One of the core fundamentals in cybercore is the break down and time slicing of the game.
Many role playing games run for months if not years to complete a single module. Cybercore is far more fast paced and broken up into 4 pillars of play.
There a 4 core pillars in Cybercore to entertain your players.
Also know as a Real Time ClusterF^#k.
When on an Op, the real time clock is ticking, most Ops have a event (it could be anything from an Environmental Failure to an Alien swarm incursion) that occur on the hour, every hour, regardless of the progress made by the players. This is there to keep the players focused on the game and moving forward. Some of these events will be highlighted in the SitRep, the players will know whats at stake, others will be surprises requiring the players to think, albeit quickly, on their feet.
If the game is slowing up, they players AI, their Core Operation Oversight Operative (CO3) or even glancing out the porthole where they clock the incoming astroid of certain doom should remind them of whats a stake.
The Sitrep sets the scene for the upcoming Op or mission. It gives the players a chance to roleplay, introduce there avatar, train for the upcoming mission, purchase, repair and upgrade their equipment, and organize a ride if required. This can occur anywhere, a space port (plantside), A space station (upside) or onboard a large deep space vehicle.
Generally they will be in touch with their Core here if they have one.
Time Wise A Sit Rep should take no longer than an hour.
An encounter is something that may or may not happen on the way to an Op or mission. These are generally a brief skirmish or discovery to get the players on there toes.
It should tke no more than 30 minutes to resolve.
A short sortie that takes 2.5 to 4 hours to resolve. If this is the start of a new Session or Mission the Op will be shorter and follow on from the SitRep and a possible Encounter. At the End of the Op, the players should find themselves back on base (BoB), or having secured the Mission foothold, err Or dead, they umm could be dead by then too.
A Mission is a series of three Ops and thus should take about 3 game sessions to complete. It's entirely possible to fail a mission if it takes longer due to the 9 RTCs that will take place over the three Ops.
It will start with a SitRep to set the scene a possible Encounter and a short Ops to finsh the first session. This will get the Players in the door so to speak. The follow Session will complete a vital mid mission goal with the finial session covering the Mission Objective and Extraction Goal.
It will happen, so be prepared for it. Cybercore has more ways to fail than your std RPG. Sure you can run out or health and die, thats one way, and a pretty standard affair. You can also die to environmental effects, again it happens in most RPG's though space is a pretty inhospitable place, most avatars can't survive in it's cold hard cruel and uncaring vacuum.
Here are a few things that makes Cybercore a little more dangerous.