Posts in category Glass Shadows: Game Aids
Technology: Nanotech
Nanites are produced and controlled by nano-hives, small items the size of modern cellphones. The nano-hive is a macro-scale builder unit, it produces the desired nanite swarm and acts as a central brain, providing orders to the swarm via an encrypted link. A nanite swarm is produced with enough internal power to function for a preset perio [...]
Under The Hood 3: Fast Tracked Charac...
With the concept of cinematic play and players taking on multiple roles, one thing that came up early on was speed of character generation. We wanted players to be able to jump right into the action. For this reason, generation took a dramatically different path than we expected. When developing the player Network, character concepts are disc [...]
Technology: Cybernetics and Kits
Other than the Angel implant, the most common cybernetic enhancements are prosthetic limbs and headware upgrades. These implants are installed on an out-patient basis; the patient is sent home with a dedicated nano-hive that anesthetizes the target area and gradually replaces it with the desired implant overnight. The patient goes to sleep [...]
Technology: Cloning and Genetic Engin...
“Tired of sagging, wrinkled skin, repetitive medical visits, and unpredictable bodily functions? It’s time to trade in that old sack of skin for a new one. Choose from any number of our stock Kevin™ or Kate™ models, or have a new body Flash Cloned from your own cells. It’s like being 25 again but knowing what you know now! P [...]
Under The Hood 2: The Network
Before we talk about the Player Network lets look at the idea of contacts for a moment.
The idea of trusted allies and contacts is nothing new to role playing or fiction in general. In fiction, contacts don’t sit around just waiting to be called. They have their own lives and stories. These peripheral characters often play much larger [...]
Setting: Headcases and Zeroes
The human body is not fully equipped to deal with having pieces of it excised and replaced with cybernetics. There is always a period of adjustment while the mind comes to grips with the neural interface pathways required to use the new implant. This often causes a feeling of dysphasia, where the user’s mind does not recognize the implant a [...]
Technology: Angels, Augmented Reality...
All but the poorest of people have headware modifications that house a semi-autonomous program called an Angel. This headware is installed via a nanite injection shortly after birth and the Angel grows with its user, learning what interests them and helping them through their daily lives. The Angel implants also come with a standard wireless [...]
Technology: Vehicles and Frames
Civilian ground vehicles are sleek and streamlined futuristic wheeled machines, with very little wasted space. Cargo compartments are much smaller than modern vehicles, the average consumer has little need for cargo, almost everything can be fabbed at home. All civilian vehicles are electric, drawing supplemental power from a citywide grid [...]
What’s in a Name?
You may ask, “Where did you come up with the name Glass Shadows?” Dave actually suggested it, with the rationale that “You can see through both glass and shadows, but they distort what’s inside. You can never really be sure of what you’re looking at.”
In Glass Shadows, the Player Characters interact with [...]
What’s this all about, then?
Welcome to the development blog for Glass Shadows, a Cyberpunk RPG that I am writing in cooperation with Dave Silva.
Glass Shadows is heavily inspired by cyberpunk-style animes, such as Ghost in the Shell and its sequels, Appleseed, and Bubblegum Crisis, as well as the western movies Bladerunner, and Johnny Mnemonic. Literary inspirations in [...]