Greetings, choombas! Between now and August 1, we’ll be posting advance info and sneak peeks of the upcoming Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit.

If you’re not in already in the know, the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit will be a boxed set designed as an introduction to the upcoming new edition of our classic tabletop roleplaying game of the Dark Future, Cyberpunk Red. Our Jumpstart Kit follows in the footsteps of other “starter boxes” by providing a group with everything they need to play the game right away, all in a single package: essential and streamlined rules, Cyberpunk-themed dice from Q Workshop, an easy to run adventure, some juicy world lore, and…

Pregenerated Characters

The Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit comes with six almost completed characters (also known as Edgerunners) for gamers to play, right out of the box!

• Forty is a Rocker. Using her guitar and her voice, she sings words of truth, trying to change the world one show at a time.
• As a Fixer, Grease makes deals for a living. That’s especially important in the world of Cyberpunk Red, since it is often Fixers, not your local market, who can get you what you need to survive until tomorrow.
• Our Solo’s name is Mover. His gun is for hire. He might work for a Corp today, a Fixer tomorrow, and the local church the day after. Everyone needs a fighter in the world of Cyberpunk Red.
• Redeye’s a Netrunner and it is a new world for her profession in Cyberpunk Red. She’ll be part of the team, going on site and into danger so she can plug her brain directly into the computers she needs to hack. No more NETsurfing from the couch!
• Nomads have changed in the world of Red, too. They’re the best, and often only, way to get goods and people from one urban center to another. Racer represents her Pack’s interests, even if it means staying in one place for a long period of time. She’s still an expert behind the wheel, though.
• Torch, our Tech, is as important in his own way as any Fixer. Sure, a Fixer can get you a new piece of gear but in the age of Cyberpunk Red, only someone like Torch can keep it working or adapt it to do something it was never intended for.

Don’t like one of the names? Want to change someone’s gender identity or image? Go for it. The names, assigned genders, and images are just starting points. Make these Edgerunners your own. And speaking of making them your own…

Statistics

Notice we said “almost completed” up above? That’s because you will be customizing your Edgerunner to fill in a few blanks. First, you’ll pick a Statistics spread. Statistics are the measurement of your character’s abilities: reflexes, intelligence, and so forth. You’ll decide, either through a random roll or just plain choice, if your Edgerunner will be a little more buff but a little less smart or maybe a not quite as fast but plenty lucky. There are ten Statistics in Cyberpunk Red.

• Intelligence: How smart you are.
• Willpower: Your determination and ability to handle stress.
• Cool: Your ability to impress and influence.
• Empathy: Relating and understanding others.
• Technique: The knack of using tools and technology.
• Reflexes: Response time and hand-eye coordination.
• Luck: How gosh darn lucky you are.
• Body: Toughness and strength.
• Dexterity: Athletics and gymnastic ability.
• Movement: How fast you are.

You’ll also have Hits. We’re keeping health simple in the Jumpstart Kit. You’ll start off with a number of Hits. Take damage and those Hits go down. If they go down far enough, you’ll be Seriously Wounded and start taking penalties to your actions. Drop to zero, and you’ll need to start worrying about if people are going to harvest your organs before your body gets cold.

Lifepath

It isn’t just Statistics you get to customize, though! You’re also going to be determining your character’s background using an abbreviated version of our Lifepath system. In the Jumpstart Kit, you’ll either be rolling or choosing to help determine your character’s background, motivation, goals, friends, enemies, romances, and personality. With Lifepath, you have a chance to make one of the Edgerunners in the Jumpstart Kit your own unique character.

Skills

Each Edgerunner has their own compliment of twelve Skills. Of course, they’ll have Skills that revolve around their Role. For example, the Tech has a Basic Tech Skill and the Rocker has a Performance Skill. But we’ve made sure each Edgerunner also has some good general use Skills. Each has a Skill for most situations, from combat to social interaction. That means if your group doesn’t have a full six players you don’t have to worry about flubbing a mission just because you’re missing an important Skill.

Old hands at Cyberpunk will notice we’re not mentioning Role-specific Special Skills here. Those aren’t included in the Jumpstart Kit in order to make the rules smooth and simple for new players. Don’t worry, though! We aren’t abandoning Special Skills. Those will show up with revisions to make them more useful and interesting in the Cyberpunk Red core rulebook.

Gear

We’ve stuck to the basics with the Jumpstart Kit. Every Edgerunner comes with armor, which is divided into just “head” and “body” in terms of “zones” to help combat move quicker. Every Edgerunner also has in their possession a selection of weapons and a few pieces of important gear. Nothing too complex. When playing right out of the box, no one wants to be bogged down by a page long inventory list.

Cyberware

It wouldn’t be Cyberpunk without cyberware! Each Edgerunner in the Jumpstart Kit comes preinstalled with a selection of cyberware. Their game effects are described in an easy to understand manner right on the character sheet. To give you an idea on the variety: our Tech’s cybereye has a built-in camera while our Nomad’s cybereye has low light vision to eliminate perception penalties in dark spaces and the Solo’s eye has a built-in targeting system to give a bonus to ranged attacks. There’s also cyberweapons, cyberlimbs, interface plugs, and more.

We worked hard on the new Edgerunners in the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit to balance simplicity with depth and “play right out of the box” with “make these characters your own”. We hope, when you see it, you’ll agree.

The Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit debuts at GenCon at the R. Talsorian Booth (1852) on August 1^st and online as a digital download at DriveThruRPG on the same day. We’ll have the physical version in the stores, including our own webstore, as soon as possible after.

Until then, stay safe on the streets.