re.SERIALIZED, or how to add a campaign mode to an RPG designed to be a one-shot game

 In a previous post I wrote about CBR+PNK and some of my ideas for hacks and addons for it. At that time I talked a little bit about a "campaign mode". I also wrote about they totally unnecessary need for a longform mode for a game that is specifically designed to accommodate one-shots. The whole gist of CBR+PNK is, after all, that you are on YOUR LAST RUN.

Having said that, I feel like the game is a very solid framework for Cyberpunk Edgerunners doing missions ala Shadowrun style, and a serialized format works well with that sub-genre.

In fact, the Forged in the Dark system is a perfect fit for Edgerunners doing Runs and gaining reputation and heat. You just need to re-skin the criminals and scoundrels from Blades into a retrofuturism dystopia filled with Megacorps and Cyberimplants. IF you were to convert BitD to Cyberpunk... but we don't need to do that. The people at The Cabinet of Curiosities already did a very good job in the minimalist CBR+PNK, so let's use that as a starting point!

Converting CBR+PNK into a campaign-enabled RPG meant reincorporating mechanics and procedures from Blades in the Dark back into the game (which were consciously removed by its creators when they designed a one-shot interpretation of BitD).

That is:

• The separation of the game into Phases, specifically the RUN phase and the DOWNTIME phase,
• The addition of tracks for team REPUTATION, HEAT, and STANDING with different Factions,
• A simple system to adjudicate varying difficulty to RUNs, in a risk-and-reward format.

This is how re.SERIALIZED was born. A plugin for CBR+PNK to run longform campaigns on it.

trifold pamphlet format, as usual for CBR+PNK.

I also used this opportunity to add another "hack" I was considering for CBR+PNK, which was that of adding the option of themed teams. With this I gave the option of creating a whole team of runners that belong to the same crew type, i.e. All members of Trauma Team, or a biker gang, etc. This is meant to represent certain types of media adjacent to the cyberpunk genre, like AKIRA, Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner, etc. Of course you can mix-and-match from different crew types, or completely ditch the option and have each runner be their own thing.

One of the cool aspects of re.SERIALIZED is the fact that you have to define some Factions (4 to 6) at the start of the Campaign. These will be important players that will come and go in the metaplot of the campaign. The runners will be temporarily allied or opposed to those factions. These can be Megacorps, security forces or even gangs that have some sort of power in the city or setting that your campaign takes place in. By defining them in advance as a group, you are foreshadowing and pre-setting the possible conflicts from the get-go. Also, the fact that those Factions need to be opposed to each other means that the runner team will invariably lose STANDING with some of them, which will mean trouble in the near future.

The ANGLE that each CBR+PNK character has also plays an interesting part in re.SERIALIZED. The GM is encouraged to turn your ANGLE into your own campaign arc; If you fulfill it (or utterly fail at doing so), your character arc will feel somewhat complete. And when all PCs deal with their ANGLES, the campaign can be completed. If the GM is savvy enough to match those threads with the progress bars of REP and HEAT, the campaign will feel more well-rounded and satisfactory.

re.SERIALIZED is available to get as Pay What You Want on itch.io. Get it free if you want, or consider donating if you want me to keep doing these types of products in the future. 

See you on the streets, chum!