Synth Sedition

With its near future setting of a San Franciso ravaged by climate change and protected from the sea by seawalls, the bulk of its population having moved off-world  in ‘The Scramble for Stars’ to start again on the megacorporate-sponsored colonies, and the use of Synths or biological androids as a pliable workforce in their stead, Carbon 2185: A Cyberpunk RPG feels very much inspired by Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. Published two years after the latter film by British publisher, Dragon Turtle Games, Ltd., Carbon 2185: A Cyberpunk RPG is also noticeable for the fact that its mechanics are derived from those used for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Despite the lack of a Human workforce to replace them, not everyone is happy with the use of Synths as what they see as slave labour, and some have taken this further with the Synth Liberation Front, which supports escaped Synths and protects them against the government’s ‘retirement agents’ as well as striking at manufacturers such as Villeneuve Robotics. This theme is explored in Interlinked | A Carbon 2185 Mission Book, a scenario for Cyberpunks—as Player Characters are known in Carbon 2185—of First and Second Level. It is designed to be easy to run and is suitable for both new players and new Game Masters and it would not be difficult to run it after the events of ‘Chow’s Request: A Carbon 2185 Adventure for 1st Level Cyberpunks’, the scenario in the core rulebook.

Interlinked | A Carbon 2185 Mission Book pulls the Cyberpunks deep into the underground conflict between the Synth Liberation Front, the government’s ‘retirement agents’, the corporations manufacturing and employing Synths, and the manufacturer’s own reclamation agents. Set in San Franciso, it is a five to six act affair, plus a prequel, that the Game Master can run in two or three sessions. It opens with ‘Road Block’, the short prequel which sets the Cyberpunks up against the villains of the piece, Villeneuve Robotics. It provides the players and their Cyberpunks with a solid selection of motives as why they would take a job against Villeneuve Robotics above and beyond the generous amount of money that the fixer is offering. It consists of the simple smash and grab of some corporate access codes from a tech support team on its way to a Villeneuve Robotics facility followed by the Cyberpunks having to break into the facility and download a data core. Everything seems set up for easy access to the facility as someone seems to have set it on fire, meaning that security and everything else is in an array! It is a simple affair, with lots of options and suggestions as to how the Cyberpunks might go about the mission.

The scenario proper, ‘Interlinked’ follows quickly on. The Cyberpunks’ employer, the Fixer  Rico ‘Replay’ Montoya gives them another job. They are to break into a Frisco’s Finest Production Facility where several popular lines of food are manufactured, upload some data, and get out, preferably without a loss of life. Unfortunately, there is no fire to distract corporate security, so the Cyberpunks need to find a way to get in on their own. What is common to both facilities is the use of Synths as a workforce and deployment of armed security, the latter actually bored with their duties at Frisco’s Finest. Again, various options are suggested as how they might get in and get out, the latter more detailed as the Cyberpunks have to succeed at four types of task to escape without alerting security.

In both ‘Road Block’ and the start of ‘Interlinked’, the Cyberpunks get to see the Synths put to work and plenty of evidence that they are treated as second or even third-class citizens—even if they can be classified as citizens. In the next part, the Cyberpunks are contacted by Kaito Tanaka, a local electronics restoration store owner, who asks them to find Thomas ‘Willy’ Williams, a Villeneuve Robotics employee who is unhappy with the treatment of Synths and wants to leave Villeneuve Robotics. Of course, Villeneuve Robotics is unhappy with this, and by the time the Cyberpunks catch up with Williams, Villeneuve Robotics security teams and mercenary squads in their employ, are close behind. The resulting encounter should ideally result in a chase and Interlinked | A Carbon 2185 Mission Book gives a quick and dirty means of running this (and again, if the Game Master needs to run another chase).

Depending upon the outcome of the previous encounters, the Cyberpunks may need to rescue Thomas ‘Willy’ Williams or even one of their own, if Villeneuve Robotics captures either. The scenario supports this possibility with details of the Villeneuve Robotics Reclamation Centre, which can also be used as a target for the Synth Liberation Front to employ the Cyberpunks to assault in an attempt to free the Synths there. In whatever way it is used, it effectively means that the Cyberpunks can see the creation of Synths in the first part of the scenario and the destruction of Synths in this part. This is another corporate facility, but one that the scenario makes clear is not much different to an abattoir, even if it’s a high tech abattoir. In the earlier part of the scenario, the players and their Cyberpunks will have seen signs of the poor, and even ill, treatment of Synths, but here they will be confronted with direct evidence that Synths are treated as tools, ones that are discarded and destroyed. Make no mistake, Interlinked | A Carbon 2185 Mission Book wants the players and their Cyberpunks to feel sympathy with the Synths and be on their side.

Penultimately, the Cyberpunks have one final job to do for Thomas ‘Willy’ Williams and a Synth that he wants to get out of San Francisco. This is to escort them onto the B.A.R.T.—or ‘Bay Area Rapid Transit’—and thus get them out of the city. The challenge here is not that Villeneuve Robotics has sent security teams after them, but that B.A.R.T. is neutral ground in the city and weapons are not allowed. B.A.R.T. enforces this arduously. So, when it comes to any confrontation, the Cyberpunks will have to rely on their fists and feet, on their ingenuity, and any cyberweapons that they have installed. This sets up the classic good guys versus the bad guys railway station confrontation scene seen in so many films. The nod to film scenes, and the Film Noir genre, continues with the aftermath of the scenario as it quickly becomes apparent that the Synth Liberation Front is not as morally pure as the Cyberpunks might have first thought and likely have been led to believe up that point. The end of the scenario is more open and player-led than the earlier more directed chapters.

Physically, Interlinked | A Carbon 2185 Mission Book could be tidier and better presented in places. It is lightly illustrated with decent enough artwork. The floor plans are also decent enough, in the main depicting corporate or factory locations, so there is an anodyne regularity to them. It would have helped had the maps been given a key to their locations for easy reference.

Carbon 2185: A Cyberpunk RPG is an interesting setting and Interlinked | A Carbon 2185 Mission Book provides reasonable, if unspectacular support for it. With its multiple factory style targets, it does feel monotone in its depiction of the Carbon 2185 future and the Game Master may want to run other shot scenarios in between the chapters to add a little variety. Of course, Interlinked | A Carbon 2185 Mission Book can be used as source material for any Cyberpunk roleplaying game that the Game Master is running, but as is, it works well enough.