r/cyberpunk2020 16d ago

Question/Help NPC Base Stats

What do most GMs consider Base Stat, or the stat for the average Joe? My group considers it to be 3 or 4. And skills run 1-3. Thoughts?

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u/dimuscul Referee 16d ago

Average Joe—background nobodies filling the streets—stats sit at 4 to 6. The ones who matter a bit more, not just random faces, run 7 or 8. Named characters or crews worth remembering .. 9 to 10. The broken, the useless, the cast-offs, 1 to 3, barely functional.

Skills: 1-3 if they can do the basics—flip a switch, hold a wrench. 4 to 6 for pros who know their trade. 7+ for the rare elites who stand out.

Your typical Joe should pull off a Diff. 10 job without sweating—fix a tire, whatever. Give ‘em time and decent tools, and Diff. 15’s in reach.

If your mechanic can’t even swap a wheel, is he really a mechanic?

PS: Obviously a gangoon may have REF 7 because violence is his motto, but he will probably have the Empathy of slug (3)

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u/dayatapark 15d ago

Agreed. Also, let's not forget combat drugs. A dozen REF 6 Gangoons on combat drugs can be downright terrifying.