Nicholas King
Bio
I'm a graduate of the University of South Florida's Creative Writing program. Currently, I reside in Florida, where I've spent the majority of life. In my spare time, I write fiction and poetry.
Stories (43/0)
The Doc Will Patch You Up
Every game system I’ve encountered over the years has some kind of healer class and Cyberpunk Red is no exception. However, the Medtech Role takes things further, not only preserving the lives of their party members but can also serve as surgeons and ripperdocs (doctors that specialize in cyberware). In the Dark Future of this setting, just being the local Doctor isn’t all its cracked up to be, since Medtechs tend to find themselves in the middle of a firefight more often than not.
By Nicholas Kingabout a year ago in Gamers
The Machines Speak to Me
It wouldn’t be a science-fiction setting without someone who works with the machines that make every day life possible or even bearable. This is where the Tech Role from Cyberpunk Red (Amazon affiliate link) comes into play. Mechanics and inventors, Techs can serve as excellent background NPCs (non-player characters) that a Gamemaster can bring in as needed. But if you have one in the game group, your party of players has the potential to overcome any number of issues that can be thrown at them during the course of a session.
By Nicholas Kingabout a year ago in Gamers
Return to Middle-Earth
When I was six or seven years old, my mother handed me a worn paperback copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (affiliate link). After devouring the adventure of Bilbo Baggins and the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain, I asked if there was another book from that author. My mother, proud that she had piqued my interest in something, handed me The Lord of the Rings (affiliate link), which for a seven-year-old is difficult reading. Over the years, I’ve revisited Middle-Earth many times, both through the books and the Peter Jackson films (not so much The Hobbit trilogy, though).
By Nicholas Kingabout a year ago in Geeks
The Cyberspace Samurai
Of all the Roles available in R. Talsorian Games Cyberpunk Red, the Netrunner is perhaps the most unique archetype. Pulling from sources as disparate as Neuromancer by William Gibson to The Matrix by the Wachowskis, Netrunners are the hackers of the Dark Future, the only ones who can connect their brains directly to digital cyberspace and interact with the various simulacrum that exist in that space. And the Net in the Time of the Red isn’t a nice, safe playground anymore.
By Nicholas Kingabout a year ago in Gamers
Wetwork in the Dark Future
In any gaming group, there needs to be at least one, maybe even two, characters that are there to get their hands dirty. The character that thinks Violence is the question and Yes is the answer. In the dark future laid out in Cyberpunk Red, the Solo fits that build. Cyber-augmented soldiers, mercenaries, killers-for-hire…all of the above qualify as a Solo within the urban decay and random violence of the Cyberpunk setting by R. Talsorian Games.
By Nicholas Kingabout a year ago in Gamers
Damn the Man! Save the Empire!
If there is any Role within the Cyberpunk Red game system that epitomizes the “punk” ethos that the genre was born out of, it’s the Rockerboy. One-part artist, two-parts kerosene, and three-parts anarchist, Rockerboys (the term is used regardless of gender identity, although Rockergirl or Rocker would definitely fit a player’s preference) are the beating heart of the underground in the game’s setting. In the dystopian future where the wounded mega-corps still hold a ridiculous amount of sway, the Rockerboy is there is thumb their nose and light a few fires along the way.
By Nicholas Kingabout a year ago in Gamers
The Dark Future of R. Talsorian Games "Cyberpunk"
I’m a fan of alternate history stories. The main reason I like them is that they are a classic case of Socratic questioning: Suppose _____ is true, what happens next? Role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer Fantasy, and others that are more based in medieval European-style settings don’t have to worry about this to a large degree. But game systems like Cyberpunk do, which lends an element of creative storytelling that fills in the gaps for a Gamemaster to use for crafting their own stories set in this world. The alternate history crafted for R. Talsorian Games’ Cyberpunk series is one of the better ones I’ve come across, adding depth to a futuristic setting and explaining how the Dark Future available for Gamemasters and players makes a certain amount of sense.
By Nicholas Kingabout a year ago in Gamers