Tools

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.

Concept: “Fillable character sheets of two kinds; the OG color explosion and a more minimalistic one in case you don't want your printer to suffer.”

Content: The official character sheet for the punk who's ready to fuck shit up.

Writing: Mostly limited to labels for sheet fields, although a few very brief details help serve as reference/reminder for Nano, Apps, Glitches, and Equipment roll-related specifics.

Art/Design: Black-on-white with pink highlights (and a more printer-friendly version without pink) that arranges character information in visually distinct fields–some with creatively represented shapes and signs!--across three major columns.

Usability: Fields are fillable, allowing for easy continued use digitally or printing. Not all field labels are selectable, so screen reader users might have trouble identifying where to insert relevant details.

Concept: “Generate an infinite number of baddies that wander the streets of Cy. Capable of generating GOONS, DRONES, BEASTS, CYDROIDS, PHREAKS and VEHICLES.”

Content: A generator for NPC enemies that can be quickly refreshed for countless combinations and possibilities.

Writing: Sharp, concise descriptions of NPCs with stats and, occasionally, special traits, all of which bring a given character, creature, or object to life. Names are kept general (“goons,” “beasts,” etc.) to let GMs decide how to define them further.

Art/Design: Early Windows GUI aesthetic focuses attention on textual descriptions of NPCs, but a small map of Cy on the left side of the window points to locations in the city where the NPCs can be found.

Usability: “Export” function copies the currently generated NPC information to the clipboard as plain text for easy usage. Early Windows GUI aesthetic has only a few buttons to click for quick generation.

Concept: A cyberpunk weapon generator.

Content: Details on a weapon one might find, complete with info about the manufacturer, designation, codename, condition, and weapon type.

Writing: Mostly single-word terms offer a surprising amount of character for each weapon, in part thanks to the combination of fields making each generated weapon feel unique.

Art/Design: Output is provided on a lightly stylized Google Spreadsheet, so text is large and positioned under each clearly labeled column.

Usability: Very readable layout and font choices, and refreshing the page will generate a new weapon quickly.

Concept: A set of web-based generators for creating punks, NPCs, and mission parameters.

Content: Automatically generated content for instant access to a potential PC, NPC, or job to undertake.

Writing: Concisely delivered content from Cy_Borg rulebook.

Art/Design: High-contrast yellow and white text on a black background, with distinct sections visually separated with yellow borders. Left-side menu allows for selection of a specific generator.

Usability: Large “click to reset” button provides a full refresh of page content for a new set of output, while headings on the “Mission” generator can be clicked for specific-section re-generation of content. Side menu options may be difficult for some to read.

Concept: “The world has ended too many times. A copy of a copy of a copy. Something was bound to break. On the plus side there's a bunch of weird shit the mess around with.”

Content: Preview/excerpt of an as-yet unreleased supplement that includes a class (“Glitch Thief”), a set of “anomalous relics” with positive and negative qualities, NPCs, and a custom PC sheet.

Writing: Each spread is filled with inventive and interesting flavor and mechanics that might cause some players to weigh their decisions about whether and how to make use of particular options/features.

Art/Design: A set of two-page spreads with distinct layouts and color schemes, each of which balances a page of text and a page of illustration.

Usability: High-contrast text on each page, with distinct font choices and decoration to indicate different blocks’ or phrases’ purposes (e.g., label, key information, NPC stat). Text on the custom sheet is not embedded, so no searching/selecting is possible there.

Concept: “Diez fichas no oficiales en castellano para usar en vuestras partidas de CY_BORG. PDF con páginas en formato A4 y en doble página en formato A.”

Content: A set of brightly colored character sheets, each with its own background hues and patterns.

Writing: Faithfully translated character sheet labels and explanations.

Art/Design: A range of fonts are used to indicate different fields, with a page layout that closely resembles the official sheet.

Usability: The font and color combinations make for mostly high-contrast readability across page.

Concept: “Printable glitch counter cards compatible with CY_BORG.”

Content: A set of neon-colored cards to print--or to use in VTT environments--for games of CY_BORG.

Writing: N/A

Art/Design: Print version: nine cards per page with three different color highlights (pink, yellow, and blue) with card backs on accompanying pages for two-sided printing. VTT version: a PNG for each color card and another for the card back.

Usability: Helpful trim lines for card cutting should expedite making and using a deck of glitch cards. PNG versions should be easily incorporated into VTT environments that provide card deck functionality.

Concept: “Following on my former Rules summary, here comes the CY_BORG rules in condensed form for reference. It is a fragment, without any lore or gaming content, yet useful at the table for quick referencing during play.“

Content: Two versions of the CY_BORG rules/mechanics: one in a single-page three-column layout and one in a four-page two-column layout, which includes character creation rules and a few additional details not found in the single-page version.

Writing: N/A (text content from CY_BORG rulebook)

Art/Design: Each version has its own clean, recognizable visual style–the single-page version using a sans-serif font and the four-page version using a serif font.

Usability: Headings, lists, labels, and other elements are all visually distinct and consistent.

Concept: “A random mission generator compatible with CY_BORG.” 

Content: A web-based generator for the GM or player who wants to be inspired by the shotgun blast of immediate world-building results displayed on the screen.

Writing: Concise categories (based in part on Mörk Borg’s dungeon generator) frame answers to relevant questions (e.g., “The PCs are contacted by a _____”) and arranged to reveal an unfolding narrative for a GM to build an encounter or adventure around.

Art/Design: Stark, high-contrast, three-color, text-only layout distinguishes different sections of content with clear headers and mouseover highlighting of each element. Range of color options available for semi-customized display to fit the viewer’s aesthetic.

Usability: Countless possibilities can be generated quickly, or individual elements can be clicked to iterate through options more granually. Generated output can be printed or downloaded for preservation.

Concept: “A character sheet for the CY_BORG RPG game by Christian Sahlén & Johan Nohr: PRINTABLE”

Content: A stripped-down, print-friendly character sheet for CY_BORG in .PNG format.

Writing: N/A

Art/Design: Sheet employs the same general organization/layout for fields on the official character sheet but provides a more tonally consistent presentation of sheet areas.

Usability: Plenty of room for filling in fields. However, many fields have no label, perhaps on the assumption that players would already know their purpose.

Concept: “A random pvnk (player character) generator compatible with CY_BORG.”

Content: A web-based generator for the player who needs a corp-hating bastard–or just some fantastic inspiration and gratification–instantaneously.

Writing: Vivid character descriptions and qualities that connect and flesh out the basic “Make a Punk” character generation procedure from the rulebook.

Art/Design: High-contrast, two-color, text-only layout clearly delineates each section for easy identification and navigation. Range of color options available for semi-customized display to fit the viewer’s aesthetic.

Usability: Countless possibilities can be generated quickly, or individual elements can be clicked to iterate through options more granularly. Generated output can be printed or downloaded for preservation.

Concept: “Endless tenements fill the city, each one 10s of stories tall and full of all manner of folk. Your punks probably live in one, maybe even the same one. What's going on in there? A lot it seems… A one sheet tenement crawl generator for Cy_Borg.”

Content: A series of tables and a map for quickly generating a tenement building: inhabitants, loot, obstacles, cross-level transportation options, random events, and sensory information. Provided in both "dark mode" color and print-friendly black/white versions.

Writing: Very brief descriptions and stats to maximize number of tables/options as well as openness of imaginative potential for each generated entity.

Art/Design: Terminal/readout aesthetic with color-coded key elements and isometric map of a typical tenement level.

Usability: Very easy to read, navigate, and understand how to make use of each table, thanks to borders around each table and color/underline use for important details.

Concept: “The Punks dash through a random door when chased by SecOps? Need a location for their next heist? The Location Pad got you covered with 34 random locations peppered with plot hooks and loot.”

Content: A collection of common locations for Cy_Borg missions, each with a map and relevant tables to generate details about it (purpose, room contents, NPCs likely to be there, etc.).

Writing: Half of the location’s tables are written by a different contributor, so there is often considerable difference in style and detail on those pages–but the entire document concisely packs tons of imaginative inspiration into each potential seed, hook, and thread.

Art/Design: Each page consistently provides a space for GM notes, a set of relevant tables, and a map of the location (mostly an overhead view, with some exceptions)–all in black-and-white with clear headings and list item numbering.

Usability: Crisp, clear font choices and layout make for incredibly easy reading and use–a couple of rolls or choices allow for fleshing out of a location when immediately needed or as part of a more leisurely planning pace.