Son of Oak Game Studio has launched its Kickstarter campaign for its new tag-based cyberpunk roleplaying game. “:Otherscape” immerses players in a dystopian future infused with not only cutting-edge tech but also mythological spirits and supernatural powers. Players assume the roles of mercenaries who hunt and employ legendary relics and esoteric knowledge as part of the geopolitical war of corporations, governments, and crime syndicates, while pursuing their own personal “horizon”. The creators cite Japanese cyberpunk masterpieces Ghost In The Shell and Akira as the main inspirations for the game’s art, mood, and themes. The Kickstarter campaign will facilitate the creation of the game’s corebook, Metro:Otherscape, and the first urban setting book, Tokyo:Otherscape.
In:Otherscape, you play a crew of specially-trained mercenaries, operating as freelance, masterless ronins or working (initially) for a megacorp, crime syndicate, or government agency. Like everyone in your field, you seek, obtain, and employ items, places, and knowledge that give you vital, albeit tentative, mythical abilities. Your missions range from securing a sacred shrine in ruined Megacity sectors to assassinating a rival crime syndicate’s seer. On your path are blood-thirsty Oni, ghosts that inhabit Cyberspace, and demon-powered tanks. To survive, you can call upon the ancient Kami that gave you their blessing, perforate the Yokai guarding the defiled temple with runic rounds, or just trust your gut feeling and double-cross your operator before they do you in.
Both setting and gameplay in :Otherscape build on Son of Oak’s popular flagship game, City of Mist, a modern fantasy noir RPG. The engine uniquely runs on tags instead of stats, promising players greater creative freedom in character creation, power set evolution, and cinematic action without sacrificing tactical depth. Another hallmark of the City of Mist engine migrating to :Otherscape is its characters replacing power sets at dramatic turning points in their story arc, sacrificing some aspects in favor of others while propelling the narrative. Son of Oak will however be streamlining the engine and adapting it to this adventuring game, under the title “CoM:Reloaded”.
The game is designed by Amit Moshe and Son of Oak Game Studio. The award-winning team will collaborate once more with manga artist Isako Fukuda as well as other exceptional artists. The team was acclaimed for its successful delivery of deeply immersive and visual narrative RPGs.
Backers of this project will be lavished with jaw-dropping content and accessories, including the Tokyo:Otherscape Box Set with both the Metro corebook and the Tokyo setting book as well as five pre-gen character folios (based on the ENnie-award winning design for 2021). The creators unlocked additional physical components to the box set as the campaign blasted past its funding goal within its first 38 minutes: custom dice and tracking cards have already been added, with a GM screen set to be unlocked next. Backers will also be the first to have early access to the :Otherscape Codex App, which aims to deliver a new tabletop RPG book experience with videos, sound bites, and concept-based navigation rather than linear reading.
“The universe of :Otherscape is exciting and unique in its melding of tech and myth, but the :Otherscape game system and content are not limited to it. You can use the :Otherscape system as well as much of its content with your favorite cyberpunk settings, whether they include magic or not. There is no need to adapt any rules — you can just pick and choose which abilities are relevant to your setting of choice,” said the developers.
To back this project, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sonofoak/tokyo-otherworld-a-mythic-cyberpunk-rpg
