CBR+PNK

FRAMEWORK

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This brochure presents GM advice, in-depth examples of Consequences, optional rules, and the framework of a campaign mode for CBR+PNK. It isn’t required reading, but it will improve your understanding of the game and provide guidance for running it.

Consequence Examples

The following presents a series of Consequence examples in the context of the severity determined by the fiction and/or Threat Level. Generally, a Consequence of Level 1 is a minor inconvenience, Level 2 is a distressing setback, Level 3 is a dire turn. A Consequence of Level 4 is more commonly inflicted as lethal Harm, but you can always break it down into multiple lesser Consequences.

Reduced Effect

Performance is reduced. Use this type on a Partial Success.

Mark 1 less segment on a Progress Track, reach only halfway across, fall short on the amount needed, acquires an asset of lesser quality, satisfies only part of the audience, transmits incomplete information.

Harm

• [LEVEL 1] Superficial—Dazed, Bleeding, Battered, Confused, Lagging.
• [LEVEL 2] Serious—Sensory Deprived, Deeply Cut, Drained, Panicking, Low Morale, Concussed.
• [LEVEL 3] Incapacitating—Impaled, Broken Bones, Badly Burned, Terrified.
• [LEVEL 4] Lethal—Compromised Vital Organ, Loss of a Limb, Core Wiped, Electrocuted, Drowned.

Threat Escalation

Loss of control resulting in Increased Threat. Use this type on a Failure.

Runner is outnumbered, gets exposed, loses a safeguard.

Complication

Introduces trouble, increasing danger, or telegraphs a new threat.

• [LEVEL 1] Suspicions aroused, asset wears off (e.g., ammo depletes, device runs out of power), signs that the obstacle will improve, the environment becomes troublesome, options narrow, mark 1 segment on a Progress Track.
• [LEVEL 2] Unwanted attention, asset displaced or damaged (e.g., disarmed, cyberware glitches), trapped, collateral damage, the obstacle improves, the environment becomes oppressive, mark 2 segments on a Progress Track.
• [LEVEL 3] Imprisoned, compromised reputation, crucial asset destroyed, critical collateral damage, the obstacle greatly improves, the environment becomes life-threatening, mark 3 segments on a Progress Track.

Lost Opportunity

A new approach is required. Use this type exclusively on a Failure.

• [LEVEL 1] Target changes course, informant leaves, the deal has changed, the distraction has passed.
• [LEVEL 2] Target obstructed, window closes, escape route is compromised, a critical ally has a change of heart.
• [LEVEL 3] Target out of reach, contact is lost, an indispensable asset is destroyed.

Game Moderator Advice

• Action is always considered from the Player Character’s perspective.
• Don’t inflict a Consequence that negates the outcome of a roll.
• Start/tick a Progress Track whenever it feels right. Make sure they are visible so everyone can keep track of what is happening in the fiction.
• Give each NPC (Non-Player Character) or Faction a concrete goal and preferred approach.
• Don’t say “no”, just make it more complicated, riskier, costly, etc.
• Prioritize Difficult Choices over Difficult Tasks.
• When in doubt, you can safely skip over steps 2 and 3 of the Action Roll—assume the standard Level 2 for both Threat and Effect.
• Have the OPERATOR frequently check in for status updates to evoke a sense of urgency.
• For a grittier game, make RESISTANCE and ARMOR reduce the severity of most Consequences instead of avoiding them entirely.

SAMPLE THREATS

• Burnt Pistons (6 segments): A small gang armed with pistols & an SMG.
• Corpsecurity (6 segments): A few detachments. Riot armor, pistols, and rifles.
• Poisn (6 segments): Skilled hacker with a neural-linked defensive deck and light weaponry.
• Taskforce™ (6 segments): Paramilitary elite squad. Heavy armor and weaponry. Loads of enhancements.
• Dozer (8 segments): Bipedal drone enforcer. Heavily armored, machine guns arms.
• Artemisia-I: Basic Network.
  • Defender (6 segments): Active firewall, traces and blocks intruders, deploys an I.C.P.
    • Encryption (4 segments): Cloaks local database.
  • I.C.P. (4 segments): Intrusion Countermeasure Protocol, attacks the brain directly.

Long Shot (Campaign Mode)

Supports 4—8 sessions / 3—5 players (GM included).

In this mode for short campaigns, PCs are working against an Oppressor and/or towards a cause—overthrowing an authoritarian state, dismantling a human trafficking network, leading a group of refugees through hostile territory. Through Flashback Runs, we find out what the runners have sacrificed to prepare for facing their Oppressor.

Setting Up

1. Select the OPPRESSOR and a TARGET—a person, location, object that’s the focus of the Run. The OPPRESSOR also has COUNTERMEASURES in place—major actions they (or their supporters) will take to hinder the runners.
2. Determine the PC’s shared Angle—each may also have their own reason for such:
   • TAKE DOWN THE OPPRESSOR
     • What lies do they tell to keep themselves at the top?
     • Who will you trust to take their place?
   • RESIST THE OPPRESSOR
     • What are they trying to seize/destroy—basic rights; unique resources; your culture?
     • How will you make sure they won’t keep coming back?
   • LIBERATE FROM THE OPPRESSOR
     • Who/what are you liberating—your community; nation; crucial resource?
     • What will you do to sever their hold indefinitely?

How they put their Angle into action is determined by their ENGAGEMENT PLAN. As a group, elaborate in further detail what the OPPRESSOR is about and how they operate. This will provide valuable information for the players to make more conscious choices about their plan.

Campaign structure

1. The game starts at the CLIMAX: the GM describes the situation wherein the runners are about to set off their endgame. They only have one shot at this, what is their ENGAGEMENT PLAN? Will they hack their way into the mainframe to wipe out the Authority’s AI? Employ guerrilla tactics to fend off the enforcers? Infiltrate the facility to assassinate the CEO?
2. The GM describes to the Players how the OPPRESSOR’s COUNTERMEASURES get in their way. Each COUNTERMEASURE must be dealt with before the Runners can proceed—as if they are Consequences from an Elite adversary (GM Guide, panel 6). Players decide which one they will OVERCOME first and go from there.
3. To OVERCOME a COUNTERMEASURE, play out a Flashback as a full-length Run wherein the team prepare to deal with it as they see fit. The Stress cost of each Flashback is determined normally and marked permanently on one of the PC’s files. Skip the Angle Roll on each of these Runs.
4. When all COUNTERMEASURES are addressed the Runners can finally act on their plan. The GM cuts back to the CLIMAX—play it out as a scene, with a couple of rolls, or as a full-length session.
5. Wrap it up with the AFTERMATH PHASE.

Downtime Phase

Between Runs, PCs automatically clear all marked Gear and Special Resistances. Additionally, each has time and creds for two Downtime activities:

• RECOVER: Clear all Stress or bring all Harm down 1 Level; What do you do to get better?
• REPAIR: A gear or augment; Who has your tech covered?
• SIDE PROJECT: Can cover a wide variety of activities the players don’t feel excited enough about to tackle as full Runs—doing research into a dataset, investigating someone, paying off a DEBT, establishing a new contact, training new Skills, etc. The GM sets a Progress Track based on the complexity and resource availability. Whenever working on the project, the player describes what their character does to advance its track and make an Action Roll. Tick segments according to the result: 1-3, one tick—4/5, two ticks—6, three ticks—CRITICAL, five ticks.

Aftermath Phase

Whether they defeat the OPPRESSOR or die trying, change has been brought to the world. What new challenges arise? What is left of them, their supporters, and their community?

All players make their Angle Roll—including the ones with dead characters, interpreting the result as an impact on the lives of their close ones. When possible, address the previous questions during each character’s epilogue.

SAMPLE OPPRESSOR: OMNI GLOBAL SOLUTIONS

A worldwide MEGA CONGLOMERATE. What are they really selling? What moral and legal lines have they crossed in their need for expansion?

EDGES

Cutting-edge tech, pristine reputation, global operations, paramilitary contractors, elite assets.

POTENTIAL TARGETS

Joy, Inc. An automated factory. President Castilho, an immortal CEO, monsoon.lib, a dataset of dirty secrets, Brightstar™, a private orbital station/comsat.

COUNTERMEASURES:

• Media outlets spread misinformation about the runners, staining their reputation and cutting off supporters.
• Project Quest is launched, turning even the most ordinary of the devices into pieces of an addicting citywide AR game. In what they think is an innocuous quest for Mega Points, participants actively hunt down the runners by any means necessary.
• The runners’ most trusted ally is revealed to be working according to the Megacorp’s playbook to disrupt their plans—replacing gear with decoys, planting false leads, buying off supporters.
• Private security contractors pin down the runners, stripping them of their gear and leaving them to die in the toxic wastelands beyond the Dust Wall.

Additional Tables

Build a /Run

OBJECTIVE

1. Assassinate / Tag
2. Escort / Protect
3. Steal / Extract
4. Smuggle / Courier
5. Raid / Defend
6. Plant / Sabotage

TARGET

1. Political leader
2. Celebrity
3. White hat hacker
4. Scientist
5. Corporate officer
6. AI

STATUS

1. Undercover
2. Missing
3. Hostage
4. Secluded
5. Imprisoned
6. Refugee

PAYLOAD

1. Biological matter
2. Critical data
3. Essential resources
4. Rare artifact
5. Unique prototype
6. Energy source

ORIGIN

1. Offworld
2. Crowdsourced
3. Corporate
4. Paramilitary
5. Syndicate
6. Governmental

EXTERIOR LOCATION

1. Highway
2. Street markets
3. Docks
4. Entertainment zone
5. Slums
6. Luxury gardens

INTERIOR LOCATION

1. Corporate tower
2. Underground facility
3. Nightclub
4. Apartment complex
5. Powerplant
6. Monorail train

STREETS

1. Riot
2. Construction
3. Festival
4. Street Race
5. Gang war
6. Corporate Parade

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE

1. Permanight
2. Toxic smog
3. Flooding
4. Epidemic breakout
5. Power outage
6. Network breakdown

/Run Phases Summary

Setup

1. GM and/or Players come up with the / Run OBJECTIVE.
2. Players make their characters.
3. GM prepares locations, obstacles, and potential assets.
4. Players select the ENGAGEMENT PLAN: * Assault * Deception * Stealth * Social * Transport
5. Players select LOAD.
6. Cut to the action.

Run

• COMING IN HOT: PCs face their first significant obstacle.
• ERROR 417: EXPECTAT…: Put them on a spot. Reveal a twist, challenge their priorities or interests. The FINAL OBSTACLE should be demanding, resilient, complex.
• LOGOFF: Players make their Angle Roll (GM Guide panel 7) and convey their epilogue based on the outcome.

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