Welp, about time I check this one off the list.
For those of you who don't know, there was a period of time where I had the line license for CyberGeneration. It really was the first RPG I ever got into. This was the game that got me into roleplaying, this was the game that after no one had touched it for years made me want to start making product for it. This was the game that I kind of burned out on pushing it for so many years, but I still love it oh so very much. I don't get to play a lot of RPGs so I haven't brought it to the table, but whenever I open the book I get all those old NPCs running around in my head shouting to get out. I also own two copies of the main book, but last time I checked I can do this by memory alone.
Anyway, for those of you who are like "What is this game?" CyberGeneration started out as a spin off expansion book to Cyberpunk 2020 and then got a second edition and became its own game. It used a streamlined version of the Interlock system, which was the system that R. Talsorian used for mostly everything from Mekton Z, to Cyberpunk, to CyberGen even used to have a fusion with Hero System at one point in time.
History lesson is over. Time for a character.
Step 1. Pick a yogang.
With all the expansions there were 28 different yogangs to pick from. I'm just going to grab one from the book, and since it seems rather topical I'm going to go with a Rad. They're the political activist kids who would organize and agitate for change. Since this is still Cyberpunk, the upper case C is important, they aren't above using psychological tactics to get what they want done.
Step 2 and 3. Provide Details and Description
Game asks next for Gender (it's Sex but this was 95 so let's update our language here and now), Age, Height, Weight, and a description.
Last few characters have been dudes, let's make a woman. She's 16 and is 5'8 and who cares about weight because again let's update this for the future.
Description is going to be a lot easier. She's been politically active forever, and has been fighting for democratic reform as long as she can remember. The setting in the world is that US is gone and replaced with the Incorporated States of America, and this character has been organizing grass roots movements to try to make small democratic reforms. Lately she's been fighting for the rights of Carbon Plague victims because she doesn't trust any of the propaganda coming from the government and the corporations because she's heard it all before.
She's Chumash, and was born and raised in Night City. She's got long hair, that she frequently braids, and is button fiend. If there's a button for an event, she's got it someone on her button coat. It's just a regular denim jacket, but the buttons are all over it. It's even helped her out in a fight a few times, and ended up stabbing her once or twice.
Step 4. Yogang stuff.
When you pick your yogang, you get some gear to start the game with.
1. Personal V-Term
2. Armored Duster (AR5) with 20 pockets inside
3. Tracker and 10 Tracer Pins
4. Light Handgun
Step 5. Stats
You get 50 points to put into your stats. There are nine of them. A lot of them look familiar, there's INT (Intelligence), REF (Reflexes), EMP (Empathy), LUCK. There are some ones that are very Cyberpunk. There's an ATT (attractiveness) stat (because it's cyberpunk, the how you look doing things matters in the game). A COOL (how well you keep it) stat, as well as a TECH stat for technical ability. There's a MOVE and a BODY (strength) stat as well.
Minimum is 2 maximum is 8 with 5 being the average because in Cyberpunk you max stat is 10 . I figure someone who is very brainy, and not afraid of physical stuff but isn't someone who wants to spend a lot of time with tech.
INT 8, TECH 2, BODY 6, REF 5, MOVE 3, EMP 8, COOL 7, LUCK 5, ATT 6
Not much of a runner either, but she doesn't try to be in places where she'll have to run.
Step 6. Your Wounds
Because she's got a BODY of 6 that means her HITS are 6 (basically HP, but it's more based around a streamlined version of the old Cyberpunk Interlock system).
Step 7. Skills
I get 40 points to put into my stats. There are 11 basic stats, and 1 yogang stat. Everything has to have at least 1 point in it, and the maximum is 8. Having a 3 in a stat is considered average.
The list is a condensed list, and it's something that I've always enjoyed. I like it when there are a lot of things that cover a wide range of possibilities. List of skills are:
Streetfighting - Punching, Kicking, Shooting
Jockstuff - Running, Jumping, Climbing up a tree (hiding the makeup up there)
Blend - Making yourself vanish in normal looking situations
Streetsmarts - How well do you know the people on the street, what to do, what not to do
Schoolin' - General Educaiton Skill
Little Angel - How well you can make adults discount you for being teens
Thiefstuff - B&E, thieving stuff, that kind of thing
Get A Clue - General notice and awareness
GenSpeak - The ability to communicate in slang or code
Fearless Leader - How well you can get people to follow you
GoGo - Driving, riding, moving things with wheels really.
The yogang skill that a Rad has is called Organize, which is your ability to get people out on the street doing thing. It's also your ability to prey upon people's weaknesses to get them to do what you want.
Seriously, the game is so different the older I get. When I was younger, I didn't see the sinister side of a lot of the yogangs but holy hell there's a lot you can do to play this dark.
Anyway, skills. Fighting isn't a priority, but not something to ignore. Not much for running and jumping, and for blending either. Which means that I think she's not one for pretending to be something she's not.With that in mind, this is what I got:
Streetfighting 3, Jockstuff 2, Blend 1, Streetsmarts 5, Schoolin' 4, Little Angel 1, Thiefstuff 3, Get A Clue 5, GenSpeak 3, Fearless Leader 3, GoGo 5, Organize 5
That's 40 points on the button. Again, I used to do this a fair bit.
8. Your Mall Stuff
I'm not going to buy anything, because one of the cool thing this game does is that it plays the first session as character creation. It gets a bunch of characters from disparate walks of live and gives you a stressful situation for them to deal with. Doesn't even ask you to do all these stats first. I starts with "Who are you, okay run for it."
9. CyberGen Type
This is also something that comes from the game. I rarely had people start evovled, but it happened fairly quickly. To be honest, it was a great way to get players who might not have been into the game into the game a lot more because now they had cool powers that made them hunted by the government.
10. Your Tag
Time to name the character. Random.org a letter and it was N so I'm going with Nichole "Pins" Lloyd because that was also randomly generated with a name generator. Pins is what I'm keeping though because I like it.
Below is the character sheet, int two parts because you can't fill the PDF, and editing it to type in it is also ... prohibited ... for some ... reason.
For those of you who don't know, there was a period of time where I had the line license for CyberGeneration. It really was the first RPG I ever got into. This was the game that got me into roleplaying, this was the game that after no one had touched it for years made me want to start making product for it. This was the game that I kind of burned out on pushing it for so many years, but I still love it oh so very much. I don't get to play a lot of RPGs so I haven't brought it to the table, but whenever I open the book I get all those old NPCs running around in my head shouting to get out. I also own two copies of the main book, but last time I checked I can do this by memory alone.
Anyway, for those of you who are like "What is this game?" CyberGeneration started out as a spin off expansion book to Cyberpunk 2020 and then got a second edition and became its own game. It used a streamlined version of the Interlock system, which was the system that R. Talsorian used for mostly everything from Mekton Z, to Cyberpunk, to CyberGen even used to have a fusion with Hero System at one point in time.
History lesson is over. Time for a character.
Step 1. Pick a yogang.
With all the expansions there were 28 different yogangs to pick from. I'm just going to grab one from the book, and since it seems rather topical I'm going to go with a Rad. They're the political activist kids who would organize and agitate for change. Since this is still Cyberpunk, the upper case C is important, they aren't above using psychological tactics to get what they want done.
Step 2 and 3. Provide Details and Description
Game asks next for Gender (it's Sex but this was 95 so let's update our language here and now), Age, Height, Weight, and a description.
Last few characters have been dudes, let's make a woman. She's 16 and is 5'8 and who cares about weight because again let's update this for the future.
Description is going to be a lot easier. She's been politically active forever, and has been fighting for democratic reform as long as she can remember. The setting in the world is that US is gone and replaced with the Incorporated States of America, and this character has been organizing grass roots movements to try to make small democratic reforms. Lately she's been fighting for the rights of Carbon Plague victims because she doesn't trust any of the propaganda coming from the government and the corporations because she's heard it all before.
She's Chumash, and was born and raised in Night City. She's got long hair, that she frequently braids, and is button fiend. If there's a button for an event, she's got it someone on her button coat. It's just a regular denim jacket, but the buttons are all over it. It's even helped her out in a fight a few times, and ended up stabbing her once or twice.
Step 4. Yogang stuff.
When you pick your yogang, you get some gear to start the game with.
1. Personal V-Term
2. Armored Duster (AR5) with 20 pockets inside
3. Tracker and 10 Tracer Pins
4. Light Handgun
Step 5. Stats
You get 50 points to put into your stats. There are nine of them. A lot of them look familiar, there's INT (Intelligence), REF (Reflexes), EMP (Empathy), LUCK. There are some ones that are very Cyberpunk. There's an ATT (attractiveness) stat (because it's cyberpunk, the how you look doing things matters in the game). A COOL (how well you keep it) stat, as well as a TECH stat for technical ability. There's a MOVE and a BODY (strength) stat as well.
Minimum is 2 maximum is 8 with 5 being the average because in Cyberpunk you max stat is 10 . I figure someone who is very brainy, and not afraid of physical stuff but isn't someone who wants to spend a lot of time with tech.
INT 8, TECH 2, BODY 6, REF 5, MOVE 3, EMP 8, COOL 7, LUCK 5, ATT 6
Not much of a runner either, but she doesn't try to be in places where she'll have to run.
Step 6. Your Wounds
Because she's got a BODY of 6 that means her HITS are 6 (basically HP, but it's more based around a streamlined version of the old Cyberpunk Interlock system).
Step 7. Skills
I get 40 points to put into my stats. There are 11 basic stats, and 1 yogang stat. Everything has to have at least 1 point in it, and the maximum is 8. Having a 3 in a stat is considered average.
The list is a condensed list, and it's something that I've always enjoyed. I like it when there are a lot of things that cover a wide range of possibilities. List of skills are:
Streetfighting - Punching, Kicking, Shooting
Jockstuff - Running, Jumping, Climbing up a tree (hiding the makeup up there)
Blend - Making yourself vanish in normal looking situations
Streetsmarts - How well do you know the people on the street, what to do, what not to do
Schoolin' - General Educaiton Skill
Little Angel - How well you can make adults discount you for being teens
Thiefstuff - B&E, thieving stuff, that kind of thing
Get A Clue - General notice and awareness
GenSpeak - The ability to communicate in slang or code
Fearless Leader - How well you can get people to follow you
GoGo - Driving, riding, moving things with wheels really.
The yogang skill that a Rad has is called Organize, which is your ability to get people out on the street doing thing. It's also your ability to prey upon people's weaknesses to get them to do what you want.
Seriously, the game is so different the older I get. When I was younger, I didn't see the sinister side of a lot of the yogangs but holy hell there's a lot you can do to play this dark.
Anyway, skills. Fighting isn't a priority, but not something to ignore. Not much for running and jumping, and for blending either. Which means that I think she's not one for pretending to be something she's not.With that in mind, this is what I got:
Streetfighting 3, Jockstuff 2, Blend 1, Streetsmarts 5, Schoolin' 4, Little Angel 1, Thiefstuff 3, Get A Clue 5, GenSpeak 3, Fearless Leader 3, GoGo 5, Organize 5
That's 40 points on the button. Again, I used to do this a fair bit.
8. Your Mall Stuff
I'm not going to buy anything, because one of the cool thing this game does is that it plays the first session as character creation. It gets a bunch of characters from disparate walks of live and gives you a stressful situation for them to deal with. Doesn't even ask you to do all these stats first. I starts with "Who are you, okay run for it."
9. CyberGen Type
This is also something that comes from the game. I rarely had people start evovled, but it happened fairly quickly. To be honest, it was a great way to get players who might not have been into the game into the game a lot more because now they had cool powers that made them hunted by the government.
10. Your Tag
Time to name the character. Random.org a letter and it was N so I'm going with Nichole "Pins" Lloyd because that was also randomly generated with a name generator. Pins is what I'm keeping though because I like it.
Below is the character sheet, int two parts because you can't fill the PDF, and editing it to type in it is also ... prohibited ... for some ... reason.
INDIE PRESS REVOLUTION
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