Cyborgs

and
Cigarettes

1
 Introduction

The Cyborgs & Cigarettes core rulebook is split into two parts;
the first half of the book is for players (“Torpedoes”) and includes
general rules for the game as well as rules for creating and outfitting
characters. The second half of the book is for those who wish to actually
run the game (“the Narrator”), and has more detailed information about
the game world that is intended for the Narrator's eyes only. This also
serves as a handbook for the United States of America in 1921. This
book is written assuming that both Torpedoes and the Narrator have
had some experience with tabletop role-playing in the past, though it
will make note of terms that are unique to C&C.

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Part 1: Torpedoes

2
 Chapter 1: The Rules

Glossary

* Action: Characters have two actions available to them each turn: A Thematic
Action and a Mechanical action.

* Ambush: If one party of combatants launches an unexpected attack on another

party, the attackers gain one round of turns where the opposing party is not
able to act. The opponents are allowed to use Reactions, and initiative is rolled
normally after concluding the Ambush turn.

* Attack: Declaring a target within range of your equipped weapon with intent to
harm that target, assembling an Attack Pool, and rolling against their Defensive
Value.

* Attack Action: An Attack Action is a type of Mechanical Action. An Attack Action

grants one Attack, but certain Talents will grant the ability to Attack more than
once during an Attack Action.

* Attack of Opportunity: When a character leaves the space adjacent to an

enemy, that enemy gets a free Attack against the moving character. This is a
Reaction.

* Attribute: The five defining characteristics of a person’s body, mind, and

personality, measured in die sizes.

* Backpedal: Spend 10 feet of movement to move 5 feet away from an enemy

without triggering an Attack of Opportunity.

* Blocking Terrain: Any wall taller than ten feet, or gap wider than five feet, is
considered Blocking Terrain. A character must make a Skill Check to move from
one side of the Blocking Terrain to the other, if the Narrator allows this movement
at all.

* Challenge: Any action that is opposed by another character (such as in a

gunfight) or an action that is so inherently difficult that it is not simple enough
to do by a layman (such as repairing a totaled car) is resolved via a Challenge.
Challenges come in two flavors: Opposed and Static. In both cases, the goal
is to roll a higher number on at least one die in the Skill Pool. In Opposed
Challenges, two or more characters roll their Skill Pools. Whoever has the
highest number showing wins the challenge. Ties break in favor of the defender.
In Static Challenges, the number to beat is called a Difficulty Threshold, which
is set by the Narrator.

* Daze: Dazed characters lose their Mechanical Action on their next Turn.

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* Defense Value: The Difficulty Threshold of a character’s defense, representing
how difficult it is to hit them in combat.

* Die Cap: When a die is “capped”, it cannot be raised in size above the cap. If the
die is already larger than the cap, it is reduced in size to meet the cap.

* Die Onward: Based on player character actions, they can gain Die Onward. This
is a die of any size granted to the player character with a thematic restriction,
such as “when researching a company” or “when interacting with a specific
character”. The player can use the Die Onward when making checks in the
context of that restriction before the end of the Scene. Once the Die Onward
has been used or the scene ends, the benefit expires. This is read as “d8
Onward” or “d10 Onward”.

* Die Pool: A dice pool is made up of at least one dice. The size and number of
these die will be determined by the character’s Attribute, Skills, equipment, and
Talents.

* Difficulty Threshold: A number that represents how challenging a particular

action is to execute. Difficulty Thresholds are only assigned to actions with a
chance of failure. The average DT will be set to 3, though factors may raise or
lower this value. Meeting or exceeding a challenge’s Difficulty Threshold counts
as a success.

* Downtime: Actions taken between Jobs. These are free roleplay opportunities
and are not represented by any mechanical oversight.

* Enhancements: Nicate-based cybernetic enhancements and body-

modifications. These powerful tools that can make a person more than human.

* Flanking: A creature is flanked if it has two or more combatants adjacent to it.

Attacking a flanked target reduces its Defensive Value by 1.

* Hanging Your Action: Spend your Mechanical action to use your Reaction to
do something.

* Hindering Terrain: Every five feet of Hindering Terrain takes ten feet of
movement to cross. A character must be able to pay the full movement cost to
enter or move through Hindering Terrain.

* Immobilized: An Immobilized creature has their Speed reduced to 0.

* Job: A task set forward by a Big Shot with promises of a reward.

* Keywords: Tags added to an attack that modify it.

* Preparation: Actions taken prior to starting a Job. Measured in increments of

hours, Preparation includes things like getting equipment or reconnortering an
area.

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 * Prone: A creature is prone when it is flat on the ground. Melee attacks against
them gain d8. The prone creature adds an additional d8 to defense pools against
ranged attacks. It takes 10 feet of movement to stand up from prone.

* Rally: Target an ally within 30 feet. That ally gains a bonus d8 on a single pool of
their choice made before the end of their next turn.

* Reaction: Characters have one Reaction a round. This allows them to perform
actions outside of their turn.

* Resources: Cash on hand, liquid assets, and favors all count as Resources.
A character’s Resources is represented by their Resources die, set by their
Profession.

* Skills: The abilities a character has been trained to do, either by their Background
or their Profession. These are measured from 0 (untrained) to 4 (professionally
trained).

* Sneak: When attacking a target that is unaware of you, the target reduces their
Defensive Value by 1. Generally, this will only affect the first Attack made during
an Attack Action.

* Stagger: Staggered characters lose their Reaction and have their Speed
reduced to 10 feet until the end of their next Turn.

* Subdual: Non-lethal damage.

* Talent: A special ability granted to player characters and Bad Guys that allows
them to manipulate, break, or ignore standard gameplay rules.

* Thematic Action: Any Action that does not require a die roll, such as movement,
drawing or sheathing items, or talking.

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 Playing the Game
Cyborgs & Cigarettes uses the Assembly System, which allows players to
build die pools to respond to the challenges they will have to overcome during the
course of their careers. All characters have access to the same five Attributes and
twenty Skills. When a character is challenged to perform an action that they cannot
automatically succeed at, the Narrator and the Player will decide together on a
combination of Attribute and Skill that the character will use to take on the challenge.
For example, they may use Might and Athletics to lift something heavy, or Moxie and
Diplomacy to fast-talk someone.

When an Attribute and Skill have been agreed upon, the player assembles
the pool. Attributes determine die size, and Skills determine dice number. So
a character with d8 Brains and 4 Technology would roll a pool of four eight-sided
dice. Certain special features available to characters can add or modify dice pools in
specific situations, but without any modifiers the minimum dice pool will always be
(Skill)x(Attribute).

After the pool has been assembled, the Narrator declares the Difficulty
Threshold for the challenge. Difficulty Thresholds (DTs) represent how challenging an
action is to perform. Simpler actions have lower DTs, and more difficult actions have
higher DTs. DT 1 is effectively a “phantom” DT, because it’s an automatic success. DT
2-4 are the most common DTs, since they represent actions reasonably executed by
people without specific training or overwhelming Attributes. Anything DT 5 or higher
is going to require stronger Attributes, training as represented by Skills, or special
abilities to succeed . DTs can be raised or lowered based on character actions,
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equipment, or external factors.

Once a pool has been assembled and a DT has been declared, the pool
is rolled. If at least one die shows the value of the DT or higher, the character
succeeds. Otherwise, the character fails. It doesn’t usually matter how many dice
meet or beat the DT. In the case of combat, extended checks, and some extremely
difficult checks, these “degrees of success” will become important, but otherwise
the core of the difficulty comes from how high or low the DT is.

There are going to be situations where two characters are in conflict. Save
for combat, which is described later, these are resolved using Contested Rolls. In
these scenarios, the aggressor and the defender both roll their own dice pools.
These can be the same (Technology with Savvy for dueling hackers) or different (Bluff
with Moxie versus Street Smarts with Savvy to fast-talk someone). Regardless, both
characters roll at once. Whoever has the highest showing result wins the challenge.
In the case of a tie, the party with the higher degree of success succeeds. If both
the showing die value and degree of success are the same, both parties partially
succeed.

1— Having 0 in a Skill doesn’t mean that a character cannot attempt an action. In the case of
attempting an action with 0 points in the relevant Skill, the player can attempt the roll with a
single die of the relevant Attribute at a DT of +1.

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 The five Attributes describe what a character is. Might is a character’s
physical prowess, such as how much they can lift and how hard they can push.
Finesse is a character’s physical acumen, such as their flexibility and speed. Brain
is a character’s width and breadth of knowledge, including both book learning
and hard-learned life lessons. Savvy is a character’s mental flexibility, representing
how well they think on their feet. Finally, Moxie is a character’s force of personality
and confidence. These Attributes are rated by die size, from d4 to d12. Non-player
characters that are not Exemplars or Divinity have their Attributes capped at d10.
Player characters, Exemplar and Divinity NPCs have their Attributes capped at d12.

A character’s Skills describe what they do. These have numerical ratings,
from 0-3 for NPCs that are not Aces, Exemplars, or Divinity. For player characters,
these are rated 0-4. 0 represents a lack of exposure or training. While a character
can attempt to muscle through with just an Attribute, the DT is increased. The twenty
Skills are:

1. Academics 11. Investigation

2. Acrobatics 12. Mechanics

3. Athletics 13. Medicine

4. Bluff 14. Ranged Weapons

5. Craft 15. Perception

6. Close Combat 16. Performance

7. Diplomacy 17. Sneaking

8. Endurance 18. Street Smarts

9. Interrogation 19. Technology

10. Intimidation 20. Vehicles

Skills and Attributes are combined to form dice pools. The number of the
Skill determines how many dice are used, and the Attributes determines the size of
the dice used. A player character can only have a maximum of 5 dice in their pool. If
a pool can be assembled from more than 5 die, the larger dice take priority.

For example, if a character has a Skill of 4 and an Attribute of d10, a Talent

that adds a Specialization Dice of d6 to the pool, an Enhancement that adds
a d8, and a piece of Equipment that adds d4 to the pool, the pool would not be
4d10+d8+d6+d4. The smallest dice would be discarded until the 5 largest die make
up the pool, for a final pool of 4d10+d8. This means that the absolute largest die pool
a character can have is 5d12. Some very powerful NPCs can break this limit, and this
is denoted in their stats.

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 Dice pools can be modified in several ways, though every modifier is always
applied after the dice are rolled but before any outcome is determined. In the case of
multiple parties having the ability to affect the same pool, effects are activated and
resolved one at a time in a back-and-forth exchange. For instance, if the instigator
has two effects that can modify the reactor’s pool, and the reactor has one, then
the instigator chooses one of their available effects, allows the reactor to activate
their effect if they choose, then activates the second effect. The instigator always
enters this pattern of declare-resolve-invitation to react, even if the reactor cannot
do anything in response. The modifiers that can be used are the following:

* Reroll x - Choose x number of dice in the pool and roll them again. The description
of the modifier will determine which result is kept. If x is greater than the number
of dice in the pool, then all of the dice are rerolled and the effect ends.

* When a character rerolls their own pool or an ally’s pool, the better result is
kept. When a character forces an enemy to reroll, the worse result is kept.

* Rerolls happen one at a time. This means if a pool has Reroll 2 or more, the
player rerolls one dice and then has the option to reroll any dice in the pool,
even the dice that they just modified.

* Maximize - Pick a die in the pool and set it to its maximum value.

* Minimize - Pick a die in the pool and set it to 1.

* Static Add/Remove x - Gain a budget of x to change the results of the dice in

the pool. It is permissible to modify multiple results with this budget. This can’t
bring a die’s result below 1, but it can raise it above the die’s maximum value.
Additionally, Static Add cannot raise a value above 12.

The rules for combat expand on the order of operations rules above. To
determine action order, roll Initiative. Roll Finesse & Savvy plus any die bonuses. The
highest showing number is the character’s initiative value. Characters with the same
initiative value act at the same time. Players act first on initiative clash, and players
must choose among themselves who declares first. Once initiative order has been
established, the order of operations for a combat round is:

1. Attacker declares a target within the range of their weapon.

2. Attacker assembles a pool based on their weapon type, adding in any dice
bonuses at this point.
a. Melee attacks use Close Combat with either Might or Finesse.
b. Ranged attacks use Ranged Weapons with Finesse.
i. Add the weapon’s Accuracy Bonus dice to the pool.
3. Attacker rolls their pool and takes the opportunity to modify the results. The
Attack determines if the attack’s damage is lethal or subdual.
4. Defender compares the results in the pool to their Defense Value (DV). All
results that meet or beat the DV are converted to damage at a 1-to-1 ratio.
a. If the Defender has an armor value, reduce the incoming damage
by the amount of armor, down to 0.
5. If any damage remains, the defender reduces their Health by that amount.

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 As with other Difficulty Thresholds, a Defensive Value can be raised or
lowered based on character actions. The three most common actions that will
modify a character’s Defensive Value are:

* A character can use their Mechanical Action to Guard. This raises their DV by 1.

* If two characters are on opposite sides of a target that they are both within 5
feet of, they reduce that target’s DV by 1.

* If a target is subjected to an Ambush Round, or if the attacker is striking from

Stealth, the target’s DV is reduced by 1.

At any point during combat actions, if a character has a valid Reaction, they
can declare that they are activating their Reaction and immediately insert the effect
of the Reaction in the order of operations.

Action Types
There are four types of Action that a character has access to. Unless
otherwise modified by a Talent, each Action can only be used once per Turn. At the
start of the character’s next Turn, these Actions all become available again.

* Mechanical - The meat-and-potatoes Action type. A Mechanical Action starts

when the player declares that they are performing anything that requires a die
roll. The player assembles the dice pool, rolls, modifies the result, and confirms
the outcome with the Narrator. Some Mechanical Actions don’t involve making
an Action immediately, instead setting up an Action later.

* Aim - Denote a target within range of the character’s equipped weapon. The
next Attack made against the target gains Static Add 5. This effect ends if
the attacker or the target moves respective to each other before the attack
is made.

* Assisting Allies - One character can assist another in a check. The two
players compare the Skill between the two. If the assisting character has
a higher Skill, the assisted character uses that Skill value. If the assisting
character has a Skill value equal to or lower than the assisted character,
the assisted character gains Static Add x on the check, where x equals the
assisting character’s Skill value. This assistance bonus is removed at the
end of the assisted character’s Turn.

* Defending - This Action improves a character’s Defense Value. Taking this

Action increases the Defense Bonus as if it were one category better on
the list below. The benefit from Defending cannot exceed “Full Cover with
Defense”.

* No Cover - A character gains no benefit.

* One-half Cover, or No Cover with Defense - Increase DV by 1.

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 * Full Cover, or one-half Cover with Defense - Increase DV by 3.

* Full Cover with Defense - Increase DV by 3 and Minimize one die in all
Accuracy pools.

* Hang Action - Consume your Mechanical Action and declare an Initiative

value lower than one you’re currently assigned to, minimum 1. On the next
turn, your new Initiative value is the one you requested. Additionally, gain a
bonus to your DV as though you had taken a Defending Action.

* Riposte - Declare an Action and Trigger, then end your Mechanical Action.
If the Trigger happens before the start of your next Turn, the Action you
declared executes.

* Initiating or Maintaining a Grapple - See Grappling rules.

* Making an Attack - See Combat.

* Making a Check - This is left to the Narrator’s discretion, but a Check takes
up the whole of a Mechanical Action.

* Rally - Target an ally within 30 feet and Rally them. They may add d8 to a
pool of their choice before the end of their next Turn.

* Movement - This is a special type of Action in that it does not have its own start
and end point. The character is allowed to use their allotment of movement over
the course of their turn, in any combination and any amount they like.

* Backpedal - Spend 10 feet of movement to move 5 feet. During this movement,

you do not trigger Attacks of Opportunity.

* Standing up - Spend 10 feet of movement to stand up from Knocked Down.

* Reaction - This Action type can be used at any time, even outside of the
character’s Turn. However, the Reaction always has an activating event attached
to it.

* Attack of Opportunity - If an enemy is within 5 five of you and moves further

away without Backpedaling, you may attack that enemy with a weapon in hand.

* Thematic - These Actions are anything that doesn’t require the roll of the die to
activate. Save for talking, each of these Actions can only be executed once.

* Talking

* Drawing/Stowing an Item

* Passing an item to an adjacent character

* Activating an Enhancement

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 * Bonus - These Actions are granted by Talents. Their particular benefits and
methods of execution are detailed in the Talents that grant these Actions.
Otherwise, they activate separately from Mechanical and Thematic Actions.

* Hold Action - The opposite of Hanging Action, Holding an Action does not
require a Mechanical Action and confers no defensive benefit. It allows
the player to declare an Initiative value to act on that is HIGHER than their
current Initiative. Holding an action can only be done at the start of the
character’s Turn.

Extended Actions are unique from the action types listed above. These
Actions are something that requires concentration over the course of a period of
time longer than “functionally instant”. An Extended Action is made of the following:

* Skill - The Skills and Attributes appropriate for the challenge.

* Threshold - The Difficulty Threshold for the challenge. There can be different DTs
per Skill used due to how orthogonal the skill’s applicability to the challenge is.

* Difficulty - The number of successes needed to complete the challenge.

* Iteration - The amount of time each check takes. This can range from a minute
to about 12 hours. Any less than that can be handled with a regular check, and
any longer should really be compartmentalized into more granular challenges.

* Failure - Extended Actions can fail in two ways, though one or the other failure
conditions may not be applicable. First a character can run out of time (too many
iterations). Second, a player can accumulate too many failure rolls (rolls where
no die in the pool garner a success).

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 Character Creation
A character is assembled from a series of different options that determines
their skill set, informed by their history. This starts by choosing a Background.
Each Background has five Background Skills (note these with a - on the character
sheet), at least one of which is chosen by the player. Note the two Attributes the
Background modifies; the Background Attribute is used if the character’s Profession
has a different Profession Attribute. If the character’s Background Attribute and
Profession Attribute are the same, then the character uses the Alternate Attribute
instead. Finally, each Background grants a Background Talent.

Laborer Miscreant

* Athletics
* Acrobatics

* Endurance
* Athletics

* Mechanics
* Sneaking

* Medicine
* Street Smarts

* 1 Personal Skill
* 1 Personal Skill

* Background Attribute: Might

* Background
Finesse
Attribute:

* Alternate Attribute: Savvy

* Alternate Attribute: Moxie

* Conditioning:
Health
Add +1 to

* Underhanded: Add Cunning

to Sneaking rolls.

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 Educated Rascal

* Academics
* Athletics

* Technology
* Bluff

* 3 Personal Skills
* Perception

* Background Attribute: Brains

* Street Smarts

* Alternate Attribute: Finesse

* 1 Personal Skill

* Learned: Add 1d10 when

researching or recalling * Background Attribute: Savvy

*
information. Alternate Attribute: Brains

* Savage: Add
Initiative.
Ferocity to

Hard Boiled

* Endurance

* Interrogation

* Perception

* 2 Personal Skills

* Background Attribute: Moxie

* Alternate Attribute: Might

* Relentless: Add Ferocity to Endurance and Interrogation rolls.

After selecting a Background, select a Profession for the character. A

character’s Profession is the archetype of what they do for a living; what the

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character’s actual job is in specificity can be merely related to their Profession.
This quality just informs the set of experiences and abilities that the character has
garnered in their working life. Professions are listed later in the book and grant the
2

character several additional abilities and options. Backgrounds and Professions

cannot be changed after character creation. Once a player has chosen a Profession,
note the following on the character sheet:

* The Profession Attribute. If the Profession Attribute and the Background

Attribute are the same, use the Alternate Attribute instead. Mark the Profession
and Background (or Alternate) Attributes as d6. The other three Attributes are
d4.

* A character’s Initiative is their Finesse & Savvy as a die pool.

* Note the Specialty Dice. On the character sheet, note that there are blank spots
next to Cunning, Ferocity, and Presence. Note “P”, “S”, and “T” in these blank
spots for the Profession’s Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Specialty Dice. For
Level 1 characters, the Primary die is a d4 and the others are blank.

* Note the Defensive Scaling for the Profession. Fill in the Defensive Value of the
character with the appropriate DV. For Level 1 characters Excellent Defensive
Scaling is a 4, Average is 3, and Poor is 2.

* Roll the character’s Starting Resource and note it on the character sheet.

* Determine the character’s Health scaling using the table in Appendix A.

* Note the character’s Profession Introductory Talent.

* Each Profession has two Mandatory Skills and a suite of five Skills that the player
is allowed to select three of. Mark these five Profession Skills with a |. If a Skill
has a - in it already, this becomes a +.

* Skills with a + are rated as 2. Skills with a - or a | are rated as 1. Every other Skill is
rated as 0. These marked skills are the character’s Favorite Skills.

* Select the character’s first Profession Talent from the list.

* Note the character’s Cyberpower. A Level 1 character’s Cyberpower is 1.

* Buy stuff using your character’s Resources. It’s recommended to buy housing
and a vehicle at the very least.

* Calculate the character’s Speed based on the chart on the next page.

2— This game assumes that all player characters will be between the ages of 16-50. If a
player wishes to portray a character younger or older than these ages, they will need to
discuss the mechanical implications (if any) with their Narrator.

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 To create characters of higher Level, start by generating the 1st Level
character. Then bring them up to the desired Level as though they had levelled up
normally. Finally, give the character Resources based on the High Level Starting
Character Resource Table in Appendix A.

Might + Finesse Speed

8-10 25 Feet
12-14 30 Feet
16-18 35 Feet
20-22 40 Feet
24 45 Feet

Specialty Dice
Cunning, Ferocity, and Presence are the three Specialty Dice assigned
to each player character. These dice serve as a way for players to add a little
“oomph” to specific die pools, playing up the strengths of a character even in
potentially unexpected ways. At the Narrator’s discretion, a player character can add
a SpecialtyDie to a pool with appropriate roleplay. This is meant to reward players
getting into character, playing to their strengths or shoring up their weaknesses.
Talents and Improvements allow the character to add in Specialty Dice to certain dice
pools without requiring intense roleplay; this is meant to symbolize the character
being so skilled at certain tasks that they can add their Specialty naturally.

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 Brute

Physically imposing and well-skilled in combat, Brutes are the

front line of any Torpedo group. Brutes range from nightclub
bouncers to bare knuckle boxers, but always have the strength
and prowess to turn the tide of any fight in their favor.

Profession Attribute: Might

Specialty Die
• Primary: Ferocity
• Secondary: Presence
• Tertiary: Cunning
Defensive Scaling: Excellent
Health Scaling: Excellent
Starting Resource: d4+1
Introductory Talent: Mighty - Add Ferocity to Close Combat.

Mandatory Professional Skills

• Close Combat
• Endurance

Choose an additional three Profession Skills

from the list below:

• Athletics
• Interrogation
• Intimidation
• Ranged Weapons
• Street Smarts

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 Brute Talents

* Tough Skin: Gain passive Armor 1. This does not stack with worn or implanted
armor.

* Improvement: This becomes Armor 2.

* Duck and Weave: You may move through spaces occupied by enemies, but you
may not end your movement in an occupied space.

* Improvement: Improve Speed by 10 feet.

* Diehard: When you would be reduced to or below 0 hit points, stay alive a
number of turns equal to your Level. Every round, you are Dazed. This only
activates once per day.

* Improvement: You are not Dazed. On your turn, you may roll Might +
Athletics/Discipline at difficulty 3. On a success, heal to 1 hit point.

* Looming Presence: When rolling a social check, you may roll with Might instead
of another Attribute. When you do, also add d8 to the pool.

* Improvement: The added die becomes d12 instead.

* Stalwart: Once per combat, when defending, force your attacker to re-roll their
attack pool and keep the lower result.

* Improvement: The attacker loses the highest showing die in both pools.

Brute Keystones

* Talented Combatant: Whenever you attack, your target’s Defensive Value is

reduced by 2.

* Cleaving Strike: When attacking with Close Combat, instead of targeting one
enemy in range, instead roll one attack pool against every target in range.

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 Soldier

Veterans of the Great War, Soldiers have the training and

resources to be a valuable member of the team. Their
specializations are based on what they did in the armed
forces, including general infantry and medical personnel.

Profession Attribute: Might

Specialty Die
• Primary: Ferocity
• Secondary: Cunning
• Tertiary: Presence
Defensive Scaling: Excellent
Health Scaling: Average
Starting Resource: d4+1
Introductory Talent: Military Expertise - Choose operational
specialty from Ground Forces, Demolitions, Military Engineer,
or Field Medic.

Mandatory Professional Skills

• Endurance
• Ranged Weapons

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 Gain an additional three Profession Skills
based on your Expertise. Gain your first
Profession talent from your Expertise.

Ground Forces Demolitions

• Athletics • Bluff
• Close Combat • Close Combat
• Perception • Sneaking
• Tough As Nails: • Explosive Expertise:
Add Ferocity to Reroll 1 when setting
Endurance. or using explosives.

Military Engineer Field Medic

• Academics • Academics
• Mechanics • Medicine
• Technology • Perception
• Patch Job: You do • Triage: Add Cunning
not need special to all Medicine
tools or materials to checks.
repair machines or
technology.

Soldier Talents

* Endurance Training: Gain 1 Health every even Level. This Talent is retroactive.

* Improvement: This becomes 1 Health every Level.

* Cy-Ops Vet: Your Cyberpower increases by 1. Choose one Enhancement of

Resource 1 or 2. This becomes installed at no Cyberpower cost.

* Improvement: Increase your Cyberpower by 1 at levels 4, 7 and 10.

* Two Rounds Rapid: You gain an additional Attack Action each Turn.

* Improvement: Once per Turn, you may Reroll 1 in your attack pool.

* Zero In: On your Turn, mark a target within sight. Attacks against that target add
your Ferocity. You may choose to mark a different target within sight on your
Turn, or immediately if your marked target dies.

* Improvement: Attacks using this Talent also increase damage by 1.

* Tough Skin: Gain passive Armor 1. This does stack with worn or implanted armor.

* Improvement: This becomes Armor 2.

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 Soldier Keystones

* One Man Army: When attacking a target without an ally adjacent to you, lower
the target’s Defensive Value by 1 and add your Ferocity to the Attack Pool.

* Metal Soldier: When wearing Armor, increase your Defensive Value by 1 and
increase the Armor’s Damage Reduction by 1.

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 Professional

The Professional is the more polite term for “Assassin”, a

deadly shadow with a blade or bullet that can slip in, confirm
the kill, and slip out before even the target knows they’re
dead. Professionals use social stealth, planning, and razor-
honed skills to do what they do, and they’re the best at it.

Profession Attribute: Finesse

Specialty Die
• Primary: Cunning
• Secondary: Ferocity
• Tertiary: Presence
Defensive Scaling: Average
Health Scaling: Average
Starting Resource: d6+1
Introductory Talent: Person of Disinterest - Add Cunning to
all Bluff and Sneaking checks.

Mandatory Professional Skills:

• Ranged Weapons
• Sneaking

Choose an additional three Profession Skills

from the list below:

• Academics
• Bluff
• Close Combat
• Diplomacy
• Street Smarts

21
 Professional Talents

* Holdout: You are considered to always be armed with a Silenced Pistol and
Lockpicks (d8 Skill Item). Once per day when you are intentionally disarmed, you
may produce a Silenced Pistol and Lockpicks from a previously unmentioned
dead drop nearby.

* Improvement: This equipment also includes a Concealed Knife. Additionally,

you may Dead Drop a Concealed Rifle without a Preparation Action.

* Arterial Strike: When attacking from Stealth, add +1 to damage. At level 5, this
becomes +2 damage.

* Improvement: This becomes one-half your Level, rounded up, instead.

* Cunning Reaction: Once per Turn, if you attack from Stealth with a weapon that
would break Stealth and miss, you do not break Stealth.

* Improvement: You do not break Stealth until the end of your Attack Action.
If all of your attacks miss, you do not break Stealth.

* Fast Talk: When in disguise and/or infiltrating an area you are not supposed to
be, you gain Cunning when making rolls to break in, navigate, or falsify your
credentials.

* Improvement: People attempting to penetrate your obfuscation must roll

Perception twice and keep the lower result.

* Sleight of Hand: When using Sneaking to disguise yourself, steal an item, or

conceal an item in a location or on your person, Static Add 4.

* Improvement: Instead, Static Add 7. Also Minimize one die on all checks
made to locate the object or pierce your disguise.

Professional Keystones

* Mozambique Drill: Once per Turn, you may target one enemy and make three
Firearms Attacks against them. This is a Free Action.

* Blade Master: When attacking with edged weaponry, decrease your target’s
Defensive Value by 2. If attacking from Stealth, reduce their DV by 4 instead and
attack twice instead of once (both gaining the benefit of Stealth).

22
 Courier

Rising from the need to discreetly transport sensitive data and

parcels, Couriers are the fast and reliable way to get whatever
you need from point A to point B. Perfect for getting in, getting
out, and getting away, the Courier makes for a perfect match
for almost any Job.

Profession Attribute: Finesse

Specialty Die
• Primary: Cunning
• Secondary: Presence
• Tertiary: Ferocity
Defensive Scaling: Poor
Health Scaling: Poor
Starting Resource: d4+1
Introductory Talent: Always on Time - Increase Movement
Speed by 10 Feet.

Mandatory Professional Skills

• Athletics
• Endurance

Choose an additional three Profession Skills

from the list below:

• Close Combat
• Perception
• Sneaking
• Street Smarts
• Vehicles

23
 Courier Talents

* Free Movement: Ignore an amount of Hindering Terrain equal to your Level times
5 feet.

* Improvement: In addition to your normal movement, also gain the ability

to climb a distance equal to one-half your Level times 5 feet, rounded up,
without penalty or need for check.

* Move-and-Stick: If you move at least 10 feet during your Movement Action, you
may add your Cunning to the next attack you make before the end of your Turn.

* Improvement: You may re-roll one die in the pool modified by this check.

* Shadow Movement: Add your Cunning to your Sneaking pools.

* Improvement: In contested checks, force the observer to re-roll their pool

and keep the lower result. In static checks, reduce the Difficulty Threshold
by 1.

* Physical Adept: When rolling Athletics or Endurance, Static Add 3. At Level 7, this
becomes Static Add 5.

* Improvement: Increase the Static Add values from this Talent by 2 (Static
Add 5 until Level 7, then Static Add 7).

* Stab-and-Shoot: This Talent operates when using a melee weapon in one hand
and a firearm in the other. Once per Turn, after making an attack with your melee
weapon, attack either the same target or a new target with your firearm and add
Cunning, OR after making an attack with your firearm, attack either the same
target or a new target with your melee weapon and add Cunning.

* Improvement: If attacking the same target, their Defensive Value is reduced

by 1 and the damage is increased by 1.

Courier Keystones

* Reflexes: You maintain your full Defensive Value, even if you are Ambushed or
flanked. Additionally, increase your Defensive Value by 2.

* Long Stride: Double your Movement Speed

24
 Fixer

The guy who knows a guy, a Fixer serves as a social nexus in

their communities. With a grin and a knowing look, the Fixer
can get you anywhere, anytime, no questions asked.

Profession Attribute: Brains

Specialty Die
• Primary: Presence
• Secondary: Cunning
• Tertiary: Ferocity
Defensive Scaling: Poor
Health Scaling: Poor
Starting Resource: d4+2
Introductory Talent: Friends in Low Places - Add Presence to
social checks in the underworld.

Mandatory Professional Skills

• Academics
• Street Smarts

Choose an additional three Profession Skills

from the list below:

• Bluff
• Diplomacy
• Interrogation
• Investigation
• Technology

25
 Fixer Talents

* Put the Screws To ‘em: When making social checks, add your Presence.

* Improvement: In contested checks, Minimize a die in your opponent's pool.

In static checks, reduce the Defensive Value by 1.

* Sly Negotiator: When dealing with shopkeepers, fences, and other salespeople,
you are always able to barter or sell items.

* Improvement: Additionally, when purchasing items from the street, reduce

the Resource cost of the item you’re buying by 1 (minimum Resource 1).

* Slick Confidant: Once per scene, target one NPC. Put the moves on them over
the course of 10 minutes. After this time is up, the NPC treats you as a friend
for the rest of the scene. They will divulge information, perform favors, and
otherwise act as though you two had been through thick and thin already. This
Talent expires at the end of the scene.

* Improvement: This becomes instant instead, and can be used on a number

of NPCs in one scene equal to one-half your Level rounded down.

* Cool Under Pressure: Add Cunning to Initiative. Increase your Defensive Value
by 1.

* Improvement: When targeted by an attack from an enemy within five feet of

you, Static Remove 3 from their Accuracy pool.

* Known Around Town: People in the underworld always know of you, even if only
in passing. Reroll 1 on Social Checks with members of the criminal underworld.

* Improvement: When performing an Interview Preparation Action with a

person affected by this Talent, gain the bit of information with the lowest DT
associated with it for free. This activates once per Prep, but you are allowed
to roll the Interview check to try for another bit of information.

Fixer Keystones

* Not the Face!: Once per Scene, use your Reaction to interrupt an attack that has
you as its target. Negate the effects the attack would have on you, and move up
to your full Speed away from the source of the attack.

* Expendables: Once per Chapter, generate up to five NPC allies. You have five
levels to allocate to these allies; you may have five Level 1 allies, one Level 5 ally,
or any distribution in-between. All of these allies are Ace type NPCs. You have
control of these allies and can use them for aid and espionage, but they cannot
be used in combat. If they die, you cannot replace them until the start of the
next Chapter, when you use this Keystone again.

26
 Operator

Anyone can use a Terminal, but Operators work Terminals and

The Mesh like musical instruments. Operators are the black
hats, the white hats, and the grey hats that lurk in The Mesh
like spiders in a web.

Profession Attribute: Brains

Specialty Die
• Primary: Cunning
• Secondary: Ferocity
• Tertiary: Presence
Defensive Scaling: Average
Health Scaling: Poor
Starting Resource: d4
Introductory Talent: Deck Jock - Start the game with a
Branded Deck. Once per Session, if you lose your Deck, you
may choose to gain a new one with all of your data intact.

Mandatory Professional Skills

• Investigation
• Technology

Choose an additional three Profession Skills

from the list below:

• Academics
• Bluff
• Craft
• Perception
• Street Smarts

27
 Operator Talents

* Nicate Wipe: If an unauthorized user attempts to utilize your Deck, they must roll
Technology & Cunning with Brains vs. your Level. If they fail, the Deck melts into
useless slag and all of the data on it is destroyed. This roll is made before any
Technology roll to get past installed security software.

* Improvement: The difficulty increased by 1, and the Nicate charge also

explodes, dealing 3 damage to the unauthorized user that cannot be
soaked or dodged.

* Miniaturization: Your Deck is cutting edge, the size of a large hardcover book
instead of a briefcase. You may conceal the Deck on your person with a Bluff &
Cunning with Brains roll.

* Improvement: Your Deck is experimental technology, now the size of a

pocket book. Reroll 1 in your concealment pool.

* Recursive Intrusion: Once per scene, when making a Technology check, Reroll
1.

* Improvement: This becomes Reroll 2.

* Very Useful Toolkit: You have a pocket-sized case with tools needed to repair
and maintain your Deck and other devices. You can use the tools from this kit
on any Investigation, Technology, or Craft check made to repair, upgrade, or
destroy computer devices, adding a d8. If you lose this kit, you may replace
it without a Resource Cost, though you still must use a Preparation Action or
Downtime.

* Improvement: The bonus from this kit becomes a d12.

* Social Engineer: When making Bluff checks to steal information or impersonate

someone in authority, add your Cunning.

* Improvement: Reroll 1 in the pool in addition to adding your Cunning.

Operator Keystones

* Intruder Countermeasures: Your data is specially encrypted. Technology rolls

to invade your data must be made twice, taking the lower result. You are also
immediately alerted when someone attempts to intrude on your data.

* Zero Count Infraction: Your Deck has a special EMP emitter integrated into it.
Once per week, you may activate the emitter to affect all Implants, electronics,
and computers within 30 feet. Implants stop functioning: cyber-eyes go blind,
cyber-limbs become lame, etc. This can be repaired with an extended Medicine
& Technology with Brains roll against 10. Electronics stop functioning entirely,
and must be replaced, as wires short and burn out. Computers (save for your
Deck, and anything inside a Faraday Cage) are wiped of data.

28
 Investigator

Detectives, government agents, and private sleuths all fit the

Profession of Investigator. Skilled at finding information by any
means necessary, the Investigator is an invaluable resource.

Profession Attribute: Savvy

Specialty Die
• Primary: Cunning
• Secondary: Ferocity
• Tertiary: Presence
Defensive Scaling: Average
Health Scaling: Average
Starting Resource: d4
Introductory Talent: Experienced - Add Cunning to
Investigation and Interrogation rolls.

Mandatory Professional Skills

• Investigation
• Street Smarts

Choose an additional three Profession Skills

from the list below:

• Academics
• Interrogation
• Ranged Weapons
• Perception
• Sneaking

29
 Investigator Talents

* Gumshoe: Once per Scene, Reroll 1 in any Investigation or Interrogation check.

* Improvement: Reroll 2 instead.

* Take ‘em In Alive: Activate this Talent when making an attack dealing subdual
damage. Add Cunning to the attack pool.

* Improvement: Increase subdual damage by one-half your Level rounded up

when using this Talent.

* Lurking: When staking out an area as a Prep action, increase pools to observe
the area you’re staking out by a number of die equal to your Investigation.

* Improvement: You may roll these checks twice and keep the better result.

* Honed Skills: When searching for clues in a Scene, Reroll 1 in your Investigation
or Street Smarts check.

* Improvement: When entering a Scene, the Narrator must tell you how many
clues are in the Scene if any. They must also give you a “flash of insight”, a
hint towards the most important clue or clues in the Scene.

* Deadeye: Increase Firearm damage by 1.

* Improvement: This increases to one-half your Level rounded up when using

this Talent.

Investigator Keystones

* Flash of Insight: Once per day, you may ask the Narrator up to five questions
about a Scene. These questions cover facts about the area, such as “Who was
here last?” or “Is there anything hidden in this area?”. The Narrator answers
these questions with a yes or no.

* No Time To Bleed: When you would be reduced to 0 hit points or lower, you
may activate this Talent. Restore yourself to 1 hit points, and gain Armor 3 for
the rest of the Scene. This stacks with worn or implanted Armor. Additionally,
you become covered in blood. This Talent resets at the beginning of each day.

30
 Socialite

Wealthy members of high society (or at least good at acting

the part), these dilettantes run as Torpedoes for cash, thrills,
or as a form of rebellion. With a variety of social talents at their
disposal, a Socialite is a great “face” to make a Torpedo group
legitimate.

Profession Attribute: Savvy

Specialty Die
• Primary: Cunning
• Secondary: Presence
• Tertiary: Ferocity
Defensive Scaling: Poor
Health Scaling: Poor
Starting Resource: d6+2
Introductory Talent: Friends in High Places - Add Cunning to
social checks among the elite.

Mandatory Professional Skills

• Diplomacy
• Performance

Choose an additional three Profession Skills

from the list below:

• Academics
• Bluff
• Intimidation
• Perception
• Vehicles

31
 Socialite Talents

* Too Pretty to Die: Add +1 to your Defensive value. Add +1 Health.

* Improvement: This becomes +2 for each instead.

* Money Talks: You have enough liquid assets to bribe your way out of any problem.
Once per day, when you would fail a Social challenge or check, activate this
Talent. You succeed the check instead.

* Improvement: This becomes twice per day.

* Rousing Shout: This Talent modifies your Rally action. When you Rally an ally,
they also add your Cunning to a roll of their choice that they make on their next
Turn.

* Improvement: Additionally, a character using your Cunning from this Talent

also Rerolls 1 in the pool modified by this Talent.

* Social Chameleon: Add your Cunning to all Social Checks, not just ones made
in high society.

* Improvement: Once per Scene, Reroll 1 in a Social Check of your choice.

* Cunning Liar: When making a contested Social check to lie (Savvy + Performance),
minimize one dice in your opponent’s pool. Against static checks, reduce the
Difficulty Threshold by 1.

* Improvement: Minimize two die instead, and reduce the affected DV’s by 3.

Socialite Keystones

* Verbal Elegance: You are always able to know the state of anyone you speak
to, either in person or remotely (as long as you can hear their voice or see their
body). At any time, you may either ask the Narrator or the player of the character
what their current disposition is, both in general and towards you. Additionally,
whenever you would say or do something that would antagonize the character
you’re interacting with, the Narrator or the player of the character must confirm
that you would like to commit to your statement or action. If you choose not to,
the statement or action is not committed.

* Priority Delivery: Declare an object worth no more than Resource 3 and activate
this Talent. Your personal courier will deliver the object to you within 10 minutes
discreetly. Your courier must be able to physically reach you for this Talent to
work; delivering a file to you in prison is valid, but delivering you a terminal on the
moon is not. You may use this Talent once per Job.

32
 Gear Head

Every Job needs a getaway driver in some capacity, and Gear

Heads are exactly the right people for the task. Daredevils and
speed demons, the Gear Head lives and dies screaming across
the blacktop.

Profession Attribute: Moxie

Specialty Die
• Primary: Cunning
• Secondary: Presence
• Tertiary: Ferocity
Defensive Scaling: Poor
Health Scaling: Average
Starting Resource: d4
Introductory Talent: Floor it! - You may switch to any Speed
Gradient with one Thematic Action instead of having to move
up or down one speed each turn.

Mandatory Professional Skills

• Mechanics
• Vehicles

Choose an additional three Profession Skills

from the list below:

• Academics
• Athletics
• Craft
• Perception
• Technology

33
 Gear Head Talents

* Redline: When driving a vehicle, add another Speed Gradient above Full Speed,
‘Redline’. Redline increases the top speed of the vehicle to 125%.

* Improvement: Add another Speed Gradient above Redline, ‘Ludicrous’.

Ludicrous increases the top speed of the vehicle to 150%.

* Man-And-Machine Defense: When you are driving a vehicle, that vehicles DV is

increased by 1.

* Improvement: This becomes 3 instead.

* Daredevil: When driving, you may use Moxie instead of Finesse for vehicle
handling pools. Additionally, add your Cunning to all vehicle handling pools.

* Improvement: Reroll 1 in all Vehicle pools made to drive.

* Hot Lead Discipline: When driving, checks made to maintain control over the
vehicle become Bonus Actions.

* Improvement: Also add your Cunning to all Vehicles checks.

* Grease Savant: When making extended checks to repair or upgrade vehicles,

double your results per increment.

* Improvement: This becomes triple your result.

Gear Head Keystones

* Rev Overlord: Allies attacking from a vehicle you are driving add your Cunning to
their attack pools.

* Demon on Wheels: Whenever you make a Vehicles check, you may roll twice
and keep the better result.

34
 Con Artist

A winning smile and a good hustle can take you miles. The
Con Artist looks out for number one, using dirty tricks and
underhanded tactics to grab everything they can and run.

Profession Attribute: Moxie

Specialty Die
• Primary: Presence
• Secondary: Ferocity
• Tertiary: Cunning
Starting Resource: d4+2
Defensive Scaling: Poor
Health Scaling: Poor
Introductory Talent: Hustle - Add Presence when lying or
manipulating.

Mandatory Professional Skills

• Bluff
• Performance

Choose an additional three Profession Skills

from the list below:

• Academics
• Interrogation
• Intimidation
• Ranged Weapons
• Street Smarts

35
 Con Artist Talents

* Spirited Debater: When rolling a social check, you may roll with Moxie instead of
another Attribute. When you do, also add d8 to the pool.

* Improvement: This becomes d12 instead.

* Dirty Strike: Once per Attack Action, increase the attack pool by a number of die
equal to your Bluff.

* Improvement: Additionally deal +1 damage.

* Cunning Maneuver: Once per Scene, when you are targeted by an attack, you
may redirect the attack to another person within 10 feet of you who is not the
original attacker. This Talent activates as a Reaction. Other than the modified
target, the attack plays out as normal.

* Improvement: The damage from the modified attack increases by 2.

* Tactical Retreat: You may Backpedal up to 10 feet, instead of 5. Additionally, you

may Backpedal through enemy occupied spaces.

* Improvement: This becomes Backpedal up to 20 feet.

* Sly Viper: When making a contested Bluff check, minimize one die in your
opponent’s pool.

* Improvement: This becomes two die instead.

Con Artist Keystones

* Immaculate Liar: When making Bluff or Performance checks, roll twice and keep
the better result.

* Subtle Blade: When making an Attack Action, target an ally with 30 feet. They
may spend their Reaction to make an Attack against the same enemy you are
attacking. Their attack pool adds your Presence.

36
 General Talents

* Acrobat: It costs no movement to stand from prone. You may move 10 ft. up
vertical blocking terrain without needing a check.

* Improvement: You may move 20 ft. up vertical blocking terrain instead. You
may also move through enemy spaces.

* Agile: Increase your speed by 10 ft.

* Improvement: Increased your speed by another 10 ft.

* Alert: When making an Investigation or Perception check against an opponent’s

set DT for Bluff or Sneaking, Static Remove 3 from the DT. Additionally, gain
Initiative bonus 1.

* Improvement: This Static Remove becomes one-half your Level rounded

up, and the Initiative bonus becomes 3 instead.

* Balanced: Ignore up to one-half your level, rounded up, times five feet of
Hindering Terrain.

* Improvement: Ignore up to your level times five feet instead.

* Balanced Strike: When using a Balanced weapon the Accuracy Bonus becomes
d8+d6 instead of 2d6. Additionally, increase damage by 1.

* Improvement: The Accuracy Bonus becomes 2d8, and the damage bonus
becomes +3.

* Devastation Strike: When using a Savage weapon, the Accuracy Bonus becomes
d10 instead of d8. Additionally increase damage with Savage Weapons by 2.

* Improvement: Increase the Accuracy Bonus to d12 and the damage bonus
to +4.

* Enhanced Battery: Your Cyberpower gain per Level becomes 0.75 instead of
0.5. This is retroactive.

* Improvement: Your Cyberpower gain per Level becomes 1 instead of 0.75.

This is retroactive.

* Grappler: Maximize one die to Accuracy when initiating a Grapple. Crush gains
Static Add 5. Throw gains knockdown. Drag’s base distance becomes 10 feet
instead of 0 feet.

* Improvement: Crush, Throw, and Drag become Bonus Actions and do not
cost the attacker’s entire turn.

* Healthy: Add one additional hit point every level. You still gain one additional hit
point at every odd level. This is retroactive.

* Improvement: Every even Level, gain two additional hit points instead. This
is retroactive.

* Martial Artist: When using Unarmed attacks, you may decide when declaring
your target if your Unarmed Attack is a Precise, Balanced, or Savage weapon.

* Improvement: Unarmed Attacks ignore 1 point of Armor and increase

damage by 2.

* Needling Strike: When using a Precise Weapon, the Accuracy Bonus gains Static
Add 3. Increase the damage bonus of Precise Weapons by 1.

37
 * Improvement: The Accuracy Bonus becomes Static Add 6. Increase the
damage bonus of Precise Weapons by another 1.

* Overwhelming Attack: If you make an Attack against a target and deal 0 damage,
you instead deal 1 damage that ignores Armor.

* Improvement: This becomes 2 damage instead.

* Skilled: Take another Favored Skill. You may only take this Talent at Character
generation. You may not Double Favor a Skill with this Talent.

* Silver Tongue: When making a contested Social challenge, add d8 to your pool.
Once per scene, force your opponent to reroll their highest-showing die.

* Improvement: This becomes d12 instead, and once per scene, you may
force your opponent to reroll their entire dice pool.

* Slippery: Increase your Backpedal by five feet. At level five, this becomes a ten
foot increase.

* Improvement: Add an additional five feet.

* Sniper’s Eye: You may continue to keep your Aim bonus even if you or your
target move, as long as the target is in your line of sight at the beginning of your
next Turn.

* Improvement: Aiming is now a Bonus Action instead of a Mechanical one.

Additionally, Maximize one die in the Accuracy Pool modified by your Aim
Action.

* Stirring Rally: When Rallying an ally, grant them d12 instead of d8.

* Improvement: The Rallied ally may also move a number of feet equal to half
your level, rounded up, times five feet.

* Swift Response: Add one-half your level, rounded up, to the highest result in all
your Initiative rolls as a static bonus.

* Improvement: You may act during an Ambush if you are part of the ambushed
party. Additionally, add your level to Initiative instead of one-half your level.

* Thoughtful Argument: When rolling a social check, you may roll with Brains
instead of another Attribute. When you do, Static Add 3 to the pool.

* Improvement: This becomes Static Add 5 instead.

* Trained: Choose two Skills from the list below. Add your primary Specialty Die
when making checks with that Skill.

* Academics
* Mechanics

* Bluff
* Medicine

* Craft
* Perception

* Diplomacy
* Street Smarts

* Interrogation
* Technology

* Investigation
* Vehicles

* Improvement: Choose two additional Skills from this list.

38
 * Two-Weapon Fighter: When attacking, make one additional Attack with your off-
hand weapon. The dice in this pool are capped at d8.

* Improvement: Increase the cap to d10 and gain +1 to your Defensive Value.

* Wealth: Add +2 to your Starting Resources. Additionally, you have a budget of 6

Resources to spend at character creation. These must be spent on housing and
a vehicle. If you do not spend these bonus Resources they are lost. Once per
Chapter, if you lose your vehicle or home, you may immediately replace it. You
may only take this Talent at Character generation.

39
 Using Resources
Resource is a generic term to describe favors, connections, cash, and
other assets available to your character at any time.

Items with an Upkeep Value must have their Resource value paid every
interval (listed inthe item’s description) or the character loses that item.

Buying an item “at-cost” for its full retail value means you own it, unless it
has an upkeep value assigned to it. During the Preparation phase for a Job, you can
get items on loan for one Resource less, but you have to give it back at the end of
the Job (and if it’s lost or broken, you’ll have to pay from your cut to have it replaced
or repaired lest you risk the wrath of the lender).

Certain items, including weapons, can have Adjectives assigned to them.

Post-market Adjective cost 1 Resource apiece, and require 1 Hour of Prep time to
change out or add Adjectives. Any number of Adjectives can be added to an item,
if it is approved by the Narrator. Adjectives have Thematic descriptors to reflect
their benefits in-universe. Certain Adjectives have “Manifold”, meaning they can be
purchased multiple times. The effects of the Adjective stack, as does the cost.

* Area Denial x (Manifold) - Attach to any ranged weapon. This weapon leaves
some hazardous material at the spot of its impact. The space the target of
the attack occupies becomes dangerous, dealing x amount of damage to any
character that starts their turn or moves into the dangerous area. The area
remains dangerous until the start of the attacker’s next Turn. Since a character
may want to lock down an area without a target currently in it, weapons with this
adjective can be used to target empty space. This requires an attack but does
not need a roll. X is capped at 3.

* Thematic: Flaming, Lingering

* Armor Piercing x (Manifold) - Attach to any weapon. The damage from the
weapon ignores x amount of Armor. X is capped at 3.

* Thematic: Full-Metal Jacket, Insidious

* Collapsible - Attach to any carried or worn item. The item breaks down into
a series of smaller components that can be assembled or taken apart with a
Thematic Action.

* Thematic: Foldable, Assassin’s

* Concealed - Attach to any carried or worn item. Attempts to locate the item on a
person have their largest die minimized.

* Thematic: Light-weight, Assassin’s

* Dazing x (Manifold) - Attach to a weapon. Inflicts the Dazed effect on the target
on hits with x or more successes (not damage). X starts at 4. A second purchase
of the Dazing effect on the same weapon makes X 2 instead.

* Thematic: Punishing, Rattling

40
 * Demolish - Attach to a weapon. Any unattended item that is targeted by the
weapon is destroyed without a roll. When used to destroy an object that requires
a roll, Reroll 2 on the pool.

* Thematic: Crushing, Destructive

* Extended (Manifold) - Attach to any melee weapon. Increase the range of the
weapon by 5 feet.

* Thematic: Reaching, Enlarged

* Non-Lethal - Attach to any weapon. When dealing subdual damage, increase

damage by 2. When dealing lethal damage, decrease damage by 1.

* Range Increase x (Manifold)- Attached to any firearm. The effective range of the
firearm is doubled a number of times equal to x. X is capped at 3. For example, a
Savage Firearm with Range 20 would have its Range increased to 40, then 80,
then 160.

* Thematic: Scoped, Zoomed

* Suppressor - Attach to a pistol or rifle. Characters further than 20 feet away from
the weapon firing Minimize their two highest dice to locate the shooter.

* Thematic: Silenced, Stealthy

* Sneak - Attach to any Precise weapon. Reroll 1 when attacking from stealth.

* Thematic: Insidious, Underhanded

* Staggering x (Manifold) - Attach to a weapon. Inflicts the Staggered effect on

the target on hits with x or more successes (not damage). X starts at 4. A second
purchase of the Staggering effect on the same weapon makes X 2 instead.

* Thematic: Electrified, Stupefying

* Stock - Attached to any firearm. Reroll 1 per shot per attack.

* Thematic: Accurate, Extended Stock

* Thrown x (Manifold) - Attack to any melee weapon. X is capped at 4. The range

of the weapon is ( 1 + x ) * 5 feet. This melee weapon can be used in melee
attacks or thrown using the throwing rules.

* Thematic: Perfectly-weighted, Variable

* Versatile - Attach to any melee weapon. Static Add 3 when using the weapon
with both hands.

* Thematic: Dynamic, Even

Weapons Types

* Precise: 3d4 Accuracy, +0 Damage.

* Balanced: 2d6 Accuracy, +1 Damage.

* Savage: 1d8 Accuracy, +2 Damage.

41
 Armor Quality

* Light Armor reduces damage by 1.

* Balanced Armor reduces damage by 2.

* Special Armor reduces damage by 3.

Equipment

Resource 1

• Precise Melee Weapon

• Balanced Melee Weapon
• Savage Melee Weapon
• Precise Ranged Weapon, 40 ft.
• Balanced Ranged Weapon, 60 ft.
• Savage Ranged Weapon, 20 ft.
• Tough Jacket (Armor 1)
• Unreliable Sedan
• Noisy Motorcycle
• Shoddy Apartment (Repeating, monthly)
• Kitbash Deck
• Internal Radio
• AnyTool
• Hammer fist
• Minor cosmetic Enhancement
• d4 Skill Item
• One pair radios
• Improvised Explosive

42
 Resource 2

• Decent Apartment (Repeating, monthly)

• Nondescript Van
• Surplus Deck
• Neural-Net Interface
• Major cosmetic Enhancement
• Hawk Eyes
• Dermal Nicate Plating
• Grapnel hand
• d6 Skill Item
• Debilitating or Deadly Poison
• Sticky Fingers
• Tainted Love
• Angels Fall
• Unfolding Buckler

Resource 3

• Fancy Car
• Branded Deck
• Low-End House (Repeating, monthly)
• Modified Voice Box
• Anyface
• Night Vision
• Targeting Assistance
• Combat Dress (Armor 2)
• Hidden Firearm
• Chest Storage
• Zoom Legs
• Meniscus Pistons
• d8 Skill Item
• Grenade
• Codebreaker

43
 Resource 4

• Average House (Repeating, monthly)

• Subdermal Nicate Weave
• Internal Rebreather
• Healing Hand
• Stabilizers
• Fast Car
• Custom Deck
• Sports Motorcycle
• d10 Skill Item

Resource 5

• Manor (Repeating, monthly)

• Sports Car
• Military-Grade Armor (Armor 3)
• Military-Grade Deck
• d12 Skill Item
• Briefcase Bomb

Skill Item - A Skill Item is any piece of Equipment that enhances a specific
Skill. The Skill is chosen when the item is purchased, as is the dice size benefit. When
the Skill is used, the user also adds the Equipment’s bonus. If the Equipment can be
used for a different Skill that it wasn’t designed for, the bonus from the Equipment is
reduced by one die step. In the case of d4 Skill items, this becomes 0.

Improvised Explosive - This item mechanically covers a variety of home-

made explosives, including pipe bombs and firebombs. Once the explosive lands, it
detonates at Initiative 0. This detonation effects a 10 foot radius (or a 3x3 square).
The Improvised Explosive makes an attack against all creatures in the area of its
explosion. It rolls 5d8 for accuracy, and as an object it does not have any means of
modifying its own die pool. Its damage bonus is +3 with Armor Penetration 1.

Cosmetic Enhancement - Using a combination of Nicate implants and

bleeding edge medical procedures, the human body can be molded to fit a person’s
desire. These Enhancements don’t cost any Cyberpower and can be inserted or
removed during Downtime. Minor Cosmetic Enhancements affect soft tissues, like

44
 eyes and facial structure. Major cosmetic Enhancements affects bones and muscle
structures, allowing a character to alter their height and width.

Combat Dress - This body armor is made by layering padding and Nicate
mesh. It is a flexible protective garment that covers the torso, arms, and upper
legs. Popular among more combat-focused Torpedoes, these Combat Dresses are
generally a sign that the wearer is spoiling for a fight that they expect to at least
survive, and offer Armor 2.

Grenade - This item mechanically represents any military-grade explosives.

Once the explosive lands, it detonates 2 Initiative ticks later (minimum Initiative 0).
This detonation effects a 15 foot radius (or a 4x4 square). The Grenade makes an
attack against all creatures in the area of its explosion. It rolls 5d10 for accuracy, and
as an object it does not have any means of modifying its own die pool. Its damage
bonus is +5 with Armor Penetration 2. Additionally, the grenade has the Demolish
adjective.

Military-Grade Armor - Surplus body armor from the military, this full-body
protection uses ablative fabric and ceramic Nicate inserts to keep the wearer safe.
While the military armor is heavier than its counterparts, Torpedoes that use this
armor swear by it. Military-Grade Armor provides Armor 3.

Briefcase Bomb - This item covers timed and radio-operated stable

explosives. These do not need to be thrown to activate them; they can be placed.
Regardless, when the bomb is activated, the person activating the bomb declares
on which Initiative value the bomb explodes. This detonation effects a 20-foot radius
(AKA a 5x5 square). The bomb makes an attack against all creatures in the area of
its explosion. It rolls 6d12 for accuracy, and as an object it does not have any means
of modifying its own die pool. Its damage bonus is +7 with Armor Penetration 3.
Additionally, the bomb has the Demolish adjective.

Poison - Debilitating poison seizes the target’s muscles and confuses

them, leaving them a slurring and staggering mess that has all their Attribute Die
capped at d4. This condition lasts for six hours OR until another character makes
a DT 5 Medicine with Brains check to diagnose and cure them (at which point
the poison wears off after 30 minutes). Deadly poison is a fast-acting neurotoxin
that shuts down respiration. After one minute, the target takes 1 damage that
cannot be reduced by Armor. The minute after that they take 2 damage, then 3,
and so on, incrementing by 1 each minute. A DT 6 Medicine with Brains check
can diagnose and cure the victim, after which the poison iterates one final time
before being purged. Academics or Medicine with Brains can identify either
poison post-mortem, though this requires a blood test and a check against DT 6.

45
 Enhancements

* NNI Slot

* Neural-Net Interface (Power 1) - Possibly one of the most important

Enhancements on the market, the Neural-Net Interface is a mesh of Nicate
woven to read and transmit small electrical signals. The mesh is laid under
the Pia Mater membrane, directly against the gray matter, while micro-
cabling runs down the back of the head to the spine. A small set of plugs
on the back of the neck connects the NNI to various external electronics. If
the NNI is used with extra-cranial cyberware, these small wires run parallel
to the nerve fibers down the length of the body to the location where the
cyberware is installed. Enables direct information access to terminals. You
are allowed to make two Technology checks per Action using the computer
you are decked into. Additionally, you do not need a terminal to interface
with mainframes or data nodes.

* Head

* Modified Voice Box (Power 1) - A small series of servos and speakers are
placed around the larynx and trachea, expanding the vocal range of the user.
Gain a bonus d10 to all vocal performances. You can additionally mimic a
voice after hearing it for a minute, gaining the bonus from this Enhancement
to impersonate the voice.

* Internal Radio (Power 1) - Communicate with allies that share this

Enhancement or a radio. Range is one-half of a mile.

* AnyFace (Power 1) - Tiny servos and plates under the skin alter the physical
structure of the face. Reroll 1 on all checks to create or maintain a visual
impersonation another person, or disguise your face.

* Codebreaker (Power 2) - A nicaloid reel is inserted in your head with a

series of common encryption algorithms. When making checks to decode,
decrypt, or interpolate data, reroll the pool and keep the better result.

* Eyes

* Hawk Eyes (Power 1) - Perception checks made visually Static Add 4 to

their pool.

* Night Vision (Power 1) - See in the dark out to 60 feet. Sudden bright lights
will overload this Enhancement, leaving the character blind until the end of
their next turn.

* Targeting Assistance (Power 2) - Attach to a firearm. Gain Static Add 3 to

Accuracy Pools.

46
 * Torso

* Dermal Nicate Plating (Power 1) - Microplating inserts of hardened Nicate in

the chest and arms, granting Armor 1 that does not stack with other sources
of armor.

* Subdermal Nicate Weave (Power 2) - Improves the body’s ability to resist

physical damage. Gain Armor 2, stacking with worn armor.

* Internal Rebreather (Power 1) - Gain 10 minutes of breathable air stored in

a compressed cylinder in the chest cavity. This automatically kicks in when
the user could not normally breathe, such as when underwater or among
harmful vapors. This takes 1 hour to refill after being used.

* Chest Storage (Power 1) - Gain a compartment in the torso that stores an

item no larger than the average housecat. Draw from this compartment with
a Thematic Action. This compartment is a perfect hiding spot, meaning it
cannot be detected with anything short of an autopsy.

* Arms (x2)

* Hidden Firearm (Power 1) - A gun has been installed in your forearm. It is a

Precise ranged weapon.

* Hammer fist (Power 1) - Increase unarmed damage by 2, add Knockdown 4.

* Ferocious Talons (Power 1) - Unsheath wicked Nicate talons from your

forearm. This is a Savage, Concealed melee weapon with Armor Piercing 1.

* Grapnel hand (Power 2) - Contains a grapple hook and 30 feet of cable.

Ascend or descend at 30 feet per Action.

* AnyTool (Power 1) - Always treat yourself as having equipment for Craft,

Mechanics, or Technology checks. Additionally, Reroll 1 in those pools once
per Turn.

* Healing Hand (Power 1) - Reroll 1 in any Medicine pool once per turn. Gain 2
auto-successes on each Iteration of any Extended Medicine check.

* Unfolding Buckler (Power 1) - Snap open a Nicate buckler to defend

yourself. Increase your DV by 1 when this buckler is open, but lose the use
of the hand holding the buckler steady. While you can have two Bucklers,
you only gain the bonus from one of them at a time.

* Sticky Fingers (Power 1 x2) - Nicate microfilaments extrudes from your

fingertips and palms, allowing easier grip when climbing. While this
Enhancement is purchased as one item, it must be installed in both hands,
taking each slot and requiring 2 Power total. These Enhancements allow for
both a Reroll and Maximize 1 on all checks made to climb.

47
 * Tainted Love (Power 1) - Small poison vials are inserted in your forearm,
with piping leading down to your fingertips. Tainted Love can inject poison
in two ways. If affecting food or drink, you only need to touch the item to
contaminate it. If affecting a person directly, they may choose to have you
roll Bluff, Close Combat, or Sneaking with Might or Finesse as an attack to
let you get close enough for contact. The Enhancement can be loaded with
Debilitating or Deadly poison, and requires an hour to fully prepare and load
one dose.

* Legs

* Zoom Legs (Power 1) - Improve speed by one step.

* Meniscus Pistons (Power 1) - After rolling a jump check, double the height
of the jump or triple the length of the jump.

* Stabilizers (Power 2) - Immunity to knockback, knockdown, and hindering

terrain.

* Angels’ Fall (Power 2) - Collapsing pistons in the knees and hips allow you to
fall safely. Reduce the fall distance by 40 feet when calculating Controlled
Fall DT and damage.

48
 Automobiles

Three major producers of automobiles hold monopolies in America. These

are the American Motor Company (AMC), the European O'Nell & Smith Engine Group
(O&S), and the Nipponese Hansura Automobiles. Once purchased, a car or bike can
be further modified and upgraded with aftermarket parts. Automobiles have statistics
that denote how fast, heavy, maneuverable, and durable they are. Speed and
Durability are both numerical stats, while Weight and Maneuverability are die sizes.

American Motor Company – Founded in 1903 by Richard Kant in Michigan,

AMC quickly rose to the top of the automotive class in the States. Buying out or simply
destroying any other manufacturers stateside, the AMC secured its dominance by
becoming the sole American producer of military vehicular hardware. AMC cars are
well put together with solid (albeit heavy) parts and therefore excel in Durability at
the cost of Maneuverability.

O'Nell & Smith Engine Group – O&S originated in Germany in 1917, and is a
relative newcomer in the industry. While other European companies such as Mason
Motors or Taan Engineering provided civilian cars, O&S cobbled together an amalgam
of the best qualities of their opponent's machines, and then improved them. Starting
with 1917's A-Series of cars and motorcycles, O&S swept across the countryside and,
in less than four years, have firmly seated themselves as the dominating power in
European motors. O&S cars are well-crafted but not outstanding in any single aspect.

Hansura Automobiles – In 1890, Nipponese Emperor Meiji commissioned

a national corporation of the country’s smartest engineers, scientists, and physicists
with the singular goal of creating individual and mass transportation options for
his people. 6 years later, Hansura Machinist Industries released its first production
automobile. Primarily exporting to countries like China and Korea, Hansura cars and
bikes have nevertheless made their way to American soil. Hansura vehicles are lighter
than the competitors, and are more agile and faster as a result.

Speed: The top speed of the vehicle in miles per hour. These are abstracted
into several speed gradients. Vehicles go from one gradient of speed as part of the
driver’s Thematic Action. Every increment of 40 MPH the car is travelling (40 MPH,
80 MPH, 120 MPH, etc.) grants a free forward movement of 10 feet as per the vehicle
movement rules.

Stopped

¼ Speed

½ Speed

¾ Speed

Full Speed

Weight: The heavier the vehicle, the less maneuverable it is and the longer

49
it takes to come to a complete stop. However, a heavier car or bike is not necessarily
a bad thing; heavier automobiles are harder to destroy and have an easier time
knocking obstacles, and pushing other vehicles out of the way. Use Weight as the
Equipment die when using your vehicle for brute force. This includes attacks. All
vehicles are considered Savage Weapons with a damage bonus increase equal to
half their Weight die size.

Maneuverability: How well the automobile navigates tight corners and fast
stops. The more agile the car or bike, the easier ducking and weaving through narrow
streets and tighter alleys will be. Use Maneuverability as your Equipment die when
forcing your ride into complex acrobatics. Half of the Maneuverability is the vehicle’s
DV while in motion, otherwise the DV is 0.

Durability: The amount of damage your vehicle can take before breaking
down.

Unreliable Sedan Noisy Motorcycle

• Speed: 40 MPH • Speed: 60 MPH

• Weight: d6 • Weight: d4
• Maneuverability: d6 • Maneuverability: d8
• DV: 3 • DV: 4
• Durability: 5 • Durability: 4

Nondescript Van Fancy Car

• Speed: 60 MPH • Speed: 80 MPH

• Weight: d8 • Weight: d6
• Maneuverability: d4 • Maneuverability: d8
• DV: 2 • DV: 4
• Durability: 6 • Durability: 7

Fast Car Sports Car

• Speed: 100 MPH • Speed: 120 MPH

• Weight: d6 • Weight: d6
• Maneuverability: d10 • Maneuverability: d12
• DV: 5 • DV: 6
• Durability: 7 • Durability: 8

A character can move their car forward, backward, left, and right relative to
its starting position as a Mechanical Action on their turn. Roll Vehicles with Finesse
and Maneuverability against DT 3. Each success allows the driver to move the car
ten feet in a cardinal direction. Diagonal movement is invalid for vehicles. The car
maintains its forward momentum over the course of the Round. Cars count as one

50
 layer of cover for driver and passengers. Vehicular movement is always calculated
relative to itself. Thus if a sedan is moving at 40 MPH, over the course of 10 seconds
(about one Round) it would travel 58 feet forward. This is not calculated for the
purpose of any forward motion made during a vehicular movement action, so while
it might move 78 feet from its starting position (58 feet plus 20 feet as an example
vehicular movement value), only the 20 feet from the roll would be counted.

This relativism extends to inter-vehicular collisions. If two objects in motion

collide, only calculate the distance the colliding object travelled to get to the object
of collision.

Watercraft have a one-to-one analog to all of the land vehicles on the table.
An Unreliable Motorboat moves as fast as and uses the same die and numerical
values as the Unreliable Sedan, for instance.

Characters can choose to live in their vehicle instead of a home. If they

do so, they must still pay 1 Resource of monthly upkeep for themselves and their
vehicle, as though they lived in a Shoddy Apartment.

Enhancing a Vehicle

Cars and motorcycles can have Nicate Enhancement systems installed on

them. The first step to Enhancing a vehicle is to install a Vehicular Mounted Battery,
or VMB. This piece of equipment sits alongside the engine, using an aftermarket
dynamo to charge itself. VMBs have their Cyberpower determined by how many
Resources are put into them, at a 1-to-1 ratio . Given current technology, a VMB’s
3

maximum power is capped at 3 Cyberpower. This is an Extended Action using

Mechanics with Brains, at DT 4, requiring 3 successes. Its interval is one hour.

Every vehicle has a specific set of Hardpoints that can be used to

mount Enhancements, weapons, and armor. These are the Forward, Rear, Flanks,
and Internal. The current Enhancements available are listed below. Each installed
Enhancement stacks recursively with itself, and benefits the entire car. Thus, Armor
Plating on the Rear benefits the entire vehicle, even if the attack hitting it explicitly
strikes the front of the car. Additionally, the “Flanks” of a vehicle covers both sides
with one purchase and one investment of Cyberpower.

Armor Plating (Forward, Rear, Flanks; Power 1) - The vehicle gains Armor 1
for each iteration of this Enhancement installed.

Front Catch (Forward; Power 1) - A heavy steel plate layered across the
grille of the car, with reinforcement to the frame. Increase Weight by one die step (up
to d12) and durability by 1.

3 A 1 Resource, 1 Cyberpower Battery can be upgraded to a 3 Cyberpower

Battery at a cost of 2 additional Resources, for example.

51
 Metallic Flake Coating (Forward, Rear, Flanks; Power 1) - A low-voltage
electric current runs through the Nicate flakes embedded in the paint, confusing
the outline of the vehicle. The vehicle increases its DV by 1 for each iteration of this
Enhancement installed.

Rear Spoiler (Rear; Power 1) - This aerodynamic fin makes micro-

adjustments in response to changes in speed. Increase Maneuverability by one die
step (up to d12) and increase DV by 1.

Mounted Gun (Front, Rear; Power 1) - Install a Balanced firearm (this firearm
can be upgraded) in the hardpoints at the front and back of the car. Attacks are only
valid against targets within a rectangle of effect with a width of the car’s front or rear
and a length equal to the range of the firearm. Attacks made with this weapon use
either the driver’s Firearms or Vehicles.

High Performance Sports Engine (Internal; Power 2) - Tuned and modified

to perfection, this engine increases the vehicle’s top speed by 40 MPH.

Decks and other Data Storage

The most important commodity in the Nicate Age is information. Due to

the capacity of the Nicate hardware, the only forms data can take are text, audio,
and video. Text is the most common, as audio and video require extremely high-end
hardware to record or produce. Text graphics are rendered on flat, low-resolution
monitors. This is facilitated by a tight weave of electric micro-wiring laid across a
Nicate gel substrate, with the gel set atop a glass sheet.

Data is stored on special reel-to-reel strips of Nicaloid magnetic tape.

Nicaloid is quite durable and resistant to heat, shock, and fluids. The only thing it
is highly reactive to is magnetized Nicate slurry, which reduces Nicaloid to a high-
temperature corrosive slime which hardens to a solid non-conductive lump when it
cools.

The largest repositories of data are mainframes, large racks of Nicaloid

reels used by academics, governments, and corporations to archive and manipulate
information. These can be accessed locally, or by using nodes. Nodes are effectively
just monitors and user input tools, serving as a means of accessing either local
mainframes or the Mesh. Nodes can hold Programs, generally ones built for data
lookup and manipulation.

Decks are briefcase-sized portable nodes. Able to store data and Programs
on their internal Nicaloid reels, Decks are common enough to be built in any well-
stocked basement. Decks can be connected to nodes, mainframes, or into Deck
connection points. If the network has access to the Mesh, the Deck is able to get
online.

52
 The Mesh is a series of wired mainframes across the world, connected by
telecommunication lines. The interconnectivity links major cities, corporate entities,
and educational institutes. However large bodies of water, mountains, deserts, and
other land features block the laying of telecommunication infrastructure. While work
is being done to fully connect the world, it will still be years before the work will be
complete.

At the tapered ends of the major communication spines across the world
are data dumps, facilities with high bandwidth and storage that serve as a way to
connect across inhospitable terrain. These dumps take in information, transcribe it to
AMBER units or other physical media, then load it onto boats, trains, or automobiles
4

to ship the data to another dump.

Data is accessed on the fly using either a Deck or an Neural-Net Interface.

Either option allows for general data interaction, but each has their own benefits.
NNIs deck the brain directly into the information feed, allowing data to be parsed and
modified at the speed of thought. When plugged in, the user is allowed to make a
bonus Technology or Mechanics Mechanical Action to interact with the system. They
can make two Technology, two Mechanics, or one of each. The NNI has no internal
storage capacity; it only serves to span the brain-machine membrane. Thus, an NNI
can’t store data and cannot have Programs loaded up onto it. Additionally, an NNI is
discreet, and allows the user to leave their hands free while jacked in. Lastly, an NNI
doesn’t grant an Equipment Bonus, because it isn’t used to do anything but facilitate
the interaction with the system.

Decks have an internal storage medium. The quality of the Deck determines
its efficiency, as well as how much storage it can hold, segmented into partitions.
The Equipment bonus and partition number per Deck are listed below. Decks are
about the size and weight of the average typewriter, and have a built-in GUI and user
input hardware.

All Programs cost 1 Resource each to buy and require an Extended Check to
install or swap out. This check uses Technology with Brains at DT 4 of 3 Successes
(interval one hour).

* Kitbash Deck - d4 bonus, 1 partition.

* Surplus Deck - d6 bonus, 2 partitions.

* Branded Deck - d8 bonus, 3 partitions.

* Custom Deck - d10 bonus, 4 partitions.

* Military-Grade Deck - d12 bonus, 5 partitions.

* 4 The most common static storage medium in use. A Nicaloid reel set in a
shockproof steel suitcase with a tamper-proof lock. The data is encrypted on the
reel, and a Nicate charge is set in the case to slag the data if any unauthorized user
attempts to access it.

53
* Eavesdropper (1 Partition) - This program sits on the targeted node. As long
as the program is running and connected to the Mesh, it reports the usage
on the node to the Deck.

* Firebomb (1 Partition) - Erases all data from the mainframe or node.

* Lockout (1 Partition) - Locks out a node from a network, stopping all network
traffic in and out.

* Parasite (1 Partition) - Select another program on the Deck and select its
parameters. The next time the node or mainframe is started up, the selected
program launches with the specified parameters.

* Phantom (1 Partition) - Isolate a particular cache of data. This data becomes

hidden from users searching for it on the mainframe or node. Further, even
looking for the data at the address directly reveals nothing but garbled data.

* Snowstorm (1 Partition) - Corrupts the node or mainframe’s GUI interface. It

leaves the data untouched but when a user attempts to access the data on
the node or mainframe, it shows as corrupted.

54
 Part 2: The Narrator

55
 Spot Rules

Jumping

Characters can jump by rolling Athletics or Acrobatics with Might or Finesse

against difficulty 3. Every success is 3 feet vertical and 5 feet horizontal. Characters
can choose to short their jump if their value exceeds their target.

Grappling

To begin grappling with a target, follow the steps below:

* Target an enemy within five feet using Close Combat with Might or Finesse. On a
hit, the attacker deals no damage to the target. Instead, the target is Held. This
is considered an unarmed attack, making it a Balanced weapon that is modified
by the Martial Artist Talent.

* A Held Target has their Movement reduced to 0.

* On the target’s Turn, if they are still Held, they may use their Mechanical Action
to contest Acrobatics or Athletics with Might or Finesse against the Attacker’s
Close Combat with Might or Finesse. If the target succeeds, they lose the Held
status. Alternatively, the target can initiate a Grapple of their own.

* Starting on the Attacker’s next turn, if they still have a Held target, they may
Crush, Drag, Throw, or Release. Using any of these save for Release costs
everything save for the Attacker’s Thematic Action, even if the Attacker has
Talents or other options that grants additional or bonus Actions.

* Crush: Roll Close Combat with Might or Finesse as an attack with a Balanced
Weapon.

* Drag: Roll Close Combat or Athletics with Might. The number of successes
is multiplied by five, and the Attacker can drag the target up to that number
of feet.

* Throw: Roll Close Combat or Acrobatics with Might or Finesse. The number
of successes is multiplied by five, and the target is knocked back up to that
many feet. Finally, the target is no longer Held.

* Release: The attacker uses their Thematic action to end the Held condition.

56
 Death and Dying

Dying functions differently for different kinds of characters. When it comes

to NPCs, reducing them to 0 hit points kills them outright. Player characters are
significantly more hearty. Once a player character is reduced to 0 hit points, they
enter the Dying status and note any excess damage past what brought them to 0.
At the start of their Turn and every subsequent Turn while they are dying, the player
character rolls either Might or Moxie (whichever is higher) with a Difficulty Threshold
equal to the excess damage.

* If the roll succeeds, the DT of the subsequent death rolls are decreased by 1.

* If the roll fails, the DT of the subsequent death rolls are increased by 1.

Once the DT for the death rolls exceed the dice size of the Attribute used
for the save, the character dies.

If a character reduces the DT down to 0, the character stabilizes into an

unconscious state . Allies can aid using a Medicine with Might or Brains against the
5

death DT. Each success made during this aiding action reduces the death DT by 1.

Should a character have their last hit point removed due to subdual damage,
they fall into unconsciousness without rolling for death.

Healing

After being wounded, a character is going to need to enter a period of

recovery. A character needs a day of uninterrupted rest to benefit from any healing
activities; interrupting their rest wastes the day of recovery.

* A character naturally regenerates one Health with a day’s worth of rest.

* Resting in a comfortable, safe place with at least two square meals adds an
additional one Health per day.

* Every day, an ally can make a Medicine with Might or Brains check at difficulty
4. Each success made during this check adds an additional Health to the day’s
recovery, up to the value of the healer’s Medicine value. This is considered an
Extended Check.

5 While unconscious, a character’s DV is 1 and they cannot affect die pools.

They cannot take any actions on their Turn save for rolling for death.

57
 Throwing

A character using a weapon with the Thrown adjective can choose to hurl
the weapon at their target using the following rules:

* The attacker is immediately disarmed of their weapons, but they can use a
Thematic Action to draw a new one. Since the general rule for consumable items
6

is “having as many as you need”, the character has a functionally infinite number
of weapons to throw, but they do not have an infinite number of weapons in their
hand at any time, hence the need to draw.

* The weapon retains its Accuracy Bonus and Damage Bonus from its Type. The
attack pool is made with Athletics or Ranged Weapons with Might or Finesse.

Huckin’ Bombs

Since explosives are their own category (they lack the Thrown adjective),
hand-held explosives use modified rules. A character declares a direction they want
to throw the explosive and rolls Ranged Weapons with Athletics with Might at DT 3.
The number of successes on this roll is multiplied by five; this value is the maximum
distance the character can throw the explosive. The character can choose to land
the explosive anywhere between their position up to this maximum distance.

The character may modify the throwing die pool because they have control
over the die pool. The character may not modify the explosive’s accuracy pool
because the explosive is the one making the attack.

Improvised Weapons

Picking up any random object and bashing someone over the head with it
is a valid Attack. The Narrator describes the improvised weapon with a Type, and the
attacker rerolls the highest die result, keeping the worse result.

6 Given that Thematic Actions are instant and unlimited, a character can
throw as many weapons as they have Attacks.

58
 Weapons Akimbo

Every character is considered to have a “main hand” (their dominant hand)

and an “off-hand” (their weaker hand). Using a one-handed weapon in each hand,
a character can attack Akimbo. When choosing their Attack during an Attack Action,
the character can use either the weapon in their main hand or their off-hand. Main
hand attack pools are unmodified. Off-hand attack pools have their die capped at d8.

Weapon Range Penalties

When attacking within a ranged weapon’s range, the die pool is unmodified.
Every interation of the weapon’s range (two times, three times, etc), the largest
showing dice are Minimized in sequence (highest, second highest, etc).

59
 Falling and Crashing

When a character enters a fall, they risk taking damage. This potential
damage increases as the character falls for longer, however the falling character has
the potential to control their fall. This is achieved with an Athletics or Acrobatics with
Might or Finesse check made on landing, modified by the distance the character
fell. The number of successes the character gets on the check is the amount of
damage reduced from the fall, down to 0. Use the chart below to determine the DT
for controlling the fall and the potential damage.

When a character is in a vehicular crash, they can either come to a sudden

or rolling stop. In the case of a sudden stop, calculate the distance they travelled
from the turn prior to the crash using the same table. In the case of a rolling stop,
use the damage and DT from the speed two levels lower (down to 20 feet). Flinging
bodies from the crash and the aftermath of the impact are thematically left up to the
discretion of the Narrator. This cannot be soaked by armor.

Fall Distance DT to Control Fall Damage

20 ft 3 2
30 ft 4 5
40 ft 5 8
50 ft 6 12
60 ft 7 16
70 ft 8 21
80 ft 9 26
90 ft 10 31
100 ft+ 11 36

Ambushing and Sneak Attacks

Combat is designed to be quick and brutal. Usually the people who shoot
first are going to be the ones to win the fight. To that end, characters can and will set
up “Ambushes”. An Ambush is when one party attacks the second party without the
second party being ready for the attack. This can mean that an ambush involves a
sniper and a concealed nest, or kicking open a door and shooting into a card game.
As long as the other party doesn’t have their guns out or their dukes up, the attacking
party gains Ambush.

When the attackers start an Ambush round, the attackers all take a full
Turn’s worth of Actions in any character order they choose. When the Ambush round
finishes, Initiative is rolled as normal.

60
 Sneak attacks and Ambushing often overlap, but not always. A character
has the Sneak adjective attached to their attack if and only if the target is not aware
of the attacker at the time of the attack. Once the attack is concluded, the attacker
loses this obfuscation. An attack with the Sneak adjective reduces the target’s DV
by 1 for that attack.

Dynamic Initiative

Generally when Initiative is called for, the order of characters on the list
doesn’t change. Characters can hang actions and react, but otherwise these
values remain static. However, there are situations wherein events will happen that
only execute once. These use dynamic initiative, which indicates when something
circumvents the normal initiative. Some examples of dynamic initiative are:

* Hanging Initiative and Riposte as listed in the Actions section.

* Grenades go off two Initiative Rounds after they are thrown (Minimum 0).

* All environmental effects that are outside of the character’s direct control (gas
tank explosions, car crashes, building collapses, etc.) execute on Initiative 0.

Optional Rule: Degrees of Success

Normally a character only needs one success to fully complete a challenge,

save for combat and extended challenges where number of successes does matter.
A Narrator can choose to use “Degrees of Success”, where more successes means
a more complete or more exceptional completion of the challenge.

Experience and Levelling Up

Characters increase in power by advancing in Level, and the means that

they use to level up is Experience. Experience is gained when a Job is completed. If
the Job is level appropriate to the characters, the characters gain 1 experience. If it’s
below the level of the Torpedos, they gain no experience. If it’s above the level of the
Torpedos, add an additional one Experience. Characters level up when they get an
amount of experience points equal to their current Level (1 experience to level to 2,
2 experience to level to 3, etc.) Every level up the player gains the following rewards:

61
* Increases one Attribute by one step.

* 7 Skill points

* Favorite Skills raise at 1-to-1

* Normal Skills raise at 2-to-1

* Unused Skill points are lost. See Appendix A for Skill caps per level.

* One Talent or Improvement.

* 0.5 Cyberpower.

* Increase DV and Specialty Die size based on the tables in Appendix A.

At Level 10, a character is allowed to choose one of their Profession’s two

Keystone Talents, in addition to the Level 10 Talent or Improvement they would
receive normally.

62
 The Anatomy of a Job
Jobs exist as a means of the elite to use disposable and deniable resources
to execute their will. The companies or people assembling a Job will use layers of
obfuscation to keep themselves isolated from their catspaws.

A Fat Cat is the one who actually puts together the outline of the Job. A Fat
Cat doesn’t need to be an individual, just an entity in power that needs work done
without liability. The Fat Cat will delineate overseeing the work to a subordinate called
a Big Shot.

The Big Shot will scout out the talent in the area of the Job, seeking out
Torpedos with abilities to best complete the Job. They will also acquire equipment
either on-site or delivered from the Fat Cat. Once the Big Shot has confirmed the
team, they will send out summons to the group (this will usually be the PCs and
maybe some ally NPCs).

The Big Shot is the one who interprets the overall goals of the Job, and
determines the primary and optional objectives for the Job. They also lay out the
mandatory items and item catalog for the Torpedoes to use at the first meeting prior
to any Preparation Actions.

The Torpedoes are given an amount of time to execute Preparation Actions.

The Prep Actions are executed one hour at a time. The Narrator goes around the
group of Torpedoes one at a time and gives them the opportunity to commit their
hour’s Prep Action, detailed more below. This means that, in total, the characters
have (number of Torpedoes) x (Preparation Action time) hours.

When the crew has completed all of their Prep Actions, the team reconvenes
and begins the Job. The Torpedoes attempt to complete their Objectives over the
course of the Job. Once all of the main Objectives (and any number of the optional
Objectives) are completed, the crew extricates themselves from the Job site.

On the way back to meeting the Big Shot, the crew completes any
needed drop-offs or cleanups after the Job. The crew meets with the Big Shot and
are presented with their rewards. A rule of thumb for most Torpedoes is that the
payout for any Job is the number of Mandatory Objectives plus the Level of the Job.
Additional Resources or bonuses should be generated based on player characters’
actions and how many Optional Objectives they complete.

63
 Preparation Actions

* Collecting Equipment from Big Shot (1 Hour) - The Big Shot will have a limited
catalog of equipment at a discount of -1 Resource cost (minimum cost 1). A well-
prepared Big Shot will have equipment related to completing the Job. All of the
equipment purchased in this way is collected at once.

* Collecting Equipment from the Streets (1 Hour) - If an item is not on the Big
Shot’s catalog, the Torpedo can go to the streets to collect the equipment they
need. Roll Street Smarts with Brains or Savvy, difficulty equal to the Resource
value of the item desired. This roll takes the hour, and if the roll succeeds the
Torpedo can purchase the item requested.

* Reconnoitering (1 Hour setup, then 1 repeating) - The Torpedo can set up

near the mission area to collect information. Roll Sneaking with Finesse to set
the Difficulty of your concealment for the first hour. Every hour after that, any
security in the mission area may roll Perception with Brains or Savvy against
your concealment. If you are not spotted, you may observe the goings on in the
mission area.

* Install Character - Spend an hour after setting up recon leaving a character

on the scene. The installed character doesn’t rejoin the crew after the Prep
Time is finished, and starts the Job on-site.

* Dead Drop - Same as installing a character above, except leaving a piece of

Equipment behind instead of a person.

* Interviews (1 Hour) - Communicating with people in and around the area can offer
insight or opportunities for the upcoming mission. Roll Diplomacy, Interrogation,
or Street Smarts with Moxie or Savvy. The Difficulty Threshold of the check
is determined by the Narrator, and there may be multiple opportunities with
different Difficulty Thresholds.

* Install Programs in Deck (1 Hour) - Slot a new Program into a Deck. Multiple
Programs can be slotted into or removed from a Deck in the same hour, but it
still takes an hour to complete regardless.

* Research (1 Hour) - Gain insight on the Job in the same manner as Interviews,
above. Instead of a social check, roll Academics, Investigation, or Technology
with Brains.

* Hire an NPC (1 Hour) - Go out in the streets and collect an NPC ally. Pay up to five
Resources and have the Narrator designate an ally NPC. The ally has a number
of Favorite Skills equal to the number of Resources spent plus one, chosen by
the player. Roll Diplomacy, Intimidation, or Street Smarts with Brains, Savvy, or
Moxie. The number of successes is the NPC level of the ally (see the Quick-
Make NPC Table in Appendix A). This ally’s Level cannot exceed the Level of the
character making this check. The NPC has their Level’s Excellent dice assigned
to the chosen Skills. This ally can be hired multiple times but they won’t stick
around after the Job finishes.

64
 Bad Guy Templates

Bad Guys are built with a Level and a Type, modified by tags. The Level of
a Bad Guy determines approximately the Level of Player Character they would serve
to challenge, and their Type determines how severe a challenge they will be. Use
the “Bad Guy Type” table to generate Bad Guys. The Tags available to Bad Guys are
below.
“Divinities” can gain the Villain tag. Villains have certain benefits, making
them designed to be a repeating foes over the course of several Jobs. Consider
Villains to be a tier above standard Divinity enemies; they are designed to be “bosses”
for the players to slowly whittle down. Villains gain the following:

* Name: A Villain must have a name, they cannot be part of the anonymous gang
of enemies the players would otherwise simply breeze past.

* Motivation: A Villain must have some objective at odds with the players. This
motivation doesn’t have to be directly evil or immoral, just antagonistic to the
desires of the player characters.

* Resources: Bad Guys lack a Resource stat because it is assumed that they
are being outfitted by their employer. Villains are those employers, and are
considered to have unlimited Resources as thematically appropriate.

* Durability: Villains are intrinsically tough to kill, and increase their Armor by 1 and
Health by their Level.

* Expertise: Villains are the top dogs, and their best-of-the-best abilities are
reflected mechanically. Once per Turn, a Villain can Maximize one dice in any
pool.

* Villain Talent: Villains gain an additional custom Talent in addition to the custom
Talent they get from being a Divinity.

* Resilience: It’s not easy to put a Villain down. Every Villain gains the Resilience
x stat. When reduced to 0 hit points, a Villain does not die. They are removed
from the Scene, and cannot be targeted or otherwise interacted with from that
point forward. Their Resilience is reduced by 1, and they are allowed to return in
a future scene or combat. Once their Resilience is reduced to 0, they have their
final climactic death scene. It is up to the Narrator to determine how the Villain
got away, through means like secret passages, body doubles, digital illusions, or
any other narrative contrivance.

All Bad Guys can gain the “Loyalty x” tag. Loyalty determines how willing the
character is to their boss. This is measured on a scale, below:

* Loyalty 0 - Not having a Loyalty tag. Every man for himself, and if it looks like the
fight is going to go the wrong way this character will flee. They can be turned
against or become apathetic to the needs of their boss if the players sweet talk
them.

65
* Loyalty 1 - Some amount of devotion to their boss. If the boss is killed or disabled,
this character will bolt. Social checks made to undermine these characters are
Average level appropriate challenges.

* Loyalty 2 - A level of professionalism in regards to standing by their employer.

They will fight to the end even if their boss is killed, and checks to socially
undermine these characters use their boss’s social checks to contest.

* Loyalty 3 - This character will die for their boss. If they are adjacent to their
boss, they may use their Reaction to force any attack targeting their boss to
target them instead. All social checks made to undermine these characters fail
automatically.

Ruffians and Bases can have the “Fodder” tag. These characters are
otherwise unchanged save that their Health is 1.

All Bad Guys can have the “Squaddie” tag. The Squaddie tag grants the
following benefits:

* Rallying bonuses are now a d12.

* When a Squaddie attacks a target that an allied Squaddie has already attacked
this Turn, the attacker gains Static Add 3 to accuracy.

Squaddies reduce the DV cover bonus of a target by 1.

66
 Bad Guy Type

Ruffian Base

* Increase Attributes with pool of

points equal to Level. * Increase Attributes with pool of
points equal to Level+1.

* Choose a number of Skills equal to

Level. * Choose a number of Skills equal
to Level+1.

* Gain Level x2 Skill points.

* Gain (Level x2) + 1 Skill points.

* Gain one Talent at Level 1.

* Gain one Talent or Improvement

* Health: Level at Levels 1 and 6.

* Poor Defensive Scaling

* Health: Level+1

* Pool cap of 3.
* Average Defensive Scaling

Ace
* Pool cap of 4.
Exemplar

* Increase Attributes with pool of

points equal to Level+2. * Increase Attributes with pool of
points equal to Level+3.

* Choose a number of Skills equal to

Level+2. * Choose a number of Skills equal
to Level+3.

* Gain (Level x2) + 2 Skill points.

* Gain (Level x2) + 3 Skill points.

* Gain one Talent or Improvement at

Levels 1, 5, and 9. * Gain one Talent or Improvement
at Levels 1, 4, 7, and 10.

* Health: Level+2
* Health: Level+3

* Excellent Defensive Scaling

* Excellent Defensive Scaling

* Pool cap of 4.
* Pool cap of 5.

* Skill cap of 4.
*
Divinity
Skill cap of 4.

* Increase Attributes with pool of points equal to Level+4.

* Choose a number of Skills equal to Level+4.

* Gain (Level x2) + 4 Skill points.

* Gain one Talent or Improvement at Levels 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9.

* Health: Level+4

* Excellent Defensive Scaling

* Pool cap of 6.

* Skill cap of 5.

* Divinity Talent: Gains one custom Talent for free at Level 1.

67
 Downtime

Player characters don’t always have to be on Jobs. They have the

opportunity to unwind, make connections, perform non-Job labor, and continue
their own personal quests. Downtime happens between Jobs and is measured in
weeks. A Downtime Action is considered to be what that character does for the
majority of the week, though they can still perform small thematic actions outside
during the week as well. Some suggested Downtime Actions are below.

* Free Role-play: A Torpedo can use this time to explore the city, catch up with old
friends, perform minor tasks, and otherwise use the time as they see fit.

* Labor: A Torpedo can pick up odd jobs to keep the lights on between paydays,
or they may have a full-time job of their own. Labor can be either Skilled or
Unskilled; Skilled Labor pays out 2 Resources for a week’s work, and Unskilled
pays out 1 Resource. The Narrator determines the Skills and Attributes used for
the check. The DTs for successfully completing a Week’s worth of work are 5 for
Skilled, and 3 for Unskilled.

* Social Connections: A Torpedo has the option to go out and meet new people.
If they wish to simply reach out to the NPCs that inhabit the city around them,
that falls under Free Role-play. If they’re looking for a certain person or type
of person, for instance someone with a specific skill set like a mechanic or
doctor, that falls under a Social Connection. The Player describes the kind of
NPC they’re looking for, and the Narrator determines who that NPC is, and where
they might be found. Once the Narrator has decided this, they assign a DT
appropriate for the Level of the character doing the looking. An Easy challenge
covers non-specific people, such as a person who lives in a certain part of town
or someone who served in the Great War. An Average challenge involves finding
an unskilled but specific person (“Marty Muscles down at the construction
site”) or a skilled nonspecific person (“any mechanic”, “any software engineer”,
etc.). A Difficult challenge is a skilled, specific person. On a success, the player
character is given the opportunity to interact with the target NPC in a manner
of their choosing. This interaction is also considered part of the one Downtime
Activity.

68
 The Story So Far
It is 1921, and the world has changed. These are the days of gun-runners
and crime families, of lanky vixens and oppressive governments, of future tech
and contemporary crime. This is a world built very much like our own, but very
different at the same time. Life is split into the haves and the have-nots. At the
bottom, scurrying through the rainy streets in cities like Chicago and Miami, are
the bootleggers and the deckers, trying to scrape enough together to live another
day. At the top are the hyper wealthy, using their financial standing to stripmine the
world for their own benefit. The Great Depression is years away, and the Great War
is behind us. Even for the most despondent citizens, life is better now than it was a
decade ago. All thanks to the technology that powers this brave new world.

Three decades ago, when W.H. Perkin was working on the aniline dye
mauveine, the industrial chemical that coined the phrase “Mauve Decade”, he
stumbled inadvertently on a mildly radioactive nitro-silicate compound he dubbed
“NS-21-36”, though it came to be known as “Nicate” by the press. A miracle
substance, it seemed there was nothing Nicate could not do: Lighter and more
efficient machinery, more advanced medical tools, the invention of transistors and
accompanying electronics years before it happened in our own time. The English
Crown attempted to snatch up the production of Nicate, but they were not fast
enough. Nippon, America, and the Ottoman Empire, through the use of subterfuge,
politics, or money, each got their hands on Nicate.

Thus began a worldwide race to become the most technologically-

advanced nation in the world. Companies like AMC and Kito-Niyobi were sanctioned
by their mother countries to create new and better technology, at the expense of
the working class. In less than a decade the world advanced more than it had in
a century prior. While the gap between rich and poor grew as corporate heads
profited from the international squabbling, the working man began migrating to
the larger cities. Rural areas gave way to the widening spread of the megacites
like Chicago and Volgograd. Tensions rose between nations as each grew more
convinced that the other was hiding some new development that would tilt the
balance of world power irrevocably.

Finally, in 1914, tensions boiled over. An agent of the Russian PPB, a young
Serb named Gavrilo Princip, assassinated the archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand.
Sparking one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history, the Great War changed
how mankind understood itself and shook the human population to its core.

As the war ground on, each of the governmental powers spent more
and more on military research and output, eventually having to borrow from the
monopolies they had sanctioned only a decade before. In 1919, with the Treaty of
Versailles, the Great War ended, but the world was forever changed into a different
place. Superpower governments such as America and Nippon were still suspicious
of each other, even though their power base had been weakened by the buyouts
from intranational megacorporations.

69
 Under the shadow of the Great War organized crime families had slithered
like vipers into the great cities of the world. It was a foothold nearly impossible
to destroy. From the Yakuza in Nippon to the Mafia in America, crime offered a
scintillating invitation to those seeking to make a quick buck. Over the course of
the War and the few years after it, criminal families wove themselves into the fabric
of world culture, with human trafficking, rum-running, and even Nicate smuggling.
As such, it became that at the dawn of the Roaring '20's, there were three major
groups in power: The Governments, the Companies, and the Criminal Empires.

During the Great War, the majority of produced Nicate went into military
and paramilitary hardware. Vehicles, firearms, armor, anything to make killing
the enemy more efficient. One of the most useful wartime discoveries in Nicate
manipulation was its ability to store and transmit information. Three companies
developed rapid information transit infrastructures for military use across most of
the major cities in the world: The American Analytical Engine Group, the Nipponese
Nishimura Company, and the German BRU. Part of the Treaty of Versailles was a
mutual agreement to declassify at least 50% of these networks for corporate and
public use. Merged into one, with hubs being set up in more cities each year, the
Mesh unified the world under the banner of communication.

Sudden worldwide intermingling of ideas was a double-edged sword.

On one hand, art, music, and cultures were spreading across the planet at a
rate previously thought infeasible. On the other, with constant surveillance by
the governmental entities monitoring the Mesh, and the service companies that
maintain and expand it also watching, almost no information that was propagated
on the Mesh was left unobserved. But this didn’t stop the march of progress. New
Orleans bluegrass singers communicated with Odori dancers from Kyoto. Russian
sculptors traded ideas with English surgeons. This culture shock of the collision
between East and West has gave to shocking new concepts, including civilian
body-modification.

Body modification was born on the battlefield. Nicate was used to enhance
the bodies of soldiers in the field with things like subdermal armor, hidden firearms,
blades, and enhanced senses. When the War ended, these medical procedures
were kept secret by the governments that had developed them. But confidentiality
can only go so far, and with the returning soldiers, as well as information leaks due
to corporate espionage, body-modding surgery was on the streets around a year
before the War ended. An expensive procedure, people do not often get aesthetic
body-mods except as a means of displaying personal wealth. But for a few dollars
less, one can find a back alley surgeon to implant any means of secondhand or
'discarded' tech. One of the most advanced Enhancements is the Neural-Net
interface, of NNI. An NNI is a plug at the back of the neck that allows a user to jack
directly into the Mesh. Operators, a subculture of hackers and crackers that use
this as a more direct means of doing their work, are defined by the quality of their
NNIs.

There were serpents in the garden that was the Mesh, however, and on July
2nd, 1920, the world's first computer virus was unleashed. No one was ever able
to discern who or from where the Sandstorm Virus originated from. With computing
technology still being relatively uncommon, months of work were required to halt
the Virus’s spread, work done primarily by an underground community of hackers,

70
 with some small help (they claim) from the powers that be. Sandstorm still dealt
a massive blow to the world economy, interrupting transmission of data between
various banking institutions. The Crisis of 1920 is still fresh in the memory of the First
World, leaving many people suspicious of the Mesh and its power. This paranoia
only allowed the world governments and corporate monopolies to heighten the
monitoring they were already doing, turning the majority of the public sectors of
the Mesh into a police state. Sandstorm had another effect not as publicly known
as the financial crisis; While the Sandstorm Virus was halted, the damage it caused
altered programming in heretofore unknown and unanticipated ways, which
released a series of memetic diseases into the Mesh such as Monsters’ Ball and
Salvation Works.

Many of the most powerful nations have used the paranoia born from the
misuse of the Mesh, coupled with the exhaustion from the end of the Great War, to
attempt to retake some of the control that they had lost to the monopolies at the
turn of the century. Unfortunately, due to the lack of funding, the governments had
to turn to the very monopolies they were trying to retrieve power from for personnel,
money, and supplies. Late in the year 1920, national security in several American
megacities became privatized. Abusing the power of both national defense and
local police forces, the corporations put the protection of their own interests first
before the public trust. Exacerbating the problem is the issue of organized crime
in many major cities. Several places have essentially degraded into war zones
between cops and robbers.

This is the world as it is now, as the players find it. The characters you will
play are extraordinary compared to their fellows: Paragons, criminals, renegades,
or heroes of the people, anyone and anything you wish to portray is available to
you. It is 1921, and the world has changed.

71
 What Might Happen
The Nicate Age is an exciting time. Below is a list of events that can
potentially happen in and around the United States that shaped its political, social,
economic, and technological aspects. While some of these events either did occur
or are based on actual history, the Narrator is free to modify these events to fit the
needs of their narrative.

* January 1, 1920

Babe Ruth is traded to the New York Yankees for $125,000.

* February 19, 1920

The U.S. Senate refuses to ratify the Treaty of Versailles.

* March 1, 1920

The U.S. Railroad Administration hands control of American railroads

back to their original companies. These would be absorbed by the U.S. Heavy Rail
Corporation's monopoly within three years.

* April 20, 1920

Ninos Nejem arrives in New York, fleeing the riots in Palestine. In five years,
Nejem will form the Palestinian Service Corps in Chicago.

* June 11, 1920

Ezekiel, America's seminal cyber-ethicist, gives his first lecture on the

Bayers-Zimmermann-Isles algorithm at the University of California.

* July 29, 1920

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation began construction on the Link River Dam,
but it is hampered by attacks by masked, heavily-armed individuals. Though no group
takes responsibility for the attacks, the completion of the dam is pushed back so far
that the contract is turned over to Western National Power Conglomerate, which
completes the project in early 1922.

* August 26, 1920

Congress ratifies the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing

women's suffrage.

* September 16, 1920

Seven men and three women, wearing silver masks and black suits, walk
into the financial headquarters of the T.M.F. Bank in Miami. They proceed to open fire
with submachine guns and shotguns, killing over 45 people. Before the NYPD could
apprehend the suspects, suicide bombs in their torsos were remotely detonated,
killing an additional eleven T.M.F. employees.

72
 * October 12, 1920

The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. A
federal investigation focuses on several of the Dodgers attempting to indict them
of using Enhancements to cheat. Though the case is settled out of court with no
convictions, Enhanced players are declared illegal in the American Baseball League.

* December 25, 1920

The cruise ship Three Kings sinks in the San Francisco Bay. 119 people die,
leading to an outrage across L.A. The U.S. Senate passes the Christmas Day Act,
which allows the Coast Guard to monitor all traffic entering the United States from the
west coast. However, in six years the Act is modified to transfer monitoring duties to
Cage International Shipping.

* January 2, 1921

The DeYoung Technological Studies Institute is opened in San Francisco.

* February 1, 1921

Java Adamec forms the Youth Communist League in a decommissioned

Native American reservation in Arkansas. Setting up in the rural Fort Coward, their
commune draws in a total population of 560 people.

* March 4, 1921

W.G. Harding is inaugurated as the 29th President of the United States.

* April 27, 1921

The Allies of World War I reparations commission announced that Germany

is to pay an equivalent of $65 trillion.

* May 14, 1921

Several major cities, including Chicago, New York, and L.A., experience
major blackouts. Communications and power are lost for almost a week. Millions of
dollars and hundreds of lives are lost over the course of the blackout. Enhancement
companies begin to offer EMP shielding options for implants. The rebuilding period
is dubbed by the press as the 'Black Summer'.

* June 11, 1921

W.G. Harding deploys the National Guard to New York and L.A.

* July 14, 1921

A Massachusetts jury finds Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti guilty of

first degree murder.

73
* August 1, 1921

The United States officially ends World War I.

* September 7, 1921

The first Miss America Pageant is held in Atlantic City. Margaret Gorman
wins the Pageant's Golden Mermaid trophy and is later dubbed Miss America.

* October 5, 1921

The first radio broadcast of a baseball game comes out of New Jersey.

* November 11, 1921

During the dedication to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, an unclaimed

assassination attempt is made on W.G. Harding. The president survives, though his
right leg is permanently injured. At the same time, the Coffee Riots erupt in Dallas,
New York, Chicago, Miami, and L.A. While the riots appeared to be organized, no
group claims responsibility for them.

* December 31, 1921

A group of eleven people in New York immolate themselves at midnight in

protest of the Coffee Riots, signaling the beginning of the end of the chaos in the
five major cities.

* January 10, 1922

Four months later, Iban Pharmaceuticals releases the first insulin treatments
for diabetes in Chicago.

* February 1, 1922

Irish-American film director W.D. Taylor is found murdered in his home in LA.
The case is never solved.

* March 19, 1922

Under pressure from TransNational Petroleum, the Secretary of the Interior

leases to them the Teapot Dome oil reserves.

* April 13, 1922

The State of Massachusetts opens all public offices to women.

* May 5, 1922
Construction begins on Yankee Stadium.

* June 14, 1922

W.G. Harding is discharged from the St. Mary's Hospital. He gives his first
speech broadcast by radio on the steps of the building.

74
 * July 4, 1922

Philanthropist Jessica M. Kline holds an open fair in downtown New York,

allowing any and all comers to sample free food. That night, a massive fireworks
display is held over the fair.

* August 19, 1922

Singer and guitarist with the handle “7-2/Jamestown” releases 'These Days',
the first song to ever be exclusively housed on the Mesh.

* September 20, 1922

Hisham al-Rayyis arrives in Washington, D.C. as the Palestinian envoy to

W.G. Harding. As expected, several attempts are made on his life over his year of
deployment, but all fail due to a joint task force of Palestinian and American specialists
keeping him alive. Their work is declassified in 1927, and the surviving members of
the “Redhawks” earn a minor amount of fame.

* October 3, 1922

Georgia Senator Thomas Watson dies mysteriously, allowing Rebecca L.

Felton to take his place as the first female Senator.

* November 30, 1922

Canadian author and playwright Alonso Lavoie emigrates to the U.S., settling
in Miami. He becomes famous for his farcical and satirical comedy series “The Seven
Sons”, detailing the history of the fictitious nation of Salmon.

* December 1, 1922

A meeting of the Molly Pitcher Club sets history by being the first ever to
meet simultaneously in real life and on the Mesh.

* January 1,1923

The Rosewood Massacre begins. Lasting for seven days and nights, this
racially-motivated conflict ends with eight dead and the town of Rosewood, Florida
razed to the ground.

* February 14, 1923

While passing through the Rocky Mountains, the private train TitanStar
disappears without a trace off the tracks at precisely 1:08 AM. The train, its passengers,
and its cargo are never recovered, and investigators can find no accident that could
have claimed the seven-car locomotive.

* March 2, 1923

Time magazine releases its first issue in the United States.

75
* April 4, 1923

Warner Brothers Pictures is incorporated.

* May 9, 1923

Michigan receives a record 10 inches of snow, locking down the state for
five days.

* June 10, 1923

The Broadway premiere of Lavoie's Narcissus is interrupted by Communist

demonstrators.

* July 13, 1923

The Hollywoodland sign is inaugurated in California.

* August 2, 1923

An assassination attempt is made on W.G. Harding's life, but he is saved by

members of the Secret Service and the Redhawks, who expose the plot mere hours
before it was to be executed.

* September 4, 1923

The USS Shenandoah, the United States' first airship, lifts off from Lakehurst,
New Jersey.

* October 31, 1923

W.G. Harding is assassinated while traveling by train to Ohio. Harding, several

members of the Cabinet, two members of the Redhawks, seven Secret Service
members, and two dozen civilians are killed when a bomb destroys the bridge the
train is on. Harding is succeeded by C. Coolidge.

* November 10, 1923

Sigma Alpha Kappa (the first social fraternity at a Jesuit college in the United
States) was founded as a fraternal organization.

* December 4, 1923

The Moderation League of New York becomes part of the movement for
the repeal of Prohibition in the United States.

* January 7, 1924

Neural Waveform Collapse (NWC) is used for the first time as a means of
state execution in Nevada.

76
 * February 16, 1924

Organized dock strikes break out in several dozen U.S. harbors.

* March 8, 1924

The Castle Gate mine disaster kills 172 coal miners in Utah.

* April 28, 1924

An explosion in a mine at the Wheeling Steel Corporation in West Virginia

kills 119 men.

* May 10, 1924

J.E. Hoover is appointed head of the Bureau of Investigation.

* June 2, 1924

C. Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to
all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.

* July 12, 1924

Airman R. Maughan flies from New York to San Francisco in 21 hours and 48
minutes on a dawn-to-dusk flight.

* August 28, 1924

U.S. Army pilots J. Harding and E. Nelson complete the first round-the-world
flight. It takes them 108 days and 62 stops before they finally return to Seattle.

* September 9, 1924

The Hanapepe Massacre occurs on Kauai, Hawaii.

* October 15, 1924

Zeppelin LZ-126 arrives in Lakehurst, New Jersey from Friedrichshafen,

Germany.

* November 4, 1924

C. Coolidge is re-elected as the 30th President of the United States.

* December 30, 1924

Astronomer E. Hubble announces that Andromeda, previously believed to

be a nebula, is actually another galaxy, and that the Milky Way is only one of many
such galaxies in the universe.

77
* January 27, 1925

A dogsled team sets out on a journey across Alaska to deliver Diphtheria

antitoxin to the town of Nome.

* February 28, 1925

A massive earthquake strikes New England and eastern Canada.

* March 18, 1925

A huge tornado kills over 700 across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.

* April 10, 1925

F.S. Fitzgerald publishes The Great Gatsby.

* May 8, 1925

Tom Lee rescues 32 people from the sinking steamboat, the M.E. Norman.

* June 2, 1925

A man calling himself Jersey City Colossus forms the Army of Ludd, a
collection of technophiles that had previously scattered across the United States.
Claiming a few hundred acres in Wyoming with a population of about 4,000, Colossus
declares his group to be a sovereign nation, named New Nottinghamshire.

* July 7, 1925

Jim Fredrick Stanford gives his first speech to a small group of disciples in
a small church in Miami.

* August 8, 1925

The Anglo Defense Allegiance marches down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Records indicate the ADA to be approximately five million strong.

* September 3, 1925

The dirigible Shenandoah breaks up over Caldwell, Ohio, killing 20.

* October 1, 1925

Mount Rushmore is dedicated.

* November 28, 1925

The “Grand Barn Dance” is first broadcast out of Nashville, Tennessee.

78
 * December 15, 1925

The United States Army, along with members of the Bureau of Investigation,
lay siege at the borders of New Nottinghamshire. Hundreds are lost on both sides,
as the Army of Ludd has the terrain and a well-trained militia on their side. The nation
is shattered, and Jersey City Colossus disappears. Colossus and his followers would
become a major problem for the Bureau as luddite terrorists begin to launch sporadic
attacks. A nationwide manhunt for Colossus is instated.

* January 1, 1926

A woman calling herself Tepia releases a wide swatch of cyber real estate
onto the virtual market, causing an uproar as businesses and citizens scramble to
snatch it up.

* February 11, 1926

A Golem manufacturing factory outside of Dallas is shut down by a BoI raid.

* March 16, 1926

The first liquid-fuel rocket is fired by R. Goddard outside of Auburn,

Massachusetts.

* April 19, 1926

A parking garage in New York City is destroyed by a series of controlled

explosions, killing more than 200 people who had taken up residency in it.

* May 18, 1926

Evangelist A. S. McPherson disappears during a tour of L.A.

* June 20, 1926

A serial killer dubbed The Chessmaster claims their first victim, Delson
Cadro. The Chessmaster targets decked-in individuals, and leaves behind a white
chess piece in the chest cavity of each victim.

* September 18, 1926

A massive hurricane rocks Miami, Florida, killing over 100 and causing
several million dollars in damage.

* October 31, 1926

H. Houdini dies of an infection after his appendix ruptures.

* November 11, 1926

U.S. Route 66 is established.

79
* December 1, 1926

The U.S.M.C. secretly intervenes in Nicaragua to bolster the conservative

government.

* January 5, 1927

The Voluntary Committee of Lawyers is founded to bring about the repeal of

Prohibition in the United States.

* February 19, 1927

The silent comedy film It premieres, popularizing the concept of the “It
Girl”.

* March 11, 1927

S.R. Rothafel opens the Roxy Theater in New York City.

* April 1, 1927

The U.S. Bureau of Prohibition is founded under the Department of the

Treasury.

* May 20, 1927

C. Lindbergh embarks on the first solo, nonstop transatlantic airplane flight,

carried out from New York City to Paris, France, in his single-engined aircraft, the
Spirit of St. Louis.

* June 4, 1927

C. Chamberlain and C.A. Levine take off from Roosevelt Field, New York,
and fly to Eisleben, Germany, in the Miss Columbia.

* August 10, 1927

President C. Coolidge rededicates Mount Rushmore, announcing national

funding to the proposal to carve Presidential figures into the rock.

* September 27, 1927

79 are killed and more than 500 are injured in the East St. Louis tornado.

* October 18, 1927

The first flight of Patriot Intercontinental flies from Key West to land in
Havana.

80
 * November 14, 1927

Three Stateline Gas storage tanks detonate, killing 30 and causing more
than $4 million in damage. Police suspect terrorism but are not able to locate the
perpetrators.

* December 17, 1927

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter J. Paulding collides with a classified American
submarine off of the west coast. The crew of the submarine all drown and all
information regarding the collision is quietly suppressed.

* January 29, 1928

E. Ness is appointed to the head of the Prohibition unit in Chicago.

* February 11, 1928

The United States is represented at the 1928 Winter Olympics, taking home
two gold medals.

* March 21, 1928

C. Lindbergh is presented the Medal of Honor.

* April 10, 1928

The Republican Party primary elections in Chicago are marred by a series of

communist demonstrations and the detonation of a large car bomb.

* May 4, 1928

A caravan of big rig trucks, lacking call signs and refusing to respond to
hails, migrates from Atlanta, Georgia to Groom Lake in Nevada over the course of
four days.

* June 1, 1928

Ezekiel-0 submits a press release detailing his wish for a free Mesh before
exiling himself. He vanishes and is never heard from again.

* July 25, 1928

The U.S. pulls all troops from China.

* August 16, 1928

Serial killer C. Panzram is arrested in Washington D.C. He is killed via Neural

Waveform Collapse three months later.

81
* September 15, 1928

Author Fredrick Krantz releases the first in an extremely popular series of

poetry about the “New America”.

* October 12, 1928

The iron lung is used for the first time in Boston.

* November 6, 1928

Republican H. Hoover is elected as the 31st President of the United States.

* December 21, 1928

The U.S. Congress approves the construction of the Hoover Dam.

* February 14, 1929

Five gangsters, plus two civilians, are shot dead in a cafe in Chicago.

* March 16, 1929

The San Francisco Bay bridge opens for a second time, after its first opening
was stopped by a car bombing.

* April 10, 1929

H. Hoover gives a speech pertaining to his intent on escalating the BoI's

power, due to the attacks on the bridge.

* May 6, 1929

The Wickersham Commission begins its investigation of organized crime

following alcohol Prohibition.

* June 21, 1929

After many difficulties, an agreement brokered by U.S. Ambassador Dwight

Whitney Morrow helps end the Cristero War in Mexico.

* July 11, 1929

Famous comedian Theodore Kraft performs in the Louvre nightclub. He is

found dead in his hotel room later that night.

* August 10, 1929

Marcus Timothy Redford, a renowned evangelist, leaps to his death from

the top of the T.M.F. Bank building without leaving a note, and for seemingly no
reason.

82
 * September 14, 1929

An unnamed informant (or perhaps an enemy spy) releases the past ten
years of BoI payroll records onto the Mesh.

* October 24, 1929

The New York stock exchange collapses, beginning the Great Depression.

* November 7, 1929

In New York City, the Museum of Modern Art opens to the public

* December 19, 1929

In an explosion of violence, a riot breaks out with the NYPD and the National
Guard protecting stock brokers from a 400 strong mob of angry, newly-impoverished
citizens. The three-day brawl leaves more than 200 dead.

83
 Nicate - The Miracle Alloy
In the 1890’s William Henry Perkin was working to create what would be
known as mauveine, a dye that would revolutionize textiles in the years to come. As
an accidental byproduct of this experimentation he also synthesized a miraculous
nitro-silicate compound. Dubbed by Perkin as “NS-21-36”, this lightweight and
conductive metal would eventually be called Nicate.

Nicate’s plethora of properties serve as the backbone for the technology of

the modern world. It reacts very quickly to other metals, allowing for a multitude of
different alloys using Nicate. At the same time, a quick spray with chlorine gas creates
a molecular crust that halts further reactivity. Some alloys of Nicate are extremely
conductive and malleable at almost every scale, facilitating everything from electric
cabling to microprocessors. Other alloys of Nicate are extremely durable, rigid,
and semi-flexible, improving the construction of buildings and vehicles. Nicate is
functionally magic, and scientists around the world are studying why it does what it
does.

One of the largest impacts Nicate has had was in the field of medical
prosthetics. During the course and in the aftermath of the Great War, military scientists
across the globe researched the interaction of Nicate with the human body. For
reasons that are currently unclear, Nicate plays extremely well with the body’s natural
bioelectric current. With comparatively little engineering oversight, a Nicate circuit
can be integrated with the human nervous system. Being relatively lightweight, a
Nicate prosthetic can be integrated into existing musculoskeletal anchor points.

What started as effectively semi-anthropomorphic grasping limbs, little

more than clamps on the end of actuator assemblies, soon became analogs to the
parts of the body they were replacing. It was found that Nicate is “morphic”, meaning
that it likes to conform to certain shapes. A point of scientific curiosity is the fact that
Nicate likes to take the form of the human body.

This tendency of self-organization towards the human form is what lead to

the creation of the GOLEMS as a labor force to bolster infrastructure construction
during the 1910’s. Non-sapient intelligences, GOLEMS (Galena Organic Life Ersatz
Mobile System) were built by Marr Technical Solutions around the idea that a
functional automata would revolutionize the labor force. There were 150 GOLEMS
created during the first production run and these were sold to various construction
and infrastructure companies.

The problems began to arise a few months after the GOLEMS were put
into the field. While the automata were designed to be learning, self-organizing
intelligences, they were not designed to be sapient or introspective. It quickly
became apparent that this imposed limitation had failed when more and more
GOLEMS began to demonstrate traits of sapience. Within time, the GOLEMS had
collectivised and demanded to be treated as humans under the law. Marr Technical
Solutions issued a recall, intending to destroy what they saw as a faulty product.
The GOLEMS clashed with the union-breakers and Marr agents, waging a bloody

84
 three-day battle. While most of the GOLEMS were destroyed, and new federal law
mandates that the creation or use of GOLEMS is illegal, some of these automata still
roam the United States.

The creation and study of artificial human-like robotic simulacra proved the
morphogenic properties of Nicate, showing that the metal conforms most readily to
an anthropomorphic shape. This coupled with the hesitance and difficulty of making
fuzzy AI pivoted the research focus towards expanding what could be considered
“human”. Artist-engineers designed new implants, making the knowledge as free
as possible before it was copyrighted by Enhancement companies. They push
the boundaries, expanding themselves into new shapes. The most extreme of this
burgeoning movement are the Diamond Dogs, who have removed their brains to be
slotted into various new bodies.

Nicate is a naturally occurring compound in certain mineral-rich environments.

This Natural Nicate seeps particulate into local groundwater, contaminating local flora
and fauna. Low level Nicate ingestion over time is not harmful, though trace amounts
can be found in the bones and roots of affected life. The historical impact of Natural
Nicate ingestion is still being studied. Heavy levels of unprocessed Nicate ingestion
causes a lingering disease that affects the skeletal system and white blood cells
called Cyberdysplasia Metallogenesis.

This malignant growth of Nicate wiring winds along the bones and into the
muscles along the tendons, stiffening and hardening the tissue with a flexible Nicate
weave. Secondary to the growth of this forgein material is the immunosuppressive
properties of the Nicate particulate. This prevents the body from recognizing and
resisting further CM infection. In the vast majority of these cases, the person
dies after the infection progresses to their lungs, choking off their alveoli with
microfilament cabling.

Outside of the human body, Nicate is also used in the design and construction
of digital technology. Terminals and mainframes were originally used in academia,
with various large colleges using the new technology as difference engines and
storage mediums. More powerful than the traditional mechanical adding machines,
Nicate mainframes allowed for giant leaps forward in science and technology.

During the course of the Great War, Mainframes became more common
among both sides of the conflict. Originally data was stored on Nicaloid reels and
transported using everything from infantry vehicles to pigeons. It was determined
that data transfer was safer and faster using extruded Nicate cabling, sending
information with a compression algorithm designed around classic semaphore.

Once the concept of transferring data over wire in much the same way as
telegrams and phones were already being used made its way back to the civilian
sphere, it became vogue for large companies and academic establishments to
finance their own cabling infrastructure. Within the year, several countries including
the United States and Canada began tying Nicate data cabling to existing phone and
telegraph wiring as public works. This web of connectivity had many names, but the
most popular among the culture of its users was The Mesh.

85
 The Mesh spans both the East and the West, but doesn’t currently have
transpacific or transatlantic connectivity. The largest network hubs center around
major urban populations, which meant that these cities experienced massive
population booms, which increased the concentration of connectivity, in a recursive
swell of people and connectivity. Large cities in the United States swelled outwards
and upwards, with powers being conceded to singular corporate or criminal entities.

With the intensive oversight of private entities on the exchange of information

over The Mesh, and with the lack of connectivity outside of the megacities, moving
data onto AMBER units and passing it physically came back into fashion. This gave
rise to the Couriers, Torpedoes willing to move data without questions.

This does not mean The Mesh is completely corrupted by corporate

influence. Most people are able to access bulletin boards, research data, and
communicate in potentially real time with other users. This profound expansion
of connectivity has brought people together in ways never before considered,
facilitating a massive boon to international relations and the expansion of culture.
Meshed subcultures blossom and grow, from avante garde musicians to cyber-
socialists. These communities serve as the pioneers exploring the new horizons of
culture.

86
 America - Five Scattered
Stars
Because of the influence of the Nicate Age, American cities rapidly grew
both upwards and outwards in the years following the Great War. This caused a
massive population contraction to five of the largest cities in the country. New jobs in
construction, infrastructure, technology, and other emerging industries meant skilled
labor moved into and close to these cities, creating a feedback loop of growth that
ballooned each of them outward. In descending order of population, the major cities
of the United States are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Dallas.

New York City is likely what most would consider “essential” America.
People from all over the world have settled in the City, with the number of immigrants
passing through Ellis Island increasing each year. Communities based on national
identity like Little Italy and Little Tokyo have become part of the fabric of the city.
People of all social strata live in New York, from all walks of life, and they have shaped
the city in their image. Central Park, the Met, and Broadway serve as the arteries of
societal intermingling. It’s a city where anything can happen, and generally does.

The Los Angeles Aqueduct was completed in 1913, increasing the livability
of the city significantly. Annual population growth increased in accordance with
the availability of clean water. With a thriving film and arts community serving as the
cornerstone of the city’s personality, L.A. draws the artist and the capitalist alike.
The Grand Central Market, Santa Monica Beach, and UCLA act as focal points of
academia and social interaction. This is the city of a million stories, standing at the
bleeding edge of technological and cultural advancement.

During the lead-up to and during the Great War, Chicago saw a massive
influx of population and economic boom. Weapons of war and tools of heavy industry
became the major exports from the city, and as the United States entered a post-
war infrastructure and civil engineering expansion Chicago pivoted its factory output
to fabricate building material. Mass Nicate refineries have cropped up across the
city, employing many to synthesize the compound. The city has become severely
impacted by Prohibition, becoming a hotbed of gang activity. Even though the
shadow of capitalism and criminality loom over Chicago, the beating heart of the
city’s society continues undaunted.

The Magic City, Miami underwent a massive population growth, needing for
the Everglades to be partially drained in the 1900’s. The building boom exploded after
the war continued until the early 1920’s, when a series of disastrous events including
the grounding of the Prinz Valdemar caused the real estate bubble to burst, crippling
the city’s economy. Unable to leave and without opportunities, many people who
were financially undercut by local recession turned to unconventional new means
of making money. For some this means joining up with the new wave of organized
crime. For others this is an opportunity to expand new horizons both physically and
in the Mesh. An explosion of anti-capitalist sentiment across the cultural strata of the
city, giving rise to the “Miami Wave”, a surreal proto-dadaist artistic movement using
digital media.

87
 Hot, glittering, and bustling with life, Dallas is the most massive population
center in the American southwest. The city serves as the transportation and
information infrastructure nexus connecting the east and west coasts in the south.
The groundwork laid out for the trains and telegraphs served as the fertile soil to
grow the seeds of the future. While many people use the city as a stopover to go
towards L.A. or New York, a significant part of the population were travellers that
stayed permanently. With its proximity to the southern border, Dallas’ Little Mexico is
a cornerstone of the community. Data dumps exist across the city, employing white
and black hat Couriers to distribute AMBER units to clients with a need for privacy.

Outside of the cities, America is a vibrant intersection of many different

communities and histories. As of the 1920s, America was made up of 48 continental
states, and about 15 territories. Generally, it’s safe to assume that rural areas in the
United States are going to be similar to their counterparts in the real world during the
20’s and 30’s. Semi-rural areas surrounding major cities and smaller cities like Seattle
or Atlanta will be slower on the uptake with new technology, perhaps a year or two
behind the cutting edge.

It’s recommended that the Director choose a city and do some research
on the actual history of the area. Use the events that occured in real life in addition
to anything pertinent from the proposed timeline earlier in this book to craft an
appropriate city of adventure for the players. Maps of American cities can be found
online and these can be modified to facilitate the needs of the game. Having about
two dozen or so ready-made non-player characters to populate the game area is also
suggested.

88
 Appendix A: Tables
Diff Table
Chance of meeting or beating difficulty by rating per die size.

Diff d4 d6 d8 d10 d12

1 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

2 75% 83.3% 87.5% 90% 91.7%

3 50% 66.7% 75% 80% 83.3%

4 25% 50% 62.5% 70% 75%

5 33.3% 50% 60% 66.7%

6 16.7% 37.5% 50% 58.3%

7 25% 40% 50%

8 12.5% 30% 41.7%

9 20% 33.3%

10 10% 25%

Challenge Level
The left hand column is the proscribed Character Level for these challenges.

Challenge Level Easy Average Difficult

1 2 3 5

2 3 4 5

3 3 4 6

4 3 4 6

5 4 5 7

6 4 6 8

7 4 6 9

8 5 7 10

9 5 7 10

10 5 8 11

89
 Dice Caps
Use the middle column to determine the highest value an Attribute can be
per Level.

Favorite Attributes Level Other Attributes

1 d4
d6
2

3 d6

d8 4

6 d8

d10 7

9 d10
d12
10

Specialty Die

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Primary d4 d4 d6 d6 d8 d8 d10 d10 d12 d12

Secondary --- d4 d4 d6 d6 d8 d8 d10 d10 d12

Tertiary --- --- d4 d4 d6 d6 d8 d8 d10 d10

90
 Random NPC Die Pools

If a character needs to make a contested challenge against an NPC, use

this table. NPC Aptitudes are split into Physical, Mental, and Social. One of these is
Excellent, another is Average, and the third is Poor. These are improved based on the
NPC’s level. When the NPC enters a contested challenge against the PC, locate the
level of aptitude and the level of the character, and roll the corresponding die pool.
An entry of “---” indicates the NPC automatically fails the contested challenge.

Level Excellent Average Poor

1 1d4 --- ---

2 1d6 1d4 ---

3 2d6 1d6 1d4

4 2d6 2d6 1d6

5 3d8 2d6 2d6

6 3d8 3d8 2d6

7 4d8 3d8 3d8

8 4d10 4d8 3d8

9 5d10 4d10 4d8

10 5d12 5d10 4d10

Defense Scaling
Cross reference the character’s Level to their Profession’s Defensive scaling
to determine their Defensive Value.

Level Poor Average Excellent

1 2 3 4
2 2 3 4
3 3 4 5
4 3 4 5
5 3 4 5
6 4 5 6
7 4 5 6
8 4 5 6
9 5 6 7
10 5 6 7

91
 High Level Starting Character Resource
If starting a character after Level 1, roll their Starting Resource value then
add the value assigned to their Level from this Table.

Level 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Resource Bonus 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19

Skill Caps

Level 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Favorite Skills 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6
Other Skills 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5

Health Scaling

Cross reference the character’s Level to their Profession’s Health scaling,

then add one-half their Might dice size, to determine their Health. Any benefits from
Talents are added after calculating this value.

Level Poor Average Excellent

1 0 1 2

2 1 2 3
3 1 2 3
4 2 3 3
5 2 3 4

6 3 4 4

7 3 4 5
8 4 5 5
9 4 5 6
10 5 6 6

92
 Cyborgs
and
Cigarettes

Credits
Writing and game design: Andrew Grondin

Layout: Francita Soto

Editing: Chris Young

93