Tags
CyberPunk, Espionage, Espionage '88, Future, Labyrinth Lord, Mercenaries, Military, Old School Mercenaries, poll, RPG, Running the Edge
So, I’ve got partial work done on three different RPGs, and I should really focus on one, get it done, and then move on instead of sitting here paralyzed by indecision (on the upside, indecision means I keep working on my Labyrinth Lord compatible stuff).
Running the Edge
The first is a CyberPunk-styled game more in line with the CyberPunk RPG than Geodesic Gnomes (my 24 hour cyberpunk-styled RPG) – so more gear, cybernetics and guns. I could definitely rebuild this as a pocketmod RPG based on the structure I used for that half-complete fantasy RPG I put together for the 48 hr RPG challenge a few years ago. One booklet for each skill set, one booklet for gun toys, one booklet for cybernetics, etc. So something like a dozen pocketmod booklets for the game.
Espionage ’88
This spy RPG was birthed as a plain old direct rip of Top Secret with a few additions taken from Top Secret / SI. I could simplify it by moving from percentiles to d20’s (divide everything by 5!) and again the whole thing could be diced up nicely into a series of pocketmods, or kept as a more traditional RPG in the 6″ x 9″ format I used for Dyson’s Delves.
OSM-1
The goal of Old School Mercenaries is to be a small-unit oriented military RPG that uses the old school mechanics ported almost directly from Labyrinth Lord but adding in a lot of skill sets and mechanics for more detail for surprise, tracking, trap setting, and handling NPCs in the heat of combat. This would be released as a set of 2 or 3 6″ x 9″ softcover booklets.
So, where should I be putting my non-fantasy efforts?
Dyson's Dodecahedron 
My vote is in for the cyberpunk stuff, but wouldn’t mind seeing the espionage one eventually. As you’ll see at my (sadly neglected) blog, I have high hopes of doing my own cyberpunk game eventually. Two actually – a “core” CP supplement to OD&D/S&W WhiteBox first to get the mechanics in place for a bit of playtesting, then the “real” project – a full-blown Shadowrun game built on the B/X – Labyrinth Lord engine. There’s just so much LL stuff already out there as OGL that I can draw on, and then add my own stuff to it. Here’s hoping you release yours as open content so I have yet more to draw from!
No worries there. Even if none of these games is based on Open Game Content they will be released using the OGL. I’m a big fan of the OGL and plan to use it for everything I write (like Geodesic Gnomes – all original game content, but OGL)
Being a HUGE fan of the anime trilogy Cyber City Oedo 808, the original Shadowrun game, and “tech-noir” films such as Blade Runner, Johnny Mnemonic, and Strange Days, I say concentrate on the CyberPunk-styled game.
all three interest me greatly even though i have never had the oppertunity to play those genres sadly, but since theres no “all of the above” vote option, (what? if you skipped sleeping for a few months im sure you could do them all at the same time!…)my vote went to mercs whos fate i had been wondering about for quite some time.
since im mentioning that, i’ve also been wondering what happened to New Kingdoms?
Cyberpunk pocket mods has my attention front and center. The mercs would be an interesting second.
What would be really cool is a cyberpunk/ Spy/ Merc RPG from the vantage of the early 80s of what they thought the future was going to look like.
A few ideas.
Cyberpunk 1999! Russia never collapsed. The cold war is still on. Future technology from the vantage of the middle 80s.