Chapter 21 — Neon Lockbox (Cyberpunk Demo)
Part VI — Starter Worlds
A walkthrough of the cyberpunk starter.
Setting
Section titled “Setting”A rain-slicked alley in a neon-lit district. Behind a reinforced door lies a data vault protected by autonomous ICE.
Contents
Section titled “Contents”| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Alley | Starting zone — the fixer’s meeting point |
| Server Corridor | Transition zone — exposed wiring hazard |
| Data Vault | Terminal zone — the ICE sentry’s domain |
| Kael | NPC — a fixer with a job offer |
| ICE Sentry | Enemy — autonomous security, guards the vault |
| ICE Breaker | Item — bypass tool for digital security |
| Netrunning | Progression tree — packet-sniffer → neural-boost / ice-hardening |
Cross-Genre Reuse
Section titled “Cross-Genre Reuse”Neon Lockbox uses the exact same engine as The Chapel Threshold. The differences are entirely in the ruleset and content:
| Fantasy | Cyberpunk |
|---|---|
| vigor, instinct, will | chrome, reflex, netrunning |
| hp, stamina | hp, heat |
| attack, rest | attack, jack-in |
| XP | street-cred |
The cognition system works identically — the ICE sentry holds beliefs and selects intents just like the ash ghoul. The perception filter uses reflex instead of instinct and supports a network sense type alongside visual and auditory.
The environment system produces noise from combat and has a wiring hazard that damages entities when heat is high — a cyberpunk-flavored version of the vestry’s unstable floor.
Same engine. Different world. That’s the point.