Countdown to the Dark Future

Countdown to the Dark Future (countdowntothedarkfuture) was a a viral advertising campaign created by R. Talsorian Games, posting one Cyberpunk 2020 fact (among other facts and trivia) per day throughout all of 2019, counting down to the real life year of 2020.

Countdown to the Dark Future #1
The famous band Samurai was discovered in 2003 by Jack Masters, an executive at Universal Music.

Jack signed the band after seing them play at the Rainbow Cadenza, a backstreet bar in Night City.

The members were:

Johny Silverhand (vocals and lead/rhythm guitar) Kerry Eurodyne (vocals and lead/rhythm guitar) Denny (drummer) Nancy/Bes Isis (keyboardist) Henry (bass)

Their first single, Blistering Love, was number one on the EuroCharts.

Countdown to the Dark Future #2
Samurai split up in 2008. Nancy went to jail for seven months for throwing her abusing husband out of their 83rd story apartment (through the window). The band firmly supported Nancy but the seven month lull proved they were each going a different creative directions.

Henry went to work on a human interface prototype. An accident fried his brain and he's had to rebuild his mind.

Denny joined a band called Mastermind.

Nancy took the name Bes Isis and became a major media presence on Network 54.

Johnny Silverhand and Kerry Eurodyne went onto successful solo careers, often touring together as a double ticket.

Countdown to the Dark Future #3
After Samurai split up, the DMS music label attempted to sign Johnny Silverhand by any means they could, including threats, violence, and ultimately blackmail. They discovered Johnny was a deserter who left the USMC while serving in the wars in Central and South America. Instead of giving into the blackmail. Johnny signed with Universal Music and went public with the information.

His first solo album, SINS of Your Brothers, was released in 2009. The songs on it explained his own actions, the reality of the wars, the government lies, and the experimental cybernetics program many soldiers and marines were forced to go through. The popularity of the album and the message it conveyed led to increased awareness and support for veterans of the Central and South American wars.

Countdown to the Dark Future #4
While Cyberpunk 2020 is the most famous edition of the game, it isn't the first. Cyberpunk: The Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future was first published as a box set in 1988, which means 2018 marked the game's 30th anniversary. The original version of Cyberpunk was set in 2013, which is why many fans refer to it by the nickname Cyberpunk 2013.

The Cyberpunk 2013 boxed set included three booklets. View from the Edge: The Cyberpunk Handbook contained character generation and non-combat rules. Friday Night Firefight laid out the combat rules. Welcome to Night City: A Sourcebook for 2013 introduced Night City and the Cyberpunk universe to the world. The boxed set also included a d6, a d10, and four player reference sheets.

Countdown to the Dark Future #5
Cyberpunk 2013 marks the first appearance of several iconic characters. Five of them first appeared in Never Fade Away, an adventure/story written by Mike Pondsmith as an introduction to the Dark Future.

Johnny Silverhand, the iconic rockerboy. Alt Cunningham, netrunner turned ghost in the machine. Thompson, a reporter who hates Arasaka. Rogue, a solo with only one weakness (her ex, Johnny). And Santiago, Rogue's partner and future leader of the Aldecaldo nomad clan.

Famous media Bes Isis, who was a keyboardist for Samurai in a former life, also appeared in 2013 as a byline in an article about gang violence in Night City.

Countdown to the Dark Future #6
Among the playtesters for Cyberpunk 2013 were Lisa Pondsmith and Walter Jon Williams.

Ms. Pondsmith is the business manager of R. Talsorian Games as well as an excellent RPG writer. Among her contributions to Cyberpunk lore are the Bozos, a gang of insane clowns who terrorize Night City. She's also the co-writer of The Witcher Tabletop Roleplaying Game.

Walter Jon Williams is one of the founders of the cyberpunk genre thanks to his Hardwired series. That series was adapted by Mr. Williams and R. Talsorian Games into an official alternate setting for Cyberpunk with the Hardwired sourcebook for Cyberpunk 2013. Mr. Williams is also a game designer in his own right, having created Privateers and Gentlemen, a swashbuckling "Age of Sail" roleplaying game.

Countdown to the Dark Future #7
Cyberpunk 2013 established the core three concepts to achieve the essence of the Cyberpunk universe:

Style Over Substance It doesn't matter how well you do something, as long as you look good doing it. If you're going to blow it, make sure you look like you planned it that way. Attitude is Everything Think dangerous; be dangerous. Think weak; be weak. Never walk when you can stride. Don't sit around waiting for the next job, Be there when the party starts. Live on the Edge The Edge is where risk-takers and high-riders go. On the Edge, you'll risk cash, your rep, even your life on something as nebulous as a principle or a score. Edgerunners aren't just in on the action. They are the action.

Countdown to the Dark Future #8
Sam Liu helped define the Cyberpunk universe with his iconic art in Cyberpunk 2013 (much of which was so good it was reused in Cyberpunk 2020!) including the razorgrrl, the chromed up rocker couple making out, the man inspecting his opened cyberarm, the woman with the branded cybereyes and the full 'borg with the breathing tube.

He has also worked in comics and animation and won an Emmy for his work on The Batman animated series in 2006. These days, Mr. Liu spends most of his time directing films for DC Animation, including the upcoming Death of Superman adaptation.

Countdown to the Dark Future #9
According to Fax on File, a dataterm program available to the general public, when visiting Night City you should wear medium weight clothing, with a light armor jacket or ballistic-cloth overcoat optional.

A filter mask and supplemental oxygen are highly recommended due to acid rain and inversion smogs.

Acid-proof slickers, umbrellas, and masks are readily available from sidewalk vendors for 20 to 35eb.

Temperatures normally range from the low 50s to the high 80s. Rainfall is 21 inches per year, 35% of which is considered acidic/toxic by government standards. Clothing and vehicles should be rated above SP12 to avoid adverse effects such as staining and ablation.

Countdown to the Dark Future #10
Jets and aerodynes regularly arrive and leave from Night City Metropolitan Airport. Traveling to the Johnson Space Platform requires transferring to Los Angeles International for a connection to the Mojave Orbital Air Facility. Security on all flights are at the passenger's own risk. Low-velocity rounds are suggested, so as to not penetrate the outer wall of the cabins.

Airlines operating out of Night City Metro include Atlas, TransContinental, and Western Pacific.

Pan-Pacific Phoenix-class aero-zeps, the luxury cruise-ships of the sky, dock at Night City Metro. Security is tight and there will be a full weapon and cyberware lockdown for all passengers. Flights leave once a week for Hawaii, Tokyo, Washington, and New York.

Countdown to the Dark Future #11
Due to the Free Access/Handicapped Self Sufficiency Act of 2018, holders of legitimate Free State of Northern California issued Disabled Holoplacards may use weapons to clear illegally parked vehicles from blue zones, which are designated for their use.

Red zones indicate no parking. Yellow zones are reserved for corporate-owned vehicles and may only be parked in for one half of an hour. Green zones indicate a ten minute limit for all vehicles except police.

Red and black zones designate a no parking zone except for Free Fire Emergencies. Night City PD and other offices are not responsible for damage taken by or the destruction of vehicles illegally parked in these zones.

Countdown to the Dark Future #12
Fax on File recommends two different child care agencies in Night City.

Child Creche officers care at an affordable price of 50eb per day, with cryotanks inspected weekly by licensed members of Trauma Team. Children under Child Creche care are pleasantly plugged into the parent's choice of braindance chips for pacification purposes.

Safe Child is more expensive, at 350eb per day, but has nannies trained in Europe and child psychologists on staff. Trained 24 hour Arasaka guards with on-call Tactical Squad support means parents can rest easy, knowing their child won't be extracted by agents of a rival corp or caught in the crossfire of a nearby gang war.

Countdown to the Dark Future #13
The "Night City" is a mixture of tequila, raw wood alcohol, and several drops of turpentine, all garnished with a dead worm. It is only served in the rougher bars in the city and often used by gang members as a way to prove how tough they are. The average cost is 6eb.

The "Euro" is a recipe imported from France and is popular with rich corpos. Its blend of fruit juices and bourbon, served over cubes of pure, frozen gin. The bar needs a special freezer unit to store the gin cubes. Average cost is 15eb.

The "Blade Runner" is a CHOOH2 and champagne mixer, served in a cocktail glass with mealworms in the bottom. Average cost is 6eb.

Countdown to the Dark Future #14
Places to shop in Night City include:

Everything and More. A middle-class department store with good security to keep the gangs at bay.

Long Last Books. A store which only sells indie titles and rare books. Their resistance to corporate pressure has earned the store respect from the local gangs.

Weird Stuff. A techie haven selling all sorts of wires, gadgets, doodads, and pieces. You can buy just about any diode or chip here, assuming you can find it in the mess.

Golden State Pawn. Clothes. Jewelry. Books. Programs. Cyberware. Its all here. One guess how they got it.

Countdown to the Dark Future #15
In his article, The Conapting of America (2020 Edition), James M. Weiss, Jr. divided the people of Night City into the following categories:

Powerdealers. The elite. CEOs, world-famous celebrities, and internationally influencial politicos. Corpzoners. Execs at the top of the corporate game. Movers. Ambitious young corps looking to scale the ladder and claim that corner office. Edgerunners. Cyberpunks who find success in unorthodox and dangerous ways. Mallplexers. The struggling middle class who make up the majority of the faceless hoards. Beavers. Low-level corp managers and high-level techs who live in Corp-controlled suburbs. Streetscum. The urban poor and a demographic which grows bigger every day.

Countdown to the Dark Future #16
Trauma Team™ is an international corporation which operates in North America and Europe. They specialize in paramedical services and take pride in their promise to reach a client, once summoned, in seven minutes or less.

They are headquartered in Los Angeles and have nearly 17,000 employees worldwide.

A standard Trauma Team™ crew consists of a driver, a senior MedTech, an assistant MedTech, and two security officers.

Most crews travel in a heavily armed and armored McDonnell-Douglas AV-4 Tactical Urban Assault aerodyne loaded with advanced medical technology, including a mobile cryotank.

Countdown to the Dark Future #17
Trauma Team™ Tower in Night City is located near the NC Convention Center. It houses the Night City branch's corporate offices as well as local operations including dispatch, armory, maintenance, and launch pads for the company's AV-4s. NCPD gives Trauma Team™ Tower a security rating of 3, which means highly sophisticated locks and alarms, incapacitating security measures, constantly monitored security feeds, military/SWAT level guards patrolling in groups of 5 to 10, and black IC to counteract intruding netrunners.

There are at least a dozen active Trauma Team™ units on call in Night City at any one time and their employees are always the best of the best. A Trauma Team™ pilot can land an AV-4 on top of a parked car and the senior MedTech in any squad has a Medical Tech Skill rating of 8 or higher (out of a maximum possible rating of 10).

Countdown to the Dark Future #18
Thanks to cybernetics, cryotanks, biotechnology, and drugs, medical science is so advanced by 2020 that Trauma Team™ and other medics bring people back "from the dead" with some regularity. It is so common in fact, that Trauma Team™ has established a scale of dead they call "Death State". It runs from DEAD 1 (just flatlined. Resuscitation almost certain) to DEAD 10 (no resuscitation possible). As a general rule of thumb, a patient slides up the Death State scale once every minute, although circumstances such as environmental conditions, cybernetics, drugs, and administered CPR can slow down the rate of progression.

The Lifeline Act of 1994 allows citizens to register as a parts donor. Anyone who delivers the body of a registered citizen to a donor center earns a bounty based on the condition of harvestable limbs and organs.

Countdown to the Dark Future #19
Although medical coverage, charged on sliding scale, is guaranteed for all citizens of the European Commonwealth, trauma services such as those provided by Trauma Team™ must be paid for by the patient or another responsible party. Trauma Team™ is not the only trauma service operating on the continent and EC law requires a trauma service to pay a rival's expenses should they pick up a subscribing patient first.

All EC countries have regularly placed SOSBooths, nearly indestructible shelters which can house up to six people. Anyone can enter an SOSBooth but if a trauma service subscription card or credit card is not slotted and validated within ten seconds, the booth will flood with anesthetic gas. Once subscription or payment is verified, a dispatcher will arrange for police and trauma services to respond.

Countdown to the Dark Future #20
Trauma Team™ charges quite heavily for their services, at a rate of 100eb per minute from the time a call for aid is received to the time the patient is delivered to a hospital or other facility. The patient is also responsible for reimbursement for the cost of any ammunition fired during the rescue, among other fees.

The cost can be mitigated through the purchase of a service plan. Corporations often offer Trauma Team™ coverage as a perk for higher level employees and Edgerunners sometimes negotiate for a one-use Trauma Team™ service plan as part of their payment for a job.

For those paying their own way, plans run from 500eb plus expenses up to the mid-five figures per month depending upon the level of coverage.

Countdown to the Dark Future #21
Trauma Team™ values its employees and provides even their MedTechs with armor for use in the field. The company has contracted with Bodyweight Systems to create and supply the MedicGear Combat Medical Armor. MedicGear is a hard-shell armor with a protection ranking equal to a standard military grade flak vest. Standard features include a built-in drug analyzer, techscanner, drug injector, sprayskin applicator, and palm mounted shock panels.

For more intense situations, Trauma Team™ has worked with Militech to create the Tb/O Lifeline, a powered armor suit designed specifically to allow emergency responders to operate in any situation, no matter how dire. This light but tough armor has a chassis weight of 158kg and comes standard with a full suite of medical equipment, heavy tools, climber claws, and a power saw.

Countdown to the Dark Future #22
CityMed is a not-for-profit which offers medical services to those who can't afford it. They function thanks to donations and receive quiet support from several corporations who realize having a base level of care available to the destitute can help prevent a pandemic, something which can harm even their bottom line.

CityMed is run out of Miami but has chapters in most major cities. The majority of staff work on a volunteer basis, including some Trauma Team™ MedTechs. Trauma Team™ recognizes the publicity value of their employees volunteering for CityMed and encourages them to do so. CityMed offers emergency surgery, medicine, vaccinations, and examinations to those who need it but have a policy of not offering such services to wanted criminals, Edgerunners with a bad reputation, or members of particularly vicious gangs.

Countdown to the Dark Future #23
The foundations for the body enhancement technology commonly known as cyberware were laid in 1991, when the first artificial muscle fibers were developed in the United States and in 1993, when the first biological interface chips were developed in Germany. Early cyberware was field tested by implanting it into soldiers serving in the Central and South American Wars, usually without warning the test subjects of the potential side effects.

By 2020, cyberware is pervasive in society for utilitarian reasons but also as a fashion statement. Its hip to have high tech grafted into your body somewhere and the trendsetters who walk the red carpet are as likely to boast about who designed their new arm or eyes as they are to talk about who made their outfit.

Countdown to the Dark Future #24
Cyberware is usually divided into 10 categories, 5 of which are presented here. Some begin with a basic unit, i.e. a cybereye, which can be upgraded with options.

Fashionware: Cosmetic enhancements made to body. Examples: Biomonitor, Light Tattoo, Techhair. Neuralware: Processors plugged into the nervous system in order to modify or enhance it. Examples: Neural Processor, Smartgun Link. Implants: Devices adding specific functions to the body. Examples: Gill Implant, Chemical Analyzer. Bioware: Enhancements built along biological instead of mechanical lines. Examples: Grafted Muscle, Nanosurgeons. Cyberweapons: Mostly illegal weapons implanted directly into cyberlimbs or the body. Examples: Vampires, Wolvers, ChainRipp.

Countdown to the Dark Future #25
Cyberware is usually divided into 10 categories, 5 of which are presented here. Some begin with a basic unit, i.e. a cybereye, which can be upgraded with options.

Cyberoptics: Cameras which replace biological eyes. Option Examples: Color Shift Irises, Image Enhancer. Cyberaudio: Devices plugged into the auditory nerves to enhance hearing. Option Examples: Radio Link, Amplified Hearing. Cyberlimbs: In any color and style you want. Option Examples: Reinforced Joints, Tool Hand. Linear Frames: Exoskeletons grafted onto the body. Examples: Linear Σ (low STR boost), Linear β (moderate STR boost), Linear Ω (high STR boost). Body Plating: Plastic/metal plating which covers part of the body as protection or as a mounting surface. Examples: Front Optic Mount, Torso Armor Plate.

Countdown to the Dark Future #26
Interface plugs are one of the most common forms of cyberware in the world of Cyberpunk 2020. They're the starting point which allow people to stud into vehicles, firearms, and computers and control them, providing the user has the right neuralware. Information and skill chips can also be slotted into interface plugs, allowing direct mental access to them.

Interface plugs are usually installed directly into bone and tap into major nerve trunks. Most people mount interface plugs into their wrists but others like to show them off. 'Plugheads' mount them at the temple. 'Frankensteins' mount them just behind the ears. 'Puppetheads' prefer the back of the skull. It isn't uncommon to see an interface plug inlaid with precious metals or decorated with custom caps.

Countdown to the Dark Future #27
Humans aren't the only biologicals who can be fitted with cyberware. Upgraded animals are usually purchased by the wealthy or organizations looking to fill a specific need. Most are cloned as fully mature, then fitted with cyberware and trained via chip for specific behaviors. Buyers looking for animals with a naturally developed personality must pay extra. Animals from the wild cost 50x the base price due to both their rarity and the difficulty in overriding their natural instincts.

Dogs are the most common type of cyberpet but cats, horses, primates, rodents, birds of prey, sharks, dolphins, and even bats can be purchased. Common cyberware for a cyberpet includes sensory boosts, berserk chips which activate a frenzy mode, cyberlimbs, cyberweapons, and harnesses to transform larger animals into mobile weapon platforms.

Countdown to the Dark Future #28
Full Body Replacement is, perhaps, the ultimate expression of cyberware. The process of turning someone into a borg, as they are commonly known, replaces almost all biological material with cybernetics. This includes the skeleton, organs, and skin. Borgs retain their original brain, though it is intensely modified.

Borgs do not need to eat, drink, or breathe. Instead biological components receive nutrients via cybernetics. Borgs do sleep for psychological reasons.

A number of companies offer Full Body Replacement models. The IEC Alpha Classis an all purpose model. The Dynalar Aquarius is designed for underwater use while the Cybermatrix Inc Copernicus functions best in space. At 8 feet tall and 620 pounds, the IEC Dragoon offers the ultimate in battlefield performance.

Countdown to the Dark Future #29
The Bioexotics™ line allows clients to become something other than 'human' through intensive transformation using a variety of techniques. As the tagline says, "Why bother to be one of the beautiful people when you don't have to be 'people' at all?"

Most exotic packages involve forms resembling an anthropomorphized animal. Various mammalian forms are most common. Fantasy race forms such as elves, dwarves, and orks are also available. Among the most extreme options are aquatic, dragon, and insect forms.

While initially intended for the wealthy, it has become increasingly common for gangs, cults, and "secret" societies to offer their valued members the Bioexotics™ process as a reward. In such cases, the forms selected always match the organization's theme.

Countdown to the Dark Future #30
In Cyberpunk 2020, the figurative "war on drugs" of the 1970s and '80s turned into real wars in the 1990s when the actions of drug cartels were used as excuses for the United States to send military forces to Central and South America. By 2020 those wars are over, but the trafficking of drugs remains illegal in many American states and cities. The problem has been made worse by a wave of potent synthetic drugs entering the market.

Most law enforcement agencies which still care classify illicit substances as Type A, B, or C, with Type A being the highest priority for enforcement and Type C being the lowest. Trafficking in a Type C substance carries a sentence of 1 to 10 years in medium security. Trafficking in a Type A substance carries a sentence of 15 to 20 years in maximum security plus mandatory Braindance reform therapy.

Countdown to the Dark Future #31
In 1992, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency released several bio-engineered floral plagues across the world. These plagues were custom tailored to target coca and opium plants and were incredibly effective, destroying 98% of the world's crop. Several governments propped up by the drug economy collapsed virtually overnight.

A second set of bioweapons was released in 2004, wiping out plantations run by the Golden Triangle in China, which had been growing strains of opium and coca resistant to the previous plagues. Since then, the Golden Triangle have specialized in creating synthetic versions of old drugs in addition to new variants. So long as the Golden Triangle focuses their efforts on exporting product to America and Europe, Chinese authorities are content to turn a blind eye to their activities.

Countdown to the Dark Future #32
Illegal drugs (and many legal ones) in Cyberpunk 2020 are lab designed to be addictive in order to create a captive market. While the wealthy can afford designer drugs, tailored to their specific physiologies in order to get a high without side effects, everyone else has to make due with generic, synthetic drugs sold by criminal organizations or from the even more dangerous experimental drugs dumped onto the black market by Corps looking to recoup the loss of a failed project or field test a potential new product.

This is all made worse by the large number of underground chemists working as either individuals or in groups. These black market entrepreneurs sell both copies of legal medicines they've cracked the patents on and new mixtures of illegal drugs they've spiced up to make more interesting.

Countdown to the Dark Future #33
The illegal drug market is constantly evolving, which means it can be difficult to keep up with what's new on the streets. However, here's a few with staying power:

SynthCoke: A synthetic variant of cocaine, made more potent in the lab.

Boost: A common "study drug". Addicts gain a tolerance quickly.

'Dorph: A pain negator which can damage the nervous system.

Mr. Ex: Will keep you awake for days.

Char: A mood dampener which installs an inhuman sense of calm.

Smash: Technically not illegal, Smash is drinkable drug similar to alcohol but with a harsher downside. Think a foamy energy drink laced with uppers.

Starlight: A powerful and addictive euphoric.

Countdown to the Dark Future #34
In general, the European Commonwealth maintains a harsh stance towards street drugs of all kinds. The EC takes pride in its reputation as a civilized zone in a mad world and has implemented intense measures to maintain it. Non-citizens arrested for a crime, no matter how minor, are usually deported or jailed. Custom agents are especially diligent in their duties when searching for contraband.

The one major exception to this is the Scandinavian Bloc. They maintain a "neutral market" which includes the common availability of "soft" drugs in most bars and "harder" drugs from specialized and licensed salons. Combat drugs are completely illegal and not tolerated. While the Scandinavian governments allow, and even encourage, recreational excess they do not tolerate violence against their citizens.

Countdown to the Dark Future #35
Combat Drugs are used regularly by militaries and Corporations to enhance the capabilities of their forces. The higher ups are generally more concerned about results than they are about troop health, while soldiers and mercs generally take an expedient viewpoint. Surviving and dealing with the consequences of whatever chems are being pumped into their system later is a better outcome to combat than being dead.

Examples of Combat Drugs include: Prime: Narrows the subject's focus and imbues a sense of ultimate calm, increasing battlefield awareness and reducing incidents of panic.

Timewarp: Sharpens reflexes but at the cost of real damage as muscles are overextended in the process.

Berserker: Used by commanders who want to turn soldiers into suicidal killing machines.