CEMK Edgerunners Handbook

Mission kit
Edgerunner’s handbook
01 view from
You want to be an edgerunner, don’t you? Yeah, I can
see the hunger in your eyes, even with one swollen shut.
I recognize it. After all, I’ve been doing this longer than
the edge almost anyone. While we’re walking, I can give you the lay
of the land. Focus on what I’m saying. It’ll keep you from
passing out.
You’ve heard the stories about the legends. Morgan
Blackhand. “Boa Boa” Weyland. Rogue. The Cyber6. David
Martinez. Edgerunners, all, burning bright and proud, and
you wanna join them. You’ve got big dreams of eddies in
your pockets and megaviolence on the streets.
Well, listen up! If you’re gonna run The Edge, you need
to know the score. Being an edgerunner means more
than packing a Budget Arms Carnage and chatting up
the local fixer. You need to cram some knowledge in your
dome if you want to survive. Only gonks stay ignorant, so
pay attention to what I’m saying. Learn the history, learn
the city, learn the world, learn the players, and maybe,
just maybe, when the shit hits the turbine? You’ll live long
enough to enjoy the eddies you earn from your first gig.
Let’s start with the rules. Memorize them. Live them.
And you’ll always take it to The Edge.
#1 STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE

It doesn’t matter how well you do something, as long as
you look good doing it. If you’re going to blow it, make
sure you look like you planned it that way.
#2 ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
It’s truth. Think dangerous; be dangerous. Think weak;
be weak. Never walk into a room when you can stride
Hey, kid, you alright? in. Never stare at someone unless you can make it your
Someone did a number on you. Come best “killer” look. Use your finest “I’m bad and you’re not”
smile. Don’t sit around waiting for the next job. Get out
on. Let me help you up. Come on. I know
and hit the clubs and hangouts. Make sure you’re there
a ripperdoc nearby who can patch you when the party starts.
up. Name’s Maximum Mike. You’re lucky I
found you. One of the locals would prob- #3 LIVE ON THE EDGE
ably trade you to the scavs for a scopdog The Edge is that nebulous zone where risk-takers and
and a bottle of booze. high-rollers go. On The Edge, you’ll risk your cash, your
rep, even your life on something as vague as a principle
or as solid as a big score. As an edgerunner, you want
Warning: What you’re about to read to be the action, start the rebellion, light the fire. Never
contains spoilers for Cyberpunk: drive slow when you can drive fast. Throw yourself up
Edgerunners, Cyberpunk 2077, and against danger and take it head-on. Never play it too
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. safe. Stay committed to The Edge.
Getting close. Come on, kid, stay awake. Listen to my
voice. I’m not carrying you if you pass out.
PG_2...CP_E_MISSION_KIT.exe
THE ROLES NETRUNNERS

When most people think about edgerunners, they picture Cybernetic hackers, brain-burning chrome crackers,
cybered-up street mercs doing illegal jobs for shadowy and information rebels. Netrunners jack their brains
fixers in the back alleys and combat zones. That’s not directly into networks to manipulate electronics, liberate
all an edgerunner is, though. It’s in the name. Edge. secrets, and quickhack enemy cyberware.
Runner. Someone who runs on the edges of society and
Examples: Kiwi, Lucy, T-Bug
refuses to live by the rules force-fed down their throat
by megacorp marketing. Yeah, those cybered-up street NOMADS
mercs are edgerunners, but so’s the musician on the
The ultimate road warriors and pirates, the nomads left
corner belting out songs about megacorp atrocities
the urban decay of “civilization” decades ago to forge
despite the last beat down she got from the cops. Hell,
their own mobile path through the world. Born behind the
so’s the fix-it guy down the street who mods your ride
wheel, even the worst Nomad driver can usually outper-
with parts no corpo shill ever approved.
form their city counterparts.
When you’re dealing with a fellow edgerunner, it helps
Examples: Nomad Santiago, Panam Palmer, Saul Bright
to know what type they are. We call those Roles.
ROCKERS
FIXERS
There used to be a movement where rockers spoke truth
The deal makers, organizers, and information brokers
to power with words and music. That’s long since dead.
on The Street. The biggest names run small empires
Today, most rockers come complete with minders to
connecting chooms who need something with chooms
ensure their message is megacorp-approved. Only a rare
who can provide it, but most do smaller jobs moving mer-
few dare rebel against the sanitized media to scream
chandise, trading information, and making deals.
their message into the void.
Examples: Faraday, Padre, Wakako
Examples: Johnny Silverhand, Kerry Eurodyne, Lizzy Wizzy
MEDTECHS
SOLOS
Once upon a time, healers were as much artists as they
The classic mavens of megaviolence. They’re the assas-
were scientists. Today? They’re technicians, patching up
sins, bodyguards, killers, and soldiers-for-hire in a
meat and metal alike. Medtechs run the gamut from the
world where everyone’s armed and real skill still wins
sketchy ripperdoc working out of some dirty basement
a firefight.
to the shiny Trauma Team surgeon flying high in the sky.
Examples: David Martinez, Maine, Rebecca
Examples: Doc, Gloria Martinez, Viktor Vektor
TECHS
E2
Techs are the ultimate renegade mechanics and tech
wizards. Every inch of the city is stuffed with circuits
and motors, so society as we know it can’t run without
them. Techs built a world full of glimmering skyscrapers
and flying cars. If need be, they know how to bring it all
crashing down.
Examples: Claire Russell, Judy Álvarez, Pilar
We made it. I’m leaving you here, kid. You can trust
this ripper. He’ll patch you up and help you figure out a
payment plan afterward. I’m also tucking a shard into your
pocket. Something I made a while back for newbs like you.
Call it the Edgerunner’s Handbook. Got a nice ring to it,
right? Good luck, kid. I hope you’re breathing the next time
I see you.
02 A Cyberpunk THE COLLAPSE
history
In the 1990s, the old United States collapsed and dragged
the rest of the world down with it. Environmental ruin,
income disparity, plague, government corruption, and
good old-fashioned greed downshifted the States from
global superpower to hellhole in a matter of years. To
keep order, the government declared martial law but still
lost several states as they declared themselves “free”
and in control of their own destinies. All this while the
megacorps made technological leaps, learned to merge
flesh and metal, mind and machine, and changed humanity
forever.
THE CORPORATE WARS

As countries lost their grip on power, the megacorps
stepped up. They seized the reins and used their influ-
ence to reshape the law to their advantage. Lacking
any real oversight, the megacorps plundered and pil-
laged and, eventually, went to war against each other.
The historians mark four conflicts in the modern era
as “Corporate Wars.” The most devastating, the 4th
Corporate War, began with two smaller corporations
squabbling over the carcass of a third. One corporation
hired Militech, an American-based security megacorp,
to fight for them. The other hired Arasaka, Militech’s
Japanese counterpart. Controlled by uncompromising
CEOs determined to prove their megacorp’s superiority,
in time Arasaka and Militech forgot their clients and went
to war against each other directly. The resulting damage
decimated the world’s supply chain, ruined countless
cities, and released a doomsday virus that destroyed
by Maximum Mike the Net and scrambled information in data banks world-
You’re probably thinking, “Why bother wide. It only ended after a nuclear weapon was detonated
in Night City, and the world’s governments moved in,
learning what happened a hundred years clawing back a bit of power and forcing the megacorps to
ago when I might not even be alive next stand down. The United States nationalized Militech while
week?” Choomba, you learn it because the Japanese government restricted Arasaka, banning
the world’s like a megabuilding; Layers it from operating outside of Japan’s sphere of influence.
built on layers, with the top floors THE TIME OF THE RED
resting on the bottom.
For years after the end of the 4th Corporate War, atmo-
History’s a chain of events, and knowing spheric particles from the nuke, orbital weapon strikes,
what happened in the past will help you massive firestorms, and wartime burning cast an eerie
understand the shit you’ve just stepped red pall over the skies. The color led to the naming of an
era: the Time of the Red (aka the Red Decades), as the
in. Knowledge is a weapon. Without it, world tried to rebuild. It took decades to restructure
your chances for success, and survival, supply lines and return to some sense of normalcy. In
diminish. the United States, President Elizabeth Kress declared
martial law, although the government’s reach didn’t » 1991

extend much farther than the Mississippi. Meanwhile,
Biotechnica develops a new biofuel, CHOOH2 .
Netwatch failed to recover the Net and blocked it off with
the Blackwall, a virtual barrier between the newly estab- Artificial muscle fibers developed in a research center at
lished CitiNets and the now AI-dominated Old Net. As time Stanford, paving the way for more advanced cybernetics.
progressed and the world returned to some sense of
“normal,” Kress stepped down. A new constitution was
» 1993
written and the New United States of America (NUSA) The first nomad packs form: The Aldecaldos, an alliance
was born. Elections were held and the screamsheets of former residents of East Los Angeles, and the Jodes,
promoted them as a “new day for democracy.” Funny, farmers pushed off their land by megacorporations.
though, how the first president of the NUSA, David
Whindam, came from the megacorp ranks and so did the
» 1994
woman who followed behind him. Meet the new boss – The World Stock Market crashes when the United States
same as the old. is caught manipulating European and American stock
markets; a worldwide financial meltdown results from
THE UNIFICATION WAR the news being made public.
Elected in the late 2060s, NUSA president Rosalind Myers
put forward a plan to extend federal rule over the Free
» 1996
States, intending to bring all historical territories of the The Collapse of the United States. Weakened by losses
United States together under a single government. The in the World Stock Crash and overwhelmed by unem-
New United States declared war on the Free States, ployment, plague, homelessness, and corruption, many
fielding a military bolstered by nationalized Militech forces. local governments collapse or go bankrupt. The United
Also known as the Metal Wars, due to the cutting-edge States government, snarled in a staggering deficit
technology used in battle, the conflict escalated until NUSA and the machinations of the Gang of Four, is totally
forces advanced into the outskirts of Night City in 2070. ineffective.
Desperate, local councilperson Lucius Rhyne reached out Hundreds of thousands riot throughout the United
to Arasaka for aid. A day later an Arasaka supercarrier States in protest against a lack of food and housing.
arrived in Coronado Bay, and the NUSA Army withdrew. In Nomad packs spring up on the West Coast and spread
the aftermath, the New United States and the Free States rapidly through the nation.
coalition signed a treaty. The majority of the Free States
agreed to participate in the federal government – while Martial law is declared and the United States
still retaining some degree of autonomy – in exchange for Constitution is suspended.
a halt to hostilities. The Unification War was over. » 1997
For now. “Rockerboy” Manson murdered in England. A legendary
force in the “populist rock” movement, his stage name
DARK FUTURE COUNTDOWN is adopted as the term for any musician or other artist
A Timeline for the Dark Future from 1990 to 2076 who advocates for political change.
» 1990 » 1998
The Gang of Four, a coalition of government agencies led Drought transforms the Midwestern United States into
by the current Vice President, launches a secret ‘coup,’ a dust bowl. The family farm all but disappears.
effectively ending federal democracy in the United
States. Many states begin ignoring federal authority,
» 2000
declaring themselves “Free States.” The Wasting Plague, a disease in which the body is unable
to absorb nutrients, kills millions.
Start of the First Central American Conflict. American
Imperial ambitions, justified as part of the war on commu- Construction on the Crystal Palace, an orbital space
nism, terrorism, and narcotics, kill hundreds of thousands. station, begins.
SEARCHING...EDGERUNNERS_MISSIONKIT...PG_5
SEARCHING...EDGERUNNERS_HANDBOOK...PG_5
» 2001 » 2013
Construction of the WorldSat network establishes the Soulkiller virus developed. Originally designed by pro-
framework for the Net. grammer Altiera Cunningham of ITS as a way to implant
» 2003
recorded personalities into cloned bodies. The transfer
technology is a failure, but Arasaka spies learn of its
Start of the Second Central American War. The United existence and kidnap Cunningham in order to force her
States invades Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. to develop it into a weapon.
The War is a disaster and leaves thousands of American On April 13, 2013, a Johnny Silverhand concert spirals
troops stranded in the region with no way home. into a riot in Night City. The rioters kill 18 and wound 51.
Martial law ends and elections resume, with politics
heavily influenced by the megacorporations.
» 2016
3rd Corporate War begins. Cyberterrorists attack the
» 2004 networks of corporations worldwide, causing billions in
1st Corporate War begins as EBM and Orbital Air losses. The war is fought primarily on the Net. It ends
battle for control of a third, failed corporation. when Asukaga & Finch turns over the corpses of the
Commando raids and cyberspace attacks between two former executives responsible for starting the
the two introduce the world to the age of direct cor- mess to the Los Angeles district attorney’s office.
porate warfare. »
2021
» 2005 Euro Aquacorp CINO attempts to acquire bankrupt
Cybermodem/Cyberdeck invented, allowing the human Aquacorp IHAG. Rival Aquacorp OTEC acts as a “white
brain to navigate the Net directly. knight” to prevent the hostile takeover.
» 2006 » 2022
1st Corporate War ends when Orbital Air comman- Covert operations expand as Arasaka Security and
dos capture EBM CEO Ulf Grunwalder and force the Militech spar to see who will control the outcome of the
European company to surrender. CINO/OTEC War.
» 2007 Rache Bartmoss, arguably the world’s most skilled

netrunner, is reportedly killed in a corporate raid. Two
Researchers in Santa Cruz, California develop brain- weeks later, the dead-man switch for his DataKrash
dance technology, allowing a human experience to be Virus activates.
fully recorded and played back.
4th Corporate War begins in earnest. Covert operations
» 2008 explode into a shooting war as Arasaka and Militech
2nd Corporate War begins. SovOil and Petrochem nego- leave behind the pretext of “defending their clients” and
tiations over newly discovered oil fields in the South move front-line troops into battle.
China Sea collapse, and the two megacorps begin » 2023
blowing the hell out of each other. Even cynical observ-
ers are shocked at the level of violence. On August 20th, 2023, a nuclear device is detonated
during an assault on Arasaka’s Night City headquarters,
» 2010 destroying most of the city center. Over half a million
people are killed. Rumors swirl as to who is responsible,
2nd Corporate War unofficially ends after significant
with various groups pinning the blame on famed rocker
losses for Petrochem. The conflict transforms into a
Johnny Silverhand, ace solo Morgan Blackhand, Militech,
“cold war” that lasts for decades.
the United States Government, or Arasaka itself.
» 2011 United States President Elizabeth Kress nationalizes
Construction on the Crystal Palace is completed. Militech.
» 2023 (continued) » 2053

Beginning of the Time of the Red (aka the Red Decades), The New United States Constitution is ratified. After
named for the red tinge the skies take on for the next over three decades in office, President Elizabeth Kress
several years. steps down and new elections are held.
» 2025 David Whindam, a Biotechnica executive turned political
operative, is elected the first President of the New
End of the 4th Corporate War, according to some schol-
United States of America.
ars. The world’s supply chain infrastructure is severely
impacted and global trading slows to a crawl. »2062
Netwatch declares the Net is officially down thanks to The Caribbean Exodus begins as residents of island
the DataKrash. nations flee rising ocean levels.
» 2030 » 2065
The reconstruction of Night City begins. Rosalind Myers, former CEO of Militech, is elected
the third President of the New United States of
Ziggurat, a new corporation based out of Night City,
America.
builds the first CitiNet. This new network functions on
a smaller, citywide level and supposedly bypasses the » 2067
problems of the Old Net.
An Arasaka bodyguard foils an assassination attempt
» 2035 on the Emperor of Japan, earning the megacorp con-
siderable goodwill among both the government and the
Rebuilding of old factories by corporations and other
public.
groups begins to replace lost technology as nomads
reopen ports, reactivate railways, and facilitate » 2069
regional trade.
The Unification War begins as the NUSA attacks the
» 2040 allied Free States in an effort to “reunify America.”
Construction begins on the first megabuildings in Night »
2070
City, financed partly by corporations looking to house
After the arrival of an Arasaka supercarrier in
their expanding workforce.
Coronado Bay, the Unification War ends with the
» 2044 signing of the Arvin Accord, also known as the Treaty
of Reunification.
Netwatch attempts to clear rogue AI from the Old Net
but fails. Construction of the Blackwall begins as old The Arvin Accord classifies Night City as an interna-
nodes are permanently sealed off. tional Free City, fully independent from any nation or
» 2051 state.
An outbreak of “bird flu” kills 7,000 people in Night City.

» 2072
A second, even more deadly outbreak occurs in 2059. The Voodoo Boys repel an NCPD task force and emerge
In response, the city government works to eradicate all as the defacto authority in western Pacifica.
birds inside the city limits.
» 2076
» 2052 An incident involving Arasaka and Militech forces causes
With the radioactive rubble of the “Hot Zone” caused by damage in the Corporate Center of Night City. Though
the destruction of the Arasaka Towers in 2023 finally the media calls it a terrorist attack by unknown forces,
cleared away, construction begins on a new Corporate rumors circulate suggesting the incident was the last
Center. Megacorps across the city make plans to shift stand of David Martinez, an edgerunner who had quickly
their headquarters to this promised land. risen to prominence in the previous year.
03 DARK FUTURE THE EARLY GENERATIONS
TECHNOLOGY
The path to chipping in started in the 1990s, when uni-
versity researchers developed mind/machine interfaces
and synthetic muscle fibers known as myomar. As is often
the case, militaries pioneered the technology, outfitting
their soldiers with “generation zero” cyberware. Active
military units in South and Central America served as
real-time test subjects, showing megacorp engineers back
home how to improve the technology and make it viable
for the mass market. As a result, commercial cyberware
offerings blew right past a first generation of cyberware
and into a second. While soldiers suffered from after-
effects ranging from discontinued support on their gen
zero chrome to cyberpsychosis, corp-backed celebrities
showed off sleeker gen two models on runways and in
films, creating a whole new cultural zeitgeist and driving
up demand. When Johnny Silverhand mentioned falling for
a woman with Teknics 2350s because her eyes were “like
crystals of lace” in an interview, sales quadrupled.
Cyberware development reached a frenzied peak
during the 4th Corporate War as the megacorps hawked
implants as the answer to every problem. Anything
could be replaced and upgraded, even your entire body
if you had the eddies. Borgs, also known as Full Body
Conversions (FBCs), became the solution for any haz-
ardous labor condition, from walking through fire and
radioactive wastelands to working in the vacuum of
space. Perhaps the greatest example of how ubiquitous
cyberware had become, however, was the cyberpillow:
An inflatable cushion you could install in a cyberarm
Cyberware (by Omni Kismet, Ph. D) for those occasions when you needed to sleep but just
couldn’t find a bed.
These days, almost everyone’s packing
The Time of the Red saw a noticeable decrease in
chrome. Like tattoos and piercings implant production but a rise in cybernetic innovation.
before it, cyberware remains a trendy For a brief, shining moment, the chrome-coated grip of
part of modern culture, and if you aren’t the megacorps over research and development loos-
showing it off, people might consider you ened, and street techs rose to the occasion. As the
to be some Neo-Luddite behind the times. old saying goes, “The Street finds a way.” Of course,
as the megacorps clawed back their power, they either
Cyberware – technological devices squashed, bought, or forcibly appropriated all those
implanted in or on your body – can be innovations, leading to a third generation of cyberware.
purchased almost anywhere. Clinics GEN THREE
offering walk-in surgery can be found in
Gen three cyberware changed the game with the invention
any mall or, if you prefer to keep things of the neuroport. Before gen three, each piece of cyber-
on the down-low, in a back alley ripper- ware operated independently from the others unless a
doc’s shop. specific need existed to link them together. This resulted in
disconnects as, for example, the frame rate of a cybereye
and the reflex processors of a cyberhand sent conflict- These days, you won’t find much cyberware capable
ing signals to the brain, resulting in a general clumsiness of functioning without a neuroport. Even regurgitated
requiring hours of maintenance on both implants. gen two chrome, made as part of cheap product lines by
The neuroport changed everything by upgrading older megacorps or by knock-off companies looking for a quick
neural link technology to create a central operating eddie, is retooled to work with them.
system for all cyberware implanted in the body. This
GEN FOUR AND BEYOND
promoted communication, making upgrades, firmware
updates, and maintenance read-outs quicker and easier. Of course, that’s just the present. Engineers are already
It also allowed for cheaper miniaturized technology as hard at work creating a fourth generation of cyberware.
most cyberware could draw supplementary power from As always, you’ll see bleeding edge chrome like this either
the neuroport’s internal battery, freeing up space for in the hands of the ultra-wealthy who can afford it or the
other components. piss-poor who end up being used as test subjects. Either
way, watch out. More than a few early adopters have
The neuroport began as an idea proposed by Jacinda
ended up full of holes, thanks to MaxTac. In other words,
Hidalgo, the CEO of an American cybernetics corporation
it might be best to stick with what’s tried and true if you
known as Rocklin Augmentics. Obsessed with transhu-
want to live to see another sunrise.
manism, Hidalgo directed her engineers and designers to
push the boundaries of human existence. Her obsession TYPES OF CYBERWARE
with creating a gestalt human being – multiple bodies
with one consciousness – proved untenable without a Like most of the population, you’re probably already
central control system. The result was the neuroport, an chipped in, but if you’re going to succeed as an edgerun-
idea soon copied by larger and more affluent megacorps. ner, you’ll need to optimize the chrome you slot into your
body.
The neuroport proved so useful it became a key part
of everyday life as the vast majority of people implanted » Neuralware
one. The benefits extended beyond the utility of a central You’ve got some of this already. Your neuroport, installed
cybernetic control system. The neuroport hooked into the
in your brain when you were a kid, is the foundational
body’s nervous system, the brain, and the optic nerve,
element of today’s neuralware. Neuralware connects
allowing for various upgrades and uses. Megacorps com-
directly with your brain and nervous system to enhance
peted with each other to offer the best option packages
them.
at the cheapest prices. Today, it has become standard
for neuroports to come equipped with shard slots, optic Your neuroport is an all-in-one tool. Unless you’ve got
and brain-connected holophones and heads-up displays a really cheap model, chances are it can do at least the
(HUDs), and interface plugs (aka “personals”). following.
E5
• Connect to your optic nerve and auditory processing your senses of taste and smell. And if you need to know
centers, letting you see and hear information trans- something you forgot (or never learned)? Just plug in a
mitted by your holophone, slotted shards, and other skill shard and you’re an expert.
cyberware.
Side note: Your eyes shine with specific colors when
• Grant access to a built-in holophone, letting you make you’re distracted while using a function of your neu-
calls with just your brain. The “just your brain” part is roport to let other people know you’re busy. Blue for
important. With some practice, you can communicate transferring data or money or when you’re accessing
with others via your holophone without speaking out a computer system. Gold when you’re on a phone call.
loud. However, chances are the person on the other
end will hear artifacting (repeated words, unusual » Fashionware
word placement) because thoughts are messier than Fashionware is precisely what it sounds like – cyberware
speech. Your holophone can also be used for limited you install to look good. The most common kind is EMP
CitiNet searches, simple photography, basic task Threading (those metal lines you see built into everyone’s
management and scheduling, and text messaging faces). Once upon a time, people actually thought EMP
• Project a customizable HUD over your field of view. Threading protected a body from electromagnetic radi-
The HUD interfaces with loaded databases to label ation but all they do is make you look good. You can also
important objects and people, push status updates, change up your look with programmable hair, custom eye
keep track of consumables like ammunition and color and designs, and pattern and hue changes dyed into
drugs, show you the time, and even provide subtitles your skin. If you want to go big, get a light tattoo – nothing
for vids and text translations for other languages. says fashion like being your own neon sign.
• With the addition of a biomonitor, it can monitor your »
Cyberoptics
health and feeds the information to you as needed. If
Sure, your neuroport projects information directly into
you’re a Trauma Team member, your neuroport will
your eyeballs, but why not go a step further and implant
even contact them in an emergency.
cybernetic optics instead? Once you’ve scooped out your
• Interface with computer systems, some wirelessly, ‘ganic eyes and slotted in some chrome ones, the possi-
some through your personal link: The interface plug bilities are endless: telescopic vision, microscopic vision,
you yank out of your wrist and connect to devices. image enhancement. The list goes on. Hell, you want to
Ignore doomsayers who talk about how neuroports put a hidden dart gun in your eye? There’s cyberware
leave you vulnerable to malicious netrunners. The for that!
manufacturers build security into every model.
Besides, according to the NCPD, random quickhack »
Cyberaudio
attacks were down by a whole five percent last year. Just like your eyes can be replaced, your auditory system
• Plug in shards. Most neuroports contain two slots, can be, too. Ever wanted to hear a conversation from
allowing you to insert both enhancement shards and across the room clear as day? Or run voice stress
data shards. Your neuroport can even dip you into analysis to see if someone’s lying? Or be able to follow a
virtu by overriding your senses so you can expe- homing beacon from across the city? That’s all possible
rience a presentation, a short interaction, or even with a cyberaudio system.
some games fully in your mind. »
Cyberlimbs
• Monitor, regulate, and provide processing power for Are you thinking you’ll implant a set of cyberarms and
the rest of your cyberware. instantly get super strength? Cyberlegs for super speed?
You can build on your neuroport, adding other neu- Sorry, but it doesn’t work like that. Sure, cyberarms and
ralware. Netrunners love plugging their cyberdecks legs provide advantages but by themselves, they don’t
directly into their brains. Solos boost their reaction make up for the rest of your organic body’s inherent lim-
time with speedware like a Kerenzikov or Sandevistan. itations. Try to lift a motorcycle with just a pair of cyber-
There’s neuralware for every occasion. Want to be the arms and those arms might not break, but your spine
next big detective? Plug in some neuralware to enhance probably will. Hope you enjoy your time in traction!
Of course, you can cheat with the right enhance- thanks to an enhanced skeleton and support structure
ments. Gorilla Arms apply force multipliers, letting you known as a linear frame. The bartender pouring drinks
push, pull, pry, and punch like someone twice your size. using four arms has an artificial shoulder mount. After
Jumpboosters propel you through the air farther than plain old cyberware, borgware’s the next step on the
any old-school Olympic athlete could dream of. Hell, why journey to abandoning the biological altogether. It isn’t
not just go straight for the weapons: mantis blades, the last step, though.
monowires, and projectile launch systems? With the right
cyberweapon loaded, you can slice, dice, or explode any
» Full Body Conversion
obstacle in your path. If you want to embrace the chrome revolution and leave the
» Internal and External Cyberware meat behind for good, the only choice is to go full borg. A Full
Body Conversion (FBC) is just what it sounds like. A team of
These are catch-all terms for various chrome you slot surgeons scoops out your brain and a few other choice bits,
inside or attach to the outside of your body. There’s a then implants it all into a body composed entirely of cyber-
wide range of possibilities here. AudioVoxes make your ware. Cybernetic skeleton. Cybernetic muscles. Cybernetic
voice as smooth as cream. Grafted muscle and bone organs. Cybernetic everything. Borgs push everything to
lacing enhances your strength and stamina. Gills let you the limit. They don’t need to eat, drink, or even breathe. They
breathe underwater. Subdermal armor protects you can’t get sick or be poisoned (except in some rare cases
even when you’re in the shower. You’re smart. You get the involving their brains), and while they need to sleep to rest
idea. If you want it, chances are a megacorp’s offering their gray matter, their bodies never physically tire. Even
it for sale. better, they can switch bodies. One body for fighting, one
» Borgware for partying. Sound good? Wondering why we aren’t all living
inside robot bodies? That’s because of the downsides. Going
Here’s the big one: Borgware. This shit pushes you way borg is expensive, and it isn’t cheap to maintain, either. Plus,
beyond the human baseline. You know how Maelstrom borgs risk falling into cyberpsychosis faster and harder
members all have a half-dozen eyes each? That’s a piece than anyone else. Just existing puts you on the MaxTac
of borgware known as a multioptic mount. Ever see watchlist. No wonder they’re still rare, even decades after
someone so huge they can’t fit through the door? That’s the technology was first invented.
E6
CYBERPSYCHOSIS someone mentions cyberpsychosis isn’t that the world

Let’s chat about the elephant drone in the room: is full of chromed-up monsters slicing and shooting
Cyberpsychosis. Chances are, if you somehow made it their way through crowds but because the few times a
through school, you saw one of those educational vids. rampage does happen, it makes the news nice and loud.
You know the ones. “Too much chrome drives you crazy. MaxTac likes it that way. How else can it convince the city
Be careful!” to buy it some shiny new toys?
The truth is, we’re no closer to understanding cyberpsy- While we still don’t fully understand the phenomenon,
chosis now than we were when soldiers began displaying there are treatment options to help those at risk and
symptoms during the first Central American Conflict. prevent a slide into full-blown cyberpsychosis. Therapy
Officially, cyberpsychosis doesn’t exist but the word is via drugs, braindance, and good old-fashioned talking
used by the public as a blanket term for several different can draw someone back from the edge. So can making
dissociative disorders seemingly connected to the use and connections with others, being part of supportive social
abuse of cybernetics. Dissociation, in case you didn’t know, groups, and taking time to relax and unwind. If you’re
is a mental process of disconnecting from one’s thoughts, really having trouble, chemical solutions exist. Most
feelings, memories, or sense of identity. people know them as immunoblockers because they’re
shorthanded as such by the medtechs selling them.
Let’s be clear. What little we know about cyberpsycho-
These go beyond suppressing the body’s immune system
sis indicates it doesn’t happen because someone lost an
in order to prevent implant rejection, though. The good
arm and got a simple replacement. Instead, it seems to
stuff contains a cocktail of chems, including anti-depres-
require voluntarily pushing far past the human baseline.
sants and anti-psychotics.
See, an arm mimicking human function isn’t a big deal, but
an arm capable of punching a mantis blade through solid If you’re worried about going cyberpsycho and decide
steel? That is. Especially when you cut off your old arm immunoblockers are the solution, make sure you can
voluntarily to install the new one. The story’s been told trust your source. It isn’t uncommon for unscrupulous
in countless movies. When you begin seeing your body as ripperdocs to sell cheap, synthetic opioids instead of the
nothing but a collection of easily replaceable parts, you real thing. The high will trick you into thinking the drug
begin seeing other people’s bodies as nothing but a col- works but, in the end, all it does is make you an addict,
lection of easily replaceable parts… and if that’s the case, jonesing for your next fix.
what does it matter if you slice them into pieces? That’s
when someone goes over the edge, starts rampaging THE NET (BY OMNI KISMET, PH. D)
in the streets, and MaxTac comes in to put them down. It started innocently enough, with people connecting
Only, the reality of cyberpsychosis isn’t so simple. computers and telecommunication devices across
Plenty of people are jammed full of cyberware and never the globe. Then some brilliant minds figured out how
go over the edge. Others suffer a cyberpsychotic break to jack their brains directly into the Net, and every-
after implanting just a few pieces of chrome. Recent thing changed. A whole new subculture of netrunners
theories suggest the need for other factors, whether emerged to explore this strange new virtual world but
biological, neurological, or environmental, to cross the soon encountered a problem: None of it was standard-
line. Getting some nova new chrome might not do it, but ized. What worked in one part of the Net wouldn’t work
being coerced into implanting poorly-fitted and painful in another. One person might view virtual reality as a
cyberware by your unfeeling boss, who then deducts the dungeon, while another would experience it as a 1920s
costs from your meager paycheck just might. prohibition city. The differences in protocols caused
glitches and threatened to destabilize everything.
Plenty of people suffer from the various dissociative
disorders covered by the blanket term ”cyberpsycho- The problem was solved in 2014 when Nobuhiko
sis” and don’t go on killing sprees. They might display Ihara and Janice A. Grubb released the Ihara-Grubb
various symptoms, ranging from a lack of empathy to Transformation Algorithms (IGTA). Acting like the world’s
poor impulse control, but they go about their day and do most complex and benevolent virus, the IGTA “infected”
their thing without bothering anyone. The real reason every portion of the Net and everything connected to
why we think of the streets running red with blood when it, stabilizing and standardizing it all. If a netrunner in
Night City traveled virtually through the Net to Tokyo, hell. The DataKrash was released. Maybe Bartmoss
they knew their software would work, and their percep- intended it to infect only megacorp systems, but his
tions of the digital reality would match what their local virus worked too well. It infected almost everything.
contemporaries experienced. Everything was great! Worse, it also released Roving Autonomous Bartmoss
Interface Drones (R.A.B.I.D.s) into the Net. With person-
Except it wasn’t. In the shadows lurked Rache Bartmoss.
alities modeled after Bartmoss himself, these guardians
The most brilliant netrunner of them all, Bartmoss ate,
of the DataKrash proved extremely unstable. Traveling
slept, breathed, and lived the old-school hacker philos-
through the Net became something akin to swimming
ophy: Information wanted to be free. Oppression should
through piranha-infested waters. To protect the world,
be fought at every turn. No one should control the digital
the organization responsible for monitoring the Net and
frontier. Rache knew the megacorps would move in and
keeping it safe from threats, Netwatch, was forced to
try to dominate this brave, new world. So, he snuck in and
shut down every possible access point they could find
planted a failsafe inside the IGTA – the DataKrash.
while they tried to clean out the infestation.
The concept was simple. If Rache didn’t check in with
Why not just power down the entire thing, you ask? Good
the correct codes every so often, the DataKrash would
question. Many servers were shut down or destroyed, but
seek out Corporate information and begin meddling.
others remained online, quietly humming away out of sight
You know how all data is made up of 1s and 0s? The
in cities abandoned by war and plague. Maybe Netwatch
DataKrash swapped those 1s and 0s between files. Think
thought it could salvage the Old Net for the good of human-
about it. What happens when parts of Militech’s troop
ity. Maybe they didn’t want to lose so much valuable data.
deployment schedule are swapped with lines from some
Or maybe, the AIs living in the Old Net made a deal: Spare
granny’s cookie recipe? Or when even a single line of a
our home, and we’ll help you. We may never know why since
nuclear reactor’s carbon rod control codes is swapped
neither Netwatch nor the AIs are talking.
with a few words of digital poetry?
Whatever the case, for most of the world, the Old
Rache Bartmoss held the end of the world in his hands,
Net was dead. Following the DataKrash, something new
and no one knew. So, when Arasaka – or Militech or some
was needed. In Night City, a new corporation, Ziggurat,
random edgerunners, no one knows for sure – killed
stepped in. They created the first CitiNet: A small-
him during the 4th Corporate War, everything went to
er-scale, more limited version of the Old Net built on
E7 the backbone of the old public dataterm connections.
It didn’t take long for the concept to spread to other
cities across the globe. These new CitiNets were local-
ized, with each city possessing its own. Communication
between them was limited to quick data bursts, and
everything was carefully regulated by Netwatch.
Netwatch also monitored the development of Artificial
Intelligence to ensure nothing like the DataKrash ever
happened again.
Eventually, Netwatch gave up on reclaiming the Old
Net and launched the Blackwall – a complex and pro-
tective firewall separating the Old Net from the new
CitiNets. It turns out the CitiNets weren’t quite as iso-
lated from the Old Net as Ziggurat promised. Points of
connection existed, allowing AIs to interact with our
world and vice versa.
Whether the connections were intentional or not
isn’t known, and the truth may never come out. In the
2050s, Netwatch shut down Ziggurat, took control of the
CitiNets, and classified all of the corporation’s files.
The average person has grown used to the more AVS (AERODYNES)
limited CitiNets, accessing them through holophones and Take a ground vehicle. Stick on some jet engines. Now you’ve
dataterms to communicate and share information. The got an AV, known to engineers as an aerodyne. Yeah, there’s
Old Net, however, remains a dream for many. Megacorps more to it physics-wise, but that’s the core concept. AVs
seek ways past the Blackwall, hoping to recover lost are basically flying cars (or vans or trucks). Easier to
technologies and projects. Netrunners use the Blackwall control than commercial aircraft, they make for excellent
as a tool, sliding along it to “deep dive” from one point of urban transport if you’re rich enough to afford a ride.
a CitiNet to another without leaving their homes.
Mind you, what they’re doing is incredibly dangerous. BRAINDANCE
One wrong move, and they won’t be surfing along the I probably don’t need to tell you what a braindance (BD)
Blackwall. They’ll be yanked inside, where their brains is. Someone with the correct chrome records an expe-
will get eaten alive. As for the AIs on the other side? Who rience, someone else edits it, and then you plug it into
knows what their goals are. They don’t think like us. They your wreath to live it out. This isn’t some vid, either. You
don’t perceive the world as we do. And we can’t know for feel everything the person recording felt. If they orgasm,
sure if the Blackwall truly keeps them at bay. Think about you feel the rush of pleasure and joy. If they get shot, you
it. How could Netwatch have built the Blackwall so quickly feel the pain and the fear. Want to know what an actual
without their cooperation? Maybe, just maybe, the AIs cut-out-of-a-cow steak tastes like? Braindance might be
want the Blackwall in place. the only way you’ll ever get the chance.
Maybe they have plans of their own. Of course, braindance has a dark side, too. Commercial BDs
can feel too safe. Too secure. Deep down, you know you’re not
OTHER TECHNOLOGY (BY MAXIMUM MIKE)Mike experiencing reality. That’s because BD editors insert limiters
They say you’re only as good as your gear. If that’s true, to prevent your brain from engaging fully with the content as
it’s best you know some of the other tech out there. It if it were real. Take those limiters off, and your body reacts
might just save your life! even more intensely to the highs and lows.
E8
If you go to the right parts of Night City, you can buy » Firearms
XBDs, illegal, black-market braindances with the limiters
Since the 4th Corporate War, revolutions in weaponry
turned down or even off. Experiencing one of those is a
have accelerated gun technology. Today, we classify most
high so intense it can’t be described. Just be careful.
firearms in one of three ways.
XBDs are often poorly tuned. More than one choom has
been left a drooling mess because a bad XBD fried their Power Weapons: The least advanced, technologically, but
synapses. reinforced to handle the increased firepower of modern
munitions. Power Weapons do more damage than other
Braindances can be used for therapeutic purposes and
firearms of a similar type, and skilled shooters can
in the treatment of mental illnesses. They’re also used to
perform trick shots by ricocheting bullets off walls and
pacify, brainwash, and even torture people – a common
other surfaces.
sight in some prisons.
Examples: Arasaka HJSH-18 Masamune,
CHOOH2 Budget Arms Carnage, Militech Crusher
The most common form of fuel in the world is CHOOH , 2
Smart Weapons: An extension of the smartgun designs
a biofuel developed by Biotechnica using a genetically
of the 2020s, Smart Weapons sync with your neuroport
modified form of wheat, Triticum Vulgaris Megasauvis.
via your personal or a subdermal grip to provide tar-
Biotechnica then licensed the technology out to other
geting assistance. Smart ammunition will even track an
companies for manufacturing – specifically Petrochem
enemy using gyrojet technology, swerving mid-flight if it
and SovOil. It says something about our society that
calculates the bullet will miss. As you can imagine, this
more of the world’s remaining farmland is dedicated to
makes hiding in smoke, mist, and even darkness a thing
growing CHOOH2 wheat than it is to edible food crops.
of the past.
WEAPONS Examples: Arasaka HJKE-11 Yukimura,
If you’re going to run The Edge, you’ll require a weapon. Arasaka TKI-20 Shingen, Kang Tao L-69 Zhuo
Even if you don’t do wetwork, you’ll eventually need to Tech Weapons: These powerful weapons incorporate
defend yourself from some gonk who thinks they deserve railgun technology to magnetically propel projectiles
to take what you’ve already rightfully stolen. toward their destination. Their rate of fire is slow
E9 compared to other weapon types, but the extra oomph
provided by the electromagnetic propulsion allows Tech
Weapons to fire through walls and cover. Most Tech
Weapons come with built-in sights that transmit faint
outlines of targets obscured by thin obstacles to a user’s
neuroport.
Examples: Militech M-76e Omaha, Rostović DB-2
Satara Shotgun, Tsunami Arms Nekomata
» Melee Weapons
Plenty of gonks arm themselves with the old favorites:
ordinary blades and blunt trauma weapons. After all,
they’re cheap, easy to use, and always available. The
truly enlightened edgerunner knows the real action’s in
monoweapons. The edges of monoblades and wires are
a single molecule thick and combine with rapid vibrations
to slice the enemies into ribbons.
04 Night NIGHT FALLS ON CORONADO CITY
City
Coronado City was a miraculous feat of engineering,
as the surrounding hills were leveled and used as fill by
dumping the reclaimed earth into the bay to create a new
landmass. The harbor was dredged to make it capable
of porting the large ships needed to carry goods to and
from the city. Taking inspiration from the theme parks
of the past, Night planned every section of his city as a
neighborhood, each with a different architectural style
and ambiance.
Then, like so many visionary plans, it all went wrong.
At first, Night proved effective at keeping crime fam-
ily-controlled construction companies out of his rapidly
rising city, but his luck ran out on September 20, 1998,
when he was shot and killed in his penthouse suite.
Night’s murderer was never caught. In his memory,
Coronado City was renamed Night City, and without his
guiding hand, the criminals moved in.
THE MOB WARS

For the next decade, criminal organizations effectively
ruled Night City. In the beginning, they were smart
enough to leave the megacorps alone, and in return the
megacorps didn’t interfere with criminal activity. Night
City decayed into a war zone, with new gangs rising
to carve out turf and cybernetic terrorism running
rampant on the streets. Ultimately, the mob got greedy
and started muscling in on megacorp territory. Hit in
their wallet, the megacorps had no choice but to retal-
iate. By 2011, corp-funded troops had destroyed the
by Professor Rip R. Jackson criminal underground’s power base in Night City. The
megacorps placed a puppet mayor in control and the city
The story of Night City begins with
entered a golden age, where crime seemed to vanish and
Richard Night, a man with a dream. the Corporate Center gleamed. Or so the official cor-
Concerned with the violence and dis- po-backed histories want you to believe.
ruption plaguing the United States, Night
planned a new city – engineered to be THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY
self-sufficient, defensible, and a shining With a firm grip on the city, the megacorporations ensured
any law passed benefited them. Money for municipal proj-
beacon of enlightened capitalism. He
ects overwhelmingly flowed to districts already flush with
took advantage of a massacre in Morro cash while the poorer neighborhoods deteriorated, and
Bay, California, to buy up land on the each day, the borders of the combat zone expanded by
cheap. Then he lured in megacorpora- inches. Gangs, no longer kept in check by larger criminal
tions like Petrochem, Asukaga & Finch, organizations, acted with impunity. The megacorps didn’t
and Arasaka to help clean up and finance care so long as the gangs weren’t impacting their profit
margins. If you had money, you lived in relative safety.
the building of what he called Coronado
If you didn’t, you rolled the dice every time you left your
City. home. Assuming you had a home to begin with.
Besides the rich, another class of people benefited proved vital in the initial reconstruction effort. In time,
during the first few decades of the 21st century: the megacorporations began to recover and contribute
edgerunners. While the megacorps cooperated publicly as well. By 2045, large swaths of Night City were either
for “the good of Night City,” they plotted and schemed mostly recovered or in the process of rebuilding, with
against each other below the surface. Hiring edgerun- huge megabuildings rising up to house the population.
ners to carry out missions of sabotage, kidnapping, By 2052, the megacorps began building new, gleaming
theft, and murder gave corpos plausible deniability towers to proclaim their glory proudly.
should something go wrong. The classic flow of work,
client to fixer to edgerunner, was established at this DREAMING ONCE MORE
time, and it continues to this day. As the megacorps recovered, they also seized their
power back. The nomad families, instrumental in the
THE 4TH CORPORATE WAR rebuilding process, were pushed out of Night City.
Then Arasaka and Militech decided to go to war. The Megacorps literally bought seats at the table of the City
4th Corporate War wasn’t kind to Night City since the Council and maneuvered matters to avoid electing a
two megacorps used it as a battleground. Thousands mayor. A single person leading a city could only answer
fled, and other megacorps pulled out their resources as to a single owner, after all. No megacorp was willing to
street-to-street fighting became a daily occurrence. The allow their rivals a shot at becoming the most powerful
war, at least as far as Night City was concerned, ended puppeteer in the city.
with a small nuclear explosion that obliterated Arasaka
By the 2060s, Night City shone like a jewel as one of
Towers and devastated the Corporate Center. The explo-
the most influential metropolises on the West Coast
sion sent ripples through the city, liquefacting the fill it
of North America. Those were the boom years, with
was built on – in effect, Night City experienced not only
investment money flowing in like water. The city council
months of war and a nuclear explosion but a devastating
wanted even more and schemed with developers and
earthquake as well.
megacorps alike to transform Pacifica into the most
Just who set off the bomb remains a mystery to incredible playground the world had ever seen – better
this day. Ask ten people, and you’ll get eleven different than any theme park or gambling mecca. Once they
answers. The NUSA maintains that Arasaka caused the were done, Pacifica would become the tourist desti-
explosion as part of a denial strategy. Arasaka blames nation for visitors from all across the world. Night City
Militech/NUSA-backed terrorists led by famed rocker was the city of dreams again.
Johnny Silverhand. In the background, rumors of other
Too bad it couldn’t last.
players involved in the incident propagate, from the leg-
endary solo known as Morgan Blackhand to a squad of WAR CHANGES EVERYTHING
elite Aldecaldo warriors known as the Lobos. Ultimately,
The Unification War halted all progress on building up
we may never know the truth since most evidence of
Pacifica as the economy fell flat and the forces of the
what happened died the same day Arasaka Towers did.
NUSA rolled across the continent. South California allied
THE TIME OF THE RED (AKA THE RED DECADES) with the New United States, while North California, the
home of Night City, opposed the conquerors. The fighting
They called it the Time of the Red; the time postwar
was brutal, and Night City prepared for another war to
when the skies were tinted bloody by the detritus of the
break out on its streets. In 2070, NUSA troops advanced
4th Corp War. Following the war, Night City struggled
to the city’s outskirts, ready to invade.
to rebuild. With manufacturing and shipping disrupted
worldwide thanks to damage from the war and the col- In desperation, Lucius Rhyne, then a member of the
lapse of the Old Net, obtaining the materials and labor city council, made a deal with the devil. Rhyne reached
necessary seemed impossible – until the nomads came out to Arasaka for aid and the Japanese megacorp sailed
along. They came en masse, taking on contracts and a supercarrier bristling with weapons and troops into
hauling their own supplies. Having obtained expertise by Coronado Bay. The NUSA forces withdrew, and soon
helping to rebuild Los Angeles, Chicago, and Mexico City after, the Arvin Accord was signed. As part of the
in the past the nomad families, led by the Aldecaldos, agreement, Night City was recognized as an international
free city – part of neither North California nor the NUSA. ▶ Notable Locations ◀
Lucius Rhyne was elected as the mayor of Night City by
Arasaka Academy: A primary education facility dedicated
popular acclaim, while Arasaka rolled in to openly domi-
to molding the next generation of Arasaka executives.
nate the political landscape once more.
Most students come from within the Arasaka corporate
THE DISTRICTS OF NIGHT CITY family, but the Academy does accept notable students
from other backgrounds.
The landscape of Night City has changed dramatically
since its founding. Districts have risen, fallen, and even Arasaka Memorial: A memorial to the victims of the 2023
moved as war and changing demographics have trans- nuclear explosion, located beneath the current Arasaka
formed them. Tower.
CITY CENTER Empathy: A club specializing in hardcore porn brain-

dances and live stripteases.
The heart of Night City’s economic power, the City
Center is home to the most prominent players around: Megacorp HQs: The Night City headquarters of multiple
the megacorps. In the modern era, it serves as the megacorporations, including Arasaka, Biotechnica, Kang
city’s showcase, highlighting Night City’s rise from the Tao, Militech, and Petrochem.
ashes after the nuclear devastation that ended the Memorial Park: A roundabout park at the center of the
4th Corporate War. Plaza, honoring the victims of the 4th Corporate War.
» Corporate Plaza (aka Corpo Plaza) The View: A shopping mall located on the boundary of
Home to the skyscraper regional headquarters of multi- the Corporate Plaza, offering beautiful views and luxury
ple megacorps, the Corporate Plaza symbolizes the true shopping.
power of Night City. Few places are more secure, with
swaths of NCPD officers and corporate guards on patrol.
» Downtown
Outside of the corpos who spend most of their time here, Following the 4th Corporate War, an effort was made
the most common visitors are tourists. to rebuild this area along Western European architec-
tural lines. Necessity and budget concerns soon began
E11
to outweigh planning, and the area quickly transformed El Coyote Cojo: A bar frequented by the Valentinos.
into a riotous blend of entropic and neomilitaristic styles. Owned by “Mamá” Welles.
Downtown is a district of two worlds, bright and gleam-
Embers: An exclusive club with rather important
ing on the broad avenues but riddled with dark alleys
members, including high-ranking executives from mul-
where the rich and poor mix in glorious chaos.
tiple megacorps.
▶ Notable Locations ◀ Reconciliation Park: A large, pleasant park containing
7th Hell: A nightclub owned by former edgerunner Jack a small lake. Built to celebrate the rebuilding of Night
Mausser. City – specifically the Corporate Plaza’s shift from a
radioactive hot zone to skyscraper forest.
Electric Orgasm: An unlisted, secretive bar used by
some edgerunners to plan their gigs Time Machine: The most famous music store in Night City,
selling instruments, albums, and memorabilia. Patronized
Jinguji: A high-end clothing store. Part of the Japanese
by various famous artists, including Kerry Eurodyne.
Jinguji chain.
N54 HQ: The Night City headquarters of Network 54.
» Vista del Rey
The poorest part of Heywood, Vista del Rey is primarily
Night Corp HQ: The global headquarters of Night Corp.
controlled by the Valentinos, but other gangs constantly
HEYWOOD nibble at the borders. Strife between the residents of
Vista del Rey and their neighbors in the affluent areas to
Often called “the biggest bedroom in Night City,” Heywood
the north and west is unceasing and sometimes violent.
houses more people than any other portion of the city. A dis-
Many wonder how long before the megacorps engineer
trict of contrasts, you can find both luxurious apartments
gentrification of the area for “the good of the city.”
and poor slum dwellings there. Interestingly, Heywood
wasn’t always where it is today. The district used to occupy ▶ Notable Locations ◀
land on the east side of the city, in a district split between
Delamain HQ: The home of the Delamain cab company, the
Santo Domingo to the south and North Heywood to the –
only transport service in Night City owned and operated
you guessed it – north. The area known as Heywood today
by an artificial intelligence.
was once South Night City, a vicious Combat Zone filled
with constant street fighting. Following the 4th Corporate Dicky Twister: A gay bar owned and operated by the
War, a group known as reclaimers moved into the area and Valentinos.
began cleaning it up. They did too good a job, though. Once
La Catrina: A funeral home controlled by the Valentinos
the people in North Heywood realized South Night City was
and used as a front for various operations.
better than their own digs, they moved in and kicked the
reclaimers out. Then they renamed the district. To them, Mercado Sonora: A pedestrianized market and
Heywood was who they were, not where they lived. meeting hub for the local community, located next to
» The Glen Megabuilding H5.
An example of government and corporate cooperation,

» Wellsprings
the Glen was built following the 4th Corporate War to be No subdistrict exemplifies the contrasts of Heywood
the new seat of municipal power. As a result, parts of better than Wellsprings. Where it borders the City
the Glen are tidy and filled with gorgeous architecture Center, Wellsprings provides reasonably safe housing
– especially around Reconciliation Park. Move towards for the small middle class of Night City. Travel further
the borders, though, and you’ll find the shine wears off away from the border, however, and you’ll see old, shabby
quickly as the NCPD cares more about protecting the buildings dating back to when this region was better
government than the people. known as South Night City.
▶ Notable Locations ◀ ▶ Notable Locations ◀
City Hall: The center of power in Night City. At least as Bulwark: A clean, well-maintained shopping center on the
far as governmental politics is concerned. Wellsprings waterfront.
Wellsprings Water Treatment Facility: A defunct water Pacifica Serenity Bible Church: Originally intended to
treatment facility. It is occasionally used as an illicit be a chapel for a connected hotel complex, the Church
meeting point. now serves primarily as a meeting place for the local
Haitian community.
PACIFICA
The southernmost portion of Night City was once home to
» Dogtown
opulent mansions, coastal estates, and its own theme park: During the Unification War, NUSA Colonel Kurt Hansen led his
Playland by the Sea. Known far and wide as the place to troops into a portion of Pacifica and seized control. It would
go for entertainment, be it for children or of a more adult have made the perfect beachhead for a ground assault
variety, Pacifica struggled to maintain its party-place status into Night City if it weren’t for the Arvin Accord. Finding the
through the 4th Corporate War and the Time of the Red. The thought of withdrawal distasteful, Hansen ignored his orders
old estates died, but Playland by the Sea lived on, providing to leave and transformed the area into a fiefdom with him as
joy to those who could afford it. In the late 2050s, investors a military overlord. Now known as Dogtown – named for the
tried to expand Pacifica into a booming tourist resort. They BARGHEST militia enforcing Hansen’s will – this combat zone
imported hundreds upon hundreds of laborers, primarily is the beating heart of black-market trade on the West Coast.
from Haiti, and poured billions into building hotels, casinos, If you’re willing to step into Dogtown, you can find anything
shopping centers, spas, and a newer, bigger, bolder Playland you’re looking for – so long as you’re willing to pay.
by the Sea. The Unification War ended the dream. Investors ▶ Notable Locations ◀
withdrew their money. Buildings stood half-finished. Those
who could leave left. The rest did their best to move on with Black Sapphire: A skyscraper and base of operations
their lives and built their own communities. for Kurt Hansen. A club at the top of the tower lures
in elites looking to make shady deals from all over the
» Coastview and West Wind world.
Following the Unification War, Night City and the megacorps Eden Plaza: An open-air mall. It is notable for the sculp-
tried to reclaim this part of Pacifica, but resistance from tures and art built around and into the buildings, includ-
the Voodoo Boys led to riots. The City Council shut down ing pieces by Elle and Marc Rolloos and Imelda Ayala
all services to the area but the Voodoo Boys found ways Carballo.
around the official lack of water, power, and CitiNet. Today,
they act as a defacto government, though their rule isn’t EBM Petrochem Stadium: Built during the 2060s as the
absolute. Gang fights are common, and crime is rampant. new home of the Nighthawks, Night City’s pro football
Coastview and the West Wind Estates, once intended to team. It was abandoned like the rest of Pacifica when
be crown jewels of a tourism empire, are now a combat investors pulled out. Following the Unification War,
zone where each day is a struggle to survive. BARGHEST forces under the command of Kurt Hansen
shot down a Zhirafa cargo aerozep. It crashed into
▶ Notable Locations ◀ the stadium, and its atomic fission engine became
Dogtown’s power center. Today, the stadium serves as
Batty’s Hotel: Used as a base by the Voodoo Boys. It
the center of Dogtown’s black market.
contains a bustling market for the local community
Heavy Hearts: An Egyptian-themed nightclub reserved
Eden Beach Mega Ride: The remains of an amusement
for the elite of Dogtown. Stylized as a pyramid.
park, complete with abandoned Ferris wheel and roller
coaster. Terra Cognita: A technology-themed exhibition park that
was abandoned when investment dried up. Planned exhi-
Grand Imperial Mall: Built to be the district’s largest
bitions included CHOOH2.0 Nova Superwheels, Militech
shopping center, the Grand Imperial was almost fin-
Engineering Liberty, and D1G1SCAPE Futurenet.
ished when funding dried up and investors abandoned
the project. SANTO DOMINGO
Hotel Pistis Sophia: One of the oldest surviving buildings During and immediately after the 4th Corporate War, refugees
in Night City. That it still stands is more a fluke of luck escaping the chaos in central Night City fled to the beaverville
than a testament to its construction. suburbs to the east. Once idyllic, if stagnant, neighborhoods
were swallowed up by tent cities and refugee camps. When the ▶ Notable Locations ◀
nomads came to rebuild Night City, they made their camp here.
Coronado Dam: Built to create a reservoir and provide
Megacorps, looking for cheap land, built factories in a newly
electric power for the area, the dam was abandoned
established industrial zone. Today the nomads and refugees
when the water dried up. The former reservoir now
are gone, but the sprawl remains, as power plants and facto-
serves as a neighborhood trash dump.
ries mingle with rundown developments and neighborhoods.
Real estate changes hands regularly as factories shut down, Night City Center for Psychiatric Health: A facility
retool, or reopen in order to meet the constantly changing for the treatment of mental health issues, including
whims of the market. Meanwhile, the houses and apartment cyberpsychosis. It prides itself on its “safe space”
buildings offering refuge to the local workforce slowly decay program, which completely isolates patients from the
as time marches on. outside world.
» Arroyo Rancho Coronado Public High School: An actual, honest-

to-God public high school in Night City. It functions about
If it can be built in Night City, there’s a good chance it is as well as you would think.
manufactured here. Arroyo is under constant construction
as automated factories transform whenever a megacorp Tripple Xtreme Epic Workout Center: A gym and fight
division undergoes a rebranding, organizational restructur- venue controlled by the Animals. A former paint factory,
ing, or product paradigm transformation. Security is tight gladiatorial bouts are held in an enormous vat once used
here, with each corporation protecting its manufacturing to mix chemicals together.
capacity and trade secrets to the utmost. WATSON
▶ Notable Locations ◀ Before the 4th Corporate War, the northern parts of
Arasaka Industrial Park: A heavily guarded industrial Night City housed those with comfortable incomes. They
area owned by Arasaka. One of the largest supply fled the area during the conflict, leaving it open for the
depots in the city. displaced populations of Old Japantown and Little China to
move in. A conglomerate of Japanese-based megacorps
Dewdrop Inn: A low-rent motel. If you’re an edgerunner known as the Night City Co-Prosperity Sphere flooded
looking to lay low for a while, this is a good spot... so long the area with money, renaming it Watson. The district
as you’re not on the wrong side of 6th Street. boomed during the recovery but faltered afterward as
Night City Prison: A penitentiary where convicted crimi- affluent citizens migrated to shinier areas like the City
nals are housed and punished. You don’t want to be sent Center and Westbrook. Once the beating heart of Night
here. Trust me on this one. City, today Watson is one of its poorest districts.
Red Dirt: A small bar. It is best known as an early venue »

Arasaka Waterfront
for Samurai, a band led by the infamous rocker Johnny To cement its influence on Night City, Arasaka needed
Silverhand. access to the water. The megacorp seized the Watson
» Rancho Coronado waterfront, kicked everyone out, and built their own
facilities, complete with some of the tightest security in
Factories need workers. Workers need places to live. To the city. If you aren’t Arasaka, you aren’t getting in. If you
answer that need, the megacorps built Rancho Coronado: are Arasaka, you’re only getting to where you need to go.
A suburb with its own bars, shopping, parks, restaurants, This is Arasaka’s main port in the Western Hemisphere
and more. Most people living here work in Arroyo, and and they guard it tighter than the FIA guards the White
many spend their entire lives in Santo Domingo, never House.
leaving. Of course, building a community is different from
maintaining one. The megacorps care less about the
▶ Notable Locations ◀
upkeep of Rancho Coronado’s infrastructure than they do Konpeki Plaza: Night City’s most exclusive hotel, where
about the regular retooling of Arroyo’s factories. Every every inch is devoted to luxury and decadent entertain-
day, residents wake up to more cracks in the road, more ment. Part of a chain, the main hotel in Tokyo is said to
leaking pipes, and more grime on the walls. shame Night City’s branch.
» Kabuki » Little China

When the residents of Old Japantown first moved north Little China was the planned heart of Watson. In fact,
to Watson, they settled in the area now known as Kabuki, the first megabuildings in Night City went up here. They
under the patronage of the Night City Co-Prosperity weren’t the first planned, hence why their assigned
Sphere. When the Sphere crumbled, and the member numbers are so high, but money from the Night City
corporations moved on, the residents of Kabuki left with Co-Prosperity Sphere ensured they jumped the queue.
them. In their place, the local Chinese diaspora moved When the residents of the original Little China, located
in, transforming the area into a bazaar almost as illicit in what is now Vista del Rey, gave up on their homes and
as Dogtown. If you know the right people, you can buy moved north, they settled here.
anything here except safety. Immigrants from China followed, transforming the
▶ Notable Locations ◀ area. Today, Little China is a mixture of classes, with
condominiums living next door to brothels and illegal
Ho-Oh: A casino and nightclub run by the Tyger Claws. gambling dens. The neon lights, food, shops, and enter-
Most of the criminal activity here is conducted out of tainment add a thrill attracting bored corpos from else-
sight on the upper levels. where in the city so they mingle with the dangerous, the
Kabuki Roundabout: A central plaza and marketplace desperate, and the poor.
in Kabuki. Almost every corner of the roundabout is ▶ Notable Locations ◀
occupied by street stalls where high-end brands sell at
low, low prices. The Afterlife: Night City’s most famous and infamous
edgerunner bar. Owned by the Queen of the Fixers,
Lizzie’s Bar: A braindance club owned and operated by Rogue Amendiares, no one is allowed in until they’ve
the Mox. It was originally owned by Elizabeth “Lizzie” proved themselves worthy. Drinks at the bar are named
Borden. The Tyger Claws murdered Lizzie after she after edgerunners who went out in a blaze of glory.
stood up to protect her workers from their exploitation.
Deravaja Dojo: A martial arts studio owned by the Tyger
No-Tell Motel: A large, automated hotel used for clandes- Claws. In theory, anyone can take lessons here, but few
tine meetings and illicit rendezvous. students who aren’t already gang members attend.
E13
Night City Medical Center: A hospital complex with its » Charter Hill
own public transit station. Owned and operated by
Those who have clawed their way up the corporate
Trauma Team International.
ladder but haven’t quite reached the top, need to live
Riot: A nightclub notable for attracting big-name enter- somewhere. For many of Night City’s lower-upper class,
tainers to play on stage, including Lizzy Wizzy and the that place is Charter Hill. Reasonably clean and safe, an
Cartesian Duelists. address in Charter Hill is proof a choom has climbed out
of the gutter but not yet reached the golden gates of
Tom’s Diner: The primary location for a chain of restau-
ultimate success.
rants located throughout Night City. Well known for its
retro, pre-Collapse vibe. ▶ Notable Locations ◀
Urmland Street: A shopping district in Little China. Go Dynalar Complex: Regional headquarters of Dynalar,
there to buy preem clothing, flashy cyberware, or have a cyberware manufacturer. They are well known for
your tarot cards read. their sexually provocative advertising and slogan, “It’s
all about the touch.”
» Northside Industrial District
Kiroshi Campus: Kiroshi, manufacturers of the world’s
As Night City recovered, the members of the Night City most popular high-end cyberoptics, maintains a pres-
Co-Prosperity Sphere built high-tech factories in the ence here.
north of Watson, providing residents with good jobs. Then
Arasaka returned to the city, the Co-Prosperity Sphere Red Queen’s Race: An invite-only braindance club. The
collapsed, and its component companies moved to other elite of Night City come here when they want luxury but
districts. Now, only a few of the old factories remain don’t want to be seen drooling.
operational, while gangs and criminal organizations use » Japantown
the shells of the rest as hideouts or warehouses.
Benefiting from its position as a nexus point for the city’s
▶ Notable Locations ◀ northern districts, Japantown serves as an entertain-
ment center for Night City. It is a vibrant location, full
All Foods Factory: A factory once owned by a popular
of life and its many bars, fancy restaurants, gaming
NUSA food and beverage giant, used to manufacture
parlors, and markets make it a must-visit destination
protein slurries marketed as “meat.” It now serves as
for locals and tourists alike. Just be careful. The Tyger
a main hideout for Maelstrom.
Claws control this district, earning a cut of every eddie
Totentanz: A “drink and riot” nightclub where heavy rock spent there.
blasts at deafening volume. Gangs from across the city
▶ Notable Locations ◀
are welcomed as long as they acknowledge Maelstrom’s
authority while inside the club’s walls. Cherry Blossom: A market covered by a glass roof. The
ever-changing line-up of vendors offers an eclectic
WESTBROOK selection of goods unavailable anywhere else in Night
If you live in Westbrook, you know you’ve made it in Night City.
City. This is where the rich and powerful keep their Clouds: An esteemed venue known for high-quality
estates and mansions and where everyone with eddies braindances and dolls custom-programmed for each
to spend travels to taste the high life. A triumph of gen- customer. Located at the top of Megabuilding H8.
trification, Westbrook housed more refugees following
the 4th Corporate War than any other area in Night City Dark Matter: A nightclub reserved for the elite of Night
and the squalor surrounded the city’s most prosperous City. The hottest celebrities mingle with premium
walled community, known only as the Executive Zone. joytoys here, providing fodder for screamsheet gossip
When the powers-that-be decided to expand their safe columns.
and secure paradise, they paid for city backing to legalize Fourth Wall Studios: A blockbuster-producing brain-
the process, hired mercenaries to clear out the desti- dance studio always looking to push the envelope. Their
tute, and reformed Westbrook in their own image. latest hit is Foreign Body.
Jig-Jig Street: The reddest of red-light districts in Night »Arasaka

City. The best place to find love by the hour, illicit BDs,
Saburo Arasaka stepped up as CEO of Arasaka in 1960, and
and drugs of every variety.
he’s still in charge over a hundred years later. If that doesn’t
» North Oak tell you something about how powerful Arasaka is, nothing
will. This is the longest-operating megacorp in the world, and
North Oak contains more concentrated wealth than any-
its got its fingers in everything, with hundreds of subdivisions
where else in Night City (except Corpo Plaza) but also has
and client companies across the globe. If it exists, some sub-
the city’s lowest population density. If you live in North
division of Arasaka makes, imports, or sells it.
Oak, you live in an estate, complete with a mansion and
actual land. This is an enclave of the super-rich, each Arasaka’s biggest money-makers are banking and
with their own security team guarding their homes 24/7. security. The company is known for its top quality and
The guards here operate on a principle of “shoot first, the extensive training of the forces it employs to protect
ask questions never,” so be careful if you’re “visiting.” not only its own assets but those of its clients. If you’re
Outsiders aren’t welcome here without an invitation. facing an Arasaka guard, you know you’re in trouble.
▶ Notable Locations ◀ Arasaka has shaped most of this century. They were
one side of the 4th Corporate War and helped plunge
Arasaka Estate: A temporary home used by members of the world into a new dark age. Later, the arrival of their
the Arasaka family when they visit Night City. It is heavily supercarrier in Coronado Bay helped end the Unification
guarded by elite Arasaka agents, all armed with the best War. Today, Arasaka reigns as a dominant force in Night
weapons the megacorp has to offer. City and is its largest employer.
Chram Denya Jinja: A Shinto shrine dedicated to the
kami of chrome, night, and electricity. A popular tourist
» Biotechnica
destination and one of the few areas in the district open Biotechnica is responsible for the food you eat, the
to the public. drugs you take, and the fuel in your car. If there’s been
an advancement involving biotech over the last century,
Columbarium: A memorial containing the cremated
chances are Biotechnica’s been behind the innovation –
remains of thousands of Night City residents. It is well-
or they bought out the company that was.
guarded and has strict rules of conduct.
The company owns a staggering amount of land to the
North Oak Casino and Country Club: A place for the
south of Night City, where their protein farms mass-
wealthiest of Night City’s residents to meet, party, and
grow the worms used as the primary ingredient for most
play. It is only accessible via AV.
of today’s food.
Villa Eurodyne: The estate of famed rocker Kerry
Eurodyne. It is patrolled by security bots instead of
» Kang Tao
human guards. Once known primarily for cheap knock-offs, Kang Tao
emerged from the Time of the Red with new strength
PLAYERS OF NIGHT CITY (BY MC STEEL) as an innovator and leader in the area of smart weapon
To be successful as an edgerunner in Night City, you need technology. Today, Kang Tao rivals even Arasaka when
to know the major players. Being aware of who you’re it comes to the quality and reputation of their weapons.
dealing with can prevent social miscues when negotiating Their regional headquarters is a skyscraper in the
with them for more eddies or aid in strategizing against Corporate Plaza in Night City.
them when dodging their bullets.
» Kiroshi Optical
THE MEGACORPS The industry leader in optics design and manufacturing,
Megacorps rule this city. They own the politicians. They Kiroshi Eyes are the gold standard. If your eyes aren’t
pay for the infrastructure. They manufacture all the gear Kiroshis, why did you even scoop out your ‘ganic orbs,
you own. Hell, we’re all branded with their logos, whether choom? Kiroshi’s sponsorship of Japanese pop group Us
we like it or not. Just walking advertisements to their Cracks has won them the affection of the youth market
glory. across the globe.
» Militech » Night Corp

Almost synonymous with the New United States of After Richard Night’s death, his widow, Miriam, transformed
America, Militech represents the ultimate evolution of his foundation into a corporation able to play with the
the “military-industrial complex.” The current President megacorps on their own terms. As Night City recovered
of the NUSA is a former CEO, and Militech troops often from the 4th Corporate War, it was Night Corp that brought
work in cooperation with American military forces in the nomads to begin reconstruction and Night Corp that
domestically and abroad. convinced the squabbling factions controlling the city’s
various districts to cooperate and form a new government.
Militech is one of the world’s largest manufacturers
of weapons and military vehicles, with facilities on every Night Corp is ubiquitous in Night City and essentially
continent. Its products range from personal firearms runs the city’s infrastructure. Despite this public visibility,
to missiles. In fact, most of the gear used by the NUSA little is known about the company. It is particularly secre-
military is branded with the Militech logo. The megacorp tive about its internal structure, operational goals, and
also provides private military forces for anyone willing resources. Employees know only as much as they need to
to pay. know to do their jobs and little more. This has made Night
Corp a favorite target for conspiracy theorists.
Militech battled Arasaka during the 4th Corporate War
and seemed prepared to burn everything to the ground » Trauma Team International
in order to win. The Megacorp only stood down when
When your life’s on the line, you want the best to save
then-president Elizabeth Kress nationalized the company.
you. That’s what Trauma Team does… if you can afford
The war ended with Militech acting as a privatized arm
it. The level of service a client is provided depends on
of the American government. In time, the relationship
their Trauma Team subscription. The best is the Platinum
reversed, as Militech gained more influence over the
Plan, with 24/7 monitoring of a client’s biomonitor via
NUSA than the NUSA had over it.
their neuroport, biosculpting on demand, free check
Today, it operates nominally as an independent ups, deep discounts on prescriptions, and a guaranteed
megacorp but everyone knows Militech and the NUSA three-minute response time to injuries.
government are two sides of the same corrupt coin.
Trauma Team plays the public relations game better
than anyone and hypes its employees as heroes via
E14 advertising, public relations stunts, and sponsored pro-
gramming. People thrill at the sight of a Trauma Team
squad, convinced they’ll swoop in and save them during a
medical emergency – right up until they realize they don’t
have a subscription and will be left for dead.
In Night City, Trauma Team operates out of Night City
Medical Center, which it owns.
» Zetatech
Zetatech began life as the smallest of the megacorps,
specializing in computer hardware design. Its size proved
to be an asset during the 4th Corporate War, as it came
through relatively unscathed while larger rivals took big
hits. Zetatech built on this advantage, expanding into
avionics and AVs, drones, and robotics.
Zetatech maintains a policy of strict neutrality, resulting
in its products being used by many megacorporations and
governments. It isn’t uncommon to go into a war zone and
see Zetatech drones fighting on both sides of the battleline.
THE GANGS The Animals don’t usually hold territory. Instead, they
The megacorps may control the city, but the gangs sell themselves off as muscle, run underground death
control the streets. If you’re going to run on The Edge, matches, and organize raids on residential districts,
you need to know just whose territory you’re running corporate supply houses, and other gangs’ stashes.
through. »
BARGHEST
» 6th Street When Colonel Kurt Hansen claimed Dogtown as his own
6th Street started out with good intentions. Gather a territory at the tail end of the Unification War, he brought
bunch of veterans and do the job the NCPD was unable or the remnants of his unit along for the ride. Hansen trans-
unwilling to do. Unfortunately, they discovered doing the formed his soldier into BARGHEST and recruited from the
job required resources – guns, money, and access. Their locals to replace the fallen. The Colonel provided his troops
slippery slope began with taking bribes to look the other with weapons, training, money, and medical care, and all he
way on occasion and charging locals protection fees. asked for in return was absolute, undying loyalty.
From there, it became easy to dive into other criminal The soldiers of BARGHEST act as Hansen’s fist in
rackets. Today 6th Street is just another gang wrapped Dogtown and enforce his word as law. Don’t do what
in military trappings. Their main turf is Santo Domingo one tells you, and, at best, you’ll be ejected out of the
but they have some influence in Charter Hill and Heywood. district. At worst, your parts will end up for sale on the
» Animals local market.
If you see someone with muscles so large they look » Maelstrom

ready to burst through their skin, that’s probably an Dangerous. Violent. The ultimate boostergang. The
Animal. Purists, the Animals eschew strength-enhancing Maelstrom truly live their lives by the concept that “metal
and combat cyberware in favor of genetically tailored is better than meat.” No one joins without undergoing
growth hormones, ultra-testosterone, and “the Juice,” extensive cyberware implantation, designed to not only
a secret chemical concoction that increases the user’s enhance the body but scour away physical humanity in
strength, size, and speed. For the Animals, the term order to expose the new, superior metal below. Their
“concrete jungle” is literal in that they respect strength obsession with chrome is tinged with an almost occult
and ability above all else. Even internally, disputes are reverence as they blend otherworldly superstition into
always handled via trial by combat. their gang rituals.
E15
Despite many members skirting the edge of cyberpsy- ripping the cyberware out of people’s bodies and selling it to
chosis, Maelstrom has proven incredibly canny over disreputable ripperdocs and fixers across Night City. They’ve
the past several decades by building a criminal empire got no honor. What they do have is a keen eye for implants and
based on smuggling, black market technology, and drug organs they can offload as a profit. If you’re packing chrome,
dealing. They make their home in the Northside Industrial watch your six if you walk down a dark alley at night.
District, but their reach extends farther south, into
Kabuki and beyond. They also control the Totentanz. The
» Tyger Claws
club is a perfect symbol for Maelstrom: loud, dark, and One of the oldest gangs in Night City, the Tyger Claws
ultraviolent. grew out of the Tiger’s Claw, an Arasaka-backed motor-
» The Mox
cycle club. Following Arasaka’s removal from Night City
in the aftermath of the 4th Corporate War, the gang
A small gang, the Mox’s territory isn’t so much a patch rebranded itself and stepped into the power vacuum to
of land as it is a profession – the Mox exists to protect grow its empire.
sex workers. They’re one of the newest gangs in town,
The gang is large, causing different factions to rise up
having only formed in 2067 after the death of club owner
and compete against one another for money, territory,
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Borden. The gang came together to
and power. Conflicts caused by this factional squabbling
protest her murder by the Tyger Claws and to protect
are handled inside the organization. An outsider stepping
sex workers from further exploitation. Their main head-
in will find the Tyger Claws to be a unified front. Internal
quarters is Lizzie’s Bar. In the last decade, the Mox’s lead-
wars can resume once they deal with any interlopers.
ership has hardened, realizing they can’t protect every
sex worker in the city – just the ones who work directly for The Tyger Claws operate mainly out of Little China,
them. As the Mox grows more cynical, some worry they’re Kabuki, and Japantown, although their influence also
becoming the oppressors they were formed to fight. extends into Charter Hill.
» Scavs » Valentinos
Scavs aren’t a gang. Not really. They’re more like a plague, The Valentinos are a gang tied to the community by bonds
operating in small cells for as long as a leader can hold them of blood. Their relatives operate local businesses ranging
together. All they care about is profit, and they earn it by from bars and corner shops to nightclubs and auto shops.
These legal businesses often serve as a front for criminal
activity, such as money-laundering operations, drug labs,
E16
and chop shops. Members of the gang venerate the con-
cepts of honor, justice, and family bonds, making betrayal
the worst crime any member can commit.
Rumor has it the Valentinos somehow evolved from an
ancient club of Lotharios who competed against each other in
acts of seduction but no modern Valentino will confirm it. As far
as they’re concerned, they’ve always been as they are. They’re
as much part of Heywood as the land beneath their feet.
» Voodoo Boys
You may have heard of a gang known as the Voodoo Boys
operating in the 2020s. These ain’t them. Those Voodoo
Boys were posers, playing dress up and selling drugs.
These Voodoo Boys evolved from the Haitian workforce
imported to build up Pacifica in the 2060s. When the
investors pulled out because of the Unification War, the
Voodoo Boys organized and seized control of part of the
district. One part gang. One part government.
Truth is, the Voodoo Boys don’t call themselves by that when she was one of the best solos for hire in Night
name. They use the term only with outsiders because it’s City. Mostly retired from her gun-slinging ways, Rogue
convenient – a name given to them by ignorant strang- specializes in assembling elite teams for gigs from
ers who didn’t understand their culture or religion. Only wealthy clients.
initiated members know the gang’s true name.
Sebastian “Padre” Ibarra: The name isn’t ironic. Padre
A good portion of the Voodoo Boys are netrunners who used to be a priest before he left the clergy to pursue
believe the Blackwall will eventually collapse, allowing the what he calls a more noble calling – being a fixer. He
AIs to flood in and conquer the world. They perform acts offers a variety of gigs but they all seem to be part
they believe will curry favor with their future AI over- of a chess match designed to keep some semblance of
lords. The Voodoo Boys intend to be on their good side balance in Heywood.
when the digital apocalypse comes.
Wakako Okada: Known as the Lady of Westbrook, Wakako
A FEW OTHER PLAYERS operates out of a pachinko parlor on Jig-Jig Street in
Japantown. She’s well respected – or feared, at least – by
The gangs and megacorps aren’t the only power players
the community, and her gigs run the full gambit of types.
in Night City. Since you’re going to try to make it as an
edgerunner, here are a few more you’ll need to know. »
Nomads
» Fixers Back during the Collapse, things got bad. Neighborhoods
and sometimes entire cities became uninhabitable. People
If you’re an edgerunner and you want a job, you’ll need a
lost their jobs and their homes. Taking inspiration from
fixer. The same’s true if you need information to complete
the past, families and small groups banded together,
a gig or specific, hard-to-obtain gear.
forming nomadic packs and wandering across the con-
Fixers are the backbone of tinent, in search of work. Over time more joined them,
the edgerunning economy. until they numbered in the millions and formed nations
of their own. For the dwellers of the cities they visited,
Fixers operate across all levels of society, trading
nomads were a necessary evil – vilified by the media for
information, goods, and services for eddies and favors.
The lowest rats on the rung operate on a street corner.
The highest snag corner offices, working exclusively for E17
the megacorps. In between, you’ll find the type of fixer
you’ll most often deal with as an edgerunner: Fixers who
specialize in specific types of jobs, areas of trade, or
districts in the city. Most of the gigs you’ll receive flow
through those fixers, so don’t piss them off.
▶ A Few Prominent Fixers in Night City ◀
Dakota Smith: Also known as the Mad Coyote, Dakota isn’t
technically in Night City. She operates out of a garage in the
Badlands and specializes in nomad-related gigs. Most packs
stop by and pay Dakota their respect when they visit the area.
Muamar “El Capitán” Reyes: While Muamar offers multi-
ple types of gigs to edgerunners, his specialty is cars.
He’s been known to put out bounties on specific makes
and models. Once a car is brought in, he turns it around
and sells it via his Autofixer business.
Rogue Amendiares: The so-called Queen of the Fixers
and owner of Afterlife, the premier edgerunner bar in
the city. Rogue’s history goes back decades to a time
being thieves, raiders, or worse, yet necessary to fill the » Night City Police Department
ranks of a depleted workforce. They acted as construc-
Ah, Night City’s finest. You know the whole “serve and
tion crews, ran carnivals and circuses to entertain the
protect” thing you see in the vids? Forget it. The only
masses, and smuggled goods for the black market.
thing NCPD serves and protects in Night City is the inter-
During the Time of the Red, the nomad nations saw ests of its megacorp masters. Assume every cop you
their power increase. They knew the roads and seas meet is corrupt until they prove otherwise because, even
better than anyone else, allowing them to keep goods if they’re not, chances are their partner or their boss is.
and services flowing between disconnected cities. Their
Never well-funded, the NCPD remained a barely public
experience in construction proved key to rebuilding cities
service until recently, when the city decided it cost too
devastated by war while their traveling shows distracted
much money and brought in too little income. The NCPD
people from their worries for a brief time.
went private and reorganized, with a non-cop CEO replac-
Of course, nothing lasts forever. Construction compa- ing the old chief of police. The new CEO fired half the
nies began outbidding nomad contractors and mass-mar- force, reduced patrols, and focused on bringing in income
keted media proved a more seductive lure than carnivals through writing tickets over stopping or solving crimes. It
and circuses. Worst of all, one of the nomad nations, also began charging the citizens of Night City five eddies
Meta, betrayed the others. Able to “speak corpo,” Meta’s per minute to make 911 calls and asking for “donations”
shipping company, DTS, undercut other nomad groups from citizens to solve specific crimes. In other words, if
and locked in exclusive contracts until it was the largest you want to find out who murdered your dear auntie? You’d
transporter of goods in North America. better be ready to help fund the investigation.
Diminished in power, the remaining nomad nations Don’t be fooled by the downturn in the NCPD’s ability,
were left with a choice: Exchange autonomy for food and though. Even underfunded and understaffed, the cops still
money by entering into long-term contracts with various have the resources of a small army. That includes armored
megacorps and other groups or remain free at the risk vehicles, AVs, and all manner of firearms and ammunition.
of a slow, lingering death of culture and lifestyle. Plus, there’s MaxTac, the militarized force specializing in
The most commonly seen nomads in Night City belong the elimination of cyberpsychos. MaxTac’s funding remains
to the Aldecaldo Nation, initially formed when residents a priority since its visibility and reputation make every
of East Los Angeles packed up their stuff and left. The action it takes a win for public relations. As the rest of the
Wraiths, a group of former nomads exiled from their force grows less capable, MaxTac has begun responding
packs, raid transports traveling to and from Night City to crimes outside its mandate. In other words, even if you
through the Badlands. aren’t a cyberpsycho, if you land on MaxTac’s radar, their
troops will put you down.
E18
» REO Meatwagon
REO Meatwagon is a cut-rate, no-frills emergency
medical service contracted by the city to handle the
cases Trauma Team won’t. Which is most of them.
Unlike Trauma Team, REO Meatwagon stays on the
ground in ancient ambulances held together by duct tape
and good wishes. Half of the patients their paramedics
pick up don’t make it to the hospital alive. Some don’t make
it to the hospital at all. Rumors of connections between
REO Meatwagon and scav groups are widespread.
Now, that isn’t to say there aren’t some good
paramedics working for REO Meatwagon. Just don’t
count on them being in the ambulance when you’re picked
up after a job goes wrong.
05 EVERYDAY Got a little cash? You’re probably living on the lower
floors of a megabuilding, in a potentially moldy apart-
LIFE ment in one of the city’s smaller complexes, or maybe in

a trailer parked in a camp on the outskirts of the city.
Chances are you’re sharing a bathroom with someone
else and can’t take more than five steps before running
into a wall, but at least your door’s got a lock on it.
The more you earn, the more room you get. The
middle floors of the megabuildings offer fairly spacious
apartments with their own bathrooms, even if some
lack kitchen facilities and only provide food through
wall-mounted vending machines. There are similar
apartments, some with multiple bedrooms even, in nicer
buildings throughout the city
Of course, if you’re important enough, you can get
something a little extra: corporate-subsidized housing.
There are functional and clean apartments inside the city
proper for middle management and small, quaint little
homes in places like Rancho Coronado for the important
factory types.
If you’re swimming in eddies, you’ve got two choices. Move
up or move out. The best apartments rise high in Night City,
on the top floors of skyscrapers and swanky apartment
buildings with solid security. Most people only see squats
like this on video – wide open rooms loaded with facilities. Or
maybe you can snag a house in Charter Hill or North Oak, far
away from the stink of the common folk. Congratulations on
living the dream. Just check your back for knives.
WHAT YOU EAT

by Maximum Mike You may have heard of kibble. That’s basically dog food
Most people in Night City go about their for humans and it used to be a staple of most people’s
diets. Thankfully, food technology improved, and only the
day-to-day without thinking too much truly desperate munch on that crap now.
about it, but knowing how you – and
other people – live can prove crucial to Today, most of our diet consists of artificial food. I
don’t mean what you’re eating is plastic or something.
a job’s success. Pay attention. It just isn’t what it pretends to be. Let’s take the burrito
It all begins with where you live. If you’re you had for lunch. The meat didn’t come from a cow. It
down on your luck, you’re living on the was “farmed” down in Biotechnica Flats, south of the
city, in the form of worms ground down into a paste
street. That isn’t easy in a city that’s called scop, then molded, flavored, and dyed into a shape
hostile to the homeless. NCPD violently vaguely resembling meat. The beans and other veg are
clears out squatter camps on the regular, algae and soy pushed through a similar process. The
and Night City’s government fumigates cheese is made of chemicals, mixed in a vat, and left to
the sewers as if the folk sleeping there dry. Sure, there’s some cloned fruit and in vitro-grown
were vermin instead of people. meat out there but your diet mainly consists of worms,
flavor enhancers, and soy, choomba.
What about real food? Is real steak made from real hands-free driving causes more accidents and frowns on
cows? Are real tomatoes grown on real vines? Those the practice. Of course, if you’ve got a few spare eddies
exist, but you’ll pay a pretty eddie for them. Every year in your account, you can let someone else do the driving
the world loses a little more farmland, and most of by hiring a service like Combat Cab or Delamain to taxi
what’s left goes to growing the wheat needed to make you from point A to point B.
CHOOH2. As a result, real food is a luxury only the rich
Or you can skip the ground altogether and take to the
can afford on the regular.
sky, flying through the canyons between skyscrapers like
I’ve heard rumors of guerrilla gardens in places like a fighter pilot in an old vid. AVs provide aerial transport
Pacifica, where they grow their own vegetables and keep for the wealthy, allowing them to bypass ground-based
their own livestock, but you’ll have to go there yourself gridlock and literally enjoy the high life.
to find out if it’s true.
HOW YOU GET THE WORD
HOW YOU GET AROUND Everyone wants to stay informed. Or, at least, they
You’ve got feet, don’t you? Or maybe a mobility device? think they do. Most of our news comes directly from
Walking – or the assisted equivalent – remains one of the two sources: N54 News or WNS. They control the flow
most common ways to get around Night City, even as we of information, wheeling and dealing with the other
approach the next century. Within your subdistrict, it can megacorps on what to cover and what to bury. Most
be easier and cheaper to hoof it from your megabuilding news sources not directly owned by N54 or WNS buy
to the market and back. Got to go further and don’t have packaged content from them, sometimes supplementing
much cash? Believe it or not, Night City’s public transit it with their own, more sporadic coverage of local events.
system, NCART, actually does a decent job of providing
By hopping on the CitiNet via your holophone or
cheap, reliable transportation. Maybe that’s because
dataterm, you can access information provided via net-
Night Corp bought it out in 2068 after a series of poison
sites. These tend to be dry, boring collections of text
gas attacks in the subway.
and images meant primarily to inform and not to enter-
If you’re lucky, you own a motorcycle or car. They tain. The old-timers remember when the CitiNet was a
work the same as they always did – make sure the fuel bright, vibrant place where everyone could share their
tank’s full, turn it on, and drive. Off you go. Some people own video, audio, and text on something called the Data
plug directly into the car’s computer via their Personal Pool but those days are long since gone. When Netwatch
and drive using only their brains, but the NCPD insists took direct control of the CitiNets, they scaled back how
E20
much data could flow at any given time. They say it is to You’ll also find the old standbys out there: video games,
prevent another DataKrash, but funny how it also con- both traditional and virtual, and even the occasional book
centrates the most accessible forms of entertainment or screamsheet loaded onto a shard or printed on pulp
into the hands of the megacorps again, isn’t it? paper.
If you don’t own a holophone, or you’re trying to HOW YOU GET STUFF
exchange information without being traced, you can use
For the most part, if you need it and have the eddies, you
a public dataterm. These armor-clad computer terminals
just buy it. If you can afford the delivery charge, remote
can make calls and access the CitiNet for a per minute
shopping via your dataterm is an option. Otherwise,
price.
travel down to a store and pick it up – or steal it – your-
HOW YOU HAVE FUN self. There are plenty of chain stores willing to serve
your needs, from All Foods for eats to the local Kiroshi
There’s no shortage of cheap thrills in Night City! For the
outlet for cyberoptic needs. If you prefer a more per-
extroverts willing to brave the danger, there are hun-
sonal but potentially dangerous touch, try shops located
dreds, maybe even thousands, of nightclubs, bars, casinos,
in the outdoor markets, dark alleys, and back streets of
gambling dens, brothels, braindance clubs, and even the
Night City.
occasional museum or movie house. If you’re more intro-
verted, you can stay home and consume everything from Mind you, not everything can be purchased on a whim.
vids to BDs to screamsheets. Honestly, you’re spoiled for Some items are scarce due to limited supply or high
choice. After all, if there’s one thing the megacorps want, demand. Some are outright illegal, even in Night City.
it’s a city full of placated people, and nothing placates us When you need something you can’t find on the shelf,
more than mindless entertainment. you’ve got two options: Find a fixer who can procure
it for you or travel to the black markets in Kabuki or
When it comes to broadcast vid you’re limited to two
Dogtown. Of course, you can always figure out who has
choices: WNS and Network 54. They own the airwaves
what you’re looking for and steal it from them. Just be
– and the cable lines – in Night City, with similar slates
ready to suffer the consequences if it turns out they
of programming, including corporate-sanitized news,
have connections.
reality dramas, talk shows, and the city’s current hit
program, Watson Whore.
E21
Radio remains a surprisingly strong contender in
commanding people’s attention in the 2070s, with at
least fourteen stations actively broadcasting in Night
City. People still love music, and listening to it via radio
remains convenient while in the car, walking along the
street, or riding on the subway. By the way, you can
catch me on 107.3 Morro Rock Radio. Classic tunes and
deep thoughts. A perfect combination.
Pirate radio and television stations pop up on occasion,
too. These illegal operations broadcast everything from
old shows N54 and WNS binned long ago to propagan-
da-filled speeches encouraging the masses to rise up
and rebel against the system. Entertaining if you’re into
that sort of thing.
Braindances combine the best parts of passive
screen-staring and drugs, addicting you to the pleasures
of living through scenarios you’ll never get to experience
yourself. Want to know what it feels like to dive off a water-
fall? To skydive from a plane? To touch real grass? Now’s
your chance. Of course, ninety percent of BDs are porn.
STAYING IN TOUCH Blackwall: A mysterious construction allegedly created by

You’ve probably got a holophone stuck in your brain, Netwatch to block access between the Old Net and the new.
thanks to your neuroport. With it, you can make voice Booster: A type of drug that enhances physical or mental
calls and send texts. The phone even reconstructs the performance.
face of the person on the other end of the line – if the
Borg: Someone who has undergone Full Body Conversion
required data is included in the call – and simulates them
talking by projecting it into a box in your HUD. (FBC) by implanting their brain and a few other choice
biological bits into a fully cybernetic body.
You might also own a holophone of the sort you can
hold in your hand. It may be for legitimate purposes, Braindance (BD): A technology allowing a user to experi-
like needing a second phone for business. Or maybe for ence another person’s recorded memory, including their
less legit reasons, like you need a hard-to-trace burner emotions and physical reactions. Darker and more illegal
phone. Either way, they work like the ones implanted in XBDs allowing someone to experience death are sadly
your neuroport. Just less convenient. You’ve got to use common, but without limiters in place, it can be harmful.
your actual, out-loud voice, and the words come through Chippin’ In: To implant cyberware for the first time. Taken
on a speaker or earbuds. from the title of a Samurai song.
By the way, be prepared to pay if you’re placing a long Choom: Friend/family member. Shortened from choomba,
distance call. Ringing someone up inside Night City comes which itself is shortened from choombatta.
free with your monthly service plan. Talk all you want. If
you’re calling outside of Night City, however, your pro- CHOOH : Pronounced “Chew-Two.” A brand name for a
2
vider has to bounce you to satellite service, which costs biofuel fuel commonly used to power vehicles. Not the
a small fortune. actual chemical formula.
With CitiNet access, you can send and receive electronic Chrome: Another word for cyberware, even if it isn’t
mail via your holophone or terminal. Again, this is free if actually made of metal.
you’re connecting with someone in Night City but costs a Combat Zone: An area of a city more or less abandoned
fee if you’re sending an email anywhere else in the world. by the authorities, where violence rules.
Also? Netwatch can probably read what you’ve written.
Corpo: An executive-level employee of a corporation.
Finally, there are letters. You know. Get a sheet of pulp
Cyberdeck: A device used by netrunners to connect their
paper, write down some words, fold it up, stuff it in an
envelope, and off it goes. Yeah, you can still do that, but brain to a computer system.
first, you’ll need to engage a courier. The only postal Cyberpsychosis: A popular term deriving from the idea
services in Night City are private, and they’ll cost you that too much cyberware will transform a person into
anything from a few eddies to hire a local streetrat to a a rampaging monster (aka a cyberpsycho).
few hundred eddies to engage an armed and reputable
Cyberware: A device implanted into or onto the body.
courier.
DataKrash: The event leading to the collapse of the Old
STREETSLANG Net, orchestrated by Rache Bartmoss.
If you’re going to spend time on The Street, you need to
Delta: To leave a location quickly.
know how to talk the talk.
Eddies: Slang for Eurodollars, the most common form of
AV: Pronounced “ay-vee.” An aerodyne vehicle: a flying
currency in Night City. Also called eds.
automobile-like vehicle powered by ducted jet fans.
Ennies: A minuscule amount of money.
AI: Artificial Intelligence. It can be used to refer to both non-
aware systems and truly sentient artificial constructs. The Edge: The fringe of society outside of the borders
of the legal.
Badlands: The desolate space outside of Night City.
Decades of climate change and resource exploitation Edgerunner: A street mercenary. Someone who chooses
have transformed this area into a desert. to live outside of society’s normal bounds.
Fixer: A deal maker and information broker. They often Preem: Derived from the word “premium.” Cool
provide jobs for edgerunners.
Proxy: Someone controlled by an external entity, such as
Flatline: To die or to kill. an AI or another person, via an implant known as a doll
chip. Proxies employed in sex work are known as dolls.
Flick: To send something, usually digitally.
Ripperdoc: Originally a term referring to a medical pro-
‘ganic: Another term for organic.
fessional who specializes in installing cyberware, it has
Ghost: Leave someone’s presence. Vanish from some- expanded to include any surgeon.
one’s life. Synonymous with “get lost.”
Sandevistan: A form of cyberware that enhances reac-
Gonk: A fool. Something stupid. tion time and slows perception of reality. Also known
Handle: A name someone is known by on The Street. as a Sandy.
Holo: Short for holophone. Used for visual and voice- Scop: A form of moldable protein used in many foods.
based communications. It originally referred to single-celled organisms grown
for the purpose, but the term now includes all pro-
Hustle: Hired muscle, usually employed for guard duties cessed imitation foods. Informally used to describe any
or illegal jobs. low-quality foodstuff.
ICE: A program designed to attack, eject, or kill a Scroll: To record a braindance.
Netrunner who intrudes into a system.
Scroller: Someone who records a braindance.
Input/Output: A short-term love interest or hookup.
Shard: A chip containing data or programs. Can be
Kibble: Processed food. Dog food for people. Common slotted into an external device or a shard slot of a
before the Unification War but less so now. Only the neuroport.
poorest of the poor live on it.
Solo: A mercenary who specializes in combat and fights
Joytoy: A sex worker. for cash. A solo who works primarily for megacorps is
Highrider: Someone who lives or spends most of their sometimes known as a samurai.
time in space. Static: A somewhat derogatory term used by nomads to
Klep: To steal. A reference to kleptomania, a psycholog- describe non-nomads.
ical condition in which the sufferer is driven to steal by The Street: The underground subculture of violence and
uncontrollable urges. illegality.
Mainline: A term for your partner when in a long, serious Wreath: A device used to experience a braindance.
romantic and/or sexual relationship.
Virtu: An abbreviation for virtual. Used to refer to both
Meat: Flesh. The opposite of cyberware. Some netrun- braindances and virtual experiences stored on shards.
ners refer to the physical world as “meatspace.”
Zero: To kill or murder.
Netrunner: Someone who plugs their brain directly
into computer systems, allowing them to hack at high THE FINAL WORD
speeds. Hey, kid. Looks like you read through all the shards I
Neuroport: The most common piece of cyberware in shoved into your pocket. Good for you! I honestly doubted
the world – a central processing unit required for the you would. Most new edgerunners are like teenagers —
installation of all other cyberware. they think they know everything and ignore the wisdom
offered by their elders. Which is why most don’t last long
Nomad: A member of one of a number of wandering enough to become old edgerunners.
nations. The most common nomads in Night City belong-
ing to the Aldecaldo Nation. I hope you’ll be different. If you live long enough to make
it into The Afterlife, drinks are on me.
Nova: Awesome.
Maximum Mike
THE CYBERPUNK: EDGERUNNERS CREW
If you haven’t seen Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, put this book down and go give it a watch. Otherwise, the next few
pages might not mean much. For those of you who experienced the whole show, you’re about to read never before
revealed details about the origins of David, Maine, Rebecca, Lucy, and the rest of the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners crew.
We hope their histories will inspire you as you play your own Edgerunners in The Jacket, the mission included in
the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit.
On behalf of the team behind Cyberpunk, we’d like to take a moment and thank you for your support. When R.
Talsorian Games first published the original edition of the tabletop roleplaying game in 1988, we couldn’t have
imagined how big Night City would grow.
So, thank you and until next time, stay safe on The Street.
The truth is, we don’t know much about Adam Smasher.

After all, he’s been alive for nearly a century and any
story we tell would probably be more legend than truth.
According to an article he wrote for Solo of Fortune back
in the 2020s, he was born and raised in New York, where
he led a combat gang before enlisting in the military.
Adam spent six years in the Marine Corps before they
kicked him out. Afterwards, he went full edgerunner,
specializing in nasty and destructive jobs. A couple of
rocket-propelled grenades ended that career, but began
another when Arasaka found him, stuffed his brain into a
borg body, and signed him to a lifetime contract.
We know Adam was active up to and during the 4th
Corporate War. He specialized, and took joy, in leading
strike forces to slaughter communities full of not only
enemies but their families as well.
Rumors place him in Araska’s Night City HQ when
the nuke went off. If so, the metal bastard survived the
blast. Then he fell off the radar. For the next few decades
stories of an unstoppable metal juggernaut running ops
circled the globe. How much is true remains a mystery
to this day. All we know for sure is he’s currently back in
Night City after years away.
Or someone claiming to be him is. Maybe the real Adam
ADAM SMASHER
Smasher died during the nuke and Arasaka brainwashed
some poor FBC (or more than one!) into believing he’s the
genuine article. Weirder things have happened.
Tell me you remember… Tell me you remember those

scenes from rom coms of yore, say, the previous century
– big city, a man and a woman walking down the street,
the woman suddenly stops due to a contraction, a big one
that knocks the wind outta her. The guy flags down the
first available cab, he and the woman clumsily tumble into
the backseat, and the cab speeds off for the hospital.
David Martinez came into the world in somewhat similar
circumstances. Somewhat. Not quite so romantically
comedic. David’s mom, an EMT named Gloria, felt her water
break while she was in the back of her speeding ambu-
lance, trying to reattach the arm of an edgerunner who
had gotten it shot off. So she sutured, sutured, sutured,
got it done, told the edgerunner to swap seats with her,
then proceeded to deliver her own baby on the gurney, the
ambulance still speeding towards a hospital.
The edgerunner alongside her cut the umbilical cord.
Using the mantis blade in the arm Gloria had just sal-
vaged. Brutal yet somehow poetic.
It was at that moment that Gloria and David were
bonded in the awareness that she would do absolutely
anything for him, and he would never let her down.
Life in Santo Domingo was no rose garden. Exact oppo-
site, actually. Trash, filth, dorphers, psychos, and death
at every corner. Gloria did her damnedest to shelter
David from all manner of danger. Thing is, David just
never liked the peaceful mundane side of life. It bored
him outta his skull. Yeah, David liked to have lots going
on, liked it when shit went down because as long as he
could remember, he had the feeling he was destined for
something bigger. So he scoped and kept tabs on anyone
and everyone in and around Megabuilding H4. And any
edgerunner he’d not seen before – David would talk his
ear off. Soon as the local ripperdoc had new chrome,
David would be in his clinic, ogling it.
With all that curiosity bursting outta him, there’d be
times he’d get his ass kicked. But the curiosity wouldn’t
die, and David never thought to curb it. This one time,
the son of a 6th Street gangoon, pissed off at David,
found him, pinned him down and started punching. He
kept punching until he finally broke his own hand and
promptly started wailing like a little bitch with everybody
watching. David, covered in blood, laughed all the way
David Martinez
through the beating and for an hour after it. Which pretty
much meant no one in the ‘hood would touch David ever
again. And David was reassured that he was special, that
he would do great things in life.
membership in the Animals is close to being a world-class

athlete. But Pops came out on top. Ka-CHING! The Animals
paid out and took him on as a member.
Dorio’s mom didn’t love it, In fact, she didn’t like it one
bit. But it gave her a comfy life in Night City. Dorio and
Mom could spend their days training, and Mom’s doubts
were assuaged. Until there was this shootout. Animals
versus Voodoo Boys, both gangs decked out in heavy
weapons. Dorio’s Pop got caught in full automatic cross-
fire. The bullets ripped him apart – literally. A scrap of
his face was the sole identifiable piece left. The family’s
comfy life came crashing down. But it was never the
most important thing. Dorio and Mom lived on modestly,
and pumped iron, day after day.
Yet as it often does for young people, boredom crept
in. Dorio’s Mom had made a conscious decision to be a
professional athlete, to sacrifice all else and devote
herself. Dorio had not made this decision. And in time
she realized it was not the life for her. Then there was
her hatred of Night City’s gangs, which had begun with
Pop’s death, and only festered since. She had a special
place in the black corner of her heart for Animals and
Voodoo Boys. But there’s fuck all she could do about it
Dorio Gunnarsdóttir
as a weightlifter. She skipped a practice here, a meet
there, wandering the city streets instead, looking down
many a dark alley, searching for something –she didn’t
Born in Iceland, if you can believe it. Only natural, then,know what. Finally, she bought herself a gun – it seemed
that some mythological accents of the Norse variety organic, the natural thing to do. Then she trained her
appear in her background. Mom and Pop were both gaze on an Animal. Random guy. She observed. She fol-
accomplished athletes. Dorio’s childhood and youth lowed. She stalked. A thought began to bud in her mind.
were a blur – training in gyms, consuming uber-healthy This gonk, unaware of Dorio or anything that had hap-
meals, living out of suitcases while traveling from one pened to her, would die. She would kill him and quench
weight-lifting or track meet to the next. Her parents her rising hatred.
were essentially grooming her to be a world-class And so one night, she followed him to a bar. She
athlete. Until that is, Night City turned out to be a stop watched him drink. The guy drank a lot. When he got up
along the winding path of Dorio Gunnarsdóttir and her to use the john, she followed him there. As he vacated
‘rents. his bladder, she put the barrel of her gun to his head.
The fam arrived in NC for a track meet – a West Coast But she failed to pull the trigger. A split second later,
Grand Prix Circuit event. And it was this meet that she was on the floor with a broken nose. The Animal
proved transformative for Dorio’s Pop, though her Mom stood over her, the barrel of her gun now staring her
said outright that it had “broken him.” He emerged as the in the face. But he didn’t fire either because just then
event’s top hammer thrower and collected solid, if not his brain exploded – its pieces looked like glitter on the
overwhelming, prize money. Then he realized that what walls. Maine had dropped him. Maine, who had been
he had in hand was peanuts. ‘Cause he could make so much stalking Dorio while she’d been stalking the gangoon.
more by winning a single punch-up on the underground Maine, who now helped her up and said he was looking
fight circuit run by the Animals. One night, he signed up for for peeps for his crew of edgerunners. It only took a
a tournament. It was a hard slog ‘cause anyone vying for heartbeat for Dorio to sign on.
FALCO KIwi
Born in the Free State of Texas. Falco’s parents owned Kiwi has no recollection of her parents. Likely when she
vast swaths of land that they cultivated in close collabo- was not much older than a toddler, she was sold to a
ration with Biotechnica. Falco was due to take the reins corp factory where her small hands proved useful in
at the farm, but his favorite bit of work there involved the production of implant subassemblies. She worked
driving tractors. Not quite as prescribed, though. He alongside other kids and machines. The factory foreman
loved to hit the accelerator and keep it down, sending the took a liking to her. He protected her, helped her when
big machines zipping across the fields at speeds unimag- she needed it, and befriended her. When the time was
inable to any other tractor drivers. It wasn’t that his appropriate, he promoted her, gave her raises, and
tractors were better or that he tweaked their engines. ensured some level of comfort. And then came the time
It was just about having the cojones to do it. for payback. He propositioned her, framing it as a debt
Kiwi owed. When Kiwi refused, the foreman sold her off
Falco swapped his tractor seat for one in a stock car
to a den of iniquity.
and began entering races on the local circuit. He turned
out to be talented. Not only would he open the throttle But Kiwi was no ingénue. She came equipped with tech
wide, he also possessed a cool head that allowed him to knowledge from the factory, and savvy about subassem-
smoothly execute even the riskiest moves. Pretty soon blies, microcontrollers, and shards. She built a gizmo
he had conquered the local circuit and began thinking that inured her to sensations and cut off all emotional
globally, which took him onto the pro racing circuit. He responses to the work she had to do. It was a way to
reigned supreme there as well. survive. Two years in, a brutish client used his gorilla
arms to tear away a part of her jaw. She concluded she
After winning an unprecedented dozen-plus races in
would not have it reconstructed. She was done with her
a row, he started hankering for a new challenge. The
jaw and the cat house as well.
search for one took him to Night City, where he could
street race the craziest drivers from around the world Kiwi had been a quick learner for as long as she could
on some of the hardest, most dangerous urban courses remember. So while recovering from her encounter with
in existence. He didn’t always win and he liked that. Yet he the gorilla arms, she delved into netrunning. She found it
was among the best, chalking up night-race wins against satisfyingly challenging, which kept her motivated. Soon,
NC’s racing greats – Rearview and Jeremy Taylor. she used her newly acquired abilities to cause multiple
short circuits at both the cat house and her old factory,
It was Rearview who got him his first paid gig. He
causing both buildings burning down completely, the
collected a couple of edgerunners ands together they
proprietor and foreman inside.
pulled a heist at an Orbital Air warehouse. The crowd
at the Afterlife got to know and like Falco, and he came With all accounts now settled and a mask covering the
around to liking the kind of tension that came with lower half of her face, Kiwi decided to embark on a new
gigs he got from fixers. It was a satisfying life, and lifepath. She headed off for Night City, where she took
he mostly dropped racing, only hitting the occasional on small netrunning gigs. Then she met Rebecca, who in
course as a special guest. turn brought Kiwi into Maine’s edgerunner crew.
Born in Warsaw to a Polish-Japanese family. Lucy’s

father – Takeshi Kushinada – was a veteran of the 4th
Corporate War. When hostilities ended, he was assigned to
the Arasaka garrison in Warsaw. Her mother – Shimmer
– a member of a gang of Polish netrunners called 404
Squadron, dropped the underground life after meeting
Takeshi, falling in love and starting a family with him.
Lucy’s childhood was positively idyllic. She attended the
best schools and she and her family lacked for nothing, trav-
eled frequently, and while home, enjoyed a spacious villa and
garden in a luxury, gated, Arasaka community near Warsaw’s
northeastern city limits. The first blemish on their family bliss
appeared when seven year old Lucyna hacked into her dad’s
computer, and found info on his “achievements” during the
4th Corporate War. What she saw shocked her. She knew
him as her wondrous father, but the files proved him to be a
brutal beast; a monster who happily murdered mercilessly
whenever his superiors ordered him to.
The revelation planted something sour in Lucy’s chest,
a stinging, a burning that commanded her to rebel, to run
away from home, and to spend more and more time on
the Net. She proved to have a talent for netrunning of
the highest order. Her father, after recovering her from
her latest adventure, decided to couple this talent with
her penchant for running away. He forced his daughter
to take a skills test at Arasaka, after which she was
promptly assigned to the corp’s netrunner outfit.
Lucy’s task was recovering old, lost or archived info
and data resting somewhere in the depths of the Old
Net. Arasaka was drooling for info of the sort. But then
the kids from Lucy’s division started dying, dropping like
flies. And Lucy, once again, decided to run. She made it
out but thought it best not to go home, fearing what her
father would do if she returned. Instead, Lucy skipped
across Europe, sometimes trying to settle down. Only,
whenever Lucy dared to rest, she could sense her
mother, who had rejoined 404 Squadron, zeroing in on
her. Uncertain of her mother’s intentions, Lucy packed up
and fled again and again... until she finally found herself
on the other side of the Atlantic.
After roaming a good number of states, Lucy wound up
in Night City, thinking that no place on Earth was destined
to be her safe harbor. So she promised herself she’d
LUCY
amass the funds needed to flee to Luna. She started with
petty thefts, rarely, if ever, training her sights on fatter
loot. Until that is, she met Kiwi, another netrunner, who
gently folded Lucy into Maine’s crew.
The son of a jazz singer, a woman who traveled around

what used to be the lower 48, singing in bars and lounges,
hoping that some talent scout for a big promoter would
hear her and sign her on the spot. Which never hap-
pened, but something equally if not more momentous did.
Namely, the morning after a concert in Portland, Maine,
she puked… and promptly figured out she was pregnant.
Math was never her vibe, and she made a point of for-
getting any lovers she took, so she could not know who
the father was. What she did know, though, was that she
liked Portland, and the state of Maine had been good to
her in small ways, so she decided to settle down. She
signed on as a waitress at a local diner and kept at it
for ten years, while she raised her son, who she named
after the state.
Maine was a puny and sickly boy who got his ass kicked
regularly by peers and older kids alike. So he promised
himself he’d be stronger. Bigger and stronger than
anyone around. He started packing on size and strength
and fighting in the underground boxing circuit. With his
first prize purse, he bought his first bit of chrome – tita-
nium metacarpals and phalanges in his right hand so as
to knock his opponents out on his first solid contact with
their jaws. And knock them out he did.
After his mama passed away, Maine took jobs as
a bouncer at clubs. But he’d rarely stay long at any
one place, what with the mincemeat he’d make of the
faces of uppity ravers. One night, he slapped around
and dropped five fridge-sized dudes with identical,
patriotically-themed box cuts. When it turned out they
were NUSA SpecOps, the club promptly canned Maine.
Next day, Maine got a call with a job offer. From NUSA
SpecOps. Learning he could let his beast out and get paid
for it? Maine signed on without hesitation.
It wasn’t long before his bravado vanished. Watching
South American village after South American village burn
was just not conducive to maintaining a sense of it. After
serving two years, he took his discharge. A buddy from
his unit, Solomon Reed, offered work of a different sort
– specifically, work aimed at building a network of spies in
Night City to support the NUSA’s Unification War effort.
Though Maine turned Solomon down, he did acknowledge
that Night City was fertile ground for something. Not
Maine
soldiering, no, but independent contract work. And thus
Maine decided to become an edgerunner and form his
own crew.
Pilar Rebecca
Becca’s big bro, and probably the biggest fan ever of their Night City born and bred, Becca’s a true daughter of the
dad, the edgerunner Papa Sunrise. Pilar saw his dad as town, having ventured outside city limits a whopping two
nothing short of amazing. It was Papa Sunrise who inspired times in total. She is the daughter of NC royalty – her
Pilar and trained him in his early years. Pilar took some hard
father, Papa Sunrise was one of the city’s best known
shots, and it pained his dad to see it, but they stayed the edgerunners... until one day he vanished, as if the ground
course. And then Papa Sunrise up and disappeared. But had opened beneath him and swallowed him whole. Now
someone that impressive, well… no way he went down easy,
orphans, Becca and her big brother Pilar were forced
no way it was even fair. Pilar fervently believed his dad was
to fend for themselves in the big city. Their mother was
dropped (and dissolved). He pledged to find the killers and to
already gone, vanished when Rebecca was a mere six
murder them even harder than they’d murdered his dad. But
years of age. Papa Sunrise never liked to talk about her
first, he had his little sis to take care of.
except to admonish Becca for being just like mom: emo-
Did we mention life was tough? The family’s pad was tional, unpredictable, and too compassionate.
quickly repossessed to settle Papa Sunrise’s alleged
gambling debts, and the eddies from the family account Emotional, unpredictable, and too compassionate – that
evaporated mysteriously. So Pilar and his sis hit the was Rebecca in a nutshell and it harmed her budding
streets… to live there in their dad’s broken-down car. career as an edgerunner. For example, she was once late
Pilar promised Rebecca he’d get them off the streets to an important meet-up with Wakako Okada because she
fast, no matter what. He’d just show the town just how stood up for a defenseless waitress accosted by a crew
solid a merc he is, he’d be a well-known edgerunner in of Animals. On another occasion, she just had to stop and
days. Well… maybe weeks. cuddle a painfully cute pup, thus garnering the attention
But some or even most of his dad’s friends and acquain- of a group of passing scavs. Another time, instead of
tances turned their backs on the kids. Only a few – Wakako, blowing a target’s brains out, she spared him and took
who Pilar called “Auntie,” chief among them – proved willing him home, gave him a roof over his head. “Had such sad
to help, giving him gigs and recommending him to others. eyes, the poor gonk, ” she said.
Still, the going was tough, something always seemed to get
Papa Sunshine always believed that Becca’s zaniness
in the way of bagging the big score.
and her excessive compassion could lead her to an early
After a while, Pilar realized what his problem was – his grave and those traits formed a rift between her and her
chaotic sister Becca, sank every mission they went on. He brother as they embarked on their edgerunning careers.
needed help to reign her in. For a time, Rebecca wasn’t even sure she wanted to be
So Pilar signed on with Maine and his edgerunner crew. an edgerunner. She spent months soul searching, and for
And finally, he was on the path to realizing his dream of a minute there, she was leaning towards “no.” Then Pilar
becoming a Night City legend. introduced her to Maine and the rest is history.
Rules Reference
SKILL CHECKS
Attacker’s STAT + Skill + 1d10 vs. Defender’s STAT + Skill + 1d10 or Task Difficulty Value (DV)
You must beat the DV (surpass the DV by 1 or higher) and not just meet the DV.
Task DVs: 9 (Simple) • 13 (Everyday) • 15 (Difficult) • 17 (Professional)
21 (Heroic) • 24 (Incredible) • 29 (Legendary)
▶ Check Explosion ◀
If you roll a 10 on a 1d10 for a Check, roll again and add the second roll to the first. Do not roll again if you roll another 10.
▶ Check Implosion ◀
If you roll a 1 on a 1d10 for a Check, roll again and subtract the second roll from
your STAT + Skill + 1st roll. Do not roll again if you roll another 1.
▶ Trying Again ◀
Permission is granted to the user to print or copy this page.

If you fail a Check, you can’t try again unless your chances of success have improved for some reason.
▶ Complimentary Skill Checks ◀
With GM approval, a Character can make a single complimentary Skill Check to give a +1 bonus to the main Skill Check.
▶ Taking Extra Time ◀
Get a single +1 bonus to a Skill Check by spending 4x the required time on it.
▶ Using LUCK ◀
Each point of LUCK spent gives +1 to a Skill Check.
INITIATIVE & MOVEMENT RANGED ATTACKS

When a combat starts, Attacker’s REF + Relevant Weapon Skill + 1d10
everyone rolls Initiative.
vs. DV Determined by Range & Weapon
REF + 1d10
▶ On Your Turn ◀ MELEE ATTACKS
Your Turn = 1 Move Action + 1 other Action Attacker’s DEX + Relevant Melee Attack Skill + 1d10
▶ Move Actions ◀ vs. Defender’s DEX + Evasion Skill + 1d10
On your Turn you can move a number
of m/yds = to your MOVE x2 or a RATE OF FIRE (ROF)
number of squares = to your MOVE.
You can split your Move Action to
As part of an Attack Action, you can make
perform Check between movements
a number of Checks = to the ROF.
(move, shoot, move). This can be split across two weapons as
Special movement (climbing, jumping,
long as both weapons are ROF 2.
swimming, etc) is done at 1/2 MOVE.
AIMED SHOTS
-8 to the Attack Check in exchange for specifically aiming for the head. ROF 1.
CX300 • First Printing
Can aim Melee and Ranged Attacks.

On a hit, you deal x2 damage after Armor is subtracted.
© 2024 CD PROJEKT S.A. All rights reserved. CD PROJEKT, the CD PROJEKT logo, Cyberpunk, Cyberpunk 2077, the Cyberpunk 2077 logo, Phantom Liberty, the Phantom Liberty logo,
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and the SAMURAI logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of CD PROJEKT S.A. in the US and/or other countries.

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Mission kit

#1 STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE

THE ROLES NETRUNNERS

THE CORPORATE WARS

martial law, although the government’s reach didn’t » 1991

» 2007 Rache Bartmoss, arguably the world’s most skilled

» 2023 (continued) » 2053

An outbreak of “bird flu” kills 7,000 people in Night City.

CYBERPSYCHOSIS someone mentions cyberpsychosis isn’t that the world

THE MOB WARS

CITY CENTER Empathy: A club specializing in hardcore porn brain-

An example of government and corporate cooperation,

» Arroyo Rancho Coronado Public High School: An actual, honest-

Red Dirt: A small bar. It is best known as an early venue »

» Kabuki » Little China

Jig-Jig Street: The reddest of red-light districts in Night »Arasaka

» Militech » Night Corp

If you see someone with muscles so large they look » Maelstrom

LIFE ment in one of the city’s smaller complexes, or maybe in

WHAT YOU EAT

STAYING IN TOUCH Blackwall: A mysterious construction allegedly created by

The truth is, we don’t know much about Adam Smasher.

Tell me you remember… Tell me you remember those

membership in the Animals is close to being a world-class

Born in Warsaw to a Polish-Japanese family. Lucy’s

The son of a jazz singer, a woman who traveled around

Permission is granted to the user to print or copy this page.

INITIATIVE & MOVEMENT RANGED ATTACKS

Can aim Melee and Ranged Attacks.

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