I had absolutely no plans to run a cyberpunk campaign anytime soon. Then I started reading Monte Cook’s Neon Rain for the Cypher System. Cyberpunk 2077 is one of, if not my favorite, video games, and it’s what really made me fall in love with the genre. So when I saw there was a Cypher System cyberpunk setting, I jumped on it.
I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Part of me worried that too much of the genre’s iconography would be locked behind copyrights from other franchises, forcing them to create the store-brand cola version of cyberpunk. I was extremely happy to find that wasn’t the case. Neon Rain gives you everything you need to build a world that draws from Cyberpunk 2077, Blade Runner, Shadowrun, and beyond.
When I say they thought of everything, this is only a sample:
- Monowire, mantis blades, and all the rest of the implanted weaponry
- Megacorps, gangs, fixers, and other factions
- Rampant capitalism, consumerism, pollution, and demolished protections for consumers and workers
- Cyberware implants, prosthetics, replacements, enhancements
- Optional rules for kaiju, ghosts, demons, and magic
- Netrunners, street samurai, and more
- Hacking (both kinds), slashing, and smart shooters
- Flying cars, bikes, and drones
And that’s just scratching the surface.
The book also includes character concepts, sample adventures, and a solid roster of NPCs to populate your world. They’ve even thought through the pills, drugs, processed foods, and other vices your players might use to endure the oppressive world of the future.
I already knew Cypher could handle cyberpunk. What impressed me was how thoroughly Neon Rain commits to that potential. Cyphers as street tech and black market stims. Types for chrome-armed enforcers and glitched-out netrunners. Foci that lock in the genre’s archetypes, from stealth-heavy operators and deep-dive hackers to living weapons and characters built around drones and constant surveillance.
I’m already imagining a campaign inspired by Tad Williams’ Otherland series: virtual worlds within virtual worlds, corporate conspiracies that span realities, and questions about what’s real when everything can be simulated. Just might make me The Happiest Dead Boy in the World.
You should really check this one out. You can grab a copy at DriveThruRPG.
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Mason Beck Fiction 
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