STALKER7

Our weekly game sessions made an abrupt lurch from medieval fantasy ruins to a cyberpunk mega-sprawl as we ran a two-part mission that combined Free League’s rules-lite RPG, CY-BORG with Exploit Zero‘s streamlined combat. Week One was a frenetic narrative sequence of sketchy job offers, a slumming corpo-aristo, mind-altering substances, gratuitous use of flash-bang grenades, sex-bot bodyguards, and a nanite-infested Jackson Pollock painting. Week Two was heavy-caliber pistols, a cobbled aerial drone, waves of boosted gangers, and some fast-n-dirty tactical hacking. Read on for details.

ROUND 1 – TL:DR VERSION

The idea is to offer a dual-mode game experience; resolve non-combat challenges with an RPG system, then shift to a wargame rules for combat engagements. One night it’s narrative, the next is combat.

If you know CY-BORG, then you’re aware it’s a gritty, rules-lite game as coy and cozy as a cattle prod. Summer schedule conflicts left three players for session one: an Orphan Gearhead, a Burned Hacker, and a Forsaken Gang Goon. The job was to get a corpo-aristo’s cyber-eye. Really. (Story was he saw something he shouldn’t and the hardware needs to be ‘acquired’ before the daily scheduled upload to his personal Cloud)

As fate would have it, Golden Boy would be slumming that very eve at a dance/drug rave in a nearby district. A light security detail of two muscle-graft guards and a very sexy Kill Doll escort left him as vulnerable as he’s ever gonna get – short of a full tac-team assault. So… our street species misfits hopped in their armored van and went looking to party.

Drugs, Crowds, Loud Music… it’s all a blur. The party was at an abandoned car dealership, I remember that much. The usual slum security (bouncers plus an antiquated local net) didn’t pose a problem either. Liam’s Burned Hacker was the ‘Guy in the Chair, in the Van,’ running cyber-overwatch in the operation. Matt’s character sauntered through the front door. Other Pat’s miscreant ended up out back with the dumpsters where he conned a hallucinating party-goer on the cusp of cyber-psychosis to tear the iron bars off a window. End result: everyone gained entrance one way or another.

From there, things get hazy: ear-bleed volume music – a crowd of writhing bodies – a VIP section with more bodies – a climate-controlled room with an original Jackson Pollock covered in nanite dust – and one weirdly clean repair bay. Our anti-heroes’ target was located in an upstairs room in flagrante delicto however, and after some suitable persuasion with a crowbar and an antique but serviceable revolver, the (correct) eye was acquired and our heroes vacated the premises. (two flash bang grenades and a collapsible ladder were involved in the process)

Unfortunately, the Pollock was ruined when Matt tried to crowd surf down a packed staircase full of wasted, panicked revelers. Easy come, easy go.

End of session: slick, warm cyberware, bloody fingers, emergency sirens wailing, it was time to hop in the van and head home.

ROUND 2 – COMBAT PHOTOGRAPHY AT BODEGA FLATS

You know when you do a thing for a guy but your getaway gets picked up by local security cameras and you gotta dip into rival gang territory to erase the evidence?

Hate when that happens.

Ultra-violence imminent, the crew picked up an extra body. In Exploit Zero parlance, the crew consisted of two Splicers, a Ronin, and a Razor. Objectives: security cameras at three small shops that managed to catch the vehicle tags the night of. So they needed to be erased, RFN. One Splicer would hack the shops’ security at hard points while the other operated a junkyard aerial drone rigged with an SMG. The Razor and Ronin would fend off any irate gangers looking to mangle and molest. And away we go…

T1 and T2

Clock running, the crew decides to advance to the furthest terminal and work their way back to the van. They advance as the first wave of boosted thugs comes to investigate.

As Splicer/Hacker makes his way to the first shop, then the second, angry gangers are in full bloom. The Ronin and Razor get to work on one end while the drone’s SMG rattles a warm welcome to another pair at the opposite end of the avenue. They go down.

But if an impoverished miserable existence under the heel of obscenely wealthy corporate overlords does anything, it surely generates copious amounts of resentment and pent-up violence looking for an outlet. So, more gangers.

SIDE NOTE: swiped from Exploit Zero: Hostile Takeover, the 50mm bases with four figures represent civilian bystanders. (cheap toy train/architectural figs from eBay) Scattered through the mission area, they move at random at the end of every turn. (Drift Rule) They’ll panic, flee, interrupt, interfere, block movement and line of sight, and generally cause problems for one or both sides during the game. They CANNOT be deliberately targeted and any collateral damage via explosives means insta-loss for the inflicting side. (so watch those micro-grenades!)

T3 and T4

Gunfire in the air, blood on the pavement. More gangers chock full of hostile intent start pressing our love-able malcontents from two directions. As Exploit Zero turns progress, the incoming enemies get more numerous and more dangerous. The hacker infiltrates the second shop’s security, but the Ronin, Razor, and Drone Operator are taking wounds as the hits just keep comin’. “Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go.”

T5 and T6

It’s getting ugly. The civilian mobs thankfully move out of the way, mostly, and our injured anti-heroes start wisely collapsing back toward the third and final store – the one closest to their van. Which is good, seeing as the Gang Boss, Chief Enforcer, and a trio of heavies step on the scene to reinforce those merry few who remain in the fight.

The Hacker executes a smooth splice on the last bodega’s meager security network just in time. His chooms are staggering back to their ride as fast as they can, bleeding bad. Their luck is holding by the slimmest of margins, but they’re not taking down any more enemies, so it becomes a race to GTFO.

Last turn, everybody ‘cept the Hacker is leaking. At the van, the crew manages a narrow escape. Objectives accomplished.

Just in time.

THE END FOR NOW

Good couple of sessions. Fast-play, rules-light games are where it’s at, what with everyone busy with work, family, juggling schedules, last-minute cancellations, etc. There’s more to come on the ‘dual mode, narrative + tactical’ scene, but I’ll save that for another post. In the meantime, I can’t say enough good things about the deliciously twisted CY-BORG RPG. Get it, you’ll get a kick out of it.

If you’re interested in Exploit Zero – Cyberpunk Espionage and Mayhem, there’s more info on all three rule books HERE.

Thanks. Have an excellent weekend.