[#26] Dungeons & Bathrooms
Despite your violent behaviour, the only thing you’ve managed to break so far is my heart.
Hypothetically, if someone released a dangerous military training simulation program into a designer home renovation display warehouse then there would be a large amount of political backlash. If such a thing did theoretically happen though, there should also be a large pay cheque attached to whoever can cover it up.
In this mini dungeon crawler, the cybermercs (the players) are tasked with navigating through an automated display warehouse, which rearranges itself creating environmental hazards, in order to disable the AI core that is responsible for this mayhem.
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 you can't find here for the right price provided you also know the right guy. Even if you don’t, this city’s 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 this takes place within the Morton Custom Home Designer warehouse. A large drab building from the outside, with a sleek interior consisting of rooms that autonomously redesign themselves based on the customer’s wishes.
Story Beats:
Cleaning prep
Home tour
Squatter eviction
Cleaning prep:
We begin with the cybermercs in a van having their mission brief transmitted via a small drone mounted screen hovering near the back door.
On the screen is an individual who identifies themself as Orsolya, the assistant to the anonymous corp executive who’s been instructed to fix this mess. They inform the cybermercs that the brand new display warehouse for Morton Custom Home Designer has gone haywire following a recent system update. This would not normally be an issue for most display warehouses, however this particular business is state of the art and consists of fully modular designs that rearrange themselves to the customer’s specifications, making getting inside to switch it off a hazardous venture.
She informs the cybermercs that their reputation for fixing messes precedes them, and that there’s a bonus waiting for them if they manage to retrieve the central AI core with no damage. If pressed for more information though, and the cybermercs pass a skill check, she reveals that she doesn’t actually know who the cybermercs are. She assumes they’re being sent to the job because they’re cheap and available.
If the characters don’t already know each other, a suggested opening is each character working for the same security firm who’s been offered this contract very last minute and is charging exorbitant rush fees (not that the cybermercs will see a cent of this).
Dropped off in front of Morton’s display warehouse the cybermercs witness another team already gearing up into dirty white riot gear. They’re led by a hulking brute of a man with an ID badge reading “Bloa”. In simple terms, he states that his team are here to fix this mess, and that everyone else had better stay out of his way. The cybermercs are more than welcome to let them in first, although they never see them again once they lose sight.
The reception of the building is warmly lit, if plain in all other aspects.
Home tour:
Entering into the first display floor proper, the cybermercs witness walls retract and bend as new furnishings of sizes and colours emerge from hidden storage compartments (Too small for a person to fit into). In less than a minute it changes from 80s chic to a sleek modern affair with hardly a power socket in sight
There are 4 display areas that the cybermercs need to make their way through in order to get to the core1:
Kitchen - Hot & Sharp. Marble countertops form small shifting kitchen islands in this area. Walking between them would be easy enough, however gas stoves create flaming hazards for anyone on ground level. To get through here, cybermercs will need to make their way across the tables, being careful to avoid any flying kitchen utensils.
Bathroom - Wet & wild. Patterned tiles recess into the floor creating a large pool in the middle of the room that fill with water. Out of this abyss shower heads on long snaking cords emerge. twisting and turning as they spray everywhere from the pressure. If anyone gets too close though, these showerheads whip out to entangle, before dragging them down into the depths.
Living room - You’re making a mess everywhere! This room rearranges to be perfectly filled with white carpeted furniture. Any steps into the room or marks made in the furniture result in a loud siren sounding and the entrance/exit to the room locking until a small robot comes out to clean up the offending surface. Once the surface is clean and the robot returns to its post, the lockdown lifts and the doors reopen. In order to get out of the room the cybermercs need to figure out how to get to the exit without tracking too much dirt.
Bedroom - Mountains upon mountains of pillows of all shapes and sizes await the cybermercs in this room. Treading through this room is not unlike treading through soft deep snow, as each step could mean sinking further into the smothering rugs, pillows, and blankets. A dirty white glove sinking beneath the pillows further reinforces the danger.
Squatter eviction:
Making it to the back office warehouse, where the inventory is stored and the AI core is located, the cybermercs are greeted with a darkness quite unlike the previous well areas. As they glance through the darkness, a whirring comes from overhead as a crane appears, extending 4 mechanical arms which surround a glowing blue AI core in the centre. Anyone who gets up high or too close will need to avoid these arms if they hope to take the core intact. To further complicate things, the ground shifts as well.
At the top of each round, roll a D4. This changes the environmental hazards in the arena to match one of the 4 previous areas, meaning that the cybermercs will need to avoid: Jets of fire, snaking shower heads, blinding floodlights, an quicksand pillow pits respectively.
The cybermercs will need to either deal enough damage direct to the core, or find a way to paralyze the crane arms to get in close enough to manually eject it.
Successfully disconnecting the AI core, intact2 or otherwise, deactivates the warehouse entirely making it relatively safe for people to enter. Orsolya is waiting out front ready to take receipt of the core, expressing disdain if it is damaged. They promptly pay the cybermercs and depart without so much as a thanks. If you didn’t have a reputation with her before, you do now for better or worse.
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 Dungeons & Bathrooms.
Yes the subtitle is a Portal reference.
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.”
These can be played through in any order. If in doubt, roll a D4 and play whichever scenario it lands on
Safely disconnecting the AI core and attempting to hack it reveals military grade encryption. Unusual for a retail store, indicating that not everything is as it seemed (Or that an anonymous party uploaded the wrong program)