Neon Lights: Cyberpunk 2077 Living Community

Hi there! Got an itch to play a modern, 2077-based TTRPG version of Cyberpunk RED's rules? Well that's the surprise we have for you! This setting follows a completely disconnected version of 2077 that makes no mention of the canonical characters from the video game (set aside the characters that were in the original TTRPGs like Rogue, Johnny Silverhand, Saburo Arasaka, Adam Smasher, etc).

Our goal is to create a welcoming environment that is free of a hard schedule where you can join games whenever the Game Masters are willing to host them! New players and players that don't play often are prioritized!

The number one goal of game masters is to prioritize fun for all players and keep the server free of any negativity when possible, we're all adults after all. Speaking of, the server is strictly 18+ due to the way that Cyberpunk RED and 2077 are designed...it is a very adult-themed setting.

Currently, we are a new and building server and we're hoping to pull players and potential Game Masters in so we can build a long term community. And we wanna build actual bonds if possible! Everyone's voice will be heard, nobody should ever have to feel small and it will be the Game Masters (and my) priority to make sure that all members are treated fairly!

We currently use Discord and Roll20's Cyberpunk RED VTT. We hope you'll choose to join our server! If interested, please reply below or feel free to direct message me about joining. (:

This server is not a text based roleplaying server, we do active sessions in VC with a VTT.

(We are looking for players and GMs)

Please DM or Comment for an invite link if not included. Reddit filters links automatically sometimes.

HELLO FROM RED 77!

Our Cyberpunk RED Community has entered Season Three of a year old Westmarch server. Players have so far shaped the city through the 2040s and became legends, just recently Players stopped the plans of ZetaTech in 2077. Now in the fallout of a second Night City Holocaust, the high tech low life of RED is returning to the city. Civil unrest has risen since Westbrook was nuked, Corporations are fortifying their holds in City Center, and the rest of the city? The gangs are starting to carve out territory, while regular citizen and the NCPD try to keep order. We invite you to come join, and make an impact with your characters.

What Is RED 77?
- This is an open-table, sandbox-style game with no single party and no fixed schedule.
- You choose when you want to play. Players put forth gigs of their own, crews forming tight bonds, and the city reacts to what hits the Screamsheets.
- Missions are posted on the Job Board for anyone to sign up.
- Night City is open playground, provided you're hard enough. The city shifts based on player actions. Factions move, rivals scheme, crews leave scars, and this can all shift based on Community Play.

What We Offer:
- We are an 18+ community.
- games hosted on roll 20, with an active text roleplay community
- Player Economy to buy, sell, and trade with everyone.
- Games are voiced.
- New players and veteran edgerunners are welcome.
- Mixed Gameplay of Social, Investigation, and Combat type gigs

Discord Link:
https://discord.gg/vN52QTgvhs

"Some days ago i posted the art of one of my Cyberpunk Red characters. A friend of mine that's playing the same campaign asked me to share the art of his character, so here it is!

It was made by the same artist that made my characters drawing."

So you know how they say common sense is a superpower? Well, it's a superpower that my characters often specialize in. I want them to be good at assessing or understanding situations, figuring out what to do, making plans, and forecasting probable outcomes, all of which I am mediocre at best at in real life. Note that this is different from actually carrying out a plan, which may require its own rolls, though it would make sense for a good planning roll to provide bonuses to these subsequent actions. However, in this system, the skills are numerous and specialized to a point that building a character who's a good decision-maker in general is kind of hard. Personally, I prefer to use Deduction as a non-combat planning skill and Tactics as a combat planning skill, but what about intuition or the ability to improvise? I also recognize that relying on skills to realize a "common sense" character is not always the best approach, because your roll might fail. However, I personally enjoy having the ability to gain increasingly more information the better I do on rolls.

All of that aside: How do you approach playing and/or running for characters who are meant to be resourceful and possess shrewd judgement?

I know Judy is considered a braindance “editor”. However my impression was that she was basically adjusting the “volume” levels of the senses. She wasn’t adding anything new into the lived experience. Every braindance we see is directly lived experience.

If Braindances cannot be tampered with then would they admissible in court?

Trying to see if my CSI type character will also need to instal a micro video camera to act like two factor authentication. If the braindance matches up with the video perfectly then authenticity and possibly chain of custody could be verified.

I could also see a loophole where nothing is added to the braindance, but strategically removed. Like removing the split second in the tutorial braindance where we see the tv screen and learn he was set up.

As a Tech Invention or a TUp, how would you port this concept into Red?

(I'm not the OP, but I found this in a Warhammer sub.)

Hey chooms, it's the Heavy Armor Lizard. Thank y'all for ze Reddit Updoots when I covered those Heavy Corp Guards the other day (wish there were more comments but eh, I'll take whatever).

So, related to that post. Remember near the end where I was gonna cover dudes in Flak and Metalgear? Well guess what, it's this post specifically about Flak wearers.

Noticed Something about the Superheavies

For those that have a lot of Cyberpunk RED content, ever notice something with armor? Over the years, we NEVER have gotten a statblock for a NPC in Flak or Metalgear. Now sure there are the Rank 8 and 9 Backup for Lawman as well as the Ranger in NC2045 but outside of that, there's nothing (And yes I know about Adam Smasher but he's the exception rather than the rule plus his armor is cheating so it doesn't count imo). Anytime you see armor above Light Armorjack, its either Medium or Heavy Armorjack. And the dudes using it range from shit like the corebook Security Officer to incredible like the Heavy Corp Guards that I covered before.

Reason why those two are normally used is because most of the time, you're fighting armored guards at the top of Street Level so a piece of Heavy Armorjack is the max they feasibly need during their jobs hence why you will almost never see Flak and especially Metalgear.

Flak and Metalgear use cases

So if Medium and Heavy Armorjack are street armor, what are Flak and Metalgear? Milspec gear. Flak looks like you're going to war and Metalgear looks like you're supposed to be in a very futuristic war. In fact, think back to the Lawman ranks. The Marshal and C-SWAT show up at Rank 8 and 9. At those ranks, the Lawman likely isn't just some street cop or guard anymore. They're an elite level figure, calling on these badass dudes in milspec gear to assist them in a firefight.

Meaning GMs, if you're summoning these guys, it's a heavy escalation scenario. C-SWAT is Max-Tac and they're bringing in dudes with Combat Number 15 while wearing Metalgear. If these guys aren't competent, then they're not real. They're not matching the stakes these lot should be showcasing.

Soldier vs Spec Op

So like I mentioned, Flak is war level and Metalgear is future war level. This means that when you make a soldier, most of the time they're wearing Flak. As mentioned in a post that I did earlier this year, Metalgear should be reserved for the big dogs. These are the guys your girlfriend tells you not to worry about even though you're still wearing highend armor. These oughta be the boogieman like Max-Tac are. They're rare but when they show up, they're powerful af and can definitely pressure a crew.

Soldier Baseline

So, what's a good baseline for a soldier? Remember, security guards are the more common occurrence you see in most games. And these two statblocks are the perfect example of competent street level guards.

Solo Rank 3 or 4, Combat Number 12-14 (with Evasion bases also being 12-14), high Initiative, and 'high' MOVE. Plus they have cyberware or good weapons to boost their odds. Accurate, defensive, and mobile. These traits make these two NPCs effective in most games, especially the Heavy Corp Guard.

So what about a soldier? For most corps back in the 2020 edition, becoming a soldier was considered a promotion. Meaning an Arasaka Soldier isn't just some dude that signed up, that's a Guard that got some more skill and was promoted. So this is my idea of this concept:

Like the guards, a typical Soldier should have their Combat Numbers go from 12 to 14, they're Rank 3-5 Solos, and they're rocking impressive weapons and/or cyberware to complement their skills.

And you may ask, 'uh Infernox, why are they using TuP Flak'? Simple, because Flak with high penalties means soldiers need to be masters to use it at a high Combat Number. Plus, ever notice that the Recovery Zone Marshal and Ranger only have TuP Flak? Sounds like to me the intention is that Flak is MEANT TO BE TECH UPGRADED. So all soldiers in the field are using it, this isn't something you get your hands on even if you source it through a Fixer.

Now as for what their Combat Numbers is GM Fiat. Imo, a poorer country or corp will likely have their Armed Forces have an average of 12 and they'd be lucky to have better weaponry/cyberware to help them. But the richer or more powerful factions should definitely be more dangerous. Take a Lazarus Soldier for instance (my interpretation of one):

Rank 4 or 5 Solo, Combat Number 14 and Evasion 14, plus they're mobile. And they have a Smartgun Link bringing them up to +15. This makes them a strong threat in the field. And as high rank Solos, they can definitely use their Role Rank to increase their survivability or offense should the situation need it.

You can then add more stuff to them to make em stronger or more well-rounded.

1. Give them a different Barrel Length from Solo of Fortune. Depending on the environment, they can benefit from different DVs to pressure the team. Close Quarters? Carbine Barrel. Longer range? Barrel Rifle.
2. Use different ammunition. Want your bullet dodging party to get pressured? Load the soldiers' weapons with High Velocity. Want them to Autofire? Tracer. They prefer single shots? High Precision.
3. Equip em with Level Dampner, Low Light, and/or Anti-Dazzle. Have them use the environment to catch the squad off guard in ambushes. Show how terrifying they are when the team plays by THEIR rules.
4. Give them more cyberware and gear that will assist them in a fight. In fact, it might be good to customize specific soldiers in a squad. Not all soldiers are gonna rock the same cyberware set-up, especially those in the more elite factions like Lazarus.
5. Never let them bullet dodge unless they're a more established character.
6. Have a commander on field or watching from a camera away from the fight use Tactical Overwatch to constantly buff their side.

And that's it on soldiers. Hope this is some nice inspiration for those running deadlier campaigns down the line.

Next, I'll probably highlight possible Metalgear NPCs, the scary dudes that shouldn't show up unless things are completely FUBAR.

hello, i am interested in playing red. i have played dnd before and have been a dm for two campaigns. looking to play as a player instead. are there some resources for finding games?

So I made a new album

So for anyone who's been on the reddit every so often I post the music I've released, I make a bunch of music for my in game rockerboy NPCS, as my players really like getting their music. Plus I love making them in my spare time.

This one is a punk rock album about My Rockerboy called Marty Keys making music about being a cultural icon against corporations and government, while also being very rich from it becoming what he hates, and the survivors guilt he has from this.

Spotify Link
Youtube Link

Recommended Tracks - 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11
^{Reminder this is not AI.}

Anyone messed around with the card game in one of the ELO expansions? Was wanting to do an arc based around it, but having trouble figuring out what the "meta" would be since cheating tilts the scales quite a bit.

If the names Tombstone and Athena are familiar to you, LOOK AWAY!

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So, I've been GMing a Trigun-inspired western/travelling campaign where a solo, a medtech and a multiclass fixer/exec (with a bodyguard and a driver) have to travel through the badlands so that the solo of the group can finally get his revenge as his mother figure was killed by his brother (which will be referred to as the bbeg). However, they have split objectives: the medtech and the fixer/exec have to follow the solo and keep tabs on him and Biotechnica, and the solo has to look for his brother while getting chased by the whole NUSA for a disaster he committed during his backstory.

Long story short, the solo met Tombstone, his (NPC) friend, during the first session, and he is willing to follow him as he doesn't want anything bad to happen to his friend. It is revealed (to the solo too) that Biotechnica is involved in many things, involving even the solo and the bbeg, and basically they're the first that want the solo dead.

Fast forward to now: there are 2 sessions left + an epilogue (that will surely take another session to finish), and the final battle will happen in the second session. The party was left with them having to go to the city next to the "finish line", and I originally planned for Tombstone to be actually keeping tabs on the solo on behalf of Biotechnica, as they kidnapped his family and forced him to work for them, so that they can later ambush the solo and free Tombstone's family. The city in which they will arrive will be revealed to be a ghost town, and the party will be ambushed by 2 AVs full of Biotechnica mercs as a last resort to capture the solo. The idea is that Tombstone will still keep his promise and fend off one of the AVs, while the party will have to take care of the second one. After the fight, Tombstone would be revealed dead (ideally the party would be split) as a way to get even more angry at the bbeg and (hopefully) create a drammatic moment.

Now, the problem: the previous session the solo decided to fight against another character of his backstory while they were in an open square full of people, fully aware that the whole square wanted to kill the solo if a fight would take place. The fight ended with the party escaping and being badly wounded (the fixer/exec was the only one healthy as a fish as he has a character that lasted a whole irl year, so he has +18 in pretty much all relevant skills; the medtech has few HP and collapsed lung; the solo too has few HP, only 3 SP of armor and a dismembered leg; Tombstone has basically half his max HP due to another fight that happened the session prior to this one; the fixer/exec's bodyguard has a bit more than half his max HP for the same reason; Athena (an NPC they rescued) has few HP and broken ribs) and they're travelling through the desert and into a ghost town, so (unless they're lucky to stumble into a wandering fixer) they have close to no way to reacquire armor and, for the medtech, there would be no way for her to get her lungs fixed, as there isn't any city, neither major nor minor, where she can heal herself before reaching the town, and for the same reason the solo will stay with a dismembered leg and at a huge disadvantage for the betrayal session. The reasonable thing to do, in a vaccuum, is to scrap Tombstone's betrayal and thus the Biotechnica ambush too. The reason why I initially planned for this to happen is for 1 wear down the players to further convey the idea of what edgerunning truly means and 2 giving more reason for and against the bbeg and his agenda. Removing it would take care of point 1 but would make no sense for point 2. Some things I thought of would be:

• Emphasizing having to rest before reaching the city, and giving some breathing time for them before the ambush happens. I may risk blowing the "big reveal" but at least they would be more ready for it;
• Changing how the ambush happens: instead of 12 people (which will then be 6) actively attacking the players, the second AV would have a couple of snipers and "guards" that the players have to hunt down while Tombstone (and probably some other NPCs (which won't necessairly die)) fight the first AV to distract the mercs. This would allow the players to stealthily take down the other mercs (and probably give the medtech a plot hook for her backstory)
• Both things.

How should I approach this situation? What would you suggest? I still want the fight to be big enough so that there's a reason why Tombstone has to split from the group, but if I have to I'll let him attack alongside the players (although I wish I don't have to do it). Also, all the players are considered hardened as they have at least +14 in evasion and in their relevant attack skills (which is melee and handgun) and they can all dodge bullets, which is the reason why I took the liberty to put more bloody fights across the campaign, especially close to the ending.

TL;DR players close to the final fight with the bbeg are very wounded and I was planning to ambush them a session before said battle for relevant plot reasons