Looks like I might have 4 players for my GURPS game. That’s perfect, actually. We are going to get together soon and have a character creation session. This will allow the players to bounce ideas around, and try to make sure they have all the bases covered as far as skills go. I’m always willing to sculpt an adventure to any set of PCs, but it is nice if you have a variety. That being said, they can build whatever sort of characters they want.
I think it is harder for players to come up with character ideas for something like Cyberpunk, because the typical character archetypes just aren’t as familiar to them. In a fantasy campaign, everyone knows what a wizard, fighter, thief, or bard is. With no character classes in GURPS, and a bit more nebulous set of archetypes for Cyberpunk, it is challenging.
It might actually be useful to think of the typical fantasy types when making these characters. You still need a lot of the same kinds of skills, just tweaked to a techno-futuristic setting. A Wizard becomes the technologist/cyberspace cowboy. The Fighter become the ex-military bad ass. And so on.
I’m really looking forward to getting this started!
If you haven’t done so already, you may want to check out a game called Shadowrun (free quickstart rules for the latest edition available at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/116662/Shadowrun-Fifth-Edition-QuickStart-Rulesz)
It’s a long-running cyberpunk RPG in which the characters are persons with “particular skills” that gather together to do various jobs (e.g. theft, surveillance, sabotage, assassination, etc.) for money, often at the behest of a megacorp. It’s a bit strange, because the setting has magic and a small selection of fantasy races (orcs, elves, trolls, dwarves), but it may a good source of ideas.
Thanks, Bob. I will check it out.
Excellent! I look forward to hearing how this went for you and your players. A bit of advice – keep a firm hand on players and check their character sheets twice to make sure you don’t have conflicting traits (e.g., a character with a Loner and another with Chummy). Otherwise you’re just asking for trouble.
Ha! Thanks, Christopher. Yes, I will keep copies of the character record sheets not only to check stuff like that, but to plan games.