2006 Origins Awards Hall of Fame 1994 Origins Awards Best Roleplaying Rules for Castle Falkenstein
Michael Alyn Pondsmith is an American roleplaying, board, and video game designer. He is best known for founding the publisher R. Talsorian Games in 1982, where he developed a majority of the company's role-playing game lines.[2] Pondsmith is the author of several RPG lines, including Mekton (1984), Cyberpunk (1988) and Castle Falkenstein (1994). He also contributed to the Forgotten Realms and Oriental Adventures lines of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, worked in various capacities on video games, and authored or co-created several board games. Pondsmith also worked as an instructor at the DigiPen Institute of Technology.[3]
Born into a military family, Mike Pondsmith was the son of a psychologist and an Air Force officer,[4] who traveled around the world with the U.S. Air Force for the first 18 years of his life.[5] He graduated from the University of California, Davis with a B.A. in graphic design and a B.S. in behavioral psychology.[3][6]:207
Pondsmith recalls that he had been designing games even as a child, but it was not until college that he was introduced to the idea of pen and paper roleplaying games when a friend got a copy of the original Dungeons & Dragons(D&D). Having a lot of naval wargaming experience, he became interested in the gameplay mechanics used by D&D but not in the fantasy setting it presented.[7][8] His interest spiked, however, when he acquired a copy of Traveller, a science fiction role-playing game published in 1977 by Game Designers' Workshop. Dissatisfied with its mechanics, Pondsmith rewrote the game for his personal use under the name Imperial Star.[9] Pondsmith later called Traveller the best roleplaying game he had encountered in the Green Ronin's award-winning Hobby Games: The 100 Best.[10][11]
Early career
Before he became a pen and paper game designer, Pondsmith worked in the video game industry as a graphic designer. His first job after college involved designing packaging and advertising materials for the now-defunct California Pacific Computer Company (CPCC). Repackaging Japanese games for the Western world market was the main focus of CPCC in its early days. He later moved on to create designs for the original titles produced by Bill Budge and for the early Ultima games designed by Richard Garriott, all of which were published by CPCC.[7] Pondsmith's job at CPCC ended because of problems the owner encountered, and he started managing a typesetting house at the University of California, Santa Cruz.[6]:207 Pondsmith got his start in amateur game design in the early 1980s, designing a game for himself called Imperial Star as a result of trying to improve the combat system of Traveller.[6]:207
According to Pondsmith, there was not much to do in the area of video game design in the early 1980s due largely to the constraints of available technology. Most of the games released by CPCC were for Apple II machines. However, he was familiar with pen and paper games, which he played at the time, and became interested in paper game design. Thanks to his side-job in typesetting, he had access to very modern (for the time) computers with advanced software used in book and magazine layout. Taking advantage of this access, he wrote a game called Mekton, a mecha game based on Japanese manga books he had stumbled upon in the past. Due to the interest his work on paper games generated, game design consumed his graphic design career (although he continued designing and laying out most of the R. Talsorian Games' books).[7][12]
Early role-playing games
The first game Pondsmith designed from the ground up was Mekton, a mecha game with heavy manga and anime influences, released in 1984. Pondsmith admitted that he was mostly basing his work on the Mobile Suit Gundam manga written in Japanese, which he had acquired. Not understanding the text, he inaccurately recreated the world dynamics purely from the imagery of the comic books. The game's first public testing occurred at a local convention.[7] The initial public release of Mekton focused on its battle mechanics with no roleplaying elements at all; this made it a pure tactical war-game.[13] The success of Mekton proved to Pondsmith that he could make a living out of game design, and he founded the company R. Talsorian Games (RTG) in 1985.[6]:207–208 In 1986, Mekton was re-released as a proper roleplaying game with Pondsmith and Mike Jones credited as authors.[14] In 1987, RTG released another of Pondsmith's games inspired by Japanese manga, Teenagers from Outer Space, (RPGA Gamer's Choice Award).[6]:208 In 1987, Pondsmith released Mekton II, a new edition of the system, featuring mechanics based on the Interlock System, later used with slight modifications in the Cyberpunk line.[15]Teenagers from Outer Space was re-released with significant changes to the mechanics in 1989. Games such as Cyberpunk (later Cyberpunk 2020) and Cyberpunk V3 were translated into 9 languages. Castle Falkenstein (Best Game of 1994), Cybergeneration, and Dream Park soon followed. He also collaborated with the Hero Games designers on the Fuzion system.
In 1988 R. Talsorian Games released Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk The Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future. Set in the year 2013 (and often referred to as Cyberpunk 2013), the game was a boxed product consisting of three separate books penned by Pondsmith, with Mike Blum, Colin Fisk, Dave Friedland, Will Moss and Scott Ruggels as co-authors. Several expansions by Pondsmith and other authors followed and Pondsmith released Cyberpunk 2020, a handbook with an updated story arc and mechanics, (although existing expansions remained compatible with the new game) in 1990.
Pondsmith designed Cyberpunk 2013 as the second game to use the Interlock system.[6]:208 Pondsmith attributes creation of Cyberpunk to his interest in the genre sparked primarily by Ridley Scott's Blade Runner released in 1982. The motivation behind the Cyberpunk roleplaying game was his desire to recreate the technology and dark, film noir style of the movie. Cyberpunk is the most expansive line of products in the RTG library with forty-four sourcebooks containing over 4,700 pages. The game has had an estimated 5 million players to date.[7][16]
In 1993, again under the RTG banner, Pondsmith released an alternate timeline for the Cyberpunk line. The sourcebook titled Cybergeneration was further enhanced by additional expansions and a second edition was released in 1995, that built further upon existing, explored themes. A license for the line was later acquired by Jonathan Lavallee, owner of Firestorm Ink, founded specifically to continue RTG's CyberGeneration product line in 2003.[17][18]
In 1996, Wizards of the Coast licensed Cyberpunk for their collectible card game Netrunner. Designed by Richard Garfield, Netrunner featured locations, entities, and characters familiar to Cyberpunk 2020 players.[19] The game was named one of The Millennium's Most Underrated Games in 1999 in Pyramid magazine published by the Steve Jackson Games. Mike Pondsmith is featured in the game's credits in the 'special thanks' section and makes a cameo appearance as "Omni Kismet, Ph.D." (character's name is an anagram of his).[20] On May 10, 2012, Fantasy Flight Games announced that they would be releasing Android: Netrunner, a new card game based on Netrunner, under license from Wizards of the Coast.[21] Another short-lived card game based on Pondsmith's IP was Cyberpunk CCG, designed by Peter Wacks, and published by Social Games in 2003.[22]
In 1989, West End Games released a Cyberpunk and Paranoia crossover. The game, called Alice Through the Mirrorshades, was designed by Edward Bolme and is compatible with both Cyberpunk and Paranoia games. At least two fan magazines were created around the time of Cyberpunk's peak popularity with Pondsmith's approval: Interface Magazine, which evolved from the unofficial Cyberpunk Update run by Chris Hockabout, and UK-published 'Punk '21.[23][24]
In 1994, R. Talsorian Games released Pondsmith's steampunk-themed fantasy role-playing game titled Castle Falkenstein. The game's mechanics were based on playing cards, instead of dice, and geared towards live action role-playing. Castle Falkenstein remains Pondsmith's most critically acclaimed game to date with the 1994 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules, and the 1995 Nigel D. Findley Memorial Award for Best Role-Playing Product recognitions.[25] In 2000, Castle Falkenstein was adapted to the GURPS system by James Cambias and Phil Masters, and released by Steve Jackson Games.[26]
Design contributions outside of R. Talsorian Games
After encountering challenges in the role-playing game industry, on February 15, 1998, Pondsmith announced that R. Talsorian would only operate part-time.[6]:212 Putting the major game lines on hiatus at this time meant doing the same with Hero Games products, and in September 1998, Hero Games announced their separation from R. Talsorian Games.[6]:151 Late in the year 2000, Pondsmith accepted a job offer at Microsoft to produce games for Xbox.[6]:212 As a design manager at Microsoft, he contributed to various games (mostly to the lineup of the original Xbox console's exclusive titles) released by the company's Microsoft Game Studios.[28] In MechCommander 2, released in 2001, he played the role of Steel, a character featured in cut-scenes (he also voiced the character for the in-game chatter between characters). He was also credited in Stormfront Studios' Blood Wake released in the same year. The last Microsoft title he was credited with was Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge (2003). In 2004 he left Microsoft to join Monolith Productions where he worked on The Matrix Online (2005).[8][29][30][31] During his time at Microsoft, his wife Lisa Pondsmith kept R. Talsorian in business with limited publications.[6]:212
The idea of a Matrix game was initially pitched internally at Microsoft by Pondsmith and one of his coworkers. Despite advanced talks with the Wachowskis, the film's producers, the project never came to fruition. Pitches to Shiny Entertainment did not succeed either and he later learned that a Matrix game was being worked on at Monolith. Given the opportunity to join the live team (responsible for maintaining the game and producing content post-launch) he decided to join Monolith. Pondsmith ended up doing mission design for the game under Online Creative Director and Lead Game Designer Toby Ragaini.[7]
Cyberpunk v3.0
In 2000 Pondsmith announced that he was working on the third edition of Cyberpunk. The work itself started even earlier, right after the release of the Dragon Ball Z Adventure Game in 1999; and the third edition of Cyberpunk was expected to ship soon afterwards. Initially called Cyberpunk 203X, the game was scheduled for a release in the spring of 2001.[32] The first two-page preview of the game was released on August 20, 2001, marking the first pushback of the game's release date.[33] During the prolonged development of the game, Pondsmith released another preview of the third edition of Cyberpunk on December 31, 2004.[34][35] The game's early manuscript was previewed, and the first public playtesting took place during I-Con in Ronkonkoma, New York between April 8 and 10, 2005.[32] The game was written by Pondsmith, Mike Blum, Colin Fisk, Dave Friedland, Will Moss, and Scott Ruggels and was finally released on December 13, 2005, to mixed reviews.[36]
Illustrations in the game were criticized,[37][38] for being photographs of slightly modified action figures of which Pondsmith was a collector at the time.[27] The game was successful enough, however, to justify several accessories and supplements which were announced immediately after the core book's release. This included DataPack (initially called Dossier Pak), FlashPak, Gangbook and AltCult Insider. Cyberpunk v3.0, much like its predecessors, was influenced by the classic cyberpunk books written by Neal Stephenson and William Gibson, but also incorporated ideas from new literary sources, Japanese animation, and movies. According to Pondsmith, it was designed to become a commentary on the 21st century, corporate influences on everyday life, ideologies of groups, the place of government, warfare and advancements in biotechnology.[16][36]
In addition to working at RTG, Pondsmith contributed to the Hero Games' Champions line. Working mostly as an editorial assistant on books such as Alliances for the Champions: New Millennium, he was introduced to the Hero Games' mechanics (Hero System) which he later decided to merge with the Interlock System used by most of the RTG's games up to that point. The end result of this process was the Fuzion system used by the later RTG titles, most notably the third edition of the Cyberpunk game. In the foreword to the third edition of Cyberpunk, Pondsmith justified these changes as necessary for streamlining the game, and attracting new players. But like the game itself these were met with mixed reviews.[35][36] Pondsmith holds the rights to Fuzion jointly with Steve Peterson and Ray Greer of Hero Games.[6]:150
R. Talsorian Games is a Washington-based roleplaying game publisher.[2] Founded in 1985 in California by Mike Pondsmith, it was one of the first RPG publishers to embrace desktop publishing. Currently Lisa Pondsmith, Mike Pondsmith's wife, serves as a general manager of the company,[39] with Mike Pondsmith remaining the owner, CEO and lead designer.[40] Regarding the source of the name of the company, Pondsmith has stated that "R. Talsorian is a real person who never plays RPGs".[41] In a 2016 interview he clarified that the name "R. Talsorian" derived from one of the company's investors, a "raisin farmer in Fresno."[42] A fellow game designer, Warren Spector, advised him to avoid naming his company after himself; Pondsmith and his associates heeded that advice by naming their company after "the one person who would never show up at a convention ever," Talsorian.[42]
Maximum Mike
Mike Pondsmith uses his alter-ego "Maximum Mike" across many of the Cyberpunk books. Unlike reoccurring characters like Morgan Blackhand, Johnny Silverhand or Nomad Santiago, Maximum Mike breaks the fourth wall and talks to the reader directly.[43] Pondsmith's likeness and name, however, were used directly in the Cyberpunk world under different name; he is featured as "Omni Kismet, Ph.D.", one of the characters in the Netrunner CCG (character's name is an anagram of "Mike Pondsmith").[20]
On May 30, 2012, it was confirmed that Pondsmith was working with CD Projekt Red on a video game set in the Cyberpunk universe.[16][44][45] On October 18, 2012, the game's name and settings were revealed to be Cyberpunk 2077.[46][47] Immediately afterwards, Brian Crecente was able to confirm with the game's creators that Pondsmith was also working on a new edition of Cyberpunk pen and paper RPG game that would evolve the genre.[48][49][50] In the interview for GameSpot, CD Projekt's Marcin Iwiński divulged that Pondsmith's involvement in the video game development mostly focuses on the game world aspect and mechanics and his input, though constant, does not happen on a daily basis due to the distance between the parties.[51] Video game creators as well as Mike Pondsmith and other RTG designers will contribute on the newly formed cyberpunk.net blog.[51][52][53][54]
Mike Pondsmith also voices two characters in Cyberpunk 2077, one of them being Maximum Mike the DJ of Morro Rock Radio, a continuation of his persona from the Cyberpunk sourcebooks.[55]
Personal life
Pondsmith has a wife, Lisa, and a son, Cody who both work at RTG. Although Mike and Lisa had met earlier, their relationship began around 1977 while both were still in college. They were married in February 1982.[56] Lisa serves as a general manager of RTG and has been credited in various titles, most notably as author alongside Jeff Grubb of The Memoirs of Auberon of Faerie sourcebook for the Castle Falkenstein system; and Cody is credited as a member of the production staff in the Cyberpunk V3.0 supplement Flashpak. He was also involved in the promotion and community communications relating to RTG's steampunk title Castle Falkenstein.[57] Before designing games, Mike Pondsmith worked as an amateur paleontologist. In his spare time he collects plastic GI Joe action figures, prominently featured in Cyberpunk v3.0 core rulebook, and enjoys outdoor activities, reading, as well as playing around with radio-controlled cars and planes.[27]
Public appearances
Pondsmith has been very active in gaming communities[24][58] and has appeared at many gaming conventions over the years. He was present at many of the Gen Cons[59] which led to his memories of his experiences to be featured in Robin D. Laws' 40 Years of Gen Con published in August 2007 by Atlas Games.[60] He attended I-CON, A-Kon, Norwescon, Origins, DexCon, DunDraCon and others.[32][33][61] Pondsmith was a guest of honor at Ropecon 1999, Astronomicon 2001[62] and I-CON 25 (March 24–26, 2006).[40] Both Mike and his son Cody run various games during different gaming conventions.[63] Pondsmith also appeared on stage to talk about the Cyberpunk 2077 video game during two of CD Projekt Red's conferences.[16][47]
Academic career
Between the years 2010 and 2011 Pondsmith worked in the Department of Game Software Design and Production at the DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond,[3][64] where he taught game design classes. The two courses he taught were Game History (GAT 110) and Game Mechanics I (GAT 210).[65][66]
Awards and recognitions
Various games designed or co-created by Mike Pondsmith received awards over the years.
Teenagers from Outer Space received the RPGA Gamer's Choice Award[when?].[5]
Castle Falkenstein received the Best Roleplaying Rules of 1994 Origins Award.[25][67]
Castle Falkenstein received the 1995 Nigel D. Findley Memorial Award for the Best Role-Playing Product.[25]
Six Guns and Sorcery for Castle Falkenstein written by Edward Bolme, James Cambias, Eric Floch, Angela Hyatt, Jim Parks, Derek Quintanar, Barrie Rosen, Mark Schumann, and Chris Williams received the Best Roleplaying Supplement of 1996 Origins Award.[68]
Teenagers from Outer Space received the Best Other Category Role-Playing Game of 1987 Origins Gamer's Choice Award.[69]
Cyberpunk received the Best Science-Fiction Role-Playing Game of 1989 Origins Gamer's Choice Award.[69]
Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms written by Jay Batista, Deborah Christian, John Nephew, Mike Pondsmith, and Rick Swan received the Best Role-Playing Accessory of 1989 Origins Gamer's Choice Award.[69]
Additionally R. Talsorian Games released Pondsmith's board game GoDice! in 2006.[73] The initial release of Mekton is also considered to be a board game.[74]
Bibliography
Mike Pondsmith worked on or contributed to various R. Talsorian Games' and TSR's products over the years[75][76][77][78] and wrote several articles in gaming magazines.[79]
Colin Fisk, Dave Harmer, Mike Masarati, Derek Quintanar, Mike Rotor, John Smith, Kevin Stein, William Tracy, Karl Wu, Andrew Strassmann, Ben Wright, Jeff Hexter, Glenn Goddard, and Marcus Pregent
Buck Rogers XXVc: The 25th Century Science Fiction Role Playing Game (1990)
Boxed set contains: Characters & Combat, The World Book, The Technology Book, maps, cards, counters
Related Research Articles
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberware, juxtaposed with societal collapse, dystopia or decay. Much of cyberpunk is rooted in the New Wave science fiction movement of the 1960s and 1970s, when writers like Philip K. Dick, Michael Moorcock, Roger Zelazny, John Brunner, J. G. Ballard, Philip José Farmer and Harlan Ellison examined the impact of drug culture, technology, and the sexual revolution while avoiding the utopian tendencies of earlier science fiction.
Cyberpunk is a tabletop role-playing game in the dystopian science fiction genre, written by Mike Pondsmith and first published by R. Talsorian Games in 1988. It is typically referred to by its second or fourth edition names, Cyberpunk 2020 and Cyberpunk Red, in order to distinguish it from the cyberpunk genre after which it is named.
Castle Falkenstein is a steampunk-themed fantasy role-playing game (RPG) designed by Mike Pondsmith and originally published by R. Talsorian Games in 1994. The game is named for a legendary unbuilt castle in the Bavarian Alps. Players play the roles of gallant adventurers who take on quests of intrigue and derring-do in the spirit of Victorian adventures such as The Prisoner of Zenda.
GURPS Cyberpunk is a genre toolkit for cyberpunk-themed role-playing games set in a near-future dystopia, such as that envisioned by William Gibson in his influential novel Neuromancer. It was published in 1990 after a significant delay caused by the original draft being a primary piece of evidence in Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. United States Secret Service.
R. Talsorian Games (RTG) is a publisher of role-playing game books and accessories. Originally based in Berkeley, California, but moved to Renton, Washington in 1997. Their titles include the Cyberpunk 2020 series and anime-related titles such as Dragonball Z. Their major product line today is the Fuzion system.
Dream Pod 9 (DP9), formerly Ianus Games, is a Montreal-based Canadian game publisher. Its most notable products are Heavy Gear, Jovian Chronicles, Tribe 8, and Gear Krieg, as well as the Silhouette role-playing game system.
Mekton is a role-playing game which centers on the conventions of mecha anime and science fiction. It has seen several editions since its introduction in 1984, the most recent, Mekton Zeta being first published in 1994.
Fuzion is a generic role-playing game system created by the collaboration of R. Talsorian Games and Hero Games. The rights to Fuzion are jointly held by Mike Pondsmith of R. Talsorian Games, along with Steve Peterson and Ray Greer of Hero Games. Fuzion is a combination of the Interlock System,, and the HERO system. Fuzion is an adaptable system which can be played in any genre and setting imaginable.
A role-playing game system, is a set of game mechanics rules used in a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) to determine the outcome of a character's in-game actions.
Cyberspace is a near-future cyberpunk role-playing game published by Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.) in 1989 using a revised set of rules from their previously published Space Master role-playing game.
Cyberpunk 2077 is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt Red and published by CD Projekt, and based on Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk tabletop game series. The plot is set in the fictional metropolis of Night City, California, within the dystopian Cyberpunk universe. The player assumes the role of V, a mercenary who accidentally gets imbued with a cybernetic "bio-chip" containing an engram of legendary rockstar and terrorist Johnny Silverhand. As Johnny's consciousness begins overwriting V's own, the two must work together to separate and save V's life.
Bubblegum Crisis is a near-future cyberpunk role-playing game published by R. Talsorian Games in 1996 that is based on the anime television series Bubblegum Crisis.
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GURPS Steampunk is a role-playing game sourcebook written by William H. Stoddard and published by Steve Jackson Games in 2000. The supplement facilitates play in the steampunk genre using the GURPS system. Upon publication, the book won the Origins Award for "Best Roleplaying Supplement". As the most detailed definition of the genre at the time, it was also credited with reifying the attributes of steampunk. GURPS Steampunk was accompanied by licensed publications in the world of Castle Falkenstein and followed by supplements by Jo Ramsay and Phil Masters. Since 2016, SJG has published additional releases in the genre, compatible with GURPS Fourth Edition.
Hardwired: The Sourcebook is a supplement published by R. Talsorian Games in 1989 for the dystopian near-future science fiction role-playing game Cyberpunk.
Comme il Faut: All Things Right and Proper is a supplement published by R. Talsorian Games in 1995 for the fantasy steampunk role-playing game Castle Falkenstein.
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Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a cyberpunk web anime miniseries based on the video game Cyberpunk 2077 by Polish studio CD Projekt Red. The series was animated by Japanese animation studio Trigger under the supervision of CD Projekt and premiered on Netflix in September 2022. Set in the Cyberpunk universe created by Mike Pondsmith, the anime serves as a prequel to the game and takes place about a year before the events of Cyberpunk 2077.
Interface is a game magazine published by Prometheus Press between 1990 and 1992 that was licensed to publish articles about R. Talsorian Games's dystopian near-future role-playing game Cyberpunk.
↑ Blechpirat der Mörderische. "'punk '21?". cyberpunk2020.de. Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
1 2 Wisdom000. "Reference Data". Datafortress 2020. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
↑ Cyberpunk 2020. R. Talsorian Games. 1990. p.186. ISBN0-937279-13-7. "Life in 2020 isn't just all guns and drugs, if it was, we woulda named the game Dungeons & Drug Dealers. The best Cyberpunk games are a combination of doomed romance, fast action, glittering parties, mean streets and quixotic quests to do the right thing against all odds. It's a little like Casablanca with cyberware..." – Maximum Mike
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