I want the world in my games to be a horrible place. It should be depressing, it should feel unjust it should seem like the kind of place where taking to the shadows and fighting the system is a sane and reasonable response.
But there is a risk that if a setting is too dark, too hopeless and terrible then the players (myself included) become jaded and can't become invested at all.
The solution I have long wanted to try but have never successfully managed is to incorporate small infrequent scenes to remind everyone that there is still hope in the world. That the NPC's are human too that for all the flaws the world is still worth fighting for.
The example that first comes to my mind is the tears in the rain scene from the end of blade runner, bitter enemies coming to see each other as people.
I need help coming up with similar scenes to drop into my game to keep the setting from becoming too grimdark.
Anyone have any ideas?
Full Version: tears in the rain
What often works well is a sense of community in the Shadows.
The Shadowrun Returns video games did it well with the Seamstress Union in the first one and the hub in the second.
Their own community, where things aren't going that well for people, but where life goes on anyway and laughter can be heard. Many children won't make it to the adult age, but they still play in the ruins and have fun chasing rats for dinner, the couple next door lives in a place where you can get a dozen diseases just by leaning on the wall but it's still their little nest and that doesn't stop them from making plans for when they'll live happily ever after...
Depending on the tone you want, you can include SINners in that, but I'd advise against. I like the contrast between the free and miserable and those who sold their soul for comfort and security. Cyberpunk is, by nature, very caricatural and extreme.
And don't forget that in Cyberpunk, the protagonist can have the power to change stuff, but that change doesn't have to be "make the world nice and shiny". The ending of Escape Los Angeles is a perfect example of the kind of change a cyberpunk protagonist can lead to.
If you want to tie game mechanics to these concepts, something I like is to tie it to Edge point: each Edge point is related to a "reason to live" in the runner's life. The first (free) point is just the "will to live" , the rest is tied to something. To recharge a spent Edge point, the PC needs to do something related to that reason to live: spend time with his loved ones, contribute to making the world a better place, indulge in his passion, etc. When a PC burns an Edge point, something bad will happen to that reason to live.
The Shadowrun Returns video games did it well with the Seamstress Union in the first one and the hub in the second.
Their own community, where things aren't going that well for people, but where life goes on anyway and laughter can be heard. Many children won't make it to the adult age, but they still play in the ruins and have fun chasing rats for dinner, the couple next door lives in a place where you can get a dozen diseases just by leaning on the wall but it's still their little nest and that doesn't stop them from making plans for when they'll live happily ever after...
Depending on the tone you want, you can include SINners in that, but I'd advise against. I like the contrast between the free and miserable and those who sold their soul for comfort and security. Cyberpunk is, by nature, very caricatural and extreme.
And don't forget that in Cyberpunk, the protagonist can have the power to change stuff, but that change doesn't have to be "make the world nice and shiny". The ending of Escape Los Angeles is a perfect example of the kind of change a cyberpunk protagonist can lead to.
If you want to tie game mechanics to these concepts, something I like is to tie it to Edge point: each Edge point is related to a "reason to live" in the runner's life. The first (free) point is just the "will to live" , the rest is tied to something. To recharge a spent Edge point, the PC needs to do something related to that reason to live: spend time with his loved ones, contribute to making the world a better place, indulge in his passion, etc. When a PC burns an Edge point, something bad will happen to that reason to live.
QUOTE (rel @ Apr 27 2016, 10:26 AM) 
I want the world in my games to be a horrible place. It should be depressing, it should feel unjust it should seem like the kind of place where taking to the shadows and fighting the system is a sane and reasonable response.
But there is a risk that if a setting is too dark, too hopeless and terrible then the players (myself included) become jaded and can't become invested at all.
The solution I have long wanted to try but have never successfully managed is to incorporate small infrequent scenes to remind everyone that there is still hope in the world. That the NPC's are human too that for all the flaws the world is still worth fighting for.
The example that first comes to my mind is the tears in the rain scene from the end of blade runner, bitter enemies coming to see each other as people.
I need help coming up with similar scenes to drop into my game to keep the setting from becoming too grimdark.
Anyone have any ideas?
But there is a risk that if a setting is too dark, too hopeless and terrible then the players (myself included) become jaded and can't become invested at all.
The solution I have long wanted to try but have never successfully managed is to incorporate small infrequent scenes to remind everyone that there is still hope in the world. That the NPC's are human too that for all the flaws the world is still worth fighting for.
The example that first comes to my mind is the tears in the rain scene from the end of blade runner, bitter enemies coming to see each other as people.
I need help coming up with similar scenes to drop into my game to keep the setting from becoming too grimdark.
Anyone have any ideas?
It could be as simple as the downtrodden inhabitants of Redmond actually helping each-other out when things get rough rather than prey upon one another - the world sucks, but people are still people and we are socialized to help each other and work together. The runners might come across a vulnerable group pooling their resources, sharing food, having an ex-technician hook them up with water etc.
It could be the Lone Star (or equivalent) cop that has a chance to call an alarm or fire on the group, but instead simply nods and moves back (he is close to retirement).
Occasionally, the system could work. A journalist exposes a mega doing some dirty business and as a result it is fined and word gets out, despite the mega's attempt to cover it up. A SINner is assaulted by gangers, and the responsible is caught and prosecuted lawfully. The machinations of a mad executive is revealed to a corp, and they decide to end it because destroying the world is bad for the stakeholders.
I think that good and bad moments can be combined to help get the effect you are looking at. Say the runners clear out a nest of ghouls, and the kids in the nearby part of the barrens are allowed out to play again -- you've set it up so that they know a few of the kids, and one of those is missing; turns out he/she died of pneumonia over the last couple of days. Some antibiotics would have cleared that up, but there was no money for it.
Flip side, when a corp buys that slum and bulldozes it to put in a new factory, let the runners do something that keeps it from being a complete devestation for the displaced inhabitants.
I'm sure we all have favorite example of actually getting this sort of thing to work, here is one of mine. I'm running a one player game, and after the first few months of game time a few NPCs had ended up being regular partners (not usually all at the same time, although occasionally) so they were becoming something of a team. One of the NPC suggested exchanging Christmas presents, since none of them had family they were involved with. The player spent some time thinking of what gear he'd like to buy for the NPC, then they met on Christmas Eve night, up on the roof of the Puyallup town hall (one of the NPC's is a paranoid security/intrusions expert, and the first time they worked together insisted that the meet be up there -- wasn't willing to work with anyone who couldn't handle such basic climbing and security evasion. So it was tying back to an earlier event). They were attacked up there by a banshee that they'd been hearing rumours of for a while, and took it out, then exchanged presents. Yay, warm fuzzies between the group from exchanging presents and in general for doing a good deed. Then they heard an explosion and off in the distance they saw flames shooting up into the sky from a major church, and quickly ascertained that this had happened during Christmas Eve midnight mass and that casualies were extensive. Soon after it became clear that much of the leadership of the Tacoma mafia had been in the church. Good feelings / there is no safe place and time.
Flip side, when a corp buys that slum and bulldozes it to put in a new factory, let the runners do something that keeps it from being a complete devestation for the displaced inhabitants.
I'm sure we all have favorite example of actually getting this sort of thing to work, here is one of mine. I'm running a one player game, and after the first few months of game time a few NPCs had ended up being regular partners (not usually all at the same time, although occasionally) so they were becoming something of a team. One of the NPC suggested exchanging Christmas presents, since none of them had family they were involved with. The player spent some time thinking of what gear he'd like to buy for the NPC, then they met on Christmas Eve night, up on the roof of the Puyallup town hall (one of the NPC's is a paranoid security/intrusions expert, and the first time they worked together insisted that the meet be up there -- wasn't willing to work with anyone who couldn't handle such basic climbing and security evasion. So it was tying back to an earlier event). They were attacked up there by a banshee that they'd been hearing rumours of for a while, and took it out, then exchanged presents. Yay, warm fuzzies between the group from exchanging presents and in general for doing a good deed. Then they heard an explosion and off in the distance they saw flames shooting up into the sky from a major church, and quickly ascertained that this had happened during Christmas Eve midnight mass and that casualies were extensive. Soon after it became clear that much of the leadership of the Tacoma mafia had been in the church. Good feelings / there is no safe place and time.
It helps to remember that everyone does things for a reason.
The gangers are selling drugs and stealing anything with value, but they give part of the profits to help their neighborhood and protect the people that live there.
The security guard is working extra hours to buy his child a life-saving surgery.
Maybe an ork cop is "too busy, and didn't notice" the runners leave the Humanis facility in a hurry.
The gangers are selling drugs and stealing anything with value, but they give part of the profits to help their neighborhood and protect the people that live there.
The security guard is working extra hours to buy his child a life-saving surgery.
Maybe an ork cop is "too busy, and didn't notice" the runners leave the Humanis facility in a hurry.
I like this thread, mostly because I'm fascinated with the game world and what happens during downtime between jobs. To me, that's where the story breathes and the characters really start coming alive.
Blade's idea about Edge refreshing is interesting and one I will seriously consider. I have used Edge refreshing as an incentive to get the player to do things I think their character would want to do ICly - e.g. upgrade their lifestyle, rather than living at Low forever to save nuyen - but I also like the story-oriented requirements for Edge refreshing.
Blade's idea about Edge refreshing is interesting and one I will seriously consider. I have used Edge refreshing as an incentive to get the player to do things I think their character would want to do ICly - e.g. upgrade their lifestyle, rather than living at Low forever to save nuyen - but I also like the story-oriented requirements for Edge refreshing.
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