After rereading this I remembered a system Ive never played of even own based on the mega man franchise that might be of use .
Its called "the robotic age" by virtue of it's influances its going to be more of a trashumanist lean but might work.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/125430/The-Robotic-Age?manufacturers_id=5775

*note; To any one who's not familiar with megaman it pretty much turned in to trasehumanisem 101 with cyberpunk leanings in some games.

Quote from: Furious George;1111839I've just started running Interface Zero and I agree, the psuedo-history is top notch.  When I read the section on Canada I was sure the guy was Canadian - he isn't.

Of course the pseudo-history is top notch! Canada is an imaginary place!

Welcome aboard theRPGsite Furious George!! Glad you found your way to our gloriously deplorable Mos Eisley of a forum!

Also, start a thread about Interface Zero! Always cool to hear what people are playing.

Quote from: Alderaan Crumbs;1091992The Left has tried to change the meaning of words to the point any interesting nuance of good cyberpunk is now lost in their Newspeak. This is relevant in things such as how capitalism perceived in cyberpunk or what trans-humanism stories are really about (hint: it's not a thinly-veiled agenda used to bludgeon those who disagree with you).

Post-modernism is illiteracy for smart people.

Quote from: Chocolate Sauce;1092958Cyberpunk, Dieselpunk, steampunk don't hold a candle to surviving the real sprawl. Can you handle Burgerpunk?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3536[/ATTACH]

That's Breezewood, PA. Basically a knot of truck stops and fast food surrounding a turnpike exit. A couple miles out in the right direction and you're driving on dirt roads.

As a slight aside one of my favourite game settings of all time is A/State. Its kind of Dickensian Horror meets cyberpunk by the guys that did "Hot War" and "Cold City".

For me the Vibe and atmosphere of the setting is amazing. If you like the idea of a cyberpunk meets horror game appeals its well worth a look if you can find the books (I think the PDFs are on drive thru)

Blue Planet was pretty cyberpunk in tone and content if I remember rightly. It definitely had cybernetic and biological modifications. And the default campaign (or at least one of them) was about sticking it to the corporations. I reckon you could have Blue Planet on the other end of a wormhole from Cyberpunk Red.

I saw a playtest for a new edition recently (of Blue Planet). I vaguely remember not being too impressed with some of the changes - think they might have added aspect/trait like mechanics to it.

For BRP-style systems there is River of Heaven (actually based on OpenQuest which is a slightly simplified BRP). It's hardish SF and "pre-transhuman" in feel - if your character gets too heavily modified, they go transhuman, like going insane in CoC.

Edt: I forgot Earth/Cybertech for 2300AD. Not so keen on the 2300AD system, and the whole idea of the line trying to do cyberpunk was like your dad having a midlife crisis and buying inappropriate clothes, but I'd love to run something in the default setting of Libreville, the megacity at the bottom of Earth's space elevator. It was in Rotten to the Core. All sorts of nasties could come down that elevator. Or the PCs might need to escape up it. Season to taste or not with the broader 2300AD background of a post-nuclear-war world where the French Empire is the dominant power.

Geebus Wept, I can't believe I forgot to mention Polaris!

Cyberpunk Post-post apocalyptic underwater dystopia!  From the French!

Would I recommend it? Well, the books a fucken beauooootiful. THe system is... functional.  

Also: Torg is back out. I don't like the new edition, which is totes a stealth 'Savage Worlds' with just enough old Torg that they can pretend to cater to fans of the original, plus mandatory Ulissies Speile card sales tactics, but you do have not one but TWO cyberpunk settings to play with, but if we're gonna count that, you have the new edition of Feng Shui which does allow for some cybernetics, and the entire idea is sort of double reversed kung fu flick cyberpunk (or sometimes just kung fu flick... its Feng Shui...)

Though I think I'd avoid Feng Shui for Cyberpunk, and I'd try to get classic TORG over the new stuff.

Quote from: Aglondir;1093547In what way?

Cyberpunk (from the 90's) seems on the surface to be a right-wing fantasy. In many settings the government has splintered into smaller nations (often including a "Dixie" nation) and is ineffectual in reigning in the corporations. The PC's are "rugged individuals"  rather than members of a collective. On the other hand, corporations are portrayed as corrupt and The Man that players "stick it to."  Perhaps it is apolitical, nihilist even.

The general mood of generations M and Z is that capitalism is evil and the government will save them. Their version of Cyberpunk would probably be government agents fighting the corps.

If I were to make a political cyberpunk, it would be corporate agents (or freelancers) fighting Big State. But honestly I think I'd just stick with nihilism or apolitical themes.

The whole "-punk" aesthetic was always left-wing. Rather than rugged individuals, the PCs were loose members of anarchist collectives of the type that squatted in inner-city dwellings, and raged against the machine. Judge Dredd was more the right-wing fantasy.

Quote from: Spike;1112229Geebus Wept, I can't believe I forgot to mention Polaris!

Cyberpunk Post-post apocalyptic underwater dystopia!  From the French!

Would I recommend it? Well, the books a fucken beauooootiful. THe system is... functional.  

Also: Torg is back out. I don't like the new edition, which is totes a stealth 'Savage Worlds' with just enough old Torg that they can pretend to cater to fans of the original, plus mandatory Ulissies Speile card sales tactics, but you do have not one but TWO cyberpunk settings to play with, but if we're gonna count that, you have the new edition of Feng Shui which does allow for some cybernetics, and the entire idea is sort of double reversed kung fu flick cyberpunk (or sometimes just kung fu flick... its Feng Shui...)

Though I think I'd avoid Feng Shui for Cyberpunk, and I'd try to get classic TORG over the new stuff.

TORG Eternity is a good game,  and the standardized mechanics really help keep it balanced. It actually has three cyberpunk settings: Cyberpapacy, Pan-Pacifica, and Tharkold. Each is a take emphasizing different aspects of cyberpunk (and one of them even does it with almost zero cybernetics)..

Quote from: HappyDaze;1112301TORG Eternity is a good game,  and the standardized mechanics really help keep it balanced. It actually has three cyberpunk settings: Cyberpapacy, Pan-Pacifica, and Tharkold. Each is a take emphasizing different aspects of cyberpunk (and one of them even does it with almost zero cybernetics)..

You do you, man.   Personally, I'm done with games that expect you to power up by collecting micro-rules like some sort of absurd lego-man adding bits to himself.  

Thats on top of the insult that is putting the different Setting Rules on cards... that don't come with the game and have to be bought separately.

Quote from: Aglondir;1092153...

I think I will publish this as an OSR RPG. The premise: The players are the second wave of reality dissidents, fighting a "Big Brother" called the Department, that rules everything around me. The Department's "Moderators" determine what you can say and think, as well as what your job is, what you can eat, and if you are eligible for state-run health care. If you rebel, you are NAGF (Not A Good Fit) and unperson-ed. The PCs are hackers, trying to break into the Department's data vaults, and cybered-up mercs with monofilament katanas fighting government shocktroopers. I will call my game

SWORD DREAM

I'd buy that.

Quote from: tenbones;1093551From the perspective of my players.

My players tended to consider all the SJW stuff (before it was coined as a term), and crass commercialism) that proliferates CP2020 with a "whatever" attitude. Largely just ignored it as stuff that didn't matter to them. 30-years later they most certainly care, because the cyberpunk dystopia now feels like it's looming for them. It's in their sights. Many of them have been directly impacted by the proliferation of leftism personally in their lives in varying ways.

It's not so much that's they're now magically collectivists - hardly. But now all that propaganda has more meaning for them. It feels sharper for them.

...

I think this is what kills the fun in the cyberpunk genre for me. I'm a huge fan of all things cyberpunk, but when the original themes/tropes of the genre become real or very close to it, I'm left wondering what's left to explore.

Ostensibly, cyberpunk generally comes back to:
1. Big corporations (usually the antagonist)
2. Small government (usually not too relevant because it's overshadowed by the corps)
3. High tech exists
4. Yet still a low life segment of society exists
5. All with Cool Dudes trying to carve out a life amongst it all

And while we don't yet have fully replaceable robotic arms and such, there are aspects of those tropes that come close to reflecting modern life. Anyone remember when Google's motto was "Don't be evil"? Well, not anymore.

If we remove the words "corporation" and "government", it becomes:
1. Big entity(s) have lots of power (usually the antagonist)
2. Small entity(s) have little power (usually not too relevant because it's overshadowed by the Big Entities)
3. High tech exists
4. Yet still a low life segment of society exists
5. All with Cool Dudes trying to carve out a life amongst it all

To get to my point: Aglondir, you inadvertently hit the nail on the head. Big corporations lording it over ineffectual, weak governments with their superior tech isn't terribly interesting as a theme to explore (although it can still be fun). A much more interesting theme to explore is what hasn't happened yet (what cyberpunk is all about, from my understanding), but is completely possible if, say, current governments harness the tech ("big data" in our case) the corporations have created and abuse it to spy on and control their citizens. The idea of a cyberpunk universe like 1984 seems like such a cool place to explore creatively, whereas modern cyberpunk offerings seems to be getting stale for my taste.

I'm hoping someone out there comes up new, fresh ideas in the cyberpunk genre, in any medium, whether it be movies, books, or games, because right now, the default genre of cyberpunk where the corps have all the power seems too close to reality for my liking.

Quote from: SirBercelak;1112383I'd buy that.



I think this is what kills the fun in the cyberpunk genre for me. I'm a huge fan of all things cyberpunk, but when the original themes/tropes of the genre become real or very close to it, I'm left wondering what's left to explore.

Ostensibly, cyberpunk generally comes back to:
1. Big corporations (usually the antagonist)
2. Small government (usually not too relevant because it's overshadowed by the corps)
3. High tech exists
4. Yet still a low life segment of society exists
5. All with Cool Dudes trying to carve out a life amongst it all

And while we don't yet have fully replaceable robotic arms and such, there are aspects of those tropes that come close to reflecting modern life. Anyone remember when Google's motto was "Don't be evil"? Well, not anymore.

If we remove the words "corporation" and "government", it becomes:
1. Big entity(s) have lots of power (usually the antagonist)
2. Small entity(s) have little power (usually not too relevant because it's overshadowed by the Big Entities)
3. High tech exists
4. Yet still a low life segment of society exists
5. All with Cool Dudes trying to carve out a life amongst it all

To get to my point: Aglondir, you inadvertently hit the nail on the head. Big corporations lording it over ineffectual, weak governments with their superior tech isn't terribly interesting as a theme to explore (although it can still be fun). A much more interesting theme to explore is what hasn't happened yet (what cyberpunk is all about, from my understanding), but is completely possible if, say, current governments harness the tech ("big data" in our case) the corporations have created and abuse it to spy on and control their citizens. The idea of a cyberpunk universe like 1984 seems like such a cool place to explore creatively, whereas modern cyberpunk offerings seems to be getting stale for my taste.

I'm hoping someone out there comes up new, fresh ideas in the cyberpunk genre, in any medium, whether it be movies, books, or games, because right now, the default genre of cyberpunk where the corps have all the power seems too close to reality for my liking.

My take is actually the opposite I think that the current state of things makes cyber punk even more important not less.
Also there is a game to play 1984 its called paranoia I've only ever read threw XP edition which was very tongue in cheek  but could very much be played as 1984 if you wanted to.

Quote from: kosmos1214;1112406My take is actually the opposite I think that the current state of things makes cyber punk even more important not less.
Also there is a game to play 1984 its called paranoia I've only ever read threw XP edition which was very tongue in cheek  but could very much be played as 1984 if you wanted to.

That's interesting. What makes you say that? What about current events, the state of technology, and the conflict of corporate vs. governmental makes it more relevant? I ask because I genuinely want to enjoy the themes and tropes of the cyberpunk genre and I'd like to know how you see it differently than me. It could breathe life back into my cyberpunk games.

And I've never had much of a high opinion of Paranoia, sadly. It definitely looks like a fun game, but not crunchy enough for me. Or, dare I say it, serious enough.

Quote from: Orphan81;1111859An Actual Canadian wrote the portions of Canada in Interface Zero 2.0

Good to know - thanks.

Yeah, that's one of the problems of Cyberpunk games.  Now that we are well within the "How we Got Here" history chapter of any Cyberpunk Game, and the writing is on the wall, playing the game as the ones fighting the power just reinforces the fact that in the real world, you're one of the narcissistic consumers that walks through life like a good little Sarariman, not seeing the chain around your neck or even worse, not caring.  It strikes way too close to home.