Interface Zero: Upgrade in Progress

[God45]

One thing I noticed while doing that which you may have missed: Combat sims have the Outsider hindrance (-2 Charisma) when acting outside of their designated role as a soldier.

I have missed that. Well shit... Does it only kick in if people know about my character being a combat sim like the bloodthirsty or one-eyed hindrances? Because then it is fine. Otherwise I will have to rebuild it.

[God45]

I looked up the other types of sims and they won`t work with the character concept at all.

What about my character having all of the Bad reputation, Bad street creed and Blacklisted hindrances instead of the charisma penalty? Then I won`t have to rebuild the character and can keep the character concept unchanged.

[bladerunner_35]

I looked up the other types of sims and they won`t work with the character concept at all.

What about my character having all of the Bad reputation, Bad street creed and Blacklisted hindrances instead of the charisma penalty? Then I won`t have to rebuild the character and can keep the character concept unchanged.

Exactly how much of a charisma bonus do you need anways? What's the difference between +6 or +8 (other than the obvious)?

[God45]

I looked up the other types of sims and they won`t work with the character concept at all.

What about my character having all of the Bad reputation, Bad street creed and Blacklisted hindrances instead of the charisma penalty? Then I won`t have to rebuild the character and can keep the character concept unchanged.

Exactly how much of a charisma bonus do you need anways? What's the difference between +6 or +8 (other than the obvious)?

It is pretty big, it takes me down from my free raise in most social situations to just having an ordinary success and it also means that I have cyberware and edges just to bring me up to not having minuses. Both edges and strain is valuable later and if I am wasting those recourses I might fall behind a lot later.

Since I already play the weakest character in a fight by far and really have to rely on charisma to do all of the heavy lifting for the character I don`t really want to play it with those disadvantages.

I could rebuild the character into being a stealth expert or a more straight up fighter but that would mean rebuilding It from the ground up.

[bladerunner_35]

I looked up the other types of sims and they won`t work with the character concept at all.

What about my character having all of the Bad reputation, Bad street creed and Blacklisted hindrances instead of the charisma penalty? Then I won`t have to rebuild the character and can keep the character concept unchanged.

Exactly how much of a charisma bonus do you need anways? What's the difference between +6 or +8 (other than the obvious)?

It is pretty big, it takes me down from my free raise in most social situations to just having an ordinary success and it also means that I have cyberware and edges just to bring me up to not having minuses. Both edges and strain is valuable later and if I am wasting those recourses I might fall behind a lot later.

Since I already play the weakest character in a fight by far and really have to rely on charisma to do all of the heavy lifting for the character I don`t really want to play it with those disadvantages.

I could rebuild the character into being a stealth expert or a more straight up fighter but that would mean rebuilding It from the ground up.

Wow you really take character building seriously. I can totally understand how it feels like a bummer. For the record I have no problems just saying that your character is indistinguishable from a normal human being - especially after all the cyber and stuff you've invested. Only people that actually knew you for a sim would give you the -2 outsider hindrance mod. But it's Dave's call.

[Willard]

Throw in a Secret (major) hindrance to avoid the penalty? I'm guessing it'd be criminal to pretend NOT to be a sim.

I should also say that Almighty, despite his name, won't be very good in a straight up fight.

[God45]

For the record I have no problems just saying that your character is indistinguishable from a normal human being - especially after all the cyber and stuff you've invested. Only people that actually knew you for a sim would give you the -2 outsider hindrance mod. But it's Dave's call.

This is totally my fault, I should have read the entry for combat sims more carefully.

If people can`t tell my character apart from a human with the naked eye I am fine with it. Then I take the minus 2 to charisma when somebody gets out a scanner and finds out that her anatomy is wrong, or when a hacker accesses her surface thoughts or someone analyses blood splatter from a crime scene. Or I can take some other hindrances to even things out. Willards idea about the secret hindrance sounds good for example. Both approaches works for me

[bladerunner_35]

For the record I have no problems just saying that your character is indistinguishable from a normal human being - especially after all the cyber and stuff you've invested. Only people that actually knew you for a sim would give you the -2 outsider hindrance mod. But it's Dave's call.

This is totally my fault, I should have read the entry for combat sims more carefully.

If people can`t tell my character apart from a human with the naked eye I am fine with it. Then I take the minus 2 to charisma when somebody gets out a scanner and finds out that her anatomy is wrong, or when a hacker accesses her surface thoughts or someone analyses blood splatter from a crime scene. Or I can take some other hindrances to even things out. Willards idea about the secret hindrance sounds good for example. Both approaches works for me

Yes! Now that Willard mentions it I distinctly remember a hindrance about being a Sim "under cover" or something like that. For the life of me I can't find it now though - Dave?

[nDervish]

Do you prefer if we just post the final version of our characters here so you can put it on the portal in the format you prefer?

Whatever's easiest for you. I need to put them into my system regardless (so that I can generate combat reference sheets and so on) and, once that's done, it only takes me a few seconds to export that data and copy it to OP.

Just be sure that, if you're posting character history or the like on your OP character page, you put it in the "Biography (fluff)" box, since I won't touch that.

[bladerunner_35]

Do you prefer if we just post the final version of our characters here so you can put it on the portal in the format you prefer?

Whatever's easiest for you. I need to put them into my system regardless (so that I can generate combat reference sheets and so on) and, once that's done, it only takes me a few seconds to export that data and copy it to OP.

Just be sure that, if you're posting character history or the like on your OP character page, you put it in the "Biography (fluff)" box, since I won't touch that.

Alright, then I'll post my char here when I am done (hopefully not long now).

[nDervish]

Exactly how much of a charisma bonus do you need anways? What's the difference between +6 or +8 (other than the obvious)?

It is pretty big, it takes me down from my free raise in most social situations to just having an ordinary success

I won't comment on the rest of the differences you were talking about since they're largely subjective, but this is objectively incorrect. +6 and +8 are both "automatic raise". Unless you roll snake eyes, at least one of your dice must be 2 or higher. 2+6 = 8, which is a success with a raise on any non-opposed test, barring penalties.

If there are no modifiers to the roll and it's not opposed, there is no mechanical difference between +6 and +8.

I'll take a look later tonight for how easy/hard it is to tell someone's a sim.

[Willard]

Yes! Now that Willard mentions it I distinctly remember a hindrance about being a Sim "under cover" or something like that. For the life of me I can't find it now though - Dave?

Here it is.

Your character has a secret which if known will complicate their life severely. It could be you once worked for one of the big Megacorps and helped to develop a bioweapon
currently hurting large portions of the population. Perhaps your character is an undercover police officer who has currently infiltrated a gang. Maybe you use to own your very own Simulacra and did all sorts of bad things with them. Or maybe you’re a skin job android trying desperately to pretend you’re human. In all cases, revelation of the secret will cause major trouble for your character. The Minor version of this Hindrance simply means the reveal of the secret will be of major embarrassment, and possibly cause the character to become wanted, or to lose contacts, friends and associates due to its nature. The Major version of this Hindrance means the character’s life will be put into direct danger from the revelation of this secret.

It refers to a skinjob android trying to pass as human, but it could easily apply to a simulacra. As you all know that's the movie Bladerunner right there.

I still don't see any reason whatsoever for you to choose a soldier model in favor of a luxury model. The latter is the very embodiment of your concept, and the +2 to charisma you get that way would cancel the recently rediscovered -2 from being out of your element. And you wouldn't even be outside of it for almost any applicable case. The changes are not difficult to work through.

[God45]

I still don't see any reason whatsoever for you to choose a soldier model in favor of a luxury model. The latter is the very embodiment of your concept, and the +2 to charisma you get that way would cancel the recently rediscovered -2 from being out of your element. And you wouldn't even be outside of it for almost any applicable case. The changes are not difficult to work through.

It don`t fit with the backstory and the pacifism hindrance I would be stuck with would be just as bad as the charisma penalty. Also, I would have to re-do all the stats since I would have to re-count skill points since all my attributes would be changed and then I would have to look at changing out edges and cyberware and at that point I am basically starting over with character creation.

[God45]

You know what, never mind. I won`t have time to change anything before we play tomorrow anyway. So if Dave looks up how hard it is to pass as human I will just play with the character as it is tomorrow and then we can change stuff before next time.

(also, going by my track record I am going to die in a hover board crash 5 minutes into the game )

So see you guys tomorrow, it will be really fun to play some Cyberpunk

I am going to bed now and then I will be at work without internet until just before we game so see you at DMF

[Willard]

I think it fits very well with your story as an assassin who's recently come to terms with what she's done. The pacifism also fits perfectly with that, both story-wise and mechanically. What you said before about being the lousiest fighter in the group (also having +10 in charisma) goes over a lot more naturally that way than as a brutal mass murdering soldier simulacrum.

By my reading you gain 1 skill point from being smarter. Vigor and Strength don't affect your skills. You'll probably be a little more charismatic than necessary with a +10, but that also goes with the concept and isn't totally useless. You'll just automatically have two raises (if that even works). If you don't want that, it's not hard to find another useful edge or two. Or cyberware for that matter.

[bladerunner_35]

Finally done (I think)!

http://massiveblack.com/mbwp/wp-content ... shop_2.jpg

Traits
Agility d6
Smarts d6
Spirit d6
Strength d6
Vigor d6

Skills
Driving (Ag) d4 (motorcycles)
Fighting (Ag) d6 (unarmed, short blades)
Lockpicking (Ag) d4 (electronic locks)
Shooting (Ag) d6 (hand guns, submachine guns)
Stealth (Ag) d6
Throwing (Ag) d6 (explosive weapons)
Notice (Sm) d6
Repair (Sm) d4 (electronic devices)
Streetwise (Sm) d6 (street)
Persuasion (Sp) d6 (fast talk)
Hacking (Sm) d6 (data mining)
Taunt (Sm) d4

Derived statistics
Reputation: 1
Street cred: 4 (2+2)
Strain: 8
Firewall: 4
Parry: 5
Toughness: 5
Charisma: 0
Pace: 6 +d6
Lifestyle: poor (1000 credits)
Cost of living: 2000 credits
Ryder lives in the Ukranian village (for the cheap rent) while his father that he supports lives in Little Italy.
Occupation: bartender, income 1000 + 1d4x100 credits
Bartenders can make a Streetwise roll before each session to see if they know some juicy gossip. If successful, they get either 500 credits or a +1 to a single Trait roll.

Hindrances
Debt (major)
Supports my father's meager pension with 1000 credits a month.
Shakes (minor)
Has suffered from shredded nerve endings and chronic pain since the accident because of the chem burn and bad cyberware replacements.
Loyal (minor) [because of cyber psychosis]
Feeling like he's exchanging parts of himself for better performance and new abilities he overcompensates to be "more human"

Edges
Good street cred +2 (human free edge)
Seen as something of a hero by his fellow blue platers and old work buddies because he managed to win against Toyota.
Luck +1 bennie

Contacts
Lawrence Chaspian Phillip-Morris IX
The pro bono lawyer that helped me out after the accident. He was a bit stuck up of course but surprisingly cool for a fat cat.
Max Max
My instructor. He knows what he is doing and gave good advice although he ripped me off convincing me to buy all that Ravenlock gear. Afterwards I found out he gets commission on packages sold. Still, he helps me out from time to time and I have a feeling he feels a little bad.

Motivations
Blue platers +
We need to stick together.
Corporations -
Toyota kicked me out and left me for dead just because I claimed my rights!
GLU -
NAC -
NATO -
My father and mother fought in the wars.

Background
Ryder was born on the third of january 2060, five years before the nukes would end the Battle for Chicago. He grew up as an only child in Little Italy. His father was a man believing in the old traditional values of hard work, honesty and patriotism. He spent his whole life building cars in the enormous Toyota Chicago factory while Ryder's mother worked part-time as a waitress. From an early age Ryder was taught to take great pride in hard, honest work.

Ryder's few memories before the war are warm and happy but the family suffered greatly in the Battle of Chicago and the second civil war. Both his parents fought in the Battle and his mother was declared MIA just before the nukes hit. His father did the best he could raising his son on his own but Ryder grew up competing for his father's attention against the bitter memory of a beloved wife, resentment against NATO and a world that did nothing until it was too late and hate against NAC and GLU.

Naturally Ryder started working at the Toyota plant the year he turned 16 and he still remember the fierce pride he felt stepping onto the factory floor for the first time with his father.

So life continued as Ryder worked at every conceivable station in the vast plant but always moving sideways, never up. Still he never stopped believing that his hard work would someday pay off, even though he could see his once so strong father slowly being broken by the heavy industry.

All that changed one year ago when the accident happened - while trying to unstuck a jammed automatic gate Ryder got caught. His right arm was completely pulped and since the gate wasn't shut properly the highly toxic chemicals used in the process destroyed his eyes and lungs.

In a highly unlikely chain of events Ryder was contacted by a pro bono lawyer named Lawrence Chaspian Phillip-Morris IX. With the help of the lawyer Toyota was forced to not only pay for Ryder's cyberware replacements but also paid out a substantial insurance claim. However, after this, even as Ryder was getting ready to get back to work, Toyota made it very clear that he would never set foot in a factory in Chicago again.

Not knowing what to do Ryder floundered for a while, bought his old man, now retired, a nicer apartment and wondered what to do. That's when he saw the add for Max Max crash course to become a freelance security agent. Having looked up to this Little Italy legend as a kid Ryder contacted Max and after investing a significant chunk of his insurance claim Ryder started his training .

[Interview begins]
What's your name and number?
Ryder Lewis 1023-11-5464

What's your nickname?
Max told me I need a "street" name but it just seems silly. Many of the old timers call me Jimmy's boy though.

How old are you?
I had my 30th birthday three months ago on the fourth of january 2090. I am starting to feel old heh he...Like I'm past my prime. Just waiting to die….

What is your height?
190 cm

Weight?
Just under a hundred kilos - I try to keep fit and not eat to much junk.

Hair color (if any) and hairstyle?
Sandy brown. Kept short and neat.

Eye color?
My original eyes were brown. My cyb-eyes are a cheap flat blue.

Are you attractive, plain or homely?
I've been known to have a hand with the ladies though a lot of them seem to think I am too intense and lately I've just not felt like going out.

What's your fashion sense like?
What's with all these weird questions? I just wear what I've always worn. After I got….couldn't work more I've started to wear my old plant coverall most days. It feels….safe...

Do you have any scars, tattoos, piercings or animal-like hybrid qualities?
What, no?! I am just...ordinary. I know people do all sorts of weird things to themselves but leave me out of it!

Do you have any obvious cybernetic, biological, or purely cosmetic upgrades or replacements? If so, why?
Well, because of the accident I told you about earlier my whole right arm is cybered. It's a pretty cheap brand, the only one Toyota would pay for, so it's pretty obvious it's a replacement being covered in some sort of True-Skin rubber.

I also had to replace my eyes and lungs. Luckily Philip-Morris made them pay for a better lung than my other cyber. Wouldn't be so fun if my lungs just stopped working after a hard fall y'know.

Also Max had me do some...modifications to my arm and eyes. To help with my new...job.

Where do you come from?
I'm a Chicago boy born and breed. Lived my whole life in Little Italy. Until recently.

Were you born, built, or vat grown?
100 % pure traditional human. We're a rare breed these days it feels like. Don't make 'em like they used to with all the hybrids, sims, skinjobs and robots walking the streets, taking job from honest working men. Y'know what I'm saying?

Do you have parents?
My father, Jimmy, still lives. I just bought him a nice new apartment but I could hardly get the old bastard to move from his old one!

My mom died in the Battle...

Sib-lings? If so, what are they like?
No sir, and only child.

What were your formative years like?
Formative years? Come on, is this going to take any longer. I bet you a million dollars this isn't getting me a job no matter how many questions you ask.

What sort do education do you have?
Stop it.

Are you literate?
Fuck you fucking machine!!

Did you go to a school, or were you taught at home? Did you have an AI tutor? Did you go to school at all? Were you programmed in a lab?
I bet you I could take you apart and put you back together so you make some sense….

Do I really have to sit here through all of this. Can't you just help me get a job! A JOB! That's all I want! Stupid robot….

Did you attend religious services?
Yep, every christmas at Old St. Patrick's Church until it was bombed in '67. After that not so much….

Have you received any specialized training?
I know everything there is to know about building Toyota cars and I know my way around tools and heavy machinery. Much good it does me now….

Ever serve in the military?
I started training with the Italy militia as soon as they let me. They were hard core during both the Battle and the war. Never backed an inch!

What's your reality look like?
Ok enough of this shit!

[Subject Lewis, Ryder 1023-11-5464 leaves interview. Subject Lewis, Ryder 1023-11-5464 is automatically rejected from the unemployment program]

Streetware
Cyber Lungs
Cyber lungs provide the character with an internal Air tank capable of holding 30 minutes of Oxygen at level I, and an hour at level II. The character can run completely off this Oxygen supply when underwater, or surrounded by a deadly aerosol toxin for instance.
• Strain: 1 -5000 credits

Gutterware
Cyberarm, Recoil Compensation
This system removes 2 points of penalty from autofire when using firearms.
• Strain: 2 -10000

Cybereyes , Enhanced Vision
The character’s eyes can function like a scope, halving penalties for Medium and Long Range.
• Strain: 2 -10000

Cybereyes , Infra /Ultra Optics (Iuo)
The eye’s retina is replaced to enable vision into the ultraviolet and infrared spectrums, and the brain is changed to be able to perceive colors that don’t exist in the standard visible spectrum. The character gains the benefits of the Infravision monstrous ability.
• Strain: 1 -5000 credits

Cybereyes , Night Vision Optics
The character gains the benefits of the Low Light Vision monstrous ability.
• Strain: 1 -5000 credits

Subdermal Armor
Subdermal Armor Gives The Character An Additional +1 Supplemental Armor On All Body Locations.
• Strain: 1 -5000 credits

Weapons
Ceramic switchblade
Hostile Takeover HT-9
Foley Arms Watchdog Pistol
- targeting laser
Ravenlocke P9D Personal defense weapon
- silencer
- targeting laser

Armour
Ravenlocke Patrol armour
Ravenlocke Chameleon cloak
Ravenlocke Justified Response Assault Armour
Blastex Gelnite
Tear gas grenades
Smoke grenades
Hot smoke grenades
Flash bangs
Iron Tornado motorcycle

[God45]

Can`t seem to fall asleep so checking the books. The Bioroid have this thing:

Marked or Secret: At character creation, the player
needs to decide whether his Bioroid is Marked or
not. If he is, he suffers a -2 Charisma penalty with
people who view Bioroids with suspicion or as 'just
a machine'. If the Bioroid isn't marked, it has the
Secret Hindrance – unmarked Bioroids are illegal,
and can be arrested or even executed if they're
discovered.

I am thinking that something like the secret version would work pretty well.

[nDervish]

OK, I know Sebastian's not going to see this pre-game, but I took a look through the Character Creation 2.0 beta document and the Races design document (which is great - even if the rules have been superseded, it still has a full two and a half pages on the history and culture of simulacra).

At first, it seemed a little schizo, giving sims Outsider when they aren't in their designed roles, but also saying that you can't just identify a sim by looking at them. It finally all clicked into place when Races started talking about Western vs. Eastern sims.

Western sims have a short lifespan, so they're decanted ("born") at age 21, preprogrammed with the skills they need to fulfill their designated role. Eastern sims don't have auto-termination genes, so they live longer (up to 40 years) and are decanted at age 14 with only basic programming, then sent to high school to be educated alongside trueman Japanese teenagers.

Western sims all have Outsider. Eastern sims don't.

Based on this, it appears that (Western) sims having "Outsider when acting outside their designated role" isn't a case of "people know what kind of sim you are and react badly to you trying to do something else", but rather "you have an incomplete understanding of the culture around you and are really awkward when you're doing things that you weren't specifically programmed for".

(And, before anyone suggests that Paladin just be Eastern instead of Western, Eastern sims have lower stat/skill bonuses to go with not having Outsider or short lifespans, so the character would still need adjustments to account for that.)

[Willard]

Finally some images! My character and his NPC contacts. All by Jean Philippe Kalonji. Not at all cyberpunk, but then all of these people are wealthy enough to look old fashioned. And they'll probably wear different clothes to work.


Almighty, Dr. Ira Franklin.


His girl friend Aiko Ishihara, currently working as a race queen. She introduced Ira into that particular sub-culture when he needed a break from the drone business.

They share the cat.


Ira's old buddy and business partner, Jack Evans. He runs Englewood Dynamics for now.

[God45]

Based on this, it appears that (Western) sims having "Outsider when acting outside their designated role" isn't a case of "people know what kind of sim you are and react badly to you trying to do something else", but rather "you have an incomplete understanding of the culture around you and are really awkward when you're doing things that you weren't specifically programmed for".

Ok, that I can work with Nice, then I am fully satisfied again