Try Before You Buy – Cyberpunk RED Data Pack

The Data Pack is the latest supplement for Cyberpunk RED. It’s a mix of items, most of them aimed at GMs, specifically the battle maps and screamsheets. (For those new to the game, the latter are elaborate adventure seeds and will need much more prep than your usual RPG module.) The final section is an assortment of “Twenty Things in Night City” lists. These can be used by GMs needing details for their adventures or by players wanting inspiration for their PC’s Lifepath – or where to go for a night on the town.

I found the lists the most interesting part of Data Pack. Notably the NPCs. Freelancers introduces you to your fellow Edgerunners, both naughty and nice. I mean “Poking a cyberpsycho might be smarter” and “Synthvelvet over monomolecular.” The “Night City Subway” passengers are mostly for color, but you never can tell who might be your next employer, or nemesis…

A handy list for the in-demand (by their enemies) Edgerunner crew is Safehouses. Many are run by other businesses – from brothel to self storage – or by their underpaid employees. Some are even run by the genre version of humanitarians, like the anti-domestic violence Princesses of Justice posergang, who also take in Edgerunners. But Edgreunners will need to help out with the Princesses’ educational outreach program; that is, “teach some violent spouses/partners a lesson.” And I doubt they mean leading Anger Management Class. Others are just plain oddball, like the defunct animal shelter owned by Bingo, a canine-bodysculpted medtech. I am not sure whether the mentioned kibble and water-hose water are included in the cost or extra. What if you don’t need a safehouse (yet), just a regular home? Some of these venues are also long term housing options, with the equivalent listed so you know what to pay next month. These range from cargo container and cube hotel levels to upscale conapts able to house a four person crew in near-luxury.

So the Data Pack has your housing covered. Where can you pull off your latest gig? The battle maps are great for groups who prefer having everything on the table, and the PDF version can be used in VTTs. Each one is square gridded for CyberpunkRED, and are probably usable with other systems. These are pretty simple locales, such as streets, badlands, and a helipad.

Where can you party and get stuff? In addition to the establishments listed in Safehouses, there are Twenty Hotspots. Some of these have connections to the Freelancers and/or certain roles. Mister K’s Market, in addition to the usual (Mid) Night Market goods, gets its own Twenty list of permanent stalls offering everything from gourmet chocolates and antique silks to high-end animatronic pets and an ethical investment firm.

How about the six screamsheets? First off, my own trigger warning: Some (“Digital Divas Burn It Down,” “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” and “Snuff”) involve suicides or snuff braindances. These are things that I avoid at my table, or will be “Hard No” or “Offstage only” if I am a (potential) player. You and your group may feel differently and that is okay. However, please always be a safe GM and safe group, and talk before (and during) the session/s, and do what needs to be done to ensure the game stays Dark Future but in a fun, not damaging, way for everyone.

Aside from potential triggers, I do think the scenarios, even the ones above, can be good for the right group. “Digital Divas,” for example, is primarily about drawing attention to labels or promoters exploiting artists, and the possibly-triggering minor details can be easily skipped if you won’t use “Reaper.” “Hilaria 2045″ and Thrillkill” are just the thing when people want nothing more complicated than a Friday Night Firefight. “Thrillkill” also brings to mind the real world question, “When does entertainment media go too far?” as the title refers to a contest show where gangs earn points by killing innocent bystanders.

The least potentially violent is “Cargo Race,” a retrieval gig. Parties (yes plural) are offering Big Eddies for the valuable cargo carried by a crashed Delta. Not that it’s a peaceful, non-violent run. How could it be when your crew, Militech, and a Nomad gang are all after the goods and/or the downed Delta-jock? I might actually run this next. It looks fun, I have NPCs that are just right, and the cargo is something different.

I recommend the Data Pack for your Dark Future games. A good deal of the contents are also usable for the earlier editions. The PDF version is just US$8 at Drive Thru RPG. R.Talsorian Games also sells a physical version. At only $20, it’s still at the upper end of the Try Before You Buy cutoff. Even buying both is a bargain in my opinion, if you do a lot of in-person gaming or – like me – do some game prep on work breaks.