Off World Colony
& Investigations and Androids

Role: Writer, Designer, and Artist

(Pen Name Used)

Tabletop Roleplaying in a Cyberpunk Mix-Em-Up

Investigations and Android began as a small hobbyist supplement for 5e DnD but quickly grew into a full conversion mod for the game. The goal was to create a cyberpunk toolset that would allow GMs to create any manner of cyberpunk adventures for their players.

To support the mod I created an introductory narrative campaign, Off World Colony, that saw players crash-land on Europa Orbital Station, a seedy city in the stars. Throughout the course of the story players grapple with dangerous underworld thugs, corrupt security officers, and cruel and ambivalent corporations.

My Role

On this Project I:

Designed and wrote all content for the conversion supplement, effectively reskinning the majority of 5e DnD's toolset.
Created new character classes and branching upgrade trees.
Developed new systems for Android characters and Spaceship combat.
Plotted the overall narrative of the campaign.
Wrote all text, including dialogue, GM instructions, character bios, and item descriptions.
Created numerous roll-tables with detailed explanations to help GMs quickly generate content.
Created all visual assets used in both books, including layout elements and map designs.

Writing, Narrative Design, and 2D Art

Unique Project Features

Converting a Classic

Investigations and Androids is built on the foundation of 5e Dungeons and Dragons, but effectively reskins the entire system. I wanted to maintain the underlying design (both for player familiarity and balance) so this meant re-interpreting spells, traits and abilities in a sci-fi context. Sometimes this was straightforward (magic and sci-fi tech are close cousins, after all), but other times it required more flexible interpretations of spells and magic, with the later often taking the form of remote hacking.

Creating new systems was also an enjoyable challenge, whether it was a simple tailing-mechanic for following targets or a more complex android toolset, which allowed players to be oblivious to the fact that they were actually androids. For my first foray into more complex RPG design, starting with a DnD foundation proved instrumental in learning the ropes.