My CPRed game is going rather well, the group has bonded together and the group dynamic is, I would say, good. For the first two sessions, I ran The Apartment (yes, the adventure from the Jumpstart Kit, but with the free downloadable updates RTG published when the core book came out) and the Precious Cargo screamsheet adventure, also from the Jumpstart Kit. These two provided the right tone, first for introducing my players to the world of Cyberpunk in the fictional timeline of the Red, and the second adventure for giving them enough of a taste of what is to come - setting up a heist, all the planning and organizing, acquiring equipment, and then the execution. But what about the next session? Do I want to do one of the other screamsheets? I love the screamsheets, they make a great handout to give to the party and something they can hang on to as a keepsake after the game is done and very easy to make. However, I felt I wanted to try out something I had created a while back, when I had gotten my hands on the CPRed core book, a random session generator.
Making this generator, I kept it simple, only 5 columns - employer, hired to do what, who they're doing it to, where it's happening at (inside Night City), and what the players don't know (also called The Twist). The "employer" and "who they're doing it to" columns are exactly the same, just a bunch of organizations in the Night City area, everything from Nomad packs to Neocorps to government agencies to gangs to other edgerunners and so forth. I don't restrict my lists to 20 options or try to stretch them out to 100, I use a random number generator app on my phone so no matter what range I need ("employer" currently has 57 options, for example), I can just ask for a random number between 1 and whatever I need exactly. For "hired to do", I kept it simple, just one word descriptions of what the party is hired to do - investigation, abduction, protection, theft, smuggling, defense, etc. "Where" is just everywhere I could find in the core book in and around Night City. Then, "The Twist" is a list of twists I could come up with, everything from "this is a straight deal" to "the employer is actually someone else (roll again on employer table)". I have purposefully kept everything very vague, knowing that this is just to give me a rough, rough outline and I, the game master, need to use my experience with the setting to flesh out the adventure.
I generated my numbers for this upcoming session (as I type this, it's an upcoming session, but I won't hit Publish until after the session so my players can't get a hint before the game), and came up with the following - employer is a Corp: Continental Brands; hired to do an investigation; hired to do it to a Media: Independents; where is the Executive Zone; and what the players don't know is the target is secretly an AI, and the employer does know, but won't tell the party. Pretty bare bones, right? Here is where I earn my keep as a GM. Okay, start with who is doing the hiring and the Twist - Continental Brands is a Neocorp mostly known for making kibble, and the Twist is that the party is doing something to an AI, but CB isn't telling the party it's an AI even though CB 100% knows for certain it's an AI. The party is being hired to investigate what they are told is an independent media. To me, the background to this little dance goes like this - CB made the AI (why? who knows, corporations in CPRed are making AIs for inscrutable purposes all the time, and it doesn't really matter, so not thinking too hard about it at this point) which then made a deal with a Night City independent media to steal the AI's hardware away from CB, and since then has been posting stuff up on the local data pool lambasting CB (the Nacho Ranch Kibble is made from people! and not ones that gave consent beforehand! they were Scavved!). Also whether what the AI and this media are posting up is true or not is completely irrelevant, the party probably won't care and CB just wants to find this media and either steal back their AI or just shut them both up.
Boom. Background done, we know what the base mission is, players must use their contacts to track down where the media's office is. Here is a bunch of non-combat role playing, let the players flesh out their characters a bit, find out who they know and who they can ask questions of. Simple enough job, and not too dangerous, so I'll offer the PCs 500 euros apiece for positive confirmation of this media's location. But that is too easy, so I'll sweeten the deal - when they call in with confirmation, their CB contact will offer them an extra 1,000 apiece if they put a hit on the media and disconnect the media's computer deck (actually the tower containing the AI) from the local network. Remember, CB still hasn't told them there is also an AI in play, and it's in the Executive Zone, the party will not want to go in armed to the teeth otherwise they'll bring down serious Militech heat, there will be extra security on the media's building just because of where it is, and then the party will have to face the AI as well as the media, which probably has some drones for protection. I'll see how beat up the party is at that point, may be a good role play opportunity if the party is in rough shape. You can always adjust the difficulty of any encounter, especially to better match the state of the party at that time, and don't be afraid to do so, because keeping the tension high (but not impossible, unless you want the party to run) is more fun when the party manages to come out on top.
Now that I have a better idea if what the party is doing, what locations are going to have combat, if any? Since I use miniatures and a gridded map that I draw on with dry/wet erase markers, I must keep in mind the physical aspects, and while I don't necessarily have to draw out a highly detailed map beforehand, I still find it useful to ponder what type of building or open space the potential combats will occur. For this adventure, since it is occurring in the Executive Zone, the party will (hopefully) track the media to a modest office building, 6 floors with a back loading dock, a security desk with 2 guards in the lobby, cameras inside the building, 2 stairways (one up front and the other in the back of the building, which also opens onto the roof), a passenger elevator in the front of the building, and a freight elevator in the rear near the dock. So we now have multiple entry points - front door, back door and dock door, and since this building is a bit shorter than the surrounding ones, the rooftop stairwell door is generally left propped open so the smokers can get back inside. Once inside, the party has some options for moving between floors. Plus, the cameras are part of the buildings network, so the netrunner can dive in and shut them down, if they so desire, with access points at the security desk, the stairway doors on each floor, and the two elevators. Beyond that, what else is on the floor with the media's office is also important, as if it's an explosives chemical lab, that could curtail firearms use, but I'll go boring and say there is a yoga studio taking up most of the floor, and a small law firm is the only other office on the floor. If a firefight spills out of the media's office, the yoga studio is a nice open space, and the law firm, while still a small firm, is probably not someone the party wants to get on their bad side.
I have the backstory, i have the mission, I have the general layout of the building in mind, the last thing I tend to think of is if I can provide something for each of the players to do? And I am by no means railroading here, as these are not things that have to happen to accomplish the mission, but how can each of the PCs contribute to accomplishing the mission to feel useful? Also, these are not the only things I will allow them to do, my players constantly surprise me with solutions to the problems they face that I did not come up with. At a minimum, I want to come up with a way each can contribute and feel necessary, because if I can't come up with something for one of the party, then I need to add some more detail or another requirement to include them as well. Our Nomad - he has the vehicle and they could disguise it and themselves as a repair company to pull into the dock at the back of the building to gain access. The Solo - he may have to deal with building security, but at the least the AI's security drones will need to be dealt with. The Netrunner will be key in tracking down the media office in meatspace. The Fixer - key in negotiating the initial deal and in securing disguises or other equipment. The MedTech - this is the hard one. As it is an AI, there is not really someone he can minister to in case the employer demands they be brought in alive. Maybe if the party thinks to trigger a medical emergency, this target being in the Executive Zone, the MedTech can fake belonging to Trauma Team, or at least REO Meatwagon. Of course, if anyone in the team is on the receiving end of a barrage of well-rolled-by-the-GM gunfire, the MedTech will get to their primary job of keeping that person alive and getting them back on their feet. I was hoping I could come up with better than a failsafe or insurance policy, but I guess it'll just have to do.
As I type from here on out, we have played through this adventure and the "too long, didn't read" verdict - it went well. Excepting that I did not have a screamsheet to hand out, everyone had a good time and did not seem to realize this was something I made up and wasn't just using a pre-made adventure I had gotten from someone else. And I am kicking myself a bit for not taking the time to track down the screamsheet template (here it is, the official one direct from R. Talsorian Games, took me 10 seconds to Google it... as the Brits would say, what a tosser!), having one from the AI pretending to be a Media would have made this session so much better. Le sigh. Oh well, the game went well and the party enjoyed themselves, that is all that matters.
There you go, I am very pleased with my little idea generator. I will have to see what it generates for me for next session, and see if I can't make it better than this first foray. Go play some games with your friends, roll some dice, and have some fun.
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