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The concept of Tales of the RED: Hope Reborn saw its genesis during the 2023 R. Talsorian Games planning summit. It would be a book of missions, centered around The Forlorn Hope, an edgerunner bar and Night City landmark first introduced in Tales From the Forlorn Hope (a Cyberpunk 2020 sourcebook). From there, we expanded on the idea.

1. The book would be a full campaign and not a set of individual adventures, following in the footsteps of Land of the Free and Eurotour (both excellent Cyberpunk 2020 campaigns). 
2. In Tales From the Forlorn Hope, the bar served as an origin point for adventures but didn’t take a starring role. In Hope Reborn, we’d place the bar front and center. The Forlorn Hope would be the point of the campaign, not just a setting for it.
3. This would be a street-level campaign focusing on core concepts Mike Pondsmith laid out for Cyberpunk RED back in the beginning: Keep it personal. Keep it on The Street. Give edgerunners a chance to make a difference on a consequential scale.
4. Cyberpunk RED and the Interlock System make so many different styles of gameplay possible. We wanted to show that off.

I kept those four thoughts in mind as I outlined the books and the six Missions making up the campaign. When the outline was complete, I sought out the writers we needed to bring each of gigs to life.

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— WARNING —

I’ll try to avoid spoilers as much as possible, but there will be some small ones. If you want to enter Hope Reborn with completely fresh eyes, stop reading here.

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For the first mission, we needed someone with experience. Someone who could deftly introduce not just the campaign but Cyberpunk RED via gameplay. Best of all, someone whose writing could set the stakes for the rest of the book. Eddy Webb (pugsteady.com and realmsofpugmire.com) has a pile of writing and design credits taller than most megabuildings. His breadth of experience across franchises and genres, from the World of Darkness to Transformers to the Walking Dead made him the best choice for the job. Plus, I’ve wanted to work with him for years.

The second mission follows a three-act arc and blends combat, peril, and investigation. On the surface, it seems simple and traditional, but that’s why it required someone who could mix the more madcap elements of Cyberpunk with the tropes of a standard “get job, do job, get paid” gig in fresh ways. Paris Arrowsmith (@parisarrowsmith most places) and Tracie Hearne (@miss_magitek most places) both worked on Danger Gal Dossier, writing the Bozos and Network 54 entries, respectively. A perfect combination for a high-energy romp blending old classics with new ideas.

The third mission takes inspiration from Tales From the Forlorn Hope directly by offering a series of mini-adventures, each centered around a specific personality. A collection of sidequests, if you will. That meant we needed a writer capable of packing an overflow of personality and flavor into a small space. Linda Evans (she’s Druttercup everywhere, including Twitch and KoFi – check her out!), one of our go-to writers for both Witcher (A Book of Tales, A Tome of Chaos) and Cyberpunk RED (Black Chrome, Danger Gal Dossier) fit the bill perfectly. She’s the sort of GM who can turn a random, off-the-cuff encounter with an improvised NPC into a full session’s worth of RP and plot. Exactly what we needed. By the way, if you’ve played one of Loke Battle Mat’s 5e adventures, like Into the Depths and Pen of Thieves, you’re familiar with Linda’s top-notch adventure design work.

Mission four is a heist. A flat-out, classic con job and robbery. Think Leverage or Oceans Eleven. We couldn’t trust this gig to anyone but Melissa Wong, who has contributed more to Cyberpunk RED than any other freelancer writer. Data Pack. Tales of the RED: Street Stories. Danger Gal Dossier. Halloween Screamsheets. Her name is in almost as many Cyberpunk RED books as mine! Plus, her missions, Haven’t Got a Stitch to Wear and Bucket Full of Popcorn-Flavored Kibble are both fan favorites. It is honestly always a pleasure to work with Melissa as she brings new ideas to the Cyberpunk table and breathes fresh new life into older tropes.

For mission five, we needed the style and energy you’d find on the opening night of a 1920s speakeasy … right before a raid by the cops transformed the event into an all-out bar brawl. Chris Spivey (darkerhuestudios.com), creator of Harlem Unbound and Haunted West, delivered the perfect mixture of violence, intrigue, and rock and roll. Importantly, Chris also brought his love of bourbon to the project, writing the recipe for The Hope Reborn, a new cocktail you can make and drink while you play (please drink responsibly). This is his third trip to Night City, having previously worked on Black Chrome and Danger Gal Dossier. If you want more of his work (and you should!), check out his Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/HarlemUnbound).

The final mission of the campaign offers branching paths, allowing groups to choose violence or go sly and cunning if they so choose. Since it caps off the campaign, we couldn’t give this gig to anyone less than a full-time Cyberpunk aficionado. Frances Stewart knows her Cyberpunk. She’s played it. She’s lived it, and she’s been there for Black Chrome, Danger Gal Dossier, and Tales of the RED: Street Stories. Fran is a line manager’s dream: constantly asking questions, throwing out ideas, and bouncing off feedback to bring out the best in her work. We’re lucky to have her on the team.

After assigning all six Missions, I realized something was missing. We needed an introduction: something to lay out for new Players and GMs alike what The Forlorn Hope is and what it means. Not something dry but a piece of fiction to tug on the heartstrings and show just how special this piece of Cyberpunk history is. I reached out to Will Moss, the writer of Tales From the Forlorn Hope, hoping against hope he was available. Fortunately, he was, and I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, Will hasn’t lost a step. His writing remains as crisp and charged with emotion as ever. The opening story is one any fan of Cyberpunk will treasure. Bring tissues when you read it. You’ll need them.

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Thanks for sticking with this dev log thus far, but there’s still more to go! I’ve told you about the real-life people who made Tales of the RED: Hope Reborn possible. Let’s flip the script and chat about the fictional factions of Night City who show up in the book. Some appear as background players. Others step up to the front of the stage for a starring role. Mind you, this isn’t a complete list (we want to hold back some surprises) but it will give you an idea of just how broad the campaign hits. Again, spoiler alert for those looking to go into the campaign fresh. Stop reading!

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Albino Alligators: A minor gang operating out of an abandoned car wash in Rancho Coronado. They get their name from promotional polo shirts the car wash printed before it died: black with a white alligator mascot printed on the back (each sporting a permanently popped collar). They’re a minor nuisance as gangs go but since there’s always more shirts, there’s always more Alligators.

Biotechnica: The world’s biggest biocorp, specializing in genetic engineering and biochemical research. They own the patent for CHOOH2 and most of the medicines being slung by Medtechs during the Time of the Red. They’re also one of the largest employers in Night City. The corp is currently investing heavily in “rebuilding nature,” so if you see a large collection of plants in or around Night City, there’s a decent chance Biotechnica has something to do with it.

The Bozos: Everything about the Bozos is shrouded in mystery, including their origins. One common narrative suggests that they began life as a fairly benign prankster gang back in the 2010s, but their “jokes” grew more and more sadistic as time went on until they became the stuff of nightmares. Recently, the Bozos fractured, splitting up into different “circuses.” Now, each circus tries to out-prank the others in a horrific clown civil war.

Continental Brands: If you’ve eaten food in Night City, chances are Continental Brands either made it, sold it, or both. Thanks to its chain of Oasis convenience stores and brutal marketing tactics, Continental Brands is North America’s largest provider of cheap food and goods. It used to be a division of Petrochem but spun itself off, forcibly, following years of daring corporate skullduggery.

Crawling Cobras: One of a seemingly endless number of small scavver groups operating in Night City. There’s nothing remarkable about them at all. Give it a year and they won’t even exist.

Dynalar Technologies: A prominent cyberware manufacturer responsible for a wide range of products. Roughly half the cybernetic implants currently installed in Night City residents were manufactured by Dynalar (or are knock-offs of its products built by local Techs). Its most recent triumph involves the return of its patented cyberfinger system to the open market.

The Forlorn Hope: The Forlorn Hope is an institution in Night City. Not just a bar but a refuge for veterans of combat in war and on The Street. The owners are John “The Professor” Freeman and his wife, Marianne. Helping them out in the bar are Edelweiss Dolarhyde, the niece of William “Dollar Bill” Dolarhyde, and Valence, a former scavver saved from a slow, radioactive death by the Freemans. Petra David, a 4th Corp War vet acts as head of security. Grace Steel and the Soul Rebels are the house band. If you’re in need of a patch job, you’ll want to visit Doc Stoic’s clinic in the basement. If your equipment needs patching, you’ll find Cicely “Backhand” Fong in the workshop next to the doc’s clinic. Regulars patron of The Hope include Axel “Axeman” Mankeivicz, a retired private eye; Ingénue, leader of the Willows; Major Veronica Styles, a freelancer wrangler for Militech; Roxanne “Roxxi” Colton and Kimiko “Kissy” Sanchez, two “Night City angels” and edgerunning veterans who are as explosive together as ever; Susan “Sundance” Dahner, The Hope’s old ripperdoc; and Team Monster, an edgerunning team that’s moved up to the big time thanks to recent jobs.

Maelstrom: A combat gang with some serious history in Night City, Maelstrom believes in the virtues of chrome with a zealous, almost religious fervor. Over the years, they’ve absorbed the remnants of a dozen other gangs, often defeating them in battle before inducting the survivors. Maelstrom operates out of the Totentanz, a metal bar on the edge of the Hot Zone. They’re led by Warlock, who has guided them into power as one of Night City’s biggest dealers in drugs and salvaged tech.

The Muses: The Muses are not just a roller derby squad but a poser gang, mixing 1980s big-hair style and ancient Grecian fashion sensibilities. They’re as well known for hosting parties in Xanadu, their arena/night club, as they are for their rhinestone-studded razzle-dazzle on the track.

Red Chrome Legion: The Red Chrome Legion began life as a poser gang; Edgy teens who enjoyed cosplaying as Nazis. As so often happens, people who pretended to be assholes soon became assholes, and neo-fascist ideology grew into the core bedrock of the gang’s identity. In the Time of the Red, members of the gang talk a lot about “The Great Caesar,” an almost messianic figure who will rise up from their ranks to conquer Night City. In the end, though, they’re just another combat zone gang engaged in constant warfare with their nearest rivals.

Rocklin Augmentics: Originally a prosthetic manufacturer, Rocklin Augmenticcs bet hard on cyberware following the ascension of current CEO Jacinda Hidalgo. The company is known for its cutting-edge design, eschewing the organic for the artificial in both form and function. Rocklin has also become known for exploring the limits on cyberware and rumors abound about boundary-pushing transhumanist designs secretly in development in heavily guarded labs.

Wild Things: The house fighters of Redline, Night City’s best-known live fighting arena, are the gang known as the Wild Things. They survived from the 2020s into the Time of the Red by channeling their megaviolent impulses into gladiatorial bloodsport. Their current leader, Jenny Nails, also owns the Redline.

Ziggurat: Ziggurat is data in the Time of the Red. The company appeared from nowhere in the 2030s and quickly rose to prominence as not only the builders of new CitiNets across North America but as the biggest creator of apps taking advantage of the new digital infrastructure. The company is run by UR, who is as much an influencer as they are a CEO.

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That’s it for this week. I hope you enjoyed learning more about the people who made Tales of the RED: Hope Reborn and the people you’ll meet on its pages. We’ll release the book on October 15, 2024 (if all goes well!), but I’ll return next week with a glimpse at the new rules we’ve created for the campaign.

Until next time, stay safe on The Street

J Gray

Line Developer for Cyberpunk

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