At present, very little is known about what CD Projekt Red is planning for the story of Cyberpunk 2077. A lead writer said that “Freedom and Identity” would be core themes, and it’s known that players will be able to customize the protagonist a great deal. However, almost nothing is known about what the game’s storyline will be, or how it will be structured. Speaking in a recent interview, the creator of the Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop RPG; who has been involved with CD Projekt Red for some time, described the Cyberpunk 2077 action and consequence system.

The Cyberpunk 2077 Action and Consequence System

Mike Pondsmith, the creator of Cyberpunk 2020, the 1980s RPG on which Cyberpunk 2077 is based, was recently interviewed on YouTube by LastKnownMeal. Pondsmith explained that the upcoming game takes a lot of inspiration from the tabletop RPG when it comes to consequences.

“One of the binding philosophies of the game is that your actions have consequences,” he stated; “and that also goes back to the original sources in the tabletop game. In the tabletop game, there is no system for karma; good things and so forth. But you can pretty much guess that if you blow away some guy in a gang, his gang’s going to remember, and they’re going to find you. That is realistic, that is the way things really go.”

That would certainly fit with his comments supporting the shift to a first-person perspective. When Pondsmith commented on that topic, he pointed to an example of players not seeing encounters coming. If players in Cyberpunk 2077 can earn the ire of gangs by killing their members, and be sought out by gang members out for revenge; that might be a major reason why CD Projekt Red wouldn’t give players the wider field of vision that comes with a third-person perspective.

Pondsmith’s Comments on “Karma”

“Sometimes karma isn’t really meted out in a nice, neat, ‘dark side, light side’ way,” explained Pondsmith; “sometimes it comes and bites you in the butt in ways you never expected. We were kidding the other day in the office about that moment when you’re driving on the freeway, and somebody cuts you off, and you flip them off, and then you go into the back, and there’s the guy you flipped off behind the counter! This sort of stuff happens.”

It makes sense that CD Projekt Red wouldn’t use a black-and-white karma system; of the sort that featured in older Mass Effect titles. The Witcher often operated in morally grey, or at least neutral areas. Players were rarely asked to commit to a consistently good or bad approach to things.

“Karma is not a black and white thing.” continued Pondsmith; “But your actions do have consequences. In the original trailer, I loved the fact that the music piece they picked was called ‘Personal Responsibility,’ because it sort of said everything right there.”