As I discussed recently, I had to pause tabletop gaming as my day job began consuming time like that was its whole job description. Now I’m making time for tabletop and regaining the gaming spark. A nice bit of what pushed me to get my head back into games is my fondness for cyberpunk. Since I talked about playing CBR+PNK already, this time I plan to look at several cyberpunk projects that are crowdfunding right now as well as some non-tabletop cyberpunk options that take some inspiration from tabletop. If you’re a cyberpunk fan and looking for what’s crowdfunding right now, this article offers a neon-filled vision of the near future.
CYBERPUNK TABLETOP
At EN World, I talked about TOKYO : OTHERSCAPE – A Mythic Cyberpunk RPG from Son of Oak Game Studio and Shield Maidens: A New Viking/Cyberpunk Tabletop RPG from Mongoose Publishing, so I want to dig deeper to share some other gems for tabletop (both crowdfunding and coming soon) and for tabletop adjacent.
CAPERS Cyber RPG from Nerdburger Games
System: Powered by CAPERS- Crowdfunding at: Patreon
- “[CAPERS Cyber is] an RPG of super-powered criminals with cybertech taking on the megacorps in an alternate 2020s.”
- Disclaimer: I attend some conventions with Craig Campbell of Nerdburger Games and help out at the booth when I can
CAPERS is an award winning RPG set in a superpowered 1920s. Craig Campbell, the creator, has expanded the property with separate sourcebooks and settings that include 1960s super-spies as well as a far-flung retro-future like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. With CAPERS Cyber, he’s planning to break into a new world of neon, hacking, and cybernetics. CAPERS uses a card mechanic that feels exactly right in the world of 1920s gangsters and 1960s super-spies. This Patreon campaign will develop the same core system with some other ideas in order to bring in the punk fight against the future.
Misspent Youth: Fall in Love, Not in Line from Fragging Unicorn Games
End Date: Thu, May 19 2022 8:01 AM EDT.- System: An original system
- Crowdfunding at: Kickstarter
- “Teenage rebellion in a messed-up future! Play the only kids that can stop the adults from ruining what’s left of the world.”
When Misspent Youth creator, Robert Bohl, decided to exit RPGs, I did his exit interview at EN World. However, just because he left didn’t mean his game ended. Fragging Unicorn Games took up this RPG (I played a session run by them at Origins Game Fair), now they’re launching their first Misspent Youth campaign. While it doesn’t call itself “cyberpunk,” it is that world sans the neon lights. In this world, rebellion is the only path forward. This crowdfunding offers the original books as well as the new sourcebook that lets you get right into the game with some streamlined play options.
Montréapolis : a cyberpunk TTRPG from Mathieu Atallah Publishing
End Date: Sun, May 8 2022 4:39 PM EDT.- System: An original system which you can preview here
- Crowdfunding at: Kickstarter
- “A love letter to cyberpunk animes, movies, books and french rock operas in the form of a game!”
This cyberpunk RPG takes place in the dark streets of 2099’s Montréal. My first thought is a cyberpunk world with drifts of snow instead of rain, neon snowplows instead of spinners, and leather winter coats instead of 80s jackets. This campaign delivers a 60-page book and, if you’re interested, there’s a link on the Kickstarter page that leads to a free demo of the game, including an introduction to their original system.
The next two are cyberpunk sci-fi miniatures that I wanted to include since we’re checking out all things cyberpunk crowdfunding right now.
Cyber Shop | STL files | 28-32mm | Pay What You Want from CyberDistrict
End Date: Sun, April 24 2022 10:59 AM EDT.- Crowdfunding at: Kickstarter
- “3D printable STL Cyber Shop for RPG (Cyberpunk red/2020, shadowrun), Tabletop and Wargames(Necromunda, Infinity,40k). | Sci-fi Terrain”
Mega Tokyo Madness: Modular 6mm Terrain from Jovan Montaque
End Date: Tue, May 17 2022 11:41 PM EDT.- Crowdfunding at: Kickstarter
- “Futuristic 6mm Roads, Buildings, and Highways with LED’s”
HST.3.33, a Third-Party CY_BORG Musical Interlude from One-Trick Phony and Philip Reed
End Date: Tue, April 26 2022 5:00 PM EDT.- Crowdfunding at: Kickstarter
- “Two tracks by One-Trick Phony and Philip Reed plus an NPC and encounter hooks for use with the CY_BORG roleplaying game.”
CY_BORG, from STOCKHOLM KARTELL and Free League Publishing, is a cyberpunk MÖRK BORG RPG described as: “Nano-infested doomsday RPG about cybernetic misfits and punks raging against a relentless corporate hell.” One-Trick Phony and Philip Reed are building on that concept and offering music that feels like it’d be right in the world of CY_BORG. In addition, this project offers a pocket map that expands to include an NPC and encounter hooks. Check out the campaign page to hear the music and see what a cool format a pocket map is.
Let’s end this section with an upcoming cyberpunk project.
BLADE RUNNER – The Roleplaying Game from Free League Publishing
Launching May 3rd- System: Year Zero Engine
- Crowdfunding at: Kickstarter
- “Walk the neon-noir streets of Los Angeles 2037 in the official BLADE RUNNER RPG from Free League Publishing and Alcon Entertainment.”
I am a Blade Runner fan. I am a Free League fan. I am ready for this RPG.
CYBERPUNK: BEYOND TABLETOP
Playing The Odds – A Cyberfunk Animated Series from MVmedia, LLC
End Date: Wed, May 4 2022 12:00 PM EDT.- Animated episode
- Crowdfunding at: Kickstarter
- “Blade Runner meets Rush Hour”
Milton Davis, author of many novels as well as the roleplaying games Ki Khanga: The Sword and Soul Role Playing Game and Ngolo: The Role Playing Game, plans to animate one of his novellas, Playing the Odds, a cyberfunk novella. Carlos Mejia, a security cyborg at a bankrupt corporation, has been liquidated to cover debts. To save his life, he has to ditch his implants and escape the bill collectors. Sounding like Repo Men, i,Robot, Minority Report, and more, this project has everything you could want in a cyberpunk story. If you’re a fan of animation, cyberpunk, and great creators, this is worth backing.
For those of you who are new to author Milton Davis, he is the most ambitious author I have ever met, and he delivers. Going to write and publish so many novels that you’d think he was ten people? That’s Milton Davis. Going to do some original tabletop RPGs as side projects? That’s Milton Davis. When he posted that he was going to do animation, I snickered and thought he’d decided on something that couldn’t be done. Quality animation takes a budget like few corporations possess. I was sure he’d bitten off more than he could chew. Yep, so, there’s already an animated trailer and he’s planning a full animated episode, and I’m having to eat that statement and that’s on me for ever doubting him, because making the impossible possible, that’s Milton Davis.
Fractal Visions Collection from Andrew J Lucas
End Date: Fri, May 6 2022 10:14 AM EDT.- Prose anthology
- Crowdfunding at: Kickstarter
- “An anthology of fiction and musings”
This prose anthology contains a variety of short stories and poems by RPG freelance author, Andrew J Lucas. Among the works is “Untwine”, which is described as a “Carbon 2185 story.” Andrew worked on Dragon Turtle Games’ Interlinked | A Carbon 2185 Mission Book for their cyberpunk RPG of the same title. I reached out to Andrew who shared this:
“Fractured Visions is a two volume collection of short fiction and musings from Andrew J Lucas. The majority of the stories are solidly in the science fiction genre. Taking front and centre is the short story “Untwine,” a cyberpunk crime investigation set in the gritty cyberpunk future, of the Carbon 2185 RPG. Other stories include a pair of stories set on Mars and above featuring a hard driving war vet come private investigator. “Dayworker,” a tongue in cheek examination of unemployment in a near future world where the government allocates your skills via brain implants. In the far future a tale of love and loss plays out on the event horizon of a black hole in The “End of the Line.”
Other tales re-imagine the musketeers, follows a caravan through a fantasy world, and present the war letters of a soldier where hockey supplements the trench warfare. As the Kickstarter funds, more tales of fantasy and speculative fiction will be added.”
In Our Dreams Awake by Edgar Salazar, Rolands Kalniņš, John McGuire, and Egg Embry
End Date: Fri, April 29 2022 11:00 AM EDT.- Comic book
- Crowdfunding at: Kickstarter
- “Jason Byron can’t wake up. Each moment feels real, yet each moment feels like a dream. Issue #1 of a dreampunk comic book series. Optional POWERED by the DREAMR RPG zine add-on.”
- Disclaimer: I co-created and co-wrote this project
The fantasy half of the story by John McGuire and professional artist Edgar Salazar is mystical Shakespeare. Visually, the cyberpunk half of the story is an alien Blade Runner meets the waters of Reminiscence. Story wise, here are some quotes about the work.
Nicole D’Andria @ Comic Frontline’s interview with John McGuire
“Jason Byron lives a literal double life through his dreams. In one potential reality, magic reigns supreme while technology has been banned; Jason lives as a portrait painter and loves Laura. In another potential reality, crowded cities are filled by aliens with gills; Jason is the head of a cyberpunk gang and loves Fem’a Lin. But which of these supposed dreams is real? Rebellion abounds as In Our Dreams Awake asks this question and more as these two worlds begin to collide.”
Zak Webber @ Sci-Fi Comic Nexus
“In the Taoist tradition of the Zhuangzi – in which a man wakes from a dream in which he was a butterfly with no knowledge of being human; a dream so vivid that he is uncertain if he is a man dreaming he is a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he is a man – Jason Byron is a mystery to himself.”
Adam Brown @ BIG COMIC PAGE
“Switching to the second section was very jarring, but within the context of the full issue was done well. Splicing two very different comics in everything from style, colour, tone, and writing to create this weird chimera was a big gamble which I think pays off.”
Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program, and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight Games, and Amazon.
Latest posts by Egg Embry (see all)
- New Gamemaster Month 2023 - January 20, 2023
