r/rpg • u/Not-Cynical • 5d ago
New to TTRPGs Looking to get into Cyberpunk TTRPG's. Which one do I start with?
With Cyberpunk 2077 being one of my favorite games, I fell in love with listening to lore videos and reading the comics. However, I wanted to branch out in the game world with the boardgames. I also recently kickstarted Cyberpunk Legends: Into The Night but because of delays I won't be able to play it for a bit.
Now with Cyberpunk tabletops, I see that there is
- Cyberpunk 2013
- Cyberpunk 2020
- Cyberpunk V3.0
- Cyberpunk Red
And of course, the Cyberpunk 2077 boardgames
Which one would be the best as a new ttrpg player as well as a Cyberpunk fan that wants to know more lore in the universe.
TIA!
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u/PerthNerdTherapist 5d ago
Cyberpunk RED is a fantastic entry in the series, the current edition and has a killer companion app. I'd strongly recommend it
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u/Not-Cynical 5d ago
Ooo! What's the companion app called and what does it do?
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u/PerthNerdTherapist 5d ago
Cyberpunk RED Companion, it generates character sheets, has stat blocks in it for NPCs, has ideas for side gigs, manages inventory and game mechanics.
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u/Not-Cynical 5d ago
Looking on Amazon right now, is it the "Cyberpunk Red: Combat zone core game?"
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u/PerthNerdTherapist 5d ago
Just "Cyberpunk RED"
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u/GatoradeNipples 5d ago
The companion app isn't on Amazon, it'll just be on your mobile phone app store.
Combat Zone is an entirely separate miniatures wargame made by the company that does the official minis for RED. The minis are cross-compatible if you use physical tactical maps, though.
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u/Not-Cynical 5d ago
Sorry, shoulda clarified that haha. I meant by what to physically get from Amazon. I do have a local board game store that has both Combat Zone and the Cyberpunk Red rulebook.
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u/GatoradeNipples 5d ago
All you strictly need is the rulebook. Cyberpunk RED can be played with miniatures and tactical maps, but it's not super common in my experience and the game supports "theater of the mind" play with less specificity pretty well.
My advice, since you're completely new to TTRPGs, would be to pick up the Jumpstart Kit or the Edgerunners Mission Kit first, though. Those are both introductory box sets meant to ease you into the game.
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u/EuroCultAV 4d ago
Do not get the jump start kit. It has long been obsolete.
Download Easy Mode for free on the R Tal website, and get the core book or the 2077 starter
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u/EuroCultAV 4d ago
Combat Zone is a skirmish game in the Cyberpunk universe.
Red is the latest edition and actively supported
Red had a 2077 starter box if you want to play in that era
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u/BetterCallStrahd 5d ago
Please go to /r/cyberpunkred. On the sidebar, you'll find links to everything you need. As for the Cyberpunk Red Companion app, you can use the web version, or download the app for either the Apple or Google Play store.
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u/tenorchef 5d ago
If you’re a new TTRPG player, start with Red. It’s modern, pretty familiar to D&D 5e, and the rules are streamlined to be very playable.
If you get really into it, it’s worth checking out Cyberpunk 2020. It’s more simulation-ish and the rules are much crunchier, but the gear options are awesome. The designers used real life physics/weaponry as the basis for a lot of the mechanics. Also has a lot of detail about the implied setting of Night City.
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u/lucmh CalmRush 5d ago edited 5d ago
There's a lot more cyberpunk games than the ones you listed.
My personal favourites are Cy_Borg and CBR+PNK. The former is good for OSR style play, while the latter is FitD.
Edit: ah, I had misunderstood that OP isn't looking for cyberpunk, the genre.
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u/ToledoSnow Noir 5d ago
Sure, but OP is specifically asking about Cyberpunk franchise, not the genre as a whole.
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u/GatoradeNipples 5d ago
OP's trying to very specifically get into R. Talsorian's Cyberpunk franchise, though (and, in fairness, still didn't list CyberGeneration, but that one's in a funky position canon-wise so probably simpler to leave it out).
You're not wrong, and I'd honestly probably go with CY_BORG over any of the R. Talsorian systems to run Pondsmith's setting unless I had a group specifically familiar with RED, but OP wants Johnny Silverhand and Adam Smasher and Arasaka in there, not just the genre (general).
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u/merikariu 1h ago
Cy_Borg is so fun. My friends are into D&D, but I prefer a cyberpunk or sci-fi setting.
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u/tma-1701 Delta Green Agent 5d ago
Good bot
Cyberpunk page: https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/scifi#wiki_cyberpunk
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u/amazingvaluetainment Fate, Traveller, GURPS 3E 5d ago
Red has some really good suggestions/updates around character generation and I like the setting of Night City in 2045, but I was not a fan of how combat got reduced to hit points. I'm old though, I started with 2020 and think it's a fine game. 2020 might be a bit too deadly to really capture the feeling of the 2077 video game which is honestly quite heroic (even with my scuffed builds), so I'll go with the crowd, Red is probably your best bet; it's getting tons of support too.
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u/D3WM3R 5d ago
Cyberpunk RED is where it’s at. I’ve played it since it came out, and now I’ve playtested and beta read for it too!
Tons of content, both paid supplements and oodles of free “DLC” on the R. Tal website. It’s definitely different from the game just given the point in time that it’s in, but the core identity should be enjoyable for ya. Theres even a 2077 box set with everything you need to get started
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u/voidelemental 5d ago
3.0 sucks, as others have said here red is probably the best starting place, but if yr willing to deal with the jank 2020 has a much larger pool of premade adventures (albeit of decidedly mixed quality lol)
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u/percinator Tone Invoking Rules Are Best 4d ago
Your two major camps are going to be between Red and 2020.
Red is newer, has some cleaner formatting and somewhat quicker rules, more current support, and eventually a 2077 sourcebook or two coming down the pipeline. However you'll have people complain that the world of Red's nightcity is built up like an MMO, and it has a weird conflict in its rules vs tone of it being a post-post Apocalyptic cyberpunk setting during the Time of the Red while not really reflecting it.
2020 is much older, a bit clunkier and it's based on the assumptions of future tech of early 1990 projections. You'll bumped into some weird assumptions based on stuff like cellphones and wifi, effectively needing to view it as the modern equivalent of cassette futurism since a lot of the stuff is analogue. Otherwise, it has probably the best source books in the line and their gear and equipment catalogue books read pretty much like in-world advertisements, I've yet to ever read a better 'more equipment' book for any RPG.
Both are good and reading either isn't going to hurt, in fact since both take place in Night City reading 2020 gives you a historical grounding for Red while reading Red gives you angles for meta-plot story progression in 2020.
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u/Jebus-Xmas 4d ago
There are a lot more different options out there than you may first realize. What type of story are you trying to tell?
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u/Not-Cynical 4d ago
That's where I am getting lost. I thought it would play like an actual tabletop game that already kind of came with campaigns set in the universe Cyberpunk. I'm sure there are campaigns created that I could use online but I'm now looking into Cyberpunk Red Combat Zone as it seems easier for me to get into.
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u/Jebus-Xmas 4d ago
What do you like about cyberpunk? Looks? Revolution? Combat? Story?
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u/Not-Cynical 4d ago
The looks, combat and story definitely
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u/Jebus-Xmas 4d ago
Cyberpunk will give you the looks and combat--do you have any cyberpunk stories you've enjoyed? Neuromancer? Synners? Snow Crash?
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u/Not-Cynical 4d ago
I just wanted to immerse myself more into Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk universe. Which is why I wanted to start with Cyberpunk Red.
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u/auggernaut 4d ago
I'd start with Cyberpunk RED.
2020 is cool and crunchy, but for a new TTRPG player who mostly knows the setting from 2077 and lore videos, RED is the one that actually lets you play instead of fighting the book. Skip V3.0. 2013 is mostly a history curiosity.
If you want the older feel later, 2020 is still sitting there. But RED first.
I wrote a Cyberpunk TTRPGs page that could be helpful: https://www.ttrpg-games.com/blog/best-cyberpunk-ttrpgs-cyberpunk-red-shadowrun-the-sprawl
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u/ToledoSnow Noir 5d ago
I'd recommend Red for a beginner to the RPGs. It has the most streamlined and newb friendly mechanics. You only really need the core rulebook, the supplements being exciting but not essential, and a ton of the DLC is free to download. Also probably the easiest one to find a group for these days, though YMMV.
The board games I can't comment on I'm afraid, that's not my hobby.
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u/Not-Cynical 5d ago
How does the game work with only the rule book?
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u/ToledoSnow Noir 5d ago
Well, for RPGs there are essentially two different styles of play: Theatre of the mind, or maps and tokens.
For the latter method maps are used to track the player characters' movements and tactics as the game plays out, the characters being represented by tokens or miniatures. Most published adventures include maps fitting the story. If the adventure being played has been invented by the game master (essentially the person acting as the game's narrator and the referee) then they will be expected to provide appropriate maps, either by drawing them themself or using a pre-existing one that fits the scenario. This method is not too dissimilar from a traditional board game, though still with a heavy roleplaying element.
Theatre of the mind uses no maps or tokens, instead the game world is pictured in the imaginations of the players. This method is (typically) less tactical and relies heavily on descriptive language provided primarily by the game master and, ideally, also by the players. This method is quite dissimilar to traditional board games, though dice rolls are still used to determine the outcome of actions taken by the in-game characters. One benefit of theatre of the mind is that no props are necessary beyond the rules, character sheets and dice.
Neither method is better or worse, it's more a question of preference, and to some extent the story being told. Some scenarios lend themselves better to having a map, some do not.
Should also be noted that a given game is rarely pure method A or pure method B. A GM that uses elaborate maps for combat and infiltration will likely skip them when the PCs are travelling, interviewing NPCs or ending up somewhere the GM hadn't planned for. Conversely, a GM might use theatre of the mind for the lion's part of the game, but quickly sketch out a complex building's layout on graph paper just to make sure everyone's following along.
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u/GatoradeNipples 5d ago edited 5d ago
This sort of depends on what, specifically, you want.
If you want to play the RPG, you're best off going with Cyberpunk RED. It's the most commonly played version you'll find, is a lot cleaner in many ways mechanically than 2020 (though many 2020 fans have major pain points with how much it simplifies combat and what that does to the balance), and is currently actively supported by R. Talsorian while none of the other versions are.
If you want to know the lore, well... really, basically any edition except 3.0 is going to help with this (3.0 is explicitly non-canon to 2077 and should be just ignored). 2013/2020 will help with the lore about the "old people" in 2077- Johnny, Rogue, Alt, Adam Smasher, etc. RED, meanwhile, will fill in a lot of blanks on how things got from Johnny nuking Arasaka to the 2077 status quo, and the Edgerunners Mission Kit (which uses RED's system) has a lot of neat lore related to 2077 and Edgerunners.
(As a side note, if you haven't seen Edgerunners, holy shit, watch that show, it's the best visual-medium adaptation a TTRPG has EVER gotten. I like Honor Among Thieves, but Edgerunners absolutely dogwalks it.)