sourcebooks
I am interested in CP 2020 sourcebooks. Which are the best ones? I am sure you can help me.
I am interested in CP 2020 sourcebooks. Which are the best ones? I am sure you can help me.
Core Cyberpunk 2020 book,
Night City,
Wildside,
Listen Up You Primitive Screwheads,
Chrome 1 and 2
Home Of The Brave,
Neo Tribes
Protect And Serve
Maximum Metal
Rough Guide To The Pacific Rim...
It all really depends on why you are buying the books though... But the above are what I consider to be essential.
Night City,
Wildside,
Listen Up You Primitive Screwheads,
Chrome 1 and 2
Home Of The Brave,
Neo Tribes
Protect And Serve
Maximum Metal
Rough Guide To The Pacific Rim...
It all really depends on why you are buying the books though... But the above are what I consider to be essential.
Core, all four Chromes (despite what Wisdom says), Night City, Rache Bartmoss' Guide, Solo of Fortunes, Blackhand, EuroSource.
My preference is the high-end suit and solo life of Night City, Crystal Palace and Europe, though, while Wisdom's list is more towards the gritty side. Neither is wrong, both fit the world. I've just personally never really appreciated the Nomad stuff or any other gritty shit where you don't have means and high tech at your fingertips. I've had plenty of other RPGs to play where you have to struggle. Cyberpunk for me has always been a game where you don't have to eat Kibble to survive, but something where you can excel in a fantastically scientific utopia.
That's my 2 cents anyway.
My preference is the high-end suit and solo life of Night City, Crystal Palace and Europe, though, while Wisdom's list is more towards the gritty side. Neither is wrong, both fit the world. I've just personally never really appreciated the Nomad stuff or any other gritty shit where you don't have means and high tech at your fingertips. I've had plenty of other RPGs to play where you have to struggle. Cyberpunk for me has always been a game where you don't have to eat Kibble to survive, but something where you can excel in a fantastically scientific utopia.
That's my 2 cents anyway.
What RPGs where you have to struggle? Most make you a virtual demigod compared to humans. A few adventures and it's more than a demigod.
Fantastically scientific utopia sounds like Eclipse Phase or Mass Effect. Not much punk.
Also, "Rough Guide to the Pacific Rim"? What?
Chrome 1 is nearly essential. Chrome 2 if you don't mind going to Super Cyborgs. Chrome 3 and 4 if you love you some fashion, vehicles, drones, and generlaly cool stuff.
I'm not a big fan of Neo Tribes or Home of teh Brave. One because it spoiled the mystery of the nomad culture for me, the other because I think R.Tals hard-on for US Military coloured their view pretty heavily and diluted the visionof a decaying US under corporate control.
Eurosource and Rough Guide to the UK are both good. Uk is better.
Protect and Serve is very solid and reaaalllly helpful to a GM or a cop player.
Maximum Metal...I own it, I used to love it, I think it's a little silly now.
My 2 cents!
Fantastically scientific utopia sounds like Eclipse Phase or Mass Effect. Not much punk.
Also, "Rough Guide to the Pacific Rim"? What?
Chrome 1 is nearly essential. Chrome 2 if you don't mind going to Super Cyborgs. Chrome 3 and 4 if you love you some fashion, vehicles, drones, and generlaly cool stuff.
I'm not a big fan of Neo Tribes or Home of teh Brave. One because it spoiled the mystery of the nomad culture for me, the other because I think R.Tals hard-on for US Military coloured their view pretty heavily and diluted the visionof a decaying US under corporate control.
Eurosource and Rough Guide to the UK are both good. Uk is better.
Protect and Serve is very solid and reaaalllly helpful to a GM or a cop player.
Maximum Metal...I own it, I used to love it, I think it's a little silly now.
My 2 cents!
Sarduk, our SLA sessions have been pretty torturous, as have our Shadowrun games. Then of course RuneQuest, which was such fun. Our 2300AD was also pretty gritty.
That's not to mention our D&D, because D&D (Pathfinder these days) can be a lot of different things.
I know it's much to do about which game you're playing, who's the GM, and so on. As I said earlier, for me, Cyberpunk has been a safe haven of a futuristic "fun place", not some gritty hell you need to fight through. Just my experience, that's all.
That's not to mention our D&D, because D&D (Pathfinder these days) can be a lot of different things.
I know it's much to do about which game you're playing, who's the GM, and so on. As I said earlier, for me, Cyberpunk has been a safe haven of a futuristic "fun place", not some gritty hell you need to fight through. Just my experience, that's all.
Night City, Home of the Brave, WildSide are some of my favorite books for rules and world building.
Chromebooks 1-4 and Blackhands (a.k.a the Big Book of Guns) are essential for toys and gear.
Chromebooks 1-4 and Blackhands (a.k.a the Big Book of Guns) are essential for toys and gear.
Wait..your Shadowrun has been torturous but your Cyberpunk is a safe haven? Wha..what? SOUNDS LIKE TREASON.
SLA Industries of course, of course. The others, well, you can -make- them gritty if you try,but I wouldn't see 2300AD as more Street or Kibble-focussed than CP2020. Ever.
Night City would be great if they'd reprint. Sadly, you can only get it now on pdf.
One little gem is Blakhand's Street Weapons. Cheap and quite useful. They also updated the different weapon damages for things like 20mmAP and 30mm to be more consistent.
SLA Industries of course, of course. The others, well, you can -make- them gritty if you try,but I wouldn't see 2300AD as more Street or Kibble-focussed than CP2020. Ever.
Night City would be great if they'd reprint. Sadly, you can only get it now on pdf.
One little gem is Blakhand's Street Weapons. Cheap and quite useful. They also updated the different weapon damages for things like 20mmAP and 30mm to be more consistent.
Well, I admit, it's a lot about when and with whom you play the game. For me Cyberpunk was always about the fantastical science fiction, and being kind of superhuman. Also, since we started it in our teens, it was nothing but silly fun.
SLA on the other hand was a game where I made a lot of characters, due to the fact that my characters just died. And yes, our Shadowrun was very torturous in that nothing came easy. But as I said, It's because of the GM.
Still, this sells the point that Cyberpunk has the easy potential of being very awesome for people. SLA for example, on the other hand, is suicide for everyone, regardless of GMs.
It's GMs and how they run the game. Still, I see Cyberpunk 2020 as a very awesome fantastical scifi game - potentially - and not a gritty "oh noes no money shit happens how can we survive" -scrape-it-together thing.
SLA on the other hand was a game where I made a lot of characters, due to the fact that my characters just died. And yes, our Shadowrun was very torturous in that nothing came easy. But as I said, It's because of the GM.
Still, this sells the point that Cyberpunk has the easy potential of being very awesome for people. SLA for example, on the other hand, is suicide for everyone, regardless of GMs.
It's GMs and how they run the game. Still, I see Cyberpunk 2020 as a very awesome fantastical scifi game - potentially - and not a gritty "oh noes no money shit happens how can we survive" -scrape-it-together thing.
Hmmm, I knew I shouild have posted when I had more time...
Let me explain my choices...
Corebook... really this is the only book you absolutely need... Whether you use the setting or not, this book will let you run "Classic Cyberpunk) games with a heavy Gibson/Bladerunner Influence.
Night City, If you do use the city, and plan to give yourself a taste of what the video game is like, then this book is essential. It is, quite simply, the best city sourcebook ever written... or at least tied with the old Wilderlands setting. You can still find used copies... though the map is rare. Luckily, you can get the map from me, either as JPG or printable PDF.
Wildside, no matter what setting you are using for Cyberpunk, Wildside is the tits... ostendibly its the Fixers guidebook, but its so much more than that and will help you breathe life into the unseamly underbelly of your city like nothing else.
Listen Up You Primitive Screwheads - This ranks up there with Robin Laws Guide to Game Mastering and Kenneth Hiites Supressed Transmissions... it is required reading for any GM. Everyone gets all twisted about the Uncle Mikes Dirty Tricks section, which was only ever intended to deal with problem players... but the rest of the book is filled with insanely good advice such as blue booking, character relations, and mood enhancement. It doesn't matter what game you are running, you should read this book.
Chrome 1 and 2 - Crhome 1 is Cool, Chrome 2 is what allows you to bring Appleseed, Robocop, and GITS type full conversions into your game. Chrome 3 and 4 are groovy, but aren't as essential as the first two.
Home Of The Brave - This sourcebook, regardless of what Sardi leads you to believe, only deals with the military in one, relatively small section. The vast majority of the book brings you up to speed on the general state of the US in 2020 in general, as well as giving a state by state run down of the major events and atmosphere of America. If you are using the setting, or even just trying to familiarize yourself with it before the game comes out, this book is a must.
Neo Tribes - The Nomad Sourcebook... but where Chrome 2 lets you bring in the GITS and Robocop elements into your game, Neo-tribe lets you bring in the Mad Max element... The beauty of Cyberpunk is that through the sourcebooks, you can really import all the best influences... If nomads or mad max hold no interest for you, then no, this book isn't all that important... but it helps paint the broader picture of the Cyberpunk 2020 setting.
Protect And Serve - The cop sourcebook... most of the art in this book is straight up horrible, but the police tech, the sections on law and how law enforcement operates in 2020, the sections on crime... this is all great stuff.
Maximum Metal - If you want any kind of military influence in your game at all, this book is a must have... it also lets you bring Powered Armor into your game, so you can have the Appleseed Landmates, the hardsuits and armor of Bubblegum Crisis and Maddox-01...
Rough Guide To The Pacific Rim... The complete guide to Asia, and while it's lax in some places, it is the only sourcebook to cover Asia at all. It also has expanded rules for Martial arts and new martial arts styles.
My top ten books are chosen for necessity of content, rather than just how cool I think a certain book is... otherwise Solo Of Fortune 2 and
As an honorable mention, ff you plan on doing anything in Space, then you will need Deep Space...
A lot of people are mentioning Eurosource... Do NOT listen to them... Eurosource is utter crap... Eurosource PLUS however is awesome. Eurosource was poorly thought out and inconsistant with the rest of the books. Eurosource Plus is a completely rewrite, fixing the glaring errors and just plain wonkiness.
Another book I am seeing get a lot of mention is Rough Guide To The UK.... which from my experience really has a devided fanbase... half the people think its brilliant, half of them think its just nonsense. Personally I fall in the middle... the book has areas that are wildly inconsistant with the other material, and presents a Great Britian that seems... pretty far out there... But a lot of it is good stuff as well, and there are some groovy ideas to cull from it.
Corporate Reports 1 and 3 are also pretty handy, as they detail Arasaka, Militech, and Lazarus... the second corporate report is... well its there...
And highlander boy... I am not one to tell anyone that they are playing something wrong, or that they are having badwrongfun.... but man if you think Cyberpunk 2020 is glittering utopia where players don't have to struggle for a scrap of kibble and isn't just caked in grittiness.... then you may not be doing it wrong, but you are definitely ignoring just about every setting description given in the published material... Hell the only game as gritty as Cyberpunk that I have ever come across was Warhmammer Fantasy second edition... which I often refer to as the Fantasy equivalent of Cyberpunk 2020.
Let me explain my choices...
Corebook... really this is the only book you absolutely need... Whether you use the setting or not, this book will let you run "Classic Cyberpunk) games with a heavy Gibson/Bladerunner Influence.
Night City, If you do use the city, and plan to give yourself a taste of what the video game is like, then this book is essential. It is, quite simply, the best city sourcebook ever written... or at least tied with the old Wilderlands setting. You can still find used copies... though the map is rare. Luckily, you can get the map from me, either as JPG or printable PDF.
Wildside, no matter what setting you are using for Cyberpunk, Wildside is the tits... ostendibly its the Fixers guidebook, but its so much more than that and will help you breathe life into the unseamly underbelly of your city like nothing else.
Listen Up You Primitive Screwheads - This ranks up there with Robin Laws Guide to Game Mastering and Kenneth Hiites Supressed Transmissions... it is required reading for any GM. Everyone gets all twisted about the Uncle Mikes Dirty Tricks section, which was only ever intended to deal with problem players... but the rest of the book is filled with insanely good advice such as blue booking, character relations, and mood enhancement. It doesn't matter what game you are running, you should read this book.
Chrome 1 and 2 - Crhome 1 is Cool, Chrome 2 is what allows you to bring Appleseed, Robocop, and GITS type full conversions into your game. Chrome 3 and 4 are groovy, but aren't as essential as the first two.
Home Of The Brave - This sourcebook, regardless of what Sardi leads you to believe, only deals with the military in one, relatively small section. The vast majority of the book brings you up to speed on the general state of the US in 2020 in general, as well as giving a state by state run down of the major events and atmosphere of America. If you are using the setting, or even just trying to familiarize yourself with it before the game comes out, this book is a must.
Neo Tribes - The Nomad Sourcebook... but where Chrome 2 lets you bring in the GITS and Robocop elements into your game, Neo-tribe lets you bring in the Mad Max element... The beauty of Cyberpunk is that through the sourcebooks, you can really import all the best influences... If nomads or mad max hold no interest for you, then no, this book isn't all that important... but it helps paint the broader picture of the Cyberpunk 2020 setting.
Protect And Serve - The cop sourcebook... most of the art in this book is straight up horrible, but the police tech, the sections on law and how law enforcement operates in 2020, the sections on crime... this is all great stuff.
Maximum Metal - If you want any kind of military influence in your game at all, this book is a must have... it also lets you bring Powered Armor into your game, so you can have the Appleseed Landmates, the hardsuits and armor of Bubblegum Crisis and Maddox-01...
Rough Guide To The Pacific Rim... The complete guide to Asia, and while it's lax in some places, it is the only sourcebook to cover Asia at all. It also has expanded rules for Martial arts and new martial arts styles.
My top ten books are chosen for necessity of content, rather than just how cool I think a certain book is... otherwise Solo Of Fortune 2 and
As an honorable mention, ff you plan on doing anything in Space, then you will need Deep Space...
A lot of people are mentioning Eurosource... Do NOT listen to them... Eurosource is utter crap... Eurosource PLUS however is awesome. Eurosource was poorly thought out and inconsistant with the rest of the books. Eurosource Plus is a completely rewrite, fixing the glaring errors and just plain wonkiness.
Another book I am seeing get a lot of mention is Rough Guide To The UK.... which from my experience really has a devided fanbase... half the people think its brilliant, half of them think its just nonsense. Personally I fall in the middle... the book has areas that are wildly inconsistant with the other material, and presents a Great Britian that seems... pretty far out there... But a lot of it is good stuff as well, and there are some groovy ideas to cull from it.
Corporate Reports 1 and 3 are also pretty handy, as they detail Arasaka, Militech, and Lazarus... the second corporate report is... well its there...
And highlander boy... I am not one to tell anyone that they are playing something wrong, or that they are having badwrongfun.... but man if you think Cyberpunk 2020 is glittering utopia where players don't have to struggle for a scrap of kibble and isn't just caked in grittiness.... then you may not be doing it wrong, but you are definitely ignoring just about every setting description given in the published material... Hell the only game as gritty as Cyberpunk that I have ever come across was Warhmammer Fantasy second edition... which I often refer to as the Fantasy equivalent of Cyberpunk 2020.
Oops. Yeah, Eurosource PLUS. I always forget there was a eurosource - haven't seen it in forever.
"A relatively small section" it might be in HotB, but it's still definitive. and changes the flavour of the CP2020 world to make the US Military fearsome again. No.
I think you mean Pacific Rim - unless there is a "Rough Guide to the Pacific Rim" I don't know about.
I would argue again Maximum metal and Full Body Conversions are in no way necessary at all for Cyberpunk 2020 and are a serious flavour change. Allow only after serious thought.
Primitve Screwheads was...unmemorable. i need to read it again, I think. It's been years.
You might think also about Tales from the Forelorn Hope if you are running and want some starter games.
"A relatively small section" it might be in HotB, but it's still definitive. and changes the flavour of the CP2020 world to make the US Military fearsome again. No.
I think you mean Pacific Rim - unless there is a "Rough Guide to the Pacific Rim" I don't know about.
I would argue again Maximum metal and Full Body Conversions are in no way necessary at all for Cyberpunk 2020 and are a serious flavour change. Allow only after serious thought.
Primitve Screwheads was...unmemorable. i need to read it again, I think. It's been years.
You might think also about Tales from the Forelorn Hope if you are running and want some starter games.
It doesn't change the flavor at all. It may change your perception of it, but I think you are confusing with the loss of power of the federal government with the loss of power of the military.... they are seperate issues. And even then, HOB clearly illustrates that the military has taken severe hits... But you seem to be operating from a standpoint that the private militaries are somehow more powerful than the US military... which is never implied, nor would it make any sense. The reason the military is never brought up in the core book is that the core book doesn't present a situation where the players would ever have to be concerned with it.
I always do that, even though I know better... its wierd... just like I always get KDFDM and My life With teh Thrill Kill Kult mixed up... they sound nothing alike, but I always mix them up...
No, they aren't necessary for Cyberpunk 2020, then again the only thing necesssary for Cyberpunk 2020 is the core rules book. They are however necessary if you want to bring the military into your game, or if you you a game influenced by Ghost In The Shell, Robocop, or Appleseed... Thats the beauty of Cyberpunk 2020... you can include all these influences, or none of them.,.. but they all fit within the world in a way that makes sense...Yeah, a couple of bits stick out as silly or just too far out there, walkers and biopods for example, or even memory metal knives.... but overall it works... and allows a gm to firmly set the flavor of his game where he wants it to be,
You probably should...
It's probably the best of the "canned" adventures... Land of the Free is a nice campaign, and really well written, but it can be kind of a hassle, and its meant to work with Home Of The Brave... and it gets a bit silly at time... the elvis gang.... groan....
All Poser gangs are just silly. I mean, sometimes funny and a part of the game, sure, but silly.
The US Mil being powerful while the US is not is, economically speaking, unfeasible and shallow. It does change the flavour of the game if the US Mil is the biggest player on the block when push finally comes to shove. As it did in Firestorm. When the Corps are made to stand down by a non-corp power, it ruins the idea of cyberpunk being a corporate-controlled world. HotB and FS happened after the core book. I don't know if R.tal meant for the Military to be so potent, but if they did, it undermines the whole background of the Cyberpunk setting.
You don't need Max Metal or FBC for the military in your game, but they are handy if you want actual rules for vehicles and ACPA. Otherwise, FN-RALs, Flak jackets and "armoured vehicles, guys, run" works fine.
Not that the military should matter anymore..it's a corporate world now...
Now if the Mil had gone corporate or become some kind of fiefdom for the powerful, that'd be different.
The US Mil being powerful while the US is not is, economically speaking, unfeasible and shallow. It does change the flavour of the game if the US Mil is the biggest player on the block when push finally comes to shove. As it did in Firestorm. When the Corps are made to stand down by a non-corp power, it ruins the idea of cyberpunk being a corporate-controlled world. HotB and FS happened after the core book. I don't know if R.tal meant for the Military to be so potent, but if they did, it undermines the whole background of the Cyberpunk setting.
You don't need Max Metal or FBC for the military in your game, but they are handy if you want actual rules for vehicles and ACPA. Otherwise, FN-RALs, Flak jackets and "armoured vehicles, guys, run" works fine.
Not that the military should matter anymore..it's a corporate world now...
Now if the Mil had gone corporate or become some kind of fiefdom for the powerful, that'd be different.
[
I disagree with you entirely on this. Except about he poser gangs... they are indeed ridiculous.
The US Military is going to be powerful as long as there is a US. Our economy is in the toilet right now, and we still have the strongest military in the world. Economically, yes the corporations are more powerful, just as they are today... with Monsanto, Phizer, and other corporations controlling everything through their puppets in the government. But at no point in the core books is it ever even hinted that corporations are more powerful in regards to military might than the US Armed Forces or the EDF. You may have interpreted it that way, but your interpretations were false. Even as weakened as the US military is in 2020, its still the dominant military force out there, with only the EDF and China as equals. The ESA had the drop on the USAF, through the use of massdrivers, but that shit is only going to work once...and they already played that card.
Hell, who do think is buying the Arasaka and Militech high end stuff... its the world militaries, particularly the US and EDF. That's where they get all their money from in the first place. Now that gives the corporations a certain amount in how they go about their business, but it does not make them more powerful than the military, that would simply be absurd.
Hell, even from a corporate point of view, its pretty absurd... where would the profit come from?
I disagree with you entirely on this. Except about he poser gangs... they are indeed ridiculous.
The US Military is going to be powerful as long as there is a US. Our economy is in the toilet right now, and we still have the strongest military in the world. Economically, yes the corporations are more powerful, just as they are today... with Monsanto, Phizer, and other corporations controlling everything through their puppets in the government. But at no point in the core books is it ever even hinted that corporations are more powerful in regards to military might than the US Armed Forces or the EDF. You may have interpreted it that way, but your interpretations were false. Even as weakened as the US military is in 2020, its still the dominant military force out there, with only the EDF and China as equals. The ESA had the drop on the USAF, through the use of massdrivers, but that shit is only going to work once...and they already played that card.
Hell, who do think is buying the Arasaka and Militech high end stuff... its the world militaries, particularly the US and EDF. That's where they get all their money from in the first place. Now that gives the corporations a certain amount in how they go about their business, but it does not make them more powerful than the military, that would simply be absurd.
Hell, even from a corporate point of view, its pretty absurd... where would the profit come from?
Wisdom, there are people in the Cyberpunk 2020 universe who do not need to struggle. You do know this, I'm sure. We've just decided to be those people, and play that particular game. Also, our Cyberpunk has always been extremely relaxed, and the emphasis has been more on what you want to do, and less on whether you can do it or not.
Suits, solos (European especially), insanely gifted deckers, and so on. That's our Cyberpunk fantasy world. Not worrying about where the next meal is coming from. Of course it's a hard life for some, but for us they're just the irrelevant grey masses and cannon fodder.
Like I said in that one thread I created there, people see this game (and others as well) in different ways, and my game isn't your game. Sure we could play the Average Joe, but why would anyone want to play someone average.
Suits, solos (European especially), insanely gifted deckers, and so on. That's our Cyberpunk fantasy world. Not worrying about where the next meal is coming from. Of course it's a hard life for some, but for us they're just the irrelevant grey masses and cannon fodder.
Like I said in that one thread I created there, people see this game (and others as well) in different ways, and my game isn't your game. Sure we could play the Average Joe, but why would anyone want to play someone average.
How IS the Soviet Military doing these days? Not so great. And no, they are not the buyer that is driving the Russian billionaires forward.
My interpretation of a world-setting that is left, until HotB, pretty vague, is hardly "false", Wisdom. It is different than yours and more in line with a Cyberpunk setting. The idea of a dominant US Military is ridiculous without a massive US economy to drive it. There is no such economy in 2020 - the US is broken. It is the European, Chinese and Japanese economies that drive the world.
The idea of a dominant U.S. Military in 2020 is squashed and firmly in the core book. Colorado Springs. The shat will keep working - that is the POINT of putting it in the core book. The US is no longer in power and their military is no longer dominant. How could you miss that?
Military might is redundant without paycheques. When, not if, the US Military declines, it will not be because they lack in guns or bombs, it will be because they lack in pay. The Corps in 2020 don't pay them and the remnants of the U.S. couldn't keep such a standing force and the tech behind it, fed and maintained. Hell, they can barely do it now.
One of the silliest things about Firestorm was the idea that corporations were like countries and can be controlled that way. That's changing right now, never mind in the much harsher alternate world of 2020. A corporation need have no nation as it's home, no single manufacturing or retail base, no individual or group of individuals that can be threatened or killed. It is tentacular and formless and it's market is the entire world. Who, frankly, would barely look up if you nailed colorado Springs or Night City with massdrivers or a tailored bioplague.
Just as long as they got their Sherri Glass braindance this season.
My interpretation of a world-setting that is left, until HotB, pretty vague, is hardly "false", Wisdom. It is different than yours and more in line with a Cyberpunk setting. The idea of a dominant US Military is ridiculous without a massive US economy to drive it. There is no such economy in 2020 - the US is broken. It is the European, Chinese and Japanese economies that drive the world.
The idea of a dominant U.S. Military in 2020 is squashed and firmly in the core book. Colorado Springs. The shat will keep working - that is the POINT of putting it in the core book. The US is no longer in power and their military is no longer dominant. How could you miss that?
Military might is redundant without paycheques. When, not if, the US Military declines, it will not be because they lack in guns or bombs, it will be because they lack in pay. The Corps in 2020 don't pay them and the remnants of the U.S. couldn't keep such a standing force and the tech behind it, fed and maintained. Hell, they can barely do it now.
One of the silliest things about Firestorm was the idea that corporations were like countries and can be controlled that way. That's changing right now, never mind in the much harsher alternate world of 2020. A corporation need have no nation as it's home, no single manufacturing or retail base, no individual or group of individuals that can be threatened or killed. It is tentacular and formless and it's market is the entire world. Who, frankly, would barely look up if you nailed colorado Springs or Night City with massdrivers or a tailored bioplague.
Just as long as they got their Sherri Glass braindance this season.
Well, it's already been decided that corporations are people. I guess it wouldn't be any less crazy to rule that corporations were countries as well.
Russia is still number 2 in global military strength, behind the US, in front of China, and has the third highest military budget, behind china. And Russia still makes incredibly impressive military aircraft.
As for Colorado Springs, I didn;t miss that.... the fuckers destroyed my birthplace. But that was an orbital war between the United States and the EDF, corporations had nothing to do with the outcome. Regardless, as I said, that was a one time event... the US has Military Gunships in orbit now that will take out tycho if they even think of doing something like that again.
But all that's beside the point. I never said the US military was the Dominant military force, I said they were still strong. Certainly stronger than the private military of any corporation. The reason the EDF dropped the rocks, was because the US Air Force was taking out all their satellites, and winning. At the time we didn't have anything big enough to take out tycho before we could Nuke Europe back into the stone age in retaliation. You are forgetting that the US Military was already overburdened at the time fighting a costly war in South America...
So yeah, the EDF is a threat to the US, they are the new number one power in 2020... that doesn't mean Arasaka or Militech are even close to a threat to the US.
And corporations most certainly have individuals and groups of individuals that can be threatened and killed. They are called CEO's and boards of directors. And since both Arasaka and Militech have publicly traded stock, the loss of CEO would plummet them into a nosedive in the market. Of course they would already take a dive, as the operations described in Firestorm would have investors bailing on them stocks left and right... the net worth of both companies would be in the toilet faster than an unwanted pregnancy on prom night. Military might may be redundant without paychecks, but private military's are redundant without profit. And finally you are forgetting that a private military cannot conscript, nor can it implement a draft. Nor are its soldiers bound to do anything beyond what they deem acceptable to claim their paycheck.
We both agree the whole thing was incredibly poorly thought out, we just disagree on our opinions why.
They dropped another rock in 2009 just off Washington after the U.S. tried to mess with building the Crystal Palace. They''ll do it again. The ESA is a corporate tool, so really, it's the corporations that rule the U.S.
Soviet, not Russian military is non-existent now. As for Russian military, I'm not sure where you pulled those figures, but everything I've read says Russian military are poorly if at all paid, can barely maintain their tech now and except for a hard central core, which may well be Mafiya controlled, work for the Russian government because it's one small step up from starving.
CEOS and boards are replaceable, fairly easily. Every corporation has it's bylaws and articles covering what to do in the event of. Even my tiny corporation IRL! If teh shareholders or any of their representatives feel the board or CEO/COO/CFO are not doing their job, they are gone. This is part of what made the corps so successful in taking over Las Vegas. Even if you threaten the director's family, as soon as he doesn't fulfill his fiduciary obligation to make the best deals he can, he's begun his trip to retirement.
The US was bankrupt after the Central American screw-up. They abandoned their people, half a million, for the Long March, of which 10% survived. It's right in the timelines. You weren't and still aren't a threat to Europe or China. That era is oer in Cyberpunk 2020. The U.S.A. is done. That's much of the charm of the setting: the players exist in the ruins of a previous super-power.
Home of the Brave changes that initial flavour strongly and encourages your perspective. I think that's a loss and a departure from the Dark Future that CP2020 otherwise embraces. Nationalism has failed; private enterprise triumphs. The U.S. limps along, shattered and fractured, while the future is the gleaming towers of Europe and the bright lights of Asia.
Soviet, not Russian military is non-existent now. As for Russian military, I'm not sure where you pulled those figures, but everything I've read says Russian military are poorly if at all paid, can barely maintain their tech now and except for a hard central core, which may well be Mafiya controlled, work for the Russian government because it's one small step up from starving.
CEOS and boards are replaceable, fairly easily. Every corporation has it's bylaws and articles covering what to do in the event of. Even my tiny corporation IRL! If teh shareholders or any of their representatives feel the board or CEO/COO/CFO are not doing their job, they are gone. This is part of what made the corps so successful in taking over Las Vegas. Even if you threaten the director's family, as soon as he doesn't fulfill his fiduciary obligation to make the best deals he can, he's begun his trip to retirement.
The US was bankrupt after the Central American screw-up. They abandoned their people, half a million, for the Long March, of which 10% survived. It's right in the timelines. You weren't and still aren't a threat to Europe or China. That era is oer in Cyberpunk 2020. The U.S.A. is done. That's much of the charm of the setting: the players exist in the ruins of a previous super-power.
Home of the Brave changes that initial flavour strongly and encourages your perspective. I think that's a loss and a departure from the Dark Future that CP2020 otherwise embraces. Nationalism has failed; private enterprise triumphs. The U.S. limps along, shattered and fractured, while the future is the gleaming towers of Europe and the bright lights of Asia.
The Soviet Military is gone because the Soviet Union dissolved... It just became the Russian Army. And you don't have to pay your soldiers well when you are forcing them into conscripted service. And maintianing the tech is very different from not having the tech. The Russian Military Surplus is huge. Regardless, they are the closest to the US in 5th generation fighter technology, they still have a somewhat functional navy, and.... they have nukes.
As for the CEO's and the board of directors... sure there are plans... but none of those plans matter in the face of public investment, and unless handled extremely carefully, the sudden loss of a CEO can have devastating effects on the stock value.
The second boulder drop was in a year of the first, and still while the US was losing its shirt over South Am 2. Not to mention the US was hit by the same bioplagues and drought the rest of the world was hit by... shit got real messed up. The gang of four were brought down and restructured. The US began the slow process of rebuilding...And yes, we pulled out and left the civilian contractors behind for the long walk. Sure there were probably some scattered unlucky troops in the field, to deep to extract... I even wrote the South Am sourcebook bits on the long walk from the perspective of one. But most of the actual military were simply pulled out. Thats not to say the government, and by that token the military, weren't bankrupt, but obviously by 2020 some measure of normalcy was starting to return. The reason teh military is hardly mentioned at all in the core book, was because that's not the type of game the core book focused on. And I get that. I get that you definitely dig the kind of game the corebook focused on. But the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Oh, and The US having a strong military was canon before HOB, hell it was canon before Cyberpunk 2020. Check out Near Orbit, page 7. "USAF has a huge budget for "star wars" space tech such as laser sats, spy sates, and other "space superiority weapons/" "The US has the best weapons, spy and laser sats, and battle platforms in space."
And that was 2013... when the game was at its most pure in terms of the Gibson influence.