Partner wanted for dystopian cyberpunk crime duo

[furo]

I do have this one from the first post that's pretty straightforward and not super thorough.
Character Sheet (omit any details that might not be applicable)


Name:


ZG Alias:


Age:


Appearance:


Enhancements:


Occupation:


Blacklist offense:


I don't anticipate playing with dice (it could be cool, but I don't want to get in over my head since this is my first time being in a trio), but the competence and upgrades list on this small RPG rules sheet can provide some examples of aspects to think about when designing a character in this genre.

Ok great but honestly I got lost with that sheet you linked. What's that supposed to do with this.

 

[HeyGayzelle]

Ok great but honestly I got lost with that sheet you linked. What's that supposed to do with this.

It just provides some ideas for what kind of skills and cybernetics are useful in a cyberpunk setting. You don't need to use it for anything.

 

[furo]

Oh, oh, alright. Forgive my incompetence; I'm basic af. Also wanted to apologize beforehand for any dumb mistakes in grammar, I like to consider myself a fairly literate person in terms of writing, but English is sadly not my first language, so there might be a few things I'm going to miss. I hope it doesn't get to the point it's cringy or anything, but always let me know if any expectations aren't met.


I'll get to the character sheet now. What's your prefeence regarding the appearance slot: descriptive or image? I'm fine with either one.

 

[HeyGayzelle]

Oh, I understand that English isn't everyone's first language, and seeing as I can barely understand the foreign languages I've studied, I can appreciate the effort. If you need me to explain something in a more straightforward fashion, just let me know. If I see a good opportunity to offer a suggestion or something, then I may do so. If I do, apologies if it somehow comes off as rude. I'm pretty tactful, but you know how unprompted recommendations can sound.


I don't really have a particularly strong preference regarding appearance. I just went for a textual description, personally.

 

[furo]

Okay, it's great to know you're that considerate. Don't hesitate to tell me whenever something is like way off the mark. I'm as objective and open-minded as can be with that, because I like to learn from everything I write and from whoever helps me with it, so thank you.


I'll go for descriptive as well, but may sketch a few references because I'm trash like that and honestly wow someone stop me

 

[HeyGayzelle]

Sounds good, feel free to go with whatever helps you feel engaged with the character.

 

[Nogoodname]

I think i have an idea of my character, as I've said I'm trying an enforcer type of character, you know, for when Stealth is out of the question. Tell me what you think.


Name: Elise Arroway


ZG Alias: bandit


Age: 27


Appearance: I'm really bad with personal descriptions, i hope you don't mind


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Enhancements: left arm has been replaced with a prosthetic augmentation, made to look like a human arm. A skin coating helps with this but a good look at the upper shoulder area reveals a small metal ring around her arm which is the point of attachment. The arm serves to allow Elise steadier aim and an interface for interacting with other enhancements.


Neural uplink, HUD implants located in irises, reaction accelerator and sensory enhancement implants


Occupation: "financial transfers"


Blacklist offense: armed robbery

 

[HeyGayzelle]

I'd say that looks pretty good. My last character was a somewhat similar archetype and I didn't find that it presented any real difficulties. With that in mind, I'll probably go for a different character on my end this time around and do mine last so I can make sure we have all our niches covered.

 

[Nogoodname]

Yeah, i was trying to make sure she had enough weaknesses to balance out be strengths. Which is why i figured she'd rely heavily on implants and such meaning anything like an EMP would severely weaken her like kryptonite. If she seems too strong i could try to tone her down or go with something else. Also should i add the items she world start with? Like weapons and such? I didn't see a spot for that so i don't know if you wanted to use another method for acquiring gear or something.

 

[HeyGayzelle]

I figure this time around, we'll start with having the characters be slightly more established criminals (or at least that's how I'll do mine), so if you want to give them one or two pieces of higher-end equipment from the start along with more average pieces of equipment for skills that are of secondary importance to your character, that would be okay. You sort of have the last say regarding what your character does and doesn't start the game with just so long as there are enough weaknesses to keep the sense of dramatic interest and to give them something greater to aspire towards. Really minor items that an average person of a given background would be expected to have don't even need to be explicitly mentioned.


Sort of on that same note, since we have 3 characters, I think it might work a bit better if they had some kind of hideout instead of a fairly normal apartment. Maybe some storage unit or warehouse or something, enough to justify having room for things like vehicles, tools, maybe a small armory and such.

 

[Nogoodname]

Yeah, i was thinking my character would be at least semi established in the crime world. I know I'm gonna be trying to keep things balanced because otherwise it's just boring.


A hideout sounds like fun, especially since at least the two of us would be fairly well established, it just masks sense. Maybe some abandoned building in the worse off parts of the city or something.

 

[HeyGayzelle]

Yeah, having them be a bit more established would also give us more of an opportunity to have their criminal personas be a bit more distinct from the get-go, as well as having access to some heftier gear like an armored van or something.


Anyway, I'm jumping onto an Overwatch session with friends now, so my presence here will probably be spotty for the rest of the night.

 

[Nogoodname]

That's a good idea, and we'll also have a chance to do some bigger jobs from the start so the beginning isn't as slow.


Have fun, genji is besti!

 

[furo]

Uhh excuse me?? Hanzo is my literal daddy kinkshame me I don't care, but gg and stay away from them bastions

 

[Nogoodname]

Well shit i guess I'll have to drop this, i can't associate with a hanzo main

 

[furo]

So um... I'm the worst trash

Name: Reed "Riot" Royce

ZG Alias: riot

Age: 22

Appearance:

(pLEASE FORGIVE THE SHIT ART i swer this is like the first thing remotely close to a realistic style that I do i tried i really did)




Enhancements: pretty basic, the soles of her feet have been replaced with an artificial prosthetic that softens the impact of her foot strikes as she walks/jumps/falls/sprints/runs and whatever and so the sound is reduced to almost nothing (reference up there; pretty much looks like hanzo's i realized after i drew them)

Occupation: Weapon delivery

Blacklist offense: Next of kin to major corporate whistleblower

​

There's probably quite a few things off here, please let me know.

​

 

[Nogoodname]

So um... I'm the worst trash

Name: Reed "Riot" Royce

ZG Alias: riot

Age: 22

Appearance:

(pLEASE FORGIVE THE SHIT ART i swer this is like the first thing remotely close to a realistic style that I do i tried i really did)




Enhancements: pretty basic, the soles of her feet have been replaced with an artificial prosthetic that softens the impact of her foot strikes as she walks/jumps/falls/sprints/runs and whatever and so the sound is reduced to almost nothing (reference up there; pretty much looks like hanzo's i realized after i drew them)

Occupation: Weapon delivery

Blacklist offense: Next of kin to major corporate whistleblower

​

There's probably quite a few things off here, please let me know.

​

First off, never going to call anything you draw bad, i personally can draw a pretty mean stick figure and nothing else. So anyone who can draw is magic to me. Second that's pretty cool, i think the sound dampening shoes are pretty creative, and the character sounds cool. It seems like we have a good composition right now with someone who can sneak well and someone who can bring the heat. So anything else we add can only help.

 

[furo]

First off, never going to call anything you draw bad, i personally can draw a pretty mean stick figure and nothing else. So anyone who can draw is magic to me. Second that's pretty cool, i think the sound dampening shoes are pretty creative, and the character sounds cool. It seems like we have a good composition right now with someone who can sneak well and someone who can bring the heat. So anything else we add can only help.

Thanks so muuchhhh you're so kind for someone who shuns my daddy hanzo


But yeah, I figured I'd make something to complement my partners, and also this character is literally the worst fuck-up like seriously will do everything that she can wrong i mean it. So get ready for some terrible choices and burdens c:

 

[Nogoodname]

Thanks so muuchhhh you're so kind for someone who shuns my daddy hanzo
But yeah, I figured I'd make something to complement my partners, and also this character is literally the worst fuck-up like seriously will do everything that she can wrong i mean it. So get ready for some terrible choices and burdens c:

That sounds great, just make sure she's not too much of a screw up, we are all seasoned heisters after all (unless your character is a new hire which I'd be fine with but still) there's got to be some level of professionalism.

 

[HeyGayzelle]

I'd say that character sheet looks about right to me. Having a character with sneaking and mobility-centric abilities should open some new possibilities in the field. The reference drawing for the cybernetics is nice too.


I still need to hone my character concept a bit, but I imagine I'll try to round things out by going heavier on the technical and social skills. Having a relatively educated and well-connected character might be a good way to justify dispensing information about things like tech, law, politics, economics, etc. in-character, as well as to sort of help contextualize how crime ties into the broader social climate. But I still need to think about how I would make this work because cyberpunk protagonists are usually more interesting when they're individualistic rebels and not "the man." So maybe I'll go with someone who has a background as some type of artist, philosopher, or political activist.


I'll probably be the odd one out with just a textual description of my character, but I'm still trying to hone what kind of aesthetic style I want to go for with my character. Something kind of completely artificial character like an android could be an interesting way of mixing things up, but I don't think I'd want to commit to writing from that point of view long-term. I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on the niches that can be filled, so maybe something will come to me after I give it a little more thought.

 

[Nogoodname]

That would be a nice idea, i can imagine they'd be kind of the leader of our little group of misfits if you want to head in that direction.

 

[furo]

I like the way this is going; three characters that are very distinct from each other but will manage to work together, I dig it. By the way, quick question: how does prison and court justice work in general in the cyberpunk genre? It takes big part in my character's general concept of background, so if you could clear that up, thanks.

 

[HeyGayzelle]

I like the way this is going; three characters that are very distinct from each other but will manage to work together, I dig it. By the way, quick question: how does prison and court justice work in general in the cyberpunk genre? It takes big part in my character's general concept of background, so if you could clear that up, thanks.

So this is something that varies by setting from setting. Traditionally, cyberpunk takes a pretty cynical view of law and the justice system, but there are exceptions like Ghost in the Shell, which sort of plays out like a standard police procedural and isn't so critical of legal authorities. But I can put out some quick bullet points for distinctive features of this setting's legal system.


-Megacorporations exercise their authority both through and in spite of the law. The sovereignty and authority of traditional legal institutions have been diminished, allowing megacorporations to influence law as it suits their individual interests.


-Powerful offenders are often unable to be held accountable for legitimate crimes and grievances because they have more money, force, influence, and legal resources.


-Legal jurisdictions are extremely specialized with unique task forces dedicated to intellectual property crime, information security, contract law, data privacy, AI, etc.


-Power is largely maintained through privatization. Major megacorporations have their own dedicated private security forces with varying degrees of legal authority. Freelance agents like our characters are also utilized as part of this power structure, providing plausible deniability to their contractors.


-Physical and non-physical spaces dominated by outlaws are relatively common such as the blacklister district, the Zerogrounds itself, black markets, etc.


-Disclosing the wrongdoings of megacorporations and disseminating information about their illicit activities as widely as possible is typically viewed as an "honorable" way of challenging the authority of megacorporations by outlaw types such as our characters.


I don't anticipate something like a lengthy courtroom scene becoming a part of this story just because that could prove very difficult to manage, but hopefully these details are helpful.


And I've given my character concept a bit more thought and have a stronger idea of what I'm going for, but I'm still sort of tied up with trying to kick off some other RPs at the moment, so it may take a little bit before I can actually get started on this. I'm still committed to the idea, but my hands are just sort of full presently.

 

[Nogoodname]

So this is something that varies by setting from setting. Traditionally, cyberpunk takes a pretty cynical view of law and the justice system, but there are exceptions like Ghost in the Shell, which sort of plays out like a standard police procedural and isn't so critical of legal authorities. But I can put out some quick bullet points for distinctive features of this setting's legal system.
-Megacorporations exercise their authority both through and in spite of the law. The sovereignty and authority of traditional legal institutions have been diminished, allowing megacorporations to influence law as it suits their individual interests.


-Powerful offenders are often unable to be held accountable for legitimate crimes and grievances because they have more money, force, influence, and legal resources.


-Legal jurisdictions are extremely specialized with unique task forces dedicated to intellectual property crime, information security, contract law, data privacy, AI, etc.


-Power is largely maintained through privatization. Major megacorporations have their own dedicated private security forces with varying degrees of legal authority. Freelance agents like our characters are also utilized as part of this power structure, providing plausible deniability to their contractors.


-Physical and non-physical spaces dominated by outlaws are relatively common such as the blacklister district, the Zerogrounds itself, black markets, etc.


-Disclosing the wrongdoings of megacorporations and disseminating information about their illicit activities as widely as possible is typically viewed as an "honorable" way of challenging the authority of megacorporations by outlaw types such as our characters.


I don't anticipate something like a lengthy courtroom scene becoming a part of this story just because that could prove very difficult to manage, but hopefully these details are helpful.


And I've given my character concept a bit more thought and have a stronger idea of what I'm going for, but I'm still sort of tied up with trying to kick off some other RPs at the moment, so it may take a little bit before I can actually get started on this. I'm still committed to the idea, but my hands are just sort of full presently.

That's understandable, take all the time you need.

 

[furo]

Yeah, I have nowhere to be.


But thank you for providing all of that information for us. I didn't mean for any courtroom scenes, but just needed to know more or less about the working of that system because I'd planned for my character's father to be a very renowned corporate whistleblower, which is primarily why she was doomed to choose the path she chose into the business of weapon dealing. And it'd also come in handy as a punishing factor when she comes around people that are the whole typical "you-know-what-we-do-to-snitches-here-don't-you" demeanor, being relatively common knowledge what the 'Royce' name entails. I also envisioned a background for my character having been in and out of jail due to minor offenses, and not having the best of experiences in there because of the whistleblowing thing. But yeah, I didn't know how that worked exactly, so I wanted to be sure.


Also, something important: I think it's not very clear for me where exactly our characters are going to begin in terms of their interactions. Do they already know each other? Where do they meet if they don't already? Are our characters not associated with anything that has to do with ZEROGROUNDS, so we start where our characters are about whatever gig their have (weapon dealing in my case, Elise with transfers, etc.) and then we introduce them to ZEROGROUDNS?


I'm asking a lot of questions here because I'm basic af i hope you understand