CY_BORG - RPG Core Rules

A Nano-infested doomsday RPG about cybernetic misfits and punks raging against a relentless corporate hell.

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The world is ending. ⸐

Again and again and again and again and again a̶n̴͗d̵̥͒ ̸̎ă̶ġ̸a̵̢͗i̶͙̓n̸̡̔ ă̵̢̫̥̺̻̞n̵͔̽̿̏̓͋͠͝d̴̢̪̟͊ ̵̡̺̖̰̯͖̞̓̑̐̈́̍̋a̶̤̘̖͗͐̀̔̚̚g̴̛͇̻̦̻͇̲̈́̏à̷̩̫͒ḯ̷̡̱̀̀̀͠ṇ̶̦̔͜.

▶ Constantly in flux; shifting, d̵̃is̴to̴rt̷in̶g̷, always reborn as something worse. Destruction by ecological catastrophes, the fallout of history's belligerence; by modern man-made Miseries or the blood spilled by the reckless machine of capitalist supremacy. Mankind's greatest ability truly is to destroy itself in creative ways. Designer demise, consumer-customized death, endlessly on repeat.

▶ Poisonous space rocks, nuclear weapons, cyclical revolutions, warring nations, warring corporations, warring neighbors; pandemics, tsunamis, volcanoes. In between it all: direct person-machine interfaces, tactical neural implants, and bacteria from outer space hijacking intercellular nanorobotics. And the sky is full of ads.

▶ Everyone is interfaced/injected/in̴fe̴cted̶/infested with something. Everyone wants something from everyone else. Everyone is a liar and a cheat. Everyone wants more creds. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

Welcome to the year 20X3.

Welcome to the City of Y!̸͆̅̌”̶͌̉#̸͇̞̻̌̚”̶̨̻̘̇̉̊͆̈́͒̌̆̓̕͜#̶̖̣̘̻͖̥͕̙̀̃̈́́̄̕̕͜͠2̶̧̻̺̝̥̮̣̒͒̂͐͐̍́́͘̕̕4̴̿̌’̷̛̙͍̠̙̿

The Cy.

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CY_BORG is a complete rules-light, rage-heavy tabletop roleplaying game based on and compatible with MÖRK BORG. Easy to play, easy to hack.

In it you’ll find:

• A drive-by description of the megacity Cy after the Incident: from its rotting slums where gangs, cults and military corporations wage war, to the blinding scraper forests, neon cathedrals and holo-shimmering arcologies of Central and the toxic industrial hell zones shrouding it all in poisonous (but CYstainable Planet™ Certified) death smog.
• Quick and dirty character creation where the roll of the dice determines who your punk is, what they’re capable of and who they owe money to.
• d66 Miserable Headlines making the rounds on the news and feeds with varying regularity, each one heralding chaos and destruction wracking the city until the cataclysmic conclusion seven headlines in.
• A minimal, simple system designed to stay out of the way and to be easily modded and customized. Rulings before rules. MÖRK BORG at its core, with a few tweaks and updates.
• Optional rules and tables: Add tactical crunch to your violence with combat mods for cover, suppressive fire and more. Six classes for your class war, including the Forsaken Gang-Goon, the Shunned Nanomancer and the Renegade Cyberslasher. Tables adding depth and character to your punk, such as Style, Quirks and Current Obsession.
• Random Generators facilitating near-endless play: missions, locations, corporations, cults and npcs populating the accelerating apocalypse.
• Equipment (of varying legality) like guns and specialized ammo booster plug-ins, intelligent body armor, cybertech, decks fitted with custom Apps, and almost-controllable Nano powers with their latent infestations.
• 25+ foes to fight. From the countless soldiers of the SecCorps and gangs to corrupted Nanophreaks, soulless drones and cydroids, state-of-the-art combat vehicles and the ethereal, digital apparitions classified as Ghosts.
• The introductory heist Lucky Flight Takedown. Scope and infiltrate the Lucky Flight Casino, clear the debt data and/or shut the whole operation down. Should be a quick and easy job, right?

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Also included is the CY_BORG Asset Pack; a bundle of game accessories that'll make your cybernetic life somewhat easier at the table. Including:

• A high-res map of Cy with its sectors and blocks, and a summary of its most prominent corporations and cults. For target practice.
• A fillable character sheet.

The Location Pad; 34 one-page locations with adventure hooks, random encounters, secrets and loot.

    The one-page adventure Reaper Repo. Approach the killmatch champion Steel Jackhammer and recover his shiny new, and allegedly stolen, chrome legs (undamaged). There are only two problems: the legs are very much attached to Jackhammer, and he is—since two days ago—busy partying in his penthouse, along with a horde of drunk or stoned killmatch athletes, enthusiasts and other C-list VIPs. Let the party begin!

CY_BORG is created by Christian Sahlén and Johan Nohr of Stockholm Kartell.