real Ss Sel oss IVS a METROPOLIS po AV CUE cae MeL Taiko Boosh Geico ea ae 0enn oo. uu! way METROPOLIS PS JANUS GAMES G4Credits Written by: Justin Schmid Editor: Mare A. Vezina Copy Editing: Jean Carrigres Editor for R. Talsorian Games, Inc: Derek Quintanar Art Direction: Pierre Ouellette Layout: Pierre Ouellette Jeff Fortier Dominique Durocher Cover Ar: Pierre Ouellette Jeff Fortier Interior Art: Ghislain Barbe All Atpwork © lanus Publications Inc, ThePelcSyncvonicty. Legal deposit: May 1994 Bibliotheque Nationale du Québec National Library of Canada ISBN 2-921573-14-8 DARK METROPOLIS is Copyright © 1994 lanus Publi- cation. All Right Reserved. DARK METROPOLIS is a Trademark of lanus Publica- tion and is published under license from R. Talsorian Games, Inc. Cyberpunk is a Trademark of R. Talsorian Games, Inc. No partof hisbook may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except for review pur- poses. Any similarity to characters, situations, institutions, corporations, etc. (without satiric intent) is strictly coincidental. Printed in Canada, Published by: anus Publications, Inc. 5000 D'tberville, Suite 332 Montreal, Qe Canada HH 286 Stock # ICP-116 Creative Team: Dream Pod 9 Ce cel Quotations © mspene artis: Helle Gy, Bxerahd LadesGadon 1092; © Eeytdy now, Leonard Cohen your an, 1967; © Arused to Death Rog Watered to Daath 19912>Peopt ve Svanpe, Te Doors OS Miack Raye Vises AusedioDeah,191;0 Pert Sens, Pat Roger Witrs/Ausedta Det, 991,0Evey Bret You Tae,FOREWORD 5 Life In The City _ 6 Summary... Life On The Night's Edge Purely Technical Terminology... TECHNICALITIES 9 The Individual... Family Life Psychological Profile... Stress... SESS FACIOTS ne Gaining Stress Points... Shon Circuits... Malfunction Rating... Maintenance Microwavers And EMP Rifles.. Eye In The Sky... Somebody's Watching You . Misplaced Identity... Gun Cameras... THINGS TO DO WAVES canes Assembling A Shadow Band ... Extras Signaljacking : Crewing A Shadow Band Audience ThE Bats ctanntiastoaency ‘Shadow Bands In Your Campaign .......34 Celebrating The Night .. Casting .. ‘St-Valentine’s Feast... Fooltime.. Teems Day. Halloween The Walk... Disaster... Disaster Relief Centers Natural Disasters ... Man-Made Disasters... In The News Tonight. Heat Waves . Tossing And Turning Passions Flaring.. Heat Exhaustion .. Keeping Cool... The Roar Of The Beast Within The Cause Of A Riot. ‘Types Of Crowds. ‘The Development Of A Riot .. Rioters Riot Activities In The Path Of The Mob... Crowd Dispersal Techniques Making A Riot Riots In The Campaign PEOPLE TO MEET Spooks Spook Characters... Spook’s Outfit Reapers Reaper Character Reaper's Outfit. PLACES TO GO Asylums .. s s The Business Of Asylums 3Designing An Asylum... Pharm... Underground Dealers Vending Inc. IMP OF THE PERVERSE PseudoPet Generation aust Gamemaster Notes .. Schulte’ Place .. Hie Suniey Enclaves .... . Main Characters .. Finding Them. 67 eataat Where And What Is It? Piopliec, Getting In. Journey To The Land Of The Dea ‘Who Lives There 8 Riot In The Streets... The Enclaves Of Night City . ae Fireback.. DARK PLEASURES 74 Finding KIMP Altered States ..... ‘Tracking Down The Crazie 112 Drug Enforcement Search For Oliver Pharmacology... Looking For And Dig Elects rar The Many Pranks. Drug Use And Humanity Loss ‘The Imp's Abode . : Mixing Drugs ... Introductions Are In Order, Multiple Doses. 179 Important NPCS... Drug Design .. 80 Deathspas.... MAPS Opinions Deathspa Outlets INDEX 124 Typical Visit .... Flatlining Emotive Rock .. Evocations Of Emotion Indulgences Of The Flesh . Midnight Lovers Minions Of Depravity ... Modem Slavery Virtual Pleasures PseudoPets .........002- History .. . PseudoPet Biology 95 4(eesti Heble City... Le Deore ‘cause there 4 nothing kit te do. Te nn ee aa ae aaa baa eee Ee cee pane eine Pere ee aay) Be (ura 2 (ese react cex afta Baie yan career ban centers: cities, metroplexes CMe toy aaNet 20 focuses _on the darker aspects of urban life and takes a closetook at what it is like in the 21st century. City life is not a new experience for humanity, cities have existed since Cayenne au entintitcrarone tary oer) Poltepaiityeat emer ee heen ean then cities, and now, metroplexes. ities developed out of the evolution Roe iineeens trait iret ent) eee sa cameo plex conglomerations of people: BU e melee ot sential characteristics of cities from the past, they are unlike any- thing that appeared before. Their BS easorar nr sep uyal try ycare ously thought to be the “biggest Girne toga ies vades the life of the modern citi- zen is unrivaled in the past, as is the degree of artificial environ- ment that surrounds the 21st cen- tury urban dweller. Pian tenons cents huge concentrations of people in ‘small areas, though the crowding Meee vercelours uc eate cha retest amr suru atte Ronee Crt nemiy tera ord ‘crammed into cubical apartments ‘with thousands on the streets fight- ing for a spot on the sidewalk to Ses eeu tern ec ett atates Deron me mentee MC outskirts ofcities, now overrun by ora onsen ata Getincocut anc nuns iis in comfortable, spacious homes; however the price being commit- ments and obligations that rule erates‘The continuing trend of labour specialization begun when agriculture was first adopted asa primary food source, runs rampant in the modem city. New technologies are con- stantly rendering occupations obsolete, and people useless. The amount of knowledge available and competition in corporate positions require citizens to specialize, becoming expertsin their own field, and ignorant of any other venues. For most in the city, life without a life contract with a company means near poverty. For those lucky enough to have useful skills, short-term work contacts can usually be found, but for those without any useful skills, poverty and a life on the street is the only possible outcome. Most cities have tried unsuccessfully to expel the homeless ‘masses; there are just too many of them, The best solution inmosteitieshasbeen to restrict them tothe Combat Zones, where many are killed by gangs or random street violence. ‘The 20th century social aid programs have died away with the collapse of the economy, and corporations have had no interest in reinstating them for non-employees. ‘One of the biggest differences between urban and rural life {isthe artificiality of city life. There are the occasional parks ‘inmetroplexes, but by and large, they are conerete and glass worlds, which couldn't be further separated ftom the natu- ralworld, There areattemptsat bringingnatureintothecity, butonly through perverse imitations, suchas the pseudopets. It could be argued that litde is real in the cities; music is. electronically produced, drugs are engineered and social {interaction is often plastic, revolving around making con- tacts and placating superiors, Technology is largely to blame for this, as it pervades life in the 21st century. The most obvious examples of this are cybernetics, which physically invade the human body, but less obvious are the inconspicuous electronics used on a daily basis: the automatic coffee-maker, the ever-present TV screens, cameras watching everywhere, and the computers used for almost any knowledge-related task. The urbanites ‘of 2020 are so infused with technology that they would be hard-pressed to survive without it ‘The question asked is, Is this bad? Some argue that this is part of the natural (2) evolution of human culture, while others state that human society has become corrupt and depraved — cities are the prime example of this. In either ‘case, the fact of the matter is that city life is here to stay, for at least a few more decades, if not centuries. It is instead better to understand what makes acity tick, so that one can deal with itbetter, which is what this text is designed todo. Itisa comprehensive examination of the darker side of city lifein the 2020's. The omission of the general and publicside of cities is due to the fact that this information is readily available through a variety of sources, while the under- ‘ground and background aspects of the city are normally neglected, or examined in isolation; as if they existed as solitary aspects of the city, instead of dynamic characteris- tics of a complex society.SUMMARY The fist chopter, Technicolies, Investigates the important, yet often neglected aspecs of Ife In 2020. This indudes people's past, their personality and how sess offects them, ‘ond the frequent repairs and mointenonce required of complex elections (espedally with cybemetics), and the common malfunctions related fo thelr misuse, Lastly, the tools of the 24st century Big Brother, surveillance cameras, ore examined dosely. Everyone In 2020 is under constant surveillance by dozens of organizations, some goverment, some corporate, some pitvate, but all for their own dark purposes. Things To Do, the second chopter, Is @ practical look at the Iypkl activites of a more octlve Edgerunner, such os the runring of pirate radio station, partidpoting in celebration of some sort. In addition, the varlous colomities that can befall dies, such as heat waves, dots, blodk outs and other disasters ‘are examined. People To Meet, the third chopter, Includesa close examnina- ilon of Reapers (repossessors of people and things) and Spooks (electronic sieuths); all occupations that have devel- opedolmost exclusively due fo the social network ofthe city. Places To Go, the fourth chapter, looks at Asylums, places where you can go to hide when nowhere else will do: drug salons, where youcan get high with other edgerunners: and the Endaves of the diy, where various cults and gangs ne. The fith chopter, Dark Pleasures, i 0 very special chopter thot requiressome explanation. The Cyberpunk generation kd not Invent vice, but hos certainly incorporated It to a greater degree lato ts own cullure than any post socety. The notm of 2020 is comparable fo the abnormal of he 20th century. Drag Uses the nom, with the numberof types of drugsbeing In the ‘rillons. Music has token a tum for the worse as we look at the convoluted use of research info the psychologkcl effects of sound, Death ls now toyed with, as drugs were In the 1960's «@ fad of experimentation with neor-decth experiences has begun. Sexuality, while freer, Is also 2 great deal more depraved, wih moratty allburabsentinthe 21stcennay cies. ‘One of the lesser acknowledged “vices” of the 2020's is the. possession of PseudoPets. Genetically-engineered mocker- les of thelr natural counterpars, these animals are the pride ‘and Joy of many Edgerunners, who claim this Is thelr tle, Mwisted and distorted as thot connection mightbe, to Nature. The last chopter is a scenatto, 0 tale of a very twisted and deranged individual, calling himself the Imp of the Perverse. He hounts his enemies, stalking them, and torturing them psychologkcally. Not astory forthe faint-heaned, butcertalnly the son of bizarre tole told in the city. oon re 7 ra vn BELIFE ON THE NIGHT'S EDGE Dark Metropolis examines the day-to-day lfe inthe Alternate Realty Universe. In a world where vamplres and seral killers live side by side with “normal” humans, the environmentthat they share becomes on Important factor in deciding where normally ends and abnormality begins. It becomes very ‘dear thot this Is @ very fine line, which most Inhabitants of 2020 ciss-cross on @ regular basis. While Night's Edge discussed the supemptural beasts of the Cyberpunk world, and Grimm's Cybertales examined the cher homers in I, Derk Metropolis presents the word ond bbackgroundin which these elements exist. Itlooksar the dark side of the “normal world”, In contrast to the dark side of the ‘cbnoral world. These three books con be used In conjunc tion or separately, to constuct a consistent gaming universe. ‘As with oll Altemate Reality Universe sourcebooks, any of he rvlesorideas presented herein can be dropped or added as, desired. Keep only those aspects which will enhance your campalgn PURELY TECHNICAL Several boxed texts deal with specific game rules for the Cyberpunk/Alternate Reality Universe. They ore dearly indl- cated when they appear. References are often made to the Nights Edge ond Grimm's Cybertales sourcebooks; it Is recommended, but not required, that you have copy of these books. TERMINOLOGY ‘There are several new terms presented in Dark Metropolis. They are part ofthe Cyberpunk siong, and maybe added 10 ‘one’s campaign word. + ASYLUM: a ‘A business that provides places of sanctuary and/or hiding. = DATS: The state or federal communications committee, specifically those ‘agents tha track and shutdown phantom bands, or piratestaton, + PHARM: Drag factory. + REAPER: Repossessors of merchandise and people ‘+ SHADOW BANDS: Pirate radio and TV stations. = SPOOK: A surveillance and security expert.VE e ies (ey oe ere koe ad a Everybody rolls with thein fingers cond. ee er ae (ayy aoe retire eee ere Everpbody lmows the fight war fixed: SO ee ie ord nents (ae ea ea Gna eR nem og raat ain als that makeit up. Not only is that Eeeroreaorrti eee What kind of family life daes the ere ie cael anne Eieiro pa eee Mireur prance are they, and what experiences have they had. Often, there are a even gas eu eatin Eeeeara code teareyaai ta they hold to strongly. Terrace Ue LS 2020 is dominated by two major facts: youwill deal withhigh tech- nology on a regular basis; and Srothnailtsumeun asta ats) surveillance as soon as youleave protien cuurusnnitleaeueatcs Sunn mun etentcou aati Deseo drs sci Prorae canto taenite Maat they shape their livesand interac- Rromntelertle-ason i tc beau they are examined here. All deni- zens of cities will have to deal Rater cleee tices® Pechnicaliites THE INDIVIDUAL ‘One Important aspect to understanding the city is to under- Stand the Individuals that make It up. Crucial aspects in the development of these Individuals are their family life, post experiences, etc. The Cyberpunk generation Is no different from past generations; It Is largely guided by experience. There are five aspects ofthe Individual that we will examine: social eilgins, to understand the long-term heritage and diversity; family backgrounds, to understand thelr early ex- perlences; life experiences, to understand the events that shaped ther lives: personalities, 1o understand them; and ‘eppearance, to understand the physical manifestation of | thelr personalities. FAMILY LIFE | The family life of the individual isimportant, and whileit was common throughout the late 20th century to blame one’s failures on a troubled family life, this plea has since lost favor in the courts, perhaps because so few people have normal family lives anymore, Nevertheless, the factsare clear, nuclear families are all but extinct in 2020. A character's family life is composed of their Social Class, Childhood, Trauma, Family Description and Family Status SOCIAL CLASS ‘A character's Social Class should reflect their Role. The Role- | Class table below describes the most probable social classes | that a character in a given role would have come from. The player can either choose or roll when a choice is given. Note however, these are only guidelines and may be ignored in the interests of better role-playing at the GM's discretion. ROLE-CLASS TABLE [aower #. “| G2) Lower 1-6) Middle ) Middle |(6-6)Upper GA) Middle |G-6) Upper Medtechie | ()Middle _|(2-6) Upper Fixer G3) Lower: | (4.5) Middle fier (G4) Middle | (5-6) Upper @ 10Once the social class of the character has been selected, roll 1410 or choose from the specific family background table. 1-2 Street Homeless. 34. Steet Gang 5-6 Combat Zone Poor 7-8. Factory Workers 9 Nomad Pack/Pirates 10 Arcology Family Official ROLL MIDDLE CLASS 13 Arcology Family 45° Career Miltary 67» Professionals " 8 Corporate Employers 9 Managers 10. Government ROLL UPPER CLASS 13 Professionals 46 Corporate Executive | Government Leadership ‘le Rich “Corporate Owner pi. 10 Organized Crime = 1 5 9 CHILDHOOD The next step is to determine what kind of 2 childhood the character had. Rell 1d10 or choose on the appropriate Social Class table below ROLL LOWER CLASS 2 3... Grewup on he street wth no aul Sipe. 45...Grew up working for parens fom very young a. 167...Grew up hanging out with the lost youth arg. £89... Grew up unde the supervision of older sbing or eave. 10 wx. Grew up under the lose supervision of loving fai. ROLL MIDDLE CLASS ee 13... Grew pat home with lead speriion. ‘$6 Grew up hanging duh he eal youth ang, 7.8... Grew up banging. ou of doce ends. 9... Grew up under the 10. Grew gp under the ae ROLL UPPER CLASS _ Grew up hanging out with he lal youth ang