This is Chromebook.

The cover art, by Mike Ebert, is the most iconic bit of Cyberpunk art for me. I was actually confused when I was looking to get the rules because I thought this was the rules. Because look at that cover. It is perfect. It encapsulates the entire 80s style over substance vibe that infuses the whole game, while also visually summarizing a lot of weird stuff going on with androids that the cyberpunk genre still struggles with.

Chromebook is an in-world document, a black market catalog. It is presented in print in a way that mirrors how it might look on Cyberpunk’s dataterm screens. It is full of stuff – weapons, vehicles, fashion, housing, software and services. Some of that had game application, some of it is just flavor.

I love catalogs. They are little historical time capsules. Find one in your house from even 5 years ago and it is a weird window into the past. Chromebook functions in a similar way, allowing readers to grok the world of Cyberpunk in a way completely different from a typical RPG equipment sourcebook. More games should take this approach.

This is as good a place as any to mention that I am still a little weirded out that there isn’t a human being named R. Talsorian. As a kid, I saw the name of the game company and just assumed it was like a designer label, some weird rich equivalent to DeLorean making RPGs. I have no idea if that was Pondsmith’s intention when he named the company that, but if not, it sure was a happy accident of a marketing strategy.