10 Hooks and Rumours for Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.’s Night City

This list has ten hooks and rumours that can be heard in or about the Night City University district of Night City. Whether or not they are true is up to the GameMaster. They can be used as background colour or as potential adventure hooks.

• Dr. Edward Michaels is the Dean of Night City University and he tries to keep the corporations out of the university’s decision-making process, which annoys them and many of his colleagues, who would prefer more corporate sponsorship. Rumour is that some of those colleagues are conspiring with the corporations in an attempt to force Michaels out of his position.
• Hababas on Grace Street is a former biker bar that is now the preferred hangout of the Voodoo Boys. Armed conflicts are discouraged but students who fancy themselves as being toughs often go there to prove themselves. Quite a number of these have ended up severely injured as a result, and it’s rumoured that some of their more influential parents are pressuring the university to do something about the bar.
• It’s rumoured that not everything done in the Science Labs of Night City University should be done there, or is authorised by the faculty. There have been claims of the chemistry labs being used to manufacture new drugs for use on the street or explosives, and that these are secretly shipped out to gangs willing to pay for them. Explosives are dangerous, though, and it’s said that there’s occasionally an “incident” in the labs.
• It’s said that Night City University has been conducting research into neuralchip interfacing, using students as guinea pigs for the research, and that this research has gone very badly wrong. Though no students are said to have died, some are said to be barely alive and that their families have been paid substantial sums of money to keep everything quiet.
• Newgate Prison and Paragon are two rather different bars that share the same building in Grace Street near the university. There are persistent rumours that Newgate is the place to go for any student wishing to score something a bit harder than just alcohol, but the owners continually deny this and a few attempts to find evidence of this have all failed to do so.
• Night City University’s Schumaker Hall of Performing Arts hosts film and video studios, as well as other places. and there are constant rumours about students getting into those studios after hours to do video and film-related projects that are definitely not on the curriculum. No-one has ever been caught, nor even any evidence found, and it’s thought this is just an urban legend.
• Night City University’s student housing is at least reasonably secure and all, no matter what the standard of the apartments are, have generally the same level of security. It’s rumoured, though, that this security is starting to wear thin around the edges, and that there have been incidents in some of the complexes.
• Students at Night City University can arrange an agreement with the campus police to come to the protection of any students living in the blocks near to the university itself. It’s rumoured that some students are trying to increase the funding of the campus police so that they have the people and equipment needed to take control of the blocks closest to the university and make them as safe as the campus.
• The Biograph Theatre on Grace Street has two screens, one showing art films for students, the other showing adult films to support the first screen. There are rumours that students in need of some money can inquire about appearing in the adult films for some quick cash, though no-one has ever seen anyone they recognise.
• There are rumours that the university is planning to expand again, though opinions differ as to just where they will expand to. Suggestions range from simply buying up some of the neighbouring blocks and flattening them, to satellite campuses in other cities, to building their own artificial island in the bay.

Want some general cyberpunk rumours? Check out 100 Cyber City Rumours.

D10: Night City Rumours – Old Downtown 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.