[Other] Cyberpunk - The Edge of Glory

[Hal Hammerhand]

I would love to see how the interlock system works in a game as I very much liked the TTRPG Witcher rules.

A Lover and a Fighter: Character Name: Link Blanchet Handle: Lynx Role: Solo Personality: Lynx is moody, rash and headstrong. Very confidant in her own abilities and likes to play it fast and loose. Her emotions can get the best of her at times but those are her best times, in her opinion. She'll dive headfirst into a conflict, especially for the sake of love, which she values above many things. She tries to stay neutral when it comes to people, trying not to let emotions get in the way of her job but too often she catches feelings for others she works closely with. Lynx also likes the occasional drink and more than occasional cigar. Appearance: Lynx has a short, compact and muscular frame, around six feet tall and two hundred and fifteen pounds. Her French-European descent gives her light tan skin and black hair, her hair is shaved on the one side and long on the top in an undercut punk style. Despite being raised in the nice part of Night City, she prefers punk nomad style leathers, a sports bra, snug blue jeans, red leather jacket and a pair of ****-kickers and she never leaves home without her pair of fingerless gloves. In her pocket, she always carries a photograph of her parents and herself when she was younger...when they were a family. Back story: Link was born to a pair of corporate managers, very high up in the Arasaka Corporation ever since they had taken the job offer and moved from France to Night City. Link had a good, almost easy life, living above all the other rabble of the city in one of the starscrapers. She was able to attend the Arasaka academy for the better part of her life even if her grades weren't the best. It was some kind of life, she even had a dog that followed her everywhere. It was Militech that changed it all, though. They framed Link's mother and father in some kind of bad business when she was barely fifteen. Her parents got put in prison and left her and Buck alone but that was when the Arasaka Corporation swooped in, they couldn't let the child of their best managers end up on the streets or worse. She finished her education and Arasaka took care of her, made her an enforcer and even gave her some chrome. That was when she got her codename, Lynx, for the chrome she was given. It was all good except she was making a middle class wage while living an upper-class life and had to start doing jobs on the side. That's when she met Stamp, a netrunner who hooked her up with a decent few jobs and they became quite close in their work together. It wasn't hard to imagine they would stuffit quite often but that only lasted until Stamp started going cyberpsycho and nearly blew their last mission together and nearly killed Lynx in the process. Right before Stamp disappeared, she revealed that she was just setting Lynx up for Militech. That left her with a question though, why would they be setting her up? It wasn't like she was important like her parents had been. Lynx went straight for a while after that close call, working for Arasaka only and spending her free time with Buck at her new apartment in the low-rent district. From this base of operations she ran into trouble with a boostergang, a bunch of low-life gonks. She found help in a strange place, a dark-haired fixer from the same part of town called Daisy. The more time Lynx spent with Daisy and the more dangerous stuff they got into, the more input/output they found themselves in. She would never try to claim Daisy as her mainline since she was so free-spirited and truth be told, that was why she liked this fixer. Together, Daisy and Lynx tackled the posergang, flatlining more than a couple of them. With the boostergang takedown under her belt, Arasaka wanted to give Lynx more eddies but she had to turn in Daisy to get the raise and she wasn't about to do that but they tried to play her and made Daisy think she was going to. Daisy nearly flatlined Lynx but walked out on her instead. Anything they had together was over for the time being but shortly after, while sipping some Chooh2 in a dive bar, she met another girl and what started out as a rebound turned into her mainline. Her name was Amber and she was a surgeon at a local clinic. It was refreshing to find someone who didn't have any corporate or underworld affiliates, a normal person who was just living the day-to-day and running a whole different scene, a whole different world than she was. For a time, Lynx had the idea that maybe she didn't have to moonlight as an edgerunner, that maybe she could be just another working stiff. That was until Stamp showed up again and in some kind of power-play for Militech, she kidnapped Amber, sending Lynx's whole world upside down once more. Lynx had to make peace with Daisy, she needed her fixer contacts in the city in order to find Amber and if this was all mixed up with Militech, maybe she could find evidence that her parents were framed too. She had to take the bad with the good at this point, otherwise it was all going to seem bad.   -Western Europe/French -Moody, Rash and Headstrong -Clothing: Nomad leathers -Hairstyle: Shaved sides, spiky top. -Affectation: fingerless gloves -Most valued thing is Love -Stays neutral but falls in love easy. -Most valued person is A pet -A photograph -Corporate Managers -Corporate luxury starscraper. -Family imprisoned, you escaped. -1 friend is An old enemy -Enemies: ex-girlfriend and her edgerunner crew (4) -Lover went cyberpsycho -A personal goal came between you and lover. -Lover was kidnapped -Save her family and her kidnapped lover, if possible. -Corporate enforcer that takes jobs on the side. -Occasionally slip and do bad things but rare. -A corporation is gunning for her. -Territory of a particular fixer or contact.   -Biomonitor - 100eb, 0HL -Neural link - 500eb, 7HL -Sandavistan - 500eb, 7HL -EMP threading - 10eb, 0HL ---------------------------------------------------------- -Assault rifle and 70 ammo -Very heavy pistol and 30 ammo -Heavy melee weapon -Light armorjack body -Light armorjack head --------------------------------------------------------- -Athletics + -Brawling + -Concentration -Conversion -Evasion + -First Aid -Human Perception + -Language (Streetslang) -Language (French) -Local Expert (France) -Perception -Persuasion -Stealth -Autofire + -Handgun + -Interrogation + -Melee Weapon + -Resist Torture/Drugs + -Shoulder Arms -Tactics +

[Hal Hammerhand]

I was going to crank out a character that resembled Wolverine/Logan-with-chrome especially when I saw the different cyber-options but now I am thinking of randomizing his lifepath for the fun of it since I did love that aspect of this system. Is there a link to a thread where we can do our lifepath rolls?

[Effete]

Originally Posted by Drifter One

The way I see it, and personally think it is better than 2020, is that getting chromed up is a gamble. As Marshmallow alluded to, you can have it, but it comes at a cost. Why wouldn't it? if it didn't then we would all just slam on 'ware after 'ware until we become that invincible killing/hacking machine, which just makes any game become shite.

Okay, so I re-read the section on Therapy and it looks like you CAN bring Humanity Loss down to a minimum of 2 HL per piece of cyberware. So my bad for missing that. I only wish that info was more conspiculously provided instead of being tucked away in the Wound Recovery rules, but... >shrug<

So you actually CAN get a ton of chrome and become an "invincible killing machine," but it will cost you a ton of time and money in Therapy. Skinweaves and Armor Plating is actually the one place where cyberware seems to have a benefit over mundane armor since it has an "auto-repair" feature for when it ablates. I'm still not sure what the benefit of other cyberware is, though, since the descriptions are identical to mundane gear. I mean, with miniturizition and intergrated circuitry in clothing, I see no reason to chip in UNLESS you want to borg out. So the question is, what do you actually get for the Humanity cost?

[Drifter One]

Originally Posted by Hal Hammerhand

I was going to crank out a character that resembled Wolverine/Logan-with-chrome especially when I saw the different cyber-options but now I am thinking of randomizing his lifepath for the fun of it since I did love that aspect of this system. Is there a link to a thread where we can do our lifepath rolls?

Hi Hal, thanks for the app. Just doing the basics for lifepath in the app thread for now, just to get a feel for the character. The real nitty gritty will be done in the game sub-thread when characters have been selected.

Also, i'm not a stickler for randomization so lifepath does not need to be rolled randomly. It is entirely plyer choice.

[Palliven]

Originally Posted by Drifter One

The way I see it, and personally think it is better than 2020, is that getting chromed up is a gamble. As Marshmallow alluded to, you can have it, but it comes at a cost. Why wouldn't it? if it didn't then we would all just slam on 'ware after 'ware until we become that invincible killing/hacking machine, which just makes any game become shite.

Not having any experience in this system I can't compare but will say I like the approach as you summarized it. I really enjoy decisions having impact and taking a character through the consequences, good and bad, from this.

[psuedenim]

@Effete - I found this pretty useful when looking at getting chromed-up. Why are you getting chromed-up? How do you think of those you plan to use it on and what makes that meat bag any different from any other one?

https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkre...rpunk_red_215/

[Drifter One]

@Classic Gamer - what is Rexs' Handle?

[Effete]

Originally Posted by psuedenim

@Effete - I found this pretty useful when looking at getting chromed-up. Why are you getting chromed-up? How do you think of those you plan to use it on and what makes that meat bag any different from any other one?

https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkre...rpunk_red_215/

Thanks for the link.
I've both played and run cyberpunk games in the past, so I already knew all about the thematic reasons behind Humanity Loss and Cyberpsychosis. What I was confused about was the substantial increase in the amount of Humanity Loss compared to previous versions (especially since the way Humanity is calculated hasn't changed). In my search for an answer I found out that Humanity Loss can actually be recovered through Therapy, reducing the initial cost. (In previous versions, Humanity could only be recovered after removing the cyberware, so I had assumed the same was true in RED.) The book does a poor job of explaining this in the introduction to cyberware; you need to dig through the chapter on healing wounds about 100 pages later.

So, while my concerns about Humanity Loss have been largely alleviated, I'm still left wondering what you actually buy with the HL. Functionally, most cyberware is no different from regular gear, so why actually get the implant? Sure, cyberware is "part of the world" or whatever, but at the end of the day, it's still a game and balanced mechanics matter.

[Classic Gamer]

Originally Posted by Drifter One

@Classic Gamer - what is Rexs' Handle?

Rex Everything is both his handle and his legally changed name, but we can come up with a call sign for him if the team wants him to use one for anonymity.

[Hal Hammerhand]

I think my application is finished. I used the basic 'Edgerunner (fast and dirty) as far as basic chrome capabilities but if you choose to do it differently if I get selected, it shouldn't be hard to add in a few extra bits.

Thank you for this opportunity.

[taleteller50]

I'll throw a hat into the ring.

- Name: Kenny Patrick Lawlor Handle: Bean Bandit Role: Nomad   Bean was born Kenny Patrick Lawlor shortly after his family lost their farm to the corps. In truth his father was a rancher who had brokered a deal with the corps. He knew the corps would get the land eventually so he made a deal where he would be allowed to stay on as a manager along with his ranch hands. He still needed to sell the land to the corp along with convincing his neighbors to follow suit but in the end people would still be employed and those who weren't would at least have something to start over. Problem was it was all a scam. The corpos had put some fine print into the contracts which not only gave them full rights over the land for half the agreed on price but without needing to keep on anyone they didn't want. Bean's father gathered the people and tried to fight back against this injustice but all he received was a bullet to the skull for trespassing. Those who survived took to the roads with a pregnant Mrs. Lawlor and eventually named themselves the Roadbusters. The Roadbusters did what they could to survive, helping to raise the newly born Kenny on stories of his father and the betrayal he had tried to fight against. Eventually the group turned to smuggling and eventually joined the Snake Nation under Freddy Douglas. During his early years Kenny was mostly raised by the hands who had stayed loyal to the Lawlors and who had survived the push back after the betrayal. This was due to Kenny's mother turning to substance abuse to deal with the heartbreak of her dead husband. This only grew worse after the Roadbusters began transporting drugs across the states. Mrs. Lawlor began dipping into the products and grew detached from what remained of her family. With Mrs. Lawlor dying just prior to the tribe's joining the Snake Nation, Kenny was adopted by the tribe's new leader who had already taken over management of the group long ago. From here Kenny was raised much like any other nomad kid. Riding the roads, elbow deep in grease, and surviving however he could. Eventually he was allowed to drive and took to it like a fish to water. There was nothing quite like the thrill of racing and Kenny soon became an accomplished courier. Of special note Kenny earned his call sign of Bean Bandit when he had the opportunity to and successfully stole a corp truck that turned out to be full of coffee beans.   My Word, My Bond Although Bean loves his rides and racing he's not about to break his word for either. If Bean says he's going to do something then he's going to do everything in his power to keep that promise. He might not hold any particular loyalty for those he drives for but once he's accepted a deal Bean's going to stick with it. Provided you were straight with him from the start. There's nothing that'll make Bean want to punch someone more then that person thinking they can pull a fast one on him. You want him to transport dangerous goods across state lines? No problem, just be sure to pay the extra creds for that kind of job. You plan on telling him it's a few kegs of beer when, in reality, it's a bomb? Bean'll track you down and shove that C4 down your throat. Thrillseeker Bean is driven by the need for speed. Nothing brings a smile to his face more then blowing the doors off a racing choom as they rockets down the streets. If winning means doing some kind of crazy stunt, Bean will do it with a smile. However, Bean knows the difference between an acceptable risk to get the job done and a stupid stunt just to show off. Stunting's fine on your own time but when you're on the clock you better leave that sh!t at home. No Guns Despite their effectiveness Bean doesn't really trust guns. It goes back to when his tribe was sold some junk shooters just before a rumble. Bean almost died because the pistol he was given jammed. Only thing that saved him was his father's knife he had as a back up. Since then Bean hasn't put much trust in guns or other mechanical weapons, instead focusing on his own fists and a trusty blade. He'll use a gun if he has to but would rather leave the shooting to those who are better at it. I Move 'em. I Don't Use 'em or Push 'em While smuggling Bean would transport drug shipments since they were some of the most lucrative deals. However, he never started sampling the wares and he refused to be the one selling them. He'd seen what drugs had done to his mother and wasn't about to do that himself. Bean sees it as a choice. If you plan on taking drugs to deal with life it doesn't matter if Bean's the one who brought them. If he doesn't somebody else will. But he's not about to convince someone that they need drugs or put that sh!t into his own body. Users made their choice and Bean isn't going to lose sleep over it. Keep the Kids Out Of It Bean has a bit of a soft spot for kids. It's not like he wants to be around them or look after them. He just doesn't want to get them involved with anything criminal or dangerous. Let 'em stay home and out of trouble. If you ain't old enough to handle a stiff drink you ain't old enough to be out here with the big boys. This means Bean doesn't work with kids and he doesn't transport them either. You got some big pay day coming from that kidnapped corpo kid? Great! Just leave Bean out of it. The only exception is if there isn't a breach of contract and Bean thinks the kid'll have a better chance surviving if Bean is nearby. Of course, as soon as it's safe to offload the kid Bean'll kick the junior to the curb. Even if they or whoever Bean is working for might disagree. "Kid's weren't a part of the deal choom. You lookin' to pay the penalty fee for breaking our agreement"? <Crack><Crack>   Bean typically wears a heavily armored synth-leather jacket, bandana (plated), leather driving gloves, and jeans. All on a massive frame with broad shoulders. Beneath the cloths Bean's toned muscles have a few scars from life out on the road but nothing too large or ugly. He also tries to always have a few knives hidden around his body.   Cultural Region North America What are you like? Stable and Serious / Quite and Honest but Quick to Act Style Nomad Leathers / Early American Hairstyle Messy Affectation Fingerless Gloves What do you value most? Your word How do you feel about most people? I stay Neutral / Judge them on their actions. There's plenty of people out there who have no problem treating you like trash so you always need to be careful. However, there's still some who are worth trusting so you'd only be shooting your own foot to not give 'em a chance. Of course, they only get the one chance. If they're the type to break a deal there better be a good reason for it or else they better be ready for a broken jaw. Background/Family Crisis Family lost everything through betrayal Childhood Environment Nomad Pack Moving Place to Place Background Nomad Smuggler Life Goals Gain fame and recognition Most Valued Person Personal Hero (Father) Most Valued Possession His car Second Most Valued Possession Father's Old Folding Knife -   Nomad Lifepath (Land)   How Big is the Pack? A Couple Dozen What Did They Do? Smuggling What Did Bean Do? Solo Smuggler Pack's Philosophy Will occasionally slip and do unethical things, but it's rare. Who's Gunning for the Pack? Rival Pack in the Same Buisness Friends: 0 Enemies: 0 Romances: 2 Riff: A Personal Goal Came Between Us - An old flame from Bean's days among the Snake Nation. They were young and got into occasional trouble but never anything too bad. Mostly they just had fun and enjoyed racing each other. Eventually the pair grew apart as Riff became obsessed with being the best and saw Bean as more of a rival then a partner. Bean moved on, focusing on work, and left Riff to her racing. However, once in a while Riff shows up wanting a rematch and Bean can't help but oblige. So far he's won each time, which makes Riff just that much more driven to beat Bean. Bean's just happy to see someone from the tribe but secretly he fears if Riff ever does beat him that will be the last he sees of her. Rally V: Love Mysteriously Vanished - A gunsmith from when Bean was smuggling, Rally eventually learned about how Bean transported drugs. On several occasions Rally tried to convince Bean to stop but the money was always too good and he needed to help support his pack. One day Rally disappeared and Bean couldn't find her even after asking around. Rolls Friends: Dice Leaving it to Chance: 1d10-7 (3)-7 Total = -4 Enemies: Dice Leaving it to Chance: 1d10-5 (2)-5 Total = -3 Romance: Dice Leaving it to Chance: 1d10-7 (9)-7 Total = 2   If 62 Point Buy Int 6 Ref 8 Dex 6 Tech 6 Cool 4 Will 8 Luck 6 Move 5 Body 8 Emp 5 Skills (86): Athletics Dex 6 Brawling Dex 6 Bribery Cool 4 Concentration Will 4 Conversation Emp 2 Drive Air Vehicle Ref 2 Drive Land Vehicle Ref 6 Drive Sea Vehicle Ref 4 Education Int 2 Endurance Will 4 Evasion Dex 6 First Aid Tech 2 Human Perception EMP 2 Land Vehicle Tech Tech 4 Language (English) Int 4* Language (Streetslang) Int 2 Local Expert() Int 4 Melee Weapon Dex 4 Perception Int 4 Persuasion Cool 2 Resist Torture/Drugs Will 4 Stealth Dex 2 Streetwise Cool 4 Tracking Int 2 Wilderness Survival Int 2 2550 eb Mirror Shades 50 eb Combat Knives 50 eb Grafted Muscle & Bone Lace 1000eb

[Classic Gamer]

For the sake of simplicity, Rex will use the handle “Ghost” when needed on missions.

[Drifter One]

Originally Posted by Classic Gamer

Rex Everything is both his handle and his legally changed name, but we can come up with a call sign for him if the team wants him to use one for anonymity.

Nope - no worries, thats fine.

[TheDude4000]

Happy New Year everyone. Sadly I will have to withdraw my application. Just too much going on and I'm afraid I won't be able to commit the time. Wish everyone happy gaming in 2023!

[Drifter One]

no problem mate, thanks for the interest and best wishes for 2023.