So to give our normal DM a break, I've volunteered to GM a (probably) one off session sometime in the future, and was looking for recs?? I'm v new to ttrpgs so.. our group is large (8 people) and most of out players are relatively inexperienced. I'm looking for something sci-fi/cyber punk-esque, and I like the idea of something more collaborative, but idk if that'll be better or worse with how big our group is. Thanks a bunch!!
Eight people is going to be tough to organise no matter what you’re playing, especially for a novice GM. You’ve also made it hard on yourself with the genre you’ve picked; cyberpunk RPGs tend to skew rules-heavy, which is the opposite of what you want for a newbie GM or a large group (let alone both!).
That said, you might have a look at Technoir. It’s relatively rules-light as cyberpunk RPGs go, its template-based character creation can get large groups off the ground quickly, and the rulebook is like 50% worked examples and illustrative diagrams by weight, so it’s an easier game than most to teach yourself straight from the text. It’s pretty oneshot-friendly, too, and includes three premade scenarios in the back of the book.
The other option is to grab a lighter framework like Face Accelerated Edition and roll your own cyberpunk content. FAE is arguably more collaborative-play-friendly than Technoir, but doing that much homebrew is maybe not the best idea when you’re just starting out - totally your call, there. On the plus side, FAE is free, so there’s no harm in checking it out.
