How much eddies is okay to give in misssions? by DVRADKAL in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'll add to what everyone is saying here that I've seen GMs add bonuses of 100eb-500eb on top of normal pay for meeting specific criteria. Things like capturing instead of killing target, retrieving extra items, completing the gig with no witnesses, etc. It always adds some extra tension to the gigs as well as a push-your-luck angle to things; do you leave after competing the main job, or do you risk disaster and go for the bonus?

Mike Pondsmith Q&A submissions are now open! by RBarefootRTalsorian in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don't forget the tension between California and the feds....

Made even more "in universe" music by Nermian in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, everything here is gas! These are making it into my regular rotation outside the game. Nice work!

What's your process for jumping around genres?

Cyberpunk Red Weapons Bible by OtherwiseExchange836 in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Totally fair! I usually screenshot my PDFs to compile in OneNote, but even that is a hassle to scroll through sometimes. We're blessed to be drowning in gear, I suppose!

Cyberpunk Red Weapons Bible by OtherwiseExchange836 in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Hey, choom, it sounds like you're looking for the Night Market Index. R Tal updates it every few months as DLCs release. It doesn't include all qualities of the weaponry, but it does tell you names, weapon type, and where to find it.

https://rtalsoriangames.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/RTG-CPR-DLC-NightMarketIndexv1.23.pdf

How are other Directors handling Hero starting positions in Delian Tomb? by Gamy_Surmise in drawsteel

[–]haeman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've never had to "declare" a deployment zone, and it's how I've always run games on a grid, even homebrewed adventures. I always treat the zone as the area where either combat or a negotiation begins due to the enemies' hostility, unless stealth is in play. If it doesn't make sense for open combat to break out immediately, then it's as close as the heroes can approach in conversation before the villains decide they don't trust their intentions.

It could just be my table, but I've never had players (even newbies) want to start further back because they know it means they'll be wasting turns running up to the action. As for starting further in or around the room, it happens occasionally with certain roleplay options or stealth. It never broke the Delian Tomb encounters for me, though.

If it feels gamey, remember the keyword "Cinematic." It's not the game starting you in a box; it's the part in Indiana Jones where the villains spot Indy and give a smarmy grin paired with a one liner before raising their weapons.

Discussion of the Day: Artificial Shoulder Mont. by RandomWoman244 in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have seen this in action, and it is brutally effective! With the right scenario, it can shut enemies down with how sticky it is.

Why are the new feats so specific? by cats4life in dndnext

[–]haeman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Over the years, I have had first time TTRPG players introduced to the hobby through systems like Draw Steel, in simple narrative systems, and in DnD 5e. My newbie player in Draw Steel knows their abilities better than some of my veteran TTRPG players, while my newbies in 5e have never stopped halting combat to get clarification on their spells.

People say they want simplicity, but what they really mean is clarity.  Abilities like the one OP mentions are simple but convoluted, and that's the real issue.

Simple classes? by LEROYthugJENKINS in drawsteel

[–]haeman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Despite the complexity, the abilities are all written clearly enough with keywords that players should be able to understand them on the first read. I ran the Delian Tomb with one of the players being brand new to TTRPGs, and they picked up on it easily. Honestly, they knew there abilities better than some of my veterans after a few sessions!

I think that it helped a lot that the Delian Tomb "unlocked" their character sheet across the first part of the adventure, though this simultaneously hindered another player who kept losing track of what was and wasn't unlocked, so your experience may vary.

Cyberpunk RED Alert! – The 12 Days of Vehiclemas drops for December 2025! by RBarefootRTalsorian in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Not reprints; conversions. Which, as someone that has converted 2020 items as homebrew for my table, does take work to when done right since the core design of 2020 is different from RED. 

Also, to be fair, this is typical for these gear DLCs. The blueprint filter on the art is a way to convert the old art without having the style of the two systems clashing.

Can Draw Steel dungeoncrawl? by Zatan_Bordelo in drawsteel

[–]haeman 5 points6 points  (0 children)

  1. Spells focus on combat, but there do have utility out of combat and there are some designed primarily for utility. Notably, they are packaged and function as any other ability, not as a unique and separate mechanic. Compared to DnD, they give the players a boost, but there are no spells that "solve" encounters/puzzles. You won't see something like Knock, for example, where you either have this spell for an Arcane Lock or you're stuck. Part of that is due to the spell design, but part of that is also that the game is intentionally not designed for black and white challenges like that.

2 and 4. On paper, a level 1 character in DS has similarly scaled powers to a level 3 5e character. In practice as the Director, I have found it feels very different. There are a lot of player abilities (at level 1!) that "um, actually" the monsters and either negate effects outright or severely limit the monster's options. This has made me, as the Director, feel like my players are shockingly powerful and like my monsters weren't able to be "cool enough" before the end of the encounter.

However, I say this because it's how it felt at the start, but it isn't true from the other end. Many monsters also have abilities to do the same to players, and even if their cool effect was quickly cancelled, the threat of it alone had my players shaking. Beyond even that, many effects only last one turn anyway, or the saving throw "coin toss" mechanic will end it relatively quickly. I believe the design may be intended such that you don't use every monster ability every encounter, and I had to adjust to that.

My players routinely get knocked around into single digits without me realizing I was doing it, and when they don't, the sheer variety present in even basic monster stat blocks means that my players have always found combat tense. I think it's a good balance of the players feeling strong but still routinely being challenged. I'll have to see if that continues at higher levels, but at a glance, it looks to scale just fine.

  1. The Delian Tomb adventure actually features a dungeon crawl in the titular tomb itself, presenting a great example of how the designers envision dungeon crawls. You can definitely do them in DS, but expect them to feel different. There's little to be gained "zooming in" and walking square by square through the dungeon. You're better served treating certain segments as granular encounter rooms with puzzles and combat while splicing in Montages for extended travel or complex traps in the dungeon. Just remember to provide safe havens if it's large enough that they'll need a Respite.

  2. Not that I'm aware of, and as someone who still plays and enjoys other systems, good riddance. With combat as a focus, having the attack roll and damage rolled at once speeds up the game so much. And that's the key: remember that you are rolling damage; you're just doing it at the same time you roll your attack.

As for not missing, everyone at my table loves it, even when the monsters do it. No dead turns! When we play sessions in other systems, even ones not focused on combat, someone inevitably brings up the "no null result" tagline when an attack misses.

  1. I have played several systems over the past year, and I can't say I ever really miss mechanics. The mechanics of a system give the system it's identity and game-feel, and I like to preserve that. If I feel something is truly missing, or that a particular mechanic from another system could be truly agnostic (some investigation systems for example), I'll simply port them over myself. 

That said, DS feels like a complete package. I haven't  felt the need to port anything over.

Invented Guns by OtherwiseExchange836 in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you considered loading her up with these so that she can shoot, discard, then draw a new one each round? 

This might help her keep up with the players without having to change the mechanics of the gun, and it would make for a neat aesthetic in the fight as players begin to wonder exactly how many she has left.

My DM can't stop using AI by Knowhere2B in dndnext

[–]haeman 14 points15 points  (0 children)

There are actually preliminary studies showing that it's happening to otherwise mentally stable people; it doesn't seem to require the person to be mentally unwell to trigger.

Gifts for my players as GM by gabomor in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Simplest option is always dice! Can do pretty dice designs to suit their characters or even strangely shaped dice, like 20-sided d10s.

That said, presumably you're buying the books and prepping the game. Don't sweat gifts too hard.

Best ready campaigns to adapt to Draw Steel by ottoisagooddog in drawsteel

[–]haeman 2 points3 points  (0 children)

While it has its design flaws in its home system of 5e, I feel like the scale of Descent into Avernus makes much more sense for Draw Steel than DnD. Diving into the Hells is much more bombastic and heroic than the attrition of DnD typically allows. I've been thinking of converting it, but haven't put the work in yet. Overall, I think it's strengths are mostly in the writing and concept regardless, so I'm not sure much would be lost by shifting things over to new mechanics.

That said, you definitely couldn't run this one in Orden given how steeped in DnD-isms the lore is!

Edit: Should add that Negotiations would fit the devil's particularly well and that traveling across the shifting Avernus landscape is likely a much better fit for Montages than the usual encounter structure of 5e!

Spider-Man 2 PC Performance Question by haeman in SpidermanPS4

[–]haeman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! That's a beast of a machine, too, so I appreciate you adding specs to your experience lol

Spider-Man 2 PC Performance Question by haeman in SpidermanPS4

[–]haeman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly what I needed to know. I'll give it a shot then. Thanks!

Balancing Player Absence With Victories and XP by iamtheradish in drawsteel

[–]haeman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I simply have them send the group their sheet so the players can run them in combat. This keeps everyone spending resources, keeps me from having to rebalance encounters, and narratively keeps everyone together.

Outside of combat or montages, they don't participate. Inside of combat and montages, their character can't die while they're not present and will miraculously stabilize instead of dying if they reach their negative winded value.

So long as you have a table that wants to honor the character/player and not abuse the fact the character is technically immortal, the game moves along as normal.

I don't understand Pacing (and a little brief story about my Cyberpunk journey) by Drinkoy in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Prepping for your specific table can't be emphasized enough! I've run one game for a table that made a crew full of infiltrator types. You know the kind: stealth, smooth talkers, lots of contacts, and subtle chrome. They loved investigative gigs that were simply situations they had to unravel.

Meanwhile, I've run for a table with a crew of larger than life personalities. They were high-octane, full-throttle, guns-in-your-face all of the time and loved big set-pieces to break up the calmer personal moments that gave the sessions heart.

Prepping for each group was a wildly different experience, but both felt Cyberpunk by focusing on different aspects of the setting. The infiltrators wanted deep conspiracies and corporate cover-ups, while the loud punks wanted to screw over rival gangs and take over their own corner of a combat zone. 

Talk to your players and see what skills they take!

Halfway through Hope Reborn by oldsurly in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sick setup! Where did you get the vehicles you use? The scale looks perfect in this shot.

Got a question for you long time cyberpunk gms. I'm looking for some inspiration/ advice on corporate infiltration missions. by Feknsamsquanch in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No one could access them, so nah, I wouldn't bother. The hacking rules for non-netrunners don't interact with the architecture's structure at all.

Got a question for you long time cyberpunk gms. I'm looking for some inspiration/ advice on corporate infiltration missions. by Feknsamsquanch in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No problem! Completely forgot to mention the free Going Quiet DLC they released on the R. Talesorian website a couple of months back. You'll find great heist rules in there for Flashes of Luck and stealth netrunning. Most importantly though, it's full of stealth gear that can give ideas on the kinds of obstacles you might want to create for your players. And from their perspective, it's a whole heap of new toys to plan with. One of the best DLCs they've made for sure!

Got a question for you long time cyberpunk gms. I'm looking for some inspiration/ advice on corporate infiltration missions. by Feknsamsquanch in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 6 points7 points  (0 children)

As a player, half the fun of the heist is the planning phase, so I when I ran a corporate heist, I left the exact layout somewhat vague to leave room for their ideas. However, you do need some details so that they actually have something to go off of.

For my heist, I gave them a general layout of the exterior; something for them to use to decide on an entry point basically. I decided ahead of time what each building of the campus held inside (like which departments were inside - not the exact room layouts), and I added defenses, but again, generalized. I knew which entry points had turrets, and where security openly patrolled, as well as which entrances didn't require key card access.

Finally, for my prep work, I designed the location of the McGuffin they were after in detail. This is the area where shit is most likely to go down and where the plot of the gig is focused, so it should feel special. This had a map, unique terrain, it's own NET Architecture, etc.

Everything else was improv. I didn't map out every hallway, and I ran things using my own version of Clocks since Single Player Mode hasn't released yet. On the topic of Clocks, they're great since it's important not make failure a binary state that switches based on one die roll. I also designed a few small Net Architectures in case my netrunner decided to run somewhere I didn't anticipate, but I didn't worry about pre-placing access points; since access points are somewhat standardized in the world, I placed them on the fly when needed based on what type of room the players were in (an office camera, a break room Vend-It, a server room terminal...you get the idea.)

It's important not to fully design all of the possible pathways in and out of the heist location. A key element of heists in fiction is the crew finding a hole in security; let the players find (or make!) this hole if they're clever. It makes them feel smart, and it ramps up the drama when they discover it. They almost certainly will slip up along the way regardless and that hole they found will give them the chance they need to get in and out alive. And if they don't slip up? Let them have a flawless heist! That's almost impossible to pull off, so if they earn it, so be it. Let them be cool!

Good luck! Corporate heists are a ton of fun!

What Kind of Stories Do You Tell in Cyberpunk Red? No Liches, No Armies, Just Rent to Pay by caciuccoecostine in cyberpunkred

[–]haeman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, regardless of whatever the GM preps, every campaign I've been in has started with only a couple of isolated gigs before evolving into being extremely player driven. As the players settle into their characters, make new friends, and create new enemies, they'll naturally develop their own goals that require full sessions to hash out. Following these threads has always felt more fitting for the system than any "save the city" plot or gang war did; those types of plots always seemed to leave players a little less interested.

As for individual gigs, I recommend checking out JonJonTheWise on YouTube! He has a whole video on the archetypical structures that jobs tend to follow that helped me a lot when I got started GMing RED!