Solitaire 2400, Inner System Blues

Played a 30 minutes solitaire one-shot of 2400 Inner System Blues, a 2 pages "lo-fi sci-fi RPG" with a cyberpunk feel. It only uses 1d6 and builds upon Electric Bastionland "Luck Roll" (really just the oldest mechanic in game design) with a simple skill system and some neat pieces of equipment and random tables. Since I was playing solo, I used another d6 as an oracle, asking it broad and narrow questions about my environment, with lower results being bad for me and higher results being good.

KIT is an Infiltrator. She's got budgetwear and occult tattoos.
She's skilled in Climbing (d8), Stealth (d8), Deception (d8), Hand-to-Hand (d8) and Driving (d8).
She's got a vidcom and a cranial jack (with a Hacking (d8) skillsoft option, leaving her with 0 Creds).

And that's the whole character.

First, I rolled to see if I even found a job, or got in debt. Found one, but something wasn't right.

I rolled a JOB: the client is Bron, a dour security chief with a metal arm (. He wants Kit to steal a frozen biological sample located somewhere in the Kwok Tower (200 floors). The twist (that my character wasn't aware of) is that he has no intention to pay.

During the MEETING, Kit prods for specifics as she doesn't know this Bron guy. Sounds like the pay's a little too good (3 Creds? Does this guy thinks he looks like Lord Monsanto or something?) - but Kit is really strapped for cash after getting her cranial jack, and seeing Bron won't talk, she shakes his hand and moves on to legwork.

For LEGWORK, I first rolled to see if the job was on a time-limit. Turns out it's urgent, so I made a short list of things I'd like to know more about: the Kwok Tower, Bron and the Sample itself, and picked one. Kit called a "friend" who owed her: Carryout, a cocky courrier with fast cyber-legs. He's heard rumors alright. So I ask the oracle while Kit asks him: what's the sample? Is it alive? No. Is it dangerous? Yes. Is it a nanoplague? No. Is it a cyberzombie? Yup. Kit ain't happy. But time's running out, better get ready.

Moving on to the OPERATION. What's the tower's surroundings like? Gardens? No. Fences and an industrial compound? Yes. So I'm expecting cameras, guards, maybe dogs? Yes. Cyberdogs, even. Things just keep getting better.

Alright, screw it, this is what Kit does.

Want = Get to the Tower
Risk = Get Caught by a Guard
Roll = d8=5, Success

Kit narrowly avoids the patrols and sneaks up to the glass tower's back, hugging the wall in a camera's blind spot. She prepares to climb, and I realize I'm not sure which floor the sample is. Did Bron at least tell her? Yes. Of course he did, phew. And it's floor 24. Not too bad. Getting up there is not easy, but she has gear and expertise.

Want = Climb up to F24
Risk = Get Noticed
Roll = d8=7, Success

She's in. Is the floor a laboratory? No. Ok, then it's a containment/storage area? Yes. So no human security? Actually there is. Two guards. But this is corporate territory, so there's probably somewhere near I can plug in with my cranial jack, right? Yes? Good. I do that, and hack the lights out to distract the guards.

Want = Hack the corridor's lights
Risk = Trigger an Alarm
Roll = d8=6, Success

Piece of cake. Do they bite? Yes, but only one of them, the other sticks to the door Kit wants to get to. Looks like she'll have to get her hands dirty. She's unarmed, but she knows kung-fu. She sneaks above him, Sam Fisher-style and tries to grab him into a chokehold while his friend's away.

Like this!

Want = Choke the Guard Out
Risk = Get Caught/Overpowered
Roll = d8 = 4. Success

 

Phew. That was close - the guard struggles a little longer than she expected, but he eventually passes out (giving people brain damage instead of cutting their throats is not exactly pacifistic but it's a bit less terrible), Kit grabs his keycard and swipes the maglock, getting inside the lab.

Now, the 100 Creds question: is the Cyberzombie on or off? I'm pretty tense at this point, what with all the lucky rolls...it's off. Kit grabs a sample in a glass research cabinet, doesn't stick around to learn more about the place and gets the hell out the way she came from. Some more rolls indicate she gets to the ground before trouble hits her: a cyberdog barks at her from the shadows! A guard yells "FREEZE!" and she bolts.

Want = GET AWAY

Risk = GET SHOT

Roll = d6 = 6. Success

 

Excellent. Kit runs away, jumps the fence in slow-motion and disappears into the crowded streets of NuParis. Once she feels like she's put enough distance between her and Kwok Security, she calls Bron on her Vidcom. Will the delivery be somewhere good or bad? Good. The Aurora Nightclub - she knows the place and its crowded, which means less chance for things to turn violent.

Yet when she arrives, Bron is with two goons and carries smiles way too much. She flashes the sample, and he puts a credstick with 1 Cred on the table. The deal was for three, Kit reminds him. His goons look more threatening as he explains there's been a misunderstanding, he clearly remembers saying 1 Cred. At this point, Kit (and myself) are pretty pissed off considering the shit she put up through and how well she did the job. She got shot at! She gets ice cold and reminds him that she is a professional and just got in and out of a megacorp's protected building and wouldn't have that much trouble breaking into his house one of these nights.

Want = GET PAID

Risk = Intimidating this guy is pretty tough considering the situation

Roll = d4 = 4. Success

 

Sweet! He's actually all bark and no talk. He adds the remaining monies on the credstick and mutters something rude. Kit smiles a cold smile, wires the credstick to her account and walks away. Another night, another job well done.

She gets +1 Corp Rep from this, and no Street Rep since she didn't really help anyone. That's fine.

I know, I know.

SOME THOUGHTS

This was very tense, and very quick. I didn't spend a lot of time on flavorful details as I already have a pretty clear picture of a cyberpunk world in my head and can pretty much run it in "automatic" mode. I tried to push the limits of what "fast-paced" can mean in solo. Maybe the tower's security could have been more detailed, but I feel like I was fairly exhaustive and didn't "cheat my way" into the storage area. I also used a lot of dice rolls to potentially add trouble, but was extremely lucky. I mean, I literally didn't fail any test! Things might have gone very wrong otherwise. Now I want to do the same kind of game but in other settings, as it's a pretty simple generic mechanic 2400 uses. FUN! 

 

Now, back to working on the Skyward Marches for Any Planet is Earth.