Malware has been living rent free in my brain as my alter ego since the early nineties. They started based on a male friend with a female name (Mallory) but almost instantly turned into a character I deeply cared about. They have been my main cyberpunk character in many games including Cyberpunk 2020, Cyberpunk Red, Carbon 2185, CY_BORG themed Ironsworn, and other homebrews.
I am not trans but I care deeply about Malware (who’s gone through some shit in order to help me process significant trauma). I hope this was ok to post here.
(Created by running my previous Illustrator and Photoshop works through Midjourney)
Personally, I like to run a session zero with my players, as a group or independently. If it’s a first timer group I recommend the Street Rat (template) method from Red. Every player picks a class then we run the Lifepath for each player in a group Session Zero. That way everyone at the table is familiar with the back story of each other’s characters. So, the PCs know each other.
For subsequent games it might be better for the players to dial their characters in a bit better than the template (Edgerunners format), and work with you (the GM) in individual Session Zeros. That way they can each have extensive backstory only they and you know about but could affect the campaign later. Critical Role does this type of stuff every campaign and it can be fun.
If you wait for the players to do all this on their own, you’ll wait indefinitely. It’s more fun to do it with someone else.