Blade Runner Sourcebook for 2300AD

R “I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire of the shoulder of Orion. I watched Cbeams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”—Roy Batty Blade Runner was undoubtedly the movie which started the cyberpunk

era, even without reference to any cyber-hacking or anything of that sorts, only because of its sheer noir streetwise look and depiction of the future urban life style in a overpopulated megalopolis, Los Angeles in 2019. William Gibson’s debut novel Neuromancer, which properly defined the cyberpunk genre, only came

out in 1984, two years following the premiere of Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, a book in which the concept of cyberspace found its medium. But the movie obviously doesn’t take the Twilight Wars, the apocalyptic World War III, into consideration. The referee should compensate for this, projecting the occurrences as depicted in Blade Runner into the 23rd century––the year 2294 rather than 2019––as human off-world colonization is fairly commonplace in the movie and in the game not prior to the latter half of the 22nd century. (The world of the cinemas often falls into that overly optimistic prediction of man’s technological advancement.) This section deals with the Los Angeles metropolitan urban environment in particular but may be extended for use with Terran urban life in general, taking off-world considerations as well.

Blade Runner introduces a lot of interesting (and by now classical) and often dystopian science-fiction concepts which could be incorporated into a future noir 2300AD campaign. The novel upon which the movie was loosely based—Do Androids D r e a m o f E l e c t r i c S h e e p ? (1968)—by Philip K. Dick, may also serve as a well of inspiration, as well as the three follow up novels Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human (1995), Blade Runner 3: Replicant Night (1996), and Blade Runner 4: Eye and Talon (2000), written by his close friend K. W. Jeter. Off-World It was the movie Blade Runner which coined the term “off-world” designating anything outside of Earth, probably outside our solar system as well. It signifies the colonies and the proper termed used is the “offworld colonies”.

GAME WORLD DEVLOPMENT Pris – J. F.– Pris – J. F.– Pris – J. F.–

“How old are you?” “Twenty-five.” “What's your problem?” “Methuselah’s syndrome.” “What's that?” “My glands. They grow old too fast.” Pris – “Is that why you're still on earth?” J. F.– “Yeah, I couldn't pass the medical. Anyway, I kind of like it here.”

Even if off-world colonization eventually may have created a “second Earth” or a concept of yet another “core world” besides Earth, i.e. Tirane, this latter should also be considered to constitute an off-

world colony in game terms. However, because large portions of the population on that off-world core world were born there, and some never even have set their foot on Earth, the rules on Earth for offword travel also apply somewhat to that world. But Earth do have a special position, for better or for worse, and the population on Tirane consider themselves to live “offworld”, i.e. off-Earth, Terra being re-garded as the “home world” (legen-dary for those who have never set their foot on it). There is a species of elitism concerning the division between “onworld” Earth and the off-world colonies (including Tirane). Leaving Earth is not open for all or even the majority (although Great Britain has succeeded in emigrating half of its population). First of all, one has to be a citizen of one of the spacefaring nations, which are the following: America, Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Azania, Brazil, Canada, Canton, France (and those nations referred to as “departments” that are considered being part of the French Empire), Germany, Great Britain (and its Commonwealth), Inca Republic, Indonesia, Japan, Manchuria, Mexico, Texas, United Arab Republic, and Ukraine. So, citizenship still counts in 2300. Citizens of other nations have to formally apply for a special visa at the embassy or consulate of any of these above mentioned nations. And those visas are only temporary; to become a colonist is largely the prerogative of a citizen of a space faring

nation and requires a specially and properly issued certificate in the form of a plastic card passport which you have to show to the customs at any spaceport or at the beanstalk. One viable solution to come around this first requirement is to immigrate to such a nation, apply for citizenship after a few years and then to apply for a certificate of immigration to the off-world colonies. The other solution is to gain access to the stars through the Life Foundation, which is endowed with a good reputation and standing in all of the space faring nations. The Life Foundation recruits its contractors and members from all countries, not only space faring nations, and has been granted a official dispensation to have off-world certifycates issued by any of the space faring state agencies in which the contractor or member sends his or hers application to. For practical and administrative reasons, a special agreement has been made with the French authorities at Libreville to grant these valuable certificates to individuals associated with the Foundation, to be able to pass the beanstalk customs. To this end, a special warrant is issued by the Life Foundation to each individual who has signed up as a member or signed a contract for a specific mission off-world.

As has been noted in the pre-vious paragraphs, the second and most important requirement is that one has to apply for a special certificate for leaving Earth. To be able to go off-world you have to go through a thorough and rigid medical examination and be physically and mentally fit, with no permanent or chronic diseases or genetic degeneration. Any severe chronic diagnosis and the application is turned down. Also, you have to be a qualified skilled worker and possess a certain level of education and experience in your profession. A positively written letter of recommendation from your employer or any other good references also helps in the application process. (A Life Foundation Warrant meets this professional requirement; only the medical examination is required at Libreville.) Entire families may of course go off-world and emigrate to the colonies, if the children’s parents meet the professional expectations and all of the members of the family meet the mental and physic-

cal requirements. Thus, only a selected elite can receive a certificate to go off-world. Of course, this rule applies to all worlds, not only residents on Earth; a n y o n e who sets himself or herself out to travel in space has to go through a medical examination. But that examination is much easier and ro-utine on the off-world colonies. The populat-ion living offworld ha-ve a g e n e r a l l y better health situation beca-use of them already having passed a severe examination on Earth. Th-ese in turn often produce healthier children who in the future will pass these kinds of tests with greater ease. Therefore, as the population off-world is much more educated and trained for survival, a colonist is only required to make a simple medical examination on an offworld colony to be able to travel to another one.

On the core off-world Tirane the situation starts to resemble that on Earth, at least in the urban areas (even if it hasn’t degenerated to such a profound level as that on Ea-

rth), which necessitates a more severe examination. However, because of the same reasons as on other colonies, it is only a minority on Tirane that wouldn’t pass such a test. Colonizers are generally healthy, physically strong and fit, mentally stable and cool-headed, morally motivated and integrated, hardworking as well as diligent, dedicated as well as industrious, solution-focused, goal-oriented and ambitious. They are naturally born survivors and fighters. Their culture and norms of society cer-tainly helps to produce a fine stock of men and women, and the best player characters possible. The result of all of this is that the genome of the colonizers is in a lot bet-ter shape compared to the general population on Earth. The situation on Tirane resembles that of other off-world colonists but has also started to deviate from the minim-um criteria during the last half of the century. (Although the old col-onies at Beta Canum-4 represents the hub of the French Arm, the living conditions there, even in the urban areas, reflect a frontier wo-rld more than that of a core world.) Sickness, disease and diagnoses, temporary or chronic (both somatic and mental) on Earth is abundant while it is less common so on the other core offworld (and lesser on Beta Canum) and even lesser on the frontier offworld colonies. It is implied in game terms that all of the player characters are considered to meet any such criteria

to go off-world, and that they already have such a certificate at the outset of the game if either born on Earth (being citizens of a space faring nation) or on off-world Tirane, and that they would pass a simple physical examination on a colony with ease. Thus, this “rule” doesn’t affect the game directly but creates a backdrop that may actually affect the campaign or adventure indirectly through interaction with non-playing characters. It affects society in general that yet another type of social segregation (besides the socio-economic) has been made between lesser suited persons (because of psychological and somatic shortcomings) and that of the physically and mentally fit. A mentally and physically degenerate stock has thus been created on Earth which will continue to perpetuate its weak genome, and segregate it further, while a converse beneficial and positive regeneration of the human genome will produce itself off-world and perpetuate its elite status. Thus, a new kind of natural selection has occurred because of off-world colonization. This state of affairs is somewhat reflected in the movie Elysium, where the wealthy live off-world in a spinning orbital while the poor live on Earth which has turned itself into a large slum and ghetto, which is aptly descriptive of the life situation for the majority in French Central Africa, and in particular of the existential contrast between Libreville and its jewel pendant Gate-

way, as described in the 2300AD canon. In the year of 2300 the certificate is administered on a state or governmental level, following the standard that originally was created by ESA (European Space Agency). Each space faring state issues its own certificates, attached to its citizenship, but a certain standard has been agreed upon which makes certificates between states interchangeable (as passports were in the 20th century and continues to be in the 24th); it is best described as a space passport.

Formally such a state agency do-es not take any socio-economic considerations in its selection process. However, this system has been corrupted and large bribes may provide you with a certificate, although it is dangerous for both parties, the applicant and the officer in charge of the examination, if caught. But the rich have other means in coming around this res-

triction imposed up-on the citizenship. Modern medicine may provide you wi-th a body which is greatly enhanced, bo-th in health and in function, using cell-growth or bioengine-ered i m p l a n t s, or bionic o ne s. T he 2300AD cor e rul e s specifically state that genetic e n ginee ring has eliminated most i nhe r i t e d d i s e a s e s and rendered it possible for parental selection of physical characteristics. However, modern and costly genetically engineered psychopharmicals, using tailored viruses and even bio-engineered brain regeneration, may also create alterations in the brain or modifications to it, curing severe and chronic mental disease such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. All of this is of course only accessible for those who can pay up in front for these types of remedies. Few can afford this. The 2300AD core rules do not segregate between the rich and the poor when it comes to the availability in the sharing of the fruits of any advanced biological science. The referee is advised to create such a division between the classes. The upper class enjoys all of these benefits, while the relatively large and rich middle class enjoys much of it. The working class only enjoy parts of it, if the worker can afford the expensive insurances. Only qualified workmen, which earn good wages, are able to.

The well-fare state and the old social order of the 20th century went down the drain because of the Twilight War and have never recovered since. Instead, the free market type of health care system, involving insurance companies (such as was seen in the health care system of 20th century USA), is universal throughout the Earth and off-world. On certain affected parts of the E a r t h, a pitifully marginalized type of lumpenproletariat or a “gutter people” has emerged whi-ch is wholly cut off from this high-tech e n h a n c e d type of life style. These poor people “enjoy” a per-manent low-tech existen-ce which mirrors that of the 20th century prior to the Twilight War, regard-ing genetic engineering (i.e. non-existant), classical medicine, and technology. However all citizens, also the least blessed, do have access to workable and quite advanced computers (as they are so commonplace and produced so cheaply in 2300). The economically displaced citizenship are in the habit of mo-

difying and greatly enhancing vintage 20th century technology approximating 23rd century standards in recycling it, such as firearms (with enhanced sights and ammunition), machines, vehicles, etc. Also, bionic implants are commonplace, even somewhat amongst the displaced gutter pleople, because of the emergence of the black clinics which does a species of illegal help relief or philanthropy (cyberpunk-style) for the poor and dispossessed. In applying for a temporary travel permit (visa) or a certificate for off-world immigration, all bionic and bioengineered implants and replacements must be accounted for by medical certificates. Any such will be spotted through the medical examination. Although such implants and replacements aren’t illegal per se in 2300 and in fact allowed off-word, illegal implants and replacements transplanted by black clinics are considered to be the equivalent of acts of terrorism, effectively barring any off-world travel, as bionics immediately will be spotted through space port customs. Of course, a flawless fake medical certificate may take the character offworld. Gutter people In the GDW game module Earth/ Cybertech Sourcebook the average quality of life of a citizen on Earth is described as being dramatically improved since the 20th century, with a life expectancy approximating 100 years, with plenty of nourishing food, and industrialization of the Third World and raising

its living standards compareable to that of the wealthy western civilization. This has also resulted in a remarkably dropped infant (and mother) mortality rate, as well as in less disease. People are well educated across the Terran globe with a literacy rate of 90%, and a large portion reaching collage level. Most people speak several languages besides their own native lingo. This is true, when considering the upper, middle and qualified working class denizens, who together constitute the greater majority of the human population. However, although wealth amongst nations are nowadays more or less equally distributed between industrialized contemporaries across the globe, it seems that wealth thrives on poverty, and if you eradicate inequality between nations, a new kind of extreme form of inequality will arise somewhere in another form and from the inside of society.

As a consequence, a new kind of “third world” has emerged across parts of the globe, in the majority of the industrialized and urbanized

nations, in the traditionally developed countries (i.e. Europe, North America, Japan, Australia, New Zeeland) to a lesser degree and in the development (former Third World) countries (i.e. The Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America) which has risen out from their former rural state. It has emerged in the form of a “lumpenproletariat”, “gutter-folk” or “gutter people”, strictly speaking an urban phenomenon, the downside of the emerging megalopolis. Being unable to subsist in the rural areas, they were originnally drawn to the megalopolices, and have since constituted a constant part of its makeup, perpetuating itself and in certain areas even multiplied on a larger scale compared to the rest of the urban populations. This is a new kind of working class or proletariat which is exploited by the rest of the society, which has a low or non-existent level of education, which has no access to any well-fare system (as it can’t afford to pay the insurance bills) or is restricted from a state of the art health care system, being deprived from modern 23rd century technology, etc. If a lumpenproletarian has the benefit of being employed, he or she receives a salary which is far below the existential level. Some work at large and legal factories, under severe conditions and long working hours (12 hours in an average). Others work in illegal or black factories, hidden in the murky parts of the city, in cramped cel-

lars or abandoned storehouses under even more severe and hazardous working conditions, and longer working hours. Some of them have two or three different jobs, with no rest other than a few hours of sleep. The death rate is high amongst these gutter people workmen. Thus, the gutter people live in abandoned and scrapped parts of the old city––the ghettos––with housings that suffers from extreme wear, partly ruined, leaking with water, damp, cold, drafty, etc., in over-cramped living conditions. Many gutter people occupy deserted residents that have been commissioned for demolition. Other gutterfolk live in houses owned by unscrupulous landlords with no access to services. Yet many more live in shantytowns, assembled by the gutter people themselves. The crime rate is galloping and the police seldom enter these ghetto and slum districts. The rich and wealthy middle and upper class living in urban areas guard their privileges from the gutter people, and the environmental hazards, diseases and crimes of the ghettos, by gated city blocks, maintained by contracted security guard and mercenary companies. Also the quailfied working class guard themselves in gated city blocks, but there is lot of arenas on the streets for intermingling between the poor gutter-folk and the citizens of the megalopolis. Perpetuating a degenerating genome, starting off with the nuclear fall-out during the Twilight War,

and being constantly exposed to environmental hazards since then, many of the gutter people have developed handicaps, disabilities, disfigurations, which are carried to their children, etc. Many of the gutter people suffer from the midget synonym, or other genetically degenerate genetic diseases. On Earth, this problem is not particularly addressed. There seems to exist a silent and mutual consent amongst the citizens of the qualified workforce and the middle class, all over the Terran globe. The major ruling ideologies are conservative and liberal, preventing any major state intervention; socialism is a thing of the past and the establishment frightens their citizens from anything leftist with the Twilight War as a warning example in their propaganda. Ordinary citizens are terrified by socialism and regard communists as outcasts of society.

Gutter people are not even granted citizenship, as they live outside and on the fringe of society, and they are not being registered by the authorities of any nation as they are not easily caught, being highly suspicious of any authorities because of past experiences in dealing with them. Whenever general surveys or a census is conducted, the gutter people are never counted as they either shy away from government officials or are consciously ignored by them. They are stateless, paperless, classless, deprived of any human rights and dignity–– forgotten. Although this is largely a global phenomenon, as much of the foundations of Western well fare society was destroyed through the Twilight War (meaning that if you don’t work as an employee and earn your own honest money and pay your taxes, the state doesn’t provide for you), the ratio between actual citizens and unregistered gutter people differs much in different parts of the Terran homeworld.

The largest predominance of gutter people, based on statements

made in the GDW module Earth /Cybertech Sourcebook, obviously is in Mexico (particularly in Los Angeles and Mexico City, and in their metropolitan vicinities) and in French Central Africa (with a large predominance in the metropolitan complexes of Libreville, Kinshasa and Brazzaville), where they mostly live in slums and self-made shantytowns. The ratio of gutter people is the least in North America, Europe (including the former Warsaw Bloc countries and the former territories of the Soviet Union), and virtually non-existent in Scandinavia, mainly comprising homeless people living on the streets, under bridges, in cellars, old warehouses, subterranean complexes (such as sewers and subways). But they are quite substantial in the majority of the former third world nations, who have never had a tradition of creating a well fare system, mostly livi-ng in ghettos of old wearied down or discarded buildin-gs, or as homeless in the streets or whatever sporadic shelters they may find for the night, etc. Thus when one reads ab-out 90 percent literacy, and other claims of welfare and high living standards on Ea-rth in a 2300AD, the paper-less gutter people and the homeless have never been taken into account or been given any serious consideration. (And this solution nicely and tidily circumvents the apparent incongruencies between the 2300AD canon and the Offworld expansion module.) Only citizens are taken into account in

2300AD, and especially so in Mexico which lives under the oppresssion of a particularly severe and cynical governmental culture, where census’ never enter the slums. This explains for the low count of the populations in Los Angeles and Mexico City found in GDW’s richly sourced module Earth / Cyb-ertech Sourcebook (3,430,000 and 5,344, 000 respectively); only the ci-tizens are taken into account there, where in actuality estimations sug-gest that these Mexican metrople-xes has swelled into twice as much in 2300, counting also the gutter-folk living in the uptown sectors. The French government, being guided by the traditional spirit of the French tricolore (liberté, égalité, fraternité), by the revolutionary enlightenment philosophy, which tries to emulate a humanitarian pathos of a sorts, at least tries to register the populations living in the Central African slums and officially con-siders them to be citizens of the Fr-ench Empire, although the ambi-tion dead-stops there; only non-profit and non-governmental orga-nizations, and any volunteer work-ers are actually trying to improve the living conditions for the gutter-folk in Africa. All practical considerations taken, the gutter people are no citizens, not even in French Central Africa, whatever is stated in propaganda. The gutter-folk don’t feel that they belong to any nation, nor do they acknowledge any; instead they create their own spontaneous

anarchistic socialist communities, permanent l o w-t e c h autonomous zones, with alternative and independent economies, in which they take care of their own, without any reliance on the state and solely based on spontaneous action. They even create their own local currencies. Considering the general scare of socialism amongst the ordinary citizens, this fact of course have segregated the gutter-folk even further from society, as they are regarded as not only as physically but also as spiritually leprous degenerates. The various political and revolutionary anarchist wings and movements, who wage a urban guerrilla war on all state nations, governmental institutions, authorities, and corporations, of course capitalize on the gutter people and tries the very best to create a true class consciousness in them through clandestine educational projects, secret rallies, etc., and incite them into revolution, to no greater avail, at least not in Mexico, and to some partial success in French Central Africa. What these anarchist enthusiasts have succeeded in doing though is to help the gutter people to organize their society into small independent communities, after traditional federative principles creating power structures from the bottom up, following the classical 19th and 20th century anarchist thinkers, such as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Michail Bakunin, Pjotr Kropotkin, Emma Goldman, etc.

That the gutter people also have a notorious reputation of being violent towards ordinary citizens (which is true), nothing more than a aggressive scavenging mob with no respect for property––thieves and burglars––doesn’t help much to improve their standing in society. But that is how they live and subsist in a world that have rejected them as degenerates and leprous; they scavenge our world and make use of everything valuable made by our society and industry for their own survival. They may be liked to the old Hindu untouchables––the chasteless o u t–c a s t s––who cleans up the streets and recy-cles all of the spoils and mess created by the other chastes.

One essential side effect that this has created, is that a self-sufficient and a self-providing type of lowtech society has been created, wholly and utterly divorced from established society (to which the player cha-racters b e l o n g), but nonetheless i n t e r a c t i n g with it. And although crime is a large factor in these communities, there is still relative peace and security, especially amongst the Mexican gutter-folk communities. There exists a mutual understanding between the LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) and the SSP (Secretaría de Seguridad Pública del Distrito Federal––the Federal District Police of Mexico City), and the gutter people communities; they are largely left to their own devices and the authorities do not interfere with their self-administration and independence from the Mexican state government, a tradition that have had two full centuries to develop into a fully fledged communal society without any official law. Another one and quite interesting side effect that all of this has

lead to, albeit perhaps not with as much enthusiastic endorsement by the state government as the previous one, in light of the emergence of a fully functioning society amongst the gutter-folk communities, is that it has generated a strong attraction in the Americas or amongst the gutter people across the Western Hemisphere. This lead to a species of migration from South America to Mexico City and from North America to Los Angeles, which during the late 22nd and early 23rd centuries lead to a enormous increase of the slums of respective cities, two-folding their populations before the governmental forces succeeded in filling all of the loopholes

through its northern and southern borders. For all practical concerns a large majority of the gutter people from the Americas are gathered in L.A. and D.F. (Mexico City) in 2300. A similar phenomenon has occurred also in the megalopolices of French Central Africa and the slums of Libreville, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, which have created similar free and proud anarchistic communities following the Mexican model, but with a much more uneasy relationship with the French authorities and thus the gendarmerie and police forces, with often erupted clashes between police and rioting gutter people. Nevertheless, a large

majority of the gutter-folk in Africa have migrated to Libreville, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, to find a new life in relative dignity, freedom and prosperity. It goes without saying that no player characters can ever be generated as being members of the actual stateless gutter people. Their life-style is extremely limited and no member of this chasteless population will ever be allowed to pass spaceport customs, let alone to enter a starship heading offworld. The gutter-folk of Libreville look upon the beanstalk and its attached city in the skies, Gateway, which is visible to the naked eye during days with a clear sky, with envy and resentment. To them it represents all that is abominable, the system which oppresses them, but at the same time all that which

they themselves desire, longevity, health, luxury and freedom. All of that which is at the reach of the player characters. Megalopolices A megalopolis, mega-city or metroplex is a large metropolitan area which often constitutes a conglomeration of several cities which have grown independently until they have reached each other’s borders and entagled, creating one giant city area, hence the name “megalopolis” or “mega-city”. It consists of a continuous urban and city landscape which fluctuates in density and at its cityline. Parts of the metroplex is very modern, up-to-date, and of a high standard and fashion, contrasted with older districts or sect-ors, with sometimes centur-ies old buildings, or at least older

parts of this metroplex are wholly mixed together and interconnected.

structures, quite worn-down. Sometimes (somewh-at common in parts of No-rth America, Europe, Japan and Oceania, but much more elsewhere) these city com-plexes are surrounded by gh-ettos of low quality housin-gs, old, worn-down and to-rn asunder because of low or non-existent maintenan-ce, vicious turf wars, criminal activities, etc.

In the farthest outskirts of the Mexican and French Central African city complexes, enormous slums are gathering surrounding them, being composed of shantytowns built by the initiative of the economically depraved and poor populations themselves. However, all

The neat and tidy, scrupulously maintained, newly designed and highly f a s h i o n a b l e districts or sectors of the Asian, Mid-dle East, African and South American megalopolices or metroplexes, containing th-eir gated and guarded hou-sings of the privileged high-er middle and upper class-es, these city centers that also houses the governme-ntal, judicial, official, admi-nistrative, and corporate buildings, are often surround-ed by the older, more worn and less maintained secto-rs, belonging to the lower middle class and the qualified working for-ce, the underclass citizens, living in more or less gated communities. These again are surrounded by the ghettos of the even older districts which contain severally worndown buildings, sometimes sudde-

nly collapsing because of the total lack of maintenance or “accidentally” going up in a blaze, containing the poorest citizens and the stateless gutter people. When the city wants to expand, it is often the ghettos that are targeted, being levelled to the ground to be rebuilt as a new city center. This process has always been known as “gentrification”, when these poor bastards, who have lost their housings, are forced to go to other already overcramped ghettos or to the even worse shantytowns of the slum districts. The difference between a North American, European, Japanese or Ocianian megalopolis and one in South America, Africa or Asia, is simply the extent and prevalence of these ghettos. The difference between Mexico and the French Central Africa, and the rest, is the prevalence of the slum districts and shantytowns, which are virtually non-existent outside of these areas. However, slums are only providing somewhat better living conditions, and are often inhabited by the gutter people, the lumpenproletariat without any proper documentation and who are not accounted for by their own governments. In North America, Europe and Ocieania, the-se occupy the streets, sewers, sub-ways and warehouses as regular homeless beggars. Thus, the megalopolis is a place of great contrasts and paradoxes. On its overpopulated and often cramped narrow streets, the mixture of people are between the rich and

the beautiful, wearing furs and fashionable retrostyled hats, punks, goths, rastafarians, workers, suits and black ties, Asians and Arabians wearing traditional garbs, or not, as well as Latins, Caucasians, and blacks running about, often carrying LED-lit umbrellas to protect them from the constant rainfalls, stumbling into Hare Krishnas doing their c h a n t s, against the back-drop of half-nude go-go dancers locked up in raised Plexiglas tubes, sales men selling their groceries or what have you, cramping the streets even more, all gathered up into one hectic multicultural potpourri. Add to this picture constant traffic jams with cars of all types on wheat streets, some of them new, very expensive and highly fashionable, blended with recycled and retrofitted old cars, some even from the 20th century, converted to modern hydrogen fuels and heavily modified, thrown together with public busses and yellow metrokabs. And if you look further up, you will spot aerodyne spinners and hovercrafts circling and flying between skyscrapers, large blimps covered with neon and large video screens showcasing flickering commercials, illuminating a constantly murky cityscape.

Environmental disaster

On 24th century Earth organic life is on a negative spiral of dwindle, partly because of the ecological and environmental disasters following the Twillight War and its subseq-uent aftermath anarchy, but most-ly because of the continuing exp-loitation of the natural resources, industrial pollution and overcrop-ping, not the least because of a ra-pid development of the former “thi-rd world” countries to a western level of industrialization accompan-ied by corresponding and intensely resource demanding living standa-rds and welfare. In part this clear environmental consequence and fact is one of the mo-tivators behind spa-ce exploration and off-world colonizati-on. The world suffers as entire species of wild flora and fauna are becoming or ha-ve become extinct. Many species com-mon in the 20th ce-ntury can only be seen in holographic images or as artificially reconstructed copies. The

forests and the seas are more or less pol-luted. The Amazon rainforest––the “lungs of the world”––has also been affected somewhat, and exploited to a certain extent, but world opin-ion has prevented its total desola-tion. Nonetheless, permanent dam-ages has been made on a global scale because of heavy industrial-ization of the Third World nations who care less about environmental issues compared to the Western powers, preventing the full recuperation of the air content in the Terran atmosphere. To compensate for this fact and to create enough breathable air for human and animal life, new terraforming technology, originally developed for off-world colonies to make them habitable for humans, has been applied on Earth as well during the past 23rd century, to purge the polluted atmosphere and thus to create a domino effect and a general, global and gradual environmental improvement to the flora.

Through the emergence of a spa-ce launch capacity on a global sca-le, with a safety standard profoun-dly improved compared to the 20th century’s perilous s p a c e p r o g r a m s, r a d i o a c t i v e and other toxic bioha-zardous w a s t e s are nowadays la-unched into orbit and projected out from the solar system and left to its own devices in the v a s t n e s s of deep space. Oth-er en v i r o n m en t al projects have also b e e n l a u n c h e d, such as the transformation of the North African and parts of the Middle Eastern deserts into lush plains of crops and vegetables, with m o d e r n “cloud-busting” techniques. But all of these projects and improvements constitute but “tears in rain”. In particular the wild fauna has by now become severely and irrevocably affected. Many different kinds of animals are now very rare or have become extinct, with little hope for restoration as the genome in many cases has been lost. The rural areas are also dwindling and ci-

ties are expanding and increasing in population. Most megalopolices are severally overpopulated in 2300 because of the rural population fleeing the desolate and fruitless areas of the countryside which in turn creates an environmental and sanitarian disaster in its own right. Despite the wonders made to the Saharan desert, most other deserts are naturally expanding on all continents and forests are slowly retreating ground and dying on a global scale. The air and atmosphere is severely polluted and rains are quite acidic, especially near or at the urban areas. City-lines are towering with tall skyscrapers making acidic rain a common feature in most megalopolices. Raincoats, plastic covers, impregnated trenchcoats and umbrellas, etc., are common features in most megalopolices because of daily rain showers. Although the ozone layer is severely damaged because of the pollution, the industrially emitted gases and smog creates cloudy and grey skies over the urban areas, obstructing the sun through global dimming, which actually protects people from the dangerous solar radiation. However, these high levels of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere initially accelerated the greenhouse effect during the 22nd century, resulting in a raised average temperature. As a consequence of the global warming, the water level rose somewhat as the polar ice started to melt. But the immanent catastrophe was halted; as the global dimming worsened it co-

mpensated for the greenhouse effect, reversing it during the last century, as the sun rays started to reflect back into space, lowering the temperature. In 2300 the average global temperature has been reverted back to a level a little bit higher than pre-Twilight War levels. However, scientists predict a continuous lowering of the temperatures during the coming century, resulting in colder and longer winters in the not so distant future. Fashion and sub-culture The multicultural environment of the Terran megalopolis provides for a multitude of sub-cultures, cultural or personal styles, and fashions, thrown together into one big urban mix. Most of them could be more or less recognized by any common westerner of the middle and late 20th century, as Terran culture and fashion of the 23rd century is very much retrofitted onto a 20th century template, which is very popular in the mindset of the 23rd century Man on Earth; there is a kind of romantic nostalgia and idealization of the world untouched and undefiled by the Twilight War and the subsequent ages of recovery, and off-world exploration and commerce.

There is a general and widespread disillusionment and defatism amongst those Terrans who have stayed behind on Ear-th, e i t h e r out of f e a r, scepticism, i n a p t i t u d e or unfitness for off-world colonization. The contrast, d i v i s i o n and s e g r e g a

The m o s t c o m m o n and e a s i l y

t i o n b e t w e e n the cultures of Earth

spotted sub-cultural lifestyles and

and t h a t o f t h e o f f -world colonies

fashions encountered by any off-

is huge, although some of these t r e

world colonist arriving on Earth is

n d s h a v e a f f e c t e d the urban

the following:

lifestyles of the Tiranians as well.

Cyberpunks: Although not all

Thus, one may constr-ue that the

cyberpunks have bionic implants or

replacements,

a

common

feature amongst their lot, and thus repre-sent nostalgia for late 20th century punk and goth culture and music, they all hang around at the same places and joints downtown and go to the same clubs. The style and outfit is quite spectacular and so-metimes bizarre. Hairstyles are of the typical spiked punk sub-cultur-es and fashions of the rd

23 century represent a r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of the late 20th century cultures

blended

contemporary

inventions

with whi-ch

follows naturally from the origi-nal historical style.

style, in-cluding Mohawks, with a large var-iety of colors, from plain black

to

very

colourful,

reds,

greens, pinks, blues, oranges, etc.

Cyberpunks are often (but not always are dressed in black, tightly Some lean more to the gothic style of aesthetics, dying their hair pitch black or white, or in combinations, as well as their clothes, in different and often outrageous styles, resembling that of the more crude styled punks, but with their faces painted pale or white with exaggerated black eye make-up. Some have shaved heads. Black sun-

fitted jeans or leather trousers, and leather jackets and sometimes long leather coats. They often wear military type boots or shoes with large soles, or c o w b o y or winkle-picker boots depending on the rest of the outfit. The goths are often of the more vain type and care more about looking good and sharp, as compared to the ordinary punks.

glasses are common. R a s t a f a r i a n dreads are also common blending with the black cyberpunk style, often with quite long and decorated locks. Some lean more towards a rockabilly and c o w b o y g l a m style as an homage to the 1980’s. Cyberpunks of all varieties often have visible piercings, scarrings and other similar types of aesthetical enhancements and modifycations, often reaching bizarre and sometimes even monstrous proportions. This is often combined with

different types of quite well spotted bionic implants and replacements. C y b e r p u n k s prefer to listen to hardcore type of music, such as punk rock, heavy rock, techno, noise, etc., or more ambient and gothic type of rock and electronic music. Drug abuse is quite common, and preferable drugs are Cannabis, Opium, Amphetamines, and Psychotropics. The

cyberpunk

sub-cultural

phe-nomenon in general, and the gothic fashion in particular have had a great impact on a large part of the population across the social spect-rum, as many dress in gothic influ-enced cloths and hairstyles, how-ever not as radical as the true cy-berpunks themselves. Noire Dandyism/Romanticism: This is the fashion style of the middle class and of the elite, the most vogue and fashionable. As with the Cyberpunks, the Noire Dandyism or Noire Romanticism draws heavily on 20th century culture, but primarily from the f a s h i o n s of the 1930’s, 1940’s and 1950’s, with an emphasis on the 40’s and with an emphasis on the noir culture from that era, e s p e c i a l l y influenced by film noir. As with most fashions of the 23

rd

century, everything is over

the top and exaggerated.

The “dandies” are generally a reference to the males and “romantics” to the ladies of the Noire culture. Whereas the Cyberpunks lean towards a more unisex or androgynous look, the Noire culture is quite heavily gender segregated, with the ladies wearing tight dresses or tight skirts, with large fur coats,

hair ups and updos, stylish hats, sometimes with veils hanging over their faces, wearing high heels, etc. reflecting the stereotypes of the eras that they are trying to reconstruct. Although smoking is almost non-existent amongst the majority of the human population, the noire culture has made smoking highly fashionable. The romantics, i.e. the “femme fatale” ladies, often smoke elongated pipes reminiscent of 17th century clay pipes, or cigarettes attached to elongated smoking holder tubes, while the dandies or males smoke cigarettes ordinary, in the corner of the mouth like Humphrey Bogart. The dandies also wear trenchcoats, jackets, matching trousers, shirts (tucked into the trousers) with ties or flies, and sometimes vests, often with decorated patterns rather than plain. They wear low flat shoes, often which nice decorated p a t t e r n s which a i r s the 1940’s. Some wear sneakers. Men often wear braided hats with brims of the retro-style time period as well, and if not they often have quiff hair styles.

The colours often goes in dark hues, not seldom black with some gothic influences, often dark brown c o n t r a s t e d w i t h l i g h t e r s h a d e s, such as khaki or yellow, sometimes white. The individual variety is quite large within this category, whith lots of room to develop one’s own style and eccentricity. And although there exists some inter-mixing between the gothic trend of Cyberpunk and Noire Dandyism/Romanticism, these two cultural phenomena represent two opposite ends on a spectrum, the Noir Dandies and Romantics being very much an expression of high fashion and a desire to look impressive, sharp and good whereas the Cyberpunks exhibit a markedly anti-fashion stance. The latter also represents the fashion of the gutter, the lumpenproletariat, whereas the former are part of the highest establishments of society.

dians. The Hare Krishna movement has grown into becoming one of the largest and their members are often seen on the streets doing their repetitive chantings (such as “H a r e K r i s h n a, Hare Hare, Hare Rama”, etc.), sitting on the pavements and drumming to their chants, trying to proselyte new members into their fold and their detached life style. They live in closely knit communities, leading a life which closely resembles that of medieval monks and nuns, eating vegetarian food and propagating p a c i f i s m, non-violence, etc.

Hare Krishnas: These are not so much a representation of a fashion as being part of a sectarian group which moulds its members into assuming a strict dress code and behaviour p a t t e r n s. Living in an age which by many spiritually inclined individuals may be construed as representing the apocalyptic end-times, large groups of the population are attracted to different religious cults, many drawing on the ancient traditions of the Hindu In-

The Hare Krishnas are quite popular amongst the gutter people or the homeless, and they recruit many members from that chaste-less communities, with the hope of finding a more decent life, but members come from a different walks of life, sometimes from the highest, youngsters as well as adults, who have become disillusioned with their privileges while the poor are living like rats on the streets. The

movement, although highly centra-

Ethnic populations often live in

lized and working on a global scale,

parts of the city which has attract-

is harmless and do not incite rev-

ed a large group of the same ethni-

olution (like the anarchists do), th-

city, racial communities that try to

us avoiding any attention from the

uphold their cultural habits and

government and police departmen-

traditions in a multicultural world,

ts.

creating an aesthetics of the com-

Ethnics: This is basically people from traditional cultures and raci-

munity and neighbourhood which creates a sense of “home”.

ally conscious and proud ethnicities, such as the C h i n e s e, A r a b i c, Japanese, A f r i c a n, I n d i a n, who dress up in their traditional garbs and gowns, such as robes, kaftans, d a s h i k i s, b u r q a s, k i m o n o s, etc. Some of these garbs are elaborate and ornamented, in multiple colors on silk or linen, while others are quite plain and made of simple but robust m a t e r i a l s, such as wool, etc., to withstand harsh weathers. The most common of the ethnical groups seen in the streets, dressed in their beautiful long garbs or plain ones, is undoubtedly the Asiatic peoples in general and the Chinese in particular, who mostly live in their beloved Chinatown (serving as a safe haven for most Asiatics). Already constituting the single largest ethnic group in the world prior to the Twilight War, following the aftermath and nuclear devastation of the Chinese nation, they have emigrated to most parts of the world. Thus, the Asian rice hat

is a common feature on most Ter-

phazardly assembled from differe-

ran steets, being a quite adequate

nt clothing items found by chance

traditional design to deal with the

on the streets or in the alleys), and

constant rains induced by the meg-

exhibits a lot more wear. Thus, the

alopolis. Asiatics also smoke more

metrofit style ranges from more co-

tobacco compared to the average

lourful and quite beautifully orna-

population, preferably by smoking

mented r e n d i t i o n s to more bleak

pipe.

and simple ones. But it almost al-

Metrofits: This is the term used

ways includes some form of head

for the general look most megalo-

gear, often with earflaps, to protect

polis inhabitants prefer to their clo-

the head from rain and cold winds.

century

Jackets are commonly made of thi-

urban life style of Earth. This is fo-

ck materials, quite often fake lea-

remost a pragmatic and rough fas-

ther. Rain coats are very common.

hion style that is geared towards

Thus, metrofit clothing design thi-

the wearer withstanding the harsh

nks practically first and aestheti-

weather of the megalopolis, such

cally second, if there is any room

as r a i n (created by the t o w e r i n g

left for the latter.

thes, adapted to the 24

th

city-line) and winds (from the wind tunnel effect created by the endless corridors along the streets).

The metrofit style often mixes well with the ethnic styles, to a greater or lesser extent. This is in This is also the fashion of choice amongst the common urban population, including the poor and the gutter people, although the latter’s clothing is much more rugged, ha-

particular true concerning the Asiatic races, which often blend futurism with tradition into one mix. One common feature amongst the metrofitted is the use of umbrellas

using LED-lit shafts. The megalopolis often creating a dusky or even dark environment, these “lamprellas” come very handy in the streets.

Retrostyle & Retrofit Technology Although there are impressive examples of highly advanced technology, such as the aerodyne spinners (h o v e r i n g c a r-l i k e v e h i c l e s) and bio-engineered replicants (biological or carbon based androids), much of the contemporary technology that would be encountered through the game should remind the player characters of the state of development of the 1 9 8 0’ s, such as domestic s t a t i o n a r y video phones

In spite of the perpetual gloom,

that take considerable table space,

googles and sunglasses are very

computer hardware with the size of

common amongst the city dwellers

s m a l l d i s h w a s h e r s, c a t h o d e r a y

as they are highly fashionable. But

(CRT) television screens, old styled

they do have a function as well, as

4-wheeled cars, etc., which on the

they protect the eyes from the aci-

other h a n d can p r o v i d e functions

dic rains and also from the con-

and has a capacity that greatly ex-

stant light pollution coming from

ceeds that of the late 20th century

the billboards, neon signs and LED

(C R T - t e l e v i s i o n sets, to take but

lights that perpetually i l l u m i n a t e

one example, work with s u p e r i o r

the city streets.

scanning frequencies compared to anything from the 20th century). One major reason behind this is the technological dark age that the world experienced during the first century following the Twilight War (which destroyed 20th century electronics and much common knowhow about it), where much had to be restarted from scratch using the knowledge possessed by some few surviving engineers and scientists,

plus enough preserved blueprints

vehicles, where high picture quality

of past designs. When technology

is required (CRT technology wasn’t

was being developed for the new

discarded during the late 20th cen-

post Twilight War age, the old (late

tury because of better picture qua-

20

th

century) philosophy of cheap,

plastic,

easily

disposable,

commer-cialised,

mass

lity in flatscreens, but rather beca-

produced kind of pro-ducts, that wasn’t made to last beyond a few years, became a thing of the past as the old economies

(and

their

philosophies) were dest-royed. The new wave of technology that followed was built more rigid, stur-dy, s o l i d, b u l ky and made to last longer. In 2300 computers and el-ectronics a r e n o t made to b e as small a s possib le (a l t h o u g h t h e y can reach miniscule sizes if the ne-ed arises) but rather highly upgra-deable and utilitarian for the gen-eral market, including the off-world frontier, to withstand wear, rough handling and unexpected use. The harsh and simple life-style at the frontiers has

made

this

an

absolute

necessity. Large flatscreen monitors are sometimes used for public spaces, who do not require much of a picture quality, while C R T t e l e v i s i o n screens are used for domestic and in particular professional use, such as in space ships and other kind of

use they were less bulky and cheaper to produce). Computer electronics are placed in

large

sturdy

sta-tionary

housings to provide the unit wi-th ample and neces-sary protection and v e n t i l a t i o n, etc., as well as being prepa-red for future modifications and upgra-des. Portable perso-nal computers (i.e. “laptops”) of the 24th c e n t u r y a r e m a d e sturdier and thicker as well, r e s e m b l i n g nothing of the slim designs encountered in early 21th century of the alternative timeline (that didn’t come to pass because of the Twilight War); in that respect they reflect military designs of that early 21th century era.

Those practical

considerations

art phones, touch pads, and slim

ta-ken, the new type of philosophy

laptops, as we came to know it in

of construction that has taken

the early 21st century (in the hist-

West-ern civilization out from the

orical timeline that never came to

Twil-ight aftermath, it has also

pass), had e n t e r e d the m a r k e t, or

become

quite

become popular, and before Inter-

products,

net, w e b s u r f i n g a n d t h e h o m e

electronics and other machinery

computer revolution, etc., had pro-

bulky, as there is a pro-f o u n d w a v

perly left the ground and revolut-

e g o i n g o n i n r e t r o-styling, to

ionized the post-modern way of liv-

make products look like they were

ing and thinking, spawning the age

made in the 1980’s, fol-lowing the

of information, etc. All that would

general public craze for the 20 th

eventually happen, but much later

century.

for

and in a somewhat different way.

bulky and sturdy designs who can

Cyberspace and the Net would de-

withstand

velop eventually but in a quite dif-

“modern”

popular to

The

and

ma-ke

public

rough

craves

handling

and

sudden accidents.

ferent form known as the “Matrix”.

Also, f r o n t i e r news, shows and

In a similar way, “cellular phones”

documentaries being such popular

would resurface in the form of Vid-

on Earth, this fact has also cem-

Phōns, etc.

ented the utilitarian, robust, indes-

Although cars (and motorbikes)

tructible and bulky designs which

may look very “futuristic”, aerodyn-

are favoured amongst the coloniz-

amic, and s p o r t s c a r e s q u e, many

ers. The “beautiful people”, those

models that were produced in the

who follow the m o d e r n trends in

23rd c e n t u r y r e s e m b l e c a r s f r o m

vogue, also want TV-sets to look

the late 20th century, even from the

like l a r g e f u r n i t u r e, in the same

1950’s and 60’s for those that are

manner as they did in the 1980’s––

very fashionable.

it is the signs of the times and of high fashion. Of course, it also has to be remembered that all t e c h n o l o g i c a l and cultural progress stopped dead in 1995 when WWIII broke out, i.e. long before flat screens, high definition television, cellular phones, sm-

in the streets of megalopolices su-ch

as

Los

Angeles, you will H o w e v e r, a m o n g s t t h e l a r g e

see vin-tage cars from the 1 9 5 0’ s

number of dispowered if the mega-

and

lopolices,

retrofitted

the

poor

population

1960’s,

refurbished

with

and

hydrogen-driven

living a low-tech lifestyle, recycling

engines and modern electronics,

is a necessity for survival. Much of

driving side by side, on equal terms

the actual remnants of the 20 th

with

cent-ury

designs.

that

did

survive

the

Twillight War and its aftermath have been put to use in so-me form or the other. Naturally, r e t r o f i t t i n g is c o m m o n p l a c e, a n d n o t o n l y amongst p e o p l e living in the gutter but the lower class workingforce

as

well.

Now,

what

really

separates the gutter pe-ople from ordinary citizen workmen is that they have developed a keen sense of recycling and retrofitting past vintage technology and hard-ware, such as 20th century vehicles and weapons,

upgrading

it

to

a

workable contemporary standard. Although living out a l o w–t e c h existence, the g u t t e r p e o p l e and the lesser affluent segments of the population house considerably able engineers who create inventions that are compatible with the technology o f t h e p a s t a n d u s a b l e i n 2300, making surprisingly successful but retrofitted designs. Thus,

futuristic

contemporary

Urban Architecture There have been two great global architectural currents that have had a profound impact on postTwilight War Earth. Following the aftermath, the initial wave was the so-called n e o–c l a s s i c i s t i c or neoimperial style, which drew heavily on late 19th century and early 20th century architecture, such as artdeco and early modernism, with large and tall cubical or cylindrical stone and brick skyscraper-like buildings and city blocks, solid constructions with salient or marked features, ornamentations, and normal sized framed windows. The ground level and foundation was often built with large-sized ledges or overhangings with were held up by long arrays of large and fat cubical or circular pillars, highly decorated with repeated and geometrical patterns.

This a r c h i t o n i c style reflected the i n f l u e n c e of the resurrected French s u p e r–p o w e r and its pax francorum. It u n d e r l i n e d a newly gained hope for mankind and for a resurging Western civilization, trying to emulate past victories of the 20th century. However, Latin nations, such as Mexico, Brazil or Argentina, often made somewhat less tall buildings reflecting their cultural traditions, as well as that of Spain, Italy and the Balkans, etc., still expressing the n e o–i m p e r i a l style, the hope for the future and growing confidence of the newly resurrected nation-states.

Then, during the 23rd century, a neo-futuristic style resurged with towering, phallic and pointed features, built with giant steel structures with large w i n d o w p a n e l s, somewhat resembling late 20th century architecture of North America and Asia, but even more abstract

than ever before. These often took and still take quite b i z a r r e and extravagant features, straying away from the previous cubical style, being works of art in themselves. This again reflected the optimism and victories gained through off-world colonization, the ushering of man into a new era of development and new scientific breakthroughs.

Latin nations, such as Mexico, often lent these new constructs an A z t e c and M a y a n flavour, in the form of large staircase-like temple pyramids, such as shown in the famous Tyrell Corporation building in Mexican Los Angeles, one of the architectonic wonders of the 23rd century, situated in and overseeing the large industrial complex of the city known as “Hades”. The building complex consists of twin pyramids towering within the city landscape. All of this reflects the divine nature of the T y r e l l legacy, the means of creating life and taking it, aptly expressed through the shape of the building.

The downtowns of the megalopolices or metroplexes where partly reserved for the new futuristic and almost o t h e r w o r l d l y extravagant skyscrapers, while the older and now centuries old stone buildings of the classical neo-imperial style became retrofitted and upgraded into 23rd century standards. As a consequence, new plummings and tubings, electrical conduits and air conditioning ducts were fitted onto the old withering facades almost like organic vines. The state of the roofs and facades deteriorated as the constant acid rains created severe corrosion on the materials. As a consequence, many rooftops in the older sections suffer from se-vere leakage of water.

To power these v i n t a g e housings, large generators where mounted directly onto the street, lending power through thick cables crossing the pavements, strapped all over the worn down facades. Large screens and neon signs were also retrofitted onto them which constantly broadcasted flickering commercials and advertisements. On ground level, the pillared ledges were fitted with illuminated business signs and brand advertisements, while on top of the ledges, new arrays of backlit commercial store-fronts where mounted thereupon.

In many instances, at least with particularly strong structures, old buildings and entire c i t y b l o c k complexes would be t r a n s f o r m e d into foundations for new futuristic skyscrapers. In some cases they would be hollowed out and used as service accesses or plenum chambers for the really big megastructures above and on top of them. In other cases the building would be left where it was, but with a wholly reinforced giant column built inside to hold a brand new superstruc-

ture; an entire district of older buildings and city blocks could be conceived to individually serve as pillars for a giant superstructure, creating dusky streets and dark alleys underneath the new roofs.

So, out of the top of a normal five or fifty-story building there would now be a giant pylon or pedestal with a huge platform that would go up a hundreds stories to the underside of another towering and futuristic building. Henceforth, the older sections of the city, those at the street level, would be the least desirable for living and working. Class society was now creating structural segregation at city levels, reserving the highest stores to the privileged, powerful and wealthy.

A network of h i g h–l e v e l roads was to be strung between the new and towering m e g a–b l o c k s. And this was to merely be the lover level of a free-way type of intersection for

spinners, located at the entran-ce level of one of these tall skyscrapers. Each s k y s c r a p e r or taller building, either of the aging neoimperial or new neo-futurist style, both in private and governmental use, where fitted with its own landing pad used for areodyne spinners and other vertical landing and take-off vehicles taxing on and off from each building roof.

Down at the street level, evenly spread along the pavements, street lights are placed out to provide a basic and minimal illumination for the pedestrian or vehicle, requiring its own lights turned on. Being a blend of futurism and art deco, they provide illumination through triple LED-lights, standing on a firm base made out of concrete painted yellow and black. Some of these lights, placed at crossings, double as stop signs, showing either a black palm of the hand against a red backlight (while emitting a high pitch rapidly pulsating signal together with a male computerized voice repeatedly stating: “Don’t Walk! Don’t Walk!”), or presenting a shoe and arrow sign against a green light (stating “Cross Now! Cross Now!” while giving out a contrasted lower pitch and calmer signal).

Most of these street lamp poles are of the simple variety, with the single pole which carries a triple frame of LED-lights. Some lamp pole units that are placed at crosssections or squares are provided with an array of CRT monitors, giving information necessary for the common pedestrian to guide himself in the street, such as receiving directions, looking up schedules for busses, ordering metrokabs, etc. Some of these information centers, placed at various crossings, also double as stop signs. A common sight along the kerbstones is a series of parking meters (with slots for inserting Credcards) that are placed there for parking cars, with an attached parking space.

Large parts of the city basement and subterranean levels were also gradually hollowed out to provide with several levels of freeway flyovers beneath a ground level resting on huge beams. On the outskirts of the new and older cores, there are also the industry districts and the eerie landscape of the chemical refineries, extracting fuel and energy to power the m e g a l o p o l i s and its many types of vehicles. This is sometimes referred to as the “Hades landscape” because of its sinister and twisted looking skeletonic steel and metal features.

Off-world architecture does not endorse any of the initial wave of

post-war architectural trends, i.e. there are no buildings raised offworld that resembles that of the neo-imperial style. Colonists are a lot more pragmatically inclined rather than being aesthetical, preferring functionalism as a type-form; they embrace the latest developments (that is to say, if they work) and are quite exempt from the 20th century craze of the Terrans. The fact is that the neofuturistic style of architecture saw its beginnings already in the late 22nd century at the metroplexes of Tirane; that fad eventually were exported to Earth during early 23 rd century. So city landscapes on Tirane and other cities on the frontier worlds reflect the neo-futuristic style as seen on most of the cores of the Terran megalopolices. However, although there does exist many megalopolices on Tirane that match the a r c h i t e c t o n i c g r a n d e u r of Earth, most b u i l d n i n g s on the frontiers are built lower and less towering, although many of them still meet the criteria of a skyscraper, viewed with 20th century eyes.

When it comes to home decoration, there is much variety shown depending on the location and inclination. The rooms in any of the

older buildings from the 22nd century are large, sometimes grandiose, with high ceilings. The style of the neo-imperial tradition is reflected on the insides of the building, with huge d e c o r a t e d p a n e l s and large elaborate wooden doors. The framed windows are also large and tall, sometimes ending in an arch at the top. The ceilings are frequently richly ornamented with stucco features. People tend to decorate these old housings and their attached apartments correspondingly with 20th century antiques and furniture, as well as retrostyled products reflecting that early 20th century era.

People living in any of the newer buildings likewise tend to reflect the outer form in their interiors with futuristic and modernistic features. However, n e o–f u t u r i s m in 2300 somewhat draws on the early modernist art deco styles of the early 20th century as well. This is often expressed in the decorations on the walls, in repeated patterns etched in cement or stone blocks, or unto the pillars who often are featured in modern apartments. Under South American influences, the-se decorations often tend to

expr-ess styles.

ancient

Mayan

temple

Bathrooms and kitchens are often made up-to-date, or state-of-theart, the older housings being retrofitted somewhat to that standard, providing for everything a 24th century household needs in hardware, such as ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers, waste disposers, etc., all of it more or less computorized and automated for better comfort. Lights are often turned on automatically by motion detectors or by voice command.

The most common type of transportation in the megalopolis is by walking and/or by taking the metro underground airfilm subway train, which runs at very high speeds and takes their passengers through the city in a matter of minutes. The way of the pedestrian is often the most simple and effective way of moving in an overcrowded urban environment. Of course, the train cars of the metroplex sub-way are overcrowded as well, similar to late 20th century Tokyo. So this is not a particular comfortable way of transportation, but a very common one amongst the working class. The gutter people are restricted to the streets as they seldom own a transportation ticket, in the form of a plastic chipped credit card, needed to take the metro. A standard fare in the metro is Lv5, which will take the character to any parts of the metroplex but not beyond, which will require more money.

Urban Transportation

Another popular transportation me-thod, especially amongst the Asian ethnics, is to ride the bicycle.

There are all kinds of variety concerning bikes, but the most common is the classical twowheeled variety, whi-ch is still produced as it was in the 20 th century, often by local work-shops. The Asiatics are renowned bicyclemakers and renovators of vintage cycles. A common and po-pular model made by them is the tricycle, which comes in two varie-ties, either with twin wheels at the front or at the back. Both models are common and the former variety often comes with a seat for a passenger (attached with a rain cover over the head of the passenger), and if not the tricycle is always fitted with a flatbed or a bin for miscellaneous cargo. Any of these models may be bought at Chinatown. Prices for newly made cycles range from Lv30 to Lv120 depending on the type (tricycles are more expensive), special features, transmission type, and of course manufacture quality. A renovated vintage cycle will cost between Lv10 and Lv30.

Another public transportation service available is the one provided by the various privately owned bus

companies. These differentiate and vary in quality depending on which city district they are serving. Some companies do not enter certain sectors, such as in the ghetto or slum districts. Instead, the local gutter people communities have started their own cooperative buss lines, which mostly transport the public in the lesser fortunate city sectors. The busses maintained by them are, contrary to the state of the art “finer” bus company types, old and vintage models, some even from the 20th century, retrofitted and adapted for contemporary use.

Yet another way of urban transportation for the pedestrian, as a more luxurious alternative to the bus, is taking a metrokab, which is a q u i t e f r e q u e n t f e a t u r e i n 24th century urban traffic. But like with the bus, this is usually not a particularly fast way to go about in the megalopolis, as speeds in an average are lower than a slow walk, at least during daytime, and almost at stand still at rush-hours. Like in any cab company a metokab car will charge according to its taximeter; to take a metrokab within a city sector will cost approximately

Lv10 and between sectors in ranges between Lv10-50 depending on the actual distance; to go from one end of the L.A. metroplex to the other would probably cost somewhere around Lv100. These are payable via a special taxi-pass, a specially made plastic chipped card charged and recharged with an amount of money which is drawn from the card by a special slot machine on-board the metrokab.

Bus fares range between Lv2 to Lv10 d e p e n d i n g o n l u x u r y l e v e l and city sector. The most expensive fares are in the megalopolis downtown and the fashionable sectors. The cheapest are in ghettos and slum districts. However, it must be remembered that any of the busses maintained by the free gutter communities only accept locally produced paper currencies, as they work outside of the general economic structure and credit bank system.

Of course, the car still presents a viable means for travel, coming in different varieties. There are vintage models, retrofitted for urban use, and there are contemporary sedans, coupes and armadillo trucks or vans, utilized for urban traffic. But, as the urban life style of the megalopolis produces endless traffic jams, it can take hours to arrive at a destination which could have taken 15 or 30 minutes to arrive at by foot, or a minute or so by the air film metro train. Still, cars are symbols of power and prestige. Some residents even live in their vehicles, often in vans modified for sleeping and cooking, etc. The privileged and the rich of course have their own pool lanes, the free-way intersections for spinners. The aerodyne spinner is the 23rd century equivalent of a private helicopter, making travel almost instant and superior to all alternateves. It represents a state–of–the–art 23rd century technology and superiority, and is thus reserved for a selected few. Still they are a common sight when looking up in the

sky while walking on the side-walk. Besides private spinners and corporate spinners, the local police departments also use s p i n n e r s for crime prevention.

Fast Food The cuisine of the 23rd and early 24th century is a continuation of that of the late 20th century. This is also true when it comes to fastfood, a very common feature in urban life of the megalopolices. There are of course the big American style franchises, such as Mc Donalds and others, already common in the 20th century. These often serve the pedestrians with food directly on the streets, in shops and diners attached to the major building.

But there are also diners run by private entrepreneurs who serve fast-food based on different ethnic cuisines, such as the Japanese sushi, Chinese noodles, Arab falafels, T u r k i s h s h i s h k e b a b s, etc. These are scattered all over the streets, in old converted and retrofitted busses or portable wagons, taking up large spaces from the side-walks and squares, with people commonly sitting and eating, drinking and talking, or reading a magazine or local paper. This is a very common sight when visiting a megalopolis, the local fast-food culture. And it is all a true reconstruction of late 20th century urban food culture. It is even served in the same kind of packages, made out of cardboard and plastics, with plastic straws for drinking, and wooden copsticks for eating (if the food is Asian), etc. Prices range between Lv1 and Lv2.

Los Angeles Police Department Although this section deals with the LAPD force, under the Mexican governmental jurisdiction in particular, what is said in the following more or less applies to the police forces of Earth in general.

The L. A. police department is ba-sically modelled upon the same or-ganization that existed prior to the Twilight War. This means that it has a strict hierarchy and several sub-departments that are individually specialized in different law enforcement fields or functions. Police officers will be encountered either as uniformed officers or dressed in civilian clothes, i.e. as investigating detectives. The latter often use civilian vehicles or standard service police cars painted in civil colors. The former has the function as crime prevention, to guard the m e g a l o p o l i s and its inhabitants and to arrest crime suspects.

Uniformed police officers will be encountered in several different possible ways and varieties, usually travelling in pairs known as “patrols”. Either the characters will en-

counter a pair patrolling the streets, or they will seek them up in the nearest Police Information booth where the citizen may file for any c o m p l a i n t s or press charges against persons or report a crime. The Police Information booth approximates a small police station only large enough to fit a single police officer ready to attend to any police matters which may arise, even directly prevent crime when spotted if necessary. These small one-man booths are scattered throughout the city sectors mainly used for surveillance of the dense crowds.

Characters may also encounter uniformed police officers travelling by police motorbikes, or more commonly by police patrol cars. A common high performance police car used is the Porsche sedan model. Another common police vehicle is the spinner, a vertical take-off and landing aerodyne vehicle which also may be used on roads, doubling as a car, maintained by the LAPD Air Support Division, which continues a long standing tradition since the 20th century.

A 24th century law enforcer is well protected and well armed, being a good match against any character. All police officers of the LAPD carry the powerful S t e y r L.A.P.D. 2 0 1 9 B. R. U. 1 0 m m C a s e l e s s as a side arm, a hand gun which do-ubles as a small grenade launcher besides being a revolver.

baton or truncheon with a side handle (1), and a flash-light (2) to go with it. He also carries a l e a t h e rlike armor suit strapped over his body, including a fake leather helmet and a pair of shoulder guards. A special cod piece type of armor hanging from the belt protects the groin as well.

The body armor is of the nonrigid 2300AD type, reinforced with composite plates over the breast, torso and back, and the groin, giving additional protection. A pair of non-rigid gloves made in a fake leather material are added for protecttion, complemented by one leather greave with an inbuilt communicator and wrist watch.

Also known as the d e t e c t i v e special P. K. D. Model blaster, it is carried in a special holster at the right hip (5) attached to a specially designed fake leather belt, with attached side pouches (3 & 4) for spare drum magazines and ammunition, etc., as well as a rubber-coated

darkened googles over his helmet. The fake leather police cap is worn directly over the helmet and attached to it is a Plexi-glas visor protecting his face. Wires are attached to the visors so that they may light up at night.

The helmet unit is also composed of non-rigid armor materials, attached with twin head-phones plug-ged into the communicator control-led from the right forearm. A throat microphone is plugged into the sy-stem as well for better ease of com-munication. The police officer alwa-ys wears a pair of

The service uniform is black, with a standard collar with attached rank insignia, completed with a black tie worn under the chest armor. However, on the torso, most of the service shirt is made of meshed net fabric for ventilation and better comfort when wearing body armor. An overcoat in fake leather is worn in colder climates and for rain protection. The police officer also wears a pair of fake leather boots which covers the lower part of the legs with n o n–r i g i d a r m o r. In addition to this, motorcycle police officers wear traditional breeches, knee hi-gh fake leather boots and traditio-nal white helmets.

The body armor counts as nonrigid (AV: 0.8) over the head, arms and lower legs and as rigid plate over the upper and lower torso (AV: 1). All in all, this provides good generic protection for the service men of the force and prepares them for all kinds of urban hazards and tactical situations.

Police car patrols are usually armed with Traylor Model 10 shotguns for additional firepower, that comes with a large variety of ammunition types, other than the standard buckshot round, highly useful when special tactical situations in urban environments are encountered, such as: 

 



Tear gas grenade DP: as explosion (EP = 1) but no fragmentation. Creates a tear gas cloud for 2 min, 10 m long and 5 m high. When entering the cloud it inflicts DP: 1 (stun damage only) Rubber slug DP: 0.8 (blunt damage only) Breaching slug (made of a frangible sintered material, for opening locked doors) DP: 0.8 Baton round (consisting of a flexible “bean bag” filled with lead slugs that expand into a

pillow, distributing the impact damage over a 6 cm2 area) DP: 0.3 (blunt damage only)

Whenever a major situation occurs, such as in a killing, accident or any other similar incident, several police patrols are sent to the location as a backup. In a hostage situation, bank or shop robbery, a shootout, a riot, etc., a larger backup will be deployed involving a specially trained Special Weapons And Tactics (S. W. A. T.) team, which also h a s i t s h i s t o r i c a l o r i g i n s i n 2 0 th century LAPD. The S. W. A. T. police is a paramilitary unit that is trained to deal with hostage situations, as well as engaging in counter-terrorist and urban counter-insurgency operations, armed with h e a v y w e a p o n s such as assault rifles, sniper rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and p l a s m a g u n s. When larger riots occur, ordinary police officers are summoned armed with large Plexiglas shields to go with their batons.

The LAPD has its major metropolitan headquarters and central of-fice in downtown Los Angeles, hou-sed in an old n e o–a r t d e c o sky-scraper, one of the tallest in L.A. especially raised for the police de-partment during the 22nd century. It houses the central dow n t o w n bureau (recognized by its three dig-its 995) whose responsibility is to maintain law in the downtown sec-tors with several patrol divisions. It also consists of a traffic division, maintaining a corps of motorcycle police officers. The Air Support Di-vision has its entire fleet of spinn-ers in the building which takes off and lands on the roof, in special platforms which takes the spinner down to the lower hangar through an elevator.

The central building also houses the Detective Bureau which is organized into several divisions specialized in different crime areas, such as homicide, robbery, narcotics, commercial, vice, e t c. The b l a d e r u n n e r division, also known as the R e p l i c a n t D e t e c t i o n (Rep Detect), ans we r s dir e ct ly t o t he Det ec tiv e Bureau. The central office also houses the Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau, which includes the S. W. A. T. team amongst other specially trained police officers.

There are numerous other bureaus (being allotte d ano ther set o f three digit num b e r s) w h i c h juridices other local city secto r s, e a c h o f them m a i n t a -i n i n g s e v e r al uniformed police patrol divisions (or precin c ts) al lo tte d to each sector, centered in local police stations which in turn allots the different police boots to particularly crowded parts of the sector. Each sector division maintains a fleet of patrol cars and a corps of patrolling police officers.

24th century L.A., or any other metroplex area in the laissez faire world, does not represent a classic police state per se, although being a police officer entails p o w e r and social s t a n d i n g, with the citizenship (“the little people”) under heavy e l e c t r o n i c s u r v e i l l a n c e. While

patrolling foot police on the streets and police cars is a quite common sight, especially in the more central and busy sectors, characters will not spot an inordinate number of police officers downtown, only eno-ugh to protect private and compa-ny property, upholding a semblan-ce of law and order. For every four hours of game time characters mo-ve on the streets in the downtown sectors the referee should roll a D10, and check results: 1-3 4-6 7-9 10

= = = =

Three patrols encountered Two patrols encountered One patrol encountered No patrols encountered

Role a D6 for each encounter: Odd numbers means that a walking patrol is encountered, even that a vehicle is encountered, either a ground patrol car or a hovering spinner. If latter roll another D6: Odd numbers means a ground car and even an aerodyne spinner.

Police patrols are quite scarce in the uptown or suburban sectors (a result of ≤ 3 on a D10 means that one patrol is encountered during one four hours game time period), and they almost newer enter a autonomous district overtaken by the gutter people (no rolls are necessary), if not forced to it by necessity or by any matter of emergency, other than by hovering spinners on patrol runs in safe distances (the referee may roll a D10 once every four hours of game time, in which the characters will spot a police spinner flying or hovering on a high altitude on a result of ≤ 2); patrolling police officers and police cars, being a hated sight and symbol, are often assaulted with stones, rocks and sticks when they enter ghetto and slum areas mainly inhabited by gutter-folk. Commerce and Payment

There are two kinds of commerce encountered in a megalopolis. Walking in downtown Los Angeles a character will encounter many regularly maintained stores and shops, large and small, housed at street level in a building ground floor and sometimes on several floors beyond that or underground, such as franchise shopping malls and supermarkets. Much of that business culture reflects the market culture of the late 20th century.

But on the streets there are also many mobile or portable shops housed in converted wagons, trucks, vans and busses. A common feature, especially in uptown sectors, is the bazaar market which houses many local shops, both permanent and temporary, primarily maintained by ethnics. Walking into such a place is like stepping into a 20th century Marrakesh.

Prices at the local bazaar market place varies much and seem to be quite arbitrary; prices are mos-tly settled through bargain. In such a market, anything may be bought for a price. Including animoid repli-cants of different and often exotic varieties, as well as fastfood, food-stuffs, 20th century antiques and artifacts, etc. In uptown sectors, es-pecially in the a u t o n u m o u s z o n e s inhabited and maintained by the gutter-folk, illegal and black mark-et goods may also be aquired by a reasonable sum of money, includi-ng black clinic bionic implants. To bargain in a downtown or up-town bazaar is a task, and must be preceded by a successful appraisal of the object. Task 1: To evaluate the price of an object. A p p r a i s a l. D i f f i c u l t. 1 minute. Task 2: To haggle with a seller about the price of an object. Bargain. Routine. 2 minutes. Referee: If the initial appraisal task was successful, the bargain is routine. If not, it is difficult. In the megalopolis, payment is either done by using a personal Credcard (as described on page 28 in the GDW module Rotten to the Core) or by using cash with paper or coin currencies. Credcards are issued to all citizens who have an official employment, temporary or regular, either by themselves when opening an account (as all salaries

on Earth and Tirane are played to a bank account) or by the employer attached to the bank that they employ for their business. Most megacorporations run their own banks and/or credit companies; employees are generally issued a standard corporate Credcard bearing the company logo.

Most regular shops accept payments by cash, although the preferred payment method is by Credcard, issued by one of the megacorporations. Going downtown, regular shop keepers and franchise stores only accept Credcard payments, frowning on physical cash as something vulgar; paying upfront with dollar bills or coins can be a sign that the character is unemployed or that he deals in illegal activities or murky businesses.

However, many or most private entrepreneur shop keepers on the streets, rather prefer payment by cash upfront before Credcards. Many of them try to evade government taxes in some way or the other. Some of them do not even accept Credcard payments. At bazaar market places, the only viable payment method is paper money or coins, either in French Livres or the national currency (in L. A. that would be the P e s o ($) or “Spanish Dollar”). Uptown market places, especially those maintained in autonomous zones and gutter-folk sectors, only accept local currencies; paper bills printed by the community itself. Money have to be exchanged by uptown black money changers only using physical money. Player characters are advised to always keep national currencies handy, besides their Credcards. The Livre is always a popular currency because of its stability and general use throughout the human universe.

are notorious for their extravagant style and lecherous entertainment, like in Taffey Lewis’ bar at 4th sector L.A., known as ‘The Snake Pit’, which is famous for its snake charming erotic dancers.

Besides, as a personal Credcard is attached to one particular or a particular set of bank accounts, within the same bank or any company who has its own banking and credit system, it generally only works on Earth, although that it does on a global scale. C r e d c a r d s are also issued on Tirane, and as it is possible to have multiple bank accounts attached to the card within the same bank or company, it is possible to have one Credcard working on both Earth and on Tirane. But usually, separate C r e d c a r d s are issued on Tirane and on Earth. On the frontier o f f–w o r l d planets, no payments are accepted by Credcards, only by paper money and by coins. Prices for everything downtown are inflated—add 5 0–1 0 0 % to the normal prices given in 2 3 0 0 A D, GDW’s Equipment Guide, or Earth/ Cybertech Sourcebook. Prices at the uptown sectors are normal, and at the bazaar market places of the autonomous zones cheaper, commonly at half price. Night Clubs and Bars Night clubs and bars are a common feature and scene in the megalopolis downtown life. Some sectors

Downtown nightclubs and restaurants usually aim at and attract the n o i r d a n d i e s and r o m a n t i c s, and their varieties. Joints such as this, being in vogue, serve exotic drinks and multi-cultural foods at quite expensive price tags, at least double from the usual prices found uptown in a similar night club venture. Any drink or cocktail at Taffeys Bar will cost between L v 4 to Lv8. A Margarita cocktail will cost Lv5 and a beer between Lv2 and Lv6. A meal will cost approximately Lv10. Half this price at uptown bars and restaurants. Music played at noir nightclubs is often synthesized but calmer, with slower rhythms, more mysterious and orienttal.

J. F.– “Because. You're so diferent. You're so perfect.” Roy – “Yes.” J. F.– “What generation are you?” Roy – “Nexus six.” J. F.– “Ah, I knew it. ‘Cause I do geHardcore rock clubs, places which attract the cyberpunks and similar sub-cultures, usually serve less exotic meals and more straight drinks to go with their h a r d c o r e rock’n’roll and techno music acts. They are more common uptown, although they may be found downtown as well but more scarcely compared to the noir night clubs. Prices vary but reflect approximately 70% of the downtown and uptown prices at night clubs. Bars, clubs and restaurants in general, aiming to attracting the urban commoners of the metroplex exihibit the same price tags. Cocktails and alcohol drinks are served t r a d i t i o n a l l y, following 2 0 th century custom. Beer is served either in glasses, glass jars or in bottles. Even when buying drinks in shops, bottled beers or sodas are generally preferred amongst the Terrans, at least in the megalopolices. Cans are more common off-world, and in spaceships, although they do exist and are common on Earth as well, mostly in rural areas where it is more practical.

BIOENGINEERING Roy – “Why are you s t a r i n g at us Sebastian?”

netic design work for the Tyrell Corporation. There's some of me in you. Show me something.” Roy – “Like what?” J. F.– “Like anything.” Roy – “We're not computers Sebastian, we're physical.” Pris – “I think, Sebastian, therefore I am.” R o b o t i c s technology has taken a huge leap with the radical developments in bioengineering, the science and art of creating synthetic animal tissue on a cellular and genetic level, genetically engineered to give it g r e a t l y e n h a n c e d abilities. Out of this revolutionary discovery the first step was to create artificial biological carbon based organs and limbs for humans, instead of using bionical (mechanical) prosthetics or donated organs from other individuals.

human replicants are referred to as a “Nexus,” the first bioengineered generation proper being N e x u s – 4, the next one N e x u s – 5, etc. Today the most common generation is called N e x u s – 6. This is what is said about them in the relevant dictionaries: a n d r o i d (an'droid) n, Gk. humanoid automation. more at r o b o t. / 1. early version utilized for work too boring, dangerous or unpleasant for humans. 2. second generation bio-engineered. Electronic relay units and positronic

The next step was to create entire l i v i n g o r g a n i s m s, to recreate synthetic copies of extinct or rare animals to compensate for the scarcity of the original species. These,

brains. Used in s p a c e to e x p l o r e inhospitable environments. 3. third generation synthogenetic. REPLICANT, constructed of skin/flesh culture. Selected enogenic transfer conversion. Capable

of

self-perpetuating

thought.

sold in regular pet stores, came to

Para-physical abilities. Developed for

be termed “replicants” because of

emig-ration

the extremely complex bioengineer-

Dictionary, New International (2287)

ing process referred to as “replicat-

R E P L I C A N T \ rep'~li~cant\n.

ion”, i.e. the exact artificial copying

program.—Webster's

See also

ROBOT

(antique): A N D R O I D (obsolete):

of the genome of a real individual

NEXUS

(generic): Synthetic human with

specimen.

Paraphysical

capabilities,

having

Animal replicants are also refer-

skin /flesh culture. Also: Rep, skin job

red to as “animoids”. The next nat-

(sla-ng): Off-world uses: Combat, high

ural step however, although not without a problematizing ethical discourse and public debate, was to create human replicants, mainly used for slave labour and military purposes, but also for entertainment and prostitution, mostly used on offworld colonies. Each generation of

risk industrial, deep-space probe. Onworld use prohibited. Specifications and qu-antities information c l a s s i f i e d. —New American Dictionary (2291)

The entire process of bioengineered replication was developed and patented by D r. E l d o n T y r e l l who founded the Tyrell Corporation du-

ring the second half of the 22nd century, involved in robotics tech-

But because of a bloody mutiny

nology. (Generations Nexus-1 to 3

by a combat team of Nexus-6’s on

represented T y r e l l Corp. early hyb-

an off-world colony human replica-

rid mechanical / electronic / biologi-

nts of all generations have become

cal android models, referred to as

illegal on E a r t h, although they are

“second generation” in W e b s t e r.)

still being produced at the Tyrell

While the patent on animoids has

Corporation facilities in Los Ange-

been expired for some time now, for

les, Earth. Special police units, cal-

other companies to exploit and also

led “blade runners”, are sent to in-

private entrepreneurs, making a n i

vestigate any trespassing replicant

m a l s i n s m a l l l o c a l w o r k s h o p s to

who has managed to break quar-

produce their own examples of

antine and entered Earth territory,

commercial replicants, the patent

and to terminate it on the spot wh-

to create human replicants is still

en found––this is officially called

jealously guarded by the T y r e l l

“re-tirement”.

Corporation. The fact is that even

The N e x u s – 6 generation was a

the Tyrell Corporation relies heavily

real breakthrough in human biolo-

on local entrepreneurs in L.A., lice-

gical replication and true artificial

nced and contracted to deliver a

intelligence and authentic conscio-

fresh supply of body parts (such as

usness, as it created identical copi-

e y e s, k i d n e y s, i n t e s t i n e s, l i m b s,

es of humans but with the possi-

etc.) to the Tyrell facilities to be as-

bility to greatly enhance the mental

sembled into a full human repli-

and physical abilities. During their

cant,

central

first years of service replicants wh-

nervous system being reserved for

olly lack any emotional responses,

Tyre ll’s engineers.

and more or less seem robotlike in

the

brain

and

their behaviour, much like mechanical androids. That is because replicants were originally designed to copy h u m a n b e i n g s in every way except their emotions. However, as their designers had reckoned, after a few years (approximately 3 years, sometimes earlier) they start to develop their own

emotions; the first emotion they always experience is fear, which they constantly bear with them since, during the remainder of their life span. But eventually, after approximately 4 years or so, they start to exhibit a human range of emotions, besides f e a r: h a t e, a n g e r, e n v y, etc., even loyalty, love and commitment. But lacking any life experience, replicants are emotionally on the level of human toddlers, expressing their n e w – f o u n d emotions on that primitive level, similar to that of individuals with Asperbers syndrome; they continue to exhibit a lack of empathy which gives them a highly psychopathic and antisocial character. And because of the lack of a “emotional pillow”, being given a fully adult level of i n t e l l i g e n c e, almost all of the Nexus-5 units sooner or later, being o v e r w h e l m e d by their emotions, exhibited a range of mental diseases, such as depression, mania, compulsive behaviours, obsessions, etc. And after approximately 5 years they developed psychosis or a total metal breakdown, similar in quality to the breakdowns experienced by the AI’s of mechanical androids (who needs to have their entire memories erased after ap-proximately

3

years

of

deployment, for the same reasons).

But there is no possibility to erase the memories of a replicant in the same manner as with the mechanical android (M e c h a) without causing serious brain-tissue damage. Thus the N e x u s – 6, which was an enhanced version of the previous generation, was given a four years life span counting from the incept date (the time of activation), which retired the replicant through instant death (and the recycling of its organs). However, the Nexus-6 generation replicants experienced some averse symptoms of the imminent death, such as spasms and shakes to their limbs some months prior of dying. A N e x u s – 6 is never told the exact longevity of his life span (only being cognizant of his incept date),

he feels its imminent death a day or so in advance, taking a last rest that day so as not to create a hazardous moment for others, especially humans, when put in a vital po-sition. R e p l i c a n t s are utilised all over the off-world colonies, in all arms and fingers of known human space, with the only exception being

Replicant models come in differ-

Earth itself. Some governments,

rent types depending on the levels

su-ch as the Mexican, even gives

of m e n t a l and p h y s i c a l abilities.

away one for free to each colonizing

There are three levels––A, B and C.

fam-ily upon immigration. They

Level B represent normal human

compe-te on the synthetic human

levels, while level A represent en-

marked

hanced abilities and C below ave-

with

bionical

androids. also

rage human capacity. There is also

referred to as “androids” but that

a corresponding price range attac-

term has ex-clusively been used for

hed to these three levels. For some

mechanical

the

simpler and routine tasks, level C

Nexus-5.

replicants will due, while certain

cost-ly

ad-vanced and severe work tasks

Originally

replicants

introduction Replicants

robots of are

were

since

the more

compared to androids (androids

re-quire l e v e l

A. The first

sometimes being referred to as “the

generation

poor man’s replicants”), but gener-

were manufac-tured on l e v e l C,

ally more mentally advanced, and

both physically and mentally. But

more easily blending in their inter-

physical level B (Physical-B) models

action with humans and the social

were already introduced with the

context as a consequence of that.

Nexus-4 gener-ation, while physical

replicants

(Nexus-4)

level A (Physi-cal-A) models where incepted with the Nexus-6 which for

the

first

time

in

history

introduced human repli-cants that were stronger, more de-xtrous and enduring

than

counterparts.

their

hu-man

inception and are still continued with the latest N e x u s – 6 generation. Mental-A types have greatly enhanced mental and intellectual abilities, which exhibits an IQ level beyond 130, reflecting the genius of the-ir maker, D r. T y r e l l. Mental-A Although replicants can be made superior to their creators in every respect of their physical capabilities, which also includes their five senses, all replicants are also quite easily spotted. Because of a design flaw and partly because of a higher light sensitivity of their retinas, when exposed to strong lighting one will notice a glow in their pupils, like that of a cat or as seen in pictures with strong flashes.

type

Nexus-6

scarcely

replicants

pro-duced,

and

are that

primarily as milit-ary commanders of

(suicide)

computer

death

operators,

squads, engi-neers,

etc. Mental-B type Nexus-6’s exhibits an average of 9 0 – 1 1 0 in I Q level, i. e. the equivalent of the h u m a n average, while Mental-C type replicants have an average IQ level below 80. The mental level also reflects their eloquence and level of academic education. However, like any machines, replicants have universally a higher level of determination, i.e. se lf–discipline, compared to humans––they seldom loose their motivation or dedication once given a command or instruction, regardless if they are Mental-A, B or

Mental l e v e l B (Mental-B) types were introduced with the N e x u s – 5 generation, while m e n t a l l e v e l A (M e n t a l – A) types were introduced with the Nexus-6. All three levels of characteristics have been continuously produced since their original

C type models. Mental-A replicants have a high level of independence, s e l f – d et e r m i n a ti o n and i n i t i at i v e, which has given them a somewhat b a d r e p u t a t i o n, especially since a Me ntal-A and P h ys i cal-A Ne x us-6 designated as Roy Batty murdered D r. E l d o n T y r e l l in 2 2 9 4 after a

successful infiltration of the Tyrell Corporation building.

R e p l i c a n t s, being endowed with a human psyche (or “soul”), are preferred by colonists, if they can afford them. They are used as slave workers off-world; no replicant can be granted amnesty or freedom by law. But, being docile and obedient

by birth, because of genetic manipulation, colonists haven’t genera-l l y s u c c u m b e d t o t h e brutality of the human slavery era of the 19 th century, although hum-an violence against rep-licants does occur. Replicants do defend themselves when

assau-lted,

contrary

to

andro-ids, as they s h a r e the human self-preservation d riv e, but t h e l a t e s t exemplars of replicants are apparently less inc-lined to take violent act-ions against their hum-an masters compared to the early Nexus-6’s, although there still are cases of r u n a w a y r e p l i c a n t s and T e r r a n i n f i l t r a t i o n. Sometimes a Nexus-6 may develop

an obsession to return to their

ration itself on a experimental bas-

origins, i.e. the Ty-rell Corporation

is, who issue some models to gove-

building. When do-ing so they also

rnments on a limited scale. To ma-

are forced to com-mit v i o l e n c e to

ke them blend in with humans bet-

reach their goals and to evade or

ter, longevity Nexus-7’s are usually

defend themselves against their

made from Physical-B models, with

human pursuers.

average non-super human charact-

Military models are of course ca-

eristics, and often Mental-A as the-

pable of committing violence again-

ir requirements are adapted for hi-

st h u m a n s but usually only on a

gh level qualified assignments. The

direct order and (like all replicants)

b lad e r unn e r division of the L AP D

in self-defence. For that reason, re-

is known to have used at least one

plicants are almost exclusively us-

N e x u s – 7 detective, back in 2 2 9 4,

ed as firing squads or executioners

designated Rick Deckard, who we-

off-world to spare any humans the

nt rouge shortly after his incept da-

moral pain of conscience. There are

te and successful retirement of Roy

still cases of Nexus-6’s in military

Batty’s group of replicants design-

service taking extreme violent acti-

ated Zhora Salome, Leon Kowalski

on against humans and it is usual-

and Pris Stratton.

ly combat models who rebel again-

This special longevity model was

st or escape from their human ma-

introduced in 2293 with the proto-

sters. However, the number of repl-

type designated as R a c h e l T y r e l l,

icant related killings has been dra-

shortly before the inception of the

stically lowered since the introduc-

Deckard unit. After finding out that

tion of the late Nexus-6 model; do-

she was a replicant, after her posi-

cility in character is the main impr-

tive result on a Voight-Kampff test

ovement with this latest version of

performed by Deckard himself, she

replicants.

disappeared in 2294 simultaneous-

Some selected few replicants ha-

ly with Deckards disappearance; it

ve been given human memory imp-

is assumed that they escaped from

lants with complete childhoods and

L. A. together in Deckard’s sedan,

a full human identity, to prevent ps-

and they have not been seen any-

ychosis and defiance, making repli-

where since; nobody knows about

cants more controllable, but these

their current whereabouts.

models (of the N e x u s – 7 series) are only employed by the Tyrell Corpo-

The number of l o n g e v i t y m o d e l

Like with androids these longe-

Nexus-7’s are very limited and the

vital replicants do not age with ti-

exact number is a corporate and

me (nor does any replicant) as the

governmental s e c r e t. By a secret

human aging gene has been remo-

agreement made with the Mexican

ved in the replication process; they

government (and other governments

do not get wrinkles or gray hairs.

who deploy them), longevity models

However, no replicant have exce-

are allowed on Earth, as long as

eded the life span of a normal ordi-

they serve their m a s t e r s and are

nary human yet, and it will take

not made aware of their replicant

many years to exceed the life span

status; they are never directly told

of the elite, i.e. approximately two

about their replicant origins by th-

centuries. It is not known what will

eir makers and masters. A confide-

happen with a mind who has lived

ntial security code is implanted in

for three centuries or more. Depen-

their files and all health care data-

ding on model, replicants are engi-

bases; it is i m m e d i a t e l y activated

neered and incepted to approxima-

in the case of a replicant seeking

te the average human age on a sca-

medical care, in which case a doc-

le between 25 and 35 in physical

tor is prohibited by law to expose

appearance. This age difference do

the replicant, especially to himself.

not in any way affect their mental

In all those cases that they have fo-

and physical characteristics. Altho-

und out about their replicant ori-

ugh replicants share the human

gins by accident, they have escap-

sex drive, they are made sterile and

ed and disappeared, in which case

cannot conceive children.

they become the subject of a full blade runner investigation.

Character Generation (NPC) The referee could allow for replicant player characters to add some flavour to his campaign, but is ad-

vised to be restrictive in doing so. But no restrictions should be cons-idered in generating replicant

non-player

characters. To generate characters who are Nexus-6 or 7 gene-ration r e p l i c a n t s the character

Physical Attributes: For all Nex-

generation should be applied, with

us – 6’s a n d 7’s, r o l l a s u s u a l f o r

the following conside-rations taken:

Physical-B types (4D6 – 4) to deter-

Home World: The home planet of

mine Size, Dexterity, and Enduran-

a replicant is always E a r t h as all

ce. For a Physical-A type Nexus-6

replicants are manufactured at the

and 7, do not subtract 4 from the

Tyrell facilities in Los Angeles, Me-

D6 rolls. For Physical-C type Nex-

xico. This means that they are in-

us-6’s, subtract 6 instead of 4 from

cepted on a Core world with Norm-

the D6 rolls. After all four attribu-

al gravity.

tes have been generated, either Si-

usual

rules

for

Body Type: A replicant could be

ze, Dexterity or Endurance may be

any of the four categories of body

re-rolled as usual for Physical-B ty-

types available for humans (which

pes. For Physical-A types, one att-

differentiates him from a android

ribute may be re-rolled as for B ty-

who always is of a standardized nor-

pes, plus automatically any of the

mal body type). The type is deter-

above mentioned attributes result-

mined by the main function of the

ing in an n u m b e r b e l o w 1 0. Fill in

replicant. The greater majority ha-

Strength and Dexter-ity according

ve a normal body type, but combat

to Nor-mal Gravity for the three

models can also be of the Mesom-

other gravity ty-pes.

orph or Endomorph types. Female

Psychological Attri-butes: For all

leisure (prostitute), waitress, stew-

Nexus-6’s and 7’s regardless of

ardess and dancer models are oft-

type, roll 4D6 wit-hout subtracting

en of the Ectomorph type, as well

4 to determine Determin-a tion. Rol

as male mechanic and communic-

l a s u s u a l for M e n t a l – B types

ation (operator) models. Pilot mod-

(4D6

els are often endowed with Endom-

Intelligence,

orph type bodies.

Education. For a Ment-al-A type

–

4)

to

determi-ne

Eloq-uence

and

Nexus-6 or 7, do not sub-tract 4

from the D6 rolls. For Men-tal-C

Career Skills: Repl-i c a n t s d o n o

type Nexus-6’s, subtract 6 in-stead

t learn the trade as humans d o; th

of 4 from the D6 rolls to det-ermine

ey ha ve sk ills im pla nte d into the i

Intelligence,

and

r brains which are the equivalent of

Education. After all four attributes

a career in any given field of work.

have been generated, one of them

All

may be re-rolled as usual for Men-

Careers are op-en for r e p l i c a n t s,

tal-B types. For Mental-A type Nex-

as well as Field Agent and Law

us-6’s and 7’s, one attribute may

Enforcement

be re-rolled as for B types, plus

Civilian Careers). As replicants are

automatically any attribute result-

used as slave labour on the off-

ing in a number below 10. Check

world frontier they also may have a

for Education Modifiers as with nor-

Colonial Career equiva-lent of a

mal character generation.

Colonist.

Eloquence

Milit-ary

In

and

Exploratory

(Gov-ernment

addition

to

and

initial

Note: Attributes are rolled for

training, replicants automat-ically

replicants (contrary to mechanical

receive 10 skill points as a basic

androids) as they are biological liv-

implant and do not roll for turning

ing creatures, with attributes deve-

points in the usual way. However,

loping through a combination of

roll 1D6 – 1 for additional skill

genetics and environment as with

points and actual experience after

any other living being, the only dif-

incept date (This number is also

ference

being

genome

the

artificial-ly

manipulated

and

additional

psy-

chological attributes implanted

ele-

ctrically, giving added benefits or penalties when rolling. However, chance is still needed to reflect the env i r o n m e n t a l influence on the actual dev-elopment of an attrib-ute.

the age between 0-5 years and determines how many years the replicant has left before retirement). Subtract or add career skill points

as usual depending on Intelligence

current legal owners, however their

plus Determination. Choice of spe-

birth (incept) place is Los Angeles

cialization, field experience and ra-

at the Tyrell Corporation plant. Re-

nk is generated as usual.

plicants do not receive any money

B a c k g r o u n d S k i l l s: Replicants

or benefits (nor disadvantages) and

may only have F r o n t i e r S k i l l s as

are only equipped with clothes or

they are prohibited from Earth and

any other equipment as provided

only are incepted for frontier duty.

by their human owners.

These are counted as usual from a

Languages: Replicants speak, re-

sum of skill points equal to Educa-

ad and write English, French and

tion / 2 only. As with career skills,

Spanish fluidly, in addition to any

background skills are implanted el-

language of their owners who origi-

ectrically into the b r a i n c e l l s and

nally purchased them from the Ty-

are wholly detached from any me-

rell Corporation.

mories or images of experience.

Price

Special & Secondary Attributes: Mass, Throw Range, Encumbrance, Appearance, Consciousness, and Life Level, is generated normally. The Eyesight and Hearing of Physical-B type replicants is always excellent, and of Physical-A types always exceptional compared to the average human, while Physical-C types are average. Initiative for Mental-B types is determined by using time in the field /10 as a base and throwing 1 D 6 + 2 (re-roll d i e r e s u l t of “1”). For Mental-A types roll 1D6 + 4 (re-rolling die results of 1-2) and for M e n t a l – C 1 D 6 + 1. Coolness Under Fire is determined as usual. Age is the same as the previous 1D6 – 1 die roll for additional career skill points. Replicants have no nationality other than that of their

The price tag for a newly incepted Nexus-6 replicant varies depending on level, according to the following list: Level A: Lv9,000 Level B: Lv3,000 Level C: Lv1,000 To determine final price add two levels, one for mental (psychologycal) and one for physical attributes. As an example, a physical level A and mental level B Nexus-6 will have a total cost of Lv12,000. Some governments and companies, such as the Shimago-Domínguez corporation gives away one replicant for free to new settlers upon arrival to the colony, usually a Nexus-6 with one level being B and the other C, either Mental-B and Ph-

ysical-C or the reverse. Each family

ties and internal organs should be

(or single / couple) usually receives

able to get transplanted to the cha-

an M e n t a l – C / P h y s i c a l – B replicant

racter (P C and N P C alike). These

for rural work and sometimes, up-

should be allowed for use as a mo-

on request, a Mental-B / Physical-C

re costly and e x c l u s i v e, but also

for urban.

more effective and almost complet-

Nexus-7 replicants can never be bought from the Tyrell Corporation,

ely undetectable alternative to bionic implants.

only hired and that only on special occasions, usually contracted to governments for special tasks or missions. The Tyrrell Corporation wants to keep the Nexus-7’s for themselves, claiming that it is still a prototype model under experimentation and development.

BIOENGINEERED IMPLANTS “That’s Leon, ammunition loader on intergalactic runs. He can lift 400

However, these transplants or re-

pound atomic loads all day and ni-

placements do not come with hid-

ght. The only way you can hurt him

den compartments as with bionic

is to kill him.”—Harry Bryant

ones; bioengineered limbs are fully

Bioengineering was originally intro-

organic and alive, fully bio-logically

duced to make provisions for transplant tissue in surgery, and has evolved during the 23rd century to produce a long line of bioproducts. The referee should make allowance for the purchase of such bioengineered or replicated body parts, genetically designed and modified to provide e n h a n c e d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and abilities. Entire limbs, extremi-

assimilated with the rest of the body, being sustained by the blood of the host and adapted to the specific blod type. Like all replicant technology, bioengineered body parts do not age and they do not naturally wear down like bionic implantts, perpetually renewing their cells like with ordinary living tissue. Also, there exist no black clinics that can provide a character with and

transplant bioengineered body par-

Excellent

vis-ion,

ts; these are only provided by offi-

Exceptional vision.

Lv4,600

for

cial and legal clinics franchised or

The o p t i o n p a c k a g e s available

licensed by the Tyrell Corporation,

for use with biogenetic eyes, are as

which makes them very costly to

follows: L o w L i g h t: Their function res-

say the least. These bioengineered and geneti-

embles that of cat’s eyes, i.e. they

cally enhanced replacements (bio-

are extremely light sensitive, and

genetics) should either mirror the

greatly enhances the perceived image

in

One

drawback

that

they

function

darkness. do in

is not

com-

plete darkness; there have to be some small source of light, even miniscule. One other is that as the retinas of enhanced eyes are so highly sensitive to ligfunction of ordinary bionic replacements, also in ability, or present unique abilities, according to the following:

ht they will also reflect it more prono-uncedly, c r e a t i n g a glowing phenomen-on in the pupils wh-en exposed to stro-ng light, s i m i l a r to the c a t’ s p u p i l s;

Biogenetic Eyes

a h u m a n h a v i n g the-s e i m p l a n t e

These of course have a “subtlety”

d c o u l d be taken for a replicant by

function built into them, which is

mistake. However, being organic

far superior to that of bionic repla-

they do not give a person away as

cements, as they by their nature

easy as their bionic equivalents do

being organic are impossible to de-

(looking arti- f i c i a l l i k e g l a s s e y e

tect in their basic configuration. Of

s). Price: L v 1,300.

course, the e y e s i g h t is also far superior

to

human

eye.

that Price:

of

a

normal

Lv3,000

for

Acute

Sharpness:

Their

function resemble that of hawk’s eyes, whi-ch sees a p e r i p h e r y

unenhanced vision at a normal

High–Freq uency H earing: This

distance, while the central field of

option allows a person to hear sou-

vision creates a zoomed in image

nds above the audiometric range of

with

sharpness,

human hearing. These replacement

spotting information be-yond what

ears tend to be quite sturdy, with a

is possible with normal human

build up of dense brusque. Price:

eyes.

Lv1,200.

an

excellent

This

enhancement

is

impossible to detect. Price: Lv1,500. Biogenetic Ears As with all biogenetic implants and replacements,

these

look

sufficient-ly human and normal, although so-metimes the shape has to be mo-dified, but much more modestly so compared to their bionic equivalen-ts, as the hearing mechanisms in-side the h e a r i n g d r u m have been greatly enhanced as well. Price: Lv 1, 3 0 0 f or Exc ellent hearing, Lv 2,200 for Exceptional hearing. The option packages available for use with biogenetic ears, are as follows: L o w–F r e q u e n c y H e a r i n g: This option enables a person to hear sounds below the audiometric range of normal human hearing. These ear replacements tend to be somewhat larger than normal, procuring out from the head and quite large and o b l o n g, although they could pass off as odd genetic anomalies. Price: Lv1,200.

Biogenetic Limbs Contrary to bionic limbs, these can-not

be

fitted

with

secret

compart-ments as they function as normal

limbs

biological

with

a

musc-les,

set

of

greatly

enhanced to provide wi-th higher muscle strength compar-ed to the actual

muscle

mass,

i.e.

a

biogenetic arm doesn’t look as that of a pumped up body builder’s, but rather normal to mesomorphic in size, depending on its strength requirement and the body type of the wearer; limbs are required to be matched to the body type.

Also, contrary to mechanical rob-

In most task rolls using Strength

otics and bionics, biogenetic limbs

as a modifier, a character’s normal

cannot automatically guarantee a

S t r e n g t h should be used, as the

particular strength, as living musc-

entire body musculature and bone

les require regular fitness training,

structure is used for most tasks, as

as any human muscle would. But

in attempting to lift a heavy weight

in game terms, it is assumed that

from the floor. But if a character is

the character upholds a minimal

attempting to drag himself up by

requirement of training necessary

the arm, hanging from a ledge by

to uphold the strength of any of his

his biogenetic prosthesis, the pecu-

limbs, natural or implanted. For ea-

liar Strength of that enhanced arm

se of play, biogenetic muscle impl-

should be used instead.

ants should be regarded as static

Biogenetic Organs

and constant when it comes to strength and dexterity. A normally sized biogenetic arm or leg has a standard Strength of 12. A mesomorphic arm or leg has a Strength of 16. But these can be made with enhanced Strength up to eight attribute units above that. P r i c e: L v 3, 2 0 0 for a S t r e n g t h 1 2 normal arm, plus L v 2 4 0 per extra point of Strength (maximum 20); Lv4,0 00 for a Strength 15 normal leg, plus L v 3 0 0 per extra point of Strength (maximum 23). Mesomorphic arms range 16-24 in Strength, legs 19-27; Ectomorphic arms range 10-18 and legs 13-21; Endomorphic arms range 13 –21 and legs 16–24 (us e th e pri ce f or mul a f or normal limbs to s et the p rice for the other three body types according to Strength level).

These have no match or equivalent amongst bionic implants, as they aim to replace internal organs, such as the h e a r t, l i v e r, i n t e s t i n e s, etc.

B i o g e n e t i c H e a r t h & L u n g s:

consciousness level multiplier of

Always comes as a combined system package and with different models for the four body typ es, providing an enhancement of the Physical Endurance attribute to that of 24 and modified by body type (as per the Character

1.5. (Note: Determining the incre-

G e n e r a t i o n r u l-e s). P r i c e: L v

ase of life and consciousness levels

8,000.

with the multiplier always is based

Biogenetic Li-ver, Gallbladder

on the o r i g i n a l levels; i.e. if levels

& Pancreas: Al-ways comes as a

are already enhanced through im-

combined

package,

planted liver, gallbladder and pan-

enha-nced

creas, the new multiplier ignores

nutrient uptake. In game ter-ms

these enchanted values. Enhanced

this results in an increased life

values are accumulative, i.e com-

level and consciousness level, each

bined implants of bioengineered li-

by a multiplier of 1.5. It also has a

ver, gallbladder, pancreas, stomach

blood filtering effects and antitoxic

and intestines creates a total mult-

abilities, halving any D P V effects

iplier of 2. Lv7,000.

providing

system a

greatly

from poisons, also lethal. Lv6,000. Biogenetic Stomach & Intestines: The entire stomach and inte-

CAREERS Tyrell –

“Is this to be an empathy

stine system is replaced with a bio-

te-st? Capillary dilation of

engineered replica which enhances

the

the ability to extract nourishments

response? Fluctuation of

from food with 50%, which creates

the

greater sustainability and resilien-

dilation of the ir-is?”

ce. This results in a life level and

so–called pupil?

blush

In-voluntary

Deckard–“We call it Voight-Kampf for short.” The referee should allow for the following additional careers based on Earth: Blade Runner (Government Career) The danger of replicant infiltration on Earth has necessitated the creation of a special elite police task force unit with a transnational jurisdiction and large international network (reminecent of Interpol of the th

20 century), R e p D e t e c t, with its main headquarters in Los Angeles (where replicants are manufactured). Also, there has been noticed a strange obsession in replicants to seek out the roots of their origins,

es. Although, when it comes to retiring or terminating replicants, he is a very able and deadly force, much of his time is spent following leads, which takes him to new clues, unravelling the whereabouts of the replicant or replicants. He is more of a Scotland Yard detective, a kind of Sherlock Holmes type of guy, using his deductive faculties and streetwise knowledge to search out fugitive replicants. He often infiltratees the replicants working under cover or encounters them in disguise, taking the role of any other suitable career or identity. The actual retirement is the final climax of a prolonged and often arduous manhunt.

i.e. the Tyrell Corporation assembly plant, making Los Angeles the commonest place of replicant trespassing. A blade runner is therefore a specially trained police officer whose training has been provided by the force in cooperation with the Tyrell Corporation. A blade runner always works solo on his missions, without any partner, much like a private detective or bounty hunter. Verily, a blade runner resembles much of the two latter careers. A blade runner works much like an investigator, searching for clu-

Because of the stressful nature of being a blade runner, working alone, killing living beings (who are often unarmed) in cold blood, who are very hard to distinguish between real humans in their appearan-

ce, behaviour, cognition and emo-

empathy

tional responses, the nature of the

assumed to lack. How-ever, there

dirty work (requiring the cold hear-

has recently been sug-gested that

ted attitude of the psychopath) cre-

the VK test might actu-ally yield

ates a lot of emotional issues, ent-

the same results with hu-mans

ering around feelings of conscience

who suffer from schizophre-nia as

and guilt. Blade runners often

with

need to seek out psychotherapists

chopathic human individuals, as

or sh-rinks to deal with their

th-ese

personal and emotional problems.

exhibit similar flat and infantile

Only a few of them can maintain

emotional

response

any

Experiments

ha-ve

pro-longed

and

close

which

replicants,

rep-licants

or

with

psychological

are

psy-

categories patters.

shown

that

relationships, and divorces are very

humans suffering fr-om various

common in the trade. Many blade

severe

runners either end up dead (as

disorders sometimes fail or provide

their adversaries are often more

ambiguous results on the VK test.

deadly and some-times more smart

The only way to be 100% sure is to

then them) or in the psychiatric

make a bone marrow te-st.

wards, if not ending in a s u i c i d e. Suicidal

phantasies

are

schizoid

person-ality

To generate a blade runner the

quite

rules provided for the Law Enfor-

common amongst blade runners,

cement career should apply as for

as is also dependence on anti-

all police men, with the proper mo-

depressives, or even heavier dr-ugs

difications or additions reflecting

such as opiates, etc. This is the

an elite law enforcement unit hu-

main reason why the departm-ent

nting bioengineeredly enhanced

has secretly started to use Ne-xus-

humans, as noted.

7’s as blade runners.

I n i t i a l T r a i n i n g: Sidearm-3,

Besides their typical police side-

Melee-2, Streetwise-2, Ground Ve-

arm, the custom made “Steyr-Dai-

hicle-2, Psychology-1, Voight-Kam-

mler-Puch detective special P. K. D.

pff Operation-2, Information Gath-

Model blaster”, the blade runner

ering-1, Stealth-1, Disguise-1.

us-es a peculiar polygraph machine

P r i m a r y S k i l l s: All Underworld

us-ed to spot replicants, kalled the

Skills, all Intellectual Skills, all Ge-

Vo-ight-Kampff

neral Skills, Sidearm, Melee.

machine.

It

measures bodily responses to a questionnaire

that

measures

Related Skills: All Vehicle Skills, Psychology, all Journalistic Skills.

officers,

security

guards,

sa-

LAGUAGES

nitarian workers, repairmen, etc.,

“That gibberish he talked was Cityspeak, g u t t e r t a l k, a mishmash of Japanese, Spanish, German, what have y o u. I d i d n’ t r e a l l y need a translator. I knew the lingo, eve-ry good cop did.” — R i c k Deckard

working in that urban environment. Cityspeak is a result of the highly developed racial, ethnical and li-

Cityspeak Also known as “gut-ter talk”, this is the c o m m o n l a n g u a g e of the lumpenprole-tariat, or “gutter pe-o p l e”, o f t h e t w i n Mexican megalopo-lices

nguistic global

intermixing na-ture

of

and human

urban culture on Earth. It is indigenous only to L.A. and D.F.

and

does

not

exist

naturally elsewhere on Earth or o f f – w o r l d, not e v e n o n t h e c o r e world of Tirane; ei-ther you have to li-ve in L o s A n g e l of Los Angeles (L.A.) and Mexico City (D.F.). How-ever, cityspeak is not restricted to the gutter-folk only but is also qui-te frequent amongst citizens of the lower classes who partly have acq-uired it through their daily interac-tion with the city dwellers,

both

pr-ivately

and

professionally, especial-ly c i t y m e r c h a n t s, shop keepers, police

e s or Mexico City to le-arn it, as there exi-st no academic courses to learn it el-sewhere other than in the gutter. Cityspeak const-itutes a crude but

workable

Japanese,

mish-mash

Spanish,

of

Germ-an,

Hungarian, Russian, Chinese, K o re a n, E n g l i s h and F r e n c h, and any additional languages. It has so-me

common features across the di-

worked professionally in Los Ange-

stance between L.A. and D.F. but

les, because both cityspeaks share

has developed highly specialized di-

many linguistic components of sy-

alects in each megalopolis or urban

nthesized syntax, grammar and vo-

area metroplex, depending on the

cabulary primarily from English,

components of the u n i q u e r a c i a l

Ja-panese,

and linguistic mixture of that parti-

Germ-an, and F r e n c h, with a

cular area; the two dialects are in-

pinch

telligible enough not to be classed

Russian, Cant-onese, and K or e an.

as two separate languages.

The

of L.

A.

Mandarin,

Spanish,

Finnish-Hungarian, dia-lect lays more

Only the rich u p p e r – c l a s s, the

emphasis on English but has many

middle-class and qualified working

Spanish components c o mp ar able t

class (i.e. the privileged proletariat)

o t h e D. F. d i a l e c t. Both have

enjoy extensive travel across the co-

equal

untryside, with airfilm trains, or

Mandarin, Cantonese and German,

wh-at

normal

but the L.A. dialect leans heavily

professio-nal life span a citizen

on Japanese and Korean compared

often chan-ges his residence, even

to that of D.F. The pinch of Hung-

nationality (in some case going off-

arian and Russian is almost absent

world), as part of his or hers

in the D. F. dialect, but have some

professional

presence in the L.A. dialect.

have

you;

in

ca-reer.

lumpenproletariat

But

French,

When written on the Character

hand often stays in the same

Data Record sheet it should be sp-

urban area for the entire of his or

ecified within brackets in which ci-

hers life-span. This creates the

ty or urban area it has been picked

foundation for the unique dial-ectic

up. To give one example, if the cha-

flavour

a

racter has learnt the local lingo of

particular city or urban area. Mem-

L.A. it should read “Other Langu-

bers of the gutter-folk often only le-

age: Cityspeak (Los Angeles)”.

the

the

the

of

other

of

on

a

amount

city-speak

of

arn cityspeak and only have some

Of course, a p l a y e r c h a r a c t e r

basic understanding in the laguage

may pick up more than one gutter

of the nation if which they reside.

talk (i.e. two) throughout his career

In game terms this means that a

and life span, in which case it sho-

character may have some success

uld be specified in the same man-

in understanding the cityspeak of

ner for each. However, very few pl-

Mexico City, even if he grew up and

ayer characters could have learnt

any cityspeak beyond some basic

Chances of learning Cityspeak:

understanding, like asking simple

In character generation, if the play-

questions and making a simple or-

er and referee has agreed upon th-

der in the grocery store, etc., as it

at the player character (or the non-

is assumed that playing characters

player character generated by the

at least belong to the more privile-

referee) has lived in either in Mex-

ged group of workers and profes-

ico L.A. or D.F., or in both cities,

sionals, who use the standard lan-

the following rules should be follo-

guages used in common trade or in

wed to determine if the character

official state business, i.e. the lan-

knows Cityspeak and which partic-

guage of the nation, plus English

ular dialect(s).

and French. Law enforcers, i.e. me-

a) The character must have cho-osen

tropolitan policemen learn cityspe-

one of the following careers: Field

ak through their profession, as mo-

Agent, Law Enforcement, Bla-de

st street thugs and criminals belo-

Runner, and Journalist.

ng to the lumpenproletariat or at

b) Determine difficulty level:

least the lower classes of society,

Impos sible = 1-2 years of service.

which a police officer is expected to

Formidable = 3-5 years of service.

be able to communicate with fully.

D i f f i c u l t = 6-8 years of service. R o u t i n e = 9-12 years of service. S i m p l e = 13+ years of service. Years of service is attached to a particular city. c) Task:

To

learn

Cityspeak.

Dif-

ficulty level depending on years sp-

ent in service (see b). The average

ematic because of low gravity (0.38

of Determination and Intellige nce

G), a lack of magnetosphere, thin

(Det + Int / 2).

atmosphere and low atmospheric pr-

d) Fill in “Cityspeak” as a langu-age

essure (0.6 kPa). Following the dis-

skill at level 5 and specify in which

covery and development of the Jer-

city (L.A. or D.F.).

ome “stutter-warp” Drive, it was de-

e) If a second city, repeat the process

emed unprofitable to terraform Ma-

but one difficulty level ea-sier, i.e. a

rs for larger colonization as habit-

normally

now

able garden worlds were already wi-

simple, and a difficult a routi-ne,

thin reach at A l p h a C e n t a u r i A.

as the character has already le-

The Americans still maintain a lar-

arnt the basic syntax and grammar

ge mining operation on Mars for ex-

of the language and now is to ex-

traction of Tantalum.

routine

task

is

tend his vocabulary to involve the Cityspeak lingo of that other city.

OFF-WORLD COLONIES “Bryant had pinpointed 12-9-2, one called Batty, as the leader of the escape. He was a three and a half yea r s o l d c o m b a t m o d e l. M i l i t a r y t e s t had thrown him into every ofworld battle, from the fighting at Tannha-user Gate’s to the massacre on the Venezuelan Moons.”—Rick Deckard One of the first planets to be colonized by a human settlement was Mars, constituting the longest standing permanent colony in human history. Being a postgarden desert planet, terraforming is possible because of the high content of frozen c a r b o n d i o x i d e (C O 2), o r d r y i c e, and water ice (H2O), however probl-

of

the

French

outpost which was attacked

by

the

Germans (with the secret

aid

of

Americans) retaliation.

as

the a The

Shoulder of Orion is In 2292 off-world battles were fought at T a n n h a u s e r G a t e and on the V e n e z u e l a n M o o n s, and in 2293 at the Shoulder of Orion, as part of the War of German Reunification (2292-2293) between Germany (the former Ba-varian colonies) and the French Naval fo-rces. The N e x u s – 6 replicant and Dr. El-d o n T y r e l l’ s b a n e, designated Roy Batty (model number N6 MAA10816), partici-pated in all three as a squad commander of a covert US Spa-ce Marines unit co-ntracted to the

Ger-man

foreign

government

policy

sympathetic unification

wi-th cause

(US

was

hi-ghly

the

German

as

it

greatly

weakened the pax franco-rum and in

particular

its

off-world

influences). Tannhauser Gate is the German space or gateway station in orbit around the planet Nibelungen in the Neubayern system, which came under French attack early in the war. The Venezuelan Moons are situated in the Augereau system, being part

actually

the

operational name, as coined by the Germans,

to

des-ignate

the

Lagrangian point (L – 5) following the planet Adlerhorst sit-uated in the Vogelheim system, wh-ich saw a space battle between the German and French naval forces. The French had massed an armada at L – 5 in anticipation of a G e r m a n c o u n t e r m e a s u r e, w h i c h was engaged by a large German task force of battle cr-uisers. The German v i c t o r y was a hard won one.

MEGACORPORATIONS “‘More human than human’ is our motto.”—Dr. Eldon Tyrell Although

most

corp-orations of the 20th c e n t u r y p e r i s h e

d

with

devastation the

the which

Twiligth

inflicted

War

upon

the

economic, gove-r n m e n t a l, m o r a l and social structur-es, a few of the larg-e r o n e s s u r v i v e d which laid the foundation for the emer-gence of the mega-corporations. Some of these old co-mpany brands, which are still com-mon in the 24th century, are the following: Coca Cola, Atari, TDK, PanAm, etc. France, not directly taking part of the War, preserved its capitalist market economy almost intact. Most of the larger and global companies of the 20th century maintained franchises and department filials in

France.

And

although

the

company main headquarters may have peri-shed as a consequence of the nucl-ear exchanges, their local

departm-ents in France survived, and hence the companies survived and beca-me resurrected, modelled upon th-ese French organizations and fran-chises. Other larger companies and transnational corporations (Transnats) survived the war and its aftermath because they were powerful enough to engage a private security force to defend them against the anarchy and onslaught of the marauders, developing into organizations which governed small territories or kingdoms until government resurged and claimed its lawful power again. These powerful organizatio-

ns later developed into future mega-corporations.

The Tyrell Corporation was actually originally a conglomerate of se-

But there are also several new

veral companies specialized in cy-

companies and c o r p o r a t i o n s that

bernetics, robotics, b i o m e c h a n i c s,

have emerged since the resurgence

and artificial intelligence, which me-

of the capitalist system in the wake

rged into one large mega-corporat-

of the pax francorum, growing into

ion under Dr. Eldon Tyrell’s super-

powerful mega-corporations and co-

vision (literally). It has multiple go-

mpeting with the old ones for glob-

vernmental contracts of various sp-

al monopoly. Some of the more pr-

ace faring powers, often competit-

ominent ones have to be mentioned

ive, specialized in making and exp-

here.

orting replicant slave labour for the

Tyrell Corporation/Association This is the corporation whose greatest contribution to human technological, social and cultural effort cannot be underestimated, the creation of the replicant or artificial human, and animal. The company motto is “More human than human”, something it takes great pride in.

off-world colonies. The power of the Tyrell Corporation extends to all three arms and their respective fingers, without any major prejudice. They sell replicants to all who may afford them. The finger prints of th-eir

schemes,

intrigues

and

manip-ulations for global power may be se-en in most off-world systems. Wh-en it comes down to it, the Tyrell Corporation always serves

its

own

interests,

both

economic, political, and spiritual.

The c o r p o r a t i o n in its present form was originally founded by Dr. Eldon Tyrell and bears his name. The c o r p o r a t i o n has always been run as a family operation; most of the board of directors were kindred to Eldon Tyrell, and his niece Sarah (the person whose memories we-re implanted unto the Nexus-7 However, there seems to be a ge-

unit designated as Rachel) was one

neral competition between the Fre-

of its major directors prior to Dr.

nch Empire and the Tyrell Corpor-

Tyrell’s death. She succeeded him

ation, the French who instinctively

as

distrust the mega-corporation and

inherited

its power, backed by the Catholic

company, making her the major

Church, regarding its replicants to

owner. This makes Sar-ah Tyrell

be an abomination and their mak-

into one of the most pow-erful

ing ethically abhorrent, preferring

persons in human space and the

bionic androids and In Vitroes (art-

most powerful woman ever.

ificially gestated genetically engineered humans) instead. So, there is a bias amongst the board of directors of the Tyrell Corporation, to favour any power who competes with the French and their allies, such as the Manchurians, Mexicans, Argentin ian s, Amer ican s, and as l ate ly the Germans.

the

Chief his

Executive shares

of

and the

D r. T y r e l l chose the o w l as the

he regarded all other mega-corpo-

symbol for his new company, and

rations as “profane”, taking upon

he kept one owl animoid as his pe-

himself almost a spiritual attitude

rsonal pet and company mascot, as

of divinity, rather than purely mat-

the owl as a species was the first to

erialistic (although he indeed was

become nearly exctinct from envi-

one of the richest men in the hu-

ronmental pollution, global animal

man universe), making h i m s e l f as

genocide being one of the main inc-

the new God, or demiourgos, supe-

entives to develop biogenetic engin-

rseding all the old gods and their

eering, replacing the extinct speci-

religions, b i o m e c h a n i c s being the

es with artificial ones, r e p l i c a t i n g

new chosen religion and his corpo-

the genome of the original species.

ration as its new church, his engi-

This owl still lives and is owned

neers being the new holy clergy wi-

by Sarah Tyrell who resides in her

th himself as the high-priest or po-

uncle’s old royal residence, the lar-

pe, priest-king and man-god. Veri-

ge bed chamber emulating and ex-

ly, he regarded God’s (or Nature’s)

ceeding the grandeur of the Roman

creation—the Human—as severally

Catholic Pope’s, inside one of the

flawed; in all respects, the Nexus-6

twin pyramid Tyrell buildings over-

(and Nexus-7) was seen as a perfe-

seeing the L. A. “Hades” industrial

ctly manufactured being, with him-

landscape. Thus, the T y r e l l plant

self as an unflawed creator contra-

and headquarters doesn’t reside in

ry to Nature or God. Thus, Dr. Ty-

central L.A. but at its outskirts,

rell suffered from a severe case of

wh-ere it has created its own

God-complex, taken to the extreme.

gravital nucleus.

This choice of place for its majestic temple-like buildings is an expression of the hyperboil of Dr. Tyrell and his own perceived mission;

D r. T y r e l l regarded himself and his own kindred to be the new dyn-

asty destined to rule Earth and all

her level employees and work force

of its off-world colonies, himself as

in L. A. have secretly and illegally

the Almighty Father and his replic-

been replaced by replicants.

ants being his children. Sarah Ty-

Tyrell Corp. has recently purch-

rell inherited her fathers fanatical

ased a majority share of the stocks

attitude, his narcissistic fantasies,

of the Rekall Corporation, who

and his innately spiritual faith,

sells virtual travels and adventures

and became the new heir to the

usi-ng memory implant technology.

crown, anointed by the high-priest

Me-mories

himself at his death bed. With the

extracted by that company from

intro-duction

Nexus-7

their human customers, without

generation of replicants, Dr. Tyrell

their consent, while put in deep

and Sarah T y r e l l regarded the

sedation during the virtual trip, in

evolutionary process to enter a new

which they have been subjected to

golden age and final transitional

a brain scan se-nsor devise applied

stage,

mortal

directly to the skull which has

sapiens—

extracted their full memories all

be-come

the way from birth (and prior) to

were

humans—the would

of

the

ordinary ho-mo

ultimately

succeeded

by

the

next

sup-

have

secretly

been

the day of the extrac-tion. A data

erhuman race of i m m o r t a l s—the

bank

of

homo nexus.

memories,

human deemed

indivi-dual worthy

(i.e.

The Ty r e l l C o r p o r a ti o n is inna-

lacking to much psychological tra-

tely an evil organization, at least as

uma), has thus been covertly stor-

seen from the perspective of hum-

ed at the Tyrell Association faciliti-

anity, and ultimately conspire aga-

es, which has been used to mental-

inst the human race to replace it

ly give birth to a new generation of

with replicants of the Nexus-7 gen-

Nexus-7’s.

eration, with superior M e n t a l – A

The company disregards all ethi-

and P h y s i c a l – B or A abilities. The

cal or moral considerations in do-

long term plan is to reverse the so-

ing that, as it is run as a religious

cial order of 2300 and to make the

cult rather than a traditional corp-

replicants the new masters, relega-

oration. This is why Sarah Tyrell

ting mankind into a state of slave-

recently changed the name of the

hood. These Nexus-7’s are now be-

company to Tyrell “Association” in-

ing manifactured en masse at the

stead of “Corporation.” Even thou-

Tyrell facilities and much of its hig-

gh the Tyrell Association shares so-

me ideas with the P r o V o l u t i o n it

goddess, the new center of their cu-

doesn’t consider itself to be part of

lt since the demise of her uncle.

that movement; on the contrary, it

As a matter of fact, the experi-

regards the overly bionic ProVolut-

ment of transferring Sarah’s mem-

ion to be a group of vulgar amate-

ories unto the Nexus-7 designated

urs ignorant of bioengineering. Th-

Rachel Tyrell anticipated this act,

ere even circulate rumours that Sa-

serving as a species of “test run”,

rah Tyrell herself might be a Nex-

everything overseen by D r. T y r e l l

us-7.

himself. After the successful initial

Referee: That last assumption is

experiment of transferring his nie-

actually correct. In 2295 Sarah Ty-

ce’s “soul” into Rachel, he “employ-

rell downloaded her entire persona-

yed” the latter as his personal assi-

lity and memory bank, both consc-

stant, so that he could study her

ious and unconscious, extracted fr-

personally up-close. In fact, not on-

om her brain into that of an im-

ly was Sarah’s m e m o r i e s copied

mortal Nexus-7 generation Mental-

but also her body; Rachel is Sar-

A and Physical-A replica of herself,

ah’s replicant twin or enhanced cl-

her old mortal body and self com-

one.

mitting ritual suicide (overseen by

The original plan was that after

her new replicant self) and being se-

a s u c c e s s f u l t r a n s f e r r a l of a full

cretly cremated without any burial.

and intact human memory bank

The homo sapiens Sarah Tyrell reg-

in-to a replicant’s brain, Dr. Tyrell

arded this final act to be a mental

wo-uld

transition or spiritual transmigrati-

similar tr-ansition using a Nexus-7

on into herself as homo nexus—She

Mental-A replica of himself as a

did it without any regret or sorrow;

host.

in all practical respects, Sarah has

hindered this proc-ess, which was

survived into her new immortal se-

already in its early stages; the

lf, and in this transition becoming

manufacture

the arch-villain of the 24th century.

Nexus-7

The greater majority of the higher

mpleted and D r. T y r e l l’ s memory

echelons of the Tyrell Association

banks were never saved electroni-

has followed her suit. They all re-

cally in the computer. The entire

gard themselves to be the new elite

process was only completed by his

or aristocracy of human society, wi-

niece the following year.

th Sarah as their divine Queen or

Shimago-Domínguez Corporation

himself

His

go

through

pr-emature

of

clone

the was

a

death

Dr. never

Tyrell co-

Once known as the Shimata-Domi-

ven to you on arrival, absolutely free.

nguez Corporation, also renown si-

Use your new friend as a personal bo-

mply as “Off-World,” and recognized

by

many

different

brand symbo-ls, it is one of

the

American

major

North

compa-nies.

This A r g e n t i n i a n, M e x i c a n and J a p a n e s e conglomerate is the largest corporation exploiting off-world

dy servant or a tireless field hand. The custom tailored genetically engineered humanoid replicant, designed especially for your needs. So come on America, let's put our team up there. Lets go to the Colonies! This announcement has been brought to you by the Shima g o – D o m í n g u e z corporation, helping America into the new world.

colonization into A l p h a C e n t a u r i and the Chinese arm (and in particular Beta Hydri and the Latin finger), as well as the 61 Ursae Majoris system of the French arm. It has started to c o m p e t e somewhat on the markets of the A m e r i c a n a r m as well. Its motto is “Helping America into the New World”.

The term “A m e r i c a” is used in this context to designate the entire North and South American continent or Western Hemisphere, which sometimes is simply referred to as America; it doesn’t make an exclusive reference to the USA. The Mexican, Argentinian, and Japanese governments have contracted the Sh-

Its compelling commercials, seen

imago-Domínguez corporation with

on the large megalopolis blimp bill-

the task of administering and sup-

boards, broadcasted on huge video

ervising the colonization of the

screens, are a common feature in

Chi-nese and French arms, such

America (the A m e r i c a s or Western

as la-nd distribution, the issuing of

Hemisphere), trumpeting:

com-pany permits and industry

A new life awaits you in the Off-World

licence-es, the building of facileties,

Colonies. The chance to begin again in

work-shops

a golden land of opportunity and adv-

companies or entrepreneurs, and

enture. New climate, recreational facil-

housings, fa-rms and ranches for

ities, easy advancement, great pay. Pl-

the settlers, etc. They also do

us, a loyal trouble free-companion, gi-

and

factories

for

landscaping,

bui-ld

roads

and

Vid-Phōn is a registered trademark

railroads, as well as stations and

for the largest telecom company on

airports, etc. They rai-se buildings

Earth, with a large percentage off-

for urban settlements, as well as

world market as well. Being a sub-

found towns and cities. They also

sidiary of the multinational conglo-

offer troubleshooting ser-vices and

merate AT&T (American Telephone

are a likely employer of pl-ayer

and Telegraph Corporation), it pro-

characters. I.e. they are invo-lved

vides hardware and any necessary

in all aspects of building and

operative software for controlling ea-

maintaining a human society in a

ch unit or station of the world-wide

strange and foreign land. And they

video telephone net. After being re-

are good at it.

surrected, following the T w i l i g h t

The Shimago-Domínguez corpor-

W a r and its aftermath, AT&T rev-

ation is especially renown for the

erted back to its classic pre 1984

pioneering efforts, with the special

logo of the phone bell, which is vis-

allowance from the above govern-

able on all Vid-Phōn units, thus:

ents and in cooperation with the Tyrell Corporation, to use replicants on a larger scale for off-world colonization, as a work force for all of their projects to raise a human society on the off-world frontier, something which has become commonplace throughout the Chinese and American arms, and on the German and Japanese colonies of the French arm. It’s greatest marketing campaign to date, in its efforts to persuade future colonizers from Earth, is to promise them the delivery of one brand new Nexus-6 replicant upon arrival to a colony, and all this for free. One replicant is issued each to one single colonist or colonizing pair, or family. Vid-Phōn Company/AT&T

In 2300 all telecommunication is done using videophone devices as a base, a technology closely associated with the V i d – P h ō n C o m p a n y (the name “Vid-Phōn” is short for videophone). It is also the sole operator selling subscriptions to all of the Vid-Phōn units. This fact has made the Vi d –P h ōn Co mp an y the largest subsidiary of the AT&T corporation, making it synonymous with the parent organization and its

board of directors the most power-

MetroKab Corporation

ful of the AT&T executives.

This is one of the largest metropolitan cab companies on Earth, serving the inhabitants on many Terran megalopolices. It competes with other cab companies in most Terran cities and owns a monopoly in many others, often in the largest ones such as Los Angeles.

The Vi d–Ph ōn Co mpan y owes a near monopoly over the telecom market on Earth, both on the hardware and software sides. Vid-Phōn sells videophones and subscriptions of different types and models, bo-th

for

the

domestic

and

corporate market, but also to city authorities.

It

issues

a

special

videophone cred-card needed to a c t i v a t e the device and which holds the s u b s c r i p t i o n — t h e V i d – P h ō n

What is u n i q u e, and obviously

C a r d. The most common public

commercially viable, with the Met-

phones and phone booths are from

roKab corporation, is its cars that

Vid-Phōn. The rea-son behind this

more resemble small busses rather

is

system

than classical taxi cabs. Thus, the

nowadays is transmitted th-rough

usual way to go with a MetroKab

communication satellites, wh-ich

car is to travel jointly with several

relay information to each city bl-ock

passengers. Either several custom-

or house, having its own sat-ellite

ers agree upon a common desti-

dish receiver. Vid-Phōn owns a

nation at the start, or the car an-

global satellite system to serve ea-

nounces it on a digital message bo-

ch s u b s c r i b e r s wherever they are

ard on top of the car roof, such as

on earth.

“3 fares to...” and picks up cust-

that

the

telecom

omer passengers on the way. Also,

the metrokab may drop off passen-

presence, it makes itself seen with

gers on the way to a major destin-

a large volume of yellow cars.

ation, if its situation approximates the predestined travel path. The pr-

EQUIPMENT

ice for each customer is not affect-

Rachael– “Hello?”

ed by the actual amount of passen-

Deckard–“I’ve had people walk out on me before, but not when I was being so charming. I’m at a bar here now down in the Fourth Sector. Tafy Lewis’s on the line. W h y d o n’ t y o u c o m e o n down here and have a drink? Rachael–“I don't think so, Mr. Deckard. That’s not my kind of place. Deckard–“Go someplace else?”

gers in the car, much like in the public bus; each passenger pays individually for himself only.

Videophone Also, like any cab company, the

The videophone in general and the

MetoKab corporation is connected

Vid-Phōn line of products in parti-

to the city travel electronic network

cular is the most common telecom

making it possible for the customer

(telephone communication) device

to announce his destination and po-

used on Earth and off-world. It is a

int of origin on the city street light

s t a n d a r d i t e m in all homes (not

message network system, making it

counting the pitiful quarters of the

simpler for the cab driver to plot

gutter-folk) and workstations, eith-

his travel path beforehand along a

er as a stationary phone unit or as

series of destinations making his

a portable pocket version (resem-

fares more rationalized. This also

bling the cellular phones of the late

makes it easier for the customer to

20th century) or car model.

fetch a cab on the street, not by simply waving his hand like in the 20th century, but by plotting in his information on a keyboard. Wherever the MetroKab company has a

In the Core, the land based telecom n e t w o r k is wireless although the continents are connected throAlthough the Vid-Phōn Company isn’t the only manufacturer of videophones and also not the only telecom operator, it is undoubtly the largest, at least on Earth. There are in fact public Vid-Phōn stations scattered all over Earth’s cities and urban areas, either attached to a wall or to a sound isolated transparent tubular phone booth, connected through a global combined wirelesssatellite-fiberoptics wire telecom system network owned and maintainned by the Vid-Phōn Company.

ugh submerged fiberoptic wire and some remote areas through satellite up-link. At the frontier, the network is largely s a t e l l i t e b a s e d. In the latter case, each city district, so-metimes block or skyscraper, town, village

or

remote

private

house, has a satellite dish up-link receiver

and

transmitter,

in

constant communi-cation with one of the satellites wit-hin its window. This relay station transmits the information

gathered

from

the

satellite network through optical wire to each household or of-fice, which connects its Vid-Phōn unit through a jack in the wall. In the Core, the relay station is part of a wireless land based network instead but otherwise works identically.

The videophone receiving the si-

The portable version of the Vid-

gnal (here described using the Vid-

Phōn is either a version of the sta-

Phōn product as a generic model),

tionary unit adapted for installati-

of either configuration, work as a

on in vehicles, consisting of a larg-

combined voice and image process-

er display and feeding on the power

sor, letting two or more p e r s o n s

provided by the vehicle, or in the

communicate in real time, seeing

size of a portable calculator, a stur-

each other’s faces while they are

dy piece fitting for a adult hand, ha-

talking. Normally, the conversation

ving small camera and loud spea-

is performed out in the loud, laud-

ker for normal video conversations,

able for all to listen to standing in

but configured with a silent (mute)

the close vicinity, the only mode av-

mode as well, using the phone as a

ailable for the public Vid-Phōn sta-

handset for mouth and ear. The

tion, as it lacks a detachable hand

digital camera house is on the top

set with a microphone and speak-

of the unit, next to the detachable

er.

battery. It has a receiver and trans-

The stationary Vid-Phōn unit, on

mitter that c o n n e c t s i t s e l f to the

t h e o t h e r h a n d, h a s a m o n i t o r,

nearest antenna attached to a relay

camera, aud ible powerf ul spe ak er

station on top of a building or radio

and sensitive microphone attached

mast.

to it for “on speaker” conversations

The portable Vid-Phōn (also refer-

in front of the unit, but in some

red to as “link phone”) automatical-

models with an attached separate

ly searches for the strongest signal

handset or headset for mouth and

and locks on to it for highest qua-

ear silent conversations. Weight of

lity of image and sound transmis-

a stationary domestic or work unit:

sion. To provide for communication

2 kg Price: Lv 100.

through portables in rural areas, a network of powerful antenna relay stations (much more powerful than those on c i t y r o o f t o p s) have been scattered all over the Earth and on Tirane by the Vid-Phōn Company, but the coverage varies in certain areas resulting in less than average quality of communication in parts of the globe and in certain areas no

transmission at all. W e i g h t o f a

Regardless of unit, to speak thr-

portable vehicle unit: 2 kg. Price: Lv

ough and using a Vid-Phōn (or any

100. Weight of a portable hand he-

other company model) the charact-

ld unit: 0.2 kg Price: Lv 10.

er using it (also the portable model) h a s t o a t t a c h h i s p e r s o n a l V i dPhōn (or equivalent) card into a slot (on the p o r t a b e, the card slot is situated at the base / lower end of the unit).

Even though the Vid-Phōn net is world-wide on Earth, a correspondding videophone system and technology is used on T i r a n e and Beta Canum-4, and on several other frontier worlds with a sufficiently developed infrastructure. For obvious reasons, it is not possible to make

The Vid-Phōn card stores the ch-

a Vid-Phōn call directly from Earth

aracter’s software, identity and su-

to any o f f – w o r l d colony, not even

bscriptions to the phone company

within the Sol system. It is possible

operator on a microchip, keeping tr-

though to call to G a t e w a y S t a t i o n

ack of the remaining credit allowa-

in orbit over Libreville and from the

nce. The Vid-Phōn unit itself const-

surface of Beta Canum to its bean-

itutes only the hardware and some

stalk station through wire link. It is

basic programs for running its com-

also possible to communicate bet-

ponents into a coherent whole, wh-

ween certain outposts or mining fa-

ile the V i d – P h ō n card contains all

cilities and to the nearest space st-

of the necessary software attached

ation, however with a certain time

to the operator, and the subscrib-

delay in communication (still quite

er’s personal phone book, convers-

minor because of tight laser beam

ations log, etc. The same principle

pulse up-link communication).

applies to any other manufacturer and operator. Price for a videophone

card: Lv 3 (covers 10 hours of com-

city, a surveillance network evenly

munication over a domestic unit or

distributed across the streets at all

2 centimes/min; public phones co-

city levels, and also inside buildin-

st 100 times as much or 200 cen-

gs, such as desks, hallways, elevat-

times/min).

ors and common spaces, hotel ro-

Esper Machine This is a special type of supraintelligent ce n tr a l c o m p ut er system whi ch i s in use as a moni tor ing and surveillance device by the police department. It features a holographic plate, which contains a complete referencing system for a city. The operator inputs the desired location, and the individual terminal machine provides a continually updated, thr e e d im ens i on al readout of buildings, traffic p atterns or any other visuals the operator wishes to observe.

oms, plus a e r o d y n e d r o n e units and cameras attached to advertising blimps which complements the large picture covering dead angles and compartments not covered by the s t a t i o n a r y c a m e r a s. Thus, a three-dimensional model of the city is always available to the authorities via a massive central unit at police headquarters, stationary assembled with a f i e l d p o w e r f r a m e and cryogenic hydrogen cycle package. Local portable E s p e r machines are placed at each police division, at each office. Portable unit are also available for use at the private compartments or apartments of individual detectives. Each blade runner has one at his home as a standard issue. This model is about one meter high and 15 cm thick. It features its own cryogenic hydrogen package to keep the computer’s memory and processor core cool. This unit is not available on the private market, only for use as the si-

The Esper Unit is based on a system of small stationary monitorring cameras placed over the entire

ngle most important key component in the general governmental surveillance technology of the 24th century, monitoring its citizens.

However, this system works mo-

bal instructions to search for a sp-

st optimally in downtown and most

arkling photograph in 3 –D. The ori-

of the uptown sectors, and experi-

ginal printed out photograph is in-

ences major flaws in the autonom-

serted into a slot and scanned in hi-

ous zones of the ghettos and slu-

gh resolution, upscaled into even hi-

ms, the gutter-folk sectors; statio-

gher resolution and interpreted in-

nary cameras are absent as these

to a three-dimensional space ma-

high-tech devices are almost imme-

trix. This enlarged matrix that is pr-

diately spotted and salvaged by the

oduced enables the operator to iso-

low-tech population. In these peri-

late individuals in crowds, read lic-

pheral sectors the Esper system on-

ence numbers, and even search a ro-

ly has to rely on d r o n e and b l i m p

om w i t h o u t being there, based on

m o n i t o r i n g, a n d w h a t e v e r t h e

the information provided by the ce-

casual aerodyne spinners may cap-

ntral Esper unit at police headqua-

ture on their on-board cameras.

rters. Each portable unit, and small mo-dels built into the p o l i c e s p i n n e r s and cars, is connected to the main Esper machine through a network.

Without

this

network

connection to the central unit, only the holoprint viewer is functional with no additi-onnal information. Weight of a port-able unit: 20 kg The Esper machine also works as a Holoprint Viewer. The voiceactivated enlarger slide enables the operator to enhance information into three-dimensional prints, making 3 – D – r e n d i t i o n s of 2 – D – d i g i t a l photographs, for greater analysis of the contents of original photographs based on the two dimensional information. The machine emits a high-frequency sound as it takes ver-

Price: Lv1,800 Voight-Kampff Machine Detectives of the R e p D e t e c t, i.e. blade runners, use a special polygraph machine to spot replicants, kalled the Voight-Kampff machine, produced by the company

with

the same name. Th-ese

are

not

pur-chasable outside of the police dep-artment.

The VK machine measures bodily functions such as respiration, heart rate and eye movement while the o f f i c e r r u n s a q u e s t i o n n a i r e with emotionally provocative questions which measures the level of emphatic response, the rationale being that r e p l i c a n t s lack empathy. These questions come in a triple se-

The r e s p o n s e s sought after to

r i es, c al l e d t h e O m e g a, C o l em a n

spot a replicant are capillary dilat-

and Cummings Crossreference ser-

ions of the face (blush responses),

ies, respectively, creating a three di-

contractions of the pupil, and dila-

git number as a resultant.

tions of the iris muscle. The machine also senses the air through a bellows mechanism to dectect pheromones emitted through emotions such as nervousness, fear and stress.

The machine turns itself on automatically when the subject sits do-wn, opening the cover, letting a tri-angular lenspiece to rise on a lever-ed arm system, focusing on the su-bject’s one eye which is now moni-tored during the entire test. When the machine is turned off the arm containing the electronic eye folds iself back into a rest position, making the machine easily stored away in a special shock resistant aluminium chase. Weight: 8 kg Price: Lv1,000

To spot a replicant using the VK machine is a task. Task: To identify a replicant using the VK machine (Uncertain). Voight-Kampff Operation. Routine. 10 minutes. R e f e r e e: If the r e p l i c a n t taking the test is a Mental-A type Nexus-6 or 7, subtract – 2 from the roll, if a M e n t a l – C add + 2 to the roll; no

The majority of the keylock mec-

modifiers for Mental-B.

hanisms only require the key card

Electronic Keylock

to be inserted into a slot, which au-

Most keylocks are operated electronically in the 24th century, with the exception being the low-tech gutter

tomatically openes the lock upon recognition. Some locks require the owner to enter a confidential code

people societies who still have to

as well prior to unlocking.

trust mechanical padlock and key-

Sentinel Kiosk

lock technology. Electronic keyloc-

The Sentinel Kiosk is a fully auto-

ks come in different varieties but

nomous and computer based anti-

all require a specially keyed plastic

crime device used in the greater

card to open, regularily issued by

majority of the buildnings with te-

the landlord to each tenant or em-

nets mostly from the middle class

ployer to each employee. Some ca-

and white collar workers class.

rds have electronic chips installed or magnetic strips attached, to indentify the owner of the card, while others of a more advanced variety have a special complex geometric patter which is regonized by a scanner inside the locking mechanism. A simple variety is issued as a punched card in which the mechanism recognizes the pattern and opens the lock.

Automated and robotic security systems are quite common in the

downtown residential buildings, as

the visual through its database of

a viable alternative to security per-

approved guests, from a list provid-

sonell. These systems are often ma-

ed by the tenets. It has a face reco-

intained and supervised by secur-

gnition program which identifies ea-

ity officers who are situated in a

ch person entering the building,

security room inside each building.

sa-ving

Each building houses its own com-

reference.

puter consisting of the cerebral br-

actual enter-ence of the building,

ain of a self-contained security sys-

the guest has to pass through it on

tem, fully autonomous and equip-

his way to the enterence. If not

ped with a fairly high level of arti-

cleared or not recognized by the

ficial intelligence. It doesn’t require

central computer the door will not

any large amount of human super-

be opened. If a kn-own felon or

vision to be fully operative, keeping

criminal the security system will

the h u m a n presence to a minim-

send an alarm to the lo-cal police

um.

division, standing in con-tinous

the

image

Standing

for outside

later the

communication with the po-lice esper surveillance system, who will send a patrol to the building.

Being part of a larger network system of cameras and scanners, the Sentinel Kiosk consists of a security fixture equipped with an optical scanner that visually observes its surroundings. A visitor has to address the Sentinel Kiosk before entering the building, only to encounter other security devices once inside the lobby. The Sentinel Kiosk runs

Athena Orgasma Mask This a u t o e r o t i c device, designed and manufactured by the A t h e n a Corporation, consists of a headpie-

ce resembling a beauty mask connecting to a central computer console unit.

The O r g a s m a M a s k headset is donned with a cranial sensor stimulators and a visual imaging screen, plus audio pads. The common model only covers the eyes with mouth and chin exposed. The advanced model also houses a mouth piece that feeds the user with hallucinatory gases. Each mask has a set of cables for power, audio and visuals, as well as gas feed, connected to the console. A touch control is provided to adjust intensity.

The user selects an erotic fantasy on a rotary disc which drops into place in the main unit. After donning the mask, the user in inundated with smells, sounds and images of the desired scenario. The scene is experienced by the character as actually being on the scene and partaking in the sexual act, in a virtual reality that is difficult to disti-nguish from the real thing, creating

an

environment.

extremely

addictive

especially for the Los Angeles Police Department, according to their specifications. However, is has been adopted by most North American police forces, as well as many other ones across the Earth because of its successful and popular design. It remains one of the most common police models on Earth. Though it is rarely found outside of the F o r c e and is quite scarce on the open market, making the market price high.

The orgasma mask console works as a standard computer that is very user friendly and simple to use. It doesn’t require any special task to be performed. W e i g h t (h e a d s e t with console): 10 kg Price: Lv700

WEAPONS “You could learn from this guy, Gaf. He's a god damn one man

The Detective Special is a hybrid weapon consisting of two separate guns. The main gun is a “double

slaughter house. That's what he

action” revolver model with drum

is.”—Harry Bryant

or cylinder magazine, fed with 10

Steyr – Daimler – Puch A. G. 1 0 m m

mm caseless rounds. The electric

“Detective Special” Plager Kats – umate Series –D Model Blaster Also known as the L. A. P. D. 2019 B. R. U. 1 0 m m Caseless, this is a police detective special model handgun made by the Austrian weapons manufacturer Steyr – Daimler – Puch

firing mechanism is hidden in a sealed compartement, being activeted with its “d o u b l e a c t i o n” function through the trigger mechanism, wh-ich

revolves

the

drum

mechanical-ly. When reloading, the entire dr-um is swinged out to the left and the drum is either re-loded

manu-ally

with

each

chamber

being repl-aced by hand with a new cartridge, or the entire drum being replaced for faster reloading.

The grenade has no barrel to be stabilized trough, e x t e n d i n g from the weapon above the revolver barrel, and the launcher consists of a chamber that only contains the caThe secondary or auxiliary weapon is the actual “blaster” referred to, attached to the top of the barrel and mechanism of the revolver gun, consisting of a integral grenade launcher projecting a specially constructed 14 mm high explosive armor piercing round or grenade attached to a short cased cartridge. It is loaded to the upper barrel thro-ugh a slide on the right side of the gun, opening the mechanism man-ually by raising a handle on the ri-ght side and pulling it backwards. The handle is then pulled back

for-wards,

cartridge

to

the

pushing

the

camber

and

cocking the firing pin, much like a bolt–action rifle.

rtridge. Although the round is shaped as a fin-stabilized flechette, the range for the grenade launcher is s t i l l r a t h e r s h o r t, o p t i m i z i n g t h e gun for urban warfare. The grenade is f i r e d with a second forward tr i g g e r, r e s e r v i n g th e r e ar tr i g g e r for the revolver. The design is very rugged and reliable, strong enough to withstand the s t r o n g r e c o i l of the 1 0 m m ammunition, as well as the launching of the 1 4 m m grenade. The weapon also houses an electronic hand recognition device which immediately detects the owner of the weapon, making it u s e l e s s for anyone else stealing the weapon from a police officer. It will detect any hand of the owner or else immediately shut down the gun, mechanically locking both triggers. The electronic device (computer) governing the hand recognition sensor in

the grip is situated under the bar-rel and must be turned on before

use.

To

nullify

the

previous owners imprint and make a new one is a task. Task: To hack recognition device

and

re-imprint

handgun. D i f f i c u l t. Computer. 5 minutes. Referee: The character performing the task must have access to a computer and plug in to the hand recognition device on the handgun. Type: 10 mm police revolver Cou-ntry: Austria Weight (Empty): 1 k g Length: 18 cm (Bulk=0) Action: Sin-gle shot Ammunition: 10 x 33 mm fixed cartridge ball Muzzle Velocity: 480 mps Magazine: 5round cylin-der Weight of 5 rounds in reloader: 0.1 kg ROF: 2 Aimed Fire Range: 70 m Area Fire Burst: 3 rounds (AFV= 0.25) A r e a F i r e R a n g e: 3 5 m D P Value: 0.6 Price: Lv500 (Lv3 for box of 100 rounds)

Integral Grenade Launcher Type: 14 mm grenade launcher (integral to gun) Action: single shot Ammunition: 14 mm High Explosive Armor Piercing propelled grenade. Muzzle V e l o c i t y: 4 0 0 m p s M a g a z i n e: 1round in c ham b er R OF: 1 A imed Fire Range: 70 m DP Value: As tamped ex-plosion (EP=2) Price: Lv6

VEHICLES “...This is yellow three. C l i m b a n d m a i n t a i n 4000 ... when approaching pad six ... cauti-o n [...] n o w o n g l i d e p a t h, o n c o u r s e, o v e r t h e l a n d i n g t h r e s h o-ld.”— A i r traffic c o nt-roller Land Vehicles S e d a n C a r: A two seated high performance sports car built from lightweight materials, monted with a rear end hydrogen-engine and fitted with g u l l – w i n g doors, opening up vertically. It has a compartment in the back for limited baggage. Its large windows at the sides and front windshield provides good viewing for the driver, although the back window is usually small.

Typical for this type of car, each m o d e l h a s a l a r g e d i s p l a y giving the driver all the information necessary to monitor all of the hightech functions of the car while driviThe sedan has seen its most general use on core worlds, in particular on Earth, and very limited use on the frontier worlds and if such only in the larger cities. It is popular amongst the elite, such as corporate executives and state directors, because of its high performance characteristics, but also for its slim design. Those corporate and civil se-rvice men, amongst the middle cl-ass, who can afford it, also drive it. But is has also found a second ro-le in law enforcement service beca-use of its performance, both as a po-lice patrol car and in a detective ro-le. It is standard issue for blade run-ners.

ng, fed through its onboard computer, such as rear view camera, portable car V i d – P h ō n, G P S locator, navigation map, etc.

The descriptions here and the following statistics concerning the model are generic, but the G e r m a n car manufacturer P o r s c h e has set something of a standard for it (as s ee n i n th e p ic tur e s) and se ve ral other companies have followed suit emulating the highly successful design.

Type: Wheeled ground sedan car Crew: Driver Weight: 700 kg Armor: Suspension: 0.2 All Faces: 0.4 Signature: 2 Evasion: 3 Cargo: 1 passengers and 120 kg cargo Max Speed: 240 kph Cruising Speed: 180 kph Combat Movement: 400 m OfRoad Mobility: Quartered Power Plant: 0.1 MW hydrogen fuel cell Fuel Capacity: 48 kg H2 Fuel Consump t i o n: 3 k g / h r E n d u r a n c e: 1 6 h r Price: Lv25,000 C o u p e C a r: A downsized and less powerful version of the sedan, it still represents a viable alternative for the single individual who has not yet found his mate, a car model not particularly suited for any regular family life. Because of its lesser advanced design, it is affordable by most, also those who are part of the qualified work force, and regular civil service men.

the symbol of riches and success. As a matter of fact, the most common coupe model car is manufactured by the German V o l k s w a g e n company, spawning many successsful models made by other companies.

Being of a simple design and having its engine mounted in the rear, the horse powers are transmitted to the rear wheels. Like its big brother the sedan, the windows are large, both at the front and sides, but almost with no rear vision besides the camera mounted at the back of the car. Likewise it is fitted with a pair of vertically opened gullwing doors, which are operated by hydraulics.

Other than that, most of the advanced and expensive design of the Sedan is also found in this cheaper model, such as the rear mounted hydrogene-engine, cramped compartment and even less luggage size, low silhouette, etc. In a way, the coupe can be compared to a regular VW, a car for the common man, the sedan reflecting the Porsche,

Although not as advanced as in the sedan, the electronics of the

co-upe

car

and

the

onboard

model or variation of the standard

computor makes driving safer. On

2300AD utility van, which is said to

board Vid-Phōn unit is included as

be a general-purpose passenger or

a standa-rd equipment, making the

cargo hauler used for light loads on

design a luxury car compared to

roads. The A r m a d i l l o is a quite

most oth-er car models. Being very

common model on Earth and in

popular in the core worlds it is one

pa-rticular in Terran urban areas

of the m o s t c o m m o n m o d e l s i n

and cities.

u s e. I t has also seen some use in the urb-an frontier world areas, not the lea-st because of its low fuel consump-tion.

It has a peculiar design in that it has one small compartment for the driver, encapsuled in a cabin built around the driver’s seat, with no sp-ace for a passenger to the right Type: Wheeled ground coupe car

of the driver. This enables a better

Crew: Driver Weight: 600 kg Armor:

vi-ew for the driver in tight urban

Suspension: 0.2 All Faces: 0.4 Signature: 1 Evasion: 1 Cargo: 1 passenger and 90 kg cargo M a x S p e e d: 180 kph C r u i s i n g S p e e d: 120 kph Combat Movement: 320 m Of-Road M o b i l i t y: Quartered P o w e r P l a n t: 0.06 MW hydrogen fuel cell Fuel Ca-pacity:

32

kg

H2

Fuel

Consumption: 1 kg/hr Endurance: 16 hr Price: Lv 8000 A r m a d i l l o T r u c k: Named after the mammal because of its laminat e d sh a pe, t h i s i s ba si c al l y o n e

tra-ffic.

The

reached

from

through

the

driver’s behind, large

cabin

is

entering passenger

compartment. The van is entered through a side door to the right, in the center of the bo-dy, which opens up to the passen-ger section.

The van has twin rear axes and

sengers and 500 kg cargo Max Spe-

one forward drive shaft giving it a

ed: 140 kph C r u i s i n g S p e e d: 100

stable performance on road and a

kph Combat Movement: 300 m Of-

better o f f – r o a d capacity compared

Road Mobility: halved Power Plant:

to other vans. The hydrogen-engine

0.1 MW hydrogen fuel cell Fuel Ca-

is situated in the forward compart-

pacity: 48 kg H2 Fuel Consumption:

ment to the right of the driver’s ca-

3 kg/hr Endurance: 16 hr Price: Lv

bin, easily accessible from the out-

3000

side.

MetroKab Car: Properly speaking a small bus, or halfway between a car and a bus, this is a large sized cab which can hold several passengers. The car is entered on its sides through p l e x i – g l a s s sliding doors. The passengers sit and stand while riding in the cab, while the driver is sitting in a sealed compartment or cabin, much like in the armadillo van.

This model of a van has also found a second highly successful and popular role in the megalopolis as an a m b u l a n c e t r u c k. It is favored amongst city dwellers, especially amongst the homeless who can afford it, as a camping or house car. Many city residents use it as a daily utility vehicle, for urban traveling to and fro, between work and home. It is a common feature in most cities on Earth and Tirane, and quite common as well on frontier worlds.

This model is designed to be fully utilitarian, withstanding all sorts of abuse, developed specifically for the MetroKab company, which made that company such a popular enterprise, and competing com-

Type: wheeled van Crew: driver

panies has adapted it to their stock

We ight: 1200 kg A rmo r: Suspensi-

as well. In a way, it is a simplified

on: 0.2 All Faces: 0.4 Signature: 4

version of the armadillo truck, usi-

Evasion: 3 (full speed) Cargo: 6 pas-

ng a similar design but lacking the second rear axis.

Because of the hydrogen fuel requirements, and the large and pow-

T y p e: wheeled van C r e w: driver Weight: 1200 kg Armor: Suspension: 0.2 All Faces: 0.4 Signature: 4 Evasion: 3 (full speed) Cargo: 6 passengers and 500 kg cargo Max Speed: 140 kph C r u i s i n g S p e e d: 100 kph Combat Movement: 300 m OfRoad Mobility: quartered Power Plant: 0.1 MW hydrogen fuel cell Fuel Capacity: 48 kg H2 Fuel Consumption: 3 kg/hr Endurance: 16 hr Price: Lv 4000

erful combustion engine, this results in a relatively small fuselage; it generally comes with t w o s e a t s, one for the driver and one for the single passenger. The s p i n n e r is developed for optimal use in urban and city landscapes, with a very ad-vanced

and

maneuv-erability vehicle

in

sophisticated to

bet-ween

buildings,

and

rooftops,

rather

for

guide

the

skyscraper landing

than

at

hi-ghest

possible speed. The upper le-vels of

Aerodyne Spinners

the city is reserved for spe-cially

Representing the latest developent

allotted a i r h i g h w a y s which are

and most advanced technology in ve-

quite heavy trafficked. To prev-ent

rd

hicle design of the 23 century, the

m i d – a i r accidents, the city air

spinner consist of a aerodyne verti-

traffic control directs each spinner

cal take-off and landing (VTOL) ve-

and allots altitude and direction al-

hicle shaped as a car, powered by

ong these p r e – de te r m i n at e d high-

vectored turbojet thrusters that bo-

ways in the air. Each spinner is in

th lift the spinner, creating a conti-

constant radio communication, th-

nuous jump hover, and also prop-

rough headphones and micropho-

elling it forward, sideways or back-

ne, with a t r a f f i c c o n t r o l l e r along

wards.

the entire fight route. There is one civilian air traffic control tower, governing all civilian and civil service traffic, while the police department and military each maintain their own traffic control, being in constant communication with the other two.

Being a land and air type of vehicle it also has four wheels situated as in a car and with the same func-tions, with r e g u l a r t r a n s m i s s i o n and steering, for use on ground le-vel and for driving on roads. The turbine engine is then shifted to tr-ansmit its power to the rear or for-ward wheels. Thus, a spinner has a double function, as a jump-hover ground

ve-hicle

vehicle,

in

and all

as

Spinners are used extensively by the police department but also by governmental

officials,

corporate

ex-ecutives, and as private vehicles for the elite, the rich and the politicia-ns.

Owning

your

own

spinner is a sure sign that you belong to the hi-ghest echelons of society.

a

respects

functioning as a two seat-ed s e d a n c a r. When going into a jump-hover mode, the wheels ret-ract after vertical take-off, and fold out again when doing a vertical la-nding. A special steering “twist wr-ist” device has been developed for the spinner v e h i c l e, consisting of two handles

The word “Spinner” is actually tr-

which are turned and twisted by

ademarked as a company brand for

each hand separately to direct the

the corporation that first developed

thrusters and maintain a stable

and still manufactures a large ran-

hovering tilt.

ge and variety of s p i n n e r models. Like the company brand “J e e p” it has created the generic name used by all kinds of brands, such as Alpha Romeo which manufactures its own s p i n n e r m o d e l. The following

characteristics represent the gener-

central Esper Unit at downtown po-

ic t w o – s e a t spinner and apply for

lice headquarters.

all of the following descriptions and types, if not other-wise noted. G e n e r a l: Type: Aerodyne spinner car Crew: Pilot Weight: 1400 kg Armor: All Faces: 1 Cargo: 1 passenger and 120 kg cargo Power Plant: 0.8MW MHD turbine Fuel Capacity: 100 kg H2 Price: Lv100,000 Aerodyne: Type: Vectored thrust V T O L Evasion: 15 Sensor Range: 2 0 0 k m Signature: + 1 Max Speed: 800 kph C r ui s in g S p e e d: 600 kph Combat Movement: 1600 m Endurance: 3 hr G r o u n d: Type: Wheeled ground car Evasion: 3 Signature: 2 Max Spe-ed: 210 kph C r u i s i n g S p e e d: 160 kph Combat Movement: 380 m Of-Road Mobility: Quartered Fuel Con-sumption: 6 kg/hr Endurance: 16 hr Police Spinner: This is a generic

The front wheels are contained inside a pair of rotating enclosures during flight mode which are covered by rubber tracks around the edges, allowing for s o f t l a n d i n g and short distance rolling without the need of total conversion to land mode, during emergency situationns. The back tires, which also serves as driving wheels in ground mode, are also r a i s e d from their ground position and hidden behind covers under the chassis. These co-

police, military or governmental ser-

vers are raised like wing flaps each

vice vehicle, with all necessary

time the rear wheels are raised to

equ-ipment

flight mode and lowered to ground

installed

for

city

network su-rveillance (Esper) and navigation. It houses an array of thermal and in-frared cameras as well

as

high

defi-nition

video

cameras for close up images and tracking relaying

of all

crime

susp-ects,

information

to

the

mode.

The en gi ne co mp ar tmen t hosts the t win hy dr og e n fu ele d t ur b ine and turbo-jet engines, gears and transmissions, switching between different propulsion systems, between rear wheel drive and jet thrust. The main twin mounted turbines are ar-

Two forward retro-view video mo-

ranged at the rear in a vertical po-

nitors mounted outside the wind sc-

sition, providing the s p i n n e r with

reen are fed from digital cameras in

basic v e r t i c a l t h r u s t and l i f t – o f f,

the rear end section of the vehicle.

supplying additional vertical thrust

The rear striped bumper have sen-

to four smaller thrust vectors mou-

sors that flash warnings inside the

nted to the sides of the vehicle, aid-

cockpit in case of surprise approa-

ing landing and take-off as well as

ch from behind the vehicle.

hovering flight operation.

Additionally, an array of five smaller outlets at the back are opened up when turbine propulsion is required allowing the passage of general forward jet thrust. At the sides, at the back edge of the rear wheel flaps, an array of yellow L E D lamps have been mounted which serves as rear lights during hovering flight and ground vehicle driving.

The police service air-land vehicle is the classical model manufactured by Spinner, and one of the longest standing, still being in production because of its rugged, trustworthy and versatile design. Its stylish retro-look bodywork, expressing the general fashion of the late 23rd century, encases an advanced high-tech design which has gone thr oug h m a ny up g r ad es enha ncing

its performance to contemporary st-andards. Alpha Romeo Spinner: A generic private vehicle used by the society’s elite. Being the latest sports model and one of the most advanced spinner constructions to date, although a “spinner” model made by another manufacturer than Spinner itself, it has become very fashionable amongst the rich and the wealthy, especially amongst the younger generation of the elite.

Lobster Spinner: A generic private service car produced by Spinner which has seen much use in the taxi cab vehicle role for those that can afford these kinds of highly exclusive fares. It also has found a role as a s e r v i c e c a r for repair workmen working on high altitudes or for emergency calls, etc. It is also in common use by private individuals, having a somewhat lower price tag compared to other models

The Italian Alpha Romeo comp-

because of its more rugged design,

any traditionally being a sports car

retaining the typical S p i n n e r high

profile, it has also made its spinner

performance.

model a very fast one, with a pair of extra horizontal thrusters for additional f o r w a r d s p e e d. Its design rather resembles a starship than a car, making this spinner model a very suitable ae r od y ne ve h icl e for going between cities in relative short time periods.

The model follows the traditional general design trend of spinner technology, and somewhat resembling the police spinner design, as it only takes one passenger on board. But on the other hand, that passenger will have to pay a large sum of money for his fare, if taking a cab fr-

om one skyscraper building to the other.

A mb ul ance Sp inner: A generic am b ula nce ve hicle m anu fa ct ur e d by Spinner for use in special emergencies (usually involving a special premium health care insurance). It C o r p o r a t e S p i n n e r: A generic spinner, with a large range of varieties manufactured by Spinner, utilized by the mega-corporations for

is a large version of a generic spinner, with enough room to carry the patient and an ER team of medical personnel.

selected privileged or important personnel and corporate executives.

G e n e r a l: Type: Aerodyne spinner ambulance van Crew: Pilot and a medical team of three W e i g h t: 2100 kg Armor: All Faces: 1 Cargo: 1 patient and 900 kg cargo P o w e r It carries additional c u s t o m i z e d electronic equipment suited for corporate needs, such as advanced telecommunication devices for v i d e o c o n f e r e n c e s, on-board computers,

P l a n t: 1.6 M W M H D turbine F u e l C a p a c i t y: 2 0 0 k g H 2 P r i c e: L v 200,000 Aerodyne: Type: Vectored thrust VT O L Ev a sio n: 1 2 Se n so r R a n ge:

video screens showing the current

200 km S i g n a t u r e: + 2 M a x S p e e

state of the stock-market, etc.

d: 600 kph C r u i s i n g S p e e d: 500 kph C o m b a t M o v e m e n t: 1400 m E ndu r-ance: 4 hr

Ground: Type: Wheeled ground

hybrid vehicle using the same type

car E v a s i o n: 3 S i g n a t u r e: 4 M a x

of technology as the car or van type

S p e e d: 140 kph C r u i s i n g S p e e d:

of spinner. Its jump hovering capa-

100 kph Combat Movement: 300 m

bility makes it easier to dump was-

O f f – R o a d M o b i l i t y: Quartered F u e

tes onto the large m o u n t a i n s of

l C o n s u m p t i o n: 6 kg/hr E n d u r a n c

garbage that are piling on the out-

e: 12 hr

skirts of the mega-city

D u m p T r u c k S p i n n e r: A generic urban utility or waste disposal spinner used for collecting city garbage and wastes, transporting it outside of the megalopolis sectors and dumping it into a waste pile area.

ADDITIONAL SOURCES The following references and written material have been drawn upon for the compliation of this section that might serve as inspiration for the referee: 

The dump truck represents the largest version of a spinner ever manufactured, and doesn’t share much of the g e n e r i c m o d e l, although it still represents a ground/aerodyne

Blade Runner Sketchbook (1982), edited by David Scroggy, features original production artwork by Syd Mead, Mentor Huebner, Charles Knode, Michael Kaplan and R i d l e y S c o t t, plus valuable introductions to each section describing each type of item in detail.

Equipment and Weapons Part 1 (Not shown in scale)

Voight-Kampff Machine

Steyr-Daimler-Puch “Detective Special” 10mm Caseless Blaster

Stationary Vid-Phōn with Headset

Central Esper Machine

Vehicles Part 1

Street Tricycles

Street Life 1 (Not shown in scale)

Sidewalk Diner (front view) with Traffic Sign

Retro-fitted Parking Meter and Water Hydrant

Street Life 2

Sidewalk Diner (detail and side view) attached to a Lamp Pole for power supply

Street Life 3

Sidewalk Diner (cross section and side view)

Archi tecture 1

Front Lobby in Apartment Building with Information Plate

Architecture 2

Apartment Bed

Los Angeles 2300 Part 1

Los Angeles 2300 Part 2

Costumes Part 1

Noir Dandies

Motorcycle Police Officer

Patrolling Police with Overcoat and Rain Protection

Costumes Part 2

Noir Romantics

Costumes Part 3

Metrofits (above) and Cyberpunks (below)

Vehicles Part 2

Corporate Spinner (ground mode)

Corporate Spinner (spinning mode)

Vehicles Part 3

Various Civic Spinners

Sedan Car

Vehicles Part 4

Equipment and Weapons Part 2 (Not shown in scale)

Portable Esper Machine

Steyr K.S.D. 10mm Caseless Blaster with 14mm Integral Grenade Launcher

Vehicles Part 5

Police Spinner

Police Car

Vehicles Part 6

Sedan Car

Coupe Car

Urban Bus

Vehicles Part 7

Armadillo Truck

Ambulance

Vehicles Part 8 (Shown in scale)

Street Sweeper Hootie and Tanker

Street Sweeper Disinfectant Wagon and Tanker

Street Bicycle

Retrofit Chrysler Coupe 1960

Los Angeles 2300 Part 3

Los Angeles 2300 Part 4