🎬 Entertainment
“In Night City, the show never stops. It just gets weirder.”
The 4th Corporate War and DataKrash killed the old media megacorps. What rose from the wreckage is a chaotic mix of independent producers, pirate stations, braindance addicts, and underground fight clubs.
đź“ş Television & Media
The Networks
Three private entertainment networks dominate what’s left of American TV:
| Network | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Network News 54 | News/Entertainment | The biggest, most corporate |
| New Century Broadcasting (NCB) | Entertainment | Recent arrival |
| World Broadcasting Network (WBN) | General | Diverse programming |
What they produce:
- Data chips, games, streaming content
- Videos, movies, books
- News (heavily filtered through corporate lens)
Quality: Bland, mindless, lowest common denominator. The DataKrash hurt them badly—they depended on the NET for distribution.
State Media (Elsewhere)
| Region | Network |
|---|---|
| Great Britain | BBC (state-controlled) |
| Japan | NGK TV |
| Most of Europe/Asia | Government-run |
Pirate Stations
The real news comes from pirate TV and radio:
- Hidden transmitters
- Cable hijacking
- Highrider satellite patch-ups
- Often the only untainted news source
- Operating outside corporate or government control
For Players
If you want the truth about what’s happening, find a pirate station. Network 54 will tell you what the corps want you to believe.
🎵 PopMedia: The New Wave
PopMedia replaced the old Mediacorp monopoly. It’s entertainment and news created by independent producers—anyone with talent and a connection to the Data Pool.
Who Makes It
| Source | Content |
|---|---|
| Rockerboys | Concert footage, music, personal commentary, braindance |
| Idols | Reality-style shows focused on the Idol themselves |
| Independents | News, documentaries, investigative reporting |
| Medias | Talk shows, commentary, current events |
| New Mediacorps | Smaller, leaner versions of the old giants |
The Garden
Ziggurat’s Garden platform is the main PopMedia hub:
- “All you can eat” content streaming
- Anyone can set up a free “Garden Plot”
- Subscription-based access
- Mix of quality and trash
Most of the Cyberpunk era’s programming (and an ungodly amount of trash) comes from PopMedia.
🧠Braindance
The purest form of entertainment—recorded experiences you can feel.
How It Works
| Component | Function |
|---|---|
| Memory chip | Stores the recorded experience |
| Playback unit | Processes and transmits the data |
| Interface | Cable to interface plugs or surface trodes |
Braindance doesn’t just show you what happened—you feel what the performer felt:
- Complete emotional data
- Tactile sensations
- Edited to avoid discomfort (in legal chips)
The Dark Side
| Problem | Details |
|---|---|
| Psychological addiction | The real world feels dull after enough BD |
| Expense | Quality chips are costly to produce |
| Illegal BDs | Snuff, XBD, unedited extreme experiences |
| Prison pacification | Used to control inmates |
XBD Warning
Illegal braindance (XBD) includes unedited violent and sexual experiences—including death. It’s highly addictive and deeply disturbing. Don’t expect your GM to be gentle if your character goes down this path.
🎰 Body Lotto
Night City’s most morbid entertainment: Body Lottery.
How It Works
| Step | Details |
|---|---|
| Selection | Six winning numbers chosen nightly |
| Numbers | Based on locations where corpses are found |
| Districts | Six random districts within Night City |
| Verification | NCPD tallies bodies, Merrill, Asukaga & Finch verifies |
| Claim | Winners must claim by 10am next morning |
| Rollover | Unclaimed jackpots add 1,000eb to next night |
Yes, people bet on where bodies will be found. Yes, this creates incentives. Welcome to Night City.
🏟️ Combat Sports
Legal Fights
- Boxing — Still around
- Martial arts tournaments — Various styles
- Corporate-sponsored events — Clean, regulated, boring
Underground
The real action happens in illegal pits:
- No rules — Weapons sometimes allowed
- Betting — Huge underground economy
- Death matches — Rare but they happen
- Cyberware allowed — Creates arms race
Adventure Hook
Underground fight clubs need fighters, medics, Fixers to arrange bets, and security to keep the cops out.
🎵 Clubs & Nightlife
Night City never sleeps. The nightclub scene is legendary:
| Type | Vibe |
|---|---|
| Megaclubs | Multi-story corporate entertainment complexes |
| Underground clubs | Illegal venues, better music, more danger |
| Combat Zone bars | Edgerunner hangouts like The Afterlife |
| Braindance parlors | Sit in a booth, experience someone else’s life |
| Joytoy establishments | Every kind of paid companionship |
Notable Venues
| Venue | Location | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| The Afterlife | Watson | Edgerunner legend |
| The Forlorn Hope | South Night City | Veteran bar |
| Lizzie’s Bar | Kabuki | Mox-affiliated |
| Riot | City Center | Megaclub |
đź›’ Shopping for Fun
Vendits
Self-contained vending machines everywhere:
- Meals, clothing, even weapons
- Self-powered (5-year thermal battery)
- Armed — most have flamethrower turrets built in
- Swipe your credchip, get your stuff
Random Vendit Contents:
| d6 | Category | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Food | Ramen, pizza, kibble, Smash, canned coffee |
| 4-5 | Personal | T-shirts, umbrellas, braindance chips, guns |
| 6 | Weird | Pet wigs, bug snacks, used panties |
Bodegas
Corner stores that are always an adventure:
- Open all night
- Alcohol and things gangers like
- “Colorful” clientele and owners
- Continental Brands wants to replace them all with Oasis markets
Continental Brands doesn’t like bodegas. They’d rather have an Oasis on every corner. And they’re willing to kill to get it!
🎲 GM Resources
Entertainment Complications
| d6 | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pirate broadcast interrupted by corporate jamming |
| 2 | Braindance chip has hidden illegal content |
| 3 | Underground club raid by NCPD |
| 4 | Body Lotto fix—someone’s manipulating the numbers |
| 5 | Rockerboy’s PopMedia feed goes viral—now they’re a target |
| 6 | Fight club match goes wrong—winner wants a rematch in real life |
Using Entertainment in Play
- Information source: Pirate stations have the real news
- Social lubricant: Clubs are where deals happen
- Mission venue: Protect/extract a Rockerboy, secure braindance footage
- Cover: Nobody notices you in a crowded club
- Atmosphere: What’s playing on the screens says everything about a neighborhood
đź”— Related Topics
- Communications — Data Pool and PopMedia delivery
- Fashion — What to wear to the club
- Street Drugs — What people are on at the club
- Gangs — Who runs which venues
- Night Markets — Legal and less-legal entertainment
(Source: Cyberpunk RED Core Rulebook, pgs. 329-331)