Chromatic Shadows Core Rules

Eldritch cults conjure alien horrors in abandoned server farms. Decadent billionaires harvest vat grown bodies from secret cloning labs. Demigods manifest in the digital aether and demand supplication. A current of high strangeness courses through the margins of the Sprawl. As the world hurtles into the future on a techno-digital binge, dark occult forces are breaking into reality.You and your team of high-tech street operators rush toward the synthetic heart of darkness. You are flush with bleeding-edge gear, razor sharp skills, and an occult obsession that won't quit. Will this be enough to stand against these threats? Will you hold fast for humanity, or blow open the gates to the Outside?

CHROMATIC SHADOWS CORE RULES introduces an original Occult Cyberpunk TTRPG where the high-tech near future collides with a hidden "occult world" of eldritch threats and high strangeness. Chromatic Shadows draws upon a lineage of cyberpunk-horror fiction, new-school Shadowrun, early 2000s gothic-punk storytelling games, and occult lore. A fresh, focused take on a classic genre. 

"I love the subtle, yet disturbing, weird you have in Chromatic Shadows...the slow creep, you feel it slowly permeate at your nerves." 
-R.E. Davis, Sigil & Shadow 

"Overall, this is a *wildly* impressive work for a solo project. It's big and mechanically polished and should appeal to anyone who likes traditional rpgs and cyberpunk. The occult flavor adds a lot to the game, as does the stellar layout..." 
-Sprinting Owl Games                               

Book

• Chromatic Shadows Core Rules is a complete rulebook presenting an original occult cyberpunk RPG. 288 pages, full color, information indexed, presented in "control panel" spreads. Clear headings, and easy to navigate layout. Vibrant and functional graphic design, built for utility but oozing vibes and arthouse aesthetics.
• Chromatic Shadows Core is a "revised" edition, and compiles the two previous rule books: CS Basic and the CS Companion into a single volume, with nearly 100 pages of extra content. Mechanics have been rebalanced and significantly expanded upon. Graphic design has been upgraded. Includes original full color character art by Ross Hayes and Charlie Fetherolf.
•  This game will be delivered at a significant level of detail and refinement. A cyberpunk passion project carefully developed from scratch, slowly tested for playability and cohesion. 5 years of careful development, numerous playtest campaigns, four official published titles, several third party works, years of blog posts, and countless conversations have informed the design.

Characters

•  Occult touched cyberpunk operators, freelance specialists built from 3 archetype choices: Sprawl Origin, Profession and Role. Each archetype grants skills options, and social access. Roles are built for niche protection, and team support. Roles are Rigger, Street Samurai, Hacker, Face, Infiltrator, Medic and Generalist. Complete "pregen" character available for each Role option.
• Option to play a fringe Neotribal, with unique tenets and radical social philosophies. Neotribes include: Paladins, Satans, Borgs, Angels, Ferals, Proteans, and Nils. Neotribals can call upon their kin for help. 
• Deep character background features like Reputation, Lifestyle, Contacts and Allies. Medics can learn to craft Pharmaceutical Agents and Hackers can learn to compile Grid Daemons.
• Each operator begins play with an occult affinity known as a Strange Attractor. This affinity manifests as a subtle power that grows stronger with every new experience of the Occult World. Strange Attractors include things like Void Cult Captive, Device Savant, Attacked by an Eldritch Horror, Vat Grown Clone, Neurodrift Accident, Shadow War Experiment, and many others.
• Integrated cyberpunk mechanics like Resistance, Shock and Cyberstrain. Unique, setting specific mechanics like Occult Milestones, Synchronicity, and Resonance.
• Comprehensive and tightly designed 2 page character sheet, includes worksheets for weapons, occult powers, drones, vehicles and tech.

What is the game like?

• Streamlined cyberpunk play, emphasizing character based narratives and procedurally supported missions. System is comprehensive but leaves breathing room for "rulings over rules". 
•  Familiar and fluid d6 dicepool engine. Most rolls are Attribute + Skill vs a fixed TN 4. Tests are "threshold" or "contested". Average success threshold is 3, but can go as high as 6. Contested tests roll against an opponent's dicepool. Dice are added and removed based on situational modifiers (gear, environment, Shock, etc).
• Combat is detailed and strategic but goes off fast and nasty. No one can take more than a couple of shots and survive without some decent armor and a few back up stim patches. Situational advantage on the battlefield is key. Support for tactical play on a “battle grid” or VTT with tokens or miniatures. 
• Huge variety of weapons, tech, cyberware, vehicles, drones, and gear. Hacking and drone rigging mechanics play quick and smooth alongside other actions in a combat round.
• Hardpoint system for customizing drones and vehicles, and a wealth of modular options to choose from. 
• Dedicated chapter of vehicle rules. Includes: pursuit, vehicle stunts, vehicle combat, and vehicle upgrades. 
• Comprehensive chapter on "Running Missions". Robust procedural rules for playing cyberpunk heists: negotiation tests, payout charts, mission phases, heat, and blowback.

Setting

• The "weird haunted sprawl". A unique urban sandbox, where Outside forces and occult conspiracies bleed through at the fringe.
• "Future History", a comprehensive timeline of the Shadow War and The Collapse. 
• The Factions, underground power groups that scheme against each other to control the Occult World. Includes: The Hand of Moloch,The Hegemon Group, Society of Kether, Sentinel, and The Void Cult.
• Occult Assets, powerful, contested Outside artifacts. Detailed rules for their use and rules to design your own. Chapter of example Occult Assets ready to drop straight into a campaign.
• NPC creation rules, full chapter of streamlined and ready-to-use antagonist stat blocks, organized by Tier.
• A full chapter of Occult Adversaries: Rampant AI, The Void Cult and Eldritch Horrors, their subtypes and occult powers.
• Massive chapter of "toolkit" worldbuilding assets: campaign web generators, procedural missions, NPC creation tables, "domain" style downtime phase actions. 
• A comprehensive "sprawl city kit", broken down by zone. Provides pages of tables to instantly generate a complete and detailed urban site or district.
• Sample adventure, "The Dark of Free City" set in the Newark sprawl.  Short one-shot introductory mission, perfect for introducing new players and jumping straight into a game.

Influences

• Inspired by writing of William Gibson, Philip K. Dick, H.P. Lovecraft, Neal Stephenson, J.G. Ballard, the Strugatsky Brothers, Mark Fisher, and the CCRU.
•  Inspired by games like Shadowrun, Vampire the Masquerade, Mage the Ascension, Delta Green, Stars Without Number, Cyberpunk 2020, and Eclipse Phase.
• Inspired by popular media like the X-Files, Black Mirror, and The SCP Foundation.

Rewards

• PDF Delivery -  PDF files will be fulfilled through DriveThruRPG. 
• Objective - The main objective of this campaign is to deliver a complete PDF and a batch of hardcopies of Chromatic Shadows Core Rules. The books will be available as a "standard" color version with somewhat lighter ink saturation (softcover and hardcover options) and a "deluxe" offset hardcover version with heavyweight paper and bold saturated colors.
• Free Beta Copy - All backers get access to the 282 page Chromatic Shadows Core Beta if the campaign funds. Get the (mostly complete) rules in your hands right away, and get playing!
• $22 - CS Core Rules PDF only. A fully bookmarked Chromatic Shadows Core Rules PDF.
• $30 - CS Core Rules PDF + Adventure Bundle. Includes the two full length adventures, Emerald Aurora and Resurrection City. 
• $42 - CS Core Softcover (standard color) + PDF Bundle. Printed on 80# coated paper, perfect bound, with a cardstock matte cover. Note: color quality and ink density of the "standard" edition is somewhat less saturated overall than the premium offset version. Includes PDFs of CS Core and PDFs of the two full length adventures, Emerald Aurora and Resurrection City. Books will be shipped to backers via USPS media mail. Ships within the USA only. Shipping is not included in the pledge amount.
• $55 - CS Core Standard Hardcover + PDF Bundle. Get a standard hardcover copy of Chromatic Shadows Core + PDFs of CS Core, and PDFs of the two adventures, Emerald Aurora and Resurrection City. Also includes a Matrix Ghost Games vinyl sticker. CS Core "standard hardcover" is printed on 80# coated paper, with a case bound matte cover. Note: color quality and ink density of the "standard" edition is somewhat less saturated overall than the premium offset version. Books will be shipped to backers via USPS media mail. Ships within the USA only. Shipping is not included in the pledge amount.
• $70 - Premium Offset Hardcover + PDF Bundle. Get a deluxe offset hardcover copy of Chromatic Shadows Core + PDFs of CS Core, and the two adventures, Emerald Aurora and Resurrection City. Also includes a Matrix Ghost Games vinyl sticker. The core book will be printed on satin finish 80# coated paper, case bound with a matte cover. Books will be shipped to backers via USPS media mail. Ships within the USA only. Shipping is not included in the pledge amount.

Funding Goal

• $3000 - I am looking to reach a minimum pledge goal of $3000 to fund the cost of printing and to recapture the cost of art and editing.  If funding exceeds this baseline, there's a number of exciting stretch goals on deck to expand the scope of the project.

Stretch Goals

• $3500 - Custom printed end-papers at the front and back of the deluxe offset hardcover book. These end-papers will collect many of the most important charts and common procedures for quick table reference. These charts will be reproduced as reference pages in the PDF and standard hardcovers.
• $3750 - "ShadowOps 1" mission book. Includes a PDF of ShadowOps 1 a collection of procedural missions. These are short framework scenarios designed for 1 or 2 sessions of play, and contains detailed outlines of 6 separate missions, organized by Action Phase, and Heat Level. Easy to adapt for group or solo mode.
• $4000 - GM Screen + Running Missions Worksheet: I will design and deliver a complete GM screen with detailed charts and references for all of the major CS procedures: dice tests, combat, skill use, hacking, drone rigging and vehicle stunts. This will be delivered in PDF form only, but will be formatted for print. I will also design a "Running Missions Playsheet" that can be used as a table reference during a game. This aid helps a player to strategically approach a new mission. It provides tools for tracking payout, contract level, heat, and structuring legwork and action phase objectives. 
• $4500 - New Role: The Stalker. The Stalker is designed around navigating the supernatural threats of the Occult World. They begin play possessed with strange Outside powers, and struggle to preserve their humanity against the taint of Void. If this stretch Goal is unlocked, I will write up the Stalker as a complete new playable Role, expand rules for Eldritch Scars, and commission all new character art.
• $5000 - New Adventure: Into the Void. I will write and produce a new full-length adventure, and release it to all of my backers for exclusive early access. Into the Void combines urban mystery and cyberpunk action with a descent into a haunted arcology point-crawl. 

Timeline To Completion

• October 2026 - The campaign itself will run for four weeks and end on 11/1/26.
• November 2026 - If the campaign is successful, the CS Core Beta will be delivered to all backers. Likewise PDFs of Emerald Aurora and Resurrection City will be released to any "PDF Bundle" tier backers.
• March 2027 - Complete and deliver Chromatic Shadows Core Rules PDF to backers.
• April 2027 - Complete prepress formatting, and approve final print proofs.
• May 2027 - Print books and begin mailing books to backers.
•  Stretch Goals -  I will begin work on any of these as soon as they become "unlocked", and try to complete them in order. These stretch-goals will be a dedicated side project while everything else is in the pipeline. Stretch goals will be completed throughout 2027 and early 2028. Many of these projects are already in development.

Stance on Generative AI

• Matrix Ghost Games takes a pro-human stance towards the use of Gen AI in writing and art, and is AI adverse. As a creative and a professional, I don't use AI in any part of my writing or art/ design workflow. Matrix Ghost Games supports authentic human-made art at every level.