A couple of years ago, I ran a campaign based inside the ACHE. Here is the introduction I sent to my players, followed by some other info for GMs. This campaign took place at the time of Emergence, so you'll notice a section about technomancers. You may notice some big holes in this story, but I wasn't too concerned, because there was a certain amount of humor in the whole thing.
Astute readers may notice a similarity between this setting, and that of another game.
Enjoy!
Full Version: campaign in the ACHE
Okay folks, Here's the story. The setting for our upcoming low-level campaign is low income housing. You're in the projects. But not just any projects, the project. The Arcology Communal Housing Enclave.
So...
As recipients of public assistance, you have a day job. Tell me what it is. Cashier? ("You want fries with that?") Waste management? ("Somebody threw away a perfectly good elf boy.") Health care? (Okay, fill this out and have a seat over there.) And no, it's not going to be a very high clearance job, so no, you're not the director of ACHE Energy. You're not even Homer Simpson, monitoring the reactors. No security jobs either. Everyone has to have a job. If you don't work, you get kicked out. Most people try to do (just) well enough at their jobs to keep them. Or they resort to bribery. Or blackmail.
Residents don't own their own transportation is because it's all public. It's either mass transit or it's specialized vehicles, like delivery trucks. There's not a single gas engine to be found. There are rumors that Residents can apply to buy cars. And you've seen people tooling around on scooters.
Every resident is issued his or her own commlink. The ACHE has a contract with Radio Shack to provide iSRS commlinks with hotCom operating systems (Resp 1, Sig 2, FW 1, Sys 1). These are very basic systems, that even the electronically challenged can operate. A Few higher end models, such as the Sony Emperor, are available for purchase. They are all manufactured in the enclave, under contract.
All Residents have SINs. If they didn't have them already, they are issued.
Every resident wears an ID badge. In addition, his public information displays in AR. The information that appears is real name, nickname (what he wishes to be called), and his job title. Other information is broadcast, and can be seen by security personnel, such as clearance, criminal records, aliases (past nicknames, or other names that have been associated with the person).
Residents are given security clearances. These are Black, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue (cyan), Indigo (dark blue), Violet and White. All residents wear badges of the appropriate color. Awakened residents are identified with yellow stripes across their security badges. Areas of the ACHE are occasionally restricted by color. Security clearances are granted based on the jobs one performs or the areas one needs to go. Private security guards (glorified bouncers) are generally Green clearance. Public Safety Officers are Blue (and are called “Blues” by most residents), with higher ranks being higher colors. Falcon Squad (SWAT) are Indigo, as are many detectives. The Enclave Director, which corresponds to the mayor, is Ultraviolet, as is the Chief of Security and other high-ranking officials. Black signifies a probationary resident.
In a general sense, life in here is much like life outside the Enclave. There are all kinds of people doing all kinds of jobs. There are all kinds of criminals doing all kinds of jobs. And there are all kinds of contacts. The main difference in the criminals is the level. The syndicates are hardly active. Their only control is through the gangs that operate here, and that's sketchy, at best. The big syndicates tend to operate where the big money is. The smaller ones go wherever they think there's a buck to be made. The Yak and Vory have little influence. The Mafia keeps a couple of ACHE gangs in their pockets. The Triads do a fair bit of business, moving BTLs and other drugs. There's a lot of gang activity, but they tend to keep a lower profile than their external counterparts. There is much more surveillance inside than there is on the streets of Seattle.
Many people don't want to enter the ACHE because it sounds like prison. There's is very little communication between the inside and the outside, and even less travel - you have to be able to afford a pass to get out, and visitor passes are even harder to get. Once inside, most residents desire to stay because it's safer inside than it is out on the streets, and more comfortable. There's constant surveillance, but you get used to that. Residents can voluntarily give up their Enclave membership, but cannot reapply for entry for one year. Some residents really do see it as prison, and prefer to be free, even if they have to scrounge for their food on the streets, so many do leave.
The Enclave's best loved feature (if you believe the propaganda) is Sis. Sis is a holographic eight-year-old girl. She can and does appear just about anywhere. She knows all residents by name, and talks with them like they're siblings. She appears as the race of the person she talks to, or as the most common race in the room. Her ethnicity is ambiguous. She knows everyone by name, and is familiar with their lives. She's omnipresent, and considered by most to be omniscient. Sis is widely assumed to be an artificial intelligence. She's very friendly, always with a smile on her face. She talks to residents and acts as a sort of conscience; for example, reminding them not to break the rules. Sis likes to remind people of appointments. She shows up of her own accord, and cannot be called. Most people are either creeped out by the hologram, or they love the cute girl. Children almost always fall in the latter category.
Theoretically, magically active people are desireable employees, and therefore sought after. Closer to reality, the awakened who are in need of welfare are unemployable. But they're still sought after, because either way, benefit or liability, they need to be pulled off the streets. People who are known to have the ability have yellow stripes on their ID badges. Every person who enters the Enclave is screened for the ability. If you are magically active, you either have the stripe, or you have a really good story as to why you don't.
The prevailing hatred is towards the magically active. ACHE entertainment takes care to portray mages only in a positive light, but their inherent power is found to be scary nonetheless. Management has a campaign asking that residents report any posible magical activity, which sounds like they're asking residents to turn in mages. The fact that there are so few of the awakened in the Enclave makes it look like the mages really do disappear when turned in. The awakened that remain on the street are eccentric enough to make people nervous. Humanis Policlub and other anti-magic groups play on this fear.
Speaking of Humanis... there are four types of organized groups in the ACHE. Sponsored, Registered, Unregistered and Illegal. Sponsored are organizations that are officially sanctioned by management, and are granted resources. Registered are groups that are unaffliliated with the ACHE, but are allowed to rent meeting space and advertise. Unregistered are people who just meet and do their thing on their own terms. Illegal groups are (obviously) ones that are not allowed. Humanis falls into this latter category. Sporting groups and teams, and the Junior Residents Brigade are often Sponsored. Most religious groups are Registered (certain exceptions should be obvious).
Prejudice against metahumans is slightly below average, compared with the rest of Seattle. This is in large part due to the high metahuman population. This is also because the entertainment (propaganda) system has a very strong message of peace, love, understanding, and I'd like to teach the world to sing. Many people rebel against this message but they try not to be too loud about it because they could risk expulsion, or at least miss out on a promotion. Like anyone with strong feelings about an issue, people gravitate towards people who feel the same way they do, so there are pockets of racists everywhere.
Technomancers are largely unknown within the Enclave. The average person has barely heard of them. Those that have, fall into one of two categories. First are the ones quietly spreading wild urban myths about what they do and what they're capable of. Second are the ones that know a bit about them and are legitimately afraid of what they can do. This is usually management. The average person has little need to be afraid of technomancers or hackers because they own so little electronic gear. The worst that happens is having their entertainment or transportation fouled up. In addition, residents tend to rely on the Enclave to take care of things. But as new residents arrive, bringing hysteric stories of mass chaos caused by technomancers, the level of fear is rising.
Recent events have brought artificial intelligences into the public eye. Most people know that it was an AI that killed all those people when the arcology belonged to Renraku. This makes residents uneasy, since they're not only in the same place, but are essentially trapped there. Now that the general level of unease is rising, people are viewing Sis with more suspicion. Management asserts that there are no AI's in the Enclave, and that there are multiple levels of redundancy and separation to Enclave systems.
Gear of any kind is tough to get. It should come as no surprise that there is a lively smuggling trade going on. Illegal gear is also often hard to use because of the amount of surveillance in the ACHE. Weapons of any kind are illegal except to security personnel. Residential Security officers carry tasers and stun batons. Falcons (Falcon Squadron, or SWAT) will have heavier weapons, if the need arises.
Jobs are broken into several agencies. Energy, Logistics, Production, Security, Health, Services. Information Management.
Energy includes the distribution of energy, and public transportation. It also has jurisdiction over the communications network (cables and wireless networks, but not the computers and wireless devices themselves).
Security is the police (but not detectives), military (Falcon Squad) and IT.
Production is manufacturing and transportation of both hard goods and food. It includes waste management.
Health Services covers physicians, psychiatrics, popular mood management and entertainment.
Services is the service sector – stores and housing.
Information Management is just that, but it includes the investigative organizations, analogous to the FBI.
Most jobs are fairly easy. Given that almost all of them can be performed by machinery and/or computers, an effort must be made to spread jobs around so that everyone has one. Often, the hardest part is to keep from annoying your coworkers and boss, who can get you kicked off the job, and therefore out of the Enclave.
Since the Enclave has only been in operation for a few years, few of the higher education programs have come to fruition, so occupations that require a certain degree of education, are filled with outside help. This is especially true of Security, education and the medical fields.
So...
As recipients of public assistance, you have a day job. Tell me what it is. Cashier? ("You want fries with that?") Waste management? ("Somebody threw away a perfectly good elf boy.") Health care? (Okay, fill this out and have a seat over there.) And no, it's not going to be a very high clearance job, so no, you're not the director of ACHE Energy. You're not even Homer Simpson, monitoring the reactors. No security jobs either. Everyone has to have a job. If you don't work, you get kicked out. Most people try to do (just) well enough at their jobs to keep them. Or they resort to bribery. Or blackmail.
Residents don't own their own transportation is because it's all public. It's either mass transit or it's specialized vehicles, like delivery trucks. There's not a single gas engine to be found. There are rumors that Residents can apply to buy cars. And you've seen people tooling around on scooters.
Every resident is issued his or her own commlink. The ACHE has a contract with Radio Shack to provide iSRS commlinks with hotCom operating systems (Resp 1, Sig 2, FW 1, Sys 1). These are very basic systems, that even the electronically challenged can operate. A Few higher end models, such as the Sony Emperor, are available for purchase. They are all manufactured in the enclave, under contract.
All Residents have SINs. If they didn't have them already, they are issued.
Every resident wears an ID badge. In addition, his public information displays in AR. The information that appears is real name, nickname (what he wishes to be called), and his job title. Other information is broadcast, and can be seen by security personnel, such as clearance, criminal records, aliases (past nicknames, or other names that have been associated with the person).
Residents are given security clearances. These are Black, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue (cyan), Indigo (dark blue), Violet and White. All residents wear badges of the appropriate color. Awakened residents are identified with yellow stripes across their security badges. Areas of the ACHE are occasionally restricted by color. Security clearances are granted based on the jobs one performs or the areas one needs to go. Private security guards (glorified bouncers) are generally Green clearance. Public Safety Officers are Blue (and are called “Blues” by most residents), with higher ranks being higher colors. Falcon Squad (SWAT) are Indigo, as are many detectives. The Enclave Director, which corresponds to the mayor, is Ultraviolet, as is the Chief of Security and other high-ranking officials. Black signifies a probationary resident.
In a general sense, life in here is much like life outside the Enclave. There are all kinds of people doing all kinds of jobs. There are all kinds of criminals doing all kinds of jobs. And there are all kinds of contacts. The main difference in the criminals is the level. The syndicates are hardly active. Their only control is through the gangs that operate here, and that's sketchy, at best. The big syndicates tend to operate where the big money is. The smaller ones go wherever they think there's a buck to be made. The Yak and Vory have little influence. The Mafia keeps a couple of ACHE gangs in their pockets. The Triads do a fair bit of business, moving BTLs and other drugs. There's a lot of gang activity, but they tend to keep a lower profile than their external counterparts. There is much more surveillance inside than there is on the streets of Seattle.
Many people don't want to enter the ACHE because it sounds like prison. There's is very little communication between the inside and the outside, and even less travel - you have to be able to afford a pass to get out, and visitor passes are even harder to get. Once inside, most residents desire to stay because it's safer inside than it is out on the streets, and more comfortable. There's constant surveillance, but you get used to that. Residents can voluntarily give up their Enclave membership, but cannot reapply for entry for one year. Some residents really do see it as prison, and prefer to be free, even if they have to scrounge for their food on the streets, so many do leave.
The Enclave's best loved feature (if you believe the propaganda) is Sis. Sis is a holographic eight-year-old girl. She can and does appear just about anywhere. She knows all residents by name, and talks with them like they're siblings. She appears as the race of the person she talks to, or as the most common race in the room. Her ethnicity is ambiguous. She knows everyone by name, and is familiar with their lives. She's omnipresent, and considered by most to be omniscient. Sis is widely assumed to be an artificial intelligence. She's very friendly, always with a smile on her face. She talks to residents and acts as a sort of conscience; for example, reminding them not to break the rules. Sis likes to remind people of appointments. She shows up of her own accord, and cannot be called. Most people are either creeped out by the hologram, or they love the cute girl. Children almost always fall in the latter category.
Theoretically, magically active people are desireable employees, and therefore sought after. Closer to reality, the awakened who are in need of welfare are unemployable. But they're still sought after, because either way, benefit or liability, they need to be pulled off the streets. People who are known to have the ability have yellow stripes on their ID badges. Every person who enters the Enclave is screened for the ability. If you are magically active, you either have the stripe, or you have a really good story as to why you don't.
The prevailing hatred is towards the magically active. ACHE entertainment takes care to portray mages only in a positive light, but their inherent power is found to be scary nonetheless. Management has a campaign asking that residents report any posible magical activity, which sounds like they're asking residents to turn in mages. The fact that there are so few of the awakened in the Enclave makes it look like the mages really do disappear when turned in. The awakened that remain on the street are eccentric enough to make people nervous. Humanis Policlub and other anti-magic groups play on this fear.
Speaking of Humanis... there are four types of organized groups in the ACHE. Sponsored, Registered, Unregistered and Illegal. Sponsored are organizations that are officially sanctioned by management, and are granted resources. Registered are groups that are unaffliliated with the ACHE, but are allowed to rent meeting space and advertise. Unregistered are people who just meet and do their thing on their own terms. Illegal groups are (obviously) ones that are not allowed. Humanis falls into this latter category. Sporting groups and teams, and the Junior Residents Brigade are often Sponsored. Most religious groups are Registered (certain exceptions should be obvious).
Prejudice against metahumans is slightly below average, compared with the rest of Seattle. This is in large part due to the high metahuman population. This is also because the entertainment (propaganda) system has a very strong message of peace, love, understanding, and I'd like to teach the world to sing. Many people rebel against this message but they try not to be too loud about it because they could risk expulsion, or at least miss out on a promotion. Like anyone with strong feelings about an issue, people gravitate towards people who feel the same way they do, so there are pockets of racists everywhere.
Technomancers are largely unknown within the Enclave. The average person has barely heard of them. Those that have, fall into one of two categories. First are the ones quietly spreading wild urban myths about what they do and what they're capable of. Second are the ones that know a bit about them and are legitimately afraid of what they can do. This is usually management. The average person has little need to be afraid of technomancers or hackers because they own so little electronic gear. The worst that happens is having their entertainment or transportation fouled up. In addition, residents tend to rely on the Enclave to take care of things. But as new residents arrive, bringing hysteric stories of mass chaos caused by technomancers, the level of fear is rising.
Recent events have brought artificial intelligences into the public eye. Most people know that it was an AI that killed all those people when the arcology belonged to Renraku. This makes residents uneasy, since they're not only in the same place, but are essentially trapped there. Now that the general level of unease is rising, people are viewing Sis with more suspicion. Management asserts that there are no AI's in the Enclave, and that there are multiple levels of redundancy and separation to Enclave systems.
Gear of any kind is tough to get. It should come as no surprise that there is a lively smuggling trade going on. Illegal gear is also often hard to use because of the amount of surveillance in the ACHE. Weapons of any kind are illegal except to security personnel. Residential Security officers carry tasers and stun batons. Falcons (Falcon Squadron, or SWAT) will have heavier weapons, if the need arises.
Jobs are broken into several agencies. Energy, Logistics, Production, Security, Health, Services. Information Management.
Energy includes the distribution of energy, and public transportation. It also has jurisdiction over the communications network (cables and wireless networks, but not the computers and wireless devices themselves).
Security is the police (but not detectives), military (Falcon Squad) and IT.
Production is manufacturing and transportation of both hard goods and food. It includes waste management.
Health Services covers physicians, psychiatrics, popular mood management and entertainment.
Services is the service sector – stores and housing.
Information Management is just that, but it includes the investigative organizations, analogous to the FBI.
Most jobs are fairly easy. Given that almost all of them can be performed by machinery and/or computers, an effort must be made to spread jobs around so that everyone has one. Often, the hardest part is to keep from annoying your coworkers and boss, who can get you kicked off the job, and therefore out of the Enclave.
Since the Enclave has only been in operation for a few years, few of the higher education programs have come to fruition, so occupations that require a certain degree of education, are filled with outside help. This is especially true of Security, education and the medical fields.
Other information
Gangs are frequent, but few of them have strong ties to outside gangs. One of the bigger gangs is called The Family. They’re more interested in the old-school trid image of the mafiosi, than they are in amassing real power. But since they love the romantic view, they’re fighting each other for power, and to do this, they need real resources, so they do end up with some real influence.
The most powerful gang in the enclave is The 404’s, a matrix gang.
Sis is not an AI, but Management doesn't explain that she is an expert program, attached to a very large database. There are holoprojectors and sensors for Sis everywhere. They’re not always functional. She reads AR profiles, watches activities, and can listen to speech. “Johnny, there’s a trash receptacle right over there!” *Johnny sheepishly picks up the wrapper, and walks over to the chute*
Personal vehicles are available only to those of the highest security clearances. Greens may have scooters. Blues, one-seat partially enclosed trikes. Indigos and above may have enclosed passenger cars. Mass transit is prevalent, especially on the lower levels of the pyramid, which are much bigger than the upper levels.
Items with gas engines are illegal, due to the limitations on importing gasoline to the self-contained environment (not to mention the ventilation issues).
Everyone has a SIN. If they didn't have one already, they're assigned one when they enter the ACHE.
Communication with the outside world is closely monitored. News and entertainment is carefully shaped.
Items that draw attention:
Uglies with gang tattos attract little notice. Armor and weapons do. Clothing and appearance is based on individual security rating. The lower the ISR, the less variation there is in available clothing. Armor is legal only in approved professional capacity.
Gangs are frequent, but few of them have strong ties to outside gangs. One of the bigger gangs is called The Family. They’re more interested in the old-school trid image of the mafiosi, than they are in amassing real power. But since they love the romantic view, they’re fighting each other for power, and to do this, they need real resources, so they do end up with some real influence.
The most powerful gang in the enclave is The 404’s, a matrix gang.
Sis is not an AI, but Management doesn't explain that she is an expert program, attached to a very large database. There are holoprojectors and sensors for Sis everywhere. They’re not always functional. She reads AR profiles, watches activities, and can listen to speech. “Johnny, there’s a trash receptacle right over there!” *Johnny sheepishly picks up the wrapper, and walks over to the chute*
Personal vehicles are available only to those of the highest security clearances. Greens may have scooters. Blues, one-seat partially enclosed trikes. Indigos and above may have enclosed passenger cars. Mass transit is prevalent, especially on the lower levels of the pyramid, which are much bigger than the upper levels.
Items with gas engines are illegal, due to the limitations on importing gasoline to the self-contained environment (not to mention the ventilation issues).
Everyone has a SIN. If they didn't have one already, they're assigned one when they enter the ACHE.
Communication with the outside world is closely monitored. News and entertainment is carefully shaped.
Items that draw attention:
Uglies with gang tattos attract little notice. Armor and weapons do. Clothing and appearance is based on individual security rating. The lower the ISR, the less variation there is in available clothing. Armor is legal only in approved professional capacity.
Game rules
I recommend starting with a 350 BP limit. I played the denizens of the ACHE as generally inept, so lower than that wouldn’t be inappropriate. The limits on what a character could reasonably have, also limits their need to spend nuyen, in some cases.
The availability of items with a base availability of 12 or higher, is increased by 1. Availability is increased by 1 more for every four points above that. An item with AV of 13 becomes 14. And item with AV of 17 becomes 19. Cost of items that are not generally found within the ACHE black market (GM discretion) are increased by twenty percent, as they must be smuggled in for you.
I recommend starting with a 350 BP limit. I played the denizens of the ACHE as generally inept, so lower than that wouldn’t be inappropriate. The limits on what a character could reasonably have, also limits their need to spend nuyen, in some cases.
The availability of items with a base availability of 12 or higher, is increased by 1. Availability is increased by 1 more for every four points above that. An item with AV of 13 becomes 14. And item with AV of 17 becomes 19. Cost of items that are not generally found within the ACHE black market (GM discretion) are increased by twenty percent, as they must be smuggled in for you.
With the color-coding, heavy propaganda, yellow-barrd awakeneds, all-knowing computer system and falcons (vultures), I'm wondering : how much of it did you pattern out of the Paranoďa game ?
As soon as I saw the color coding, I was thinking about Paranoia too. The rest seems to fit that gameworld.
Pretty much all of it. 
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.