Incredible work from R. Talsorian games. The game flies like a bullet fired from a brand new Rhinemetall EMG-86 Railgun. Combat is fluid, detailed enough to be fun and refreshing even after becoming adept at the system but not too detailed to slow the game down. Rules are written clearly and make sense. Lots of useful information about lore, building your own cyberpunk world and preparing a session. My group ported our WoD game into the RED system and I am planning to use it in the future for any modern or sci-fi game I concoct.

This review is after reading the core rulebook and running some missions based of the Easy Mode mission and the Starter Kit adventure. Overall I like the system, I feel like I still haven't 100% "gotten" it yet.

I'm playing in Foundry VTT, and combat feels like it takes a little long, I'm wondering if I'm missing some tactics to speed things up. But I really really like the Netrunning and the Apartment was a very fun scenario.

I'll try and come back and update this review after running some more sessions.

So one of my choombas mentioned that he'd like to play some Cyberpunk one of these days, after playing Cyberpunk 2077 on PC. I was delighted. I already had the Jumpstart Kit, in fact, in an earlier Cyberpunk humble bundle I bought quite a few Cyberpunk 2020 books, but I went ahead and purchased RED. I wanted to see if the game became streamlined enough so that I could throw my friend's casual butt right into it.

Yeah, we are NOT going to play this game.

Cyberpunk RED suffers from an identity crysis. It wants to be more streamlined, but in some areas it overshoots streamlining (e.g. brandless-generic weapons, or the suppressive fire rule), and in others it doesn't go far enough (I firmly believe that the number of skills could be halved in the game by conjoining massively overlapping skills, maybe even STATs). The classes are almost all one trick ponies. I just can't wrap my head around having a gargantuan library of skills that anybody can progress in and then implementing this... this "parallel skill system", I suppose, with the dumbest stuff being arbitrarily tied to classes (roles and role abilities, sorry).

Let's take for example the Charismatic Impact role ability, which influences what kind of venues the Rockerboy can play and how many fans they possibly have, or, if they can convert people to be their fans. Why?! Why tie these to a specific ability? This is exactly the character stuff that should be roleplayed, and the game even has skills to show how awesome of a performer the charater is, or how easily they can impress masses of people or can strike deals, without this dumb "role ability."

In the end, I have found myself reading through the book, thinking "okay, I'm going to have to house rule this" and "yeah, I'm just going to leave out that entirely." I got about 3/4 through, when epiphany hit and I slammed the book shut, exclaiming "you know what, f--k you man" loudly. If I have to handweave or override half of your rules in your book, then your rules are crap.

The only reason I'm not giving it 1 star is that the art is nice, and it isn't a completely, utterly disfunctional game, so you COULD play it if you wanted. IF you wanted, that is, because the layout of the book will not make it easy on you.

For myself, I think I'm just going to grab the Cyberpunk 2077 setting and play in it with a setting-agnostic game system, accepting the fact that I the only thing I got from purchasing RED is buyer's remorse.

It's not really Cyberpunk if it's just Fallout with a "cyberpunk" label.

Hi everyone! Thanks for taking the time to read this review. Let me just get right into it:

Cyberpunk RED is a bit of a mess across the board, I'm afraid.

The layout is legitimately nightmarish, and the index in the back is so paltry that it's a joke to calll it an index. After thumbing through the book multiple times, and CTRL+F-ing through the PDF, I actually had to spend the better part of a morning tabbing my book to quickly find the information I needed in the future only to learn that in certain sections, things are covered that aren't in other sections and vice-versa. So while it was sort of helpful... it still wasn't a complete fix, and it took hours.

The setting... isn't cyberpunk... or at least not what I'd call cyberpunk. They go more for this post-nuclear explosion, fallout-y vibe with cyberpunk trappings. The ultimate issue I had, as a GM, is my group wanted to run a CYBERPUNK game, and this was more Mad Maxian than anything else. The comedic piece, is the book quite literally talks about how it's not Mad Maxian, it's Cyberpunk, but if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck... At the end of the day, this game has a major identity problem, and I couldn't find a solution after reading all 300+ pages.

Did I mention the lore of the game? It feels... all over the place. The latter half of the book is a total lore dump, but none of it feels very necessary or exciting in any way. Cyberpunk RED is an alternate history setting, so we, as the human race, develop tech much faster which would leave you to believe this gets pretty wild. This isn't the case, though, as very basic cyberpunk-y things like "robotic mechs" and the like aren't to be found within the book, and the tech stuff that can be found, often doesn't have a proper pricing metric, disallowing players to "get it" without some workaround on the GM's part. The post-apocalyptic setting really puts a cap on allowing the tech, the players, and the GM to run wild.

Something that I don't see mentioned often is this: the game only runs off of d10's and d6's. D10's for skill checks, often a singular d10, meaning most difficulty values are either nigh impossible, or very easily cleared as your existing skill score does most of the heavy lifting, and D6's for any and ALL damage. There's no real reflection of skill or handling when it comes to weapons and whatnot either, which means there's little in the way of improvement for damage output. Your machete does 2d6 damage. It will always do 2d6 damage.

On top of this, the book/system is just complicated enough to where it feels like homebrew would imbalance it, and just bare bones enough to where it feels like it absolutely needs homebrew help to work properly.

I perused the reddit half a dozen times trying to find solutions to the multitude of issues I was having with this book, only to find many people having the same issues, some hand waiving, or others pointing towards the "old school" mentality of "if it doesn't work, just drop it and do something else... that's what Pondsmith did/does", but therein lies the issue: the game is half baked with the intention of just "fixing" what doesn't work at your table.

I'll be honest: a lot of this book doesn't work, which means you'll be doing a LOT of fixing.

We ended up dropping the system entirely for a more easily hackable, truly cyberpunk system/setting (from the creators of MÖRK BORG) and we've never looked back since.

Save yourself time, heartache, headaches, and money. Get a better cyberpunk book.

I gave Cyberpunk RED two stars because it has a LOT of fluff and interesting world-building. HOWEVER the system is practically the same as the original game, the characters are all one-trick ponies and the system does not support character growth. The hacking portion of the game is still action halting and a painful chore. Why on earth did they not use the excellent character development system in Cyberpunk 2077?!

THIS IS AN UPDATE TO MY ORIGINAL REVIEW!!

After a year of play and running a couple of Red sessions myself. here is the rundown: this game is streamlined but vague and inconsistant about information and the book during play is a pain. it looks like cyberpunk, but it feels like a generic sci-fi game set in a dark future.

first positives: Netrunning is really fun! played a Netrunner and he was a blast to play, and it was simple and easy for my GM to run my character through the Net. it kept things interesting and my players kept an eye out for electronics for my Netrunner to jack into.

Combat is streamlined and it's cover mechanic is either you're in cover or not. i have mixed feelings about cover, because even when we tried partial cover it was difficult to call what worked. it is still just as deadlly but i would argue its not as deadly say, CP2020 where there's a hit location die to roll. Red has no fumble charts however for damage die rolls if you roll 2 nat 6s you do additional damage and give a critical injury. in a second game, my Nomad nearly died because of it.

alright so that's where the positives end, and i wish i could say this is the best Cyberpunk game, but it's both confusing and inconsistent with it's presentation. the book is poorly laid out, a lot of information is all over the place, and an appendice i feel will fix that issue, but there isn't one. next, combat is streamlined but it isn't as dynamic as say CP2020, and i don't want to compare to 2020 but there is a difference and you feel the difference. you have a move, minor, and standard action. the list of actions are limited which is kind of bizarre. maybe we read the rules wrong? maybe it's more dynamic? the rules aren't clear.

this is more of a personal nicpic, but a lot of the items are soo generic, there are in game world ads in the book, yet the weapons and armors aren't by a specific corporation? there is a way to convert weapons and armor from CP2020 to Red, but it kind of defeats the purpose if your current line up don't have much standing out. even the exotic weapons while brand names they're not over the top or even that exotic.

it is my theory, that they written the PDF format first before the book, because it feels like that. this game maybe with more supplements will make it better, but as it stands, it's just a cyberpunk for the 5e crowd. yes it's easier to understand, but how is it you don't have examples of specific skills and such that a GM or player can understand? too many times my gm had to stop the game to look up if a specific skill can work for a specific task, or was unsure if the chosen skill was correct. it's really weird. its not a bad game, if you enjoy it, great, but the criticism of it being a generic sci-fi game that's called Cyberpunk are valid as well.

would of run Cyberpunk Red again? maybe, if i were to run a Cyberpunk game, i probably would run a frankenstein game of Cyberpunk 2020/red game to fix some major issues. it is a good game, but if i were to recommend this or 2020, for beginners Red, then add 2020 for more unique styles and such.

Incredible game system. I'm having so much fun running this game for my friends. We used to play 5E before this. Safe to say that we're now firmly a Cyberpunk RED table. It's presentation is easy to digest. While certain parts of the book may feel redundant, specifically some tables are repeated, to me, it helps to have the tables easily accessible as relevent to the topic where they are discussed.

While some may criticize that weapon categories are too "streamlined", compared to 2020, I see it as a benefit for my players who are learning the system. It is incredibly friendly for GM's and players to manage. For those looking for the nuance of 2020, you can always use the "old guns" conversion DLC to bring those elements to your CPR game from the Blackhands weapon guide. Also through the Tech role, literally almost anything is possible as far as weapons creation, making endless possibilites for your players, item wise. You're only capped by your imagination and the availability of resources that your GM allows you, if you really need something that isn't already covered without being redundant. Not to mention, R. Talsorian is consistently supporting the game with new item DLC since its release.

The system is incredibly adaptable to whatever playstyle or home brew you may want to bring to your game. If you're a 5E player looking to cross from nice cute fantasy into realistic sci fi, with Rainbow 6 level tactical gunfights, and brutal melee combat where every hit point matters and theres no magical healing spells to bail your PC's out of bad decisions; if have no experience with cyberpunk and you may have been intimidated by 2020 rules, but always wanted to try it; if 2077 intrigued you before its release, and want you want to bring that energy to tabletop; if Cyberpunk 2020 was fun to you but nowadays feels antiquated compared to newer game systems; this is the game for you! I really see this game growing in popularity as more and more people discover it, especially, as R.Talsorian is continuously releasing new DLC and expanding what's possible for your players to do. Try it!

I've bought every iteration since the original boxed set and I like Red a lot, but I do have some major issues. First the good. The combat and netrunning mechanics are, in my opinion, much improved. Combat is more streamlined, although at the cost of some color, and netrunning is more easily integrated into meat world action. For me, the worst aspect is the actual rulebook. The pages are slick and glossy but feel very fragile and do tear easily. This characteristic is compounded by the fact that the rulebook's organization will have you constantly flipping back and forth. If you have the digital version, the fragility of physical pages won't be an issue, but have fun constantly scrolling through pages. If you love cyberpunk, buy this game, just be prepared to hate your rulebook.

I edited my review, it was 1 star before. I still don't like a lot of stuff they did ... but I reckon the new Edgerunners Kit is taking it more into the Cyberpunk I like (and not post-war). Also they had given good support to the game over the course of this years.

I had originally wrote a 5-star review after initially playing the Jumpstart Kit. I apologize for that. I did purchase both the pdf of the core rules and a hardback copy. After running a 7-month campaign my opionon has changed. The game is easy to learn, create a character, and adjudicating the rules. You can pick up this book, quickly create a crew of edgerunners, and start playing. It is simple while offering a fair amount of crunch.

However, this game stinks. The book is a layout artist's nightmare, and even with bookmarks it's hard to navigate. This is because of redundant sections of rules. If page count is money, this book wasted a lot of money. Many of the rules don't make sense, like armor-piercing, cover, supressive fire, and melee combat, etc.. Skill costs are out of whack. Some Role Abilities are very OP while others are lackluster. While NETrunning was streamlined, it's still a mini-game and doesn't work as they probably intended it to. Don't ask me about vehicles. The setting doesn't know what it wants to be. It claims to be cyberpunk, but the author obviously wanted to make a post-apocalypse game instead. Cyberpunk used to be about "style over substance", but that's completely abscent from this edition. If you came to this game to play a ttrpg version of Cyberpunk 2077, forget about it. You're going to be very disappointed.

My advice: Cyberpunk 2020 is still a good game. It needs some houseruling, but it's a much better game than this slipshod.

As rules goes, it's a streamlined experience over 2020. However I feel that with this streamlining, there's a lot of charm that's been lost to the setting and the general feel of the game. 2020 had a lot of personality as games go, and RED plays it a bit too safe and shallow with things. It has a lot of major advantages over 2020, of course, one of the main ones being the new Netrunning system. Now it actually feels viable for a Netrunner to join a group and not just hang back or even be an NPC for the group. After testing out the system with some friends, the Netrunner had as much active ability during a fight as the Solo protecting them while they broke into a computer network.

The setting is somewhat all over the place. Partly, it feels like it wants to really dig into the Post-Apocalyptic feel of the Time of the Red, with night markets and bazaars but at the same time, there are still clinics that can gladly install new cyberware for you. Some interesting things has happened in the lore since the year 2020, of course, but for bridging the gap between 2020 and the 2077 game, it feels lacking. In my mentioned group, we pushed things ahead and played a few years prior to 2077 and still had a great time.

Overall, I like RED, and would recommend it, but it's so close to being great rather than just good. Still a great purchase, and at $30 it's a steal.

It is bad, very very bad. I played 2020 for 20 years and after a few months with RED I have decided to go back to 2020. I actually regret buying RED.

Rules don't make any sense, all weapons feel the same, there is not real meaning in customization. New Hit points rules make the game like 5ed but worse. Cover system is just leazy and dumb, same for autofire, the combat is not balanced, the players never feel in any danger (in 2020 anyone can die with just a single well placed shot, in RED is very very very unlikely) etc etc. RED is just a leazy product. Positive note? netrunners are better in RED.

This was a difficult choice for me, because this game fixed all the things I disliked about Shadowrun, but is far from perfect. I would still wholeheartedly recommend this game to anyone who is an experienced roleplayer, or who likes the Cyberpunk setting, but there are serious issues with the design of the book and some of the decisions made regarding the publishing that tarnish its score. I really like the review another person posted with GBU, so I will be applying that.

The Good: Excellent setting, flexible rules, fast paced interesting combat. I am not experienced with 2020, but I will say that it is a smoother game than DnD, and I rarely have trouble keeping the attention of my players (always a nightmare whenever I try to play DnD). The system is good, and with adequite support over the next few years, will definitely be worth getting into.

The Bad: There is no sugar coating it, the layout of this book is atrocious. The index section is even worse. Finding any important rules is a nightmare of page flipping for entire table. The hyperlinks tend to be farely good on the pdf, bringing you to relevant sections, but if you don't know where to even start looking for the answer (and incredibly common problem with this layout, believe it or not), then you need to use the search feature of your PDF reader. Shocker, the search feature is just as useless because the book is filled with ridiculous amounts of lore.

I don't dislike lore, in fact I would probably read it if it wasn't randomely sprinkled over the entire book when I am trying to find important, time sensitive rules. If I crack open the book, I am either trying to read lore or learn the game, I should not have to dig to find either.

The layout issues are well documented in nearly every review I see, and while they don't cause as many issues in the PDF due to the hyperlinking and the search issues, but I would have to give my hard copy of the book 3 stars because of how frustratingly useless and expensive it was.

The Ugly: To be frank, this is mostly a personal problem, but I can see other people having this issue too. RTG is advertising Astral Tabletop here as a place to play Cyberpunk, even going as far as letting a screamsheet be released for free. This might make you think that RTG supports ATT as a way to play CPR. Guess what? It doesn't. There are 2 dozen posts on the forum requesting that the 10 or so NPCs in the book be imported into ATT, no response from the Publisher or ATT. I asked several times nicely on the RTG discord if they were looking into this. No response. I spent $100 on a yearly ATT membership because I thought that CPR was going to be supported, only to have to spend 8 or so hours of my life building those basic characters because the publisher can't be bothered, and because of the way ATT works, I have no way of giving anyone else access to those characters I made, either.

The character sheets are already set up which is nice, but that is all you will ever get. They better be worth the price of the ATT subscription.

So, to explain. Cybwepunk, especially 2020 and When Gravity Fails have been a massive influence on me. So I am gonna try and run that edge of Sunnies and Tri-pheds. Pop in my Hunter S. Tompson Moddy and give this a go...

Neon revolution. Electronic wonderland. Hydrogen happiness Not Chooh. Virtual destiny and mixed reality. Chem-Stem holiday. 'Chosis Choombas. In the NET? Naw, in the Corvette! Or Mega Tron Or a toaster. No run the Net. Run the machines.

Elves are still elves; but Medias are Fake News. Vibe the Influencer and Content Creator. It may not be true; but its the closest you will ever be.

Rockerboy? So cis-gender. Rappers can talk the words of the Prophets! They put the Soul in your shoe or the blood. Livin on the edge, like a lap dance for Satan!

Nomad was a fad. Road Warrior Wore Out. Boosters are Fam and with them, Street Cred is everything. For they are The Warriors, Send the Word!

Scream Sheets? F'ed to the A! Its about that Feel-a-Vision and Blip Verts. No Controller for Edison Carter when she can jump from drone to bot and what-not.

Virtual Reality? If my meat sack is so happy there, Johnny Silverhand just Ctrl Alt Deleted. No love for the Output. Me 2!

Why change the rules, if you can't change the word!

Peace out on my Zip Speech, Night City!

I was 15 when I got my hands on the old black box cyberpunk 2013. I took that thing with me everywhere. Dice, mechanical pencils, character sheets and of course the books were stored inside. The box is long gone today though I still have the books clinging on to their staples just barely. They got a lot of use as did my 2020 books. - Mid 40's now and my excitement for Cyberpunk RED has not diminished. It goes to work with me, back in the car to and to home again... Cyberpunk RED is a wonderful addition to the Cyberverse. I highly recommend picking up a copy if you are a fan. My son and his friends are still playing Cyberpunk 2020 and Cybergeneration. Our First cyberpunk RED game will be this weekend. My family would like to thank everyone at R. Talsorian Games for two generations of entertainment and imagination. May there be many more at all of your tables as well.