{"id":170060,"date":"2021-01-17T19:30:12","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T19:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gamerant.com\/cyberpunk-2020-rpg-things-didnt-know\/"},"modified":"2021-01-17T19:30:12","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T19:30:12","slug":"10-crazy-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-cyberpunk-2-0-2-0-rpg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2021\/01\/17\/10-crazy-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-cyberpunk-2-0-2-0-rpg\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Crazy Things You Didn’t Know About The Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. RPG"},"content":{"rendered":"

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With the soaring (then plummeting) popularity of 2020’s\u00a0Cyberpunk 2077<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>let’s take a look at the RPG that started it all, Mike Pondsmith’s 1988 tabletop RPG\u00a0Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. “The Roleplaying Game Of The Dark Future.”<\/em>\u00a0In his creation of the game, Pondsmith looked to the gritty futurism of 80s cyberpunk, taking into account the many pieces to come before his, and looking to forge an original path while still hanging onto the core values of what cyberpunk as a medium really means.<\/p>\n

RELATED: 10 Video Games With The Most Disastrous Launches<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Many gamers haven’t played\u00a0Cyberpunk<\/em> due to the relative unavailability of its sourcebooks, matched with the much-larger popularity of other TTRPGs like\u00a0Dungeons & Dragons<\/em> taking the stage. While the original books are expensive or sold out on nearly every platform,\u00a0Cyberpunk<\/em> is full of surprises, and well-worth checking out with some friends with the new edition\u00a0Cyberpunk Red<\/em>.<\/p>\n

10 <\/span>The Game’s Inspirations<\/h2>\n
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While most cyberpunk media comes with an obvious inspirational track;\u00a0Blade Runner<\/a>, Ghost in the Shell<\/a>, Terminator<\/a>,<\/em> etc., Pondsmith listed some intriguing references in various interviews about his RPG.<\/p>\n

Of course, one of his main inspirations was Ridley Scott’s\u00a0Blade Runner<\/em>\u00a0(because what sci-fi work hasn’t been inspired by Scott’s cinematic masterpiece?), but Pondsmith also listed films like\u00a0Streets of Fire,\u00a0<\/em>which was an obvious influence on his character Johnny Silverhand<\/a>. Another fun reference is to the film\u00a0Bubblegum Crisis<\/em>, which takes a refreshing look at anti-corporation politics in the setting of MegaTokyo, after a mega-corp’s robotic creations begin to run rampant.<\/p>\n

9 <\/span>Neuromancer’s Absent Influence<\/h2>\n
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Nearly everybody in the genre industry cites\u00a0Neuromancer<\/em> as at least a part of their inspiration, as William Gibson’s book was one of the founding pieces of the genre. Pondsmith, however,\u00a0didn’t read the book until much later, to the surprise of many of his fans. Instead, the biggest inspiration on the game’s setting was Walter Jon Williams’ book,\u00a0Hardwired.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pondsmith was such a big fan, he even formed a\u00a0friendship with Williams and got him on-board as a collaborator to playtest early versions of the\u00a0game, which was pivotal in his later\u00a0developments to the systems and setting.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span>Cyberpunk’s Timeline Crisis<\/h2>\n
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2.0.2.0.\u00a0<\/em>is actually the second of four editions of the game, all taking place between the years 2013-2045. The only problem with these releases (spanning 1988-2020) is the divergent political timeline that makes inter-edition plot lines a bit confusing. The second edition,\u00a02.0.2.0.,\u00a0<\/em>added several supplement rulebooks, including\u00a0a\u00a0non-canon adventure in which nanotech viruses give teenagers unusual superhuman abilities, and a second that adds a fantasy-horror spin with vampires and werewolves. The third edition brings players to the future, after a fourth Corporate War, which is then thrown away as non-canon in the fourth edition, and replaced with a different fourth Corporate War.<\/p>\n

Because of the nature of roleplaying games, none of this was very detrimental to players, but the\u00a0multiple lore-shifts become extremely confusing in roleplaying sections (especially if players have experienced playing in different\u00a0timelines and don’t take thorough notes).<\/p>\n

7 <\/span>The First Good Cyberpunk Game?<\/h2>\n
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The medium,\u00a0having been around for quite a while before the release of the RPG, had a surprising lack of interactive media representation until Pondsmith came around.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Cyberpunk 2077: 10 Pro Tips On Playing Its Tabletop Version<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Considering the intertwined souls of cyberpunk and video games<\/a>,\u00a0it seems like it would have been a natural\u00a0inclusion in the industry,\u00a0instead of the countless early-era fantasy games. Instead, the genre was populated with licensed games like Blade Runner\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Max Headroom,\u00a0<\/em>neither of which took inspiration from the cyberpunk movement more than just translating the “cool parts” of the movies into an interactive space.<\/p>\n

6 <\/span>Tabletop Spin-Offs<\/h2>\n
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Aside from the four main editions of the\u00a0Cyberpunk\u00a0<\/em>RPG, only a handful of physical spin-offs were ever produced, including a couple of collectible card games (in the wake of\u00a0Magic: The Gathering<\/em><\/a> and\u00a0Pokemon<\/em>‘s<\/a> popularity), and quite a few homebrewed\u00a0Dungeons & Dragons<\/em> conversions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The first of two CCGs was titled\u00a0Netrunner<\/em>, released in 1996 by Wizards of the Coast (the game\u00a0later diverged from the Cyberpunk\u00a0<\/em>canon and\u00a0got a re-release titled\u00a0Android: Netrunner<\/em>).\u00a0Netrunner<\/em> was well received in the time it was still being produced, but it was eventually replaced by a new game simply titled\u00a0Cyberpunk CCG<\/em>, which was much less entertaining to fans of the original and quickly fell out of relevance.<\/p>\n

5 <\/span>Video Game Adaptations<\/h2>\n
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Aside from CCGs\u00a0Netrunner\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Cyberpunk CCG<\/em>, there weren’t too many other\u00a0takes on Pondsmith’s work. Only two direct video game adaptations were ever released, CDPR’s 2077<\/em> and a 2007 platformer titled\u00a0Cyberpunk: The Arasaka’s Plot<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>which came out to little fanfare.<\/p>\n

RELATED: 10 Games To Play After Cyberpunk 2077<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Cyberpunk 2077<\/em> is a direct sequel to the TTRPG, retconning a few bits and pieces to fit their version of the world, and shifting the classic RPG into new, modern mechanics.\u00a0The Arasaka’s Plot,<\/em> on the other hand, is fairly inconsequential to the main game’s story, following a man’s journey to find himself after\u00a0being betrayed by a mega-corp who had previously hired him as a hitman.<\/p>\n

4 <\/span>Cyberpunk Novelizations<\/h2>\n
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On top of the core rulebooks and their lore guides and setting overviews,\u00a0Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.\u00a0<\/em>also published novel tie-ins,\u00a0most of which were reviewed poorly or ignored completely.<\/p>\n

The six novels,\u00a0released between 1993 and 1994, all followed the same timeline as\u00a02.0.2.0.,\u00a0<\/em>but were brushed off into a “canon grey-zone” as readers seemed uninterested and their plots weren’t heavily related to the events of the main game. These novels are\u00a0a little hard to track down, only briefly mentioned in the game’s Wikipedia article, and a few times in shoddy reviews on various forums.<\/p>\n

3 <\/span>A Dedicated\u00a0Safe Space<\/h2>\n
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Much like D&D<\/em>, the Cyberpunk<\/em> TTRPG was popular among members of fringe\u00a0and minority\u00a0communities for being a cultural safe-space focused on bringing players together (especially considering cyberpunk gained traction in the 80s and 90s, with its heavy involvement in civil rights, trans representation, diversity, and anti-corporation outlooks). The world of Cyberpunk<\/em> exists in a post-discriminatory future, where races have more or less blended together, sexuality is embraced, and unity is the headstone of culture.<\/p>\n

CDPR’s conflicted response to the genre’s conventions in their adaptation is highlighted well in an article by Stacey Henley<\/a>, and another by Alexis Ong<\/a>, who take a deeper look at what made the genre so appealing to so many people in the first place. A lot of these same people took it upon themselves to make their own pieces<\/a>, which became a highlight of last year’s gaming news on Twitter and indie platforms.<\/p>\n

2 <\/span>Cyberpunk’s Subtle Impacts<\/h2>\n
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Being the first tabletop RPG to adapt the formula to the genre,\u00a0Cyberpunk\u00a0<\/em>indirectly inspired a good amount of future content, including popular franchises like\u00a0Shadowrun,<\/em> which adds its own flair in the form of fantasy futurism.<\/p>\n

Plenty of other media would take into account the mechanics founded by the tabletop game, whether it was the humanity system that adapts to players’ cyborg mods or the fun side stories presented in\u00a0Night’s Edge<\/em> and\u00a0Cybergeneration<\/em>. Turns out, there’s a lot to love in the expansive\u00a0Night City<\/a>, and a neverending pool of inspiration leading back to Pondsmith’s inspirations and the world of early genre media.<\/p>\n

1 <\/span>Cyberpunk’s Not Dead<\/h2>\n
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Despite the recent release of\u00a0Cyberpunk 2077<\/em>, and its presumed subsequent deathgrip on the series’ relevancy, the tabletop RPG hasn’t died off quite yet. Pondsmith is still working with R. Talsorian games (the publishers of the original editions) to continue his vision of the pen-and-paper adventure.<\/p>\n

The fourth and newest release is titled\u00a0Cyberpunk Red<\/em>, and is readily available through the site’s shop, as well as comic and hobby shops in various cities. There is also a tabletop miniature wargame titled\u00a0Combat Zone<\/em> set to be released this year by R. Talsorian and Monster Fight Club.<\/p>\n

NEXT:\u00a010 Of The Best Tabletop RPG Video Game Adaptations<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n

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The original RPG tabletop game that inspired CDPR’s Cyberpunk 2077 is a pillar of the sci-fi sub-genre, but you may not even know about it.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1126,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"10 Crazy Things You Didn't Know About The Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. RPG - ITTeacherITFreelance.hk","description":"The original RPG tabletop game that inspired CDPR's Cyberpunk 2077 is a pillar of the sci-fi sub-genre, but you may not even know about it."},"footnotes":""},"categories":[607],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170060"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170060"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170061,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170060\/revisions\/170061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}