A Scheduling Problem Fixer

Scheduling in D&D has a very simple solution which seems difficult for some to grasp. If someone doesn’t show up to your game, too bad for them. Give them a chance or two and then cut them loose. If they ain’t showing, they don’t want to play.

So it’s kind of a non-problem if you handle it in a really simple, non-emotional way. But what I like about the concept of a “living game” of the type I am creating with Cyberpunk is that it becomes even less of an issue.

In my version of Night City, there are currently three modes of play.

1. The Gig

2. The Downtime Session

3. Bounties

The Gig is a full game session played with a group of people. The Downtime Session takes place in between full gigs, and happens sporadically in chat throughout the week. And Bounties are shorter 1 hour sessions of less significance for the express purpose of cyberpunks making a quick buck on the side.

Now the way I am managing this is where it is interesting. Rather than saying “Okay, when does everyone want to play?” I instead post in the Gig or Bounty channel with the basic details and reward of the session, and specify if it is meant for session play, or something that can happen during downtime. I give each of them an expiry date. If no one expresses interest in a gig, it doesn’t happen. And then in-game tweaking has to be done to account for that. Players who ignore too many Gigs are going to invariably suffer - you need to support your lifestyle in Night City, and to do so, you need to work. If you stop working, you stop being able to pay rent, and eventually stop being able to eat, and if it gets far enough, well, it’s pretty clear that you have other priporities. Your character suffers a fate worse than death at this point - being another nobody walking the city streets. And if you decide later you can come back, you are working your way back up the ladder one rung at a time.

Of course, if a Gig has shown interest, then we schedule. The person who leapt on it can set a time with me, and then invite others to jump in. Simples.

Bounties are less critical. You aren’t working with a Fixer who is noting your lapsing reputation and then eventually, “forgetting” to bring jobs to your attention. They should be completable by one or more players, and if needed, some hirable NPC mooks. This is a way for players who want a little more time at the table to get it while others aren’t missing out on big developments in the “story”.

I always have to say - I use “story” here sort of tongue-in-cheek. Much like how I run D&D, I am not writing a story. But the longer three to four hour sessions are where contacts are generally made, where relationships with corpos and gangs develop (positive or negative) and where cyberpunks will really make their way up in the world. Bounties are quick cash, much like hunting Cyberpsychos in Cyberpunk 2077.

The danger never stops in any particular type of session however. As I have said before, you can die in downtime to a poorly handled encounter. You can die if you go to a Night Market in a rough part of town and don’t bring firepower or some tough hombre’s with you. Night City is a dangerous place, whether we are playing as a group over voice or rolling with dice bots in Discord on a Tuesday morning. That danger is something I always want to be real.

Here is an example of an available Gig in our Discord right now. This one is available as well as a Bounty. But as players acquire more contacts and build relationships with other Fixers, more of these will become available. Eventually there will be a number of chats, one for each Fixer, and permissions will be given to players who have contact with that Fixer.

Or in text in case this picture doesn’t load:

Wort here Chooms, listen up.

I got a wild one. Best part ain't the eds though - it's the contact.

A Militech Big Wig named Jay Kramer is a man on a mission. He got beef with Arasaka small-timer Kiroshi Nagoya, some chartered accountant pissant that was givin' him insider info but suddenly decided to jump ship. He wants the info, or Kiroshi's head on a platter - but preferably the info.

Kiroshi is a paranoid sumbitch and protects his ass-ets. But he has an Achilles heel - Rockergal heartthrobs the Misty Memories.

You are gonna need a gal for this one - or someone chromed up enough to look like one - and a face changer, and I can get you that. Kiroshi likes to hang with heavy handed Mooks so brute force will get ya splattered. But if you can manage to swap places with their heartbreaker guitarist Mia Heartsworn and give Kiroshi the VIP treatment and a backstage autograph, the rest is easy street.

The cut ain't bad either. 1400 eds, and a work contract between Jay and I...and I guarantee you, gold trickles downhill, you get me?

(This is a GIG. It expires April 9th at 11:59 PM)

Now, large player base is hypothetical because I really don’t know how big this will get. I could theoretically sustain a game of thirty or more players in this manner, much like D&D. Whether I WANT too or not is something I haven’t entirely figured out. And truth be told there just isn’t the demand for Cyberpunk Red, Cyberpunk 2020, or otherwise, that there is for elf games. Fantasy is more approachable and perrenial than grimdark nihilistic future misery. That will always be true. Though I definitely know which one I am better at and prefer, and it’s absolutely Cyberpunk. I feel like it’s in my DNA somewhere in a way fantasy is not. It feels incredibly natural to set all this up.

I still have a lot of work to do. There are elements even in just the Cyberpunk Companion App I want to integrate, such as a weekly weather forecast.

In fact, that sounds easy peasy. I may just do that now.