SYNC
A cyberpunk feels focused tabletop rpg
This doc is the game document, but you will also need these character sheets and handouts: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BSqb9LSvg_HV7a8NxLdrXHUGt_3hfowr/view?usp=sharing
If you playtest this please send me feedback at: syncttrpg@gmail.com
It is updated on the regular so check back for new content. (most recent update 8/2/2018)
SYNC takes place ten seconds in the future. It’s about exploring non-violent themes in a cyberpunk setting. The mechanics in the game encourage interaction and relationships. This is a minimal GM, maximum player interaction game where you talk with each other and develop relationships through roleplaying. What the PCs do and how their relationships develop is more important than a predetermined plot. In order to defeat oppressive forces working against them and their community, the PCs must care for each other emotionally.
Players: 3-5 + One GM
Time: 2-4 hours per session, currently works best as a many session game, quickstart coming
Mechanics: Powered by the Apocalypse (2d6) this game is inspired most by Monsterhearts and Night Witches
Rating: 18+
Materials: printed out Character Sheets, printed out Basic Moves and Group Moves sheets, game text, writing implements, 2d6
Keywords: cyberpunk, non-violence, sex, queer terminology, queer culture, activism, relationships, emotional labor, cyborgs, corrupt systems, oppression, race, near future America
William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition
Hackers
Mr. Robot
Halt and Catch Fire
Grimes
Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer
Sense8
SYNC uses pbta mechanics. So, 2D6, moves, and the 7-9 middling consequences rule. Players are most likely to roll a 7-9, making those the most interesting narrative options.
SYNC has a focus on emotional and technological moves. So all the actions that players are incentivized to take involve talking about feelings, having conversations, being observant or sensitive, and interacting with technology.
The main point economy works like this. When players make a move (either basic or character move) they have the opportunity to gain points.
SYNC points are how well the character is connected with themselves. A SYNC point is gained every time the character rolls a highlighted stat. So, SYNC points are tied metaphorically to the character’s skills and the types of actions they’re taking in a session.
Connectivity points are how well the character is connected to their friends and chosen family (ie the other player characters). Every time a character supports another PC by listening and validating their emotions they gain a Connectivity point.
SYNC and Connectivity points are then used to make Group Moves. Each player must spend an equal amount of SYNC or Connectivity points in order to even make a Group Move. So for example, everyone spending 3 SYNC points and 2 Connectivity points makes a certain Group Move possible. Group Moves are the only way characters can lessen the impact that Factions are having on themselves and their community.
SYNC points can also be used on buying new character moves. So players must choose between improving themselves, and improving their group, and when to do which.
That’s the basic point economy, and what drives the main themes and metaphors of the game. These mechanics in particular were inspired by Night Witches and Monsterhearts.
Imagine now, but just a little more futuristic. As William Gibson articulated: ten seconds in the future. What does ten seconds in the future mean? Let’s get into some details. The ideas below aren’t concrete for the settings you might play in this game, but they are solid concepts to kickstart your imagining of each city the characters inhabit.
We’ve got better tech, but we’re not transplanting brains quite yet. Things are more corporate, capitalist, corrupt than now. But we already live in a cyberpunk dystopia.
We’ve developed some biotech but not much. Printing organs that people can use, replacing minor body parts but not whole bodies, embedded wifi and enhancements but nothing too wild yet. Robots are a little smarter and more pervasive. AI is becoming a tool we all use. The internet is bigger and scarier and stranger. Old tech is still in heavy use. Maybe there’s a few ultra high tech things but they all belong to companies mostly out of reach.
The aesthetic is meant to be near future so that tech can be a metaphor. The tools we create are reflections of who we are. Technology is a way we connect. It’s how we create and grow relationships. When creating technology in each iteration of the game with your own group, SYNC considers everyday tech more than weapons or massive earth changing tech like the higgs boson. It’s about the personal and the local. There is some inspiration for possible technology in the cities that are pre-made (Miami currently), so use them to set the tone for any city your group might create together.
The main settings to play at in this book are American cities just a little bit in the future. They’re cities that have something to highlight about the contemporary oppression, which is why I’ve specifically chosen Miami and Detroit to highlight. Other great choices would be Atlanta, Southern California, Tucson, New Orleans.
The future is rooted in the past. Describe architecture: Art Deco, Bauhaus, Post-Modernism, Mid-century, Contemporary. Think every day personal interaction, not massive scale. Present tech that exists to connect or disconnect characters and NPCs. Think about real cities and their current issues, and push them forward.
This game is intentionally set in American cities. There’s a problematic history of cyberpunk media orientalizing cities to make them futuristic. While some cities in America might have more Asian influence than others (San Francisco, New York, etc), Asian aesthetics does not equal cyberpunk future. Consider what cultures in each American city may have survived and thrived, what ethnicites have a majority of the visual design of fonts and architecture, and what percentage make up each city.
The American cyberpunk future is one that is intimately connected with the intended purpose of this game. It’s a uniquely American near future. The future is determined and connected to the past, and so each city will have a unique group of oppressors, aesthetics, food, and history to inform it’s issues.
While this is based on an America that already exists… don’t sweat all the details. Try to be as true to the city as possible, paying attention to who the minorities are, what social issues that city has, and the industry and general landscape and weather of that city. It is a fiction though, so don’t worry about being 100% historically accurate. Get as close as possible to be as inspired by that city as possible, read up on the wikipedia page, and try and get some future vision of that city in your head.
A predetermined quickstart setting for playtesting, Neo Miami is included in the handouts. Check out more details about this example city further down in the document.
I chose Miami because it’s a mixed culture city with many immigrants and a neat tie to 80s cyberpunk retro aesthetics of neon, gangs, and palm trees. Neo Miami is different than this of course, ten seconds in the future, and players will help construct it’s intricacies collaboratively when they sit down to play. Each Neo Miami will be a little bit different than the next, with details chosen by the players.
SYNC definitely can have violence in it’s narratives and storylines. Rather, there is the potential for violence, as there is in the real world. Unlike many other tabletop games, and cyberpunk games in particular, SYNC’s characters aren’t the ones doing that violence. So the things that make the characters our focus are their social and mental capacities, not their capacity to be ultra violent killing machines who are constantly fighting and killing in order to get what they want. The characters in SYNC are about as physically capable as you or I in a fight… even if we are well trained in martial arts there’s a good chance we’re not going to stand a chance against an armored private security officer or armed cop. When I run this game I say “Imagine you, the real you, and your capacity for violence, and that’s about how good your character is at it too.” Basically violence isn’t the preferred or best action to take in SYNC.
That doesn’t mean that the system doesn’t do violence, however. It is possible for characters to experience violence done to them, and this type of physical harm can be represented in conditions the same way any other type of harm can be… it’s just not tracked because the potential for a character dying from physical violence isn’t really an incremental part of this game. If players decide after many sessions they believe a character should die from sudden or random violence, or perhaps lack of ability to get medical help, that’s fine, but not really a focus of the stories that SYNC is telling. Most characters will live through this story, the stakes are more about how they live and what they can do to improve the lives of others.
The characters in SYNC are a combination of cyberpunk characters from various media who are primarily non-violent. The things they do in the fiction and their motivations are very driven by activism and trying to survive in the world without using the tools of the oppressor.
Each character has moves that detail the ways they interact with technology. While the Basic Moves of the game focus more on social interaction, the characters focus on tech and what they can specifically do.
One of the more body modded of the character options, Cyberbabes manipulate both their bodies and social media to their benefits. Cyberbabes like to use their body expressively to influence people. They also tend to have dark pasts, since it’s hard to get those cyborg parts yo.
Anoraks are obsessively into one type of media, object, or fashion. It’s usually something so strange that not many other people know about it, and they have groups of friends online who are just obsessed as they are. They’re fans, and they’re innocuous, and that’s what gives them their ability to get info about stuff in the world.
Analysts are coders, mostly, and their brains can analyze tech and the world in the same way. They have the uncanny ability to read people just by looking at them, in a somewhat Sherlock-y way. They’re sensitive, but that sensitivity is also their super power.
Creators of things, like fashion, furniture, industrial design. Designers see the world through a lense of objects. They have the ability to network with rad creators and nifty interactive glasses.
The Idol is a famous performer, and their main conflict is between their fame and the people they want to be close to. They have unique abilities to manipulate the media.
The Gearhead is a maker of small machines and robots. Their workshop is a second home, and they often feel closer to machines than humans. They have a few implants but aren’t as modded as Cyberbabes.
The Punk has access to pharma-apps, basically future drugs that enhance various abilities. They’re in tune with urban subcultures and the underground, and are kind of co-dependant.
Drivers have an amazing car that can do all kinds of neat stuff. They’re also emotionally distant, but intensely driven once pointed in the right direction. They’re more physical communicators than anything, and their garage is where they sleep a lot of the time.
The Insider needs to walk a fine line between activism and being on the corporate inside. They have more access than any other character but at a cost. They’re often in way over their head.
Everything on the front page of the character sheet is stylistic options specific to that playbook.
Name: a selection of names fitting for that type of playbook.
Pronouns: the pronouns your character goes by
Look: your character’s fashions and eyes.
Cybertech style: what your cybertech looks like. Narratively you have these things, but you can always add extra stuff your character has during the game as long as its appropriate. This is more a stylistic option than any concrete tech. Your concrete tech is located on the moves inside the palybook.
Origin: This is the basic concept of how your character came to be. A little something to add flavor to their background that you can then flesh out as your character becomes more developed in play.
Name: Same as on the front sheet, just easily accessible here for you to read and remember
GID: Your character’s genetic identification. Assigned through mandatory DNA testing done by the state and enforced by law to track genetics of all American citizens.
Backstory: How your character is connected to the other characters.
Sex Move: What happens after your character and another character have sex or an approximation of sex for them.
Glitched: When a move triggers your character, they go into glitched. This is then in action until the character decides the win condition for this move has been met.
Sync Points: Mark one of these off each time a player roles one of their character’s highlighted stats. This represents metaphorically how well the character is in SYNC with their abilities and technology.
Connection Points: Mark one of these off each time a character does emotional work for another character. This represents metaphorically how well the characters are Connected to each other.
Character Moves: These moves focus specifically on a character’s tech and emotional abilities. What can they do with their tech, and how does their specific way of seeing the world help them get things done? Characters start with the first one chosen for them (it’s their signature move) and then can choose three more. All of them may be chosen over time as the character evolves.
This section will probably be the most touchy, and most important, for the most privileged among us reading this text. In particular in America, cis white cis men will have the most privilege, but this isn’t a competition. There can be some discomfort for people who are white and have privilege to roleplay people of marginalized races, genders, abilities, or classes. It is one of the best ways to begin having empathy for people of marginalized groups, though. SYNC is a story about marginalized people.
When choosing the ethnicity, gender, and ability of the main characters in your game, try to match up with who might be marginalized in the city you’re playing in. Consider intersections of these marginalized groups, so perhaps a half black half latino queer woman who lost a hand in a factory accident. Portray them with the respect you might portray any white character you might play, and perhaps do a few google searches on their culture in the city you’re in. Remember, you’re in the near future, so mixes of cultures and ethnicities is very likely! Consider creating new traditions mixed in with the old.
The most important thing to remember when portraying people who are of other ethnicities and cultures than you is to avoid problematic tropes. It’s impossible to know all of these tropes, but, that’s what we have the internet for. Try searching for them before you begin your game, and if something comes up in play, be open to changing actions or words if something ends up being a problematic trope accidentally. There are billions of outcomes and actions that players and GMs can take in a game, and it’s easier, and more healing and respectful, to be fluid with your narrative and willing to change things that might be problematic or making other people at the table cringe. These are also great learning experiences! It’s important to keep learning what is good, and to change, in order to reduce the harm to other humans around us. That’s social activism.
Ten seconds in the future the still quite problematic American Government has still not figured out that race is a social construct and actually reinforces concepts of racism. It’s very important for the central government to keep accurate account of demographic genetic data (or so they believe), and so they created a new way to indicate the growing number of complicated and combined ethnic DNA called the Genetic Identification. At birth it’s required to secure genetics that indicate all ethnic backgrounds, and have that logged as part of every American citizens identification along with their birth certificate. Immigrants and those not born in hospitals must have this registered as well.
The GID isn’t an accurate barometer of a person’s cultural or ethnic identification in any kind of practical or real world way, although it is another way for people to be categorized into assumed cultural behaviors and locations. A GID determines a character’s ethnic background, which is usually a combination of at least three different ethnic genetics. Ethnicity is based on location in the world, mostly, and certain genetic traits that have been established over time. It usually comes in percentages, with things like 1% Native American often in the list. Many people disregard these altogether, sticking with what their family has identified as ethnically, keeping cultures traditions practices and food alive according to those more than a GID percentage.
When choosing a GID during character creation, it actually happens at the same time as city creation, to reflect an already existing set of GID’s in an established location. These are more or less the same race choices that used to be on old American ID forms, but with more complication and precision in their percentages. Players are encouraged to choose a combination of at least two, and the choices are presented in accordance to what might be the ethnic majority in that city.
While characters can be an ethnicity not typically found in that particular city, it’s encouraged to have a more regional representation, especially of historically minority and marginalized folks, since these will be the main characters in our SYNC stories.
If you’re white and playing this game, consider playing someone of a different ethnicity than you. Whiteness in the near future is definitely still holding all the power and often in charge of the Factions the main characters are working against. Although there has been more inclusion America wide, it turns out that even ten seconds in the future its difficult to just completely erase the countries deep set issues with racism and inequality.
THAT SAID. While oppression is a main theme of this game, specifically ethnic oppression doesn’t need to be a part of this game. Decide how much ethnic oppression everyone is comfortable with, and if the characters would like to wrestle with concepts of ethnic oppression or if they’d prefer to not deal with that in particular in the game. In general, it’s hard to wrest ethnic oppression from class oppression and marginalized folks who are our main characters in these stories, but the level to which that is a part of the storytelling is up to the group. SYNC has no specific ethnic moves that target a person’s skin color, heritage, or cultural identification. It’s still a majority of the marginalized people in this game though, and in that we can see how ethnic oppression still has a hold on American cultures ten seconds in the future.
While there are surgery options for altering people’s external gender identifiers if they can afford it, there is no such thing to radically alter one’s racial characteristics beyond the cosmetic. Skin color in particular has been unsuccessfully able to be dyed or changed permanently, and is not accepted by American culture as a whole to be something that is done.
There are a few more official-ish gender options in the future, and gender’s not as hard coded as ethnicity is. Gender is something that can be chosen without testing, although there are still social and cultural consequences for choosing marginalized genders. Among marginalized groups there is slightly more empathy toward the newer recognized pronouns, but still a lot of pushback in general in the wider American culture.
Gender in America is still predominantly along a binary access. Men and women, trans men and women, are the main representations of the popularity of this binary concept. People who identify as any other constellation of genders, non binary options, two spirits, gender fluid people, or agender folks are still considered outliers and rarities in most of American culture. There is more familiarization with the fact that gender is a social construct, but not too much momentum was gained in previous decades to make a massive change in the general cultural understanding of gender roles. There is certainly still gendered oppression in many forms, including continued unequal pay, uneven family roles and emotional labor. While many people who don’t identify as cis men are still marginalized because of their gender, they have made some movement toward placement in higher levels of culture and society. For the most part though, marginalized genders are still marginalized genders.
When choosing a character’s gender, consider what types of expression you as a player might want to experiment with. Also consider choosing marginalized options over the commonly played cis man. Our characters in SYNC are from vectors of marginalization, and often gender is one of these vectors.
When choosing he or she pronouns, remember that these can also be trans men and trans women, to whatever extent they decide to disclose that. While futuristic surgery options exist, they are expensive and out of reach, so consider how much trans characters are able to pass as their preferred gender and how you want that to affect them in play.
Ability has the potential to be a big part of a SYNC game. With medical science ten seconds in the future, lost limbs could be replaced with better working robotic ones, disfigurements could be prevented or healed at a young age, and hearing could be greatly improved by implantable devices. Disabilities are not erased or totally healed however, since these are still behind a paywall for most people and our main characters are among the more marginalized folks in the city.
Subcultures are mostly local to the city that they exist in, although sometimes are derived from a larger subculture in popular American culture. Each city has it’s own subculture options that characters can join, and all characters are a part of some subculture. They tend to be specific to localities, taking on the characteristic of that city, where it’s located, what the temperature is, what the ethnic culture that exists there is, particular industries that might influence it, and the aesthetics of the city itself.
The suite of subcultures that exist in Neo Miami are influenced by its tropical location, its international status, it’s history of hollywood aesthetics, organized crime, youth culture, and an extreme divide between the rich and the poor. Most people in subcultures are between the ages of 16 and 30, often drifting off the path of that subculture once they’re more distracted by varying adult responsibilities. Our characters are just in the middle of that age range, and so are likely to be established in their subculture of choice. This means they have a deep understanding of all the signals, lingo, fashion, music, objects, vehicles, and icons in their subculture, and find it somewhat easier to relate to people from their subculture than others.
Not everyone in America joins a subculture. It’s often the people on the margins who cling to specific and strange styles to feel like they belong to something. Our main characters are all a part of at least one subculture in their lifetime, although they might switch once or twice as they grow and their aesthetics change over time. Most subcultures are connected to some kind of idea or message, although some are strictly aesthetic based. An example of this from Neo Miami is the subculture MerModders. They’re into the aesthetics of ocean creatures not only because they love the color aquamarine, but because they like the ideas of mermaids from myth being creatures who lure men to their deaths, and conservation or marine species is important to them, and they enjoy feminine coded colors and shapes.
When choosing a subculture for your character, consider what might be the most important to them in their city. Often a style and a subculture is tied to those things that they care about, and easily reflects their own feelings about their environment. Also consider what a person of their gender might be drawn to and why. Finally don’t forget to tie in a person’s ethnicity when choosing a subculture, and how their multiple cultures might intersect in interesting ways.
There’s four stats in this game. Rad, Savvy, Tough, and Tech.
Rad is the ability to be cool in culture.
Rad moves are associated with social interactions where the character has to be cool in order for it to succeed. It could also be a physical action tied to doing something in a cool way, or a technologically based action that involves having a cool reputation in order to interact with that technology.
Savvy is both knowledge and social intelligence.
Savvy moves involve the character having some kind of intelligence in order to proceed. This could be social intelligence, street smarts, understanding of business lingo, or an intimate understanding of design basics. Savvy is representative of an easy way to maneuver through difficult things.
Tough is physical and emotional fortitude.
Tough is used in moves that require some kind of toughness to do them. Maybe you’ve become resilient to witnessing or doing violence. It could also be an emotional toughness, the ability to overcome a great sadness or anger. Toughness could also be how people perceive you to be thick skinned and capable.
Tech is understanding technology and how people work.
Tech is the concept of technology as well as actual technology. It’s understanding the inner workings of machines, and being able to apply that to biological organisms like people too. It’s getting how things work and what makes them tick.
The moves in this game are designed to focus players toward a certain and specific narrative. Anything that is not listed on the moves is something that can be done, just not with great skill or great narrative emphasis.
Basic Moves are actions that any player character can take, regardless of what playbook they are. The Basic Moves reflect the things characters are doing in scenes.
Whenever a player is questioning what to do next in a scene, take a look at the basic moves, and try to aim the next thing they do toward one of those moves.
Basic Moves in Sync focus on social and emotional interactions with people. Almost all of them involve some kind of conversation with someone. This is intentional! It leads scenes to be more conversational than violent.
You’ll notice there aren’t any physical violence basic moves. Or overtly technological basic moves. This is also intentional, leading the players away from violent or tech solutions and toward social and emotional solutions.
Character Moves are specific to each type of character playbook. These are secondary and more specific and personal moves that the players can consider using when they’re applicable.
The Character Moves in SYNC focus on technological and emotional solutions. The playbooks are where a character’s personal tech style is showcased the most. It’s also where all of their personal issues are highlighted.
Only three characters have a move involving Physical Violence. The move is called Fuck Someone Up. These characters are moderately more capable at fighting than all of the other characters, but are still not experts at it. The technology is the most powerful weapon each of these characters possesses.
Group Moves are the only way characters can lessen the impact that Factions are having on themselves and their community. They’re moves that characters do together as a group, and need each other to accomplish.
In order to do a Group Move, players need to accumulate SYNC and Connectivity points on their character sheets. These are gained any time a player rolls a highlighted stat (regardless of outcome) and whenever a character does emotional work for another character. These points can also be spent on advancement (buying more character moves, raising stats), so a player has to decide what to use them for, the group, or the individual.
When making a Group Move, each player must spend the same amount of points. So, everyone must spend 2 SYNC points, 2 Connectivity points in order for the Group Move to function.
Group Moves do specific things depending on the Move your group wants to do. They also have a direct impact on the faction you’re moving against. Players choose the Faction they want to do the group move on, spend the points, and then mark off dots from the move corresponding with the level of Group Move it is.
Group Moves can happen at any point in the fiction that it seems to make sense. Often, it makes sense to do it at the end of a session after points have been accumulated, but it can also occur at the beginning of a session or at a thematically appropriate time during a session. Players can use a group move against a faction while the faction is attacking them, and it could have an immediate effect on a faction by dismantling that attack and then giving the PCs a leg up as well.
When dots are removed from a Faction, they have narratively less power to impact the characters and their communities. The characters aren’t destroying the faction, but rather dismantling its power which could lead to its demise. There could be other narrative consequences, however, such as a change in leadership which is less harmful, removal of corrupt personnel or board members, redistribution of funds, or destruction of reputation leading to the downfall of a business or organization.
All the characters in SYNC are experiencing forms of systemic oppression that they are driven to fight against. This oppression takes socio-economic, political, legal, cultural, and institutional forms. During the first session, once players have created characters and their city and neighborhood, they’ll go on to create the factions that represent this oppression in the game.
There’s a tendency in cyberpunk to create monolithic evil corporations that are caricatures of issues that we have in contemporary times. While this isn’t completely untrue, the real issues are more complex than an evil money seeking corporate giant. Many corporations that exist in the contemporary American environment provide the resources, products, housing, transportation, healthcare etc that we need in order to survive. It’s the system by which they do these things that is more problematic than the fact that these businesses exist. There are always bad actors within these systems, who can become interesting villains, but often they are taking advantage of the system that already exists.
The system that these companies, businesspeople, politicians, and law and order keepers exist in prizes things like:
On that note, consider not how the corporation, or corporation face (known as Factions in this game) are big evil bad monsters, but how they are incentivized by these things in the post-capitalist American system.
Factions are important because they’re part of the point economy of the game, and they’re also the things that characters are trying to overcome. Factions are rooted in the city and culture each particular game of SYNC is taking place in, so consider how they relate to the particular forms of each near future American City.
Create three Factions to begin with. As the characters overcome them, players can decide if they want to create more, or end the game once all three are defeated.
Consider:
- gentrification
- cops
- land being stolen or misused
- corrupt local government
- industry monopoly
- corrupt health companies
- environmental destruction
- companies misusing technology
- homeless communities under threat
- exploitative business
- local corrupt politicians
- hate groups
All of these are contemporary Socially Systemically Oppressive issues, but can be “futured” by adding something techy or involved with the future shaped city to the Faction. Real estate group? They’re probably selling the latest in Mega Condos. Cops? Obviously they’ve got some future weapons or vehicles, surveillance tech that borders on Orwellian, and money driven goals. Remember, everything is ten seconds in the future, very similar to now, but more futuristic.
Factions show up prominently in GM moves. A great way to introduce anything a Faction is doing in the narrative is by having a move happen to the characters and then building the character of the faction from there. You can also develop the Faction ahead of time, giving them concrete motivations and NPCs that are a part of that faction.
Once you’ve got a faction concept for your near future American city, and you’ve named it appropriately, the GM decides what motivates that faction. This will help the GM when the characters are under threat from a faction and the GM needs to make a move that reflects that Factions motivations.
Motivations can be anything from power, to money, to revenge or some other personal reason that the person in charge has. Consider most what the Faction wants, and what they might need to do to get it. Maybe they need to displace people, or arrest more people in a certain area, or potentially poison the water with agri-tech farming run-off. If they recognize the PCs as a threat, probably after their first action against the Faction, they might try to suppress them from making future actions. Think like the Faction you’ve created.
Finally, for each faction you’ll want to create a prominent face. These are the NPCs that more or less represent that Faction in the fiction of the game. They’re the ones that will show up in scenes, that people will gossip about, and that the PCs will interact with. Make them complex villains, so instead of just being evil, showcase their previous damage, how the system has destroyed them, and how they’ve made poor decision based on that because of their greed, pride, or some other vice.
These NPCs don’t get any special stats, but it is useful to figure out their name, what they look like, what pronouns they use, and their position with the Faction. Much of their history or motivations can be revealed as play continues, and it might be easier to develop them as more complex characters as the game goes on.
You definitely need to detail a Faction Face’s goals. What are they trying to achieve that is in direct opposition of the PCs? Why do the PCs need to dismantle their power? Goals could be something as specific as “develop fashion tech regardless of the unsafe trial outcomes” or as general as “become the richest real estate developer in Neo Miami no matter who gets hurt.” Consider what they’re willing to do, and how far they’re willing to go to get it.
Faction Faces are rarely secretive. The PCs are hackers after all, and information is their most valuable tool. A secret Faction Face is a powerful one indeed, a person who needs more than one hack to discover who they are because they need to remain that secret.
Depending on how quickly your group moves through the factions, you could potentially create more to keep the game going. Like a hydra, once one factions head is cut off, another arises.
When creating new factions though, consider the narrative of your current game. What’s the next step up in what the characters might face, on both a scale and an emotional level? Is there something that affects these more developed characters even more personally? How has the city changed to create a power vacuum for a new type of corruption? There is always one more thing for these hacktivists to take on.
This section is meant to aid the GM in running the first session of the game. It walks through step by step the process of getting to roleplaying.
Here’s an abbreviated rundown of the order of things to do in the First Session. Keeping in mind all of these required elements before gameplay can help plot out the amount of time needed to run the game. Typically this can all happen in a 3-4 hour timeslot! Keep people moving, don’t let them spend too much time angsting over character choices. IF saving time is needed, do all the character creation, faction creation, and city creation ahead of time (or pick one to do ahead of time and do the other two collaboratively, etc). Usually the thing that gives players the most ownership over their characters and play is character creation, so it makes sense to leave that available for them to do and have the city and factions ready to go once they’re done that.
The summary is in a list below, but each of these is detailed further in the pages that follow.
> Describe the Game
> Make Characters
> Introduce characters, then do Character Backgrounds, and highlighted Stats
> Do City creation
> Do Faction creation
> Take a short break
> Explain Basic Moves, SYNC, and Connectivity points
> Begin Gameplay
> Describe to players a basic idea of what the game is, what its about, and what they’ll be doing.
> Explain safety tools (x card)
> Read the pitch! “SYNC is a non violent, cyberpunk, activist, feelings focused game.”
This game features: lots of character interaction and little one on one with the GM, non-violence, social activism, hacking, and relationships.
> Help pinpoint the setting for players if you’re short on time and they haven’t read the game: “When I say Cyberpunk, what’s the first thing you think of?”
(point out the things that are and aren’t involved in this game, for example no street samurai, no ultraviolence)
It takes place ten seconds in the future. Things are a little more cyberpunk, but not dystopian. Not anymore than currently, anyway.
> Describe what you’ll all be doing in the game: “Your goal is to accumulate SYNC with your own abilities and Connectivity with the other characters in order to take Group Actions against the Factions in play.
The more your character takes actions, the more opportunity there is to SYNC up with your technology and feelings.
The emotional interactions you have with your fellow PCs increases your amount of Connection, which gives you the ability to sway things.
> Describe in short one liners (listed below) the different character options to the players.
(highlight how only three characters have the ability to do physical harm competently, and most characters are like regular people when it comes to fighting: not good at it! It’s not a focus of the game)
> Players then fill out character sheets by assigning Stats and Moves as defined by character sheet.
> Have players describe their characters to the group, then do Backstory together (it’s hard to establish backstory without knowing the characters).
> Characters are now complete except for GID and Subculture option (which will be done during neighborhood/city creation).
Quick fun descriptions of character playbooks:
Cyberbabe - super cool social media manipulator with fancy cyborg body parts
Anorak - nerd who is obsessed with niche weirdness who specializes in internet friends
Analyst - able to analyze disparate points of data and people and get stuff from gigs
Designer - rad design skills and analysis and party pad
Idol - famous performer who can manipulate media
Gearhead - makes machines and loves the more than humans
Punk - boosts self with future drugs + street smarts
Driver - has a rad car also is kind of intense personality
Insider - works for the corps but is also trapped by them
The thing that brings the characters together. What are they working on as a group? Pick a loose goal the characters can be structured around.
Ideas:
- creating media that highlights examples of systemic oppression
- working to make tech cheap and accessible to the community
- creating pathways for people in the neighborhood to succeed
- highlighting safety issues to political groups
- campaigning for people who have no voice
Look at the city sheet. For each option, follow the instructions on the sheet.
Create collaboratively what the characters will be up against. See faction section.
Create a face for each faction. These will be key NPCs that are moving against the characters, and while there will be many more NPCs, these are the most powerful and influential. Think: CEOs, media financers, Board Members, Police Cheifs, etc. These aren’t “evil” villains, but rather people with motivations counter to the PC’s who are helping aid systems of oppression.
This section is broken into Actions, Principles, and Hard Moves. Actions are tools the GM can use to help social interaction and learning of the game while running it. Principles are things to keep in mind while running the game to bring the cities of SYNC to life for the characters that inhabit them. Hard Moves are tools that the GM can use when players fail roles to interject plot, NPCs, factions, and systems working against them.
Lead By Example
Encourage the players to engage with mechanics they might’ve forgotten about. Describe people, objects, and settings the way you’d like everybody to. Frame scenes some of the time, ask players to frame them the rest of the time. Encourage players to interact with each other! Say “where are the two of you right now?” Incorporate themes from the Playbooks for players so they remember they exist. Don’t interrupt players. If someone interrupts someone else, check in with the interrupted person! Trust what people say they want to happen, but ask questions to clarify, and then suggest what the best move would be. Sometimes, a move isn’t needed!
Allow Players to Guide The Story
Play to find out what happens etc
Be A Fan Of The Player Characters
Highlight the characters more than the plot. Remember, your plot is changeable, and can change in order to highlight the characters.
Guide The Conversation
Listen to what the players are saying and lead things that way. Make sure nobody is talking over anyone else. Point the characters at each other so play isn’t just a series of one on one interactions with players and the GM.
Scene Pacing
Start with setting intro scenes for each character: where do they wake up, what does their living space look like, what’s their morning routine, who do they go see.
Encourage characters to meet up! They have all these relationships after all.
Try to have 2-3 characters in each subsequent scene.
Characters don’t have to be in the same physical space to be in a scene together! They could communicate through various tech.
Consider one or two NPC moves the first session, but remember to constantly refocus on PC personality and action building.
Who are these PCs really? Let the players stretch in their new skin.
If NPCs do interact with them, encourage interactions that bring out those characters and help them shine.
Don’t let any scene last more than 10 minutes. Time it if necessary!
The future is more realistic if it also contains objects from the present
Each description of a futuristic environment can start first with something we all recognize and know from the present, and then elaborated with objects that make it more futuristic.
Make the city feel beautiful
The city is a place of wonder and multiculturalism. It’s filled with inspiring people, art, places, and concepts. The city itself isn’t oppressive, just the systems that exist within the city. Remember that the city is home.
Make every system feel broken
Late Capitalist systems are what’s being emulated in this cyberpunk world ten seconds in the future. These systems enable racism, classism, sexism, ableism. Make sure that no system works to support the characters except for the ones they create for themselves and their communities.
Everyone’s got a problem
Bring the plot to the PCs through the NPCs. Friends have problems and they’re bringing them to the PCs doorstep. How to the PCs help them through it? How are these problems directly related to how the factions are impacting their lives? This makes it more personal for the PCs, they’re not just fighting a faction, they’re helping their friends and their communities.
Focus on small moments in time
Each moment of play is about a slice of the character’s lives. It’s about lunch with a friend, or a conversation at a loud party, or a ride in a car. Don’t skip those small moments to keep the plot going. Take the time to zoom into those small moments in time.
The weather is like a character
The weather is such an important part of city life. How people are able to get around and function, how it affects their moods, and what the scene outside the window looks in addition to the neon and the hover vehicles. Adding weather to a scene will bring it to life. Think of the weather like a character, and how that character feels, to bring a mood to an opening scene.
Emphasize the importance of touch, connections, and bodies in spaces
SYNC is about people’s relationships with each other. Highlighting human interactions, and the details of them, can bring about the importance of these human connections. A brief description of a type of touch, how someone connects to someone else, and where people physically are and how that makes their bodies feel can really bring these relationships to the forefront of the narrative.
Reveal vulnerabilities
Try to bring about the character’s vulnerabilities in play. Tease them out by bringing up their histories, their relationships, and push on whatever seems to be bothering them. Talking about feelings and what the characters are dealing with is a huge part of each scene.
Make factions seem cold, make cybernetics seem warm
Factions are a cold, faceless entity driven by systems intent on harming marginalized folx by design. Cybernetics and tech are the things that connect people and communities, tools that allow them to do and feel good. Try to keep this dichotomy in play. Tech is never evil, just misused. Factions are never good, always causing harm.
Keep threats personal
The Factions are always directly threatening the PCs, their friends, their communities, their work, or their space. It’s not an abstract concept that the Factions are harmful. They are personally harming the PCs.
The factions are always waiting
Allow play to unfold as the characters live their lives. Create scenes that are everyday situations these cyberpunk characters would find themselves in as they go about their work, their recreation, their relationships, and their activism. Bring the Factions in when there is a lull in these activities, a failed roll, or to create additional interest in every scene. The threat is ever present, and every scene should feel the impact of some action that a Faction is taking against the PCs. The Factions never relent or take vacations, they are always ready and waiting in the shadows.
Give them hope, beauty, and love
It’s hard to live a cyberpunk life of activism and fighting against Factions. Amidst this hard life there is also beauty, love, and hope. This good life is what the characters are fighting for, it’s the thing they’re protecting and what they want to preserve against the actions that the Factions are taking.
These are the GM’s Hard Moves. These are a series of actions the GM can take when PCs roll a 6 or under. They can also just generally be inspiration and things the GM can do whenever they desire. Do not feel limited or overwhelmed by this list.
Expose the characters (or people they care about) to Factions
The Factions are always watching, so the moment a character fucks up the Faction is there, ready to swoop in. This move exposes the characters explicitly to the Factions. They become more visible to Factions, or the Factions learn something about them they’d prefer they didn’t.
Escalate
Someone is threatening? Have them pull a weapon. Something bad just happened? It just got worse. Escalate whatever was just happening to the next worse or scarier thing.
Make them go to a resource they don’t want to
Sometimes a favor is needed from someone who isn’t the best person. It could be another enemy Faction, an ex they’d rather not talk to, or a dangerous criminal enterprise, but whatever it is, the character definitely doesn’t want to ask them in particular.
A faction moves against them
A Faction makes a direct move against the character. This could be in the form of sending lackies, security, back hacking, sending legal notices, hurting a friend or family member of theirs, or arresting them.
Someone has bad news
Could be the person standing next to them, or someone they care about who sends them a message, but they’ve got some bad news and they need to talk about it. It might directly affect the character, or it might just be something shitty someone is going through. It might be bad news directly for the character who failed the roll, too.
Someone from their past needs something from them
People from the past have a way of showing up. Someone needs money, a favor, reassurance, a place to stay, or some other thing that puts pressure on the character to do this work for them. It’s another thing they suddenly need to take care of, in addition to their growing responsibilities. This person might be a burden, or helpless, or toxic in some way that drags on the character too.
Vectors of Oppression
Highlight one of the character’s marginalized identities by doing one of the following: NPCs direct micro-aggressions at them, the have an issue with access, how they’ve been targeted by someone with more privilege, or someone just being an outright racist/sexist/ableist/homophobic/transphobic/classist asshole. Be sure to check in with the player and yourself after using this move! There can be bleed.
They go into Glitched
Whatever just happened to them was jarring enough to push them into Glitched. Use this when there needs to be more more character driven action, when emotions are heightened and vulnerable, or just to spice up a conflict.
Give them a Condition
Whatever just happened had enough of an impact to last more than a scene or two. Conditions are a little more permanent than those troublesome temporary feelings. Consider the impact of the situation and assign Conditions as they fit.
Add a dot to a Faction
Whatever the character just did gave one of the Factions in play an edge up. Instead of cutting their power back, they boosted it up one point. Add a dot back to a Faction, whichever one seems most appropriate, or add an additional dot to a Faction that hasn’t lost any yet.
They need more money
Whatever the character is trying to do involves more money than they currently have. They need to get it before they can proceed. It could be in credits, doing a quick job they’d rather not do, or some series of favors that gets them what they need.
Threaten their living situation
The character’s homes are always a semi-permanent and vulnerable solution to a safe living space. The Factions have the power to disrupt this space at any time, usually with a combination of power, money, and bureaucracy. Threaten to kick the characters out of their apartment, tear down their warehouse, or raise the rent higher than they can afford.
Start legal action
The characters have all done something illegal, or close enough to illegal, to get some kind of ticket, fine, or court order. Send them a notice legal action has been started on them.
They get arrested
The cops are always watching, and if they aren’t, someone’s watching that can alert the cops. The characters get arrested and thrown in jail for the night, after which legal action may or may not follow (court hearing, fines, legal fees).
A harmful rumor is started on media about them
Nothing can ruin a reputation more than some bad press. The media has found something true about a character and twisted it to be harmful and false. Now this story is everywhere, traditional media, social media, news media. People are responding to it.
The Cyberpunk world of SYNC comes to life when things are complex. When programming systems mirror social systems as webs of interconnected concepts. The workshops help players to do these things, but remember to keep it present in the mind when running the game as well. Complexity to people, places, objects, intentions, and feelings make them feel real. Life is complicated in a cyberpunk world. Nothing is ever black and white easy to understand binaries.
Add details that don’t matter, but convey the feeling of a lived world
While all players (including the GM) collaborate on the creation of Factions in play, the GM is responsible for the care and maintaining of Factions. NPCs are almost all created by the GM, but the players can definitely create them whenever they like as well. Some NPCs will be intuitive at character creation, but others will spontaneously appear in play, or be associated with Factions while not necessarily being a face for a faction. This section deals with the maintenance of Factions and NPCs.
Factions exist on the Faction sheet and they have dots associated with them, but what they’re doing and how they’re doing it is largely up to the GM. Factions take actions that the GM decides based on the fiction of a Hard Move, but here are some more concrete threats that Factions can bring to bear.
Threats
Technology
Theft
Invoking the Law
Conformity
Destruction
System Manipulation
There’s a list of NPC moves that are inspiration for what NPCs could do in a session of SYNC. These NPCs could be allies, enemies, strangers, or dear friends. When unsure what an NPC should do or what their motivations are, consider one of these moves.
Check out the NPC sheet For the first session, establish some NPCs that the characters care about Ask the players: who do you see this morning? Who’s left you messages? Who do you owe money? Who haven’t you seen in a week? Who do you wake up next to?
A few ideas to get started... what could your NPCs want from the PCs? - a friend asks for help - an enemy threatens a PC - someone shows up from one of the PC’s past - a PC’s connection has a project/job/lead for them - an NPC is witness or victim to some local oppression
Look at the three established Factions you have. Create one NPC for each. See which PCs they intersect with Pay attention to the themes Create NPCs that create problems for the intersecting PCs PC NPC PC triangles Figure out their agenda
NPC Behaviors
Threat Behaviors
| Neutral Behaviors
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This is a pre-generated quickstart for a convention, one night play, or campaign if you don’t want to create your own city and scenario. It’s great to use for the playtest as well.
In near future Miami, too many hurricanes have begun flooding parts of the interior, making certain parts of the city underwater, and transforming some old roadways into waterways. The city’s culture is still predominantly Hispanic and Latino, and the Spanish colonial history continues to have a great influence over contemporary race and class issues.
City and Neighborhood creation in SYNC is collaborative. The GM can read the setting description, and then go through all of the prompts in the setting sheet. The intention behind collaborative setting creation is making players and GM all feel like they have a hand in the creation. Going through this process together makes it feel like you’ve all created it together, and it feels more personal when different settings come up.
These lists are meant as inspiration, and are particular to a Miami setting. If you’re playing the game in a different setting, you’d build different lists to reflect the future setting of that city.
> Refer to the Neo Miami sheet in the Handouts.
> Pick two things as a group from each list on the Neo Miami sheet. (If you’re very short for time or would prefer to do pre-game worldbuilding, the GM can pick these ahead of time, and then players can define one Location each in their neighborhood).
Use this for the Neo Miami playbook in the handouts. When creating NPCs and need inspiration, or want a random roll.
GENDER (pick one, no rolls)
she/her, he/him, they/them, ze/hir, xe/xem
RACE (pick 1 or 2, no rolls)
Hispanic or Latino (Cuban, Nicaraguan, Honduran, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Columbian, Venezuelan, Peruvian, Argentinean, Ecuadorian, Spaniard)
Black (Haitian, Jamaican, Bahamian, British West Indian, Trinidadian, Black Hispanic)
Asian (Indian, Chinese, Filipino)
White (German, Italian, Irish, English, French, Russian, Polish)
PERSONALITY (roll 2)
2 - angery & abrasive
3 - chill vibes
4 - analytical
5 - sensitive
6 - aggressive
7 - craves attention
8 - action before words
9 - social butterfly
10 - anxious
11 - cozy
12 - emo
STYLE (roll 1 predominant, then roll 2-3 within that style to discover what they’re wearing)
2 Witchy 2 - lots of silver jewelry thai influence 3 - long flowy black transparent fabrics 4 - implanted chrome fangs 5 - digi-tarot display gadget 6 - big black boots 7 - evil tattoos 8 - strict v shaped bangs 9 - fishnet 10 - dark makeup 11 - big round black hat 12 - black nails | 3 Punk 2 - spiky hair 3 - mismatched bright patterns 4 - spike studs and patches 5 - fishnet 6 - tattered outdated fabrics 7 - many piercings 8 - shaved head 9 - bomber jacket 10 - sharp edged things 11 - switchblade 12 - cigarettes | 4 Aquatic 2 - ocean colors 3 - headphones 4 - surf suit 5 - hydro board 6 - shorts 7 - fin attachments 8 - go pro drone 9 - weed 10 - shaved sides 11 - blue lipstick 12 - sun bleached hair | 5 Genderqueer 2 - both masc and femme styled 3 - flower print short sleeve button up 4 - white sneaks 5 - pastels 6 - abstract eye makeup 7 - cute backpack 8 - hydrobike 9 - digibuttons 10 - radical haircut with shaved in patterns 11 - dangly earrings 12 - pink |
6 Street 2 - big brand sneaks 3 - oversized striped jacket 4 - urban digi camo 5 - outrageous pattern matching shirt and pants 6 - cuban hat 7 - chrome grill 8 - white tank top 9 - neck tattoos 10 - sweats 11 - logo fonts on clothes 12 - button down flower print | 7 Sport chic 2 - slick sunglasses 3 - partially visible boxer briefs 4 - expensive skintight stretchwear 5 - health goth 6 - tracksuit parts 7 - neon windbreaker 8 - hover board 9 - two braids 10 - streamlined stripe bodysuit 11 - neon sneakers 12 - headphones | 8 Klean 2 - all white linen 3 - sandals 4 - perfect tan 5 - sculpted bod 6 - manicure 7 - gold jewelry chains 8 - designer sunglasses 9 - conservative bikini 10 - batik 11 - bamboo tech 12 - wearable solar panels | 9 HD (highdef) 2 - hoop earrings 3 - synthetic tight fabrics 4 - diamonds 5 - camera 6 - knockoff fashion brands 7 - saturated colors 8 - cute accessories 9 - fake hair 10 - hologram fabrics 11 - perfect makeup 12 - designer purse |
10 Retro plastic 2 - neon plastic transparent jacket 3 - bright latex 4 - fake fur 5 - giant heels 6 - bright rimmed smart glasses 7 - long claw nails 8 - shiny lipstick 9 - leopard print 10 - long eyelashes 11 - plastic watches 12 - barretts | 11 Beach skin 2 - skimpy strappy top 3 - bikini 4 - sun shields 5 - athletic bod 6 - energy efficient loungewear 7 - cool sunglasses 8 - flowy transparent swimwear cover 9 - nude (only on beach) 10 - shiny things that reflect light 11 - backpack with unfolding chairs, microfiber towels 12 - drink in hand | 12 Modern Mods 2 - fake leather jacket 3 - urban primitive body mods 4 - a limb is plastic 5 - digi tats 6 - eyes with vid projectors 7 - hair color extensions 8 - sculpted face 9 - androgynous body mods 10 - furry mods 11 - chrome horns 12 - extreme eye dye |