Another genre on my mind last year was Cyberpunk, even before the Edgerunners series. While there are several excellent games in that genre, due to a bout of nostalgia I was specifically looking for a game with just the right mix between old school feel and simplicity. At the moment there are several contenders, and I will make characters in a few of these systems. First up - Reboot the Future, which uses a variant of the system the excellent urban fantasy game Liminal uses. Reboot the Future has been released to Kickstarter backers recently.
The game assumes that either the GM or the GM plus players create a world to play in. To keep things simple, I will just assume we play in Night City, which should be familiar to many readers from Cyberpunk 2020/RED/2077. Let us make a nomad called Nikki “Daemon” Ellsworth. She is taciturn but pays attention. An excellent driver and good shot, she will nonetheless often try the non-violent route around problems.
The game seems very character narration driven, which I like a lot. First, it asks for a Drive that motivates the character to become part of some story. Daemon was found by her clan when she was a teenager; she had run away from abusive foster parents. With some patience and goodwill, the clan won her trust and became her new family. She recently learned that her older sister, once lost in the foster system, is alive and somewhere in the city - her image appeared on a newscast about an attack on a minor corp delivery in Pacifica. Now Daemon has decided to head into the city to try and find her sister, maybe even get her to come back to the clan.
Next, we choose her Origin, and the games Highway Warrior should do nicely. It provides the Concepts we can choose, which in turn suggest other traits down the line. The Origin also informs us what kind of Flashbacks we can use in-game. Flashbacks are a game mechanic that allows players to ask for insights based on a character's past, allowing re-rolls of failed checks. Then we choose a Style, which when called upon can also sometimes provide a skill check bonus. Daemon likes light brown tasseled rough leather, cowboy boots and hat, a fire red bandana, mirror shades, and a very heavy cruiser motorbike while in the city. In the outback, I assume she will go with a souped-up, heavily modified ATV.
Next up is her Focus, one of four areas she is good at. You know she is a woman of focus, of sheer will. I once saw her kill three men with a… never mind. She is Determined, meaning she will get a bonus to her Will attribute, and specific Talent choices later.
Now to choose Skills. The maximum is 4, and I get to split 17 points. A basic skill test involves 2D6 plus the skill rating, trying to match or exceed a target number of usually 8. Daemon has Shoot and Vehicles at 3, Empathy and Technology at 2, and Athletics, Awareness, Conviction, Taunt, Medicine, Stealth, and Streetwise at 1. Then over to Traits, which are special abilities. This does include Cyberwear. Five points to spend means she has the basic Neural Interface (0 pts.) that most people have, and a Personal Drone with EMP shielding that is linked to said interface (2 pts.). Her Determination means she can get Determination talents, and so I decide she is a Jack of All Trades (1 pt.), meaning she can spend Will to have a 1 point rating in a skill she usually doesn’t have for one roll. She is also both a Dangerous Driver (1 pt., and a bonus for Drive checks in combat and some other conditions), and a Stunt Driver (1 pt., once per session she can pull off a driving stunt without rolling). In addition, I get to pick Limitations, Traits that are Hindrances and yield more Trait points, up to two points worth. Let’s make her a Wanted Criminal, which is a Limitation that gives her 2 points, and invest those to make her a Sharp Shooter, which adds Boni to both ranged attacks and damage. Hope it’ll help her get out of any… issues… with the police. Though that sounds like it would make things a lot harder. Ah well.
Now to determine her Attributes, which are based on some skills. Her Endurance is 9, and her Will is 11. She also has people in her life, her Contacts and Circles. These are in essence skills to test when dealing with the respective NPCs, with their reaction determined by the outcome. She has her clan, the Aldecaldos, at 3, and the Border Guard at 2. She hasn’t been in NC long enough to have solid connections to local groups. She has two Contacts, though - the mechanic Jan Marcin (3) and the fixer Liz Hanrahan (2).
Every character in Reboot the Future has an Avatar, essentially their online persona. Hers is called “Leatherface”, is styled as a feral cat, and after spending five points has the Attributes System Integrity 7, Damage 1D6, and Protection 1D6+3 - she isn’t a hacker, and so what little resources she put into this went into her protection and system integrity. Her equipment is an auto-pistol (D6+3 damage), a combat vest (D6+2 protection), and a data tablet hacked to function as a basic cyberdeck. All other equipment has to be procured in-game, though the game really doesn’t care to provide long shopping lists.
So, ready to conquer the world. Or die trying.
Find her sheet here.
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