S3E6 Cyberpunk Brainstorming

As we gear up for our Cyberpunk RED campaign, we take some time to brainstorm ideas for for the game (If only reality didn’t keep getting more cyberpunk-ish than cyberpunk).

Over in the library, we discuss William Gibson’s Count Zero, then venture to the Game Room to talk about Forbidden Lands, CY_BORG, Mothership, and the just announced Edgerunners release for Cyberpunk RED.

Library

• Count Zero
  • Ken’s reading William Gibson’s second book in The Sprawl Trilogy
  • Never read it, but it continues the feel of Neuromancer (which he just finished)
  • Next up: Mona Lisa Overdrive.

Game Room

• New RPGs
  • Did Ken say he’ll stop buying new RPGs until he’s read the ones he has? But how will he support Sweden’s economy if he does that?
  • Forbidden Lands … now in English!
    • A hexcrawl, sandbox fantasy RPG exploring a once-cursed land, still haunted land.
    • Ken got the Swedish version (accidentally) in June as part of a Free League’s sale.
    • English version was back ordered … and arrived in November.
  • CY_BORG
    • The science fiction iteration of MORK BORG.
    • Similar aesthetic, only this time, it’s an apocalyptic cyberpunk book
    • Arrives later in November (already have the PDF … but reading the physical book is more fun.
  • Cyberpunk RED
    • Edgerunners release is coming!
  • Mothership
    • The lightweight horror RPG arrives sometime in Q1 of 2023. For now, Ken’s got the WIP versions of two modules: Dead Planet and A Pound of Flesh.
  • Cyberpunk Screamsheets kit and the weird world of cascading style sheets
    • In order to learn the latest in CSS, David worked with Mr. Miller to convert the Screamsheet kit to web form
    • Fan created scream sheets

Main Topic: Cyberpunk Brainstorming

• Matt Colville – handing the players a small list of possible plot arcs they would be interested in
• Rules for a cyberpunk player
  • Style over substance
  • Attitude is everything
  • Live on the edge
  • Break the rules
• David’s media character as a possible narrator/documentarian so that he can help plot things with Ken initially
• Campaign & World Building Ideas
  • Offshore sea stead of Makers trying to forge their own tech in the shadow of resurgent corporations. Corps stealing from Makers?
    • Inspiration
      • Rainbow’s End by Vernor Vinge
      • Unauthorized Bread by Cory Doctorow
      • Brazil
  • Rummage Flotilla – mining plastic from the seas
    • Inspiration
      • the Ocean Cleanup
      • Earth by David Brin
      • Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
      • Waterworld (yes, Waterworld)
  • Run against an underwater corp paradise?
    • Inspiration
      • SeaQuest DSV
      • Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles
  • Run against a sub base (to steal a sub to attack the underwater corp paradise)
  • Race to recover crashed spacecraft / space stations
  • AIs as protagonists or antagonists … or the fixer?
    • Are AIs Cyberpunk’s Dragons?
  • Urban legends of a cyberpunk future
    • What horrors made it out of the failing NET?
    • AI trapped in the real world, who just wants to get back to the Net and make the pain stop.
    • Inspiration
      • The Matrix: Reloaded
  • Digital Heists
    • What funds are locked up in broken segments of the Net, just waiting to be recovered?
    • Inspiration
      • IRS Seizes Another Silk Road Hacker’s $3.36 Billion Bitcoin Stash

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Cover art for Cyberpunk RED. Credit: R. Talsorian Games

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