Dice Goblin

I got some cyberpunk swirling around in my head; I do not rule out a cyberpunk-themed Block, Dodge, Parry hack in the future, who knows!

Image: Futuristic dystopian apartment by Kamen Nikolov

For today: I was thinking how to reconcile these two concepts:

• An OSR RPG can be lethal, with player characters dropping out/needing to be replaced by new ones
• Some sense of cohesion is nice within a crew; a shared goal or mission.

So, how do you keep that cohesion if the crew can basically be Ship-of-Theseus’d within a few missions?

For my campaign idea, I think the solution will be the Broker – a mysterious fixer, who might be an individual, group, corp or rogue AI (no one knows). Through remarkable influence and all kinds of dirty means, the Broker always manages to gather just the right crew for their jobs. The consistency of the game is provided by the Broker; the mystery of who they are and what they want (if anything).

When dropping in a new character (or just making a one in general), roll on the following table. Bonus: You can also use this for ‘in-between’ fixers, meaning that the jobs come from different fixers every time, who themselves are owned by the Broker.

30 Reasons You’ve Taken This Job

1. You owe the Broker a massive debt and they’re calling it in.
2. The Broker saved your life after a botched job, and now you’re working off the debt.
3. You were betrayed by a former employer, and the Broker offered revenge in exchange for your services.
4. The Broker promised to make you disappear after this job—new identity, clean slate.
5. You have no idea how the Broker found you, but they know everything about your past.
6. You’ve been promised a fortune upon completing a series of jobs, but the reward keeps being pushed to “after the next one.”
7. The Broker has information on a long-lost loved one, and they’ll share it if you succeed.
8. You’re addicted to a substance the Broker supplies, and they control your access to it.
9. You’re actually an undercover agent, trying to get close to the Broker to take them down from within.
10. The Broker helped you out of a legal mess, and now you owe them more than just money.
11. You’re a former corporate executive whose career was ruined—now you’re seeking revenge against the system, with the Broker’s help.
12. The Broker is paying you to sabotage a specific corporation you have a personal vendetta against.
13. You’re in it for the thrill. The Broker gives you the kind of jobs no one else would dare take.
14. You lost everything in a corporate war, and the Broker is helping you rebuild, one mission at a time.
15. The Broker has promised to protect your family from a powerful enemy if you follow their orders.
16. You’re trying to stay off the grid, and the Broker is the only one keeping you hidden.
17. You were framed for a crime, and the Broker has been your only protection from law enforcement.
18. The Broker offered you a chance to hack into a system you’ve been dying to crack for years.
19. You’re participating in these missions because you think the Broker’s endgame aligns with your own ideals.
20. The Broker once saved your life, and you’re working to repay a personal debt of honor.
21. You’re only doing this because the Broker has promised to free someone important to you from corporate prison.
22. You’re seeking revenge against a rival, and the Broker has promised their downfall in exchange for your cooperation.
23. The Broker is simply paying you, but the pay is better than anything else you’ve ever made.
24. You owe the Broker for getting you a high-end cybernetic implant you couldn’t otherwise afford.
25. The Broker promised you a seat of power in the city after their plan succeeds.
26. You’ve been forced into working for the Broker by someone else pulling the strings, and you don’t know why.
27. You don’t trust the Broker, but you need the resources they’re offering for your own secret agenda.
28. You’re convinced the Broker is doing the right thing by dismantling the corporations, so you’re willingly helping them.
29. You’re just in it for the money and don’t care about the Broker’s larger goals.
30. The Broker has dirt on your biggest corporate rival, and they’re using it to manipulate you into working for them.