My Top Ten TTRPGs

Happy 2026. Dusting off the old blog and dropping one that a lot of Dungeon Tubers are doing. In spite of being a Caucasian Male TTRPG player over the age of 50, I have yet to set up a Dungeon Tube of my own, so I'm dropping it here. For my dozen or so I hope you are all doing well. I can't believe I had over a hundred views on the last Astroprisma one. I haven't played it in a while now, but it remains a fun game that I enjoyed and it makes the list.

10. Deadlands (Pinnacle Entertainment Group): This one is weird west setting and a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I didn't play it enough for it to go any further up the chain. I remember a few characters I ran--"Stone Cold" Ken Masters who was me doing a piss-poor Steve Austin getting blown away by a rifleman is very memorable and there was a gambler I played at a convention one time when I lived out in the UAE--for me the best mechanic was using the poker cards. I never tried the D20 or Savage Worlds version, so I can't speak to those but the original was fun.

09. Vampire: The Masquerade (White Wolf): For a time there in the 90's, this was the go to. My group played in a lot of the old World of Darkness and the various supplements. Dice pool system, but it felt like an easy one compared to some of the things I've encountered today. I still have the first edition of the core rule book and may revisit it someday. 08. Heroes Unlimited (Palladium): It's a super hero game with the Palladium engine. I also had plenty of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the various supplements. I remember reading the books like crazy and playing a few games in high school and as a recent graduate, but not enough to place it any higher on the list. Nowadays when I want rules light and just can't keep up with what characters can do even in 5th edition, I just don't think Palladium books can make the cut. 07.Marvel Super Heroes (TSR): You know and love FASERIP. This is the main supers game we played at a time in my life when Marvel was doing now wrong. I recently re-acquired them and hope to play again soon. My Mandela Effect affected brain doesn't remember if I started with this or with some half-hearted attempt at D&D, but as I remember it today, this is what started me on the journey. 06. Ryuutama:Natural Fantasy RPG (Kotodama Heavy Industries): For quite some time this was the number one RPG in Japan. It was billed as "Miyazaki meets The Oregon Trail" and that pretty much covers it. Two unique elements to this game: 1. Travel is the focus 2. The GM has his own character--a dragon called a Ryuujin. It grows along along with the players and tries to help them succeed. It's very rules light and a lot of fun. (I put two newer games on my list which may prove to be usurpers as time goes on. I used to proselytize for Ryuutama all the time. It's a really light-hearted fun game worth a shot. I'm sure it would be a great one to solo) 05.Cyberpunk 2020 (R. Talsorian Games) I don't want to separate things by edition too much, but RED--the current edition--could be up here in about the same spot. RED is a little easier to learn as I understand, but I really haven't played or run it, so 2020 it is. A lot of fun to be had here and I have both played and run online. The setting is what makes this game for me. Everyone should watch Edgerunners if they haven't. 04.Astroprisma (Crescent Chimera) another new one which is kind of a sister game to Shadow Dark in my mind. It has a similar creation backstory and creator--another young woman who jumped on the shoulders of giants and surpassed them streamlining some of the tedium of games that came before. It was a successful Kickstarter...it just didn't quite break the bank like Shadow Dark did. This is Sci-Fi space exploration geared for solo play with later expansion for groups to play together. Build a ship, explore a sector and get into trouble with various factions in the dystopian future. 03. The Roleplaying Game of the Planet of the Apes (Magnetic Press/West End): I love the ruleset, the supplements and the setting. This is a new one and I haven't been able to run one for the group. This is a variant of the D6 West End games like Star Wars. It looks so good and I'm working on my campaign/one shot planning now. The little solo part in the book was more like a Choose Your Own Adventure, but a more complex Solo expansion is on the way. 02. Shadow Dark (Arcane Library): I've run this a few times. I haven't quite gotten a continuous campaign out of it, but it's fun to read, has interesting art, and is supported by a growing community. Everyone in the Dungeon Tube audience has to know about it unless they've been living under a rock. 01. D&D 5E (WOTC 2014): Unpopular opinion in these circles, but for better or for worse, I've played it more than anything else. The mechanics are solid and easy enough for anyone to play who has an interest. I prefer Shadow Dark. I honestly had more fun with 4E and I grew up with 2E and played in a cool OSRIC campaign just before Wuhan Flu, but at the end of the day, I've played more 5E with more people in person and online than I've ever played in any of the other games over the previous 40-ish years of playing. It comes down to who is running the game and who you're playing with as far as the cringy/woke bits are concerned and the 2024 update is a bridge too far, but this version has been the most popular for a reason.

Take care...hopefully, I won't make it a complete ghost town in here in 2026..Also, Happy Year of the Horse...CNY is on the way you know!

Shadow Run Character: Work in Progress

Heidi
File Name: Hoe, Heidi A.
Birthplace:  Dörfli 

Attributes

Physical

• Body: 2
• Agility: 2
• Reaction: 2
• Strength: 1

Mental

• Willpower: 5
• Logic: 3
• Intuition: 5
• Charisma: 6

Special

• Edge: 3
• Essence: 6
• Standard Init: 7+1D6
• Hot Sim Init: 

 

Skills

Active

• Athletics: 3
• Close Combat: 3
• CON: 1
• Electronics:1
• Influence: 6
• Outdoors: 2
• Perception: 5
• Stealth: 5
  
  

Qualities

• Guts (+)
• Bad Luck (-)
• Photographic Memory (+)
• Addiction to Adrenaline-level 1 (-)
• First Impression (+)
• Combat Paralysis (-)

Knowledge

• Gangs
• Streets (sprawl)
• Corporate Personalities
• Journalism
• Current Events
• Area

Languages

• German - Native
• English - Expert
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

RPG a Day 2023: The 10th Anniversary Edition--Day 19 Favorite Published Adventure

My favorite published module is 'Thicker Than Blood' for Cyberpunk:2020. It's one of the few investigation/mystery type scenarios that seems playable and that the players can actually have fun doing and possibly solving. It's about a kid who has been abducted from a prestigious private school. It gives the party a chance to investigate in the main city as well as the surrounding "suburb" area which gives the players a little taste of most everything in Cyberpunk. 

   

RPG a Day 2023: The 10th Anniversary Edition--Day 6 Favorite Game You Never Get to Play

 I'll alter this just a little and say favorite genre I never get to  play and the answer is Cyberpunk. I would rather play Cyberpunk 2020 or its current Cyberpunk:Red iterations, but I'd take anything on the radar--Shadowrun, GURPS, Carbon 2185, Altered State, or the new Bladerunner to name a few. 

I thought with the release of CP:2077 video game that there would be more interest in the TTRPG, but it hasn't been my experience. Most people just want to play D&D 5E and in a fantasy setting. Altered State and to a much greater extent Carbon 2185 could get more traction due to the former being similar to 5E and the latter running on the 5E engine, but most of these games are completely set apart from 'The World's Most Popular Roleplaying Game' and most players I come across don't have the time nor the desire to learn or play anything else. I get that. It amazes me how much time we put in to learning the various different systems when we were younger. 

Another big challenge in running any of these games online is that even when people are willing to try, most of these systems are pretty crunchy. People without books shouldn't even apply. 

RPG A Day 2022--Day 17--Past, Present, or Future? When is Your Favorite Game Set?

It was set in the future...then for a while there it was the alternate present...and now it's in the past...

It's Cyberpunk 2020 and 'Night City' along with its various precursors and derivatives. If you want to get technical there is 2020 which is still the most famous along with the first version which took place in 2013, so those are in the past for sure, but there is the current version of the TTRPG called Cyberpunk Red which is in 2045 and the video game version that I talked about yesterday that takes place in 2077 so as to keep the main settings in the future even if it is like Max Headroom--20 minutes into the future. 

In many cases the games predicted what actually came to be and may yet come around...most of the predicted technological advances are still well in development, they just aren't up to the standard/common place that the fictional year 2020 presented them as being. There are some cases in which the real-time counterpart actually surpassed the fiction. However, in all cases the settings are familiar enough to easily get invested in because they are grounded in reality while still being imaginative. This is vastly different from the typical sword and sorcery of D&D and even from the similarly themed Shadowrun which introduced fantasy elements into the cyberpunk genre. I can't get enough of it. The Cyberpunk setting is one of the few that I can watch live play throughs and though it's a few years old now, the Playstation Access crew's mini-campaign remains a favorite. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FlU6p9KKzU&list=PLLUkxbIkknLuQJJRwEbV5z2WFt6hs9Rxy

RPG A Day--Day 16--What Would Be Your Perfect Game?

 Hard to say. I think my perfect game would be something like the Cyberpunk 2077 video game except it would be completely immersive, multiplayer and not as glitchy. For a long-time fan of the Cyberpunk series from R Talsorian Games the video game version from almost two years back was amazing. I put in over 100 hours in that game and I still didn't see it all. Just seeing all the locations that I imagined and saw pictures of in the source books for so many years brought to life was an incredible experience. The story was top-notch, and very nearly exactly what I wanted...unfortunately, it was too glitchy and the actual video game gameplay  wasn't everything people hoped it would be. That said, I loved every minute of it. I'd like something like that except completely VR with the ability to run with a group just like in the TTRPG except truly living it. The tech isn't quite there to give us that holodeck/Matrix yet, but I think it'll be great once we get there. 

RPG A Day 2022--Day 14--Suggest a New RPG to Try

 Well, we're supposed to roll 1D8 + 1 and tag that many friends with this suggestion. That's not gonna work for me. I don't have that many TTRPG playing friends to tag...and no real suggestions of new games for them to play. Instead, I'll briefly mention a few games I'd like to play:

1. Carbon 2185--It's a cyberpunk game running on the 5E engine

2. Birthright--A TSR D&D setting from 1995 that I've never been able to play.

3. Alice is Missing--a big deal from last year or so. It's a murder mastery played silently by text. 

I would like to give any one of those a shot. As an aside I notice that I come across a lot of 3rd party games that run on the 5E engine. There's a much better chance to play such a game since so many players already know the rules. 

RPG A Day 2022: Day 11--If you could live in a game setting, where would it be?

This one's easy. It starts by not choosing the setting where you wish to be, but rather accepting the setting in which you are--Cyberpunk Dystopian. 

I've trained most of my life for living in a Cyberpunk Dystopian world...unfortunately, the cybernetics aren't as widespread and sadly we don't even get to watch any Rollerball match-ups, but quite a bit of what was predicted in CP 2013/CP 2020 and Bladerunner came to be and I'm here for it. 

Style over Substance, mass media overkill, corporate owned political representatives, designer drugs, body modification, chimeras, out of control political correctness, virtual/enhanced reality, mass disparity between the social classes, varied plagues--many of which lab based, my favorite girls' hairstyle, pollution, transportation and infrastructure collapse, nations against nations within nations--even serious talk of secession in certain states are all clearly present in our real world. All in all, great times. Just institute more roller-based sports for me ASAP, and I can wait a bit on the bionic implants. 

RPG A Day 2022: Day 7 System Sunday--Describe a Cool Part of a System that You Love.

 I don't think a year has gone by in my participation with the RPG a Day experiment that I haven't talked a little about Ryuutama. This system is a traditional rules lite fantasy TTRPG coming out of Japan. It is whimsical in tone and described as Miyazaki meets Oregon Trail due to its focus on travel. The feature that I'm going to talk about is the GM character called the Ryuujin. 

The Ryuujin are small, lesser Dragons in this setting that are raising what are called Seasonal Dragons. These powerful Seasonal Dragons grow by hearing the Ryuujin tell stories about the adventures of the party. The Ryuujin come in four colors: Green, Azure, Crimson, and Black. Each color has its own features and also gives a hint to the tone of the campaign. Greens are general, Azures are love/family, Crimsons are action, and Blacks are sorrow/death. 

Many TTRPG commentators will tell you that the DM/GM should never have his own character as a part of the party. I can see that--especially when it comes to leveling up a DM/GM character alongside the other PCs--as these types of characters potentially steal the spotlight from the players. What's more the GM/DM character knows all the secrets if GM/DM wants him to. The Ryuujin is a bit different and works to put the spotlight on the PCs. I would say they are about as helpful as 'Dungeon Master' in the old D&D cartoon except they do level up--on their own scale--and the powers that they have can help or hinder the party...whatever makes for a more interesting story. 

I've taken to using the gimmick in every campaign I run. Having a Ryuujin in a fantasy setting fits seamlessly, but even in a setting like Cyberpunk, having a similarly powered permanent NPC embedded in the group gives the GM/DM a voice within the narrative that is distinct from his role as arbiter and lessens the burden of coming up with a parade of NPCs that just happen to be there right in time when the players need them. 

Altered State--Cyberpunk 2020

I continue to waste away in Coronavirusville, but on the plus side, I was able to purchase and read through most of Altered States, a new Cyberpunk Supplement for Index Card Role Playing Game.  I think it will help to streamline the rules for "the world's greatest 'cyberpunk' roleplaying game"...or at least the most well-known one. I have run CP2020 campaigns on Roll 20 wherein I tried to incorporate a few ICRPG rules, but now we have something official. Rules-light CP for less than $10.00? Sign me up.  

At some point I might go all in on the AS setting which goes even further into the future than traditional CP, but I really am a sucker for the CP2020 ascetics. I like style over substance, and the 1980's feel, but to each his own. However, one thing I don't like about CP2020 is the bloated RAW and that's where AS helps. 

I am a GM/Referee who likes having a permanent NPC stay with the players. She's not a Mary Sue and mostly gives exposition without my having to come up with a cast of thousands. In my 2020 games, the concept is that the team works to put on a reality show about Edgerunners similar to COPS. My character is a media type that follows them around and records their exploits for broadcast. She's famous with people on the streets, but overlooked by the Network Corporate types. She has plot armor on, but she's about as useful as Dungeon Master in the D&D cartoon was for all intentions. She's also useful for testing out how to build characters, so here's a quick take on how I converted my media darling Coco Lopez into an AS character along with a couple of thoughts on other CP2020 issues that can be taken care of with AS:

-----This part is probably only useful for those with copies of Altered States and Cyberpunk 2020-----

The first bit is all from AS--in my mind the closest in character concept was to make her Truth Seeker Enhanced Human Shifter with the Good, Bad and Ugly tag. I chose Mnemonic Link and Shifter Graft from the enhancement which helps her to record the happenings of her team while remaining in "Embedded" in the group and not look like a somewhat famous TV personality. Equipment doesn't matter, I pick what I want, but I did choose the external augment so she could get cyberoptics that fit with the character. Weapons again doesn't matter much choose what you want, but I added from CP2020  Rate of Fire (ROF) information for how many rounds can be spent per turn along with capacity for firearms that don't show specifics in AS. Also, it does take one round to reload on all firearms--with specifics beating general as always. Coco has no psychic abilities but the option seems really straight forward if players wanted to use them. Links and Bonds again doesn't matter much--players could even use the life path from CP2020 if they are into that kind of thing. 

Next is the CP2020 stuff. Since I want Coco to remain a Media--I just looked at her specific skills from CP2020 and connect them with the most appropriate stat to my way of thinking. Example: Streetwise--seems like a WIS skill to me, so +2 is added to Coco's streetwise checks. If for some reason she needed to make a streetwise attempt--although I'd probably stick with checks for something involving this skill, I'd let her go with D4 effort--possibly D6 if she researched the area ahead of time or used her optics in some way. Also, if the character is using a career skill the roll would be easy vs. DC, a chipped skill would be straight roll vs. DC, and a non-chipped non-career skill would be Hard vs. DC or maybe even impossible like a non-chipped runner trying to read a language he's never seen before. 

Netrunning--always a problem in CP2020--would be largely hand waved here. I would use the AS/ICRPG system all the way. I would let the Decker/Netrunner go into cyberspace but going into all the minutiae of deck building and which programs to load up has never been fun for anyone except the runner player and the GM from my experiences. You could resolve a hack really quickly and let the decker stay with his mates and fight.

It might be a while before I can try it, but I'm looking forward to giving it a go. As to the system I'd give it 4/5 because there's always room to improve, but for the cost? 5/5 you can skip a pizza and improve your cyberpunk game.

RPG A Day--August 23rd--Surprise!

You may or may not be surprised when I say that Cyberpunk is my favorite genre of RPG when it comes down to it. I was pleasantly surprised when the video game Cyberpunk: 2077 by CD Project Red was announced and rekindled interest in the tabletop RPGs that inspired it namely--Cyberpunk (2013) and Cyberpunk 2020--we don't like to talk about Cyberpunk 3.0 A.KA. CP203X or "Barbie Punk"; let's just say decisions were made...mostly decisions by the players to keep playing CP2020 instead of the new edition, but I digress.

Although there is a lot of cross-over between fans of video games and table top RPGs, not everyone enjoys both, so ICYMI, the company CD Project Red is apparently a big deal because of the critically acclaimed Witcher video game among others. CP2077 has been in development for years--even in danger of becoming so-called "vaporware"--but things really started picking up over the past couple of years culminating with an appearance by Keanu Reeves at this year's E3 gaming trade show/convention. Reeves was revealed to be starring in the game as the infamous Johnny Silverhand--a favorite Rockerboy character from CP2020. Maybe even more importantly, a release date was finally announced for April of 2020. Of course with popularity like that Cyberpunk needed a new tabletop edition and since there will be a forty plus year gap between 203X and 2077 what better way to create this new edition than by setting it in those gap years. This is where Cyberpunk: Red comes in

Cyberpunk:Red takes place between 203X and 2077 detailing the rebuilding of Night City after a small nuke was detonated therein during the 4th corporate war. The fallout from the blast created "Red Skies" and although most of the fallout has diminished, during sunrise and sunset the entire sky again becomes a blistering red--thus the punks call this era, "The Time of the Red". As of this entry, only the beginners box called the jumpstart kit is out. Physical copies sold out at Gencon, but more will be on the way. Drive-thru of course has the PDF ready for download. I really like what it looks like so far, and even if I don't get to play, I love reading the lore.

When I think about the Cyberpunk RPG--remember the fiction of "Cyberpunk" does take place before the game and authors of such works are even mentioned in the game--I am very surprised about how many future events and technological achievements were successfully predicted. Almost every crazy thing in the games has either already happened or is currently in development. Stories about: chimeras, bionic limbs, implantable skill chips, fully functioning A.I., Self-driving vehicles, designer drugs, rabid media reporters and savage corporations sometimes read like they are ripped from today's headlines--er, newsfeeds--from a game created back in the late 1980's. Almost everything is spot-on...except one thing--no, not the nukes or astroids--I'm talking about smartphones and a wireless net.

In the CP "universe" there is still a reliance on paper products--FAX Machines and even the, then futuristic, "print on demand" Screamsheets--for example are still prevalent and relevant. Today in the real 2019 you almost never need a FAX and newspapers are going the way of fidget spinners. Old guys like me still love the physical media, and--to a certain extent--I supposed there will always be a niche market for such, but the kids these days...they don't want it. Almost EVERYTHING is digital and you're using your wireless smart phone to do it--no hacking needed.

I have said for years that I now live in a dystopian present and the fact that I love the CP genre so much is one of the reasons I'm able to cope without going into technostress. In just four days in China I've seen things...seen things you little people wouldn't believe. First of all, right off the plane you buy a Chinese SIM card, if you're smart. The card activates your number and gives you X amount of time including data. You'll download a multitude of apps, the most important of which is called WeChat. They are practically in a cashless society now with this WeChat--it's everywhere--and it's so easy to use. ATM we have cash because we just got here, but once I start getting a salary it will all be deposited electronically into my account. I won't even have a check stub unless I print one off. Almost everything is purchased using this app to scan QR codes--even if you want to buy a little toy from a gumball machine or use a massage chair--you gotta scan the code. Coins don't work. (I'm only being slightly facetious, you can probably find an old machine somewhere, but I haven't seen them) There are other 'pay' apps but WeChat is the big one. I know it's available in the States as well, but it certainly isn't the big deal it is out here. Next, you get the Chinese version of Uber in an app called DiDi this connects to your WeChat which is connected to your bank. I book cars without ever talking to the guys. If I did have to talk, I could use the Youdao Fanyiguan app like a universal translator. They have robots in the mall that can give you directions...they recognize your face and know you're standing right next to them. They don't know that I don't speak a lick of Chinese (yet) and they aren't compatible with the translation app--possibly a user problem from my end--but still. Now all of this stuff happened...and continues to happen...before we reached the actual year 2020. Can you imagine what might come around by the time "real" 2077 gets here? If technology continues to advance the way it has, it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of us are here to see what transpires first hand.

RPG A Day 2019--August 8--Obscure

Today I wanted to talk about a fun game that I picked up this last year that is becoming less and less obscure all the time. This game is Index Card Role Playing Game--ICRPG from Runehammer Games. I'll post the link to Drive Thru, but since you are the converted you probably already know.

Essentially, ICRPG is D&D 5E stripped down and refined into just the real essentials. It's somehow not dumbed down by any means and fans of the system and the author himself continuously add to it..yet, it's elegantly simple.

I won't spoil everything, but there are gimmicks like: timers, loot, difficulty settings, and milestones that simplify everything. Players are always in initiative. Action is always happening. Even measurements have been refined by using a bannana. Aside from making notes about some of the wild loot you can get and possibly your magic spells, you really don't have to look up anything, and you can easily convert any D&D5E character or monster in a few minutes.

What makes it even better is the it helps out other systems as well. Aside from D&D, I've modded Ryuutama and Cyberpunk as well with varying degrees of success by using the gimmicks. If I wanted to teach a new player about RPGs and they've never played before, I'm going with ICRPG over any starter set or "kids" game that's out today.  I plan to give CP2020 another go this year using even more of the ICRPG material--if Roll*20 works in China that is. There is also a wrestling game that I converted that I'm all set for, but haven't tried out yet. You'd be surprised at what you might get into using the GM's Tool Kit...and the book is actually pretty small.

Speaking of using the tools, conversions are not as time consuming as you might think, and it's actually fun for me. The ICRPG book has helped me to understand game design better than I ever have before and I've been playing for 30+years. Even if its popularity does grow--and I hope it does--it will still be obscure in my mind as one of the few games that has really taught me something. Again, that's ICRPG found here:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/212262/INDEX-CARD-RPG-Core-2E

...among other places. You can even get a free quick start without resorting to piracy.

Tomorrow's word is Critical...

RPG A Day--August 4th--Share

I'm cheating a bit in this entry by SHARING one of what I hope is one of my funnier news reports. So many funny ones to choose from, and while these reports are 100% pure Markham, the campaign was the classic "Thicker Than Blood" module and the actions reported on were based on those taken by the players

Setting up the Clip:

It's from a Roll*20 session of a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign I ran around two years ago. I can't imagine any of you not knowing what Cyberpunk is, but just in case, it's a near dystopian future setting wherein we have progressed well technologically speaking, but maybe not so much socially. Some have called it hi-tech low-life. It's kind of like Bladerunner or Alita: Battle Angel.  I play as Cocoa Lopez AKA COLO she is a young media personality employed by Network 54 to report on the exploits of a team of edgerunners--the players--which she is embedded with. In these reports are her boss, anchor man, Lyle McClellen, her co-worker and rival, Bobbie Blake, and a few other NPCs.

The Broadcasts:

    This is Lyle McClellen with breaking news out of South Night City in the area known as the Hill. Earlier this afternoon an explosion decimated one of the many mill houses in the area resulting in the death of one Marta Anders. The 80-year-old, long-time resident was said to be a pillar of the community to the many undocumented workers that populate this area.  NCPD forensics had this to say on the matter:

“Well,  one thing’s for sure, it’ll have to be a closed casket funeral. Had to have some of the low-level tech boys blot what was left of her up with handiwipes—hope they get enough to take down to the morgue, so we can try an’ identify her officially. 

Of course it was booster gangs…but in a neighborhood like this “Nobody didn’t see nuffin’”…gets worse every year the freakin’ animals. What’s this supposed to be—some kind of accident? What did she do mistake a KG of military grade C6 explosives for Cake mix?  What kind of a sicko blows up an old lady anyway? That’s what I’d like to know. 

In what is surely an incredible coincidence, our own Coco Lopez, who is currently embedded with a group of “special investigators” for the hit show ‘Night City: Ride Along’ seen here each night on Network 54, was on the scene only a short time before the tragedy struck. Miss Lopez is there any insight that you can give so that the people of this city can make some sense out of this senseless act?

I didn’t see nuffin. 

I'll share another one...but they keep getting smaller...

If you have your jeweler's glass handy, you just might be able to check out one more...

 I wish I could make them bigger for you but I think you get the general idea. Tomorrow's topic...SPACE.




































and the report...if I can post it...

RPG A Day 2018: Day 27...Share a great stream / actual play

Let me first say that I can't get into these so much. I was listening to an older Cyberpunk one and I tried Critical Role, but the episodes run too long. I'd rather be playing or prepping my own game. I would actually prefer playing a videogame to watching one of these. I do find them useful when I want to see how a game is played, and I think they are a lot of help for people who haven't played before. I could imagine myself looking at more of them if I wasn't in a position to play or run my own games. I think when the game is streamed...especially the big ones like Critical Role...that it becomes more about acting and entertaining viewers than actually playing. I'm glad that the streams are doing well, but at the moment they run too long for me to get into them.

The Cyberpunk one starts here...the language isn't safe for work. I haven't made it to the end of the campaign but it is over. Vee is the only one worth watching for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pRT3i2Fuvo

EDITED: R. Talsorian Games just put up some new actual plays including one ran by Maximum Mike himself...maybe more palatable than my previous recommendation--although I do find my original suggestion to be very funny.

https://rtalsoriangames.wordpress.com/2018/08/25/from-the-screamsheets-8-25-2018/ 

RPG A Day 2018: Day 25... Game that had an impact on you in the last 12 months

It's time to really talk about the system I use in my current campaign, Cyberpunk 2020.

For those not in the know, Cyberpunk is a specific genre of science fiction that takes place in the not-too distant future...next Sunday A.D. not really...actually, the times are usually somewhat non-specific or in the 2000's. Everything is seen through the filter of writers and other creators from the late 70's early 80's, so most of the time although it is the future, it has a retro vibe. Often the genre is described as high-tech, low-life. It's the ultimate evolution of a disposable society wherein image is everything and perception trumps reality. Technology has advanced to the point wherein humans have to fight to keep their humanity. Popular examples include: Bladerunner, The Matrix, Total Recall, and Ghost in the Shell. Recently, the entire genre has been making a comeback in film with sequels to Bladerunner, a live-action Ghost in the Shell, an upcoming live-action Battle Angel Alita, and another reboot of the terminator on the way, and in television with the shows: Mr. Robot, Orphan Black, Altered Carbon and Black Mirror enjoying at least some popularity. As a fan of the genre, I think it's a great time and that more people are being exposed to Cyberpunk than arguably any time before. Unfortunately, it can also be argued that we have yet to have a "break out" success in this current renaissance. Here's to hoping one of these properties becomes a killer app.

There is a wide range of settings within the Cyberpunk genre itself. Some are very futuristic while others are more grounded in reality. Some of the common challenges for the people 2000's include, but are not limited to: natural disasters: earthquakes, asteroids, abnormal weather conditions, man made disasters: usually nukes of some kind, political shake-ups, oppression and confusion brought about by the rapid expansion of tech that outpaced the average person's ability to comprehend it, integration with machinery, integration biotech such as enhanced genetics and chimeras, sentient A.I.: androids, robots, holograms, designer drugs even more deadly than today, the rise in power of corporations, the rise of street gangs in response, usually, a matrix-like network of some kind, and the general questioning of what it means to be alive and human. Most of these stories include one of these aspects or another. Cyberpunk 2020 as a game attempts to make all of these things happen at more or less the same time.

One of the aspects of CP2020 that makes it interesting is the great number of predictions that have come true. Almost everything that was predicted has either been produced, is in development or in some cases has been surpassed in the real world...and we've still got two years to go. Some of the interesting 'misses' are: the continued reliance on fax technology and hard-copies that we've all but completely moved away from today, the relative high cost of cellular phones and the reliability of wireless networks, and the fact that in real-life we've shown a bit more restraint in use of nukes. There are lore reasons one could use as to why things developed as they did in the CP2020 world vs. what really happened--we haven't had widespread use of the nukes, we haven't had major asteroids crashing into the Earth either of which would have had a major impact on the wireless network, I'm sure. It's still funny that our smartphones IRL are more powerful yet smaller than the Netrunner's high-tech computer gear. I guess the same could be said for Penny's computer in Inspector Gadget. 

Cyberpunk's first edition (1988) was set in 2013, second edition (1990) which is the most popular, took place in 2020 while a third, generally unpopular, edition (2005) took place in 203X. All of the editions have had heavy/primary input by Michael Pondsmith who is credited with being the creator and overseer of the property. R. Talisorian games also produce other popular RPG products and have recently gained the licence and have produced 'The Witcher' for table-tops based on the popular videogame series of the same name. It has been well received so far. Pondsmith, his family, and the rest of the crew are very open with fans and share a lot of behind the scenes info. Apparently, the company was already planning a new edition of the tabletop game to be known as 'Cyberpunk:RED'. They were approached by CD Projekt Red, the highly regarded videogame makers behind the aforementioned 'The Witcher' series of games. CD Projekt Red was interested in the Cyberpunk property, and began development of the highly anticipated 'Cyberpunk 2077' videogame. At it's core this game is said to be using the lore and mechanics of CP2020. Buzz around this game has grown for years and years, and we may be waiting for years to come, but progress is being shown regularly. The company says Ready when it's Ready. Until then all we can do is wait. This anticipation along with the new popularity of Cyberpunk as a genre has resulted in many potential players looking to play CP2020...and that's good for me.

All PDFs are available in the usual places, but what interests me is that print on demand can be had for many of the books over at the R.Talsorian website. I--like a true CP2020 character--want the hard copies. As to the system itself, It is skill based. You can build a real badass right out of the box depending on what the GM says, but no matter how good you are a lucky punk with a gun could take you out. Which is what makes it awesome. Improvement to skills--which comes at a sloooow grind--and upgrades to equipment are the official way of 'leveling up'. To use a skill it is rolling a D10+your stat level+your skill level vs. a set difficulty number. There are levels of success that was kind of ahead of its time for an old system. You fumble on a '1' and crit on a '10'. The '10's even explode so one could have a crazy level of success. There were at least two combat systems throughout CP2020's long run. I use Friday Night Firefight from CP2020 rule book. It is too complex to go into here with rules for hand to hand, range, automatic weapons, and heavy weapons, but if you learn it...it is excellent. There is also an entirely different set of rules for 'Netrunning' that is almost a separate game in itself. Some people say that it is broken. For years I didn't understand it myself, but the Roll*20 character sheet made by someguy--wish I knew how to give him credit--made it easy to understand. It is a lot of fun--for the game master and the Netrunner players--but it's a tricky thing to keep the non-Netrunners entertained should you try this game mechanic.

I've said more than enough. Give Cyberpunk a try won't you?

https://talsorianstore.com/

https://www.cyberpunk.net/en