Cyberpunk Red

We haven’t heard much from Mike and R.Talsorian Games for years – but then they came back with The Witcher RPG. The Witcher is licence of a computer game from CD Project Red – which are programming a R.Talsorian licenced computergame at the moment.

So now Mike annoces Cyberpunk Red, tand the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit, an introductory box set for the game. And it will come soon:

The Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit will be released on August 1st at GenCon. Ideally, it will go on sale at our booth at GenCon and online via DriveThruRPG at the same time. It might also be available via our webstore then but should be available soon after if not. Cyberpunk Red will most likely be available later in the year.

R. Talsorian Homepage

Cyberpunk Red will use the classic Interlock system, but Mike claims that there will be revisions and updates. I’m a bit worried there, because The Witcher is very much a copy of the ageing Interlock we know from Cyberpunk 2020. And Mike allready told us that it will have roles, so not much change there. If they can’t even modify Interlock for a fantasy game, how much will they change for another Cyberpunk game? Probably not much more then a couple of skills. On the other hand: The Witcher’s lead designer was Mikes son, while Reds lead designer is Mike himself. Anyway, the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit will use a reduced version of the same rules. (And I heard that the quickstart rules from The Witcher are quit useable… (I could run a fight in The Witcher mostly from my Cyberpunk 2020 knowledge, because they didn’t even change the modifiers…)

The good part: it will be mostly compatible with Cyberpunk 2020 and be set in the same timeline: R. Talsorian Games and CD Projekt Red have worked together on a common timeline for the original Cyberpunk (Cyberpunk 2013) to Cyberpunk 2020 to Cyberpunk Red to Cyberpunk 2077. Cyberpunk v3 and Cybergeneration on the other hand both officially take place in alternate timelines. They are “what if?” scenarios. The Carbon Plague of Cybergeneration did occur in the 2020/Red/2077 timeline but was quickly contained. Cyberpunk Red takes place between the end of the 4th Corporate War (2022 or so) and 2077, Mike won’t tell us more there… only that it will fill the gaps betwenn 2020 and 2077, so it might be a game to explain how the world of Cyberpunk 2020 changed into the world presented in the video game.

That leaves the question of the artwork. For me, the artwork in Cyberpunk 2020 (I used the 2nd Edition with the Italian artwork) was very very important, very influencial to my playstile and one of the reasons I never liked Shadowrun much… But my trust in R. Talsorian has been shaken by Cyberpunk 3… Mike claims the artwork will up to “industry standards”, which is not much of a claim.

Still, I’m kind of excited… :)

(Source: https://rtalsoriangames.com/2019/05/30/the-cyberpunk-red-faq-as-of-5-30-19/ )

R. Talsorian to work on Cyberpunk 2020 again?

I don’t know much, since I wasn’t at Gencon 2017. But James Gray, who works for Fat Goblin Games, who licence Castle Falkenstein from R.Talsorian, writes:

Cyberpunk Red will be Cyberpunk 2020 1.5. Some small rule changes and an update to the technology so it makes more sense from a modern perspective (your real world cellphone shouldn’t be half the size of the cellphone your character uses in game. They’re hoping to release that within a year. A Cyberpunk 2077 put out to coincide with the video game is possible but there are currently no promises there.

(Source)

I kind of wonder… Will “Cyberpunk Red” just replace the core rulebook? Will all the sourcebooks checked, modified and reprinted (unlikely, I would guess). Will the game be able to have a comeback? In the sense of being a relevant near future game, I mean, not as a retro-future game. Will it even be played again?

And why would they put in the effort? Mike has the licence for the Witcher RPG. That has huge potential, if they are fast enough. The game has been out there quite a while now, and the buzz is fading. Why divert resources? Especially if they could probably reboot the franchise with the Cyberpunk ’77 computergame and have the rulebook on the shelves, when the crpg comes out?