Cyberpunk Red gets a tabletop crossover with bartending sim VA-11 HALL-A

Attention all cyberpunk (the genre) fans: we’re about to get one of the coolest cro🉐ssovers in its history. 

If you’ve somehow missed out on Cyberpunk RED or VA-11 HALL-A, then consider this your reminder to go check them out immediately. The former is a TTRPG ruleset from R. Talsorian Games that pulls double-duty as a sequel to the original tabletop games Cyberpunk and Cyberpunk 2020, and a prequel to the events of Cyberpunk 2077. The latter is a visual novel-adjacent sim game from Sudekan Gamesཧ about slinꦜging drinks in a high-tech, low-life future. 

R. Talsorian and Sudekan have partnered to supplement that imports your favorite parts of VA-11 HALL-A into Night City. The DLC officially exists in an alternate universe from the base game, but so does just about every Cyberpunk RED game you’ve ever played with your friends. &nb🎃sp;

The 20 page DLC has everything you’d expect from a Cyberpunk RED supplement. There’s mechanical information like a map of the bar and lists of NPC stats, but there’s also a ton of flavorful additions like news stories, side character backstories, and, of course, a Drinktionary. Game Masters will be able to make great use of the included stat blocks fo൲r various lieutenants, mini-bosses, and bosses. Players, on the other hand, will want to check out the healthy supply of new tech and cyberware. The Drink Master 5000 is a must-have for any self-respecting drinking establishment, and denizens of Night City might want to pay for some Extreme Biosculpting or a Hammered Industrie🎀s Cyberliver – if they have the humanity to spare. 

Just like the base Cyberpunk RED rulebook, this new DLC is a great read even if you don’t intend on using it to run a game. As an added bonus, the DLC is available as a free download from R. Talsorian’s site. It’s not necessarily a perfect translation of the visual novel – I, for one, would have loved to see VA-11 HALL-A’s many drinks get implemented in a more mechanical way – but it’s a perfect way to bring the characters you loved from Glitch City into your own personal version of Night City. Anything that gives me a reason to call up the gang for another few sessions of Cyberpunk RED is a win in my book.