History TabletopGame / CyberPunk

The first edition, retroactively titled ''Cyberpunk 2013'', was published in 1988. ''Cyberpunk 2020'' was released in 1990 and gained much more success. The non-canon GaidenGame ''Cybergeneration'', centred around kids with strange superpowers, came out in 1993. ''Cyberpunk V3.0'' was published in 2005 and took the setting into more PostCyberpunk/transhumanist themes, but received [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks heavy criticism]] and has been [[CanonDiscontinuity declared non-canon]]. The most recent edition, ''Cyberpunk Red'', was published in 2020 and seems to have gotten the series back on track with good reception as they continue to release supplemental content in the form of traditional books and once a month free "DLCs" pdfs that add new and reworked content & mechanics for the recent edition.

The first edition, retroactively titled ''Cyberpunk 2013'', was published in 1988. ''Cyberpunk 2020'' was released in 1990 and gained much more success. The non-canon GaidenGame ''Cybergeneration'', centred around kids with strange superpowers, came out in 1993. ''Cyberpunk V3.0'' was published in 2005 and took the setting into more PostCyberpunk/transhumanist themes, but received [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks heavy criticism]] and has been [[CanonDiscontinuity declared non-canon]]. The most recent edition, ''Cyberpunk Red'', was published in 2020 and seems to have gotten the series back on track with good reception.

* LongRunners: ''Cyberpunk'' was first published in 1988, and the most recent edition, ''Cyberpunk Red'', was published in 2020 (and there are still supplements coming out as of 2022).

The first edition, retroactively titled ''Cyberpunk 2013'', was published in 1988. ''Cyberpunk 2020'' was released in 1990 and gained much more success. The non-canon spinoff ''Cybergeneration'', centred around kids with strange superpowers, came out in 1993. ''Cyberpunk V3.0'' was published in 2005 and took the setting into more PostCyberpunk/transhumanist themes, but received [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks heavy criticism]] and has been [[CanonDiscontinuity declared non-canon]]. The most recent edition, ''Cyberpunk Red'', was published in 2020 and seems to have gotten the series back on track with good reception.

->''I'm chppin in..."''

[[caption-width-right:350:The Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future[[note]]Cover of the second edition (''Cyberpunk 2020''[[/note]]]]

Set in [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2013/2020/2027/2032/2045]], the players are mercenaries, criminals, and vagabonds in the cyberpunk street culture of the time. American society has broken down, the government is ineffectual, and anything resembling a good life must be obtained by doing dirty work for one of the [[MegaCorp mega-corps]]that control the world. It's common to modify one's body with cybernetic augmentations, whether it's designer eyes, replacement limbs, or combat-ready military gear, but [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul stacking up too much "cyberware" causes a person to go insane with "cyber-psychosis"]]. The game's lore revolves around the fictional [[MegaCity Night City]] in California, but [=GMs=] are encouraged to [[WriteWhatYouKnow set campaigns in their hometown]] to make the future seem strange yet familiar.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture -- The original tabletop game took place in 2013, the second and most well known version takes place in 2020, which both seemed to be quite far away back in 1988 & 1990 when they were written. To avoid {{zeerust}} with the videogame adaptation that was released in the real world year 2020, things were fast-forwarded the year to [[VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077 2077]]. Alongside the video game adaption, the new tabletop version simply known as ''Cyberpunk RED'' was announced and released, taking place during the period of 2035 to 2049 known in universe as the ''Time of the Red''. Red is meant to give context to 2077 as well as explain developments in the universe and update technology with inventions made in our world between the early 90s and 2020 to not become {{zeerust}} on that front.

* AlternateHistory: Courtesy of a late 80s/early 90s vision of the future. Notable events include the Soviet Union never falling, Japan as a perpetual economic superpower, moon colonies by 1997, and the DividedStatesOfAmerica.

** For anyone who is knowledgeable in regards to Japanese history, then they will see very stark parallels between the Empire of Japan and the Arasaka Corporation. Both were created as a counter to Western aggression; both saw massive industrial and technological growth in a short hundred years; both became a dominate super power in the same regions of the world; and both of them started a war with America who they had little hope of winning against.[[spoiler:Japan was also completely dependent on The Arasaka Corporation for their economic stability. In the third rule set, after The Arasaka Corporation was destroyed, Japan fell into a total recession. Which has basically turned Japan from a relatively prosperous First World country, to a Third World one in less than a year. What makes this worse however, is that Japan has no reliable outside assistance to help rebuild their economy this time. Meaning that Japan was effectively kicked right back into the Dark Ages without any safety net.]]

* IMeantToDoThat: Explicitly mentioned as part of the attitude edgerunners need to have: anyone can walk into a bar with a gun, but a true Cyberpunk needs to walk in with a gun and an attitude that explicitly says "don't fuck with me" to survive. Cool is a stat in this game, and represents how you handle yourself in good ''and'' bad situations.
* JapanTakesOverTheWorld: Played with, surprisingly enough. Many of the megacorporations are wholly or partially owned by the Japanese, but the European Union has become the dominant superpower, with euros in use as the new global currency. Played Straight in Night City as a setting where the Japanese made and controlled Arasaka Corporation's grip on Night City tightens after the 4th Corporate War, until 2077 where they literally have a whole section of the city dedicated to their facilities. Though depending on ending this may begin to shift away from them.

** In the ''Cyberpunk'' rebranding, mini-missile launchers are a ubiquitous heavy weapon of the setting, available both as a regular weapon and as an option for cybernetic limbs.

* PowerSource: The supplement ''Home of the Brave'' mentions how the US Navy counts beside nuclear-powered carriers with four nuclear-powered battleships[[note]]Very likely the four [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa-class_battleship Iowa-class]] battleships, decommissioned in RealLife in TheNineties[[/note]].
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Militech and Arasaka, with the Lazarus Group being a full-fledged private army.

Set in [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2013/2020/2027/2032/2045]], the players are mercenaries, criminals, and vagabonds in the cyberpunk street culture of the time. American society has broken down, the government is ineffectual, and anything resembling a good life must be obtained by doing dirty work for one of the [[MegaCorp mega-corps]]that control the world. It's common to modify one's body with cybernetic augmentations, whether it's designer eyes, replacement limbs, or combat-ready military gear, but [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul stacking up too much "cyberware" causes a person to go insane with "cyber-psychosis"]]. The game's lore revolves around the fictional [[MegaCity Night City]] in California, but [=GMs=] are encouraged to set campaigns in their hometown to make the future seem "strange yet familiar".

* AllHailTheGreatGodMickey: In ''[[CanonDiscontinuity V3.0]]'', one of the Alternate Cultures, or "[=AltCults=]," is the Desnai, a tribe of HumongousMecha pilots who rule "Desnai World."

* AlternateHistory: Courtesy of a late 80s/early 90s vision of the future. Notable events include the Soviet Union never falling, moon colonies by 1997, and the DividedStatesOfAmerica.

* CloudCuckooLander: [[TalkativeLoon Rache Bartmoss]], one of the most brilliant [[TheCracker Netrunners]] of the setting. Also, he's [[BewareTheSillyOnes far less harmless]] harmless than most examples of this trope, if he is to [[UnreliableNarrator be]] [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness believed.]] In ''Cyberpunk Red'' it's revealed he died in a corporate raid but in his [[CrazyPrepared wisdom]], he had set a DeadMansSwitch that triggered the [=DataKash=] virus to be [[TakingYouWithMe unleashed on the whole internet]] two weeks after he died. [[ApocalypseHow It crippled 78.2% of the internet]] as it stood in 2022 and the world in universe never fully recovered as of 2077's opening with the Blackwall representing a barrier from the wider web and local networks in Night City.

** A large chunk of the setting is based around player characters, called Edgerunners, doing jobs for the various corporations that involve sabotage, assassination, or espionage.

** ''Cyberpunk RED'' Built on the concept as its original version could come off as somewhat ableist due to modern understandings of prosthetics and the like. The humanity loss is not just from getting the chrome but when that chrome is meant to go beyond the flesh it's replacing. In a practical sense, this means that you can replace that arm that got shot off last job with a medical-grade cyberarm without any humanity loss, just that it'll function exactly like the flesh-and-blood one some poor sap's probably had to clean up. But if you go installing a concealed weapon into that cyberarm, ''that's'' when the humanity loss kicks in as you're going beyond what a "baseline" human body is capable of. Likewise you could start with medical-grade 'ware to replace limbs your character was born lacking entirely with no cost in humanity or starting cash (all but one of the edgerunners in the Black Dog short story at the end of the RED corebook were born with absent body parts that were replaced with cyberware).

* DividedStatesOfAmerica: The west coast is in a loose federation, the south is a bunch of independent states, and the corporate enclaves are de facto ruled by their corps. During the late 2060s, a puppet US government controlled by Militech attempted to reconquer the old American territory, but failed. The attempt actually helped Night City declare itself fully independent from any outside governance.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Sort of for the megacorps EBM, the most powerful 2020 one, InfoComp and IEC. [[WordOfGod]] states the first tried a coup in the time between both games and what wiped out of the face of Earth as a result while the second one, being dedicated to trafficking with information, was bankrupted by the DataKrash virus and the third one caught in the crossfire of the war between Arasaka and Militech and destroyed.

* EveryoneIsArmed: It's basically required for anyone who wants to survive in the Cyberpunk world. From fixers to solos, gangs to police, adults to teenagers, to even children and the elderly; everyone has something to protect themselves from someone else. The only ones who don't carry around guns are the wealthy elites and celebrities, who hire muscle and gunmen to protect them instead.

* MinMaxing: A common fan criticism is that the game's "Character Role" class system (which gives certain starting skill sets and unique abilities to characters of a certain class) leads to balance issues, the most frequent being that Solos (aka: mercenaries) are the only viable character types for combat situations (thanks to their special ability which gives bonuses to their spot checks and initiative rolls), and that consequently most Solo builds end up looking very similar (high Reflex attributes & combat skills + low social skills + reflex boosting augmentations). As a result, a number of fan-made rule modifications exist that remove the Character Roles entirely and allow players to build characters from scratch, similar to ''Cyberpunk's'' chief rival, ''Shadowrun''. However, the sourcebook explicitly states that an adventure should be less about combat and more about story, and the [[GameMaster Referee]] should make everyone in an adventure feel like they are contributing. That being said, Solos ''are'' intended to be combat masters, likely cyber'd up to the gills with low humanity and a literal hair-trigger temper, so it can be argued that they're actually shoehorned into the role, rather than dominating the gameplay. It's worth noting that Solos are experts at combat and everything to do with fighting- so while they're dangerous in combat, they suck at everything else. This means that while Solos can start and finish fights, they are poor at avoiding them, pushing situations away from combat, and dealing with the (often messy) aftermath.

* {{Utopia}}: New Zealand is the closest to it in the setting especially in contrast with Australia, with corporations --and guns under control, environmental laws, and a welfare state.

''Cyberpunk'' is a tabletop roleplaying game created by Mike Pondsmith and published by Creator/RTalsorianGames, with the first edition releasing in 1988. The game, as the title might indicate, is based heavily upon the work of Creator/WilliamGibson and Creator/BruceSterling, to the point where Gibson is often referred to as "Saint Willie" in the various sourcebooks.

Set in [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2013/2020/2032/2045]], the players are mercenaries, criminals, and vagabonds in the cyberpunk street culture of the period. American society has broken down, the government is ineffectual, and anything resembling a good life must be obtained by doing dirty work for one of the numerous corporations that quietly control the world. It's become trendy to heavily modify one's body with any number of cybernetic augmentations, whether it's designer eyes, replacement limbs, or combat-ready military gear, but stacking up too much "cyberware" causes a person to enter "cyber-psychosis" and go full-tilt insane.

A videogame set in the ''Cyberpunk'' setting was announced by Creator/CDProjektRed, known as ''VideoGame/{{Cyberpunk 2077}}'' and appropriately released in 2020. Later on, a fourth edition for the tabletop with a new system, ''Cyberpunk Red'', was announced. It released digitally on November 14th, 2020 . An anime by Creator/StudioTrigger called ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' in collaboration with CDPR, with Music/AkiraYamaoka as composer was released 2022.

* AfterTheEnd: The Collapse is a localized version of this for the United States, resulting in the deaths of over a hundred million people as well as the disintegration of the United States into feuding city-states. This is brought about by plague, civil war, and the collapse of infrastructure. {{By ''Cyberpunk Red'' and ''Cyberpunk V3'' as the United States has somewhat gotten back on its feet, albeit in a vastly diminished state.

* AlternateHistory: Courtesy of a late 80s/early 90s vision of the future.

** Morgan Blackhand was originally killed in ''Firestorm: Shockwave'', survived in the non-canon ''[[GaidenGame Cybergeneration]]'' set after it, and then survived for real in both ''Cyberpunk Red'' and ''Cyberpunk 2077.'' Johnny Silverhand's death was also changed in ''Cyberpunk 2077'', though this may be UnreliableNarrator.

* {{Zeerust}}: Many of the elements depicted in ''Cyberpunk 2020'' or even ''Cyberpunk 2013'' have yet to become reality, while others aged like milk, for example ''2020'' still has ''fax machines'' as a common form of communication.

Set in [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2013/2020/2045]], the players are mercenaries, criminals, and vagabonds in the cyberpunk street culture of the period. American society has broken down, the government is ineffectual, and anything resembling a good life must be obtained by doing dirty work for one of the numerous corporations that quietly control the world. It's become trendy to heavily modify one's body with any number of cybernetic augmentations, whether it's designer eyes, replacement limbs, or combat-ready military gear, but stacking up too much "cyberware" causes a person to enter "cyber-psychosis" and go full-tilt insane.

A videogame set in the ''Cyberpunk'' setting was announced by Creator/CDProjektRed, known as ''VideoGame/{{Cyberpunk 2077}}'' and appropriately released in 2020. Later on, a fourth edition for the tabletop with a new system, ''Cyberpunk Red'', was announced. It released digitally on November 14th, 2020 . An anime by Creator/StudioTrigger called ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' in collaboration with Creator/CDProjektRed, with Music/AkiraYamaoka as composer premiered on Netflix in 2022.

* AfterTheEnd: The Collapse is a localized version of this for the United States, resulting in the deaths of over a hundred million people as well as the disintegration of the United States into feuding city-states. This is brought about by plague, civil war, and the collapse of infrastructure. {{Deconstructed}} by ''Cyberpunk Red'' and ''Cyberpunk V3'' as the United States eventually gets back on its feet, albeit in a vastly diminished state.

* CloudCuckooLander: [[TalkativeLoon Rache Bartmoss]], one of the most brilliant [[TheCracker Netrunners]] of the setting. Also, he's [[BewareTheSillyOnes far less]] [[AxCrazy harmless]] than most examples of this trope, if he is to [[UnreliableNarrator be]] [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness believed.]] In ''Cyberpunk Red'' it's revealed he died in a corporate raid but in his [[CrazyPrepared wisdom]], he had set a DeadMansSwitch that triggered the [=DataKash=] virus to be [[TakingYouWithMe unleashed on the whole internet]] two weeks after he died. [[ApocalypseHow It crippled 78.2% of the internet]] as it stood in 2022 and the world in universe never fully recovered as of 2077's opening with the Blackwall representing a barrier from the wider web and local networks in Night City.

* DividedStatesOfAmerica: Alaska, Texas, Utah, Nevada and California (which further divided itself into North and South) have seceded and become free states. Additionally, Wyoming is a Socialist republic that pays token service to the Federal government, and Idaho was briefly taken over by neo-Nazis, who have since been deposed. Also, while corporate enclaves are in theory still part of the US, in practice the only government there is the corporation. In 2077 during the late 2060s an attempt at a "unification" effort was made by a puppet version of the US government controlled by Militech via War. The attempt was unsuccessful in it's goal and actually helped Night City declare itself fully independent from any governing body outside of it's city walls. Still, by the time of the Red, most of the United States is reunited albeit in a diminished capacity.

* OneStatToRuleThemAll: Reflex and Empathy. Reflex so that you can shoot first, faster, and more accurately than anyone else, and Empathy because that increases the amount of cyberware you can implant into yourself before going cyberpsycho. Solos have a profession skill which is added on top of reflexes for combat initiative. Combat rounds usually go "solos first, then everyone else".

* PocketRocketLauncher: The game features gyrojet weaponry, and its upgraded variant, ramjet weaponry, which uses a rocket to get the projectile up to speed until the ramjet can take over, increasing its bullet speed and damage. By ''Cybergeneration'' GaidenGame, Gyrojet weapons have become a standard firearm alongside regular lead-spitters (the Hand Wave being that technology has finally advanced enough to iron out the weapon's inherent bugs). Two advantages the weapon has is the capacity to launch a variety of warheads (including of course high explosives) and that they are conventionally set to "[[RoboTeching fire-and-forget]]" mode.

* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Militech and Arasaka, with the Lazarus Group being a fully fledged private army.

* RegionalRedecoration: After the Mideast Meltdown of 1997, most of the region was reduced to radioactive glass-like fields.

** Originally, the destruction of Arasaka Tower by Morgan Blackhand, Militech, and Johnny Silverhand resulted in the destruction of the Arasaka Corporation and the end of the Fourth Corporate War. It also was reasonably well contained. Instead, the ''Cyberpunk Red'' supplements detail it resulted in the death of most of the city as well as Arasaka coming back.
** Morgan Blackhand was originally killed in ''Firestorm: Shockwave'' (despite his explicit survival in ''Cybergeneration'' GaidenGame set after it) but is revealed to have survived in both ''Cyberpunk Red'' and ''Cyberpunk 2077.'' Johnny Silverhand's death was also changed in ''Cyberpunk 2077'', though this may be UnreliableNarrator.

* {{Zeerust}}: As of 2020, many of the elements depicted in ''Cyberpunk 2020'' or even ''Cyberpunk 2013'' still have yet to become reality while others have aged like milk. For this reason, the videogame adaptation had its date pushed towards 2077 and the new tabletop edition set in the period between 2035 & 2049.

* PocketRocketLauncher: The game features gyrojet weaponry, and its upgraded variant, ramjet weaponry, which uses a rocket to get the projectile up to speed until the ramjet can take over, increasing its bullet speed and damage. By ''Cybergeneration,'" Gyrojet weapons have become a standard firearm alongside regular lead-spitters (the Hand Wave being that technology has finally advanced enough to iron out the weapon's inherent bugs). Two advantages the weapon has is the capacity to launch a variety of warheads (including of course high explosives) and that they are conventionally set to "[[RoboTeching fire-and-forget]]" mode.

** Morgan Blackhand was originally killed in ''Firestorm: Shockwave'' but is revealed to have survived in both ''Cyberpunk Red'' and ''Cyberpunk 2077.'' Johnny Silverhand's death was also changed in ''Cyberpunk 2077'', though this may be UnreliableNarrator.

* EveryoneIsArmed: It's basically required for anyone who wants to survive in the Cyberpunk world. From fixers to solos, gangs to police, adults to teenagers, to even the children and the elderly; everyone has something to protect themselves from someone else. The only ones who don't carry around guns are the wealthy elites and celebrities, who hire muscle and gunmen to protect them instead.

* RecursiveAdaptation: There will be an RPG based on ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'', which was based on ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', which was based on ''Cyberpunk''.

** ''Cyberpunk RED'' Built on the concept as its original version could come off as somewhat ablist due to modern understandings of prosthetics and the like. The humanity loss is not just from getting the chrome but when that chrome is meant to go beyond the flesh it's replacing. In a practical sense, this means that you can replace that arm that got shot off last job with a medical-grade cyberarm without any humanity loss, just that it'll function exactly like the flesh-and-blood one some poor sap's probably had to clean up. But if you go installing a concealed weapon into that cyberarm, ''that's'' when the humanity loss kicks in as you're going beyond what a "baseline" human body is capable of. Likewise you could start with medical-grade 'ware to replace limbs your character was born lacking entirely with no cost in humanity or starting cash (all but one of the edgerunners in the Black Dog short story at the end of the RED corebook were born with absent body parts that were replaced with cyberware).
* CyberPunk: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin It's even in the title!]]

* MagneticWeapons: The {{UsefulNotes/ESA}} has a mass driver on the moon which they use to keep the peace.

* ILoveNuclearPower: The supplement ''Home of the Brave'' mentions how the US Navy counts beside nuclear-powered carriers with four nuclear-powered battleships[[note]]Very likely the four [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa-class_battleship Iowa-class]] battleships, decommissioned in RealLife in TheNineties[[/note]].

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: The original setting had USSR surviving up to the game's timeline while China declined into insignificant power just as same as USA before they were treated as AlternateHistory.

* PovertyFood: Kibble. Kibble is a foodstuff that takes its name from having the exact smell, taste and texture of the dog food with the same name even if ''Cyberpunk RED'' suggests it has other tastes. Kibble is nutritionally complete, and it is possible to live on indefintely, but everything about it makes you wish you hadn't. Most people who aren't utterly destitute opt for the more palatable low-end "prepacks". They might consist of a food paste that resembles instant ramen-flavored sealing foam, but at least they aren't kibble.

* CorporateWarfare: A war between two of the biggest companies in the world is a major background event. Earlier on there were others, starting with the one between Petrochem and [=SovOil=].

* DrivenToSuicide: This is the fate of Kei Arasaka after he witnesses the detsruction of Arasaka Tower and realizes that his company is going to bear the majority of the blame for the Fourth Corporate War. He was also encouraged to do this by Spider Murphy who left a not so subtle hint that if he didn't do it, she'd help him along the old fashioned way.

* DividedStatesOfAmerica: Alaska, Texas, Utah, Nevada and California (which further divided itself into North and South) have seceded and become free states. Additionally, Wyoming is a Socialist republic that pays token service to the Federal government, and Idaho was briefly taken over by neo-Nazis, who have since been deposed. Also, while corporate enclaves are in theory still part of the US, in practice the only government there is the corporation. In 2077 during the late 2060s an attempt at a "unification" effort was made by a puppet version of the US government controlled by Militech via War. The attempt was unsuccessful in it's goal and actually helped Night City declare itself fully independent from any governing body outside of it's city walls.

* HistoryRepeats: For anyone who is knowledgeable in regards to Japanese history, then they will see very stark parallels between the Empire of Japan and the Arasaka Corporation. Both were created as a counter to Western aggression; both saw massive industrial and technological growth in a short hundred years; both became a dominate super power in the same regions of the world; and both of them started a war with America who they had little hope of winning against.
** [[spoiler:Japan was also completely dependent on The Arasaka Corporation for their economic stability. In the third rule set, after The Arasaka Corporation was destroyed, Japan fell into a total recession. Which has basically turned Japan from a relatively prosperous First World country, to a Third World one in less than a year. What makes this worse however, is that Japan has no reliable outside assistance to help rebuild their economy this time. Meaning that Japan was effectively kicked right back into the Dark Ages without any safety net.]]

%%* NeuralImplanting

* {{Retcon}}: ''Cyberpunk Red'' removes ''Cyberpunk v3'' and its apocalypse setting in favor creating a prequel setting for ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077''. However, it will reintroduce some of the technology that was previously established in ''Cyberpunk v3'''s rulebook as well as new technology from the real world that's been developed since then such as 3D printed pistols.