I promised in a previous post to write an actual play report for my Cyberpunk 2020 Single-Player Campaign. When I finally got around to it. Well that day has come, I finally managed to get my schedule in line that I was able to run the campaign for my solitary player. So here it goes the actual play report of the first session in my Cyberpunk 2020 campaign.
Our story begins in an apartment somewhere in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. A massive metropolitan expanse that has morphed dozens of Canadian cities, into one sprawling mega-city. (For which I do not have a pithy nickname, any suggestions on that front would be appreciated). It is a small two-room affair, made up of a messy bedroom and a combination living room/kitchenette. Added to this a small bathroom. This is the apartment of Ikari Kanako, known on the streets as Aki. A Street Samurai, jack of all trades. Capable of anything from contract killing to body guarding. Aki shares the apartment with her girlfriend/fiancee/common law wife/it's complicated Rinchen. A freelance money launderer for various criminal interests.
I kicked off this session with an establishing scene, mostly about Aki and Rinchen's domestic life. I quickly learned that it was easier to establish Aki's player's connection to Rinchen than I thought it would be. Turns out the way to a role-players heart is through their stomach. I had only given given Rinchen points in cooking, because I figured someone in their relationship should be able to cook something other than kibble or pre-pak. Shortly after the little domestic episode, I had the character leave the apartment. Having previously established that Rinchen had a meeting with her crew of money-launderers and a potential client. Aki always leaves the apartment when clients visit. Since they tend to get nervous, when a known contract killer hangs around the place. It's not exactly good for business relations.
So Aki stepped out of the self-sufficient apartment building (All it's water is collected by rain-fall, it's powered by solar panels and wind turbines. While vegetables are raised hydroponically and rats are bred for consumption in the basement.) into the light downpour. Her nostrils assaulted by a scent of hydraulic oil, which clung to her nostrils for a while as she walked along. Somewhere off in the distance a car alarm blared, someone was earning their daily bread. Aki strolled down the sidewalk, every street sign she passed, graffitied with gang-tags, rendering them useless to any motorists in the area.
Her destination was Granica a bar that she frequented whenever she got kicked out of the house. It was a four-story building, the first two floors comprising the bar proper. While the remaining supposed served as the owner's residence and a place he was rumoured to make deals out of. On the roof there rested an automated anti-drone system. The kills of which provided much cred for the scavengers lucky enough to find the downed drones first. Aki walked into the bar, frequented by Street Samurai and the Fixers seeking to make a living off of them. Behind the bar stood Szychta the bulky Polish owner with his shaved head, grey suit and sombre face. Drinking from a glass ordered by a customer trying to meet the one drink requirement with no intention of consuming it. Aki would often sit at the bar and watch for hours as Szychta drank, drinks that his customers refused and never seemed to be affected by alcohol. The man seemed immune to any liquor of any origin in any quantity.
Aki propped herself up at her usual spot at the bar. Just below the stairs, facing the front door. Ordered a shot of tequila, ordering a replacement about every hour or so. Alternating between, attempting to make conversation with the closemouthed Szychta and fiddling around on her phone. After finishing her third shot of tequila, Aki looked up to see a strange figure enter the bar. A woman, judging by the way she carried herself and just some things that Bag Lady Chic clothing and a full facial breath mask couldn't hide. The woman in the breath mask wove her way through the bar, scanning the place in an obvious way. (Breath masks tend to play hell on peripheral vision). She noticeably kept her distance from the tables and booths where there were men sitting. (A large part of the clientele). Then the eyes of the mask turned in Aki's direction, either resting on Aki or someone or something behind her. (The mask made it very hard to tell). The woman in the breath mask proceeded to walk towards Aki and then sat down on an empty stool next to her.
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| A picture drawn by Aki's player, of Aki and her girlfriend Rinchen together. The player is a fan of the Anime art style. |
I kicked off this session with an establishing scene, mostly about Aki and Rinchen's domestic life. I quickly learned that it was easier to establish Aki's player's connection to Rinchen than I thought it would be. Turns out the way to a role-players heart is through their stomach. I had only given given Rinchen points in cooking, because I figured someone in their relationship should be able to cook something other than kibble or pre-pak. Shortly after the little domestic episode, I had the character leave the apartment. Having previously established that Rinchen had a meeting with her crew of money-launderers and a potential client. Aki always leaves the apartment when clients visit. Since they tend to get nervous, when a known contract killer hangs around the place. It's not exactly good for business relations.
So Aki stepped out of the self-sufficient apartment building (All it's water is collected by rain-fall, it's powered by solar panels and wind turbines. While vegetables are raised hydroponically and rats are bred for consumption in the basement.) into the light downpour. Her nostrils assaulted by a scent of hydraulic oil, which clung to her nostrils for a while as she walked along. Somewhere off in the distance a car alarm blared, someone was earning their daily bread. Aki strolled down the sidewalk, every street sign she passed, graffitied with gang-tags, rendering them useless to any motorists in the area.
Her destination was Granica a bar that she frequented whenever she got kicked out of the house. It was a four-story building, the first two floors comprising the bar proper. While the remaining supposed served as the owner's residence and a place he was rumoured to make deals out of. On the roof there rested an automated anti-drone system. The kills of which provided much cred for the scavengers lucky enough to find the downed drones first. Aki walked into the bar, frequented by Street Samurai and the Fixers seeking to make a living off of them. Behind the bar stood Szychta the bulky Polish owner with his shaved head, grey suit and sombre face. Drinking from a glass ordered by a customer trying to meet the one drink requirement with no intention of consuming it. Aki would often sit at the bar and watch for hours as Szychta drank, drinks that his customers refused and never seemed to be affected by alcohol. The man seemed immune to any liquor of any origin in any quantity.
Aki propped herself up at her usual spot at the bar. Just below the stairs, facing the front door. Ordered a shot of tequila, ordering a replacement about every hour or so. Alternating between, attempting to make conversation with the closemouthed Szychta and fiddling around on her phone. After finishing her third shot of tequila, Aki looked up to see a strange figure enter the bar. A woman, judging by the way she carried herself and just some things that Bag Lady Chic clothing and a full facial breath mask couldn't hide. The woman in the breath mask wove her way through the bar, scanning the place in an obvious way. (Breath masks tend to play hell on peripheral vision). She noticeably kept her distance from the tables and booths where there were men sitting. (A large part of the clientele). Then the eyes of the mask turned in Aki's direction, either resting on Aki or someone or something behind her. (The mask made it very hard to tell). The woman in the breath mask proceeded to walk towards Aki and then sat down on an empty stool next to her.
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| Roughly what the woman in the breath mask looked like. Minus the futuristic headphones. |
"I need help." said the woman her voice distorted through the breath mask, but not enough that Aki couldn't hear the apprehension in her voice. "What with?" Aki inquired. "I...I need to get in contact with someone."
"Can you pay?"
"The person I'm trying to get in contact with..." the woman's voice trailed off as if she wasn't used to negotiating these sort of things.
"...she can pay, a lot. I just need to get in contact with her."
Before Aki could a say anything affirming consent or dissent, a hand reached out and violently grabbed the masked woman on the shoulder. The hand turned the masked woman's body around to face it's owner.
Hitler's wet dream with a mohawk, dressed in a long duster of the style worn by Edge-runner wannabe punks. Behind him was a bulkier man of some manner of African descent. Dressed entirely in black denim, his top a sleeveless jacket that showed off his two cyber arms. Chromed a glossy black, like obsidian. The blond mohawk was the first to speak. "There you are you little bitch!" as he forcefully grabbed the masked woman's other shoulder and pulled up to a standing position off the barstool. "You're ass is coming with us!" He spoke the Sprawl's pidgin with a Germanic accent. The masked woman struggled against her captor's grip, but she clearly wasn't as strong as he was. It was now the other man's turn to speak. "There's no point in struggling, just come quietly." He was clearly the good cop the duo's, good cop/bad cop arrangement.
They two began to leave, the Aryan ideal dragging the still struggling masked woman. While his friend with the chromed arms led the way towards the door. Aki only had a few seconds to make her decision. She could let these two haul the woman off and go back to her drink. Or step in and play the hero. Her decision was made as fast as she had stood up from the bar. Drawing her kukri knife, rushing forward and slashing the side of the blond mohawk's neck. His jugular was severed by the knife and blood sprayed out in a geyser of red, covering his once pristine duster. As well as the woman he had been dragging, who screamed at the sight of her captor's gory demise. The man with the obsidian arms yelled "Fritz!" seemingly in surprise at his comrades death. Not hesitating for long he rushed forward throwing his right chromed fist at where Aki had been. She had anticipated the attack and sidestepped rather easily. He followed up with a left, which Aki again dodged without breaking a sweat. In desperation he threw another right, an attack that Aki turned the momentum of against her opponent. Using a Judo Throw she slammed her attacker onto the floor, where he landed on his back. Though usually used for sporting purposes, with enough force and the right circumstances the throw could be lethal. Which was the case in this particular instance, as Aki looked down at the dilated eyes of her defeated opponent. She had executed the oft-pratcied technique in a way that ensured that if the man wasn't dead, he would have been crippled for the rest of his life. She had accomplished all of this without even activating her Speedware.
(A note on the mechanical side of this fight. I ruled that Aki had caught the man with the Blond Mohawk by surprise, as he was busy dealing with the masked woman. The player had decided to use her Kukri Knife on him, which killed him in one hit. Both of these thugs were minions with only four hit boxes, a house rule that implemented for the purposes of this campaign. The man with the chromed cyber-arms decided to attack three times earning a -3 penalty for each additional attempted strike. I figured if I were in this situation I'd try to get as many hits in against my opponent as I could. It didn't work out for him and the player decided to end the fight with a Judo Throw. Killing him in one blow. The player expressed some sorrow over killing the second man. Saying that he seemed like an interesting character, because he decided to use reasoning and soft words instead of threats. When the two first arrived on the scene. Over the course of this fight the player managed to roll 5 critical hits in a row. If I'm lying I hope to hit by lightning, it actually happened. The roll that killed the second man wasn't as impressive but he managed to roll a Critical Failure. So Aki defeated him handily. The player described it as the perfect first episode fight. Like the kind you see in Anime, where the main character defeats a bunch of low-level mooks. Establishing how awesome they are).
The session didn't end there, but after that fight we took a break for pizza. So this seems to be the logical place to end this post, since it has gotten rather long. I plan right the continuation later in a later post. So be on the lookout for that. Until then, be sure to comment, +1 and re-share. May you the dice ever be in your favour.
Edit: Part Two of this Session is now up, you can find it here.
They two began to leave, the Aryan ideal dragging the still struggling masked woman. While his friend with the chromed arms led the way towards the door. Aki only had a few seconds to make her decision. She could let these two haul the woman off and go back to her drink. Or step in and play the hero. Her decision was made as fast as she had stood up from the bar. Drawing her kukri knife, rushing forward and slashing the side of the blond mohawk's neck. His jugular was severed by the knife and blood sprayed out in a geyser of red, covering his once pristine duster. As well as the woman he had been dragging, who screamed at the sight of her captor's gory demise. The man with the obsidian arms yelled "Fritz!" seemingly in surprise at his comrades death. Not hesitating for long he rushed forward throwing his right chromed fist at where Aki had been. She had anticipated the attack and sidestepped rather easily. He followed up with a left, which Aki again dodged without breaking a sweat. In desperation he threw another right, an attack that Aki turned the momentum of against her opponent. Using a Judo Throw she slammed her attacker onto the floor, where he landed on his back. Though usually used for sporting purposes, with enough force and the right circumstances the throw could be lethal. Which was the case in this particular instance, as Aki looked down at the dilated eyes of her defeated opponent. She had executed the oft-pratcied technique in a way that ensured that if the man wasn't dead, he would have been crippled for the rest of his life. She had accomplished all of this without even activating her Speedware.
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| Pretty close to what the guy with the blonde mohawk looked like, before Aki opened his jugular. |
The session didn't end there, but after that fight we took a break for pizza. So this seems to be the logical place to end this post, since it has gotten rather long. I plan right the continuation later in a later post. So be on the lookout for that. Until then, be sure to comment, +1 and re-share. May you the dice ever be in your favour.
Edit: Part Two of this Session is now up, you can find it here.
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