DATA ROT - HALF REMEMBERED CYBERPUNK ADVENTURES

First, some music.

These are some half-remembered adventure-type things I've run for Cyberpunk 2020. It's weird, in a setting most open to people finding out about things and exploiting them on their own initiative, people are most eager to look for discrete jobs. Something to do with choice paralysis maybe?

Most of these ideas are quite nihilistic and nasty. People with money and power abuse it - if that's not your tone they'll need re-working. May as well talk about what my players got up to whilst we're at it.

My Child is a Prostitute and is Missing

The son of the local *big corp* division has a very specific tastes - exotics - which are people genespliced and modified for animal traits. Women with animal fur, ears, shit like that. The deal is a friend of the characters has a child, who is a prostitute. No big deal so far, but they've gone missing. Search of their home reveals a datapad with the clients booked in - namely a lot of visits from the son mentioned above. There's signs of forced entry, maybe some people who got shot for being in the way of a corporate snatch team. They've been transported to the home of the son, who has:

a) many exotics already, all of whom have been memory-wiped and programmed for loyalty. If you wanted to get really nasty they could have cyberweapons built in, to double up as body guards.

b) his own private surgery at the back of the apartment (located deep into corporate territory, ofc.) wherein the missing child is sedated, awaiting the surgery and the mind-wipe. Obviously, this stuff is very illegal, hence the surgery being in the home.

My players first infiltrated the sex-fur party thanks to the Rocker in the party. They went in the back, brutally murdered the surgeon, and picked up the kid. One player was so disgusted with all this they blew the son's head clean off. This caused a riot of exotics running for the elevator whilst the heavy guys took out the security team that had been dispatched to investigate the band of heavily armed weirdos going into the rich-people tower complex. They ended up escaping via the sewers to avoid pursuit by aerodyne vehicles (basically harrier jump jets, but more helicopter-y.) They were paid in free noodles for life by Asian Juan, the proprietor of Noodlebar, the noodle bar, wherein bars of noodles are served.

The Pharaoh is an ex-military Cyborg Impostor

(this one was inspired by Transmetropolitan #2, which is sick)

Flights of Fantasy Inc. maintain several resorts, which are slices-of-life from distant time periods populated by many many clones. Incredibly rich clients pay huge sums to pretend to be people of power and import in these fantasy worlds.

The issue? A cyborg has gone rogue inside the Ancient Egypt Resort, and nerve-gassing all the clones isn't a cost-effective measure for dealing with. The players are. This cyborg is tooled up to all fuck, with laser eyes, appearance changing camouflage (hence him being to kill the pharaoh clone and replace him) and a secret stash of plastic-body guns he smuggled into the resort.

Payscale will vary depending on how many clones need memory wipes/outright replacements. A flat rate for removing the cyborg is low, but you can keep the body and all the black-ops enhancements he's toting.

The players poisoned his food so much that his cyber-liver couldn't handle. He died messily. Cooking contests between guards were involved.

Bounty: Organ Mule

(offering players quick and easy bounties is a nice way of breaking up the larger, more involved operations. This one is not that)

A corporation is offering 10k for the (live) return of an experimental heart contained within the chest of a carrier, who has since gone rogue, and is selling the heart for 50k, or the highest bidder. They've done this to pay for the medical bills of their brother. They are protected by a pretty solid mercenary team, and have a tunnel to the sewers hidden on the ground floor of the building they are selling from to escape. The leader of the mercenary group is a well known sniper-for-hire. The organ mule is desperate and is making very stupid decisions - even with the money from a sell, about half goes to the mercenary outfit, making this a very temporary fix to her brothers's medicals bill.

The party said 'fuck this' and instead decided to look into other lines of employment.

Drug-Chip Freak-Out Zombies

This can be thrown in anywhere really. Basically, the hot new drug is pumping experience/emotion into your skull via datajack - these blackmarket datajacks being very crude, and very damaging. A drug-den is now a lot of people with cables hanging out the back of their skulls, tended to by drug dealers toting sub-machine guns. If the players decide to fuck with the drug dealers, they've got a very crude, very basic ATTACK program they can use to burn out the brains of the junkies, and use them as attack-zombies. Cheap and nasty, just like the drug-chips. They're pretty shitty combatants but have numbers and covering fire from the drug dealers, so they can be used to quite a horrid effect.

The players killed fucking all of them without remorse.

that's all I can remember right now - at least the ones which are interesting and uniquely cyberpunkish

Rough Weapon Modification for Cyberpunk 2020

Adapted from my previous thing for Stars Without Number.

--

GUN MODIFICATIONS FOR CYBERFUNK

-	Quirk/Modification	Price (Cr)
1	Extended Barrel. Weapon has a significantly lengthened barrel.  Increase ranges by 25%, -2 to use in close quarters. Awkward to move around.	300
2	Shortened Barrel. Weapon has a significantly shortened barrel. Decrease ranges by 25%, +1 to use in close quarters.	300
3	Increased Calibre. The weapon was designed to use a larger-than-normal calibre. Decrease magazine capacity by 25%, increase damage to next calibre listed.	400
4	Decreased Calibre. The weapon was designed for a smaller calibre than most in its class. Increase magazine capacity by 25%, decrease damage to next calibre listed.	400
5	Grenade Launcher. Weapon has an underslung grenade launcher with a magazine capacity of 3. Damage as standard grenade, range 200/400.	150
6	Micro-flamer. Weapon has embedded micro-flamer. Fuel capacity enough for 3 uses. Range 10/30. Deals 3d6 damage, burns for 2 rounds.	600
7	Bayonet. Weapon has a standard bayonet attachment. Allows melee attack with damage as knife.	25
8	Mono-bayonet. Weapon has a Monoblade bayonet. Allows melee attack with damage as Monoblade.	250
9	IR Pointer. Weapon has an infra-red laser pointer. +1 to hit for yourself and allies equipped with night vision.	100
10	Shotgun. Weapon has an underslung shotgun designed for breaching doors. Damage/range as normal. 3 magazine capacity.	500
11	Alternate grip. Weapon has a differing grip, most commonly a pistol-grip attachment. +1 to hit.	300
12	Folding Stock. Weapon’s stock is replaced with a folding variant, allowing for use in smaller conditions.	150
13	Amphibious. This weapon was designed with amphibious operation in mind, and operates equally well under-water and on land.	800
14	Laser Sight. Weapon is equipped with a visible laser-pointer. +1 to hit your target for yourself and allies, enemies get +1 to hit you.	75
15	Advanced Optics. Weapon has superior optics for operating within its normal ranges. +1 to hit.	150
16	Night-Vision Optics. Weapon has optics with light-amplification technology. +1 to hit from optics.	600
17	Thermal-Imaging Optics. Weapon has optics thermal imaging technology. +1 to hit from optics.	800
18	Suppressor. Weapon has an internal suppressor, significantly muffling the noise and light produced by firing at the price of damage. -1 damage. (minimum of 1)	200 (100 for external)
19	Fire Selector. Gives weapons three-round burst and full-auto fire modes.	650

Explosive Tipped Rounds –Quadruple Price & Illegal. After penetrating, these rounds detonate to cause considerably increased damage. +1d4 damage from explosives. Loud. Messy.

Incendiary Rounds – Triple Price & Illegal. These rounds contain compounds which ignite either upon penetration or in the air. 25% chance of igniting target.

Experimental Ammunition

Armour Piercing Rounds (Depleted Uranium) –Twenty times price, highly illegal.. Utilizing a depleted uranium penetrator, these rounds are very effective at pushing through armour. The over-penetration is compensated for by the pyrophoric (air-combusting) properties of depleted uranium, meaning these rounds inflict horrific damage on a target. Halve armour values but do not halve damage - in fact, increase it by +2.

Make the Bastards Pay, or, Do We Get Found Out?

It's a fair bet Cyberpunks are going to piss people off and commit crime. Now you won't get bitched at for arbitrarily deciding if they get caught.

An Agent is the tracking party, whether a corporation, the cops, or a nutjob vigilante. They get a Ruthlessness Score. Higher is worse for the players.

Particularly personal or horrific crimes can modify the ruthlessness of the Agent.

The Player-group has a Stealth Score. This is effectively a penalty (or bonus) to the tracking party.

Stealth Factors

Finger-prints not removed & on-record (includes ammo casing left behind) +3
Camera feed not destroyed, corrupted, interfered with etc. +3
Disguises worn -3
Distinctive look +2
Bribed false witnesses -1 per witness (reverse this if witness brainjacked)
Known base of operations +3
Direct route taken to escape +1

Agent Resources
(These are limited by the Ruthlessness of the Agent)

Ruthlessness 0
Informants +1
Existing records on accessible databases +3

Ruthlessness 1
Neutral Witness +1

Ruthlessness 2
Records on restricted access databases +2

Ruthlessness 3
'Unwilling' Witness +1

Ruthlessness 4
Brainjacked Witness* +3
Unauthorized access to databases with records +2

Witnesses/Informants can only add +10 in total. Those with good information (clear sight, attentive etc.) add an additional +1.

Finally, roll a d10 and add the bonuses. Get over a 15? The agent knows the players did it, and potentially where they stay. Fun times ensue.

*Brainjacking forcefully rips information from a person, at best causing severe psychological scars, more often turning them into a vegetable.

ELECTRIC DEATH - Geopolitics

I've decided to a cyberpunk setting. If anything below is horribly wrong and dumb, please tell me so I can amend it to make more sense.

--

• The year is 2070.
• The EU grows in power, eventually combining Europe in the European Confederation, which butts up against Russia, China and the middle-eastern states. Incredibly bureaucratic, power is parcelled out to local governments answerable to the EC council.
• The UK left the EU before this due to ultra-nationalist sentiments, and has annexed all of Ireland. The current government is incredibly isolationist. 
• The United States was shattered due to increasingly separatist feeling across the country, leading to a domestic terrorist attack against the federal government which was followed by the secession of nearly all states.
• Canada has remained about the same, and is known for trading to many of the bordering and coastal ex-US states. Rumours of Alaskan annexation are rife.
• China became huge, swallowing many of the nearby Asian states, balkanizing them heavily. A second Great Leap Forwards has crippled the power, leaving many in desperate situations.
• The middle-east went through a second Arab Spring, with many revolutions leading to the founding of many democratic states and the throwing off of Cold War baggage. It is now a centre of civil liberties, technology companies and wealth.
• Japan is now known as the 'Island of Ghosts', as both great leaps in life-extension technology and plummeting population growth has lead to a massive lack in young natives. The government offers significant monetary rewards to those seeking to emigrate in.
• The huge amount of corporate interest in the African mineral deposits was eventually utilized by the governments. There are now 3 African super-states, all of whom use seized corporate assets to ensure their continuing power. The three states are - South Africa, Central African Republic and the Algerian Combine.
• Most of South America has conglomerated into the Combined States of South America (CSSA). Mexico has remained sovereign, and effectively acts as buffer between the CSSA and the southern nations of North America.

--

This is just a rough as fuck overview of what the political map would look like. Plenty of stuff for players to ignore or try and profit from. The world would involve lots of crime, because education and prospects are very bad for the average person.