G0

Concept: “A Garden of New Hope is a fruitful and harvest rich module for Cy_Borg that dives into the twisted heart of The Sanctum, a seemingly blissful haven masking a sinister root cause. Bathe in mind-altering nanotoxins, overcome ruthless Keepers and Wardens, and uncover the fate of a mysterious visitor from G0. Made for those who relish moral dilemmas, accepting suicide missions from dangerously unhinged clients, and taking a nice stroll through a beautiful garden.”

Content: A job to retrieve a client’s son from a cult–or possibly something far worse–from a seemingly tranquil location.

Writing: Tons of detail about the situation, relevant NPCs, and organizations, as well as GM-oriented suggestions/advice about how to bring the mission to life.

Art/Design: ~20 pages of distinct single-page layouts with some consistent elements (heading placement, font choices, etc.) and a number of NPC illustrations. Multiple maps of the target location are also included, with room-based descriptions as well as security details.

Usability: Visually, the layout elements allow for easy identification and perusal of desired content. However, text is not embedded so searching or selecting text is not possible.

Concept: “Escort a live streamer into the G0 wasteland in search of an underground cryovault! More action means more viewers, and viewers are creds. So remember to smile for the cameras while the nanophreaks shred your face!”

Content: A job to make sure a streamer survives a break-in attempt to a cryo facility, with extra cash on the line if the stream looks dangerous and exciting. A player-facing map and a ‘frozen celeb head generator’ (for potential inclusion in the cryovault) are also provided.

Writing: Tons of imaginatively expressive details provided in brief phrases and statements so that a broad range of locations, enemies, and unfolding events can be mentioned.

Art/Design: Trifold pamphlet layout with mission parameters on the outer panels (with a white-on-black color scheme) and the location/NPC specifics, along with a map, on the inner panels (with a black-on-white scheme).

Usability: Visually apparent organization/arrangement of content, with distinct headings, labels, and section borders to more clearly indicate scope and relation of each to the others. Room descriptions even include references to other rooms via map/description labels for quick navigation.

Concept: “Somewhere in G0: A naniteinfested monstrosity is trying to help those tossed to the turrets within the cement walls of G0. Within the confines of the abandoned CY Central Mall, a monument of capitalism now a battle ground between 4 factions, The Heir of Kergoz, Virid Vipers, an other worldly being know as Vecbod, and a relentless horde of mushroom brained zombies. It doesn’t matter if you’re here out of desperation or curiosity, having a safe house in G0 is worth hearing”

Content: A mall crawl for survival in the shadows of an ominous otherworldly threat.

Writing: Imaginative and disturbing ideas abound, giving GMs and players alike plenty of unexpected encounters, creatures/NPCs, and opportunities to run wild with. 

Art/Design: Two-page spreads packed with visually loud and abrasive aesthetic choices that reflect the chaos of the scenario itself.

Usability: Progression through the document reveals locations and monsters as players would encounter them. A wide variety of layouts, color schemes, font choices, and text size can make some content easier to locate and read than others.

Concept: "The Meat Might Be Fake, but the Greed Is Real!"
Content: A pair of jobs (one to free animals from a meat plant, the other to procure an item from G0), a mall to explore, a number of NPCs, and several tables of gear, status effects, chat messages, and more.
Writing: Evocative descriptions complemented by concise rules/mechanics that underscore the essence of their subject.
Art/design: Distinct spread layouts with intense colors, text, illustrations, and arrangements thereof.
Usability: While some spreads are visually busy, text is overwhelmingly presented in high contrast with a clear visual grammar for the layout, leading to easy navigation and identification of desired info for ease of reference & use in a game. 

Concept: “An Heir of Kergoz has cracked a forbidden code and is using a coterie of childlike CYDROIDS™ to bring out the end times. It's up to you to hunt him down in his keep at the edge of G0 and end this madness.”

Content: A job involving a doomsday ritual that needs to be interrupted/prevented, presented in one of a number of different ways (via the parameters of Phil’s TTRPG Layout Jam 2023). 

Writing: Several key variables have been tweaked from the default adventure copy to more seamlessly integrate the adventure into CY. 

Art/Design: Presentation reflects an early Atari-style video game map/booklet layout with black-on-white scheme (and occasional blood spatter), with each room’s description/contents provided in text beside the location map where the relevant room has been highlighted in gray.

Usability: Font choices and contrast make for visual readability (although some text is quite small, such as the content in gray call-out boxes beneath some maps). However, text is not embedded, so searching or selecting text is unavailable.

Concept: “Artificial intelligence has had a divine vision. It is seeking to hire a group of punks to deliver it to the ancient Hill of Neon Crosses located in the center of the forbidden GO district. To fullfil their task, punks will have to deal with a research blacksite and delve into THE NET deep within the Hill Of NEON Crosses.”

Content: A job to deliver an AI payload into an auspicious site in G0.

Writing: A mix of darkly ominous and tongue-in-cheek tones that hew closely to the core Cy_Borg spirit.

Art/Design: Mostly black-on-white spreads with one to two columns of content, with almost every page complemented by neon hand-drawn and glitch-art graphics.

Usability: Consistent presentations of text and page layouts with distinct content sections make for easy perusal and identification of desired information.

Concept: “Stalkers of G0 is a 40-page supplement on the exclusion zone in the heart of the City of Y!̸͆̅̌”̶͌̉#̸͇̞̻̌̚”̶̨̻̘̇̉̊͆̈́͒̌̆̓̕͜#̶̖̣̘̻͖̥͕̙̀̃̈́́̄̕̕͜͠2̶̧̻̺̝̥̮̣̒͒̂͐͐̍́́͘̕̕4̴̿̌’̷̛̙͍̠̙̿. It describes its environments, eccentric denizens and horrors beyond human understanding through the lens of Stalkers. Stalkers are individuals from all walks of life, inexplainably inclined to risk dying horribly in this hellhole.”

Content: Tons of details to bring G0 to life: locations, factions, enemies, mission generators, anomalies, a class (“Stalker of G0”), and more.

Writing: Extremely flavorful atmosphere evoked through vivid descriptions and conversational tone taken to address the reader. Mechanics (such as the abilities of the Stalker class) feel appropriately in tune with the intended vibe.

Art/Design: Different page/spread layouts throughout, with color schemes and font choices often used to link together multiple related pages. 

Usability: Recognizable headers (on any given page as well as chapter/section headings), high-contrast text, and contextual framing of page content all make navigating and locating desired info easier to accomplish.

Concept: "Inside the quarantine zone, everything is hostile—the ground, the air, the water, and most certainly, the people. But hidden amongst the danger are riches of unimaginable wealth—the type of wealth that can take a punk from the slums all the way to the hills. Food and water are hard to come by, and net service is nearly unreachable. Everything inside of G0 is hidden from the view of Cy’s citizens, making it home to the forgotten corners of society. It’s the kind of place where adventure finds you, whether you want it or not."
Content: A combined generator for G0 hex maps and adventures/scenarios, along with the NPCs that populate those locations. A set of map images for VTT use is also included.
Writing: Tons of description and table entries of all kinds with which to cultivate a fully-formed G0 for punks to explore and face the consequences for doing so.
Art/design: Black-and-white color scheme with illustrations and graphics (of NPCs, of location maps, of two-page spread images) accompanying assorted tables and explanations of relevant points of interest. Map images are crisp and named to indicate not only their content but grid dimensions for VTT implementation.
Usability: While page layouts change occasionally, text content is presented quite consistently (e.g., distinguishing headings from body text or formatting table entries or breakdowns of location details).

Concept: “On an expedition into the subways of G0, beneath an ancient foundry, the punks are infected with the IRON VIRUS a nanovirus that turns flesh to metal, hair to wire and nails to scalpels. The subway screens flicker to life. The metal tyrant Wodan announces the countdown of sacrifices to priming the Iron Egg. If not stopped, it will destroy everything in a Nearby District. STOP THEM”

Content: A body horror-centric race against the clock to stop a virus-wielding tyrant.

Writing: A disgustingly fascinating adventure, complete with a set of viral nano-infections to make one’s skin crawl (perhaps literally).

Art/Design: Two-page spreads of the scenario setup (and impressively vivid depiction of the virus in action), GM notes, infection list, adventure locations and creatures, and a map.

Usability: Easy to navigate and text (primarily white on black) is readable–the opposite end of the “unsettling” spectrum of document’s content.

Concept: “Made for The Rolled Standards Trigger Warning: Trigger Happy Jam, this adventure is a simple assassination mission in a rundown church in the heart of G0. Risk nano infestations while trying to kill off the cult leader Farther Barnos, return his head and a requested item for a fat pay out.”

Content: A job to unseat the head of a local church.

Writing: Intense descriptions of the mission’s most important locations and events/encounters.

Art/Design: A mix of analog hand-drawn and digital illustrations accompany a mostly single-column layout of white, green, and pink on black backgrounds.

Usability: Text is mostly readable and searchable (except for Barnos’ stat block, which is handwritten text) with clear visual distinctions–color, typeface, white space–between sections of content.