by kstclair@CSOS.ORST.EDU (Kelly St.Clair)
Someone asked for opinions on this book, so here are mine, humble and otherwise.
First of all, let's get one thing straight. CyberGeneration is not cyberpunk.
In fact, sometimes it's hard to figure out just what it is, other than a mishmash of interesting ideas from various sources: Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash seems to have been an inspiration, with its daring young skate- board couriers, incorporated states, and irreverent take on the genre as a whole; the reader will also find spinners from Blade Runner, cycle gangs straight from Akira, teenagers with paranormal powers and experienced mentors pitted against those who would like to use or destroy them (see any Marvel X-comic for the last decade or so), guns that fire seeking bullets (Runaway, and maybe others), omnipresent VR that turns the real world into one big Dream Park... etc and so on. There's a strong anime (Japanese animation) influence, especially in the many illustrations. And then there's the Carbon Plague, a nanotech "disease" whose effects, rapid spread, and first release (shown in a few comic-book style pages at the start of the book) call to mind the Wild Card virus. And I haven't even mentioned Tinmen yet.
(Lest it be said that I'm accusing R.Tal of being unoriginal, I will note that it's very hard to come up with something that no one has imagined before... but not impossible. However, CyberGeneration is less subtle than most in its borrowing of concepts.)
From the first paragraph of the introduction, it's clear that the authors intend CG to be a break with Cyberpunk tradition - both the game and the genre. "If you're an old Cyberpunk(r) player, get ready for a shock," they say. "You're not gonna find lists of weapons or tables in this book. At least, not yet. We think you've spent too much time calculating the velocity of a 10mm slug through layered Kevlar. We want you to loosen up and roleplay." This may sound strange, coming from the people who brought you a tome of such data called the _Compendium of Modern Firearms_ and a gun-combat system that was praised in its first incarnation for being bloodily realistic, but they seem quite sincere. To help players get into the mood, the character generation system has been placed within a simple introductory adventure; more on that in a bit.
Meanwhile, in sidebars, the designers of CyberGeneration (Mike Pond- smith, Ed Bolme, and David Ackerman) explain their vision for this game/ sourcebook. Disturbed by reports of heavily-cybered, highly skilled PCs with awesome firepower (used to solve most problems) and impressive bank accounts (to solve the rest), and believing these to be typical of CP characters, they have created a new setting that attempts to make this style of play more difficult. CyberGeneration PCs start with minimal equipment and little money, and are likely to stay that way - the GM is encouraged to create adventures where the players have reasons to accept a task other than a (usually non-existent) payoff. They can't get any cyberwear of consequence, even if they could afford it: their bodies are still growing. They've picked up some skills, but none is a match for a trained professional. And guns, especially military weapons, are much less common due to certain changes in society since 2020. In short, they're supposed to rely on their wits and their roleplaying to survive. Oooh.
While their motives are admirable, I personally think Pondsmith et al. need to keep two things in mind. First, the sort of Edgerunners described are surely the exception, not the rule: they are the best, the successful, powerful characters that players like to brag about (never mentioning the many others that didn't make it). They, and the games they play in, are not a representative sample any more than the Internet folks who are reading this now. Secondly, unless placed under oppressive control, people have always done more or less as they damn well pleased, despite rules placed in their way. (Examples include the Ten Commandments and the Prime Directive.) If some gamers want to play "high-powered" or "munchkin" games of Cyberpunk, where characters and plot take a back seat to Big Guns and Chrome (like, say, your typical Marvel comic these days), they will do so whether or not the authors approve... and frankly, that's their right. (Just don't bother me with it. That's my right.)
In MUD circles, adding more hard-coded rules to the game to enforce or discourage certain behavior is called "trying to solve social problems with software," and it rarely works. Most players are an inventive lot when it comes to finding ways of getting around rules that lessen their fun. I expect to hear, in a year or less, of CyberGeneration PCs now in their twenties with the best guns available, cyberwear put in as soon as they could get it, and "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men" besides. (This is assuming that their GMs don't just change the rules to let adult PCs Evolve...)
The sidebar is also the first sign of a major shift in tone for the world these characters live in. While it has often been said that Cyberpunk doesn't really represent the genre it takes its name from (witness the recent debate over the nebulous concept of 'style'), CyberGeneration breaks with it completely. The familiar cyberpunk world is one sliding slowly into decay, despite its advanced technology; one where everything is shades of grey - the perpetual overcast that sometimes drops acid rain, the cityscapes when one looks past the bright neon, the neutral silver gleam of a chrome cyberlimb and mirrorshades, and (most importantly) the motives and morals of the people, the anti-heroes who will do whatever it takes to survive in the Future. In those most famous words of Gibson, cyberpunk is "the color of television tuned to a dead channel."
Not so, CyberGeneration. This is a society that has hit bottom in many ways, and thus has nowhere to go but up. The Corps and the Government have finally become one and the same, at least in America, and while things seem better on the surface - cleaner, better lighting, less crime, more comfort and stability, and all the other things desired by middle-class employees/ citizens - the hand of subtle oppression is everywhere, and the dirty parts are just more hidden. Think of 1984, or Alpha Complex. Most of the old Edgerunners have sold out or met untimely ends. And yet, unlike the usual cyberpunk game or story, there is stubborn hope for the future... for positive change, not just greed or survival. This hope for renewal comes from where it always has, from the children (with a little help from their friends).
Where CP is grey, CG is conveniently polarized into black and white. There are Good Guys (the Kids, and their adult helpers in the Revolution who provide all kinds of support without trying to tell them what to do - much better than real parents, hm?) and Bad Guys (the various forms of Authority, who all see the new generation as a threat). The latter sometimes include by default the many adults who have Sold Out, and thus become Part of the Problem. This is a very simplistic, very teenaged worldview (almost as much so as, say, STAR WARS), so I suppose it fits the characters perfectly. The book might have been called CyberGenerationGap, and indeed the 1950s and 60s are mentioned as a good model for GMs.
One more comment on CG vs. cyberpunk. Drugs are very much part of the genre, but Pondsmith has always been very reluctant to portray them in his game in anything but a negative light. While Cyberpunk (2020) did give some drugs, and rules for designing your own, the side effects tended to be crippling (why would anyone drink Smash instead of plain old beer?) and there was a hefty disclaimer at the end. CyberG is much simpler - it states in the sidebar that the Kids don't do drugs, 'cause they've seen what they can do to others. Air getting thin on top of that soapbox, Mike?
(I know, it's his game, and he can say what he likes. Like I said at the top, my opinions. I happen to not like drugs either. Just tired of getting it repeatedly shoved in my face while I'm reading a game.)
Back to the introductory adventure, as promised. The first segment sets the scene for the players: they're on the run, after narrowly escaping being captured or killed by the CorpGov's anti-mutie... er, BuReloc (health police) squads. Calling a number they came by somehow, they get the first of several semi-recorded messages that will guide them through character generation.
The format of this part of the book alternates between "hypertext" pages where the Kids describe and rate themselves (as the players pick a role, buy stats and skills, etc), and information on the referee who's running this. Without too many spoilers, the Kids are guided to a hidden safehouse, where they have a chance to interact and roleplay for a while before going shopping for starting equipment. Along the way, some of them (probably all, unless the GM wants players shouting 'unfair') will be transformed by the Carbon Plague.
The presentation is very flashy, and geared to helping new players learn the rules and gaming in general. Experienced players, like myself, may find themselves wishing for fewer fancy graphics and an introductory scenario separate from the rules. I was reminded of one of R.Talisorian's other games, DREAM PARK, which is similarly graphics-happy and 'user- obsequious' at the occasional expense of content for those who don't need the training wheels. (Hey, they called it 'Macintosh gaming', not me.)
All of the familiar Cyberpunk roles have their youthful equivalents here, and there are several new ones besides. Most are good, though I question how the MaxViolence thugs fit into a game that's trying to be heroic, and the Goths... ick, vampire posers. makes sign of cross Back, trendy, pretentious Creatures of the Night. (ooh, I'm gonna get flaaamed...)
Each role has a short list of important items that they get for free at the start, something I really wish CP 2020 had... there's just too much of a cost difference between what a Netrunner and, say, a Media need to have in order to function for 'starting cash' to work, let alone when it's tied to how good you are in your role skill. I'd like to recommend this idea to all Cyberpunk GMs.
All Kids are created equal. Unlike most Interlock games, where you roll several d10 and buy stats with the resulting 'pool' of points, Cyber- Generation gives you a flat 50. Probably got tired of folks who kept re-rolling until they got lucky. Skills are much more general ('GoGo' applies to just about everything that can be driven or flown), but count at only half their level against someone that has the specific skill. Just as in CP, all characters have the same amount of points to spend on skills.
What would a game about teenagers be without going to the Mall? Each PC is given a flat $1000 by their benefactors, in brand new accounts, and told to pick up what they think they'll need. As some have said, this is one of the most attractive sections of the book. Rather than simply listing everything on tables, the equipment is grouped by category and shown in the appropriate Mall shop window - including the Kids with their noses pressed up against the glass.
Just after the equipment section is short notes on some of the new technology of the seven years that have passed since 2020. A lot of it involves more efficiency and/or miniaturization, leading to things being more 'distributed'. Stores make merchandise on the spot with micro- factories. Spinners mount better aerodyne turbines, which makes them more maneuverable and less noisy than AVs. Computers are put on cards, with position-sensing virtual keyboards.
The last leads into Virtuality, which is essentially a VR overlay on reality. Interface-plug tech has improved to the point where a set of 'V-trodes' can provide full-sensory VR through a cellular link. There's no input, however, and output is restricted; Black IC can't directly hurt someone wearing trodes. It can subject you to a very realistic illusion of a Mortal Kombat fatality, though, which is unpleasant and bad for your sanity even if not actually lethal. To do 'traditional' Netrunner things, like penetrate a system, run programs, and have your brain turned into guacamole, you need to have plugs. Or be a Wizard... see next section.
Virtuality, despite my initial fears, doesn't attempt to map virtual space to real space, which doesn't work: imagine a huge world 'inside' a computer measuring only a few feet, or running into real walls that aren't there in VR. Instead, Virtuality objects (signs, musical instruments, 'solid' floors over pits, etc) are produced by dedicated card-computers at that location. The result is more like a heads-up display than being in the Net.
Most of the people who've read this far will have already heard about the Carbon Plague and what it does. I'll just take a moment to note that if Humanity Loss reflects the changes in attitude that come with realizing how non-/super-human you've become, than wiping the goop that remains of your old muscle and bone from your shiny new metallic arms and legs or finding yourself literally thinking like a computer must be good for a lot of HC.
The 'Carbon Death' isn't nearly as nasty as some of the rumors I've been hearing suggest (like comparisons to the STAR TREK episode "Miri"). For most people, it's no worse than a bad cold; you get sick for a while and afterward, you're a carrier. The Plague only activates in persons of a certain genotype/biochemistry, about 20% of adults and more of children, in which case it either kills or changes you depending on which side of your 20th birthday you are. (I imagine it's not that exact, also.)
This chapter is divided into two parts. The first is written in second-person, as the disembodied Alt Cunningham introduces each of the PCs to their new bodies and abilities (and limitations). These pages are very good for helping players get the feel of waking up Evolved. After that comes several pages of technobabble and game mechanics for the special abilities of each type, in the form of reports (with diagrams) compiled by researchers at the Center for Disease Control. The white-on- black looks nice.
Now that the players have finished making their characters, the GameMaster Section begins. First up is the new Combat system, 'Saturday Night Skuffle' - fast, cinematic, and perhaps even less lethal than the CP 2020 version of FNFF? It'd better be, since few of the PCs are likely to be wearing heavy armor or be skilled/wired enough to dodge; of course, several of the Evolved types have a small Reflex boost for probably just these occasions. I didn't look too closely at this section; as someone else commented in more detail, it looks pretty much like what we've seen before. There are rules for interacting with Virtuality constructs in combat, and information on CodeGuns, "Killer programs in a box" that work a lot like Laser Tag guns. This is sounding more like DREAM PARK all the time.
The Campaign chapter gives the GM some advice on how to run Cyber- Generation games. Here's the highlights:
The next two sections detail the Good Guys (those few Edgerunners who are still around and fighting the system) and the Bad Guys (the Government and its agencies, Arasaka, and assorted smaller groups). There are a lot of familiar faces here, too many in my opinion... I mean, c'mon, David Whindham as President? It's "only" been seven years, but couldn't they come up with any new characters? Someone joked about seeing the Forlorn Hope in some new context; I wouldn't be at all surprised. There's continuity, and then there's inbreeding.
Also, as someone with a great deal of respect for Arthur C. Clarke, I take offense to having his name used for a group of fuzzy-minded New-New-Age (only worse) cultists. The "Childhood's End" angle could have dealt with more maturely, I'm certain.
Finally is a romantic, almost poetic scene with Alt (who's taken the new name of Gaia - funny, it's hard to imagine such a techie-type, one who had a cyberarm even, becoming a nature goddess) and several of her young charges in an almost campfire setting. I can't really describe it, other than to say that it's very idealistic and involves visions of a utopian future; you'll have to read it yourself. It sums up the tone of the whole book nicely.
In summary (what, done at last?), I will describe CyberGeneration as a kinder, gentler, flashier Cyberpunk... one that has emerged from the Carbon Plague almost unrecognizable. But that's OK, since I have often thought that playing 'straight', by-the-books cyberpunk would be awfully depressing. My main problem with CyberGeneration is that, by cutting itself loose from the main genre, it's become a game with lots of gimmicks and interesting ideas - and, most of all, hope - but without a guaranteed audience.
There you have it. If you want to know more, go out and buy the thing already.
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