Ghost in Virtual Seconds
A CBR+PNK Actual Play and GM Prep.
Last week, I tumbled through my first run and session of CBR+PNK RPG from Cabinet of Curiosities. We're playing in the BAMA — the Boston-Atlanta Metropolitan Axis — the gritty cyber-metropolis from William Gibson’s Sprawl novels. The mission? A remix of Gone in 60 Seconds (of course, the Nicolas Cage version), where the crew’s boosting high-value rides from corporate hellscapes and dystopian arenas.
And under the hood?
I was dogfooding Mad-Dice — putting my online dice app through its paces with real people, real dice rolls, a real game session.
Why CBR+PNK?
CBR+PNK is a Forged in the Dark variant streamlined for one-shots. Character creation is tight, framing is fast, it drives you from zero to mission site in record time. Great for rotating players and initial stress-testing tools like Mad-Dice. I've run Blades in the Dark and Scum & Villainy plenty, I figured this would go pretty easy.
I did stumble a bit during the Engagement Roll moment — turns out CBR+PNK doesn’t use the standard FitD engagement mechanic. Instead, you roll into play via character introductions — a round-robin of player-driven character scenes describing how their character hits the ground and possibly triggering action rolls. I do like the character introductions rule, and I think the engagement mechanics are gone, because Position and Effect are gone. The system trades Position + Effect for a different Threat + Effect scale, using Levels 1–4 (default is Level 2). I ran it RAW, and while I still prefer Position/Effect, I'm not sure what I think about it yet. I'm cranky for sure, but it's also my first swing at this. I don't have enough experience with it yet.
🧪 Mad-Dice in the Field
This was the first “live fire” for Mad-Dice — and it held up well. D6 pool rolls, chat stream — all there. My next step is testing the Trackables system, which will eventually handle: Clocks, Progress bars, Counters, Shared resources like Fellowship (TOR) or Aspects/Distinctions (Fate/Cortex).
I want it to feel modular but intuitive, and this session gave me a real sense of where the interface needs polish and where it is good.
Character Vibes + Edge Cases
I had three fantastic players, including Sean Nitter (who wrote an outstanding AP recap from the player side — We need more player APs!!).
We did misread the Edges rules, but that’s exactly why I like testing with players who are all-in. We re-read the docs post-play and compared notes. That kind of commitment builds trust and upgrades everyone's understanding of the game.
What really got me were the Augmentations players made up:
ReBoot 2.7 — an internal defibrillator that brings you back online. Straight up jacks you back into the action.
The NoleX Kid/Liv/Stom-GAN44 — a filtration system so powerful you could drink motor oil and mistake it for diner coffee.
These custom augments say so much about the world. It’s beautiful.
Paying the Bills
Low-prep games are tricky. Here in CBR+PNK, I pull from various media for characters, situations, and locations to help me fill in the details “on the fly” at the table. I don’t so much have to make it up as remember and maybe tweak it. If you’re into GM insights, emergent play, and a view into how sessions evolve, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Every bit helps keep the dice rolling! 🎲🔥
and ICYMI… I’m 100 Mondays of Musings Strong!!
Codename Jenna
As you'll see, prep for CBR+PNK is light. List some obstacles and play to find out, says the brochure. That works great if you're used to that kind of prep and play. Here's how I did it on last week’s run.
Target Vehicle: Fisher Price Honda XF5 — Custom Sprawl Bike (1 of 2)
Owner: The Yuller Twins — celebrity UFB (Ultimate Fight Bikers) stars
Location: Rageyards Arena, Secaucus, NJ
Obstacles:
Arena Security (Threat 2 – Comms/Cams grid)
Encrypted DigiKey Fob on the target bike (Remote access)
The Yuller Twins (Combat Biker NPCs, straight outta televised chaos)
Wrench (Skilled Mechanic — Threat 3 | 6-Tick Clock)
The Rageyards were inspired by memories of Secaucus from my dad’s old trucking days — filtered through rust, neon, and ruin. The UFB is UFC-on-wheels. The Yullers are the Osmonds with weapons. Wrench is just Whistler from Blade with more gremlins and less patience. With those notes and images as a base, I was ready to play to find out.
🔄 What’s Next
Tonight is Session Two.
Two returning players. Two new faces. I’m offering two mission choices, each tied to a different vehicle and situation. I keep all the various session characters in the same character keeper. We’ll roll character intros, hot-drop into action rolls, and keep the tension tight. I updated the Character Keeper to the official version, which cleaned up some inconsistencies.
If the coding gods smile, we’ll use Mad-Dice Trackables tonight for clocks and countdowns.
The One-Sheet
Want to see the player-facing doc? Here’s the game’s pitch:
📄 Memfhiz BRIEFING — BAMA Ops
The Mood Board
The Sprawl Wiki
I’m fired up.
Mad-Dice is doing the thing.
CBR+PNK has been fun to learn and test with.
And this crew? Absolute chaos artists.
Let’s ride.