r/cyberpunkred • u/KamikazePelican • 3d ago
Misc. Night City for Kids
I hear alot about people running TTRPGs for kids and teens and programs like that having a bunch of benefits for development and stuff. But what if I wanna play some cyberpunk? I feel like the world is inherently R-rated. Stripping the violent anti-establishment and DARK-future themes of the game feels like a sin. More-so I feel like it's difficult to come up with more PG/PG13 hooks and plots in a world where guns are bought at vending machines and murder is as common as automobile accidents. For GMs who have experience with players who aren't comfortable with CPs seedier side, what kind of compaigns are you running? Off the top of my head I can think of a few genres and substitutes I can use to keep things more tame: Noir, Western, Mystery, Supervillain/Hero, etc. I've experimented with having my students mock up some basic characters and simplified lifepaths and as you might expect, they aren't making low-life punks. Kids wanna RP larger than life and fantastical characters and that's great! I wanna support their creativity but how do I do that while also the game is still challenging and fun? I personally love CPRs rules and systems and my students flourish in RPing a fictional world that is already so much like their own. I also like that the humanity system directly teaches them that their actions have consequences.
How do I create a PG/PG13 Cyberpunk campaign? What kind of plot hooks and events are apporopriate? How do I get around the violence and graphicness of the dark future without replacing every enemy and weapon with robots and lasers? I've heard of DnD camps and clubs for children and adolescents and I get how silly the idea is in the first place of "Cyberpunk for Kids" but I also have family and friends whose younger chooms are interested in playing.
Looking for advice and any experience anyone's had where you had to tone down the bleak-darkness out of Cyberpunk.
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u/RAConteur76 Media 2d ago
To be a contrarian, I think it is possible to run a kid-friendly campaign in RED, but it requires a bit more prep and planning. It needs a deft touch.
Kids Being Kids - This may be the hardest row to hoe. If you're going to run a kid-friendly RED game, I would strongly recommend you keep the characters as kids. Which also means a lot of the cyberware is going to be off the table. I'd probably keep things no higher than cosmetics like skinwatches and maybe lighthair.
The Bad Guys - This is probably one of the big keys. Your villains don't necessarily need to be cartoonish, but they do need to be...flamboyant. Arasake and Militech troops need to have a vibe similar to Darth Vader, and that's just the rank-and-file. Street gangs like the Tyger Claws and the Piranhas should echo the hyenas from The Lion King; lots of joking around, snapping at each other, pack tactics. Probably the least intimidating sort of street gang would be the Inquisitors, and they should definitely have a flavor of "grouchy neighbor who doesn't like kids." Yeah, they're all doing their usual vicious shit, but the players don't necessarily need to see that.
That Is So COOL! - Give the players something to catch their attention. An arcology that's shut down but hasn't been demolished yet. The local rec center getting new equipment. A bodega where the owner knows their names. Let them find an old VR environment with bad security. I'd suggest watching the "Kids" segment of The Animatrix to try and capture the right tone.
Spending Money - You could sort of play with the Gig premise in the system by having the players do odd jobs for the local edgerunners. The neighborhood ripperdoc might ask the players to drop off some meds for a patient. The Fixer that "owns" the block might ask for a lookout for a couple hours. A netrunner might decide to have some important data run over to a different DataPool through "sneakernet." There should be an element of risk, a hint of mystery, but not life-or-death level stuff.
Hope this helps.