The Prison
Learnable building, changing problem
The first map is a prison. You will know it well, and it will still catch you out.
Fixed geography
What never moves
The first map is a prison: a custom facility, learnable and fixed. The cell wings, the corridors between them, the service basement, the yard and the front administration block never move. You build real knowledge of the building across matches.
What changes is everything laid over that geography.
- Doors and barriers
- Which are locked, which are barricaded, and what it takes to open them.
- Power
- Which districts have it, and which are still dark.
- Supplies
- Where the contraband, tools and fuses landed tonight.
- Crawl routes
- Which Prey-only openings are usable this Broadcast.
- Hiding spaces
- Which ones are viable, and which are not.
- The way out
- Which three of the five escape chains actually work.
None of that is rolled at random. It varies inside authored rules, so the building stays coherent while the problem stays new.
Some openings are Prey-only: crawlspaces, vents and gaps a Hunter cannot follow through. Every one of them has a meaningful alternate route, so a Prey-only gap is a shortcut and never an invulnerable loop.
Some barriers come down loudly under a Hunter, which is the point: destroying one announces exactly where they are and what they are chasing.
Getting through doors
Lockpicking
Every Prey starts a Broadcast with one lockpick, and anyone can use it on a compatible mechanical lock.
Picking is a precision interaction: find the tension point, apply pressure, hold it. Mistakes make noise and can snap the pick. Keys are faster and quieter, which is what makes finding one feel good.
Electronic and reinforced detention locks sit outside all of this and need their own badge, key, terminal or rescue access.
The way out
Five chains, three live
There are five possible escape chains in the prison. Exactly three work on any given night, and neither team is told which.
You find out the way anyone finds anything out in this building: by going there, reading the physical tells, and spending time you might not have.