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Rather than you coming up with the beginning, have the players metagame a bit. Explain what training, graduation and all that is like, and have them come up with the team dynamic on their own. Who's the leader? How close do they follow the code when they think they aren't being watched?

I once played in a game where I was a cyber-knight and during the course of the game I lost the code and ended up an assassin/mercenary with a side-business as a porn star. Oddly enough...against his knowledge the first time, video taped without his knowledge, someone on the street recognized him, he went back, confronted the woman, got part of the profits and jumped into the industry with both feet. Definitely an adult game. But it was fun exploring the dark side of a fallen Cyber-Knight.

Don't be afraid to let your players waver, but with them being a group of Cyber-Knights, they should hold each other accountable to the code, if they aren't, then they are either being influenced by events in the game or their flaws weren't caught during Cyber-knight training.

LostOne wrote:I once played in a game where I was a cyber-knight and during the course of the game I lost the code and ended up an assassin/mercenary with a side-business as a porn star. Oddly enough...against his knowledge the first time, video taped without his knowledge, someone on the street recognized him, he went back, confronted the woman, got part of the profits and jumped into the industry with both feet. Definitely an adult game. But it was fun exploring the dark side of a fallen Cyber-Knight.

Heh, I like how you consider talk of concentual sex between two adults as offensive for minors, yet murder, racism, and living by the sword (all common themes to Rifts) as child-stuff.

walross1978 wrote:Hi guys,

I am just about to start a Cyber-knight campaign with roughly 3-4 players all are going to be cyber-knights. I have ideas for the group during training, graduation and a little after being knighted.

I was wondering how to keep a group of knights motivated and together? what type of quests/campaigns? How do I make them play in character using the chivalry code? this is a first time where I feel like I could get stuck. I need help.

Find out what motivates them. Tie these things together, and then to the back of a truck (because people hate trains) and let them chase the mechinations of their own devising.

Basically this means find what they want and hold it just out of arms reach, allowing the game and the players to build apon that until they finally reach their goals. If you find that one player basically has no motivations, offer that he get some or that he be satisfied as part of the background. If you want to highlight the chivalry of the game, play towards the ego of each gender (either character or player). Offer that a woman finds herself in distress (perhaps she has been kidnapped or that she is the sheriff of a town and her powered armour has been stolen, depending on how sexist you're looking to be), and only with the help of the PC's can she be saved. In the case of a woman CK, offer that a man seeks her aid for alterior motives; maybe even humbling a hidden stature as a prince in order to squire under her just to be close.

As for adventures, the typical "slay the dragon" works well, as does "storming the fort" type scenarios. Cyber-Knights have a big advantage against modern weapons, so maybe for the first bit pit them against foes that use them to better ensure their survival to atleast level 4+. Maybe they play Robinhood for a scenario, robbing some rich baron's money train Wild West style (riding up on horseback with bandanas up and guns drawn).

Remember, though you may have a vision for morality, reality and your players do not share that same sight. Robbing a train to give back to fleeced communities can very easily be construed as noble and just in the eyes of a modern, post apocalyptic land. Shooting first is what a smart person does (though the good, the skilled, and the crazy tend to let the other guy atleast draw first), and a head full of morals and nobility tends to leave the belly devoid of food and the feet covered in bunions.

Dog_O_War wrote:

LostOne wrote:I once played in a game where I was a cyber-knight and during the course of the game I lost the code and ended up an assassin/mercenary with a side-business as a porn star. Oddly enough...against his knowledge the first time, video taped without his knowledge, someone on the street recognized him, he went back, confronted the woman, got part of the profits and jumped into the industry with both feet. Definitely an adult game. But it was fun exploring the dark side of a fallen Cyber-Knight.

Heh, I like how you consider talk of concentual sex between two adults as offensive for minors, yet murder, racism, and living by the sword (all common themes to Rifts) as child-stuff.

I should have qualified that better. The entire game was definitely adult, murder, graphically described torture, rape, etc. Very dark, all the players were pretty much miscreant by the end.

The good thing about cyber-knight characters is that they should be proactive. They should be out trying to right wrongs, after all. Nothing's more irritating for a GM than having the characters not wanting to get involved.