SPRAWL ZONE: METROPLEX

Presenting the "Metroplex" entry in my ongoing "Cyberpunk City Generator" series for Chromatic Shadows. Use the tables below to generate sites and story seeds within a bustling near-future urban environment. It's written for use with Chromatic Shadows, but can be easily adapted for other near-future urban adventure games.

 

Description

The Metroplex is the quintessential "city center". It is characterized by concentrated urban buildup, large residential and commercial structures, high density population, and sophisticated transportation infrastructure. The Metroplex is one of the most populous and economically active zone in the Sprawl.

Society

Life in Metroplex organizes around vectors of history, technology, and economics. Immersive hypertech is grafted onto an older, analog substrate and covers the hard reality of urban life. The fallout from the Collapse pushes against the seams, and threatens to disrupt the thin veneer of corporately mediated “virtual” reality.

People

Humanity lives closer than ever to invasive technology. AR immersion, ubiquitous surveillance, drones, and holographic advertising are everywhere. People are plugged into the cloud, and tuned out of reality. A growing underground has begun questioning the conventional “truth” of the collapse, and are growing cynical to technological exploitation.

The Strange

The city is densely populated and heavily surveilled, but secret places remain in the sublevels of old buildings and in the numerous tunnels below. Boltholes, transportation lines, lost stations, sewers, drainage tunnels, and bomb shelters are found just beneath the urban skin.  Among these, lost experiments, and active occult threats abound.

 

 

Major Sites

1. Sports stadium: heavy traffic surrounds a massive arena built from weathered limestone block. Banners and massive holographic signage adorn a girdle of square columns and arches. Rows of narrow bleacher seats overlook jumbo projection screens and an open sports field below. Media drones jockey for a camera spot. AR, holograms, and booming music inundate the interior.
2. Skyscraper canyon: impossibly tall office buildings loom on either side of a busy street. Tube walkways and bridges interconnect the towers high above. Wind howls and whips through concrete trenches.
3. Central rail terminal: major neoclassical building topped with large pediment friezes. Winged figure with a spear is perched at the highest point. Wide stairs lead to row of fluted columns and doors beyond.. Vaulted ceiling with astronomical mural above stone arches and columns. Crowds of people gathered at ticket kiosks. Travelators and ramps lead to numerous train gates below. Heavy police, military and security drone presence. Numerous hidden side tunnels.
4. Major crosswalk: intersection of several main roadways. AR traffic icons, safety holoprojections, and police drones regulate the stream of gridlocked vehicles, and pedestrian foot-traffic.
5. Subway station: stairs descend to underground complex, AR terminal pay-gate leads to lower tube platforms, where high-speed graffiti-covered trains roll in and out. Digital kiosks display 3D info-maps. Officers with body armor and assault rifles patrol with dog drone assistance.
6. Major park: expanse of bioengineered gardens and artificial waterways. Interconnecting walkways, tube travelators, bridges, fountains, and graffiti covered monuments. Food and gift kiosks everywhere. Police dog drones surveille for blatant crime. Trafficked by tourists and homeless during the day, at night gangs, and vagrants roam freely.
7. Minor park: small green area between major roadways.Graffiti covered obelisk at center of weed filled square. Homeless vagrants hold court on the cement slab benches.
8. Airport: heavy traffic pattern diverts to numerous looping roadways around airport gigaplex. Roads lead directly to each individual gate. Terminal is a multi-story structure, high security customs. Drone security. Armed officers everywhere. Adjacent mall: stores, hotel and high density parking.
9. Theater district: Giant holoboards flank the avenue saturating everything in light and color. Hulking brick buildings are theaters and performance spaces. On the street, well dressed elites file in and out of black cars.
10. University district: complex of large slab structures and atriums. Tall trees surround an inner quad. Activists gathered here with surrounding police perimeter.
11. Meatpacking district: center of nightlife. Crowds of drunken young people converge every night, ready to party. Blocks in all directions are crowded with restaurants, bars, clubs, and large warehouse venues.
12. Gallery district: avenues bisected by streets lined with numerous tall, glass faced galleries. art installations and paintings hang on high white walls. The subjects are psychedelic, digital, and occult in nature.
13. Garment district: limestone block department stores, and numerous designer clothing jewelry, and shoe storefronts. Cafes, atriums, and food trucks throughout. Large holographic signage and saturated colored light. Police presence.
14. Financial district: wide streets flanked with looming grey faced banks, and modern financial offices. Stock exchange dominates area: wide steps lead to a hulking neoclassical structure with massive Roman columns and sculptural pediment. Day traders and finance agents press between police and drone controlled checkpoints.
15. Upper class condos: strip of hyper modern buildings, stacked levels of curving glass and rounded steel framework. Zigzagging travelators and tube elevators run up their side. Gyrocabs dock on roof. Each unit is a cavernous glass enclosed luxury space.
16. Working class apartments: broad hulking building, perforated with countless “microcube” apartments. for the urban working class. Beds and utilities fold into walls for full space-efficiency.
17. Upper middle class apartments: tall glass faced buildings contain thousands of modestly sized, overpriced hypermodern apartments. Fully automatic and AR integrated utilities. Molded plate glass windows look over the precipitous skyline.
18. Ethnic enclave: lower class area inhabited by single ethnic group. Neighborhood distinguished by dominant spoken language, culture, cuisine,  and specialty “goods” for sale. Known destination for unregulated biotech, grey market products, and “off grid” transactions. Low police presence. Organized crime families enforce openly, regulating social traditions, and protecting respective business interests.
19. Marina: bridges and tube-ramps lead to an interconnected complex of commercial terminals and artificial “islands” jutting out into the river. Members only complex is “built-up” with numerous private clubs, and restaurants. Private boats are docked all around. Nearby, cavernous warehouses have been modernized into high end shopping and entertainment village.
20. City Highway: high density urban boulevard runs in complicated loops around the metroplex. In places, the road rises up onto complex overpasses and runs through several underground tunnels. Automated checkpoints and surveillance cameras regulate traffic. Police drones monitor from above.

 

 

Building Type

1. Hypermodern skyscraper, twisting organic design, curved glass and steel spire.
2. Library: neoclassical building, statues on pedestals, heavy roman columns and decorative frieze above.
3. Bank: art deco office building. Facade of high fluted curtains and curved bays. Lower levels are narrow windows and elaborate glass doorways
4. Psychiatric ward: sturdy brick building with narrow caged windows, chainlink enclosure runs along top of building. Inbuilt garage for staff and emergency vehicles.
5. Hotel: Mirrored tower soars above busy commercial district. Laser lit marble fountains in front of elaborate gold and glass entrance way.
6. Restaurant: brick factory turned into ultramodern dining space. Wrought iron and industrial style decor, high balcony, huge black glass chandelier.
7. Cinemaplex: flashing canopy and holographic billboards. Automated box office leads to multilevel screen complex and immersive VR arcade.
8. Shopping mall: hulking complex of concrete slab and glass atriums. Multiple levels, catwalks and balconies connected with travelators and tube-lifts. Boutique stores and restaurants.
9. Bus terminal: major transportation hub, enormous block building, multiple levels, catwalks and travelators connecting dozens of loading gates. Outside, cavernous gated opening for bus fleet. Vast tunnel system winds below streets for blocks in every direction.
10. Modern Museum: ultramodern structure made of extruded white slabs and curving glass towers. Security gates enclose fountains and benches outside.
11. Classical museum: Round romanesque portico with columns, wide stone steps, swarming with tourists and vendors. Drones and security forces patrol closely.
12. Cathedral: soaring gothic edifice, narrow buttresses support two sharp towers flanking the massive pediment door, rose window set in delicate stone tracery above. Black iron fence holds back overgrown brush and garbage.
13. Construction site: foundation and vertical girders in place for planned skyscraper. Cranes, drones, and exosuit augmented construction crew labor with welding torches and heavy machinery.
14. Operator bar/ nightclub: side street leads to narrow brick warehouse, retrofit as an underground nightclub. Holographic signage and high windows pulse with colored light. Lines of punks, neotribals and operators queuing past augmented security guards.
15. Government services building: massive brutalist complex, looming concrete block construction with facade-grid of square inset window. Busy entrance checkpoint, with scanner kiosks, drone surveillance and police.
16. Hospital: stacked rotundas and glass rimmed towers rise above a wide horizontal structure fitted with columns and angular slabs. Flashing ambulances and emergency vehicles crowd in front of ER entrance.
17. School: oppressive brick complex covered in obscene graffiti. Chain link fence perimeter, broken cameras, and security checkpoint entrance staffed by bored officers.
18. Office buildings: massive formation of 4 grey buildings built at right angles to each other. Inner concourse is dominated by crisscrossing tubes and walkways connecting the buildings at multiple levels.
19. Private social club: art-deco building with faux columns and occult relief symbols adorning lintel, heavy black double doors. Suited guards checking membership IDs. Inside is a lavishly ornamented multistory “club” for the city’s elite. Known meeting place of the Hand of Moloch.
20. Storage units: multistory warehouse filled with 24 hour access self-storage cubicles. Freight elevator access to each level. Security cameras everywhere. 

 

 

Minor Sites

1. Gyro livery pad: On rooftop of parking garage, hexagonal landing pad with inset strip lights and rotating safety holograms. Lasers guide a flow of Gyrocab traffic docking and alighting.
2. Dining domes: series of private interconnected geodesic “bubbles ”running along side sidewalks, connected to restaurants with plastic tubes.. Wealthy patrons eat within these climate controlled enclosures, crowds of pedestrians.
3. Artemis drone depot: slab and aluminum building with extended vertical parcel drone docking bay. Within, packages are deposited or received in dedicated and secure “delivery pods”. Drones dock, load and charge in the bay level. Camera sutveillance in and out.
4. Efficiency parking garage: tall vertical structure made of concrete and steel beams, articulating robotic platform elevates and deposits cars into high-density storage and retrieval cells.
5. Holomedia obelisk: Freestanding media consoles near major crosswalk. Numerous10’ tall holo projection panels. Area is soaked in pulsing colored light. Laser arrays project 3D holographic advertisements. Unnaturally beautiful models writhe and beckon amongst the crowds.
6. Delivery drone: rotor drone traffic swarming at low altitudes between buildings. Many docking into access portals in the sides of buildings or lowering down into Artemis delivery kiosks.
7. Hover cab network: High speed hover-cabs run on a dedicated smart “magnet track” that snakes alongside normal traffic and cuts efficiently through the city’s roadway.
8. Police barricade: Crowd of seething protestors pressed against a barricade of heavy steel tubing. Black walker mechs standing in formation behind the wall, cops in riot gear behind them in a line.
9. Construction zone: traffic pattern redirected, blinking red cones and AR safety icons blocking off area,. Street ripped up, workers and labor drones excavating an underground system. Police and large construction trucks nearby.
10. Security checkpoint: Gateway to an adjacent sprawl zone (Barrens or Corpsec)..HIgh chainlink fence and series of security gates. Officers in plexi boxes scanning IDs at each checkpoint. Drones hovering above scanning vehicles with laser arrays.
11. Open air market: Wide avenue is shut down for multiple blocks. Dense pedestrian crowds. Street is flanked with souvenir vendors, VR booths, food tents, noodle bars, drug kiosks, robot pleasure pods.
12. Micromarts: efficiency convenient store, neon AR signage, cages on windows, rack of colorful snacks, and brightly lit coolers of beer and stim-beverages. Security cameras inside and out.
13. Apocalyptic zealots: religious cult in color shifting LED fiber robes and hoods perform a ritual pageant. Handing out tracts to their church.
14. Protest camp: numerous tents and shelters crammed tightly together, crowds of anarchists “holding ground” behind police barricades.
15. High stairs: Huge flight of stairs spanning a high urban hill. Wide concrete slab steps, covered in graffiti. Gang members monitor who comes and goes, controlling access to territory.
16. Public monument: larger than life bronze statue on high stone pedestal, covered in layers of bright spray paint. Gang tags, and the occasional occult, neotribal, or factional symbol might be present. Low tier gang members squat here dealing drugs and narcochips.
17. Emergency in effect: significant emergency response, police, SWAT officers, and enforcement drones actively engaging criminal incident. People injured, medical teams and ambulances on scene.
18. Elevated walkway: metal stairs and platforms lead to a lengthy span of old railway trestle overcome with high grass and rampant weeds. Graffiti and drug paraphernalia is everywhere. Gangs and neotribes can be found roaring these areas at night.
19. Bridge: multi-level suspension bridge spans a narrow part of the river. Blinking towers and sweeping cables span its length. Graffiti covers exposed steel girders. Narrow walkway for foot-traffic, bikes and motor scooters. Drones hover above monitoring the flow of traffic.
20. Riverside esplanade: extended walkway set up on a series of piers. Heavily trafficked by tourists by day. At night it becomes a hot location for low-key drug deals and party kids.

 

 

SPRAWL ZONE: THE SLAGS

The following is the latest installment in my "Cyberpunk City Generator" series for Chromatic Shadows. This entry describes The Slags, one of the principal Sprawl Zones, and adventure sites within the game world. The tables below can be used as adventure seeds, for generating random encounters, or for flushing out descriptions and textures within the scope of an existing adventure. It's written for use with Chromatic Shadows, but can be easily adapted for other urban or post apocalyptic adventure games.

Description

 The Slags are vast industrial liminal zones connecting major metroplex centers throughout the Sprawl. Before the collapse, this was the major manufacturing center, and primary place of work for the proletariat citizenry. This is now gone. Factories, transportation hubs, fabrication centers and energy plants have become looming husks. The Slags is an endless wasteland of industrial collapse, pollution, and in many places, striking natural beauty. Trees and wildlife have reclaimed much of what was concrete and paved-over. Wild animals prowl among the oily pools and weed choked rubble.

 

Mega Highways

14 lane wide arterial mega highways and desolate buffer zones carve up the zone and interconnect the various industrial sites. Deep gutters and drainage trenches run on each side of the roadways. Wrecks of vehicles lie in rusted heaps below. Where the mega-highways don't veer off to industrial sites, there can be found numerous exits and offramps leading to Fortress Estates.

Industrial Sites

The Slags are characterized by endless miles of defunct industrial sites. The state and megacorporate collusion of the early 2050s led to the rapid development of infrastructure at mass scale. These gigantic, larger-than-life complexes were built and maintained by various government sponsored SinCom subsidiaries. The corporate collapse caused reciprocal government implosion. As the bottom fell out, a cascade of system failure followed. Decades later, all that remains is the rotting footprint of derelict structures.

People

The Slags are inhospitable, but not uninhabited. Nomads, scavengers, and neotribes are among those known to shelter in various reclaimed spaces. Ferals in particular are known to have fled to the Slags to build a “wild” new society separate from the consumer glut of the Metroplex. Likewise, strange sects of Proteans have been seen prowling the ruins, adapting their customs and bodies ito the extreme and desolate environment. Scavengers and nomads also eek out a living by salvaging and looting various sites and “moving on" when the resources are exhausted. These groups in particular have a reputation for being violent and territorial.

The Strange

The Slags have long served as the site for numerous black sites and experimental labs. The remote and inhospitable location, even before the collapse, was perfect for staging various “shadow-ops”. Today, many secret research labs remain fully intact and sealed off from the world. Many dangerous occult assets remain at large, influencing the environment. Assets can be found affecting the natural environment, creatures, and communities, manifesting as “hauntings”, reality-warping effects, and even attracting outside beings and eldritch horrors. It is rare that the influence of an Occult Asset will not “disrupt” the environment in some meaningful and uncanny way.

Slags Sites

1. Warehouse complex: numerous hulking warehouses loom up from the grass. Huge concrete and aluminum buildings loom rust stained and bleak, their windows black and thick with grime. Trees and brush poke through the crumbling asphalt. Pigeons roost in mass on the roofs here.
2. Power transfer station: on a hill, behind a razor wire topped chain link fence a sprawling electrical complex. Massive machinery: grey blocks slitted with cooling fins,huge cylinder tanks, control valves, large black bushings The whole complex sits upon a large concrete slab. Heavy cables join the machinery to the nearby electrical towers.
3. Utility buildings: numerous small gray concrete buildings built out upon a concrete lot. The remnants of tube trailers upon blocks and old aluminum geodesic garages.A family of foxes live here and hunt fowl in the grass.
4. Overpass: a soaring loop of crumbling mega- highway resolves to a crisscrossing network of bridges and overpasses below. Dark drainage tunnels run beneath concrete vaults and arches. Camps and neotribal outposts shelter here.
5. Bridge: a long steel suspension bridge covered with graffiti, and light wooden structures.On a platform between the towers nomads set a guardpost and demand a toll of passers through.
6. Service station: a stretch of crumbling mega-highway exits into a fenced in lot filled with truck trailers and large warehouse garages. Rows of fuel service islands, and old charging stations beneath clattering aluminum roof shelters. Nearby a monolithic hexagonal parking tower rises up from a cave-like opening. A series of inner ramps and elevators lead to a glass pyramid-atrium above. The fast food restaurants and snack shops have been looted, but strange ornaments and old furniture remain.
7. Motel: complex of multistory blocks painted in weather stained whitewash. Catwalks and metal bridges interconnect the structures at each level, stairs run up and down on platforms. Steel chute elevator. Rooms are abandoned, and given over to rot. Nomads patrol the area and defend the motel from outsiders. They have cleared out several of the rooms, and rehabilitated them as living quarters.
8. Garbage dump: complex of huge concrete platforms, hulking rusted trailers docked in various bays filled with old metal, tires and separated industrial debris. Numerous wide dirt roads lead past the transfer station to the massive landfill nearby. It spreads out as acres of grey debris, some of it appears to be smouldering, sending up clouds of smoke. Old compactors and bulldozers sit dead and abandoned amidst the rubble field. Seagulls, bears, coyotes roam freely.
   
9. Industrial campus: expanse of broken parking lots. Bulkheads lead to underground tunnels, huge exterior ventilation ducts, and smokestacks. Grim factories and cement domes interconnect with overhead tubes and walkways.
10. Private airfield: high chain link fence surrounds area, accessible by several heavy rolling gates. Service building with air control tower above, fitted with satellite dishes. On the field stand multiple hanger bays, and an abandoned plane. Adjacent helipad.
11. Railroad Depot: vast expanse of railway track, several bridges cross the tracks horizontally leading to a huge concrete platform on the opposite side. A grouping of long concrete buildings, several tube lines run here over the bridge to the opposite side.
12. Shipping yard: gigantic concrete platform juts out into the river. Multicolor shipping crates piled high and into long rows. Large cranes loom overhead fitted with hooks and claws to move the crates onto trains
13. Garbage barge docks: long dock along the river built upon huge concrete supports. Red steel scaffolding overhead. Numerous cargo barges are drawn up with massive rusted chains. They are filled with piles of debris and industrial waste. Another barge has tipped on its side and half protrudes from the water. This area is frequented by local scrappers.
14. Tunnels: stretch of old mega-highway runs along the river and circles down past a series of control terminals to a sheer face of rock carved with several dark, cavernous openings. Numerous tunnels are carved into the cliff and run beneath the river. Along white tiled walls, access portals to several interconnecting utility rooms and service corridors. Several dozen cars are abandoned within.
15. Electricity farms: a massive installation of solar farms and wind turbines stretch out to the horizon. An electric substation is nearby. Rows of steel electrical towers laden with cables, march into the distance.
16. Waste water plant: ramps and steps lead up to a vast pool complex. The water of each is surprisingly clear and filled with carp, frogs and lily pads.. A strange neotribe lives here that wears wetsuits and goggles and supposedly cultivates the fish and frogs for food.
17. Industrial farms and greenhouses: 75’ tall x 150’ wide greenhouses made of glass and steel stretch to incredible lengths. All filled with dense plant life, brush, and trees breaking through the roof. Birds roost on the eaves and in the branches.
18. Oil refinery: vast complex built on a fenced off concrete pad, hulking storage silos with huge stenciled SinCom logo, looming smokestacks, distillation tanks, and extensive piping running throughout.
19. Commercial supply: Parking lot and train depot near a vast Artemis gigaplex. These are each looming gray edifices with the SinCom symbol painted across their side. They have all been heavily looted, but some remaining lesser valuables can be salvaged in the wreckage.Defensive dog and crab drones are active in the area.
20. Quarries: multi-acre areas excavated 50’ or more deep. Earthen ramps lead down. Huge SinCom machinery frozen at the bottom near high hills of gravel. Access roads run all between them.
    

 

Textures

1. Potholes filled with oily puddles.
2. Concrete rubble with high grass and small trees growing around it.
3. Small brick buildings covered with graffiti.
4. Running length of chainlink fence topped with razor wire.
5. A small polluted lake with industrial debris sticking out of it.
6. Abandoned industrial supply: extruded cement forms, blocks, reinforced concrete pipes, stacks of I beams.
7. Elevated parking lot with large sinkhole. Multiple cars lie ruined at the bottom.
8. Commercial complex: strip of mega-box stores, shopping mall.
9. Partially built hotel: lower portion is mostly skeletal steel framework, upper floors inhabitable.
10. Ruined buildings, collapsed concrete structures, rubble, and mangled steel.
11. Polluted river, A huge crain lies half submerged here.
12. Area of jammed up cars dead on the street. Overpass has collapsed nearby.
13. Impossibly tall data spires built upon massive concrete pads. Fenced off, perilous ladders, platforms, blinking lights and satellite dishes all along height.
14. Constructed wetlands: artificial channels, dredges and fens used to control the flow of industrial effluents. Strange animals and plants grow prodigiously here, often to unnatural size and appearance.
15. Drainage pipes: huge concrete pipes open up out of the ground here. Rusted grates choked with weeds seal off access. Rank brown water flows outward.
16. Rift in earth opens up to underground caverns. Evidence of subterranean tunnels and structures.
17. Ruined tenement blocks, and stacked employee microhabs. Efficiency housing for a long gone workforce.
18. Thick vegetation: trees, brush and high grass growing rampantly here amongst concrete debris.
19. Settlement: an active human encampment or outpost. Usually home to a neotribe or nomad group. Perimeter is monitored by lookouts, and whole area is fiercely defended against would be raiders
20. Blocked roadway. Yellow and black concrete barriers, and layered chain link fences block any through traffic.

Wilderness Exploration Rules

The following "wilderness exploration rules" are the house 'hex-crawling' mechanics I've been using in my latest AD&D game. These rules can be used interchangeably with 1e, 2e or any OSR variants. The design idea is to keep the procedure clear and simple enough to use with a group of teenagers who are learning to play (I'm also still learning to play). There are to be a few key strategic issues for the players consider in the scope of their daily exploration (encumbrance, the value of a guide, setting watches, etc.), as well as a chance for random encounters and conflicts. I'm trying to keep with the "feel" of old-school D&D: d6 rolls, limited hp recovery, chance of getting lost, wandering monsters, etc. Everything is heavily inspired by original Dolmenwood stuff and Hot Springs Island.

Segments

• 3 segments per day/ 8 hrs each [morning, afternoon, night].
• Roll weather for each segment (see below).
• Resting takes 1 segment (food, water/ 6 hrs sleep/ light activity).
• Resting for 1 segment restores 1 hp.
• Every 3rd segment, a character must rest for 1 segment (rest for 6 hours, consume 1 day of rations, and 1 waterskin). If not, they suffer -1 on all attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. This penalty increases by an additional -1 for every additional segment spent not resting.

Random Encounters

• At the beginning of a segment when you are not resting roll 1d6, and see below (if necessary, roll 1d8 to determine which hour the encounter occurs).
   
  1. Wandering monster (50% chance of "signs" of monster activity: sounds, smells, spoors, footprints, etc).
  2. Landmark or notable wilderness feature (reroll to check if wandering monster is present).
  3. Mishap or misfortune. Some minor resource is lost to a random party member (rations, water, torches, rope, etc.).
  4. Random weather change. Reroll weather.
  5.  Non-combat animal or environmental encounter.
  6. Fortune's favor. Something positive befalls the party (they discover a helpful asset, find a resource, come upon a marked trail, etc.)
     

Travel

• 1 segment- travel 1 hex if unencumbered.
• 2 segments- travel 1 hex if slowed or encumbered.
• 3 segments- travel 1 hex if very slow or heavily encumbered.
• At the beginning of a segment, make a 1d6 check to see if the characters “get lost” and lose a segment of travel time.
  
  
• Lost on 1 in 6: familiar, clear, open terrain.
• Lost on 2 in 6: unfamiliar, light forest, hills, scrubland, moderate terrain.
• Lost on 3 in 6: unfamiliar, forests, jungle, desert, mountains, swamps, difficult terrain.
• Lost on 4 in 6: unfamiliar, ancient magical forests, impossible mountainscapes, trackless .deserts and so on. Very difficult, alien or magical terrain.
  
  

• A knowledgeable guide can reduce the difficulty of the check by 1 or more points.
• No check necessary if traveling by road or marked trail. 
• Double hexes traveled if moving by road or marked trail.
  

 

Night watch

• 4 watches every night (1 segment), 2 hrs each.
• Roll 1d6 each watch: if roll is a 1, then an wandering monster presents (50 % chance of "signs" of monster activity: distant shapes and movement, sounds, smells, "feelings" etc).
• A character that rests for 1 segment gains the benefit of a “night’s rest” as it applies towards regaining spells, and class abilities.
• Day segments can be broken up into four 2 hour watches. Doing any one “thing” during a segment takes 1-2 watches (2hrs each), i.e. searching, tracking, hunting, foraging, eating.

Weather

1. Clear (no fog)
2. Cloudy (10% fog)
3. Light precipitation (15% fog)
4. Precipitation (10% fog)
5. Storm (5% fog)
6. Violent storm (no fog)

• Precipitation [recheck to see if characters get lost, 1:6]
• Storm [recheck to see if characters get lost, 2:6]
• Violent storm [recheck to see if characters get lost, 3:6]
• Fog [apply +1 difficulty to "getting lost" check]

Chromatic Shadows: Barrier Rules Revised

As I contine to playtest the existing core-rules of Chromatic Shadows, I occasionally find certain mechanics to be more cumbersome than intended when they hit the table. The rules for Barriers is one such instance. Having chugged through them as written several times, I'm left with a sense that I can do better.

Barriers are a core mechanic to the game, and appear in standard combat, vehicle combat, and hacking (in the form of ICE). I've gone and revised the whole system to make things play faster and more smoothly. I'm trying to keep the existing values intact as best as I can. Where I've substantially changed the numbers it's for the sake of balancing the mechanic. I hope you find these new rules easier to understand and considerably more user friendly. If they stand up to playtesting they might migrate into Chromatic Shadows Revised Edition. Let me now what you think, or if this revision works for you!

Photo by Bro Takes Photos on Unsplash

BARRIER RULES REVISED

• These rules are to be used in place of all previous standard Barrier Rules, Rules for ICE, and Vehicle Barrier Rules.
• With standard Barrier attacks, a weapon's DV must be equal to or greater than the BR that the attacker is trying to penetrate.
• Barriers have a rating from 1-6. 1 being the weakest (reinforced particle board) to 6 being the strongest (solid steel door, or wall)
• The Barrier Rating is always subtracted from the attacker’s dicepool.
• If any 6s show, the Barrier is structurally damaged. Its BR is reduced by the amount of total 6s rolled.
• Vehicle Barrier Rating is equal to Body +1. The Vehicles BR is subtracted from the attacking vehicle’s dicepool and resolved.
•  Any rolled 6s reduce a vehicles Barrier Rating, or suppresses a point of ICE. 
• Armor piercing attacks (bullets, blades, etc) ignores a number of Barrier points up to the armor piercing value.
  
  

Type	Barrier Rating (BR)
Reinforced cardboard, thick fabric	1
Sheet rock wall, light wood	2
Standard wooden door or wall, light vehicle	3
Heavy wooden door, aluminum wall, medium vehicle	4
Steel fire door, brick wall, heavy vehicle	5
Heavy steel plating, solid stone, armored military vehicle	6
ICE ratings when hacking	Unchanged (as per CS Companion)

Changes with ICE and Hacking

• The following rules change the way ICE is handled during a hacking session.
• ICE ratings when Hacking are unchanged and remain as listed (see CS Companion).
  
• ICE reduces a hacker’s Program Action dicepool as it applies to a Program Action (see CS Basic).
• A hacker who fails a Program Action test and whose dicepool is also subject to ICE takes stun damage equal to the current ICE Value. Damage from ICE is subject to a deck’s Hardening rating (see CS Basic).
• Any 6s rolled for the hacking test reduce the ICE rating by an equal amount.
• At the end of each round a character spends in a node, the GM rolls a d6. If the result is a 6, the ICE respawns 1 point.
• The ICE Breaker Daemon ignores 1 point of ICE. Multiple ICE Breaker daemons can be slotted at once and its effects stack. This also applies to damage from ICE.
  
• The ICE Jammer Daemon causes the node to roll to respawn every 5 rounds.

LASTING INJURY -- FOR CHROMATIC SHADOWS

 

A core part of cyberpunk gaming is the play loop where a character incrementally replaces their "flesh and blood" body parts with mechanical cyberware, The cyber-upgrade usually comes at the cost of longer term "stress" and downsteam negative effects on the human meat-body (in the case of Chromatic Shadows, "cyberstrain"). As such, I've always felt that there should be mechanics in place reinforcing the need for this specific sort of thing as a result of injury, or critical damage. A "cyber-spiral" so to speak. So here's my first pass at "Lasting Injury" rules for Chromatic Shadows. Not much has changed from the existing rules structure -- the main difference is that now instead of just simple attribute damage, "Shock Overflow" triggers a broader narrative effect that could result in the need for cybersurgery and implants. Please take a look!

 

 LASTING INJURY

• A Lasting Injury is a debilitating wound, or trauma that carries ongoing negative consequences.
• Lasting Injuries are always keyed to a single Attribute in the form of Attribute damage.
•  A Lasting Injury is always permanent and ongoing unless it is treated by extraordinary measures such as cyberware.

SYSTEM

• When a character’s Shock Track reaches 3 points, and they gain an additional point, the Shock track resets to 0 and that character suffers a Lasting Injury.
• As a result of a terrible bodily or psychological trauma, an attribute takes permanent damage, and is reduced by 1 point. The attribute can no longer be raised with XP. Choose or roll randomly to determine the exact nature of the injury.
  
• If a specific attribute isn’t logically associated with the cause of Shock, roll 1d6 to determine an attribute randomly. See below.

1. Strength (arms, shoulders, legs, feet, back, torso)
2. Body (torso, pelvis, neck, spine, internal organs, shoulders)
3. Agility (legs, feet, arms, hands, spine, eyes)
4. Intelligence (brain injury, skull fracture, concussion)
5. Willpower (brain injury, skull fracture, concussion)
6. Charisma (voice, skin, facial features)

REPAIRING LASTING INJURIES WITH CYBERWARE

• In order to “repair” the injury so that a character can once again raise their damaged attribute with XP, the bodily feature needs to be replaced or fundamentally repaired with cybertech.
• Limbs, hands and feet can be replaced with cyber-limbs and appendages.
• Full Limb Replacement: Base cyberlimbs [cost 5000 c., cyberstrain 2]
• Partial Limb Replacements: Shoulders, hands, feet, etc. [ cost 2000 c., cyberstrain 1].
• Internal Organs Replacement: Bio-synthetic implants. [5000 c., cyberstrain 1]
• Brain Injury Augmentation: Processor implants, and intracranial modules. [5000 credits, cyberstrain 2].
• Facial Reconstruction: Features (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, skull structure, etc.] can be replaced and bio-sculpted with standard cosmetic augments. [2000 c, 1 cyberstrain]

DAMAGING CYBERWARE

• If a “Lasting Injury” targets a bodily feature where there is currently cyberware installed, the character takes 1 point of permanent Ability score damage as usual.
• SYSTEM: Roll 1d6. If a success, the cyberware in question is substantially damaged, and rendered unusable until repaired (50% of base cost). If the die results is a failure, the cyberware is totally destroyed and must be replaced.
• After the cyberware is repaired or replaced, the damaged Ability score can be raised again with XP.

 

 

 

SPRAWL ZONE: THE ARCOLOGIES

This is another entry in my ongoing "cyberpunk city" series, where I zoom in on one of the various Sprawl Zones from Chromatic Shadows and expand it into a full fledged "city-site generator tool". The following is written with Chromatic Shadows' particular flavor of cyberdystopia in mind, but can be easily slotted into any other cyberpunk or urban fantasy RPG. Enjoy!

 

THE ARCOLOGIES

• At the boundary of Metroplex we find miles of colossal Arcology projects. These 100 story hulks take up the footprint of four city blocks, housing tens of thousands.
•  The result of government and corporate city planning directed toward the problem of the unemployed poor, displaced at the Collapse. These souls spend their lives within stacked microhab living-cubes, subsisting on UBI.
•   Each Arcology complex is its own self contained micro-city. At the center of each Arcology is a vertical “civic-hub" containing the essential  services of community life. Civic Hub contains  markets, recreation centers, education centers, and medical clinics. The bare necessities and basic needs of life are met.
• The social strata of arcology life is determined by one's "social credit rating" (SoCred). Certain "community-building" activities such as civic programs, athleticism, health hygiene, volunteer work, regular blood donation, and ratting out your "individualistic" neighbors can earn one an increased  SoCred Rating. Get it high enough and you might earn yourself a state-of-the-art MicroHab, and extra time in the Interface. 
• Citizens whose SoCred Rating has dropped too low or reached zero, are considered "untouchable", and shunned from society. They are forcibly removed from communal life and made to live in the lower level arcology "ghettos" sharing sub-par MicroHabs, and laboring in the waste reclamation centers. They are not allowed to mix with normal citzens, and their negative SoCred rating is always visible in AR as a stigma.
  
• Because life in the arcologies can be grim, the social planners have created "The Interface", a large open room of private cubicles where citizens  communally "jack" into immersive VR "construct-simulations" for long hours. A citizens ongoing good SoCred Rating is rewarded with longer amounts of time in VR. The higher your rating, the more daily hours you can log. 
  
•  Many people actually spend their "interface" time doing “virtual-work” to earn "simcreds" that can be used to purchase VR upgrades, skins, mods and various other digital assets.
•  Those born in the arcologies have little to no concept of life outside. Few leave. But populations are in decline. Infertility seems to be an emerging concern. Whole wings are emptying out. Some Arcs have gone completely dark with no explanation, and are now permanently sealed off from the outside world.
• Traveling from an arcology is a difficult bureaucratic process. Applications must be made in advance and approved by the managerial board, who may issue a temporary passport. Violating the terms of the application, or being caught committing a crime is grounds for the revocation of UBI, and arc citizenship.. Furthermore, travel outside is discouraged via arc propaganda directed toward health and safety issues. Arcology citizens are taught that the outside world is filled with contagious pathogens, and dangerous toxic agents.
• Arcology "education centers" indoctrinate the young in propaganda and teach the skills necessary to maintain the social order. General education is transmitted via SimStim and AI. At 16, students are algorithmically selected for a specific area of labor-specialization. 
• Most students simply slip into basic labor jobs, where their aptitudes are lined with the needs of the collective -- horticulture, plumbing, electric, solar cell assembly, construction, etc. More advanced students are trained in specialized careers such as electrical engineering or medicine. Wages are typically flat regardless of position. There is little variation in on UBI dole from one "job" to the next.
• Arcology schools also screen select candidates  to elevate into the ranks of "arc management". Top students are placed into preparatory programs, where they can be groomed for  bureaucratic positions among the elite class.
  
• The managerial elite are rewarded with an upper middle-class lifestyle in their own separate "luxury villages". They have spacious high-end apartments, servants, high quality food, quality entertainment, and the freedom to come and go as they wish. Management are tasked to reinforce the status quo at every level. The arcologies must run like an efficient machine. Anything that would compromise this process must be swiftly and decisively dealt with.

 

 

Locations

1. Pipe-works: Massive sublevel dominated by a network of interconnected pipes and ductworks. Multi level catwalks run beside them for maintenance access. Massive pumps draw fresh water from aquifers far below. Fresh water pipes feed municipal plumbing. Waste water is collected and recycled for crops and coolant.
   
2. Algae pools: vast complex of algae pools grown and harvested for nutrition. It is dried and milled as green "vegetable"-flakes. A primary dietary staple.
3. Weevil farms: long trenches of liquid spawning media filled with wriggling grubs. Used as a high yield, high protein food source.
   
4. Catwalks: complicated latticework of balconies, ladders, walkways and bridges connecting MicroHab village levels.
   
5. MicroHab villages: endless honeycomb living cells perforate the concrete walls , running up hundreds of stories. Grouped into "village" clusters. Each has its own massive wraparound balcony, and multiple access elevators.
   
6. Elevators: high speed glass and steel pods inset into shafts cut along the concrete walls. Connects to main catwalks levels and MicroHab villages.
   
7. Labor pavillion. large district of  warehouses subdivided into various job-specific production facilities. Citizens work here during the day at labs, workshops, robot assisted factories, and assembly lines.
   
8. Fitness centers: multileveled atrium of fitness machines and strength training devices to maximize health ,and physical well being. Overhead holo-screens and hidden speakers pipie inspirational pop music. Personal devices monitor vitals and broadcast them directly to a communal database. A healthy citizen makes for a happy and healthy community!
   
9. Med wards: hospitals, surgery, and various health clinics. Biotech services are underfunded with long wait times for specialist visits and surgery. Priority given to citizens with the highest SoCred rating. 
10. Crematorium/ mausoleum: when the health care system fails, the next stop is the crematorium. Bodies are incinerated in high temperature blast ovens, and the remains are mixed into solid concrete cylinders. These are placed into a "remembrance slot" in one of the public mausoleums. Mourning is discouraged, but the dead are collectively remembered in an annual civic ceremony.
    
11. Prisons: in the deepest sublevels there are rumored black cells where the worst criminals and social deviants are locked away forever. 
    
12. SoCred Ghettoes: In the lower levels,  SoCred pariahs forced to live in bleak, squalid conditions, sealed away from the wider community. Their MicroHabs are cell-like with old and unmaintained amenities, living double normal occupancy. There is no CivicHub in the ghetto, just a hardscrabble life of labor and hardship. Riots regularly erupt, but armed drones and security officers keep things from spiraling out of control.
    
13. The Sewer: runs beneath the arcology collecting, waste in a series of interconnected ducts and tunnels. Solids are collected and chemically treated in silos and waste water facilities, cooked in great steel hoppers, and processed into fertilizer.
14. The Interface:a vast warehouse filled with row after row of white "VR ready" kiosks. Each cubicle has a nerocowl hadwired to a jackpoint in the center of a plastic desk. Arc citizens are here at all hours jacked into VR, slouched in catatonia, experiencing some far-flung digital fantasy world.
    
15. Education Centers: circular multi-tiered lecture hall, AI powered interactive holoprojectors over central floor. Hardwired neurocowls for VR immersion and data slates at every student work-station.
    
16. Tube tram station: numerous small bubble structures and shelters at key stops along the tram line
    
17. Markets: spartan concrete buildings with the most basic amenities, and personal products.
    
18. Recreation centers: public areas for social games, children's playgrounds, and parks.
    
19. Enrichment centers: what passes for art galleries, concert halls, and the cinema n the arcologies. Media is carefully curated by arc management so as to not engender any anti-social thoughts, or private yearnings for the outside world.
    
20. The Loop: a network of gated freight transport roads leading beneath the arcology. Outside trucks and materials are regularly driven through a series of underground streets connecting to cargo lifts, warehouse loading docks and construction sites.
    

 

 

Textures

1. Water dripping from some overhead pipe like rain.
   
2. Billowing steam from ventilation grates.
   
3. Rust scabbed steel slabs.
4. Looming concrete angles overhead.
   
5. Tiny inset windows, beams of sunlight cutting through to floor.
   
6. Concealed steel security stairwell leading to another level.
   
7. Throbbing hum of massive shielded machinery vibrating floor.
8. Enormous rotating ventilation fans.
9. Vast opening into an empty concrete atrium. Birds nesting along the walls burst into flight
   
10. Network of cables, pipes and ductwork running up the walls.
11. Steel cage service elevator.
12. Tube tram, electric tracks inset into concrete walkway.
    
13. Abandoned construction, unfinished microhabs perforate walls, cranes looming overhead. 
14. Bright orange security scaffolding covering nearby wall.
15. Crawler delivery drones with parcel.
16. Small fleet of drone operated auto-rickshaws.
17. Concrete walkway bridge over fog filled crevasse
18. Narrow maze like corridors lit with red security lights.
19. Large managerial entourage with armed security detail.
20. Vast open tunnels pour water into a deep drainage cistern. The tunnels lead into deep darkness. 

Earn SoCred for the Interface!

1. Through athleticism and participation in team sports!
2. Working overtime at the labor centers!
   
3. Clean living, healthy diet, scoring high on annual physical exam!
   
4. Participating in good citizenship programs and volunteer work!
5. Voluntary sterilization!
6. Organ donation, giving blood!
   
7. Informing on your suspicious neighbor!
   
8. Conversion therapy for those antisocial thoughts!
   
9.  Never exceeding your daily recommended caloric intake!
10. Convincing an elderly to euthanize!

 

RESURRECTION CITY is LIVE!

Greetings Friends! It's been a very busy few weeks of releases at Matrix Ghost Games, with lots to catch up on here on the blog. Lets go with the promo!

 

It's my pleasure to announce the release of RESURRECTION CITY, a full length adventure for CHROMATIC SHADOWS: OCCULT CYBERPUNK RPG. It's up for sale on DriveThru, itch and my site. Please check it out!

Deep in the Sprawl, something is bringing the dead back to life. Is it a miracle, or has some new occult power revealed itself? A team of Glitch operators is tasked with finding out. You must chart a course through the most dangerous parts of Edge City, negotiating strange sects and otherworldly entities. Any occult threat must be confronted and contained. But you aren’t the only ones seeking this mystery. Elite outside-agents are relentlessly pursuing this asset for themselves. Can a team of ragtag Glitch operators stand against an immortality obsessed madman, possessed with an Outside power? Play to find out!






RESURRECTION CITY features:

• 47 pages, full color art, artistic graphic design.
• "Control panel" layout, easy to reference pages, bookmarked PDF.
• A unique setting: Edge City. Complete map and district descriptions.
• A detailed look at the Paladin neotribe, its politics, leadership, and street-level organization.
• A modular story told in three parts. Detailed set pieces and adventure sites to play "as is" or customize.
• An original "Occult Asset", it's history and full game statistics.
• full-color original site maps, with location keys.
• Easy to reference appendix of antagonist stat blocks.
• Requires CHROMATIC SHADOWS BASIC RULES

 

CHROMATIC SHADOWS COMPANION is LIVE!

 

After over a year of development, I am very happy to finally present the CHROMATIC SHADOWS COMPANION. A full length supplement for Chromatic Shadows: Occult Cyberpunk RPG. It's for sale on DriveThru, itch and my site. Please take a look!

 

 

CHROMATIC SHADOWS COMPANION is 113 pages of new mechanics, character options, and detailed lore to expand your occult-cyberpunk campaigns.

CHROMATIC SHADOWS COMPANION expands upon the original, near-future RPG where classic cyberpunk play meets eldritch horror and high strangeness!

CHROMATIC SHADOWS COMPANION is the sequel volume to CHROMATIC SHADOWS BASIC and an evolved vision of the game. In it you will find a wealth of new character options, new mechanics, and a deep dive into the darkest secrets of the Occult World!

CHROMATIC SHADOWS COMPANION contains:

• New cyberpunk archetypes (Origins, Professions and a new Role: "The Generalist").
• Lifestyle "upkeep" mechanics.
• Ready to-play Neotribal options: Angels, Nils, and Proteans.
• All new "Strange Attractor" background options.
• Massive chapter of vehicle rules. Includes: pursuit, vehicle stunts, vehicle combat, and full vehicle upgrades.
• All new drone rules. Customize your robot minions with a wealth of modular options.
• Powerful new weapons, explosives, boosted cyberware, and hard armor.
• Rules for playing on a “battle grid” or VTT with tokens or miniatures.
• Full chapter on "Running Missions": negotiation tests, payout charts, "mission phases", heat, and blowback.
• NPC creation rules, and pages of all new, ready-to-use antagonist stat blocks.
• A full chapter of Occult Adversaries: Rampant AI, The Void Cult and Eldritch Horrors; their subtypes and occult powers.
• Deep exploration of the shadowy Factions: The Hand of Moloch, Hegemon Group, Sentinel and The Society of Kether.
• Huge chapter on Occult Assets. Detailed rules for their use and how to design your own. Numerous detailed and ready-to-use Occult Asset examples ready to drop straight into a campaign.
• Much much more!
• Requires CHROMATIC SHADOWS BASIC RULES to use

 

Interview on the Monastery Podcast

 

Earlier this week, I had the good pleasure of interviewing on the Monastery Podcast with Mildra the Monk about Chromatic Shadows. We covered a lot of ground with topics ranging from the origins of the game, cyberpunk class design, "hacking theory", and plans for the future. If you can hang with my occasionally long, reaching discursions, we get into some interesting territory. Many thanks to Mildra for having me on his show!

Announcing the EMERALD AURORA: A Chromatic Shadows Adventure

 

I'm very happy to announce THE EMERALD AURORA, a full length adventure for CHROMATIC SHADOWS: OCCULT CYBERPUNK ROLEPLAYING.

Grab a PDF from DriveThruRPG  or from Itch!

Inspired by The Color Out of Space, The Wicker Man and Station Eleven.

It's a site based mini sandbox that takes your characters deep into the industrial no-man's land of the Slags. Explore a repurposed airport! Help a neotribe in distress! Venture into an abandoned shipping yard haunted by an eldritch green glow!

 

Full color, artistic graphic design, "control panel" layout, 35 pages, 8 original maps. Introduces new mechanics like negotiation tests, and basic vehicle rules.

Ten years ago, a Shadow War probe was launched into the dark beyond our solar system in order to perform an occult ritual in space. Now the probe has returned, crash landing deep within the industrial wasteland of the Slags. The entire area lies behind a slowly expanding veil of eldritch green light that is threatening a nearby Neotribal settlement. A team of hardcore street operators must venture beyond this emerald aurora, penetrate its eldritch mysteries, and confront its otherworldly dangers.