The Strange is a game published by Monte Cook Games. It is, at least in part, set in the normal world, but there are other worlds out there, in the Strange. This list has six rumours for that setting, similar to the various different adventure hooks in the books, and these can be used as adventure hooks or simple misinformation.
Amongst the Collections of the Implausible Geographic Society are items brought back from many different recursions. It’s said that some of these are very dangerous, but that the IGS keeps the most dangerous hidden well away. Which hasn’t stopped some from attempting to acquire them.
Dame Amanda Wallace currently occupies the office of the president of the IGS but has not taken the role and the society hasn’t had a president in thirty years. There are rumours, though, that Dame Amanda, for some reason, is now considering taking up the role she is essentially fulfilling.
Sir Raymond Creswicke is one of the few members of the IGS who is permanently at the Lodge. He’s always eager to give advice to new members, and it’s said that Sir Raymond has a list of recursions and things to look for in them, should they be found, that he will be happy to share with anyone willing to go searching for them.
The IGS has apparently been performing research into those recursions that were explored by the Society in its early days, based on fiction that has diminished in popularity, which are now difficult to find or much smaller than they were. It’s said the Society has been considering trying to boost the popularity of the old books, perhaps by funding film and television adaptations.
The Implausible Geographic Society separated from the Royal Geographical Society in 1913, though it’s rumoured this was not a complete and final separation. It’s said that some within the RGS still know what the IGS is up to, and are a means by which the two organisations communicate with each other.
When knowledge of the IGS escapes beyond its group, agents are dispatched to erase it by any means necessary. Though this may just be through the use of a memory eraser, it’s rumoured that those who have proven resistant to such measures have themselves been erased.
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10 Hooks and Rumours for Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.’s Europe
This list has ten hooks and rumours that can be heard about Interpol. Whether or not they are true is up to the GameMaster. They can be used as background colour or as potential adventure hooks.
Counter-espionage, against both countries and corporations, is handled by Interpol’s I-2 directorate. The tension between Europe and the US has led the latter to be I-2’s primary target, and some within Interpol and the European Commission are concerned that this means other potential enemies are being allowed to operate far more freely than they should. It’s said that they are trying to redirect some of I-2’s efforts towards other nations.
Europe’s Mediterranean Patrols have very similar aims to Interpol’s I-6 directorate, so much so that the bureaucracy is trying to incorporate the patrols into I-6. Not everyone in the Mediterranean Patrols is happy with that idea, though, and are pulling in every favour they can to stop it.
I-4, the Interpol directorate that monitors corporations that operates in Europe, is intended to deal with corporations that try to bypass the law. It’s rumoured that in cases where there is a European corporation and a foreign one that I-4 will concentrate its efforts on the foreign one, so that the local company comes out of it better than the foreign one.
I-3’s new policy of recruiting caught netrunners to their own side has resulted in an influx of new, less hidebound talent, but also an influx of ‘runners who bear something of a grudge. Though these criminal netrunners are watched carefully, it’s said that a number of them are quietly working together to compromise the whole directorate so that they can regain their freedom.
Interpol never really caught on as the international police force it was originally intended to be, and it functions more like a strictly European one. However, it’s said that some within the organisation have never really given up on the international idea, and will do what they can to further this goal, which does include helping out the constabularies of other countries outside Europe to gain influence and favours.
Interpol’s I-1 directorate was founded as a counter-terrorism arm and originally used to conduct raids themselves but this has now been taken over by the army. However, both the army and Interpol feel that the intelligence and operations parts should be combined under one command; whose depends on whether it’s the army or Interpol. This is causing some friction in the operations as well as some manoeuvring on the council.
Interpol’s I-5 directorate is responsible for law enforcement in space and has recently been given jurisdiction over off planet interests by most orbit capable nations, with the US being the exception. It’s rumoured that a covert war is being waged in space between I-5 and the US, with the latter trying to impair I-5 in any way it can in order to protect its own interests.
Netcrime, Interpol’s I-3 directorate, only has a limited jurisdiction, tasked with only reacting to crimes that may affect the EC or EC property. It’s rumoured, though, that the agents of the directorate often have a very liberal interpretation when it comes to judging what crimes affect the EC, and regularly go beyond the letter of their mandate against those they believe could harm or are plotting to harm the EC electronically.
The newest directorate of Interpol is I-6, which covers organised crime. Perhaps because they are new, they have had some early successes, and it’s rumoured that some of the larger criminal groups have started putting prices on the heads of I-6 agents, because they have caused a drop in profitability.
The Pyramid is the main administrative centre for Interpol and it’s also home to its central datafortress. It’s rumoured that there are high bounties for any runners who can manage to breach the Pyramid’s protections and get into the datafortress, and that many who have tried have ended up mind burned as a result.
D10: Europe Rumours – Interpol 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.
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Numenera is a game published by Monte Cook Games. Its setting is the Ninth World, and this list has ten rumours for that setting. The rumours, which are similar to the Hearsay that can be found in the official books, can be used as adventure hooks or as simple misinformation.
Boss Melyndwr took control of Delend a couple of decades ago in a bloody coup, but since then most people have come to accept her as the community’s leader. Most is not everyone, though, and it’s rumoured that there’s an underground movement dedicated to removing Melyndwr from power.
It takes skill to navigate the Changing Moon after a shift, and it’s rumoured that this is a skill that’s becoming harder to get. Some say explorers of the moon are finding it harder to navigate, as if the changes the Changing Moon undergoes are becoming more severe.
Observer Efreya runs the Halls of Change and she wears a series of heavy lenses over her eyes, claiming that these give her insights into the Changing Moon. Some wonder if the lenses do something different to what Efreya claims, especially as she never shares any of her supposed insights.
Red rain occasionally pours from the Changing Moon onto Delend. This “rain” consists of tiny cube-shaped creatures made of animate crimson cube that tear down what they come across to turn them into strange slabs. Some wonder if this is a type of repair mechanism for the Changing Moon that has malfunctioned.
The Halls of Chance in Delend are where books and journals that belonged to explorers of the Changing Moon are kept. Though the Halls are accessible to anyone who can get a pass, there’s a constant rumour that some of the books and journals are kept hidden away.
The Observatory in Delend is used to keep an eye on the Changing Moon through the telescope mounted in it. It’s rumoured that users of the telescope over the years have seen things through it that they have never shared with anyone else, for varied reasons.
Those who cross Boss Melyndwr, even by such as suggesting minor improvements to the status quo, can end up being sent on a forced trip to the Changing Moon prior to a shift. It’s rumoured that the percentage of those who are forced to do this, rather than anything lesser as punishment, has been increasing, with some wondering if Melyndwr is becoming increasingly paranoid over time.
Though red rain can be a disaster, or at least a potential one, when it falls down on Delend from the Changing Moon, there are some who think that, with access to the right technology, the cube-shaped “insects” that comprise the rain could be reprogrammed to use in a beneficial way, and such are willing to pay for any that can be gotten.
The Strange is a game published by Monte Cook Games. It is, at least in part, set in the normal world, but there are other worlds out there, in the Strange. This list has eight rumours for that setting, similar to the various different adventure hooks in the books, and these can be used as adventure hooks or simple misinformation.
Cataclyst roaches are human-sized roaches with human faces found in the recursion. They are intelligent and can speak, and it’s also rumoured that they are organised as well, albeit not that strongly. It’s said, though, that some of the Cataclyst roaches are attempting to step up their organisation to make the creatures into a truly dangerous force.
Green ones are a warrior race from the recursion of Old Mars, and are known for their skill in battle, as well as their honourable, albeit warlike, nature. It’s rumoured that mercenary groups of green ones have been turning up in a number of recursions, hired by locals to attack their enemies; the fact that they are appearing in different recursions leads some to suspect that there is a single force behind this.
Kro coursers are created by the magicians of Crow Hollow from the corpses of recently deceased kros. They are magically animated and preserved flesh, and without the magical maintenance of a magician, they slowly decay. It’s rumoured that some parties are attempting to create kro coursers that will survive without this maintenance.
Professor Moriarty is a criminal mastermind from the Sherlock Holmes stories and the recursion 221B Baker Street. After discovering the Strange, the professor has broadened his operations into that, and it’s rumoured he’s even managed to get low-ranking agents inside some of the organisations, such as the Estate and the OSR on Earth and the Kaum on Ruk.
Shoggoths are ancient, bioengineered creatures that can be found in many different places, and are feared by anyone who has ever heard of them. It’s rumoured that their ancient creators had some means of controlling shoggoths, and there are frequent attempts to discover just what this might have been, so that shoggoths can be controlled and used as weapons.
The jabberwock has three different heads that quarrel amongst themselves unless and until they come across prey. It’s rumoured that the creature was three different people who hated each other and were cursed to take their current form, so that they could never be apart from those they hated.
Vaxt is a planetovore whose ancestral weed survived a planetovore attack and later became one itself. Vaxt spreads to other worlds like a weed and devours civilisations. There are rumours that there are Vaxt types that have developed the ability to pass as other species, disguising themselves amongst the masses.
Winged monkeys were enslaved by a Wicked Witch. Prior to that, they were not particularly vicious, and some constantly seek to free the winged monkeys again. This usually ends up failing, though, as the winged monkeys have been changed by their time in servitude and, probably, by magic.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Characters can come across cooking pots in camps and kitchens, and may feel a need to check just what’s cooking inside them and whether it’s good to eat.
Leftovers from many different meals, an assortment of previously cooked meats and vegetables that is lacking any texture but filling.
Mutton stew with cabbages and leeks. Filling but so overcooked it is tasteless.
Nothing but herbs and greens.
Pungent broth made solely of garlic and onions.
Scraps and offcuts of now-soft leather in boiling water.
Severed fingers and ears from a number of different species in a weak broth.
Sludgy mess of vegetables that are no longer identifiable.
Smelly broth of fish heads and bones.
Tasteless mush of grey lumps of indeterminate origin.
Tasty and perfectly spiced stew made from rat meat.
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Numenera is a game published by Monte Cook Games. Its setting is the Ninth World, and this list has ten rumours for that setting. The rumours, which are similar to the Hearsay that can be found in the official books, can be used as adventure hooks or as simple misinformation.
Delend’s inhabitants have more people trained in discovery, the numenera and exploration than most its size, thanks to the Changing Moon, and there are rumours that the inhabitants of the settlement use this in order to expand Delend’s influence over the surrounding area. Not so much to empire build as to ensure more resources for investigating the Changing Moon.
Hildwin’s Ladder is the most popular way used by Delend to reach the Changing Moon, but it regularly needs reattaching after one of the Moon’s shifts. There are rumours that some wrights believe that they will be able to make the ladder automatically reattach itself each time, though others are not so sure of this.
Navigating the Changing Moon is difficult, because it is always changing, which makes maps essentially useless. This doesn’t stop a certain class of people from selling “guaranteed” maps of the Changing Moon to explorers who don’t come from Delend. Those who rely on such maps rarely make it back out of the structure to seek a refund.
Numenera devices and vehicles are sometimes used by explorers to attempt to go to and from the Changing Moon in order to avoid the salvage tax, but often these end up being shot out of the sky. It’s rumoured that some explorers are attempting to get a hold of an armed vehicle which will be able to shoot back if fired upon, which could escalate things in the settlement.
One of the major challenges for explorers of the Changing Moon is not becoming shift-lost when the moon’s configuration changes to something new. There are rumours that, over time, this has gradually, and almost imperceptibly, become harder over the years, and explorers now are much more likely to become shift-lost than those of latter years.
Some of the explorers who visit the Changing Moon are sure that the shifts the installation goes through are not random, but follow some kind of pattern, and they are attempting to gather as much information in order to determine what this pattern is. So far, reportedly all that’s happened is that a number of explorers have gone missing after following what they thought was a pattern, but turned out not to be.
Some parts of the interior of the Changing Moon are said to be so different, including different physical laws, that it is as if they are part of a different reality, and in fact that is what some do believe; that certain areas of the Changing Moon are where the structure’s properties allow other realities to protrude through the dimensional walls.
Sometimes explorers of the Changing Moon disappear for good, never to be seen again. Some theories suggest that they have actually wound up in another dimension, and may still be alive there, but there are few takers of any expeditions intended to try and determine if this is true.
The Changing Moon is made from a substance called crimson cube by the inhabitants of Delend, and it’s believed that this substance is what allows the structure to rearrange itself so quickly. Some have tried experiment with crimson cube to see if it can be used outside the Changing Moon, and it’s rumoured that some of these experiments have ended very badly.
There is a constant mumble of alien words that can be heard in the background on the Changing Moon. Some think that the structure is a single huge machine, but others believe that the sounds that can be heard are the last remnants of those who have disappeared during a shift, somehow merged into the Changing Moon itself.
The Strange is a game published by Monte Cook Games. It is, at least in part, set in the normal world, but there are other worlds out there, in the Strange. This list has six rumours for that setting, similar to the various different adventure hooks in the books, and these can be used as adventure hooks or simple misinformation.
Chaosphere hierarchs are quickened natives of recursions from the Shoals of Earth who have gained power over the Strange itself. Most are arrogant and dismissive of the needs of others, which does seem to include other Chaosphere hierarchs. However, there are rumours of a group of the beings that work together, albeit somewhat erratically, for a common cause.
Cinticus Z is an artificial intelligence that can often be found in the Strange and seeks out first-time recursors, asking them to do something for it. Though it isn’t normally a hostile entity, there’s a persistent rumour that the intelligence seeks to become a planetovore, and the tasks it asks others to do for it are with this goal in mind.
Cypher eaters graze on things that crystalise from the Strange, preferring violet spiral, reality seeds and cyphers, all things that are of value to others as well. Though some use cypher eaters to locate such, others consider them pests to be wiped out, but attempts to do the latter rarely seem to work.
Dark energy pharaohs are essentially refugees from a collapsed recursion based on the Egyptian afterlife. After war broke out amongst the pharaohs, this collapsed the recursion and the survivors fled. Most dark energy pharaohs exist in strongholds in the Strange or in their own recursions, and have little to do with each other, but it’s rumoured that a few have banded together after a fashion to achieve mutual goals.
Inklings are the ghosts of the Strange, and sometimes they can creep into recursions as well. No-one is entirely sure what inklings are, and one theory is that they are real ghosts, or at least the remains of dead people. Some claim that when an inkling kills someone with the spark, the deceased will turn into a brand-new inkling.
It’s possible to train thoniks to follow simple instructions, rather like it can be done with various animals, such as dogs. It’s said that there are some trainers who visit the Strange to capture thoniks in order to train and sell them. Some of these trainers are said to train the thoniks to follow commands only known by the trainer as well, just in case.
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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 process of trying to get past the borders of Europe. Whether or not they are true is up to the GameMaster. They can be used as background colour or as potential adventure hooks.
Europe’s land borders are still maintained by the forces of their member nations, rather than being a unified group in charge of this, which causes a degree of variability in how borders are watched. It’s rumoured that some within Europe would like to create a unified border police force, but no nation seems willing to lose control of its landward borders.
Hydrophones have been planted around the coasts of Europe by several northern nations in the hopes of perfecting underwater surveillance. Ships would be identified by the sound of their screw, and it’s rumoured that a database of ship screw sounds is being slowly built up, and that a bounty is paid for any genuine sound that can be added.
It’s said that if a way of getting into the EC under the radar seems to be too good to be true, that’s because it is. It’s rumoured that the cheapest smugglers don’t make their money from the fees they charge, but from what they can sell their human cargo for. Both intact and in pieces.
Permanent cards allow the person who has one to permanently reside in the EC, and obtaining them is difficult. Naturally, there is a market in fake and stolen cards as a result, and it’s rumoured that some fake cards that have recently been cropping up on the black market are so convincing that they must be being obtained with the cooperation of bureaucrats inside the EC government.
Permanent Resident’s Cards allow someone who has one to live in Europe and gain most of the benefits of EC citizenship, including upgrading to full citizenship after five years. The cards can be revoked at any time, and it’s rumoured that a high percentage of cards are revoked in the last six months of the five years needed to become a full citizen.
The different forces that guard the land borders of Europe are said to be of varying quality. Or, rather, of varying honesty, with some of them, members of certain countries’ forces, being far more amenable to taking a bribe than others. However, it’s said that bribing them is dangerous, because many of those taking a bribe will turn in anyone offering such, after they have been paid.
The EC will give citizenship to those who have made “cultural contributions” which means the recovery of lost artistic and cultural treasures. It’s rumoured that there’s a thriving black market in fake “missing” minor league artwork that is sold to those who believe they can use it to bargain for citizenship.
The Navy is the unified force that protects the coastal borders of the EC against smugglers. Recently, subs have become a major problem, even though they are easy to spot from orbit. The Navy is reputedly looking into deploying automated torpedo platforms that will fire on any sub without a valid transponder, though this has been meeting pushback out of concerns about just how accurate the systems are at telling friend from foe.
There are illegal methods of entering Europe, but as with all such methods, those using them should be very careful about who they trust. Some of those claiming to sneak people over the borders instead kill them and strip them for parts, both cybernetic and organic.
Those entering Europe from outside the zone are heavily scrutinised by customs police when they fly in, and the rooms where interviews are carried out house ducts to deliver paralysing nerve gas. It’s rumoured that in extreme situations, the gas emitted by these ducts is far more dangerous than merely paralysing.
D10: Europe Rumours – Entering Europe 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.
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The Strange is a game published by Monte Cook Games. It is, at least in part, set in the normal world, but there are other worlds out there, in the Strange. This list has six rumours for that setting, similar to the various different adventure hooks in the books, and these can be used as adventure hooks or simple misinformation.
