I thought I’d talk a little about a few characters I have made to fill the streets of my cyberpunk setting – Arcadia.
The Harlequin
The Harlequinn is dangerous merc who is as lethal as they are unpredictable. She uses a bat with neurotoxin laced barbs on it and the symbol for the card suit of clubs on the tip, as well as a pair of pistols, one with the heart symbol, and the other with the ace symbol. The Harlequinn herself is a dark skinned woman with long twin braided pigtails decorated with metal rings. She wears a cropped army jacket dyed red, two tone cargo pants, one side blue the other red both with a pattern of diamonds on the thighs, a crop top, and a light plate carrying harness. with a stencil of all four of the card suits on the front. She is known as a rogue merc, not affiliated with any faction or corporation but simply acting on her own, often with unknown clients or goals. She favours corpos as her targets, and gangs that deal with human trafficking. She is also known to kill relatively indiscriminately when provoked, so most other mercs give her a wide berth and she is rarely if ever approached about joining a team or job.
Vulture
A classic gun for hire, a young man with minimal mods except ear protection, and some armour plating. He carries a large LMG and a grenade launcher on his back which are his primary weapons. He’s known for taking any job if the price is right and says little. He can be trusted to keep his mouth shut and is adept at both defense work and breaking a target’s defenses. He was born in the undercity and will most likely die there. He’s got ragged brown hair, secondhand SecCorp heavy assault gear for his clothing, and a head mounted targeting system synced to his LMG. He’s a quiet aloof figure who kills and takes the money. He is also often seen in the low tech fighting rings, beating down his competitors with a cold harsh hatred.
Anansi
A nepotism kid who lives in the upper city in a fancy apartment with her family who works for a tech development corp, she acts as a netrunner for hire, running her entire illegal operation from her bedroom as a hobby. Whilst she’s very good she doesn’t really care about anyone on the streets and is so far removed from the lives of most people in Arcadia she often comes across as spoilt and out of touch. She often works for other Corps as she sees it as a way to ‘further her career’. She’lll just as willingly work against them though as in reality she sees it all as a game. She likes to play the role of the poor netrunner, often lying about her circumstances to get sympathy and LARPing as one of the people she works with, pretending to be just as oppressed as them if not more to get sympathy.
Monarch
An ex-secCorp officer who operates as a merc solely for the corporations, he decided the restrictions his corp held over him were stopping him dispensing justice, so he became a merc so he could kill anyone he deemed lesser or evil. He is a highly modified monstrosity of meat and machine clad in a powered version of juggernaut armour, with a shoulder mounted light machine gun turret and a deployable riot shield. He is a monster akin to Adam Smasher on the battlefield, he carries a chainsword and a rapid fire grenade launcher on his back, other weapons cover his overly modified body, including tear gas dispensers to use in close quarters, flamethrowers, and multiple other guns connected directly to his armour.
Zoe Joy Blog 