Azathoth Nell Tull

Concept: “Welcome my fellow scvm from the bowels of the True Mork Borg/ Death in Space Discords! You have waited long enough for at last the new Jam is here and it is an Album Crawl, too! Via this Jam we are going to be creating brand new third party content for the Mork Borg, CY_Borg, or Death in Space RPGs.”

Content: Music-themed and -inspired content for games of Cy_Borg.

Concept: “New Location Pad Entry. A Strip Club Dungeon inhabited by a strange Candy Cult for TRIGGER WARNING Jam compatible with Cy Borg.”

Content: A mission to liberate a cultist from their organization’s lair. A pair of player-facing handouts (including a map) is also included.

Art/Design: Two-column layout with black, pink, and white elements. Job details and NPC stats provided on the left, complemented by illustrations of candy, cultists, and–to the right–two levels of Club TITS Unlimited.

Usability: Text is mostly high-contrast and easy to discern purpose for, allowing for easy perusal and use. Only some text is embedded, which can complicate searching or selecting text.

Concept: “CY_OPS is a 66 page A6 player-facing CY_BORG zine presented as an in-universe punk zine. No mechanics, no stats, just a chaotic little zine full of worldbuilding, quest hooks, items and a bunch of other cyberpunk stuff for your players to use in your CY_BORG games.”

Content: NPCs full of personality quirks, unique equipment ideas, and scenario/adventure ideas casually scattered across hectically organized spreads mixing hi- and lo-fi design and tech aesthetics. "Activity" pages offer even more direct involvement with the document.

Writing: Infectiously fun, engaging ideas presented as in-universe media, from QR codes to other CY_BORG material to instruction manual pages to chat transcripts and more. “Worldbuilding” feels like an understatement.

Art/Design: Two-page spreads stand mostly independent of one another, with some common fonts and illustration styles that draw attention to a wide range of character, occupation, and gear-related concepts that open up even more possibilities for immersing a party in CY. 

Usability: Different spread layouts may not assist with consistency, but text is mostly high-contrast and readable (some pages’ white on pink might be difficult for some readers, as is text perpendicular to main orientation). Sheer amount of content is likely to keep readers interested and closely perusing each page.

Concept: “Guards and Goons got you on the down and out? Drink delicious Cherry BLOOD cola for the pick-me-up you need to get the job done!”

Content: An in-game drink for a punk to chug and get that pick-me-up needed to take down some big business bastards. (Creator notes that content will be updated in the future with additional drink options.)

Writing: Terse description focusing on mechanical effects that ingeniously last until a character (or player?) needs to urinate.

Art/Design: This might be the most diegetic third-party content out as of this entry's publication. Item details are provided as soda can/bottle wraparound labels, with game stats replacing the usual nutrition details. 

Usability: White on red can be difficult for some to read. QR code provided on label takes the reader to a playlist that fits the tone of drinking the cola.

Concept: “An eight page bestiary featuring a multi-stage creature based on those from [the first three] TREMORS movies, as well as bits of lore, and a few new bonus weapons.  This was made as part of the second Slasher Jam: Monster Mash for the ttRPGs Mork Borg, CY_Borg, and Death in Space.”

Content: A set of five creatures (really, one creature with several distinct life stages) that are sure to terrify even hardened punks.

Writing: Brief statistics and stage-specific characteristics are complemented with lore tables and an informative breakdown of the creature’s life cycle. Bonus table of weapons that might be used against the terrors.

Art/Design: Two-page spreads of red-tinged wasteland backgrounds with hand-drawn illustrations of terrors at each stage and distinct blocks of content arranged consistently throughout the supplement. 

Usability: Consistent visual grammar for creature details provides a helpful means of recognizing and using desired information, and color combinations for text are high-contrast. However, some text is searchable and selectable, but not all.

Concept: “Everybody Wants to be a Cat!”

Content: A class for the fan of fighting the system as a feline.

Writing: A mix of playful and poignant details complemented by straightforward explanations of class features/mechanics, along with a brief set of optional rules applied to cats.

Art/Design: Three versions in different color schemes (black/green/yellow; red/purple/black; black/white) each present content on three pages with illustrations of a cat (silhouette filled with stars) in a cityscape above text columns of class features. QR codes on the margins of each page link to cat-themed songs that fit the class.

Usability: Consistent text colors and font choices for body text and headings help with identifying and navigating to desired information, and hyperlinked QR codes are usable even with a mouse/cursor. Different color versions present the content in ways that might contrast distinctly to individuals with assorted color blindness, so examine each version to determine which might be most visually helpful.

Concept: “Did you hear, everyone's least fucking favorite, overly popular, shit sucking poser ass band “Symptom of Aggression” is going on tour for like the 40 billionth time.  I can't believe all the complete fucking idiot ass gob noblers in this trash fire of a city listen to that inaudible dreck!  I mean like, every asshole in that band has just had controversy after controversy, its totally sickening. I guess that's the kind of immoral audio diarrhea that turns people on these... these waning miserable days. People and their lack of compassion, on top of everything else, it just makes me loose all hope.  Man, this city fucking sucks.................. -RAWsum”

Content: An encounter/scenario involving a touring band and their massive bus, complete with band member NPC details and potential reasons for getting involved.

Writing: A refreshing mix of straightforward description and vivid, characterful condemnation of Symptom of Aggression.

Art/Design: Harsh, brightly colored illustrations of the tour bus and NPCs and two versions of maps of the bus (GM and player-facing alike), with relevant text in all directions and embellished with scrawled shapes and figures. 

Usability: Pages are busy, which reflects the high-energy nature of the atmosphere, and text has strong contrast with background. Angled lines of text may be difficult for screen readers or copying/pasting attempts.

Concept: “A virtual pet.  A solo game (e.g. Dark Fort, Solitary Defilement) but one you play along side the main game, filling in the boxes depending on how well your main character does.  Print it on the back of your character sheet.”

Content: A set of rules to facilitate raising/evolving a virtual pet while trying to survive in CY.

Writing: Rules are specific and concise to explain the rules/mechanics so that the pet’s evolution occurs alongside a punk’s success/failure. “Shell color” list evokes the ‘90s tamagotchi options quite vividly.

Art/Design: One-page landscape-oriented layout that closely resembles the aesthetic of the Cy_Borg character sheet, with three main columns of distinct types of content (evolutions/shell color, stats/medicine, rules). Pixel art in evolution boxes and tamagothi images complement the explosive, glitchy primary art style.

Usability: Supplement is provided as a text-accessible PDF as well as full-color and black-and-white .JPG files. Font choices are high contrast and generally readable visually, with the character sheet-based layout helping to guide Cy_Borg players to desired information quickly.

Concept: “All of that great punk rock flavor you love, none of the added cyber implants! Bar, lore, ambiance, events menu & more.”

Content: The skeleton for an action-packed adventure or atmospheric encounter–a bar location complete with map; tables for ambiance, food, drinks, and events; and NPC staff that PCs are likely to encounter.

Writing: Lists of categorized material to flesh out the club provide a range of adventure seeds and motivations while leaving plenty of room for a GM to expand further as desired.

Art/Design: Black and white and red all over in two-page spreads with a background photo of club activity on each, and several illustrations help bring the club and its staff to life. 

Usability: Consistent organization of content throughout, creating a recognizable grammar for navigation that helps when maneuvering frequently between pages. A few blocks of text are somewhat difficult to read due to relative lack of contrast (black on dark red).

Concept: “A 14+6 page Murder Mystery with: d6 Rumors, 3+ Cases, Puzzles, 4 Big Maps, 3+ NPCs, & 1 Killer Bunnyman; Inspired by the BUNNYMAN urban legend for CY Borg's Urban Legend Jam.”

Content: A mission to hunt a serial killer across a series of ominous locations. “Digital,” “print,” and "bare bones" versions provided along with an asset/maps booklet.

Writing: Vivid descriptions and helpful guidance for GMs make for a dark but entertaining experience.

Art/Design: Primarily a dark color scheme, with white text on black and black text on white/gray elements, while pink and red accent headings and images. Numerous scenic illustrations and NPC portraits bring myriad dimensions of the mystery to life.

Usability: Fonts in each version are readable and fully embedded, which facilitates searching or selecting text–especially content that is arranged perpendicular to the default orientation.