Ex Libris CY_BORG A directory of content, tools, and resources

Jobs/Missions

1DLE/H4NDS

Concept: “There's been a hushed-up incident at the Naiman Cybernetics factory in Bigmosse. The corpos are sweating and they need it cleaned up- fast and off-the-books. Head in and clean house, but stay on your guard: this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Content: A clearance mission at a cybernetics facility where the situation has gotten dangerously out of hand. Content provided in three versions: a “classic look” black-on-yellow scheme, a “nite mode” black-on-gray scheme, and a “squeaky clean” black-on-white scheme that uses standard fonts.
Writing: Detailed breakdowns of locations, NPCs/enemies, potential events that might unfold (including an alternate plot hook), and an optional set of bonus goals for the PCs to achieve.
Art/Design: Each version makes use of a single-column text layout, simplified location maps, and illustrations of enemy cyborgs.
Usability: Very easily readable and navigable, with consistent use of distinct headings/labels to indicate different sections and kinds of content and important elements.

404.fm “THE JAMZ”

Concept: “A crazed socialite with a seemingly bottomless wallet and far more information and connections than one person in CY has any right to. He could take over this city in a matter of days, instead he’d rather play sick jams as the backing to an even sicker game.”
Content: An adventure/scenario for destructive PCs who enjoy a soundtrack to their chaos from a malevolent DJ.
Writing: Brief descriptions of tasks to complete cunningly reflect a variety of music genres that the GM is encouraged to develop a playlist for ahead of time (punk, metal, hip-hop, electronic, etc.). 
Art/Design: White text on dark brick-pattern background with a hand-drawn chaotic punk in motion on the cover. Each page (focused on a musical genre and its tasks) is given unique character with font choices and text arrangement.
Usability: Large text makes identifying each element and its relation to other elements–and a similar structure for each page helps this identification and navigation. Helpful note for GMs on the last page also encourages combination and experimentation.

A$$hole$ and Elbows

Concept: “A low-level, mid-tier manager type from Aegis Conglomerated—using the screen name Mr. Greensleeves—needs an Aegis BioTech prototype implant recovered. This rare tech was “mistakenly” put down the recycle chute and ended up in a Mosscroft junkyard, Big Dumpers. As reward for recovering the implant and saving his job Mr. G promises to provide a backdoor into Aegis Financial for potential debt reduction. It’s simple: get to Big Dumpers, search for the implant, get the fuck out, and return it to Mr. G. What could possibly go wrong?“
Content: A simple search and rescue operation–but the PCs aren’t the only ones performing it.
Writing: Tons of character packed into the junkyard location (with a dozen areas of interest) and NPC details.
Art/Design: Trifold pamphlet layout that includes a map of Big Dumpers and relevant specifics on the inner panels, while job and NPC information appears on the outer panels. Color scheme is a mix of black-on-white and white-on-blue/yellow-on-blue.
Usability: Organization is easily recognizable, with headers and important information consistently distinguished from body text by font choice, size, color, and inline bolding.

A Beautiful Day for a Metro Heist

JKW
Concept: “The heist begins as the PCs are traveling on the metro. First, the train blows past their stop. Then, the door locks engage. Finally, the train starts going fast.  REALLY FAST. CYSG puts out a localized RCD blast: ‘To all aboard, the train has been hijacked… ...stop the train, get a reward… ...you have approximately...twenty minutes before the train derails…’”
Content: A gig to put a halt to a train-jacking.
Writing: Concise descriptions with bursts of flavor to flesh out train car events, inhabitants, and potential outcomes.
Art/Design: White on black with pink and yellow accents. Wide spread of content across quartered sections, with a diagonal map of a train car cutting across them. Illustrations of a train car interior and an NPC portrait accompany the text.
Usability: High contrast text/ground. Initial read-through may be somewhat confusing, as supplement “begins” on lower left and then moves up and to the right across multiple separated sections of diagonally oriented content. A player handout of train car map/layout is included.

A Botched Delivery

Concept: “This scenario was written to tie two separate groups of PCs together into one central narrative. One group of PCs are fleeing from the Reaper Repo scenario (included in the CY_BORG Asset Pack) while another group of PCs are waiting in a getaway car.”
Content: An intricate means of integrating multiple PC parties into the same story, making skillful use of the Full Auto supplement for support (required for this adventure’s vehicular component).
Writing: Focused direction for how to set up & run the encounter components (including individual NPCs) is valuable for the GM unsure of how to handle everything. Tons of ambience provided in descriptions of the scenario location.
Art/Design: Simple three-column layout across three pages, with a map illustration and room descriptions across p. 2.
Usability: Content is pretty easily navigable thanks to simplicity of layout, with some accent color and bolding choices to help distinguish section headers and important details.

A Hundred Thousand Burned Hackers

Concept: “Nova gives you free drinks sometimes. You pay when you can. Now she needs a favor. Got herself in deep. Owes a lot of creds to some unfriendly goons. Luckily a solution walked into her bar yesterday: Abyrn Bio Corp employee, high on Rattle. Showed her a stolen “HiveShock” NNEMP prototype. Going to use it to blackmail CPHRCORP. Pulse will take out half of Cy. Worth a fortune. Nova spotted a beaconworm tracker on it. Nice tech, but an easy hack. Rooted it while Rattlemouth wasn’t looking. Now it’s her tracker, not whoever planted it.”
Content: A gig to steal some shit for a pal who deserves the help.
Writing: Densely packed details of the target office complex, enemies to encounter, events unfolding, rumors about the op, and more.
Art/Design: Trifold brochure layout with a dark-themed outer set of panels and a light-themed inner set. A labeled map is provided on one panel, and a player-facing map/handout is included as a separate file.
Usability: Sections are clearly distinguished by a consistent set of borders, headings/labels, and panel-based whitespace to facilitate identifying desired information. Text is easily readable and uses high contrast (black on white and white on black).

Amethyst Reign

Concept: “This month’s adventure sends some street toughs on a ridiculously difficult mission — assassinate one of the world’s most famous musicians, hours before he releases his hotly-anticipated new album. He’s holed himself up in a secret recording studio, and now the PCs need to track him down and kill him before his new album influences a new generation.”
Content: A job to take down a musician before the night is over.
Writing: If most Cy_Borg missions are stripped-down punk that hint at options a GM might use, this incredibly detailed gig is prog metal. Plenty of specific considerations to address a wide variety of possible PC actions.
Art/Design: Two-column layout (plus some handouts and pre-generated character sheets) with black text on a light background supplemented with full-color illustrations, blue-on-green maps with white labels, and NPC stat boxes. 
Usability: Consistent organization, arrangement, headings/labels, and readable text all contribute to an easily navigable and usable document.

An Evening at the Bionic Swan

Concept: “Dr. Ethan Nett was a lead scientist at United Citadel Security, working on an injectable, tactical A.I. enhancement for operatives. A project that was due to be shut down. However, in a moment of weakness and arrogance, Dr. Nett injected the prototype Built-in Urban Didactic Defensive Intelligent Entity (B.U.D.D.I.E.) into himself in the hopes of continuing the work off-site. Unfortunately for Dr. Nett, B.U.D.D.I.E. has managed to hijack his higher brain functions and is taking his body on a joyride. B.U.D.D.I.E. is also riddled with bugs, has a largely unstable personality and is the equivalent of an 8 year old with the processing power of a minor god.”
Content: A job to either capture/secure a scientist or extract them from imminent danger.
Writing: Engaging details for entertaining setup, execution, and aftermath/consequences of the mission. 
Art/Design: Primarily white text on black in one-, two-, and three-column layouts, with occasional images–NPC portraits, silhouettes of ambient sights, and a map and logo for the bar itself.
Usability: Consistent visual grammar throughout document to indicate how each section and content element relates to the others. Helpful blue lines plot a path from one text box to the next to indicate order of unfolding events.

A Piece of the Auction

Concept: “A priceless NFT known as the Mona Lizard, goes up for auction at the famous Smotherlee’s Auctioneers tomorrow morning. Your mission is to provide security for a representative of Tulles& deVerte, who wish to add the piece to their private, tax deductible, collection. You will be provided with a driver and special dispensation to enter the hills at Galgbacken where you will collect Mx. Angel Solscraper, before continuing on to the auction house in South Central.”
Content: A scenario for the group that wants to rub elbows with the elite but also to engage in copious amounts of violence.
Writing: Focused descriptions of hook, relevant NPCs, and unfolding events all offer GMs plenty of material to build on.
Art/Design: Colorful, mostly single-column high-contrast text layouts with a variety of illustrative styles to complement page specifics. An overhead map of the auction house is provided as well.
Usability: Font choices (typefaces, size, colors) make for easy reading and consistently recognizable navigation throughout the supplement.

assassCYnation

Concept: “The name Adam is a ghost story corporate execs use to frighten new recruits. A faceless, unfeeling, calculating master assassin that only targets Central’s elites. Or at least he was a ghost story…”
Content: A dungeonesque excursion to hunt down an elusive corporate assassin.
Writing: Prolific details about the scenario, locations, potential events/encounters, and options that a GM might elect to include, provided in a straightforward and engaging style.
Art/Design: Dark backgrounds with one- and two-column text layouts with a variety of illustrations that draw attention to important components on each page (characters and events, especially).
Usability: High contrast between text and background facilitates reading, with font choices and colors that offer a consistently accessible experience for navigating and locating desired information, from NPC stats to roll/encounter outcomes.

Babysitting

Concept: “An easy job !  Just sit around and babysit some corpo doctor and this box. Easy money?”
Content: A gig to retrieve, guard, and escort a person and their cargo to a designated safehouse.
Writing: Prolific details to flesh out the mission and the various groups with interests in its success–or failure.
Art/Design: Trifold brochure format provides initial parameters on the inner panels and later-stage conflicts on the outer panels. Predominantly white/yellow text on black, with NPC stats in black on brightly colored boxes, with portraits and street scenes complementing text. An additional page is provided with a safehouse location map and player-facing ‘breaking news’ info. 
Usability: Color-coded text references draw attention to different NPC interactions, and consistent use of content section color and shape makes for easy identification of desired info.

Back to the Roots

Concept: “A custom collection for Cy_Borg ttrpg, that includes:
  • 13 new weapons, 6 new drugs, 4 new items - made in the slums of CY.
  • 11 new street-made cyber-tech and 9 new APP's
  • Short descriptions of 5 new slum Gangs
  • A simple and short Adventure/Mission.”
Content: Tons of material to flesh out a game, from equipment to drugs to gang NPCs/enemies, with a scenario in the slums to take down a sadistic AI (and a map for the location).
Writing: Concise, direct descriptions and explanations of mechanics for a huge number of entries for various categories. 
Art/Design: Mostly two-column page layouts (each with its own color scheme/aesthetic) with content on a translucent background pane over detailed, high-tech images. Map of floorplan includes effective icons indicating room features.
Usability: Text is easily readable with distinct heading/label decoration present in each page’s layout aesthetic.

Banshee

Concept: “A mid level exec has lapsed into a coma after an unwise deep dive into the sewer levels of the net. When he came back up, it was with a permanent look of horror and endless babbling about ‘the woman’, yelping in terror at random moments, reacting to something that no-one else could see. He’s actually infected with the BANSHEE virus. It hijacks the carrier’s audio and visual implants, terrorising them until their brains overload and shut down.”
Content: A gig that takes a party of punks into an exec’s dying mind in search of important data.
Writing: A swirl of informative exposition and characterful style to situate a game group inside the mind of their target and all the horrors residing there. 
Art/Design: Colorful one- and two-column text layouts, with each page having its own aesthetic and an accompanying illustration.  
Usability: Text is easily readable across pages and assorted font choices, with each page’s organization recognizable through text size and color distinctions for headings/labels and body content.

Beyond Cy

Concept: “The fields. Monoculture deserts of genetically enhanced crops like wheat 4.6, ultra-maize, and soykin. Spliced to perfection. All earth is sterile. Killed by an unhallowed mix of unfiltered UV-radiation and the most potent poisons. Only hard fertilization keeps the masses alive and fed. Traveling through the cultivations is not without peril. Chemships puke their concoctions onto the plants; mechanic harvesters that have never seen an animal or human cut down all in their path.”
Content: A treasure trove of rules (miseries, glitches, mutations), gear, location/site summaries and generators, map hexes, random encounters, enemies, classes (“Mutant” and “Elektron Rohre”), job seeds/contracts, and even a dungeon to explore.
Writing: Intense, vivid, and wry descriptions that bring to life the sprawling wastes that surround Cy.
Art/Design: A mix of collage, pixel art, graffiti, graphical user interfaces, print reports, and more to frame each page/spread uniquely but feeling comfortably in line with the official/core Cy_Borg aesthetic. Map hexes provided as additional file.
Usability: Wide variety of layouts, font choices/sizes/colors, and organization can slow down reading and navigation (e.g., class info interspersed among NPCs), but hyperlinked table of contents aids with identifying desired details.

Boomhunter's Laughter & Satisfaction

Concept: “Burnchurch Hex’s latest [dist/att]raction is a kill club run by the infamous chromediator Boomhunter, a chromed out kill-club veteran with gunpowder cologne and grenades for jewels. To him, the only thing better than a good kill is a thumpin soundtrack.”
Content: Just about everything a GM might need to provide players with an entertaining time at a kill club: notable NPCs, locations, events/activities (and how to bet on them), and enemies to face off against.
Writing: Plenty of imaginative world-building detail supported with brief rules and mechanics when needed.
Art/Design: Two versions are provided: one that hews closely to the Cy_Borg design aesthetic, with a variety of two-page spread layouts, colors, and fonts; and one that offers a simple, printer-friendly black-on-white single-column arrangement of content. 
Usability: Text in both versions is mostly high-contrast, although in the ‘regular’ version, some font choices and spread background ‘busy-ness’ may impact readability for some readers. Relationships between different content types/sections are visually distinct, thanks to consistent shifts in font size and bolding.
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