Cyberion: A Certain Kind of Cyberpunk

Cyberion from Zozer Games, by Paul Elliott, 91 Pages, available on DriveThruRPG.com

My good friend Benjamin Wright once described the idea of cyberpunk in the 21^st century as "an obsolete future." I've never heard a better characterization of what we used to write in the '90s. For those unfamiliar with my background, I wrote a fair bit about cyberpunk roleplaying games during that decade, and I'm told I was reasonably good at it. So when I came across Cyberion— a supplement for Hostile, built on the Cepheus Engine science fiction rules from Zozer Games — my interest was piqued.

For the uninitiated, Cepheus Engine is the open game license version of Traveller — or at least its core mechanics. Since its inception, Cepheus Engine has grown considerably, branching across genres and ideas from many publishers while anchored to the foundational ruleset of the classic science fiction role-playing game. Hostile zeroes in on the science fiction of the 1970s as later portrayed on screens in the '80s and '90s — think Outland, the Alien films, Soldier, and later Pitch Black. It's a gritty, industrial aesthetic, the antithesis of the gleaming stainless-steel spaceships of the '50s and '60s. The Hostile line has since expanded its setting to include Zaibatsu, and now Cyberion.

The title refers to its principal antagonist: an artificial intelligence. Cyberion is one of six machine intelligences spread across the Earth that are, in many ways, beginning to steer human society. The core conflict is that these intelligences are now acting on their own agendas — agendas that sometimes appear to run counter to the intentions of their creators.

The setting's inspirations are transparent. Just as Outland and Alien shaped Hostile, so too do Total Recall, Blade Runner, Neuromancer, and others leave their marks all over Cyberion. The art and visual design lean hard into this aesthetic — the cyberdecks and memory-editing units feel instantly familiar and very much of that time. There are also some genuinely fresh ideas layered into the setting. Precrime, for instance, is managed by Cyberion itself, the very AI that serves as the supplement's central antagonist and namesake.

One of the most entertaining bits of business in Cyberion is the inclusion of The Armory as the fortified HQ of the San Francisco PD. The colorful history of that building in particular has been well documented and I could not help but chuckle and raise an eyebrow at this probably intentional choice. Not to put too fine a point on it, people being handcuffed at the Armory is nothing new.

It's worth noting that this is a supplement, not a standalone RPG. Hostile is required for play, and the character templates here are modifications of existing Hostile templates rather than entirely new constructions. I would have appreciated more specific ideas tailored to classic cyberpunk archetypes. That said, the setting holds real promise and offers several ideas that feel genuinely novel.

For most of its life as a distinct sub-genre, cyberpunk was overly fixated on Japanese zaibatsu concepts and fashion aesthetics. Cyberion widens the lens by bringing Chinese antagonists and cultural elements into the mix. There are other interesting touches as well: Deadfall has replaced football — a Rollerball-inspired sport complete with motorcycles and a generous helping of violence. Since cell phones and Bluetooth are explicitly absent from the setting, all technology is hardwired into the Net, giving the world a distinctly “tethered” character that fits the era of its inspirations perfectly.

As mentioned, there is a version of Rollerball called Deadball. There is memory editing technology, like Total Recall. There are flying cars like the spinners in Blade Runner and the AV-4s from Cyberpunk 2020. These ideas are evocative and important, but combining all of these in one place doesn’t necessarily bring the story into relief. There’s a lot of setting material provided, and it’s interesting, but there’s not really a series or campaign here that’s delineated in any meaningful way.

I would have liked to see a setting-specific equipment list. A series of adventures with specific plot points. More specific character generation, and more fleshed-out NPCs. I think all of those things would have made this product better. It’s still good and interesting as setting material, and a group could still make a good game of it, but it’s not as straightforward or polished as maybe it could be.

Is Cyberion a worthy purchase? If you're a GM who's interested in running a campaign or series in this setting, I think it provides some great ideas and definite 90s cyberpunk flair. As a player, I don't see it as a worthwhile buy – as a matter of fact, reading it might spoil some elements of the game.

For a GM $8.99 is a fair price, and I am interested to see more of this vision of Earth from Zozer and Paul Elliott.