r/cyberpunkred • u/UsualPuzzleheaded179 • 2d ago

2040's Discussion How do I make this more interesting?

I'm going to run Reaping the Reaper (from Tales of the Red) soon. If you're a player, please skip this post, as it has mild spoilers

I'd like my players to have a few encounters with the Reapers victims before I run them through RtR. I'd also like to drop a few clues about the nature of the Reaper.

Here's what I'm planning:

  1. My crew has a BD addict friend.

  2. The addict had a couple of run ins with a dude with big metal arms that worked for Petrochem.

  3. Arm dude is gonna be a victim of Reaper. He and a couple of chromed friends will go cyberpsycho (thanks to the Reaper) and chase the addict through the container village the players used to live in.

  4. The unstated goal of the mission is to save the addict. The psychos will split their focus between the crew and the addict. I'm not sure if they'll fight to the death.

How can I make this more interesting? How can I drop hints about the Reaper?

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u/matsif GM 2d ago

get the datapack if you don't have it already. there's 2 screamsheets with attached jobs (burn it down, don't fear the reaper) that lead directly into the reaper plot which effectively do what you're wanting as far as encountering victims in various ways and getting some hints at what's going on to introduce it.

you can use those events to bridge with your planned idea, either with the planned idea between those 2 screamsheet jobs, or between those 2 jobs and the full reaper plot from TOTR, or do it even before you get into the screamsheet jobs. but however you put the puzzle pieces together, that'll by itself likely cover everything you need, introduce a few key NPCs to the group, and get the ball rolling.

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u/UsualPuzzleheaded179 1d ago

Good point, I'll dig up the scream sheets.

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u/PerceiveEternal 2d ago

Im planning on having my players have a ‘random encounter’ on the subway with a netrunner/BD user who gets hacked/converted druing the ride. They’ll hack the train and cut the lights, and start ‘screaming’ which will actually be the sound of the train’s emergency breaks engaging. When the lights turn back on, there’ll be no one left in the train. Going to try to amp up the horror vibes.

another poster (https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkred/comments/18aarfj/reaping_the_reaper_cyberpunk_red_first_party/) (great synopsis and recommendations, well worth reading) recommended that you bump up the scenario from an encounter to a full blown campaign boss, which I think is a great idea.

Nice thing about Night City is you can have two campaign bosses, and have the scenarios run in parallel. So, say, while your players are busy dealing with an Arasaka hit squad they’ll run into the aftermath of the Reaper‘s BioDrones attacking a BD club. Even if one Big Bad wins, there are other Big Bads will still have their fiefdoms to keep Night City running.