334 Cepheus Supplement: Chrome & Static

The Sprawl, The Mesh, and the Asymmetric War

Introduction: Cities That Eat Information

The future is not starships. The future is density —billions of minds packed into vertical geology, breathing recycled air, eating synthesized protein, and generating data faster than any government can sort it. The city is not a location. It is an ecosystem, a battlefield, and a medium all at once.

This supplement adds cyberpunk urban warfare, information conflict, and corporate espionage to 334 Cepheus. It integrates with the core rules, the Synthetics supplement (robots, AI, drones), and the Xenosophonts supplement. You do not need a starship to use these rules. You need a jack, a fake ID, and a place to hide when the corporate counterterrorism drones start hunting signatures.

Part 1: The Sprawl — Urban Environment

Verticality & Zones

Urban environments are not flat. Combat and movement operate in three layers:

Changing Layer: Moving between layers takes 1 round (lift, ladder, stairwell) or a Significant Action (climbing, rappelling). A failed Athletics 8+ check results in a fall or delay.

Crowd Density

Collateral Damage: In Moderate or Dense crowds, any missed ranged attack that fails by 4+ strikes a bystander. The Referee may escalate this to legal or social consequences.

Surveillance & Heat

Every action in the Sprawl generates Heat —attention from automated systems, corporate security, and law enforcement.

Reducing Heat:

• 1 week of laying low reduces Heat by 1.
• Bribery (Carousing or Broker 8+, Cr 1,000–10,000) reduces Heat by 1.
• Identity swap (Computer or Intrusion 10+, Cr 5,000) resets Heat to 0 but creates a new paper trail.
• Leaving the city resets Heat to 0 in 1D6 weeks.

Part 2: The Mesh — Information Warfare

The Mesh is the aggregate of all networked systems in an urban environment: traffic control, building infrastructure, personal devices, corporate databases, drone swarms, and the silent watchers in every ceiling corner.

Mesh Topology

The Mesh is divided into Nodes —discrete systems with their own security.

Intrusion & Counter-Intrusion

Use the Intrusion and Counter-Intrusion skills from the Synthetics, Minds & Machines supplement. The following expands those rules for urban/corporate contexts.

The Intrusion Sequence

Step 1: Access The hacker must establish a connection. This requires:

• Physical tap: Engineering or Electronics 6+, 1 minute. Bypasses wireless security. Leaves physical evidence.
• Wireless breach: Within range of the target's network. Range varies by equipment.
• Social engineering: Deception or Persuasion 8+ to obtain credentials. No roll required if the target is already compromised.

Step 2: Bypass Roll Intrusion 8+, opposed by the node's SEC + operator's Counter-Intrusion (if actively monitored).

Modifiers:

• Known backdoor or zero-day exploit: +2 DM
• Quantum decryptor (TL 14+): +2 DM
• Rushed (1 round instead of 1 minute): −2 DM
• Hacking from public Mesh (no direct line): −1 DM
• Inside corporate VPN: +1 DM

Step 3: Effect

Step 4: Staying Hidden Each round of active intrusion, the defender may attempt Counter-Intrusion 8+ to detect the hacker.

• Undetected: Continue operations.
• Detected: Defender may trace, lock out, or counter-attack.
• Traced: Opposed Computer vs. Intrusion. Success reveals the hacker's physical location or network origin.

Mesh Combat

When hackers clash directly, use opposed Intrusion vs. Counter-Intrusion (or Intrusion vs. Intrusion if both are attacking).

Digital Weapons:

Biological Hackers: Humans with neural interfaces (see Cyberware) can operate at machine speeds, but they are vulnerable to Black ICE. Damage from lethal ICE applies to Stamina, not Integrity.

Part 3: Cyberware & Neural Load

Cyberware is the integration of technology with biology. In 334 Cepheus, cyberware uses a Neural Load system rather than "essence" or arbitrary point costs.

Neural Load

Every character has a Neural Capacity = END + INT DM.

Each piece of internal cyberware has a Load value. The sum of all active Load cannot exceed Neural Capacity. Excess Load causes Rejection Syndrome: −1 DM to all physical tasks per point over capacity, and cumulative 1 Stamina damage per hour.

External Cyberware (wearable, removable) has Load 0 but is obvious, stealable, and can be detected by standard scans.

Cyberware Catalog

Neural

Sensory

Motor / Physical

Cosmetic / Social

Cyberware & The Indifferent Dark

Cyberware does not make you immune to the Dark. It makes you vulnerable in new ways.

• Neural Jack users in phenomenon zones suffer Strain as if they were psionic. The jack is a direct pipeline.
• Smart Eyes may perceive things the brain cannot integrate. A Residual zone viewed through thermal imaging might show the "true" topology, forcing an immediate Cognitive Load check.
• Emotion Regulators suppress the fear response, which seems useful until you realize fear is what keeps you from walking into a Predecessor eddy. Characters with active regulators gain no warning dreams.

Part 4: Urban Guerrilla Combat

Asymmetric Warfare

Most cyberpunk combat is not fair. It is ambushes, IEDs, drone strikes, and vanishing into crowds.

Ambush Mechanics

The ambusher makes a Stealth 8+ check opposed by the target's Recon 8+ (or Sensors for drones/vehicles).

IEDs: Engineering 8+ to place. Detected by Recon 10+ or chemosensor. Damage: 5D6, blast radius Short. Can be command-detonated or triggered by pressure, motion, or biometric signature.

Drone Combat

Use the Synthetics supplement drone rules. In urban environments, drones dominate.

Drone Swarms: A swarm of 6+ drones operates as a single unit. Attacks against the swarm suffer Bane (small, fast targets). The swarm attacks as a unit: roll once, damage is 2D6 per 3 drones. Area-effect weapons (shotguns, flamers, EMP) deal double damage to swarms.

Smart Weapons & Hacking

Smart weapons have onboard targeting computers. They can be hacked.

Hacking a Smart Weapon: Intrusion 10+, range Short (wireless). Success: disable one feature for 1D6 rounds. Exceptional Success: weapon fires on wielder (one shot, 2D6 damage, no skill DM).

Non-Lethal & Less-Lethal

Part 5: Characters — Archetypes

Playable Archetypes

The Ghost (Hacker / Infiltrator)

Concept: You do not exist in the databases. You are a hole in the record.

Key Skills: Intrusion-2, Computer-2, Electronics-1, Stealth-1, Deception-1 Cyberware: Neural Jack, Wraith suite, Smart Eyes Gear: Spiker deck, false IDs, lockpick set, non-descript clothing Hook: You owe a debt to a syndicate data-broker. They own your zero-day cache.

The Snoop (Investigator / Journalist)

Concept: The truth is buried under NDA, encryption, and bodies. You dig.

Key Skills: Investigation-2, Computer-1, Streetwise-2, Insight-1, Persuasion-1 Cyberware: Memory Vault, Smart Ears, Chemosensor Gear: Recording gear, press credentials (forged or real), contact network Hook: Your last story got someone killed. You do not know if it was your fault.

The Badge (Corporate Security / CTU)

Concept: You are not a cop. Cops have jurisdiction. You have a budget and a kill quota.

Key Skills: Gun Combat (Slug Rifle)-2, Recon-1, Tactics-1, Counter-Intrusion-1, Leadership-1 Cyberware: Wired Reflexes, Combat Computer, Subdermal Armor Gear: Assault rifle, combat armor, tac-helmet, breaching charges, drone controller Hook: Your unit was ordered to fire on civilians. You complied. The footage is being used to blackmail you.

The Operator (Urban Guerrilla / Mercenary)

Concept: Ideology is a luxury. You have rent and a cause, in that order.

Key Skills: Gun Combat-1, Heavy Weapons-1, Stealth-1, Streetwise-1, Demolitions-1 (Profession) Cyberware: Hydraulic Assist, Adrenal Override, Grapple Hand Gear: SMG, IED components, burner comms, safehouse network Hook: Your cell leader was a corporate plant. You do not know who to trust.

The Suit (Corporate Agent / Fixer)

Concept: You wear silk and carry a poison pen. The violence is outsourced; the decisions are yours.

Key Skills: Broker-2, Deception-2, Persuasion-1, Admin-1, Computer-1 Cyberware: Emotion Regulator, Skin Mask, ID Spoofer Gear: Luxury wardrobe, encrypted briefcase, corporate black card, personal defense pistol Hook: You embezzled from your division to pay for your daughter's medical treatment. Audit is in three weeks.

The Street Doc (Medic / Cyberware Tech)

Concept: You patch bodies and install chrome in a basement that smells of ozone and antiseptic.

Key Skills: Medicine-2, Electronics-1, Streetwise-1, Computer-1, Profession (Cyberdoc)-1 Cyberware: Coprocessor, Smart Eyes (magnification), Hydraulic Assist (fine motor) Gear: Portable surgical kit, cyberware stock, antibiotics, anesthetic Hook: Your last patient died on the table. Their gang blames you. They are not wrong.

Part 6: Specialist Equipment

Hacker Gear

Infiltration Gear

Combat Gear

Surveillance & Counter-Surveillance

Part 7: Xenosophont Cyber

Aliens in the Sprawl face unique challenges. Human infrastructure is built for human bodies, human senses, and human data formats.

The Interface Problem

A Vrenn cannot use a standard neural jack—it requires a chemical translation port that converts electrical signals to pheromonal gradients. Cost: ×3 standard cyberware. Load: +0.5.

A Saan cannot use a standard keyboard—they require seismic input pads or direct electromagnetic induction. Their cyberware is typically external crystal arrays rather than implants.

An Aat cannot perceive screens. They require topological displays —haptic fields that render data as spatial relationships.

Alien Cyberware

Alien Hackers

A Vrenn hacker does not type. They exude code through chemical gradients into a translation vat. Their intrusion style is biological —they do not brute-force passwords; they spoof chemical authentication markers.

A Saan hacker operates on geological timescales by human standards. They prepare attacks that take weeks to execute, infiltrating systems so slowly that automated defenses do not register the activity as anomalous. When they strike, they have already been inside for months.

An Aat hacker perceives code as architecture. They do not read programs; they walk through them. Firewalls are walls. Backdoors are literal doors. Their intrusion style is spatial and intuitive.

Part 8: Factions & NPCs

The Syndicates

The Red Ledger: Data brokers. They do not steal information; they trade in context —the narrative that makes raw data valuable. They employ hackers, investigators, and assassins.

The Hollow Men: Body-modification cult. They believe flesh is obsolete. Members replace body parts methodically. Not hostile unless you interfere with a "conversion."

The Remembered (Sprawl Branch): Underground railroad for the contaminated. They hide people who have seen too much of the Dark. They need street docs and safehouses.

The Corporations

Kiroshi Optics: Sensory technology. They own 60% of the smart-eye market. Their R&D division experiments on homeless subjects.

Arasaka Heavy Industries: Security contractors. They rent CTU units to governments. Their training programs produce efficient, traumatized killers.

Mitsuhama Computer Technologies: AI and cyberware. They have a division dedicated to "domesticating" emergent AI. Success rate: classified.

Government & Law

Municipal Police: Underfunded, corrupt, overwhelmed. They respond to Heat 1–2. Beyond that, they call corporate security.

Corporate Counterterrorism Unit (CTU): Elite, heavily armed, jurisdiction-free in corporate zones. They respond to Heat 3–4. Their motto: "No witnesses, no paperwork."

National Intelligence: The rare government entity with real power. They operate above corporate law. They are interested in information, not arrests.

NPC Templates

CTU Operator

Skills: Gun Combat (Slug Rifle)-2, Recon-1, Tactics-1, Counter-Intrusion-1, Athletics-1 Cyberware: Wired Reflexes, Combat Computer, Tac-Helmet integration Stamina: 10 | Lifeblood: 10 Gear: Assault rifle, combat armor, 2 flashbangs, drone controller Morale: Holds until 75% casualties or commander down. Will execute surrendering targets if ordered.

Corporate Spider (Hacker)

Skills: Intrusion-3, Counter-Intrusion-2, Computer-2, Deception-1 Cyberware: Neural Jack, Coprocessor, Wraith suite Integrity: 10 | Strain: 12 Gear: Military spiker deck, black ICE (mild), burner comms Tactics: Never fights physically. Retreats to secure node if traced. Uses Fork Bombs to cover escape.

Street Doc

Skills: Medicine-2, Electronics-1, Streetwise-2, Computer-1 Cyberware: Smart Eyes (magnification), hydraulic assist (fine motor) Stamina: 9 | Lifeblood: 8 Gear: Surgical kit, cyberware stock, 1D6 doses of combat drugs Hook: Will treat anyone who pays. Has treated enemies on consecutive nights. Keeps secrets.

Part 9: Running the Sprawl

The Information Economy

In the Sprawl, information is currency, weapon, and shield.

Data as Loot: A successful run might yield:

• Corporate blackmail material: Cr 50,000–500,000 to the right buyer.
• Zero-day exploit: Worth 1D6 × Cr 10,000 or permanent +1 DM to Intrusion against that corporation.
• Proprietary research: Can be sold, used, or leaked. Leaking reduces corporate stock (if markets care) but eliminates sale value.
• Identity templates: Complete biometric and paper-trail packages. Cr 20,000 each.

The Mission Structure

Urban cyberpunk missions in 334 Cepheus use the same 5-Node structure:

• Hook: The fixer, the debt, the blackmail, or the accident.
• Investigation: Legwork. Hitting the Mesh, hitting the streets, hitting contacts.
• Complication: The target moved. The target was bait. The target is your ex-partner.
• Climax: The extraction, the data heist, the assassination, the public revelation.
• Fallout: Heat, reputation, payment, and the next job.

Heat in Campaign Play

Track Heat for the crew, not just individuals. A crew with Heat 3+ cannot operate openly. They must use safehouses, false IDs, and cutouts.

Safehouses: Cr 2,000/month for a basic apartment with no paper trail. Cr 10,000/month for a hardened site with escape tunnels and autonomous defenses.

Cutouts: An NPC who takes delivery, passes messages, or fronts transactions. Cost: 10% of transaction or Cr 1,000/month retainer. Risk: Cutouts can be flipped.

Appendix: Quick Reference

Urban Combat Modifiers

Mesh Intrusion Summary

• Access (physical, wireless, or social)
• Bypass (Intrusion 8+ vs. SEC)
• Effect determines access level
• Detection check each round (Counter-Intrusion 8+)
• Trace if detected (opposed Computer vs. Intrusion)

Cyberware Capacity

Neural Capacity = END + INT DM Current Load = sum of all implant Load Excess Load = Rejection Syndrome

Chrome & Static — 334 Cepheus Supplement v1.0