Bubblegum Crisis is really one of the primary influences on the creator of the CyberPunk RPG, Mike Pondsmith. You can feel the texture of this setting in the undertones of CyberPunk, and it came as little surprise to anyone when R. Talsorian Games picked up the license for this game based on the series.

I believe the game was also the first game released using the new (at the time) Fuzion system which was designed to be a revision both of the Hero system and the Interlock system.

The book itself is gorgeous and a fun read for fans of the setting, and it saw a little use even as crossover material for the CyberPunk RPG in some groups, but I never actually pulled it out to be used on its own. Until today.

One nice touch about the RTG games is the Lifepath generation system. In Bubblegum Crisis this has been moved to the very front of character generation – you start by rolling up your lifepath and character history, then go on to detail the character proper based on this information. Unfortunately, the lifepath system in this game is seriously trimmed down from the awesome system presented in CyberPunk 2020 and CyberPunk 3.

A bunch of die rolls on the two pages of tables gets us the basics of the character. Diana is a rebellious and antisocial person with violent tendencies who places a very high value on friendship and her few close friends. However, she generally finds that people are untrustworthy, and is very careful about making new friendships or putting her faith in others. She grew up in a middle-class household in Tokyo, where she had a boring and uneventful childhood. She’s 20 years old, having just become an AD Police Inspector.

Just out of High School she went into police training, and immediately became the protege of an older officer who taught her how to handle autofire weapons on the range after hours. She maintains contact with now retired Inspector Gianni, and they are friends and occasional shooting partners. Gradutating from school, she started up in the police force at 18 and worked hard with her nose to the grindstone to get the promotions she needed to get off the front line duties and into an Inspector position. Two years ago she met and fell in love with Androse Pierce, a freelance troubleshooter working for Genom. 13 months later, two days before they were to move in together, he was killed; executed in his own apartment. Having given up the lease on her own conapt, and unable to move into his because of the trauma associated with finding his body there, she had a breakdown and has retired from the police service only a month after getting her wanted promotion.

She still hasn’t regained control over her life, and is wondering what’s next, and who killed her boyfriend?

Name: Diana Berrin

Primary Statistics
Intelligence: 4
Willpower: 4
Personality: 5
Technique: 2
Reflexes: 5
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 3
Strength: 4
Body: 2
Movement: 5

Derived Statistics
Endurance: 30
Hits: 10
Run: 15m
Leap: 2.5m
Swim: 5m
Luck: 9
Physical Defense: 6
Recovery: 7
Resistance: 12
Stun: 10

Skills
Athletics +2
Autofire Weapons +2
Concentration +2
Detective +6
Driving +3
Education +2
Firearms +5
Hand to Hand +4
Local Knowledge (MegaTokyo) +3
Perception +5
Persuasion +6
Social +2
Teacher +2

Perks
Contact (2) – Retired Inspector Gianni
Contacts (4) – ADP members
Membership (2.5) – AD Police level 1 – not an actual member, but still can access resources through old co-workers
Wealth (1.5) – Level 1 – Lower class, cheap little coffin apartment

Complications
Watched by Genom special applications division to see if she has figured out who killed her boyfriend.

Basic Personality: Rebellious, anti-social, violent
Valued Person(s): Friend(s)
Valued Ideal: Friendship
Worldview: People are untrustworthy
Family Background: Middle Class
Childhood: Boring

Lifepath
17 – Mentor – learn a skill at level 2
18 – Nothing
19 – Happy Love Affair
20 – Emotional Loss – Murdered

Current Situation: Freelancer
Outlook on Life: Crazy and out of control