MÖRKTOBER begins tomorrow, October 1, 2026. That means 31 days of making things related to MÖRK BORG. Check the FAQ for details.
Although the event hasn’t technically started yet, I’m already thinking about what I want to do this year.1 In the past, I’ve made random items, city locations, and characters all for MÖRK BORG.
This year I’m switching things up and making something for CY_BORG. Specifically, I had an idea for an “app delivery platform” that could be incorporated into games. Sort of like Steam, but more insidious and cyberpunk.
The working title for it is sweet app.
Sweet app
CY_BORG uses apps in a way that is analogous to scrolls in MÖRK BORG. They have powerful effects but are also inherently dangerous. The core rulebook (p. 70) describes apps as “custom-made cartridges and cassettes with the ability to hack tech and physically affect your surroundings when slotted into a cyberdeck.”
To use an app, you jack into your deck with your RCD and pop the app cart into your cyberdeck. Mechanically, you then Test Knowledge DR12 to see if it works or not. On a fumble (failure), a nasty little backlash fires.2 Each use of the same app makes the backlash more likely to happen.
My idea for sweet app is that instead of requiring physical media for each app, your character could load a single app instead. Get the free sweet app and install it on your cyberdeck, and then use that app to purchase and download all the other apps you want — a unified software delivery platform and marketplace. It is, of course, owned and operated by Apiary Heavy Industries.
What happens when sweet app won’t run on your busted old cyberdeck? In that case, you should purchase a Sweetdeck from Apiary, guaranteed to run sweet app without a problem. Some terms and conditions apply, but that’s all fine-print lawyer stuff. You should just ignore it.
Making the prompts work for cyberpunk
The MÖRKTOBER prompts intentionally have very MÖRK BORG and dark fantasy vibes — with an appropriate amount of “spooky Halloween” sprinkled on top for the season.
It’s a little trickier to use the prompts when designing for sci-fi or cyberpunk settings. In fact, I jokingly refer to making CY_BORG stuff with them “hard mode” for MÖRKTOBER. That said, it absolutely can be done and might lead to some really fun ideas.
Take the first prompt for example: goat. While I suppose this could be an app for use on actual goats, I’d rather think about how to reinterpret it as something else. We could instead use it as GOAT — Greatest of All Time. Could this be an app that improves something or makes it better? What about software that optimizes other software? We might be on to something there!
An app a day keeps the…
So that’s my plan for this year: Make an app each day for use in CY_BORG, thematically tied to the sweet app platform.
If I were making things for MÖRK BORG, I would use Tenebrous to spark some ideas each day. It is packed with random tables that result in well over a thousand combinations.3 Alas, that isn’t going to work as well for CY_BORG.
As an internal support tool, I’ve made some lists that work with a tarot deck to generate ideas for each app. Using the suit and rank from two cards, it will give me a verb and a noun that can be combined much like the way Wizard Fuel Duel works. One card gives me a verb and the other card gives me a noun. Drawing cards might generate “activate software” or “melt battery.” Combined with the MÖRKTOBER prompt, I can then imagine what the app might be.
Using the sweet app format keeps the scope creep under control. I only have room for about 65-150 words per app. Constraints are wonderful for creativity.
Chill, not a challenge
I always tell people that MÖRKTOBER is chill, not a challenge. I intentionally designed it so there’s no registration, no central repository, and no prize for finishing on time. I want everyone to embrace the chaos, have fun with it, and not let it be yet another source of stress in their lives.
This year, I need to also remind myself of that. I might finish all 31 prompts and end up with a complete sweet app, but I might just as likely quit somewhere before that. Maybe I’ll finish it months after October ends. Who knows!
I’ll make stuff while it’s fun and take breaks when I need them.
It’s the act of creating something that is important.
- E.P. 💀
P.S. Check out Tumulus. It’s a print-only, quarterly zine packed with cool stuff.
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Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press
Sweet app is an independent production by Exeunt Press and is not affiliated with Stockholm Kartell. It is published under the CY_BORG Third Party License. CY_BORG is copyright 2022 Stockholm Kartell. Sweet app is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press.
Quoth Getaro: “It’s Mörktober, not Preptember.”
Backlashes might do physical damage to you, activate security procedures, or wreck your gear. They are all bad. Some are worse than others.
I think the actual number is “in the thousands” but it depends how you count and I’d have to do some actual math. So I’m being very conservative with my estimate here.
I didn’t realize sweet dot app was an active website. Don’t click any links. Will change the name I guess!
Ok well done EP, you've convinced me to participate!