Cyberpunk RED vs NewEdo
Compare Cyberpunk RED and NewEdo side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Cyberpunk RED | NewEdo | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Cyberpunk | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Combat-Heavy, Skill-Based, Gritty, Deadly, Corruption, Faction Play, Crunchy, Licensed IP | Cinematic, Character Building, Crunchy, Classless, Faction Play, Heroic, High-Power, Urban Fantasy, Tactical |
| Core Mechanic | Stat + Skill + d10 against a Difficulty Value set by the GM (typically 13 for everyday tasks, scaling to 29 for legendary ones). Combat uses REF + weapon skill + d10 against a defender's active dodge or parry roll. Damage is rolled with d6s and reduced by armor at the hit location. Critical injuries are triggered when damage penetrates armor, rolled on a table with lasting mechanical effects. Humanity loss from cyberware installation tracks a character's slide toward cyberpsychosis. | Contests use a dice pool combining Core Trait d10s plus Skill dice (d4, d6, d8, or d12 depending on Focus) against a Target Number, with d10s exploding on 10s. Before each contest, the player Rolls their Fate on a d100 and resolves any matching lines on their personal Fate Card, which fills up with triggered effects as the character develops through Path abilities and in-game choices. Legend is the character's reputation and acts as a resource pool: spending up to 5 points of Temporary Legend per Round adds that total to a dice pool for cinematic stunts, and Legend is regained by doing memorable things. |
| Dice | d10 | d4–d12 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | All Rights Reserved |
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | R. Talsorian Games | Salty Games |
| Year | 2020 | 2022 |
| Best For | Groups who want a streamlined cyberpunk experience with lethal combat, deep character roles, and a setting that bridges the classic Cyberpunk 2020 era to the world of Cyberpunk 2077. | Groups who want deep character customization across magic, cybernetics, and skills in a near-future city drawn from Japanese folklore and samurai fiction, with heavy factional politics and larger-than-life heroes fueled by their growing reputation. |
| Highlights | Ten roles each have a branching Role Ability that deepens as the character advances, not a one-time pick. Netrunning is rebuilt to resolve in real time alongside physical combat, so the netrunner acts on the same clock as everyone else. The Lifepath system generates backstory events, enemies, allies, and romances that hook a character into the Time of the Red. | Priority Buy character creation distributes uneven resources across Backgrounds, Magic, Augmentations, Skills, and Core Traits so that no two builds share the same shape. Ten playable Lineages are drawn from Japanese folklore (bakeneko, kappa, karasu, kitsune, oni, saru, tanuki, usagi, human, and the cybernetic half-machine hisanaka), each with two Cultures. Seven Factions and their Paths tie every character to a political stance in the Empire. Magic is built around Shinpi and Rotes granted by tiers of kami: casters negotiate with spirits rather than memorizing spell slots. |
| Considerations | Hit location and armor tracking remain from Cyberpunk 2020, adding bookkeeping to combat. Night Market equipment tables use randomized availability that can frustrate players looking for specific gear. The Time of the Red setting deliberately limits high-end technology compared to the 2020 or 2077 eras. | Dense interlocking subsystems (Legend, Fate Card, Trait Noise, Shinpi, Priority Buy, Derived Traits, Wound tiers, and four Soak types) take significant time to internalize before first play. Core rulebook runs over 300 pages and is paid only, with no free quickstart or SRD. The setting mixes cyberpunk, samurai fiction, and yokai folklore in a single package, which may not suit groups looking for a pure take on any one genre. |