Inspired by anime like Bubblegum Crisis and Cowboy Bebop, Hard Wired Island is a retrofuture post-cyberpunk RPG set in an alternate 2020 in Grand Cross, an O'Neill cylinder orbiting Earth. Each player character is part of a community, anything from a neighborhood watch or a rock band to large organizations and broad movements. If the Offworld Cartel gets their way, Grand Cross as you know it will end. But if you fight, you might be able to save it.
The easy-to-learn Hard Wired Island system uses six-sided dice. There are rules and unique actions for Social situations, Stealth, Hacking, and Conflict. Each character has one or more Occupations, which define how your character solves problems: the Fixer, the Hacker, the Influencer, the Operator, the Soldier, the Street Fighter, and the Thief. Each has its own unique abilities. Social actions and problem-solving skills are at least as important as hacking and getting into fights. Before missions, characters create a pool of points called Prep that can be spent later on items, flashbacks, and other bonuses. This flexible system lets characters adapt and change their plans on the fly without wasting their earlier efforts. During play you can call on a Community of side characters, or make a little extra cash with a Gig Work App.
Instead of wealth, characters track their Burden, which represents how comfortably they live on Grand Cross. Between missions, characters can suffer an Economic Shock that affects how well they perform; higher Burdens risk more frequent Shocks. Cyberware implants don't make you less human or prone to mental illness; instead, augments add to your financial burdens.
Learn more at the May 2019 Kickstarter campaign page. Talen Lee YouTube review (May 2021).
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