Netrunner

Netrunners are elite computer hackers, cyber-infiltrators, and information mercenaries who operate on the bleeding edge of human–machine integration. With neural interface plugs and cyberdecks, they are capable of immersing their consciousness directly into the Net, bypassing conventional input systems and interacting with digital environments as naturally as others walk through the physical world.

While the average person can access data, send messages, or browse the shallow layers of the Net, only netrunners possess the skill, implants, and software to penetrate data fortresses, duel hostile ICE, and extract (or destroy) high-value information. They are both feared and coveted—employed by corporations, criminal syndicates, governments, and fixers.

Netrunners were first introduced in the Cyberpunk 2013: View from the Edge sourcebook and became a cornerstone role throughout the franchise, evolving with the Net itself.

Origins and Development

The archetype of the netrunner embodies the cyberpunk ethos of the “cowboy hacker.” In early settings (2013/2020), netrunners roamed a vast, global cyberspace—neon landscapes of code, sculpted by corporations into impenetrable castles of data. Equipped with cybermodems, fiber-optic lines, and cooling rigs, they would “dive” for hours, waging mental battles against ICE and rival runners.

In Cyberpunk RED, following the DataKrash unleashed by Rache Bartmoss, the Net was shattered into fragments and overrun by AIs and rogue daemons. The open matrix of 2020 was replaced by local “subnets” and tightly secured LANs. Netrunners shifted from remote, ice-bath hackers to combat-adjacent infiltrators, often running alongside teams in meatspace while exploring digital environments in parallel.

By 2077, netrunning is even more tightly constrained. The Blackwall separates humanity from the rogue AIs lurking in old Cyberspace. Most runners now engage with local systems, enemy cyberware, and battlefield hacking—injecting viruses, disabling cybernetic limbs, and overriding security drones in real time. Their iconic “braindance-style” immersion rigs and cyberdecks allow them to operate with lethal efficiency.

Who Are They

When you were three, your parents bought you an old Apple IV GS with a Radius 241 wall screen, and your life was changed. By fifth grade, you'd already mastered everything the school computer literacy lab could throw at you — you were already using C++ and META-LINGUA to crack into the district's mainframe and change your grades. When you were thirteen, you shifted enough funds out of unprotected TransAmerican Bank accounts to finance your first neural interface plugs.

Now, nothing can stop you with your direct mental link to the computer, you can plunge headfirst into the dizzying data-winds of the Net; the worldwide telecommunications system that joins humanity together. As an electronic wraith, you are the ultimate "hacker", your brain wired into special modems and computer links. You slip into the "hardest" mainframe systems with ease. Your defense and offense programs are arrayed at a touch of your mental fingertips — a quick jolt of Demon or Vampire and the data fortresses fall. EBM. ITT. Sony-Matsushita-Ford. You've tackled them all, buying, trading and selling their deepest secrets at will.

Sometimes you uncover important things — Corporate treachery or deadly secrets. But that's not why you Netrun. You live for the new program, the next satellite downlink — the next piece of hot data that comes your way. It's only a matter of time, you think — every year, the counter-intrusion programs get better, the Artificial Intelligences smarter. Sooner or later, a faster program or programmer's going to catch up; reach out with electronic fingers through your interface plugs, and stop your heart. But time's on your side, and until the ride runs out, you'll be there, bare-brained and headfirst in the Net...

Role and Abilities

The netrunner’s defining feature is their Interface ability, representing mastery over cyberdecks and Net operations. Depending on edition:

• 2013/2020 – Interface governs abilities like LDL Linking, Locate Remote, Run Software, and combat against ICE.
• RED – Interface is used in Netrun Architecture, moving through system levels, activating abilities, and avoiding Black ICE.
• 2077 – NetWatch restrictions and the Blackwall redefine abilities as quickhacks: combat-oriented intrusions against cyberware, weapons, or devices.

Career skills often include:

• Programming
• Electronics
• System Knowledge
• CyberTech
• Composition (to write, crack, or spread code)

Equipment

Netrunners rely on highly specialized gear:

• Cyberdecks – Portable supercomputers with slots for programs and quickhacks.
• Interface Plugs – Neural jacks allowing direct brain-to-Net connection.
• Programs/Quickhacks – Offensive and defensive digital constructs (e.g., Hellhound, Demon, Overheat, Cyberware Malfunction).
• Cooling Systems – Early runners required immersion rigs or ice baths to prevent overheating.
• AR Lenses and Neural Processors – In 2077, overlay hacks directly into the runner’s vision.

The Net

The nature of the Net has changed drastically across eras:

• 2013/2020 – A global cyberspace, visualized as 3D data-sculptures and architecture. Megacorps built vast data fortresses defended by ICE (Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics).
• RED – Fragmented local networks, with netrunners operating “on site” to jack into isolated architectures.
• 2077 – The Net is divided by the Blackwall. Only reckless or suicidal runners dare breach into the AI-infested Old Net.

In the Field

Although often portrayed as isolated hackers, netrunners in RED and 2077 operate alongside teams:

• Running overwatch for solos and nomads.
• Overriding turrets, cameras, and drones.
• Disabling cybernetic limbs of enemies mid-combat.
• Extracting paydata during heists.

Corporations and Enforcement

• Megacorps employ legions of netrunners to secure their systems.
• NetWatch acts as the law enforcement of cyberspace, hunting rogue runners.
• Mercenary runners balance between freelance paydata theft, espionage contracts, and survival against ICE, daemons, and rival runners.

Notable Netrunners

• Rache Bartmoss – Legendary figure, architect of the DataKrash.
• Alt Cunningham – Creator of the Soulkiller program.
• T-Bug – Renowned Night City runner in 2077.
• Rosenkov, Netrunner clans, and unnamed freelance legends.

Database Entry (2077)

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NETRUNNER

In 2077, the use of computer technology has become truly universal. Some use a PDA, others personal computers, still others a neural processor. Regular Janes and Joes know how to use these systems to access information, communicate, even fight. But there are others who can use the same tech to work wonders: netrunners. A netrunner knows the ins and outs of computer systems, the programming languages, how to write or mod a killer virus. Deck in hand, they're just as dangerous as a corporate soldier armed to the teeth. Many netrunners are free agents working only for themselves, but a few have signed their own pacts with the megacorps and work to keep corporate data fortresses solid and impenetrable. Today, each and every corporation has a veritable army of netrunners on its payroll. Netrunners were once considered the rulers of cyberspace, using their skull jacks to roam a vast, global network. They also needed special suits to cool their bodies (although a tub full of ice would do for penniless punks). But this era ended with the cataclysm wrought by the greatest runner of all, Rache Bartmoss. Cyberspace became a land of daemons, cut off by the (nearly?) impenetrable Blackwall.