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Netrunner General Content Notes

The Netrunner card game includes examples of the following broad themes, which may be specific triggers for some players. This list is not exhaustive and should be considered a living document which is improved and expanded upon over time. It is intended to help current and prospective players make an informed choice about playing a game where there are depictions of an imagined future, lived under oppressive and total control by corporate entities. 

A large part of the game takes place in a fully-immersive, virtual environment where both corporations and runners use defensive and offensive constructs, encapsulating a variety of mythological and real world-inspired creatures and concepts.

General Themes

  • Capitalism
  • Climate change
  • Corporate malfeasance
  • Enslavement of sentient beings
  • Financial precarity
  • Homelessness
  • Government corruption
  • Labor insecurity
  • Mass population displacement
  • Mass surveillance
  • Suppression of free speech

Cultural Themes

  • Alcohol use
  • Body modification, including cybernetic and genetic modification for aesthetic and prosthetic reasons
  • Drug/narcotic use, for medical and recreational purposes
  • Food and drink
  • Gambling
  • Sex work
  • Smoking/Vaping
  • Tattoos

Cyberspace Themes

  • Agoraphobia (aversion to open spaces)
  • Claustrophobia (aversion to enclosed spaces)
  • Depictions of creatures, including:
    • bacteria
    • big cats
    • birds
    • bugs/insects
    • fish
    • microbes
    • octopi
    • scorpions
    • sharks
    • snakes
    • spiders
    • squid
    • worms
    • viruses
  • Depictions of entities, including:
    • clowns
    • dolls
    • mythological creatures
  • Kenophobia (aversion to empty spaces)
  • Trypophobia (aversion to clusters/patterns of small holes)

Violent Themes

  • Blood, both real and virtual
  • Damage to the player character
    • Runner characters may suffer injury to their physical self via interaction with virtual environments and entities, or through real-life events. These may have temporary or implied permanent consequences. 
  • Death
  • Depictions of bladed weapons, both real and virtual
  • Depictions of blunt weapons, both real and virtual
  • Depictions of explosions, both real and virtual
  • Depictions of fire, both real and virtual
  • Depictions of firearms, both real and virtual
  • Depictions of, or implied mass-casualty incidents
  • Emotional abuse
  • Gun violence
  • Imprisonment
  • Medical negligence
  • Military, police and security service violence, both direct and implied
  • Murder
  • Physical assault to persons and/or property
  • Stalking
  • Vehicular injury

See Also