| NEW MEXICO COPS, SESSION TWO a Cyberpunk 2020 game run by Gary Astleford |  |
NEW MEXICO STATE POLICE OUTLINE #2 Ok, this is the second episode. This game, I'd like to cover a few areas that I've been mulling over. These include several encounters that are designed to add suspense, action, and fear to the campaign. They are (in order): These should freak the characters out just a little bit. Not knowing what the lights are will make it all the more fun. The lights start, as if someone flicks a switch, at around 9 pm every night. They "shut off", all at once, at around 5 am the next morning. 2) A practice napalm strike in the distance. Just far enough away to see, right across the river. Three jets in a tight formation at about 1000 feet drop a few thousand kilograms of napalm, and then fly off towards the west. 3) Nomad/Smugglers. Five of them (4 male, 1 female), driving a large pick-up truck (with camper shell) and a motorcycle. These guys are trouble, no doubt. They're part of a LARGER group that has been terroizing the area for a few months now called the "Wasteland Warriors". As far as these guys go, they're the total opposite of "The Maxes" nomad pack listed in "Home of the Brave" pg 37. They dress in leathers, wild crazy-colored mohawks, wrist crossbows, etc, just like the bad guys in the "Road Warrior" movie. They've got the same attitude, too, and they take what they want. Driving into town, they'll probably be wanting fuel. They're coming from the north, and are planning to smuggle some stuff into Texas. Besides being mean and nasty, they're also a little more technically sophisticated than their film counterparts in "The Road Warrior": they use guns, computers, and more importantly, a small one-man helicopter... (read on... ) These guys showed up in town when Bruce Ingles (Brant) and Johnathan Burke (Joe) were on patrol. A short but extremely violent firefight ensued, but the two officers emerged victorious and relatively unscathed. One of the nomads survived, but I don't remember which one. This was a harbinger of MUCH more deadly nomad violence to come... The truck they arrive in is primer grey and black, all around. The bed is covered by a shell, also painted black, and is painted on either side with crude "THE MEEK CAN INHERIT MY ASS" logos. Inside, if the players GET inside, can be found a treasure trove of goodies (and baddies). Among junk (sleeping bags, clothes, etc), there is stuffed a 3 meter long by 1/2 meter in diameter capsule which is quite heavy, wieghing 250 kilos. Amy's character (with an AVERAGE difficulty INT+GYRO PILOT skill roll) will recognize it as a K&K F-2 Fliedermaus helicopter. Its maximum speed is around 110 mph, and it can carry the pilot and 100kg of stuff. The passeneger seat has been replaced by a makeshift cargo area. The thing itself is painted very dark gray (almost black), and a very good rendition of a screaming skull, complete with red and blue mohawk, decorates the thing's nose on either side. The machine will take an AVERAGE Gyro Tech skill to assemble, or a DIFFICULT Basic Tech roll. All tools needed for the assembly are in the capsule, as well. When my character attempted to assemble this, she fumbled her Gyro Tech roll and broke her right thumb. Also included in the truck are two crates, each painted OD green and marked "PROPERTY OF U.S. ARMY, HLAW 105mm, 5 Count". Inside each crate are five HLAWS (H.O.B. pg. 84). Each crate weighs 30 kg. Also included is one "Scorpion 16" surface-to-air IR missile launcher (the new version of the "Stinger"). This item is unpackaged, and looks as if the nomads were planning on using it if they needed to. The players will also find six cans of aviation fuel (for the Fliedermaus). Also they will find about 30 kilos of synthetic endorphins ("'Dorph") wrapped in cellophane and duct tape. Eeew. Score. We sent the 'dorph up north as evidence, and we grudgingly returned the HLAWS and Scorpion to the Army as a gesture of good faith (fat lot of good it did us). Maitland kept the Fliedermaus. Lt.'s privilege. WASTELAND WARRIORS Nomad #1 - "HawkWind" ("Hawk" for short), Captain-Type/Leader
Resist Torture +5 Awareness +5 Hide/Evade +4 Shadow/Track +4 Archery +5 Athletics +4 Brawl +6 Melee +3 Handgun +3 Rifle +2 Stealth +4 Motorcycle +5 Leadership +2
LOOKS: Red & Blue mohawk... typical road warrior wannabe, chains & leather, motorcycle. Nomad #2 - "Del," Chopper Pilot
Brawl +4 Rifle +4 Handgun +4 Hvy Weapons +5 Gyro Pilot +5 Melee +1 Hide/Evade +3 Gyro Tech +5 Basic Tech +6 Awareness +4
Nomad #3 - "Clarissa" ("Rose"), Hawk's Fucktoy/Everyone's Fucktoy
Awareness +2 Brawl +2 Fuck & Suck +4 Melee +2 Personal Grooming +3
Nomad #4 - "Casey," Truck Driver
Athletics +4 Driving +6 Melee +5 Handgun +4 Rifle +5 Basic Tech +5
Nomad #5 - "Fleet," Tag-Along Gopher Geekboy
Dodge/Escape +6 Hide/Evade +6 Stealth +6 Brawling +5 Athletics +2 Melee +2 (+4 with improvised weapons) Handgun +2 Pick Pocket +5
That's it for the Nomads. As for military heat, check the stats in home of the brave, and ignore the combat sense abilities (of course) 4) A Militech AVX-9C Viper does some "blank" strafing runs on Crossroads, just for kicks. Before it leaves, it does a fly-by on the police station, at about 450 miles per hour, at 200 feet, firing blanks the whole time from its 7.62mm minigun. Lt. Maitland was out trying to fix the busted radiator hose on her four-by when she heard the scream of the AV's turbines and turned around... just in time to see it lining up for its strafing run... 5) Late at night, the watchman gets a surprise: strange lights in the sky. They come down from above, and make weird patterns in the night sky; the maneuvers are too erratic and unconventional to be regular airplanes or AV's. One of the lights flickers, then falls to the ground. It impacts about five miles to the east. Characters who don't go looking are idiots, but I suppose they'll check it out. The craft is a special military design taken from (supposed) alien technology. It suffered a propulsion malfunction and crashed. The pilot (a U.S. Army "Wingman" full cyborg conversion) will crawl out of the wreck as the players are investigating. He's damaged, but is mobile. His vocal circuits are damaged, and he cannot talk. He will try to remain in the same spot, and will resist if messed with. If attacked, he will fight back (using his Colt AMT 200 and his wrist blade). After the players have been poking around for five minutes, they will hear turbines in the distance, coming from the west. Two AV-6's and one AV-9 will approach and circle. One of the AV-6's will come to a hover about 50 ft up. A voice will announce that the characters should leave the area at once, since there is a "radiation" hazard. Observant PC's will notice that, as this message is relayed, the mini-gun in the AV's chin turret will begin to revolve, warming up to cut the players down if they don't leave quietly. If they don't leave, the AV will ask for orders, and will be granted permission take warning shots at the PC group. If the group opens fire and tries to stick around, the AV's will (very likely) both fly in and hose them down with full metal jackets. This crash was our first indication of how absolutely evil the military presence in White Sands was. We arrived at the crash site with every intention of rendering assistance to any survivors. We'd just begun to examine the twisted wreckage of a craft too bizarre to be described when one of the PC's... I don't remember who, but I think it was Joe's character... catches sight of a Wingman FBC watching us from about twenty feet away, from where he'd crawled free of the wreckage. Gary didn't TELL us it was an FBC, of course, so there were a few tense moments while we tried to figure out if it was an alien, a robot, a pilot in a really odd flight suit, or what. It didn't help that the thing couldn't talk. After we figured out exactly what he was, and saw that he was injured, we attempted to help him, but he warned us off with his wrist blade and we were frankly too spooked to insist. Just as it looks as if things are going to get ugly, the Army AVs arrive, as detailed above. We took the hint and skedaddled, pissed off but not willing to press the point. 6) If absolutely necessary (I don't think it will be), I'll throw in another cattle mutilation just for fun. He did. More of us standing around going, "Gee, Paw, lookit that dead cow!" On To Session Three |