:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: : Earth's Dreamlands : Info on: RPG's, :(313)558-5024 : area code : :RPGNet World HQ & Archive: Drugs, Industrial :(313)558-5517 : changes to : : 1000's of text files : music, Fiction, :InterNet : (810) after : : No Elite / No porn : HomeBrew Beer. :rpgnet@aol.com: Dec 1,1993 : :.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: Chapter 1: WELCOME TO BLIGHT CITY! It's 2020« A.D. and the world is a very serious place. Giant corporations (Megacorps, or just Corps) run everything and control the worldwide computer Net (short for network). Fun is illegal and the law is enforced by the Serious Police, a bunch of real party poopers. There's lots of pollution and everybody is gloomy and sad. But not for long! That's because _you_ are a member of the not-so-secret conspiracy of Toonpunks, and spreading laughs and jokes is your mission in life! You use your unique talents to play tricks on the Megacorps, disturb the status quo and generally shake the foundations of 21st-century society. Is that fun or what? Just remember that everyone has access to powerful weapons and other high-tech gadgets, especially the Serious Police. Life can be very short in Blight City, but it's never dull. You might even be a computer-hacking Netroamer, adventuring and playing tricks on the Megacorps' own computers. Cyberspace can be any world that a program tells it to be -- and being there without proper clearance can get you Boggled, Knocked Down or even (GULP!) Zeroed Out! Keep your mind clear and your Shtick programs ready! Yes, this world is incredibly dangerous and exciting, so enjoy it! Please note that Tooniversal Tours is not liable for damages incurred while breaking the law, but will pay a token fee ($12.50) to any customer who gets Mindfried. GLOSSARY First-time visitors to the Toonpunk world may need this handy glossary of common terms. Some of these will be expanded upon in other sections of this manuscript. A.I.: Stands for Artificial Intelligence. Any A.I. with a Smarts over 4 is illegal. BOT: Robot. C.A.T.: Comedy Assault Team CHIP: An information chip that can be installed in a "chipdip". CHIPDIP: A small socket on a piece of cybertech that lets a chip be installed. COP: Anyone involved in law enforcement, including private investigators. CORPCRIME: Crimes committed inside Corpdomes. CORPDOME: The huge domed buildings that contain a Megacorp's offices, factories and executive housing. CORPTOONS: Anyone who works as an executive at a Megacorp. CRACKED UP AND OUT: Term for what happens when a Gloomy is made to laugh (or is Boggled) so much that they lose their Gloominess. CYBERDOC: Street slang for a Cybersurgeon. CYBERSPACE: An artificial, computer-generated world inside the Net. CYBERSURGEON: A Technogeek who installs cyberware implants, often illegally. CYBERTECH: Cybernetic technology or cybernetic technology devices. CYBERWARE: Cybertech devices meant to be implanted in someone's body. CYBORGS: Anyone who has had more than half his body replaced by cyberware. DECK: Short for "cyberdeck", the interface device a Netroamer uses to access Cyberspace. GLOOMY: Anyone who has been stripped of all joy. Essentially, anyone who isn't a Toonpunk. GRAM: Short for computer program. For information about many popular programs, see the Netroamer Stuff section (p.00) and the Net Profits Catalog (p.00). LOON OUT: A form of berserk comic rage that sometimes overcomes Muscleboys and Cyborgs. See p.00 for the game effects of this. MESSAGE OF HUMOR: The creed by which all Toonpunks live: "Lighten up and have some fun!" MINDFRIED: Having one's Smarts reduced by 2 by a dangerous Trapgram, Bogglegram, or by the Serious Police. Not always a bad thing in Toon. See p.00. MUSCLEBOYS/GIRLS: Toonpunks who like combat and violent slapstick humor. NET: Slang term for the world computer network. NETCRIME: Any crime committed in Cyberspace. NETROAM: To travel through Cyberspace. NETROAMERS: Toonpunks who enter the Net, usually for illegal comic purposes. PINKYPLUG: A cyberware little finger that allows the user to plug into a cyberdeck. (This may be installed other places -- an elephant might have a plug on his trunk, for instance.) PLUG IN: What a Netroamer does when he sticks his finger in a deck. REALSPACE: The real world, not Cyberspace. SERIOUS POLICE: Universally accepted nickname for the Corporate Regulators Of Serious Situations (CROSS) STREETCRIME: Any criminal activity that takes place on the Street. SUIT: Another name for a Corptoon. TECHNOGEEK: Someone who can design, build, modify, and program cybertech devices. THE STREET: Slang term for any part of Blight City not inside a Corpdome. VID: Short for video (TV). VIDMAG: Short for video magazine, which you buy on a disposable compact disc. WORLDGRAM: A program that creates a Cyberspace world. ZEROED OUT: Having one's sense of humor destroyed. For Toonpunks, this is the worst fate imaginable. See p.00. TOONPUNK PERILS TECHNO-BOGGLE Any time an "augmented" character is Boggled, their implants and other gadgets are likely to spit sparks, smoke, and malfunction. This is only temporary. If you have extendable wings and laser eyes, and somebody Boggles you, your wings might flip up and snap back a few times, and your eyes might flash on and off and burn WUGGA WUGGA WUGGA into the nearest wall. But after that, you'll be okay. So have fun describing the Techno-Boggle. Characters with implants should avoid powerful magnets, stay indoors during electrical storms, avoid very cold places, keep their implants well lubricated, stay fairly dry, keep away from microwave ovens and go in for a checkup every six months or 10,000 miles. Sometimes an implant may pick up TV or radio signals from far away. Just ignore them and they'll soon fade out. Maybe. Gremlins do not exist, but if they did, they would love people with implants and bionic gadgets. LOONING OUT After any Techno-Boggle, the Animator rolls two dice. If the result is less than or equal to the number of bionic gadgets the character has, he Loons Out. The Animator takes control of him for 3 turns and can make him do whatever he wants! MINDFRYING Mindfrying occurs when someone is in cyberspace and encounters a particulary dangerous Trapgram or Bogglegram (see p.00). His Smarts score is reduced by 2 for 4d turns, even after he leaves cyberspace. ZEROING OUT Getting Zeroed Out is the absolute worst thing that can happen in a TOONPUNK 2020« game. When you are Zeroed Out, you instantly turn into a huge "0" and start rolling really fast in a random direction. Eventually, you hit something and smash into a zillion pieces and Fall Down. When you get up, you have lost all your ability to have fun, and must be totally serious and depressed until someone fiinds a way to un-Zero you. There are two ways to get Zeroed Out. In cyberspace, you could get zapped by a really bad trapgram. In realspace, you could get caught by the Serious Police, who tie you down and make you watch old sitcoms and political speeches until you crack.