Hekazu

Printed guns, melded metal - An experimental GM-less Cyberpunk RP

A fair write-up. A suggestion for a starting plot, or a later element for one @DeadDrop?

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The commander hadn't had the chance to do anything beyond shouting the command to the approaching group of unidentified skulkers before the man that had been in the front rushed past his boastful companion, his massive blade cutting through the air and the cultist's attire, flesh and bone alike. The ethereal energies that joined in the doing of harm seemed perhaps late, given the man was already well on his way to slump down on the ground before the green hue flashed in his open eyes.

Emboldened by the swift victory, the knight of the wilds moved ever onward, stepping over the corpse to stand face to face with yet another opponent. His approach was just what the hooded individual had been waiting for however, and the scrawnier man attempted to impede the movement of the greatsword wielding Paladin. However, the attempt was left half-finished as he found himself needing to avoid a particularly powerful push from the flat side of the weapon while the knight was still realigning it for another strike. The cultist gulped, but stood his ground, muttering incomprehensible words under his breath.

Prayers? Curses? A list of debts they would now expect to go unpaid? It was tough, if not impossible to tell.

Mechanics&Rolls

Brannor slays the Dragonclaw and uses what remains of his movement to approach the next closest adversary. The cultist's readied action trigger is met and he attempts to Grapple Brannor with an STR(Athletics) check of 10. The Paladin resists this successfully with their 16.

Next up is the party Bard Parum, controlled by @Ryonara

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

@The Harbinger of Ferocity
Brannor has cut down the commander. Him moving onward from there was confirmed in private communications, and it turns out he triggers a Readied Grapple attempt as he approaches the closest Cultist from there. Please roll STR(Athletics) or DEX(Acrobatics) to avoid being grappled.

Printed guns, melded metal - An experimental GM-less Cyberpunk RP

<Snipped quote by Sierra>

Thanks, but I thought there was no GM....? Please don't police me...

<Snipped quote by Hekazu>

I thought there was like no GM and the players ran the show like begotten or lifeweb.

@DeadDrop

We are indeed not aiming to have a set in stone GM. However, that means players need to be the ones that look after each other and make sure the RP fits those aiming to participate. This includes the matter of how characters are introduced and of what power level we seek to introduce them from. We are not running a tabletop game system. We are trying freeform where "everyone is a GM". And for that to not end in a disaster, we should be sure that everyone is on the same page.

---

Speaking of being on the same page, I propose everyone holds their proverbial horses for the time being. Different concerns have been brought about by different views on the subject, and I can see this is getting to be an issue. But before we stray into the subject of whether we can place our trust in the players to do something, that being all of us in the same position, let us briefly have a look at the basic premise that those on the Discord brought in. We shall briefly return to the case of Lt. Davison.

From storytelling perspective, bringing around any high level corporate people does not really fit. The occasional person interested in the matter would be rather unlikely to be any more powerful than any usual police officer, or a higher ranking gangster. It is not as much a hard limit in my eyes, as it is the plausibility of participation that I would draw the line at here. Sure, the corporation representative that has spoken with Davison may have been a powerful individual, but they have just been serving as a messenger and likely have no further interest in the matter if things proceed as they should.

In my eyes, we should not focus on what other waves this might start underground, or that we should climb higher in the system. I propose we intentionally attempt to keep ourselves here, on the level that makes sense for the story that we are seeking to tell. If the previously agreed upon story is not to your liking, that is a whole another matter. But since nothing of the sort has been said, in my point of view we should aim to limit any character designs with the plausibility of them being interested in this matter. Limited in power to fit in the story, not for the sake of limiting power. A chapter of more powerful individuals might arise later, if people find it in their interests. But for now, the story is low-middle class individuals at best, if my vision has remained accurate.

@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Sierra@Terminal

Printed guns, melded metal - An experimental GM-less Cyberpunk RP

lol why are you guys arguing over the rp just make a sheet and rp bro.

@DeadDrop

We are attempting to set some communal guidelines and expectations. A little bit of friendly debate should only help with said goal.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The people in the way of the heroes of Greenest did not appear ready to relent. Despite Orchid's attempts, the best his boastful approach earned was the one cult member slightly behind the Dragonclaw glancing at the man standing tall, before finishing drawing his sabre with the rest of them. The path forward was blocked, no two ways about it. And as the cries of "To arms!" and "Close the way out!" among many of similar nature reminded them, any moment they spent not progressing was a moment the cult could rally its members. And if the whole of the camp were to collapse on them, it would spell a death sentence even to the most stalwart of warriors among them.

Mechanics&Rolls

Orchid does not manage to impress the cultists with his display of bravado, I am afraid @Lucius Cypher.
As far as Kyra can gather, her hiding spot has indeed hidden her from the enemy @Norschtalen.
The cultists have not moved, but have weapons drawn and Readied actions on their turn in the initiative order.

Next up, as per the uncontested rule proposal of using the die to break ties, would be @The Harbinger of Ferocity.

Printed guns, melded metal - An experimental GM-less Cyberpunk RP

I will reiterate the true Cyberpunk way: A character becomes a problem, an even bigger fish swims along and destroys him/her/it in whatever way is appropriate. Yet even then, I suppose as long as we are looking to keep to the start plot we have at our hands, a certain degree of reason should be maintained. It is rather unlikely that even the CEO of Murkywater Security, a subsidiary corporation serving under Securitek Global, who in turn is owned and governed by the AzTek Group* would find it in their interest to place in their two pence when it comes to Lt. Davison's case, them being infinitely more likely to just give the order down the chain, if they even got to know of it in the first place instead of those toiling under them in the pyramid just handling it as it came up. Sufficient motivations might crop up though, not saying that would be impossible.

*: All corporations made up on the spot

Printed guns, melded metal - An experimental GM-less Cyberpunk RP

The question of cities has risen, and I will introduce my proposal to it: Night City. The megalopolis to trump all megalopoli, Night City was born out of multiple cities growing together and megacorporations simply shrugging and figuring "it's better to have more avenues for business than try to stop the spreading, even if it causes a bit of competition." Hell, they might well have seen it as a chance to simply expand their own business like so many times before, until they realised that every other company had the same idea.

In short, Night City is the size of the West Coast of USA and then some, reaching up North to Vancouver and down South just a bit across the Mexican border. Night City has it all: Slums (aka Combat Zones, pretty much a no-go as described), numerous Chinatowns, the occasional middle class residential area, and a massive amount of corporate zone of pretty much only the highest end housing for those with the cash and the workplaces for those who can afford to be even considered for work in high-end corporate business.

As for the level of chrome included, sure, options are many. But especially for those who would rely on underground Ripperdocs for the installation (not necessarily licensed cyberware install services, cheap and available for anyone unlike more reputable Trauma-Team^TM cyberware clinics or, heavens forbid, privately utilised megacorp augmentation workshops) might encounter cases of early onset cyberpsychosis. After all, when you are augmented to be so much better than a human, why should you care of what happens to the squishy meatbags? Their fault for being so vulnerable!

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Right, it seems I am the next to move. I may have forgotten to take my battlemap source files with me when I travelled, so if you could deal a few days with me not updating the map (until I can have them sent to me via e-mail) that would be appreciated. In the meantime, I shall prepare for the majority of the cult's turn.

Printed guns, melded metal - An experimental GM-less Cyberpunk RP

RPGO Discord, #rp_discussions channel proudly presents: 80's retrofuturism Cyberpunk, now without a GM!

Long story short (but not quite as short as I already wrote above), a discussion took place in the official Guild Discord. Many (x > 2) people that found themselves to forever be the GM and thus unable to actually get to "play" what they wanted happened to think of an idea. What if the RP didn't have one GM set in stone? And so we set to think of it. Cyberpunk was the genre we found everyone had at least a bit of affinity for, and the current writer of this post happened to have a hook that drew people in. Not much more needed be said. We would see just how something like this would hold up, and we wanted to put our best effort into it. After all, a half-assed experiment has no intrinsic value.

Our main points hold as follows:

• Not much is set in stone, but the setting is. When we say Cyberpunk, we are referring to the style of the tabletop roleplaying game Cyberpunk 2020's world. This is to avoid Cyberpunk world mismatch issues that otherwise might arise.
  • Just to be clear, we are not bringing in the game elements of Cyberpunk 2020. It is the retrofuturism style it carries with it.
  • The rulebook for said system can, for setting reference purposes, be obtained from me upon request.
• Now that what is set in stone has been iterated, I shall reiterate the earlier point: Not much else is. This means the story is free to progress where the players want to take it, but this is still a communal effort.
• OOC talk of the RP is not only encouraged. It is pretty much a must for something like this.

The base plot from which we bounce onward is as follows:

Police Lieutenant Davison has been selling classified gear to a few different gangs in a war with one another. All is well and good, since the gangs pretty much know that if they off Davison then all the other gangs are going to bash their skulls in for cutting the steady supply of "the good shit", weapons, ammo, combat drugs, what have you. But then the lieutenant is approached by a megacorporation employee who politely introduces himself and informs the good detective of just how deep shit he has buried himself in by causing trouble to the corporation he represents. And that he should probably make himself useful for them, or there will be hell to pay.

Currently suggested ways to move forward from there include:

• Lt. Davison is now dead. Characters need to figure out what happened.
• Lt. Davison is still kicking and refusing to co-operate. An internal investigation towards his activities is launched thank to an anonymous tip, our characters being assigned to do this job.
• Lt. Davison is a member of the PC party, trying his best to swim instead of sinking. Other PCs likely to be hired muscle to help the good officer.

And that is what we have at the present moment! Let us continue building our RP up from here, no?

(Obligatory Discord discussions participant ping @The Harbinger of Ferocity@The Scotsman@DJAtomika)