Combat is built around a delicate balance you need to understand

Art by Psychée"

INTRODUCTION

KNOW THE RULES

AND UNDERSTAND THAT EVERYTHING IS LINKED

THAT'S WHY IT'S ALL ABOUT CHOICES

HOW SHOULD YOU DESIGN A COMBAT ENCOUNTER

And HOW CAN YOU MAKE COMBAT MORE INTERESTING

HANDLING HIGH EVASION AND BULLET DODGING CREW

LETHAL OR NOT ?

MISTAKES TO AVOID

INTRODUCTION

Another post for newcomers and new GMs. Old-timers won't learn anything here, they might even point out mistakes to me in the comments (feel free to do so, I'll correct the post, as I did in another post). I'll try to give you the mindset that will help you grow as a CPR GM. Then, I hope you'll find your own answers on how to handle combat in CPR.

You need to know the rules, and with this knowledge you'll be able to understand how everything is linked together to achieve an overall balance. By understanding this, you'll realize that the combat system revolves around your players' choices (STAT, Skills, gears and tactics), with each possibility having advantages and disadvantages. Taking this last point into account will help you design more balanced and fun battles.

KNOW THE RULES

The "Friday night firefight" chapter is one you need to know. This is the start of your journey, you need to read this chapter over and over again. Every line. You can't play with a tactical system without knowing all the rules.

JonJon the wise : Combat In Cyberpunk Red: Basic and Advanced Tactics

Cybernation Uncensored : CYBERPUNK RED Ultimate Combat Crash Course Tutorial

AND UNDERSTAND THAT EVERYTHING IS LINKED

If you don't understand how everything is connected, you won't understand that Cyberpunk is based on choices during character creation and when spending your IP, choices about gears, and finally choices about tactics.

Factors you need to take into account :

PC/NPC

Dodging ranged attack ability : Most OP combat capability in the game.
Base score in Evasion
Base score in the main offensive ability.
Initiative : First to deal damage and first to hide behind a cover + as you can't hold an action after the end of turn, high initiative character will have an advantage.
MOVE : you can get at the optimal range or "move, shoot, move to cover" with a high movement
BODY : hand to hand damage, requirement for some weapon, HP and Death save.
In combat Perception : a Solo may not be as good during combat, and he could walk on a trap.

Weapons

Damage in D6 : that's directly opposed to armor SP, there is a balance here.
ROF : most dangerous power factor for weapons. (Martial arts, Hurricane shotgun, Cow-boy GL)
AF multiplier : still swingy as 2 x 4 is still a poor 8 damage. But highest concealable damage possible.
Suppressive fire : a very tactical ability or a useless one, as the rule is badly written. GM fiat here.
Area of Effect or Single target (obvious)
Range : against mook it's rather important, against "dodging bullet" opponent, a lot less.
Quality of the weapon : more important than you might think
Exotic or non exotic : critical to know as exotic weapon have drawbacks that are very important.
Special requirement : BODY 11+ or 8+
Special feature : ignore armor, two type of ammo, special ammo (cheaper or special effect), etc...
Concealment : Do not underestimate this specific factor as you can't bring your Hurricane everywhere and you can't hide it under your clothes.
1handed weapon or 2handed weapons
Critical injuries : they don't have the same impact depending on your preferred weapon.
Stowing a weapon cost an action : that one is important in term of economy of action.
Versatility : 1 hand is need to grab someone, to drive (without an interface plug), etc...

Armor

SP : that's directly opposed to Weapons Damage in D6
Penalties : it's a balance factor, don't play around with it, else pistol might became utterly useless.

Ammunitions

Type : AP and Incendiary can change the course of a battle.
Size of the magazine : that can be critical with small magazine
you can only have ONE type of ammo in a magazine : that's why dual wielding is a thing.
Reloading cost an action : the reason whey Size of magazine and One ammo type in magazine are a thing.

Negative modifiers

Seriously wounded : -2 is big deal in Cyberpunk
Critical injury : some of them are really hard on your combat ability.
Night or smoke : -4 is just a death sentence. Get out the smoke grenade area fast !
Movement malus (climb, swim & jump)

Positive modifiers

Combat Awareness : That's very versatile and the main reason why Solos are superior in combat.
Street Drugs & Pharma : +1 in REF is huge bonus in this game, heal in combat, etc...

Cyberware effects

More damage in hand to hand combat
More HP & Death save
More Initiative
More perception
More movement while running
More Chance to hit
Negate some malus (seriously wounded, Night & Smoke, movement malus)
Immunity against some critical injury
Make some weapons concealable
Nullify the need to spend an action in order to stow some weapon
Immunity to Disarm action

Price of the gears

That's also important, the game is balanced with 500eb to 2000eb per job and most of the time it's 1000eb + loot.

I know... that's a lot of factors (I certainly missed some minor one). Remember that they are interdependent to achieve balance and diversity. By consequences every gears has been designed to balance these factors.

Here a list about how it is balanced. Each time you gain something you will also lose something elsewhere.

Concealable or not, that's a huge point because there are a lot of place where you can't carry a weapon. Corporate and Executive threat rating are patrolled by cops or security service like Lazarus Security. They will come at you if you carry a weapon. Keep in mind that :"Note that while the majority of a region might fit into a specific Threat Rating that doesn't mean a region may not have other Threat Ratings in and around the main classification". So if you carry your AR in a Moderate section of the city and get near a Corpo building... you might bring unwanted attention from Corpo police, and they don't follow the law.

2 handed weapons are super effective and most of them works under Shoulder arms (shotgun, AR and Sniper Rifle), Melee weapon or Heavy weapon. But they are weak to Critical injuries (Crushed fingers, Dismembered hand, Broken arm, Dismembered arm) and most of the time not concealable.

1 Handed weapons can be dual wielded without any malus and offer versatility ( you can grab someone with one hand, then equipped as a human shield and you can still fire your 1 handed weapon at another opponent) . You can switch them freely via pop-up weapon. They are also quite easy to conceal from the start or with a pop-up weapon. You can lose an arm and still fight ! But they are short-range and do less damage than Shoulder arms weapons. (Dual wielding advantages)

Close combat (Martial arts, Melee weapon, and even Brawling) is more effective than ranged combat (except explosives), it's a balance choice as it doesn't make any sense IRL. The idea is to give players more choices and more fun (subjective). But they need to reach close range and will be weak against Suppressive fire, not useful during a car chase, and will ask you to take bigger risks in general as it's difficult to take cover while fighting at close range.

Martial arts does 4D6 ROF2 and it's always concealable BUT that's a x2 skill and you need body 11+ which means GMBL + Linear Frame (which can raise suspicion) 2000eb / 8D6 Humanity loss at character creation. The sooner or later 2 major therapy 8D6 humanity / 2000eb , minus Hustle time x2 let's say 600 for a Solo ---> 4600eb at the end of the day. And you need to fight at close range, which requires high level in Evasion + capability to dodge ranged attack + high MOVE. Still one of the best damage dealing combo of the game.

There are 2 Very Heavy weapons that are awesome : Kendachi mono three and Arasaka Reaver. On the other hand they aren't concealable unless you are using a specific linear frame : the Fūma Kotarō Linear Frame (5000eb).

An AR is the most versatile weapon in the game thanks to its 5D6 damage AND a small DV to hit from 13m to 100m (which is huge). But it's not concealable. You have two ARs that can be concealed when disassembled. And it takes time to reassemble them. Other drawback, it's a 2handed weapon.

Shotgun, handgun are not very effective at middle and long range. You might need a middle range capability or you can be fine with that. (A fixer might just want to invest in one offensive skill : Handgun, as most of them can be concealed in a way or in another). With Shoulder arms you can switch to an AR in combat. But you need to spend an action for that or to dump your previous weapon on the ground. And it's a 2handed weapon.

Hurricane shotgun does 5D6 ROF2 BUT it's an exotic weapon : standard quality, no smartlink, basic ammunition only. That's not all, it requires 10 in BODY if not mounted (GMBL + therapy), needs 2 turns to reload which is not a big issue as it comes with 16 ammo = 8 turns, and you can't aimed shot. Of course you can TechUp the Hurricane to have AP ammo or an Excellent quality (5000k). That's a 5000k 2handed weapon, one of the best in the game.

The Pop-up shotgun is a concealable weapon using Shoulder arm skill with ROF1, 5D6 damage BUT it has only 2 ammo in magazine. Remember that reloading cost 1 action. On the other hand it's a 1handed weapon.

Heavy pistol are ROF 2 but with 3D6 they will get through SP11 only half of the time. Which is fine, as you can dual wield with a Very Heavy Pistol or you wan use Spot weakness to get through the armor. Against higher armor SP, they start lacking a lot.

SMG aren't good in single fire mode (except with the fact they are easier to use at middle range than pistols BUT with less damage). Most of the time you should use them for Autofire, that's it. And Autofire means 10 bullet each time, you aren't gonna use AP/Incendiary ammo until you are really rich. On the other hand they are concealable, so you have an Autofire + concealable combo.

An Eagle survivalist crossbow doesn't cost a lot, 500eb, and give you a wide range of small DV as you combined range of AR and Crossbow under 1 skill : Archery. That's just awesome. But it's an exotic weapon and you can't buy an excellent quality one and you can't equip it with a SmartLink. Meaning it's less effective against a high evasion opponent than a good old crossbow (EQ + Smartlink). (yeah later you can Upgrade it to Excellent quality)

Explosives weapon will do a lot of damage in a large area of effect. At short range Athletics is enough for grenade, at middle range you will need Heavy Weapon (x2 skill). But it can hit innocent people, draw unwanted attention and damage stuff around you.

Heavy weapons skill is more versatile than people think, because there are plenty of weapons that don't go BOOM and which offer a lot of different special effect. But it's a x2 skill and versatility cost money as you need a lot of different exotic and standard weapons.

This list is not exhaustive at all, but you get the idea. Before making a judgment about a weapon or a tactics, you must ask yourself if their is a niche situation where it can be useful (e.g: Light Melee weapon + biotoxin). Because this is the way the game have been design.

If you ignore one of these factors, you upset the balance. And that can make already suboptimal (but viable) gears and tactics totally irrelevant. Which means less choices, and with less choices everybody will play the same minmaxed gears and tactics. It's gonna be a boring journey.

THAT'S WHY IT'S ALL ABOUT CHOICES

That's a tactical system by nature, but Cyberpunk is not a tactical RPG.

Remember how your Edgerunners should think : "Style over Substance". And even if they are more about Substance for some of them (it happens), they aren't playing a group of elite stealth operatives (like Delta force or whatever special forces) in a wargame like setting. They are roleplaying edgerunners (p.28) with qualities and flaws who blend in a specific cyberpunk setting, they are part of a crew and they wish to survive.

Some of your players choices might not be optimal in term of combat efficiency. That's a good news, as most of them are perfectly viable if you understand how to run the game. Each weapons/armors/cyberwares/combat tactics in the game are useful, some are more versatile and other are very specific. That's a good thing as it allows more variety.

Your players need to make educated choices (STAT, Skills and Gears), each one of them comes with drawbacks.

HOW SHOULD YOU DESIGN A COMBAT ENCOUNTER

Tailored it to your group (captain obvious inside)

Don't push them towards minmax, it's fine not to have everyone able to dodge ranged attacks, it's fine not to have everyone with a Linear Frame, 60HP and high Death save. Just don't punish them. Some battles will be impossible for them, that's Cyberpunk spirit. But I hope they'll find plenty of ways to avoid unnecessary fights, and only choose fights they can win. This isn't a wargame, it's a TTRPG, and smart players can do amazing things with the right piece of Intelligence despite having low combat abilities.

Core rule book p.399 "The Battle" will give you advice in order to build encounters.

1 Mook = 1 Edgerunner
1 Lieutenant = 2 Edgerunners
1 Mini Boss = 3 Edgerunners

It works fine and with more experience you will be able to design better encounters in term of number and quality of the opposing force.

But that's not an accurate science, as each group are very different even with the same characters sheet. Because it also depends a lot if your players like tactical game or not. By consequences they will not have the same level of experience and involvement into the tactical aspect of the game. That's fine, but you need to be flexible and to learn what kind of players you are trying to entertain.

In the "Hardened lieutenant" DLC you will find a definition of Hardened character (see below), Hardened crew and Hardened mooks. They give you advice in order to use hardened mook, lieutenant and mini-boss.

What is a Hardened Character? A Player Character is considered Hardened when they meet any of the following criteria:

A REF of 8 combined with a Dodge Skill of 6 or higher.
Ability to attack with Stat + Skill + Mod of 15 higher.
WILL + BODY of 16 or Higher.
Owns a Weapon with a value of Luxury or higher.
DEX of 8 combined with a MOVE of 8.
Autofire or Martial Arts Skill of 6 or higher.
Solo Rank 4 or higher.

And HOW CAN YOU MAKE COMBAT MORE INTERESTING

This is where you can play with your players choices.

Vary locations

Street and external building with a very long range first shoot: that's gonna be difficult for your short range characters. They will spend time in order to get at the right range and they might get hit by the opponents poor ARs.
Inside a corporate building with small rooms, tight corridors and civilian running around in panic mode : A lot of cover, initiative, movement and short range capabilities will shine. Don't go BOOM as the corpo might send their elite troops to stop you. (and your reputation might take a hit here)
Inside a combat zone building : Heavy weapon users moment of joy, let's go BOOM ! Unless you are afraid about structural damage on an already damaged building.
On a roof top : grab, drag and drop mechanism (brawling) could be a thing. A chase will use Athletics + Jump / Climb abilities of your PCs.
Car chase : close combat character will NOT shine and that's fair.
Night club (corporate one) : no 2handed weapon and no SP11 armor (unless concealed). Civilian running around in panic mode, cops will show up in 1D10 round (as stated page 417)
In a mall in a corporate zone : no 2handed weapon, a lot of civilian around beware of collateral damage (no explosive unless you want a Max tac fight) and cop will show up again.

These are examples, again you get the idea behind. Choose situations where thing might get difficult just because they can't use their favorite gears and tactics.

Vary opponents behavior

Some opponents lack tactical skills, like many gangers (except 6th street). They'll attack head-on, aggressively. That's supposed to be quit easy encounters. But you can boost difficulty via number or a lieutenant. In Danger Gal Dossier we have some very dangerous gangers (lieutenant and mini-boss).

Others, like corpo solos, will have a good base Tactics score, and will use advanced techniques and weaponry to try and stop the PCs. Play them smart. They are going to use the most optimize way to fight : cover, smoke grenade, flashbang grenade, suppressive fire, etc....

Play on your PCs' weaknesses.

I'm not saying you should punish them all the time, that would be dumb as it's not fun at all. But it's important to raise the bar sometimes, and you don't need big guns to do that. Because when a PC wants to be good in one area, he will be lacking in another, that why choices are so important. As a GM, you can use it to your advantage to spice up battles a bit.

Some skills are design around saving you from trouble:
Evasion : resist Melee attack and Ranged attack if REF8 or Reflex Co-processor cyberware
Brawling : resist Brawing actions like Grab and Disarm
Concentration : resist Suppressive fire
Resist drugs & tortures : resist Poison, Biotoxin, Sleep, Flashbang, and plenty of effects
Cybertech : resist EMP effect.

Evasion is so important that most PCs will not score too badly in this area. But the other 4 are rarely ALL at their best (except for Solos). And even some Solos who want to diversify a little may be lacking in one of these skills. You can play on these weaknesses from time to time by using weapons and tactics in order to target them.

Play on their strength

For example, I did a whole fight where the opposing corpo guards only used Dartgun (Sleep DV13). I had a reason ingame, but the real goal was to prove to my 3 players that they made a good choice by raising Resist D&T up to 13/14. It worked, the few who missed a dodge managed to resist the Sleep ammo. Obviously the fight was an easy win, that was not tactical at all, BUT they reaped the reward of their choices.

It's a mistake to not use weapons and tactics because you know as a GM it will not work against your PCs (like a gas attack while they all have nasal filter), they spent IP/Money into better resistance. Prove them right !!

HANDLING HIGH EVASION AND BULLET DODGING CREW

Yeah... they are all hardened PCs, meaning it's a hardened crew. Still, they will miss an Evasion check sooner or later. And again, it's about choices. If they spent STAT, Skill and/or money (Reflex co-processor) in order to achieve base 14 in Evasion and ranged attack dodging capability, then it's fair that most combat are going to be easier for them.

Don't punish them or you will make their choices irrelevant and next time they will feel it's not a choice anymore but a mandatory thing to do. Remember that a lot of situations shouldn't end with a combat. But if they are all combat optimized, they might tend to resolve everything with violence. Sooner or later they will pay the price for it.

On the other hand, it is sometimes necessary to increase the opposition a little:

Use hardened Mook, Lieutenant and Mini-boss. (that's the easy way)
Make combat time sensitive : they heard reinforcement are coming in 3 rounds.
Economy of action might work against them : more opponents are always going to bring a result, as sooner or later they will get hit.
Play their weaknesses (cf point #5) : Even if most of them requires to hit first (High Evasion = low chance to be hit) that's not the case for Suppressive fire BTW.
Focus fire the "weak" : That will force them to change their current tactic.
Use Environmental Trap defense p.214-216 : it's traps that requires a Perception check DV17 to be spotted. The combat need to start as soon as they enter the area, two guards behind the door for example. Keep in mind that most Solos will spend their Combat Awarness point into something else then Perception when the combat start. Choose a map with multiple path in the same room and someone is going to miss a perception check for the trap on his path. And you can't dodge what you can't see : that's 6D6 damage.
Multiple combat in a row: That might deplete their armor and HP slowly.

LETHAL OR NOT ?

The system is a lot less lethal than CP2020 but a lot more than D&D. Your players need to understand that all combat can't be win. You must avoid some of them and sometimes you will need to retreat.

Example : you are in the middle of a fight, PCs got injuried a bit, but they have the upper hand. Everything can turn sour with one grenade on three PCs, 2 can't dodge and the solo roll a 1. You roll damage and get 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 6 = 22 + 5 (critical injury) = 27. Then you roll dismembered hand on the group Solo who is using a shotgun (2Handed weapon). The other two are now under half their HP and got a -2 to every action. It's time to retreat ! Of course they might still have the advantage and will probably win the fight, but the risk to lose 1 PC is a lot higher now.

Combat against "mirror" team. Meaning the same numbers of opponents, almost same gears and ability to dodge bullet and slightly less effective Base score. They are going to take a lot of time. As SP11 and 40HP+ on both side will drag the fight. They are very luck based, as a bad critical injury can lower your combat ability to the point a PC can't keep up anymore against his "mirror" opponent.

At the end of the day, combat is not that lethal until a bad critical injury destroys your group tactic. At first glance because of SP11, PCs are safe. They are not if they play like a bunch of gangers while thinking they are invulnerable.

MISTAKES TO AVOID

Playing like it is a tactical RPG: Don't think it's a tactical RPG. Yes the system is quite tactical, but the setting is not about that at all ! Your PCs need to be clever and to avoid meaningless combat when possible. (saving face is NOT meaningless in Cyberpunk)

Playing epic: Don't play an epic campaign for your first campaign. The game is supposed to be Street level (p.392). Don't pay them to much and don't distribute 5000k weapons like candies. Later in the campaign they will have cool toys. Take your time to reach that point.

Punishing a choice / a weakness. There is a difference between using a weakness against them from time to time to spice up a combat and systematic punishment. The former makes them remember their characters aren't superhero, they are just badasses. The later is just straight up bullying and will kill all the fun.

Using "big guns" as a solution. Thinking that only big guns will solve your "problem" with a very combat optimized party. Playing smart is enough most of the time. And you don't have a problem to begin with as they have weakness in other area if they spent a lot in combat abilities.

Homebrewing without any experience with the system : Invent expertise allows Tech players to propose homebrewed gears for the crew. It's also an easy way to break balance in the game and to shutdown some choices by consequences. Play the game RAW, enjoy it ! Then, with more experience, you can tweak it and even go wild.

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