The Brainiacs were a gang operating in Night City.
Overview[]
The Brainiacs were the thinking man's boostergang, always choosing skill chips over other, clumsier cybernetics. They lived for knowledge, and were willing to obtain it in any way possible. Consisting of really sick netrunners and techies, plus some militant types, it was believed that upper level members of the gang were so enhanced that they had become walking computers, hovering on the edge of cerebral cyberpsychosis. Most of them worked as legit technicians, and if you ever got a new skillchip they had never seen before, getting their help was a cakewalk. The gang only took in new members that passed a rigorous IQ test (applicant's INT had to be 9+).
The gang's tag was a stylized human brain, which they usually burnt into something with a laser cutter. The other only gang mark they ever carried was a small, easily hidden silver coin worn around the neck. Each coin had the member's name on the back and the Brainiac tag on the front.
The Brainiacs were generally not as violent as your average boostergang, but they could be just as deadly if they wanted. The Brainiacs were not combative per se, preferring to elaborate traps or complicated schemes to killing their victims outright. One time, they almost wiped out a chapter of the Blood Razors by "arranging" for their rivals to cross paths with a heavily armed Arasaka security force. Despite multiple attempts by other gangs to wipe them out, the Brainiacs had always outsmarted their opponents, which made them to never loose a truf war. This savvy had earned the Brainiacs the hate of many gangs, and a measure of respect in other places besides the street; high-ranking members would occasionally hire themselves out to corporations for a few weeks to gain supplemental income.
The Brainiacs claimed a group of blocks north of the Corporate Center as home. By 2020, they were not involved in any turf wars, but were hated by most other boostergangs in Night City city, who took the chance to kill any gang member caught alone. The Bozos were savoring in the idea of taking them down. The Brainiacs had a small rivalry with the Edison's, who were only second to the Brainiacs in ingenuity.[1][2]
In the aftermath of the Night City Holocaust, a lot of gangs in Night City just fell apart. The Brainiacs were one of these, with many of their members falling victim to R.A.B.I.D.S.. The survivors simply scattered away.[3]
Stats & Equipment[]
These are the stats and equipment of an average Brainiac member in 2020's Night City Sourcebook.
| Stats | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INT | 9 | REF | 6 | DEX | — | TECH | 8 | COOL | 6 |
| ATTR | 7 | LUCK | 6 | MA | 6 | BODY | 6 | EMP | 3 |
| Skills | Varying on individual, but each will always have one personal speciality chipped to 10, and two others chipped to 6. Most have Knowledge skills in the 5-7 range[1] | ||||||||
| Cyberware | Any and all possible skill chips[1] | ||||||||
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 PONDSMITH, M. Night City Sourcebook. Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1991. (pp.43–45,55)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 BORELLI, A. Edgerunners Inc. Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1995. (p.69)
- ↑ PONDSMITH, M. Cyberpunk RED Core Rulebook. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2020. (p.309)