Chalkdown

Concept: “Out from the dark, I remember it was here I died.
Once a promising researcher, an incident took your body from you, the remains are forever sustained in a sealed cryogenic coffin suit. Your voice is a heavy mechanical rasp. The heart grew cold with your first death, this is false life.”

Content: A class for the empty shell of a once-passionate scholar who still has work to do.

Writing: Darkly atmospheric and tragic details bring the punk’s situation to light, complemented by brief mechanical abilities/effects.

Art/Design: A two-page spread with a large image of a frostbitten pollutionist on the left side and a two-column white-on-black set of tables on the right.

Usability: Text is high-contrast, consistently organized and formatted, and distinct sections of content are clearly marked to indicate relationships between types of information.

Concept: “To most in the upper echelons of Cy, this saviour is a myth. But still those under-blocks that it inhabits and pollutes are left alone, and those who live close revere it as a watchful penitent god, to whom those who sin must be taken.”

Content: A mythical vehicle of righteous vengeance and its acolytes.

Writing: Descriptions and NPC stats oozing with classic British grimdark sci-fi flavor.

Art/Design: Two two-page spreads, one of which resembles a set of propaganda posters on a wall, and the other sports a large illustration of the landship messiah rolling down a street amid its followers. 

Usability: High-contrast text with consistent distinctions of content blocks, headings/labels, and types of content.

Concept: “A 120-meter-tall monster emerges from the waters around Cy. Its behavior baffles scientists and officials; it isn’t hunting or nesting, it just moves.”

Content: A scenario for surviving the onslaught of an unstoppable roving apocalypse.

Writing: Focused, direct descriptions of a wide range of relevant factors (from available subplots to environmental obstacles to military actions) provide GMs with an immersive adventure/experience for their players.

Art/Design: Current ashcan edition has a simple, barebones layout subject to change when more art assets are finalized. 

Usability: Different kinds of content are immediately distinguishable, high-contrast fore/ground colors assist accessibility, and navigation through the document is incredibly easy.

Concept: “Construction equipment sing symphonies in your head. Sinew and bone dance in unholy matrimony with rusting steel. Whirring, skipping gears tear internally at rotting organs, and low exhausted moans escape from gaps in your walking coffin’s armour. In life, productivity. In death, salvage.”

Content: A class for the diving enthusiast who enjoys working under intense pressure.

Writing: Pitch-black humor pervades the descriptive content, with brief mechanical explanations to situate various abilities in the rule system.

Art/Design: A two-page spread with an illustration of a renegade aquahulk on the left side and a two-column set of white-on-black tables on the right.

Usability: High-contrast text facilitates readability, while visually distinct sections of content allow for easy identification of and navigation to desired information.

Concept: “You are an ape ‘gifted’ with human intellect. The experimentation you went through to get here gave you perspective on many things; mortality, pain, the self, ideology. Mostly, it just made you realize how evil humans can be.”

Content: A class for those whose vengeful rage is more augmented than their uplifted intelligence.

Writing: Class details are concise and evocative of the myriad permutations of modification and torture that could result in a charater.

Art/Design: Two-page spread layout displayed around an illustration of a simian experiment, with text styled as crisply organized research documentation. 

Usability: Consistent presentation of class details facilitate quick navigation and accessible reading, with occasional bold or underlined text for emphasis.

Concept: “It was nothing like they advertised; there were no off-world colonies, no bold unknown, no strange new worlds–only more cramped corridors and self-devouring consumerism in the name of the tourist industry. And then one night SOMETHING shocked the shuttle systems, and you began floating in a most peculiar way…”

Content: A class for those who were changed in irrevocable, horrifying ways when they walked among the stars–and who are now shackled to the earth once again.

Writing: Vivid, evocative descriptions of features and mechanics are both illuminating and unsettling in the best way.

Art/Design: Two two-page spreads with class details and a set of alien infestations, with white text on dark background throughout. An image of a void-warped freefaller emphasizes the cosmic horror at the core of this class and the effect it has on the character.

Usability: Easy to navigate, read, and comprehend, with key components visually embellished for identification of their significance and purpose.