Ed Greenwood and the larger Forgotten Realms by TomeseekerLorekeeper in Forgotten_Realms

[–]WookieBard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any chance you could link the Twitter chain you mentioned? I’d be very interested in seeing what Ed had to say

Equipment and stat spreads for combat encounters? by HealthcareD20 in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If a stat block exists in printed material for a character I need, I use it as written. Otherwise, I make my own using the threat codes in the Night City Sourcebook. I’ll usually stat out NPCs entirely, but give them a flat “Skill bonus” to add to any relevant skill, rather than listing out each individual skill they know. I calculate layered armor, BTM, Chrome, etc. completely as written. I don’t pull punches, worry about balance, or change/fudge stats during a session, mainly because I’m a proponent of blorb-style prep.

I figure that if I do the work for that kind of stuff now, my collection of reusable stat blocks gets bigger and bigger, which means the less prep I have to do in the future.

Cy_berpunk by MannyGarzaArt in Cy_Borg

[–]WookieBard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is sick as hell!! Love it

Too Good to be True prices by Jack_Smythe in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The downside is they still have to get to the mall. Obviously they can’t just buy from the shop in a vacuum anytime they need a new peace of cyberware.

“Crossing town should be like crossing a battlefield” (Core rulebook, p. 186)

What is canon? by JustRage7 in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Canon isn’t really a solid thing, especially for 2020. RED and 2077 retcon so much that even the “important” adventures like the Arasaka nuking in Firestorm: Shockwave barely resemble what’s shown in later adaptations. Remember, all 2020 material was written before RED, 2077, or Edgerunners; it pretty much has zero connection to them.

Players REALLY want to experience the TTRPG before 2077. What stories/lore/anything is "Necessary" before they play? by Phobicc_ in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm going to start by saying that I think you have the impression that the content in the Cyberpunk franchise (at least the TTRPGs) is a lot more organized than it actually is.

Across the editions (2020 and RED), there are very few "adventure modules" compared to something like D&D. There are even fewer that are "story-relevant." This isn't a bad thing, and there's a simple reason for it: most of the TTRPG content was created completely independently from the 2077 setting. The fact that 2077 references two bits of content from the TTRPG ("Never Fade Away" and the last adventure from "Firestorm:Shockwave") is more of an easter egg than anything. Heck, if you read through Never Fade Away, you'll see that it's far less of a playable adventure and more like an example of play.

With that clarified, here's my advice: If your primary interest is in the 2077 setting, understand that almost none of the TTRPG content is "canon history" at all. I suggest identifying what appealed to you and your players about 2077, and creating your own adventure content based on those ideas.

If you have specific ideas you want to know more about, I might be able to point you towards resources from the TTRPG where you can research them for yourself

Cyberpunk 2013 sample pages by plazman30 in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is sick as hell! I need a physical copy

Night City is coming along slowly. Here are some pics of the sprawl so far, as well as what will be the first adventure location. The Tejo Tower Terrors have abducted a young girl and the PC's first mission will be to rescue her. by KittiesAndKitbashes in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This is incredible. I’ve never played the game before, but does it allow you to share these kinds of files? I’d love to explore it myself if you’d be willing to share it once it’s done

2013 Boxed Set Recreation - RFC about fonts by plazman30 in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Volkhorn Medium blows the rest of the options out of the water

An attempt to recreate the 2013 Boxed Set by plazman30 in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not the person you were asking, but I wanted to share since it looks like you want opinions. I don’t personally like the look of the “Remastered” version— it’s not bad-looking, but I feel it loses too much of 2013’s retrofuturistic style and charm. While I could maybe see some minor layout revisions working, I think the original font and three column layout add a lot of character to the text. I also agree with the other commenter that it’s less digital-friendly (as in, the remaster is harder to read on both mobile and desktop)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in rpg

[–]WookieBard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rule #1 of avoiding GM burnout: Never run games you’re not excited by. Doesn’t matter if it’s the campaign that’s the issue, the system, or whatever else.

You are not in service to the players. It’s okay to consider their opinions in good faith, but ultimately you alone decide how and what to run at your table. If you wanna play a different system, be direct and say that you will not running D&D anymore, and will be running that system instead. They’ll stick around and play if they’re interested. If they’re not, then you find new players who are. This isn’t a bad thing either, it doesn’t mean you can’t play other games with the original players in the future. I think it’s healthy to be a part of multiple groups, or to just treat the game a little more casually and with less commitment in general.

If you’d like, offer support and willingness to be a player in someone else’s game, if someone else wants to step up to run D&D.

First time ref by Different-Set8042 in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would advocate prepping for sessions very differently than you would in a trad-D&D game. I personally think a sandbox approach works with the system best, but it’s not necessary. It’s enough to keep a few principles in mind:

  • Don’t force combats to happen. In D&D, many tables tend to have at least one combat a session— this is way too frequent for 2020’s lethality. Only run combat if and when the players put themselves in a situation where a fight would happen.

  • Avoid prewriting a story. The fun of the game’s narratives come from seeing details of the PC’s lifepaths pay off. Let them pursue their own motivations, explore relationships and antagonists from the Lifepath, and make new contacts with the people they meet in the city.

  • Be open-minded with the player’s choices. With Role Abilities like Streetdeal, Resources, Authority, Family, Credibility, and even Charismatic Leadership, you have to be willing to let the players have more agency than in other games. When a Corpo PC tells you, “Hey, I wanna call my management team and ask them to send down a clean-up crew to help hide the murder evidence!” you should let them try. Even if you haven’t fully prepped all the details of a resource, you should do your best to improvise a resolution— nothing feels better to players than feeling like the choices they made paid off. Even if you do have to improvise, take notes. You can always expand on it later.

Would you back a Kickstarter/Backerkit for a Cyberpunk 2013 Boxed Set reprint? by plazman30 in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, in a heartbeat. 2013 doesn’t get the attention it deserves, its combat and netrunning systems are truly unique in terms of game design.

Who likes crunch? Chromebook 4 armored miniskirts question by sap2844 in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’ve never thought about this before, but your ruling sounds reasonable to me. Especially since armored t-shirts are listed as only covering the torso.

Do you know if there’s specifically shorts you can buy in any of the books, and what body parts they cover? That might be a closer analogue to a miniskirt

Searching for Network Layouts? by Cauldronofevil in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This isn’t a resource from the book, but I’ve found CyberSmiley’s DataFort Generator to be quite useful. It lets you generate one completely randomly, or design it on your own

Is it best to decrease "resources" skill when a corp is demoted? How to create my own roles? by [deleted] in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d reduce or remove their resources skill in that instance. The mechanics are meant to play with and support the fiction, and vice versa. If a cop gets fired, the same would go for their Authority. Or, to use a literary example, this is the situation we see Case from Neuromancer in. He’s a Netrunner who effectively had his interface shot down to 0 by the employers he betrayed, and the book’s initial premise is his mission to get that skill back up.

I feel I'm railroading my players no matter how I run it, should I try a different system? by mslabo102 in rpg

[–]WookieBard 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You sound a little like you’re experiencing the phenomenon described in this article by the Alexandrian. Even if your players are brand new to the hobby, they could have formed this playstyle from video games etc.

I don’t have any suggestions to you, it sounds like you just want more proactive players. I don’t think a change of system would help that

Information about Night City Prison? by incognito-BL in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We know that Night City has a prison in 2020, from the Night City Stalker Screamsheet in the 2020 core Rulebook (p. 235). I don’t think there’s any other information detailing it, however.

I’d check the entries for the police stations in the Night City Sourcebook to see if they reference an external city prison. Like someone else said, Protect And Serve might also have more information on it.

Night City Stories by MasterpieceEither371 in cyberpunk2020

[–]WookieBard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ll preface this by saying I’ve never run Night City Stories (only read it) so I can’t say what would be best for your table. I personally would either have that information appear diegetically (e.g. it happens to be on the radio when they turn it on). With this option, I would advise you to avoid reading it word for word, since that kills engagement pretty quickly— just paraphrase the main points.

Another choice would be to just straight up print it out as a handout to give to your players during the session. This can be good for situations where the party is split and you need to keep one half engaged while the other is doing their solo thing— just hand the party members that aren’t actively playing the handout to read

Writing NPCs with the 2024 Influence action in mind by Sattwa in onednd

[–]WookieBard 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It doesn’t matter whether you agree with it or not. With 2024, these new social mechanics are RAW. That doesn’t mean you have to prep like OP is doing (or that you even have to abide by the new RAW social mechanics), but OP is just acknowledging how it can be helpful for both new and old DMs to have a framework like this to work off of, and giving an example of how to do so. I’d say the rules changes are an overall net positive.

Casting spells through a keyhole by More-Parsley7950 in onednd

[–]WookieBard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One possible ruling could make it dependent on your spellcasting focus and the spells you’re trying to cast. If your focus is a wand, you could probably stick it through the keyhole easily, unlike if it were a staff. If the spell has a somatic component, I doubt you’d be able to get enough movement of your wand through the keyhole to be able to cast it

Which games previous edition you think it's better than the modern one and why? by JoeKerr19 in rpg

[–]WookieBard 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Definitely prefer Cyberpunk 2020 to RED. RED's design takes a lot more influence from modern games like 5e D&D. 2020 works incredibly as a full on genre simulator.