In September 2022 we presented Psi-punk, the psionic-cyberpunk SFRPG by Jacob Wood from Accessible Games. Based on the Fudge universal system, Psi-punk takes you to the North American Union of 2096, where ghosts, psiborgs, technomancers, and soul jackers walk among us. To compete, you’ll build your ideal body, implant a few high-tech devices, sign up with a megacorp or government, and discover what it means to be more than human.
This new Quick Deal tied in to Everyone Games, an online event (30 Sept – 01 Oct 2022) that promotes accessibility options for partially-sighted, blind, and otherwise disabled gamers. Psi-punk designer Jacob Wood, who has been partially blind since his mid-teens, helps coordinate Everyone Games. “Games are for absolutely everyone,” says Jacob. “Not every game is designed for every person, but I believe every person should have the opportunity to find a game.” Check the Everyone Games YouTube channel and Twitch channel.
Psi-punk takes an unusual approach to both cyberpunk and the Fudge rules. Using the power of electrokinesis, psionic characters can mentally “psi-jack” (hack) computers and control electronic devices – and with mind control, they can “soul jack” humans the same way. Cyberspace has a psionic counterpart, the Astral Plane, and characters can literally project their soul into it. Intrusion countermeasures on the Astral might involve actual spirits.
But Psi-punk player characters need not actually have psionic abilites. Psycho-technical devices that replicate these powers are called “magic.” Your PC can spend two Gift slots (inherent advantages) to acquire a psionic ability, but you can more easily just buy magic gear using your Wealth. Psi-punk doesn’t expect you to be a superhuman; the game fully supports playing as a mundane citizen, surrounded and perhaps insecure, but ready to master the tools they need to compete.
We presented the Psi-punk core rulebook in the February 2015 IGDN Bundle and again in the September 2020 Fudge Bundle. This new Psi-punk Quick Deal presented the entire line as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including the complete Psi-punk corebook; the supplements Corps and Criminals and World’s Edge Arena; and four player character Archetypes: Brenner, Changeling, Opportunist, and Promoter.
Fudge-based RPGs use Fudge Dice, available from Evil Hat Productions (as “Fate Dice”), at hobby gaming stores, or from Amazon (affiliate link).
