Cyberpunk RED Character Creation
Build your edgerunner
Create a chrome-enhanced survivor for the streets of Night City. Choose your role, distribute stats, pick skills, and gear up for the dark future.
Quick Reference
Step 1: Choose Your Role
Your Role defines who you are in Night City. Each Role has a unique ability that shapes how you interact with the world. Pick the one that matches the kind of character you want to play.
Professional combat specialists, mercenaries, and bodyguards. You live by the gun and survive by being faster and deadlier than everyone else.
Digital cowboys who hack into the NET, breaking ICE and stealing data. The architecture of cyberspace is your playground.
Inventors and mechanics who build, repair, and upgrade equipment. If it's broken, you fix it. If it doesn't exist, you make it.
Street doctors and trauma surgeons who keep people alive in the combat zone. In Night City, everyone needs a ripperdoc.
Investigative journalists and influencers who expose the truth. Your stories can topple corporations or start revolutions.
Corporate operatives with resources and connections. You play the corporate game, commanding teams and managing assets.
Law enforcement officers trying to maintain order in a chaotic world. When things go bad, you call in the cavalry.
Deal-makers and information brokers who know everyone and everything. You're the one who makes things happen.
Road warriors with a tight-knit family and vehicular expertise. The highway is your home, your family is your crew.
Rebellious performers who use art and charisma to inspire change. Your music is your weapon, your fans are your army.
Step 2: Distribute Stats
You have 62 points to distribute among 10 stats. Each stat must be between 2-8 (Luck can go to 10). Think about your Role: Solos need REF and BODY, Netrunners want INT and TECH, social characters prioritize COOL and EMP.
- • Primary (7-8): 2 stats you excel at
- • Secondary (5-6): 3-4 stats that support your build
- • Tertiary (3-4): Everything else
Problem-solving, planning, and technical analysis. Essential for Netrunners and Techs.
Reaction time and hand-eye coordination. Critical for combat and ranged weapons.
Fine motor control and agility. Important for stealth and precise tasks.
Understanding and working with technology. Vital for repairs and crafting.
Staying calm under pressure. Affects social skills and nerve in combat.
Mental toughness and determination. Helps resist fear and pain.
Fate breaking your way. Spend to boost critical rolls. Range: 2-10.
How fast you move across the battlefield. Affects positioning.
Physical toughness and mass. Determines HP and carrying capacity.
Human connection and intuition. Governs Humanity. Cyberware reduces this.
Step 3: Assign Skills
You have 86 points to spend on skills. No skill can exceed 6 at creation (except Languages and Role Ability). Focus on 3-5 core skills rather than spreading thin.
Keep Perception high to avoid ambushes and spot hidden threats.
Athletics helps with chases and physical challenges.
Essential for Nomads. Others need at least basic driving.
Evasion is useful for everyone. Solos want high combat skills.
Pick one ranged specialty. Handgun is the most versatile.
Streetwise helps everyone navigate Night City's underworld.
First Aid saves lives. Tech roles need specialized skills here.
Education and Deduction help solve mysteries and gather intel.
Step 4: Create Your Lifepath
Lifepath creates your character's history. You can roll randomly or choose elements that fit your concept. This is more than backstory. It creates NPCs, hooks, and connections your GM can use in play.
- • Cultural origin and language
- • Family background and status
- • Childhood environment
- • Personality traits
- • Friends who have your back
- • Enemies who want you gone
- • Romantic entanglements
- • Past life events (good and bad)
- • What you value most
- • How you feel about people
- • What you would do for eddies
- • Your most prized possession
- • Clothing style
- • Hairstyle
- • Distinguishing features
- • Personal quirks
Step 5: Gear Up
Each Role gets a starting gear package with weapons, armor, and equipment. You also choose starting cyberware, but remember, every piece of chrome costs Humanity.
Your Role package includes appropriate weapons. Solos get combat gear, Netrunners get compact sidearms, Nomads get vehicle-mounted weapons.
Armor has SP (Stopping Power) values. Light armor is subtle, heavy armor is obvious. Balance protection against mobility and social situations.
Cyberware enhances your body but costs Humanity (EMP × 10 minus losses). Common starter chrome: neural link, cyberoptics, cyberaudio.
Your starting Humanity is EMP × 10. If you have EMP 6, you start with 60 Humanity. Heavy cyberware can cost 14+ points each. Go too low and your character becomes unstable. Balance your chrome against your humanity.
Step 6: Calculate Derived Stats
Once you set your stats and cyberware, calculate your derived values. These determine how tough you are and how well you survive combat.