Chromatic Shadows: Universal Identification

 

One last development post for 2025! I've been circling around the concept of  "universal identification" with respects to Chromatic Shadows for a while now.  As I was editing the 'Downtime Phases' chapter earlier this week, it finally clicked that UID was a critical piece of worldbuilding tech that could really drive home the dystopian "near future" themes, and crank up the tension and paranoia. I sat down and wrote the rules in one go. So much of CS lore is about how the Sprawl government keeps tabs on the citizenry, regulates the social caste system and reinforces its zone based economic apartheid. All critical themes, that could be significantly underlined. This is what I've got so far: Digital Universal Identification-- a unique digital signature used for regulating character movement and social mobility within the Sprawl. The higher (more authenticated) the tier, the greater a character's social status and access to elite spaces. Movement and avoiding detection becomes more deliberate and fraught, and new situations and story possibilities open up.

Description

In the Sprawl, a citizen’s economic legitimacy and freedom of movement is regulated by a secure government issued digital “passport” known as Universal Identification (UID). UIDs are issued at birth, and embeds redundant biometric data into a government database which is typically keyed to a user’s iPilot or an official UID scan card. A standard UID provides a unique numerical key code and captures a user’s retina, fingerprint and facial recognition signature. All of this is built upon a database logging a user’s credit rating, their legal status, any outstanding warrants or official debts, as well as their “Sprawl Zone” Clearance--official access (or restrictions) to various major zones and neighborhoods. A character’s starting origin grants a starting UID tier. This starting UID tier can be bought up or increased during play, or reduced as a consequence of a character losing a lifestyle tier. A character might not want to use their "official" UID over the course of a mission, where their movement can be officially tracked and traced back. Many operators use "black market" UIDs and false identities to avoid legal entanglements.

Travelling Between Zones

Security checkpoints gate access to various Sprawl zones. UIDs are routinely scanned at theses checkpoints, and people without the proper clearance are turned away, and sometimes detained for questioning by SprawlSec officers. This can limit an operator’s freedom of movement, but there are workarounds including sneaking through, alternate access points, black market UIDs and old fashioned bribes. A proxy will often outfit an operator team with fake UIDs to allow them access to the various zones within the scope of their mission.

SYSTEM

Universal Identifcations are rated 1-3. 

• RATING 1: Lowest tier, least secure. Access to Barrens and Slags only. Standard issue from the government. Provides access to low-end healthcare clinics and basic government services. Easily counterfeited or appropriated from the undeclared dead.  [Cost: official issue 100 c., black market 500 c.]
• RATING 2: Standard tier, moderately secure. Access to Metroplex, Barrens, Fortress Estates, and Slags. [Note: Standard UIDs restrict access to Arcologies, but normal Arcology residents would have an “arcology only” Rating 2 UID.] Access to government services, hospitals, banking and lending services. Moderately secure and difficult but not impossible to counterfeit. [Cost: official issue 1000 c., black market 5000 c.]
• RATING 3: Highest Tier: Access to CorpSec and certain restricted government/ corporate zones and elite neighborhoods. Very secure and not easily counterfeited, although appropriating the UID of a dead person is still possible. A character with a Rating 3 UID gains a +1 bonus to social tests when interacting with SprawlSec officers and law enforcement. [Cost: official issue 5,000 c., black market 25,000 c.]

 

 

Chromatic Shadows Update and a Random Table

 

The Next Big Thing: Chromatic Shadows Core

It’s been several months since I last updated this blog. Although my infrequent postings might suggest otherwise, the development of Chromatic Shadows is in full swing. In other words, my posts have been light because I've been busy working on really cool stuff to blog about. 

So, what IS going on with Chromatic Shadows exactly?

For a good chunk of 2025 I’ve been hunkered down in the glow of my cracked laptop, writing, editing, designing, and art directing the next big thing: CHROMATIC SHADOWS CORE. This volume is a fully revised, compiled, and ambitiously expanded version of the occult cyberpunk game you know and love. CS CORE collects and re-balances all previous rules from CS Basic and CS Companion, adding 100+ more pages of additional systems, tables, and procedures. This is the game I always imagined Chromatic Shadows to be, and I’ve been working my ass off to turn this dream into a reality.

 

Where We Are in the Pipeline

This is where we are at in the production pipeline: the first full “design pass” is nearly complete, with less than a dozen pages remaining. This means Chromatic Shadows Core “Beta 01” is pretty close. Once that document is complete I will be pivoting to a cycle of shameless self promotion, with the goal of building hype and funding a Kickstarter campaign to cover development costs. This Kickstarter is on schedule for Spring 2026 if all goes as planned.  Beta updates will be released to backers right away, so finishing the first draft is critical. I’m also keen on having the smallest window of time possible between the Kickstarter campaign itself and delivery of the final PDF. Once the campaign closes, we’re locking in all the way to the finish line. 

 

Random Tables 

Here's a teaser from the Chromatic Shadows Core Appendix, plucked from one of several dozen world-building random tables spread across the Sprawl City Kit. This is from the "Nightlife" section, and provides 20 prompts to help you to spice up a random encounter or set up a more structured scene. 

20 Weird Things You Might Find in a Dark Alley

1. Crate of discarded electronics with something blinking and whirring at the bottom.
2. Wild looking street person dissecting the entrails of a pigeon upon a cardboard sheet. A businessman is seated nearby, anxiously waiting for his fortune to be read.
3. Dumpster secured with multiple heavy chains and padlocks bucking wildly.
4. Slightly open manhole cover with trail of slime leading toward it.
5. A crowd, a huge commotion, and the sound of rending metal. A group of men betting on a dog-drone fight.
6. Group of street people staring transfixed at a burning barrel, the flame is green.
7. Man in business suit screaming “It’s not me!!”. His cyberhand is choking out a similarly dressed woman.
8. Old woman living in a tent, cardboard boxes filled with dead eyed dolls are stacked up everywhere. They turn to look at you.
9. Group of cats eating the remains of a dead street person. Upon closer inspection the person is still alive and smiling.
10. Cardboard and plywood shelter lit with dangling LED strands, makes a tiny noodle shop. The chef serves the best ramen in the city, hands down.
11. Cages stacked on one another contain various animals: dogs, cats, rats, birds -- and some strange hybrid animals too.
12. The alley is converted into a lush garden. Ivy crawls up the walls and flowers and vegetables grow up from rows of tires filled with soil. A group of Feral gardeners are tending this space.
13. A man disappears into a small door set into a concealed wall behind a stack of crates. It leads down into a secret SimStim club. 
14. A flock of warbling white pigeons are roosting on nearby eaves and fire escapes. A single white lily grows up from the center of a pile of garbage.
15. Several naked dead bodies covered with ritual slash wounds are shoved into a dumpster. Their eyes are removed. There is a strong feeling of being watched. 
16. Series of small shrines made from junk. Old broken statues of saints and talismans made from bones and wood and scraps of things.
17. Large mural on a brick wall of a blue skinned Hindu god. Fresh fruit is laid out on the ground before it.
18. Giant gaping sinkhole in the ground. Fog billows out. Looks down into a deep drop beneath the city.
19. A state of the art black sports car is backed into the alley, its engine is running. Armed men in ballistic weave tailored suits step out.
20. Pop up rave! Music is pulsing, lights are strobing, there’s a keg of beer, people are vaping drugs. Everyone is dancing.