Robutt waifu edition. >Cyberpunk 2020 vs. Cyberpunk RED?Cyberpunk 2020 is the second edition of the Cyberpunk TTRPG that focuses on simulation gameplay and has a black trenchcoat aesthetic.Cyberpunk RED is the fourth edition of the Cyberpunk TTRPG that is set after Cyberpunk 2020 following the Fourth Corporate War, focuses on more balanced gameplay and is more streamlined but has less content.>Cyberpunk Rulesets (The Vault) (May not have all updated rulebooks, check official sources for updates)bit<dot>ly/2Y1w4Md>Resources for RED:https://datapool2045.net/>RED free-DLC and extra contenthttps://rtalsoriangames.com/downloads/>RED Easy Mode is available for FREE.https://rtalsoriangames.com/cyberpunk/>Errata Pageshttps://rtalsoriangames.com/errata/>Character Sheetshttps://rtalsoriangames.com/downloads/>Previous thread>>96003648>TQDo your techies/netrunners utilize drones? Do they attach agents to them and treat them like companions? Does someone in your crew fuck robots?
Fuck Sparky.
Fuck Jack.
>>96191851 >Can't you just take a Gemini body and instead of using human organs and a meat brain just replace it with robotics and bam, you have a humanoid android with an AI brain. How fucking hard is that to implement? Conceivably, it wouldn't be too hard. As for a player character crafting a bot friend like that, I assume they may need to pass a cybertech/security tech DV. It doesn't have to be humanoid either. It could be a spider bot on wheels like a tachikoma, a small quadrotor drone that buzzes around you and acts as an extra pair of eyes, or whatever your imagination can come up with. I think it'd be neat to have a backup of your robot friend, so if they get destroyed, you can re-upload their AI into another body. Maybe they start off in a Gemini but get blown up and have to be reuploaded to a tiny drone bot, and you have to work up enough eddies to rebuild their body to the way it used to be. Ziggurat may not like the idea of an AI having full agency over a body like that. You may need to keep that robot friend under wraps. >For an NPC of course, no idea how a player would play as an AI android.It may follow a different set of rules for cyberpsychosis. You might have to work it out with your ref and workshop it, but maybe the bot would be immune to that effect in exchange for having other issues in the world. Perhaps it'd function similarly to this >96201788 depending on how that character wants to play things. Then again, you could let your ref control it. That's how I handled a number of my extra characters that were related to my character. The downside, of course, is that the ref may make them do something you don't want. The same thing happens with Cyberpyschosis, though, so it's not that different from standard play in my book. >>96237850>>96237969I don't know who these people are, but if it's related to some Reddit drama, let those fags sort it out there.
>>96238037meant to quote >>96233875 instead of myself there.
Does the iluminati or something equivalent exists?
>>96237546Other than a R6 Siege roller camera and a scout quadrotor it's gonna take me an in game month to finish building a Savannah Panther, but once I get that done and plug a dangerous prototype drone controller directly into my dangerous prototype neuroport we're going to be inseparable.Really I've been so busy making other stuff for the team and doing netrunner stuff I hadn't gotten around to finishing the drones I'd been planning since session 1.
would trauma team still rescue a client if the client dies while theyre heading towards him? it was already established that as long as people have the money, they can live through anything like adam smasher who was a sludge of red juice. but would the rescue doctors be pragmatic over it? reomeatwagon exists, after all.
>>96238668Short of no longer being able to locate the client (such as in the case of complete destruction of the body) Trauma Team is going to go in both to verify the death of a client and to recover their body. It is possible cheaper plans may not include armed recovery of a corpse, but more expensive plans will almost certainly involve kicking down the door even to cart a stiff out, jab em with a stupid amount of epinephrine and see if they start twitching.Remember that recoveries let them raise premiums and collect fees; failures quite literally lose them clients.
>>96238347There's the Inquisitors? They're anti-cyberware cultists. Naturally, they and Maelstrom regularly go at it. Generally speaking, there are plenty of schizo theories in Night City. According to Maximum Mike, there are werewolves, Vampires, Corpos that are trying to mind control people, rogue AIs trying to mind control people, genetic manipulation through GMO science, and several similar tinfoil theories if you want to read lore books and listen to the radio in 2077. >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMgLhFQGHcM>>96238589Sounds neat. Are you going to give it agency via an agent, or is the prospect of a robot running free a little too dangerous for you? Gotta keep it on a tight leash?>>96238668As >>96238700 noted, they have a strong financial incentive to keep their clients alive. If for no other reason than to look good to the public.>"My choomba flatlined in the street with TTI gold coverage and those lazy fucks didn't even show up!"Even if the patient looked like a spread of EZZYBEEF on the sidewalk, TTI won't know for sure until they show up on the scene. In other instances, they may need to collect payment by stripping bodies of cyberware and other organs like a high-end REO. In this universe, Adam Smasher was brought back to life when his friends got his remains to the med team in a duffel bag. Under the right circumstances, you could be a head in a jar for a little while before you get a fresh body. As long as you have the eddies, just about anything is possible.
>>96237546did the japanese cryotank books for 2020 ever get scanned?
>>96239216The prototype drone controller I mentioned basically runs a tiny NET dangerously close (ie: spilling into) grey matter with its own tiny demon. So the danger is less it doing what it wants to on its own as much as it's doing what the (slightly deranged) operator REALLY wants before they can stop it.As long as the operator is alert and awake it can be babysat; so here's hoping nobody starts handing out concussions or EMPs like candy.
>>96239225No, best there is is the original club president uploading what he can online.http://asobinin.org/pages/rpg/cyberpunk/cryotank/cryotop.html
>>96238668Jumping on this since I have a related question, how does one kill a gonk with TT coverage other than total body obliteration?
>>96241810Just flatline a gonk, by which I mean make him fail a single death save, before TT arrives.I don’t think that they can arrive like 9 seconds after fight begins or something as ludicrous as that.Unless you meant they somehow revive a corpse, like smasher was scooped from pavement and made into a Borg, against such thick plot armour there’s no weapon strong enough.
>>96241810When they hit the ground you walk up to them and put 2 rounds in their heart and 3 in their brain, just like in real life! But as >>96241843 points out: in the end GM fiat can overrule dice.
>>96242364Not what I meant and not GM fiat.I meant that’s highly unlikely if not borderline impossible for trauma team to rescue anyone whom got burst fired, exploded or otherwise really fucking killed because there’s no necromancy in this game.I meant there’s no mechanics that say a person died but actually ran away. Either you die or you don’t.That being said if narrative calls for it, it overrides the rules, such as Adam case.I’ve had my buddys character (that went cyberpsycho) return as a MaxTac brainwashed officer that killed his next character.Why the fuck not?
>>96242667>there’s no necromancy in this game.Other than Adam Smasher and the engrams who are purposely left ambiguous, whos to say there is tech that exists but the normal civilians do not know of it? Rache mentioned something like that in his book but it was also left ambiguous if he actually found it on his net travels or his usual schizo ramblings
>>96242977Rache invented quickhacks and decided not to share.He also met aliens.Hidden stuff the normal civilian won't know do exist. We just don't know what are they.
So for CP2020, what resources and material are there for major metropolitan areas outside of Night City? Don't have to be official resources, community stuff is cool too.
>>96242977dude saw a lot of things man was not meant to know. can you blame him for going crazy in response? him and that 2077 alpha centuri guy would probably be fast friends
>>96244182fuck wrong thread pls delete i'm sorry
>>96237546>TQMy buddy played a Roboticist that was shared long time ago somewhere around these threads.>Actually back when it was called mechanist/machinist because dude cant spell lol.He was a fucking minmax bro, so he took this option to further diverge in cyberpsychosis and act more inhumane than usual - the drone was living inside his body (which was FBC at the point, but only he and GM knew that) and he would occasionally let it out, speak through it or peek around the corner, you know -typical minmaxer trying to roleplay.>AgentsWell, he used the Drone link from the homebrew, seems like a specialised agent though, the drone wasnt very much of a companion, it did not speak of itself, didnt do no tricks or anything. 99% utilitarian take.>Fucking robotsDespite the fact that half of the group is engaged/married/has kids we do not disclose sex at all at the table.>why?Out of respect to kissless virgins that made the hobby great.
>>96242977Adam Smasher coming back is less about necromancy and more about the guy is genuinely has the best luck in the world and survives by a thread in most of his major conflicts that fuck him up badly, like the Arasaka nuking in 2023. Smasher entire point as a character is that he is a monster that never dies. He is an unstoppable force that will keep coming after you and even if he gets horribly damaged/injured he'll get back in the fight again.Is it contrived? Yes. But does it explain how shit works in cyberpunk.Bit of a tangent:Also it is always possible that Arasaka has already just engrammed Smasher anyway, so even if he dies for real they just upload a copy of his mind into a new body and just go on as normal.No direct evidence of that however and Pondsmith has never implied either to my knowledge, but it is 100% possible and Arasaka could do it.
>>96246645Yeah Smasher exists to show you how the deck is stacked. Corporations can go through millions of eddies to keep a one man genocide alive because it's worth keeping the boogieman on your payroll, and your only shot against him is slowing him down long enough his handlers decide he's more useful elsewhere.
>>96246645>Spoiler It's implied in ERMK that that's what has happened, and there's no original smasher anymore. Also with their resources it's pretty possible they can (and did) rewrite the engram to act more on desired emotions such as obedience, and program in some mental barriers such as inability to kill certain people.However, the ERMK states that, similairly, how aliens in guide to the net were handled, it's all whatever, everything is not canon and the party writes the real story, so understandably a big handwave and ultimately a just figure it out bro on their part.Pretty understandable that they dont want the game to be about le-aliens or introduce actually-you-can-survive-anything button, because the game isnt about that. And the lore? Man, this setting has nanomachine swarms that arent even plot relevant despite possible gray goo scenario that noone cares about in universe, fucking warewolfs of all things, and the corebook rules and setting (calling RED out here) do not apply to any story published by Mike after the corebook whatsoever. Also, as >>96246659 stated, Smasher is the iteration of a party wiping monster meme, was initially envisioned as a joke on minmaxing players (despite not being minmaxed to the edge like Morghan Blackhand). Sure, the idea of Smasher grew out of this meme and is now it's own thing.
>>96238037based stoner robot
>>96246814coming from delta green, I like how cyberppunk handles the setting outside of the main one. Plenty of shit, and you can throw a random one to your players to throw them off and never elaborate on it. I had a media player and he turned to a conspiracy theorist after I threw a werewolf at the party with no warning, no foreshadowing, nothing. It was fun, his roleplaying on it made everyone laugh.
What makes someone an Exotic? I know about obvious furries, but I have a player that wants to have a breath weapon to be cool and intimating. No animal weapons, tails, or anything, just a last-weapon emergency cyberware.
>>96250651An exotic is anyone who possesses non-human cosmetic body modification, which would include tails, fangs, scales and fur. What you're describing is a personal defence weapon, like wolvers or a cybersnake.
>>96246645||I genuinely hope that's the case and they keep it hidden under wraps until Cyberpunk 2 releases just so the big reveal kicks Edgerunners fans in the teeth even harder||>>96243067Following up on this, are there any good resources for NYC in particular? Thinking about building a campaign around the brief bits of information we got in Land of the Free.
>>96220219Basically a bodysculpt will let you walk the walk but not talk the talk (i.e anchor arms from Spongebob). The standard sculpt can make you peak human and exotic sculpt gives you inhuman traits (and humanity loss). Explored in Interface 2 you can combine cyberware with exotic bodysculpts to give you special traits and tie it into a theme. Check it out https://bit <DOT> ly/cyborganarchist.There is also fashionware, stuff like chemskin (change skin color from mere race to neon glowing), light tattoos/emp threading, shift-tact eyes, and techhair. So you could get glowing green cat shift-tacts and not be considered exotic, it would be the full bone and physique changing to be exotic (and then you might need to still get shift-tacts on top of that but desu I'd throw it in for free).The cybercock is called Mr. Studd and it can be tech-upgraded (unironically +1 in sex, like an excellent weapon). You don't need bodysculpting to get this cyberware, but maybe it'll help you fill out the rest of the look. One of my players wanted wings and we compromised by letting him have the Black Chrome hoverboard as a jetpack/wings. By RAW it can be controlled by leg pedals like a motorcycle with the hands-free interface upgrade so I just said his legs had trackers to control it and his movement was vehicle-like (i.e not precise and requires an action to make special moves/tricks while normal movement wouldn't). I have thought about an idea combing the multi-arm mount and special paired cyberarms for wings. >>96250651Just like >>96252542 says and don't forget Black Chrome (pop-up shotgun and net-launcher, flashbulb & 8 laser pointer cyberfingers to blind someone) and Interface RED 2 (combat jaw and firebreather).For a hot gaming tip get pop-up weapons that normally can't be concealed like a pop-up Very Heavy Handgun/Heavy SMG (or even the Militech Crusher for 'fuck everyone in front of me' emergency) or Wolvers.
>>96238037>>96233875 I've given this one some thought too. Reaping the Reaper makes it seem like Reaper & ReaperA just existed in their transportable netarches without mods. This could work like a biosystem (you can build a decent 3 floor netarch for under 5000eb). For the drone and agent mininetarch’s you can tech-upgrade each floor (+1000eb). The gemini is an excellent idea. If 10000eb is too much you could try to save some money by begging the ref to let you tech-up med-grade cyberware to work in FBCs (normally you can't but it would save 400eb for most limbs). This would have 0 upgrade slots though (and kinda ruin the best part about FBCs which is 0 cyberlimb HL and double upgrade slots). Humanity loss for AI would be the AI seeing humans as executable programs, resources, etc. Perhaps for fun if an AI is netrunning instead of normal data the 'brain' damage they take is humanity loss. One bad netrun & suddenly HAL is ready to betray the crew.Finally I'd base AI off demons. An imp AI is a rank 3 netrunner (interface 3 & +14 on all rolls) & cost 5000eb (+1 price category). The improvement is that an AI can adapt while the demon can only have 1 or 2 triggers. For this full price the AI would follow your orders (low humanity may have it seek to twist your orders). For a free AI (unshackled, but like a regular NPC maybe with Loyalty) you could get it for the cost of the original demon. Engrams would be 500eb, have no netrunning, +10 on all non-combat rolls like housekeeping, but would still be obedient (maybe for 100eb they'd be unshackled and basically a real person). Netrunning is just like a human. The AI needs a deck & can activate programs. You could have Efreet & Balron AI & maybe a secret military demon/AI that has Interface 10 or 11 but these get stupid expensive and the price would basically be doubling for all of them.
I kinda wanna run a campaign, I ran one a while back but it crashed and burned somewhat after a while. What's a good amount of cash to give the players for a bit of a headstart, without going too far?
>>96259157I don't know about cash explicitly. Unless a player specifically requests a head start with a caveat like->Ex-Corpo gets burned, and they start with an extra 5k eddies but also a price on their head, so they're constantly hunted. Also, they have to babysit a human lizard hybrid that they plundered from a biotechnia lab, which is a part of a larger narrative arc. Feeding and caring for the mutant costs an additional 300 eddies a month (sometimes more if they get into trouble, roll a 1d6 to determine the extra cost or some shit). I would say a bigger deal would be a nice dedicated "hangout" or megabuilding starter house, which they presumably paid for leading up to the 0 session. This way, they don't start the campaign sucking scop out of a container house. They can always downsize to a container house if they want. You may also want to have dedicated fixers, ripper docs, and so on, who are...amicable to the new runners. A Victor Vector-style character>"You owe me 7k eddies for that cyberware. Don't worry about paying me back tomorrow, just don't get yourself killed. You can't make money if you're zeroed. Go get 'em choom."On the other hand, part of the appeal of Night City is how rough and cutthroat it is, so you have to balance out those "nice" features with equally heartless ones.
>>96259526I love that hybrid idea, lmao. Still, those are good ideas. It's cool to have these little bits screwing with players that allow them to feel a bit more 'interesting' at the start
>>96238037>Can't you just take a Gemini body and instead of using human organs and a meat brain just replace it with robotics and bam, you have a humanoid android with an AI brain. How fucking hard is that to implement?Arianna in Land of the free, is a literal AI put inside a heavily Chromed (Neural-ware) human-clone, this is canon, so putting an AI inside a Gemini or any other FBC is totally possible. (With-in the adventure books Bio-techica lobbies the NUSA so that Clones are property and not people even .Bladerunner style.)
>>96261911>>96238037If you're looking for closer canon stories, the Ai (very subtle, Mike) girlfirend is a waifu construct that fits inside agent hardware. It's a masterfully upgraded agent though.All instances, 2013, 2020, V3, RED and 2077 are inconsistent when it comes to the net, with 2020 being the sole exception, saved by guide to the net and rules on creating programs.There are programs that can fit into a bullet (smart ammo), a smartphone (Agent SAAI), mechanical body (all drones seem to be on par with demons in their intelligence), and then there are some that require NET arch to work, like Reaper (copypasted human conciousness) and whatever RABIDs are.Judging by how much license RTal sold to CDPR, and how tight their leash is now (basically a subsidiary of their own franchise) I'd look down the 2077 for explanation. That being said - it's a fictional universe within a game of make believe, so anything goes. Go wild, fucking Mike dont care about his own gamerules, so why would you?As for 2077 explanation, SoMi states that only reason AI didnt brainfucked humans to death is that because they are too complicated to run on current hardware.While the reasoning seems bullshit (2020 being more advanced than 2077) I think its explained by the implication that programs beyond black wall had been killing one another for decades, eventually through induced darvinian methods evolved (RABIDS are told to be able to assimilate any code they consume I recall) to be more capable than they originally were.
>>96262539>(cont)Also to add something more, the game pretty clearly states that soul and conciousness are two different things, because Johnny cannot see the meditating monk, nor can he be included in spritiual meditation himself.Anyway, I'd instantly buy a compact net arch inside gemini (or whichever) body in a place where a brain in a jar would be, yeah mechanically each game allows for that, maybe not 2013, but RED has some rather blatantly examples of that, and 2020 even have self contained AI controlled drones in later books.Real question is, how exactly it changes your character? Roleplay wise, sure you're a robot and do people know? Seems like a possible big reveal. Are you a prototype that escaped, or built by wild tech wizard? Are you commonly made, or run on prestigious parts hard to maintain? Can you be copied, expanded upon, upgraded and to which extent? These kind of questions and roleplay opportunities write themselves.Maybe it's personal bias, but how exactly (outside of being fucking cool) being a closet android changes how you work in terms of game rules? Do you need to power up sometimes, swap batteries? how much does it cost? Can you work with borg rules and swap glucose chow for batteries? How exactly do you improve your skills? Do you use IP like a human does, swap infinite amount of chips or require a tech or some form of maintaince to upgrade your skills?And the most important one: if your answers point to the fact you play exactly like a person (or a borg) would, why even bother?I'd be glad if you could answer even a few of them.
This is probably weeks late but have any solos broken down their solo game to kill Epstien? Purely hypothetical of course. I'm thinking 1 minute means 20 actions. 2 actions needed for unlocking the cell /locking the cell when done (cloned keys provided by client). 1 action to grab, 2 turns choking (I know choke deals nonlethal damage equal to body and there is no way an old man would have more than 20 HP but I don't know if it could be lethal, maybe the best course of action would be an aimed martial/brawling to the head to snap his neck). 1-2 actions deploying the bedsheets noose (also provided by client). Remaining turns moving full speed and making stealth checks. Even in the worst case scenario where Epstien takes 8 actions you still have 6 to infiltrate and exfiltrate each. With 6 MOV that's 36m/18 tactical units. Depending on lack of guard activity you could run (get bonus movement, and +3 with skate feet). Seems totally doable.
>>96263027lol, lmao, Epstein Island would be a great megadungeon>arrive via silent sub, crew blindfolded>guards are ex Mossad clones>the dungeon is a child themed pizza parlor>boss fight is a glitching rich guy>kills himself every round, resurrects if no one was looking>loot is a manifest of who's-who, but half the names are just [REDACTED]>try to leave, but boat is gone, and you're now listed as "frequent flyer"
How would you explain a Fourth Corporate War veteran being only a Rank 4 Solo? Seems pretty weak for someone who, by 2045, would be in their forties or fifties and likely saw all kinds of action during the war and the twenty years after.
>>96263140>Saw actionBeing a soldier and being a gun for hire are different skillsets. The veterancy is the explanation for the explosives skill, driving, tactics, athletics, etc- not your role rank.>aged 40-59PTSD, heavy drinking, heavy narcotics, half the military-grade cyberware was scooped out, a quarter was pawned off to pay for the cost of living over the decades, nerves are shot by trauma and drug-use, cyberware meant to enhance your reflexes has been going for so long that your body adjusted. You've got the equivalent of cyberware induced parkinsons. You're getting old, you're getting sloppy, you're getting arrogant, you were never that impressive to begin with, what used to be cutting-edge you can get on the corner for the price of a decent bottle of whiskey, and all the while you've been hallucinating pretty fiercely and you are not entirely sure what is and isn't real but you're going with the flow, and to conclude the sun was in your eyes.
>>96263172I like this a lot. Thanks for the response, Anon. It would seem as though I've gotten caught up in the idea that "Rank = Experience" when I should have been focusing on the character's skills instead.Most of my Solo characters have been upjumped street kids or children of edgerunners. It would be nice to play a burnt-out, battle-hardened veteran for once.
caseless for guns are fucking stupid, i will litter the streets with bullet casesi am the gm
>>96262572>but how exactly (outside of being fucking cool) being a closet android changes how you work in terms of game rules? I'd touched on this in the last thread. The short answer is to work it out with your ref. If you're dealing with a non-human entity, the answer may be to disregard cyberpsychosis entirely. If you're playing a murderous psychopathic robot, maybe have a reverse humanity score, a negative value where you're gradually edging closer to having humanity, and when you get it, you go crazy over the existential crisis of your existence. Possibly with a reverse decay system where you're constantly gaining humanity that you want to shed via sociopathic tendencies. However, you do it, it'd be a very RP-heavy deal you work out with your ref. >Do you need to power up sometimes, swap batteries?If you're purely mechanical, charging/batteries sounds like the way. If you're more replicant territory, you can probably synthesize your own proteins and shit by ingesting biomass.>how much does it cost?depends on the body (is your brain in a tiny spider bot smaller than a cat, or are you a Hulking Adam Smasher)? Or the story (are you a chrome junkie wanting to go full borg or an escaped science project from biotechnia)?>How exactly do you improve your skills?To KISS, you should be fine using IP still. You can work out progression mechanics with your ref as needed. Maybe there are some house rules where you have advantages in some things and not in others based on your unique attributes. >Do you use IP like a human does, swap infinite amount of chips or require a tech or some form of maintenance to upgrade your skills?A techie friend (if you're not capable of working on yourself) probably wouldn't hurt.>if your answers point to the fact you play exactly like a person (or a borg) would, why even bother? Deep into hypothetical scenario territory. Depends on how you play it, the arc you want to explore, the narrative the ref wants to explore, etc.
>>96264789You are the based GM.
So a half rof2 weapons mean you can throw two monostars then attack with a rof2 weapon in the same turn? I think this was cleared up in a book somewhere but I can't find it
>>96265196You might be misunderstanding if you're talking about red. But it could allow for some useful tricks like using the air pistol (loaded with acid) which can reduce a full SP from any armor like metalgear, then stab them.
>>96266104Forgot to list it was about red, yes. I 'm talking about the items in Black Chrome where the shruiken and the boomerang was listed half a rof. Could be whack if it also works like you have four of them which would technically be four attacks in 2 rof.
>>96266296The wording is bad in Black Chrome but you're misunderstanding what it is saying. Throwing an item, including a weapon, is normally done as an Action, meaning that it is in effect a ROF1 attack. The boomerang and shuriken in Black Chrome instead are allowed to be thrown using Athletics 'as half of an ROF2 attack', meaning that you can throw two of them, throw one of them and shoot a Heavy Pistol, Throw one and swing a different one in melee, etc.This is still pretty good, especially for the Boomerangs which are letting you deal 3d6 halving armor twice a round so long as you have hands free for them. You can also do your best Robot Master impression with a Pop-Up Melee Weapon allowing you to throw, catch and stow one boomerang with one hand and throw and catch a second one using the same single free arm (though you get points for style for having two pop ups in two arms to draw, throw, catch and stow both boomerangs in the same round).
>>96266713Holy shit, I understood it immediately when you put it that way. I think this takes the cake in confusing wording in Red rules.
>>96237546Has anyone ever ran a sandbox game with Cyberpunk 2020 ?I just ran Never Fade Away for a group of friends, all of them absolutely newbies to TRPGs with good results so far. But I want them to soak up the setting a bit more and let them loose in NCAny suggestions on how to carry on ? Any plot hooks you recommend ?
>>96268718I've never ref'd before. My ref does it via post, so the pacing is kinda weird. If I were reffing, I'd refer to the character sheets of my players. If you want to make a player care about your world, involve their character's world in yours. >A media who's sister is addicted to chems and joins a booster gang. >Have the player confront their sister during a gig where the sister is hired muscle for the villain.or>Rockerboy is trying to get big without selling out. Their old band got bought out by a label.>The player gets wind of a reunion tour where the label plans to debut a virtual AI version of the player, singing corporate-approved tracks. A gig opportunity arises to infiltrate the concert and delete the AI or replace its programming with an anarchic BD that crashes the stream live.or>Solo used to run with the Tyger Claws, but left after things got too brutal.>A new up-and-coming Tyger leader is trying to clean house and views ex-members as liabilities. The player has to choose between protecting their old friends, cutting ties, or making a power move to reclaim the gang from within.Something to make the player say, "The ref actually read my character sheet!">"My players aren't very creative. They didn't think of any arcs or have any long-term goals."The burden shifts to you (If that is the case, they sound like boring players to me). As a preamble, I'd tell my players to come up with a narrative arc they want their character to explore. I don't need a whole book, but 2 or 3 paragraphs along the lines of.>My guy did the thing, and now the guy he thought was his friend actually wasn't! Now I'm out for revenge to get the guy who did the thing to the person I care about!"Or whatever. Something to nudge them along narratively. Some tools go over these narrative methods in the core book. MAKE SURE your players don't neglect the life path portion of character creation. (page 40)
>>96238037What is the source for this little robot? It's eerie how much it mimics an actual little creature demanding affection.
>>96255009R Dorothy is best Dorothy.
>>96269287>https://x.com/segawachobbiesIt's kibochan. As cute as it looks, it's merely puppetry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-0kPh4OttE
>>96265120Fuck, I though I'm helping a brother in need, and you're saying that's all hypothetical?Fuck, I thought I was the one that asked questions to make your character more refined one.That being said, the negative empathy is fucking cool, I'm stealing it and you should expect for this to be published in a homebrew down the line. This looks more like a addon to FBC rules (oy m8 play a REAL metal) than it's separate ruleset though.
>>96263140Rank is more meant to transcribe the level of work you do iircIf you’re some over the hill 40 yo vet doing odd street jobs every now and then because its all you can do to make money, as opposed to being approached by big corps to do action movie shit for thousands and thousands of eds, then yeah, your probably not a high ranking solo
>>96237546Do any of you roll your own settings for 2020/RED instead of the default Night City stuff?
>>96237546Is it a good idea to buy a private island to store your cash if you have acquired a titanic amount? You could even put a casino on it to get some extra cash
>>96263140Don't forget that Adam Smasher has been working for almost a century and is only rank 9 or at least his engram is. R.Tal seems allergic to having any official NPC being too strong, even our beloved Rex Royal is only skill base 17 in Gamble. I think this is pretty stupid especially since Night City is the hub of the world, certainly there must be some world-class talents there. That being said Johnny Silverhand must be rank 10 because he caused a riot. inb4 retcon. I think everyone else has given great responses. Don't forget that a rank 4 solo can move faster than a goldenbrat with a Sandevistan, deal almost a full bonus die of damage on attacks, and can replicate excellent/smart-link with any gun (and still deal +1 damage).
>>96272202>That being said Johnny Silverhand must be rank 10 because he caused a riotAs much as his engram loved to claim he was an underground rocker, Samurai began its career with a top-5 singles release on the Euro Charts, and most of his fame came from his Solo career after Samurai with Clone Wars and A Cool Metal Fire
>>96264789I wrote down my Heavy Pistol as an SR1911. Old guns never die, choomba
>>96269977>That being said, the negative empathy is fucking coolThat's my answer to"I want to play a sociopath who borgs out and chromes to the max."The problem is that on a gameplay level (numbers that decide how quickly you can kill), the "negative humanity" gives rewards that feed into themselves. The world needs to be very reactive to your craziness; More difficult combat encounters with expert solos after your bounty, MaxTac hunting you down, and various other problems that come from being an unhinged killer. >You can't go into any store or any public place without someone screaming, "Holy shit, is Ripskull McKillface! Everyone run!" At that point, it would almost be required that you sign up for some kind of elite corpo security team to protect VIPs from similarly equipped borderline cyberpsychos. Kinda explains Smasher's situation. Maybe the corpo has some high-end chems that allow you to maintain the negative humanity, and you have to keep going to them to keep from bouncing all over the place. A sort of symbiotic psychopathy. Even Adam Smasher has his leash held by Arasaka. >I'm stealing it and you should expect for this to be published in a homebrew down the line. I'd be interested in a system as long as it's balanced. If it's just a power fantasy where you kill everything all the time, that is fun up to a point, but if Ripskull Mckillface has no one who can challenge him, the fun dries up fast. I'm all for an option that lets players go full Smasher mode, but there does need to be strings attached. >That's what humanity is for! Not if you're wanting to play a cyberpsycho. Then you're effectively surrendering your character to the ref by playing your character straight. Narratively, there are lots of different ways to play it, but heavy discussion with your Ref would be required, I think. Especially if you're mingling a FBC monster in a party with regular cyberpunks.
Any missions ideas that take place in the arctic?
How hard would it be to port the power, tech, and smart weapon systems from edgerunners mission kit to 2020?
>>96274866A heist of the Svalbard Seed Vault (now operated by Biotechnica) to get your hands on non-licensed pre-modification seeds for a rival corporation.Arasaka's solar-powered, self-sustaining and self-replicating naval mines make naval trade impossible...except for the depths of the Polar Night, where the extended period without sunlight forces the mines in the arctic circle to temporarily enter sleep mode to conserve their batteries. This opens up a two-week window for the Thelas Nation to move heavy equipment from the Arctic Archipelago to Europe and Russia (or vice versa). The corporations know this too, of course, and are hunting the party as they act as escorts through the Arctic Archipelago before the sun returns and the mines reactivate.An escort mission to protect a nomad tribe as it migrates to summer quarters among the tree farms/temperate forests of the post-global warming Northwest Territory might be a good break mission, and a chance for edgerunners who have only seen lifeless desert to see life as it used to be for their grandparents, and even possibly bring back a non-cloned pet like a squirrel or raccoon.
>>96272202>R.Tal seems allergic to having any official NPC being too strong, even our beloved Rex Royal is only skill base 17 in Gamble. I think this is pretty stupid especially since Night City is the hub of the world, certainly there must be some world-class talents thereOne of the Maelstrom guys has 18 in Brawling. Really the idea that a Base 18 represents one of the best in the world at something is kinda limiting considering there's only 10 levels for each skill and most PCs start at 6.
>>96276467Yeah, but brawling is lesser to Martial arts, so him being a world class at street-fighting is lesser than being MMA master. (I think that's the logic they're going for anyway.)
>>96275231If naval trade is impossible in cyberpunk, would this mean that making the bridge from Alaska to Siberia would be more viable?
>>96276844I interpret Brawling as a generic catch all unarmed fighting skill. Someone with 10 in Brawling is a world class MMA champion by the game's logic. Really I think Martial Arts should be reworked so it's not just "Melee Weapon but better." Maybe make it 1x and use it exclusively for rolling Martial Arts checks and Special Move attack rolls?eg: You spec into Karate and roll Karate to do your Bone Breaking Strike, but need Brawling to make proper ROF2 unarmed attacks.
>>96277066If you can build it and make it mineproof, yes. Siberia probably produces most of east asia's food and iirc Alaska is a breadbasket state in the globally warmed future, so they could probably afford to do so.
>>96277662Kinda surprising that none of the corpos haven't tried it yet.
>>96277901We don't know enough about Alaska or Siberia to know for sure that they haven't. Last we heard canonically of the overall state of Alaska outside of tidbits in the later games was in 2020.
>>96278905IRL 2020 or in Cyberpunk 2020?
>>96278992Cyberpunk 2020, the edition. Though in cyberpunk terms we did canonically hear of Alaska in 2020 via 2077.
>>96238173Neat, I haven't been on /tg/ all week, didn't know someone replied to me.
>>96255009I like this concept, I brought up a Gemini because I like the idea of a human passing android.
how about a character who's kinda your normal guy, but has some rare condition/faulty cyberware that causes him to be in constant pain unless adrenaline is running through his system, so he has to constantly seek out things that would get the blood pumpingthink of the movie crank
>>96281344I don't know about 2020, but RED has street drugs with primary and secondary effects and the secondary effects are basically 'get more of drug or suffer this shitty penalty'. Maybe you have cheap neural implants (I'm pretty sure you need these to get smartlink guns so a lot of people should want them for that sweet untyped +1) that mess with your serotonin, so if you're in combat you get free synthcoke but outside of combat you get the synthcoke penalties (basically +1 reflex, then -2 reflex, and reflex covers guns, driving, initiative, and prevents you from dodging). Getting a kill/crit, or being crit'd/taking huge damage (15+ in a single attack even with armor is pretty bad) would trigger your adrenaline. If you want something better than a lame 50eb drug you get +2 Reflex, or +1 reflex and +1 damage (this is basically 1 rank of solo, a mere 60IP investment) and +2 MOV, and you get that for a minute (more adrenaline boosts keep this combo going). Going back to that '15+ damage triggers it' you could easily get that by electrocution (6d6 damage, average is 21), slamming your head into a wall (I guess brawling vs yourself, maybe double damage since its your head? Minus armor of course), or even shooting yourself. It would make sense that high-intensity scenes count too but I don't know how to balance this. Maybe a skill check, like you're in a chase or a police interrogation so you roll some skill to hulk out. The downside is that when you're not adrenaline'd-up you have a killer -2 Refl, so no bullet time, shitty initiative results, hell you might be killed by some goons before you can activate your powers.Very cool idea choom. >this mp4 courtesy of maxtacagentlol
>>96279403Neato.Though, it would pretty cool to see Pondsmith expand upon Alaska and Siberia, like what's going on there, etc.
>>96283430I think hoping for Pondsmith to make a great return to Cyberpunk is a hope in vain.
>>96283465Oh, well shit.I guess he has stepped back away from it and R Talsorian is now responsible for all cyberpunk stuff?
I need ideas for a campaign, ideally 3-5 sessions.The premise:The year is 2020.A disillusioned cop a week away from retirement, a fixer who became a priest but hasn't lost his contacts or bad habits, and a brilliant but naive techno-doctor are hired by the Night City Council to extradite a crime boss from New York City to Night City. They must avoid more conventional means (airplane and maglev) because they are too exposed (to netrunners, corporations, etc.), so they will have to embark on a road trip.A road adventure in which they must avoid the involvement of nomads and corrupt federal agents who want to silence them.What I need: about 3 to 6 evocative and iconic locations along the way. I want to show players who've never played anything other than D&D a dystopian, science-fiction world and a lethal gameplay system.What are some interesting locations in the canonical setting? What are some fun, original ideas to include?Go wild!
>>96277066What makes naval trade impossible by 2077?
>>96285070I think he means in 2045 when the leftover mine breeders from the 4cw are still sharting out explosives. But I'm not sure if the 2077 lore covers how this was fixed so maybe it never was.
>>96285127>how this was fixed>implying it was fixed
>>96285960I actually was unaware so thank you. I'm glad CDPR was faithful to the lore (or maybe this was from the recent update that throws in some CP:Red lore as easter eggs). Considering how major sea trade is, this is pretty fucked up. I guess air travel is the only way? Or maybe everyone has fabs on every continent so they can just make things locally (it helps that thanks to overpopulation and desperation for work everywhere has cheap labor now).
>>96287298A lot of trains, apparently:>https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Sayonara_Station,_by_Luke_SteelmanThat and I was being hyperbolic; coastal waters are generally safe, just not the deep option, since Night City has a thriving port. And while bulk trade is no longer viable, sufficiently wealthy/powerful megacorps can deploy individual countermeasures (an Arasaka supercarrier arrives from Japan as part of 2077).
>>96284991This is one of my dream jobs, where the crew goes on a cross country road trip from Night City to somewhere close (Las Vegas) or even far away (Houston, Detroit, etc). Are you going to have any driving/fuel mechanics? My general idea is the nomad driver drives for 3 hour segments and something may happen, such as encountering a fuel station or a 'tourist spot'. The tourist spots I have are:>'haunted mansion' of an old tech magnate, if the crew can netrun the netarch they can set themselves as the new owners. Very valuable but since it's many days drive from anywhere more like an awesome safehouse instead of a really usable asset>radioactive 4th corporate war battleground (could be an earlier war if in 2020) that locals rent out hazmat gear for. Players can salvage useful gear and keep whatever they find (the cost is the rental). Crafty players could sneak in with their own gear, or come at night, but since this is a money-making tourist site it'll piss off the locals (who are armed). The crew can also encounter a hostile salvage crew and remember you don't want to take any damage in a hazmat suit, so violence may not be the best solution.>nomad monster truck/demolition derby, rent a vehicle and smash it up, take collision damage but because it's fun get the benefits of therapy to recover humanity loss and also just being around other happy humans. This is an interesting gambit because you can't really heal while traveling so taking even some damage could be critical later during an actual attack and you're at 75% HP>haunted truck stop, where the owner has befriended an AI that will kill guests with freaky drones so the owner can steal their belongings and get enough money to return to his corpo job. Stole this idea from Garo: Vanishing Line episode 12. Pic related was from episode 3 but I loved the goofy evil computer design.>one of the random encounters is a bandit attack, so logically the crew could follow the fleeing bandits back to their base
>>96288430I haven't planned a fuel management system; the players are new to the system (and so am I as a GM), and I don't want to burden them too much.I was thinking of placing "safe houses" as checkpoints to keep the overall narrative on track, but how they get there is entirely up to them.I'll definitely include a nomad camp in Yellowstone, to use as a bazaar (one of my players has contacts with nomads, while another has nomads as enemies, so it'll be fun). I was also imagining the penultimate stop on the Las Vegas Strip (perhaps making deals with the mafia).Aside from that, I don't know the rest of the game world very well; some interesting landmarks from cyberpunk America would be a good idea.
I want to get into cyberpunk as DM recently. Im not really sure where to start tho, I love consuming lore but obviously there is so much. Is there order of things I should look into first? What books I can skip? I love knowing obscure little things I can sometimes bring up to my players.
Can someone who knows more about particle physics than I do tell me, how would a smokescreen interact with the volt pistol? Say a gonk tries to shoot you but you threw down a smoke grenade first, I'd assume because it specifically fires the laser first that part would be blocked, but what about the lightning bolt? Would that go through?
>>96291777>JHWH tripsWhich edition, choomba?Do you have any ideas what to include in the capaign, and what not to include?
>>96293067Not a physicist but some basic principles can be understood. "Smoke" comes in many forms, the one that blocks IR cameras (cyberware) contains metal particles, this fog of particles is carried on the chemical reaction of the smoke source (grenade). When you are standing in this smoke you are enveloped in fine metal dust.A laser would refract continually through the smoke and dissipate energy, heating the smoke and not the target. Easy enough. Electricity would connect with the metal particles and discharge into them, the same way if it was fired at a metal grate, or a cyberlimb. Since the electricity here is 'carried through' the path left by the 'ionised air', it stands to reason that the electricity can not travel further than the laser can, and since we already established the laser can't penetrate the refractive metal particles, then neither can the electricity.>TL;DR- TT M009 is a laser weapon with added electrical effect, follow rules for lasers.Again, I'm no physicist, but discharging this kind of power into a cloud someone is standing in seems similar to tossing a toaster in your bathwater. Within the world of 2020 that might be a bad ruling, but I'd consider that as something to investigate with the rest of the players.
>>96293067You'll need someone better than me, but I can still give some info.Low intensity lasers (as specifically described by the picture) cannot pierce IR smoke screen, that's their whole thing - a vehicle becomes impossible to get a lock on in laser guided munitions.Now, there are at least two types of smoke screens that I know of, the IR smoke screen (described above) and regular bitch ass poor one, which doesnt block radiation to such extent, but is impossible to see through with meat eyes.I'd say that hypothetical gonk cannot shoot through IR smoke, since graphite and brass particles disperse laser beams, making it impossible to hit a proper target despite aiming the pistol in right direction.Basically (I'm no physicist) it would most probably make the lighting hit like a kind of bruh shotgun shell, probably instead of frying a mofo right there, it would tase or tickle (depending on power output) everything in AoE space.As for the classic thick smoke (much easier to get, produce and cheaper) you'd probably be able to see where the laser points at exactly, since when beam hits a smoke particles they are clearly more visible. Now the thing is, the beam itself might not be visible to human eyes.But you're playing cyberpunk, so getting eyes that see with wider spectrum is not something special.
Hello my fellow Choombas how are you doing today? Is there a place or discord server where I can find decent groups to play cyberpunk with Im having a rather hard time due to being a corpo slave and pretty much everyone plays when Im at work.
My group left a helper NPC for dead while they're fleeing from a gig. It wasn't a holding the line sacrifice, they actually left him for dead in an attempt to get the hell out of dodge from getting ambushed.What should this NPC do later? I did think of giving pipebombs to destroy the PCs houses but that feels like a last resort option in case things escalated.
>>96298536Was the NPC injured and had a lower MOVE? Did they have any special connection to any of the PC, or were they just a red shirt?If anything, the player's rep should suffer, even without any action from the infringed NPC. >"That crew left Biggie to die at the drop point, I wouldn't do biz with them."I would allow the players to rectify the issue via a favor or a flat payment of eddies to smooth things over. Obviously, if they abuse this tactic in the future, their rep will be hurt more>"Don't work with that crew, they'll leave you for dead, and if you somehow make it out alive, they'll toss you some ennies for your trouble.">>96296038I'm playing with a group on Discord. We have 3 dudes already. Maybe the ref can squeeze you in. I won't speak on their behalf, though. I believe they browse this thread from time to time.
>>96298776Well i if they are reading this i would love to join my issue is that Im working in an irregular work cycle which means every day im free from 8 am CET to 3 pm CET. That sadly is my biggest problem in finding groups.
>>96298776>Did they have any special connection to any of the PC?Yeah>Was the NPC injured and had a lower MOVE?nah. he was plinked a bit but not mortally wounded. he can keep up with the party.players got ambushed, outnumbered, ran off with a 'every man for himself', without telling the NPC anything. He was a bit away from the group because of said ambush but still in the PCs line of sight.>we plan to retreat, Ref>are you going to say that plan to NPC too?>hes doomed so no, lets rundespite the area has many exits and he is near one, which is how he survived after they ran off without looking back.
>>96299377Damn, did they leave him as a distraction? Presumably, everyone has agents. No one was like.>I ping redshirt and tell him, "We're made! Delta!"That's pretty shitty for sure. You say they had a connection to one of the PCs as well? Did they message the redshirt after the fact to say >"Sorry we left you. Woulda pinged you earlier, but the heat was on us. You okay?" If not, that'd be a big rep penalty for them at least, the rest of the crew would also get dinged as well, I figure. That would be on top of the personal relationship with the red shirt taking a hit with the one player who had a connection to them. >>96298824It is done via post, so that may not be your cup of tea. It's hardly mine. I prefer acting things out with my voice, so I have to leverage my prose instead.
>>96299641I will not lie to you I am in the same boat as you but being fussy about stuff is not for me as a wagie It seems like one of the only options that might work out for me.
>>96296038What kind of availability do you have? I'm in the process of putting together a game right now, if you have a discord I can message you the details if you're interested
I could have sworn somewhere in the depths of 2020 there was a double barrel 7.62 machine gun. Am I imagining things? Because I didn't see it when I checked around the blackhands guide book
>>96300749I am available through Monday to Sunday in hours of 8 am CET to 3 pm CET. maple978 is my discord id.
>>96301758I'm a redbab so I don't know about 2020 but having a gun with 2 barrels that lets you roll twice on autofire and take the best result (maybe for damage because holy hell that damage range is brutal) would be pretty good.
In RED, when you use martial arts like Arnis or Kendo from the latest dlc, do your martial arts attacks benefit from using excellent quality or exotic melee weapons?
Is there a way to do fatal stuff without looking like an ass? I have a fight ready to go but it takes place in a rooftop. The players has nothing for a safety net in case they fall, get grabbed and tossed, or pushed.
>>96305907 (Me)Forgot to add: if they fall, do they still have to roll the death save or "you splattered against the hard ground. No save. time to make a new character"?This is in Red if it is any important
>one player fucking manages to deliver a nuke and kill off the arasaka family except yorinoburetardgodwhat would happen in night city without arasaka then? might seem interesting to continue for the edgerunners book with a timeskip
>>96302109Damn, unfortunately I don't think our time slots would match up then.
>>96305951If they fall from a height that you wouldn't expect a person to be able to fall from, you don't calculate fall damage, you just die. As stated in RED's core-rulebook. You don't fall damage if you're falling under 10 yards, and what you do take can be soaked by body-armor.
>>96305907If they fall from the top of a highrise, they die, but if you pick them up and throw them, you killed them. Don't get it twisted.
A netrunner joined my game. I'm scared. Now the ref may have to handle matrix/subnet exploration.
>>96306329Yorinobu would obviously take over as the only living Arasaka member, but since he is more humanitarian he'll probably take the company into a less shitty direction. Arasaka will also probably stay in Night City to some extent.It could also be that Arasaka fractures into 2 or more different corporations. Ie. people who support Yorinobu and those who don't.It's also possible that Yorinobu might just get assassinated once he takes control of Arasaka, and from then on the entire company is just ran by committee or something.Kinda hard to imagine such a big corporation just dissolve to nothingness after their founding family dies. It'd definetly take a big hit, but I doubt it will 100% go away.
>>96306329When does your game take place? During the Time of the Red, Arasaka was forbidden from operating outside of Japan. Taking out almost all of the Arasaka family at once would weaken them even more than they've already been weakened by the 4CW and the ban, and whatever is left of the company after that would probably be further divided by their respective factions. Yori had his own faction, which was opposed to Saburo and the wider Arasaka organization, so I imagine he'd attempt to wrest control from the other surviving factions and rebuild Arasaka in his own image (assuming he doesn't dissolve it entirely as one final "fuck you" to dear old dad). If successful, he may push to get the ban on Arasaka's international operations lifted much earlier than in the canon timeline, promising to correct his father's mistakes, as well as scouring the world for Saburo loyalists who were operating in secret (maybe even teaming up with Michiko, his niece).
>>96305907>>96305951>>96307374>>96307432Keep in mind that in combat time they should have a chance to react, if the building is tall enough. Even at terminal velocity, a human only falls at 55.6 meters/second, or 166.7 meters per round. Arasaka Tower, as an example, is 620 meters, so the players might have multiple rounds to try to save themselves, whether it be maneuvering towards a soft(er) landing or an action hero grab of a ledge.
>>96319764>Falling 55m\s >Try to grab onto a ledge>Arms snap off>Tumble>Continue falling to your death but now with a mangled bodyI'd rather die painlessly, thank you.
>>96319764im all for going cool moves but haha one of my players character is all organic so >>96320289 is likely to happen to that character in specific if he falls.
>>96319764As far as RED is concerned, Plan B looks grim. If you miss your ledge grab and drop for a round, you're falling 40 meters to the tune of 8d6 damage in 3 seconds. Practically speaking, this is the last moment where you can do something about the fall beyond flattening out like a pancake when you hit: You will on average take about 17 damage if you're wearing LAJ if you can somehow slam into another terrace or roof, or somehow crash back into the building through storm glass. If you don't manage it by then, the next 40 meters will have you taking 16d6 damage which will be 45 damage after armor: More health than most characters will ever have.Beyond that distance, rolling becomes both impractical and largely unnecessary, perhaps explaining the rule. Barring exceptional circumstances (navy diving borgs into deep water, landing on an AV, etc), if you fall double digit stories (9 or more floors) you're done unless the GM says otherwise.
What's more closest to the summoner role: Lawman, Exec, or Rockerboy? Asking for red
>>96321092I would say Lawman in how you can summon backup. Exec lets you summon pencil pushers and accountants? Maybe go exec if you need to fill a skill gap for something. Rockerboy lets you whip up the common folk into a frenzy. In terms of making guys appear out of nowhere to help you kill stuff, Lawnman for sure.
Anyone have the quickhack rules?
>>96321092Lawman is the closest to a summoner mechanically, but it's also the worst Role in the game. Goons you summon take forever to show up, making them impractical alot of the time.Rockerboy is a wishy washy role that relies on the GM to make up goons for you. Can be really good or really trash.Exec is the best of the three by far. You only get a maximum of 3 Goons (and you'll probably only get 1-2 for most of the campaign), but they're always available and can be outfitted with better gear unlike the other two roles.
>>96324383The house rules with my ref would probably allow me to outfit my backup to be more formidable. At the same time, it'd be more of a gut punch if they were killed or injured in the line of duty.
>>96324430In fairness, if you want to customize and upgrade your minions, Exec actually has the means for that. Lawman backup is-- with the exception of Mulder and Scully-- entirely fungible and comes with their standard equipment each time. If you wanted to give them something special, you'd literally need to be hauling it around to give to them.A lot of the rules logic on Lawman is very specific thanks to the massive combat boost you get when your backup arrives. You are sometimes adding as many as 4 more turns to the initiative and unless your Ref is a dick and adds 4 more dudes to the other side, just the initiative weight is already tipping scales.
What's the consensus here on the Cyberpunk RED Companion app versus the Demiplane stuff?
>>96324929In my case, goons who weren't related to my Lawman role got roped into my backup (I still need to figure this out with the ref), so if I give them weapons, they may use them if they show up again. Narratively, Night City is a big place, so I may not always get them if I call for backup, so I wouldn't always count on them showing up when I call for backup. In some cases, I may NOT want to get them as backup if the situation is really dangerous. That's the kinda shit that might cost me humanity if one of my goons that I care about dies.
>>96246570>drone inside his bodyPretty slick. If it's feeding off an internal power cell that kept his other stuff charged, it's kinda like a little parasite. >Despite the fact that half of the group is engaged/married/has kids we do not disclose sex at all at the table.That's fair. I wouldn't want any kind of TTG I share with dudes to turn into some goon sesh. On the other hand, Cyberpunk is a hyper sexualized setting. I think you'd have to address it in some capacity at least, even if none of the PCs actually pork other PCs or NPCs. My character has a joytoy they frequent, but I wouldn't want to delve into explicit erotica. >He goes to the club and gets his rocks off with his favorite joytoy for +1d6 humanityWould be the extent of that kind of interaction. Without wanting to make it explicitly a meta play, I kind of see them as a humanity farming tool.
>>96303446No. Nor is Woo Technique (god I hate that name) in Gun Fu affected by any of the qualities of the gun used, outside of the ammunition loaded and current ammunition count. Silat's Violent Leverage, however, does benefit from weapon quality, because you are making a weapon attack, not a martial arts attack.
>>96335997Oh, also weapon damage with respect to woo technique.
>>96335997>Nor is Woo Technique (god I hate that name)What's wrong with it?
>checking backgrounds of new players characters>ones a mercenary for militech>the other is the same but arasakaInteresting but can it work? Can they work together at all?
>>96342296Wetwork makes for strange bedfellows.
Oy Tomasz hereDrones & Puppeteers are updated to 2.5>Major change is how roboticist work now, it's more of a what if he was a solo (design wise) but played like a netrunner (mechanically).New roboticist lowers their split action penalty by 1 on even levels, and chooses otherwise inaccessible bonus to their drone on odd ones.And rank 10 you gain a second drone as a better finisher.I got rid of not-tech and not-fixer features, you now need a rank in tech OR a HQ upgrade to fabricate/upgrade/invent your drone shit, but you add your roboticist rank to it, so the bonus stays, but you dont overstep into tech territory. As for fixer, now you need to make friends and pay for your shit like a solo, netrunner, media, rocker, lawman does. >Drone upgrades fixesHeavy Duty is now appliceable only on drone creation, not sure how the hell I omited that before.New upgrade: Rank 9, Extremely Durable, drone gains double base SDP, which is 20. What's cool about it is the fact it doesnt take upgrade slot, to balance it - you can only take it on drone creation, which btw seems to be the case for like half of rank 9 drone upgrades.Maximum possible SDP for drones is now 20 (base) + 20 (mentioned upgrade) + 30 (double heavy duty) + 5 (ground based movement) + 10 (turret "movement") = 85Obviously not ounting TUps there. Kind of hard to balance those.You can aso add +10 SDP with outstanding drone ability from your roboticist, but that's just powergaming at this point.>HQ changesMostly to reflect on roboticist changes, go read it if you so desire>New ammoYet another take on explosive ammo - you sacrifice a dice of damage for flat bonus damage of 5, essentially trading crit chance for slightly better average damage.As for autismfire you trade 1d6 for a 4. Thanks to Moff bro for pointint that out.PS Superior chassis for ACPA now gives +20/30/40 for light/medium/heavy frames respectively.
>>96344730Tying into the thread theme, are there any rules for giving drones autonomy? Bonuses/penalties and such?>faster reaction times and better decision making in combat >possibility of it going rogue if it interacts with a bad AIThat sort of thing.
>>96306329>killing the fleshNot enough. Nowhere near enough.
>>96342296A job's a job, and you're not getting paid to start shit with your coworker.
Sparky is a faggot and his shitty art is hilariously pathetic.Watching him stroke his cock with sock puppets is hilarious though. Anyone got any cool drinks from dead Edgerunner NPC's I can steal for background flavor?
>>96348584>Tying into the thread theme, are there any rules for giving drones autonomy? Bonuses/penalties and such?RAW? Nope. RAW drones are simply tools, it looks like authors understood them as a more modern take of various trapped corridors.I'd also say devs didnt knew what to do with them, since they rebalanced them later on - ie. corebook drones dont have SP at all, later introduced drones (such as interface I, Black Chrome and Hornet DLC) all have some sort of SP, which seems to be added without any additional cost, at least when compared to corebook drones. Even arasaka dragonfly one has SP7.If you're asking about drones & puppeteers, the autonomous drones are narratively capable of independent decision making limited by a set of commands. Work with it as you please.In terms of game mechanics - they have the most upgrade slots, cannot be disabled and have a set of upgrades that can only be applied to them, not less sophisticated drones.>AI protocolsYou can mimic non combat stats>Skill chipsetSecond layer, once you got stats, you can slap skills on top of them.>Overclocked processorSimple +1 to all stats because why not>>faster reaction times and better decision making in combatIt's by no means complicated, but it provides (big enough IMO) window of opportunity for you to play an android or have a major NPC be a drone (think G0T0 from KOTOR2 for example).
>>96348584>>96351033 (me)>>possibility of it going rogue if it interacts with a bad AII'm sorry it would be very hard to make a set of rules that would be fair and balanced yet satisfying at the same time.That being said, some time ago an anon proposed to rule playing an android with a negative humanity, that you gain one you progressively upgrade yourself more and more, eventually reaching the point of 0 humanity, in which moment your drone becomes self aware.Now, the following IMO shouldnt be the end of your character like a cyberpsychosis (kind of) is - rather it's a great milestone of character developement, and a new beginning as a sentient being.You gotta ask yourself a few questions, like, what exact systems made you so complicated that you became sentient? Does your drone thinks it has a soul now? Did it also had one? What if it ship of theseus itself, will it still have the same soul? Does it have any goals? Does it want to have a job, a family, a crew or idk, maybe buy itself a nice gemini body with blue eyes and transfer it's newly acquired conciousness into cyberbrain? Or maybe it would like to get a human one and become meat? Could it do so with cloned brain, or would kidnap some poor fella to use their brain?See, the lore in Cyberpunk (tm) is oftentimes "whatever makes it cool", I think reaper is a good example, check the picrel.It even fits the lore, since in 2020 computers simply become an AI after you put enough processing power into them. You can also write a program to be self aware deliberately.
>>96351061>some time ago an anon proposed to rule playing an android with a negative humanityThat was me. Although that mechanic was (in my mind) more for humans wanting to fully chrome themselves and indulge in cyberpsycho behavior without surrendering their character to the ref. The march towards 0 humanity from the negative value is the tipping point where they lose control. Someone said they were going to put together a guide on it, and I gave them my blessing to fiddle with the concept. As for Artificial beings...They aren't burdened by grey matter like their human counterparts, so cyberchosis, I don't think, would be an issue for them. For the sake of balance, though, there needs to be some narrative penalty for introducing more autonomy to AI over time. It also depends on whether the PC is playing as a robot or creating a robot companion and giving it autonomy. >You gotta ask yourself a few questions...(blah blah blah) All good questions that should be hashed out with the ref. Depending on how you intend to play them, I think you could give a sufficiently advanced robot stats & skills like a human. As you note, for >it would be very hard to make a set of rules that would be fair and balanced yet satisfying at the same time.I wouldn't try to work with any humanity stat since the character in question isn't human. I consulted an AI on the subject, and it suggested a number of balancing options I think would work. I'll share them if you'd like. They don't read as too sloppy to me, but I'm no expert when it comes to CPRED meta mechanical 'tism, so I'd have to run them by someone better equipped to grade them.
>>96351208> Someone said they were going to put together a guide on it, and I gave them my blessing to fiddle with the concept.Yeah, that was me.I are these threads like 20 people engaging in circles unknowingly? I recall that right before the counter was deleted it shown pretty low numbers, like 27 or something.>consulting AI on how to roleplay as AIDo share, those mofos sometimes have good stuff that spark my idea tingle
>>96351269While I don't like everything the AI outputted, it touches on some interesting ideas. Pic elated.>EnvironmentalAll the environmental stuff it suggests I'm either indifferent to or agree with.>Machine StressGPT thinks robot characters should have a stat similar to humanity, called stability. I'm not against this concept at a glance, but I'd want a system similar to one introduced by the ERMK where environmental factors affect your humanity (or in the bot's case, stability). i.e. if the robot forms an attachment to a human and that human dies, that robot's stability would suffer. Particularly if the human was a techie, whom they relied on to maintain themselves. Lots of interesting narrative shit to explore with the concept but be wary of it being a rose by any other name for humanity.>Cyberware LockoutGeneral balancing idea I agree with. Obviously, certain cyberware/bioware wouldn't make sense unless the bot was using a fully organic Gemini, vat grown clone, or something from GiTS.>Narrative Cost EconomyAnother balancing suggestion I'm okay with. Not all of them have to be utilized or overly penalizing. Penalties from other concepts might negate this one's necessity.>GPT's take.Pretty even-handed overall. There needs to be more details and numbers. I'll let you figure it out. If you like GPT's outputs, I'd try bouncing stuff off it yourself. It seems to be pretty well read on RED's corebook. I consult it regularly for lore and game mechanics. It's usually right.
>>96270716No one?
>>96270716I have half a setting (resting in disorganised google docs), but it's not rolled. Maybe I'll do some randomisation once I run out of ideas.
In 2020 what happens if your guns reliability goes below UR? I'm thinking of picking up the mustang arms 'Mark II' which drops a reliability rating every 24 rounds fired through it, and my group tends to get into a lot of firefights
>>96270716I stick with NC because my players aren't all familiar with a single city. The murky, neon-lit streets of New Shaitholeburg, population 400, isn't really a compelling setting for edgerunning. But I run games in the late 20s to the late 50s, and I do not consider Red canon. If my players were all familiar with big city life and also lived in my current place of residence; then I'd follow the OG advice of running Cyberpunk in my own home-city. But NC's alright. I don't like the outskirts of it, big open deserts is not something I am familiar with or interested in, but everything else is good. I like the sewers and spillways.
As a netrunner, do you only focus on cyberware for netrunning, or do you also have subdermal armor and other meatspace combat ware? Don't want to end up like Kiwi
>>96270716My group plays in a 2077 version of New York City, though the DM's influenced by more than just Cyberpunk itself (he's mentioned Neuromancer as a heavy influence).
>>96358040If you’re a runner I don’t care who says otherwise you want a linear frameHP is a resource in net running, and having more of it especially helps. Think Placcid from 77, shithead but jacked as hell runner
Thread gonna be axed soon probably (idk the exact reply limit, but it looks like a long one), but I want to start another question as to not make new thread;>Did you find any horryfic implications in RED, or in 2020 for that matter? 2020 seems to be more straightforward with its "It's a dystopia" themes, such as newspaper casually informing about some species getting extinct among other news that body lotto hit new limits.Now, for RED we've got some more mild info, such as:>Goody two shoes Molly fixer is a cannibalPretty hidden, since it's a dlc to a black chrome>Netrunners experience time dilationThey start at 1 net action and go up to 4, and their net actions can be experienced in real life ie. they can command a few drones, so their either aim up to 4 guns at once, or experience time four times slower while in net>chrome is installed without anasthesia, or maybe on local painkillersSince sedative is a pharmaceutical introduced only later, and it gives bonus to the surgeryAnyone got more? Here are a few examples that come to mind.
>>96358492>Goody two shoes Molly fixer is a cannibalI remember talking to Gray about how sanitisted Red is and he brought that up as a point of contention. I think stuff like that is missing the point though.2020 and 2077 have an overall dystopian vibe where everything sucks and everyone's an asshole, to the point where it feels mundane and expected. It's all the bad shit that exists in today's society brought to its logical conclusion.Gun control so weak anyone can buy a disposable SMG from a vending machine for loose change. Privatisation so out of control public services like police, hospitals, schools, transport are almost non existent. Food scarcity no longer being a problem, but the plentifulness of shitty food leading to huge waste and public health problems.Compare that to Red where everything is sunshine and rainbows despite the world being in some kind of decades long crisis and global trade being controlled by groups of nepotistic road bandits. Shit makes no sense. You can't just say, "oh but maelstrom is actually doing edgy grimdark shit in their corner of the map so it's still a dystopia."As much as people love Mike and don't want to utter a bad word about him, I think he went full Lucas with Cybergeneration and V3 and hasn't recovered since. Him taking a step back and letting others write the lore just made things worse...
>>96359349The problem is you. People in the real world are capable of finding tiny bits of joy even in the worst situations, but you can't believe it because you live in the first world and you personally aren't strong enough to endure the horrors, so you refuse to believe that anyone else is capable of it because admitting it hurts your ego.
>>96359349If Gray believes a fixer being a cannibal, it itself being a hidden piece of trivia, makes the setting dystopic - then he has been smoking too much elflines.
>>96270716I have been working on a game that is about combat and espionage getting cranked to the max. It centers on the PCs signing on for service with the newest, hottest PMC on the market. Headed by Adam Smasher himself after he (publically) went independent. Final Horizon Inc. ("The Wild Hunt" in a lot of marketing material) and its adventures as the 5th Corporate War starts heating up. Coupled with what looks like the companies Infamous CEO using jobs as a cover to look for something, or someone.It would be set in 2078 after a different ending to the main game, and ran on augmented 2020 rules with most of tbe splatbooks.
>>96359349> Compare that to Red where everything is sunshine and rainbowsJesus, mate how’d you get that impression?> I think he went full Lucas with Cybergeneration and V3 and hasn't recovered since. Can’t disagree on that> Him taking a step back and letting others write the lore just made things worse...Bitch, Mike be cutting coupons since the 90s, sure his lore is better than whatever reasons gray and James shit out of their collective arse, but what you stated is simply untrue
>>96359530There's nothing wrong with a little levity in your dystopia, but Red goes overboard with all the dumb shit like Danger Gal, Elflines and making the gangs alot friendlier than they should realistically be. >>96359941I'm not sure I get your point. I like Mike's early writing, but his later stuff is noticeably weaker. Red really struggles to nail down it's identity in the corebook and swathes of freelance writers taking over writing the lore has just made things messier. Maybe the NC45 sourcebook will clear things up, but I'm still not sure what Red is supposed to be. The misconception that it's some sort of noble bright post apocalypse setting exists for a reason.
>>96358040On a combat run I'm in upgrade HAJ; I am a walking tank.>>96358485Isn't technically wrong either, though eddies that go into getting huge are eddies you could be spending on kitting out your deck and ways to keep from taking hits to begin with.
>>96353096Nevermind I found it tucked away inside solo of fortune 2
Isn't red supposed to be the societies uplifting themselves from the corpo war that brought down the net? Like the whole idea of nomads bringing goods to cities and the place to get all of the good stuff comes from the night markets.
>>96360282>elflines>MMO keeping the plebs complacient while they rot away in their fantasy game>Danger Gal>privatized mercs using kawaii aesthetics to make their dirty work palatable to the general massesI know that RED doesn't inherently portray them as this but it's not hard to make it work with a little bit of finesse. Not that I really see the point in Elflines aside from being some background detail.
>>96362225Isn't it actually like a crypto mining scheme except it's old net data instead of bitcoins?
>>96362225>privatized mercs using kawaii aesthetics to make their dirty work palatable to the general massesThis is how I tried to portray them in my game.
>>96362225>privatized mercs using kawaii aesthetics to make their dirty work palatable to the general massesAs opposed to just ordinary cyberpunk where privatised mercs do dirty work and it is palatable to the general masses because that's just the world they live in. You know, a world so miserable that you don't need justification to be a contract killer.
>>96363808With people larping as celebrities, animals, and indulging in various other elective cyberware options that are purely cosmetic, I think a few girls running around with cat ears as a gang motif is pretty on brand. I could definitely see some corpo paying a premium for catgirl kill squads to satisfy some fetish for them to act as bodyguards.
>>96358492>>96362272>play most popular game in your city>fight eldritch digital monsters that brainfucked govermental hackers, just in different interfaceseems pretty dystopian and funny at the same time.BTW what do you guys think all this bitcoin calclations were applied to? IRL I mean.
>>96363864Oh please, as if there aren't any retards in real life who do stupid things voluntarily. I can easily accept the existence of an idiot weeb who couldn't get into college and now works as cannon fodder.
>>96351481I'm going to make a 200IQ move and simply push these "balance" into the character creation lifepath, so that the weight of actually coming up with ingame cost of you being a robot is done by your GM.I was also thinking of something like having you choose maybe 2 out of 5 traits avaiable for robots exclusively, but I dislike the idea of introducing traits into RED. A system of such modularity and buider blocks should not be >cyberware lockoutBioware was always just a cyberware in diferent package, i dont think we ever got separate rules how a microwave or EMP works for people with regular chrome or bio-chrome.Lemme check how it works for borgs...Aight, borgs can use bioware, well they're alive (to a certain level) and it would be logical that they could simply pack necessary organs. Alternatively, given how ludicrously advanced cloning is one could assume these organs are synthetic in the first place. I think it fits the universe.Now, borgs get:>double option slotsidk if androids should get that, on one hand battlegloves follow -1 slot rule, but it might be due to the fact they have to work with regular meat. On the other hand - if androids end up as borgs but in different package, why even android?>required living standardI can work with that.>Rudimentary nanomachines that heal your not-meatSee, that's my problem: do I obstruct robots from emulating natural healing, or block them into repairing themselves, and why? What exactly makes them unique from borgs, like mechanically, in terms of game rules, not narratively (which as I stated before kind of fits the lifepath model)?Only changes I see is that robots wouldnt require sleep (but they do need to charge and defragmentate their data, so idk, maybe an hour of "sleep"?), should probably require separate critical hits table, because most of them simply dont match, and... that's it.Idk if I'm just tired or what, I cant come up with anything that would make them unique and worthwhile.
>>96365317 (me)At this point if a player approached me before session 0 and said that he want to play an android, I'd say fuck off.Just kidding, I'd say they will start as a full borg, but we would need to ask ourselves a bunch of questions - are they hunted, are they a humanoid, or what and so on.Sorry m8, looks like I dont have what it takes to make good android ruleset.That being said, I'd gladly make a lifepath for a android player, it's gonna be a fun one to make, cheers!PS: If you have any cool ideas how to make a clone character give me a go, because I wanted to make these for a long time.
>>96365317>I'm going to make a 200IQ move and simply push these "balance" into the character creation lifepathWell, that balance is a big part of how the robot/android is played. If they have a more mechanical body, sleep and consuming organic food may not be required, whereas if they're a Bladerunner-style replicant, they may need to take care of their biological systems. If they have a high-end android-style body from Aliens, they can larp as a human, but they don't need to eat or sleep, even though, mechanically, they could behave like a human for the most part. A more robotic character can simply replace damaged parts, whereas a more biological android may need specially lab-grown meat if they don't want to patch themselves with chrome.>I cant come up with anything that would make them unique and worthwhile.Mechanically, they don't NEED to operate too differently from average humans. They can probably share a lot of the rules of the world. Much of the difference comes with how the world treats them because of their unique body and the unique interactions their body has with the world. A lot of this narrative weight will fall on the Ref to think of how to implement that difference, but the player would hopefully collaborate and work with the Ref to hit that sweet spot of>interesting narrative >balanced mechanics/world interactions. Furthermore, the very nature of balance in this kind of game is going to be subjective anyway. The robot/android PC may end stronger than human PCs mechanically, even with the narrative balance in place. This isn't necessarily a bad thing (if you even could quantify the good or bad numbers). I'd rather enjoy a slightly OP character's story than a bland "human by any other name" character whose backstory was they escaped a factory/lab and now they're Johnny 5 alive or whatever. >>96365395I'm not good at math, so I'd probably consult GPT for that kind of project.
>>96365405See, even your response kind of proves my point:>If robotic/android/baderunner/mechanicalYeah, I'm not going to make four separate playstyles with separate rules, mostly because it's against the spirit of RED.>Furthermore, the very nature of balance in this kind of game is going to be subjective anyway.Huh, I havent thought about it that way. Remarkable.> (if you even could quantify the good or bad numbers)I sure can. ie. James thought of nearly anything, but there are a few ways to abuse the system of the game. That said, I aint the person to restrict my players, I'd rather see them work hard towards getting better stuff, then include higher tier of enemies, basically they start the campaign killing homeless gangers and end it being thrown against militech kill squads and so on.After giving it some thought I think that the choice whether you're a;>CloneKind of fits. You're artificial but not the way they are. You may remember some previous memories, does the original live or died? Do you know them?>AndroidDo you know you're one? Did you found out recently, or knew forever? Are you a prototype or a common unit? (game lore would suggest the former)>Drone that wasnt made in human imageWhat shape and size you are? What was your occupation? How did you end up as a edgerunner?This sort of stuff can be all answered in the lifepath.
>>96363808They don’t just get away with it, they generate good pr for N54
>>96365238>>96363864Given how /ak/ is one of the more active generals on /k/, there's probably a substantial population for which becoming bodysculpted into a catgirl and being part of a kill squad would be closer to a first resort than a last.
Did we get this month's DLC yet
Making a techie with a bunch of cyberpets (2020 with chromebook 3/4 cyberanimal rules) should I go with a bunch of spy kamikaze rats or spy pigeons?
>>96371301We're waiting on (you) to finish it. >>96371265I'm partial to the Adam Smasher style body swapping. Where their work body is a walking tank with built-in guns and nearly 0 humanoid features. This is contrasted by their off-duty body, which is a comparatively more compact and cute body. Extra points when their voice in the FBC is some menacing monster voice, and the cute loli body sounds like the typical kawaii ugu voice.>>96371656Spider bots that can wall walk are cool.
I'm trying to think of one-shot/campaign gig idea. I've previously had one where players are part of the Trauma Team securing a VIP target from the combat zone.Any suggestions or recommendations from your previous games that you found interesting?
>>96371265>>96371750This feeds into the theme of cyberpunk degeneration on 100%.
What's a good name for an Alice in Wonderland-themed posergang? "Mad Hatters" is the only one I can think of at the moment.
>>96295740Sorry for late response, I was really busy. Im guessing Cyberpunk RED as its apparently much simpler, which is good for start. I really was thinking about something basic, getting my players to be some starting mercs and then roping them into some fucked up corpo plot over course of few games. Most of my players are interested thanks to Cyberpunk 2077 so I was thinking about just going with Night City so its somewhat familiar for everyone. Thought I was thinking about earlier time peroid.
cyberpunk updates.>2045 cover. Likely after Solo of Fortune. Writing is all complete. Waiting for the artist(s) to finish.>Interface 5 + Solo of Fortune>Single Player Mode seems next to release (Out late Summer/early Fall 2025.)>Mike is working on new edition of The Witcherhttps://rtalsoriangames.com/2025/08/22/gen-con-2025-was-amazing-announcements-more/
>>96378871forgot the image like a fool
>>96365643Mulling it over, there's really only two options on a mechanical level.>Robot or Android>Full metal murder machine or bio-engineered super soldiercyborgs & androids operate like superhumans with humanity, while robots & drones use stability.Both will be stronger than humans.>better base stats>skill bonuses>unique traitsAnd both will have their drawbacks. I kinda have some ideas knocking around. I gotta let them cook though. > What about a human that goes full borg and wants to do sociopath shit like Adam Smasher?That'd be the negative humanity mechanic, which would also work with organic creatures. Conceivably, you could have a robot have negative stability if you wanted to turn it into an Allied Mastercomputer, Hal 9000, or some similarly homicidal AI.
>>96373107hit your players with the occasional, "I see" when making world rolls. I purposefully have corps not mention details of why things are being done or with hold the full story.SovOil got my players to tag a tanker of CHOOH2 in a convoy. They didn't tell my players the tracker was actually a small C6 charge for later triggering and that the security team was Arasaka.
>>96378871Thank you for these updates even though they hurt.
>>96378877Wow, look at all of those cars on the streets! That's not very lore-accurate.
>>96380732No, you do not understand. These are Americans, Californian Americans no less. Those guys love cars, so when the great car drought of '39 happened, they gathered all the broken down, burned out, smashed up cars that they could find, and they placed them on the streets. They painted them, refurbished them, and now they sit there motionless. This is all to heal the scarred psyche of a people who has been left car-less after they built their entire infrastructure around it. They might not have the engines, but it's style over substance. We can weep for their pain, but we MUST respect their will to overcome.
>>96380766Heh. Joking aside, though, does anyone else feel as if RTG is gradually walking back the more egregious post-war aspects of the Red era? Since Black Chrome, I've noticed a greater push towards giving players stuff, especially name-brand stuff. They've even started bending the rules regarding the price categories, and much of the art is geared towards your typical cyberpunk trappings rather than reflecting the supposedly desperate and poverty-stricken nature of the Time of the Red.
>>96381185Yes, absolutely. I imagine going straight into 77 is difficult for copyright reasons -they probably aren't pivoting as hard as they should- but they are definitely trying to respond to the gut-reaction huge chunks of players had when they saw "You can't have a car until the endgame, you can't have the cyberware you want, that cool gun you want is RNG." For me, being a nasty ol' grog who lives under a bridge and eats my own shit, it is not enough. But better late than never. I refer to earlier comments in this general of 'RTal striking while the iron is cold'. But it's definitely an attempt to make the game more accessible and attractive to the casual player, and I guess if you love Red vanilla then sucks to be you, but it's a benefit to most everyone.
>>96381216I'm in two minds about it. On the one hand, I love stuff, and finally having actual name-brand gear to buy instead of generic crap is a godsend. On the other hand, I wish they did more to emphasize the cobbled-together, survivalist mentality that they clearly wanted players to adopt in the early days. DLC like Night City Weather and Scavenging Night City should've been baked into the core rules somehow.
>>96381275Yeah, but no use wondering about what-if's, I also recommend looking into 2020 for more weapons to fill out the library, and also to port your favourite weapons from real life or video games. Because of grog-bridge-shit I of course just recommend playing 2020 entirely, but even without that I think with how Red is going porting locations and adventures 1:1 is going to be a lot smoother going forward.
>>96381529>but even without that I think with how Red is going porting locations and adventures 1:1 is going to be a lot smoother going forward.Wait, RED is just gonna remake stuff from 2020 now?
>>96383312No, as in you can go to your favourite repository of 2020 gigs and just play them out in Red without worrying about explaining how no one's in Mad Max getups or requesting you to roll on night market tables.
>>96383430Sounds like a soft reboot. I suppose it's fine as long as all the original material is there. It might get kind of confusing lore-wise because I think some stories hinge on the shittiness of the time of the red. Mechanically, my ref hasn't really focused on the apocalyptic aspect of the era, at least from what I've encountered so far.
>Mike and R.Talsorian refuse to write any cyberpunk literature outside of ttrpg books>all future non-ttrpg books will be written by CDPR and will have the same tone as 2077I know that there's no shortage of books in the cyberpunk genre but it would be nice to have a few set during the Time of the Red. Ah well
>>96237546What did Mike Pondsmith mean by this?
>>96390127Not many people know this but before being the head of the Nazi party, Hitler was actually an artist. He would shred on his axe every Saturday night at the local pub, playing the greatest hits of the 80s, 90s, and today.
>>96390127A rockerboy is just someone who can inspire fanatical loyalty.
>>96390127This is a Bowie reference, he called Hitler the first Rockstar in his Thin white duke era.
Has anyone ever tried playing Friday Night Firefight with the 2013 phase system instead of the round initiative that 2020 and RED uses?
>>96391163How does that work? I haven't, but would be interested in trying.
>>96393022Each combat round is divided into three phases. Depending on your REF you may move during some of these phases. On a REF of 2 - 4 you can move on phase 3, on a REF of 5 - 7 you can move on phases 3 and 2 and with a REF of 8 - 10 you can move on all three phases. This means that with a higher REF score you can not only move before other characters but also move multiple times per round. The turn order of each phase is resolved from highest REF to lowest, on a tie both characters act simultaneously.
>>96394485>make REF even more bustedNo thanks.
>>96386430I'm not saying literature during this time wouldn't be interesting but I didn't find any of the adventures in Tales of the Red particularly well written or captivating, not to mention some of the horrid art they use. Perhaps if they got a seperate writing team I'd be more excited at that concept.
>>96394567TOTAL SOLO SUPREMACY!
>>96359349I think people here forget any ttrpg is what you make it. You want res to be more bleak? Create more bleak stories and characters.
>>96391163Reading through the Netrunning rules in 2013 is pretty interesting. It feels like some sort of mix between the ones from RED and 2020. You can still bounce around the world through long distance lines and stuff and connect to the web from home but hacking a computer system is node based rather than the complicated dungeons of 2020 and the grid for a city is abstracted out into the Netrunner being able to try and get into any network on the current grid if he's in a city. There is no counting squares to make sure you pay for your long distance calls. Honestly I might try to homebrew a system based on this and mix in stuff from RED. It takes what I liked about 2020 (being able to connect anywhere) without any of the annoying complications. Very cool stuff.
I have a player that wants to do fearmongering to move people around in any form. Should that be a Rockerboy or Media?
>>96399492Rockerboy directly effects people, media's just now rumors and write articles, if he wanted to Doomsay a crowd into hysteria right now, Rockerboy.
I think one of the general ideas between this and the other cyberpunk thread is that modern cyberpunk doesn't want to tackle emerging issues as we approach our very real scifi dystopia. So here's a rough idea I've cultivated during the past weeks media blitz about AI companions for lonely people.Every choom thinks they're the next top fixer or mission lead if they can just find a crew that'll shut up and obey their flawless instructions. Drones are pretty much only for megacorps due to cost, maintenance, and the daemons. Out of nowhere a mysterious shipment of Raven MicroCyb Gemini appear; their biopod interfaces are broken but the neural implants can be rewired to accept remote daemon commands. At the same time a group of university students have assembled a massive daemon core at NC University that uses the CitiNet to issue commands anywhere in Night City to specially modified control nodes. While this can be rented for research, the daemon core is combat potent (+14 is nothing to sneeze at) and weirdly can interact like our world's LLM's (hold shallow conversations, make art, etc). MCR begins leasing the Gemini (like a Tesla if you miss payments they'll have it march right back) and the students can provide access to their core for a subscription fee. The themes I'd wanna explore would be the players seeing other crews who seemed like friends breaking up over petty arguing because they'd rather run with clankers that don't argue, seeing other crews lose everything after missing some payments, or maybe even give up edgerunning entirely as they just want to be praised by their Gemini, even as monthly lease and subscription payments double. But it could be even worse. If every crew gets split two or even four ways suddenly there isn't enough work to go around, and fixers may refuse to pay full rates for clanker runners. I had ideas for more conspiracies like the students being lead by an AI who will take over all the Gemini but frankly this is bleak enough.
>>96237546Have a group about to finish a Delta Green campaign and some of the players were interested in possibly playing Red, is the a recommendation of good modules? Starter and then a followup if they like it? Maybe some starter advice? I see all the books are mostly in the datapool website, if I've got the right of it. Thanks for the advice in advance.
>>96400326The original cyberpunk timeline deviates radically from the 1990's from what I understand. After the 4th corporate war, people didn't want to give AI's too much autonomy. Furthermore, according the time of the red, supply lines make mass production of sophisticated components really difficult, so keeping an autonomous bot going would be very challenging. That being the case, I think AI-controlled drones or AI walking around in Gemini bodies would be exceedingly rare. I'd say it's full stigma level. People are so wary of advanced AI, they'd call Ziggeraut if they caught wind of any drone enforcement squad that was smarter than a slightly more capable Roomba. Broken down here a little bit here.>>96351481In the universe, a sentient robot/Gemini android would want to keep its existence on the down low as much as possible. Corpos, Fixers, Ziggurat, and more would all be hunting for them for different reasons. Then again, someone mentioned Black Chrome made things less madmaxey, and more 2020's but a little more sketch.This sentiment might have shifted by 2077 since you have those Delamain cabs that are developing their own sentience, the fairly adept AI gun, and the one vending machine that's a little too talkative.
>>96401050I have no idea. I'm in a game right now, learning the mechanics as I go and getting a feel for the play. I need to read some of the core books and EU material before I try to Ref a game or give people advice on running a campaign.I will say if you want to do something EASY to get them into Cybeprunk, the ERMK is essentially RED with a few 2077 toys sprinkled in. I'm assuming they're familiar with the anime or videogame, so they'll probably want material they're more familiar with rather than having to parse through old source books to get a feel for the game and the world. >Why can't I do stuff like in the game/anime!? Why do we have to use payphones!? Agent? Why do I need a cellphone? Don't we have all that stuff internally? What cyberware should I get? It COSTS that much just for cybereyes!? ERMK does a pretty good job of giving you and the players all the tools needed to get started quickly. It also has a lot of QoL stuff packed in for starting players compared to Vanilla Red, which requires you to really THINK about what starting cyberware you chip, what class you're running, and what gear you take along. I think it even has premade characters if the players need additional handholding. If your players aren't running ERMK, they can end up with a really gimped build if they're not careful. My ref's homebrew rules include some of the ERMK humanity stuff since it just makes sense compared to Red's humanity restoration requiring "therapy" and shit. The starter module also includes my homeboy Falco.
>>96401050If you're coming from delta green do you want Militech based gigs and are your players going to enjoy a good fight? Generally Red's pre-made jobs make for good inspiration but I wouldn't run them exactly as written.In the data pack there is a rogue AI that killed a Militech general's daughter and you can help investigate, which pays off later. Also a quick skirmish with Bozo's who are brainwashing people into being chrome-augmented 'fools'. Both are one page adventures good for a session 0.Tales of the Red gave us Reaping the Reaper (the showdown with the AI from before) and Night at the Opera (vampire the masquerade but everyone is faking). If anything my only complaint is these jobs present fantastic elements and end after 2 fights and the tiniest bit of investigation. They could certainly be expanded. Agents of Desire is an interesting kidnapping case but the end is not ideal.You can grab 2020 books and it's very easy to adapt to Red's power level. Basically you want skills check difficulties to be between 13 and 17, but don't forget you can apply penalties, and if you throw in a rare difficulty 21 this should give the crew a huge advantage (in tales of the red these kinds of successes opened up new avenues in the investigation). For npcs you can generally follow the templates in Danger Gal Dossier until you get comfy with the system, and make sure you know what hardened enemies are. The second your crew gets their shit together you can use them. Also some stuff has changed (in particular netrunning is done on-site now and everyone is poor) but most story elements can be adapted. From 2020 the books Night City Stories, Forlorn Hope, and Edgerunners Inc are phenomenal. I can get you links for the books tomorrow but the other repositories should have them too.
>>96237546Drones kinda suck in normal play because of how much investment you need to put in them, and you can't treat them as disposable because of the aforementioned cost.They're at best a luxury when you're swimming in so many eddies you've already min-maxed your cybernetics and humanity caps with all the therapy you could get, which is years of edgerunning down the line.
>>96241810You mine the body with a dual EMP-incendiary combo. When TT comes to pick it up, odds are you're flat lining one or two of them, and giving the rest bigger problems than making sure the gonk doesn't sprint past Chiron.Or scoop out their brain and blend it. Cyberpunk may not have souls, but it sure believes brains are the closest thing.
>>96403295Do you think drones would be a better option if you replaced their repair table with the vehicle one? So even if completely destroyed they can be fixed simply within a week (rip hustle) instead of being DV29 and taking a month? I've had this idea but like you say my crews are all opposed to drones so I can't test it.
>>96403747We run something like that with a partial repair table at our table for drones.Similarly to how medical checks go down based on wound state (lightly wounded - seriously wounded - mortally wounded, etc) we drop the DV and time needed by two tiers for when they've taken less than half their HP and one tier if they've taken more than half but aren't destroyed.This still makes the 'easy to repair' TUP useful, since that's halving the time after the the reduction, So for example, my Luxury Savannah Panther would take a month to fix normally, but if it's only lightly damaged it drops to Expensive, which would take a week, but if I TUP'd it for rapid repair, that'll take only 3 and a half days.I think we also accept repairing as something a tech can do with the extra HQ workbenches.
>>96403963Actually it's funny you mention that because that exact system is what I used because a player really wanted Metal Gear but rules as written even buffing out a few scratches is a month long endeavor (imagine the amount of support MAX-TEC must require). He actually was thrilled because it was usually just a 1-2 week job. I like the HQ idea too. I wasn't sure about tripling the tech's income but I liked the idea to allow the tech to improve their gear and their teammates without denying their weekly income (I've had players claim the tech should repair for free).
>>96404195You can generally cut down on tech money abuse just by getting smart with NPC fixers. For one-to-one sales and trades they're probably happy to do it, but for bulk sales or repeated supply, start haggling both on materials and on outputs and shooting gangers for eddies starts to be much more economical than making artisanal cup noodles.Also I think it's good to remember that RAW repairing things doesn't cost any cash; it just takes time and a check.
>>96399522>right nowso Media is a long term thing if im reading you right? could be neat to play up the paranoia over a campaign
>>96404783Media also gets tapped into rumors and information that other roles would normally have to track down. On the moment to moment, you're gonna know things better than most, and Credibility can be more flexible than may appear:You can publish stories for the masses, but giving a dossier to the right person can move mountains. A good thing to remember is that while evidence will make your information more believable, nothing in the book says the stories you publish have to be even true.That's right, while you shouldn't get in the habit of it, you can use your credibility to lie. Trick a ganglord into going to war with a corp or vice versa, just don't get caught holding the bag or they're going to tear you apart. You aren't the kind of reporter or investigator that survives printing a retraction, but if you wanna play both sides, Media gives you some magical fucking tools for it.
>>96360848Why would anyone apply this "upgrade"?
>>96404783To give rockerboy one last chance (not the other anon but I like rockerboys, I always wanted to play one who would charasmatic impact the big name solo's at the Forlorn Hope like a Pokémon trainer) their special HQ room let's them affect societal change like a media. I think the only example is taking a week to make a world-changing performance that requires your skill DV29, but every week you fail you get +2 next week. https://rtalsoriangames.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/RTG-CPR-DLC-NoPlaceLikeHome.pdf
>>96404783The media is typically several sessions of investigative journalism, or spreading rumors and hearsay to make something "true" in the eyes of the public. Also apart from rolling to hear rumors on the streets, the Media's role ability is basically just ref fiat on what exactly happens, while the rockerboy using charismatic impact can roll for an exact effect if he beats the DV.
Running a Cyberpunk red campaign and just introduced quickhacking. Interested in how do you guys justify that for the setting? I have set it up that its new tech thats being pushed out, can't be used on low quality cyberdecks. I prefer having QHs for the setting because it means my netrunners don't have to squat in combat.
>>96409609The tales of the red story Reaping the Reaper had a short-lived sale of neural implants with a backdoor that the AI Reaper plans to exploit. You could spin it that those neural implants are still on sale.Basically there is poor quality foundational cyberware, such as the soviet cyberarms that are 80% cheaper (100 vs 500) but have 2 less upgrade slots, impose a penalty unless you have 8 body, and any cyberware installed can't be concealed. There was also the cybereye that plays ads and the chipware slot that ejects the chip if you take a head critical hit. So cheap neural implants (100eb) could have 3 slots instead of 5 and make you susceptible to quick hacks and AI intrusion. I also had the idea that a lot of poor solos or gangers might get this neural implant so they could get subdermal grip and smart weapons cheaply, so that's a +1 on attack for your mooks! You could even make a poor Smartgun link upgrade where it takes 3 turns to stow a weapon (slowly unplugging it or the gun breaks) which wouldn't bother enemies at all who only have 1 gun (I feel that if an enemy mook is switching guns for best combat ranges or tactical advantage they probably wouldn't cheap out on cyberware). Now the whole package is just 300eb.I haven't used this myself but it's what I was brainstorming.
How are the RED adventure books (Street Stories and Hope Reborn)? Are they any good?
>>96411804I think the published adventures for RED have amazing ideas (plot and action scenes) but horrible execution. I'd suggest reading them fully before you run a game and consider what you'd change. When I ran Agents of Desire instead of a single final battle against the *checks notes* Saturday Night Buttkicker gang I had my players rescue AI's phone from the Triad. It was a tense infiltration mission and the ramifications are still being felt from assassination attempts out of revenge. Also a lot of the NPC's are awful with ridiculous lore. In 'Haven't a stitch to wear' all last mile deliveries are handled by a single Anarchist cyclist delivery company that everyone respects and fears. I guess the delivery drone lore was forgotten (paid dlc lore btw), and no other delivery companies exist for a city with several million people. Also the bad guys all lack nuance. In the same job the bad guys are a bunch of jerks who just think they can run the delivery company better, they're just eeeeeevil.Also a lot of the adventure stuff just breaks all of the rules from the core rulebook which I don't mind but really makes it hard to care about established lore or rules, which is pretty bad for a game. Reaping the Reaper has 3 netarchitecture, one is so small it can fit inside a drone (instead of backpack sized), one has only 2 floors (minimum is 3), and one has 3 control nodes in a portable netarch (max is 2). How is this done? Tech upgrades, I don't gotta explain shit. And the final boss of Hope Reborn has a nanomachine hive that simultaneously heals him and spews out a nanomachine cloud that can potentially attack all players (attacks opposed by resist drugs/torture a skill almost no player takes). This is perfect boss tech. And the funniest part? Almost all of this tech breaks beyond repair at the end of the encounter, a far cry from Core Red's implications that any gear used against the crew can be repaired by them. This has pissed off players, and I get blamed lol
It must really be ass to be a black American or japanese American in cyberpunk. Africans in Africa are going to space and Japanese megacorps economically rule half the world, and you're stuck in a semicollapsed shithole wewuz'ing people who would call you the dark future streetslang equivalent of Akata or Nisei even if you scraped together the money to your ancestral homeland. I'd join a street gang too.
>>96371301https://rtalsoriangames.com/2025/08/28/so-you-missed-gen-con-cyberpunk-red-august-2025-free-dlc-released/
>>96419082lol
Smasher is cool and all, but he can't be the only corpo-backed murder machine. Are there any lorebooks cataloging all the biggest, baddest, and most borged-out solos throughout the world?
>>96416042If there's one aspect from Red I could remove it's Netrunning and all the associated lore baggage. Cyberware runs on ill defined technomagic so in my mind Netrunning should be a similar case. I really don't care how Quickhacking works since it fixes a mechanical problem of Netrunners having their own subsystem divorced from everything else.R.Tal seem weirdly attached to Netrunning lore and using it to inform the mechanics it despite not really abiding by it though. Similar issue with the economy rules/lore and how R.Tal regularly breaks them when convenient.New editon when?
>>96237546Say is there a better set of homebrew rules for IP gain in the 2020 system cause it seems absolutely glacial with how some skill cost hundreds of points for a single level
>>96420838Edgerunner's Inc had dozens of edgerunners who could either ally or oppose your crews (nothing personal if it's the last one, it's just a job). I don't know 2020 well enough but I assume all of the solos included are badass (they all have Combat Sense +6 or +7 which I assume is equal to a rank 6/7 RED solo) and these are my two favorite borg boys. The jobs are also good inspirations, but won't give you the beat by beat. All of the repositories should have it but I'll shill mine even though it's a bit outdated https://bit <DOT> ly/cyb0rganarchist change the 0. If you want the most recent paid DLC with martial arts I can upload that in a sendfile or something. There is Danger Gal Dossier but that's mostly gang enemies. It has an edgerunner chapter but none of them seem to fit your idea (Maelstrom might though). >>96419082I'm guessing Big Foot is a hardened mini-boss given the +16 combat statline? Custom martial arts is pretty nice. Also a big fan of 'Uh, yeah this tech-upgraded subdermal armor is +2 SP (SP 13 total) but it has a drawback! You need to have BOD 10 like every edgerunner and their retired 'runner granny doesn't have that'. Also an entire assault rifle tech-upgraded to be pop-up? I love the creativity but would like at least some fresh guidelines, considering Red Core is almost 5 years old now.
>>96421092No idea. I don't know if you're reffing or a player wanting to introduce ideas to your ref, but if you feel like progression is too slow, you can always bring it up to your ref. If you are the ref, I would say be more generous with IP distributions. Sometimes it's a matter of choice for players. >You retrieve an encrypted chip, which has the recipe for a medicine to heal people suffering from the chrome flu>Sell it to a corpo fixer to earn 5000 eddies split between the crew>Donate to a non-profit that will develop it to take care of the poor suffering from the chrome flue for 4D6 humanity gain>Decrypt and analyze the data yourself and earn 5D6 IP * 10 doing research and hacking.That way, you give it a narrative hook to the consequence of the choice, and it doesn't feel like a pity party for the players to pick and choose their prize.Have the players argue their point between what's the best choice narratively as well as pragmatically for the reward. Get that critical thinking going between your players. Tie that choice to future consequences to give the world added weight from those players' decisions. >Because you sold the chip to a corpo fixer, the chrome flu medicine went to market. Only those with the highest TTI coverage can afford it. Otherwise, you have to beg, borrow or steal for the medication. The party will now encounter more desperate gangoons fighting for eddies to cure their sick chooms. >Because you gave the recipe out to a non-profit distributor, fewer people around the city are suffering from the chrome flu, You get rep bonuses with the common folk.>Because you dissected the data, you can now produce a cure for the chrome flu yourself. In the future, you can use this for leverage in negotiations or for easy profit if you know someone who needs it. Let those downstream effects compound and give even more weight to the world and the actions of the players.
>>96409609My honest take on quickhacks is that they attack through some sort of personal hotspot used by internal agents which are nearly ubiquitous by 2077 time and wired to cybernetics for diagnostic purposes. Lorewise that doesn’t really work for RED because internal agents (cybernetics in general to a certain extent) are more of a luxury than a everyday thing in that setting. However there are things like internal control features used by corps on their personnel's implants which allows them to remotely disable their cybernetic property. Could be quickhacks might piggyback off of something like that.
>>96424532I'm kinda upset the foundational Cyberware in 2077 is identical to the stuff from 30 years ago but with the Bluetooth backdoor (alright I'm not too surprised). They could have at least added +1 slots.
>>96426762I'm not crazy am I? I thought Neuroports came with interface plugs and a chipware slot by default.
>>96426963I think what he means in the 2077 cyberware has the same stats as the 2045 stuff. Theoretically you could just stick to 2045 ware and be immune to Quickhacks while getting the same performance.
>>96427854>>96426762I went to double check and now I'm actually irritated. Can we at least be angry about things that aren't wildly hallucinated?2045 Neural Link Includes:5 Neuralware SlotsNothing.For 2d6 HL.2077 Neuroport Includes:5 Neuralware Slots.BiomonitorHolophone (Limited Agent Functionality)ChyronInterface PlugsTwo Chipware SocketsVirtuality.For... 2d6 HL.
>>96429316You misunderstand. I don't mean the holophone in particular, I mean how it opens up your other foundational cyberware (and I guess every cyberware since emp effects hit everything individually) to being hacked for no benefit. The holophone is a fantastic upgrade for neural implants after 30+ years (as you posted). But arms/legs, audio, eyes etc are all the same but can be equally fucked over by quickhax. That's what I meant here >>96426762So if 30yo analog cyberware is just as good as modern 2077 cyberware (even the same price, until we get the 2077 source book and analog stuff is x2 price categories or you have to hunt old edgerunners for it) why upgrade? Couldn't I install the holophone but have analog limbs? You could do positive reinforcement (you get +1 slots, on the off chance that you encounter a netrunner that's the risk) or negative reinforcement (repairing is harder and more frequent, not more expensive just harder, if playing with breaking your stuff). It's just silly how cemk77 ignores this. Or maybe by 77 all 45 tech is gone. I mean how many IBM 5100's are left and it got an anime.Personally I'm of the belief that encountering a netrunner is so low I should be safe.
>>96429867... There IS a benefit. The 2077 neuroport features the features of six separate pieces of non-fashionware, one piece of fashionware and a partial Agent in a single installation. All of that for 500 eb more than a Neural Link and a single 2d6 HL cost (reduced to 0 if installed in character gen).I don't have the rules in front of me so I don't know if not having a neuroport protects your other ware from being affected by quickhacks, but as a Referee I'd be skeptical. If you didn't install a door into your cyberware and it's not intensely retro, a netrunner is going to be knocking out a wall.
>>96237546I've got to be honest with you all, I want to have sex with the major from ghost in the shell.
>>96430190I mean you're not wrong.>>96429979I probably wasn't precise and that's my fault (I'm the retard referee who thought that RED railguns could punch through light armorjack without prep for 3 years, or that sliding as a netrunner meant sliding from all of the Black ICE currently tailing you, or most shamefully I thought brawling was ROF1 and didn't realize it was ROF2 until the recent martial arts DLC). The holophone cyberware is leagues better than just the boring neural implants from 2045. My only issue is how it opens the rest of the cyberlimbs to being hacked for no apparent benefit for those limbs. I don't think the CEMK mentions anyone with analogue gear. But having to TU your limbs to ignore netrunner hacking in 2077 would be an interesting trade-off (vs getting +1 slots, or quicker repairs). Maybe in the 2077 book in a few years we will get superior foundational cyberlimbs, either more slots or less HUM loss I think would be the easiest to implement. But only work with the holophone controlling everything. So older analogue becomes way weaker and may force players into an interesting dilemma.
>>96429316Yeah the Neuroport is just a bunch of 2045 ware in a convenient package, that's my point.
>>96430190This but with '95 Major.
>>96429316There's a different humanity cost in different versions of the game? I could not believably pretend to be angry.
>>96431171You're right, because nobody could conceivably choose to be angry about something this dumb in a system that already has ways to reduce HL costs from ware.
>>96433176For me it's more the issue that Red has a really boring cyberware list. Most of the new cyberware added in post corebook splats are combinations of things you can already get for a different eddies/humanity cost. Adding 2077 ware was a good chance to actually add some new ware with different mechanics to the corebook stuff, but it's still the same boring "modular" approach. Mantis Blades/Gorilla Arms are just Heavy Melee weapons, Berserk is just a worse Pain Editor, Projectile Launcher is just a pop up Grenade Launcher that can take rockets for some nonsensical reason.The Neuroport is honestly the best thing the EMK added, because it takes the hassle out of having to buy a bunch of foundational ware with no real function on their own, but R.Tal's general approach to itemisation is just dull and uncreative.I blame James Hutt and his autistic obsession with "muh powercreep" despite the fact vanilla Red is already an unbalanced mess that's very easy to meta game.
>>96237546ETA of the Solo Mode sourcebook ? I'm honestly eager to backport it to CPK2020
>>96436507> despite the fact vanilla Red is already an unbalanced mess that's very easy to meta game.I figure if you try to meta-game, that's when the ref drops in Smasher to fuck with you. For that reason, I'm trying my best not to meta-game and play things straight. >>96437544No idea. I'd like to work on a Robot/drone AI module, but I need someone better versed in the deeper mechanics to check my work and suggest how to best integrate some concepts into the game (if someone wants to roleplay as an AI in a robot in meatspace).
>>96437603>Robot/drone AI moduleNot that anon but tell me more. I'm trying to make my own netrunning DLC based (like how tales of the red breaks the netarch rules, or my own ideas for tech-upgraded black ICE) and I'd be happy to share my ideas/spitball. I think the biggest thing holding me back is I'm absolute ass with MSWord so I'd just post some ugly fuggin' word doc and nobody could take me seriously
>>96437603Red's version of Smasher isn't that hard to beat with an optimised party. Only issue is if the GM sics him on you early but a party of 3-4 with linear frames and martial arts will gangbang Smasher to death no problem.Red's issue is the gear/cyberware list is quite shallow and you quickly figure out the good/bad options so players wanting to make strong characters are funnelled into making the same build over and over. Basically buy a Linear Frame and put 6 into any Martial Art and you've solved most combat scenarios the game can throw at you.Now being able to meta game busted builds isn't a problem in itself but any attempt made to break up this boring meta and add new weapons and cyberware that can compete with the established meta picks is decried as "power creep" by the devs.Like adding a rifle that could do 6d6 is too powerful but Wrestling being able to instakill an enemy with a choke is fine.
>>96437861It still needs more time in the oven. I'd like to use the RED corebook page design/layout. I'd seen someone post a custom module with that stuff, so I know it can be done. It's just a matter of compiling it all into a PDF. Some basic stuff.>AI characters have their own role, "Awakened", and cannot utilize any other role.>They can inhabit any kind of drone/robot body that can host their "mind". Starting out, you might be stuck in something as meek as a little quadcopter. Endgame, you could be walking around in a Linear-frame'd Gemini packing more chrome than a regular meatbag human since you're literally "built different". >As an AI advances their "Awakened" role ability, they can have doppleganger versions of themselves, backups, and spread themselves like a virus (if they want to be really malicious). They also get some other specific role bonuses that let them do some wild shit.>The tradeoff is harder growth and environmental obstacles that make advancement more difficult for awakened players. >Instead of humanity, AI's will have "stability". If their stability drops to 0, they'll experience something akin to cyberpsyhosis or some other negative gameplay outcome.I haven't quite worked out the stability mechanics yet, but essentially, that's the answer to "what about the humanity score?" It'll function similarly to humanity but have some unique flavor in terms of gaining and losing it. I want it to work in such a way that the ref and players don't feel like they're having to learn a whole new system just to enjoy the class. Enough stuff should bleed over terminology-wise that a slight shift in mechanics doesn't throw people, while at the same time making sense mechanically and narratively. The ref will have to do some heavy lifting in terms of accommodating an awakened player. Most of the world will not treat that player nicely. Think of it like being a Jedi in the Star Wars Galaxies (very dangerous).
>>96437861>can’t find me a god templateAlways happy to shill my stuff.https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13M8JJh1qC9VaqZ6kPM3NTXJCX10H_HHgYou don’t need to credit me in any way for the template (although I’d like to be credited IF we are to cooperate refine your ideas in this thread or the next one).Also, I’m the anon that wanted to make android/clone character origins. Hadn’t started yet, but I’ll be expanding on drones & puppeteers soon enough.I’m also working on making a nomad book, much the same way as golden chrome was the black chrome we deserved, this will be not-rusted chrome.Sorry, I tend to speak much about myself. Experience here taught me most anons doesn’t give a fuck about that, but deep down I believe there’s a Sfjall’esque anon that is happy to see more of my content.
I never played Cyberpunk, I'm currently reading through the rules. Am I shooting myself in the foot by joining a heavily home-brewed west marches style game and make a netrunner as my first character?
>>96441813Are you playing red? As long as your referee includes netrunning stuff you'll be OK and can contribute. I think the misunderstanding with cyberpunk is that there are no classes. Your role is just another skill/resource. You can be a netrunner who kicks ass at diplomacy or combat. Look at this dude, what do you think his class is? He's a journalist!
>>96441813>Am I shooting myself in the foot by joining a heavily home-brewed west marches style game and make a netrunner as my first character?I would say that it'd be better for you to join a more "grounded" game using as close to RAW as possible (minor tweaks here and there are fine). Speaking from experience, you don't want your first time with this game to be some weird homebrewed mess. As for playing as a netrunner, while it's not as complicated as 2020, playing that role in RED still requires you be aware of the nuances of it. It's very much a question of how much you (and your group) are able to tolerate.
>>96442564>>96442965I see, thank you for your answers.
Really in a cyberpunk mood. Should I learn 2020 or red?
>>964466782020
Out of curiosity, how do you people feel about cy_borg?
>>96449034Care to be more specific?
>>96449073do you like it?
>>96449388Never tried it, but is probably worth looking over if you're interested. -borg games don't make a lot of waves but I rarely hear anyone talk shit about them outside of the surface level aesthetic. That said since no one is talking about it these days that probably means that it is not sufficiently different from other narrativist games to stand out, and not impressive enough to the average cyberpunk enjoyer that they'd care to make a switch. Back when it was the new hotness I didn't see anyone be very impressed with it, and the general sentiment was that it was not a suitable replacement for 2020. But shit if you want an excuse to check it out, I don my pope hat and say 'go forth'.
>>96437972>>96437861>https://files.catbox.moe/0nizfi.pdfWIP "awakened" role. Claude helped me organize my ideas and fluff them up a bit. Some topics to tackle>What do I need to add?>What do I need to change?>what do I scrap?Stuff I highlighted in yellow is things that I think need the most attention.>choosing cyberwareDepending on your starting "body", the cyberware you choose may be limited. Thinking about compatibility between different bodies and such feels like it gets complicated fast. The easy answer is "only let players use standard humban-borg parts if they make it to a gemini body," or something to that effect, which might work, but I'd like the player to be able to upgrade their body piecemeal. They need to be able to customize and create cyborg parts akin to the kind humans use. They may need a techie friend they can trust to install them. Think Johnny 5 gearing himself up.>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LABMISLl7Y8Next up, Stability, >Stability loss and gainClaude offered lots of examples, but I fear this may be more taxing than necessary for players to track stability loss/gain. If you think it looks alright, I can leave it be and let individual players figure out how they want to work it.>Hacking vulnerabilitiesAnother suggestion from Claude, which fits, but I don't know how much mechanically I need to delve into it.
Do melee weapons require a clear sight too for autohits or once you're in combat, people are aware of the assassin?I do know ambushes count but I'm thinking of:>enter combat by ambush>ally assassin throws smoke grenade to cover main assassin>fight starts>opponent lacks the cyberware to see through smoke or something, misses attack>main assassin moves to behind opponent to further confuse opponent and strikes againNormal hit or autohit? asking for red
>>96457928Smoke applies a penalty on attacks and shots through it, which by definition means you can attack or shoot people in smoke, which also by definition means you can see them even if they're "obscured".They're normal hit beyond the initial ambush, but the target in smoke is going to take a -4 penalty to their evasion because you are obscured by the smoke.As a Ref I would probably allow an automatic hit from your initial attack so long as its being made during the ambush.If you want to hit and run to get another automatic hit I would require you to break line of sight in such a way that there is uncertainty where you are. Ducking behind a wall and then running back the way you came wouldn't be enough.
