R. Talsorian updates on Cyberpunk RED, The Witcher, and a new secret project

R. Talsorian Games made several announcements in a pair of posts this week. On Monday, the company posted the Gen Con 2023 Update with several product updates for the previously announced Cyberpunk products including the Danger Gal Dossier faction and NPC sourcebook and the stand-alone boxed set Cyberpunk Edgerunners Mission Kit to advance the game’s timeline to the 2077 setting of the video game. There were two big announcements included, however.

First, a new six-mission campaign for Cyberpunk RED was announced, Tales of the RED: Forlorn Hope. Set in and around the classic Edgerunner bar from Cyberpunk 2020, the adventure includes six interlinked missions from Eddy Webb, Chris Spivey, Linda Evans, Tracie Hearne, Paris Arrowsmith, Francis Stewart, and Mellissa Wong. No release date has been set at this time, but it’s listed as “the next book in the Cyberpunk RED line”.

The Witcher TTRPG will go on hiatus as CD Projekt Red begins development on the fourth Witcher video game. In order to make sure that the tabletop RPG products stay in line with the lore from the games, several products including the Rodolf’s Guides series have been placed on hold. From the blog post:

The Witcher TTRPG line is not dead, and we have many plans for it when things are more solidified, but we don’t feel that we can move forward at the moment in a way that will produce books of quality as part of the broader Witcher canon.

“We will be looking at compiling some DLC material based on pre-existing concepts that will not be changing, but I don’t want to promise anything until I’m certain of it.

However, it’s not all gloomy news from R. Talsorian as Witcher TTRPG designer Cody Pondsmith has a new project on the way. So far, all we have is the codename “Blue Moon” and a brief tease:

You’ve seen beyond the mask and now you must make a choice: forget what you’ve seen or leave what you know behind. If you join us, you’ll be able to protect everything you’ve ever known and everything beyond your wildest dreams. Our enemy lurks in the darkest corners of reality. They hide behind masks of deception, waiting to strike.

But remember, once you step through the gate you cannot go back.

The site promises a larger reveal on August 31.

 

[beta-ray]

Project Blue Moon is now Shadow Scar

Rather than utilising the Interlock system on which The Witcher and Cyberpunk were built, Shadow Scar will use a new system called the Mosaic system - named after the multiversal setting of the game. The dice pool system uses only six-sided dice, with players gathering a number of d6 determined by the combined skill and stat used for the test. Any results of three or more are a success, with sixes counting as two successes; getting the required number of successes passes the test.

Shadow Scar centres on the titular Shadow Scar Agency, a secretive organisation whose agents are tasked with protecting the multiple worlds of the Mosaic from the invasion of interdimensional monsters.


Four of the Mosaic's worlds will be detailed in Shadow Scar’s core rulebook, with Pondsmith expressing a desire to find the balance between “making an 800-page rulebook that had a chapter for every dimension or a 300-page rulebook that had one page about every dimension”.

https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/s...-shadow-scar-multiverse-naruto-stargate-japan

 

[ProfessorDetective]

I'll be the lone voice of dissent here and state that there literally dozens of us out in the gaming community who do not think fewer skills = better game. Just saying! I much prefer my BRP/CoC/GURPS/old school Interlock systems to contemporary streamlined and flavorless/skill-less systems whenever possible.

Agreed, though many skills (like Accounting, Anthropology, Photo & Film, Personal Grooming/Wardrobe & Style, etc.) can likely be relegated to an appendix. Options are good, but too much of a good thing can be overwhelming.

 

[Jaeger]

My feelings on the Witcher RPG are in the thread for all to read; but this is just silly:

Development on Witcher 4 video game sends The Witcher RPG into hiatus

The Witcher RPG will go on hiatus while CD Projekt Red continues development on the fourth upcoming Witcher video game.

www.dicebreaker.com

“As CD Projekt Red begins work on the fourth Witcher video game we’ve been collaborating to make sure that the information between our two products stays as connected as possible. We’ve had countless meetings covering days’ worth of time discussing the lore of The Continent and the direction of the Witcher franchise,” Pondsmith said. “What we’ve come to realize is that it would be extremely difficult or perhaps impossible to continue work on The Witcher TTRPG line at the moment and still maintain the connection with CD Projekt Red’s upcoming plans.”

Metaplot is the devil. Has no one learned anything from the past mistakes made by Vampire, Shadowrun, or Legend of the Five Rings?

Why would you choose to hamstring your RPG like this?

One can only assume that such decisions are due to clauses in their deal with CD Projekt Red...

 

[schneeland]

For the time being, I would read it more benevolently as: CD Projekt Red needs to fully figure out what the next installment of the video series will be, and then upcoming books for the Witcher RPG will be about the same people and regions. And that's probably useful for marketing reasons alone. I don't really expect Talsorian Games to follow each and every detail of what's established with Witcher 4 (and sequels).

 

[Jaeger]

For the time being, I would read it more benevolently as: CD Projekt Red needs to fully figure out what the next installment of the video series will be, and then upcoming books for the Witcher RPG will be about the same people and regions. And that's probably useful for marketing reasons alone. I don't really expect Talsorian Games to follow each and every detail of what's established with Witcher 4 (and sequels).

That's what makes it weird. Will it really make that much of a difference when you make new adventures? Will it really make that much of a difference for sourcebooks on known established areas?

It shouldn't. Certainly not enough to 'shut down' the whole line.

'Metaplot' is the only answer that makes sense. And that is not a good thing...