[Other] Cyberpunk: Night City Blues

[Drinkslotsa]

Originally Posted by Mairien

Oh, this could be interesting! There's an idea taking shape in my head for a lawman/medtech. Good thing the deadline is so far ahead so the idea can crystalise and I can actually learn the system in the meantime, too.

To be clear, regarding the role, everyone starts the game with 4 ranks in lawman, right? And then if ever gain new role ranks over the course of the game, we might be able to use them for other roles. Am I getting this right? Or did you mean everyone has 1 rank in lawman and 3 potentially in something else?

Everyone starts with the 4 ranks of lawman, once the game gets started you can branch out in different directions

[NoizePollution]

You son of a gun! I'm in.

Mug Shot Kishan Nurikoma Nomad by Birth, Lawman by Obligation Kishan's mix of Japanese and Guatemalan ancestry is a result of the migration of her family from the gleaming towers of Arasaka servitude to the dirt-and-blood freedoms of the Aldecaldos nomad family. Her grandfather was a mercenary with a now-defunct South American PMC who found a place in the nomads after a job went wrong in Night City. Her mother made sure she spoke Spanish as well as English and her father's Japanese. Everyone around her from the time she could crawl drilled the importance of family and loyalty into her head. Her pack got into frequent clashes when she was young and she developed a thirst for that danger as a teenager. Thrill-seeker, daredevil, loose cannon. All accurate descriptions of her youthful exuberance in the face of physical peril. Emotional peril, however, is a sore spot for a girl raised in constant competition with the men of the pack for a spot on difficult missions. She's heard all too often that she isn't strong enough, isn't resilient enough, isn't 'man' enough to take charge on a run. Her snap reaction to challenges like that these days is to dive headfirst into proving them wrong. In order to take on the role of cop, she shed all the aesthetics of her nomad life. Hair undyed, posture upright, respect for authority intact. It's an act, but one she is doing her best to maintain. She dresses in popular fashion, not that she can get too flashy on a cop's salary. Her face is all edges, high cheekbones and a sharp jawline, while her body is borderline wiry from twenty-five years of 'just enough'. Just enough food, just enough medicine, just enough sleep. At halfway between five feet and six, she projects little in the way of menace or aggression. Both her general good-nature and the comfort of knowing she's dangerous does a lot to put her at ease. She can exert physical violence, both with the barrel of a gun or a joint lock, but she reserves violence for when it is most necessary so that the thrill of it doesn't die out early. Her scars, along with her pack tattoos, are mostly easy to hide under the long sleeves and buttoned up shirts of the NCPD uniform but knowing they are there is a small comfort when the pressures of pretending to be straight-laced gets under her skin. Her nights are often spent in clubs and bars, lost in the reverie of dance while her mind calls back to the pack parties around bonfires of tires. Much like risk, she has little hesitation toward the physical pleasures and absolute terror at the thought of emotional connection. Having only recently started living in Night City, she's found the bustle and chaos of Watson and Little China to her liking. Harboring a generational hatred for Arasaka and its machinations, her mind filled with stories of the reality for wage slaves in their thrall by her grandmother, hasn't been too difficult to disguise given the rather street-level nature of her patrols. As a rookie there is only so much expected and mingling with upper crust corpos hasn't been a part of it. Her base nature has been easy to appease with patrols along the border to Old Japantown and scrapes with the local Tyger Claws, all justified in the eyes of the law despite her use of excessive force. She does her best to keep cool while in uniform, but she isn't above a little lawlessness like taking a bribe to overlook a minor offense or throwing her weight around for the 'police discount' at a local noodle joint. The double life has begun to wear on her nerves, though, and she wakes up in a cold sweat more and more frequently lately, reaching for the gun under her pillow.

Permanent Record Kishan grew up like any other nomad; scrambling for anything she could get and constantly on the move. Her pack, a couple dozen strong, put food on the table by running deliveries and escort work outside Night City. That put them in the cross hairs of other packs and rival security forces often. Her family taught her to fire a gun and run a road block, but the pack taught her fight dirty and navigate a conversation. She ran afoul of the law a few times as a teenager but stopped taking on jobs when her mother got sick, spending more time at home or in the city negotiating medicine prices. Her brothers and her father pulled in steady enough work but that left Kishan home alone with the mother who was forgetting her more each day. The only thing that seemed to keep her grounded was long drives through the empty border towns, a habit Kishan has kept to even after her mother's death. The bombing really turned things around. Her pack took part in the reclaiming efforts on the towns around Night City, then followed most of the Aldecaldos to work on the rebuilding. Once they'd settled in, the pack decided they wanted somebody in the NCPD. Someone who could work toward their goals within the system, make connections and ignore indiscretions. Someone who's record was clean enough that it could be passed off as teenage indiscretion. With her mother fresh in the ground, she volunteered. It would mean a double life; one part dutiful cop, one part loyal nomad. They set her up in Watson and smoothed over the paperwork so she could wear the uniform. Not getting to see her family as often has been hard but she's made some interesting friends on the force. Most of the time, she does her best not to think about how those divided loyalties might come to bite her eventually. But she knows they will. Not only because the pack will inevitably call on her to do something that conflicts too much with her role as a cop, but because she's actually really enjoying playing that role. The NCPD works, at least on the surface, based on merit. If you pull your weight you are treated like a part of the team. None of that low-key misogyny so common out on the broken road. None that 'we need to keep our numbers up so get breeding' nonsense. At times she feels more at home in the precinct or a squad car than she ever did with reclaiming ghost towns with her extended family. A time will come when choices need to be made, but that time isn't now and there is plenty of synthcoke and sweat between her and that reckoning. Or so she hopes. Reynaldo 'Rain' Nurikoma: Kishan's father, and the strongest influence on her ethical and moral compass. He is a loyal Aldecalado, a dedicated family man and a demon behind the wheel. She keeps in touch with him with frequent messages though untraceable servers set up by the pack's netrunner but missing family dinners with him and her brothers is still one of the hardest parts about the job. He is a jovial man with a reputation of generosity and charity, and his name dropped in conversation often brings a smile to the faces who know him. Cynthia Mennolo (and Joey!): Kishan's neighbor is a trip. Once a dedicated party girl, now single mother to a wise-cracking and rambunctious ten year old, Cynthia serves as a constant reminder of the sacrifices they make for family. Her work at Short Circuit sometimes demands later hours and Kishan watches the kid in those circumstances. She's grown quite fond of the two of them, going out of her way to help them with anything in her means. Cynthia is the only only she's gone into detail with about her nomad upbringing. TBD, hoping to maybe hook in with another player's background here.

[Drifter One]

Name: Ricky Fortune
Handle: Zero
Role:Lawman (P.I.)
Ethnicity: North American (NC Native)
Personality:Gruff, grim but determined, disillusioned with NC and Law enforcement, but just cant keep away from dealing justice. Morally ambiguous in the pursuit of maintaining law and order, Ricky is often regarded as angry and miserable, whereas he in fact is determined to see justice is served. He gives a persona of being emotionally devoid, yet his achilles heel is his ex-wife and son. Will often bend the rules if it means getting the job done more efficiently/ Ricky unfortunately has turned to drink and prescription meds to help him through the short days and long nights.

Important People Important People:Isabella Fortune (Ex-Wife) and William (Billy) Fortune (Son) Ricky, married to the job ended up drifting apart from his wife and son as he neglected his family duties due to the pressures of the 4th Corporate war and the aftermath. Realising his mistakes to late to patch the rift, he now longs to be back with his family, and desperate to make NC the utopia Richard Night had promised. Kassius Kraven - Enemy, crime lord Ricky put behind bars. A 2 year operation saw Kassius finally convicted, but at great cost to both NCPD and Ricky personally. Kraven still instructs his crime ring from behind bars and vows to "end" Ricky. Lorna Dorn - Ex-Lover - A convenience escape when the pressures of being a cop became to much. Lorna is down on her luck and Ricky feels some accountability towards her well being. She acts as an informant to the underworld. Veronica Ramirez, Mother of Michael Ramirez (KIA whilst on duty with Ricky) Mother to Rickys Ex-partner who was killed on duty after a routine traffic stop my a meth'd up cyber-psycho. Ricky promised to look after the family, and send most of his money to Veronica to hel her. Ricky feels extremely guilty for the death of Michael.

 

https://www.rpgcrossing.com/profiler/view.php?id=93842

Appearance:Ricky Fortune always loved the Cop shows from the bygone era of the early 20th Century, his father often propping him in front of a screen with the old black and white stylistic cops and robbers, just to occupy him whilst he went to work. Whatever his work was, he never really knew. His early fascination lasted all though his youth and into adulthood, his drea set on being a man of justice and truth. Modelling himself on such an old style, Ricky is often seen in a long trench coat, of Kashmir material, a white shirt, sometimes sporting a tie, and his dark brown Trilby hat which was once his fathers. At forty years old, Ricky's once handsome and chiselled look is now giving way to middle age; his dark brown hair now mottled with grey, more grey in the stubble which so often frames his face which bares the lines and scars from someone who has seen and experienced far too much. Or maybe he relied on the bottle a little too much.

Background:Ricky sat in the office of his boss, Eddie Goldstein, silently chuffing on a cigarette, admiring the blue smoke slowly dancing up to the ceiling as he exhaled. It was not long before the old wooden door rattled open, Goldstein standing in the entrance, taking a moment of pause to look at the figure sat in the armchair in front of his oversized desk.

"Rick." he said as he shut the door and twisted the blind to prevent any prying eyes peering in". I'd offer you a seat, but you've already made y'self at home." he said with a flustered sigh and shuffled around to his side of the desk, dumping a mountain of paperwork onto its mahogany top.

"Chief." He acknowledged as he leaned forward and stubbed out his cigarette in the crystal ashtray on Goldsteins desk.

"What is it, Rick? I can't give you a raise, we discussed this. The precinct is scraping the barrel of its budget as it is, we just don't..."

Ricky raised his hand to interrupt.

"No, thats not it." He said in his usual husky voice.

"Then what?" demanded Goldstein, his attention on sorting through the paperwork now sat piled in front of him. "I don't have the time or the energy...
"
"Chief..." Ricky said has he placed his iron and his badge on the desk and slid it over towards Eddie Goldstein. "My time here is done. I've ridden my luck too many times and the streets are gettin' worse, y'know?"

Eddie stopped fingering through the papers and looked at Ricky dead in the eye. "Whatcha sayin', Rick?"

Ricky felt a lump become firmly lodged in his throat; the words seemed so simple to say in his mind, but after all this time, it was hard to let go. He swallowed hard and sat back in his chair, drawing another cigarette from its pack and tapping the end on the arm of the chair before lighting it.

I'm out. he said simply. There was a long moment of silence as Eddie looked at Ricky and Ricky stared back at his Chief.

F**k off! Eddie suddenly spat. Request denied!. Eddie turned back to his task at hand.

I'm serious, Eddie! Ricky shot back. I'm forty years old, married to a job and been in the force 20 years! What have I gotta show for it? A few old wounds and a shitty condo in Heywood?

Once again Eddie stopped his chore, thumping the papers down. "Rick, you've been an integral part the the precinct, the rookies look up to you, man! Your accolades speak for themselves! You know I'm gonna put you forward for senior, I just don't have the budget..."

"No. Eddie. No. It ain't about that. "Ricky retorted as he scratched his stubbly chin.

"Its the Kid, aint it?" Eddie asked. Ricky turned to stared out of the window. "It is! Listen Rick, it wasn't your fault, he just..."

"Wasn't it!?" he bellowed back, losing his composure briefly. "Nineteen he was. Nineteen! I had to go and explain to his Ma how her baby boy got zero'd on a routine f****ing traffic stop! Had enough of this sh!t, Night City can go to hell."

"Come on Rick..." Eddie had now taken a soften tone. "We need you. I need you. That kids family needs you. What was his name, Raymon?"

"Ramirez."

"Ramirez, thats it, a good kid."

"Too good for this hell hole. That boy had a bright future, taken away from some iced up cyberpsycho. I gotta leave Night City. Im gonna go it alone for a while until I can scrape together enough eddies." Ricky stood from his seat and took a long draw from his cigarette.

"Come on, Rick. "Called Eddie in vain as his friend turned the handle on the door. "Besides, you gotta give 20 working days notice!"

Ricky paused for a moment and his shoulders slumped slightly. "How much leave have I taken in the last three years, chief?"

"Err...I dunno, 10 days maybe? You have accumulated quite a lot of leave, i can tell ya" he said with a chuckle.


"Then I am on leave. With immediate effect."

"What? No! Rick, wait!"

The door slammed shut and the office fell into silence, except for the blind still rattling against the window.

Ricky Fortune, or "Zero" as he is known by his fellow officers due to the number of gonks he has iced, was a decorated NCPD veteran but has become disillusioned with Cop life due to the loss of a young rookie on his watch. He wants to start afresh and leave NC for good, and upon leaving the force has set up a Private Investigation firm to bring in some eddies in order to fulfill his dream. It was sat in his office one day when he received a mysterious call from an unknown fixer...

[Mairien]

Made a few edits here and there, I think I'm good now. May add a character sheet later, but I understand it's not required.

Would we be mostly in uniform or more like plainclothes criminal investigations people? Or a mix (because the NCPD is short-staffed and sometimes just has to utilise everyone they can, no matter what they're theoretically supposed to be doing)?

[NoizePollution]

I'm going to probably tweak the app a dozen times before the deadline, but the soul is up there now.

And for your chart, @drinkslotsa, she will advance as Nomad in the future.

EDIT: Ha! I finally found something similar enough to my vision to replace the AI art I initially had as a placeholder.

[Drifter One]

So just wondering,

Does that work with your set up @Drinkslotsa? Ricky has become a Private Investigator although still working closely with NCPD.

If not, I can adjust the story so that he retires, but something just draws him back to Cop life.

[Drinkslotsa]

@mairien no need for a sheet just yet, plainclothes moments will happen for sure, but when on duty everyone will have their uniforms, but those will be provided and not needed for you to take into account in your creation.

@noizepollution tweak as much as you need, I'll add nomad to the chart, glad you found yourself a Pic, I know the struggles of getting it just right.

@drifter one, a PI background would work fine for this, it would essentially mean you worked closely with them before hand and then were offered a salary to join full time, even as a lawman you wouldn't have to give up your PI gigs

[Drifter One]

Originally Posted by Drinkslotsa

@drifter one, a PI background would work fine for this, it would essentially mean you worked closely with them before hand and then were offered a salary to join full time, even as a lawman you wouldn't have to give up your PI gigs

Ok cool, i'll leave as is then. Added image of our Rick.

[Mairien]

Could be something like him trying to start up his private firm, but finding that it didn't pay his way after those pesky taxes, so he went back and just does side gigs (which maybe he doesn't find it worth to declare ).

[Drifter One]

Yeah that could work. Bloody taxman!

Side gigs are cash in hand deals only

[NoizePollution]

Continuing to tweak, as I do, I believe I've settled on her central conflict being 'pack expectations vs opportunities provided by the NCPD'. I assume I've got some solid autonomy on developing how her pack functions, so I've made them kind of traditionalist jerks. A close relationship with her immediate family and a strained relationship with her extended family sounds like a fun dichotomy to play with.

I'm loving the character apps so far. Looks like some fun personalities to play alongside.