New Player Guide: Outposts and You

[BradSTL]

WHAT IS AN OUTPOST?

The outposts are facilities that were built in the Wastelands between Neocron City and the Dome of York before the Ceres War, to support the building of the cities and then used to support the starship project. Because the Ceres War ended with widespread nuclear bombardment, these outposts were abandonded for many years, and stripped of most of their valuables by wastelands nomads as the radiation subsided.

At the beginning of the previous game, Neocron 1, it was discovered that the radiation levels had dropped far enough to make the outposts usable. It was also rediscovered that all of the outposts still had working psychic field generators. These generators provide specific benefits to people working, or fighting, in the same zone as an outpost. The generators have security settings that control who gets the benefit, more about this later.

NEXT put in Genetic Replicators in or near all of the outposts. All twelve factions want to control the outposts, but there is no settled law as to who owns the outposts or how to decide. So even before the Dome of York war split the factions into open warfare, all twelve factions were using irregular, freelance, deniable gangs of Runners to fight for, take over, and defend the outposts for their factions. That's where you come in.

OUTPOSTS AND THE LAW

Because of the ambiguity of their ownership, all sectors containing outpost security generators are classified as war zones. This means that all 12 factions, on both sides of the ongoing cold war, have agreed to ignore anything that happens inside those zones. You will never lose soul-light or faction sympathy, or for that matter gain faction sympathy, for killing someone in a war zone.

Because the Reza Administration technically "requires" all Runners to wear a Law Enforcement chip, there is a penalty for not having one: when you die and NEXT regenerates your body at a genetic replicator (or when the Fallen Angels do so through their hackers in the NEXT network), you leave behind from one to five pieces of equipment in a locked equipment belt. (The number, and which items, are determined by your soul-light, or legal reputation.) However, recognizing the legal ambiguity of deaths in war zones, NEXT reduces the number of items dropped by one if you died in a war zone. This means that if your soul light is greater than or equal to zero, you will not drop an equipment belt if you die in any zone containing an outpost security generator.

There is no agreement among Runners or their clans as to just how much license there should be to wage war on your allies or on neutral factions inside war zones. Because there is no in-game prohibition from doing so, and no penalty for doing so, many people feel that any war zone is carte blanche to kill anybody for any reason, and that it is perfectly ethical to attack and capture allied and neutral outposts. Indeed, if it isn't ethical and legal to attack neutral outposts, the CityMercs are somewhat up a creek, because that would limit them to only being able to capture outposts from the Twilight Guardians.

However, waging war on allied or neutral clans inside war zones, while perfectly legal, will almost always "blow back" on you. Very, very few clans have rules requiring that such disputes be kept in the war zones. If Clan A captures one of Clan B's outposts, even if they're both in the same faction, nobody will be surprised if Clan B declares Clan A "kill on sight" in all zones. That means ally killing in anarchy and hunting zones, which leaves everybody on both sides with negative soul light at least part of the time. It also reduces the number of people on your side that you can count on to fight along side you if your outposts are attacked by the other side.

TYPES OF OUTPOSTS

Laboratories: Lab outposts give up to +50 bonuses to the Research skill. There are 6 of them: Chester (I_05), Cycrow (F_12), Jankins (H_03), Nemesis (H13), Soliko (H_15), and Syncon (J_14).

Factories: Factory outposts give up to +50 bonuses to the Construction skill. There are 9 of them: Eastgate (H_16), Emmerson (I_07), Krupp (B_09), Malstrond (H_09), McPherson (B_11), Rockshore (K_04), Simmons (A_06), Tezla (G_12), and Tyron (C_07).

Uplinks: Uplink outposts give up to +50 bonuses to the Hacking skill. There are 9 of them: Cajun (I_15), Crest (D_09), Foster (D_11), Gravis (D_06), Hawkins (H_07), Northstar (K_07), Sieger (I_04), Tescom (K_12), and Tristar (I_11).

Mines: Mining outposts give up to +50 bonuses to the Recycling skill. There are 6 of them: Avenger (I_08), Ceres (C_12), Gabanium (G_08), Grant (D_13), Redrock (D_07), and Yutano (J_09).

Fortresses: Fortress outposts give up to +20 bonuses to the Pistol Combat, Rifle Combat, Melee Combat, and Heavy Combat skills. (I've heard it claimed that they also boost Tech Combat, but I don't think I saw a Tech Combat effect the last time I checked.) There are 6 of them: Blackhill (H_11), Devereaux (F_11), Drakkhan (K_05), Jeriko (B_08), Regant (F_05), and Shirkan (E_10).

OUTPOST FEATURES

Fence: There is a fenced-in area, with one or more gates, that defines the outpost proper. Turrets may only be placed inside this fence; see turrets, below.

Security Generator: There is a large machine with a control terminal, somewhere in a more-or-less protected part of the outpost, called a security generator. Supposedly, this is the psychic field generator that gives each outpost its skill bonuses. Its security settings are set by any high-ranking member of the owning clan from any CityCom or Wireless RN terminal; see outpost security below. Any attempt to take over an outpost must begin by hacking this device, three times, at a difficulty of approximately 140; see outpost battles, below.

Underground: All labs have a small building that serves as an elevator to an underground office/breakroom facility. Access to this underground is determined by the outpost security settings; see outpost security, below.

GoGuardian: There is a public GoGuardian somewhere on the grounds of every outpost, inside the fence.

Genetic Replicators: All outposts have two GenReps. One is outside the fence, and one is in the outpost underground. Anybody who can get to either genrep can use it to genrep out. The controlling clan decides who can use it to genrep in. Members of the controlling clan genrep directly into the underground, with no synaptic impairment. Everyone else genreps to the outside one.

CityCom: There is always at least one CityCom terminal. All CityCom terminals are in the underground area.

Vendors: All outposts have two weapon vendors in a building above ground, inside the fence. One sells discount low-level weapons; the other sells ammunition at normal price and a limited selection of low-level psi gear. All outposts have at least one bartender in the underground break room, who sells snack foods. Most labs, uplinks, and fortresses also have a Drugstore Stuff vendor in the above-ground shop building. This is the most important vendor, as he sells LOMs and tradeskill lubricants at approximately a 25% discount over normal store prices! Most labs and uplinks also have a Medic vendor underground, who also sells LOMs, but not at the same discount. (Note: I am convinced that this is a bug. I think the Medics are supposed to be selling the same drugs that Medicare and the faction Medics sell. But whether it's a bug or not, these vendors are as useless as a screen door on a submarine.)

Boxes: The surface and underground of every outpost are littered with several dozen rotten boxes and metal boxes. You can place items in them, subject to the same rules that apply to boxes elsewhere. They usually will stay for 24 hours or more, but you are not guaranteed that you can use them for storage. They are not like clan headquarters cabinets, they are not locked so that only the owning clan can open them. You may be tempted to use them as storage cabinets, trusting your turrets and outpost security settings to keep items safe. Don't do this, at least not with anything valuable. It's a dumb idea.

Turrets: Engineers can constructor or buy outpost security packages, or as they're more commonly known, turrets. Up to 20 of these turrets may be placed in any outpost, counting both above and below ground. Placing a turret requires a small amount of construction skill, from 70 to 100 points. To place a turret, stand where you want to put it. Then open your Inventory, right click on the turret (or stack of turrets), and Use/Activate it. In general, the higher the tech level of the turret, the more damage it will do. Most turrets damage types are intuitively obvious. Stuntraps do parashock damage only. Artillery turrets fire radiation attacks at outrageous range, and can fire over walls once they start attacking you. Turrets may only be placed inside the outpost fence; if you find an exception, report it to a GM. Turrets may not be placed within a certain radius of a genetic replicator, or within firing range of a zone boundary. (This sucks at some outposts, as it leaves critical entrances and the generator undefendable.) Turrets do have good hitpoints, and will heal themselves automatically over time. Who gets attacked by the turrets is controlled by the outpost security settings; see below.

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