11 KiB
Introduction
{game-name} is a cyberpunk tabletop roleplaying game (RPG) in which you and other players come together to discover a cybernetic-fueled punk narrative of daring criminals facing a world oppressed by massive governments and corporations, filled with violent gangs, rogue AI, and other dangerous and deadly threats on the streets of the neon-bleeding {city-name}. {game-name} is, more importantly, a narrative-driven game where the players tell a story through risk-taking choices and actions.
This is a Roleplaying Game
{game-name} is an interactive narrative where one of the players, the Game Master (GM), describes the situation and surroundings as well as keeping things dramatic and fast-paced, while the other players take on the roles of the player characters (PCs) take the form of a Crew who drive the story and act to overcome challenges. Lurking around every corner in {game-name} could be a corporate agent looking to blackmail you, a rogue artificial intelligence virus wanting to take over your cyberdeck, a gang of ripperjax figuring out how hard it’d be to take off your cybernetic arm mods, or even a lost android looking for the meaning of life, amongst many, many other dangerous and even deadly possibilities.
This game is best played with 3–5 players, with one of the players taking the role of the group’s GM. The GM is responsible for portraying a vivid and living world, keeping a dramatic pace, determining what threats and dangers are present, introducing challenges for the players to attempt to overcome, and ask provoking questions to the players which keep the narrative rich and flowing. The GM also will play the role of all the non-player characters (NPCs) that the PCs interact with—friends, rivals, and nemeses alike. The PCs take in the situation described by the GM and describe what they are doing and add to the narrative by answering the questions posed by the GM. When a PC wants to do something that has no certain outcome, they’ll roll two six-sided dice (d6) to determine the outcome.
The Game
{game-name} is played in sessions that typically last 2–5 hours—Sometimes even more! In these sessions the players will perform a Gig where the PCs are given the opportunity to take on a task such as smuggling illicit goods, extracting a character from location and bringing them to another, or destroying corporate property and getting away before security forces arrive. After they complete the Gig, success or failure, they will take part in Downtime. In Downtime, the PCs do activities like spending the earnings of their Gigs, Craft items, expand their Crew’s influence, and make decisions when faced with the consequences of the Gig they just finished.
The story the players tell can be told in as little as a single session, often called a “one-shot,” over a handful sessions, or it can even take many sessions, known as a “campaign,” to complete. A good rule-of-thumb for campaign lengths in {game-name} is that you shouldn’t exceed (roughly) 20 Gigs. The final few Gigs the Crew performs should give them an opportunity to leave their mark on {city-name} in a climactic finish.
The Players
In a game of {game-name}, all of the people involved is a player, including the Game Master. Typically, though, people make the distinction between the GM and the others, calling them the players. The players will work together to create their crew and then individually create their Player Characters. A PC in {game-name} is a {character-type}. A {character-type} is a criminal who undertakes dangerous and deadly jobs. Players give life to their PC, giving them interesting traits and pushing their luck to the limit. This is the task given to each player. It’s their primary focus to interact with the world as their PC would—to take risks, to accept the dangerous opportunities in front of them, and describe the narrative around them.
Together with the GM, the players establish a tone and feel of their game. The players are not passive observers who let the GM control the narrative of the game—they are co-authors, all working together to create a story.
The Game Master
Initiating the narrative is what the GM does. What do the Player Characters see, smell, hear, and notice as they are running down dark alleys, escaping from blood-thirsty corpo security? The GM is responsible for keeping the pacing and tension interesting. What the PCs do is up to them, but how the world reacts is up to you.
The story and narrative isn’t dictated by the GM. The GM asks questions to let the Players decide narrative truths. Give them opportunities to fill in the blanks—it’s not solely your job.
The GM also keeps the game interesting by offering enticing and risky opportunities for the PCs to interact with. That shady character in the corner of the bar the PCs just walked into probably has something to offer them later on down the road. Have the individual stand up, bump into them on the way out, and slip their card into a pocket.
The Characters
The characters are {character-type-plural}--people who ride a fine edge between an exciting life and the dark of death. They get their jobs from fixers mostly, but many will set up their own operations if the job is personal.
No matter who gives these {character-type-plural} their task, one thing is for sure: Don’t get in their way!
Each player will create a Character Sheet for their PC. The main choice they’ll make during character creation is picking their Playbook—a character type that represents the style of play they’ll want to use. Here are the available Playbooks found in this document.
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Cyber Ninja A stealthy hacker who steals data from computer systems. Use this Playbook if you want to make electronics bend to your will and quietly take down foes.
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Patch A makeshift doctor and cybernetic tweaker. Use this Playbook if you want to play as a character who can help teammates overcome deadly consequences and make changes to cybernetics.
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Shooter
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Shredder A rocker who rallies their
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Street Samurai
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Tech
The Crew
Touchstones
{game-name} makes no claim to invent the cyberpunk setting. There is a long and rich history of cyberpunk media that you and others can enjoy which should give an idea of the themes, aesthetic, and philosophy this game builds upon.
- To Watch
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Blade Runner by Ridley Scott · Blade Runner 2049 by Denis Villeneuve · Ghost in the Shell (1995) (Subs) by Mamoru Oshii · Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo · The Matrix by the Wachowskis · Cyberpunk: Edgerunners by CD Projekt Red and Studio Trigger
- To Read
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The Sprawl series, especially Neuromancer, by William Gibson · Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro
- To Play
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Cyberpunk 2020 and Cyberpunk RED by Mike Pondsmith · Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red · Android: Shadow of the Beanstalk by Fantasy Flight Games
- To Listen to
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Clockwork by Hyper · BREAK LAW by Boys Noize and Skrillex · Takyon by Death Grips · Honestly just look up the genre "Heavy Synthwave" and you’ll be set.
Playing the Game
What You Need to Play
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Two to four players and one game master.
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Two six-sided dice (d6).
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Printed character sheets and crew sheets, reference sheets, and neighborhood sheets.
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The core rules (what you’re reading right now).
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Paper, index cards, and note-taking materials, while not absolutely necessary, are useful.
It’s Your Game
The Gig
Downtime
Key Terms
| Coin |
Money |
| Stash |
Backup money |
| Resistance |
To negate a consequence |
| Armor |
To limited-use negation of consequence |
| Action Roll |
To make a move |
| Stress |
A limited resource to spend on turning the fiction in your favor |
| Trauma |
The consequence of spending too much Stress |
Example of Play
GM: So, what’s the plan?
Alice: I’m not sure, what do you all think?
Tim: What about this?
Using this Document
This document is organized to make finding the rules as easiest as possible. The rules are grouped in chapters, and are ordered in a way that makes it convenient for first-time players, while also making an effort to keep it easy as a rules reference during play, no matter how experienced you are with the game.
The early chapters are all about understanding what the game is, creating a crew, and then creating characters—players will get the most out of these. The final chapters are meant to be useful for the Game Master. They bring into detail the setting of the game, as well as a dedicated chapter to game mastery tips and philosphy for {game-name}. Here is a summary of the chapters you will find in this document.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Heritages & Backgrounds
Chapter 3: Crews
Chapter 4: Playbooks
Chapter 5: Equipment
Chapter 6: The Cyberdark Future
The world is a much different place in the year 2141. In this chapter
Chapter 7: {city-name}
Chapter 8: Playing the Game
Chapter 9: Game Master
Format of Rules Elements
A rule element will look like this: Example
Crew Creation
Step 1: Choose Your Drive
Your crew’s drive determines how your crew gains Crew EXP. It also acts as an indicator of what the feel of your game will be like.
There are three to choose from.
- Become Legends
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Gotta make it to the big leagues.
- Fight Back
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This all needs to mean something.
- Pure Chaos
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You just want to see the world burn.
What happened to your crew that solidified their drive?
To Become Legends
{city-name}'s different things to different people. To us, it’s all ours for the taking.
If your crew is in it For the Thrill, they are granted Crew EXP when they take jobs to
To Fight Back
We can’t sit idly seeing the world around us. We have to rise up.
If your crew is in it To Fight Back, they are granted Crew EXP when they fight against oppressive forces, when they fight for those that need help, or when they act in a selfless manor.
For Pure Chaos
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Step 2: Choose a Hangout
Step 3: Choose an Initial Reputation
Step 4: Establish Your Neighborhood
Step 5: Choose a Special Ability
Step 6: Assign Upgrades
Step 7: Choose a Favorite Contact
Sample Crew
Cohorts
Character Creation
Actions
Jesus Flick, get your head together. Just because you and I go back doesn’t give you the fuckin' right to go low. I promise we’ll go get her—just don’t mess this all up for everyone.
When characters {game-name}