From the Mayor’s Desk 1.15.21
Thanks to everyone out there for helping make Cyberpunk RED the most successful new core rulebook launch R. Talsorian Games has ever experienced! As promised, James Hutt, TRPG designer and the Mayor of Balance Town will be answering the questions you submitted! Let’s hop to it, shall we?
From the Mayor’s Desk
Hello again, choombas! First off, thank you for filling my inbox with your questions on rules clarifications, tech-brew content, and all things Cyberpunk RED. You sent so many questions, in fact, that it is impossible for me to respond to everyone. However, despite receiving more than 100 questions, not a single citizen reached out with for help with their love life in 2045, which I have to admit I was a touch upset by.
(Moving on.)
If your questions didn’t get answered today, have no fear, for I may get around to it next time. In the interim, keep those questions coming, and stick around after the answers for this week’s winner of the Mayor’s Award for Service to Balance Town!
Still have a question? Send in your RED hot burning questions using the following Google Form:
https://forms.gle/7HkSHEAEbovgG8iE6
Your Questions
Tony Drake asks: Why are there no silencers in the game? If Tech could craft one, what would the stats be for it? IRL silencers lose integrity, what would be a suitable “life” for a silencer be.
Thank you for your question. I’m going to make a distinction here between suppressors and silencers. Most weapons in 2045 are considered to be integrally suppressed, which by no means make them silent, but does mean they can be fired without the need for hearing protection. Isn’t it nice that we don’t make you roll Resist Torture/Drugs to avoid the Damaged Ear Critical Injury every time you fire your gun?
As for a Silencer attachment – you are correct, Core RED rules do not include them as of now.
The simple and clean route is to simply say your tech’s silencer makes their weapon as silent as a bow, making it next to impossible to hear beyond a few m/yds. If I were tech brewing this for my own game, I would have it take up a single attachment slot and I wouldn’t degrade the integrity during gameplay, unless it was integral to the concept of the weapon.
There’s also tons of fun to be had here beyond just the simple and clean attachment with regards to silent guns. You could make a Welrod style Exotic Weapon with a degrading integral silencer, for example, or experiment with an air rifle exotic that trades silence for an annoying reload downside. I encourage you to experiment and see what works best for you in your game, and stay tuned to us!
Nicola asks: The areas of effect of many items (like road flares) are indicated just as a 10m x 10m square. Is this supposed to be the radius? the diameter?
It fills an area 10 meters long and 10 meters wide (or 5 squares long by 5 squares wide on a grid map). That’s the same area as an explosion as illustrated on page 174.
Scarlet asks: Are the implanted linear frames affected by EMP devices (such as the Microwaver), and if so, what happens mechanically?
Yes, indeed they are! Mechanically, when your implanted linear frame gets shorted out by an EMP, your BODY and Death Save drop back to what they was without the chrome until the frame is operational again. However, you still keep your HP boost. The reason for this is that part of your skeleton is upgraded by an internal frame, that’s what factors into your HP regardless of if your hydraulic muscles are temporarily disabled.
You aren’t rendered immobile but the GM should feel free to add a penalty to difficult tasks to reflect having to lift up all that extra weight without mechanical assistance.
ISP asks: What does “meat hit” mean in regard to ammunition types?Specifically, Biotoxin (page 345), Poison (page 346), and Sleep (page 346).
Here we use the term Meat to refer to entities that are not entirely inorganic. Entities like drones or full borgs are not considered Meat. When we use the term Meat followed by a specific body part (such as when we say meat eyes with teargas ammunition), the rule is checking if that particular body part is cybernetic or not.
ISP also asks: How does Jacking Out affect your hacking teammates? Or is Netrunning intended to be a solo affair?
Thank you for asking this question. Netrunning can, indeed, be a team activity. An Architecture only resets the moment all Netrunners are jacked out of it. So yes, another Netrunner can hold your place for you. There’s one caveat to this: an enemy Netrunner that already has control of the NET Architecture’s lowest floor might have administrator privileges, which allows the architecture to reset so long as the admin level Netrunner is the only one left in the system.
Nicola asks: According to the rule any cyberware without a foundational component is limited to 7 slots. Are these slots per category (7 for Fashionware, another 7 for Internal Cyberware, etc.) or do you have 7 slots in the entire body that must be divided among the the different categories?
Cyberware slots are separate for all locations. So, you have 7 slots for Fashionware, 7 slots for Internal, and so forth.
Dr. Cheesesteak asks: I am new to TTRPGs (not counting a couple sessions of DnD I played as a kid roughly 25 years ago). Would you recommend Cyberpunk RED to someone who is new to RPGs? And in particular, how new-player-friendly are the Medtech and Lawman Roles, as those are the 2 I am most interested in? Thanks!
Welcome ! I’m a bit biased, but I would recommend Cyberpunk RED to someone new to the hobby. To answer your second question, I would recommend both Roles to a new player, and if you are on the fence about which to pick, I would recommend that you create two separate Characters. I suspect after you’ve rolled Lifepath twice, you’ll have a favorite child.
Max P. asks: Could a Tech modify a very heavy pistol to be in two separate parts, thus requiring an action to assemble, in exchange for allowing the weapon to be concealed?
Yes, indeed they could. That sounds like an excellent Tech invention. Bravo.
Korokage asks: When using the Tech’s Invention Expertise to invent an upgrade, can the invention then be applied to the intended item with Upgrade Expertise, or does the upgrade need to be fabricated first? On a similar note, does a Tech need points in a Maker expertise to use it (for example, inventing an item or upgrade despite having no points in Invention Expertise)?
The invented upgrade can be applied using Upgrade Expertise, and does not need to be Fabricated first. To answer your second question, a Tech does not need a point in a Maker Expertise to use it. However, you need at least one point in Field Expertise to use the jury rigging feature presented at the bottom of page 147.
Nicola asks: Skills like Playing Instrument and Martial Arts includes a line saying that every time you acquired the skill you must allocate the point to one of its specializations. Does this means that the overall Skill Level is fixed and must be split or that each specialization must be improved by itself? E.g. If I have Martial Arts Karate 3 and Martial Arts Judo 3 and decide to increase Judo to 4, do I have to pay for a rank 7 skill (3+3+1) or just 4?
Each Language, Local Expert, Martial Arts, Play Instrument, and Science specialization is purchased as a separate Skill. In the above example, if you had Martial Arts: Karate 3 and Martial Arts: Judo 3, you would pay for a 4th Level of Martial Arts: Judo and not a 7th level of Martial Arts as a whole.
The Mayor’s Award for Service to Balance Town
I’ve just been told the Maelstrom have detonated an explosive in the middle of Pondsmith Street so I need to go, but before thenn, I’d like to present another Mayor’s Award for Service to Balance Town, along my thanks.
JonJontheWise and Cyberpunk Uncensored for excellence in video guides to playing Cyberpunk RED.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTZML8xYXTyuEaCb9ette6Q
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClWubbkZ7eONxjD9f98mGjg
See you next time, choombas!
James Hutt
Mayor of Balance Town
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