Looking for an introductory scenario

[Beardo]

Looking for an introductory scenario

Heya folks,

Its been a VERY long time since I've given CP2020 a spin. My wife who has never played an RPG in her life is interested in giving it a try and I thought I might run a CP2020 adventure for her, I thought it the setting might suit her tastes and I always really enjoyed the system. I'm looking for a basic, straightforward scenario that oozes the Cyberpunk vibe, nothing too complex or long, something we could play in an evening or two. I guess I should also note that it will just be the two of us so I would prefer not to have her running 3-4 characters as it will be her first time role-playing. Any suggestions?

 

[blank_redge]

Are you running it as a one-shot, or part of a larger campaign? Also, the idea of running a tabletop with one player is odd to me; for me, the fun is the interaction between players.

Anyhoo.

Depending on the character, you'll need a plausible hook. You probably also want a plausible reason for the character to accept the job in question.

I'm currently running a street-level campaign; my players align themselves with various factions of organized crime within Night City. I've also included a house rule, stating no characters can start with a Special Ability higher than 6. If you have a Solo or a Techie coming in with a Special Ability of 10, they're at the top of their profession, and it's less plausible as to why they'd accept a shady, back-alley deal.

Alternately, if the character *does* start out at SA 10, it's because they're being called in as a specialist for a very particular job. High-risk, high reward kind of thing. Since you only have one player to deal with, it should be easier to tailor a Job around said character.

 

[TheCybersmily]

I would say go pick up a copy of Tales from the Forlorn Hope. It's a collection of a bunch of scenarios and you can probably tweak a few for single player. Check out https://talsorianstore.com/products/tales-from-the-forlorn-hope.

 

[Beardo]

Thanks for the response. The reason we are playing 1 on 1 for now is just to get her comfortable with how roleplaying works, kind of an introduction. I'll check out Tales from the Forlorn Hope and see what's offered. Thanks again!

 

[Doomblade403xxx]

There are several books out there with scenarios in them

Tales from the forlorn hope is at the top of the list but there are also some other great ones. The only issue with these are you would have to find them on the net in pdf. buy them with most out of print, or know someone who has them.

Night City Stories
Streetfighing
Greenwar
The Osiris Chip
Land of the Free
King of the Concrete Jungle

There is also a few decent ones on the net if you can find them. Live to Tell is a good one for a taste of the cyberpunk landscape.

http://toddbradley.com/?p=1081

 

[eraser7278]

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse....rs_id=408&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=&pto=

 

[Suhiira]

A goodly part of being a GM is learning to gage the relative "strength" of your players characters vs that of NPC opposition or challenges. To easy, the game sux, to hard, the game sux. We play these games for a challenge after all, not a one-strike-you're-out one tho. No respawn in 30 seconds to continue, this ain't Battlefield.

ALWAYS be ready to "cheat" in favor of the players when you screw up or the die go against them. Nothing worse then having a character you've played for months/years die to a single random die roll. If they have good cover in the middle of a firefight and suddenly take a headshot that kills them move it to their shoulder or lessen it to a mortal, but not fatal, injury the other characters have a chance to treat. But, death of their own making (starting a fight at 3-to-1 odds with no cover) well ... let the chips fall where they may.

 

[eraser7278]

also something i've been toying with of late, seeing as I'm "on deck" to run for our table next, is an intro that lets you "show, don't tell" them just how easy it is to get your fool ass killed in this system. I'm set to take over a group that has primarily played "that game with the elves", so i'm plotting some way to hammer home the game's leathality... but with minimal blood loss to their characters. current top contenders on my list are 1) tossing them pre-gens before char gen and quickly draining said pre-gens of the red stuff, hoping they won't cry over a character they didn't build and allowing them to take the lessons learned into char-gen. 2) having them start play while jacked into a VR, either at an arcade, job interview or brain-dance while in jail. 3) Having them cross a corp crew on a "zero body-count" opp... also gives me a chance to introduce them to mister concussion grenade, his good pal gas grenade, "rubber" bullets, paintball guns, lightning guns, and other assorted less-lethal kit. 4) put them on the loosing side of a bar fight. [suggestions welcome, still a work in progress]

 

[Suhiira]

One time I had a group of (mostly) new players so I arranged for the very first firefight they were in to be no-win; then had the cops show up in the nick of time to save them (I "cheated" and made sure there were no lethal injuries). Those that could still move had the opportunity to do first aid on their comrades OR loot (a couple character friendships and one mortal enemy resulted from this). Lastly the value of the loot "just happened" to equal their medical bills with a little left over ... so ... do we keep this nice gun or get Andy a new arm?

All-in-all I think this introductory combat scenario taught my players several valuable lessons.