2024-05-23

Choom's Tomb, a fan-made adventure for Cyberpunk RED

THE SITCH

Doc Marty Mayer, retired medtech and the Earnnes brothers are thick as thieves. Years of watching the other’s back does that. Unfortunately, a drug and gambling addiction don’t mix with anger issues. Bad habits put her on the bad side of the Clarks and the McLarens, dynastic clans of Lawmen.

One Friday Night Firefight later and 8 of the 15 clansmen end up flatlined in a parking lot. Media called it the Firefight at Choom’s Tomb on account of it happening behind the bar named as such. Two of the brothers, Vinny and Syd, were both shot in the back a few months later. Doc Mayer and Wally Earnnes are now on the run. On account of their rep, no Edgerunner is snitching on them. Police also recalled the bounty on account of the remaining Clark and McLaren brothers wanting the kills for themselves.

Doc Marty’s reaches out to your crew and promises a metric fuck-ton of Eddies (3,500 EB per runner). Just wipe out the rest of the clan off the face of the Earth. Like hell these pigs get the courtesy of Doc and Wally leaving town. They’re getting what’s coming to them.

WHAT LEAD UP TO THAT

Among her many offenses against the clan was running away with “the merchandise” from several McLaren joytoy houses. Her winning against the Clarks at their own gambling houses in several games until getting caught cheating was another one. Her biggest offense was liberating Stacy, George McLaren’s wife, from the clans. Doc Mayer had pulled in a favor from Snake Nation Nomads to get the woman out of Night City.

The lawmen wanted her flatlined, but all they got were hired assassins in body bags. Frustrated, the clansmen then tried to kidnap one of Doc’s beloved steadies, a lovely gal named Spice who worked at Choom’s Tomb.

By sheer miracle, Mayer and the Earnnes brothers arrived at the bar and confronted all 15 of the would-be kidnappers at the parking lot. Fun fact: unbeknownst to Mayer and the Earnnes, they only learned about the kidnapping because Erica Clark, Shane Clark’s wife, anonymously tipped them off. Unluckily for her, Shane survived the firefight.

WALLY EARNNES

The last surviving Earnnes brother. Wicked good driver and one of the fastest draws in Night City. Doc Mayer and he had known each other since they were little. Intends to last long enough to build a family. Wonders who gave them that lucky tip to Choom’s Tomb.

He’s holed up with Doc in one of his family’s inherited fuel stations on the outskirts of Heywood. Built like a fortress and rife with Nomads from across the nations. Must be hard to smoke the pair out from what’s effectively hallowed ground. He’s set to meet the hired Edgerunners. Nakatomi Kotone of the Tyger Claws arrives at the same time.

LEADS

TWO HOUSEHOLDS BOTH ALIKE

Wally had a tryst with one of the McLaren’s sisters, Jamie Lee. She knows her brothers are pieces of shit. Most of them treat their wives like punching bags or meat. She’s close to a trio of wives, Jenny McLaren, Rowena McLaren, and Erica Clark.

Find the trio in the Holy Angels Church. There they discuss ways to leave their husbands unscathed. The other two are aware of Erica’s tip and so does the parish priest Father Ulysses. The women all lament the fact that Jeremiah McLaren, Jenny’s husband, and Shane are still alive.

Rowena herself is secretly with a greenhorn from the police department. Officer Jake Williams just wants to give one big middle finger to whole police force. Nothing gets done unless there’s corporate approval and looking the other way is a frequent responsibility. He hopes to elope with Rowena in the near future. It’s a better life than with Jonathan.s

Officer Williams wants the other Clark and McLaren officers dead as much as anyone else. He’d prefer to not look over his shoulder during or after the wedding.

The Fixer who gave the gig would know Williams as a reliable source of insider info. Knows nil about the two’s affair.

SHE USED TO BE HIS

Bobby Clark went full cyberpsycho during the fight and was responsible for killing four of the lawmen brothers at Choom’s Tomb. Wally put him down personally. Either way, Jeremiah McLaren has been on edge lately on account of the serious amount of chrome he’s chipped in. His wife Jenny just packed her things and left while he was away during the gunfight.

Other than the church, she’s reachable at Forlorn Hope. Serves as a waitress with an “outlaw” gimmick. She’s always masked while on the dining floor. She planned to leave Jeremiah and take the kids with her as soon as his cyberpsychosis symptoms came: violent outbursts and vivid hallucinations galore. She was able to copy several of his private logs. It’s a rambling mess.

MaxTac are investigating the McLarens and Clarks for harboring cyberpsychos. The clansmen bureaucratic stalling has worked. MaxTac still doesn’t have the bodies for autopsies. The exact cadavers needed are stored in Precinct 416.A, where Officer Williams stations. Eddies swiftly sway the pathologist hoarding the bodies in the mortuary, but, despite his performed bravado, he folds like paper to violence too.

OPPORTUNITIES

THE WEAPON

Jeremiah McLaren is AWOL. No one’s seen him since the shootout. The official reason is an extended sabbatical. He’s just alone at his former family’s home. Mercy knows where that is. He wants his brothers to come save him, blood is thicker than water he thinks. Yeah, they’re all steering clear of the future cyberpsycho that was once family.

He consistently rambles about wringing his brothers’ necks for abandoning him. He’s a timed bomb only needing direction.

LUCKY DRAGON PLAZA

The Chinese restaurant and hostess bar that the brothers own. Execs with loose morals and plenty of Eurobucks keep the place prosperous. Tomorrow night, the brothers are closing the place for their meeting with two Bradi Bunch members. Greg II and Cindy I represent the family. As proper sadists, the two family members get along well with Dr. Stewart Clark.

The wife trio learned about the event through eavesdropping. Jeremiah’s agent, completely forgotten by him, mentions the scheduled meet.

THE TYGER CLAWS

From the top down, the gang despise the clansmen. Lacking respect, the brothers famously throw their weight around like they were the sons of Donald Lundee. Unfortunately for the remaining seven, Hayato Nakagawa owes Wally a favor.

NAKATOMI KOTONE

Accompanied by three of her underlings, she pledges her aid. Per Nakagawa’s instructions, the only condition for the help is that all clansmen must die. As part of the agreement, forfeit any survivors over to Kotone for “processing.” This is personal for her. The clansmen almost trafficked her sister through a compromised friend.

Her underlings are Hardened Boostergangers. She has the stats of a Hardened Arasaka Assassin and a SlamDance Tasmanskiy Klô installed onto her cyberarm.

THE CLANSMEN

These are the ones alive and not on the verge of cyberpsychosis just yet.

THE MCLARENS

RUFUS

Dreams of becoming an exec one day, yet dresses like one already. He’s always been good with making money and hoarding it like a damned curmudgeon. If it wasn’t for his synthcoke addiction, he’d have more Eddies.

STATS: Bodyguard¹, but INT 7, Bureaucracy 10, and Business 12. Handgun 10 and no Shoulder Arms.

CYBERWARE: Toxin Binders². Hidden Holster².

SPECIAL GEAR: Superchrome Sidearm³. Militech Crusher⁴. The Corporate Island.

JONATHAN

Boring. Nothing to his name. He looks up to Cole but forever remains under the latter’s shadow. Quite the temper due to the apparent inferiority. He is at least sober.

STATS: Boosterganger¹.

CYBERWARE: Wolvers⁵. Techhair⁶. Mr. Studd Sexual Implant². Skin Weave².

SPECIAL GEAR: Shotgun⁷.

COLE

Closest thing to a leader the clansmen have. He was the sole reason that the 7 clansmen survived. He bet that he could get them all out. One of the few times his understated gambling addiction paid off.

ROLE: SOLO

STATS: Hardened Security Officer⁸, but Cool 6 and Empathy 6. Human Perception 8 and Interrogation 10. Gamble 8 too.

CYBERWARE: Subdermal Armor². Pain Editor⁹. Wolvers. Neural Link, Kerenzikov⁹.

SPECIAL GEAR: Street Destroyer¹⁰. Very Heavy Pistol⁷.

THE CLARKS

ANTHONY

Closest to Jeremiah. Deeply regretful of leaving him to expire. He’s been using Smash to cope. While not yet addicted, he’s getting there. He’s the only brother without a wife. He houses a pet canary that he loves more than anything. On account of his soft heart, he’s a black sheep.

STATS: NETRUNNER¹¹, Interface 5

CYBERWARE: Everything from Netrunner Mooks. Internal Body Cyberware Hardened Shielding ¹².

SPECIAL GEAR: None.

STEWART

Their best interrogator? He’s more cruel and unusual than anything else. He knows exactly what nerve wires to strike in the human body and cyberware to make anyone squeal. Disgustingly punch-able face.

For expediency, I decided to use the 3-goon method from JonJontheWise.

ROLE: MEDTECH, Medicine 5 INITIATIVE: 1d10+6 THROWING: 1d10+10 MELEE: 1d10+11 HEALTH: 35 HP ARMOR: Kevlar, 7 SP

CYBERWARE: Cybersnake². Nasal Filters². Cybereye, Targeting Scope and MicroOptics¹³. Neural Link. Cyberarm⁵. MicroWaldo¹⁴.

SPECIAL GEAR: Ranger Combat Boomerang¹⁵. Arachnid Grenade x2¹⁶.

CULLEN

Cole’s right hand, much to Jonathan’s chagrin. Tough as nails with a touch of loose cannon. He’s intent on seeing Doc and Wally nailed on the cross for what they’ve done to his family. As a pious man, he seeks to preserve what’s left of his brothers.

STATS: Hardened Security Operative, but Body 8, Athletics 10, Brawling 12.

CYBERWARE: Kiroshi Optishield¹⁷. Neo-Soviet Cyberarm ¹⁵, Popup Net Launcher¹⁵. Neo-Soviet Cyberarm 2, Popup Shield ⁵.

GEAR: The Pursuit Security Bouncer¹⁸. Zip ties x4.

FINAL NOTES

IN-FICTION

The police protect their own and the clansmen are sure as hell one of them. MaxTac, if helped in their investigation, deter direct retaliation. However, don’t expect any kind of support or aid from them. Contacts loyal to the force cut ties with cop killers.

Doc Mayer and Wally Earnnes refuse any offers to leave town until the rest of the clansmen are dead. Not a single one spared. They pay only when that happens. Convincing them might be quite the feat.

RUNNING THE GAME

Doc Mayer and Wally Earnnes are larger than life. I wish I had the patience to make custom stats for them, but I don’t. Given the amount of NPCs, adding them to a combat encounter might be a bit of a pain/mess. It’s potential NPC bloat.

Though, what would I know? I ain’t at your table. Wally Earnnes? A Hardened Outrider who prefers a Militech Perseus. Handgun 16 and Shoulder Arms 12 preferably. In addition to everything else, he’s got a modified out Kerenzikov that adds +2 to rolls for his quick draws at the cost of Humanity.

Doc Mayer’s a Hardened Militech Veteran with a Malorian Arms Sub-Flechette Gun. She’s got the necessary cyberware for the latter too. She has Medicine 4 (Pharmaceuticals 4) and Combat Awareness 3.

I got inspiration for Lucky Dragon Plaza from Frag Maps’ Dragon House Chinese Restaurant. I recommend using that as a battle-map if you need one. If you’d like there to be small net architecture in the building, see the map I generated using @benj’s Cyberpunk-Red-Net-Architecture-generator.

First node should be the CCTV cameras in the building and the silent alarm. The two passwords in the middle guard halves of the encrypted ledger documenting the clans’ illicit activities. The two hellhounds guard the encryption key to unlock said ledger.

LEGAL

Choom’s Tomb is unofficial content provided under the Homebrew Content Policy of R. Talsorian Games and isn’t approved or endorsed by R. Talsorian Games. This content references materials that are the property of R. Talsorian Games and its licensees.