Category: The Sprawl

////e-IDs:

////e-IDs:

////e-IDs:

So I’m back asking for help again. In our game, set in the Android:Netrunner universe nearly everyone has an e-ID. This often takes the form of a chip implanted in the back of the hand, and is linked to damn near everything: biometric data, bank accounts, social media profiles, net access, health and social security records, etc. You name it.

A citizen can wave their hand in front of a reader to pay for their subway ride or for a coffee at Starbucks. Wave your hand in front of your skyhopper or arcology door and it’ll recognize you and allow access. You can use your PAD (personal access device) to ping an e-ID to get superficial information about anyone you meet. The NAPD can go go deeper; criminal records, home and work addresses, skyhopper registration, etc. These e-IDs are so ubiquitous that not having one instantly makes you look suspicious. All that data is tracked and logged by NBN, but most people have given up that privacy for the security an e-ID offers. Plus, without one, you have no records, can not get any kind of on the books help, and for all intents and purposes don’t exist in any kind of official capacity.

Of course being constantly tracked that way is really bad for a team of operatives. It is possible to wipe an e-ID, or to make a fake one. (It’s also possible to cut out someone’s e-ID to fool the system.) I’m trying to write a custom move for hiding or creating an identity by tampering with that e-ID chip. I’m thinking something like this:

When you modify or create an electronic identity, roll + [STAT]. On a 10+, choose two, and on a 7-9, choose one:

– It’ll hold up to intense scrutiny;

– It doesn’t take a long time to make;

– You don’t need to purchase parts.

I’m thinking along the lines of “better/faster/cheaper” here. I’m also unsure what stat this should be. Thoughts?

////GEAR:

////GEAR:

////GEAR:

Synap Pistol

4-harm, close, loud, ignore armor, non-lethal

So, I was reading through the Worlds of Android book last night while prepping for Friday’s game and guess what? It turns out that synap pistols can do actual damage to people, fry cyberwear, and aren’t always 100% effective. So I’ve made an updated version of the weapon that uses the “non-lethal” tag.

A weapon with the non-lethal tag doesn’t do any physical damage, but the target still adds the harm rating of the weapon to their Harm move roll.

” If you complete the mission and get paid in full, you get back twice the amount that you staked.

” If you complete the mission and get paid in full, you get back twice the amount that you staked.

” If you complete the mission and get paid in full, you get back twice the amount that you staked. If a result of getting the job was that “The job pays well”, you get back three-times what you staked.” (p.127)

So, If I choose both of options (“get paid in full” and “The job pays well”, I get back five times amount what I staked?

Corporate Fixer

Corporate Fixer

Corporate Fixer

I forgot what led me down this rabbit hole, but I started thinking about Ndebele neck rings in a cyberpunk setting. A Google image search lead me to Sarah Golish’s illustrations, which are absolutely fantastic. (http://akatasia.com/art/sundust-summer-soulstice-collection-by-sarah-golish/)

Just had session 1 this week and I can safely say I am a convert from SR.

Just had session 1 this week and I can safely say I am a convert from SR.

Just had session 1 this week and I can safely say I am a convert from SR. Now chances are high ill leave my other games behind for more pbta games because they are just so much mpre fun.

You guys ever open up a mission in medias res?

You guys ever open up a mission in medias res?

You guys ever open up a mission in medias res?

I know Hamish talks about the system’s flexibility to do so, and I think it might be a fun way to set an intense opening scene and fill in the blanks as we go, but I’m wondering if anyone has any experience putting it into practice.

My current idea is to set up a mission where the team is standing in a seedy hotel room with a dead courier laid out on the bed with a chunk missing from the back of her skull and her eyes scooped out of her head. I’d open by really setting the scene of how rundown and filthy this hotel room is, the way the searing light from some neon sign across the street is flooding the room with an unearthly glow, etc. Then I’d drop the body on them and describe the commotion of cops coming down the hall, then hop back in time and ask them some questions about the mission…

* Which one of you got the call about this job? What channel did Mr. Johnson reach out to you through?

* Mr. Johnson requested to meet you in a rather unusual location. Where was it?

* Mr. Johnson had a piece of very expensive custom cyber ware that caught your attention. What was it and in what way was it identifiable as custom? Was he trying to hide it or was it out in the open?

* Mr. Johnson had an associate with him. What was it about this person that made you nervous?

* What were you told you’d be picking up from the dead courier laid out in front of you?

Stuff like that.

So we’d RP out the meet, do the Get The Job roll, then cut back to the hotel where they cops are just about outside their door.

I’m thinking from there I’d mention that one of the team isn’t there with them and ask which one of them that was and where they are. If they were outside the hotel, I’d ask them what sort of situation were they currently dealing with that kept them from notifying the rest of the team that the Cops arrived Then we’d go from there.

As far as Mission Directives go, I was thinking something like this…

* When you escape the hotel, mark XP

* When you discover the location of the package, mark XP

* When you retrieve the package, mark XP

* When you clear your name for the murder of the courier, mark XP ??? (not sure if this is necessary)

* When you deliver the package to Mr. Johnson, mark XP

and maybe an added bonus for…

* When you exact your revenge for being set up, mark XP

This feels like a nice generic noir setup that you can dump in any sort of justification you’d like and hit the ground running. There’s probably some better questions I could ask the players that might further alleviate the truth about the setup/the contents of the package/etc, but those are just off the top of my head. Maybe tying in your +Hunted character’s pursuers into the mix, or any other faction they may have screwed over in a past game.

I want to do PbtA in The Expanse.

I want to do PbtA in The Expanse.

I want to do PbtA in The Expanse. I arrived at this idea because I haven’t found a PbtA sci-fi hack I like as much as The Sprawl. For those of you who have watched the show/read the books, what do you think? I think I wouldn’t have to hack too much.

For playbooks, here’s how I see the show/book characters:

Holden: Pusher

Naomi: Tech

Alex: Driver

Amos: Killer or Soldier or ?

Miller: Hunter

The cyberware rules would have to be scrapped for PCs. Vehicles for the Driver would have to be changed to ships (would be fun statting out the Roci…)

Any ideas?