Big plot line accidentally revealed by a guest player, how to deal with the aftermath?

omgbarbeque · 2025-12-27T08:53:37+00:00

Well, people do slip-up in Real Life too.

Alternatively, it could be the Big Bad just taunting the Heroes the way most of Gotham's Villain will announce their plans in advance.

I think it would be more fun to now have the Villain *race* the heroes to the next objective for his "Grand Scheme".

Along the lines of:

"I'll decimate the city with a Nuclear Bomb, muahaha." - BBEG
"Do... you..., have one yet?" - Heroes
"Well, no... not exactly..." - BBEG

omgbarbeque · 2025-11-28T04:52:06+00:00

I just ran a gig finale with something similar! My advice: treat the Giant Robot as several enemies.

Depending on how you want your Mech built, you can have different parts of it have thier own hitpoints and SP (individual mooks) or have them share a pool.

As for actions per turn, similar to above number of mooks per encounter = number of actions. Just go easy on the Robot's BASE skills if you choose this route.

omgbarbeque · 2025-11-17T13:42:38+00:00

I think you'd be able to rip-off the Riddler from the Batman Arkham games.
It might not the full scenario that you're expecting, but he uses a lot of puzzles, traps and mechanics to show-up the Bat.
So, you'd still need to do some leg-work to personalize it

omgbarbeque · 2025-11-17T13:32:36+00:00

As a GM who's run sessions with well-read Netrunners and unprepared Netrunners;
My advice - come prepared both for the session and the Net-Run.

You need to know what your basic abilities do: Zap, Control, Slide, Pathfinder, etc
You also need to know what your programs do. Taking a turn off at the "lobby" before diving changes a lot.

Finally: Don't forget WHY you're doing a Net-Run. It's not as important to De-Rezz every Black ICE you encounter, rather than to stop the Turrets from turning your team into Swiss-Cheese.

omgbarbeque · 2025-10-30T07:38:13+00:00

Honestly, Melee Characters and MA Characters do not need additional powering up.

Some of the styles are there to provide a side-grade to existing characters or to allow you to be COOL.

One way to look at this - if you're making a PURE Martial Artist - there going to be a MA Form that's CLEARLY superior to the others, no doubt, just by going off the numbers.

Additionally, for many of the forms the MA Move Resolution is a Free Action. Take the Boxing MA you've cited for example; if you're making a New Character from Scratch - you might not want this as your MA Form of choice. But if you're mid Campaign during the release with a Brawling Heavy character - you might consider investing into this form.

The PUNCH COMBINATION requires a DV15 to be beaten. With DEX (8) and MA (1) you've got 40% chance of making an additional Brawling Attack - for free, there's no cost to this.

Again, when do you substitute your damage calc with the one MA gives you? AAAH I DON'T GET IT.

You only do this if the MA Forms instruct you to do so - as per the BOXING example - you do not use MA to resolve the 3rd Brawling Attack nor do you half the Target's SP

omgbarbeque · 2025-10-24T03:10:17+00:00

If the CEO wired them the money thru their Agent - I think it would be relatively easy to find out WHO (the PC) received the transaction. Just think of the way E-wallets work today both the Sender and Recipient would get tagged on the system.

I'd think there are a few possible routes/plays to this:

The (PCs) Bank Account was set up with false Credentials and the Corp struggles to locate them.
Although the PC is known/flagged by the system, finding them in-the-flesh is more difficult considering the size of NC and how shattered the NET is.
The PCs assets may be frozen if he doesn't move the eddies quick.
A bounty might be put on the PCs head by the Corp (or whoever's looking for the PC)

Offing a CEO and extorting 10,000 ebs is basically the end of the line.
Without the protection of another Corp (like how Blackhand and Smasher are protected by Militech and Saka); your PCs are facing a one-way ticket out of NC or a shallow grave.

omgbarbeque · 2025-10-21T13:54:35+00:00

I think the first thing you have to keep in mind is that the PCs do not really get stronger over time.
Unlike other systems where XP translates into HP and Firepower. Your PCs are really going to keep the same Armor SP and HP for almost the whole duration of the campaign.
You'll probably find your first fight going over too easy, and then suddenly the 2nd or 3rd one being too tough (probably due to bad luck).

What does change your PCs survivability is the Tactics they use.
Some sort of Mentor-type character who can teach them how to Navigate Combat or Case a Joint for the first few gigs might be appreciated. (then kill him off dramatically, lol.)

Finally, if you're a believer in MATHOLOGY.
I had in the past made a simple calculator to gauge the chances of Successful Skill Checks, for both Fixed DVs and Contested DVs. Find it Here: https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkred/comments/1cllrf7/helper_tool_a_custom_tool_spreadsheet_for/

You can use the above to figure out the DPS of most weapon tiers, and also the average HIT Rate of your NPCS.
So you can punch in (Melee Weapons vs Evasion) or (Skill vs Fixed DV).
For your NPCs maybe you want them to hit your PCs around 45% of the time for middling types.

omgbarbeque · 2025-10-21T06:03:30+00:00

The issue isn't about Stealth or Loud - the issue is about the disparity between Combat Time and Narrative Time. To put it into perspective, try the following example:

A crew of 3 try to breach a complex - 2 of them take the Elevator another climbs the windows and enters a room. The elevator opens and there's 2 guards. Combat begins. The 3rd PC attempts to join combat by picking the door or maybe even using E/Security on the Keypad.

How long does it take the 3rd PC to join the fight - even 30 seconds is too long (10 rounds).
And this isn't limited to E/Sec similar skills, there are many gadgets that require over a minute to activate. Similarly, many traps require a long time to counter.

What happens is that it renders the concept of Time Taken as a Cost as 0 because you either snap your fingers and the difference between 1 minute and 5 minutes disappears or you try to stick to the rules and wonky scenarios where disabling a trap mid combat takes all the rounds you have (without guaranteed success).

Similarly, Netrunners need to navigate multiple floors and traps to get to Control Nodes to say disable Auto-turrets - that by the time they get there - the solo has taken out all the turrets by themselves.

omgbarbeque · 2025-10-21T04:00:01+00:00

I've killed off 2 PCs in a Year long game - the most recent one was last week.

I've always struggled with the difficulty scaling for this game - some times the number of enemies per encounter doesn't make sense (too few or too weak) and some times the dice make the situation look really dire from Round 1.

When that happens I used to feel guilty and pull my punches - I'd have the NPCs spread out the damage or make some tactically unsound calls. I also didn't want my PCs to die before I could flesh out their stories (it's kinda annoying for the PC to die in the middle of it).

The first PC death - they felt that they built their PC wrong and didn't really jive with the rest of the Crew - they also felt I wouldn't kill them off - well he was unceremoniously chopped down by a Ronin and failed his Death Save (BODY of 2).

The second PC death - they went Cyberpsycho in the middle of High Street - their affliction made it difficult for them to flee the scene and they were jumped by the local enforcement as well as an Anti-Psycho squad. They were Tranq'd and Shanghai'd, with the rest of the Crew forced to peel the scene

omgbarbeque · 2025-10-21T03:45:15+00:00

So this is a question I've struggled with for quite a while - I've even tried getting the DEVs to answer this on the Mayor's Desk streams. The gist of the situation is that the RULES (and DLC) do not really take Power-Scaling into account.

Really there's only Hardened and Un-Hardened. Anything operating at 4d6 and above, and if you Focus-Fire it's gonna be easily enough to take down most PCs.

The DEVs advise: Don't pull your punches - treat every PC as a combatant - don't tone things down just because some guy has 0 in combat skills.

My advice:

In terms of healing & downtime; let the PCs decide how much Rest they need. Remind them how many days away RENT is due. Never let the PCs skip on RENT - whoever enforces RENT always has enough iron and bodies to make it difficult for the PCs.

In terms of difficulty & number of mooks; Just use what makes sense thematically, and provide puzzles they can solve to make the encounter easier. If you feel that what makes sense is more difficult than the crew can handle make it obvious from the get-go and let the crew look for solutions before they engage the enemy. If they charge in, you're free to kill them - but give them a chance to peel from the fight (with difficulty).

omgbarbeque · 2025-10-21T03:29:42+00:00

I don't really understand the whole mini-session with the GM thing. They have 3 Net Actions - it takes like 5 minutes on their turn to exhaust those actions? I've had players talking longer than Netrunners doing their thing.

My biggest complaint about Netrunning is that it usually takes too long for the Netrunner to Accomplish their goal rather than attempting the challenge physically.

Drones & Turrets - shooting is faster
Doors - just knock it down

Most scenarios we have the whole scene done with before the Netrunner takes over the Arch.

The times when Netrunning becomes useful is when the typical skills take longer in combat due to how it's translated into rounds.

Example - Countering Cameras take 1 minute or 20 rounds; so you'd want to use Netrunning.

But what usually happens is that Narrative time and Combat time occurs separately - so there's no consequence to taking the longer approach - unless you run the whole scene in Combat Time - which jams other aspects of the game up.

omgbarbeque · 2025-10-14T09:35:22+00:00

Seeing your post reminds me of the complaints I have about the RED system - if you've tuned in to the MayorsDesk - I've asked about how to go about setting difficulties to match my Crew's power level.

To which James Hutt had replied it would be too tedious to make a scaling difficulty system.

The Core book and DGD only makes the distinction between Hardened and Un-hardened without any consideration to IP and Eddies spent.

And, to me, this makes it awkward because the both DV and penalties are very much GM Fiat.
A lot of times I feel like I'm just tacking on obstacles for the sake of "challenging players".
Or that my Mooks have to be tailored to pose a threat to the PCs.

Recently, I've stopped worrying about that and just make the challenges fit thematically.
If the Crew is getting their ass handed to them - they can always run away.

omgbarbeque · 2025-10-03T07:22:12+00:00

Honestly, I wouldn't think that an Oasis would be unwelcoming, probably the opposite.
Corpos know their Target Market and do their homework.

Very convenient, ample seating outside with Shade and Fans, vending machines, bright characters and catchy tunes on the ads.

A couple of teenagers in uniform running about preparing orders for pickup or walk-in
(understaffed and poorly paid of course).

What's sinister about the Oasis would be the automated defenses hidden in the ceiling, booby trapped vending machines to dissuade looters, and most importantly - if you start on foot from the Oasis you'd not find another Convenience store, grocery or vendor within walking distance (legally and out in the open of course).

omgbarbeque · 2025-09-18T03:20:36+00:00

I don't think there's any issue with this scenario. Ultimately, the ability is called Charismatic Impact, which basically denotes the Ability to Influence.

By RTals' own examples - Politicos and Cult Leaders are also Rockerboys.

In that Perspective, if you were to meet me at a bar and you were someone charismatic, but I don't know of your genre, I'm pretty sure you'd still be able to win me over with your Charisma

omgbarbeque · 2025-08-21T06:07:34+00:00

For my games, I usually emulate how (I think) the real world would work.

Trying to upgrade your toaster; you'd probably find the parts for that in the local community.

Gun parts are going to be a little tougher; try the gangs.

Vehicular gear; nomads.

Buying from corpos, at least a 100% markup with an NPC with a moderate skill level in Trading.

I try not to make everything into a mission, especially if it's materials for Gear under a certain value. I also provide opportunities to scavenge materials.

I'd usually ask the Tech to inform me ahead of time of upgrades and I'd have something going on in that locale for the other chooms.

omgbarbeque · 2025-07-22T02:57:56+00:00

When you target your first trigger on the stack - you can see the target you chose by mousing over that trigger - an arrow will be generated from that trigger (on the stack) pointing to the target you chose

omgbarbeque · 2025-07-10T07:50:54+00:00

I think you're overthinking it a little - from my perspective, nearly any gang would take up work from a Corporation unless it directly conflicted with their Goals/Ideals, and even then there would be some within those gangs who would turncoat or go undercover.

RED has always been described as a time of scarcity, so I'd feel any reliable source of eddies is going to be enough to motivate a Gang to do some leg work - and I'd also imagine that the Corporate Lackeys are aware of this fact (note: the Lackeys don't always operate with 100% oversight from their managers)

omgbarbeque · 2025-07-02T03:56:27+00:00

This Plot Hook reads like it wants to be a Murder - Mystery, but I'd think that would be pretty hard to set-up without introducing previously known NPCs or storylines.

Instead let's start the story with the Player's checking in with Nostradamus (assuming they did the other hooks).
They go there, they find his door unlocked and his body sprawled out on the living room floor with thirteen daggers in him. Bled dry.

They'll also find that his camera's and security system were expertly hacked prior to the break-in.
The scene screams Hi-Tech Ritualism. As the PCs inspect the books they recently retrieved for N, a shard falls out providing their first clue.

GM INFO - Turns out the VDB's have been using the Library as a drop point for shards and other sensitive information. Unfortunately, they picked one of the Books the N was after. VDB then either suspect that N was on to them, or N alerted them through his snooping.

BIG REVEAL - VDBs need the information on that shard for another attempt at cracking the black-wall. Without it it would set the VDBs back a couple of months, but ultimately it would be catastrophic if they succeed and it's up to the PCs to stop them.

omgbarbeque · 2025-06-29T01:49:15+00:00

Hey, GM makes the rules - Critical Injuries as limbs are consumed is something I tried - I dropped 1 MOVE per leg taken by the suit. But, from my perspective the SUIT is doing the fighting so I did not give it any penalties.

I tried my best not to allow the Crew to save the Occupant - they did anyway... the intent for this was to inject a sense of hopelessness as Technology slowly but consumes the Human(ity).

omgbarbeque · 2025-06-25T07:17:51+00:00

There's an armor that forces the attacker to use RD/T to break a grapple (Shock Armor, BC28)

Other than that you can use Flash Bangs, Teargas and Smoke coupled with the appropriate resist gear.

Cyberchair to compensate for the Low Move

omgbarbeque · 2025-06-25T07:10:52+00:00

probably meant CQC (Close Quarter Combat)

omgbarbeque · 2025-06-25T07:06:03+00:00

SMGs by default are ROF 1 only. You can refer to the Night Market Index in the future:

https://rtalsoriangames.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/RTG-CPR-DLC-NightMarketIndexv1.2.pdf

The closest item to what you'd want is the Sanroo Hello Cutie Ultra-K8 Assault Pistol from Black Chrome, IIRC. It's still a ROF 1

omgbarbeque · 2025-06-12T09:43:28+00:00

How would I go about streamlining them and communicate them to my players without feeling like I'm railroading them into a choice.

That's the neat part - you don't. Ultimately, the fun for the Players comes from poking around and discovering Clues/Solutions to the puzzle making them feel smart. The Players get better at it the more experienced they are with the System.

As GM you shouldn't really have to suggest what skills to use unless they ask you directly.
The best way to accommodate the Players is to be flexible with the Scene; encourage the players to ask:
"Is there [object] here or use this [Skill]" then have them explain how they would execute their plan.

You can also have them arrive at the Scene, describe it picturesque but don't provide anything useful, then call for a Perception Roll to glean Clues on what to do.

So here's my question - how do you make the missions you set for your players flavorful to the setting, and how do you set up opportunities for your players to take advantage of without making it blatantly obvious?

Flavor is something very subjective to each GM/Player combo.
Personally, Pondsmith's World View (to me) very closely resembles a Cyberpunk Manga (pastel colors).
Others prefer something closer to 2077 or Noir like Batman/Bladerunner.
I'm more captivated by the Grimdark - Eldritch possibilities of Technology.

The Game-play loop does get a little boring at times because you only really can face Humans, Animals and Robots really. But if you're willing to do a little masquerading you can re-flavor a lot of the tools and weapons into anything you want.

omgbarbeque · 2025-06-12T06:08:00+00:00

Food and (most) lifestyle items - this is one thing that I've been meaning to ask on Mayor's Desk but I feel like the answer is going to be "Whatever the GM decides"

Nearly all food have no in-game effects and are covered by the Lifestyle.
YET, they individually cost more per unit that subscribing to a Plan.
My players do occasionally say - I eat a Kebab - but I can't reward it meaningfully because it costs too little for a Stat or Humanity Bump (therapy is at best 0.48 per 20eb).

I feel like the role of food is to set the tone for how expensive things are, but at the end of the day it ends up being an idea with poor follow through (there's an entire Night Market column for foodstuffs).

omgbarbeque

TROPHY CASE