Cyberpunk RED skill
Pilot Air Vehicle
Pilot Air Vehicle is a skill in Cyberpunk RED: Flying AVs, gyros, and aircraft without turning an expensive machine into wreckage.
Last reviewed
Key facts
- Stat
- REF
- Category
- control
Overview
Pilot Air Vehicle covers aerodynes, gyrocopters, and anything else that leaves the ground under power. In Night City the sky is the layer above the traffic, above the checkpoints, and above most of the people who would like to stop you, which is precisely why it is not freely available to street-level characters. At the table it is a high-leverage, low-frequency skill. Most jobs never need it. The ones that do are the ones where it changes everything: a rooftop extraction, an insertion onto a corporate tower, a run out to the Badlands that would take a day by road. It is also the fastest way to make a GM's carefully planned perimeter irrelevant.
How it works
Linked Stat: REF Category: Control Resolution: 1d10 plus REF plus skill level against a DV set by weather, damage, and how demanding the maneuver is. A natural 10 rolls again and adds; a natural 1 rolls again and subtracts, and failure in the air is considerably less forgiving than failure on a road. Access: The limiting factor is rarely the skill. Aircraft are expensive, tracked, and regulated, so most crews reach one through a Nomad family, a corporate connection, or a Fixer rather than by owning it.
Tips and playstyle
Best for: Execs, Nomads with air assets, and campaigns that operate above street level. Character concepts: A corporate AV pilot, an ex-military gyro jockey, a Nomad whose family runs air freight, a Medtech flying an air ambulance. Synergies: Perception and Concentration matter in bad conditions. Trading or the Exec and Fixer role abilities are how you get access to an aircraft, and Air Vehicle Tech keeps whatever you borrowed in the air.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pilot Air Vehicle worth the points?
Only if your campaign puts an aircraft in reach. Ask your GM before spending, because in a street-level game these points do far more in Drive Land Vehicle or Handgun.
Can I just steal an AV?
Getting into one is Electronics and Security Tech; keeping it in the air is this skill. Flying a stolen aircraft over Night City also attracts exactly the kind of attention crews normally spend the whole job avoiding.
Does it cover drones?
Ask your GM. Piloting an uncrewed aircraft is often handled under this skill, while combat drones and remote rigs may fall under tech skills depending on how your table runs them.