10 Hooks and Rumours for Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.’s Europe

This list has ten hooks and rumours that can be heard about the European Council and the Secretariat. Whether or not they are true is up to the GameMaster. They can be used as background colour or as potential adventure hooks.

1. Councillor Evienne de Tours is notorious for getting into trouble, with photos and other things that most would find compromising turning up. So far, this doesn’t seem to have harmed the councillor, and there are rumours that if anything they may have increased her popularity with some citizens, with even suggestions that de Tours has arranged for such leaks herself.
2. Increased threats against some members of the Secretariat have resulted in the more high-ranking members pressing to, quietly, increase the size of their protection details, in particular seeking to get some of the more skilled members of the EDF protecting them. This is naturally something the EDF commanders feel is a waste of their soldiers’ talents.
3. It’s rumoured that the Secretariat, as the true force behind the running of Europe, have been increasing their power by ensuring that councillors elected to the European Council are chosen from candidates that the Secretariat have secretly approved. Though this doesn’t always work, it’s said that a growing percentage of the council is completely under the sway of the civil servants supposed to serve it.
4. Joachim Krüger is a former rocker and current representative for the Free Earth Alliance for the East Central Munich seat. Shortly after his victory, he was non-fatally shot in a drive-by that the police are treating as accidental. Neither Krüger nor his supporters believe that, and are attempting to investigate the connections that the police have with the People’s Democratic Party, whose candidate was defeated. It’s rumoured that there have been a number of anonymous threats received by those doing the investigating.
5. Members of the European Council may have to do a lot of work, but there’s also a lot of money to be made by the councillors, not just from the salary and allowances which are already huge, but the gifts from corporations who want councillors to be seen with their goods. It’s rumoured that there have been a number of attempts to reign in any excess, but these never get anywhere and those who push too hard frequently discover they’ve broken the law.
6. More than one group within Europe has a poor opinion of the councillors and the Secretariat, but the councillors and the highest-ranking members of the Secretariat all have heavy security. It’s rumoured, though, that lower down the food chain more than one member of the Secretariat has recently suffered an “accident” that was anything but.
7. Rolf Schneider is the Speaker of the European Council and he has a reputation for being a middle of the road selection. This makes him a compromise candidate and the definition of a good compromise is one that makes everyone unhappy, and it’s rumoured that this is indeed the case with Schneider, with neither the left nor the right liking his choosing.
8. The member states of the European Community are entitled to one councillor on the Euro Council for every 100 million eurodollars it pays into the EC. This gives the richer states a greater influence, and it’s rumoured that the smaller states have been seeking ways of boosting their income by inviting the wealthy and megacorps into their countries, and are not exactly bothered by just how legal their monies are, in exchange for substantial tax breaks.
9. The Secretariat are the high-level civil servants of Europe, with the commissioners assigned from the top tier of the Secretariat. Though the Secretariat and the commissioners are nominally subject to the orders of the councillors, most remain in their positions far longer than any councillor and are said to be the hidden power behind the throne.
10. There are rumours that some of the members of the European Council have become troubled by the amount of power that the Secretariat has, which even influences everything the counsellors do. However, it’s also rumoured that any councillor who makes too much of a fuss has dubious events from their past suddenly being discovered by the media.

D10: Europe Rumours – The European Council is unofficial content provided under the Homebrew Content Policy of R. Talsorian Games and is not approved or endorsed by RTG. This content references materials that are the property of R. Talsorian Games and its licensees.