Note de Cours 24 8 Math

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VIEW FROM THE EDGE

11·Mi:\;:1iitt41 11 :ii

SLICK BUSINESS RAIDERS AND MULTI-


MILLIONAIRES

In the old days, they would


have called you a yuppie-a
hard driven, fast-track MBA
on his way up the Corporate
ladder. Sure, it's selling your
soul to the Company, but
face it; the Corporations rule
the Cyberpunk world. They
control governments, mar-
kets, nations, armies-you
name it. And you know that
whoever controls the Cor-
porations controls every-
thing else.

Right now, your life as a


junior executive is anything
but easy. There are guys
underneath you who'd kill
for a shot at your job. There
are guys over you who'd kill
to keep you out of their jobs.
And they're not kidding
about the killing-every up and comer in the Solos, 'Runners andTechies on a headhunting
Corporation has his own crew of Solos and run to kidnap a researcher from a rival com-
Netrunners to cover his pet projects. Sabo- pany. The week before, your project was to
tage? Constantly. Bribery? Routine. Black- steal plans for a new suborbital shuttle from
mail? Common. Promotion by assassina- the EuroSpace Agency (so that the Aero-
tion? Always a possibilty. The stakes are that space Division could copy the design and sell
high-one slip and you could be out on the it to the Soviets).
Street with the rest of the trash. Or dead.
You told yourself you joined the Corporation
And the projects your supervisors give you! to make it a better place-work from the
Some are pretty straightforward; design a inside, you said. But now you're not so sure.
new productivity schedule for the Your ideals are a little tarnished and things
Corporation's medical subsidiary. Some are are getting pretty bleak. But you can't worry
pretty raw-send a "black operations" team about ethics now. You've got a report due in
into the City to spread a designer plague so an hour, and it looks like that guy in Sales is
the Marketing team can clean up selling the planning to ice your database for good.
vaccine. Last week, you led a mixed team of You're gonna ice him first.
VIEW FROM THE EDGE

"Money. Yeah, I
got money: a new
BMW aerodyne,
and a penthouse
flat In the
Corporate Zone.
All the money
aln 't worth track.
You play this
game for power.
The power to get
things done; to
make the big
decisions ; to
affect things. You
make a phone
call, and the next
thing you know,
you 're telling the
president of some
bushleague
Euronatlo n that
he'd better play It
your way, or he's
history.

"That's why you


play. That's why
I'm with the
Company. "
-An Unidentified
Corporate
VIEW FROM THE EDGE

DEAL MAKERS, SMUGGLERS, ORGANIZERS


AND INFORMATION BROKERS

You realized fast that you weren't ever going acting as an agent for high priced Solos and
to get into a Corporate job. And you didn't 'Runners, or even hiring a whole Nomad
think you were tough enough or crazy pack to back a client's contracts. You buy and
enough to be a Solo either. But as a small sell favors like an old-style Mafia godfather.
time punk, you knew you had a knack for You have connections into all kinds of busi-
figuring out what other people wanted, and nesses, deals and political groups. You don't
how to get it for them. For a price, of course. do this directly, of course-no, you use your
contacts and allies as part of a vast web of
Now your deals have moved past the nickle- intrigue and coersion. If there's a hot night-
and-dime stuff into the big time. Maybe you club in the City, you've bought into it. If there
move illegal weapons over the border. Or are new military-class weapons on the Street,
steal and resell medical supplies from the you smuggled 'em in. If there's a Corporate
Corporations. Perhaps you're a skill broker- war going down, you're negotiating be-
tween sides with an eye on
the main chance.

But you're not entirely in it


for the bucks. If someone
needs to get the heat off,
you'll hide them. You get
people housing when there
isn't any, and you bring in
food when the neighbor-
hoods are blockaded.
Maybe you do it because
you know they'll owe you
later, but you're not sure.
You're one part Robin Hood
and two parts Al Capone.
Back in the 90's, they would
have called you a crimelord.
But this is the fragmented,
nasty, deadly 2020s. Now
they call you a Fixer.
VIEW FROM THE EDGE

. .

,,pon .'t g/~eme


this "Robin
Hood" stu". I'm .· ·
doln' a Job, no
more.. I give
people ·what
they want, an'
they pay me out.

"Okay, so maybe
I even a few
scores here and
there, but that's
good for
busines s. You
make a friend--
they'll take you
in when the
Street's too hot,
and they'll pass
you a few bits of
data when you
call in the
markers . But
that's busines s.

"I got a slogan•••


"How much you
pay me?"
-Phil "Nacho"
Hernandez
Fixer

IEII II
VIEW FROM THE EDGE

ROAD WARRIORS AND GYPSIES WHO ROAM


THE HIGHWAYS

They drove and mechanics-it's virtually a town on


your family wheels in which everyone is related by mar-
off the Farm riage or kinship. Sometimes the Pack pulls
tenyearsago. into a town just to fuel up or get grub. Other
The Corpo- times, it swings south to follow the harvest;
rations rolled you pick crops in trade for cash or food. Less
in, took over law abiding Packs are like mobile armies,
the land, and terrorizing cities and hiring out as muscle in
put rent-a- Corporate wars. For obvious reasons, the
cops all over cops don't like Nomads. But it doesn't mat-
the place. It ter-your vehicles are usually well armored
wasn't the and bristling with stolen weapons; mini guns,
firsttime it'd rocket launchers and the like. Every kid knows
happened; it how to use a rifle, and everyone packs a knife.
wouldn't be Being homeless in the 2000's isn't easy.
the last. Gradually, your family fell in with a
bunch of other homeless families, and they The most visible members of the Pack are the
met another group ... until you'd created a Scouts-leather armored riders on bikes or
Nomad pack of nearly two hundred mem- in fast muscle cars, who protect the convoy
bers. from attacks and hunt up safe campsites. As
a Scout, you're on the lookout for trouble,
Now, crammed into a huge, ragtag fleet of and you usually can find enough of it, with
:::ars, vans, buses and RV's, your Nomad pack rival Nomad Packs, the Law, and the
roams the freeways. You look for supplies, Corporates all after you. Like a modern day
::idd jobs and spare parts in a world where cowboy, you ride the hard trail. You've got a
5ociety has fragmented. The pack is your gun, a bike and that's all you need. You're a
home-it has teachers, Med Techs, leaders, Nomad.
VIEW FROM THE EDGE

"Guns. Guns and


cyberblkes. That's
how we hold the
line. We don't
have any home
except the
Caravan. We don't
have any rights
except what we
take. We get run
out of town by the
cops; we get
raided by the
roadwarrlor
packs, and we
survive because
we've got guns
and bikes•••

"There's kids, old


men and women-
families here. This
ain't no
boostergang.
These people are
my family."
-Nomad Santiago
VIEW FROM THE EDGE
VIEW FROM THE EDGE

Dice
"They were roaring in at top speed when they hit us. All systems in Cyberpunk use
two types of dice; the
There must have been a hundred of them. We were common, garden variety six
pinned down and about to be turned into Ground Food sided die (found In most
popular games and In Las
Concentra te Number Fifteen. Then Razorjack popped the Vegas), and the mon
BlgRipps, screamed like a banshee on steroids, and went esoteric ten sided die (used
exclusively by the Japanese
right over the top of the lead cyberbike." Imperial Navy and In many
-Savage Doc roleplaylng games). Dice are
usually referred to In
Cyberpunk as a "D ",
followed by the number of
sides of the dice. For
exampl~, a normal 6 sided
die would be referred to as a
11
D6 1'. There are a number of

GETTING ways in which dice can be


used, such as:

" Roi/Ing a group of dice


together and adding the

CYBERPUNK
Headware Is the hardware-th e frame 2) Fast: Roll l Dl Ofor each stat (9 in all), re-
results (roll 3D6 would mean
roll 3 six sided dice to get a
value from 3 to 18).

• Roi/Ing one or more dice


together and adding another
which allows the character to interface rolling any scores of 2 or less. Place rolls in value called a modifier to
with the rules. Remember, the disk is get a final value, expressed
each stat as desired.
not the software, and dice rolls are not as 1D6+1, or 1D10 -2.
your character. Don't get too caught up 3) Cinematic: This option is for Referees • Roi/Ing two ten sided dice
in the statistics. only. As the designer of the adventure, the together, designating one to
Referee has the option of choosing the mark the tens place and the
Character Points number of points for each character based other to mark the ones place
Character points are the cash of character on its position in his or her game. (called rolllng a percentage).
creation-you use them to "buy" the vari-
ous "mechan- Major Hero .......................... 80pts Rounding and Modifying:
ics" aspects of In Cyberpunk, If you are
Major Supporting Char ....... 70pts
the character, asked to divide something
Headware : The Minor Hero ......................... 75pts and you come up with a
like good looks, Minor Supporting Char ....... 60pts
stuff you need decimal value, you wlll
a strong, hard Average ............................... 50pts automatically round the
body, unshak- to make a result down to the nearest
able cool and Note: We could, at this point, warn whole number (such as
street smarts Cyberpunk prospective Referees about the vari- 2.6S3S2 becoming 2). If a
(but not Skills). persona ous dodges their players will have for modified value (such as 1D6-
We've given creating "supercharacters." But face 4) comes out equal to, or
you three ways
Interface with below zero, It Is
it; if they want to create a mondo
to generate the Rules of the character, who are we to stop them?
automatically equal to 1
unless otherwise specified.
Character Came. You're all big boys and girls now, and
Points: if you, as Referee, think your players
are getting way outa line, why not just
1) Random: go ahead and waste 'em?
Roll 9 Dl O and total them. You have this
many Character Points. That's the Cyberpunk way.
VIEW FROM THE EDGE

THE HARDCOPY Statistics


FORM Each Cyberpunk character has nine Statis- have a decent Tech Stat, potential Techies
tics-values representing the level of na- should always opt for the highest possible
tive ability of the character in specific areas score in this area.
of activity. These Stats are rated from two
to ten, with two being the worst possible, Luck {LK):
ten being the best possible, and the aver- This is the intangible "something" that
age falling at about five or six. Divide your throws the balance of events into your
total number of Character Points between favor. Your luck represents how many points
each of your nine Stats, adjusting the you may use each game to influence the
amounts in each one as you think best outcome of a critical event. To use Luck,
describes the character's natural abilities. you may add any or all of the points of luck
No Statistic may be less than two or greater a character has to a critical die roll (declar-
than ten. ing your inetntion to use Luck before the
roll is made) until all of your Luck stat is
Intelligence {INT): used up. Luck is always restored at the end
This is a measure of your problem solving of each game session.
First thing you're ability; figuring out problems, noticing
going to need is a things, remembering information. Almost Attractiveness {ATT):
every character type will need a high Intel- This is how good-looking you are. In Cy-
place to record all of ligence, with Netrunners and Corporates berpunk, it's not enough to be good-you
your information. requiring the highest of all. have to look good while you're doing it
Photocopy (or draw) (Attitude is Everything). Attractiveness is
your own Hardcopy Reflexes {REF): especially important to Medias and Rock-
Form to work on. This is a combined index, covering not erboys, as being good-looking is part of
only your basic dexterity, but also how their jobs.
Make sure you keep a your level of physical coordination will
backup of this form, . affect feats of driving, piloting, fighting Movement Allowance {MA):
just in case the and athletics. Characters who intend to This is an index of how fast your character
original gets frogged engage in a great deal of combat (such as can run (important in combat situations).
in the middle of a Solos, Nomads or Rockerboys) should The higher your Movement Allowance
always invest in the highest possible Reflex. (MA), the more distance you can cover in
run. a turn.
Cool {CL):
REMEMBER: THE This index measures how well the charac- RUN: To determine how far your charac-
FUTURE IS ter stands up to stress, fear, pressure, physi- ter can run in a single combat round
DISPOSABLE. cal pain and/or torture. In determining (@3.2 seconds) in meters, multiply your
your willingness to fight on despite wounds MA by 3. The character can run three
Okay, get out your oryourfighting ability underfire, Coo/(CL) times this distance in a full 10 second
Hardcopy, roll your is essential. It is also the measure of how turn. Write this in the RUN section of your
"together" your character is and how Hardcopy Form.
dice, and let's start tough he appears to others. Rockerboys
plugging In your and Fixers should always have a high Cool, LEAP: To determine how far your charac-
character. with Solos and Nomads having the highest ter can leap (from a running start), divide
of all. your RUN by 4. Write this in the LEAP
section of your Hardcopy Form.
Technical Ability {TECH):
This is an index of how well you relate to Empathy:
hardware and other technically oriented This Stat represents how well you relate to
things. In Cyberpunk, the ability to use and other living things-a measure of charisma
repair technology is of paramount impor- and sympathetic emotions. In a world of
tance-TECH will be the Stat used when alienated, future-shocked survivors, the
fixing, repairing and attempting to use ability to be "human" can no longer be
unfamiliar tech. While all characters should taken for granted. Empathy (EM) is critical
LIFEPATH, GEAR & WEAPONS

GEAR
LIFEPATH Type Cost Wt
Style
Clothes
Hair
Affectations
Ethnicity
Language

Family Background

d'o 9D
Traits
Valued Person
Value Most
Feel About People
Valued Posession

Life Events One event for each year after age 16


YEAR

Name Type WA Cone. Avail. Dam. #Shots ROF Rel

(t) R.Talsorian Games, 1991. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for Personal Photocopying only.

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