Now this is a game accessory I’ve been after for a while, but never seen it at a decent price when I had the cash… until now. The Cyberpunk Red Netrunning Deck from R.Talsorian Games. Physical version, as reviewed here, available from most good game shops and nerd suppliers, digital version is available HERE from Drive Thru RPG.
So, what’s in the box? and will it help you hack the Gibson? There are 52 regular playing card sized cards in here. All nicely cut and of a sturdy cardstock. The cards are typical playing card/CCG size, as shown in the picture below, so you can use standard size sleeves to cover them if you want that protection (which I have done).
The cards are split into four categories, 7 Floors, 3 Daemons, 27 Black ICE, and 15 Programs. Each representing a part of the hacking system from the core rulebook. You get:
- Floors: 3 Passwords, 1 File, 3 Control Nodes.
- Daemons: 1 each of Balron, Efreet, and Imp.
- Black Ice: 1 Sabertooth, 3 Killers, 2 Dragons, 4 Wisps, 3 Skunks, 1 Scorpion, 3 Ravens, 1 Liche, 1 Kraken, 5 Hellhounds, 1 Giant, 3 Asps.
- Programs: 1 each of the programs from the core book; Vrizzbolt, Superglue, Poison Flatline, Nervescrub, Hellbolt, Deckkrash, Sword, Banhammer, Shield, Flak, Armor, Worm, Speedy Gonzalez, See Ya, Eraser.
Whilst you can intuit how to use these pretty easily, a guide is available on R.Talsorian’s website HERE with a suggested method of using them in play.
Using this guide the architecture given as an example in the rulebook would look like the following in play. The first picture showing it at the start of the architecture, the second showing it after going through most of the floors.
And the deck in the standard Netrunner loadout from the gear section would look like this in use. With the pushed forward cards being ones that are activated.
A couple of advantages of these being standard playing card sized occurred to me. If any new in game software is released, but doesn’t get an official card, a blank playing card could be written on and slipped into your deck. Also if you wish to modify any of these existing cards, them taking standard size sleeves means you could easily write on the outside of a sleeve and then replace it when you want to revert to the standard card.
Overall, these cards are not a necessity for the game, but an aid that can help visualise the system you’re up against and the deck you’re using. Recommended if that’s something you think would help you with gameplay and immersion, especially if you have a regular Netrunner PC.
Hell, if I played a Netrunner I’d be tempted to get one of those playing card holders that you can stand a hand of cards in and paint it up as my cyberdeck to slot these cards into. Maybe even get some cool decorated sleeves that match the vibe of the character.
Three Kobolds With A Trench Gun 