Since I released the alpha draft of The Sprawl a number of people have been kind enough to read, play and comment on the document. This week, I’ve started a fresh writing and editing pass to fix and add a number of things. One thing I worked on tonight was standarising the gear list, including giving The Tech some gear. I think I’ve finally got this playbook to a point where I want to play it and thus, can sell it to players.
I’m still not happy that it’s the only playbook that breaks the naming convention though.
Tech
Hackers get all the glory, but you’re the one who actually gets things done. Deck took a couple of pellets from that security team? Call the Tech. Need a bus wired to blow? Call the Tech. Need to lay twenty-two klicks of hardline from the grid to your desert hide? Call the effin’ Tech. At least the jobs pay better than crawling around some ceiling ducting in a Sprawl tenement.
Look. Choose one from each line:
Eyes: focused, excited, artificial, squinty, impatient, calm, appraising
Face: plain, friendly, nondescript, weathered, expressive
Body: muscular, wiry, compact, thin, flabby
Style: utility, military, corporate, street, scrounged
Stats. Assign each stat one of these numbers: +2, +1, +1, +0, +0, -1. Your Cool and Mind should be +2 or +1.
Cyberware: Cybercoms (2 tags), Cybereyes (3 tags) Cyberarm with implant tools, Control Systems (2 tags), Data Storage and Interface (1 tag).
Moves
Expert: Choose two areas of expertise:
- Vehicles & Drones
- Cybernetics & Biomodification
- Hardware & Electronics (You can maintain cyberdecks)
- Software
- Armaments
- Medicine & Pharmaceuticals (When you apply first aid, roll+Mind.)
- Chemistry and Explosives (Ignore the dangerous tag for explosives.)
You start with a workshop appropriate to your expertise (e.g. surgery, electronics workshop, garage).
Customiser: You can identify and examine new or complicated technology related to your area of expertise, and add modify technology which with you are familiar. When you try to modify a piece of tech, tell the MC what you want to do and discuss what tags or game effect that modification will have. The MC will tell you the requirements in terms of:
- time
- tools
- parts
- help from contacts
- more research
Choose one more:
Analytic: When you check it out, roll+Mind instead of +Edge.
Blend In: When you try to look inconspicuous, roll+Cool. On a 10+ no one thinks twice about your presence until you do something to attract attention. On a 7-9, you’ll be fine as long as leave right now, as soon as you do anything else, your presence will be suspicious.
Bypass: When you attempt to bypass secured electronics, roll+Cool. On a 10+, you successfully bypass the system without leaving a trace. On a 7-9, you bypass the system, but it’s a mess and will be obvious to anyone who sees it.
Chromed: Choose another piece of cyberware.
It all fits together!: At the start of a mission, roll+Mind. On a 10+ hold 3, one a 7-9, hold 1. Spend your hold 1 for 1 at any time to ask the following questions:
- What does _____ really want out of this?
- How do _____ and _____ relate to each other?
- What does ______ have to do with all this?
Jack of All Trades: Choose one more area of expertise.
Obsessive: When you shut yourself away with a problem or piece of cutting edge tech, make a research move. You may spend 1 hold to ask any question about the problem.
On it: When you help a teammate, roll+Cool instead of +Links. If your areas of expertise were central to the help you gave, mark experience.
Gear
Toolkit and gear appropriate to your areas of expertise, goggles (2 tags), van (1 strength, 1 weakness)
Either:
Armoured clothing (armour 0, +discrete, subtract 1 when rolling the harm move), holdout pistol (2-harm hand/close discrete quick reload loud), encrypted jamming communications relay.
Or:
Armoured jacket (armour 1), Assault rifle (3-harm near/far loud autofire), Fragmentation Grenades (4-harm hand area reload messy), Gas Grenades (s-harm hand area reload gas).
