Take on a job to install a network for a group of citizens who value their privacy. However be warned, in this hyperconnected age wanting to disconnect draws more attention from curious eyes who want to know what you have to hide.
In this session the cybermercs1 have taken on a job to install a private network in a high rise apartment building. They will set up the relays and power connections, run into complications from a Netwatch team sent to investigate, and then locate the hacker who’s attempting to break into the new network.
Setting:
This narrative takes place in Night City, a neon metropolis of towering skyscrapers, high-tech advancements, and urban decay. The city breathes with glitzy life 24/7, and there's nothing that you can't find here for the right price provided you also know the right guy. Even if you don’t, this city iss a melting pot of neocorporations, street gangs, and the increasingly rare ordinary person; use your wits and I’m sure you’ll do just fine.
Specifically it takes place in the rundown Sawchyn Apartments, located in the outskirts of an industrial zone. The building is 6 stories high, with the ground floor taken up by parking, vending machines, and a convenience store (Klarence’s Kiosk); while the remaining levels each contain 6 apartments organised around a central shaft extending from the ground all the way to the sky.
Story Beats:
Establishing networks
Connection interrupted
System shutdown
Establishing networks:
We begin as the cybermercs arrive to the dirty street outside of the Sawchyn Apartment building. The building itself is a fairly unassuming 6 stories, with a grey concrete exterior, some overflowing dumpsters around one side, and a gang of youths killing time by attempting to intimidate anyone they don’t recognise as from around here.
The cybermercs have been contracted by the local job co-ord “Mama”2 to assist the new community living here in setting up a private technology network. They were reticent regarding the reasons why, which indicates concerns around privacy to be the likely reason.
If the characters don’t already know each other prior to helping Mama with installing the network, then a suggested opening is each character being the ones who responded to a job opening. Alternatively, if they belong to a faction they may have been volunteered by their faction leaders as a show of community service.
In order to create this network, the cybermercs will need to set up 3 relays on the 1st & 4th floor, as well as the roof. Each of these will then need to be connected to the mains power, located in a small sub basement. As per the map below, there are 3 apartments on each level, each with residents, most of whom are on board with this plan. Gallop Enterprises who own the building also haven’t been notified of this, and likely would not approve.
Sneaking the equipment up past the security cams on the ground floor, the relays need to be installed precisely at the indicated locations:
1st floor - In the NE apartment resides a Mr Johan Sorensen, an older gentleman who doesn’t understand any of this technobabble but is sympathetic to the need for privacy and allows the installation to proceed unhindered.
4th floor - Parker Tilton of the NW apartment is a serious non-believer in the plan. She firmly believe that their fern filled apartment gives them all the privacy they want, and interrupts any signals the government is sending and so has no need of a private network. She does not agree to the relay being installed, therefore creating a need for a new plan to get the relay into place.
The roof - The door is locked and requires a residents pass to get through. This shouldn’t present too much of a challenge for a resourceful cybermerc though. The relay will need to be installed in the SW corner of the roof to be effective.
Once the relays have been installed one of the cybermercs will need to head down to the subbasement of the building (entrance located next to the kiosk) through a door marked “NO ACCESS - BUILDING MAINTENANCE ONLY”. Once in, they need to temporarily interrupt the buildings power in order to install a device that will mask the additional energy drain from the network relays.
Connection interrupted:
Remerging into the apartment complex for initial connection tests, the cybermercs encounter a van marked Building Maintenance, although if they’re observant they may notice there’s no corp logos or that they arrived quite quickly.
They inform the cybermercs that they’ve received reports of an electronics disturbance to the building, and demand to see ID docs since they were spotted coming out of the MAINTENANCE ONLY door. Having not been given any docs (real or otherwise) by Mama prior, they will attempt to eject the cybermercs from the building, threatening to call local law enforcement if they see them again for any reason.
Looking around, they can see several of the residents peeking out through their windows with visible concern. If the cybermercs make to leave the property, they witness an antenna extend from the top of the van and start pinging, with the maintenance crew mentioning something about 3 main signals. Mama send a brief message saying their signal was interrupted, and queries if everything’s going alright with the install; before reminding the cybermercs that no relays means no payday for anyone, herself included.
If the cybermercs decide to resolve things violently, a firefight breaks out as the maintenance crew drop their disguises. If this happens proceed to the next section.
In order to eject the maintenance crew, the cybermercs will need to brainstorm a way to cause them to leave of their own accord. If threatened, the crew will initially make good on their threats and call law enforcement to arrest them for trespassing. Therefore they will need to keep themselves hidden while the crew goes door to door asking the residents if they can inspect their homes. Some possible ideas are:
Sabotaging the van - The back appears to be completely filled with technical equipment and a full network server. Disrupting the equipment means that the crew will not be able to locate the source of the signals and will need to come back another time.
Non-fatal injury - An on the job “accident” means the crew will need to retreat for medical assistance before continuing with the job.
Power outage - A convenient power outage would cause the source of the signal to drop, meaning the crew will need to come back another time.
As the cybermercs carry out their plan though, they’ll need to be careful as another resident, Anton O’Hara leerily watches them from their window and will warn everyone in the building of any trespassers they see.
System shutdown:
After successfully forcing the maintenance crew to depart, the cybermercs start to receive a call from Mama to congratulate them on a job well done when the signal becomes patchy and gets lost in static noise. Not able to make out much, they can at least hear the word”…hacking…” before the signal drops entirely.
It appears the maintenance crew was a cover story to distract from a hacker entering into Sawchyn Apartments to hijack the signal from the inside unnoticed. However before the crew could safely install the jammer, they were forced to leave. Since this is a private local network, it can be assumed that the hacker must still be in the building.
The exact location though is unclear, so the cybermercs must now mimic the “maintenance crew” and go door to door to try and figure out where the hacker is located.
On each level as the cybermercs explore they encounter3:
Apt 11, Klarence Iochem, the proprietor of the convenience store and is not home right now. Apt 12, Johan Sorensen, the agreeable gentleman from earlier. And in Apt 13, Anton O’Hara who moves to call law enforcement if the cybermercs don’t quickly stop them.
Apt 21, Lawrence Dougherty, a hard knuckled former cop-now-security guard who is the apartment blocks official/unofficial security force.
Apt 31, Margaret Laroche, an aspiring manager with dreams of making it big.
Apt 41, Parker Tilton who’s reception to the cybermercs will depend on how they resolved the installation issue earlier.
Apt 51, currently vacant as the tenant is out. Apt 52, Josiah Kannan, a bespectacled individual who has a sophisticated tech setup apparent behind them. Apt 53, Alexandra Dominic, a soft spoken lady whom runs a tattoo parlour from their living room
Apartments 22, 23, 32, & 33 have their windows blacked out. Should the cybermercs choose to break in the temperature will noticeably drop, as they find that each of these rooms have had their walls and ceiling/floor ripped out to make one giant area containing rows of server stacks. Even if a member of the cybermercs is a hacker in return, they will be unable to access the servers, however can tell that they contain masses of information within.
The malevolent hacker has taken up residence in the apartment of Parker Tilton. Depending on how the cybermercs handled the situation earlier, the hacker has either threatened them to keep quiet, or else Parker has willingly invited them in to spite everyone else. They are currently jacked into the network from her bedroom, and have placed a camera (concealed by plants) near the front entrance to keep an eye on things, and an antipersonnel mine behind the bedroom door to surprise anyone that comes looking.
If the cybermercs attempt to enter the apartment either by force or convincing Parker to let them through, the hacker will be ready and makes preparation to construct a makeshift abseil out of the bedroom window4. If they enter through any other means, or disable the camera then the hacker will be unaware of their presence and remain plugged into the network.
In both cases, the hacker will send a distress signal to notify an extraction team waiting nearby. If the cybermercs were undetected getting to the hacker then they will have time to leave before the team arrives, else anyone standing outside will witness a heavily armed security team making their way up the levels of the building to neutralise the threat with extreme prejudice.
Defeating the extraction team, or extracting themselves from the scene means successful completion of the job, and a hearty thanks (and bonus) from Mama for going the extra mile with defending the new relays. She’s a little unclear on who the maintenance team actually were, or what they wanted to do with the building, however the goings on of the residents are none of her concern.
Sorry for the delay! What did you think? Any ideas, feedback, want anything expanded on, or do you intend to use this in a session? Let me know!
This session was originally written with Cyberpunk Red in mind, and the original prompt for this session was strand connections, based on the themes in the video game Death Stranding.
Cowritten/Edited with the assistance of Alsanna.
HowTTaS is unofficial content provided under the Homebrew Content Policy of R. Talsorian Games (Creators of Cyberpunk Red) and is not approved or endorsed by RTG. This content references materials that are the property of R. Talsorian Games and its licensees.”
The players
Yes, it’s a second Death Stranding reference. What you gonna do?
List is given in case the players go to each and every door. It’s not expected they will, this is just a contingency
I’m not suggesting they can let the hacker climb out and then simply cut the ope. But it’s an option