Cyberpunk Red RPG Rulebook Breakdown Made Easy

Checking out the Cyberpunk Red tabletop RPG core rulebook for the first time? This comprehensive look at the rulebook will break down the important bits in each section and provide GM and player tips on how to tackle diving into the game. Enjoy!

All art from the cyberpunk red core rulebook

[XPLovecat]

What challenges have you run into with Cyberpunk Red?

[simonfernandes]

I played Cyberpunk 2020 back in 1990 - we had a blacklight and wore mirror shades. A huge blast!

Back then 2020 was a dark future of the real world. These days Cyberpunk Red is an alternative reality and THAT'S the hardest sell to players.

[KoryLunaa]

*Timestamps*



*Lore*


Page 22-23 is an introduction to Tabletop RPGs in general (2:20)


View from the Edge (2:01)


Welcome to the Dark Future, timeline of the world (7:10)


The Time of the Red (7:22)
- Inspiration for writing your own stories
- Major Corporations (Corpos)

*History of the City | Welcome to Night City (**7:34**)*
- Key Landmarks
- Different Zones
- Map of Night City
- Notable People
- Notable Gangs
*_Skip to Page 295 for Current day city information_*

*Everyday Life (**8:05**)*
- Crime
- Punishment
- Transportation
- Food
- Media
- Rent

*New Street Economy, equipment (**8:20**)*

*_Starting at Page 340 is the full list of equipment (weapons, ammo, armor, gear, clothing, drugs, cyberware, housing, etc.)_*



- History of the economy
- How best to make a living based on the role you picked


*Character Creation*
- How Character Sheet is laid out, what to look for in Character Creation | Pg.120 (2:34)


*How to Soul and the Machine (**2:55**)*

- Roleplaying Tips, The 10 roles (their story), 3 different character creation methods |
- The 10 roles mechanics Page 142

*Tales on the Street (**3:33**)*

- How to make your lifepath (a guided backstory)

*Fitted for the Future (**3:56**)*

_Reccomended to work through as your making your character)_
- Skills, Stats, fashion, gear
- Overview of weapons, armor

Netrunning | Hacking (6:13)
_If your playing Netrunner_




Putting the Cyber into the Punk (4:21)
Cyberware


*GM Guidance*

- Running Cyberpunk, how to structure the game (8:43)
- Improvement Points (Experience and Level up basically)
- Stats for Enemies



*Screamsheets, newspapers (**9:20**)*
Not recommended for players to read because GM might use them


*Story*
*_Reminder that the game is set during 2045_*


Never Fade Away, 2013 (1:31)
The Fall of the Towers, 2022 4:45
Black Dog, 2045 (9:32)

*Core Rules*
*_Most things work off of_*
*Roll of d10 + Stat + Skill*


*Getting it Done (**4:50**)*
*_How to play the game in general_*
In-depth explanation on how dices are used (called d10 system)
- Different measurements
- Overview of Combat

*(**5:10**) Describing your proficiency in a skill depending on how much you did or didn't invest in it*

*Hacking | Netrunning (**6:13**)*
For GM, Recommend to add it later
Here if you pick Netrunner

*Trauma Team (**6:26**)*

*_Health System_*


- Taking damage
- In-depth on Trauma Team (Combat Paramedics)
- Drugs
- Traumas
- Therapy

*(**6:50**) Cyberpsychosis, * going insane from too much Cybernetics (Deep dive this as a GM for PC Consequences


*Friday Night Firefight (**5:41**)*
*_In depth look at combat_*
- Initiative
- Actions
- Armor
- Vehicle Combat

[rodneykelly]

I have been collecting Cyberpunk Red figures. They are produced by the Monster Fight Club, and are of good quality. The archetype characters are available, as are "children, " (the eight year old with a M202A1 looks only slightly unbelievable.) The size of the figures are equivalent to WarHammer 40K/Necromunda. The Monster Fight Club also produces urban terrain, but it looks more CoC than Cyberpunk. I’ll tell you how they compare to the Altered Carbon figures when I get them, (they’ll be shipped when the “Hello Unicorn” bag is finished.)

[willtijerina]

Excellent breakdown. Very useful jump off point for getting started. Would love to see more videos going over specific sections such as character creation and combat. Thank you.

[WookieeRage]

Just picking up the game now. Thanks for the overview!

[EdwardCullenBby]

OH MY GOD THANK YOU 😭😭 I’ve just gotten into the TTRPG world and these books are so overwhelming and hard to navigate. Your video makes my heart so happy. THANK YOU❤❤

[hanng]

I'm just glad that the Mr. Studd survived into this edition.

[Ryanironwolf]

Great video. I love both games and am always interested in more vids on either. Thank you for making them!

[Karajorma]

I'm about 3 sessions in to a Cyberpunk campaign with friends and this was a really nice video on the book (which I end up flicking back and forth through desperately trying to find the detail I read a month or two ago while all the players try to tell me what they want to do). This should help a lot.

I think there are two major (related) challenges for me. First, Cyberpunk is all about immersion, but since the setting is so near in the future (only 20 or so years from now) everyone has a good idea how things work and how much things cost. Which makes it important to get the little differences right otherwise it feels like the game is just happening in a messed up version of New York rather than a dark dystopian future. The second challenge is that since the scope is smaller, you can't make the players lift their heads from the small stuff to look at the big picture. There is no big picture. While 4th level D&D characters might be part of a campaign where the eventual goal is to save the world, in Cyberpunk the goal is to survive till next month, to pay your rent and to maybe make enough money to not have to eat kibble again. That's great, but it pushes you hard back into the immersion again.

That said, I'm loving it so far.

[arthurviani]

Your videos are so good! Well written, you are easy to understand, not boring at all, have great personality and also has great speech skills. <3

[K_i_t_t_y]

This is so helpful, thank you so much. Also side note, your curls are AMAZING ♥

[joshuachambers]

This video is a life saver 🙏, clear, concise and makes sense of the rulebook. You've saved me hours if scouring the rulebook.

[derekjefferson]

Dnd 5e was my first ttrpg and I got into cyberpunk through edgerunners and 2077. In love with the universe and am so excited to get into cyberpunk ttrpgs

[sith]

I'm currently reading this book. Hoping to run this with my group once I finish reading.

[JD-fzwd]

Just discovered this vid! I greatly enjoyed it! I’m a pretty big cyberpunk fan and look forward to watching your other videos

[WhatsUpGazpacho]

I played my first game last night and it was really interesting. I really like the setting and can't wait to get my hands on those lovely eurobucks to buy sexy cyber clothing options for my Rockerboy Forty from the starter set

[CptnHammer]

played my first game yesterday, now I'm consuming everything about this. this could be a dnd killer imo

[paulll]

I've been asked by a friend to play cyberpunk red, what little experience I have is on Chronicles of darkness so from what my friend told me and based on this video, I guess its more about the day to day lives of the characters instead of the more focused storyteller system of WoD and nWoD, I'm cool with this since it looks interesting.

[Henbot]

Be interesting to hear how the vehicle combat works