The future of alternative Cyberpunk campaign settings

[Decatonkeil]

The future of alternative Cyberpunk campaign settings

Still no sign of the new PnP version of Cyberpunk and I'm already wondering: will there be a market or the interest from R.Talsorian to publish setting sourcebooks for settings other than the Cyberpunk 2013/20/77 canon? The old versions of the game had some like Night's Edge, Nathan Never or Hard Wired. Do you think they will take it upon themselves to publish new ones or that they will or should leave that for the fans to do. Which setting would you like to see receive an official or unofficial Cyberpunk PnP adaptation?

 

[Kaebus2196]

I'm just now starting a session of 2020, and while I have seen campaigns streamed of it, I've not really gotten my own chance to dive into the world until now so I'd certainly like to see an official expansion/revision of 2020, but I would also just as much like to see a re-imagining from the perspective of a 2077 setting instead.

 

[Suhiira]

RPGs in general have a hard times these days. Folks no longer have the time to spend days/weeks creating campaigns and many players want action not stories.

 

[braindancer12]

RPGs in general have a hard times these days. Folks no longer have the time to spend days/weeks creating campaigns and many players want action not stories.

sad but true

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

I'm waiting for Wisdom to wade into this conversation extolling the virtues of IU.

 

[Sardukhar]

I'm waiting for Wisdom to wade into this conversation extolling the virtues of IU.

But you've just -sort of- done it for him!

See how we are all his servants?

 

[Kaebus2196]

RPGs in general have a hard times these days. Folks no longer have the time to spend days/weeks creating campaigns and many players want action not stories.

I think in a lot of ways today, people now (the younger generations especially such as myself) find it it taboo and odd to roleplay, which is the key component to crafting a character story. I still see plenty of the folk from years before me doing it, since it's some of the entertainment they grew up with. But I can find almost no-one my age to play with, which I am honestly okay with because I am not a big fan of the society that my generation seems to enjoy anyways. But still standing to your point, I feel like true RPGs are in a slow decline. Far from dead or absent, but now slowly shifting in that direction.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

It was taboo when the likes of Sard and Myself were kids. (Not Wisdom, don't think they had RPG's in the neolithic.) It was a time before Geek was Chic. We did it anyway because we could, and we didnt play over the net, we went round each others houses, took over the dining table and rolled dice all night while our parents took every opportunity to make us look like babies. We found out about new products by going to the local gaming shop and chatting to the owner.

We didnt check websites and release schedules. We went and looked at the books and smelled that 'chip shop' smell of fresh printed ink on paper.

 

[Suhiira]

It was taboo when the likes of Sard and Myself were kids.

I pre-date RPGs. There were no PCs, and certainly not consoles, there was no internet. You could play board games and there was a small cult of wargamers (using miniatures mostly).

I played Tactics II in the 1960s (published in 1958 ), got heavily into miniatures war gaming in the early 70s (I still have my 1/285th microarmor), then in 1975 I stumbled across three 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 paperbound booklets in a box ... D&D (published in 1974). RPGs were a new and exciting alternative. You didn't just play a game you played a story!

Action/FPS games didn't exist until Castle Wolfenstein (1981) and attracted a following, mostly younger players. We "old farts" knew there was more to a good game then just shooting stuff.

 

[Kaebus2196]

I played Tactics II in the 1960s (published in 1958 ), got heavily into miniatures war gaming in the early 70s (I still have my 1/285th microarmor), then in 1975 I stumbled across three 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 paperbound booklets in a box ... D&D (published in 1974). RPGs were a new and exciting alternative. You didn't just play a game you played a story!

The more I learn about you from posts like these, the more fascinated I am haha. It's always been stuck in my mind that they people I am talking with are somewhere between 25-35, so I always feel naive and completely new to these kinds of discussions, not to say that I'm not new or naive to them, but that's the feeling I have. Then I get to know that anyone I talk to really could be ANYONE.

The internet is so special.

 

[Sardukhar]

AANNNND to return to topic.

I doubt any of the alternative settings will receive publication.

THAT SAID.

Mekton Zero, using a version of the Cyberpunk rules, is on it's way. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1888572386/mekton-zero

Years ago, we made character for Roadstrikers, a mecha-unit kind of game. I think we were mercs, taking on odd jobs..very cyberpunk type of Team. Since it used Friday Night Firefight, with some mods for the heavy weapons deployed, it felt very CP2020 to us.

Also our GM was a merciless bastard. That too was very CP.

 

[Kaebus2196]

AANNNND to return to topic.

+ 1 for redirectors

Mekton Zero, using a version of the Cyberpunk rules

But it's not Cyberpunk :'(

 

[Nomad_Xenon]

Definitely no.

The golden age of tabletop rpg IMO is gone, if we had the core Cyberpunk 2077 and a few supplements we should be more than happy. Besides the basic setting of the Cyberpunk 2020 is way better than Hardwired, When Gravity Fails, etc... Mostly because it have part of them in it but it's not constricted by them.

I always felt jealous when I saw that regular and beautiful Shadowrun editions and supplements. A pity I do not like it much.

 

[Suhiira]

The internet is so special.

I like it. I have friends from all over the world and do work for people in Canada, Britain, India, and Singapore at present ... no clue who or where next.

The golden age of tabletop rpg IMO is gone, if we had the core Cyberpunk 2077 and a few supplements we should be more than happy.

The "Golden Age" I agree. But with any luck at all games like CP2077 will just bring it into modern times. The Witcher series is at it's heart far more an RPG then an action game. And lots of people are "discovering" RPG type game play is fun!

 

[Kaebus2196]

And lots of people are "discovering" RPG type game play is fun!

But this may only open up their interests to video game RPG, which is well enough I suppose. I'm curious if there really is a way to respark interest in tabletop by means of advertisement and production by companies. I know that having my father recommend and show it to me was pretty effective, but I don't know that I would have ever gotten into it by other means either by internet advertisement or seeing rulebooks and miniatures at my local gaming store.

Also, I am confused a little by the title of the thread. Is it asking about different potential settings that Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk universe could become? Or just other Cyberpunk settings in general?

 

[Decatonkeil]

Also, I am confused a little by the title of the thread. Is it asking about different potential settings that Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk universe could become? Or just other Cyberpunk settings in general?

I just meant to ask people who have more experience than I do with PnP if they think there will be different settings in general.... I think. Cyberpunk 2020 saw the releases that I talked about. I see how the main Cyberpunk setting is the important part and how it has elements of many others, and I'm thrilled to discover it in 2077 (not the actual 2077, mind you, but the game). But since it would be... limited by its own internal logic, so to speak, I wonder if it would see, maybe, sourcebooks to use its system with other settings with different status quos, where technology is a bit different and cybernetics work differently, etc. I don't even know if modern DnD keeps using settings other than Forgotten Realms, which I hear is kinda the default setting for 5th edition, or if they are publishing or planning to publish things like Dark Sun, Planescape... so I wonder if Cyberpunk 2077 would see that kind of support but with other established Cyberpunk IPs. A GITS, Appleseed... or even Psycho Pass sourcebook that adapts the rules, or others on cyberpunk novel other than Hardwired.

The thread makes it look like I'm rushing these things a lot or like I'd want Cyberpunk to be another thing... it's not that. It's actually just that I wonder about how different or how similar the market for tabletop RPGs is now and how this translate into support for the game... and partly just boredom and looking for an excuse to start a conversation.

 

[Suhiira]

It's pretty simple.
There is more money to be made with PC/console games then PnP ones. There are a few Kickstarter PnP projects but PnP really is a small niche market these days.

I suspect we'll see a CP2077 update for CP2020 PnP but probably not an entirely revised version.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

Even if offical updates dont come out, players can always create new settings, that's how many of them come about in the first place. You can still find Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed and other settings for 2020 on the net. I'm quite tempted to come up with a Mad Max, it would basically mean everyone would be Nomads, no cities, only settlements and abandoned ruins. Industry would rely on local resources.

Thinking about it, I'm rather suprised this doesn't already exist on Datafortress2020...

 

[Sardukhar]

I'm quite tempted to come up with a Mad Max, it would basically mean everyone would be Nomads, no cities, only settlements and abandoned ruins. Industry would rely on local resources.

Thinking about it, I'm rather suprised this doesn't already exist on Datafortress2020...

Years ago, a friend of mine ran this, actually. He added a few arcologies, some hidden, some heavily defended, for a tech contrast. The rest was Mad Max world.

Pretty fun, the few sessions we played. Your gear is reaaaaaaaaaaallly tech-dependent in that setting. Techies, you'll be pleased to know Chris, become the most valuable resource around.

 

[Decatonkeil]

It's another topic entirely, but I wonder if PnP should reinvent itself for something that can played in Tablets or a similar format with an interconectivity that allows not only for playing online with people around the world, but for get-togethers with friends. I imagine there could be a program that included GM tools, rulebooks plus fluff that could be expanded, sets of premade illustrations for characters, dice rollers, NPC generators, programs to create maps (with movement applied on the tactile screen) with the ability for the GM to allow r restrict things to player and all around giving the GM... GM clearance to do certain things while, for example, the players can only do things that are allowed to players, maybe with the free player version of the program.