CY_BORG is a flavorful skeleton of a cyberpunk horror game | RPG Review
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- Опубліковано 14 лип 2024
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CY_BORG is a cyberpunk horror RPG that is light on rules and heavy on style. It’s based on the rules from Mork Borg, and includes a lot of practical GM support.
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0:00 Introduction
01:05 Organization/Layout
02:27 Setting of Cy
06:03 Mechanics of CY_BORG
06:54 Character Creation
11:19 Nanopowers
12:15 Hitpoints and Death
12:57 Combat
13:55 Leveling up
14:09 Enemies
16:17 Mission Generator
17:22 Sample One Shot
18:00 My Thought
20:11 Conclusion
From the creators:
"Go to cy-borg.makedatanotlore.dev to generate Player Characters [PUNKMAKER], NPCs [CORP DRONES & OTHERS], and Missions [JOB CREATOR] with just a few clicks.
The generators are based on the ones found in the book but we have expanded and optimized them for digital use, as you can fit a whole lot more complexity and variables in a digital random table than in a printed one.
Code and all things tech by Karl Druid."
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As an ardent lover of metal, I ADORE how aggressively and lavishly this book presents itself with an almost hateful disregard for any reader's comfort. There's something so enchanting about any works that are that stylishly egregious in their extreme, creative self indulgence.
I also appreciate the subversive element of it. And I'm really starting to develop a taste for the tears of those who it upsets.
9:05
"How badly do they want their cash back?" (d6)
1-6: Very.
Had me DEADDDD
It seems like this does for Cyperpunk what Mork Borg did for fantasy. Cover it in mud, blood, and various body fluids to make something needlessly gross. I love it. Thanks for the review!
Agreed! And thanks.
Cyberpunk didn't have that before. They added that, what a stroke of genius... . 🤦🏻♂
Don't forget dipping it all into an endless pit of raw angst and agony.
as if 😂"a spiked flail to the face but make sure to avoid /// themes because they might hurt our feelings"
It's not nearly as fucked up as it should be
@@atzerath You can always increase the horror and violence at your table.
I like how every page spread is different, I feel like it would make it easier to flip through and recognize the unique rules section you’re looking for, as opposed to every page looking the same. The book may not describe a lot of cyberpunk theme with wordy descriptions but the artwork really helps ground the aesthetic. Great review and looks like a great game!
I was a little underwhelmed by the rules additions/alterations, but I absolutely adore the lore and art! Luckily the rules in this game are pretty modular and can be altered to my taste.
Yeah it's pretty hackable.
For what it's worth Stockholm Sweden is a city built on multiple islands. Maybe that was inspiration for the chaotic city map.
That makes sense.
I've been playing this weekly for about a month, and it's a solid game. The art>practicality aesthetic is annoying, but most of the key information is in the endpapers.
Kevin Crawford (Stars/Worlds Without Number) is apparently working on a cyberpunk book of his own, which might be a good tool for putting meat on these bones.
Crawford will make an end-all be-all super cyberpunk game to rule them all, I'm sure. That's just his style.
I like to think the art style is agregious in a way to get you to pay attention to the pages. I've been obsessed with this game since I saw it and each page is so unique and sporadic, which helps me remember what pages say. It's backwards in a way, and for someone like me it works so well. Long Live the Cy haha!
Evocative, uniquely relatable, dangerous, inspiring, beautiful and dispassionately inviting.
Opening the book is playing.
Solo: Explore and consume at your own pace.
“Borg” Warning: Everything else gets turned down.
The 'This machine makes folk music' at 7:30 is the Woody Guthrie ref I didn't see comming! Looks like I'll enjoy leafing through the book.
Any time I watch a video about these two games I’m left with the Swedish Chef singing in my head for hours 😂
Looking forward to this one. Have run Pirateborg a few times and everyone enjoyed it. Hope this goes over as well.
I still need to read Pirateborg.
I found the original Mork Borg inaccessible due to the artwork, layout and fonts. When the text only Barebones Edition came out I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Running a small campaign of MB now and find the game easy to run as a GM and a lot of fun....hopefully they will bring out a text only version of Cy Borg
I’m pretty sure they will. The barebones edition was very well received by the community.
7:53 think a 2-handed foil that's really long, super thin and most likely has a whip alt mode where the 'blade' can become flexible and/or retractable. I think the gimmick or bit here is an homage to Johnny Pneumonia's villain that used a monofiliment whip that could slice up just about anything. Nice touch with the Logans. They know their pop culture.
Good Review! I like this implementation of the whole Cyberpunk aesthetic mostly because I was sick and tired of things like 2077 where everything is too Clean and austere. I want the horrid Body mods done by maniacs in back alleys that NO one bats an eye at in the world, the dirt and grime of the disaster world you are trying desperately not to die in and end up fed to some sort of Reclamation Unit.
Thanks! Yeah the gore and horror is sort of refreshing.
The actual Cyberpunk 2077 game was miles away from what they promised in the first original trailer. Very disappointing.
The cyberpunk _series_, Edgerunners, is wayyyy more on the gross "I hate it here" side than the game is. Probably still not to your standards, but the opening scenes try to show how much everyone and everything has let itself go.
This books is absolutely gorgeous and I love the rules light component. My only gripe is the lack of published modules/scenario support.
As a long-time fan of the cyberpunk genre, I 100% agree with your conclusion. "Reflexive regurgitation" is spot on. This looks awesome, definitely going to pick this up!
Thanks!
Great review. Love how you show a wide spread of the inside. The art/style is very cool and I figure it was done to differentiate it from the shiny chrome of Cyberpunk 2077 et al.
The layouts are reminiscent of WIRED magazine from the 90s. Neuromancer introduced me to cyberpunk in the 80s so yeah, lowercase "ice" bugs me too!
The alien nanites is a great way to add "spells". Always hated the way Shadowrun has fantasy-style spellcasters mixed in with hackers and drones and the net -- feels like a forced mashup IMHO.
I bought the book without caring if I ever get to play or not. It's so damn stylish I love it
I ran three sessions of the game so far, two for the original introductory scenario and one more for the mission that has been generated with tools. The biggest problem of CY_BORG (as well as older brother MB, but here it's a bit more severe) is damn slow and surprisingly miniature & map-demanding combat. There are tons of rolls each round for each character - if you have a gun with autofire and it hits all three times, be prepared to roll NINE times (three to hit, three to damage, three to the target's armor). Now let's assume there are five PCs and six enemies with rifles combat. Since players do all rolls, it's a mess. And in this mess GM talks a lot to guide each player on which roll the player should do "yeah ok, now roll to hit, ok, roll again, yes, roll again, no, roll damage, ok, now armor roll for the enemy, subtract it from the damage roll, ok, now second damage roll, ok, now second armor roll, subtract it, ok, what is the sum of all damage? ah, it's zero, well.. now roll defence, because the enemy shoot, no? roll again, she has an auto rifle...". And this goes for each involved combatant, each round. And because of glitches and re-rolls, there could be many.
Advice 1. GMs, don't listen to the game designer, it will slow down your game, take all NPC rolls to your hands, roll for their armor, roll for them to hit, it is still a lot of rolls, but it's better than the original idea anyway.
Advice 2. Take Death in Space rules in its entirety (it fits nicely even without the slightest hacking) and use CY_BORG as a classes/setting book.
I love the notion of just using Death in Space rules. That game is a masterpiece.
@@DaveThaumavore+1. I always jump in when I hear "DIS is just a MB-hack is space". No, it's absolutely not, the pacing and the feeling from DIS is totally different.
P.S. And the initiative mechanics in DIS is just something so simple and brilliant, ah!
@@antsa169 I've seen this initiative mechanic used in a couple other games at this point and I think it really is superior.
@@DaveThaumavore do you remember the titles? I would love to look at them, thanks!
The Gumshoe games, at least Swords of the Serpentine, have this mechanic.
Thanks for this. I'm running an intro session tomorrow night and this was a massive help.
Statement to appease the subroutine guardians of cyberspace!
Received. Gratitude.
Another RPG that blends perfectly horror with cyberpunk is SLA Industries, whose second edition was released recently. You can play several alien races beside humans, apart of the usual gangs and cyborgs, the characters also have to deal with supernaturals entities and extra dimensional beings.
While the art and lore is great, the system feels very antiquated but it worth a review.
I’ll check it out, thanks!
I still play 1st Edition. There's a lot of SLA in Cy_Borg.
somebody else perhaps alredy wrote this: the stats for the van are in the back with the other vehicles, including nonplot armor =)
Oh nice. Actually you’re the first to point that out here.
Dave, thanks so much for shouting out how awesome the MB/CB 3rd party ecosystem is. We actually had a jam not too long ago, the 404 jam. It's got loads of cool classes and a few adventures.
It’s a scene like no other!
Great breakdown! Our groups have recently been thrust into some Mork Borg to give them a break from D&D and they had a blast. Been planning a CY_BORG game for them next and this video covered everything I needed!
most cyberpunk stuff assumes you already know the world and understand the terms. Even the grand daddy of modern cyberpunk Neuromancer gets a LOT of hate from people trying to read it and just getting completely lost in the terminology, the made up tech, the tech babble, the concepts, and the rather weird neon flowery prose.. But if it clicks it clicks.
I'm always on the look for games with unique and artsy rulebook layouts, and i LOVE body horror, so i can't go wrong with Cyberpunk Mork Bork but ngl i think that name is really, really silly lol
Agreed, the name is so jokey.
Nanomachines, son!
Yes!
Cyberpunk 2020: “Yeah, Night City is dangerous and exploitative, but at least we still have this beautiful California weather!”
Cy_Börg: [coughing up naonfungus while being ripped apart by cybernetically-infused alien dog demons high on future crack]
Leave it to the Swedes.
Yeah! You're right! It's MORE grim dark than Cyberpunk.
Great review! I like your somewhat sassy but even handed delivery. I bought this immediately after running two sessions of MB and wanted more games with a similar vibe, but haven't had the chance to run it yet. What an incredible package, and the you-figure-it-out qualities really keep you on your toes creating.
Didn't know that they doubled the pay of the contributors during the kick starter, thanks for that. Made me say 'Fuck yeah' out loud.
My new favourite TTRPG. It's so wild and hyper-violent, but hilarious and malleable. An incredible system to run, lends itself so well to breakneck speed action and intensity.
Hell yeah, raising the pay of people involved might genuinely be one of the most cyberpunk things involved with this whole thing lol
i just want this as a showpiece on my shelf tbh. absolutely love mork borg but ill never find friends willing to play anything other than 5e lol
I think you raise an interesting point about how poorly accessible CY_BORG might be to a newcomer to the genre, which I hadn't thought about. I imagine the gist would come across sufficiently enough through the art, with the rest being cyberpunk mumbo jumbo that never had specific definitions in the first place. Ultimately, Rule 00 would do its job to deliver the main takeaway of the genre, and after that it's all up to individual taste, anyway.
Game is supposed to arrive at my door today any moment now. Looking forward to having it in my hands!
That’ll be a nice mail drop.
I really like this. I feel like this is cyber punk cranked up to 11. The darker the deadlier the better with this genre.
Newcomer to cyberpunk genre and gaming. This is my first. Great solo stuff in here!
It took me a second or two get the joke at 14:52, but I really cracked up when I did 🤣
Been waiting for you to cover this! So excited!
Ps.
The 90s teenage me had a.mini heart attack when i heard you use the terms skater / heavymetal / goth almost interchangeably.
Then it hit me... are they interchangeable now?! What year is this? Whens a ska flavored weird west setting gonna happen?
Yeah all those subcultures are just a foggy, soupy memory now.
We are closer to the grave than to the release of Nevermind.
@ Dave: nah dude, there are purists still out there for every genre holding the line.
I love the book, it's beautiful.
But you have to copy and paste the setting locations into a Word document if you want to read anything about the setting.
At least it's a punk, cyberpunk game. That's more than most
As an aging lover of crust punk this pleases me
The index is perfect. This book does 'brevity' to perfection.
I was wondering if there'd be an equivalent to MÖRK BORG bare bones edition, sounds like it's already included. Nice.
Well ummm... what can i say... I WANT TO RUN THIS GAME SO BAD! It is a refreshing spin on Cyberpunk because of the horror elements in it. I will pick this up and try to run it! Thanks for the review!
You bet.
Great review!
Hey, I found you though your Death in Space review and now am witching all of your other videos.
As someone who does not play, read or witch a lot of cyberpunk media I was confused by the term "black ice", so make of that what you will.
Glad I could help!
I own Mork Borg, Death in Space, and have this preordered. I love these books even though I will probably never run any of them.
Yeah, they're great to read and own. Actually they're easy to run too, but I know what you mean.
@@DaveThaumavore For some reason the super specific and weird classes that the Cartel uses in their books never seem to speak to me.
@@megasquidd They can be very strange and random.
Hmmm... I have an idea for a horror adventure in this game.
Very solid review. Well said.
Nice shoutout re: ICE to Maddox and Gibson.
Thanks.
I don't mind GM sections light on specifics. I feel that once a player gets access to it they can do a lot of "well the back of the book says this." I already have to do the work of creating scenarios, and I can get a mission generator, and grab a few maps from somewhere and work out the jobs for the players myself. Or just steal them from other games :/
Good point.
I like the system and was thinking about adapting it to play in the shadowrun setting
Excellent overview, I've been wanting to buy this game for a while now. I also 100% agree with your ending sentiments on people trying to categorize Cyberpunk as a genre; forcing it into a box.
Thanks! 😊
I kind of wish that Blades in the Dark system was as well diversely developed as Mork Borg. It has a much better system of mechanics, genius really. Love the Mork Borg (and associated additions) creativity on tables and setting though.
Do you mean that even any of the Forged in the Dark games don’t do it for you either?
@@DaveThaumavore Playing the Mork Borg mechanics (which I'll admit I'm assuming this is very similar under the hood) just fells like making rolls and checks, like most OSR games and you rarely hit a new mechanic during a session. Other than making that simple Misery check... it really doesn't feel during play mechanically innovative. However, play Blades and from out of the gate you are wrestling with stress, heat, negotiating scores, flashbacks, entanglements, progress clocks, and 3 cycling phases. It's well worth playing and investing the time to learn well. If EvilHat created a Cyber Punk version of that... Take My Money!
@@brianfroeschner6644 hi, there are plenty of cyberpunk FitD games! I'm the author of CBR+PNK, but I also recommend you check out Crash//Cart, Neon Black, Hack the Planet and Prospero City
I like some of the ideas like the nanobot stuff
Awesome!
Thank you for the interesting review
You bet, David!
Did I hear that you get the pdf if you buy the book? EDIT: Yes you receive an email with the Pdf
PDF. Ick. I gotta hold it in my handsies! Lol
Not sure if I missed it. But is there a band inspiration list as there was in Mork Borg?
Yes specific tracks from certain artists are listed on the credits page.
Players should never have sympathy for the corps or the cops... Somehow I don't think that'll be a problem for my group...
Not a fan of the visual style but props for the shoutout to Front Line Assembly with that Tactical Neural Implant reference.
Nice, I missed that.
What did you read in terms of cyberpunk theory you referenced at the end of the video?
I received my pdf after the kickstarter and pored over it but yet to run a game of it. I thought your review title was apt: it seems more of a skeleton of a game and there are many things that I would expect to find in a core RPG book but didn't. I think more so than Mork Borg, Cy_Borg is heavier on the aesthetic than on the substance. Not a great deal of cybernetic enhancements or whatnot, not a great variety of foes and those that are in the book are rather pedestrian compared to the horrible nightmares in Mork Borg, definitely not enough setting info for me. As much as I dig the aesthetic and creativity in the book I don't think it will supplant some of my other favorite cyberpunk games any time soon.
Yeah it’s pretty skeleton-y. I bet there will be a bunch of third party stuff though.
I think the problem is that the more you add, the less OSR-y and quick this becomes.
In Mork Borg this wasn't that big of a deal. Tools in that setting are pretty self explanatory. You don't need description to know how a 10ft pole works, or an oil lamp... which is usually used in 90% of creative approaches to combat, I may add.
But at the same time, having played Shadowrun I have realized one of the best parts of cyberpunk rpgs is using even seemingly unassuming gadgets in creative ways to get ahead in the story. But in order to do so, you need at least some rules and/or descriptions detailing how they work and their basic functioning, which you then can use to find more interesting uses.
The less you detail, the less cyberpunk-y it feels. The more you detail, the less OSR it feels.
Came here to ask if you had any music recommendations for this type of Cyberpunk role playing - checking out Godmode now.
I usually just use playlists on Spotify or UA-cam, not specific artists.
I noticed NPCs often have damage like 'd6a.' What does the 'a' mean? I just read this book tonight and do not remember seeing an explanation anywhere in it.
it's automatic. it's explained in the weapons page and the combat page
Love it! Very similar to DRY WORLD, though I preferred dry world as it is truly godless and rules lite. Strongly suggested to check out. I found it on both itch and drivethrurpg. A little gem, really
Cool! Will do.
While I really like the art, I'm not sure I'd like actually navigating the book during play. Hmmm... I'll have to think about this one.
~ Adam
They might eventually release a barebones version like they did with Mörk Borg.
by color of the page? idk why but this is easier to remember wehre things are because the pages are so different....
also 60-80% of what you need is in the cover pages
Ngl, got put off by MB's art and layout as it makes those looking at me reading it think i need to be turned in to a psychiatrist or the cops. For Cy_Borg, its still too kitsch but I heard the glow in the dark spine's still a thing.
Is there a cyberpunk version of tinyd6 tho?
I haven’t seen a cyberpunk treatment of TinyD6 but haven’t checked their line-up in a while.
Cyberpunk as it should be
It’s a great interpretation.
“How bad do they want their money back d6”. 1-6 Very. Lol.
Who?
@@DaveThaumavore pg 81 last entry in debt.
@@megasquidd Ah, thank you.
How likely am I as a player to advance my PC into the higher lvls in this game?
It kinda depends on the GM and how everyone wants to play in terms of danger and encounter rates.
post apocaliptic is cyver punk to
Hello. Is it possible to ask you to play/review a game I've made?
Heard this game had guidelines in it for classless play, is that true?
I didn’t see that.
It doesn't however it's easy enough to just bring over the MB rules for that (there's now a free version of MB, which if you don't mind painting things up as sci-fi essentially doubles your bestiary and class list as well)
It does have classless. You get better starting stats to make up for not having some sort of ability.
It’s mentioned on the page 40
@@RogueDuckie thank you!
I really didn't like Mork Borg, there were just no rules to adjudicate anything and I constantly found myself in total uncertainty as to what DR to call for. It's fun to read, not to play.
Yeah it’s not for everyone. Some GMs can just wing it and synthesize details/parameters quickly, but others need more hard-coded guidance.
Is a cyberdeck like an iPad?
No/yes, theres no screen in the artwork shown here
more like a full PC or Laptop u plug your brain into(I'm assuming its the same as Cyberpunk2020)
@@neon-lake, thank you.
Very weird nitpick from me is Initiative roll in this game. Why? Because game is not afraid to refer to D2 in case of glitches but in combat initiative it goes "Roll D6 on 1-3 enemies go first on 4-6 PC go first." Brother if you giving me fifty fifty and already mentioned D2 in other rules Use a D2 for fifty fifties FFS!!!
My ADHD punches me in the face, everytime I open a Mork Borg PDF...
Yeah it gets tiresome after a while.
I'm confused why there's a rule that says "you aren't allowed to break this one", given that it's based on a pretty facile understanding of a 200 year old political ideology.
Ok.
@@DaveThaumavore Getting away from my jerky knees, I guess the rule 00 thing just doesn't make sense to me, given that the entire setting is supposed to be about not conforming, and rebelling against systems. It's incongruous, and as a GM I think I'll be breaking that one.
The rulebook is an absolute work of art otherwise, and I think the horror is best served by the hard coded fact that not even the evil capitalist hierarchy isn't actually in charge of anything meaningful, because the universe regularly resets, beyond everyone but the GM's control, degrading every single time.
@@intboom The point of cyberpunk isn't nonconformity for nonconformity's sake. Talk about a facile understanding. You're rebels chafing against a specific system - capitalism. Not only is Rule 00 a good one for real life, breaking it in-game defeats the whole point of the genre. At that point you may as well go with a different setting altogether, since the premise underpinning the worldbuilding is at odds with your own ideas. To put it bluntly, the "-punk" in cyberpunk is not for aesthetic reasons.
the whole Borg series is a meme RPG
Ugh, I was so on board until we got to that rule 00. I am so tired of people misunderstanding capitalism.
Nothing is black and white.
@@DaveThaumavore except their 00 rule, it would seem.
I'm so tired of people misunderstanding cyberpunk
I think Rule 00 works great as a really basic filter to help people understand the bottom line of cyberpunk. If you want to align yourselves ideologically with the system, you're not interested in playing cyberpunk, simple as that. The "-punk" part has always informed the morals/ethics of the whole genre, yet people still find themselves indignant at the idea that there aren't "two sides". As if that hasn't been the core statement of the setting since its inception.
It isn't difficult to find real life scenarios where there truly is simply an oppressor and the oppressed. I'd encourage you to get out of your enlightened centrist hot air balloon and more closely examine the world you inhabit.
Oh and I would love to hear your insights into how capitalism should supposedly be understood correctly.
@@arctomoldiness9312 I guess you misunderstood me, but no worries. I love cyberpunk. But you fundamentally misunderstand both cyberpunk and capitalism if you cannot unmarry the two, since its corporatism, not capitalism, that's gone rampant in cyberpunk. Sorry for your misunderstanding, and you continue to enjoy your game, even if you're wrong.
"The Incident involves alien bacteria hijacking human-made nanites. Don't overthink it." That seems to be the design philosophy behind this game. Lots of nonsensical edginess for the sake of being edgy.
Was curious about this one because of the setting but I see now I'm better off passing on this like I passed on Mork Borg. Lost my appetite for hyper nihilistic settings years ago and as for the formatting style... you say "avante garde", I say "pretentious rubbish."
Leaving out information and suggesting something in the dark is the cheap trick of the modern RPGs as it was the cheap trick of 90's black metal. I guess the 30 year cycle is just too strong.
You know, modern Pen&Paper RPGs use Dice Pool systems. Why??? I think they are rather ... primitive and obscure to read when it comes to probability. Never understood that.
Players have to be capitalist hating commies and socialists?
HAHAHAHAHAHA. No.
Never using that rule. My players and I believe what we like.
Do what makes you happy. It’s your table.
No need to wonder which part of "cyberPUNK" confuses you.
I am making a mecha hack for mork-borg.
Not to be confused with Mech-Borg, which is like battletech only more messed up.
My tone is akin to old School Gundam meets Armored Core only with Biohorror and Cosmic Horror elements.
I need a name.
That sounds bad ass!
Great review!
Thanks!