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

The Old Serpents

Sunday Players super-mega-do-not-read.
The Old Serpents

One-eyed snakes of Law, predating Chaos, life, fire and light. They wield something like magic, but drawing on the age and solidity of the world rather than puncturing reality and channeling the Sea outside. They wish to see all life and light not of them extinguished, but they are patient.

They are immense, and coil far below the sun, under the mountains, where their servitors speak to the pathetic hominids who give them worship. A wise Old Serpent will never fight directly.

HD 18 / AC AS LEATHER / BITE D12 - also is a 12th level magic user w/ access to all spells.

Speaking Serpents

The bastard children of the Old Serpents and something long extinct, any given Old Serpent will have a brood of 1d8 of these creatures. They act as the messengers, passing on information to the People of the Serpent, and commanding the Blind Flesh when direct intervention is needed. They despise the Primordial Beetles - and the feeling is mirrored.

The Speaking Serpents can speak only in lies. The People of the Serpent simply take this as a protective measure - the words of the divine cannot be spoken directly without burning the lungs, throat and mouth gravely.

Speaking Serpents will seek to bite once and leave if attacked.

HD 4 / AC AS CHAIN / BITE D10 + SAVE OR DIE POISON.

Those surviving the bite of a Speaking Serpent gain the ability to taste lies on the air. Taking any form of antidote will remove this ability.

Primordial Beetles

These ghost-white beetles dwell in the unformed pockets of reality, and something must be tossed into their sacrifice-bits to rouse them from their burrow. They have a loose alliance to the Old Serpents, and each Old Serpent has 1d6 -2 beetles it could call upon. They gnaw upon time to extend their burrows, and can, instead of attacking, vomit forth Aging Amber, which ages any who touch it, causing the gain of d20 years.

Their chitin is covered in nearly-human faces, all of which sing the glory of the beetle continuously. This is very very loud.

HD 8 / AC AS PLATE +1 / BITE D12 + 3 OR VOMIT / FLYING

Blind Flesh

The original creations of the Old Serpents once they felt the shift from cold, sterile law to freewheeling chaos, the Blind Flesh are something like men - eight foot muscle bound creatures entirely lacking in a head, the neck-stump containing a pair of nostrils and strange, reptilian disks for hearing. Their flesh is lightly scaled. They are bound entirely to the will of their Old Serpent, and their greater servants. Time has worn down their numbers, and each Old Serpent has 2d20 of these monsters remaining. When the time comes, more will be made.

In combat they use their hideous strength to launch characters into walls, resolved as a successful grapple check, and dealing d12 +4 damage.

HD 6 / AC AS LEATHER  / MAUL FOR D8+3 OR THROW

CULTS.

Being a record of the Proscribed Cults and Societies of the Nilfenbergian Empire.

"The god you believe in is safe - because it does not exist. Your god is not real. Ours are."
 -Heretic Jean Halet prior to his burning.

Cult of the Unknown / Forgottten.

You shall know them by the wearing of any faded, destroyed or worn religious symbol.
The power is forgotten and stronger for it. Weakness through worship, and strength through obscurity. Only a select few may know of the cult, and fewer still be indoctrinated. The commands - Destroy libraries. Kill scholars and the faithful. Hide me and forget me - and so I shall grow. The most forgetful shall be rewarded.

Pestilent Church

Those afflicted are those blessed – fever dreams speak truer than the unclouded eye, as it is writ within the Book of Lepers. The Prophets are the afflicted, and they render truth throughout their suffering.

We, the Seekers, find the Prophets and bring them to our hallowed halls, wherein the Minders will prolong the flickering flame of a Prophets life and record their sacred words, to be added to the manifold predictions of the Prophets. These are stored within the Blighted Archives, wherein senior Seekers will divine the true meanings and guide the faithful.

--

We give prayer in the Hall of Moans, wherein the most blessed of prophets, immobile in their holy state, moan and reveal the hidden secrets. The only hymns in our church will be those of the Prophets, leading us forwards. Oh, the irony the most agonised are the most blessed, begging for death when they are on the edge of divinity.

Some diseases spew forth substance, bile, blood and fluid. Some prophets spew prophecy. Within the Chamber, the Minders discern meaning like the Haruspices of old, but informed with truth and disease rather than primitive superstition and animal entrails.

Within the Blighted Archives we store the words of all Prophets, as well as our relics – whether they be hated cures for blessings or the viscera of the most notable saints. Each Prophet receives a tome, eventually bound in their own skin, no matter how leprous.

The Unwashed Servants of the Immaculate Prince, the Purest Divinity Untainted.

The commandment - Debase this World and Honour Me.

Loved is the sewer and the charcoal burner.

My idols are filth encrusted - better they do not pretend to reflect my glory.

You shall worship me as a Soiled God - the Immaculate Prince cannot be understood by your mere meat and filth and dust and dirt.

All members of this foulsome cult are well versed in the desecration and defilment of religious structures.

The Many Mouths of Starvation / The Eaters / Cult of Consumption

We fight famine. We hold starvation at bay through our ceaseless consumption. Eat. Eat, Eat, That's all there is to it, my delicate morsel. Hm? Why should I not enjoy saving the world.

The Schism - Quantity or Quality? The Gluttons and the Gourmands. Which will sate a divine hunger best? Mountains of material, edible or no, or else the most exotic, the most daring culinary exploits? Gourmands are of noble birth, with vast sums of money and many strings to pull. Gluttons are simply unstoppable mountains of flesh, their custom steel teeth gnashing endlessly.

Peace Killers / The Cult of Limited Strife

Our enemy, the Strife King, the Lord of Battle, let slip a powerful secret - war is a limited resource. Peace shall reign triumphant once our task is complete. We are gladiators, killers, soldiers, mercenaries and generals all serving under the banner of peace. We spar endlessly afore entering the world to drain the pool of battle as quickly as we can, so that we may all know peace.

THE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

The Battle Exotic - The more unusual, the more novel the battle, the greater the drain upon that resource, War. These members are dressed flamboyantly and often wield custom made weapons, discarding them often to move onto something stranger - often mid-fight.

The Battle Extended - The cost of a fight upon that pool of War grows strongest with length - all fights should be drawn out as long as possible to maximise the cost. Adherents to this school will often bear heavy armour but very light weapons. Knights with knives.

The Battle Perfect - The higher the skill employed in the battle, the more taxing it is for the Strife King and his hoard of War. These inidividuals seek out the strongest, most skilled opponents. They will dedicate themselves entirely to a single style and weapon.

The Battle Tremendous - The volume is key - the largest battles, the greatest wars. Manipulators, generals and diplomats rather than the individual fighters of the other Schools.

Ye Olde RPG Rounduppe

This is just me rambling about systems I've played/read, it's nothing special. Hopefully it'll help me identify what I like about some systems and dislike about others. There's no real ranking to the order. Oh, I gave the systems a score out of 7 because literally why not

D&D 3.5 [2/7]
OH GOD FUCK THIS THING. It's the system that got me into the current state of playing as much as I do, and with a long ass (3 years I think?) campaign with it, you'd think I knew the rules pretty well. Nope. Never had a DMG for one, so we played almost entirely out of the PHB and goddamn did we hack the shit out of it - fuck balance, I want players to feel like they're good at something. This system is probably where my phobia of social skills come from - and simulationy systems in general. Oh, and 'character builds' - holy hell I despise that shit. We had several players swap out feats once we realised some are just objectively worse, but not in a cool niche way, they were just shit feats. Goddamnit. Never have I felt the rules pushing back at me so much whenever we tried to do something cool. Despite all this, that campaign was fantastic, and lead to me meeting my current playgroup - so not all bad I guess. OH MAN I just remembered how much I have come to despise level appropriate encounters - URGH they either stomped or got stomped on it didn't fucking matter. Far easier and more fun with my current approach of 'what's there is there because it's there'.

Call of Cthulhu (6th I think?) [5/7]
Ohhh boy - I ran one of my favourite games ever with this bad boy, which will certainly colour me looking back over it. For a while I thought d100 roll under skill was the best idea ever purely because of this system - and the sanity system grabbed me. Looking back now, the profileration of a huge number of skills kinda reduces the game to 'what can my character do' rather than 'what can we do in this situation' for many players. The sanity system works but it feels a bit too, like, direct? There's a certain lack of subtly to it, although that's probably just as much on me and the players as the system. The huge shopping list of guns makes me very happy, as does the grimoire of spells. Hell, the entire magic system is quite exciting, as are the monsters. One complaint is, despite taking reduced damage from gunfire, too many of them can still be put down by enough lead. More monsters-as-murder-puzzles and less shoot-them-lots would've been nice - again, probably on me there. It was a couple of years ago I ran this now, forgive me.

WFRP 1e [5/7]
This system is seriously cool. The character building section is great fun, although a tad long-winded - having said that, characters are more survivable that most of my games so it balances out. The career system is fantastic for character generation, although I'm not sure how it works out in long-term play with the changing careers - you're adventurers, you don't have time to learn WHATEVER it is you're after. The combat is seriously fun, and the flipping of your hit roll for location is simply fantastic. Wounds being a buffer zone between you and serious damage is nice too, something I'm a fan of. On the down side, it has a disgusting amount of social skills, which makes me very sad indeed. Oh, the monster section is sick too, plenty of fun stuff in there, although monster stat-blocks are a bit long. I can't speak on the magic system, but I heard it's pretty sub-par. Still, I'd love to get a chance to run this more long-form.

AD&D 1e [?/7]
Some of the first RPG books I ever read and I still haven't run it. DMG is pretty dang neat though.

LotFP [6/7]
In case you haven't ever read the blog, this system is my shit. I love this book. Best RPG purchase to date (followed closely by Yoon-Suin). Simple stripped down mechanics with a strong sense of elegance and logical flow without boiling down to a single dice mechanic (i.e. becoming boring). Yeah I kinda like it, and I'm biased, deal with it. It's easy to hack the shit out of, adding new classes and mechanics as you damn well please without disrupting everything, which is always a serious plus. I know that the main hype behind it is the adventures and the early modern setting but me and the Six (yes, count 'em, six) Bastards never really got into that territory. We did play Fuck for Satan which was pretty wonderful. But I digress - the system is neat, tidy, abstracts away shit that don't matter so you can focus on what do matter. Oh, and summon was a watershed moment for me. Goddamn I love summon, what a beautiful gift to the world. Yeah I enjoy LotFP so I recommend you go buy it TODAY!!! (Oh, and people who whine about the art - just go get the free no-art version and enjoy the rules. Print it out and draw your own boring sexless goreless illustrations or something, jeez (although the dragon-vagina-lady is pretty grim, it's there for a dang reason))

Stars Without Number [4/7]
I love the simplicity on this, but it's also kinda the issue. The base of the rules (to my inexperienced young'un eye) is pretty similar to B/X, and I'm not sure that's the formula to go to for sci-fi. Basically because levels mean more HP which is weird to me. You don't get better at not dying from bullets, not really. Progression through gear is way more sci-fi to me - which reminds me, the list of guns is a bit inadequate. In fantasy gaming, boiling shit down to weapon classes is fine, the difference between them is usually tiny. (Obviously you've got exceptions, where all weapon factors are considered) But in a sci-fi game, we've got an entire galaxy's worth of gear to sift through and buy - so we need GUNS galore. I ended up writing a system for guns, armour and spaceship mods, which are good fun and you should go look at now. Apart from levels and limited shopping lists I think this is a pretty solid base for space adventures, but I'm not sure if I'd pick it again. Had a good run with it though.

Cyberpunk 2020 [6/7]
OHHH BOY I love this system. Bought for me as a gift, this thing is wonderful - allowing for the existence of social skills anyway. The system just works nicely, although it only has 2 real dice mechanics which upsets me slightly. BUT the mechanic does make people who are good at things feel good at them, and those less skilled know about it. The combat is insanely good fun, and flows quite nicely once you learn what the fuck you're doing. We've had a lot of legs blown off in our short time with this system. Interestingly, this is one of the few games where the players decided to play 'good guys' - although that was probably because they're all contrarians and like watching me squirm. Whatever. The biomod system is really fun, and I have no idea how hacking works - everyone says STAY THE FUCK AWAY so I did. A really nice system which is super fun and easy to hack to whatever you want (see DUNGEONPUNK 1066)

Dungeon Crawl Classics [5/7]
For a system I've played very little I sure have stolen a lot from this game. Random tables for just about everything, spellburn, corruption, mutants, oh my! It's a really nice system, though I can't say much on how it plays out long-term - I've just run quite a few funnels. The huge mechanical differentiation between classes seems really really cool - fighters getting bonus damage and hit dice, not a flat bonus, thieves recovering luck, cleric pissing off gods and the magic user becoming a horrendous mutant. That's a point - the magic system is very cool and very bloated. Spells can take up dang PAGES - although rolling for the degree of effect is really fun, adds a lot more mystery and danger to spell casting, something I'm a serious fan off.

SWYVERS RPG [10/7]
Best thing ever written of course.

One Liners - Systems I've played like once or whatever

oWoD - Mage - [3/7] - Great game, shit system. It's so clanky and rusty and badly made. If the GM wasn't a joy to play I'd drop it.
Rules Cyclopedia D&D - [4/7] - Yeah it's an okay system - nothing really shines to me though. Not played much. The game itself is really good fun.
Traveller - [5/7] - I NEARLY DIED AND I GOT A SPACE SHIP (GO SCOUTS) AND I'M 50. Yeah this seems really fun, would like to play.
Dungeon World - [2/7] - Yeah no, single dice mechanic for just about fucking everything, no real dice rolling, it just seems weird and not my bag at all.

Things I want to play/read
Hackmaster looks really sweet
The Black Hack seems to be blowing up, and I can only assume good things?
CoC 7th maybe? I don't know.
Runequest / Stormbringer also sound pretty hype, would like to try those out.

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.

Janky LOTFP Monk

Monk

(we're talking fantasy-asian monks, but more focused on the physical than the mystic arts or such)

Dedication to Physical Perfection
HIT DICE - 1d6
Base Attack Bonus +1 (no progression)
Saves as Elf
XP as Fighter

Abilities -

Self Improvement - every 3 levels (1, 3, 6 etc) the Monk can improve a stat by one, as long as the new bonus is no more than 2 above the lowest.

Each round when the Monk attacks, he chooses a stance -
>Light; damage d4 but +3 AC (immune to grapples)
>Balanced; damage d6 and +2 AC
>Heavy; damage d8

On Heavy Stance, dealing 4+ damage (or maximum damage in other stances), follow through with either ::
x roll again add damage - 1 dice size (d6 + d4 for example)
OR
x cool combat trick (gives saves if appropriate) (arm breaking, eye gouging etc)

When considering attack bonus for grapples, treat them as a fighter of equal level & use advantage (roll twice take best)

Spell Slave Sacrifice

Sick of magic users tearing through shit? Throw some of these bastards at them. Make the most sense employed by sorcerous societies and amoral wizard-killers.

Emaciated human forms with heads of hydrocephalic proportions, the veins tangled and bulging. Their maws are toothless, and wide open, like that of a basking shark. What they seek is spells, to consume and mutate, something essential in the wizardly duels of the Illyrian courts.

They only eat spells not cast by those whose blood they have supped upon.

HD 2 AC AS NONE ATTK 1D4 PITIFUL PAWING MORALE 12 MOV AS MAN

Whenever a spell is cast within clear eyeshot of a Spell Slave, the spell fails to take effect - instead being consumed by the Spell Slave. For every spell consumed, the Spell Slave will mutate. After 1d6 mutations, the Spell Slave with explode, causing (number of mutations)d6 damage to those within 30 feet. Standard practice is to send these abominations charging forwards, to distance them from their handlers.

d8	Mutation
1	Extra Limb – Either an additional attack, or an atrophied useless limb, hanging limp (50/50)
2	Fleshy Wind Sail – Spell Slave gains ability to glide, travelling great distances on their wind-catching skinflaps.
3	Hideous Yelling – The throat swells, and their piteous moans becoming deafening – save or stunned.
4	Meat Tendrils – 1d4 tendrils sprout, each seeking to entangle an opponent as the Slave shrieks in agony from growing pains. They are easily cut, but regrow in 1d4 rounds.
5	Hideous Growth – The Slave doubles in size and HD, increasing damage by one dice size.
6	Self-Preservation – The Slave becomes aware of their purpose and fate, and attempts to flee combat before they explode from increasing mutations.
7	Slave Contagion – Their nature becomes contagious – any touched will gain the nature of a Spell Slave, without any allegiance.
8	Radical Skin Modification – The skin of the Spell Slave becomes harder, moving up their AC by 2. Skin becomes stone, stone to metal, and metal to materials unknowable.