I'm having a difficult day, i would like to GM a game where the players are Cops/Detectives/Special Agents like Adam jensen in an almost cyberpunk world (mankind is on the brink of all that cool stuff) but no matter how many mission ideas i come up with they all seem bad. theyre either boring, too high stakes, or just an endless shootout.
I need help on this guys. I think its just because i dont know enough about any modern/cyberpunk stuff to go off of. so i can only think of like 2 sources.
Whats a cool enough mission or problem that isn't just "these terrorists are bad" or "these terrorists are bad, except theyre not cause the government is bad"
I would recommend trying Technoir. It has in-built system for building a narrative. It might help.
Mason Morales
Theme and mood are what you are looking for.
>What do your detectives do? >Why do they do it? >How do they feel about it? >How did they become what they are? >Where are they from? >How do they work together? >Who pays them? >What do their employers want? >Who are their opponents? >Why do they do what they do? >Where do they work? >What's the best thing about where they live? >Whats the worst thing about where they live? >What is the society and culture like where they live? >Does it have laws? >Are the laws reasonable? >Are there areas without laws? >How do the detectives resolve their work? >Are things looking good? >Are things looking bad? >What happens when everything is done, is it really over? >Who holds power? >Who has no power? >What is technology capable of?
Good characterization, fun plots, exciting scenarios, and unexpected outcomes are what you want.
Daniel Murphy
Some more inspiration of cyberpunk detective/police/agents would be:
A.D. Police A Scanner Darkly Appleseed Armitage III Blade Runner Cyber City OEDO 808 Ghost in the Shell Natural City Nemesis Parasite Dolls Renaissance Robocop Strange Days
Hunter Wright
Noir may be great for inspiration too.
Movies with Humphrey Bogart like Big Sleep or Maltese Falcon Double Indemnity Chinatown The Third Man Touch of Evil Alphaville though it's more of a parody
It's kind of like going back to the roots.
Christopher Lee
i feel like i heard of this a long time ago
Anthony Peterson
The mission will mostly depend on who the characters work for and what their assignation is.
Corporate security: secure buildings, watch CCTV monitors, slurp coffee, eat donuts, kick away noisy and rebellious youngsters Corporate elite security: secure sensitive buildings and key personnel (bodyguard duty), support of spec ops and corporate security (rapid response unit) Corporate spec ops (members have different specializations): hostage rescue, armed assault, infiltration and sabotage, assassination, exfiltration, security in high-risk environment, VIP security, intel gathering, investigation
Police department detective bureau: the job depends on the bureau (gang, narcotics, crime and vice divisions are probably the most interesting bureaus to work for). Note: Unless the PD receives some decent sponsoring from local corporations or crime syndicates, we can easily assume that they are broke and lack resources. Many agents will probably also be corrupt and some will simply be criminals wearing a badge.
The Cyberpunk 2020 supplement Protect & Serve might give you some ideas for cyberpunk police duty.
Jason Perry
L. A. Confidential is also pretty good.
Cooper Myers
>Whats a cool enough mission or problem that isn't just "these terrorists are bad" or "these terrorists are bad, except theyre not cause the government is bad"
Forbidden things are exciting. There will always be gangs and gangs will always fight each other. There will always be people partying, spending more money than they have, doing drugs, gambling, paying for sex and getting into trouble for it. There will always be people jealous of others - especially in a materialistic settings like a cyberpunk universe. There will always be people who prefer to steal or con rather than to work - in a cyberpunk world where jobs are rare this might even be a necessity. There will always be psychos praying on others.
All those people keep police detectives busy all year round.
Adam Torres
>Cyber City OEDO 808
This one is good enough. Ignore everything else on this list and replicate this one specific work in its entirety.
Jacob Turner
...
David Long
...
Jaxon Campbell
...
Asher Baker
You could have a super-popular cult/sect that starts to turn against corporate interests. The corporations hate it, but also lot of their employees (also executives) are members of the cult. For a good part of the public, the cult is considered as good and the corporations lose more and more popularity. The cult also used his economic power to recruit competent security agents and netrunners (not counting all the ones working for corporations that are members of the cult).
Kayden Butler
...
Evan Miller
...
Xavier Brown
Conversely, you could drop the Cliched Corp future and keep regular governments around, or enclaves of free people that are able to subsist on a micro grid without the need of a nation spanning power network due to new technology.
Nathaniel Walker
PC's are sent into, i dunno, the slums of this city > why are they here you mention terrorists, maybe they just attacked a place? holed up in a place with hostages? bombed a train station? or maybe you were just given a lead that something big is about to go down?
I recommend starting with some intrigue and not just some shootout, have the players goal be to go somewhere or collect some information first. > what do the players need? do they need info? do they need a specific tool/gear? do they need to meet a contact in the area?
the area/environment, i suggest you try to make it as alive as possible, think about non important characters and what they might be doing.
So they are here in the slums because terrorists did a thing, they investigated the thing, then what? does it lead to a bigger conspiracy? do they wonder why terrorists bombed a seemingly random pharma company? do they find a clue that leads them to speak to a local gang boss?
and most importantly, when is a good time for them to shoot stuff? we all love our intrigue, but we all LOVE cyberpunk shootouts. do the terrorists attack the players when they accidentally stumble into their lair? or did they attack another seemingly random building at the same time the players are walking past?
What do you think?
Andrew Ramirez
My group used to play futuristic cop stories (we were three GM doing the same game). Some of the investigation we had:
> Missing person case leads to blood and drug trafficking. Lots of red herrings. Takes a supernatural turn at the end. > Body is found in an alley. Beaten to shit. Guy was doing steroids, drugs are found at home. Drug-related crime? Lots of leg work. Was improving his living by participating in underground fights. > Municipality has mandated cops with shooting stry dogs. One dog is found infected with a strange illness. Investigation in dogfighting scene. Foreign terrorist group using dogs as guinea pigs to test a bio-weapon. > Artist is found dead. Murder or suicide? Lots of red herrings. People are dying here and there. Turns out that it was all planed by the artist a long time ago and this is his final masterpiece. > Different stuff going on. Cops are getting murdered one after the other. They all where dirty. Psychokiller is an ex-cop himself getting revenge.
Some more we had but I don't remember the story at all since it was a very long time ago: > Brutal bank robbers duo (Kalash & Nico) and their gang > New gang operating from high-schools > A group of normal students decided to become violent criminals
All sessions were interrupted once or twice by different emergencies (riot, hold-up, suicidal person, domestic violence...), and by the compulsory Wednesday evening football (soccer) game (the game was set in Berlin, so football is sacred).
Jackson Brown
Sexbots are going rogue and smashing up the place/killing Johns/taking their owners hostage.
What the fuck is going wrong with these sexbots? Is it terrorism? Extortion? Corporate sabotage? Malfunctioning and criminal negligence? Or perhaps they're just sick of being treated as headpat dispensers?
Adam Hughes
Can't you lift/steal any campaign for the JUDGE DREDD rpg wholesale?
Maybe you'd be better off watching procedurals only on TV, if you are this thick.
Noah Gomez
There can be no better inspiration than this classic:
This one was really cool and my description doesn't make it justice.
Ethan Scott
Yeah, I reread them and I think they would work as longer scenarios, but just summing up the plot in one sentence makes them sound a little ridiculous. Like when you mentioned the artist. I imagined some regular guy randomly deciding to off a bunch of people just because he felt like it.
Elijah Martin
I can confirm, they were all longer scenarios (8h and up). Also, thinking about it, we never played modern or sci-fi games as campaign.
Parker Parker
...
Caleb Nguyen
You wouldn't know a goddamn good inspiration if one jumped up and bit you on the end of your fucking dick. [spoilers]Seriously, dropping AD Police Files is heresy[/spoiler]
Robert Lee
The only thing that comes close to Cyber City OEDO 808 is Angel Cop, don't let the fucking commies win! (Or the goddamn jews!)
nah, ignore that user, those all sounds like really interesting summations of good quests you went through. most of those are pretty clever and rewarding it would seem.
Blake Robinson
Look to older 80s and 90s SF anime imo. This is one thing they did very right.
Wyatt Adams
user, lovin it. >why are they here Who doesnt love them some Bio Weapons! unknown bio weapon tears through subway station! now whats the devastation? - Bodies all covered in hives and boils and stuff - Bodies become all stiff and grey - Melt? How gruesome you wanna get is up to you, but have some bodies.
>What do the players need Hmm, well its too bad you can't have the contact meet up when theres a bio weapon.
What do the players find in this subway station that they need to start asking around? Maybe the fact that they dont find anything has them checking every lead possible and they first check with any undercover in the area?
>When is a good time for them to shoot stuff uhh...still not sure...but have robots and mech suits
Christian Torres
copy a detective movie /show / book and make modifications?
rising sun by michael crichton is pretty cool .
Gabriel Barnes
I second this!
Cameron Gonzalez
...
Eli Martinez
...
Elijah Anderson
...
Asher Jones
You know the score, pal! You're not cop, you're little people.
Jordan Brooks
The real question is what sidearm should a cyberpunk detective have: futuristic revolver or high-tech auto.
Henry Nelson
>>"these terrorists are bad" or "these terrorists are bad, except theyre not cause the government is bad"
Make it so terrorism is a business. Everything in cyberpunk is profit oriented. There you go. They do terrorism because the higher ups made up some bullshit ideology to get the lower downs to work for them for free, whilst profiting from terrorist attacks.
Dominic Gray
...
Camden Myers
...
Jacob Turner
watch GitS SAC
Brayden Brooks
>Parasite Dolls Hey, somebody else remembers that exists.
Christian Gutierrez
...
Angel Thompson
Heavy and custom revolvers always have a very cyberpunk look.
Landon Nguyen
Seems ideal to hunt down and retire rogue androids and cyborgs.
Juan Roberts
...
Logan Cox
there is only one /cyb/ aproved gun
Brayden Richardson
Wrong
Jonathan Hill
If it's not a six-gun, what the fuck are you doing?
Colton White
Ingram would like to have a word with you.
Eli Rivera
approved side arm fuck off cowboy this isn't an 90's action movie
Isaac Taylor
>Laughs in assault pistol You’re a decade to late!
David Cook
I don't know if it exists in english, or if its only french, but you could take a look at COPS, where players are from a special unit of the LAPD in 2030, so not too much cyberpunk, a bit anticipation. Lot of material too, but maybe only in french
Alexander Miller
If OP’s a burger, he will feel like an Arab reading Al Quadim. It’s full of French clichés about the USA.
Joshua Butler
Maybe, reads lot like a thriller/action Hollywood movie
Alexander Carter
>sir, our scanners have identified you are holding an illegal weapon. please put it on the ground and present your identification chip
The Steyr GB doesn’t look futuristic at all. Aren’t you mixing it up with the M serie?
Liam Diaz
Is five chambers alright?
Colton Reed
**rest of the squad de-cloaks** >drop the knife or you'll have more holes in you than a chiba city firewall
Gabriel Fisher
Implying this is my only clone.
Cooper Rodriguez
thats a neat idea actually
Owen Reed
did someone say Bioooooo weapons?
use my favorite one, i dont have a name but heres what it does.
Small container of yellow "smoke", when opened it acts as an airborne toxin and expands rapidly, what was a small pepsi can full of the weapon can fill a whole room. a 2liter can fill a subway platform.
It spreads out like smoke/pollen and latches onto surfaces, when it does it begins to harden after about 30 seconds. it will not latch onto itself.
this leads to it spreading until it finds a surface to latch onto, this may include peoples skin/eyes/lungs/etc... causing them to become like wax figures covered in this yellow crud.
the cool thing for afterwards is it leaves a scene of people trying to run away but being turned to statues basically, with expressions stuck on their faces.
great scene for the players to walk into after the fact.
Eli Miller
the M-66 combat automata are not sexbots.
Gavin Allen
Honestly, the P99 and P90 don't look modern futuristic to me anymore. They look like "the future as seen from the late 90s/early 2000s". They put me in mind of Underworld and Timesplitters 2.
Oliver James
bemp
Brandon Barnes
Any robot is a sexbot if you give it the right equipment and hack it just right.
Anyway, they're too sexy to not be gynoids.
Gavin Long
yep, can't go wrong cribbing from hammett. especially the continental op stuff
They're multipurpose, yes you could fuck a truck and the M-66 are actually somewhat built for it even if the genitals are optional. But all of them are combat drones.
Cameron Cooper
What about Ecoterrorists? They could be angry about corporate control and destruction of the environment so they decide to take revenge by blowing up/kidnapping something/someone?
Kayden Jones
Someone steals experimental nano-tech Leaves long trail of murders, clues, whatnot Eventually goes on massive rampage Pic related
Gavin Hughes
How about a game set in a slum on the outskirts of a city whose police are transitioning from tyrannical jackboot thugs to more constructive civil servants. Your players are tasked to help in the transition by investigating cases of abuse and helping the previously ultra violent officers reform to new ways of policework. Obviously conspiracies and corporate ulterior motives are revealed while the threat of a citywide riot is constantly looming.
Does the fuckoff tall (?) barrel actually do anything? Can I stuff it full of high-tech in a cyberpunk setting?
Lucas Taylor
The Dan Wesson PPC is a revolver designed for Police Pistol Combat (aka Precision Pistol Competition) competitions. It features a bull barrel with integrated barrel weight. The bull barrel aids in accuracy by heating up slower, and the weight reduces felt recoil. The rib is designed to offer the best possible accuracy (fast adjustment, front sight designed to improve contrast...). In a cyberpunk setting the barrel weight would probably integrate some kind of smartgun system.
Ryan Walker
Thanks.
Brandon Bennett
holy shit I was looking for this, thanks
This is an old meme I made, been looking for it recently
Levi Taylor
...
Adrian Kelly
...
Evan Robinson
...
Jonathan King
...
Asher Moore
...
Cooper Bell
...
Chase Moore
...
Benjamin Wright
...
Robert Rogers
...
David Lopez
...
John Edwards
The artwork on this thread gives me such a throbbing erection.
Jacob Cooper
...
Leo James
...
Zachary Green
Whatever you end up doing, I recommend having at least one of your PCs be a cop just coming off suspension. It will emphasise that they can't just do whatever the fuck they like. The idea of consequences is really going to have to be drummed into them or it will just be them beating down people left and right.
Of course, they can get away with it if they beat down the right scumbags but have someone just finish a suspension for beating down a nomad whose tribe then rolled over a patrol and put a bunch of cops in the hospital and so the department put a few cops on suspension to quieten things down and avoid a war.
Likewise, sometimes the scumbag is connected and has a sister who is a corporate or can afford a lawyer or something. So there can be consequences even if they look like a scumbag.
Aaron Baker
Also go play Neotokyo on Steam. Well, try to, there probably won't be any other players but still, check it out. It's cybercops vs specops military style counterstrike. Cloaking, vision modes, big guns.
Carter Miller
Not OP, but I agree with you.
Another option to keep some pressure on the players would be something like a bureau of internal affairs. Each time the characters do something illegal (beating up a suspect, planting evidences, disguising an execution as suicide, taking a bribe, etc.) there is a cumulative 1% chance that the internal affairs bureau will get wind of it. There are those greedy lawyers who haunt hospitals and the surroundings of police stations in search of potential clients, and reporters who are often at the wrong place at the wrong moment (for the characters). Finally, there are all those numerous private security system (cameras, drones...) that might record things the characters don't want to get published.
