Project: Using ADRPG rules as written for cyberpunk

[Norbert G. Matausch]

Hi folks,

after a loooooong foray into OD&D and some of its precursors, we've returned to our roots: diceless roleplaying and freeform gaming. After many, many years, we're playing diceless again. And it already feels exciting!

We're playing hard Cyberpunk, with a dash of magic (don't ask, my players want it). My first reaction was: OK, I'm going to write a few quick rules for that (usually a haphazard job of slapping Theatrix flowcharts and Everway attributes together). But then, my love for Amber kicked in. I thought: Why not use Amber to power our game? And my second thought was: Why not use the rules as written, as much as possible?

I did a similar experiment a few years ago, when I used Original D&D to power a cyberpunk game. It worked. So I figured ADRPG should work even better.

My thoughts:

• Warfare, Strength and Endurance are self-explanatory. Psyche is resilience (OR, if my players insist on playing a dark Shadowrun-type of game, it stays what it is). [Human] level is really, really weak, [Chaos] level is the standard of your faceless mooks, and [Amber] and Ranked levels are professional level attributes.
• PATTERN are your connections, getting things done, I know a guy who knows a guy, fast travel capacity and resources. For Shadowrun, it's also your ability to defend against psychic attacks.
• LOGRUS becomes hacking, data extraction, everything related to the matrix
• TRUMP is the ability to reach anyone by means of communication. Your buddy is in the middle of the desert, without electronics and no cyberware in his skull? No worries, you satellite tight-beam an information bit directly into his cortex.
• SORCERY and CONJURATION are self-explanatory.
• ARTEFACTS will also include cyberware, with the qualities toned down to a gritty level.
• SHADOWS become residences, apartments, houses.

An example character:

Cybersoldier

Warfare 10
Strength 5
Endurance: 5
Psyche 5

Pattern 50

Industrial Strength Muscle Implants (9 pts)

• immense vitality 4 points
• resistant to normale weapons 1 pt
• deadly damage 4 pts
• (I don't use the Transferal costs)

Tactical Implant (10 pts)

• Combat Mastery 4 pts
• resistant to firearms 2 pts
• speak in tongues + voices 4 pts

Safehouse (6 pts)

• personal shadow 1 pt
• guarded 4 pts
• control of contents 1 pt

[/FONT]

I think this will work pretty well. What do you think?

[Headless]

Looks great.  No Shapeshifting?  Which means you can buy logrus with out it.  

I might make pattern cheeper.  

Are you going to use conjureation?  I think it fits well with cyberpunk.

[zircher]

Heh, conjuration is your Myrmidon Prime account.  Small stuff like a smartphone or clip of ammo can be dropped off via drone.  A full med-kit would need a bigger/slower drone.  Need a heavy machine gun with a full belt of ammo?  One of our drivers will be dispatched within minutes.

[edit]

My, that does fit pretty nicely.  "The Myrmidons of Greek myth were known for their loyalty to their leaders, so that in pre-industrial Europe the word 'myrmidon' carried many of the same connotations that 'robot' does today. 'Myrmidon' later came to mean 'hired ruffian', according to the Oxford English Dictionary."

[Norbert G. Matausch]

Gentlemen, I gave my C-ADRPG an overhaul. This is the result.

Attributes:
Warfare, Strength and Endurance are self-explanatory and stay. Psyche is psychic resilience. [Human] level is really, really weak, [Chaos] level is the standard of your faceless mooks, and [Amber] and Ranked levels are professional level attributes.

Powers:

• MOVER (Pattern Imprint) [50]: your connections, getting things done, I know a guy who knows a guy, fast travel capacity and resources.
• ADVANCED MOVER (Advanced Pattern Imprint) [75]: knowing a few really, really big names in the biz
• AUGMENTATION (Logrus Mastery) [45]: your cyberware, bioware, nanoware, you name it. With the full 45-point package, you're stuffed with ware, and you have to specify what chrome you're wearing.
• FULL AUGMENTATION (Advanced Logrus Mastery) [70]: a full cyborg-body mod, or packed to the eyelids with cyberware.
• PARTIAL AUGMENTATION (Fixed Logrus Mastery) [25]: like Full Augmentation, but you have way less ware in your body. Tell the GM what you have. Be reasonable.
• NETRUNNING AUG (Trump Artistry) [40]: your skill, instincts and augmentations that enable you to hack, extract data, and do stuff script kiddies can only dream of.
• ADVANCED NETRUNNING (Advanced Trump Artistry) [60]: If you're chipped to the hilt, stuffed with biosofts and brain-enhancement nanotech so you can be the fastest man in the matrix.
• DELIVERY PRIME ACCOUNT (Conjuration) [20]: expedite drone delivery of stuff you order; small items like ammo clips or burners will arrive pretty fast, bigger/heavier stuff requires a heavier and slower drone. Really big and heavy items can take several days or weeks – if they're available. Your GM knows. Thanks to zircher for this cool idea.
• ARTEFACTS will be toned down and grittier in scope, no Transfer costs.
• SHADOWS become residences, apartments, houses.

• Outlier I: Shapeshifting is not used for pure cyberpunk games, but could be extremely useful when playing Shadowrun – it then becomes PHYSICAL ADEPT [35]. The more advanced and powerful version would be ADVANCED PHYSICAL ADEPT (Advanced Shapeshifting) [65].
• Outlier 2: SORCERY [15] would also be used for Shadowrun games, and not even the name would change. But only when you're using ADVANCED SORCERY [45], your spells are as quick as you wish they were, and if you want to throw your Hellblasts real good, you better get EXALTED SORCERY [70].
• Outlier 3: POWER WORDS [10] are exactly that, little, small-scale spells in Shadowrun.[/I]
  

I might also NOT use Partial Augmentation and grant the character one or two enhancements for free.

So there you have it, my C-ADRPG in a nutshell. More to come, for sure.
An example Cyberpunk character:

__________________________________________________________
Cybersoldier

Warfare 10
Strength 5
Endurance: 5
Psyche 5

FULL AUGMENTATION [70]: full-body kevlar-reinforced plating, titanium brain shielding, industrial-strength muscle grafts, tac-implants, hydraulic legs, titanium-reinforced bone structure.


Safehouse down at the abandoned barracks (5 pts)
personal shadow 1 pt
guarded 4 pts
__________________________________________________________

[finarvyn]

I haven't had much experience with the cyberpunk genre, but I like what I see here.