Game Design - Technoshock

[HellHound]

So, the recurring theme of newTribes is alienation as a result of futureshock / technoshock. The desire for people to find community when faced with a world changing faster than they can possibly keep up with.

Now, I've got mechanics in place to deal with alienation and the benefits of having a social group, but I really want to emphasize what makes it all click - the rapidly advancing tech curve.

Here's the first block on the "Technology Curve" rules that I'm working on now:

The assumption in newTribes is that most people are at least one step back around the technology curve. After all, the cutting edge wouldn’t be all that edgy if everyone had it.

Hardware, software, wetware and just about anything can be purchased that is ‘cutting edge’ for twice the listed cost. As long as the hardware is not ‘downgraded’ using the Tech Curve table (see below), all work on the hardware will be at one difficulty level higher than normal to account for the lack of familiarity with the technology in question, unless the person has kept their skills up to date with the latest tech innovations.

During character creation, a player can select a number of skills equal to half his Technical stat to have at ‘cutting edge’ levels. A character can update a skill to be ‘cutting edge’ through both one day of study and the expenditure of 1 skill point per level of the skill in question. Typically this will also cost between $10 and $100 per skill level, depending on the skill and circumstances of the upgrading (and can even be free if the character has legitimate employment in that field of work).

However, keeping up to date is a losing battle in most cases. It is basically a given that if you learn everything there is to know about the hot new tech that it will no longer be the hot new tech. The Tech Curve table below is used to determine what changes have occurred between game sessions, and can be rolled on as frequently as the game master desires – typically between game sessions (which can result in very rapid tech escalation if the rolls come out at extreme ends of the table repeatedly).

Once a particular field of technology has advanced, all ‘cutting edge’ items and skills in that category lose that descriptor.

Now, the issue is how to deal with things that are 'out of date'. At first I was thinking of a rule that would have something become out of date if it was not 'cutting edge' through four successive tech updates. Out of date items wouldn't be any easier to work on, and would in fact cost more to repair because of the lack of spare parts on the market, but would be easier to hack, modify, or bypass. Out of date skills would treat all non out of date items as being cutting edge (ie: increase difficulties of skill checks by one category).

However, this starts becoming a tracking nightmare. While it is easy to track the transition from 'cutting edge' to standard (just scratch off the cutting edge statement beside the skill or hardware when the tech curve advances), I can't think of any simple way to handle tracking the gradual switch from standard to 'out of date' using this kind of rules set.

Maybe I'll just have to ditch the concept of 'out of date', or maybe create a new table item at 2 and 20 on the table (the Tech Curve table will be a 2d10 table) that involves a major tech paradigm update, where all items in that field become 'out of date'.

Hmm... just typing up this brainstorm gave me that latest idea (the 2/20 result)... maybe that will work.

Ideas / suggestions on how to deal with this?

 

[I'm A Banana]

I gotta say, I'm not really familiar enough with the system to even suggest something that would be functional.

BUT, I can give maybe some general ideas on making players feel "behind the cutting edge" in anything.

The idea is to have a rate at which the system advances that can leave the player's behind if they don't catch up. Being at the cutting edge is the best -- there's no penalty, maybe even a mild bonus. But if you don't continue to invest in it (spending skill points, for instance), the penalty just keeps growing.

As an example, think of spiraling debt. If you remain at the edge of the curve, you'll do well, even gain a bonus (keeping a good score). However, once you fall behind once, there's a penalty added on. And as you fall farther behind, the penalties grow and compound - every time you miss a "payment" the penalty gets applied again, making it tougher to get ahead.

I'll use a d20-esque example: every level, you need to sink 1 skill point into Tech. As long as you do, you gain a +2 bonus to all Tech-related skill checks. However, if you don't, you take a -2 to all Tech-related skill checks for each level that you fail to invest in (so, -2 at the first level, -4 at the second, etc). You can invest 1 skill point to stop the decline (so that it doesn't go down again at the level), but it takes double the penalty to erase one category (so it takes 8 skill points to move from -4 to -2, and 4 skill points to go from -2 to 0).

This means that if characters don't cling to the cutting edge by paying their "dues" at every level/time period/whatever, they quickly fall behind. And maybe most characters not dedicated to it will fall behind, but it's essential enough that they don't want much of a penalty, so they'll be paying more as they get later in time.

 

[HellHound]

Thanks, Midget, that is really the feeling I would like to get with this system - however I don't want it to be too intensive when it comes to book-keeping.

(The system is a simple Stat + Skill + 2d10 vs DC system with stats and skills rated from 1-10. A difficulty class is a +/- 4 modifier)

I like the idea of tracking each time the tech changes and marking it on the character sheet for skills... So if you slip off of 'cutting edge' you are ok, but then each time that tech comes up on the chart, you get a -1 on that skill until you update it. Maybe provide a free 'up to date' bonus whenever you level up a skill, otherwise requiring something less than the 'cutting edge' cost, but still a pain in the butt to maintain.

Again, it means tracking the skills AND hardware on your character sheet for tech changes potentially after every game session. Which sounds like a potentially huge pain in the butt. Especially for the hardware. Maybe only run skills that way, and hardware only goes to 'out of date' on the 2 & 20 results on the table - thus keeping the book keeping under control.

 

[jefgorbach]

Suggestion: based it along real-life where computer software is typically cutting edge for about 18-months before becoming main-stream for about 10yrs.

Depending on how much time is passing between sessions, perhaps Cutting Edge hardware provides a +2 bonus at +20% cost to maintain because of bugs/etc for its duration, which each decreasing 1pt/10% per tech upgrade. Eventually the PCs need/will decide at which point the cost savings outweigh the penalty.
ie: cutting edge: +2 / +20% costs to all modifications and sofware
1st drop : +1 / +10% costs as off the shelf parts/software begin appearing
2nd drop : no modifications but can now find at standard retail consumer markets
3rd drop + : -1 / -10% costs to modify / buy software from retail clearance sales

Cutting edge computers would likely double the speed, storage, and number of simotanously running programs (memory) of the prior generation.

Given typical PC attitudes, chances are they will generally keep their primary equipment/skills at cutting edge, riding a few items to the 3rd drop provided its worth keeping around for the modification discounts.

 

[HellHound]

The issue is that real life doesn't provide the speed of technological change that produces a deep futureshock / technoshock effect which is the basis of the game setting.

The point of the setting is that things are changing -so fast- that you can either keep up with one or two changing techs, or try to live a regular life. But not both. Thus people feel alienated when they step outside, because they aren't keeping up with changing fashions, changing technology, changing fads, and so on.

But I want to be able to do this without having to release a new book of new technologies every few months. The actual mechanics of the stuff remain the same, but the tech curve system makes it so there is the feeling that the tech is improving rapidly.

So instead of 18 months before something goes from cutting edge, try 1.8 months. Shorter for things like fashions, of course.

I like the idea of the system you recommend, however the issue of a multi-stage drop system is that the book-keeping goes through the roof. You have to track when you bought each item, and how many tech changes in that field have occurred since then. With most cyberpunk characters running around with a few dozen 'cool high tech toys', this will be a huge chunk of book-keeping.

 

[HellHound]

So far, I'm looking at:

2: Paradigm Shift
3: Bullets & Body Armour
4: Biotech
5: Med-Tech
6: Implant CyberTech
7: Communications Tech
8: Computer Tech
9-12: Fashion / Fad
13: Intrusion / Counter-Intrusion Software
14: Physical Security Tech
15: CyberProsthetics
16: (unknown)
17: (unknown)
18: (unknown)
19: (unknown)
20: Paradigm Shift

The resulting category undergoes a shift, with all "cutting edge" skills and equipment in that field losing that status.

When you roll a Paradigm Shift, you roll again until you get a result that is not 9-12. This particular field of tech goes through a major paradigm shift. For cutting edge stuff, it means the same thing as a normal tech shift. But for non-cutting-edge skills and gear, they fall seriously out of date and suffer a major penalty - the skill suddenly is at -4 when dealing with even normal tech items as if those items were cutting edge, and tech from that era is at double cost to fix / repair and wearing it provides a penalty on wardrobe & style rolls.

I'll also provide a minor bonus for using cutting edge tech - in most cases it provides a +1 on the appropriate rolls (at double cost), but I'll write the particular effects of each tech in the descriptors for the Tech Curve table.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

How about tying it to in-game events instead? I was initially thinking about annual trade shows, like CESS, where the new tech comes out. They could be monthly instead of annually, maybe for 3-4 tech types instead of the whole of technology. Once the show occurs, everything the PCs have is considered to downgrade a step (cutting edge to maintream, mainstream to old, etc).

Is there any kind of campaign model on how often adventures should occur? If you're using the traditional Cyberpunk "quick misson followed by days or weeks downtime" method, it could be assumed that the characters spend a great deal of their downtime keeping their skills and tech current (this wouldn't be as large a commitment as it sounds, assuming that the whole point of being in a newTribe is that you live, breath, and work your chosen tech at all times).

When the mission starts, then the clock begins- if more than a week or so passes, then the PC's gear is starting to get obsolete, and they're coming up against foes who have fresher stuff that can trounce them. You might even want to do some sort of gearing-up rules, like Spycraft, so that the PCs can get some latitude in the beginning with their gear, choosing what they'd like to have cutting edge and what they feel they can get away with being outdated.

One final thought- if the difference between tech really is a matter of weeks instead of months, then corporate technical development would almost take a backseat to customer service, in terms of making sure that one's customers are trained, up-to-date, and aware of the latest tech offerings so that they can spend money on your products. In a world moving this fast, tech companies would almost have to manage upgrades and new releases for their customer bases, both as a way of keeing the product flowing and as a way of keeping their customers from going to other companies. If you're having to relearn your tech skills every month anyway, then there's not much incentive to stick with the brand you know.

So, I can see companies having individual licenses for people that keeps their tech and training updated, rather like leasing a car instead of buying one. PCs could aquire licenses as advantages/feats/whatever, and then just assume that they're always in the know. Make it something costly, so that they can't afford to do it across the board, and have to pick and choose what to focus on. The people with the licenses will always be ahead of the people without, and will form their own little cult-ish inner circles, seperate from the tribes, that are dedicated to the brands or platforms that they stick with (see: Apple, Nintendo, etc).

I really think a temporary gearing system, a la Spycraft, would be the way to go. If things are changing this quickly then tracking objects between missions is just going to be too much overhead.

 

[HellHound]

Thanks for the great ideas, Byron's. I am now absorbing them and seeing what I can use and what would require a major re-write of the systems in place.

 

[jmucchiello]

A futureshock setting? That's so 20th century.

Not sure what kind of game you are going for. But this seems like the kind of thing that you need a table for so the players cannot complain the GM is shafting them. On the other hand, this is a game where downtime is difficult.

One question, I suspect that the point of keeping up with a tech would be so you could maybe be the catalyst for the next big thing. Do you have rules for a player who devotes himself to some tech being able to cause a paradigm shift?

 

[HellHound]

A futureshock setting? That's so 20th century.

Yeah, I'm an old-school cyberpunk at heart, writing a 1987 game 20 years too late.

Not sure what kind of game you are going for. But this seems like the kind of thing that you need a table for so the players cannot complain the GM is shafting them. On the other hand, this is a game where downtime is difficult.

That's right - the rules are based around a table to determine what tech area is affected between games.

One question, I suspect that the point of keeping up with a tech would be so you could maybe be the catalyst for the next big thing. Do you have rules for a player who devotes himself to some tech being able to cause a paradigm shift?

Not yet. But I'm a /huge/ fan of the rules from UnderGround for changing the world. And I want to be able to incorporate a version of them in some way. Piercing the outer edge of the tech envelope may be something I reserve for a supplement instead of the core book.