Another braindump, unedited and bad prose and all. Enjoy.

Begin transmission:

The Brave New Order

The beginning of the 21st century saw the world reeling from capitalism gone bad, from fundamentalism growing in the cracks of a world inherently unfair. It had to come down. And the advent of digital immortality, the IBrain was the final straw. Emergent AI and increasingly automated factories, 3D printshops and piracy brought the whole thing down.
 
The world was collapsing in on itself. Rampant unemployment, exploding social cost, the whole 1st world civilization looked more and more like the third world, and to protect itself, they all went on a looting spree. Again the big boys against the small, I guess it is human nature. Which again fuelled the plausible promise of revolt and retribution, flaring a thousand small groups trying to protect themselves against the grand satan of capitalism.  Some people wanted this, hoping to create a Brave New World from chaos.

I guess those people never read Mazlow. I don’t expect you to know who the fuck that is, google it. As things went from bad to worse some smart little fucker in a formerly socialist country suggested the unthinkable. His company would provide a stable living environment and a basic paycheck. All sie wanted in return was your vote. And people nearly ran down hir gates.  And sie became a political power. Never underestimate the Have’s ability to remain on top of the foodchain.
 
Social unrest faded into the background as the first world sold its votes to the Pancorporations, and representative democracy just represented mammon instead of the people. It was quick and easy when it first begun. And to prevent any backbreaking competiton the big boys, the Orbitals and multinationals agreed to the maximum value of a vote. That is when they named it the Universal Wage.
The Brave New Order was here.

World within worlds.

You think it is unfair, no? Well that is a luxury you can afford since you are one of lucky ones. Yes, you may be a drone, accepting the UW and a place in an arcology, a modern serf. But you’re still modestly looked after, a part of the First World, and the 1W looks after its own. It’s always been like that. An be honest, you wouldn’t want to swap for some third world hell hole now would you. We stood on the edge of that abyss, and we chose this instead.

Now imagine, you’re on the outside and looking in. You do not care about fair and unfair. You just want a piece of this bright and shiny world. So you head out. Most likely you die crossing the border, or somewhere on the way, victim of some barely human predator. Another random casualty of the BNO.  Let’s say you make it, to the land of gold and honey, the City.

But when you are here you realize there is a Fourth world. The one of the Displaced, the fugees, SINless, without any rights, without any way of getting the UW you will sink to the bottom, to the District. Where beggars without legs pray for alms under holosigns advertising pirated French skillware, where the gangs rule and life can be just as hard as back home. If you are smart, aggressive, lucky or desperate enough, you end up with a lowgrade IBrain. And you get to see the Floating World. But you still live in la Sona, and there is no escape.

Unfortunatly there is a human failing called hope. And you will cling to this.

So yes it is unfair. But be honest, you wouldn’t want to trade now would you?

The topology of concrete.

The city. A sprawling, teeming mass of humanity. Arcologies rising from the crowded, smog filled streets like hives. Filled with drones living their lives submerged in the Floating World, or carrying out menial tasks to give their pointless lives meaning. This City is the 1world. Sure, there are others like it, but they are all the same. An aggregation of humans spread from one end of the continent to another.
It is just natural. The UW is easier to get back if the unwashed masses are kept close together. We are easier to control. The Floating World there to distract us, and enough small opportunities to spend our 30 silvers to keep us occupied. It is funny how this neon and concrete jungle is a balanced ecosystem of want and need. There is just enough of both to keep the drones pacified. And not enough to make them not ask questions or want something more.

I want something more. I am a predator in this jungle. Do not get me wrong. I am no social revolutionary. I don’t care about the drones. Now the feudal lords owning them. Now they I care about.

On top of all these UW drones sit the zaibatsu lords. A stratified hierarchy made up of an elect few. Living in exclusive small compounds, with enough to make them want more. Each one daily making decisions that affect millions to ensure a good weekly rapport. Always looking out for the claws of the ones underneath, and for the next opportunity to toppled the one above.

The lifeblood of the city   

The city is submerged in information. The Floating World lies like a layer atop everything. Everywhere is tagged, commented and have likes. ADbombs, viral memes and targeted marketing controlled by semi-AI lies atop the streets like fine dust, where ever you walk you stir it up. Everydrone is surrounded by their P.A.N sphere of information. It is omnipresent. Information is the lifeblood of the city. But the Floating World isn’t it. That is just noise.

Now, the true data, the vital one, exist off the grid, hidden in secure servers, in offline databanks and in the minds of an elect few. This information is power. This is what fuels the city. The pancorps and orbitals will go to war over the right bit of code. But war’s are expensive, and nobody wants to deliver a bad quarterly.
That is where we come in, the Operators. Freelance and SINless, deniable and hidden under the noise, our Ronin status our trademark. We steal, we move, we aquire and sell this information. Be it a chip with Paydata, a rumor, an ugly truth, a defecting asset’s IBrain or hir whole shell. We do it contracted, we do it because it drops in our laps, we do it to maintain our SOTA. But most of all we do it because we can.


End transmission.

Ibrain.

It began as an accessory. An implanted link to the Floating World, with extended memory banks for quick data retrieval, and eventually to record experiences sold as the ultimate sensory trip. Porn was never the same again. It didn’t take long before the emergence of A.I. led to the digitization of the human mind. What began as a techno-fashion accessory, became the key to immortality. For those that could afford it, naturally.

Irrespective of the philosophical and theological implications, the Ibrain became the next step in human evolution. Now there are countless laws, some states forbid transfers and Re-integration outright, and everyone regulates copying, but the soul is digital in the modern human. An Ibrain is a part of the UW.
 
Re-integration in a new sleeve or shell isn’t. So the key to immortality is in everydrone’s hands, the door, the new body when the old flesh fails, well that isn’t.

You are joking, right?

I love this amigo, I laughed out loud while reading it. Now it is atoss up what gets playtime first, this or Dungeonworld.

I really wanna play Paranoia World.

In time I think you are right. As this goes from a hack to a stand alone complex I envision that will be a gradual and organic growth driven by play.

But rigth now, to get anywhere I need to curtail my ambition. And reskinning the ApW moves is an step in that direction. besides, these moves still give me the kind of play I want. I think. Only playtest will show, and I am not quite there yet.

Economy of greed.

* this has been one of my major stumbling blocks. When this smacked into place this morning it all became so much more simpler.*

Money is information, there is no hard currency anymore. So any Operator knows how to maintain and hide different lines of credit. This is hir Credit Rating, or Credit for simplicity. Whenever the Operator needs to get a significant piece of kit (with game effects) sie tests hir credit.

When you BURN CREDIT to acquire a piece of kit ROLL + CREDIT. This takes time and effort, ‘cause you don’t want any piece of kit right of the mall. You need to go looking and that costs time and credit. On a hit you get it. With 10+ there are no catches, on a 7-9 either your Credit takes a hit ( - 1-credit) or you generate Noise. If you miss you get both, and you don’t get the kit.

Credit has a base of zero. At the start of a session, or after some downtime, the Operator checks to see how hir contracts/obligation(s) worked out. You name which ones sie worked and you ROLL + ATTITUDE. On a 10+ they all scored, raised Credit. 7-9 gives you a hit on at least one, if you worked more then you get Credit from each, but one, which goes sour. On a miss they all went to hell. It is going to be a busy day.

Contracts are like the gigs from the ApW Operators playbook and are acquired during lifepath generation or as an advance taken during play.

Paydata or the economy of information.

When the Operator acquires Paydata in play, name it. Paydata that is kept more than two down-periods is obsolete and loses its value. Spend it or lose it, simple really.

Spending or dumping Paydata raises Credit temporarily by one for each point of Paydata sold. This adds to the next BURN CREDIT move, or MAINTAIN SOTA move. There are two ways to dump Paydata.

When you DUMP IT ON THE OPEN MARKET you get the Credit boost quick and dirty, but you generate Noise. Also if you dump more than one point of Paydata you get less - 1-credit, but you always get at least one.

When you FIND A BUYER however, you take your time seek out just the right client, ROLL + STREET. On a 10+ you get both, on a 7-9 pick one:
•   You push the price (+ 1-credit)
•   You don’t generate noise.

Dumped Paydata is gone.