So what is an Edgerunner anyway? The term was originally popularized by a TV show following the lives and work of the freelance agents of “Edgerunners Inc”. Beginning in 2038 as an unadvertised database modelled after hacker forums which would match teams and operatives of “grey market” mercenaries with clients and jobs that were suited to their skills and temperaments, word spread on the streets and in the bars of the shadowy grey economy. By 2043, some anonymous wordsmith dubbed the collective “Edgerunners Inc” and that’s what it has been known as ever since. In 2047, an immensely popular reality show began following the often-flamboyant members of the co-operative of street mercenaries as they took on contracts from those too small and poor to afford their own corporate SpecOps teams. The name entered popular culture and is now taken to mean anyone who markets themself as a skilled semi-legal operative for hire. The term is a catch-all which can include netrunners, B&E specialists, medi-techs, ex-soldiers, street-trained fighters, middle-men, wheel men and many others. The only requirements are that you live on the Edge and you’re for hire.

Edgerunners, GURPS and Starting Characters

---

Player-characters in Edgerunners begin at 300 points total, with up to 75 points in disadvantages and 5 points in quirks.

A .lib for the GCS character building program is available.

We will be using most of “RPK” Divine’s applicable House Rules in the game, but will not be separating Per and Will from IQ.

In GURPS terms, Edgerunners as a setting is dystopic cyberpunk science-fiction. The main technology level is TL9, although there is some breakthrough or experimental TL10 gear and large swathes of the Third World still struggle along at late TL8. Edgerunners is a No Mana setting – no magical advantages or spells are available. Psi and psi-powers are likewise off-limits to PC characters and may well not exist in the setting despite persistent rumors and the claims of charlatan TV spoon-benders.

Politically, whether an individual national government pretends to democracy or dictatorship the truth is that the Megacorps call the shots. The entire world is essentially an Oligarchic State ruled by elite families of The Hub and their associated corporations. Locally, the U.S. still pretends to representative democracy and ostensibly has Control Rating 3. However, Corporate zones or “clades” are run under a privileged legal system and are Control Rating 3 only for members of the clade, CR4 otherwise. The U.S.A. has become balkanized, with breakaway states including Texas, North California and South California. Other powerful nations on the world stage include those of the old European core (Germany, France, Russia etc), Japan, China, India, and Brazil.