Dagger 9mm - a weird little cyberpunk funnel variant for DCC

What I not at all seriously call “

Baz Luhrman’s Cyberpunk Crawl Classics”

“It is June 6, 2117, the hangover still hurts but so do the staples in your side.  The Ball Game scores are playing over last night’s body lotto numbers in your headset as hooded figures burn a body in the dumpster below, chanting low.”   

“Peace.  I hate the word. As I hate hell. All Montagues.”

Cheeky, not at all serious, near future low life low tech mayhem, drenched in neon.  With lots of unusual remixes and covers playing in the background.   A love letter to Mike Pondsmith's cyberpunk 2020, DCC, and (oddly) Baz Luhrman's Romeo & Juliet for no good reason.

So I had this mad idea for a pick up game t'other day, which I liked enough, odd as it was, to write down. and it grew. and grew.

So, here are the rough notes for a random one shot funnel, set in a near future low tech cyberpunk setting using DCC, reskinning a few tables and winging the rest.

GM notes:  Remember - corruption and innocence on every corner.  NEON NEON NEON

Pretend you are 16 again - the slightest thing is HIGH STAKES DRAMA

In short a neon drenched, 2050 univision version of Miami Vice, soundtrack by the Sisters of Mercy. Michael Mann has equipped the Band of the Hand with a laser gun.   Low tech cyberpunk, 20 minutes into the apocalypse.  

And demons, crawling out of the woodwork.

Just keep reading, you’ll get it.

All the world building you will need -

Near future somewhat low tech cyberpunk on the west coast of mexico or south america, a made up fictional city like Night City from CP2020

The big influential city state will be Rio; that’s where the UN Survival Council meets;  something big and vaguely specified has happened to most of the northern hemisphere (sp. The US, poss. Canada, Russia, much of Europe, lots but not all of asia - am actually thinking some sort of engineered pollen disaster but whatever)

This coastal made up city has a Large population of gringos  - in the International Zone

Lots of speed boats and smuggling, floodwalls, water pollution is a thing. 0

All 0 level characters

Begin play

• speaking the common tongue of the setting, Spanish.  Other recommended starting languages should include Portuguese, English,
• Have a single d4 HD and begin with a d4 (mod by STA) starting
• 5d4 UN ration chits
• A secret or complication (see below)
• With one safe place to hide (must be declared at start)
• A weapon that does a d4 at least (tire iron, rusty knife, club, etc)
• Up to d4 any other random distinctive attributes the player wishes to endow them with

Alignments are interpreted somewhat different being best described in context as being, broadly,  “Establishment,” “Self-interested,” and “Fuck the law, Down with the System!”

0level Occupation /prev en table (occupation then starting gear and conditions below)

1.the Detective -

Motive to investigate; apartment that has no power, blackjack, (d4), gloves, lockpicks, unflattering view of the human condition

2. The Scavenger

Starts with authorized cred ID designating bearer as investigator for the UN Water Authority.  (will get you in pretty much everywhere), low profile

3. Drug Mule

Three balloons up an orifice full of synthetic coke, valid international passport, Citizen Identification Number (CIN), small bag of actual peanuts

4. Information  Courier (chipped)

Black market connections, 63 Trib (like gigs) of codelocked wetware memory, one good suit, expensive sunglasses

5/ Brujeria DotD of the dead shaman revolutionary

Elaborate appearance, herbs, criminal record, police surveillance

8/ Government shill

Single nitrogen pill, heart condition, suitcase full of bearer bonds that aren’t yours

7. Corporate shill

Silverclub charge strip on your mobile, Level 2 Citizenship, list of middle managers in your way, memorized list of “disposable assets.”  Government surveillance team watching your every move, non threatening social disease.

8  the CapoeiraDistinctive haircut, A squat you are turning into a dojo, Ties to the community, a problem with bullies.  (d6 with kick or punch, d4 deed die that does not stack)

9.  The Gangster

Unregistered ceramic firearm, ablative bullets (2d6-2), mastoid induction phone, distinctive tattoo, cheap sunglasses

10.  The nomad

Small solar powered cigarette boat, fishing net, smuggling clan and criminal affiliation tattoos, freedom

11.   Moorlock - mutants and “mutants” who gather underground in rejection of society.  

Distinctive appearance, knowing your way around the sewers, decade old picture on soymilk cartons,

12.  Singer - rocker or songbird, you are a performer.  Or at least, you think you are.

Small but loyal following, an obsessed ex, glitter, makeup, performing attire, note telling you you are locked out of your recording space

Not precisely a direct map of the occupation table from DCC of course but it will suit our purposes.  Now give everyone something to hide. 

What is your secret? What do you need to keep hidden?

1. Child - regardless of custody, you have a child you in some way care for.
2. Conspiracy - you saw something or read something you shouldn’t have.  They know.
3. You are dying.  Why are you still here?
4. You recognized another PC from your childhood but you have had extensive body sculpting at some point since then.  What do you remember about them?
5. The space brothers said it was time.   You know that they are right.   How are you preparing?
6. You never killed that man.  No one else knows.   You are innocent.  Does this matter?
7. You do NOT know who it was you woke up next to, only that they are very very very dead.   What did you do next?
8. You had no idea they were taking pictures.  This is….humiliating.  How far will shame take you?
9. They will never believe you, but the doors are opening.   The gates grow thin.  You can hear them whispering……..
10. You will do anything for the cause.  ANYTHING.  Why do people find this so unsettling?
11. You are a factory mutant. Sure you can pass for human but you know what you are (might be experimental test subject, might not even be human but surgically modified to appear so)
12. You are actually a cop. You filthy stinking narc.

Dark future urban landscape equipment table (replaces table)

1. Zip gun
2. Vape pen
3. Burner (unlisted mobile phone)
4. Balisong (butterfly knife)
5. Ration card (50 chits)
6. (removable) false prints (eye and finger) - one use
7. Work visa
8. Water purification tablets
9. Antibacterial stim shot (mostly anti cholera, also protects against typhoid, diphtheria, measles)
10. Contrasol gel (protect against harmful UV radiation)
11. Pack of 3 ZombieCon. Drug-a-thug patches. DC 16 Fort save or drop to the ground for 5 rounds, drooling and pissing.  (Wearer adds Armor bonus of armor to the save)
12. Pack of redsmokes - delays onset of cancer; illegal on planet earth
13. Recycling Kidney (implant)  adds 4 to Fort and Will saves v. poison;  d4 fumble die
14. Penlight laser, 4 minutes of use. 1d6 continuous damage. Illegal.  Ignores non metallic armor
15. glare resistant lens implants - +6 save v. dazzling and blindness d4 fumble  
16. Nostrilplugs - allows user to filter out inhaled toxins and undesired scents;  removable with two minutes and a screwdriver. They are obvious when inserted however.
17. Skinphone - just what it sounds like, in right or left forearm, configurations.   Difficult to read through dirty skin and gets VERY warm when used a lot.   Also you cannot turn it off.
18. Brass knuckles - shifts damage die up one glass in melee
19. Plasma cutting torch (60 second battery life; 1d12 damage)
20. 1st gen Cybernetic limb (d8 fumble die, add 2 to AC permanently and 3 hp; NSA)

Who do you have connections with?

Baggage handlers on the Corpstrip at the Aeropuerto

Customs enforcement officers

Members of the UN OccFor in the Canal zone.

Someone in Sanitation and Recycling (Soyorange, General Population Works, Transnational Hazard Control, etc.)

A Ripper Jack

A triad

A repeat anonymous tipster to the narco squad.

Services for hire (by the week)

Neighborhood “protection”  - 20 chits and up

(confers ability to ask for help in a violent situation)

Ripperjack or jill

Stabilizing dead/dying patient min.50 chits

Major surgery (cybernetic limb, open heart surgery, etc.) 250 chits+

Other convalescence (sick, disoriented, etc) 5-15 chits

(charged daily if communicable)

A guy who will “hold something” no questions asked 15 chits and up

Liquidating “undocumented features” with the local Trid. 25% market value

Random features & complications for at any time of the game (day or night)

1. Rolling blackouts
2. Practice disaster or air raid drills - some people ignore the latter
3. Random police paddy van and rounding up the usual suspects’
4. Immigration is checking all gringos for something.  Hope you have the usual squeeze.
5. Total  burn ban in progress.  Military police might just shoot you for smoking.
6. Stage 2 Fog Warning - hazard condition declared, Fort saves in order without protection
7. Defense Condition - threat of imminent attack (real or invented) brings city to standstill, strategic lighting and power measures implemented.  At night things are likely to get ugly before the lights come back up.
8. Death Squad - run.
9. Neighborhood you are in is declared Unsanctioned.  Police barricade and Urban Renewal Team to follow in 10d4 minutes.  After the mass arrest and “broad jurisdictional authority” a follow up sweep by Corp Sec teams or Urban Pacification forces is likely.   Time to be elsewhere.
10. Judgement night - local upper class population coordinates race war against the underclass; neighborhood locked down while random acts of vigilantes and terrorists are common
11. Memeprank - every mobile in the city rings simultaneously for the next twenty minutes until the local telecom grid is secured.   Phones and other wireless devices will be useless for the duration.
12. Night of Power - the underclasses are sick of it.   In a moment of pure serendipity, rival bands of oppressed citizenry participate in a major uprising;  dominant wealthy population will be hunted in neighborhood for 1d7 nights;  

Random so you want to get across town encounters table  

1. Refugees - group of 11-30 smelly gringos shuffling in packs looking for handouts.  May have seen things but do not speak the local language. 25% chance per round of interaction of attracting attention of Immigration Rover squads.
2. Snap Crackle - unseemly group of 5+1d7 drug crazed gangbangers looking for trouble. You?
3. Spot Immigration Checkpoint - show your CIN, your real honest to goodness passport, your corporate ID, or get rolled into a green tank along with the rest of the gringos. Enforcement unlikely to care if you are innocent or a citizen if you can’t prove it.
4. Demonic & spiral graffitti everywhere, in bright dayglo neon colours.  75% chance already being scrubbed by U.N. Sanitation and Information Enforcement engineers.  Keep walking
5. Unscheduled political rally - a protest, sit in, or other demonstration is happening, likely with fireworks, shouting through loudspeakers, and low key info terrorism.  88% chance of just being local corp kid privileged students, momentarily exploring democracy.   12% chance C.I.A. man, or other terrorist using rally as cover to do some recruiting.
6. Assault & Protection Cops locking down a four block radius off up ahead;  some corporate tower or other enclave is reporting an ongoing terrorist action;  true or not, the neighborhood SecFor should be distracted for a bit.  Don’t look like a terrorist though.
7. “Fiiiiiigh-ters! Come out and Play!”  two bizarrely adorned youth gangs decide that THIS is the place to hold their knock out, drag in the mud Great Big Turf Battle.   Characters who are insistent will be met with molotov cocktails, spray paint and zip guns.  Maybe the odd motorcyclist with a katana.
8. Playback dealer abruptly ingratiates themselves amongst the group while a large team of thick necked mercenaries look around for someone.  Will likely say anything to get the group to protect them for the next few minutes.
9. Someone released riot control gas.  There wasn’t even a riot emergency declared.   Those 4040 canisters keep fizzing tho so everyone make a Fort save DC 14 to avoid sinus bomb.
10. One of the disenfranchised, obviously sick, old, promptly dies at the characters feet.   Possibly they may do so only after handing the characters something (their phone, a data tape, a baby, their data dachshund, etc.)
11. Monson.  Weather control is on the fritz again.   Visibility reduced to 50, half that at night.
12. Stage IV alert declared;  there has been another outbreak of Fruit Blight, so the city must be sprayed.  You have 20 minutes to get under cover before a DC 14 Fort attack by gaseous airborne fungicide attempts to render you unconscious.   Nostrilplug users are unaffected though their skin will ITCH.

Places to start a session

The aeropurete - shuttle coming in? (big trouble in little china)

Waiting at the Transit Kiosk (for train and or bus)

Just outside the Detention center (all being discharged from police custody)

Lobby of a major building

On public transport - the same bus or tube capsule

A Secret meeting called by someone they all knew

Just outside a church

Just inside a (real) church - hiding out from search squads, neighborhood monsters, or worse

Freight elevator in a major hotel

Music Festival

Subculture convention

Around a table with a map, guns, and a plan.

3 Factions with grievances

Wealthy Argentinian beef ranchers v more trad agribusiness

Dagger Arms and the local anti gun coalition

Indigenous tribe v. biological/chemical research corp

Distant Locations

(You are Here - An unnamed city on the west coast of south america)

Baja california

West coast of old Mexico (what’s left of the old country; occupied by )

Eastern (Nuevo) Mexico (TransNat paradise)

The Rio Grande Containment Zone (the Pollen authority can shoot to kill)

The Eastern Allegheny Evacuation Authority (Rand Worldwide contracting to the UN)

The City-state of Imperial Rio (location of UN1)

The Federated Republic of New Swaziland (constant warfare)

The Cape Town Alliance (where water is free and wifi a human right)

Mombasa Free Trade Zone

The Qatar Ruin

The Blue Hole of New Tamiland

Survivors Alliance of Micronesia (nomad paradise)

Remember that plants need fertilizer so let the players take the story seeds with a side of their own bullshit and everyone will be happier. :)

Lies, Rumors, and Story seeds - everyone gets one

1. “There were three pale guys in vinyl coats….floating through the streets last night”
2. “Go ahead, try to leave the city. You can’t,.  The world outside the city is a lie.   I think we’re on a spaceship actually….”
3. “Dude, it’s just an illusion.  WAKE UP.  The sorcerer’s dead.  Snap out of it man!”   sooooo confusing…...
4. At night the lady on the flatscreen talks to you, tells you you are in a coma and that none of this is real. “You need to Wake Up.”
5. The preacher was yelling when they drug him away.  “Demons among us!  More everyday!  The cracks in the world run with black earthblood.”  wonder what all that meant?
6. For the last week you have been having an intermittent acid flashback, taking the form of your dead sister, who will just suddenly appear and start talking to you about … well pretty weird stuff.   You really wish this would stop soon. \
7. “The time is soon - we’re almost ready to take the production line.  If we can do that, we can hold the factory.  Then we’ll have real power.”
8. City Sector 21, location A contains a confirmed Delta Primary.  You would investigate yourself, just to see it with your own eyes, but you are quite rightly scared shitless……
9. “My child, come to me, pledge your soul unto me, and I will grant you a storm that will rain death on those who have harmed you.  Kiss the bullets and let me in your heart.”
10. You have the landing time and coordinates for an orbital drop - a tank groan ton of hydroponic fruit and factory beef.  Worth … tens of thousands of Actual Credits.   They come down in drone piloted capsules.  There’s a fifteen minute wait before automatic pickup.   
11. Account number QXv74218718965 / alephcode BacardiSunrise   
12. “Thanks to brothers and sisters in revolution inside, 640 incarcerated juves are going to be discharged onto the streets of near Freedom Plaza at noon today.  A lot could go unnoticed in the tuckus.”

Quick objectives

Escape a roundup by someone - Corporate Security, Immigration, the Police, a cult.

Get back at someone who fucked you all over.   A dirty cop?  A member of corporate security?  A fence left you hanging on a deal?

Get in somewhere you shouldn’t be to get (back) something that someone else has.   Finesse or brute force works.

Find the person that knows the thing.

Stop them by any means necessary

He must be protected.

A race against time to reach a specific location.   

And you can always use the brilliant heist generator in Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad #3..  

Season liberally with the bits above and throw it all on the table.  Ideally use all of the pregens.  With a large group you’ll want to make more.  Could work very well tourney style with everyone getting one character and going from there.     Tables are weighted toward personal preference - lower tech, lower gloss, higher grit cyberpunk, almost always involving crime and or political enterprise. Your mileage may vary.  More Streets of Fire than Ghost in the Shell.   If you get hard up, just steal liberally from Walter Jon Williams’ Hardwired, any episodes of Miami vice you can remember, or just recycle GTA Vice City and stick it in 22nd century Megacity Not Quito Not Bogota, as that’s kind of what I’m going to do when I spring this on the fam the next chance I get to drop a one shot.

If you have a stack of survivors who have made it to level 1 at the end I don’t know what to tell you.  Go with straight DCC classes and wing it, grab something out of CRAWL, or Crawling Under a Broken Moon, (Both very fine publications by the way!) or Crawljammer, wherever you like, or make it up.  

I suggest at least, classes named Ronin (for your warrior / street samurai types), and I think for the moment handling any cybernetics or biomods or whatever by winging off of the MDoA system but I find that one of the game’s most versatile subsystems, so I would.

Fury's (for your capoeira, martial arts, and corporate ninja types who are mechanically kind of thieves but they can spend luck to power special abilities instead; kind of like MDoA),   And i’m sure there’s a monk/martial artist class around somewhere to fill in even better.

You’d need some kind of charisma based sort of face, or Suit class but that would have to be it’s own thing.  Pro’lly dabbling in social abilities in some way.    And of course some sort of technie type but nothing so specific as a netrunner.  We’ll call it Cracker (faint connotations intact for our cyberpunkish purposes) and assume they are electronic intrusion specialists of all kinds.

I’d use Wizard verbatim for any   magickal highjinx;  I assume some sort of demonic or planar incursion responsible so it should work fine.  Be creative with your choice of patron.  Pick something pop culturally appropriate, or something cool from your normal DCC game when taken out of context ( my game will feature Unholy Bullet Nuns who follow the Red Queen from my DCC campaign frex, just to kind of sin city the whole thing up) and wing the results table. You can record it later if this is a recurrent phenomenon after all.  Aside from that, I have some vague notion of sea level rise corresponding to a rise in elemental magic power but it’s only a vague notion. This is a sketch of a setting, in motion, do with it as you please.

If you want any genejokes or uplifted animals in setting, use the Manimal class from MCC.  Same with actual mutants.

I’d steer clear of throwing clerics into the mix but more power to you, especially if your table can handle the awkward questions that come with cleric abilities in a modern setting…..you are of course free to drop your normal DCC party here for a weekend and see what kind of hell they can raise also.   That sounds fun…...\

Damn this got long. :0  If you do run this little experiment, please tell me how it went.  I’ll share the results of any follow up. Good gaming!