Need a spare NPC?

[straff]

Need a spare NPC?

Over the 10+ years I was playing the PnP game I saw some great (and not so great) PC’s come and go out (normally in a bang) and was wondering if anyone has need for some NPC’s for their game.

I will post below 3 of my main characters for use/abuse/plagiarism as you want to so feel free to use any parts of them for your own games.

As the game I played in was a heavily modified CP2013, and that I don’t own the intellectual property to most of the world that I played in, I have tried to keep as vague as possible in cyberwear and ref’s ideas and instead concentrate on the actual characters themselves.

If other folks want to add then go ahead and add.

 

[straff]

Straff

Background
Of German ancestry his racial background is clear in his strong Arian looks. Straff (no forename known/disclosed) grew up in an orphanage and at the age of 16 joined that army. Served for 4 years in the army in an armoured unit which was involved in the invasion and battles of South America. After suffering a bite from a poisonous spider he had to have his arm amputated and replaced with an early cybernetic model. This effected his outlook in life in that he started to suffer from arachnophobia and realised that flesh was in fact weaker than metal (and thus cybernetic replacement was the way forwards).

He cancelled his military service early by buying himself out of the army and drifted towards Night City where he joined the police force as a beat cop. 4 years on foot and in car taught him most of what he needed to know about the city, and a spell in close protection detail rounded out his knowledge. As cybernetic technology advanced he was always on the forefront of upgrading himself until he got moved into Psyco Squad.

Here he severed a further 8 years and managed to keep a loose(ish) grip on his humanity rarely dipping below 30% human (Emp 3) despite the replacement of his other arm, neural boosting and sub-dermal chest plates. One thing that helped keep him human was that he retained his natural eyes preferring to use smart contact lenses and heads up display combat helmets. The strong bond he built up with his partner Sgt Heels helped a great deal too.

After reacting to a disturbance outside his apartment block he first encountered the Orbital Angel later to be known simply as “The Boss”. Over the next few months he encountered them more and more often and eventually left NCPS along with his partner to join the elite edge runner team. Here he served as the teams main heavy combatant and also kept an eye on the personal safety of Panther, the team’s leader. His natural high Cool stat meant that he had no problem with being the 1st through any door in an assault and that he managed to keep his fear of spiders hidden from his team until he encountered one that was larger than he was. At that point he was reduced to a gibbering wreck.

Stats
Exceptionally high Cool stat along with high reflexes and body, average Int and low Tech skills. Appearance is purely middle of the road as cybernetics were obvious. Emp was at 3 and luck was about average.

Hardwear
While serving with the NCPS he always carried a heavy Smith and Western (Casull .454) revolver with smart link and the Ronin Rifle loaded with High Explosive Armour Piercing rounds. An armoured vest was worn over his skinweave and subdermal chest plates (its not manly to wear a tight armoured body suit), over which was either an armoured assault vest or standard Police issue combat jacket. Light weight urban boots were worn but they were fitted with a small ballistic sole plate (in case of mines, something he learnt in the army). Each arm had a ballistic weapon mounted in them with a large calibre pistol in one and a burst firing smg in the other. For melee he carried and used the Police issue night stick.

Once he became an edgerunner the only real change to hardware was that he was given a New Model Galil rifle as a replacement for his old Militech Ronin and with psychiatric help paid for by his new employer he finally replaced his natural eyes with cyberoptics.

Personal Style
With high Cool, Intimidation and Police Authority he was an intimidating figure when he served in the Police and even afterwards was used to scare people into doing “the right thing”. Backed up with good rifle and better pistol skills, and a “fuck it” attitude, meant that he was simple straight forwards grunt but with very strong sense of loyalty to those around him. Most of his bouts of cyber psychosis manifested themselves into his “shoot them in the head to ensure they are dead” combat style but he did suffer from bouts of suicidal depression which was most obvious in his assault style. He quite often didn’t care if he got through the mission but he did with a strong team behind him. He once shot himself in the head in an effort to end his life but it was saved just in time.

At about 6ft 2in (1.87m) tall, blue eyes with blond hair and very well pressed clothing he would normally turn heads as he walked down the street but he carried an aura of both Police Authority and also a “would shoot you” attitude meant that folks didn’t get too close to him to interact/attract. He is happy to use escorts for private company and does own a hand-held midnight lady (fleshlight) for the lonelier nights.

Other periods in life.
He also served as a criminal enforcer who went by the handle of The Trooper after receiving elite mercenary training (post edgerunning and suicide attempt). He wore a suit of a single colour that was, on closer inspection, woven into a DPM (disruptive pattern material/cammo). During this time he carried the M41a1 rifle (Aliens film) with built in under/over pump action 30mm shotgun both carried in over sized leg holsters. A hidden shoulder holster housed his heavy calibre semi automatic Desert Eagle pistol.

He went back to serve in South America as part of mercenary unit that trained him (above) but this was after he was killed following his jumping through a 1st story hotel window, breaking his neck (rolled a 1 on location of landing) and the subsequent placement into a full cybernetic military grade body. Here he served at the rank of Sergeant Major.

 

[straff]

Helen Grey (aka Free Spirit)

Background
Helen was a street kid who entered game at the age of 16 (she was an attempt to see how far a character could develop). Rescued from the streets by a Native American her mentor taught her his codes of ethics and beliefs while they were living in the boiler room of a disused hotel. During an assault by The Bosses edgerunner team (see Straff) against a rival Orbital Angels organisation, her mentor was killed while hiding from cross fire and he vowed to seek her revenge.

She managed to catch up with the attacking team in Night City and started to hang with them in an effort to find out who fired the fatal shot, although she didn’t for fill any role other than mascot to them. She somehow managed to survive the various missions by the team and attacks on them by not being important enough to kill and developed an extremely strong skill base by helping where she could (the medics, the drivers, the techies). After her probation was up and she was offered a cybernetic upgrade (from her basic neural processor and vehicle/dataterm links+plugs) and a permeate role in the team. The team did eventually lead her to her mentor’s killer who was an elite nasty and she confronted him with a polymer holdout pistol. He laughed at her and she finally realised that it’s better to make strong friends than powerful enemies. She stopped the vendetta fast.

With the destruction of the edgerunner team following a team member’s betrayal and an assault from a breakaway faction of the CIA, she managed to escape over the wall while the front doors were being beaten down. Once again she ran away. She managed to make her way to England and join another team in London who recognised her as Miss March from Playboy. Her broad skill base was of great asset to them where she served as a light solo/medic/net runner until the group was destroyed in a lorry trailer storage unit by a bomb. True to her ability to survive she once again ran back to America.

Back in the USA she ran to Seattle where she found it easy to fit into the student population of the University with folks of a similar age and here she lived simply off her skills and looks but following a fire fight on campus was picked up by Trauma Team who on noticing her experimental biowear sent her to one of their research (prison) facilities in Canada. Here she was constantly tested, doped, prodded and poked until someone from the next cell managed to escape and took her with them. She escaped to New York and knowing that she was being watched for hid in the cities underground community.

Again she was given a way out of the sewers and old tunnels by a team sent in from the outside world as part of a private police venture. She helped them while they were underground and they took her back into the sunlight. She served with them for a period of time fulfilling any role they needed her to (medic, netrunner, solo, seductress, wet worker, tech, driver, poser) for a number of missions before the group imploded following the revelation that a number of their group was spying for a third party. She survived the betrayal by executing the traitor and once again moved on.

(Spirit was a character that I took around several RP groups hence the disjointed history)

Stats
Helen/Spirits highest stat is Attractiveness. She was a natural 10 before she gotten her throat slit in a transport cafe’s toilet and the scar she bears only seems to increase the natural beauty. Her reflexes are higher than 100% human due to her advanced cyberwear/biowear and she has a stronger than normal body for her very light frame. Her Int, Tech and Cool are within normal human levels, she is a naturally lucky person but she does suffer from medium-low empathy due to HC loss.

Hardwear
Advanced neural processor, reflex boosting and bone lace to make her bones unbreakable. A pair of super advanced optics that show as natural warm on thermographic scans but one eye holds a heavy laser which recharges off her neural processor. Her biowear is of orbital standard as her healing rate and disease resistance is dramatically increased but with the advanced healing comes a limitation of no more cyberwear and a very high fat diet. She has a single gun and vehicle link plus plug and net running is done off electrodes worn around the head. No cyber armour is compensated by worn armour preferably single piece jump suits of the most stylish she can find. Built into her arm is a light tattoo that was originally used by the Night City’s team medic in tandem with her bio-monitor but the monitor has long since ceased working and now she uses the tattoo to show skin art.

She prefers to use heavy calibre semiautomatic pistols as per one of her original combat teachers when she was 17 and prefers to use the newer Lugar models. Melee combat is avoided by always being behind heavier solos but can call on some martial arts experience or a flick-knife if needed.
She could be a poster girl for style over substance, except she has plenty of substance to back it up.

Personal Style
A lot of it, and in bucket loads.
She is a natural flirt who you either instantly love or hate her. She is always dressed in the most stylish she can afford and will often spend all a contracts pay on a single outfit and the various bags/shoes that are needed with the outfits. She has a strong preference for one piece outfits and fetish clothing. She tends to be quite suggestive of ways to do missions as she has a lot of background she can call on, and normally manages to avoid name dropping or divulging information that would lead Trauma Team or the CIA onto her. She will stand with a team for as long as she thinks they need her but she does have a very strong sense of survivor (so inst opposed to saving her own life first). She knows the effect she has on male team members and uses it to her advantage, but prefers female for long term relationships. One thing she can’t abide is traitors.

Physically she is 5ft 7in (1m70cm) with emerald green eyes and naturally auburn hair. There is not an ounce of fat on her body (her biowear uses fat as energy and converts it to healing), pretty much what you would expect from a PB centrefold. This is someone who can cause traffic accidents by walking down the road and is constantly approached by males and females in bars and shops. Her diet is mostly made up of high fat content milk but she does have a taste for rare steaks. Her lack of appetite has led some to calling her a vampire behind her back, and image that she is happy to cultivate.

Having been trained by some of the world’s elite’s in their fields she can boast the ability to turn her hand to almost any role needed. Her special abilities cover most professionals to about low-mid levels and she has a skill base to do most things, although skills that require specialist training tend to be a lot lower as she learnt by doing, not studying.

Other periods in life
She has been PB centrefold, played on stage (Run to the hills by Iron Maiden) at a Washington DC Bi-Frost gig, its been rumoured that she was seeing King William of England V for a while, has been a model for the clothing range Monochrome, and was for a short time on the test team for an advanced weapon range manufactured by Luger.

 

[straff]

Peter

Background
Peter grew up as part of a cities street gang but quickly realised that if he didn’t change his career he would be in prising for his life so he switched sides of the law and signed on as a police officer. He started on street patrols and then progressed through Vice and Narcotics where his abilities as an undercover earned him promotion to a new unit. With the US laws saying that no longer would an undercover need to prove guilt in a court of law if there was hard evidence showing committed crimes he joined an elite undercover team that called themselves Cobra’s (after the Stallone film). He spent the next 8 or 9 years moving from city to city, gang to gang, identity to identity destroying the gangs from the inside until it was his own identity that he lost. Having spend so much time being someone else he finally became more ganger that police officer and he was put on medical discharge from the force until they could decide what do with him.

With the Federal Guard legislation (which allowed small teams of ex military/security forces to operate privately as police squads) he was pushed into the city of New York to join the 2nd team created.

He served as the team’s field leader and where he was responsible for bidding for bounties on behalf of the team and then leading the squad. He was the leader of the trip into the underworld which suffered not only heavy losses but also recovered Free Spirit (Helen Gray) who he constantly riled up. When it was reviled that his old friend was a mole in his team he had to order his death. He then went into retirement.

Stats
Peter was a high Int, Tech and Col, but low empathy (too many gangs and exposure to violence). Physical stats were average-high, and he was a naturally lucky person as he was never reviled as being an agent.

Hardwear
He was equipped with full cybernetic recording both audio and visual as part of his undercover job and could record Braindance. All his neural and cybernetics were customised according to the gang he was with at the time although he was fitted with heavy skinweave and one full cybernetic arm.
Likewise his weapons were changeable according to who he was with although he always liked the heavy hitting power of shotguns.

Personal Style
Peter was a sexist bastard who wouldn’t give females the time of day and seemed to go out of his way to antagonise the women in his team. Through his career he had effectively lost his ability to use normal social niceties until he epitomized the street gangs he was sent to destroy. If he saw you as being a brother in arms (key word brother) he would support you and accept you as long as you weren’t a threat to his leadership.

Physically he was nothing special which served him well in the gangs although his looks were somewhat Hispanic. Only his eyes, in moments of understanding and rationality, showed signs of a higher level of intelligence but most of the time they were blood shot through drink/drug use.

He hated women to the point where he would try to avoid paying them any share of bounty due, wouldn’t acknowledge them and also using his luck stat against them. If it has been his call he would reduce all women down to kitchen workers and mothers which put him on a collision course with any female he encountered and especially with any females of strong beliefs (like Free Spirit).

When his old friend and team mate was revealed as being a spy for part of the Police force that was trying to sabotage the unit it was Peter who had to order his death. And he hated even more that it was a woman who pulled the trigger.

 

[Sardukhar]

Some neat stuff. Straff is good. I found Free Spirit's name annoying and her "trained by the world's elite" a bit much. Not sure where the advanced healing comes from that would limit more cyber.
Peter's misogyny is unexplained and in 2020 would seem to prohibit being team leader of anything. Other than that, cool character.

 

[thewarsend]

James Seth Ozwind

Background
As a guy who named after his grandfathers James was a sentimental guy. He was something of a purist and as he didn't hate or judge people who got cyber implants, he really felt cyber implants didn't improve human condition, they worsened it. He only had few minor cyber implants and he only had them because he had to. He served in the military for a few years, his superiors disliked him for not having any implants thus not being as efficient as other soldier. His refusal to have implants caused a minor incident with one of his superiors and he got kicked out of the military because of it. (he insulted a superior officer) He joined NCPD and worked as a police officer for a few years. His refusal to get implants didn't help him here either, but he was a highly valued police officer and his friends and coworkers loved him, as they didn't understand why he refused to get implants they really didn't care. James than started to date a girl called Rachel. They were madly in love. Things were going so well he just couldn't believe. (A really rare thing in cyberpunk world. True happiness.) After a few months to a year, she got pregnant and they decided to get married. This was the happiest time in James's life. Than reality kicked in, one of his "friends" called Rick, got sick of how happy they are while he is really miserable and after a bad braindance session (which multiplied his misery) he got his buddies from the hood and kidnapped Rachel. After he learned what happened, James tried to reason with Rick, but this new braindanced Rick was too far gone. They fought, Ricks buddies from the hood was doing something nasty to Rachel and when James heard her screams, he shot Rick from his leg and run the help Rachel. As he entered the room gun on his hand, Ricks buddies run away. James didn't understand why, there were 4 of them, and they seemed to be armed. Why would they run? He found Rachel tied to a chair, some of her clothing were missing and she was crying.. She said "James, please.. Help.." while crying and they didn't seemed to have rape her, they just take her clothing off and beat her. (she didn't had that skin armor thing, not everybody has that) Nothing made sense, even Ricks betrayal made any sense. Yes, he was upset for being alone and he didn't really had a good life, but he always seemed genuinely happy for James and Rachel. He started to untie Rachel and BOOOM! The bomb under her chair exploded. It was a small bomb, it killed Rachel and really hurt James. James lost both of his arms and one of his legs, and had severe internal damage. He didn't want implants, he wanted to die. But he got the implants anyway. After getting out of the hospital, fully upgraded, revenge fueled James quieted his job as a police officer and started to kill the guys of the hood one by one. He searched for the Rick and his buddies and after killing his buddies he found Rick. He tortured him terribly and screamed at him "WHY!" Rick cried, saying he doesn't know why. Only, this military guy sold him a braindance device, saying it belong to the richest man ever lived (who had the most fun and a guy also known to be a "sex god" among poor) but the memories inside the device belong to the military man. That caused Rick to feel they way that guy felt and since he was already miserable it multiplied the effect. It turns out, the "military guy" is his former superior who he insulted back in his military days. After ending Ricks misery, James found his former his former misery and after a really bad fight he killed him. After he found military guys very large weapons cache, he started a small business as a arms dealer. His police buddies swept the whole event under the rug. Like none of it never happened. Proving he still has friends.

Stats
James is both intelligent and strong, but he isn't really tech savvy and doesn't really rely on his implants. He rely on his trusted pistol that served him well over the years.

Hardware
Both of his arms and one of his legs were replaced with cyber hardware. He has enhanced vision and hearing since his military days. His neural enhancement and special software he runs with his cyber enhancements helps him with his strength and his armor capabilities. He wears heavy armor under his regular clothing.

 

[straff]

Some neat stuff. Straff is good. I found Free Spirit's name annoying and her "trained by the world's elite" a bit much. Not sure where the advanced healing comes from that would limit more cyber.
Peter's misogyny is unexplained and in 2020 would seem to prohibit being team leader of anything. Other than that, cool character.

Fair points and ones that wasn’t really covered in game time (these were "developing in game time pc's) but here you go.

Helen was named after a girl I fancied at College and where I say she was part of an Angel’s team she was really just their mascot. She learnt her skills and abilities by "applying that bandage there, aiming the gun at that location" trial and error and never really pulled her own weight in the original team. In fact, I’m sure the only reason they kept her at all was that she was pretty to look at. All the hard work was done by the true professionals in the team.
If you were to ask her she was a fully functioning member of their team (ok, she guarded the medic) but ask what’s left of her old team and she was just a hanger-on.

When the team was pretty much destroyed by the CIA team she just bottled it (if the game allowed a "Survivor" class then that would be her main role) and run away. When she finally figured it was safe to come out of hiding then she took on the Free Spirit name to show that she was no-longer part of the old team - although she did have the elite mentality from times of old. She also wasn’t afraid to drop hints at her past (she was high Att, not Int) but to anyone it was clear she was a wanted woman.

The biowear came from the fact that the game we played had already been around for years by her time and cybernetics + gear had advanced beyond what was available in the 2013 (the rules we was based on) book. She didn’t want to spend ages in a hospital bed and asked for something better than on the streets not realising that it would restrict anymore cybernetics being implanted - the bodies natural healing rate was boosted so much that it naturally rejected all other implants that happened later.

Peter could be looked at as someone who "copied his father’s opinions". His dad probably beat his own wife and that attitude was something that Peter took through his youth. In fact he was probably one of those folks that we (normal) folks would call a nasty piece of work.

He managed to suppress the belief that women were weaker enough to get into the Police but I’m sure that when he went to do undercover on gangs it was a "resource" that he could use to his advantage. As the work didn’t involve contact with regular police/people (all evidence was Brain Danced out) and there were no court reviews he was never Psychoanalysed. Or maybe his handler back at station turned a blind eye for the greater good of law enforcement (remember, this is a dark world). Once he was in the gangs he was so lost to their culture that where it once lay dormant, he used it more and more. It might have been this attitude that forced suspension from the UC work but he was meant to be a bastard when he entered game time.

If the game hadn’t have ended (I moved back from London) then I have no doubt that there would have been a coup against him as there were already factions against his call. But he was never meant to be a nice character, but one that would get the job done.