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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.