By Night City Secrets Team
4.4
55 ratings
The podcast currently has 15 episodes available.
Show notes, Night City Secrets Episode 14
Game Session 7, Part 1 – Vans & Mannequins & Sheep, Oh My!
Cover Art for the podcast from “Cyberpunk madness,” by the artist Eddie Del Rio.
Intro and closing music is from Amoebacrew, called simply "Cyberpunk royalty free music.” It is available on Youtube:
Background ambient music is from RoyaltyFreeSounds, called “Soundscape Ambient, Cyberpunk Music. Royalty Free.”
It is on Youtube:
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
REF = The Referee
Antigone = Corporate. Director of Public Relations for the Paupau Collective (PPC in Night City. PPC is a family autonomous corporation floating out on ships in the Pacific Ocean. Half-Greek half-Polynesian.
Arianna Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Corporate. Antigone’s older sister, the Executive VP of Marketing for the PPC. They have a good relationship.
Cherub = (NPC) Solo. A bodyguard for Ravnos, known by Surány.
“Chewie”= (NPC) Medtech. Officially, Consuela Jarillo, a Costa Rican doctor currently dating Han. She is played by the REF. She’s also a pilot.
Eric Genter = (NPC) Corporate. Senior Director for Petrochem in Night City. He absolutely hates Antigone for losing face to her a few years ago. Antigone simply ignores him, but he has it out for her badly. Apparently, he’s now running Petrochem’s Black Ops team.
Günther = (NPC) Fixer. A contact for Hako who gets us black market cyberware and some tech/medtech equipment.
Hako = Fixer. Aohako is also Hawaiian a SAMOAN, not related to Han or Antigone. He grew up in Night City and has connections all over the city. He and Antigone met through their common mentor, Derek Trammel, a former Night City Police Department detective, now a private investigator.
Han = Solo. Full name is “Hanakahi Lonoehu.” The team Solo and pilot, bioscultped to look like Harrison Ford, though he also has spiky short hair. Native Hawaiian, half-Polynesian, cousin to Antigone.
“Kat” Katrina = (NPC) A Solo merc-for-hire contracted by Eric Genter to kidnap Antigone and take her to a Petrochem warehouse.
Kronk = (NPC) Media. (“Adam Marshall”) A contact of Hako’s. Not as well known or as well regarded as Ravnos. Works for WorldSat News organization.
Marcella Lemieux = (NPC) A cop working on the Night City Police Department. She has known Hako for many years and actively is concerned for his safety, so she is willing to help him out.
Mikael Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Medtech. Antigone’s younger brother, the Director of Research and Development for the PPC. He admires his older sister.
Ravnos = (NPC) Media. A freelancer who mostly works for Net News 54. He broke the story of Petrochem and PPC tensions escalating in Night City.
Rico = (NPC) A second Solo merc-for-hire who is working with Kat to abduct ‘Tig.
Stahl = (NPC) A pilot for hire, short but very capable Japanese Solo and former fighter pilot. Used to do odd jobs with Han. Frequently hired by Petrochem.
Surány = Netrunner. A young and nerdy Czech fame-seeker. Raised in Night City, and went to high school with Chewie. Attained some fame for his “March of the Ents” program: he names all his programs after people, places, and events in the Tolkien Mythos, and has been trying to grow a Gandalf beard.
Tak = (NPC) Fixer. He has known Hako for many years, and Hako generally trusts him. He provided us with the intel about the Petrochem transport from Reno to Night City which we intercepted in Modesto.
Tatiana = (NPC) A former employee of Han, a dangerous Solo currently working for the Willow Sisterhood - a Poser Gang who biosculpt themselves to look like famous women from media and pop culture who played the roles of bad-asses. Tatiana is currently sporting the look of Scarlet Johansen from the Ghost in the Shell movie adaptation. Tried to kill Han once when he tried to come onto her.
Vaxin = (NPC) Fixer. Another black market contact for Hako.
TOC and Timestamps:
** Introduction @00:26
** Play begins: @1:39
Han is at the Petrochem warehouse, trying to gather as much intel as he can before the security team returns.
** Han realizes the security team may have spotted him: @9:40
** Han overhears what sounds to be Genter expressing anger that he’s lost his one and only sample(!): @12:45
** Hako, surprisingly awake, tries to close the deal on the new merchandise with his fixer network: @15:18
** Surány works on understanding why the Petrochem data fortress seems so unique: @21:30
** Antigone asks Chewie for some input: @25:20
** Hako and Chewie head out to pick up the new vans: @30:35
** The team realizes their “fold” problems: @32:45
** Hako picks up the merchandise: @36:40
** Hako calls Günther - not sure he fully trusts Chewie: @39:45
** Antigone reaches out to her contacts to see if there’s any intel on Genter, as well as setting an appointment with Sergei Bratislov of SovOil: @43:10
** We get a promising lead on a restaurant that Genter likes to frequent: @50:00
** End of gaming session: @50:58
** Closing comments: @51:25
INTRODUCTION TEXT:
Welcome back to Night City Secrets.
The podcast of five gaming friends playing the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020.
Tonight we close out session 7. When we left, Eric Genter’s Petrochem Black Ops team had a near miss at our PPC warehouse, thanks to some quick Netrunning by Surány and because we had Han in place to watch them. Antigone’s brother got everyone out and torched the place.
Han is now at the Petrochem warehouse alone, doing what he can to collect more intel. Is Genter really there? How many guards does he really have? How penetrable is the location? All that good spy stuff.
Meantime, Hako is working his contacts trying to secure some practical and some unorthodox supplies that Antigone is asking for, with a few bonuses thrown in for himself.
And Antigone starts the wheels in motion to introduce a major new player -- SovOil, the Russian megacorp who were involved in the Second Corporate War with Petrochem. That war poisoned a large part of the South China Sea and helped serve as the impetus for the creation of our PPC enterprise, in fact, gathering a lot of the refugees from the Pacific Islands.
Let’s see if Han can lay low, or if he is gonna start something.
CLOSING NOTES:
I stopped the recording here, but our conversation went on for another 20 minutes. We got into a long discussion about: is the pacing good? The REF told us he feels like he’s struggling getting everyone equal and ample play time. We all said that we’re quite happy with the pacing - we just enjoy being together.
But we did decide that a lot of our game time the past few sessions has been taken up by activities that we think can be better handled out of game -- using our website forums and with private threads and out-of-game conversations that don’t need to happen here to gum up the action.
So, after this session, we’re going to be utilizing our forum threads more judiciously. Hopefully, that cuts down on some of the administrative stuff that slows down us getting to the more action-oriented sequences the REF has in mind.
If we get an audience, and if any of you want to look at our game threads, just let us know and I can invite you in as a read-only participant. Reach out to us at nightcitysecrets.com and I can get in touch.
We’re ending tonight with the team about to head into the city. Antigone is planning on revealing the details of her plan as well as meeting up with Sergei Bratislov of SovOil - if you want to divert attention from yourself, maybe call in the big dog enemy of my enemy and see if that moves the needle, right? And Hako is headed in to a private meeting with his cop friend Marcella at NCPD Vice.
Hope to see you again!
Show notes, Night City Secrets Episode 13
Game Session 7, Part 1 – We’re Fixin’ to Find Out
Cover Art for the podcast from “Cyberpunk madness,” by the artist Eddie Del Rio.
Intro and closing music is from Amoebacrew, called simply "Cyberpunk royalty free music.” It is available on Youtube:
Background ambient music is from RoyaltyFreeSounds, called “Soundscape Ambient, Cyberpunk Music. Royalty Free.”
It is on Youtube:
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
REF = The Referee
Antigone = Corporate. Director of Public Relations for the Paupau Collective (PPC in Night City. PPC is a family autonomous corporation floating out on ships in the Pacific Ocean. Half-Greek half-Polynesian.
Arianna Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Corporate. Antigone’s older sister, the Executive VP of Marketing for the PPC. They have a good relationship.
Cherub = (NPC) Solo. A bodyguard for Ravnos, known by Surány.
“Chewie”= (NPC) Medtech. Officially, Consuela Jarillo, a Costa Rican doctor currently dating Han. She is played by the REF. She’s also a pilot.
Eric Genter = (NPC) Corporate. Senior Director for Petrochem in Night City. He absolutely hates Antigone for losing face to her a few years ago. Antigone simply ignores him, but he has it out for her badly. Apparently, he’s now running Petrochem’s Black Ops team.
Günther = (NPC) Fixer. A contact for Hako who gets us black market cyberware and some tech/medtech equipment.
Hako = Fixer. Aohako is also Hawaiian a SAMOAN, not related to Han or Antigone. He grew up in Night City and has connections all over the city. He and Antigone met through their common mentor, Derek Trammel, a former Night City Police Department detective, now a private investigator.
Han = Solo. Full name is “Hanakahi Lonoehu.” The team Solo and pilot, bioscultped to look like Harrison Ford, though he also has spiky short hair. Native Hawaiian, half-Polynesian, cousin to Antigone.
“Kat” Katrina = (NPC) A Solo merc-for-hire contracted by Eric Genter to kidnap Antigone and take her to a Petrochem warehouse.
Kronk = (NPC) Media. (“Adam Marshall”) A contact of Hako’s. Not as well known or as well regarded as Ravnos. Works for WorldSat News organization.
Marcella Lemieux = (NPC) A cop working on the Night City Police Department. She has known Hako for many years and actively is concerned for his safety, so she is willing to help him out.
Mikael Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Medtech. Antigone’s younger brother, the Director of Research and Development for the PPC. He admires his older sister.
Ravnos = (NPC) Media. A freelancer who mostly works for Net News 54. He broke the story of Petrochem and PPC tensions escalating in Night City.
Rico = (NPC) A second Solo merc-for-hire who is working with Kat to abduct ‘Tig.
Stahl = (NPC) A pilot for hire, short but very capable Japanese Solo and former fighter pilot. Used to do odd jobs with Han. Frequently hired by Petrochem.
Surány = Netrunner. A young and nerdy Czech fame-seeker. Raised in Night City, and went to high school with Chewie. Attained some fame for his “March of the Ents” program: he names all his programs after people, places, and events in the Tolkien Mythos, and has been trying to grow a Gandalf beard.
Tak = (NPC) Fixer. He has known Hako for many years, and Hako generally trusts him. He provided us with the intel about the Petrochem transport from Reno to Night City which we intercepted in Modesto.
Tatiana = (NPC) A former employee of Han, a dangerous Solo currently working for the Willow Sisterhood - a Poser Gang who biosculpt themselves to look like famous women from media and pop culture who played the roles of bad-asses. Tatiana is currently sporting the look of Scarlet Johansen from the Ghost in the Shell movie adaptation. Tried to kill Han once when he tried to come onto her.
Vaxin = (NPC) Fixer. Another black market contact for Hako.
TOC and Timestamps:
** Introduction @00:26
** Play begins: @1:16
The team is in their new crib, and planning how to strike out without getting made.
** Surány starts laying out a web to find any chatter out on the Net regarding our PPC wheat strain: @1:20
** A ray of hope! …??? @4:50
** Antigone calls her brother Mikael: @10:15
** …and we’ve been bugged: @13:55
** Surány diagnoses that it isn’t us… Mikael has been tapped: @18:50
** We switch over to Han, who is staking out the warehouse: @25:10
** Han sees a security detail scramble from the warehouse in an AV-9: @30:00
** The PPC warehouse begins their evacuation: @35:00
** We call back Han and ask if he can verify Eric’s presence: @42:00
** End of gaming session: @48:41
** Closing comments: @48:55
INTRODUCTION TEXT:
Welcome back to Night City Secrets.
The podcast of five gaming friends playing the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020.
Lucky episode 13. We closed last time with a high level of confidence that the “Dark” Black Ops warehouse that Genter planned to take Antigone to is not really as dark as we had heard.
A pressing concern for us is the PPC sample that we stole back from Petrochem. We don’t know how they got their hands on it, and we don’t know if we took their only specimen. Maybe they have reverse-engineered it, or maybe they’ve replicated it on their own.
Either way, that’s a major concern for our home corporation, so Surány gets to work on trying to find more info.
And maybe we haven’t learned how to be as discrete as we thought we were.
CLOSING NOTES:
Well that was a close call. While trying to set up our trap to figure out whether Petrochem really had more samples available, we ended up bringing their security team down onto our PPC site.
Thankfully we got the warning out in time and, though we had to burn the assets there, at least I didn’t cause anyone’s death.
Now we have their security team flying back, and Han is there alone. Hopefully they don’t spot him, too.
But as we all know, Han is a loose canon, and who knows what he might try to do next.
We hope you can come back, and we’d certainly love to hear from you. Night City [email protected]!
Thanks for listening, choomba.
Show notes, Night City Secrets Episode 12
Game Session 7, Part 1 – Planning to Not Get Burned Again
Cover Art for the podcast from “Cyberpunk madness,” by the artist Eddie Del Rio.
Intro and closing music is from Amoebacrew, called simply "Cyberpunk royalty free music.” It is available on Youtube:
Background ambient music is from RoyaltyFreeSounds, called “Soundscape Ambient, Cyberpunk Music. Royalty Free.”
It is on Youtube:
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
REF = The Referee
Antigone = Corporate. Director of Public Relations for the Paupau Collective (PPC in Night City. PPC is a family autonomous corporation floating out on ships in the Pacific Ocean. Half-Greek half-Polynesian.
Arianna Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Corporate. Antigone’s older sister, the Executive VP of Marketing for the PPC. They have a good relationship.
Cherub = (NPC) Solo. A bodyguard for Ravnos, known by Surány.
“Chewie”= (NPC) Medtech. Officially, Consuela Jarillo, a Costa Rican doctor currently dating Han. She is played by the REF. She’s also a pilot.
Eric Genter = (NPC) Corporate. Senior Director for Petrochem in Night City. He absolutely hates Antigone for losing face to her a few years ago. Antigone simply ignores him, but he has it out for her badly. Apparently, he’s now running Petrochem’s Black Ops team.
Günther = (NPC) Fixer. A contact for Hako who gets us black market cyberware and some tech/medtech equipment.
Hako = Fixer. Aohako is also Hawaiian a SAMOAN, not related to Han or Antigone. He grew up in Night City and has connections all over the city. He and Antigone met through their common mentor, Derek Trammel, a former Night City Police Department detective, now a private investigator.
Han = Solo. Full name is “Hanakahi Lonoehu.” The team Solo and pilot, bioscultped to look like Harrison Ford, though he also has spiky short hair. Native Hawaiian, half-Polynesian, cousin to Antigone.
“Kat” Katrina = (NPC) A Solo merc-for-hire contracted by Eric Genter to kidnap Antigone and take her to a Petrochem warehouse.
Kronk = (NPC) Media. (“Adam Marshall”) A contact of Hako’s. Not as well known or as well regarded as Ravnos. Works for WorldSat News organization.
Marcella Lemieux = (NPC) A cop working on the Night City Police Department. She has known Hako for many years and actively is concerned for his safety, so she is willing to help him out.
Mikael Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Medtech. Antigone’s younger brother, the Director of Research and Development for the PPC. He admires his older sister.
Ravnos = (NPC) Media. A freelancer who mostly works for Net News 54. He broke the story of Petrochem and PPC tensions escalating in Night City.
Rico = (NPC) A second Solo merc-for-hire who is working with Kat to abduct ‘Tig.
Stahl = (NPC) A pilot for hire, short but very capable Japanese Solo and former fighter pilot. Used to do odd jobs with Han. Frequently hired by Petrochem.
Surány = Netrunner. A young and nerdy Czech fame-seeker. Raised in Night City, and went to high school with Chewie. Attained some fame for his “March of the Ents” program: he names all his programs after people, places, and events in the Tolkien Mythos, and has been trying to grow a Gandalf beard.
Tak = (NPC) Fixer. He has known Hako for many years, and Hako generally trusts him. He provided us with the intel about the Petrochem transport from Reno to Night City which we intercepted in Modesto.
Tatiana = (NPC) A former employee of Han, a dangerous Solo currently working for the Willow Sisterhood - a Poser Gang who biosculpt themselves to look like famous women from media and pop culture who played the roles of bad-asses. Tatiana is currently sporting the look of Scarlet Johansen from the Ghost in the Shell movie adaptation. Tried to kill Han once when he tried to come onto her.
Vaxin = (NPC) Fixer. Another black market contact for Hako.
TOC and Timestamps:
** Introduction @00:26
** Play begins: @1:14
Han is casing out the interview location prior to the rest of the team arriving. Meanwhile, Surány and Chewie are back at the house working on the encryption box.
** Surány takes a short break and gets a surprise: @3:42
** Hako and Antigone arrive to do the interview with Kronk: @10:18
** Interview ends and we wrap up at the studio: @34:45
** We leave the interview location and head back home: @38:45
** Hako and ‘Tig get back to the bolthole and discover Surány’s surprise: @41:30
** We arrive at the new digs: @53:30
** Play Session ends: @1:00:00
** Closing discussion: @1:00:50
** Closing comments: @1:03:40
INTRODUCTION TEXT:
Welcome back to Night City Secrets.
The podcast of five gaming friends playing the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020.
All the way up to episode 12. Still in Season 1, as we’re still following up this Eric Genter rival Petrochem story arc.
Send us a note at nightcitysecrets at GMAIL dot COM, leave us a review, we’d love to hear from you.
We spent our first night in our new home, and no one died yesterday. So, the bar is pretty low.
But the team isn’t exactly feeling warm and fuzzy and tight with each other. There’s still some latent mistrust out there, not to mention some loose ends each of us wants to tie off. Antigone is trying to hatch a plan, while Hako and Surany are trying to close off some business of their own.
Without further ado, let’s see how we try to come back out of our shell.
CLOSING NOTES:
So, not much action this time, but a lot more prep work. But Surány seems to have some decent evidence pointing us to the Petrochem warehouse as the source of our Netrunner nemesis. Han got some more intel on the site and set us up to gather even more. And Hako was able to procure some transportation, some mannequins, an inflatable sheep, and is in the process of getting us more boltholes to run away to.
I wonder how we got so paranoid…
Show notes, Night City Secrets Episode 11
Game Session 6, Part 3 – Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8
Cover Art for the podcast from “Cyberpunk madness,” by the artist Eddie Del Rio.
Intro and closing music is from Amoebacrew, called simply "Cyberpunk royalty free music.” It is available on Youtube:
Background ambient music is from RoyaltyFreeSounds, called “Soundscape Ambient, Cyberpunk Music. Royalty Free.”
It is on Youtube:
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
REF = The Referee
Antigone = Corporate. Director of Public Relations for the Paupau Collective (PPC in Night City. PPC is a family autonomous corporation floating out on ships in the Pacific Ocean. Half-Greek half-Polynesian.
Arianna Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Corporate. Antigone’s older sister, the Executive VP of Marketing for the PPC. They have a good relationship.
Cherub = (NPC) Solo. A bodyguard for Ravnos, known by Surány.
“Chewie”= (NPC) Medtech. Officially, Consuela Jarillo, a Costa Rican doctor currently dating Han. She is played by the REF. She’s also a pilot.
Eric Genter = (NPC) Corporate. Senior Director for Petrochem in Night City. He absolutely hates Antigone for losing face to her a few years ago. Antigone simply ignores him, but he has it out for her badly. Apparently, he’s now running Petrochem’s Black Ops team.
Günther = (NPC) Fixer. A contact for Hako who gets us black market cyberware and some tech/medtech equipment.
Hako = Fixer. Aohako is also Hawaiian a SAMOAN, not related to Han or Antigone. He grew up in Night City and has connections all over the city. He and Antigone met through their common mentor, Derek Trammel, a former Night City Police Department detective, now a private investigator.
Han = Solo. Full name is “Hanakahi Lonoehu.” The team Solo and pilot, bioscultped to look like Harrison Ford, though he also has spiky short hair. Native Hawaiian, half-Polynesian, cousin to Antigone.
“Kat” Katrina = (NPC) A Solo merc-for-hire contracted by Eric Genter to kidnap Antigone and take her to a Petrochem warehouse.
Kronk = (NPC) Media. (“Adam Marshall”) A contact of Hako’s. Not as well known or as well regarded as Ravnos. Works for WorldSat News organization.
Marcella Lemieux = (NPC) A cop working on the Night City Police Department. She has known Hako for many years and actively is concerned for his safety, so she is willing to help him out.
Mikael Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Medtech. Antigone’s younger brother, the Director of Research and Development for the PPC. He admires his older sister.
Ravnos = (NPC) Media. A freelancer who mostly works for Net News 54. He broke the story of Petrochem and PPC tensions escalating in Night City.
Rico = (NPC) A second Solo merc-for-hire who is working with Kat to abduct ‘Tig.
Stahl = (NPC) A pilot for hire, short but very capable Japanese Solo and former fighter pilot. Used to do odd jobs with Han. Frequently hired by Petrochem.
Surány = Netrunner. A young and nerdy Czech fame-seeker. Raised in Night City, and went to high school with Chewie. Attained some fame for his “March of the Ents” program: he names all his programs after people, places, and events in the Tolkien Mythos, and has been trying to grow a Gandalf beard.
Tak = (NPC) Fixer. He has known Hako for many years, and Hako generally trusts him. He provided us with the intel about the Petrochem transport from Reno to Night City which we intercepted in Modesto.
Tatiana = (NPC) A former employee of Han, a dangerous Solo currently working for the Willow Sisterhood - a Poser Gang who biosculpt themselves to look like famous women from media and pop culture who played the roles of bad-asses. Tatiana is currently sporting the look of Scarlet Johansen from the Ghost in the Shell movie adaptation. Tried to kill Han once when he tried to come onto her.
Vaxin = (NPC) Fixer. Another black market contact for Hako.
TOC and Timestamps:
** Introduction @00:26
** Play begins: @1:14
Han is casing out the interview location prior to the rest of the team arriving. Meanwhile, Surány and Chewie are back at the house working on the encryption box.
** Surány takes a short break and gets a surprise: @3:42
** Hako and Antigone arrive to do the interview with Kronk: @10:18
** Interview ends and we wrap up at the studio: @34:45
** We leave the interview location and head back home: @38:45
** Hako and ‘Tig get back to the bolthole and discover Surány’s surprise: @41:30
** We arrive at the new digs: @53:30
** Play Session ends: @1:00:00
** Closing discussion: @1:00:50
** Closing comments: @1:03:40
INTRODUCTION TEXT:
Welcome back to Night City Secrets.
The podcast of five gaming friends playing the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020.
This is part three, the final part, of gaming session 6, which means we are on Episode 11.
So we’ve started to turn the tables. Got some gear, some new equipment, walking into an interview to play our story through the media, maybe we’re getting some mojo back.
If things appear to be going well, then you’re probably not watching your six.
Let’s see if we’re on the right track, or if we’re just continuing to dig our own graves.
Also -- send us a note at nightcitysecrets at GMAIL dot COM, leave us a review, we’d love to hear from you. We’d love to hear your criticisms, advice, and your insults. We can handle it!
CLOSING NOTES:
We made it! Everyone is alive. The REF certainly has us all walking on eggshells at this point.
I have never felt so strung along…
Just when we were expecting a storm, we got the eye. I’m not sure if we’re growing as role-players, or if we’re just growing more paranoid. Pretty sure we’re just playthings at this point.
Tune in next time to see how he gets us out of this shell and we start trying to go on the offensive against Petrochem and Eric Genter.
Fricking Genter…
Show notes, Night City Secrets Episode 10
Game Session 6, Part 2 – Everybody Loves Shopping!
Cover Art for the podcast from “Cyberpunk madness,” by the artist Eddie Del Rio.
Intro and closing music is from Amoebacrew, called simply "Cyberpunk royalty free music.” It is available on Youtube:
Background ambient music is from RoyaltyFreeSounds, called “Soundscape Ambient, Cyberpunk Music. Royalty Free.”
It is on Youtube:
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
REF = The Referee
Antigone = Corporate. Director of Public Relations for the Paupau Collective (PPC in Night City. PPC is a family autonomous corporation floating out on ships in the Pacific Ocean. Half-Greek half-Polynesian.
Arianna Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Corporate. Antigone’s older sister, the Executive VP of Marketing for the PPC. They have a good relationship.
Cherub = (NPC) Solo. A bodyguard for Ravnos, known by Surány.
“Chewie”= (NPC) Medtech. Officially, Consuela Jarillo, a Costa Rican doctor currently dating Han. She is played by the REF. She’s also a pilot.
Eric Genter = (NPC) Corporate. Senior Director for Petrochem in Night City. He absolutely hates Antigone for losing face to her a few years ago. Antigone simply ignores him, but he has it out for her badly. Apparently, he’s now running Petrochem’s Black Ops team.
Günther = (NPC) Fixer. A contact for Hako who gets us black market cyberware and some tech/medtech equipment.
Hako = Fixer. Aohako is also Hawaiian a SAMOAN, not related to Han or Antigone. He grew up in Night City and has connections all over the city. He and Antigone met through their common mentor, Derek Trammel, a former Night City Police Department detective, now a private investigator.
Han = Solo. Full name is “Hanakahi Lonoehu.” The team Solo and pilot, bioscultped to look like Harrison Ford, though he also has spiky short hair. Native Hawaiian, half-Polynesian, cousin to Antigone.
“Kat” Katrina = (NPC) A Solo merc-for-hire contracted by Eric Genter to kidnap Antigone and take her to a Petrochem warehouse.
Kronk = (NPC) Media. (“Adam”) A contact of Hako’s. Not as well known or as well regarded as Ravnos. Works for WorldSat News organization.
Marcella Lemieux = (NPC) A cop working on the Night City Police Department. She has known Hako for many years and actively is concerned for his safety, so she is willing to help him out.
Mikael Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Medtech. Antigone’s younger brother, the Director of Research and Development for the PPC. He admires his older sister.
Ravnos = (NPC) Media. A freelancer who mostly works for Net News 54. He broke the story of Petrochem and PPC tensions escalating in Night City.
Rico = (NPC) A second Solo merc-for-hire who is working with Kat to abduct ‘Tig.
Stahl = (NPC) A pilot for hire, short but very capable Japanese Solo and former fighter pilot. Used to do odd jobs with Han. Frequently hired by Petrochem.
Surány = Netrunner. A young and nerdy Czech fame-seeker. Raised in Night City, and went to high school with Chewie. Attained some fame for his “March of the Ents” program: he names all his programs after people, places, and events in the Tolkien Mythos, and has been trying to grow a Gandalf beard.
Tak = (NPC) Fixer. He has known Hako for many years, and Hako generally trusts him. He provided us with the intel about the Petrochem transport from Reno to Night City which we intercepted in Modesto.
Tatiana = (NPC) A former employee of Han, a dangerous Solo currently working for the Willow Sisterhood - a Poser Gang who bioscult themselves to look like famous women from media and pop culture who played the roles of bad-asses. Tatiana is currently sporting the look of Scarlet Johansen from the Ghost in the Shell movie adaptation. Tried to kill Han once when he tried to come onto her.
Vaxin = (NPC) Fixer. Another black market contact for Hako.
TOC and Timestamps:
** Introduction @00:26
** Play begins: @2:13
Assessing the situation.
** Han heads off to do some recon on the Petrochem warehouse: @6:08
** Surány shares what research he’s uncovered on Eric Genter: @8:06
** Hako calls in to his contacts to find replacement cyberware and other gear: @9:00
** The team tries to get a meeting with the Media, Ravnos: @10:45
** Racktime!: @11:50
** Han returns with his warehouse intel: @14:10
** Intel on Eric Genter: @28:50
** Discussing our new digs & whether Tak is compromised: @30:00
** Scouting out the new place: @38:45
** Pay day!: @43:00
** Surany goes to work on the Petrochem encryption box: @55:00
** Closing of Session: @1:02:00
** Closing Comments: @1:02:28
INTRODUCTION TEXT:
Welcome back to Night City Secrets.
The podcast of five gaming friends playing the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020.
Episode 10, comin’ at you. Can you believe we got 10 episodes out? I can’t… In meat space, we’re actually already up to gaming session number 10, and each gaming sesh is turning in to 2-3 episodes of content after I do the editing. So there’s plenty more of the story to come.
Last time, we got our paychecks, we got a new apartment, we got healed up. So now, we’re going on a shopping trip. Plenty of gear stuff coming up. Plus, we start hatching the rudiments of our plan to get back, get even, get revenge.
CLOSING NOTES:
Still one more part to go for this game session. We spent most of our time so far just trying to recover. So I apologize if the overall pace and intrigue levels are kind of hovering at a low level right now.
Our team is on the lamb, after all. And we learned our lesson about trying to be much more cautious going forward.
But now we’re outfitted, got new cyberware, got new guns, ammo, clothes, and shiny shiny toys, and we’re just about to head out the door.
These boots are made for walkin’.
Show notes, Night City Secrets Episode 9
Game Session 6, Part 1 – This is not my beautiful life?
Cover Art for the podcast from “Cyberpunk madness,” by the artist Eddie Del Rio.
Intro and closing music is from Amoebacrew, called simply "Cyberpunk royalty free music.” It is available on Youtube:
Background ambient music is from RoyaltyFreeSounds, called “Soundscape Ambient, Cyberpunk Music. Royalty Free.”
It is on Youtube:
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
REF = The Referee
Antigone = Corporate. Director of Public Relations for the Paupau Collective (PPC in Night City. PPC is a family autonomous corporation floating out on ships in the Pacific Ocean. Half-Greek half-Polynesian.
Arianna Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Corporate. Antigone’s older sister, the Executive VP of Marketing for the PPC. They have a good relationship.
Cherub = (NPC) Solo. A bodyguard for Ravnos, known by Surány.
“Chewie”= (NPC) Medtech. Officially, Consuela Jarillo, a Costa Rican doctor currently dating Han. She is played by the REF. She’s also a pilot.
Eric Genter = (NPC) Corporate. Senior Director for Petrochem in Night City. He absolutely hates Antigone for losing face to her a few years ago. Antigone simply ignores him, but he has it out for her badly. Apparently, he’s now running Petrochem’s Black Ops team.
Hako = Fixer. Aohako is also Hawaiian a SAMOAN, not related to Han or Antigone. He grew up in Night City and has connections all over the city. He and Antigone met through their common mentor, Derek Trammel, a former Night City Police Department detective, now a private investigator.
Han = Solo. Full name is “Hanakahi Lonoehu.” The team Solo and pilot, bioscultped to look like Harrison Ford, though he also has spiky short hair. Native Hawaiian, half-Polynesian, cousin to Antigone.
“Kat” Katrina = (NPC) A Solo merc-for-hire contracted by Eric Genter to kidnap Antigone and take her to a Petrochem warehouse.
Kronk = (NPC) Media. A contact of Hako’s. Not as well known or as well regarded as Ravnos.
Marcella Lemieux = (NPC) A cop working on the Night City Police Department. She has known Hako for many years and actively is concerned for his safety, so she is willing to help him out.
Mikael Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Medtech. Antigone’s younger brother, the Director of Research and Development for the PPC. He admires his older sister.
Ravnos = (NPC) Media. A freelancer who mostly works for Net News 54. He broke the story of Petrochem and PPC tensions escalating in Night City.
Rico = (NPC) A second Solo merc-for-hire who is working with Kat to abduct ‘Tig.
Stahl = (NPC) A pilot for hire, short but very capable Japanese Solo and former fighter pilot. Used to do odd jobs with Han. Frequently hired by Petrochem.
Surány = Netrunner. A young and nerdy Czech fame-seeker. Raised in Night City, and went to high school with Chewie. Attained some fame for his “March of the Ents” program: he names all his programs after people, places, and events in the Tolkien Mythos, and has been trying to grow a Gandalf beard.
Tak = (NPC) Fixer. He has known Hako for many years, and Hako generally trusts him. He provided us with the intel about the Petrochem transport from Reno to Night City which we intercepted in Modesto.
Tatiana = (NPC) A former employee of Han, a dangerous Solo currently working for the Willow Sisterhood - a Poser Gang who bioscult themselves to look like famous women from media and pop culture who played the roles of bad-asses. Tatiana is currently sporting the look of Scarlet Johansen from the Ghost in the Shell movie adaptation. Tried to kill Han once when he tried to come onto her.
TOC and Timestamps:
** Introduction @00:26
** Play begins: @2:13
Assessing the situation.
** Han heads off to do some recon on the Petrochem warehouse: @6:08
** Surány shares what research he’s uncovered on Eric Genter: @8:06
** Hako calls in to his contacts to find replacement cyberware and other gear: @9:00
** The team tries to get a meeting with the Media, Ravnos: @10:45
** Racktime!: @11:50
** Han returns with his warehouse intel: @14:10
** Intel on Eric Genter: @28:50
** Discussing our new digs & whether Tak is compromised: @30:00
** Scouting out the new place: @38:45
** Pay day!: @43:00
** Surany goes to work on the Petrochem encryption box: @55:00
** Closing of Session: @1:02:00
** Closing Comments: @1:02:28
INTRODUCTION TEXT:
Welcome back to Night City Secrets.
The podcast of five gaming friends playing the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020.
Here we have episode 9, part 1 of our sixth gaming session.
I can’t believe we’re made 9 episodes so far… and I have plenty more in the pipeline. I’m trying to release them one or two at a time, at least once per week. As we have been doing this, we’ve been getting everyone some improved mics, we’re trying to get better about handling the random background noises of kids, spouses, and pets -- sorry about that -- and basically just trying to present a better product. We’re new to this, but we’re actively working on making it better quality all around.
We do have an email account if anyone would like to reach out to us. It is [email protected]. All one word, nightcitysecrets @ gmail dot com. If you give us an email or a review on your podcasting station of choice, we will be happy to give you a shout out on our next recorded session. And we certainly hope you enjoy listening to this distracting and hopefully amusing content.
We left off with the team burned, singed, paranoid, and frantic. Just another evening in Night City, right?
In this episode, we try to assess our situation -- how much damage did we take, how much gear did we lose, how much danger did we introduce to our sponsoring corporation? Should we tuck tail and run? Mostly we just know we’ve been made, and we don’t know how bad it is.
So we try to correct this information asymmetry by conducting a little intel of our own. Maybe we should try to get ahead of this story in the press? Let’s get some repairs done and some new gear, and think up a way to turn this around.
Go, you plucky protagonists, go!
CLOSING NOTES:
So we got our new digs, we got paid, we have some intel on Petrochem’s “Black Ops” warehouse where Eric Genter planned on taking me, and we’re working on cracking into the encryption box that might get us inside their corporate network.
Looks like we bought ourselves a little breathing room. We’ll see how long that lasts…
One loose end that someone may have noticed. In a previous episode, Hako received a call on the phone we took from Stahl which showed a video of Hako assassinating him. We were threatened that this video would go public if we didn’t turn Antigone in to Eric.
But we went back and checked the tape and remembered that when Hako was casing Stahl’s apartment, he rolled a critical success when looking for any surveillance equipment or hidden cameras. So the REF generously allowed us to ret-con that event. Hako did receive a threatening text on Stahl’s phone, but there was no compromising video.
And there was a massive collective sigh of relief.
For how long? I’m guessing not very.
Show notes, Night City Secrets Episode 8
Game Session 5, Part 3 – It’s Dark In This Hole I’ve Dug
Cover Art for the podcast from “Cyberpunk madness,” by the artist Eddie Del Rio.
Intro and closing music is from Amoebacrew, called simply "Cyberpunk royalty free music.” It is available on Youtube:
Background ambient music is from RoyaltyFreeSounds, called “Soundscape Ambient, Cyberpunk Music. Royalty Free.”
It is on Youtube:
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
REF = The Referee
Antigone = Corporate. Director of Public Relations for the Paupau Collective (PPC in Night City. PPC is a family autonomous corporation floating out on ships in the Pacific Ocean. Half-Greek half-Polynesian.
Arianna Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Corporate. Antigone’s older sister, the Executive VP of Marketing for the PPC. They have a good relationship.
“Chewie”= (NPC) Medtech. Officially, Consuela Jarillo, a Costa Rican doctor currently dating Han. She is played by the REF. She’s also a pilot.
Eric Genter = (NPC) Corporate. Senior Director for Petrochem in Night City. He absolutely hates Antigone for losing face to her a few years ago. Antigone simply ignores him, but he has it out for her badly. Apparently, he’s now running Petrochem’s Black Ops team.
Hako = Fixer. Aohako is also Hawaiian, but not related to Han or Antigone. He grew up in Night City and has connections all over the city. He and Antigone met through their common mentor, Derek Trammel, a former Night City Police Department detective, now a private investigator.
Han = Solo. Full name is “Hanakahi Lonoehu.” The team Solo and pilot, bioscultped to look like Harrison Ford, though he also has spiky short hair. Native Hawaiian, half-Polynesian, cousin to Antigone.
“Kat” Katrina = (NPC) A Solo merc-for-hire contracted by Eric Genter to kidnap Antigone and take her to a Petrochem warehouse.
Marcella Lemieux = (NPC) A cop working on the Night City Police Department. She has known Hako for many years and actively is concerned for his safety, so she is willing to help him out.
Mikael Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Medtech. Antigone’s younger brother, the Director of Research and Development for the PPC. He admires his older sister.
Rico = (NPC) A second Solo merc-for-hire who is working with Kat to abduct ‘Tig.
Stahl = (NPC) A pilot for hire, short but very capable Japanese Solo and former fighter pilot. Used to do odd jobs with Han. Frequently hired by Petrochem.
Surány = Netrunner. A young and nerdy Czech fame-seeker. Raised in Night City, and went to high school with Chewie. Attained some fame for his “March of the Ents” program: he names all his programs after people, places, and events in the Tolkien Mythos, and has been trying to grow a Gandalf beard.
Tatiana = (NPC) A former employee of Han, a dangerous Solo currently working for the Willow Sisterhood - a Poser Gang who bioscult themselves to look like famous women from media and pop culture who played the roles of bad-asses. Tatiana is currently sporting the look of Scarlet Johansen from the Ghost in the Shell movie adaptation. Tried to kill Han once when he tried to come onto her.
TOC and Timestamps:
** Introduction @00:26
** Play begins: @1:13
The team is deliberating on what the hell to do next.
** The team decides that Hako should call Tak, to see whether we think he is the one who burned us: @10:04
** Surány tries to see if he can do anything with the Petrochem encryption box: @19.45
** Antigone tries to convince Surány and Chewie that she needs to vanish: @21:34
** The team decides to stick together: @29:00
** They decide what to do next, based on what we know so far: @31:45
** Closing of Session: @37:00
** Post Session discussion: @37:30
** End of discussion: @49:36
** Closing Comments: @50.01
INTRODUCTION TEXT:
Welcome back to Night City Secrets.
The podcast of five gaming friends playing the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020.
This is episode 8, part three of three of our fifth gaming session.
Antigone is in a pretty dark place - pretty sure she’s brought a corporate war onto the streets of Night City.
The team tries to lift her up and produce a counter-plan.
This episode features a fair bit of discussion, trying to piece together the past and battle-plan the future, as well as some static between the REF and me. In the terms of the Joseph Campbell monomyth, this might be right around the “Death & Rebirth” stage of the Hero’s Journey.
CLOSING NOTES:
So after this game session concluded, the REF actually reached out to me the next day, and he was like, “Dude…. it seems like you took that a little personally. Are you ok?”
If you’ve listened to these episodes from the beginning, you’ll know that I’m the newbie role-player here. Although I always wanted to try it, it wasn’t until we started playing Cyberpunk 2020 together that I really got to experience it.
It was a very interesting experience — I could tell that, upon reflection, I was feeling perhaps too invested in my character. But I tried to explain to the REF that what upset me was I felt that I failed to communicate effectively to the team that I was trying my best to avoid bringing attention on us. And clearly I felt a sense of personal failure that I didn’t lead effectively.
The way I resolved this was when I came to explain this by saying that I let Han loose — and Adrian, who plays Han, is always a loose cannon in our gaming circle – and when Han rolled that critical success in his out-of-game activities, he went hog wild and ended up being so successful that we drew the attention of Petrochem and their Black Ops response team.
So, basically, it was Han’s fault. It is usually Han’s fault. Fricking Adrian….
Show notes, Night City Secrets Episode 7
Game Session 5, Part 2 – Unintended Consequences
Cover Art for the podcast from “Cyberpunk madness,” by the artist Eddie Del Rio.
Intro and closing music is from Amoebacrew, called simply "Cyberpunk royalty free music.” It is available on Youtube:
Background ambient music is from RoyaltyFreeSounds, called “Soundscape Ambient, Cyberpunk Music. Royalty Free.”
It is on Youtube:
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
REF = The Referee
Antigone = Corporate. Director of Public Relations for the Paupau Collective (PPC in Night City. PPC is a family autonomous corporation floating out on ships in the Pacific Ocean. Half-Greek half-Polynesian.
Arianna Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Corporate. Antigone’s older sister, the Executive VP of Marketing for the PPC. They have a good relationship.
“Chewie”= (NPC) Medtech. Officially, Consuela Jarillo, a Costa Rican doctor currently dating Han. She is played by the REF. She’s also a pilot.
Eric Genter = (NPC) Corporate. Senior Director for Petrochem in Night City. He absolutely hates Antigone for losing face to her a few years ago. Antigone simply ignores him, but he has it out for her badly. Apparently, he’s now running Petrochem’s Black Ops team.
Hako = Fixer. Aohako is also Hawaiian, but not related to Han or Antigone. He grew up in Night City and has connections all over the city. He and Antigone met through their common mentor, Derek Trammel, a former Night City Police Department detective, now a private investigator.
Han = Solo. Full name is “Hanakahi Lonoehu.” The team Solo and pilot, bioscultped to look like Harrison Ford, though he also has spiky short hair. Native Hawaiian, half-Polynesian, cousin to Antigone.
“Kat” Katrina = (NPC) A Solo merc-for-hire contracted by Eric Genter to kidnap Antigone and take her to a Petrochem warehouse.
Marcella Lemieux = (NPC) A cop working on the Night City Police Department. She has known Hako for many years and actively is concerned for his safety, so she is willing to help him out.
Mikael Papadopoulos-Paupau = (NPC) Medtech. Antigone’s younger brother, the Director of Research and Development for the PPC. He admires his older sister.
Rico = (NPC) A second Solo merc-for-hire who is working with Kat to abduct ‘Tig.
Stahl = (NPC) A pilot for hire, short but very capable Japanese Solo and former fighter pilot. Used to do odd jobs with Han. Frequently hired by Petrochem.
Surány = Netrunner. A young and nerdy Czech fame-seeker. Raised in Night City, and went to high school with Chewie. Attained some fame for his “March of the Ents” program: he names all his programs after people, places, and events in the Tolkien Mythos, and has been trying to grow a Gandalf beard.
Tatiana = (NPC) A former employee of Han, a dangerous Solo currently working for the Willow Sisterhood - a Poser Gang who bioscult themselves to look like famous women from media and pop culture who played the roles of bad-asses. Tatiana is currently sporting the look of Scarlet Johansen from the Ghost in the Shell movie adaptation. Tried to kill Han once when he tried to come onto her.
TOC and Timestamps:
** Introduction @00:26
** Play begins: @ 1:38
The team establishes a rendezvous with Arianna to remove Kat and Rico from Night City.
** Everyone shows up on the rooftop of the Night City Hilton: @6:35
** Mikael reveals what they learned from the “Black Box” heisted from Petrochem: @10:59
** The team tries to find a Bolthole to lay low and recover: @17:15
** Chewie pleas for the team to re-group: @33:05
** Antigone shares the screamsheet with the team: @34:20
** Here’s where the primary schism occurs between the REF and myself: @38:12
** We decide to just roll with it, despite our misunderstandings: @44:12
** Closing of Session: @49:30
** Closing Comments: @49:40
INTRODUCTION TEXT:
Welcome back to Night City Secrets.
The podcast of five gaming friends playing the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020.
This is episode 7, part two of three of our fifth gaming session.
When last we left, our team had been thrown into a spiral of confusion. Antigone was kidnapped and somehow managed to escape. Han, Hako, and Chewie almost died in the AV explosion, but managed to rally with Surany and get to where Antigone had been abducted.
Up until this point, Antigone had been convinced that the actions against her and her team had been entirely driven by the personal hatred of one Eric Genter, a Senior Director at Petrochem, one of PPC’s chief rivals.
But she slowly came to the realization that this was much deeper — she had implicated her team, her company, and her family into a potentially deadly conflict with one of the world’s largest corporations.
One that could have deadly repercussions not only on herself and her team, but on her entire corporation and her family lineage.
Let us delve into the murk and the intrigue.
CLOSING NOTES:
If you listened to the bonus episode where I interview the REFEREE, you’ll be aware that we created something we call the “Extended Rolls Tasks” system. This was basically a way for the REF to figure out how to include interesting content in the downtime between our gaming sessions so that our characters remained active in game. It is something like the passive AFK skill training in EVE Online or in Black Desert Online or in the yet-to-be-released Crowfall MMORPG.
Basically, we assign tasks for our characters to complete, we make rolls, the REF makes rolls, we figure out the outcomes when we next meet.
Since I’m the Corporate and I’m funding the operations, I ended up putting in the most time on these tasks. And there was some disagreement between the intent of those activities between the REFEREE and myself.
My notes about the intent of these activities was glossed over and the REFEREE took the primary outcome goal to be our activity.
So while I did not intend to roll into Night City dropping bombs, blowing up refineries, and sticking bananas into the tailpipes of Petrochem delivery vehicles, that’s apparently pretty close to what we actually did.
And we were quite successful at it.
So by the end of this episode, I have fully realized that I’ve now drawn the unwelcome attention of the entire Petrochem megacorp omnibus onto us. And they have deployed their most lethal and deadly operations teams to take us out.
Oh happy day. Tune in next time to see how we try to wriggle out of this one.
Antigone is pretty sure her own family has a hit out on her at this point…
Show notes, Night City Secrets Episode 6
Game Session 5, Part 1 – Deep and deeper
Cover Art for the podcast from “Cyberpunk madness,” by the artist Eddie Del Rio.
Intro and closing music is from Amoebacrew, called simply "Cyberpunk royalty free music.” It is available on Youtube:
Background ambient music is from RoyaltyFreeSounds, called “Soundscape Ambient, Cyberpunk Music. Royalty Free.”
It is on Youtube:
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
REF = The Referee
Antigone = Corporate. Director of Public Relations for the Paupau Collective (PPC in Night City. PPC is a family autonomous corporation floating out on ships in the Pacific Ocean. Half-Greek half-Polynesian.
“Chewie”= (NPC) Medtech. Officially, Consuela Jarillo, a Costa Rican doctor currently dating Han. She is played by the REF. She’s also a pilot.
Eric Genter = (NPC) Corporate. Senior Director for Petrochem in Night City. He absolutely hates Antigone for losing face to her a few years ago. Antigone simply ignores him, but he has it out for her badly. Apparently, he’s now running Petrochem’s Black Ops team.
Hako = Fixer. Aohako is also Hawaiian, but not related to Han or Antigone. He grew up in Night City and has connections all over the city. He and Antigone met through their common mentor, Derek Trammel, a former Night City Police Department detective, now a private investigator.
Han = Solo. Full name is “Hanakahi Lonoehu.” The team Solo and pilot, bioscultped to look like Harrison Ford, though he also has spiky short hair. Native Hawaiian, half-Polynesian, cousin to Antigone.
“Kat” Katrina = (NPC) A Solo merc-for-hire contracted by Eric Genter to kidnap Antigone and take her to a Petrochem warehouse.
Rico = (NPC) A second Solo merc-for-hire who is working with Kat to abduct ‘Tig.
Stahl = (NPC) A pilot for hire, short but very capable Japanese Solo and former fighter pilot. Used to do odd jobs with Han. Frequently hired by Petrochem.
Surány = Netrunner. A young and nerdy Czech fame-seeker. Raised in Night City, and went to high school with Chewie. Attained some fame for his “March of the Ents” program: he names all his programs after people, places, and events in the Tolkien Mythos, and has been trying to grow a Gandalf beard.
Tatiana = (NPC) A former employee of Han, a dangerous Solo currently working for the Willow Sisterhood - a Poser Gang who bioscult themselves to look like famous women from media and pop culture who played the roles of bad-asses. Tatiana is currently sporting the look of Scarlet Johansen from the Ghost in the Shell movie adaptation. Tried to kill Han once when he tried to come onto her.
TOC and Timestamps:
** Introduction @00:26
** Play begins: @ 1:32
The team is in the hospital getting patched up.
** We catch up with Antigone and her abductors, who planned on going to get some poké: @8:40
** Antigone calls her older sister, Ariana, and realizes she’s made the Net 54 screamsheets: @13:05
** Kat lays down the reality of Eric: @24:02
** Back at the hospital, the team discovers another surprise: @31:02
** Surany fails spectacularly to fix the issue with the phone: @35:59
** Always awkward… the topic of the hospital bill comes up: @41:40
** Han realizes he deleted his gun… : @47:45
** Realization is settling in that Antigone is in much deeper trouble than she thought: @51:42
** The team realizes they boosted a Petrochem encryption box from their heist in Modesto, and now we struggle to see whether we saved it from the blast: @58:28
** Antigone continues interrogating her abductors: @1:02:14
** Closing of Session: @1:05:00
INTRODUCTION TEXT:
Welcome back to Night City Secrets.
The podcast of five gaming friends playing the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020.
Here we have episode 6, which is Part One of our sixth fifth gaming session.
Last time, our plucky team somehow managed to survive being blown up. Antigone was kidnapped, but convinced her abductors to set her free with some fast-talking and promises to double their pay. And thanks to Hako’s contact - Marcella - who works in the Night City Police Department, as well as a bit of a yarn stretched by ‘Tig, they avoided a police shoot-out.
Bloodied and humbled, but still alive, the team heads to Night City Medical to get patched up while Antigone tries to make good on her promise to her kidnappers to save them from her antagonist, Eric Genter, a Senior Director at Petrochem in Night City.
The team learned a lot of valuable lessons last time in paying better attention to covering their tracks. But in this session, they are about to realize just how deep into it they really are.
Strap in and hang tight, choomba.
CLOSING NOTES:
So it took us about 6 episodes to start to get to our first real drama. You can see it start to percolate here at the end of part one. But it will boil over in part 2.
Luckily, we’re all good friends and even when we disagree, we can always crack a beer or split a fondue or take a lovely stroll at sunset and work it all out.
It all really starts with some misunderstandings between the REF and myself about the structure of our world and the consequences that are coming to light based off of Antigone’s decisions.
She’s now realizing that the fascination Eric Genter has with her is not some petty schoolkid feud, but instead it looks like she might have ignited a new Corporate War that is going to play out on the streets of Night City.
Tune in next time to see just how bad it gets.
Yes, it gets worse.
It always gets worse…
Show notes, Night City Secrets Episode 5
Game Session 4, Part 2 – Betwixt Scylla and Charybdis
Cover Art for the podcast from “Cyberpunk madness,” by the artist Eddie Del Rio.
Intro and closing music is from Amoebacrew, called simply "Cyberpunk royalty free music.” It is available on Youtube:
Background ambient music is from RoyaltyFreeSounds, called “Soundscape Ambient, Cyberpunk Music. Royalty Free.”
It is on Youtube:
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
REF = The Referee
Antigone = Corporate. Director of Public Relations for the Paupau Collective (PPC in Night City. PPC is a family autonomous corporation floating out on ships in the Pacific Ocean. Half-Greek half-Polynesian.
“Chewie”= (NPC) Medtech. Officially, Consuela Jarillo, a Costa Rican doctor currently dating Han. She is played by the REF. She’s also a pilot.
Eric Genter = (NPC) Corporate. Senior Director for Petrochem in Night City. He absolutely hates Antigone for losing face to her a few years ago. Antigone simply ignores him, but he has it out for her badly. Apparently, he’s now running Petrochem’s Black Ops team.
Hako = Fixer. Aohako is also Hawaiian, but not related to Han or Antigone. He grew up in Night City and has connections all over the city. He and Antigone met through their common mentor, Derek Trammel, a former Night City Police Department detective, now a private investigator.
Han = Solo. Full name is “Hanakahi Lonoehu.” The team Solo and pilot, bioscultped to look like Harrison Ford, though he also has spiky short hair. Native Hawaiian, half-Polynesian, cousin to Antigone.
“Kat” Katrina = (NPC) A Solo merc-for-hire contracted by Eric Genter to kidnap Antigone and take her to a Petrochem warehouse.
Marcella Lemieux = (NPC) A cop working on the Night City Police Department. She has known Hako for many years and actively is concerned for his safety, so she is willing to help him out.
Rico = (NPC) A second Solo merc-for-hire who is working with Kat to abduct ‘Tig.
Surány = Netrunner. A young and nerdy Czech fame-seeker. Raised in Night City, and went to high school with Chewie. Attained some fame for his “March of the Ents” program: he names all his programs after people, places, and events in the Tolkien Mythos, and has been trying to grow a Gandalf beard.
Tak = (NPC) Fixer. One of Hako’s contacts, one that he has known for years and trusts implicitly. He originally tipped the team off about Petrochem transporting something special from Reno to Night City. The team intercepted the transport in Modesto and got into a firefight.
Tatiana = (NPC) A former employee of Han, a dangerous Solo currently working for the Willow Sisterhood - a Poser Gang who bioscult themselves to look like famous women from media and pop culture who played the roles of bad-asses. Tatiana is currently sporting the look of Scarlet Johansen from the Ghost in the Shell movie adaptation. Tried to kill Han once when he tried to come onto her.
TOC AND TIMESTAMPS
** Introduction @00:26
** Play begins: @ 1:03
Han, Hako, and Chewie were blown out of the AV and are now assessing the situation. Antigone is wrapped up in the back of some car somewhere in Japan Town.
** Antigone, still conscious, tries to persuade her abductors to let her free: @3:45
** Han spots some people creeping up to the blown-up AV: @8:03
** Surány, under attack in the Net, tries some way to help the team: @20:30
** Antigone gets the kidnappers to stop the car with a bribe of doubling their contract: @25:00
** Han has eliminated the threat, and now they are figuring out what next: @35:37
** Hako calls Marcella and tries to figure out if Antigone is safe: @37:12
** Surány, still facing another Netrunner, heads in to try and stave them off: @38:50
** Antigone, freed from the net, tries to save everyone from a firefight with the police: @42:45
** Han, Hako, Surány, and Chewie show up in a cab: @51:43
** Antigone and Hako need to have a little tête-à-tête: @57:10
** The team heads to the hospital while Antigone invites her kidnappers to poké: @1:06:00
** Game session post-mortem and reflection: @1:10:45
** Closing of Session: @1:18:04
** Ending Notes: @1:18:27
INTRODUCTION TEXT
Welcome back to Night City Secrets.
The podcast of five gaming friends playing the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020.
This is episode 5, which is gaming session #4, part 2.
We left off kind of trapped between Scylla and Charybdis there… Antigone is webbed up by her kidnappers in the back of a car, and the rest of the team has been blown out the back of the AV, which had been booby-trapped with explosives.
Thankfully the taser failed to knock out Antigone, and the team survived the blast - barely. We don’t have much going for us now beyond our wits.
Here we go…
CLOSING NOTES
Night City will chew you up and spit you out.
Or maybe our REFEREE just wanted to.
Lessons learned by our team tonight…. somebody is always watching. And anyone can be bought off.
Did you catch the part where Antigone noticed one of her kidnappers was wearing the same kind of glove that Chewie wears? Yeah, I have a feeling this isn’t going to get any better for the crew.
One point of clarification, in case some parts seem a little hard to follow. Sometimes we communicate with one another via text outside the game audio. For example, if you remember when I put my gun to Hako’s head, I had texted the REFEREE beforehand to let him know I had removed any ammo — I didn’t want to critically fumble and accidentally shoot him.
Likewise, after the crew got blown out of the AV and Hako - who is our Fixer, so he has a wide network - knew they weren’t going to be able to get to my location, he texted the REFEREE that he sent out a call to his contact in the NCPD, Marcella, and asked her to save me.
I’m doing my best to make sure this gets captured in the audio or is explained, so no one feels lost. At some point, I’ll actually start getting some screen grabs of our Roll20 game so that you can actually see the rolls we make, and not just hear our reactions to them.
Hope you are able to tune in again sometime,
Signing off from Night City Secrets.
The podcast currently has 15 episodes available.