@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction
Cyberpunk should be relevant. It is a study of where our society could go in the coming years. The issues faced by people in a cyberpunk setting should have some relevance to issues faced by the audience, even if they're not the same. Retro future, present problems.
@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction
Capitalism? No thanks. Good cyberpunk is anti-capitalist. It's about how technology without ethics can make social inequality worse. The wealthy use it to cement their power and perpetuate the status quo, while marginalized communities are kept that way. The PCs want to use it to break the current system. They work against their enemies, not for them.
@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction The Hard Wired Island, despite claiming to be #cyberpunk , is _almost_ a #solarpunk #ttrpg for me when it comes to presenting its world: it talks a lot about community (both on individual and societal role), infrastructure, non-trivial problems, complex identity, unions, grassroots...
Just read their mini-manifesto:
@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction if we go into different meanings of communities and positive anarchy, maybe the Hard Wired Island ( https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/354684/Hard-Wired-Island ) would be an interesting direction?
It's a 90's retrofuture cyberpunk, but it goes back to the roots: it is about grassroots movements, social solidarity of the lower class, where the implants don't make you inhuman, they just make you _dependent on the evil corpos which can ruin your life_?
@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction that's an interesting take, because for me the Dream Askew setting is surprisingly hopeful, because you can feel the community is there behind you. I would feel much... wholesome? safer? hopeful? playing Dream Askew than any game where myself and the other players are not actively integrated within a community.
@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction thank you!
Speaking about a positive version of anarchy, have you read / played https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/dream-askew ?
I think especially Dream Askew, which brought us the original Belonging Beyond Belonging, is a really interesting inspiration / direction for such themes.
While it might not be a game for me, I loved the queer community roles for all the characters - and how their story beats function within the narrative.
@8petros @Anaphory @fiction @FullyAutomatedRPG I think you forget that a lot of Mastodon instances have a hard cap on character number and we would need to self-host or convince our admins to change the character limit for us ;)
@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction
Cybernetics are not inherently good or bad. Like most tech, what matters is how it's used. The problem is that cybernetics often serves the needs of capital rather than people; Any alienating or dysphoric effects come from being reshaped into some corporation's property. There is no mechanic that suggests wearing a prosthetic makes you less human, or prone to mental illness; instead, the tradeoff of augments is adding to your financial burdens.