Data Scan: Cyberpunk RPG Anime Fuzion

R. Talsorian came out with an RPG that expanded the ruleset toolkit for a cyberpunk setting: Bubblegum Crisis. And during the short-lived era of Fuzion -- a system touted to have the benefits of the Interlock and Hero Game Systems -- there were a slew of fan-made rule expansions and sourcebooks which included an Appleseed sourcebook!

If only Cyberpunk 2020 v.3 had been, uh, better. It could've reaped the benefits of all this source material!

Bubblegum Crisis

I was a fan of the Bubblegum Crisis anime, so when I saw this out, I snapped it up immediately.

In addition to the setting, heavily influenced by one of the cornerstones of motion picture cyberpunk -- Blade Runner -- you have a lot of gadgets and gear, and vehicles and other mecha, to draw on for your cyberpunk game. Cyberpsychosis is particularly problematic here, with the mega-corporation of mega-corporations (GENOM) purposely pushing the boundaries of their artificial life forms (Boomers) beyond the manufacturer's warranty.

There are also many suggestions for expanded campaigns outside of Neo-Tokyo, and subsequent supplements added more machine and mecha to the mix. Perfect for a cyberpunk campaign a bit further into the future than the default 2020 campaign.

Appleseed

This sourcebook details many of the guns and some of the vehicles and bots in the Appleseed setting of Masamune Shirow's manga & anime series. Cyberpsychosis isn't so much of a factor, but there is the very prevalent theme (similar to Bubblegum Crisis and Blade Runner) dealing with replicants / androids / artificial life forms and what makes them human or not.

There is also much more of a political angle to this paramilitary-heavy storyline, hence the importance of constant training for the ESWAT team, and the occasional realization of protagonists that they are pawns being manipulated by multiple factions to get some nebulous (or all-too-concrete) end.

One of the things I'd like to have seen: more rules on creating full conversion borgs. Unlike the default 2020 setting, these guys don't really go crazy so much -- they seem to fully embrace their change, without losing touch with their identity or humanity.

Also: landmates and other iterations of powered armor aplenty!

Nostalgia: The Fuzion Years

There was a time that I was a Fuzion fanatic. Did I have issues with the system? Like many people, yes. But I liked it because: (a) it was the child of two favorite systems -- HERO and Interlock; (b) it had some okay settings for it like Champions: The New Millenium and great anime properties like Armored Trooper: Votoms, Bubblegum Crisis, and Dragon Ball Z; (c) it taught me a bit about how the systems I was into at the time (HERO, Interlock, D20) were actually very closely related, resolution mechanic-wise.

I snapped up almost every Fuzion book I could get my hands on in Asia.

Also, there was the online community that came up with their own Fuzion powered material, like the Atomik Fuzion series of PDFs, and the fan-made Record of Lodoss Wars RPG, and of course the Lightspeed RPG that I've posted about as a kitchen sink setting in prior posts.

I'd hoped that Fuzion would catch on, and that the bits that annoyed me about the system (like the weird costing problems when dealing with Mekton-style gear creation vs. Hero-style suit creation) would be overshadowed by other strengths (collapsible stats and skills, a smaller statblock foot print for NPCs, an open-ended power scale, etc.) but it was not to be.

Kitchen Sink Expeditions: Lightspeed -- Part IV

In this brief exploration of the Lightspeed RPG, I've taken a look at the broad strokes of the setting, picked at the major elements, and showed some of the little cameos and campaign options available to players and GMs.

So to wrap things up, I decided to list some campaign premises (a.k.a. the more popular term now, campaign frameworks) that can be run in the setting.

Default Campaigns

The three major default campaigns come from the major powers / political factions of the galaxy.

The most straightforward of the three is the Pan-Solar Empire. This is essentially a no-Jedi Rebel Alliance campaign just waiting to be run. The fact that it isn't Star Wars means that you don't have to deal with fans waving books of Star Wars canon in your face every time you bring out a different kind of stormtrooper that wasn't in the movies or books. Plus, you get to do a lot of "wahoo" type adventuring on seedy planets on the fringes of Imperial power, and some tense infiltration work against well-funded, jackbooted military types on fully armed and operations battlestations -- because the RPG does have vehicle and space combat rules taken from Fuzion.

Almost as straightforward is the Interstellar Federation. While it is essentially Star Trek, there is some variance in terms of power levels here. You can ratchet them up to Next Generation levels, or bring them down to Original Series levels, but the implication is that the might and technology of the Empire should be capable of giving them a run for their money.

Federation campaigns can either be the classic ship-based Star Trek set-up, with a crew and semi-disposable away teams sent to explore the frontier of the Federation (or perform diplomatic missions of import for the Federation even while under this exploratory edict, go figure), or can be patterned after the excellent StarFleet Universe product Prime Directive, which posits an away team based campaign (renamed Prime Teams) with specific protocols on how to deal with hostile targets, first contact, etc.

However, with the existence of the various arms of the AstroPol, a Federation-empowered law enforcement organizations, you can also run planet-, system-, or Federation-wide campaigns that deal with crimes committed against Federation citizenry. As AstroPol Agents you can hunt down high-level criminals in the riches systems in the Galaxy, while as AstroPol Rangers you can keep the peace on the frontier.

Now it's not explicitly stated, but based on the original source material both these settings are fairly optimistic -- there's a prevailing belief that despite difficulties (and insurmountable obstacles) good will eventually triumph over evil.

That's not necessarily true in the Old Earth Empire, which has a dystopian feel tinged with cyberpunk ethos. Blade Runner could have happened here, alongside Alien and Aliens, and Predator. Campaigns with cynical heroes struggling to survive in systems dominated by mega-corporations.

Strange Brews

Those aren't the only possible campaigns, of course. You can have mixes between the mini-settings -- with Interstellar Federation spies going deep into the Pan-Solar Empire to aid the Rebellion with new technology -- cutting edge mecha. You can have Old Earth Empire mercenaries squaring off against criminals with slightly more superior technology from the Interstellar Federation. You can even have a Pan-Solar Empire battlegroup fall through a wormhole into the mysterious Centaurus Quadrant and have to battle their way past strange aliens and mysterious megastructures back to their home sector to suspicious superiors.

Lightspeed has a good mix of SF-inspired settings kluged together without necessarily losing the cores of each, allowing riffs and homages in a holistic setting. You may occasionally wonder how the entire socio-economic-political structure holds together, but there's enough space -- lacuna -- for the GM to come up with whatever rationale he can and the just run his campaign in whatever sandbox he's built for himself in the overall setting.

Here's hoping that Lightspeed eventually finds new life with another system that's more well-supported than Fuzion.

Kitchen Sink Expeditions: Lightspeed -- Part III

Think Space Wars vs. Space Trek. That's the ticket, yeah...

As I mentioned in Part I, there were several iterations of Lightspeed that came out before the current version. In those versions, there were some expansions and supplements that eventually got folded into the final Core Book of Lightspeed you see today. Some stayed in, some didn't make it, but all can give you a feel for the original dimensions of this particular Kitchen Sink Setting.

ESPERS

One of these expansions tackled ESPERs (known as wielders of Psionics and Mental Abilities and Super Powers in other settings).

Inspired, no doubt, by anime shows like Cosmo Police Justy and Dragon Ball, this aspect of the setting posited that high-powered ESPERs existed in the universe. Now don't think Counselor Troi of Star Trek or even the uplifted Telepaths of B5 -- think Goku and his friends, deputized by the AstroPol going out to fight other similarly powered villains.

Any GM worth his salt is going to sense that such a setting element would raise terrible questions in terms of the viability of SF setting plausibility, unless a Legion of Super-Heroes vibe is evoked. So that would mean ditching this particular aspect of the setting, unless the PCs themselves were all ESPERs of that class.

However, I did feel that the complete removal eliminated the potential PSI Judge, Jedi, PsiCorps, Mentat, or Lensman element to the series and wish it could be brought back somehow.

RACES, RACES, RACES

There's no shortage of races in Lightspeed, and there's certainly enough space to add your own in. Some of them come across as homages to certain well-known SF properties, while others take on a more archetypal feel:

• Argesians: smart, great with technology, pacifistic. Star Trek Vulcans with a dash of the Known Universe Puppeteers.
• Heshans: a race of ascetics who believe in non-violence, they do have the potential to ignite into a Battle Rage. Star Trek Vulcans crossed with Dragon Ball Z Saiyans (without the planet destroying power levels)
• Hunters: xenophobic race that uses cloaking devices and prefers hand to hand weaponry when hunting all other races. Predators with the numbers filed off.
• Krung: a tall, swarthy warrior race. Klingons, man.
• Mronians: cat-people from outerspace. Chanur, anyone?
• Nerfel: short, furry mammalian species that is very cute. Ewoks.
• Yuzri: tall, furry bestial humanoids. Wookies.
• Saure: an alien species that tends to hibernate in deep space until they encounter another races, then they awaken, hunt, and breed. Hated by the Hunters. Aliens (vs. Predators) to be sure.
• The Robot Nexus: Think the Borg mixed with the AI Virus of Traveller.

SHIPS

Lightspeed has a lot of ship designs in their art, and even released a supplement on ships of the galaxy. Now while the ships of the Pan-Solar Empire have a distinctive Star Wars feel in the art, the Interstellar Federation doesn't seem to be quite as a Star Trek inspired. If I ran the campaign, I'd definitely make their ships more Trek-ish so contrast with the Empire, and (in my own opinion) the more Babylon 5 meets Firefly feel of the Old Earth Empire ships.

And I think that you'd have to hammer out the balances between the ship designs to make sure that questions wouldn't arise like: why doesn't the Federation wipe out the Empire in one afternoon and then warp back for tea?

To be fair, the author may have balanced out the ship designs, but I never really delved deep enough to figure out if the various factions were an even match for one another despite differences in technological paths.

Up Next: Wrapping things Up

Kitchen Sink Expeditions: Lightspeed -- Part II

In Part I, we explored the background of Lightspeed and the broad strokes of the setting. In this Part, I hope to tackle the major elements of the setting, and show how they can be used as the homages that they are.


The Interstellar Federation


This is clearly the Star Trek Federation equivalent, but its origins lie in an alliance of colonies that threw off the yoke of Old Earth Empire exploitation. It is governed as an interstellar republic with almost 1000 Member Worlds, 10,000 Associate Worlds and over 15,000 Colonies and is protected by military and civilian forces known as StarForce and AstroPol respectively.


AstroPol is a star-spanning law enforcement agency, with many different arms to help create many different law enforcement campaign frames. There are the equivelent of Police Departments, Rangers for the borders, and Agents that are the equivalent of FBI/CIA operatives working of the good of the Federation.

StarForce is clearly a StarFleet equivalent, and the military structure and several other existents certainly do little to dispel that notion. The main difference is that StarForce is primarily concerned with defending against the machinations of the Pan-Solar Empire. Therefore, while there can be equivalents of Klingons, Romulans, and the Borg, the primary border of concerns is likely to be the one shared with the Empire.

Basing your campaign in the Interstellar Federation give you a chance to adventure in a stable, progressive space republic. It's not a utopia as the presence of AstroPol and StarForce makes clear, but it is perhaps, a society that believes that such a utopia is possible, despite the difficulties and opposition of rivals in the cold blackness of space.

Speaking of rivals...

The Pan-Solar Empire

The Emperor has a fondness for these insect
inspired designs.

This is the Star Wars equivalent, also originally part of the Old Earth Empire diaspora. The Emperor, a former general, staged a military coup in his quadrant and became the ruler of his corner of the galaxy. Since then, he has subjected himself to many life extension treatments and looks forward to eternal rule.

Opposing him are the Anti-Imperial Rebels -- outnumbered and outgunned at every turn, they fight valiantly to throw off the yoke of Imperial rule. Using guerilla tactics, old colonial spacecraft and secret bases, these Rebels manage to push forward in their efforts through covert financial and supply support from three main sources: aristocratic families that went into hiding after the Emperor came into power, the Interstellar Federation, and friendly Old Earth Empire factions.

There is a distinct lack of a Jedi equivalent in the setting -- which would actually work out well given the tendency of everyone and his mother wanting to play the supposedly extinct Jedi in a Rebellion Era Star Wars setting. There is also no Force in the setting, but older iterations of the Lightspeed may have a solution for that: ESPERs (which will be tackled in Part III).

Without ESPERs, however, the Rebellion will have to find other sources of technology and resources, and those may be found in the troubled birthplace of humanity...

The Old Earth Empires

The Corporation won't be happy about this...

So what is the point of the Old Earth Empires? This part of the setting is meant to capture different versions of a space-based future.

Most visible is the MegaCorporation-dominant vision, as reflected in Blade Runner (and revisited in Anime like Bubblegum Crisis), and the Alien / Aliens series of films. Cyberpunk campaigns and gritty space dramas can unfold in this corner of the galaxy, with protagonists eking out whatever small amount of happiness they can.

However, the MegaCorporations aren't necessarily the only game in town. Countries other than the U.S. have managed to retain their sovereignity and are reaching for the stars themselves. Japan's Space Defense Force, inspired by the Interstellar Federation, is an example of this; other countries in the world have managed to maintain and grow their interstellar holdings. In this setting, the European Union is a sad shadow of its former self, as most of its interstellar holdings were lost to the Pan-Solar Empire centuries ago.

Next Up: notable inclusions and possible additions

Kitchen Sink Expeditions: Lightspeed -- Part I

Looking for a Science Fiction setting that is a mix of Star Wars, Star Trek, and other SF properties with a little Anime thrown into the mix? Look no further than the Lightspeed RPG by Christian Conkle.

Background

I first encountered Lightspeed back in the days when Fuzion was a still a thriving RPG system, and the first iterations of the game and setting were available for free on the internet. Even in those days, the intent to create a kitchen sink setting was not only apparent, it was stated as a goal by the author:

"If elements of Lightspeed seem familiar, that is intentional. Lightspeed attempts to be all inclusive, drawing inspiration from many Science Fiction films and novels and putting them together into a coherent whole. The purpose of this is to make Lightspeed as generic as possible, allowing players and gamemasters to set their characters and stories against any backdrop they desire. Within you’ll find elements of Star Trek, Star Wars, Aliens, Bladerunner, XFiles, Predator, Japanese Anime, Cyberpunk fiction, Lovecraftian fiction, and other Science Fiction games."

Broad Strokes

Intent is one thing, but how was the execution? To understand the broad strokes of the setting, it's best to take a look at the map of the Galaxy and how it was broken up -- it gives out the clearest visual idea of the approach taken with the setting.

Major elements of the setting include the Interstellar Federation with the StarForce Officers and the Federation Rangers; the PanSolar Empire ruled by the Emperor; and the remnants of the Old Earth Empires, filled with powerful mega-corporations and nations locked in cold and hot wars.

Next Up: A closer look at the major elements of the setting.

Fuzion Reactions: Overview

Fuzion was an RPG system that came out close to the millenium (1998 says Wikipedia) and I was an instant fan.

How could I not be? I loved Cyberpunk 2020 and the entire Hero System ruleset -- at that time in its 4th Edition.

Heck, my old gaming group in the U.S. had already merged portions of the two rulesets very loosely for our Military Science Fiction campaign for the mech-fighter squadron portion of the game (we'd alternate between storylines for the special forces group and the space navy).

Furthermore, I was looking forward to the new ruleset for Champions and, clearly, Champions: The New Millenium was it! Right?

Well, in terms of ruleset Fuzion both exhilarated and disappointed me.

It was exhilarating because it opened my eyes to the concept of designing game rules to reflect the setting or genre being emulated. I mean, I sort of new it already with Hero and other rulesets with the concept of "optional rules" but I always attributed it to the preference of the players and the GM. It was here that I realized that every choice -- even the dice rolled -- impacted not just game balance, but also game play. Especially when the stated goal was to integrate the Hero System ruleset with the Interlock ruleset.

What can I say? I just never really thought about it before -- I was just there to play.

Ever since then, I've paid closer attention to rulesets (light and otherwise) to see what the designers were trying to go for.

However, Fuzion disappointed me in several areas.

One was the super-powers section -- Champions: TNM just lacked the same depth and breadth of 4th Edition Hero (and made many of us aFuzionados suspect that this was NOT in fact the 5th Edition of the Hero System ruleset). I know that many shared my disappointment because there were several power rulesets that came out from the Fuzion community.

Another problem area: combat skills. I preferred OCV / DCV (which is akin to Dex-based Armor Class rules for OSR folks who don't really care that much, but want to get some idea what I'm referring to) over the concept that the difficulty in hitting someone was based on their ATTRIBUTE + SKILL in Evade or Dodge. It also meant that certain skills could logically pull double duty, raising some issues about game balance.

Another problem area was the shoe-horning of portions of the mecha-building rules of Mekton (which is, admittedly, one of the unique elements of the Interlock System) into the Hero System, which has its own rules for building vehicles and powered armor suits.

Two of the saving graces of the Fuzion revolution were: (1) the sheer volume of professional settings and RPGs that came out for it; and (2) the sheer volume of hobbyist rule variants and settings that came out for it.

In many ways, the OSR movement is -- for me -- what that outpouring of material for Fuzion could have been. If only blogs and social media had been as prevalent as they are now. If only PDF publishing and Print On Demand had been a stronger industry at the time.

If only, if only, if only.

Think I'll take a trip down memory lane for the books I picked up and share some of what I find with you in the coming months.

For the guys in the OSR who've produced one or more products, and for those who haven't stopped: keep on, keeping on. I'm blown away by everything I've seen.

Nothing wrong with nostalgia, but guys and gals -- what's come out is beyond that. There's passion, thought, and attention to detail. I can see there's a concern about pushing the envelope for everything that made OD&D, D&D B/X and BECMI, and AD&D work for you (and hopefully for others). There's a passion about fanning the flames of what hads been the dying embers of a ruleset and sending it roaring to the four corners of the gaming world.

And while I won't always game in the D&D realms, it's something I'll keep coming back to.