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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Graf" data-source="post: 2647518" data-attributes="member: 3087">After I realized there wasn’t much on d20 Cyberscape I was going to write a really good review like John Cooper or spider_minion did of d20 Apocalypse. But I realized that I’m not that organized and I’m writing my review to say something. I’ve tried to be fair but this is what I have to say.Product Summary: A workman like splatbook combining existing DnD/d20 rules with some cyberpunk flavor.People who…will love it: Someone who wants a d20 version of Cyberpunk*should find it useful: Somebody who wants a cyberware gear bookmay be disappointed: people who are looking for a creative or innovative new product (i.e. d20 Apocalypse). If you’ve played any 3.0+ DnD you’ve seen most of the mechanics and if you played Cyberpunk/Shadowrun you’ve seen everything else*=with the caveat that nothing addresses the fundamental dynamic of implanting techonogy in your body from Cyberpunk/Shadowrun (i.e. that implanting cyberware in your body does damage to your mind until you ultimately go nuts/lose your soul/die)High points: The text blurbs show an interesting possibly fun world trying to crawl its way out.Cyberrave “fixes” some of the problems of the Cyberpunk settingThe advanced classes are both creative and easily adjusted to fit different campaignsThe grammar/sentence structure edits are good (content organization & coherency is another matter)Low points: The Netrunning/Decking (or as they call it Noderunning) chapterWeak organization (with no index) suggest DMs and players will be tearing their hair out looking for things; cybergear is split into two mostly arbitrary chapters and the system for organizing the gear itself is terribleThe author(s) seem to be incapable of writing anything “dark”. For better or for worse a lot of cyberpunk/futurism in literature/cinema/role-playing games involve the trade off between inhuman power and the loss of self/empathy/humanity. At first blush it would seem like the authors were going to have optional rules supporting that style of play (a lot of optional rules have “spooky” sounding names) but nope. Both the gear and the Cyberrave setting suffer from bloat (and the aforementioned the noderunning chapter is mostly bloat); in a big book this wouldn’t be an issue but you would expect that in such a small book they would have more to sayPoints of confusion: The cyberware chapter indicated that all the cyberware from d20 would be included and updated. That isn’t the case as each of the individual little headings goes on to talk about specific parts of d20 Future that aren’t excerpted. Presumably the cyberware from d20 that wasn’t included needs things like body locations to work but that information isn’t included in the book.****Introduction****A workman like attempt to talk about cyberware in d20 Modern rules set. An overview of the Progress Level (PL) system that they use to organize the book; basically how developed technology/cyberware/etc has to be to allow for certain implants. The PL system would more properly be called a Power Level system to my mind. In a role-playing game context this works; however it leads to incongruities. For example: getting a headphone and a microphone installed in your head so you can talk to your buddies (AKA Mindlink) is the same power level as jet boosters built into your legs Fly in a role-playing game but its hard to see how they require the same level of technical advancement.****Chapter 1****Alternative cybernetic rules systems, some feats and three advanced classes.The cybernetic rules cover limiting or not limiting the amount of cyberware somebody can stick on them in a few simple ways.One frustrating omissionThere is no rule or rules set in the book that has substantive penalties for putting cyberware into your body. I am not saying that all games involving cyberware should have those kinds of things, but the lack of rules modules that make taking implanting cyberware into your body (even a little bit) a bad thing is a bit weird. (They do have a rule balance system that can prevent “over installation”, but it works like the negative level system for holding evil weapons in DnD).Perhaps there are cyber-psychosis rules in d20Future but if not it’s a big oversight. Even Shadowrun (known for people parsing their essence score down the last fraction) had the implied threat of destruction of your soul (and irreversible death) if you put two much ’ware into your body. The feats give people the ability craft cyberware, get extra cybernetic gear and lower the chance that their cyber gear will be hit by someone targeting it.Two of the advanced classes offered (Bionic Agent and Cyberwarrior) are close in spirit to the newer versions of PrCs that have been making an appearance in receive DnD games. They offer interesting flavorful text and explanation for the class but the underlying rules would actually support a broad range of characters if the fluff is filed off. Unfortunately none of this is really properly explained so you have to read the classes fairly closely to see how you could file off the serial numbers (i.e separate fluff from crunch). The other class is more of an NPC class (Implant Hack).Bionic Agent – crunch: a skill focused cyberware using character, as they advance they receive new feats and bonuses to cyberware enhanced actions and attacks made with cyber weaponry. (So if they have cyber eyes that grant a bonus to spot they get another class bonus on top of that; bonuses to hit and damage with cyberweaponry etc.). – fluff: James Bond as a cyborg. Possibly a government or corporate agent who was severely injured and rebuilt to be a ‘borg. An agent who is employed by some large institution (corp, government, etc)  could be rebuilt with new cyber systems for each mission. Cyberwarrior – crunch: Best BAB cyberware focused character; receive extra implants through leveling, eventually their cybersystems become self repairing. – fluff: “living cyborgs” that who become one with the machine. Reminiscent of an old (and I think very short lived) comic called Wetworks by Image about a bunch of solders who were fused to their high tech battle suits.Implant Hack – NPC class: A cybernetic doctor. Could be fun if you were playing a futuristic game based around the medical dramas you see on TV (i.e. ER or House) otherwise, unless you’re playing a very dark game where the characters are mugging people for their cyberware or in a world where its very hard to get cyberware (such as a post apocalyptic type game), I don’t see much potential for the class as a PC character. (it’s available online from Wizards if you want to take a look).****Chapter 2****This is the first cyberware chapter. Even with the best cybernetic ideas this chapter would still suffer from the (dis?)organization system. All cyberware is listed first by the slot it occupies (unless it occupies multiple slots, then it generally is counted as torso) then PL. Unfortunately there are a lot of slots, a lot of item names (striving for the cyberpunk ‘cool’ name) aren’t particularly descriptive and formatting is poor. It’s a bit of a mess. Furthermore information isn’t collected in a table or a chart anywhere and the book has no index. In short the book seems to have forgotten some of the key rules that were “discovered” by the 3.0 DnD team when they started to try to create books that were more useful for the users.Additionally some cyberware has been moved to another chapter (the FX chapter) because it’s either Wetware (tailored DNA viruses that change your body) or else it involves nanites. All in all these distinctions are reasonable on a theoretical level but less useful in a roleplaying game. The dubiousness of this split is reinforced by the fact that the Cyberrave setting (presented in chapter 5) allows for all of these cybernetic systems without any attempt to separate them out. Having different cybernetic systems allows for different ways to install/damage/deactivate/remove the different types of systems (i.e. some are vulnerable to electric damage, some to nanite poison, etc) which is a plus but putting them into a different chapter (mixed up with a couple of different versions of magical cyberware) was a bit weird.Then there is the problem of filler. Each of the cybernetic systems is presented with an explanation, some rules and a few stats (location, PL, cost, etc). The filler is evocative, and that’s good but I was left wishing for less text and more organization and concise delivery of information. Example: page 32 has talks about Personality Mapping (Charisma bonus) “tends to create someone who smiles and speaks in an even tone even when very angry or when committing and act of violence”. This text draws up a cool mental image of some good corporate family who has gone off the deep end but his ‘ware keeps him acting sane. But it’s just a +2 to Charisma. This kind of text could have been used much more effectively in an “adventure hooks” or “darker cyberscape themes” section (maybe with a rules mechanic for insanity thrown in?)It was hard to find a mechanic that didn’t come straight from some other part of DnD or d20; and I am left feeling that the chapter could have been done with about half the text involved.Good stuff: The mechanics aren’t original but this does mean they have been extensively road testedFrom time to time the adaptations shift from “workman like” to “inspired” (a chip that functions like the Mind Seed psionic power comes to mind)Because it draws on a fantasy rules set the game goes further than others more easily, so you have ways to make yourself a cybernetic mer-person or centaur (not my cup of tea personally but a greater range of choice is hardly something I would complain about)Some interesting ways to deal with some “game issues” you can buy a chip that lets you “respend” you skill points, presumably to adjust a bad skill selection earlier in the character’s life.****Chapter 3: Noderunning****If you want a rules-lite d20 version of the “net” that lived in Cyberpunk & Shadowrun games in the 1980s and 1990s you’ve found it here. If you’re familiar with the internet you can skip the first part of this chapter (about the Virtual Reality Net which really isn’t a virtual reality net, because that doesn’t happen until the next PL when they come out with HiNet, which is actually a virtual reality network). The author actually says it’s not the Internet at some point (that’s apparently covered in d20 Modern) but this version of the net is basically the same except that is has better graphics (meaning you use goggles and gloves to instead of a keyboard, mouse and monitor). Just like in old Cyberpunk/Shadowrun if you want to go to a webpage (sorry node) you have to send your avatar (digital self) there, where they can use the data at the node, then if you want to go to another node you have to send your avatar there. No effort is made to explain why someone would give up a perfectly functional computer for this (laying back with cool goggles on is more ergonomically sound?). (In the defense of Cyberpunk and Shadowrun the Internet and web browsers didn’t actually exist when those books were being written. This kind of stuff is less forgivable in 2005.)Ok so it’s kinda silly but so are gnomes… what about the role-playing aspects? Does this construct let you do cool stuff?Yes and no. You get to do the sorts of things that online role-playing games let you do: you get to make up a cool/weird looking electronic alter identity and hang out with other cool computer people and fight to show who’s tougher. Plus big corporations and governments have computer systems that are connected directly to the internet so that when you want to make money for cool new computer parts you can hack into their systems and steal their valuable data. But…As the overall game goes though the rules set is definitely a negative.The computer hacker rules systems (Netrunning/Decking/whatever) in near future role-playing games have often been unpopular with players… why? Because the netrunner/decker who goes off using their character’s computer abilities forces everyone else to sit around and wait while they do computer stuff; and most of the time the netrunner can’t contribute meaningfully to the game. A good gaming group/DM could get around (or more likely just ignore) it but basically this was a structural flaw in the game. For whatever reason the d20 cyberspace people decided to keep all these problems as-is with no optional rules that could eliminate or reduce the situation.There are two optional rules in the game that are supposed to encourage computer hacking/playing of Noderunners but they seem like they would make the situation worse. One lets you hack into any computer system no matter where you are using some sort of Ubernet that controls all electronics (its like the Force…). This “Forcenet” has the net effect of discouraging the decker from ever needing a party (and one assumes there would be this “decking service” you could call to say “here is my GPS coordinates, there is a door 10 feet to the north of me, please open it and debit my account”). I should point out that this idea has cool potential in that Mage/Matrix kind of way but it just has the potential to increase conflict between the Noderunner player and the other players.The other rule one lets Netrunners take two computer actions to every one by normal people. The first few editions of Shadowrun did something like this. It’s supposed to make Noderunning more powerful… but it’s hard to see why it would really matter. If you’re winning the ‘net battle then you can win faster if you’re losing you can lose faster but the DM ultimately sets all your DCs and designs all the computer systems you are invading anyway so it’s not really going to matter much.Tangent: Shadowrun finally scrapped their old decking system (which was structurally identical to this one) in favor of one that made the decker a member of the team -and- helpful in a larger variety of situations (and also acknowledged the existence of current technology like WiFi). I haven’t got the game but from what I understand corporations keep their important data off the internet (kinda like corporations now - duh) explaining why deckers need to be taken along on missions to physically penetrate corporate compounds and steal data (and also why they would need a team of buddies to help them do this). Everything on a corporate grid is connected to an encoded short range WiFi network; allowing a decker to help out during the adventure by hacking open securities doors, deactivating security systems and so forth. It’s a shame that the d20 designers decided to stick with the Tron version of the internet.Other problems:The noderunning system is complex, in addition to all your programs (which the character has to make by hand can’t buy them) you have your avatar and its data files (only have a certain number so you can only have a certain amount of programs available), then you have the avatar’s stats and any stats for “agent” programs you use (which are constructed using a weird version of the CR rules). On top of that you can be disarmed and lose programs, some programs self destruct when used, some other attack programs delete your existing programs, and so forth. It looks like it would be a time consuming headache to run.****Chapter 4****This is the FX cyberware chapter. You get the impression that it’s supposed to be a combination of magic and weird science (except that the difference between FX tech cyberware and normal tech is arbitrary). The “technology” side: As mentioned above breaking the individual systems down is terrible if you’re trying to find something but gives an easy way to break out specific rules for the different kinds of technological cyberware (i.e. nanotechnology works differently than Wetwork so they have different rules and sit a few pages apart).The “magic” side: These sections are about the length and style of a Dragon Magazine article. Golem tech is well done: you get any cyberware from chapter two as a magical piece of cyberware (it doesn’t discuss any of the d20 Future items)Bone runes let you have “built in magic items” (the runes are written on your bones using magic). This sounds like a terrible idea for game balance to me but what do I know.The Necro-tech gives you the powers of undead creatures from DnD. There are a surprising number of these and several of them are extremely powerful.Choosing to make the golem tech fully modular and have a master set of possible cybernetic items and with different modules to match the magic/tech setting choices allows everyone to get the most out of the book.****Chapter 5: Cyberrave Setting****Unlike the other d20 games (Apocalypse/Past) there is only one setting in this book. The authors do a good job keeping Cyberrave references out of the rest of the book for DMs who don’t run Cyberrave games.Setting in a nutshell - In the near future corporations have taken over the world. Governments are struggling with their new weakened position. Profit is king and the masses are trapped in sheep-like subservience to their corporate masters forever seeking the next material good that their capitalist rulers decide to market to them. Most people buy all of the goods on credit, ensuring that they will never get out of debt and keeping them attached to the hamster wheel. Rejecting this drone-like existence some people join gangs who in turn make up an underground rave community where they fight for individuality and freedom. The setting is about fighting against profit hungry corporations (i.e. ThinkBest which fills up half of the chapter and is a big cyberware making corporation with its own moon base).The book introduces some decent ideas to support the setting the best of are grey wealth and the Cyberraver advanced class. Grey Wealth Basically you have an independent wealth score with the “cool elite street scene”. This easily explains the idea of a dirty-trench-coat-wearing, filthy-little-apartment-living street samurai with some very high tech cyberware.The first time I looked at the Cyberraver advanced class I was pretty unimpressed. Having thought a bit about cyberpunk it has started to really “fit” for me though. If you’ve ever looked at the older cyberpunk books (i.e. the boxed set of R. Talisorian’s Cyberpunk 2020) there are all of these hipster cyber people hanging out in pictures. Once I realized that the Cyberraver was the mythical “cyberpunk” things feel into place.The cyberpunk game itself was filled with cookie cutter “classes” who could do a single thing well through a single “class skill”: Solo (combat character), journalist, technician, EMT/doctor, rock star, gang member, etc. (which could be just have been broken down into “Solos” and “character classes for Solos to kill”). But there were no real “cyberpunk” characters, i.e. people who were into cyberware and wanted to stick it to the man. The Cyberraver is it. They can identify ‘ware with a glance, do basic repairs and have good skills (one assumes for individuality) and a big reputation bonus. Another reviewer seems to think they’re street samurai and (while they do have a good Def bonus) the d6 hit points and 2nd best BAB suggest otherwise to me.ThinkBest works for me (though your mileage may vary): unlike most of corporate villains in games it seems like it could reasonably be a going concern: its listed on a stock exchange, has a specific set of products it produces well and uses its monopoly power to prevent all competitors from challenging its dominance in the market (once you have ThinkBest cyberware in your body you can only use ThinkBest ‘ware). The corporation’s primary goal is profit and it doesn’t break laws of the countries it is in.You get a corporate headquarters, a research lab and an opposition NPC (a Vice President who is willing to break the law to get ahead). Confirming the idea that the Noderunning system is a canker to best be ignored not a drop of ink is wasted discussing what would be necessary to break into their computer systems.There are certain, “concessions” for role-playing drama like the moon base (where it holds Board Meetings) and its balkanized control structure (so you can have ThinkBest vs. ThinkBest type games) but it’s generally all hand wavable (a straight corporate villain is already pretty dull).As simultaneously attempting to pay obeisance to and update Cyberpunk’s world Cyberrave largely succeeds. While parts of the text could really have used a second look* it’s not a serious problem. *Why exactly does the underclass of gang members unite behind protection of individual rights? While the book allows that “some” gangs are motivated by profit it suggests that most are altruistic guardians of civil rights. Pretty Weird. Rave culture around the world is frequently chemically related (it’s a lot easier to love everybody and respect them if you’re using ecstasy) but drugs (like anything else that could be considered “dark”) aren’t mentioned anywhere.On the other hand I have to give points for actually replacing the “punk” with the “raver”. PLUR man. PLUR.Too much fluff:ThinkBest runs long. And another two pages of this chapter are taken up by enumerating all the different organizations that have been listed in d20 books and giving a paragraph on them. Unfortunately the text is so information sparse that you wonder why they bothered. They should have either condensed the information down into a sentence (i.e. “The FBI is extremely under-funded; overworked agents are often forced to hire outsiders to help them”) or else expanded into something more useful.Or they could have added racism, drug-use, cults or other near-future staples into the setting, or done more than just briefly discuss Bughunters/Urban Arcana/the other d20 settings.Especially looking at what was done with d20 Apocalypse with several good campaign ideas outlined I think there was a small amount of “missing the boat”. Cyberpunk/Shadowrun and a lot of other iconic cyber-themed books were produced in the 80s and its good that they got their “d20 dues” one wishes that the authors had considered some of the ideas and worlds produced since then (even sources close to home like [htm=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347246/]Innocence[/htm] (with its on-the-fly hacking of people’s senses) or [htm=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1894938011/002-2374901-7916062?v=glance]Ex Machina[/htm])****Conclusion****I was frustrated with the book’s intense focus, organization and fluff but I have to admit that 4 of the 5 chapters are successful at what they are trying to do. If I were in a bad mood and demanding lots of creativity/organization/conciseness from my purchase (or some sort of roleplaying mechanic related to "bad things happening when you replace lots of your body with metal and wires") I would probably have given it a 3.If you haven’t figured out whether you want to buy the book you’ll just have to wait for Mr. Cooper to post his review.</blockquote>

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