Cyborg Commando
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| Cyborg Commando | |
 Cyborg Commando Set 1: The Battle For Earth |
|
| Designer | Gary Gygax, Frank Mentzer, Kim Mohan |
|---|---|
| Publisher | New Infinities, Inc. |
| Publication date | 1987 |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| System | Custom |
Cyborg Commando is a science fiction role-playing game (RPG) published by New Infinities, Inc in 1987 and created by Kim Mohan, Frank Mentzer and Gary Gygax, the creator of the original Dungeons & Dragons system.
The game is set in 2035 at a time when the earth is invaded by aliens called Xenoborgs intent on subduing humanity and taking control of the planet. Luckily humanity has developed a new kind of soldier: the Cyborg Commando, a mechanical/electronical man-like structure that can be implanted with a willing human's brain.
Innovative in some ways, one reviewer said that "whilst Cyborg Commando isn’t the worst game written, it is outstandingly poor. This is a product that should be held up to designers as a lesson in how not to write a game."[1]
[edit] System
Cyborg Commando introduces the d10x system. This is a dice rolling system where players roll two ten-sided dice and multiply the numbers together. A single roll of d10x is used to determine both whether an attack hits a target and how much damage it does. d10x rolls are also used with a character's skill levels to determine if the character succeeds at tasks he attempts.
Whereas a system that rolls a number of dice and adds the result produces a smooth bell curve distribution, multiplying the dice together as above produces a scattered distribution that favours lower numbers. This bottom-heavy distribution (which resembles a reversed Exponential_function, exp(-x)) is used in the game to incorporate Critical_hits (lucky shots that by chance hit a vulnerable spot and do an unusually large amount of damage) directly into the combined attack and damage roll.
The use of d10x as a skill roll builds diminished returns on investment and promotion into the skill/task system: only a relatively small investment of skill points is needed to purchase competency in a skill, while meaningful improvements require increasing investments. To illustrate, a skill with a percentile rank of 20 rolled with d10x gives a character a 46% base chance of success at a task, while a rank of 40 only increases the base chance to 72%, and a rank of 60 to only 81%.
[edit] Literature
Three Cyborg Commando books were published not long after the game with minor modifications of Cyborg Commando's skills and behaviour, which prompted a short explanation at the back of the books for game owners detailing why the changes were made.
- Planet in Peril by Kim Mohan and Pamela O'Neill. Published in November 1987 by Ace/New Infinities, Inc. ISBN 0-441-66883-6.
- Chase into Space by Kim Mohan and Pamela O'Neill. Published in January 1988 by New Infinities, Inc. ISBN 0-441-10294-8.
- The Ultimate Prize by Kim Mohan and Pamela O'Neill. Published in March 1988 by New Infinities, Inc. ISBN 0-441-84325-5.
