Night City - a broken and seething machine from a metropolis, a place full of dust, blood and glowing artifacts under a dark red sky, colored by the glow of a nuclear explosion that destroyed the city.
It is a city of extremes, divided between those who have everything and those who do nothing, but it is also a place of overlap, where meat meets metal, l 'chev la ,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,, isolation binds to bond and those who spend most of their days in cyberspace are present and absent.
On the roof of a five-story apartment building, not far from the heart of the company tower, a curious scene unfolds. Nikki Lovelace, an alcohol-soaked Rockerboy, tries to punch a tall woman over bars, while Montana, a former swagger turned gunman, tries to unleash the cyber arm of Bolt Harrison, a former gunman. Assassin soldier alone, from the roof door that he was suddenly welding to. Meanwhile, an insurrection of soldiers is trying to force the other side.
And it all started with the LaComparacion team, donuts, some pizzas, and a burning desire to learn more about Cyberpunk 2077.
The comparison at the table
We needed a Night City solution
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)
At LaComparacion, we don't tend to cover board games. They are not exactly "technologies" and they really are not within our parameters. However, while we patiently awaited the release of CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077, we came up with an idea. We don't have to wait to jump to Night City. We can do it now, with Cyberpunk Red.
Now for those of you who don't know, Cyberpunk 2077 is based on the paper and role of Cyberpunk: Cyberpunk 2020. By paper and pencil RPG, we mean Dungeons and Dragons, where the game is driven by speech. You create a character using stat sheets that describe their background, abilities, etc. and then describe the actions you want them to do based on what you think they would do.
Meanwhile, a highly stressed Gamemaster (GM) plays the role of storyteller, referee, and organizer (among others). They guide players through the game, define each scene, and make sure everyone doesn't get carried away.
"As we patiently waited for the release of Cyberpunk 2077 from CD Projekt Red, we came up with an idea that we don't have to wait to get into Night City. Do it now, with Cyberpunk Red."
Essentially, all of the actions you want to perform require you to run a number on one of - associated with your own abilities - to do so. So let's say you want to hit someone, success will depend on your level of athleticism and the height of your dice. It's a bit confusing at first...
Cyberpunk 2020, on which the upcoming video game is based, is the second edition of Mike Pondsmith's original Cyberpunk RPG. It was published in 1990. Since then, several new editions of the game have appeared.
The latest new edition of Cyberpunk is Cyberpunk Red. This version was released to coincide with the release of CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077. Cyberpunk - In other words, it's for beginners.
So we thought we could solve our Night City problem by trying Cyberpunk Red and perhaps, in doing so, learn a little more about Cyberpunk 2077.
After attending an hour of play on Cyberpunk 2077 at Gamescom 2019, I realized that we had been successful.
Put on
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)
Let me quickly introduce you to the scenario, because tabletop RPGs burn very slowly. Our group consisted of three players: me (video game writer Vic Hood), rocker Nikki Lovelace, our phone editor James Peckham, as Bolt Harrison, and personal screenwriter Tom Bedford, in Montana, who happened to be the character. fictional. Neither of us had ever played a paper-and-pencil role before.
Meanwhile, our general manager was Henry St Leger (and a regular DnD player). Henry's job was to take us through the wasteful alleys and streets of Night City dressed in neon lights.
However, before we started, we all had to familiarize ourselves with Cyberpunk's past. It means reading the world and following the rules to understand the world we live in. That in itself gave a clearer picture of cyberpunk, it forced us to learn the history of Night City, the technology, the types of characters and even the food we were going to eat. If you want full knowledge and immersion before Cyberpunk 2077, enter the Cyberpunk World Book.
"We were pretending to have fun, but at the same time, we were becoming more and more integrated into the world of Mike Pondsmith, we were connecting more and more with each meeting."
But in fact, we found that playing Cyberpunk Red was enough to automatically remove some aspects of the Cyberpunk world. Once we got over the shame bonds of the real world and sank into our crazy dystopia, everything was back to normal.
We heard about Exotics from Beanie, a curious woman congratulated by our group, whom our group met at the beginning of the game. We discovered the confusing power of megacorporations thanks to our violent fight with Militech (which saw the guy Montana shoot Nikki hitting a woman in the throat). He was pretending to have fun, but at the same time, we were becoming more and more part of Mike Pondsmith's world, we were becoming more and more connected with each meeting.
It only became apparent to me when I went to see Cyberpunk 2077 at Gamescom 2019, about a week after our first dive into Night City. I'd seen Cyberpunk 2077 footage before, but this hour-long presentation seemed more poignant than ever.
The character creator, the skill assignment - these were essentially the stat sheets that we had completed for our own characters a week ago. The terms used by the characters, the atmosphere of the city and the gangs that inhabited it, everything seemed clearer than before. He also testifies that Cyberpunk 2077 has not abandoned its roots.
The master of the game
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)
As a gamer, Cyberpunk Red is pretty simple. You sit and enjoy the ride mainly. The real job of taking over Pondsmith's world to make it happen, returns to Gamemaster (aka Henry).
So after the Red Cyberpunk session, I spoke with our narrative assistant to discuss how I had discovered the experience. As a player, you cannot read certain parts of the rulebook to avoid mistakes.
Henry's views were pretty simple: Cyberpunk Red has a lot of GM notes and guides; while the stats can be intimidating, the mechanics help with tips; the game in PDF format is much easier to navigate than a hardcover book; and Tom Bedford's Montana is a psychopath. To be honest, Montana shot at least three characters during our short film.
"As a former tabletop RPG player, I knew the mechanics and statistics that Gamemasters must handle to handle a game, but Red has a personal flavor that doesn't give the impression of a game." be a copy, "explains Henry.
"Red has its own personal flavor that doesn't give the impression of being a copy."
"I found it to be a bit easier to play and play than other TTRPGs, like Dungeons & Dragons, because the character customization options are much more flexible and only stick when you play." One or two pages per class. Ready-made character concepts can be chosen if you don't want the pressure to do its thing.
"As a game master, the example they gave me inspired everything I needed, from the environment, the NPCs and story topics, even though we naturally ended up modifying the model according to the party we played with (all the journalists with a taste for the sensational) ".
What we say is...
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)
You don't need to play Cyberpunk Red before Cyberpunk 2077, but if you want to immerse yourself in the world before the game's release, we highly recommend it.
With the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit, you can control the game world within your limits, without controversy or live on the developer's specific interpretation. This is the perfect time for those who have been intimidated by tabletop RPGs to finally get started and for veterans to remember why they initially loved them, even if that's fun of a gamer with a joker to send the MJ into collapse. .
The Cyberpunk Red Reset Kit is available and Cyberpunk 2077 will be available on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia on April 16, 2020.
Henry St Leger, James Peckham, and Tom Bedford contributed to this article.