[I have more information but due to the risk that my players will read this I can't post it. If people are interested drop me a note and I'll try to put together a GM pack to send out.]
IHAG a major German Oceantech firm goes belly up due to mis-management. OTEC and CINO are in the wings to take control, they begin to battle financially but as the battle goes on black and gray ops increase in frequency. OTEC hire militech to protect its resources prompting CINO to contract out to Arasaka.
During this shadow war Arasaka troops assassinate OTEC VP Armond DeSanti on Crystal Palace. Crystal Palace responds by deploying Kinetic Kill weapons at major branch offices of all four companies involved. Black ops in orbit drop to nil. Many of the high ranking members of the board, ceo, president and vice-presidents move to orbit.
With key targets out of reach the war turns hot. Moments after the first shots are fired OTEC and CINO hammer out an agreement and call a cease fire. Arasaka and Militech were just getting started.
At first it was purely conventional weapons... but large conventional weapons. APCP, tanks, AVs, Walkers, Artillery, etc were all brought to bear in the center of sprawling metroplexes. With all the commanders firmly out of danger in orbit, it wasn't long before chemical and biological weapons were brought to bear. The war raged across the planet until it was no longer capable of supporting a war machine. The war finally burned itself out in 2029.
In 2022 during the early stages of the war Jacob Everies formed the Martian Landowners Guild and, backed by serious corporate cash and interest, secured the rights to the development of Mars. By 2028 the first Colony was set up on Mars and Terraforming was on it's way.
The industrial complex effectively replaced the vestiges of government. No state survived the postwar food riots. People were dropping off like flies from disease and starvation. There just wasn't enough to hold a state together. The Orbitals dropped invasion ships that setup Corporate zones and build great arcologies dedicated to production. With a surplus of desperate people who would work for food and disease free place to sleep the corporation took complete control. Anyone who complained was immediately 'recycled.' Their plan was to plunder the remaining resources towards the goal of terraforming and developing Mars.
Not long after the CorpZones were set up the nomads rolled out of the deserts and wastelands and they quickly swelled in number as an alternative to the corporate slavery. Soon the shadow economy began to sprout. Scrap was sold to corps in exchange for manufactured goods.
A couple of years after the Nomads took control of the remnants of the Earther population raiders began a vicious war against the major Nomad clans. This was a dark period in a short era of hope. The Wars came to an end in D.C. where most of the leaders of the major Nomad packs were coming together to found a new capital and try and unify the country. They were betrayed and the raiders swept through the area killing most of the leaders of the major families.
These Raider Wars ultimately broke the cohesive structure of the Nomads. Smaller groups continued to have cohesive organization but slowly even these groups lost their identity.
While the Nomad Revolution wasn't able to unify the people it did bring many lost skills that allowed humanity to prosper. Skills needed for the survival in a world without mass manufacturing, and computer control. Farming, smelting, gunsmithing, Tanning, leather working, etc. were all skills reclaimed because of the Nomad influence.
Filter and oxygen sales continue to boom. Soon after the war the production of crops in unfiltered air or untreated soil becomes impossible. Average Life expectancy on unfiltered air dwindled to about 2 days.
Dissatisfaction in the shadows continued to grow and terrorism became a serious problem for the corps. Several terrorists strikes greatly increased the strain on an already dyeing ecosphere.
About five years after the war there was an increased incidence of insanity and suicide but very few noticed it.
MLG opened a colonization program to prepare Mars for their eventual immigration. The primary requirement is loyal slavery for 5 five years and an agreement to work for the corporation for life.
Early 21st century corporate experimentation showed that earth bound inhabitants began to manifest psychic abilities. As time went on it became more common. Psychic ability was almost always accompanied by insanity. About 15% of the population goes critically insane causing extreme damage to everything around them. People found acting in an irrational manner are often shot on sight. Corporate labs continue to study the issue.
In 2042 the shadows launch operation exodus. Captain Timothy Hale and Engineer Andrew Boyce managed to assemble a working space plane. They flew 12 nomads to mars and the insertion team snuck into the colony on Mars. There are now five planes in the fleet and making almost constant trips.
The main economic force in postwar culture is the gathering of bands of scavengers to pick over the bones of the dead cities. People travel in packs plundering ruins taking everything they can use or trade. The packs gather around leaders called Keepers in the local language. The Keeper has managed to secure the possession of several items that are key to the survival of the pack on the trail. Some sort of water purification and some way of generating food (stored food or travelling through huntable land).
Packs are loose bound gathering for scavenging trips and disbanding when the pack reaches a corpzone to sell its goods. The keeper gets a percentage of all the profit. There is almost no tolerance for those that don't pull their own weight in some way or another.
There are four corporate reclamation centers in the former United States. Prometheus is located just to the west of where New York City used to be, New Georgia is located East of Atlanta, Oasis is located in the Wasteland South of Kansas City, and Edlund is located east of Night City.
Prometheus was the first of the reclamation centers. The space port is on ground level surrounded by a 30 story walls that are the center proper. In other words the space port is in a courtyard of the center. The center is on high ground and has defoliated and removed cover for and area about a mile from the center walls. This deadman zone is enclosed in 20 ft walls. The deadman zone is guarded by snipers, a contingent of soldiers, and four walkers The only approach to the center is a single well guarded corridor leading to the company store and recruitment areas located in the southeast corner of the base. The structure itself seems to be made up of overlapping metal plates.
The Corpzones buy scrap metal and other resources they find useful. The corpslaves on the factory floor separate and recycle the material and use some of it to produce finished products to sell to the scavengers in exchange for the raw materials. Other materials are launched into orbit for the use and continued expansion of the orbitals.
The corpzones also pay for less tangible things. Live Psis, sane ones even more so. Information about terrorists and subversives and anything else that will lead to maintaining their complete control over the situation.
The corpzones pay in Corporate Work Unit (C-Buck). These are issued as coins made of cheap metal. They come in 1, 5, 20, 100, 1,000, 5,000 increments. While technically they are only good at the company store, there is always someone who needs to buy something at the company store so they are freely traded in the shadow economy. In the shadow they are only worth about 90% of their store value due to an average of a 10% money changers fee.
Surrounding the Corpzones are the shadow cities. This is a gathering of people who make their profits off the the barter of goods or selling of services to the scavengers. The Shadow cities always seem to follow is similar layout. The cities begin at the entrance to the corridor. In a tight knot surrounding the entrance are the most permanent structures. Money changers, metal workers, mechanics, chemists, and other craftsman that work on a macro scale or have a lot of equipment or stock generally make up this area. Further out are more temporary structures. Kitchens, food, water, and other highly mobile structures are usually located here. Fixers, whores, and drug dealers can be found spread about these two areas. Any further out than that and your talking about people camping out with tents and tarps as their only shelter. The shadow cities are ruled by the strong.
Money Changers are counterparts to the Company Store. They buy or trade anything that has value. They barter or pay in Cbucks. They have a vested interest in order in their territory. They will often employ large number of people as enforcers. Generally the stables are also controlled by the Money Changer. The Stables are a place where nomads can park their vehicles and be assured a trustworthy person would be guarding them. Money Changers who don't ensure honest dealings don't usually survive very long. One normally doesn't work with the Money Changers directly but instead work through his fixers to arrange deals. The Money Changers are like old west sheriffs who also own the general store.
Money changers act as brokers for the bounties. Justice is commonly accomplished by putting a price on someones head. The Money Changer takes a 10% fee and holds the rest of the money until someone returns the head of the target. Bounty hunting is considered a fairly respectable profession working towards maintaining order. There are several full time bounty hunters and bounty hunter groups.
The corp maintains a light infantry patrol to hunt down and kill anyone perceived as a threat or who has somehow double crossed the corp. This patrol is called the Wraiths and they are completely ruthless in hunting and killing their targets.
In all four corpzones there are competing Money Changers. Sometimes this erupts into war for territory or control. When this happens it's best just to stay out of the way.
There are other settlements not right next to one of the reclamation centers. These towns tend to be calmer and less transitory trying to eke out a living from uncooperative land. In these towns the title of Money Changer goes to anyone who makes regular trips to one of the centers to barter and trade with the corps. These are settlement that are normally the origin of the the food and water vendors.
Many of the smaller towns with stable populations have begun to form clan like structures. Leadership normally goes to a protector or provider figure. Sometimes it will go to a negotiator who can talk the town out of trouble but that usually doesn't last very long. Towns raiding neighbors and starting feuds are more and more common every day.
Communication between towns and villages is generally via Radox express like services or trust worthy people heading in the right direction. Some of the larger towns have working long range radios and can communicate with similarly equipped towns.
In the post war era children who survive long enough to be trained normally go through some sort of apprenticeship to learn a trade and learn to survive in the world. Most children apprentice to Farmers or Scavengers where an extra pair of hands pays for itself, and ends up being a profitable skill when the child is ready to strike out on their own. The trades also have the advantage of many skilled teachers to lead the children. Apprenticeship to Money Changer, tech craftsman, Shaman, or priest will normally involve in exchange of money, favors, status or all three.
The majority of North America is a desert like wasteland extremely hostile to life. The only crop the survives in the wastelands is Waste Weed, a grass like plant. Unfortunately it is toxic to humans. To live in the wastes the animals that remain have adapted to eating waste weed or eating something that eats waste weed. Skilled chemists can render a crop of waste weed edible but it generally costs more than buying food from the company store.
Homes are generally constructed as hovel made of four pillars made of whatever material is available (plastic, metal, wood, rock, clay, etc.) that comes together at a peaked roof, with a hole allow smoke to escape. The whole structure is covered in a double or triple layer of Radox hide. An air filter covers the hole in the roof and the bottom of the hide is buried in the ground keeping the whole thing as air tight as possible. The entrance is a sack like airlock.
The main animal used to crossing the wasteland in the radox. It is a cross between a horse and a camel with a hyperactive immune system. They live about five years, before dyeing of radiation poisoning, but they can eat just about anything including waste weed. Radox meat is edible as long as the beast has fasted for 12 hours before being killed. Radox hide is resistant to acidic qualities of the rain and most other water sources.
Still suits (as per Dune) are the only way to survive for a prolonged period of time in the wasteland. An unprotected human will survive for about two days. A Still suit will extend that to about 30 days. Still suits are sold by the Company Store but they are maintained by expert craftsman. Anyone who spends anytime in the wastes will decorate and personalize his suit. Generally veterans don't trust people in undecorated still suits. Still suits are also passed on from elder to child. It is believed that the suit has built up karma or luck and an old suit will guide it's wearer home.
The company store sells a drug known in the wastes as vaccine the will supercharge the immune system extending that time to about three months, but vaccine sells for about 50cb/week.
The company store sells CHOOH2 relatively cheaply but the supply of working motor vehicles is small. The skill of the repair of vehicles isn't lost but parts are harder and harder to come by. Most parts have been sold to the company store as scrap metal and their fabrication is almost impossible with the current level of wasteland fabrication tech.
Most electrical power in the wastes comes from Windmills. The windmills generally power batteries of various sophistication that then keeps the air and water filter running to allow continuous survival in he wastes. While solar power is a viable technology the cells can't be constructed except by the company and there price is somewhat prohibitive for everyday use.
In the years after the Apocalypse with the broken communication lines to mother churches and greatly changed terrestrial state of affairs have prompted the church to change in strange ways.
A majority of the christian faiths have lost their distinction and have been unified under Cardinal Anquon. The original Cardinal survived the war and founded New Rome in the remnants of Yellow Stone national park. The Spring still flows and may be the only source of natural clean water in North America. The Christians consider the water to be holy. The current Cardinal Anquon is not the original he was an assistant to the original and took over when the Cardinal Died. The Cardinal believes he is holding the christian faith in trust until communication can be re-established with mother Rome and the Pope.
The Anti-Christ legends have returned to the forefront of religious thought. Many religious thinkers and leaders believe that this is the time when the Anti-Christ rules the Earth before the Messiah returns from Heaven and vanquishes him with the aid of the army from the east.
It is believed that when the Messiah returns he will raise those who have waited patiently in their graves to serve in the final battle. The great army will rise up to the orbitals and destroy the Anti-Christ and his minions.
All the truly good people, and truly evil people on earth have already died. These noble souls patiently await the return of the Messiah (or the Anti-Christ), before joining the Final Battle. Every spiritualist, and religious thinker has set a different date for when the dead will rise. Before the Messiah can return and defeat the Anti-Christ those who are left on Earth must atone for their sins and join the Army of Light, or hand their souls to the Dark One and serve the Anti-Christ in the last battle.
While the above is the most common belief there are others. A slight but significant twisting on the predominant belief is that of the Vorous Death Cult. It is named for its most famous and elusive practitioner. They believe that they are the Judges of God. When someone sways from the Gray to the Black or the White the practitioner steps in and assassinates as an act of mercy. According to the Vorous Death Cult once someone chooses which side they will be on during the Final Fight there is no longer any need for them to be tested in this world. With their death they are banished to Hell or risen to to Heaven to view the last moments in peace.
The Vorous Death Cult are often hunted and killed by all non-members for obvious reasons. The Vorous Death Cult conceals their faith until they strike. They tend to congregate in informal and secretive covens. They use complex rituals and secret knowledge to identify each other.
While most religious thought is Apocalyptic there are isolated fertility/goddess cults. These cults are working towards the restoration of life and ecoshpere one plant, tree, child, and animal at a time. These cults are almost always Shamanistic in nature presided over by a wise or far sighted person. These cults generally despise the corps more than most. They tend to view the Corps as grave robbers stealing the living essence of the Earth.
While the Messianic tradition is the largest single faith, a majority of the population have faith in nothing but their own hands and ability to eke out a living from on unforgiving planet.
There are four primary stats and four derived stats. Players have 52 points to purchase stats. These points only need to pay for the four Primary Stats. Derived stats can be altered later but that is done with Option Points not Stat Points. PC Stats generally run 3-7, a character can have a 2 if he has a good reason. Keep in mind that disabilities are rare (mercy killings are common and if you had any honor whatsoever you'd give yourself to the wasteland for the betterment of the pack).
| Stats | Cost | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Damage and pain cause penalties to the character. Damage is the amount of damage the character has taken to hits. For example a character with 30 hits takes 10 pts of damage. He's still Ok and has no penalty. He takes another six point bringing his total to 16 and making him lightly wounded. He'll suffer a -2 to all actions. If he takes another 7 points (23 total) He'll be in serious conditions and suffer a -4 to all actions. If the unlucky bastard takes another 4 (27 total) he'll be at mortal and suffering a -6 to all actions. If he takes 3 more (30 total) he'll be dead or uncon.
| Damage | Penalty | |
|---|---|---|
| OK | <1/2 hits | -0 |
| Light | <3/4 hits | -2 |
| Serious | <7/8 hits | -4 |
| Mortal | Not Dead or Uncon | -6 |
Characters can optionally spend 1 mental end per damage level to ignore damage penalties for one round. This is a all or nothing activity. A mortally damaged character can't spend 2 pts and have a -2 penalty, a mortally damaged character has to spend 4 points to invoke this rule.
Normally characters begin with 120 OP. Sometimes there are powerhungry characters who feel they can't survive... even on that kings ransom. These characters can take up to 50 points of complications. Each complication point adds one OP to the characters OP total.
The value of complications are determined by Frequency, Intensity, and Importance. Frequency and added to Intensity, this total is multiplied by Importance to give the final complication value. See any of the Fuzion main books (Champion: The New Millennium, Bubble Gum Crisis, or AT:Votoms) except Usagi Yojimbo for example complications.
Frequency
How often does the complication show up?
| Frequency | Value | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Infrequently | 5 | Once every few sessions |
| Frequently | 10 | Once every session |
| Constantly | 15 | More than once every session |
Intensity
This reflects how much this complication affects and what must be
done to sidestep the issue. The more important the complication and the
harder it is to ignore the more points it's worth.
| Intensity | Value | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Mild | 5 | May roleplay to overcome it, or make Everyday WILL+Calm Roll to overcome it. |
| Strong | 10 | Must roleplay it and make Competent Will + Calm roll to overcome it. |
| Severe | 15 | Must roleplay it and make Incredible Will + Calm roll to overcome it. |
| Extreme | 20 | Must roleplay it and make Legendary Will + Calm roll to overcome it. |
Importance
This is a rating of how big of an effect this complication has on the
character in context of the world. Being a pagan in San Francisco in 1992
is probably a minor, in Salem in 1692 it would be Extreme.
| Importance | Value | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Minor | divide by 5 | Minor effect on combat or damage, with minor (-1) effect on skills or world reaction. |
| Major | divide by 2 | Major effect on combat (-3) or x1.5 damage, serious effect on skills or world reaction, or puts character into danger. |
| Extreme | x1 | Extreme effect on combat (-5) or x2 damage, or extreme effect on skill or world reaction, or puts character into extreme danger. |
Skills are bought with option points. Generally they range from 1-7 and cost the sum of the current level plus all levels under it. To get level 5 costs (1+2+3+4+5) 15 (This is the same cost structure listed for stats except it is in option points in stead of stat points). Any skill that has an '*' in front of it starts at value of 2. So Athletics level 5 would only cost (3+4+5) 12. Craftsman, knowledge, performance and science require choose a subskill. These skills can be taken more than once.
Talents cost three times as much as skills. Only Talents with a [X] can be taken in levels. Beginning characters can not purchase Psi, but may attempt to acquire it at any traumatic event (GM discretion). Each character starts with archetype for free.
| Survival Gear | Electronics | Tools | |||
| Food Tester | 100cb | Powercells | 15cb | Remote Rig | 1000cb |
| Kibble | 50cb/wk | GPS | 400cb | Air Remote | 5000cb |
| Nutrisupp | 100cb/wk | Solar Panel | 100cb | Tracked Remote | 4000cb |
| Clean Water Canteen | 200cb | Headset Commo | 200cb | Techscanner | 600cb |
| Vaccine | 50cb/wk | Power Cell Charger | 1000cb | Tech Toolkit | 300cb |
| Climbing Gear | 100cb | Portable V-Fence (4) | 800cb | Cutting Torch | 100cb |
| Protective Goggles | 20cb | V-Fence (4) | 400cb | Cutting Torch Refill | 15cb |
| Air Filter, Personal | 100cb | V-Fence Control | 400cb | Flare Gun | 150cb |
| Air Filter, Building | 900cb | Video Camera | 100cb+ | Flare | 5cb |
| Airborne Bio-Hazard Badge | 50cb | Alternate Spectrums | +200cb | Ground Cleaner | 500cb |
| Electronic Lock (1-20) | 50cb/lvl | ||||
In general the equipment listed in any cyberpunk supplement is available (subject to GM approval). Keep in mind the following there are no longer any production facilities on Earth, this has been taken into account when setting the value of a C-Buck, most of the high tech devices listed in CP 'retail' for about listed price, unless the change of situation has made their function significantly more or less valuable to the common user of the time. Food and water keep up with that inflation due to the difficulty of producing it. Anything that can be produced with low-tech production facilities is about half price.
Armor
There are only two types of armor in use today Armored Still Suits and Armored cloaks/long coats. Only the heaviest of the two layers apply. If you choose to wear two layers an extra -1 EV is applied. EV is a penalty the effects Move, and Combat. Any skills or abilities that are based off of those three stats will suffer the appropriate penalty. Armor is ablated by one point for every attack in excess of 1/2 the KD of the heaviest layer. If the heaviest layer is below a lighter layer both layers are ablated.
| Armor | EV | KD | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unarmored Still Suit | -0 | 0 | 50 |
| Light Still Suit | -0 | 5 | 285 |
| Medium Still Suit | -1 | 10 | 400 |
| Heavy Still Suit | -2 | 15 | 515 |
| Light Cloak | -0 | 5 | 235 |
| Medium Cloak | -1 | 10 | 375 |
| Heavy Cloak | -2 | 15 | 465 |
Guns and Ammo
| Weapon | WA | Conc | Avail | DC | Load | ROF | Rel | Range | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .22 Holdout | - | P | C | 2 | 2 | 1 | UR | 25M | 250cb |
| .22 Revolver | - | J | C | 2 | 6 | 1 | ST | 25M | 350cb |
| .36 Holdout | - | P | C | 3 | 2 | 1 | UR | 25M | 350cb |
| .36 Revolver | - | J | C | 3 | 6 | 1 | ST | 25M | 450cb |
| .44 Revolver | - | J | C | 4 | 6 | 1 | ST | 25M | 550cb |
| Carbine | - | J | C | 4 | 6 | 1 | ST | 50M | 600cb |
| .45 Rifle | - | N | C | 4 | 6 | 1 | ST | 75M | 700cb |
| .50 Rifle | - | N | P | 5 | 3 | 1 | ST | 75M | 800cb |
| Shotgun | +1/-1 | N | C | 5 | 1 | 1 | ST | 25M | 550cb |
| Double Barrel Shotgun | +1/-1 | N | C | 5 | 2 | 2 | ST | 25M | 750cb |
| Gatling Gun | -1 | N | R | 4 | 100 | 5 | UR | 50M | 3000cb |
* Shotguns have a +1 to hit general targets and a -1 for aimed shots (i.e. +1 to hit Joe, -1 to hit Joe's hand)
High Quality: A high quality gun costs an extra 200cb and grants an additional +1 WA, decreases the Avail one level and increases the reliability by one level.
Low Quality: A low quality gun costs 100cb less and decreases the WA by 1, increases the Avail one level and decreases the reliability by one level.
Guns and ammo are high demand items for obvious reasons. Due to the difficulty in production the the corporate's choice not to sell them they are more difficult to find than in the past. Availability for guns with ST reliability are one class tougher, UR guns are two classes less available. Pricing is based on original availability as per the below table:
| Availability | Cost Mult |
|---|---|
| Easy | x2 |
| Common | x3 |
| Poor | x4 |
| Rare | x6 |
Ammo is hard to find is normally double cost, special ammo is triple cost before ammo multiples are applied. Current gunsmithing technology allows for revolvers and single action rifles. Due to the reduced power of gunpowder in the current era subtract 1D6 of damage for any firearm that does 4D6 or more damage.
Notes
Keep in mind that there isn't an infrastructure anymore, anything that depends on it for outside information or communication is effectively no longer functioning, so don't even think of buying it. Also it should be noted that the more parts a system has the less chance there is finding a working system, and thus driving up the price of the working system but lowing the cost of the components.