The Cyberpunk tabletop RPG has “plenty” more lore and gear from Cyberpunk 2077 on the way
But nothing else from anime Edgerunners in the works, says publisher
While Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red might be done with the video game after last year’s massive expansion Phantom Liberty, the maker of the tabletop RPG that inspired the game still has plans to delve deeper into its lore and world.
Cyberpunk Red is the latest edition of the tabletop RPG created by Mike Pondsmith in the late 1980s, which would later evolve into its seminal nineties edition Cyberpunk 2020 and Red (fittingly released in 2020, after a Jumpstart Kit the previous year), which jumped the setting’s timeline forward to the 2040s.
Cyberpunk 2077, as the name implies, takes place several decades after the newest tabletop RPG, but still shares its continuity, key characters and the central location of Nighty City as a focus. Meanwhile, acclaimed Netflix anime series Cyberpunk Edgerunners takes place between the two - roughly a year before the events of 2077, following a crew of brand new characters.
Cyberpunk Red will delve deeper into the timeline of Edgerunners with its upcoming Mission Kit, a standalone starter set set just after the events of Edgerunners that includes both original characters and expanded lore for the anime’s characters penned by series writer Bartosz Sztybor. Announced almost two years ago around Edgerunners’ premiere, the box set was recently announced by publisher R. Talsorian Games to finally be arriving this June.
The tabletop RPG has touched on elements seen in Cyberpunk 2077 through its various supplements and free DLC releases - such as the Rocklin Augmentics Neuron, 2045’s predecessor to the 2070s-era neuroport seen in the video game and anime, detailed in this year’s All About Agents. The Edgerunners Mission Kit also includes rules for playing Red campaigns in the later period of 2076.
While R. Talsorian revealed plans for a complete 2077 sourcebook for Cyberpunk Red in 2021, with Pondsmith confirming in 2022 that it was still in the works, further details of the more comprehensive adaptation of the world of Cyberpunk 2077 for the tabletop RPG are yet to be announced.
Even so, the tabletop RPG’s creators still plan to explore the era of Cyberpunk 2077 further in Cyberpunk Red, with R. Talsorian’s line manager for Cyberpunk, J Gray, recently confirming to Dicebreaker: “We will be exploring the 2070s era more fully down the road.
“There's still plenty of lore and gear from the video game and comics to share with the world,” Gray added, referencing the comic books released by Dark Horse set against the backdrop of 2077.
As for Edgerunners, Gray said that “nothing for Edgerunners in specific” is currently planned after the release of the anime-inspired Mission Kit this summer.
With Edgerunners confirmed to have no plans for a second season and CD Projekt Red moving on to develop a full-blown sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 after the release of Phantom Liberty, the tabletop RPG’s makers are yet to reveal their own plans for the future of Cyberpunk Red as the series looks to its next chapter.