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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DarkKestral" data-source="post: 3312257" data-attributes="member: 40100">WayneLigon: I know there was a sourcebook for CP2020 that did elves, vampires, werewolves and whatnot in CP2020 which did fairly well when it was released. And SR's crazy popular, and w/ Urban Arcana + d20 Cyberscape, a d20 Modern cyberpunk game has all it needs to have fantasy races in a cyberpunk setting. So going slightly D&D-ish isn't necessarily a bad thing! It can add some serious flavor.OP: Honestly, most of my experience with gaming has been cyberpunk games, so I think I'll chime in here.I do agree with Clueless about choosing your feel early, because in this case, mechanics tend to affect feel a lot. Games which let players get more 'chromed' (if cyberware has obvious and generally useful game effects) easily are vastly different than games which don't, and unlike D&D, generally, most cyberpunk games start out at a basic power level and never have characters rise much up from there. A D&D game, with it's level boosts, can provide an easy way to re-balance; if you're thinking characters are too weak, you generally can either up the XP or up the treasure and things will eventually equal out. In a cyberpunk game, if the characters suck compared to the enemies, chances are good that they will continue to suck through the entire game. Shadowrun, at least in it's 4th ed. incarnation, flat out states that the game is not one of drastically increasing power over time in something like the 2nd-3rd chapter of the book... which is also the one in which character gen starts, and the one right AFTER the core mechanic. Characters, sans equipment, are pretty static in that game, true to the statement in the book, and they recommend using higher-than-normal BP (their character creation point system) at the beginning if you want increased character power rather than try to make it back up elsewhere.Likewise, cyberpunk games usually have DEADLY combat systems, and since many systems don't let the players gain too much extra damagesoak ability, (in the form of HP, damage meter size, damage saves, yadda yadda yadda) PCs can and will get hurt, mangled, or otherwise incapacitated relatively commonly. Modifications done to troupe play, so that every player has multiple characters at any given time, help this by preventing character damage recovery downtime from affecting play. d20 Modern's a bit more D&Dish there, and less lethal in some, but not all ways, so it can still be a good idea to consider.Modern's cyberware systems are.. funky, and some can be fairly high-powered. This can go against a gritty feel. Likewise, at higher levels, making an MDS roll is not uncommon, which also makes character survival far easier. So if you do go w/ Modern but still want players to fear the massive damage by level 20, then you might wanna consider some houserules. For example, the base MDS is what would be in the book, but for every additional +5 damage in an attack beyond the MDT add another +1 to the save DC is a rule that will make even high level players fear combat a bit. An easier one on the players is every 10 damage above the MDT.As for more common problems... big guns should be a blessing and a curse. Most people, corporations and governments wouldn't be happy with a guy toting a LAW around in public. So the bigger the gun, the more stink they should make if he does ANYTHING improper, so don't make big guns too easily available w/o negative consequences. So pistols and hunting rifles should probably remain the 'safe' options, with big guns being a more powerful, but risky option. Do include them; it's always fun when you get to use a rocket launcher.Wealth is relative; just like in D&D, if your characters are too much more wealthy and powerful than the NPCs, it's just going to lead to them being overpowered. If they're too poor, they're just gonna die. A good rule of thumb is keep the PCs wealthy enough to buy most of the stuff they need but poor enough that they can't buy everything they need. Travel speeds usually shouldn't be an issue; if it is, make sure there's a good cinematic reason for it. (A random traffic jam is not fun. A traffic jam when the characters are trying to escape from the cops after pulling a heist and stealing from a big corp is. There's a difference.)Information should usually have a cost; most cyberpunk involves either info theft or bribing informers for info. If the cost isn't monetary, it should still involve an element of opportunity cost. Furthermore, the classic 'scry and fry' has it's Cyberpunk equivalent: hacking combined with fast-attack combat teams. Likewise, a highly booby-trapped tower with a hefty security guard makes for a good dungeon replacement. Both are very good ways of making mincemeat of PCs and NPCs alike.My personal system of choice for a cyberpunk game would probably be SR 3rd ed. or CP2020, with some updates to make it more 'modern' and add things that we have already + a few items that are logical extensions of modern tech. A favorite idea of mine is EMP grenades to knock out cybernetic combat systems, and another in the same vein is the non-lethal goo guns that spray out sticky foam.</blockquote>

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