Category Archives: netrunner

netrunner

Advance Advance

deck building, Deck tech, LCG, netrunner

Previously I came up with an Anarch runner deck. Still not been able to get it to the table for testing.

In the meantime I found a NBN identity that appealed to me in Pravdivost Consulting: Political Solutions.

So what’s the plan?

It’s trying to abuse that additional advancement counter. Not only with rushing out agendas, but the deck has ice and assets that can be advanced.

The deck also wants to spam out tags on the runner to get some value out of them.

Here is my complete deck list:


Pravdivost Consulting: Political Solutions (Midnight Sun)

Agenda (13)
2x Remastered Edition (Downfall)
1x Tomorrowʼs Headline (System Gateway)
1x Orbital Superiority (System Gateway)
1x Superconducting Hub (System Gateway)
2x Oracle Thinktank (The Automata Initiative)
2x Kingmaking (Rebellion Without Rehearsal)
2x Stoke the Embers (Rebellion Without Rehearsal)
2x Let Them Dream (Vantage Point) ••

Asset (12)
1x Daily Quest (Downfall)
2x Chekist Scion (Midnight Sun)
1x Ubiquitous Vig (Midnight Sun)
2x Federal Fundraising (The Automata Initiative)
1x Janaína “JK” Dumont Kindelán (Rebellion Without Rehearsal)
2x The Powers That Be (Rebellion Without Rehearsal) ••
1x Idiosyncresis (Elevation)
2x Magistrate Revontulet (Vantage Point)

Upgrade (3)
2x Vladisibirsk City Grid (Midnight Sun)
1x The Holo Man (Rebellion Without Rehearsal)

Operation (11)
2x NAPD Cordon (Uprising)
2x Predictive Planogram (System Gateway)
2x Hedge Fund (System Gateway)
2x Backroom Machinations (Midnight Sun)
1x Bigger Picture (Elevation)
1x IP Enforcement (Elevation)
1x Flood the Market (Vantage Point)

Barrier (4)
2x Ping (System Gateway)
2x Paywall (Vantage Point)

Code Gate (5)
2x Funhouse (System Gateway)
1x Mestnichestvo (Midnight Sun)
2x Flyswatter (Elevation)

Sentry (6)
2x Vasilisa (Midnight Sun)
1x Unsmiling Tsarevna (Parhelion)
1x Starlit Knight (The Automata Initiative)
2x Doomscroll (Elevation)

4 influence spent (max 15, available 11)
23 agenda points (between 22 and 23)
54 cards (min 45)
Cards up to Vantage Point

Screenshot

Just like my runner deck this needs testing. And there lies the rub.

Windy on the Beanstalk

deck building, netrunner

I’ve finally built my first NSG Netrunner deck.

It’s a standard deck. Which means I have been able to choose cards from the following sets:

  • System Gateway
  • Elevation
  • Ashes Cycle
    • Downfall
    • Uprising
  • Borealis Cycle
    • Midnight Sun
    • Parhelion
  • Liberation Cycle
    • The Automata Initiative
    • Rebellion Without Rehearsal
  • Vantage Point

It’s also been built taking into account the Standard Ban List 26.03

Naturally my first deck was going to be an Anarch deck.

I went with Esâ Afontov because he causes the corp to sabotage cards when he takes core damage (the new name for brain damage).

This deck is all about that sabotage mechanic and trying to mill the corp.

In general corp decks are going to be around the 45 card plus mark. Taking into account the opening hand and first card draw from their first turn. The corp will have at least 39 cards in their R&D.

3 copies of Chastushka if successful sabotage 12 cards.

2 copies of Finality allow me to use my runners ability. Plus if successful I get to access 4 cards in R&D.

So just those five cards that put fourteen cards into archives. But they aren’t the only cards in my deck that have the sabotage keyword. There are another fourteen cards that have the sabotage keyword.

To help increase the amount I’m sabotaging the corp I have some cards like Harmony AR Therapy that allow me to get cards out of my heap back into my stack or even better to hand (Katorga Breakout).

I also have cards that increase my hand size. Which I need to do if I’m taking core damage.

Here is the complete deck list.

Esâ Afontov: Eco-Insurrectionist (Midnight Sun)

Event (16)
2x Harmony AR Therapy (Uprising) ••••• •
2x Sure Gamble (System Gateway)
3x Chastushka (Midnight Sun)
2x Finality (Parhelion)
3x Katorga Breakout (Parhelion)
2x Strike Fund (The Automata Initiative)
2x Scrounge (Elevation)

Hardware (9)
1x Demolisher (Downfall)
1x Buffer Drive (Uprising) •
2x T400 Memory Diamond (System Gateway)
2x Marrow (Midnight Sun)
3x Time Bomb (Parhelion)

Resource (10)
2x Cookbook (System Gateway)
3x Avgustina Ivanovskaya (Midnight Sun)
2x Light the Fire! (Midnight Sun)
3x Cacophony (Elevation)

Icebreaker (6)
2x Buzzsaw (System Gateway)
2x Num (Parhelion)
2x Rising Tide (Elevation)

Program (14)
2x Chisel (Downfall)
2x Botulus (System Gateway)
2x Fermenter (System Gateway)
2x Leech (System Gateway)
1x Hush (Parhelion)
3x Nga (Parhelion)
2x Monkeywrench (The Automata Initiative)

7 influence spent (max 15, available 8)
55 cards (min 45)
Cards up to Elevation

Screenshot

Ideally I’d like to be hitting 45 cards in total. But at the moment I don’t know what I can cut. Play testing will help with that. So at the moment I’m trying to find someone to play the corp starter decks for me to test against.

I’m curious if mill is a thing in Netrunner.

Other on going morning projects

Brew kit, ccg/tcg, Cooksets, hiking/backpacking/camping, LCG, life, the universe, and everything, Marvel Champions, netrunner, outdoors, TI, Twilight Imperium 4

As I wait for the final handful of bits for the 3D printed insert that allows me to combine the base game and A Prophecy of Kings into one box. I have also combined the bits from the four codexes that FFG did. They kindly included the cards in the Thunders Edge expansion.

I also sent the pdfs of the codexes off to a printers along with the “latest” rules reference. I splashed out for colour printing.

I’ve also revisited organising my Marvel Champions collection. In reality I need another storage case. There are just way too many cards.

Like TI4 I’ve sent off the pdf of the latest rules reference to be printed in colour. Sadly it wasn’t at the same time but a week later.

Just like Marvel Champions I need a new bigger case to hold my card pool (oh that sounds so pretentious). However I did make sure the runner and corp learning decks were back to the initial state, and the additional cards separate. So they are all ready to go if by any chance I get some one remotely interested in learning Netrunner. I also reset the original FFG core set decks to a different runner and Corp so that they can also be used for beginner games.

Now this next bit of the post is a straight copy and paste of what I shared on the Fire Maple Facebook page this morning. It’s also why this blog hardly gets read. Posts are all over the place.

Morning! Decided to make my first coffee of the day using my Fire Maple Lotus Titanium Solid Fuel Stove and Keith titanium canteen cup.
I usually use and store this stove with my Trangia mini mess tins, it fits perfectly inside that.
The pour over was a MERMOO YILAN Collapsible Pour Over Coffee Dripper Cone off Amazon.
Only draw back of this cone is you can’t see how full the cup underneath is without lifting it.

If I can give Fire Maple some feedback on this stove (which I love by the way) in the UK we can’t legally use the intended solid fuel with it. Ideally I’d love to see those base slots go so we can use the BCB fire dragon blocks with it. Currently I have to use a little foil mod to stop the fire dragon fuel melting out of the slots or use a meths burner of some kind (which I currently do)

I’m back, back in the New York Groove 

LCG, lcg/ccg/tcg game night, netrunner

“Many years since I was here, On the street I was passin’ my time away… I’m back, back in the New York Groove ” New York Groove

That’s how it felt to finally to run those servers, break that ice, and score those agendas once more.

Since those Null Signal Game (NSG) designed expansions for Netrunner dropped through the letter box I’ve been dying to get the game to the table.

In preparation I got an original FFG Android Netrunner core set cheaply off eBay for its tokens and rulebook. The NSG token set haven’t turned up yet. I’m hoping anyday now. At least having this core set also gives me some more pre-made decks to play with noobs. Even if those decks are just each faction/corps cards plus the neutral ones.

Dave suffering being made to play a runner

I have to say these NSG learners decks are great fun to play. Plus having it so that once you have played a handful of games with them, you can then shuffle in ten more cards that add one or two new mechanics.

And yes I have really missed playing this game. It most definitely is as much fun as I remember it.

I think Dave enjoyed his games. As results went it was a draw. We both won a game as a runner and as the Corp.

I want some more games with these learner decks and maybe with the original core set decks before jumping back into the deckbuilding side.

Sadly due to an imminent new arrival in the Dave household I don’t know when Dave will be able to play again. Quite rightly his priorities will be elsewhere.

But in the meantime “I’m back baby!”

Netrunner Initial Impressions

LCG, netrunner

This morning I had the pleasant surprise of my Netrunner order arriving.

An even more pleasant surprise was seeing the size of the packaging of each set. The big mostly empty set boxes from the FFG days gone. Now we have deck boxes stuffed with cards. Which I really like. It makes the starter decks in the System Gateway very portable.

Sadly the drawback is where once you got the rule book in the core set and the tokens needed to play. Now you don’t get either.

Instead you get the rules online, plus have to source tokens from a third party. This later point means the game isn’t very accessible for new players to the game.

You can download the rules as a pdf, and like me get them printed out (I used Doxzoo in the UK).

One nice touch is the new player guides to take a corp or runner through learning the game using the starter decks. I’d love these to be available as a pdf too so they can be printed. I like that there is also a video to go along with these starter guides.

I like the included reference cards. Whether it’s a summary of the actions a player can take, to on the starter runner and corp identities the play areas. Plus having a card with the starter decks on is really handy for resetting the decks for teaching new players.

Card quality seems amazing, and the art looks stunning. I believe they have used some of the same artists as FFG did.

Also considering the price of each set is less than £30 they present amazing value.

The only thing you need to take into account as an additional cost is sourcing tokens for the game.

Yep really impressed with the production of these sets.

Jacking back into the grid!

netrunner

Well I caved sooner than I thought I would, and have the fan community supported Netrunner on the way.

I’ve basically got the introductory beginner set System Gateway, and it’s complimentary set Elevation. These make up what Null Signal Games call the core sets.

Going along with these two core sets I also went for the Liberation Cycle. Which comprises of two sets, The Automata Initiative, and Rebellion Without Rehearsal.

There are a couple of other cycles I believe but they are not available currently from the Null Signal Games UK web store. Potentially late November after a restock.

I’m not going to go out of my way to try and get the old FFG cards (that I once owned). But if an opportunity arose to get them at a “reasonable” price then I’d not turn the opportunity down (funds at the time allowing).

My plan is to just play with the new sets. Use precon decks to play with my friends.

Obviously personally I’ll be running anarch and nbn. They are where my Netrunner heart is.

I can’t wait to start running at the corps again.

Free League Have Been Busy On The Alien RPG

Alien, android, genesys, netrunner, news, RPG

Last week Free League announced a partnership with Titan Books (an off shoot of Forbidden Planet if memory serves me correctly).

In the official announcement this partnership has been described as “a collaboration to publish a unified storyline set within the ALIEN Universe. For 2022 and into 2023, the editorial and writing teams will share assets and coordinate plotlines to form a cohesive narrative across three original novels and the multiple award-winning ALIEN RPG.”

In the next year Titan Books will be publishing three new Alien novels.

  • Alien: Colony War by David Barnett (April 2022)
  • Alien: Inferno’s Fall by Phillipa Ballantine and Clara Carija (July 2022)
  • Alien: Enemy of My Enemy by Mary SanGiovanni (February 2023)

The first two can be pre-ordered on Amazon already. Which funnily enough but hardly a surprise I have pre-ordered.

If unsure which version of the books to pre-order, as there are three versions, audible, kindle and good old physical?

You first need to be aware of the following snippet of information about these novels. “ALIEN RPG lead setting writer Andrew E.C. Gaska will develop three unique RPG scenarios which will appear as bonus features in the books, one per novel.”

I seriously doubt these scenarios will be in the audible version (which I did spend a credit on to pre-order). But I’m not sure that the kindle version will have them either. The only edition I would bet money on that definitely will have them is the physical (hence why I pre-ordered it).

However Titan Books aren’t the first to do this sort of thing.

Back in 2017/8 FFG did something similar when they released four novellas set in the Android universe that had in the physical versions exclusive content for the Genesys RPG Shadow of the Beanstalk source book. Such as “a 16-page color insert detailing the treacherous Los Scorpiones gang …”

That exclusive bit was annoying as it was very challenging to get the actual physical edition, especially here in the UK. I did manage to get them all. But I don’t think the print run was very big.

This shouldn’t be an issue with the much more popular Alien franchise.

In other Free League Alien RPG news (yes they have been very busy it seems) a new cinematic adventure called Heart of Darkness has just gone on pre-order.

Heart of Darkness is “written by sci-fi novelist Andrew E.C. Gaska. It is a stand-alone adventure, but also serves as a conclusion to the Draconis Strain Saga begun in the cinematic scenario Chariot of the Gods and continued in Destroyer of Worlds. The scenario is designed for 3–5 players plus the Game Mother, and is a spiraling descent into soul-crushing madness.”

What does your money get you?

Basically the following:

  • The main Heart of Darkness scenario book.
  • A huge double-sided map (format 864x558mm) of the Erebos plasma trawling space station.
  • Seven pre-generated characters to choose from.
  • Custom cards for secret messages and personal agendas.
  • Player maps and handouts.

Plus when you pre-order you get early access to the PDF’s. The actual physical version will not be out until sometime in the Summer I believe.

There is a VTT bundle for this as well.

I do like that buying from Free League also gets you the PDF version. Other publishers do this as well, such as EN Publishing. It’s a nice incentive to buy direct from them. But I am a bit conflicted on this. Pre-ordering and early access I’m happy with. But for those that can wait, and want to support and buy from their FLGS, surely Free League and other publishers can come up with a way for those to get the PDF as well as part of their purchase.

Anyway I’m an impatient so and so, so come payday Heart of Darkness will be added to a virtual shopping cart.

Dragons and Androids

android, D&D, genesys, netrunner, news, RPG

From time to time instead of writing a new post about something I’ve already written about I have been known to actually update the original post instead.

My post that shares some recent videos from Arcane Library and Sly Flourish about generating ideas for adventures using random tables is one such post. So if you want to see the update just click here.

As the above image demonstrates I did in fact cave and get Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons. I can’t wait to use it within my campaign. But first we need to get our sessions started again. No new date has been set yet!

In other news FFG in partnership with Dark Horse Comics are releasing a third art book in their series based on FFG intellectual property called The Art Of The Android Universe.

The Art of the Android Universe will be “showcasing the design and art from the hit table top games set within the Android Universe!”

Cool I’m a big fan of the Android universe. I have been ever since I first got into playing Android Netrunner. I just love this vision of a cyberpunk future that FFG have come up with.

This art book will be a great resource for GM’s wanting to run an adventure in the Android universe. I’m pretty sure it will compliment The Worlds of Android book very nicely as a source of inspiration.

The Art of the Android Universe is due out according to its Amazon UK page on the 16th December and will be £33.99.

Start of my horror notes

Cyberpunk Red, D&D, genesys, Judge Dredd, netrunner, Rogue Trooper, RPG, Strontium Dog, W.O.I.N.

Today I decided to start making some notes about horror in relation to RPGs instead of just dumping clippings into a note app entry on my iPad.

I’m using the excellent iThoughts mind map app to organise them. It allows me to create something like below.

Basically I’ve captioned headings, sub headings, etc and turned them into mini mind maps on one big mind map.

The plan is to expand each of the mind maps with further notes. Which naturally will take sometime.

But thought I’d share this incase it’s of interest to anyone.

The Start Of My Android Handout

android, genesys, netrunner, RPG


Being a wannabe noob GM as I’ve said in a previous post Matthew Colville has a lot of good advice.

One such nugget is the campaign handout. A short document for the players telling them about the world they will be adventuring in, and helping them decide what characters to create.

So I’ve made a stab at writing one for the Genesys Android campaign I want to run.

It needs a brief paragraph talking about how mega companies really run everything. Plus it also needs a brief description for each character type.

But here is what I’ve written so far (stuff in italics FFG words not mine).


It is the future. The world changed. People did not.

“In the not so-distant future, humanity has spread across the solar system, unlocked the frontiers of cyberspace, and created millions of intelligent androids in its own image. At the heart of this progress stands a ladder leading to the riches of the stars—the massive space elevator called the Beanstalk. And at its base sprawls the biggest, meanest, and most exciting city on Earth: New Angeles.”

12 hours ago your life turned upside down. 12 hours ago a tsunami hit “parts of six districts and caused massive damage to New Angeles’ coastal infrastructure.” Early estimates put the loss of life in the tens of thousands. It is thought at least a thousand androids also died rushing into the wall of water trying to save human lives.

NBN vidcasts are wall to wall floating bodies, and human suffering in the wake of the tsunami.

Somehow you survived the brutal force of nature as it lay waste to the feeble man made structures in its way. Battered and bruised, you have ended up at one of the many emergency relief centres. All you have left in the world are the possessions you managed to grab as the water crashed into your home. You are one of the lucky ones.

You are first level citizens of New Angeles. You do not know each other. But you are all in the same emergency relief centre.