团队动向GROUP DYNAMICS
在赛博朋克战役中,GM必须考虑玩家将会扮演什么样的角色,有多少个角色,以及他们之间有什么联系。“一群勇敢的英雄在酒馆里相遇,一起去进行激动人心的冒险……”这种设定在许多不同的流派中都很常见,但在赛博朋克战役中却不太合适。传统的角色扮演战役的许多特性需要在此做出改变。
PC类型 PC Types
GM应该在战役开始前就确定好什么类型的PC适合他的战役(参见128页的战役计划)。一个街头帮派或摇滚乐队里不太可能会有一位超强的黑客存在。群体之间进行的两两组合一般都能被合理化,但GM必须考虑多重群体组合在一起时这个集团该如何运作;尽管可以成立这么一个由公司高管、无家可归的流浪汉和暴徒组成的组织,但这么做有点牵强。GM应该明白他要谋划的是什么样的阴谋,PC们需要什么样的技能和资源才能应对他提出的问题。当他将角色带进团队时,他应该考虑他会在团队解决这些问题时做出怎样的贡献。就比如当有赛博刺客要去追杀pc的时候,那么团队里就应该有些装了仿生战斗殖装的人。网络狂奔者是游戏的一部分,但对于其他玩家来说,看着他们进行行动可能会很无聊;如果GM不准备在其他人都闲着的时候与网络狂奔者进行一对一的角色扮演,那他可以让NPC成为团队里的网络狂奔者。
纯粹的英雄在赛博朋克文学中是罕见的,在赛博朋克游戏中也应该是罕见的。另一方面,不管看还是玩,没有灵魂的杀手和不知悔改、贪赃枉法的人都可能变得相当讨厌。赛博朋克的PC应该是同时拥有积极和消极特质的复杂混合体;他不会始终如一,所以一个角色可能会做出看似不符合他的个人利益的行动之中。赛博朋克的主题是寻求身份上的认同,与各种不和谐的动机达成妥协,这一点很重要。PC可以从对自己的一些错误认知起步,也可以以某些矛盾起步,这些都可以随着时间的推移而得到解决。
剧透 - :
The GM should determine what kinds of player characters are appropriate for the campaign before beginning it (see the Campaign Plan on p. 128). A street gang or rock group is unlikely to have a cybertank jock at their disposal. Most two-group combinations can be rationalized, but the GM has to look at how larger groups will work together; a group with a corporate executive, a homeless drifter and a mobster could be set up, but it would be stretching things a bit. The GM should be aware of what kinds of plots he's going to run and what kinds of skills and resources will be necessary to cope with the problems he's going to pose. When he brings characters into the group he should consider what kind of contribution they will make to solving those problems. If it's likely that cybered assassins are going to go after the PCs, then they should have someone with some bionic combat enhancements in the group. Netrunners are integral to the genre, but can be boring for other players to watch in action; if the GM isn't prepared to do one-on-one role-playing with the netrunner while the rest of the players are idle, he might want to have the group's netrunner be an NPC.
Unalloyed heroes are rare in cyberpunk literature, and they should be rare in cyberpunk gaming as well. On the other hand, soulless killers and unredeemably venal graspers can grow rather tiresome, both to watch and to play.Cyberpunk PCs should be a complex mix of positive and negative traits; these don't have to be consistent, so a character may be pushed to seemingly random actions that don't serve his self-interest. The theme of the search for identity, of coming to terms with a discordant mix of motivations, is important in cyberpunk. PCs can begin with some illusions about themselves, and some inconsistencies, which can be worked out over time.
玩家数量Number of Players
单人战役(加上GM)会非常有趣。GM可以控制环境的所有方面,以及所有npc,所以玩家永远不知道谁可以信任谁不可以信任。游戏可以按照GM和玩家的节奏进行,玩家可以按照自己想要的角度和深度进行游戏。
赛博朋克文学中通常有两个互相依赖的主要角色,一对能够处理任何情况的好搭档。因此,GM可能会让他的游戏里有两个PC;这让玩家有了一个能够分享给他经验的人,并仍然让他们拥有他们想要的深度。两人小组间很少互相保守秘密。PC间甚至可以以某种方式直接相连,或者通过某种传感器连接,或者通过网络直接连接。在一个两人的团队中存在着某种程度的亲密友情,而这种友情在一个更大的团队中是无法维持的。
一个有超过一对玩家的团队会引发冲突和背叛。pc应该被给予一个相互信任的理由,也许他们有相同的过去,也许他们是一个为特定目的而组建的团队。在这类战役中,大多数冒险活动都是由后台指派的任务。
一个多样化的团队很有趣,但难以运行,因为具有不同专长的pc会以完全不同的方式处理问题。更有可能的情况是,一个大型团队的战役会有彼此相似的pc,比如一个研究团队、一个军事小队、一个街头帮派、一个企业、一个音乐团队等等。在任何情况之下,GM都必须想出理由,让PC们作为一个团队一起工作。参见120-121页的边栏。
剧透 - :
A one-player campaign (plus GM) can be very interesting. The GM can control all aspects of the environment, and all the NPCs, so the player never knows who to trust and who not to trust. The game can go at the pace of the GM and the player, and the player can follow whatever angles of the plot he wants to, in whatever depth.
Cyberpunk literature often features two main characters who rely on each other, a well-balanced pair able to handle any situation. Thus, a GM may wish to set up a game with two PCs;this gives players someone to share their experiences with, and still lets them go into as much depth as they want to. Two-person groups rarely keep secrets from each other. The PCs may even be linked directly in some fashion, either by some sort of sensors on one or the other, or even a direct link through the Net. There is a degree of intimate camaraderie in a twoplayer group that simply cannot be maintained in a larger group.
A group with more than a couple of players invites conflict and betrayal. The PCs should be given a reason to trust each other, perhaps they have a common history, perhaps they are a team assembled for some specific purpose. Most adventures in this kind of campaign will be missions assigned by a patron.
A diverse group will be interesting, but difficult to run, since PCs with different specialties they will attack problems in radically different ways. It is more likely that a large-group campaign will have PCs similar to each other, such as a research team, a military squad, a street gang, a business enterprise, a musical group, etc. In any case, the GM must create reasons for the PCs to work together as a group. See the sidebars on pp. 120-121.
背刺Backstabbing
玩家很可能会说:“我想要一个背叛团队的角色。”事实上,不信任和背叛是赛博朋克文学的共同主题。
然而,这使得游戏变得困难。在其他类型的游戏中,这是很少见的,因此会给情节增加点惊喜。在赛博朋克的游戏中,它太可预测了。只需要一个事件就能让所有的玩家永远地互相对立。简单地说,有些玩家可能会发现与他们的敌人一起工作特别烧脑有趣,但长期的战役会证明这是有害的。
这并不是说每个角色都不能有隐藏的计划。赛博朋克战役中的角色可以朝着他们的秘密目标努力。但是,这种分歧一般不应导致暴力对抗。
如果GM真的想设置一个背叛情节,最好使用NPC。大多数玩家都希望如此,所以GM需要做一些工作来完成任务。当pc与许多npc定期互动时,它的效果最好,NPC里有些是友好的,有些是敌对的,有些是中立的。在如此详细的战役中,叛徒不应该是敌对的或中立的。而应该是一个友好的npc,玩家们通过一些游戏过程与他建立起了关系,最好是一个已经表明他是站在团队的一边,会为了团队的利益而冒险或做出牺牲。他可能是一个被敌人胁迫的好人,也可能是由恶棍种下的毒草,等待着在适当的时候发动攻击。不管怎样,他应该是一个玩家真正会依赖的人,一个他们愿意冒着生命危险去保护的人。那么这次背叛将会是一次真正的惊喜。因此,它只有在长期战役中才会有效。
通过毒品、洗脑或某种形式的赛博科技进行的精神控制,PC可能会不由自主地背叛自己的同伴。在这种情况下,这种背叛对PC来说并不是什么“为了体现角色性格”之类的东西,所以团队(或者背叛活动的幸存者)可以事后在原谅他。然而,任何不那么强制的事情都属于另一类;即使是敲诈之类的事情,例如威胁其所爱的人,也会让玩家进行一种自愿的背叛,这将会导致长久的不信任。
在赛博朋克战役中,PC有足够的理由去担心来自正面的敌人、任何形式的强权、随机的暴力,在一个社会和环境崩溃的世界里的日常生活都够困难的了。GM不应该鼓励他们互相背叛。无论如何,要阻止他们这么做已经够难了
剧透 - :
It's very easy for a player to say, "I want to have a character who is working against the group." In fact, mistrust and betrayal are a common theme in cyberpunk literature.
However, it makes difficult gaming. In other genres, it would be rare, and would therefore add an interesting surprise twist to a plot. In cyberpunk games, it's just too predictable. It only takes one incident to permanently turn all the players against each other.Some players may,briefly,find working with their enemies to be intellectually stimulating, but over a long-term campaign it can be prove damaging.
This is not to say that individual characters can't have hidden agendas. Characters in a cyberpunk campaign can work toward secret goals. However, such differences should not generally lead to violent confrontations.
If the GM does want to set up a betrayal situation, it's best to use an NPC. Most players will expect this, so it will take some work from the GM to pull off properly. It works best when the PCs interact with many NPCs on a regular basis, some friendly, some hostile, and some neutral. In such a detailed campaign, the betrayer should not be a hostile or neutral. It's one of the friendly NPCs, established over a number of game sessions, preferably one who has already shown that he's on the side of the party, by taking risks or making sacrifices on the party's behalf. This can be a good person compromised by enemies, or a plant, set up originally by a villain, waiting to strike at the proper moment.Either way, it should be someone the players have truly come to count on, someone they'd risk their characters' lives to protect. Then the betrayal will be a genuine surprise. Thus, it only works well later on in a long-term campaign.
It is possible to have a PC involuntarily betray his fellows, by drugs, brainwashing, or cybernetic mind control of some sort. In this case, the betrayal will not be something "in character" for the PC, so the party (or at least the survivors) can forgive him for it afterwards. However, anything less coercive falls in a different category; even something like blackmail, such as a threat to a loved dependent, creates a measure of voluntary betrayal on the player's part that will cause lasting mistrust. 。
PCs in a cyberpunk campaign have more than enough to worry about from direct enemies,powerful authorities of whatever sort,random violence,and even ordinary day-to-day living in a world of social and environmental collapse. The GM should not encourage them to betray one another. It will be hard enough to keep them from doing so anyway.
死亡Death
人会死。在赛博朋克战役中,死亡是很频繁的事情。玩家应该意识到这一点。如果一个玩家会对角色产生深深的依恋,那么赛博朋克可能不是最适合他的类型!
为了防止玩家过于沮丧,GM可以去尝试确保角色以某种有意义的方式死去,甚至是英雄的方式。而且GM不应该“压制”PC。如果设置的场景是pc从一开始就注定失败,玩家可能就不想再玩了。如果一个聪明的角色有生存的机会,那么PC的死亡很可能就被认为是“很公平的”。玩家将会更加珍惜他们的下一个角色。
当然,在某些战役中,死亡也只是暂时的……