Welcome to the New and Revamped Edgerunner!

The New Edgerunner Table of Contents

New Edgerunner is a fanzine dedicated on Welcome to the first issue of the New supporting the genre, mainly Edgerunner! Cyberpunk 2020 from R. Talsorian Games. It also takes and will publish general roleplaying Actually this is not the first issue, but rather the articles as well. third issue. The original Edgerunner, all two issues of it, were released back in '98. How- Edgerunner is a free fanzine, which is released ever do to complications, mainly involving gran- once a month. diose ideas of what it should be, it became a rather stressful project and fell apart because As a fanzine we rely on freely contributed ar- of the high degree of maintenance and profes- ticles by fans of the Cyberpunk genre. Be sure sionalism it needed. to read our submissions part to know what types of things we would like to receive. Nonetheless the new and revamped Edgerunner is here. So all I can say further is:

The Old Edgerunner Enjoy!

Old Edgerunner is still available online in its A Second Look at Roles: Nomads 2 original PDF format. You can download the by W.D. Bailey a.k.a. Dog Soldier two issues of the original volume from: MetaEvolutions 3 The Main Site: by Michael Wolf http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~exec/ The Mirror Site: Weekend 6 by Dana Jorgensen http://www.cyberpunkcontraband.com Cyberpunk in the 90’s 11 by Lauri Gardner

Submissions 6

Edgerunner Magazine 1 A Second Look at Roles: Nomads

by w.d.bailey aka dog soldier

After a recent martial arts class one of the turning from war who were (and are) looking students made a wisecrack, "I got kicked out for that spirit of family. Likewise with some of of the Marines for fighting dirty.." I replied, the Militia groups that have formed in the US. "That's pretty good, I know Marines. The worst thing about Marines is that you can't fight just So what does this have to do with roleplaying? one." The reply to this was, "Yeah, that used Nomads would in all likelihood be the most com- to be the way it was with all the services." mon and numerous muscle. My online handle came from a character who was a Scout for Now you might ask, "What's the point to this the Luna Rojas motorcycle gang, a group con- story?" The point is that the Nomad special sisting primarily of Cubans from Miami. Never ability of Family is the trait most likely to be was never any time that a dozen other "Dogs" found in any member of an elite military unit. weren't in earshot. I feel that the Nomad role is Most characters created with a ex-military potentially one of the most powerful roles in background make no mention of this. If you the area of close combat. Yet in almost every ask the player about who his character served other CP 2020 game I've ever seen the No- with you'll get a blank stare and often get the mad is always alone in the group. Handling a mumbled excuse that "everyone in my unit was game with a group of Nomads will be very killed". In real life this is the most common story challenging to the GM but the opportunity for of fake veterans. excellent roleplay would make it well worth the effort. The Hells Angels motorcycle gang and many similar groups were formed from veterans re-

2 Edgerunner Magazine metaevolutions

by michael wolf

"Oh this is skip-dandy. First you little General, your efforts the bring pukes decide to run amok with the gifts this menace to an end are simply that MY pet nanites have bestowed upon not enough. your heathen souls, now it seems you don't think it's enough and have just We need proper intelligence on DECIDED to break programming and go these monsters if we are ever to and mutate without MY consent!!! That's find a counter-measure for this it! You cyber-twerps deserve what you plague. We only have theories so get." -GhostLord far, and have yet to find any proof of what one or our lab techs Source: Dr Margaret Tuere, CDC has named "Meta Evolutions". [NSecA@F... R&D_DBioP..TC1 Ok, so your game is in full Destination: Lt Gen. Chris swing. You've got your players into the idea of Lacolucci playing snot-nosed little terrorists and culture- DoD@P..._Tac..JH1 jammers instead of railgun-toting maniacs. But (EYES ONLY--READ and DESTROY) now the revolution is heating up. The ISA is no Message Reads: longer pulling its punches and some of the Wiz- ards are getting wind of talk about a counter- General Lacolucci: agent being developed by the CDC.

It seems that our best efforts to The people are starting to listen, they're finally stop this mutation is being met starting to think that there is something wrong. with greater resistance than ever. But now they're scared. They know about the And I fear that this new turn of revolution, but they also know that it's horribly events has weakened the morale of out-gunned by CorpSec and the military. the brave men and women who fight There's no way these kids, even the mutant these monsters. ones, can win.

Over the course of the last few On the home front, the war is going well, but it months, many of the ex-children in doesn't seen like enough. Blackhand's dream our care have begun to exhibit of an Evolved army is still years away from abilities not recorded for their being realized, and the Revolution doesn't have Evolved Type. After much debate that long. They need to win soon. within the lab, it has been con- firmed that the a few of the Now. "Evolved" are still evolving.

Edgerunner Magazine 3 If there's one the CyberGenerations knows, once. it's that you must evolve or die. As the nanites have shown, nothing is impossible. These rules Cut-away- Arcane 7, 10xp will allow your Yogangers to do just that. To The Wizard may now have a Familiar active in evolve beyond what was thought to be the lim- the Net while he/she is not connected to it (i.e. its of the Carbon Plague. away from an LDL or completely offline). Simple, neh? SYSTEM When a character reaches a certain level, he/ BOLTER she may begin to purchase new abilities with Shock Field- Bolt Throwing 3, 30xp XP. All new powers have two requirements; The Bolter may now surround himself with a the prerequisite level of their evolved skill, and barrier of electricity. Anyone that makes con- how much XP is needed to buy the new power. tact with the Bolter will suffer damage auto- After the power is bought, all skill checks are matically. It requires one action to activate, done with the original evolved skill. but may remain on indefinitely, as long as his/ her batteries hold up. The Shock Field can be TINMAN set at various levels of intensity, same as a Fast-shaping- Hexite Shaping 7, 20xp bolt attack. For every round the Field is on, the The Tinman is able to shape his/her hexite at Bolter's batteries are depleted by the amount an accelerated rate. This ability reduces the a comparable Bolt would have used. time to shape by two levels. No shaping test can take less then one round, but anything that Flashing- Bolt Throwing 7, 25XP would have been less than one round does not Speed. Pure, unadulterated speed. The Bolter require any effort, and does not count towards has learned to increase the electrical impulses the character's actions. from his batteries to his mind and body. His/ her MA is increased by 4, and his Ref by 2. Armor Morph- Hexite Shaping 6, 10xp The Tinman may now shape his/her hexite ar- DBZ- Bolt Throwing 4, 40xp mor plating, such as adding spikes to the ar- The Bolter has learned to pull a particular stunt mor or shaping the face or torso in an artistic with his bolt-lines. With much effort, he/she is or horrific form. Use the standard levels of dif- able to twist his bolt-lines around each other, ficulty for such shaping. in flight, and combine their charge into one stag- gering attack. The attack's difficulty is raised WIZARD by one level, and every turn is considered one Specialize- Arcane 4, 50XP level harder as well. If successful, the Bolter The Wizards internal systems may now con- may expend up to twice the normal charge struct more complex and powerful Familiars. and do the corresponding amount of damage. When the Wizard learns this ability, he/she chooses one of the Familiar Functions (Attack, SCANNER Defensive, Movement, Independent Action, and Mind Bender- Interpretation 8, 30xp Intelligence). That Function will now always be Ever seen the movie Scanners? That's what equal to his/her Arcane, and may still be in- you can do. By increasing the output of your creased with Arcane and Intelligence points scanning fields, and rotating those frequencies during Familiar construction. The Wizard may rapidly, the Scanner begins to slowly fry his/ NOT change which Functions gets the bonus her target's brain. Mind Bend requires the user and may not purchase this ability more than to make an Interpretation check 4 Edgerunner Magazine Posting- Interpretation 4, 5XP difficulties remain the same. The Alchemist must See Virtual Front. still recollect his nanites, or be reduced in power as per the standard rules. Insulation- Interpretation 8, 15XP The Scanner no longer suffers from backlash Assembly Line- Manipulation 6, 20xp damage from his/her Static Discharge. The Alchemist can now manipulate more than one item at a time, as per the multiple actions ALCHEMIST rule. Rewrite- Manipulation 8, 10xp This power allows the Alchemist to do what Using Meta-Evolutions in your C-GEN game was thought impossible; change the Evolved I have to tell you, adding MetaEvos to your type of the target, including the Alchemist him/ game is risky at best. After all, one of the rea- herself. To Rewrite someone's evolved type, sons CyberGen was created to get away from the Alchemist must touch the target. If the tar- the tendency to power-gaming. By introducing get is unwilling, he/she must be restrained. The MetaEvos, you add a whole new level of po- process takes one hour to implement. During tency to you campaign, and if not careful the that time, the Alchemist must concentrate and whole thing will go nuclear. make a Manipulate check at Difficulty 30. Once done, if successful, the transformation will There are a few different ways to add basically be a repeat of the original sickness. MetaEvos to your game. The easiest way is to Neither the Alchemist nor the target have a simply start the game off with your PCs know- choice of what Evolved type will manifest. Once ing about their potential to evolve further. But finished, the Evolved skill will be at half the unless you're starting from scratch, this won't former skill level, rounded down. If you turned do. a Tinman with Hexite Shaping of 6 into a Bolter, the Bolt Throwing skill will be at 3. Another method is to have your players stumble upon it. If you have Virtual Front, the adven- Remote Manipulation- Manipulation 5, 30xp ture there is a great way of introducing these With this ability, once you touch on object to new powers. If not, then you can simply have transfer your nanites, you can continue to shape an NPC display these new powers and teach and alter it at a distance. The Alchemist has a the kids how to pull it off. range of 1 meter per level of Manipulation. All

Edgerunner Magazine 5 Weekend

by Dana Jorgensen

Weekend is an edgerunner retirement com- construction. A corp and a pair of fixers ar- munity. By all appearances, the town of Week- ranged the supply of construction materials, end looks like a picturesque, sleepy town circa both legitimate and illegitimate. A small team 1910 to 1950. The town is filled with sturdy of netrunners helped boost the finances avail- little buildings, stores, and homes. However, able to pay for the project, while a team of ex- while anyone is welcome as long as they keep cops and solos provided security. By the time the peace, none seem to be able to find a construction was completed in 2023, the town place to move in unless invited by one or more of Weekend, Maine had 280 residents, each of the residents. and every one of them an edgerunners. It took almost another year to officially found the grow- And if you don't keep the peace in Weekend, ing town and get government support. you'll rarely have the opportunity to realize how foolish your actions were. The town is very Quickly, the worldwide edgerunner community well defended, with an incredibly competent worked together, with more Weekends rap- police force (composed of well armed retired idly popping up to help support those cops and solos for the most part), an abun- edgerunners who didn't like the area of the dance of will-hidden surveillance equipment, first Weekend. Regardless, Weekends always and the entirety of its citizenry usually armed were founded in a decidedly rural area, well to the teeth. Screw up too much and you'll learn away from the hustle and bustle of city life. exactly how many residents keep an armored Some of these newer Weekends were actu- car in the garage or a military AV parked on a ally finished before the original Weekend. Even- landing pad in the back yard. tually, there was a Weekend in every state, all quietly organized and networked together. If As an edgerunner haven, Weekend is also con- you're a resident in one Weekend, you can sidered a safe haven by all edgerunner who expect to receive preferential residential treat- know of it. Come to Weekend for some R&R ment in every Weekend, regardless whether and know you don't have to worry about your you live there or not. life. Your assets outside the town, however, are another matter entirely. They will always When knowing edgerunners visit Weekend for remain fair game. the first time, they are shocked by the town, since it is what one might consider boring. The first Weekend, founded during the However, their assessment of the facilities al- Arasaka-Militech corporate war, was in the ways change for the better. After all, when backwoods of Maine, where there would never you have spent years of your life living on the be much worry of trouble, due to the overall edge, straddling the line between caution and lack of corporate and government interest in paranoia, wondering where retribution will come the area. The founding fathers was a small from enemies both real and imagined, you don't group of edgerunners trying to escape a fi- really understand what a good night's sleep is asco. A small nomad pack was called in for worth until you can again enjoy one. Once you

6 Edgerunner Magazine learn to enjoy sleep once more, the town goes hicle garage. Many share facilities with the from boring to subduedly interesting. town's firefighting and other municipal services as well. Each department also maintains a small The name Weekend was chosen in reference fleet of vehicles, including at least 15 BMW- to the decades old sarariman tradition of get- 2020s and a fast, heavy lift helicopter used for ting Saturday and Sunday off from work, the patrol, search and rescue, air ambulance, and first and last day of the week, usually referred firefighting duties. to as 'the weekend'. It was a period of time used by workers to recover from the stress of Weekend Banking the work week. The edgerunners adopted the Financial and Investment Services. reference as a rebuff to their frequent corpo- rate employers. Weekend Banking is one of the last financial institutions in the country dealing with hard Weekend Services currency. The bank handles eurobucks, US dollars, and the Japanese yen, maintaining its The Weekend Sheriff's Department own secret currency reserves. The bank also Law Enforcement can handle the conversion of precious metals and stones to currency, and is fully capable of The law in Weekend is usually composed of issuing virtual currency and credit. In addition, retired police officers and solos. Along with the bank also prints and issues the Weekend providing a highly competent, experienced and scrip (Ws), the preferred hard currency of the sizable law enforcement agency numbering at towns. Use of the scrip gets a discount in most least 24 officers, many officers also engage in shops and gets a very good conversion rate private investigations both in and out of town, (1.5 Ws = 1 EB). as both an extra source of income and a source of hobby entertainment. The officers work in Several megacorporations (primarily manufac- shifts of 4 working 6 hours of patrol and 2 hours turing companies) have also started using of desk duty per day, 5 days per week. The Weekend scrip as a form of payment to officers operate in pairs based out of a BMW- edgerunners, since such individuals can go to 2020 armored patrol vehicle. Each and every the Weekend Banking branches to exchange officer patrols regularly; there is no desk duty the scrip for either hard currency, precious for those with a badge. Many also use their metals, or virtual currency. By working in this own personal vehicles. All use their own per- manner, it enables the corporations to effec- sonal weapons. tively launder their payments to edgerunners. In return for these services, Weekend Banking In return for law enforcement services, the is quietly aided by the corporations in its inte- members of this entirely volunteer service are gration and credibility with the regular financial paid a weekly stipend of 500EB, plus free ac- institutions of the world. cess to reasonable amounts of fuel, food, and ammunition. They also get an annual tax break Each Weekend Banking branch is a virtually based on their level of volunteer service. identical building. It is a stout structure made of solid, steel reinforced concrete. Within is a The typical Weekend Sheriff's Department large steel and titanium vault, containing funds maintains an operations center that combines security area where the bank's currency and a dispatch center, administrative and duty of- valuables are stored, plus a safe deposit box fices, detainment center, impound lot and ve- Edgerunner Magazine 7 chamber containing 1500 safe deposit boxes. ons requirements of the town's citizens, and The lobbies are well armored, with walnut pan- providing the facilities for the people of town to eled steel tables, counters, and teller booths, remain competent with the weapons they own drop-down steel-banded bulletproof lexan par- and carry. A few of the shops even do custom titions, automated lethal and nonlethal security automotive work to handle the mounting of systems, and enough alarm triggers that the weapons on vehicles, and the Nevada shop combined staff doesn't have enough fingers to even has a self-serve bullet foundry/mill and press them all. brass reloading section for old cased muni- tions. Most of these shops are partnerships The bank also supplies its own line of custom- between the more technically skilled solos in ized armored vans for the transportation of town, who tend to continue tinkering with weap- valuables. These heavily armored vehicles are ons even if they've stopped shooting at people powered by a 1200 HP turbine engine capable for the most part. of running on anything and everything from gasoline, to kerosene, to CHOOH2 and alco- Weekend.net hol. Each bank building has a specially con- Weekend Online Services structed loading bay that the armored vans back into. The vans are completely secure for Weekend.net is a thoroughly secure network loading when in these bays. established by the fixers and netrunners living in the various Weekend communities. The net- Weekend Firearms work was initially established for the benefit of Weapon Shop, Gunsmithy, Static and Com- the local residents, by handling inter-commu- bat Course Firing Ranges nity communications, resident registries, and an assortment of government services. As the For most edgerunners, a firearm isn't just a communities became more legitimate, the net- tool, it is a way of life. Every edgerunner seems work expanded to include promotional services, to own at least one high-quality, customized private online service for small business, such firearm suited to their own needs for personal as online requisitioning for stores or online res- protection. Maintaining one's skill with those ervations services for motels and vehicle rent- weapons is also of great importance. After the als, and linking into more substantial govern- first four or five Weekends had been founded, ment networking, such as NCIC. For now, the the first Weekend Firearms shops appeared network pays for its Internet service, but pro- at the behest of the Sheriff's Departments due vides Internet accessibility for all the town resi- to the need of reasonable firing ranges for dents as needed. As the coffers of Weekend weapons qualifications. The first few were just grow, the netrunners hope to eventually wire police warehouses for storing heavy weapons, the towns together on their own private munitions, and a static firing range facility. It hardwired network, reducing the opportunities was the Texas Weekend that changed every- or capabilities of outside hacking. thing after an anonymous wealthy edgerunner spent a small fortune establishing a gunsmith Weekend Medicine shop and combat course firing range. Medical Services

Since then, the complete Weekend Firearms The retired medtechs living in Weekend es- gun shop has appeared on the edge of every tablished their own emergency medical ser- Weekend, fulfilling the ammunition and weap- vices, Weekend Medicine. They maintain one

8 Edgerunner Magazine ambulance, one AV-9 equipped for emergency Aside from that, the business districts usually medical services, and a small medical facility have a reasonable number of thriving busi- capable of performing most medical services. nesses; electronics and computer shops op- In deference to the 'retired' status of the bulk erated by netrunners, garages and appliance of residents, Weekend Medicine will repair or repair shops run by techies, a few doctor of- replace damaged cyberware, but they will not fices run by specialist medtechies (most fre- install upgrades or new cyberware. They have quently a cancer specialist), vehicle rentals and a responsibility to prevent damaged minds from general retail shops run by retired corps or creating a damaged town. fixers who moved on to "fix" in their favorite hobbies and areas of interest, private detec- Weekend Warriors tive offices run by retired cops or the active edgerunner consulting firm volunteer sheriff deputies, a local newspaper or theater run by retired medias, restaurants Weekend Warriors is a means for edgerunners run by just about anyone, etc. to keep their skills sharp and their pockets full by returning occasionally to the 'outside world'. Every Weekend is built on a layered concept. The company maintains a small recruiting of- In the center is the fortified town square, which fice or guild hall in each and every weekend, contains the medical center, police station, fire where edgerunners can announce their avail- station, municipal parking and maintenance, ability or review listings of open job positions. community center and city hall. The entire The company also maintains offices in most square is either an enclosed compound sur- major cities, where corporations and other in- rounded by a thick stone wall or built as a thick- dividuals looking for qualified workers with walled building surrounding a central courtyard/ certain hard-to-find skills can arrange employee parking facility. The town square facilities are placements. designed to not only serve municipal duties, but in the case of the town being attacked, it The company maintains a single worker re- can provide shelter for the town's inhabitants striction, mainly directed at netrunners; any and easily withstand being besieged by a no- work done must be done at least 100 miles mad pack or gang. away from Weekend. This restriction came about after a decided to telecommute Around this lies the business district. The and the law tracked him back to his home, Weekend.net offices, gun shop/ranges, and raising suspicions about the entire town. bank are typically closest to the town square. The gunshop/ranges tend to be walled in, ex- Because Weekend Warriors provides a proven tending from the town hall out towards the edge pool of highly skilled and reliable workers, most of town. edgerunners placed by Weekend Warriors find they draw better pay than they could have oth- Around the business district, one finds the resi- erwise (at the referee's discretion, employment dences. For the most part, the homes are through Weekend Warriors can increase the modest, modern structures on a relatively large edgerunner’s monthly salary by 10% to 80% plot of land, often measuring a half acre or over the amount listed in the core rules). more. Inside, however, the structures are rarely modestly decorated. Most are finished like a That covers the regular "municipal" or com- luxury mansion and possess multiple basement mon services you can expect to find in town. sublevels for protecting the more prized pos-

Edgerunner Magazine 9 sessions should the town be razed. Back yards per), Weekend Car Rental, Weekend Pizza, are filled with AV pads, pools, patios, and the Weekend Theater, and the like, many names like. insinuating the business or service is only open or available Saturdays and Sundays. Also in the residential district, one often finds small parklands or playgrounds, as well as any Also remember that these towns are inhabited motels and the occasional restaurant. You can by grizzled veterans who learned how to sur- also usually find a town library; cheaper to buy vive on the edge. To swipe a useful reference something and contribute to the community from D&D, "The average town will be lucky to when you usually share some interests with have a 1st level fighter, let alone a 5th level the other members of the community. Depend- fighter". Well, for these towns, the phrase would ing upon the dangers of the locale, the town be more like "The town will be lucky to have a may or may not be fenced or walled in. 1st level fighter because most of the residents are at least 5th level." Many Weekends also have a pseudo-indus- trial area on one side of town. In this commer- If you use Weekend in your campaign, feel cial zone, many netrunners and techies keep free to trash the place if your plot requires it. It their personal workshops, where they can do makes a great tool for enticing players with quite a bit of inventing in privacy. services, equipment access, and contacts, which can easily be snatched away when a One glaring omission in the Weekend design corporation gets pissed off enough to level the is the absolute lack of dataterms. If you want town to frag a few annoying edgerunners. to know about the town, you'll have to log into Suddenly the surviving troublemakers (or would Weekend.net with your own netrunning gear they be called troublebringers) find themselves or pick up the town brochure available at any banned from any and all Weekends, forcing and every store. Want to know about the news? them to find alternatives to the services and Pick up and read the local newspapers at the contacts they lost by bringing trouble to town. store or visit the local library. It's amazing the ideas that can be inspired by When fleshing out the town, remember that a few words. Recently, a local weathercaster the edgerunners will show a bizarre sense of said "I can see the Weekend from here", like humor in the name of their businesses. The he was standing on a hill and looking at a vast majority will include the work "weekend" town in the distance. in their business names, continuing the play on the word. You'll find plenty of businesses with names like Weekend Bulletin (town newspa-

10 Edgerunner Magazine Cyberpunk in the 90’s

by lauri gardner

Cyberpunk is for me a near future society, a nese companies or Zaibatsus were looked society that is brought to the extremes, a soci- upon with envy coloured contempt by others ety based on today and accelerated to its des- for winning the technological seeding of the tination of society of tomorrow. A mirror into people. This onslaught of new waves of tech- today's society through the eyes of those that nology upset societal norms and raised ques- could be. tions about the status quo. These questions were coupled with a raising awareness of ones The way on describing Cyberpunk is very much surroundings. AIDS, famine, racial issues, like describing a color. It is nearly impossible growing urban violence were all raised to the on describing a white that to some will appear public. as a spotted grey or to others a silver. Cyberpunk by that token shifts, dependent on In the future world of Cyberpunk these issues the knowledge and personal thoughts of the were mirrored. Life was plastic. You could not describer of this society describing the pro- only buy your life in small packages, these jected world of he near future. This is why what packages were market researched to only last may seem viable today may seem mere silli- a hairs breath of time. The conversion of your- ness tomorrow. Trends shift and undercurrents self to become a machine was not only pos- rise up, giving changes in the way the future sible but fashionable. You could no longer ride might flow. the crest of change you had to immerse your- self in it. With this immersion humans had be- The Internet is a good example of an under- come things with price tags. Life was cheap. current that has only know been realized. It was known to a mere few twenty years ago Awareness of this was also noticed, questions on what the Internet could become. The per- raised. Multinational corporations, the grow- vasiveness of the Internet now is so much more ing division between rich and poor, than even what they anticipated. A network cyberpsychosis, the lawlessness of the streets open not to the few, but to the many. were questions that no-one would willingly answer. The purpose of my work is to show what a Cyberpunk world could be, using the way the Cyberpunk was a creation of the 80's, born development of the previous decade has come from two symptoms of parallel development, to fruition. I wish this work to be insightful, how- cyber and punk. ever I must warn you that what I lack of in age as well of wisdom, the width and depth of ex- Punk was an underground movement that burst perience. onto public awareness. It was a way on rebel- ling against mainstream acceptability. The torn Cyber was the escalation of technology, a loss clothes a way on expressing dissatisfaction on of self into consumerism, where life could be clubs where you could only go in leather shoes bought in small ergonomic packages. Japa- and ties. As it became more an accepted part Edgerunner Magazine 11 of society the message was lost. Clothing lines mouthpieces. A single e-mail message can were created, people would buy designer shirts mobilize hundreds of people to any where in just to rip them up. Suddenly punk was as dead the world if the message is to them important as disco. enough. In the world of Cyberpunk the tech- nology is around you. People have replaced In Cyberpunk there is a shift, the power of parts of themselves, not for violence. For com- punk withdraws itself from the understanding munication, with a datajack you can talk to your of the mass outside. Punks are people who friends while snowboarding or check your new have stepped outside of normality, who live by friends info out to see who are they. This abil- a standard dictated by their own choices. So- ity to stay continuously on the Net without hav- ciety has divided between the two groups: The ing to ruin your social life will be taken for sheep (or mass of society) and the wolves (or granted. The structure of reality will split into punks). Their own stubborn individuality and RL (RealLife) and NL (NetLife), with interac- opposition to authority is what refuses them to tion of people falling into these spheres. be integrated into the mass of society. Culture is all about the global village. With tech- This is what the future of the Cyberpunk world nology to communicate people from around during the eighties would have been, a society the world can to a single meeting place. The running full speed into a dead end. The ques- emphasis on what is national culture has no tions that are raised in both are the same, the bearing, it is rather what is the culture that you emphasis has just shifted to suit the needs of surround yourself that is important. The music the world. of yesterdays punk has changed to the electronica of today's raves. In raves the pur- The people asking these questions are white, pose is to step out of society's borders, but urban, and middle class. People with a feeling the affrontal of consumerism of the 90's has of horror on having the values that they stood turned around completely. You are expected for being brushed away on the tides of change. to dress in a fashion with designer labels and way out clothes. Money is no longer a means Cyberpunk of the 90's needs to be divided into but a tool in a materialistic world. Having things two parts as well, technology and culture. is no longer an end, but a way on reaching for Technoculture is still a buzz word that one oc- something else. A certain jadedness has come casionally hears when reading some hack's over the youth, with pleasure its focal point. writing on some marginal cultural theme while Pleasure or the pursuit of fun becomes what sitting in a cyber cafe drinking a Mocha Grande. they attempt to attain. The images of the me- For the nineties I feel that the word is more dia enforces these views giving out in whis- appropriate to that of Cyberpunk in this age's pers and between the lines on what is moral. context. Sex is no longer a shared moment but an ob- ject of gratification. Technology is no longer something to be feared of, it is something that is accepted. Cell phones, Countered to the growing power on what the computers, fax machines surround society. media tells one to do is an undercurrent of Through this technology, communication is the people with an alternative viewpoint. They are key, enabling the world to run smoother and to not reactive, like their counterparts in the 80's, become smaller. Digitalization of information they are proactive asking very hard questions is the Vanguard of this movement and youth its with very difficult and uncomfortable answers.

12 Edgerunner Magazine Questions on the IMF, on governments rights, This is my vision on what the 90's is and what child soldiers, multinational corporations, rea- the Cyberpunk world might become. I have sons for war. They are not asking for the symp- tried to avoid writing too much as I am sure toms they are asking for the cause, shifting that everyone out there is able to cogitate more power structures that are taken for granted. information either for or against this vision.

In the Cyberpunk world there is a distinct down- The style of Cyberpunk has shifted even on ward spiral. You have no culture, hovering in the gaming table. The original story in the book the limbo. Even ethnic groups and nations are was about street operatives people eking out no longer clearly drawn, communication has their living while enjoying the fruit of freedom. made the world one small place, so too has In today's Cyberpunk they are better armed, traveling quickly become inexpensive and pos- but they are more aware of their surroundings. sible making it physically small as well. Gone are the times when being scared meant you never knew when a booster gang might Governments and corporations fight over domi- drop by. Now scared means you are trying to nance over each other, the Media is its playing figure out what exactly corp. Y is asking of field and the minds of its youth its target. Each corp. Z, and who or what is X and how does it one tries to lure you to its own set of rules on all relate to the grand scheme of things (us). what is right. The Alternatives are also its own power structure, it is a voice of moderation Suffice it to say that Cyberpunk has existed and responsibility in a world without responsi- more than ten years and it has been long over- bility or moderation. They would be consid- due for it to restock its surroundings. I leave ered to be the punks, outcasts out of you to your own judgment. Cyberpunk society. They are proactive in a world which is reactive.

Edgerunner Magazine 13 submissions

What I'm asking for are previously unpublished articles about Cyberpunk or roleplaying in gen- eral. They do not need to be long, a page or three. Actually, overly long articles will be cut into parts to be published in the following is- sue.

The articles themselves can be anything from a design of gear to a treatise on the nature of Cyberpunk.

The only thing I demand is that the English language is clear. I have better things to do with my time than checking grammar of ar- ticles. Although with a little bribing *grin*, I'll look through it and do necessary correction work. Don't forget to add a title and your name on the top of the article!

As for format, simple text format please. That way I can open your article without problems and convert it into html.

New Edgerunner will be published once a month.

Questions, submissions to: [email protected]

14 Edgerunner Magazine