Mistercho, blogger, philanthropist and Scotsman has kindly stumped up thirty of his British pounds to sponsor a competition over on 1KM1KT. I think we should all enter. Not because you love Cyberpunk as much as I; not because the idea of modernising the typically 80s feel of Cyberpunk is a tantalising goal but because forcing Misterecho (a Scotsman) to part with thirty coins bearing Her Majesty's mug will be one of the most life changingsteps he will ever have to take. That and crossing south of Berwick Upon Tweed to buy printed matter!
What's it all about
Quite simple really. Cyberpunk is really an 80s phenomenon and although there have been authors in naughties to paint their own particular impression of the genre, we as roleplayers have a somewhat dated bible. The competition is to forge a setting (and rule system, if you're so inclined) that has more modern concerns and does away with shocking neon 80s fashion and dated ideas about the net. Misterecho's thought processes spawned a fascinating thread on 1KM1KT, which I am glad to have participated in as well as learnt much from. Pop along there for some inspiration.I do love the original Cyberpunk, and Cybergeneration. And Corporation. And other other Cyberpunk games. I know others have done this well but we think it should be done again. For free this time!
For those who love to link this sort of madness, please use the flyer above (resize as you need) or if you fancy, this simple banner:
It's free to enter, so what do you have to lose? Apart from your sanity. But then, you're a roleplayer, is your sanity realy intact? It's probably worth a swing for trading the tattered remains for £30!
13 comments:
Och jings, ma misses dinnie ken aboot the reddies frontit up big yin! She'll gane aff her heed, pelt me in the baws, 'n wheke me aff te bed wi nae dinner!
Classic python by the way! As always your references are excellent!
Thanks for supporting the project. ENTER NOW!
What about us Americans that use real money? Will it be turned into dollars?
Due to the current state of the economy the pound will translate roughly to £40 billion USD
Delivered via email as an amazon voucher.
{not actual exchange rate}
I'd be more interested in making a Cyberpunk game if I could dwell in all of the cliches that emerged from the 80's & early 90's rather then avoid them.
It's sort of like saying, "Make me an American Western RPG but without six-shooters, cowboy hats, dusty small towns in the desert, Indians, horses, trains, cattle, wagons & shoot-outs." Sure, you could attempt it but what would be the point?
Maybe you should call this competition something other then a Cyberpunk competition if you want to avoid Cyberpunk. Come up with a new prefix to put in front of "-punk." "Inter-punk"? "Bio-punk"?
Even if one were to update "Cyberpunk," it wouldn't remain 'modern' for very long. Having gone through the start, middle & end of the golden Cyberpunk era, I can tell you that some people in the late 80's-early 90's honestly thought we'd have cybernetic implants, be plugging the Internet directly into our brains & all live in a dystopian Orwellian cityscape by now. Although some of what Cyberpunk predicted has come true in a watered-down, more practical sense, we'd just be repeating the cycle with a new generation of "This is what will happen in the 2050's! No, really, we've got it right this time!"
I don't know... A Cyberpunk competition without, well... Cyberpunk elements. Why call it a Cyberpunk competition, then?
Anonymous - Thanks for your comment. It's a corker. Over on 1km1kt, the discussion started because Misterecho and Sheikjahbooty believed that although Cyberpunk is very cool, its dated technology didn't make it feel like a near-future RPG anymore. When reading CP2020 and the Chrome books, it starts to feel retro-futuristic. Like Steampunk. There's nought wrong with that but we wanted a near future RPG that had the feel of Cyberpunk (the main themes) but with updated technology, fashion and the knock on affects of those things. Dystopia, Corporate power, a Low-Fi underclass, bionics, artificial intelligences, augmented reality, gritty, dark, satire are all Cyberpunk tropes that can still work in a reimagining. I can't do the thread justice, I'd check it out and if you feel that your point still stands, then please repeat it there, where you'll get a much better response!
The challenge is to make a game with modern elements feel like Cyberpunk. That's not easy but then we expect to see some great re-imaginings. Corporation RPG (sadly not free) does a good job in recapturing the feel of Cyberpunk but the technology and some of the themes are up to date.
As for the user 'Cyber', I think it was misused in the first place. Cybernetics, Cyberpunk is not! :)
Thanks again for a thoughtful comment!
@Robbos - Amazon will transfer the cash into whatever Banana republic currency you wish.
This might be a good experiment for the Mini Six system.
Cyberpunk is my favourite genre for RPG settings, Cybergeneration one of my all-time favourite games. But it has been more than a decade since I got all chromed up. Might be time to polish up my mirrorshades and 'jack in. I am going to check out that thread on this interweb thing you speak of...
I've been working on something for a while that could easily fit into this contest. So, instead of a new game, I'll write up a fully playable (and free) expansion to my corporate-sponsored reality-television bounty-hunter game...Quincunx.
Something focusing on those who are pushing technology to it's cutting edge (and beyond).
I wish I'd been aware of this earlier, but it still gives me time to work on something special.
@Nathan(s) - it will be good to get some more heavy guns into the compo.
@vulpinoid - Is there anywhere else we could have advertised that you watch? We've not been going long and you have until June to turn out 30 pages! Be sure to check the rules before you submit.
@ Rob
I've linked my blog to your now, so that I see contests like this when they arise...I also wanted to have a go at the 24 hour contest you ran last year, but I got a bit carried away and turned out something a bit too complex over the course of a week..."Rampage: A Teddybear Bloodsport in the boiler-room of Atlantis". I've have to submit it to 1km1kt one of these days.
@vulinoid - thanks for the link and yes, you really HAVE to submit your game to 1km1kt. A game is never perfect, never completely finished. Submit it anyway and submit again with a new version later!
I suspect that neocyberpunk will be even darker than the original. The 80s were pretty rough, what with Ron and Maggie and all, but now we're just waiting for the climate to implode. It offers some fruitful possibilities.
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