I have been getting a few prods lately and people asking if this game is still in the works.

I've been distracted by reality and thus have not have had the time required to post so much about this game. But it is very much alive, and I'll have a little update for you soon.

So thanks for caring :)

Love

k

Thanks :)

I've been lost in the real world for like ... forever. But this is sissling on the backburner.

Once I get my new computer up and running, things may get busier :)

I might very well take you up on that offer :)

A word on themes:
Themes were initially envisioned to be character archtypes for the players to choose form. As I spent time thinking about the structure of the lifepathsystem, I felt this became sort of tacked on. I couldn't quite make it fit.

And then in a stroke of insomnic frustration I had the idea that themes should have two purposes.

The first is to provide the color of the flow-chart that guides you through the generation of that memory.
e.g.
Warewolf - being a more war, direct action and heavy combat influnenced memory.
Negotiator - being more a black ops, stealth, assasination influenced memory.

The second is to organise and color the character built with these memories through the type of moves offered.
Warewolf – shell based moves. The core of this theme is the dissociation of human flesh and old skool cyberpsychosis, the forsaking of human frailty for machined perfection.
Negotiator – sleeve based moves. The core of this theme is rapid change, flesh is disposable, and an addiction to the sensations and frailty of the flesh.
Hard Case – moves from the street. The core of this theme is social adaptability, with a raw edge and desperation as heavy fuel.
Player – moves that play with your mind. The core of this theme is the social camouflage, using sex, credits and base instincts to prey on the unwary.
Transporter – moves that are all about motion. The core of this theme is movement through and manipulation of the environment and hardware.
Ghostwalker – moves that manipulate the floating world. The core of this theme is about the crossing of realities, making the A.R. bend to your will or shape the Interface through thought.
Wraith – moves that attack your ghost. The core here is the violation of the mind, the digital soul and those that prey on it.

I see this pushing play in my wanted direction.

Thanks amigo. Now I got to think again. Damn.

Moving on

“My own past had gone down years before, lost with all hands, no trace. I understood Fox’s late-night habit of emptying his wallet and shuffling through his identification. He’d lay the pieces out in different patterns, rearrange them, wait for a picture to form. I knew what he was looking for. You did the same with your childhoods.” – William Gibson, New Rose Hotel

Imagine a sheet, A5 landscape, covered by hexagons. Between each hex there is a circle or space to write something. Inside the hex there is room for a few things. Now the things that go in the circles we call DETAILS. We are going to call the hexagons MEMORIES and the things inside the memory depends on where the hex is, but they are either ORIGIN or THEME. Then there is also room for a DEVELOPMENT in a memory. One of these memories will contain a LIABILITY instead of a development.

• Memories – these are moments in time that are core to who the Operator is. These have no linear development or linkage. They are moments in time, they may be separated by years or moments. It isn’t important at the beginning. Instead of building a character by following the progression A, B, C , D and so on we look to build a bunch of moments associated by details in the memories. We do not define whether the memory is a good or bad memory.
• Details – an operator’s memories are linked by the details. What the detail means in relation to the two different memories it is associated with depends on how you interpret it there and then in play. The details are the key because they may change as a consequence of SOURCE CODE CORRUPTION. You mark of on the detail if it is altered.
• Origin – only one of the memories is called the Origin. This marks the operator’s formative years, up until sie began on the path that would lead hir to game start. The development here is either SINless or 1W. The details here link the operator into the next memory.
• Theme – theme is the overall nature of the memory. What the operator was at the time. This gives different choices when it comes to developments, and much formats the function of the character in play.
• Development – as you build the operators memories each gives you a choice of developments. Most noticeable of these are the MOVES and the CONTRACTS. You get to pick one pr. memory. Moves are custom moves that defines the operators abilities and specialties when freelancing. Contracts gives the operator the opportunity to earn credit during downtime or between session that may be spent to maintain SOTA.
• Liability – all operators also have picked up at least one liability. These must be worked along with the contracts to avoid the fallout from occurring.
  

The operators are skilled and competent individuals who have led interesting lives. Initially one should create an operator with five memories, plus origin and the liability memory. Creating a memory is all about picking a theme, and then following the flowchart progress through the memory creation, picking details, moves and contracts from the lists as they pop up. The balance between moves and contracts is up to you. But not being SOTA ‘cause you don’t have enough work, well that is just plain stupid.

Here is the thing. As play progresses, if a memory has had three of its associated details altered then it becomes corrupted. Using a corrupted memory gives one transient. Unless … yes there is an unless.
But first, a word from our sponsors.
BIOMEGA - We build a better You.

Just a quick update.

In the section about the Ibrain (disposable future) I mention the possibility of Sourc Code Corruption and this brings up the subjects of memories.

I've mentioned it before but this quote from William Gibson's New Rose Hotel:

“My own past had gone down years before, lost with all hands, no trace. I understood Fox’s late-night habit of emptying his wallet and shuffling through his identification. He’d lay the pieces out in different patterns, rearrange them, wait for a picture to form. I knew what he was looking for. You did the same with your childhoods.

Really speaks to me about one of the core themes of Source Code; what is human?

Add to this one of my favourites quotes from Ghost in the Shell:

So man is an individual only because of his own undefinable memory. But memory cannot be defined, yet it defines mankind

I've been struggeling since this was a fledgeling idea way way back at the Forge on how to bring this into play. There has been countless iterations.
There are many games that have influenced me, but there are three notables, Verge (in development by Adam Dray), Remember Tomorrow (Gregor Hutton) and Beyond the Mirror (in development by Tazio Bettin). And somehow they just fused with the above the last month or so and I was able to move on.

So back to the topic at hand, or rather the topic to come, what is human?

And this boils into who your operator was up until the point of play. And that will be generated through a simple flow sheet like lifepath system. But instead of building a lifepath in the chronological order of ABCDE... it will build a series of distinct memories, linked by little details, or assosciations.
An operators moves will come from these memories, and so will its contracts and liability. But as the operator is pushed into hard situations and exposed to the dangers of the operator lifestyle sie will undergo traumatic events. Events that will lead to Source Code damage. Which will again lead to these associations changing or becoming deleted. Thus changing where the operator comes from. And by questioning these changes in play, or adapting them into the ongoing fiction hopefully one can raise the question, how much of you were really real.

Am I rambling now. Probably. Maybe it will, maybe it wont.

But as I am formalizing my ideas around this, I realize that whatever this does to my hack, it will be for the better.

Oh and it also leads to making the custom theme moves. Whic is really fun, and like Vx says, that is where your hack really becomes different from ApW.

Had to share.

I am not going to post the tenataive catalouges here, but here is how the sleeves and shells work.


Sleeve Catalouge
[sponsored by Biomega – we build a better you.]
Grown (cue constraint sleeve) – A sleeve is vat-grown. Its upgrade options are integrated in its DNA profile. They can not be changed or upgraded.
Human Norms (constraint sleeve) – Morphic-dissocation syndrome limits the size of the sleeve. Sleeves built outside the norms of human scale seem to generate an inordinate amount of static in a resident’s Ibrain as well as being inordinately expensive to maintain. + 1 transient and +1 Sota for such a shell.
Customization:   
Custom Model (constraint mechanical sleeve) – moving the slots to non-default locations cost +1 SOTA, can only be done when ordered. Only applicable in play and note that a custom model takes time to vat-grow.
Expanded DNA profile (constraint mechanical sleeve) – additional slots to a given model. +1 SOTA buys three slots, +2 Base Transient.
Limits of flesh (constraint mechanical sleeve) – a sleeve can only hold one extra option pr location. Location available slots +1.


Operator sleeve – pro grade.
Why settle for less. This is the base package used by personnel in high threat positions within any part of your active assets department. A combination of affordability and performance that won’t get you into trouble with HR and accounting. If you freelance, going for anything less is inviting trouble.
Base SOTA – 2
Base Transient – 1
Upgrade slots – 6
Location:
Ibrain - 2
Systemic – 3
Head – 1
Arms – 0
Legs – 0

Shell Catalouge
[sponsored by Kuiper Cybernetics – Versatile bodies for versatile people]
MDC (cue constraint shell) – Morphic-dissonance, the shell is not natural. Non shelled humans react instinctively negatively to a shell, the lack of subtle body movement, facial cues, and pheromones. Not to mention the fact that a shell is a glorified, albeit powerful, toaster associated with violence creates negative reactions in almost everydrone. The operator is subconsciously aware that the body is a mechanical tool, thus does not experience a transient accretion when subject to massive shell trauma.
Ablative (cue constraint mechanical shell) – An operator in a shell may sacrifice locations to prevent function loss of the systemic and Ibrain locations, i.e. damage. + 3-armor and remove one limb, torso or head. Given that the location is destroyed it no longer can be used for anything it must be replaced.
Adaptive (cue mechanical shell) – upgrade options may be interchanged and replaced.
Hard Wearing (cue mechanical shell) – all shells have a base 1-armor systemic.
Digital Footprint (constraint mechanical shell) – a shell is harder to camouflage +1 noise.
Customization:
Rewired Model (constraint mechanical shell) – moving the slots to non-default locations cost +1 SOTA, can only be done when ordered.
Extended equipment package (constraint mechanical shell) – additional slots to a given model. +1 SOTA buys three slots, +1 Base Transient.

Trooper shell – Standard combat model.
Immortalized by V-sims like Kombat/Kombat and DMZ TV, this is default shell of the majority of armed forces, both pancorp or governmental. Battlefield survivability never been this easy and affordable.
Base SOTA – 1
Base Transient – 3
Upgrade slots – 8
Location:
Ibrain - 1
Systemic – 3
Head – 2
Arms – 1
Legs – 1