Chromebook, Wizard's Breath

In doing these recaps/reviews of the books in my collection I have  been able to find a few gems that I did not know that I had. The  biggest of these so far has been the entire Cyberpunk line. I have  known that the game was good but I have not paid attention to the  accessories as well as I should have perhaps.

Chromebook is the first in a series of what would become four  books dedicated to the accessories that would be available to  characters in the Cyberpunk 2020 world. Much as was done in the  Night City accessory this book packs a ton of information into  it's 96 pages. One of the nice touches is that it is written as if  it is an actual "catalog" and not a gaming accessory. It declares itself the "digital styleguide and techbook for Cyberpunk 2020".  It does well in fulfilling this claim.

This book more so than others that would follow is not focused so  much on the combat aspect of the game. This first volume though  full of useful stuff for the action side of the game also has a  good amount of what would be considered fluff by some. To me this  helps make the setting more real though. The book is broken down  into ten sections. These are as follows:

Electronics & Miscellaneous
Vehicles
Cyberware
Fashion
Executive Services
Chipware
Housing
Software
Price List & Index

The sections of the book are all well done and in addition to  describing the items often have images as one would expect a  catalog or styleguide to have. The art though not great is  passable. The books art adds some color when it gets to the  Fashion section. This is a nice touch and it might serve to emphasize that section of the book in the readers mind.

The one drawback is one that other material for the game has  suffered from. The materials presented in some cases either in  function or form are archaic in today's world let alone what will  be in less than 10 years. This often the case for books dealing  with technology that are were written twenty years ago so I will  have to give it a pass. One can always think of it as a throwback  to a vintage feel.

I have to say that this book would be one that any GM of the  Cyberpunk game will want to have in their bookcase. It would also  serve well someone running Shadowrun or any modern/future type  game. It is also just a fun book for anyone to read through and  see how close they writers from 1991 came to getting things  right. Avery Brooks did a great commercial for IBM where he  decried the present the lack of flying cars. This book does not  promise those but it does have somethings that are still perhaps  too far off. I for one though still want the flying car I was promised.


Spell:

Wizard's Breath

Level: Fifth
Range: None
Duration: One Turn + 1 Turn/Level
Ares of Effect: Caster
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 1 Round
Saving Throw: None

When this spell is cast the magic user makes it so that they can  breath and function in in any environment in regards to breathing.  The spell does not impart any other immunities or abilities to adapt to harsh environments.

This spell will allow the caster to breath under water. It will  even allow them to function in environments with noxious fumes.  Other aspects of the certain environments will limit the spells  functionality though. The caster could breath submersed in lava  but the lava would kill them in other ways. The vacuum of space is  not a problem but the cold and pressure issues would be a problem.

In addition to the obvious benefits the spell also grants the  caster some offensive capabilities as well. These can be used up  to three times during the duration of the spell. If used the three  times then the spell will expire with the third use. Each use will  allow the caster to have their breath affect a single target  within 1" of them. The effect of their breath will serve as a  single target Sleep, Friendship or Hold Person spell. The victim of  the caster's breath is not entitled to a save versus these effects.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the  write ups last, were all written up or conceived of back in the  80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other  than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be  slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of  spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :)  Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on  me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please  let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.