Character Creation: Axon Punk Overdrive

Didn't mean to do two cyberpunk games this close together. Wait, three, actually. Ah, well.

The Game: Axon Punk Overdrive
The Publisher: Wrong Brothers Gaming 
Degree of Familiarity: I played it at...Midwinter, I think? I remember enjoying it, but I don't remember much specific, though I think that's more about my headspace at the time than the game
Books Required: Just the one

Axon Punk Overdrive has a lot of the trappings of cyberpunk games; corporations are more powerful than governments, PCs work in teams to do stuff that's technically crime but needs doin', there's AI and cyberware and a huge 'Net that you can jack into. This game, though, specifically takes influence from hip-hop, to the point that all of the character types (Lifestyles, specifically) have musical inspiration.

That being the case, I'd like to find some inspirational music, but I kinda already have a character in mind. Ooh, but clipping. to the rescue!

So, my idea was an AI that has a human being in its employ that wears a rig to allow the AI to have a more or less human existence (a la the surrogate in Her). Given this song, we have a slightly more violent feel, but I kinda like it, especially if we assume that being this AI's "ride" is something that people in the Community pass around, with the understanding that you might get shot and you need to surrender yourself to the AI while you're wearing the rig.

I don't know if the system is going to make this easy, but I'm grooving on the idea. Let's try it!

So, obviously my Lifestyle is AI, so that's easy. My Background determines my Instinct, which means what? Oh, following it means I would get XP at the end of a session. Cool. Well, not Military, so that leaves Corporate or Street. I feel like Street is more appropriate in some ways, but I like the Corporate Instinct better (to inject chaos into a system of order), so I'll go with that.

Now, Trouble. I could roll a d20, but again, I've got some good options here. I'll pick: Periodic hallucinations and tracers that reveal visions of the past or future. My AI (and "AI" here isn't a computer program per se, but a human brain that has been scanned into the Net) was scanned in too quickly and the data was corrupted by junk files that the corp hadn't cleared out. As such, it sometimes finds itself seeing or experiencing things that just don't make any sense, but which snap into context later (kinda like deja vu).

And now stats! I could roll or use a standard array. The max if I roll is 32, while the max if I take the array is 22. Um. I think I'll take the randoms, actually. 21, 30, 16, 17, 15, 20. Well, not terrible.

Stats in this game have more to do with intent or type of action than representing a particular characteristic. Impact, f'rex, is about strength and might and exerting force, while Freestyle is about improvisation and creativity. I think my AI needs a decent Freestyle and probably Flow. I'll put my 30 in Flow, my 21 in Freestyle, my 20 in Data Bank, my 15 in Impact, my 16 in Soul, and my 17 in Health.

And now, Training Categories. I get 10 points, and they get bought sequentially in three goes, each of which adds 10 to a stat when rolling. So if I want three trainings in something, it actually costs 6 because I have pay for them separately (but it gives me a +30).

Well, I think I'd better be trained in Use Software. And I'll go ahead and take Use Net and Use Hardware while I'm at it. Martial Arts, yeah, I want this guy to be effective in combat, but I need a description there. I'll take Knife Fighting. That's 4 points spent. I'll spend 2 more to buy my Martial Arts up one. One to Digital First Aid, one to Dialects and Slang, one to Notice, and one to Sneak, and that does me.

I don't get cyberware 'cause I ain't go no body, but I do get three choices off a gear list. I want a hired human (my ride), a tiny flying surveillance drone, and a personal server (which my human wears).

And then I get four Canned Programs. Ooh, these are pretty dope. I'll take Forced Log Out, IP Mask, Shock, and Targeting Enhancement.

And that's really all the systemy stuff. OK, then. My AI was, like I said, uploaded very quickly and shoddily while his meat-person was working for a corp (probably Bishop Tech). In addition to his brainscan (or instead of, in some cases) they also included a bunch of junk files that the corp had on an adjacent server, which means the AI is prone to weird visions and hallucinations...that have a bad habit of coming true. The AI (let's call it The Shape, because there's a cool Halloween vibe going on) has an avatar that barely shows up. It just lurks in the shadows, obviously humanoid and masculine but not quite recognizable.

Shape hangs around in the Community, fixing tech and helping people out as he can, but it's when the corp-security or the cops show up that he really gets to shine. He shuts down their comms, distracts the, and helps folks get out of the way as necessary. When he's on a job, it's with someone from the Community as his ride, with a pair of camera glasses and his personal server in their back pocket and a voice synth so they don't have to talk.

Sounds good!