What would you expect to see in a CYBERPUNK GAME?

If you don’t do some sort of upgradeable Cyclone bike armor (Robotech) I will
Never forgive you.

Just read Shadowrun and axe the racial shit. Corporations being evil, hiring people. The players don’t work for corporations per se but time it so the game ends when one corporation becomes a monopoly.

Legomancer wrote: And no magic. Looking at you, Shadowrun. The whole point of cyberpunk makes magic superfluous.

Total agreement. Nearly zero* of the good cyberpunk books have any magic or fantasy elements, because that shit completely misses the point. At its heart, cyberpunk is about the widespread effects of near-future tech in society, especially in cyberspace and as it is incorporated into human bodies. Shadowrun was an abomination aimed at lame players who need training wheels to move from D&D to a science-fiction rpg.


*Michael Swanwick wrote a couple of great cyberpunk books, and then a couple more good books that could be described as fantasy steampunk. He made it work because he's a great writer, not because fantasy and steampunk are normally a great combination.

"I consider his When Gravity Fails to be my favorite cyberpunk novel."

Seconded. Although, I like its sequel "Fire in the Sun" a little better.