Sierra Survival Dataterm is a forum for free form role play based on the roleplaying game CyberPunk 2020 by Talsorian Games. The forum is public and open to any who wish to engage in free form role play. We provide the following guidelines to ensure the enjoyment of all players and participants.

Characters

Characters will be accepted who are based on CP2020, ShadowRun (limited: please see races for allowable conversions, tech only, no magic), or another Near Future RPG, who are based on an established character or character type found in a CyberPunk book or movie, or who are consistant with the Dark Future theme and can be set in the 21st century. You may alter characters if you wish to comply with these guidelines. For example, a Klingon would not fit, since in the 21st century Earth has not acheived interstellar exploration sufficient to include contact with Klingons (first contact with Vulcans doesn't occur until April 4, 2063), but if you wish to you can play a human character with an interest in late 20th century science fiction who has had his body cybernetically altered to appear as a Klingon, with comparitive strength and abilities. If you have any doubts about how your character would fit into CyberPunk Cafe, ask one of the moderators before playing him/her.

For beginners, CP2020 characters are recomended. CP2020 characters fall into the following roles:

For more help with character generation, click here.

Godlike characters with insurmountable power and resources will only be allowed with prior permission from a moderator and only as a non-player character (NPC), not as your main player character.

Scenarios

Free form role play depends on the interaction of the players for plot line and scenario development. Moderators will only serve as referrees during combat (by request only) and to settle disputes between players when it disrupts game play. They will not serve as gamemasters or create scenarios except as players and are not responsible for getting characters involved in role play. Referreed scenarios may be run by prior agreement of all players involved. Fully referreed games, whether they are run by an moderator or by a player, will take place in a seperate chat or forum folder.

When creating/playing a scenario, please respect the other players. All participation in a scenario is voluntary, and all players must agree to engage in the scenario before their characters can be held to the outcome of play. Once agreement has been made, all outcome is final, including termination of the character if this happens. Appeal must be made to a moderator before any outcome of a previously agreed to scenario can be reversed.

In a non-referreed (free form) scenario all players have equal right and responsibility to the development of the storyline. Any player involved in the scenario can contribute to the plot.

Combat

Moderators will referree combat by request only. Referreed combat will take place in a seperate chat or in the main chat as the moderator and the participants feel appropriate. The moderator has final judgement in all matters concerning referreed combat.

Combat, whether referreed, dice, or free form, will take place in turns, each player having one turn per round of combat. Initiative (order of combat) will be determined by either agreement of the participants or by dice. One turn is equal to two actions, except for the first strike of the initiator, which is equal to one action. Actions are as follows: response to opponent's strike, attack, or defend. If your opponent makes a successful attack, you must use one turn to respond (appropraitely) to the attack (ie, fall down bleeding, scream in pain, frown at the rip in your favorite leather jacket, etc).

For simple dice combat, rules are as follows:

Initiative: High roll on 1d10.

Attack: Roll 1d10

1	Fumbled attack, attacker takes 1d6 pts damage.
2-4	Missed attack, no damage.
5-9	Successful attack, opponent takes 1d6 pts damage.
10	Critical hit, opponent takes 2d6 pts damage.

Defend: Roll 1d10

1	Fumbled defense, defender takes 1d6 additional damage.
2-4	Missed defense, attack does normal damage.
5-9	Successful defense, attack does 1/2 damage.
10	Evasion, attack does no damage.

Damage: A player must state at the beginning of combat their armor rating, including external and internal armor. Armor can range from 0-40. Armor rating is equivalent to the amount of damage your armor will absorb before you become injured. When all armor points are expired, body damage will occur to the character. A character is presumed incapacitated when he has acquired 90 points of body damage. At this point he must roll a 7 or higher on 1d10 each round to remain conscious. If a character acquires 100 points of body damage he enters mortality, and must roll the number of rounds passed since entering mortality or higher on 1d10 each round to be able to be rescucitated, providing there is a qualified medical person to perform the rescucitation. A character that fails his rescucitation dies.

Money, Equipment, Resources, etc

We don't expect you to walk into the dangerous world of the CyberPunk Cafe unarmed and unprepared. It is assumed when you write your character that you will already be equipped. It is up to the player to use reason when equipping his character. For example, it would be unlikely that your character is carrying three tons of weapons, ammunition, explosives, and armor. Keep in mind when equipping your character the role that character plays. A street level rocker, for example, would raise some eyebrows if he walked into the Cafe toting around a Zurisima 42-350 heavy assault rifle that cost a good $50,000 credits. However, a top-rated Arasaka security specialist doing a little freelance solo work would only get a polite nod and a wary circle around him for the same item. Bar tabs are considered to be bottomless for all players, no matter their role.

If you want to make some money, all that you have to do is ask one of the Executive Corps for a job. There will be Execs wandering in and out of the cafe regularly and they are always looking to hire. Execs are played by moderators or editors as NPCs so they can be quickly adjusted to get you the kind of job you want at the right pay. One example of an Exec NPC is The Numan, who has job openings for Solos (hired guns), Rockers (musicians), and NetRunners (Cyberspace jockeys). It is your responsibility to keep track of how much money you have.

If you wish to purchase additional equipment, you can get ahold of a Fixer, either one played by another player or a NPC Fixer played by one of the moderators. Fixers specialize in getting whatever you want, so long as you're able to pay. Some Fixers are cheaper than others, so you might want to shop around. One example of an NPC Fixer is Delorean, who is actually a Solo but can manage any weapons and armorment needs through his contacts at Sierra Survival, who regularly raid Militech shipments headed for the depot near their base. Other Fixers may deal in weapons, drugs, cyberware, services, or any and everything known to mankind.

To get a job working in the cafe itself you will need to talk to Angel or Delorean. Job openings at the cafe include Security, Performer, Waitstaff, and Bartender. To join Sierra Survival you will have to make contact with a member who will then decide whether or not to take you to the base.

Getting Help

We do not assume that you are an expert on role play or CyberPunk when you enter the CyberPunk Cafe. Feel free to ask a moderator for help with character generation or role play or anything for that matter, either by messaging them privately in a roleplay chat, asking them in the general chat, or posting a message in the General folder.

Out of Character Chat

All out of character comments in a roleplay channel or folder will be distinguished from in character role play by enclosing them in parenthesis: (( )), [ ], or { }.

BICKERING OR ARGUING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. IN THE EVENT OF A DISPUTE, THE MODERATOR(S) WILL DECIDE ON THE MATTER. CONTINUED DISCUSSION ON THE MATTER MUST BE TAKEN OUTSIDE OF THE FORUM OR IT WILL RESULT IN KICKING AND/OR TEMPORARY BANNING.

Moderator/Editor Status

If you are starting a storyline that is longer than a thread, you can request a moderator to provide you a folder and channel in which you will have moderator and editor privileges. If you wish to request Assistant Moderator status for the channel, please leave a message for the forum wizard.