successfully performed
regains points a t the rate of 1 per day, not Light Wound: The patient is fully ambula- out-that‘s (I I
1.5! As with First Aid, the patient regains tory; he can go about his business with a Serious Wound. I
no points until a successful roll has been minor amount of pain. You got your
made. However, second attempts may be
made once per day until a successful roll is Serious Wound: The patient is ambula-
guts spillin I out
in Techniholo I
‘
made. tory, but will need his dressings changed
once a day, and will be a t -2 REF for all
all over the I
Speed Healing Drugs actions. I pavement- I
Drugs can be used to speed the healing I that’s a Critical I
rate by 1 additional point per day. Expen- Critical Wound: The patient must spend Wound.
sive and often proscribed, these drugs a t least half of his day in bed in order to I
have a neural side effect of reducing the regain any lost points of damage. Other
” Anything I
patient’s REF stat by 1D6/3 for a week after activities must be limited a t simple tasks, a t
use. Speedheal costs 1650eb per treat- a -4 REF to all actions. Dressings must be worse than I
ment. changed twice a day, and nursing care of that, you’re just I
some sort must be available. Spare Parts
Nanotechnologyand Tailored I
waitin’ for a
Antibodies Mortal Wound: The patient is bedridden.
Nanotechnology involves the use of in- Trauma Team I
credibly tiny, psuedo-organic machines to
At Mortal Wounds 3 and above, he is
probably comatose (50%) most of the ...
pickup ” I
perform minute surgical tasks. These tiny time, and wired into all kinds of machinery I
tools can be programmed to repair dam- for life support. He requires constant car‘e -Ripperjack
aged cells with molecule-sized polymer during the entire process, although he will
threads, or to act as temporary bridges not have to make Death Saves (he‘s been
between mutilated nerve endings. stabilized).
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
I
TRAUMA
TEAM AV-4
USED FOR RESCUE,
MEDICAL
EMERC ENCIES.
As a Mortal 3 patient, it will take Ripperjack 200eb a month, this drops to a 5% chance;
13 days to recover enough to reach a not perfect, but better than nothing.
Critical Wound state. During this time, he
will be in a hospital bed, wired to life Now you’ve ditched the old meat in the
support, and out of it on drugs (when he freezer, it’s time to get cybered up. A Medical
reaches Mortal 2, the doctors can take him Tech skill is requiredto installcyberwear. You
off the drugs and life support). At Critical, can’t installcyberwear on yourself. Eachtype
Ripperjack is able to hobble around the of cyberwear has a Surgery Code (pg. 75).
ward for a couple hours at a stretch, while This code represents the minimum level of
the nurses look after him. In 4 more days, medicalcare requiredto installthecyberwear,
he’s able to leave the hospital as long as he the length of surgical time required, the cost
gets his dressings changed once a day. In of the surgery, the damage taken in surgery
4 more days, he‘s nearly up to full function. and the Difficultyofthe installationprocedure.
It’s taken him 21 days to get back on the The Surgery Code assumes that a successful
Street. Now he can start earning enough Medical Tech check has been made on the
money to pay off his medical bills. patient as part of the operation. Healing is
then based on the number of points lost due
Elective Surgery to the surgery.
Not all medical care is the result of acci-
dents or combat. This i s the Metal Age, Negligible
and when you want to get cyberedup, you Required: Mall clinic or other drop-in
gotta pay a price in blood. bodyshop.
Surgical Time: 1 hr.
If you’re going to get wired with a cyber- Surgical Damage: 1 point
limb, the first thing you’ll have to decide is Surgical costs: Included with installation.
whether you want to keep the meat one. DIFF= Easy (1 0)
For 1OOeb a month, a Body Bank will store
your old one until you decide to reclaim it, Minor.
with only a 20% chance that someone will Required: Medical center or ripperdoc clinic.
sell it for spare parts in the meantime. For Surgical Time: 2hrs.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
ons). The medtechs load the patient on The Government doesn’t care who turns
board, shunting his life support to the on- the body in. All you need is the card and a
board heart-lung machines, plugging him legitimatedeath certificate stating that the
into onboard biomonitors, and chilling his deceased died of natural or accidental
body down in the refrigerated tank for causes, available through any local cor+
stabilization. Rapid surgery is performedon ner. The result is that many firefights end
the spot for the most critical wounds, while with a frenzied looting of bodies for donor
the med specialist uses a combination of cards-followed by another firefight over
electroshock, drugsand manualresuscitation disputed claims and ending in another
to get the patient on-line again. The pilot frenzy of looting.
slamsdown the throttlesandtheAV-4 rockets
skywards on a pillar of exhaust, headed for Legally, donor centers must be located in
the nearest emergency room. The entire legitimate offices of the County or City
process may have taken all of four minutes Coroner’s Office, or in a public hospital.
from start to finish. However, a thriving black marketin fraudu-
lent donors thrives in most of the combat
As a privately owned concern, Trauma zones, usually out of “ripperdoc” clinics or
TeamsTMare not under any obligation to Corporate centers (where high level execs
transport a casualty to a hospital, although get first pick of the new parts).
they are responsiblefor revivingand stabiliz-
ingcriticallywoundedpatients.TraumaTeam The biggest problem with Body Bank re-
feesareexceedinglysteep(81 OOperminute), placements is the availability of genetically
I Wars. By now, I the best method of offsetting their exorbi- matching parts. When attempting to lo-
I Idon‘tevensee I
tant costs is to either carry Trauma Team cate a replacement limb or other part a t a
services as part of a Corporate group insur- body bank, roll 1 D10. On a 1,2,or 3, the
ance policy, or to establish an account with part is unavailablethat day. On a 4 01-5, the
TT International, paying a premium of $500 part is in, but it may be the wrong color or
in advanceeachmonthforcontinuedservice. have some other minor difference.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
often have themselves bodyshaped to re-
semble famous people. Appearance You can pull ,
changes are also a staplefor Solos, Rockers, thestretch I
and any other sort of high mover who marks out of I
needs to change identities often. The cost
of an appearance change is based on how the tummy I
I about the I
With 3,60Oeb,you would’lookexactly as you
wanted to look; spotting the sculpt would
ments.
tail... “ ,
take a VERY DIFFICULT Notice check. Facial Sculpts combine vat-grown parts I
such as muzzles, whiskers, animal-like ears, -Conversotion ut I
At the top end (5,000 eb), it would require a manes and cat eyes with the patient’s thelocal ,
NEARLY IMPOSSlBLEchecktospotthe body- normal features. There are entire booster-
sculpt from your original face. gangs based around various animal motifs
of this type. Cost: 5,000eb
Increase Attractiveness: Cyberpunk style
always goes to the extremes-you’re either Tails are grown in vats, using gene bank I1 I I I1
really uglyorverygood-looking.One wayto tissue. They can be furred, tinted, scaled or
increase your Attractiveness is to have your bare skin. The tail is grafted to the base of
body redesigned a t the local ’sculpt clinic. the spine and linked to the nervous system
The processis expensive, granted, but many by nanotech nerve threaders. Tails are rela-
people think havingthe right “look” for that tively weak; they can pick up about a half
year is worth a few thousand euro. Cost is pound. Cost: 3,000 eb.
600eb per Attractiveness point gained. For
example, to raise my appearance four points Hooves, claws and paws can be grafted to
would cost 2,400eb. replace normal feet and hands. They are
not as dexterous as normal digits (-2 to
Want to decrease your Attractiveness? A REF), but are occasionally included as part
straight razor costs fifty-nine cents. of a Exotic bodysculpt. Cost: 8,000 eb.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
SynthCoke Syncomp 7 5
Type: Stimulant Strength: +1 Type: Antidote Strength: +3
Difficulty: 20 Cost: 1000 Difficulty: 13 Cost: 650
Duration: 1D6+1 minutes Duration: 1D6+1 turns
The second generation, synthetic replacement Syncomp is a broad spectrum poison antidote,
for cocaine. Like the original, its side effects are used to treat nerve and biotoxins. REF is re-
nasty: paranoia, psychological addiction. duced a t the rate of 1 point per dose.
Stim Speedheal
Type: Stimulant Strength: +3 Type: Healing Drug Strength: +2
Difficulty: 10 Cost: 500 Dificulty: 33 Cost: 1650
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
71.12
EFFECTS TABLE PhysiologicalAddiction (-10pts):The char-
DlFF EFFECT acter is physiologically addicted, and must
15 Increase REF by Strength of drug. roll lowerthanhis BTeach hourfollowingthe
15 Increase INT by Strength of drug. last dose of the drug. On a failed roll, he will
15 Increase CL by Strength of drug. suffer intense pain and take 2D6 in damage
15 Enhanced Perception (+ Strength until hecan kickthehabit(aVERY DIFFICULT
to Awareness checks). Endurancecheck,takingaslongasthe Referee
15 Increase healing rate 1 point per decides is sufficient).
point of Strength.
good.. . 'I
15
10
Antidote (+1 to Save per Strength)
Increased Endurance (+ Strength
Death (-15 pts): The drug has a fatal com-
ponent that can kill the unawary. Each time
to Endurance checks). the drug is taken, a Death Save must be
--Unknown 10 Negate Pain Effects(+ Strength to made with a negative modifier equal to the
Stun Saves). drug's Strength number minus one.
"In a surprise 5 Depressant (-Strength to
press conference Awareness) . Reduced REF (-Spts): The drug reduces REF
today, 5 Euphoric (makes you feel good) at a rate of1 point per dose for the duration
10 Hallucinogenic (makes you see of ths dose. If a new dose is taken before the
Bio technica
things). last has worn off, the REF penalty is cumula-
announced the 10 Reduce Stun (+ Strength to Stun tive.
release of it's Saves).
new genetically- 5 Soporific (-Strength to Save Reduced INT (-Spts): The drug reduces INT
coded designer vs. Sleep). at a rate of 1point per dose for the duration
10 Aphrodesiac (-Strength to resist of the dose. If a new dose is taken before the
drug series.
Seduction checks). last has worn off, the INT penalty is cumula-
Guaranteed to 10 Contraceptive (male or female) tive.
provide 10 Antibiotic (+ Strength to Saves vs.
maximum disease). Tremors (-2pts): The drug causes painful
pleasure with tremors in the hands, face (-2 to REF).
minimum risk, Strength
Strength is the power level of the drug. The Hallucinations(-Spts): The drug causes hal-
the new higher the Strength of the drug, the greater lucinations (colors, voices, strange shapes).
complexes it's plus or minus effect on the body. Drugs The character is virtually unable to function
are.. If. come in strengths from 1 to 3. Add the
Strength of the Drug to its Base Difficulty.
normally. If you buy this as a side effect for a
hallucinogen, the character will always have
-Night City Today a really bad trip that is totally a t the Referee's
May 16,2020 Side Effects sadistic discretion. You Have Been Warned.
You can buy down the cost of a drug by
buying side effects. These are bad things Paranoia(-3pts): The character is subject to
Nothing's free. that balance out the beneficial side of the paranoic delusions; he thinks "they" are after
And if a drug (for example, if cocaine wasn't psycho- him, etc. (although in Cyberpunk, this may
Corporation logicallyaddictive and didn'tcausedelusions, not all be delusion). The character must drop
I1 I made it, the it would be everything - Sigmund
- Freud
thought it would be). You may never buy a
everything and devote his actions to
defending himself against "them".Who "they"
hidden costsare I
double.. I . drug's Difficulty costs below 2. are is, of course, up to the Referee.
Psychological Addiction (-8pts): The char- Delusions (Jpts): The character is subject
acter is psychologically addicted, and must to strong delusions; he thinks untrue things
roll lower than his CL each hour following are real, that aliens are talking to him, etc.
the last dose of the drug. On a failed roll, he The character must drop everything and
suffersextreme anxiety, fear and depression; devote all actions towards the maintenance
he become driven to find more of the drug of his delusion. Which, again, is up to the
and can do nothingelse. Kickingtheaddiction Referee.
is a VERY DIFFICULT Endurance check, and
may take as long as the Referee decides is Sterility (-8pts): The drug causes per-
sufficient. nament sterility on a 3 in 10 chance.
71.12
_ _ .
I
AIR HYPODERMIC
Also known as the "Bones McCoy",
the airhypo is used to dispense
drugs of various types.
the character to fly into a psychotic rage, time thedrua will remainactive in thesvstem:
attacking anyone within range.
1D1 1
Aggressive Behavior (-1Zpts): The drug 1D1' 2
causes the character to become irritableand 1D18, . I .................................. 3
aggressive. On a 5 in 10 chance, he will pick
a fight with the nearest person to him. Multiply the total DIFFICULTY (BASE +
STRENGTH, minus SIDE EFFECTS) to deter-
Irrational Fear (-12pts): The drug causes mine the final Difficultyof creating the drug.
the character to become inordinatelyfearful
of everything. He must drop everything and cost
cower in near catatonia until thedrug wears Per-dose cost is determined by multiplying
Off. the Difficulty level of the drug by 25 euro.
Example: Sindementaphilininehas a Difficulty
Nerve Degeneration (-15pts): The drug of 26. Its street cost would be 650eb per dose.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
'
I
t h e h t . Maybe
it was because I
she'd been a
I combat
programmer
I during the Third
I Corp War, or
maybe it was
I
just a gift.
I I
I "I always
I
figured it was
I becauseofthe I
I accident- the I
I one that took
off both legs I
'RUNNER
I andpartofone I
I arm.With a// I
, the cyberwear,
71.12
- -~
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
I
I "Boy, l wish ol' II
I Bill Gibson was I
I around to see I
I
this!" I
I I
I I
I "Hey, Edger. I
I Don't you know I
I
it's unlucky to I
I
I
invoke the name I
I
I of the Patron I
I Saint?'' I
I I
I
-Somewhere over I
71.12
lied corporations. Key City Grids are located MiddleEast and Madagascar. Key City Grids are
in Mexico City, Panama City, Bogota, Ha- Addis Ababa, Zanzibar, Cairo, Algiers, Nairobi,
vana, Rio de Janeiro,Buenos Aires, Dakar and Mozambique and Alexandria. With the excep
Acension. Atlantis is a fairly freewheeling tion of Nairobi and Cairo (underfirmOrbital Air
region, with a lot of blackmarket trade, control), the restof Afrikani is a chaoticwasteland
especially out of Panama City. of antiquated systems, shifting alliances and
fanatics. Caution is advised.
Rustbelt:This region covers the Central and
I ffh&ca...floating
I
islands of light,
capped with I
' Eastern United States. Key City Grids are the
New York/BosWash Megaplex, Chicago-
GreatLakes, Atlanta-Citycore, New Orleans,
EuroTheatre: This most powerful of the
regional "kingdoms", EuroTheatreis primarily
controlled by the EuroCorps. Key City Grids
neon green I and St. Louis. The region is a near absolute are London, Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich,
I dictatorship controlled by a troika of Net- Zurich, Amsterdam, Rome, Madrid and
fractal palm Watch (the worldwide Net securityorganiza- Stockholm. The three largest EuroCorps in
I
trees. The whole I tion), the U.S. Provisional Government, and each city work in cooperationwith NetWatch
I thing floats I the EuroMarket Consortium. Systems are to maintain security. The EuroTheatre Net is
heavily monitored and computer crime dominated by corporate traffic; there are few
I above a bright, I treated with draconian ferocity. private systems and most independent
glittering ocean, Netrunners are already known and recorded
I like something I Olympia: The Olympia Regionspans most of by Netwatch. EuroTheatre is a good place for
I out of a tropic the Southwestern andWestern UnitedStates. legal business transactions, banking,
Nominally, it is the domain of NetWatchand Netconferencing and other legitimate
II I
dream.
virtual water tion in thearea; Denver(Orbita1Air), Salt Lake SovSpace: This region covers the borders of
(Militech), Dallas/Houston Megaplex the now reduced Union of Soviet Socialist
construct set up (WorldSat), Albuquerque (Militech). Most of Republics, extending into Eastern Europe. Key
so that you can the trafficin these regionsiscorporaterelated, City Grids are Moscow, Leningrad, Warsaw,
see all the way with many established bulletin boards and Kiev, Budapest, Vienna, and Prague. The USSR
service networks. holds nominal control over this region, with
down to a
control gradually shifting to NetWatch and
limitless Pacifica: This is the largest of the regions, the European Economic Community around
seabottom, covering the West Coast of North America Poland. Systems in SovSpace tend to be
where glowing and expandingover most of the Pacific Basin. primitive, slowandequippedwithafewdeadly
As with Olympia, it is under the joint rulership programs rather than sophisticated defenses.
colory fishshapes of NetWatchandthe USPG to theedge of the The Eastern European netrunnersrange from
dive between Hawaiian Basin; a t this point, there is a four simple hackers all the way to the most daring
I shifting mirage I way ,division between Netwatch, USPG, cowboys in all Netspace (these guys have
Arasaka LTD and the Far Asian Co-Prosperity nothing to lose). The entire region is rife with
Federation. In the US, most key City Grids are espionage, informationtrading, and the petty
controlled by the most powerful corps in the bickerings of small politicalgroups lookingfor
specific city; Night City (Arasaka), San their own economicadvantages.Agood place
Francisco (EBM), Los Angeles (Petrochem), to sell information, if you don't mind being
Seattle (Arasaka). In these cities, control is paid in low value currency.
relatively loose. Acrossthe PacificBasin, control
increases as Arasaka tightens its grip. Orbitsville: The largest potential region,
covering the Low Earth and Near Earth Space.
Net Traveller's TokyoChiba: This is a very small region Orbitsvilleisa great placeto meet people, pick
covering the Japanese archipelago, specifi- up rumorsand generally have a good 01' time.
cally Tokyo, Osaka and Yokahama. Chiba is Security is loose to nonexistent. Orbitsville is
the center of operationsfor a number of very primarily controlled by the Orbital Corpora-
powerful zaibatsu, including Mitzubishi-Dai, tions and the ESA (which has it's own version
Matsushima-Kiroshiu,and of course, Arasa ka. of NetWatch).There'snota lotof "groundhog"
However, due to the immense amount of traffic- orbital time lag (2-3seconds) makes
inter-zaibatsuwarfare, no one megacorpholds Netrunning from Groundside a tough
control, making this a ripe field for informa- proposition. Local traffic is very busy, with
tion brokeringand corporate "netspionage". every Spacer habitat and colony hooked up to a
constantstreamofchatter.Transactionsaremosdy
Afrikani: This regional "kingdom" extends on the small time level: trading raw materials,
from the edge of Atlantis across Africa to the medicine, air, food, water and gossip.
71.12
VIEW FROM THEEDGE ~~
Long Distance Links designed to patrol the Net looking for illegal
Long Distance Links, (LDL) allow instanta- activity. Governments, individual corporations
neous transfer between cities. The world and other large groups contribute money,
wide InternetCommunications Corporation equipment and their best Netrunners to the
maintains most of the available Long Dis- NetWatch organization. The NetCops are II V
tanceLinksaspartof itslongdistanceservices, equipped with very powerful software and I "Netwatch was
but many large corps have private Long movefreelythroughthe Net, patrollingaspecific
Distance Links that go only between corpo- "beat" that may cover a city, Region or even a
created a s part
I of a unilateral
rate offices. continent,
I agreement in the
Using a LongDistanceLinkrequiresapassword NetCops (Wolves, Weasels, The Icemen) are UN treaty. It is
(normally the Netrunner's Net Access code, equipped with very powerful tracking I
empowered to
which is used for billing purposes). However, programs, as well as "arrest" programs that I and Se,,,e
with the right programs, one can convince a can freeze a cyberdeck in a "loop" and hold
lntemetthatthiscall isa localone,orthatthecall the Netrunner frozen, unable to jack out
I the law abiding
was never actually made. until released. While arrest and imprison- II
citizens of the
ment are the goal of the NetCops, they World
Wilderspace have been known to use black programsto I Communications
Movement between Long Distance Links is kill or maim their opposition. Network.... I'
almost always done via up/downlinks. Most I I
of the physical space is "jumped" over, and Bulletin Boards (BBS) -The Netwatch
is pretty much unknown territory. Yet, the A BBS is a friendly Data Fortress where Story
activationof individualcomputencancreate Runners can meet to exchange informa- A D M S Production
independentareas not directly linkedto the tion, chat, swap software and so on. A BBS
Net. The intervening distances between Data Fortress is usually heavily protected
physical points of the Net (such as San and hidden somewhere. A code word or
Francisco and Night City) are called very complex encryption is needed to get "NetWatch. A
Wilderspace. Wi Iderspace was originaI Iy in. Once inside, the BBS user encounters a buncha hoods
theorized in 2004 by ].A. Crubb, a computer number of "areas" or "clubrooms" desig- with cyberdecks
game designer and occasional hacker who nated for various functions. These are usu-
conceived of it as a vast area of dormant, ally designed around thematic virtual reali-
potentialreality, whichcouldcomeinto existence ties. For example, the Hunt Club BBS of
when acomputerwaslinkedtotheN e t Without Denver is an elaborate virtual reality con-
up/downlinksl this region would be isolated struct of a grand old English manor house, the Icemen into
from the main traffic of the Net, and accessible complete with servants, a drawing room
only by those who were willing to "walk"there and a croquet green. I of Net Space and I
the hard way.
Netrunnerlegendisthat"something"
probably lives in Wilderspace: rogue
AIS,alien intellects,thingswhich have
their own separate "citygrids" that -Ruche Bartmoss
only appearoccasionallywhen these
forces open an up/downlink to the
main Net. Theequivalentwouldbea
remote South Seas island which is
unknown and unreachable, until a
canoeissenttothenearestcivilization.
If the nativeswere skilled at entering
civilization and disguising their true
nature, they could probably remain
undiscoveredfor centuries.
NetWatch
NetWatch is a policingorganization
71.12
V E W FROM THE EDGE
I
NetGear be perceivedby an interface program.The
results could be used as a navigational aid
Interfaces through the Net, as well as providing a
The human mind can't comprehend a sense of space and time not possible with
I stream of data any more than it can "see" earlier designs.
I an electron. It needs a way to interpret the
incoming data as something meaningful. ICONS
I "My first deck I So Netrunnersuse an interface program- One of the other benefits of the I-C Trans-
was an ancient a super-advancedversion of the more primi- formations are that they allow you to trans-
I I
Hitachi- Radio tive "virtual reality" systemsof the 1990's- late the signal of your cyberdeck into a
I Shack. It had I to interpret for them. The interface inter- visible representationin the Net. This rep-
I this keyboard cepts data coming through the cyberdeck resentation of yourself is known as your
I and translates it into something under- ICON.
'
I
with a grey-
screen monitor,
and it was
I
standable- then routes the altered data to
the Netrunner's eyes and ears. The world Most things in the Net have some kind of
perceived through the interface is real, ICON; even if one isn't specified, the I-C
I
slower than a because it directly plugs into his senses. formulas will create a polygonal form to
I I represent them. Your ICON is your per-
Congressman
So why go through all the trouble to create sonal symbol; it's what other Netrunners
I passing a t a x I interfaces?Why not just use a keyboardlike will talk to and relate with when they
I bill. First thing, the rest of the meat minds? Partiallyfor the encounteryouin Netspace. Your ICONcan
I
l used it to fun of it. But in addition, a realistic and look like anything you want it to: armored
I hack into the I dangerous interface gives the Netrunner technowarrior, fantasy creature, bizarre
I Zetatech sales an extra edge. It keeps him alert, involved shape or logo- even yourself. You can
I and interested in his environment. After all; change your ICON any time you enter the
I office and write
I what would you react faster to-the word Net. You can even disguise your ICON by
myself an order Demon appearing in the air in front of you, using special programs for stealth and
I for a brand or a living, breathing, five-ton monster evasion. Choosingyour ICON is one of the
I new Parraline cracking a flaming whip over your head? first things you'll decide when you jack in.
5750A. That Make sure it's got your personal style writ-
I You betcha. ten all over it.
deck had
I everything; The Second Generation Interface Plugs
speed, power, The early interfaces were an art form; mil- So what do you need to run the Net besides
memory. lions of programming hours were devoted a cool brain and a hot interface?Plugging
l was in love... each year in constructing accurate and into the vast metaverse of the Net requires
interesting realities for Netrunning, using two additional and all important pieces of
sophisticated artificialintelligenceprograms hardware.
"But l still keep and random story generators. These inter-
that old face programs functioned on a low end, The first is a set of neural or interface
Hitachi- RS 95 narrow focus bandwidth, which could not "plugs." Interface plugs are basically just
around, just in carry much more information than an old that-plastic plugs built into the
fashioned computer modem of the 1990's. Netrunner'swrists, templesorbackofneck,
case. You never
In addition to being limited in scope, these to be connected to a cybermodem by
know. I' early interface programs were also unable cables (as described in Putting the Cyber
to give the Netrunnera sense of his position lnto the Punk, pg.81-82).
-Spider Murphy in the real world beyond the computer
screen. You can get by without plugs; all you'll
need is a set of 'trodes (pg. 134.).These are
Then, in 2014, the wizards of the Net self sticking electrodes that pick up neural
achieveda majorbreakthrough-the Ihara- signals by skin inductance. They're slower
Crubb Transformation Algorithms. The I-C and less responsive than plugs (-2 to REF
Transformations allowed a cyberdeck to while in the Net), but they are cheaper and
extrapolate the pathways of the Net in don't have any humanity cost.
relation to their "Realspace" coordinates,
then generate a graphic model that could The other thing you'll need is a cyberdeck.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
SGI Technologles
"Elysia"
Speed: +3
CPU: 1
Memory: 20
Data Wails: +5
Options: Keyboard, 3x4m videoboard, eight
'trode ports, chip reader, fuiiy portable.
4,260eb.
Cyberdecks
The standard cyberdeck is about the size of the deck off the table and put it on the
a paperback book, is made of plastic and Street: HITCHHIKERS
weighs about a half-kilogram. It has six Butwait! You can jackyour
plug in ports for adding extra options, as Portable Decks: These decks have inter- experiences into a moni-
well as six output portsfor jacking in other nal, rechargeable power packs good for up tor so that others can
people (the owner of the deck, however, to 4 hours (recharge is 1 hour for every watch, or even hook your
is the only one who can control it, making hour of battery power). All combat, cyber- buddies up with "trodes"
the other people only passengers). limb and cellular decks are of this type. A to let them ride along.
portable deck costs 2000,0° Remember; your Interface
This is the stock deck everyone starts off Skill is your ability to con-
their Netrunningcareer with. Prices range Cyberlimb Decks:Theseare portabledecks trol and visualize- as in a
from SOO.Oofor a used model, up to 1OOO.oo about the size of a pack of cigarettes.They fantasy run, otherscansee
new. This is where your Referee can show can be installed into a cyberlimb (phone the mage do magic, they
a little mercy, by turning your characteron connection cables are jacked between the justcan'tdo itthemselves.
to a cheap used deck. limb and the phone lines). The deck itself is With a trode hook, you
hardwired right into the body along with can comealong-you just
For a price, of course... the controlling links for the cyberlimb. See can't run software or cre-
Putting the Cyber into the Punk, pg. 90-91,
Mostcyberdecksare table models- jacked for prices.
in and blind, a Netrunner isn't going to be
going much of anywhere, right? However, This can be a very dangerous option-
technological breakthroughs have taken hardwired right in, it's impossible for your
71.12
buddies to notice you frying and yank the Deck Options
cables on you. Instead, you just burn. In addition to your basic models, any type
CELLULAR DECKS of deck can be enhanced by adding a few
These are very expensive Combat Assault Decks: These decks are options.
decks which are implanted constructed of rugged ceramics and steel,
or otherwise kept on the capable of taking bullet hits and crash 'Trode sets are self-stickingelectrodes that
body. As long as you stay in impacts (SP20). Most combat decks are allow you to run the Net without plugs.
one place, you can instantly designedto be portable, and have adapter 'Trodes are slower than plugs (-2 to REF
jack into the Net. cables which allow them to be plugged when in the Net), but have no humanity
into anytype of phone line. Around 30OOo0 loss. They are commonly used by novice
This is a good idea for par- when available (a DIFFICULT Task). runners and by "tourists" visiting the Net
ties, as it allows your Ne- on a lark.
trunner to move with the Cellular Decks: These are portable decks
group. A special program designed to link up with a cellular phone Keyboards are an option which allow a
in the 'deck runs all the- net. They arevery effective anywhere within Netrunner to control a deck indirectly.
Netrunner's body func- a city, but are useless in rural areas (most They are abysmally slow (-4 to REF), but are
tions; it keeps him from have jacks for manual phone patches). A immune to all anti-personnel attacks ex-
falling over, drooling, or cellular deck has a 25% chance of losing cept Firestarter.
babbling; he can even use cellular connectionwhen used in a moving
his voice while in the Net to vehicle; a failed roll will automaticallydrop Videoboards are flat screen, high defini-
describe things he sees. the Netrunner out of the Net. But it's a tion TV monitors which can be used to
Because Netrunning small price to pay for the high level of show a Net's-eyeview to outsiders.
actions happenat thespeed mobility offered by a cellular deck. A cellu-
of thought, this means that lar deck costs 4000.00 Printers allow you to make hardcopy im-
your Netrunner seems to ages and records from your deck. Most are
go spacey for a few sec- Improving Your Deck small laser-printersabout the size of a large
onds, then says, "Hey," I A standard deck has only one memory book, using plain paper.
found the electronic door (holds 10 Memory Units (MU), or about
and I'm running my ten programs), has a Speed of 0, and a data Chipreader/recorders use standard data
Doormaster Mark 58 utility wall Strength of 2. While this isn't gonna chips (1Oeb each) to store programs, im-
to open it." Then the door mean much to you now, by the time you ages and other useful things from your
opens. get to Net Combat(pg. 151) and Designing deck. They are about the size of a pack of
Data Fortresses (pg.l54), you're going to cigarettes.
Unless you get into major want to know how to boostyourdeckasfar
Net functions, you need as you can go. VoxBoxes are small speaker units that can
only pop in, run your synthesize sound from a deck. They can
Memory: For an additional 5,00Oeb, you
LOCATE REMOTE utility, also be used by the Netrunner to talk to
can purchase an additional memory for
take control with your outsiders while he's in the Net. About the
your deck. This improves your program
CONTROL REMOTE utility, size of a pack of smokes.
power to 20 MU, double its stock size.
do your thing and return.
It's only when you're crack- Speed: For an additional 2,00Oeb, you Scanners are flat plastic plates with optical
ing systems that you have can increase your deck's speed by one character reading and image recording
to stay in the 'face for a level, up to a ceiling of 5. This can be a capacity. They range from the size of a
long time and bore the rest lifesaver, as deck speed determines who sheet of paper, all the way up to a meter on
of the party. moves first in a Netrunner combat. And in a side.
this game, last is dead.
Option Cost
Data Walls: For an additional 1,00Oeb, 'Trode set ..................................... 10.Oo
you can increase your deck's data wall Keyboard.................................... 1000°
protection by one level, up to a ceiling of Videoboard ................. 1OO.OOper sq. ft.
10. Data walls are important; they are the Printer ........................................ 3000°
"armor" of the deck, resisting attacks from Chipreader ................................. 1OO.OO
anti-system programs. Extra Chips ............................... 1Oo0ea
VOXBOX ...................................... 300."'
And then there are options... Scanner ............................ 100~~-300~0°
71.12
1
I Model # of CPU- II Model # of CPU-
I [ ] Cellular [ ] Portable [ ] Combat Deck [ ] Cyberlimb Deck 11 [ ] Cellular [ ] Portable [ ] Combat Deck [ ] Cyberlimb Deck
I [ ]Standard [ ]Standard
I Total Cost DATA WALL STR 1 Total Cost DATA WALL STR
I CODE GATE STR DECK SPEED
I CODE GATE STR DECK SPEED
I MEMORY MEMORY
OPT10NS?
I OPTIONS?
I [ ] Trodes [ ] Keyboard [ ] Videoboard [ ] Printer I [ ] Trodes [ ] Keyboard [ ] Videoboard [ J Printer
I [ ]Chipreader [ 1VoxBox [ ]Scanner [ ]Extrachips I [ ]Chipreader [ 1VoxBox [ ]Scanner [ ] Extrachips
I I
I Your ICON II Your ICON I
I PROGRAMS
II I
I PROGRAMS
I Type
1
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
I II I
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I I I 26 I
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I I I 30 I
I I I 31 I
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34 I
I I I 2<>a I
dd
I I I I I I
I0 1990 R.Talsorian Games, Inc. Photocopy permission granted for personal use. I I 0 1990 R.Talsorian Games, Inc. Photocopy permission granted for personal use I
LIIII-ID-IIIIIIIIII~LI------D----------J
71.12
3 11
I Model # of CPU- II Model # of CPU-
1 1 J Cellular ..- ..
J Portam
.
[ ] Combat Deck [ ] Cyberlimb Deck II [ ] Cellular [ ] Portable [ ] Combat Deck [ ] Cyberlimb Deck
I [ ]Standard II [ ] Standard
I TotulCost DATA WALL STR I I, TotulCost DATA WALL STR
1 CODE GATE STR DECK SPEED I I1 CODE GATE STR DECK SPEED
I MEMORY I I1 MEMORY
0PTIONS?
OPTIONS?
I [ ] Trodes [ ] Keyboard [ ] Videoboard [ ] Printer
I II [ ITrodes [ ] Keyboard [ ] Videoboard [ ] Printer
I [ ] Chipreader [ ] VoxBox [ ] Scanner [ ] Extra chips I II [ ] Chipreader [ ] VoxBox [ ] Scanner [ ] Extra chips
I II
I YourlCON II Your /CON I
I II I
I PROGRAMS II PROG RAMS
I
I .Type I MU I STR I Cost II I
I 2 II I
1 3 II I
1 4 II I
1 5 II I
1 6 II I
1 7 II I
1 8 II I
l 9 I I -91 I
I 10
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12
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I 13 II I
I 1A II I
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I 16 II I
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II I
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I 29 II I
I 30 II I
I 31 II I
32
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I
0 1990 R.Talsorian Games, Inc. Photocopy permission granted for personal use. 0 1990 R.Talsorian Games, Inc. Photocopy permission granted for personal use
I
L I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I J Lr n I I I I I I I I I - I I I I I I I I J
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
Programs Program List
Programs are the work horses of Netrun-
ning; they do the fighting, protecting,
I
decrypting Hammer 400eb
and sneaking Class: Intrusion
for the Strength: 4 MU: 1
'Runner. If a Hammer pounds down data walls with a bombard-
ment of raw electrical pulse (use code wall attack "I've known bit I
Netrunner is formula on pg.142; weaken data wall Strength by jocks who I
a cybernetic 206 after every attack). It is very noisy and will
magician, automatically alert any defense program within 10
could crack an
I
then pro- spaces. EBM system
grams are his ICON: A glowing red hammer. likeacheup I
spells, there safe; in and I
Jackhammer 360eb
at his mental Class: Intrusion out before the
fingertips. Strength: 2 MU: 2
Jackhammer is a quieter, but less powerful (weaken
Icemen could I
Programs are data wall 1D6 STR after attack) version of Hammer. It even look up. I
rated by Strength, Class, Memory Units uses small pulses of energy to wear the data wall away. Sure, they
used, Cost and ICON:
ICON: Aglowing redjackhammer-like object, which fires I
a stream of white hot energy bolts at the data wall. were fast and
smart. But I
Strength is how powerful the program is, Worm 660eb
relativeto other programs. In combat, the Class: Intrusion mostly, they I
Strength of a program is usually added to Strength: 2 MU: 5 knew their
the Netrunner's attack roll (much like
Worm is a very subtle programwhich emulates part of programs. I
the architecture of the invadedsystem. It slips behind
Weapon Accuracy in a combat situation). the data or code wall and opens it from the inside (2 They knew
The highertheStrength, the betterchance turns, no alert).
what to take,
the program will be able to do it's job. IC0N:Agold-metal, roboticworm, withgreen neoneyes.
and when. So
Class is the type of program; its function.
Intrusion programs sneak in, Detection Codecracker 380eb
I III I
they never got
caught off-
programs detect, Anti-IC programs attack Class: Decryption base when the
other programs, and Anti-personnel pro- Strength: 3 MU: 2
I
The Codecracker series, designed by lnterfact Soft-
playing field
grams attack Netrunners. And so on. I
ware in 2008, is classic code gate crack program. The turned into a
series disassembles the code gate a t the basic pro-
Memory Units represent the size of the gram, rather than trying to decipher the key. I battle zone. "
program. All programs are measured in ICON: Athin beam of white light, which shootsfrom -Edger
Memory Units, or MU. Each memory of a the Netrunner's hands and spreads through the code I
cyberdeck or system can hold 10 Memory gate, turning it to glowing, dissapating fog.
I
Units. This means space is a t a premium for
Wizard's Book 400eb
Netrunners; you can onlystack upso much Class: Decryption (file locks & code gates) I
in one run. Strength: 4 MU: 2
The Wizard's Book is designed to scan through liter- I
Cost is the price of the program on the ally billions of possible codes and code words in
seconds, trying each one in turn. It is especially I I
open or black market. Nothing in the effective (STR 6 ) against code gates.
future is free. Not even the air, chombatta. ICON: A stream of blazing white symbols, flowing a t I I
incredible speed from the Netrunner's open hands.
I I
The ICON is what the program usually
Raffles 560eb
looks like in the Net. But don't count on it; Class: Decryption (file locks & code gates) I
you can alter your program's ICONS to
suit your own tastes and style. Justgoes to
Strength: 5 MU: 3
Raffles is desiqned specifically to deal with complex 1\ '
show; don't trust anything. code gates and file lockswhich have a specific word as
the key. It asks the code gate a series of innocuousand
leading questions ("Is it bigger than a breadbox?" "Is
Enough talk-talk. Read the programs and it hot or cold?"), designed to tell Raffles the nature of
spend your euro. You got a run to make. the code gate and its key.
71.12
ICON: A dapper young man wearing evening tell "real" ICONsfrom other objects in a virtual DecKRASH 600eb
clothes of the early 1900's. He speaks briefly to reality. For example, HV could tell the differ- Class: Anti System
the door, then vanishes as soon as it opens. ence between a real person and a virtual one Strength: 4 MU: 2
orwhich bookinavirtual libraryisreallyadata A modified version of Krash, which operates only
file. on cyberdecks, causing the Netrunner to be
ICON: A glowing green ring which the Ne- dropped out of the Net for 1D6 turns.
trunner looks through. ICON: A cartoon stick of dynamite with fuse.
Watchdog 610eb
Speedtrap 600eb Murphy 600eb
Class: Detection/Alarm
Strength: 4 MU: 5 Class: Detection/Alarm Class:Anti System
Watchdog is designed to alert its owners to illegal Strength: 4 MU: 4 Strength: 3 MU: 2
Speedtrap is an early warning program that Murphy causes the affected deck or system to
entries intothesystem. ltcando this by activating
a n external alarm or by sending a message to an detects the presence of an offensive program randomly launch all of its applications, using as
within 10 squares of the Netrunner's position many actions as it has i
occupied workstation. Netrunners can use
Watchdogs to patrol another part of the Net, (within the same subgrid). It cannot tell you ICON: You never know
such as a rival's computer system, then key the where the program is, only that it exists.
Watchdog to run to their cybermodem or ICON: A flat, glowing plate of glass, in which Virizz
workstation if security is breached. This tech- images appear. If a program is present, the Class: Anti System
nique allows you to guard your secret files and plate fills with the image of a robotic monster. Strength: 4 MI
If there is no programpresent, the plateremains This virus attackautomaricaiiyties up one actionor
pathways in other people's computers.
.
ICON: A large, black, metal dog It has glowing blank. the system or deck until the deck is turned off.
ICON: A glittering DNAshape made of lights and
red eyes and a spiked metal collar adorns its neck.
neon.
Bloodhound 700eb
Class: Detection/Alarm Viral 15 590eb
Strength: 3 MU: 5 Flatline 570eb Class: Anti System
Like Watchdog, Bloodhound is designed to de- Class: Anti System Strength: 4 MU: 2
tect illegal system entries. However, it also tracks Strength: 3 MU: 2 This virus causes the affected system or deck to
the entry to its source and alerts its mastersto the Flatline is designed to trace and kill the oper- randomly erase one file or program each turn until
location of intruder. Like Watchdog, Blood- ating Interface of your cybermodem-one the deck i s turned off.
hounds can be set up to watch a part of the Net zap, and your deckmust haveits interfacechip ICON: A swirling metallic blue fog with a white
and report back to you a t anotherworkstationor replaced. A Flatline can be carried by an neon DNA helix imbedded in the center.
modem. intruding Netrunner and used to attack the
ICON: A large, gun-metal grey hound robot. It decks of other 'Runners encountered in the
has glowing blue eyes and wears a thick circlet of Net.
blue neon as a collar. ICON: A beam of yellow neon which shoots Invisibility 300eb
from the Netrunner's fingertips. Class: Evasion/Stealth
P i t Bull 780eb Strength: 3 MU: 1
Class: Detection/Alarm Poison Flatline 540eb Invisibility overlays a false signal on your cyber-
Strength: 2 MU: 6 Class: Anti System modem trace, making it appear to be harmless
The most advanced form of the Watchdog series, Strength: 2 MU: 2 static. When activated, Invisibility will allow the
Pit Bull not only tracks the intruder to its source, Poison Flatline is designed to destroy not only Netrunner to pass unnoticed through the Net.
but also cuts the line after acquiring the location. the interfacesoftware,but the Memory of the ICON: Aflickering, iridescentsheet, which drapes
It will continue to cut the line every time the 'deck as well. This wrecks the cybermodem, over the Netrunner.
intruder logs on from that point of entry, requir- requiring total replacement. Like Flatline,
ing him to move to another phone line or cyber- Poison Flatline can be carried by an intruding Stealth 480eb
modem. Like Watchdog, Pit Bull can be set up to Netrunner and used to attack other 'Runners Class: Evasion/Stealth
watch a part of the Net and report back to you a t encountered in the Net. Strength: 4 MU: 3
another workstation or modem. ICON: A beam of green neon which launches Stealth mutes the Netrunner's cybersignal, mak-
ICON: A short, heavily built, steel dog robot. It from the Netrunner's fingertips. ing him harder to detect. He is still visible, but
has glowing red eyes and wears a thick circlet of offensive programs will not react to his presence.
red neon as a collar. However, other Netrunners can still see him.
Krash 570eb ICON: a sheet of black energy draped over the
SeeYa 280eb Class: Anti System Netrunner's ICON.
Class: Detection/Alarm Strength: 3 MU: 2
Strength: 3 MU: 1 Krash causes the CPU of an attacked deck or Replicator 320eb
SeeYa isdesigned todetectinvisiblelCONSwithin system (closestCPU in multi-processorsystems) Class: Evasion/Stealth MU: 2
the rangeof one Subgrid.Thisincludesprograms, to become inoperative for 1D6+1 turns. A Strength: 3 for most programs, 4 vs. Pit Bulls,
hidden Netrunners and things hidden by Krashed deck automatically drops its 'runner Bloodhounds and Hellhounds
Invisibility in a virtual reality. out of the Net, while a Krashed system may Replicator creates millionsof copies of your cyber-
ICON: A shimmering silver screen. not act until the time period has elapsed and modem trace, sending them off in all directionsto
it has re-booted itself. confuse a pursuing program. If successful, the
Hidden Virtue 280eb ICON: A large, cartoon anarchist bomb, with pursuer will track the wrong signal to a dead end.
Class: Detection/Alarm a sizzling fuse. Replicator is especially good against the "Dog"
Strength: 3 MU: 1 series of programs, as it overloads their limited AI
Hidden virtue i s a Rache Bartmoss design used to programming structure with too many decisions.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
ICON: A chrome sphere creating millions of elegant and tough. There are many versions of ICON: A bolt of crimson fire launched from the
holographic images of the Netrunner, flickering Killer. Netrunner's raised hand.
away in all directions. ICON: Alargemanlikerobot, dressedasa metallic
samurai. His eyes glow red from behind his Sword 6250eb
mask, and he carries a glowing katana. Class: Anti-Personnel
Strength: 3 MU: 4
Manticore 880eb A variant of Hellbolt, Sword causes 1D6 in
Shield 150eb Class: Anti-IC physical damage per hit.
Class: Protection Strength: 2 MU: 3 ICON: A glowing energy katana.
Strength: 3 MU: 1 Manticore is the simplest of a series of Assassin
Shield stops direct attack to the Netrunner. On programs; a type of Killer designed to locateand Brainwipe 6500eb
a successful use of Shield, the attack is thwarted destroy Demon programs. If no Demon is Class: Anti-Personnel
and no damage is taken. present in your cybermodemfile, Manticorewill Strength: 3 MU: 4
ICON: A shifting circular energy field appearing ignore you. Brainwipe is the simplest of a series of black
in front of the Netrunner. ICON: A huge, lionlike shape, drawn in red neon programs, all of which are designed to attack the
schematic lines. A large scorpion tail arcs over Netrunner instead of his programs. All black
Force Shield 160eb one shoulder. programscan becarriedbyan intrudingNetrunner
Class: Protection and used to attack other 'Runners encounteredin
Strength: 4 MU: 2 Hydra 920eb the Net. Brainwipe tracks the victim down, fries
A more powerful version of Shield. Class: Anti-IC his forebrain with a jolt of current, and reduces
ICON: A flickering silver energy barrier. Strength: 3 MU: 3 him to a drooling vegetable, (1 D6 each turn to
A more powerful variant of Manticore. INT). The screaming Netrunner feels his mind
Reflector 160eb ICON: A glittering blue fog that encircles its melt away, until his INT is reduced to 0 and he
Class: Protection target and dematerializes it. dies. Lost INT cannot be regained.
Strength: 5 MU: 2 ICON: An acid-green elect&al arc, which leaps
Reflector is designed to repel all Stun, Hellbolt Dragon 960eb from the floor and engulfs and kills the 'runner.
and Knockout attacks. It is unable to stop any Class: Anti-IC
other types of anti-personnel attacks. Strength: 4 MU: 3 Zombie 7500eb
ICON: Aflare of blue green light, coalescing into The most powerful variant of Manticore. Class: Anti-Personnel
a mirrored bowl. ICON: A great golden scaled dragon robot. Strength: 5 MU: 4
Laser beams shoot in multicolored arcs from its An advanced and more powerful version of
Armor 170eb eyes, and it is wreathed in electrical discharges. Brainwipe, Zombie wipes out the victim's fore-
Class: Protection brain, makinghim intoadroolingvegetable(1D6
Strength 4 MU: 2 Aardvark lOOOeb to INT each turn).
This program is designed to slow and retard all Class: Anti-IC MU: 3 ICON: A shrouded, skeletal form, enveloped in a
anti-personnel attacks. On a successful use of Strength4 vs. Worms, noeffect on any other stinking grey mist. Its eyes aresunken and i t s flesh
Armor, the attack is stopped. On an unsuccess- programs. is a mass of rotting, maggot-filled meat. It lunges
ful use, Armor will reduce all Stun, Hellbolt, Aardvark i s designed to locate and destroy in- out and rips the Netrunner's head off.
Brainwipe, Zombie and Hellhoundattack dam- truding Worm programs. It will immediately
ages by 3 points. seek out and destroy any Worm program car- Liche 7250eb
ICON: Glowing golden armor in a high tech ried, even if it is loaded as a Demon subroutine. Class: Anti-Personnel
design. ICON: A matrix of thin yellow neon lines, which Strength: 4 MU: 4
surround the Worm program and close around An advanced form of Zombie, Liche also rips
Flak 180eb it like a tightening net. The matrix then demate- away the forebrain (1 D6 to INT), but selectively.
Class: Protection MU: 2 rializes with the Worm entrapped. Most memory is eradicated, leaving enough to
Strength: 4 for most programs, 2vs. Pit Bulls, implant an easily controlled (by the Referee)
Bloodhounds and Hellhounds pseudo personality into the empty brain.
Flakcreatesatremendouswall ofstatic, blinding ICON: A metallic skeleton dressed in black robes
the attacking program and allowing the and wearing a blackened crown. It grabs the
Netrunner to easily evade. Flak is very good Stun 6000eb Netrunner in its freezing grasp and drags him
against most programs, but it is relatively inef- Class: Anti-Personnel back under the floor.
fective against the "Dog" series. Strength: 3 MU: 3
ICON: A cloud of blinding, glowing, multicol- Stun sends an overpowering bolt of energy into Firestarter 6250eb
ored lights, swirling in all directions. the target, causing him to be frozen in place for Class: Anti-Personnel
1D6 turns. This is a very commonly used offen- Strength: 4 MU: 4
sive program, particularly by the NetCops. Firestarter is indirectly anti-personnel in nature.
ICON: A bolt of blue flame streaking from the Using its Bloodhound subroutines, it tracks the
Netrunner's open palm. intruder to its source. Silentlyenteringthe electri-
Killer II, IV & V I 1320eb,1400eb,l480eb cal system, it blasts the wiring with a megawatt
Class: Anti-IC MU: 5 Hellbolt power surge. The jolt causes wiring fires, explo-
Strength: 1 for each level of program Class: Anti-I sions, and fries the Netrunner as if he were in an
Killer i s a general purpose virus program de- Strength: 4 electric chair. Firestarter programs are excellent
signed to kill other programs. It enters the logic A more powerfulversion of Stun, Hellboltcauses covert killers, as they leave little or no evidence in
structure of its victim and inserts errors with physical damage (1 D10 per attack) to the Ne- the charred wreckage.
blinding speed, causing the target to crash (1 D6 trunner. Damageissubtractedfromthe Netrun- ICON: A blazing pillar of fire, which speaks the
to STR). Killer is a very simple program; smooth, ner as a wound until he is dead. Saves vs. Stun Netrunner's name in a hissing, booming voice,
and Death must also be made. then leaps a t him.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
Alias 160eb
Hellhound
Class: Anti-Personnel
Strength: 6 MU: 6
10,000eb
I Class: Utility
Strength: 6 MU: 2
Changes file names, replacing the filename with
Hellhound combines the worst aspects of Pit Note: Controllers are run using the CONTROL
Bull and Flatline. It locates the intruder and an innocuous title that hides its true nature.
REMOTE function of the Menu, and have no
sends out a modulated pulse designed to ICONS.
cause a heart attack in humans (2D10 wound Re-Rezz 130eb
damage). If the Netrunner escapes in time, it Class: Utility
Viddy Master 140eb
remains active within the Net, lurking silently Strength: 3 MU: 1
Class: Controller
in major long distance terminals, waiting for Recompiles and restores damaged files or pro-
Strength: 4 MU: 1
the specific brain wave pattern of the intruder grams. If a program is de-reued, this is the best
Allows control of videoboards.
to show up. It then tracks him down again and way to get it back short of having a copy.
kills him. Patient and remorseless, Hellhound Soundmachine 140eb
can wait yean for its victim to log on. Its rarity Instant Replay 180eb
Class: Controller
and high price tag prohibits its use against all Class: Utility
Strength: 4 MU: 1
but extremely high level Netrunners. Strength: 8 MU: 2
Allows control of microphones, loudspeakers,
ICON: A huge, black, metal wolf. It's eyes Makes a record of the Netrunner'strip, so that he
vocoders (computer voice boxes).
glow white, and fire runs in ripples all over its can retrace his steps through the Net.
body. It speaks in a grating, metallic voice, Open SesamC 130eb
repeating the Netrunner's name. GateMaster 150eb
Class: Controller
Class: Utility
Strength: 3 MU: 1
Spazz 6250eb A low level program for opening doors, elevators, Strength: 5 MU: 1
Class: Anti-Personnel Deletes and kills Viriu and Viral 15 programs
etc.
Strength: 4 MU: 3 without requiring a total shutdown of the system
Spau causes epileptic seizures in the Netrun- or deck.
Genie ' 150eb
ner's nervous system. REF is automatically Class: Controller
reduced to half for 1D6 turns, slowing the Strength: 5 MU: 1 Padlock 160eb
Netrunner's Initiative rolls drastically. A high level programfor opening doors, elevators, Class: Utility
Appearance: A nimbus of electrical energy etc. Strength: 4 MU: 2
surrounding the target. Keeps anyone other than the Netrunner from
Hotwirem 130eb logging onto the deck unless the proper code
Glue 6500eb word is used.
Class: Controller
Class: Anti-Personnel Strength: 3 MU: 1
Strength: 5 MU: 4 Allows remote control of roboticcan, vehicles, etc. ElectroLock 170eb
Used by the "Icemen" of NetWatchas an arrest Class: Utility
program, Glue freezes the Netrunner in place Dee-2@ 130eb Strength: 7 MU: 2
for 1D10 turns (4 turns is long enough to get Class: Controller Changes an open file to a LOCKED file equal to
a good trace on his locationin Realspace). The a Code Gate of Strength 3.
Strength: 3 MU: 1
Netcops can then send a squad along to pick Allows control of robots, cleaning mecha, autofac-
him up at their leisure. tories, etc. Filelocker0 140eb
ICON: Ashifting pattern of red shapes flicker- Class: Utility
ing acrossthe floor to entanglethe Netrunner. Crystal Ball 140eb Strength: 4 MU: 1
Class: Controller Locks a n open file to a level equal to a Code Gate
Knockout 6250eb of Strength 5.
Strength: 4 MU: 1
Class: Anti-Personnel Allows controlof video cameras, remote sensors, etc.
Strength: 4 MU: 3 NetMap 15Oeb
Knockoutdeliversa powerful modulatedshock News A t P 140eb Class: Utility
that knocks the Netrunner out for 1D6 hours. Class: Controller Strength: 4 MU: 1
He is automatically dumped out of the Net, Strength: 4 MU: 1 Provides a locator map of most major Net re-
and is in a coma in Realspaceforthis period of gions, adding +2 toany System Knowledgecheck
Allows through-the-Net access to Data Terms and
time. Knockout is a very common defense Screamsheet boxes for information. to find a place in the Net.
against low level intrusion (like the Phone Co.
or an office system). Phone Home 150eb File Packer 140eb
ICON: A yellow neon schematic boxer ap- Class: Controller Class: Utility
pears and strikes out at the Netrunner'sICON. Strength: 5 MU: 1 Strength: 4 MU: 1
Allows the Netrunnerto place or receive calls in the Compactsfilesto half their normal MU size.Takes
JackAttack 6000eb Net. Phone Home is also Strength 2 to intercept 2 turns to unpack a file to normal size.
Class: Anti-Personnel and listen into other calls.
Strength 3 MU: 3 Backupm 140eb
jack attack is often used as an arrest program. Class: Utility
It stops the Netrunner from jacking out for Strength: 4 MU: 1
1D6 turns if it is successfully run. Backup allows you to make a copy of any pro-
ICON: A pair of glowing schematic handcuffs gram (except for Anti-IC and Anti-personnel
Databaser 180eb types). You will need extra data chips and a
encircling the Netrunner's wrists. Class: Utility cyberdeck chipreader for this.
Strength: 8 MU: 2
Creates open files to store information in.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
sure you come back to your friendly local
Fixer for a new copy of Hellhound when
yours crashes. You can make a copy using "HMMM...' I
These are four levels of programs created by the
legendary Rache Bartmoss of CCI Development in your Programming Skill against a Task YOU THOUGHT
2004. The Demon Program is a generic program with Difficulty of 28. But think what happens if By now, some of you
the ability to incorporate several other programs as you screw up ... morecreative types are
subroutines-in short, two, three, four or even five thinking, "Hey, why
programs in one. To use the program, you must not just crash into In-
activatethe Demon, then specify the chosen subrou-
Changing Programs
Chips are inserted into your deck before ternet's mainframe
tine it carries. The subroutine programs look and
act just as their originals, but are usually less the start of the run. Once you're in the face, and delete my bill each
powerful, as they must use the program strength you're committed. However, if you're will- month?"And we'd be
of t h e Demon core in combat. ing to dump out of the N e t and abort the disappointed if you
run, you can change chips (1 turn). You'll didn't think of it- it
Imp lOOOeb
have to jack back in and retrace your steps, meansyou're thinking
Class: Demon (carries 2 programs)
Strength: 3 MU: 3 but this time when you meetthat Bruinwipe, like true Cyberpunks
ICON: A small, orange sphere of light, with two you'll be ready. and that makes us
amused looking red eyes. It continually emits a series proud.
of beeps, whistles and pinging noises.
Designing New Programs
Check out the Designing Your Own Pro- Butlet'sputitthisway.
Afreet 1160eb
Class: Demon Series (carries 3 programs) grams Section, pg. 158 for details. You know how tough
Strength: 3 MU: 4 Arasaka's Tokyo Main
ICON: A tall, powerfully built black man, dressed in is? Well, Arasaka
elegant eveningclothes and wearing a fez. He carries pays it's monthly bill
a dagger in his jacket, and speaks in a formal, deep
voice. Live Link Up to Internet.
Okay, you've got a deck and some pro-
Succubus 1200eb These guys don't use
grams. What else are you gonna need?
Class: Demon (carries 4 programs) the Net. They own the
Strength: 4 MU: 4 Net. You don't even
ICON: A voluptuous, nude female form, hairless, and The last thing you're going to need is a
want to guess what
madefrom shiny chrome metal. She has large, batlike place to plug in. This means a phone
wings, and blue, pupilless eyes.
Internet can throw a t
number.
you. It even scares
Balron 1240eb Saburo Arasaka.
Class: Demon (carries 4 programs) If you're running a stationary cyberdeck,
Strength: 5 MU: 5 this is as simple as contacting your local
Note: We're not saying
ICON: A huge, male figure, powerfully built. He is office of Internet Phone Corporation and
dressed in futuristic black armor, glittering with re- you can't jack your
arranging for a phone number. The office
flected highlights. In one hand, he carries a red- phone bill around
checks your backgroundand credit record,
glowing energy blade; his other arm ends in a series (frack, i t ' s a time
of neon-green, glowing tentacles. His eyes glow red then issues you a Net Access code (equiva-
honored skill of the
behind his visor, and his voice is a sibilant hiss. lent to a 20th century phone number).
Loyal Order of Blue
Boxers 6r Phone
Copying Your Programs If you have a cellular phone or cellular
Phreeks). But Referees
A smart idea. You can copy almost any cybermodem, the process is equally simple;
with a consistent
program in your arsenal. All you need is the call up Internet, tell them your cyberdeck's
phone-phreeking prob-
Backup utility, adata chip, and a chipreader serial number, get a credit check and your
lem should feel free to
to put it in. A single chip holds 1 MU, but Net Access code is issued to you right then
unleash the Houndsof
Backup is designed to break a larger file up and there
Hell on their habitual
over two or more chips.
offenders. Running
The Net Access code is billed a flat rate
from the world's
Chips cost 10.00. To copy the contents of (30eb per month), plus additionalcostsfor
largest corporation
the average deck will cost between 100 to long distance Netruns (or calls). The bill is
makes for a heck of an
300 eb. Cheap a t twice the price. sent toyour home on the 1s t of the month.
adventure.
If you don't have a permanent residence,
Note: Anti-IC and Anti-Personnel pro- Internet will arrange to have the funds
gramscannotbe Backupcopied; they have deleted out of your credit account auto-
special copy-protectionroutines that erase matically, sendinga statement to wherever
the chip in the copy process. This makes you get your mail.
71.12
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3 5 700
ANTI SYSTEM
PROTECTION
ANTI-IC
AN TI-PERSONNEL
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I I
5 5 1240
Maybe.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Howzat?? Look, chombatta, in reality, So you jump from Night City to New York.
you're not moving a t all- it's just your From there, you can easily jump to Lon-
point of view that's moving. Think of it like don; it'sfive spaces exactly. Butwaita sec...
you're sending out an eyeball on a long There's one more thing you need to con-
string. The eyeball travels, but you don't. sider. Security Levels.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
3-5 You escape. They don't have a locations of important places in the city-
trace on you, but will spend 1 D6+1 in this case, important systems and Data
days patrolling that area of the Net Fortresses. You enter the City Grid map HANGING OUT
hoping you'll show up. through the LDL ICON on the map, then If the system you want to
6 You escape, but they issue an ANB move at five spaces per turn to where your visit is off line or shut
(All Net Bulletin) on you. They know down, there'sgoing to be
target system is located.
you're out there, and they're looking a blank space in the Net
for you. It's only a matter of time... instead of a Data Fortress
We've given you a sample City Grid based
o n Night City. As a Referee, you'll want t o ICON. You may have to
Often, it's smarter to take the long way wait around a while be-
around when approaching a target city, construct your own City Grids; there's a
blank map for this purpose as well. If you fore your target shows
moving through low security LDLs instead up. For example, if First
havea reallylargecity,you maywantto use
ofjamming right through the high security Eurobank has 9-5 hours,
ones. several City Maps placed end t o end.
this means you may have
Each Data Fortress on the City Grid has an to wait until the bank
Tracing comes on line.
There's another reason t o pick your LDLs identifying ICON on the City Grid Map.
These ICONS are coded by the level of
carefully. Besides having a Security Level, So there you are, hanging
security the system is known t o have.
each LDL also has a Trace Value. The trace out. Sooneror later, you're
value represents the difficulty of tracking going to meet someone...
Grey Systems: These systems utilizeonly Alarm
your cybersignal through that particular
and Detection programs. They include
LDL. Each LDL you pass through has it's * mostCitygovernments, Universitiesand RANDOM NET
own Trace Value; the total value of all LDLs ?
small private businesses. ENCOUNTERS
passedthrough in a Net Fun represents the 1-2 Nothing
Difficulty of tracing your signal back t o it's Level 1: These systems include small corpora- 3 Random Program
source. By picking the right LDLs, or by tions, police services and large private passes.
going through a lot of them, you can make it businesses. Anti-IC programs are used
4 Friendly Netrunner
nearly impossibleto trace your point of origin. in these systems, as well as Detection
5 Hostile Netrunner
and Alarm programs.
6 NETWATCH
This is important, particularly if you are
Level 2: Anti-IC and anti system programs are
being attacked by a program with some
used here. These systems include me-
type of tracing function built into it. For
dium sized corporations and very large
example, if a Hellhound fails t o nail you private businesses.
before you jack out, it must attempt to
trace your signal in order t o execute it's Level 3: These systems use non-fatal anti-per-
backup program (find out where the Ne- sonnel programs. Level three systems
trunner entered the Net and wait till he are usually operated by large corpora-
. .
reenters- then kill t-* '
iim).
~ tions, state goverinmentsandother mod-
erately powerful group:s. These people don't
To trace you, the plrogram must roll a want you in their systemIS, but they don't have
1D10 + Strength valiJe equal to or greater theclouttowaste~ouo Nut of hand. They'll just
hurt you and hand you over to NETWATCH.
than the total of all the Trace Values you
have passed througl On your trip* fthe Black Systems: These cf ortresses use fatal and
program fails this rolI, it will not be able to . .
- nnn-fatal
get a trace o n your signal. & .-, lu.ul ,., +sonnet software. Black
anti-nr
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'1
I
I
I
I
I
'1
I
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I
L
l
LONG DISTANCE LINK GUIDE
city Region Controlled by: Security Lvl. Trace Value
Ascension Atlantis Central American Federation 2 3
2 2
71.12
71.12
ICONLyou're a chrdmed, humanoid &ape
(obviously) pass wearing futuristic battle armor. Your face re-
through an flectsinyour mirrored body-your eyesglow an
eerie green. Below you is a bright neon iand-
obstacle unless scape representingthe Night City Grid. In the
distance is a blazing blue diamond shape, em-
you blast it to blazonedwith thelogoof the fnternd Telephone
oblivion first. Corporation.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
One of the nifty things about cyberdeck
designsis that they haveterminal-emulation Combat
chips includedin their construction, making Edger skated around the edge of
them tiny terminals inside the computer.
This design function allows a friendly the Kiroshiyu data fortress, his
Netrunnerto diagnose and work within his Cosmowarrior /CON leaving a
own Data Fortress. ltalsoallowsanunfriendly sparkling wake. Behind him, the
Netrunner to give the CPU of the system his Kiroshiyu system rezzed four Hell-
own commands: bolts into existence. Edger mut-
tered something vague and ob-
ERASE: This deletesany programor file from
your personal deck or from any system you
scene in gutter Japanese, a s he
are currently in. ERASE is used when you brought the Menu up in his mind.
don’t have enough space in your deck for A quick choice- run the Killer, he
Saburo’s black book and you just have to decided. Instantly, the lean,
have it. metallic shape rezzed behind the
fleeing Netrunner and streaked
READ: This command allowsyouto browse
the tableof contentsof any file you mayfind off on an intercept course to-
inasystem memory, orthroughthecontents wards the four seething energy
of that file. Most of the time, however, you globes.. .
aren‘t going to want to waste time reading
the actual contents; you’ll just make a COPY I n i t i a t i v e
and run for cover. The first thing to determine in a Net com-
bat is who goes first. This can be critical, as
Note: occasionally, very devious types take most offensive software can seriously inca-
advantage of this by planting huge files in a pacitate or kill in a single turn. To deter-
system memory with seductive labels like mine who will act first, compare:
SECRET PLANS TO RULE THE EARTH. The
file, of course, contains nothing but useless COMPUTER’S lNT+ I D 1 0
garbage, but a really gullible Netrunnerwill vs
invariably dump everything else he has just NETRUNNER’S REF+DECK
to carry this treasure back. SPEED+ 1D10
EDIT This command allowsyou to change, When there is more than one Netrunner or
write into, re-write or otherwise alter the system involved in an attack, each combat-
contents of a file. ant must make it’sown initiative roll, taking
turns from highest to lowest total. Like
CREATE/DELETE: This command activates normal combat, you may elect to holdyour
a special program called Creator. Creator is action until later, or even set up an am-
used to generate virtual constructs and bush.
realities within memory. For more on Crea-
tor, check out Virtually There, pg.160. In the Rounds & Actions
meantime, what you should know is that A Netrunner combat round is one second
CREATE allows you to make small objects in long. During this time, a Netrunner can
Netspace (relatively non functional ones, as take one action (unlike a normal combat
guns cause no damage and most electronic round, in which a character has three full
hardware doesn’t really do anything)., and seconds to cram in a lot of actions). This
that DELETE allows you to de-reuthe same. action can be anything listed on the Menu
Safeguards in Creatorprevent you from pg. in addition to movement. For example,
someone else’s creation, however. This is Edger elects in his combat round to move
actuallyagood idea;doyou reallywantto be five spaces away from the Hellhound and
the guy who accidently de-reued Dream RUN a program (in this case, a Kil/er) to
Park Corporation‘s Virtual Theme Park? attack his enemy.
71.12
Computers, of course, are a lot faster than her through Salt Lake ( 7 ) ,Denver (2)) New
humans. Single-CPUsystems performonly Orleans(3), Havana (3)‘ Bogota (4) and Rio
one action per turn. A computer may (2). In Rio, she encounters a Hellhound
perform one extra action per turn for (Strength 6) which attacks her outside of the
every two additional CPU present in the Petrochem’s new Data Fortress. Spider jacks
system. A really powerful computer could out, and the Hellhound tries to run a trace
activate two, three, four or more programs back to her original position. It must beat a
to attack a single Netrunner. total of fifteen (7+2+3+3+4+2=75) inorder
to make a successful trace. That Hellhound
This is why Netrunners team up to tackle better roll a 9 or 10, or it’s going to be out in
big systems. the cold.
Hellhounds, Bloodhounds and Pit Bulls have Attacks Against Systems and
no such restrictions; they are designed Cyberdecks
with a tracing function that allows them to Some programs are designed to attack
move away from their home system and only systems and cyberdecks. They oper-
follow you anywhere. The only way to ate by penetrating the data walls that
ditch one of these monsters is to jack out protect the system, then running their
and hope the pursuer isn’t able to make a attack programs. Anti System attacks in-
successful Trace roll on you. Otherwise, clude Intrusion and Anti-System Programs.
it‘ll be waiting the next time you log on in These attacks are made with the formula:
that location of the Net.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
Artificial Intelligence
PARTS & PROGRAMS DESIGNING When a system has achieved an INT of 12
or greater, it is considered to be an Artifi-
A Central Processor (or
CPU), is the brain of cial Intelligence (AI), capable of inde-
183 the computer; i t
does all the thinking FORTRESSES
pendent action without a human overseer.
If you have created an AI, you will need to
tasks thesystem is ordered determine just what it is like (after all, AIS
A Data Fortress is any type of computer
t o perform. Unlike are almost as much characters as they are
system that is defended by programs and
humans, a computer can computer systems), and what sort of ICON
armored with data walls. A key part of
have more t h a n one it uses to represent itself in the Net.
refereeing the Net will be creating Data
"brain"; l a r g e D a t a Fortresses for your players to plunder (or
Fortresses may have as Personality
die trying).
many a s a dozen, a l l Friendly, curious: The AI is motivated by an
working away in unison interest in what happens around it. Like a
Start by making a photocopyof a Subgrid
a s the computer performs. child, it is trusting and friendly. However, like
Map (pg.161) to work on. You can use
various jobs. a child, it can lash out with incredible vio-
regular quarter inch graph paper as well, as
lence towards those who betray, threaten or
long as you letter the top from A to T and
Processors In the 2000's hurt it.
the sides from 1 to 20 for mapping coordi-
differ from those of the nates.
20th century in that they Hostile, paranoid:This AI is motivated by it's
are closer in design to survival, and treats all incursions as a threat to
Central Processing Units
artificial intelligences, that goal. It will tend to attack when pos-
Choose how many CPU you will
This gives t h e m t h e sible, withdraw and hole up when not.
capacity for intuitive
thought and innovation,
181 have in your system, paying
10,000 eb for each one. Pick a
clear space on your graph paper and place
Stable, intelligent, businesslike:The AI sees
but makes them more itself as an adult dealing with other adults. It
each of your CPUs in a square of the grid,
prone to make errors in will not act out of fear, but out of rational self
usingthe symbol for a CPU (a circle with an
judgement. interest. It will attack only if it sees it's duty
"X" through it).
compromised or safety threatened; it will
Memories are where you then tend to go for the least violent solution
store things t h a t the to the threat.
computer system
121 w i l l need to
operate. They are themost
Intellectual, detached: The AI is a thinker. It
will watch and observe whenever possible,
important part of the compiling as much information as possible.
system next to the CPU. It is more likely to study the intruder from a
distance, eliminating it ruthlessly when the
Data Walls represent the intruder becomes a threat.
physical hardening of the
computer against Machinelikeandinhuman:TheAl has never
intrusion. A Data seen a reason to develop a human persona;
w a l l covers the what human like qualities it possesses are
top, bottom and done only as a way of dealing with it's
sides of a system. Really irrationalmasters. The AI will dealwith threats
well defended systems are NCURE 1: THE CPU in an efficient, deadly manner.
called Data Fortresses.
Remote and godlike: The AI is fully aware of
Computer Intelligence: For every CPU,
how limited humans are in relation to it's
the INT of the computer is raised by 3
powerful mentality. It deals with people as
points. INT is important; it's what the
though they were small children who aren't
computer used in lieu of REF and other
too bright. Intruders are dealt with through
stats when performing tasks; it's also used
simple, direct, usually non-fatal methods.
when the computer brings it's lntehceskill
Repeat offenders are considered to be too
into play to make attacks or defenses. The
stupidfor their own good and are eliminated
maximum number of CPU you may have
the way a human crushes a bug.
on any one system i s 7.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
ICONS
Human: The AI chooses to look like a normal Code Gates are openings
human, to better interact with others. The through Data
human ICON chosen can vary wildly, de-
pending on the At’s personality, but alt ap- entry t o anyone
pear as real humans you might meet on the w h o has t h e proper
Street. identification codes or
Geometric: Forget all this anthropomor-
phology. The AI manifests itself as shapes, long Distance Links (1DLr),
colors and energyfields. Occasionallyshapes as described
are strung together to make a symbol or
other image. instantaneous
movement o f d a t a (or
Mythological: The AI is interested in human netrunners) over long
archetypesand knowsthat certain types can distances. If an LDL is in a
cause fear or awe in humans. The AI appears computer system, this
as a mythological figure; a dragon, demon, means that this LDL leads
angel, mystic hero or monster, all out of t o a n o t h e r computer
some type of human mythology. system directiy connected
Memory
With each CPU, you will g e t four memo-
ries. Memory is where you will store
Programs, Skills, Files and Virtual Realities
(more on all of these later). Memories must
be placed in squares adjacent to each
other or the CPU (see Fig 2):
71.12
a number value for each one (this is why
the symbol for a memory is an empty box).
For example, in our sample computer in
Fig. 2, we've assigned each memory a
value from 1 to 4.
cc
plus 1000eb spent for every additional
level added to the wall, up to a Strength of
10.
Pick Skills
Like humans, computers have skills. These
skills are programs not all that unlike
chipped human skills; the difference is that
they are a lot more powerful than biochips.
Computerskillsstartata level of 4and have
a base cost of 200eb. For an additional
1OOeb, you can raise a skill by one level, up
to a total of +lo.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
they do not involve a physical component, generally useless stuff that gets stored on any
such a running or leaping (a computer large computer system. Most of it's worthless,
could fly an AV-7 or paint a picture, as long but occasionally a sawy Corporate will bury
as it had the proper remote controls (more something in the garbage just because he
on this later). All computer skills are per- knows no one will look there.
formed using the computers INT score in
Databases: These are lists; lists of names,
lieu of a TECH or REF stat. phone numbers, figures, records, etc. A data-
base might contain the entire list of employ-
COMPUTER SKILLS ees of a corporation, or a list of clients who
Accounting regularlyreceivecompany catalogs. You check
Anthropology out a database to find out a particular per-
Botany
son's phone number, for example.
Chemistry
Composition
Cryotank Operation Business Records: These are actual business
Diagnose Illness documents. They would include important
Driving meeting notes, memos, reports and so on.
Education & General Knowledge Most business informationis stored here. You
Gamble might look in Business recordsto find a copy
Geology of the Arasaka sales report for May, 2019.
Heavy Weapons (as a mounted weapon)
History.
Language
Transactions: These are usually things that
Library Search involve money; checkingaccounts(writeyour-
Mathematics self a check and mail it to your safe box),
Operate Hvy. Machinery financial records (wipe out that bill you owe
Paint or Draw Militech for the five new missile launchers)
Pharmaceuticals and orders (tell Procurement to buy you a
Physics new AV-7 with all the options). As you might
Pilot have guessed, this is where most Netrunners
Play Instrument (if electronic)
Programming
go to steal money or order plane tickets.
Rifle (as a mounted weapon)
Stock Market Grey Ops: These are secret records and or-
Submachinegun (as a mounted weapon) ders. In Grey Ops, you might find records of
System Knowledge bribes, slush funds, blackmail information,
Teaching tradesecrets, espionage information, etc. This
Zoology stuff is valuable; it's also well protected.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I-
you need the right code to read the file. areas are usually not very complex; a couple
You can try to figure out the code indirectly small rooms and a lot of empty space.
(always a good roleplaying option, as the
Virtual Building: this is a large scale con-
players search the Chairman of the Board's struct, equivalent to about a 10 story build-
trash cans for a scrap of paper and quiz ing. Virtual buildings are used when a large
everyone who knows Saburo Arasaka to number of people must conference together
discover the name of his childhood pet via the Net. A good example of this would be
because the Ref said it was a clue). Or you the Hunt Club, a virtual building constructed
can brute force your way into the file by as part of a Netrunner's club called the Master
using one of the many decryption pro- Hackers. It is basically an English Tudor man-
grams available (Codecracker,Wizard's Book, sion with surrounding gardens, libraries and
Raffles). carriage house.
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A B C D E F C H I J K L M N O P Q R S T
I I I I I I I I
71.12
Number I information
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
so
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8 1991 R.Talsorian Games, Inc. Photocopy permission grantedfor personal use.
71.12
Number Information
i
7
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
70
17
74
75
76
77
I 1 9 1 1
27 1 1
24 1 1
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35 1 1
36
38
39
40
44 1
45
47
48
49
50
GI1991 R.Talsorian Games, Inc. Photocopy permission granted for personal use.
71.12
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I
Contextual: Like a very good CD-ROM ing things, remote controlled vehicles and
video game. Textures, colors, better robots, monitor cameras, hidden micro-
sound. phones, video display boards, printers,
holographic displays, automatic gates &
Fractal: Like true computer animation. doors, elevators, voice boxes, alarm sys-
Full color, sound. tems, terminals, etc. Each one is controlled
by the computer, using the most appropri-
Photorealistic: about as real as being in ate skill for it's function, or, as in the case
a video. of videoboards, cameras, microphones,
printers and holographics, simply used by
Superrealistic: Just like real life. the computer to gather and disseminate
information.
To determine the effect of realism on your Remotes
virtual's cost, multiply the base MU cost Terminals: a terminal is basically a keyboard
and the base dollar cost by the realism and a videoscreen, used to input information
to the computer and get results back. Each
value below.
CPU comes with one terminal; additional
ones cost 5,000eb.
Type Multiplier
Simple .......................................... xl Autofactories:
Contextural .................................. x2 lathesandcom-
Fractal .......................................... x3 putercontrolled
Photorealistic ................................ x4 assembly ro-
Superrealistic ................................ XS bots. Usually
used in indus-
Manipulator Autofactory Elevator N Camera
trial plants, al-
Example: 1 build a virtualrec-area(Cost 4 MU
though there
and 7 00.000eb). I decide to make it as real are many small
as possible (x5). My total MU cost is 20, and fabrication
~ ~~
Defenses
Gates 8 Doors:
computer con-
'
trolled gates.
These are the programs that are used to Comon'; haven't you seen Max Headroom
keep the Netrunners from sneaking in and yet? And you call yourself a Cyberpunk!
messing with your nice new system. You
may select any program from the mas- Elevators: 'Nuff said.
ter l i s t on pg. 142 (if you pay for it).
Holo Display: emits a 3 dimensional image
A program can be placed anywhere in the from a wall or floor port. Good for meetings;
system (inside a memory, CPU, a blank often part of an executive conference room.
space, etc.) However, you must subtract its
Manipulators: required for repairing tasks,
MU cost from one of your memories. painting, or doing any other sort of "hand"
work.
Most programs are stationary; once you
place them in the system, they stay there. Microphones: common in a paranoid age.
However, Hellhounds, Killers and Demons
are all mobile, and can patrol up to 1 Printers: Laser printers for hardcopy.
square outside the data walls of their resi-
dent systems. TV Cameras: also a common security meas-
ure. Usually in the halls of most corporate
buildings (6OOh).
Remotes
These are devices in Realspace attached to Vehicles b robots: small housecleaner 'droids,
the computer system; manipulators for taxis, corporate vehicles and limos (for execs
movingthings, autofactoriesfor construct- without human drivers).
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
5-6 Anti-IC
1-2 .Killer (roll 1D6 for Str.)
.
3-4 Manticore
5-6 .Aardvark 2 IVcamera Ever notice how much
7-8 Anti-System 3 Extra Terminal subgrids resemble cross-
1 .....
Flatline 4 Videoboard word puzzles? It's no
2 .....
Poison Flatline 5 Printer accident- we planned
3 .....
Krash 6 Alarm it that way. A quick trip
4 .....Viral 15 7 Remote vehicle or robot t o the supermarket
5 .....
DecKrash 8 Automatic door, gate checkout line can pro-
6 .....
Murphy 9 Elevator vide you with endless
9-10 Anti-Personnel 10 Manipulator or Autofactory hours of Netrunningfun.
1 .....
Stun And you can grab the
2 .....
Hellbolt 9) Pick any one of the 6 possible layouts l a t e s t screamsheets
3 .....
Brainwipe of data walls below or create your own. (World News, Nationol
4 .....
Knockout Plug your parts and programs into place Enquirer) while you're at
5 .....
Zombie and get ready to rock! it!
6 .....
Hellhound
ROLL 7 ROLL 3
II
ROLL 4 ROLL 5
ROLL 6 II
71.12
I Name # of CPU- TotulCost I I Name # of CPU- TotalCost I
I INT-+ 10 Interface DATA WALL STR II INT -+ 10 Interface DATA WALL STR I
AI? CODE GATE STR AI? CODE GATE STR I
I PERSONALITY ? II ?
I [ 1 Friendly [ ] Hostile [ ]Stable [ ] Intellectual
I I [PERSONALITY
] Friendly [ ] Hostile [ ] Stable [ ] Intellectual I
I [ ] Machinelike [ ] Remote I I [ ] Machinelike [ ] Remote I
I REACTION? I I REACTION? I
I ] Neutral [ ] Kill [ IObserw [ ]Report [ ]Talk I I ]Neutral [ ]Kill [ ] Observe [ ] Report [ ]Talk I
I ICON II ICON I
I [[ ]Technic
] Human [ ]Geometric [ ] Mythological [ ]Voice II [ ] Human [ ] Geometric [ ] Mythological [ ]Voice
I
[ ] Humanoid [ ]Technic [ ] Humanoid
I II I
I SKILLS I I SKILLS I
I1 I1 1 I
11 1
I
I2 I
I3 11 3 I
I4 II 4 I
I5 II 5 :I
I II I -
I REMOTES 11 REMOTES I
I1 II I
I2 II 2 S I
I 43 11; 4
I
I5
I FILES, VIRTUALS, ETC.
!!
II FILES, VIRTUALS, ETC.
'I
-I
I
I1 II 1 I
I2 I 2 I
I3 I 3 I
I4 I 4 I
I5 I I
I 67 I I
I- I I
I9 I
I 10 I I 10 I
I- -
11 I I 11 I
I 1I &
7 I I 12 I
I II I
I DEFENSES I I DEFENSES I
I1 II 1 I
I2 II 2 I
I3 II 3
I4 II 4 I
I
I
I
I
I
I 1991 R.Talsorian Games, Inc. Photocopy permission granted for personal use _ -
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII JLIIIII0I~1991 R.Talsorian Games, Inc. Photocopy permission granted for personal use.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I I
DlFF Type
10 Evasion: this function makes a program or
the runner hard to trace
15 Stealth: this function makes the program
or runner hard to detect
20 Anti Program: this function attacks and
destroys other programs.
15 Anti System: this function damages or
screws up a computer system.
10 Detection: this function detects intruding
netrunnen/programs
15 Alarm: this function alerts the system or
Netrunner to intrusion
20 Anti-Personnel: this function attacks and
kills Netrunners. The Netrunner is either
killed (takes damage), taken over or mind
wiped.
15 Intrusion: this function allows programs/
netrunnen to get through data walls.
10 Protection: this function stops attacks to
netrunners or decks
15 Decryption: this function opens codes and
locks
10 Controller: this function allows control of
machines in Realspace.
10 Utility: this function restores damaged
programs, copies things, improves deck
speeds, reads files and does general librar-
ian work.
10 Interactive: this program acts like a per-
son in a virtual reality; it walks, moves
around, manipulates objects in the virtual
construct.When combined with psuedo-
intellect and conversational ability, it can
act much like a real person inside a virtual
reality.
101 10 Compiler (Demon): This program man-
ages other programs, and can reduce
Creating New Software for them in size by packing them tighter until
Netrunning needed.
Although you’ve got a lot of programs to
choose from, it won’t take long before The functions list above is designed to be
you’ll want to design your own. Home- general; the netrunner decides what his
grown programs can be the edge your program is supposed to do, finds the func-
Netrunner needs; because the old stuff tion closest to his conception, and pays the
gets known pretty fast around the Net. Difficulty price for the function. How that
function actually works is pretty much up
CONSTRUCTING NEW to him and the Referee of the individual
PROGRAMS game; if your Anti-Personnel program kills
Every program is made up of three parts; a Netrunner by encasing his ICON in violet
functions, options and strengths. When light and melts his brains with a burst of
you put functions, options and strengths energy, that’s great. But in game terms, it
together, you create a new program. simply kills the netrunner.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
listed functions a bit too much. And hey, if 3 ICON (fractal): the program has some
it gets out of hand, feel free to have the what realistic Net ICON, with shading,
sucker backfire and eat the player's face. texture and sensation.
It's the Cyberpunk way. 4 ICON (photorealistic): the program has a
very realistic ICON about tt I
71.12
VIEW-FROM THE EDGE
I
number, then read across for the size in trunner to carry more programs in the
meg. same amount of memory.
Difficulty MU
10-15 .......................................
1 To build a Demon, you‘ll start by building a
16-20 .......................................
2 normal program, using the Compiler/
21-25 .......................................
3 Demon function. To this, you can add as
26-30 .......................................
4 many options as desired, as well as setting
31-35 .......................................
5 its Strength. The Strength of the Demon is
36-40 ......................................
.6 somewhat modified by the number of
41+...........................,...............
7 programs it carries; for each program ”on
Hellhound has a Difficulty of 40; this means board”, the Demon will lose one point of
it will take 6 MU. Strength. Example: Succubus / I starts with
a Strength of 7. But by carrying 3 pro-
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO grams, this Strength is reduced to 4.
WRITE?
For every point of Difficulty involved in the Next, build all of your subprograms. Don’t
program, it will take 6 hours of work. The worry about their strengths; they‘ll fight a t
work need not be continous and it may be the strength level of the Demon, not their
divided between netrunners if more than own. Now,after you’ve created them, add
one is involved in the process. Forexample, all Difficulty numbers together and divide
with a Diff of 40, it would take 240 hours of by 2. Add this result to the Difficulty of the
work to program Hellhound. Spider and the Demon and you have the total Difficulty
Edger decide to work in eight hour shifts; at (and the amount of memory required) for
this rate, they’ll finish in about 30 days. your completed Demon.
However, they decide to work ut the same
time, cutting the time to only 75 days. Example: Edger builds a Demon to hold four
programs. Nicknamed Pixie, the program is
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? constructed like this:
Often, programs are purchased on the
market rather than written at home. To Compiler (Demon) .............................
70
determine the base cost of a program, /con (Simple) .......................................
7
multiply the Difficulty by 10eb. Multiply strength 7 ...........................................
7
this value by the modifier below for the TOTAL ...............................................
78
type of program.
Type Modifier He then plugs in four programs, one at 30,
Intrusion, Decryption one at 25, and two a t 15 for a total of 70
Control, Utilities ....................
1x Cost Difficulty. But thanks to the Demon, the
Detection & Evasion ..............
2x Cost cost is only 35 points! The result is a final
Anti System ...........................
3x Cost version of Pixie that has a value of only 53
Anti IC ...................................
4x Cost points, a savings of 17 points.
Anti-Personnel .....................
25x Cost
A Demon sounds like a great idea a t first;
Example: Hellhound’s Difficultyis 40; at 7 Oeb you get a lot of programs in a small space.
per point, it would cost about 400 euro. But But there are a couple of serious gliches:
as an anti-personnelprogram, it is multiplied
by 25; it will cost 7 0,000eb on the black First, the Demon is only able to control all
market! these programs by linking it’s program-
ming with theirs. This means that when-
DEMONOLOGY ever the Demon is destroyed, all the pro-
Demons are basically a specialized pro- grams linked to it are also destroyed (sort of
gram designed to manage several other like a ship going down with all hands).
programs. These subprograms are com-
pacted by the Demon’s compiler function Second, all the programsfight at the same
so that they take up half the space they Strength level as the original Demon. Not a
would normally need, allowing the Ne- bad idea; load the Demon up with some
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
cheap programs and if the Demon's sense stim and graphic imagery. It's like a
Strength i s high, they'll a l l fight pocketuniverse, often covering entire build-
... ...
like well demons. However, you won't ings, cities or even worlds. Virtual realities
have a very powerful Demon if you load up are the crowning achievement of interface
on a lot of subprograms. technology in the 21s t century.
I "There'su Third, the Demon has to unpack each How Big are They?
cyberpsycho on program before using it, then repack it The extent of a virtual reality is based on
when it's done. This means that there's a two things. The first is how much is actually
I the Night City delay in Speed; a negative value equal to in the reality, or the number of objects
I LDL we call the the number or programscurrently loaded. contained in it, to be exact. Size doesn't
I "Batguy'>an For example, if you've got four programs really have much to do with the number of
old EBM 'runner loaded in a Demon, this will mean a corre- objects containable in a reality; a tiny figu-
I who went over sponding -4 penalty to your deck Speed. rine, for example, is far more complex than
I the edge about When you have to get off the mark, this can a huge box, and will take up far more
be a disaster. memory to create.
seven years ago.
' Atnight, he I I ofButprogramming
if you're lookingfor a way to stash a lot To simplify this, we simply count the total
I dresses up in I V in a small space, a Demon number of objects existing in the reality,
this weird is the way to go. averaging the levels of complexity over all
I the objects within. The result gives us a
costumeand I
pretty good thumbnail for how much mem-
VIRTUALLY THERE ory (in MU) will
be required to
looking for Artificial Realities in create a given
I ltevj/doersftto I reality.
I fight. When I
IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS The actualspace
morning rolls
I in, he goes back I
CREATOR.. .
covered by the
reality doesn't
CREATOR, developed by Silicon Graphic matter; you
Technologies in 2014, is a combination could build a
own custom- animation/drawing program which pulls huge virtual
objects from a huge database and tailors realitywith only
them to the designer's preferences. The a hundred or so
object is then animated based on the over- items, if one of
all background and the new objects rela- them is an end-
tionship to the Netrunner and other ob- less sky and the
jects in the memory area. Creator was other is miles of empty grassland. What's
originally designed as a demonstration important to the design is the number of
program for Silicon's LYREX 3000 cyber- separate objects that must be interacted
I "We'd shut him I modem. However, it was so popular that it with inside the reality.
was integrated directly into the operating
I but I system of the LYREX and all other subse- This can lead to some interestingshortcuts.
the parties are auent SC decks. Creator was soon copied Want to build a huge mansion but don't
;i variousforms by other cyberdeckco;po- havethe MUforit?Builditasa1,000object
I rations, so that by 2016, it was standard reality, and makeyourvastshelvesofbooks
operating equipment on 98% of all mod- in the Libraryall oneobject(sure, youwon't
I be able to pick up and read an individual
book, but you don't often climb up there
Creator, of course, is just perfect for gener- anyway). Make all of the walls as single
ating Virtual Realities. objects; you won't be able to open win-
dows or move pictures, but they'll look
Virtual Real Estate nice. And so on.
A Virtual reality is just that; an artificial
reality constructed via a combination of How much can be contained in a reality is
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
pretty much up to the Referee; he's the one textures, tastes and sounds. They can pas
who is best able to judge how much you through each other, around each othei SCIENCE MEETS
will be able to interact with in a "game" and throw shadows. CAME
context, after all (besides, he'll be the one Some of you more math- oriented
who describes your virtual reality to you as Here's an example. There are a lot of way types are going to immediately (as
part of the game). The descriptions in the to create a car. You can draw it as a bo Staff Editor Will "Mister Science"
table below are primarily there for refer- with a smaller box on top and four dough Moss pointed out when he read
ence; your Referee may decide that an nuts for wheels. You can sketch it realist' this section) realize that the num-
aircraft carrier with a squadron of F-18swill cally, with the color, curves and reflection wr of objects in a virtual reality
kes by an order of magnitude,
while the MU rewired doesn't.
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
and smooth things smooth. Tastes are Multiply the MU cost of the virtual construct
sweet, sour, salty and acidic. Things make by the multiplier for the level of reality to
sounds that are much like they do in real life determine it's final MU cost.
(a car engine sounds pretty much like a car,
a bird like a bird), but lackdefinition as they REALISM MULTIPLIERS
are created from digital sound recordings. Simple ........................................... xl
Contextural ................................... x2
Fractal: The reality is very much like real Fractal ........................................... x3
life. Each object has a distinct taste, sound Photorealistic ................................. x4
and texture. Colors are blended smoothly, Superrealistic .................................. x5
and objects are shiny, dull, transparent and
opaque. There is hot and cold, but not fine Getting the Job Done
degrees of temperature. Distance and the Creating a universe isn't an easy task; ittakes
relationships of other objects have effects the patienceand imaginationof agod to pull
on each other; planes pass through clouds it off. To create a virtual reality, you must
and the air gets misty, the sun reflects off make a Skill check higher than the Difficulty
number for that size of creation. This reflects
your ability to interface with the Creator
Photorealistic: The reality is much like a program and successfully direct it in the
very, very good movie. Tastes are very close process of virtual reality construction.
to what they are in real life, as are textures,
sounds and colors. Light reflects naturally 1 object .............................. automatic
off of objects. Things relate almost exactly 100 objects .................................... 10
like they do in actuality; waves move and 1,000 objects ................................. 15
reflect light in interesting patterns, trees 10,000 objects ................................ 20
blow in the wind, dust rises off the furni- 100,000 objects .............................. 25
ture, things are hot and cold relative to 1,000,000 objects ........................... 30
1,000,000,000 objects .................... 35
71.12
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
I
Making it more or less real isn't a problem; Arusoka Castle reality in Osaka was
Creatorautomaticallysetsthe levelof realism constructed in this way; the upper
as desired and models it's constructs managementhasafullteamof programmers
accordingly.
POPULATINGYOUR REAUTY
Pooling: Sometimes, you may not be able Okay, now you've made yourself a real nice I
to create what you want a t all; the task is just place to play. Now it's time for some actors. "I KNOW WHAT I
too big. However, two or more netrunners Virtual realities are basically stage sets, with YOU WANT. I
can pool their combined INT and lnterface buildings, sky, treesand ground all serving as
Skills and add a 1D10 roll to the total of this the major locations. Cars, AVs, books,
AND I'M READY I
amount. They can divide the time for furniture, etc., are all props in the virtual TO INTERFACE I
construction between themselves as well. construct. But if you want other people to WITH YOU!" I
This is howvery largecommercialvirtualsare relateto, you needtocreate thoseseparately, I
created; a team of netrunnerssplits the work
up,witheachonetakingaspecificpartofthe
as programs.There arethree kindsof "people"
youcanconstructtopopulateavirtual reality:
- Virtual '
Vickie I
visualization task.
The Crowd: The Crowd is an interactive LDL 2543.9280 I
How Long Will tt Take? program with limited conversational ability
Actually, a lot less time than you'd suspect. and a psuedo-intellect. The Crowd tends to
Creator works from the users' ability to ...
act like well...a crowd; all of it's members "There's I
visualize. Itthen generates an objectfromit's
memory as closely as possible to the user's
visualization. Objectsarecreatedatthespeed
think and do about the same things. For
example, if the Crowd is a t a party, they will
mill about, chatter aimlessly about nothing,
something I
reaIIy twisted :
of thought. As a rule:
71.12
even have their own personalityquirks. Each paintings. Only the furniture is mobile. Each
Individual has a Difficulty of 21 (multiplied room has a heavy oak door with a brass plate
bywhateveryouspendforitslevelof realism), designating its function; most are used as
and takes up 2 MU of space. But this can be conversation rooms for the many members
well worth it if the Individual is your own of the BBS who visit here. It’s a good place to
Virtual Cute Blond Movie Starlet (or Hunk). exchange information, play games and
otherwise socialize; it fills the position of the
Individualprogramscan often be bought or various areas of a standard bulletin board.
I copiedfromothersources; there isa booming Becausethe Mansion is limited to a few large
I business in providing these one of a kind objects, it uses very little actual memory.
I programsfor virtualuse. Most bulletinboards
virtual of hi5 and shopping boards have advertising Most of memory number three is taken up
I sectionsfor Individualcopies; these are known with the Garden; a reproductionof an English
I as “meat markets”, “slave pits” and ”casting garden with roses, walks, a small reflecting
couches”. Prices range from a couple pool and a croquet green. The edge of the
I
hundred eb (for the Boring History Professor Garden is boundedbya high hedge and the
I model) to two or three thousand (for the sky; the virtual reality stops here and going
I Zarkonian Love Cod/Goddess model). beyond this is impossible.
I Night City I
Offensive/DefensivePrograms:Notal1the The Drawing Room occupies a large part of
I simulation and “inhabitants” of a virtual reality are simple memories four and five, and is by far the
I
hunt it down. minded conversation pieces. Any offensive most complex of the rooms, accessableonly
I
or defensive program’can, for few extra to Senior members of the Club. It contains
I Difficulty points, be outfitted with an inter- the Hunt Club’s extensivefiles (disguised as
I active option, conversational ability and old books behind moving panels in the
I psuedo-intellect. This allows the program to walls), a message board (designed to
have a decorative function as well as a resemble a hotel cubbyhole box), and its
I when hesaw
, hi5 boss getting
protectiveone; you can come home toyour
virtual castle, put your feet up in your virtual
entertainment, game and program library.
This library is presided over by an alarm
out o f a taxi. chair, have your virtual servant pour you a program known as Dent.
I
The guy went virtual drink and relax while petting your
’
I
comp/ete/y OH-
/in+ it took
virtual(anddeadly) Hellhoundonit’sshaggy
metal head.
Dent contains functionsfor Detection, Alarm
and interactiveoptions, includingthe ability
to remember events and people, recognize
I four C-SWAT A SAMPLE REALITY cybersignals, obey commands, convena-
I cops to pull him The HUNT CLUB is a BBS established in the tional ability, psuedo-intelligence and
I of7 the body ... Olympia region of the Net; its realspace constant activity. The Dent program is of
coordinates are probably somewhere out- Strength 6 and is a superrealistic ICON of a
side of Denver (although no one knows for bored and somewhat nasal English butler.
certain). The Hunt Club consists of a single
1,000,000 object (Complex Building) real- In addition to Dent, the Drawing Room is
ity. The realism level is superrealistic, which also home to the DOG, a Strength 8 modi-
raises the required memory space from the fied Hellhound program. The DOG is pro-
base 16 MU to 80MU. Dueto the limitations grammed to react to any alarm raised by
of space, this virtual reality is stored in eight Dent, whereupon it will attack the intruder.
large adjacent memory spaces in the Hunt
Club’s data fortress. The Dining Room occupies most of memo-
ries six and seven; it is a baroque hall with
The majority of the Club consists of the a vast table loaded with rare foods and
Mansion, which is contained in memories wines. Becauseof the many individualdishes
one and two.Most of the Mansion is made served, this room takes up a lot of object
up of huge, English Tudor-style rooms filled space; when additionalmemory is required
with brickabrack and curios. These many elsewhere, parts of the Dining Room’s
rooms are quite simple; floors, carpets, banquet is de-reued by the Club Sysop to
drapes, panelled walls with non-removable free up space.
71.12
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
the early 2000's is giving way to a new its streets are almost as explosively tinuing failure of the revamped Neo
movement, as Rockers, Nomads, So- dangerous as the United States'. Communist Party's economic and so-
los and Medias take to the streets to cia1 reforms, the hardliners are once
fight authority and oppression. Far With the massive reforms of the early again gaining strength and a show-
from beingfinished, the United States 1990's (and the down between
seems to be, against all odds, coming subsequent purge the surviving cold
back. But only time will tell if the so- of hardliners in warriors and the
called Cyberpunk revolution will suc- 1991), the Neo- liberal reformersis
ceed. Soviet Union has coming fast.
emerged as a
In the Eurotheatre, things are con- strong partner in The Middle East
siderably better. The World Stock Ex- the expanding i s silent-omi-
changeandthecommon Market have Eurotheatre. Most nously so. The
created a stable, profitable economy of Eastern Europe Meltdownhas left
in which most of the European na- now enjoys an au- vast areas of Iran,
tions participate -the evceptions are tonomy unthink- Libya, Iraq, Chad
Italy, Spain and Creece-all of which able during the and the Arab
suffer chronic political upheavals. Here, days of the Cold Emirates as radio-
the international corporations also War. Where the active fields of
have a great deal of power, but vari- Soviet State i s glass. Only Egypt,
ous Eura-governments have skillfuIly weakest is in food Syria and Israel
managed to keep these business bar- production. It still survived intact;
ons under control. Only Great Britain cannot feed i t s their aircraft were
has suffered major economic trouble- hungry population, and its technol- able to down the incoming suicide
swamped by massive immigration ogy lags far behind most other na- bombers . The majority of regional
and an antiquatedtechnologicalbase, tions in the Eurotheatre. With con- peoples have been reduced to mob
SNARLED I N A STAGGERING DEFICIT AND NEO-LUDDITES RE-ESTABLISHED I N MASSIVE FIRESTORMS RACE OVER
THE MACHINATIONS OF THE GANG OF WESTERN KENTUCKY. OVER THE NEXT TEN NORTHWESTERN US., DESTROYING
FOUR, I S TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE. YEARS, THE "LUDS" ARE RESPOSIBLE FOR MILLIONS OF ACRES OF FARM AND
BOMBtNCS OF AIRPORTS, FACTORIES, GRASSLAND.
NOMAD RIOTS. BY NOW, 1 I N 14 FREEWAYS AND MASS TRANSIT TERMINALS.
AMERICANS ARE HOMELESS. HUNDREDS CRYSTAL PALACE SPACE STATION BEGUN
OF THOUSANDS RIOT FOR LIVING SPACE THE DROUGHT OF '98 REDUCES MOST OF AT L-5.
THROUGHOUT THE US., NOMAD PACKS THE MIDWEST TO PARCHED GRASSLANDS.
SPRING UP ON THE WEST COAST AND BETWEEN AGRIBUSINESS CORPS AND WASTING PLAGUE HITS U.S., EUROPE,
SPREAD RAPIDLY THROUGH THE DROUGHT, THE FAMILY FARM ALL BUT KILLING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.
NATION. DISAPPEARS.
71.12
rule, clusteredin their blasted cities or democracies and socialist states. competition with Korea, China and
cowering under the tyrannyof a local Eventually, as the Euro-nations the re-organized New Phillipines. In
warlord. Many have fled into the negotiatedwith Tanzania to build the recent years, the Japanese have
desert, to reappear as warrior-tribes. Kilimanjaro massdriver, many of the changed from economic rivals and
Others have embraced religious fa- African nations began to see their robber barons to economic support-
naticism, place in the 21 s t ers of the US. economy. But old scars
sweeping century. Bargaining from the trade wars of the 1990s die
out of t h e with manpower, raw hard, and true mutual cooperation
ruined Mid- materials, and between the US. and Japanis a long
East to valuable land on the time coming. This is further aggra-
avenge critical Equatorial vated by the fact that China, a newly
themselves orbital belt, the Afri- emerging power in its own right, has
with acts of can states established further strengthenedits relationswith
terrorism their footholds in the US. through the Mutual Defense
and murder. space-nearly one Treaty of 2009.
Rumors of third of all space con-
jihad-the struction workers are After a lengthy war with the United
Holy War- African, and the ma- States, Central America has emerged
are on the jority of spaceport as a strong union of independent
radioactive facilities and con- states, working under a pact of mu-
wind, al- struction areas are on tual cooperation. The US. has been
though it is African soil. Technol- expelledfrom all butthe Panamacanal
still unclear ogy has joined Africa Zone, which it holds by sheer military
what form under one govern- force against ongoing guerilla ag-
the coming ment, and the last gression. South America is a warzone
warwith the petty dictators and of juntas, secret police, ex-drug lords
infidel will tribalisms are falling and military oppression, torn by peri-
take this fast before the lure of odic combat and revolution.
time. the stars.
From the bloodbaths of Capetown, In the Far East, Japanfaces an age of Legal
New Africa emerged as a fractured
continent of warring countries under
new challenges. Out from the protec-
tive shadow of the United States, it Background
a bewildering array of dictators, must not only cope with its own de- The police of the 2000's are organized
fense in a nuclear age, but also rising much as they were durinq the 20th
2003 2005
SECOND CENTRAL AMERICAN WAR. U.S. CYBERMODEM INVENTED. US ASSAULT ON SOVIET WEAPONS PLATFORM
INVADES COLUMBIA, ECUADOR, PERU, MIR XIII. EUROSPACE AGENCY INTERVENES.
VENEZUELA. THE WAR I S A DISASTER EBM SOLOS AlTACK TOKYO OFFICE OF KENJIRI AND ORBITAL WAR BREAKS OUT BETWEEN
THAT COSTS THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN TECHNOLOGIES, KILLING 18. THE "EUROS" AND THE "YANKS", UNTIL 1YCHO
LIVES. EVENTUALLY, THE REMAINDER OF COLONY MASSDRIVER DROPS A ROCK ON
THE GANG OF FOUR I S SWEPT AWAY ON END OF 1ST CORP WAR. COLORADO SPRINGS. AN UNEASY PEACE I S
A WAVE OF REFORM. REACHED.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
centurywithHomicide, Vice, Burglary proved that the existing legal struc- Adeath penaltyfor looting brings a
andTrafficSquads;aboutS meneach. ture was falling apart. Followingthe wonderful element of stability to a
The most recent addition to police Purge of 1996, (when citizen's groups rioting neighborhood.
organization has been the addition of lynched hundreds of criminal defense
the Cyberpsycho Squad (also known lawyers), the Government declared During this period, the Militaryjustice
as the PsychoSquad), whose main job martial law throughout the US. fora Code was the main ruleof US. law. Its
is to deal with cybernetic criminals. periodof three years. Duringthis time, draconian standards of crime and
While the average beat cop hits the justice was dispensedby local military punishmentserved so well that when
Street in an armored squad car, wear- courts.Theamazingthing is, itworked. martial law was suspended in 1999,
ing an armor jacket, helmet and carry-
ing a smart-chipped Beretta sidearm,
the Psycho Squad detail employsaer-
ogyros, AV-4'sI miniguns, assault
weapons and Stinger missile launch-
ers.
2012 2019
BIOPLAGUE KILLS 1,700 IN CHICAGO.
2015 ORBITAL COLONY REVOLT A T L-3.
71.12
the Government established a Uni- phone Net. If the offender enters the ber laser etched into the butt of the
form CivilianJusticeCode in its place. city, the implant causes excruciating gun. This number is cataloged with
Although the law is now adminstered pain. The offender is effectively exiled the ballistics firing pattern of your
by civilian governments, the Code is from ever entering that specific city weapon a t FBI/CIA Headquarters in
the guideline for all criminal proce- again. Repeat offenses in other cities Washington D.C.
dure in the United States of 2020. simply cause additional city codes to
be addedto the implant. After enough The Federal Weapons Statute of
Plea bargaining (pleading guilty to a crimes in enough cities, the offender 1999 states that if a gun with your ID
lesser charge to speed up a trial) has will be unable to enter civilization number is used in the commission of
been eliminated. Probation is almost again. a crime, you are liable for that crime,
unhead of. The death penalty is stan- unless you have previously reported
dard for murder cases-there is a 3 Prisonsof the 2000’s are horrendously the weapon as lost or stolen, and have
month appeal process during which overcrowded and deadly. After the had this report filed with your local
new evidence can be produced. Most riots of the ~O’S, prison authorities police agency.
felonies have mandatory prison terms couldn’t care less about rehabilita-
of 5 to 10 years. Lesser crimes are tion-they are mostly interested in Under the provisions of the Federal
covered by exile or personalityadjust- penning up society‘s “mad dogs” and Weapons Statute, it is not legal to
ment. keeping the streets clear. To cope carry submachinegunsand otherfully
with overcrowding, many prisons automatic weapons-possession car-
Self defense is defined as ”any in- force inmates into “braindance”-they ries a stiff 5 to 7year mandatoryprison
stance in which the assailant can show are placed in cry0 tanks, wired to sentence. Not that this stops anyone.
just cause that his/her life, or the life of interface loop programs, and “shut
another party was threatened, in cir- down” for periods of two or three While there’s a certain style in using
cumstances where a duly appointed years. Continuousbraindancecreates an old model sidearm like a Colt ,357
officer of the law could not be sum- a nightmare of unending, bland hor- or .45, the sensible cyberpunk knows
moned, or where it was impossibleto ror, making it the thing cons fear that a modern pistol makes a good
restrain the injured party by any other most. backup. Since the introductionof the
means. Clock 17 automatic in the mid-l98O‘s,
The simplest method of punishment most major handgun manufacturers
Theoretically, narcotics may not be is still execution. Most states have a now produce polymer resin pistols in
possessed within the premises of the State Executioner who administers a variety of calibers.
UnitedStates. However bioengineered justicewith one well placed.44 slug a t
plant diseases developedthrough the point blank range. He is also empow- The most ubiquitous of these is the
1990’s by the Drug Enforcement ered to hunt down escapees from FederatedArms X-22 and X-9 series, a
Agency wiped out 96940 of the coca Death Row. line of polymer plastic handguns.
and opium plants in existence, mak- Manufactured in a variety of bright,
ing the point moot. The law also does
not cover “designer drugs” such as Weapons designer colors, these so-called
“Polymer One-shots” carry an easy to
endorphins, which are defined as By 1997, even the most well-inten- load 10 or 8 round clips of caseless
medicinal. tioned gun control statutes were ammunition, retail a t $150 to $300,
buried under a wave of public protest and are available in most sporting
Crime & Punishment as crime rates made America a siege goods stores. They combine
The punishment for criminal actions state. Self-defense soon became an practicality, durability and style in
under the Uniform JusticeCode of American lifestyle, and there was an potent little packages. The new
1999 are swift, certain and draconian. explosive increase in light personal CyberteenTMline includes airbrushed
The simplest is personality adjust- protection weapons. casings with colorful shapes and
ment-a process which implants an artwork molded right in-the perfect
aversion to comitting the crime ever By 1999, most gun control statutes giftforthe young consumer interested
again. Adjustment has some nasty involved 1)filling outa “carryapplica- in personal defense.
side effects, including exaggerated tion” allowing you to carry a con-
fears of situations and events related
to the crime (such as a terror of money
cealed handgun; 2) waiting 4 days for
an extensive background check and Vehicles
basedon an anti-robberyadjustment). approval, which could be refused on Surprise, surprise. Contrary to expec-
the basis of a criminal record or history tations, the year 2000 has not yielded
Exile implantsare keyedto a transmis- of mental illness; and 3) paying the any staggering new developments in
sion signal broadcast thru the city $25.00 fee and having a serial num- transportation.Years of economic strife
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
Toyo-Chrysler Omega
A typical medium sedan. Top speed about 90mph. Prke around 10,000eb.
and civil unrest have discouraged With the extremely high price of pe- Structural Damage Points: 200 (Os-
research into new ways to travel-in troleum, almost all cars of the 2000’s preys are not armored).
fact, the veryact of travel has become are powered by tanks of liquified
very restricted. Expect the inner city methane or meta-alcohol fuels such The Osprey mounts two large, wide
world of 2020 to be much like the as “CHOOH-2.’‘ Electric cars are the propped engine nacelles a t the ends
20th century-a network of crowded exception, not the rule. Control of long, high-lift wings. The engines
freeways, packed trains, and swarming systems are roughly like those of the can be tilted from a forward facing
airports. late 20th century employing a few direction to a vertical position, allow-
more digital displays and pushbutton ing the aircraft to take off and hover
Automobile controls. vertically. The wings can be folded
(Manufactured by Ford-Mazda, New back along the body for easy storage,
American Motor, Toyo-Chrysler, The biggest change has come with making the Osprey a perfect vehicle
Y ugo-Marakovka, BMW, Mercedes, the introductionof cybernetic control to work from rooftop airpads and
Porsche, etc.) systems. These employ servos at the unprepared airstrips.
Powerplant: Alcohol or methane fu- wheels, throttle and transmission,
eled internal combusion. which are controlled by a modified A revolutionary concept when it was
Groundspeed: 100 to 160mph. cybermodem in the dash. The driver unveiled in 1988, the Osprey tilt rotor
Structural Damage Points: 50. Ar- simply “studs” into the cybermodem aircraft has become a standard ve-
mored cars may have up to 30 SP of and thinks the car through the mo- hicle throughout the 2000’s. The
armor on all surfaces including win- tions. Cybervehicles are relatively military version served with distinc-
dows. uncommon-the upgrading price is tion throughout the riots of the 90’s
There haven‘t been any majorchanges steep, and the removal of external and the Central American Conflicts.
in automobiles since the 1980‘s- controls renders the vehicle useless to Various civilian manufacturers(Cessna,
externally. Most cars are still basically anyone but a cybered driver. So far, Lear, Avionica) have licenced the
a box on wheels, with smooth or hard no major manufacturer has produced original Boeing design and applied it
edges. The Cyberpunk ethos being, “if a purely cyber-driven automobile, to smaller commercial and business
it works, keep it till it doesn’t work.” In although there are several after-mar- applications. The Lear Tiltjet even
the cash poor environment of the ketfirmswhich will converta standard applies the Osprey principles to a
2000’s, auto manufacturershave kept car to cyber control. tiltwinged turbojet version.
to conservative, unimaginative de-
signs, so that by today,. the average Bell Boeing V-22B Osprey Ospreys can be found as commuter
family car is little changed from it‘s Powerplant: Allison 937 Cas Turbine vehicles between city centers and
practically antique Ford or Toyota Performance: Max speed=275 knots. hub airports, or as corporate aircraft
roots. Range=600 miles operating from rooftop pads atop
71.12
headquarters skyscrapers. Small ver- Chief among these was the introduc- sisted chin turrets (20mm cannon),
sions such as Cessna's AE-800 Feath- tion of light, one man helicopters or plus rockets and missiles. AV-6's are
erlite are popular light aircraft aerogyros. The F-152 is currentlyused primarily used by military units.
throughoutthe world, allowingflight by police units, Corporate defense
operations in even the most remote teams, Solo assault operations teams AV-7 Personal Aerodyne
and unprepared sites. and drug-runninggangs. An unarmed Powerplant: one Rolls-RoycePegasus
version, known as the Bell-15, is a Mini-Turbofan.
Light Rall Lev Train popular recreationa11 vehicle. Performance: Max airspeed: 250
Numerous Manufacturers mph. Operational radius: 400 miles.
Powerplant: Electric third rail induc- .- - -.
McDonnell-Dou
-Tactical I
iglas A V 4
urban Assault
Structural Damage Points: 50.
A recent development of the AV
tance field.
Groundspeed: 200 mph. Vehicle classes, these are small aerodyne ve-
Structural Damage Points: 80 per car Powerplant: one Rolls-Royce Pegasus hicles designed to fulfill the light heli-
of train. II Vectored Thrust Turbofan (21,180 copter role. While the internal avion-
Superconductormagnets have made Ibs thrust) ics and engines are usually designed
it possible to build extremely cheap Performance: Max airspeed: 350 by Douglas, a unique licencing ar-
and durable "levitation trains." Riding mph. Operational radius: 400 miles. rangement permits other vehicle
on magnetic cushions, these "levs" Structural Damage Points: 100. Most manufacturersto buildtheir own body
have become one of the major trans- AV-4s are armored to an SP of 40. shells on the basic chassis. Manufac-
portation resources in the 2000's. turers now include BMW, Mercedes,
Financed by Corporations or city The nearest thing to a science fiction Toyota and Maserati.
governments, they are present in most jet-car, the AV-4 Tac Vehicle was
major cities. developed as a light assault aircraft
capable of operation in close urban Information
Levs are usually underground within
the city limits, running on high pillars
areas where rotary and tiltwing air-
craft cannot penetrate. Short, bul- Services
out in the suburbs. Usually one line, bous, and equipped with only rudi- Letter
headed out to the Corporatesuburbs, mentary manuverwings, the AV-4 has A stamp in 2020 costs 95 eurocents.
is sealed off and requires an entry the aerodynamic characteristics of a There are usually twodeliveries-once
code or pass to get into that station. rock, relying on the brute force of it's in the morning a t 10.00 a.m. and
Corporate levstations are always clean, huge jet engine to keep it aloft (the once in the afternoon a t 3.00 p.m.
well lit, and well guarded by corpo- original Pegasusengine lifteda 19,550 Letters are normally used for personal
rate security. City lev-stations are Ib Harrierjumpjet, while a fully loaded correspondence, or in regions where
usually not up to these standards, AV-4 weighs about 8,600 Ibs). Fax machines are not available.
although most cities run police pa-
trols on the line to control crime and The AV-4 is used by police or corpo- Data Term
vandalism. rate troops for urban assaults (using 2 The Data Term is a streetcorner com-
belly mounted GAU-12U minigun puter terminal, built into a heavily
Lev-ticketsarechargeda t a rateof 50a pods). They are also used as emer- armored concrete post. Data Terms
per station passed; a trip' passing gency vehicles-specifically by the have a direct Net link to a central Data
through three stations, for example, Trauma Team organizations-or as Term service in their home city, and
would cost 1.50eb. Tickets may be corporate vehicles for special deliver- can provide maps of the area, infor-
purchased from automatic ticket ies and meetings. mation, news updates, phone num-
machines, using credit cards or cash. bers, current events and entertain-
These machines are located in the AV-6 Combat Assault ment informationand shopping serv-
stations themselves and in local con- Aerodyne ices. Data Terms may also be used to
venience store outlets. Powerplant: two Rolls-Royce Pegasus jack into the Net. Rates are about 1eb
IV Vectored Thrust Turbofans per minute.
Bell F-152 Aerogyro Performance: Max airspeed: 480
Powerplant: one Bell-Mazda 2600 mph. Operational radius: 600 miles. Most Data Terms are operated by a
rotary aircraft engine. Structural Damage Points: 100. Most local DT service, which is often a
Performance: Max airspeed: 300 AV-6s' are armored to an SP of 40. subsidiary of a local newspaper or
mph. Operational radius: 50 miles. This is a high speed, fully combat screamsheet publisher.
Structural Damage Points: 40 capable version of the AV-4 aerodyne,
The riots of the late 90's required new with fans mounted in heavilyarmored Fax
tactics for operating in urban areas. side housings. AV-6's mount cyberas- This is the letterwriting mode of the
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
Like other phones, you In the Euro and Asian theaters, most
must pay a monthly service programming is state-controlled; the
charge. Baseline rates are BBC in Great Britain, and NCK TV in
future. Fax terminals 3 per month plus 204 per japan, for example. In the United
are located in most minute! for local calls. Long Distance States. three orivately owned enter-
. ._-.- -
corporate offices, post varies-a call from LOS Angeles to tainment network:s predominate:21st
offices, computer shops, NewYorkmightcost $2.00 pe!r minute Century Broadcasting Network(CBN),
malls and convenience during daylight business hours, $1.SO World Broadcasting Network (WBN)
stores. You may type your for evening hours. Cell pholnes also and Network News 54. These net-
letter in using the keyboard have a limit on how far they can works are the brloadcast divisions of
provided, have it scanned operate outside of the city limits; about three massive e ntertainment con-
-lA-A--+-- ,...A.
from your own laser disk, or use the 20 miles. ylvl I IFI a r c > , c a u I producing records,
built-in scanner to “read”any typed tapes, videos, movies and books for
letter.Thefaxedcopyisthentransmitted Screamsheets the masses. The product is bland,
by wire to a local post office in your To stay competitive with television, mindless, and caters to the lowest
destination area, where it is most newspapers now use Fax tech- possible denominator.
automatically typed off, inserted into nology. Entire pages are typeset and
an envelope, and delivered by letter laid out by computer, photos scanned In addition to network programming,
carrier to the mailbox. Fax copies may into places, and the entire newspaper there are satellite feeds, featuring
also be sent directly to a Fax receiver a t reduced to digital code. This code is programmingfrom around theworld.
your destination. Fax letters costs 1eb transmitted to hundreds of newspa- There are also a large number of
per page. per boxes all over the area. The news- “pirate” TV stations, operating out of
boxes reassemble the code and print hidden stations and through cable
Cellular Phones the paper (using high speed xerogra- and satellite patchups. These are of-
The phone of the future is mobile and phy) on the spot. The result is a slick, ten a major source of news and infor-
cordless, allowing the cyberpunk on flimsy newspaper known in streetslang mation untainted by corporate and
the go to talk from his car, office, or as a screamsheet. government interference.
even on the street. These “cellularN
phones operate by using a series of Screamsheets have many advantages In addition to the now standard high
stationary transceivers which pick up over previous newspapers. You can definition flatscreen Tv, experimen-
your phone signal and relay it into the dial the newsbox to print only the tal (and expensive; up to 10,000.000
regular phone Net. Calls can be made sections of the paper you want, pay- per set) holographic TV systems are
not only from within the city, but also ing l a per page printed. New edi- now available.
71.12
m<h. Operational'radius: 400 m i l k Cost: 400,000eb.
Zetatech Hi-
Prof ile8 Dataterm
VideoCam Providing news,
information, weather
A favorite design used by reports,
Medias for mobile entertainment news.
assignments. Pickup mike Data Terms may also
range is 200 feet. Cellular be used to access the
uplink allows instant Net and to make
transmission to Network phone calls. 1eb per
broadcast studio. Cost is minute use.
875eb.
71.12
Ford-Mazda Luxus 14
Cybercontrolled luxury car, favored
by many high
- level Corporates execs.
About 40,000 eb.
3I
71.12
.
“Life in 2020
isn‘t just all guns
CYBC-AI
7 INK
I and dru9s:If it I Assorted tips, clues, good stuff and tricks of the Cyberpunk genre
I was, we woulda ,
named the game
So how do I run this game? Trust No One. Keep
Dunueons & I ...
your er..Minami 10 Handy
11 I
I
Drug Dealers. Glad you asked. Cyberpunk is a challenge for Paranoia is important in a Cyberpunk run.
even an experienced Referee, in that you Playersshouldn’tbe able to tell who are the
The best must create the right atmosphere of good guys and who are the bad just by
I Cyberpunk grunginess, sleek technology and pervasive looking a t them. Choices between sides
I games are a paranoia throughout your entire game. The should be ambiguous-there should be no
Cyberpunk environment is almost always clear cut sense of good and evil, much like
combination of exclusively urban. Its landscape is a maze of real life. Sworn enemies may be thrown
I doomed toweringskyscrapers, burnedout ruins, dingy together without notice or preparation.
I romance, fast tenementsand dangerousalleyways.Inshort, Heroes may have to do something illegal or
I action, glittering any major city in the world at about 2:30 in the distastefulto accomplish somethinggood;
parties, mean morning when the lowlifes come out in force. villians may have to do a little good once in
I streets and a while. It’s the breaks.
The Urban Environment
I quixotic quests Your world should have staggering con-
The urban environment is critical to your
to do the right Cyberpunk world. Whether you use our trasts. In the glittering citadels of the rich,
I thing against all Night City or create your own, remember there should be fine food, expensive vices,
I odds. It’s a little that your setting has to have all the right and beautifulscenery. On the Street, things
like Casablanca elements. There should be qarbaqe-strewn should be cold, hungry and desperate.
with alleyways. There should be-bodies lying in There’s no middle ground between the
.
cyberware.. ’I
the gutters. There should be wild-eyed
lunatics, staggering through pre-dawn
haves and have nots. It‘s all or nothing.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
I
A CYBERPUNK
BlBllOCRAPU Y
Just a few of the most
well known books in the
cyberpunk genre:
William Gibson
Neuromancer
Count Zero
Mona Lisa Overdrive
Burning Chrome
Norman Spinrad
Little Heroes
JohnC. Batancourt
Johnny Zed
Joan D. Vinge
Psion
Catspaw
Mick Farren
Vickers
Walter JonWilliams
Hard wired
Voice of the Whirlwind
Angel Station
Bruce Sterling
The Artiff cial Kid
place that's absolutely safe. Never let 'em Teamwork; The More Mirrorshades: The
rest. This doesn't mean you shouldn't play the Bloodier Cyberpunk Anthology
fair. But you should always play for keeps. Fourth and last trick to running Cyberpunk: ,siands in the Net
If they cache weapons somewhere, steal Teams. You'll notice-Cyberpunk qroups - .
them. If they stop for a rest, mug them. If are not social. The players will have no JohnBrunner
they can't handle the pressure, they reason to trust anyone, and the conven- shockwave Ride,,
shouldn't be playing Cyberpunk. Send them tional reasons (stop evil, kill monsters) for
back to that nice role-playing game with an adventuring party won't work. A bar George Alee Effinger
the happy elves and the singing birds. isn't a place to meet new adventurers-it's When Gravity Fails
We've given you some great encounter a place to scope out potential victims. A Fire in the Sun
tableswhich wesuggestyou useeverytime Parties are more likely to kill each other in
the action drags (in Friday Night Firefight). a firefight than divide the spoils fairly. Steve Barnes
Streetlethal
Set the Mood For this reason, you'll need a more solid Gorgon chiid
Third trick to running Cyberpunk: Atmos- "hook" on which to hana a a Cvbermnk
phere. Get out your heaviest rock tapes and adventure. Our hook is the team. A team is
play them during your run. Encourageyour a group of people who are already thrown
players to wear leather and mirrorshades. together by Fate in some way which forces
Adopt the slang and invent your own. them to co-operate. They don't have to like
Replace all the lights in your room with dim each other, but they have to work to
blue bulbs. This is the dark future here; and gether. Besides giving the party a spring
it can't be accurately portrayed in a brightly board from which to work, the team als
lit room with milk and cookies on the table. makes the adventure easier to run. Players
71.12
ALL THllNGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
can be given assignments from a "higher contracts), one Netrunner (to handle security
A CYBERPUNK power", or the entire group can be faced systems, computer assault, etc.), one Techie
with a problem which requires co-opera- (for weapons), one Medtechie (for wounded),
FILMOGRAPHY and any combination of Solos or Nomads (as
Justin case you ran out tion to solve. The group stays together or
grunt soldiers). Itwouldn't be out of lineto have
it dies. Simple.
a Media there, writing as a war correspondent.
A merc group could operateout of a club, a bar,
Blade Runner We've given you a number of Teams which or a well-hidden paramilitarybase camp.
might naturally evolve in the Cyberpunk
Max Headroom world. Each proposes a good mix of charac- Gangs: Gangs and countergangs are usually
ter roles and offers many ways in which all the enemy in Cyberpunk. But why not turn the
Terminator 7 & 2 the players can become equally involved. tables? Gangs can also be created for positive
purposes-neighborhood defense, to stop other
CorporateTeams: Corporateteams are groups moreviolent gangs, or to resist a major invasion
that are oriented around a specific corporation, by Government or the Corps. In this context,
working together to accomplishthe company's you could look a t Robin Hood or the WWll
goals. The main base of operations is the Resistanceas gangs. AtypicalGangwould have
corporation's offices or security areas. A good lots of Solos, Nomads and Fixers. There might
Overdrawn at the corporate team might consist of one or more be a Medtechie or Techie around, and possibly
Corps(an executive and an assistant), a Netrun- even a Corporate if the gang is one of those
ner (who runs the team's intrusion and com- controlled by a covert organization. A Media
puter systems), a Fixer (who deals with the could be covering the gang from the Street
team's Street contacts), a Tech (either medical angle. Gangs operate out of clubs, bars and
The Road Warrior or mechanical), and two to three Solos (who deserted buildings.
handle the combat).
Thunderdome Nomad Packs: Nomad packs are natural
Bands: Bandsareany group of Rockerboyswho teams-they arealreadytogether in onegroup,
have gotten together to play music. The band and everyone knowseachother.Agood Nomad
travelsfrom place to place, getting into trouble pack could include a few Fixers (to handle in-
a t each new gig, holding concerts and raising town negotiations), a Netrunner (who handles
hell. The main base of operations can be a thepack'sintelligencework), a mixtureofTechies
practice hall, a club, or a road bus. There may be and Medtechies, and any number of Nomads
any number of Rockers in the band itself (al- and Solos. The pack operates from the Cara-
though three to four is considered best). In van-an assemblage of RV's, trailers, buses and
addition, there will be at least one Fixer (who cars moving across the blasted landscape of
acts as manager), a possible Techie (to handle freeway America. The pack members could
equipment needs), and several Solos (who are travel with the main caravan, or as scouts trav-
both bodyguards and roadies). Various other eling ahead in their own vehicles.
slots such as groupies and tour personnel can
be Nomads, Corporates(playingrecordexecs), Cops: The Cop team operates out of a seedy,
and Medias (as rock-reporters or reviewers). heavily-fortified police station. They might in-
clude a few Fixers on the Vice Squad, a Netrun-
Trauma Teams: Trauma Teams are groups of ner on Counter Intelligence, a Captain (Corpo-
licensed paramedicalswho patrol the city look- rate) who handles connections with the City
ing for accident victims. They operate from an Government, and a large number of grunt
AV-4 Urban Assault Vehicle, redesignedinto an Cops. Don't forget a few maddened Solos on
ambulance configuration and armed with a the Psycho Squad. Cop teams are better than
belly mountedminigun. AtypicalTraumaTeam most, as they allow the Referee to break the
would include a driver (Corporate, Fixer or team intosmallergroupsof "partners"if needed.
Solo, although Nomad is best), one or more A Media might also choose to follow the Cop
Medtechies, and two or more Solos acting as team, lookingfor hot stories on the crime beat.
"security". The team may also have a Dis-
patcher (Corp or Fixer) in charge of sending Media Teams: Media teams go anywhere, do
them on their missions. A Media might also tag anything to get the story. A Media team can
along with the team, writing stories about their operate out of a TV or radio station, a newspa-
adventures. per office, or even a major network news bu-
reau. A good Media team might includetwo or
Mercenaries: Mercs are often hired through- three Medias (as hard-hitting reporters), a
out the Cyberpunkworld. A typical merc group Netrunner(runningcommunications, informa-
could include a t least one Fixer (to handle tion gathering, and computer snooping), a
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
I sixteen hundred/
I Wired with the
max processor
I edge.
I Never die and
I never breaking/
Throw my self
I over the ledge.
Q I
I
I
I
and hard I
emotion/
Give my love I
and face the I
day/ I
In your face and
I here t o party. I
I Never gonna I
I
fade away” I
I
I --johnny Silverhand I
Never Fade A way
Techiefortheequipment, and a couple Solosor boy sould moonlight as a Trauma Teamer
Nomads to provide muscle and protection. A while waiting for that big score. A Netrunner
good newsroom also Will have a t least one might do a little time with a Corporate team,
harried Corporate who has to cover the team whilesneakingintothecompanymainframe
with the bosses upstairs. at night. A Nomadmightdo almostanything
to earn money while his pack is in town. In
Don’t Give Up Your Day Job these cases, the main character role should
Any one of these Teams can fit a character be treated as an interest, which may become
role that isn’t described. A low-level Rocker- more important to the team as time passes.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
'FjADE AWAY
L
alley; whines as spent rounds ricochet off
into nowhere. There is a metallic "snick" as
the smaller punk brings up his arm-light
reflects off the fistfull of razors that pretends
to be a hand; then an excruciating impact
lifts Johnnyoff the ground. Blood sprays
over wet concrete. Silverhand hits with a
bonewrenching impact. His paleeyesstare
blankly at the sky. Alt's terrified screams
recede swiftly into the dark. Sixty to zero in
eight seconds flat.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
I
chromedfist, servos clicking in one by one. bonding flesh together almost as well as
He thrusts it into the gaping belly wound, the original. In a month or two, there won't
gasping at the shocking pain. Somehow, even be a scar. Let's hear it for newtech.
he gets to his feet; staggers to the alleyway. ABOUT THE
He leans his feverish face against the cool, The doctor's hands are quick and sure. He STORY
wet bricks. He makes a decision. He's not has done this a thousand times. He has a Never Fade A way is the story
going to die. They're going to die. Closing ..
German accent. "Ac h .Johnny.. Johnny" he of twenty four hours in the
his eyes, he pitches forward into the streak says, over and over as he works. Over his life of JohnnySilverhand, a
of passing traffic blur. head, the sterilizer lamps glitter like an famous Rockerboy sud-
denly catapulted into a
insect's multifaceted eyes. "Johnny...When deadly game of cat and
Something stops him. Handsfirmly grapple are you going to give this up?" says the mouse with a sinister Cor-
him, holding him up. Silverhand has just doctor.
enough strength to open his eyes. There's
aface looking intentlyat him, thin, bearded. When it ends, thinks Silverhand, from the
II porate foe. As the cy-
berpunk genre is mostly
literary, it seems fitting we
intoduceyou to Cyberpunk
"Lord Almighty", the face says. "They re- fog of the dorphs and general anesthetics. roleplaying the same way.
ally did you, didn't they?" "Johnny," says the doctor sadly. Silverhand
is a second son to him. His first son was Never Fade Awayis primar-
Fade to black. Johnny's best friend. His first son was killed ily a story; but we've made
it easy to run as an adven-
in an inter-corporate war eight years ago. ture as well. In these side-
No man should lose more than one son in bars, you'll find notes on
a lifetime. key characters, maps of
important locations, data
n m
Thanks, thinks Johnny. Iowe you one, I on weapons and combat,
and ideasforusingthestory
wakes up. Fine. Justas long as it isn't him. son; a thin, reedy type, wearing an armor We suggestyou beginyour
He must have missed the ambulance ride jack trenchcoat three sizes too large. He playersas charactersin the
upcoming scene in the At-
to the hospital, but here in the trauma packs no visible hardware. But a minicam lantis, hired by Johnnyto
ward he can hear the sound of jet engines. mount straddles his head like an oversized help him get his girlfriend
That's the screaming. It mounts higher headphone; a mike loops in front of his Alt back. Or your players
and higher, while the ward fills with warm mouth, the camera itself coming around may want to play one of
air and the smell of ozone. From his the right side of his skull and hardwiring the NPCs from the story.
stretcher, hecansee the buIky AV-4vehicle into a startlingly bright green cyberoptic.
spin on it's fans and hurtle upwards. The He's a Media; a one man team of camera-
din dies down and he can hear screaming man and reporter, direct feeding to some
for real all around him; casualties of the mediacorp downline."Hey, Rocker", he
regular firefights around the City. says, leaning over the table as Silverhand
recovers under the sterilizer beams.
The doctor puts him back together. The
same doctor who did his transparent Kiro- "Ready for a little vengeance?"
shi eyes; his trademark silver hand. The
same doctor who "plugged" him for inter-
face and installed the software chips in the
back of his skull. Johnny considers taking
out a service contract.
71.12
ALLTHINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
I
He pulls the autoshotgun out of his bat- those were custom rippers. The type that
tered bedroom dresser, checking the load fold out along the fists. That sort of hard-
and weight. He slips it carefully into the ware isn't something you pick up on the
worn under-arm holster, under the jacket. Street.''
He stuffs shiriken into pockets on the out-
side of the jacket. He picks up the heavy H "You saw them on me?"
& K smartgun and slides it into his back
holster. There is a fury behind glittering Thompson's eyes are cold, slate-like. You
pale eyes. could write anything you wanted in them.
"Get real," he grates. "These were pros. If
''So." he says. "Tell me." I'd jumped in, we'd both be dead. The
eyes appraise him. "You%e been off the
Thompson leans back into the wall, body Street too long, Rocker. You think every-
bracing againstjohnny'sintensity.Hegrins; one has a nice agent, a couple Solos cover-
takes a slug of Silverhand's tequila. "They ing their butts, and a comfy apartment like
didn't want you. They wanted her. She's this somewhere. I let you take it, because I
an extraction. Business as usual.'' knew it would take a t least five minutes for
you to bleed yourself dry. Iwaited for them
Johnny's eyes are blank. "No surprise", he to move on, then used my Trauma Card."
comments shortly. He gathers up a ragged
There is a longis" -'I-- -- TL -- "' --I.,
in silence. inen, LOOK,
handfull of shells and begins to stuff-load Rocker. You walnt to guilt-loop, or yo1I
the H&K'sspareclip. Only the trembling of want to get your. girl back?"
his hand-the meat hand- betrays any . . .. -
emotion. "So why'd they do me?" he asks. "So name names, says Johnny. He sits
"
71.12
.
handledtheirsecurityaswell. She madea lot Johnnystops pacing. The room goes still.
of classysoftwarejust for them.'' Long pause. Only the Hand moves, like something alive;
"She built Soulkiller, you. know. Or maybe silver metal joints clicking, takeup reels
you didn't. Like you said, she didn't talk whirring, tiny pistons shooting in and out
much about her work.'' in simulation of a pulse. The Hand turns
Johnnyto face the mediaman. Itmakes him
Johnnysits back on the couch, the bottle say, "How long do we have?''
halfway to his lips. Eventhe normallydiscon-
nected Silverhand has heard of Soul-killer, Thompson reaches down to his
the legendary black program that sucks the feet; draws up a long black,
very soulfrom it's Netrunnervictims. Soulkiller nylon bag. "FN-FA1 assault, ''
.What a joke. Soulkillerisa2,000,000 meg AI he says, standing up. "I was in
superroutine that can track an intruding the War. l like lead. Lots of
Netrunners's cyberlink faster than a lead. "
boostergang snorts drugs. It tears out the
cyberpirate's brain with brutal force, Thompson smiles lopsided. "How long will
recreating it in a frozen storage matrix inside it take your input to rewrite Soulkiller? A
the mainframe. The word is on the Street day? Two?''
that Soulkillermaybe the closest thing to Hell
on earth, and in these days, that's saying a "Yeah." Johnnyturns, scoops up the keys
lot. to the Porsche. "You chipped for a
smartgun?"he says.Thompson reaches
And Alt made that? Johnny bites down a down to his feet; draws up a long black,
momentarywaveof revulsion, superimposed nylon bag. "FN-FAL assault, " he says,
over Alts's big green eyes, tousled mane of standing up. "I was in the War. I like lead.
hair. "No wonder she didn't talk about her Lots of lead."
THOMPSON
A top reporter for World
work, " he says finally.
Rain runs down the front of the speeder. A
"I was following her, Rocker,'' says Thomp- wall of Corporate glass and steel looms to
1I News Service, Thompson
has a runninq feud with the
infamous ArGaka Corpora-
son. 'Word's out that Arasaka is working on either side as they pull out into the down- tion, whom he suspects of
it's own version of Soulkiller. Somethingthat town traffic. The Porsche whistles slightly
,-,u;de;;$p:
can walk the NETfreely, getting upcloseand in the chill air, it's methanol powerplant the elusive securityfirm-
personal with people Arasaka doesn't like." throwing it against the City night. "So anything. Thompson also
where are we going, Rocker?'' says Th- served in the Wars as a
"A black program assassin for a security ompson. correspondent, and is fond
of heavy weapons.
company?" Johnny is up and pacing now.
He knows where this is going, and hedoesn't Johnnygrits his teeth. "I've got a marker I Stats
like it. have to pull in," he says. INT8 REF8 CL7
MA8 BODY8
''You probably believe in Santa Claus too,''
Cybernetics
says Thompson, reclaimingthe dregs of the
bottle. "Your Alt is the missing link. I figured - One cyberoptic with IR,
Low Lite, Targeting scope.
I--
they'd have to recruit her sooner or later, Cyberaudio with radio
whether free or forced. Soulkiller's main splice, scrambler, chip
programming i s buried in her head recording.
4
somewhere. So 1 followed her.'' Skills
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
'You don't let personal caca get in the way Santiago's eyes grin in his swarthy face. He
of business," he says. A lot he knows. scratches his chin with his free hand. His
partner has a real mad on about this guy.
Her back is to the wall of the booth-her But he's a Face-he's got credit; that pulls
mirrorshadedeyesscanthe room like monitor weight in Santiago's world. "How long?"
cameras. What she can't see is covered by
her partner, Santiago, from the opposite "Two days max. I need an extraction. I
side of the booth. His burly shoulders bulk won't haze you-it's Arasaka." A long
the heavy armor jacket-he looks like pause. "1'11 understand if you think it's too
scowling mountain. He's not her type. But much for you."
he wants her. Somehow, they've managed
to work this out-the way they worked out
Rogue reacts, her chipped re-
a combat style; the division of spoils. But he
keeps hoping. Stupid Nomad.
He still has the moves, she thinks, as he Santiago's eyes narrow. On the Street,
strides through the big brass doors. Head their team is known as the best. Who does
held high, a cocky light in his pale glass eyes. this choob think he is? Then the nomad
After all this time, Rogue still can't decide realizes he's being baited. Silverhand's al-
ROGUE whether she wants him, or just wants to kill ready figured the score between the two
Rogue and her partner him. He looks like he owns the place as he partners. If Santiago backs up on this, it'll
Santiago, are hit men and crosses the room towards her; a comment to be all over the Street tomorrow. If he goes
bodyguards. The word on an old friend here, smiling at a fan there, a with it, Rogue's going to have to back his
the Street is that they're the
best. Rogue's one weak narrowedglanceata potentialtroublemaker; play. Rogue's right-Silverhand is a bas-
spot is johnny Silverhand, then he's standing in front of her. "Rogue." tard. Santiago grins. He can take this punk
her ex-lover. Their violent, he says. Like nothing'd ever happened. "I with one hand behind his back. "It's going
passionate relationship need your help, Rogue." His voice is urgent, to cost you thirty thou, Rocker."
disintegrated in a massive
blowup a year ago, but the
scars haven't healed yet for I I magnetic.
'You can go to hell," she replies levely. On
"Done."
this hardbitten Solo.
the other side of the booth, there's a faint Santiago grins and raises the stakes. "And
stcrts sound as Santiago slides one hand over the you come with us, " he finishes. From her
INT7 REF12 CL9 Mac 10 in his lap. side of the booth, Rogue's eyes smolder a t
MA 10 BODY 8
her partner. She'd object, but the rule of
Cybernetics Johnny leans closer. "Look," he says, "I'm the game is, "You don't let personal caca
Two cyberoptics with IR, sorry. I know how you feel. Iwouldn'tdo this get in the way of business". When Johnny
Low Lite, Targeting scope, if I had any other choice. He pulls up a chair pulled out his wallet, as far as Santiago was
Sandevistan boost, Karate and straddles it, staring a t her. "rough." she concerned, it became business.
chipped to +3.
shoots back acidly. She hopes her voice
Skills sounds steadier than she feels. "Done" says Johnny. He is reaching out
Combat Sense +9, Hand- across the table to match grips with the big
gun +lo, Brawling +9, 'You owe me one," he says, his voice taking Nomad when one long shadow falls over
Drive +7, Rifle +lo, Melee an edge. "For Chicago. You owe me one at the table, then another.
+6, Athletics +9, Notice +8,
Seduction +8. least. And it's not like Iwon't payyou. I've got
euro." "Ah, Mister Silverhand," the biggershadow
Possessions says, leaning close. You can see red LED
Med Armor jacket, Light "How much?" interjects Santiago. Johnny light scrolling behind his optics, forming
Helmet. Armalite 44 Very turns to face him. "Word on the Street is crosshairs as he brings the smartgun up.
you're pulling five grand a night. 1'11 match
and double it. " Rogue reacts, her chipped reflexes kicking
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
Stats
I N T S REF11 CL9
M A 1 0 BODY10
Cybernetics
Two cyberoptics with IR,
Low Lite, Targeting scope,
Kerenzikov boost, Cyber-
arm with Kevlar armor,
9mm SMC.Cyberleg with
9mm pistol in thigh
holster.
Skills
Family +8, Handgun +9,
Judo +9, Drive +7, Rifle +9,
Melee +9, Athletics +9,
Notice +8, Seduction +8.
Possessions
Heavy Armor Jacket, Light
Helmet. AKR Medium
Assult Rifle, Bimoda
Cyberbike.
71.12
ALLJ'HINGSDARK & CYBERPUNK
I
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
ompson, lowering his steaming FN-FAL. senses to maximum. She's relieved to find
herself stiill clothed and relatively unharmed.
NOttYpiCdi - I ne--&-- I-..A-L #A. _____
Doosier, Duune won rcornpiain.
I_:_
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
”Thanks.”
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
I OFFICES
OFFICE
BATHROOM
torture or kill her. If she builds their horror,
they'll keep her alive. But.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
there. A Fixer picks up a little euro on the the large, grassy park opposite his guard
side, and passes the word down. By ten position; a t first a trickle, then a stream, then
a.m., the Street knows there‘s going to be a torrent. Hecan‘tfigure itout.Theydon’tdo
a party. By noon, the word is all over the things likethisinTokyo. InTokyo, peopleare
Street-the band is Samurai, the time is consistent. They make sense. Here, people
sundown, and the Smash is free. are animals. He thinks about calling the City
Cops, but thatwould reflect badlyonArasaka.
By one, the Street knows the party is going to The world‘s largest security corporation
be on the edge of town a t Industrial Park. callingfor help?Whata lossofface. Butthere
are six thousand people crammed into the
Arasaka‘s twenty two story office com- tableau in front of him.
pound faces Industrial Park.
Up on the makeshift stage, acting as though
r
Likeasingle, hungrything, the mobconverges. invulnerable, struts Johnny Silverhand,
working thecrowd up. Seicho wants him. He
wants him dead. But Silverhand might as
- well beon Luna asfarasArasaka isconcerned.
A single gunshot could trigger a riot of
eL unbelievable proportions. Seicho can feel
the tension building. So can johnny. An
invisible thread binds them as adversaries,
7.29 p.m. eye to eye over a battlefield of unwitting
The twisting construct spins, a blazing pillar bodies.
of white fire, sparkshowersof stars. Aglowing
DNA chain, a whirling dervish takes shape Johnny smiles. He’s got them, so far. The
and form, in the construct reality of the crowd is paranoid-they expectto be thrown
interface, towering above her, looming like out at any minute. He‘s been pumpingthem
fear itself. Dazzling, it exudes the palpable for the last hour with chromatic and metal
scent of terror. Itspeaks in a voice like crystal, rock, getting them edgy and irritable; in a
and momentarily Alt‘s breath is taken by it’s party mood to scream and shout, kick some
perfect, murderous beauty. ‘7 am.” it sings tail. The first uniformed bozo who interrupts
triumphantly to the cold stars. their party is going to get himself hosed.
“I am your Controller. “ Alt replies. “You will Got the chrome in the bloodstream
follow my commands.” Aslight hesitationin Got a metal soul,
her voice. I’m out looking for action,
Guess I’m on a roll
“As always,“ it says, as though doubt had
never existed in the universe. “What is your It’s like driving the freeway at two hundred
bidding, Mistress?” miles per hour.Thecrowd swellsandbreathes
as the first verse goes down, taking on the
Alt lets out a long, exhausted breath. She’s cohesivenessof a livingthing. The bass player
gotten the Controller override past her picks up the back beat and the two of them
watchdogs. Now she has a chance. slam into the next turn of the song, dragging
THE ARASAKA the crowd with them.
FLOOR PLAN This is what I want you to do,”she begins.
Here’sthe internal layout of the Got the old mega violence,
Arasaka Tower. Place your
playersatthe front door, about
to enter the Security Desk area.
At the start of the attack, the
guards have been over-
whelmed by the mob rampag-
ingthroughthe lobby, and may
I
Seicho Harada is second in command of
n.
When I boost, it’s for real,
The capacitors roarin’ inside my brain
You know just how I feel
71.12
guitar over to "remote", Johnnyleaps off the
THE ARASAKA TOWER stage, pushing his way through the crowd.
Here's the story. The group that Johnnyis His voice holds solid over the radio mike; ADVANCED COONS
leading numbers about 100 people. There powerful, pleading, entreating, seducing, These are Arasaka's front line
are twenty guards facing the park. Each defense; the guards covering
turn, roll 1D6 for the Arasaka side and and the huge crowd turns with him; surges
around him, swallows him. It's knifeedge the inside of theTower. Use an
removethat many people. Then, roll 1D10 equal numberof goonsasyou
forthecrowdand removethat many people. balanced-six thousand peopleteetering on have players. At the start of
When the guards get down to four men, the edge, chanting, singing. At the perimeter the attack on the Tower, the
they'll break and run. Meanwhile, you and of the park, Arasaka police stand guard Arasaka guys will be in the
your group should use the crowd as cover Lobby. Remember; if it get's
toget intothebuilding. Good luck, chomba. nervously, their eyes riveted on the mob.
too hot for your players, use
Silverhand starts towards them, and they
Rogue and Santiago to bail
chokeon thedecision-twenty guardsfacing them out.
down a wall of humanity, centered on one
man whose voice holds them, binds them. stuts
An assault rifle comes up, and the crowd, like INTS REF11 CL5
an irritabledog, noticesthesmall armyfacing MA 6 BODY 10
them down. The scene is set; the guards Cybernetics
distracted, and on the rooftop, Santiago One cyberoptic with IR,
takes aim... Targeting scope, Karate
chipped to +3, Rippers.
Skills
It's like driving the h e w a y at Combat Sense +7, Handgun
I -- ArasakaAvenue I two hundred miles per hour. The +7, Brawling +5, Drive +7,
crowd swells and breathes as the Submachinegun +5, Melee
first verse goes down, takin on
the cohesiveness of a living t ing. x +5, Athletics +6.
Possessions
Medium Armor Jacket, Light
I
Then it goes wrong. One of the faceless Helmet. Sternmeyer Type 35
guards loses his nerve. The staccatto sound Heavy Pistol or Minami 10
of gunfire splits the air. But Johnnyis already submachinegun.
gone, faded back into a mob thai howls like ' I
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
Rogue skids around the corner towards the open the firedoors and scout the hall. They
elevator bank, momentsaheadof the crowd. can hear other doors slamming open as the
A KIRA: Rapidly, she opens each car, spraypaintsthe fire teams converge; they bolt for the eleva-
SUPERC 00N FROM monitor lens, punches a destination, then tor bank. Prying the doors open, they can
HELL ducks out. The last car in line, she places a see the top of the car on floor five. They drop
Hmm. Wouldn't it bechillif Alt shapedchargeexplosiveonthe ceiling, wired down to it's top. Thompson hotwires the
flubbed the play and Akira was to a microtransmitter. This one she sends to motor, and they start up.
still up and round when the the twenty-second floor; theexecutiveoffice
players burst into Toshiro's suites. Then the rampaging mob hits and Roguecan hear runningfeet behind her. She
office. Sure it would. Everyone
should have a chance to battle carries her along in the swell. pausesfromhervantagepoint on floorseven
the Hulk from Hell. and fires a quick burst down the stairwell.
She's on the floor and mlling, a How much time? she thinks. She judges the
stars fast dazzle bomb palmed over breathing and the heavy booted tread, and
INT2 REF 12 CL 3
MA 8 BODY 12
the top of the security desk to fry punches six seconds on the timer, then rolls
the optia of the monitor team, out of the seventh floor firedoor. She is
Cybernetics followed by a frog grenade a halfway down the hall when the first of the
One cyberoptic with IR, second later. charges go off, collapsing the stairwell in on
Targeting scope, Body itself and burying the pursuing fire teams.
plated.
Thompson is waiting for her by the stairwell. Jammingopen the elevator doors with her
Skills Moments later, Johnnyshows upwearing an gun butt, she drops down onto the risingcar..
Combat Sense +9, Handgun Arasaka company jacket he's pulled off a
+lo, Karate +9,Submachine- guard's body. The name tag reads Harada.
gun +8, Melee +8, Athletics
+9.
- "Hold her", says Toshiro. Dimly, through
the interface, Alt can feel Akira's hands
Possessions
Medium Armor Jacket, n. pressing her into the seat. She struggles as
Minami 10 submachinegun, the techs strip her plug guards off and hold
Bad Attitude. Akira turns from the security board. "It has herwrists."Can the program berun?"Toshiro
started," he announces. "Instructions, demands. His techs nod. Helpless in the grip
Toshiro-sama?" Toshiro considers. It was a of the interface, Alt can only sense Toshiro
masterstrokefor Silverhand to raise a literal jacking himself into the cyberdeck, giving
army of fans against him. Toshiro is check- the command to RUN.
mated-Arasaka cannot gun downthecrowd
with impunity. But he does have options. He Then her mind is ripped away.
turns to Akira. " Send teams to the elevators.
Guard the top and bottom of the stairwells,
and kill anything in the elevator cars." He
looks over at Alt's dormant form. "We have The elevator streaks upwards, the shaft
the program," he says. "If we do not have echoing to either side. They can hear explo-
her body, there is no evidence." sions; thesound of runningfeet, the hammer
of machinegun fire. They pass the burned
Seemingly oblivious, the plugged in Alt out husks of the cars on floors ten and
permits herself a brief smile. A lot he knows. eighteen. At the twentieth floor, the elevator
starts to slow. Justabove them, they can see
the bottom of the express elevator on the
twenty second.
Elevatorschimeopen on floors ten, eighteen
and five. The fire teams on ten and eighteen She is halfivay down the hall
throw a hail of lead through the doors. The when the first of the char es go
elevators are empty. The team on five is off, collapsing the stairwe I in on
warned, and opens the doors with greater itself and burying the pursuing
3
caution. Empty. "It's a trick!" shouts the fire teams.
team leader. "To the stairwell!"
"Duck and cover!" yells Rogue. She taps the
On floor six, a panting Johnny and Th- transmitter button on her collar and the
ompson reach the stairwell landing, crack world blows up.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
The room staggers; lurches, as five pounds "Bang" says the gun.
of plastique explosive! slams through the
-
-.---...= an
ceiling of the elevator, rreatinn .. .__...
_.. inctant c:i.,--h-.-A C. C-
JIIVCI I 'ai IU LUI I 13 LU
,,A,, ..-
u a u IC' up
-t:ii...--_
I i a XIII wai I I I
fireball. The lasers go wild, spilling amazeof body in his arms. BGhind tlhe wall of moni-
ruby light in every direction. T'oshiro throws tors, a disembodied Alt scr(?amsto him.
himself flat, toppling the c)iberdeck and
_... .. .. - . . .
breaking Alt's connections. She tlails wildly But he can't hear her as he walks away.
71.12
'7
I
1
"Of course I work for
I the Corporations.
You think I'm crazy?
I Look, you have to
I be realistic. Appraise
your options. There's
L . . , L L
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
2020 I
a safe desk and a '
computer terminal. I
But you can actually
do some good in the I
Corporate Life I Corporute arena,
because working for I
It's Big Business As Usual in the Mediacorporations I a Corporation gives I
2000's One ype of corporation that deserves special you a lot of power.
The modern corporations of 2020 are much attention is the mediacorp. These huge
I
like the corporations of the late 20th cen- conglomerates grew out of a trend in the late "Not all Corps are
tury, only much larger and more fully 19805, in which certain firms bought up TV badguys. Take my1
autonomous. They are very nearly nations in networks, film companies, record companies, bunch. Last year, we
themselves, with their own laws, cities, radio stations, and book, magazine, and even bought up 23,000 I
factories and armies. Most corporations in comic publishers; effectively centralizing the acres of Amazon I
2020 are multinational; i.e., they have media under the control of a very few people. rainforest and set it
branches and operations all over the world. aside as a bio-
These branches may be as small as a research Entertainment has become generic and preserve. Some
facility or sales office, or as large as a majorbland. Print material has a "sameness" as a people say we did it
manufacturing facility and security center. hundred magazines are produced by the I for selfish reasons;
same company. Dissenting opinions and we make biotech
There are two types of corporations: public independant productions are usually buried I animals, and buying
and privately held. A public corporation can under an avalancheof media hype, orworse, up that environment
and does sell stock to the public. The stock is co-opted or destroyed by the vicious just puts a little
for sale in any of the offices of the World competitive practices of the major more Nature in our
Stock Exchange, and anyone with enough mediacorps. Still worse is the effect on news pockets.
moneycan buy it. Privatelyheld corporations and information. Political candidates have
are more like family businesses. All stock realized that the right connections to the "But Isee it another
(and thus all power) is concentrated in the right mediacorp exec can win elections- way, That's 23,000
hands of a very few-usually partners, only a short step to where the media acres that won't be
relatives, or one extremely powerful corporationsactuallyselect, packageand sell cut down to make
individual(Howard Hugheswouldbeagood their own candidates. While no major furniture. That's a
example). government is yet directly controlled by a dozen endanqered
mediacorporation, most socioanalysts
Most corporationsare manufacturers-they suspect that it is only a matter of time. somewhere else
produce some kind of commodityfor sale on
the open market. Oil, steel, automobiles, AgritXbrpS bank... "
aircraft, weapons, computers, cybernetics, The Age of the Family Farm came to an end -Lyle ~urrfsonI
biotechnologies; these are only a few of the somewhere in the 1990s.The United States
literally millions of corporate operations. has always been the world's foremost
Manycorporationshaveseveralcommodities producer of raw food stock. Coupled with
on the market-they may control chemical the increasing need for grain and bulk crops
plantsin Europe, computerfactoriesinJapan, to create alcohol fuels and organic plastics,
and steelmaking operations in the United agribusiness became one of the most
States. powerful forces of the post-crash US.
71.12
Agricorporations now control (directly in the early '90s that the new all means to stop a rival extraction
or indirectly) nearly 65% of all of the megacorps represented an unprece- team.
farmland in the United States; feeding dented new field of opportunity, the
roughly a third of the world's
population and supplying organic fuels
powerful families of the Mafia and
other crime groups began to offer Corporations
and plastics to nearly two thirds. As
the technological world underwent
their services as bodyguards, hitmen,
and general corporate enforcers. This & Goverments
crash conversion from its dwindling pattern had previously been estab- Since the Crash of '96,the govern-
petroleum reserves over to advanced lished among the zaibatsu (corporate ments of the world have been in the
formsof methanol, ethanol and meta- families) of Japan,who routinely hired uncomfortable position of having to
alcohol, many of the leading oil both ninja (assassin)andyakuza(gang- let the multinational corporations do
producersbought up agriculturallands ster) clans for their covert operations. pretty much as they please. Paying lip
and shifted their refineries to organic In some cases, the retainers remain service to pollution control, product
fuel production. As a result, a list of faithful-at least to the people who safety and minimum wage rules, the
most majoragricorpsreads like a Who's pay the most. In other more unfortu- modern multinational usuallystrikes a
Who of energy corporations. nate cases, the hired guns have taken bargain with the local government.
direct control of the corporations Sometimes this may be as simple as a
Corporate Powerbrokering themselves, leading to a new age of bribe to the right places, or military
The modern corporation is usually or- intercorporate infighting unchecked support for the local dictator. In the
ganized as a vast hierarchy, with a by even a sham of legality. more sophisticated United States,
President and Board of Directorsa t the corporations tread lightly, going out
top, and a huge sea of workers at the Employment Contracts of their way to hide their more illegal
bottom. In the middle of this, one finds In the savage world of Big Business, operations, and making sure to toe
the realm of the corporate executive, a it's not unusual for an executive to the line in their more visible ones. On
struggling middle class overachiever, jump from firm to firm, looking for a the local level it's often a case of
usually with the singleminded goal of big success. To prevent this, most trading power, influence or money
grabbing as much power and privilege Corporations require their employees with the right leaders; a judge or
as possible. The average corporate t o sign Employment Contracts, police chief here, a senator or
begins as a junior executive, "bossing" specifying how long they must work congressman there.
a particular project or group of people. for the firm until they can quit.
Atthenextlevel, he becomesaManager, Contracts may run from a year for a
One major exception to corporate
controlling a specific department or low-level executive, to an entire
domination i s the Soviet Union.
production area. The major infighting lifetime for a key researcher or
Although interested in acquiring the
begins here-on ly very successfuI company president.
technologies of the West, the Soviets
Managers get elevated to the position
have successfully kept most corpora-
of Assistant Vice President, where they The penalties for breaking Employ-
tions from gaining any political
control entire factories or other opera- ment contracts are extremely severe;
tions. They are, in turn, bossed by Vice ranging from garnishment of wages, foothold within its borders.
Presidents, who control entire divisions lawsuits, and loss of licenses (in the
of the company. Near the top is the case of lawyers or physicians). Most corporate offices now hold a
ExecutiveVice President, who effectively Corporations have also been known status roughly equivalent to a national
runs the corporation. His boss is the to use sabotage software and deadly embassy, with employees carrying
President, who answers only to the booby traps t o ensure loyalty. corporate-issued international
Boardof Directors(majorstockholders) Blackmail is common. Assassination passports and identification cards
and the Chairman of the Board. and kidnapping are expected. (better, by far, than almost anything
national governments can produce).
Theoretically, corporate advancement This makes Corporate "headhunting" Since the unfortunate Yasubisu Affair
is based on merit. In reality, the (hiring away another company's staff of 1997 ( in which guards of Tokyo-
corporate world is rife with nepotism, for use by yourown company)a deadly based Arasaka Corp killed 24 French
deal making, brown nosing, cheating, game of cat and mouse. Most Corpo- policemen who attempted to storm
lying and credit stealing. Extortion, rations have their own "extraction Arasaka's Paris offices to arrest an
blackmail and frameups are common. teams" of Solos, who, like the KCB or executive charged with rape), most
CIA, arrange "defections" of key corporate foreign branches maintain
One of the most disturbing factors in personnel from one side to the other. a policy of shipping criminalemployees
this web of corporate powerbrokering Headhunting can be especially lethal, back to the company's home office.
is the role of organized crime. Realizing as most corporations will use any and Company negotiators then arrange
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
to extradite the felon back to the established, and a system of trading began to adopt various methods of
nation where the crime took place. imposed over the various subex- Japanesemanagement and production,
changes worldwide. itwasasimplestepforthesecompanies
to adopt or create their own "ninja"
TheWddStock While there arestockbrokeragesall over forces. This historical reference may be
the world, the major Exchange offices one reason why hired corporate killers
Exchange are located in London, Paris, Zurich, and spies are known on the street by
The modern corporation rests on its Tokyo, NewYork, Cairo, Rome and San colorful terms such as ninja, samurai,
stock. Stock is essentially a "share" in Francisco. However, with the creation ronin and yakuza.
the company's assets, which can be of the Net-the vast web of
traded and sold much like property communications that blankets the A corporate covert operations arm
cards in Monopoly. Corporations sell planet- the ability to buy, sell and usually is made up of weapons
stock to outsiders in exchange for hard trade shares has been extended to specialists, compute5 technicians, and
cash, which the corporation can then almost anyone. Investors can now use various"hired guns".Almostall of these
use to finance it's activities. As a theirphone netstocontacttheir brokers covert forces are cyberenhanced with
stockholder, you are gambling that the at any time or from any place, even the the best technology available. Covert
stock you hold (which is a percentage remotestjungles. Never before has the action arms frequently search the
of the total value of the company) will business of making millions on the deadzones and arcologies for promis-
increaseinvalueasthecompany'sassets "market" been so universal. And never ingyoung criminalsto recruit, promising
increase in value. For example, if in before has the Market been balanced them high pay, the bestenhancements,
1975, Cyber Computer was worth a on such a razor's edge between and a life of glamor and adventure.
grand total of $100.00, and you owned incredible wealth and worldwide
20% of this, your stock would be worth
$20.00. Eightyears later, when Cyberis
economic disaster.
CorporateWars
worth two million dollars, that same
20% is now worth $400,000.00!On
Corporate While most aspects of corporate com-
petition remain on the economic level,
there are instanceswhere it moves into
the other hand, if Cyber goes bust, that
stock is worth nothing.
Espionage & the arena of actualwarfare. While these
are not declaredwars, per-se, they have
The more stock you have, the more
Covert Activity all the aspects of the real thing, as
control you have over the assets and In the 2000's, almost every corporation missiles, armored vehicles, jet aircraft
employs a t least one force of highly and cyberenhancedground troops are
activitiesof the corporation. One reason
for this is that each share you hold is trained covert operatives, specializing brought into play.
equal to a vote concerningwhat is done in espionage, counter-espionage,
with the company. As a general rule, if sabotage, and counter-terrorism. In By its very nature, a corporate war must
you own more than 50 percent of the extreme cases, measures such as be covert-very few nations are willing
stock of a corporation, you have the assassination and terrorism are not to aIlow two companiesto "duke itout"
majority vote. This vote can be used to unknown, whether against other cor- on theirsoil. Earlyon, mostcorporations
fire or choose the leadership of the porationsor within the corporate struc- hired actual terrorist groups to strike at
corporation, directcorporatedecisions, ture itself. enemytargets. As thesegroupsbecame
and evenforce the corporationto merge more undependable, the companies
with another company. This is notan entirelynew phenomenon. began to actually create battle forces
For many years, the powerful Japanese disguised to resemble terrorists. Many
The basic form of corporate stock industrial combines, or zaibatsu, were terrorist groups such as the infamous
holding is little changed from the known tosecretlyemploy ninja clans in Red Flag Army and the New Aryan Sons
early stock exchanges (places where many of their covert operations. These are actually fully equipped corporate
people go to buy, sell or trade stock in connections stretched back into the strike forces, whose seemingly random
companies) of the 20th century. What distant past, when many of the same attacks on rival offices and strongholds
has changed is the scale of operations. clans served the feudal ancestors of the are part of larger covert warfare actions.
The stock exchanges of London, zaibatsu rulers. Less covert operations
Tokyo, New York and other major requiring muscle and a lack of subtlety A corporate war never lasts longer than
cities were merged into a gigantic wereoften delegatedtovarious Japanese necessary-if combat activity becomes
World Stock Exchange late in the gangster mobs, many ofwhom had full noticeable, there is too great a chance
1990's. A generic exchange rate or partial interests in the corporations of government intervention. While no
(known as the Eurodollar) had been themselves. As Western corporations corporate army is yet powerful enough
71.12
to challenge a major government These corporate police were
directly, there are already reports of well paid and had access to the
smaller nations who have capitulated best equipment available. As
to the power of the business armies. police services began t o
collapse throughout the US.,
The many cities took to hiring
corporate forces outright,
Corporate City deputizing them and turning
city law enforcement over to
In the 1960’s thru OS, social unrest them.
and upheaval tore through the central
cities of America, leaving burned out The corporations were equal
tenements, deserted factories, and to the task. Ruthlessly, they
dying businesses in it’s wake. Most equipped their teams with the
major corporations soon moved their bestweaponsandarmor. When
operations to safer suburban business an arrest was made, they made
parks and malls. the best use of their
considerable legal talent and
But as real estate prices began to rise, influencetoensure theseverest
and thesuburbsbecamemorecrowded, penalties. When an arrest
the major companies began t o wasn’t possible, they often re-
reconsider theirstrategies.Bythe middle sorted t o the harshest of
1980’s,corporations working with city policies. Entiregangs would be
governments began to rehabilitatethe decimated in a single night by
inner city. The corporations provided heavy weapons teams and ar-
the moneyfor new buildings, shopping mored vehicles. The bodies
malls and model community areas, would summarily end up in the
while the government provided tax landfill, and the legal staff would
incentives, inexpensive land, and po- quietly arrange to cover the inci-
lice protection. By 1989, many inner dent over.
cityareasacrossthe US. including New
York, San Francisco, Baltimore and In the 2000‘s,the corporations
Boston had undergone this usually control both the inner
“gentrification” process. city and a large portion of the
company owned suburban
The human cost of this restructuring developments outside of the
was the displacement of the city.Tofacilitatetheircommuters,many building or buying large tracts of
“undesirables” of the urban dead zone. of the megacorpshave installedlightrail housing, which were then offered at
Poor, drug dealers, pimps, gangs and and underground systems between the drastically reduced prices to company
streetpeople were all pushed out from showcase innercity and the well- members.
the city center, creating a region protected suburbs. Patrolled by
bounded on one side by affluent corporate guards, monitored by A further stage of development was
suburbs and on the other by the now cameras and the most sophisticated reached in 1995,when, in the historic
showcasecentralcity.This“doughnut” sensors, these railwaysarealwaysclean, TennicorpvsDavisdecision, the Supreme
effect had a further impact on the quiet and ominously crime free. Court ruled that while a corporation
community-by shoving the deadzone could not restrict housing sales on the
inhabitants between the two areas, Corporate Suburbia basis of race, creed or color, it did have
crime rates on both sides of the line By 1990,a two bedroom house cost a the right to offer housing to its
began to skyrocket. Street gangs rou- median $200,000.00; more than most employees on a preferential basis. As a
tinelyshuttled between the middleclass families could hope to raise. As the result, most areasof corporate suburbia
suburbs and the model inner city to corporations fought for skilled are routinely comprised of upper
prey on new victims. employees, they realized that an middle-class execs and their families.
affordable home could easily become While made up of widely varying races,
, By the mid 805,corporations routinely one of the many fringe benefitsto offer religions and nationalities, all corporate
hired guard patrols to supplement a prospective worker. Soon, in the US. communitiessharea common origin-
already overloaded city police forces. and abroad, corporations began the Company.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
industrialand politicalespionageagents
and covert combat Operatives. Among
other things, troops and covert
operatives are used in the dangerous
field of corporate extractions, removing
valuable personnel from one
corporation to another, either by
defection or force.
The following report contains essential each profile is the name and location of Some corporations have small orbital
information and breakdowns on some residence of that company's major workstationsfor specialized zero-g pro-
of the 21s t century's most prominent shareholder. This is the single person duction and research. These worksta-
and powerful corporations. These who wields the true power behind the tions consist of a number of pressurized
profiles are intended to be used by the company. Any person or organization "shacks" with no gravity of their own.
Referee as guidelines, not as inflexible (such as the board of directors) which The shacks are anchored together by a
parameters. holdsover 50% of the total stock wields flexible structural framework that also
ultimate control over the corporation. supports power and life-support pods,
Head Office is the location of the firm's Open Shares are the shares currently up andarenormallystaffed by afewdozen
board of directors, usually, but not for sale on the World Stock Exchange. people and a small contingent of space
always, the largest and most important Usually in the neighborhood of ten troops. These stations also maintain
executive facility the corporation has. percent. weapons systems to repel attack from
Offices are other manufacturing or rival corporationsif necessary. Worksta-
executive sites owned by the Troops representthecombined number tions each have a few small pressurized
corporation. Listedsitesare majoroffices. of combat soldiers available to the cor- and unpressurizedservice and transport
A corporation may have small bureaus poration. Usually, troops are spread vehicles. All corporations, with the ex-
worldwide. among the offices of the corporation, ception of the Orbital Air Corporation
with heavier numbers stationed a t rely on government lifting vehicles or
Stock is the total number of shares in potential trouble sites or high security Orbital Air to shuttle products and
existencefor that corporation. Listed in compounds. Covert Operatives are personnel to and from orbit.
71.12
I
I
II : EUROBUSINESS
- - - - .- - MACHINES
--
I
L
_ _ . _ - CORPORATION
L I L I . L L - -
II
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
71.12
ALL THUNGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
INFOCOMP MERRILL,
I‘ Genetic engineering,
I
Corporate think-tank and
information brokers.
microbiological and biochemical Headquarters: Los Angeles.
research. Regional Offices: San Francisco, Exciusive investment and
Headquarters: Rome. New York, Washington, Chicago, finuncial counseling firm.
Regional Offices: London, Bonn, Denver, Vancouver, London, Headquarters: New York.
Paris, and La JollaCalifornia. Honolulu. Regional Offlces: San Francisco,
Name and Location of Major Name and Location of Major Los Angeles, Chicago, Hong Kong,
Shareholder: Nicolo Loggagia, Shareholder: Robert D. (Bob) Al- Tokyo, London, Paris, Munich, Rome.
Monte Carlo, Monaco, holding varez, Kapaa, Kauai holding 19.2Oh Name and Location of Major
13.8% of total shares. of total shares. Shareholder: Howard Merrill, New
Employees: Employees: York, holding 22.0% of total shares.
Worldwide Troops Covert Worldwide Troops Covert Employees:
36,256 1,833 124 9,352 400 34 Worldwide Troops Covert
21,926 100 10
Background: When the fuel crisis real ackground: lnfocomp provides scien- ackground: If you have money, and you
beganto affectthe industrialized commi Fic, technical and personal data pertain- rant more, or you just want it safe, Merrill,
nity in the late 1990s, Biotechnica, then ig to any subject to anyone who can sukaga, and Finch are the people to talk
small firm with only one office, came ~1 fford to pay for it. The ultimate detec- ). They are without a doubt the top
with theanswer: CHOOH2TM (pronounce ves, they pride themselves on their elite eople in investments of all kinds, from
‘chew two’). CHOOH2TM(not its actu :ientific and research staff’s ability to :ock to real estate to frog-farming fu-
chemicalformula) is a complex grain alcc nearth, cogitate, formulate andtheorize. ires. However, if you don’t have a good
hot produced by genetically engineer6 Dr the right price, clients can access ea1of money in the first place, they aren’t
yeasts and wheat strains created k ifocomp’s huge library of existing infor- iterested- the commission on a $1000
Biotechnica. The potential of CHOOHZ’ iation, or havethem provide information \vestmentisn’t worth their ratherexpen-
was realized almost immediately after ertaining to a subject not yet explored. ve time. MA & F‘s high caliber of service
was introduced, and within a few years i iatch out-the toughertheproblem, the asattractedmany of the richestand most
fuel burning vehicles and power plan .
igher the bill. . . owerful people in the world. If, for some
had converted to the new fuel. Althouc zason, they were to go bankrupt, someof
Biotechnica held worldwide patents, quipmentand Resources: Eachoff icehas l e greatest powers in the world, both
lacked the production facilities to me surgery capable infirmary, an Osprey I\ ?galand illegal, would be overturned.
worldwide demand, forcing it to k e n ircraft, a private jet, two helicopters, two
production to several large agribusiness M-4 urban assault vehicles, severalMicro- quipment and Resources: Dispersedas
and petro-corporations. Thesedeals mat ech Corp. advanced mainframes and an ieeded among the offices are 15 AV-4
Biotechnicaan extremelywealthy, but si xtensive library and and information ssault vehicles, eight corporate jets, and
not particularly large, company. It is CL lathering network. wo Osprey I1aircraft. Each office also has
rentlyexpanding, and working on its ne wo helicopters and a non-surgical infir-
big biotechnical breakthrough. nary. MerrillAsukaga & Finch controls the
inances of many powerful people, and
Equipment and Resources: Biotechni tven some small nations. Accordingly,
has ten AV-4 assault vehicles, five corp hey can command a great deal a t short
rate jets, three Osprey II aircraft and 01 iotice, including politicalfavors and pow-
Boeing C-25 heavy cargo jet, moved !rful military equipment.
needed among its offices. In additic
each office maintains two helicoptersai
a surgery capable infirmary. Due to t
worldwide importance of its develo
ments, Biotechnica has a fair amount
power in the political community, and
can usually obtain whatever militz
equipment it needs, although some itei
maytakemoretimetoprocurethanothe
Biotechnicahasone orbital researchwo
station.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
M
City, Caracas, Rio De Janiero, Oslo, craft, ten Boeing C-25 heavy cargo jets
Stockholm, Helsinki, London, Berlin, and fifteen corporate jets. Each office has
Jerusalem, Cairo, Tokyo, Honolulu, three helicopters and a surgery capable
Tangier, Beijing, Shanghai, Crystal infirmary. Petrochem has considerable
Tower. access to the highest levels of military
Name and Location of Major
Shareholder: Mahmet AI Hamedi,
PETROCHEM technology, due to their national and
worldwide importance. They also have a
Petrochemical products and large orbital research facility that is well
Riyadh, holding31.6Ohof total shares.
agribusiness. Worlds' largest protected, physically and electronically.
Employees: CHOOH2 producer.
Worldwide Troom Covert Headquarters: Dallas, Texas.
' 215,000 7,005 644 Regional Offices: New York,
Washington, Miami, Chicago, San
Background: WNS keeps tabs on the Francisco, Tokyo, London, Hamburg,
world, by any means possible. Newspa- Hong Kong, Paris, Rome. Oil fields in TEAM
pers and news stations around the world Canada, Texas, Alaska, California and
Antarctica. Agricultural areas in Cali-
INTERNATIONAL
pay large amounts of money to receive Ambulance and paramedical
WNS stories via the WorldSat Network. fornia andthe MidwestandSoutheast.
services
WNS has more offices than most corpora- Name and Location of major
Headquarters: Los Angeles.
tions, but most of these offices are fairly shareholder: Ellen Trieste, Crystal
Tower orbital facility, holding 23.7% Regional Offices: World wide in
small and limited in function, intended to all major Cities
serve only as bases of operations for the of total shares.
Employees: Name and Location of Major
Operatives and reporters working in an Shareholder: Carrie Lachanan of
area. WNS has a t least a small office in Worldwide Troops Covert
San Antonio, Texas, holding 33.3%
almost every major city in the world, but 338,000 30,000 2,500
of total shares.
these are sometimes no more than rooms
Employees:
with a few provisions, one resident agent
and a Telecom-Terminal linked to the Worldwide Troops Covert
nearest regional office. Few competitors 16,526 350 25
ackground: Petrochem Industrieskeeps
can match WNS' information gathering le world running, literally. They are the
capabilities, and WNS ensures that it re- orldls largestproducerof CHOOH2, and
mains a t the forefront, not only through Background:As one of the largest private
mtrol millions of acres of arable land
legitimatemeans, but alsothrough spying, medical firms in the world, Trauma Team
:Toss the United States. This land is used provides ambulance services and para-
espionage, sabotage and ill'egal snooping )growthe genetically altered wheat that
of all sorts. WNS does not run any stations medicalsupportfor a clientbase of at least
used to make CHOOH2. (Surplus grain fifteen million people. Equippedwith top
of i t s own, choosing instead to broker i t s shipped across the world as food.) Pet-
information to the highest bidder. There line AV type vehicles, Trauma Teams pro-
)them is also one of the largest remain-
isnoshortageofbuyers, as ratings-hungry vide an essential service in the 2000's-
lg oil producers. With the oil supply
broadcasters will fork over millions for recoveringwounded clientsfrom the field.
Nindling, all remaining fossil fuels are
exclusiverightsto an especiallyjuicy story sed to make plastics and other synthet-
and the included multi-media presenta- Equipment and Resources: Dispersed as
s. Petrochem has more fertile oilfields needed among the offices are 1,305 AV-4
tion package containing WNS' videos, ian any other company. All of these
write-ups and commentaries. aerodyne vehicles, thirty corporate jets,
;sets are huge, and accordingly hard to
twenty two Osprey I1 aircraft and four
rotect from other companies that would
Equipment and Resources: Dispersed Boeing C-25 heavy cargo jets. Each office
te to usurp Petrochem's wealth. As a
among the regional offices as needed are also has it's own surgical-capable infir-
wit, Petrochem invests huge amounts
mary.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
..-
--- -
at
Comnnunlcatlons
~ARASAKA~
Corporate security, corporute
police and various corporate
I MILITECH I
Network
suboperations. Arms manufacturing and
Sateliite transmission and Headquarters: Tokyo. distribution, mercenaries.
communications. Headquarters: Washington D.C.
RegionalOffices: Singapore, Hong
Headquarters: Paris. Regional Offices: New York,
Kong, Osaka, Kyoto, Bangkok,
Regional Offices: London, Rome, Miami, Chicago, Montreal, London,
Madrid, Stockholm, Bonn, Cairo, Baghdad, Sydney, London, Hamburg,
Paris, Madrid, Rome, Geneva, Helsinki, Rome, Zurich, Night City, Washing-
Nairobi, Brasilia, Washington, Los ton, Los Angeles, Toronto, Tokyo,
The Hague, Rio de Janiero,Montreal,
Angeles, Toronto, Tokyo, Beijing, Beijing, Hong Kong.
Hong Kong. New York, Washington, San Fran-
cisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Hon- Name and Location of Major
Name and Location of Major Shareholder: Cen. Donald Lundee,
olulu. Suboffices throughout the
Shareholder: Raymond Rousseau, USMC (ret.), Annapolis, Maryland,
world.
Menton,French Riviera, hold- holding 13.9% of total shares.
Name and Location of Major
ingl5.5% of total shares. Employees:
Shareholder: Saburo Arasaka, To-
Employees: Worldwide Troops Covert
kyo, holding 19.9% of total shares.
Worldwide Troops Covert 350,000 100,000 2,031
Employees:
51,625 7,444 658
Worldwide TrooDs Covert
1,000,000 100,000 5,000 quipment and Resources: Dispersed
mong its offices and mercenary forces as
Background: WorldSat has the monopol eeded are 200 AV-4 urban assault ve-
on large-scale satellite communication! icles, 150 Osprey I1aircraft, twenty cor-
and is responsible for the transmission c lackground: If you want it protected orate jets and twenty BoeingC-25heavy
phone, military, computer and commei hese are the people to speak to. The] srgo aircraft. (Usually, 50-7596 of this
cia1 data. These communications are cri naintain the largest armed force of an! quipment is in the field at any given
cia1 worldwide, and their disruptioncou18 orporation, although they do not main me.) Additionally, each office has two
be disastrous. WorldSat invests a grei ain a particularily large amount of on elicopters, and a surgical infirmary.
deal in making sure this does not happer land militaryheavyweapons.Thesetroop laturally, MTIhasaccess to large amounts
The satellites are even shielded again! re mostly licensed out to other firms a f the best military technology available.
electro-magnetic pulse, although no on orporate security guards, couriers an( IT1 maintains secret training camps in
is really sure how well this will worl nercenaries. They are the best trainec exas, the Sierra-Nevada Mountains of
Although it is illegal, it is also possible fc nd hardest in the business, and will fol alifornia, and Florida.
WorldSat to monitorany of the commun W
I their client’s orders second only t c
cations it is transmitting. Lrasaka’s. To the Arasaka corporation, the! ackground: MTI is the world‘s largest
re loyal to the point of death. Arasaka i roducer and seller of militaryweapons of
Equipment and Resources: Disperseda nore interested in fostering its own politi ll kinds. From revolvers to tanks to jet
needed among the offices are thirty AV- al goals than protecting other compa ghters, MTI isa major militarysupplier to
assault vehicles, twelve Osprey II aircraf lies, and they use their position of trus i e United States, and the United States,
five corporate jets and three Boeing C-2 vith major corporations around the work I turn, is MTl’s largest customer. MTIwill
heavy cargo jets. Each office also has tw o gain inside information, contacts an( ea1 worldwide with anyone who has
helicoptersanda surgical infirmary.Worll dvantages that will help them to realizc roney. MTl’s mercenary forces and in-
Sat‘s satellites are crucial to many nation heir ultimate goal of political and eco ouse supply of weaponry make it the
communications. Consequently, mo! iomic control of Japan. lost militarily powerful company in the
high-techmilitary hardware is available t vorld, if not the most economically. That
them on short notice. WorldSat has iquipment and Resources: Disperse1 vi11 come later. . . .
large, well protected orbital service among Arasaka‘s offices are 250 AV-4 a!
facility. iaultvehicles, 250 Osprey ll aircraft, eleve
:orPorate jets and twenty Boeing C-2
ieavy cargo jets. Each office also has tw
ielicopters, and a surgical infirmar)
4rasaka’s wealth gives it access to almo:
$11 levels of military technology on fair1
ihort notice. Arasaka has a secret traininl
acility in Hokkaido, where it trains it
iecurity troops and Operatives.
71.12
-- . -
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
71.12
WELCOME TO
NIGHT CITY
Night City is a modern urban
environment, complete with
dark streets, filthy alleys and
rowdy clubs. Where is it lo-
cated?What's its real name?
Not important. Night City is
CITY
any big city in the world-it
could be yours-late night
and up against the wall.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYRERPUNY
I
to their pristine state. The old Harbor known as the Corporate Zone and are
Mall (originally built in the 198O's), heavily patrolled by hired security),
was demolished and the New Harbor pockets of urban blight still infest the
Mall constructed. Marina, Harbor and Lake Park dis-
tricts. Crime in these Controlled Zones
The Present is kept in check by brutal security
Night City today is a rapidly growing sweeps and constantsurveillance. The
urban region, still rife with urban vio- South City is still a seedy ruin of cheap
lence and street crime, but with strong tract housing, spreading into an area
economic growth in the Corporate so blighted, it is known as the Combat
sector. It is the quintessential city of Zone.
the Cyberpunk future-gritty, dan-
gerous, but possessing an urban slick City Police Services: Police in Night
and stylish cool that makes it unique. City are scattered, poorly equipped
As Bes Isis, Net 54 newcaster and one and badly managed. Cops can often
of Night City's mostwell known public be bribed or convinced that they just
figures puts it- don't want to get involved. The most
incorruptable people on the Force are
"Nobody ever leaves Night City. Except in C-SWAT, the CyberPsycho Squad.
in a body bag. ' Determined and dangerous, these
mavericks and loners are just too crazy
Political Transportation
The Night City Mayor's Office owes Pub1icTransportation:TheNight City
everything to the Corporations, and Transit Corporation (NCTC) provides
accordingly, the Corps can do any- for bus service on most major city
thing they want in Night City. The thoroughfares. Light lev-rail trans-
current Mayor of Night City is Mbole port is provided by NCART (Night
Ebunike, a well-trained corporate City Area Rapid Transit), a public cor-
puppet recently elected for his sec- poration with some private (read:
ond term in 2020. Corporate) funding.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
I
I "Sex. Drugs. Following are some of the major attrac- 34 Medical Technologies (a body bank)
tions and possibilities of Night City. 35 City Police Precinct #1
I
I
Rock and Roll. 36 Short Circuit: The Short Circuit is one of many
1 City Hall
I
1
Fully automatic 2 City Library bars in Night City. Like most of them, this bar has its
I weapons with 3 City Museum regulars, who seem to mostly be Netrunners and
I 4 Hall of Justice Techies. Unbeknownst to most of the city, however,
I
grenade Livewire, one of the most reknownedNetrunners, has
5 Marcini's: A large, expensive department store
I
I
launchers. where you can find almost any luxury item. a shop in a back room of the bar where he buys and
6 Raven Microcyb sells programs for use in the Net. In addition to his
I
I 7 Microtech trading of programs, Livewire is also adept at creating
I We got it all. 8 Arasaka Tower his own programs, or ones that other people order.
I
This is a modern 9 Eurobusiness Machines 37 City College
I
I .
city.. ' I 10 Petrochem
11 Network 54 offices
38 Savage Doc's (a Ripperdoc joint)
39 City Police Preclnct #3
12 Plaza Business Tower (96 stories of assorted 40 Night Owl: One of the few bars that i s open all
businesses) night. This is a heavy security, no-nonsensebar. You
13 West City Tower (88 stories of assorted busi- come here to drink when nothing else is open.
nesses) 41 West City Bank
14 lnfocomp 42 Crisis Medical Center: a no-questions-asked
15 WNSoffices medical center for fast patchups.
16 Orbital Air Offices 43 Caf6 Chrome: a favorite Rocker hangout, com-
17 Merrill, Asukaga & Finch plete with 50's retro decor and jukebox.
18 The Twilight Zone 44 MetalStorm: A dangerous Chromer bar
19 1st Night CityBank 45 Warehouses
20 Euro-Worldbank 46 Warehouses
21 Grandmill's (large, expensivedepartmentstore) 47 Medicross Preservation: a n illicit body bank,
22 Totentanz: When the owner of this bar named not too particular about I.D.'s or death certificates.
his bar Deathdance, he didn't know how right he 48 The Slammer: Well-known among Booster-
would be. A dance hall/bar housed on the top floor gangs as a place to settle disputes peacefully. If that
of an old skyscraper, this bar is well-knownfor a place doesn't work, the arena is there tosettlethem violently.
to find Boostergangs. They all seem to congregate The owner, Suds Joliet, also runs betting booths and
here, but they don't come to dance for the pleasure occasionally rents out the arena for other events.
of it. It's considered a bad night if the body count is 49 Camden Court: High security condos favored
under twenty. by Solos, Corps. Rent is 53,000.00 a month.
23 WorldSat Communications 50 McCartney Field Stadium: Main concert venue
24 Hotel Hamilton: A fairly modern hotel, known and home of the Night City Rangers, the localfootball
for its excellent security. team.
25 Highcourt Plaza Hotel: A very classy hotel 51 City Police Precinct #2
featuring glass elevators, excellent service, and a 52 Wing Chang: Exclusive Chinese restaurant.
1920s decor. 53 La Baguette: Very trendy French cuisine.
26 Trauma Team" Offices 54 Hari Kiri: Sushi Bar
27 Industrial Park 55 New Harbor Shopping Mall
28 City Medical Center 56 Grand Illusion (dance club)
29 REO Meatwagon (rival medical team) Offices 57 The Afterlife: This bar is located in an old
30 Atlantis: A classic "fern bar," known as a hang- mortuary in Night City. Consisting of three rooms,
out for Corporates and Solos looking for jobs. The Ante-Chamber, the Crypt, and Hades, this bar is
31 JesseJames' Non-Kosher Deli: While this may a favorite among solos that are currently between
sound like an ideal place to eat, no food is ever sewed jobs. Ifyou needto find armed help, this is the placeto go.
here. The Deli is a bar that was constructed in an old 58 Night City Fire Station #1
police station. Due to several unforseen "accidents," 59 Lake Park Bandstand
you must register your personal weapons a t the door 60 28th St. Park (contested Boostergang turf)
and use the safe ones that are provided for you a t the 61 28th Street Underpass(a Boostergangmeeting
bar. There is a nightly contest to see who can get the spot)
highest body count in five minutes. 62 Night City Fire Station #2
32 The Outer Limits (club) 63 Bodukkan Performance Center
33 Rainbow Nights: Rainbow Nights is more of a 64 Forlorn Hope (a Central American Vet bar)
dance club than a bar. Its main attraction is a big
dance floorthat is almost always crowded. Everynight
there is a live band, usually a bunch of no names. They
occasionally draw big acts like JohnnySilverhand and
Kerry Eurodyne, but only under aliases.
71.12
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
1- 34-39 Techies: Two Techies, without weapons he/she will take a liking to one member of the party
NIGHT CITY or armor. If you are wearing any unusual weapons or
cybertech, they will stop you and ask to look. If it's
removable, they mayofferto tradesome Skill chipware
and allow you to tag along.
71.12
81-85 Medias: A camera and interviewer team, low light, IRand targeting. Obviously up to somegrey
staking outa building on a hot assignment. Roll 1D10. operation. If you are wearing a rival Corporate uniform
On 1-5, they will be spotted by orpatch, theywill: 1-5,dodgeyouand moveon;6-10,
a firefightwillensue.You, ofcourse, will berightinthe decideyouareawitnessandought to betotalled right
middle of it. now.
86-88 Major Criminal: You've walked into a 61-75 Boostergang: Six members of the Blood
major operation of the notorious Scogattalio family. Razors gang, armed with automatic weapons, r i p -
Four Solo-type men armed with Med.& Heavy pistols pers, IR cyberoptics, boosted reflexes. Hassle you?
and wearing flack vests, are unloading a drug cargo ...
Naw they'll just torture you and listen to you scream.
out of a truck. Roll 1D10. 14, they don't notice you. For fun. Afterwards, they'll sell the body to the Donor
5-8, theynoticeyouandonewarnsyouoff. 9-10, they Center for cash.
decideyouarea witnessand oughtto be totalled right
76-80 Culties: It's lnquistion time! The Inquisi-
tors are out in maximum force. Six of them, armed
89-94 Chromers: Four members of openly with nunchaku, handguns and whips corner
the Steel Slaughter Slommers. They are you. "Only o servant of the Metol Demons would be
wearing armor Ts with metal abrwdot this hour. Anydecent citizenwouldbe ot home,
soiked leathers. All have metal arms asleep. Hock, slay and maim the heretic!"
covered with chrome, with rippers and Med
pistols built in. Roll 1D10- on a 1-6, they will go for 81-82 Private Investigator: Roll 1D10. On 1-3,
you. On 7-8, they'll pass you by. On 9-10, they take a helshe is ahead of you, hassling an informant on the
liking to a member of the party and invite you to tag streetcorner concerning the whereabouts of a sus-
along with them. pect. 4-7, helshe is shadowing someone ahead of
you. 8-10, they will stop you and ask you whether you
95-97 5010 team: Three Solos, armed in flack have seen the person they are following. The PI is
vest & pants, carrying smartgun chippedUzis.Boosted armed with a heavy caliber revolver and wearing an
reflexes, cyberoptics with low light, targeting. These armor jacket.
guys are on a total black operation (an assassination).
Rolll D10; on a 1-5, If you ignore them, they'll ignore 83-86 Chromers: Four members of the Steel
you. 6-10, they'll decide you area witness and ought Slaughter Slammers. They are wearing armor Ts
to be totalled right now. with metal spiked leathers. All have metal arms
covered with chrome, with rippers and .45 cals built
98-00 Media Star: Famousmedia star. Roll1D10. in. Roll 1D10- on a 1-6, they will go for you. On 7-
1-6, he/she will sign autographs if asked. 7-9, w i I I 8, they'll pass you by. On 9-10, they take a liking to
be hostile and yell for a policeman or a bodyguard. on a member of the party and invite you to tag along
a 10, he/she will take a liking to one member of the with them.
party and allow you to tag along.
87 Medias: A camera and interviewer team,
looking for a story. Roll 1D10. On 1-5, they will be
AFTER-MID NIC HT spotted by their story-subject and a firefight will
ensue. You, of course, will be right in the middle of it.
ENCOUNTERS IN NIGHT CITY on a 6-10, they'll decide you're the story and follow
you.
1-10 Clty Police: Two patrol officers, armed
with Militech Ronin assault rifles, armored in flack 88-90 Locals: Young man or woman. Roll 1D l 0.
vests, pants, helmets. If you are wearing visible 1-5, they are being beaten by four thugs from the
weapons or armor, they will stop you and demand Blood Rozon gang. 6-10, they are being beaten se-
identitypapers.You'vegotnobusiness runningaround verely by the lnquisitors for the sin of having designer
after midnight and they know it. They'll stop you and eyes.
look for any pretext to make a bust. If you're wearing
mer oneshots. Roll 1D10.1-4, they are beingfollowed visible weapons, consider yourself detained. If you go 91-95 Flrefight: Great. You just walked into a
by thugs intent on robbery. 5-8, they think you're for a weapon, they will shoot first and forget the major altercation between the Brodi Bunch (a high-
Boosters and will open fire at any provocation. 9-10, paperwork. level Posergangthat all look like refugees from an old
they not only think you're trouble, but will call for sitcom) and the Red Chrome Legion(a neo-facist Boos-
Corporate backup (see Corporate Guards, above). 11-22 CorporateGuards: Fourcorporateguards tergang). Both are wearing armor jackets and firing
patrolling the area. Armored in flack vests & helmets, large caliber handguns. Rippers, cyberarm weapons
58-64 Locals: Young man or woman. Roll 1D10. carrying FN-RALs. " Whot ore you doing on the property and slice-n-dicesare everywhere. Pick a side, or pick a
1-5, they are being held up by two thugs from the ofter midnight? Con't have o good reason! Blam! Blam! target.
MetolWohrsgang.6-10, theyarebeing beatenseverely Blam!"
by the lnquisitors for the sin of having designer eyes. 96-98 Trauma Team: The AV-4 hits the ground
23-30 Nomads: A mixed group of four Nomads in the middle of a recent firefight. Roll 1D10. On a 1-
65-70 Firefight: Great. You just walked into a from the Wildman Pack. Wearing flack vests, tatoos 5, the Team decides you're bystanders and ignores
major altercation between the Bmdi Bunch (a high- and leather pants, carrying fighting knives and rifles. you. On 6-10, they figure you're part of the problem
level Posergang that all look like refugees from an old As long as you stay clear of their bikes, they'll ignore and the Solos open up with MAClOs.
sitcom) and the Red Chrome Legion(a neo-facist Boos- you and concentrate on beating that family of Corpo-
tergang). Both are wearing armor jackets and firing rates to mush. 99 Major Crlminal: You've walked into a
large caliber handguns. Rippers, cyberarm weapons major operation of the notorious Scogottalio family.
and slice-n-dicesare everywhere. Pick a side,or pick a 31-40 Boostergang: Five low-level street punks Four Solo-type men armed with lngram MAC 14s and
target. from the Crazy Chicken boostergang. They are armed wearing flack vests are unloading a drug cargo out of
with .45 automatics, knives and boosted reflexes. a truck. Roll 1D10. 1-4, they don't notice you. 5-8,
71-75 Trauma Team: The AV-4 hits the ground They're looking for 'Lacers or any other possible they notice you and one warns you off. 9-10, they
in the middle of a recent firefight. Roll 1D10. On a 1- source of ready cash. Roll 1D10. On 1-7, you're it. decide youareawitnessandoughttobetotalledright
5, the Team decides you're bystanders and ignores now.
you. On 6-10, they figure you're part of the problem 41-50 Street Punks: Four Lace addicts, looking
and the Solos open up with MAC14s. for credit to feed their habit. Even if you're wearing
Corporate or booster colors, they'll rush you. These 00 5010 team: Three Solos, armed in flack
76-60 Rockerboys: You overtake a four man guys don't care, and they don't feel pain. Armed with vest & pants, carryingsmartgun chipped Uzis.Boosted
band on the way to a gig, backed by their two Solo fighting knives, scratchers; no armor. reflexes, cyberoptics with low light, targeting. These
bodyguards and their Fixer manager. Roll 1D10. On guys are on a total black operation (an assassination).
14, they will invite you to join them. 5-8, they will 51-60 5oloTeam:Two Solos, armed inflackvest Rolll D10; on a 1-5, if you ignore them, they'll ignore
send the Solos to "deal with those guys who are & pants, carrying smartgun chipped H&K MPK-9. you. 6-10, they'll decide you are a witness and ought
following them." 9-10, they ignore you. Boosted reflexes, boosted hearing, cyberoptics with to be totalled right now.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK 4% CYBERPUNK
fought for a corporation that backed was her invention of the Skinwatch. chrome leg and a similar replacement
the losing side. Near the end of the After a few years of working in the for half of her chest. These replace-
war, Kestral saw that her side was corporateworld, Watchmaker decided ments were necessary after she faked
losing and arranged to be "killed in that she could make more money on injury to get a story on "meat jump-
action". After faking her death, she her own. She now resides in Night ing."
paid her way into a corporate solo City and does a fair amount of rene- INT=8 TECH=4 REF=9 CL=lO LK=8
team that was soon sent out on a gade surgery for boostergangs and AlT=lO MA=7 EMP=7 BODY=6
suicide mission. Only her knowledge corps alike.
of the opposition and the place they INT=9 TECH=9 REF=7 CL=9 LK=7 Music Man (Rockerboy): Music Man
were going to hit allowed her to es- AlT=9 MA=8 EMP=8 BODY=6 is the equivalent of Night City's wan-
cape certain death. Today she hires dering minstrel. He has no set home,
herself out to individuals only, having Nostradamus (Media): Unlike the but plays for his lodging a t various
long since lost any trust in corpora- Nostradamus of the 14OOs, this one bars. In addition to his music, Music
tions. specializesnot in the future, but in the Man also sells information.
INT=7 TECH=4 REF=12. CL=9 LK=8 past and present. He is somewhat of INT=5 TECH=6 REF=7 CL=9 LK=5
AlTS MA=10 EMP=5 BODY=7 a recluse, living in a converted ware- AlT=6 MA=6 EMP=7 BODY=7
house that has many defenses. Inside
White Lion (Fixer): The White Lion is the warehouse lies the biggest collec- Bag Lady (Fixer): No one knows
one of Night City's most well known tion of real books that are left in the where she came from, but one day
fixers. She has contacts into several of City. Nostradamus uses these books she appeared in Night City with a
the main corporations as well as the along with a gigantic mainframe to burlap bag over one shoulder that
underworld of Night City. Although compile all the information that he was full of sundry items, all of which
most people have heard of her, very can. To facilitate this collection, he were stolen. It has been said that she
few know where to find her. She likes often hires Netrunners to acquire the is the last person that people go to
to keep her whereabouts a secret saleable information that he is also when they need something, yet she
because she sold some information known for brokering. always seems to have it.
that lead to the downfall of a wealthy INT=10 TECH=2 REF=8 CL=9 LK=7 INT=8 TECH=2 REF=7 CL=6 LK=8
mob family, who then put a hit out on AlT=6 MA=5 EMP=4 BODY=7 Am=2 MA=4 EMP=7 BODY=2
her. If someone tries to collect on this
hit, they will find themselves in deep Aries (Solo): Aries is the living ex-
trouble as there are many people who ampleof a man who has been through
owe their lives to the White Lion and hell and come back to tell about it.
are more than willing to protect her. Manyyears ago, he was a commander
INT=10 TECH=3 REF=7 CL=5 LK=9 forthe CIA, closelyassociatedwith the
AlT=8 MA=7 EMP=7 BODY=7 Gang of Four. After the fall of the
United States, he ran covert opera-
Pythagoras (Netrunner): Pythago- tions in Central America for a while,
ras is a little bit of everything; Hacker, then surfaced in Night City in 2010 as
Netrunner, Techie. He is most well a high priced Solo. Over theyears his
known for his abilities in adapting humanity slowly drained away until
software that already exists, but he is he went'borg about ayear later. After
not a t all bad with creating his own. his capture, which was well publicized
Although he tries to hide it, most by the media, he underwent the
people know that it was he that was braindance and is now working for
solely responsible for the downfall of the Night City Police Force hunting
the Hiroshi Electronics Corporation down other 'borgs.
after they threatened to set him up for INT=8 T E C H 4 REF=12 CL=7 LK=5
refusing to work for them. It is this AlT=5 MA=7 EMP=2 BODY=12
reputation that keeps other corpora-
tions from hiring his services. Bes lsis (Media): Bes lsis is a well
INT=7 TECH=10 REF=9 CL=8 LK=5 known media who has a reputation
AlT=7 MA=7 EMP=5 BODY=5 for being slightly off-balance when it
comes to scooping other medias.
Watchmaker (Med Techie): Watch- More than once, she has broken a few
maker is both a biotechnician and a rules to get inside of some big story,
cybertechnician, whose claim to fame sometimes at a cost. She now has one
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
lust another
-
Friday night.
You pay your two bucks at the door and walk in.
Over at the bar there are the usual lines, so you
decide to skip the bar-front action. Feeling on
top of the world, you go out to the main floor,
for another night of the club life.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
TOUR BEGINS: or Political? the lead singer and bassist for the
band, who thinks otherwise.
After six months of seclusion follow-
ing an unsuccessful assassination at-
Seattle's Jeff Daniel: People often say that you
guys are just a little pretentious when
tempt, Rockerboy JohnnySilverhand
has re-entered the music scene to Cutthroat. talking about yourselves. Why do you
promote his new LP. The al bum, Clone Review by Jeff Daniel think that this is?
Wars, dealswith recentcloning break- "The audience seems to consist of the Knifeedge: That's easy. Unlike most
throughs and the idea of bioengi- mindless, overpainted, underdressed Chromatic bands today, we take our
neered humans being created for children that you would find at most roots from the old punk bands of the
military and industrial purposes. Chromatic Metal concerts. Each one of late 1970s and early '80s.It's not the
them is so wrapped up in their own blazing style that used to be called
Interviewed in his Night City studio, image that they often don't seem to Speed Metal, though we do use that
Silverhand commented, "I needed a even know who the band they are seeing a lot. Politics is the driving force
few months to let the heat die down is. Tonight is a night that they will behind our band. It's because we are
over the last disk. Clone Wars was always remember though, because so political, that we force ourselves
pretty intense, and a lot of people, Cutthroat is about to hit the stage. " onto our listeners. If that is preten-
particularly t h e Biotechnica guys, tious, then I guess we are.
didn't like the slavery implications I So reads the back cover of Slashina JD:When you say you are a political
wrote into it. I won't say they fronted Steel.the new live album by Cutthroat. band, what do you mean ?
the hit on me, but hey, you've got a Some people think that these kings of K We view ourselves as messengers.
brain, right?" Chrome are getting a little too preten- It is our job to open the eyes of our
71.12
listenerswith our music. The best eye-
opening messages are in political is-
sues and stories.
DESTINY: STILL ON
JD: Like the song "Kalakari"?
K: Exactly. Most people today don't
even remember the name Hiram
THE EDGE, STILL
Kalakari, and they certainly don't
remember what he did. It's songs
about things that have shaped our
FIGHTING THE WAR
lives that we play. We try and tell the "Fifty years gone by / Since we heard Jesse was showing in political issues,
truth as we see it, not what the public our nation's cry /Fifty years gone by / the band continued to produce other
wants to hear. Since we all watched you die" songs as well.
JD: Then how do you explain the "I can remember the first time we
success of "Kalakari"? As of today it is It is lyrics like these that make Destiny went into the studio after the C.P.
currently number four on the EuroRa- one of the most provoking bands of tour. I had all these songs that I
dio top ten. our time. wanted to record, but the group
K: You got me. If we had known that Their new hit, started right in on this bubblegum
it would be such a hit, well, I don't "Song for tune called, 'Input Out.' Iwas furious.
know. Maybe we would have done John (Fifty I mean, here I was with this great
something different to promote the Years)," is not message to sing and all these guys
album. Though I suppose it's really only filled wanted to do was talk about bad
not going to matter since I still think with political relationships."
that the average person is not going rhetoric, but "It was about then when I threat-
to know who the f**k Kalakari was. also reminds ened to quit. Thinking backon it now,
JD: Getting back to your political us of a time I can understand why the band didn't
motivation, how do you justify "Cinsu when Amer- think Iwasserious. Imust have threat-
Lover" as being political? lerrie Moore of Destiny ica was still ened to quit six times in the first nine
K: Easy, Isaid we had our background great. months of our existence. And all the
in politics, not our entire lives moti- Since their debut album, "Walking time I was using those threats so I
vated by it. But if you listen very the Skies", Destiny has consistently could get my own way. I really was a
closely, you will find out that it is a provided the listening public with spoiled brat.
politicalsong of sorts. "Ginsu Lover" is songs that hit close to home. Ban- "It took me about five months
not about a sexual lover, but rather a dleader Jessie Moore explains, "We before I convinced them that I was
member of a Boostergang who is didn't always used to be political. In serious. By then we had all ready
overenthusiastic about using his Rip- fact, I didn't even care about anything recorded "My Baby Left Me For A
pers. It's guys like the Ginsu Lover other than making money until ten Short Circuit". Pleadingwith the band,
who make our streets unsafe to walk years ago. All Iwanted was the fame, I convinced them to start over, using
at night. and all the benefits that came with it. the stuff I had written on the tour,
JD: What's next for Cutthroat? Slash- Now times are different. It seems all instead of stuff like, "Input Out". When
ing Steel is being called a new innova- I want now is to get my messages it was all over, some ten months after
tion in the music industry, how do you across." we trashed the stuff from "My Baby'',
intend to follow it up? But fame and fortune did elude we had recorded, "Dinner With
K: You got me. When we released a them for many years until they got Himmler" .
live album of entirely new material, their big break opening for the now It was that album that attracted so
we expected to have our diehard fans defunct Cowboy Panzer. It was on much attention from the critics. They
buy it and that was it. Now the damn that tour that the audience really called it the new politicalfeeling of the
thing's gone and sold overtwo million started to notice their music. 2000's. The fame and fortune that
copies. I expect we'll decide what's "Ithink it was the fact that Cowboy Destiny'had been looking forward to
next for us after we tour. Panzer was so big and political. I had been found.
--ID found out that we were going toopen Their second album after the
for them on the tour and all of a Cowboy Panzertour gained them even
sudden I knew that our music had to more notoriety. So much that they
change. I must have written thirty were able to tour as a headliner in-
songs on that tour, some of which stead of a backup band. Destiny
were eventually worked into our set." drummer, Timemaster, recalls:
Despite the growing interest that "It was a big change. I mean one
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
December17,2020
No Street is
Volume CCW. No. 46
~ ~~~
A Special Report
Streets will attack anything that they think isn't "right"
(read: just like them).
Street Direct Steel Slaughter Slammers:Atypical chromatic
With The metal gang. Chromer gangs like centering
activitiesaround their favorite rock bands, inter-
71.12
From Pg. 21 8 geon'sskill. He didn'tfight, didn't run, I popped the cassette out of my arm
lives of more than forty citizens a didn't cry out. Soon his arms, legs, and stowed it in my bag. He could
week. Theaverage Booster isan amoral chest were covered with thin lacera- read about it on the Net, just like the
technophile. Hardware and Wetware tions. Knees buckling, he fell to the rest of you.
are the meat and drink of the Booster, floor. I watched with facinated horror
and they'll do anything to get it. Arson, as the pack pounced on their prey, ---Walter Pickering, News 54
robbery, muggings, assassinations. If kicking and biting. In minutes, it was
there's money in it, enough for an- over. They dragged the broken kid
other small boost at a blackmarket before his older bro, throwing him
clinic, the Booster will take to it like before their chieftain's feet. \
chrome on a pair of mirrorshades. It's I
easier every time, they say. As more "Get up,'' the Hack Man snarled.
and more hardware's grafted, sockets I
Arasaka Security Corporation
drilled, and chips implanted, the The kid pushed himself up to his knees, Password P i e a s e : U U U I
Booster sinks further into his psy- stared out into nowhere. "Ithurts," he Access Granted
File Desired?: Symbiotics I
choworldmachine-altered chaos. The muttered through swollen lips.
best of them become the ring leaders, ...........
Please wait
Symbiotics
I
the worst are killing machines, riding The kicksent him sprawling across the
Symbiotlcs is the file name I
on the edge of cyberpsychosis, ready floor of the nest. "Life hurts," said
I given to updates on Booster I
to flatline themselves and everyone Hack Man over the jeers of his gang gang "Iron Sights" which Is
around them for that last big score. brothers. "You were born into a world I financed and controlled by I
Arasaka Security. Breakdown
of pain. If you don't like it, just leave
I follows: I
Worst of all, Boosters travel in packs. now. Go outside in the gutter. Curl Gang members: 43
up and die. We welcome pain. We are I Enhancements: Varied I
Location: Night City
Maybe it was my arm, the one I lost in pain. But we armor ourselves. Look I
Lima, that endeared me to the Razors' around you. Weare thecity. Useyour The following report compiled
I
top brass. It was an old model, mili-
tary, and the dull steel and chipped
claws to hurt. Be one of us and pain
won't touch you. You become the
I
...........
by Rachael Tyroll.
71.12
ALL THINGS DARK & CYBERPUNK
GANG VIOLENCE
my lifewith several sharp blades
protruding from their hands.
These weapons, which are ille-
ERUPTS ON NIGHT
gal, go by the street name of
"Rippers," and, judging by their
looks, Iwould estimate that they
will do just that to human flesh
CITY STREETS
and bone. By Bes lsls
The gang's initial hostility In the early morning hours seventeen youths were killed in yet another
stopped cold when I firmly fold
them that killing me, or even Boostergang confrontation. Street sources say that a
refusing to let me accompany group of the Iron Sights gang were gathered a t a bar
them, would result in immediate known as Rainbow Nights when they were confronted
stoppage of funds provided by
Arasaka. It is my impression by the red-robed Inquisitors. After a brief argument,
that the members of this gang fighting started, and when it was all over there were
hate their own humanity as well seven dead Inquisitorsand ten dead members of the Iron
as other people's. This is fur-
ther reinforced by my observa- Sights.
tion that the gang members that
are held in the highest esteem When we finally were able to reach the leader of the
are the ones that have the most
metal meshedwith their bodies. I Inquisitors,who has asked that his name be withheld, he
In my judgement, the members had several things to s,ay about today's and other related incidents.
of this gang can easily be
controlled by our organization
bysimply controllingtheir money "In the midnight hour, when the sound of footsteps on the pavement strikesfear
supply to buy new cybernetics. within your heart, the Inquisitorswill be there to judge you. Tonight's example,
The week I spent with the the attack on the heretics known as the Iron Sights, is just the start of a new order
gang proves to me another
theorythat1 hadpostulated:The that is coming to be. A new order that will be led by the Inquisitors.
gang not only hates humanity
[which, in itself could be "I stand here before the public not to preach of impending doom, but rather of
reasoningfor its existence], but
also likes to hurt, mutilate and judgment. Judgmentthat will be rendered by the Inquisitors. For most of the
kill others for what would seem public, they have nothing to fear, but there are some out there that should think
to be the pure pleasure of it. about their sins, and how they will soon be punished for them.
These two factors lead me to
the conclusion that the mem-
bers of "Iron Sights" are all suf- "TO further the impact of this statement, I need only point out the case of the
feringfromcyberpsychosis, and heretical members of the: Iron Sights. They, like anyone else who has molded
terminatingour ties with them in
the near future may be the best unnatural machinery into their Cod-given flesh, will be struck down to the last
solution for all parties. person by the Inquisitors. If that is not clear enough, then let me rephrase it: if
- Rachael Tyrol1 9/1/20 you have no metal infused with your body, you are safe. If you have voluntarily
undergone such blasphemous melding, then beware. The Inquisitors are here
to judge you."
Although he would not reveal his identity to the public, the head of the
Inquisitors is thought to have some older, no longer believed, religious back-
ground, which can be seen as the cause for his slightly different views on today's
society. Whatever his reason may be, the head of the Inquisitors has given his
warning to the people of Night City.
On an ending note, it must be pointed out that the chief of police for Night City
was reluctant to answer questions regarding his plans for controlling the
I Inquisitors, and other gangs that threaten the citizens of this city. In fact the only
thing we could get out of him was, "No comment."
Sound familiar?
71.12
16:30 : Team members attacked in
First Person bar during rest break between calls;
shotgun-wielding Booster attempted
71.12
IN THE 2 l S T CENTURY, THERE'S A LOT OF
WAYS TO GET THE WORD. BUT THE BEST IS
FROM A SCREAMSHEET- A COMBINATION
FAX-NEWSPAPER, DIRECT LINKED TO THE
DATABASES OF THE WORLD MEDIACORPS.
71.12
~
BIOTECHNICA
ANNOUNCES
IMPROVED PLANT
SPONSORED BY PETROCHEM GROWTH ENZYME
I
29, 2020
SEFTEMBER
I
'Without Petrochemicals, life as -
La Jolla, CA In a dramatic a n
CCVl. N o . 28
VOLUME
we know it would be impossible.. " . nouncement today, officials of B i e
[excerpts] technica revealed the development
of a new plant growth enzyme (PGE),
PETROCHEM REACTS ...Interstate 40 eastbound closed
near Fort Smith, Arkansas for bridge
which promises to boost production
of grains and cereals by 10%.The
TO BIOTECHNICA PGE ...
repairs traffic on Interstate 35 is
slowed by a southboundnomad con-
enzyme, developed by researchers
working here at the Biotechnica R e
AN NOUNCEMENT ...
voy in Lyon county, Kansas U.S.
8 1 near Enid, Oklahoma has been
search Facility, will be undergoing
formal tests by the USDA soon. Bie
Dallas, TX - An unnamed closed due to a toxic waste spill-
technica expects the PGE to be in
spokesperson for Petrochem pro- distribution by next year.
route not likely to be opened Stock analysts expect Biotech-
vided a dramatic statement for
reportersand industryanalysts sub
...
today up to one hour delays on nica to rapidly gain in value; agricuF
eastbound Interstate 44 near Tulsa ture giant Petrochem is expected to
sequent to Biotechnica's disclosure
due to road work ...slow going on the drop, (see page C-30)
of the new PGE enzyme. "We believe
Indian NationTurnpikesouth of Hen-
that 6 months is notenough time for
ryetta due to smoke from a fire at a
proper tests to be done on this
engineering product. The possible ...
tire dump severe flooding reported
biohazard is enormous, especially in several Gulf states, and along the
considering that the Russians pro- ...
Mississippi River acid hail reported
duce 10%of the world's wheat and ...
around Omaha highway sniper in
corn. If some unexpectedside effect cidents ongoing at Fort Worth have
were to diminish or eliminate their ...
halted traffic drifts of migrating
agriculturaloutput, massivefamines mutant catfish reported on roads
could result." west of Shreveport...
71.12
Scenario I :
Open Top speed is 110 mph on highway
(130 boosted), 40 mph off-road (50
shipment, and b) if the fake PGE is
stolen, Petrochem will waste a few
71.12
State of California dropped the ball ment, 'As longas Brightmandoesn'l
on the prosecution of Brightman," purchase any illegal cybertech, we
said de Costa. 'We were assured at can't touch him." When asked if the
the time that he would be convicted NCPD planned to monitoi
of multiple murderchargeswithspec- Brightman's cyberware purchases,
ial circumstances, and so did not go Maxwell replied, "No comment."
ahead with the weapons charges. By
the time thetrial ended, our resources
October 6 , 2020 were spread pretty thin in various >CRIME
VOLUMECCVl. No. 29 CentralAmerican 'Intemational Drug- >MURDER
Lord Statute" prosecutions, and so >NIGHT CITY
>CRIME a case was never made." >cURRENT:CURRFXT:
>NIGHT CITY STALKER
>RECENT:3WEEKS:NIGHTCITY >BRIGHTMAN
BRIGHTMAN
RELEASED
>RECENT:2WEEKS:NIGHTCITY
SUSPECTED
The consoli-
dated crime re-
port for last
fi
. "STALKER" BUYS week reads as
FROM PRISON CYBERLIMBS follows: 72
murders, up 2
Night City, CA - After spending Night City, CA-This reporter has
from the same
17 years in prison, Joshua Bright- week last year: 190 attempted
learned that Joshua Brightman, re-
man was released yesterday at the murders, down 6; 590 felony as-
cently released from prison, and
end of his sentence. Suspected of saults, up 12; 1 5 kidnaps, up 1;
suspected of being the "Night City
being the "Night City Stalker," Stalker," has undergone extensive (see page C6)
Brightman was never convicted of cybernetic replacement surgery in
any of the 32 murders committed by the last few days. The exact nature
the Stalker. His was imprisoned for of his enhancements are unknown,
kidnapping and attempted murder, but he has spent over $3000 on
after a widely-publicized trial. Many hardware alone.
believe, however, that Brightman is Night City police spokesperson
indeed the Stalker. The former elec- Claude Maxwell would only corn-
tronics store manager is now 39
years old.
Threats against Brightman's life WANTED: persons with expe-
have already been received, and his
rience in archaeologyforwork on
stated intent of returning to Night
a corporate research project.
City has already alarmed citizens' Preference givento specialists in
groups. Police spokespersons, early BritishMegalithic sites. Top
however, were unconcerned, stat- $$$. Contact Hudson Assc. 1-
ing, "Wedealwithcyberpsychosevery 212-555-6798
day who make the Stalker look like
Santa Claus. I expect Mr. Brightrnan I 1
will find the streets are a bit tougher BODY IMAGE
than he remembers."
When only the B e s t will do...
In related news, Federal prosecu- 14176558900
tor Me1de Costa verifiedthat charges WATCH NEWS 54 WlTt
will not be broughtagainstBrightrnan DONDRE WHITFIELD
under various Federal firearms stat-
utes, as the statute of limitations
has expired. Brightmanwas found in
f Interfaced, 1 8:OO ON CHANNEL 54.
THE
The Master Hackers
possession of a sizable arsenal at
For all your NET Security Needs. MAXIMUM
the time of his arrest, but charges Contact DF 562-128, code 1226, INFOF
were not pressed at that time. "The for a free evaluation.
CHI
71.12
past week. He was a tech freak The two news corporations will each
Scenario 2: before he went to prison, and has send, at different times, an investi-
Ref's notes:
Brightman is sure enough the Night-
stalker. He has already armed to the
teeth and then some, and has com-
mitted a couple of murders in the
71.12
oil platform in the San Pedro Chan >CALHUA-MEX IC A
nel, has broken several major sto- >RECENT:2 WEEKS:LOS
ries lately: two of those stories ANGELES
- e - r n - m showed DMS's own reporters in a
very bad light. In the 'Imperial Valley BOOSTERGANG
I I I
--
I I
1 1 1 1 -
I -
r
I
n
-
-
Genetic Scandal" series, KRAB re-
porter Julian Morales revealed that
DMS's own investigators were in
TRASHES
INDEPENDENT
October 13, 2020 volved in the coverup of a major
VOLUME CCVI. N o . 30 biohazard waste site. In his own 'A RADIO STATION;
Deeper Look" series, Josh himself
has done follow-ups on stories run
3 KILLED
by DMS and Network 54: DMS par- Early this morning, a local boos-
ticularly came out looking foolish. tergang raided a small pirate radio
KRAB has also become a fad favor- station, operatingas Radio Free Bur-
ite music station in LA, as well. bank, and destroyed their studio and
Josh attributes his success to mobile units. Three people, including
'sex, drugs, and the worst taste in the station'sowner, Mark Springfield,
music west of the Rockies. I let my were killed. The station, which had
MEDIA: DMS DJs do their own programming, and been operating on various Fh4 cham
nets, was noted for it's unique musi-
expect my reporters to kick (cont'd
CRACKS page C-15) cal choices, and hardhitting investi-
gative reporting. Local police had no
DOWN ON >MORE : comment as yet on the attack.
The station had been broadcast-
COMPETITORS CHIPPING AWAY
ing by stealing airtime on corporate
station transmitters, using sophisti-
Los Angeles, CA -In the wake of Since the summer of 2011, Elay cated computer infiltration tech-
FCC's 'La Rosita" ruling, Diverse residents have been exposed to niques. They had no transmitter of
Media Systems has gone after unli- dangerous radiation - specifically, their own.
censed competitors with vigor. Law- the transmissions of pirate radio The boostergang, identified as
suits, jamming, ECM, and physical station KRAB. The station produces the Calhua-Mexica gang, has been
harassment have all been employed a signal strong enough to reach 37 linked in the past with the DMS
in an aggressive effort to counterthe million Angelenos - though it has mediacorp. However, corporate
'independents' programming. Other also been off the air for intervals of spokespeopledenied any knowledge
mediacorps have also taken advan- up to a week. The wild and wooly mix of such a link. Representatives of
tage of the new loosened rules, of political rock, "unconventional" the Calhua-Mexica gang, when con
but only DMS has gone to the ac- news, and other unexpected pro- tacted by this reporter, gave a ram
ceptable limits...some would say gramming elements have made this bling statement which seemed to
past them. station the street box favorite. DJs indicate they felt generally insulted
Inthis article, we will examine the Montjoy Singh, Renee Dillon, and by Radio Free Burbank, and had
latest actions by DMS, and try to u n (see page C15) decided to take action on their own.
cover the reasons (cont'd page C-2)
>KRAB
>RECENT:CURRENT:LOS
ANGELES
AT
JOSHCARBONELL
MAKES WAVES
IN THE OCEAN FOR THE BEST INBIOSCU
Media renegade Josh Carbonell RECREATION AND
is tweaking the nose of the corpo- CABARm. NOW
rate bigwigs at DMS again! His pirate APPEARING, "HITMAKERS
1989"
station KRAB, operating off of an old
142 SDELANY, NIGHT ClT<&q
71.12
as producers/writers/sound engi- Ref's Notes:
Scenario #3: neers for the station, a Rafter cook, DMS will indeedfind the actual loca
71.12
reward fund for 'bringing to justice"
the persons responsible for the GANG VIOLENCE
sabotage cybenvare being sold in
Night City. The fund, standing cur-
O N RISE IN NIGHT
rently at 5000 eb, was contributed CITY
to by the Police BenevolentAssoci* Several major battles have taken
tion, the major boostergangs, and place between Night City booster-
I I several street clinics. Detective gangs, all related to the sabotage
October 20,2020 Arnold Heller, speakingfor the PBA, chipware being sold in the streets.
VOWME CCVl, No. 3 1 said, "The patrol officers feel there Some of the battles were caused by
are enough risksto workingthe Corn accusations of complicity in the dis-
bat Zone, withoutthese humantime tribution of the corrupt cyberware;
BOOBYTRAPPED bombs on the street. We are hoping others were apparently provoked by
CYBERWARE ON some responsible citizens can help
us put an end to this problem. Of
the cyberware itself. So far, 27 gang
members, 8 bystanders, and 3 Night
THE STREETS! course, people should be aware that City policemen have been killed in
Night City - In a bizarre twist on this is a hazardous situation, and these incidents.
the problem of black market act accordingly." Representativesfor In response to this violence, the
cyberwear, this reporter learned to- the clinics and gangs endorsed De anti-prosthetics group, the Inquisi-
day of a flood of sabotagedcyberware tective Heller's comments; tors, has been staging protests at
which has been unleashed in this "Razorface," head of the Grimmers, City Hall Plaza, calling for stricter
city. Apparently sold to unsuspect- added, "Yeah, what Msaid, enforcement of black-market cyber-
ing boosters, these prosthetics con- goes for us, double." ware laws.
tain chips programmed to cause NightCity DA BernardMoon, when ,
violent incidents.
No pattern has yet been detected
to the reason for these incidents.
7
I
this
askedappar-
. about
T+ ent invita-
II YourMETALHEAD
Maximum Metal
tion to "vigi-
Several boosters have strangled Force in the NET.
themselves with their own cyber- lante jus-
tice" bv the
Night City LDL 1442-92
arms; others have fired on police
cars or patrol officers (with less r Night *City '
reasonthan usual). Some have been PD, said,
'Natura I ly.
driven into cyberpsychosis with
alarming speed, and others found
dead with no apparent cause. Few of BERNARD M O O N
I we have to
carefully en-
force any
these incidents have been investi-
gated fully by the police until r e laws broken by anyone, even while
cently. doing a public service. However, it is
Few boosters have survived their also true that there is considerable
rebelliouscyberware; nonewere will- leeway for my office to decide which
ing to talk to this reporter. It is cases to prosecute. Our caseloads
believed that the cyberware involved are already staggering! Without corn
was purchased on the street, and mitting myself to anything, I can
outwardly a t least resembles vari- certainly say that any mitigating
ous cheap popular brands. circumstances would be taken into
account before a decisionwas made
on whether to file charges.
REWARD FOR 'As far the rewardoffer, there are
BRINGING DOWN certainlyprecedentsatboth the state
SABOTAGE and federal level for such action."
CHIPWEAR DEALER! KELLY RHODES is
Night City (AP) - In an unprec-
edented announcement, the Night THE PROFESSIONAL
City PD, the heads of three major
boostergangs, and an association
of local street clinics revealed a
71.12
Scenario #4:
Armed &
Dangerous
Players' Information:
Here is a chance for the players to 'Barons," have realized what is ge Once the police and boostergangs
make some bucks, without an ern ing on: but being particularly nasty have been informed of who is really
ployer watching over their shoulder. boosters, don't really care as long responsible for the problems, the
The reward offer seems legit, and as they don't get caught. characters' troubles will be over. For
the characters would stand to gain the "Barons" and the Inquisitors,
some friends in the gangs, on the Eventually, the charactersshould be the troubles will bejust beginning. .
policeforce, and in the small clinics: able to get the time and place of a
not the worst friends to have. meeting, where someofthe "Barons"
will meettheir mysterioussuppliers,
Of course, first you have to find the and hand over cash for cyberware.
dealers. The characters may want to bust up
the party right there, in which case
Ref's notes: several of the suppliers will tum out
For most of this scenario, the play- to be Inquisitors in mufti. Or, they
ers will be using lots of Stealth, can follow the suppliers around, and
Shadowing, Human Perception, and catch them with their unsavory pals
lots and lots of Streetwise. at whatever dive the Inquisitors call
home. Either way, lots of heavily
The sabotage chips are being made armed peoplewill bemadatthemfor
overseas, installedin standard cheap a short while; some will have lots
cyberware, and brought into Night and lots of cyberware, some will
City by the 1nquisitors.They then sell have none at all. 10,000 eb in cash
the cyberware (at a loss) to boost- and 10,000 eb worth of black mar-
ers, who do most of the actual 're ket cyberwareare beingtraded: most
tail" distribution. The boosters in of the cyberware is sabotaged, but
volved, mostly members of the the money is fine.
v r
71.12
eurobuck connection fee-that's it.
Our installers are certainly under no O'DOWD ELECTRO-
pressure to disconnect -we would STATIC BODYWEAR,
rather have happy paying custom
CYBERTECH and
ers. But if we have no other r e
course, we will disconnect illegal or SKINTECH CLEANING
delinquent hookups as fast as we
can. SINCE 2007,WE'VE TAKEN
"If you don't want to reduce your THE TIME TO EARN YOUR
October 20,2020 TRUST.
VOLUME CCVl, No. 32 rates, all you have to do is sit there.
But if you want the possibility of 1 (500) 99-CLEAN
lower rates, call our toll-free number
NETWORK 54 1-700-555-3465." Full Skin Job, with up to two
Cyberlimbs, Optics realignment.
ANNOUNCES $209.95
CABLE AMNESTY
PROGRAM TO Cable Employee Killed
END SOON By Video Pirate
-
New York Network News 54 Night City, CA -An employee c
nnouncedtoday that, at the end of MEDIA: Night City Cable, a local subsidiar
ieir 60 day amnesty program, they CAN NETWORK 54 of Network News 54, was killed ye:
,auld be taking "harsh measures" terday while trying to disconnect a
I deal with illegal hookups. When DEAL WITH CABLE apartment in the South City distric
sked about what these measures The employee, Renee Wong, wa
light be, company spokesperson
HIJACKING? pronounced dead on arrival at Cii
ndrea Kugel replied: By Ed Andersen Medical Center, having suffere
"We will go after these people Inthe wake of the announcement multiple gunshot and stab wound:
sing every legal tactic aveiilable to by Network Nc:ws 54 of the upcom The three other members of hc
ing end of thleir amnesty program, disconnect team were also admitte
71.12
lowed access to all cable company signal just before the Big Game, a
property - which is to say, the netrunner who loses his high baud
cables themselves. Of course, not line while making a dangerous run
Scenario #5: against a corporate mainframe, or a
everybody agrees 100%with this.
Giving the And then there is that violent minor-
psycho who can't see his "Mayberry
RFD" reruns, can all give the char-
Public What ity-who, when their hookup is cut,
or if they see someone just sneak-
acters a hardtime. Basically, nobody
will be happy to see the characters.
They Want ingaround, whipouta 12gauge.And
of course, poking around in the On the other hand, Techs and N e
basement of big apartment build- trunners might welcome an opportu-
Player Information: ings is a lovely way to meet boosters nity to squirrel around in the cable
The characters, in need of money, and worse. company's computers, and rig their
have been hired as a disconnect own little surprises on the net.
team, and must clear illegal and The only legally sanctioned reply to
delinquent taps off of the cable net. this is "self-defense." Of course,
They will be paid $25 for each con- from the company's point of view,
nection which is "legalized," that is public opinion is a whole lot more
to say the customer starts paying, important than the law.
and $loforeach connection dropped
from the net. Ref's notes:
Most of the people who have rigged
The cable net is an optical fiber illegal hookups are not going to give
network installed originally in the the characters any trouble - a few
2000s. It carries video, high-rate will even go for the amnesty pre
computer data, and screamsheet gram. On the other hand, a
pages. Fibres rangeinsize from 1-1/ boostergangwhich loses their cable
2" diameter armored cables under
the street, to 1/10" diameter risers
enteringthecustomers' homes. Taps
may be present anywhere, but the
likeliest taps are found along the
shortest route from the tapper's TV
set to the nearest legal cable.
71.12
”The property in question is coqm
rate property. We will enforce our
property rights to the limit of the law.
No further comment.”
Petrochem has a reputation for
fierce, some would say savage, re-
sponses to squatters and trespass-
I 1 ers on it’s corporate farms in this
October 27, 2020 country. While the ’Dustville” camp
VOLUME
CCVl. No. 33 is on apparentlyworthless property, G@lEP@lElATE
>NOMAD BBS the corporation seems unlikely to REPORT
>DUSTVILLE CAMP cede any propertyrights in this case. As of last download...EBM ac-
>RECENT :CURRENT : Another confrontation between quires Consolidated Factions by
Petrochem and the nomads is unfriendly takeover, analysts
shaping up... concerned...Leon H. Morgan 111
CORPS HARASS named VP of International sales
>DUSTVILLE CAMP for Genma Corp.. .WestTech stock
FAMILIES AT >AS PROPERTY falls due to chemical scare in
>SINCE 2000:lO YEARS: South Indian Ocean...Petrochem
DUSTVILLE under fire for alleged dumping
Well friends, the megacorps are
Crow Canyon ...
in Texas facility MetaLogical
at it again! A truckload of their goons (Pg. F-27)
came by the Dustville camp yester- Refinery
day and tore into the folks there -
trying to scare them off. The goons Will Not Be Built
weren’t giving out names, but it The consoli-
VenturaCounty, CA -In thewake dated crime
seems a friend of ours ran the Net:
of the merger between Western
and she figuresthemfor Petrochem’s reDort for last
States Oil, Elf Aquitaine, Chevron,
own brand of slime. week reads as
BP, and Royal Dutch Shell, several
Now most of you already know follows: 1 0 6
from personal experience all about murders, up 5
Petrochem, but just in case there from the same
are a couple of new folks on-line, 1’11 week last year; 1 2 1attempted
layout the down and dirty about the murders, up 16; 42 felony as-
kind of game these guys will be saults, down 25; 3 kidnaps,
playing in Crow Canyon. Back about down 3; 24 rapes, down 18,
1 5 years ago (see page C-2) burglaries 4 1 (see page C-11)
>PETROCHEM
>DUSTVILLE CAMP A
>RECENT :CURRENT :
L
PETROCHEM
RESPONDS TO major projects have been cut in
order to pay bond fees associated
RUMORS ABOUT with Ms. Ellen Trieste’s takeover.
Locally, this means that the Crow
DUSTVILLE Canyon Refinery project will not go
“CLEANUP” through - even though Western
-
Dallas, TX When questioned
States Oil has already purchased
1800 acres of land.
today about Petrochem’s actions
concerningthe secalled ‘Dustville”
camp in Ventura County, California,
spokesperson Alan Valentine replied,
I “A Laff Rlot!!!“ -
71.12
Scenario #6: site out of state: but instead, moved This stuff is bad, boys and girls! I
70,000 cubic yards of contami- further drilling i s attempted,
Campingout nated soil to the Crow Canyon prop- pungent oily yellow liquid will bl
erty. A t Crow Canyon, the waste found permeatingthe soil a few fee
Player Information: was covered by a couple of feet of down, along with the crushed anr
The charactersare contactedbytheir local topsoil. rusted remains of 55 gallon drums
nomad friends (what, you say you Everyone in the camp will get heac
haven't got any nomad friends? Ev- Petrochemprettymuch ignoredCrow aches immediatelyjust by exposin,
ery group has someone who has Canyon after that - until recently. this glop.
nomad friends!). The nomads need Some bright boy in the local office
help protecting their camp in Crow realizedthat 'Dustville" was located The yellow soup is toxic, mutagenic
Canyonfrom corporate harassment. on a nastycorporatesecret, and has carcinogenic, teratogenic, and ger
They can pay $30 a day, plus meals: decided to move them off before erally dangerous. Symptoms for ir
but would really appreciate any char- they stirthings up better left buried. creasing exposure include nausea
acters who helped out of the good- hemorrhage, and death.
ness of their hearts. Petrochem is keeping an eye on
what happens in the valley with a A trivial amount of research wil
About 200 people live in the camp, coupleof remotesurveillance drones discover that Site 480 was sup
named 'Dustville." Of these, 80 are flyingat high altitudes. They are both posed to have been moved out o
children,.andanother 40 are too old very small and quiet. state from San Bemardino Count:
or disabled to do much useful work. by Petrochem.
There are half a dozen old school Toxic waste laws have been relaxed
buses, and a couple dozen beat-up quite a bit since the 20th century, Once Petrochem figures out (fron
old cars, pickups, RVs, and motor- but this dump is such a horrid mess the RPV cameras) that the Nomad!
cycles at the camp. Several of the that even Petrochem would be e m are digging up the toxic waste, the!
buses are in need of major repairs. barrassed. Proper disposal costs will scramble to eliminate the No
for the waste materials involved mads. Within 20 minutes, 10AV-4s
Every day, about 100of the Nomads would run into the tens of millions each carrying a 10-man assaul,
3rive down the unpaved road which of do Ilars. squad, will convergeon Crow Canyon
leads to town, lookingforways to get They will attempt to block the road
noney,food, andwaterforthe camp. A few of the people in the camp have and massacre the Nomads.
The small creek in Crow Canyon is been having headaches and feeling
jry in the summer, and the valley is nauseous -this is nothing yet. So The unpaved road into town is aboui
iery dusty (hence the name far, the Nomads have had 'barely 3 miles long-anyone who reaches
'Dustville"). A friendly local has pro- any" exposure. town can be considered safe for the
nised to loan the nomads an old moment. Note that the Nomads do
yell drilling truck for a day or two, so As soon as the well drilling begins, not currently have nearly enough
hey won't have to carry water into the bit will hit something big and transport for everyone at the camp
:rown Canyon. hard. A little shovelling will reveal a to ride a vehicle.
broken concrete block, originally
'he nomads have enough weapons some 10' on a side. 4" tall letters
o a m 50 people with pump shot- set into the concrete read:
[uns, lever action carbines, and pis-
01s. Body armor is very scarce. DANGER
HEXACHLOROCYCLOPENTADIENE
?ef'snotes: POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYL
I2008, Petrochem wanted to ex- POLYVALENT CHROMIUM
land a business park being devel- NITRIC ACID
lpedin San BemardinoCounty, about
.OO miles east of Crow Canyon.
Infortunately, the area they wanted
I expand into held a toxic waste
TOXIC MATERIAL DISPOSAL STRUC-
TURE
300' X 300' VAULT
LOCATED 50' NORTH OF THIS
A
ump, built in the early 1980s.
etrnchem worked out a deal with MARKER
unty and state to move the SITE 480 - ESTABLISHED 1982 m
I
contents to a "better" storage
71.12
the platform for a consortium of Flag Army in the attack, McCollurr
major energy corps, is sending said, "Everyone knows that the Rec
security and investigation teams to Flag Army is just a cover for various
the platform. corporate schemes. I doubt this i:
The 'Hibemia" platform was con- any different."
structed in the 1990s at a cost of
some 20 billion eb. No immediate
reason for the attack is known.
November 3,2020
VOLUME
CCVl. N o . 34
RED FLAG ARMY
TAKES CREDIT FOR
ATTACK HIBERNIA ATTACK
ON Night City(AP) - A news release
from the Red Flag Army, a terrorist
AMERICAN AND
CANADIAN
MANFTTTNT FOR
IA
CRS
-
land A joint
AmericanCanadianlaw enforcement
task force has been formed in the
wake of the 'Hibernia" platform at-
tack today. Officials from the RCMP
and the FBI announced the task
force at a press conference in St.
Johns, Newfoundland earlier this
evening. Spokesperson Milton
today by a missile attack. 17 people
McCollum said, "Every resource will
are confirmed dead, and another 10
be broughtto bear in orderto find the
are missing. No estimate of the
perpetrators of this sneak attack.
monetarydamagewas available.The
We already have solid evidence lead-
platform is at the center of a network
ing us to persons involved in the
of underwater satellite wells which FOR THE BEST INBIOSCUPT
planning of the attack, and arrests
last year produced 30%of the crude RECREATION AND CABARZT.
are expected soon." When asked
I
71.12
Scenario #7: createdto incriminatethe character: In order to clear their names, the
71.12
officiaIs privatelyexpectto find many
homeless people frozen to death in NEW BANK
drifts. National Guard troops have
been sent into the city to help with
CLEARING CENTER
emergency services and maintain NEARLY FINISHED
order. Traffk on all but a few major Night City - Construction of the
streets has come to a halt. All local new North American bank payment
I airports have been closed, and the clearingcenter is almost completed,
November 10, 2020 only aircraft moving are vectored officials announced today. The
VOLUME
CCVl. No. 35 thrust craft. Further snows are ex- CHIPS4 facility (Clearing House
pected, and high winds of up to Interbank Payment System) will
PEAK & DERRERA (cont'd page G20). house computers to electronically
move hundreds of trillions of euro
ANNOUNCES bucks being transferred between
INCREASE IN banks each day. The computers,
built by Cal Digital, will be amongthe
PALLADIUM largest and fastest ever installed in
commercia I service.
INVENTORY The facility is expected to begin
-
Night City (AP) In a startling testing in 6 months, and should be
infull operation by next summer. The
announcement, Peak & Derrera am
nounced today that they are ex- building itself is being constructed
pandingtheir palladium inventoryto by Perkins/Worldwide Contractors.
record highs, despite the recent PEAK & DERRERA
slump in prices. Corporate spokes- Precious materials brokers
BANKING LOSSES TO
person Jane Bean said, "We are Main office: Baltimore, MD; Re- ELECTRONIC THEFT
confident that the latest catalyzed
coldfusionexperimentswill result in
gional Offices: New York, Los REACH ALL TIME
Angeles, Geneva, London,Tokyo
breakeven energy production. When Stock: 111,500,760 shares: HIGH
that happens, we expect palladium Available on Market: 760,000 -
Washington Federal Reserve
to be in great demand." officials revealedtodaythat lastyear
shares:
P&D expects to receive the final Major Shareholders: Penstone American banks lost over 400 mil-
shipments of palladium at their New Equities, 8%;InterMutualFund, lion eurobucks to computer infiltra-
York facility today, bringing their te 7%; Mr. Maxwell Orvis, 6% tion and electronic credit fraud. This
tal inventory to over 110,000 troy representsa real increase, adjusted
Troops: 150 combat ready, all
ounces. Palladium for immediate for inflation, of 5% over 2012. The
assigned as guards to offices or
delivery closed at 330 eb per troy Federal government has identified
for shipments. Covert Opera-
ounce yesterday, down 2 eb; prices tives: 5 interbank payment procedures, cus-
today are rising in reaction to the Equipment and Resources: P&D tomer identification, and corporate
P&D announcement. has some of the world's tightest indifference as major problems
securityattheiroffices, and their (continued on page C49)
Worst Winter Netrunners are topnotch. Valu-
In Over a Century In able shipments are moved in
convoys of at least 4 armed AV- HELP WANTED: CONCRETE PUD
New York City 6s,of which the company owns DLERS, MIXER OPERATORS, SHEET
180 Deaths Reported METAL WORKERS, ELECTRICAL IN-
30. Eachoffice also has a corpo- STALLERS, AND ALL CONSTRUCTION
-
New York Massive snowfalls, rate jet and helicopter for VIP
transport. For long distance
TRADES WORKERS:
Perkins/Worldwide Contractors has
and several nights where tempera-
shipments, the companycharters several major projects underway in
tures have dropped to 20" below NYC, and we need qualifiedcraftsmen
zero, have created havoc in New scramjetsfrom various sources.
to do the job. Wages are competitive
York City. Nearly 3 feet of snow is on with unionjobs, and unmatched ben-
the ground, including 6" in the last
24 hours. Deathsdirectlyattributable
to the weather number 180, and city
BQRY IMAGE
When only tl - --- -
I efit package assuresyou ofonthejob
protection. Call 1-910-555-1900for
1-417-
71.12
teams in parkas placing remote If an alarm signal reachesthe police,
Scenario #8: a few squad cars will come sliding
cameras on adjacent rooftops,
rhings Done techs disguised as phone company
employees sneaking into the
along the street within 5 or 10 min-
utes; it will take 20 minutes for the
Proper local exchanges, and a lot of thor-
ough planning.
Tactical Squad to get here.
Scenario #9:
Player Information: The palladium itself is kept in a large
The team has been recruited to vault in the basement of the P&D
lake part in a big-time crime: robbing building: an elevator big enough to
:he Peak & Derrera vaults in New
fork City.
hold an AV-6 leads from the roof to Wednesday
the basement, stopping directly in
front of the vault door. There are half Player Information:
Your boss is a fixer named John a dozen electric forklifts in the base
'Sonny" Altaro, and seems to have The characters are approached by a
ment; each can lift 500 kg. The well-known netrunner (well known to
lots of contacts with "traditional" palladium is in locked metal boxes
organized crime figures. The waythe other netrunners, anyway). He will
sittingon the floorofthevault, 4000 offer them 2000 eb a month to get
cut goes is this: 40% to the guys troy ounces to a box. It is easily
fencing the metal, 20% to Altaro, jobs at the CHlPSll site and install a
identified. All other precious metals few little 'black boxes" for him. Most
10%to bribes for some unnamed in the vault are stored in locked,
P&Dpersonnelprovidingassistance, can be embedded in concrete with
armored trays along the walls; blow- just their antenna 'tails" near the
and the other 30% to the team. ing all of these would be very time
Altaro has detailed maps of the outer surface; some he would like
consuming, and is probablynot worth more obtrusivelyplaced, in ductwork
physical and electronic security of
the trouble. oron phone lines. A couple of these
the P&D building, and a few of the
less important passwords. Altaro can boxes a week, for a month or two,
If the team picks the right day, even
also obtain all sorts of illegal equip that's all he needs to get a handleon
vectoredthrustvehicles should have
ment at cost. Up to 200,000 eb can the national money markets.
difficulty flying.
be spent ahead of time to get this
mission off the ground. Ref's notes:
There are 10 armed and armored
Security is pretty tight at the CHIPS-
guards on duty at any time, and 10
The actual recruitment occurs about I I jobsite, and a couple of the higher-
sleeping out of armor in a small
1week before the palladium hits ups in security remember what hap
bunkroom in the basement. Only 2
the vaults. The upcoming lousy penedtothe newAmerican Embassy
other employees, a company exec
weather is being predicted quite ac- in Moscow in the 1980s. Characters
and a secretary to answer phones,
curately at that point. Once the pal- on the job will not be wearing body
are here during the 2 worst days of
ladium is in the vaults, the company armor, or carrying any but the small-
the storm. Routine phone traffic is
will wait till after the foul weather is est of weapons; the guards, on the
being routed to the company head
over to disperse the. metal to all of other hand, wear armor vests, hel-
office in Baltimore.
it'sotheroffices.Thus, the team will mets, and carry shotguns.
have a window of three to five days
to do the job.
Ref's notes:
This should be run like a "crime
thriller/bank heist" movie. People in
coverallswith hands-off microphones
crouched over equipment in back of I
unmarked vehicles,. surveillance
71.12
rate data base market. Topflight >LAS VEGAS NM
researchers, using EBM's cutting- >mATHER
edge hardware, will be able to >CURRENT :CURRENT :
(cont'd pg. C-2)
>EBMFACILITIES WEATHER
TODAY
>MOUNTAIN STATES Heavy overcast and low tempera-
>RECENT:2 WEEKS: tures are predicted for northern New
November 17, 2020 Mexico this weekend. .Temperatures
LAS VEGAS NX
should range from daytime highs in the
VOLUME
CCVI. N o . 36 40s, to nighttime lowsinthe 30s. Expect
>CRIME E B M EXERCISES TO BE more snow at higher elevations. Pollut-
ants index stands at 380: no special
-STEIN :CURRENT :DENVER HELD AT SANGER LABS protection needed.
-
Las Vega Sanger Labs, a local Next week promises betterweather,
with clearing skies and highertempera-
TOP INFOCOMP subsidiary of EBM, is conducting a
test of theirdefensive arrangements
tures.
Heavy hail was reportedWednesday
RESEARCHER for the next three weeks or so. Cor- at Durango, CO; some damage to prop-
porate spokespersons emphasized erty (continued on pg. C-4)
GONE MISSING that all of the training would take
Dr. Harold N. Wallenstein, a pro- place within the boundaries of the >UH-gO
minent informationtheory researcher 2400 acre facility, and that there >PERFORMANCE SUMMARY:
employed by Infocomp, is currently would be no danger to the public.
theobject of a massive search being
undertaken by lnfocomp andvarious
"Realistic tests and training are
necessary in order to be defensively EYE ON THE MARKET:
police agencies. Dr. Wallenstein, age prepared for possible sabotage or Night City Today
40, disappeared 3days ago duringa infiltration attempts," said a
fire at the Infocompfacility in Denver Examines the Best in
spokesperson.
where he is employed. Arson inves- Sanger Labs employs nearly 200
Available Equipment
tigators believe the fire to have been people, of whom about 20 have Today: the UH-90
set deliberately. been hired in this county. County Utility/squad transport helicopter,
Wallenstein, in his six years e m poweredby AllisonT800turboshaft; fully
officials, when contacted about the integrated cockpit with inertial/GPS
ployment with Infocomp, has con- corporate live fire exercise, had no worldwidenavcapability,all-weatherand
tributed greatlyto the efficiency with comment. thermal imaging systems, NOEcapable
which the corporate data base is autopilot (supported by APQ-800 terrain
(continued page C-22) >SANGER LABS following radar), radar warning receiv-
>DEFENSE:2 YEARS: ers, infra-red jammer, hardened avion-
>BUSINESS ics, TI "pilot's assistant" expert flight
LAS VEGAS NM managementsystem. Cruise speed 280
>EBM
kph, top speed 325 kph, endurance 7
>DATA/RESEARCH FEDS APPROVE hours, max. range 2000 km (with feny
>RECENT:CURRENT: LAB DEFENSES tanks), rate ofclimb 2.5m/sec; 2 pilots'
HAK~URG/MARSEILLES The BATF today issued a license positions, 6 crashworthy troop seats,
to Sanger Labs for their proposed can carry 8 total passengers. Interior
can be sealed; complete NBCfilters are
defensive armament. The decision,
EBM Announces while not unexpected, did not please
provided. Empty weight 1400 kg. max.
loaded weight 3800 kg, max. internal
the San Miguel county board of
New Data Facility supervisors, who had contested
fuel 2000 liters: can mounttwo 350 liter
external tanks for ferry flights. Three
Marseilles - Euro Business Ma- Sanger's application. Board presi- armament fixture points are provided:
chines Corp. issued a press release dent Tyler Powell announced that an nose, and port/starboard side pylon
describing a new corporate data appeal would immediately be filed mounts.
management center at Marseilles, with the Justice Department. For our performancetests, we took
The BATFdecision allows Sanger the UH-90to China Lake, in the Mojave
France. Spokesperson Andrew Desert. There, we put the craft through
Fenner said the center had been to post up to 30 heavily armed
(cont'd on page C-9)
constructed at a cost of 150 million guards, and 2 armed scout helicop
ters. "Non-lethal" defenses, such
eb. 'EBM has gone to great lengths
to build and equip this facility, and
we intend to challenge Infocomp,
as electrified barbed tape, sensors,
and tripflares are already in place at
the facility, located east of Las V e
BODY IMAGE
When only the B
I
Rand, and NipponData far the corpo gas at the former Rocking R Ranch. 1417-555
71.12
Scenario #lo: Intrusionsensors havebeenscattered side Dr. Wallenstein's room, and an-
I
71.12
0 Solo 0 Rocker 0 Netrunner 0 Media ONomad
0 Fixer 0 Cop 0 Corp 0 Techie Medtechie
f DRAWING O f CHARACTER
I Affectations
Ethnlcky
I
Language
Tra'ts
I
II Valued Person
I Value Most
I
I Feel About People
I
I
Valued Posession
I
-I
71.12
m r J m am l m r
~
m
I N T [ ] REF[ / ] TECH [ ] COOL [ ]
EfnFl
INT [ ] REF[ / ] TECH [ ] COOL[ ]
A l T R [ ] LUCK [ J' M A [ ] BODY [ ] A l T R [ ] LUCK[ ] M A [ ] BODY[ ]
EMP [ / ]Run [ ] Leap[ ] Lift [ ] EMP[ / ]Run [ ] Leap[ ] Lift [ ]
-11111111111111111111
U U I
Cybernetics Cybemetics
hssessions Possessions
~
QR.Talmian Games, 1991. Permission granted for personal photocopying only. e R.Talmorian Games, 1991. Permisiongranted for personal photocopyingonly.
I
I
R m
I N T [ ] REF[ / ] TECH [ ] COOL [ ]
m
INT [ ] REF[ / ] TECH [ 3 COOL[ ]
AITR[ 1 LUCK 1 MA[ j BODY [ 1 A l T R [ ] LUCK[ ] M A [ ] BODY[ ]
EMP[ / 3 Run [ ] Leap[ ] Lift [ ] EMP[ / ] Run [ ] Leap [ ] Lift [ ]
Head Torso R.Arm L.Am R.Leg L.Leg
1 2-4 5 6 7-8 9-0 .
I I 1 SFRIOUS cwnw MORTALO MORTALI
MORTAL 2 MORTAL3 MORTAL4 MORTAL 5 MORTAL 6 MORTAL 2 MORTAL3 MORTAL4 MORTAL 5 MORTAL 6
Cybernetics Cybemetics
Possessions Possessions
~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~~~
Q R.Talsotian Gama. 1991. Permission granted for personal photocopying only. C P.Tam3Pan Games. i 9 9 1 Permission granted for personal photocopyingonly
71.12
1 Model # of CPU- 1- 1 Model # of CPU- I
I [ ] Cellular [ ] Portable [ ] Combat Deck [ ] Cyberlimb Deck II [ ] Cellular [ ] Portable [ ] Combat Deck [ ] Cyberlimb Deck
I [ ] Standard II [ ] Standard
I Toto1 Cost DATA WALL STR II Totul Cost DATA WALL STR
CODE GATE STR DECK SPEED
I CODE GATE STR DECK SPEED II
MEMORY MEMORY
I II 0 PTIONS?
OPTIONS?
I [ ] Trodes [ ] Keyboard [ ] Videoboard I ] Printer II [ ] Trodes [ ] Keyboard [ 3 Videoboard [ ] Printer
I [ ] Chipreader [ ] VoxBox [ ] Scanner [ ] Extra chips II [ ] Chipreader [ ] VoxBox [ ] Scanner [ ] Extra chips
I II
I Your ICON II Your ICON I
I II PRoCRAMS
PROCRAMS
I II
I
I
Type
1 I MU 1 sTR I Cost
I I I
II
II
Type
I
I
7 I I I 2
I II i I
I II 4 I
I 5 II
I 6 II
I 7 II 7 I
I 8 I I I II 8 I
9 9
I II 10
10
I 11
II 11
I II 12
I 13 II 12 I
I lA I I I II 14 I
I 15 II 15 I
I 16 II 16 I
I 1 7
II 17
I II 18
I II 19
I 20 II 20
-- I I
21 21
I 22
II 22
I
I II 71
L3
I
I II 24 I
I II I
I
I
25
26
27
5 II
II
25
~~
26
27
I
I
I 28 II 28 I I I I
I 29 II
I 30 II
I 31
II
32
I 33
II
I 14 II
I II
I I
I I
71.12
L
But you can change it. You've got interface plugs in your
wits, weapons in your arms, lasers in your eyes, bio-chip
pmgrams screaming in your brain. You're wifed in, cybemn-
hanced and solidstate as you take it to the fatal Edge where
only the toughest and the molest can go. Beceuse you're
CYBERPUNK.
Copyright 1990 R Talsorian Games. Ific All RtghIs Resewed Cyberpunk IS R Talscfian'sTrademark name lm it's Adventore game d the dark fuIur6
71.12
2