By John Ward
I was driving a 5-hour trip, and had little to do but watch the road. I had bits of Black Mask, Steve Austin, Nemesis, Blade Runner, even John Claude Van Lame's cyborg movie floating in my head. I wondered if the Buro's greatest strength was also its weakness. In all these movies, the characters start as emotionless machines, but then become human when released into the world. I wondered if Buro citizens, forced by alignment of FS sites into a life of dreary conformity, might start to develop emotions and preferences once they left the juncture. As I went on, I really got into the "once they leave the Buro juncture, they start to develop emotional themes" idea. You're going to have to forgive me about the characterization stuff. It's > late and I ran out of steam. I'll add more to these if I use them with players.
I originally was just messing with making Cyborgs from other templates, but realized I could use these to make a tight group of agents. I wanted these guys to be something I could pass out as a cohesive group to first-time players. They are not varied like an experienced player group, and have overlapping skills. This might make them too alike, but I think that they are different enough through shticks and personality to make them fun.
They have extreme vulnerability to weird stuff. Creature powers, TransAn abilities, and sorcery will mess them up big time. They would be, however, kick ass monkeywrenchers. (Lots of sabotage and fix-it in this group).
Being extremely low-level Buro pawns, they know very little about the secret war and are really sort of a Buro Able Team or commando squad. They are a squad of agent provocateurs sent back to mess with the current juncture. Much like canaries in a coalmine, they serve as litmus paper for the Buro. They're tough enough to survive the "regular forces" of the world (mooks). The Buro planned to just send them after objectives until the Ascended got mad enough to wipe them out. The Buro would then have at least one part of the Ascended pinpointed for observation.
This is a group of five compact Asians and one big strapping Gwailo girl. I gave the names in the write ups the translated American styling you see in this country for HK characters and actors (Michelle Yeoh, Jackie Chan, etc.)
I assumed that the cyborg eyes and limbs were partial reconstruction's only. The characters can only be repaired/healed with Fix-it and medicine. Note that many of the characters have Fix-it to help themselves along. A note about the game numbers and stuff: I took some liberties with the system in the following three ways.
Name: Brian Chen, Ex-Special Forces
Wealth: Poor
Archetype: 2056 Cyborg
Bod 9, Chi 0 (Fu 4), Mnd 5, Ref 7
Skills: Driving 7+7 =12
Guns 7+9 =14
Martial Arts 7+5 =10
Sabotage 7+4 11
Fix-it 5+3 8
Info : Cyborg program 5+5 10
Gun Shticks: Carnival of Carnage 2/Shot cost for attacking mooks with guns is 1.
Eagle Eye 2/You can ignore opponents armour and four points of difficulty modifiers
Lightning reload 1/Deduct 1 from the shot cost of reloading
Cyborg shticks: bought with 12 bonus pts
Prodigious leap (Steve Austin feet) (1/1)/Leap twice your Move rate
Friend of darkness (Bionic eye)(1/1)/Until end of sequence act in complete darkness with no penalties.
Natural order (uses armored inserts to block the attack)(3/1)/Take no damage from gun attack.
Weapons: 2 Glock 18's (10/1/1), M16 (13*/5/30), MP5 (10/3/30), Mossberg SP (13/5/9)
Notes: Brian, like the rest of his squad, was a calm, clear killing machine. Specially trained in anti-agent actions, he could clear a room in seconds flat. Once he arrived in the contemporary juncture, he quickly changed over to 1990 weapons and began the series of missions. However, something has changed. This world is so alive, in smells and colors and sounds. It's all so fresh and interesting. Brian would LIKE to be a cold, remorseless killer, but he doesn't have the cold detachment. He quickly went from killing enemy mooks to kneecapping to non-lethal takedowns. Despite the Buro's misgivings, he only kills mooks that seem to more or less deserve it. (Drug dealer guards, yes. Cops, no.) Brian is pretty flexible about that, though. The Buro has noticed that Brian is smuggling back mementos on his infrequent R&R furloughs.
Name: Kara Lee, Killer
Wealth: Poor
Archetype: 2056 Cyborg
Bod 7, Chi 0 (Fu 1), Mnd 5, Ref 8
Skills: Deceit 5+2 7
Driving 8+3 11
Guns 8+10 =15
Martial Arts 8+3 11
Sabotage 8+3 11
Info : Cyborg program 6+2 8
Gun Shticks: Both Guns Blazing 3/With a gun held in each hand, blaze away at your opponent. Damage is equal to (the total damage of both guns) + (outcome) - (opponent's toughness x 2).
Eagle Eye 2/You can ignore opponents armour and four points of difficulty modifiers
Cyborg shticks: bought with 12 bonus pts
Prodigious leap (Steve Austin feet) (1/1)/Leap twice your Move rate
Friend of darkness (Bionic eye)(1/1)/Until end of sequence act in complete darkness with no penalties.
Crane Stance (Another version of dodging) (1/1)/If opponents Perception is lower than your Agility add 5 to your Dodge.
Weapons: 2 Desert Eagles! (12/3/9), 2 MP5K's (10/3/30), Mossberg SP (13/5/9)
Notes: Kara is a sweet young woman, patient but firm, the kind of person you would want as your child's teacher. The fact that she can remain so even while pulling the trigger of a sniper rifle or hammering a big bruiser with her twin Desert Eagles is a testament to the change that has come over her.
She does the job she is trained to do, take out the target or hammer down the strongest opposition. Her emotional change is the most nebulous, more becoming a whole person, much like the way Michelle Yeoh's Wing Chun changes after she gets laid, erhm, married.
Name: Charlene (Charlie) Davis, Big Bruiser
Wealth: Poor
Archetype: 2056 Cyborg
Bod 11 (Tgh 12), Chi 2, Mnd 5, Ref 5
Skills: Guns 5+3 8
Martial Arts 5+7 =12
Intimidation 5+4 9
Sabotage 5+3 8
Info : Cyborg program 5+2 7
Unique Shtick: Big Bruiser Shtick/Death check at 50 WP's, -1 at 40, -2 at 45.
Cyborg shticks: bought with 12 bonus pts
Prodigious leap (Steve Austin feet) (1/1)/Leap twice your Move rate
Friend of darkness (Bionic eye)(1/1)/Until end of sequence act in complete darkness with no penalties.
Hands without Shadow (speed-jumped attack) (1/3)/Make a Martial Arts strike that your opponent can't actively Dodge.
Weapons: AMT Automag (12/3/5), Mossberg SP (13/5/9), Club (14)
Notes: Charlie has always been uncomfortable. A gwailo, big and strong, a girl, the Buro neighborhood watch always had their eyes on her. She took this chance to get away, to go where the Buro biddies couldn't see, to where she might not stand out so strongly. Good luck! At 6'2" and 215 lb., she stands out in a crowd even when "disguised" by the hat and trenchcoat ploy.
Since the mission arrived, Charlie has become more and more worried about repairs. As the largest target, she knows that she will be receiving the larger proportion of the flying lead and fists. What if she becomes damaged and can't be fixed? Charlie has become obsessed with keeping herself in tip top shape and fiddling with her cyberware.
Name: Tung Ma, Techie
Wealth: Poor
Archetype: 2056 Cyborg
Bod 8, Chi 1, Mnd 5, Ref 7
Skills: Driving 7+10 =15
Fix-it 5+10 =15
Guns 7+6 13
Sabotage 6+1 7
Medicine 6+2 8
Info: Science 5+4 9
Unique Shticks: Techie Unique shtick/Spend a fortune point and you have what you want
Cyborg shticks: bought with 12 bonus pts
Prodigious leap (Steve Austin feet) (1/1)/Leap twice your Move rate
Friend of darkness (Bionic eye)(1/1)/Until end of sequence act in complete darkness with no penalties.
Eyes of the Snake (Serpentine dash) (2/1)/Execute a series of distracting tai chi moves, the shot costs of all attacks against you are increased by one.
Weapons: Glock 18 (10/1/11 )
Notes: Tung has had the worst 'trip" from coming to our juncture. He feels that the world is decaying into chaos and disorder. He is quickly coming to pieces. He spends his off-duty hours listening to thrash metal and really gets into the lyrics. The Buro doesn't like the music he's sneaking back, but find it at least properly hopeless. I'm thinking about making him be the contact for an offer from the Eaters of the Lotus, who are a bit more culty and have a more Cthuloid aspect in my campaign.
Name: Sau Yan, Ninja
Wealth: Poor
Archetype: 2056 Cyborg
Bod 8, Chi 0 (Fu 7), Mnd 6 (Per 7), Ref 6
Skills: Deceit 6+4 10
Guns 6+5 11
Intrusion 6+9 =14
Fix-it 7+3 10
Martial Arts 6+9 =14
Sabotage 6+3 9
Info : Cyborg program 6+3 9
Cyborg shticks: bought with 12 bonus pts
Prodigious leap (Steve Austin feet) (1/1)/Leap twice your Move rate
Friend of darkness (Bionic eye)(1/1)/Until end of sequence act in complete darkness with no penalties.
Hair Trigger Neck Hairs (sensor suite - think Steve Austin and Jamie Summers)/+2 to Perception rolls , add the Outcome for that roll, to your first Guns attack or Active Dodge.
Weapons: Dagger (11), Glock 18 (10/1/11), Stars 5
Notes: Once, in 2066, Sau Yan was a perfect tunnel rat. He could get in and get out, with no one the wiser. The cyborging process only improved that, giving him perfect night vision and enhanced senses to scout. After arriving in the contemporary juncture, though, Sau found himself out for others for the first time in his life. Instead of running when his team was in trouble, he jumped into the fight to help them. He discovered the joy of emotional attachment to a group for the first time. Since then, he has become very loyal and is very careful on his scouting expeditions to note anything that might interfere with "his" teammates.
Name: Chingmy Yueh, Karate Cop
Wealth: Poor
Archetype: 2056 Cyborg
Bod 8, Chi 0 (Fu 2), Mnd 7 (Cha 8), Ref 5
Skills: Driving 5+6 11
Guns 5+8 =13
Martial Arts 5+9 =14
Police (Buro Style) 7+4 11
Leadership 8+3 11
Sabotage 5+3 8
Unique Shticks: Stirring Speech/Spend a Fortune point and you can get people on your side.
Martial Arts Prodigy/+2 AV. martial arts for stunts that aren't direct attacks, Active Dodge of 19)
Cyborg shticks: bought with 12 bonus pts
Prodigious leap (Steve Austin feet) (1/1)/Leap twice your Move rate
Friend of darkness (Bionic eye)(1/1)/Until end of sequence act in complete darkness with no penalties.
Claw of the Tiger (added strength to muscles/metal reinforcing) (1/3)/Barehanded attack that does Str +3.
Weapons: Glock 18 (10/1/11), Mossberg SP (13/5/9)
Notes: Chingmy Yeuh was a loyal officer in the Buro armed forces. Like many Buro noncoms, she had mastered the ability to manipulate her men into dying for her but was still able to stay near the back on the most dangerous assignments. Since she has arrived in this juncture, she has felt swellings of .Loyalty to her squad. She protects them from harm and now wouldn't dream of running out on them. More and more, she finds it hard to deal with the BUROcrats from back home. Chingmy's worst worry is that she KNOWS why Strike Team Zeta was created, and was intended to abandon them when things hit the fan. Soon, she'll have to warn the team and tell them about how deep they really are.
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