One thing I really like about Cy_Borg is how refreshing and contemporary I find its depiction of the dystopian future. 80-00s era cyberpunk is very locked in place. Blade Runner's LA is permanently covered in black clouds and menacing skyscrapers. But you get the idea that this is the world forever. Any change for the better is too far out of reach, but simultaneously, this is as bad as it could get. That's kind of the point right? work that never ends, nothing better in store for you but everyone keeps going because... it could be worse right?
If I could describe Cy_Borg in one word, it would be Nuclear. it's themes are not set in drudgery and misery, it's apocalyptic, pulling from Mad Max as much as cyberpunk. The people of Cy are not well. It's a city of war boys and pop stars. Where the punks, nano-infected, wage slaves, doom cultists and the bourgeois are all pretty much on the same page for what's in store for them. Everyone is trying to milk this world of any last joy that can be found before it all goes out.
Both thematically and mechanically, the game encourages you to play as a live wire who is living every day like it's their last. Because it is. If it isn't this heist that kills you, it could be the nuke, the sun dying out. maybe tomorrow someone will just turn the simulation off. Part of character creation is rolling your debt, and the fact that you are rolling is kind of the joke, because your result is always going to be a number you couldn't possibly get out from under. It's in the back of your mind that eventually, that unless I keep killing and stealing for money and get super lucky, my debtors are gonna come for my limbs and organs.
^ this bit always hits in character creation. Running the players thru one by one, you get to debt section each time and ask the player to roll to see how badly their debtors want the money. Regardless what they roll, you say the same: "They want it back very badly." It will take a few characters before players start realising the joke but it perfectly sets up the expectations of playing this game
It asks you not to get attached to your punk, which is good because the chances are they'll die stupidly and unceremoniously. You can press a button on a website that will roll you another in less than a second because it wants you to be able to jump back into the game without rolling a bunch more dice. I've given random people at the table who weren't even playing control of NPCs and told them to go nuts, do whatever you want and don't think too hard, it's genuinely so fun how fast and loose it is.
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