Immediately, let’s have a look at a world the place expertise could make human beings out of date. Companies discover ever-increasing methods to dehumanize the inhabitants within the pursuit of income, and governments solely care about sustaining what energy the firms reserve for them. No, we’re not speaking in regards to the information, we’re looking at Cyberpunk Slice, a complement by Inexperienced Ronin Publishing for his or her Trendy AGE line.
Disclaimer
I used to be not supplied a overview copy of this, and bought the copy I’m utilizing for my overview. Whereas I’ve performed the AGE system at conventions, I’ve not run the sport or performed in an prolonged marketing campaign. I’ve reviewed a number of different AGE system merchandise from Inexperienced Ronin.
Digital Container
It is a PDF-only launch on the time of this writing. The PDF is 59 pages lengthy, together with a credit web page and a desk of contents. The remainder of the web page rely is devoted to sport content material. There’s a two-column format that ought to be acquainted to anybody that has seen the Trendy AGE books, and that format is clear and simple to navigate. The art work within the e-book is full shade, and is licensed, thematic art work.
How It Unfolds
Cyberpunk Slice has the next sections:
- Cyberpunk Characters
- Cyberpunk Tools
- Augmentations
- Sport Mastering and Our on-line world
The introduction explains that the complement doesn’t try and create a particular cyberpunk setting for the sport however is constructed to be a toolkit for emulating no matter cyberpunk settings Trendy AGE avid gamers would possibly wish to discover.
Cyberpunk Characters
There are a number of new participant character choices launched on this part. The primary of these choices introduces the power to decide on between a organic or artificial physique. Baseline Trendy AGE makes use of backgrounds because the character’s origin level, however the Threefold setting (reviewed right here at Gnomestew) launched ancestries, just like what you would possibly see in Fantasy AGE or different video games.
The selection between a Organic or Artificial physique isn’t not like the Ancestries present in Threefold, besides that as a substitute of changing traits from the character origins, Artificial characters choose two Abiotic Vulnerabilities, which organic characters don’t want to fret about. These can embody needing a gasoline supply, with the ability to have your physique hacked, being clearly artificial, or being weak to sturdy electromagnetic fields. You don’t heal naturally, however it’s tougher to kill you, and you’ve got a neater time becoming cybernetic gear into your body.
As a result of the selection between organic and artificial our bodies could work together with different non-obligatory guidelines later within the e-book, there’s additionally a bit on Noetic, Somatic, and Combined talents. It is a breakdown of what your character “takes with you” if their thoughts one way or the other strikes to a different physique.
The e-book additionally provides eight new backgrounds, noting that many Trendy AGE backgrounds nonetheless work in a cyberpunk setting. The brand new backgrounds on this e-book embody backgrounds that relate to gig employees, hazardous environments, criminally run societies, communities remoted from trendy expertise, nomadic characters which are compelled to journey because of housing points, characters that spend most of their time on-line or engaged on electronics, and the elite scion of expertise corporations.
There are new focuses launched that relate to working in digital actuality, controlling drones, combating in energy armor, and recognizing anomalous objects in code. Along with these focuses, there are additionally new abilities, which improve your capability to put on armor, battle hand handy whereas utilizing cybernetics, carry out tips with drones and distant automobiles, battle in our on-line world utilizing an avatar, and work on artificial characters.
The e-book introduces the next new professions:
- Murderer
- Gamer
- Hacker
- Operator
- MedTech
- Persona
It additionally provides a number of new drives to information character improvement and roleplay. These embody:
- Addict
- Avenger
- Company
- Conspiracist
- Elite
- Revolutionary
Addict is completely consistent with the style however goes to should be dealt with with care. I do like that between the professions and the drives, this covers much more than simply cyberpunk the place you get a job and do soiled deeds for soiled bosses. You would use these identical instruments to play characters in a neighborhood attempting to assist an deserted neighborhood survive, or folks on a quest to convey down no less than one of many massive company overlords.
There are three new specializations (like subclasses or status lessons, when you haven’t spent a lot time with AGE video games), together with Cyborg, Kinetic, and Virtualist. The cyborg goes all-in on cybernetic augmentations, the kinetic is a specialised mercenary, and the virtualist is somebody snug inside cyberscapes.
Since most of those parts are modular, they work with completely different choices which have appeared in different Trendy AGE books. For instance, after I reviewed the Trendy AGE Mastery Information, I used to be fairly keen on bundling the level-based talents into the Combatant, Skilled, and Operative lessons, and whereas these would nonetheless change the professions launched on this e-book, they nonetheless work with the backgrounds, focuses, abilities, and specializations launched right here.
Cyberpunk Tools
Whereas Cyberpunk Tools does, certainly, introduce a bunch of various objects and completely different templates so as to add to present objects, one of the crucial fascinating elements of this part entails the thought of Manufacturers. This touched on the concept that firms have reputations in cyberpunk settings, and people model names could imply that some tools could possibly be modified to indicate what that model is understood for. Regardless that the complement doesn’t do numerous worldbuilding, on this case, we get new firms as instance manufacturers:
- Appsoft (pc {hardware} and software program)
- Asher-Tesser Realities (AI and digital actuality)
- D|Z (audiovisual tech and trend model)
- Longquan Sword Navy Industries (small arms, fight implants, and shut fight gear)
- Penumbre (luxurious baggage, scents, clothes, and trend augmentations
Regardless that there isn’t a lot world-building, the firms on this part embody ties to England, Germany, China, and Belgium. I needed to name this out as a result of the e-book doesn’t drive laborious for Japanese corporations the way in which numerous early cyberpunk materials did (and in some circumstances, nonetheless does).
As talked about, along with new weapons like the assorted monofilament arms, completely different templates will be added to expertise basically, automated AI-driven gadgets, and weapons.
This part runs the gamut from new armor, drones, automobiles, exoskeletons, medical tools, medicine, and computer systems. There’s a part on useful resource modifications for various ranges of portability in pc interfaces. The part on automobiles separates automated automobiles from drones and provides stats on some objects that push the boundaries between drones and fighter jets.
We don’t get numerous element on precisely how computer systems operate on this chapter, exterior of portability and energy wants and the way that impacts value. We additionally don’t get any particulars about augmentations, however that’s as a result of the subsequent chapter is . . .
Augmentations
Cyberpunk Slice factors out that some Trendy AGE sport dietary supplements like Threefold and Lazarus contact on cybernetics, however what’s introduced on this chapter is supposed to be much less involved with the precise settings talked about and extra in tune with broader cyberpunk tropes.
At first of a marketing campaign, the group can determine if a setting goes to be low augmentation, medium augmentation, or excessive augmentation. This may decide what the capability is for taking over cybernetic augmentations. In a low augmentation marketing campaign, characters will begin with 0 capability, that means in the event that they get any augmentations, it will likely be detrimental to the character. Characters can acquire elevated capability by forgoing their standard profit for gaining a stage and as a substitute growing their capability.
Through the years, among the themes of early cyberpunk have been challenged. With increasingly folks dwelling with prosthetics, performing as if augmentations would possibly make somebody inhuman feels ableist. For those who acquire entry to gender affirmation surgical procedure, it could possibly really feel bigoted to solid any type of physique modification as unnatural or unhealthy.
Cyberpunk Slice addresses this by stating that procedures like gender affirmation, beauty modifications, and prosthetics don’t work together with the foundations for augmentation. The foundations solely exist for these objects that grant a personality capability past human parameters. Even then, not like the cyber-psychosis of ages previous, having too many augmentations is extra about not being ready to juggle all the ability necessities and software program to nervous system necessities.
There are a number of choices to mannequin being overwhelmed by augmentations, from capability rating modifications to occasional injury performed to the character, however by far essentially the most fascinating choice is Complication. Relying on how far a personality exceeds their capability, the GM will get a number of factors to spend to set off occasions from 1-point problems (an augmentation fails to work for one spherical whereas it reboots) to 6-point problems (the character has to make Willpower checks to have the ability to take actions as their programs begin shutting down).
There’s an augmentation catalog on this part. Most augmentations take one slot, however some will be price a variable variety of slots (implanted weapons for instance), and a few are price two slots. There’s additionally a very enjoyable 0 slot implant that lets lower than scrupulous employers or authority figures set up a Kill-Swap. It’s famous that having Kill-Swap counts as a four-point complication all by itself.
Lots of the implants work together with Trendy AGE’s talent system. For instance, in some circumstances, they permit a personality to set off a stunt with out rolling doubles and paying for that stunt. Some augments enable for multiplying the vary of motion, senses, or carrying capability. There are additionally concentrating on programs, wall-crawling modifications, and a complete host of different helpful modifications.
One mod would possibly sound acquainted. The mind backup creates a backup file that shops a personality’s consciousness proper as much as the time of demise and will be re-sleeved into a brand new physique with an analogous system already put in.
Along with the catalog, there are a number of extra “freestyle” augmentations prompt. For instance, if you wish to emulate among the extraordinary powers in Trendy AGE, you would possibly solely enable them for use if a personality has cybernetics that emulate these talents.
Sport Mastering and Our on-line world
It is a barely odd chapter, in that it looks as if it’s going to be a common GM recommendation chapter, because it discusses the origins of cyberpunk, varied themes, and new instructions that cyberpunk has gone in newer years. It touches on extra near-future cyberpunk and extra eliminated themes of transhumanism.
However then, we get varied methods to deal with Our on-line world.
When you have performed different cyberpunk video games over time, seeing a particular part on our on-line world could trigger you to brace your self for a facet system that takes 3 times the time and power of anything within the system. Fortunately, like numerous extra trendy cyberpunk video games that I’ve seen, this goes the route of creating our on-line world and hacking analogous to different programs within the sport.
This part recommends that if a personality is doing one thing easy and restricted in scope, like breaking into an digital lock, you may resolve that type of “hacking” as principally a daily talent test. Identical to somebody can smash it or sizzling wire it, a hacker would possibly simply be capable to overwhelm it with numbers.
Alternatively, when coping with pc safety and breaking into necessary programs, data property have traits like Energy and Spec for performing towards a system, and firewalls have Construction (Well being), Integrity (Toughness), and Crypto (Protection).
There are three completely different paradigms talked about. Digital fight, semiotic our on-line world, and common hacking all may be used to evoke completely different style tropes. Common hacking is extra a matter of somebody throwing their intrusive packages at a firewall till it falls. Digital fight normally entails characters taking over an avatar and performing towards an inventive illustration of the defenses. Semiotic our on-line world is just like digital fight, besides that characters are totally immersed in a digital actuality that imposes extra bodily guidelines, that means that the avatar of a personality could must spend time strolling to get to a location to interrupt right into a system.
Digital representations of pc and safety features enable characters which have talents geared in the direction of virtuosity to shine, as they’re used to working with avatars and symbolic interpretations of pc features.
Since that is Trendy AGE, this wouldn’t be full with out a set of stunts particularly crafted for hacking. These contain some probably nasty results, like Antipersonnel Countermeasures, which might injury another person hooked into the system.
The ultimate part offers with characters like synthetics that may be hacked. It particulars what it takes to take over the physique of the character, in addition to the hurt a hacker can impose on an individual weak to those sorts of assaults.
Full Entry
Whereas this complement is brief for a sport like Trendy AGE, it’s filled with concentrated choices for a cyberpunk marketing campaign. Even when it cites cyberpunk tropes and origins, it does so succinctly. It additionally does job of navigating round among the worst baggage of cyberpunk. The foundations for parts like cybernetics and hacking, which might get slowed down in different programs, retain the identical stage of guidelines texture that’s frequent to the core sport system of Trendy AGE.
ICE
Regardless that the target wasn’t worldbuilding, I’d have liked instance manufacturers for every kind of kit introduced within the tools chapter. I additionally would have appreciated a “good” model and an “it’s all we will afford” model for common comparability. However once more, this wasn’t about world-building.
Certified Advice–A product with a lot of optimistic elements, however consumers could wish to perceive the context of the product and what it incorporates earlier than transferring it forward of different purchases.
This product is brief and to the purpose. When you like Trendy AGE, and you want cyberpunk, this ought to be a simple buy to make. The e-book itself is extraordinarily environment friendly in what it does, and that’s offering style content material for Trendy AGE. There is part of me that needs there was a little bit extra dialogue of genres of cyberpunk (like the assorted Mutants and Masterminds books that addressed completely different eras of comics), however that’s not what this product was about.
Hopefully, sometime we’ll get an opportunity to see one thing that delves extra totally into completely different genres of cyberpunk and completely different marketing campaign frameworks with the identical stage of concentrated sport content material.
