📺 The Prime-Time Players
“Don’t just pretend to be your favorite celebrity or character. Reprogram your brain to embody their very essence with a Poser Chip!” — Advertisement endorsed by the Prime-Time Players
An extended family gang that uses biosculpting to look like characters from old sitcoms and TV shows from bygone eras. Part nostalgia cult, part neighborhood protection force, the Players are territorial and fiercely protective of their members — organized into factions based on different shows.
📋 Overview
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | Poser Gang |
| Territory | Night City suburbs |
| Style | Biosculpted to resemble old TV characters |
| Organization | Factions based on different shows |
| Danger Level | Medium |
| Nature | Territorial, family-oriented, nostalgic |
🎭 The Poser Lifestyle
The Prime-Time Players don’t just cosplay — they become their characters through biosculpting and (increasingly) Poser Chips:
- Members are sculpted to look like characters from old TV shows — sitcom families, drama leads, variety hosts
- The gang endorses the Poser Chip, a neuralware product that reprograms the user’s personality to embody their chosen icon
- Different factions within the gang represent different shows, creating an elaborate internal culture of competing “networks”
- To outsiders, it looks absurd. To the Players, it’s identity.
🏠 Territory
The Players operate in Night City’s suburbs — the residential neighborhoods where families still try to maintain some semblance of normalcy:
- They protect their neighborhood from outside threats
- They long for a bygone era when life resembled the TV shows they idolize
- Fiercely territorial — their blocks are their stage, and they don’t appreciate uninvited guests
⚔️ Conflicts
The Piranha War
A gang war erupted between the Players and the Piranhas over suburban turf tensions. It ended in spectacular fashion when both sides’ cheap 3D-printed guns exploded in their hands, causing massive casualties.
Within 24 hours, a teen named “Zip Print” — the gun supplier — was found hanging from a lamp post with a bullet hole in his head and “cheap” carved in his chest. Nobody claimed responsibility. The war was over.
🎲 GM Resources
Using the Prime-Time Players
As Color: The Players are one of Night City’s more surreal gangs — encountering a squad of Leave It to Beaver characters armed with shotguns is the kind of absurdist cyberpunk that makes Night City memorable.
As Neighborhood Contacts: If the Crew operates in the suburbs, the Players are the local power. They know everything about “their” neighborhood and will trade information — if you respect the show.
As Antagonists: The Players’ fierce territoriality means outsiders aren’t welcome. A job in their neighborhood requires navigating their bizarre social structure.
Stat Blocks
- Turf War: Use Boosters; add Shotgun with 20 Slugs, Shoulder Arms Skill Base 10
- Old-school aesthetic — leather jackets with fringe, retro weapons
Adventure Hooks
- A target lives deep in Players territory. The Crew needs safe passage from a gang of biosculpted sitcom families
- A Poser Chip malfunction is causing Players to go violent — the personality overlay is breaking down
- The Players hired a ripperdoc for mass biosculpting. The doc is using them as test subjects for experimental procedures
- A rival gang is encroaching and the Players need outside muscle — but the Crew has to “audition” for a role first
🔗 Related Topics
(Sources: CRB p.309; CRB Screamsheet “Gang War Ends Early” p.430; Interface RED Vol. 3)