Cyber Streets Development Blog #2

One of the first things I wanted to do with Cyber Streets was to give it it's own identity. It has cybernetics and net surfing, sure, but I didn't want to give it the 'cyberpunk' identifier. It has the trappings of the cyberpunk genre but the content is definitley not cyberpunk; there's no rebelling, stickin' it to the man or wild street fashion and style. It can be played that way for sure, but I wanted to focus on the delicate lawkeeping side of things and create moments of drama and moral difficulty instead of focusing on the flash and the action.

There are cybernetics but this is just for easy bonuses for the character (it's a heroic action game at it's core, like it's parent game 'Fireteam') and things are more likely to go wrong or get damaged and it's very, very costly. It seemed a shame to create a world such as this and not have these options for players, but body mods are not the driving force behind the game; the players are. The rules are light enough for the group to play it as they see fit.

The game focuses on the players being in a Street Detective Team - the acronym isn't lost on the public and many jokes have arisen from this - solving crimes for the Capital Police Department, the CPD. There is a way an investigation can be handled with a short example in the book and it goes like this;

Like a police procedural on TV, players play acts and at the end of every act they get a Lead - each Lead moves them to the next act, and gives them a die to add to their Case Pool. At the end of the investigation, if they have made an arrest they roll the total they have in their Case Pool as a die pool and success means they get a conviction - and they get paid. Their experience as detectives can help them find Leads, and the longer the case the more chance they have of securing a conviction.

That is, if the corporations let you secure the conviction. They pay for the police service, after all, and they'd rather the police not arest the 'wrong' person, or embaress the company in any way. It's a delicate line.  

The rules are light and fast with plenty of room for modifying or adding your own ideas.