tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post7153125051889898477..comments2024-03-20T20:03:56.127+00:00Comments on THE GREAT GAME: Interface Zero: bringing Cyberpunk to Savage WorldsStuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-70609067204427744742010-12-16T23:04:26.833+00:002010-12-16T23:04:26.833+00:00I understand there may be a new version of the gam...I understand there may be a new version of the game coming out, but then again, I feel that in many respects I've moved on from SLA.Stuarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-87498918240850198112010-12-12T21:20:04.807+00:002010-12-12T21:20:04.807+00:00Yes, SLA is a little different, because there are ...Yes, <i>SLA</i> is a little different, because there are no competing corporations with SLA running everything, so it almost feels like <i>Paranoia</i>, with the player-characters superficially furthering the goals of SLA while at the same time pursuing their own personal, secret and likely treasonous interests.<br /><br />It's different in that it's not 80's America projected into a dark future, as most bog-standard cyberpunk is, but rather a grubby Glasgow housing estate.<br /><br />I've always liked the setting, but the rules are a mess. There is a <i>Savage Worlds</i> conversion out there, but it's a big book, and requires both the <i>SW</i> rules and the <i>SLA</i> book, so it strikes me as being unwieldy in play.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-12052063596304360602010-12-12T20:40:04.540+00:002010-12-12T20:40:04.540+00:00One of the great things about SLA was that, while ...One of the great things about SLA was that, while you were technically working for this massive corporation that ran the world - and much of the universe - it got a lot more interesting as you ended up having to cover things up, for example going off-mission and doing things your bosses might not approve of. We ended up with a sub-conspiracy, keeping quiet a mistaken assassination of another SLA operative called The Imp. That was one of the most entertaining dimensions of the whole thing, and a stick the GM could poke us with any time he liked! Heck, even the Mob had dirt on us! The paranoia got intense after a while...Stuarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-42407629339520511422010-12-11T23:37:07.061+00:002010-12-11T23:37:07.061+00:00Then again....maybe it was the way those games wer...Then again....maybe it was the way those games were run. I never want to play SLA industries for example.<br /><br />BUT if we were to play a NOIR-esque game of private eyes, a non-mysogynistic version of SIN CITY but in 2088 I could cope with that. ;) In terms of crooked cops, greedy bosses, corporate crime, with the pcs on a losing wicket, and ultimately all doomed to die. I could do that for 3- 5 sessions. So long as I get to roll dice and fight something every session and don't have to watch/ listen to net-running at all in the game! (That is SO DULL!)<br /><br />Blade runner meets SIN CITY. Sounds fine to me. :)BenTheFerghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12760136651496176499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-82830326571942334852010-12-11T23:15:55.472+00:002010-12-11T23:15:55.472+00:00aha!
my chief problem with all sci-fi rpgs is tha...aha!<br /><br />my chief problem with all sci-fi rpgs is that they either/ or:<br />1) in an alien setting<br />2)using alien technology<br />both of which you have to invest tons of time reading them to get your head around what is what...<br /><br />Fading Suns helps get round (2)the tech part - dark age setting and (1) weird setting since they use world national groupings / cultures, as well as familiar dune-esque setting devices.... somehow I like that. But I guess that's because it is a passion play, not a dystopian rpg.... weird, since I can enjoy reading cyberpunk, and my favourite film is Blade Runner.....<br /><br />Even WRFP in space can give me headaches - all the tech, as well as background which I don't have a handle on at all!!<br /><br />Cyberpunk can solve problem of (1) setting, since it is set on our earth but then with (2) can have lots of gear, and for me, rather like Spycraft, is too tech-heady for me. I don't mind one-off spy dramas, but I have never had the energy for very complex plots which you tap into at the end of a busy week.... My primary problem though is that I seek escapism - and my day job is about trying to get students to see my dystopian interpretations of reality as opposed to the lovely world corporations and advertisers would like us to believe exists for everyone.<br /><br />I have played 2 incarnations of cyberpunk games. SLA industries was very depressing, playing a member of a kick-murder squad.....working for corporations. Not me at all. Cyberpunk RPG for me, likewise, was depressing. Industrial espionage, complex back-stabbing politics of a world/ society I couldn't relate to/ give a damn about.... I really find it all far too depressing.<br /><br />BUT by all means, play some at some point, and I'll sit out and play more boardgames for those weeks instead - I often find myself not boardgaming (on Tues) and only rpging on Fridays, so I can always swap gaming priorities for a bit so you can get your cyberpunk out of your system!<br /><br />Just finished watching 'once upon a time in the west' - fantatsic!BenTheFerghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12760136651496176499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-36036293514766910862010-12-11T20:05:48.769+00:002010-12-11T20:05:48.769+00:00I spent much of my youth playing Shadowrun and we ...I spent much of my youth playing <i>Shadowrun</i> and we loved it, although it did indeed become increasingly bloated, until I put my foot down and scaled it back to just the core rules. I still have fond memories of that game, although I don't know if I could play in that setting again.<br /><br />(My <i>Shadowrun</i> campaign crossed over into the Cthulhu Mythos, which should come as no surprise.)<br /><br />We also played a bit of <i>SLA</i>, but couldn't get it to become a long-term campaign. Again I liked the setting and it is one I'd like to visit again, I think.<br /><br />There's a question over how relevant the cyberpunk genre is in the modern era, as its classic imagery is very much of a future 1980's, but since the 80's are back in fashion, perhaps it's time to take another look, or if not, to take some inspiration from the cyberpunk fictions of more recent times, like <i>Altered Carbon</i> or the Carlucci trilogy.<br /><br />I know Ben's not keen on it as a genre, but if you ever get a cyberpunk game up and running, let me know!<br /><br />One flaw of pretty much every cyberpunk game I've ever played is the hacking, which tends to introduce a sub-game that has the effect of isolating the hacker player from the rest of the group. What ends up happening is that either the group has to sit out while the hacking sequence is played through, or that part is reduced to a minor mechanic, which strips the archetype of some of its value.<br /><br />I solved it in <i>Shadowrun</i> by making all deckers NPCs, but this is a less than ideal solution, so I wonder how <i>Interface Zero</i> handles it?thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.com