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TM
WILD JUSTICE
TM
Written by PHIL MASTERS
Edited by NIKOLA VRTIS
Illustrated by LOKARIAN, CHRIS MARTINEZ, and DAN SMITH
An e23 Sourcebook for GURPS
®
STEVE JACKSON GAMES
Stock #37-6704
®
Version 1.0 – June 2009
C
ONTENTS
Further Scenario Seeds ...........................10
Revenge is a kind of wild justice.
– Francis Bacon, “Of Revenge,”
Essays
About
GURPS
Steve Jackson Games is committed to full support of
GURPS
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.Resourcesinclude:
New supplements and adventures.
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Transhuman Space:
Personnel Files 3 – Wild Justice
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Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the
GURPS Basic Set,
Fourth Edition.
Page references that
begin with B refer to that book, not this one.
GURPS
System Design
STEVE JACKSON
Transhuman Space
Line Editor
PHILMASTERS
e23 Manager
STEVEN MARSH
Page Design
PHIL REED and
JUSTIN DEWITT
Managing Editor
PHILIP REED
Art Director
WILL SCHOONOVER
Production Artist & Indexer
NIKOLA VRTIS
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Playtesters:
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GURPS
, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated.
Transhuman Space
,
Personnel Files, Wild Justice,
Pyramid
,
e23, and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under
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Transhuman Space: Personnel Files 3 – Wild Justice
is copyright © 2009 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved.
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C
ONTENTS
2
I
NTRODUCTION
Each supplement in
Transhuman Space: Personnel Files
line describes a campaign set in the world of Transhuman
Space, complete with background, brief scenario suggestions,
andnotesfortheGM.Thematerialalsoprovidesasetofchar-
acters suitable to act as PCs in this same campaign. The char-
acters are detailed using
GURPS
Fourth Edition,
with
templates and other details drawn from
Transhuman Space:
ChangingTimes
(and
TranshumanSpace:Shell-Tech
inafew
cases), which are also available from e23.
Personnel Files 3:
Wild Justice
relates the tale of four unusual companions on a
quest for revenge.
It’s sometimes said that
Transhuman Space
describes a
wonderfully detailed world, but it’s hard to decide on and
define an actual campaign to run there. The
Personnel Files
line is intended to provide an answer to this, and to demon-
strate what PCs for the setting might look like. These charac-
ters can also be used as NPCs, as antagonists, allies, patrons,
or background color.
The law is not the private
property of lawyers, nor is
justice the exclusive
province of judges and
juries. In the final analysis,
true justice is not a matter
of courts and law books,
but of a commitment in
each of us to liberty and
mutual respect.
– Jimmy Carter
A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR
Phil Masters is the author of
Transhuman Space:
Changing Times, Transhuman Space: Shell-Tech,
Transhuman Space: Personnel Files,
and a chapter in
Transhuman Space: High Frontier.
He has also worked on
countless other
GURPS
products, such as
Places of Mystery,
All-Star Jam 2004,
and
Powers,
and on products for other
companies. He lives in the U.K., and he doesn’t have a dog.
I
NTRODUCTION
3
W
ILD
J
USTICE
The characters detailed in this supplement form a tightly
knit group with a specific objective. Having been thrown
together by a mysterious incident that involved the murder of
someone they all regarded as a friend, mentor, or leader, they
nowseekanswersandjustice–orjustrevenge.Thisgoallooks
settotakeawhile.Theyalsohappentobearatherstrangeand
diverse group of characters, especially by the standards of the
campaign’s rather backwoods setting.
T
HE
B
EGINNING
The starting point for this campaign is a farming village in
a remote area of the impoverished African nation of
Tanganyika(see
Fifth Wave,
p.50).Afewyearsago,thevillage
wassurprisedandpleasedtolearnthattheywouldhaveanew
neighbor,assomeoneboughtatractofopenlandandhadabig
new house built there. The newcomer turned out to be a citi-
zen of South Africa, named Anton Hollick, who lived entirely
alone apart from a few AIs. The villagers were bemused at the
thought of someone wanting that big a house all to himself,
althoughtheyhadenoughideaaboutinfomorphsandtheWeb
to see that “alone” might not mean quite the same thing to a
Fifth Waver like Hollick. They also learned that part of the
housewasgivenovertosomekindoflaboratoryorworkshop.
Itseemedthathewassomekindofresearcherordevelopment
engineer.Still,Hollickseemedfriendlyenough,andhebrought
some much-appreciated business to the area. He even hired
some help from the village for good pay.
In fact, after a few months, he took on a permanent
employee.Itseemedthathewantedagatekeeper–nothingvery
serious,justsomeonetowatchtheentrancetotheestate,greet
guestswithahumanface,andoccasionallycheckthefencefor
damage or round up animals that had got into the grounds.
Afterconsultingsomevillagerswhohe’dcometotrust,Hollick
hired a young man named Joseph Kuzenza, even paying for a
little training in the equipment he’d be using. This may just
have been a gesture to keep the villagers happy with his pres-
ence while mostly preserving his privacy, but Hollick became
quite friendly with Kuzenza, chatting with him and showing
him his current project. This was an uplifted canine named
Rolphie,whoHollickwastrainingwiththeaidofanimplanted
specialist full-sapient AI. The theory was that the team of dog
and infomorph could learn to work together as one, and the
education process would enhance the postcanine’s relatively
limitedintellect.Theresults,Hollicksaid,seemedpromising.
In less guarded moments, Hollick also let slip a few other
thingstoKuzenza,thoughnotmuch.Hementionedenemies–
peoplefromwhomhewantedtogetaway,whichexplainedhis
move to this remote area. He didn’t say much, but he didn’t
seem too worried. Apparently, however serious the problem
may once have been, he felt that he’d put it behind him.
Evidently, he was wrong. One evening, as Joe Kuzenza set-
tled down on his bed in the estate gatehouse, a salvo of seeker
missilescameskimminginfromthewilderness.Mostofthem
were assigned to demolish the main house, and especially the
livingquarters,withmethodical,pinpointstrikes.Almostasan
afterthought, it seemed, two slammed into the gatehouse,
bringing that down too.
Agroupofvillagersarrivedwithinminutes,andtheydugJoe
Kuzenza out of the rubble. By sheer good fortune, his injuries
weren’t life-threatening, and he was even able to help with the
effortsatthemainhouse.Notthatanyonecouldhelpwithwhat
mattered: The attackers had no doubt performed adequate
reconnaissance, and there was just about enough of Anton
Hollick’s body left to permit easy DNA verification. However,
Joe lead the others to where Rolphie was lying injured in the
remainsoftheresearchwing,andtheydiscoveredthatthedog
too was only slightly hurt. Then something made Joe pause; it
seemedthathewaslisteningtothefancywearablesystemthat
Mr.Hollickhad issuedhim. He found an intact computer near
whereRolphiehadbeenlocated,rebooteditonemergencybat-
tery power, and connected his wearable up for a few minutes.
Thenhesatdownandweptforawhile.
He was composed by the time that the police team arrived
from the nearest town, and he answered their questions with
seeminghonesty.Theydidn’tappeartonoticethathenolonger
had his wearable, or much other equipment on him, and
Rolphie was nowhere to be seen either. They took statements,
announcedthattheperpetratorsofthisterriblecrimewouldbe
found and punished soon, and then left.
Few of the villagers were surprised by the police behavior.
Joe Kuzenza certainly wasn’t. In a desperately poor country,
still not fully recovered from decades of civil war, it’s all too
easy for very rich foreigners to buy the compliance of a few
well-placed officials. Anyone could see that this attack had
beenverycarefullyorganizedandfinancedbeyondthedreams
of any ordinary citizen of Tanganyika. The strangest thing, it
seemed to many, was the way that Joe Kuzenza seemed to be
getting angry over it. Nonetheless, he was entitled to be
annoyed, having been hurt himself, and he was a neighbor or
a cousin, so he received some help. Fortunately, the cops had
evidentlyonlybeenbribedtobesloppy,andnottodigdeepon
behalfofwhomeverwaspaying.Infact,itseemedtomanythat
Joe had come out of this pretty well – he’d acquired the wear-
able computer, the talking dog, a gun, and some body armor.
W
ILD
J
USTICE
4
He said he was going to take a few jobs around the neighbor-
hood, and this gear, better than anything in the village, meant
that he could ask for quite useful pay.
Joe was actually working toward a larger goal. Anton
Hollick’s voice was now talking in his ear, some of the time.
Although he knew that this wasn’t really Anton, it reinforced
his determination to resolve what had happened to his old
boss and sort-of friend. Rolphie agreed, as did Rolphie’s
trainer(withreservations).Theteamoffourisnowonamis-
sion. They take paying jobs, using a little high-tech gear and
computer resources to accomplish goals that are hard or
impossible for most people in rural Tanganyika, but this is
strictlyameanstoanendforthem.Moreimportantly,they’re
making contacts and acquiring skills and resources. They
periodically return to Joe’s home village to pick up messages
and follow up specific clues, but the paying work is taking
them increasingly far afield these days – though still within
this region of Tanganyika for now. The job-hunting has to be
managed carefully, too, as the desire to get good money and
build a professional reputation of sorts has to be balanced
against the need to avoid attracting official attention. Ideal
assignments give them some chance to follow up clues or
hints about the people who killed Hollick. They’re not quite
sure what they’re going to do when they discover exactly
whathappenedthatterriblenight,butthey’recertainlydeter-
mined to find the truth.
Group Equipment and Wealth
Onlyoneofthecharactersdetailedherecommandsany
sortofwealthorresources.That’sJoe–andhe’snotexactly
rich by general
Transhuman Space
standards. The others
are legally treated as property in their homeland, and Joe
has to look after them. Fortunately, their needs are gener-
allyfew;Rolphiecanoftenfeedhimself,withoutmoney,if
necessary,andtheAIsdon’trequireordinaryfoodordrink.
Nonetheless, the group must perforce live something of a
hand-to-mouth existence, and a pressing demand for
resources should drive many scenarios and decisions in
this campaign. Even AIs are theoretically supposed to pay
a cost of living in
Transhuman Space
games. While these
cybershells can’t actually starve and don’t have to pay rent
onprocessorsordatastorage,theGMshouldthrowinthe
occasional requirement for maintenance or replacement
power cells to remind the group of their situation.
The economic context for all this is Tanganyika, which
is listed in
Fifth Wave
as a
Dead Broke
area. The notes on
Wealth, Status, and Cost of Living
onpp.36-37of
Changing
Times
only go down as far as Poor, which is how this
region should be treated for these purposes. In truth, no
substantial population could survive if the prevailing typi-
calwealthlevelwas
literally
DeadBroke,asanyoneinthat
conditioncanonlylivebyscavengingorthecharityofoth-
ers, and in such a region, there just wouldn’t be enough
resources to go around.
Using those abstracted rules, Joe Kuzenza, as a Strug-
gling character, can usually find jobs that pay around
$1,300fora30-hourweek.He’sStatus0(workingasaper-
sonal servant/guard for a rich foreigner looked very
respectabletohisneighbors),sohiscostoflivingis$600a
month.Hetakesfreelancework,sohecansustainhisposi-
tion in any period when he works an average of 15 hours
each week. By taking longer assignments, as he usually
does when he gets the chance, he can provide the AIs and
Rolphie with generally adequate support. Alternatively or
additionally,theotherscouldbeconsideredtoget“jobs”as
aides to Joe – but doing this too obviously, interacting
directly with other people and making their abilities obvi-
ous, puts their dangerous Secrets at risk.
R
UNNING THE
C
AMPAIGN
The structure of this campaign should somewhat resemble
a television series – specifically, a low-rent, high-tech
The
Fugitive
meets
The A-Team.
Every“episode”(whichwillproba-
bly take one or a few game sessions), the PCs deal with some
problem, sometimes drawing closer to the resolution of their
mainobjective.Sometimesacompletelyindependentproblem
or the simple need to make a living and fund the search side-
tracks them. Occasionally, they discover a whole new layer of
complexitytothemystery.AswithsuchaTVseries,thewhole
thing revolves around the design of the core characters.
This
isn’t
a combat-oriented campaign concept, however,
astheprovidedcharactersillustrate.JoeandRolphiearecom-
petent enough in a brawl in their way, but there are only two
of them, and well-armed opponents are likely to bring them
downinshortorder.Rather,plotsshouldrevolvearoundinves-
tigation and observation, with the two organic team members
supplyinglegworkandahumanperspectiveonevents,andthe
two AIs providing the really crucial advantages – computer
capabilities way beyond the norm for rural Tanganyika.
Among other things, their ability to run skill-set software
makes them immensely flexible. They also can gain useful
access to the resources of the global Web, although they do
havetobeinrangeofafunctioningradionode(orpluggedinto
a cable connection) for this to work properly, and at times,
their access may be frustratingly slow.
T
HE
T
EAM
When starting a campaign like this, the GM has to be sure
that the PCs will fit. Anyone looking to run this specific cam-
paign doesn’t
have
to use exactly these four characters, but
they’llneedheroeswhomakesenseinthebackgroundandthe
specificlocation,andwho’llbehighlymotivatedtopursuethe
core objective of the campaign.
W
ILD
J
USTICE
5
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