Interview with the creator of Cyberpunk 2013/2020: Mile Pondsmith

[username_3651615]

Interview with the creator of Cyberpunk 2013/2020: Mile Pondsmith

Hi,

Yesterday, I released an interview with Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the original Cyberpunk 2013/2020 tabletop RPGs.
Maybe you are interested.

http://obskures.de/2013/cyberpunk-2077-an-interview-with-mike-pondsmith/

Thank you & Enjoy

 

[Val3ri]

Thanks for the info!

 

[braindancer12]

big thanks !! Awesome interview!

love this quote of him to the question how to get in the right mood for the game.

"Go downtown at midnight and stand outside in the cold rain. Wait to get mugged. Beat down the mugger instead. Or barring that, watch Blade Runner, followed by Max Headroom, followed by Ghost in the Shell, drink a couple shots of cheap whiskey and end up the night listening to some really good trance, electronica or dubstep. While making love to your heavily tattooed girlfriend." Mike

 

[d1am0ndback]

Great interview and great questions. I'm thinking the collector's edition is going to come with a helluvalot of surprises.

 

[username_3651615]

Thank you!

I met Mike Pondsmith and his wife back in the 90ies, while he promoted the German edition of Cyberpunk 2020.
Now he was kind enough to answer my questions. Cyberpunk 2077 is on my hotlist. I love CP since 2013 and CD Projekt Red did a great job on The Witcher.

Share the interview, if you want. Currently, all comments are in German (sorry, but English comments are also very welcome

As I said: Thank you.
Save yourself, Cyberpunk!

 

[d1am0ndback]

Its number one on any list that I have going, including the bucket list.

 

[username_3651615]

 

[onosendai7]

Thanks.

(May I keep my sig that way ?)

 

[Sardukhar]

"the main plot in Cyberpunk comes from the actions of powerful, dangerous people doing desperate and dangerous things for the most mundane reasons; greed, power, sex, revenge. Stuff Sam Spade would recognize no matter how much cybernetic hardware it was couched in."

VERY encouraging.

"obskures.de: When will we see more of Cyberpunk 2077 RPG (video and tabletop)? Will you “bundle” the tabletop RPG with the video game adaption?
Mike Pondsmith: No comment. But let’s say that what we do in the end will be a lot more complex than you might think."

Hmmm. HMMM. HMMMMMMMMMM. BRING ME MY HEATED RODS AND DEVIL-HOOKS. I MUST KNOW.

"Mike Pondsmith: Mostly because beyond Conan, Fafhrd and the Mouser, and Lord of the Rings, most straight up fantasy bores me. Sorry."

See, WIsdom? HE has the grace to say he's sorry. SORRY. ALthough it's possible he wasn't really sorry. "

"obskures.de: What are the key ingredients for a great game?
Mike Pondsmith: Knowing the world fully and populating it with great characters that you aren’t afraid to let the players screw with. The moment you get a world or NPCs that you love too much to let them get clobbered, your game becomes a museum of Mary Sues."

Yerp. My one redeeming feature as a GM. No one and nothing is a Mary Sue. Not even, say, the Arasaka Corp and their HQ.

 

[user_nam_e]

much appreciated

 

[username_3651615]

"obskures.de: When will we see more of Cyberpunk 2077 RPG (video and tabletop)? Will you “bundle” the tabletop RPG with the video game adaption?
Mike Pondsmith: No comment. But let’s say that what we do in the end will be a lot more complex than you might think."

Hmmm. HMMM. HMMMMMMMMMM. BRING ME MY HEATED RODS AND DEVIL-HOOKS. I MUST KNOW."

I think they plan something "Transmedia" like this new TV show and MMO: http://www.defiance.com/en/
Cyberpunk is going to be HUGE... I expect books, comics, computer game(s) for pc, tablets etc. and at least a real tabletop RPG.
Possibly somewhat integrated ...

I think they go in this direction. I would do it this way.

 

[Sardukhar]

<Looks around himself.>

I see no devil-hooks. I see no heated rods of sorrowful inquiry? WHY are not interviews conducted in the Old Way?!

 

[username_3651615]

What do you mean?

 

[wisdom000]

Absolutely fantastic interview...

Though as knowledgable as I am, apparently I can still learn something.... because after all this time, I thought TFOS came first...

Mikes favorite roles are solo and NOMAD... suck on that Sardi....

Not all that happy about the inclusion of the nuke... but excited to see where they take it. Very happy about not including anything from Cybergen or V3.

Everything else just sounded absolutely perfect.

 

[Sardukhar]

SOLO and Nomad. Suck on THAT, Wisdom. I'm first!

Besides, every Great Man has a flaw. So Mike's is a deplorable taste for leather-clad bad boys. That's between him, his wife and Nomad Naughtiness, (The Online Mag of Oil, Octane and Ooohh!!).

I was being flippant, obskures. I was suggesting using coercion to get the truth of his PnP update plans from him. Physical coercion. You know: torture. WITH HOOKS.

 

[Dr. LaBrat]

big thanks !! Awesome interview!

love this quote of him to the question how to get in the right mood for the game.

"Go downtown at midnight and stand outside in the cold rain. Wait to get mugged. Beat down the mugger instead. Or barring that, watch Blade Runner, followed by Max Headroom, followed by Ghost in the Shell, drink a couple shots of cheap whiskey and end up the night listening to some really good trance, electronica or dubstep. While making love to your heavily tattooed girlfriend." Mike

haha ohhhh mike
but he really lives and breathes cyberpunk

 

[wisdom000]

SOLO and Nomad. Suck on THAT, Wisdom. I'm first!

Besides, every Great Man has a flaw. So Mike's is a deplorable taste for leather-clad bad boys. That's between him, his wife and Nomad Naughtiness, (The Online Mag of Oil, Octane and Ooohh!!).

I was being flippant, obskures. I was suggesting using coercion to get the truth of his PnP update plans from him. Physical coercion. You know: torture. WITH HOOKS.

It's not like I don't love Solo just as much... Combat sense is my characters second highest special ability behind Vehicle Zen...

As for plans.... you are being too elaborate... CHAIR LEG OF TRUTH is all we need.... but we should start in poland.... to get properly warmed up.

 

[username_3651615]

Sorry, maybe I am stupid. What is wrong with Cybergen? Okay, the power rules are a bit complicated, but the Orwell theme with BURELOC (?) was imho damn cool.
Cyberpunk V3 has some faults, but there are some nice ideas - at least for me. I like the GiRI (CLAN) concept.

I think Solo, Fixer and Cop are great classes. I prefer(ed) always Hardwired a bit over the original backgroungd.
We ended with a mixture.

 

[username_3651615]

I am peaceful - no torture in the real world. Sorry, I can not over this service.

 

[Sardukhar]

Ah! A Hardwired fan! Excellent! Tell me, did you read the books and Voice of the Whirlwind as well?

Cybergen was fun, but it's a divergence from the grit and glitter that makes Cyberpunk 2020 so good. There are also nice ideas in V3 but it really is transhuman, and frankly, Eclipse Phase does transhuman and post human better. Check out EP if you get a chance.