ANSELM ZIELONKA

INTRODUCTION

to be played straight out of the box with the included pregenerated Char-
acters but could easily be run with fully customized Characters from the
core Cyberpunk Red -
ses, they could probably handle one additional unit in every combat. If,
for some reason, you want them to suffer (perhaps for the sin of power
gaming), have WorldSat undertake two separate strategies in Part Three
simultaneously.
by one of the Player Characters. How they came to own the building is your call, but we suggest you pick one of your Players
with dead parents and say that they inherited it three years ago. It’s one of the few non–Corporate owned apartments in Night
City, four blocks away from the Combat Zone. The Characters aren’t alone; their families might be with them, depending on their
Lifepaths. The building is also full of other tenants, some of whom are listed in Part One. Their rent helps cover needed repairs and
bribes needed to keep the building safe, and it all breaks even, barely. This close to the Zone, nobody comes to collect property
tax. The downside of this is that there are no government ser- to answer on principal, because she refuses to use the word
vices available in the area. So long as the relevant Fixer (Rex) -
is paid, most of the boostergangs don’t bother the building’s mates. Strangely, all three of these animals are totally natural,
inhabitants. It’s a good situation, and paradise when compared and not, like most animals in the dark future, created by Bio-
to the rest of Night City. technica. Gina doesn’t like to talk about where she got them,
The roof has a view of the city that could be on a postcard.
Of course somebody wants to take it from them. WorldSat has trust you, she won’t let you anywhere near Rico, Puddles, or
already determined that the Characters’ apartment complex
will be the location of their latest communications tower and
until her name and face got too recognizable and she was
forced into hiding. Biotechnica would love to get their cloning
up to you, but we’ve included some options in Parts Two and
reference animals back and would pay good money for infor-
Three that we know work well depending on what Roles your
mation leading to her arrest by Corporate security. She keeps
Characters are playing.
a loaded shotgun for the day they try. Use the statistics of the
Here’s the short version: In Part One, you’ll get Characters as Nomad pregenerated Character for Gina.
invested as possible in their apartment building. In Parts Two
and Three, a Corporation will try to take it from them. Char- Rico Robinson
Rico is another long–term tenant of the building. Everybody
urban paradise. Simple, right?
seems to know Rico, his music, or his old band. Each morning on

PART ONE: MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS which begins with several scales and evolves seamlessly into
experimental melodies. Though he typically begins in the morn-
After you’ve explained their situation with the apartment,
ing with the trumpet, Rico switches between several instruments
one by one have your Players introduce their Characters. Ask
before the afternoon, recording as he goes. During lunch, he
them about their Lifepaths. Are they in a relationship? Are their
mixes his recordings together, adding guitar and drums. He
parents dead? Do they have a younger sibling to take care
doesn’t stop playing when asked, but nobody has asked in a
of? Remember, as a GM, NPCs from Characters’ Lifepaths are
long time. When Rico was younger, he was part of a band
useful for making them feel invested in the world. Your Players
called The Night Children, who broke up almost as fast as they
have control of their Characters, but you have control of damn
got famous. Nowadays, Rico is semi–retired, and occasionally
near everything else, including their friends and families. If
plays the clubs around the Combat Zone as a solo act, accom-
panying himself with his own recordings. He is good friends with
into their friends or family members. Maybe they live with the
Gina, and they often share meals. Her salmon–crested cocka-
Character in their apartment, or next door. It’s your call. If a
Character really doesn’t want to board with their relative, ask
good friends with the bird that shares his name; whenever he
them if they would have kicked them out onto the street. It’s a
comes over to visit, it always greets him, “Hello Rico!–squawk–
tough world out there.
Once all the Players have introduced themselves and shared Character for Rico.
their Character’s Lifepath, it’s time to introduce the world
around them, starting with their neighbors. This area of Night The Andersons
City attracts those driven out to the fringes by the circumstances
of the dark future. Some would be eaten alive if they lived Anderson used to live on the street in the Combat Zone until
any closer to the Combat Zone, and this is the furthest they they were able to pool enough eurobucks together to crawl
can afford to run. Others like living near the criminal element
their single apartment, all members, biologically or otherwise,
at least three of these colorful Characters to share a wall, ceil- of Molly’s family: Judie Anderson, the tall one, Maurice Ander-
son, the short one, and Marco and Andy Anderson, the twins.
-
Gina Zepada tive, the Anderson Family is clearly a gang, and their match-
Gina has been living alone in her apartment since before ing A–N–D–E–R–S–O–N knuckle tattoos make it very easy to
the Characters moved in. She’s an animal lover. Sounds of make that inference. Having survived the daily trauma of life
squawking and mimicked human speech can be heard coming in the Combat Zone together, the Andersons have become one
from her apartment. When asked which of her three pets, Rico, cohesive unit that serves Molly’s will without question. They all,
her salmon–crested cockatoo, Puddles, her aldabra tortoise, however, claim they have never killed anyone they didn’t have
or Spooky, her veiled chameleon is her favorite, she refuses to. Nowadays, the Andersons do much less crime, violent or
otherwise, than they used to, and as a rule, never steal from Grant Jung
anybody living in the apartment building. Lately, Molly has
Grant is a Solo who works primarily for the local Fixer, Rex.
gotten into the good graces of the local Fixer, Rex, to keep the
Professionally, he goes by the handle Royal. Grant’s room is
family’s criminal acts sanctioned by the local underworld. Use
paid for as part of the building’s yearly payment to Rex that
the statistics of the Fixer pregenerated Character for Molly,
keeps the building safe from the area’s many boostergangs
and the street scum statistics for the rest of her family.
who would love to terrorize it. Rex has made it known far
Dr. Carver and wide that Royal lives in the apartment building, and that
information alone is a great deterrent. Despite his reputation,
Dr. George Carver moved into the apartment building only
Grant isn’t a bad neighbor to have. When he isn’t running
recently, to cut down on his nightly commute between Trauma
jobs for Rex, Grant loves to unwind by playing cards. Every
month, he organizes a community poker night on the roof of
to set up a second source of income for himself, an unlicensed
the building. Bets are made exclusively in mini liquor bottles.
surgery ward for illegal cyberware, colloquially referred to
as a Ripperdoc. George isn’t a medical doctor, but he knows Nobody cheats. The younger members of the Anderson family
his way around machines, which lets him get by, as most of his learned quickly not to play pranks on him after one of them
patients are more machine than human. Shortly after he moved had to visit Dr. Carver afterwards, for which Grant apologized.
in, he rented the apartment neighboring his, converting it into Grant doesn’t like people standing behind him, and his eyes
a sterile environment. He spends most of the day sleeping, as
every night he works in a high–stress environment and he needs doesn’t like to take his armor off, except behind his apartment’s
specially installed reinforced door. He won’t talk about it with
guitar, and Rico the cockatoo’s squawking, Dr. Carver lined his anyone who wouldn’t understand. Use the statistics of the Solo
walls with sound–dampening foam, which has helped him get pregenerated Character for Grant.
a lot more sleep. The foam also keeps the screaming of his
patients to a minimum, which helps the rest of the apartment PART TWO: SOMETHING’S
get more sleep. It’s a win–win. He would be happy to repair
any of the Characters’ damaged cyberware in exchange for a WRONG IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
break on the rent. Use the statistics of the Tech pregenerated
The Characters should have some time to interact with their
Character for Dr. Carver.
neighbors before they notice a black car has been parked
across the street from the apartment all day. Near the vehicle,
two private security in Militech uniforms guard a man standing
in front of an easel, making measurements while operating a
set of cameras mounted to each of his shoulders. The Char-
acters can’t see what’s displayed on the easel unless they get
closer. If Characters go investigate and are spotted, the private
security will approach and tell them to move along or they will
be shot. One warning is all they get. If they approach again,

In the event of a combat, use the booster statistics for the

man behind the easel, who gets into the car as soon as possible
to drive as far away as he can. An extraction team of four
private security will arrive to secure him in an hour if he’s cap-
tured or unable to escape. Characters who get close enough to
the easel to get a glimpse, or beat information out of the man,
learn WorldSat is planning to tear down their apartment build-
ing to install a communications tower in its place. Even more
distressing, scribbled near the bottom of the plans is tomorrow’s
date. Judging by the fact that they haven’t already asked, they
probably aren’t going to. Characters who aren’t able to get
this information, either by the means listed above, or their own
research, simply aren’t warned in advance of what’s coming for
them in Part Three.
 ing. Should the Characters attempt to hang up the call, the
PART THREE: CORPORATE WRATH Agent won’t be able to drop it. The person on the other end of
Later in the day, the CitiNet goes down in a quarter mile the phone claims to be an employee of WorldSat who wants
radius centered on the Characters’ apartment building, ren- to end this situation without violence. They offer the Character
dering communication via Agent useless, and the Data Pool 100,000 eurobucks for the building, and will show them the
inaccessible. Simultaneously, discreetly placed radio jammers money if they come to the window to see it. If the Character
all over the same area shut down radio–based communications. goes to the window, two Private Security 25m away on the
WorldSat giveth, WorldSat taketh away. People panic, and 90 street shoot at them. If they don’t fall for the bait, combat begins
percent of the apartment goes into hiding. The remaining 10
percent arm themselves. The neighbors from Part Two are part window. When combat starts, two additional private security
of the 10 percent. What happens next is up to you. What fol-
lows are four options that we know work well. We recommend

are playing. voice is Julian Adder, better known by his handle, Streamline, a
Solo that works almost exclusively for WorldSat. Use the statis-
Where There’s Smoke tics of the Solo pregenerated Character for him. He’s watching
Recommended if you have a Tech in the party.
the street, putting him 25 meters away from the action on the

building with its lights on, parking across the street. A team uncovers Julian’s hiding spot before he reveals himself. When
the tide of the battle seems to be turning against his forces,

ushering people out of the building. While they may be dressed

the building for demolition. Their disguises are excellent, and over, no additional reinforcements arrive. WorldSat backs off,
they’ve rehearsed their Roles well. After they clear out some of forced to re–evaluate their plans, having lost a key asset.

the rooms to add to the ruse, locking the doors to said rooms to It’s Just Business
keep them from being discovered. Seeing through their costume Recommended if your Players fall deeply in love with
requires a keen eye, and a DV16 Perception Check. The smoke their neighbors.
The Characters wait for something bad to happen, but noth-
second phase of WorldSat’s plan begins: The smoke emitters ing does. Two of the neighbors you introduced in Part Two stand
beside the party, ready to defend the apartment building
which were set to explode in one hour. When the Characters alongside them... or so it seems. One of the neighbors has an
learn of this, twenty minutes remain on the timer. Defusing one idea, to search the building room by room for jammers blocking
is a DV18 Basic Tech Check. Half of the time remaining on the
timer disappears whenever the Check is failed or the bomb is need half of the party to accompany them to speed up the
search. Another neighbor wants to gather a group to go talk
If all of the bombs go off, the building crumbles in on itself, to Rex, the Fixer in charge of this area. The streets aren’t safe
completely demolished. If only one or two bombs go off, the after dark, so they invite the other half of the party with them.
apartment building falls into the building on its left or right, If the Characters agree, one group heads into an alley where
crunching its neighbor in the process, nearly causing a domino a single private security waits to ambush them, and the other
effect. If all of the bombs are disabled, the threat is contained,
for now. WorldSat must re–evaluate their plan for the commu- another private security hides for an ambush. Both ambushes
nications tower, and they settle on a new location with fewer happen simultaneously, and the Characters realize their trusted
local risk factors. neighbors betrayed them when they turn their guns on them
during the ambush. Combine both of these encounters together
Unknown Caller if the Characters refuse to split the party but still follow their
neighbors into one of the ambushes. Their reasons for betray-
Recommended if your Players (or you) love combat. ing the Characters are as follows: Gina was blackmailed by
During the chaos, somebody’s Agent rings, which is strange WorldSat with information from her past. Rico’s old band
because everybody’s Agent is jammed. The voice on the phone member is WorldSat’s hostage. The Andersons were offered
asks to speak to the Character who owns the apartment build- a great deal of money to betray the Characters, as was Dr.
Carver. Grant was hired through Rex by WorldSat to betray
the Characters. Whatever the reason, their betrayal culminates, CONCLUSION: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
most likely, in their death. After the tragic scene, no reinforce- If the apartment building is still standing in the morning, the
ments arrive from WorldSat. The failure causes the Corporation Characters are victorious. Sometime during the following day,
to rethink their plans, and they decide on a new location for the jammers hidden in neighboring buildings are discovered
their communications tower. and destroyed. The CitiNet is also restored to the area. The
other tenants in the apartment building throw a party for the
Hack Attack Characters, and for a short few months after the incident, pay
Recommended only if you have a Netrunner in the party. their rent on time with greater frequency, which makes their
landlord's job much easier. While the Characters are no richer
Amid the chaos, a helicopter approaches the roof of the than they were before, their reputations have grown to level 3
around their neighborhood. Jobs will be considerably easier to
security and a secretive Netrunner known only by her handle,
Crunch. Use the Netrunner pregenerated Character for her
statistics. After the strike team lands on the roof, they split into out, check out the screamsheets for adventures the Characters
two groups: Three of the private security head down the stairs can take on next. The screamsheet Precious Cargo is a good
to eliminate the owner of the building, who they know lives on next step if your Players are newer to roleplaying. If they

as she accesses the building’s network via a company backdoor might be more up their alley. There is so much more to explore,
built into the satellite dish on the roof. Once in the building’s both in Night City and beyond.
NET, Crunch quickly gains access to the building’s control nodes.

alarm, apartment lights, hallway lights, and elevators. Immedi-

good measure. The combined annoyance gives a -5 to any roll

owner of the apartment into the hallway, so the team of three

another room, Crunch makes that room equally awful. If one of

the Characters is a Netrunner, they can enter the building’s net-

to put a stop to Crunch’s meddling. If the Characters dispatch

the team of three private security, Crunch orders the remaining

is still in control of the building’s network, Crunch cuts all of

escape on the roof, she abandons her Corporate gig, as she’s

reinforcements arrive from WorldSat. For now, the apartment

building is safe.

The Apartment Building’s Network

Level Encounter Ability (DV)
1 Password (Backdoor DV15)
2 Control Node (Control DV12)
Sprinklers,
Fire Alarm
3 Control Node (Control DV12)
Elevators
4 Control Node (Control DV12)
Lights
ALEXANDER DUDAR