Introduction

This is a game about hot-blooded and highly-trained agents. You take on the role of these people, imagining you are caught in the web of a mind game from which there is little chance of escape. It takes place in the world of tomorrow, where data is just as important as cash, and people have left the ruined earth for the stars.

Karbons are on the loose, superhuman creations that look like us and are extremely dangerous. You will play the role of an agent within a secret organization know as the program hunting these things down. The catch is they have infiltrated your organization, and your agent could be a Karbon themselves. As the lies compound, how will you be able to discern the truth?

Navigation

Wiki Links

- Setting

Terminology Database: A growing database of terms that define the world of 2212, in which Karbon takes place (or around then).

The World of Tomorrow: A look into the world in which Karbon is set. While the world is meant to be player defined, this gives you a brush to paint your future with as you play Karbon.

- Agents

The Whitelist: The Whitelist, a database of stock gear for Agents in Karbon.

Agent Concepts: A set of stock 'concept' Agents that only need some finishing touches, nearly ready to play.

Agent Options: The options available for Agents, each of these cost 2 Agent points or an advancement.

- Play

Basic Rules: The basic rules of play.

Suggestions: Suggestions on how to play the game well.

Play Tests: Play test pages for Karbon.

External Links

Datacenter: Downloads for the game, mostly reference PDFs.

Karbon Website: Website for the End of the World edition of this game.

About Karbon

History

This is the wiki of knowledge about the Karbon RPG, now in a third edition known as the End of the World edition. Karbon was initially created by Jason Petrasko as part of a 24 RPG design contest. It was then a simple idea: take the concept of the movie Blade Runner, add on some super-tech science fiction awesome from Ghost in the Shell, and lets play that. However the 24 hour version wasn't too nifty, being just a bit of a hack on cinematic Unisystem. It later underwent a rewrite, but that version still did not meet the expectations of the designer. This is the third version of Karbon, and with many more years of gaming knowledge and insight, the designer hopes this edition will finally meet his expectations. As they say, the third time is the charm, and while its become quite a complicated game, the designer is hopeful.

Themes

While the structure of Karbon is meant to explore the mysteries and lies that run rampant in a future where people sometimes don't know who they are and those in power abuse this, there are a couple questions at the very core of the game: What is human? and What is truth? No rules of the game directly address either question, but the game is designed to create situations where the players are confronted by them. Both of these questions have no valid correct answer, so in essence the players get to bring their opinions to the table while they play and explore the questions as like wish.

Tone

As the stories unfold that the players create inside the game there is naturally quite a variance of tone. However the game encourages a certain tone for play through structure and reward. A great many scenes in the game are driven by a frantic, high-paced, high-tension, search for answers. If there is a default tone to play, this is it. Danger always lurks around the corner, and sometimes ignorance is bliss. This also means scenes that lack that tone get to be highlights, standing out because they change the pace.

Sources

As mentioned above in History, Karbon draws heavily from two sources of inspiration: Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell. I'd just like to point out a few web links here of things you may or may not have seen about them, considering you are any kind of fan.

Video of Rutger Hauer: This Youtube video is a short response video of a Youtube user's review of Blade Runner Final Cut. He has some interesting things to say about the movie, himself, and his character Roy.

Blade Runner's Opening Scene: This Youtube video is the impressive opening for Blade Runner, though not in all that good quality. It impresses me how powerful it is, even without quality in video and audio.

Tachikoma Tribute Music Video: This Youtube video is a tribute to the Tachikoma of Ghost in the Shell, evolved AI Think-tanks that may or may not have developed a Ghost. Choppy audio, but good overall. The question of how human the Tachikoma are runs throughout the Stand Alone Complex show.

I Do with Lyrics:

Living within the Shell: On of the parts of Ghost in the Shell I find amazing is the music by Yoko Kanno, its just stunning. However sometimes its easy to overlook just how wonderful the lyrics of the music are, and how they express themes of the characters and drama. This is made harder because a lot of the music is in Italian, Russian, and Japanese, but its worth your time to discover the lyrics. These are two picks of mine from the vast amount of music, both from 2nd Gig (The second season of Stand Alone Complex).