Turn of the Century, A Cyberpunk RP, planning thread Options

[Colonel Mustard]

Seeing as Sutch has petered out, and the Shivering Isles RP never really went anywhere, I figured I'd try a departure from the norm with a new RP idea. Pitch is below, let me know what you think.

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Las Vegas, 28th of November, 2099. As the city prepares itself for the biggest New Years party in history, one of the most powerful and importan men in Vegas is shot and killed on the street.

His name is Paulo Lazilli. For the past twenty years, he's held Vegas' underworld in an iron chokehold, undisputed king of its organised crime scene, a realm that, whilst bubbling with violence and corruption, has been contained and stabilised under his control. He controlled the casinos, the drugs, the hookers, the cybernetic smugglers, the cyberspace gangsters and Mob AIs. Now that he is dead, killed by an unknown assailant, his domain is threatening to unravel, and already there are flocks of vultures circling, ready to pick clean the corpse of this cancerous leviathan of criminality.

Vegas' other organised crime syndicates, sidelined for the past two decades, have scented opportunity and are muscling in; the Yakuza are on the move, surreptitiously shifting guns and men into Vegas with rumours abounding of one of their elite squads of cyber ronin visiting town, whilst the marginalised but vengeful Grove Street Gang have donned their green colours and are arming up for full scale war. The Mafia hunker down, preparing to weather a storm, but within their ranks Lazilli's most ambitious lieutenants are squaring up and plotting ways to take the throne. Outside of the gangs, corrupt corporate execs see this as a chance to help maximise profits, while the few good cops that remain see their chance to strike a major blow against organised crime. Vegas is a powder keg, ready to go nuclear at the slighest provocation.

Dancing on the fringes of this storm are the middlemen. Some are cybernetically-enhanced guns for hire, others hackers who can bust down firewalls and networks with a thought. Contract-thieves and assassins receive offers for work, getaway drivers are in constant demand and back-street doctors and augmen surgeons receive nightly visits. Of all the people in Vegas, some of them might just be what the gangs need to tip the scale in their favour.

It is the 1st December 2099 in Las Vegas, and as the city prepares for the biggest New Years party in history, somebody might just paint the town red.

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Okay, so the way this is going to work is that we're having a GM-run game (I am Game Master for this RP, for those of you unfamiliar with this, I will explain below). The setting is a futuristic Las Vegas with a dash of good old-fashioned Cyberpunk; cybernetic augmentions such as robotic arms or direct neural links to computers are relatively commonplace, organised criminals and powerful corporations all but run the place, there's a heavy Film-Noir aesthetic and the internet is god. If you're unfamiliar with the trapping of Cyberpunk, I recommend you read TVTropes' helpful outline article and then go and watch Blade Runner. Seriuosly, go watch Blade Runner, that film is amazing.

Anyway, quick note on my role as GM: I won't play a character, and instead I shall play the world, so to speak. I'll control NPCs and the setting as well as providing scenarios, obstacles and situations. As GM, I hold ultimate sway over the RP, but while I am an autocrat, I shall do all that is in my power to be a benevolent, fair autocrat, and my central concern is that everybody has fun, and will do my utmost to avoid the cardinal sin of GMing that is railroading. You are welcome to do your own thing, and I will reward intelligence, lateral thinking and solving problems through means beyond the simple employment of violence. However, if you are stupid, don't expect me to be merciful.

Character sheet is below. If people are interested, I'll put up a player's guide detailing the situation in Vegas in the next few days with information like major players and so forth.


Name:
Alias/nickname:
Gender:
Age:
Race:
Nationality:

Career:
Skills:
Gang affiliation (if any):

Equipment:
Cybernetics: [Note: for the sake of balance, due to biological complications the risk of random breakdowns of cybernetics increases the more of them a person has implanted in their body. With this in mind, yes, you can create a heavily augmented, bulletproof, car-throwing monster of a character, but that means that I'll be hitting you with one hell of a lot glitches, bugs, seizures, fits and attacks from hackers. Be sensible]
Weaponry:
Clothing:

History:

Misc info:

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At the start of the RP, your character recieves the following email:

Sent at: 04.53, 12/01/2099
From: frank.delorio@talknet.com
Subject: A proposition for our mutual benefit

Dear all

I'm messaging you now to make you an offer.

As you've no doubt heard, just a couple of days ago Paulo Lazilli got iced. The street's riled up and it's riled up bad, and as a former acquaintance of Mr Lazilli, I'm interested in seeing the status quo restored and for things to go back to the nice peaceful way they were. Now maybe you're thinking that you don't necessarily want things back the way they were, but before you delete this email let me tell you that we've noticed your skills and could use somebody of your talents, and we can offer a lot. Not just money, mind, though if you want cash we got cash, but we have favours and services we can offer, which nobody else in Vegas is going to be able to match. Name your price, and we'll pay it.

If you're interested, come to Mama Maria's Pizza Emporium on Radkovich Avenue for 12pm. Say you're here for lunch with Mr Delorio. Come alone, and only bring weapons if you want to piss me off. I'll give you more details if I see you there.

Frank

[Colonel Mustard]

Thinking about it...That internet spontaneously creating life sounds suspiciously familiar...Hmm...I'll have to think about that one...Maybe something will Fall out in the middle of the night... ...

Oh, you mean the Memetics? To be honest I got the idea a few months ago whilst reading Neuromancer, and I like to think that B4st3t and her kin are something fairly unique in terms of cyberspace entities.

[McBadgere]

Oh, fair enough... ...Excellent name though...

I really hope I'm clever enough to keep up... ...



EDIT...I'm waiting on more story details before starting writing the character intro thing, is that alright or are we heading for day 1 hideously soon?... ...

This post has been edited by McBadgere: Apr 28 2013, 12:07 PM

[Colonel Mustard]

McBadgere: The actual RP thing will go on a separate thread where I'll write an intro post, but that probably won't be for another week at least, seeing as I need to post up the details and we're still waiting for Liz and (presumably) Uleni to post up their characters.

Part 2 of the Player's Guide style piece is here. Part 3, detailing cyberspace, virtual reality, augmented reality and the nature of the entities known as Memetics, will be up in a few more days after that.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

I am, I promise, just give me a few days.

[Colonel Mustard]

I am, I promise, just give me a few days.

Don't worry about it; I want to finish getting the Vegas Guide completed before I start up the RP, so it shouldn't be a problem.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Okay, good. The guides will help me set up my character profile.

[Colonel Mustard]

Okay, good. The guides will help me set up my character profile.

Just out of interest, what sort of character are you planning? Or is that going to be a surprise for when they're done?

[McBadgere]

Heh...That's one mega excellent guide right there that is... ...

This bit about the cyber-ronin made me smile...

their training and skill are comparable to special-forces operatives in regularly militaries.

Which is...Me... ...

Excellent stuff Mein Colonel...


Oh, and the bit about the Paladin made me sigh and wince, for reasons which will become completely clear in due time... ...

But mine was done well before you did this!!...I swear!!... ...

[Colonel Mustard]

their training and skill are comparable to special-forces operatives in regularly militaries.

Which is...Me... ...

Excellent stuff Mein Colonel...

Yep, but there's only one Gabriel and if he comes across any Cyber-Ronin in a bad mood, there'll be five of them.

[McBadgere]

Yes, and following the First Law of Story Convention™, Gabriel will acquit himself admirably (even if with temporarily dangerous wounds that will require a decent sit down and a cup of tea while the medichines do their thang) and there will be five less cyber-ronin at the end of the fight... ...

[Colonel Mustard]

Yes, and following the First Law of Story Convention™, Gabriel will acquit himself admirably (even if with temporarily dangerous wounds that will require a decent sit down and a cup of tea while the medichines do their thang) and there will be five less cyber-ronin at the end of the fight... ...

Hah.

Haha.

Ahahaha.

AHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!

Ahem.

[McBadgere]

*Smiles sweetly*...

*Raises eyebrow*...Uh-huh...



Aaaamywho...

Just edited in a toxin screening/removal implant...I figured you couldn't have yer basic hitman coughing his lungs up when confronted by dust or generally poisonous smog...



This post has been edited by McBadgere: Apr 28 2013, 06:28 PM

[jack cloudy]

Makes sense, pollution is part of the aesthetic. But no sub-dermal armour? That's like basic Cyberpunk warrior stuff.


I'm starting to feel inadequate, like a Cyberpunk R2-D2. Or more like the red one that blew up right after the sand-dudes sold it. Ah well, at least I've got a vocalizing box. (not in character list but please let me have it. I don't want to talk by texting on the phone.)

[McBadgere]

Nah, I love George!!...So cool!!...

I did consider the sub-dermal armour, him being ex-military and all...But I was heading towards total tank/God-mode with him as it was...

So the armour is more like the New Vegas armoured coat/health-regen implant type of thing...

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Okay, good. The guides will help me set up my character profile.

Just out of interest, what sort of character are you planning? Or is that going to be a surprise for when they're done?

Not really a surprise, but a support character. I looked up a few stuff and she's classified as a "fixer," someone with inside connections to everything. No heavy tank-type stuff. She's good with close-ranged weapons, specializes in forgery, and it pretty low-tech except for a few things to keep her ego boosted (Pretty vain.) I may push a few things around, but basically, she gets info for the right amount of money.

[Uleni Athram]

Recently, I'm having a Metal Gear craze and I'm thinking of creating a character in tribute to a favorite character of mine; the magnificently bastardish Revolver Ocelot.

But I can't promise a regular presence on my side; school is omnipresent and look at what it did to the Expedition *sniffs sniffs*.

[Colonel Mustard]

I'll let you have vocaliser thing, Jack. Forcing you to communicate via text just because you forgot to stick it in the entry would just be irritating for everyone...

I like the character idea, Liz, and she should fit in well with the group.

Uleni, you're welcome to join with your Revolver Ocelot type (will he get possessed by his arm in this?). Worst case scenario I can always stick the guy on a bus if you end up away for a while and bring him back later when you can play.

[Uleni Athram]

Yeah, probably. Maybe a hardwire glitch in his cybernetic arm reroutes his memories to a serial killer, maybe even a malevolent software 'entity', and he goes schizo. *shrugs*

[McBadgere]

...That'll make the party extremely interesting... ...

[jack cloudy]

Yay! I get to talk and gripe about those youngsters and their fancy cybernetics!

So if I have things right, we currently have the tank, the mechanic, the smart one and the stylish one. Yup, sounds about right.