Cyber-Dungeon Classics I: Arcolgies

Zapped by a hi-res laser. Take the red pill. Plug in. Within seconds and the Player Characters are no longer in their world, but another. Somewhere in between, a liminal space of data and information, infinite realities and variations, where corporations hold and protect their data in fortresses and millions work, and even more flock to explore worlds that previously they could only imagine. They no longer are Player Characters, but ‘Users’, shifted out of ‘Reality’ and into ‘Cyberspace’ as ‘Avatars’. Inside this virtual world, this WorldNet, they face not I.C.E. or Intrusion Counter Electronics per se, but Intrusion Counter Entities. Their new world is not so much a virtual world as a cyberdungeon. ICE are not the only dangers the Avatars will face. There is a chance of being detected and worse being noticed by the deities that are the A.I.s. This is the setting for Netcrawl, the cyberspace setting and supplement for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and the Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic, both published by Goodman Games. Published by Horse Shark Games, it works with other third-party settings such as Cyber Sprawl Classics, Crawljammer, Umerica, Terror of the Stratosfiend, and Star Crawl Classics. Plus, of course, it can simply be a roleplaying setting all of its own. Once zapped into this virtual world, what exactly does it look like?

Netcrawl: Arcologies is a supplement that attempts to address the infinite number of possibilities when it comes to what the virtual reality environments of Netcrawl and the WorldNet look like, what might be found there, and what threats that the Avatars might encounter. It is in effect a dungeon generator for a cyberpunk and virtual world setting that the Judge can use as prompts to develop the space into which the Avatars are cast and bring it to (virtual) reality. The first part of Netcrawl: Arcologies looks at its namesake with a set of tables for defining what a particular arcology is like. The generator determines an arcology’s tone and theme, functionality, appearance, and style, plus the primary form of travel to and within the arcology. So its tone might be disorientating or entertaining, its theme lines and vertices or grimy, functionality a beta release or fortified, and its appearance a polygon or shaped like a vehicle, and so on. In style it could be gridded or circuitry and if a polyhedral shape, a cylinder, cone, or rhomboid prism.

Thematically, one area that the supplement does not do is provide a means of determining who built the arcology and who runs it now. In the introduction, it acknowledges that an arcology can be run by numerous organisations, where that is corporate, governmental, or some other body, and that further this will suggest branding, function, and appearance. The inclusion of such details would have added further depth and detail to any arcology and help the Admin in the creation process.

The ‘System Raid’ tables set up a target and thus the basis of an adventure for Netcrawl. It sets the target as a random system building that is then layered into grids of nodes that are populated with agents or random I.C.E. These include connections, firewalls, agents, security portals, systems, and servers. This provides the target environment to be explored and worked through, but the look and feel of this space should be dictated by the previous Arcology Generator tables. Of course, the target can be determined wholly randomly by simply rolling on the tables, but the advice is to combine it with design choices. The process is not easy in part because although it is creating the equivalent of a virtual dungeon, it does not have the structure of a dungeon traditional to Dungeons & Dragons. So, it is harder to visualise.

The Admin can also personalise the A.I.s in charge of the arcology—or parts of it—with plans and personalities, and even give them hobbies to perhaps give them a weakness that can be exploited. Arcologies can further be populated by rolling the I.C.E. Generator that determines type, general appearance, colour, and form, and even allows for the possibility it could manifest in the outside world, from as ordinary a defence as a swarm of nanobots to a synthetic android.

The supplement takes the Admin to the seamier side of the virtual world with the Undernet, the equivalent of the Dark Web, but here treated like the back streets and alleys with a handful of encounters. Further, it is a bestiary of sorts, if the monsters and other threats are digital. There is Malware, virulent code that compromises a victim’s defences and can alter an Avatar’s appearance temporarily and even permanently reduce his stats, depending upon how badly the player fails his Avatar’s saving throw versus. Some of these are quite complex. For example, once installed, the reactive defensive code attack ‘Heartstopper’ automatically activates under certain circumstances and forces constant heart attacks on the victim, whilst ‘JOBE’ or ‘Joyous Omnipotent Brain Evolution’, grants a bonus to program activation checks and Wits check or Wits-based skill checks. However, if an Avatar succeeds by these bonuses only, it reduces his Hack stat and if reduced to zero, the sufferer is turned into a megalomaniac! In many cases, Malware can be removed with reversion control or quarantine.

The ‘Code’ rules get under the structure under AI, arcology, and Avatar, whilst ‘Exploits’ are malicious code that can be injected into an Avatar. Again, like the Malware, there are basic and more detailed versions. For example, ‘Couch Pirate 3000 (CP3K) – The Slacker Hacker’ is whispered about in encrypted chatrooms or foreshadowed by icons of a worn-out couch appearing on dead servers, and asks the question, “Why burn the system when you can break

it lying down?” Sufferers are forced to lie down on the couch and lose all speed (moving 0#) and suffer a -4 penalty to their Hack. That said, the couch can be moved, so making the Avatar’s allies do yet more hard work! The ‘Zap Generator’ creates Zaps, virtual drug-like experiences that provide temporary boosts, but which can be addictive. They fit the setting, but they do feel like way to get drugs into the WorldNet, whereas ‘Abends’ enforce the weird nature of the setting, all being code written to crash in unusual ways, ending in critical errors and other unexpected ways. For example, ‘nessuna.tmp’ causes intense drowsiness and an hour-long dream state that renders an Avatar vulnerable. Effectively, ‘cybersleep’, it has transcendent effects that make many ciphomorph shamans actually infect themselves and gain prophetic abilities and access to ‘spirit’ realms. Mechanically, after waking up from this state, users are slowed to a zen-like state that means they go last in combat and are slowed to a single action, but do gain access to insight that grants a bonus to an action die, saving throw, or Armour class, which can be changed from round to round. There are only three of these Abends, but these add depth and feel to some of the software to be found in the WorldNet.

Rounding out Netcrawl: Arcologies is a ‘Guide to the WorldNet’ that further develops ideas for its many, many virtual reality environments. This gives tables of rumours, events, and news items to use across various ‘neighbourhoods’ of the WorldNet. They include locations such as ‘The Spine’, the main highway of the WorldNet; the hedonistic, yet upscale VR playgrounds known as ‘Les Loisirs’; and the ‘Nightzone’ is the always-on, always-dark, nightlife district. There are nine such locations, not so much detailed, as brought to reality through the rumours and news in their associated tables. These are full of lots of detail that will help the Admin bring them to life using the tables earlier in the supplement to give structure to her WorldNet.

Physically, Netcrawl: Arcologies is a vibrantly, neon affair. It is not illustrated, but the colours more than make up for it.

Netcrawl: Arcologies starts by selling itself as the equivalent of the dungeon generator for Netcrawl, but it is not as an expansive as traditional dungeon generators are for fantasy roleplaying. It is more focused on limited structures, though these can still be quite large. However, the supplement does not limit itself wholly to that, but adds general details and elements that can be brought easily into play and expand the setting. Ultimately, Netcrawl: Arcologies is more of a companion to NetCrawl providing general support rather just location-building, but that does not mean that it is bad support.