Monday, December 31, 2018

Cyberpunk 2020 - New body armor options



This is a listing of new basic armor types for use with the Cyberpunk 2020 rpg from R. Talsorian games.


New Body Armor
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Operator Helmet. This is a reinforced Kevlar helmet equipped with a variety of tech attachments that most runners will find useful in the field. Includes a detachable face plate for added protection.

Operator Helmet – covers head – SP 25 – EV 0 – Cost 1100

Included in helmet: Logcompass, Digital Camera/Recorder, Mastoid Commo, Binoglasses, Light Booster Goggles, IR Goggles and IR Flash. Battery lifespan is ten hours with a variety of plug in cables for recharging built into the inside of the helmet.

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Full body Kevlar clam-shell. Kevlar shaped to the form of the body and layered into a set of flexible overalls. Offering up protection for all of the body except the head while still lightweight to help with movement.

Kevlar Clam-shell – covers all except head – SP Light 14 Medium 18 Heavy 20 – EV Light +1 Medium +2 Heavy +3 – Cost Light 300 Medium 400 Heavy 500

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Metal Gear Plus. The metal gear design and style but with added servos to aid in movement and lifting capacity. Also with a harder more resistant plate design for added protection. Not to mention some nifty add on options.

Metal Gear Plus – whole body – SP 27 – EV +2 – Cost 1250.

While wearing MG+ the character has their Body Type increased by one. This is from the servo motors, advanced shock resistant soft fill in the armor and damage dispersal design.

Various battery packs are located throughout the suit so there is no central power supply. The average lifespan of the batteries under use is about twelve hours. At that point a recharge taking around two hours is necessary. An extendable power cord is built into the right forearm. Advanced longer life battery models are available for an additional 250 eb an add four hours to the lifespan.

MG+ options: most electronics can be added into the helmet or body for their base cost X1.5. This is within reason of course, building in an electronic keyboard isn't going to work. Tools and tool kits can be built in as well for their base cost X2. Data systems, communications and surveillance can be added on for their base cost X1.25. Each additional option built into the suit reduces the power supply lifespan by fifteen minutes.

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You can find Cyberpunk 2020 books in pdf and POD over at the: R. Talsorian DrivethruRPG page.
 
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Sunday, December 30, 2018

Cyberpunk 2020 Athena Shell


Athena Shell
A new company for use with Cyberpunk 2020


A new company blowing up on the markets specializing in armor for women. From customization to modifications and fabrication for that personalize armor set that will set you apart from the rest. Adapting load bearing points and shape to better a woman's form and stature than any straight off the shelf brand can offer.


Game terms: Full custom armor jobs give an -1 EV mod to the base armor values. Modified stock armor gives no mods but the armor looks better and is custom fit so the PC will feel less restricted than normal when geared up. However in both cases when worn by anyone except the person it was custom made or modified for then they get penalties. Full custom penalties are +2 EV. Modified stock armor penalties are +1 EV.


All sets of body armor also get branded with the Athena Shell 'AS' logo which does bring about a good amount of street credit as it is not cheap and usually worn by either experienced runners or fashion icons with money to blow. In a Reputation facedown a person wearing Athena Shell gear gets a +1 to their roll for modified armor and a +2 if they are wearing full custom.


Costs:


Custom shaped armor to fit is regular armor cost X3.

Custom paint jobs with a no chip coating is 100eb for something basic, high detail including added artwork and designing may cost up to 1000eb.

Having a stock set of armor modified for shape and fit is equal to the base cost of the set X2.

Grime Away coating which causes liquids and dirt to slide off the armor is 200eb.
 
 
 
You can find Cyberpunk 2020 books in pdf and POD over at the: R. Talsorian DrivethruRPG page.
 
Like what you see here, found out how to support this blog.
 
 
 

Sunday, December 16, 2018


The first overview of The Silence. A setting in the works using the WaRP system.


The world we live in, the reality around us, is but one of many. Other worlds, parallel dimensions, other realities, whatever names they are given exist along side our own. Just a hairs width away separated by a boundary to keep us isolated from each other. But over time that wall has weakened and slowly broken down. Allowing others to pass into that space in between, a sinister place that mirrors the darkest aspects of the realities around it, a place known as The Silence.



In this setting the players take on the roles of people who are sensitive to areas of weakness in the boundary between our reality and that of The Silence. They feel a draw to these areas or may even cause the cracks that already exist to open up even more. What they choose to do about the horrors that they keep stumbling across is up to them. But one thing is for sure, the things that reside on the other side want in our world for various reasons. They may be the only ones who can stop them.



The Cracks in the Boundary.


The areas where the wall is the weakest are called cracks, but they are not all the same. There are different levels of breakage and how the other side is manifested can be different from site to site. Also the areas along the Boundary next to our world are mirror images, copies if you will, of each other. Although those over there tend to be a much more broken, dark and horrific version. Where everything is in a constant state of decay and despair permeates the air.


Sound does not travel the same either. In the open air most sounds are completely gone within a hundred feet, so somebody could be screaming for help close by and nobody could hear it. Hence the name that it is given, The Silence. Inside structures such as buildings it is more chaotic, noises far away may sound like they are right in the next room while your friend down the hallway may be getting violently murdered and you hear nothing.


Now lets look at the various types of cracks and how they are categorized. But do note that this isn't a science and they may manifest in completely unforeseen ways as well.


Crosspoint. These are completely open doorways that exist between the two worlds. You can't see them until you've already walked through. Once several feet in the air will go very cold and you won't hear any noises. Then you will see the entire reality around you slowly peel over into the dark mirror version of itself. Paint will peel away, glass grows cracks, blood soaks up through the floors, barb wire creeps across open windows. If the one has been paying attention they may be able to retrace their path back through the Crosspoint into our reality and escape... unless something blocks their way.


Snap. This is an almost violent cross over to the other side. The person will feel a shock of cold that is slightly painful and their muscles will tense up and cramp for a moment usually bringing them to their knees. When they recover a second later they find themselves on the other side in the mirror version of where they were. But there is no path back to follow.


Bleed. Sometimes the crack only works one way. With a bleed creatures and residents can be pulled over into our reality. But it also starts to leak that negative energy that permeates the Silence as well. Slowly buildings will start to take on the appearance of their mirror counterparts and fall into disrepair while feeling constantly drafty and cold. These spots can be very dangerous as somethings like to take up their nests near a Bleed while hunting out around it.


Ritual Breaks. These are deliberate breaks in the Border to allow passage back and forth between the realities. Usually achieved after the culmination of a long and arduous magical ritual. Sometimes these are done by unwitting cultist in search of power and knowledge, other times they are done in order to rescue someone who is trapped. These passages only last a limited amount of time dependent on the type of ritual used to open them. Some of these rituals cause such a disturbance in the Silence that they attract the attention of those that reside there. Something very bad for those who aren't prepared for the horrors that lurk in the cold. Most of the time these rituals open up in the mirror of the spot where they are performed although there are some out there that creak a passage to very specific locations.


Areas of The Silence



Broken City.


Most of the cracks that form are in this area. A massive apparently unending city that goes on and on, sometimes looping back in on itself even. Containing the mirrored structures of the present and the past all crammed together. One will also notice that all because two building are beside each other in our reality doesn't mean they will be next to each other in the mirror of the Silence. One could crossover and find a huge collapsing cathedral between them or a canal on filthy water. There is no apparent rhyme or reason to how they are placed.


Some areas appear to be completely empty of life in any direction. But don't let that fool you, the creatures here know that staying hidden can be a key element of survival and will only show themselves when the odds are in their favor. But the kind of life you stumble across may not be human at all as there are things from realities yet unknown that have crossed over into this place in between.



Wild Lands.


This is a much more rare section to stumble into. A heavy dark jungle like forest that, like it's city counterpart, goes on forever. While the noise silencing is still there the cold is not, instead replace by a constant humid heat that will not let up. But the mirrors here are also different, you could stumble upon an area that clears up and a heavy fog rolls in only to discover that you have wandered into the copy of a World War One trench warfare site complete with zombified soldiers still fighting each other for inches of dirt. Or the deep jungle warfare of the Pacific rim during the Vietnam War era, massive stone temples piled with bodies of human sacrifices and a tribe still living there following their old ways hoping to be released into the world their ancestors came from.


What you will find is another mix of things from other realities that have made this area their home. Things of nightmares that creep just behind the bushes no longer afraid to step on a twig because you will not hear it.


Sunday, December 9, 2018

Jaded Gamer Diary - OSR survey notes


Recently there was a survey passed around about the OSR communities/movement/brand whatever. Now I gave up half way through it due to the length and relative trivial nonsense of some of the questions. But I did notice something interesting coming up in discussions afterwards.

There have been several folks sharing their negative interactions with other OSR people and communities.  Things that they've seen or were done to them personally. Which is a good thing to talk about as it gives everyone the ability to see stuff from every angle and discover why some people are a bit taken back about the OSR overall.

Of course that's not what happened most of the time.  Occasionally open talk happened, but on a more frequent basis something else did. The complaints were ignored, told by others "Well I've never seen that happen" or openly told they were making stuff up. 

What this would have been is a very opportune moment for people to share out the positive OSR circles where things like this don't happen. But that hardly happened most of the time. They were given some rough thoughts about finding the more artpunk DIY groups... but not actually telling them were these groups were.  If I were to be the owner, moderator or member of a very friendly and open OSR group I damn sure would have been sharing it around during all this.

So why didn't that happen?  That's a very important question right there.

Either they don't know of community spots where there aren't toxic shitbags ruining it occasionally for other people.  OR they are afraid to give out the spots because they are worried the toxic shitbags they know are out there will also move in.

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Jaded Gamer Diary - She Bleeds books pulped



As many of you saw a few days ago there were reports of a book titled "She Bleeds" by Elizabeth Chaipraditkul being destroyed by a warehouse.  The evident reason was that the people running the warehouse found the book to be 'disgusting'.  People were upset over this, understandably so given the current climate of the gaming hobby.  There were discussions of the legality of it, calls for the name of the company warehousing the book and questions on if it happened or if somebody was trolling the LotFP folks.

Well now there's been an official announcement on the LofFP Facebook page:

Quick update on 'She Bleeds' for you all:  
James finished up his holiday in London and got information back about what happened. Turns out a distributor purchased 36 copies, then destroyed their own property. Other than being an incomprehensibly foolish business decision, it was their property to do with as they please.
It's still infuriating to hear about any books anywhere being destroyed for their content, and the author - Elizabeth Chaipraditkul - is handling the emotional burden of seeing a piece of work she put herself into being recklessly destroyed by dudes who presumably have no problem with blood so long as it doesn't come from a vagina.
Like many LotFP authors, Liz is paid via profit sharing rather than a flat per-word payment. That means you can support her by continuing to buy her work wherever it's available.
From us, you can get the She Bleeds PDF on DTRPG here:
She Bleeds on DrivethruRPG
As for hard copies, the remaining Gen Con books went to Impressions post-Gen Con, which means there are still hard copies out there at mail order retailers and FLGSs who are getting them from their distributors. If you know of a place you can find it online, do please link in the comments below to help folks purchase the book.
You can see the actual announcement on their page RIGHT HERE.

So evidently it did happen but luckily was only a small number of copies and they were legally owned by the distributor so they could do with them as they please.  I'm still not happy with the idea of them destroying the books rather than contacting the publisher and asking for possible 'buy back' or something along those lines.

Also in the comments they are unwilling to name the distributor because they don't want anymore drama to come up from all of this.  Which is also understandable.  But damned if I still wish I knew who it was so I could avoid any business with them in the future.