Cyberpunk Red Core RPG PDF

the roleplaying game of the dark future  CAST AND CREW Writing and Design by Mike Pondsmith, James Hutt, Cody Pondsmith, Jay Parker, J Gray, David Ackerman, and Jaye Kovach Based on Material Originally Created by David Ackerman, Matt Anacleto, Mike Blum, Edward Bolme, Colin Fisk, Dave...

the roleplaying game of the dark future  CAST AND CREW Writing and Design by Mike Pondsmith, James Hutt, Cody Pondsmith, Jay Parker, J Gray, David Ackerman, and Jaye Kovach Based on Material Originally Created by David Ackerman, Matt Anacleto, Mike Blum, Edward Bolme, Colin Fisk, Dave Friedland, Bruce Harlick, Scott Hedrick, Michael LaBossiere, Mike MacDonald, Will Moss, Lisa Pondsmith, Mike Pondsmith, Derek Quintanar, Mike Roter, Scott Ruggels, Craig Sheeley, Mark Schumann, Ross Winn, Benjamin Wright, and the many writers who worked on the Cyberpunk line in the past. Beat Chart Concepts Contributed by Flint Dille Lyrics for Black Dog and Never Fade Away by David Sandström and Dennis Lyxzén Business Management by Lisa Pondsmith Project Management by Cody Pondsmith and Mike Pondsmith Art Direction by Jaye Kovach Cover Illustration by Anselm Zielonka Interior Illustration and Graphics by Doug Anderson, Bad Moon Art Studio, Richard Bagnall, Santiago Betancur, Neil Branquinho, Alexander Dudar, Colin Fisk, Matthew S. Francella, Hélio Frazão, Huntang, J Gray, Maksym Harahulin, DariusK, Jaye Kovach, Bernard Kowalczuk, Adrian Marc, Jan Marek, Eddie Mendoza, Pedram Mohammadi, Alan Okamoto, Anna Podedworna, Sebastian Szmyd, Eve Ventrue, 望瑾 Jin Wang, Wavefront, and Anselm Zielonka Editing by Carol Darnell, Michael Matheson, Josh Vogt, and Dixie Cochran Layout and Page Design by J Gray, Irrgardless, and Adam Jury Product Consultation by Aron Tarbuck Playtesting and Beta Reading by James "ELH" Adams, Azalah, Jared Doyle Barnes, Ben, Gabriel Boleau, Naomi Calhoun, Matt "Sir Fluffles" Carroll, Kevin Diehl, Linda "Druttercup" Evans, James Fullerton, Allen Hawkins, Matthew House, Jay Jasti, Paul Khalifé, The MadQueen, Ashley Mayo, Leon "Leothedino" Mendez, Dan "F00d4Th0ught" Richardson, Ryan "Boss_Angler" St. John, Gavin "Fishy" Steele, Joseph Torres, Jason Rand, Jillian Wagner, Eddy Webb, and Worthington Special Thanks to Radek Adam Grabowski, Marcin Iwiński, Amelia Kołat, Hollie Bennett, Sam Liu, Patrick Mills, Michał Platkow-Gilewski, Walter Jon Williams, and the entire crew at CD Projekt Red. CR3001 ISBN 978-1-950911-06-6 Third Printing Printed in Canada Copyright © 2020 by R. Talsorian Games, Inc., Cyberpunk is a registered trademark of CD Projekt Red S.A. All rights reserved under the Universal Copyrights Convention. All situations, governments, and people herein are fictional. Any similarities portrayed herein without satiric intent are strictly coincidental. Lyrics for Black Dog and Never Fade Away © 2020 by CD Prokekt S.A. Images on pages 26 and 284 © 2020 by CD Prokekt S.A.  contents Never Fade Away.................................. 5 Trauma Team....................................................................223 Street Drugs......................................................................227 View from the Edge............................. 17 Therapy and You.............................................................229 A Tabletop RPG Primer..................................................... 22 Cyberpsychosis................................................................230 Streetslang.......................................................................... 24 Welcome to the Dark Future.............. 233 Soul and the New Machine.................. 27 The Fall of America.........................................................234 Roles.................................................................................... 29 Dark Future Countdown.................................................236 The Three Methods of Making a Character................. 40 Before the Red..................................................................242 The 4th Corp War...........................................................251 Tales from The Street............................ 43 Fitted for the Future............................. 71 The Time of the Red............................ 257 The Aftermath...................................................................258 What are Statistics?........................................................... 72 The U.S. in the Time of the Red......................................258 Skills......................................................................................81 The World Beyond..........................................................260 Weapons and Armor.........................................................91 The Neocorps..................................................................264 Your Outfit........................................................................... 99 Corporate Profiles...........................................................267 Putting the Cyber into the Punk......... 107 Cyberpsychosis................................................................108 Welcome to Night City....................... 283 A Bit of Night City History..............................................284 Cyberware....................................................................... 110 Night City in 2020..........................................................288 The Fall of the Towers..........................121 Night City, Happy at Last?.............................................291 Night City in the Time of the Red...................................295 Getting it Done................................... 125 Particulars......................................................................... 300 Getting the Scene Down................................................126 People of Night City........................................................304 Resolving Actions with Skills..........................................128 Gangs of Night City........................................................308 Skill List...............................................................................130 Key Places in and Around Night City.......................... 310 Role Abilities.....................................................................142 Multiclassing Roles..........................................................143 Everyday Life......................................315 Staying out of Trouble..................................................... 316 Friday Night Firefight......................... 167 How You Stay in Touch................................................... 319 In Combat Time................................................................168 What You're Packing.......................................................321 Actions...............................................................................168 How You Get Around.....................................................322 Ranged Combat..............................................................170 How You Get the Word..................................................326 Melee Combat................................................................. 175 What You Wear...............................................................327 Other Ways to Get Hurt.................................................180 What You Eat...................................................................328 Before You Take Damage..............................................182 How You Have Fun.........................................................329 When Armor Doesn't Cut It............................................186 Where You Get Stuff.......................................................331 Vehicle Combat...............................................................189 Reputation.........................................................................193 The New Street Economy................... 333 Night Markets..................................................................337 Netrunning........................................ 195 Night Market Appendix.................................................340 Doing Things in the NET.................................................197 Making a Living in a Cyberpunk World......................381 Net Combat......................................................................201 Programs...........................................................................201 Running Cyberpunk........................... 387 Miscellaneous Upgrades...............................................208 Beat Charts.......................................................................395 Cyberdeck Hardware.....................................................208 Getting Better...................................................................408 Doing a Netrun................................................................209 Mooks and Grunts.......................................................... 412 Building a NET Architecture..........................................209 Encounters in the Red...................................................... 417 Trauma Team..................................... 219 Screamsheets..................................... 425 Wound States and Critical Injuries...............................220 Stabilization and Healing..............................................222 Black Dog........................................... 435 3  A ND NOW, A Word From The Management So, it's 2013, and I have a problem… See, we've all been cruising the mean streets of Night City since 1984. We've fought the Megacorps to a standstill, cybered ourselves to the very limit of psychosis, and have even climbed to the heights of the Arasaka Towers to pimp smack old Saburo upside his bald head. This is one of the problems all designers who work within a self-created world face: terminal stagnation. Your players have done everything, fought everything, and seen everything you can offer in the original iteration of your world, and there's not much left to do. In Cyberpunk, my solution has always been to treat the entire world like a giant comic book, divided up into roughly ten-year story arcs. The Cyberpunk world goes to hell beginning in 1993, starting with the invention of modern cyber- ware and the attack on the World Trade Center in New York by Colombian narco-terrorists. We start the main Cyberpunk story (what I call the Never Fade Away Arc) ten years later in 2013 with the culmination being Johnny Silverhand's invasion of the Arasaka Tower in an attempt to rescue his girlfriend, Alt Cunningham. Ten more years pass and then begins the Cyberpunk 2020 Arc (which I call the Fall of the Towers Arc… starting to see a pattern here, what with me destroying big buildings all the time?) by the end of which the Cyberpunk world is totally disrupted in 2023. Working in story arcs is useful. It allows you to keep the main world operational while creating new storylines and introducing new characters. You get to build on what is already there and familiar. But by the end of the 2020 Arc, I had two big problems. First, it wasn't going to be enough simply to start a new storyline. I had to deal with the fact that much of the existing world had been mined out and needed a reset. And second, I'd acquired some partners. See, about the same time I started writing what would one day become this book, a bunch of guys in Poland—you probably know them as CD Projekt Red, creators of the wildly popular Witcher video games—showed up on my metaphorical doorstep and said, "Hey, wanna make a Cyberpunk videogame?" I looked them over and, assured that they were more than three guys in a basement with some old Apple 2's and a goat, agreed that this would be a cool idea. But that also meant that, besides doing a bit of a reset, I had to preserve what made Cyberpunk Cyberpunk, while at the same time moving the timeline forward and clearing out the deadwood. I also had to make the new version fit not just a tabletop roleplaying game but a AAA videogame title too. The result is the game you're holding in your hands. Cyberpunk RED doesn't wreck the world. But it resets many of the elements of that world without having to make it unrecognizable. The product of literally hundreds of hours of real-world research and planning, RED gives us a new arc where almost all the elements of the Cyberpunk we all love are still present, but in new forms and with some fun new twists. The mean streets of Night City are still there, but there are lots of new Players and new challenges walking the shadows. In addition, RED allows us to create something unparalleled in gaming history—a tabletop RPG that serves as the perfect onramp for the expanded and far future of the Cyberpunk 2077 arc. With threads looping forwards and back through the timeline, my partners at CDPR (Patrick, Adam, Marcin, Amelia—let's face it, the whole damned 600+ crew at the CD studio) and our crew at R. Talsorian Games have given you a deep, complex gaming experience you can explore on both the tabletop and the video screen. I didn't do this by myself either. I have to give all credit to the amazing crew here at R. Talsorian Games, James, Cody, J, Jaye, Jay, Lisa, David, and a host of other contributors who have made this thing work. We all think the result of all our hard work is a thing of beauty, and we hope you will too. Because we want you to join us in the Time of the Red and make it your time too. ­­— Mike Pondsmith the guy who killed your cyberpunk character 4 BY HUNTANG Never Fade Away 2013 (32 Years Ago) He's coming out of the Hammer, about midnight, and he sees them. Three punks, mohawks bright and bristly with reflected neon, wearing high-collared jackets; gang colors. 5 NEVER FADE AWAY "Yo! Rockerboy!" one of them yells, "Good show! He stares blankly up at the flat black ceiling of the Good noise!" Johnny Silverhand waves absently. city. Overhead, there's the shimmer of distant heat Fans. They're right; the gig was good. He'd rarely lightning interacting with the pink actinic glow of the been better. But the show's over. City lights. The stars look painted in. A VTOL passes overhead, giant propblades thrashing the night. They start walking towards him. One waves a Johnny tries reaching up to it. He can see the Hand bottle; the light strikes oily yellow tequila sloshing to etched against the sky; slick, superchrome winking and fro. "Yo, Silver-rocker!" he says. The smaller one, back at him. He balls the Hand that is his trademark with the face scarred in African tribal tattoos. "Join into a chromed fist, servos clicking in one by one. us! Share some! Fair price for a good gig, eh?" The He thrusts it into the gaping belly wound, gasping distance is closing, Johnny steers Alt, his girlfriend, at the shocking pain. Somehow, he gets to his feet; to his bad side. The one without the Hand. "Hey, staggers to the alleyway. He leans his feverish face Icebrothers," he says, noting the gang's colors and against the cool, wet bricks. He makes a decision. speaking in a temporizing tone. "Your offer's solid, He's not going to die. They're going to die. Closing but it's been a long gig. I'm nearly flatlined as it is. his eyes, he pitches forward into the streak of passing How 'bout a replay, next night?" By that time, they're traffic blur. almost on him. He lets the 9mm Federated Arms X-9 drop from the spring holster, settling into the Hand. Something stops him. Hands firmly grapple him, Probably nothing, he thinks. holding him up. Silverhand has just enough strength to open his eyes. There's a face looking intently at him, ''Yeah. Replay next night," the big one says enthu- thin, bearded. "Lord Almighty," the face says. "They siastically, and that's when they hit him. This fast, really did you, didn't they?" they're a blur. The X-9 booms in the close confines of the alley; whines as spent rounds ricochet off into Fade to black. nowhere. There is a metallic "snick" as the smaller T punk brings up his arm—light reflects off the fistful of rauma Ward razors that pretends to be a hand; then an excruciating impact lifts Johnny off the ground. Blood sprays over wet concrete. Silverhand hits with a bone wrenching Something is screaming when Johnny wakes up. Fine. impact. His pale eyes stare blankly at the sky. Alt's Just as long as it isn't him. He must have missed the terrified screams recede swiftly into the dark. Sixty to ambulance ride to the hospital, but here in the trauma zero in eight seconds flat. ward he can hear the sound of jet engines. That's the screaming. It mounts higher and higher, while the ward fills with warm air and the smell of ozone. From his Johnny comes to. There's something like broken glass stretcher, he can see the bulky AV-4 vehicle spin on in his guts. Red fire blots out the cool blue neon. He rolls its fans and hurtle upwards. The din dies down and he can hear screaming for real all around him; casualties over in a pool of something greasy. Blood. of the regular firefights around the City. His. The doctor puts him back together. The same doctor A cat topples off the dumpster, picking a cautious who did his transparent Kiroshi eyes; his trademark pattern around his body. No fool, this cat. A survivor. silver hand. The same doctor who "plugged" him for Not going to get involved. Its eyes are tiny red LEDs interface and installed the software chips in the back moving upalley; Johnny watches it. Smug bastard, he of his skull. Johnny considers taking out a service thinks. And closes his eyes. contract. Behind his eyelids, red digitals feebly clock out his Microsurgical waldos cut through the perforated remaining moments. Bio-clock running down. Cars guts, swabbing, tying off, prepping. The doctor whispering past on the filthy, rain-wet street beyond. stitches in three feet of glistening wet, tank-grown A Trauma Team ambulance in the distance, siren intestine; plugs the punch holes with synthetic screaming. But not for him. He's checking out. skin and muscle. Airhypos inject the area with 6  NEVER FADE AWAY speeddrugs, fasthealers, endorphins and antibacte- headphone; a mike loops in front of his mouth, the rials. Microscopic stitches hum off the serrated teeth camera itself coming around the right side of his skull of a mini-closer, bonding flesh together almost as and hardwiring into a startlingly bright-green cyber- well as the original. In a month or two, there won't optic. He's a Media; a one-man team of cameraman even be a scar. Let's hear it for newtech. and reporter, direct feeding to some Mediacorp down- line. "Hey, Rocker," he says, leaning over the table as The doctor's hands are quick and sure. He has Silverhand recovers under the sterilizer beams. done this a thousand times. He has a German accent. "Ach... Johnny… Johnny," he says, over and over as he "Ready for a little vengeance?" works. Over his head, the sterilizer lamps glitter like an insect's multifaceted eyes. "Johnny... When are you going to give this up?" says the doctor. When it ends, thinks Silverhand, from the fog of T he Naming of Names Johnny pulls on a red T-shirt. The shirt has the logo the dorphs and general anesthetics. "Johnny," says of his last band, Samurai. The shirt drags over the the doctor sadly. Silverhand is a second son to him. freshly stapled wound; hangs up on the bandages. His first son was Johnny's best friend. His first son was He curses in Japanese. He pulls an armor jacket over killed in an inter-Corporate war eight years ago. No his shoulders. He pulls the autoshotgun out of his bat- man should lose more than one son in a lifetime. tered bedroom dresser, checking the load and weight. He slips it carefully into the worn under-arm holster, Thanks, thinks Johnny. I owe you one, again. under the jacket. He stuffs shuriken into pockets on His alleyway benefactor is named Thompson; a thin, the outside of the jacket. He picks up the heavy S&W reedy type, wearing an armorjack trenchcoat three Handcannon and slides it into his back holster. There sizes too large. He packs no visible hardware. But a is a fury behind glittering pale eyes. "So," he says. minicam mount straddles his head like an over-sized "Tell me." BY ADRIAN MARC 7 NEVER FADE AWAY Thompson leans back into the wall, body bracing "Good news/bad news," says Thompson. He's unlim- against Johnny's intensity. He grins; takes a slug of bered the cybercam unit from around his head and set it Silverhand's tequila. "They didn't want you. They down on the table between them—the only indication of wanted her. She's an extraction. Business as usual." hardware is the silvermounted skull plug drilled through his right temple. The cam's cellular link through the NET Johnny's eyes are blank. "No surprise", he comments is off. Thompson says, "Good news is, it isn't one of the shortly. He gathers up a ragged handful of shells and really big guys, like Eurobusiness Machines." begins to stuff-load the S&W's spare clip. Only the trembling of his hand—the meat hand–betrays any "Fair enough," says Silverhand, taking another swig emotion. "So, why'd they do me?" he asks. from the bottle. "You was home," grins Thompson. It's an old line. "Bad news is, it's Arasaka." They both smile like friendly sharks. Thompson stops "Jesus H. Christ!" explodes Johnny. The Hand, smiling. "They wanted you flatlined, so it'd look like resting on the edge of the table, convulses. There's a a gang job. Boostergang sees the high and mighty rending noise and splinters fly in all directions. Mister John Silverhand out strolling with his input; decides to slash him a bit. You go down, they grab "Your input was playing with hotdeck materials, her; they're gone like vapor. Real convenient when Rocker. You know she ran for ITS, right?" the cops find her body in an alley 'bout a week later. "Yeah. So, you gotta work somewhere. Alt didn't They'll have motives—lots of ugly motives, but they'll talk much about her work." be those of high-powered boosters, not pros." "True. But your Alt was ITS's pet Netrunner. She "Pros." Silverhand finishes loading the second moved info up and down the NET and handled their clip. He stuffs the remaining shells in the armorjack's security as well. She made a lot of classy software pockets. You can never have enough ammo. just for them." Long pause. "She built Soulkiller, you "Yeah, pros," repeats Thompson. "You got shredded know. Or maybe you didn't. Like you said, she didn't for fine, bro. At least a clean ten thousand Eurobucks talk much about her work." of hardware on those boys. The speed they hit you Johnny sits back on the couch, the bottle halfway to with took maybe a seventy percent reflex boost, and his lips. Even the normally disconnected Silverhand those were custom rippers. The type that fold out has heard of Soulkiller, the legendary black program along the fists. That sort of hardware isn't something that sucks the very soul from its Netrunner victims. you pick up on The Street." Soulkiller. What a joke. Soulkiller is a memory "You saw them on me?" intensive AI superroutine that can track an intruding Netrunner's cyberlink faster than a boostergang snorts Thompson's eyes are cold, slate-like. You could drugs. It tears out the cyberpirate's brain with brutal write anything you wanted in them. "Get real," he force, recreating it in a frozen storage matrix inside the grates. "These were pros. If I'd jumped in, we'd both mainframe. The word is on The Street that Soulkiller be dead." The eyes appraise him. "You've been off may be the closest thing to Hell on Earth, and these The Street too long, Rocker. You think everyone has a days, that's saying a lot. nice agent, a couple Solos covering their butts, and a comfy apartment like this somewhere. I let you take it, And Alt made that? Johnny bites down a momentary because I knew it would take at least five minutes for wave of revulsion, superimposed over Alt's big green you to bleed yourself dry. I waited for them to move eyes, her tousled mane of hair. "No wonder she didn't on, then used my Trauma Card." There is a longish talk about her work," he says finally. silence. Then, "Look, Rocker. You want to guilt-loop, "I was following her, Rocker," says Thompson. or you want to get your girl back?" "Word's out that Arasaka is working on its own version "So, name names," says Johnny. He sits down on the of Soulkiller. Something that can walk the NET freely, edge of the bed, favoring his stapled side. He reaches getting up close and personal with people Arasaka out for the tequila and takes a slug. doesn't like." 8  NEVER FADE AWAY "A black-program assassin for a security company?" 'Runners looking to trade information. Fixers with guns, Johnny is up and pacing now. He knows where this is armor, and smuggling jobs. But the place has bad mem- going, and he doesn't like it. ories. She only comes here because Santiago insists on it. "You don't let personal caca get in the way of "You probably believe in Santa Claus too," says business," he says. A lot he knows. Thompson, reclaiming the dregs of the bottle. "Your Alt is the missing link. I figured they'd have to recruit Her back is to the wall of the booth—her mirror- her sooner or later, whether free or forced. Soulkiller's shaded eyes scan the room like monitor cameras. main programming is buried in her head somewhere. What she can't see is covered by her partner, So, I followed her." Santiago, from the opposite side of the booth. His "Thanks for the concern.'' burly shoulders bulk the heavy armor jacket—he looks like a scowling mountain. He's not her type. But "You don't get it, Rockerboy. I want Arasaka. I want he wants her. Somehow, they've managed to work them bad. I'll put anyone and anything on the line to this out—the way they worked out a combat style; get them. Even myself—if I have to broadcast this story the division of spoils. But he keeps hoping. Stupid from the grave, I'll do it. They're mine. You get in my Nomad. way, you're flatlined. You go with me… " Thompson lets it trail out. Then she finds herself facing what she's dreaded for the last two years; the reason she hates this crummy Johnny stops pacing. The room goes still. Only the bar; hates this crummy town. Johnny Silverhand walks Hand moves, like something alive; silver metal joints into the Atlantis. clicking, takeup reels whirring, tiny pistons shooting in and out in simulation of a pulse. The Hand turns He still has the moves, she thinks, as he strides Johnny to face the media man. It makes him say, "How through the big brass doors. Head held high, a cocky long do we have?" light in his pale glass eyes. After all this time, Rogue still can't decide whether she wants him, or just wants Thompson smiles lopsidedly. "How long will it take to kill him. He looks like he owns the place as he your input to rewrite Soulkiller? A day? Two?" crosses the room towards her; a comment to an old "Yeah." Johnny turns, scoops up the keys to the friend here, smiling at a fan there, a narrowed glance Porsche. "You chipped for a smartgun?" he says. at a potential troublemaker; then he's standing in Thompson reaches down to his feet; draws up a long front of her. "Rogue," he says, like nothing'd ever black, nylon bag. "FN-RAL assault," he says, standing happened. "I need your help, Rogue." His voice is up. "I was in the War. I like lead. Lots of lead." urgent, magnetic. "You can go to hell," she replies levelly. On the other Rain runs down the front of the speeder. A wall of side of the booth, there's a faint sound as Santiago Corporate glass and steel looms to either side as they slides one hand over the Minami 10 in his lap. pull out into the down-town traffic. The Porsche whis- tles slightly in the chill air, its CHOOH2 power plant Johnny leans closer. "Look," he says, "I'm sorry. I throwing it against the City night. "So where are we know how you feel. And l wouldn't do this if I had going, Rocker?" says Thompson. any other choice." He pulls up a chair and straddles Johnny grits his teeth. "I've got a marker I have to it, staring at her. "Tough," she shoots back acidly. pull in," he says. She hopes her voice sounds steadier than she feels. "You owe me one," he says, his voice taking an R ogue and Santiago Rogue hates the Atlantis. But she goes there because the edge. "For Chicago. You owe me one at least. And it's not like I won't pay you. I've got euro." "How much?" interjects Santiago. Johnny turns to contacts are good, and the pickings easy. Corporates face him. "Word on The Street is you're pulling five looking for a fast freelance assassination. Medias and grand a night. I'll match and double it." 9 NEVER FADE AWAY Santiago's eyes grin in his dark face. He scratches "Done," says Johnny. He is reaching out across the his bristly chin with his free hand. His partner has a real table to match grips with the big Nomad when one mad on about this guy. But he's a Face—­he's got credit; long shadow falls over the table, then another. that pulls weight in Santiago's world. "How long?" "Ah, Mister Silverhand," the bigger shadow says, "Two days max. I need an extraction. And I won't leaning close. Johnny can see red LED light scrolling haze you­­—it's Arasaka." A long pause, "I'll understand behind his optics, forming crosshairs as he brings the if you think it's too much for you." smartgun up. Santiago's eyes narrow. On The Street, their team Rogue reacts, her chipped reflexes kicking into is known as the best. Who does this choob think overdrive. Her hand is a blur as it stabs up off the he is? Then the Nomad realizes he's being baited. table, the bunched knuckles smashing the Solo's Silverhand's already figured the score between the nose back into his face. He's dead before he hits the two partners. If Santiago backs up on this, it'll be all floor, but spasmed muscles tighten on the trigger of over The Street tomorrow. If he goes with it, Rogue's the big Malorian. There's a deafening BOOM! in a going to have to back his play. Rogue's right­— very small space, but Johnny's boosted reflexes have Silverhand is a bastard. Santiago grins. He can take already thrown him up and over. There's a scream as this punk with one hand behind his back. "It's going to the slug rips through the back of the booth and blows cost you thirty thou, Rocker." through the chest of a Corp sitting on the other side "Done." of the thin wall. Rogue's other hand fires the silenced Automag from under the table, ripping the smaller Santiago grins and raises the stakes. "And you Solo in half. come with us," he finishes. From her side of the booth, Rogue's eyes smolder at her partner. She'd object, Santiago rolls, hitting the floor. Over by the bar, but the rule of the game is, "You don't let personal three figures in armorjackets stand up, weapons caca get in the way of business." When Johnny pulled in hand. Santiago's Minami 10 hammers a short out his wallet, as far as Santiago was concerned, it burst. The figures go flat; one staggers back into the became business. window and falls through in a shattering sound like BY NEIL BRANQUINHO 10  NEVER FADE AWAY a hundred dropped chandeliers. Thompson brings close to his body; his nerves are tingling with booster up the FN-RAL with studied nonchalance, covering effects; he's running like he's on speed. Alleyways the two remaining, prone figures. "Gotcha," he says. streak by as blurs—he compensates his time sense. Rogue is covering the rear, and he can hear her Johnny hits the bar floor; gun high, and eyes scan- breathing behind him. He says over his shoulder to ning the corners. Patrons keep their hands away from the breathing dark shadow, "I'm sorry, Rache." weapons—everyone plays cool. The disemboweled Solo on the floor whimpers. Back-to-back, the four of Her voice is flat, "Never call me that," she says, them edge out of the bar. "Never again." He keeps running. "Okay," he says finally, "fair enough." R unaway "We are seriously tagged," gasps Rogue as they hit She stops running. She says, "Why Johnny? Why now? Couldn't you have gotten anyone else?" She can hear him slow ahead of her. He says, "I needed the sidewalk. the best. And you're still the best, Rogue." "They must have tracked my Trauma Card," grunts The best. Damn him. Thompson. "Guess they wanted to finish the job. You know some nice people, Rocker." They reach the Porsche just in time to see the shadow of an unmarked AV-4 sweep over it. A lt She wakes with her mouth full of cotton wool. She's Garbage, oil, and filthy water explode into steam as the jet exhausts hit the pavement. Rogue is already smart enough to keep her eyes closed; to stifle any down, drawing a bead on the cockpit with her.44. urge to scream. Boosterboys like it when you scream. Above her head, Santiago's Minami 10 roars in They like it so much, they'll do anything to make you deafening staccato. The tiny red spot of her laser scream over and over again. scope pinpoints the AV-4 pilot's forehead, even as Alt silently triggers commands to redline her senses she sees the minigun sweep around towards them. to maximum. She's relieved to find herself still clothed She's not going to make it. The canopy's got to be and relatively unharmed. Not typical booster, but armored. She doesn't even have time to watch her she won't complain. Her enhanced hearing picks up life flash before her eyes. breathing nearby; the click of glasses and ice, com- Then the laser dot is eclipsed by a screaming puter terminals. Definitely not boosters. Alt takes a WHHHHHOOOOMMMMPPP! as something slams chance and opens her eyes, spits out the gag. into the AV-4. The entire canopy—the entire front of A slender, Asian-looking man is watching her. Neat, the aircraft—bells out in a horrible slow-mo inferno—a well-tailored suit. A glass of real Scotch in one hand, which rancid smell of hot metal, melted plastic, and seared he offers towards her. "Welcome, Ms. Cunningham", he flesh gusts against her as the AV tilts to one side says, his mouth smiling and his eyes frozen. "I am Toshiro." and drunkenly impacts the street. A fireball shatters He gestures towards another man; a hulking presence the night. "Love those grenade launchers," smirks lounging by the bar. "This is Akira", he says. Thompson, lowering his steaming FN-RAL. Alt sits up slowly, cautiously, her boosted senses "We gotta get out of here," grits Johnny from behind giving her clues. The comforting weight of her plastic a parked car. Rogue looks into his eyes—she can see autogun is missing. But she still has her cybered arm. the faint red etching of a targeting pattern flickering "Can I get a drink of that?" she says, gesturing towards in their pale depths. "Right," she says, already up and the glass in Toshiro's hand. "Certainly" he says. A moving. Her breath catches ragged in her throat as gesture to Akira, and the hulk turns obediently to mix they run back into the shadows. a drink. Alt is surprised at the grace of the big man's Santiago takes point; he knows all the best boltholes hands. He moves like an athlete. He moves like a in the area. Thompson is next, the big FN-RAL sweep- professional killer. Akira brings her the drink, and Alt ing their way like a flashlight. Johnny keeps his S&W doesn't even think about making a break for it. 11 NEVER FADE AWAY "Thanks." The drink cools the pounding flame in her a big enough problem to rate flying her all the way head. back to Japan." "Certainly. It is the least we can do for a promising "Thanks." new associate." "So this means we've gotta punch into the main Bingo! she thinks. She's been grabbed by offices of the most rabidly paranoid security company Corporate headhunters. Fine. Great. She can deal in the universe." considers Santiago. "Homeboy, you with it. Just learn the rules, play the game, and go pick some great places to lose your women." to work. After a week, it'll be just like checking into work at the ITS offices. "So... " she says cautiously. "Stuff it," cuts in Rogue. "Here's the plan." "What kind of work do you have lined up for your new... um... employee?" Toshiro leans forward, setting the drink down. "So." He says, smiling, "Ms. Cunningham. I wish Interface the Music Headfirst in the NET, Alt weaves magic. for you to tell me all about the program you call... Soulkiller." They've studded her into the Arasaka mainframe, given her room to run, hemmed in only by three Her blood freezes like a silenced scream. Arasaka Netrunners who watch her every move. Her body lies comatose on a contour couch, linked by A Gathering of hosts Johnny, Santiago, Thompson, and Rogue. They are cables to a cybermodem. She's pulling down sub- routines, crunching the compilers, getting comfy with the CPUs. From memory and notes, she's recreating perched two hundred feet in the air on a rusting fire Soulkiller, the eater of minds. escape. From their vantage point on the blackened Soulkiller is a stationary program, locked to a part brick side of the old MarLux Hotel they can see ten of the system architecture. The challenge Toshiro has blocks in any direction. Rogue's eyes are switched to given her is to give it movement—the ability to navi- infrared, scanning for AVs and airogyros. gate the NET on its own. Johnny is watching the street below. Thompson is It's a subtle problem—navigation data and deci- scanning the radio chatter and Santiago is talking. sion subroutines take up a huge amount of memory; "We go in," he says. It's been two hours since the the reason free roaming programs are so limited in firefight. scope. Soulkiller already eats a lot of megabytes; to "Fair enough, " replies Rogue. "But we do it ASAP." make it free running will take more memory than any normal computer can handle. The problem excites Santiago grins, "You got a reason?" her professionalism even as the creation revolts her "Getting shot at always pisses me off," she grins back. humanity. "Besides, I figure they're combing The Street right now, God, they know her so well. looking for us. They'll expect us to be trying to ditch them— they'll be putting their best out to find us. Meanwhile, the The original Soulkiller started as a matrix to contain second stringers are guarding the offices." artificial personalities. She'd studied the concept, worked out the parameters for creating a storage "How you figure they're holding her in the Arasaka matrix. She'd been fascinated and awed to discover office complex?" says Johnny. The Hand is in standby that the same matrix could contain living engrams; mode, running a test routine. Servos click and whir transfer them from computer to body and even back and silver fingers spasm and flex of their own voli- again. It was immortality. tion. Thompson speaks up. "Makes sense. The only mainframe big enough to run Soulkiller is in the main ITS had taken it from her to build a killer. And she Arasaka building. Either that, or in Tokyo. We're not hadn't known how to stop them. 12  NEVER FADE AWAY Now Alt looks over her options. If she doesn't build "I am your Controller." Alt replies. "You will follow Arasaka's monster, they'll torture or kill her. If she my commands." A slight hesitation in her voice. builds their horror, they'll keep her alive. But. "As always," it says, as though doubt had never But once it's built, they'll put her into it. existed in the universe. "What is your bidding, Mistress?" W ar Party A plan hinges on strange elements. Alt lets out a long, exhausted breath. She's gotten the Controller override past her watchdogs. Now she has a chance. Rogue leaves their motel bolthole at nine. She moves "This is what I want you to do," she begins fast, travels light, moving from place to place. Here, P she picks up five pounds of plastic explosives; there, arty Hard flash-bombs, timers and tripwires. Santiago covers P a rtyfHa r d P a rtyfHa r d P a rtyfHa r d her. He picks up more explosives, a combat assault cyberdeck, and a long, bulky black sniper rifle. Seicho Harada is second in command of Security for the Arasaka complex at Industrial Park. Seicho is Johnny's on the cellular, working the connections. afraid. Since early afternoon, the people have been He pulls his bandmates in from around the City, care- pouring into the large, grassy park opposite his guard fully dodging the phone taps, shadowers, and snoops. position; at first a trickle, then a stream, then a torrent. He sets the time and place and the gig is on. He can't figure it out. They don't do things like this Thompson is on The Street, working hard. A phone in Tokyo. In Tokyo, people are consistent. They make call here, a tip to the screamsheets there. A Fixer picks sense. Here, people are animals. He thinks about up a little euro on the side, and passes the word down. calling the City Cops, but that would reflect badly By 10 a.m., The Street knows there's going to be a on Arasaka. The world's largest security Corporation party. By noon, the word is all over The Street—the calling for help? What a loss of face. But there are six band is Samurai, the time is sundown, and the Smash thousand people crammed into the tableau in front is free. of him. By one, The Street knows the party is going to be on Up on the makeshift stage, acting as though the edge of town at Industrial Park. invulnerable, struts Johnny Silverhand, working the crowd up. Seicho wants him. He wants him dead. But Arasaka's twenty two story office compound faces Silverhand might as well be on Luna as far as Arasaka Industrial Park. is concerned. A single gunshot could trigger a riot of Like a single, hungry thing, the mob converges. unbelievable proportions. Seicho can feel the tension building. So can Johnny. An invisible thread binds S orceror's Apprentice them as adversaries, eye to eye over a battlefield of unwitting bodies. 7 :29 p.m. Can you feel it The twisting construct spins, a blazing pillar Can you touch it of white fire, sparkshowers of stars. A glowing DNA Get ready cause here we go chain, a whirling dervish takes shape and form, in the Can you feel it construct reality of the interface, towering above her, Can you touch it looming like fear itself. Dazzling, it exudes the pal- Get ready cause here we go pable scent of terror. It speaks in a voice like crystal, My soul inserted with vital force and momentarily Alt's breath is taken by its perfect, Won't spare what I'm hunting for murderous beauty. "I am." it sings triumphantly to the It's the animal in my blood cold stars. Wouldn't stop it even if I could 13 NEVER FADE AWAY Johnny smiles. He's got them, so far. The crowd is Thompson and Rogue are poised, ready to make the paranoid—they expect to be thrown out at any minute. break. All he has to do is give them the chance; the He's been pumping them for the last hour with chro- diversion. matic and metal rock, getting them edgy and irritable; All he has to do is turn around and lead six thou- in a party mood to scream and shout, kick some tail. sand people right into a wall of weapons. The first uniformed idiot who interrupts their party is going to get himself hosed. Suits run when I come undone Can't kill me I'm zeroes and ones Seed is sown—I'm chippin' in Add justice to the people's math Roll the bones—I'm chippin' in Blaze way down the rebel path Embed that code—I'm chippin' in Hear my call—I'm chippin' in Mayhem flows Total war—I'm chippin' in Not backing down, never backing down Casings fall—I'm chippin' in Not backing down, yeah Kill them all It's like driving the freeway at two hundred miles per Not backing down, never backing down hour. The crowd swells and breathes as the first verse goes down, taking on the cohesiveness of a living Can you feel it thing. The bass player picks up the back beat and Can you touch it the two of them slam into the next turn of the song, Get ready cause here we go dragging the crowd with them. Can you feel it Can you touch it Can you feel it Get ready cause here we go, yeah Can you touch it The moment freezes, hanging in air like a death. Get ready cause here we go Punching his battered Telestrater over to "remote", Can you feel it Johnny leaps off the stage, pushing his way through Can you touch it the crowd. His voice holds solid over the radio Get ready cause here we go mike; powerful, pleading, entreating, seducing, and Johnny's eyes scan the perimeter of the park. To one the huge crowd turns with him; surges around him, edge, he can see Santiago in position on the rooftop swallows him. Its knife edge balanced—six thousand opposite of the Arasaka complex. Deep in the crowd, people teetering on the edge, chanting, singing. At BY NEIL BRANQUINHO 14  NEVER FADE AWAY the perimeter of the park, Arasaka police stand guard nervously, their eyes riveted on the mob. Silverhand starts towards them, and they choke on the deci- O ptions Akira turns from the security board. "It has started," sion—twenty guards facing down a wall of humanity, he announces. "Instructions, Toshiro-sama?" Toshiro centered on one man whose voice holds them, binds considers. It was a masterstroke for Silverhand to them. An assault rifle comes up, and the crowd, like raise a literal army of fans against him. Toshiro is an irritable dog, notices the small army facing them check-mated—Arasaka cannot gun down the crowd down. The scene is set; the guards distracted, and on with impunity. But he does have options. He turns to the rooftop, Santiago takes aim... Akira. "Send teams to the elevators. Guard the top Then it goes wrong. One of the faceless guards and bottom of the stairwells, and kill anything in the elevator cars." He looks over at Alt's dormant form. loses his nerve. The staccato sound of gunfire splits "We have the program," he says. "If we do not have the air. But Johnny is already gone, faded back into her body, there is no evidence." a mob that howls like a wounded thing, then surges forward, shattering like surf against armored bodies, Seemingly oblivious, the plugged in Alt permits lobby doors, massed vehicles, guns. Screams. Gunfire. herself a brief smile. A lot he knows. The strobe flash of the mob tearing a guard apart with vampyre teeth, and ripper claws. The sound of a sniper rifle high above the melee, as Santiago Elevators chime open on floors ten, eighteen and methodically picks out guards and blows them away five. The fire teams on ten and eighteen throw a hail with his Nomad Long Rifle. The lobby doors explode of lead through the doors. The elevators are empty. inwards as six thousand bodies slam against them. The team on five is warned, and opens the doors with greater caution. Empty. "It's a trick!" shouts the team Rogue is already in—in when Santiago took out leader. "To the stairwell!" the pair of guards by the main doors. She's on the floor and rolling, a fast dazzle bomb palmed over On floor six, a panting Johnny and Thompson the top of the security desk to fry the optics of the reach the stairwell landing, crack open the fire doors and scout the hall. They can hear other doors monitor team, followed by a frag grenade a second slamming open as the fire teams converge; they bolt later. The deafening explosion goes unnoticed in the for the elevator bank. Prying the doors open, they typhoon roar of the mob. Thompson's right behind her, can see the top of the car on floor five. They drop his video rig and FN-RAL sweeping everything in his down to its top. Thompson hotwires the motor, and path. Both wear armor jacks with the colors of the they start up. infamous Iron Sights boostergang, a known Arasaka hit group. Rogue can hear running feet behind her. She pauses from her vantage point on floor seven and fires a quick Rogue skids around the corner towards the eleva- burst down the stairwell. How much time? she thinks. tor bank, moments ahead of the crowd. Rapidly, she She judges the breathing and the heavy booted tread, opens each car, spray paints the monitor lens, punches and punches six seconds on the timer, then rolls out of a destination, then ducks out. The last car in line, she the seventh floor fire door. She is halfway down the places a shaped charge explosive on the ceiling, hall when the first of the charges go off, collapsing wired to a microtransmitter. This one she sends to the the stairwell in on itself and burying the pursuing fire twenty-second floor; the executive office suites. Then teams. Jamming open the elevator doors with her gun the rampaging mob hits and carries her along in the butt, she drops down onto the rising car. swell. Thompson is waiting for her by the stairwell. "Hold her'', says Toshiro. Dimly, through the interface, Moments later, Johnny shows up wearing an Arasaka Alt can feel Akira's hands pressing her into the seat. company jacket he's pulled off a guard's body. The She struggles as the techs strip her plug guards off and name tag reads Harada. hold her wrists. "Can the program be run?" Toshiro 15 NEVER FADE AWAY demands. His Netrunners nod. Helpless in the grip of to fire at the slightest position change. Then she the interface, Alt can only sense Toshiro jacking himself turns back into the Soulkiller construct, wrapping into the cyberdeck, giving the command to RUN. its power around her, gathering herself to transfer back into her body. Then her mind is ripped away. The room staggers; lurches, as five pounds of plastique explosive slams through the ceiling of the The elevator streaks upwards, the shaft echoing to elevator, creating an instant fireball. The lasers go either side. They can hear explosions; the sound of wild; spilling a maze of ruby light in every direction. running feet, the hammer of machine gun fire. They Toshiro throws himself flat, toppling the cyberdeck and pass the burned out husks of the cars on floors ten and breaking Alt's connections. She flails wildly with the eighteen. At the twentieth floor, the elevator starts to Construct—too little, too late. slow. Just above them, they can see the bottom of the Three figures burst into the room, smartguns laying express elevator on the twenty second. down a pattern of fire through the maelstrom. IR sup- "Duck and cover!" yells Rogue. She taps the trans- pressed, enhanced vision on, Johnny spots Alt's still mitter button on her collar and the world blows up. form slumped over a contour couch. He bends down to her, taking her in his arms, trembling. Across the A ngel Heaven room, Rogue looks away. "Well, well, well," says Thompson, striding across She floats naked in a sea of stars. Around her swirls the wrecked room towards the Corporate head. the matrix of Soulkiller, towering into measureless "What do we have here? Looks like kidnapping and space. Alt reaches out with her enhanced mentality, maybe murder. They're going to put you away for a shaping and forming. A brief flare of thought, and long, long time, Toshiro-chan." His green cyberoptic Soulkiller sucks away the minds of her three guardian winks bright as he transmits live and direct to his news Netrunners, letting their bodies drop. net; his head swivels right to left with practiced ease as he subvocalizes the opening to his story; the story From the mind of the head Netrunner, she pulls out he will use to break Arasaka in Night City. the access codes to the mainframe's inner levels. She strips the memory of data, downloading it to her hidden Johnny stares a long time at Alt's almost lifeless body. files throughout the NET. Twenty million dollars vanishes There is a feeble pulse. But Alt—Alt is gone; lost in the from Accounting, to reappear in a subaccount under machine; trapped behind crystal. Lost forever. Gone. her name. Pulling Toshiro's signature from his checking He stands away from the couch. "Cut transmission, " account file, she signs his name with a flourish. he says to Thompson. The green cyberoptic goes dark. Using the access codes, she activates the room Silverhand's own eyes are featureless white marbles. monitor. She can see the three Netrunners slumped The Hand convulses in fury by his side, locking onto senseless in their chairs; her own unconscious body the S&W in its lowslung hip rig. The metal fingers lock limply sprawled across the central console. Akira to the butt, scrabble-clicking along the parkerized grip. moves towards it. Alt triggers the room lasers and cuts He just doesn't care anymore. He's dead inside. To him in two; his body hits the floor with a steaming thud. hell with it. Toshiro's eyes widen in shock, then narrow as he Silverhand raises the big black gun. A red pinpoint realizes what has happened. "Congratulations, Ms. centers on Toshiro's forehead. "Bang." says Johnny. Cunningham," he says with mock formality. "It seems The Hand convulses. you have found a way to escape your demise." "Bang" says the gun. "You zaibatsu bastard," she says through the Silverhand turns to gather up her still warm body in interface, a tiny voice in his ear. "You're going to his arms. Behind the wall of monitors, a disembodied sit right here with your hands on the table, where I Alt screams to him. can watch them. You move, and you're laser meat." She tracks the defense system onto him, locking it But he can't hear her as he walks away. 16 BY HUNTANG VIEW FROM THE EDGE intro to cyberpunk I'm not a man / or a machine. I'm just something in between. I'm all love / a dynamo So push the button and let me go. Lovin' Every Minute of It 1984 Zomba Enterprises Inc. (ASCAP) 17 VIEW FROM THE EDGE So, you wanna be a Cyberpunk? Or maybe just look like one? Before you pitch off your sleepmat and jump in, there's a few things we need to tell you. First of all, the name. Cyberpunk comes from two want to know about cyberware? words. Cyber—from the term cybernetic, or a fusion skip to page 107 of flesh and machine technology. Punk—from an early 1980s rock music style that epitomized violence, rebel- lion, and social action in a nihilistic way. The term was popularized in the Pre-Collapse days by a group of writers who specialized in writing science fiction with this kind of techno-mélange. Their works featured a streamlined blend of rock, pop, sex, drugs, and the highest, hippest technology—usually grafted onto your body somewhere. The archetypal cyberpunk heroes of the 80s, ranged from techno-barbarians roaming a Post-holocaust world, to cyber-chipped jet-setters with designer bodies. want to know about neocorps? skip to page 264 Of course, from our enlightened viewpoint here in the Time of the Red, this all looks pretty dated. After all, you probably accessed this article from your Agent. You used a Kamakura 19 interface cable with a direct link from your Interface Plugs. You're used to hardwiring into appliances to make coffee, "studding" into the ‘Benz to drive down to the corner store. But understand—in 1987, this was all considered visionary stuff. No one had plugs. You couldn't dial anyone on your Agent. Designer drugs were illegal. You could walk down most city streets without an armor jacket. There wasn't even a NET. Not want to know about weapons? that there is anymore, but they didn't even have the idea skip to page 91 back then. A lways take it to the E dge. It's the C yberpunk way. — The late Johnny Silverhand want to know about netrunning? skip to page 195 18  VIEW FROM THE EDGE T he Crash of 1994 Now we know better. History books can tell you in detail about the Crash of 1994, when the Euro-Combines established the World Stock Exchange, and the economies of the United States and Old Soviet Russia collapsed. In those days, both ranked as superpowers, instead want to know about night city? of a couple of over-armed second-raters waving skip to page 283 nuclear weapons around under the watchful eye of the EuroSpace Defense Agency. So far, the Tycho mass- drivers are still ready to throw rocks at Moscow and Washington, so we'll probably avoid having the nuclear war everyone's been expecting since 1944. After all, rocks are cheap. And so far, the Corps have only used one nuke. T he 4th Corporate War want to know about power players? Now, of course, a couple years back, everything was skip to page 304 more-or-less run by the Corporations, which were pretty much governments themselves. But then, there was a huge and very ugly war between two of the biggest Megacorps—Arasaka Security and Militech Arms—that ended with one of the sides popping off a pocket nuke in the middle of downtown Night City. You can see how that ended up. W hat We Miss want to know about gangs? For all the wartime uglies, you can still go anywhere on one passport: one-worldism at its best. After all, with skip to page 308 borders shattering and the world governments in constant flux, who's gonna stop you? The remaining currencies are stabilized to each other, and the Eurodollar is still the world currency. Hardly anyone complains anymore about Corporate Lifetime Contracts or the abolition of unions; in these unstable times, they even miss them. It's the price of living in a stable, safe society, right? L ife on The Street After all, you could be living in The Street. Sixteen want to know about key locations? people to an apartment, sharing ration chips every week skip to page 310 to buy food, with eight thousand apartments per city 19 VIEW FROM THE EDGE block in the new megabuildings? Sure, it isn't the best life, what with the boostergangs roaming the Volumetric and the major-league crime problems, but it beats actu- ally being on The Street. At least the mega-arcologies have cops (okay, rented Corporate cops, but it's easier than fronting the euro for your own personal Solo!). Besides, the media-nets make sure that every apartment has direct cable access to TV, radio, and sensory feed, want to know about transportation? so there's always something to do on a Saturday night. skip to page 322 Where were we? Oh yeah—you wanted to be a Cyberpunk. C loser than they thought Here's more background for you to think over. When the grand old Masters of the Movement first started writing the cyberpunk genre, they assumed that most of the things they wrote about would either never happen or would happen in the far future. No one knew that want to know about having fun? the West Germans were already developing "organic" skip to page 329 circuitry in the late 1980s, or that the United States Air Force was developing mentally controlled weapons systems. Synthetic myomar muscle fibers were just starting to be used to control prosthetic devices, and very few people could project ahead into the 1990s when organic chipped arms and legs would be possible. There were a few primitive experiments with bio-engi- neering—things like Frostban™ and a few new types of corn—nothing like the bio-engineered animals that we used to (unsuccessfully) terraform the Martian colonies. It took about fifteen years for the new-tech to catch up want to know about food? with the vision. First, the military started using cybertech- skip to page 328 nology to create "perfect soldiers" and pilots. Some of the spin-off led to prosthetic limbs, eyes, and other body parts. Organic circuitry led to direct hookups between humans and computers. Combined with advanced telecommunications technology and satellite down-links, the basis for the once planet-wide NET (now wrecked thanks to the War and the R.A.B.I.D.S.), was established. As each new technological advancement slammed into place, a sort of cultural technoshock set in. want to know about drugs? skip to page 227 20  VIEW FROM THE EDGE T echnoshock Technoshock: When technology outstrips people's ability to comprehend or fit it into their lives. Suddenly, people freak out. They get irrational; violent. Families shatter; relationships tear apart. People feel helpless in the face of the Universe. Eventually, the whole society grinds to a halt, the victim of a mass psychosis. That's want to know about the collapse? what we now call the Collapse. skip to page 244 There were three major responses to technoshock. Most people, their lives uprooted and changed by the advancements, sat passively waiting for their leaders to tell them what to do next. One smaller group tried to turn back the clock, founding the basis for what we call the Neo-Luddite movement. The remaining group—they decided to hit the future head on. With the old 1980's visionary writings as their guide, they established the movement we now call Cyberpunk. W elcome to the dark Future Okay, so now you're ready. want to know about the roaring 2020s? skip to page 248 As a Cyberpunk, you grab technology by the throat and hang on. You're not afraid to "0 out" the newest in "enhancements," cybertech and bioengineering. You've got interface plugs in your wrists, weapons in your arms, lasers in your eyes, and biochip programs in your brain. You become the car you drive, the aerodyne you fly, the guns you shoot. You dive headfirst into computer systems, using your mind to hurtle at lightspeed down the rabbit holes of NET Architectures. With cyborg-fingers you pick want to know about the 4th corp war? computer locks; with enhanced senses, you see into the Future. skip to page 251 Cyberpunk is also an attitude. You wear the most "in" clothes, know the right people, and follow the right crowds. You plan your crimes in the most select clubs and bars; your enemies are Corporate armies, cyborg biker gangs, power-armored assassins, and comput- er-wired Netrunners. Your weapons are nerve, street smarts, bravado, and the Minami 10 smartgun on your hip. Are you ready now? Of course you are. You can't wait. want to know about the time of the red? skip to page 257 Now you're Cyberpunk. 21 VIEW FROM THE EDGE A Tabletop RPG Primer Bruce has decided to play the role of a Solo, a tough mercenary named Gron Helstrom. He thinks about the type of Gaming Keywords If this is your first tabletop roleplaying game, relax; roleplaying games aren't Character he is playing and decides that Action: Something a someone like Gron would be looking for nearly as mysterious as you may have Charac t er doe s to action. He says, "Gron grabs the nearest thought. This is just a structured form of street thug by the lapels of his cheap outfit understand, or manip- ulate themselves or the make-believe play acting, rather like when and growls, ‘Where's the nearest bar?'" world around them. you played Cops & Robbers (or Rebels and Empire) as a kid. The focus is on Dave has decided to play the role Check: Adding a die roll of a Lawman: Jord Mattersly, a clever verbal description and storytelling, with to a STAT + Skill to see would-be detective and delver into mys- if you succeed at an Players describing what they do rather than acting it out. teries—the more bizarre the better. Jord's Action. a thinker, not a fighter—so Dave tries Crew: A group of Player (For the rest of you, you probably another tack: "Jord pulls Gron's hands Characters. want to skip this part and read ahead. off the thug's collar and says, ‘Excuse my d6: A six-sided die. Not everyone is an experienced Player friend's enthusiasm. We're just looking for who started in 1997 with a 170th level a place with strong drink and some quiet d10: A ten-sided die. Cleric/Ninja/Solo carrying a scream- socializing...'" d100: Roll two d10s. Use ing energy blade taken from a demigod one for the 1s place and Lisa is playing the role of Spyder, a you defeated in a previous game. Skip one for the 10s place to cunning Netrunner/Hacker thief with ahead; we gotta get the new Players up get a number between 1 a bit of Robin Hood in her background. and 100. to speed, okay?) As a natural paranoiac, she's scanning the locals around the group. "What does Downtime: The time How Does a RPG Work ? b e t we e n M is s ions , Spyder see in the crowd?" when Player Characters Well, let's show you. As GM, Mike thinks about it. It's night, have a chance to relax, in a bad section of town, and Gron's just recover, pursue outside ▶A Typical Roleplaying Session ◀ goals , and lead a roughed up one of the locals. He says, normal life (maybe). Mike, Bruce, Dave, and Lisa have gath- "Well, Spyder sees three large figures ered together for a roleplaying session moving silently out of the shadows. The Ga memas t er: A lso (also known as a "run"). They find a com- moonlight glints off drawn weapons and known as the GM. The person in charge fortable place in Mike's living room with cyberware as they approach you..." of setting the scene, enough space for some books, some dice, Lisa thinks about it, then says, "Can I use playing NPCs, and and a few favorite types of party food (a my Interface Ability to take control of any adjudicating the rules. staple of a good roleplaying session). local automated defenses?" Initiative: The order in As Gamemaster, Mike starts off the which every Character Mike responds, "It will take time to scan session by proposing the situation and for something and then you have to break in a scene takes their describing the scene. He begins: "The in. The boosters are coming on fast." Turn. Especially import- ant in tense moments, three of you have just entered Night City. like combat. It's about nine at night, and the dark, windy "Spyder turns to Gron and Jord," says urban streets are slick with the recent rain Lisa, catching on fast. There isn't going to and the filth of years of slum living. Weak be an easy way out of this one. Gron's moonlight casts long shadows as you make just gotten them tagged on The Street and your way past street beggars and the occa- there's going to be blood tonight. sional boosterganger looking for an easy "Hey people, we have a problem target. coming up..." 22  VIEW FROM THE EDGE What is a Character? rules of the game. The GM must have a firm grasp of the rules and the fictional Most of you are going to use these rules background of the game. It's the most to play Characters (aka Player Characters demanding position in terms of energy Gaming Keywords or PCs), personas you control who exist in and imagination, a lot like directing a film Mission: A scenario with this fictional universe of 2045. This book when you can't control all the actors. But a defined objective run is set up to give you a clear idea of how it can be immensely satisfying as well. The by the GM and played your Characters think and act and how GM uses the background of the game by the PCs. Also known they work within the rules. world to devise plots into which they place as a scenario, adventure, the Players' Characters (or uses published or job. A Character is a role that you will be playing in the loose, impromptu play adventures, several of which are included Non-Player Character: that makes up a roleplaying session. For in this book). They describe the situation Aka a NPC. A Character to the Players as their Characters would played by the GM. example, if your roleplaying group were staging a recreation of the movie Blade know it, and the Players describe what Player: A person playing Runner, Rick Deckard would be one of their Characters are doing to respond to a Character in the game. the Characters. Much like Harrison Ford, the situation. The plot generally flows from Pl a ye r C h a r a c t e r: the person playing Rick in this adventure there, with the GM presenting obstacles, Also known as a PC. A would try to act out what they thought the NPCs, and other elements in story form as Character played by a Character would be doing in each scene the Players continually decide what their Player. of the "movie." Characters will do. And so, the Players Role: A type of Character. and GM create a story together. Each Role has a unique ▶ Do I Have to Dress Up? ◀ Role Ability. ▶ How Do I GM? ◀ Not really. Although there is a specific Round: The amount of style of roleplaying game called a LARP The best way is through trying it yourself. time it takes for every (or Live Action Role Play, where people We have provided some examples of how Character in a scene to do dress up), most games are played to incorporate rules into gameplay in the take their Turn. by sitting around a table, imagining the many sidebars throughout this rule book. Skill: An area a Character scene described by the GM, and then The most important part is to be a good has training in, such as acting out what you think your Character storyteller—to try to vividly describe the Handguns or Science. would do in that situation. You don't have world you are guiding people through, Measured in Levels. to dress in costume, wave around plastic and to pose problems or situations that Statistic: Also known as weapons or (God help us!) run around challenge your Players. Challenge them, a STAT. Physical, mental, in the steam tunnels at midnight. In fact, but don't squash them. Almost as import- and social attributes one of the best games we've ever heard ant is the need for the GM to be an impar- inherent to all people. about was played by a bunch of U.S. tial judge of the rules and effects of the Turn: The amount of time Army guys stuck in a slit trench in Iraq. game on their Players. Remember: if you it takes a Character Yeah, you could say they were dressed aren't interesting and you aren't fair, no to perform an Action. appropriately (guns, gear, armor) but you one's going to want to star in your "movie." Roughly 3 seconds. won't have to go that far. Good luck! XdY: A way the game uses to tell you how many of What is the Gamemaster? How Do the Rules Fit In? what type of die to roll. For example, 1d6 means One of you will take on the role of the Many situations come up during a game you should roll a single Gamemaster (or Referee): the person who that require more than common sense to d6. presents the story to the Players, controls resolve. For example, if you've never been any Characters not controlled by the in a firefight, it might be hard to judge how Players (called Non-Player Characters one would go. The rules give you a way or NPCs), and applies and arbitrates the to play out those situations in a fair and 23 VIEW FROM THE EDGE consistent manner. When the outcome of an event is in CHOOH2: Pronounced "Choo-Two". Streetslang for question, you roll dice (Cyberpunk RED uses ten- alcohol, as used in vehicle power plants. The vast sided (d10s) and six-sided dice (d6s), and the majority of vehicles in the Time of the Red are fueled result of the roll helps you determine what happens. by an advanced form of alcohol with a higher Then the GM generally applies the rules and results burning temperature than normal methanol. as required. Chromer: A 21st-century heavy metal rock fan. See Okay, that should give you a handle on the basic also Chromatic Rock. concepts; now get on with the game! Chromatic Rock: A type of heavy metal charac- S terized by heavy electronics, simple rhythms, and treetslang violent lyrics. Conapt: A condominium apartment in a Corporate Some common terms in Zone. the Time of the Red Cybered-Up: To get as much cyberware implanted as possible before going over the Edge. Time of the Red: a slang term for the period from 2023 to the late 2040s, taken from the red skies Data Term: A street corner information machine, with common throughout the world as an aftereffect of a screen, CitiNet inputs, and keyboard. the 4th Corporate War. 'Dorphs: Streetslang for synthetic endorphins, a AV: Pronounced "Ay-Vee." Common slang for an designer drug that increases healing powers, limits aerodyne; an automobile-like vehicle powered by fatigue, and produces a "rush" like a second wind. ducted jet fans. Exotic: A human biosculpted with non-human ele- AI: Artificial Intelligence; a computer with full ments; fur, long ears, fangs, etc. self-awareness. The Face: The representative of a Megacorporation Beaverville: A safe suburban neighborhood primar- for legal purposes. ily inhabited by mid-level Corporate executives and their families. Flatline: To kill. A dead person or thing. Bonanza: The location of a big score like an aban- Go LEO: To make the trip into Low Earth Orbit, i.e., to doned Corporate facility. visit one of the inner space stations. Booster: Any member of a gang that affects cyber- Gyro: Small one- or two-seat helicopters, used mostly ware, leather clothing, and random violence. in police work and Corporate strike operations. Combat Drugs: Any one of a series of designer Handle: A nickname; a working name you are known drugs created to increase speed, stamina, and by on The Street. reflexes. Hydro: Streetslang for hydrogen fuel, used to power Chilled: To be cool; to be together. some vehicles in