It's a AAA videogame, with predefined stories and arcs.
Your starting choices will define which road you'll take.
You skills aren't limited by your role, but your character is limited by it's skills.
I'm mastering Cyberpunk for more than 2 decades btw.
You know, sometimes, even as a player, you have to forgot some informations simply because your character doesn't have access to them (and yep, then you have to roll a good knowledge roll to make sure he knows about it).
In Vampire Bloodline, depending how you made your character and which clan you used, the whole game played differently, that's how a good RP works, and how you give replay value to it.
Of course the player have some kind of power on it, but ultimately, you needs to have some limitations here and there for the sake of world building (ever played Paranoia? You basically kill a player when he says/do something he shouldn't know).
You mix skills and RP.
A role doesnt limit your skills, but if you play a dude like Case in Neuromancer, you're basically a streetkids, hooked on drugs. The skills and role he has fleshes him out, he's just a random dude, only his skills and origins makes a difference (in the same vein as Vampire, Cyberpunk is a RP driven pnp, combat is lethal and only used as a last resort)
I didn't defined you character sheet at your place dude, I just gaved you an example.
Sure, you can be a media guy, with some skills in combat, but unless you're an ex army veterant or something, why would you be more efficient than a Solo?
Yeah, you can go john woo if you decide too, but in the end you're trapped in your character, you have to stick to something to flesh it out.
A med techie with barely any point in medical skills and everything in gun's one sounds dumb, go make a Solo instead.
That's what I meant by that, you'll alway stumble on a wall, whatever role you choose.
Now it's a pnp, in a videogame, you don't have that much freedom, so they have to push it in a way every choices you made have an impact (or just go play GTA, no limitation).
When you're building a complex and realistic world, you have to put limits.
How do you think a homeless person would be seen in Google's HQ? They'd most likely call the security, even tho if he start screaming "I'm the player! I've the final wooord!" [get tased by police].
Same for a rich kids stepping from the corpo center into the combat zone, he'll most likely ends up in some bad situation, it's not "his ground", you need to force some things on him, just to give a clear contrast and for the sake of world building.
Even in real life, people are able to see who come from a poor vs wealthy place, should work the same in Night City.
Or are you the kind of player that want the world to bend for him? In Cyberpunk 2020, it's clearly said your character is a nobody, you're no better than a bum, a soldier or a secretary, you have to deal with the world, no way you can rush through it (reason why it's so lethal, you think your corpo skills and money will grant you to do everything in the combat zone? You'll have some surprises there... Last time a player (solo ex military) though it was a good idea to aim at people randomly with his automatic shotgun in the combat zone, he basicaly ended up in a body bag.
He sure choose to, he was free, but so did the world around him.
In Cyberpunk, actions = consequences.
You choose to play as this, you choose to do this instead of that? There will be consequences related to your choices, you can't have everything.
You'll going john woo if they insist? Sure, you're free to give it a try, just as you're free to make whatever caracter you'd like.
Now, whenever a combat starts, you'll need a cool roll to make sure your character doesn't shit his pants (no one narutorun through bullets IRL...), if you succeed, you can act, if you don't you'll duck and cover, that's the rules in Cyberpunk (making the fight more realistics and fast paced actually).
My last game, my group ended up against an Eurosolo, cybered to the top, but one of my player luckily shot a critical Ref roll, shot first and emptied his micro-uzi in the Eurosolo's head and he died just like that.
No one is better than anyone in Cyberpunk, just like in real life.
If you plan on fighting against a whole gang, get ready to die most instantly (they're not a bunch of retards eager to get killed, they'll fight back).
That's how you give realism and pressure in a game.
Unless you've a good plan, you better watch yourself, or just go play AD&D.
I don't care you're a Solo, young old, skilled or not, an armored bullet through your brain = instakill.
If you do shits that would get killed IRL, it will work the same in Cyberpunk (since it's real life setting).
You're totally free to go up in a shaddy place and tell a group of drug dealer to fuck off, but if nobody else does it, it's for a reason : they'll kill You.
Now, you're free to give it a try, but it's not because you're a player I'll be kind with you.
Wanna risk your character life for some stupid shits? Up to you.
A friend used to play an executive corporate guy, he basically got filled with stress each time he went in the combat zone.
His cool stats were low and he never hanged in such a creepy lawless place.
His attitude also impacted other players (since you'd be walking around with a dude in suit in the midle, totally freaking out).
In Cyberpunk, stepping out is often a death sentence or a way to be noticed by people in best case.
I wouldn't force it on people.
Now, you choose to play a character, you choose where he come from, what he's good at, what he's bad at, you'll have to roll with it in the said world.
Being a corpo in the combatzone, people will hate you, don't try your luck, and vice versa for a streetkid in the middle of the corporate zone, don't have the corpocops notice you. They'll bully you.
You can be a streetsamurai, working for arasaka, having a nice suit and all, doesn't matter, talk shit to a gang member and you'll have a dozen guns aimed at your face.
It's not Deus Ex, if you have access to something, everybody has, so there will most likely have people as talented as you and often more.
Even a lucky orphan kid could kill you with a.lucky roll, don't test your luck.
Players have no power in this world. Roll with the choices you made, and they include your lifepath, the roles and skills you choose.
They'll all have a certain impact ingame.
It's not GTA.
I'll let you choose to play it john woo if you want, but you'll be limited to your character's ability, and if he sucks at figthing, you'll just die. Your choice, not mine.
I'm just playing the world around in a fair way.
I've already killed a player because he went back to his place and didn't checked for traps, but there was one, so heh... Sorry but you're dead.
Welcome to Night City
That's basicaly what made it interesting IMO cause you can basically build tension easily and forces you in your character shoes, you don't want to die for a mistake.
In pnp such as Call of Cthulhu or other, you don't give much shits, here you have to press the world on them, make them paranoid, it's not a nice world, you have to make them feel it. Including with things as "you dont belong here, watch your steps".
Or just go in a very poor place at 4AM IRL and check how long it takes for a crackhead to try to rob you, you'll see what I mean.
