Check out the Arcverse's first novel
Faelvur, the dark elven god of fire
Check out the Arcverse's first novel
Role Play Games for Beginners
Discover Worlds. Tell Stories. Create Legends
Welcome to the Arcverse
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Your gateway to tabletop roleplaying games — whether you’re starting with Dungeons & Dragons or exploring new systems and genres.
We offer expert RPG advice for beginners, Game Master tools, and worldbuilding guides to help you create and run unforgettable adventures. Whether you play fantasy, sci-fi, cyberpunk, horror, superheroes, or post-apocalyptic settings, the Arcverse is your home for creativity, storytelling, and game-ready inspiration.
Start your next campaign. Build your world. Shape your legend.
Watson was supposed to be the future. A glittering jewel of corporate investment and Japanese innovation, the Watson Development was a breathtakingly ambitious project designed to rival the City Center itself. With towering skyscrapers, cutting-edge medical facilities, exclusive nightclubs, and a thriving industrial sector, it was poised to be a self-sufficient paradise for Night City's elite. But this dream was shattered by the brutal realities of the 4th Corporate War and the subsequent return of Arasaka. The dream died, and what was left became something else entirely: a densely populated, chaotic, and vibrant district with a unique identity forged in the ruins of corporate ambition. Today, Watson is a district of stark contrasts, a battleground for gangs like Maelstrom and the Tyger Claws, and a place of immense opportunity for those who know how to navigate its dangerous streets. It’s a place where the ghosts of immense wealth haunt the teeming alleys of a sprawling black market.
The story of Watson is a classic Night City tragedy of corporate hubris. In the 2040s, during the city's rebuilding phase, a consortium of Japanese corporations poured billions of eurodollars into Watson, intending to create a corporate enclave that would challenge Arasaka's dominance. The plan was comprehensive, featuring the Northside Industrial District (NID) as its technological park, the gleaming towers and high-end Med Center in Little China, and the bustling nightlife of Kabuki. For a time, it was a thriving, prosperous district.
Everything changed after the Unification War, when a resurgent Arasaka returned to Night City with a vengeance. Through ruthless economic warfare, Saburo Arasaka’s lawyers and bankers systematically bled the rival corporations dry, causing a total financial collapse in the district.The industrial sector shut down, mass unemployment followed, and the dream of a corporate paradise evaporated. Into this economic vacuum stepped Arasaka, which seized the valuable waterfront for its own shipping and logistics, walling it off from the rest of the decaying district.
In the Time of the Red, Watson is a shadow of its former self, yet it pulses with a unique and resilient energy. It became a primary destination for Asian immigrants, who now define its cultural landscape. Little China, once planned as an extension of Downtown, is a densely overpopulated maze of streetside food stalls, legitimate businesses, and illegal gambling dens, all under the shadow of crumbling corporate towers. The nearby Kabuki district, once home to pristine medical facilities, has devolved into Night City's largest and most infamous black market. After dark, its narrow alleyways become a bazaar where one can find anything from illegal implants and combat drugs to stolen prototypes and black-market braindance recordings. The district is largely controlled by gangs, with the cyber-obsessed Maelstrom dominating the industrial north while the Tyger Claws hold sway in Little China and Kabuki. For edgerunners, Watson is a land of endless, dangerous work, a place where a desperate fixer in a crowded market can offer a job that could make you a legend or a corpse.
Adventure Hook
A well-known Kabuki ripperdoc by the name of "Fingers" puts out a desperate call on the street. He's in possession of a unique piece of pre-war tech: a prototype corporate cyberdeck, salvaged from the sealed executive levels of a derelict tower from the original Watson Development. This deck supposedly contains a "ghost key," an access code that could unlock dormant bank accounts and data stores from the corporations that Arasaka bankrupted decades ago.
Fingers wants to hire the crew to escort him and the deck to a buyer—a mysterious fixer with ties to the old guard. The problem is, the Tyger Claws, who consider everything in Kabuki their property, have learned of the find and are closing in to seize it. The crew must navigate the chaotic Kabuki market during a full-blown lockdown, fighting off waves of Tyger Claw assassins, to get Fingers and his priceless artifact to the rendezvous point in a noodle bar in Little China. When they arrive, they find the "fixer" is an Arasaka agent, who gives them a choice: hand over the deck for a handsome reward, or face the full force of a corporate cleanup squad.