2300: Tanstaafl Nights Campaign Reference

Campaign Elevator Pitch: The characters are working on the distant colony world of Aurore doing cyberpunk things when they are caught in a sudden alien invasion by the brutal and terrifying Kaefer. They must stay alive in the crowded and dangerous Tanstaafl City, a rowdy (lawless) place even in good times.

Player Information

Your PC should be someone with skills useful in such a situation. Most cyberpunk character concepts will work fine but might require a little adaptation. You don't need to play the meanest hired gun in human space, though some familiarity with violence (street brawls, warfare, law enforcement) is handy. Nearly any concept might prove useful, though the telecom infrastructure is much less pervasive out in space... imagine LV-426 from "Aliens", and you aren't too far off.

Your character might be from anywhere, though if you want to make a character from Tanstaafl they will probably be of American (50%), German (30%), or Texan (10%) origin… the remaining 10% is the aforementioned “anywhere”. You should establish why your character traveled 40LY away from Earth and went to Tanstaafl City, like all the worst parts of Las Vegas, Mos Eisley, and Port Royal, if all those were contained within Albuquerque, NM. Each Player Character will need a "3x3x3" and "PC Questions". These questions are designed to help not only the player but the GM understand a little bit more about the personality of your character.

PC Descriptive Questions

We will be using “Savage World Adventurers Edition (SWADE)” for this campaign, though we will have to make heavy use of the “Science Fiction Companion”. Tanstaafl Nights will use the following setting rules: Gritty Damage, More Skill Points, Multiple Languages. We will also use the Intrigue and Factional System from Kethos when required.

This will likely be a tough game, as it combines a sci-fi war tale with cyberpunk in a dangerous setting. The characters will be either established bad-asses or simply extremely talented, thus “Veteran” level. Make a starting character (15 skill points, though), and then give them eight Advances. Characters are nearly all baseline Humans, though certain modified clades from the Chicago Sprawl races list might be appropriate, among others, as the 2300AD does feature some advanced genetic manipulation of the human genome.


Equipment and Technology

Starting cash will be $1000, though each character will start play with a pistol, knife, concealed body armor, and the usual “rucksack full of personal items” that all Cyberpunk characters own. Additionally, each character will have one piece of expensive gear appropriate to their profession - an assault rifle for a soldier, a basic deck for a hacker, a medkit for a surgeonBefore. Anything else will be up to you. Because this is a homebrew campaign, we will be using material from several sources for equipment… Ask before purchasing gear beyond the most basic stuff; you might have a better option!

Cybernetics are available as described in the cybernetics list at the Chicago Sprawl campaign website. In general, if a character desires to start cybernetics, they may have items up to their Vigor+Rank in strain, so long as they have a) referee approval and b) a solid narrative for the systems in question. Gutterware and Streetware are available only in Tanstaafl City. At the same time, Hyperware and Milspec are only available due to a specific adventure - they cannot normally be found on Aurore.

Drones and Robots are designed using the rules in Sci-Fi Compendium for simplicity’s sake. The basic robot is non-sentient, and has a maximum Smarts of d6; skills can be much higher, but Robots are not normally mentally flexible or inventive like a fully sentient being. Commands are given to the Robot without requiring the full attention of the controller. Robots can only follow basic commands (Go Here, Shoot at enemies, etc). Robots act on the controller's initiative and benefit from any Leadership edges the controller has. A Robot uses its own skills and attributes when making Trait rolls and has no Wild Die. If the robot has a “Drone Rig” ($2000) as one of its modifications, the following changes apply to the Drone:

• The controller suffers the -2 Multiple Action penalty when attempting a task other than controlling their drone.
• The Drone uses the controller's Smarts and Spirit attribute while retaining its own Agility, Strength, and Vigor.
• Skill rolls are made by using the higher skill of the controller or Drone, with the Wild die.
• The drone suffers any penalties (Wound, Fatigue) that the controller is suffering. If the drone is incapacitated, the controller is automatically Shaken and must make a Vigor roll or suffer a wound from backlash.

General Equipment of all sorts is available on Aurore, whether tools and sensors or drugs and medical gear. Any of the available lists, Near Future Weapons, Near Future Armor and Gear, SWADE, SF Companion, or Chicago Sprawl, are all available for purchase in Tanstaafl City. Hacking and Cyberdecks are present in the setting but will be handled with the SWADE Fast Hacking system in the PDF folder. Cyberware will give bonuses to the hacking roll. The Chicago Sprawl drug list is especially appropriate for street types wishing augmentation since cyber is difficult to find. Keep in mind that since all but the simplest equipment must be imported from the Core, it is likely to be hard to find and quite expensive.


Weapon Information

The basic weapons are listed in the Near Future Weapons List. This represents a standard slugthrower, either caseless, or cased (both are in use in Tanstaafl). Caseless ammunition is the most common standard variety of weapon in use in 2300. Cased-ammo weapons are half the price and half the magazine capacity, but are common on the black market as they are easy to manufacture and supply. Both are commonly available.

"Binary/Electrothermal" weapons use either a mixture of two substances that are only volatile in combination or a more advanced form of ignition. Both allow for more control over a weapon’s power, though they are more expensive and far more finicky than caseless or cased rounds, with x2 cost. Binary/Electrothermal allows for two additional options:

• Silenced Mode - Damage is reduced by one die step, range is halved, and it is -2 to notice the sound at Short range.
• Enhanced Mode - Damage is increased one die step, range is increased by half, and two shots are consumed.

“Gauss” weapons use magnets to fire thin (3-4mm) but dense metal darts at hypervelocity, doing tremendous damage to armored targets. These are modeled off of the Near Future Weapons List, with the following modifications. Damage is reduced by one die type (d6 to d4), AP is increased by +3, Shots is x2, and Cost is x3. Gauss weapons are slowly replacing slugthrowers in major militaries in the core, but are still rare on the frontier.

“Laser” weapons are uncommon and expensive outside of the Core but can be found. They are usually deployed as sniper weapons in major militaries. Lasers are modified from the Sci-Fi Companion thus: Range is x3, Cost is x5.

“Plasma” weapons in the setting are largely as described in the rules, but physically appear differently. The “Plasma Pistol'' stats will work for weapons that are the size of normal rifles like the Jaschonek A-9, while the “Plasma Rifle'' represents the larger squad support weapons like the Quinn-Darlan Mk2A2. In either case, Plasma weapons do blast damage - reduce damage by two die steps (d10 to d6) in a Small Blast Template around the impact point. Cost is x10.

Weapon Quality: The basic quality of a weapon is an option to consider when shopping in Tanstaafl. “Cheap” weapons are 25% cost. On a critical failure, they jam and require a Repair roll to repair in a shop, or a Raise to restore immediately in the field. “Premium” weapons cost x2 and give a +1 to hit due to their superior fit and finish.