🐾 Cyberpets
“Once you let a Cyberpet® into your life, you’ll never return to the colorless, cold times when you were alone and bereft of their companionship.” — Biotechnica Marketing
Biotechnica’s newest line of cyber-enhanced biological companions combines cutting-edge cloning technology with cybernetics to produce real, living creatures engineered for loyalty, defense, and emotional fulfillment. From pocket-sized flamethrowers to apex predators with hydraulic jaws, there’s a Cyberpet® for every Edgerunner.
Optional Content
Cyberpets are from Interface RED Volume 5. Your GM decides whether they’re available in your campaign. For base pet/animal rules, defer to your GM’s judgment.
⚡ Quick Reference
Cyberpets At A Glance
Pet Tier Cost Lifestyle Slots Signature Datarabbit Mook 1,000eb Generic Prepak 2 EMP-proof data carrier, MOVE 10 Forever Turtle H. Mook 2,000eb Good Prepak 2 Shell Protection, 4d6 bite, self-repair Neon Newt H. Mook 2,000eb Good Prepak 1 Flamebreath, Acid Secretion Cyberrat Mook 1,000eb Generic Prepak 2 Espionage suite, venom, Stealth 15 Obsidian Ocelot H. Lieutenant 4,000eb Fresh Food 3 Chameleon cloak, Combat Awareness 5 Cyberboa H. Lieutenant 4,000eb Fresh Food 3 Airhypo venom fangs, Pain Editor Cyberwolf H. Lieutenant 4,000eb Good Prepak 3 Pack Awareness, grapple jaw, Tracking 16 Cyberbear Mini Boss 20,000eb Fresh Food ×2 3 Three-Arm Strike martial art, Pain Editor
🏠 Keeping a Cyberpet
Buying a Cyberpet isn’t cheap, and keeping one isn’t, either.
Finding One
Cyberpets are a hot commodity. You’ll need a Fixer to track one down. Cost and availability can differ — a 2,000eb pet might be treated as Very Expensive for Fixer availability purposes.
Lifestyle
You must pay for your Cyberpet’s Lifestyle monthly (CP:R p.377), in addition to your own. No prorating — buy one mid-month, you still pay for the full month.
| Pet Tier | Required Lifestyle | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Mook | Generic Prepak | Variable |
| Hardened Mook | Good Prepak | Variable |
| Hardened Lieutenant | Good Prepak / Fresh Food | Variable |
| Mini Boss | Fresh Food ×2 | Variable |
Housing
Your pet needs a place to sleep, and that counts toward your Housing capacity (CP:R p.377):
| Pet Tier | Housing Space |
|---|---|
| Mook | Minimal (no extra bed) |
| Lieutenant | 1 bed |
| Mini Boss | 2 beds |
| Boss | 3 beds |
Landlord Approval
Even if your building allows pets, don’t expect the landlord to be chill with a Cyberbear in apartment 4B.
🎓 Training a Cyberpet
Convincing a Cyberpet to obey requires actual skill. Your Animal Handling Base (INT + Animal Handling) determines whether your pet listens:
| Animal Handling Base | Result |
|---|---|
| Below 10 | Pet does not obey. GM decides behavior. |
| 10 or higher | Pet loves you, fights for you, follows commands. |
When Things Go Wrong
If you neglect your pet’s Lifestyle, housing, or trust, the GM determines behavior. Your pet can:
- Refuse commands
- Run away
- Turn on you in a rage
The GM may allow an Animal Handling Check to regain temporary control, but without immediate investment of time, care, and money, the pet goes rogue again.
🔧 Cybering a Cyberpet
Each Cyberpet comes with base cyberware and extra slots for additional installations.
Finding a Surgeon
You can’t walk into any ripperdoc and ask for a cyberarm on your rat. You need:
- A Medtech with Science (Biology) 4+
- A specialized facility (GM’s discretion)
Without both, the operation fails and your pet dies.
Installation Rules
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Installation DVs | Same as human cyberware |
| Species-specific | Animal cyberware is species-locked. Can’t swap between species without a Tech Upgrade for cross-species compatibility. |
| Size matters | Even with a Tech Upgrade, a bear’s cybereye won’t fit in a rat’s eye socket. |
| Slot limits | Cyberpets cannot be Tech Upgraded for additional slots. |
| Zero-slot upgrade | A Tech can upgrade one and only one piece of cyberware to take 0 slots. |
| Uninstalling | Removing base cyberware does NOT free slots. Removing post-purchase cyberware does. |
Training to Use Cyberware
After installation, your pet needs training to use new chrome:
- Time: 1 day of training per piece
- DV: Animal Handling DV = Installation DV
- Failure: Pet can only eat and sleep until you retry and succeed. Not hostile — just confused.
📋 The Cyberpet® Line
Mook Tier (1,000eb)
Small, affordable companions with niche utility. One per Edgerunner is a fair companion count.
| Pet | HP | MOVE | Signature Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Datarabbit | 10 | 10 | EMP-proof data chip storage in cybereye. Fastest pet — born to run and hide. |
| Cyberrat | 10 | 9 | Surveillance suite (audio recorder, MicroVideo). Venom Fangs (DV13 Resist or 1d6 bonus damage). Stealth 15. |
Hardened Mook Tier (2,000eb)
Tougher pets with real combat presence. Can hold their own in a fight.
| Pet | HP | MOVE | Signature Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forever Turtle | 15 | 3 | Shell Protection (hide in shell = head SP11 too, no Aimed Shots). Combat Jaw 4d6. Self-repair via Trauma Response Nanomatrix. |
| Neon Newt | 20 | 5 | Flamebreath (1d6, acts as Flamethrower, every other turn). Acid Secretion (lowers worn armor SP by 1 on hit). |
Hardened Lieutenant Tier (4,000eb)
Serious combat companions. Equivalent to a trained operative. Need quality food and care.
| Pet | HP | MOVE | Signature Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obsidian Ocelot | 40 | 8 | Combat Awareness 5. FBC Chameleon Coating (invisibility after 1 min still, DV17 Perception). Cat Claws 3d6 + Combat Jaw 4d6. |
| Cyberboa | 40 | 4 | Airhypo Vampyres — pumps loaded poison/drug on hit (5 doses). Flashbulb (DV15 or Damaged Eye for 1 min). Pain Editor. |
| Cyberwolf | 40 | 7 | Pack Combat Awareness 3 (within 20m of another Cyberwolf). Grapple Jaw (+1d6 dmg vs grappled target). Tracking 16. Internal Agent for pack coordination. |
Mini Boss Tier (20,000eb)
Apex predator. Requires double Fresh Food lifestyle and 2 beds worth of housing space.
| Pet | HP | MOVE | Signature Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyberbear | 55 | 6 | Unique Cyberbear Martial Art. Three-Arm Strike (if both claws hit, DV15 for grapple/extra attack/forced crit injury/SP reduction). Pain Editor. SP13. Death Save 10. |
⚠️ The Fine Print
Internal Memo — Dr. Talia Vex
“We have received reports of bioforms in the field acting erratic and/or showing signs of ‘cyberpsychotic breaks’ despite our laboratory testing proving this is impossible. Any incidents are the result of misuse by the bioforms’ owners and not the result of a fault in our product. Additional warning labels have been added.”
Biotechnica insists their Cyberpets are perfectly safe. The warning labels suggest otherwise. GMs should feel free to introduce complications when pets are neglected, overcharged with cyberware, or pushed beyond their limits.
🪝 Adventure Hooks
Four Cyberpet Hooks
It Came From the Sewers — Rumors of a monster under Night City have everyone on high alert. Is it a rogue Cyberbear? Something worse?
Too Good to Be True — A shipping container thought to be full of electronic parts is actually holding a live Cyberbear. Someone wants it back.
Head of Security — A Biotechnica insider, feeling guilty about deaths caused by the Cyberpet+® line, wants protection as she leaves the company. An assassin is trying to silence her before she can expose the whole operation.
Critter Combat — An underground Cyberpet fighting ring has been uncovered. The gang responsible must be taken down — but their Cyberwolves are aggressively loyal to the ring leader, Michele Vex.
❓ Quick Answers
How much does a Cyberpet really cost per month?
Purchase price + monthly Lifestyle. A Cyberwolf costs 4,000eb to buy, then you pay for Good Prepak lifestyle every month on top of your own. Budget accordingly.
Can my Cyberpet level up?
Not in the traditional sense. You can install additional cyberware (within slot limits) and train new behaviors, but their base stats are fixed.
What if I can't afford the Lifestyle?
Your pet gets unhappy. GM decides consequences — from refusing commands to running away to attacking you.
Can a Cyberpet have Humanity Loss?
Not addressed in the rules. The “cyberpsychotic breaks” from the Biotechnica memo suggest something is happening, but it’s left to GM interpretation.
🔗 Related Topics
- Gear & Tech — Equipment hub
- Drones — Mechanical companions
- Expansions — All optional content
- Cyberware — Chrome installation rules
(Source: Interface RED Volume 5, Ch.06 — Your New Best Friend pp.71–82)