The other day I walked past the most embarrassed man in southern England. He was wearing a kevlar vest, a riot helmet and carrying a complicated neo-club in one hand. The other hand was cuffed to a fortified payroll briefcase. He was standing next to the doors of an armoured van belonging to an internationally regarded security firm, clearly locked out of his own vehicle.
The van was screaming - well, loudly enunciating, like a female Avery Brooks - "HELP, HELP. VEHICLE UNDER ATTACK! PLEASE CALL THE POLICE. PLEASE CALL THE POLICE" loud enough to penetrate the walls of the bank across the street. By the time I left the bank minutes later three police cars were hurtling down the high-street, past laughing office workers and startled grandmothers.
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So my colleague in OSR-damaged cyberpunk Geist has a new blog: Neural Archive. He's been putting together ideas (and beautiful pages) for a cyberpunk City Kit - we've been talking Vornheim and science fiction and...There's brainstorming on-going at the VFTE forums.
There's a small sample to the left. I'd encourage you to visit the blog and see the full pages, let them speak for themselves. Check it out! Add him on G+ (where he goes by the name "Geist" because he's more mysterious-than-thou).
There's lots to say about the a "city kit" for cyberpunk. That's for another time. Right now, this post is all about corpses.
Fancy looting some bodies before the meat wagons and the scavengers reach them? Need a D66 loot generator?
The main take-away from writing - and this has been a brainstorming session, more than anything else - is that it could/should have been so much longer...
Here's a printable googledoc.
ROLL A D66.
D66
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I SEARCH THE [CYBER] CORPSE
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11
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Red candle dedicated to Santa Muerte, to find and hold onto love.
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12
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Work-in-progress death haiku scrawled on scrap paper.
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13
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Pack of “most-wanted” playing cards marked with faces identifying members of organisation allied or affiliated with a PC (3 of Hearts).
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14
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Apparently real Human eyeball in a climate controlled, completely transparent jar. Fixed angle. Residential address on packet.
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15
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Half-taken packet of pills for virulently contagious illness.
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16
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Competition winner’s back-stage pass to highly rated late night talk show.
|
21
|
Unmarked Clip-on IFF tag. Bearer identified as friendly until identified as hostile by human oversight by autonomous drones owned by 1-2 Police, 3-4 Major Corporation, 5-6 Local Cartel. IFF code expires after D3 days - requires quantum passcode provided by central server to update.
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22
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Tourist’s guidebook to this sprawl written in foreign language.
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23
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Body-lotto ticket - 25% chance that the owner’s death resulted in a winning number.
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24
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Gold plated bullet inscribed with chintzy script, serial number “2 of 5.”
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25
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Uncomfortable quantity of pink hair dye.
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26
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Scrawled jelly-fish recipe - motherly handwriting, champion taste.
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31
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Gold candle dedicated to Santa Muerte, to find wealth and prosperity.
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32
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Bag of contaminated drugs, three doses.
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33
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Annotated copy of Neuromancer. Line [D20] of page [3D20 + D12] marked for special attention.
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34
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Glass vial containing a live spider and eggs, not native breed.
|
35
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3d printed 40mm figure of the a PC’s contact, exaggerated physical characteristics.
|
36
| |
41
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Photograph of PC printed on folded paper.
|
42
|
Illegally fabricated copy of police-issue robo-cab hailer thumb - can use to flag down passing robo-cabs and ride for free. Roll D6 - on roll of 1, codes have updated and vehicle secretly alerts police, locks riders inside when they arrive.
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43
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Emergency Medical Aid membership card belonging to person with different face, gender and complexion to the corpse.
|
44
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Key to railway safety deposit box.
|
45
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Brightly painted pollution filter mask, gang colours.
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46
|
Unlocked datastick containing 200GB of cult Sludge Metal albums.
|
51
|
Strictly offline samizdat political pamphlet for luddite political organisation.
|
52
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Shark Fetus in a test tube hung from a necklace.
|
53
|
Zen Prayer Beads - tactical ‘runners brand, non reflective material.
|
54
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Creepy Lover’s Pendant - half of a matched pair which changes colour depending on physical distance from the bearer of the other.
|
55
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Vial of water from the Colorado River, religious iconography.
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56
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Love letter from a ranking Syndicate leader.
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61
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Pristine physical copy of a classic album, obsolete format.
|
62
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1kg packet of “flour” - (covert biological feedstock, identifiable by tech and medical specialists). Pre-programmed shape will emerge if introduced to the correct household chemical.
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63
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“Fitbit” style fitness device - hacking device will reveal detailed record of former owner’s movements, heart-rate and drug intake for the last D3 weeks.
|
64
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Keycard and address for a very hidden, very private cyberware clinic.
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65
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Expensive condoms with STD detection sensors. Phone number scrawled on back of packet.
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66
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Black Candle devoted to Santa Muerte, to bring death and vengeance upon one’s enemies.
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It's only theft if he was innocent. Or still alive.
