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Thematic Elements of CE
A crazy, kind of wacky, mashup of traditional cyberpunk and high fantasy magic. Its real draw over other cyberpunk is the combination of a bit of hyper-violence slapstick with the normally gray, gritty, realistic tales of back-and-forth in the shadows.
You wanna have a flying pink mohawked mage dressed as a stripper while wearing high heels and shooting dual uzis? Sure, go ahead. You want to make a grim fellow who was a spy, running the shadows and keeping himself as bland black trenchcoat as possible while looking over his shoulder? Right, except it turns out he's a clone, and every weekend he goes bowling with an awakened shape-shifting rabbit on the lam from a science facility.
Don't go crazy with color, but don't make everything Corporate Espionage: The Scheming, either. It mostly leans on the former for inspiration with the latter's style washing over it to keep things muted. That makes the bursts of insanity or craziness stand out even more, and an entertaining relief as opposed to expected.
A dragon became president and then got exploded because of racism. This is the sort of nonsense backdrop you're building against. Go wild.
When you start building a zone, start with the THEME first. Building outwards from there will give you a lot easier time - and make it easier to pair up gear, items, and mobs that all seem to 'fit' and belong there.
Do you want pirates and sunshine? Do you want a cold, military-industrial complex? Do you a leisurely setting of people going about their normal lives that hides a festering secret of Stepford Wives?
Pick a THEME and stick to it - draw narrative inspiration from it.
It's important to keep in mind that it's easier to think of rooms as you would NPCs - they each have a certain theme and a narrative, and their presence warps the content and way the narrative is presented.
If you have an area, then most of the mobs - even if they are named or have their own qualities - should be considered a "part" of that chunk. A single, cooperative piece.
However, Johnsons or particular "boss" mobs are special: They (and their body guards) should fundamentally warp the narrative. So important is their existence, and their personality, their mere presence in a room - and their own description - should warp the theme of the room. Any bodyguards can also be considered a "part" of the Johnson, or mob, or even something like a landmark.
A decent example is a clean, bright, cheerful, relaxing meadow. The birds are singing: The suns are shining. And suddenly, as you approach the middle of the glade, things seem quieter. Dimmer. The birds are quiet - the animals avoid this place. A bleak obelisk juts from the ground, blood staining it.
You see? The mobs of cute forest creatures and the meadow is one 'scene' - and then you throw the sacrificial altar into it and it distorts both the room description and the narrative by being there.
Johnsons in clubs should work the same way. They don't belong there. They are there, temporarily, to hand out jobs to runners. They should stand out and warp the room description instead of seeming like a normal part of the club. - Obviously, exceptions apply. The Platinum Club is a good example of this. They 'fit in' but they also 'stand out', the club emphasizing and exaggerating them instead of being a stark contrast.