Night’s Axe

⌦ Adventure ⌦ Game Design ⌦ Cyberpunk

A work in progress adventure for the Cyberpunk Micro RPG Breaker, written in Markdown.

Title generated from Chris Bissette’s Title Generator tool for the 2021 Random Adventure Jam.

A pop-up underground rave known as Night’s Axe has been the target for a virus-like AI Serial Killer, corrupting raver cyberbrains.

Catch the AI before it can claim any more victims.

Chasing the AI

The AI is a point crawl through the minds of an audience and any other tech at hand.

• Map a constellation-like point crawl or line chart over a picture of a crowd at a rave.

Each point is a mini battle. If not defeated after # turns, the AI will jump from it’s current host into the next, restoring 1d4 ⚡ along the way. Each host adds it’s Barrier to the AI’s.

The AI kills it’s victims by downloading their entire stored memory and knowledge. To the point where their shell/body is no long able to manage bodily functions to survive. Like deleting the OS from a computer, the shell forgets how to breathe, how to beat its heart, any involuntary bodily functions necessary to sustain life.

Defeating the AI will save the cyberbrain or OS of the current host it inhabits. Any that fall victim before that are unfortunately lost to the void.

Phases

1. Investigate

• Find out where the pop-up, Night’s Axe, is and track down the AI.
• As the Crew enters Night’s Axe, start a music playlist that fits the theme of the club for your table.
• Hosts manifest symptoms of
  • Immobility (which would stand out at a rave)
  • Exhibiting REM while standing

2. Confront

• Confront the AI by interfacing with the Terminal/Barrier/Serial Interface of it’s victim/host.
• Any time a song changes on your playlist, the AI jumps hosts.

Repeat Phases 1-2 until the Breakers (PCs) are able to overcome the AI (see 3. Capture).

3. Capture

• To capture the AI
  • Run an Attack Barrier protocol or
  • Reduce it’s ⚡ and + to 0

The AI

The AI stems from thew work group at a local University for Computer Sciences specializing in Artificial Intelligence. It was originally an algorithm designed to search digital repositories on the NET for data and download it. While the original intent was to replicate the data, due to an error in its programming, the algorithm began recursive dives into the NET, wiping data it had parsed in the process.

The AI has no physical stats and it cannot control the physical form of its host¹.

However, it can jump between cyberbrains or any computerized device attached to a public network such as mobile phones, personal terminals, etc.

Contra Stats

Generate a Raver

1. Assign 3,5,7 to any stat as you would a Breaker/PC.
2. Assign 1d8 +
3. Assign 1d4 ⚡
4. Roll against the Breaker ///Manifest|Supplementary Table for their gear