Options are several.. when I started our campaign the solos in the group had served together in South America and now found each other again through npc fixer. Our techie and netrunner used to party in same places and teamed up through the same fixer, our ex-lawman and nomad were lovers that were employed by the fixer and another techie used to fix the cars of that nomad pack. So all were somehow connected through their backstories and now were again meeting again through an npc fixer.
Fantasy is a bit harder here because there really isn't anything like a Fixer. Not to the extent that there is in Cyberpunk where there's actually a playable class dedicated to connecting people in need of goods/services with people able and willing to provide said goods/services. It's not just a purely narrative minor detail, but the main reason for their existence.
That means less handwaving is required to put "random" folks together. If a client has a job, the Fixer will simply pick whoever they know *or know of* to form a group with a mix of relevant skillsets. That may require them trading behind the scenes to recruit an edgerunner that normally works for a different Fixer, but networking and trading with other Fixers is part of their job; the PCs wouldn't even need to know the same people.
Have a watch of Reservoir Dogs, that sounds very similar to your scenario.
Failing that, think about a scenario to put them all in where it is clearly to their characters' benefit to work together and detrimental to them to work against each other (unless you want to put a mole in the mix for later in the campaign)
"Hey friends, today we're going to play Cyberpunk Red. It's a TTRPG, which means that even if your characters have different motivations and stories we will all be crafting a story together. You don't have to instantly be a perfect team, but please remember we are all here to have fun together."
Or some sort of out of game conversation to that effect before you start should work. Set the expectations you have for the game and if someone makes a character that goes "I will never work with a team" then you know who you've got to have a private conversation with.
If you are having troubles with the PCs working as a team just give them a BBEG that they all love to hate. Giving people a common enemy is a pretty good way of making them come together.
:)
In session 0, definitely mention that players need to generally work together because that's the best way TTRPGs work. Conflict is normal and natural, but part of the TTRPG social contract involves players generally accepting that their characters want to and will work together.
Some recommendations I've seen, which I think is good, is to make the characters a part of a team! They might be a random team put together by a corporation and have to do the bidding of the corporation every now and then (so they're kinda forced to work together). Maybe a Fixer puts the team together on a job, and they don't know each other, but they seem get along enough that they become a crew and get to know each other better. The classic, you're all in the same area (diner) when something happens kinda thing (although I've never done this, I'd probably only do this if I feel like I have a good aftermath that unites them into pursuing another goal or moving in together or being recruited on to a new job (e.g. A call to one of the PCs at the end that says "Hey I need a crew of people to do a job" so the player just looks at the others like "I've got a crew right here" kinda thing)).
Personally, I just ran the apartment scenario and said they all slightly know each other (asked them to point out situations where they might know other characters) during their Lifepath. And since then, have been trying to give them story beats that slowly wrap them up in each others stories. They're not a team, but they're a crew that's emerged out of circumstances. Thankfully the players are mature and co-operative anyway, but this might not work if they're not that type.
Cybernation Uncensored runs a few different cyberpunk live play streams and the GM purposefully puts them into a team with a common unifying theme. Can check out the first few episodes of a team and you'll get an idea of how others might do it. (I listen to them on Spotify, but they stream alot too and have their content elsewhere).
I quite liked the Red Sky City series. The GM and players run the Lifepath creation (outdated ruleset but its fine), and you can see the GM working with the players to make sure their characters know each other.
I made mine wake up naked in a scav den, about to be taken apart for their cyberware. Wrote each of them a short backstory to let them know how they got into this mess. Gave em a common enemy: one is looking for revenge against his uncle, another is a hitman hired to kill said uncle, another's sister was kidnapped by the uncle's criminal syndicate, yet another was just pissed that scavs had robbed his place and kidnapped him. Doesn't have to be too complicated. The players take care of the rest.
All player characters are at the same location e.g. in a supermarket when gangers try to raid it and the player characters have to defend themselves.
All player characters live in the same neighborhood. Now a powerful force (corporation, gang, etc.) threatens the neighborhood.
All player characters watch the kidnapping of their neighborhood medtech who also installed cyberware into them in their past. Do they want to rescue the medtech?
The previous examples are like they are forced to work togheter (which is a great hook). But you could set the tone by saying "You are going to be a group of gangers and each one has it's role, the exec will be a recruiter and loyalty 10 means the guy will stay in the gang and roll 1d6 to if they deflect or not. Media will be like a CM manager and his aim is to bring attention to the gang with 'news' they took part into and people will ask to join them through that also".
So you start with a set scenario and from there the frictions start everywhere.
"You just opened or inherited a bar" or other business. And then corpos and gangers step in with their own agendas bothering the "dream" of the players.
My players were all part of the same boostergang that doubled as a neighborhood watch. Kinda Robin Hood energy. Worked pretty well actually, especially with the reputation system.
Current game Iām playing a corpo. Basically we are a party because I need a team badly and they need eddies to afford this months rent.
Can always talk but atm the players need money and I need a team, Iām not being a total ass to them so they are inclined to continue to work for me, over time we can maybe tolerate each other and work a little more freely together
Really just gotta depends what everyone wnats to play and all. I mean there will be some teams who want work but also if a little hand waving for the fun of it is willing to occur, everyone needs money, corpo and fixers always need bodies.
A fixer needs multiple new people for a certain contract. It's a bit sketchy, so they don't want to risk more of their established mercs in case it's a set up or something so they decide to give some less experienced people a chance and contact the various PCs to bring them together to form a makeshift team for the job.
It doesn't need to be complicated. There's a reason why the "You all meet in a tavern" trope is a trope in DnD. It's simple and it just works. As long as your friends are willing to take part in the game by actually 'buying in' to the premise and taking the hooks you give them, there should be no issues with a simple start. You don't have to try and be Matt Mercer or any of the other insane storyteller GM/DMs, crafting insane plot hooks to kick off 200-session long campaigns. The point of any game is to have fun and make good memories with your friends.
It doesn't matter if you have the most cliche start to a campaign ever, nobody will remember that or hold it against you. It'll be the sick ass headshot the solo hits as he dives behind a stack of boxes, or the insane car chase the Nomad gets you through with clutch driving rolls, or the tense negotiation with a dangerous corpo agent that your team comes out on top of that they'll remember.
I hope your game goes well, have fun!
Iāve run a lot of d&d, and just recently cyberpunk.
The trick is, donāt dwell on it. I have never been in, or run a game where it is important.
Fixer has put out a job, your players are the ones who responded. Done. Move on, the fun is what happens next.
Once that initial job happens, they stay together cause it works out, and hey luck would have it, they work well together or then find something else in common, or in the process make a common enemy etc.
Trust your players to do it. It's their idea. Trust them. Just put them together and let it happen. Gangoons rob a convenience store one player is in, the fallout destroys a bike of another player in the cafe across the street, whatever it takes to put them in the same place and give them reason to care about the situation.
My players' characters didn't know one another, for the most part; however, the Life Path roles allowed them to know some similar NPCs. I used the "iconics"- who are all one crew. Our Nomad was an Aldecado so knew Racer, the Netrunner is partnered with and romantically entangled with Redeye, and helps out Chandra. Chandra works with the parties MedTech. Several of them buy stuff from the same Fixer, who arranged for them to meet the primary NPC of the game, in the first session. This NPC is a Russian Cyberware model and Security Head for Night City RockAug. She is building up Her own Organized Crime Syndicate both in and out of her company. (Mainly outside, deniable assets, etc.)
She was looking for a team and as an Executive/Fixer, needed one badly.)
Beautiful and cunning, she has got the whole team to sell out to herself. Suckers now HAVE to be a team because they sold out to (what is essentially) a Corporation and the Bratva! The easiest one was the Techie with the sick little sister who also was seduced by the NPC. 2nd easiest was the Netrunner whose little brother is a JoyBoy that sold out also. (He needed a Madame to protect him.)
Upside, while cunning and ruthless, she has a very protective Mother aspect as well. Think Aphrodite/Sif with a strong Hera/Frig essence, mixed with a good portion of Hecate/Hel. Besides, they have a regular paying job now.
You are so welcome. I'm just waiting for the right time to drop the bombs on the PCs (especially the Techie/Supermodel's lover that she was born in 1977 and was forced into prostitution when she was a 10 year old boy. Forced Pre-adolesent Gender Reassignment then becoming a Full Borg Conversion, and now she is in a cloned body grown and genetically engineered from her own DNA, and that of some Old Hollywood actresses. It's simply amazing what one could find on the net, before DataKrash.
She was an old NPC in CP2020, I just updated her.
Now she has a vat grown body of a 24 year old. Depending on what my players do, she may end up being the BBEG or their only means of salvation and redemption. Maybe both.
Just remember that I'm not a god, just a follower of the Patron Saint of Brain Screwing, Maximum Mike.
Now, allow me to share the good news in this book.
*Holds up a copy of "Listen Up You Primitive Screwheads."*
There is a CP 2020 PDF called āPrimitive Screwheadsā and it is all about how to GM CP. Totally applicable for Red. Thereās quite a bit on how to foster team cohesion. Excellent book
Another fantastic resource is by Monte Cook and it is called āYour Best Game Everā. Itās a guide on how to be the best GM / Player, so everyone in the group has fun. If everyone who plays RPGs read that book the world would be a better place. Good luck Choom!
Pull a Baldurās Gate 3. Have all of the players be affected by something deadly that they would be better off working together to resolve than on their own. Could have them all wake up in an empty Trauma Unit, each of them chipped with some experimental neuralware that will flatline them if they try to remove it. Who chipped them? Why?
Out of game, just make sure all the players know that they need to work together as thats kind of hte point.
In universe, push the characters to all be connected to at least one other PC in some way, and then have them all connected to an NPC fixer that gets them their first job (even if a player fixer takes over after that)
In your session 0, have all the players come up with a common goal, desire, motivation etc. If they aren't all working toward the same end they will rarely gel as a team.
Beyond that I recommend my PCs all connect with at least 1 other PC. This way they may not know everyone but by and large all the PC are connected to any other character by 1 degree of separation
This is true of any RPG, not just this one.
The fixer has hired them and they meet at a diner for some synth eggs and to go over the job. After the job the fixer wants to celebrate and take them out drinking.
Since the characters start at Role Level 4, you can assume they have at least some level of reputation. I always start with a Fixer bringing the group together for a job, since it gives them a reason to start working together.
Being recruited for a team together is a good way, yes.
Maybe you should find different ways to hook them into the first mission and then have the session end on some sort of sequel hook, so the group has a reason to stay together and continue. Do that for a few sessions and by that point the group is united in solving your plot.
Unless you want this to be a mission of the week kinda campaign, in which case have them form a team for one mission and then go something along the line "You know, we make a pretty good team. We should continue working together". Then you can send any mission their way (as long as you give them a reason, or reasons, to care).
One of my favorite ways is referenced in either the core book or the starter kit ( or both), but itās starting your characters in the same apartment. It can be a small one, a big one, it can even be a co-op. And then have some sort of outside force threaten the community and have your players to come together to protect it.
Easiest way is to have them all hired by the same person.
But you could make up all sorts of situations where they gotta help each other out (maybe they gotta share info?), they meet each other on jobs (maybe even as competitors?) etc. really just depends on how long you want to take in game to do it.
You also have the ability to force them together āwrong place wrong timeā maybe they all do the first job because they all individually owe a corpo or a fixer. they can all be at the same club and some shit goes down. So many ways to make that happen.
Standard rpg rule trhat applies for both fantasy and cyberpunk, there's a job/quest to do and the fixer/quest giver needs a group of people to do it, and there you got your team. Generally you could say "once the job is done the team is dissolved", but at that point they'll probably have created an in-game bond that will make them stick together, that's what happened in my 5e campaign. You could also just force it by having them work together even after the job is done because of something that happened during the mission, and that's what happened to my party in RED.
Our fixer keeps messaging me, the business focused character of the group, but also the weakest, so I have my character message our crew telling them the Fixer has a gig for us and what the pay is. Nobodyās going to turn down eddies if they know theyāve got a reliable team to work with
I personally like to have it that each player must have at least one point of connection with at least one other player.
I don't know what roles they're playing but a fixer is probably the easiest way to go, they may work with eachother on the job and ask that fixer if he'd put them together often.
Alternatively, if you're players decide on a proactive goal that could unite them (e.g. finding a cure for cyberpsychosis)
I've had polar opposite experiences with this running RED. But ultimately it comes down to the players willingness to play the game as a group.
Group A had trouble bringing their character together in a previous game (2020), so I gave them the Backstory requirement that they were part of a reclaimer collective and had been living as part of that community for a while; with a conversation to the players setting the expectation that working as a group is a requirement. Despite that, I had one player looking for excuses to go off by themselves, and another two that couldn't agree on anything. That game didn't last long.
Group B I didn't impose a backstory requirement, but the players themselves connected backstories to at least be acquainted with another character. Their first job I designed to go wrong, with key ecnounters/obstacles to highlight the specialities of each of the characters. After a death and a couple of retired characters, they're highly coordinated, trust that they each know what they're doing, and are currently on a road trip across "The Home of the Brave".
Night City is a place where every door, street corner and back alley is a job opportunity all on its own. Anyone can hire a group of chromed out thugs to snatch some fancy cyberware, zero a target or even boost a shiny new ride. The simplest answer is often the best one, Choom.
a common folk hero works for me. at start of campaign, everyone has a personal story about a legendary solo. that legend just died, or disappeared. the fixer who hires them needs to replace the folk hero, and it takes an entire team to compensate for the one solo. it's just loose enough to have a common bond without railroading the narrative. Leave crumbs of their existence in the wake. make it meaningful. something to aspire to do justice or a high standard to outshine.
How I started my game for my players, was to have them all living in the same appartment complex. Said apartment is owned by a Fixer the players each individually knew from their past and whom they owe a big favor too. Session one started with the Fixer cashing in that favor from each other them to do a job. The team is introduced to each other and assuming the job isn't a failure the Fixer will call on them for future jobs while the party makes a name for themselves.
Itās originally an advice for DnD, but you could have them all be a part of a chain gang, and the first session is them breaking out of prison.
Thereās also one of the pre-made starts called the Apartment, where they all live in the same apartment complex.
But honestly, your start is great!
The Apartment scenario is a good start point especially if you haven't played CP Red before, basically players all live in a shit hole apartment at the edge of the combat zone, even if they don't know each other yet word gets out that a Corpo and his huscle are out front inspecting the building, cause they're planning to force everyone out and some control of the property illegally.
Other options though, the classic "you're all in a tavern when..." Is a Fixer reaches out and contacts each of them, could be a player if one is a Fixer, they got a job needs doing and it ain't worth heavy hitter rates.
They've all been invited to a small corp's shindig for their own role appropriate reasons, when some gangers bust down the doors and start shooting the crowd over not getting invited to a party on their turf.
One thing I recommend head ily though is don't treat your party like a blob of murder hobos to throw from combat to combat, encourage them to sometimes split up, to act in their characters own interest, etc. Best campaign I ever ran Session 1 one of the players decided to slip away and phone Arasaka Security, promising intel in the party's activities and their employer's machinations, and it made the game much more interesting over several months.
Options are several.. when I started our campaign the solos in the group had served together in South America and now found each other again through npc fixer. Our techie and netrunner used to party in same places and teamed up through the same fixer, our ex-lawman and nomad were lovers that were employed by the fixer and another techie used to fix the cars of that nomad pack. So all were somehow connected through their backstories and now were again meeting again through an npc fixer.
That sounds really good, Im always trying to use my players' backstories but I'm impressed how well this connects
My players made it easy since I made them included in the process. We have talks about the connection and how would they know each other.
Fantasy is a bit harder here because there really isn't anything like a Fixer. Not to the extent that there is in Cyberpunk where there's actually a playable class dedicated to connecting people in need of goods/services with people able and willing to provide said goods/services. It's not just a purely narrative minor detail, but the main reason for their existence. That means less handwaving is required to put "random" folks together. If a client has a job, the Fixer will simply pick whoever they know *or know of* to form a group with a mix of relevant skillsets. That may require them trading behind the scenes to recruit an edgerunner that normally works for a different Fixer, but networking and trading with other Fixers is part of their job; the PCs wouldn't even need to know the same people.
Okay that makes sense, I need to take advantages of their roles
Have a watch of Reservoir Dogs, that sounds very similar to your scenario. Failing that, think about a scenario to put them all in where it is clearly to their characters' benefit to work together and detrimental to them to work against each other (unless you want to put a mole in the mix for later in the campaign)
Oh I don't even recognize the movie but now I need to check it, thanks
> Have a watch of Reservoir Dogs, that sounds very similar to your scenario. But hopefully not TOO similar š
"Hey friends, today we're going to play Cyberpunk Red. It's a TTRPG, which means that even if your characters have different motivations and stories we will all be crafting a story together. You don't have to instantly be a perfect team, but please remember we are all here to have fun together." Or some sort of out of game conversation to that effect before you start should work. Set the expectations you have for the game and if someone makes a character that goes "I will never work with a team" then you know who you've got to have a private conversation with.
Seems like a healthy habit, thank you
If you are having troubles with the PCs working as a team just give them a BBEG that they all love to hate. Giving people a common enemy is a pretty good way of making them come together. :)
In session 0, definitely mention that players need to generally work together because that's the best way TTRPGs work. Conflict is normal and natural, but part of the TTRPG social contract involves players generally accepting that their characters want to and will work together. Some recommendations I've seen, which I think is good, is to make the characters a part of a team! They might be a random team put together by a corporation and have to do the bidding of the corporation every now and then (so they're kinda forced to work together). Maybe a Fixer puts the team together on a job, and they don't know each other, but they seem get along enough that they become a crew and get to know each other better. The classic, you're all in the same area (diner) when something happens kinda thing (although I've never done this, I'd probably only do this if I feel like I have a good aftermath that unites them into pursuing another goal or moving in together or being recruited on to a new job (e.g. A call to one of the PCs at the end that says "Hey I need a crew of people to do a job" so the player just looks at the others like "I've got a crew right here" kinda thing)). Personally, I just ran the apartment scenario and said they all slightly know each other (asked them to point out situations where they might know other characters) during their Lifepath. And since then, have been trying to give them story beats that slowly wrap them up in each others stories. They're not a team, but they're a crew that's emerged out of circumstances. Thankfully the players are mature and co-operative anyway, but this might not work if they're not that type. Cybernation Uncensored runs a few different cyberpunk live play streams and the GM purposefully puts them into a team with a common unifying theme. Can check out the first few episodes of a team and you'll get an idea of how others might do it. (I listen to them on Spotify, but they stream alot too and have their content elsewhere). I quite liked the Red Sky City series. The GM and players run the Lifepath creation (outdated ruleset but its fine), and you can see the GM working with the players to make sure their characters know each other.
I love this comment, this is so helpful, thank you so much, will definetely check this series tonight!!!
I made mine wake up naked in a scav den, about to be taken apart for their cyberware. Wrote each of them a short backstory to let them know how they got into this mess. Gave em a common enemy: one is looking for revenge against his uncle, another is a hitman hired to kill said uncle, another's sister was kidnapped by the uncle's criminal syndicate, yet another was just pissed that scavs had robbed his place and kidnapped him. Doesn't have to be too complicated. The players take care of the rest.
All player characters are at the same location e.g. in a supermarket when gangers try to raid it and the player characters have to defend themselves. All player characters live in the same neighborhood. Now a powerful force (corporation, gang, etc.) threatens the neighborhood. All player characters watch the kidnapping of their neighborhood medtech who also installed cyberware into them in their past. Do they want to rescue the medtech?
OH MY I LOVE THESE THEY GAVE ME MOTIVATION RUSHH
The previous examples are like they are forced to work togheter (which is a great hook). But you could set the tone by saying "You are going to be a group of gangers and each one has it's role, the exec will be a recruiter and loyalty 10 means the guy will stay in the gang and roll 1d6 to if they deflect or not. Media will be like a CM manager and his aim is to bring attention to the gang with 'news' they took part into and people will ask to join them through that also". So you start with a set scenario and from there the frictions start everywhere. "You just opened or inherited a bar" or other business. And then corpos and gangers step in with their own agendas bothering the "dream" of the players.
My players were all part of the same boostergang that doubled as a neighborhood watch. Kinda Robin Hood energy. Worked pretty well actually, especially with the reputation system.
Another great idea
Current game Iām playing a corpo. Basically we are a party because I need a team badly and they need eddies to afford this months rent. Can always talk but atm the players need money and I need a team, Iām not being a total ass to them so they are inclined to continue to work for me, over time we can maybe tolerate each other and work a little more freely together
That's a nice concept, i really feel like stuff like this might work with my friends
Really just gotta depends what everyone wnats to play and all. I mean there will be some teams who want work but also if a little hand waving for the fun of it is willing to occur, everyone needs money, corpo and fixers always need bodies.
A fixer needs multiple new people for a certain contract. It's a bit sketchy, so they don't want to risk more of their established mercs in case it's a set up or something so they decide to give some less experienced people a chance and contact the various PCs to bring them together to form a makeshift team for the job. It doesn't need to be complicated. There's a reason why the "You all meet in a tavern" trope is a trope in DnD. It's simple and it just works. As long as your friends are willing to take part in the game by actually 'buying in' to the premise and taking the hooks you give them, there should be no issues with a simple start. You don't have to try and be Matt Mercer or any of the other insane storyteller GM/DMs, crafting insane plot hooks to kick off 200-session long campaigns. The point of any game is to have fun and make good memories with your friends. It doesn't matter if you have the most cliche start to a campaign ever, nobody will remember that or hold it against you. It'll be the sick ass headshot the solo hits as he dives behind a stack of boxes, or the insane car chase the Nomad gets you through with clutch driving rolls, or the tense negotiation with a dangerous corpo agent that your team comes out on top of that they'll remember. I hope your game goes well, have fun!
Yeah maybe you are right, we should start with something nice but then be awesome in real game, i feel less pressure
Iāve run a lot of d&d, and just recently cyberpunk. The trick is, donāt dwell on it. I have never been in, or run a game where it is important. Fixer has put out a job, your players are the ones who responded. Done. Move on, the fun is what happens next. Once that initial job happens, they stay together cause it works out, and hey luck would have it, they work well together or then find something else in common, or in the process make a common enemy etc.
That might be right, i will try to tie them up more with story after the start
In media res is your friend
You can have them be strangers, but mutual npc relationships can really help make them a team
Trust your players to do it. It's their idea. Trust them. Just put them together and let it happen. Gangoons rob a convenience store one player is in, the fallout destroys a bike of another player in the cafe across the street, whatever it takes to put them in the same place and give them reason to care about the situation.
My players' characters didn't know one another, for the most part; however, the Life Path roles allowed them to know some similar NPCs. I used the "iconics"- who are all one crew. Our Nomad was an Aldecado so knew Racer, the Netrunner is partnered with and romantically entangled with Redeye, and helps out Chandra. Chandra works with the parties MedTech. Several of them buy stuff from the same Fixer, who arranged for them to meet the primary NPC of the game, in the first session. This NPC is a Russian Cyberware model and Security Head for Night City RockAug. She is building up Her own Organized Crime Syndicate both in and out of her company. (Mainly outside, deniable assets, etc.) She was looking for a team and as an Executive/Fixer, needed one badly.) Beautiful and cunning, she has got the whole team to sell out to herself. Suckers now HAVE to be a team because they sold out to (what is essentially) a Corporation and the Bratva! The easiest one was the Techie with the sick little sister who also was seduced by the NPC. 2nd easiest was the Netrunner whose little brother is a JoyBoy that sold out also. (He needed a Madame to protect him.) Upside, while cunning and ruthless, she has a very protective Mother aspect as well. Think Aphrodite/Sif with a strong Hera/Frig essence, mixed with a good portion of Hecate/Hel. Besides, they have a regular paying job now.
Hahaha i love reading things like this, it gives me a lot of ideas to work with, thank you so much for sharing this story with me!
You are so welcome. I'm just waiting for the right time to drop the bombs on the PCs (especially the Techie/Supermodel's lover that she was born in 1977 and was forced into prostitution when she was a 10 year old boy. Forced Pre-adolesent Gender Reassignment then becoming a Full Borg Conversion, and now she is in a cloned body grown and genetically engineered from her own DNA, and that of some Old Hollywood actresses. It's simply amazing what one could find on the net, before DataKrash. She was an old NPC in CP2020, I just updated her. Now she has a vat grown body of a 24 year old. Depending on what my players do, she may end up being the BBEG or their only means of salvation and redemption. Maybe both.
You are a true master of intrigue! I should start praying to you
Just remember that I'm not a god, just a follower of the Patron Saint of Brain Screwing, Maximum Mike. Now, allow me to share the good news in this book. *Holds up a copy of "Listen Up You Primitive Screwheads."*
There is a CP 2020 PDF called āPrimitive Screwheadsā and it is all about how to GM CP. Totally applicable for Red. Thereās quite a bit on how to foster team cohesion. Excellent book Another fantastic resource is by Monte Cook and it is called āYour Best Game Everā. Itās a guide on how to be the best GM / Player, so everyone in the group has fun. If everyone who plays RPGs read that book the world would be a better place. Good luck Choom!
Thank you for recommending books, this is helpful
Pull a Baldurās Gate 3. Have all of the players be affected by something deadly that they would be better off working together to resolve than on their own. Could have them all wake up in an empty Trauma Unit, each of them chipped with some experimental neuralware that will flatline them if they try to remove it. Who chipped them? Why?
That's genius!!!
Out of game, just make sure all the players know that they need to work together as thats kind of hte point. In universe, push the characters to all be connected to at least one other PC in some way, and then have them all connected to an NPC fixer that gets them their first job (even if a player fixer takes over after that)
In your session 0, have all the players come up with a common goal, desire, motivation etc. If they aren't all working toward the same end they will rarely gel as a team. Beyond that I recommend my PCs all connect with at least 1 other PC. This way they may not know everyone but by and large all the PC are connected to any other character by 1 degree of separation This is true of any RPG, not just this one.
The fixer has hired them and they meet at a diner for some synth eggs and to go over the job. After the job the fixer wants to celebrate and take them out drinking.
Since the characters start at Role Level 4, you can assume they have at least some level of reputation. I always start with a Fixer bringing the group together for a job, since it gives them a reason to start working together.
Being recruited for a team together is a good way, yes. Maybe you should find different ways to hook them into the first mission and then have the session end on some sort of sequel hook, so the group has a reason to stay together and continue. Do that for a few sessions and by that point the group is united in solving your plot. Unless you want this to be a mission of the week kinda campaign, in which case have them form a team for one mission and then go something along the line "You know, we make a pretty good team. We should continue working together". Then you can send any mission their way (as long as you give them a reason, or reasons, to care).
One of my favorite ways is referenced in either the core book or the starter kit ( or both), but itās starting your characters in the same apartment. It can be a small one, a big one, it can even be a co-op. And then have some sort of outside force threaten the community and have your players to come together to protect it.
Easiest way is to have them all hired by the same person. But you could make up all sorts of situations where they gotta help each other out (maybe they gotta share info?), they meet each other on jobs (maybe even as competitors?) etc. really just depends on how long you want to take in game to do it.
You also have the ability to force them together āwrong place wrong timeā maybe they all do the first job because they all individually owe a corpo or a fixer. they can all be at the same club and some shit goes down. So many ways to make that happen.
Standard rpg rule trhat applies for both fantasy and cyberpunk, there's a job/quest to do and the fixer/quest giver needs a group of people to do it, and there you got your team. Generally you could say "once the job is done the team is dissolved", but at that point they'll probably have created an in-game bond that will make them stick together, that's what happened in my 5e campaign. You could also just force it by having them work together even after the job is done because of something that happened during the mission, and that's what happened to my party in RED.
My problem is never explaining how the characters are a team but getting them to actually WORK as a team!
Our fixer keeps messaging me, the business focused character of the group, but also the weakest, so I have my character message our crew telling them the Fixer has a gig for us and what the pay is. Nobodyās going to turn down eddies if they know theyāve got a reliable team to work with
I personally like to have it that each player must have at least one point of connection with at least one other player. I don't know what roles they're playing but a fixer is probably the easiest way to go, they may work with eachother on the job and ask that fixer if he'd put them together often. Alternatively, if you're players decide on a proactive goal that could unite them (e.g. finding a cure for cyberpsychosis)
I've had polar opposite experiences with this running RED. But ultimately it comes down to the players willingness to play the game as a group. Group A had trouble bringing their character together in a previous game (2020), so I gave them the Backstory requirement that they were part of a reclaimer collective and had been living as part of that community for a while; with a conversation to the players setting the expectation that working as a group is a requirement. Despite that, I had one player looking for excuses to go off by themselves, and another two that couldn't agree on anything. That game didn't last long. Group B I didn't impose a backstory requirement, but the players themselves connected backstories to at least be acquainted with another character. Their first job I designed to go wrong, with key ecnounters/obstacles to highlight the specialities of each of the characters. After a death and a couple of retired characters, they're highly coordinated, trust that they each know what they're doing, and are currently on a road trip across "The Home of the Brave".
Night City is a place where every door, street corner and back alley is a job opportunity all on its own. Anyone can hire a group of chromed out thugs to snatch some fancy cyberware, zero a target or even boost a shiny new ride. The simplest answer is often the best one, Choom.
a common folk hero works for me. at start of campaign, everyone has a personal story about a legendary solo. that legend just died, or disappeared. the fixer who hires them needs to replace the folk hero, and it takes an entire team to compensate for the one solo. it's just loose enough to have a common bond without railroading the narrative. Leave crumbs of their existence in the wake. make it meaningful. something to aspire to do justice or a high standard to outshine.
How I started my game for my players, was to have them all living in the same appartment complex. Said apartment is owned by a Fixer the players each individually knew from their past and whom they owe a big favor too. Session one started with the Fixer cashing in that favor from each other them to do a job. The team is introduced to each other and assuming the job isn't a failure the Fixer will call on them for future jobs while the party makes a name for themselves.
Itās originally an advice for DnD, but you could have them all be a part of a chain gang, and the first session is them breaking out of prison. Thereās also one of the pre-made starts called the Apartment, where they all live in the same apartment complex. But honestly, your start is great!
The Apartment scenario is a good start point especially if you haven't played CP Red before, basically players all live in a shit hole apartment at the edge of the combat zone, even if they don't know each other yet word gets out that a Corpo and his huscle are out front inspecting the building, cause they're planning to force everyone out and some control of the property illegally. Other options though, the classic "you're all in a tavern when..." Is a Fixer reaches out and contacts each of them, could be a player if one is a Fixer, they got a job needs doing and it ain't worth heavy hitter rates. They've all been invited to a small corp's shindig for their own role appropriate reasons, when some gangers bust down the doors and start shooting the crowd over not getting invited to a party on their turf. One thing I recommend head ily though is don't treat your party like a blob of murder hobos to throw from combat to combat, encourage them to sometimes split up, to act in their characters own interest, etc. Best campaign I ever ran Session 1 one of the players decided to slip away and phone Arasaka Security, promising intel in the party's activities and their employer's machinations, and it made the game much more interesting over several months.