While I’ve already done a one-pager inspired by Cyberpunk 2077, given it’s return as an Edge of Inspiration, I figured I’d go back to the well—especially since a band/musician is so integral to the story. Following one plot thread, the player can end up in a bunch of music industry flavoured nonsense.
Story
The PCs are all linked to an up-and-coming band called ‘HandMark.’ What started as a bunch of teens goofing off looks like it might break wide open. The band has a growing social media presence. They’re making money both with real live gigs and virtual ones. And now they have a collection of songs they think will put them over the top. One magical night they put it all together. Working through the night, they record the perfect session. They are ecstatic. They collapse in the studio, exhausted. But in the morning, all the recordings are gone. The studio staff had left just before the band had flaked out and claim to know nothing. There’s no hope of recreating that magic. The band needs those recordings.
Places
The Studio: This is an independent studio used by acts that don’t have the resources of a corporation behind them. It has a great reputation, and everyone there is hugely supportive of small acts. It’s recording equipment is top notch. It’s security? Not so much.
The Nightclub: This is both the band’s hangout and maybe the business of the PCs. It’s a place where they perform and find inspiration. Everyone there knows them and knows they are bound for success.
People
The Staff: They didn’t do it. But they might know something. Did they see the two people that were watching the studio every time the band were recording the last few weeks? Did they notice them along with a corporate handler the night of the recordings?
The Thieves: They’re bad people in that they’re thieves and they are stealing dreams in this particular instance. They’re not bad people in that they are desperate and this wasn’t their idea.
The Corpo: This one works for one of the Entertainment Megas. They’ve seen the band play, heard their music, and has had a team infiltrate the Studio. They know that no-one outside of the Studio and the band have heard these tracks, and they want them for their next purpose-built idol group who will have no idea they are succeeding in their dreams by stealing those of others.
Events
The Search: There should be clues. A hacker can find the backdoors built into the Studio’s network. The transfer of files was done hastily and not by experts, so it left tracks. The Studio’s security isn’t great, but a review of the CCTV by someone with the right skills will reveal the Thieves due to their pattern of behaviour. That will lead to the Corpo.
The Gall: When caught, the Corpo sets up a meet at the Nightclub. They don’t even try to deny the theft—they don’t admit it but just ask who is going to care and how will they prove it. They offer the band some money to tour with idol group the Corpo will create, playing the songs the band wrote. The Corpo has already copyrighted the songs, so they own them, but the band doesn’t need to walk away with nothing.