The Harmal Consortium: A Faction for Narcosmos

The Harmal Consortium is the galaxy's leading developer of virtual narcotics. The latest model of their Enhanced Sensory Experience System (ESES) has sold 420 billion units across twenty-three star systems.

The system interfaces with many popular virtual reality devices with neuro-inputs allowing users to safely experience the effects of psychoactive and narcotic substances from across the known universe without any danger to their bodies or minds. The drugs are sold as individual, single-use programs called Drug Immersion Memetic Experiences, or DIMEs, and are priced relative to market demand and the intensity of the program.

The Harmal Consortium is always seeking new and exotic substances from across the galaxy to be added to their catalog and will pay handsomely for samples of any undocumented psychoactive substances. Intergalactic explorers can register with the Consortium to receive a substance testing device, which will match any samples against the company's catalog. The device will only provide a yes or no answer regarding the Consortium's willingness to pay for the sample. It will not identify the sample or provide any information about the chemical make-up. It should be noted that the contract signed to receive this device stipulates that any sample of interest scanned must be turned over to the Consortium. A quantum beacon notifies local Harmal offices of newly discovered substances and any undelivered samples will be collected by force if necessary.

There are whispers of a secret group within the Harmal Consortium who have adopted a religious twist to their profession. The group believes that the ESES is a sacred device and that the perfect substance or combination of substances may allow an ordinary person to transcend to godhood. This group, known internally as the Apotheosis Initiative, is actively experimenting with various substances, programs, subroutines and the hacking of safe-guards to make the ESES into god machines.

Cyberpunk Name Generation

The recent release of a Hacker Name Generator PDF has brought to my attention that there is a need out there for filling cyberpunk settings with appropriate named characters and places.

Before you spend any money, check out the cyberpunk name generator at donjon. It provides male and female names for American, Chinese, Japanese and Russian characters, along with netrunner handles. It also provides corporation and location names. Each click results in ten entries, so you shouldn't have any problems quickly fleshing out your notes and character sheets.

The handles, locations and corporation names are especially good and really capture the classic cyberpunk feel. The Shiki Datavault in Paris sounds like an awesome place for an adventure.

The Shadowrun Complete City Kit, a Cyberpunk Vorheim

I am currently collecting resources for my upcoming cyberpunk campaign and one of the most helpful ones I have come across thus far is The Shadowrun Complete City Kit and New York City Guide. Using the city generation tools presented in Zak Smith's Vornheim, this is an indispensable resource for anyone running a game in a cyberpunk urban sprawl. Although my game is neither Shadowrun or set in New York, the pages of random tables are going to be tons of content for my game. Unlike fantasy games, cyberpunk seems like the sort of genre that is a bit harder to improvise, but this guide should be able to generate excellent adventures for cybernetic badasses on the fly without fail.

Daring Tales of the Sprawl: Good, Simple Cyberpunk Rules for Savage Worlds

I've been looking for good rules for a classic cyberpunk game and things weren't going too well. I'm pretty set on running the game in Savage Worlds, but Interface Zero, the most popular cyberpunk setting for SW isn't really my cup of tea. The rules for hacking and cybernetics seem overly complicated and the setting doesn't have the run-down, lo-fi feeling I want from cyberpunk.

I contemplated checking out Cyberpunk 2020, but I don't have the time to learn a whole new system. It does, however, seem to have the best definition of cyberpunk out there.

My search is over now that I've come across Daring Tales of the Sprawl by Triple Ace Games. You can download their cyberpunk rules for free on their site. At only 13 pages, their rules are much easier to digest than Interface Zero. Triple Ace also takes a more freeform approach to cybernetics, which is much in line with what I was drafting, right done to the abstract monetary cost for installing cyberware. The rules are also free of any setting details, which make the great for any flavor of cyberpunk.

Wealth as a Trait in Savage Worlds

I am currently planning a cyberpunk campaign and would love to put some serious stress on players concerning their finances and their extremely expensive augmentation. However, I hate the accounting that goes into keeping track of currency, especially when futuristic inflation is involved. My solution will be to add a Wealth Trait to characters.*

In order to procure an item or service, the player will need to roll a Wealth check. Hitting the Target Number of 4 results in a successful purchase, but there are some complications.

For every successful purchase, the character gains a point of Financial Stress, which accounts for dwindling cash reserves. Each point of Financial Stress results in a -1 penalty to the Wealth check. Financial Stress scores can be lowered over time or when players come into a certain amount of cash. If the player receives a windfall, they can actually receive negative Financial Stress, which would instead be a bonus to their next Wealth check.

Each Raise on a Wealth check prevents a point of Financial Stress. Two or more raises actually removes Financial Stress.

Rather than having a specific monetary value, every item and service will have a cost rating. This cost rating translates into another penalty to the Wealth check.

0 - Normal living expenses, cheap consumer goods.
1 - Expensive items, weaponry, mid-range consumer electronics.
2 - Very expensive items, basic augmentations, high-end electronics and weapons.
3 - Military grade hardware, complex augmentations, top-of-the-line electronics and gear.
4 - Highly experimental or secretive services, cutting edge augmentations and electronics.

Player's start with a d4 as their Wealth trait die. This die can be adjusted by choosing Edges and Hindrances.

Poverty - d4-2
Normal - d4
Rich - d6
Filthy Rich - d8

If a player fails a Wealth check, they can spend a bennie to turn the failure into a success. However, they will immediately gain the In Debt hindrance. This hindrance will act much like the Enemy hindrance until the player is able to appease their creditor. This appeasement is at the GM's discretion. Possible applications would be a semi-permanent level of Financial Stress until the debt is paid or running dangerous missions.

Hopefully this will make my players think twice about what items they purchase, will prevent them from loading their character's up with augmentations and will potentially cause some drama should they find themselves in Debt.

*I was able to find a similar idea on the Pinnacle forum, but it's a little more complicated than I'd like.