Reinventing the Cyberpunk genre!

[Torm]

Cyberpunk has generally blended the near future with modern attitudes (hence cyber + punk). To revitalize cyberpunk, I'd look to what's on our far horizon of technology, and combine that with current underground aesthetics.

Right. The problem is, what is on the horizon for technology now is probably the Singularity, which I guess designing a roleplaying game around would involve either putting the characters entirely inside a virtual computer world (ala Hack:Infection and such), making all "character races" machine intelligences, figuring out some way to make playing part of a collective consciousness interesting, or actually implanting someone's brain with advanced biotech and seeing what sort of game they come up with!

 

[focallength]

I love cyberpunk, and I dont think theres anything wrong with the system. Its a Base d10 system fairly easyto convert into a D20 system if you really feel the need to. The thing that trips me out is, if youve read the background and stories in alot of their books, youll find that we are actually heading down that road as a society(and historically) and a lot of the tech, we are starting to see early versions of what is in the game.

 

[tecnowraith]

With all this, how will this help to bring it back to the RPG industry? What should change and what should stay, in order to bring players back to a cyberpunk rpg?

 

[Torm]

With all this, how will this help to bring it back to the RPG industry? What should change and what should stay, in order to bring players back to a cyberpunk rpg?

For one thing, probably the name "cyberpunk." It used to mean "future." Now, "cyber" is a overused buzzword from 90s children's television, and "punk" is retro 80s. It either needs a new name, or new cyberpunk designers probably need to go ahead and acknowledge this and set the game in a fancied-up version of 1990.

 

[S'mon]

I feel like I've been living in a Cyberpunk universe at least since 2000. This means the genre has limited attractiveness, it's way too much like reality these days.

 

[VirgilCaine]

I like to ask everyone here what would be a good way to reinventing the Cyberpunk genre? What would bring players back to a genre that kinda outdated from 80's? What new ways would be different enough for the genre of today?

Maybe ditching the whole "Corporations are evil" thing? Thats so hip-hop/1980's/communist/socialist/whateverist. Try something different.

Maybe, X-Files, government conspiracies and psychics [Scanners?] and cheap, easy-to-make cyberimplants?

I could see a Cyberpunk game set in five years from now.
What with technology advancing so fast, I could see all kinds of nifty cyber-attachments or mental-command things.
Turn your digital scope settings from infrared to night vision to red dot to off.
Or turn the goggle settings the same way, including having them retract from your eyes. Nifty.

 

[tecnowraith]

I thought about adding psionics to the genre at the mid to high power level to make it more unique. I'm also wondering if adding the religous organization as the new thing might interesting .

 

[Wraith Form]

I thought about adding psionics to the genre at the mid to high power level to make it more unique. I'm also wondering if adding the religous organization as the new thing might interesting .

Sounds like you just described White Wolf's Trinity setting....maybe crossed with Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.

 

[Umbran]

I thought about adding psionics to the genre at the mid to high power level to make it more unique. I'm also wondering if adding the religous organization as the new thing might interesting .

Yes, but neither of them are cyber, or particularly punk.

The problem with cyberpunk is not the cyber - sorry, folks, but we still have a long way to go before we reach what is seen in the literature. I think the problem is the punk. Punk isn't what is seen in today's literature, or TV, and only a little of it is seen in the movies. The world seems to be leaning a little more towards the four-color. Angst isn't trendy. Thus, the punk's not so popular.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Isn't The Matrix the obvious direction to go towards?