Iron Siege
An alternate 1940s world locked in endless trench warfare fought with massive diesel-powered bipedal tanks.
Mechanic: Fuel Consumption & Exhaust Smoke: Running heavy diesel engines creates smoke screens but burns fuel supply dice.
D6 Storyteller: Cybernetics, Speculative & Alternate Tech Companion
A Fiction-First Tabletop Roleplaying Expansion & 10 Cybernetics, Speculative & Alternate Tech Settings
Available in: Paperback · Kindle
About This Book
The Cybernetics, Speculative & Alternate Tech Companion explores the relationship between technology and humanity across ten settings where the tools you use define who you are and what you risk.
Technology in the D6 Storyteller system is never neutral. Every device, graft, or digital system comes with a trade-off built directly into its mechanic. In Genome Revolution, your spliced genes make you powerful, until they make you unpredictable. In Hardwired City, scanning someone’s memories gives you the evidence you need and risks destroying your own neural architecture. In Aether Voyagers, your coal supply is both your fuel and your countdown clock.
Each of the ten settings delivers a complete playable experience: evocative world lore, a genre mechanic that makes the technology feel real, three ready-to-play archetypes, a condition palette suited to the setting’s hazards, and a starter scenario. The range here is intentional: from the pulp optimism of Rocket Cadets of Sector 7 to the body-horror stakes of Genome Revolution to the whimsical clockwork ecology of Mechanized Realm.
This companion is fully compatible with the D6 Storyteller Core Rulebook and all other volumes in the series. Groups can import cybernetic grafts into fantasy settings or bring alchemical thinking into cyberpunk worlds.
Inside This Companion
- Ten complete cyberpunk settings, each fully playable from the first session
- One unique genre mechanic per setting, integrated with the D6 dice pool system
- Three character archetypes per setting with descriptors, drives, flaws, and approach distributions
- Genre-specific condition palettes covering physical, social, and psychological harm
- Complete starter scenario seeds with three-layer scene design
- Custom character sheets for each setting's specific mechanics
The Ten Settings
Each setting is a complete playable world with its own tone, mechanic, archetypes, and starter scenario.
Genome Revolution
DNA editing is ubiquitous; citizens modify their genomes with animal, plant, and synthetic traits on street corners.
Mechanic: Gene Instability & Viral Overwrite: Excessive genetic splices trigger unstable mutations during high-stress rolls.
Grey Goo Frontier
Earth devoured by self-replicating nanobots; survivors live in insulated electromagnetic domes.
Mechanic: Nano-Disintegration & Shield Battery: Exposure to grey goo disintegrates equipment unless protected by EM shields.
Atomic 1950s
A raygun-gothic 1950s vision of the future with flying cars, household robots, and atomic rocket ships.
Mechanic: Atomic Charge & Radiation Leak: Atomic devices grant high Effect but emit radiation conditions on rolls of 1.
Grid Hackers
Humanity lives inside a global neural virtual reality network while rogue programmers hack digital physics.
Mechanic: Bandwidth & Code Injection: Hacking virtual laws requires spending bandwidth dice; system firewalls track intrusion.
Mechanized Realm
A world where nature is literally clockwork: trees have copper gears, rivers flow on conveyor belts, and animals are brass constructs.
Mechanic: Winding Key & Lubricant: Characters must wind their clockwork limbs; lack of oil causes joint lock conditions.
Rocket Cadets of Sector 7
1930s pulp sci-fi space opera featuring bubble helmets, glass rockets, and friendly alien diplomats.
Mechanic: Pulp Heroism & Zap Gun Overload: Performing dramatic heroic tropes awards bonus Momentum; zap guns can be overloaded for massive blasts.
Hardwired City
Rainy cyberpunk metropolis where detectives investigate digital memory theft and synthetic human assassinations.
Mechanic: Memory Extraction & Neural Burnout: Hackers scan target memories directly, risking neural burnout conditions on failures.
Aether Voyagers
Victorian brass rocket ships powered by coal boilers sail through atmospheric sky-aether to colonize Mars.
Mechanic: Aether Sail Tuning & Coal Supply: Adjusting solar-aether sails controls speed; coal reserves must be managed during long voyages.
Nano Wars
Miniaturized agents inside a human body battle viruses, rogue cells, and microscopic parasites.
Mechanic: Cellular Scale & Immune Response: The host's immune system treats agents as foreign invaders if noise levels spike.
Questions About This Book
What is Cybernetics & Alternate Tech?
D6 Storyteller: Cybernetics, Speculative & Alternate Tech Companion is a cyberpunk volume in the D6 Storyteller series by Alex Merced. It contains ten complete settings, each with a unique mechanic, character archetypes, a condition palette, and a starter scenario.
Do I need the Core Rulebook to use Cybernetics & Alternate Tech?
Each companion contains a summary of the core mechanics sufficient to begin play, but the D6 Storyteller Core Rulebook provides the full rules reference and Storyteller guidance. New groups are encouraged to start with the Core Rulebook.
How many settings are in this book?
D6 Storyteller: Cybernetics, Speculative & Alternate Tech Companion contains ten complete, ready-to-play settings, each with its own lore, unique mechanic, archetypes, condition palette, and starter scenario.
Can I mix these settings with other D6 Storyteller books?
Yes. The D6 Storyteller engine is modular. Any setting-specific mechanic can be imported into other worlds, and lore from multiple companions can be combined freely.