Monday, June 12, 2017

Cybernetics and The Veil

I have hardware on my mind after spending a weekend deep in Cyberpunk 2020's "Chromebooks." Both The Veil and The Sprawl use tags to define cybernetic systems, though in different ways. I've been playing with The Veil since I've started a small campaign of it. While working on revised playbooks, I scribbled ideas for other tags. But my list only really kicked into overdrive when I crowdsourced responses on The Gauntlet Slack channel. 

For the list below, I've combined examples given in The Veil and the Cascade Quickstart with new ones. I haven't fully defined these. Half the fun for me is seeing how these concepts get executed at the table. 

I've also worked on some modified The Veil playbooks. They're an attempt to find middle-ground between the detailed choices of the base game and the set material of the pre-gens. I don't know if they do that quite yet. I think they're a little closer to the level of an Urban Shadows sheet. Essentially I want something a table of four can answer, resolve, and integrate in the first hour of a four-hour con session. I will have to test. 


CYBERNETICS TAGS
(Examples from The Veil combined with some new ones. I’ve assigned these to segments, but I can imagine some of them going elsewhere.)
Universal: detachable, disguised, durable, integrated, remote, responsive, storage
Arm (1 tag) extending, grapple launcher, heavy lifter, kung-fu grip, magnetic, multitool, weapon holdout
Chest (1 tag) autocleaning, bioanalyzer, biometric jammer, brainbox, camouflage, charger, communication (ex. tattoos), efficient processor, expressive, iron stomach, shielded compartment, subdermal cosmetics, vapor filter
Ear (3 tags) analyzing, audio isolating, dampening, derma-linked, encrypted, encrypted, multitasker, parabolic, recording, white noise, wide-frequency
Eye (3 tags) broadcaster, disconcerting, derma-linked, flashproof, hardened, lazcutter, low-light, microscopic, modable, multi-spectrum, multitasker, recording, telescopic, thermo-graphic, weapon-linked
Interface (2 tags) communication (ex. narrow beam), concealed, dampening, encrypted, hardened, helper, HUD, implanted, intercepting, jamming, multi-task, recording, satellite relay
Leg (1 tag) dancer, double-jump, magnetized, padfoot, runner, shock-absorber, skates, weapon holdout

NEGATIVE TAGS
Basics from Book: Damaging, Unreliable, Susceptible, Twitchy, Scarred, Addicting
Adware infested
Analog
Antagonistic
Archaic
Banned
Battery-Hog
Beta-Test
Bleeding-edge
Bulky
Cheap
Complex
Compromised
Draining
Experimental
Flashy
Flimsy
Foreign
Heavy
High Maintenance
Hybrid
Illegal
Incompatible
Infamous
Infected
Infinite Updates
Knock-Off
Leaky
Legacy Instructions
Malware
Malware Infested
Noisy
Non-Ergonomic
Non-Standard interface
Non-Waterproof
Obsolete
Off-Sized
Overheating
Patchwork
Power-Hungry
Proprietary
Region-locked
Rusted
Sparking
Specialist
Sponsored
Spoofed
Spyware infested
Stolen
Temperamental
Temp-Sensitive
Traceable
Ugly
Uncool
Unsecured
Unstable
Unsupported
PRESETS (w/o Negative Tags)
  • Eye (3 tags) multi-spectrum, lazcutter, multitasker
  • Ear (3 tags) parabolic, wide frequency, recording
  • Arm (1 tag) weapon holdout
  • Leg (1 tag) runner
  • Interface (2 tags) recording, satellite relay
  • Chest (1 tag) vapor filter

Eye (3 tags) flashproof, telescopic, modable
Ear (3 tags) dampening, analyzing, audio isolating
Arm (1 tag) grapple launcher
Leg (1 tag) weapon holdout
Interface (2 tags) hardened, concealed
Chest (1 tag) efficient processor
  • Eye (3 tags) microscopic, low light, remote
  • Ear (3 tags) dampening, wide frequency, white noise
  • Arm (1 tag) kung fu grip
  • Leg (1 tag) double-jump
  • Interface (2 tags) encrypted, jamming
  • Chest (1 tag) iron stomach

Eye (3 tags) broadcaster, hardened, disconcerting
Ear (3 tags) encrypted, multitasker, white noise
Arm (1 tag) remote
Leg (1 tag) magnetized
Interface (2 tags) intercepting, helper
Chest (1 tag) bioanalyzer
  • Eye (3 tags) flashproof, broadcaster, modable
  • Ear (3 tags) dampening, parabolic, white noise
  • Arm (1 tag) durable
  • Leg (1 tag) dancer
  • Interface (2 tags) hardened, recording
  • Chest (1 tag) shielded compartment

Eye (3 tags) multi-spectrum, multitasker, disconcerting
Ear (3 tags) analyzing, parabolic, encrypted
Arm (1 tag) heavy lifting
Leg (1 tag) durable
Interface (2 tags) concealed, satellite relay
Chest (1 tag) subdermal cosmetics
  • Eye (3 tags) low light, lazcutter, hardened
  • Ear (3 tags) audio isolating, recording, white noise
  • Arm (1 tag) multitool
  • Leg (1 tag) skates
  • Interface (2 tags) encrypted, intercepting
  • Chest (1 tag) camouflage

Eye (3 tags) microscopic, remote, hardened
Ear (3 tags) audio isolating, encrypted, white noise
Arm (1 tag) magnetic
Leg (1 tag) padfoot
Interface (2 tags) jamming, helper
Chest (1 tag) biometric jammer 

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