BayardSPSR
2016-07-30, 01:00 AM
Something occurred on the topic of why my recent efforts to knock together a good, thematic, fun cyberpunk RPG system haven't gone so well: cyberpunk fiction tends to have all the most important decisions made by antagonists, not protagonists.
Contrast the Lord of the Rings with Neuromancer, to make an extreme example. Frodo and Gandalf especially, but all the members of the Fellowship in general make almost every plot-driving decision. Case does what he's told because he has poison sacs implanted in his body, and is otherwise motivated mostly by addiction.
Apply similar things to Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner, etc*. Cyberpunk "protagonists" seem to very often be reacting to things beyond their control, often ineffectively.
Placing this in an RPG context, if "PCs' " choices don't matter much in the long run (and the most likely end to the game is expected to be tragic), and giving the players the roles of the real mover and shakers is inconsistent with the theme (those things being meant to be kept behind closed doors, only to be dramatically revealed at the moments of highest tension), how do you keep the edgy, gritty feel while keeping players involved in the decisions that drive the game?
*I bring up these three because they're the main inspirations I'm drawing from.
Contrast the Lord of the Rings with Neuromancer, to make an extreme example. Frodo and Gandalf especially, but all the members of the Fellowship in general make almost every plot-driving decision. Case does what he's told because he has poison sacs implanted in his body, and is otherwise motivated mostly by addiction.
Apply similar things to Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner, etc*. Cyberpunk "protagonists" seem to very often be reacting to things beyond their control, often ineffectively.
Placing this in an RPG context, if "PCs' " choices don't matter much in the long run (and the most likely end to the game is expected to be tragic), and giving the players the roles of the real mover and shakers is inconsistent with the theme (those things being meant to be kept behind closed doors, only to be dramatically revealed at the moments of highest tension), how do you keep the edgy, gritty feel while keeping players involved in the decisions that drive the game?
*I bring up these three because they're the main inspirations I'm drawing from.