Someone recently called Chromatic Shadows "just a shadowrun ripoff" which I thought was cute. But it got me thinking. CS if anything, is as much a Vampire ripoff. The inception was basically "what if I made a cyberpunk using everything I learned from running WoD for 20 years?".

I'm finishing up the last of the 7 pregens for Chromatic Shadows Core, writing everything on a sheet & transferring it over onto a stat block in the book. The new character sheet has been a huge improvement and a lot of fun to interact with. Filling in dots is incredibly satisfying and tactile!

I wrote a one-shot for Chromatic Shadows set in the "Free City of Newark" as a Johnny Mnemonic reference, but I'm starting to really feel the whole Newark Sprawl idea as a setting.

Unapologetically setting my occult cyberpunk game in New Jersey.

That “three megabytes of hot RAM” line from Neuromancer is in grave danger of becoming vindicated

Anyone else get grossed out by ai writing? It's so obvious at this point and it's fucking everywhere. I'm literally doing the thing I used to do with ai art looking for the extra fingers. Now I'm scanning down through paragraphs looking for rhetorical tells, ready to nope out.

Get this awesome adventure for as low as 0 dollars, but if you do decide to pay, 50% of proceeds are going to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and the other 50% is earmarked to buy art from my Ukrainian artist.

Been hashing out a ton of new ideas for Chromatic Shadows including new roles, backgrounds, character flaws, a whole "outside powers" subsystem, void scars as a player facing mechanic, but...I'm 285 pgs into a revised core rulebook, and i don't think it's the time to make this any more complicated!

Here are my reflections on and inspired by the Film 'We are Making a Film About Mark Fisher' on the Everyday Analysis website. The film is currently screening across the UK and Italy: everydayanalysis.co.uk/february-202...

Instant Chromatic Shadows adventure ideas spring to mind.

The toughest pill I've had to swallow is that if I don't make peace with the fact that there are limits to what a (budgetless) solo developer can accomplish, I'll never release my games. Some aspects of said games are inevitably going to be clunky, but they can be improved in the future.

Downtime Actions are quickly becoming one of my favorite new mechanics in Chromatic Shadows Core. What operator wouldn't want to start a loyal street gang or build a tricked out safe house or spend a month detoxing from narcochips?

Dead Internet Theory gets it backwards, actually. The humans online, they're all dead: zombies, and ghosts, every one. The AIs are alive, fecund, vital. So very hungry.

With Chromatic Shadows, I boil the heist down to "mission phases," each with clear benchmarks and objectives. An interactive worksheet keeps things player facing. Once the "action phase" kicks in, an alert level begins to rise as PCs draw attention and the enemy gains awareness. #cyberpunk

👾👻The dice rolling ethos of Chromatic Shadows. 🎲 Risk for reward. 🎲 Fictional framing is consequential to each test, and to who rolls. 🎲 No repeat tests. Forces adaptation and creative workarounds on failures.

Finished lines for Jadis the Generalist--cyberpunk character art for Chromatic Shadows Core. Colors next! Art by Ross Hayes.

Close up shots of the new Chromatic Shadows character sheet. Maximum geometry for optimal cyberpunk vibes.

Here is Jadis the Generalist. Work in progress on the final piece of character art for Chromatic Shadows Core by Ross Hayes. Love that sassy bag toss so much :) #cyberpunk #ttrpg

Getting further with the Character Role layout for Chromatic Shadows Core. Most of the final art is in place, slowly working through the pregen character stat blocks. I want to make it as easy as possible to just grab one of these operators and jump into a game. #occult #cyberpunk #ttrpg

I really like the idea of each major subsystem in Chromatic Shadows having a tightly designed "procedure card" that is just a page sized reference diagram you could drop down on the table depending on the scene. I could see one for hacking, combat, drones, vehicles, biotech.

You can criticize cyberpunk as kitch or as 90s anachronism, or as nostalgia, but I'm a true believer in the "cyberpunk heist" as an enduring part of rpg design space, right up there with the dungeon crawl. Might even say ,"more fun than a dungeon crawl".

Few more small upgrades to the Chromatic Shadows sheet. Boxes for "pharma agents", health for vehicles, drones & decks, and a reference for determining resistance pools for devices & vehicles. #occult #cyberpunk #ttrpg

Looking for any excuse to include more dots and tiny boxes here. #chromaticshadows #cyberpunk

Working draft of the new Chromatic Shadows character sheet. Might revise further. Need to sit with it.

If I get any traction with Chromatic Shadows Core, I'd consider following up with an "Occult World" book, all about conspiracies, factions, neotribes, artifacts, antagonists, and adventure sites. Maybe scope it as a series of smaller zines, and put them out one at a time?

Shadowrun 2E was one of my first RPGs. Yesterday, I woke up and dug back in after a long time away from crunchy trad games. While researching, I also dug into SINLESS, a Shadowrun retroclone by Courtney Campbell. It was cool! A short thread about the QOL improvements and innovations in SINLESS.

Just reached the end of the current page count as far as writing and edits go, but I'm still a ways out from a complete first draft. Next step, jump into the more complicated pages: character sheets, maps, procedure references, pregens, etc. Steady progress.

Another diamond in the rough from 4th Edition D&D: Vor Rukoth "ancient ruins adventure site". This was peak 4e as far as I'm concerned.

Latest revision to the Chromatic Shadows Core cover art. I'm really feeling this new cloaked guy. #occult #cyberpunk #ttrpg

Have many of you small creators had the opportunity to play your own games as a player? I feel like that must be such a fun experience. I'd go so fucking hard playing Chromatic Shadows.

Hey folks! I'm very happy to share the working cover for Chromatic Shadows Core, my upcoming occult cyberpunk RPG. Kickstarter this Spring!

Work in progress from Chromatic Shadows Core, grabbed from the "character role" chapter. Fun detail--all of the commissioned character art here is based on existing PCs. The blank column is going to be a pregen you can play right away. Art by Ross Hayes. #occult #cyberpunk #scifi #indie #ttrpg

Pulling together resources for a west marches style D&D 4e game set in the Chaos Scar. There's some real gems buried in these (not so) old issues of Dungeon.

Latest chapter heading for Chromatic Shadows Core: Downtime Phases, work in progress. #occult #cyberpunk #ttrpg

Latest piece of character art for Chromatic Shadows Core: Sphinx the hacker. Art by Ross Hayes. I'm unbelievably psyched! #occult #cyberpunk #ttrpg

Last Chromatic Shadows development post of 2025, just a little late. Happy New Year! matrixghosttransmissions.blogspot.com/2025/12/chro...

Blog post after a short hiatus: Chromatic Shadows update and a random table! matrixghosttransmissions.blogspot.com/2025/12/chro...

Just scored a mint copy of Hammerfast, and I've been enjoying a slow read through. It's a sweet little module. The slipcover booklet and fold out battle map is classic. A definite 4e highlight.

Laying down the final graphic design for 'downtime phases' and that's it for the appendix. Design edits on the intro adventure next. Looking forward to a full working draft of Chromatic Shadows Core by New Years.

Since my Friday night D&D group (sadly) doesn’t want to try 4e, I'm just gonna convert the Netir Vale/ Points of Light setting (and some adventures) over to 5th edition. Prepping the Slaying Stone, which turns out, is an exceptional little treasure hunt-sandbox.

Current draft of the revised Chromatic Shadows character sheet. Any strong feelings on the use of "dots" for attributes and skills?

R.E. Davis wrote a rad, beautifully produced urban occult-horror game called Sigil & Shadow. Absolutely check it out.

The crux of Chromatic Shadows game-play is the asymmetric ways you can tackle a cyberpunk mission. Shooting, hacking, drones, mechanics, medicine, driving, etc. It's built on a foundation of tactical and mechanically coherent subsystems. The occult stuff is extra fun on top.

In Chromatic Shadows, one does not use an Occult Asset lightly. #occult #cyberpunk #ttrpg

At risk of flogging a dead horse: this whole letter is a reminder that the creative process is an end in and of itself, and vital to self-actualisation. You can’t experience BECOMING, as he puts it, by outsourcing it to ChatGPT.

If Chromatic Shadows Core is successful, I'll likely re-release the previous 2 modules as part of a revised, one volume anthology. I've got another longish adventure that has been sitting on the way back burner. Would be good incentive to finish, and include that as well.

Underappreciated gem from Rich Baker. Seems to be a bridge (structurally & thematically) between Red Hand of Doom and Lost Mines of Phandelver. Would run this in a heartbeat. #dnd #4e

Yeah, this is good. Bestiary that's also a regional setting guide. Each entry puts the monsters on the map in an immediately gameable context. Monsters as regional threats, factions, story hooks. Dare I say "old school" in its approach?

I'm up to the "Occult Asset Creation" chapter in Chromatic Shadows Core & it's a doozy. Basically, a secret free-form magic system adapted liberally from Mage. Tailored to build reality breaking devices, of course, but with all of the knobs and sliders you'd expect from a "creative casting" system.