Dawn breaks over Kota Kalimantan.
From a sacred mountaintop in central Borneo stretches what will be the world’s last and greatest space elevator: the Mahkota Langit. Surrounding it is Earth’s newest megacity, Kota Kalimantan, which grew rapidly to serve the space elevator’s construction and anticipate its operation. Kali sprawls across central Borneo, ignoring borders and absorbing cities in its path.
The elevator is the project of the loosely allied Oceanic and Southeast Asian Nations. OSEAN has poured its resources into what was hoped to be a space elevator free of megacorporation control and able to completely surpass Earth’s two other elevators with its scale and technological superiority.
But the dream of corporate abstention is fading. It is only a Jinteki-developed biomaterial, mycele, that is able to sustain the impossible scale of the project, and Haas-Bioroid biotic labor is delivered from orbit to cheaply do the jobs no ordinary human can accomplish. From the central ganglion of the space elevator, NBN spreads its cables like nerves, surveilling the thoughts of each of Kota Kalimantan’s millions of citizens. Weyland, meanwhile, is graciously funding the OSEAN governments in exchange for absorbing only their most vestigial agencies, such as those in charge of disaster relief.
OSEAN has promised its citizens that the Mahkota Langit will lift them up into the future, but the cost of that future has been high. Entire peoples have been displaced, including those who once called the site of the space elevator home. State funding for vital infrastructure has been diverted to the space elevator and its attendant megacity, leaving communities destitute. Workers flock to Kota Kalimantan for a chance at a better life and social climbing, only to end up eking out an existence in the undercity.
The cities and villages of Borneo may have been eclipsed by the highrises of Kota Kalimantan, but they still exist. They fill in the gaps between arcologies, occupying the lowest levels of the structures that were built around them – or on top of them. OSEAN’s neglect of these places is as much a curse as a boon. People have made homes here, and businesses, and communities, despite (sometimes thanks to) a lack of help from local governments. The sun’s rays still fall on the undercity, eventually.
The line between undercity and upper city constantly shifts in the battle between old and new. Having a view of the space elevator from your penthouse window cements you in the highest echelons of society – but only until some enterprising new development puts you back in the shadows.
The upper city’s residents view the undercity as a nest of criminals. In their minds, thieves, murderers, and vigilantes dominate the streets and tunnels. Of course, undercity denizens don’t look on the upper city any more favorably. Everyone knows the upper city is home to its share of criminals – the only difference is the scale on which they operate. After all,
The world changed. Crime did not.
Welcome to Elevation!
“The set symbol for Elevation is inspired by both the Mahkota Langit and the surrounding city of Kota Kalimantan, depicting a towering structure rising over the natural mountains of the area. David “valerian32″ Prieto has created another eye-catching and evocative design to help establish each card’s spot in the world of Netrunner and, of course, help sort collections.”
Conrad ‘Banknote’, Visual Team
Elevation – the product previously codenamed ‘Dawn’ – is Null Signal Games’ new, non-rotating expansion compatible with Netrunner. As a product, it serves as the next step a new player should take after experiencing System Gateway, while simultaneously refreshing the modern cardpool for all levels of play. Elevation is about raising the stakes and reaching new heights, all set against the backdrop of a space elevator under construction and the megacity that surrounds it.
While previous expansions, such as the Liberation Cycle, delivered one strong narrative, Elevation instead provides a setting in which players will tell their own tales. Kota Kalimantan has dozens of stories waiting to be discovered, but it offers no conclusions of its own.
Soon, I hope to be able to speak about the efforts we put into worldbuilding, and how we hope to use this setting in the future, far beyond Elevation. Until then, I leave you all with a few elements of Elevation’s narrative and mechanics, some things to speculate on until preview season begins in earnest. Elevation will include:
- A cycle of Runner cards that host cards
- An ice inspired by a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Six new run events
- A way to install agendas faceup
- A Runner ID who puts the ‘organized crime’ back into Criminal
- A new region upgrade and a new upgrade that moves between servers
- A neutral card that can purge virus counters during a run
- A card with bees on it
- Three cards that take credits from your opponent
- A way for the Runner to trash a rezzed Corp card without accessing it
- GAMEDRAGON™ Pro!
Elevation will be released for sale on Thursday, April 24, 2025.
The new set will become legal for Competitive-level events on May 10th. On that date, the following sets will cease to be legal in Standard: the Red Sand Cycle, the Kitara Cycle, Reign and Reverie, Magnum Opus, and System Update 2021. Casual-level events may choose to use Elevation and implement rotation at the TO’s discretion any time from the release of Elevation. System Update 2021 will also cease to be legal in Startup with the release.
Get ready to take your games to new heights as Netrunner enters a new era of Elevation!
