Just a quick preview today. Every cyberpunk setting worth its salt comes with a bunch of slang, and here’s a sample of the slang encountered in the Cyberpapacy:
If you have any questions, head on over to our forums!
Art: Sam Denmark
Today we’re going to take another look at what makes the GodNet tick.
Although the GodNet is a virtual reality network, for those who are jacked in, it essentially feels similar to the Flesh, or the “real world”. It’s just that the environment is more artificial. There is still an underlying topography in place: sectors connected by datapaths, with constructs (the “buildings” of the GodNet) containing nodes. However, these all appear in the GodNet as structures or objects (i.e. a node could be a door, an archway, or even a wayside shrine).
When jacked into the GodNet, a person’s soul is literally uploaded into the system, and so by default their appearance is based on who a person truly is. For most people this is essentially the same as how they appear in the Flesh, but for others (especially for transgender, non-binary, and genderfluid people) their appearance (and specifically their gender) is based on who they truly are.
Deckers with the NewSkin program can appear as a completely different (though not specific) person.
Those who log into the GodNet via sanctioned neural jacks or TempTrodes appear with clothing but no other equipment. “Nodders” (those who access the GodNet through hacked devices) appear with the equipment they associate themselves with. For game purposes this is generally what they have at the beginning of a mission (i.e. what is permanently on their character sheet). The GM makes the final ruling on what applies. Deckers however, can provide “more equipment” with particular programs.
A common issue with virtual realities in roleplaying games is that it often ends up becoming a side mission with specialized rules for one player that can move focus to them for an inordinate amount of time, leaving the rest of the players with a lot of dead-time. Additionally, the hacker’s character can be amazing while jacked in, but outside the VR environment, they’re not very useful.
In Torg Eternity, this issue is magnified by the fact that the GodNet is a special feature of just one cosm, so it’s important that the decker be able to do their cool things in the GodNet but still be able to be useful in other realms.
There are a couple of ways we attempt to address this in Torg Eternity:
The Cyberpapacy Sourcebook includes several cyberdecks and programs for them to run. The basic cyberdeck is the First Seal, which replaces the one listed in the Core Book. Anyone with a neural jack can use the First Seal, but it is not customizable, and does not have as many programs as other cyberdecks.
Deckers customize their own rigs (by selecting the Custom Cyberdeck Perk), and each cyberdeck is attuned to a particular decker. Other Hacker Perks include upgrading programs or increasing storage space. Here’s an example cyberdeck and program:
If you have any questions, head on over to our forums!
Art: Bien Flores and Unique Spoarie
The GodNet seems to have gotten overclocked, and so we’re live!
https://www.gameontabletop.com/cf283/torg-cyberpapacy.html
The Cyberpapacy crowdfunding launches Monday, November 11, at 11 am Eastern Standard Time.
Update: There WILL be a GenCon game tier! 6 slots as usual, priced at $999. The Cardinal level will be reduced to 10 slots.
Currency
The currency is back to US dollars.
No GM Level: You’ll notice that there is no GM level this time around. For those, just pick the Player level and add the print products you want as add-ons, or pledge the amount you plan to spend in the manager later on.
No Catchup Level: We will have previous Cargo Boxes available as add-ons so there will be no specific level for this.
Shipping in the Pledge Manager: In earlier crowdfunding campaigns we had shipping as part of the pledge, but this time we will be collecting it in the Pledge Manager at the end. The amounts are about the same, it’s just the process we’ll be doing is a bit different, and we wanted to give everyone a heads up about that.
So what pledge levels can you expect? The base tiers are as follows:
These tiers often go VERY FAST! So if you want one of these, make sure you’re there at the launch time of xxx.
If you have any questions, head on over to our forums!
Art: Maurizio Giorgio
We are happy to announce that the Cyberpapacy crowdfunding campaign will launch on Monday, November 11 on Game On Tabletop!
The reason we are using Game On Tabletop for crowdfunding the next wave of Torg Eternity supplements is that we need to use a different platform than Kickstarter for fulfillment and due to past issues with porting data from Kickstarter to Game On we figured that we’d save time and solve that issue by going straight to that platform instead.
We’ll be giving you some more details on exactly what time we will launch and what special tiers we’ll have (but you can pretty much count on them being similar to past campaigns).
If you have any questions, head on over to our forums!
Happy Halloween! Today we’re going to take a look at some spoooooooooooky threats, highlighted by the Cyberpapcy gospog!
Initially, Cyberpope Malraux refused the Gaunt Man’s gift of gospog seeds, believing them to be gifts from the Devil. At Ebenuscrux’s suggestion however, he relented, rationalizing that he could use these unholy creatures to solidify his hold on the populace, and demonstrate the truth of his teachings—through fear. Additionally, gospog are excellent fodder for dealing with the Resistance who use the tunnels of the Underground, or the catacombs of Paris to hide and escape the Church’s clutches.
Malraux doesn’t use gospog as troops or laborers. The masses supply plenty of both. Instead he directed the Cabal to use them as part of their false flag operations. Gospog are created, and then used against the innocent population to stoke fear into them and then Church Police save them. The result is a thankful and grateful citizenry.
Higher planting gospog in the Cyberpapacy have forms based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Pestilence (2nd), War (3rd), Famine (4th), and Death (5th).
CreaturesSeveral creatures are detailed as well, including Hellhounds, Cygoyles, and Booster Dogs:
Finally, several agents of the Church have entries, including Inquisitors, Babel Monitors, and jackpriests:
If you have any questions, head on over to our forums!
Art: Bien Flores and Unique Spoarie
This week we’ll take our first look at the GodNet, the virtual reality network that covers the entire Cyberpapacy.
Here’s a sample page near the beginning of the book that summarizes what the GodNet is:
There are three different regions of the GodNet. The Promised Land, which is the vast landscape of sectors that overlay the Cyberpapacy, but also includes “the Flesh” as GodNet entities and people jacked in to the network can manifest outside the GodNet via holograms, hardlight or otherwise. The other two regions are summarized below: the Mountain and the Land of Nod.
If you have any questions, head on over to our forums!
Art: Sam Denmark
We’re going to switch things up a bit for this week and show you the introduction vignette for the Cyberpapacy Sourcebook:
If you have any questions, head on over to our forums!
Art: Bien Flores and Unique Soparie
Today we’re going to take a look at new options for Storm Knights who choose to fight the Cyberpapacy from within the Church itself.
In addition to the history and tenets of the CyberChurch, those who follow the religion of the CyberChurch but believe that it has been corrupted right to the top have additional miracles they can invoke. Here’s the updated list of miracles for the CyberChurch:
and one of those miracles:
Some members of the Church take a more martial stance to their faith. These warriors, and members of the Knights Templar can become a Champion of God, courtesy of a new Perk:
If you have any questions, head on over to our forums!
Art: Bien Flores and Unique Soparie
Cyberpapacy Preview #4 – Malraux and EbenuscruxToday we’re going to take a look at the High Lord of the Cyberpapacy and his Darkness Device.
Jean Malraux was born a bastard, one who reported his own mother to the Inquisition as a heretic. He joined the Inquistion himself, but after his master, who had become a father figure to him, was killed by a demon accidentally summoned by a witch, he made it his life’s mission to eradicate witches from Magna Verita.
Realizing that remaining an Inquisitor prevented him from bringing his vision to the Church, he joined the clergy, but despite his success his parentage blocked him from becoming a Cardinal. He travelled to Mount Sinai and prayed for a sign that his mission was right. 6 days later those prayers were answered.
Ebenuscrux came down from Heaven and claimed to be an archangel sent by God to teach Malraux a new skill: politics. Within a couple of years Malraux was elected Pope to the shock of the Cardinals who had prevented his rising even to their ranks. Malraux quickly dispatched his enemies and took solid control over the Church.
Soon after he introduced the Malraux Bible, subplanting the Julian Bible which had been the Church’s holy book for centuries. After leading his people on the first Great Crusade, bringing the Word to a whole new world, he became the first Cyberpope, and instituted the One True Way, which in a single day defeated the forces of the Pagans.
Malraux is nearly the opposite of Doctor Mobius. He leads on the Holy Vids, but he does not get his hands dirty. He is moody and violent, charming yet manipulative. He truly believes that he is doing the right thing for his people, even if he has to control them with an iron fist to get them to realize it.
The truth, however, is that Malraux isn’t in control.
Ebenuscrux is a heretic. Unlike the other Darkness Devices, Ebenuscrux creates. Even though the Cyberpope claims (and actually believes) that he created the GodNet, the truth is that the Darkness Device did it. Furthermore, since Malraux became Cyberpope there hasn’t been a single divinely inspired technological innovation granted to anyone in the Cyberpapacy. Instead, the Darkness Device has been the one providing new ideas to Malarux.
Furthermore, Ebenuscrux doesn’t just have the goal of being the Darkness Device that aids its High Lord to become Torg. It wants to become Torg itself. How exactly it plans to do this it is uncertain, but it realizes that if it wants to attain that power for itself, it needs a High Lord that it can manipulate, and Jean Malraux is very certainly that High Lord. Much of the High Lord’s influence and political power was largely the result of Ebenuscrux’s prodding and knowledge, and the Darkness Device knows where the skeletons are hidden in Malraux’s closet. Furthermore, Malraux doesn’t realize that he’s being manipulated and he honestly believes in his soul that Ebenuscrux was sent from God to serve him and aid him in bringing his Word to other cosms.
Malraux has been increasing the defenses of his stelae in response to the Delphi Council’s attempts to free zones in other realms. Here’s an example:
If you have any questions, head on over to our forums!
