2080: Running Ain't Easy

Okay, so fairly similar to what I was gonna do anyway. In that regard, here's a few more things to toss out:

Do people want to keep track of ammunition? I don't honestly care one way or another, but it won't be a complicated process if so. At worst I'll have people just keep track of how many 'reloads' they want, and if the majority of the people want to get fancier, just keep track of ammo by numbers (Basically like how any video game does it, you reload and it reduces your total count, and who gives a fuck about the magazine) I personally feel that some kind of ammo management is needed. Personally, I feel more inclined toward reload, as it kind of finds the happy medium of management.

In terms of item management, I was thinking of introducing a simple inventory system as opposed to 'weight', at character creation you'd basically pay for a number of inventory slots and that would basically be what you have on your person. The lower would be cheaper, allowing you to have more options in terms of equipment, but not everything to carry. So you'd have to choose what you'd want to have on you for a job or a situation.

I like both of these things :3

This is fine by me. I suggest to help us all, rather than just keeping track however, maybe we can have a little header somewhere (yes, me and my headers... I love them and am biased, but hell, they are helpful as fuck!). Anyway, maybe in something like a header there can be a means of indicating how much ammo or whatever is left. That way WE keep track and OTHERS know as well. Make sense??? Seem reasonable???

That's more or less what I was thinking, it's just a matter of actually making the header compact enough without it being a chore.

Indeed. That and making sure people don't get lazy and just copy/paste and suddenly forget to tweak it. Goodness knows I've seen it happen enough times just in general.

Reload number and inventory both sound rather grand to me.

It all sounds pretty cool to me

I'm excited for this.
Are we using skills that we think up? Or are we going to use skills that are from the hand books and such?

Backgrounds. Skills imply a particular talent at something narrowly defined. Background is more like a history of experience.

And yeah, pretty much whatever you come up with. Naturally I can say yay or ney to anything in particular, but it gives people less worry about making sure their character is optimized and more about making a character that they want to use.

An example of how backgrounds would work would be...I dunno, say you have a background as a Soldier (+2) you wouldn't have to particularly justify an excuse for why this background modifier would help your roll in say...a gunfight. Naturally, that would make sense.

However, you can get a little creative about it. Say we're in a new area. You could pose the idea that your character was deployed there a while ago, so you have a basic idea of where everything is and how people operate. I'm not going to let people pull shit out of their ass just because, I will stress some sense of continuity. But I'm not going to ignore creative attempts at using a characters background to their fullest. I want people to feel like they can choose anything and somewhere, it will be useful. It'd kind of depress me if everyone just optimizes for the sake of it when you literally have no boundaries other than me saying no.

I should also note that I've begun world building, so when anything relevant comes up, I'll drop it here to paint a better picture. I'll also help people decide what they want to do and what's going on in the wonderful region.

EDIT: Oh, and for weapons...do you guys want detail, or keep it simple? on the grand scheme of things, it won't effect much other than fluffing the world out more.

As far as guns go, I think it'd be cool if we had more systems than just the standard mass driver weapons (explosion propels bullet impales person). Things like railguns, plasma rifles, sticky grenades, and needleguns really add to the flavor of a world (maybe even some neo-archaic options like lightsabers and gravity cannons). An interesting option would be if various different cultures specialized in different weapon systems.

Alright, sounds good to me.

Reply to edit: I personally like detail, but I know others don't.

Ooooh Raze is on to something, here.

You sound more interested in adding sci-fi than actual cyberpunk, or perhaps my understanding of cyberpunk seems entirely wrong. Since I wasn't really going to invest too heavily in alternative firearm options, since I'm not really used to seeing them in the media I explore. Guess I'll have to do some digging and see if it interests. Although I don't feel like Railguns are particularly 'alternative'

Broomhandle45 said:

EDIT: Oh, and for weapons...do you guys want detail, or keep it simple? on the grand scheme of things, it won't effect much other than fluffing the world out more.

Click to expand...

I would prefer to keep it pretty simple since I dont really know that much about guns anyway

That is sort of the mind I am of, but I tend not to use guns in role plays because so many people ARE big into details.

I don't know much about guns either. And if guns were allowed, I'm more of the mind of.... here is gun, point it and shoot with it... BANG! >.<

EDIT: And then the gun would cause x amount of damage and that would be that and it would also eventually run out of bullets. Basically, something stupid simple. And that would be more or less that because, as I said, I know next to nothing about guns. So simple weapons with simple explanations. And that's if guns were even allowed.

Im pretty sure guns are a for sure thing in this one ^^'

I'm in agreement with the firearms thing.

And here I was hoping I could wield a couple weaponized arc cutters and a bag full of a demolitionist's wet dream. D:

Are we going into much detail, or are we keeping things rather simple?
-has fairly extensive knowledge of firearms and other various weapons-

So do I. But the issue with more detail is dependent on just how people care on what weapons do to effect their rolls. If everyone is in agreement that weapons are simply a stylistic choice that is more of a character's own tool of effectiveness than actually determining a better outcome, then its full fluff and nobody cares except said fluff people. If you want weapons to modify rolls, then some minor detail will be required. Likely separated into easy portions for people who don't care about the fluff and people who do.

Well, I think certain weapons should play with rolls. Like SMG LMG assault rifle, sniper rifle carbine, then you get you're knives and other edge weaponry, and then things like explosives that play another roll. And then other alternative weapons, like stuff for electronic warfare for deckers or things for magic users. Beyond that, I think the rest is for show.

...So everything that is a weapon in the sense of the usage is should have a roll in your opinion, got it.

World Background

So to not ignore this thread and what have you, I thought I'd share with you folks some world-building I've been doing. This has seriously deviated from my original concept of what I was expecting, but sometimes the dance moves to it's own tune, as it were. Yes, I am still working on this, and I will continue to do so at a pace I find comfortable, whoever is left or whoever is waiting will just have to wait until it's done.

In this world (which is our world, just in 2080) magic has always existed in general, the many stories about bearded old wizards and such were very much true, but for a different reason.

You see, magic is a manipulation of the balance of the four elements within the human body. The human body possesses a perfect balance, down to the tiniest level that allows them to call on the big four without a lot of issue, just some training. The method here is different, however...in that the caster in question manipulates the delicate balance in their bodies and projects it outward. While magic is generally seen as projecting something inward (Casting, hand waving, divination) and projecting it outward (Fireballs, turning people into sheep, making magic pancakes). So these wizards back in their day pretty much knew nothing of the balance, and they would be able to conjure immensely powerful spells that would degrade their bodies incredibly fast. Many of them didn't make thirty, some who were a little more conservative could perhaps hit thirty five. These people were generally very much needed and dating back to the Roman Empire, these spell casters had a notorious practice of taking multiple wives and simply having affair after affair to sustain the spell casting population.

Ultimately, however, the increased wars in Europe (The Thirty Years War, Hundred Years War, so on) as well as the Black Plague shrunk these numbers considerably. And by the 1700's, there weren't many magicians to be had. The ones that did still survive decided that their ailment was of the body, and magic could ultimately restore them, since it was all an internal process. So, they utilized a very unique method of magic and put themselves in a cocoon of purely neutral magic, the a metaphysical 'spirit' of the human body to allow them to rest and recover, and eventually awake. Well into the 1940's, magic was little more than a cute footnote, or a usable utility. The balance was more properly understood as medical sciences and technology advanced, and humans were woefully incapable of actually using magic to any incredible degree if they wanted any kind of lifespan. Continued use of dangerous and extreme leaps in power would degrade the body and make the balance in their systems horribly askew. It was around this time that people began to notice that not everyone was human. Indeed, as time wore on...the elemental balances within the promiscuous wizards soon spread into their own bloodlines, their weaknesses their bodies soon became known as a strength.

These are known as 'aspect' people, elementals, homo-magi...there are a thousand different words for them and all of them generally mean the same thing. Aspects are different in that their biology is specifically attuned toward a single element, allowing them access to stronger magics that humans cannot reliably manage without a drastic cost. However, they suffer the same penalty, you can only use it so many times before it screws up their biology and starts to rapidly degrade their bodies.


Now, how does Magic become relevant again? Through a group called Kura Multinational, and through a wonderful product known as Saha Cells, or 'Batteries'. Once an environmental protection agency that utilized earth magics to cultivate the soil and allowed them to promote growth, they located one of those shells containing a wizard within and dubbed him 'Merlin'. They knew that at least, there was a unique magic that they had yet to see in the cocoon, it was completely 'neutral', it had no element, which was completely unheard of at the time.

Through means only known to them, they managed to harness that neutral conduit of magical energy and eventually make their own. They exploded overnight, as anyone could buy and recharge these batteries and soon they had a brand new market that they cornered, selling batteries and adapters for just about anything you can imagine (cars, power plants, weapons...you name it)

It was also discovered quite easily by Kura Multinational that these batteries can be used for magical enhancement. By inserting them along the 'leylines' along the body (and not the chakra points in the center of the body, all kinds of weird shit happens then) they discovered that magic could be used safely and powerfully by any and all who wanted to use it.

The batteries are generally very efficient things, but when inserted into a body, they become a little less so. While the user is more than capable of hurling fireballs willy nilly, they have no actual control in manipulating the amount that comes out. Think of magic without the cells like a gun, the human body is both the trigger and the bullet, taking energy from both to do one action. With the batteries, the human body is simply the trigger. The body adapts to this change, and it becomes dependent on it for normal routine.

People who invest very heavily into batteries and suddenly find themselves completely empty of their energy will be suffering some serious problems, like migraines, stomach pain, hallucination, a feeling of dehydration, profuse chills and so forth. All of it depending on the manner of element that the battery has.

More batteries means more energy to do more spells, but also means more risk for a crippling headache or ringing ears. Placing batteries at certain parts of the body will incur different benefits/capabilities.

Next post (or...update, or if I get it all finished by then, I'll just flesh it out at my own pace) I'll explain how technology and the like is in 2080.