Project 2023b is the working title of a cyberpunk-fantasy TTRPG from B.J. Keeton. It uses the Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) system with some features from Forged in the Dark.
2023b is a game about building a team of characters in a dying fantasy world and telling their story. The world is being slowly eaten away by the encroachment of The Bitlands, a purely digital plane, that is breaching into and destroying the physical world.
The world of 2023b may seem similar to fantasy worlds you're familiar with from other RPGs. You will find kingdoms and monarchies, conclaves of arcane spellcasters, dragon lairs, and reanimated horrors from beyond the grave.
Where it differs is that it's set in the far-flung future of one of those worlds. Small merchant guilds, wizard schools, and temples to the gods have become megaguild conglomerates. They control the world, and everyone knows it—including the governments.
This new world is connected by not only ley lines but also wireless signals. Artificers and Alchemists have just added silicon, lasers, and nanotech to their gunpowder and nightshade.
2023b is cyberpunk-fantasy turned on its head. If you were making a World of Warcraft and Blade Runner cocktail with a twist of Altered Carbon and The Matrix, you'd be most of the way there. If you're familiar with Shadowrun, then flip it upside down.
The fantasy world of this game has "evolved" into its corporate, dystopian, post-capitalist cyberpunk era, rather than an urban world being invaded by fantasy elements.
Site and content ©B.J. Keeton 2023...unless it's not. (As I said, 2023b is PbtA/FitD.)
Some text may come from Dungeon World (CC-BY-3.0), Blades in the Dark (CC-BY-3.0), or MASKS (CC-BY-4.0) and © their respective creators.
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