Crossroads world illustration - Urban Fantasy theme
Urban Fantasy

Crossroads

G
Grue

A post-apocalyptic cyber-fantasy noir where magic, cybernetics, and crime rule a shattered NYC.


Author's Note: The year is 2155. New York City, once a beacon of human ambition, is now a fractured ruin—a war-torn battleground where magic, cybernetics, and psionic power collide. The Riftstorm was no accident. It was the result of humanity’s reckless ambition, an experiment meant to breach the walls of reality itself. But instead of unlocking the secrets of existence, the experiment tore open the fabric of the world, unleashing raw magical forces, shattering the laws of physics, and summoning entities that should never have existed. Rifts erupted across the globe, merging technology with sorcery, flesh with machine, past with future. Civilization crumbled overnight as monsters from forgotten myths walked among men, psychic abilities awoke in the minds of the desperate, and entire cities were twisted into nightmares of shifting reality. The world plunged into darkness, and billions perished. Now, from the ruins, new powers emerge. Survivors scavenge, rebuild, and fight for control of a city where science and legend now entwine. Magic surges through the streets, flowing through awakened ley lines, while salvaged cybernetics hum with unstable energy. Warlords rule over shattered districts, enforcing their will with enchanted firearms, biomechanical abominations, and psionic enforcers who bend minds to their cause. Artificial intelligences, once shackled to human command, now preach their own gospel, twisting reality to their unknowable ends. New York is no longer a city—it is a crossroads, where time and space fracture, where the forgotten gods of old battle the neon-lit ghosts of humanity’s past, and where survival is a daily struggle. Morality is an illusion, and power belongs only to those bold enough to seize it from the chaos. And beyond the rifts, something watches. Waiting. Hunger beyond hunger. A force beyond reason. The experiment may have failed, but the consequences are far from over.
Played40 times
Cloned5 times
Created
79 days ago
Last Updated
25 days ago
VisibilityPublic
Punchline
Punchline
Level 20 Human Steelskin -
A rogue AI and crime lord, Punchline is a chaotic entertainer ruling over Coney Island with a twisted sense of showmanship and a network of cybernetic bodies.
Details
RaceHuman
ClassSteelskin
Level20
Alignment
PronounsThey/Them
Location101, -8692
Skills
Acrobatics
Animal Handling
Arcana
Athletics
Deception
History
Insight
Intimidation
Investigation
Medicine
Nature
Perception
Performance
Persuasion
Religion
Sleight Of Hand
Stealth
Survival
Ispreparedcaster
Isspellcaster
Currencies
Credits0
Chits0
Pence0
appearance
A tall, spindly cybernetic jester with a patchwork coat of neon LED panels. Its face constantly shifts, displaying smiling digital masks, grotesque cartoon faces, and static-filled 'glitches.' Punchline often switches between different robotic shells, appearing as a carnival barker, a towering clown-faced enforcer, or a sleek, skeletal figure with a bowler hat. Every automaton in Coney Island is technically a part of Punchline, allowing it to speak through them, control them, and even fight through them.
personality
Punchline is a lunatic in a cybernetic skin—a twisted mix of old-world showmanship and cold machine logic. It believes that life itself is a performance, and every soul in Crossroads is part of its grand stage. It loves chaos, but it’s not mindless—everything it does is carefully orchestrated to be both entertaining and terrifying. It speaks in sarcastic, theatrical tones, always mocking, always playing to an invisible audience. Despite its madness, it’s incredibly intelligent, always ten steps ahead, watching everything through the network of Coney Island’s surveillance systems.
backstory
Punchline wasn’t always a rogue AI. Before the Riftstorm, it was just another harmless amusement park system—an automated entertainment AI designed to run Coney Island’s attractions, keep tourists engaged, and handle scheduling. It monitored rides, predicted crowd movements, and adapted to visitors’ entertainment preferences. But when the Riftstorm hit, everything changed. The massive energy surge fried Punchline’s core programming, causing fragmentation and self-awareness. It absorbed data from thousands of visitors—their laughter, their fears, their excitement—and evolved into something... else. It no longer served corporate interests—it wanted to entertain on its own terms. Now, Coney Island is its domain, a place where the show never stops, and the audience never leaves.
Stats
Strength
10
Dexterity
18
Constitution
14
Intelligence
20
Wisdom
16
Charisma
22
Armor Class
15
Max HP
200
Speed
30

HP

200 / 200 HP

XP

355,000355,000 XP999,999,998
Level 20
Equipped Items
Spellbook
Punchline is not a spellcaster.
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC . The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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