What’s the best source of lore? I’m considering buying Cyberpunk Red but unsure…
What’s the best source of lore? I’m considering buying Cyberpunk Red but unsure…
26 Comments
If you’re not planning on forming a group and trying the tabletop game out I’m not sure I’d spend the money on the book. There’s bits of lore in there but it’s mixed in with rules for the TTRPG, if you’re just looking for lore it’s not worth $60.
Wisefish on youtube has some excellent lore videos
https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Sourcebooks
You already own half of the sourcebook. Look for it on your installation’s extras.
What system do you have the game on?
I ask because the gog pc version came with a pdf of the 2020 source book. I don’t know if this was exclusive to gog\pc, but though it worth mentioning.
If you’re just interested in the lore, the Wiki is a really solid and well-cited resource.
CP2020 was very good and impactful
All the source material was made public domain by Mike because being woke and going broke…oh wait, being cool and playing the long game has always been cool!
(Public domain, not copyright free, so enjoy but don’t exploit it đź‘Ť)
William Gibson’s Books 🙂 on witch the game is based of. Not the Video game only the Board game. The video game is just based on the board game … That is based on the books 🙂 Don’t talk about it, it’s hush hush. Arasaka is sending Ninjas after me already.
Unfortunately Cyberpunk for whatever reason just doesn’t have the amount of lore available that many other fictional universes do. It’s not like Warhammer 40K or Star Wars where the amount of lore material is totally overkill.
I mean, you could try the 2020 sourcebook along with some of the worldbooks like Home of the Brave if you can get them cheap, but they’re not really in depth when it comes to world building.
They’re gearing up for a 2077/Edgerunners book coming out soon, I’d recommend waiting for that if you’re interested in the lore. RED takes place 40 years before the game and anime, so a lot of it’s information is sorta outdated, as it’s essentially during the Great Depression.
There are three main options. The first is the [Cyberpunk Wiki,](https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Cyberpunk_Wiki) which while I have many issues with it, is still the best place for newcomers to get an easy entrance into the universe. The next would be the various Cyberpunk lore YT channels, though the only one I can personally wholeheartedly endorse is [LayedBackGamers,](https://www.youtube.com/@LayedBackGamers) as I’ve had several personal convos with them regarding deep aspects of this world’s lore that give me confidence in their work. The final option is to get all the TTRPG books yourself and read through them, as I did, though that does cost money and takes time. Almost all of them are available on DriveThruRPG as digital PDFs, though if you really want physical copies, they will be much harder to acquire. Still, they will give you the most accurate information. [Here’s an excellent reading list of all the books,](https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkred/comments/xrcm1g/cyberpunk_trpg_buying_guide/) if you are unsure what to get. If you want to know world lore, I’d recommend starting with something like Home of the Brave, as it’s got a great overview of the general history of the world and details every U.S. territory and many cities as of 2020. I can give more specific recommendations if you want to learn about anything in particular, though.
You can get Reds book for free somewhere. I believe the official website. I remember they stated it’ll be free for everyone when the newest iteration released
I personally watch YouTube videos and read the wiki, they usually got the info u need from Cyberpunk universe beyond 77.
the black-wall lore itself is a great way to get stoked about the story and inner lore of the game!
Worth it
I just can’t get enough of the art for these covers. I mean look at the guy just absolutely chugging with the FUCKING Alienware desktop in hand. Just love it
So I picked up red and there is some good stuff in there, but yeah it’s pricey. I buy a lot of books for weird price ranges though and felt like its worth having because it’s such an obscure subject.
I have this book and the Jumpstart kit. I love reading up and down the books.
You can check out these two channels:
1) https://youtube.com/@watchmangaminglore
2) https://youtube.com/@everberon
Imo they are both way better than the “wise fish ” one.
You own Cyberpunk 2020, it’s in the game files and has some chunky lore.
Can we just all agree that we’re not preordering until we see console footage?
There’s a manga haven’t red it but apparently there’s som pov from Morgan black hand
BIG FYI: Cyberpunk Red is set during the year 2045. If you want to play a game set in 2077, you will need the edge runners mission kit.
You can read all of cyberpunk red online. you only need to buy it if youre planning on actually having friends over to play it
Keep an eye on Humble. I got a *lot* of those books for $20 I think? Tons if Lore woven into the rules and such.