Monster Fight Club Launch Combat Zone

 On April 22nd Monster Fight Club launched a Kickstarter to fund a brand new tabletop game based on Cyberpunk Red called Combat Zone. Within 35 minutes they reached their funding goal and have blown way past it in the past week. They've also already unlocked 13 stretch goals which is a huge accomplishment.. At the time of writing they are almost at $152,000.

The base game is gonna set you back about $120 but that box comes with quite a bit of content. Two sets of gangs totaling 12 minis, the rule book, game board, terrain, 8 scenarios, 30 loot cards, double sided tokens, dice and measuring devices. And that's not even including all the stuff that has been unlocked from stretch goals.

So far the campaign is looking really good and we already know Monster Fight Club has been absolutely killing the minis for Cyberpunk Red. This is just another way to enjoy Cyberpunk Red. Be sure to head over to their Kickstarter and check it out because they have a TON of more information over there.

Entromancy: Hacker Battles Headed to Kickstarter

A few weeks ago Nightpath Publishing announced that they would be producing a cyberpunk card game titled, Entromancy: Hacker Battles. They ran a beta test of their game for a couple weeks and now it looks like they are gearing up to make the game available to everyone.

First however they are taking the game to Kickstarter. I'm sue they are doing this to get the cards printed and to also get some artwork made for each card. They haven't released any information about what tiers would be included, but we do know that it will debut on Kickstarter on October 1st. You can get notified when it goes live on Kickstarter right now by clicking here.

Entromancy: Hacker Battles is a cyberpunk fantasy tabletop card game for 2-4 players. In Entromancy: Hacker Battles, you and your friends will take the roles of hackers and engage in fast-paced, strategic card battles to deploy devastating programs and attempt to overcome each other’s security protocols.  
  • Competitive Card Game Mechanics. Draw cards to build and unleash devastating programs upon your opponents while gaining bit points to overcome their security protocols. 
  • Customizable Gameplay. Choose from five distinct specializations and multiple objective cards for a new experience every time you play. 
  • 2-4 Players. Engage in fast-paced card battles with 2-4 players where strategy is paramount to victory. 
  • Custom Decks for Added Depth. Get into the action quickly with pre-made beginner decks or create your own custom decks. 
  • RPG Hacking, Reimagined. Play Entromancy: Hacker Battles as a standalone game or utilize the advanced rule system to integrate hacking into Entromancy: A Cyberpunk Fantasy RPG or your own cyberpunk and urban fantasy roleplaying games.

New Cyberpunk Game: Ghostrunner


Today I was made aware of a brand new Cyberpunk game being developed by One More Level called, Ghostrunner. This was initially brought to my attention by Daniel Deluxe when he announced he would be making the official soundtrack for the game. So at least we know there will be some bad ass music.

The game itself looks pretty promising as well. It features some parkour elements and some brutal combat. We can also expect high mobility, one-hit-one-kill, and bullet-time mechanics. Luckily this game will be coming to XBox, PS4 and PC. We don't have a solid release date except a window of 2020.

Below you can check out the short synopsis as well as the games trailer.
Ascend humanity’s last remaining shelter, a great tower-city. The tower is torn by violence, poverty and chaos. Conquer your enemies, discover the secrets of the superstructure and your own origin and obtain the power to challenge The Keymaster.

Cyberpunk 2077 Card Game is Coming

My first introduction to Cyberpunk was the card game, Net Runner. I have been begging for a new CCG in the Cyberpunk universe and today CMON has announced that they have teamed up with CD Projekt Red to produce Cyberpunk 2077 Afterlife: The Card Game.

In Cyberpunk 2077 – Afterlife: The Card Game, players become Fixers. Fixers are the databrokers and masterminds in Night City who recruit cyberpunks, equip them with gear, and send them out on missions. But nothing’s free in Night City. Players need to balance between what they want and what they can actually afford. Using an innovative drafting mechanic and special dashboard, players must decide which cards they want to buy, and which to sacrifice for funds in order to purchase new ones.

Each successful mission raises the player’s Street Cred, with mission survivors becoming Veterans, imparting their knowledge and experience to newer recruits. In this chrome-infused world, Street Cred is the only currency that truly matters.

So this doesn't appear to be a CCG or LCG but simply a card game. It is designed by Eric M. Lang and no solid release date has been announced but we know it will come out sometime in 2020.


Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit Review

I was fortunate enough to be one of the lucky few that was able to get their hands on a copy of R. Talsorian's Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit before release. I've been pouring over all of the PDFs and I think I am able to give a coherent review of the contents of this kit. I wasn't able to actually get a game in with these rules but I think I can give a educated guess of how things will work.

Included in this set of PDFs is a couple reference sheets, some maps, pregen character sheets, some standees and most importantly, the world and rule book. I'm going to focus on the rule book in this review but I'll also touch on the world book a bit at the end. I'll start by going chapter by chapter.


There isn't much to this chapter at all, at least for returning players from Cyberpunk 2020. It is a really good primer however for people who are new to the Cyberpunk universe. They have also included a page full with street slang, some of which made me chuckle.


Chapter 2 is the meat of the rules for players. It discusses classes, stats, skills and lightly touches on role abilities. A couple changes have happened with stats. Attractiveness has been removed and Reflex has been split to also include Dexterity. In this jumpstart kit they have not included any Medias, Lawmen, or Execs. What are Lawmen and Execs? Well they are the new titles for Cops and Corporates respectively.


This chapter I believe is the shortest of all of them. The only thing this chapter covers are lifepaths. In this there are things for both the player and the GM. If you have played Cyberpunk before this chapter will be very familiar. If you have not this is basically the chapter you can use to flesh out your character. Personally I never use Lifepaths, but for new players this can be an easy way to develop your character and give them a real personality.


This is what you play Cyberpunk for. This is all the cybernetics in the Jumpstart Kit. This is the barebones of what will be available in the full game. You are shown a handful of cybernetics and are given a lot of flavor text about the world. In this kit they do not cover cyberpsychosis but they do mention that it will be fully explored in the core rulebook.


Getting it done. This chapter is entirely about how movement and actions work. They go over Difficulty Values (DV) and how LUCK can help you out in a pinch. Without delving to much into combat, (which comes up shortly) they discuss many of the actions you can take in a combat turn.


This entire section goes over how Netrunning works in the time of the RED. I won't go on any more than I already have in a previous post. You can check that out here. Without getting into details, this new system is fantastic. Netrunners function somewhat like a magic user in D&D and other fantasy games. Your cyberdeck acts as your grimoire except instead of spells you have programs.

Netrunners can no longer just sit at home while the group goes out because the NET has been ravaged and they must physically jack into local networks. They have "meat" actions in the real world and then "net" actions in the net, obviously. Having a Netrunner has become an essential part of a team. If you are going into a raid, would you go in without a healer? I don't think so. The Netrunner functions somewhat like that being able to take over nodes to control turrets, elevators and many other things.


Thursday Night Throwdown. This is what everyone is looking forward to. Combat is always a major part of any RPG and Cyberpunk has always had a great system. Again I have a much more in depth discussion of how the new combat mechanics work, but I will try and touch on it a bit here.

The two major changes to combat in this kit is wound states and limb damage. Rather than having light, serious, critical and mortal wounds that have simplified it. They have also done away with limb damage just to make the system much smoother. Although you can still aim for the head with a penalty to hit.

Something that I didn't see included in this section was cover. In Cyberpunk 2020 you could hide behind cover and it would give you an added Stopping Power (SP). They did however add a pretty cool mechanic called "reputation". You can have a negative or positive reputation which can either get you out of trouble, or land you in deeper trouble than when you began.

So that is the end of the core rulebook. The other important book included is the World Book. This is probably going to be one of the things that people who are looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077 will look forward to the most. This book details the entire world and what has happened to the universe. The World Book helps bridge the gap between 2020 and 2077.

I wish I could give you guys more details but that is something that is under lock and key right now. But I will say that the name RED definitely fits and actually has an in universe meaning. The beauty of this book is all the cool little hooks that it gives GM's to create adventures. Something I shared on twitter was the inclusion of a Biotechnica created Sasquatch! This one paragraph gave me so many ideas for a fun one shot adventure.


So how is the art? I was probably one of the most critical people of the art that we were shown early on. Now art is completely subjective so my opinion on this may differ wildly from yours. I love the old school black and white artwork of 2020. That artwork screams PUNK. It goes against these full color spreads on glossy paper. To me that artwork epitomized Cyberpunk. This new art feels a little corporate but it has definitely grown on me and I completely understand why they have gone this route.

My favorite piece from the Rule Book. Dead Netrunner.

What about the writing? It's Mike Pondsmith. If you love the writing in Cyberpunk 2020 than you will love this. He has a very informal way of writing that is so inviting and begs to be read especially the World Book. He has so many ideas and interesting bits abound.

I do have one issue with this kit. It's probably not a big deal to most people but it wouldn't feel right to me if I didn't mention this. There are several pages from these books that are completely lifted from previous books. Not just Cyberpunk 2020 but also Cyberpunk v. 3.

On the left, Cyberpunk Red. On the right, Cyberpunk 2020.
At first I was a little drawn back about this and unless you are a super fan like me who continuously reads through the books you probably wouldn't even notice. The good thing is that it is just flavor text, and good flavor text at that. If it's not broke, why fix it?

 Something else that I was surprised by was the absence of character creation. But the more I thought about this the more I realized this is truly a Jumpstart Kit. This isn't a basic rules set. Everything here is meant to get you playing one shots and getting a feel of some of the basic mechanics. This is simply meant to be a taste of what is in store for the core rulebook.

My final thoughts are that I absolutely love these rules. They are so streamlined and simple to follow that someone who has never even played a tabletop RPG could dive right in. This is also perfect for someone who is looking for more lore and is simply waiting for Cyberpunk 2077. You could have no interest in actually playing the tabletop game and still really enjoy the World Book (Although I highly suggest you do play, its a lot of fun).

The PDF set will be available on August 1st through DriveThruRPG and the physical version will be on sale at Gen Con. Shortly after you will be able to pick it up from the official R. Talsorian store.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading my stuff here and following me on Twitter. Huge shout out to J Gray, the media ambassador of R. Talsorian. I have been in this business for a long time and J is one of the most responsive and active media people I have dealt with. I also have to give props to JonJonTheWise who I spoke with about the rules and how they would work in an actual game. Obviously I have to thank Mike Pondsmith for creating this Cyberpunk universe because without him we wouldn't have any of this.

Akira Live Action Film on Hold

Today the live action Akira film has hit yet another road bump. Variety reports that the project is being put on hold while director Taika Waititi is directing Thor: Love and Thunder. Waititi is probably best known for his fantastic work on Thor: Ragnarok.

Filming was set to begin later this fall. He had been sitting down with several Japanese actors to cast for the lead but apparently has had no luck so far. Variety believes this may have meant that there were some creative differences as well.

Of course this isn't the first time this film has hit a wall. This project goes back to 2012 seven years ago but was cut back because of budget concerns. Akira was scheduled to open on May 21st, 2021 but that obviously looks like it will not happen.

Hopefully Waititi is able to wrap up filming on Thor and can jump right back into Akira. I'm not sure how I feel about the live action adaptation but I'm definitely willing to give it a shot.

Reality's Edge Coming From Osprey Games

For a few years I played the Warhammer Fantasy tabletop skirmish game. I've always wanted to get back into the hobby but none of the settings have really grabbed me enough to put that amount of money back into the games. Today Osprey Games announced a game that might just draw me back in that takes place in a cyberpunk dystopian future, Reality's Edge.

Reality's Edge will be a 28mm wargame in which you play a Showrunner, a powerful mercenary who leads a team of trusted operatives and disposable freelancers. This will be a campaign game, which means you will save your progress and advancement. Which means you can get better equipment and of course, chrome.


Below is a list of features that the game touted in a recent blog post.
Crew Diversity. Your Showrunner can hire numerous types of operatives, though only two of each, who bring unique skills to the crew. Sprawl ronin are deadly combatants with the ability to react before their opponents can go, while infiltrators stalk the shadows hunting targets of opportunity. Other exciting options include console cowboys, cyborgs, street docs, and more to give your unique crew lots of potential.

Shiny Chrome. A true cyberpunk game, Reality’s Edge features advanced weaponry, drones, robotics, artificial intelligence, and cybernetics. In a world infatuated with technology, there is nothing machines cannot improve. 

Cyberspace. Not just an afterthought or bolted on, Reality’s Edge hacking rules are pivotal to game play. Showrunners are accompanied onto the battlefield by their shadowbacker’s avatar. The avatars hunt virtual space looking for targets while countering your opponent’s avatar. Should they wish, your Showrunner can be accompanied by console cowboys; combat hackers who interface with local technology. Hacking allows you to breach network nodes, break enemy technology, and gain control of drones and robots. With over 20 different hacking apps in the game, your hackers have lots to do.

Dirty Jobs. The Showrunner accepts jobs from nebulous sources and it is entirely possible multiple teams have accepted the same job, which can complicate things. There are 10 scenarios the book, which means plenty of ways to get paid.   Further, before each game, players roll on the Hitch table, representing all the unique challenges of the sprawl.  From chemical pollution blocking line of site, to drug- addicted maniacs rampaging through the local sector. With so many job variables, players never have to play the same game twice.

Dark Agendas. When playing a campaign, your Showrunner is associated with a shadow backer who can provide unique access or other benefits.  You can serve the interests of a corporation, a Gov.Mil  black-ops group, a criminal syndicate, a hacktivist collective, and more.

The Sprawl. Out in the streets your crew is not alone. Independent forces are in play and your team may come up against foes who may not oppose you directly, but are still in your way. Crowds of civilians can impede your crew or provide a nice place to hide from their enemies.  But more dangerous foes include law enforcement, street punks, private security forces, and various other nasties that call the dark alleys of the Sprawl home.

Experience Counts. By playing games and earning experience points, your Showrunner and their few select employees can improve themselves and acquire better equipment.  Be careful though as you let operatives into your inner circle, their fate becomes entwined with yours and expect a bigger cut of the pie. While they will not be as good as your in-house support, freelancers are cheaper and definitely more disposable.
If this sounds like something you are interested in you can pre-order the game right now. As a bonus you won't have to wait too long because the book will be released on August 20th, 2019.