What’s up, Night City choomers and doomers? It’s your favorite primitive screwhead, Dead Language, and I’ve got a fun one for all of you today, especially for those of you noobs just getting into Cyberpunk, and longtime fans looking for a bit of a blast to the past.
If you are new to the CP tabletop game, you’ve probably quickly noticed that there are a TON of Sourcebooks to indulge in, especially from the CP 2020 era. When I first got into the game, it felt a little intimidating trying to figure out where to start. Fortunately, there are a lot of dope resources online and YouTube creators that have made videos to help you navigate the new terrain.
While this is not a complete and thorough guide on sourcebooks, I would like to impart one key point to new players who are feeling a bit skeptical on where to begin, and even some seasoned players who may have forgotten these concepts: The Cyberpunk 2020 books still, and will always, matter.
As the 2020 books were created in the late 80s, and into the early 90s, Mike Pondsmith and the team at R. Talsorian created a vision of 2020 that today, for new players, may feel really dated, especially when juxtaposed with the very sleek and polished, more modernized RED sourcebooks.
But it cannot be forgotten that the 2020 books also contain not just a wealth of content and ideas GMs can incorporate into their games, even if they are running stories in 2045, but they are also incredibly valuable sources of lore.
For me, as someone who truly loves a good story, lore is everything, and it was a huge part of why I fell in love with the world of Cyberpunk.
The 2020 sourcebooks have a special place in my heart, and GM Rob Mulligan, a veteran of the game and the head of Cybernation, definitely feels the same way.
So here’s a few of Rob’s favorite sourcebooks, along with small blurbs about why they are worth a look. I’ve also included a few I thought were worth honorable mention. Each heading contains a link to the R. Talsorian store, so you can purchase (and support their team) a specific title you’d like to add to your collection.
So let’s dive right in!
Night City – A City Sourcebook for Cyberpunk 2020
GM Rob Mulligan: “My all-time favorites definitely include the Night City Sourcebook because it has ALL the info about night city – from locations to gangs to NPCs – and it was crucial in bringing cyberpunk to life!”
Dead Language: This list would not be complete without this sourcebook. When we asked the CyberNation on social media what some of their favorites were, just about every list referenced the NC sourcebook.
This book contains a wealth of lore, and so much a GM can use in their games, such as maps of popular districts in Night City.
And for those that haven’t heard, R. Talsorian recently announced a revision of this book for the Time of the Red, which they’ve promised to release sometime this fall.
Listen Up, You Primitive Screwheads!!!! – The Unexpurgated Cyberpunk Referee’s Guide
GM RM: “Listen up you primitive screwheads is also a favorite! So many great GM tips and tricks to balance and keep you thinking of ideas. Just a good resource for thinking like a GM.”
DL: This book is fantastic, and absolutely a must-have for aspiring Cyberpunk GMs. It’s so good, that I would argue there is enough great content for GMs of other titles beyond GM.
From its title that references the campy Evil Dead movie Army of Darkness, to the various essays within it, this book doesn’t take itself too seriously, which makes it fun to read. It also includes insight from Maximum Mike himself, and who better to learn from about how to run a game than the man who created it?
Chromebook 1/2 & Chromebook 3/4
GM Rob: “The Chrome books in no order honestly, no favorites – I love them all for different reasons. They all have fun gear or cyberware or weapons or something cool and new, and when I was a kid it was exciting to expand the world with those books. And the art was SICK! It really helped make things so immersive!”
DL: I have to be honest – the Chromebooks are one of the few 2020 books missing from my collection. But, I do own the Chromebook for RED, and as a continuation of the series, it definitely holds up as an important resource in helping GMs expand and make their games even more engaging by adding all sorts of new weapons, vehicles, and tech to the mix.
Morgan Blackhand’s Street Weapons 2020 – The Cyberpunk Weapons Collection
GM RM: “it expands what everyone loves… WEAPONS!!!! – It’s that simple!”
DL: Yet another book I definitely need to add to my collection!
For those that don’t know, Morgan Blackhand is to Solos what Rache Bartmoss is to net runners – both are icons of the Cyberpunk universe that have achieved “Legend” status in Night City. If you are a GM that loves, loves, LOVES combat and weaponry, than this is the sourcebook for you.
The downloads page on R. Talsorian’s website also contains some guides to making modifications to 2020 weapons so that you can’t implement them into your RED games!
Home of the Brave – The Sourcebook for America in the Dark Future
DL: So this is the part where I want to bring up two books that GM Rob and others in the Cybernation community didn’t mention. The first of which is Home of the Brave.
There is… something incredibly prophetic about this book. It goes in SUPER DEEP to answer the burning question of how Night City became the way that it was in 2020. It gives detailed backstories to the corporate wars and how it affected not just the citizens of Night City, but also the social structure as a whole.
Back when it was written, I’m sure it was entertaining, as it served as an exaggerated look at problems the US has always faced, but in today’s day, I find myself relating far more to the grim state of Night City than I’d like to admit.
Live & Direct – Multimedia in the Cyberpunk Age
DL: And finally, no one, and I mean no one, seems to like the media these days, and in my experience, the media character role has never been that popular.
As a journalist (in the real world and on the net CyberNation), the role has always fascinated me, which is why I purchased this book as one of my first sourcebooks, and I absolutely love it. Media characters are the unsung heroes of the Cyberpunk universe. While there are definitely corpo-versions of media figures, there is a strong, underground network of journalists that do it to watch the watchers, to keep corporate and political powers in check, and to rage against the machine.
Live & Direct covers all of that, and then some, and reads almost like it was written out of a love and adoration for the golden years of American media, while at the same time, being critical of it, in the same vain as the 1976 film Network. While it’s not a must-have for GMs, it can definitely help make for some interesting story ideas.
So that about sums things up! If you are a GM, and would like to discuss your favorite sourcebooks that didn’t make the cut (and possibly contribute to a Part 2 of this list), let us know in the CyberNation Uncensored Discord server!
Until next time, chooms!
– DL
