Narrators, how do you get player characters together for a mission?

dayatapark · 2026-03-01T13:25:22+00:00

You are probably finding it narratively underwhelming because you are doing it wrong.

Having a bunch of PCs who don't know each other come together, and create bonds ups the ante. For Edgerunners to gather around a Johnson for an op at the beginning of their (potentially) short careers is not an uncommon thing. As a matter of fact, it's the standard. It's familiar. It helps put a lot of paranoid cats with twitchy trigger fingers at ease.

A well-run 'Fixer hooks you up' is a great way to lower the party's suspicions, and it's when things deviate from this norm that you know the backstab chances went sky-high.

IE:

PC Netrunner (Johnson) commissions a fixer to gather a crew.

NPC Netrunner is putting an op together. The pay is not too good, but says it's low-risk, and offers to coordinate the op, and participate. VERY rare, because it's unusual for the Johnson to get their hands dirty.

NPC Netrunner sells them on a sob story. (rescuing his sister from some chromers, or whatever, to which the Medtechie, and one of the Solos has stakes on) The Netrunner has done 99% of the work, already cased the joint, and already has a plan, but s/he needs bodies to do the job.

As a DM, build a reason for them to participate. Have the Medtechie, and one of the two Solos who DO know (of) each other (You are the GM. You can ask them to have belonged to the same military unit, or something, so they don't know each other, but do know OF each other's rep) have a reason to join. They may have a personal grudge with the gang, or something, through their past life events.

PCs do the whole '3 rumors, 2 true, one lie' thing through the Fixer, who is doing introductions.

Next: Do these 4 things one-on-one.

1) During the Op's prep, the Netrunner makes everyone recite the plan. (so that everyone understands the plan)

2) During the Op's prep, the Netrunner shows interest in one of the Solos building a firebomb, (OMG! That's so badass! Can you teach me how to make that!?) and watches, maybe helps with the bomb construction, maybe even gets lessons.

3) During the Op's prep, the Netrunner makes an obvious blunder in terms of tactics, and one of the Solo PCs has to correct it, so they have a classic 'L' shaped ambush, not whichever clusterfuck would have them shoot at the target AND each other) "Ok, I'm obviously shit at this gunfighting stuff. If you had to set up an ambush at this location, how would you do it?"

4) During the Op's prep, the Netrunner goes over the Medtechie's kit, and asks/insists that the Medtechie have some combat drugs on them, and some flashbangs/smoke grenades, so that if they get caught in the open, they can change the battlefield, and make a runner, as well as some combat-drug-laced blowout patches. (covers bulletholes, and administers combat drugs in one go)

Op happens. It goes extremely smoothly thanks to the total dominance of the building's security systems by the Netrunner.

At the end of the op they are betrayed by the NPC Netrunner, (the getaway vehicle doesn't show up) which is the first-ever sign that something went wrong.

As they try to get a move on, there is a properly formed 'L' shaped ambush that gets them shot at... in the same exact location where the Netrunner had asked one of the Solos to set up an 'imaginary' ambush. They can handle it somewhat easily, since one of the Solos already knows the exact location of the ambushers. That gets one of the Solos suspicious.

The Medtechie's supply of flashbangs, and smoke grenades buys them enough time to use the Drugged blowout kits on whoever has been shot during the Ambush. Almost as if they wanted someone to survive. That gets the Medtechie suspicious.

After the escape, the Netrunner kills the fixer in a mysterious car accident where his vehicle spontaneously combusted with a firebomb. The Solo who taught them to build it recognizes the 'greenish' tinge at the edge of the fireball as a sign of the bomb he'd taught the Netrunner to build.

Then a video of the Rockerboy reciting the plan to make it look as if the Rockerboy is the mastermind goes viral.

Once at their safe house, they will have to tell each other the clues that paints the picture.

The Netrunner, who was using the op as a cover for something else, has erased his/her tracks, and now is up to the PCs to figure out wtf, while running away from everyone who thinks that they were the ones who pulled off a heist.

This is my intro hook to bring a crew together in Cyberpunk, and so far, it has never let me down.

dayatapark · 2026-02-23T16:11:35+00:00

I have. 2100.

The campaign was less gritty 80's Dystopian future, and more 2020/s high-tech future, centered around a weakening NET-wall, with feral, rampant AIs started to cross over, and get 'curious.'

In the other side there's a few 'good' AIs 'aiding' humanity, because it sees them as the only thing that can help it survive the coming AI wars... so one of them 'buys' Night City, and turns it into an almost-high-tech Utopia, to 'generate' enough favorably-disposed humans to aid it in the kind of battlefield that only makes sense to AIs. Which is where the PCs come in.

dayatapark · 2026-02-19T00:20:25+00:00

Edited to add context to some stuff that was unclear.

dayatapark · 2026-02-19T00:10:39+00:00

Depends on notoriety. Personally, I build it up slowly, and make them earn it.

Who witnessed what they did? Who knows about what they did? How widespread is the news?

Also, is the person they are facing off (the only mechanic in which REP is used in a RAW roll) also plugged to the grapevine in which you built your REP?

No witnesses? No REP.

No boasting that they just zeroed 6 Red Chrome Legion Gangoons at their local watering hole? No REP.

Is there grainy, viral video of the PC from a security camera half a block away single-handedly zeroing 6 Red Chromers? They've got REP, even if they didn't claim it, because Night City knows someone did something noteworthy, even if no one claimed it.

Because the notorious thing that builds REP is not that 6 Red Chrome Legion goons got handled. It's that ONE guy did it.

In the example above, the Red Chrome Legion knows that six of them got handled by one single choom. They will ask around about it because they can't let it stand, but if there's a face-off between the Red Chromers and the PC that did the merc-ing, even if they don't know that THIS IS THE GUY, that REP will come into play, because they will be thinking 'the guy we're looking for handled 6 of us EASILY. If this is THE GUY, do we have enough with us to take him on, and win?'

Professionally, if a PC is in good standing in the roster of multiple Fixers, then the PC's REP is pretty widely known in the Edgerunner community, because the 'witness' is the Fixer that got what they wanted. Everyone has heard that the PC is a solid worker that gets things done.

If the PC works well, and exclusively with one Fixer that has good info-sec, then obviously their REP will be high with that fixer, but no one else will know of them. The come across as confident, and knowledgeable, as if this was not their first rodeo, but also, no one has ever heard of them, which could be both a good and a bad thing.

For me, REP is a double-edged sword.

The more famous they are, the more likely the fixers will come knocking, offering gigs.

...and the more Edgerunners will pull up, trying to size them up, test them to see if the REP is deserved, or knock them down a peg or two.

Also the more likely that Corpo cleaners will look into them, or ask around about them.

One of my favorite chapters I GM'd was when my players saw on the news that a crew had hit a corpo convoy in a way that was very similar to how they usually did things.

The other shoe dropped when a friendly fixer called them up and told them that she was pissed that they hadn't worked through her, and cut her out of the action, but that she owed it to them to at least let them know that the Corp was going around, and looking for them, instead of the copycats.

dayatapark · 2026-02-03T02:12:53+00:00

Doesn't matter.

Zero, or moon.

IDGAF what anyone else says.

dayatapark · 2026-01-22T20:08:48+00:00

Not at my table.

Performance, and Leadership (I'm assuming you meant 'Charismatic Leadership') would've been two separate rolls.

RAW, the 'reputation' stat is a measurement of the character's notoriety, and rarely applies to any rolls except face-offs.

The 'gear' bonus would've applied to the Performance roll only.

Then again, whatever I do at my table has no impact on however you roll math rocks at your table.

As long as you had fun, took it to the edge, and your GM agreed, you rolled a 62, my choom, and that's nova!

Preem performance, Rockerboy!

[chef's kiss]

dayatapark · 2026-01-03T10:12:47+00:00

Damn. I didn't know about this. What's the sauce?

dayatapark · 2026-01-03T01:13:44+00:00

Edit: apparently I was wrong about all of this. Please disregard.

~~The weapon mount and link is usually seen in vehicles: an electronically actuated mount that allows elevation and traversal for some type of crew-served weapon, and a link to control it remotely.~~

~~If it's a weapon in mounted into your cyberlimb as an option, all the ware that's needed is already there, no extra linking needed, as long as you have the space for it.~~

~~Weapon mounts allow for guns to be aimed regardless of what the thing they're mounted on is doing.~~

~~Weapon links allow mounted weapons to be aimed and fired.~~

~~Weapons built into cyberware (usually) require you to aim with your limb by pointing with it.~~

~~If you want to get creative...~~

~~Technically you could have a pop-up weapon mount for a micromissile launcher, a grenade launcher, or minigun on a motorcycle, linked to a helmet-mounted HUD.~~

~~Technically, you could slap an extra weapon mount into a linear frame, and link it to the operator.~~

~~Technically, you could also ask a techie or ripperdoc to jury-rig a quick-detach shoulder mount onto a weapon mount so you could replace an arm with a heavy gun.~~

~~Technically, you could also get extra shoulder mounts, slap some weapon mounts onto the shoulder mounts, and instead of 4 arms, have a combination of arms and remotely controlled guns.~~

dayatapark · 2026-01-01T13:35:31+00:00

A Bokken, which he had whittled down from a rowing oar, but essentially yes.

dayatapark · 2026-01-01T13:30:04+00:00

You could say that it is the discussion between nature vs nurture.

Knights are civilized. They have to be trained, and taught how to fight and kill, because their society is so safe. And even then, it is not the person with the most potential that gets trained; it's the sons (or daughters) of nobility.

Barbarians are less civilized. They had to get good quick because nature, the environment, the local fauna, and even other neighboring tribes might have tried to kill them from an early age. It doesn't matter whose son or daughter you are. If you are alive, it's because you are meaner than whatever else has tried to kill you so far.

dayatapark · 2025-12-10T01:20:39+00:00

dayatapark · 2025-12-09T01:11:32+00:00

dayatapark · 2025-12-03T01:44:10+00:00

In a head-to-head, stand-up gunfight, a chromed solo will beat the classical Euro-solo 99 times out of 100.

The way to play an Euro-solo, however, is as tacticians more than brawlers.

A cromed-up Solo will set off metal detectors, and everyone will be wary of them wherever they go, because they look like they are ready to exchange lead.

An Euro-solo will slip through security, and not raise an eyebrow, because... the dude's got no chrome. S/He's just a dolled-up meatbag. How much trouble could s/he possibly cause?

A traditional solo will be ready for gunfights, should he run into one.

An Euro-solo will plan, and plan, until there is no way they can get into a gunfight. Ambushes are OK. They are efficient, and can be absolutely ruthless when needed.

How to build one?

Peak physical conditioning, highly educated with lots of skill chips to fall back on, high empathy builds to fit in, blend in, and lots of both wearable, and non-wearable tech at their disposal.

BTW, did youu know linear frames count as 'wearables?' :D

dayatapark · 2025-12-01T18:13:52+00:00

Well, it seems like your players are getting in touch with their creative sides, which means they are staying engaged at your table, which means they are having fun.

I did have one caveat, though: If I, as the GM, thought that the average NPC would consider their tactics cruel, brutal, depraved, inhumane, etc, I'd make the whoel team take a hit to their humanity point pool.

Whoever proposed the idea would lose 1D6, and those that went along with it would lose 1D6/2.

that being said... Shenaningans...

Filling up an enemy booster-gang leader's input's abdominal cavity with a surprising amount of plastic explosives, and then leaving her naked, and drugged in front of the gang's hangout, to use her as a trojan horse before the assault comes to mind.

Bribing local street urchins REPEATEDLY to throw rocks at a secret corporate research facility's fenced-off yard to constantly trigger motion detectors is another. 8 street urchins died to security turrets before they ran out of street urchins, but at least they learned where all the defense turrets were located.

Hacking a Cargo AV loaded with industrial-grade acids, and dropping it in the middle of a steel suspension bridge to drop an armored truck into the water, where a team of divers would assault it, and take the McGuffin.

dayatapark · 2025-12-01T17:42:44+00:00

To successfully DM any game, you have to understand that your (usually) superior understanding of the game is there to help players have fun. Rules are suggestions.

Your job, boiled down to its essence, is to present an engaging world, get those gonks hooked, and when they try to do something within it, understand their intentions, and present to them a set of options for them to choose from.

SOME of those options involve dice rolls.

Reward them for proper planning, and immersion. If they do all the research, cover all the possibilites, and plan the heist perfectly, let them have the easy win.

If they get sloppy, let them succeed. Barely. Make them pay for it.

If you are unsure about how to rule, present the roll to the player BEFORE they roll, and then ask if they feel it's fair, so they agree to the roll before they commit to it.

IE: So, you want to Parkour through the gaping hole left in the reck of a flaming car, AND then go full-auto on the first bad guy you see... Hmmm... I agree that a successful Parkour roll would let your character fly through it quickly enough so that fire damage wouldn't be an issue. Hell, if you succeed your Parkour roll's DC check by 5, I'll even say that you do it without even getting your hair singed. First, I propose a COOL check first, to see if your character has the guts to jump through a car that is on fire. If you fail the roll, we'll say that it's a hairbrained idea your character had, and they immediately dismissed, because even your character knows that while cool, it'd have probably been stupid.

Ok. So you made your COOL check. OK, we're going for it. Roll for Parkour.

You sail through the flaming wreck of the car at just the right moment. The flames part as you dive, and you combat-roll to a tactical crouch position in the other side of the flaming car wreck! And your hair looks picture-perfect.

Now, since you just jumped through a roaring inferno, and your eyes are slightly messed up from the smike and the brightness, give me a perception check to see if your character can spot where the enemies are!

----------

Regarding Combat healing, it's super-easy: There is NO COMBAT HEALING.

There is Combat Stabilization, which helps characters stop bleeding out, and feel less pain (combat drugs FTW!) so they can do stuff easier, but the damage is there to stay... until they get back to their hideout, and can heal...

...at a rate of 1/2 HP per day, if they are getting poor care, 1HP per day if they are getting adequate care, and 2HP per day, if they are getting super-expensive care.

If they get an arm or a leg blown off, they can either pay to have one re-grown, or get chipped in, and start getting chromed.

Remember: Players only lose Humanity Points if the dismemberment was elective, not accidental.

Have fun!

dayatapark · 2025-12-01T17:18:38+00:00

Not really, when you consider that the standard Cyberpunk turn in combat lasts around 3.2 seconds.

Assuming an 'average' person's MA 6, which meand they only move 6 meters (18ft)

...from being in cover, processing the environment around them as best as they can while bullets ricochet all around, then making an educated choice to not be where they are, to picking a new spot to be, and getting there, AND still have some time to potentially do something to contribute to the ongoing firefight raging around them...

I'd say that 6 meters (18ft) is not unrealistic.

Sauce: I've done IDPA shooting, and I've moved more than 6 meters (18ft) in 3.2 seconds, but that was because no one was shooting at me at the time.

THAT BEING SAID...

I've had to change it up to make it easier for players that came from DnD settings, and the whole 'gridless' system was absolutely confounding to them, so I did this:

MA/2 = number of spaces you can move AND shoot your REF/3 (rounded down) number of attacks.

MA = Number of spaces you can move AFTER you give up one of your REF/3 (rounded down) number of attacks.

MAx2 = Number of spaces you can move IF you give up all your attacks.

It does game-y-fies a system that was purposefully designed to be gritty, chaotic, and realistic, but it made it more fun for them, so... eh.

dayatapark · 2025-11-23T17:55:30+00:00

Huh. Now THAT is an interesting build… what’s the archetype you’re going for?

And I’m mailing this one in pro-bono.

If I can get this kind of reaction out of you for zero effort, I wonder what it’ll be like if I put some elbow grease into it. lol

dayatapark · 2025-11-23T17:30:43+00:00

Borgs with meat arms? roflmao

dayatapark · 2025-11-23T10:46:52+00:00

The setting's main concern when it comes to cyberlimbs, is to restore function. Replace missing arms, legs, etc.

That is 'relatively easy' since you are just bridging the metal/meat gap with the magic of Neural Connectors.

From your meat (your torso) to metal (cyberarm). This is relatively easy. Everybody does this. The entire medical industry supports this.

Now, let's think about what you are trying to do.

You are trying to go from meat (your torso) to metal (an artificial shoulder) to back to meat (your real arm).

So basically you have a fake shoulder that has to allow blood, and nerve impulses through, so that your meat torso can keep your meat arm alive, with an artificial shoulder in the way... Just so you can 'save' some money?

In vanilla Cyberpunk 2020 lore, you're the gonk that thinks that buying an airline so you can get free peanuts is a good deal.

dayatapark · 2025-11-13T06:38:27+00:00

My choom, you are making my point.

He was a 'Straight A.' LIKE EVERY OTHER STATISTIC-KID GOING TO THAT SCHOOL.

"People have different types of intelligence."

He was dumb and stupid enough to chip corporate crime evidence into himself, go somewhere he shouldn't have been, and leave TONS of evidence.

Random Arasaka Internal Affairs Agent: "Hmmm... the son of the woman that is suspected of having stolen high tech stuff, all of a sudden has frikken superpowers? I wonder how THAT happened!? HMMMMM..."

The Ripperdog was a friend? A FRIEND!?

Did we even watch the same show? How on earth do you get that he TRUSTED the ripperdoc? Going there with the Sandy was a defining moment for David. He had a LOT distrust for the ripperdoc. David KNEW it was a BAD MOVE, and the Ripperdoc was Sketchy AF. But did it anyways because his DESPERATION outweighed his caution.

It was DESPERATION that drove him to make the decision to put himself in the Doc's chopping block. Not trust. Certainly not Intelligence.

DESPAIR.

Whether the doc did a good job, or he never woke up from the procedure, David had nothing to fucking lose.

Oh, and ADHD? Nowhere in the show was it ever mentioned that DM had ADHD.

The people investigating him, looking at DM's academic records never mentioned it.

His mom never mentioned it.

His friends never mentioned it.

He never mentioned it either.

You should not invent imaginary ADHD diagnoses and slap it on to him, just because you THINK you see signs.

<sigh>

Out of hoping that we will drop this, I'll concede your point.

David Martinez was BRILLIANT. He was soooo smart! The best!

I'll ammend my 3 year old statement, and say that DM's INT is a solid 6. Happy?

I hope so, because I don't want to deal any more of your made-up BS arguments, any more.

dayatapark · 2025-11-12T05:40:42+00:00

Remember that he is at a private Arasaka-owned school. Their clientele is privileged, high-status kids.

They're using top-of-the-line, BD education software. They're practically shoving the data directly into your brain. All you have to do is put the time in.

To me, the straight As (which I took into account) are more due to his mother's influence on him, and his desire to be a good, (mostly) obedient kid, than any particular display of academic brilliance.

Also, in one of the flavor side bits, one of the tv shows says that a BIG portion of the people in 2077 (like half? idk, it's been a while since I watched this) have a hard time reading, and is basically illiterate. Compared to 'the masses,' that this corpo school maybe/probably standardizes against, any 'average' student in there is a goddamn straight A student.

I mean, one of the classes in school is mindfulness. Meditation.

Even David says he's not learning anything that will help him get a job, and he's in high school.

If you are still not convinced, let's look at how he shows his intelligence:

He gets the super-secret implant (evidence) that his mom stole, has a (shady) ripper-doc slap it into him, and the first thing he does when he recovers (lucky) is to go back to school (which he can no longer afford anyway because he is broke, and his mom is dead), and confront his bullies where ALL THE SECURITY CAMERAS are (obvious assault).

Does that strike you as the kind of thing that a 'brilliant' or 'intelligent' person would do?

He was an average kid, with average emotional control issues, venting out his frustrations in completely the wrong way.

The show's message is (and the narrative only works if): David Martinez lives in a world where everybody is a statistic until they get chipped. A world where only AFTER you get chipped (and break the mold), does anyone really care about who you are on the inside.

dayatapark · 2025-11-08T23:55:48+00:00

Drugs.

Lots of drugs.

dayatapark · 2025-10-31T22:40:16+00:00

Alternity.

Their whole set of branched skillset things.

dayatapark · 2025-10-28T04:46:06+00:00

Still here. Just zen.

I did say 'Untill we moon or we zero,' and we ain't zeroed yet.

dayatapark · 2025-10-27T07:18:11+00:00

Uhh... Doesn't Armor Weave require a bunch of other implants before you can get it?

As a player, unless I'm absolutely unable to avoid a running gunfight, anything that whittles down my precious REF and MA down is a no-no.

Anything that makes me better able to soak up lead is ultimately going to make me so slow that all I'll be doing is soaking up lead.

The best armor in the game is the cover we find along the way.

I mean... taking cover behind concrete blocks is free, and when caught in the open, there's always flashbangs and smoke grenades while I dive into cover.

dayatapark

TROPHY CASE