[OOC] Down and Out - Cyberpunk RP

[vietmyke]

Welcome to New-Hong Kong, Jewel of the Eastern Hemisphere, from 2107 to present. Notable trade hub, center of technological and scientific development, and cultural oasis, New-Hong Kong is one of the most important cities in the Eastern Hemisphere, along with the likes of Neo Tokyo, Singapore, and Seoul II. Major regional headquarters for a variety of notable mega-corporations, New-Hong Kong leads the world in cyber-technological advancements, and is well known for both its well oiled infrastructure and free economic rules. New-Hong Kong is a jewel of an opportunity for the rich, powerful and entrepreneurially minded, and money and fame flows freely for these people.

You are not one of these people.



This is the New-Hong Kong Com-Res(Commercial & Residential) District 9, or as its inhabitants like to call it: the Valhalla District. As far as standards in Year 2157 go, its not a slum, but its not much better. Built in the shadow of the more notable Business District 8, Valhalla is the slowly dying no-man's zone between the more gentrified and technologically advanced city, and the run-down chinese quarter and slums. Its a rather diverse place, a melting pot for the have's and have-nots, where squalor and luxury intertwine. Its not the friendliest of places, but its home.

This world is harsh and dirty- and at times inhumane, but you've managed to survive, if just by the skin of your teeth. You've worked a couple jobs in this city, some legal, others less so. Maybe you were born in raised in the squalor, maybe you came in from a different country seeking your fortune. Life takes all sorts of twists and turns, sometimes plans pan out, other times they don't. Either way, you're down and out, fallen on hard times with little else to your name than a working body and a handful of credits.

Things are desperate enough that you've started working for a company called the Mavericks, a 'Security' consulting firm. The pay is dirt, and the work is hard and of questionable legality, but until you get to move onto greener pastures, this is your lot. Low level extortion, beating up drunk thugs for bars, walking a particularly worried man to and from work, writing up quick fixes to security systems, its hardly glamorous, but it keeps a roof over your head- as tiny as it may be, and enough food in your belly to keep you from keeling over.

But when your old friend and coworker, Tommy DeGarro sends you a desperate message from a private terminal, with the promise of a lot of cash at the end of it, you can't help but get the feeling something interesting is about to happen. Its your way out of this hell hole- either up into 5-star condos, or down 6 feet under.

Well. Good thing your schedule's pretty empty, huh chummer?

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Hello potentially interested individuals and welcome to my OOC! I've always loved the dark dystopian cyberpunk world, and have always had a hankering for the whole Shadowrun-Blade Runner-Cyberpunk kinda setting. I'm looking around for 1-3 particularly dedicated writers who want to get into this whole sorta deal.

One part choose your own narrative, one part mystery thriller, I have a loose storyline thought out with specific story beats for players to hit while they do some good old fashioned romping through a city that doesn't really care who you are or whether or not you live or die. I aim to put the focus on individual characters along with the story plot- I myself won't be piloting any one specific character, as it tends to end up with everyone following what the GM character does which feels kinda degrades the whole point of having a plot- hard to surprise myself with my own work. Instead, I'll be operating various npcs and environments to react and guide the players along the plot. Think of it like a adapting and evolving Choose-your-own-adventure narrative, with yourself/your character as the focus.

As far as characters go, I'm generally looking for 'low power' characters, could've been a former soldier or ex-cop, a small time hacker, just a plain thug, or the like- I'm definitely not looking for hotshot CIA Agents, SAS operators or Ex-Spetsnaz. This is a story about (a bit above) average Joes/Joannes being thrust into rather extraordinary circumstances.

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Rules

• All standard guild/rp rules - Don't be a dick, powergame, godmod, stuff like that.
• Keep things civil. If you ever catch yourself thinking "Huh, that might be an excessively mean/rude/confrontational thing to say/do." Maybe don't do that. I'm not expecting everyone to behave like angels and get along with one another constantly, but I don't want the OOC to become a warzone. Ironic for a war based RP, but you get what I mean.
• I always emphasize that Real life is more important than the Guild. If you feel life is smacking you down hard, and you need a break or time off, please try to let me know and I'll do my best to accommodate you. This may include controlling your character for you for a round, putting them in a reserve slot or something similar.
• If you are going to need some time off or are going to be away from the guild for an extended period of time, please let me know ahead of time instead of just disappearing on us.
• One character per player.

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Character Sheets:

All character sheets should be posted in the OOC tab for approval before being moved to the Char section.

Characters will be part of a small time Security Contracting Firm known as "The Mavericks". Essentially glorified thugs, hitmen and extortionists. As previously stated, I'm looking for 'low power' characters for this RP- a la levels 1-5 in d&d or the like. No professional assassins or ex-special ops please.

Maverick Records

Image Digital art preferred, stray away from the anime if at all possible.
Name: Last name, First name
Age: Character's age
Gender: Your character's gender
Origin: Your character's birthplace/nationality

Appearance: A short blurb about your character's appearance, including height and any distinguishing marks.

Nickname/Handle: If any apply

Psychological Analysis: Fancy talk for 'Personality'. Give me a good paragraph or so describing your character's personality. Rule of thumb: the more detail, the better.

Personal Record: Your Character's background. Again, give me a few good paragraphs describing your character's history. Again, the more detail, the better.

Equipment: Notable items should be put down in list format. Stuff like rations or water, cigarettes, and small stuff can be left out. Include weapons, armor, augments, possessions that help them do their job more efficiently, the like.

[Crosswire]

IT BEGINS.

Can't wait to see the character sheet.@vietmyke Also thanks again for not cutting out magical stuff entirely.

[DeadDrop]

format is there g

[ayzrules]

quick question-what's fashion like in this cyberpunk world? What's regarded as luxury/"designer", and what do normal-ish people wear? are the usual silks/satin etc stuff still a thing, or is that gone bc future and stuff? What about jewelry-are we talking conventional diamonds pearls sapphires whatever, or are those now super super rare? And if so, what do normal-ish people wear for jewelry?

and I'm gonna go ahead and assume that high heels (stilettos, heeled boots, etc) are still a thing? :D

[DeadDrop]

high tech low life.
attire is generally the same for the genre if you know what the norm is but thats my opinion.

[ayzrules]

so would something like this be considered the norm, or would it be more for rich ppl?

pic

[vietmyke]

thats more rich people stuff. Poor people clothes are pretty much just technod versions of everyday street clothes now

[DeadDrop]

long live the poor

[Big Dread]

I'm probably going to throw some stuff in my history about some conflicts and what not to help flesh out my character's background. Maybe like a UN police action in Southeast Asia or something like that. Do I have to go ahead to throw some history into the world chief?

@vietmyke

[jasonwolf]

@vietmyke So how much detail do I need to put behind a character if what I'm really playing is their robot? I really want the character to be hiding away and only interacts through the drone who is really the character here.

[Crosswire]

@jasonwolfI feel it might be best to still describe the character, because chances are they won't always be able to rely on their drone. If shit gets bad and someone comes after them then they'll likely have to run away in the flesh to avoid getting gibed.

This is cyberpunk. Hiding behind toys and the net works...so long as someone isn't set on finding you.

[jasonwolf]

@Crosswire I mean personally I'd be more than willing to write it up and send it to the GM only, and have a public version that shows what all the other players would know, so I really just wanted the GM's thought on this.

[Crosswire]

@jasonwolfThat'd be amusing to be totally honest, keep everyone in the dark about what your character actually looks like (save the GM) until they actually see them in person. Heck I really like that idea the more I think about it.

[vietmyke]

@Big Dread sounds fine to me- just keep in mind what I said about 'low level' characters. I don't want your guy being too good at being a badass.

@jasonwolf If you want to send the character description to me and me only I'm fine with that. Again keep in mind that these characters are to be 'low level' so don't expect that drone to be too advanced.

[jasonwolf]

@vietmyke TBH the general idea was either a 1 foot tall robot raptor (Though it looks a bit more like a chicken) with a camera for the head, a little firearm of some sort (like a really pathetic pistol), the ability to crawl on walls, plug into computers, and explode.

Or a spider sorta drone that does basically the same thing, but doesn't have the gun and has this little taser wire it can fire off.

[Big Dread]

@vietmyke

No need to worry. My guy isn't some SOCOM war hero. He's just a 35 Mike E5. Finished his contract, got out. Had to go private sector. :)

[jasonwolf]

@vietmyke

My Hider

Found the drone design I'm scaling it to about 1'x2'x1.5' WxLxH. Working balance now is a limited ammo razor wire launcher with electric current flowing through it, a hacking tool, and a nanoblade for its main uses and it also can explode in spectacular fashion, but obviously, that's the last thing it does. Otherwise, the main special thing it can do is crawl on walls except for glass.

EDIT: just checking that its at a good level for balance.

[MegaOscarPwn]

Holy hell, this looks sweet, I may make a character for this after reading all of the "lore" and shit.

Hope this goes well!

[MegaOscarPwn]

Reference picture, kinda big. (Also, check the artist, he's good)

Name: Óscar Guijarro.

Age: 29 years old.

Sex: Male.

Origin: Born in Sweden, lived most of his life in Spain, moved to Hong-Kong shortly afterward.

Appearance: Óscar is simple at first sight, his body being that of an average male of his age, but it seems that he takes care of his health and body, shown by is slightly muscular body: Nothing too crazy, but he's fit. Except when he removes his clothing, revealing that both of his arms are indeed augmented, totally deprived of biological mass and exclusively cybernetic. He tends to wear dark, baggy clothing, choosing black amongst all other colors. He also seems to be a fan of numerous video games and comics, which is shown by his shirts. He also dons a full beard, completed with a black pompadour that he takes care of, sometimes putting it softly under the protection of his hoody. His right eye is brown, the left one being of an almost pitch-black red, sometimes having some sort of "tick" on the left one, caused by yet another augmentation, more than likely related to some sort of accident. He has baggy eyes, possibly related to his unscheduled sleeping time and/or insomnia.

Nickname/Handle: Stoned or Ohm.

Psychological Analysis: He isn't the smartest guy in the world, that's for sure. He also isn't the most kind-hearted person either, seemingly taking care of his own before others and more than once running away from a situation, but once you get to know him, you can see that there is more that catches the eye. If you take care of him, he will take care of you. He's a believer of the status-quo and the karma, meaning that if you do something to him, he will do exactly the same to you, good or bad. Since stuff happened while he was a child, Óscar feels the need of love: Not just sexual love, but friendship and overall care. Most of the time you can find him listening to music, trying to get away from everything, so he doesn't think about anything and just be there. If he finds someone that needs him, he'll be there for them, but most of the time they don't return the favor, sending him into a spiral of sadness and drinking, thinking that nothing in the world would change if he wasn't here. He tends to hide under humor, most of the time being unfunny and/or offensive, but getting the job done and making him look like a normal unemotional idiot. Also, his movements are sudden and really... "special", often making use of his hands while talking to give them more emphasis; this also affects his overall actions, such as singing while walking on the street, dancing to a song without actually knowing how to dance, etc...

Personal Record: He was born in Sweden, 2128. His mother was Swedish and his father Spanish, so the cultural exchange between the two helped him to start talking two languages at an early age. In 2131, when he was only 3 years old, his family moved back to Madrid, so his father could show him what was Spain like. On his 5th birthday, he got his first video game handheld console, and he became an "addict" to it, playing it nonstop and usually replaying the same games over and over, feeling that this was an unlimited source of fun. They didn't live in the best neighborhood of the city, numerous cases of vandalism and overall violence ran through the city, but he didn't experience anything out of the ordinary life of a happy, happy boy.

When he was 8 years old, his mother experienced a very painful headache while having a family dinner: 3 days later she was dead, a very tiny vein on her brain had exploded and left her in a catatonic state, so the doctors had no reason to not unplug her. When his father told him, he of course cried, but he was far too young to understand the true consequences of his mother's death. On the next few months, his father contracted throat cancer, which was literally eating him from the inside: Even with his vocal cords removed, it wouldn't stop. Óscar saw his father getting weaker and weaker each day, the hole in his throat getting bloodier and bigger each day, until it happened: At 3 am, on his summer break, he woke up to find the dead corpse of his father on the bed, entirely covered in blood as he could only associate it to another vein that broke, this time the one on the neck, connecting to the brain. He was only 12 at that time.

Afterwards, he went to live with his uncle and grandmother, in yet another neighborhood and another school. Shortly after graduating, around 2147. Being old enough to live alone, he decided to retreat to the exotic yet dangerous and unknown parts of Asia, most specifically: Hong-Kong. After barely having enough money to rent a place to live in, he stayed there for around 5 years, training his Chinese and doing common and legal jobs, for the time being. After a while, the factory he had been working on was raided by some sort of terrorist group, which demanded that the workers united to their cause to take the "Throne" of the company as if it was a kingdom or something. Óscar knew these guys were just psychos and didn't mind them, and indeed they were psychos: Armed psychos. After their demands weren't fulfilled, they decided that the best course of action was blowing the factory to pieces, with fucking everyone inside. The Spaniard heard the explosions and the yells, and when he attempted to escape, everything went black.

Fast forward six months, to the HKSH (Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital), where Óscar had been taken care of until he was fully recovered. He was in shock, as he realized that the attack had made both of his arms useless: The nerves and most of the muscle destroyed as well as his left eye, which had been hit by some shrapnel that the explosion caused. Although he didn't have much money, due to his low-salary job, he did make some friends back in the streets, shady friends. They helped him pay for the hospital bill and even some official augmentations, to make up for what he had lost, but it all had a price: Work for them. Shortly afterwards, Óscar was greeted in a luxury restaurant by a man named Juo-Shing, which was the leader of the so called "Shinahu" clan, a branch of the Triads that took care of most of the menial work: Take thing to X place, maybe take care that X establishment doesn't get robbed...or even rob X establishment yourself. He had no choice but to accept, slowly learning the insides of the "Underworld" as he slowly ranked up in the clan, getting the alias of "Stoned" due to his surname being "Guijarro", which in Spanish is a type of rock.

Years passed and the clan slowly dispersed, a new corporation taking most of the members as it had a more "official" manner of doing things, alongside better security and recognition. Óscar couldn't abandon the clan, so he had to wait until it died off. And he waited. And waited. And boy, did he wait, until finally the leader himself gave him his part of the deal and was finally free to join the Maverick's group. Since they already had a bunch of thugs running around doing jobs, he had to go into the most "technical" part of the job, controlling the security of the quite expensive tech that the group had alongside getting taught how to do the basic hacking routines: One can't be sure about anything when it comes to gangs with online networks. After some time, a co-worker of his', Tommy DeGarro sent him quite an unusual message: Óscar, being the man that he is, couldn't pass out an opportunity to help out a friend in need, specially if it meant getting away from the menial routine and with cash at the end: A lot of cash.

Equipment: Óscar wields augmentations on both of his arms, no longer having any kind of biological mass on them and being literally entirely mechanical. He isn't a ranged fighter, fuck, he hates guns, and that is why he always prefers to go into close quarters combat to attempt and subdue the opponent in the fastest way possible, that is, without killing, and that is why he sometimes wields an "electrified brass knuckles": Basically, brass knuckles that he has tinkered with to give electric discharges, not very effective against armored or covered target, but holy crap does it hurt.
He also has lost his left eye, which is now replaced by yet another cybernetic augmentation. With enough tinkering and mechanical knowledge, it can be upgraded to allow him to have better vision or reflexes but, as of now, it's just a regular eye.
But made of metal.
And electronics.
And it glows.

[vietmyke]

@jasonwolf The main concern I guess is how the pilot will be able to control the drone from so far away- how susceptible it is to outside interference, and if its impervious to interference how he managed to get his hands on such a drone.

The size shape and capabilities of the drone itself are acceptable.