From the Attic: The Solo bites the dust and other Cyberpunk Stories

Over on the theRPGsite this lively thread on the Cyberpunk genre ensued.

CyberPunk to me always felt goofy even if it is being fun to play. A version of Urban Fantasy using technology instead of magic. Still Cyberpunk provided me with some of the best roleplaying moments ever.

I was playing a game of Cyberpunk 2020 and I was a Tech. We had an obnoxious player who was running a Solo with a lot of tweaks and mods to make him a virtual killing machine. The player was known to be a backstabber and a "All for me and none for you" type. The two other players were playing a Decker and a Corporate.

So early in the game we were able to upgrade to our weapons. Of course the Solo rudely insisted that I modify his weapons first. I did this and then I worked on everybody else gear.

So we go on the adventure which involves some breaking, entering, and stealing. Along the way we not only grabbed our target but some additional valuable tech and loot. The Solo is a combat monster blowing our opposition away.

Then at the end of the session we talked about dividing what we found. Of course being the combat monster Solo pulled out his big ass guns and stated that everything was his. Everybody groaned as nobody could even hope to match him in combat.

I said "I don't think so. I got a 9mm that says different". Mine you I haven't pulled out anything and he had his weapons out already. The Solo player laughed and told me to back down or he will kill me. I then told the GM I am drawing." Of course I lost initiative and the Solo goes to shoot me.

And nothing happened. The guns wouldn't fire.

Then I got the 9mm out and blew him away.

What happened was that when the players handed me their weapons to modify at the beginning of the game I slipped the referee a note. I put image recognition software on their sights. Then I programmed them not to fire if I was the target.

The look on the Solo player's face was priceless and the rest of the room burst out laughing. Shortly after he gathered his things and left muttering to himself.

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The second story involves Tim of Gothridge Manor. We were playing a game of Shadowrun at Dwayne of Gamer's Closet's house. There were some new players there which made for an interesting mix for the game. Tim rolled up a Solo type with big ass guns and one of the new players rolled up a Decker. The Decker player had diarrhea of the mouth and just could not shut up about anything including how cool his Decker is.

During the game we were all riding in a limo going to a meeting with the Decker player yakking the whole way. He started to talk how tough his character was and how we better watch out or he will Null us and we be left with nothing as we be locked out of our accounts and the Net.

At this point Tim's Solo had enough; he was chipped with a lightning reflex mod and before the Decker could react he snatched the Decker of the character's hands.

Coldly he looked at the players. "So you think to threaten to Null me? Well I am telling you different." He proceeded to exert some of his augmented strength and cracked the case on the deck. The Decker's player literally turned white. "Now I need to squeeze only a little more and this Deck is toast. Are we clear on this demonstration?"

The Decker player quickly nodded and Tim's Solo tossed the deck back to the character.

This incident came in handy for me a few month's later when I sat down to be another Hero System Cyberpunk game at a convention. I didn't know anybody at this game but it seemed to start smoothly. I had some type of fixer with an electric stun stick. But there was another player that had diarrhea of the mouth and just could not shut up about anything and everything. Everybody was getting annoyed when I said

"I reach over and jab his, the annoying player, character in the body with the stun stick."

Everybody stopped and stared at me and the GM in silence. He had both of us roll and I hit. Rolling damage, it was enough to cause the annoying player's character to fall unconscious. I turned to the rest of the players.

"That will shut him up."

The annoying players was so mad and he tried to start protesting but the GM ruled he is unconscious and can't talk in-game. The rest laughed and gave me a round of applause. For the rest of the game anytime the annoying player started to act up I just said "I pull out my Stun Stick and rest in my hands.". The annoying player then shut up.