A few notes on the game world.
I'm running what Peter Christian calls a "Specialist's World" (Interface Vol. 1 No. 4 pp 16-21 "And Bear Arms..." by Peter Christian) rather than the "Duelist's World" portrayed by the Cyberpunk core game books.
A Specialist's World is more like those portrayed in the books/movies of the genre - weapons are available but subject to certain restrictions (which the Corporations and criminals - is that a tautology? - ignore) and not everyone has them - through choice or through inability to get them.
It's something that would grow out of the here and now - which is also a "Specialist's World" - without requiring some pretty cataclysmic backstory. In other words: "The Apocalypse" hasn't happened yet so Law and Order (backed up by increasingly effective technologies) still prevail. There are governments and corporations with their attendant armed forces to enforce control within their domains.
Even outside the law, there's still "gang law" - the gang that controls the turf is going to have its own views on who gets to run around with weapons and who's allowed to shoot whom with impunity - and their own punishments for those who step on the wrong toes... probably more brutal and permanent than what the gov'ts and the corps have...
I've cranked cynicism up to full - which is the easiest way I've found to script Cyberpunk - and thrown as many stupid laws into the equation as I possibly can, in addition to variations depending on where you are - yes, you can open carry in town, but do so in this mall and the rentacops will pounce on you for "brandishing", even if the gun never clears leather. Clinton's Ban with its 10-round maximum for pistol magazines? It's alive and well in 2070s Australia and New Zealand - along with New Zealand's ludicrous "Military Style Semi Automatic" laws that ban rifles from having more than 15-round (.22) or 7-round (larger calibres) magazines or free-standing pistol grips. Restrictions on armour - Type II maximum for civilians (so the enforcers of the peace can effectively use SMGs or 12ga rifled slugs to subdue infractors).
Makes for an interesting and plausible world where the characters can't go too Ubermunchkin without risking serious repercussions (do the players want to spend their time running from the police? It's their call...) and there are sufficiently high threats to promote tactical playing - that gang has SMGs, type III-A armour and 17-shot Glock pistols; you have type II armour and ten-shot pistols... obviously a head-on confrontation is not going to work.
Yes, weapon rules fairly close to the here and now - similar to certain parts of the USA - but you don't need a Post-Apocalyptic "Law of The Gun"/"Might is Right" environment to play Dark and Gritty Cyberpunk - people manage "Dark and Gritty" in real life here and now and have done for all of human history...
The laws create inequities - they might claim they are for fairness and equality, but that's bollocks. And the inequities that those laws create can be the basis for some very edgy encounters...
I'm running what Peter Christian calls a "Specialist's World" (Interface Vol. 1 No. 4 pp 16-21 "And Bear Arms..." by Peter Christian) rather than the "Duelist's World" portrayed by the Cyberpunk core game books.
A Specialist's World is more like those portrayed in the books/movies of the genre - weapons are available but subject to certain restrictions (which the Corporations and criminals - is that a tautology? - ignore) and not everyone has them - through choice or through inability to get them.
It's something that would grow out of the here and now - which is also a "Specialist's World" - without requiring some pretty cataclysmic backstory. In other words: "The Apocalypse" hasn't happened yet so Law and Order (backed up by increasingly effective technologies) still prevail. There are governments and corporations with their attendant armed forces to enforce control within their domains.
Even outside the law, there's still "gang law" - the gang that controls the turf is going to have its own views on who gets to run around with weapons and who's allowed to shoot whom with impunity - and their own punishments for those who step on the wrong toes... probably more brutal and permanent than what the gov'ts and the corps have...
I've cranked cynicism up to full - which is the easiest way I've found to script Cyberpunk - and thrown as many stupid laws into the equation as I possibly can, in addition to variations depending on where you are - yes, you can open carry in town, but do so in this mall and the rentacops will pounce on you for "brandishing", even if the gun never clears leather. Clinton's Ban with its 10-round maximum for pistol magazines? It's alive and well in 2070s Australia and New Zealand - along with New Zealand's ludicrous "Military Style Semi Automatic" laws that ban rifles from having more than 15-round (.22) or 7-round (larger calibres) magazines or free-standing pistol grips. Restrictions on armour - Type II maximum for civilians (so the enforcers of the peace can effectively use SMGs or 12ga rifled slugs to subdue infractors).
Makes for an interesting and plausible world where the characters can't go too Ubermunchkin without risking serious repercussions (do the players want to spend their time running from the police? It's their call...) and there are sufficiently high threats to promote tactical playing - that gang has SMGs, type III-A armour and 17-shot Glock pistols; you have type II armour and ten-shot pistols... obviously a head-on confrontation is not going to work.
Yes, weapon rules fairly close to the here and now - similar to certain parts of the USA - but you don't need a Post-Apocalyptic "Law of The Gun"/"Might is Right" environment to play Dark and Gritty Cyberpunk - people manage "Dark and Gritty" in real life here and now and have done for all of human history...
The laws create inequities - they might claim they are for fairness and equality, but that's bollocks. And the inequities that those laws create can be the basis for some very edgy encounters...
