17 thoughts on “I’m thinking about using this for a cyberpunk game. Anyone done anything in that direction?”

  1. I have a vague memory of someone taking about that, but nothing concrete.

    Still, it seems easy enough. Swap Credits for Coins, rename some mystical stuff into tech stuff, and it should be good. 🙂

  2. This was one of the stretch goals:

    UNLOCKED! ($80,000) Null Vector: Four artificial intelligences secretly rule the world. You and your crew of cyber-augmented outcasts are some of the only people who know the truth. Will you oppose the invisible masters? Will you join one of the AIs, to bring its vision for humanity to life? What will you do to change the world? Null Vector is a complete reskin of the game for cyberpunk thriller action in the vein of Ghost in the Shell.

  3. I prepared to run Blades in a cyberpunk setting for a long con in October, but didn’t end up actually running it. If interested, here is a cyberpunk-flavored variant of the NPC Archetype generator I created for when I get to run it this way (it now includes more cyberpunky look details, names, gear, cyberware, club/bar names, and corporation names, most of which come from Sixth World (the Shadowrun conversion of Dungeon World): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n3YvShVgKyFRwSjggF5OFWkfyWd1ZeQr4E0_WPCw0es/edit?usp=sharing

    Not much needed changing, honestly. I planned to change more but really didn’t need to.

    1) For a Shadowrun feel, (where mastering magic and mastering tech are somewhat at odds) I planned to have each player choose whether the paranormal elements of the Blades sheets (like Attune and certain special abilities) count as either arcane/paranormal as usual, or digital/technological instead. Whisper is the headjacked decker dealing with systems and programs like a paranormal whisper deals with spirits, elements, and artifice. That way too, each playbook’s ghost-related special ability is now a way to account for technological effects like cyberware or more casual hacking skills.

    2) Then more for flavor than anything, I made cards for each of the classic Shadowrun archetype (ie street samurai, decker, rigger, mage, shaman, etc.) The card simply listed recommended Blades playbooks for that cyberpunk, as well as a new Contacts list, which I also borrowed from the Sixth World playbooks (the Shadowrun hack of Dungeon World).

    Those two changes are all that seems strictly necessary. Just because I wanted to, I also made cards for each of the Shadowrun metatypes/races, including 3-4 options of special abilities available to all members of that race which players can choose from just like the ones on their playbook. 

  4. I think it would work. The only strange thing is Blades in the Dark is sort of set on your gang becoming the biggest and baddest.  Which in a Cyberpunk game means you might end up as a Corporation? Sort of at odds with anti-authority theme.

  7. I could see a crew competing for contracts. The better your reputation and gear and experience, the juicier the contracts you can land, the higher the fees you can charge.

  8. Aaron Berger​ Not quite. In Blades, you rise up to become a more powerful criminal org, but you never become the government. Same goes for the cyberpunk equivalent.

  9. “Never” seems a bit strong. It is fiction first, after all.

    If a crew had ambitions to legitimate rulership, it’s not hard to think how they might apply pressure on those who make appointments, scrub their image, and use force and wealth on both sides of the law to convert illicit violence to legitimate oppression.

    I guess it depends on how you feel about the line between “scoundrel” and “politician.”

    Ultimately, I figure it’s about the game group’s staying power and the nature of their ambition.

  10. Andrew Shields John Harper This is most def just a problem with my brain and how I can’t picture it.  I’m sure Andrew could sit me down and sell me on a BitD cyber punk game.  I like the idea of competing for contracts.

    But from the outside it feels weird to me.  Cyberpunk to me is about being tiny force pitting vast factions against each other.  So small that you dodge most retribution.  The crew advancement sheet though kind of ruins that for me?  Having underlings, ‘ruling’ a neighborhood.  It feels like when your top dog you could go toe to toe with the corporations, and i’m not sure that’s a kind of end state i’m interested in?

    It might be because i’ve only seen the one crew sheet.  There might be other ones, where you don’t end up becoming something like the mafia.  In any case can’t wait to see the final game!

  11. You could step back and replace turf with “networking” and have vendors that you have a relationship with, both for buying and selling goods and information.

    Tier and rep are more about “clout” and respect than territory.

    It’s good to have subcontractors. =)

    There’s nothing wrong with replacing a geographical city with a job market that’s global (or reaches further) where your “neighborhood” might be a quasi-obsolete nation state where a number of mega corps have overlapping interests.

  12. Aaron Berger The crew sheets and character playbooks for the cyberpunk playset are totally different from those in Blades. Same goes for all the playsets.

  15. There is certainly a difference between off-the-cuff adaptation of the quickstart to play cyber-style games, and the official adaptation that will come out later.

    I figure the work on the official adaptations is probably waiting for the core of the game to get nailed down before it kicks into high gear.

  17. So in Cyberpunk are items considered “Brand Name” quality instead of “Fine”? Cyberpunk has always had a degree of fetishism over the latest hot brands. EG: the Onno-Sendai Cyberspace 7

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