Category Archives: Mechanics
One Size Does Not Fit All – Multiple Characters in Glass Shadows
Something that we mentioned in our article on Handlers and Operators is the idea that players do not just have one Handler and one Operator, but multiple Operators. This is true. While traditionally players have only one character, Glass Shadows breaks away from this to help emulate the genre, and to keep the campaign fluid […]
Under the Hood: Handlers and Operators
As we mentioned before, players in Glass Shadows take on multiple roles. Each player acts as a Handler, creating operations and affecting the course of their missions. Players also take the role of an Operator, the people directly involved within a mission. Today, we’re going to discuss what what defines a Handler and and Operator. […]
Under the Hood: The Network in a Nutshell
In Glass Shadows, the players take on several personas. The first player role is the Handler, someone within one of four factions competing to control the future of humanity. These characters work behind the scenes to advance their faction’s goals. At the start of a campaign, the player selects their Handler’s faction, motivation, interests. This Agenda […]
Under The Hood 4: Action and the Non-Combatant
When all hell breaks loose you want to be the guy with training, guns, and all the right answers. Lets face it through, those special operatives with years of training make up less than a 1% of the population. The world of Glass Shadows needs those special operators, but it also needs the investigators, data […]
Under The Hood 3: Fast Tracked Character Generation
With the concept of cinematic play and players taking on multiple roles, one thing that came up early on was speed of character generation. We wanted players to be able to jump right into the action. For this reason, generation took a dramatically different path than we expected. When developing the player Network, character concepts […]
Under The Hood 2: The Network
Before we talk about the Player Network lets look at the idea of contacts for a moment. The idea of trusted allies and contacts is nothing new to role playing or fiction in general. In fiction, contacts don’t sit around just waiting to be called. They have their own lives and stories. These peripheral characters […]
Under The Hood 1: The Open Action System
The rules used to create a role playing game, sometimes referred to as the engine, set up the dynamics of play and provide a structure for interaction. In a lot of cyberpunk fiction, what could be considered as traditional action is fast and brutal, often over before it even began. The threat of violence is ever present, but violence, when it […]
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