Cyberpunk 2020 -RPG Review 2.0
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- čas přidán 4. 09. 2018
- Review of the classic Cyberpunk 2020 role-playing game from R Talsorian Games. The Good, the Bad, and some suggestions for players.
Handy Links:
DrivethruRPG: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/5...
DataFortress2020: datafortress2020.com/
You can find the handouts I give my players here: drive.google.com/open?id=1i5-...
If you want to support my channel, or are just in the mood for some kickass urban fantasy about modern-day monster hunters, you can find my novels and audio books here: amzn.to/2wLkgwE
Personally I find the dated tech to be part of the appeal. It gives it a lot of unique flavor because of it's what if scenario. It's similar to world's from the likes of Fallout or Blade Runner, and I'd love to see 2077 expand on that similarly to how Blade Runner 2049 did so.
Same here. I'm a huge fan of the cyberpunk aesthetic, and find a lot of the retro look it now has to be damn appealing. It's a nice look at an alternate timeline now where we can go, "what if?"
Thats critism, as someone who never pkayed it, sounds ridiculous. I'm going to pretend that wasn't an actual critism some had! What...the....fuck?
Cyberpunk is almost always a retrofuturistic version of the 1980's, sort of like how Atompunk is always a retrofuturistic 1950's or steampunk is a retrofuturistic vision of the gilded age of the 19th century. Changing the feel of the technology fundamentally alters the setting to the point where it may not be Cyberpunk anymore.
@@legionhut2443 There are a few representations of a much more modern and sleek interpretations of Cyberpunk, though the only one that I can think of that managed to stay visually interesting are the last few Deus Ex games.
I feel the same, that 80’s analogue aesthetic feels so great when you play the game
Also makes playing Vangelis while playing it even better
I love the mid-80's point-of-divergence, in which tech is both futuristic and antiquated. It lends to the neo-cyberpunk noir feel. I love mood dissonance in general.
Sometimes I think Jack the NPC is Seth's real personality. "Seth the GM" is just for TV
I think he's both. The npc is just all the things he wants to say, but doesn't want to be accountable for. I know you were joking, but like when he sais "i think that sais more about the people's lack of imagination" it's obvious.
Most of thr time i just forget that Seth plays Jack. In my head they are two completely diferent individuals.
So, I played this in high school, around the turn of the century. Now it's 2020 and I have feelings about this. The world is also a lot closer to Night City than I would have guessed. Keep on rocking choombatta.
We just need more neon lights and cybernetics. We got the megacorps and resource wars already lmao
I thought the whole thing of cyber psychosis was just "I'm the superior machine, I'm better than you all, you're basically animals now, I'm going crazy from your perspective"
That sounds like it could be a form of cyber psychosis. But personally I always thought of it as any manifestation of psychosis deriving from the stress of over enhancements. Kinda like CTE I guess but deriving from cybernetic manipulation rather than blunt force trauma
That’s one way it works. Sometimes it also just functions like a n*gga moment in the boondocks where it just causes you to escalate a minor inconvenience into deadly physical violence
Back when my table played Cyberpunk 2020, we justified the humanity loss by saying that 'better than human' cyberware caused the loss because of the more complicated neuro-brain networking technology required to interface with it, and this complicated tech impacted the the brain's ability to think normally.
Simple 'only as good as the original thing' limbs caused no such loss because they could interface with the human body without he need for deeper neuro-brain technologies.
So you lose your arm and you just get a nice arm that is no better than your original one, even slap some chrome on it? No big deal.
Break your neck and need a whole body replacement but it is still no better than a normal human bod? Sure, go for it. You deserve the happiness a full life can bring.
Adding a new arm that does things normal arms do not do? Like generation tons worth of force? Or operating hidden compartments? All of that 'the human body does not do this' stuff? Now you need neuroware to interface with it and that is going to start messing with your head.
I like this idea quite a bit. I'd like to implement it in my upcoming Cyberpunk game.
Another way to look at it is that the cyberware caused neurological side effects which could cause hormone changes or psychotic tendencies.
I've heard the idea that the humanity loss was originally conceived to show the reach of the Corporations that own the hardware and chips that you're jacking in to. As you purchased, installed, and used those cybernetics, the Corps would stream ads, require exorbitant maintenance that only they can do, and other nasty things to the point that you'd be indebted to them, and essentially enter a brain dance of a catatonic state, unable to do anything else besides invest yourself into the cybernetics and their Corps.
For obvious reasons, this is a very anti-capitalist message, and as such was revamped with the Empathy/Humanity Loss.
I think there would be an element of distance from human experience involved, but plugging in new hardware to your thinking meats basically can't go without changes. Stuff that's basically 'the same but different materials' wouldn't be a problem. But the more off it is from what your brain is designed around/used to from birth, the more your gonna drift.
Although it doesn't make a lot of sense to me why a stronger or different muscle would need a different interface to work, at least this is an attempt at a rational explanation. I get the impression that whoever makes up these "replacing parts of your body takes away some of your humanity" rules has never met anyone who has lost a limb.
Wow, Cyberpunk 2077 really captured the aesthetic of the original Cyberpunk 2020. The art is phenomenal.
2077 aesthetics sucks. Cyberpunk look is all about 80's retro futurism and 2077 doesn't have any of that. 2077 is just GTA in the future.
@@meskisableCyberpunk 2020 is 80s retro futurism, while 2077 is 90s retro futurism. The aethsetic of 2077 isn’t bad, it’s different, and I like it better tbh.
@@meskisable To be fair its in 2077 so its 57 years later
@@dhyrim604 Cyberpunk as a genre is rooted in 80's futurism. Without it is just general sci fi.
@@meskisableyou’re making yourself look like a fanboy, 2077 isn’t bad
Also my favorite tip is to just make up some stylised/stupid/wacky enemies: When my players went to a different city where they had mag-lev roads, they got into a fight with the law (like players always do) so I busted out the L-Swat, which were based on the drunken idea of a player that "cops on inline skates would be totally badass", so they were basically extreme strong melee fighters with mag-lev "skates" that allowed them to whizz around the battlefield. Or the time another party pissed of a rival gang called "The Toons" which were basically people that plastic surgent themselves to look like cartoon characters, so they got a hit-squad sent after them that was pretty much the gang from Scooby Doo...
I steal from the warriors religiously
Ah shit please tell me the toons tried to drop an anvil or a piano on their head or some crazy tom and jerry shit hahaha
The concept of Cyberpunk Shaggy made be choke a little
Ruh-roh, Raggy
"like, zoinks scoob, im gonna fucking ice this guy"
I remember being part of an online game of this run on a BBS bulletin board called Night City South (I think; I was 12 tops, so it's a little foggy), and I was in a long term sci-fi game which was just a mish-mash of this system and an old miniature war game called Kryomek. It was one of the best games ever, and a really important part of my adolescence.
Shadowrun suffers the same problem with the Matrix as Cyberpunk 2020 suffers with Netrunning. It's an entire separate game, requires a completely different set of rules, divides the attention of the gamemaster, and bogs things down. Like you mention in the video, I have NPCs do it on the side so the players aren't sitting around for an hour, waiting for a door to unlock.
I've never played either of the games myself, but I saw a suggestion for shadowrun's matrix system that sounds like it could be a fix to the issue if any player(s) wanted to be a hacker. Basically the idea was that each player is given a 'character' to play during that segment of the game, whether its tertiary ai's/support programs, or avatars of the party members or whatever. I would even probably go as far as letting the players fully customize their 'matrix characters' (or whatever you wanna call them) provided there were any rules that allowed for that kinda thing.
Just figured I'd share the idea in case it could prove useful.
When I run CP I always have a group of Netrunner NPCs, that are the other players, for when they need to take on a big run. Most of what the netrunner dose is more like a Wizard in DnD. Access remote and open doors, turn off cameras, run cars into groups of people to create a distraction you know things...
I used to run all Netrunner campaigns to avoid the trouble Seth mentioned. I also experimented with having Netrunner PCs create a seperate 'Character Sheet' for their avatar. That way if they were in cyberspace, I could run the 'combat' along side the other players with the regular rules, if you see what I mean?
Late to the discussion here: SR 4e and onward have hacking available in two flavors, Augmented Reality and traditional VR hacking. AR hacking is done in "real time," so it's feasible to run for cover, jam a gun, and fire back.
Shadowrun multiplies the problem by three because you not only have Deckers in the Matrix but Rigger piloting drones and Mages astrally projecting
Everything's better with Jack the NPC.
Except... What is that ... CREATURE ... nesting on the top of Jack's head? A brain-sucking tribble?
I just love how Difficulty Values are really bring out the "Usually it would be..." and modifiers are the "... but right now?"
You're not burdening your player with the math of combining bonuses and maluses, you're just presenting them with a easier/harder task.
Martial arts, I just approach it from a MMA standpoint and collapse them all MA skills together into three action categories : strikes, dodging/parrying, and takedowns/grappling.
(If your martial art has a specialty, you're also learning how to defend against it or else I'm going to have a word with their sensei).
So when an attack is made, I just make the opponent do a reaction roll that can be
a) a counter attack (if they're better/faster, it's -their- attack that lands)
b) a dodge/parry (self-explanatory, can even lead to an immediate counterattack at -3 DV)
c) a counter-grapple (that turns the tables and now they're holding their opponent).
Keeps it more fluid AND faster as well. Etc etc.
Seth I adore your videos, broke my wrist a month ago and spent more than a couple days just watching and re-watching your videos.
Thank you very much. Glad you're enjoying the channel. Hope you're healing up.
@Quaid Irby, do you need an augmentation for your wrist. Got one real cheap.
I broke my leg
Until it heals avoid other ccertain videos.
I remember playing the original version of this game when it came out in 1988 as well as Cyberpunk 2020 when it came out two years later. Back then no-one knew what the Internet would become in the future so the whole "Netrunner" aspect of the game was as plausible as anything else.
The original version of the game actually predates the creation of the World Wide Web!
If you are in need of inspiration to get you in the mood for this game I highly recommend the following films:
Blade Runner
Johnny Mnemonic
Deathline (a.k.a. Redline, a.k.a. Armageddon)
Overdrawn At The Memory Bank
Babylon A.D.
Strange Days
Hardware
Max Headroom - the TV series has some great ideas in it e.g. "Blanks", credit fraud is a more serious crime than murder, advertising revenue becomes incredibly important, etc.
Hardcore henry
Delamain is such a great homage to Max Headroom.
LOL overdrawn at the memory bank...only if riffed you baboon! At least you aren't an anteater.
The antiquated approach to futuristic tech is an intriguing aesthetic unto itself, I think. With the way it looks, it doesn't feel corny, and it has the right amount of punk rock cheese. I feel like some of artwork reminds me of Jubilee from the X-Men a bit.
One other thing I would recommend - R. Talsorian also had another game system called Fuzion. It is nearly identical to Interlock, except it used 3d6 instead of 1d10 and the difficulty numbers were correspondingly higher. The main advantage of this was that you didn't have a 1 in 10 chance of a fumble or crit success, instead giving a 1 in 216 for either a 3 or 18.
I started watching your videos over a year ago and I just wanted to say thank you for all of the great content you create. No hokey editing or visual effects, no forced jokes, just you, a camera, a clear passion, some great stories, and some great costumes and voices. It shows that you truly care about RPGs and the hobby with videos like this, reviewing an RPG that you already reviewed once before because it means that much to you and sharing it with the rest of us. You're easily my favorite content creator on this entire site for all these reasons and more. It's been wonderful to see you grow from the little channel with a lot of stories and a camera to a creator who can emphasize to us the meaning each of these stories holds. It's for all of these reasons that even after a year, I still get excited when I see a new video of yours in my sub box and can't wait to watch it. For all of the hours upon hour of entertainment and inspiration you've given me and many others, I thank you. Here's to all of the untold stories to come. Thank you once more.
Damn, man. Thank you very much.
(Though I do occasionally entertain a need for the occasional bad joke or truly terrible visual effect)
Dam, its been two years. I started playing Cyberpunk because of your review. I first ran the Open Highway adventure for a group of friends, but your video wasn't out yet so it was an experience. Since then it has been a ride, I heavily homebrewed the weapon and armour system to make it even more realistic and did all kinds of things to maximium metal and black hands street guide.
I just want to say thanks for such a wild ride, all coming from your video.
Gah I am so psyched for the Cyberpunk PC game coming out. I'm really hoping it'll give the tabletop RPG a bit of a boost.
Back when the original teaser trailer dropped it gave me honest-to-god chills. I must have watched that thing 20 times, searching for all the teeny details like the corporate brands in the windows and the stock-ticker.
I was never much of a Cyberpunk 2020 fan back in the day (always been more of a Shadowrun fan), but when I saw that teaser, I was thinking "sold!" That and your reviews are what got me to give the game a second look. That gameplay video... I need money to buy a new PC just for that dang game now. Thanks again for the solid job on the review video. Always nice to see.
Quite positive a new version of the system could appear to modernize the game up to the videogame in the future.
@@cdgonepotatoes4219 If they used the success (if it is successful) of the video game as a chance to pop out an updated edition, I would pick it up in a heart beat.
@@meatguyf1375 same here, same here
i came across this video when i was looking for a how to run a Cyberpunk 2020 game when i bought the Humble Bundle collection, and i love this review! it inspired me to run a session and i ran my first session of CP2020, and everyone LOVE the game, the first session was RP heavy and they are super excited for the combat portion next session!
Thank you SO much for this video. I'm a first time GM and I decided to try doing Cyberpunk with my players. I've been spending the last few days trying to figure out rules and systems like netrunning, but your video has clarified almost EVERYTHING I was confused about. Can't wait to get started playing this for the first time!
Your comments about having to run 2 separate games when NetRunning is happening made me laugh because I'm a Shadowrun vet. Try physical combat, Magical combat, Astral combat/projection, Rigger drones, and last but not least, Matrix combat. You need more assistant GMs than players. Oh, and also a couple of burly men to lug the buckets of dice you'll need to roll...
You poor sod. 😅😅😅
They see me rollin...
They hatin'
And oil stewards to keep the various burls on the burly men shiny.
I love shadow run lore but damn do I fucking hate the system.
So true. Thats the reason I quit Shadowrun back in the 90s. If I had to play Cyberpunk today I would go with Vieja Escuela Cyberpunk, a Spanish minimalist d20 take on the genre.
LOL You surprised me with the F-bomb! Also, the dated tech reminds me of Traveller. It isn't out of date, it's retro-futurism.
Oh man, it's sad hearing all the people with high hopes for the video game. :(
They couldn't of known that the game named after the TTRPG was going to end up a shooter instead of a immersive sim. So Sad.
My buddy and I who have been playing D&D now for a couple years are looking to get into Cyberpunk. He's seen some of your videos before and shot this my way. You provided a ton of great info, insight, and resources. And for that thanks so much!
Hey this is gonna get dated in like a month but humble bundle is doing a bundle for this game right now, so it might be worth checking out
Hell yeah, thank you!
Awesome! Thanks!
Greatest 20 I spent in years
Thank you mucho digital rocket much appreciated
The most valuable $15 ever.
While I personally prefer Shadowrun, it's good to see Cyberpunk getting the love it deserves as of late
Thanks for the handouts, Seth. These will be a great help when I start my first campaign in cyberpunk
Who’s here because they are playing Cyberpunk 2077 from CD Projekt Red? Love the game besides the bugs.
Always loved the lore Seth. Loved this video. Daaaam, what a collection. Thanks.
I much prefer 3rd person playing, but the nature of Cyberpunk requires first person, at the very least because that's how you'd get feedback from your cyberware. I wondered how they would handle a braindance, and while I can say I don't especially like it, I can see how and why they did it they way they did it. I can't think of a better way to do it single player, and the implementation is effective for what it does.
Please give this man thumbs up for this video! He did an awesome job working on this awesome review! The best cyberpunk 2020 review ever made! Please make a review of each of the cyberpunk modules and guides for each of the cyberpunk 2020 chapters
To be honest I came here because I was interested in playing the tabletop game because of the world in the game being awesome
Excellent review. I really liked the suggestion of capping starting skills.
21:38 I found the Scott Brown gun!
The Citysweeper.
Gonna be running a 2020 one-shot for a small group soon, actually using the rules but playing in the Battletech setting, the lower levels of Solaris VII to be exact.
Came back to this video and pointed my players to it for a bit of help getting the interlock system down. Thanks for remaking this review and all the content you provide.
Love that R Talsorian is getting some love again. Had lots of fun with Mekton and Bubblegum Crisis. CP2020 is on Humble Bundle and I don't think I can pass.
Seth's costumes are always a treat, and that wig is something special.
Great review. Your review of the game was spot on and as my real name is Jack, I loved Jack the NPC! I was very pleased to see that you did in fact highlighted the best supplemental books (the four chrome books, Blackhands, and Night City Sourcebook), and you mentioned Interlock Unlimited which was nice to see. Again great job on the review. I'm now a subscriber.
I think I just discovered what role-playing is because I've been searching for an old console game named cyberpunk 2020 lol this is a whole new level of nerd.
RandomnessTube try shadowrun for the snes
Better yet try the Sega Genesis version of Shadowrun.
Wanna get nuts? Neuromancer in the abandonware mists of PC or Mean Streets, a Tex Murphy adventure.
Thanks for a new Version for Cyberpunk. At the Moment, I am learning the rules to play with my Friends and a lot of Tips you give are really helpful, especially the Starter Pack Stuff. Keep up the good Work, we will carry Cyberpunk 2020 into the Future :)
Cyberpunk 2020 is also very close to my heart as one of the first games i ever played. CP2077 has definitely reinvigorated my passion for this universe so i feel like i could GM it myself soon. Thanks for pointing me to Interlock Unlimited since the rules were one of the things i wasn't so sure about and this ressource should simplify the homebrewing tremendously.
a new cyberpunk 2020 review? RIGHT AFTER THE NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT?!
I don't know why but I'm just happy that you're remaking the videos that got me to subscribe to your channel!
Yeah, some of those early vids were VERY rough. There's a distinct learning curve you can see if you try to watch them in order. I've been trying to space out the re-makes, as not to just be posting the same thing, but I have 2-3 more on the list to be re-done. So far, it's been Edge of Darkness, RPG Social Contract, and now this. The plus side is I also get to address some confusion or errors I said in the originals based off of viewer feedback. I'm thinking of re-doing Dead Light in the next few months after posting some totally fresh vids.
I'm going to be running my first cyberpunk 2020 oneshot soon, and hope to kick off a campaign in half a year from now, thanks for further introducing me to cyberpunk 2020 Seth! Keep the videos coming! Also Jack, I can never unsee the angry face in your body armor, with the two punctured triangles the area around the eyes.
Glad to be of help. Have fun with the game.
Damn, I never noticed the angry chest face. Now I do, and I probably always will.
Yes, Jack have jacked in...
Great vid!
I'm about to GM Cyberpunk 2020 for the first time, this was very helpful!
Seth, thanks for the down to earth reviews. My friends and I played a ton of CP2020 in the 1990s, early 2Ks and it rocked. When my chummer called me about the CP 2077 trailer, he only had to say one word: Molly - the name of their car (and beloved baby) for 50+ sessions of Cyberpunk. Anyhoo - long story short (too late) he's stoked to play again. And impulse watching your review has fanned my creative flames.
See you in the mean streets.
Did you ever go into space?
@@dbadaddy7386 nope. Too much fun dirtside
Perfect timing, just as I wanted to get into that game, you update your videos
Thank you for the great review. I fell in love with Cyberpunk, when I found the Cyberpunk 2013 Box in a RPG store here in Germany in the late 80‘s... Cyberpunk 2020 and Traveller are still my all time favorites.
Great vid, Id love to watch a CP2020 series like the CoC7E one youre wrapping up, at some point. And as for the new video game, Im more interested in the 2077 tabletop book coming out. Im Interested in seeing how Mike P. updated Netrunning.
You are a treasure my man. Absolute legend.
Really enjoyed this. Had ALL the books and sold them all a few years ago and now rebuying some of them. Never did play the system but had collected them all when they came out. Hope whomever got what I sold is/did enjoy them. This was very helpful.
I can’t wait till his review on Cyberpunk Red now that the full things out.
Lmao my nigga
thank you so much, ever since heard and the the game I wanted to get in on Cyberpunk RPG and this really helped
My book will come anyway now. And what a time to sit down and play this with the roommates during this lock down.
I did play Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0 in the 90-ies.
Two campaigns:
The first was a hunt to track down a serial killer. (Somewhat in the "investigation" category.).
However our group did not work well as we had a murder hobo (Playing a specialist Solo.), thus our GM could either run combat where the Solo could shine, but as he was far superior in combat to the rest of the group, we could mostly just sit and wait when he fought it out. And in all other situations our Solo just sat and did nothing.
Displeased with the situation, our GM decided to start over
This time the group was a music band, doing various tasks beside the music.
But, our murder hobo did build a specialist Solo again, so we was back at the same split group problem...
So our GM decided to start a new campaign, this time with Vampire the Masquerade. Which caused our murder hobo to leave us...
Several years later I met one of the other players, who did remember something about a med tech who saved the life of someone at Mortal 4.
I could remind him that I was playing the Med Tech who did that.
Should of our a mine under his mattress
Sometimes people just don't fit in, no matter what you try. From what you say, I guess the Solo player liked a style of play different from the one the other players and the GM liked. I would've explain this to him and suggest that maybe he should find some other people to play with. It sounds like he ruined the fun of several guys. Having said this, and not having played Cyberpunk, I get the impression that it's a game heavily focused on combat, and while you may play investigation or roleplay oriented campaigns, you might be wasting the strong points of the game.
@@WarLasso the game has very refined combat rules and it is a major part of the game. However, when I played it, this was only one facet of it. Our GM was very experienced and was able to help us roll through combat situations very quickly so that we could get back to the meat and potatoes of his stories, which involved so much more than combat. When you play Cyberpunk, as Seth said, it's very detrimental to your play if you only specialize in a couple of skills. If you take a look at the Character Sheet for Cyberpunk 2020, you can see that there are many different skills that relate to every aspect of living in Night City. It's awesome.
@@WarLasso any ttrpg can be combat centric. It really depends on the choices the players make and how the dm decides to react. So having a solo buils for combat and only combat is useful, its not necessary for an investigation. Im also assuming the dm told the group that this was an investigation game before characters were made.
Thanks, Seth, for pointing out Interlock Unlimited - I've been playing and running Cyberpunk for a similar length of time to you, and I wasn't aware of it. And it just so happens I've some Cyberpunk plot lined up for my tuesday group.
Just bought the core book and the Night City add on book. Reading it fills me with joy and Im so excited to run this game for my friends and will take your homerules to heart
I am eagerly awaiting Seth's Red review/overview! I mean, I know the game, I already have my opinions on it, but there's just something about the way Seth's excitement is shown in his videos, I can't wait. Plus, Jack is awesome! I wonder what new look he'll be rocking since the Apartment video!
That was an awesome review. I love the Cyberunk 2020 game, unfortunately I've only been a player in a single campaign, but what a lot of fun.
We had the very problem come up in our group with players that couldn't let the technological differences go. And for those of us in the group that used the "retro-futurist" and "divergent-timeline/technology" arguments, it didn't really settle anything.
One of my fellow players who didn't like the aesthetic jumped all on board with the Interface Zero RPG and ran a short campaign of that for us.
But the arguments ended up swinging the other way amusingly, with all of the members that liked 2020 finding I.Z. setting too slick/futuristic or finding the Savage Worlds system just didn't hold up to Interlock for us :D
This never caused any of those campaigns to stall, we still played the hell out of them. We all love Cyberpunk, but we all have a favoured aesthetic or system to represent it.
Thanks for the heads-up about Interlock Unlimited, I'll have to have look at that sometime.
Cyberpunk 2020 is the RPG that got me into tabletop gaming in the first place; It was the first game I watched sessions of online and the first tabletop RPG I ever played, so(like you) this game has a special place in my heart.
Also, YOU HAVE ALL THE BOOKS INCLUDING THE INTERFACE MAGAZINES!?!?
(Turns chrome with envy)
One of my favourite, kick-ass tabletop RPG games! I ran a six-seven month weekly campaign with it around 1995. I have to finish your video and I'll have more to say in this space.
Thanks again for another awesome video!
Best part of this: No bugs! 🐜🐞🕷
And thankfully no cops that infinitely spawn on top of you!
The grenade damage calculation is bugged and wrestling is too OP.
and no flipping cars !
A: Yeah, you want to play cyberpunk ???
B: 2077 ??
A: no 2020 table top game
B: Left the room
If you want bugs we can make a campaign set around a radioactive infestation bro.
Or a net running campaign, there will be bugs 😎
Seth is half the reason I started looking into running Cy2020.
Nicely done, as always. I love to see someone passionate about a skill-based system. Cyberpunk is one of only a few of the more popular games i never actually played.
Yeah Cyberpunk was what converted me to the cult of Skill-Based systems. We'd played it as a side-game for years but after my frustrations with some of the aspects of D&D and one horrifically bad game, I decided to switch to Cyberpunk being our primary game. I picked up all the books I didn't already have (mostly through eBay lots) and we played CP2020 for several years, spinning it off into other settings with the same system. Eventually we returned to D&D and as much as we'd missed it and as much as we liked the new 5e, we all agreed that we vastly preferred skill-based games. Then Chaosium released the PDFs for 7e Call of Cthulhu, and the rest, as they say, is history.
That mirrors my experiences with BRP almost exactly.
I love your channel! I'm about to be a first time GM running a CP2020 campaign, which is a bit daunting, so I'm glad there's someone making videos about it.
one thing I'm having trouble with is understanding what you do to make critical fumbles less annoying? we're all used to 5E, so I'm worried about them getting frustrated or discouraged by how merciless 2020 can be haha
I just changed the years. My games are set in 2070. Ever since the early 90s my games had mobile phone/computer hybrids that I called "Portable Offices" - because it was pretty obvious that the bricky mobile phones and Apple Newtons were going to eventually a) merge, b) become more powerful and c) be a lot smaller... because who *wouldn't* want to have both a phone and a computer in their pocket at all times? I got the idea right but who knew they'd call 'em "smart phones"?
I'm in the "NPC Netrunner" camp. If the players need anything hacked, they hire a hacker to do it. That way the whole thing devolves down to a phone call and takes very little time out of the action. Also, if there's something a hacker wants but can't reach because it's an isolated system behind some serious locked doors and armed guards, the hacker might decide to hire a bunch of Edgerunners to pop in there with a USB stick to get the data and BOOM! the team has something to do.
This video just showed up through algorithms but is interesting none the less. Was fun looking at the perspective of a seasoned player explaining the legacy of CP77.
Congratulations on the 25,000 Subs
Thanks.
Great review I recently found my Cyberpunk 2013 boxset would love to run it soon
Great stuff Seth. Im def checking this game out
Good advices, I still remember a bunch of freshly created Solos with Combat Sense at 10.
I can't wait to, watch your Cyberpubk red review :)
Very solid video, the anime got me researching both OG and RED cyberpunk TRPG's and they both look good in their own ways.
'golf or hot dog eating contests' xD xD xD i lost it right there hahaha
I actually took alot of inspiration from you mentioning bringing out cards to replace netrunning and it actually became my immediate example for a variant on the rule. The idea being to play a quick game of poker against the security system. The security system would have a set hand dealt to it depending on the level of security. A smaller security system like someone's free VPN would only amount to "two of a kind" hand made from 2 Three of Clubs, while the database of a mid-tier corporation would have like a full house made of three 6s and two kings. Anytime the player wants to access information, download it, erase it, edit it or crash the system, they play against that pre-determined hand in an effort to beat it with a higher hand.
This is amazing, my only issue is now I really miss my own Cyberpunk 2020 rule book had great fun playing this it is amazing
Your video is definitely what I was looking for. I'm interested in the lore and the background of this franchise, the gameplay, how it differs or relates to 2077, and I also love the art, it's very charming. The style and feel of the advanced, yet dated tech is also very appealing to me.
Please do more of these videos. If only to hear more of Jack the NPC's antics. Live on the 'Edge!
Loving this video as I'm about to start GMing a CP2020 game.
Loving your videos.
Great video! 2077 brought me here so I guess things came full circle
Love your comment about TTRPG art, bang on the money!
Ive never played the Cyberpunk RPG, but I’ve always loved the cyberpunk aesthetic, so I’m really looking forward to the video game (which looks amazing BTW!). I can see why people might get hung-up on the outdated tech and themes, but as you said, it’s easy to just envision this as an alternate reality (like Fallout).
Woah, Jack is looking slick!
Just ordered my copy and got the 2019 reprint edition so hooked.
Wake the Fuck up Samurai We got a City to Burn did they fix the art work cause man it was bad last time I looked the weird ass. Barbies killed it for me
@@nuzuk the art is perfect as is
Holy shit, Seth, THANK YOU for addressing that intractable pig-headed mindset that some joykillers get so wrapped up in. Unless it's for some organized play or tournament, everyone needs to have a little flexibility for a good gaming experience. The rules and setting material should service the story, not the other way around. They are important building blocks but not the game, in and of itself.
Yeah, me never found the timeline issue to be worth more than a good chuckle every now and then. I wouldn't have believed people had a real issue with it until I saw multiple posts about it in online forums. What a weird lack of imagination it takes for the tech and timeline to make the entire game unplayable and rage-inducing for someone.
Gm'd my first game of cyberpunk Red last night. It wasn't a long session just making some characters and introducing them to the rolling system. We usually play DnD 5e and Pulp Cthulhu. But I have been planning to take my original pulp Cthulhu campaign and send them on their way through a sort of X-files campaign in the same canon. And end it with a Cyberpunk campaign of battling the mythos in stylized neon horror.
I just wanted to thank you Seth. It was you who got me to buy Call of Cthulhu almost 7 years ago. It has helped me meet and spend time with my mom when otherwise I probably never would have. And it helpdd me foster friendships that I think will last a long time.
I hope that you get to read this and know that you are awesome.
In case anyone's freshly chipped in and looking back at this years-old video, I'd like to add a couple extra recommendations to Seth's book list. Corpbook 1 has all the information you need on Arasaka, the go-to Big Bad of the day, including their ultimate goal, notable NPCs and baked-in plot threads for GMs to use. Similarly, the Pacific Rim sourcebook has the background information on Japan itself, and how it (and Arasaka) got to where they are today. Those two together give you a real personal download on Night City's biggest bogeyman, and if you're fresh off the Edgerunners show it'll really help you understand just what your crew is up against.
On that note, if you want details on Adam Smasher as he was at the time Johnny was still kicking, his statline is in one of the pre-written adventure modules.
Seth as always great work, thank you for introducing me to this, untill the videogame came out i wasn't even aware of Cyberpunk but now i really want to play. Also how can people have a problem with dates? I mean it is a game and what is happening to this world seems awesome and terrifying at the same time people should be able to adjust things to their liking but if people have a serious problem with events and dates on a psy fi world then, in my humble opinion, they have the problem. Personaly i wouldn't mind if a game came out and altered all of human history, and i love history, if the game was good or the changes helped the game then they are good changes. Anyway thank you again for all your work, it means a lot to people to hear someone review a game they know and love and it shows in your video that you know and love the game. Stay awesome!
Love it Seth! Thanks a lot. Currently looking for a group to get into it
I know I might be a bit late to the party but I have an addition to make to your statement about the humanity cost for cyberlimbs that replace previously lost limbs. My group and I are actually reducing humanity cost for a replacement limb by 1d6 however only recently I have stumbled over the fact that trauma team can actually just grow a new arm for you at half the price of a cyberarm. Same thing with eyes or any other non-head part of the body. We stuck with the house ruling of reducing humanity cost for replacement cyberlimbs in the end. I do like however that the decision for replacing a lost limb in Cyberpunk 2020 for the character is "Do I want my arm back OR do I want to turn into a metal machine of utter destruction?". Otherwise great review Seth!
I'm looking forward to a Cyberpunk Red review. If they ever release it.
I think they said it's comming at the end of this summer.
The first of August supposedly. We shall see.
Well the starter set it out, so the main rule book shouldn't be too far behind probably waiting on final approval from CD Projekt Red in Poland.
Its nice that Cyberpunk 2077 is bringing recognition to 2020. I still have my Chromebooks (as well as others, including Cybergeneration)
I have read the CP 2020 book so many times. I JUST NOW as of last week understood what I was reading in the Netrunner rules. Aside from me houseruling that it all happens in real time, I think it would be rather fun to try.
I'm playing this game now and I'm loving it
Excellent video as usual, your insights are more often spot on then not.
I agree with the issues of near future sci fi. Time has become the enemy of a number of great RPGs from the 80's and 90's.
I find the same issue with Traveller, why can you suspend your disbelief for games like CoC and D&D but have trouble when an RPG does line up with the technology of today.
I knew what I came here for and i think I will stick around thank you
The wife fell in love with the brutal aspect of CP at GaryCon so I do have to acquire and run it!
The one thing I really didn't like about running Cyberpunk was the netrunning stuff. It was like the Netrunner regularly went off to play their own little mini-game that the other characters couldn't participate in. I really like the newer iterations of Cyberpunk rpgs that use an augmented reality overlay for hacking and require that the netrunner character be on site with the other characters to do it. Having the netrunner character go off into their own world to do their hacking thing works fine in genre fiction but it doesn't work very well in an rpg where everyone wants to play.
downloading and printing cyberpunk right now!
For a while now, Cyberpunk 2020 has long been my "next system to try out", right next to any of the World of Darkness modules (Which will more than likely end up being Vampire). I like a good cyberpunk story, it's a good place to set an urban adventure and still have the benefits of a fantastical world to explore.
Also, just out of curiosity, have you ever played Apocalypse World and what are your thoughts on it if you have? It's tied with Savage Worlds when it comes to RPG-system I have most experience with outside of D&D and I found it a helluva lot of fun.