Post by Terminal Dave on Dec 5, 2012 11:56:42 GMT -5
Genre: Cyberpunk
Created and Ran By: Terminal
Type: Freeform General Setting
The year is 2070. Mega corporations have all but replaced the governments of the world, running all most every aspect of everyday life, and technology is at an all time high. Cybernetics are common. Information is power and the world is connected online by the World Wide Grid. Everyone has a System Identification Number. Except a few. These are the Runners, mercenaries that work for whoever has the cash to pay them and knows how to contact them. Mega Corps and others use these Runners for covert off the books missions. Can you survive in the concrete jungle or will you be just another chalk outline on the streets?
Here is some basic information that you will need to play in Oblivion Earth. These are just general things I have set out and feel free to create your own for your own stories. As every story runs independent of one another, there is lots of leg room. Create your own mega corps, own Runners, make up gear and cyberware. Have fun with it. That’s the point of Oblivion Earth.
The City: Only referred to as The City in game, the majority of the game takes place in a massive city that is a mesh of various urban and cyberpunk areas. The city stretches 20,000 square kilometers along what was once the West Coast of the United States. For reference, it’s roughly three times the size of modern day New York. At the heart of the city is where the corporations and super wealthy make their home. Astonishing towering skyscrapers dwarf everything and can be seen from miles away. Going outward from the center, you have the high density area where you will find well to do businesses and apartments. Moving on outward, you find businesses and apartments of a lesser degree. Then, you get into the Districts. The Middle District, as it’s called, still has some old world structures in tact, though very few. The Burbs, or High Residential District, is next that is mostly populated by pre-made fabricated homes. Then, there’s the Low District. The Low District has very little in the way of pollution reducing machinery. It carries a decaying look of technology and old world architecture. The Low District is very crime ridden and the privatized police force cares little for anything or anyone within the District. People here regularly wear shoddy breath masks to regulate their breathing and pollution levels. After that, there is the Barrens. A desolate place that is mostly ruled by gangs. Here you find severely ruined old world buildings and trash every where. Anyone with half a brain in their chromed out skull stays far away from the Barrens. As for the visual feel, feel free to get creative. This is just a general guideline.
Outside The City: The land outside the city is to be considered largely devastated and a barren desert, barring a few ECO-farms and small shanty towns. Why even bother going out there?
Mega Corporations: Mega Corps have all but replaced the world’s governments. While there are still city officials and government officials, the Corps have the real power. They control all exports and imports, they have privatized the police force into a corporation itself, and they control technology. Information is God and they have all there is. But, even still, they are not without their weaknesses. Every deal can not be settled in the board room. When a corporation can not send their own specialized and augmented Company Men to do a job, they hire the Runners. Corporate espionage has taken on a whole new meaning in 2070. They steal information from one another and kill each other in secret. Then, have dinner and work out whatever deals they can. The corporate wage slaves, the normal workers, have no real knowledge of the power games their CEOs play behind closed doors and in back alleys. Corporate well to dos and their most trusted employees live lavish lifestyles.
The Big Five Mega Corps: Tanaka International (world leaders in both privatized security and automotives), Thermadyne (world leaders in computer technologies and creators of the Grid), Miramoto Enterprises (worlds leaders in Alphaware Cybernetics and robotics), Ares MacroTech (worlds leading arms manufactures), and DeltaCorp Industries ( world leaders in medical technologies and Bioware growth)
The Up And Coming Mega Corps: VectorSeven Biocorp (Specializing in bioware and nanotech research), Nagasaki Entertainment (the front runner in producing holo-television shows, sim-sensation stars, and sim-entertainment), Adaptive Technologies (a big competitor in cyberware development), Oracle (Thermadyne’s largest competition in cyberdeck development), and Lonestar (the top privatized police force corporation)
People You Need To Know: A Runner is only as good as his equipment, skill, and cyberware allows. But, Runners need contacts to get the newest death dealer, jobs, or the latest cyber enhancement. Mr. Johnson is a code name used by Corporation men and women who act as a go between with the corporate big wigs who need a dirty job done and the Runners that need the cash the job pays. They always meet in crowded public places and never reveal their real names. If you want corporate high dollar, you get yourself a Johnson. Now, Fixers come in a variety of forms. A Fixer knows who to talk to and where the best jobs are coming from. They can point a Runner in the direction of bad ass new equipment, dig up information a Runner might need, or swing them a job or two that’s come down the pipe. Fixers rarely meet in person, usually contacting a Runner through heavily secured lines or Grid relay and use code names. Armorers are a Runners best friend. If you need something to splattered somebody across the street or something to keep yourself from getting splattered, you go to an Armorer. They usually deal in the illegal sale of guns and body armor, but they tend to have all manner of other equipment as well. Armorers use normal looking store fronts to conduct their business. The best Armorers are usually found in the Low District. The Street Doc is a surgeon who, for one reason or another, can’t or won’t work in corporate run medical facilities. The Docs can patch up that nasty hole you got from a heavy pistol, hardwire you with cyberware, and sometimes even fix you up with some nice vatgrown organs and bioware. Since Runners don’t exactly have a medical plan, knowing a Street Doc can save your chromed out ass from becoming street grease. They are almost the only resource a Runner has for gaining new cybernetics as well. These character types are generally NPCs.
The Runners: Runners are individuals that for one reason or another have had their SIN removed and have taken to a rather mercenary lifestyle. The individual runners have their own agendas and prices, but most any will do any job if the price is right. There are a variety of runners. Hacks who slice the Grid to steal information, Riggers who wire themselves into their vehicles through cybernetics to make the best drivers known, Street Samurai who have a code of honor and act as cybernetic muscle, Adepts who use the energies of their own bodies and world around them to a mystical affect, and even just the straight up in your face Mercenary who likes to blow things apart with a big gun. As Oblivion Earth is designed to be very flexible, get creative. Unlike Shadowrun or other cyberpunk settings, there is NO straight up magic.
Cyberware and Technology: If you’ve ever played Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, or even watched a movie about cybernetics this should be pretty easy for you to deal with. Muscle enhancements, cybernetic eyes, metal plates under the skin, full cybernetic limbs. Low level cyberware is easily detectable because it shows. Obvious Cyberware is the general term. Other more advanced cyberware is very hard to detect. As this is intended to be freeformed, again, get creative. Synthetic skin can be used to cover full cybernetic limbs. Keep in mind that there are now full on cyborgs, though these are very very rare and should only be used as a story device. Alphaware in the setting is the best of the best and is custom made to fit. However, it’s also expensive as all hell and very very rare. Technology is far more enhanced then modern days. Slap patches can instantly start a regenerative process with micro nanites and television as we know it has become full holographic imagery. There are some robotics and androids, though none currently that are sentient.
The Grid: The Grid is a a vast network, a far more advanced version of today’s internet. Normal users that interface with it can see it on a holographic screen just as we use the internet today. However, Hacks and those with the proper implants can jack straight into the Grid, entering a whole other world. Think of a cross between the Matrix and Tron. Death is a very real possibility for anyone jacked into the Grid as their brains are hardwired into it and any impulses delivered to their brain from enemy programs could be fatal.
Life: The streets are dirty and gangs are everywhere. Privatized police forces rarely do more than they need to. Music is constantly playing everywhere. The wealthy live in the cleaner parts of the cities in massive high rises. Urban Brawl games, where two teams of fighters battle it out in closed off sections of the city with less than lethal ammunition, stun batons, blunted shock swords, and body armor. This has become the most popular sport. Simsense, where you jack into a machine and experience the feelings and emotions of another person, is the most popular form of recreation. Alcohol is synthetic and so is most food, real food and real alcohol being a little on the expensive side. Currency is generally used by way of digital credits, as hard cash is rare. Though hard to come by, real currency is very handy to have. Those with a SIN chip can be tracked on the Grid. A SIN chip is required for almost everything. It is your identification, your bank card, passport, bus pass, and everything like that rolled into one. However, there are those who have had their SIN removed. To operate in the more advanced sections of the city, fake SINs are usually required for the SINless who wish to remain anonymous. Permits for weaponry, cybernetics, and other unusual are also required to bring them inside most establishments in the more advanced sections of the City. Most Runners can acquire forged permits if they know the right people.
Movies you can use as a visual reference are Blade Runner and Johnny Mnemonic. There are others other there in the cyberpunk genre, as well as books and other media.
The game is designed to be free form and writing for it should be reactive and fluid.
Created and Ran By: Terminal
Type: Freeform General Setting
The year is 2070. Mega corporations have all but replaced the governments of the world, running all most every aspect of everyday life, and technology is at an all time high. Cybernetics are common. Information is power and the world is connected online by the World Wide Grid. Everyone has a System Identification Number. Except a few. These are the Runners, mercenaries that work for whoever has the cash to pay them and knows how to contact them. Mega Corps and others use these Runners for covert off the books missions. Can you survive in the concrete jungle or will you be just another chalk outline on the streets?
Here is some basic information that you will need to play in Oblivion Earth. These are just general things I have set out and feel free to create your own for your own stories. As every story runs independent of one another, there is lots of leg room. Create your own mega corps, own Runners, make up gear and cyberware. Have fun with it. That’s the point of Oblivion Earth.
The City: Only referred to as The City in game, the majority of the game takes place in a massive city that is a mesh of various urban and cyberpunk areas. The city stretches 20,000 square kilometers along what was once the West Coast of the United States. For reference, it’s roughly three times the size of modern day New York. At the heart of the city is where the corporations and super wealthy make their home. Astonishing towering skyscrapers dwarf everything and can be seen from miles away. Going outward from the center, you have the high density area where you will find well to do businesses and apartments. Moving on outward, you find businesses and apartments of a lesser degree. Then, you get into the Districts. The Middle District, as it’s called, still has some old world structures in tact, though very few. The Burbs, or High Residential District, is next that is mostly populated by pre-made fabricated homes. Then, there’s the Low District. The Low District has very little in the way of pollution reducing machinery. It carries a decaying look of technology and old world architecture. The Low District is very crime ridden and the privatized police force cares little for anything or anyone within the District. People here regularly wear shoddy breath masks to regulate their breathing and pollution levels. After that, there is the Barrens. A desolate place that is mostly ruled by gangs. Here you find severely ruined old world buildings and trash every where. Anyone with half a brain in their chromed out skull stays far away from the Barrens. As for the visual feel, feel free to get creative. This is just a general guideline.
Outside The City: The land outside the city is to be considered largely devastated and a barren desert, barring a few ECO-farms and small shanty towns. Why even bother going out there?
Mega Corporations: Mega Corps have all but replaced the world’s governments. While there are still city officials and government officials, the Corps have the real power. They control all exports and imports, they have privatized the police force into a corporation itself, and they control technology. Information is God and they have all there is. But, even still, they are not without their weaknesses. Every deal can not be settled in the board room. When a corporation can not send their own specialized and augmented Company Men to do a job, they hire the Runners. Corporate espionage has taken on a whole new meaning in 2070. They steal information from one another and kill each other in secret. Then, have dinner and work out whatever deals they can. The corporate wage slaves, the normal workers, have no real knowledge of the power games their CEOs play behind closed doors and in back alleys. Corporate well to dos and their most trusted employees live lavish lifestyles.
The Big Five Mega Corps: Tanaka International (world leaders in both privatized security and automotives), Thermadyne (world leaders in computer technologies and creators of the Grid), Miramoto Enterprises (worlds leaders in Alphaware Cybernetics and robotics), Ares MacroTech (worlds leading arms manufactures), and DeltaCorp Industries ( world leaders in medical technologies and Bioware growth)
The Up And Coming Mega Corps: VectorSeven Biocorp (Specializing in bioware and nanotech research), Nagasaki Entertainment (the front runner in producing holo-television shows, sim-sensation stars, and sim-entertainment), Adaptive Technologies (a big competitor in cyberware development), Oracle (Thermadyne’s largest competition in cyberdeck development), and Lonestar (the top privatized police force corporation)
People You Need To Know: A Runner is only as good as his equipment, skill, and cyberware allows. But, Runners need contacts to get the newest death dealer, jobs, or the latest cyber enhancement. Mr. Johnson is a code name used by Corporation men and women who act as a go between with the corporate big wigs who need a dirty job done and the Runners that need the cash the job pays. They always meet in crowded public places and never reveal their real names. If you want corporate high dollar, you get yourself a Johnson. Now, Fixers come in a variety of forms. A Fixer knows who to talk to and where the best jobs are coming from. They can point a Runner in the direction of bad ass new equipment, dig up information a Runner might need, or swing them a job or two that’s come down the pipe. Fixers rarely meet in person, usually contacting a Runner through heavily secured lines or Grid relay and use code names. Armorers are a Runners best friend. If you need something to splattered somebody across the street or something to keep yourself from getting splattered, you go to an Armorer. They usually deal in the illegal sale of guns and body armor, but they tend to have all manner of other equipment as well. Armorers use normal looking store fronts to conduct their business. The best Armorers are usually found in the Low District. The Street Doc is a surgeon who, for one reason or another, can’t or won’t work in corporate run medical facilities. The Docs can patch up that nasty hole you got from a heavy pistol, hardwire you with cyberware, and sometimes even fix you up with some nice vatgrown organs and bioware. Since Runners don’t exactly have a medical plan, knowing a Street Doc can save your chromed out ass from becoming street grease. They are almost the only resource a Runner has for gaining new cybernetics as well. These character types are generally NPCs.
The Runners: Runners are individuals that for one reason or another have had their SIN removed and have taken to a rather mercenary lifestyle. The individual runners have their own agendas and prices, but most any will do any job if the price is right. There are a variety of runners. Hacks who slice the Grid to steal information, Riggers who wire themselves into their vehicles through cybernetics to make the best drivers known, Street Samurai who have a code of honor and act as cybernetic muscle, Adepts who use the energies of their own bodies and world around them to a mystical affect, and even just the straight up in your face Mercenary who likes to blow things apart with a big gun. As Oblivion Earth is designed to be very flexible, get creative. Unlike Shadowrun or other cyberpunk settings, there is NO straight up magic.
Cyberware and Technology: If you’ve ever played Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, or even watched a movie about cybernetics this should be pretty easy for you to deal with. Muscle enhancements, cybernetic eyes, metal plates under the skin, full cybernetic limbs. Low level cyberware is easily detectable because it shows. Obvious Cyberware is the general term. Other more advanced cyberware is very hard to detect. As this is intended to be freeformed, again, get creative. Synthetic skin can be used to cover full cybernetic limbs. Keep in mind that there are now full on cyborgs, though these are very very rare and should only be used as a story device. Alphaware in the setting is the best of the best and is custom made to fit. However, it’s also expensive as all hell and very very rare. Technology is far more enhanced then modern days. Slap patches can instantly start a regenerative process with micro nanites and television as we know it has become full holographic imagery. There are some robotics and androids, though none currently that are sentient.
The Grid: The Grid is a a vast network, a far more advanced version of today’s internet. Normal users that interface with it can see it on a holographic screen just as we use the internet today. However, Hacks and those with the proper implants can jack straight into the Grid, entering a whole other world. Think of a cross between the Matrix and Tron. Death is a very real possibility for anyone jacked into the Grid as their brains are hardwired into it and any impulses delivered to their brain from enemy programs could be fatal.
Life: The streets are dirty and gangs are everywhere. Privatized police forces rarely do more than they need to. Music is constantly playing everywhere. The wealthy live in the cleaner parts of the cities in massive high rises. Urban Brawl games, where two teams of fighters battle it out in closed off sections of the city with less than lethal ammunition, stun batons, blunted shock swords, and body armor. This has become the most popular sport. Simsense, where you jack into a machine and experience the feelings and emotions of another person, is the most popular form of recreation. Alcohol is synthetic and so is most food, real food and real alcohol being a little on the expensive side. Currency is generally used by way of digital credits, as hard cash is rare. Though hard to come by, real currency is very handy to have. Those with a SIN chip can be tracked on the Grid. A SIN chip is required for almost everything. It is your identification, your bank card, passport, bus pass, and everything like that rolled into one. However, there are those who have had their SIN removed. To operate in the more advanced sections of the city, fake SINs are usually required for the SINless who wish to remain anonymous. Permits for weaponry, cybernetics, and other unusual are also required to bring them inside most establishments in the more advanced sections of the City. Most Runners can acquire forged permits if they know the right people.
Movies you can use as a visual reference are Blade Runner and Johnny Mnemonic. There are others other there in the cyberpunk genre, as well as books and other media.
The game is designed to be free form and writing for it should be reactive and fluid.