Glass Dreams

Glass Dreams was the name of the original adventure that started it all at the first Enbicon convention. An original adventure written by (I assume) the man who ran the game at that con, Satan* himself. As an introduction to the Cyberpunk genre, the adventure hit all the right points; there was a good mix of character types for the players to choose from, there was a conspiracy that put the player characters on the run and forced them to work together to clear their names, and there was plenty of violence.

The adventure stuck with me, helped by the fact that a regular campaign spun out of the convention adventure where myself and another player were able to keep playing our characters from the con. Not only did it set me on the path to GMing Cyberpunk games myself, but I also tried to adapt the adventure to a comic book.

Not a lot of information has survived the years since that original game, but what I have is presented here.

Though it never made off the proverbial, and literal, drawing board, a teaser one-pager I drew for the comic adaption can be found in the Gallery, and the comic script for the first part of the adaption is on the Writing Desk.

* I say Satan, but his name was actually Steve and he was pretty cool. Steve was a tall, lean fellow with leathery skin, black hair and a mustache and goatee, and when he showed up at the first meeting for GMs who were running games at the convention he was wearing a battered khaki trenchcoat with a pentagram at the back and a wide-brimmed black hat. My friend and I assumed that the Devil had just offered to run a Cyberpunk game at the con.

Player Characters

There were eight characters, representing half of the Roles available to characters in the core RPG game.

Snake Eyes

Ex-military pilot. Cybernetic enhancements: left cybereye (targeting, imaging enhancement, anti-dazzle); right cybereye (low-light, anti-dazzle, telescopic); right cyberarm (armored, implanted mini-Uzi); reflex booster.

Tank

Ex-military special forces. Full cyborg conversion, armored cyberlimbs, reinforced skull plating, cybereyes.

Larry

TV reporter for Net News 54. Cybernetic enhancements: interface plugs, cybereye with video recording.

Techrat

Black market gear expert. Cybernetic enhancements: interface plugs, chipware socket.

Livewire

Cybernetic hacker. Cybernetic enhancements: interface plugs.

Fox

Mercenary. Cybernetic enhancements: left cybereye (targeting, thermoptic, anti-dazzle); cyberaudio (radio splice, phone link, scrambler, recorder), sensory boost, scratchers.

Rollercoaster and Flashback

Duo who perform under the name Shatterwave. Cybernetic enhancements: [Rollercoaster] cyberoptic (TimesSquare); [Flashback] cyberarms with rippers.

The Story of Glass Dreams

The breakdown of the adventure here is based on the notes for the never-finished comic adaption, so are the version of the story for that medium. It's not an exact play-by-play recreation of how the original game went at the convention, but the overall arc and major story beats remain true to the source.

The comic adaption was designed as a five-part serial, so the story here is presented in that format.

Part 1: The Concert

Eight strangers unknowingly share a strange dream, where they turn to glass. By coincidence, or perhaps not, two of the eight are the musical duo called Shatterwave and are playing a concert where the other six are in attendance. During the concert all eight hallucinate they are surrounded by people made of glass who shatter at their touch. When the hallucination ends the eight are in the middle of a bloodbath, where they have apparently killed several people at the concert. They are surrounded by police who are about to open fire on them.

Part 2: Things Get Worse

Tank grabs one of the large speakers on the stage and throws it into the cluster of police before they can open fire on the eight. They flee the scene and Tank takes them to his hideout where the eight introduce themselves to each other. A casual remark makes them realize they have all been having the same strange dreams lately. Comparing information they trace the start of the dreams to after each of them had new cyberware installed, cyberware they all received from a ripperdoc named Doc Chop.

The eight sneak into Doc Chop's place and after searching they find a trapped hidden compartment. Bypassing the trap they find a disk which Livewire examines. The contents of the disk indicate that the cyberware the eight received were in reality some kind of prototypes that Doc Chop had acquired under the table from Osaka Industries. Based on the information the eight realize that to get the cyberware removed they need Doc Chop, because no one else would be familiar enough with the prototypes. As they debate their next move, Fox's enhanced hearing picks up an approaching helicopter. Snake Eyes goes to a window and sees a police helicopter launching a missile at them.

Part 3: False Hopes

The missile strikes the hideout, but the eight had enough warning to mostly get clear. Only Snake Eyes is injured, taking a piece of shrapnel to his leg. The group finds another street doc and the wound is dealt with, after which they retrieve Livewire's netrunning deck. Livewire jacks into the Net and locates a fellow ‘runner named Gypsy Rose. Together the pair hit the Osaka datafortress and retrieve security information on the Osaka headquarters. When Fox gets a look at the building layouts she says they are fake, indicating someone is on to the group. They abandon their latest hideout in case someone traced Livewire's run.

With some basic disguises the group head to an Edgerunner bar called Screaming Fist to see if they can learn more information. While at the bar they see news reports on the television on the killings at the concert and the manhunt for the eight. Their disguises prove to have been ineffective as the bar soon fills with a team of corporate security operatives.

Part 4: Things Get Better

Snake Eyes gets the drop on the corporate cops with the submachine gun hidden in his cyberarm. The group flees after a short firefight, this time heading to one of Fox's safe houses. From there they plan their next moves, choosing to split into three groups with different objectives. Rollercoaster and Flashback accompany Fox to a bank machine to get some money. The rockers are worried about the transaction being traced, but Fox assures them she is using an account under a false identity that Osaka shouldn't know about. Once they have the money the rockers insist on making another stop before they return to the others.

Livewire and Techrat, accompanied by Tank, reach one of Techrat's caches where they pick up some ammunition, extra guns, and some additional netrunning software for Livewire. Tank spots a rocket launcher in Techrat's cache and takes it, despite the latter's protests that he intended to sell the weapon. Seeking information, Snake Eyes and Larry have tracked down an associate of Doc Chop named Hardwired and question him. After some threats they learn that Doc has been killed, but Osaka have his assistant, Nite Lite, and that she would be able to remove their tainted cyberware.

Back together at Fox's hideout the eight load up on equipment, preparing to hit Osaka's headquarters. When someone brings up the need for a distraction the rockers indicate they have a plan. Just then several boostergang members enter the hideout.

Part 5: Finale

The gang turns out to have been recruited by the rockers to provide the distraction for the team's attack on Osaka. With Tank providing protection, Livewire jacks in and uses the new software from Techrat to penetrate the Osaka headquarters datafortress. With Livewire in the system they give the boostergang a go and the gang, with the rockers, start a frontal assault on the facility's main gates. With the distraction doing its job, the rest of the group break into the Osaka facility with Livewire providing guidance from inside the corporate network. Under Livewire's direction they find a secure elevator and are able to get it to take them down to a secure level of the building.

Back outside, corporate security have brought an assault tank to disperse the gang attack. To deal with the vehicle Tank brings out the rocket launcher he took and a showdown of Tank versus tank begins. Inside the facility the group fight through security and are able to locate Nite Lite. By this time the battle outside the Osaka facility has attracted attention, with news helicopters on site. Larry starts a live broadcast from inside the facility, laying out Osaka's involvement in the concert massacre via their prototype cyberware. Tank wins his battle with the assault vehicle, though with one of his own cyberarms being blown off in the process. The rest of the team are able to get Nite Lite clear of the facility and everyone flees the area.

Nite Lite is able to remove the Osaka cyberware from all eight of the group, and the information from Larry's broadcast plus files sent to the authorities by Livewire result in the eight being cleared of all charges. As for Osaka Industries, they take some penalties but are able to pin the blame on the late Doc Chop, claiming the cyberware was stolen and installed without their knowledge or consent.

Afterwards the eight go their separate ways, though the possibility that Osaka might seek revenge on them remains a potential threat.

Aftermath

The Glass Dreams game proved popular enough at the convention for several players, myself included, to ask the GM to consider running a Cyberpunk game on a regular basis. He agreed and thus began the ongoing Cyberpunk campaign that I would initially co-GM and later take over as sole Gamemaster for.

Character Sketches

Some sketches of three of the characters from the Glass Dreams adventure. From left to right: Tank, Snake Eyes, and Flashback.