Best Cyberpunk Tabletop RPGs

What are the best cyberpunk tabletop role-playing games? A tough question to answer to be sure.

However, the cyberpunk genre is resurging among tabletop RPG fans recently. This means there are many games with cyberpunk themes. Picking one cyberpunk game as the best is difficult so I’ve created a list that includes some classics and some newcomers.

Here’s my list of the best cyberpunk RPGs.

Cyberpunk 2020

The granddaddy of all cyberpunk role-playing games has to be Cyberpunk 2020 designed by Mike Pondsmith. Originally published as simply “Cyberpunk” the game has a long history dating back to 1988.

The official description says this: “The Corporations control the world from their skyscraper fortresses, enforcing their rule with armies of cyborg assassins. On the Street, Boostergangs roam a shattered urban wilderness, killing and looting. The rest of the world is a perpetual party, as fashion-model beautiful techies rub biosculpt jobs with battle armored roadwarriors in the hottest clubs, sleaziest bars and meanest streets this side of the Postholocaust. The Future never looked so bad.”

The current edition is called Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. The Second Edition, Version 2.01. But see below for an exciting update.

Cyberpunk Red

Cyberpunk Red is not a core book it is a Jumpstart Kit for an update of Cyberpunk 2020 based on the eagerly anticipated video game Cyberpunk 2077.

The Jumpstart Kit contains pre-generated characters, maps, and key rules to enable playing the game. If you haven’t seen any footage from Cyberpunk 2077, you need to.

UPDATE: The full edition of the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk RED is now available! The video game Cyberpunk 2077 is also out now. Check out this gorgeously illustrated graphic novel: The World of Cyberpunk 2077.

Cyberpunk RED now has a robust line of support products and RPG supplements. Here’s a short list:

Also, I gathered up character sheets and other character-creation resources.

Shadowrun

Cyberpunk mixed with elves, dwarves, and magic. Shadowrun was like lightning out of a clear sky when it debuted in 1989. The fusion of tech and magic forms a compelling setting that still resonates today.

When looking into Shadowrun keep in mind that there are many editions. The most current edition at the time of my writing here is Shadowrun: Sixth World. Also, a variety of supplements and add-on books are available.

Shadow of the Beanstalk

Shadow of the Beanstalk is the cyberpunk sourcebook for Fantasy Flight Game’s Genesys rule system. Shadow of the Beanstalk details the cyberpunk city of New Angeles.

What separates Shadow of the Beanstalk from the other games already mentioned is the narrative dice system of the Genesys system. The system allows the players and the gamemaster to craft the story together at the table.

Plus it is a recent game having been released in March 2019. Being a recent game the mechanics and the design of the book as well as the setting feel very fresh and up-to-date. The Beanstalk is a space elevator by the way.

Carbon 2185

Carbon 2185 is a cyberpunk game built from the rules of fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons using the open game license.

If you are familiar with D&D 5e this may be the game you go with since the rules will be easy to get a handle on.

Whereas Shadowrun is set in Seattle and Shadow of the Beanstalk is set in the Los Angeles area Carbon 2185 is set in San Francisco. There are a couple of mission books available as well:

Altered Carbon: The Role Playing Game

The Altered Carbon RPG debuted at the end of 2020. I haven’t had a chance to check into this thoroughly yet, but it looks to provide some great transhuman, neo-noir action.

From the official description: “In the official Altered Carbon role playing game based on the hit Netflix series, wear any body you can afford, transmit your mind across the cosmos in an instant, and, if you’ve got the credits and political cachet, re-sleeve time and again for centuries, accumulating enough wealth and power over the millennia to become the societal equivalent of an immortal god.”

The Netflix series and the RPG are based on the New York Times Bestselling Takeshi Kovacs Novels.

Cities Without Number

Cities Without Number was just released in August 2023! Cities Without Number is a cyberpunk RPG that comes from independent RPG wizard Kevin Crawford.

From the official description:

“The world is neon and dust.

“There is nothing more than the flesh. There is nothing greater than the wires. There is nothing to dream that is not sold and nothing to worship that is not made. It is a mirrorshade world of human reflections, every red hunger and every black passion worshiped in cathedrals of glass and greed. The great love their sins like children and the least want only to be great. Who could hope for more?

“Cities Without Number is a cyberpunk role-playing game built for sandbox adventures in a dystopia of polished chrome and bitter misery. It’s both a full-fledged Sine Nomine toolkit for building a cyberpunk world of your own and an Old School Renaissance-inspired game system for playing out the reckless adventures of the desperate men and women who live in it. Whether polished metal or flesh and blood, your operators will risk their lives and more to seize those precious things a merciless world would keep from them.”

There are two versions of the game: Cities Without Number: Free Edition and the full version Cities Without Number.

Cyberpunk-ish Role-Playing Games

Of course, there are many other RPGs that have cyberpunk settings that incorporate cyberpunk elements. Some excellent ones are:

Corporation Core Rules
Rifts® RPG – 1st Edition Rules
Savage Rifts: The Tomorrow Legion Player’s Guide (Rifts setting Savage World system)
GeneFunk 2090 Core Rulebook
The Sprawl
Hack the Planet
The Veil
Interface Zero
Aetherium
GURPS Cyberpunk
Polychrome
Zaibatsu
CY_BORG Core Rules

Cyberpunk RPG Random Tables

The Book of Random Tables: Cyberpunk – This is a book I created to help gamemasters cut down their prep time. It has 32 D100 random tables geared for cyberpunk.

Find useful tables like Items in a Corporate Fat Cat Office, Items in a Desk, Items in a Hacker’s Apartment, Items in a Nightclub Owner’s Office, Items in a Street Doc’s Office, Nightclub Encounters, Rumors and Odd Jobs, and tons of names for non-player characters as well as corporations and nightclubs.

The Book of Random Tables: Cyberpunk 2 – My second book of cyberpunk random tables. Just like the first book this one has 32 D100 random tables.

Find useful tables like Items in a Corporation Locker Room, Items in a Gang Hideout, Items in a Pawn Shop, Items in a Slurp, Shop’s Kitchen, Office Building Encounters, City Locations and Shops, Names, Brand Names, and more.

Jack In, Cyberspace is Yours

Whatever cyberpunk role-playing game you choose, a vast amount of cyberspace adventures await you. If you can’t choose, you can always check out several games before you settle on your favorite.