Anodyne — Roleplayer Guild

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“…It’s like a spiral: They keep making everything more basic so it will appeal to everyone. And gradually, everyone gets used to everything being basic, so we get less and less varied as people, more simple. So the corps make everything even simpler. And it goes on and on.”
― M.T. Anderson, Feed 

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!!note of importance!!
this roleplay is supposed to be fun, interesting, and enjoyable. i actively encourage an open world dynamic. i'm not the kind of GM to tell people what to do. i don't believe in specific roles, but i will bring the hammer down if i need. 

primary theme
-the potential for human apathy and hedonism as key to the success of evil 
secondary themes
-individualism vs. collectivism
-authoritarianism vs. liberalism

here's a quick run down of the setting, with inspirations from selected novels: 

“I don't know when they first had feeds. Like maybe, fifty or a hundred years ago. Before that, they had to use their hands and their eyes. Computers were all outside the body. They carried them around outside of them, in their hands, like if you carried your lungs in a briefcase and opened it to breathe.”
― M.T. Anderson, Feed 

people
in this roleplay, anyone between the ages of 18 and 30 have had a computer 'chip' hardwired into their brain at birth. it's more like a pill that is injected via needle into the brainstem, and as the child's brain tissue grows around it, the more wired the computer becomes into the brain itself. it's a direct line to the internet. this allows marketing and advertisements from companies into the mind directly. 
the hardware of the first trials (in the older characters) of the chip have become obsolete, and as such those that have an older chip have learned how to shut the ads off. 
-does this mean virtual reality exists?
yes. have a ball with that fact. 
socioeconomic structure
since this IS a cyberpunk roleplay, the large income gap is a thing. there's a very small middle class and as such parts of the city reflect that. the above ground in generally 'rich' and the dark quarter is subsequently 'poor'. any middle class residents are mostly clustered together with the poorer groups. 
jobs
there are a number of jobs your character or your character's family can do. most of these are either typical food service jobs, retail, or anything comparatively simple like that. you can play them. however, your characters CAN have family members who work corporation jobs, such as mine is.

city
the place where you reside is known as Bluelight City, named because of the stark blue florescent ads everywhere. 



inflation: $1 = $43 roughly

there are many places to shop, peruse, and hang out. most of your time is taken up by shopping, however. it's a religion to stay hip and up to date on the current trends. the atmosphere is always dark to make sure the advertisements are brighter and stand out more than anything else in your peripheral. 

important landmarks and points of interest above ground:
-Marko's Bargain Bin: 'quantity over quality!'
	-the most inexpensive store in the city; a pair of jeans is just $445.99! 
-Cafe 45: 
	-a usual and very normal eatery. serves mainly diner food.
-Skyline Mall: 'the next generation of shopping'
	-biggest shopping haven in the city. millions of visitors a day, upscale pricing but many more
options than Marko's. their ads of designer clothes are the ones most frequently heard and seen around alleys and billboards.


transportation
around the city there are public tram stops, but most middle to upper class citizens have their own hover cars. the invisible roads that these sleek machines glide on are called skyways, and the paths are distinguished by two perpendicular glowing boundaries. 
hover cars can come in any shape, size, and color but most are rather large and use heavy amounts of electricity. you will most likely be walking to your destination.

prominent places underground
the underbelly of Bluelight City has it's own brand of characters and therefore it's unique set of shops. this district is called the Dark Quarter, as many of the above ground citizens stay away from it. 

-Gordo's Gunnery: 'the best price to slice and dice!' 
-the usual gun shop. indoor shooting range included. also sells knives.

-The Stuttgart Industrial Area:
-basically an industrial park. used by vagabonds and a few poor youngers as a playground.

-Elden's Place:
a small, well-known but covert hangout for ghosters to refuel and discuss the recreational benefits of the experience. Elden is a reliable and long time ghoster (NPC)

-Hookah Heaven: 
-the local smoke shop. sells flavored tobacco and other staples.


these shops will encouraged to be used for your own pleasures. as of now, Gordo's Gunnery and Hookah Heaven are unavailable for job opportunities.   

info on ghost
"a drug which gradually destroys a person's ability to think or perceive reality...deteriorates a person's mind, until they are obsessed only with the drug, and endanger themselves and others going after it. It seems to be made in only one place, but the narcs just can't seem to find that place or stop the flow."
-TVTropes, regarding A Scanner Darkly's Substance D.

the virus is called ghost and those who indulge in it are called ghosters. the act of using is called 'ghosting' or 'tripping'. 

what exactly is ghost?
ghost is a virus that anyone with a computer chip can access. it's main purpose is to create more apathy within the mind of the ghoster. in the older days, it was only available through the site. innovative ghosters have now found a way to extract copies of the virus and download it into huge databases, fit for multiple trips at a time.

how do i get to it?
similar to a canadian pharmaceutical website, lots of searching  and crossed fingers. experienced ghosters have a preferred site they like to use. 

okay, so what the fuck does it DO?
hard to explain precisely since the effects are different depending on your operating system. in all trips, there are hallucinations and enhancing of senses. some ghosters even report out-of-body experiences. 

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character sheet thing is below. you can add things to it too, this is just a base: (please do not post in the character tab yet!) 

appearance: (picture preferred, not required)
name: (keep it true to genre pls)
age: (18-30)
gender:

likes/dislikes:
personality traits: (at least 3 good, 3 bad. can be paragraph form or list form)
backstory: (for funzies)
other stuff: (if needed)

need help with the genre? 
some common themes throughout cyberpunk literature and they all apply to this one (these can all be found on TVTropes too):

what are the settings like?
Cities. Big, dark cities. Loads of neon lights and dull surfaces. Glass, urbanism, downtrodden undergrounds and shady pubs. Small apartments. Everywhere looks like central Tokyo. Maybe a space station or an abandoned genetic factory.

i need some ideas for weapons.
Weapons. BFGs. Katanas. Go for cool as much as practical. A BFG is a piece of personal artillery used by an individual and chiefly defined by its, well, its incredible bigness. 

what do the characters wear?
Trenchcoats, sunglasses, leather jackets, and the alike. Everything is in black or other dull colours, with small amounts of bright colours for emphasis, especially neon-green, neon-blue, neon-red, fluorescent orange and neon-purple. 

can i have some character ideas?
Think film noir. There are many many film noir influences and similar character archetypes in cyberpunk. 

there is a chance I would be interested in this but first is there going to be any story line? What kind of tech is around hove cars or is it more steam punk? Can't guarantee how active I could be with this though@Maxwell57

hey thanks for your interest! 

for now the plot is very loose. like i said in the OP, i haven't really fleshed out a linear storyline. the way i GM my plots is very NON-linear. i don't exactly feel comfortable having a set story like that. usually i let players get a feel for the environment and advance themselves. 

the setting would be much like that in Feed-- cyberpunk. cyberpunk is defined by wikipedia as "a subgenre of science fiction in a future setting, noted for its focus on high tech and low life. It features advanced science, such as information technology and cybernetics, coupled with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order."
so basically, yeah hovercars. 

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The Martyr Complex

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