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There were two recent discussions on the Facebook group for Cyberpunk: RED (CP:R) that got me thinking about a campaign framework that is constructive in nature.
The first was about the murder hobo problem. If you're not familiar with the term, "murder hoboes" refers to the style of campaign where the characters go from place to place, kill opponents, take their stuff, and move on. This style of game traces its origins to the classic dungeon crawls of Du geons & Dragons, which itself was heavily influenced by D&D's background as a miniature wargame.
Sadly, this style of play has become common, no matter the genre. In a dystopian setting like CP:R it manifests as endless runs against corporate targets that are basically dungeon crawls with guns and netrunning. While combat is a fun part of any game and triumphing over foes is satisfying, endless killing gets old after a while.
Another factor against a murder hobo game is the reality of how societies work. Even in a crapsack work like you find in CP:R, a bunch of casual killers are going to attract attention and be hunted down. Look at the classic "Wild West" era (c. 1870 - 1900) and you'll see that that the famous gunfighters were hunted down and killed or forced to flee. So in any genre, the murder hoboes will find themselves with no place to rest as the world turns against them.
The second discussion was CP:R as a sandbox game. This concept is closely tied to building a better world. In a sandbox game, the characters work in a well-defined area; a neighborhood, a city, a newly cleared province, and work to improve it. D&D has taken a few steps into this kind of campaign, and Traveller: The New Era was supposed to be this kind of thing, but sadly got sucked into the Star Vikings murder hoboes trope.
Cyberpunk: RED is uniquely set for this kind of game. The default setting has already established that people are rebuilding. Reclaimers are resettling cities abandoned during the worst of the hard times, Nomad families are re-establishing highway, rail, and limited sea trade. The world economy is stabilizing. It is a time of change.
This is where the concept of a politically-based campaign comes in. Despite the advances, the default controlling authority is a corporate oligarchy. Despite the fall of the megacorps, Corporate players still control local government to a large extent in a case of raw capitalism run wild. The fact that corporations like Consolidated Foods field military forces to destroy local farms is proof enough of that.
As I pointed out above, people want security. They want shelter, clean food and water, and not to be afraid. The current situation is much like what we see in modern India. A select elite lives in well-protected luxury and work in gleaming city centers, a small desperate middle class clings to the ragged edge of financial and food insecurity, while a large disposed underclass lives in the ravaged suburbs and warrens of the city.
In the Time of the Red farming is a revolutionary act.
The collapse of the last forty years (game time) didn't happen overnight. People would have time to rip up their flower beds and plant food. Neighborhoods would band together. And as they saw society disintegrate around them, they would start organizing against the corporate and civil elite that keeps them poor. It starts with community farms and guarding them against raids by booster gangs and corporate troops.
In the Time of the Red organizing labor is a revolutionary act.
Like the slums of Mumbai, these outskirts will see a thousand cottage industries bloom. They would band together in guild structures to fend off corporate interference. In my San Francisco setting, the old Hunters Point Naval Shipyard has been rebuilt and is a thriving co-op building and repairing coastal freighters. Which has led to the south-eat corn of San Francisco becoming a hive of small industry. Each shop is more a family than a business, a commune if you will.
In the Time of the Red education is a revolutionary act.
With state-run schools vanishing decades ago, teaching has fallen to the communities. The big corps don't want well-read workers. Free schools are frequent targets of attacks. The communities have to join together to not only run but defend their schools.
The Time of the Red is a time of revolution.
This brings us to the campaign. The People and Workers Front of California has emerged as the organized political opposition to the ruling oligarchy. They educate, organize, and preach a socialist state with a distributed democratic base. With almost everyone having access to the local Datapool, everyone should have a voice. They are working with the Reclaimers to settle the homeless, working with Nomad families to begin moving goods to the people instead of the plutocrats. Like any revolutionary group, they work in cells so no one cell can give up the entire network.
For more direct action, the PWFC has the Peoples' Army of California, also known as the Bear Flag Army. This is where the player-characters come in. They are a PAC cell. They get missions in dead drops, taped X's in windows, all the usual methods of confidential communication. While some of the missions will be capers in the traditional sense, some might involve espionage, escort an important party leader, or flat-out assassination.
This campaign works because it has a clear long-term goal: power to the people! But the road is bumpy and filled with dangers. There will be rival movements, ethical dilemmas, and the possibility that one member of the cell is a plant. But having a goal to build to not only gives each mission meaning but also gives a nice endpoint for the game. You've toppled the ruling power structure. You've won.
This style of game would work with all the character roles in CP:R except the Exec, it would be a reach for a corporate climber to be working for the revolution. Also, the Lawmen would be PWFC cops, enforcing not only whatever laws exist in party-controlled areas, but also enforcing party ideology.
I'm interested in any feedback.
The first was about the murder hobo problem. If you're not familiar with the term, "murder hoboes" refers to the style of campaign where the characters go from place to place, kill opponents, take their stuff, and move on. This style of game traces its origins to the classic dungeon crawls of Du geons & Dragons, which itself was heavily influenced by D&D's background as a miniature wargame.
Sadly, this style of play has become common, no matter the genre. In a dystopian setting like CP:R it manifests as endless runs against corporate targets that are basically dungeon crawls with guns and netrunning. While combat is a fun part of any game and triumphing over foes is satisfying, endless killing gets old after a while.
Another factor against a murder hobo game is the reality of how societies work. Even in a crapsack work like you find in CP:R, a bunch of casual killers are going to attract attention and be hunted down. Look at the classic "Wild West" era (c. 1870 - 1900) and you'll see that that the famous gunfighters were hunted down and killed or forced to flee. So in any genre, the murder hoboes will find themselves with no place to rest as the world turns against them.
The second discussion was CP:R as a sandbox game. This concept is closely tied to building a better world. In a sandbox game, the characters work in a well-defined area; a neighborhood, a city, a newly cleared province, and work to improve it. D&D has taken a few steps into this kind of campaign, and Traveller: The New Era was supposed to be this kind of thing, but sadly got sucked into the Star Vikings murder hoboes trope.
Cyberpunk: RED is uniquely set for this kind of game. The default setting has already established that people are rebuilding. Reclaimers are resettling cities abandoned during the worst of the hard times, Nomad families are re-establishing highway, rail, and limited sea trade. The world economy is stabilizing. It is a time of change.
This is where the concept of a politically-based campaign comes in. Despite the advances, the default controlling authority is a corporate oligarchy. Despite the fall of the megacorps, Corporate players still control local government to a large extent in a case of raw capitalism run wild. The fact that corporations like Consolidated Foods field military forces to destroy local farms is proof enough of that.
As I pointed out above, people want security. They want shelter, clean food and water, and not to be afraid. The current situation is much like what we see in modern India. A select elite lives in well-protected luxury and work in gleaming city centers, a small desperate middle class clings to the ragged edge of financial and food insecurity, while a large disposed underclass lives in the ravaged suburbs and warrens of the city.
In the Time of the Red farming is a revolutionary act.
The collapse of the last forty years (game time) didn't happen overnight. People would have time to rip up their flower beds and plant food. Neighborhoods would band together. And as they saw society disintegrate around them, they would start organizing against the corporate and civil elite that keeps them poor. It starts with community farms and guarding them against raids by booster gangs and corporate troops.
In the Time of the Red organizing labor is a revolutionary act.
Like the slums of Mumbai, these outskirts will see a thousand cottage industries bloom. They would band together in guild structures to fend off corporate interference. In my San Francisco setting, the old Hunters Point Naval Shipyard has been rebuilt and is a thriving co-op building and repairing coastal freighters. Which has led to the south-eat corn of San Francisco becoming a hive of small industry. Each shop is more a family than a business, a commune if you will.
In the Time of the Red education is a revolutionary act.
With state-run schools vanishing decades ago, teaching has fallen to the communities. The big corps don't want well-read workers. Free schools are frequent targets of attacks. The communities have to join together to not only run but defend their schools.
The Time of the Red is a time of revolution.
This brings us to the campaign. The People and Workers Front of California has emerged as the organized political opposition to the ruling oligarchy. They educate, organize, and preach a socialist state with a distributed democratic base. With almost everyone having access to the local Datapool, everyone should have a voice. They are working with the Reclaimers to settle the homeless, working with Nomad families to begin moving goods to the people instead of the plutocrats. Like any revolutionary group, they work in cells so no one cell can give up the entire network.
For more direct action, the PWFC has the Peoples' Army of California, also known as the Bear Flag Army. This is where the player-characters come in. They are a PAC cell. They get missions in dead drops, taped X's in windows, all the usual methods of confidential communication. While some of the missions will be capers in the traditional sense, some might involve espionage, escort an important party leader, or flat-out assassination.
This campaign works because it has a clear long-term goal: power to the people! But the road is bumpy and filled with dangers. There will be rival movements, ethical dilemmas, and the possibility that one member of the cell is a plant. But having a goal to build to not only gives each mission meaning but also gives a nice endpoint for the game. You've toppled the ruling power structure. You've won.
This style of game would work with all the character roles in CP:R except the Exec, it would be a reach for a corporate climber to be working for the revolution. Also, the Lawmen would be PWFC cops, enforcing not only whatever laws exist in party-controlled areas, but also enforcing party ideology.
I'm interested in any feedback.
