The trickle

A few folks have started appearing on the BG&S discord server, and that's nice. A few other folks have shared interest from other directions too. A new reading of the DrivethruRPG data indicates almost 70 download via that site, so maybe there's some traction happening after all.

I've just spent the last day or so writing a block of text about the essential elements of survival in a cyberunk dystopia, basically structuring it on the Maslow Heirarchy of Needs.

The hierarchy is a bit controversial in some circles, but I'm figuring that it's a bit like the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (when dealing with linguistics). If you use it as a general framework of ideas rather than slavishly and religiously sticking to it, it can function as a useful shorthand to get people on the right page.

I didn't really want to go into too much depth with this... but after 1600 words I think it's a little late for that. It certainly goes toward setting the tone for the 'zine.
   
Here's how it begins...

"So you’re doing it tough, or maybe you just need to stay off the radar for a while. All sorts of folks have all sorts of reasons for living in the shadows of the sprawl. There are those who are on the run from the law and those who’ve just been released from imprisonment (hoping not to go back into the cells). There are the ones who’ve lost their family due to some crisis or incident and those who never had much of a family to begin with. There are the downtrodden folks who are struggling to get above the streets, those who have been in the towers and have been exiled to the muck, and then there are those who are just struggling to survive.

Everyone in the shadows has a story, and it’s not fair to assume everyone’s issues are the same, but there are a few common things that make turn everyday survival from a life-and-death proposition to a reality where you can start to improve other parts of your life. Plenty of folks on the streets will have their own hints, but plenty of folks on the streets want you dead and hope they can pawn your stuff at a hoc-shop.

What do you need?

A while ago there was a psychologist named Maslow who came up with a theory about what people need. His theory has been picked apart by all sorts of people, argued over by academics, and generally ignored by most people who are actually trying to survive on the streets. But looking at his theory might help you if things are looking grim. To help you out, we’ll look at the layers of the theory, and tell you where you might get them.

Physiological Needs – That’s just fancy talk for the things that will kill you quickly if you haven’t got them sorted out. You’ll probably need these sorted out as soon as possible, and some of them might seem a bit hard to come by if you haven’t been given the right advice. These are things like air, water, food, clothes and somewhere to sleep.

Air might not seem like much to worry about, but if you end up down in the tunnels, there are parts that regularly get engulfed in toxic fumes from the sewers, and poorly maintained gas mains. Finding a place where it’s safe to breathe is more about avoiding places where it’s unsafe to breathe. Find places where there are people, even if it’s only a few of them, and you should be fine."

It goes one with the various elements of Maslow's heirarchy and how they might be found by someone living on the egde (or under it).