Category Archives: Near Future

Years back I ran and played in many different cyberpunk campaigns, mostly using the Cyberpunk 2020 system, and the newer Cyberpunk Red, both by R. Talsorian Games.

This is the collection of my notes, system changes, and resources from that time. It should be useful for any near-future dystopian world but will need adapting to other game systems, such as Shadowrun, Cyberspace, & Interface Zero.

The Bratva Connection

#2: Sunday

I really should take better notes for this stuff. This session follows on after the PCs return to the motel and from when they wake the next morning. (NB: Grush’s player couldn’t make it, so I had him leave early, while the others were asleep).

The Russain was contacted by Zeeshan “Bellock” Fry (Police Beneficiary Fund), after saving so many SWAT cops from Maelstrom. We need you to deliver 2 crates to a private security company, Security Blanket, by Monday. This was dealt with by the afternoon and recieved the payment of a Heckler & Koch MPK-2020 SMG & Militech Bulldog Compact Assault Shotguns with a box of ammo for each.

Grush gets a message from the Bratva for an accident. A Soloil contact, “Capsian”, knows of 3 fuel trucks bringing in a shipment up through the 828-928 interchange headed to the NorCal Military Base, Monday morning. The rest is for him to sort out.

Mr White is contacted by Khadeejah “Zigzag” Chang, Militech Home Security specialist with crates of weapons. 5 crates of “Dai Lung Cybermag 15” and 2 of “Budget-Arms C-13”, with boxes of ammo. He quickly oragnises financing via a local factor friend.

Tracer gets an old truck as part of a deal to dispose of some toxic waste from “CyberHammer”, a worker from NightCity’s treatment plant.

All this before they leave the motel…
On the way to secure the cash, Mr. White, gets caught in the crossfire of gang violence between the Bradi Bunch & Red Chrome Legion. He waits out the conflict from behind cover, using his knowledge of the streets to identify the contacts with both groups.
Cashed up, Mr White gets a van & storage space, before proceeding with the others to collect the weapons.

The Bratva Connection

#1: Saturday Night

What follows is a quick summary of events from the game and used as the basis of my own notes.

  • The team makes contact with the Media Corporate, My Johnston, by rescuing him from a pack of Inquisitor gang members.
  • The fifth member of the team (Mr. White) joins a little later.
  • On their way to the Block party, the Russian takes to two cops who have just called SWAT to break up Maelstrom’s party.
  • The party is in an abandoned building with a crowd out the front. The entrance is blocked by the doorman, Codey “Sable” Guthrie. Fixer tries to talk their way past, fails annoying Sable. The Chemist steps up, trying to talk their way past and pisses Sable off, shoving him away with some violence in his eyes.
  • Grush breaks a chain around the side to allow them to walk into an empty ground floor shop front.
  • Heading up the stairs to the first floor they encounter; a pimp accepting payment for the pleasures inside, a ripper doc charging for an optic implant, and thing corp (Authorised Militech reseller), and a big Voodoo guy.
  • The second floor has been cleared, only leaving the supports in place, and a large hole in the roof. The Russain has previously noticed a large mass of people on this floor.
  • They persuade the Manager, Hafsa “Requiem” Kaur, to let the band escape the SWAT police action. The band, “My Heart, Your Teeth” takes a 10-minute break.
  • The team move to the van in the basement and escape before the SWAT arrives.
  • The team follows on foot.
    • The Chemist hangs off the back of the vehicle. 
    • (Fixer) and Grush catches a Cab back to the Motel.
    • The Russian talks to SWAT and warns them about Maelstrom. Then leaves the scene to catch a cab back to the motel
    • (Nomad) gets injured, applies first aid to 2 acid burn victims from the Bozo attack, then walks back to the motel.
  • Mr Johnston and Hafsa Kaur hammer out a deal for “My Heart, Your Teeth”
  • The team gets paid, goes home… Well they pay for 2 days in a local motel
The Bratva Connection

#0: A Cyberpunk 2020 Intro

So, I’ve been running a Cyberpunk 2020 introduction in the lead up to Cyberpunk Red. When I started this I hoped that Red would be released at Gencon, no such luck. Talking to my local game store I’ve managed to get five players…

Session Zero. The team consists of

  • “The Chemist”, a Medtech
  • Yuri “The Russian” Kolganon, a Cop
  • “Grush”, a Solo
  • Tracer Naught, a Nomad
  • Mr White, a Fixer

And 3 of them decided to sell out for extra cyberware and cash. Which is how I get to the name of this group because they sold out to the same group, the Russian Marfia, or Bratva. And this connection will influence the entire series of games from this point onwards. So, I needed to do some research to add flavor to the game;

#0: Initial Combat & Job Offer

Once the characters were created the players wanted to have a go at combat. So using the random encounter table, I had the Inquisitors attack the Corporate they were meeting. After a few rounds of a brutally one side combat with the Inquistors, the players gain a small bonus for saving the corp’s life. An extra 450eb.

The Job is simple, get the band and persuade them to come meet the corporate for an offer. He was happy to pay a finders fee for 50eb for a quick collection of the band and their van.

Near Future

A Cyberpunk Update

Wow, it’s been a month already. Ok, time for a Cyberpunk Update. I’m now involved in a podcast, it’s weird how it started. But the Tannhauser Connection (via Soundcloud) is focused on Cyberpunk Red by R. Talsorian Games. Now, Red has not been released yet, but a Jumpstart Kit has. I’m happy with the results as it gives a good overview of the changes to the system and the world. And this hasn’t been hard, since I was going to get Cyberpunk Red anyway and now I get to talk about it.

So, my other goal has been to put together what I need for my local gaming group. Which means that I’ve been updating my stuff for the new version. This has prompted by to go into overdrive with putting together resources for Cyberpunk 2020, and my best guess at what Cyberpunk Red will look like. And I’ve shared a few pieces with the various FB groups I’m part of., and now put them up on DrivethruRPG.

I’ve created two things for Cyberpunk Red in Affinity Publisher and released them on DriveThruRPG…

Cyberpunk-Red-Character-Sheet
Cyberpunk 2020, Near Future

Mixed Martial Arts for Cyberpunk 2020

While I love the cyberpunk 2020 system, I feel that the Martial Arts part of it has a few problems and does not deal with Mixed Martial Arts.
Firstly, many Martial Arts are just variations of a theme as there are only so many ways to injure someone. And taking multiple Martial Art Skills, your character ends up wasting IP (ie Experience). So as it stands, CP2020 does not deal with mixing martial arts together that well.
Secondary, most Martial Arts start with the foundations and then include weapon training at higher levels of skill. Having chosen a Martial Art, a character is almost locked into that path. So the form does not grow or evolve as the character does.
And finally, it cuts down on the roleplaying opportunities as a character does not need to learn from others. To find the master that can teach them that final technique to become the ultimate killing machine.

So the goal of this is to retain the feel of the CP2020 martial arts while allowing character growth. To simplify the system. And to give the cool feel of the H2H from movies like John Wick (1, 2, 3, & 4), The Raid, & soo many other movies…

MMA Rules for Cyberpunk 2020Download

This is the Art-less edition (ie No Art)

Near Future

Selling out

One of the choices a Player Character can have in Cyberpunk 2020 is to sell out. Basically, it’s more chrome for young punks at the cost for servitude to the Corporation, Covert Military, or Organised Crime. New players can access these easy packages of cyberware. Providing them with Cyber-Soldier, Netrunner, Tech Support, Faceman, and a Bioware focused pack.

Sellout PackagesDownload

Pages 93 & 94 cover the details of selling out and as a GM it does provide many opportunities to make the character’s lives more difficult. An organization’s coercion technique is hidden in the GM’s notes adds some paranoia to the game.

An example of a corporate’s holdover a character is Case from Necromancer. Having been locked out of the net by his past, Armitage offers a treatment to give him what he wants. As always, life is not that simple as the treatment is temporary, requiring Armitage’s cure.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHQqm6ijntg[/embedyt]

Having a character selling out leads to some interesting adventure hooks.

  • Forced employment or jobs you can refuse is a starting point to kick off an adventure.
  • What about a list of the ’employees’ gets out…
    • into the hands of the PCs. With them discovering who’s working for who,
    • or into the hands of their enemies,
    • The question can become what information…
    • Names, Locations, Tracking signal, or Kill codes?
  • How could a PC escape their employer?
  • How can you remove a corporation’s hooks in a character,
    while existing under their watchful gaze?