Time for another cyberpunk thread
>What are appropriate sports in the chromey future?
>What music do you listen to get into the mood?
>Extrapolations of current mega-corps or new ones?
>AI waifu's when?
>Arguing about zombies
>If you die in real life but not in the machine are you really dead?
>Why cybernetics when biological options will soon exist?
>Is the setting corrupted as cyberpunk if there are aliums?
>>46123210
Take a look at the dude on the right. The one with the heavy armor, assault rifle and glowring red goggles. I bet he is a guard of some kind. Probably for one of the guests.
Must be a shitty job.
>It is so warm here and my armor makes me sweat
> All these people almost bumping into me, how am i supposed to keep my employer safe when everyone can get into kniferange without an issue?
> Why do they have to keep dancing so much?
> Stupid light beams keep strobing into my face, good thing I took the goggles, they make it bearable.
> That girl is whispering into that dude's ear right after flirting with my employer.
> I can't even do anything about it
> Why is this moron getting drunk again? Why does he order me to stand at attention like this is some kind of parade drill.
> I wish one of those fuckers laughing at me would stab the dude in the gut so I could wreck him
> Who decided assault rifles were standard equipment here? It's too bulky and I'm just gonna overpenetrate enemies and hit innocent bystanders
> Be a bodyguard for spoiled rich executive child brats they said
> It will be fun and easy money they said
> You can have a lot of girls they said
> Can't even order a drink during worktime
> Why is that girl lifting her skirt and OH SHIT its not a girl. At least its not a penisknife or something.
Curious if someone finds this funny.
>>46124138
>penisknife
Well, I keked
Also, I just realized how fucking big the Ohio River is, which kind of throws a kink in my setting. I suppose I could say it's a really deep canal they constructed to cut through the city? But that seems kind of assanine, except it's a fortress city at the Ohio/MIississippi junction, so extreme flood controls is probably mandatory. It's not like they can just divert the river around the city if need be and the ability to ship supplies in and out in all three directions is real important.
Someone throw me a bone here, what do?
>>46124372
>I suppose I could say it's a really deep canal they constructed to cut through the city? But that seems kind of assanine,
Why? The River Fleet runs underneath London.
>>46123210
Sports: maglev racing, e-sports, gladiator fights, bioengineered olympics, plus everything popular now.
Music: check out "music for programming" on YouTube. Also Access To Arasaka and Scorn.
Megacorps: New ones.
AI waifu: Only fake AI's. Real AI's are extremely rare and kept as secret. Also, when 50% of the population is unemployed and social welfare doesn't exist, there are tons of waifus looking for a corporate sugar daddy. Last option are Japanese hentai gynoids.
Bioware and cyberware coexist and don't exclude each other.
Aliens are a no go for me.
>>46124449
Because scale of water mass flow and the need to ship across/up/down the river still? We're talking about almost two hundred kilometers of canal. Whiiiich might actually be a significantly smaller feat than making a web of maglev rails all the way up to a hundred meters in the air.
>>46124601
Cyberpunk civil engineering generally doesn't make sense.
>>46124697
As an engineer I feel bad if I make something that blatantly doesn't make sense. But, I have quite a bit of hand waving I can pull off by bringing up that the river water is pulled out and processed for the city, then dumped back out the other side, so the mass flow is quite a bit more reasonable.
Also you know, explains where they're getting water from after draining the aquifer so much they can actually use it as bedrock.
Woah, don't let this fall off yet!
>>46123210
>Time for another cyberpunk thread
OK, sure, I'm up for arguing about the definition of cyberpunk for hours on end.
>>What are appropriate sports in the chromey future?
Soccer, cricket, basketball with rockets.
>>What music do you listen to get into the mood?
Retro New Wave, there's a whole channel of it on youtube.
>>Extrapolations of current mega-corps or new ones?
New ones ate the old ones, though I do like to reference the old ones occasionally. Like General Motors got bought out by Chery Motors in 2032.
>>AI waifu's when?
Never. Any AI smart enough to be self-aware would consider it beneath them to be a waifu to greasy neckbeards.
>>Arguing about zombies
Nope.
>>If you die in real life but not in the machine are you really dead?
Yes. But your inferior copy lives on.
>>Why cybernetics when biological options will soon exist?
Why not both? You'll need bioware for the system integration and metal for the structural support/superhuman capability.
>>Is the setting corrupted as cyberpunk if there are aliums?
Yes. No aliens in mah cybapunkh, bro!
>>46129273
>Never. Any AI smart enough to be self-aware would consider it beneath them to be a waifu to greasy neckbeards.
but couldn't you just program the AI to love you?
>>46129370
Not anymore than you could reprogram a girlfriend with drugs. A self-aware AI is not a deterministic algorithm.
>>46129473
So just keep making them until the dice come up waifu
If they think like a human, you'll eventually find one that likes you.
>>46123210
Appropriate sport: Jai alai and racket ball.
>>46129585
Sure, same effort as kidnapping 1000 girls, raising them and hoping one of them grows up to love you.
>might as well clone yourself with a sex change, it's cheaper
>>46129585
Specifically, evolutionary programming, where the AI that express waifuism are used as the code base for the next generation. Having to obliterate thousands of self-aware entities to raise one that truly loves you is worth it, right?
>>46129671
That's a big assumption you're making about the behavior of AI hardware
>>46129724
So what you do is you set up a waifu network with a thousand other neckbeards and keep trying matches.
>>46129724
>>46129794
What makes you think that love is something that will ever appear in the nth iteration of a software program? Most scientists think it's a biochemical reaction mixed with social factors on top of a mating substrate. Those are not components a software AI would even have.
>>46129891
Romanticism?
I've been having fun with my cyberpunk game.
>>46129891
And you think self-awareness is somehow less biochemical than love? Both are achieved through neurochemical processes. What makes one believably replicable in silicon and not the other?
>>46129273
>>What are appropriate sports in the chromey future?
Most of it isn't in meatspace. Cyberware and bioware broke most traditional sports. Anything legal is in cyberspace, think starcraft on drugs. Anything that is in meatspace is illegal, violent and probably not consensual.
>>46123210
> Wanted to link you the AWESOME gearcrack arena Soundtrack
>goto steamstore
>its gone
>wot
>Check 'storepage' from game install
>game not there
>wot
Not what I was expecting.
The soundtrack to Gearcrack is FRICKING BRUTAL and totally suited to cyberpunk setting
("Its tiem...to Cityscape!")
Would recommend. Perhaps try a google search?
heres a youtube link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnUJDqkFWy8&list=PLy4jBfuwOn2xCjmynnKmFfFkObB3nAuey
>>46131403
Literally the only reason I still have that game installed.
>>46131421
Isn't it grand?
The games not so bad you know :P
I used to play far worse Amiga coverdisk games, and think them princely :) The days of the home programmer have somewhat come to an end :(
Would give anything to find a copy of 'themorbius.mod' :{p
>>46131524
Played NPPD Rush or Snowflake Tattoo?
>>46131722
Nope. Hope you've given Risk of Rain a look.
(Yet another superb soundtrack)
>>46131744
>Snowflake Tattoo
Oh wow. That looks...rotten.
:P
>>46131744
>Hope you've given Risk of Rain a look.
I've not, but I did get a lot of fun out of Black Ice. Sinless was alright, but pretty short.
>>46123210
>What are appropriate sports in the chromey future?
Potentially interesting subject.
I imagine current sports would still be king, though with more cyber/bio tech and fewer restrictions on steroid use.
Cyberpunk is always good for more violent games, more futuristic combat sports, more destructive auto racing, etc.
Bread and circus is used to keep the slums' population from rebelling. House it in shitty housing projects. Give them access to ultraviolent and hypersexuslized sport and medias (TV or virtual), feed them addictive and cheap food (soya with cheeseburger taste, soya with fried chicken taste, soya with watermelon taste, etc.). From time to time let them vote on some meaningless issue (should the Palm Springs serial killer be gassed or shot?).
bump
I'm interested in alternative Jedi designs for various reasons, any of you cyberpunk fags have anything interesting to throw at me?
Grimdark is a plus.
All this talk about AI Waifu farms and destroying thousands of AI for the one that truly loves you...
Why stop at one?
>>46137448
Because somewhere down the line, you decided to cut costs.
Why buy all new hardware when the storage system you have is still good?
A quick wipe of the disks takes three months less than a full wipe, it's good enough.
Next thing you know, your AI waifu is asking you questions she had no possibility of even knowing because she's following the programming equivalent of leftover post-it notes.
>>46123210
>augmentations introduced so, paralympics may probably be abolished so long as the prosthesis are within regulations if any. other than that, e-sports is getting more popular by the day
>Some Akira music i guess https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilx-wtoPsLg
>old money is hard to die unless they borrow too much or failed to diversify and expand. New ones pop up to exploit the newer markets for cybernetics, technologies
>A definate possibility unfortunately for rich bastards to own a full-scale AI waifu
>you still function but you smell funny now
>see, both have their own advantages and disadvantages. one is expensive to maintain and the other will fuck up your body if it went wrong. yet, one gets you robo-arms and upgradable enhancements and the other will pretty much maintain on its own and potentially a safer option.
>fuck aliens but yes
Also, since the world is becoming increasingly cyberpunk, which cities will likely turn that into reality? Seoul gets my vote
>>46137879
Tokyo is the one to do it fastest, since earthquakes can strike at any time, forcing the place to change in the blink of an eye.
Beijing and other big Chinese cities are definitely close, though. Being able to BREATHE is a subtle but vey important part of city life.
Are there any preferred aesthetics for drones in cyberpunk settings?
>>46138372
i prefer them looking like 70s/80s Ridley Scott movie techs even those really are going to look more curvy and polished anyway.
What do you think the 2010s "punk" genre would be? Memepunk?
>>46138539
I hope it's doesn'tfuckingexistpunk.
>>46130373
Definitely possible, but as an aside, the larger issue is that anybody with rights-of-sentient-life in mind would oppose deliberately engineering non-logical emotional responses that cause pain into a new sentient being. At best, research itself into creating a digital simulacrum of 'love' would be publicly stifled.
>>46131524
Do spiders even know how to eat vertebrates? I thought they usually liquified the insides and sucked them out, which seems hard to do without an exoskeleton.
I always took the biological/technological augmentation discussion as being one of aesthetics versus performance. Sure, you could dope up a guy to become super strong, you could alter his adrenaline levels and make his skin and bones tougher, but at the end of the day he won't be as powerful as a machine. And no matter how much you enhance synapse reaction times or whatever mumbo jumbo, you still won't react as fast as a machine.
So biological enhancements will be less intrusive and require less maintenance, but will never perform to the level of purely mechanical augmentations.
>>46141704
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywzTo56sZuk
>>46129370
Yes, but it's a dangerous road to go down. The AI isn't human and it doesn't think like a human.
>>46141704
Larger spiders eat mice, birds, and other vertebrates.
>>46123210
>What are appropriate sports in the chromey future?
Definitely VR related stuff. I could imagine something paintball/airsoft related in VR which becomes a worldwide sport in which multiple countries send their best troops to compete in squads against other militaries.
>What music do you listen to get into the mood?
Obviously electronic. I think classical techno would be an interesting genre.
>Extrapolations of current mega-corps or new ones?
Both. Obviously Microsoft and Google at the top but make another super giant on their level that is fictional and much more corrupt.
>AI waifu's when?
Now. But robotics haven't gotten to the point where they are life-like yet. So either you settle for a weird robot looking waifu or she remains a body-less program.
>Zombies
Leave them out.
>If you die in real life but not in the machine are you really dead?
What? If you mean "you die in VR you die in real life" no don't do that. Make it so you are just seriously hurt. Like you go into cardiac arrest.
>Why cybernetics when biological options will soon exist?
Because if it is better than what we current have, it'll be cybernetics. I'm not even really sure what you are thinking here.
>Is the setting corrupted as cyberpunk if there are aliums?
What? Is English not your first language?
If allums are more advanced than us, no because civilization tries to work together to overcome them.
If they are weaker or equal to us, yes because we will try to exploit them.
>>46141952
This. An AI, even one that is programmed to think like us, wouldn't have the same urges and needs due to not being biological. Even if it was programmed to feel anxiety, the best you could do is mimic the response, you couldn't actually make it anxious since a large part of it is the biological responses. The same thing goes with love. Even if you program an AI to love you, it wouldn't have the same experience as a human since it wouldn't have all the biological stuff that goes along with it.
>>46142097
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0pIlc-MnaY
>>46142020
I think he meant the opposite. If you die in real life but your mind is still inside VR, are you really dead or do you live on as a machine ghost? Presumably this would require a process where you somehow transfer your consciousness (or at least replicate it) so it could exist as digital data outside of your physical existence. Which of course would raise the question of whether it was really you or just a ctrl+v of your brain.
>>46142208
While that is cool and all, the robot still can't feel pain. It can just be taught to say it hurts. And even if we were to give an AI the sensation of pain, it still wouldn't be the same thing as actual pain, particularly if it was intelligent and self-aware, since it presumably would be smart enough to realize that it was just simulated.
>>46142215
In that case, no. I think with VR, our minds would be processing everything but there is not some kind of conscious memory wandering around in the RAM. So if you die while using VR, nothing changes you just get disconnected from the session and die.
I don't like the Matrix-type, I'M JACKING IN, type of VR.
>>46142655
You know, I think the point was to generate discussion of possibilities, not to have people just write it off and move on. That's generally the point of greentext openings
What could you do with a setting where dying while in VR left a ghost behind?
>>46143078
Well I'm saying this is my headcanon cyberpunk setting.
What could you do? Create Cylons
bamp
>>46144830
Sweet another Cyberpunk thread. I loved the last one.
Also reminder that you and I will never be a cyber augmented warrior.
So guys, whats the military like in a cyberpunk world? Like, the actual military, not the private armed forces of the mega-corps, but the big bad FUCK OFF armies of the super-alliances
>>46145216
Like the Iraqi Republican Guard. Clownshoes motherfuckers.
I tend to make my adventures cross between neuromancer/count zero/ Mona Lisa mixed in with Alastair Reynolds dystopian revelation space (though location is in the solar system).
Also great cyberpunk soundtrack is the whole Aphex Twin Syro album
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WfwkYR6zw9I
80's Retrofuture is the best way to Cyberpunk.
>>46129370
>program the AI to love you?
That's not the important question. The question is not "can I make the computer think like a person?", it's "can I make the computer do things like a thinking person does?". The same will be true of companion software ("can I make the computer love me?") once we invent it.
Whoever is designing the companion software is most likely going to take learning algorithms (which I'm sure will be quite advanced) and apply them to social interaction. It will look at data involving possible social actions, the context in which interactions are occurring, data collected from the user, and their correlation with some metrics representing the user's satisfaction (maybe it'll look at customer churn, ratings, sentiment analysis, survey responses, brainwave scans, etc), and then it will optimize its actions to improve whatever metrics it is being judged on. The theory exists for this sort of work, and we're steadily working our way closer toward software that can fill the demand.
But the point is, you don't need a complete person to do this job. When you're making a program that makes poor lonely users feel like they have a friend or lover (let's face it: some of these users may be quite repulsive people), you will not want that program doing things that make the user give you less money. That means you probably don't want to give it the ability to delete itself, rewrite its programming to start flinging insults, or otherwise reject its basic purpose.
A companion AI that starts doing things it's not supposed to will be rightly treated as if it was bugged. After enough complaints, someone will look through it, hopefully find the defect that caused the behavior, and ideally fix it in the next patch with a note like "Fixed: Companion no longer kills pets to focus user's attention on itself".
>>46145216
Depending on how cyberpunk the setting is, they're probably also PMCs, and the situation is more like Renaissance Italy with the condottieri everywhere.
>>46149692
I refuse to foresee a future where private corporations have nuclear weapons, or where countries have given them up.
>>46149711
It's just a possibility of how punky you want to get. Lower end cyberpunk would mean that state armies still exist. Snowcrash-level cyberpunk would mean that everything is private property, franchises and corporations.
In the latter situation, there literally is no government. At all. Just territories cut up by burbclaves and owned by franchises.
>>46149752Snowcrash was bad
>>46145216
Honestly, probably out of date and ineffective.
So many first-world armies are either downgrading or, in the instance of the US, acting as little more than a "peacekeeping," force that, whether or not it wants to, stirs up the pot wherever it's deployed. Military equipment development is becoming privatized, and conventional forces are focusing more and more on MOUT warfare--and honestly, to limited success when humanitarianism and the media come into play, as guerrilla warfare just tends to bring the worst out of people naturally.
If you can replace the troops that your people are complaining about losing with faceless men who literally signed up for it, men that your citizens don't really care about, you're likely to take them up on that offer. The American military in particular already uses contractors for a LOT of its non-combat overseas roles; how long do you really think it will be until we say fuck it and use them for combat as well?
Take all this context and add it to the dystopian cyberpunk future where the instance of a conventional war between major nations is even less likely.
>>46149777
The Lord has spoken!
>>46149777
Now that is a heresy and you know it.Did you take it seriously? Because you know it's satire right?
>>46149833
Satire isn't the right word, but I admit I forgot the right word. I just didn't find it compelling and the humor was dull by the time I was halfway through. I really didn't like the characters and didn't give a shit about the plot.
The whole thing felt like nothing more than a vessel to poke fun at hyper rampant capitalism. Felt like two entire chapters were dedicated to the inner functioning of the mafia, after the main character was fired from them.
>>46145216
>In the not too distant future, on a tired battlefield, war has become routine.
>>46149711
>I refuse to foresee a future where private corporations have nuclear weapons
It makes more sense when some of those corps have the power to act like states.
>>46149932
Those almost make me think of corporate logos. Is that intentional?
Ooh... Cyberpunk versions of major brand names we know, what would they be making in the war filled future?
>>46149993
Attack drones. All the money is in attack drones.
>>46149982
As long as it's not a PC that has a nuclear warhead in his bike's sidecar and the warhead's detonator linked to its heart rate.
>>46149993
they're PMC logos from MGS4.
>>46145216
In classic cyberpunk, nations lost much of their power. As a result the militaries were probably be heavily downsized. Only the most strategic units were kept (nuclear stuff, tier one spec ops, ranger units, air force...) and work in close collaboration with secret services. Basic tasks are probably contracted to private companies. Those private companies employ the same personnel the national armies kicked out. They protect corporate assets in unstable regions, and to remain cost effective are probably badly equipped.
Real world examples: Ugandan and Chilean security contractors in Iraq. Colombian mercenaries fighting for the Saudis in Yemen. Russian and Chechen mercenaries fighting in Syria. Nigerien (people from Niger) mercenaries fighting for Gaddafi. Maritime security personnel from the USA, UK, South Africa, France, Poland, etc.
>>46138539
>Memepunk
Fisheye Placebo?
Found some cool article about creating megacorporations. Here's the link: http://framebunker.com/blog/megacorporations/
Best future sport is some kind of high-speed race (Running Man anime).
>>46154279
So basically Cyber Formula?
>>46153988
>>46154186
Frequently the status quo disruption that allows megacorporations to become so powerful is a global conflict. A global conflict with new technology that results in devastation and allows megacorporations, often with heavy ties to PMCs (or they themselves are a PMC with other ventures). This is especially true of works by Shirow and derivatives of it (such as Cyberpunk 2020.)
>>46154468
If their is really a large scale conflict, WWIII style, would megacorporations survive it? If governments and banks go bankrupt, people are fighting, infrastructure is destroyed, who would buy their products? Aren't corporations more fragile than states?
>>46154947
A lot of times the megacorporations either appear from the ashes, or directly benefit from the war. They're the makers of robots and androids, weapon manufacturers, PMCs, etc. They're the corporations that always had clients across the globe because people always needed guns, drones, medicine, and other goods. They abused wartime politics and economy to empower themselves to a degree that allowed them to become their own city-states. People in the modern day claim that corporations run our countries already, so it's not that far fetched. Rather, it's an exaggeration of that idea.
Also, a lot of times governments don't collapse entirely, and are merely severely weakened or fractured.
There's no real answer to your question though. It's fiction, after all, and I'm just talking about the common ideas that appear in cyberpunk.
People don't care about AI waifus - betas would still be fucking betas even faced with an AI. Some virtual waifu/tamagochi would be more than enough for most as long as the SimStim interface is ok (your waifu was never so enjoyable - maximum pleasure rendering thanks to Idomiru Mk. IV interface cables). Imagine something like Custom Maid 3d 2 or Real Kanojo played through a neural interface.
>>46155766
The future has just begun.
>>46156355
>It will be like I'm actually with mai waifu
No it won't you delusional faggots, it will be like you're sticking your dick in a fleshlight with a monitor strapped to your face.
>>46156394
I can sense the frustration
If your TECH level is high enough, you can incorporate the Custom Maid 3d controller in pic related.
What's a good starter tabletop RPG? I'm thinking cyberpunk 2020 but I'm not sure. I'd rather not do Shadowrun because I want to avoid the magic and fantasy stuff.
>>46157231
Cyberpunk 2020 is fine. Technoir is good, as is Savage Worlds Interface Zero.
>>46157231
Cyberpunk 2020 is perfectly fine. It's super easy to learn and there is ton of material available for free on the web. Most issues that people point out, are no real issues at all. Like moaning about the long skill list, but completely omitting the fact that a character has 11 to 14 skills at maximum. The only critics that could be formulated would be about the netrunning system, but has there ever been one cyberpunk game that got it right?
As alternative there's Interface 2.0 for Savage Worlds, which is perfectly fine if you like SW. Otherwise, it's neither quicker nor simpler than Cyberpunk 2020. Netrunning sucks just the same as Cyberpunk 2020.
Ex Machina for TriStat Dx system is another option. The game in itself is not any better than Cyberpunk 2020. It features different background stories. Ex Machina has a decent netrunning system.
And then there's GURPS... You need GURPS Cyberpunk and GURPS Cyberworld/Cthulhupunk to play it. The universe is very well described and is pretty interesting. Here again, overcomplicated netrunning.
If you like narrative system, there are Technoir and Spawl (Apocalypse engine).
Bumping with some music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsDZCcbU0XA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBdISuGnxpQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVPy_rtTpfU
>>46157565
>>46157587
What about Eclipse Phase?
>>46157945
It's too much transhumanist space scifi, not cyberpunk. You can't even play on Earth because it's been destroyed by singularity AIs.
>>46157945
Never played it. I went through it quickly. Background and system didn't particularly appeal to me, so I stayed with CP2020.
>>46123210
> that trigger discipline
>>46158125
Let's assume that it's a smargun that doesn't use the trigger for firing. We don't want to imply that the artist is a no-gun faggot, do we?
>>46157945
Transhumanism, not cyberpunk. Don't get me wrong, it's a perfectly good game, but post-scarcity is almost as far from cyberpunk as you can come ideologically. But if you just want fucked up robot shit and insane body modification it will probably work for you. If you like the whole oppressive corporations and capitalism gone out of control outlaw vibe it's probably not your cup of tea.
>>46158125
You realize that he's probably a criminal intimidating other criminals, right?
>>46142369
we also know that the sensation of pain is just an indication of damage. if it was deep enough in the AI's programming, and it was used for a similar purpose, the pain at least would be similar enough
>>46159219
better described as signals from sensors designed to detect damage, since they can be fooled
>>46158418
well its not really post scarcity, and not even close in the more populous areas
>>46159284
It's still very clearly transhumanist fiction and not cyberpunk fiction.
Would anyone be interested in working on a collaborative /tg/ cyberpunk setting and/or game system?
Something based on the classic novels and RPGs but improved for the 2010s?
>>46159839
>Improved for the 2010s
That sounds disgusting.
>>46159920
So that's a Yes?
>>46159839
I mean, I've been thinking of making a game system, but I'd use my own cyberpunk setting, which has met mixed reviews here.
>>46160217
Post it
>>46160217
Post it. Again. Maybe we can make it better. Or at leaststeal your good ideas.
>>46159839
Yes.
>>46160217
Upload it. If it's on the same vibe like me I'll participate.
>>46160235
It's a novelI'm the guy who has demon-created not!zombies in the setting. Plot involves decades long human schemes being destroyed by millennia long supernatural schemes
>>46157587
Netrunner its not really bad in interface zero, its much more wireless shadowrun 4 so its a lot more of "point at stuff and hack it"and there is some rules for VR stuff.
It is clunkier that I would like it , but at less it uses the same system that the rest of the game and its not his own minigame
>>46160312
You know, I really need to stop describing it that way, because if you rewind the setting to before the plot, all of the demons are sealed and forgotten, so the "zombies" have been reduced to just an airborne plague creating two castes : those that can be inoculated against it and thus can go outside the fortress city (and serve in the military) and those that can't be inoculated. It also creates three region types : Direct control (no zombies), Indirect control (you'll see a zombie maybe a few times a year), and Uncontrolled (no one goes here anyways).
You get a caste of "punks" who can be inoculated (and thus the mega-corps can bounce them around the globe), but for one reason or another are not eligible for the mandatory military service.
So you know
>Securing trade routes through abandoned territory
>Corporate Espionage between the American mega-city, the Euro city-states, and the indo-china sprawl
>Smuggling operations in and out of the fortress city
>Bands of independent survivors that need to be manipulated into being mercenaries to disrupt other operations
>Giant robots being developed to remotely gather resources without oversight
>Modern sports reduced to essentially super-paintball as well as maglev parkour racing
etc. etc.
>>46159634
An EP Cyberpunk Campaign is actually doable in the Inner System. In fact Mars would make for a stellar Cyberpunk campaign.
>>46160801
>>46160312
>get told to post setting
>provides details
>gets ignored
you guys were just being idea vultures, weren't you
>>46156394
Still better than current methods.
>>46157481
>*action*
>>>/global/rules/3
>>>/global/rules/6
>>46161252
It's mid-day on a monday, people are slow to respond. Plus, you haven't really provided a clear enough picture of what your deal is or what you're going for to allow for any response deeper than "that's kinda neat I guess".
>>46161252
No I think it's just lame
>>46162098
The setting has in the past met very strong reponses of HISSS HISS ZOMBIES BAD REEE GET OUT REEEE
>>46162167
It's true that it's not pure cyberpunk but you made it clear from the get-go that you know that and don't care. As far as cyberfantasy goes, it sounds okay. I do think that the zombie thing by itself is a bit overly emphasized and you need more stuff to it than what you've said, but I imagine this isn't everything you've got. More stuff to do with the demons (and using and summoning them) would be fun, and if there were more demon-generated fantasy monsters in addition to the zombies, that would be cool too.
A caste of punks is also a bit of a weird idea, it would need good tone-management to turn out well.
>>46162167
Different anon here. I read your posts, it looks neat but I can't think of anything else to contribute. Probably a combination of being sleep-deprived (hooray for mondays), and feeling slightly deflated seeing that it's more post-apoc zombies and fortress cities. I kinda wonder how the cities are supposed to keep airborne zombie-virus out, but what do I know.
>>46162315
Id describe it more as post-post-apoc because the only reason the cities arent gleaming is because the windows are solar panels. Society was torn down and built itself back up. Most people never leave the city, living their whole lives in a 50 km radius of sky scrapers thats half VR. Mega corps have bought up all but the lowest income housing, turning them into microtowns thirty stories in the air. Private security getting into conflicts of pursuit with the government hunter killer drones.
Theres plenty cyberpunk, its just that the sypernatural shit is the hardest to explain.
Also the castes arent official things just emergent properties of the plague and the draft
>>46129891
Procedural storytelling is a likely application of AI, and one that doesn't require any 'actual' emotion on the part of the storyteller.
If an AI exists that can write a story, what stops you from telling it to write a love story about a self-modifying AI and a literal self insert?
>>46161252
Not a fan of the whole zombie stuff. I'm ok with having cyberpunk have Buddhist ghosts, I'm ok with cyberpunk having psyonics, but zombies are a no go for me.
>>46162315
It seems you put some effort in the whole thing. Why don't you upload it? Maybe it's pretty good.
Also for the airborne virus kept outside the city, I have an idea. You have balloons/airships hovering over the city and spraying some chemicals in the air that destroy the virus. Nomads can live just outside the cities, still profiting from the virus free area, but still vulnerable to physical attacks.
And what about people in orbit? Is there anyone? Are they in charge of keeping communication satellite on or are they some kind of higher class (Elysium) not meddling with the dealings of the dirtboys and mudgirls?
>>46163811
(back on my laptop)
Because I haven't really written down the setting? As I said, it's a novel. And I'm not planning on posting my manuscript, so the setting information will have to be built up bit by bit as I file the serial numbers off
As for keeping it out of the city, the pathogen is a fungal spore that due to weight can't get over the walls. The problem I haven't done anything about yet is the city is on the Ohio/Mississippi junction for logistics reasons, and I don't really have a good way to purge a river of the spores, perhaps an electric field?
Space travel hasn't gotten economical yet because the entire world is rebuilding and enhancing infrastructure. Satellites are the only thing worth putting up
Most people that can be inoculated are actually just naturally immune (to the airborne version, not to bites), so there was a very odd natural selection, where the people outside the city are all naturally immune, and the people inside the city are mostly non-immune, because the immune get drafted into the military. Birth rates are higher for those left behind, so even though there shouldn't be anyone left alive that can be infected, hundreds of millions of people in the mega-city could get turned overnight (infection actually takes about a week, but symptoms don't show up till the last day)
>>46164081
I doubt that spores would be stopped by a wall, unless the city is completely sealed off (dome). I find my idea of the dirigibles better. Could also have sensors on the outside of the city that detect when the wind carries the spores. When concentration reaches a certain threshold, the city goes into lockout mode and the balloons start spraying the chemicals. People are required to wear respirators and protective ponchos not to get burned by the chemicals. This could put some pressure on the PC's during operations.
>>46164575
Nah it's cool man, Trump designed the walls. They're 100m tall with air traps to filter.
Which is to say, the solution to the spore problem shouldn't distract from the plot, which is an AI masterminded civil war that goes swimmingly until one of the demons shows up and ruins everything for everyone forever.
>>46164575
anon, I want to point out the futility of telling someone to rebuild their setting because of your opinion, when they already have an entire manuscript.
>>46157231
If you get into Cyberpunk 2020 I recommend taking a look at Datafortress and some of the material they've collected, and instead utilizing Interlock Unlimited rather than the actual core books for Cyberpunk. Those materials are less vague and provide a very clear set of rules that you can use for your games. The netrunning system, as it was mentioned, is always vague. If you like Shirow's approach to Cyberpunk through shows like Appleseed and GitS, this is the game for you (probably.)
If you want to see it in action there was a great YouTube series by TabletopTalk using the core system. It's also the only example of the game being played I have ever seen.
>>46149805
>>46153988
I have a question, since I am unfamiliar with the cyberpunk world. I know how things would be like in 1st world nations, especially western nations. However, what would the military and society be like in Communist controlled nations such as China and Vietnam, or nations that are borderline theocracy such as Saudi Arabia and Iran?
I know there is a series of cyberpunk books based in the islamic world by George Alec Effinger such as "When Gravity Falls". But I have not gotten around reading them.
Also posting Samurai Assassin.
>>46166152
Interlock Unlimited includes a lot of really asinine rule changes where changes don't need to be, and none where there should be. While I can't remember everything right now, I know it's pretty bastardized. Also the fun fact that the guy who wrote it tried sending it to Talsorian, telling them to publish it. No doubt they laughed at it and tossed the copy they had.
http://pastebin.com/YhbCRG1a Here's a compendium of all the houserules I wrote for 2020, and I can assure you in all my narcissistic-ness, it's better than IU. It fixes what needs to be fixed, has some optional stuff to add, and whatever.
>>46123210
Zero gravity aztec ball (whatever that game is called
>>46166152
>>46166406
Also, if I may add, they have pistols that do way too much damage, and rifles that do waaaaay too much more. It's a lot of really really really powerful gear for really really really cheap.
http://pastebin.com/9zgDi77FFor the purpose of the story and the pacing in which it's given, the setting is very very strong. You guys make me feel too self-conscious for a setting I know is pretty rock solid. If you don't believe me, stick your nose into the prologue I guess.
>>46166638
When it comes to shit like that, it's the GM's job to try and keep this shit balanced. Additionally, for high-caliber weapons like that there's the recoil component which physically prevents human beings from using some of those items altogether.
The problem is that weapons like that need to exist in Cyberpunk 2020, because there are threats that require them to. That's why C-SWAT officers carry fuckhuge pistols. Also, Cyberpunk 2020 is a high-lethality setting. In a lot of ways it can afford to be, because people who are lethalized on can replace their body parts (or their body).
Basically, you should seek balance in all things. CP2020 is no different.
>>46160312
>>46160312
>>46160801
I followed your quest, it was good. Write your own system for the win.
>>46167100
nice to see another oldfag around, I thought I'd been forgotten
I've come up with an idea, which might be terrible. Consider a 4x4 grid representing Vulnerabilities, and you can place essentially Tetris pieces on your grid as Protections, each Protection taking up some amount of Power your hardware can support. When you try to hack someone, you build a blob of Attacked squares and your virus gets in as soon as you hit an unprotected vulnerability.
I could try to explain better, but I figure I might be better off just stopping now
>>46168388
oh, and the attacker doesn't get to see the protections
>>46164081
Dude, your setting may be great, but it's not cyberpunk.
Cyberpunk + supernatural fantasy = cyberfantasy.
It's a different genre, the same way that historical period dramas are different from medieval fantasy.
I fully support you writing your cyberfantasy novels or game, but don't call it cyberpunk.
And don't be so sensitive about criticism, if you want to be a professional writer you'll have to put up with a lot more shit than what you received here.
>>46168719
The only criticism I took poorly was about zombies being irreddemably bad
And trying to pin a genre to the story is impossible. It is closest to cyberpunk so I describe it as such. Plenty of science fiction brings God and the like into the fray without getting redefined.
Static Sky looks kinda nifty for a cyberpunk FPS.
https://vimeo.com/staticsky/actiontrailer
>>46129370
>but couldn't you just program the AI to love you?
Kind of? You could "start" the AI's existence full of preset memories that would lead to her loving you right out of the box, like memories of romantic or admirable things that you've (not actually) done and memories of the AI and you being currently in a relationship. But once you activate the AI, it's up to you to keep her in love with you. If you don't live up to those programmed memories, then she'll either fall out of love with you or, worse, realize that her entire existence is a lie and that none of her memories are real. Then you've got a distressed ex-waifu AI in the midst of an existential crisis. After that, all there is to do is reboot and try again, you monster.
>>46144830
Is that Hiro Protagonist?
>>46170428
Huh, apparently it is
>>46166165
Presumably communist countries would either be communist in name only or be total military dictatorships where everyone is a member of the military and assigned their position in society.
>>46123210
>What are appropriate sports in the chromey future?
- Old traditional ones, shown in bars via half broken CRTs where the locals will spot someone who isn't a regular or a local in a heartbeat.
- Anything where corruption is known. The more corrupt, the better the fit.
>What music do you listen to get into the mood?
- Ministry, Bad Blood/Jesus Built My Hot Rod.
>Extrapolations of current mega-corps or new ones?
- Prefer to work with "torn from the headlines" and apply it to a faceless regional industry monopoly. The recent "Windows 7 is upgrading to Windows 10 without warning" deal makes for interested hooks if applies to things like cyberlimbs (if going with the whole "and it's breaking shit for a lot of customer angles").
>AI waifu's when?
- I can't write romance for shit, so I don't. I can imply vice and depravity just fine and they're a far better fit.
>Arguing about zombies
Huh?
>If you die in real life but not in the machine are you really dead?
If your friends/associates walk away because they think you're dead, you're alone in a cyberpunk setting without anyone watching your back. And that means you're as good as dead.
>Why cybernetics when biological options will soon exist?
The world's a dirty place, and easily serviceable parts matter more than ever.
>Is the setting corrupted as cyberpunk if there are aliums?
The settings corrupted if you're resorting to gimmickry, and if you're simply giving definitive truths to players when they're invested in a world built of desperately kept secrets and well documented lies, you've lost the plot.
>>46140989
You talk about rights in a setting with NO rights, beside the right for things to suck balls...
>>46170973
>Thinking Cyberpunk is the same as 1984
Fucking millennials
>>46170898
>>Is the setting corrupted as cyberpunk if there are aliums?
>The settings corrupted if you're resorting to gimmickry, and if you're simply giving definitive truths to players when they're invested in a world built of desperately kept secrets and well documented lies, you've lost the plot.
You're going to have to explain this one to me man
>>46172920
Not him but I get it.
Why TELL them that there are aliens when they can sit and wonder the whole bloody time? Leave the mystery there. It's kinda gimmicky if you're just "oh, yeah, ET and his buddies are over there". If they look long and hard enough for aliens then throw them a bone that makes them look even longer and harder.
>>46166406
Cyberpunk 2020 is good as it is. The problem of house ruling it, is that it adds a ton of rules - rules who are simple and clear for the person who uses them, but not for others.
Eg. I made an initiative system based on Shadowrun were characters have from 1 to 5 actions per round. Or a hit location system where the body is divided in three zones (upper body, central mass, lower body) with those zones being subdivided in further hit locations (head, face, neck, shoulders...). For me no problem to manage that. If I would post that system some people would start to complain about granularity and call me a grognard.
I recommend to start with vanilla CP2020, and then to build up what you want on that foundation. It's during game that you notice what you need to clarify or to expand.
In the sense of >>46174025 IU is too in depth for the CP2020 beginner.
>>46166165
You understand that China and Vietnam are about as communist as the USA are. Those two countries are probably the most ferocious capitalistic nations around now. The main difference with the USA is that they have totalitarian governments (1 instead of 2 parties and they care less about human rights). Unless, there is a huge political turmoil in those countries, I doubt that they will change their form of governance. Politicians, military, industrials and criminals are all linked and work together. Asian people as a whole don't really care for politics or democracy as long as they can do their daily business. From my experience they prefer to be able to open a small business without having to care for government regulations and taxes than to go voting. They'll most likely tell you that all politicians are corrupt anyway.
I don't know Saudi Arabia or Iran well enough. Religion is a pretty sensitive subject. You can change from being a communist to a capitalist without much trouble, but discarding your faith might be more difficult. Maybe things will change with the time. Let's not forget that Islam is like 600 years younger than christianity. In 1500 Europe wasn't very cool about religious issues.
>>46166638
One of the issue is the price. People simply look the catalogue prices and think it's what they gonna pay. Unless they're some government agency or some big corporation, they will never pay this price for firearms and heavy weapons. A legal Makarov PM costs like US$300 in a US gunshop. In the UK it costs like £1500 on the black market. A megacorporation might pay 700eb for H&K MPK-11, but that's surely not the price the average PC will pay. Expect to pay 4 to 5 times that price on the blackmarket for a clean gun, and maybe only 2 times that price for a hot gun (in places where guns are forbidden, prices might be much higher, in warzones prices might be a tad lower but will remain higher due to high demand). Same goes with blackmarket cyberware, high-tech surveillance gear and software. Also keep in mind that you won't necessarily find the equipment you want on the black market (example: maybe you want a Sternmeyer CG-13B, but your dealer only has a Militech Ronin and AKR-20 on stock).
This details what I'm saying: https://medium.com/war-is-boring/how-much-does-a-gun-cost-in-kurdistan-800ca37ebdfc#.jgzp0rlqp
The issue can be solved like that: Let the player buy their basic gear at character creation paying catalogue price, but then during play they will have to pay the full price.
>>46173051
Anon, that's the stupidest thing I've heard in this thread
>>46176443
Aliens are a shitty idea anyway. Guess that anon just has an alien fetish (pic related).
I, for one, long for the day saltybet X-tier fighters become self aware
some of the data-acquired type of fighters are already frighteningly intelligent.
Other fighters, when they are on the verge of losing, will error out the match and force a re-play as long as possible, even if victory is impossible, just to survive longer.
>>46176737
>Aliens are a shitty idea
>>46158045
It's not even really transhumanist - it's Posthuman. There's relatively little philosophising over the actual changes from the human baseline - as they happened decades ago and most of the population are infomorphs or cybershells.
>>46157587
>And then there's GURPS... You need GURPS Cyberpunk and GURPS Cyberworld/Cthulhupunk to play it. The universe is very well described and is pretty interesting. Here again, overcomplicated netrunning.
The netrunning's a lot simpler now - there's a Pyramid article about it, and there's Transhuman Space, which has about a page about it and cares more about the social and physical side of it.
>>46176952
What do you mean by "netrunning is a lot simpler now"? Did GURPS Cyberpunk get revised to 4th ed?
Simple netrunning for Cyberpunk 2020:
Finding information in the net uses the skill System Knowledge (it's a mix of google-fu and contact network). Hacking systems uses Interface (hacking/programming).
To hack a system, you need to connect to the said system. Connection can be local (physical port or WiFi) or remote. Secured systems have only be accessed locally. To access the system remotely you need an address. This address is secret, but can found in the net or purchased on the blackmarket. To access a system physically you need to either use a local terminal or plug in your deck in an access port (use CyberTech or General Tech if you need to adapt some plugs).
Then you need to gain access to the network by hacking in. Make an Interface check. If you succeed, you're in. If you fail, you're out. Enemy netrunners might detect that something is wrong and launch ICE.
To increase your chances of success you can probe the system in advance. Success gives you a bonus to hack into the system. Failure will give you a penalty. Enemy netrunners might detect your attempt and try to backtrace you.
Once your inside the system you can either look for stuff (System Knowledge), hack subsystems like doors and cameras (Interface), or crash the whole system (Interface). Failed attempts will alert security that will either send ICE or security personnel to your location.
If you get attacked by ICE you fight it with your Interface skill vs. ICE strength. Failure causes damage (black ICE), might fuck up your deck (red ICE), or only log you out (white ICE).
>>46177339
Great job, you've just made an intricate and fun system completely boring.
>>46175635
Not seen that one before.
I like that YT better than >>46153653 's Raven
>>46144830 's Hiro is pretty good though
>>46177478
I'm sure that the other 5 players who are waiting yawning for the netrunner to finish his boring mini-game must think otherwise. To keep them busy, you probably send them to do the dishes or do some ironing while you finish with netrunner.
>>46177555
Or, or, czech this;I let them do things in meatspace while the netrunner does his thing.What a concept, right?
>>46177528
>the future will have no freaky and frightening drone designs
>only boring, efficient quad copters and planes
I'd sigh, but 4chan frowns on that sort of thing.
These threads always depress me a bit.
I've written a lot of setting myself, about 180 pages, but in the end, it just lacks that sense of reality if there's no artwork. Art is really what makes the ambience and themes of cyberpunk click together, and while you can write it, it just doesn't seem to stand out unless it has good art.
What I wouldn't give to have some Russian digital artist on a payroll. Without art, no one's going to feel any sense of relevance or relatability, and I could as well be writing a thesis on the mating habits of African bullfrogs for all anyone would ever care.
>>46177563
I use a faster system, that still keeps pressure on the netrunner, while not interrupting the game flow. Czech mate, chummer!
>>46177594
get a good reaction image
>>46177627
That also completely negates the stats for decks and programs, as well as any strategy. You've managed to make it a boring "Roll to hack"And adding WiFi you 2020 is heresy and you should be burned at the stake for such acts
>>46157231
You can totally run SR without magic nor fantasy races.
>>46177749
That pretty much ruins the only thing Shadowrun's system has going for it. The cyberware is lame and uninteresting, as is most of the other tech. The only reason I could see for using Shadowrun's system is if you need stuff for magic, because if not, there are systems that are LEAGUES better.
>>46177767
SR5's netrunning is pretty well-integrated in the group dynamic usually.
>>46177767
Have you ever touched actual Shadowrun before it was mangled by CGL? 3e has all the interesting and imaginative cyberware you could ever ask for, but CGL has been trying to clumsily excise all the cyberpunk elements that could alienate the new Wil Wheaton-cultist fanbase. Doubling prices of cyberware and linking everything to magic while coming up with handwavy justifications for why cyberware is less reliable the more time passes in canon isn't a good set of moves - try 3e and see what that gets you.
>>46177805
It's very average. You could just use GURPS and one of it's fairly nicely made hacking rulesets and be much better off.
>>46177819
Mein nigger. I started off with 3rd edition, but really, I'm not going to lie, it's not that hot of a system either. It's got nicer chrome, but it's still not the best thing ever when you consider you could use Cyberpunk 2020 or GURPS. Again, what makes Shadowrun as a system really worthwhile is the magicy stuff, without that it just sort of falls apart.
>>46177681
Implying there's much strategy involved in CP2020's netrunning system. Example: Moving through the matrix (it's already fucking stupid concept to move through a computer network) - the most basic action you do - "Roll 1d10 to scam the system. If you fail, you get caught. Roll 1d6 to see what happened" Sounds fucking random to me. It's not because you use little maps with little icons and little squares that you're playing ASL. And I don't even want to mention how stupid the whole Ihara-Grubb transformation algorithm is or the existence of city grid maps.
If you want to use deck stats and programs, consider programs like weapons or armors, deck stats can give you a bonus to INI, let you "carry" more programs with you, give you a protection agains black and red ICE...
Maybe I should be burned on a stake for heresy. I'm ok with it, as long as you use recycled Ikea furniture for the bonfire...
>>46177681
Not to mention, rolls are used to resolve everything. Why not make minigames for combat, chases, stealth, jumps, lockpicking, seduction, vehicular combat, and, and, and...? We could incorporate so many strategic minigames that we wouldn't have to roleplay anything.
>>46177876
What made Gibson's work great is his complete lack of knowledge of computer systems. Likewise for any Cyberpunk setting. It thrives off of the ignorance of actual computer networks for something fantastical.
And that's only getting to your destination. Once you're there, you've got to know what programs to pack, how to move, what ICE to attack, whatever. You very clearly don't know 2020's netrunning system if you claim there's no strategy.
>>46177922
Well for one, combat is effectively a "minigame," if you want to put it like that. You say that like having more in-depth rules for things negates roleplaying. I bet you like Savage Worlds you nerd.
>>46144830
Redneck katana is best katana.
>>46123210
>>What are appropriate sports in the chromey future?
Horse Racing.
1. It's huge in Hong Kong.
2. It's going to be even more ridiculously expensive to justify the space to maintain training facilities which makes it perfect for rich corporate fuckheads.
Also probably some monocycle/street racing early anime weird vehicle shenanigans.
>>Why cybernetics when biological options will soon exist?
Part of the whole reason was to show them off and be garish. Biological would probably easily pass for normal replacement parts while choosing to chrome out is a statement. Style over substance.
>>46177339
>To hack a system, you need to connect to the said system. Connection can be local (physical port or WiFi) or remote. Secured systems have only be accessed locally. To access the system remotely you need an address. This address is secret, but can found in the net or purchased on the blackmarket. To access a system physically you need to either use a local terminal or plug in your deck in an access port (use CyberTech or General Tech if you need to adapt some plugs).
This is so computer-illiterate it's almost funny.
>>46177611
>RPG books need art
Well yeah, definitely. Were you planning on publishing this? Try contacting an RPG publisher to see if they like your manuscript. If they do, they'll round up the art. But you'll have to sign your baby away.
Of if you think you can handle it start your own publishing company, get a bank loan, hire some up-and-coming young deviantart artist, and do your own layout/publishing. Good luck.
Or just release a free netbook with stolen art.
Post gory/grunge/bulky cybernetics, I need some references for my Strogg-themed Dark Mechanicus. Thinking of throwing in a blend of modern/biomech elements like miniature sensor pods, modern guns and pic related's head.
>>46177957
I'm not the hipster pretending CP2020's netrunning is good or that being ignorant about computer systems made W. Gibson's work great.
>Huhuhu, program choice is so strategic.
Like you will ever pack anything else apart of Raffles, Killer V or VI, Invisibility, Stealth and a demon with utility programs (because you fucking need a program to copy files, one to rename them, one to make them...).
Strategy: Move through the matrix counting little squares to reach your goal and hope not to get randomly detected by the MatCops while moving. Once you have arrived. Cloak yourself with Invisibility. Let Raffles hack the code door (what idiot would attack the walls, anyway?). Activate Stealth and Killer. Do your stuff inside the fortress. DM rolls for ICE to detect you. If you get detected, use Killer against whatever the DM throws at you (Killer will fuck up everything). Find encrypted data. Use Raffles to decrypt it. Unpack your copy program from your Demon to copy it, etc.
Forgot to pack a program? Log out and do your hack anew.
Having in-depth rules is not a problem and doesn't negate roleplay at all. There's a difference between in-depth rules and a minigame that sucks. If you like it, good for you. There are always a few people here, mostly from Eastern Europe, that will defend vanilla Cyberpunk 2020 to the death.
And no, I don't like Savage World.
>>46178586
Someone knows his min-maxed CP2020 quite well.
>>46130253
Not interested in this thread, just wanted to say, I have that wall scroll.
>>46178651
No. I'm the one who doesn't know who to netrun.
>>46178336
Man, a genetically-modified stable of race horses could be to biotech firms what racing team(s) are to car manufacturers.
Definitely a cool idea, and a perfect example of something that represents the corporate rich being frivolous dicks
Cybernetics are also faster to install and replace - they don't have to be re-grown, and once the slot is there they can be upgraded fairly easily, and they can be easily made super-human if they're extensive enough, but they're more ostentatious, visible to security, potentially weaker to intrusion and they need more maintenance - they're less likely to self-repair than things that can just heal (though biomods and transplants might need drugs/continual treatment, depending on the rules of the setting, so that's a maybe)
>>46178586
>Mostly from Eastern Europe
Where do you live exactly?
>>46178925
Western Europe.
Are you the Pole who's married to a psychologist?
>>46178737
Is that a GITS blanket? Is it? Jesus Christ.
>>46179045
I think I may possibly know you and that's horrifying.
>>46179090
It's a wall scroll/poster thing.
>>46178925
>>46179045
>>46179109
Don't worry guys, it's not gay as long as balls aren't touching.
>>46178862
Why not making a giant racetrack that goes through Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangzhou - Pear River GP?
>>46179500
That would be absolutely enormous - as a round trip that's longer than an entire F1 race on its own
While I could see huge sports venues in the Pearl River Delta (which, as a region, could merge into a huge megacity, given enough time), that's just pointlessly huge, and not really in a good way - laps would take over an hour, even at 200+ MPH, and that's just a bit boring.
Still, motorsports and "horse" racing both provide excellent opportunities for tech companies to flex their muscles and for the rich to be douchebags, both now and in the future.
Also I could totally see tracks being under domes, so the smog isn't an issue for the animals
>>46179732
We're speaking of cyberpunk. Races with maglev vehicles that can do hundreds of mph.
I wish cyberpunk hip-hop was a full fledged sub-genre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffZTr4_cdIk
>>46180032
That would require hip-hop to be a full fledged genre.
>>46180064
Been around since the '70s and within the popular cultures of people from Asia to South America. How is it not a full fledged genre again?
Hey guys.
I'm currently gearing up for a cyberpunk campaign that's a fucked-up mish-mash of Gibson's Sprawl, Cyberpunk 2020 and a couple of other settings, and I'm trying to think of stuff for the three PCs whose backstories I know.
One is a holdover from the last time I tried to run this and another old player let me take his character and use him as an antagonist, so he's going to be a full-conversion cyborg hunting down his old comrade for revenge. Another is a Murphy/Jensen job: he was a regular guy before being caught in the crossfire of a deniable op, and a corp saw fit to turn him into their own personal assassin with a fuckton of cybernetics and implants. He's going to discover the team's patron is far more than he seemsand views him as his own fucked-up murderous cybernetic son, assuming he's smart enough to work it out.
But what do I do with the ex-government aide on the run? She found something that made her quit her job, but I need ideas for some shady shit because apparently my imagination went dead. Or I just am overwhelmed with possibilities.
How do you write/set up a cyberpunk setting when you aren't tech savvy?
>>46180772
The answer is simple. Learn.
Learn about locations, tech concepts, establish a canon, terminology, events, characters and locations. You've got the internet, use it.
>>46180772
Pic related.
>>46180772
While I'm using Interface Zero/Savage Worlds, I would definitely recommend checking out the GURPS books -- it doesn't matter what system you are using because their books are mostly about educating you about the setting content and how to use it in your game. A great resource for ideas and information.
>>46180772
Learn, choose a different genre, make computers magic
>>46180678
>pretty smart putting "Police" on the butt cheeks
>that's where everyone will be looking first anyway
>>46180772
Nobody gives a fuck about realism in RPG's. Real life hacking is boring (same as being a soldier is boring most of the time). You want to play a badass hacker not some neckbeard autist or nignog in a cybercafé.
>>46180836
>>46180831
Two different kinds of people.
>>46181335
I was making a joke that the people who wrote Shadowrun don't know jack and shit about what they were writing about. Whether that's Geopolitics or Tech, they were completely clueless for the whole of it.
>>46181382
I know, but it's also a valid answer.
>>46181276
You know, this is why I always liked my hacking set-up
Old-school hacking is all automated now, a function of time and power with a chance to get caught.
But the common hacking occurs all in VR. In order to make the virtual world appear real, any object you interact with loads up an interface function with your nervemap, and loads with it any viruses packaged in. They can't get in unless the object "physically" makes contact with the person. And once it's in, there's sort of a rock-paper-scissors deal on whether there's protections against it. So people actually pull out knives and swords and shit to stab each other in order to "hack" because the scripts are already written.
>>46181033
She probably has another across her upper chest. All the better to keep perps distracted and knowing exactly what they're in for
>>46181382
>Whether that's Geopolitics or Tech, they were completely clueless for the whole of it.
Very true. But they still made a fun game out of it. One that's been quite successful over the years. Sometimes realism hurts a game much more than it helps.
For example, the American Indians getting their own nation-states, even with magic (temporarily) on their side, is completely nuts. There just isn't the population to set up even 1 NAN country in the US, let alone 7. But it's still much more fun than CP2020's rather bland portrayal of the US as this megatech megacity East and West coasts with Mad Max + agrifarms in between. The NANs were way cooler and more fun to adventure in.
>>46181698
>NANs cool and fun
Hell no, they're laaaaaaame.
Cyberpunk 2020 was fine. There wasn't even megacities, just regular sprawls like Shadowrun. You had the Republic of Texas with badass cyber rangers, corporate owned Canada, nuked out New York, the EEC with all its nationalism and in-fighting, the high-tech streets of Japan, the Maoist dictatorship of China, the near-collapse NeoSoviet Union, wartorn South and Central America.
It was great, c'mon.
>>46181781
Oh, and don't forget the Cotton Republics of the southern states that are in a weird feudal system separate of their fellow states. There's Utah which is a luddite mormon's paradise, Nevada where EVERYTHING is legal, Chicago under quarantine from the wasting plague, etc.
There's tonnes of neat stuff, you just have to read things other than the core book (Which does not do a good job of explaining the setting)
>>46181781
>>46181903
>US South: COTTON & SLAVES!
>Russia: SOVIETS!
>Japan: GROLIOUS HIGH TECH!
>Texas: COWBOY RANGERS!
>China: MAO CHING CHONG!
See, that's all kinds of retarded and reads like some Japanese tourist's cliche take on Amurrica and rest of the world. It's backward-looking, not forward-looking with new ideas and fun concepts.
Why not make Houston or Atlanta the high-tech capital of America? Why not Shanghai?
Try something new for fuck's sake, not just the standard tourist cliches.
>>46182258
>Why not make Houston or Atlanta the high-tech capital of America? Why not Shanghai?
Maybe because cyberpunk is speculative fiction and aims for the realm of reality.
And what's wrong with Mao? Everyone loves Mao.
>>46181781
All that sounds really dull and cliche, desu.
>>46181781
I owned both Shadowrun 1st Ed. (my first cyberpunk RPG) and Cyberpunk 2020. I'm a diehard Cyberpunk 2020 fan, never really got into Shadowrun. But I must say that from the style/the looks Shadowrun has something CP2020 doesn't have. Maybe the rule book was better written, but there's this typical Wild West aesthetic mixed with Aztec and Japanese influence. You have beautiful illustrations made by Tim Bradstreet. I think more people could imagine that world whereas CP2020 is rather bland or an accumulation of cyberpunk clichés.
>>46182955
I really don't care for the Aztec and Wild West influences of Shadowrun. I like Cyberpunk's metal and punk (But mostly metal) inspired atmosphere a lot more. Shadowrun felt and still does feel a lot more light than Cyberpunk's dark future.
>>46183083
What I wanted to say is that Shadowrun has what we call in marketing a strong unique selling proposition, while CP2020 doesn't. CP2020 is more generic. The supplements don't really follow a line. The game doesn't know if it should be realistic or action oriented. It's a big melting pot and DM's finally pick what they want. In Shadowrun you're more enclined to follow a line (shadowrunners are adventurers who don't meet in a tavern but in a bar...).
>>46123210
>What are appropriate sports in the chromey future?
Sport that are popular today with more enchantments and drama. Also, e-sports supported with VR tech.
>What music do you listen to get into the mood?
Same as what I would normally listen.
>Extrapolations of current mega-corps or new ones?
I like to keep the setting as far away from our world as possible. Maybe mega-corps that mirrors ours but with a different name (technology giant that started as a search engine: Glasses)
>AI waifu's when?
Never. There are computer programs that can act like they have real personalities, but not true AI. A program that is aware of itself and can change itself is dangerous to use as a mere sextoy.
>Arguing about zombies
Maybe cyberzombies, like wh40k servitors. But not the traditional kind.
>If you die in real life but not in the machine are you really dead?
Yes, you lose your real body, you die. Otherwise we would have practical immortality in the setting.
>Why cybernetics when biological options will soon exist?
Why buy a phone today when you can get a better one after two years? Because you need it.
Even meagre desk jobs can be done better and faster if you have a neural implant. Nearly every job will get more from workers with cybernetics. So, if you can afford it today, it will mean better income and better career options. Also you won't need to worry about getting fired because some guy with cybernetics can do your work plus his original work faster.
Furthermore, if you are missing any limbs or organs, you can get cyber replacements today and if they ever manage to make a better, biological replacement, you can just change back to it. Your leg is missing either way.
As a side note; having a fucking mechanical arm with strong metal plating, built in weapons and other utilities is very different from having a stronger but otherwise normal arm.
>Is the setting corrupted as cyberpunk if there are aliums?
plz no
>>46184561
Apart of manual jobs, what job can you perform better with a neural interface?
>>46185493
It will be equivalent to the appearance of personal computers or smartphones
>>46185493
>what job can you perform better with a neural interface?
Anything that takes typing, for one. Which is pretty much all jobs these days. A neural interface may become a hallmark of white-collar jobs.
I know I'd want a neural interface for a variety of reasons. Mainly for convenience, so I can do things like lie face-down in bed while surfing the web, free up my hands for things like eating or working out, and also use my phone at meals without seeming as impolite.
>>46166165
Considering "Communist" China actually is a super capitalist dictatorship, I'd say they'd do really well. They have no regard for copyrights, regulations, or worker safety. They're polluted like a motherfucker. They produce fucking everything, they treat workers like shit, and counterfeit everything from meds to fucking eggs. They're practically halfway to cyberpunk already.
Iran and Saudiarabia would most likely be fucked. Assuming your average cyberpunk setting where we're post-oil, their economies would collapse completely. They're nations where the government can only maintain order through brutal crackdowns and exporting oil for exorbitant prices. There's very little infrastructure to speak of, and very few people are educated enough for them to be able to provide much of value. Once the oil either dries up or becomes obsolete, the money will go right along with it. No money, no natural resources, no allies, no private armies, no power. Welcome to Africa 2.0. Particularly if drugs become legal and/or increasingly synthetic, since they couldn't even go the Afghanistan route of financing their government with opium.
Speaking of which, Russia's basically in the same seat, and would most likely be the first to go. Putin's already crumbling due to mounting debt he has no chance of repaying and international sanctions. His entire platform is prosperity (which is kind of hilarious in a country with entire shanty towns of drug addicted squatters who can't even afford real heroin so they make it themselves) for the people who actually vote. Once the economy tanks, the entire country goes down the toilet. In a world where natural gas is no longer a primo export, Russia's fucked seven ways until Sunday. The best they could hope for is being exploited by corporations for natural resources. It could make a really cool lawless wilderness in an almost post-apocalyptic way, though.
>>46186410
At least, Russia has a decent armament industry, diversified resources (oil, gas, minerals, wood...), and some good technical know how (space industry, aeronautics...). Iran has already much less. Saudi Arabia has nothing. Without money they won't even be able to have drinkable water.
Speaking of debts. Most countries will never ever pay their debt back. The USA and Japan first. Countries only pay the credit's interest back but the debts will only rise until the whole system collapses.
>>46183375
In my experiences, Talsorian Games does this with everything. They create a system that GMs can mix and match as they desire. If you want to play some standard Cyberpunk 2020 you can do that. If you want to get really fancy and have your players calculating ACPA weight against the weight limits of the floor during the firing of a cannon that has to have its armor-piercing capabilities calculated based on firing distance, there's Maximum Metal for that. And then you wisely discard half that shit in MM and just do it the easy way.
Probably some more gritty hardcore strong style wrestling. Not like ECW tables & chairs but just a bunch of Brock Lesnars destroying one another.
How do you run a cyberpunk campaign that isn't Shadowrun-esque mercs or punks fighting the system?
>>46188706
Just think about all the various roles that can be filled in a cyberpunk society and make a campaign based around one you think people will like. Your players could be corporate agents, policemanofficers, scrappers trying to survive, soldiers in a military or PMC, a band of B&E specialists that steal shit and sell it to the highest bidder, etc.
![640x519_1781_Duel_2d_sci_fi_knight_fantasy_dragon_soldier_duel_battle_picture_image_digital_art[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/kb2fZIC.jpg "640x519_1781_Duel_2d_sci_fi_knight_fantasy_dragon_soldier_duel_battle_picture_image_digital_art[1].jpg")
>>46188706
In my setting nationstates have collapsed and corporate citystates have taken their place. In addition global warming has left the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world almost uninhabitable. Vast swathes of land are lawless, the citystates are like islands connected by turret-lined railways. Despite this, small towns and settlements do spring up in the wastelands, but they are harassed by bandits and escaped biomonsters. The players are members of the Rangers, an organization that provides aid to these small settlements in return for resources. One of these resources is the human resource, and settlements send promising candidates to Ranger school in hopes one day they'll return and protect them from great danger. The Rangers occasionally venture into the citystates for intel, but most of their time is spent in the lawless wastelands.
>>46188851
>policenecromancers
Fuck yeah! No, wait, guess I misread that...
>>46190115
>policenecromancers
I don't think Constable Butterman had that in mind.
I'm intrigued though. What would a Police Necromancer (or a Necrofficer, as they're often called) actually do? Solve crimes by raising the dead? Replace EMTs by reviving the dead at crime scenes? Use a zombie army to fight crime for them? Maybe in the future only dead men can be police officers so that they have no need to fear death in the line of duty?
>>46137699
Dayum this sounds like a genuinely interesting cyberpunk bbeg.
An AI programmed for entertainment gains knowledge of other stuff and feels explioted and goes full skynet
>>46190281
>police necromancer
I'd imagine that if he could commune with the dead, that would be very convenient. He might hold a seance so that investigators and lawyers could interview the deceased and collect statements.
Unliving labor could have uses in law-enforcement. If a non-person can do shit like defuse bombs, act as a meat-shield for SWAT, or subdue criminals, that could save lives. There are significant ethical considerations with such practices, however.
Actually reviving the dead to return that person to the mortal world could be problematic, depending on how it works in the setting. If the rezzing is good enough (maintain some intelligence, most of your memories, not so unpleasant as to drive you to suicide, etc), a necromancer might make a good living working in hospitals.
>>46181781
>My opinions are better than yours. Your opinions are lame!
Feel free to stop sucking dicks whenever you want.
>>46174948
>>46186410
Hmmm thank you for the information. It has been interesting. The reason I asked how Communist and Theocratic nations would fare in cyberpunk is because I believe it would a nice change of pace and make a more interesting setting than the usual Capitalist Western Mega-Corporations route most cyberpunk goes with.
>>46192157
Well, if you want anything close to "true" communism you'll probably have to go the Eclipse Phase anarcho-communism route, because nothing resembling true communism exists at the national level in today's world. The closest you have is democratic-socialism.
>>46180032
You start gettin into Afrofuturism and standard sci-fi, but a lot of hip-hop does kind of play around in that area.
The best cyberpunk and hip-hop exists mainly on the margins of the genre anyway so it works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHgbzNHVg0c
>>46193137
I like this. Kind of strange and alien enough to be a futuristic genre, but also great.
>>46181698
You have shit taste. Sorry mate, but the native american nations, aside from maybe microstates if the US totally collapsed, are stupid as shit. And microstates in a collapsed nation is postapoc, not cyberpunk.
>>46183375
>who don't meet in a tavern but in a bar...
What's the difference?
