A lot of tropes of Cyberpunk that we can see in a game like Cyberpunk 2077 or in most any Cyberpunk role playing game are from the novel neuromancer by william gibson. That book isn't the origin of the genre (the aesthetics of the genre were form by earlier works such as Judge Dredd comics) but it contains so many tropes that are used in games, anime, and other cyberpunk media. Tropes like evil megacorps, netrunners, cyberdecks, the "samuari" style of augmented merc, super AI, the list goes on. I highly suggest anyone that loves Cyberpunk to read Neuromance and the whole sprawl trilogy. It is shocking how many cyberpunk tropes you will realize all originate from this one book. SIde: Punk at its core is an extreme distrust of authority and capitalism. Its why Megacorpations, a symbol of capitalist control of society, are the core villains of Cyberpunk settings.
I like the fact that you explored different perspectives on what Cyberpunk is and didn't just lump it all into one category. As someone who has been a big fan of the cyberpunk genre for decades now, I, too, have come to the conclusion that it isn't as easy to define as some people want it to be. As for myself, I've always used the terms "high tech existentialism" and "cybernetic transhumanism" to describe the aspects of cyberpunk that I enjoy most. It's not all that is out there, but it is definitely the prevailing themes that I've personally latched on to.
I think the reason there are so many kinds of cyberpunk is because the word itself flows nicely and so people wanted to attach it to everything. After decades of people calling everything even vaguely in the future "cyberpunk", the genre is as meaningless and dilute as "rock" is in music, for better and for worse.
CP2020 was one of my childhood games and I had such high hopes for RED. but every single time where I felt Mike should have zigged he zagged. Beyond the reworking of netrunning, the new edition is a bunch of small changes; none of them in the right direction. I genuinely like all four of your ideas, and feel like they are all strong enough ideas that they don't need dedicated systems (but dedicated systems do work best) and could be played as campaigns inside of existing cyberpunk systems if one wanted. Its a 5E hack (since as we both know in this current cyberpunk dystopia its the only way to bake bread in the game industry), but take a look at Identeco if you can find a copy. It's made by some folks I've recently met after moving to the sprawl south of Seattle, and was proverbially sold to me as "eco-terrorism cyberpunk". Shuba.
Finding a Cyberpunk Vtuber is surprisingly difficult by the way. Having to systematically injure one is a bit more difficult. Very close to getting a /meat/ girl, but alas I stopped myself. Pondsmith has a 50/50 of producing Lead or Gold with everything he touches, this is known. Apparently people are telling me "Corporation" is the greatest Cyberpunk game ever, so that'll probably be its own thing at this point.
@@NotepadAnon I've not had any personals experience with Corporation, but I too have heard many a good thing about it from folks whose opinions I respect. So yeah, if you can find time and a copy it might be worth looking into.
This was actually a really good take. You got got a sub from me for sure. If I may throw my hat into the ring, I know you're talking about the universe in general but in said universe a Cyberpunk or Edgerunner or Solo are just mercenaries it's that's simple. There are Cyberpunks who can clean house with a katana or netrun or anything in between whatever you need to get a job done it's a job of a fixer to figure out who to hire and how you want it done. It's such an umbrella term in such a vast world with so much lore that creates these kinds of discussions that I really love. But this is just my personal take anyone can feel free to pick it apart or disagree and let me know how you view things no hard feelings.
Another great video. It raises a good question too about what Cyberpunk *is*. I think Dishonored is Cyberpunk, or at least something adjacent to it (steampunk/whalepunk); but Dishonored doesn't have the aesthetic. It does have high tech, but it's not as ubiquitous as it is in traditional cyberpunk settings. It's certainly not Gibsonite or Punkpunk; so I guess it's Ideologically Cyberpunk? The reason I bring it up is that I think there's something in there that appeals to the 'meaning' of punk in the cyberpunk/steampunk etc context. I'd say it's about there being an oppressed majority fighting among themselves for survival and a priveliged minority fighting among themselves for *more* privilege and using the oppressed as pawns to achieve that goal. Great campaign ideas btw. I'll be using some of those for sure.
In fact, Steampunk is very much an alternate history/fantasy derivative of Cyberpunk. The genre, just like Cyberpunk, has its origin in much older works of sci-fiction but the term "steampunk" its self was coin in the late 80s as a reference to cyberpunk. Mainly just to highlight that the two genres shared similar themes and aesthetics.
You can actually run all of these mini-games within Cyberpunk 2020. There's an entire chapter on Trauma Team in the core that informs a Meat Wagon campaign. Cyberpunk 2020 is basically the ultimate expression of Cyberpunk as a roleplaying genre, but it's really a retro-futurist theme now The genre is "late-80s-early-90s punk" in tone and aesthetic, but In The Future. I personally think including a full Internet is a bad idea and makes the genre suffer as a whole. Probably in the real world, too.
Currently in the "I wonder what I should do next?" phase, some ideas are more based on broad concepts or just spur of the moment choices. You can make a broad guess where this one came from. . .
To use terms of music as an example. Personally I've always felt that Cyberpunk was always the punk rock, grunge, or even metal or hip-hop to Sci-fi's pop. Punk, Grunge, Metal, and Rap, all have different themes they can explore just as Cyberpunk can too. Where cpt Kirk is Bing Crosby and Picard is Freddy Mercury, Johnny Silverhand is Rage Against the Machine and Ghost in the Shell is Nirvana. Tho Note mentioned at the end Punk, Grunge, Metal, and Hip-hop no longer have their initial meanings. They've all changed overtime, while I don't like everyway everything has changed, the change itself is good.
Not that it matters but I do align myself with the Ideological camp. Cyberpunk is almost entirely based on people living outside of a system that only benefits the rich and spoiled 1% of society. And their choices are to try and rebel against that society or go out in a blaze of glory trying. To me there always needs to be something BIG to fight in cyberpunk both literally and metaphorically. Ranging from the chromed out super soldier to the mega corpos who built that walking tank of a former person.
Ghhh, now I want to make a video on that; in my Q&A video, that should come out tomorrow or the day after, I will mention your video, and give my own thoughts on the matter. By the way: "All my friends are dead, and I feel sad." I hope that's just a meme; these days, you never know.
Great video. While the concepts are all interesting, Backwoods Jackals is my favorite by far. As far as Meat-wagon goes, I am reminded of CRASH//CART by Galen Pejeau created in 2020. A link to it (encoded in Base58) is below: 2BCfkBRHmbhykXf85wAz3p9HNXH5oyNRG59LN3FBP9gZXZnurAdUZR
Fun fact, it doesn't exist! It was a spur of the moment "Idea" more than anything. More of a proposition. Though if there is interest, I could add it to the list.
For the most part, Cyberpunk as a genre exists as a criticism of capitalism. The high tech low lives is a symptom of that, because it's a broken capitalist machine that keeps people too poor to do anything about their lives and in desperate need of augment. The punk aspect is important because Punk as a movement (which is why there are so many Rock'n Roll themes in the genre) largely represented counter culture and rebelling against that machine. Be it Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, Neuromancer, Blade Runner, the destructive nature of end stage capitalism and the idea of if companies had unlimited unchecked power is a core function of the genre. I write for one of the franchises listed in your video, and I can tell you be it for the TTRPG itself or for it's related Novels this is a theme most of us actively try to employ in writing for the genre. As freelancers, many of us also write for more than one franchise within that genre and I can promise we keep that throughline going.
Virtually everything, including Shadowrun, was available in the Cyberpunk 2020 RPG. Yes, including the elves and orcs, the mechs of Ghost in the Shell, the full body Panzermanner cyborgs, the Backwood Jackals known as Nomads, and anybody could Nightengale a legitimately-dead corpse. The rest is just fleshing out and detail work. Most of the cyberpunk genre is man's place in a world that advanced beyond them, and the struggle to just not be a forgotten number.
I have subscribed just in case you are going to make content outside of strictly TTRPGs. Very informative and nicely formatted video. If you want popular audience go for some stupid bullshit like peasant railgun imho
We live in the year 2020 where cyberpunks like I are forced to pirate chromebooks 1-4 off of free pdf cites
Meat wagon feels like a "try not to turn into a complete organ harvesting operation" kind of game.
Well, money is money, right? They don't need them anymore. . .
@@NotepadAnon and if there aren't any bodies, why not make your own?
A lot of tropes of Cyberpunk that we can see in a game like Cyberpunk 2077 or in most any Cyberpunk role playing game are from the novel neuromancer by william gibson. That book isn't the origin of the genre (the aesthetics of the genre were form by earlier works such as Judge Dredd comics) but it contains so many tropes that are used in games, anime, and other cyberpunk media. Tropes like evil megacorps, netrunners, cyberdecks, the "samuari" style of augmented merc, super AI, the list goes on. I highly suggest anyone that loves Cyberpunk to read Neuromance and the whole sprawl trilogy. It is shocking how many cyberpunk tropes you will realize all originate from this one book.
SIde: Punk at its core is an extreme distrust of authority and capitalism. Its why Megacorpations, a symbol of capitalist control of society, are the core villains of Cyberpunk settings.
I like the fact that you explored different perspectives on what Cyberpunk is and didn't just lump it all into one category. As someone who has been a big fan of the cyberpunk genre for decades now, I, too, have come to the conclusion that it isn't as easy to define as some people want it to be. As for myself, I've always used the terms "high tech existentialism" and "cybernetic transhumanism" to describe the aspects of cyberpunk that I enjoy most. It's not all that is out there, but it is definitely the prevailing themes that I've personally latched on to.
Panzermanner sounds absolutely dope as all hell I would like to see it made
Adam Smasher/Robo cop simulator sounds cool
I think the reason there are so many kinds of cyberpunk is because the word itself flows nicely and so people wanted to attach it to everything. After decades of people calling everything even vaguely in the future "cyberpunk", the genre is as meaningless and dilute as "rock" is in music, for better and for worse.
Cyberpunk is a very specific genre and frankly, people who think edgerunners isn't cyberpunk, are just mad that its popular now.
Wow, that's a great video, as if I actually want to prototype one of the game ideas here.
A few people have already said they want to do a Meat Wagon / Panzermanner stuff, so more like than you think!
@@NotepadAnonWhere Meat Wagon?
Meat wagon sounds like an awesome concept.
CP2020 was one of my childhood games and I had such high hopes for RED. but every single time where I felt Mike should have zigged he zagged. Beyond the reworking of netrunning, the new edition is a bunch of small changes; none of them in the right direction.
I genuinely like all four of your ideas, and feel like they are all strong enough ideas that they don't need dedicated systems (but dedicated systems do work best) and could be played as campaigns inside of existing cyberpunk systems if one wanted.
Its a 5E hack (since as we both know in this current cyberpunk dystopia its the only way to bake bread in the game industry), but take a look at Identeco if you can find a copy. It's made by some folks I've recently met after moving to the sprawl south of Seattle, and was proverbially sold to me as "eco-terrorism cyberpunk".
Shuba.
Finding a Cyberpunk Vtuber is surprisingly difficult by the way. Having to systematically injure one is a bit more difficult.
Very close to getting a /meat/ girl, but alas I stopped myself.
Pondsmith has a 50/50 of producing Lead or Gold with everything he touches, this is known. Apparently people are telling me "Corporation" is the greatest Cyberpunk game ever, so that'll probably be its own thing at this point.
@@NotepadAnon I've not had any personals experience with Corporation, but I too have heard many a good thing about it from folks whose opinions I respect. So yeah, if you can find time and a copy it might be worth looking into.
Edgerunner 😭
Edgerunner
Amazing video!! What a underrated channel!!
This was actually a really good take. You got got a sub from me for sure. If I may throw my hat into the ring, I know you're talking about the universe in general but in said universe a Cyberpunk or Edgerunner or Solo are just mercenaries it's that's simple. There are Cyberpunks who can clean house with a katana or netrun or anything in between whatever you need to get a job done it's a job of a fixer to figure out who to hire and how you want it done. It's such an umbrella term in such a vast world with so much lore that creates these kinds of discussions that I really love. But this is just my personal take anyone can feel free to pick it apart or disagree and let me know how you view things no hard feelings.
Another great video.
It raises a good question too about what Cyberpunk *is*. I think Dishonored is Cyberpunk, or at least something adjacent to it (steampunk/whalepunk); but Dishonored doesn't have the aesthetic. It does have high tech, but it's not as ubiquitous as it is in traditional cyberpunk settings. It's certainly not Gibsonite or Punkpunk; so I guess it's Ideologically Cyberpunk?
The reason I bring it up is that I think there's something in there that appeals to the 'meaning' of punk in the cyberpunk/steampunk etc context. I'd say it's about there being an oppressed majority fighting among themselves for survival and a priveliged minority fighting among themselves for *more* privilege and using the oppressed as pawns to achieve that goal.
Great campaign ideas btw. I'll be using some of those for sure.
In fact, Steampunk is very much an alternate history/fantasy derivative of Cyberpunk. The genre, just like Cyberpunk, has its origin in much older works of sci-fiction but the term "steampunk" its self was coin in the late 80s as a reference to cyberpunk. Mainly just to highlight that the two genres shared similar themes and aesthetics.
You can actually run all of these mini-games within Cyberpunk 2020. There's an entire chapter on Trauma Team in the core that informs a Meat Wagon campaign. Cyberpunk 2020 is basically the ultimate expression of Cyberpunk as a roleplaying genre, but it's really a retro-futurist theme now The genre is "late-80s-early-90s punk" in tone and aesthetic, but In The Future. I personally think including a full Internet is a bad idea and makes the genre suffer as a whole. Probably in the real world, too.
Cyberpunk is Dystopian SciFi Noir.
Thats all it comes down to.
Congrats on 600 subs
Cyberpunk STALKER, love it, gonna need to look up Backwood Jackal, thank you.
Great video, u should make more of these
Currently in the "I wonder what I should do next?" phase, some ideas are more based on broad concepts or just spur of the moment choices.
You can make a broad guess where this one came from. . .
To use terms of music as an example. Personally I've always felt that Cyberpunk was always the punk rock, grunge, or even metal or hip-hop to Sci-fi's pop. Punk, Grunge, Metal, and Rap, all have different themes they can explore just as Cyberpunk can too. Where cpt Kirk is Bing Crosby and Picard is Freddy Mercury, Johnny Silverhand is Rage Against the Machine and Ghost in the Shell is Nirvana. Tho Note mentioned at the end Punk, Grunge, Metal, and Hip-hop no longer have their initial meanings. They've all changed overtime, while I don't like everyway everything has changed, the change itself is good.
Not that it matters but I do align myself with the Ideological camp.
Cyberpunk is almost entirely based on people living outside of a system that only benefits the rich and spoiled 1% of society.
And their choices are to try and rebel against that society or go out in a blaze of glory trying.
To me there always needs to be something BIG to fight in cyberpunk both literally and metaphorically. Ranging from the chromed out super soldier to the mega corpos who built that walking tank of a former person.
0.29 look mom, I'm on a Notepad RUclips video
Here before this hits the algorithm real hard
Ghhh, now I want to make a video on that; in my Q&A video, that should come out tomorrow or the day after, I will mention your video, and give my own thoughts on the matter. By the way:
"All my friends are dead, and I feel sad."
I hope that's just a meme; these days, you never know.
Great video. While the concepts are all interesting, Backwoods Jackals is my favorite by far. As far as Meat-wagon goes, I am reminded of CRASH//CART by Galen Pejeau created in 2020. A link to it (encoded in Base58) is below:
2BCfkBRHmbhykXf85wAz3p9HNXH5oyNRG59LN3FBP9gZXZnurAdUZR
Dude i can't find your Meat Wagon RPG
Fun fact, it doesn't exist! It was a spur of the moment "Idea" more than anything. More of a proposition. Though if there is interest, I could add it to the list.
0:43 where's that character from?
One of the Shadowrun Archetypes, a Street Samurai. I believe . . . 3rd Edition?
@@NotepadAnon rad lad
For the most part, Cyberpunk as a genre exists as a criticism of capitalism. The high tech low lives is a symptom of that, because it's a broken capitalist machine that keeps people too poor to do anything about their lives and in desperate need of augment. The punk aspect is important because Punk as a movement (which is why there are so many Rock'n Roll themes in the genre) largely represented counter culture and rebelling against that machine. Be it Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, Neuromancer, Blade Runner, the destructive nature of end stage capitalism and the idea of if companies had unlimited unchecked power is a core function of the genre.
I write for one of the franchises listed in your video, and I can tell you be it for the TTRPG itself or for it's related Novels this is a theme most of us actively try to employ in writing for the genre. As freelancers, many of us also write for more than one franchise within that genre and I can promise we keep that throughline going.
Virtually everything, including Shadowrun, was available in the Cyberpunk 2020 RPG. Yes, including the elves and orcs, the mechs of Ghost in the Shell, the full body Panzermanner cyborgs, the Backwood Jackals known as Nomads, and anybody could Nightengale a legitimately-dead corpse. The rest is just fleshing out and detail work.
Most of the cyberpunk genre is man's place in a world that advanced beyond them, and the struggle to just not be a forgotten number.
I have subscribed just in case you are going to make content outside of strictly TTRPGs. Very informative and nicely formatted video. If you want popular audience go for some stupid bullshit like peasant railgun imho