Thorough Thursdays : CYBERPUNK

This Thorough Thursdays entry was supposed to have gone out yesterday, but I came down with a terrible cold, and forgot to publish it. Gomen nasai!

Prior to this post, I have only tagged three posts with the label Cyberpunk.

Those posts refer to the Cyberpunk 2013/2020 Role Playing Game by R. Talsorian Games and the genre as a whole respectively.

Three posts labeled Cyberpunk by a Science Fiction fan who loves the concepts of artificial intelligence, robots, and Anime/Manga.

That's just wrong.

I first discovered the term Cyberpunk through my uncle, a brilliant fellow and an avid reader of Science Fiction. He was especially interested in SF works that address changes in Human nature, culture, and thought brought upon us by advancements in technology.

After reading a number of novels in the genre he recommended them to me, namely Hardwired and Voice of the Whirlwind by Walter Jon Williams, Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson, and Blood Music by Greg Bear.

I became quite a fan myself, and since I am influenced as much by cinema as literary works, I became further inspired by the film Blade Runner, and the often underrated TV series Max Headroom.

This all lead me to the R. Talsorian Games RPG Cyberpunk 2013, and its follow up, Cyberpunk 2020. I ran a lot of 2020, often altering it a bit to reflect more of a Blade Runner setting and feel. I also tried my hand at Shadowrun, 2300 AD, and other games with significant Cyberpunk elements.

Around 1990 I discovered the Japanese RPG Metal Head, a Cyberpunk RPG that also included space travel, mecha, and other elements that really appealed to me. I ran a few games of that as well.

Many of my Traveller campaigns contain heavy Cyberpunk influences in the way technology and corporate culture interact with the people of Charted Space and the Third Galactic Imperium. . 

Cyberpunk is a strange genre. It really should be jarring, thought provoking social commentary and sometimes it is, but it is just as easily an excuse for technology-porn, and non-stop action.

How many Cyberpunk stories have cybernetics? Most, if not virtually (pun intended) all.

How many Cyberpunk stories feature 'punk'? Not many.

Punk is traditionally a social movement born out of the frustration and angst of the working class. It bucks tradition, corporate culture, and celebrates freedom, non-conformity, and the establishment through acts of counter-culture rebellion.

Does Cyberpunk actually do that?

As noted, sometimes it does, but other times the main characters of Cyberpunk stories end up working with, or at the very least within, the confines of the established authories to take down other interests who aren't all that different in the grander scheme of things. For example, Major Motoko Kusanagi of Ghost in the Shell isn't some punk rebel trying to stick it to the man, but rather a kind of police officer - She is the man! Well...you know what I mean.

Wouldn't a true Cyberpunk hero, or heroine have no cybernetics, avoid the 'net', and try to dismantle the oppressive culture of megacorporate government control? Are Shadowrunners really Cyberpunk if they go on runs for one megacorporate patron against another? That's just facilitating the situation, not rebelling against it, which is the real definition of punk. 

For a time it seemed that Cyberpunk in the classic sense had fallen out of favor. Real world scientific advancements had shown that biological, not mechanical, improvements were the logical next step. Also, things stated to look less dystopian, and an oppressive corporate culture less likely to prevail. 

Now, things have swung back the other way. Between the current world political and social climates darkening yet again, and improvements in the fields of prosthetics and virtual reality, the outlook for our future seems more Cyberpunk then ever. Is it just a coincidence that Blade Runner is getting a sequel now, and they finally put together a live action Ghost in the Shell film (crappy and poorly handled as it was)?

Recently Age of Ravens started a Cyberpunk retrospective of sorts as part of his History of RPGs series. One of the podcasts he's involved with, Play on Target, released a recent episode covering Cyberpunk gaming as well. Check them out won't you?

In the end, I am going to say I am a fan of Cyberpunk, especially its presentation in games, Anime/Manga, movies, and television. At the same time, I see it in a fashion similar to how I see Fantasy. It's a guilty pleasure for me this genre, since I don't feel like most of the Cyberpunk we see is truly what Cyberpunk is, or what it could be. The Cyberpunk we get is over-the-top, sensationalized Cyberpunk, and that's the opposite of what Cyberpunk should be.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

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Barking Alien

Wares Blade Beyond

Oh, I forgot to mention...

I recently discovered that Japan has its own Kickstarter style crowdfunding site, called Campfire. How did I discover this? Why is it significant? 

Well, it just so happens I was doing some research for a possible new Mecha Anime RPG campaign, and I came across a little something that may not mean much to the rest of you, but is of great importance to me...

A WARES BLADE REBOOT ?!?

So it would seem!

A company by the name of Shindosha, located outside of Tokyo proper, is trying to gather the fan backing necessary to bring back the epic 'Medieval Fantasy meets Giant Robot' classic in the form of games, replay comics, novels, and most especially an animated feature!

From what I've been able to gather, the main focus is on an animated film, or original video animated series and a series of setting guidebooks, and novels (or novels with a game information section in them - which is a neat idea) for a 'new' setting for the game called 'The Earth of the Sacred Texts', or 'Earth of the Sacred Land' (my translations may be off).

I put 'new' in quotes because if I am not mistaken, some of the previous Wares Blade prose novels do take place in this setting, though it is not the default setting of the game (think old school AD&D. The game itself is based on Greyhawk, but later there were novels set in the worlds of Dragonlance, and The Forgotten Realms). 

Wares Blade was very popular in Japan at one time,

and well supported with numerous products.

I've talked about Wares Blade a number of times on this blog, and would be totally jazzed to see it resurrected in any form. I am very curious to see what they do with it. Preliminary designs, and concept art look excellent, and I have high hopes that an new edition of the RPG will be available if the crowd funding project is successful.

Wow. A new Wares Blade. I can barely wrap my head around it. 

A new Mecha campaign by yours truly is now a must.

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Barking Alien

Moonage Daydream

This is Barking Alien to Spaceflight Command...

 

Pre-flight checks all green.

Plasma injectors online.

Heim-Space Drive* initiating.

We are go for FTL interchange.

 

Roger that Barking Alien. You are cleared for launch.

Art By Peter Elson

A Personal Favorite

Science Fiction is home for me.

It is my first love, my original inspiration, my introduction to fandom.

Star Trek, Lost in Space, and Space:1999 were things I knew, and knew well, long before I really got into comics. I discovered RPGs a few months after I discovered Star Wars**. As I learned to read well above my grade level at a fairly young age, I practically absorbed any Science Fiction short story, or novel I could get a hold of.

I recently told a friend the story of finding a copy of Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials, and trying to locate as many of the stories where the tome's aliens originated as possible.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., The Extraterrestrial, even my Superhero comic book interests are topped by Green Lantern, and the futuristic Legion of Superheroes. Space Adventure is in my blood.

I am truly made of star stuff.***

Recently I've gotten to do something I really love to do. Run Science Fiction RPGs.

Sure, I've been running an ongoing Traveller campaign for three years now, but additionally, in the last few months, I've gotten to run Star Trek (LUG), Star Wars (WEG), and even Hunter Planet.

Not all of it has gone perfectly, in fact some of it has irked me considerably, but I've gotten to do it, and on at least one occasion I hit it right on target (a small exhaust port, approximately two meters across. Surprisingly tough to hit, even for a computer).

I have plans for a possible online, Google Hangouts campaign next year based on a Science Fiction television show IP I've been wanting to run for years. I'll let you know how that goes.

Combined with the arrival of a brand new Star Wars film just seventeen days from now, and it seems the perfect time to focus the blogs posts on this genre. Additionally, I've had some very interesting conversations, and experiences lately that have taught me a lot about how to run games, how not to, and the fact that as I go into 2016, I have some great opportunities, and tough choices to make.

All this, and lasers too! Lasers I tell ya.


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*Heim-Space Drive is a name I created for a FTL drive based on the Heim Theory, a speculative means of achieving faster than light speeds by entering an alternate dimension such as Star Wars' Hyperspace, or Traveller's Jump Space.

**Star Wars isn't really Science Fiction, but rather Science Fantasy, or better yet 'Space Opera Fairy Tale'. Still, it involves aliens, spaceships, ray guns, robots, and travel to distant planets. For the purposes of this post, and this month's theme, it is more than welcome at the cool kids table.

***Thank you Carl Sagan.

Thorough Thursdays : SPACE OPERA

Prior to this post, I have only tagged the term Space Opera,  ten times in the seven years this blog as been around. As little sense as that makes, it is not the subject I wish to be thorough about this particular Thorough Thursday.

The issue is that few of those entries directly relate to Space Opera, The Complete Science Fiction Role Playing Game, written and created by Ed Simbalist, A. Mark Ratner, and Phil McGregor for Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1980.

That's just wrong.

Between 1982 and 1984, one particular group of my gaming buddies and I played a lot of this game. A LOT. Believe it or not, outside of FASA's Star Trek, this was our game of choice for Science Fiction in those years.

That's right. It wasn't Star Frontiers and it wasn't Traveller. It was Space Opera by Fantasy Games Unlimited.

How that is possible I do not know.

For years now I have attempted to figure out how we played this game. Periodically attempting to re-read the rulebooks (my original ones from 1982) I am amazed that we made any sense of this monster.

Space Opera is the quintessential example of trying too hard in game design.  

Nearly every facet of the game, from rolling your PCs characteristics to ship-to-ship combat is overly complex with no significant benefit I can see. Not only that but you can clearly see an easier way to do everything.

For example, you roll percentile dice and then reference a chart to determine what your attributes will be. There are fourteen attributes. The attribute stats range from 1 to 19. There are several columns, each with two or three stats, that you need to refer to in order to figure out what your PC's attribute is. So a roll of 54 gets you a Strength of 13 but an Agility of 12.

Why not roll two 10-sided dice for a 2-20 range for all fourteen stats. I've tried to read through it again and again and I see no advantage to the way they have it. I could be wrong as math is not my specialty by any means. Still and all, I don't get it.

Overwrought and convoluted though it may be (and it is - the organization of the rules is nothing to write home about either), I want to make it perfectly clear that we played this game. Often. It was a real favorite for a time, albeit a brief time relative to my many years of gaming.

How? I am not sure.

Why? I have some theories...

Space Opera was made during a very special period in gaming and fandom history. It came out at the first great height in RPG popularity but it was still so small an industry that they could get away with stuff you'd be sued over today.

In no uncertain terms Space Opera features (that is, unabashedly copies with the file numbers all but left on):

The United Federation of Planets and Vulcans from Star Trek.
The Lens from E. E. Smith's Lensman series.
Jedi Knights and Lightsabers from Star Wars.
The Kzinti from Larry Niven's Known Space novels.
The Bugs from Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers.

...and so much more.

My friends and I grew up in this era and experienced all of this while it was new. We can look back on it now and be amazed they got away with that crap but at the time it was just pure cool. Fantasy Games Unlimited wasn't 'getting away' with anything to us. They were doing what anyone interested in those things would do. They found a way to include everything they liked and thought was awesome into their game.

So would you! So did we!

Our Space Opera universe was an odd mix of Science Fiction inspirations and merged universes in itself. In addition to elements provided in the game itself, my friends and I drew tons of ideas from authors such as Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, Robert Heinlein, Larry Niven, and artwork from  Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials, Epic Illustrated Magazine, Heavy Metal Magazine, the Terran Trade Authority books, and the book Tomorrow and Beyond.

A sample of one of our best and longest Space Opera campaigns can be found here. Hopefully, that will give you some idea of the thematic approach we took to the setting (or our version of it).

I think we knew what we wanted to run, and play. We knew what kind of stories we wanted to tell, the type of characters that should be in those stories, and what we needed out of the game to make that happen.

Somehow, I imagine that we made the game do what we wanted it to do rather than playing it as it was meant to be played. Possibly, even very likely, this was one of my first forays into 'story-first, rules-second' thinking.

Looking back on it now, it may have been one of the key formative game experiences that contributed to my later approach to gaming.

We made this nearly unplayable game work, because the rules of the games were less important than the yarns we wished to spin.

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Thorough Thursdays: BLADE RUNNER

I know, I know. I said before that I wasn't going to add tags. The idea here is to go more in-depth about things I've already addressed at some point. Thing is, I've been thinking about this idea, on this one subject, for a while now. I also figure this is as good a place to talk about it as any other, since it is also related to this month's unofficial theme (Science Fiction).

To go a step further, I will be cross referencing this with a few other tags, so at least they will get some much needed love.

Thank you for indulging me.

***

Blade Runner

Original Theatrical Release Movie Poster, 1982

Art and Design by John Alvin

Prior to this post, I have never tagged, or mentioned in detail, the 1982, Ridley Scott directed, Hampton Fancher and David Peoples written, Warner Brothers Science Fiction-Noir film, Blade Runner, based on Philip K. Dick's novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, on this blog before today.

That's just wrong.



In one of my prior Thorough Thursday entries, I mentioned how few films had as massive a creative impact on me as did Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Meet the film that gives Close Encounters a run for its money.

So much of what I do in my Science Fiction games is inspired, and influenced, by this film, that I hardly know where to start in my adoration of it.

Blade Runner is, to me, much more than a great movie. It was my first glimpse into a different kind of Science Fiction than what I was used to, and what I previously enjoyed.

Prior to this film, my Science Fiction was always the relatively clean, and heroic, cooperative future of Star Trek, the campy, but lovable 50's-60's Sci-Fi of Lost in Space, or the epic Space Fantasy of Star Wars.

I had seen Planet of the Apes, and Logan's Run, but the concept of a dystopian, high-tech future, such as that portrayed in Blade Runner, was something completely new, and mind-blowing to me.

Science Fiction, it turned out, had a dark, seedy underbelly. It had people with big dreams, fleeting hope, and rain-soaked sorrows, all of whom were just trying to survive another day in a neon lit, smog covered canyon of glass, and steel.

This was Future-Noir, the predecessor to Cyberpunk. There was nothing else quite like it back then, and nothing exactly like it has come since, even to this day.

***

When the movie came out in 1982, I was 13 years old.

An advanced reader for my age, I had read a number of classic Science Fiction books by the time of Blade Runner's release, but the work of Philip K. Dick was not known to me. Following the movie, I snatched up a copy of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and marveled at the differences between the book, and the film.

While I find the book brilliant, it doesn't do to me what the film does. It shouldn't I suppose, what with them being  two such different forms of conveying a narrative. The book showcases the subject of what it means to be Human, and explores questions of morality, mortality, and empathy in greater depth than the motion picture. It does it well at that. However, the movie is positively drenched in atmosphere, and style.

One of the primary reasons for the films incredible visuals is the concept work of futurist Syd Mead. I believe I may have discovered Mead because of this movie. He, and his artwork, would forever forge a great deal of imagery I picture when imagining Sci-Fi worlds. His depictions of technology, and architecture are what I see in my mind's eye when I think about setting aesthetics for my Science Fiction RPG campaigns. From Traveller to Cyberpunk, and Shadowrun games, the look of the future (for me at least) looks a lot like the work of Syd Mead.

***

This is primarily a blog that discusses Role Playing Games, so it's about time I talked about the impact of Blade Runner on my gaming.

Where to start?

One of the games I ran very often in the late 80's was R. Talsorian Games' Cyberpunk (2013, and 2020). However, my impression of the genre was more heavily inspired by my love of Blade Runner.

Long before genetic engineering became a big deal in Science Fiction, and Science Fiction gaming, I was building Replicant NPCs. I 'built' them by using the rules for cybernetic parts, and just saying they were part of the design of the Replicant when is was grown/fabricated.

While PCs lost points of Humanity (and by association, Empathy) with the addition of cybernetic implants, Replicants started at zero, and their 'enhancements' added to their understanding of Humanity. Sounds crazy? I'll explain...

The idea was that as they gain experiences (not Experience Points, but life experience), Replicants develop a desire for more experiences. This often turns into a desire to live, to have more time. That's when they get a little desperate, and a little nuts (again, an inverse way of looking at Cyber-Psychosis from the Cyberpunk RPG).

What do you all think?

"I've...seen things you people wouldn't believe...

Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.

I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate.

All those...moments...will be lost in time,

like...tears...in the rain.

Time to die."



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Barking Alien



RPGaDay Challenge - Day 10

Day 10 - Favorite tie-in Novel / Game Fiction

This one is easy. None.

With the possible exception of the original Dragonlance novels (the Chronicles trilogy, which I read some 30 years ago), I have, at best, found the dozen or so game fiction books I have read to be passable at best. There is not a single one I would count as a favorite of any kind.

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The Fandom Zone

I am a fan.

And so are you.

But a fan of what? Well that's the real trick isn't it...

Leave it to Lowell at Age of Ravens to inspire a post when I already have so much on my mind and not nearly enough time to write it all down.

He asks the nagging question...

So what’s your fandom? What are you obsessional about? What are you obsessional about that others in your group aren't?

I have found other the years that one of the things that stands out for me is how fans and fandom seem to have gotten a bit more insular over time. I think I first noticed it with fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation who had never seen the Original Series. People like what they like and either really don't like what they don't (understandable) or have absolutely no knowledge of it what so ever.

I find that last mode of thought odd. I have never been as huge fan of the Japanese Anime and Manga 'One Piece', but I know it. I know the story and most of the main characters. I have seen a lot of fandom TV shows and movies that I myself am not a fan of per se, but I am not wholly unfamiliar with them.

In my current gaming group I can't tell you how many times I will mention an Anime, a comic book character, a TV series or, most often of all, a role playing game, and no one has ever played it or even heard of it. What is that about? Mention the Browncoats, Capt. Malcolm Reynolds and The Alliance, and I know you're talking about Firefly.

I don't even like Firefly. I watched a total of 5 episodes before I couldn't watch it any more. But that doesn't mean I don't know it. I'm curious. I like to know what my fellow fan finds interesting. Maybe I'll find it interesting too. Maybe I won't. How will I know? By checking it out Einstein!

I digress...

So what's my fandom? Let's see...

TV SHOWS

I no longer really watch TV. Not even on the internet or through some means other than a TV set or screen. Around the time Farscape was cancelled I started watching less and less. Then there was no Star Trek on TV. Finally, the relatively recent cancellation of the Young Justice animated series made me just not care that much about television.

I still have some shows I am obsessed with but most of them are old. I did love The Clone Wars CGI animated series on Cartoon Network which, er, was also cancelled. I am kind of looking forward to the new REBELS series on Disney XD, but I am losing faith in the medium more and more each day.

My top TV fandoms are Star Trek: All the series but especially The Original Series, Space: 1999, The Greatest American Hero, The Muppet Show (and any Muppets ongoing series), Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, Farscape, Young Justice and the original Teen Titans animated series (Teen Titans Go! can Go! *bleep* itself).

COMIC BOOKS

At present I am not obsessed with any comics, although I do read and keep up on nearly everything. I am considerably less interested in DC's nu52 dung heap but I still keep a watchful eye out just in case they do something smart. It could happen.

My Comic Book obsessions of the past are many but mainly Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earth DC Comics, DC Silver and Golden Age, Public Domain and lesser known heroes and villains (especially of the Golden Age), anything Green Lantern, Fawcett Comics Characters, Charlton Comics Characters, the Legion of Superheroes, Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew and Marvel's Nova.

AUTHORS

Another area where I've fallen behind. I don't read nearly as much as I used to. I can't say I follow too many authors except for Larry Niven, David Brin, Robert Asprin, Terry Pratchett, E. E. 'Doc' Smith, Douglas Adams, Dr. Seuss, Charles Dickens, L. Frank Baum, Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi.

RPG LINES

Like Lowell I love a lot of games, but it seems to me most of the games I enjoy the most are out of print. That said, I own everything ever made for every edition ever produced of Star Trek, Star Wars (except the new Fantasy Flight Games version), Mutants & Masterminds, Champions (although I am focused on 4th Edition), Mekton, Teenagers from Outer Space, Ghostbusters or anything like it (InSpectres), Ars Magica (although I prefer the old editions, especially third).

I am also kind of obsessed with Japanese table-top/table talk RPGs.

I love a number of different indie games but right now, none come close to being an obsession.

MOVIES/DIRECTORS

In this category I have a lot of favorites but not a lot I would consider to obsessions. Still, there are a few: the various Star Trek and Star Wars films, Superman I and II, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Muppet Movie and all the following Muppet features (including Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal), Ghostbusters (really just the first one), Men in Black (really just the first one), Mel Brooks' movies (especially Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein), the old Marx Brothers movies and finally Galaxy Quest. Yeah. Freaking obsessed over Galaxy Quest.

Directors? Spielberg, Scorsese, Coppola, Allen, Edwards and a few others I can't think of just right now.

VIDEO GAMES

None. I am just not obsessed with video or computer games. I used to be very into them and I am a fan of a number of MMOs but honestly, I can go a week or more without playing at all.

I do (or did) enjoy World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Virtual-On and it's descendants, Halo, Mass Effect, Star Trek Online and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

ANIME/MANGA

I was majorly obsessed with Japanese pop culture entertainment at one time and although my otaku fever has waned a bit, I am still a pretty big fan and like to keep up with the new shows each season which interest me.

Major obsessions of the past (some of which still have me hooked today) include Mobile Suit Gundam (original 'Universal Century' timeline), Five Star Stories, Slayers, Tenchi Muyo, Aura Battler Dunbine, Dragonball and Dragonball Z, Wingman, Attack on Titan, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Mars Daybreak, all of Miyazaki's work, Crusher Joe and The Dirty Pair.

OTHER SUBJECTS

Other things I've been known to be fanatical about include Animals ( in general, but especially Dogs), The Muppets, The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum books mostly), Exoplanets and the Space Program, UFOs (less so in the last few years), Cryptids (less so in the last few years), Ghosts, Faerie Folklore (especially that of the British Isles), British Candy and Chocolate Bars and Science Fiction Art of the 1970's and 80's.

Now let's see, what can I obsess over next...

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