Cyberpunk Edgerunners’ writer has worked on new lore for anime characters’ appearance in the tabletop RPG
Bartosz Sztybor penned extra backstory for the likes of Lucy and Rebecca, who join original playable characters in the Edgerunners Mission Kit.
Cyberpunk Red’s crossover with animated Netflix series Cyberpunk Edgerunners will expand on the lore of characters seen in the anime, as well as introducing brand new characters to the sci-fi universe. The ties between tabletop RPG and television show will be drawn tighter by the involvement of the anime’s writer and director alongside Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith, Dicebreaker can exclusively reveal.
The Cyberpunk Edgerunners Mission Kit was revealed back in 2022 as a standalone starter set for the latest edition of the TRPG, inspired by the acclaimed Netflix series set in its universe - and the same as that shared by video game Cyberpunk 2077. As well as the basic rules for Cyberpunk Red - built on Pondsmith’s earlier seminal RPG Cyberpunk 2020 - the boxed set will include a set of pregenerated characters to help beginners jump straight into hijinks in Night City.
The seven pregenerated characters will include a crew of Edgerunners who emerge after the ending of the anime series, including new Solo character Hardpoint. The new characters are designed to be player characters with fairly minimal existing backstory, allowing players to either roll a full Lifepath or pick them up and form their story and personality themselves as they play.
The original characters in the mission kit were created by Cyberpunk Red’s senior designer James Hutt, before being visualised with brand new artwork from Edgerunners director Hiroyuki Imaishi.
Meanwhile, the existing characters from Edgerunners will see their lore expanded with biographies in the mission kit, delving into the lives of Lucy, Rebecca and more before the events seen in the series. The backgrounds were written by Edgerunners writer and producer Bartosz Sztybor, while the characters were adapted into stat blocks - allowing them to be used in Cyberpunk Red games - by Cyberpunk Red studio R. Talsorian Games, based directly on their appearance and actions in the anime. (Edit: This article originally stated that Edgerunners creator Rafał Jaki wrote the Mission Kit bios. R. Talsorian has clarified that the anime's writer and producer Bartosz Sztybor was responsible for the expanded backstories. The article has been updated to reflect this.)
With elements of Cyberpunk Red finding their way into Cyberpunk 2077 and Edgerunners - such as the industrial equipment company Zhirafa, which appears in the Dog Town area of 2077 expansion Phantom Liberty - R. Talsorian has also taken inspiration from video game developer CD Projekt Red and the anime series. The neuroport seen in 2077 and Edgerunners’ later era of the 2070s - which serves as a mixture of phone, shard slot and augmented reality display - was traced back to its origins to adapt it for Cyberpunk Red’s time period of 2045. Pondsmith and Red line manager J Gray worked with CD Projekt Red to release a free DLC supplement focused on the predecessor to the neuroport, a cyberware-based phone called the Rocklin Augmentics Neuron, in All About Agents.
The Edgerunners Mission Kit will similarly include details on new cyberware and weapons seen in the anime - such as gorilla arms and mantis blades - adapting 2070s technology for the earlier era. The set will optionally provide the information needed to play in Edgerunners’ later setting of the 2070s, as well as laying out the history in the ensuing decades after 2045, with a new beginner adventure called The Jacket.
As well as being a standalone starter set for Cyberpunk Red, the Edgerunners Mission Kit also functions as a supplement for Cyberpunk Red’s core rulebook, introducing new rules that include mechanics for quickhacking. The rapid version of netrunning is seen in the anime where Lucy quickhacks passengers on the subway to eject their shards. In the RPG, quickhacking can be used to gain access via a neuroport and force an augmented character’s system to glitch for a variety of effects, from being blinded or suffering neural damage to turning their aim on their allies.
The Cyberpunk Edgerunners Mission Kit is due to release for Cyberpunk Red later this year.