Hey, I missed the original sale for the hardcover print for the main book, and online I can only find the hardcover version of Tales of L5 on DriveThruRPG. Is or will there be another chance to grab the hardcover version of the main book?
Purchased the PDF, I have seen hardcover copies for sale on a few websites, do you sell the hardcover on your own site? And if you do, is there any way to get the cost of the pdf discounted from the hardcover?
We primarily sell through Studio 2 Publishing! If you get a copy, send me an email (hardwiredisland at gmail) or find me on the Weird Age Discord and I'll sort you out.
I was a backer on the Kickstarter. I backed at the PDF level. I would like to have a copy of the physical book. Will there be any chance of it going back into print?
At the very least we're adding a reprint to the next Hard Wired Island KS we do. I've been thinking about doing a DTRPG version as well, though I've been debating whether that would hurt the eventual reprint. We'll see what happens!
I aplaud the ethos of this game, 'cyberpunk' has largely become all style and no substance, so yey! However I don't understand why sticking bits of metal in your head and making you prone to viruses shouldn't lead to running the risk of brain damage or psycho-neurological issues? Seems to me that is a risk that would be run, and downplayed by the corps trying to sell this stuff, to the people in the world.
The game's brain augments already say that many users will suffer side-effects in the long run. There aren't any specific mechanics for it because there are only a few of them (it's not something we wanted to focus on), and it would be difficult to do without running into that whole "cybernetics make you mentally ill" trope, which we're specifically trying to avoid.
Is there a semi-official forum to post rules questions?
1) The NPC "Tall Steve" is mentioned in two places: Page 37 where is he as a Cool Defense of 9, and Page 48 where as a simple opponent, he has a defense of 7 (and all defenses should the same, Level + 5). Which is correct?
2) On page 48, it says, Tall Steve is a simple opponent (p. 332): but simple opponents are described on page 322 (simple typo).
3) On page 49, Tiger Shark makes a Cool Save against the Distract action with a total of 15 vs. 13, but then has to make another Cool Save in the very next paragraph. Can someone explain this to me? And then, the green box at shows a Distrct action and a Quick save (15 vs. 13) rather than a Cool Save. What gives?
Is there any kind of NPC quick sheet for making extras? I tried looking through the book but didn't have much luck (maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place).
GM'd our first game last week and have another planned for this Thursday! It was my first time GMing anything and some of the players' first times with TTRPGs in general. I'm happy it went well. That being said, I have some concerns with the Overthree encounter in the Terabyte Boys one-shot, as well as with character creation.
1. Overthree is a LONG fight for new players struggling to learn the mechanics. Not every group gets the chance to fight before this. My players took a stealthier option and successfully pickpocketed Quade outside the Im-X visitor center. I rewarded them with a modded prototype Multipass given to Quade by the Boys as a means to enter the auction. This means that Overthree was their first fight. For my group, the combat took over an hour.
12 health is a LOT to throw at a new group. I get that Dreamers are designed to be a Big Deal, but if I hadn't brought Diego and Olivaw to the auction, it would've dragged on for hours. Each of my players spent 5-10 minutes each turn just figuring out what to do. They're new players - they had to check the player reference for everything. I was so caught up in helping them that I completely forgot that Overthree was supposed to deal damage.
I decided to try and cut the fight length by having Overthree leave the auction site and wreak havoc elsewhere. Unfortunately, one of my more experienced TTRPG players correctly pointed out that this would be a Run Away action. This means Overthree had to roll against the number of opponents it was facing +7. That meant five players, Olivaw, Diego, and the Terabyte Boys (who moved in solid state). Even for a Dreamer, that's a lot, and it meant everyone got a free attack against it. This killed the already sluggish pacing. I had to make Overthree tear off its own tendril to hit the -1 roll threshold and go into hibernation at 1 Health to end the fight. Otherwise, it could have taken an extra half hour. (Luckily, Diego carried the fight with the gold-plated Omnidyne pistol I gave him, and the Terabyte Boys provided some good meat shields.)
2. Throwing everything in at character creation time was overwhelming for my players. I had to throw in a Session 0 just to help them make their PCs. They're struggling to figure out the purpose of all the mechanics in their sheets, and choosing assets from their Occupation AND two extra Assets was a lot. They were confused ("It says I pick two Assets, but I already got two from my Occupation,") but also wowed by the generosity ("Wow, I get two MORE Assets?!"). Is there a way to split up some of the character creation mechanics over a campaign? I'm reminded of GMTK's video on making tutorials for complex games. It's more talking about stuff like Civ or Total War, but it's still a good reference.
Anyway, those are my two main gripes for now. I understand that this game is trying to lower the complexity a bit in order to not alienate new players, but there's still work to be done. (Also, if there's a Discord or subreddit for this game to share ideas with other GMs, I'd really appreciate a link.)
I absolute love this game and I can't wait to play it with my group once we are all free from studies! However, I've got a couple of questions I was hoping Freyja could help me with:
First one is: do hackers have to "enter" ghost mode like entering stealth when hacking a network, or do they only roll with the hacking specialty and ghost mode is assumed, and only rolled for when having to maintain it or using Cover Your Tracks and Disable Security actions?
Second: suffering an economic shock doesn't actually increase your burden with it, right? I assumed it did at first but now I think I'm mistaken, and I'd like your confirmation on that.
That'd be it so far! I'll try to join the discord as soon as I have the time and ask for more clarifications there if needed, thanks a lot for reading and hope you guys keep selling well! :D
PS: not a rule thing, but there's a bunch of text on page 53 that is somehow "behind/inside" the artwork. You might know about it already, but if not, could be an error you'd like to fix on future updates.
First answer: Hackers are assumed to be ghosting by default and do not need to roll to enter Ghost, only for the other actions. (It felt weird to people in testing when they did.)
Second answer: Failing Economic Shock does not increase your Burden.
Loving this system! I'll be starting a game soon, and I had a question. Is there a reason why stealth and hacking both have difficulty checks that start at 5? Why don't they start at 7 like other defenses? It seems like this would make it easier to keep track of, and all it would require is subtracting 2 from the security level/network level guidelines. But I'm not sure if I'm just missing something about how I should be thinking about these are different from other types of defenses.
Short answer: because they just are. Long answer: working in increments of five and adding up to ten to it on the fly is easier than calculating from 7 from a psychological game design standpoint, and security/network level is more likely to be on the fly than a dedicated NPC or character is. The math is not fundamentally different.
While I love the writing in this there really needs to be a tighter editing process, there are a lot of small errors and weird choices with no other reference in the book ("negative burden" to mention one in the player reference book, or missing footnotes. this might only be a problem in the player reference version though, either way I wish there was more oversight on that editing) On the positive side of things, the setting is cleverly written, really feels like a retrofuturist version of our present.
Oh hey, the fillable character sheet (simplified) has an issue where the Cool and Clever skill tabs will always be equal to each other. Could you fix this?
Fantastic game, I'm really enjoying my readthrough so far. It wasn't clear to me how it was intended that damage boxes translate to health points for NPCs though, does the box number that would be checked for a PC = health points lost on an NPC?
Yeah, it doesn't explicitly state how damage to NPCs with health points should be handled, with only a brief mention on page 48 that Mira causes 2 points of damage by beating the opponent's defense by 3.
It does seems reasonable that the damage box number generated from an attack that beats the defense by 3+ would equal the number of health points lost by an NPC.
I’m not even done reading it but your sidebar about combat is amazing and something that I feel will stick with me in other games, too. I can’t wait to read more and jack into this cool world with some friends.
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Hey, I missed the original sale for the hardcover print for the main book, and online I can only find the hardcover version of Tales of L5 on DriveThruRPG. Is or will there be another chance to grab the hardcover version of the main book?
We'll be crowdfunding a new Hard Wired Island thing later this year and I'll be including a new print run as a stretch goal!
Ah, very cool, thanks!
Purchased the PDF, I have seen hardcover copies for sale on a few websites, do you sell the hardcover on your own site? And if you do, is there any way to get the cost of the pdf discounted from the hardcover?
We primarily sell through Studio 2 Publishing! If you get a copy, send me an email (hardwiredisland at gmail) or find me on the Weird Age Discord and I'll sort you out.
I was a backer on the Kickstarter. I backed at the PDF level. I would like to have a copy of the physical book. Will there be any chance of it going back into print?
At the very least we're adding a reprint to the next Hard Wired Island KS we do. I've been thinking about doing a DTRPG version as well, though I've been debating whether that would hurt the eventual reprint. We'll see what happens!
Lulu.com does a good job with print books.
Do you have an ETA for the Kickstarter?
We don't have an exact date yet, but probably Q4 2023/Q1 2024.
Hey, did you know there's a review video on this RPG? Go check it out!
I aplaud the ethos of this game, 'cyberpunk' has largely become all style and no substance, so yey! However I don't understand why sticking bits of metal in your head and making you prone to viruses shouldn't lead to running the risk of brain damage or psycho-neurological issues? Seems to me that is a risk that would be run, and downplayed by the corps trying to sell this stuff, to the people in the world.
The game's brain augments already say that many users will suffer side-effects in the long run. There aren't any specific mechanics for it because there are only a few of them (it's not something we wanted to focus on), and it would be difficult to do without running into that whole "cybernetics make you mentally ill" trope, which we're specifically trying to avoid.
Is there a semi-official forum to post rules questions?
1) The NPC "Tall Steve" is mentioned in two places: Page 37 where is he as a Cool Defense of 9, and Page 48 where as a simple opponent, he has a defense of 7 (and all defenses should the same, Level + 5). Which is correct?
2) On page 48, it says, Tall Steve is a simple opponent (p. 332): but simple opponents are described on page 322 (simple typo).
3) On page 49, Tiger Shark makes a Cool Save against the Distract action with a total of 15 vs. 13, but then has to make another Cool Save in the very next paragraph. Can someone explain this to me? And then, the green box at shows a Distrct action and a Quick save (15 vs. 13) rather than a Cool Save. What gives?
Is there any kind of NPC quick sheet for making extras? I tried looking through the book but didn't have much luck (maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place).
GM'd our first game last week and have another planned for this Thursday! It was my first time GMing anything and some of the players' first times with TTRPGs in general. I'm happy it went well. That being said, I have some concerns with the Overthree encounter in the Terabyte Boys one-shot, as well as with character creation.
1. Overthree is a LONG fight for new players struggling to learn the mechanics. Not every group gets the chance to fight before this. My players took a stealthier option and successfully pickpocketed Quade outside the Im-X visitor center. I rewarded them with a modded prototype Multipass given to Quade by the Boys as a means to enter the auction. This means that Overthree was their first fight. For my group, the combat took over an hour.
12 health is a LOT to throw at a new group. I get that Dreamers are designed to be a Big Deal, but if I hadn't brought Diego and Olivaw to the auction, it would've dragged on for hours. Each of my players spent 5-10 minutes each turn just figuring out what to do. They're new players - they had to check the player reference for everything. I was so caught up in helping them that I completely forgot that Overthree was supposed to deal damage.
I decided to try and cut the fight length by having Overthree leave the auction site and wreak havoc elsewhere. Unfortunately, one of my more experienced TTRPG players correctly pointed out that this would be a Run Away action. This means Overthree had to roll against the number of opponents it was facing +7. That meant five players, Olivaw, Diego, and the Terabyte Boys (who moved in solid state). Even for a Dreamer, that's a lot, and it meant everyone got a free attack against it. This killed the already sluggish pacing. I had to make Overthree tear off its own tendril to hit the -1 roll threshold and go into hibernation at 1 Health to end the fight. Otherwise, it could have taken an extra half hour. (Luckily, Diego carried the fight with the gold-plated Omnidyne pistol I gave him, and the Terabyte Boys provided some good meat shields.)
2. Throwing everything in at character creation time was overwhelming for my players. I had to throw in a Session 0 just to help them make their PCs. They're struggling to figure out the purpose of all the mechanics in their sheets, and choosing assets from their Occupation AND two extra Assets was a lot. They were confused ("It says I pick two Assets, but I already got two from my Occupation,") but also wowed by the generosity ("Wow, I get two MORE Assets?!"). Is there a way to split up some of the character creation mechanics over a campaign? I'm reminded of GMTK's video on making tutorials for complex games. It's more talking about stuff like Civ or Total War, but it's still a good reference.
Anyway, those are my two main gripes for now. I understand that this game is trying to lower the complexity a bit in order to not alienate new players, but there's still work to be done. (Also, if there's a Discord or subreddit for this game to share ideas with other GMs, I'd really appreciate a link.)The Weird Age discord server can be found here: https://discord.gg/8tFDGFfybg
What's changed in the new download?
It's a little higher-res and there's a line clarifying how simple opponent health works. There might be another tweak soon!
The blurb about negative burden on p53 dissappeared behind the image again, as of the latest download, pls fix.
I absolute love this game and I can't wait to play it with my group once we are all free from studies! However, I've got a couple of questions I was hoping Freyja could help me with:
First one is: do hackers have to "enter" ghost mode like entering stealth when hacking a network, or do they only roll with the hacking specialty and ghost mode is assumed, and only rolled for when having to maintain it or using Cover Your Tracks and Disable Security actions?
Second: suffering an economic shock doesn't actually increase your burden with it, right? I assumed it did at first but now I think I'm mistaken, and I'd like your confirmation on that.
That'd be it so far! I'll try to join the discord as soon as I have the time and ask for more clarifications there if needed, thanks a lot for reading and hope you guys keep selling well! :D
PS: not a rule thing, but there's a bunch of text on page 53 that is somehow "behind/inside" the artwork. You might know about it already, but if not, could be an error you'd like to fix on future updates.
First answer: Hackers are assumed to be ghosting by default and do not need to roll to enter Ghost, only for the other actions. (It felt weird to people in testing when they did.)
Second answer: Failing Economic Shock does not increase your Burden.
hope that helps!
Loving this system! I'll be starting a game soon, and I had a question. Is there a reason why stealth and hacking both have difficulty checks that start at 5? Why don't they start at 7 like other defenses? It seems like this would make it easier to keep track of, and all it would require is subtracting 2 from the security level/network level guidelines. But I'm not sure if I'm just missing something about how I should be thinking about these are different from other types of defenses.
Short answer: because they just are. Long answer: working in increments of five and adding up to ten to it on the fly is easier than calculating from 7 from a psychological game design standpoint, and security/network level is more likely to be on the fly than a dedicated NPC or character is. The math is not fundamentally different.
The on-the-flyness makes sense to me. Thanks!
I can’t seem to be able to access the pdf on google drive? Any suggestions that might help?
While I love the writing in this there really needs to be a tighter editing process, there are a lot of small errors and weird choices with no other reference in the book ("negative burden" to mention one in the player reference book, or missing footnotes. this might only be a problem in the player reference version though, either way I wish there was more oversight on that editing)
On the positive side of things, the setting is cleverly written, really feels like a retrofuturist version of our present.
11dragonkid sent me and I am not disappointed. Love the vibes in this vs other cyberpunk representations.
Oh hey, the fillable character sheet (simplified) has an issue where the Cool and Clever skill tabs will always be equal to each other. Could you fix this?
Fantastic game, I'm really enjoying my readthrough so far. It wasn't clear to me how it was intended that damage boxes translate to health points for NPCs though, does the box number that would be checked for a PC = health points lost on an NPC?
Yeah, it doesn't explicitly state how damage to NPCs with health points should be handled, with only a brief mention on page 48 that Mira causes 2 points of damage by beating the opponent's defense by 3.
It does seems reasonable that the damage box number generated from an attack that beats the defense by 3+ would equal the number of health points lost by an NPC.
Easily, oh so easily, one of my favorite TTRPG book in my collection, and definitely my favorite Cyberpunk anything so far!
Any plans for a Print-on-demand book
We're doing a print run soon!
Print on Demand is cheaper for shipping here in the UK. Shipping usually costs more than the book. Not a terrible option!
Will this be purchasable here or will we need to pick it up somewhere else?
Probably somewhere else, but I'll post it here when it's available!
Thanks!
Absolutely looking forward to it!
Any news on a print copy? :)
This book looks amazing and like everything I'm totally into. I can't wait to get a copy for myself.
I’m not even done reading it but your sidebar about combat is amazing and something that I feel will stick with me in other games, too. I can’t wait to read more and jack into this cool world with some friends.
Instructions unclear, heart stuck entirely in the book. 6/5 stars