Cyberpunk 2020

Anything will do really. I could use expansions in various possible ways. Get more weapons or other cool system things from them. Getting various different scenarios to put my players through. To even just getting inspiration for story and character ideas.
Awesome. Thanks for these

Personally, I'm really not a fan of Cyberpunk 2020's official sourcebooks. Most are pretty meh-tier, especially the stuff made by Atlas.

Of the official line what I can recommend are Deep Space (space and space colonies guide), The Corpbook Reports (describes the most powerful corporations), Wildside (the netrunner supplement), Protect & Serve (the cop supplement), Blackhand's Streetweapons (small arms guide), Maximum Metal (heavy weapons, vehicles and ACPA guide) and the Chromebooks (general equipment guides). Generally speaking, I don't like any of the regional guides (Home of the Brave, Pacific Rim, Eurosource Plus, Rough Guide to the UK, Night City), but they have one or the other good ideas and you might find them useful if you play vanilla Cyberpunk 2020. Listen Up you Primitive Screwheads is a collection of official errata and house rules. It was useful in a time where internet wasn't as widespread as now - you can live without it. Adventure books range from bad (Arasaka Brainworm) to meh (Tales from the Forlorn Hope and EuroTour).

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Should I use the High Noon Shootoutrules or FireFite?

It doesn't have lel elves, orcs and magic. That alone makes it better than Shadowrun, no matter everything else. IDK about the Sprawl
Besides that it's pretty meh.
Setting is ok-ish I'd still would like it to be much more noir and much less neon-flashy but well, mechanics are clumsy as fuck.

Seems that I forgot to mention the Night City sourcebook. Some people love it and some loath it. I belong to the second category.

My main problem with Night City is that it is really dated (NPCs are all straight from 1970s B-movies) and it doesn't make much sense as it is. Downtown Night City is described with a lot of details, but the areas where the action is going to take place like South Night City, aka The Combat Zone, or the cities around (Heywood, Westbrook, Pacifica) are barely mentioned. I also find that there is not much logic in it. Supposedly, corporations got rid of the gangs in downtown to make a clean business district, but 75% of downtown are gang areas. Why in all the hell would corporations keep their HQs there if the area is completely shit-tier? And why in all the hell do they have their HQ in downtown, when the production/research facilities are in another municipality, and the hives in another? It makes no sense at all!

The best thing about Cyberpunk 2020 is that it is really simple. The characters are described by stats, skills and equipment. There are no advantages/disadvantages/quirks, special moves, feats, buzzwords and triggers to remember. You only need a d10 and a couple of d6, and not pools of different dices if possible in specific colors (x white dices and x black dices plus a red dice) or cards. Everything you need is written on your character sheet and on the GM screen.

Like any other system, Cyberpunk 2020 isn't exempt of flaws, but it's still a fairly solid and enjoyable game.

Congratulations on not playing Shadowrun. AKA the cyberpunk game created for plebs who need dragons and elves in every game they play, regardless of how out of place and nonsensical that inclusion is.

Sweet Jesus, it really chaps my ass that Shadowrun became the undisputed #1 cyberpunk game of all time. Fucking wizards and shit.

It doesn't really surprise me that Shadowrun outlived Cyberpunk 2020. I started playing both at the same time (own Shadowrun 1st Ed. and Cyberpunk 2020), and I must say that Shadowrun always had a much more recognizable style than Cyberpunk 2020. The early Shadowrun editions had very strong visuals thanks to the used American/Latin-American aesthetics (Indians, dusters, mohawks, Aztech-architecture and symbols) - the illustrations by Tim Bradstreet and Matt also made a lot for the ambient. Cyberpunk 2020's rulebook is more a generic cyberpunk game - it misses a soul, it's bland. The GM really has to invest himself in the world to give it some body. As most people are lazy, it is simpler to take a game were everything is made for you.

Not exactly Night City, but I made a collage to visualize the different style of districts in a cyberpunk city.

Then, I also made collages where we can see the evolution of cyberpunk aesthetics from the 1980s to now. There are three collages, each covering a decade.

The first one goes from 1984 to 1994. It's what I call early cyberpunk, inspired by 1970s sci-fi and new-wave/punk look.

The second one goes from 1996 to 2005. It is what I would call post-The Matrix cyberpunk. Aesthetics shifts from new-wave/punk to goth/industrial. The long black leather coat replaces the biker jacket or cowboy duster. Design starts to become very ergonomic and rounded with heavy use of plastics. This period was also the golden age of Cyberpunk 2020. While the game's development came to an end, cyberpunk gaming groups were more active than ever, partially thanks to the democratization of internet. At the end of this period, Cyberpunk 2020 came to a brutal decline.

The last one goes from 2006 to 2016. It is kind of a cyberpunk revival, partially due to games like Syndicate, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Remember Me and movies like Elysium or Repo Men. Aesthetic shifts from goth to techwear. Design becomes more slick, minimalistic and elegant.

I still should make one more, that would be the cyberpunk revival, incorporating dark wave/neon aesthetics. Will look if I have time.

Comfy as fuck
This one actually looks like Cyberpunk
Literally just a bunch of niggers

>Literally just a bunch of niggers
Yup. The refugee crisis is an important factor of this period, and it's now part of our vision of the future.

During the early 1990s, there was the disintegration of the USSR. Floods of migrants came from Russia, Yugoslavia, Albania, Poland, etc. to Europe and the US and started to fill the ghettos. As Africans and Middle-Easterners are moving in, Eastern-Europeans are leaving the ghettos thanks to integration.

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Better worldbuilding for classic Cyberpunk, a great character building system, and great emphasis on fun.

Plus no d-grade high fantasy to get in the way

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Slightly modified character sheet, includes Stress rules, and some space for martial art and contacts.

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>Google Dark Metropolis
Wait a second, I recognize this artist!

He did most of the artwork for Heavy Gear.

What aaarrtist?

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One weak spot of CP2020 is that it doesn't really simulate intelligent ammo well.

Which is a pity, as smart ammo is the future of gun manufacturing.

No it b absolutely is not.

Each shot after the first one could give a bonus to WA. The drawback is that ROF is slow (5 or 10).

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I think it had a combat zone map generator or something. That suggested to me that the GM should use the Combat Zone as a sort of cyberpunk dungeon stocked with gribblies (gangers, hit squads, psychotic cyborgs etc.), puzzles (decking), and traps (explosive, generally). More gonzo than noir, that.

>implying I know what smart ammo is

jokes on you

So I was re-reading my old Cyberpunk 2020 core book and I noticed something. A common complaint about Cyberpunk is how dated Hacking feels. While it's mostly correct, I noticed that Cyberpunk 2020 actually does have a very simple Wi-Fi hacking system in the form of LOCATE REMOTE and CONTROL REMOTE which allows the Netrunner to hijack control of a remote system like a robo cab or robot. However, I really hate the way LOCATE and CONTROL works. The scan is automatic with a ridiculous distance 400m and the roll to hijack control of a remote system is just 1d10 equal to or less than the Program Strength. The Netrunner's skill isn't even factored in.

I did sit down and bang out my own quick alternate rules for LOCATE REMOTE and CONTROL REMOTE if you want to see them.

I do want to see this in case I ever end up doing CP 2020

Here it is

drive.google.com/file/d/0ByxO_DcL3yIwUzY5dTd2R2FqUjQ/view?usp=sharing

Basically, if you want to use Wi-Fi to sieze control of a Remote system:

1. The Referee determines the Device mode
2. You roll to detect vs the Device mode + Stealth
3. Then you roll INT + Interface + Program vs the device's CPU and Datawalls to try and assume direct control.

Why is there never any cyberpunk threads here. is it not popular enough?

There's actually quite a few depending on what you classify as cyberpunk. Skuborun has its own general, and netrunner here more often than not.

There are. Every two or three weeks one shows up.

This seems quite workable. The only drawback I see is why would secure systems be connected to wifi?

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In my opinion, where CP2020 really sucks is at simulating explosions. A grenade does 7d6 of damage, which is barely more than a battle rifle. How is that damage applied? On one hit location, on multiple hit locations? What about fragmentation?

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Here in germany we have a rulebook called "second edition" (dont confound with 2ed cp2020) wich is the regular CP2020 2ed but also includes the blackhand street weapons guide. This plus the german Chromebook (which is a realy good summary of all 4 chromebooks) is everything i ever needed to play besides some simple houserules when it comes to hacking

I have the first German edition and it's way better than the French edition. How is the art inside the 2nd German edition? The cover didn't strike me as good, but the Night City map seemed pretty good. So I'm wondering about the rest of the book.

The art is modern and personaly i dont like it. It dasn't have the stile from the 80s books but a very more futuristic art. I made sure non of my players ever looked at it to be honest. but thats just my opinion, i guess people who dont like the retro look from the 80s cyberpunk/bladerunner ideas maybe would like this. It looks more like an over-the-top version of ghost in the shell. when im home i try to remember posting 1-2 pictures from the book for you

They probably wouldn't be. It's up to the Ref. If the ref decides that a combat robot shouldn't have an active Wi-Fi connection then Locate and Control don't work.

Some of the old Cyberpunk 2020 art was pretty timeless.

Niemand verlässt Night City, ausser in einem Leichensack.

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yep it was. But the "new" artwork from the german second edition is not so great and timeless but more futuristic and over-the-top

Harte Bandagen. Keine Kompromisse.

A pity.

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Have some books. Still haven't put them in a mega yet.

mediafire.com/#knmcrcowrtjwr

I would stick to the weapons in core and whatever interface magazines you can find (hint hint, check the mediafire link). Datafortress and cyberpunk.asia can either have duplicate weapons with inflated stats, etc. While not the best selection, I find the weapons in core/splatbooks to be decently balanced.

Any CP2020 player here who has tried to build a kenshiro-like character?

>Art of the 2nd German edition
Im at home, here is your pic

Yeah, typical solo with a shitload of ranks of hand to hand skills. Anything else is roleplay imo

Mein Gott! WTF? What did they do? This looks horrible! I'm speechless.

You're not the only one mein Freund...
But if you know the real art of cyberpunk and you don't show this shit to your players this book is realy great.
Its the good old 2020 Rulebook plus the blackhand street weapons guide in a hardcover plus bookmark-string. The moast positive thing is i only need exact two books (this one and the german Chromebook) to play with all the informations i realy need.

Im not so sure if i should buy some other expansion books (for example "Protect & Serve" or "Tatort Night City" in german) but for my experience all i needed was the 2ed german Rulebook and the german Chromebook

I recommend Protect and Serve heartily. Gives easy options if your players want to do an NCPD campaign or TraumaTeam, etc.

I starting i new group right now (planning started round about 2 weeks ago) and i like to start a group of "non-professionals" from the dirty streets but im not sure if this concept would work. The only thing (besides the stupid netrunning which obviously needs a lot of houserules) i dont like in CP2020 is that the system is build around the idea of playing professionals having a real name on the streets and are simply "the best" for the job you (the GM) have to offer.

I will consider buying Protect and Serve... maybe i can also use this for conflicts with the police?

Same pages from the old edition.

Never found any supplement really useful, especially now with Internet. You want to know the structure of an American police department? Wikipedia. You want some house rules? Google. More gear? Google.

>Use the web
on my gaming table it a total ban for computer technology (including smartphones and so on). Much to high factor of distraction.

To the pic: Yes THIS is CP2020 how i love it but dons't got it. WTF why the translation of 6th sinn as killerinstict? This is madness!
I total agree with you the new book looks like shit, but its totaly ok for all other parts (except some translations maybe...)

The background research should be done beforehand of course. It's not during gameplay that you're going to look for info online.

Do you also add Combat Sense to initiative and awareness? That's a change I made. I only add it to initiative and combat related COOL rolls.

This idea is as awesome as stupid... ive no idea with opinion of mine gets the upper hand... the one which says "HnK is cool when it comes to comic/anime but dosn't fit in something serious like a dystopion cyberpunk world" or the one which says "fuck yea! Cyber-Kenshiro ATATATATATA!!!"

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Yeah, you could use it as a means to create fully fledged NCPD NPCs. Although the concept sounds like it might be better for them to roll from core. Home of the Brave might work too, but it's been a while since I went through it.