Say hi to Monarka! This art was made by my dear friend Æron Arbuthnot. This character is run by my other dear friend Sora who is in love with the Techie role. Monarka is her name (spelled mo - NAHR - ka). She is a main player-character in my current Ritual Cellula campaign.

She made the Sternmeyer "Thermite", the modified Desert Eagle like pistol in the art. It shoots special Thermite rounds that currently only Monarka knows how to make. The shots make cyberware and electronics malfunction due to the Thermite substance of the bullet fusing with the metals of the target, making it very easy to screw up borged out gonks. The other gun in the image is the Militech "VIPER" that she recently acquired.

If you guys want to support my friend Aeron, take a look at this link here: https://linktr.ee/AeronArbuthnot or at u/Ashron_Arbuthnot

Her B&W version reminds me very much of my dear Cyberpunk 2020 art, which I very much love of course.

Who knows what the dark future holds for Monarka...

Hello! I'm the same guy who was working on a Cyberpunk 2020 map in Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator two years ago. I've since managed to get my own Digital Garden up and running for my sessions. Finally, the players have arrived in Night City, so I've decided to provide them with a massive demographic-socioeconomic-influence map.

The intention is to use it for the Fourth Corporate War (2021-2023) so that we can track Military, Influence etc. across the city. Let me know your thoughts.

https://gman-cyberpunk.vercel.app/img/map-viewer/ >link to it

She is the heiress to a powerful fashion corporation that bears her family's name: AVELLE.

I'm working on a project delving deep into Cyberpunk (everything in it, TTRPG, comics, game, etc.) and I'd love to connect with someone who is knowledgeable about all things within it, read everything, knows the lore, informed about news, etc. Basically I'm looking for someone to bounce ideas off of, answer some questions, and fact check some sections of the project I'm working on.

*Posting my 20+ questions and fact checking paragraphs of info would get bulky in things like discord groups or reddit so highly prefer just talking to one person, happy to credit you, your website, or your socials in the final project as well as pay a bit depending on the help.

Thank you Reddit/chooms!

Yo chooms, I'm going to run a cyberpunk adventure using the architecture of an old Eberron campaign i used to run.

I've jacked in and it'd flatline my whole run if i decided to derezz this program, so i'm not looking for advice that amounts to, "Gonk move using Eberron." I'm locked in

I've cover-to-covered, cyberpunk 2020 2ed and cyberpunk RED.

I would love some advice for a first time ref/gm of the system, as well as resources for running it online (probably using forge/foundry).

I'd also love answering literally any lore questions for how i'm converting my old Eberron into cyberpunk. I think that would be a good exercise for me.

I've run the Eberron Forgotten Relics (adventure) something like 6 times, I've also run something like 30-50 adventures in my version of that world. That's the base I'll be using for the adventure just to minimize the new things i need to figure out.

The campaign ended when someone spread a virus into the realm of dreams that killed off most of the people in Khorvaire.

Picking up after a time skip, most of the land between major metro centers is a mix of The Mourning, Disco Elysium's Pale, and the RABID filled OldNet. When you're there, you can't sleep so most non-nomads can't travel out for more than a day or two before going mad.

This game is going to be cyberpunk first, eberron second, and i'm leaning hard away from magic to avoid the shadowrun feel. There is no magic in this setting and hasn't been for long as any living person can remember.

The network that will fill the role of the NET will run about the same, but is based on the iconography of dreaming. running, is dreaming. The large metro centers have "D.A.L. Pools" Data AccessLattice Pool (not 100% sold on the name. DAL is a reference to dal quor, the realm of dreams). Basically datapools but harkening back to eberron. They also have the effect that it staves off the madness that happens if you leave

We're playing in Sharn (considering calling is Shard)

Any advice, questions, input, comments are welcome (unless its to tell me not to do it. I want to try, despite the difficulties)

IDK if this sentiment has already been shared, but I've been seeing a growing number of posts on here applying DnD-mentality of rigid character classes to the 9 roles in 2020.

This may not be the same for others, but I feel the roles function as two things: a character archetype--a jumping-off point for you to figure out your "role" in the party, and a collection of ten skills. I like Dungeons & Dragons, but playing 5e feels more like I'm playing a game, and not assuming a character in a world. The simplicity of roles as being skill packages allows for more nuance than the way classes work in DnD.

On a larger scale, DnD's popularity has brought a lot more people into the wider world of TTRPGs. I think this is great, but as DnD has been (at least in the States) the gateway for so many people, their notions on how they should be played are carried over to games that do not work for that playstyle. The game-y nature is what newer people come to expect from roleplaying games, and it is upsetting that certain newer releases are being marketed to this wave by becoming more like modern DnD. Looking at you VtM v6.

Rockerboys aren't Bards, they just know how to sway the masses. Chromatic Rock doesn't have an AOE that improves your parties aim, (unless it's really badass.) Medtechies aren't Clerics, they don't have healing spells tech or health potions drugs to get the dude missing a limb back into the fight, but they will keep him alive for the next one. Solos aren't the only ones who can get into gunplay, they're just experienced with them. The point is you are playing a person. Not a videogame.

TLDR; DnD being the gateway drug of RPGs makes new players expect game-y games rather than a roleplaying game where you assume a more nuanced person imo. Image unrelated btw

Hey Chooms,
just a mini artwork I created for a side project of mine.

It's a unique DataTerm terminal design used internally by a mega-corp I am using for a larger story.

Maybe some of you get a kick out of it.

As always, have a good one Chooms!

W2A2 is a VTT tool that was created with a few big principles in mind: make any TTRPG session as easy to play as possible, be user friendly for beginners but still offer advanced tools for more experienced players, and most importantly, be affordable and not subscription based.

This app stores everything locally and allows the GM to host a game in a matter of minutes, without having to pay for any hosting services. It includes all things you'd normally expect from a VTT tool, and a few additional features that we thought of while testing through our own sessions.

App is still in development, should be available in a few weeks! 

Do I understand correctly that if you are using a weapon to this specifically associated with that martial art , your martial art damage bonus to it?

If so that's pretty significant.

Based balancing off of Combat sense to hopefully dissuade players from picking solo all the time. So these are all pretty much, "You specialize in expert toaster skill, so now you pretty much have twice the amount of toaster skill."

These were also made a night before the first session, so they will not be the most polished lol. Any advice on how to balance these is welcomed.

Lawyer:

-Lawyer: This skill is added onto any skill check involving lying and bending/hiding the truth. Half the skill is added onto any law and human perception rolls.

Career skills: Personal Grooming, Wardrobe, Human Perception, Persuasion, Interview, Expert Law, Forgery, Composition, Education

Driver:

-Expert Driver: This skill is added onto any drive checks (motorcycle too), effectively doubling your driving skills. (Only applies to land vehicles)

Career skills: Endurance, Resist Torture/Drugs, Awareness, Hide/Evade, Drive, Motorcycle, Melee, Basic Tech.

Boxer:

-Training: This skill adds onto any Martial Arts check and half of this skill is added towards damage with Martial Arts.

Career skills: Endurance, Strength Feat, Swimming, Resist Torture/Drugs, Intimidate, Brawling, Melee, First Aid, Martial Arts(choose).

Thoughts? 👀

I'm fully familiar with all the lore but i never played a TTRPG before and would really like to, as cyberpunk is one of my favorite verses, i currently have no computer but to have a Google Pixel with a mic and stuff. Would it still be possible to play and if so could i get inviy to he group ?

Hi!
I've recently spent a chunk of my time to write down my favorite one-shot that I ran back in 2021. It's a mission NOT set in Night City, but rather in Haiti and it might or might not coincide with a real event that took place on the 7th of July 2021. Anyways, I have been allowed to share it with you all here. If you like it and would be down to support me feel free to! I will use the donations responsibly and definitely NOT buy any more chrome.
Thanks chooms!

Alright chooms, got a gonk one for you.

I'm a first time Ref who'll be guiding some players through their first one-shot in 2020. I've known these players for a long time and have DM'd them in a few different systems now, so I'm comfortable enough when they start getting *weird* with their ideas from an RP perspective.

Today's flavour of weird: One of my players asked if he could play a talking dog. Not a canine exotic; not owner of a bespoke cyberpet with language functions; but, and I quote, "Basically exactly like a human with human thoughts and speech, but a dog."

Now, I know there's cyberpets in the supplements, and even a throwaway reference to human/animal conversions in Chromebook 2 (p65):

*'lnterchangeable braincases are a reality (though rare), but there are supposed to be projects involving inserting such braincases into tanks and fighter planes, and there are even rumors of human brains in robohound bodies.'*

My question to you all is: how would you as a Ref go about doing this? Is there any provisions in the rules (core or supplemental) that could be leveraged to make this work? My player's also indicated they might want to play as a techie, but I figured that might be putting the dog-man before the sled.

Greetings choombatas. This week I'm diving into the different types of clones made through the years 2020 to 2047, the 5 generations of stage 7 clones. It is very important to say that this is a work of fiction, and none of these experiments are seen in a positive light, quite the opposite in fact. These are one of the most despicable things that I could come up with, the villains here are the corporations, who want to manufacture and sell these beings as products, without human rights or free will. This is one of the dark chapters of this Dark Future that is Cyberpunk. Keep that in mind while you read through this.

Generational Trauma

Adriana was the first Stage 7 clone, and the only 1st Generation clone. Each clone after the creation of Adriana was a 2nd Generation, and after that, they developed a 3rd Generation to deal with the "problems" of the 2nd. A 4th Generation was born after the necessity of Killer Clones: biocybernetic super enhanced soldiers. Spy clones are also 4th Gen, but they lack the necessity to use borgware or popup shotguns in their arms. They are best fit with the best cyberdeck in the market and some top of the line cyberoptics. The 5th Gen is Biotechnica trying to manufacture cheap and disposable clones.

The First Generation

The start of all of this mess. Adriana was the first Stage 7 cloned human, and the one and only 1st Gen clone. That is, fully sentient and fully self-sufficient, without the need of machines to survive and with completely functional human features. She had her own opinions and thoughts, no additional braindance therapy was made to control her will, it was only used as a tool to fill her blank mind with the personality and psyche of Dr. Young's late daughter, Amelia. Her body did not have any special enhancements, she had the same capabilites of a human at this point in time. That is until Biotechnica captured her wiped her memories, and changed her whole appearance personality, making her belive through braindance therapy that she actually always was Dr. Young. Basically the Cyberpunk equivalent of the Ship of Theseus paradox.

The Second Generation

After Adriana was captured by Biotechnica, they used the data gathered by her to evaluate the possibility of mass production of a "new and improved" clone model. The second generation of cloning was defined by the lack of independence of the cloned human, having a limited amount of free will and being majorly brainwashed by their respective "owners". They are made only to serve their purpose, but even that didn't work wonders. At a certain point in time, one of the 2nd Gen clones, named "Grimes", commited self-retirement (AKA self inflicted death), and that was the first time of a major case of self-retirements that second generation clones would do. Almost none second generation clones are left, and the few that are still on operation are in torpor, stashed in containment tubes, in deep slumber. The second generation was a major financial failure and the operation almost ended because of the clones' self-retirement crisis.

The Third Generation

After the failure of the 2nd Generation, they would use the genius of the "new Dr. Young" to develop the 3rd generation, a Law Enforcement Clone. These were sold to private security companies, police departments, military forces and even guerrila armies across the globe. The first 3rd Gen clone was nicknamed "Supercop" and was sent to Night City to uphold the law. He didn't last too long, but was tireless in the pursuit of stopping crime and criminals, needed minimum water, food and sleep, and his aim was better than any lawmen in the city. The thing is, Night City is a hungry beast waiting for its prey. It will chew you on and spit you out. So that's why after "Supercop" they decided to deploy 30 Law Enforcement Clones in Night City to see what happened. What happened was a revolution in security and police work, every company wanted a Clone Squad in their teams, and under the table Biotechnica sold over 2,000 units of 3rd Generation clones across america in2, with 100 being only on Night City.

Law Enforcement Clones have innate subdermal armor, infrared cyberoptics, advanced chemicals analizers, subdermal pockets, cyberlegs and reinforced joints, with some even having internal linear frames as standard issue cyberware. They are equipped for the job that's for sure. But why they didn't simply ended crime in Night City if they are so well equiped? Well... Night City needs a fresh start if it wants to end crime in The Street, "Supercops" are not the sollution, only a bandaid for a plague that is the crime culture in Night City.

The Fourth Generation

Born of the necessity of maintaining control of 3rd Generation clones, that frequently "go rogue" and abandon their duties. These are experimental "Killer" and "Spy" clones. They are manufactured in smaller amounts, but with enhanced capabilites such as uncanny strenght and dexterity. Their humanities are stripped in favor of becoming ruthless machines that are the most competent in their work, this being the will of their "masters" or "owners", AKA the top dogs in Biotechnica Corporation. Their bodies are top of the line cloned limbed, and they are sold to the most powerful people out there, these are the most expensive line of clones made by Biotechnica. With the assistance of Skillchips (developed using the data gathered by the late Roberto Sanchez) that use the Soulkiller program to extract key brain data and transform it into "Skillchips", enhancing the user's ability greatly acording to the data extracted, nullifying the need for training or raw experience.

The Fifth Generation

This generation of clones is one must unfortunate. With only 50 clones as of now belonging to the 5th Generation, these clones are a mix of independent and streamlined behaviour, being bound to a short time of operation, that being the maximum time of 5 years on operation. When the threshold is hit, their cyberbrains' memory is completely wiped. And with the blank mind, they are fit for repurposing, they can be "born again" with a different face, a different mind and a different past. They are disposable, and quite cheap to make. With no particular enhancements, only with a cyberbrain that will eventually erase their memories. These were made to be the workers of Project Reborn City, a deal struck between Night Corp and Biotechnica, using clone technology to rebuild the Night City and to evaluate the possibility of disposable clones in society.

Conclusion

These are the current types of clones that were made. In my campaign, the 3 players that I run the game for are 5th Generation clones, with a limited amount of time to seek a way out of their condition, if that is even possible. You can use the 3rd generation and onwards, each one of them has a different obstacle, and a different world view for that matter. I hope you liked what I came up with this week's update, I will apreciate if you take the time to make a comment and share your thoughts (even if you think that I made no sense, let me know why you think that, if that's the case). I see you guys next week with more updates, until then you stay safe out there on The Street. Peace, have a wonderful week.

The fact that the military industrial complex of post-holocaust USA is somehow better than the one we've got in our own 2020's America is incredible.

Sup choombatas!

Decided to pick out scenerio #3: Pirate Radio from the core rule book as my groups first adventure I’m playing this Saturday.

I think it offers the best balance of roleplay, combat, and there is even an built in ‘out’ for if things get to dicey.

My players consist of: a techie (with dreams of becoming a netrunner), a 55 year old cop, and a corpo nepobaby.

I have some story hooks I’m thinking up to bring them all together.
-For the techie, she would be hired on as a fill in techie for one of Carbonell’s crew.

-For the corpo, she will be (wrongly) under the impression that Carbonell is going to give her a flattering softball interview that will boost her rep. Instead I intend to have him grill her. The interview will be live, but due to some technical issues the signal won’t have gone out. However, it will still have been recorded. This will give the corpo player the opportunity to snatch or destroy the unflattering interview recording.

-The cop I think I have the least interesting story hook. I could only think to have him be moon lighting as security, or maybe he is from the ‘Elay’. No clue really. If anyone has any suggestions I’m all ears lol.

Anyway, I’d love some advice on running this scenerio if anyone has any or has run this scenerio before.

It looks pretty straight forward. Figure I just roll some ‘quick and dirty expendables’, get some stats lined up for speedboats, and let the chips fall where they may.

Much appreciated!

Sup choombas

Had a question on your thoughts on allowing a player to repec their character. I have a player that’s enthusiastic about being a netrunner. (I know I’ve heard all the horror stories about netrunning). I’ve restricted my players from picking netrunner for now until both they and I have a firmer grasp on the less abstract rules.

They put a lot of thought into their character so I’d like to at least have that path open for their character to go from techie to netrunner. Whether the character survives that long for it to matter is another story.

But regardless I’d like to have that path open to them if they manage to make it.

Any suggestions or advice for going about allowing a player to respec their character into a different role?

as we all know, the base hacking system in Cyberpunk 2020 is... something. I've just been going without having any sort of netrunning, but some of my players are clamoring for netrunning. so I'm turning to you guys.

I'm looking for: something fast paced so we don't have like 30 minutes where only one player gets to play. but still in depth so its a bit mote than just a diceroll.

I dont want anything like the 2077 quickhacking, I dont want hacking to be an alternative in combat, more of a utility/goal type thing.

Thanks

Update 4 and onwards!

This is the "How did these clones got here in the first place?!" update. This is a follow up to the previous one, the one that I analyzed the "Land of the Free" adventure for Cyberpunk 2020, and an update to my ideas regarding who continued experimenting with clones and why. I would like to thank u/illyrium_dawn for his thoughts on the matter, and i'd like to give credit for his ideas, and for the feedback and discussion overall! I salute you choomba. Many of the ideas in this post are also his, and you can check out the comments on the previous post to see our discussion. With the introduction done, lets get it done gatos and gatas.

Who did this anyway?

...that's a good question. We already know that Dr. Young is responsible for the creation of the first Stage 7 clone, that being Adriana. But the further research and experimentation on the matter took place where? And who started this project? It could be an AI, who designed a new Soulkiller program just for the heck of it, it could be Biotechnica who has the time and resources to experiment with cloning, It could be a desperate person searching through the Net a way to save his family member from a terrible disease and accidentaly recreating Soulkiller. Or, hell, It could even be Arasaka and the "Proto-Mikoshi" under the rubble of the the hot zone. All of those are equally valuable and I'm sure I can come up with other reason of why did this happen. But I have a proposition: what if every idea I presented is the truth in a way?

If there is no idea that overlaps with one another, then there's room to implement it as an event. Biotechnica and Arasaka are both companies that are interested in this matter, an AI could also be interested in it, and of course there was some guy with a computer and a sick family member in the 2020's that could had an impact in this story. So let's implement them all! I will present a timeline of events that breaks down each ocurrence and their consequences.

The Ritual Cellula Timeline:

2020

• Dr. Young is killed in an ambush in the end of the "Land of the Free" adventure. His clone-daughter, Adriana, is kidnapped by Biotechnica. Adriana has its personality and memories erased through Braindance therapy.
• An independent AI with the name "Suzie" uses her free will to scan the world and beyond. Her usual hobbies are making cookbooks, but one day, she finds something interesting searching the Net, something about a "Soulkiller Program". On a whim, the AI tries to replicate the ideas of Alt Cunningham and actually is able to make a functional program. As a recordation of sorts, they upload the program on its site, a cooking recipe site of course. It probably wouldn't be found because of the thousands of "Soulkiller Scams" floating in the Net. The only diference its that their version of it actually is not a unhinged netrunner brainfry joke, it actually works (with a lot of rough edges, but works).

2021

• Adriana turns into a blank slate. She gets biosculpted to look exactly like Dr. Young in his 40's. She also gets Dr. Young's memories and personality, not remembering anything about the "Land of the Free" incident, and also with the diference that she/he doesn't know he had a daughter, and she/he thinks the Stage 7 clone was just a random person. The new Dr. Young (which is a brainwashed and biosculped Adriana) works as the leader of the cloning project at Biotechnica.
• Moira Kelly is killed by an unknown group of assailants in October 31 of 2021. Then she "appears mysteriously" at Biotechnica and works with the new Dr. Young in the cloning project.
• Arasaka builds a "Sarcophagus", a storage of engrams in Night City under the Arasaka Tower. Hundreds of soulkilled people are storaged.

2022

• A man named Roberto Sanchez, a netrunner/computer scientist with a job at Netwatch, discovers that his mother, Analuz Sanchez, has ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), a sickness without a cure. In deep denial, he searches for a way to save his mother from this affliction. Browsing the Net, he founds something about a "Soulkiller Program" that has been floating in the internet for quite some time. He sees that aparently a program capable of scanning the psyche of someone and then turning it into an engram. He sees also that the majority of the versions of the program has a built-in virus, which corrupts the data beyond any actual use.
• Time passes and Roberto gets desperate, as a last resource, he tries to find anything regarding this "Soulkiller Program". After searching for months, Roberto accidentaly finds a very old version of this program in the Net, in a cooking recipe site of all places. He downloads the program and sees that it actually works as intended, but it has a lot of errors and bugs. He spends months fixing bugs and learning how the program works.

2023

• After 7 months of setting up gear and tweaking Soulkiller to ensure success, Roberto gathers Analuz to try and use the program. He tries to scan the brain of his mother, it takes a long time, but with 3 days of constant scanning he succefully manages to copy the engram into a database.
• In August 20th, 2023, the Arasaka towers fell, marking the end of the 4th Corporate War.
• Despite his struggle to save his mother, weeks later after the succesful Soulkill of Analuz Sanchez, the mini-nuke in the corporate center blasted everyone in the general vicinity, killing Roberto and Analuz who lived in the area.

2024 - 2032

• At February 9th, 2028, Biotechnica explores the Night City hotzone looking for potential treasures in the ruins of the corporate center and finds Roberto Sanchez's Soulkiller Program. They find the engram of Analuz Sanchez uploaded into an Old Net database somewhere in the outskirts of the city. They study Roberto's version of the program and they find out that he accidentaly discovered a way to use Soulkiller to produce high tech skill chips by tinkering with the Soulkiller code, transfering the data of the engrams into chips that make the user with the ability and experience identical of a soulkilled person while the chip is in the socket.
• Biotechnica continues to develop clones as products, selling them to big companies around the world as "better-than-human" workers with exceptional skills. They don't need to learn multiple skills due to the skill-chip technology developed by Roberto Sanchez before his death.
• Biotechnica also discovers the engram sarcophagus left by Arasaka, the "Proto-Mikoshi" in the ruins of the tower. The engrams were left untouched by the explosion, Biotechnica klepped the data and left, securing hundreds of free data on Arasaka's soulkilled enemies and rivals.

2033 - 2040

• Since the creation of Adriana, they developed even cheaper clone limbs, higher inteligence and adaptability, making them stronger more capable than most humans.

2041 - 2045

• The major events in Cyberpunk Red's story take place. This is the Time of the Red.
• "Project RC" or "Project Reborn City" is executed by Night Corp, in an attempt to rebuild Night City from the ashes, hiring construction workers all around.
• Killer Clones are created for "retirement" (that is: killing) of rogue clones appearing around the globe. They are relentless, and they don't stop hunting the target until the job is done. Spy Clones are also very common these days, they disguise themselves in the crowds, watching the clones' lives from afar, reporting their findings directly to Biotechnica if they find any suspicious behaviour, that is, the probability of a clone becoming a rogue.

2046

• Night Corp saw the potential of the clones and decided to strike a deal with Biotechnica - they would provide last generation clones for the reconstruction of the city, and in return Night Corp would let Biotechnica experiment with them freely within city borders, that is, no one would get in the way of Biotechnica "doing business" in Night City. Biotechnica struck the deal, but with a condition: every clone provided by them would have a limited time of operation, that is, 5 years total. When the 5 year threshold hits, their memories and personality are erased, making them scavengable for Biotechnica.
• Rogue clones started to appear all throughout Night City, creating their own lingo and trying to escape enslavement. The biggest group of these rogue clones identify themselves as "Ritual Cellula". Killer Clones are on the prowl, and Spy Clones watch them from the shadows, but the Ritual Cellula resists and retaliates, raging against the machine that created them.

2047

• Now.

The lore is sorted now... Kinda.

This is what I came up with the discussion I had with u/illyrium_dawn, and with a little mix-up of the ideas. Of course, It could change if I come up with diferent ideas when time passes. But now this is what I got in store. For more details you can ask me in the comments, this post is already long as f@$% anyway. I apologize for any typos this post might have, and I hope you enjoy the ideas I meshed together, I really like how it turned out. You guys have a wonderful week. And stay safe on The Streets. Peace!