Genre Discussion: Cyberpunk

[Mannahnin]

100%. Punks do everything they can to avoid toeing the line.

Side note, that being part of why Hobie in Across the Spider-Verse is so damn good.

 

[Reynard]

toeing the line.

Dammit.

 

[payn]

CP doesnt always have to be punks from the start. I like the working stiff, cog in the machine, that is thrust into the heart of a conspiracy and decides to go punk story just as much.

 

[Ryujin]

This sounds like a problem born of players living in a society where corproations are too often considered good guys, or at least part of the establishment. Corporations rule instead of governments, but most players still end up towing the line. The boss is just different.

I have never played a prewritten Shadowrun adventure and one of my friends that really likes the game is decidedly anti-corporate in outlook. So we never served the corps so much as we would steal their tech and sell it to the highest bidder, or blow up some factory or whatever causing real harm.

The 'punk in cyberpunk is supposed to be supplied by the players.

Oh, it's definitely a prewritten adventures thing. If you end up stealing stuff from a corp then it's pretty much because another corp hired you to do it.

 

[Valetudo]

Every time I play cp2077 I end up going corpo with a katana and a suit. Am I the baddy?

 

[Autumnal]

CP doesnt always have to be punks from the start. I like the working stiff, cog in the machine, that is thrust into the heart of a conspiracy and decides to go punk story just as much.

Bruce Sterling called his book Islands In The Net “cyberstraight” in a lighthearted moment.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

I've been thinking about your post, any theories as to why cyberpunk games don't scratch any itch for you? When I was younger, most of the cyberpunk games I played in followed a pattern very similar to D&D.

1. Do job/quest.
2. Make money.
3. Buy better equipment/skills.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 as necessary.

Which doesn't really provide for a satisfactory arc.

This very much. I’m very coloured by good cyberpunk literature as to what makes up the genre, and it’s simply not (traditional) rpg friendly. If there is any combat at all, it’s short, brutal and sporadic. If there is a job/heist, it’s usually what the whole book leads up, and even then it’s not the main points and takeaways from the book.

If I may be a bit pretentious, good cyberpunk is more about philosophical and societal questions (like any good sci fi) than violent conflict. And while a good GM can mold any aspects into any system, it isn’t what more traditional cyberpunk rpgs focus on.

Now, one can have as much fun with the job/money/gear loop as any dungeon loot and xp farming game. But to me the dissonance between game and genre expectation is too big.

 

[Reynard]

It occurs to me that Alien: Earth is solidly cyberpunk.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

Every time I play cp2077 I end up going corpo with a katana and a suit. Am I the baddy?

Well, if you are a good guy it ain’t cyberpunk! It’s gray man, gray!

 

[Autumnal]

David Dunham used to run cyberpunk with lightly modded Pendragon, which worked greets. You can define cultural and subcultural priorities with sets of traits, and passions for individual priorities. The pursuit of glory is the pursuit of glory. The Ringworld skill system is nicely expandable; combat is simple and dramatic. These days I’d do it something lighter like QuestWorlds, but Cyberdragon was very satisfying and probably still would be.