Cyberpunk RED IP cost chart cheat sheet
Improvement Point costs for skills, role abilities, and stats. At-the-table reference for Cyberpunk RED.
Cyberpunk RED advancement: spend Improvement Points (IP) to raise skills and role abilities between sessions.
Earning IP
- Awarded by the GM after each session (typical: 10-70 IP).
- Guideline: 10-30 for a quiet session, 40-70 for a dangerous one.
- Bonus IP for completing story goals, good roleplay, or clever plans.
Spending IP on skills
The IP cost chart below shows the step and cumulative cost for each rank.
- Cost formula
- New rank × 20 IP per rank (double for the few skills flagged ×2 cost)
- Maximum rank
- 10 (skills); stat caps still apply
Spending IP on role abilities
- Cost formula
- New rank × 60 IP
- Maximum rank
- 10
- Role Ability IP costs three times as much per rank as a skill: it's your Role's defining specialty.
Spending IP on stats
- STATs can't be improved with IP at all.
- Stat increases only happen through GM-approved special training or story rewards, outside the normal IP economy.
| Target rank | IP to raise | Cumulative IP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 IP | 20 IP |
| 2 | 40 IP | 60 IP |
| 3 | 60 IP | 120 IP |
| 4 | 80 IP | 200 IP |
| 5 | 100 IP | 300 IP |
| 6 | 120 IP | 420 IP |
| 7 | 140 IP | 560 IP |
| 8 | 160 IP | 720 IP |
| 9 | 180 IP | 900 IP |
| 10 | 200 IP | 1100 IP |
Common mistakes
- IP is per-rank, not cumulative in one purchase: raising from 4 to 6 costs rank-5 + rank-6 (100 + 120 = 220 IP).
- Role Ability IP costs 3x the skill rate per rank; they don't share the same formula.
- Cyberware upgrades cost money (Eurodollars), not IP.