The Story
"The notion that nature can be calculated inevitably leads to the conclusion that humans too can be reduced to basic mechanical parts..."
The year is 209X. The old nations are ghosts. Climate change, societal collapse, and forgotten wars have shattered America, leaving a landscape carved up by corporate ambition. In the sprawling megalopolis of Cincinnati—Cinci to those who live and die in its streets—megacorporations like Tower Group, CinnTech, and Naas rule from gleaming, fortified towers, their power absolute.
Down below, in the neon-drenched, rain-slicked canyons of the slums and the monolithic arcologies known as the Projects, life is a desperate hustle. This is a world of runners, fixers, gangers, and scavengers, all fighting for their next score, their next meal, their next breath. Technology is a double-edged sword; cybernetic implants can make you a god, but they can also make you a target. Information is the most valuable currency, and violence is the most common transaction.
This is the world you are about to enter. Your past has been scrubbed, your identity a blank slate. You're here for a job. To survive, you'll need to learn the streets, build a crew, and decide who you want to be. The stories below are fragments from this broken world—whispers from the recent past that have shaped the present you now face.
Timeline of Recent Events
This timeline pieces together key events from the archived narratives, establishing the chain of incidents that have recently shaken the underworld of Cinci and the surrounding Badlands.
The Past (Circa 2078-2080s)
The Telogia Raid: A black-ops team of elite mercenaries, including individuals known as Mal and Morgan Long, is betrayed during a disastrous mission against a Naas debriefing facility in the Florida panhandle. The team is wiped out, scattering the few survivors and creating bitter rivalries that will fester for over a decade. (Storm Force)
The Present (A Turbulent Period in the 2090s)
The Fall of a Fixer: Layde, a well-established fixer operating out of Murphy's Bar, is systematically destroyed by Dog, a sadistic enforcer from the city's NoGo Core. It is later revealed that Dog was secretly contracted by a black-ops unit within Tower Group, led by Cordova, to neutralize Layde, who had discovered too much about their operations. (Dog & her teeth, No Justice)
The Snakehead Execution: Ken Hong, a senior member of the Lucky Shen snakehead gang, is publicly executed. The murder is photographed by freelancer Sally Stone, who is warned off investigating further by fixers Sammie and Leon. Cordova's unit later assassinates Sally's editor to suppress the story and prevent a full-scale gang war from disrupting their primary operation. (Gangland, No Justice)
The Gamble Street Bombing: Cordova's unit orchestrates the bombing of a Tower Group APC on Gamble Street. The chaos serves as a cover for their main objective.
- The attack is carried out by a brain-wiped puppet, who is immediately eliminated by a hired sniper. (Goes Bang, Glint)
- The incident is observed from afar by Trooper Jackson, a disillusioned Tower Group drone operator. (Drone Station)
The Triad Coup: Using the Gamble Street bombing as a pretext, Cordova's unit extracts Tony Wu, leader of the Five Lucky Winds triad, and delivers him to his lifelong rival, Lucky Shen. This act decapitates the triad leadership and prevents a gang war that Wu was planning, thus preserving the fragile status quo that Tower Group desires in the slums. (No Justice)
A Botched Run: Runners Kaylee and Denny are ambushed during a smuggling run on the Ohio River. Denny is killed. Believing she was set up, Kaylee hunts down and kills her fixer, BabyO, before going to ground in the Eastwood arcology. (Denny and Me)
The Courier's Sacrifice: An assassin, hired by Rohden, uses a terminally ill courier named Angela as a living bomb to eliminate the reclusive and untouchable information brokers known as the Siprasi Twins. The assassin confirms the kill with corrupt city detective Ferguson. (Angela)
The Sinclair Extraction: In the Badlands, a scavenger crew led by Sugar and including members Jake, Salt, and Micky is hired to transport a crate for a shell company called Biophorm.
- The crew is ambushed and destroyed. This is witnessed from the perspective of Jake. (Badland Blues)
- It is revealed the entire operation was a multi-layered corporate extraction. The crate contained Michael Sinclair, a CinnTech scientist. The ambush was orchestrated by a CinnTech counter-extraction team to identify who was trying to steal Sinclair. The ultimate twist is that the lead CinnTech operator was, in fact, defecting to Naas and had orchestrated the entire affair as their own extraction. (Extraction)
The Aftermath
A Ghost from the Past: Mal, a survivor of the Telogia raid, lives in self-imposed exile on a derelict oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. When Morgan Long, another survivor, washes ashore, old wounds and dark secrets are reopened, leading to a violent and tragic conclusion. (Storm Force)
An International Trail: Detective Ferguson, operating far from his usual beat in Cinci, travels to Brazil. His mission is to dismantle the Irmandade Roxa, a cartel that has begun smuggling people from the collapsed United States to more stable nations like Brazil, reversing the old-world dynamic. (Inbound)
World Compendium
Key Factions
Megacorporations: Entities like Tower Group (private security), CinnTech (biotech), Naas (diversified), and Rohden (diversified) are the true governments. They control the PZs, enforce their own laws, and wage shadow wars against each other using black-ops teams and corporate assassins.
Triads & Yakuza: Traditional organized crime syndicates that control specific territories, most notably Gamble Street. They maintain a fragile peace with each other and a political arrangement with Tower Group.
Snakeheads: Brutal and secretive people-smuggling cartels, such as those led by Lucky Shen. They are considered dangerously unpredictable even by other criminal factions.
Street Gangs (Jags & Modes): Hyper-violent, style-obsessed gangs that control territory in the slums and Projects. Their conflict is a constant feature of street life.
Runners & Scavengers: The freelance backbone of the underworld. Runners take on illegal jobs within the city, while scavenger crews brave the dangers of the Badlands for salvage and high-risk hauling contracts.
Key Locations
Cincinnati (Cinci): A sprawling, decaying megalopolis on the Ohio River. The primary setting for the game.
The Slums: The vast, low-lying, and chaotic majority of the city. A mixture of shanties, makeshift markets, and crumbling pre-collapse architecture.
The Projects: Towering, self-contained arcologies (e.g., Eastwood, Bronson) that house millions. Each is a vertical city with its own culture, economy, and dangers.
Protected Zones (PZs): Walled-off, high-security corporate enclaves where the elite live and work, completely isolated from the reality of the city below.
The Badlands: The desolate, lawless expanse outside of Cinci, littered with the ruins of old towns and highways. Home to scavengers, isolated compounds, and corporate black sites.
The Core: A NoGo Zone in the heart of the city. A dense, dark, and anarchic slab of urban hell, home to the most desperate and dangerous elements of society, such as the snuffer studios.
