Cyberpunk Edgerunners Mission Kit Solo Log Part 2 (Plus Food & Drink Generator)

 (Check out Part 1 here)

Diners and Dives

 

Between the light, evening traffic and Wrench’s skill at the wheel, the edgerunner crew was able to cover the distance from the Southern Badlands to Watson quickly.

The coordinates on the tracking device led them to a Tom’s Diner, a 24-hour franchise and Night City institution, tucked between Bradbury and Urmland St. under the shadow of Megabuilding 10.  The large, neon burger sign wreathed with a Lady Liberty crown and the Tom’s logo looked like some grotesque temple to a mythical America gone by.  Such “authentic” experiences could be packaged and sold, according to megacorp focus groups, mostly because no one remembers what old ‘Merica was like before the collapse of the 1990’s.  It might as well have existed somewhere on the borders of Camelot and Narnia, for all your average gonk on the street knew, or cared.

Wrench managed to find street parking and the group decided to split up to investigate the area.  Maven and Wrench walked the outside of the diner near Urmland Street, while Hardpoint and Thorn went inside.  

There was barely anyone at the place at this hour, and no one sporting a yellow jacket.  Thorn chatted up the man working at the counter, who unfortunately wasn’t old Tom or one of his rumored, biosculpt doubles.  Shame; the old-timey, greasy-spoon diner with the grizzled, old cook was the whole selling point of the place (it certainly wasn’t the food.)  

Hardpoint scanned the few patrons seated in the diner booths when she spotted a familiar face from her past, one that made the temperature in her blood rise.  The woman answered by the handle of “Spike” on the Street.

 
Hardpoint and Spike went back a long time, to the Northside Industrial District (NID) combat zone.  The two played as children in the trashed out, abandoned motel they both lived in, happily skipping over BDing (or ODing) gonks, avoiding stranger-danger (which was everywhere,) and learning the facts of life from aging, but wiser joytoys, now semi-retired.

Spike was a couple of years older than Hardpoint, so their social circles diverged by their teenage years.  They reconnected later, after Hardpoint's “family,” a band of scavs that had taken her in, was wiped out by rival group.  One of them had been special to the the solo, her first mainline, killed in the crossfire.  Back then, Hardpoint had not been able to save her, and would have died if she hadn't run for her life.  She returned to the scene later, only to find there was nothing left for her to remember her first mainline by. The rival scavs had taken anything and everything that could be salvaged.  It was as if her “family” had never existed.

Spike, who hung out (and stuffed it with) low-level, Malestrom gangoons, took Hardpoint under her wing.  The former scav learned how to fight from the chromed boostergangers and also, how to use those skills to make eddies for the guns and cyberware that mean the difference between success and a nameless death in the NID.  Hardpoint was a good student; she was very angry at the world then, and with her new, chromed chooms, she eventually found an opportunity to make those scavs pay.  The events are still the subject of NID legend. 

Not long after that, Spike and Hardpoint became closer, and then some, after Spike ended things with her Maelstrom input in what may have been a literal, blow-up fight (witnesses claim there was a grenade involved.)

Unfortunately, Spike also eventually taught Hardpoint a difficult lesson: you can’t trust everyone, even those close to you.  Spike wasn’t content moving up the Maelstrom ladder; she wanted out of Watson. She had made a deal with the Valentinos, who were at war with Malestrom at the time, to haze her Maelstrom chooms (and Hardpoint) to a well-timed ambush.  The gangoon hit-team iced the Malestrom crew save for Hardpoint, whose induction into the Valentinos along with Spike was part of the deal.  However, all Spike earned was Hardpoint’s scorn.  You can’t survive alone in the NID, so you stand by your people, even if they are a boostergang.  While Spike was able to convince the Valentinos to let Hardpoint go, the two went their separate ways, and had not spoken to each other since; until tonight.

Spike munched casually on a scopburger as if she didn’t notice Hardpoint’s approach, but her optics didn’t leave Hardpoint for a second.  She deliberately took her time with the meal to anger the solo.  She knew that she was the only one who could get to her like that.

“I see you’re still sporting Valentino colors.” Hardpoint recovered her composure and became icy.  The solo had learned to channel her anger over the years into a cold, sharp weapon.  She noticed that Spike's chrome was red and gold now; more stylish than her old Northside look.  She even traded the large, red optics for gold Kiroshis.

“Mhmm.”  Spike popped the last piece of scop burger into her mouth.  Her gilded jaw-chrome glinted in the diner’s flickering, artificial light as she chewed, swallowed, and spoke:  “You change your mind about joining up?  Don’t know if it will be easy for you this time.”  Spike ran her tongue along her teeth with her mouth closed, then smiled at Hardpoint with clean teeth in a predatory manner.  The solo couldn’t tell if Spike’s chrome refurb included anything dangerous, but that said, she didn’t think Spike was her match in combat, if it ever came to that.

“No thanks.  I’m on a job,” the solo said. “The way I see it, you owe me, so talk: I’m looking for someone with a yellow jacket; green design.  Seen them?” 

“Aww…baby girl’s all grown up with a new jjjooob!”  Spike’s mocking tone was auto-tuned by vocal mods.  The two had spent more than a few, drunken nights belting out karaoke tunes in Kabuki back in the “good ‘ol days.”  Spike was the real deal.  She could go far as a rockergirl, if she didn’t waste her time stuffing it with gangoons, that is.

Spike’s childish facial expression turned ugly, with a slight nervous tic; could be a side-effect of back-alley ripperdoc work.  “Listen, I don’t owe you scop!  If it wasn’t for me, you’d be a smear of blood and chrome along with those other Maelstrom gonks.  At least I got us out of the Zone.  Shit!  You should be thanking me on your knees and worshiping the Midnight Lady!”  Spike spread her legs crudely and put her foot up on the table to make her point.  It was an old, private joke between them.  Hardpoint’s expression indicated she had no intention of finding out whether Spike had actually gone through with getting that infamous implant; now a whole line of sexy-ware.

Spike put her leg back down and sighed.  “Fine, I’ll tell you what I know, for old time’s sake.  You’re not as fun as you used to be, you know.” 

Spike mentioned that she had seen someone by that description, with red and blue hair.  The gonk ran off in a stolen car before its owners, who were definitely not from Watson, realized what was happening.  Then, some black suits appeared out of nowhere.  They iced the car’s owners after a short exchange:  fast, clean, and professional.  It left a pretty sick sight in the gutter, but Spike was so hungry that she just walked over the bodies to get some eats; just another night in the city.  What she didn’t tell Hardpoint was that she was there on behalf of the Valentinos; on lookout should the gonk in the yellow jacket, or anyone looking for him, happened to return.  

As Hardpoint turned to leave, Spike yelled after her: “You got my detes!  Call me sometime, bitch!”  She lifted her leg up on the table again.  Hardpoint scowled and left to the sound of auto-tuned laughter.  Thorn was waiting outside, smoking.  She told him what she had learned.

“I got a similar story from the not-Tom," the rockerboy said.  “Some outsiders came in for coffee then got into a shootout outside.  NCPD came in to investigate later, but scavs had already gotten to the bodies to sell off their chrome.  You all right?”  He could see that Hardpoint was perturbed.

“It’s nothing,” she replied.  “There’s Wrench and Maven.”   The bulky nomad and small techie approaching together down the alley from the multi-colored lights of Urmland Street made for a funny sight, like something out of a fantasy VR: the ogre and the pixie princess.  This improved Hardpoint’s mood somewhat, but it also brought memories of that one time she got to experience a VR game until Fyodor, the head of her former, scav “family,” knocked it out of her head with an admonishment to “not gonk around with merchandise.”

Wrench asked: “What did you all find out?  I caught some scav kids stripping a bike down the street, but they ran off before I could catch the little gonks.  What was left looked like it had boostergang colors; red and gold, with one of those Mexican skulls.”  That caught Hardpoint’s attention.  Spike wasn’t telling the whole story; figures.

Hardpoint and Thorn told the other two what they had learned.  Maven piped up:  “I found a beat-up surveillance camera, but I can’t get the footage straight from the outer hardware; no idea where it might be stored.”  She frowned.  This was the second time she felt like she had failed the crew on this gig.

Wrench reassured her with a large cyberhand on her small shoulder.  The gesture was patronizing, but sincere.  “Don’t worry, little sister, we got a good lead.  It sounds to me like those unfortunate gonks were nomads, but trying hard not to look the part.  I’d bet my van on it!  Still, where do the Valentinos fit into it?  Turf war? Deal gone bad?  And who’s the guy that stole the yellow jacket running with?  Nomads or Valentinos?  Or nobody, like just a bad coincidence.  Shit…my side hurts.” 

Hardpoint looked in the direction of the diner.  She couldn’t tell through the grease-fogged windows whether Spike was still there watching them.  She looked back at Wrench.  “El Coyote Cojo,” she said.  Wrench looked at her quizzically, rubbed the back of his head with one hand, and his aching ribs with the other.  “You need detes on the Valentinos?  That’s the place to go.  It’s a bar; gang hangout in Heywood, but they respect the owner enough to not cause trouble."

“Well, I need a drink anyway, so let’s go!”  Wrench stomped towards his van as the crew followed behind.

“One thing wasn’t a coincidence,”  Thorn said as they walked back to their ride.  “Those suits were probably corpo agents; maybe Militech or Arasaka.  This gig just got more complicated.”

“Heh!  Then we’ll just have to wring that old cowboy for more eddies!”  Wrench revved up the van and the edgerunners were off to Heywood.

***

The edgerunners arrived at El Coyote Cojo some time past midnight.  The dive was pretty busy despite the late hour, with locals drinking, talking, or shooting pool; no corpo zoner tourists among them, though.  This was the kind of place you typically didn't show your face at unless they knew your name.  The edgerunners could feel eyes on them, sizing them up.

The bearded, leather-vested bartender was business-like when Thorn approached; not unfriendly, but not exactly friendly, either: “What’ll it be?”  He said in a rough voice with a Chicano accent.  Thorn was about to answer when a young teen with stylish, freshly-cropped hair approached him:  “Thorn?!  From Thorns on Roses?!  Holy shit!  Nova!  I love your music, choom!”  Thorn was taken by surprise.  He wasn’t usually recognized without his music gig getup, and he was not keen on it, either; not while on a job, but there was an opportunity here.  He feigned looking around suspiciously “Yeah, choom, but don’t tell too many people.  It’s my night off.” 

“Right on, right on.  Lips are sealed and shit.  What brings you here?”  The star-struck kid asked.

“Well, I’ll let you in on something,"  Thorn replied.  “I’m looking for someone, red and blue hair; wears a yellow jacket with a green design.  Seen anyone like that?” 

“Nah...but my choomba might know!  He knows everyone around here!”  The kid turned towards some stairs next to the bar, and motioned for Thorn and the others to follow.  The bartender scowled, but shrugged and went back to wiping glasses. He turned his attention to an older woman bringing a crate of beer bottles from the back of the bar.  

The teen led the edgerunners upstairs to see a large man relaxing confidently at a booth as if he owned the place.  He was about the size of Wrench, with a studded, leather edgerunnner jacket over a tank-top.  His hair was done up in a retro, Street ronin style very few edgerunners would be caught dead sporting these days, but he made it work; who was going to tell a big guy like that any different?  It was likely that he was an edgerunner himself.  

The ronin was talking with someone, probably a another edgerunner; didn't wear gangoon colors.  They had a ratty, black t-shirt with a beat-up, yellow emoji face and faded jeans.  Hardpoint noticed the shape of a pistol tucked under the shirt behind their back. 

“All right, let me know when Padre has that gig lined up for us.  I need a new set of wheels, plus I don’t wanna keep imposing on Mama Welles.  Gotta get my own place.” the second edgerunnner said to the ronin. 

“Bah!   No te preocupes, V!”  The ronin replied with an accent not unlike the bartender’s.  “Mama loves you like one of her own, but I get it if you need your space.”   They stood up, did a choomy handshake, and embraced.  “See ya, Jackie,” the edgerunner, “V” said with a smile.  “Later, V!”  V turned and left with a brief glance at the edgerunner crew.  The ronin, Jackie, also turned his attention to the approaching group.

“Hey Jackie!  Check it out!  This is Thorn!  From Thorns on Roses!  That preem band I went to see the other week.  He’s got some questions and I told him you could help him out.  Err…is that ok?”  The kid said.  It was evident the kid looked up to the big guy, and desperately sought his approval.

Jackie expressed a microsecond of annoyance, but his face brightened up:“It’s ok, Miguel.”  Waving the teen’s concerns away made the kid smile.  The ronin spread his arms in a welcoming gesture at the crew.

“Hey chooms!  Sit down, chooms, sit down.  Ain’t never seen you here before.  Welcome to El Coyote Cojo!  I’m Jackie Welles.  Maybe I can help you, but my throat’s a little seca, if you know what I mean.”  He motioned to his throat.  “Could use a drink.” 

“I’ll get the drinks!  For the best rocker in Night City!"  The kid exclaimed.  It was evident in Jackie’s face that this wasn’t what he had intended.  The kid probably doesn’t make much.  Thorn noticed and said: “Ok, but I’ll get the next round.”  Jackie asked for his usual: shot of vodka, lime juice, and ginger beer, to which the kid nodded. The rest of the crew ordered Brosephs to make things both easy and affordable.

After a couple of rounds, Jackie became more choomy and forthcoming with information.  It sounded like the crew was referring to someone named Dalton, a local mechanic.  The guy had joined up with some Valentinos on a heist to steal form Gustavo Orta, another Valentino boss, and a friend of Jackie’s.  They got in way over their heads, and even though the heist was a success, Orta has been hunting down the crew, flatlining them, and taking his stuff back.  Jackie noted that Dalton was not a bad guy, but hooked up with the wrong crew.  He has a cute mainline that busks down at the NCART station on Congress Street in Vista del Rey.  She’s Mox, though, not just some street doll.  Her name was something like a season, Autumn, maybe?  “No me recuerdo.  Too much drink.  I got a date with my girl, so I better sober up.”  He got up to leave, and put his fist to his mouth to stifle a burp.  “Later!”

With a new lead to follow, the edgerunners left the bar soon after, but not until Thorn agreed to a selfie with Miguel.  On their way out of the bar, they were stopped by a small crew of Valentinos.  Spike was among them, giving Hardpoint a knowing smirk as she slithered around their leader like one of those synthetic, pet boas.  The leader, a woman, had exposed cleavage with alight tattoo of the Virgin Mary on her chest that looked like some glowing, stained-glass window by way of a graffiti artist.  She looked familiar to Hardpoint, but her hair was shaved close, so she was not completely sure; might have been with the Valentino hit team that night in Northside another life ago.

Regardless, the woman was straight to the point:  “I’m Maria Torres,"  she said this and paused, as if her name was supposed to mean something (she was Gustavo Orta's lieutenant,) but the edgerunners just returned blank stares.   If that annoyed her, she didn't let on.

"I know you are looking for Dalton.  We are too.”  She then addressed Hardpoint directly: “You know Spike, so call her if you find him and she’ll let me know.  There’s a thousand eddies in it for all of you if you do; easy money.”   Her gaze scanned the rest of the group.  What she left unsaid was that a gruesome death was the alternative reward for non-compliance, but it was clear from the edge in her words.  Thorn could tell that Wrench wasn’t taking the veiled threat well, and he placed his hand on one of the nomad’s Gorilla Arms in an attempt to calm him.  The synthetic muscle fibers were already twitching.  

“We’ll take it under advisement.”  Thorn said.  He looked at Hardpoint, who replied to Maria: “What he said.  I have Spike’s detes.” She didn’t look at Spike, though, speaking as if she wasn’t there.

Maria shrugged and motioned for her crew to go.  As the gangoon leader departed, she turned her head to address Hardpoint again: “I can see what Spike saw in you.  I’m sure you can do what needs to be done, but you better find Dalton before we do...if you want to get paid.”

Later, as the edgerunners left in Wrench’s van, Maven asked the crew:  “You’re not actually thinking of taking those Valentinos on their offer are you?  They’ll kill that guy and string him up on a traffic light next to some old sneaks!”  Hardpoint closed her eyes and shook her head.  Wrench glanced over his shoulder and spoke:  “Nah!  Those gangers have no intention of paying us.  They would have gone through a fixer if they had.  No, they would ice us right after we turned this Dalton in.  Besides, our client is paying better.”

 Thorn added: “Yeah, we won’t make it in this biz if we start stuffing our clients over.  That kind of rep gets around.  One thing is true, though, we gotta make sure we find Dalton before they do.”

Wrench yawned loudly.  It was infectious.  “Dalton’s mainline is a good lead, but there’s nothing we can do this late, and I need a doc to take a look at my ribs.  I think they’re cracked.  I’ll drop you all off.  Maven, keep the tracking device and fiddle with it for a better signal if you can, and call us if it pings again.  We’ll get together and find Dalton’s mainline soon.” 

The van sped away from El Coyote Cojo and Heywood, past some graffiti on the side of a building that read: “La Huesuda.”

 

To be continued…

Game Notes

• I had completed these encounters on the first session, but I’m splitting them up between posts for brevity (these posts get damn long.)  This “episode” wasn’t too action-packed, but just wait…
• Props to the author(s) of The Jacket for name-dropping locations from the video game!  I did a little location-scouting (my excuse for putting down the laptop and grabbing the game controller,) and found the Tom’s Diner on Urmland and Bradbury.  It’s the one where V meets up with the character of Takemura in the quest Playing For Time.  I even klepped a Villefort van for the screenshot above.  You're welcome.
  
• The GM oracle came up “yes” to see whether someone from a PC’s lifepath was at Tom’s Diner, as suggested in the adventure, and it ended up being Hardpoint’s enemy: a rockerboy (or girl in this case,) with gang contacts.  It was fun getting to flesh out this character out as well as Hardpoint’s past and personal beef with her.  I interpreted their story from oracular rolls.
  
• At one point, I found myself asking “why didn’t I take the netrunner instead of the tech?!”  So I projected my frustration unto poor little Maven.  She’ll get her chance to shine later, though.  
• Thorn being recognized despite looking different outside of a music gig becomes a common occurrence later on, so I’ve tried to have some fun with it. I imagine his transformation is like that of an anime magical girl by way of Ozzy Osbourne.
  
• Jackie’s cameo at El Coyote Cojo is part of the adventure, but I just couldn’t help asking the GM oracle: “Is V there?” and it came up "yes."  Of course, V looks like whatever the player decides in the video game, so I deliberately kept their description vague.  Feel free to imagine your own V there.
• A couple of more GM oracle rolls cemented Spike’s place in the Valentinos as Maria’s mainline.  I think I have plans for her to make more appearances, should the GM oracle agree.

Bonus: What’s on the menu in 2077?

What’s a box of kibble without a prize inside?  The only thing you can afford, choom!  Here are some tables to roll random food and drink items next time the characters are at a vending machine, restaurant, or Foodscape.  It includes items from the video game plus a couple of new ones I came up with to fill in the blanks (with new descriptions also by yours truly.) 

As an option, food items can restore 1d6 hit points per consumption, while non-alcoholic drinks grant a +1 bonus to the character’s next Athletics, Dance, or Endurance skill rolls for the next four hours.  A character can only gain a beneficial effect from a single food or non-alcoholic drink item twice per day (they can pig out to their heart's content, though.)

Alcoholic drinks penalize combat skills and Move by 1 per drink consumed (what, you though there was a benefit to drinking on the job?)  The effects of alcoholic drink items last 30 seconds (10 rounds) after the last one consumed.

Food and drink items that match the character’s current lifestyle and lower can be had at no cost, while higher lifestyle items must be paid for with cash on hand.  Just because you have a Kibble lifestyle doesn't mean you can't treat yourself once in a while!

I. What’s your lifestyle? (current or roll 1d6)

1-3. Kibble: because you can’t afford both rent and quality meals in the same month.

4-5. Prepack, all: the best cuisine a SCSM or Mark 24 konbini has to offer.

6. Fresh: if you have to ask the price, you obviously can’t afford it.

 

II. Food

Kibble (1d6 twice, 10eb)

1-3:

1. Cat food – tuna is tuna, man!  Hey!  Get your own, kitty!  Scat!
2. Holobites pie – tons of “fruit” flavors!  Most gonks don’t know what real fruit flavor is, anyway.
3. Orgiatic – chicky nugs and sauce without the nugs.
4. Moonchies – you can’t eat just one, because styrofoam is not as filling as it might seem.
5. EEZYBEEF – don’t want to pay extra for premade “food?”  Here’s the base ingredient alone; cook from scratch!  Also, worms.
6. Leelou Beans – rumor has it old President Kress had a whole jar of these at her desk in the Oval Office.

4-6:

1. Sojasil Machistador – don’t need to know what it means when your mouth is full of it.
2. Pop-Turd  – you’ve popped this lifelong classic with a glass of syn-milk before school, coffee before work, and a side of tears after the layoff and divorce.
3. Soy Paste – at least you’re not fooling yourself about your diet.
4. Dried Meat – available everywhere, no questions asked!  Also, better not ask.
5. Wontons – dump these delicious dumplings in your trash dump of a mouth!
6. NeuroPuffs (new) – part of a netrunner's complete breakfast, if by complete you mean extruded “egg” product, textured scop “bacon,” and “orange” drink.  The NetWatch decoder ring inside is totally not a monitoring device.
   

Prepack (1d6, then variable, 20eb)

1-3 (1d10):

1. Jambalaya – hot date in the trailer park tonight?  Don’t know how to cook?  Jambalaya!
2. Mr. Whitey (see also synthcoke, Cyberpunk RED p.229) – who needs to eat when you have 1,001 business ideas to work on while riding bikes and juggling at the same time?
3. Burrito XXL – also refers to the size of the clothes you will need to buy soon.
4. Taco – even if it comes from a SCSM, “street taco” is technically correct, the best kind of correct.
5. Schwab – currently competing with Slaughterhouse as the official snack of the Animals.
6. SynthSnack – starving rockerboys like to think it means “synthesizer.”  It doesn’t.
7. Hawt Dawg, with “fixings” - can’t go wrong with a good ol’ street dog…wait…you can.
8. Salad o' Sudden (new) – soy and algae in colorful, vegetable-like shapes; just spritz with water for that fresh look.
9. Scopburger (new) – you don’t need golden arches or Bozo makeup to enjoy this American classic.
10. FryDum Fries (new) – the oily taste of Reunification.

5-6 (1d6):

1. Slaughterhouse Jerky - comes in “meat” or...*snort*..."veggie" flavors.
2. RaMMMen – you couldn’t afford the RealWater to boil it in, so you’ll have to sprinkle the flavor packet on the cracker-like “noodles" instead.
3. All Foods Meat or Veggie Delight tube – the Space Age is now…and forever.
4. Yikes!  Tofu Bar – “Yikes!” is the correct word for this bland confection.
5. Ave Saitan – Warning: this devil-in-a-package voids your artificial colon implant's warranty.
6. Zio Enzo’s Pasta Nostra (new) – a delicious offer you can’t refuse.

Fresh (1d10, 40eb)

1. Pizza – with any topping you want; it’s all soy, worm, or insect protein, anyway.
2. Tamale – Montezuma’s Revenge comes free with purchase.
3. RealFruit – ever wanted to eat one of those old paintings?  Now you can!
4. Tajine! – 80% of the cost of the meal is the packaging alone.
5. Chocolate – “dark” or “milk” by food coloring only.
6. Norimaki – supermarket sushiya meets chemical factory.
7. Nigiri – straight out of Jiro’s nightmares.
8. Pierre’s Croissants – may or may not be French, but the “butter” flavor is definitely by SovOil, comrade.
9. Got Escargot? – Good news: it’s natural!  Bad news: it’s snails!
10. Gojira – the kaiju reference is in regards to the bowel movement later.

II. Would you like a drink with that?  (choose or roll 1d6 for alcoholic or non-alcoholic, then roll by lifestyle)

1-4. Non-alcoholic

Kibble (roll 1d10, 10eb)

1. Daring Dairy “Milkshake” - lactose intolerants can totally tolerate this, because melamine.
2. Matapang Coffee – the official drink of morning corpos and late-night edgerunners alike.  Also available in decaf if you want bitter, brown water, I guess.
3. Spunky Monkey – According to megacorp-funded fact-checkers, reports of simian antics after consumption of this drink are misinformation.
4. NiCola – Disclaimer: “Love” Is not an actual flavor.  NiCola is not responsible for any lack of romance or intimacy after consuming this product.
5. Cirrus Cola – it’s a classic, according to focus groups.
6. Coffee – what’s available at most places that don’t expect to serve coffee until some gonk asks for it.
7. Coffee with Syn-Milk – get synful, without the bloat.
8. Latte – “How is a Latte different from Coffee with Syn-Milk?  Beats me!  Get it?”  - Some “sentient” SCSM
9. Filtered Rainwater – it made a comeback after the Time of the Red.
10. Tap Water (new?) – straight from the Wellsprings Water Treatment Plant to you.

Prepack (roll 1d10, 20eb)

1. Real Water – It’s real because it says so in the can.  Also comes in sparkling, with RealGas.  
2. Naranjita – whether Classic or Zero-calorie, you’ll feel the chemistry later (mostly as cancer.)    
3. ChroManticore – the original, monstrous energy-giver.  Can’t afford a Sandevistan?  Drink ChroManticore!
4. NiCola, limited edition flavor - for a limited time only, like the eds in your account.
   
5. Soulhiker – we got sued by Arasaka, but we’re better now, seriously…*nervous laughter.* Enjoy!
6. Oolong Tea – if the lady at Kabuki market said it’s “tea”, it’s tea.  Feel free to take up any complaints with the local Tyger Claws.
7. Tiancha – Smile!  Exotic, citrus flavors never looked so creepy.
8. Soop – because warm, liquefied soy paste with flavor costs extra.
9. Kopi Kadal Coffee – the choice of the only “good” cops in Night City, and those who are getting to old for this shit.
10. MealStrom (new) – Part drink, part meal; 200% your daily requirement of metal.

Fresh (1d10, 40eb)

1. Cactus Juice – nomads can get this for free, but you gotta pay for it, yuppie.
2. Sain Ruisseau  – also available for free at a baptismal font near you.  Padre would disapprove, though.
3. ChroManticore, flavored – the same energy drink, but you pay twice for chimeric variety.
4. Vita-Mine – because vitamin deficiency is for plebs.    
5. Té Sencha – think you’re turning Japanese?  Saburo disagrees.
6. Té Matcha – a taste of tradition, even in a pod hoteru.
7. Té Oolong – Little China in a cup.
8. Vatnajökull – whether from a still, or sparkling, you too can hydrate like a viking!
9. Tomato "Juice" – just add vodka for a weekend brunch.
10. Water – wait…is this stuff is supposed to be crystal clear?  Who would have thought?!

5-6. *Hic* boozshe…pleashe…

Kibble (1d10, 30eb)

1. Trailerbrew Beer – it’s not illegal if it’s for personal consumption.     
2. Moonshine – the buzz is worth the blindness.
3. Tequila Especial – it’s not special in the premium sense, no senor.    
4. Pitorro – fancy word for island moonshine; will still make you ciego.
5. Chirrisco – alcoholic love potion; only works around closing time.
6. Bumelant – Koleś, just give up!
7. 21st Stout – the beer of the working man.
8. Broseph – it’s a frat party every day, brah!
9. Abydos – fits in most small, brown, synthpulp bags.  Also available in King Size, if you're compensating for something.
10. Smash (see Cyberpunk RED p.229) – your ripperdoc said not to mix booze and drugs, but you do you.
    

Prepack (1d10, 60eb)

1. Blue Grass – when yo baby done left ya, and yo caaat is gooone.  Whoooaaa laaawd!
2. Papa Garcin – the official rum of Party Man and Thorns on Roses.
3. Joe Tiel's Okie Hooch – grandpappy’s favorite engine degreaser and after-work drink.
4. Conine – You can forget her.  Just drink, mon ami.
5. Bolshevik Vodka – in still-Soviet Russia, vodka drinks you!
6. O'Dickin Whiskey – you ain’t just dickin’ around when you can hold your brown.
7. Pingo Pálido – a couple of bottles of this and you’ll be pale all over, not just your pee-pee place.

Fresh (1d6, then variable)

1-3 (1d10, 90eb):

1-2. Calavera Feliz – don’t forget to pour one out for the dead. 
3-4. Randver – for those annoying gonks who use terms like “IPA.”
5. Ab-synth – the choice of tortured artists yesterday and today. 
6. La Perle des Alpes – winner of several awards, not that you would know.
7. Champaradise – what’s there to celebrate?  Do you need a reason?
8. Centzon Totochtin – hardened solo, or cartel boss?  Why not both?  Centzon!
9. Donaghy's – there is no happy hour for the cold-hearted, corpo climber. 
10. Captain Blackhand (new) – a dark rum for the dark heart of a merc.

4-5 (1d6, 150eb):

1. Chateau Delen 2012 – save it in your cellar for that special occasion. You do have a wine cellar, don’t you?
2. Armagnac Massy – make sure the sniffer is clear so you can look down your nose at your lessers.
3. Sake Utagawa – banzai, buckaroo!
4. ROMVLVS GIN – hold the tonic, and drink to empire!
5. Baalbek Arak – don’t drink too much, habibi, we ride at dawn!
6. Paul Night – drink to big dreams, and die tragically before your time.
7. A David Martinez (cocktail) – the memories will make you want to stay at your house.
8. A Johnny Silverhand (cocktail) – the taste will never fade away; neither will the hangover.
9. A Jackie Welles (cocktail) – Warning: planning a heist while under the influence of alcohol is not recommended.
10. A Weyland Boa Boa (cocktail, new) -  a bourbon old-fashioned with a splash of habushu, cane sugar, and snakeskin garnish.     
    

This material based on the Cyberpunk Edgerunners Mission Kit is unofficial content provided under the Homebrew Content Policy of R. Talsorian Games and is not approved or endorsed by RTG. This content references materials that are the property of R. Talsorian Games and its licensees.

Cyberpunk Edgerunners Mission Kit Review and Solo Play Log (Plus Gig Generator!)

I’ve been on a little Cyberpunk kick ever since Gen Con.  As I mentioned in that post, Cyberpunk and I go back a long time, to the 2020 version in...err...1991.  I even reinstalled 2077 in the ol' braindance machine only to find out it's still version 1.6 because us poors can't afford the newest PC setup or console.

 

If you want more than just Keanu, you'll have to cough up more eddies, m8.  Also, you just read this in my voice.

Chalk it up to semi-diagnosed, attention-deficit disorder.  When I get one one of those “fevers,” the only prescription is more of that particular kind of “cowbell.”  I apologize if this is frustrating, but rest assured, all you have to do is circle back around till we sync on what I want to write versus what you want to read.  Deal?

So one of my purchases at Gen Con was the Cyberpunk Edgerunners Mission Kit (CEMK.)  I thought about reviewing it, but then I also bought Solo Dark at the con, a solo-play supplement for Shadowdark, and I thought: instead of doing some dry review, why not solo-play through the material in this starter set, then write it up as play log like in the days of RPG yore?  My inner voice, who never, ever steers me wrong, especially after a couple of drinks, said “yes!”

I have a sneaking suspicion my inner voice looks like this guy.

But, if what amounts to amateur, cringey, (but not creepy,) RPG-based fan fiction is not your thing, here is a TL/DR review:

• Nice little set of rules and material: The box comes with quickstart rule book, a player’s guide to the 2077 era and Edgerunners Netflix series, and a fun, multi-session adventure related to the events of the miniseries, titled The Jacket.   The rule book also adds new rules from the 2077 game to Cyberpunk RED, such as quickhacking, weapons and cyberware, and additional rules for Humanity loss and recovery that remind me a little of Call of Cthulhu’s Sanity system.  Not complete, but a good a starter as any.
  
• Cool goodies inside: a set of fancy, yellow and green dice (four d6-es and two d10s,) with the Edgerunners logo for the sixes and tens respectively, pregens that cover some of the major roles (fixer, netrunner, nomad, medtech, rockerboy, and solo,) cardboard standies, tokens, and a few battle maps for the adventure, plus one of Night City in 2077 (with street names!)
• Minor quibbles: as with many starter sets, it comes no rules for creating your own PCs, or even advancing them a little, other than purchasing gear (you need the Cyberpunk RED rulebook for that.)  It does have condensed, character and "lifepath" tables to customize the pregens to the players’ tastes.  (However, using 2d6 for the cultural origin table instead of the single die in RED makes the city less culturally diverse in demographics than it should be.  Respect the bell curve, chooms!)  Also, the battle map squares are little smaller than the typical, one-inch standard for most RPG battlemaps; fits the standees and tokens ok, though.
  
• Recommendation: if starting a campaign with this set, I recommend downloading and running the Karaoke Night DLC before The Jacket.  It makes for a shorter intro to the game before diving into the longer adventure, and gives the PCs a little street cred working for Regina Jones before being hired by the fixer, Dakota Smith.  As of this writing, there is a second DLC with cyberware mods.  You should get that too!
• Verdict: whether you're a fan of the tabletop RPG, video game, or show, you really can't go wrong with this set.  4.5/5 cyber-hobos!

 

Solo Play Methodology

• As mentioned above, I used the Solo Dark supplement to play through The Jacket.  Although this is not a Solo Dark review, I’ll mention that it’s an oracular system very similar to Mythic, (I’m going to assume you’re at least familiar with it,) but d20-based, and made specifically for Shadowdark, but easily portable to other games.  It uses the Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic from Fifth Edition to adjust the likelihood of a “yes” or “no” answer.  I had to use a little judgement with the event description table, replacing fantasy subjects like magic with tech or netrunning.
• I established a certain set of rules for myself to avoid as many spoilers in the adventure as possible and keep things relatively fair.  I didn’t read ahead or stuff that was labeled GM’s info and the like unless it was absolutely necessary or a character succeeded at an information-type roll.  In the end, I had to come to terms with the fact that this would play more like Gloomhaven with some curveballs rather than an actual RPG.
• I also established some general, common-sense rules for NPC “AI,” especially in regards to combat.  Such as: “they attack the nearest enemy with their best or most advantageous attack possible.”  However, I always consulted the oracle "GM" to confirm their actions and reactions.  I followed a similar set of rules for the PCs, but with a little more leeway.  I would decide a PC’s action, then consult the oracle to confirm.  The effect was like being a fly on the wall as events unfolded, often in surprising ways.  
• Also, if a PC died, they died.  This is Cyberpunk!  Edgerunners don’t often get happy endings.  (Also, my sensibilities tend to fall in the old school sphere, if you hadn't noticed; let the dice fall where they may!)  You might want to keep a synthpulp tissue dispenser nearby (only two eddies per sheet) if you get attached to any of them while reading.  Consider yourself warned. 
• As for the narrative, everything you will read is about 98% accurate based on game play and oracular rolls, albeit massaged for flow, especially during combat (no point in detailing every hit point loss; only the highlights and dramatic points matter.)  I also fleshed out the in-between, "downtime" encounters with oracular rolls, to add character interest and a little humor.
• Finally, this log has MAJOR SPOILERS for The Jacket, so if you’re going to experience it as a player, do yourself a solid and read some other posts on this blog (or some other blog…sigh,) then come back after you play it to compare how your group did versus this one.

 

Our Edgerunners

I picked four of the pregens for my PC group semi-randomly to fill the major roles in the team: a solo and a nomad for combat, a tech for support, and a rockerboy for the "face."

As suggested in the rulebook, I made random rolls on the character and lifepath tables, so the characters ended up a little different than illustrated on their sheets, and therefore, uniquely mine (R. Talsorian copyright notwithstanding, see the disclaimer below.)  This made for some fun results that I was able to incorporate into the adventure where indicated, such as an enemy I had rolled up for Hardpoint, the solo.  I also reconciled seemingly weird results, such as Thorn the rockerboy being “stable and serious” in personality.  Maybe his stage and private personas are different?  It worked for Prince!  Regardless, their personalities took shape beyond what I rolled-up as the game progressed, and as I wrote up the log afterward.  (I also fed their descriptions into the robo-artist for some portraits; see below.) 

Without further ado, here they are:

Wrench

The self-proclaimed leader of this crew of novice edgerunners is a burly, chromed, and hot-headed nomad searching for fortune and glory in Night City.  He found his first break with the Badlands fixer Dakota Smith, who had a gig to assist a fellow nomad.

  

 

 

Hardpoint

To say Hardpoint is tough is an understatement.  The merc was born and bred in the fires of Northside’s combat zone, and her entropic, Street looks and quiet demeanor conceal a talented, cunning, and deadly warrior.  She's looking to one day become the top solo in Night City, one slice of her Mantis Blades at a time.
 

 

 

Maven

A young, colorful techie who is a little on the shy and naive side; only recently having traded dead-end, corpo tech work for the excitement of edgerunning.  She prefers the role of overwatch with her sniper rifle and custom optics while supporting her crew with tech expertise outside of danger.
 

  

 

Thorn

Although every bit the stereotypical, chromatic rockerboy when performing (complete with extendable tech hair, bare, muscle-grafted chest, and light tattoos,) his private and edgerunner persona tends to be different.  Thorn is (or tries to be) a serious professional; whether composing music, holding his own in a firefight, or acting as the “face” for his crew.
 

Insurance

A straight-laced, no-nonsense medtech with not-so-straight-laced secrets of her own.  Although she does not join our group of edgerunners until later in the adventure, they encounter her for the first time much earlier.

 

 

 

Now that you've met the crew...

Part 1: Gunfight at Honest Stan’s Self-Storage

Our story begins with an old, dusty Villefort Colombus freight van driving along a lonely road in the Southern Badlands at night.  Its driver was a dark man with formidable Gorilla Arms bulging from the ripped sleeves of a faded jacket.  The cyberarms were chrome-free, showing the inner workings of synthetic musculature and servomotors; no-frills, as is the case with most things nomads acquire.  A tattoo that read “Aldecaldos” was scrawled in a patch of RealSkin over his right bicep, marking him as an outsider to Night City.  On the Street, he went by the handle of Wrench.

A pretty-boy with a cigarette in his mouth sat on the passenger’s seat gazing out at the Badlands quietly as they drove past the tented greenhouses of the Biotechnica Flats; his head was in the game.  He wore an old armorjack under an even older leather jacket with a logo patch that read “Thorns on Roses” on the shoulder.  A similarly old, but serviceable shotgun with the Budget Arms logo rested near his legs, showing that this edgerunner was not just about looks.

A woman with the hard edge of the Street to her checked a sleek, Arasaka Masamune assault rifle methodically in the back of the van.  Across from her was a young girl – almost too young and Asia-pop kawaii to be an edgerunner, trying to make conversation in vain.  The girl smiled shyly at Wrench as they caught a glance of each other through the rearview mirror.  Her custom cybereye adjusted for focus behind faddish, multi-colored hair.

These were the only gonks that gave the nomad the time of day outside of the bar known far and wide as the Afterlife.  The nomad’s abrasive demeanor turned off most veterans at the edgerunner hangout as he sought to form a team for this gig.  He almost caused what would most certainly have been a fatal fight with the hustle (and everyone else in the joint) if these three hadn’t intervened.

The four edgerunners were as green as the paste oozing out of an All Foods Veggie Delight tube, but they were ready to prove themselves.  Besides, nomads are known for turning others’ discarded junk into treasures.

The van approached the meeting place Dakota, their fixer for this gig, had indicated in her brief: some old, self-storage joint near the border of Night City; the kind with automated containers, little security, and no questions asked.

The edgerunners arrived to experience their first, literal trial-by-gunfire.  Their client, a man who looked like some brown-vested cowboy straight out of an Old West film or  braindance was in the middle of a firefight against four gonks wearing jackets with the REO Meatwagon logo.  It was strange.  These city-funded, great value, but second-rate alternative to Trauma Team weren’t typically in the business of flatlining people (defeats the purpose of the whole life-saving thing,) but here they were, blasting away at their client.  No one else was around.  Another giveaway that something was not right with this scene.

Wrench swerved the van to a stop a short, but safe distance from the action and barked orders at his new crew: “Maven, get up on one of those containers over there and cover us.  Hardpoint, you come at them from the other side and help out the client.  Thorn, you’re with me.  Let’s go, choombas!  Time to do the thing and earn those eds!” 

Maven and Hardpoint rushed out of the back of the van to move into their respective positions   Wrench then approached the REO Meatwagon gonks brazenly with Thorn following cautiously to his right.  The nomad bellowed, holding his left arm out in an open gesture and a large, Kang Tao Zhuo smart shotgun casually held on his right: “Heard there was a party going on!  No need to get up, we invited ourselves!”  As he spoke, the nomad fired his shotgun from the hip, momentarily surprising the REO gonks.  Despite the lazy shot, the smart shells did the heavy lifting, and landed direct hits on their body armor, injuring the gonks and driving them behind cover.  Thorn followed up with a blast from his own Carnage before one of the gonks could get to safety, and that one crashed into a pile of discarded boxes.  Meanwhile, two others in the rear were held at bay by the "cowboy"/client, who was firing a Techtronika Burya tech pistol from behind the cover of an open storage container.

The gonk that was taking cover near his fallen choom barely had time to recover and turn his iron on the nomad and rockerboy before he found himself up close and personal with Hardpoint’s Mantis Blades.  The cyberarm weapons scythed with a whistling “snicker-snack,” and just like that, REO Meatwagon had a new job opening available.

The last two gonks in this rogue, REO team took the opportunity to advance while the client retreated behind cover to recharge his pistol.  The leading one blasted away haphazardly with a Unity semiautomatic as he ran.  Hardpoint scrambled back to cover while her Mantis Blades retracted, but a lucky shot hit Wrench on his side when the nomad had exposed himself to shoot.  His armorjack thankfully stopped most (but not all) of the ballistic force.  He half-ducked, half-collapsed back behind the cover of a strorage container, and grunted in pain.  His eyes flashed gold as he yelled into his holo through clenched teeth: “Maven!  Where the fuck are you?!  You were supposed to ice these gonks!”  The AI-assisted reconstruction of Maven’s face, framed by a box on the nomad’s Chyron HUD, was pink with exertion as she stuttered back: “S…sorry!  Having a hard time getting up this container.  You try it with a full kit on…hnggh!” 

“I’ll go.  Cover me,” Thorn said.  Wrench nodded and the rockerboy-turned-edgerunner sprinted between cargo containers to flank the REO gonks and assist Maven.

Once behind cover, Hardpoint brought her assault rifle to bear.  Both the solo and the client nodded to each other, and in unison, opened fire on the gonk who had shot Wrench when he popped back up from cover.  The gonk stood no chance.  High-velocity rounds followed by a fully-charged tech blast ripped through his body armor.  The gonk slumped against one of the storage containers, sliding down in a smear of blood; legs spread akimbo.

The last of the REO gonks, despite being outnumbered, was a true credit to her profession.  She popped a few rounds in the direction of the edgerunners and rushed to her nearest, fallen colleague near the pile of boxes to render aid, oblivious of the danger she was in.  The paramedic worked furiously, and only stopped when she realized that a) her colleague was a goner, and b) she was completely surrounded with weapons pointed at her.  She held her bloody, gloved hands up in surrender, with barely-contained anger behind stunning, hazel eyes; real ones, too.

“Delta, before we change our minds.”  Wrench was pointing his shotgun at the paramedic with one hand while holding his ribs with the other.  He was still riding high on adrenaline from the firefight, and felt unusually charitable.  The woman nodded and ran off.  Shortly after, the rickety ambulance the gonks had come in revved up and its sound faded into the night in a cloud of dust and discarded, paper trash.

The client emerged from cover with Hardpoint.  He addressed the edgerunners with a drawl befitting his cowboy image:  “Appreciate y’all savin’ my bacon!  The name’s Falco.”  He extended his hand towards Wrench, who shook it firmly.  

Wrench smiled and said:  “Don’t mention it, brother.  We’re the ‘runners Dakota sent.  I’m Wrench.  Hardpoint you already met,” he motioned to the solo, who nodded at the client, rifle at the low ready position.  “And here's Thorn and Maven.”  The rockerboy and tech walked over.  Thorn nodded to the client as he lit a post-battle cig to calm his nerves.  Maven had to repurpose her wave of greeting to ward off the smoke with a mousy cough.  Wrench continued: “So what can we do you for?”  

The client, Falco, leaned against a storage container as he put a cigarette of his own in his mouth, and lit it, living true to his stereotypical image, sans cowboy hat.  After a drag, he spoke after exhaling smoke: “Simple gig.  Search and recover,” he said, using terms familiar with edgerunners.  “My unit here got broken into, but these desperadoes showed up after I came to investigate.   You know the rest.” 

Wrench was a little confused: “So these gonks weren’t the ones trying to steal your stuff?  What was stolen?” 

“Naw, not exactly, but it looks like they were after my things too; just got late to the shindig”  Falco pointed with his cigarette at the fallen REO gonk in the pile of boxes, who had some sort of hand-held tracking device.  It ended up on the floor when he fell.  Maven went over and picked it up.

The client then delivered the detes on his stolen items: an old, Militech Lexington pistol, an Arasaka Masamune rifle similar to Hardpoint’s but with a pink-painted muzzle, a black, Arasaka Shingen submachine gun with pink skull art, and a yellow, paramedic’s jacket with a stylized, neon-green “E” and “R” design on the back.  Similar to the one these REO gonks wore.

The items held some sentimental value for the client, having belonged to some chooms of his.  The jacket itself had belonged to one David Martinez, who had inherited from his own mother, apparently an REO paramedic too.  In talking about these people, the cowboy's expression had a far off look towards the distance, then the sky and moon.  “They’re all gone now, though” he said.

Thorn thought himself pretty good at reading people.  The client wasn’t telling the whole story, but he seemed sincere.  There was a deep sadness to him that you couldn’t fake, even with an actor’s biosculpted face and on-command tear duct implants. There is a tragic, but hit song in this cowboy’s story, if Thorn could ever pry it out of him.

“What’s the pay?” Hardpoint asked what was already on the edgerunner's minds.

Falco came back to the present.  He answered:“A clean, 2,000 eds per item y’all find.  Should be worth any trouble y’all get into while looking for them.”

Maven had been lost in the device recovered from the fallen REO gonk, as well as his holophone.  Her optics reflected the scrolling data on the devices.  She addressed the group, partly thinking out loud: “Looks like someone was paying these gonks a lot of eddies for the jacket too.  They were able to find it because their jackets have has a biomon and GPS tracker that stores their info and location, but there’s a delay.  Look.”

The edgerunners and the client gathered around to see what Maven was trying to show on the device's display.  It was log showing the jacket's location over time.  The most recent one had the coordinates of the self storage facility, but the timestamp was several hours ago.

“Don’t worry, brother.  You’ve hired the best.  We’ll get your stuff; one nomad’s word to another,”  Wrench said with a grin, but he was trying to hide the pain he felt on his side.  Falco smiled to himself, which under his handlebar mustache, looked more like a smirk.  Where had he heard confidence like that before?  The memories were still too fresh; too painful.  A sudden ping on the tracking device dispelled his melancholy.

“It's popped up again!  Somewhere in Little China...Bradbury and Urmland Street!”  Maven exclaimed.

 “Y’all best be off,” Falco said.  “I’ll send you my detes, so y’all can keep me posted.  Good luck!”  The cowboy’s eyes turned blue as he made the data transfer.

The edgerunners got in their van, and Wrench fired it up.  They were off to find the source of the jacket’s signal.

To Be Continued…

Game Notes

• Pretty smooth start.   The first combat encounter turned out to be pretty easy (as first combats in published adventures typically are,) but I still had some hiccups while I was getting used to the combat rules (which are somewhat different, but a little more lenient, than Cyberpunk 2020.)
• Maven whiffed a couple of rolls trying to climb a storage container, and Wrench suffered a critical injury, partly because I don’t get the game’s rules for cover yet (it's abalative, rather than penalizing attack rolls.)  The flexible movement rules make it so cover is almost pointless at closer ranges, since the characters can just move around it, shoot, then move back into their own cover, only to be attacked the same way.  Like that scene in the Naked Gun sequel when Leslie Nielsen's character is exchanging fire with a bad guy behind cover, but they're both at ridiculously point-blank range.
  
• Hardpoint’s the solo’s personality is supposed to be “sneaky,” so I decided to play that out in combat.  I think that getting the drop on enemies with those Mantis Blades is going to become a thing.  I'm a little confused as to whether the pregen has one, or two blades, but I like the iconic image of twin blades from the video game, so I'm writing it that way.
  

Bonus: Edgerunner Gig Generator

Hey!  You made it through some of my crap fan fiction.  Awesome!  As a reward, here are a few tables for rolling up gig ideas usable with CEMK games.  I based it on the gig quests from the video game.  The tables generate a few, general details that the GM can flesh out for an evening’s play or so.

Here’s an example: I rolled Mr. Hands for the fixer, so this gig will take place in Pacifica.  Then, I rolled the gig type, and got “Gun for Hire.”  I rolled twice for target and opposition affiliation and got “Media” for the target, and “Edgerunner mercs” for the opposition.  Finally, I roll up the Hotel Pistis Sophia for the gig’s main location.

Here is a gig that comes to mind from those details:  A media has obtained some detes that are harmful to the client (whether true or not; could easily be a smear, or blackmail.)  The media knows they might suffer from potential reprisals, so they holed themselves up in an abandoned hotel in Pacifica, and hired some hustle (the mercs) for security until they can finish the story and get it out.  It is up to the players to stop the media (they can decide how,) while avoiding or dealing with the mercs.  The payout would be based on how tough I think the opposition is, based on the guidelines in Cyberpunk RED.

Alternatively, they could be rescuing the media from a similar band of edgerunner mercs that is coming for them.  Similar to the gig Concrete Cage Trap in the video game.  You don't have to stick strictly to the rolled results if a good idea comes to mind.

To flesh out this gig, I would map out the pertinent parts of the hotel, find or generate stats for the mercs, devise their general strategy, and let the players have at it!

I. Fixer and District (1d10):

This generates the gig’s fixer, along with the district of Night City the gig will take place in.  As an option, you can add or subtract the character’s Reputation (see Cyberpunk RED.) This will allow experienced edgerunners to get gigs from top fixers, such as Rogue or the enigmatic Mr. Blue Eyes.

1-3. Regina Jones (Watson)
4-5. Wakako Okada (Westbrook)
6. Mr. Hands (Pacifica)
7. Muammar “El Capitan” Reyes (Santo Domingo)
8. Dakota Smith (Badlands)
9. Sebastian "Padre" Ibarra (Heywood)
10. Dino Dinovic (City Center)
11-14. Rogue Amendiares (Any, roll 1d10 again for district.)
15+. Mr. Blue Eyes (Any, including spaaace!)

II. Gig Type (d6)

This is what the edgerunners are expected to do, and is based on the gig categories from the video game.

1. Agent Saboteur: Compromise, damage, or destroy something.  For example: upload a virus to a server, destroy a facility, or place a tracking device on a target.
2. Gun for Hire: Take someone (or a group of someones) out of commission.  This could be via intimidation, kidnapping, or grim wetwork.  This category could also include NCPD bounty work for dangerous criminals, or cyberpsychos.
3. Search and Recover: Secure a stolen MacGuffin and return it to the client.    
4. SOS: Merc Needed: Rescue mission.  Don’t shoot the hostage(s)!
5.  Thievery: Like Search and Recover, but what they’re klepping doesn’t actually belong to the client.
6. Special Delivery: Transport something, or someone, to a place.  Sounds simple, right?  It usually isn’t.

III. Target and Opposition (1d10)

This table generates a general affiliation for the target of the gig.  You can roll twice to get an opposing faction or replace it with a suggested one form the subdistrict and location tables below.

1. Megacorp (choose one)
2. Boostergang (choose one, or by district)
3. Night City government (incl. NCPD)
4. Foreign government (incl. NUSA)
5. Celebrity
6. Night City civilian(s)
7. Nomads (Aldecaldos, Wraiths, others)
8. Media(s)
9. Edgerunner merc(s)
10. Netrunner(s)

IV. Sub-district and Location

Based on the fixer and district, roll the indicated dice for the sub-district, and/or specific location where the gig takes place.  Most of the locations are drawn from the Edgerunner’s Handbook in the CEMK, but the GM can replace these with a generic location of the same type, or roll on a different district table entirely.  For gigs like Special Delivery, you could roll twice for a starting location, and destination.  Each location may also include a suggested, opposing faction.

Watson (1d6 twice)

1-3:

1. The Afterlife bar (Edgerunner mercs)
2. All Foods Factory (Maelstrom)
3. Deravaja Dojo gym (Tyger Claws)
4. Ho-Oh casino (Tyger Claws)
5. Kabuki Roundabout (Tyger Claws)
6. Arasaka Waterfront/Konpeki Plaza (Arasaka security)

4-6:

1. Lizzie’s Bar (The Mox)
2. Night City Medical Center (Trauma Team security)
3. No-Tell Motel (none/any)
4. Riot nightclub (Animals/private security)
5. Totentanz nightclub (Maelstrom)
6. Urmland Street market (Tyger Claws)

Westbrook (1d6 plus variable)

1-2. Charter Hill (1d6)

1-2. Dynalar Complex (Dynalar security)
3-4 Kiroshi Campus (Kiroshi security)
5-6. Red Queen’s Race underground BD club (Animals)

3-4. Japantown (1d10)

1-2. Cherry Blossom Market (Tyger Claws)
3-4. Clouds adult BD nightclub (Tyger Claws)
5-6. Dark Matter nightclub (Animals/private security)
7-8. Fourth Wall Studios (NCPD or private security)
9-10. Jig-Jig Street (none/any)

4-6. North Oak (1d10)

1-2. Chram Denya Jinja shrine (Tyger Claws)
3-4. Columbarium (NCPD)
5-6. North Oak Casino and Country Club (private or corporate security)
7-8. Corporate Estate (automated or corporate security)
9-10. Private Estate (automated or private security)

Pacifica (1d6)

1-3. Coastview and West Wind (1d10)

1-2. Batty’s Hotel (Voodoo Boys)
3- 4. Eden Beach amusement park (Scavs)
5-6. Grand Imperial Mall (Animals or Scavs)
7-8. Hotel Pistis Sophia (none/any)
9-10. Serenity Bible Church (Voodoo Boys)

4-6. Dogtown (1d10)

1-2. Black Sapphire building (BARGHEST)
3-4. Eden Plaza (BARGHEST)
5-6 EBM Petrochem Stadium (BARGHEST, others)
7-8 Heavy Hearts nightclub (private security)
9-10 Terra Cognita exhibits (Scavs)

Santo Domingo (1d10, then 1d6)

1-8:

1. Coronado Dam (none)
2. Dewdrop Inn apartments (6th Street)
3. Night City Center for Psychiatric Health (private security)
4. Rancho Coronado Public High School (NCPD)
5. Red Dirt bar (none/any)
6. Tripple Extreme Epic Workout Center (Animals)

9-10:

1-3. Arasaka Industrial Park (Arasaka security)
5-6. Night City Prison (automated security and NCPD)

Badlands (1d6 plus variable)

1-3. East (1d10)

1. Aldecaldo Camp (Aldecaldos)
2. DaKota Garage (nomads)
3. Farm(s) (none/any)
4. Night City Municipal Landfill (none/any)
5. Rocky Ridge ghost town (Wraiths or none/any)
6. Sunset Motel (nomads)
7. Trailer Park (none/any)
8. Union Railroad switching station (none/any)
9. Wind Farms (none/any)
10. Wraith Camp (Wraiths)

4-6. South (1d6)

1. Biotechnica Flats (Biotechnica and automated security)
2. Border Checkpoint (Militech and automated security)
3. Las Palpas Motel (Wraiths, or any)
4. Autowerks garage (Wraiths) 
5. Regional airport (none/any)
6. Solar Power Station (automated security)

Heywood (1d6 plus variable)

1-2. The Glen (1d10)

1-2. City Hall (NCPD, or private security)    
3-4. El Coyote Cojo bar (Valentinos)
5-6. Embers nightclub (Animals/private security)
7-8. Reconciliation Park (Valentinos)
9-10. Time Machine music store (none/any)

3-4. Vista del Rey (1d6)

1-2. La Catrina funeral home (Valentinos)
2-3. Delamain HQ (automated security)
4-5. Dicky Twister bar (Valentinos)

5-6. Wellsprings (1d6)

1-2. Bulwark shopping mall (Valentinos)
3-4. Mercado Sonora market (Valentinos)
5-6. Wellsprings Water Treatment Facility (Animals)

City Center (1d6)

1-3. Corpo Plaza (1d6)

1. Arasaka Academy (Arasaka security)
2. Arasaka Memorial (Arasaka security)
3. Empathy nightclub (Animals)
4. Memorial Park (NCPD)
5. Megacorp HQ (corporate and automated security by megacorp)
6. The View shopping mall (private security)

4-6. Downtown (1d10)

1-2. 7th Hell nightclub (Animals)
3-4. Electric Orgasm bar (Edgerunner mercs)
5-6. Jinguji fashion store (none/any, or NCPD)
7-8. N54 HQ (corporate security)
9-10. Night Corp HQ (corporate security)

This material based on the Cyberpunk Edgerunners Mission Kit is unofficial content provided under the Homebrew Content Policy of R. Talsorian Games and is not approved or endorsed by RTG. This content references materials that are the property of R. Talsorian Games and its licensees.