CyberPunk History

The following history is taken from the Talsorian Games official CyberPunk 2020 RolePlaying Guide and supplemented from ShadowRun and Peter F. Hamilton's Mindstar Rising as well as bits and pieces from other works of the CyberPunk genre. Note that since CyberPunk 2020 was originally created in the 80's, some of the early history must be assumed to be alternate to ours, which hasn't been quite so quick, or so dark....yet. For the most comprehensive CP2020 timeline I've seen yet, visit Mark Cook's Days of Future Past.

1990 Start of first Central American conflict. US engages in interventionist actions in Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador. Military forces are sent to secure the canal zone from an ex-US puppet dictator.

West, East Germany reunited. Warsaw Pact breaks up into separate nations.

Breakup of Soviet mega-state. From this point, Russia begins a new era of rapprochement with Western Europe; by the 2000's, the Russians are the Eurotheatre's most powerful allies.

Russian president Gorbachev appoints party successor, Andrei Gorborev.

Fall of South Africa. For the next 4 years, there is little or no communication, although terrible atrocities and genocidal wars are rumored.

Wales separates from England as the rise of The Awakening brings genetic alterations in the populace, the ancient strain of Elf and Dwarf mutation that has long been suppressed in the human race becoming physically manifested for the first time since the Dark Ages. The newly independent nation is named Tir Na Nog.

Turkey gains nuclear weapons capability.

1991 Eurospace Agency launches Hermes Spaceplane.

Gorborev regime purges last of old hardliners.

CHOOH2, an alternative fuel source, is developed by Biotechnica.

First Arcology built on ruins of Jersey City. 16 "Arcos" begin construction over the next 5 years, until the Collapse of 1997, leaving the huge structures half completed, filled with squatters and homeless.

Artificial muscle fibers developed at Stanford Research Center.

Researchers in London scientifically document the existence of weak psychic phenomena and discover that those who demonstrate such powers have an enlargement of the hypothalamus and increased cortical activity centered around an area they name the region of Hamilton.

1992 The Treaty of 1992 establishes the European Economic Community. Zones of control and protective tariffs regulate the activities of member nations, France, Britain, United Germany, Italy. A common currency unit (the Eurodollar) is established, based on an average value in gold of all currencies combined. Trapped in paranoid isolationism, the US declines to enter.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency develops and spreads several designer plagues worldwide, targeting coca and opium plants.

Governments of Chile, Ecuador collapse.

A savage drug war breaks out between Eurocorp-backed dealers and DEA all over the Americas. Terrorist tactics by the Turks, hard hit by the DEA's plant plagues and the European Economic Community success, cause the most fear.

First use of high energy laser lift arrays in Russia. Simple massdriver established in Canary Islands by eight member Eurospace Agency.

The University of California at San Diego begins the Noah's Ark Project, an attempt to capture and catalog a DNA bank of all known animal species, underwritten by the Sierra Environmental Protection Alliance. The project is headed by Dr. Hernando Juarez and his assistant, Dr. Torrey O'Neal.

1993 First TRC biologic interface chips developed in Munich, United Germany.

AV-4 Aerodyne Assault Vehicle developed to deal with increasing riots in US urban zones.

Colombian druglords detonate small tactical nuclear device in New York. 15,000 killed.

The European Economic Community denounces the terrorist activities of the Turkish government in the Americas, setting the stage for future conflicts in the Eurotheatre.

1994 World stock market crash of '94. US economy teeters, then collapses.

Nuclear accident in Pittsburgh kills 257. Cancer deaths soar over the next ten years.

Researchers at London University create the first artificial gland by mutating the hypothalamus of a psychic to increase the innate abilities of those who are psychic enabled. They name the gland the espergland. Parliament instantly bans further research in the area and all data is seized by the British Army.

1995 Kilimanjaro massdriver begins construction, under joint agreement between ESA and Pan African Alliance.

Tyrell Corporation, a genetic engineering laboratory, creates the first Replicant, a combined cybernetic and biologic mouse that cannot be distinguished from a fully biological mouse by external examination.

1996 The collapse of the US. Weakened by losses in the world stock crash, overwhelmed by unemployment, homelessness, and corruption, many city governments collapse or go bankrupt. The US government, snarled in a staggering deficit and the machinations of the Gang of Four, is totally ineffective.

Nomad riots. By now, 1 in 4 Americans are now homeless. Hundreds of thousands riot for living space throughout the US. Nomad Packs spring up on the West Coast and spread rapidly through the nation.

First appearance of Boostergangs.

Lawyer purge. Irate citizens lynch hundreds of criminal defense attorneys.

Constitution suspended. Martial law established in US.

Turkey declares war on the European Economic Community member nations.

1997 Mideast meltdown. Tensions in Middle East escalate to nuclear exchange. Iran, Iraq, Libya, Chad, and the Arab Emirates reduced to radioactive slag. World oil supply drops by half.

Toxic spill kills off most of salmon population in Pacific Northwest. Seattle economy crippled.

'Rockerboy' Manson killed in England. Gary Numan releases 'Exile' which rockets him into center stage in the music industry.

Great Britain denies rumors of continued experimentation with the espergland on British soldiers as recruits tell of having to undergo psychic ability screening during military training and sudden disappearances of fellow soldiers.

1998 Neo-Luddites reestablished in western Kentucky. Over the next ten years, the "Luds" are responsible for bombings of airports, factories, freeways, and mass transit terminals.

The drought of '98 reduces most of the Midwest to parched grasslands. Between agribusiness corps and drought, the family farm all but disappears.

10.5 quake shatters Los Angeles, ocean inundates 35% of the city. An estimated 65,000 are killed.

First human clone grown in vitro. Mindless, it only lives 6 hours.

1999 Federal weapons statute established.

Millennium cults begin to appear, predicting an apocalypse on Jan 1, 2000. Thousands migrate to isolated communes and temples to "await the end".

Tycho Colony established. A massdriver is constructed to provide raw materials for orbital platforms.

Tyrell Corp offers $10 million to anyone who can tell from external examination which of 5,000 cattle is the single Replicant. The prize goes unclaimed.

First complete body transplant using a clone.

2000 Millennium cults run amok on Jan 1st in an orgy of suicide and violence. Most destroy themselves.

First "extended family" Posergangs established.

Massive firestorms rage over northwestern US, destroying millions of acres of farm and grassland.

Crystal Palace Space Station begun at L-S.

Wasting Plague hits US, Europe, killing hundreds of thousands.

First DeathGames competition held on Catalina Island off the California coast.

2001 The framework of the net is now firmly in place with construction of the WorldSat Network.

Turkey bombs Downing Street, destroying Parliament. 2,567 killed.

Christian Marxist movement begins with kibbutzes popping up all over Europe.

The Noah's Ark Project becomes Sierra Survival as security is tightened after other animal DNA repositories around the world are raided by military and genetic research organizations.

2002 Food Crash; mutated plant virus wipes out Canadian, Russian crops. US agribusiness corps survive due to new biological counterpart. Russia accuses US of biological warfare.

EuroTurk War. Turkey, backed by China, Yugoslavia, and Korea, invades Italy and France. Casualties in the Turk/Chinese Army are given first true cybernetic replacement limbs and sent back into fight with devastating effect.

2003 Second Central American War. US invades Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela. The war is a disaster that costs thousands of American lives. Eventually, the remainder of the Gang of Four is swept away on the wave of reform.

WNS media star Tesla Johnanneson exposes secret NSA transcripts of the first Central American conflict.

Research and development of mutated animals are reported to be taking place at several different military facilities.

2004 Microsutures, sterilizer fields developed.

Tesla Johnanneson assassinated in Cairo.

First Corp War. 12 Multinats, (including EBM and OA) battle for control of Trans-World Air.

Turk/Chinese Army occupation of Italy and France. Invasion of Great Britain begins with first high cybernetic conversion troops. British Army calms populace with promise of a "secret weapon" that will stop the TC cybertroops.

2005 Cybermodem invented.

EBM solos attack Tokyo office of Kenjuri Technologies, killing 18.

End of 1st Corp War.

British Army deploys the Mindstar Battalion, who are mysteriously able to predict TC cyborg attacks and render the cybertroops useless. Rumors of telekinetic and telepathic abilities of the mindstars reinforce the belief that the espergland is involved.

2006 Turk/Chinese Army driven out of Italy and France. Downing Street rebuilt and Parliament moved back in.

Tyrell Corp and Biotechnica both announce the first human Replicants. Fierce competition sparks a minor Corp war.

Introduction of mutant animals in European militaries, most prevalent being large cats and canines with highly aggressive behavior and superior strength.

2007 Second Corporate War: involving a number of firms including Petrochem, the dispute is over oil fields in the South China Sea.

Braindance developed at UC Santa Cruz.

El Fiero Incident. American forces lay siege to the small fishing village of El Fiero, Panama, a reputed headquarters for Panamanian guerillas. Of the 12,000 inhabitants, only 562 survive the starvation, fighting, and disease. The survivors are rounded up and used to clear minefields by the US troops. 520 El Fierans die in the minefields.

2008 US assault on Russian weapons platform MIR XIII. Eurospace Agency intervenes, and orbital war breaks out between the "Euros" and the "Yanks", until Tycho Colony massdriver drops a rock on Colorado Springs. An uneasy peace is reached.

With England on the verge of social collapse and crime and unemployment at an all time high, British elections see Parliament shift to control of the British People's Socialist Party. The PSP suspends future elections and creates a police state, almost immediately giving the order to destroy the Mindstar Battalion, claiming that they are a danger to the safety of the general populace and spreading propaganda that causes British citizens to panic. The Mindstars join the Free Britain Underground.

2009 Joint Euro-Russian mission to Mars departs.

Corporations eradicate mob rule in Night City.

Abortive takeover attempt by US "terrorist group" of Crystal Palace construction. ESA discovers Defense Intelligence Agency plot and drops 12 ton rock off Washington as a warning.

Britain announces the eradication of the Mindstar Battalion, claiming to have successfully hunted down and destroyed all 280 of the mindstars. Rumors continue of mindstar encounters but are discredited by the PSP.

2010 End of Second Central American War.

Network 54 now controls 62% of all media broadcasting in US.

British PSP Prime Minister Leopold Armstrong dies of a mysterious cybernetic failure in his artificial heart. Assassination rumors involve the Mindstars.

First DeathGames Ultimate Battle held. Television/Internet audience is estimated at 4 billion as business grinds to a halt for the coverage.

2011 Crystal Palace is completed. ESA now has a permanent hold in High Orbit zone.

ESA/Russian mission reaches Mars.

World governments, concerned over the potentials of the Replicants produced by Tyrell Corp and Biotechnica, ban them from use on the planet surface and the WorldSat Network. Replicants are restricted to orbital and lunar colony work and isolated networks and are programmed with a lethal cybervirus to prevent total shutdown should they violate the restrictions in cyberspace.

2012 Bioplague kills 1,700 in Chicago.

Concert riot in Night City kills 18, wounds 51. Old Arasaka complex gutted.

Use of mutated animals in European military is abandoned after years of fatal incidents involving out of control animals and terrorist attacks of facilities used to store the DNA for the animals from those opposed to their use. Sierra Survival becomes the only known animal DNA repository in the world.

2013 Netwatch established by joint US/Eurotheatre treaty.

First true artificial intelligence developed at Microtech's Sunnyvale, California facility.

2014 I-G transformations redesign the Net.

"Metal Wars" begins in Night City as gangs battle for turf.

Disaster and riot ravaged Los Angeles is turned into a maximum security prison facility.

DeathGames Ultimates draw record breaking audience. During the competition, the top three seeded teams are drawn into a firefight where five of the Gamers are killed, the only survivor Delorean Davis requiring extreme lifesaving measures. As the sole survivor, he is named the Ultimates Champion.

2015 Rise of the Cyber-Mercenaries; Lithuania hires cyber-soldiers to repel invasion by Latvian nationals.

Sierra Survival director Dr. Hernando Juarez assassinated by terrorists who wish to destroy any future possibility of mutant animals being created. Two weeks later, the Sierra Survival facility and its animal DNA repository are completely destroyed in a fire. The disappearance of Dr. Torrey O'Neal two days before the fire leads many to suspect that he made off with the DNA and is in hiding.

2016 Third Corporate War is fought in the Net as rival corps attack each others data fortresses.

Following the Los Angeles Prison example, Long Island is also converted to a maximum security prison facility.

2017 First self-aware fully biological human clones created.

2018 Brushfire Wars erupt in Eastern Europe.

ESA mission launched to Jupiter.

2019 Orbital Colony revolt at L-3.

Blade Runner police units are created to deal with the increasing problem of rogue Replicants on Earth.

2020 The present...it's up to you now.

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