Sprawl Goons: Upgraded - Talking Biocops

Following on from our discussion of Cybrids, Gregorius21778 and I have had another chat about my vision of the Sprawl Goons setting, and this time we talked about the biocops of the Cognition Verification Bureau, whose job it is to hunt and retire the very cybrids we looked at in March.

Here's the LINK

While the inspiration is obviously from the movie Blade Runner (and it's imitators), there are enough little tweaks to make them their own thing in SG:U, where they will be running around The Flow, tracking down all manner of dangerous synthetic and artificial persons brought into the world by transnationals like Clavel Industries.

And you can even play a PC with the Agent background (from page 14):

Cognition Verification Agent

You were a biocop for the Cognition Verification Bureau, hunting down and retiring illegally manufactured and modified rogue cybrids, and other dangerous synthetic intelligence, like the prohibited ATIDs smuggled in from the Zones. You worked in tandem with the cops and Homeland to bring down your prey. You were good, the very best, but you walked away when the deactivations started to feel like murders.

Once again, the interview (link above) consists of 10 questions, each adding detail to the Bureau, and the men and women of that 'thin true line'.

Let me know in the comments if there are any other aspects of the Sprawlverse you'd like to know more about.

Thanks for looking.

Artwork from the Blade Runner 2039 comicbooks.

MetSec: The Future of Urban Pacification

Prototype SO1 Synthetic

In my current campaign, the core of the action takes place in a future London, now known officially as the Metropolitan Civil Protectorate.

Being a monolithic fascist city-state, the powers that be police the neon-drenched streets with the state funded paramilitaries of Metropolitan Security, or MetSec.

Often referred to as the Old Bill, the Rozzers or simply the Filth, under-manned and under-funded, the men and women of MetSec are the thin, black and hi-visibility line between order and anarchy.

The Divisions

• D1 - MetSec Uniform Patrol (MUP - standard patrol officers)
• D2 - AeroSec (aerial patrol, monitoring and transport)
• D3 - ChemSec (science division, forensics, pathology, narcotics)
• D4 - MetTech (technology felonies)
• D5 - Cybernetic Suppression Division (C-SWAT equivalent)
• D6 - Public Order Unit (riot control)
• D7 - NetSec (transmission felonies including fraud and intrusion)
• D8 - MedSec (body recovery unity, patrol extraction)
• D9 - MetSec Investigation Division (vice, murder, organised crime)
• D10 - SO1 (special operations, anti-terror)
• D11 - Dispatch & Communications
• D12 - Corporate & Media Liaison
• D13 - Internal Security Bureau (ISB)
• D14 - Administration & Procurement

Ranks still follow the old Metropolitan Police model; Constable, Sergeant, Inspector, Chief Inspector, Superintendent, Chief Superintendent, Commander, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, Commissioner. MID ranks are preceded by a D for Detective e.g.: DC for Detective Constable, DS for Detective Sergeant, DI for Detective Inspector and DCI for Detective Chief Inspector.

There are often conflicting operations between MetTech, the CSD and NetSec, and blurred jurisdictions between the CSD and SO1, whereas the MID just seems to get into every other division's business. The ISB see themselves as wholly removed from the other divisions, the command structure very much in the pocket of elements within MI5 and the Ministry of Information Retrieval, as well as being infiltrated by various corporate actors.

MetSec's newer equipment is supplied by Arasaka, the transnational recently winning the contract previously fulfilled by Sentry International, a subsidiary of Militech, specialising in public order and urban pacification technologies. There is a mix of both companies' kit in the supply chain, although Arasaka is limiting access to gear that can use munitions compatible with the older Militech hardware, which is causing some shortages and subsequently hamstringing certain hostile contact procedures.

Private enclaves, micro-states and gated communities do not fall under the jurisdiction of MetSec, rather they are policed by private security contractors such as Monarch and Black Eagle.

Unsurprisingly, Community Support Officers, much like social workers and good manners, are very much a thing of the past.


Evening all.
Mind how you go.