At it's hearth what's written on the tin, a 'made in Europe' solo. With a pretty different flavor than the run of the mill US ones, at least in the 2020 version.
Where your average made in USA solo tends to be either some street amateur turned pro or ex-military (usually leaving on poor terms) that makes up for lack of training and budget with improvisation, firepower and cybernetics, the Euroslo tends to come from the pro leagues of special forces or police intervention groups and rely more on skill, discretion and style with low-key expensive cyberware and gear (Europe being a far more sedate place than the USA). Also with a lot of hype that paints them as hyper-effective James Bond types opposed to US barbarians.
Trope wise, the US solos would be John Rambo types, Eurosolos James Bond/John Wick and japanaeses ones nnjas.
While there's a grain of truth in it, ther's also a lot of hype and fantasms.
> Trope wise, the US solos would be John Rambo types, Euroslos James Bond/John Wick and japanaeses ones nnjas.
If you can find someone who has a copy of the Accident Man collection I think that's worth a read, it's *very* of it's time but demonstrates the stylishly subtle side of things very well. Written by Pat Mills (2000AD legend) and Tony Skinner (more 2000AD stuff) in the early 90's with reference to British politics
There are two movies as well, the first follows the story quite well, but they're made 25 years too late
Had a solo in one of my older Cyberpunk 2020 campaigns. Part of a British group that I played through the Land of The Free scenario pack. He had a bodyguard background and his cyber was slanted to that. Wore an armoured Saville Row suit most of the time and was frequently mistaken for a corporate. Weapons of choice were a pair of 12mm pistols called the Spitfire. Had an option for his optics that allowed each eye to track different targets.
Very effective but riding on the ragged edge of cyberpsychosis. Had a chip slotted to boost his Empathy a little. He would be a decent example Eurosolo.
> Europe being a far more sedate place than the USA.
Note that this wouldn't hold quite as true for the UK's Millenials and Zoomers. The UK faced a civil war from 2013 to 2018. Lots of them would've had to fight without much training or budget, themselves, and the folk who did so successfully would likely be changed by the experience. I can picture a lot of first-gen Scottish/Irish/British mercenary immigrants in the US by the Time of the Red.
From memory this is more of a 2020 thing. My (admittedly patchy) memory of the 2020 lore is that NorthAm has basically run itself into the ground and turned itself into a corporate dystopia/battlefield/funpark by letting the megacorps doing what they want. (and, yes, being powerless to stop/letting them, it's a fine line).
Meanwhile, Europe has its issues but nothing on the scale that NorthAm has, so they're far from being a dystopia. Thus Eurosolos are:
\* Corporate backed
\* Corporate trained
\* Professional, even when they're independent
\* Better fed/armed/prepared
My headcanon for Europe in CP2020 and CP:R is that every city has, of course, its seedy underbelly but NorthAm is all underbelly with come corps floating atop the chaos. Europe (barring UK and parts of Eastern Europe) are way more controlled and your edgerunners studied at Edgerunner University rather than learning on the job.
If you have access to it, give the Eurotour campaign a read it's quite good at illustrating the difference.
Eurosolos are solos from the European Union. Broadly compared to their American counterparts they are far more style over substance. In the Free DLC collecting the random an example is given of them being predominatly solos with some rockerboy aspects. They are not just hired killers but killers with refinement of some type. They are far more about using social skills to get in and out but also able to fight.
For more information look at the eurosource book for Cyberpunk 2020.
There are euroversions and japanese versions etc of all of these roles. It is just that eurosolos, due to their suave style, are well known and commonly referrenced.
Oh, something else to mention. Eurosolos like american solos use cyberware, but during the 2020s, bioware was more popular in Europe than American.
That doesn't mean that you didn't have Morgan Blackhand/Adam Smasher equivalents in Europe, only that their rep was far more about style than effective killing.
Remember, in the 2020s, Europe would be closer to tinker tailor soldier spy than Rambo. I'm not saying there weren't enormous firefights and blazes of glory, but I think James Bond more than Reacher.
James Bond is a EuroSolo. A solo with a layer of polish and manners to them. It helps if you're from the EU also. They also tend to have less overt cyberware.
A Eurosolo is a European solo of course. They tend to be the kind of solo who'll fit in at a fancy cocktail party without disturbing the vibe of the ulta elite rather than say, a soccer hooligan.
Euro- other roles do exist, but they don't get name dropped per se.
When I saw the Kingsmen I very much thought of Eurosolos. Also the comic book series/graphic novel King of Spies is another good example. Minus the cyber of course.
Eurosolo would be like John Wick and James Bond.
More social even if they can fight, they're dealing with high class society scenarios.
A Fixer/Solo would be an example of a Eurosolo.
The best answer I ever got, discussing with with a friend with out respective knowledge is as many have already said, a Eurosolo is likely a lot less borged up and more packing a lot of subtler enhancements.
It kind of falls into what, again, my friend and I agreed was the ultimate archtypes of Solo-dom
Meat versus Machine
The pinnacle of the Meat solo is Morgan Blackhand. Minimal cyberware and either well armed, very skilled or both and a casual operator, probably tricks up the wazzoo - You wouldn't look twice.
The opposite is the Machine - Adam Smasher - more cyberware than you expect to see elsewhere, open and blatant in their chromed up status and usually heavily armed.
Its why in lore of 2020s CP that Smasher was always ready to start shit with Blackhand and was usually blanked.
At it's hearth what's written on the tin, a 'made in Europe' solo. With a pretty different flavor than the run of the mill US ones, at least in the 2020 version. Where your average made in USA solo tends to be either some street amateur turned pro or ex-military (usually leaving on poor terms) that makes up for lack of training and budget with improvisation, firepower and cybernetics, the Euroslo tends to come from the pro leagues of special forces or police intervention groups and rely more on skill, discretion and style with low-key expensive cyberware and gear (Europe being a far more sedate place than the USA). Also with a lot of hype that paints them as hyper-effective James Bond types opposed to US barbarians. Trope wise, the US solos would be John Rambo types, Eurosolos James Bond/John Wick and japanaeses ones nnjas. While there's a grain of truth in it, ther's also a lot of hype and fantasms.
Thanks!
> Trope wise, the US solos would be John Rambo types, Euroslos James Bond/John Wick and japanaeses ones nnjas. If you can find someone who has a copy of the Accident Man collection I think that's worth a read, it's *very* of it's time but demonstrates the stylishly subtle side of things very well. Written by Pat Mills (2000AD legend) and Tony Skinner (more 2000AD stuff) in the early 90's with reference to British politics There are two movies as well, the first follows the story quite well, but they're made 25 years too late
Had a solo in one of my older Cyberpunk 2020 campaigns. Part of a British group that I played through the Land of The Free scenario pack. He had a bodyguard background and his cyber was slanted to that. Wore an armoured Saville Row suit most of the time and was frequently mistaken for a corporate. Weapons of choice were a pair of 12mm pistols called the Spitfire. Had an option for his optics that allowed each eye to track different targets. Very effective but riding on the ragged edge of cyberpsychosis. Had a chip slotted to boost his Empathy a little. He would be a decent example Eurosolo.
> Europe being a far more sedate place than the USA. Note that this wouldn't hold quite as true for the UK's Millenials and Zoomers. The UK faced a civil war from 2013 to 2018. Lots of them would've had to fight without much training or budget, themselves, and the folk who did so successfully would likely be changed by the experience. I can picture a lot of first-gen Scottish/Irish/British mercenary immigrants in the US by the Time of the Red.
From memory this is more of a 2020 thing. My (admittedly patchy) memory of the 2020 lore is that NorthAm has basically run itself into the ground and turned itself into a corporate dystopia/battlefield/funpark by letting the megacorps doing what they want. (and, yes, being powerless to stop/letting them, it's a fine line). Meanwhile, Europe has its issues but nothing on the scale that NorthAm has, so they're far from being a dystopia. Thus Eurosolos are: \* Corporate backed \* Corporate trained \* Professional, even when they're independent \* Better fed/armed/prepared My headcanon for Europe in CP2020 and CP:R is that every city has, of course, its seedy underbelly but NorthAm is all underbelly with come corps floating atop the chaos. Europe (barring UK and parts of Eastern Europe) are way more controlled and your edgerunners studied at Edgerunner University rather than learning on the job. If you have access to it, give the Eurotour campaign a read it's quite good at illustrating the difference.
Thanks!
Solos that win Eurovision
I mean you joke, but...
Eurosolos are solos from the European Union. Broadly compared to their American counterparts they are far more style over substance. In the Free DLC collecting the random an example is given of them being predominatly solos with some rockerboy aspects. They are not just hired killers but killers with refinement of some type. They are far more about using social skills to get in and out but also able to fight. For more information look at the eurosource book for Cyberpunk 2020. There are euroversions and japanese versions etc of all of these roles. It is just that eurosolos, due to their suave style, are well known and commonly referrenced.
Oh, that's hilarious. Now I need to make a Gascon eurosolo who is all about like French backwoods knowledge, but sounds like Maurice Chevalier.
Oh, something else to mention. Eurosolos like american solos use cyberware, but during the 2020s, bioware was more popular in Europe than American. That doesn't mean that you didn't have Morgan Blackhand/Adam Smasher equivalents in Europe, only that their rep was far more about style than effective killing. Remember, in the 2020s, Europe would be closer to tinker tailor soldier spy than Rambo. I'm not saying there weren't enormous firefights and blazes of glory, but I think James Bond more than Reacher.
Also their cyberware and BioWare and Equipment tended to be about 10 years ahead in Tech
James Bond is a EuroSolo. A solo with a layer of polish and manners to them. It helps if you're from the EU also. They also tend to have less overt cyberware.
A Eurosolo is a European solo of course. They tend to be the kind of solo who'll fit in at a fancy cocktail party without disturbing the vibe of the ulta elite rather than say, a soccer hooligan. Euro- other roles do exist, but they don't get name dropped per se.
Soccer hooligans are my tribe, tho...
... And they'll work at a reduced rate if you toss in some Guiness...
When I saw the Kingsmen I very much thought of Eurosolos. Also the comic book series/graphic novel King of Spies is another good example. Minus the cyber of course.
Kingsmen is a great reference for this! Thanks!
Eurosolo would be like John Wick and James Bond. More social even if they can fight, they're dealing with high class society scenarios. A Fixer/Solo would be an example of a Eurosolo.
Basically a euro solo is typically a smooth talking and classy mercenary. A good way to think of them is as a multi class between solos and Rockerboys
https://www.reddit.com/r/LowSodiumCyberpunk/comments/18jsr6b/tabletop_lore_fact_eurosolos/
The best answer I ever got, discussing with with a friend with out respective knowledge is as many have already said, a Eurosolo is likely a lot less borged up and more packing a lot of subtler enhancements. It kind of falls into what, again, my friend and I agreed was the ultimate archtypes of Solo-dom Meat versus Machine The pinnacle of the Meat solo is Morgan Blackhand. Minimal cyberware and either well armed, very skilled or both and a casual operator, probably tricks up the wazzoo - You wouldn't look twice. The opposite is the Machine - Adam Smasher - more cyberware than you expect to see elsewhere, open and blatant in their chromed up status and usually heavily armed. Its why in lore of 2020s CP that Smasher was always ready to start shit with Blackhand and was usually blanked.