DATAPAD

Logged? Okay. Not bad. I think you gotta snowball's chance in hell of making it after all. 'Specially in the higher scores. Now, I've gotta figure out what kinda training you've had to match the natural stuff.

See, somewhere back in 2020, your old man and old lady were probably a couple of flashy Edgerunners, packed with a pile of chipped skills and a chunka experience. But you aren't so lucky. You didn't spend six years in the SouthAm learning how to jockey an AV-4 aerodyne. You haven't been drawing a salary as a hired killer for twenty years, like me. You count it lucky if you know how to swing a chain and use a knife. Last year, you boosted a polymer oneshot and you thought you were Mister Ice. The big gangboys on your square packed DaiLung mags and maybe the local JuveLord had a real Minami 10 that he took off the body of a local enforcer who'd gotten scragged in an earlier firefight (you can bet he didn't take it off a live Solo).

When you're a lot shorter on the Street, your skills are gonna reflect it. Yogangers don't learn Electronic Security. They don't study Pharmaceuticals in Cube Conapt High. Your skills are gonna be the skills you learned on the Street, where you don't have a lot of experience and formal training (who the frak teaches Heavy Weapons to a 12 year old?). The good news is, they've been more than enough to tackle the opposition you normally face down on Juvepunk Row. The bad news is, they're not worth squat against a well trained Edgerunner who really knows his skit.

Look at the list, juve, and tell me what skills you have. Rate them like you did the test before - take 40 points and slot 'em between the skills (this time between 1 and 8), so I can figure out where you're coming from.

And hey: If there's a note below the list like so - [Ranged Weapons], that means we gotta problem; you're going to be at half strength against someone who has that skill instead of the one you have in it's place. I want you to remember that, so you won't be tempted to play hero sometime.

SKILLS

STREETFIGHTING [REF]: The all time generic fighting/brawling skill at the short-street level, combining the Edgerunner skills of Melee, Ranged Weapons and Hand to Hand Combat. You'll use this skill whenever you're using melee weapons like knives, clubs, chains, broken bottles, or when you're dodging an attack by same. You know how to shoot any common type of gun you can find, you can also throw a godd punch, a fair kung fu kick, and deliver a nasty head butt. [Ranged Weapons, Hand to Hand Combat, Melee]

THIEF STUFF [REF]: A juvie level B&E ability, useful for breaking into houses with simple, non-electric lock, or pickpocketing some cash out of a Corpzoner's pouch. [Security Tech, Pick Pocket]

JOCKSTUFF [REF]: The skills of throwing, climbing, balancing, swimming, fighting, etc.; combining stuff from any athletics program (that's why we call it Jock, neh?). In short, if you plan to get physical, you'll need this skill, cho. [Athletics]

GET A CLUE [INT]: This is how on the ball you are. Do you notice things? Are you aware of your surroundings? Are you clueless when people are skammin' you, or do you know what's happening all the time? Do your yoboys have to chip in to rent you a clue? [Awareness]

BLEND [REF]: Ever notice how you and your goboys can just blend right into the walls when there's trouble on the Street? You just step back into the shadows and think, "Not there, Maximum Lawman," and they just look right over you. This ability allows you to blend into the local terrain and be unnoticed, or to move silently through the shadows. DeadGuys and ZombieGirls don't ever notice juves unless they really wanna be. It's zen, za? [Stealth]

GENSPEAK [INT]: Yeah, there may be a million types of local "slang", but all yogangers share at least a few common words that the DeadGuys can't decipher with a Com-CRAY cybercrypto box. Genspeak is the universal lingua franca of the Cybergeneration, a polyglot of computer binary, random sounds, short choppy words and slang terms with multiple meanings. This skill doesn't rate your ability to communicate with your goboys. This is about whether you can talk right in front of the DeadGuys without them understanding you. [Expert: Language]

STREETSMARTS [COOL]: You know the Street, but you know it at the juvegang level only. You don't run with the Runners, and you'd be lost in a meeting with the local Triad heavies. But you know how to scan out who owns what square and where the boundaries are. You know what to say to cryo a Guardian ganger and the proper way to address the top fixer in your squares. [Streetwise]

FEARLESS LEADER [EMP]: This skill rates how high you've moved up in the hierarchy of your yogang. It's also a measure of how well you lead people in a group, sorta like the Leadership skill the Edgerunners. With this skill, you can convince others to follow your plans and do dumb stuff because you said it would work. [Leadership]

SCHOOLIN' [INT]: How much education you've had, formal or otherwise. Can you read and write? did you go to school, or have access to study chips and V-simulations? You're not gonna be a rocket scientist with the kind of education they give you in the Corpzone or Beaverville, but you oughta have a bit of science, history, computer skills, math, and so on. [Education]

GOGO [REF]: The ability to drive vehicles, like bikes, cyberbikes, automobiles, trucks, etc. in normal driving situations (no stunts or tricks). I'm gonna assume that you haven't got any formal training in using any of these types of ground vehicles; on the Street, there's not much of a chance to take Driver's Education courses. I know you've never learned how to pilot an aerodyne or other flying vehicles, because those takes loads of training. [Driving]

LITTLE ANGEL [EMP]: So maybe you know how to jockey a cyberbike or shoot a gun. But you know your biggest advantage comes from the fact that most adults have a hard time accepting that a ten-year-old could be leading a black op. Little Angel is your ability to pull a con on an adult, a juvegang version of Interaction that allows you to act innocent, and to pass off seemingly incriminating situations as "kids messing around". With this ability you can go for shameless sympathy ploys, blame things on imaginary friends (if you're young enough), or convince that CorpSec Team that your sabotage run was really just "an initiation into a club". [Interaction]

YOGANG SKILLS

These represent specialized skills you've learned by being part of a particular yogang, something you need to know to be a member. Check your particular yogang type for a description of its special skills and decide how good you are at it.

ArcoRunner ... ... ... ... Tunneling[INT]

BeaverBrat ... ... ... ... Suburban Ninja [REF]

EcoRaider ... ... ... ... Hayduking [TECH]

GlitterKid ... ... ... ... Celebrity [COOL]

GoldenKid ... ... ... ... Contacts [INT]

Goth ... ... ... ... Deathwalk [COOL]

MallBrat ... ... ... ... Boost [INT]

Rad ... ... ... ... Organize [INT]

Vidiot ... ... ... ... Commo [TECH]

Once you're done giving me the data I need, you're off the hook for a while. Feel free to wander around the safehouse - you'll find sleepmats, Virtuality games and kibble dispensers all over the place. There's even some datapad "books". Take this time to meet and talk to the other juves you're going to be traveling with; you're gonna need to know who you can count on and for what.

Oh yeah. I wouldn't advise you leaving the safehouse right now; the CorpSec goons have been dragging the area pretty severe, and the odds are they'll shoot first and bury the body later. I'll be back in a few hours to fill you in on the next step.

[END]