What do folks think is better for a cyberpunk feeling game? Shadowrun? Cyberpunk? Others? Thinking about picking up a book or two in this genre, but not sure where I should look. I am interested in something with a Neuromancer by William Gibson feel or Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.
Exmachina is easily the best Cyberpunk game ever made. Check it out.:D
I always liked Shadowrun, myself.
My husband prefers low or no magic for this type of setting, so he hates Shadowrun and greatly prefers Cyberpunk. But he hasn't touched it since second edition and neither one of us has seen 4th, so take it with a grain of salt.
Edit: By "it" I meant Shadowrun. But we haven't looked at Cyberpunk forever, either.
Thanks for the replies do far. Shadowrun looks to be a little too high magic for the image I have in my head. Ex Machina looks really cool though!
Does it play well mechanics wise?
yes, the mchanics are pretty good and the rules for the cyber are great.
you can check out the basic mechanics here:
http://www.guardiansorder.com/downloads/ (http://www.guardiansorder.com/downloads/)
It was a very nice forward on cyberpunk that covers what cyberpunk is, reading suggestions, and cyberpunk history.
Exmachina is better that Talsorians new Cyberpunk that was just released.
I'm torn between Ex Machina and Cyberpunk myself. Like Cranberry's husband I have a strong dislike for magic in my cyberpunk (well, normally at least), so Shadowrun has always rubbed me the wrong way.
I don't know anything about the new Cyberpunk edition aside of what I read on the back of it. In the past, the skill/experience system felt flawed, and I don't know if they have done anything about that. But in play, it's a very nice, simple system. An advantage (for me at least) is that it feels very intuitive, you can see right away what's going on, and mechanics are easy to adjust if you don't like how they work in your game. I'll also say that Cyberpunk *might* feel a bit outdated today - I think our image of what the future will look like is a bit different than it was ten years ago. Ex Machina has the advantage of starting fresh very recently.
I would be very tempted to use something like Spycraft myself. As for setting I much prefer a magic free setting for cyberpunk. Shadowrun is a great game just not cyberpunk in my mind.
The best (and shortest) cyberpunk rules we have ever seen were in 2300 AD. They made up the last 1/3 or so of the Earth/Cybertech handbook. They were simple, sort of realistic, and easy to use.
Unfortunately, it is long out of print, and we are not familiar with any other cyberpunk besides Shadowrun.
I guess I should mention Millenium's End as well. It is Cyberpunk in spirit, even if they place the game in "a very near future". No technological progress, just a very dark version of our world where everything is pretty much going to hell.
Unfortunately, the game's "tomorrow" is year 2000, which makes it a bit dated now, especially since you can see how the world really developed compared to the game's "predictions", which were made I think around 1994-95.
But aside of that, it has the most realistic (and still very much playable) system I've seen. And has some of the best sourcebooks, too.
Quote from: Mcrowyes, the mchanics are pretty good and the rules for the cyber are great.
you can check out the basic mechanics here:
http://www.guardiansorder.com/downloads/ (http://www.guardiansorder.com/downloads/)
It was a very nice forward on cyberpunk that covers what cyberpunk is, reading suggestions, and cyberpunk history.
Exmachina is better that Talsorians new Cyberpunk that was just released.
having just picked up Cyberpunk v3 I will have to check out ExMachina for a counterpoint, free downloads are always nice. :)
Thanks again for all of the input! I am strongly leaning towards Ex Machina and will probably try to pick up a copy of that.
Another question, does anyone know if it gets much play at the Cons (Origins and GenCon)? Usually I play a D&D at cons, this year I am thinking about branching out.
Ok, so, since I'm a D20 whore at the moment, any good d20 Cyberpunk rules? I liked a little bit of what i found in D20 Cyberscape, but i'd really like a lot more...
D20 seems to ill suited for cyberpunk, but Mongoose has an OGL cyberpunk Game:
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/detail.php?qsID=193&qsSeries=3 (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/detail.php?qsID=193&qsSeries=3)
I haven't read through it or played it yet, but it is the only d20/OGL cyberpunk game that I could find on a quick search.
Also to add on to my coments for Ex Machina, the book IIRC, includes 3 different settings.
Quote from: McrowD20 seems to ill suited for cyberpunk, but Mongoose has an OGL cyberpunk Game:
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/detail.php?qsID=193&qsSeries=3 (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/detail.php?qsID=193&qsSeries=3)
I haven't read through it or played it yet, but it is the only d20/OGL cyberpunk game that I could find on a quick search.
Also to add on to my coments for Ex Machina, the book IIRC, includes 3 different settings.
so what you're saying is that there's an unexploited niche for the d20 market. hmm...
yes, there maybe. Like I said though the d20 system is not well suited for cyber.Sci-fi RPGs are a niche product and cyberpunk is nche of sci-fi. There is just a very small market for cyberpunk, and that is why I think we havn't seen much d20 cyberpunk stuff.
Quote from: Mcrowyes, there maybe. Like I said though the d20 system is not well suited for cyber.Sci-fi RPGs are a niche product and cyberpunk is nche of sci-fi. There is just a very small market for cyberpunk, and that is why I think we havn't seen much d20 cyberpunk stuff.
I don't know. I think that the D20 system is really flexible, since it includes a lot of different kinds of rules. any system where you can go from as Grim'n'Gritty as
A Game of Thrones to as over the top as
BESM should be able to handle any kind of flavor that a person really wants to add, it's just a matter of tweaking.
Quote from: McrowD20 seems to ill suited for cyberpunk, but Mongoose has an OGL cyberpunk Game:
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/detail.php?qsID=193&qsSeries=3 (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/detail.php?qsID=193&qsSeries=3)
I haven't read through it or played it yet, but it is the only d20/OGL cyberpunk game that I could find on a quick search.
I think, could be wrong here but Mongoose folded one of their product lines into another, I believe it was OGL/Cybernet that got folded into the Judge Dredd line, but I could be talking out of my ass since I threw out the issue of Signs and Portents that had that bit of news a long time ago.
Quote from: RedcapThe best (and shortest) cyberpunk rules we have ever seen were in 2300 AD. They made up the last 1/3 or so of the Earth/Cybertech handbook. They were simple, sort of realistic, and easy to use.
Unfortunately, it is long out of print, and we are not familiar with any other cyberpunk besides Shadowrun.
That's a really obscure, interesting reference. I have that book, and I'd forgotten completely about it. I think the book may be available as a pdf at Drivethrurpg...yep, here: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_27&products_id=422
Quote from: VarajI would be very tempted to use something like Spycraft myself. As for setting I much prefer a magic free setting for cyberpunk. Shadowrun is a great game just not cyberpunk in my mind.
I was thinking the same thing. The psion rules from Shadow Force Archer could be usefull with minor modifications.. and the Shop source book has rules for Mechs and other high tech gear.
Quote from: RedcapThe best (and shortest) cyberpunk rules we have ever seen were in 2300 AD. They made up the last 1/3 or so of the Earth/Cybertech handbook. They were simple, sort of realistic, and easy to use.
I'm gonna have to pull out my 2300 stuff in the next month and see what I have. Much of the setting stuff was very cool. If I had time, I'd revamp it to D20.
edit: there's 20 products on DriveThru - I'm sure my game store never had half of those. Does anyone know the difference between Traveller 2300 and 2300 AD? There's two different products listed, I think I have Traveller 2300 but can't remember.
Quote from: Alpha RalphaI think, could be wrong here but Mongoose folded one of their product lines into another, I believe it was OGL/Cybernet that got folded into the Judge Dredd line, but I could be talking out of my ass since I threw out the issue of Signs and Portents that had that bit of news a long time ago.
Not sure what you mean by folding into another line, but OGL Cybernet has its own core book. I have seen it at my FLGS but never picked it up.
Quote from: Nicephorusedit: there's 20 products on DriveThru - I'm sure my game store never had half of those. Does anyone know the difference between Traveller 2300 and 2300 AD? There's two different products listed, I think I have Traveller 2300 but can't remember.
Traveller 2300 is the first edition. They changed the name because it was confusing the hell out of people, so 2300 AD is the second edition.
Interestingly, Twilight 2000, 2300 AD, and Traveller were all the same universe. Never had similar rules, but their backstories all meshed together. :)
My favorite 2300 books are: Ranger, The Kafer Sourcebook, and the Colonial Atlas. In that order.
For me, the Earth/Cybertech book is tied with the Kafer. The Kafer are a fuckin' brilliant alien race, but Earth/Cybertech is filled with maps and history -- two of my favourite subjects. I totally geeked out on it. :D
Quote from: CyberzombieFor me, the Earth/Cybertech book is tied with the Kafer. The Kafer are a fuckin' brilliant alien race, but Earth/Cybertech is filled with maps and history -- two of my favourite subjects. I totally geeked out on it. :D
My problem with the Earth book
is the history. A lot of it seems, umm, dated now. Much of it just doesn't ring true to me. And bear in mind I'm a big fan of future histories. It just doesn't strike me that 300 years have passed, even taking into account the stalling out of civilization during the Twlight War. I'd say it feels more like 50-75 years after the Twlight War, not 300.
Quote from: McrowExmachina is easily the best Cyberpunk game ever made. Check it out.:D
Yep. By a mile.
Second place (for me) is
GURPS Cyberpunk coupled with their
GURPS Cyberworld setting
Quote from: Dr_AvalancheBut aside of that, it has the most realistic (and still very much playable) system I've seen. And has some of the best sourcebooks, too.
We struggled through a game for about six months years ago, and still haven't stopped making jokes about how bad the combat system was. While the character development was decent as I recall, I loathed their overly complex and nearly totally random overlaid hit locations and combat system.
Quote from: ColonelHardissonMy problem with the Earth book is the history. A lot of it seems, umm, dated now. Much of it just doesn't ring true to me. And bear in mind I'm a big fan of future histories. It just doesn't strike me that 300 years have passed, even taking into account the stalling out of civilization during the Twlight War. I'd say it feels more like 50-75 years after the Twlight War, not 300.
Oh, they didn't do as good a job as they could have with that, I'll grant you. (Africa was damn well done, though. I'm not a full-fledged expert on African poltics, but it was at least passably realistic.) But I thought it was mostly good except for the reunification of Germany. It seemed like they were going through their history and got up to the 2270s and realized "Hey! Germany is reunited yet! Fuck, let's get it reunited RIGHT NOW, even though it goes against the rest of the history we've set up!"
All of the sillyness came from them trying to follow the history of Twilight 2000 *and* trying to make it match reality closer. They should of just said "fuck it" and not bothered with reality at all. Would have had more versimilitude that way. :)
Quote from: JanosWe struggled through a game for about six months years ago, and still haven't stopped making jokes about how bad the combat system was. While the character development was decent as I recall, I loathed their overly complex and nearly totally random overlaid hit locations and combat system.
Eh. I think it's an easier system than D&D for example. It's just completely different in its approach. Once you get used to it, it runs smoothly. I like the overlays, they always worked very well for us.
Edit: That said, it's about as far from the type of systems I prefer these days. But for the detail-oriented, it's ace.