10 Hooks and Rumours for Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.’s Europe

This list has ten hooks and rumours that can be heard about Europe’s Interior and Trade Commissions. Whether or not they are true is up to the GameMaster. They can be used as background colour or as potential adventure hooks.

1. EC citizenship papers are issued by the Interior Commission, and such have a great deal of value to non-citizens. It’s rumoured that if you know the right palms to grease, you can get citizenship papers made to spec, but it’s also rumoured that many of these schemes are traps intended to catch the unwary.
2. Electric trains funded by the Interior Commission crisscross the EC, and they link the continent together in a speedy and supposedly safe web. There are rumours, though, of accidents on part of the network, caused by funds supposedly for superior quality materials being diverted elsewhere and substandard materials used instead.
3. Maglev trains are one of the ways in which the Interior Commission has improved the transport infrastructure within the EC, and that project alone involved vast sums of money. There are rumours that there is an internal investigation going into just how the money was spent, and rumours that corruption may have been excessive.
4. Member states of the EC who fail to follow EC rulings are punished by the Interior Commission by cutting their area development grants. It’s rumoured that the commission has sometimes used this ability as a weapon in order to force politicians to do what they want, or even leave office.
5. Some believe that the Trade Commission, which fights hard against excessively high import tariffs on European goods, has at times used means that could only be described as being underhanded in order to convince other countries that the tariffs they are considering would be a very bad idea, and that for everyone’s sake it would be best to abandon such ideas.
6. The Interior Commission has, over the last decade, changed the focus of their endeavours to improving conditions for EC residents in the hopes that this will help reduce stress and crime. It’s rumoured that some within the commission have been looking into other, less savoury, ways of getting people to behave, from drugs in the water and food to programming with subliminal messages incorporated.
7. The powers of the Interior Commission have been used to great effect in southern Europe, where countries are poorer and a loss of an area development grant can make a great deal of difference to the economy. There are rumours that the commission’s powers are wielded in such a way as to keep the poorer countries poor, so that they can’t challenge the richer ones.
8. The sea walls built on the coasts of Europe have provided an easy way for smugglers to dock and get their goods into the EC. It’s rumoured that the Trade Commission is looking into adding automated defences to the sea walls that will fire on those lacking the correct IFF response, but so far, they have been running into problems over fears that such automated defences might end up accidentally firing on someone foolish but connected who has turned off their IFF.
9. The Trade Commission has to deal with goods being smuggled into Europe, which costs the EC large amounts of money. It’s rumoured that many smugglers are backed by foreign powers and megacorps who want to see the EC weakened, and reducing the community’s tax income is one way of achieving this.
10. The Trade Commission is responsible for balancing out Europe’s trade, both imports and exports, and it is essential to ensure trading partners’ economies aren’t grinding to a halt. It’s rumoured that bribes are common in the Trade Commission, or at least bribery attempts are, with various exterior partners trying to get investment in their own economies and have their rivals shunned.

D10: Europe Rumours: The Interior and Trade Commissions 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.