The adventure ahead
In the sprawl of New Meridian, megacorporations rule from chrome towers while the rest survive in the neon-lit cracks. You are freelance edgerunners—mercenaries, hackers, and street samurai who take jobs no one else will. When a routine data-shard handoff goes wrong, you are pulled into a conspiracy that reaches from back-alley ripperdocs to the highest corporate arcologies. The shard contains a signal that should not exist: a ghost in the network, a whisper of something called The Architect.
To survive, you must outrun the city's predators, decode the signal, and face a lieutenant named Vex Kade—a woman with experimental chrome and a dangerous ambition. The Chrome Signal is the first act of a cyberpunk campaign of neon noir, desperate action, and moral choices.
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You are edgerunners in New Meridian, a rain-soaked cyberpunk sprawl where chrome is cheap and life is cheaper. A fixer named Sable has hired you for a simple job: retrieve a data-shard from a courier in the Neon Market and bring it to the Rusty Spindle bar. The pay is good, the risk seems low. But when you arrive, the handoff is ambushed by street gangers with military-grade cyberware. The courier whispers a name before she dies: The Architect.
Now everyone wants the shard—corporate agents, ripperdocs, and a chrome-augmented lieutenant named Vex Kade. You have one night to decode the signal, stay alive, and find out why a piece of stolen data is worth more than your lives. Tone: neon noir, high-tech low-life, desperate action, and hard choices. Starting hook: Meet Sable at the Rusty Spindle, a dive bar in the Undercity, at midnight. Bring your iron and your wits.
Behind the screen
Act I: The Chrome Signal is a free preview for a cyberpunk-themed 5e campaign. It is designed for 1st-level characters and takes them to 3rd level over 3–4 sessions. The adventure begins in the Undercity of New Meridian, where a fixer named Sable hires the party to retrieve a data-shard from a courier in the Neon Market. The handoff is ambushed by Vex Kade's crew. Vex Kade is the act's central villain—a mid-level enforcer, not the campaign's ultimate threat.
She wants the shard to prove her worth to her mysterious patron, The Architect. The party must protect the shard, find a ripperdoc to decrypt it, infiltrate a data haven, and finally confront Vex on a rooftop extraction. Along the way, they learn that the shard contains coordinates to an abandoned arcology in Sector 7 and a fragment of a post-human consciousness. The act ends with the party holding a keycard to Sector 7 and the first hints of The Architect, setting them on the path to the larger campaign.
Secrets: Vex Kade is augmented with prototype tech derived from The Architect; the signal is not a person but a pattern that can copy itself; the Helix Syndicate is only one of several factions hunting the shard. Progression: the party should reach 3rd level by the act's end, gain the Sector 7 keycard, and earn the enmity of Vex Kade.
Hook 01
Sable, a fixer with a reputation for clean jobs, hires the party to retrieve a data-shard from a courier named Kessa in the Neon Market. The pay is 200 gp each, and the meet is at midnight at the Rusty Spindle. Sable warns that the shard is hot and that the party should trust no one. This hook launches the party directly into the first scene.
Hook 02
If the party fails to secure the shard during the handoff, they wake in a gutter with the shard missing. Sable is furious but offers a second chance: track the thieves to Chrome Alley and recover the shard before it reaches Vex Kade. This hook is used if the party loses the first encounter, keeping the story on track.
The party is hired by a fixer named Sable to retrieve a data-shard from a courier in the Neon Market. The handoff is ambushed by Vex Kade's crew. The party must protect the shard, find a ripperdoc to decrypt it, infiltrate a data haven, and confront Vex Kade on a rooftop extraction. They learn the shard contains coordinates to Sector 7 and a fragment of a post-human consciousness called The Architect. The act ends with the party holding a keycard to Sector 7 and the first hints of the larger conspiracy.
Read aloud
Rain falls in sheets, turning the Neon Market into a blur of magenta and cyan reflections. Vendors hawk synthetic noodles and bootleg chrome from under tarps. A courier in a cracked leather jacket waits by a noodle stand, clutching a small data-shard. Her eyes dart from face to face. Above, a drone hums, its camera lens glinting. The crowd presses in, and you can feel eyes on you from every alley.
Sable hired the party to meet the courier, a woman named Kessa, and bring the shard to the Rusty Spindle. Kessa is nervous because she knows the shard is hot. As the party approaches, 2 Bandit and 1 Spy move to intercept. The Bandits are street gangers with chrome knuckles; the Spy is a corporate agent in a hooded coat. They demand the shard. If the party hesitates, the Spy uses a flash grenade (reflavored as a blinding pulse) and the Bandits attack.
Vex Kade watches from a rooftop but does not join the fight—she is evaluating the party. If the party wins, Kessa is mortally wounded and whispers, 'The Architect sees.' If the party loses, they wake in a gutter with the shard missing, and must track the thieves to Chrome Alley. Adjust as needed to keep the shard in play.
Read aloud
Chrome Alley is a narrow canyon of flickering signs and steam vents. Doc Morrow's clinic is a converted storefront with a hand-painted sign: 'Morrow's Meds & Mods.' Inside, the air smells of antiseptic and ozone. Doc Morrow, a wiry man with a mechanical arm, looks up from a patient. 'You're not here for a check-up,' he says. 'Close the door. You're bringing trouble.'
Doc Morrow owes Sable a favor, but he is terrified of Vex Kade. He can decrypt the shard, but it will take an hour. During that hour, 2 Thug and 1 Bandit arrive to collect the shard for Vex. They threaten to burn the clinic. The party can fight, negotiate, or hide. If they fight, use the clinic's cramped space for cover. Doc Morrow can provide a single healing potion if the party is badly hurt.
If the party negotiates, the Thugs demand the shard and will leave if given a convincing fake (Deception DC 15). If the party hides, the Thugs ransack the clinic and leave, but Doc Morrow is beaten and loses the ability to decrypt the shard—forcing the party to find the data haven.
Read aloud
The abandoned subway station is a cathedral of rust and flickering emergency lights. Makeshift server racks hum in the dark, tended by hackers with glowing tattoos and wired headsets. A woman with a shaved head and a dozen piercings looks up. 'You're not from here,' she says. 'But you have something interesting. I can feel it.' This is Glitch, the data haven's keeper.
Glitch can decode the shard, but she demands a price: the party must retrieve a stolen server core from a nearby corporate vault. The vault is guarded by 2 Guard and 1 Spy. The party can fight, sneak, or hack. If they fight, the Guards use stun batons and the Spy uses a smoke grenade. If they sneak, use Stealth checks. If they hack, use Arcana or Investigation to bypass the lock.
Once the core is retrieved, Glitch decodes the shard. The signal is a fragment of a post-human consciousness—The Architect. It contains a map to Sector 7 and a warning: 'The pattern is waking.' Vex Kade's crew is closing in; the party must leave quickly.
Read aloud
Rain hammers the Helix Tower rooftop. Below, the city sprawls in a grid of neon and shadow. A dropship waits on the landing pad, its engines whining. Vex Kade stands between you and escape, her chrome arm glowing with blue light. 'You have something that belongs to my employer,' she says. 'Give it to me, and I'll let you live. Maybe.' Behind her, 2 Thug and 1 Scout fan out, weapons ready.
Vex Kade is the act's central villain. She is not a monster and does not use a monster stat block. Describe her actions and tactics using her forthcoming character sheet: she is a skilled fighter with experimental augmentations that let her move fast, absorb damage, and emit a disabling pulse. She offers the party a deal: hand over the shard and the keycard, and she will spare them. If they refuse, she attacks with her Thugs and Scout.
She fights intelligently, using the Scout for ranged support and the Thugs as shields. If she is reduced to half her hit points, she activates a smoke screen and escapes, dropping a keycard to Sector 7. If the party negotiates (Persuasion DC 15), she reveals that The Architect is not a person but a pattern, and that she is afraid of it. She still demands the shard, but will let the party keep the keycard if they promise to leave the city. If the party wins, they can take her dropship and escape to Sector 7.
Milestone: The party reaches 3rd level, secures the Sector 7 keycard, and learns that The Architect is a self-replicating pattern of a post-human mind. They have survived Vex Kade and are now on the path to the abandoned arcology, where the next act begins.
Vex Kade
Vex Kade is a tall, sharp-featured woman in her early thirties, all hard angles and coiled economy of motion, wrapped in a rain-dark armore…
Free campaign generations include one villain sheet. Additional villain, NPC, and player-facing module character sheets are available in premium campaigns.
Subscribe NowFree campaign encounters use official monster sheets, plus the campaign villain character when referenced. They do not include generated custom monster sheets. Subscribe to create custom campaign monsters and enemy stat blocks.
Subscribe NowVex Kade wants to prove her worth to her mysterious patron, The Architect. She believes that delivering the data-shard will grant her more power and secure her place in the coming new order. Deep down, she is terrified of The Architect and what it represents, but she hides her fear behind ambition and cruelty.
Cold, calculating, and pragmatic. Vex respects strength and efficiency, and she despises weakness. She is not needlessly cruel, but she will kill without hesitation if it serves her goals. She has a dry, cutting wit and enjoys psychological manipulation. She is secretly afraid of losing control, which makes her dangerous when cornered.
Vex Kade uses her experimental augmentations to control the battlefield. She opens with a disabling pulse to stun or slow the party's most dangerous combatants, then closes with her chrome arm blade. She targets spellcasters and ranged attackers first, using her Thugs as shields and her Scout for covering fire. If reduced to half her hit points, she activates a smoke screen and escapes, dropping a keycard to Sector 7. If she cannot escape, she fights to the death, but she will accept a deal if it lets her keep the shard and save face.
If defeated, Vex Kade can be interrogated for information about The Architect, the Helix Syndicate, and Sector 7. She is not redeemed in Act I, but if the party shows her mercy, she may become a reluctant ally in later acts, driven by her fear of The Architect. If she escapes, she vows to hunt the party down and becomes a recurring antagonist.
Recommended party: 4–5 SRD characters, 1st level, balanced mix of combat, social, and exploration roles. Any SRD species and class can be reflavored as cyberpunk archetypes: Fighters as street samurai, Rogues as netrunners or infiltrators, Wizards as code-slingers, Clerics as combat medics, Bards as face characters, etc. Avoid Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Artificer, and other excluded names. A mix of ranged and melee options is recommended, plus at least one character with social skills and one with investigation or arcana.
Before starting Act I, run a session zero to establish the cyberpunk tone and set expectations. Discuss the themes of neon noir, high-tech low-life, and moral ambiguity. Ask players to create 1st-level SRD characters and reflavor them as cyberpunk archetypes: Fighters as street samurai, Rogues as netrunners or infiltrators, Wizards as code-slingers, Clerics as combat medics, Bards as face characters, etc. Avoid excluded names such as Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Artificer, and other protected IP. Establish that the party are edgerunners who take jobs no one else will. Give them a shared contact: Sable, the fixer. Discuss safety tools and lines/veils, as the setting includes violence, corporate exploitation, and body modification. Ensure every character has a reason to work with Sable and a connection to the Undercity. Provide the player handout and answer any questions about the world.
Act I is designed for a party of 4–5 characters of 1st to 3rd level. For a smaller party (3 characters), reduce the number of enemies in each encounter by one and consider lowering the difficulty rating by one step. For a larger party (6 characters), add one additional enemy to each encounter and increase the difficulty rating by one step. If the party is struggling, Vex Kade can offer a deal instead of fighting to the death, or Doc Morrow can provide a healing potion. If the party is breezing through encounters, have Vex Kade use her disabling pulse more aggressively and focus fire on the party's healer. The goal is to keep the pressure on without overwhelming the party, as Act I is meant to set the tone for a larger campaign.
Act I is a fast-paced, neon-soaked introduction to the campaign. Keep the pressure on: the party should feel hunted by Vex Kade's crew and the clock ticking on the shard. Use the read-aloud text to set the scene, then let the players drive the action. The shard is the central MacGuffin; if it is lost, the party must recover it, but never let the story stall. Vex Kade is the act's central villain, but she is not the ultimate threat—she is a lieutenant, and her fear of The Architect should be palpable. Foreshadow The Architect through whispers, glitches, and the behavior of augmented enemies. The data haven scene can be run as a roleplaying and skill challenge rather than a combat encounter, depending on the party's approach. End the act with the party on the dropship heading to Sector 7, with the keycard in hand and the first hints of the larger conspiracy. Award milestone leveling: the party reaches 2nd level after the Ripperdoc's Debt and 3rd level after the Rooftop Extraction.
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Vex Kade
Vex Kade is a tall, sharp-featured woman in her early thirties, all hard angles and coiled economy of motion, wrapped in a rain-dark armore…
Free campaign generations include one villain sheet. Additional villain, NPC, and player-facing module character sheets are available in premium campaigns.
Subscribe NowFree campaign encounters use official monster sheets, plus the campaign villain character when referenced. They do not include generated custom monster sheets. Subscribe to create custom campaign monsters and enemy stat blocks.
Subscribe NowVex Kade wants to prove her worth to her mysterious patron, The Architect. She believes that delivering the data-shard will grant her more power and secure her place in the coming new order. Deep down, she is terrified of The Architect and what it represents, but she hides her fear behind ambition and cruelty.
Cold, calculating, and pragmatic. Vex respects strength and efficiency, and she despises weakness. She is not needlessly cruel, but she will kill without hesitation if it serves her goals. She has a dry, cutting wit and enjoys psychological manipulation. She is secretly afraid of losing control, which makes her dangerous when cornered.
Vex Kade uses her experimental augmentations to control the battlefield. She opens with a disabling pulse to stun or slow the party's most dangerous combatants, then closes with her chrome arm blade. She targets spellcasters and ranged attackers first, using her Thugs as shields and her Scout for covering fire. If reduced to half her hit points, she activates a smoke screen and escapes, dropping a keycard to Sector 7. If she cannot escape, she fights to the death, but she will accept a deal if it lets her keep the shard and save face.
If defeated, Vex Kade can be interrogated for information about The Architect, the Helix Syndicate, and Sector 7. She is not redeemed in Act I, but if the party shows her mercy, she may become a reluctant ally in later acts, driven by her fear of The Architect. If she escapes, she vows to hunt the party down and becomes a recurring antagonist.
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Suggested Level: 1st level
Crowded market stalls, slippery wet pavement, awnings and tarps for cover, a drone hovering above.
A dropped calling card with a chrome serpent symbol (Vex Kade's mark), 15 gp in mixed coins, and a cheap chrome knuckle (worth 5 gp).
This encounter is designed to teach the party the basics of combat and the setting. The Spy uses a flash grenade (reflavored as a blinding pulse) if the party hesitates. Vex Kade is present but only observes. If the party is struggling, Kessa can toss them a smoke grenade to help them escape.
Suggested Level: 1st–2nd level
Cramped clinic interior, medical tables, shelves of cyberware, a back room with a hidden data port, steam vents outside.
A single healing potion (if Doc Morrow is friendly), a partial decryption key on a data-chip, and 20 gp in a drawer.
This encounter can be resolved without combat. The Thugs are bullies, not fanatics; they will flee if reduced to half their number. Doc Morrow is terrified and will not fight. If the party hides successfully, they avoid the fight but lose Doc Morrow's help, forcing them to seek Glitch in the data haven.
Suggested Level: 2nd–3rd level
Rain-slicked rooftop, landing pad with a dropship, ventilation shafts, a gap between rooftop vents, low parapets for cover.
Sector 7 keycard (dropped by Vex if she escapes or taken from her if defeated), Vex's chrome arm power cell (worth 50 gp as a curiosity), and a Helix Syndicate credstick with 100 gp.
This is the climactic encounter of Act I. Vex Kade is the central villain and uses her forthcoming character sheet, not a monster stat block. She is a skilled fighter with experimental augmentations. If she escapes, she vows to hunt the party. If defeated, she can be interrogated for information about The Architect. The party can also steal her dropship to escape to Sector 7.
Chrome Serpent's Kiss
Completed
Carried by Vex Kade or one of her elite Thugs in the Rooftop Extraction encounter.
requires attunement
Data-Shard of the Architect
Completed
Recovered from Kessa in the Neon Market, or from the thieves if the party loses the handoff.
requires attunement
Ripperdoc's Emergency Stim
Completed
Given by Doc Morrow in Chrome Alley if the party earns his trust, or found in his clinic.
no attunement required
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