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<\/a>There’s just something about cyberpunk. \u00a0I’m not sure what it is, but I can tell you (legitimately) that William Gibson’s Neuromancer<\/em> changed my life. \u00a0I must have been 14 or so when a dog-eared paperback was lent to me by a gaming buddy, after I sheepishly asked what this whole “Shadowrun game thing” he was into was all about. \u00a0 He tossed me the book and said, “READ.” A few weeks later, I’d voraciously devoured\u00a0most of the Gibson lexicon and fell head over heels for the gritty, near-future setting\u00a0of ghostly technology and the shadowy figures who operated in that world.<\/p>\n Many geeks and gamers \u00a0share this love, and the RPG industry has consistently delivered it to us\u00a0with games like the literally ORIGINAL cyberpunk RPG, Shadowrun (now in its Fifth\u00a0<\/em>Edition); Cyberpunk 2020; d20 Modern\/Urban Arcana; Ex Machina; and lots of other outings over the decades (many mainstream systems like Savage Worlds and TORG had cyberpunk “settings”). Usually, each of these “cyberpunks” was a take on the Gibson universe – but with little additions thrown in, such as “magic” or “aliens” or “the supernatural.” \u00a0This vision of an “imperfect, gritty, near-future, networked world struggling with supernatural unknowns and technology-as-magic crossovers” has become a core fandom that influences almost all the games I run, and I think I can safely say, has permanently affixed itself into our hobby – forever. \u00a0Now, not all of these games have been great. \u00a0Others have been epic. \u00a0But there’s a legacy, here… one that makes fans like myself wary. \u00a0Excited. \u00a0But wary.<\/p>\n So when I see something new that plucks at my cyberpunk heartstrings, I approach it with an utterly excited, about-to-pee-my-pants, caution. \u00a0Kind of like a puppy at the pound, bouncing around, but hiding in the corner: I’m not sure about you, but I’d still REALLY like to go home with you.<\/p>\n For those who know me and my RPG tastes, you know that I’m a huge fan of “pocket RPG master,” John Harper, who’s One Seven Design<\/a> Production Studio has pumped out some seriously fan-loved and critically acclaimed games, such as Lasers & Feelings<\/a>\u00a0(which I’ve written about before in this column<\/a>)\u00a0and Lady Blackbird<\/a>. \u00a0Others know John from his\u00a0work on Agon, Talislanta, Bootleggers, and World of Dungeons. \u00a0But a few years back, John released a pocket RPG called GHOST\/ECHO<\/a> that grabbed me like a shadowrunning, cyberpunk mugger that demanded every dime of my lunch money. \u00a0(And that analogy might make a lot more sense, if this game weren’t free<\/em>.)<\/p>\n The reason GHOST\/ECHO stuck with me so much wasn’t the concept (mostly because there are so many intentional blank spaces in it), or the gorgeous presentation and graphic design (stunning, though it is), or the simple-yet-unique dice resolution mechanics. I was fascinated by GHOST\/ECHO simply because\u00a0I had absolutely no idea what to do with it<\/em>. \u00a0At least, not at the time. GHOST\/ECHO has the flavor of an RPG experiment, cooked up in a lab by some demented developer. \u00a0Released as what Harper calls an “Oracle Game” (among others on One Seven’s site), its quick 2-page spread provides you with nothing but a starting point – and a loose one, at that – and a resolution mechanic. \u00a0Everything else<\/em> is left up to the players and the GM to fill in as they play.<\/p>\n I can’t express, as a GM, how intriguing and terrifying this was for me. \u00a0The game’s unique font, design, and layout gives a group definite impressions of exactly<\/em> what this world is all about; but with zero context. \u00a0All sentences are structured with an “HTML Vibe,” like computer code – telling the reader that this is definitely a future world about technology. \u00a0But the imagery and verbiage also imply a great deal of the supernatural. \u00a0The setting\u00a0of GHOST\/ECHO is one of supernatural\/technological entities encroaching into our world, and the heroes are those caught in middle – or perhaps, who have chosen to live and work in the middle.<\/p>\n GHOST\/ECHO is a game that provides, in just 2 pages, a gloriously rich toolbox. But it needs the players and GM to build with it. \u00a0GHOST\/ECHO provides the\u00a0seeds for threats, NPCs, locations, and loot; and it’s up to you\u00a0to flesh out what each of those things mean. \u00a0As Harper puts it:<\/p>\n \/\/QUESTIONS YOU WILL ANSWER AS YOU GO<\/b> The other unusual aspect of this game is the almost hyper-narrative bent to it. \u00a0The questions above don’t have answers that are represented in character mechanics. \u00a0There are no hit points. \u00a0No talents or feats. \u00a0No classes or careers. \u00a0Each character is name\/a job\/a power in the world of GHOST\/ECHO. \u00a0When do they die? \u00a0When the story consequences lead to that.<\/p>\n The resolution\u00a0mechanics are very simple, but also very unique. \u00a0The game details when<\/em> you roll, and a player rolls a 6-sided die for each goal and danger they face in the situation. \u00a0The Goal + Danger schema is the heart of the game. Depending on what the player wants to do, they describe their goal (e.g.: Commit Murder, Sneak about Undetected, etc.) and the GM describes the associated danger (e.g: Commit Murder + Unwanted Harm, Sneak about Undetected + You are Caught in the Act, etc.)<\/p>\n The point is, a goal (the reason you’re rolling) is always going to come with\u00a0at least one<\/em>\u00a0danger; so, 2 dice, minimum, for any roll you make. \u00a0But making a single roll\u00a0with multiple dangers is entirely possible, if the GM feels this goal has multiple dangers, and each will grant\u00a0it’s own d6. Players\u00a0may also get to roll 1 extra d6 if they’re\u00a0especially well-prepared for the situation, and\u00a0a\u00a0player may even choose<\/em> to add an extra danger to the roll, just to get another d6. \u00a0Of course… they still have to resolve ALL of the dangers.\u00a0 After rolling, the player then\u00a0selects<\/em> which d6 result to assign to each goal and each danger. \u00a0This is important, because each roll result (1-2, 3-4, 5-6) has a different outcome on the completion of the goal, or the enforcement\u00a0of the danger. \u00a0It’s entirely possible to fail at the goal, but still\u00a0not have the danger come to pass. \u00a0Or to achieve the goal (fully or partially), and still have to deal with\u00a0the danger. The danger might even be partially realized, but it then\u00a0sticks with you\u00a0<\/em>to be later added to another roll. \u00a0It all depends on how the player\u00a0chooses<\/em> to assign their die results.<\/p>\n This dual-axis of resolution is extremely rewarding, but remains simple (accomplished only with d6s) and puts all the power into the player’s hands. \u00a0Furthermore, aside from being “especially well prepared”, there are no character or other situational modifications to the dice. The player’s only real option is to make things MORE dangerous, in order to give themselves a bigger dice pool, and a bigger change of accomplishing their goal (all at the risk of dealing with a myriad of nasty dangers).<\/p>\n The system mechanics are\u00a0– in a word – elegant. \u00a0Frankly, these resolution mechanics would be right at home in a system with a complex, fully fleshed out setting. \u00a0But, as I’ve said, the brilliance of GHOST\/ECHO isn’t in the mechanics – it’s\u00a0the “Oracle\u00a0Game” design. Trust me. From concept to mechanics – you’ve\u00a0never<\/em> played anything like this.<\/p>\n When I finally got GHOST\/ECHO on the table (after literal years<\/em> of being afraid of it), I found a game that was utterly enjoyable. \u00a0My players and I crafted a world around these seeds in about 20 minutes, and then proceeded to search for “echoes” into the “ghost world” and take on a daring job that boosted their “Paper” and “Metal”. \u00a0What does all that mean? \u00a0That<\/em>… I leave up to you and your own group.<\/p>\n I think that true narrative roleplaying (which has become such a passion for me in the past few years) is more than player\/GM narration of action and outcome. \u00a0It’s a narration – by the players – of the world<\/em>. \u00a0Working with a strong GM to craft a gaming memory, that’s what GHOST\/ECHO is about. \u00a0At it’s heart. \u00a0At it’s core.<\/p>\n So go download GHOST\/ECHO<\/a> already. \u00a0It’s free. \u00a0And if it actually did cost money – I’d still advise\u00a0you to pay for it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peace, Love, and Good Gaming \u2013 GMC<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n (All names, references, and pictures presented in this article were created by One Seven Design and are publicly available at http:\/\/onesevendesign.com<\/a>. \u00a0GHOST\/ECHO\u00a0is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) License, all rights reserved by their respective owners. \u00a0This article is a media work of review and publicity, and is in no way intended to share intellectual property or copyrighted material outside the scope of media review.)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The suggested “names” of the PCs (nee \/CREW) read like cyberpunk\u00a0handles\u00a0for shadowrunning\u00a0middlemen. \u00a0The threats, NPCs, and locales are presented the same way. \u00a0Without knowing anything else about the game, I can construct in my head that “.COIL, .DEMON, and .GRIP\u00a0headed to Anvilwerks to drop some Paper on a cold one after a fight with some Wraiths.” \u00a0What is Anvilwerks? \u00a0Who are Coil, Demon, and Grip? \u00a0Do they have crazy ghost powers? \u00a0What do they do? \u00a0What are Wraiths? \u00a0The game doesn’t tell you – and that’s the point.<\/p>\n
\n.Why does your crew need loot?
\n.What ghost powers does your particular crew member possess?
\n.What is the ghost world?
\n.What are Echoes?
\n.What are Wraiths?<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>