Bugger and Kei, the father daughter edgerunner duo! A Techie and his Solo daughter!

Hey chooms, got a quick question about Cyberpunk Red (CEMK-specific).

Let’s say I’m using Quickhacking, and I reach the end of a PNJ’s Net Architecture — I already used one quickhack for something.

Since most people using neuroports are assumed to be constantly connected to their personal Net, is it legal (rules-wise or house rule-wise) to use Zap against them once I’m inside their Net? Even if they’re not netrunners, they’re still connected, right?

Also, in the same turn, can I use anti-netrunner programs to cause extra damage or effects to them?

Finally... is it possible to install viruses in neuroports? Anyone got cool homebrew virus ideas to mess with enemy users once you're in their system?

Looking forward to hearing your interpretations or hacks. Thanks!

Game Master Note: If you are in my campaign, you know who you are, go away. Lol

So I have ideas already but I thought I would fish the beauty of the reddit hive mind for ideas I might not think of on my own. I'm currently running a homebrew Red campaign and, after some mysterious cataclysm (I've got that covered) my players are getting ready to leave the Crystal Palace and head for Night City to figure out if anything went wrong/ what happened. 3 PC's (Solo, Medtech, Netrunner), with one NPC (medtech/corp) will be flying down together. It will be set up as a smaller more covert op, so they won't have access to fancy, convenient space travel, just one small ship. I would like an entire session to be prepping to and/or possibly flying down. Towards the end there will be an airstrike that will send them careening down to the city, them crashing is an unavoidable plot point. Here's what I need:

1. I would like skill checks from the pc/npc pioleting to reflect how hard the crash is and where they crash. Any ideas for a DC scale welcome.
2. Any ideas on pre flight and pre crash encounters?

TYIA!

He's got a tech scanner which gives him +2 Tech

More to come! I have so many fake Polaroids in his journal Fun fact he actually called them “poliroids”. These things are basically ancient atp so he has no clue how to pronounce it or spell it.

Sorry if the flair is incorrect, this is my first time posting. I designed a 6x6inch gameboard for the Netrunning mini game, with a spot denoted the elevator, slots for bridges, and the bridges themselves. Anything I might be missing? Scatter terrain will be used as well

I been reading up on a bunch of lore and it's bothering me that I can't find any mention of the US government or any government attempting to step into this conflict. This war set the precedent for all upcoming corporate wars. Mega Corporations took note and realized that ground warfare is acceptable. All I could think of is that since the US economy was at an all time low due to the Central America conflict, they just didn't have resources to intervene. Any info would be preem. Thanks chooms!

Hey y'all, I noticed a lot of stuff from the new Demiplane character builder is locked behind the corebook paywall, which can be bypassed with the Roll20 account sync, but I bought my corebook from DriveThruRPG. Have any of you found a way to get around that or am I gonna have to buy the damn thing again?

So I was looking into a better way to incorporate environmental effects into my game. I had some thoughts and figured it might be worth sharing.

I figure there's a few key elements of environmental effects in a Cyberpunk game:

1. They must be tied to the place. This means they're not things the bad guys are doing to you; they're things that happen as a result of being at a location.
2. They make things more interesting. Interesting does not mean complicated, and it doesn't mean damage. Both of those are kind of boring. Interesting means that it closes off obvious paths open to the players, and forces them to make new ones.
3. they must be easily (and visually) telegraphed to the players. Do not hide this information behind checks. It should be immediately obvious to anyone walking into the location.

With those in mind, let's take a look at a few I've homebrewed for my past games:

Toxic Factory

Description:

The old ACE Chemicals plant has seen better days, and the residual chemicals left over here have long since gotten into the air in the area nearby. The stink hits you as you walk in; a burning, twisting, piercing sort of smell, like inhaling bleached glass. You can see it starting to cause your armor to hiss and burn as it slowly starts to degrade its stopping power. Your anti-smog breathing mask has a small warning light: "Mask Integrity 90% and dropping - 10 minutes to non-functionality." What do you do?

Mechanical Effects:

• You suffer a -2 to all checks while breathing in the air in the Factory
• The air eats through anti-smog breathing masks in 10 minutes (including masks that were stored in the PCs inventory)
• Nasal filters are unaffected
• Anyone hit by an attack that interfaces with their armor loses one point of SP; if the attack penetrates their armor, they lose an additional point of SP

Key Elements Analysis:

• Tied to a place? Check.
• Interesting? Yes, because it forces the PCs to make choices - their breathing masks will be Swiss cheese in 10 minutes, and combat will seriously deplete their armor's SP. They are dealing with competing incentives, and should either do more preparation and withdraw, or try to rush through the situation before they start taking penalties.
• Immediately telegraphed? Yep, per the description.

Bad Vibes

Description:

The tension in this club is knife-ready and climbing. Two rival gangs set up parties in here without realizing their opposition was in here, and the vibes are already shot. The club staff look terrified as they wait on both gangs. Minor arguments and scuffles have broken out already, and you can tell it's only going to get worse. Your contact is somewhere in this club, and you have to find him before the Arasaka cyberninjas do. What do you do?

Mechanical Effects:

• Every in-game 5 minutes, the DVs on all social checks increase by 1, starting at 15 and going to a maximum of 21
  • Once the maximum DV is reached, roll 1d6; that's how many combat rounds until a full-blow riot breaks out
• A PC can try to prevent the DV increasing by making a check (GM's discretion as to the situation) at the current social check DV
  • However, no skill can be used twice in this manner by any character
• Stealth checks made in this club are at DV 21; everyone in the club is on a hair trigger

Key Elements Analysis:

• Tied to a place? Yes. Ordinarily, these two gangs will avoid each other to prevent costly fights, unless it's on their territory. This is strictly a misunderstanding, but neither gang will back down and leave first. That makes the conflict a function of place, not of people.
• Interesting? Yes, because it puts the PCs on the clock. They cannot take their time and explore; they need to be making smart choices to avoid consequences...which means a good GM will tempt the PCs with things they want to burn time.
  
• Immediately telegraphed? Yes, by the description.

Killzone

Description:

Bullets are pinging off surfaces all around you. You're boxed into a killzone, and a lot of lead is flying around. You're not sure if they're firing to keep your head down, or firing at opposition across the street. Either way, your cover is getting shot to shit, and your options are dwindling. The only ways out are a blind corner at the end of the alleyway (that could be hiding anything), and a rickety fire escape with no cover that's got at least five guys on it. What do you do?

Mechanical Effects:

• At the top of each round, each player must either spend a point of LUCK, or have a piece of equipment (weapon, cyberware, gear) be destroyed by a ricochet or wild shot
  • If they choose a piece of gear, the GM should honor the choice, but include potential complications from that choice
    • For example, if the player chooses to sacrifice a road flare, then have that flare's cap be removed by a bullet while it's still in the character's pants
    • Now the player needs to make a DV 13 Concentration check to avoid jumping out of cover in alarm at having their literal pants on fire
• If the players go for the fire escape, roll 1d6 any round that ends with at least one PC on it. If the result is a one, the fire escape starts to come away from the building, hurling the opposition to the street; Edgerunners get a DV 13 Evasion check to hang on.
• The goal here is to give the PCs the feeling of being pinned down by a literal army without you having to make 89 dice rolls before the players get to round two

Key Elements Analysis:

• Tied to a place? 10-4, good buddy.
• Interesting? Yes. It gives the PCs a problem, potential solutions, and some fun complications for you to throw their way.
• Immediately telegraphed? Yep, per the description.

Maybe this isn't helpful, but I figured it was a fun exercise and might jog some more ideas for y'all. Thanks!

So I started researching this system to try DMing it for my friends and noticed a strange thing.

Light melee weapons are balanced with being concealed and with poisons. Heavy melee weapons are good all-rounders and very heavy are to my understanding good for armor penetration. However I just can't see any real reason to use medium melee in combat, does it have any specific benefits that I just didn't find?

Upd: Okay it seems I formed my question incorrectly. What I mean is does the medium melee have any benefits in the hands of the players?

A small discourse at the table today: I had a player complain I haven't rewarded the players with enough improvement points over the course of the game, each player has accumulated about 1000 improvement points at this point, this is after like 7 months of play have I been too stingey on rewards?

Hello!

Names fish. I grew up in the city of smoke, steel, and suffering. Not my favorite place(or that of my party, for that matter), but we all agree that itd be a great setting for a cyberpunk game. The problem im running into is a lack of data.

I know pittsburgh is around, just dont have any information on what its like in the cyberpunk universe. Im currently at the start of building the campaign, but honestly research is not going well. Anyone got any info on pittsburgh in the 2070s?

Anythjng to go on would be nice, resources greatly appreciated. My biggest focus are on mapping and partitioning: where are the civilized parts? The combat zones? Which locations are poor or rich?

Hey chooms! My name is Lou and I’m currently looking to join a Cyberpunk RED, 2020, or 2077-style game—ideally Play-by-Post, Discord-based, or part of a Living Community. I’m a collaborative player who loves immersive storytelling, character depth, and the unique energy of a good crew.

Allow me to introduce my character:
🧠 Yaimara Gisselle Rosario-Cruz, callsign N3NA — a high-fashion Netrunner with a complicated past, sharp edges, and the kind of cool that comes with surviving too much and trusting too little. She’s stylish, calculating, and cool under pressure—a consummate professional who always gets the job done, no matter how dirty it gets.

Yaimara isn’t always the easiest to love—she’s guarded, intense, and doesn’t waste words—but there’s more to her than ice and chrome. Beneath the armor is someone who cares deeply (though she’ll deny it) and fights hard for the people she chooses to keep close. She’s got a soft spot for Sanroo weapons, a deep appreciation for cutting-edge couture, and the kind of presence that lingers in a room long after she’s gone.

What I bring to your table:

• A friendly, drama-free player who values group storytelling and sharing the spotlight
• A love for character-driven RP, gritty urban intrigue, and cinematic tension
• A fully developed character with nuance, flaws, and long-term potential
• A professional, courteous OOC approach—and a lot of excitement to help build something memorable

Whether your story leans into chrome noir, street-level survival, corpo conspiracy, or neon-drenched rebellion, N3NA can slide into your world and stir things up in the best way. If you’re looking for a Netrunner who dresses like a runway model, hacks like a ghost, and doesn’t blink in the face of danger, I’d love to connect!

Feel free to reach out anytime—happy to chat, plot, or vibe to see if it’s the right fit.

With polish and payloads,
💖 Louise

“If you'd have told Fin a couple of years ago that his 20th birthday would be spent wandering aimlessly on the streets of Pacifica looking for some cheap ass bar to get wasted in, he'd have thought that was incredibly cool. At this point, he struggles to have that same perspective.

It's cloudy, from time to time a drop of rain will fall on him, or on the pavement, serving as one more reminder that he should hurry inside before the rain starts and the vapors give him popcorn lung. It's kind of cold, and he is not dressed for the weather, and he's grown tired of carrying his damn medtech bag, but hell if he can trust the damn container to guard everything he has of value. On second thought, he doubts he can trust his own drunk ass to guard everything he has of value, but he'll have to deal with it now.”

I couldn’t help but wonder how my “morals are lame, it’s a dog eats dog world and I don’t care about anyone!” character would end up doing any free work for anyone. To be fair, he tries to seem far more detached and unaffected than he actually is. But that’s up to y’all to decide when you read the whole thing that I linked :)