A Cyberpunk 2020 Saga

By Steven Schlosser
Introduction
It is time again to have a second game in the rotation to give the GM a break. To that end,
I will be taking a stab at a Cyberpunk campaign. This will allow us to continue gaming without
one GM burning out on their own game. For this game of Cyberpunk, we will be doing an all cop
player group (but that does not necessitate everyone having the cop role) drawn from many of
the law enforcement agencies in the United States, and a few from overseas. The majority of the
law enforcement officers will be drawn from Night City Police Department and United States
federal agents. All of these law enforcement officers and federal agents are being gathered for a
major task force that will be repeated in many cities across North America and Europe. In
addition to law enforcement, there are support personnel for technical, medical, and general
clerical staff. I would ask that people do not play the sedentary support staff if they want in on
the action or you may find yourself sitting at HQ while everyone is off doing something else.
Active support staff, those that go out in the field with the officers, are OK to play.

I was originally going to base the game on the premise that the task force was brought
together for one singular purpose. After much pondering, I have decided I will expand that
premise so that the game will not become stale after a dozen or so sessions. The game will run
much like a serialized cop show without much of the bad guy of the week and more of the
overreaching story arcs that you see played out over an entire season or series. There will be
plenty of the generic bad guys for you guys to play with but as a task force, they are small pickings
compared to what you are going to be dealing with. I ask for a bit of patience while the campaign
is winding up so that I can get in-depth into the setting again as I have forgotten quite a bit. Also,
some things in my version will be slightly different than standard Cyberpunk but it mostly has
to do with things in a technological sense. A good example would be cell phones. The cell phones
of this world will be much like the ones from this one, powerful pieces of technology capable of
snail-crawling the web, contain multiple apps and similar features rather than the bricks of the
early nineties like they are in the game manual. For the most part, these are minor cosmetic
changes and do not change the stats of how something works in the game (of course, cell phones
obviously can do more than they used to as an example) so I will not be typing up all of the minor
cosmetic changes and will mention them if they come up in game.

A quick note on internet content. I am allowing internet content (Datafortress 2020 and
others as an example) on a case by case basis. This means that each piece will need to be run by
me before you can use it. While there are some truly wonderful pages out there with awesome
content, there is also a lot of unbalancing or game breaking things packed in around them. Please
verify anything not from the books.

Thank you for reading my rant. I now give you over to the meat and potatoes of this
document so you can make your characters. Stay frosty, chombatta.
Law Enforcement of the Dark Future
Each player will be playing a character that is assigned to Task Force Epsilon, a major
cooperation between dozens of agencies (and even corporations) to clean up the cities of North
America and Europe. Character creation will be by the standard method but with a few more
points than normal. Most of the character roles are allowed (save PA pilot, Netrunner and a few
others) so please feel free to discuss your ideas with the Referee. The character creation rule
changes are as follows:

 Each player may have up to three special abilities (meaning three character roles,
technically) with maximum ranks equal to 6/4/2 at character creation
 IP multipliers for special abilities are: primary (as normal), secondary (normal +1 for
multiplier), and tertiary (normal +2 for multiplier); this is to represent the difficulty of
maintaining training in more than one role
 Your primary skill determines you career skill package (meaning you must put all of
your career points in your primary special ability and its associated career skills)
 Secondary and tertiary special abilities are purchased with pick-up points
 You may have a maximum of 7 in one career skill and all other are no more than 5
(special ability and languages do not count towards this limit)
 You may have a maximum of 4 in any pick-up skill (languages are exempt)
 Character points will be 72 (these go into your nine stats, every stat must be minimum 2)
 Career Skill points are 50 (instead of 40); Pick-up skills are 25 (rather than Int + Ref)
 You will not be allowed any of the power armor skills
  All players start with 10k in cash (we will not be rolling for pay or if you have a job, you
have a job with whatever law enforcement agency you come from)
 Before buying gear, check the section further down for standard gear supplied by the
task force/parent agency
 Graded cyberware is allowed at the following cost: Alpha grade (.75 Humanity loss, 3x
cost), Beta grade (.5 Humanity loss, 5x cost) and Omega grade (.25 Humanity loss, 7x
cost); also with Omega grade, you must know somebody or have the right connections
to get it (probably best to roll lifepath before that step)
 Lifepath will be more than base book (if you were military, you roll the military lifepath
for the years you were in, the same for cop lifepath, or any other); Max age 25; if lifepath
boosts a skill above you primary special ability, you make one enemy for every 2 points
above

Aside from the above rules, there is the matter of the branch of law enforcement you come
from. Everyone must belong to some branch of law enforcement. The choices of branches are as
follows:

 Night City PD (including some of its branches; MaxTac, Homicide, SWAT, Robbery/
Organized Crime, Forensics [only field certified techs])
 HiWay (Texas Marshals, US Marshals, ICE, NorCal Highway Rangers, etc.)
 LEDiv (F.B.I., Secret Service, Homeland Security, D.E.A., etc. all rolled into one entity)
 Street Judge (yes, you are a judge and law enforcer at the same time)
 NorCal State Executioner (you carry out executions on people convicted in absentia)
 Internal Affairs (you won’t be liked much)
 Interpol (on loan from overseas)
 Army CID (on loan from the Army)
 CorpSec (Yes, corporate cops are in on the deal)

Playing an officer on loan from another city is allowed but you will not be anywhere near you
home city for the entire campaign. Be kind to yourself on that one (some of the international or
federal ones will be far from home anyways). Your monthly pay will be based off of your
primary special ability, slightly modified because of the duty you are performing. The players
will be one team from the task force working with other teams in Night City from time to time,
especially for larger missions.

Other branches are assigned to the task force as well but are not playable by the group.
These include: NetSec, Night City Office of the Medical Examiner (deputy chief and team
assigned to HQ), NCPD Motor Pool, Army Motor Pool, LEDiv motor pool, Night City hospital
(there is a Medbay set up in the HQ), Trauma Team International (there are 4 teams assigned to
HQ), NCPD Forensic Lab, LEDiv Forensic Lab, Night City District Attorney’s Office, Night City
Fire Department (District 1, engines #6-9, assigned to HQ), and Network 54 (assigned to HQ but
only allowed to report after-action news and humanizing pieces in exchange for being first on
scene). These groups are not available because it would take the players far from the action and
the rest of the group. As for the task force itself, it is under the command of a single leader who
does not have to report to anyone but the head of the LEDiv and the President of the United
States (and maybe the European Union).

Bonus Starting Gear

There are several pieces of gear that will be common to all players. Others will receive
other issued gear depending on their branch and job (this gear will be decided by the Ref on the
fly as characters are made) so there will be a bit of variance in the bonuses handed out. All other
gear will be purchased by the player or requisitioned on an as needed basis. Issued gear (other
than uniform, cuffs, patrol armor and sidearm) stay at the task force HQ until needed. Using
issued gear outside of duty assignments is a huge infraction. However, personal gear is allowed
on the job and off. This is a change from normal regulations due to the nature of the assignment.
The following pieces of equipment are assigned to everyone:

 Standard Sidearm (the one assigned to your branch, 3 magazines, box 100 DP rounds)
 Techtronica 15 Microwaver
 Militech Police Shotgun (box of 20 shells)
 Uniform (armored, SP and look will depend on branch)
 Patrol Armor (for everyday wear, pg. 39 Protect and Serve)
 Tactical Body Armor (type varies by branch, made for assaults and riots)
 2 pairs of plas-cuffs, 1 pair of ion cuffs
 Retina Scanner
  LEDiv wrist mounted police computer (30 SP, 15 SDP, 8 MU, also encrypted radio)
 Tactical Flashlight (with IR, UV settings)
 Nikkon America Camerapod (police bodycam)

For those that are far from home, or for those that don’t have a place to stay, lodging is
provided at HQ for all officers. The downside is always being around your work associates and
the noise from the constant activity and work in the labs and workshops. The upside is free
rent. Meals are also available in the HQ chow hall, if you are willing to pay, and the food is at
least fresh rather than prepack. Everything else, including furnishings for your free room (if you
take it), you have to pay for yourself. Everyone is required to have a telephone or cellular
number where they can be reached at any time of the day or night. Again, all standard issue
gear, except uniform, patrol armor, cuffs and sidearm are left in the HQ locker room at end of
shift.

Certain pieces of gear can be loaned out on basis of shift and need. For instance, a
suitable vehicle (or vehicles) can be checked out of the motor pool at the start of shift and
returned at the end of shift. Extra weaponry is issued when needed, such as assault rifles for a
raid, determined by need, availability and proficiency. Things like battering rams, security kits,
investigation kits and such are issued by need. Often, an issued vehicle will contain gear
pertaining to the vehicle’s use (such as investigation kits in most vehicles, as are road flares,
police tape and so forth). Each officer is also assigned a cubicle in the bullpen which includes: a
desk, a computer, filing cabinet, several notebooks (which contain law codes and other data for
filling out the proper paperwork), office supplies and a mini-fridge. Also assigned to each
officer, for use in HQ only, is a special computer pad (10 inch x 8 inch) that is used for briefings
and inter-office information passing.

Several services are also available to every officer. First is emergency medical care
through the HQ. This is not the greatest service as they will only provide the most basic care
before shipping you off to the hospital. However, they do provide top-notch psychological
services to those in need and any major incident will see you sitting on the shrink’s couch before
you can return to duty. What is nice, is that you get a discount on medical insurance through
your standing with the officer’s union. All officers pay half price for insurance (500 euros a
month rather than 1000), but in return, they must pay 50 euros per month in union dues.
Trauma Team Accounts come in regular, silver, gold and platinum accounts (normal price, x2,
x4, x8 respectively) which prioritize the order in which they pick customers up, the care they
are given in route to the hospital and the level of protection they provide on arrival at the
evacuation site. All officers are taken care of by the task force Trauma Team while they are on
duty but it never hurts to be too careful when you have every ‘punker in the city gunning for
you. When buying cell phones, law enforcement are allowed to add Privacy Plus™ free of
charge. Further, police officers on duty usually get free coffee from most places.
The Mission
All of the characters have been recently attached to Task Force Epsilon, a federally
sponsored program to fight the rising tide of crime. At least, that is the tagline fed to the press.
In reality, it is a program designed to combat the flow of illegal arms, drugs, cyberware and
outlawed technologies in most major cities across North America and Europe. In part, it is also
meant to put a vise on the shadow operations that most corporations engage in to enhance their
profits as well as put a tighter stranglehold on organized crime, attempting to snuff it out for
good this time. All participants have been briefed on the true mission of Task Force Epsilon and
are encouraged to keep this from leaking to the press. While the tagline fed to the press is true,
up to a point, the full scope of the operation is being kept from them in order to maximize
actual convictions. Even the corporations are not aware of the full scope of the operation, thanks
to the participation of the US Armed Forces in the Task Force. Most operational details are kept
on a need to know basis and can be covered by the media blackout protocols that most US
military operations benefit from. Command of each individual task force, each named for a
letter of the Greek alphabet, is left to a commander from Army CID who reports directly to
POTUS and the leaders of the European Theatre Conference.

Each member of Task Force Epsilon, the task force assigned to Night City, is drawn from
various branches of local, federal, military and, rarely, foreign law enforcement agencies. They
are placed under the command of Captain James Webb, Army CID, who has overall command
of the task force but who has structured his command group to include Lt. Max Sloan of Night
City Police Department and Supervisory Special Agent Claudia Grey of LEDiv. Captain Webb
does not run a dictatorial HQ and seeks advice and input from both of his commanders, as he
calls them, on everything from staffing concerns to which investigations to follow. Captain
Webb has seen fit to draw resources, staff and equipment from as many sources as possible so
as to have the best available gear and support for “his people” as he can manage to wring out of
each participating department. Lt. Sloan is a tough-as-nails homicide detective that rose rapidly
through the ranks due to his high arrest record among the gangs operating near city center. He
is a no nonsense kind of guy but plays up a pretty boy, nice guy image for the press. Many in
the NCPD think he is a rank climber gunning for a young captaincy. SSA Grey, on the other
hand is a quiet and calculating individual. Her experience with LEDiv includes serial killers,
counter-terrorism, slave trafficking and smuggling rings. In recent years, she has passed on
promotion several times or even transferred departments to continue staying in the field. She is
an extremely intelligent but pleasant personality and truly cares about the officers under her
command. She has quickly come to respect the men and women of the NCPD for their strength
and dedication. If there is one thing she cannot stand however, it would be the rampant
corruption in some departments of the NCPD. She has made sure that every officer in the task
force is well clear of any charges of corruption before they were allowed to step foot into the
task force HQ.

The government has really come through in support of the task force by supplying a
good portion of gear, support personnel and other supplies that were requested by Captain
Webb. Even a few of the corporations donated equipment and personnel, mostly in an attempt
to curry favor, but the gesture is much appreciated around HQ. It has taken two entire months
to get the HQ operational from the seized hacker den that it originally was. Headquarters was
chosen from an assortment of seized buildings that Night City still had not unloaded back onto
the market. It was chosen mostly for the massive power generator installed by the hackers and
the fact that it had underground garage access. The building was originally a massive, multi-
tiered warehouse that has been abandoned since 2015. In 2018, hackers moved in and modified
the building to suit their needs; including upgrading the power supply to be generator fed and
better Net access. When it was taken over by the city, it was sold to a developer that wanted to
turn it into a laboratory until he was arrested and sentenced to death for performing illegal
genetic modifications on the homeless. It once again returned to city hands and languished until
two months ago, when it was selected as the site for task force HQ. Considering it already had
laboratories, the best Net access available and high power generation capabilities, only a few
modifications had to be made to make it a suitable site for the task force.

Weapons, gear and vehicles are being drawn from several of the participating agencies;
including the military. It was really difficult at first to get anyone to commit their own
resources, considering most departments are stretched thin as it is. That was until Captain
Webb was brought onboard to head Epsilon. He has used his connections and contacts to
leverage supplies for the task force by convincing each agency and several corporations that
others had already pledged a certain level of support. At that point, it became a point of pride to
see who the biggest donor could be. Captain Webb used the opportunity to get the corporations
to compete against each other on who would offer more gear and cash support to the operation.
This has led to the task force being rather well supplied in return for field reports on the
performance of certain technologies and the Captain’s promise to pass along a little nudge to
certain agencies to buy certain equipment for their own personnel. This has also given rise to
the testing of certain new gear for law enforcement personnel and makes for free
advertisements for the corporations who consider the whole endeavor a good way to get
around the normal testing standards enforced by the government.
 New personnel for the task force are arriving daily at this point and the finishing
touches are being added to the command structure. Captain Webb is taking this opportunity to
get to know the personnel who were among the first to arrive and get them settled into the HQ.
He seems to be generally concerned about each member of the task force and takes it upon
himself to learn their stories and personalities. This behavior has a two-fold purpose. First, the
Captain truly cares about those under his command as if they were his own family. Second, he
is learning peoples’ personalities to see which team they would best work with. Webb is very
particular about how he builds each team under his command and prefers that they run
smoothly and like a “well-oiled machine”. The task force members are getting the chance to
learn who they will be working alongside. As for the law officers themselves, they are getting
the chance to do general police work alongside NCPD officers. For some of the federal officers
and Interpol, being roped into general police work is not a popular idea but all it takes is for a
very chaotic night to break out for them to learn a little respect for the local officers of Night
City, considering they are embedded with groups like S.W.A.T and MaxTAC.

Webb was able to pull so many strings that he was able to get support from the
forensics, coroners’ offices, NetSec and even medical personnel of most agencies. This gives the
task force access to medical care (not as good as a full hospital), forensics labs (that are not
slowed down by work load, yet), NetSec support (always good on an op), dedicated coroner’s
suite (again very little wait on results) and even quick turnover of evidence. Even the
corporations offered their own techs and scientists to the task force, more to do a little
information gathering than anything else. Webb tends to keep most of the corporation
personnel in the dark about actual operations but he cannot help that they sometimes learn a
few tidbits they don’t need to know. The benefit of these technicians and scientists is that the
task force will have very little wait time for repairs, identification of technology and drugs and
the access to technology only available to corporate entities. If things keep going so well, the
task force will be able to sustain operations for up to three years without much in the way of
support from government funds. The actual length of this task force will depend on how long
the government can maintain resistance to outside pressure to shut it down, whether from
corporations or the American citizens. Webb’s proudest achievement, thus far, is the inclusion
of military assets on this mission. The task force is receiving dedicated satellite access, military
vehicles and weaponry, and troops to oversee HQ security (loosening up the strain on the
actual law enforcement personnel).

Task Force Epsilon

Number of Available Agents: 400 (with another 100 dedicated solely to security and another
200 dedicated solely to support)

Threat Level: Average Agent A (special squads or HQ guards AA)

Threat Code: B2A

Task Force Epsilon
Captain James Webb
Captain Webb is a career soldier that has
seen war on many continents. He is a
Caucasian male in his mid-40’s and still in
good shape. He has been an Army Ranger
since shortly after graduating from boot
camp. Webb truly cares about the people
under his command and does his best to
keep them supplied properly and that they
arrive home still in one piece. Army CID is
new to him but he has taken to it with the
same verve that saw him rise through the
ranks.
Corporal Frederico Javier
Corporal Javier is a Mexican-American
career soldier that has been assigned to
Task Force Epsilon from the Army CID.
Javier has been in CID since an injury on the
battlefield benched him from the Rangers
(and Captain Webb’s command) for more
than a year. He has been in CID for two and
a half years and is glad to be working with
the Captain again. Corporal Javier has been SSA Claudia Grey
assigned to oversee the player’s squad
directly and acts as their HQ command
center handler. He facilitates their
communications, proofs their reports to
command, handles requisitions and in
general handles all of their staff needs
(much like a desk sergeant in a regular
precinct).

Lt. Max Sloan

SSA Grey is assigned to the task force from

Lt. Sloan is a homicide detective out of
Night City’s 14th Precinct (the same area the
task force HQ is located in) in the moderate
zone. The Mexican-American detective can
a bit overbearing with his subordinates but
plays up his “nice side” with the press.
Captain Webb keeps him on a short leash,
especially around the press but Sloan still
finds time to make people’s life miserable.
He is currently assigned to oversee prisoner
handling procedures and has as little
contact as Webb can manage with the other
officers. Sloan may not be with the task
force as long as he likes. This would be a
serious blow to his career plan to become
the youngest homicide captain in more than
a decade. Getting himself kicked off the task
force would be a serious black mark in the
young Lt.’s file and he would probably try
to retaliate in some way. Webb is currently
keeping his eye on this young man.
LEDiv, FBI branch. She is an intelligent and
friendly person but can become a force of
nature in the field. Her grasp of logistics
and tactics are a desired commodity in the
command structure that Captain Webb is
trying to set up. SSA Grey enjoys a good
rapport with everyone she has met at task
force HQ so far, other than Lt. Sloan, whom
she dislikes intensely. She has extensive
experience in the field and truly enjoys
being a member of law enforcement. SSA
Grey acts like a big sister to many of the
officers under her command and can be
seen on occasion giving advice on
everything from dating to straightening out
one’s career to achieve maximum potential.
Margaret Kurrick
Margaret is a freelance Weaponsmith
currently employed by the task force
directly. Captain Webb counts himself Already, she has a nickname around HQ,
lucky to have snagged her for this the Spider. Her mining people for
assignment. Kurrick’s work can be seen information is not a malicious thing she
among many of the corporate big wigs and does on purpose. If anything, it is a side
Eurosolos. She is an expert in weapon effect of being an intelligence analyst and
modifications and repair, weapon interface field operative for so long. Despite her
design, ballistics and firearms digging for information, she has made
customization. She has a very serious several friends around the HQ, most
demeanor but once she has gotten used to a notably, Corporal Javier.
person, they find her to be a big softy for
Sherry Potts
people that carry one of her weapons. The
one thing she cannot stand is people that try
to tell her how to do her job. Those types
quickly find themselves banned from her
workshop, which is stocked with only her
own customized equipment. Kurrick hails
from Germany but has dual citizenship
there and in the United States. She is
currently living out of a very expensive
house in the corporate suburbs of Night
City.

Agent Jyleena Graham

Agent Graham is from LEDiv, CIA division
and a specialist in intelligence gathering. It
is her job on the task force to collate all of
the intelligence gathered through various
sources throughout the city. She attempts to
pass herself as a flirty young woman but in
reality she is a master manipulator.
Ms. Potts is head of the NetSec department
assigned to task force HQ. Potts is an
energetic young Caucasian woman who has
been with NetSec since her teens, when she
managed to hack one of their servers at the
tender age of 13. Now in her mid-20’s, she is
entrusted with overseeing an entire
department that specializes in illegal
software and tracing hackers through the
Net. Most people cannot keep up with the
flow of her conversations as she multitasks
at least 2 conversations, 4 Net searches and
writing a report or two all at once. Almost
every officer has asked her out at least once,
not many have gotten a date. None of them
have had a second.
Doctor Beckett Jarvis

Doctor Jarvis is the Deputy Chief Medical

Examiner for the Night City municipal
Office of the Medical Examiner. It was a
stroke of luck that Captain Webb convinced
the Mayor that he needed to up his game in
the outfitting of the task force by supplying
superior personnel rather than gear and
funds if he wanted to beat the corporations.
To that end, in a fit defiance to the
corporations, the mayor supplied the
Deputy Chief Medical Examiner to the task
force. For his part, Doctor Jarvis relishes the
opportunity to be out from under the
shadow of his boss, the Chief Medical
Examiner. Jarvis is an arrogant man but
when it comes to his work, he has good
reason to be. As people are getting to know
the man, he is starting to become less
abrasive as he sees that he is not competing
for anything here. He is starting to settle
and enjoys having a staff that work directly
for him. Time will tell if the job will smooth
his rough edges.
Naomi Richards is a forensics specialist
from the Naval Criminal Investigative
Service (a branch of CID) who volunteered
for the special task force. It is her wish to
log more field time in order to move further
along her career path. She is an ambitious
young Black woman with a wild streak. She
has just recently passed her field
qualifications and is permitted to be armed
while collecting evidence in the field. She
has also recently completed a course in field
investigation. She is assigned to direct field
support of the player group as a forensics
technician.

Naomi Richards