Don't mistake this for an ad or endorsement, but Mike Pondsmith's Mekton Zero kickstarter is live and funded. If enough people bombard its comments section with a request for a CP2077 PnP RPG it may demonstrate that there is both the market and demand for it. I don't know if he reads these forums but I do know he reads his kickstarter's comments. Perhaps when CDPR is closer to finishing their game Mike might decide to try a kickstarter for a PnP CP2077 to at least test the waters fo its marketability.
Ain't over yet. Years to go still.
I look forward to a companion book detailing the events from 2025 to 2077.
I think I'd be more excited about that than a "new edition". Especially if they fixed Netrunning along the way, the only weak-ish area in CP2020. Which would be quite a task - no PnP game has ever done it to the point you can play with others as a Netrunner, still feel like a Netrunner and smoothly work with your group.
I look forward to a companion book detailing the events from 2025 to 2077.
I think I'd be more excited about that than a "new edition". Especially if they fixed Netrunning along the way, the only weak-ish area in CP2020. Which would be quite a task - no PnP game has ever done it to the point you can play with others as a Netrunner, still feel like a Netrunner and smoothly work with your group.
Word. Netrunners were pretty much resigned as overpriced NPC's until we converted to Interlock Unlimited. With IU, Netrunning could be done on the fly and not grind the rest of the game to a standstill.
Yeah, it is starting to feel like he's trying to choke us all to death on it...
... I was -actually- wondering, having read the Computer Combat rules, if you didn't find them to be although less cumbersome, also actually less flavourful?
One thing about Netrunning - it felt like a separate game. IU netruns look more like a set of resisted or TN rolls and less like exploring an alien realm.
Now, I vaguely recall reading an IU supplement on Netrunning also. Can't find it on my drive though. TO THE INTERNETS.
Hmm. Maybe not.
One thing about Netrunning - it felt like a separate game. IU netruns look more like a set of resisted or TN rolls and less like exploring an alien realm.
Now, I vaguely recall reading an IU supplement on Netrunning also. Can't find it on my drive though. TO THE INTERNETS.
Hmm. Maybe not.
Well... that was kind of the problem.... and a large part of why it was so confusing to people. Netrunning in Cyberpunk 2020 WAS pretty much a completely different game. It wasn't intuiitive to the rest of the game, and it didn't flow well with the normal rules. It was like playing Clue, then switching to Monopoly for ten minutes to an hour, then switching back to clue. It was inconsistent.
IU netrunning rules are consistent witht eh rest of the rules, the mechanic stays the same. This is a feature, not a flaw. While there was some merit in having a system so different, to illustrate the contrast between virtual and real, the truth is, it required the GM to completely shift gears mentally, which can really break momentum and flow of a game. Plus netrunnig was so very time consuming, that even if the rules had been perfectly smooth, it rarely seemed worth the effort, as it gave the netrunner class ridiculous amounts of spotlight time that in the real world took up only seconds... leaving the other players with the thumbs up their butts when the netrunner was running, but leaving the Netrunner to particpate fully in whatever they were doing, even if they were relatively inneffectual.
As for the flavor... that is up to the GM and players to describe. No one is going to necessarily agree on what the virtual world looks like, because the very idea of it is pretty surreal, and without visuals, consistent visuals, it's going to be different for every group. So IU just leaves the description of it up to the GM and players.
With the IU, the excitement comes from the lack of time, the pressure to get in, get out, do what you need, and get out before you are discovered and either traced, or attacked, or both. Hacking in IU is much more in line with the cyberpunk ethos of desperation, as opposed to the simulated dungeon crawl, complete with monsters and spells, that the original netrunning rules were. The descriptions of the fancy interface and the virtual architecture can still be there, they just aren't always necessary to get things done... Quick hacks are just that, quick... larger more dangerous hacks are prone to make the players sweat and tremble...
It works... at least for what we wanted to do with it... which was make the hacking rules fun and useable, without breaking the momentum or stride of the game.
The only time I ever pulled off a flawless in-game netrun required 2 tables. The big table was the normal board that we were using for a big combat in a corporate facility. The second board was the online datafortress.
It worked great, but required a ton of prep. I also felt like one of those dudes playing speed chess with multiple opponents. Because I kept pacing back and forth between tables. 3 round of netrunning, then switch to the rest of the party for 1 round of physical movement and combat, rinse and repeat.
It worked great, but required a ton of prep. I also felt like one of those dudes playing speed chess with multiple opponents. Because I kept pacing back and forth between tables. 3 round of netrunning, then switch to the rest of the party for 1 round of physical movement and combat, rinse and repeat.
Yeah, I see all that and fair enough. Like most people who read Gibson, though, I always hoped netrunning would be as weird, wonderful and consistent as he describes it.
Sure, a GM can do that, but a system takes away a lot of his already-precious effort as well as providing a base framework for the player's imagination. It means that when you hear of a great 'Run, you think, "Woah, that must have been crazy."
Sure, a GM can do that, but a system takes away a lot of his already-precious effort as well as providing a base framework for the player's imagination. It means that when you hear of a great 'Run, you think, "Woah, that must have been crazy."
That instance was running the Cp2020 version with a datafortress and the terminal icons and enemy programs and the like. It was awesome. (think 'Nerumancer' when Case is riding Molly as she breaks into SenseNet to steal the Flatline)
The flip side of it was the amount of prep it took. The CP2020 netrunning rules require making all the datafortresses and programs and what-not ahead of time. Having a player just up and say they wasted to do a run was a pain in the ass and screeched the rest of the game to a halt, even if I had a generic pre-made datafortress ready.
Also, I hated the 'remote' ability netrunners had to arbitrarily control cameras and doors. Too much like magic.
The flip side of it was the amount of prep it took. The CP2020 netrunning rules require making all the datafortresses and programs and what-not ahead of time. Having a player just up and say they wasted to do a run was a pain in the ass and screeched the rest of the game to a halt, even if I had a generic pre-made datafortress ready.
Also, I hated the 'remote' ability netrunners had to arbitrarily control cameras and doors. Too much like magic.
Oh, yeah, I think we all agree that as fun as Netrunning can be, it's cumbersome in a PnP group environment. I still look for a solution that has both elements. I've done a less-formal version of what IU does, with resisted skill rolls and descriptors and it was fun, sure. But it didn't feel special.
Mike (he reads these), just remember, Cyberpunk is one of the two first great ones, the other one being D&D.
D&D just keeps getting new versions. Other PnP's also keep popping up and disappearing. Don't you think Cyberpunk might not benefit from a fucking AWESOME 2077 version? Hmm? Dude.
D&D just keeps getting new versions. Other PnP's also keep popping up and disappearing. Don't you think Cyberpunk might not benefit from a fucking AWESOME 2077 version? Hmm? Dude.
DnD needs new editions because the system sucks. So patchwork. Great background, fun magic spellzorz, but wowie, rest is constantly reworked.
Success/failure based on 1/3 stat, 1/3 skill and 1/3 luck with help from gear. That's so great.
The Lifepath: just great.
FNFF isn't perfect. Far from it. But it's very very solid. None better, I feel.
No increasing "HP" with magic levels. So great.
Simple, fast, believable combat rules. Okay, Martial Arts is too lethal but that's about it.
Flexible difficulty system - no rolls necessary for easy stuff, all the way up to rolls required to paint masterpieces of art.
Even has open-ended skills, years before something like Unknown Armies did it.
I was never sure why R.Tal went to Fuzion....they were so close to perfect already. A few tweaks like Interlock Unlimited and you were pretty much there.
Cue inevitable 'Interlock Unlimited' plug from Wisdom...