Copyright © 2023 Robert Marriner-Dodds, Dragon Turtle Games Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dragon Turtle Games, the Dragon Turtle Games logo, and all content herein are copyright Dragon Turtle Games Ltd.
Carbon 2185, the Carbon 2185 logo, CarbonRPG, are all copyright Robert Marriner-Dodds, officially licensed to Dragon Turtle Games Ltd.
Carbon 2185 is a registered trademark of Robert Marriner-Dodds.
Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contain herein is prohibited without the express written permission of
Dragon Turtle Games Ltd.

www.dragonturtlegames.com

Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム 1

CHOW’S REQUEST PART I - II WRITER. EDITOR.
Robert Marriner-Dodds Ty Moore

CHOW’S REQUEST PART III - VI WRITER. COVER ART.

Ben Counter Cassandra Dodds

ORIGINAL GAME MECHANICS. INTERIOR ART.

Robert Marriner-Dodds Mobo Boehme, Biagio D’Alessandro, Cassandra Dodds,
Shen Fei, Audrey Hotte, Rhei Johnson, Tithi Luadthong,
PROOF READING. Max Margarit, Seth Rutledge
Cassandra Dodds, Eleanor Angell
LAYOUT.
Lewis Scott Fraser, Christian Nommay

Copyright © 2023 Robert Marriner-Dodds, Dragon Turtle Games Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dragon Turtle Games, the Dragon Turtle Games logo, and all content herein are copyright Dragon Turtle Games Ltd.
Carbon 2185, the Carbon 2185 logo, CarbonRPG, are all copyright Robert Marriner-Dodds, officially licensed to Dragon Turtle Games Ltd.
Carbon 2185 is a registered trademark of Robert Marriner-Dodds.
Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contain herein is prohibited without the express written permission of
Dragon Turtle Games Ltd.

www.dragonturtlegames.com

Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム 1

 CONTENTS
Chow’s Request 3 Chow’s Resolve 37
Wan Chai Warriors Hideout Map 4 Word on the Street 38
Area 1 Corridor 4 The Drive 39
Area 2 Abandoned Apartment 5 The Slit Throat 39
Area 3 Entrance Hallway 5 Slit Throat Map 40
Area 4 Casual Room 6 Reaper Attack 41
Area 5 Scavenging Area 6 Safe-T-1st 41
Area 6 Bedroom 6 Glen Heights SFPD Substation 42
Area 7 Kitchen Diner 7 SFPD Substation Main Floor Map 42
Area 8 Main Room 7 SFPD Substation Basement Map 44
Stone Nullah Rage 9 Dragon’s Requiem 46
The Gweilo 9 Chow’s Final Request 46
Bullets Overhead 9 Casing the Joint 47
Escaped! 10 Area 1 The Grounds 47
Stone Nullah Road VR Cafe 11 Mansion Ground Floor Map 48
Area 1 The Cafe Interior 11 Mansion Upper Floor Map 49
VR Cafe Map 12 Area 2 Reception Hall 50
Area 2 Backroom 13 Area 3 Conference Hall 50
Area 3 Store Room 13 Area 4 Dining Hall 50
Area 4 Repair Room 13 Area 5 Kitchens 50
Area 5 Staff Room 13 Area 6 Guest Quarters 51
Area 6 Main Haunt 13 Area 7 Downstairs Bathroom 51
Area 7 The Vault 14 Second Floor 51
Gone to Ground 15 Area 1 Apartments 51
Upstairs Lounge 51
The Death of Donny Zhao 17 Area 3 Master Bedroom 52
The Muffin Top Club 19 Basement 52
Area 1 The Bar 19 Area 1 Panic Room 52
Area 2 Downstairs 19 Mansion Basement Floor Map 53
The Muffin Top Club Map 20 Area 2 Organ Storage 54
The Guang Du Restaurant 21 Area 3 Rejuvenation Suite 54
Guang Du Restaurant Map 22
Zhao Haven 24 What Next? 55
1091 Hampshire Street 25
1091 Hampshire Street Map 26 License 56
Fortune Heights 27
Fortune Heights Map 29
A Night at the Opera 30
The Golden Kunqu Hall 31
Area 1 The Auditorium 32
Area 2 The Red Room 32
Area 3 The Yellow Gallery 33
Area 4 The Purple Orchid Suite 33
Golden Kunqu Hall Map 34
Area 5 The Lotus Rooms 35
Area 6 The Offices 35

2 Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム

 PART I

CHOW’S REQUEST
WELCOME! my ticket into the Triad!
Chow’s Request is designed so that players may
start at either Part I or Part IV depending on their CHILDHOOD FRIEND
level. We recommend awarding players a level at I grew up in Chinatown with Jackie, and now I’m
the end of each part, however we have still includ- back in the city I find out he’s some bigshot gang-
ed XP values for each encounter if you choose to ster! Time to cash in some goodwill and pump him
use the more traditional XP leveling system. for work!

The mission will see the cyberpunks working for UNDERCOVER

Jackie Chow, a Red Pole in the 16K Triad and the I’m an undercover law enforcement officer in-
leader of the Washington Street Boys vestigating the notoriously untrusting 16K Triad.
I’ve been working the case for weeks, and this
INFERNAL AFFAIRS is my one and only chance to get in their good
Within each of the larger gangs in San Francisco books.
are smaller gangs who each have their own
internal politics and leaders. Typically each W.R.E.A.M
lieutenant in a gang (Triads refer to these All I care about is wonlongs, and this job pays
lieutenants as Red Poles) leads their own gang very well! Time to get those longs and hit the
and has their own rules. It is not uncommon for clubs!
two smaller gangs within the same larger group to
be in conflict with each other, although if it starts CHOW’S REQUEST
to escalate somebody higher up will step in. Carbon 2185 adventures, also known as mis-
sions, will feature ‘read aloud’ or ‘boxed’ text that
In this adventure, Jackie Chow’s Washington helps the GM set the mood and detail the area
Street Boys are in conflict with a fellow 16k Triad without overwhelming the players with details.
gang called Wan Chai Warriors. Read the following text to start this adventure.

HOOKS “In a popular dive bar in Chinatown called the

There are several reasons why the cyberpunks Gweilo, the always well dressed and
may be working for Jackie on this mission. It is up pompadoured Jackie Chow made you an offer
to the players to decide why they are taking on that was hard to refuse. Simply retrieve some
this job. Below are a few examples that they can of his stolen property from the Wan Chai
choose; Warriors and get a sweet 100 000₩ payout.

INDEBTED He never specified exactly what was stolen but

Due to a gambling problem, I owe serious insisted “you will know it when you see it.”
wonlongs to the Washington Street Boys and
Jackie practically owns me. I need to work off my You’ve arrived on the 15th floor of the
debt before things get a little more serious. apartment block where the Wan Chai
Warriors’ hideout is located.
FOOT IN THE DOOR
Ever since I was a kid I looked up to the gangsters Looking down at the scribbled directions Jack-
within the 16k Triad. They are the coolest cats in ie gave on the back of a dirty napkin ‘Floor 15,
town and I wanted to be just like them. apartment 15B, two guards outside door’ ”
Now is my chance! If I impress Jackie, he may be
Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム 3
 WAN CHAI WARRIORS’ HIDEOUT cracked and broken windows. places and cov-
The Wan Chai Warriors’ hideout is a small ered with graffiti.
salvaging operation that brings in minimal but
steady profits for the gang. Here they break Two apartment doors lead off of this
down stolen electronics for resale through one corridor, the furthest of which is guarded by
of the many street vendors they control in San two men wearing baggy clothes with faces full
Francisco. of chrome and old fashioned pistols hanging
AREA 1. CORRIDOR on their belts.”
The closest door leads to apartment 15A, which
is long abandoned. The door is unlocked but stiff. OUT THE WINDOW.
It can be forced open with a successful Strength The guards aren’t cruel, and won’t attempt to
check of 15 or higher. throw the cyberpunks out of the windows. The
same can’t be said for the cyberpunks. The
If engaged in combat, the two guards will not at- ground outside is 150ft. below the level of the
tempt to back down or call for backup. windows. Anybody who falls, or is pushed out
of one of the windows must make a successful
DC15 Reflex saving throw to attempt to grab
“The elevator door opens up onto a depressing the exterior windowsill to avoid falling.
hallway illuminated only by the holographic
advertisements outside shining in through the Anybody who fails this save will take 15d10
bludgeoning damage on impact with the floor
below.
4 Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム
 LOOT.
Wan Chai Street Rat
medium human (any)
One of the guards has nothing of any worth on
him, the other has a 8 000₩ credit chip.
They both carry 10 9mm bullets and 21st
Armor Class. 12 (Tough Leather Jacket) century pistols as well as fireaxes.
Hit Points. 9 (2d8+0)
Speed. 30 ft. XP.
Cyberpunks gain Character Levels by gaining
STR DEX CON INT TEC PEO experience points (xp). To award the correct
+1 +1 +0 +2 +1 +0 amount of xp for an encounter, add together the
xp for each enemy (as listed in their statblock)
Sense. Passive Perception 14 and divide the result between the number of
Languages. English, Cantonese party members, rounding up to the nearest 5xp
Challenge. 1/4 (50 XP) each.
If the cyberpunks defeat the two guards here,
ACTIONS divide 100xp evenly among the party.
21st Century Pistol. Ranged Weapon Attack:
+3 to hit, range 40/100 ft., one target. Hit: 5 AREA 2. ABANDONED APARTMENT
(2d4) ballistic damage.
Fireaxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, “This apartment is filthy and is clearly long
reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6+1) fire dam- abandoned. Trash, dried blood, broken glass,
age. and empty crates are everywhere here.
It has clearly been ransacked more than once.
THE GUARDS. A fire exit leads from the rearmost room to
The guards are two wan chai street rats and are the street below, or at least it would if it still
cautious of anyone entering the corridor. They had a ladder attached.”
will watch any intruders closely.
This place has been looted so many times, there
They won’t attempt to stop anyone entering the is nothing left of any value.
abandoned apartment, but will aggressively stop The fire exit out the back looks directly onto
anyone attempting to approach apartment 15B. the fire exit from area 5. The metal balconies are
30ft. apart.
DEVELOPMENTS. The thick concrete walls of The external door to area 5 is not locked.
the corridor and heavy metal apartment doors
muffle any sounds of combat that may occur out AREA 3. ENTRANCE HALLWAY
in the hallway.
Any combat that takes place out here will not “This grimy, poorly lit hallway has two doors
be heard by anybody inside the apartment. leading off of it, one to the right, and one to
If the two guards somehow manage to defeat the left.
the cyberpunks, they will stabilize them, loot Muffled music can be heard thumping
them, and place them unconcious in the elevator throughout this hallway. Sat on a faux wooden
with a note written in Cantonese that reads; chair in between the doors is a small man with
cybernetic eyes keeping watch. An old pistol is
“Jackie. You’re a clown for sending these fools. resting on his lap”
Is this really the best the Washington Street
Boys has?”
The door to the right leads to area 4, the door to
the left leads to area 7. The man is a cowardly
wan chai street rat named Jetset who is easily

Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム 5

 talked into submission, and even expresses inter- XP.
est in defecting to the Washington Street Boys. Surviving a trap is not easy. Divide 200xp evenly
among the cyberpunks if they survive or disarm
THE MUSIC. The thumping music is coming the trapped crate.
from the display in area 7.

LOOT. Flashbang MK. II Range 20ft. Sphere

Jetset has a 4 000₩ credit chip, 6 9mm bullets Each creature within 20 feet of a Flashbang
and a nanopack. when it explodes must make a DC 15 Forti-
tude saving throw or be Blinded and Deafened
XP. for 6 seconds and take 2d6 psychic damage.
Players don’t always have to kill an enemy to Those who succeed on the saving throw in-
earn xp. They can subdue an enemy, or over stead take half damage and do not become
come them some other way. Remember though, Blinded or Deafened.
you can only award xp from each enemy once,
so if the party knocks somebody unconscious AREA 5. SCAVENGING AREA
who later in the mission returns to attack them, The people in this room are aware of the
they will not get the xp twice. intruders if they set off the flashbang, otherwise
they are working.
In this area, it is possible to talk Jetset into
surrender or retreat. This is effectively the same
as defeating him in combat. Regardless of how “Four people are pulling apart broken machin-
the players defeat or overcome Jetset reward ery and mechs stacked atop tables and shelves
them with 50xp, divided equally between them. in this dark room.
The strong smell of chemicals from the batter-
AREA 4. CASUAL ROOM ies and machinery stings your eyes and noses.
A single door on the right hand wall is covered
“The door to the right opens into a room with in random spray paint.”
dark old fashioned concrete tiles on the walls.
A sofa, and two armchairs are sat facing an old Three of the people in this room are women, and
television atop what appears to be a weapons one is a man. They are all wan chai street rats.
crate. In combat they will flip the metal tables and use
Another weapons crate is pushed up against them as half cover. The door leading to the bal-
the far wall with a combat shotgun on top of cony is unlocked.
it. A door leads further into the apartment.”
LOOT.
The man has a 700₩ credit chip and 10 9mm
This room is used for lounging during downtime, bullets. Between them the three women have a
or for sleeping on one of the dirty mattresses. further 8 000₩ and 30 9mm bullets.
There are currently no gang members here.
The door leads to area 5. XP.
Divide 200xp evenly between the cyberpunks if
TRAPPED CRATE. The shotgun atop the they defeat or otherwise overcome or bypass the
weapons crate is actually a fake that is attached wan chai street rats in this room.
to a small metal wire which is in turn attached to
a flashbang. AREA 6. BEDROOM
A DC15 Perception check instantly finds this This room is used exclusively for the
trap. consumption of Crush, and sleeping.

6 Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム

 XP.
“Graffiti completely covers the walls, floor, Divide 200xp evenly between the cyberpunks if
and ceiling of this filthy room. they defeat or otherwise overcome or bypass the
Two men are passed out on dirty mattresses, wan chai street rats in this room. Award them an
while one man wielding a phase shift sword additional 50xp if they prevent the woman from
paces back and forth, muttering to himself.” reaching her assault rifle.

The man is a gang footsoldier and is extremely AREA 8. MAIN ROOM

high on Crush. He will attack the players on
sight. “This dark room is lit only by a few dim fluo-
rescent lights of various colors. Within are two
The two unconscious men are also high on slim, heavily tattooed people, who seem to be
Crush. They will not be woken up by the sounds working on a humanoid combat mech covered
of combat. in Washington Street Boys insignia.”

LOOT. The two people in this room are wan chai street
The man has 700₩, an advanced comms device rats, the Mech has been stolen from Jack who in
and a phase shift sword. He is also carrying a turn stole it from the SFPD. The street rats have
nanopack that he will attempt to use during the successfully reprogrammed the mech to work
combat. for them.
XP. The sfpd mech and the two wan chai street rats
Divide 100xp evenly between the cyberpunks will attack the party as soon as they see them.
if they defeat or otherwise overcome the gang The SFPD Mech takes a full round to fully boot
footsoldier. up and stand up from the table on which it is
laying.
AREA 7. KITCHEN DINER
The door leading out to the fire escape is locked,
“Three people are sat along one side of a table but can be forced open with a DC12 Strength
in this kitchen and dining area. The smell of check.
fresh, cheap ramen gently hangs in the air.
Aggressive music plays from a display in the If the party take possession of the mech’s
wall that is illuminating the room with colors remains and it is repairable, they can return it to
from a music video. A heavy metal door has Jackie for their reward, and gain 1 Street
been haphazardly installed in the wall on the Influence.
right hand side.”
They can instead return the mech to the SFPD
These three people are all wan chai street rats and gain 1 Corporate Influence, while losing 2
and are eating their dinner. In combat, they will Street Influence and losing Jackie as a contact.
flip the table and use it as half cover.
LOOT.
DEVELOPMENTS. There is an assault rifle on One of the people has 3 000₩ , the other has
a table in this room. If combat starts to go south, 5 000₩ and two nanopacks.
the female gang member will attempt to leave
cover to grab it. It is biolocked to her. A dismantled standard ballistic vest is on a table
here. The various armored sections need to be
LOOT. sewn back together before it can be used, but is
The woman has a credit chip with 6 000₩ and otherwise in perfect condition.
the other two have 200₩ and 190₩.
Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム 7
 XP.
Divide 200xp evenly between the cyberpunks
if they defeat or otherwise overcome the Wan
JACKIE CHOW
medium human (regular joe)
Chai Warriors and the SFPD Mech.
Armor Class. 16 (Concealable Ballistic Vest)
Hit Points. 45 (9d8+9)
SFPD Mech
medium machine (humanoid mech)
Speed. 30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT TEC PEO

Armor Class. 16 (Armor Plating) +2 +3 +1 +2 +0 +3
Hit Points. 20 (3d8+6)
Speed. 30 ft. Augmentations. Enhanced Infantry Arms
Damage Resistances. DR/2 Ballistic
STR DEX CON INT TEC PEO Skills. Perception +3
+3 +3 +2 +2 +0 –1 Sense. Passive Perception 15
Languages. English, Cantonese.
Damage Resistances. DR/3 Ballistic Challenge. 2 (450 XP)
Damage Vulnerabilities. Electric
Sense. Passive Perception 15 POINT BLANK SHOOTER. Jackie Chow
Languages. Cantonese, Spanish, English, and suffers no penalties from shooting a target at
Dutch. close range, including disadvantage.
Challenge. 1/2 (100 XP)
ACTIONS
ACTIONS multiattack . Jackie Chow may make two
KMHA Heavy Pistol. Ranged Weapon At- melee, or one ranged attack per round.
tack: +5 to hit, range 60/180 ft., one target. detroit industries smg . Ranged Weapon At-
Hit: 8 (2d6) ballistic damage. tack: +7 to hit, range 40/120 ft., one target.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach Hit: 11 (4d4+1) ballistic damage.
5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10+3) bludgeoning wsb baseball bat . Melee Weapon Attack: +6
damage. to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+2)
bludgeoning damage.

8 Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム

 PART II

STONE NULLAH RAGE

Chow’s Request Part II assumes that the
cyberpunks have previously played Chow’s and enough firepower to take down a small
Request Part I and returned the stolen SFPD army. Everyone here appears to be carrying
mech to Jackie Chow. some kind of weapon.

Chow’s Request Part II is designed for four Jackie Chow is a slim, well-dressed young
cyberpunks level 2. Chinese man wearing a stylish blue sport
jacket, silky yellow shirt, and sporting a
pompadour hairstyle. He approaches you
“It’s been several days since your run in with carrying a bottle of Hokkaido Yebisu.”
the Wan Chai Warriors. You’ve received your
wonlongs from Jackie and have been spending Depending on how long the players took to
them like they’ll never end.” reach the Gweilo, Jackie may either be calm and
cool, or stressed and hurried in his manner and
You should encourage the players to discuss speech.
what their characters did over the past few days.
This is a great time for them to get to know their
characters better and to explore the city. “Thank you again for retrieving that mech for
me. I think it’s about time we hit back at those
Once this period has run its course, read the so called Wan Chai Warriors — Washington
following: Street style! One of my lookouts just told me
they saw the WCW guys hauling what looked
like an unprogrammed synth into their VR
“Jackie contacts you and requests that you cafe on Stone Nullah Road, just round the
meet him in the Gweilo, his dive bar in China- corner, an hour or so ago. I want you to head
town, as soon as you can get there. Time is of over there, get me that synth, and take out
the essence.” anyone in there.
They steal from me, I steal from them!
If the players do not reach the Gweilo within 25 Do this, and you’ll officially be Washington
minutes, they receive another hurried call from Street Boys.”
Jackie asking that they get there within 15
minutes, or miss their window of opportunity.
Believing that membership with the
San Francisco is not a big city, and reaching the Washington Street Boys is reward enough,
Gweilo on Washington Street should take Jackie is reluctant to pay the cyberpunks. If the
under 35 minutes even from the furthest cyberpunks either decline to join, or otherwise
reaches of the city, provided the cyberpunks press Jackie for payment, he agrees to pay
take some form of transport. 50 000₩ for the job.

THE GWEILO BULLETS OVERHEAD

Out for revenge, the Wan Chai Warriors have
“The Gweilo is the dirtiest, cheapest bar in decided to escalate the situation and send
District 5. Full of cigarette smoke, loud music, people to kill Jackie Chow for the last mission.
Just after the party accepts the job from Jackie

Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム 9

 and prepare to leave, an attack takes place right INTIMIDATION (DC 15).
there in the Gweilo. A thief is crawling around searching the
pockets of those that fall in this firefight. There
“The beer bottle in Jackie’s hand explodes, are always opportunists in places like this. This
sending shards of glass and beer everywhere. fool is in the party’s way! They make sure he
A split second of confusion follows before stays out of their way before he gets them all
a hail of gunfire tears into the bar from the killed!
street. A few of Jackie’s bodyguards go down
among exploding glass and synthwood!” NAVIGATION (DC 11).
There’s no better way to describe this situation
than a war zone. People are dropping dead all
This is the work of twelve wan chai street rats around. Blood soaks the floor, and loud
opening fire at once. gunfire erupts as bullets fly everywhere — to say
nothing of all the broken glass. Finding a clear
path through this chaos to the rear exit is not
“Jackie ducks behind an upturned table, bark- going to be easy.
ing orders at his men to escape out the back.”
PERCEPTION (DC 13).
To escape the bar assault, the cyberpunks must The cyberpunks spot a serving tray that would
leave out the back with Jackie and his men. This work as a makeshift shield to help protect them
type of challenge is known as a ‘SET PIECE’. and their allies from ricocheting bullets, synth-
wood shards, and pieces of broken glass.
To complete a set piece in Carbon 2185, the
party must collectively succeed in four skill STREETWISE (DC 15).
checks, as defined by the scenario. If they are No doubt this is the work of Wan Chai
unsuccessful on three checks before that, they hustlers. In attacks like this, those guys always
fail. shoot waist high or above to maximize their
chances of inflicting lethal injury. Time to stay
Failing a set piece has dire consequences as laid low.
out in the description for the specific set piece.
In this scenario, after three failures, the wan chai ESCAPED!
street rats have time to storm the bar, trapping
the cyberpunks under a focused attack. Now “You see an injured Jackie and his remaining
that would be bad. bodyguards escape out the back exit, where
you quickly follow. Jackie doubles down on his
After four successes, however, the party escapes commitment to get revenge on the Wan Chair
unharmed. Warriors, and he insists that you go after their
VR cafe right now!
SKILL CHECKS A moment later Jackie is in the backseat of a
car that disappears into the sky traffic.”
GAMBLING (DC 12). Years at the gambling
tables means the cyberpunks have seen it all, The cyberpunks have escaped, and so has Jackie,
including an attempted shooting at a poker but many other people did not. It’s probably in
table. Those tables, it turns out, are the best interest of the cyberpunks to put as
bulletproof, and large enough for them to use much distance between themselves and this
as cover! Luckily the Gweilo has it’s fair share of crime scene as possible.
illicit gambling.

10 Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム

STONE NULLAH ROAD VR LOOT.
CAFE The street thug has a portrait of a young woman
Despite the attack on the Gweilo, the in a locket around his neck. This is worth just 1₩.
atmosphere at the VR cafe is business as usual. Aside from this, he carries his weapon and 1d12
Just another day in San Francisco. 10mm bullets.
XP.
“Between the 24hr store with anime plush If the party successfully defeats or bypasses the
dolls in the window, and an outdated ATM, guard, divide 100xp evenly among the cyber-
stands perhaps the most popular VR Cafe in punks.
the district, an unnamed establishment on
Stone Nullah Road. Bright backlit signs with AREA 1. THE CAFE INTERIOR
bold Chinese text cover every surface at the There is no door at the bottom of the stairs;
entrance to this cafe. instead they lead directly into the 24 hour cafe.
The entrance itself is a single stairway head-
ing underground and into the cafe proper.
Standing at the entrance is a man covered in “Descending the stairs, you enter this smokey
lumiskin tattoos.” VR cafe.
To your left as you enter, a man sits lazily on a
chair reading a newspaper written in
The man is clearly of Chinese descent and Cantonese, a gun on his hip.
covered in intricate lumiskin tattoos that show A walkspace leads around the outside of this
Wan Chai Warriors gang markings. His job is to room. The center is occupied by 24 5ft by
guard this VR cafe. 10ft VR booths, all occupied.
At the back of the room, sitting behind a small
There are a few ways to get inside the cafe. desk, a wiry man smokes an electronic
cigarette.
Convincing the guard to allow the cyberpunks Behind him is a holographic display listing
access requires one of the following: a successful durations and prices for using the booths.
DC14 Persuasion check, a DC16 Intimidation Without glacing up at you he says “Sorry,
check, a bribe of at least 4 000₩, or a fight. we’re all booked up.”
A non-descript door leading further into the
The guard is a street thug. Killing him in the structure is barely visible through the
street will cause panic, and the locals will call law holographic display.”
enforcement. The SFPD is currently
distracted by the assault on the Gweilo so will
take 1d10+20 minutes to arrive on the scene. The 24 customers inside the cafe are civilians,
More than enough time to move through the and all are jacked into a variety of consoles.
cafe if the cyberpunks are efficient. The man by the door is a street thug, and the
man behind the desk is a wan chai street rat
If during negotiations any of the party ordered to run the cafe.
identifies themselves as working with the Behind him is a doorway that leads to the back
Washington Street Boys, the guard will of the facility. There is a singular doorway to a
immediately call for backup from the guard communal bathroom by the desk.
and man behind the counter in area 1. Convincing the wan chai street rat to allow
passage deeper into the facility requires one
DEVELOPMENTS. If the party convinces the of the following: a successful DC17 Deception
guard to allow them past, he remains outside, check to trick him into believing the cyberpunks
preventing others from entering. If a fight breaks are members or allies of the Wan Chai Warriors,
out inside area 1, he rushes in to break it up. a DC13 Intimidation check, or a bribe of at least
5 000₩.

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12 Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム
If the cyberpunks decide to attack him, the A DC13 Perception check alerts the cyberpunks
guard in this room and the one outside will join to voices chatting in Cantonese in the next
the fight. The civilians are deep in VR and will room.
not notice a firefight break out.
If anyone speaks Cantonese, they make out the
XP. following:
If the party successfully defeats or bypasses • One is talking about how in over their
the wan chai street rat and guard, divide 150xp heads they are. Yesterday stealing computer
evenly among the cyberpunks. terminals, today stealing synths.
• One is complaining about how they al-
AREA 2. BACKROOM ways get the dangerous jobs, and that VillR
will be coming after them.
“This backroom contains filing cabinets and • One is talking about the poor quality of
staff lockers, as well as an old battered fridge. the doctor that they called in.
A simple CCTV access panel is flush with the
wall. Against the eastern wall is another closed AREA 5. STAFF ROOM
door.” If the Wan Chai Warriors were not alerted by
now, read the following:
The CCTV access panel has a security rating of
1 (DC10 Hacking check). The terminal has the “This poorly lit room buzzes with the sound
following information: of cheap fluorescent lights. The tiled walls are
• Earlier today the Wan Chai Warriors covered with years of grime. Sitting at a table
came through this room with what appears to are a group of half a dozen men, playing some
be an unconscious and heavily injured synth. sort of card game.

AREA 3. STORE ROOM There are six gangsters in this room.

“Three cheap metal shelving units stacked with They are not expecting the cyberpunks, and if
boxes dominate this small room. There is a they are quiet the party gets a surprise round.
door on the southern wall.”
This room appears to be a dead end. Searching
Amongst a jumble of wires the crates contain the room, the cyberpunks are able to easily find
five VR headsets worth 10 000₩ each. a door hidden behind a bookcase to the north
that leads further into the complex.
AREA 4. REPAIR ROOM
LOOT.
“This room is clearly used to repair broken VR Between them, the gangsters have 2d4 x
gear and is stacked floor to ceiling in spare 1 000₩ on datachips. They also each carry 10
parts and wiring. The only light in here is the 9mm bullets.
dull green glow from a basic workstation ter-
minal, upon which sits a single broken VR XP.
headset.” For each gangster defeated in here, divide 50xp
evenly among the cyberpunks.
If the cyberpunks wish to repair the headset, AREA 6. MAIN HAUNT
they must spend 1d6 minutes working on it and Three street thugs are in this room and take
make a successful DC12 Mechanics check. cover as soon as they hear gunfire from area 5.
The headset is of a moderately popular, but As soon as anyone opens the secret door, the
relatively cheap design and worth 10 000₩. thugs shout at the cyberpunks to drop their

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 weapons, firing at anyone who walks through. XP.
If the three street thugs are defeated, divide
A successful DC18 Persuasion or Intimidation 150xp evenly among the cyberpunks.
check can calm the situation down. If successful
the thugs can be intimidated into opening the AREA 7. THE VAULT
vault door with an additional DC14 Intimidation
check. If not, they continue the attack. “The inside of this large vault is mostly empty.
A ventilation shaft exits to the street above,
“This large chamber contains a small number and in the middle of the room is an operating
of well-appointed furnishings. A large poker table upon which lies the form of a humanoid
table covered in cheap chips sits in the centre woman.
of this room. Tables around the edges of the
room are littered with obviously counterfeit A series of electronic devices connect to the
weapons, and very real documents. A marked body, and an elderly Englishman appears to be
door leading to a bathroom is in the north of conducting an autopsy.
the room, near a large metal vault door. The
door is closed and there is a security console Against the back wall are more crates, which
built into the wall next to it.” have been sealed shut.

A complex computer sits at the back of the

The cyberpunks may attempt to open the vault room, its screen flickering in and out of life.”
door with a succesful DC10 Hacking check.
If the check fails, the console goes into lockdown
for 1d4 hours and the check may be The man is a civilian doctor with proficiency in
re-attempted after it comes out of lockdown. the Medicine skill. The woman on the table has
several bullet wounds and is clearly dead.
The vault door has an Armor Class of 15 and 30
hit points, with a damage threshold of 15. The man panics upon seeing the cyberpunks. He
cowers and explains everything that the
A DC14 Perception check allows the cyberpunks ask of him. He knows that the
cyberpunks to hear the sound of someone woman was an unprogrammed synth, but that
working with tools and muttering to themselves she got hit by ricocheting bullets during the Wan
beyond the door. Chai Warriors heist. She bled out and died within
minutes of arriving in the cafe.
The documents detail a complex weapons
counterfeiting operation being ran by the Wan A successful DC12 Hacking check on the
Chai Warriors. This information may be valuable computers connected to the body reveals that
to Jackie. the woman was a synth taken from VillR.

After 2d20 minutes Wan Chai Warrior The crates in the corner of the room include the
reinforcements arrive. These reinforcements compounds to make Rapid-o. The materials are
consists of two more street thugs and 1d6 worth 30 000₩ but will take 10 minutes to
gangsters. gather.

LOOT. DEVELOPMENTS. The dead synth is

The three street thugs each have nanopacks, worthless to everyone. Simply providing Jackie
which they neglect to use during the firefight. with proof that you reached the Synth is enough
In addition to their weapons they each carry an to get paid, but where is Jackie anyway?
extra 10 10mm bullets.

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GONE TO GROUND

“As you leave the VR Cafe, your Neurolinks

alert you with notifications from Jackie telling
you to meet him discreetly at a safe house in
District 4. It appears that Jackie survived the
attack, and has gone to ground.”

Jackie Chow’s safehouse is an old warehouse in

District 4 and is unassuming from the outside,
but the most attentive cyberpunks can easily
spot high end surveillance equipment around the
perimeter. A singular guard awaits the cyber-
punks and lets them inside the warehouse.

Within, three shipping containers sit in the mid-

dle of the warehouse surrounded by concrete
fortifications and armed Washington Street
Boys.

Jackie is found within the shipping container

structure, undergoing emergency surgery for his
various wounds. Despite this, he is conscious and
delivers his payment to the cyberpunks person-
ally. He appreciates their help, but tells them he
cannot yet make them washington street boys
yet as he needs plausible deniability for what he
has planned for his old friend and current rival,
Donny Zhao.

He tells them he needs some rest, and he’ll be in

touch soon, before sending them on their way.

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 “Outside Jackie’s safehouse, a black town
car limousine, escorted by several gangsters
on motorbikes,
The pulls up
old man identifies to theascurb.
himself DavidThe rear
Wong,
streetside
the door opens,
dragon head and Triad
of the 16K an oldand
man within
confirms
asksJackie
that you tosurvived
get in.” the assassination attempt.

The old man identifies himself as David Wong,

the dragon head of the 16K Triad, and one of the
most powerful men in San Francisco.

He is furious that the Wan Chai Warriors have

broken the sacred rules of the 16k Triads and
tried to assassinate a Red Pole within their own
organization. Intergang rivalries are healthy to
encourage growth, but this crosses a line and
makes the 16K appear weak to their rivals.

David Wong has acquired the security footage

from around the VR Cafe, and has dealt with
the crime scene. He knows that the cyberpunks
were responsible, and requests that they put
an end to the conflict between the Washington
Street Boys and Wan Chai Warriors by assas-
sinating Donny Zhao, the Red Pole of the Wan
Chai Warriors.

This intent is to send a message to the other

gangs within the 16K:

Anyone who tries to harm a Red Pole will be

removed from the organization like the cancer
they are.

KILLING DONNY ZHAO

It’s not easy to assassinate a Red Pole.
It will take plenty of preparation and a lot of gear
to take on Donny Zhao. David Wong is
unwilling to help the cyberpunks as he does not
want a direct association with the assassination
attempt.

It is up to the cyberpunks to gather the

resources, allies, and skills needed to take on a
gang lieutenant and his bodyguards.

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 PART III
THE DEATH OF DONNY ZHAO
It is not necessary for the players to have played
Part 2 of Chow’s Request. If they have not, the a rivalry with the Washington Street Boys
motivations listed at the beginning of that and their Red Pole, Jackie Chow. Normally
mission can equally hold true for ‘The Death of I encourage competition, but both gangs are
Donny Zhao’. After all, few cyberpunks need under the aegis of the 16K Triads, and there
much of a reason to accept a high-paying job are rules they must follow. In attempting to
from David Wong, Dragon Head of the 16K kill Jackie Chow, Donny Zhao has violated
Triads. those rules. If such infractions were to go
unpunished, we would have anarchy within my
THE DEATH OF DONNY ZHAO organization. Therefore, I have decreed that
The Death of Donny Zhao is suitable for 3rd Donny Zhao must die.’
level characters This part begins with the
cyberpunks encountering the powerful and ‘I will not sully my hands with the blood of my
influential David Wong, who makes them an own so I must employ outsiders for this task.
offer they can’t refuse. Nor can I offer you any help from the 16K
Triads. My hand must be perceived as invisible
Read the following text to start this adventure. as well as inevitable. Aside from this, and the
fact that Zhao’s death must be confirmed, you
have free rein to execute this task as you see
“David Wong is a distinguished, humorless fit.’
gentleman in his sixties, wearing an
impeccable black suit and tie and sporting ‘The job pays 600 000₩. This payment
stylish and simple augmentations. He emerges comes with the promise of future employment
from a sleek black limousine flanked by a pair within the 16K Triad and my personal endorse-
of similarly besuited enforcers. A small fleet ment. These are boons that most in this city
of black-clad bikers come to a halt around the would kill for. I give you the opportunity to do
car, forming a well-armed cordon around their exactly that.’ ”
leader.

‘My name is David Wong, and I am honored to As well as the monetary rewards, each
serve as the Dragon Head of the 16K Triad. I cyberpunk involved in Zhao’s assassination gains
have a proposition for such uniquely talented 4 Street Influence.
individuals as yourselves. Please, step into my
vehicle. I think you will be most interested in The cyberpunks don’t have time to rest and must
what I have to say.’ act quickly to locate, then kill, Donny Zhao.
Wong will supply them each with a nanopack and
The interior of the limousine is as plush as a ten 10mm bullets, but nothing else.
high-end hotel suite, with a minibar and
several holo projectors, currently dark. There Wong, or any suitable contact, can inform them
is enough room for the whole crew, plus Wong that the Wan Chai run a go-go joint called the
and his two bodyguards. Muffin Top Club as a front. A cyberpunk with
connections to the triads will be aware of this
‘Donny Zhao serves as the Red Pole of the fact, too. This is the best place to start looking
Wan Chai Warriors. He has been engaged in for Zhao.

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 The cyberpunks may also engage in a set piece SKILL CHECKS
to find out information about Zhao and the Wan
Chai Warriors. INTIMIDATE (DC12). You shake down some
If the cyberpunks fail three checks to research likely characters in a couple of dive bars. You find
information, then they fail to uncover anything some street rats from gangs affiliated with the
they don’t already know. 16K Triads, who tell you what they know.

If they succeed four times, they learn the PERSUASION (DC14).

following information: You explain to the boss of a triad chop shop that
it would be better for everyone if the triad’s
The Wan Chai Warriors also run the Guang Du rules were maintained. She can give you a few
restaurant in District 3. The restaurant is a front tidbits about the word on the San Francisco
with an illicit casino on the lower floor. Donny streets.
Zhao has been known to hang out there.
HACKING (DC 14).
Beaneath Zhao in the Wan Chai Warriors are a You trawl some darknet forums for Wan Chai
pair of lieutenants who help him run the gang. Warriors activity. They’re not skilled at covering
Maggie Mah is the smarter of the two and over- their data tracks and you find a few undeleted
sees the gang’s finances. She was injured in a posts that have relevant information.
shootout with the SFPD a day or two ago and is
recuperating at the Muffin Top Club. STREETWISE (DC 12).
Woozy Fu, the second lieutenant is Zhao’s top You know the hangouts of the kind of people
enforcer and the muscle. Woozy is often refered who might know something useful. A couple of
to as Zhao’s guard dog. minor bribes later and you have a better idea of
the situation on the streets.
Zhao isn’t content with being a Red Pole. He has
been open with the members of the Wan Chai DECEPTION (DC 12).
Warriors about his intention to one day have a You talk your way through an SFPD switchboard
‘seat at the table’ with the triads’ leadership. and get through to an officer on the gang
intelligence unit. You get some useful
It is well known among members of the 16k that information on the Wan Chai Warriors before he
David Wong isn’t happy with Zhao’s conduct. realizes you’re not who you say you are.
Zhao is aware of this and has gone into hiding
hoping to outlast Wong’s wrath.

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THE MUFFIN TOP CLUB XP.
Once Leung and the Wan Chai Warriors in the
AREA 1. THE BAR club are dealt with, split 900xp between the
crew.
“The Muffin Top Club is an establishment in
District 4 with a neon sign depicting a top- AREA 2. DOWNSTAIRS
less dancing girl with two cupcakes over her
breasts. “Heading down the stairs behind the bar you
enter a basement room with a table covered in
Inside, the club is a dingy place with the gloom blood-spattered plastic sheeting.
broken by flickering pink neon. A stage runs
down the center of the room, ending in a A woman in her thirties wearing a bloodstained
steel pole. Opposite the stage is the bar, with business suit lies on the table hooked up to an
a cybered-up Chinese bartender carefully IV and medical monitor.”
watching the comings and goings. Four other
customers are lounging in the seats by the This woman is Maggie Ma, one of Zhao’s
stage, talking and joking. A doorway behind underlings. She was shot during an SFPD
the bar leads to a set of stairs leading to a shootout a day and a half ago.
basement level.
A backstreet doctor has performed a hack job
Bassy, throbbing music issues from speakers on her and though she is conscious, she is not
beside the stage. A slender young man with mobile and is incapable of defending herself. A
dyed silver hair emerges from between the DC10 Medicine check identifies a severe
curtains, wearing nothing but a white thong. penetrative abdominal gunshot wound. Making
The customers cheer as he begins to gyrate her well enough to move requires another DC16
around the pole.” Medicine check and proper medical equipment.

Maggie offers the cyberpunks whatever

The four customers are Wan Chai Warrior information they ask for if they agree not to
gangsters and the bartender is a gang lieutenant hurt her. She tries to bargain her way up to
named Leung. The dancer, named Henry Yung getting medical help. Maggie is aware that
(stage name is Chastity), runs as soon as a fight Donny Zhao hangs around the Guang Du
breaks out. restaurant, but that he is unlikely to be there
now since he knows David Wong wants him
The Wan Chai Warriors watching Chastity’s dead.
show are quick to notice the cyberpunks if they
approach the bar or the stage and recognise Zhao is trying to leave the city, though he has
them from the apartment block in Part I. not entrusted Ma with how he intends to achieve
this. Maggie does know that Zhao used to say if
“One of the customers notices you and the 16K ever turned on him he would go to his
childhood home where he has a stash of
proclaims ‘These are the pok gai that I saw emergency money and weapons. Ma doesn’t
head into the apartment the other day!’ while know where this is, although she’s sure it’s in the
scrambling drunkenly for his pistol.” city.

The Muffin Top has a staircase behind the bar

heading down into the basement which is used
for storage and as a dressing room for the
dancers.

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 THE MUFFIN TOP
CLUB MAP

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THE GUANG DU RESTAURANT Lam does not know that Zhao is on the run from
David Wong. He asks if the cyberpunks are
“An upmarket District 3 neighborhood is members, and if they can provide the name of
home to the Guang Du restaurant. someone who can vouch for them. Dropping
The building has a sign with a fearsome David Wong’s name will cause Maxie Lo to
red-painted mask with a black beard. welcome them to the casino and give them
The sound of plucked strings and flutes access to the private rooms if they wish.
emanates from the building. Inside, the plush
red and gold décor is lit by paper lanterns. Alternatively, the cyberpunks can talk their way
About a dozen diners are being served by the past Lo with a DC12 Deception or
attentive wait staff.” DC12 Persuasion check, or a bribe of at least
5 000₩. If the cyberpunks blow these checks
The Guang Du is a Wan Chai Warriors front, and and refuse to leave, or try to strong-arm Maxie,
has a casino downstairs, reached via a stairway in he takes out a gun and threatens them. If they
the kitchen. don’t run, he starts shooting while the other
The head waiter, Chow Lam, acts as gatekeeper gamblers flee.
to the casino floor. He is not high up enough in
the 16K to know that David Wong is after XP.
Donny Zhao. He is ever-smiling and polite and If the cyberpunks deal with Maxie Lo, either
will allow the cyberpunks into the casino floor through combat or cunning, split 450xp
if they come up with a convincing lie and pass a between the crew. Once this is done, they can
Deception check (DC14) or mention they are move freely around the casino.
there on behalf of David Wong.
If the cyberpunks try to force their way in, Lam The cyberpunks can buy chips and play the
flees downstairs and alerts the pit boss, Maxie tables if they wish. With a successful
Lo. Getting around the back of the restaurant DC16 Gambling check, they can double their
and in through the kitchen requires a Stealth number of chips. If they fail, they lose half the
check (DC14), with at least half the group chips they bought. They can do this more than
passing the test to access the casino covertly. once, but if they win three times, Maxie Lo
becomes suspicious and asks them to leave
under the pretense that there is a ‘technical
“Downstairs, the casino is a little less plush problem with their account’. Refusing to do so
than the restaurant but still upmarket in likely starts a fight.
appearance. It has a number of roulette and
card tables, and a barred window with a pretty There are three private areas leading off from
young woman in a red dress taking money the casino floor. The first is currently being used
and issuing chips. The most private of private by Takiyo Nikolaeva, a geisha in the employ of
rooms, presumably for gambling and triad the Aizutachi Yakuza.
business, lead off from the casino floor.
Takiyo is a beautiful, if severe-looking, woman
Half a dozen gamblers, all older Chinese men, in a fine silk kimono that conceals a gun and
are busy at the tables, watched over by a burly phase shift sword. If a fight has broken out, she is
triad gangster with tattooed hands in a black sheltering here, otherwise she is passing the time
suit. ” sipping sake and playing card games. She knows
that David Wong is after Zhao and was hoping to
The gangster is Maxie Lo, a Cantonese-Viet- run into him at the Guang Du so she could offer
namese member of the 16k, and a gang lieuten- him the protection of the yakuza in return for his
ant who serves as the casino’s pit boss. defection from the triads. Takiyo will let a
Maxie Lo is suspicious but polite, and like Chow, cyberpunk into her

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 GUANG DU
RESTAURANT
MAP

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confidence with a DC14 Persuasion check, and evil to acquire the funds for their altruism.
reveal that Zhao usually uses the ‘Plum Suite’
when at the Guang Du. They see David Wong as a solid but
unimaginative leader. They are dismissive of the
street gangs such as the Wan Chai Warriors, and
Takiyo Nikolaeva
medium human (regular joe)
know little of Donny Zhao, except his reputation
as a bullish young punk.

Armor Class. 14 (Concealable Vest) The third private room, the Plum Suite, has dark
Hit Points. 51 (6d10+18) purple and gold décor and is currently occupied
Speed. 30 ft. by four Wan Chai Warrior gangsters who are
unwelcoming to the cyberpunks and will attack
STR DEX CON INT TEC PEO them if given even the slightest reason to.
+1 +2 +3 +2 +0 +3
This room has a card table with three
Damage Resistances. DR/2 Ballistic comfortable chairs and a well stocked drinks
Skills. Persuasion +5, Performance +5 cabinet The cabinet contains various types of
Sense. Passive Perception 14 liquor and a lacquered black wooden box
Languages. Japanese, Russian, Korean, and containing three data chips. They are labelled
English. ‘Zhao Haven,’ ‘Beach,’ and ‘Forest’ in
Challenge. 3 (700 XP) Cantonese.

ACTIONS The chips contain VR programs. ‘Beach’ and

Multiattack. Takiyo makes two attacks with ‘Forest’ are unremarkable relaxation programs
her phase shift sword. putting the user in a quiet natural setting.
Phase Shift Sword. Melee Weapon Attack: ‘Zhao Haven’ is a custom recreation of Donny
+3 to hit, 5ft reach, one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+1) Zhao’s childhood home.
slashing damage.
Heavy Pistol. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to These chips can be used to access the programs
hit, range 50/150 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d6) in any VR café, or with the use of a personal VR
ballistic damage. set (which costs about 10 000₩).

The second private room has a pair of elderly

16K Triad veterans, Chiang and Ding, playing
cards, unless violence has caused them to flee.
They are both retired from triad activity and
have the scars, tattoos, and stories to show for it.

They welcome newcomers to their game and are

happy to chat about the 16K Triad, though they
will not betray any current operations or
incriminate themselves in specific crimes.

They consider the triad an organization that

supports the Chinese community in San
Francisco and uses illicit means as a necessary

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 ZHAO HAVEN If any of the cyberpunks can understand
Cantonese, then they can understand Zhao’s
“The VR program kicks in, and you find ramblings below:
yourself in the living room of a handsome
house. The furnishings and décor suggest a “ ‘We were rich, once. I was supposed to be
mixture of traditional Chinese and someone. Go to university and get a job with
ultramodern influences, with lacquered wood, Dad at Lithium Insurance, become some big
latticework and painted wall scrolls alongside corporate name. But then father lost his job
sleek electronics. The windows look out onto a and his money in the market crash of ‘67.
blank gray void, suggesting this VR simulation Jackie’s family took us in until Dad got enough
is an uncompleted custom job.” money for a studio apartment. Jackie’s Dad
was connected so when Mom got sick, the
16K gave my brother a job. They looked after
The simulation is a realistic rendering of the us when he got shot. When we didn’t have
two-story home, which has three spacious enough money to buy food, we’d find a couple
bedrooms, a reception room, a living room, a of credit chips in the letterbox.’
bathroom and a kitchen. It is clearly the home of
a moderately wealthy family; evidently a couple ‘Mother used to say how grateful we should
with two children. The simulation only contains be. But I knew the truth. They were only
the house, and it is not possible to exit through giving us what we needed to survive, nothing
the doors or windows. more. That way, they knew we’d always owe
them. They were training us.’
With a Hacking check (DC10), a cyberpunk can
access the simulation’s architecture. They can ‘The 16K think I am a dog conditioned to be
learn the functions of the simulation and see the loyal. A little Red Pole who knows his place.
“About” file. The functions include the But once I’ve taken over two or three gangs,
television in the living room, a ‘memory echo’ Wong will have no choice but to give me a
function that recreates surface memories seat at the table, or he’ll have a war within his
scanned from the user, several music, lightning, own organization. If he wanted a loyal dog, he
and other atmospheric settings, and the shouldn’t have taught me to bite.’ ”
location of the safe in the bedroom (but not
the combination – that requires a separate
Hacking check). The About file reads ‘Custom The kitchen is fully appointed but
recreation of 1091 Hampshire Street, San non-functional, as is the bathroom. The
Francisco. VR architecture by SlikkFingaz.’ reception room has a bookcase with a number of
books that, when interacted with, open text files.
Searching the living room with a successful The books are texts on corporate and
Perception check (DC 12) reveals the television megacorporate culture, economics, and finance,
is a working function of the simulation. The and there are more than a hundred of them.
television plays video logs recorded by Donny
Zhao while in the simulation. While most of the The master bedroom contains a ‘memory echo’
logs have been deleted, but one remains. The of Zhao’s mother. She appears as a stuttering,
video file is of the man talking in Cantonese to a grainy image of an attractive middle-aged
virtual camera. Chinese woman with her hair bound up,
wearing a silk dressing gown. She stands
He is animated and self-absorbed as he pensively by the bedroom window, and says the
rambles. The impression is of a man trying to get following in Cantonese on repeat:
his thoughts straight by recording them.

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 In another, the older son, Reginald, is posing in a
“ ‘I’m sorry, Donald, darling, but there’s baseball uniform with a bat.
nothing we can do. Father’s company isn’t “Reggie 10, Mommy’s little striker, ‘65 ”
doing too well. Your friend Jackie’s family has In the third, the younger child Donald, is posing
said we can stay with them for a while. You like proudly hand in hand with a young girl.
her, it’ll be like a sleepover. “Donny 8, his sweetheart from the neighbour-
We won’t be able to live like we have been. We hood Jackie Chow 9. September ‘66 ”
will all have to make sacrifices. But it will all be
all right. You believe your mother, don’t you?’” The real address of Zhao’s childhood
home – 1091 Hampshire Street – is essential to
An Insight check (DC 10) suggests that the finding Donny Zhao.
woman is sugar-coating the situation for the
benefit of her child. The image stutters, resets, If the cyberpunks fail to find this information,
and repeats the statement over and over again. the GM can have the cyberpunks find it
automatically, or can have a glitch appear in the
One of the single bedrooms has posters of simulation in the form of a flickering black tear
motorcycles, cars, and fighter planes on the in virtual reality. Inside this glitch are lines of
walls. On the window sill is a trophy in the shape metadata that include the About file with the
of a baseball player, with the inscription house’s real address, which the cyberpunks can
‘Lithium Insurance Family League Young Player read without a test.
of The Year: Reginald Zhao.’ 1091 HAMPSHIRE STREET
The second single bedroom has less to suggest “An overpass has turned this neighborhood
the character of the occupant. It has a poster of into a pit of shadow. Hollow, looted shells of
a smiling corporate type. The poster is signed ‘To houses line what was once an affluent street.
Donny, Become The Dragon! Chow Xiang Lu.’ Now they are all squats for dropouts, wesleys,
A History (DC 20) check lets a cyberpunk re- and crazies. 1091 hampshire street doesn’t
call that Lu was the CEO of Lithium Insurance. stand out from the rest. If you didn’t have the
address, it would be just another ruin.
Searching this bedroom reveals, with a
successful Perception check (DC 10), a safe Inside, the house has the same layout as the
hidden in the floor under the carpet beneath the VR simulation, though anything of value has
bed. This safe is a digital function of the long since been looted and the décor is hidden
simulation and requires an input password to in a layer of grime and graffiti. The smell of
open. The password is ‘Dragon’. After three stale urine and unwashed bodies hits you.
incorrect inputs, the locking program deletes
and the safe can only be opened with a Hacking ‘You ain’t getting my stuff!’ yells a shrill voice
check (DC 12). Inside is a folder of three image from the gloom. You see a filthy, haggard man
files showing a Cantonese-American family of a in rags staring at you through unkempt hair.
man, woman, and two sons, evidently Other human shapes detach from the heaps
moderately wealthy and with a corporate air. of trash in the house. ‘They want the stash!
You ain’t getting it! It’s ours! Ours!’
In one of the photographs, posed outside the
house, a street sign indicates that the house is The squatters charge at you. One of them is
on Hampshire Street, and the house number is feral, loping on all fours, half-naked body
1091. distorted by stimulant and steroid abuse.”
“The Zhao Family’s new home, Christmas ‘64 ”

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 1091 HAMPSHIRE
STREET MAP

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Four wesleys and one steroid-engorged madman
(using the gouger statblock) inhabit the house. If An electronic beeping causes the man to
the steroid beast is killed, the wesleys run shriek- scrabble in his pockets for a comms device. He
ing in fear. Otherwise they are too obsessed with hisses into it, in a whisper just picked up by the
protecting their stash to do anything but fight. camera’s mic. He speaks in English.

XP. ‘Can’t talk. I just... yes, fine. Top of Fortune

After the squatters are defeated split 750xp Heights, the helipad. I got the cash, just bring
between the crew. the bird. Gotta go. Be there.’ ”

The lower floor is a filthy wreck choked with This piece of footage is just under two hours old.
trash. A Perception check (DC 12) turns up a A quick search of city information shows that
stash of six Crush doses and a half-bottle of Jim Fortune Heights is an apartment block in
Diamond in a burned-out oven. A success also District 4.
allows a character to notice the glint of a tiny
camera lens in the corner of the living room. FORTUNE HEIGHTS
Upstairs is the domain of a conspiracy theorist,
Haywire Jane. This scruffy, wild-eyed woman, “This apartment block is identical to the
with a shock of straw-like blonde hair and thick hundreds of others in the 4 – a concrete stack
glasses, spends her life bending over a laptop of cramped apartments reaching up towards
in the master bedroom. She doesn’t care much the grimy sky. It is twenty stories high with
about the wesleys downstairs and takes every four apartments per floor.
opportunity to expound on her theories about The thumping of engines cuts through the
the secret powers running the world. air from above. A twin-rotor aircraft in black
She believes that alien reptiles, descendants of and yellow livery slews around above Fortune
the Knights Templar, undead Atlantean Height, and makes a landing approach.”
sorcerers, and omniscient AIs all secretly
control the megacorps. Fortune heights is 40 stories high. The locks on
the front door are broken and it has a working
Jane has no intention of fighting and flees at the elevator that can get the cyberpunks to the roof
first sign of violence, leaving her laptop. She can in a couple of minutes.
be convinced to give a cyberpunk access to the
laptop if they show any interest in hearing about
her theories. “You recognize Donny Zhao, clutching a
On the laptop, along with thousands of text and briefcase to his chest with one hand while
audio files explaining Jane’s theories, are the toting a gun with the other.
recordings from the video camera downstairs.
The recordings are all of the wesleys entering, A second triad gangster, this one with shaven
leaving, and sleeping, but one shows someone scalp and clothes of ripped leather covered in
else entering the house. chains, has a submachine gun in his hands and
a blade in a scabbard slung over his back. His
mouth is flecked with foam and his eyes are
“A man in a shiny white tracksuit with blue bloodshot.
stripes picks his way carefully past the sleeping
wesleys. He looks nervously around, revealing ‘Woozy! Kill these idiots!’ yells Zhao. Woozy
the face of a Chinese man with a scarred lip Fu yells an incomprehensible war cry and
and scalp. He pries a panel away from the wall sprays bullets as Zhao runs for cover.”
and removes a suitcase.

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 Zhao, a gang lieutenant, is concerned with LOOT.
getting to the aircraft and escaping. He takes Zhao’s briefcase contains a 50 000₩ credit
cover behind an air conditioning unit, which chip, a false passport with a fake name and
gives him three-quarters cover. Two rounds into Zhao’s picture, a one way ticket off world sched-
the combat, the aircraft touches down and Zhao uled to leave one hour from now in the name on
uses his whole turn to sprint for the vehicle, the passport, a change of clothes, and a pair of
getting on board next turn. He doesn’t wait for heavy pistols.
Woozy Fu, whom he considers expendable. Zhao
shoots at the cyberpunks from the aircraft for XP.
the two turns it takes to fly away, but his attacks If Zhao and Woozy Fu are defeated, split
from the aircraft have disadvantage. He has half 1000xp between the crew.
cover while inside the aircraft.
AFTERMATH
Woozy Fu, a veteran triad member with the stats
of a surviving cyberpunk, is high on various IF DONNY ZHAO IS KILLED
combat drugs and fights to the death If Donny Zhao is killed, either in a hail of gunfire
or until Zhao is killed, at which point he collapses or in the aircraft crash, his body can be
into a semi-conscious heap. He prefers to fight recovered by the 16K Triads and David Wong is
up close, eschewing cover for hand-to-hand satisfied that the cyberpunks have performed
violence. their task. He has one of his underlings deliver
a credit chip with the promised 600 000₩,
There is plenty of cover among the air condition and keeps them in mind for further work of this
units and antennae on the roof, and the nature.
cyberpunks can easily get half cover.
The concrete circle of the helipad, however, is IF DONNY ZHAO ESCAPES
exposed. If a character falls over the edge, they If Zhao escapes, not only have the cyberpunks
can grab on with an Acrobatics or Athletics not fulfilled the job they were hired for, but Zhao
check (DC 12). Otherwise, they plummet 40 has successfully flouted 16K Triad rules and lived.
stories to their inevitably messy demise. David Wong can only save his reputation in the
face of such a disaster by eliminating the
The pilot of the aircraft, a street racer named offending failures.
Voss, has half cover in his cockpit. If he can take
off with Zhao on board, he gets out of gunshot The 16K take out a contract on the cyberpunks
range in two rounds of flying. If he hits 0 hit to ensure they have failed the Dragon Head for
points, he loses control of the helicopter. the last time.
It crashes into the side of Fortune Heights Tower
and sends shards of engine fan spinning every-
where. It impacts the street below with a roar of
tearing metal followed by a blossom of flame as
the fuel cells explode. If Zhao is on board, he is
killed in the crash. Otherwise, if Zhao loses his
ride, he tries to flee past the cyberpunks and
into the elevator.

The helicopter itself has an Armor Class of 15,

100 Hit Points and a Damage Threshold of 5.

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 FORTUNE HEIGHTS MAP

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 PART IV

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

Part IV is suitable for a crew of 4th-level Depending on their conduct previously, Chow is
cyberpunks. With minimal modification it can be offering the cyberpunks the job because of their
run as a one-off scenario for players who have sterling performance on behalf of the 16K Triad,
not already played Parts I-III, or as the beginning or as a chance to redeem themselves for their
of a shorter campaign consisting of parts IV-VI. past failures. If he has not employed the
cyberpunks before, he has sought them out
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA because of their reputation and skills. Chow
This mission’s objective is a piece of information: can briefly outline the nature of the 16K Triad,
the identity of an informer in the 16K Triad. This representing it as a collection of legitimate
information can be acquired through businesses and community projects that must
speaking with the various attendees at a social sometimes skirt the edge of legality to perform
event held by David Wong, to celebrate his its necessary functions.
purchase of a stake in Excelsior BioMed. There is
no single source of the rat’s identity, and instead “Jackie sits in his neat suit, sporting a
the cyberpunks must piece together several well-tended pompadour and designer shades,
clues to deduce the culprit. Along the line there he looks very much at home. He sips an
are opportunities for intrigue, interaction, espresso and doesn’t offer to buy one for the
bloodshed, and a deeper insight into the nature cyberpunks.
of the 16K Triad. ‘We have an informer in the 16K. Our rivals
have possessed information on our activities
Unknown to the cyberpunks, the informer they that could only come from one of the senior
are after is Water Cheung, a handmaiden of members.
Triad lieutenant Xiulan Zhuang. Cheung found David Wong is brokering a significant expan-
evidence of a particularly unpleasant plan by sion of our commercial interests, which must
David Wong, and is bargaining with rival San not be jeopardized by a rat among our number.
Francisco gangs for her information on 16K Triad Mr Wong has organized a social event to
activities in the hope the triad will be celebrate the signing of this latest deal. This
eliminated before Wong’s plan can come to gives us the opportunity to flush out the
fruition. Cheung is willing to set others on the informer. I am certain they will be there to
cyberpunks, and defend herself if needs be, find out more about Mr Wong’s project. You
when she senses the cyberpunks closing in on will attend as my guests. I will claim you are
her. independent contractors working on a project
of my own. I expect you to behave in a manner
JACKIE AGAIN that grants me face. The job pays 300 000₩
Jackie Chow sends a simple message to the with another 300 000₩ if the informer is
cyberpunks: “Laszlo’s, D3, lunchtime. Got found. Attend the Golden Kunqu Hall at eight
work.” PM tomorrow evening. Make sure you clean
yourselves up first.’ ”
Laszlo’s is a chic café in District 3, the haunt of
fashionable lower-ranked corporates and corp
wannabees. It serves overprices coffee and
disapproving looks from its baristas. Chow is
there each lunchtime, fielding calls and
meeting associates on Triad business.

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THE GOLDEN KUNQU HALL The Red Room is where the younger Triad
Located in District 2, the Golden Kunqu Hall is toughs are drinking and swapping boasts about
an opera house patronized by San Francisco’s their exploits. Expect there to be some
wealthy elite. Its ornate, gold-fronted façade, fisticuffs before the end of the night.
with deep reds and greens picking out the shapes
of writhing dragons over the front entrance, The staff are prepared to clean up the blood,
occupies a place in one of District 2’s cultural puke and spilled drinks tomorrow morning.
districts among museums, theatres and galleries.
Passage through District 2’s various checkpoints Xiulan Zhuang, one of the Triad’s few senior
can be arranged by Jackie Chow. female members, is receiving guests in the
Yellow Gallery. She has long been an associate
Inside, the hall is a place of excessive of David Wong’s and has a reputation for
ornamentation. Black-suited Triad enforcers specializing in white-collar crime.
man the main doors and are scattered
throughout the building, though they have David Wong is in the Lotus Rooms, meeting
orders not to interfere in anything unless harm with executives from Excelsior BioMed. The 16K
is about to happen to a senior Triad. The people Triad’s major commercial undertaking concerns
invited to the event are for the most part Wong purchasing a stake in the biomedical corp.
elegantly dressed.
The Purple Orchid Suite is being used to play
The hall is showing a program of songs from the several games of mah jong, the preferred
Chinese opera, The Peach Blossom Fan, activity of senior 16K enforcer Chandler Chan.
interspersed with more modern works, all Chan is a veteran of triad business and Chow
performed by the hall’s resident opera troupe. advises getting into the old man’s good graces.
The attendees are uninterested in the show,
more focused on networking and discussing The cyberpunks may scope out the opera house
business. The regular auditorium seating has for other locations. If they do, they note a
been removed and replaced with several tables discreet doorway with ‘Staff Only’ written in
so the guests are better able to converse and English and Cantonese. This leads to the
drink, and the many back rooms and galleries building’s office.
of the Golden Kunqu Hall are host to smaller
groups. A cyberpunk who wishes to check the opera
house’s electronic security may make a
Areas of the hall include the auditorium and DC12 Hacking check. A success reveals
stage, the male and female dressing rooms, the several encrypted communications streams
Red Room, the Yellow Gallery, the Lotus Rooms, being broadcast from the opera house, though
the opera house’s office, and the Purple Orchid the exact origin of these cannot be pinpointed.
Suite. A success also turns up a security camera
recording automatically stored by the security
Asking the staff or Triad members (including software – see ‘The Office’ below for details.
Jackie Chow) about what is happening at the
Golden Kunqu Hall can elicit the following facts,
parceled out as the GM sees fit:

Some visiting Bratva gangsters are in the

auditorium sampling 16K hospitality while
waiting for the Triads to start talking business.
Jackie Chow intends to spend the evening
negotiating with the Bratva.

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 AREA 1: THE AUDITORIUM AREA 2. THE RED ROOM
On the stage, in front of painted scenery flats
depicting a castle nestling in beautiful “A dozen young triads in cheap suits are
countryside, an opera singer with a painted face drinking in this red-upholstered room. Some
and elaborate silk costume sings an aria. Ignoring of them are cheering on another as he downs
the performance is a group of burly Caucasian shot after shot of liquor. Two others are
men at a table. They have already made their squaring up at the side of the room as if about
way through most of a bottle of vodka and a to fight, though there is more posturing than
waiter brings another to their table. actual aggression.”

The men at the table are a delegation from the At the appearance of the cyberpunks, a gang
Bratva, a particularly powerful Russian gang. footsoldier named Hazy Leung picks a fight with
Their leader, gang captain Ilya Medvdev, is a one of them. The rules are bare fists only, no
shaven-headed bull of a man squeezed for the guns or knives. If the cyberpunk accepts, the
occasion into a designer suit. He is attended by triads surround the two brawlers cheering them
three gang footsoldiers named Yevgeni, Semion on. If they refuse, or if they pull a weapon during
and Khasan. Medvedev is a garrulous and the fight, Leung spits at their feet and the young
friendly man capable of switching to bloody triads scorn them as cowards. The brawl can be
violence with extreme suddenness. If he feels run as a simple combat with unarmed attacks
slighted or insulted he demands to settle matters only. If other cyberpunks try to interfere,
with a fight. His underlings try to hold him back another gang footsoldier steps forward to
but a cyberpunk who does not apologize challenge each one and the brawl expands.
immediately finds themselves in a brawl with
Medvedev, who is not above drawing a knife or a Working the room for information requires
gun to win a fistfight. a DC14 Persuasion check, with advantage if
a cyberpunk won their brawl with Hazy. The
If the cyberpunks interact with the Bratva young triads are not particularly reliable sources,
delegation, they may make a DC12 Perception however. A successful test gleans the following
check. If they pass, they notice that one of the information:
Bratva, Khasan, occasionally looks around the
room, focuses on a point and blinks. This, along David Wong is on to something big. He’s buying
with some subtle cybernetic scars around one a stake in some up and coming medical corp. It’s
temple, suggests he is collecting pictures and the first stage in the 16K going straight and the
film with an internal recording device activated lot of them becoming rich corporate parasites.
by blinking.
Xiulan is a nasty old spider who has her claws
If the cyberpunks are respectful, Medvedev into David Wong. She runs her own side rackets
shares what he knows about the 16K Triad and and won’t give work to any of the new boys. If
their situation. The Bratva are hoping to join there’s a rat, it’s probably her, running an angle.
forces with the triads in taking over a series of
District 2 and 3 nightclubs to use as the basis for
drug dealing and prostitution. Medvedev also has
some information about the informer. He was
contacted a week or so ago by someone
offering to sell the 16K Triad’s secrets. Medvedev
declined, but remarks how surprised he was that
the triad informer spoke to him in fluent
Russian

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AREA 3. THE YELLOW GALLERY amusing to her. Xiulan has little patience for
chit-chat and tries to move the conversation on
“In the middle of this yellow-upholstered to business matters. If it becomes apparent the
room is a small indoor garden and an elegant cyberpunks have no triad business to discuss, she
artificial tree with its branches full of white asks Cheung to lead them away.
blossoms. A female musician is playing a
guzheng, a large traditional Chinese stringed AREA 4. THE PURPLE ORCHID SUITE
instrument, and its delicate notes create a
sense of calm and classiness. This room has plum-colored décor trimmed
with gold. Older triad members are here
An elderly Chinese woman in a red silk playing mahjong. The most grizzled of them
cheongsam sits at a table drinking tea. A has a missing eye, ostentatiously not replaced
number of younger women attend upon her, with a cybernetic and instead left with an
and she is in conversation with a Hispanic empty socket. He wears a simple black suit
woman.” with a black polo neck shirt.

The elderly woman is Xiulan Zhuang, a senior This is Chandler Chan, an old-school enforcer
figure in the 16K Triad. The woman for the 16K Triad with the stats of a roboronin.
opposite her is Selena Flores of the Diablos With a DC12 Streetwise check a cyberpunk can
Eléctrico, who hopes to join with the 16K in recall Chan’s reputation as a leg-breaker and
running prostitutes in Districts 4 and 5. alleged hitman for the 16K.

The younger Chinese women are handmaidens Another player is an elegant Asian woman in a
to Xiulan. Senior among them is Water Cheung. pink silk kimono. Her face is made up in white
Cheung receives guests on Zhaung’s behalf. with bright red lip color. This is Takiyo Nikolaeva,
If the cyberpunks approach, Cheung welcomes a geisha in the employ of the Auzutachi Yakuza.
them, introduces herself, and asks if they have If the cyberpunks have already completed
business with ‘Lady Zhuang’. Cheung will grant Chow’s Request Part III: The Death Of Donny
them an audience with Xiulan if the cyberpunks Zhao, they may have encountered Takiyo
can pass a DC14 Persuasion check, in which already. Takiyo claims she is not on Yakuza
case they must wait for about ten minutes while business, and is instead a personal guest of
Xiulan and Flores finish their negotiation (which Chandler Chan.
ends in no agreement having been reached,
leaving Flores visibly annoyed). Chan prefers to play mahjong while conversing.
A cyberpunk can recall the rules to this
Cyberpunks who observe Xiulan and her traditional Chinese tile game with a
retinue make a DC12 Perception check. On DC14 Gambling check. Chan plays the Sea Rise
a pass, they notice that Water Cheung has a variant of the game, a modern version
camera concealed in her small purse, which she popular here on the West Coast. A cyberpunk
occasionally sweeps around the room to take in who can play mahjong gains advantage on checks
everyone who comes and goes. In addition, if to interact with Chan.
Cheung is addressed in Russian, she replies
fluently in kind. Chan will discuss his suspicions about an
informer with a cyberpunk who passes a DC14
Xiulan does not know anything about the Persuasion check. He believes the informer is
informant, and wonders if the leaks of Xiulan. He came to this conclusion after the
information are due to loose-lipped young triads Sons of Chaos ambushed a shipment of
and their incessant boasting rather than a rat. narcotics being transferred across the city. The
The idea that she might be the informant is shipment was being handled by Xiulan, and only
she knew the exact time and place where the
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 GOLDEN KUNQU HALL MAP

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courier would be vulnerable. He has yet to act The stranger in the leather jacket is Sagittarius, a
on this information since Xiulan is so favored by member of the Army for Workers’
David Wong, but is fine setting the cyberpunks Emancipation and Self-Governance (AWES).
on her trail. He claims to be a guest of David Chow who is
A cyberpunk speaking with Chandler Chan may seeking new allies for the 16K.
make a DC12 Perception check to note that he
has a small electronic device implanted under A DC14 Streetwise check lets a cyberpunk
the skin just beneath his right ear, a tell-tale sign recall that AWES was once an underground
of a hastily devised covert transmitter. political group, but has devolved into violent
gang who will do anything for money.
Takiyo claims to know nothing about any
informer in the 16K. She is curious about the AREA 6. THE OFFICES
cyberpunks and their business with the 16K, as
she is looking for new clients in her role as a “A single staff member is sitting in the
geisha. Takiyo speaks fluent Russian, as her office, which has a couple of desks and a set
father was of Russian origin. of screens showing the feeds from cameras
throughout the building. The staff member,
AREA 5. THE LOTUS ROOMS Fat Yang, is a slender man in his early twenties
and is unwilling to resist intruders.”
“This set of rooms is more sober than the rest
of the Golden Kunqu Hall. Its walls are grey
and the lights are low. Here David Wong sits A search of the camera data for suspicious
at a hardwood table discussing business with a activity turns up a clip from just before the event
began, automatically stored by the camera’s
group of non-triad executives who look a little smart software. The recording is from a camera
uncomfortable in these unfamiliar in the alleyway behind the Golden Kunqu hall.
surroundings. Wong is accompanied by his It shows a shadowy figure, always turned away
right-hand man, a small middle-aged Chinese from the camera, checking the fire exit from the
man who stands obediently behind him. dressing rooms at the back of the building, as if
A definitely non-corporate man waits in the scoping out an escape route. Though the figure
corner, drinking fine cognac from a bottle. cannot be identified, from the body shape and
This figure wears a battered leather jacket gait it appears to be a woman.
and jeans, and has a pair of cybernetic lenses
over his eyes set into his pale skin. His face is CHEUNG PANICS
crisscrossed with hexagonal patterns of inlaid When the cyberpunks seem to be getting close
circuitry.” to her, Water Cheung tells Chandler Chan the
cyberpunks are there to spy on David Wong
and steal documentation about the Excelsior
The executives are led by Logan Jablonsky, who BioMed deal. Chan immediately rounds up four
is finalizing Wong’s purchase of a significant gang footsoldiers and challenges the cyberpunks
stake in his corporation, Excelsior BioMed. with the accusation. A DC16 Persuasion check
Observing proceedings for a short while calms down an angry Chan long enough for a
furnishes the general details of Wong’s deal with chance to talk him down. If informed the
Excelsior BioMed, which will give him 40% of cyberpunks suspect Water Cheung of
the corp’s votes on the board and make him being the informant, Chan stands down and
a major shareholder. Wong occasionally asks helps them find her. Otherwise Chan tries to
his right-hand man for water or a pen to sign subdue the cyberpunks to be dragged before
documents Jablonsky hands him. With a DC12 David Wong.
Perception check, a cyberpunk can notice that Cheung tries to escape the building by running
the right-hand man is discretely recording the across the stage and out through the
meeting with a handheld computer in his pocket. emergency exit leading from the dressing rooms.
The right-hand man is named Andrew Chin, and
has served David Wong his entire working life.
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 She has the stats of a retirement officer and
has no qualms catching innocents, such as the
opera house’s performers, in the crossfire of her
escape. She aims to fend off attackers and then
flee through the alleyway into the streets of San
Francisco.

MOVING ON
In case the cyberpunks are not making any
headway in their investigation, the GM can
move things on having events occurring around
the cyberpunks. For instance, if they have
learned the informer speaks Russian, they can
hear one of the Russian-speaking triad
associates (Cheung or Takiyo) in conversation
with one of the Bratva. If the cyberpunks are on
good terms with Takiyo, she can share with them
a clue about the informer that she has found
while sizing up the 16K Triad as potential
employers, or Jackie Chow can suggest a place
for the cyberpunks to look such as the office or
the building’s electronic security. The key clues
are the informer being a woman, speaking
Russian, and secretly recording the event, and
any one of these can be revealed if the
cyberpunks need a prod.

AFTERMATH
Whether Cheung escapes, is killed, or is
apprehended, revealing her as the informant
satisfies Jackie Chow’s request and he pays the
promised reward. In addition he is concerned
about why Cheung, a loyal and longtime servant
of the 16K Triad, should turn on the organization.
The truth is on a thumb drive Cheung had on
her, either recovered by from her by Chow after
her death or capture, or left behind in her haste
to flee. The content of the drive is troubling
indeed, and precipitates the next scenario,
Chow’s Request Part V: Chow’s Resolve.
For successfully completing this task the
cyberpunks are also immediately leveled up to
Level 5, this can be done at the end of this
adventure or at the beginning of ‘Chow’s Re-
solve’ otherwise your party may struggle in
their next adventure with Jackie.

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 PART V

CHOW’S RESOLVE
This mission, for 5th-level characters, follows on
from A Night At The Opera. the informer. The holographic image looks
It sees the cyberpunks following a series like a fragment of a longer recording, and is
of clues on the streets of San Francisco to the streaked with interference.
lair of a band of vicious organ harvesters.
“It’s worse than I thought. I thought it could
JACKIE CHOW ONCE MORE just bring down the Triad if word got out, but
The cyberpunks are contacted by Jackie Chow it’s not just that. This... this is wrong. Even for
soon after they have helped root out an criminals like us. I’m trying to find proof but it
informant in the 16K Triad. This time he sends a will be well hidden and I think the rest of the
message reading: 16K are on to me. The only thing I know for
sure is that a crew is involved called the Army
for Workers’ Emancipation and
“2PM, Bester & Zelazny. Be ready to work.” Self-Governance, of all things. They used to
be some political group but they turned full
criminal. I’m trying to get a lead on what they
Chow is waiting for the cyberpunks at the corner are doing. If I am exposed they will kill me.
of Bester Avenue and Zelazny Street, District 4, Someone has to finish the job...”
at the appointed time in a town car. He has been
moving from one appointment to another all day The image sputters out into static and goes
and can barely fit this meeting into his schedule. blank.
His driver, a trusted low-level triad named Eddie
Shu, activates a soundproof barrier between him ‘We don’t know who she intended to send this
and the passengers before the car drives off and to,’ continues Chow, ‘but it is our hope she
Chow can discuss business with the cyberpunks. never did. If Cheung was investigating
something that could endanger the 16K Triad,
“ ‘The matter of the informant has created we must know of it. I need you to follow her
fallout in the 16K. Things are in flux. David lead. Find out what you can about this street
Wong is particularly irate that a rat was gang, track them down and find out what they
permitted to function within our ranks. We’re are doing that was worth betraying the triad to
all keeping a low profile. That is why I choose uncover. I can pay 200 000₩ each now with
to employ you for this piece of business. 300 000₩ for evidence of a credible threat
the triad can act on. In the current situation
‘The informer Water Cheung had an my attention must be elsewhere so I cannot
encrypted data drive on her person. I was able support you directly. I have faith in you,
to access it. Most of the data was corrupted, however. This is your stop.”
but this remained.’
The town car pulls up and the doors open. Chow
Chow activates a holo unit in his armrest and a hands the cyberpunks a cred stick with the initial
grainy, blue-tinted image appears in the payment, and the encrypted drive taken from
middle of the passenger compartment. It Cheung. The limo then drives off leaving the
shows the head and shoulders of a cyberpunks on a District 4 avenue of
frightened-looking woman: Water Cheung, pawnshops, dive bars and semi-legal businesses.
From now on they are on their own.

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 WORD ON THE STREET
With a DC12 Streetwise check, cyberpunks can
recall basic information on AWES.

AWES was originally a political pressure group

opposing the oppressive employment
practices of the megacorps. It used theft and
fraud to fund its activities. AWES vanished off
the scene as a political entity a few years ago,
maybe because the megacorps found a way to
crush it. Now it turns up from time to time as
a purely criminal gang. They have a reputation
for doing absolutely anything for money. Word
is they name themselves in honor of the Zodiac,
a legend of the San Francisco streets. A group
claiming to be AWES is currently acting as
Reapers: criminals who kidnap people and
remove their organs for illegal sale.

THE ZODIAC
Legend has it that an avenging killer once
roamed San Francisco. To some he is a
righteous angel of justice, bringing swift death
to the wicked. To others he takes lives to
appease some dark power.

The only certainty is that he was a killer. The

Zodiac, and his symbol of a crossed circle,
is invoked by San Francisco’s downtrodden
and criminals to symbolize revenge and swift
death. Plenty of ambitious thugs have named
themselves ‘Zodiac’, only to find the name
brings unwelcome attention from rivals who
wish to test it. Religious folks in the lower
districts pray the Zodiac will return to begin
his killing spree again, and cleanse the streets
of their filth.

If the cyberpunks ask around about AWES, news

of their search reaches a lowlife named Bones
Kozlowski. He contacts the cyberpunks either
with a short text message to their neurolinks or
portable computers, or by leaving a message at
somewhere the cyberpunks are known to hang
out.

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 A grainy surveillance image of a Caucasian man
“Word around the campfire is, you’re asking with cropped black hair, a leather jacket and
about AWES. I can arrange a meeting for a cybernetic lenses over both eyes. Cyberpunks
fee – if you got the scratch, I got the match. who encountered Sagittarius in the previous sce-
Meet me in my office, Slit Throat on nario will recognize him as the man in the image.
17-Omega. Bones.”
THE SLIT THROAT
THE DRIVE The ‘office’ mentioned by Bones in his message
The cyberpunks can examine the encrypted is the Slit Throat, a dive bar on 17-Omega Street
drive taken from Water Cheung with a in District 5.
DC16 Hacking check. A success breaks through
the high-end encryption to reveal that while “The establishment is advertised by a bright
most of the data is corrupted, three more red neon sign depicting a smiling face,
fragments have survived along with the nestled among crumbling tenement blocks
incomplete holo-recording. and abandoned industrial units. Outside
are parked three motorcycles and inside, the
A piece of data from a map search remains, single large room has a bar, a few splintery ta-
indicating that Cheung looked up the location of bles and chairs, a pool table and three antique
a storage business named Safe-T-1st in District pinball machines.
5. Three guys in biker jackets are playing at the
pool table.”
A partial file, with metadata indicating it is over
a decade old, looks like a memo from the SFPD. The Slit Throat is cheap, unfriendly and
Entitled ‘Illicit Funding of Anti-Corporate Pres- dangerous. The guys by the pool table are Sons
sure Groups’, it has an entry for the Army for of Chaos gang footsoldiers and aren’t in the
Workers’ Emancipation and Self-Governance: mood for newcomers to their bar, though they
keep their bad mood to glowering at the
“AWES was founded to organize industrial cyberpunks unless provoked.
action and protests against perceived
corporate exploitation. They did not keep their The barman, Stokely, is a portly balding man in a
hands clean for long. They began by using greasy apron who polishes glasses with spit and
their members in the megacorps to siphon a grimy rag. He serves a few different types of
off goods and insider financial information for simulated beer and hard liquor. Bones Kozlowski
sale. The leadership frequently changed under nurses a glass of rotgut at one of the tables
internal political pressures, allowing criminal and eagerly beckons over the cyberpunks to do
elements to take effective control. Intelligence business. He is a scrawny guy with slicked-down
on AWES suggests the senior criminal hair, a designer suit and surgical scars on the side
members are condenamed with signs of the of his face typical of where cybernetics have
zodiac, inspired by a folk hero from San been removed. With a DC12 Perception check a
Francisco’s past. It is considered a matter of cyberpunk can tell his suit isn’t a Gaetano Sisters
time before AWES sheds its political original, as it appears, but a mediocre
aspirations entirely and becomes a solely counterfeit.
criminal enterprise.”

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 SLIT THROAT MAP

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Bones offers to arrange a meeting with AWES link to the SFPD station with a warning to be
for 100 000₩, paid up front. He is a complete more thorough gathering information in future.
chancer and has no way at all to contact AWES,
and intends to take the cyberpunks’ money and
vanish. A cyberpunk can tell Bones isn’t on the SAFE-T-1ST
level with a DC14 Sense Motive check.
“Safe-T-1st is identified by a grimy yellow and
REAPER ATTACK blue sign in an area of garages, chop shops and
However the meeting with Bones goes, it is abandoned lots in District 5.”
interrupted by a band of AWES Reapers who
have heard Bones is claiming to deal with them, This business rents out lockers and storage units
and want him dead to teach San Francisco’s with no questions asked. It is run by Anna
lowlifes a lesson. Four men burst in through the MacNamara, a bluntly-spoken middle-aged
front door wearing ballistic masks, coveralls and woman who works out of a tiny office at the
body armor, toting guns. One of them yells, building’s entrance which she shares with a
‘Bones Kozlowski! You want to talk shit about the bad-tempered tabby cat.
Army? You gotta pay, my friend! Think we’ll take
your kidneys first!’ Anna is reluctant to give any information about
who rents her storage units. Discretion, after all,
The AWES death squad consists of three gang is what her customers demand.
members with the stats of law enforcement
officers (and the equipment to match –see A DC12 Intimidation check or a bribe of at least
below), and an augmented veteran. The leader is 10 000₩ loosens her lips. She can confirm that
named Libra and the others are Pisces, Gemini a band of men led by someone fitting Sagittarius’
and (unfortunately for him) Virgo. Their first description hired a storage unit a month or so
target is Bones, who dives into cover. They then ago, and moved in some ‘medical-looking’
turn their guns on the cyberpunks to avoid equipment. They paid extra to have power
leaving too many witnesses. Stokely takes cover hooked up to the unit, which is why she
behind the bar and the Sons of Chaos bug out remembers them in particular.
through the back. For another 20 000₩ Anna will open the unit
for the cyberpunks. Otherwise a DC14
As a bonus action, a cyberpunk can throw over Dexterity check or DC20 Strength check can
a table to gain half cover while crouching behind open the unit’s roll-down metal door.
it. The bar also grants half cover. After Bones is
dead the death squad try to take cover as well. If
Inside the unit is a large chest refrigerator and
half of them are downed, the survivors run out a stack of meter-long metal crates. Inside the
of the bar and try to escape in a black unmarked refrigerator are stored five human kidneys, three
van parked around the corner. human livers, eight human eyeballs and two
human hearts, all packed in clear plastic bags
The AWES reapers are equipped with gear taken and kept fresh by the refrigeration. The crates
from an SFPD substation. The words ‘Glen contain police weaponry and gear including two
Heights Substation SFPD’ are stamped on grips tactical vests, three heavy pistols and a box of
of their weapons and on the inside of their body three flashbang grenades, all stamped with ‘Glen
armor. Cyberpunks checking the bodies find this Heights Substation SFPD’. In one of the crates
information. If they do not, Jackie Chow sends a is a biometric ID card in the name of Lieutenant
couple of triads to clean up the site in the Abhinav Kim, with a photograph of a serious-
cyberpunks’ wake, and supplies them with the looking man in a police uniform. It states he is
based at the Glen Heights station.

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 GLEN HEIGHTS SFPD room’s noticeboard, after which he joins in any
SUBSTATION combat that kicks off. Kim reacts to intruders by
Glen Heights, an area of low-rise housing trying to disarm and restrain them before
projects and abandoned lots in District 5, has a throwing them in the cells. If they resist, he
small SFPD substation. Cyberpunks can check orders his fellow officers to kill them.
out the station with a DC12 Bureaucracy check Cyberpunks can talk Kim down from initiating
to search SFPD records. This tells them the combat with a DC16 Persuasion or Bureaucracy
station has a reputation for blatant corruption, check, but if they try to get down stairs he
and no longer functions effectively as a police orders his men to kill them no matter what.
station at all but hires its officers out to
megacorps for security and investigations – and, The squad room has ample evidence of the
it is rumored, organized crime. The station is station’s corruption. On Kim’s desk is a pile of 16
commanded by Lieutenant Abhinav Kim, and wonglong chips, each with 10 000₩ pre-loaded
previously had a morgue and medical facility onto it, which can be confirmed as counterfeits
which were mothballed for renovation two years with a DC 14 Engineering check. The
ago and are still disused. noticeboard has notes and photographs pinned
all over it describing a dozen or so informants
and petty criminals slated for elimination. Many
“The building’s frontage has accents of of the faces have crosses through them. Kim’s
decorative brick that fail to push back the desk drawer has three doses of crush while a
atmosphere of urban decay. SFPD signage is trunk at the back of the room has gun
barely visible under the grime.” components and tools worth 50 000₩,
suggesting an operation removing biolocks from
The station’s reception is a stark concrete room firearms and selling of the illegal weapons.
with an imitation wood desk manned by Officer
Janey Jenssen, a law enforcement officer with a Downstairs is a short corridor with one set of
sour face and a worse attitude. She turns away doors labelled ‘Medical’ and the other ‘Morgue’.
all visitors, saying the station currently only has a The refurbishment is a cover to allow AWES to
caretaker staff and all enquiries should be taken operate here in secret, protected by the SFPD
to the Northern District Station, elsewhere in officers above in return for a cut of their takings.
District 5. Getting access to the station past
Jensen can be done with a DC16 Bureaucracy “The clinic is shadowy and filthy, with a single
check to falsify a convincing reason to get lamp shining on an operating table. A man’s
access. If the cyberpunks drop Lieutenant Kim’s naked corpse lies on the table, with its chest
name, this check is made with advantage. and abdomen laid open and empty of organs.
Medical monitors and other pieces of
Inside the station has a squad room, a locker equipment, unused for a long time, sit under
room, a rest area with a small kitchen, and a plastic sheeting. Blood spatters the floor and a
block of four single-person cells. The upper floor tray of medical implements beside the
has a set of offices for administration and table includes hammers and chisels as well as
investigations. Medical facilities are in the gore-encrusted scalpels and bonesaws. A large
basement, with the stairs down blocked off with refrigerated cabinet takes up one side of the
police tape and a sign reading CLOSED FOR room.”
RENOVATIONS.
Sagittarius, a cyberninja and head of AWES, is
Lieutenant Kim, who has the stats of a SWAT in the clinic. Sounds of combat above cause him
officer, hangs out in the squad room with three to hide among the medical equipment to
other law enforcement officers. It takes Kim a ambush the cyberpunks. Sagittarius is a cocky
round to grab his SMG from his desk by the

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SFPD SUBSTATION MAIN FLOOR MAP

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 SFPD SUBSTATION BASEMENT MAP

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and mocking combatant, disparaging the combat he talks into the computer’s camera lens.
skills of the cyberpunks as he tries to dismember
them.
“Sup. This is Sagittarius. If you’re watching this
Inside the cabinet are human arms and legs I’m dead, or maybe captured, which is as good
hanging from a rail – seven arms and five legs in as. Chances are it was the boss who took me
total. out. Guys like me, we’re useful until we’re not,
then we get discarded. So this here’s payback.
Do what you gotta.’
“The morgue is a refrigerated room with a
white tiled floor and metal drawers lining two The image changes to show a smart restaurant
walls. In the middle of the room is a with Chinese décor. It is taken from a skewed
ceiling-high medical device with a reservoir of angle, as if from a concealed camera. Sitting
clear liquid and a large-gauge needle that can at the nearest table are Sagittarius and David
be lowered to a bloodstained steel dish. Wong.
Several large plastic coolers are stacked up
beside the machine. A prominent biohazard ‘Do not mistake my generosity for admiration,
symbol is emblazoned on the side of the Mr Sagittarius,’ says Wong. ‘It is precisely your
device’s tank.” unwholesome nature that makes you suitable
for this task. I have already transferred the
Two AWES gang footsoldiers, Taurus and Aries, money you are owed up front. On supplying
are in the morgue using the machine to inject the tainted organs in the quantities agreed,
toxins into organs. They rush to join Sagittarius if the balance will be sent to you.’‘Where you
combat begins in the clinic. want them delivered?’ asks Sagittarius.
Examining the device confirms it is used to ‘Excelsior’s headquarters,’ replied Wong. ‘I can
inject a toxic fluid into tissue. In the coolers are supply unmarked vehicles. Do I really need to
dozens of organs – kidneys, livers, lungs, hearts, emphasize the need for discretion?’
eyeballs, brains, and just about every other part ‘AWES does discretion real well,’ says
of a body’s innards. A DC10 Medicine check Sagittarius., ‘If by “discretion” you mean
confirms they are human. In the morgue drawers “killing all the witnesses.” You and Excelsior
are a total of eighteen human bodies of various gonna make a lot of money out of this. Hope a
genders and ethnicities, each with their organs little of it comes our way.’ The holo-recording
completely harvested. Several are also missing cuts out abruptly.”
limbs.

In a corner of the room is a low table with a small AFTERMATH

religious shrine. Several red candles surround a Jackie Chow pays the cyberpunks their full fee
steel frame with the skin from a human’s flayed on receipt of the handheld computer contain-
head stretched across it, tanned like leather. ing the holo-recording. Award the cyberpunks
A symbol of a crossed circle is burned into the 5000xp for completing this mission succesfully.
forehead. Twelve symbols are burned into the
surface of the table. A DC 10 Religion check
identifies these as signs of the zodiac, “I suggest you keep what you saw to
suggesting this is a shrine to the folkloric figure yourselves. I do not have to tell you how
of the Zodiac. A porcelain bowl on the table dangerous this information could be. It would
contains offerings of bullet shells and severed serve you well to rest up and resupply while
fingers. Sagittarius carries a holo-recording on you can. I feel I shall have need of you soon.”
a hand held computer. When activated, it first
shows a short video grab of Sagittarius’ face as

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 PART VI

DRAGON’S REQUIEM
This is the final part of the Chow’s Request
campaign. Designed for 6th-level cyberpunks, It “If the 16K is implicated in such a scheme,
sends the cyberpunks on an assassination it would destroy all goodwill in our
mission to a plush District 2 mansion, with their community and tear us apart.
target one of the most dangerous men in San None of us have clean hands, but Wong’s
Francisco, 16k Dragon Head David Wong. scheme is beyond the boundaries of what we
are prepared to be involved in.
CHOW’S FINAL REQUEST
Jackie Chow of the 16K Triad has another job for I and the rest of the 16K Red Poles have
the cyberpunks. This time he sends a message to agreed that David Wong must die. We cannot
them kill him due to the oaths we have taken and so
it must fall to someone else to do the deed.
That would be you.
“One final job. Pays well. Apt. 19, 1263
Shelley. Chow.” David Wong’s estate is in District 2.
I can provide you with temporary credentials
This address is for a District 4 apartment block. to get you through the checkpoints and the
The apartment is a 16K safe house. datakey to the mansion’s entrance. This will
not deactivate all Wong’s security measures
“Apartment 19 is unfurnished except for some but it will get you through the door. Wong is
mattresses on the floor and a suitcase with a known to have purchased a Waarborg combat
laptop computer which Chow is using. mech for personal use and has Triads loyal to
A couple of other young triads you recognise him working security at his home.
from the Gweilo are also using the apartment.
It does not matter how David Wong dies, as
‘My apologies for the surroundings. I thought long as he dies. Whatever approach you take,
it made sense to lay low for a while in one of do not expect him to make it easy for you.
my safehouses, given what is about to happen.’ Once we can confirm his death you will be
paid 600 000₩ each.”
Jackie Chow has the look of someone who has
not slept for a while, his hair messy and Chow cannot lend direct assistance to the
unstyled, almost reaching his shoulders. cyberpunks, nor is he willing to pay any of the
fee up front.
‘David Wong, the Dragon Head of the 16K,
is engaged in activities the rest of the
organisation cannot accept. He plans to
flood the city with tainted black market
organs and create a health crisis that will
benefit Excelsior BioMed, the corp he has
just bought a stake in.’ ”

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CASING THE JOINT self as a loyal protector. Kwon does not accom-
A DC18 Bureaucracy check can acquire pany Wong outside the mansion and she has
schematics of the mansion’s security system rarely interacted with the rest of the 16K. Those
from Hermetik, a private security company. who have encountered her remember an in-
This confirms the mansion has spotter drones in tense, unsmiling young woman who speaks very
the grounds linked to a Waarborg combat mech little, and then only when spoken to by Wong
along with sensors on the wall outer wall and himself.
reinforced walls and windows. These measures
are linked to a control panel in the master AREA 1. THE GROUNDS
bedroom. These schematics grant advantage to The grounds of Wong’s mansion are enclosed
checks made to hack or operate the mansion’s by a three-metre stone wall topped with steel
various electronic security systems (including spikes and rigged with sensors. Anyone climbing
the drones but not the Waarborg mech). over the fence activates the sensors and trips
a silent alarm that causes the mech to deploy
With a DC16 Bureaucracy check or a fee of and informs the inhabitants of the mansion of
20 000₩, the cyberpunks can rent an office the intrusion. The sensors can be spotted with a
space in a block overlooking the mansion. This DC12 Perception check and deactivated with a
in a block of various offices used by minor corps DC14 Engineering check. The main gates can
wanting a prestigious District 2 address. The be opened with the datakey provided by Jackie
cyberpunks only get access to this for a day Chow, as can the mansion’s front door and the
before their credentials are checked and they rear door to the kitchen. The datakey does not
are ejected or locked out of the building. work on any other locks in the mansion.

Watching the mansion for two or more hours A highly manicured garden surrounds the
lets the cyberpunks make a DC16 Perception mansion. Several artificial rock gardens are
check, with the check being made with linked by zigzag paths and a stream snakes
advantage if it is from a viewpoint such as the around the grounds beginning and ending at a
office. Failure tells the cyberpunks there are large pond strewn with lotus flowers. On the
security personnel at the mansion, but shore of this pond is a small ornate wooden
nothing about their numbers. Success tells them building that houses the Waarborg mech. Three
six triads are based at the mansion, though David sentrybots patrol the grounds at all times. If
Wong himself does not venture out during this they detect intruders, they sound an alarm that
time. The triads have body armour and alerts mansion security and deploys the Waar-
automatic weapons, suggesting David Wong is borg mech.
expecting an attack on his home.
The mech is programmed to eliminate anyone
If a cyberpunk attempts to snipe the triads going not on its IFF table, meaning it will not fire on
in and out of the mansion, after the first shot Wong or the mansion’s security but will try to
the triads flee inside the mansion and do not gun down anyone else. Its programming
come out again. Stealth checks made against the prohibits it from entering the mansion but it can
mansion’s security personnel are fire through doorways or other breaches.
thereafter made with disadvantage since the
triads are forewarned about an assault. The ways into the mansion are the front door,
leading on to the reception hall, and the rear
A DC14 Streetwise check gets information on
the triads who work Wong’s personal security.
They are drawn from ex-military triads with
combat experience, save for one, Abigail Kwon,
who was trained from childhood by Wong him-

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 MANSION GROUND FLOOR MAP

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 MANSION UPPER FLOOR MAP

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 entrance leading to the kitchens. Windows are
bulletproof and the walls and roof are reinforced. turtles, tigers and masked demons cover each
They can only be breached with explosives. skin.”

AREA 2. RECEPTION HALL Two augmented veterans, part of Wong’s triad

security detail, are stationed here protecting
“Past the reinforced, blastproof doors is a the ground floor. If they become aware of an
grand chamber of black marble and lacquered intrusion, they ready actions to make cpmbat
red wooden panels, designed to intimidate visi- shotgun attacks against the first targets they
tors and inform them of the occupant’s wealth see. They use the huge table to gain half cover. If
and status. An artificial bonsai tree, cultured the Waarborg mech has not yet been deployed,
to look hundreds of years old, stands taller these triads can activate it to lend some firepow-
than a man in a huge glazed porcelain planter. er by shooting through the doorways and
Benches and chairs are dotted around the windows.
space. The image of a red dragon coils around
the whole back wall.” The skins are real and human. They were re-
moved from the bodies of loyal triads who died
The stairs from this room lead to the mansion’s in service to the 16K. Wong preserved them as
second floor. If the mansion security have been a symbol of how loyalty to him should extend
alerted to intruders, a microexplosives launcher beyond death.
in the ceiling is primed to deploy antipersonnel
rounds into the reception hall. It is triggered AREA 4. DINING HALL
by laser tripwires in the doorways which can be
spotted with a DC14 Perception check, and “Wong entertains friends and trusted guests in
launches a few seconds after being triggered to this dining room, which has artificial wooden
catch as many intruders as possible in the blast. decorative framework on the ceiling and
The tripwires can each be deactivated with a painted panels of flying dragons on the walls.
DC 12 Engineering check or avoided by step- The round table has six chairs. An incongruous
ping over them once they have been spotted. crystal chandelier hangs from the middle of
the ceiling.”
If triggered, tiny fragmentation grenades rain
down from the launcher concealed in the ceiling.
Anyone in the reception hall must make a AREA 5. KITCHENS
DC 14 Reflex save or take 4D6 ballistic damage
on a failed save or half damage on a “The mansion’s kitchens are plainly decorated
success. The trap ruins the décor of the hall but with none of the house’s grandeur, but they
does no structural damage to the mansion. are well-appointed with modern fittings.”

AREA 3. CONFERENCE HALL With A DC16 Perception check, a cyberpunk

notices a thin metal seam around one of the
“This room, decorated in neutral greys, has stone-effect floor panels. This can be lifted up
two significant features. The first is a massive with a suitable tool or with a DC14 Strength
oval table with twelve high-backed chairs, with check. Inside is a small recess with the armory of
a built-in holographic projector. The second the mansion’s security detail. Most of the spaces
is the array of gilded picture frames on the for guns are empty but there is still a Kasai
walls, each with a human skin stretched across corporation assault rifle and a pair of heavy
it. Each one is covered in the dense, intricate pistols inside, with two magazines of ammunition
tattoos of a lifelong triad. Images of dragons, each, along with two EMP grenades.

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AREA 6. GUEST QUARTERS SECOND FLOOR
This room is home to Edwin and Collette Chen, David Wong lives on the second floor of his
a middle-aged married couple who serve as the mansion, where he can wallow in the excess
mansion’s housekeeper and cook. At the first earned by a life of organised crime.
sign of the trouble they hole up in their plain
room, which has a double bed, a sofa and a AREA 1. ARMAMENTS
television, and a small attaching bathroom. This
pair are non-combatants to a fault and follow “This long, dimly-lit room is lined with display
shouted orders in a daze as long as doing so does cases, each picked out by a spotlight. The
not put them in obvious danger. They know the cases are full of weaponry and armor from
location of the armoury in the kitchen but have throughout the history. Exhibits include
no tools with which to open it and do not know medieval swords, a set of Ancient Greek
what inside. They have no knowledge of how to hoplite armor with a round shield and long
get into any other secret places in the spear, a pair of ornate flintlock pistols, an early
mansion, nor do they know where ‘Mr Wong’ is. 20th-Century Gatling gun, and various
They are aware there is a security panel traditional Chinese weapons like sabres, spears
somewhere upstairs that controls everything, and a pair of crossed halberds.”
including the entrance to a secret part of the
house they have never been in. They believe
there are ‘four or five’ other men in the mansion If the mansion’s inhabitants have been alerted to
protecting it. intruders, the armaments gallery is defended by
three of Wong’s loyal veteran triads. They have
AREA 7. DOWNSTAIRS the stats of gang lieutenants and use the display
BATHROOM cabinets to gain half cover.

“Wong’s extravagant tastes extend to this The exhibits are all alarmed. If the glass is
bathroom which has a marble floor, vivid red broken, an alarm sounds and alerts the mansion’s
tiling and a huge bronze claw-footed bath.” inhabitants. A DC14 Perception check
identifies the sensors on the glass panels of the
display cases. These can be disabled with a
A cyberpunk searching the bathroom can dis- DC16 Engineering check. Cyberpunks
cover the section of the floor with the bath is examining the exhibits may make a
separate and can open upwards, like a trapdoor. DC14 Perception check to learn they are all
The section is mounted on hydraulics to open non-functional imitations except for a Chinese
it, with the controls elsewhere, and is extremely jian sword, which is actually a finely-wrought
difficult to lift by hand. Doing so requires a phase shift sword.
DC20 Strength check. Beneath the section of
floor is a pair of blast doors leading to a AREA 2. UPSTAIRS LOUNGE
basement floor. These doors can only be
breached with serious explosives. Like the floor “This comfortable, wood-panelled room has a
section, the blast doors are operated from large sofa and two armchairs, and has an
elsewhere (the control panel in the master automated food and refreshments unit styled
bedroom). to look like a piece of antique furniture.”

The three triad gang lieutenants are relaxing

here unless they have been alerted to intruders
by alarms or combat elsewhere in the mansion.

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 AREA 3. MASTER BEDROOM BASEMENT
“A grand four-poster bed of far more “Unlike the rest of the mansion, the basement
European than Chinese design sits in the has few concessions to decoration. The walls,
middle of an expanse of wooden flooring. The floor and ceiling are bare concrete and steel.”
wall panels are painted with elegant pastoral
scenes. Other furnishings include a
dressing table and wardrobe, all in imitation The mansion’s hidden basement floor is where
dark wood.” the cyberpunks can find David Wong, for their
invasion of his home coincides with a session in
Any cyberpunk searching the room finds an the carbon rejuvenation suite he had built down
automated medical unit in the dresser, and a here.
control panel behind a section of the bed’s
headboard. The doors are all sealed with magnetic locks,
opened by electronic card readers. These can be
The control panel has several unlabelled hacked with a DC14 Hacking check, or
switches. They variously turn the alarms and short-circuited with a DC16 Engineering
sensors on and off, activate or deactivate the check. Abigail Kwon, Wong’s head of security
Waarborg mech in the garden, sound or silence a and last line of defence, has a keycard on her.
siren that blares through the house, prime the
microexplosives launcher in the reception hall, AREA 1. PANIC ROOM
and open the blast doors in the downstairs
bathroom that lead to the concealed basement “This small room has steel walls thick enough
floor. to survive a nuclear explosion. It contains a
chemical toilet, a cabinet, a desk, a hard line
A cyberpunk pressing the controls at random comms unit and a small bed that folds down
activates a random system. A DC14 Engineer- from the wall.”
ing check identifies what the controls do.
This is where Wong intends to shelter in case
The medical unit can administer medications, of disaster hitting San Francisco. It is indeed as
perform checkups and execute basic first aid. It nuke-proof as a room can be. The cabinet is full
only functions when presented with the genetic of non-perishable food and large jugs of
fingerprint of David Wong, but this can be drinking water, which can be recycled by the
bypassed with a DC16 Hacking check. The unit’s chemical toilet allowing someone to hold out
data indicates that David Wong has several here for months. The comms device, which is
relatively minor health complaints typical of old wired in rather than wireless, is linked to the
age, but also that he is currently undergoing SFPD and several of Wong’s triad underlings.
carbon rejuvenation therapy to extend his
lifespan, an extremely advanced and expensive
procedure.

The wardrobe contains several minimalist

designer suits, all in black.

52 Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム

MANSION BASEMENT FLOOR MAP

Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム 53

 AREA 2. ORGAN STORAGE David Wong is in the middle of a long carbon
rejuvenation session. He has the stats of a
“This refrigerated room has white tiles on the civilian in this vulnerable and unarmed state.
floor and brushed steel walls. In metal shelves He is unrepentant about the vile organ spiking
on the walls sit dozens of human organs, all scheme that turned the rest of the 16K against
held in transparent cylinders and suspended in him. He believes that organizations like the
clear fluid. Against one wall are four body bags triads are sure to die out unless they are
hung vertically from hooks. They are made of willing to go further than their competitors. Do
opaque black material but it is clear what is his enemies think the Bratva thugs or the
inside.” madmen of the District 5 gangs would balk at
causing innocent deaths? Will anyone
remember those dead when Excelsior BioMed
With a DC18 Perception check, the cyberpunks joins the ranks of the megacorps with the 16K at
notice one of the body bags moving almost its head? Wong can accept he is to die, but not
imperceptibly. Moments after an intruder enters that he is wrong.
the room, Abigail Kwon slits open the body bag
she is hiding in and tries to dismember the Wong will keep the cyberpunks talking for as
cyberpunks. She is a sharp-faced, athletic long as possible. If she is still alive, Abigail Kwon
woman in a tight black bodysuit, with her black uses this time to burst into the room and kill
hair tied severely back. She has the stats of a those threatening her master. If Wong is already
shogun. dead when she gets there, she falls to her knees
and weeps, utterly broken and inconsolable.
Abigail has nothing personal against the She asks the cyberpunks to kill her since she
cyberpunks, but she is bound by a deep debt of has failed to keep her master alive. If they do
honour to David Wong. He raised her and she is not oblige her, she stays in the mansion with his
like a daughter to him: a daughter who is body.
constantly struggling to earn respect and
affection from a distant and exacting father
figure. It is without question that she will die for AFTERMATH
him. Abigail has a keycard for the basement’s Jackie Chow quickly learns that David Wong is
rooms. dead whether the cyberpunks tell him or not. He
delivers their payment as promised, ideally by
The organs stored here are for David Wong’s remote transfer, but if needs be via a
use, to replace his own when they fail through low-ranking triad messenger who hands the
old age. cyberpunks one million wonlongs on a data stick.

AREA 3. REJUVENATION SUITE Payment is accompanied by a simple message:

“The air is chill in this room. Harsh “I suggest you leave San Francisco. There is
fluorescent lights shine down on white-cased sure to be a war for the control of the 16K,
medical equipment monitoring a single and useful outsiders like yourselves are always
hospital bed. Wires and pipes run everywhere. on the frontline. Goodbye.”
On the bed sits the familiar figure of David
Wong, Dragon Head of the 16K Triad, in a
white medical gown. Electrodes and cannulas If Abigail Kwon is still alive, she vanishes into the
stick onto and into the bare skin of his arms.” San Francisco underworld to plot her revenge
against the honorless dogs who murdered the
only father she has ever known.

54 Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム

WHAT NEXT? SNAKEHEAD TONG
Following the conclusion of the Chow’s Request Despite having a lot in common, the
storyline, the landscape of San Francisco’s Han Snakehead Tong have been rivals of the
underworld will be forever changed. You may Cantonese 16k for over 100 years. Once the
wish to follow up with a story of your own, or use Snakehead Tong hear of the death of David
one of the following options for inspiration. Wong, they are bound to start attacking 16k
territory and operations to weaken the 16k and
16K LEADERSHIP strengthen themselves.
David Wong has already chosen the man to
succeed him as Dragon Head, his Deputy
Mountain Master Jimmy Choy, but things never
go as planned when there is a major transfer of
power. It is likely that Chow is correct and the
remaining Red Poles in the 16k will go to war
to attempt to take over the seat of the Dragon
Head.
ESCAPE FROM SAN
FRANCISCO
The cyberpunk’s fingerprints are all over the
death of David Wong and the destabilization of
the 16k. If they don’t intend to get involved in
the war, they should get as far away from San
Francisco as possible, and ideally avoid Hong
Kong as well.

CHOW’S RISE
Although young and relatively inexperienced
among the Red Poles, Jackie Chow with the
support of the cyberpunks may rise to the
position of Dragon Head. Without the
cyberpunk’s help, Chow will ally himself and
the Washington Street Boys to a larger gang
within the 16k, inevitably becoming the Deputy
Mountain Master to whoever becomes the new
Dragon Head, a very respectable position for a
man Chow’s age.

Carbon 2185 | A Cyberpunk RPG 炭素 2185 | サイバーパンクロールプレイングゲーム 55

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