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Carbon2185 is a Cyberpunk TTRPG set in a dystopian future, where Corporations took over the world, criminal gangs are everywhere, and people stuggle to survive in a harsh world destroyed by climate change. The only faint hope for these people is either to go to an offworld colony or to become so powerful that you don't care about the world's problems. In all of this, Synths, humans created artificially in laboratories, are used to do labour for Corporations and whoever can afford them, and some of them are on the brink of a rebellion.
C2185 is based on the 5e SRD rules, but builds on them and adds its own twists. It's a very easy system to learn if you're familiar with 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons, but if you haven't played it it's still very easy to get into. You have Stats (Strenght, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Tecnology and People), Origins, which define where your character grew up and grant you stat boosts and abilites. Classes are in the game as well, and they grant you abilities that define what your character can do; most of them will feel familiar to people who played 5th Edition. Classes go up to 10th level, but you have other means of progression, such as Augmentations, which give from flat modifiers to brand new abilities, such as becoming invisible or flying, new weapons and Criminal or Corporate Influence, which grant your character new possibilities to approach the world by working for one of the two factions. One of the big changes here is the Background generation, in which you pick a job type and then you roll to get bonus proficiencies, languages, and starting money, called Wonlongs. If you fail one of these rolls, you get an injury during work, you get fired, Background generation stops and you get what you rolled for. Background generation conveys the feel of the setting really well, but I have to point out that if you fail your first roll, then your characters gains basically nothing. I personally do not have a problem with this, but you can easily make a house rule that your first job roll is always succesfull.
Combat in C2185 is very straightforward and is very similar to 5e combat; you have movement speed, attack and damage rolls, cover, advantage, disadvantage, ability checks and saving throws. But in this game, combat feels a lot more dangerous than 5e, due to the fact that Cyberpunks (how this book calls Player Characters) have lower hit points and attacks do a lot of damage; critical hits are especially brutal in this game, as they are capable of removing limbs or, if you're unlucky, straight up kill the Cyberpunk. Combat is fast, engaging and high stakes.
The base setting for the Core Rulebook is San Francisco, with more to come in future supplements. The book gives you a lot of information about it, a timeline of events that brought Earth to climate collapse, corporate brands, info on gangs and corporations and what they're up to, and other groups of interests. On the back of the book, you have lots of tables that you can use to generate missions or random encounters, and the "Enemies and Villains" section, which is where Game Masters will find the statblocks for NPCs and enemies.
The art of this book is generally very good and conveys the setting really well. You have art for weapons, armor, classes, NPCs, scenary art and Corporate logos.
Overall, I give Carbon2185 a solid thumbs up. Whever you're looking for a Cyberpunk TTRPG that has a familiar feel, or you're looking for a very different setting, this game might be for you.
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