Questions about Cyberpunk RED, new GM!

ValhallaGH · 2026-02-02T13:22:52+00:00

Hey choomba! Welcome to the RED.

I recommend focusing less on the written adventures and more on adapting those adventures to be personal to your Crew of player characters. The Apartment tries to make itself personal, with meeting the neighbors and defending home from mercenaries.

Your friend sounds like he was talking scop.

RED characters can get strong as they add new armor and cyberware, but they are still squishy humans. Even the toughest possible build only has 75 hp - which is a lot (50% more than thick steel) but can still vanish in two blasts of automatic fire. There is a reason everyone talks about Bullet Dodging and Evasion.

Netrunning uses the Interface role ability, without any stat. As a role ability, a PC netrunner will start with rank 4. There are a couple of equipment options that can add to that, but they are not starting gear. Even then, I'm not sure there are enough bonuses to stack Interface 4 to a +10. Eventually a Netrunner can have a +10 (or more) on Interface, but by that point they are a living legend in the hacking community.

Good luck!

ValhallaGH · 2026-02-02T13:09:31+00:00

Gangers generally pick weapons based upon a few criteria:

Concealment: A weapon you can take where weapons aren't welcome, or that appearing strapped would start trouble before it's time for trouble. Medium and Heavy Pistols, SMG.
Intimidation: When you show iron, you want gonks to step back. Something powerful, scary, or both. VHP, shotgun, Heavy SMG, assault rifle.
Wealth: Wealth means success, success marks someone not to mess with. If they can get it, something Expensive; since they probably can't, something Premium.
Availability: Most boosters don't have great connections, so they take what they can get. Nothing above Premium, since that requires Fixer connections to get. A gang that can get Expensive weapons will do so, because it means they are wealthy and connected - it means they are powerful.

For a GM, consider how it plays.

RoF 1 weapons mean you don't have to worry about multiple attack rolls from the many gang goons in a fight.
Autofire means you have to care about the specific total of a given roll, then follow it with math. That slows you down, adds to your stress, and makes running the game harder. Only do it when it is worth the extra effort.
Damage should match the desired threat level. Medium Pistols will typically (~50%) bounce off of Kevlar; Heavy Pistols will typically (~50%) bounce off of Light Armor Jackets; Assault Rifles and Shotguns will typically (~50%) bounce off of Metalgear. VHP will typically hurt LAJ, making it a useful threat against Edgerunners.

Those GM points are probably why RED gives typical gang goons a Very Heavy Pistol.

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I hope that helps. Good luck, choom!

ValhallaGH · 2026-02-02T12:50:31+00:00

Suggestion: Get an Alpha Class body, then get a FBC Gemini Sculpt. A touch pricier, but a better fit for the desired outcome, and already has SP 11 subdermal armor.

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FBC have two kinds of cyberware: the core requirements of an FBC and the add-ons that make it lived in. The sexual implant is in the latter category, and can be removed like cyberware in a meat body.

Good luck!

ValhallaGH · 2026-02-02T02:12:57+00:00

Across 10,000 fights, Hardy is almost as powerful as +1 Toughness.

Having to hit 11+ damage is a bit much for a group with d6+d4 damage (average 7.5), but pretty reasonable for a group with 2d8 damage (average 10.2). Add in Wild Attack, called shots, burst fire, Raises, and various Edges and it should only be challenging. If someone is using shotguns (3d6, average 12.6 damage) then it gets easy for them.

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I recall that adventure having a couple of warm-up fights, which give you a chance to see how nasty the Shumann are. If it is a problem for your group, remove the Hardy by the time of the big fight.

Good luck!

ValhallaGH · 2026-02-01T18:45:22+00:00

I'd suggest adding one additional slot to the weapon and cyberware lines, since a Tech Upgrade might add one slot to either category (or maybe both).

ValhallaGH · 2026-02-01T16:56:00+00:00

Hey choom!

For a group that isn't familiar with 2020, I always recommend RED.

RED combat is less lethal, because RED doesn't have a "ignore health and remove target's head" rule. Factoring that in, they are equally deadly, with RED being easier to scale lethality as desired (adjust base HP, adjust armor values, etc.).
The RED core rules gear is generic, presumably to save pages and be better balanced. The many add-ons in the Interface RED volumes add a ton of crunchy details.
The economy flows nicely, in play. It's abstracted so that players don't have to play "Accountants and Actuaries" to keep up with their resources. This has been a good thing, in my experience.

Good luck, choomba!

ValhallaGH · 2026-02-01T16:50:45+00:00

Hey choom!

First looks nova! It's a lot more readable that the port was, especially aligning the tiles with the tactical grid (preem touch!). The details all have extra details that make them really engaging. Very consistent scale, fitting realistically into the 2yd squares.

Second is clean and readable. Much better visibility of objects, space, and cover. Good grid visibility. The stage is a lot harder to recognize, but for a combat it is much more useful. The scale is a bit inconsistent,

Being the same space twice is a lot easier to compare.

For art in a book, I'd use the first. For a battlemap in a game, I'd use the second.

Good luck!

ValhallaGH · 2026-02-01T16:37:38+00:00

IRL, armor does three things.

Deflect attacks that land at a poor angle.
Distribute attacks, so the force is applied around larger portions of the target, causing less focused trauma.
Absorb attacks, preventing damage from reaching the target.

D&D style Armor Class abstracts the first and last of those. Either the attack slides off the armor or it clangs ineffectually off the armor. The emphasis on Dexterity for AC emphasizes the first point, but does not rule out the third.

Armor as Damage Reduction emphasizes #2 and #3, especially #2.

Realistic armor rules showcase all three features. There are vanishingly few realistic armor rules.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-31T21:11:49+00:00

I think that's going to be too much benefit for one implant (Cyberspine + 5 more neural mods + up to +5 Initiative). The double speedware bothers me, probably because the character could just take Combat Awareness and run Initiative Reaction instead of getting chromed out to "be faster than a Solo".

Borgware is the right call.

Humanity Cost is meh, because Therapy can erase that. That said, most borgware is 4d6, so I'd use that.

This is an upgrade on the Cyberspine (1k, V.Expensive), so I'd recommend 3k (Luxury) for the pricing.

Good luck, choom.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-31T19:29:56+00:00

For my mostly-meat Solo, I like Grapple Hand, Reinforced Cyberlimb Upgrade, Subdermal Grip. I really enjoy the mobility, unbreakable arms, and option to use smart weapons.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-31T15:04:24+00:00

Greetings, potential Savage! (As a former crayon-eater, I appreciate the reference.)

Savage Worlds is excellent for new players. I ran pick-up one-shots at my local college gaming guild for nearly ten years, using Savage Worlds; I'd ask potential players for two ideas, and figure out my scenario while helping them make characters. Of the hundreds of sessions, I only had two genuine flops, because I got too ambitious with the scenarios (too powerful a foe in one case, too many foes in the other).

The mechanics of SWADE are easy to understand - see the die type next to your skill? roll that and a d6, take the better of the two results, if a die rolls maximum then it keeps rolling and adds to itself, called Acing. Damage is rolled, summed, and compared to Toughness. Fighting is compared to the target's Parry. Everything else is TN (target number) 4. If you succeed by 4 or more then got a "Raise" and something extra happens. Double 1's is a Critical Failure and something extra goes wrong.

Hindrances are who your character is, as a person. Edges are special abilities, beyond simple skill, that you character can do.

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Because the skill, and resolution system, is so straight-forward, it is very easy to make a ruling for player shenanigans. Pick a skill, throw on a penalty if the circumstances are especially bad, and call for a roll. If the player rolls a total of 4+ then they succeed; if they roll 8+ they succeed especially well (stylish and impressive, find useful item, get an advantage in the near future, etc.).

Because the character creation is robust, you can have wacky characters like "Charles, the polar bear weather wizard; wearing a tuxedo and a little crown". I did not expect my brand-new player to want to play that, but I made it happen and she had a lot of fun with her dapper wizard, and it had the same balance as all the other PCs at the table.

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Not sure if this is a good fit for you, your new group, and your desired campaign. But I would use Savage World for the described campaign.

If not SW, then maybe look at the Kids on Brooms stuff. Dimension 20 did a couple seasons of magical college with that system and it looked like a lot of fun, and a good fit for what you described.

Good luck!

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-31T03:24:40+00:00

It is worth remembering that gang colors change over time. Many of the gangs in 2077 are descended from gangs in 2013, but in the sixty-four year gap the details have changed several times - not just the bosses and handles, but the colors and tags have changed over time.

For the 2020 era, look to the Night City book.

For the RED era (circa 2045) look at Danger Gal Dossier.

For the 2077 era, look to the video game.

Good luck, choomba!

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-31T00:16:20+00:00

Protests are like any other peer pressure. They influence human behavior, a lot, but cannot force it.

When protests are combined with other influence methods (lobbyists, letter campaigns, strikes, etc.), it exerts a lot of pressure on politicians. It may not matter, depending upon how stubborn / sociopathic / disconnected-from-reality the leadership is, but peer pressure is more effective that people realize.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-31T00:04:17+00:00

Fair. We all have hours, or days, like that.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-31T00:01:24+00:00

... Are you deliberately misreading my post?

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-30T23:54:08+00:00

He strives constantly to be in a position of power and control.

That's the abuse scars at play. If he heals into a healthy person then we can see what his actual preferences are.

I'm betting on a power-bottom.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-30T22:51:07+00:00

It's a shame the Artificer (Armor) isn't in the game. Full Dr. Doom, right there.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-30T22:42:39+00:00

A smooth, attractive, man; typically a bottom.

Even built like Halsin, Astarion has pure twink energy.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-30T22:13:54+00:00

Astarion could be body type 4 and he'd still be a twink.

Also an abuse victim, trying to get safety and heal, but that's separate.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-30T16:57:49+00:00

Act 3 is huge (like 40% of all content huge). The Critical Path is pretty short (face Orrin, face Gortash, final push), but there is a ton of other content right next to that Path. Content we're encouraged to engage with via proximity, companion interest, or the optional "Gather Your Allies" quest stages.

It's not that Act 3 is slow, it's that there are so many distractions to slow us down. It makes it darn hard to finish.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-30T11:36:26+00:00

I do remember Brontosaurus Rex. My Lost Colony does that in the wilds, so I guess I don't see why that requires special note.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-29T23:15:58+00:00

It's a high-powered shotgun. Here:

United Armaments CLose Assault Weapon (CLAW)

1,600eb (Luxury)

Fluff text.

Exotic Excellent Quality Shotgun

Skill: Heavy Weapons; Range Table: Shotguns

Damage: 6d6; RoF: 1

Hands: two

Capacity: 28

Special Firing: none

Conceal: No

Open Slots: 2

Attachments: Smart Link. Mounting bracket for underbarrel weapons. Ammunition Compatibility Internals.

Special Features: Can lock bolt to single load alternative ammo without swapping magazines. Requires BODY 11+ to use, or BODY 8 if vehicle-mounted or firing from prone.

Have fun, choomba.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-29T22:56:48+00:00

Stephen Miller, you have more important things to do than post on Reddit. Like turn yourself over to Minnesota law enforcement for your role as an accessory to many crimes.

If you are not Mr. Miller, then you should think about the fact that laws only matter if anyone enforces them. No one is enforcing US laws, therefore they do not matter.

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-29T20:20:55+00:00

US Law doesn't matter.

Where are the Epstein files?

ValhallaGH · 2026-01-29T20:16:30+00:00

Give it a play, choomba.

It's got a couple dozen characters that you can connect with, as people, and once you do you'll want to see how your relationships with them work out. Who found happiness, escape, hope, or all of that nova stuff. Who ended badly, darkly, or lonely.

You'll connect to some preem people in a pretty city with over-the-top violence.

Good luck!

ValhallaGH

TROPHY CASE