ECOPUNK:

2044 Free Version v1.01

“The Earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names
and addresses” - Utah Philips

This is the free, word processor version of the ECOPUNK rules. It is ugly in the
extreme, but with this book you can learn the rules and start playing ECOPUNK.

Text within is subject to change between now and the publication of the
hardcover and premium PDF of ECOPUNK. Text of the free version of ECOPUNK
will be updated to be up to date with any rule alterations.

In addition, this free version does not contain the setting and lore section, ‘The
World of 2044’, nor does it come with an Index. Both of these will be available in
the hardcover and premium PDF version of ECOPUNK.

Credits
Liam Hevey
Game Designer, Writer, Layout Designer

Harry Robertson
Editor, Proofreader

Jane Sammutt
Shape Support Liaison

Beth Windle
Free Version Cover Artist

Playtesting by
Daniel Clarke, Grace Arnup, Sam Stafford, Seb Humphreys, Shannon Kelly

Copyright © 2021 Dice Kapital CIC

dicekapital.itch.io
twitter.com/dicekapital
All rights reserved.

This copy of ECOPUNK: 2044 is freely available at itch.io/proXile/dicekapital

If you paid for this, you got swindled.

Please do not reproduce without permission, except for personal use. For
someone working in a copy shop, this is ‘express permission’ to copy this book
for personal use.
 ECOPUNK 2044 was made possible
thanks to the funding and support of:

Please support the

Kickstarter Campaign
when it launches!
The Game
ECOPUNK uses a series of rules to improvise a story collectively told around the
table by a group of players.

The story told is one about a group of ‘Punks’, people who have ended up out of
step with society, participating in the secret wars waged to protract humanity’s
survival. For themselves or at the behest of others, these punks might investigate,
steal, assassinate, negotiate, broker, or commit all manner of deeds besides,
Xighting for a sliver of hope in a dying world.

The Setting
The setting of ECOPUNK is the world you know, but in the future year 2044.
Environmental collapse resulting from political negligence in the early 21st
century has sown destruction and chaos. Humanity now Xinds itself within the
Death Spiral, the inevitable and accelerating decay of the global ecology, at the
end of which is humanity’s extinction. Politics, economics, warfare, and culture
have restructured in response to this new reality.

ECOPUNK brings the very real threat of environmental catastrophe to the

forefront. The hope is that players might question whether they are passive
victims-in-waiting, or people who can match the characters they play and Xight
for the future. ECOPUNK hopes its players will take what they have learned at the
table to the street, to the voting booth, and to the doorsteps of the proXiteers and
politicians who push for the world of ECOPUNK to be realised - and turn the
world onto another path.

What You Need

To play ECOPUNK, there are a few things you will need:

At least two players

ECOPUNK is a game of group storytelling - so you need a group to play it! You
need at least two players. Most players play as ‘Punks’, the characters central to
the narrative, while one player is the ‘Game Master’. The Game Master (often
shortened to ‘GM’) narrates the world the Punk characters inhabit, including its
allies and adversaries. The GM is also the arbitrator of the game’s rules. While
you’ll need a Game Master and at least one Punk to play, there is no set upper
limit on how many Punks can be in a game: that is the GM’s decision.

Plenty of six-sided dice

This game used six-sided dice (called a d6 in the rules), which are rolled to
determine uncertain outcomes such as whether a gunshot Xinds its mark or how
quickly an investigation progresses. Often players can choose how many dice
they are rolling for such actions, but sometimes rules will tell you how many dice
to roll. For example, ‘roll 3d6’ means you need to roll three six-sided dice.
ECOPUNK uses a lot of d6s. Ideally, you should have at least 15.
This game also sometimes calls for you to roll a ‘d3’. When rolling a d3, roll a d6;
a roll of 1 or 2 counts as 1, a roll of 3 or 4 counts as 2, and a roll of 5 or 6 counts
as 3. It can be useful to colour-code your dice; for example using red six-sided
dice for d6s and white six-sided dice for d3s.

A means to take notes

As you play, you’ll need to keep a record of the abilities, resources, and
information held by your character. It is recommended for those making a Punk
to use the ECOPUNK Character Sheet. It is also recommended to use the Crew
Sheet to track resources and information held across the group of Punks. These
Sheets are provided at the end of this book.

The Basic Outline

Be the Punk
In ECOPUNK, everyone plays characters and narrates their actions in a
collectively told story. Most players will play a single character of their own
design called a Punk, while one player called the Game Master (shortened to GM)
designs and performs all the other characters, sometimes called NPCs (short for
Non-Player Characters). The GM is also the narrative guide, facilitator, and
arbitrator of ECOPUNK’s rules.

In a game of ECOPUNK, the Punks are the heroes (or anti-heroes) of the story,
acting within a narrative framework provided by the GM. The Punks are
collectively referred to as ‘the crew’.

Within the rules of the game, Punks are deXined by Xive things:
Drivers. Drivers represent how a character’s brain works, inXluencing how they
approach their tasks.
Aspects. Aspects represent a character’s raw, untrained talents.
Skills. Skills represent the character’s areas of trained expertise.
Traits. Traits are the special abilities of a character, from hacking into computers
to having bionic limbs.
Equipment. Equipment is the physical, external tools a character uses to aid in
their efforts, from medkits to machine-guns.

For players to begin the process of Character Creation, go to the Creating Your
Character subsection starting on Page 39. If you don’t want to create a Punk
yourself, you can pick a Premade Punk on Page 192.
Dead Canaries: An Example Story
These DEAD CANARIES boxes give an account of a Xictional game of ECOPUNK,
where a group of players create their Punks and play a Mission as the Dead
Canary Mercenaries. Readers can use these as examples of how a game of
ECOPUNK could go, how the story can develop, and how certain rules are used
in the game.

There are four Punks in Dead Canaries’ Crew. They are:

Alex, the ex-soldier
Quinn, the investigator
Barkhad, the driver and mechanic
Chen, the hacker

In these examples, the name of the character and the person playing them is
treated as the same.

Roll the Dice

At the core of ECOPUNK’s gameplay is the dice pool. Each Punk has a dice pool,
usually containing 10d6, and they expend these dice (often rolling them as they
do so) to perform actions within the story. The Dice Pool is then reXilled at certain
regular intervals, creating a cycle of expenditure and reXilling.

When keeping track of how many dice remain in a character’s dice pool, it can
help for players to have a container or tray to keep their dice pool in, taking out
the dice they’re expending as they use them.

A character’s Dice Pool represents their potential in a given moment. In the midst
of a shootout, will the soldier Alex move into cover and wait until the enemy
draws closer, or take the time to aim carefully before Xiring? Will the hacker Chen
devote their week to decrypting the mysterious data packet they’ve received, or
will they put equal time into the decryption, reaching out to contacts for
information, and helping the engineer Parker with upgrading a vehicle? These
are examples of moments in a narrative formed by players deciding how they are
expending the dice in their dice pool.

There are two ways you expend dice from your Dice Pool: Consume and Throw,
explained below. The GM will ask players to do one of these two things for their
Punk to perform some action in the narrative.

Consume
A number of dice are expended, but not rolled. The number of dice you Consume
is determined by the size of the task, with larger tasks using more dice. When you
Consume dice, you automatically succeed in whatever the dice were Consumed
for. When appearing in any rules text, Consume will always be followed by a
number that denotes how many dice must be expended. ‘Consume 4’, for
example, would have you expend 4 dice from your Dice Pool.
Example Consume: A player Consumes 2 dice to have their Punk pull their gun from
its holster, taking 2d6 from their Dice Pool and putting them aside.

Throw
The player chooses how many dice to expend, increases or decreases that
number according to modiXiers, then rolls the resulting amount of dice. The
Thrown dice are then removed from the Dice Pool. The outcome of the action the
Throw represents is then determined based on the numbers rolled. Normally the
numbers are added up to give you a Score, but sometimes particular numbers
rolled are counted instead. You always want to roll higher numbers.

A Punk’s player always chooses how many dice to expend for a Throw, allowing
the player to determine how much effort their Punk is putting into the narrative
action that Throw represents.

The score of a Throw will help determine the game’s narrative. Does your bullet
hit or miss the target? Do you crack the encryption in time? Can you treat the
kingpin’s wounds before they bleed to death? All these things would be decided
by a Throw.
Example Throw: A player Throws 4 to have their Punk take a shot at an assailant,
taking 4d6 from their Dice Pool and rolling them.

In a situation where there would be no narrative consequence to failure, the GM

might allow you to achieve what you wanted to without making a Throw, but may
still have you Consume dice to represent the effort.

All the rules to expending dice, such as how a Throw’s ‘Score’ is used or what
‘modiXiers’ are, are explained in the Dice Mechanics subsection of the Playing The
Game section, on Page 202.

Unfolding Gameplay
ECOPUNK is intended as a game where the player can choose how simple or
complex actually playing the game is for them. Playing a character who is
simply an expert in a particular Xield will require a player to know less rules
than one who engages in combat or hacks electronics. Look out for these
UNFOLDING GAMEPLAY boxes that note rules that you may not have to learn if
irrelevant to your character, or optional rules that all players can agree upon
that make the gameplay simpler.

Set the Scene

When playing ECOPUNK 2044, the crew take on Missions, stories with an
objective that can range from helping a community garden to destabilising a
multinational corporation.

Each Mission is broken down into a series of Scenes, much like the scenes of a
movie. In turn, each Scene is broken down into a series of Rounds. Each Round
represents a narrative beat. It is possible for a Scene to consist of only one Round,
just like how in movies some scenes only cover a single narrative beat, or a Scene
can consist of several Rounds.

At the start of each Scene and each Round, the Dice Pool is reXilled; this forms the
basis of ECOPUNK’s storytelling system, where how you expend your dice
determines your character’s actions in each beat of the story.

Each Scene and the Rounds in it has a Temperature, which determines the
narrative tension and pace present.

In a Cold Scene, you’re taking it slow, laying the groundwork for your Mission
over the course of days or weeks.

In a Warm Scene, the plan’s swinging into motion. As you get into the action,
things are heating up, and the narrative pace comes at you no slower than hour-
by-hour.

In a Hot Scene, things have reached their boiling point. Bullets are Xlying, bombs
are ticking, and you’re living in each minute - no, each second!

All the rules to telling the story, such as Scenes, Rounds, and Temperature, are
explained in the Storytelling Mechanics subsection of the Playing The Game
section, on Page 214.

Tell the Story

Before you can start telling the stories of ECOPUNK, you need to go through the
sections of this book.

First you will design the character you want to play. Who are you in the world of
2044? What abilities and resources do you possess? Why do you do what you do?
The process is explained in Character Creation, starting on Page 10.

Then you will learn the rules to playing ECOPUNK 2044 as a game. How does
rolling dice shape the narrative? How does the character you’ve just created play
out? What are the gameplay building blocks of an ECOPUNK story? The full game
rules are explained in Playing The Game, starting on Page 202.

What is the world of ECOPUNK like? Need inspiration for a character, or a place
to set a storyline? Get to know the setting in The World Of 2044, starting on
Page 283. The World of 2044 section is blank in the free version of ECOPUNK.

Meanwhile, the GM can assemble Missions and enrich the story using the guides,
generators, and other tools in the Game Master’s Toolkit, starting on Page 284.

Once the players and GM have done their part, you’re ready to come together and
begin telling stories within the world of ECOPUNK 2044.
Expanding Setting
ECOPUNK is a whole new Xictional setting for the player to learn about - a
daunting task! Throughout this book, look out for these EXPANDING SETTING
boxes, which contain a special, in-detail facet of the world of 2044. Players
intending to just learn the broad strokes of the setting can skip over these, or a
player looking for a speciXic detail to use as inspiration may speciXically seek
these boxes out.

Three Golden Rules

SpeciXic Beats General
SpeciXic rules override general rules.

Round Down
In ECOPUNK, you always round down to the nearest whole number.

You Don’t Reroll Rerolls

If you ever reroll a dice, you can’t then reroll it again, and you have to accept the
rerolled result.
Character Creation
This section breaks down into four subsections: Character Mechanics, which
explains the rules regarding a Punk’s abilities. Creating Your Character, the
step-by-step process of putting together your Punk. The Character Options List,
a complete collection of all the options available when creating your Punk. Lastly
the Premade Punks, a list of ready-made Punks players can choose from.

Character Mechanics
Drivers
Drivers represent the internal mechanisms of a Punk; the ways they think about
and approach the world. There are a total of 60 Drivers, which are listed in the
Character Options List on Page 44.

Drivers primarily serve as a roleplaying prompt, but many also mechanically

incentivise certain styles of play that reXlect the personality you’ve designed for
your Punk. Every Driver has both an upside and downside, just as no personality
trait is intrinsically bad or good. What matters is how you use it.

Every character, including each Punk, has 3 Drivers.

Revved Drivers
Some Drivers can be ‘Revved’, meaning that the rules of that Driver are ‘opt-in’. If
you gain a Driver that can be Revved, you decide when you gain it if you want the
Driver to be purely a roleplaying prompt, or if you also want its rules to apply to
your character.

Aspects
Aspects represent the raw abilities of a character. There are Xive aspects:
Toughness, Finesse, Speed, Clarity, and Intellect, which are explained below.
Every character, including NPCs, has an Aspect Score in each Aspect, reXlecting
their aptitude for that Aspect. An average person has an Aspect Score of 0 in each
aspect, and for an ordinary person, no Aspect Score can be higher than +2 or
lower than -2.

Some special bodies can have a higher Aspect Score than +2. For example, a
military cyborg body can have a Toughness Score as high as +4.

Toughness
Enhance the meat-dominion. Engorgement is empowerment.
Toughness represents a Character’s physical strength and durability, as well as
their general constitution and health. Someone with high Toughness can lift
heavy objects, take hard hits, and is very healthy.

Finesse
Every movement is a brush-stroke. You’re no Linger-painter.

Finesse represents a Character’s Xine motor skills, both in terms of doing precise
physical actions with speed and with accuracy. Someone with high Finesse is
highly dexterous, good at precise tasks with their hands and entire body.

Speed
Ride the neuron superhighway all the way to the burning nerve-ends.

Speed represents how quick a Character is to react, how sharp their reXlexes are,
and how speedily they can get something done. Someone with high Speed can
dodge attacks, think fast, and get their bearings before anyone else.

Clarity
Still the waters; see the forest within the solitary tree.

Clarity represents how clear and focused a Character’s mind is, how resistant
they are to stress and pressure, and the strength of their will - not just internally,
but upon others. Someone with high Clarity is clear-eyed and purposeful,
possesses an iron will, and can convince others with their words.

Intellect
Internalise, collate and crystallise. Exhale heady, reLined truth.

Intellect represents the general knowledge of the Character, as well as their

ability to remember and recall information. Someone with high Intellect knows a
lot, can quickly learn more, and is good at analysis.

Aspects & Throws

A Character’s Aspects are important as they modify the Throws made by that
Character. Whenever the GM tells you to make a Throw, they will also name an
Aspect appropriate to the course of action.

In addition, some Throws tell you which Aspect applies to the Throw, such as
when you use Finesse to Attack with a Xirearm. The only time you don’t modify a
Throw with an Aspect is when speciXic rules call for a Throw without specifying
an Aspect, such as a Trait saying ‘make a Throw’.

When an Aspect ModiXies a Throw, increase or decrease the number of dice you
have expended for the Throw by the appropriate Aspect Score.
For example, if you are using your strength to lift something, the GM might say
“Make a Toughness Throw”. You decide to expend 4d6 dice on the Throw. Your
Toughness Score is 2, so you add +2d6 to roll and roll a total of 6d6. If your
Toughness Score was a negative, for example -1, you would subtract -1d6 and roll a
total of 3d6.

Punks rarely make Throws only affected by an Aspect; typically Throws will also
be Skilled Throws, explained below.

Saves
Occasionally, the GM or a particular rule will ask for a character to make a Save,
along with naming a particular Aspect. When you make a Save, simply roll 1d6
and add the relevant Aspect Score to the number rolled (or subtract, if your
Aspect Score is negative). If your total score is 4 or higher, you succeed on the
Save. If your total score is 3 or lower, you fail on the Save. A roll of 1 is always a
failed Save, a roll of 6 is always a successful Save.

For example, if you have a Toughness Score of -1 and make a Toughness Save and
roll a 5, you will score a total of 4 and succeed on the Save.

Saves represent your character resisting some kind of negative effect. You can
always choose to automatically fail a Save.

Saves do not expend dice from your dice pool.

The GM can ask for you to make a Save to resist a narrative consequence. For
example you might make a Speed Save to get out from under falling debris
without being harmed, or you might make a Clarity Save to restrain your temper
when being goaded.

Skills & Talents

Skills represent all the areas a character can have a trained expertise in. Trying to
climb a building, analyse stolen data, stitch a knife wound – these are all
examples of narrative actions where a Skilled Throw would be rolled, because
these are all things a person could have training in.

There are 18 skills in total, listed below along with examples of what they could
they involve. Each character has a skill level for every skill, that ranges from 0-10,
marking the extent of a character’s training. Someone with no expertise at all in a
subject would have a level of 0, a master would have 10. Many characters will
have a skill level of 0 in multiple skills, and it is possible for a character to have 0
in all skills.

Skills can overlap in their applications. In such instances, you decide which Skill
you use. Some examples of overlapping Skills are mentioned below in the Skill
descriptions.

A skill’s application extends to the social, political, and economic elements

of that skill.
For example having the skill of Athletics doesn’t just mean you are athletic, it also
means you know about sport institutions, how to gather information about and
from sporting circles, and so on.

Athletics
The one thing you truly own. Make it yours.

• Physical feats that one can be trained in, such as long and high jumping,
swimming, climbing, acrobatics, and so on.
• Knowledge of exercise, diet, and sports.
• Gathering information from groups and individuals related to sports and
physical Xitness.
• Understanding a treating a sporting injury (or you could use Medicine).

Art
Colour and craft, a conduit for the God inside.

• Performing live, such as playing an instrument, singing, or dancing.

• Producing media such as visual art, music, or 3D renders, in both analog
and digital formats.
• Knowledge of craft and arts materials and process.
• Historical and contemporary knowledge of culture and the arts.
• Gathering information from groups and individuals related to the arts and
culture.

Converse
Share the taste of a honeyed tongue.

• Navigating social situations.

• Convincingly lying or manipulating the truth.
• Sensing whether what someone is saying is true or false, as well as their
motivations and inner feelings.
• Impersonating someone’s voice and mannerisms.
• Sensing shifts in atmosphere and mood in a social setting.
• Learning information through discussing and interviewing (or you could
use Investigate).

Dominate
Transplant your spirit. The lessers will be subsumed by the greater.

• Taking command of a situation, either by wresting social power from

someone else or establishing yourself amidst a vacuum of social power.
• Interrogating or intimidating someone.
• Controlling and manipulating crowds through speech.
• Persuading people to your point of view, or to do something for you (or
you could use Converse).

Ecology
Know sadness. Know doom. Grasp for hope. There is an answer somewhere within
this curling green.

• Knowledge of environmental science, including such topics as climate

change, desertiXication, and agriculture.
• Knowledge of practices and technology used in stalling climate change,
including how to interact with such practices and technology.
• Navigating the powerful political institutions of agriculture and
environmental protection.
• Knowledge of automatons centred around agriculture and weather, such
as farming, supply-chain, and snow-plow automatons.
• Gathering information from groups and individuals related to ecology and
agriculture.

Engineer
Speak the language of machines. You are their parent; they will acquiesce in time.

• Constructing, repairing, disassembling, or otherwise interacting with

mechanically complex objects and structures, including electronics.
• Knowledge of and skill in interacting with materials, both mundane and
complex.
• Knowledge of the construction and design of buildings, city structures,
and other architecture.
• Gathering information from groups and individuals related to engineering
and industrial production.

Industry
The reptile moves the numbers. The ape obeys.

• Historical and contemporary knowledge of economics.

• Knowledge of private enterprise and institutions, including knowledge of
their markets, their technology, and their cultures.
• Knowledge of organised labour, unions, their conXlicts, and their cultures.
• Navigating business culture, encompassing both its individuals and its
structures, and its class spectrum, from labourers to magnates.
• Gathering information from mercantile groups and industrialists.

Investigate
See the crystalline truth.

• Analysing data, and Xinding within that data patterns or the breaking of
patterns.
• Searching for and noticing small and hidden details, such as clues at a
crime scene, an important symbol on a person’s appearance, and so on.
• Searching for and Xinding someone or something hidden.
• Gathering information from people on the street, contacts, and
information networks.
Medicine
Fight the strange agonies of the Llesh. There is a tomorrow for them yet.

• Diagnosis of injury and illness.

• Treating wounds and diseases, including performing surgery.
• Analysis of drugs and other substances that affect the body, including
technologically advanced substances such as nanites.
• Contemporary and historical knowledge of medical science, including
bionics.
• Gathering information from groups and individuals related to medicine
and health.

Pilot
The machine is an extension, its movements self-expression.

• Steering and performing manoeuvres with land, sea, air, and space
vehicles.
• Knowledge of vehicles as a product, including their strengths and
weaknesses, maker, and so on.
• Knowledge of customs and administration pertaining to vehicles.

Politics
After 50 years of slumber, the great beast is awake and out of its cage. Wrestle it.

• Knowledge of contemporary and historical politics.

• Navigating bureaucracy and political institutions.
• Deductions about political events and people’s future actions.
• Gathering information from political groups and politicians.

Spirituality
Crack the glass of reality. There is more: a realm of pure light.

• Conducting religious and spiritual practices, either for yourself or others.

• Understanding ‘the soul’, and things from a spiritual perspective.
• Knowledge of spiritual and religious institutions, both contemporary and
historical.
• Perceiving and understanding the metaphorical and mystical.
• Gathering information from groups and individuals related to religion and
spirituality.

Stealth
The shadows move. Listen: they whisper for you.

• Becoming and remaining Hidden by moving in shadow, making no sound,

or staying out of eyesight. The Hidden effect is explained in Character
Effects, on Page 238.
• Acts of sleight of hand, such as pick-pocketing and lock picking.
 • Knowledge of security protocols and practices, including software and
hardware used by security.
• Disguising yourself.

Streetwise
Talk to the goddess through the holes in your shoes. She lives here, amongst the true
people of the Earth.

• Navigating and traversing urban environments.

• Historical and contemporary knowledge of urban culture and customs.
• Searching for locations and people within an urban environment.
• Conversing with locals, gathering information from them.
• Sensing shifts in atmosphere, mood, and culture in an urban setting.
• Gathering information from local communities and street gangs.

Science
A process methodical. Relief, in a sliver of the world being knowable.

• Knowledge in biology, chemistry, physics, and other Xields.

• The application of scientiXic knowledge.
• Gathering information from groups and individuals related to science.

Survival
Here at the rim, the proto-man is close. Feel him beside you as the sun rises on a
sweaty brow.

• Navigating and traversing nature and natural environments, including

avoiding natural hazards.
• Knowledge of Xlora, fauna, weather, and other things that involve
traversing and surviving within nature.
• Ability to interact with and tame animals.
• Finding and following tracks (or you could use Investigate).

Software
Touch the soul of the new age. A system supreme, just beyond dying hardware.

• Knowledge of computers and computer science, including knowledge of

the hardware involved and how it is assembled, the business and
production of software, and Net culture.
• Traversing and searching the Net.
• Identifying, analysing, and using digitised information and software,
including its decryption.
• Coding software or modifying someone else’s code.
• If you have the relevant traits, hacking into objects and people (Hacking is
explained on Page 240).
• Gathering information from groups and individuals related to software,
the Net, and digital culture.
Warfare
Know the Llavour of gunpowder in the lungs, unwanted. Unforgettable.

• Knowledge of the design and purpose of military equipment, as well as

such equipment’s developers, producers, and suppliers.
• Application of tactics and strategy, and knowledge of the history of such
subjects.
• Navigating military and paramilitary organisations, including
understanding of rank and procedure.
• Gathering information from groups and individuals related to warfare.

Skilled Throws
A Skilled Throw is a kind of Throw made when a character attempts something
that tests their expertise in a subject. Such a throw is heavily inXluenced by a
character’s Skill Level in the Skill relevant to that attempt. Most Throws in a
game of ECOPUNK will be Skilled Throws.

Whenever a player describes what they want their Punk to do, the GM will tell
them if they need to make a Skilled Throw for that action, and if so what the
relevant skill is. The Throw should always be a Skilled Throw if the act being
attempted is something a person could train in.

When making a Skilled Throw, if you expend a number of dice beyond your Skill
Level for a Skilled Throw, the dice beyond your skill level are Strained, meaning
you must expend two dice from your dice pool to roll one additional dice for the
Throw after you exceed your skill level. This represents the difXiculties of
attempting something a character has limited knowledge of. The Strained effect
is fully explained in Playing The Game, on Page 211.
For example, if you had a Skill Level of 5 in a Skill, and expended 9 dice on the
Skilled Throw, you would be rolling 7d6 (assuming no modiLiers were inLluencing
the Throw). Your Skill Level of 5 would mean 5 of the 9 dice you are expending will
translate into 5d6 dice rolled, and the remaining 4 dice you are expending beyond
your Skill Level will translate into a further 2d6 dice rolled due to the Strained
effect.

There is the possibility of multiple skills being applicable for a Skilled Throw. For
example, if you were trying to treat a sprained ankle, the Medicine skill would
apply, but so could Athletics as a sprained ankle is a common sports injury. When
multiple skills could apply, the GM decides which ones do, but the player chooses
which one they ultimately use.

Like most Throws, Skilled Throws are modiXied by Aspects and other modiXiers.

Throws & Narrative

A Skilled Throw (and any other Throws besides) doesn’t just determine the
success of the act that prompted it, but also for all other acts that would
correspond to that Throw made throughout the remainder of the Round.
For example, if over the course of a single Round your character wants to move
without being seen, pick something from someone’s pocket, then silently open and
escape via an ajar door, they don’t make three separate Stealth Throws for each
one of those three acts; instead they would make a single Stealth Throw that
determines their success across all three acts.

This rule is explained fully in Throw Scores & Narrative on page 203.

Talents
Talents are a character’s particular specialty within a Skill. ‘Swimming’ might be a
Talent of the Athletics Skill, or ‘Biology’ might be a Talent of the Science Skill.
When making a Skilled Throw, if a Talent pertains to the activity that Throw is
representing, add +1d6 to the roll. Only one Talent can apply to a Skilled
Throw at a time.

There are no predetermined Talents for a Punk to choose from – the player
makes them up for themselves. A Talent should always relate to the Skill it’s a
Talent for.

Tool Bonus
Whenever you make a Skilled Throw, if your character owns a piece of
Equipment that could help them with the action being performed. they gain the
‘Tool Bonus’ which adds +1d6 to the roll.
For example, if you’re making a Stealth Throw to slip into a building, a set of lock
picks would help you silently open its doors. Or, if you’re making a Politics Throw to
network and gather information, a cell phone would help facilitate your
communications.

Only one piece of Equipment can apply the Tool Bonus to a Skilled Throw at
a time.

Throws at Skill Level 0

A character having a Skill Level of 0 doesn’t preclude them from ever making
Throws with that Skill: it just means they’ll need to make up for their lack of
knowledge with effort.

If you commit your entire Dice Pool to a Throw for a Skill you are Level 0 in,
that’s still 5d6, which has a 1-in-three chance of getting a Score of 20 or higher
(a middling success). Use a tool for the Tool Bonus to roll 6d6 and that chance
becomes almost two-in-three!

Skill Expertise
Skill Expertise is a metric determined by Skill Level which measures what level of
detailed knowledge your can Punk can recall in a split-second. Using Skill
Expertise, Players can ask the GM what their Punk knows about a subject, and
the GM gives more or less or information based on the Punk’s level of Skill
Expertise, all without the Player having made a Skill Throw. Skill Expertise’s
function is to cut out unnecessary Skill Throws and allow the story to keep
moving.

There are three tiers of Skill Expertise: Novice, Intermediate, and Expert. The tier
you possess for a given Skill is determined by comparing your Skill Level with the
table below.

Skill Level 1-3 - Novice

Skill Level 4-7 - Intermediate
Skill Level 8-10 - Expert

If you have a Skill Level of 0 in a Skill, you have no expertise in it - you cannot
recall any information on the Skill’s subject beyond what is common knowledge.

Dead Canaries: Skill Expertise

GM: While you’re talking with this person, you notice a tattoo on their neck; a
split circle.

Chen: Do I know the meaning of that symbol?

GM: What’s your Skill Expertise in the Software Skill?

Chen: I’m Intermediate in Software?

GM: Then Chen immediately recognises this as the symbol of ‘Bodies’, a radical,
international group of Net anarchists.

Chen: Is that all I know?

GM: That’s just what you know off the top of your head. If you want to try to
remember more, you could make a Software Throw to dwell on it.

Creating New Skills

With the GM’s approval, you can invent your own custom skills. A new skill can
be more speciXic, but should not be more general than any of the skills already
listed. A skill should always be something that you can develop an expertise in,
rather than something that just relies on raw ability.

Awareness
Awareness is a character’s passive ability to notice others. Your Awareness is
equal to double your Investigate Skill Level, unless that number would be less
than 5, in which case your Awareness is 5.

Whenever a character attempts to use the Stealth skill to become Hidden, if they
score lower than a character’s Awareness, that character automatically notices
them.
Awareness only tracks a character’s passive ability to notice others. A character
making an effort to Xind someone, reXlected by them expending dice on
Investigate Throws, will more easily spot someone Hidden than if they were
relying on their Awareness. You can think of the highest Awareness amongst the
people you are are trying to become Hidden from as the bare minimum you must
Score on a Stealth Throw.

Stride
Stride is a measurement of how quickly a character can run, and is used by GMs
to determine how quickly your Punk can get from A to B in the narrative.
Characters typically have a Stride of Normal, and it is raised or lowered by Traits,
Equipment, and other factors.

Stride is most important in Hot scenes where you will often need to move about
as quickly as possible. Stride will occasionally be relevant in Warm scenes when
characters need to hustle, and rarely come up in Cold scenes where characters
will typically only be walking to get around. Scene Temperatures are explained in
Playing The Game, on Page 223.

Stride is used by the GM to determine how much your character will need to
Consume to move around, in scenes where matters are so pressing that the time
it takes to move around is a factor.

Dead Canaries: Stride

In a Warm scene where Quinn and Alex have just tripped the alarm of the
MercerCorp ofLice they’ve broken into, Quinn wants to quickly move from the
room they currently occupy to one on the other side of the building. The GM asks
what Quinn’s Stride is – it’s Fast – so decides that to travel that distance Quinn
must Consume 6. Chen decides they want to move the same distance, but has a
Stride of Normal, so the GM decides they must Consume 8.

Stride Speeds
There are Xive increments of Stride, described below. Whenever you ‘raise’ or
‘lower’ your Stride, you increase or decrease it by one increment respectively. For
example, if a Character has the typical Stride of Normal then takes a Trait that
“raises your Stride”, their Stride will become Fast. If they then wears a heavy
piece of Equipment that “lowers your Stride”, their Stride goes back down to
Normal. Stride is only ever raised or lowered by one increment – no individual
rule will raise or lower it by more than one increment. Stride cannot go lower
than Plodding nor higher than Lightning.

(Plodding <––– Slow <––– Normal –––> Fast –––> Lightning)

Plodding
You move very slowly, needing to exert yourself to keep up when walking with
others, and managing little more than a jog when running. In quantiXied terms, a
character at a Plodding pace sprints at a maximum pace of 8 mph, or 3½ meters
per second, and runs long-distance at a maximum pace of around 3 mph.

Slow
You move slower than the average person, but not drastically so. In quantiXied
terms, a character at a Slow pace sprints at a maximum pace of between 9 - 11
mph, or between 4 - 5 meters per second, and runs long-distance at a maximum
pace of 4 mph.

Normal
You move as an average person does. In quantiXied terms, a character at a Normal
pace sprints at a maximum pace of between 12 - 18 mph, or between 5 - 8 meters
per second, and runs long-distance at a maximum pace of 5 - 7 mph.

Fast
You have the movement of an athlete. In quantiXied terms, a character at a Fast
pace sprints at a maximum pace of between 19 - 24 mph, or between 8½ -10½
meters per second, and runs long-distance at a maximum pace of between 8 - 10
mph.

Lightning
You are incredibly fast, likely through a combination of technique, physique, and
bionic augmentation. In quantiXied terms, this character sprints at a maximum
pace of up to 30 mph, or 13½ meters per second, and runs long-distance at a
maximum pace of 13 mph.

Hindrances to Stride
Sometimes something in the narrative will hinder your Stride. It might be
something in the environment, such as having to wade through something, or
something speciXically affecting you, such as moving a heavy object or the
inXluence of an inhibiting drug.

The GM will normally tell you if something special is affecting your Stride. For
example, while wading through thigh-deep sewage, the GM might say the highest
a Stride can be is Normal in this substance.

Dragging or carrying a heavy object also lowers your Stride.

Raising Stride & Narrative

If a Punk raises their Stride while it is already Lightning, there is no strict
improvement, but the GM should give a Punk some narrative beneXit for trying to
push things beyond the limit.

Traits
‘Trait’ is a broad term that covers all the special rules outside of Aspects and
Skills that reXlect what that character knows and can do. A Trait could be a
character’s connection to a local hacker ring, or training in parkour, or bionic
eyes that can see in the dark, or pull in local politics. Traits, along with their
speciXic rules, are listed in the Character Options List, starting on Page 77.

Equipment
Equipment is the term for all the external physical things a character might use,
from vehicles to Xirearms. Equipment is broken down into Equipment Types
within the Character Options List. For example a Handgun is part of the Simple
Firearms Equipment Type.

Equipment is listed in the Character Options List, starting on Page 139. Some
Equipment Types have rules that apply to all pieces of Equipment contained
within; these overarching rules are also explained within the Character Options
List.

Familiarity
Punks, when they take a piece of Equipment either during Character Creation or
Character Progression, gain ‘Familiarity’ in the Equipment Type that piece of
Equipment belongs to. Familiarity represents a character having the basic
bearings for several different objects that all have the same basic mechanism.

When a character tries to use a piece of Equipment and they do not have
Familiarity for the Equipment Type that piece of Equipment belongs to, any
Throws made to use the Equipment are Strained. The Strained effect is fully
explained in Playing The Game, on Page 211.

Fortune
Punks in ECOPUNK have a special reserve called Fortune, which represents how
far they are from suffering some kind of misfortune that would remove them
from the narrative, such as physical injury, mental breakdown, incarceration, or
so on.

Every Punk has a maximum Fortune of 20, which they start at. Fortune cannot go
lower than 0. When your Punk reaches 0 Fortune, you suffer a Crisis, explained
further below.

If at any point your Punk dies, or suffers grievous injury, or otherwise

experiences something that will unquestionably remove them from the current
Mission, their Fortune is automatically reduced to 0.

There are two ways a Punk loses Fortune; through Damage, and through
spending their Fortune.

NPCs also have Fortune, although is not always a maximum of 20.

Damage
One of the ways a character can lose Fortune is through Damage. Damage is an
abstract term that can come from many sources, from a bullet missing you by
millimetres to a political rival trying to have you arrested. What Damage in all its
forms represents is your luck running out.

Whenever you take Damage, your Fortune lowers by that much. For example if
you had 20 Fortune and took 5 Damage, you would then have 15 Fortune. It is
possible for something to deal 0 Damage, but never negative Damage.

There are three kinds of damage: Physical, Mental, and Political. There are two
varieties of Physical Damage: External and Internal. What each kind of damage
broadly entails is detailed below:

Physical (External) Damage. Physical (External) damage comes from attacks

hitting you from the outside. A source might be a bullet hitting your armour, a
knife narrowly missing you, debris falling on top of you, or acidic chemicals
splashing on you.
Physical (Internal) Damage. Physical (Internal) damage comes from sources
that harm the inside of the body, such as poison, attack nanites, organ failure,
electric shock, exsanguination, or ‘brainshock’ - electrocution of the brain
through a hacked cyberbrain.
Mental Damage. Mental damage comes from shock, fear, paranoia, and other
traumas that push you closer to a mental breaking point.
Political Damage. Political damage represents political forces working against
you to ‘remove you from the chess board’. Police investigations, incurring
scrutiny from authorities, falling out of favour with your patron criminal
organisation, or having your safe-house location revealed are all examples of
Political Damage. Political Damage always applies at the end of a Scene or in the
Epilogue. The most common source of Political Damage for the Punks is Heat,
explained on Page 306.

Certain Traits and Equipment can interact with how much certain kinds of
Damage reduce your Fortune.

What kind of Crisis your Punk suffers is determined by the kind of Damage that
reduced your Fortune to 0.

Interpreting Damage
When the GM and players interpret Damage within the narrative, there is a lot of
leeway for how things can be described. For example, if a character is taking
Physical Damage from a bullet, within the story that Damage might be portrayed
as the bullet glancing off the character’s armour, or missing them by millimetres,
or hitting the concrete nearby and spraying them with debris and dust. For more
abstract kinds of Damage such as Political, there is even more leeway to interpret
it. What is important when interpreting Damage is to remember; unless the
character has been reduced to 0 Fortune, this instance of Damage is not going to
Xinish them off, so the Damage should be described as bringing them closer to
harm, not the harm itself.
Unfolding Gameplay: Ignoring Different Kinds Of Damage
While some Traits and Equipment have rules regarding certain kinds of
Damage, most Punks will not have them. As such, for most players what kind of
Damage you’ve been hit with does not matter unless that Damage reduces you
to 0 Fortune - so there’s no need to worry about what kind of Damage you’re
taking until then.

Spending Fortune
There are a number of ways a player can spend their Punk’s Fortune for certain
temporary beneXits. Many Drivers (special qualities possessed by Punks that
reXlect their thought processes) allow a player to spend Fortune, and a number of
Traits incur Damage when used.

In addition, any Punk can spend Fortune on the following things:

Flashback
Once per Scene, a Punk can lose 2 Fortune to trigger a Flashback. Any player
can use a Flashback at any point in time, even if they are not the narrative focus
at the moment of use. You cannot use a Flashback when you have 2 or less
Fortune remaining.

When you use a Flashback you narrate a past event where your Punk, along with
any other crew members of your choice, made some kind of plan earlier on in the
Mission that allows you to better navigate the present. You can also include
Contacts within your Flashbacks. Contacts are explained in Character Options
List, on Page 131.

While in a Flashback, not only can characters plan with one another, but they can
also make one or several Throws to inXluence the present.

For each Flashback, there is a single dice pool of 10d6 shared between all
characters present in the Flashback, which they can expend on Skilled Throws to
perform acts in the past to ‘prepare’ for the present. One of the characters in the
Flashback might make a Streetwise Throw to have talked to the locals and
learned which cops on this beat take bribes, or a Stealth Throw to have hidden
one of their Xirearms in a nearby trellis the night before. In an instance where a
Contact is involved in a Flashback, the Punk who has that Contact makes the roll
for them.

Throws that fail to beat their DC don’t cause more trouble of the crew, but
instead mean that that avenue of preparation did not pan out, and the crew will
have to survive without it.

You cannot hold multiple Flashbacks within a single Scene dealing with the same
issue, otherwise you could repeatedly hold the same Flashback to try to reroll a
Throw failed in a previous Flashback. If the Throw failed, whatever you
attempted did not work.
In addition, if they have not yet appeared in the story of the Mission so far, in the
Flashback you can move Equipment, data, and so on between your allies.

Flashbacks enable you to keep the story going by preventing the crew’s plans
from unspooling when the unexpected occurs. If the crew is split up when a
wrench is thrown in their operation, the players don’t need to spend time trying
to get their characters on the same page by a messy series of discussions;
instead, one Punk can trigger a Flashback where the crew planned how they
would respond to the ‘wrench’ in this scenario. That being said, Flashbacks
should not be exploited as a narrative device. The GM can veto a Flashback if it
is overreaching and is effectively making the crew precognitive.

Deus Ex Machina
A Punk may choose trigger a Deus Ex Machina and lose 3d6 Fortune in a moment
where they would otherwise immediately suffer some terrible fate. If the Punk
doesn’t drop to 0 Fortune, the GM has some kind of unlikely event intercede on
their behalf. If the Punk does drop to 0 Fortune, the ‘terrible fate’ they were
hoping to avoid occurs.

Only one Deus Ex Machina can happen per Scene.

Deus Ex Machinas are used to prevent a narrative disaster - they cannot be used
to ‘block’ Damage you are about to take.
Dead Canaries: Flashback
Chen and Quinn have entered a hacker den intending to recruit help for Chen’s upcoming hack of
MercerCorp; speciLically one of Chen’s hacker rivals, a blackhat and information broker named
Gandy.

GM (as Gandy): Well Chen, I don’t really see why any of us should stick our necks out for you -
you certainly wouldn’t do the same for us.

Chen: What if I give you something in exchange?

GM (as Gandy): Oh please. If you had anything to offer you would have opened with that. Now,
let yourselves be shown out…

GM: Gandy looks past you to nod at a few burlier types. The atmosphere in the sweaty room
grows icy as three guys slowly, deliberately slide out batons.

Chen: Okay, I’m going to use a Flashback here.

GM: Makes sense. What are you doing?

Chen: I’d like to have dummied up some intel that Gandy would jump at. Gandy’s into spying on
rockstars, right? How about I’ve created phoney records of G Alloy’s travel logs? Good enough
to fool Gandy, at least until the Mission is over. I’ll put the fake data in my Insulated Data
Storage.

GM: Great idea, although Gandy’s a solid hacker - you’ll need a good Intellect Software Throw to
make this dummy data passable.

Quinn: Hold on, it seems likely they’d just take it from us, right? I’m going to have hidden the
storage for this data outside somewhere - leave some dice in the pool for me.

GM: That’ll be either a Finesse or Speed Stealth Throw.

Chen: Alright, I’ll expend 7d6 from the Flashback pool.

Quinn: And I’ll expend the remaining 3d6.

Chen’s modiLiers mean she rolls 9d6, and Scores a total of 35! Quinn, however, only Scores 8.

GM: Okay, here’s what happened. Chen, you know what you’ve made is convincing, but when
you get to the den and Quinn takes it to hide it, you’re ushered in before you get the chance!
The Xlashback resolves, and the data storage is feeling heavy in Quinn’s pocket.

Chen (to Gandy): The recent travels of G Alloy, Gandy. Does that catch your attention, you ape?

GM: Gandy signals for his men to pause.

GM (as Gandy): Hm. Perhaps we can make a deal. Let me see it Xirst, to verify it.

Chen: You think we’d be stupid enough to bring it in here with us?

Quinn: *Head in hands* Oh come on…

The Scene continues…

Dead Canaries: Deus Ex Machina
Quinn has been sneaking towards the MercerCorp ofLice server room, having
made an Industry Throw to guess its location and several Stealth Throws to move
unseen.

GM: Quinn, you’re certain the server room is nearby. Give me one more Finesse
Stealth Throw to get there. The DC is going to remain 20 - there’s fewer security
guards this part of the building, but more security cameras to make up for it.

Quinn decides to not expend everything in their Dice Pool on this Stealth Throw,
intending to use the remaining dice for interacting with the server room once
they arrive.

Quinn: Er… I didn’t expend enough dice, I only scored a 17 on the Stealth
Throw.

GM: You do reach the server room door, slipping in front of it and into a
blindspot beneath the security camera above - but you weren’t keeping track of
the guards in the area! You’re in a well-lit, dead-end hallway… and hear
footsteps approaching from around the corner! There’s nowhere to go, you’re
about to be seen!

Quinn: Oh Christ. I’m going to use a Deus Ex Machina!

GM: Roll 3d6 and let’s see how this plays out.

Quinn: I rolled 11, reducing my Fortune from 18 to 7.

GM: Okay. You hear the footsteps approaching and brace for a confrontation…
then hear a squeal of a transceiver. The footsteps stop, respond to the orders,
and begin to move away. Only once you hear nothing do you breathe.

Regaining Fortune
In Cold Scenes, a Punk can regain Fortune by Consuming any amount of dice and
regaining that much Fortune. When they do so, they narrate what kind of rest or
downtime activity they engage in during that period. Some Drivers inXluence how
this regaining of Fortune plays out.

In addition, some Drivers, Traits, and Equipment enable you to regain Fortune.

Cold Scenes, and Scenes in general, are explained in Playing The Game, on Page
222.

Crisis
When a Punk’s Fortune hits 0, they suffer a Crisis, a narrative event that prevents
the character from participating further in the Mission. How a Crisis manifests
depends on the context in which a character’s Fortune is brought to 0, and the
narrative choices of the players.

A Crisis plays out in two parts: when it Xirst occurs, and at the end of the Mission
during the Epilogue.

When the Crisis Xirst happens, the GM provides the narrative context, such as; a
bullet is about to hit the Punk, or fear is about to take them over, or police are
about to bust down the door and arrest them. This ‘context’ is decided
speciXically by the Damage or effect that reduced the Punk to 0 Fortune. For
example, if a character has previously lost 19 Fortune due to Mental Damage, and
then the Xinal 1 point of Fortune is lost to Physical Damage, the Crisis the
character will suffer will be something to do with physical injury rather than a
mental break.

The player then describes based on the provided context how the Crisis plays out
for their Punk. Players get to describe their Crisis, but it must be something that
removes them from affecting the narrative in some way. After this point, the
player ceases to have control of their Punk, and while their character may remain
within the narrative they cease to have any agency. If their Punk was physically
incapacitated, they gain the Incapacitated character effect, explained on Page
237. Players are not expected to have their Punk die immediately in a Crisis,
although they can if they wish - unless their Punk already has 3 Stigmas,
explained below.

Within this window of the player describing how their Crisis plays out, they can
use this Xinal moment to affect the narrative. Players should be able to make a
meaningful, Xinal contribution, but GMs have Xinal say on whether a Xinal act is
permitted or overreaching. If the GM decides the Punk needs to make a Throw
for their Xinal act, the player uses the remaining dice in their Dice Pool for that
Throw.

Assuming nothing has happened that would remove the Punk from the narrative
permanently, the GM describes how the Punk rejoins the crew after the Epilogue.
The GM should discuss with the player what their returning character is
thinking; how are they reXlecting on their Crisis? What’s changed about their
behaviour? The GM then determines a new Driver for the Punk, and devises a
Stigma, explained below.

When the GM determines a new Driver for the Punk, they can either pick
randomly by rolling on the Drivers Table, or choosing a Driver from the player’s
description of their character’s thoughts and feelings. If the Punk already has 3
Drivers, the player must choose which old Driver the new one replaces.

The Drivers Table, which lists all the Drivers, can be found on Page 10.

Example Contexts a GM Might Provide

Damage Kind Crisis
Physical (External) A bullet is about to hit you!
Physical (Internal) The poison is overwhelming your system!
Mental The stress has become too much!
Political Police are battering down the door, saying you’re under
arrest!

Example Crises
Damage Kind Crisis
Physical (External) The bullet hits my shoulder! I limply fire off a retaliatory
shot before slumping to the ground!
Physical (Internal) Everything’s going dark! I shout out for my friend before
my vision fades!
Mental I don’t do anything - I just stand there, catatonic, with a
thousand-yard stare. I can be pulled around but am
otherwise unresponsive.
Political I smash my hard drive before the police burst in and tackle
me to the ground!

Example Descriptions of a Character Returning after the

Epilogue
Damage Kind Crisis
Physical (External You wake up in hospital, and once you gather yourself send
or Internal) off a message to the crew.
Mental Your come back to lucidity surrounded by your crew, with a
look of concern on their faces.
Political You are released from the police station after hours of
interrogation. They haven’t got enough to convict you yet,
but you’re skating on thin ice.

Stigma
Stigma are a lasting problem caused by the Crisis the Punk suffered. There are no
prepared Stigma to choose from; the GM creates them based on the Crisis the
Punk suffered. The severity of the Stigma is determined by how many Stigmas
the Punk already has. You can see examples of Stigmas on the Example Stigmas
table.

The 1st Stigma is generally minor, something inconvenient that will rarely impact
gameplay.

The 2nd Stigma should have a lasting impact on the character, but not a profound
one.

The 3rd Stigma should be serious, affecting how the character does some or most
of their work.
Stigmas do not need to have a mechanical impact on the gameplay. Players
can use Stigmas purely as roleplaying prompts, as way for their character to grow
and change from their experience.

When gaining a Stigma, the Punk records it on their Character Sheet. A Stigma
primarily functions as a narrative device rather than a speciXic rule, and may be
used by the GM to affect your character’s rules and dice rolls in a number of
ways, or not at all. The ‘effects’ in the examples table below are only one way the
Stigma may play out.

Example Stigmas
Damage Kind 1st Stigma 2nd Stigma 3rd Stigma
Physical (External) Heavy Scarring. The Wounded Leg. The Lost Limb. The injury
character has severe character has an injury
to the character’s left
scarring over a visible to the leg that may arm was so extensive it
portion of their body. never fully heal. had to be amputated.
Effect. While not Effect. The character is
Effect. The character
hampering their work, not as fast on their feet
has Disadvantage on
the scars are scary, any more. Their Stride all Throws for acts that
potentially dampening is lowered. would require two
some social hands, such as firing
interactions. large guns.
Physical (Internal) Weak Liver. The toxins Wetware Fried Brain. A number
weakened the liver Incompatibility. The of neurons got
before being flushed nanites have scrambled in the
from the character. scrambled some of brainshock.
Effect. The character your connections to Effect. The character
can maintain their your bionic arm, sometimes struggles to
health with a regime of rendering one of the be lucid. The GM may
pills, but cannot Mods on it inoperable. occasionally require
engage in any Effect. The character you to make Clarity
recreational drug use, loses one of the Mods Saves, otherwise the
including alcohol. on their bionic arm. character cannot speak
coherently.
Mental Tic. You have Soft. You don’t want to Withdrawn. You no
developed a habitual hurt anyone, even if longer value personal
tapping of the fingers. that puts you at risk. connections - in fact
Effect. Mostly just an Effect. The GM may you abhor them,
irritation to others, require you to make a seeing them as pain
sometimes the Clarity Save to make an waiting to happen.
character’s incessant Attack. Effect. You become
tapping distracts cold to your crew and
people during tasks Contacts, limiting your
that require focus. ability to work
effectively.
Political Disaffected. The Interference. The mob House Arrest. You are
character has become boss you’ve lost favour placed under
openly contemptuous with has sent out his indefinite house arrest,
of authority. goons to get in the way with a few guards to
Effect. The character of your work. make sure you don’t
cannot restrain the Effect. You may leave.
disgust in their voice occasionally have Effect. The character
when interact with goons harass the crew cannot leave their
members of the and your Contacts. domicile, forcing them
government and They will also try to to conduct matters
police, hampering hamper your work, over the Net while
social interactions. and cannot be attacked under scrutiny,
without making things limiting their ability to
worse. work.

Undoing Stigmas
Within the narrative, particularly during Character Progression, it is possible to
‘undo’ some or all of a Stigma. For example, if you lost a limb as a Stigma, you
could gain a bionic limb to replace it.

When a Stigma is undone, its negative effects end or are mitigated depending on
the remedy. However, the Punk retains the Stigma itself for purposes of counting
their total Stigmas. For example, if you’ve replaced your lost limb Stigma with a
bionic limb, and the limb being lost was your 3rd Stigma, the next Crisis will still
Xinish off your character.
Dead Canaries: Crisis
GM: Barkhad, the security guard pops off a shot and you’re hit! You’re taking 5
Physical External Damage.

Barkhad: Oh shit. That brings my Fortune down to 0!

GM: You suffer a Crisis! You’re getting hit by a bullet; tell me how the Crisis
plays out.

Barkhad: Okay. Barkhad gets hit in the gut. His hands come away from his
stomach soaked red! He mutters “The bastards… They got me…” before falling
unconscious!

Alex: Wait! Barkhad had the keys to the getaway vehicle on him!

Barkhad: Uh oh. Before I faint, can I weakly hold out the keys to Alex?

GM: Absolutely. As your legs give out, you weakly pull the keys from your
pocket. Alex grabs them from your trembling grip before you collapse! Alex, you
know Barkhad needs medical aid ASAP. Abandoning him here could cost his
life.

Later, during the Epilogue

GM: Alright everyone, your Mission is complete! You receive a message;
Barkhad has awoken in medical. How is he feeling?

Barkhad: Pissed - at everyone, including himself. “I should have caught that

guard before he got a shot off. I’ve become weak,” he’s thinking.

GM: Okay, in that case: add Injured Gut as your Xirst Stigma, and you exchange
one of your Drivers for Wrathful or Intense - your choice, either is appropriate.

Losing Punks
If a Punk suffers a Crisis and they already have 3 Stigmas, the Crisis Yinishes
them off. They might die instantly from a bullet to the brainpan, go completely
insane, be sentenced to life behind bars, or anything else that renders them truly
Xinished. Like with Crises, the player gets to describe how their character goes
out.

After losing their Punk, the player will need to create a new Punk for the next
Mission.

Instant Death
When you take 30 or more Damage of any kind in a single instance and it reduces
you to 0 Fortune, rather than have a Crisis and Stigma, your Punk is immediately
Xinished. You are still able to deXine your Xinal moments - but the moment is Linal.
Losing Characters Prematurely
It is possible to lose Punks prematurely, before incurring 3 (or any) Stigmas. For
example, your Punk might suffer a Crisis from Physical Damage in the midst of
combat, and in the chaos are abandoned by the rest of the crew amongst
enemies. It’s within narrative possibility that this character is going to die, either
by execution or being left to succumb to their wounds.

GMs should try to steer the narrative so that Punks aren’t lost prematurely like
this. Perhaps this abandoned character is instead captured, patched up, and used
in a prisoner exchange with the crew during the Epilogue? Maybe the crew
receives a transmission with their lost teammate alive, and their next Mission is
to save their captured comrade?

However it may be inevitable with the twists and turns of the narrative that
Punks might be lost prematurely. Players will have to accept these circumstances
should they arise.

If Everyone Goes Down

If the entirety of the crew has been reduced to 0 Fortune, the Mission is failed,
and the game immediately moves to the Epilogue. As part of the Epilogue, the GM
narrates how the crew’s enemies make gains following their defeat.

As explained in the Losing Characters Prematurely section above, the GM

shouldn’t simply eradicate the entire crew. If everyone went down in a XireXight,
perhaps the enemy has captured them, and the next Mission is for the crew to
escape their captivity? A similar Mission could follow from the crew all being
reduced to 0 Fortune by Political Damage. Perhaps if Mental Damage took the
crew down, the next Mission is them escaping the labyrinth of the mind…?

Retirement
Players can choose to retire their Punk, having them quit the crew to become a
character under control of the GM. Players making this decision will need to
create a new Punk.

Retired Punks don’t need to exit the narrative. These characters could become
NPC members of the crew, or a Contact for another Punk. Contacts are explained
in the Character Options List, on Page 131.

Power
Power represents the crew’s collected resources of fuel, electric power, computer
processing power, and so on - essentially, any and all resources that are
consumed to make something happen. Each Punk in the crew provides 4 Power
to a single, shared pool that all members of the crew draw from.

Power is expended when using certain Traits and Equipment, such as Vehicles,
and when hacking. How much Power is used varies, and is explained in the rules
of the Traits and Equipment that consume it.
When Power is expended, it is gone until the start of the next Mission, where it is
reXilled to its total.

Some Traits and Equipment increase the amount of Power a Punk provides to the
crew, and some Crew Effects also increase the crew’s total Power.

Power & Universal Basic

The base 4 Power each Punk provides represents the non-food resources they
gain from Universal Basic, the generic term for the state’s provisions to them,
such as electricity, fuel, bandwidth, and so on. Traits and Equipment that
provide additional Power build upon that narrative, representing ways Punks
have supplemented their standard of living.

Languages
2044 is not some convenient future where everyone has taken the time to learn
Xluent English. Instead, mass migrations and internationalised labour have led to
dozens of different languages existing and mixing in the ghettos of tomorrow.

Language barriers can radically alter how characters interact. As such it is

important for players to note what languages their Punk knows. All languages are
available to choose when creating a character, and it is possible to even invent
your own ‘pidgin’, explained below.

It is strongly advised that there is a shared language between all the Punks, or
the Lingua Franca system enables them to all communicate.

As a player, you do not need to be able to speak the languages your character
does: an English speaker can say “My character says the following in Russian” for
example.

Pidgins
A pidgin is a single language formed of a simpliXied version of two or more
separate languages. New pidgins have emerged following the mass-migrations of
the 30s and 40s, and are often the main method of communication for an under
class with limited access to cyberbrain technology.

If your character speaks a pidgin, they can communicate fully with

someone who speaks the same pidgin, or can communicate to a basic
degree with someone who speaks the pure form of one of the languages
that comprises the pidgin.

Pidgins will most commonly combine the mother tongue of a group that mass-
migrated and the native language of that group’s new homeland, but not always.
The Chinese-English pidgin, for example, has developed out of the need for
former Americans to communicate with the Chinese administrative class in the
Occupied West Coast. When a player creates a pidgin, they can choose from any
available languages, provided the resultant pidgin Xits in the narrative. Your
character is unlikely to speak a Mandarin-Portuguese pidgin if they were born
and raised in Nigeria, for example.

Pidgins have a special appeal to punks: their unique grammar and vocabulary are
believed to make it difXicult or impossible for state surveillance to detect the
linguistic patterns they supposedly monitor for.

For the purposes of rules that count your number of ‘languages’, Pidgins count as
a single language.

The Lingua Francas

The Lingua Francas are the three globally used languages that can be translated
live and perfectly by psyware, and are commonly used in international
communications and politics. They are English, Mandarin Chinese, and Arabic.

Each of these Lingua Francas has a supermassive-class AI monitoring the

linguistic data of hundreds of millions of cyberbrains concurrently, maintaining a
perfect, constantly up-to-date understanding of the language (including slang
and obscure dialects). As a result, when using the corresponding psyware
anyone with a cyberbrain can understand any Lingua Franca when it is
heard or read, including understanding any slang, insinuations, idioms, and
other nuances.

What this means in effect is if two people speak any Lingua Franca and both have
cyberbrains, they can fully converse. This system has become the bedrock of
modern communications for international politics and business.

The three AIs that maintain the Lingua Francas are:

Der Begleiter in Berlin, which maintains English.
Ukht in Egypt, which maintains Arabic.
Ri4 in Beijing, which maintains Mandarin Chinese.

Punks and Secondary Languages

Yet there is another side to the Lingua Francas. The ability to live-translate with
perfect accuracy is only maintained by the mass-monitoring of people’s
conversations from inside their minds, something likely to put anyone distrusting
of the state on edge. OfXicially, the linguistic data used in the AIs is
incomprehensible to humans… but there’s no way to verify that unless you crack
some of the biggest defence barriers in the world and look for yourself.

Thus with the rise of the Lingua Francas, amongst the Punks the demand for
secondary languages outside of what the AIs monitor for has grown, as a means
to communicate without being ‘watched’ – of course, there are plenty other
methods of state surveillance that must also be avoided.
Optional Rule: Perfect Universal Translation
Some players may not like the inconvenience of playing in a world with
language barriers, seeing such things as busywork that delays the story rather
than serves it.

If all the players agree, you can implement this optional rule that gives
everyone either psyware or handheld devices that provide ‘Perfect Universal
Translation’, which not only translates every language perfectly, but also
conveys to the user the implications and subtleties of what is said. It also allows
you to speak in other languages Xluently.

Such a psyware is idyllic in a way the ECOPUNK 2044 setting isn’t, but it can be
an understandable convenience if players aren’t interested in telling stories
that involve language barriers.

For a narrative justiXication, perhaps the three AIs that maintain the Lingua
Francas instead form a single system that translates all languages.

Character Progression
When the Punks complete a Mission, they will each be rewarded with an amount
of expCOIN (usually between 1 and 3), untraceable cryptocurrency representing
their payment for the completed job. expCOIN is spent in Cold Scenes on options
from the Character Options List, exchanging it for Traits, Equipment and so on.
This enables Punks to progress, developing new skills, expanding their
equipment, and so on.

Players can save up their character’s expCOIN, to spend if and when they choose.
expCOIN is not transferrable between characters, but in speciXic narrative
circumstances the GM may allow players to pool their expCOIN to spend on
something that collectively beneXits the crew.

While expCOIN is something that exists within the setting, players should respect
that it is a gameplay mechanic Xirst and narrative device second. A character
cannot use their expCOIN to, for example, bribe another character (although they
are certainly able to spend their expCOIN on Traits and Equipment that could be
used for bribery).
expCOIN in the setting

In the world of ECOPUNK 2044, expCOIN is a UN-controlled cryptocurrency

used for off-the-books transactions.

Cryptocurrencies were largely made illegal in the early 2030s. The energy
demand and resultant pollution from cryptocurrency creation (or ‘mining’)
made them a target for environmental ministries looking to Xlex their rapidly
growing powers, and cryptocurrency’s growing usage by private capital and
cybercriminals looking to circumvent expanding regulation made its only
advocates largely publicly despised.

There are a few minor cryptocurrencies illegally produced and traded amongst
criminal internal economies, and pre-Crash cryptos are sometimes still sought
by collectors, but the subject has largely exited the zeitgeist, and the public are
ignorant of expCOIN’s existence.

The UN’s ofXicial stance that expCOIN does not exist gives the currency’s users a
level of immunity from the authorities, and its UN-backing gives it a stability
not historically present in other cryptocurrencies. It can also be reliably broken
into fractions and converted into local currencies through Net currency
exchanges, making expCOIN a universally useful asset.

Spending expCOIN and Narrative

What is special about expCOIN is that it enables characters to progress within the
narrative, rather than ‘off-camera’, as it is an in-universe currency that the Punks
themselves spend.

Characters can spend their expCOIN on any available options in the Character
Options List during either the narrative window of the Epilogue, or during any
Cold Scene.

When spending expCOIN in a Cold Scene, you must also Consume dice equal
to the amount of expCOIN you are expending.

Players can then narrate how their character seeks out and pays for whatever it
is they need for the new equipment, skill, knowledge, connection, or so on that
comprises the character’s progression.

Players may want to discuss with the GM what they plan to spend their expCOIN
on before they do so. The GM can block the player choosing certain character
progression options if they feel those options run counter to the narrative of the
game. For example, if the GM has been running the game in an area where guns
are highly illegal and so supply is very limited, they may prevent a player from
spending their expCOIN on a Machine Gun. Alternatively, the GM may require the
party to complete one Mission or several in order to enable characters to spend
their expCOIN on previously blocked options, as the world around the Punks
changes as a result of their actions.
Dead Canaries: Spending expCOIN
After the previous mission, Quinn thinks it would be prudent to invest in some
combat abilities. In a Cold Round in a new Mission, Quinn decides to spend their
saved up 4 expCOIN on the Trait ‘Martial Arts I’.

Quinn Consumes 4, loses the 4 expCOIN, and narrates the following:

Quinn: Quinn’s going to use their expCOIN to buy illegal synaptic data of a
military CQC rehearsal, maybe through Chen’s contacts. Then they’ll convert
the remaining fractions of the expCOIN into local currency, and rent a private
dojo for a few days to practice, learning from the data.

After this narration, Quinn now has the Martial Arts I Trait!
Creating Your Character
This subsection walks players through the steps of creating their Punk. As you go
through these steps, you should make notes on your choices. It is suggested you
make these notes in a copy of the ECOPUNK Character Sheet.

There are also a series of Premade Punks following this subsection, for players
who want to jump right in, or aren’t conXident enough to create their own Punk
yet.

The GM can also use these rules to create NPCs, or can refer to Premade NPCs in
the Game Master’s Toolkit Section on Page 317.

Step 1: Create your Character Concept

First and foremost, character creation begins with an idea of the Punk you want
to play. Are you a cynical police detective, or a politically-minded gangster trying
to protect your people? Perhaps you could be a back alley doctor trying to help
the downtrodden, or a crooked politician being blackmailed into a noble cause?
It’s up to you how complex your character’s past is at the moment of creation, but
at a bare minimum your character should have a name, a ‘callsign’ (a nickname
used while on a Mission to conceal your identity), a Xield of expertise or interest,
and some sense of personality.

Fleshing out your character concept can often include creating a ‘backstory’ for
your Punk, a pre-planned narrative that describes how your character got to the
point where they are when you begin playing them. Reading The World of 2044,
starting on Page 283, can give you ways to tie your backstory to the setting, while
also being a potential source of inspiration.

Once you have your character concept, you then begin ‘building’ your character –
the process of choosing rules for your Punk that allow their concept to be
reXlected in the game’s mechanics.

Concept Exploration
A way to devise a character can be to begin with a core idea that you want to
explore and then grow the character out from there. ECOPUNK 2044 is intended
as a way to explore and tell stories of climate change, post-capitalism, technology,
and more – perhaps within these themes, there is something speciXic you want to
explore through an avatar?

Unfolding Gameplay: Backstory on the Go

If you don’t want to start nailing down your character’s past, there is no reason
you cannot Xill in your character’s backstory as the game progresses. For
example as the GM describes a location, you might decide that this was where
your character grew up, or as the GM describes a character, you might declare
your character has heard of this character from their previous employment,
and already has an opinion of them.
Dead Canaries: Character Concept
In looking for inspiration, Alex’s player reads about World War 3 and comes up
with the character concept for Alex, a British ex-soldier who fought on the
western front. The player then writes a backstory for Alex, that details how
they returned home after losing an arm and became cynical about warfare, and
their participation in a meaningless conXlict only serving the egotism of a
distant political elite. Alex’s player intends to explore the concept of political
violence, as they plan for Alex to search for a worthy cause having gained a
bionic limb and employ with the Dead Canary Mercenaries.

Alternatively, Chen’s player watched the 90s movie and so-bad-it’s-good classic
Hackers, thought it looked cool, and designed Chen, whose backstory is that she
was a super-cool hacker for like some corporation or something and then came
to work for the crew or whatever.

Step 2: Choose your 3 Drivers

Choose your 3 Drivers. Drivers are options that reXlect how your Punk thinks and
feels a fundamental level. When creating a character, you must choose 3 Drivers
from the Drivers subsection of the Character Options List on Page 10. You can
also select your Drivers randomly using the Random Drivers Table.

If a Driver has the option to be Revved, you must decide when you take the Driver
whether it is Revved or not. If it is, make a note that the Driver is Revved.

Narrative changing Drivers

As a character’s story develops, their thoughts and behaviour can change. With
the GM’s permission, a player can change one or multiple of their character’s
Drivers in response to narrative development. In addition, Crises change a
character’s Drivers.

Unfolding Gameplay: Simple Drivers

If you want to keep your gameplay simple, choose 3 Drivers from the Base
Drivers group and have none of them be Revved.

Dead Canaries: Drivers

Alex’s player images them as someone crude yet dependable, with an angry
streak, so chooses the Drivers Gruff, Clear-Minded, and Wrathful.

Step 3: Choose your 1-2 Languages

Choose one or two languages your Punk can speak. Any language that exists is an
option. If your Punk is going to have a cyberbrain, is advisable to have one Lingua
Franca as one of your chosen languages, so that you will be able to talk to most
people internationally. One or both of the chosen languages can be a Pidgin.
Generally, it is assumed that if a character knows a language, they can speak it
Xluently and know how to read and write in that language. However, you can
choose to be illiterate or inarticulate if you want. You can also decide if you know
sign language in that language, or other forms of communication.

Dead Canaries: Languages

Since Alex is from Britain, their player Xirst chooses English as one of Alex’s
languages, then decides on Spanish as their second language, imagining Alex
picked up a bit of it on the western front. Because Alex’s player conceives that
they never learned to read Spanish, they make a note that Alex is Spanish-
illiterate.

Step 4: Distribute 9 Skill Levels & Create

1 Talent
Skill Levels
Distribute 9 Skill Levels as you please across the 18 Skills, fully described on Page
12.
For example, you could give yourself 3 Skill Levels in three different skills, or 6 Skill
Levels in one Skill and 3 Skill level in two Skills.

The 18 skills are:

Athletics Pilot
Arts Politics
Converse Science
Dominate Spirituality
Ecology Stealth
Engineer Streetwise
Industry Survival
Investigate Software
Medicine Warfare

You can also, with the GM’s approval, invent your own Skill(s) to put Skill Levels
into here.

Talents
Create a Talent for a Skill you have at least 1 Skill Level in. As a reminder, Talents
are your character’s particular specialities within a Skill, invented by the player.
‘Swimming’ might be a Talent of the Athletics Skill, or ‘Biology’ might be a Talent
of the Science Skill.
Dead Canaries: Skills & Talents
Alex’s player gives them 6 Skill Levels in Athletics, and 3 Skill Levels in Warfare,
to reXlect their experience as a grunt in the military. They then imagine Alex
has, since returning from the war, obsessively read about the political causes
and motivations for war, and so gives Alex the ‘Politics of War’ Talent under the
Warfare skill.

Step 5: Choose your Body

Now you choose which Body your character possesses. Most people have the
Precariat Body, but there are other options, such as being a Military Cyborg.

Before you choose a Body, you have a score of 0 in all Aspect Scores. Most Bodies
modify your Aspect Scores in some way.

Some Bodies cost ‘expCOIN’, the resource you spend to create and progress your
Punk. When creating your character, you have 16 expCOIN to spend. 16 expCOIN
is enough to take any of the Body options and have expCOIN left over - the
remainder are spent to build the character you want to play from all the options
available in the Character Options List overleaf.

Most Bodies give you ‘Starting Traits’, Traits you get for free as part of taking the
Body. You get these Traits even if you don’t meet the Traits’ Requirements.

The options for Bodies are listed in the Character Options List starting on Page
61.

Starting Equipment
You also get your Starting Equipment at this step. Starting Equipment is
explained after the Bodies section in the Character Options List, on Page 66.

Step 6: Spend Your Starting expCOIN

With your remaining expCOIN, you can increase your skills, learn unique
abilities, take equipment for your character, and more by picking from the
options in the Character Options List. 16 expCOIN is enough to create a character
that is either a jack-of-all-trades, or someone skilled in one area, with both
having plenty of room to grow.

Alternate Character Creation

The players may be interested in running a game where the Punks are all
veterans at the top of their game, or utter amateurs. The following are possible
variations that a GM might use, or they are free to come up with their own
quantities of starting Skill Levels, ExpCOIN, and so on.

Amateurs Veterans
0-3 Drivers 0-3 Drivers
1 Language 3 Languages
3 Starting Skill Levels 12 Starting Skill Levels
1 Talent 3 Talents
Must choose Precariat Human Body All Body options available
8 expCOIN to spend 24 expCOIN to spend

Unfolding Gameplay: Super Simple Character Creation

ECOPUNK’s character creation process can be used to create mechanically
complex characters, who use a suite of traits and equipment with
interconnecting rules to achieve their own gameplay style.

However, none of this is necessary to roleplay an interesting, engaging

character in ECOPUNK. If you want to keep things simple, and not have to learn
a series of additional rules pertaining to new traits and equipment, choose 3
Base Drivers and don’t have them Revved, choose the Precariat Body, then put
all your remaining ExpCOIN into Skill Levels.
Character Options List
Drivers
The following are all the Drivers that you can choose from for your Punk.
Alternatively, you can choose your Drivers randomly using the Random Driver
Table. If you want to preclude Noir Drivers or Transhumanist Drivers, you can
reroll rolls of 5 and 6 on the Xirst d6.

Random Driver Table

1d6 1d6 Driver
Base Drivers
1 1 Calculated
2 Caring
3 Clear-Minded
4 Content
5 Cool
6 Delicate
2 1 Detached
2 Dominant
3 Dynamic
4 Earthly
5 Focused
6 Forceful
3 1 Gruff
2 Hedonistic
3 Impulsive
4 Insecure
5 Inspired
6 Intense
4 1 Lofty
2 Perfectionist
3 Purposeful
 4 Restrained
5 Thrill-Seeking
6 Wrathful
Noir Drivers
5 1 The Colour
2 Doomed
3 Impossible Love
4 Inner Monologue
5 Pariah
6 Whisperings
Transhumanist Drivers
6 1 Chimp Brain
2 Dolphin ProoXing
3 Pierced Veil
4 Reptile Brain
5 Virginal Empathy
6 Zoanthropic Drive

Base Drivers
Calculated
This world is a game of chess.

Whenever you make an Intellect Throw you can spend up to 4 Fortune to

increase the Score of that Throw by the amount spent. You cannot reduce
yourself to 0 Fortune with this Driver.

Caring
I have so much to give.

Revved:
Whenever you would cause another character to regain Fortune, you regain 2
Fortune.

Whenever you would cause another character Damage, you lose 2 Fortune.
Clear-Minded
The path is lit. The way is clear.

Whenever you make a Clarity Throw you can spend up to 4 Fortune to increase
the Score of that Throw by the amount spent. You cannot reduce yourself to 0
Fortune with this Driver.

Content
So long as you can do your labours, you want for nothing else.

Revved:
Whenever you make a Finesse Throw, Maximise 1 dice.

Whenever you make an Intellect Throw, Minimise 1 dice.

This Driver doesn’t affect Attack and Dodge Throws.

Cool
Shades: on. Relaxed posture: engaged. Maintaining chill vibes.

Revved:
Whenever you make a Clarity Throw, Maximise 1 dice.

Whenever you make a Speed Throw, Minimise 1 dice.

This Driver doesn’t affect Attack and Dodge Throws.

Delicate
Eek! A harmless insect!

Revved:
Whenever you make a Finesse Throw, Maximise 1 dice.

Whenever you make a Toughness Throw, Minimise 1 dice.

This Driver doesn’t affect Attack and Dodge Throws.

Detached
Nothing weighs you down.

Revved:
Whenever you make a Clarity Throw, Maximise 1 dice.

Whenever you make a Finesse Throw, Minimise 1 dice.

This Driver doesn’t affect Attack and Dodge Throws.

Dominant
You’re only number one when everyone else knows they aren’t.

Revved:
Whenever you win a Clash, increase your Fortune by 2.

Whenever you lose a Clash, decrease your Fortune by 1. Your Fortune cannot be
brought any lower than 5 by this effect.

Dynamic
Do it with a Boom!

Whenever you make a Speed Throw you can spend up to 4 Fortune to increase
the Score of that Throw by the amount spent. You cannot reduce yourself to 0
Fortune with this Driver.

Earthly
It’s all just meat.

Revved:
Whenever you make a Toughness, Finesse, or Speed Throw, increase your
Fortune by 1.

Whenever you make a Clarity or Intellect Throw, lower your Fortune by 1. Your
Fortune cannot be brought any lower than 5 by this effect.

Focused
Nothing else exists beyond my vision.

Revved:
Whenever you expend dice equal to your current Dice Pool Maximum on a
single Throw, add an additional +1d6 to the Throw.

Forceful
My will be done!

Whenever you make a Toughness Throw you can spend up to 4 Fortune to

increase the Score of that Throw by the amount spent. You cannot reduce
yourself to 0 Fortune with this Driver.
Gruff
Hmph.

Revved:
Whenever you make a Toughness Throw, Maximise 1 dice.

Whenever you make an Intellect Throw, Minimise 1 dice.

This Driver doesn’t affect Attack and Dodge Throws.

Hedonistic
No matter how much you put in, the hole never gets Lilled.

Revved:
Whenever you regain Fortune through expending dice in a Cold Round, roll
1d6. On an even number (2, 4, 6), you regain additional Fortune equal to the
number rolled. On an odd number (1, 3, 5), you lose that much Fortune. If your
Fortune is reduced to 0 by this, the Punk suffers a Crisis as per the normal rules
of having your Fortune reduced to 0. The Crisis takes the form of an indulgent,
self-destructive bender.

Impulsive
‘Do Not Enter’ basically means ‘Enter’.

Revved:
Whenever you make a Speed Throw, Maximise 1 dice.

Whenever you make a Finesse Throw, Minimise 1 dice.

This Driver doesn’t affect Attack and Dodge Throws.

Insecure
Behind every bush, a tiger.

Revved:
Whenever you make an Intellect Throw, Maximise 1 dice.

Whenever you make a Speed Throw, Minimise 1 dice.

This Driver doesn’t affect Attack and Dodge Throws.

Inspired
The work moves through you.

Whenever you make a Skilled Throw with the Skill you have the highest (or tied
for highest) Skill Level in, you can spend up to 4 Fortune to increase the Score
of that Skilled Throw by the amount spent. You cannot reduce yourself to 0
Fortune with this Driver.

Intense
There are no shades of grey.

Revved:
Whenever you make an Intellect Throw, Maximise 1 dice.

Whenever you make a Clarity Throw, Minimise 1 dice.

This Driver doesn’t affect Attack and Dodge Throws.

Lofty
The mind is limitless; the body its container.

Revved:
Whenever you make a Clarity or Intellect Throw, increase your Fortune by 1.

Whenever you make a Toughness, Finesse, or Speed Throw, lower your Fortune
by 1. Your Fortune cannot be brought any lower than 5 by this effect.

Perfectionist
Be faultless in all things.

Whenever you make a Finesse Throw you can spend up to 4 Fortune to

increase the Score of that Throw by the amount spent. You cannot reduce
yourself to 0 Fortune with this Driver.

Purposeful
Slow and steady wins the race.

Revved:
In Cold Rounds your Dice Pool Maximum is increased by 1. This applies before
your Dice Pool is reXilled at the start of the Round.

In Hot Rounds your Dice Pool Maximum is reduced by 1. This applies before
your Dice Pool is reXilled at the start of the Round.
Restrained
You always get to it, but you never get in it.

Revved:
Whenever you make a Speed Throw, Maximise 1 dice.

Whenever you make a Toughness Throw, Minimise 1 dice.

This Driver doesn’t affect Attack and Dodge Throws.

Thrill-Seeking
Oh what a day! What a lovely day!!

Revved:
In Hot Rounds your Dice Pool Maximum is increased by 1. This applies before
your Dice Pool is reXilled at the start of the Round.

In Cold Rounds your Dice Pool Maximum is reduced by 1. This applies before
your Dice Pool is reXilled at the start of the Round.

Wrathful
There’s coal in your gut. Some days it’s a weight, others it burns.

Revved:
Whenever you make a Toughness Throw, Maximise 1 dice.

Whenever you make a Clarity Throw, Minimise 1 dice.

This Driver doesn’t affect Attack and Dodge Throws.

Noir Drivers
Noir Drivers represent the deep-seated scars some have developed in this
postwar, doomed era, inspired by some of the tropes from noir and cybernoir.

It is recommended that you limit yourself to a maximum of 1 Noir Driver.

The Colour
We all see the same colour. No one sees this colour the same as you.

When you take this Driver, choose a colour of deep signiXicance. For example,
the red of the Xire that claimed your home, the off-yellow Xloor of the psyche
ward, or the sea-green of her eyes… You try to avoid the chosen colour, and
won’t by choice have any of your Equipment or affects incorporate it.

3/Scene, if you are in a Scene where the chosen is colour is heavily present,
you can take 1d6 Mental Damage to entirely reroll a Skilled Throw. You still roll
the same amount of dice for the reroll. You must use the new roll.

Doomed
A weight hangs in the air around you. Cats avoid your path.

1/Mission, in a Scene where you’ve lost Fortune, you can gain +2d6 to every
Throw you make over the course of a Round. When you do so, your Fortune
immediately reduces to 0 at the end of the Round.
Impossible Love
When we’re apart, it’s agony. When we’re together, it’s poison.

You have an impossible lover. It might be a person who though fate,

circumstance, or your antithetical natures you cannot be with, or it can be a
more abstract entity, such as ‘The Sea’, or ‘Death’, or ‘The City’.

1/Mission, At extreme moments that would bring you spiritually closer to your
impossible lover (for example, tripping balls in a Xield of your lover’s favourite
Xlowers if your impossible lover is a botanically-inclined real person, or coming
close to the precipice of dying if your impossible lover is Death), you can have a
fantasy of your impossible lover, vivid enough that you are able to talk to them
(the GM plays the impossible lover).

When this fantasy begins, you can choose to make a Clarity Save. If you choose
to not make the Save, you have a ‘normal’ conversation with your fantasy, then
it ends and you return the waking world.

If you choose to make the Clarity Save and succeed, the GM plays your
impossible lover as discouraging of the fantasy, and you regain 5 Fortune. If you
are in a Crisis, regaining Fortune from this Driver can potentially pull you out of
it. At the GM’s judgement, you can still gain the Stigma you would have
normally gained from the Crisis.

If you choose to make the Clarity Save and fail, the GM plays your impossible
lover as encouraging you to surrender to the fantasy, and you take 1d6 Mental
Damage. If you were already at 0 Fortune, this Driver causes you to gain an
additional Stigma. If this additional Stigma would be your fourth Stigma, you
are instead Xinished off.

Fantasy cannot survive contact with reality. If you ever meet your impossible
lover in the real, this Driver no longer has an effect.

Inner Monologue
Talk to me, me.

When you Xirst take this Driver, choose a tone, such as ‘noir’, or ‘sinister’, or
‘John Hughes’ (“Yup, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got here.”).

3/Mission, at either the start or the end of a Scene, you can perform your
character’s internal monologue. If the GM judges your monologue as suitably
fulXilling your chosen tone, you regain 1d3 Fortune.
Outcast
You can save them, but you can never be with them.

You prefer to do things alone. You cannot appear in the Flashbacks of other
Punks, nor can other Punks appear in your Flashbacks. Contacts may still
appear in your Flashbacks.

When you trigger a Flashback, you have a dice pool of 13d6 to draw from,
instead of the normal 10d6.

Whisperings
Sometimes you turn your head, to better hear a voice that isn’t there.

3/Mission, once per Scene, you can talk to your subconscious, played by the
GM. Whether your subconscious is antagonistic, afXirming, or has some other
‘personality’ is for you and the GM to determine when you take this Driver.

When you use this Driver, the GM secretly rolls a d6.

On a roll of 1-2, the GM plays your subconscious as ultimately misguiding,
possibly offering incorrect information or an unproductive course of action.
On a roll of 3-4, the GM plays your subconscious as neutral, offering half-truths
and meaningless suggestions.
On a roll of 5-6, the GM plays your subconscious as ultimately helpful, possibly
reminding you of information you’ve forgotten or suggesting a course of action
that could help the Mission.

Transhumanist Drivers
Transhumanist Drivers represent models of thinking achieved through
manipulating the mind with technology, such as Cyberbrain self-hacking, nanite
therapy, genetic modiXication, hypnosis, and so on.

You can only have up to one Transhumanist Driver at a time. If you gain a
new Transhumanist Driver, it replaces the old one.

You cannot gain a Transhumanist Driver as a result of a Crisis.

Chimp Brain
The Lirst ‘template’ to arise from applied neuronomy, although with limited
applications.

The mammalian ape aspects of your brain have been strengthened. As a result
you become more socially tribalistic, physically intimate, and aggressive than
you otherwise would be.

Your visual short-term memory is exceptional, able to perfectly recall anything

you’ve seen in the last 15 minutes, even if you perceived it for only a second.
Dolphin ProoYing
Sometimes, I have a dream of the other-self, and move in inLinite blue.

Your neurology is slightly altered to become more like that of a dolphin’s. As a

result, you become more amorous, and impulsive with both your kindness and
cruelty, that you otherwise would be.

Your altered neurology makes you immune to the effects of Psychic Hammers.

Pierced Veil
I wake up, and see the dream.

The membrane in your brain between the dream self and the waking self has
been made porous. Your subconscious mind can throw up visual, auditory, and
tactile hallucinations that appear wholly real to you. Both you and the GM can
narrate waking visions that result from this Driver. You will typically recognise
these hallucinations as such, as they won’t actively get in the way of your
objectives.

You always know when someone is Beyond your Ghostline, as their presence
affects your waking visions. Whenever someone takes Mental Damage from
being Beyond your Ghostline, you also take that much Mental Damage.

Reptile Brain
One of the few successes of wartime applied neuronomy, the basal enhancement
produced soldiers that were psychopathic in their behaviour, but with none of the
fragility.

The reptilian aspects of your brain have been strengthened. As a result you
become more hedonistic, dispassionate, and materialistic in your interests (and
calculated in your pursuit of them) than you otherwise would be.

You are inclined to perceive others and yourself as objects and tools. You are
unlikely to suffer mentally from witnessing death, injury, and suffering, and are
less alarmed by your own physical injury, including threats of it.

The Driver allows you to resist the fear of physical harm. As a result you can
ignore the effects of abilities that rely on fear of harm such as the Suppressive
Fire Action, and choose to automatically succeed on any Throws or Saves to
resist fear of physical harm, such as refusing to give up information while under
physical torture.
Virginal Empathy
A dangerous but valuable procedure, that allows for a temporary severance
between the sense of self and one’s empathy. The process enables its users to
experience the mindset of the target perfectly, but at great risk to self-identity.

You have the capacity to brieXly, perfectly empathise with others. This doesn’t
mean you sympathise with them; instead you literally adopt their worldview to
better understand them.

1/Scene, Whenever you make a Skilled Throw that has anything to do with
reading a particular character, such as gauging their underlying feelings,
predicting their next action, or ascertaining their relationship to others, you
can add +2d6 to that Throw and make the Throw Explosive. The read character
has to be someone you have either met, or have extensively studied some
aspect of their life such as their work, or footage of them in daily life.

At the end of a Scene in which you used this Driver, make a Clarity Save. On a
failed Save, one of your Drivers (potentially this one) is randomly chosen and
replaced with a random Driver of the character you read.

Zoanthropic Drive
A relic of wartime experimentation, developed in the wake of nanite doping’s
failures. It too failed to mass-produce the envisioned supersoldier.

The proto-human aspects of your evolutionary psychology have been

strengthened. The alteration facilitates using your strength, but diminishes
intelligence, particularly in the domain of language.

The maximum your Toughness Score can reach is increased by 1 (it would
normally be a maximum of +2).

Your Intelligence Score can be no higher than +0.

While you have this Driver, if your Athletics Skill Level would be less than 3, it
becomes 3. When you lose this Driver, your Athletics Skill Level reverts to what
it was before gaining this Driver.

While you can understand any complex terms said by others that a normal
person would also understand, whenever you speak it is brieXly and in simple
terms. Generally you prefer grunts and hand gestures to communicate. Reduce
your Fortune by 1 every time your Punk says a word with three or more
syllables.

Special Drivers:
These Drivers are available to players who have played other Dice Kapital games.

If you’ve played Gambler’s Heart, you can take the below Driver.
A Gambler’s Heart
There’s a magic in the cards I cannot quite see, but it’s there.

You are compulsively drawn to gambling. If at any point you want to resist the
siren call of gambling, you must succeed on a Clarity Save.

Whenever you make a roll, if the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 all appear on the
dice once they have Xinished being rolled, you regain 5 Fortune.

If you’ve played Frankenmonster Creaturestein, you can take the below Driver.
Frankensteinian Lifeview
There is no ‘whole’, only an assemblage of parts.

You understand that your body, and indeed all things, are just a composition of
independent parts. You take no Mental Damage from the loss of your body
parts or injury, or witnessing the loss of body parts for others.

Twice per Punk, you can reduce the ExpCOIN cost of a Bionic Limb Trait or
Bionic Organ Trait by 1.
Traits & Equipment
Below is a list of everything you can spend Character Points (ExpCOIN) or the
expCOIN gained through completing Missions on.

The list consists of three parts: The Basics, Traits, and Equipment, although
Traits and Equipment are broken down in a few subparts to make parsing them
easier. Some subparts will start by telling you any particular rules that govern
using any options in that subpart.

Options, both Traits and Equipment, appear in the following format:

1 Option Name – Option Cost

2 Keywords:
3 Repeatable II-V
4 Requires:

Rules Text
1/Mission, Scene, Round, Turn,
5
Action: Name.
Reaction: Name.

6 Flavour text

1. The name of the option, followed by how much ExpCOIN you must spend to
take it

2. Some Traits and Equipment have ‘keywords’, terms which interact with other
rules, including rules of other Traits and Equipment. For example, if you want
to take a Trait with the Bionic keyword, your character must have a Cyberbrain.
If an Equipment Mod has a Keyword, that Keyword is added to the Keywords of
the Equipment that was modded.
If an entry has no Keywords, then this part won’t appear in the entry.
3. Repeatable means the entry can be taken more than once (normally, Traits or
Equipment can only be taken once.). The numeral following ‘Repeatable’ tells
you the maximum number of times you can take that entry.

If you have taken the same Trait multiple times, each instance of that Trait
comes into effect separately. For example, the Hard Worker Trait increases your
Dice Pool Size by 1 in a Scene where the Round Length is 1 day or longer. If you
took the Hard Worker trait 2 times (as it is Repeatable II) then in a Scene where
the Round Length is 1 day or longer, your Dice Pool Size would increase by 2.

If you have taken the same Equipment multiple times, that’s how many copies
of that Equipment you have in your possession.

If an entry cannot be repeatedly taken, then this part won’t appear in the entry.

4. Requires lists all the things you need to already have in order to take the
entry. Often a requirement will be a certain Aspect being high enough (such as
‘Requires: Aspect (Toughness) 1+’, meaning you must have a Toughness of 1 or
higher to take this entry) or a Skill Level being high enough (such as ‘Requires:
Skill Level (Athletics) 3+’, meaning you must have an Athletics Skill Level of 3 or
higher), however a requirement can also be already possessing another Trait,
or something more complex.

If an entry has no requirements before you can take it, then this part won’t
appear in the entry.

5. The Rules Text explains what the Trait or Equipment actually does.

6. The Xlavour text gives a brief bit of prose relevant to the Trait or Equipment.
Bear in mind the Xlavour text is just one possible way that option can
participate in the story of 2044, and doesn’t deXine the narrative of the option
for your character.

Unless decided otherwise by the GM, the snippets of history in Xlavour text are
all canonical within the setting of ECOPUNK 2044.

Not all options have Xlavour text.

If an Equipment option is not Repeatable, it is assumed when taking that option

you gain ‘as many units of that option as you need, and no more’. For example, if
you want to wield two Handguns, then you only need to take the Handgun option
once as the option is not Repeatable.

Keywords:
Organic. The Organic keyword means the option only works on a body that is (at
least on the surface) primarily organic - i.e. not the body of a cyborg.
Bionic. You cannot take an option with the Bionic keyword unless you have a
working Cyberbrain. An option with the Bionic keyword needs to be connected
(either over the Net or via Hardline connection) to your Cyberbrain to use. A
hacker that has Intruded into your Cyberbrain can have any Programs they apply
to your Cyberbrain also apply to any option with the Bionic keyword connected
to you. The keyword also means the option can be independently targeted for
hacking.
Net-Linked. The Net-Linked keyword means the option is connected to the Net
and so can be targeted for hacking. A Net-Linked option does not require a
Cyberbrain to use.
Illegal. The Illegal keyword means that, generally, the option is illegal to be
possessed by a civilian. Based on your Gig, the GM may not count certain options’
Illegal keyword - for example, if your Gig is as members of a police unit, it may be
Xine for you to carry Firearms.
The use of Illegal options may lead to you gaining Heat.
Taboo. The Taboo keyword means the option is not just criminal, it is also
ethically abhorrent, and may draw the ire of not just political forces but regular
people too.
If you gain Heat at the end of a Scene, and in that Scene you used a Taboo option,
you gain an additional +1 Heat.
Concealable. The Concealable keyword means the option is easily hidden, and
can generally be carried in public in its concealed form without raising alarm.
Signature. The Signature keyword means the option is a recognisable marker of
yours. You can only ever take one option with the Signature keyword. If you lose
the option with the Signature keyword, you cannot replace it.
Mastery. The Mastery keyword means the options represents the pinnacle of a
particular ability. As mastery is something that needs to be continually
maintained, you can only have one Trait with the Mastery keyword at a time.
Taking a new Trait with the Mastery keyword replaces the old one.

Reinterpreting Rules
The ruletext for Traits and Equipment is not the strict limit of what that option
can do. If you think the narrative beneXits of a Trait should enable you to do
something not stated within its ruletext, or a piece of Equipment could be used in
a way not stated within its ruletext, ask the GM if you can reinterpret the option
to achieve your desired effect.
For example, the Trait Local Legend represents your character having the support
and aid of an area’s community. While not stated within its beneLits, you could use
the Trait to have a few members of the community switch a number of street signs,
to throw off an intruding enemy attempting to navigate the area by map.

Aesthetic Reinterpretation
When choosing Traits and Equipment, you are free to interpret the aesthetics of
such choices as you please. For example, you might prefer to reinterpret the
Equipment Dog as actually a trained hyena, or decide that for the Trait Weather
Forecast, your character doesn’t learn of the impending weather through
meteorology, but instead through mystic foresight.
With the GM’s permission, you can reinterpret what a Trait requires based on
your desired aesthetic reinterpretation of a Trait.

Mods
Mods are a special type of option that, rather than function on their own, instead
apply their effect to a preexisting Trait or piece of Equipment named in the name
of the Mod.

Refunding Options
You cannot normally lose options you have taken to regain the expCOIN spent on
them. In special cases you can do so with the GM’s permission. You can, however,
trade through Bartering Equipment, explained on Page 140.

Inventing New Options

During a Cold Scene you can, with the GM’s permission, invent a new option not
represented in the Character Options List. Before you do so, check to make sure
what you envision isn’t already represented in the below options; remember that
it is possible to reinterpret the effects of Traits and Equipment to new ends.

Skill Expertise & Creating Objects

To invent a physical object as a New Option, such as a piece of Equipment or a
bionic body part that would become a Bionic Trait, the GM may necessitate your
character Xirst having Expert Skill Expertise (i.e., a Skill Level of 8 or above) in the
Skill(s) needed to create the object.

If you want to build a new, custom piece of hardware, you need Expert Skill
Expertise in Engineer. If you want to invent new software, you need Expert Skill
Expertise in Software. To invent new wetware, you will need Expert Skill
Expertise in Medicine, as well as Expert Skill Expertise in Engineer for bionics, or
Software for psyware.
Dead Canaries: Inventing A New Option
Barkhad thinks there’s some risk of their vehicle falling into water in the near
future, and so wants to take a Mod for their Work Van that will protect against
that.

Looking through the Vehicle Mods, they can’t Xind anything they think will
really work. Because this seems related to the Engineer Skill, in which Barkhad
has Expert Skill Expertise, they talk to the GM about inventing a new Mod for
their vehicle they call ‘Hermetic Sealing’, where they could rig all the windows
and doors to seal when they Consume 2 in a Hot Round to pull a lever at the
vehicle’s controls, at which point the vehicle won’t let in any outside liquid or
gas.

The GM Xinds the idea acceptable, and tells Barkhad it will cost 3 ExpCOIN,
which Barkhad accepts. They then expend 3 expCOIN and Consumes 3 dice, and
the option is theirs.
Body
The following are the Xive Bodies for you to choose from during Character
Creation. Each Body comes with certain beneXits, and some with downsides.

Some Bodies give you ‘Starting Traits’, Traits that you automatically and freely get
as part of choosing the Body. You get these Traits even if your character doesn’t
meet the Trait requirements.

Along with your Body, you also get Starting Equipment, explained below.

Precariat - 0 ExpCOIN
You are one of the many, a single soul amongst seven billion. Everything, from
food to clothing, is rationed to you by a distant and cruel government. A quarter
of such people are unemployed. You haven’t eaten meat in years, unless you eat
petmeat. In a previous era you might have been called ‘underclass’ or ‘canaille’.
Now the term ‘precariat’ - the precarious mass - dominates, taken from Usmanian
Socioeconomics.

Polymathmatic. Increase one Aspect Score by +1, and reduce an Aspect Score
by -1. You can then choose to increase another Aspect Score by +1 and reduce
another Aspect Score by -1. You cannot increase and/or reduce any Aspect
score more than once with this rule.
Fallen Elite - 2 ExpCOIN
It can take decades to elbow your way into the halls of power, and a few seconds
to lose it all. You have fallen from the ivory tower, either by your own failings or
at the hands of another. You probably ate meat from a cow or pig last year, with a
cloth over the face; a pretentious performance meant to remove your culpability.
You’re a long way from that place now.

Tutored. Increase one Aspect Score by +1, and reduce an Aspect Score by -1.

Shitlisted. Your former position draws contempt, and with it greater scrutiny.
At the end of the Mission when you roll Political Damage from your Heat,
Maximise one of the dice.

Choose one of the following:

Rival. You gain the Trait Contact [Nemesis]. The Nemesis is the political rival
who engineered your fall from grace.
Failing. You have a failing, the revealing of which got you kicked out of the elite.
Decide what your ‘failing’ is. It could be an addiction to a substance, a guttural
public act, or something darker. At least once per Mission, you must fulXil your
‘failing’, or take 1d6 Mental Damage during the Epilogue.

Starting Traits:
Cyberbrain (Page 76)
Contact [Individual] (Page 136)
Elite Clothing (Page 157)
Civilian Cyborg - 3 ExpCOIN
Medical circumstance demanded a fullbody transplant to survive. You either
made the harsh choice yourself, or woke up to Lind someone else had made the
choice for you. Now you are reformed in the metal Llesh, one of the new peacetime
cyborgs. Your circumstance is difLicult; most people see the cyborg as a symbol of
wartime brutality, and this one-body-Lits-all model means that your face and
physique have wholly changed.

Imprecise. You haven’t quite got the hang of your precision motor skills yet.
Increase one Aspect Score by +1, and reduce your Finesse Score by -1.

Cyborg. You cannot take any options with the Organic keyword.

Bionic Shell. Any Physical (External) Damage you would take is reduced by 2,
due to your Bionic Arms and Bionic Legs Traits.

Anonymous Body. Your face, physique, and voice come off of a factory line.
Unless you take Traits that would make your appearance unique (such as the
Beauty Trait), only worn or carried objects can be ‘some means of identifying’
you for purposes of gaining Heat. People who don’t know you will need to
acquire your PsySig to truly verify who you are.
This also makes you harder to recognise and trust.

Rejection Regime. A regime of nanites and designer drugs prevents your new
body from rejecting the parts of your old self that remain. You permanently
reduce the amount of Power you provide to the Crew by 1.
Note that the trait Bionic Health reduces the amount of Power you provide the
Crew by a further 1.

Starting Traits:
Cyberbrain (Page 76)
Bionic Arms (Page 128)
Bionic Legs (Page 128)
Bionic Eyes (Page 124)
Bionic Health (Page 125)
Ghost - 4 ExpCOIN
Bridgebuilder connects all, but not always in the way we assume. While diving the
Net, someone stole your body away, and disturbed the path back for your
consciousness. BB, in its inLinite wisdom, has maintained the connection between
psyche and soma. Somewhere, your Llesh and blood is still alive and hooked up to
the Net. Whether being separated from your Llesh is liberating or harrowing, and
whether you will seek further freedom from the physical or hunt for clues to your
body, is up to you. For now, you survive as a soul adrift - a ghost.

Netbound. Unless you move yourself elsewhere with Intrusion, your

consciousness resides within the Network of your Gig, with its physical location
being the Network Core. Any Programs applied to your Network also apply to
you, as if they had been applied to you as a Terminal. While in your Network
and Intruded into nowhere else, you cannot be separately targeted as a
Terminal.

Third Eye. You do not require (nor could you use) a Visualiser when making
Hacking Throws. You view the material world through being Intruded into
objects and people. You can always see whatever a Terminal can see when you
are Intruded into it, without having to use a Program.

Mind Over Matter. Increase one of your Speed, Clarity, or Intellect Scores by
+1, then decrease one of your Speed, Clarity, or Intellect Scores by -1.

Immaterial. Having no physical body, you do not have a Toughness or Finesse

Score. You cannot make Toughness or Finesse Throws, you cannot take Physical
Damage, except for Physical (Internal) Damage from Hacking. In addition, you
can only take Traits that would require a body, such as Bionic Organ Traits,
during character creation (as these are assumed to have been part of your body
prior to being ghosted).

Softline. Being immaterial, you cannot form a Hardline connection with

anything.

Voided. Whenever a Terminal you are Intruded into becomes Faraday, you take
1d6 Mental Damage. If every Terminal and Network you are Intruded into
becomes Faraday, you ‘die’, as your ghost loses any cohesive centre.

Starting Traits:
Cyberbrain (Page 76)
D-Rank Hacker (Page 119)
Ice: Basic Layers (Page 121)
Choose one from:
• Sock Puppet Master (Page 103)
• Digitised Collection (Page 86)
Military Cyborg - 4 ExpCOIN
You were one of the Cyborg Forces, the cutting-edge killers of World War III.
Piece-by-piece, your Llesh and bone was unwoven and reformed in metal. You
retain the same shape as your previous meat-self, but is it truly you? Every
muscle, every bone, every inch of skin was replaced by the alchemical clay of QI
materials, and you were baked in the Lires of war: a terracotta soldier for the new
era.

Bionic Might. Increase your Toughness Score by +1. Your maximum Toughness
Score increases by 1.

Military Made. Increase your Toughness, Finesse, or Speed Score by +1, then
decrease an Aspect Score by -1.

Cyborg. You cannot take any options with the Organic keyword.

Bionic Carapace. Any Physical (External) Damage you would take is reduced
by 3. This Damage reduction includes the 2 Physical (External) Damage
reduction from your Bionic Arms and Bionic Legs Traits.

Regular Maintenance. A military cyborg body requires constant upkeep in

order to function, and since the war ended the process of maintenance has only
gotten more difXicult. You have a ‘Maintenance Score’ that is between 0 and 6,
that reduces by 1 at the end of every Cold Round.
You gain the Trait Contact [Individual]. The Contact is the bionics doctor who
maintains your body. In a Cold Round, you can visit your bionics doctor who
will perform maintenance, increasing your Maintenance Score by 1d3. You
must expend your entire Dice Pool to undergo this maintenance.
When your Maintenance Score is 3 or less, your Dice Pool Maximum is lowered
by 2.
When your Maintenance Score is 0, your Dice Pool Maximum is 5.
Affording this maintenance is a drain on your resources. You permanently
reduce the amount of Power you provide to the Crew by 3.

Starting Traits:
Cyberbrain (Page 76)
Bionic Arms (Page 128)
Bionic Legs (Page 128)
Bionic Eyes (Page 124)
Bionic Eyes Mod: Advanced Vision (Page 126)
Choose one from:
• Martial Arts I (Page 114)
• Gunslinger I (Page 112)
Starting Equipment
Every Punk begins with the below Equipment. Remember, the world of 2044 is
anti-consumerist and exists in a period of intense scarcity. The only things you
individually own are the below Equipment, and any Equipment options you
spend expCOIN on.

Although you get all of them for free, Starting Equipment has its expCOIN value
listed for purposes of Bartering.

Civilian Clothing - 0 expCOIN

Civilian Clothing can be Modded by Mods from the Attire section.

In 2044, most people will wear a mix of hand-me-downs and durable,

government-issue clothes, or just their work clothes. Personal expression only
extends as far as the cultural artefacts a person has inherited.

Mask - 0 expCOIN

Anything from a surgical mask to a balaclava. While wearing your Mask, your
face cannot be identiXied by people or facial recognition technology, meaning
you cannot gain Heat from having your face seen.

You can choose to pay 1 ExpCOIN for your Mask to gain one of the following
beneXits while wearing the mask:
• Night Vision. You can see in the dark. Your Mask gains the Net-Linked
keyword.
• Voice Modulator. Your voice is distorted so as to be unrecognisable. Your
Mask gains the Net-Linked keyword.
• Rebreather. You can breathe underwater.
• Gasmask. You have Advantage on any Throws or Saves to avoid the effects of
harmful gases.
Universal Basic - 4 expCOIN

Universal Basic covers the provisions given to you by society and, in places
where the state’s control is limited, what you own merely as a fact of living. It
provides:
• A stipend to cover food and water
• A place (no matter how small) to live
• Enough electricity to cover basic necessities, with enough excess for you to
provide 4 Power to the Crew.

Without your Universal Basic, your life exists in complete precarity, with no
assurances of food, shelter, or clothing. If you trade away your Universal Basic
through Bartering, you cease to provide Power to the Crew. In addition you can
never regain Fortune except in the Epilogue following a Crisis.

Net-Linked Device - 1 expCOIN

Keyword: Net-Linked

A means to access the Net and communicate. Usually this will be a handheld
device, but it can be something larger if you choose.

A Net-Linked Device can call and text people and send audio and text messages
to your Network, and view public-facing Net entities such as government
websites, news feeds, and the forum of your local community, but beyond this
you don’t have enough electricity and data rationed to you have access to most
of the utilities of a smartphone from the 2020s.

From ancient ‘smart phones’ cobbled-together by decades-old tech to the new

high-tech ‘glass’, everyone’s got some way to be online.

Gear - 0 expCOIN

A means to carry and contain things. You decide what form your gear takes, but
it must all be easy to carry on your person, and durable.

For most people, gear will be a backpack or dufLle bag, containing some patched-
up tupperware and wooden boxes, and a government-issue 1.5 litre bottle of 99%
clean water.
Minor Tool - 1 expCOIN

Invent a minor tool that’s personal to you. The tool is so simple that it only has
one purpose. That purpose can be recreational. Examples of minor tools are:
• A comb
• An electronic lighter
• An eCigar
• A Xlashlight
• An analog camera
• A paid of dice

If the tool you choose uses electricity, it gains the Net-Linked keyword. If it’s a
tool that connects to a Cyberbrain, it instead gains the Bionic keyword.

Skill Tool - 2 expCOIN

Invent a tool or set of tools that’s relevant to the Skill you have the highest (or
tied for highest) Skill Level in. Examples of skill tools are:
• For the Medicine Skill, this might be a surgeon’s bag.
• For the Engineer Skill, this might be a tool kit.
• For Software, it might be computer kit assembled from old and new parts
that enables you to properly dig around the Net.

Alternately, you can create a second Minor Tool.

A Skill Tool enables you to do anything with your Skill that you couldn’t do with
just your bare hands.

If the tool you choose uses electricity, it gains the Net-Linked keyword. If it’s a
tool that also connects to a Cyberbrain, it instead gains the Bionic keyword.

Nicknacks - 0 expCOIN

You’ve got a few nicknacks that you’ve either picked up or were passed down to
you. They might have endured from the previous era, before the new ecology,
or they might be from more recent times.

Roll two nicknacks from the Random Nicknack Table. To roll a nicknack, roll
three d6s, one after another, and compare the results to the Table.

Random Nicknack Table

1d6 1d6 1d6 Nicknack
1 1 1-3 1000 Rules For Life. Collected works for some martyred
American intellectual. ‘Clean your room’, ‘Pet cats’…
Americans needed a book to tell them this stuff? No wonder
it all fell apart.
4-6 2-in-1 Mirror and Make-Up Container. It holds your
foundation, although your skin doesn’t match this colour any
more.
2 1-3 A 20-Sided Dice. You don’t know any games that require dice
with twenty sides, but you do get a slight thrill whenever you
roll a 20.
4-6 Abandoned CD. It seems so fragile compared to modern data
storage. No wonder things didn’t last, they weren’t built to.
You wonder if you can Xind the hardware to read it, and
discover what secrets this ‘Compact Disk’ holds.
3 1-3 Anti-Fungal Inhaler. This spray is supposed to give you a
chance at living if these new thermotolerant fungi start
growing inside your lungs.
4-6 Bag of Fried Crickets. Crunchy, full of protein, just needs a
pinch of salt.
4 1-3 Balm Tin. It reads ‘beard balm’ on the side, and a rather
disgruntled bear scowls at you on the lid. Another piece of
old-world decadence.
4-6 Blue Necktie. And not a dull ministry or corporat-issue one
either! This is truly yours to keep.
5 1-3 Bottle of Rice Wine. At least you think its rice wine. You can’t
read Mandarin.
4-6 Carved Cutlery. Your spoon was stolen from you and, with
nothing to replace it, you took the leg from your chair and set
to carving.
6 1-3 Carved Icon. A lump of plastic broken off from something,
carved into the icon of a pagan god. You can see birds, a
spear, a one-eyed stare…
4-6 Ceramic Plate. Slipped out of a military police’s body
armour, this slightly-curved plate could stop a bullet. Its
momentum, not so much.
2 1 1-3 Chess Set. A small, folding wooden box, with pieces that
magnetise to the board. You’ve replaced the couple missing
pawns with small bolts.
 4-6 Contact Detail. You can still remember his blushing half-
smile as he wrote this down. But the week went by and the
moment passed. Now it feels like you can never reach out to
him.
2 1-3 Crumb of Cheese. A tiny dry blue lump wrapped in paper. We
killed the world for a brief abundance of food like this. Seems
wrong to eat it.
4-6 Cyborg Forces Patch. Holy shit this thing looks cool. It’s all
skulls and lightning bolts. It’s probably fake.
3 1-3 Das Kapital by Karl Marx. This frayed copy has a number of
pencilled notes in the margins, you think written by an
aspiring culturist.
4-6 Deck of Playing Cards. Although in fairly good shape, the
edges are damaged - enough so that you can tell some of the
cards from the back.
4 1-3 Dog Jerky. Don’t show it off, or everyone will want a bite.
4-6 Ecofascist Flier. A scrap of paper; at the centre the stern face
of a European tyrant. It’s fairly old, and has the names and
faces of cabinet ministers who have since been purged from
ofXicial history.
5 1-3 Engraved Hip[lask. Empty, tragically. But perhaps worth
something to the discerning alcoholic?
4-6 Eyeliner. Can’t go to war without warpaint.
6 1-3 Faded Ring. Time has robbed the band of gold of any details
it once held, although on the underside there is the faintest
impression of a name, now illegible.
4-6 Family Heirloom. A framed picture of a great-aunt you never
met, to remind you that when someone has nothing, they still
have family.
3 1 1-3 Finger Bones. Many couldn’t be returned to their home for
burial in the war. Brothers and sisters in arms often bore the
knuckles of a Xinger back instead.
4-6 Finger of Saint John. At least, so your mother insists. You get
the sense that when she Xled, the home country did not want
for corpses to take Xingers from, nor rank opportunists
looking to make a buck.
2 1-3 Fishing Rod. Since industrial Xishing got banned they say
some of the waters far from the equator have replenished.
You’ll go to those clear waters one day. One day.
 4-6 Frayed Fedora. There has to be some kind of magic to this
old-world fashion. On the right person it looks suave, on the
wrong person it looks imbecilic. You are not the right person.
3 1-3 Free Album. A woman with gaudy hair emphatically waved
this Netpoint code in your face, and wouldn’t leave until
you’d downloaded the album it linked to. Roll 1d3 to
determine if the genre of music is: (1) ephemeral, (2)
nimetal, or (3) dadrap.
4-6 Fresh Air Canister. An east-Asian fad that rears its head
every half-decade. Can air go stagnant? Because this can was
bottled in 2031.
4 1-3 Go Set. This is a mat and two cans of stones that allow you to
play the world’s oldest board game. China’s spreading
inXluence and Han revival has popularised it.
4-6 Hacker Den Cipher. A scrap of potatistc (potato-plastic)
paper, with a printed cipher that, if solved, might lead to
either the Netspace or realspace location of a hacker den.
5 1-3 Han Liberal Lit. Apparently the Han should feel bad for the
gains of their racist imperialism. Strangely there’s no
mention of giving any of those gains back.
4-6 Herbal Fertility Medicine. Fertility rates have dropped
signiXicantly since microplastics saturated the food chain.
Some seek alternatives to pills.
6 1-3 Hero’s Bullet. A disarmed cartridge with a message
scratched by combat knife along the side, written by a
legendary soldier.
4-6 Jorts. These might just be jeans that the legs have fallen off
of. You wouldn’t put it past the textile industry of the
previous era to make a version of denim that isn’t actually
durable.
4 1 1-3 Locket. A trembling hand placed this in yours before the
doctors pulled you from the room. The collision left the
locket stuck closed.
4-6 Lucky Charm. Perhaps a rabbit’s foot or carved symbol. At
the GM’s discretion you may, once, reroll a single dice, after
which the luck leaves the charm.
2 1-3 Marbles. Kids these days have to appropriate ball bearings
from machinery to play, but here you have classic glass
marbles, scuffed and chipped as they are.
 4-6 Multivitamins. B12, D2… looks like it’s those government
issue pills they put out when the meat ran out during the
war. These days they put this stuff in the water supply, you
think.
3 1-3 Novelty 2023 Glasses. You’re sure someone wearing these
21 years ago would have been the life of the party.
4-6 Old Cigarettes. The pack contains 10 slightly weathered
cigarettes. Some people haven’t seen a cigarette in years: a
former smoker might be inclined to trade for a smoke.
4 1-3 Old Key. Somewhere, an old lock calls for its perfect match.
4-6 Old Quran. Small, worn, and dog-eared. Bound in real
leather, it’s in both Arabic and your native language.
5 1-3 Perfect Skimming Stone. You vaguely remember Xinding this
as a child. It’s so perfect you can’t bring yourself to skim it.
4-6 Perfume. This exotic odour completely overpowers your
unwashed smell.
6 1-3 Physical-Print Comic. On the cover, people in spandex
aggressively pose at each other. The story makes no sense if
you haven’t read about 200 previous issues and multiple
spin-off comics, which you haven’t.
4-6 Piece of the Moon. Asteroid miners like to toss these to the
kids living around the space elevator. Or possibly at the kids.
5 1 1-3 Porn Thumbdrive. The guy who traded you this claimed it
was priceless to the right buyer, that no other copies of the
contents had escaped the morality purges.
4-6 Premium Vodka. No doubt stolen by an EC soldier during
the annexation of Russia. Sorry, not annexation: ‘transitional
government’.
2 1-3 Relic Firearm. A genuine article all the way from the
previous World War. The wooden grip is splintering and the
Xiring pin is busted.
4-6 RPG Book. On the front it reads ‘Greengoon 2044’. Inside
pages upon pages details rules for some asinine game. Its
title sets it this year but the book was published over two
decades ago.
3 1-3 Severed Ear. A family member gave you this, after they
returned from the war. You remember he smiled like a child;
a broken grin that hid thundering confusion.
 4-6 Shark Tooth Necklace. Surfs up on the rising sea, bro! You
can’t remember if the speciXic species of shark the tooth is
from is extinct now.
4 1-3 Signed Photograph. Despite the yellowed and torn frame,
the once-famous man in the picture smiles relentlessly at
you. The signature is incomprehensible. Who were you,
mystery man? Was the previous owner really your ‘number
one guy’?
4-6 Silver Cruci[ix. You can feel the weight of the fantasy when
you wear this pendant around your neck. There has to be
something beyond this. There has to be.
5 1-3 Small Painting. A square canvas depicts a striking natural
vista. Time in the sun has softened the colours. When you
hang it on the wall, you like to imagine it’s a tinted window
into another life.
4-6 Someone’s Bionic Eye. Suspended within a plastiglass tube,
sometimes you like to have a staring contest with this ball of
ivory and chrome. The hairline fracture in its metallic
membrane renders it useless as an organ.
6 1-3 Superheavy Shard. A 1-inch shard of superheavy iron.
Despite its tiny size it weighs almost 2 kilograms.
4-6 Suspect Elixir. Some kind of life form is preserved inside the
murky, viscous liquid, but you can’t tell if it’s aquatic,
amphibious, or reptile. Is this supposed to heal you or kill
you?
6 1 1-3 Swiss Army Knife. Just about the only Swiss institution still
enduring. Poor Switzerland. The Germans really did a
number on them.
4-6 Tarot Cards. A smudge on one looks like a raven.
2 1-3 Taste of the Old World. A battered-yet-unopened plastic
tube of BBQ sauce. This thing went past its sell-by date
almost a decade ago. Do you dare to taste?
4-6 Tea Cups. Complete with real tea. For some, sharing tea can
be an important ritual to opening up a dialogue.
3 1-3 Terrible Diary. A family member kept this diary, before what
happened happened. You dare not open it.
4-6 The I Ching. A giant, folded sheet of paper barely held
together containing the fortunes of different hexagrams. You
perform the divination with an assortment of old coins.
4 1-3 The Usmanian Handbook. Also known as ‘the little green
book’. A number of brief yet erudite essays are contained
within, in tiny font. You’re no culturist, but some of the
passages ring true to you.
4-6 Unlucky Bible. The bullet passed clean through to Xind its
mark.
5 1-3 Unplayable Video Game. Hell yes, Metal Machine 5. You’re
pretty sure all the consoles that could run this game got
repurposed for bombs during the war.
4-6 Urn Containing Ashes. The family member you lost was one
of the last to be cremated, before the local authority switched
to recycling.
6 3-4 Vinyl Toy. A cartoonish model of some forgotten character,
cast in vinyl. Inarticulate, cumbersome, culturally
irrelevant… it’s barely a toy at all. You’re told some people
brought hundreds of these.
5-6 Yoruba Marxist Chrislam Talisman. One of the offshoots of
Usman’s attempts to fashion a new faith through reviving
African traditional religion with Christian and Islamic
inXluence.
The Cyberbrain
The Cyberbrain is wartime technology, now adapted and popularised as a new
form of communications. The Cyberbrain takes the form of two bioelectric
membranes inserted over the front and rear of the brain, connected to a
computing widget the size of a jellybean at the base of the skull.

Roughly 30% of people have a cyberbrain (or have been ‘cyberized’). During the
war it was primarily soldiers taking on precursors to the now-standardised
technology, now those involved in information and administration are its
primarily up-takers. In many states there is considerable push for people to
adopt the cyberbrain; whether it is to expand their means of controlling the
people or create an information infrastructure cheaper than Xiberoptic cables is
up to you.

When you meet someone who’s middle-to-upper-class, or military personnel,

chances are they have a cyberbrain. For anyone else, if you want to randomly
determine if a person has a cyberbrain you can roll a d6. On a roll of 5-6, they do
have a cyberbrain. Otherwise, they don’t.
Cyberbrain - 1 ExpCOIN
A cyberbrain powers itself with the nominal heat absorbed from the blood-Xlow
that goes through it.

If you are reduced to 0 Fortune by Physical (Internal) Damage, your Cyberbrain

becomes Faraday until your Fortune returns to above 0.

Bionics. Having a Cyberbrain enables you to take and use options with the
Bionic keyword. While using such options, they count as connected (either by
Hardline connection or via the Net) to your Cyberbrain.

Bsignal and Bcomms. Cyberbrains can communicate audio information with

each other via the Net via what is called Bsignal. The collective conversation
this enables is called Bcomms. While you communicate by ‘talking’ in your
head, normal people still need to talk out loud, or at least mouth the words, to
communicate via Bcomms. Your Bcomms are generally assumed to be privately
held over your Network.

PsySig. Every Cyberbrain has a ‘Psychic Signature’, shortened to PsySig. PsySig

is to the brain what a thumbprint is to the Xinger.

Psyware. Having a Cyberbrain enables you to use Psyware, software that

interact with your brain. All Cyberbrains come with the Psyware ‘Lingua
Franca’, which enables you to perfectly understand (but not use yourself)
spoken and written Arabic, Chinese, and English.

Wetports. Every person who gets a Cyberbrain also gets Wetports, physical
ports which allows their cyberbrain connect to other devices. Most people just
have a few female wetports at the back of the neck, and use a peripheral device
if they need a male wetport, but you can have male and female wetports
wherever you like across your body. Wetports allow your cyberbrain to form a
Hardline connection.

Ghosts and Vulnerability. Having a Cyberbrain makes you vulnerable to

hackers in a whole new way. While a hacker is Intruded into your Cyberbrain,
any Programs they apply to it also apply to any options with the Bionic
keyword you are using. In addition with a Cyberbrain highly skilled hackers can
hack your mind via ‘ghosthacks’.
The Basics
You can take the options from The Basics as many times as you would like.

Increase a Skill Level – 1 ExpCOIN

Increase the Skill Level of a Skill by 1, to a maximum of 10.

Learn a New Language – 2 ExpCOIN

A combination of psyware and learning systems mean that people can now learn
a new language at incredible speeds, so long as they are prepared to put the work
in.

You learn a new language of your choice, or a Pidgin of two languages of your
choice.

Create a Talent – 2 ExpCOIN

Create a new Talent for a Skill you have a Skill Level of at least 1 in.

Adjust Aspect Scores – 2 ExpCOIN

Increase one Aspect Score of your choice by +1, and reduce a different Aspect
Score by -1.

Increase an Aspect Score – 4 ExpCOIN

Increase one Aspect Score of your choice by +1.

Traits
Psyware
Psyware is technology that works directly with your brain, facilitated through
your Cyberbrain.

Psyware: AR Controls - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

When you control a piece of Equipment remotely using your Cyberbrain, you
can expend 1 Power to treat the Equipment as if you were physically interact
with it, potentially allow you to apply Traits and other effects you would not
normally be able to.
Psyware: Memory Pump - 2 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Bionic

When you are about to make an Intellect Throw, you can Xirst make Toughness
Saves until you succeed on one. You take 1d3 Physical (Internal) Damage for
each failed Save, and the Intellect Throw you are making becomes Explosive.

An incredibly risky self-inLlicted ghosthack, said to be Lirst invented by a

cramming student in the NPRC. She did not make the exam.

Psyware: Pain Inhibitor - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

1/Mission, when you are reduced to 0 Fortune by Physical Damage, you can
choose to immediately regain 1d6 Fortune and temporarily avoid the Crisis as
you ignore the pain of the wound. When you do, your Fortune is returned to 0
at the end of the Scene and you suffer the Crisis and gain a Stigma as you would
have normally.

If you use this Trait and you are reduced to 0 Fortune by Physical Damage
before the end of the Scene, you suffer a Crisis immediately and the Stigma you
gain is particularly severe, of a severity of a 3rd Stigma.

Psyware: Bicameral Ghost - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Bionic
Requires: Trait (A-Rank Hacker)

This Psyware enables you to have a duplicate of your ghost work in tandem
with you when using the Possession Program.

When you apply the Possession Program once, you retain the ability to move
and perceive from your physical body.

You can apply the Possession Program to a second target, one under the control
of a perfect replica of your ghost, and the other under the control of your real
ghost. Both ghosts can ‘think’ and act independently, but they are both
controlled by you. While using two copies of the Possession Program like this,
you cannot move nor perceive from your physical body.

Whenever you use the Possession Program, you gain a free 3d6 to your Dice
Pool that can solely be expended on physical actions for a target of the
Possession Program. You refresh these free 3d6 at the start of each Round in
which the Possession Program remains.

Any duplicate ghosts created by this Psyware are erased after the Possession
stops.
Psyware: Tricameral Ghost - 3 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Bionic
Requires: Trait (Psyware: Bicameral Ghost)

This Psyware enables you to have a duplicate of your ghost work in tandem
with you when using the Possession Program.

When you apply the Possession Program up to twice, you retain the ability to
move and perceive from your physical body.

You can apply the Possession Program to a third target, two under the control
of perfect replicas of your ghost, and the Xinal under the control of your real
ghost. All ghosts can ‘think’ and act independently, but they are all controlled
by you. While using three copies of the Possession Program like this, you
cannot move nor perceive from your physical body.

Any duplicate ghosts created by this Psyware are erased after the Possession
stops.

Psyware: Brain Accelerator - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

1/Round, in a Hot Round, you can expend 1 Power and add any number of
additional d6s to your Dice Pool. You immediately take 1d6 Physical (Internal)
Damage for each 1d6 added to your Dice Pool this way.

If using this Trait would reduce your Fortune to 0, the Crisis from it happens at
the end of the Round (or your Turn, if in Combat), unless you 30 or more
Damage, in which case you die immediately.
Character Traits
The below Traits are all about your character; what they can do, what assets that
have at their command, what special abilities they possess, and so on.

Animal-Human Fighting Force - 3 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Survival) 3+ & Equipment (any Animal)

You and your animals are capable of Xighting in tandem. While you have an
animal Returned, melee Attacks you make gain the following beneXits:
• Whenever you make a melee Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• Whenever you hit with a melee Attack, you deal an additional +1d3 Physical
(External) Damage.

While you have an animal Released, ranged Attacks targeting enemies adjacent
to at least one of your animals gain the following beneXits:
• Whenever you make a ranged Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw.

In addition, your animal(s) do not provide Soft Cover for the targets of your
ranged Attacks, and if the target successful Dodges your Attack, the Attack does
not then hit an animal.

Assassin I - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Stealth) 3+

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make an Attack from Hidden, add +1d6 to the Throw, and
+1d6 to the Damage.
• You are skilled at killing without being noticed. When your Attacks from
Hidden render someone Incapacitated, you ensure the act won’t be noticed;
you mufXle the target as you take them down, you prevent any blood splatter,
you catch the bullet casing ejected from the silenced pistol, etc. This trait
doesn’t erase all evidence of your presence. Someone forensically searching
the scene might Xind hair, a drop of blood, gunpowder traces, etc.

Assassin II - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Stealth) 6+ and Trait (Assassin I)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make an Attack from Hidden, add +1d6 to the Throw, and
increase the weapon’s AP by 1 for that Attack.
• When Attacking from Hidden, your Unarmed Attacks deal a base Damage of
1d6, as opposed to the normal 1d3, and the total rolled for the Damage is
doubled.
• When Attacking from Hidden, if you render the target Incapacitated in that
sole Attack and the target was not in the view of anyone else, you do not
cease to be Hidden.
Assassin III - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Stealth) 9+ and Trait (Assassin II)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make an Attack from Hidden, the Attack is made on
Advantage.
• Against characters, Attacks with a Stealth Weapon count as having an AP of
10.
• Whenever you Attack from Hidden, the Damage is doubled. If the Damage is
already doubled, it is instead quadrupled.

Aura of Authority - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Dominate) 9+

You exude an aura of authority, that causes characters who do not know you to
simply assume you are in charge in any Scene where an authority Xigure is
otherwise not obviously present.

Backstreet Labyrinth - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Streetwise) 6+

You know the myriad obscure routes throughout the city. When you travel, you
can choose to travel via the hidden passages of the city. When you do so, it
becomes incredibly difXicult to track or stalk you and anyone you are travelling
with. You’re likely to arrive at your destination dirtier than you would have if
you’d taken the main streets.

Just beyond the light of the streetlamps, winding alleyways, hidden footpaths,
sewers, and geofront passages connect in a parallel maze-dimension. This is the
secret labyrinth within city, and you know all its ways.
Batter Up - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Athletics) 3+

1/Round, when an object is launched in your general direction, you can make a
Toughness Athletics Throw (DC 20) to bat the object in another direction. On a
success, you swing and hit the object, sending it in a direction of your choosing.
You miss the object on a failure.

You can use this trait as a Reaction in Combat to bat an incoming object such as
a Grenade away. If the Grenade would have made an Attack targeting you and
you succeeded on the Toughness Athletics Throw, you decide a new target for
the Grenade. The Attack roll for this redirected Grenade counts its Successes
from the Toughness Athletics Throw.
For example, if you rolled 3, 3, 4, 5, and 6 for the Toughness Athletics Throw
(scoring 21 and succeeding), you would have 2 Successes for the Attack of the
redirected Grenade (the 5 and 6).

Beast Master - 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Skill (Survival) 6+

Whenever you Consume dice to give a command to an animal, you can expend
an additional 1 dice. If you do so, the command you gave to the one animal
applies to all animals under your control that can see and hear you. Each
animal expends the same amount of dice you initially Consumed.
For example, if you Consumed 2 to have a dog use the Move Action, you could
expend a further 1 dice to have both dogs use the Move Action. Each dog would
then move a distance that a character with a Fast Stride would travel if they
Consumed 4.

Black Market Surgeon – 4 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Medicine) 6+

You’ve provided your medical skill for the underworld, and have picked up a
few tricks.

1/Scene, you can make a Finesse Medicine Throw (DC 25/Cold) to do one of
the following, or design a similar ‘criminal medicine’ effect:
• Surgically conceal an object instead a character’s body.
• Create fake medical paperwork and data that can be used for prescriptions,
hospital administration, and so on.
• If a character has taken Physical Damage, administer dangerous stimulants to
a person to make them Xighting Xit, at the cost of future health. The character
regains 2d6 Fortune, and at the end of the following Scene makes a
Toughness Save. On a failed save, the character is reduced to 0 Fortune as
their body reaches its limit, and they suffer a Crisis as normal. On a successful
Save, they are instead reduced to 1 Fortune.
Body Reader – 2 ExpCOIN

You can tell what someone is saying or communicating just by observing their
movements. You can read people’s lips, tell what they’re typing just by seeing
their hand movements, and so on.

Bond – 2 ExpCOIN

When you take this trait, choose another Punk. Whenever you Help a Throw
made by the chosen Punk, reduce the amount of dice you would Consume to
Help the Throw by 2 (to a minimum of 1).

Whenever the chosen Punk Helps you with a Throw, add +1d6 to the Throw.

B-telepath – 2 ExpCOIN

You have mastered the art of being to communicate Xluently via Bcomms
without moving your mouth or otherwise making any outward gestures.
Challenging Spirit - 2 ExpCOIN

1/Mission, while in a Scene where you have crossed blades, locked eyes,
clashed across the Net, traded insults, or otherwise spiritually connected with
an enemy character in an adversarial manner, you can use this Trait to have an
unspoken challenge pass between you two. When you do so, choose whether
the challenge is Physical, Mental, or Political based on the narrative
circumstances.

The target must be someone who still has at least half of their total Fortune
remaining - no true challenge can pass between you and someone already close
to losing.

While either one of you remains, both of you and the character gain the
following effects:
• On a profound spiritually level, you and your adversary understand that one
ultimately has to destroy the other; whether that means death, the ruin of the
others career, or something else depends on the adversary.
• You are compelled to clash with one another, to the extent that you may
ignore higher-priority targets, disobey orders and risk your safety to attack
(or get a chance to attack) each other.

In addition:
• While you and your adversary are in a Scene together, Damage you deal to
characters other than your adversary Minimise 1 dice from the Damage roll.
• When you or your Adversary reduce the other to 0 Fortune through Damage,
they regain 1d6 Fortune.
Which type of Damage is affected by this Trait depends on the type of challenge
between you and the adversary: a Political challenge will affect Political
Damage, for example.

In addition, you and your adversary can spiritually communicate with each
other through your clashes. When you and your adversary cross blades, trade
barbs or otherwise collide, with each Attack you are able to say a few sentences
to each other. You and your adversary don’t speak the words; you ‘hear’ each
other on a spiritual level.

Chaotic Evil Knievel - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Pilot) 3+

Your piloting ability thrives on the precipice of disaster. Whenever you make a
Pilot Throw to use a vehicle in a way where failure would result in the
destruction of the vehicle and your likely death, you make the Throw on
Advantage. Examples include driving over ravines or pulling up a plane at the
last second.

“Fuck ‘ride or die’. Ride and die, that’s my motto.”

Combat Medic – 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Medicine) 6+

At the end of a Scene in which any allied character you are with took Physical
(External) Damage but hasn’t been reduced to 0 Fortune, that character regains
1d6 Fortune.

Action: Emergency Treatment. While adjacent to a character that has been

reduce to 0 Fortune due to Physical (External) Damage, you can make a Speed
Medicine Throw (ADC 30/Hot). On a success, the GM rolls a d6. On a roll of 4 or
higher, you provide emergency medical treatment soon enough to prevent any
lasting damage. As a result the character does not gain a Stigma nor a new
Driver during the Epilogue.

Combat Medic II - 4 ExpCOIN

Requires: Trait (Combat Medic) & Skill (Medicine) 9+

You have expanded your medical knowledge and supplies to better deal with
the intricacies of combat wounds and unconventional warfare. When you use
the abilities of the Trait Combat Medic, you can also apply them to characters
who have taken Physical (Internal) Damage.

In addition, whenever you or the GM rolls a d6 due to the effects of the Trait
Combat Medic, you or the GM instead roll 2d6 and pick the higher roll.
Concealing Art - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Art) 9+

You are such a skilled practitioner that you can conceal things within your art -
from coded messages to killing techniques.

Provided your Art Throw to work your art scores 25 or higher, you can conceal
some ‘thing’ within the art.

For example, you might conceal preparing a gun within your dance, or convey a
certain message with your saxophone freestyle, or hide a binary code in the
paint-strokes of a painting. If you make an Attack from your concealed art, add
+1d6 to the Attack Throw for each lot of 10 you Scored with your Art Throw
(for example a Score of 26 would add +2d6 to the Throw). Such Attacks count
as being made from Hidden.

If your concealing art is intended to convey information, it is generally assumed

that you have informed the crew how to understand the information, but you
can use a Flashback to explain the cover explaining the code.

If the art form is something performed - such as dance or music - you will need
to repeatedly make Art Throws across successive Rounds to maintain the
performance and concealment.

Deep Neural Conditioning – 2 ExpCOIN

Choose a Driver from the Transhumanist Drivers options. If you already have a
Transhumanist Driver the new Driver replaces it. If you already have 3 Drivers,
this new Driver replaces one of them.

Digitised Collection - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Art) 3+

Your crew gains the Asset: Digitised Collection. This Asset is an extensive body
of digital art pieces, that might be music, graphic designs, digitally-copied
paintings, ambience tracks, videos, or a combination of multiple mediums, that
have either been produced by you or collected by you.

So long as it is a piece of work that could reasonably exist in your Digitised

Collection, anyone on your Network can invent a piece of work to pull from the
collection and use.
Diplomatic Immunity! - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Politics) 6+

You have political protections, that can dissuade the powers that be from
interfering. Provided you have 1 or less Heat and aren’t demonstrably breaking
the law, you have the following beneXit:

Any character that apprehends you, injures you, or otherwise physically forces
you to do something against your will, takes 3d6 Political Damage at the end of
the Scene. If they kill you, they instead take 4d6 Political Damage at the end of
the Scene.

Draw (F)ire - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Dominate or Warfare) 3+

You have a knack for bellowing insults that incite anger in others. You can make
a Clarity Dominate Throw (DC 10/Hot). On a success, any opponents with a
Clarity Score of 0 or lower are compelled to Attack you, or generally focus their
efforts at you, over other targets.

Drone Expert - 3 ExpCOIN

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make a Throw to pilot, articulate, or otherwise manoeuvre a
drone, add +1d6 to the Throw. This includes any Attacks made with a drone.
• When you use the Reaction ‘Drone Dodge’, add +1d6 to the Speed Engineer
Throw.
• When you Consume 2 in a Hot Round to give a drone a command to
autonomously follow, you can choose to give that same command to any
other drones under your control for free.

Drive-By Warrior - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Pilot) 3+

You don’t gain Disadvantage or other penalties when Attacking from a moving
vehicle.

When in Combat, if you immediately make a melee Attack after you made a
Pilot Throw to drive a vehicle, you can add half the number of d6 (rounded
down) that you expended for the Throw to the Attack roll.
Eidetic Memory – 3 ExpCOIN

You can recall any information with perfect accuracy, provided you had time to
fully absorb it. Note this doesn’t affect ‘muscle memory’.

Eidetic or ‘photographic’ memory is a prized skill in an age where sensitive data

stored digitally can so easily be stolen, so much so that some attempt to induce it
through meditative techniques or hacking their own cyberbrain.

Eyes & Ears - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Any) 3+
Repeatable III

You have a network of informants who, while unable to inXluence matters, can
provide you with information. When you give this Asset, choose a Skill that you
have a Skill Level of 3 or higher in. If you take multiple copies of this Trait, you
can choose different Skills.

1/Mission, your informants can provide the crew with hard-to-get information
from the sector of your chosen Skill. When you use this Trait, the GM secretly
rolls 1d6. On a roll of 1, the information is false. Otherwise, the information the
GM gives you is true.

The information might be an individual’s damning secret, the speciXics of a

thing produced by that sector, how a faction in that sector intends to act in
some scenario, or something else.

Fine Work - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Aspect (Finesse) 2+

Whenever you make a Finesse Skilled Throw, you can reroll up to two dice after
other roll effects have been applied. You cannot reroll rerolls, and must use the
rerolled result(s).

Fleet of Foot - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Aspect (Speed) 2+

Raise your Stride.

(Plodding <––– Slow <––– Normal –––> Fast –––> Lightning)

Greased Lightning - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Engineer) 6+

Any Engineer Throw made in a Hot Round to assemble, repair, or similarly

work with hardware has its DC reduced by 10, to a minimum of 10.
Great First Impression - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Converse) 3+

You have Advantage on any Converse Throws focused on socialising with

someone you’ve never met before.

Hacknotist - 4 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Bionic
Requires: Trait (Hypnotist) & Trait (A-Rank Hacker)

You’ve mastered the complex art of combining electronic ghosthacking with

hypnosis through physical stimuli. The art is called ghost-hypnosis.

In a Warm Scene, you can choose a Ghosthack Program, and begin making
Clarity Converse Throws to induce that Ghosthack Program in a character you
are talking to. The DC of the Converse Throw is an ADC, which is double the
ADC of the Hacking Throw necessary to apply the Ghosthack Program normally.

You must make a Clarity Converse Throw targeting the same character each
Round until the ADC is passed; failure to make a Throw in a Round before the
ADC is passed will result in the ghost-hypnosis failing to take root.

A Ghosthack Program applied this way is hard to remove. Even if the Program
is identiXied by the Scan Program, it cannot be removed the way a Program
could normally be removed. A Ghosthack Program applied with this Trait can
only be removed by a rule of the Program itself, or the help of a trained
counter-hypnosis specialist.

In 2041, the hacker Ultrabaroque rose to infamy after using their unique
techniques to turn half the Confederate Foods upper management into imbecilic
fans of the virtual pop idol Miki.

Heal The Spirit – 3 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Medicine or Spirituality) 6+

1/Scene, While adjacent to a character that has been reduce to 0 Fortune due
to Mental Damage, you can make a Clarity Spirituality Throw (DC 20). On a
success, the GM rolls a d6. On a roll of 5 or higher, you provide guidance of the
mind that prevents any psychological scars from forming. As a result the
character does not gain a Stigma nor a new Driver during the Epilogue.
Home Turf - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Streetwise) 3+

When you take this Trait, designate an area that is your ‘home turf’. While in
your home turf, you gain the following beneXits:
• You know your home turf like the back of your hand. You have Advantage on
any Skilled Throws to navigate or traverse your home turf.
• A ‘wall of silence’ protects you. For the purposes of gaining Heat, local people
seeing you or members of the crew with you does not count as ‘some means
of identifying’ any of your or the crew’s transgressions. In addition, provided
the transgression is not against a local person, any Heat gained from a
transgression perpetrated while on your home turf is reduced by 1.

In addition, a few local people are willing to give you their time, advice, and
labour. Whenever you make a Skilled Throw while on your home turf for an
action that one or a few people could reasonably aid in, you add +1d6 to the
Throw.

Home Turf II - 4 ExpCOIN

Requires: Trait (Home Turf) and Skill (Streetwise) 9+

While in your home turf, you are so well-recognised and respected that, when
you are in a public space, you gain beneXits such as the following:
• The local community has your back to the extent that you cannot be
physically threatened, apprehended, or assaulted. If the police try to take you
away, there will be a riot, and if a group tries to attack you, the local
community will take up arms to defend you. If someone tries to make you
leave, you will have to go willingly.
• In times of desperation, the local community can collectively give you their
aid. One time only, you can use this effect to gain a substantive amount of any
material or resource of your choice that people in your home turf could
reasonably provide, as you beseech your people to lend you their aid.
• People don’t just refuse to talk to authorities about you; they actively prevent
anyone or anything leaking information about you. While on your home turf,
you and members of your Crew cannot gain Heat from there being ‘some
means of identifying’ you.

In addition, local people are willing to give you their time, advice, and labour.
Whenever you make a Skilled Throw while on your home turf for an action that
a group of people could reasonably aid in, you add +3d6 to the Throw. This
effect replaces the similar effect in the Trait Home Turf.
Household Chemical Warfare - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Science) 6+

While in the presence of household chemicals, such as what you would Xind in a
kitchen or cleaning-cupboard, you can use this Trait to combine them to create
various effects.

In a Warm Scene, you can make an Intellect Science Throw (ADC 30/Warm) to
achieve one of the following effects, or a similar effect of your design:
• Create a set up that will continuously produce thick, obscuring smoke, which
will quickly Xill the room and begin to spread.
• Create a noxious odour, powerful enough to make eyes water.
• Create a small explosive, that will detonate after a number of Warm Rounds
you designate. The explosive is unlikely to do anyone any real harm, but will
cause alarm and ignite objects caught in its blast.
• Create a slick substance, that when spilled on a Xlat surface will make it
almost impossible to walk over.

In a Hot Scene, you can make a Speed Science Throw (ADC 30/Hot) to achieve
one of the following effects, or a similar effect of your design:
• Create a smokescreen that obscures you and anyone adjacent. Alternatively
you or someone else can succeed on a Toughness Throw (DC 15/Hot) to
accurately throw the chemical solution’s container to a place nearby, where it
will burst and create the smokescreen there.
• Create an incendiary cocktail. To throw the cocktail you or someone else must
make a separate Toughness Attack. The cocktail has the Blast property, and
deals 3d6 Physical (External) Damage.

Human Can-Opener – 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Investigate) 3+

You are particularly good at pulling the truth out of people by talking to them.
You can use your Investigate Skill for conversations where the focus is gaining
information, and the DC for such Throws is 5 lower than it would be for a
Converse or Dominate Throw.
Hypnotist - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Converse or Dominate) 6+

You are able to induce altered mental states and involuntary tics

In a Warm Scene, you can make a Clarity Converse Throw (DC 30/Warm) to
induce one of the following effects in a character you are talking to, or induce a
similar effect of your design:
• The character becomes sleepy. If they’re in a setting where they could
reasonable fall asleep, they will. Otherwise they will, if possible, try to return
to their bed or somewhere else to sleep.
• The character gains a subconscious mechanisms. When you induce this effect,
choose a trigger and a tic. The trigger could be a sound, a particular image, a
phrase, or some other stimulus. While the character experiences the trigger,
they then exhibit the tic. The tic can be a simple, physical response, such as
opening your hands or feeling sleepy, or it can be an emotional response, like
feeling happiness or paranoia. If the tic is a physical action that happens out
of sight of the character exhibiting it, such as a movement with the hands,
they may not even realise they are exhibiting the tic.
• The character’s mood is shifted towards one of your choosing, such as affable,
angry, or bored. This effect isn’t strong enough to completely Xlip someone’s
mood. For example you couldn’t make someone deeply relaxed suddenly
become highly agitated, but you could make them much less relaxed.

You cannot hypnotise a character if they are highly defensive of you. For
example, you couldn’t hypnotise someone you’ve strapped to a chair.

Corporations have always relied upon leverage gained through underhanded

social engineering to make a proLit – in this highly regulated age, their methods
have only grown more complex and insidious.
Imitator - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Converse) 6+

You are highly skilled at imitating people.

You can make an Intellect Converse Throw to study a character’s behaviour to

develop an imitation of them. The DC against and Temperature in which you
make the Throw depends on the narrative context.
If you have substantive material on the character’s speech and behaviour to
study, you make an Intellect Converse Throw (DC 30/Cold).
If you are studying the character in-person, either observing them at a distance
or talking with them, you make an Intellect Converse Throw (DC 20/Warm). If
studying at a distance, you must maintain a constant view of the character.

On a failure, the character proves too difXicult for you to imitate. In addition, if
you fail and are in view of the character, they realise you are Xixated on them,
and may become suspicious.

On a success, you can do the following:

• Perfectly imitate the person’s voice, including any mannerisms. Only people
intimately close with the imitated person would be able to tell the voice is
fake.
• Move like the person, including imitating any gestural mannerisms. The
imitation is good enough that it would fool gait-recognition software.

Information Control - 3 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Politics) 6+

A web of moles, bots, and informants allows you to effectively audit narratives.
Such a web can be used to shift blame and suspicion with relative ease.

3/Mission, You can do one of the following:

• Move up to 3 Heat from one Punk in the crew (possibly yourself) to one or
several other Punks in the crew, divided as you choose.
• Choose a Punk in the crew (possibly yourself) with at least 1 Heat, and one of
your Contacts. The Punk loses all Heat, and you lose that Contact as they take
the fall. After the current Mission, that Contact becomes permanently
unavailable to you and another other Punk that has them as a Contact.

Internal Clock – 2 ExpCOIN

You always know what time it is to within a minute. Being rendered

unconscious and sleeping do not interfere with this ability.
In addition, when you start counting you can accurately count the exact
number of seconds that have elapsed since you began. You may have multiple
counts going simultaneously.
Internal Compass – 2 ExpCOIN

You always know which way is north, and can accurately retrace a path you
have taken within the last week.

Iron Will - 3 ExpCOIN

Whenever you take Mental Damage, reduce that Damage by double your Clarity
Score.

Jack of all Trades – 3 ExpCOIN

Whenever you make a Skilled Throw for a Skill for which you have a Skill Level
of 3 or lower, add +1d6 to the Throw.

Jesus Take The Wheel – 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Pilot and Spirituality) 3+

When you make a successful Pilot Throw to drive a vehicle, at the start of the
next Round after you made that Throw (or at the start of your Turn if you are in
Initiative) you can choose to let Jesus Take The Wheel, abandoning the vehicle
controls. When you do so, the GM secretly rolls a 1d6. On a roll of 3-6, the
vehicle behaves as if you had rolled the same Pilot Throw as the previous
Round, and got the same score. On a roll of 1 or 2, at the end of the Round, the
vehicle crashes. If there is any resulting Damage from this crash, passengers
take an extra +1d6 Physical Damage.

Or Odin, or Ganesha, or really any deity that can work a stick shift.

Jury-Rigger - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Engineer) 3+

Whenever you make an Engineer Throw to repair something, you can choose to
Jury Rig it. When you do so, any special tools you might need to Xix the object
are not needed for that Throw (you make do on basic tools). On a success, the
GM secretly rolls a 1d6. In that many Rounds, the object repaired breaks worse
than it was before you interacted with it, potentially causing Damage if it was a
hazardous object.
Know Thine Enemy - 3 ExpCOIN

Whenever you are about to make a Throw in a Cold Scene to do with

researching a group, you can increase the DC by 5. If you do, in addition to any
information the GM gives you, you can also gain the following information:
• Learn the name and a few details of one individual within the group that is
disgruntled, either with another group member or the entire outXit, if they
exist.
• You learn a weakness in the group’s equipment, mindset, or organisational
structure. Choose one from Physical, Mental, or Political Damage. Every time
the chosen type of Damage is dealt to the member of the group, one of the
dice in the Damage roll is Maximised.
• You learn the name and speciXics of either a single piece of interesting
equipment used by the group, or the standard equipment of the members of
the group. The GM chooses which option you learn.

Lucky – 4 ExpCOIN

3/Mission, you can entirely reroll a Throw. You still roll the same amount of
dice for the reroll. You must use the new roll.

Invisible behind a smog-choked sky, the lucky star you were born under shines
bright.
Macgyver - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Engineer) 6+

You can use this Trait to create various improvised devices by combining scrap,
salvage, household objects, and other ordinary objects.

In a Warm Scene, you can make an Intellect Engineer Throw (ADC 30/Warm) to
create one of the following devices, or a similar device of your design:
• A device that can launch a small object with enough force to reach up to the
Medium distance (300 metres away). Objects are accurately Xired using
Finesse Throws.
• A device that autonomously moves in one direction along the ground, drifts
up, Xloats down, or otherwise moves in a particular direction once released.
The device is strong enough to carry one small object with it.
• A device that can slowly but surely cut through durable materials such as a
metal door. The device is too cumbersome and fragile to use as a weapon.
• A device that measures pulse, which can be used as a crude lie-detector.

In a Hot Scene, you can make a Speed Engineer Throw (ADC 30/Hot) to create
one of the following devices, or a similar device of your design:
• A device that will catapult a small object after a number of Hot Rounds of
your choosing (minimum of 1). If the catapult would make a Throw to
accurately land an object, such as an Attack Throw to hit someone, it rolls
5d6.
• A bomb, set to detonate in a number of Hot Rounds of your choosing
(minimum of 2). You can plant the bomb, or alternately you or someone else
can succeed on a Toughness Throw (DC 15/Hot) to accurately throw the
bomb to a place nearby. The bomb has the Blast property, and deals 4d6
Physical (External) Damage when it detonates.
• A device that extinguishes Xires in an area. You can hold onto the device and
use it to extinguish strong Xlames nearby, or you or someone else can succeed
on a Toughness Throw (DC 15/Hot) to accurately throw the device to a place
nearby, to extinguish Xires that place.

Make Some Calls - 3 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Politics) 6+

1/Mission, during a Cold or Warm Scene, you can ‘make some calls’ and pick
someone who you know the name and face of who exists within the reach of
the local political power structure (be that governmental, criminal, or
otherwise).

When you make some calls, gain between 1 and 3 Heat. The person you’ve
named takes 2d6 Political Damage for each point of Heat gained at the end of
the Scene, or at a later point in the current Mission you designate. Explain how
this Political Damage manifests in the narrative.
Master of Study - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Aspect (Intellect) 2+

Whenever you make a Skilled Throw towards an Accumulating DC, add +1d6 to
the roll for each time that you have previously made the same Throw towards
that ADC. This effect does not apply to Hacking Throws.

Ninja behind the Wheel - 3 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Pilot) 6+ and Aspect (Finesse) 1+

You have such an afXinity for your vehicle, you can move about it like an
acrobat. You gain the following beneXits when using any Vehicle you own as a
piece of Equipment:
• You do not need to speciXically use your hands to manipulate the
controls of that vehicle. Your feet, mouth, or any other means of
grasping are equally competent.
• So long as you can reach the controls, you also don’t need to be placed in
the driver’s seat of the vehicle to steer it, if it has such a thing.
• You have Advantage on all Finesse Throws to move around and upon the
vehicle.
• You instinctually know the placement of and can grasp all the controls of
your vehicle are without having to look, and can choose to steer the
vehicle in basic directions such as ‘straight forward’ or ‘turning right’
without looking. You still make Pilot Throws for such steering when
necessary.

Parkour - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Athletics) 6+

You have mastered the art of moving across terrain efXiciently through athletics
and acrobatics. You have Advantage on any Athletics Throws to move through
urban spaces in an acrobatic manner.

When moving, you can move over objects, Cover, and so on without any delay to
your movement, meaning you don’t have to Consume more to move around
objects when reaching a destination.
Performance Artist - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Art) 3+

You are able to irresistibly draw the attention of a crowd through your
performance art - whether that is because your art is too raucous to ignore or
too good to miss is up to you.

When you start performing and at the start of each Round in which you
continue performing, make a Finesse Art Throw (DC 20/Warm). On a
successful Throw, people will begin to focus their attention of the performance,
even if they should be doing something else.

Characters have Advantage on Stealth Throws to avoid being noticed by those

distracted by your performance.

Pitcher - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Athletics) 3+

When making a Throw to throw something one-handed - such as a baseball -

you make the Throw on Advantage.

When throwing a Grenade for which you would make an Attack, instead of
Advantage you can choose to reroll up to 2 dice for the Attack roll. You cannot
reroll rerolls, and must use the rerolled result(s).

Polyglot - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: You know at least Xive languages

You have developed a broad enough knowledge of languages that you can know
a little bit of everything. You can hold a very basic conversation in any language.
Power Broker - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Industry or Politics) 6+

1/Scene, you can expend Power to gain one of the two following effects:
• You can lose any amount of Power to ‘rent’ a single piece of unmodded
Equipment from someone you know; perhaps a Contact or local vendor. The
Equipment’s ExpCOIN cost can be no higher than the amount of Power
expended. The GM may still have you make a Throw or Consume dice to
represent the effort of acquiring the piece of Equipment. Generally the
Equipment can be returned at your earliest convenience, but the GM may
stipulate you can only keep the Equipment it for a limited time, and the
Equipment must at the latest be returned in the Epilogue.
• You can expend any amount of Power when you make a Converse Throw
centred around bargaining, bartering, or otherwise negotiating mutual self-
interest, as you offer the crew’s resources to sweeten a deal. Add +1d3 to the
Throw for each 1 point of Power you expended. You can use this Trait after
you have rolled the Converse Throw, but before the consequence of the roll
are declared by the GM.

Power Supply - 3 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Industry, Politics, or Software) 6+
Repeatable II

Increase the amount of Power each Punk provides to the Crew by +1.
Psycho Warfare - 4 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Taboo
Requires: Skill (Dominate) 6+

You are well-versed in psychological warfare and all of its horrifying graft. You
can use your abilities to cause fear and unease in others.

1/Scene, you can either:

Gain 2 Heat to make an Intellect Dominate Throw (ADC 40/Cold) to produce on
a success an effect in a Cold Scene such as the following, or design a similar
effect:
• Covertly disperse abhorrent audio and sensory recordings amongst your
enemies in a particular building or place, causing them to each take 1d6
Mental Damage at the start of the next Scene in which you encounter them.
• Induce paranoia in a particular person, by giving them the (correct) belief
that someone has been stalking them, tracelessly breaking into their abode,
and so on.
Or, you can gain 2 Heat to make a Finesse Dominate Throw (DC 15/Warm) to
produce on a success an effect in a Warm Scene such as the following, or design
a similar effect:
• Brutalise and display a body in a manner so abhorrent that people will be
afraid to go close to it. Characters (including your allies) must succeed on a
Clarity Save to be able to approach to move past the body after your work is
done.

The Heat gained from the above acts assumes you perform them covertly. The
GM may change the amount of Heat you gain from using this Trait based on the
narrative context.

Action: Glory Kill. Immediately after you Incapacitate a character with a Melee
Attack, make a Toughness Dominate Throw (DC 20/Hot). On a success, you deal
2d6 Mental Damage to any enemies who see or hear the killing, and half as
much to members of your Crew who see or hear the killing.

When the West Coast Front ground into a stalemate, both sides concluded
breaking the enemy’s spirit was the only way to win. Terrible things were done in
the name of a victory that never came to be.
Rally - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Any) 6+

When you Xirst take this Trait, choose a Skill which you have a Skill Level of 6 or
higher in, that you use to inspire your allies. For example, you might use the
Dominate Skill to bellow commands to your allies, or the Art Skill to play
inspiring riffs on the guitar.

1/Scene, in a Warm or Hot Scene, you can begin a Rally, an inspiring speech or
act. Beginning a Rally is an Action when in Combat. When you begin a Rally,
Consume any number of dice. You then create the Rally Pool, which contains
d3s equal to the number of dice you just Consumed.

You can at any point each Round (or on your Turn if in Initiative) Consume
more dice to add that many d3s to the Rally Pool. Every Round (or Turn if in
Initiative) you must Consume at least 1 dice to contribute to the Rally Pool,
otherwise the Rally ends and the Rally Pool (including any dice in it) is lost.

Allies that can hear you can, when they make a Skilled Throw, take any number
of d3s out of the Rally Pool and add them to the Throw. They can add these d3s
after the roll has been made, but before any consequences of that Throw are
determined.

In Combat, you Consume dice to begin and maintain a Rally as Actions. In

addition, while in Combat, an ally that can hear you can remove 1d3 from the
Rally Pool to do one of the following:
• Reroll 1 dice in an Attack or Dodge Throw, once per Throw.
• On their Turn, regain 1d3 Fortune, once per Round. An ally who has been
reduced to 0 Fortune cannot regain Fortune this way.

Ranger - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Survival) 6+

You are in your element in the lands beyond the metropolis. While in untamed
terrain, such as the forest, mountains, or desert, you gain the following
beneXits:
• Any Survival Throws, and any other Throws to do tracking, navigating, or
searching, with are made on Advantage.
• You can forage food from the region enough to consistently sustain yourself
and one other person.
• Travel, including with a group, takes half the time it normally would.
• When you are making the Speed Throw to determine Initiative at the start of
Combat, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• When you make Stealth Throws to become Hidden, add +1d6 to the Throw.

The new ecology has created vast regions of depopulated terrain, from artiLicial
forests to new deserts. Whether they are security, a scientist, or a smuggler, those
who move through such regions must learn, or perish.
Reconstruct the Scene – 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Investigate) 9+

When in a Scene where there is the aftermath of some physical event, such as
aftermath of a shootout, a car crash, or a break-in, you can make an Intellect
Investigate Throw (DC 30/Warm). On a success, you accurately reconstruct the
sequence of physical events that led to the aftermath in your mind. In addition,
you learn some of the psychology involved in the sequence, such as if two
characters were cautious about each other before they had a violent
altercation, or if the intruder was calm and collected when they broke in, by
analysing microscopic clues picked up by your subconscious.

This Trait is not supernatural: it won’t enable you to know things that don’t
leave a physical trace, like words said or the faces of characters involved in the
sequence of events. However you will be able to learn speciXic physical details
such as the trajectory of bullets Xired or the gear the car was in before it
crashed.

Wrench the past out of the present.

Robust Constitution - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Aspect (Toughness) 2+

Whenever you take Physical (Internal) Damage, reduce that Damage by your
current Toughness Score.

Running Technique - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Athletics) 3+

Raise your Stride.

(Plodding <––– Slow <––– Normal –––> Fast –––> Lightning)
Skulker - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Stealth) 6+

1/Scene, provided your location within the Scene hasn’t yet been clearly
established, you can make a Finesse Stealth Throw (DC 20). On a success, you
appear from a hiding place of your choice. On a failure, you’re actually still
hiding somewhere else. If you immediately follow using this Trait with an
Attack, the Attack is made on Advantage.

The hiding place you appear from has to be somewhere you could reasonably
already be hiding in. You can’t use this Trait to, for example, appear already
inside the vault you’re trying to break into.

You can use this Trait as a Reaction while in Combat.

Sock Puppet Master - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Software) 3+

You are particularly good at fabricating fake proXiles on the Net. You can make a
Clarity Software Throw (ADC 20/Cold) to do one of the following:
• Create a single proXile that appears to any normal observer to be substantive.
The proXile appears to have been made years ago. You can tailor the proXile as
you please.
• Create a mass of proXiles all of which voice a particular opinion, to give the
sense of group support for something on the Net. Scrutiny into any of these
proXiles will reveal them to be fake, but at a casual glance they seem real.

Steeling Ritual - 3 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Spirituality) 6+

You can make a Clarity Spirituality Throw (DC 20/Cold) to engage in a ritual
that steels the mind, either steeling yourself, or another who is present
throughout the ritual. A character other than yourself must Consume 5 to be
present throughout the ritual.

On a success, provided the Cold Round in which you made the Throw is
followed by a Warm or Hot Scene, any Mental Damage the subject of the ritual
takes is halved (rounded down).
Sticky Fingers - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Stealth) 3+

1/Scene, choose an object previously mentioned in the narrative. Provided the

location of that object isn’t currently clearly established, you can make a
Finesse Stealth Throw (DC 20). On a success, choose one of the following:
• Having impulsively stolen it, the object is revealed to be on your person.
• If the object is something that was assumed to already on your person, it is
revealed you have actually secretly placed onto someone else.
On a failure, the object remains wherever it would most likely be.

You can use this Trait as an Action while in Combat.

Stretch of Green I - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Ecology) 3+

You maintain a stretch of vegetation; perhaps a portion of a park or the

greenscape on the side of a building. While providing no strict mechanical
beneXits, your stretch of green can have a number of narrative uses, such as:
• Small objects can be covertly dropped off and picked up by you and your
allies hiding them amongst particular plants.
• You can grow a small amount of either supplementary food, medicinal plants,
or plants used for recreational purposes.

Stretch of Green II - 4 ExpCOIN

Requires: Trait (Stretch of Green I) and Skill (Ecology) 6+

Your stretch of green has been enlarged. You now maintain an entire park, or
the entire side of a megastructure, with a few gardener underlings. The
following narrative uses replace the uses of the Trait A Stretch Of Green I:
• Small to medium-sized objects can be covertly dropped off and picked up by
you and your allies hiding them amongst particular plants. Your underlings
can even help move things for you. You can even bury objects, up to the size of
a dead body.
• You know all the blind spots of your stretch of green, and can use it as a
meeting place where there is no risk of electronic surveillance or other
people listening in.
• You can grow either a large amount of one, or a small amount of two, of the
following: supplementary food, medicinal plants, and/or plants used for
recreational purposes.
Supply & Demand - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Industry) 6+

Unless it uses secret, advanced technology you are not aware of, you always
know where the materials for an object were sourced from, where the object
was manufactured, and who buys the majority of the copies of the object.

Tactician - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Warfare) 6+

You are well versed in tactics, and can bark quick orders to your allies in
combat.

Reaction: Command. 2/Round, you can Consume 2 to have an ally that can see
and hear you immediately perform a single, small, tactical acton, such as one of
the following:
• Move into nearby Cover, or move from their current Cover to an adjacent
Cover, without expending dice.
• Move next to a nearby ally without expending dice.
• Freely pass an object to a nearby ally.

Reaction: Counterattack. 1/Round, you can Consume 3 after an ally that can
see and hear you is hit by an Attack. That ally makes an Attack as a Reaction.
They expend dice as normal for the Attack.

TLC – 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Medicine) 3+

1/Round, Whenever a Punk Consumes a number of dice in a Cold Scene to

regain Fortune, you can Consume equal to half that number of dice (rounded
down, minimum of 1) to have that Punk regain an additional +1d6 Fortune.

Much of care relies not on medicinal skill, but in ability to emotionally support the
patient.
Total Retention - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Investigate) 6+

Through drugs, a blend of psyware, self-hypnosis, or some other strange

method, you are able to enter a mental state where your mind is able to
completely absorb and analyse information without impediment.

You can make an Intellect Spirituality Throw (DC 15/Cold) to undergo your
personal ritual to enter the Total Retention mental state. On a success, provided
the Cold Round in which you made the Throw is followed by a Warm or Hot
Scene, you enter that Scene with the ‘Total Retention’ mental state.

While under Total Retention, you gain the following effects:

• Everything you perceive is perfectly recorded by your memory, and can be
recalled with perfect accuracy at any later date.
• Your subconscious (played by the GM) forms conclusions about information
absorbed that your conscious mind may have missed. The conclusions have
to involve, at least in part, information gained during Total Retention. The
conclusions are always correct.
• Investigate Throws are made on Advantage and your Awareness is doubled.
• At the end of each Round, you take 1d6 Mental Damage.

At the end of each Round in which you were in the Total Retention mental state,
you can choose to end the mental state it after taking the Mental Damage.

Watch the Watchers - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Trait (Home Turf)

As a result of a local ally’s painstaking labour, you know all the blind spots of
any electronic surveillance in your home turf, such as security cameras and
aerial drones. By using a blind spot, you can ensure there is no ‘means of
identifying’ you or members of your Crew recorded by surveillance for
purposes of avoiding Heat.

1/Mission, you can have your local allies covertly destroy any electronic
surveillance that covers a speciXic area within your home turf, such as a
particular street-corner or building, creating another ‘blind spot’. This blind
spot lasts until the start of the next Cold Scene, after which the surveillance is
reinstalled and heightened interest in the area means any transgressions
perpetrated in it gain an additional +1 Heat.
Weather Forecast - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Ecology) 3+

You have access to knowledge about impending weather. During The Brief, you
can intercede in the narration to say that your character was forewarned of The
Elements that have been rolled for the Mission, and has taken some action to
preempt The Elements. For example:
• In anticipation of the Blizzard, your character has already moved to a
particular location for the Mission to avoid getting stuck in the snow.
• Suspecting an upcoming Bombing Season, your character got in touch with
their criminal Contacts before the heightened police scrutiny.
You can choose to bring one other member of the Crew with you on your
preemptive course of action.

Zero-G Orientated - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Science or Survival) 3+

Your instincts have shifted to handle the 3D navigation of a zero gravity

environment. You receive no penalties to handling yourself in zero gravity and
low gravity. In addition, you have Advantage on Throws regarding navigating
3D spaces, where you are just as likely to go up or down as you are forwards or
backwards. Examples of such spaces are space stations, the insides of giant
machines, and ancient sewer systems.

The enemy’s gate is down.

Body Traits
Body Mod - 1 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Organic

Choose or roll randomly for one of the minor, largely cosmetic body
modiXications on the below table.
1d6 Name Keywords Description
1 Freaky Eyes Part or all of one or both eyes have been
dyed or had their bionic casing altered.
2 Haptic Lights Net-Linked Microlights shimmer under the skin in
response to touch. The stronger the
sensation, the brighter they shine.
3 Luminescent Organic Mottled patches of your skin have been
Skin genetically modiXied to become
bioluminescent. Under strong light you
can’t see them, but in the dark you softly
glow.
4 Moving Bionic Micromeshes under the skin give you
Tattoos moving ‘tattoos’. Since the footage is
controlled via your Cyberbrain, you can
even have the imagery change in
response to shifts in mood.
5 Thumb Drive Net-Linked Everything beyond the last knuckle of
your thumb has been replaced with a
prosthesis, which contains a small
amount of data storage and a universal
plug.
6 Virtual Art Net-Linked When viewed in augmented reality, you
are covered in a translucent armature of
your design; anything from a suit of
knightly armour to neon grafXiti
contoured onto your clothing.
Inconspicuous Appearance - 2 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Organic
Requires: No other Body Traits

You have an incredibly bland, forgettable appearance. You have no visually

distinctive qualities, and people can only describe you as ‘average looking’, if
they remember you at all. Characters have Disadvantage on Streetwise Throws
to search for you, and you have Disadvantage on any Converse Throws focused
on getting or holding the attention of strangers.

At the end of any Scene where you would gain Heat due to from your physical
features being seen, that Heat is reduced by 1.

In the previous cold war, they would have called you a ‘little grey man’.

Armoured Skin - 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Organic

Increase your Armour by +1d3. Your armoured skin is visible.

A porous monomesh of QI materials hardens on impact, providing you a modicum

of defence while not inhibiting bodily functions. Under the wrong lighting, it kind
of looks like you have an insect carapace just under your skin. Disgusting.

Beauty - 3 ExpCOIN

You have Advantage on Converse and Dominate Throws focused on someone

(or someones) who Xinds you attractive. This effect only applies if the person
can see your face.

Beauty has always been shaped by class; those with money can buy healthiness,
Litness, good dentistry… Now, in the age of the cyborg, some have the fortune to
buy beauty wholesale, as artists craft the very faces and bodies of their clients.

Pseudorganic - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Body (Civilian Cyborg or Military Cyborg)

Your body has undergone an aesthetic process to seem more ‘organic’. While to
anyone close your are obvious a Cyborg, at a distance people will think you are
a normal Xlesh-and-blood human.
Stealth Skin - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Body (Civilian Cyborg or Military Cyborg)

Your synthetic skin has stealth technology incorporated into it that makes it
invisible to infrared and thermal vision. Its colouration is also suited to stealth:
you gain a +2d6 to Stealth Throws while in the dark and wearing no to little
clothing.

Your Stealth Skin has a matte grey colouration that makes you look suspect,
even more so than normal as a cyborg. While not illegal - the police can’t exactly
conXiscate your skin - having your skin be visible may draw unwanted
attention.

A Face of My Own - 4 ExpCOIN

Requires: Body (Civilian Cyborg)

You have had your cyborg body remodelled, Xinally shedding the factory-made
appearance for one unique to you. You lose the Anonymous Body Trait that
comes with the Civilian Cyborg Body. You can look like your previous self,
before your full-body transplant, or take on another physique and face of your
choosing.

Having gathered the necessary contacts and arrangements to undergo this

process once, the costs of undergoing it again are less. During a Cold Scene, you
can spend 2 ExpCOIN and Consume your entire dice pool to have your cyborg
body once again remodelled to take on a new appearance.

Combat Traits
These traits are abilities primarily used for Xighting.

Dual-Wielder - 2 ExpCOIN

1/Turn, When you make an Attack with a one-handed weapon (1H), and you
are holding a one-handed weapon in each hand, add +1d6 to the next Attack
you make with a one-handed weapon this Turn.

Quickdraw - 3 ExpCOIN

You Consume no dice drawing and stowing Weapons. In addition, if you scored
at least a 20 on your Initiative Throw at the start of Combat, you have
Advantage on the Xirst attack you make with a one-handed (1H) Weapon.

“Fill your hands with iron you son of a bitch!”

Duck for Cover - 2 ExpCOIN

When you are targeted by a ranged Attack, you can Consume 2 to instantly
move into any adjacent Soft Cover or Hard Cover. You must use this trait before
the attacker makes the Throw for the Attack.

Human Shield - 2 ExpCOIN

When an ally behind you is targeted by a ranged Attack, instead of providing

Soft Cover, you increase their Armour by your Armour.

In addition, when you use the Move Action in Combat, any adjacent ally can
Consume the same amount you did to Move with you, remaining adjacent.

Breacher - 2 ExpCOIN

You know where to attack doors and other objects to gain quick access.

You double Physical (External) Damage to physical objects. In addition,

whenever you use a weapon to force a door open (by smashing it open, blasting
out the lock, or by some other means), raise your Stride until the end of the
Round.

Dodgy - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: 8+ ExpCOIN already spent in Combat Traits

Whenever you Dodge an attack, add +1d6 to the Throw.

Sniper’s Nest - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Warfare) 3+

You can make a Finesse Stealth Throw (ADC 30/Cold) to build a Sniper’s Nest
in a location of your choosing - likely overlooking another location that you will
assault in a following Scene. The Sniper’s Nest remains until you or someone
else dismantles it, or it is destroyed.

While in the Sniper’s Nest, it is not obvious, even to someone looking directly at
you, that you are concealed there. Until you make an Attack, you count as
Hidden as if you were scoring 20 on a Stealth Throw each Round.

In addition, once you Attack from the sniper’s nest, it is not immediately
obvious where you are. An enemy must succeed on a Speed Investigate Throw
(DC 20/Hot) to spy your location. The DC for this Throw reduces by 5, to a
minimum of 10, for each subsequent Attack you make from your Sniper’s Nest
after the Xirst.
Honed Instincts - 4 ExpCOIN

You gain the following beneXits:

• Increase your Awareness by 5.
• When you are making the Speed Throw to determine Initiative at the start of
Combat, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• When a character Attacks you from Hidden while in Combat, your Dodge
Throw is not Strained.
• When Ambushed, you only lose 3 dice from your dice pool, as opposed to the
normal half.

Grit – 3 ExpCOIN

1/Mission, when you are about to be reduced to 0 Fortune by Physical

Damage, you can reduce the amount of Physical Damage you are taking by 1d6.
If this reduction in Damage means you aren’t reduced to 0 Fortune, you regain
1d6 Fortune.

Gouge - 2 ExpCOIN

Whenever you roll Damage for a melee Attack, you can reroll up to 2 dice. You
cannot reroll rerolls, and must use the rerolled result(s).

Charge - 2 ExpCOIN

Whenever you take the Move Action in Combat, if you immediately make a
melee Attack after, you can add half the number of d6 (rounded down) that you
Consumed for the Move to the Attack roll.

Gunslinger I - 4 ExpCOIN

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make a ranged Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• Whenever you make an Armour roll and are in Cover, you can reroll one dice.
You cannot reroll rerolls, and must use the rerolled result(s).

Action: Aim. Consume 3 to take aim with a weapon that can make a ranged
Attack. When you do, designate a target you can see. Your Ranged Attacks with
the aimed weapon have Advantage when attacking the chosen target. This
effect ends if you let go of the aimed weapon, use the Move Action, Attack a
different target, or lose sight of the aimed-at target.
Gunslinger II - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Trait (Gunslinger I)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make a ranged Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• Whenever you make an Armour roll and are in Cover, you can reroll an
additional one dice. You cannot reroll rerolls, and must use the rerolled
result(s).

Action: Suppressive Fire. Make an Attack with a Firearm weapon that has
either the Burst or Spray property, collectively targeting every character in a
single piece of cover. Instead of counting your Successes with the Attack, add up
the Score of the Attack. If you scored over 20 on your suppressive Xire, you
scare the targets. They immediately use Hunker Down as a Reaction, and must
use Hunker Down at the start of their next Turn. A character can make a Clarity
Save to try overcome this effect, which they do on a success.

Gunslinger III - 4 ExpCOIN

Requires: Trait (Gunslinger II)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you roll a Damage roll from a ranged Attack, you can reroll up to
two dice. You cannot reroll rerolls, and must use the rerolled result(s).
• Whenever you make an Armour roll and are in Cover, you can Maximise 1
dice in the Armour roll.
• When you make a Ranged Attack as a Reaction to a character making a
Ranged Attack themselves (such as when you Prepare An Action), that
character does not gain the beneXits of Cover.

Master the Gun - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Mastery
Requires: Trait (Gunslinger III)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make a ranged Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• Whenever you Dodge an Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw.

You are so skilled a calculating bullet trajectories that you can reliably hit your
opponents via ricochet. When making Ranged Attacks within the Short Range,
provided you can describe a path a ricocheting bullet could feasibly take to hit a
target, you can hit it.
Gun Fu - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Trait (Gunslinger I) and Trait (Martial Arts I)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Ranged Attacks targeting someone adjacent to you are no longer made on
Disadvantage.
• For the purposes of Traits that increase your Dodge, you count as ‘empty
handed’ while holding Handguns.

Martial Arts I - 4 ExpCOIN

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make a melee Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• Whenever you make a melee Attack, you can choose to make it a Finesse
Attack, instead of the normal Toughness Attack.
• Whenever you Dodge, you can modify the Throw with Finesse, instead of the
normal Speed.
• Whenever you Dodge an Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw.

Martial Arts II - 4 ExpCOIN

Requires: Trait (Martial Arts I)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make an Unarmed Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw, and +1d3 to
the Damage.
• Whenever you make an Unarmed Attack, if it is not the Xirst Unarmed Attack
you’ve made this Turn, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• Whenever you Dodge an attack from an adjacent attacker and are empty-
handed, add +1d6 to the Throw.

Reaction: Counter. Whenever you successfully Dodge an Attack from an

adjacent attacker while you are empty-handed, you can use this Reaction. You
can make an Unarmed Attack. Add half the number of d6 (rounded down) that
you expended for the Dodge Throw to the Attack.
Martial Arts III - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Trait (Martial Arts II)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Your Unarmed Attacks have an AP of 1.
• Whenever you make an Unarmed Attack, add +1d3 to the Damage.
• When you make a Toughness Throw as part of a Clash to Grab a character, get
out of a Grab, or Bind a character, you can instead make a Finesse Throw.

1/Turn, when you attempt to Grab a character, if you succeed the target is also
Stunned as if you had used a successful Bind Action. You must declare you are
using this Trait before you roll for the Clash to Grab.

Master the Fist - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Mastery
Requires: Trait (Martial Arts III)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make an Unarmed Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw, and add
+1d3 to the Damage.
• Whenever you Dodge an Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw.

Action: Pressure Point Strike. Make an Unarmed Attack. If you hit, halve the
Damage you roll (rounded down). Provided you deal at least 1 Damage, the hit
target is Addled until the end of their next Turn.

1/Scene, Action: Penetrating Strike. Make an Unarmed Attack. That Unarmed

Attack deals Physical (Internal) Damage, meaning it ignores Armour.

Study the Blade I - 4 ExpCOIN

Requires: Trait (Martial Arts I)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make a melee Attack with a Short Blade or Long Blade, add
+1d6 to the Throw.
• Whenever you Dodge an attack from an adjacent attacker and are holding a
Short Blade or Long Blade, add +1d6 to the Throw.

1/Round, Action: Cleave. Make an Attack with a Short Blade or Long Blade.
The Attack targets up to two characters of your choice within range of the
Attack. You only make one Throw for this Attack, but each target makes their
Dodge Throw separately against that one Attack.
Study the Blade II - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Trait (Study the Blade I)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Short Blades and Long Blades you use increase their AP by 1.
• Whenever you make a melee Attack with a Short Blade or Long Blade, add
+1d6 to the Attack’s Damage.

Reaction: Parry. Whenever you successfully Dodge an Attack from an adjacent

attacker while holding a Short Blade or Long Blade, you can use this Reaction.
You can make an Attack with a Short Blade or Long Blade you are holding. Add
half the number of d6 (rounded down) that you expended for the Dodge Throw
to the Attack.

Master the Short Blade - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Mastery
Requires: Trait (Study the Blade II)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make a melee Attack with a Short Blade, add +1d6 to the
Throw.
• Short Blades you use increase their AP by 1.
• Whenever you Dodge an Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw.

1/Scene, Action: Pierce the Wind. Make an Attack with a Short Blade. The
Attack targets every character you choose within range of the Attack. You only
make one Throw for this Attack, but each target makes their Dodge Throw
separately against that one Attack.
Master the Long Blade - 4 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Mastery
Requires: Trait (Study the Blade II)

You gain the following beneXits:

• Whenever you make a melee Attack with a Long Blade, add +1d6 to the
Throw.
• Whenever you make a melee Attack with a Long Blade, increase the Attack’s
Damage by +1d6.
• Whenever you Dodge an Attack, add +1d6 to the Throw.

1/Round, Reaction: Flash Cut. You can do one of two things while holding a
Long Blade:
• Attack with a Long Blade.
• Make a single, lightning-fast blade-stroke, targeting a nearby object, using a
Long Blade. When you do so, make an Attack Throw, but count the Score
rather than the number of Successes and Failures. If the Score is at least 20,
you successfully cut the object as intended. A Score below 20 means you miss.
You could use this Reaction to do things such as cut the detonator off a
grenade Xlying past you (thereby disarming it), or cutting a thrown chair in
half, preventing it from hitting you.

Disarm - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Trait (Study the Blade II or Martial Arts III)

Reaction: Disarm. Whenever you are about to Dodge an Attack from an

adjacent attacker, you can use this Reaction. Before you expend any dice on the
Dodge, you and the attacker hold a Finesse Clash. If you win the Clash, you
disarm the weapon the attacker used. If you lose the Clash, the Attack continues
as normal and you now have the opportunity to Dodge.

If you have an empty hand, you can grab the disarmed weapon as part of the
Reaction.

Grappler - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Trait (Martial Arts I)

When you make the Throw in the Toughness Clash for the Grab or Bind Actions,
add +1d6 to the Throw.

Blockchain - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Trait (Study the Blade II) or Trait (Martial Arts III)

Whenever you Dodge an attack from an adjacent attacker and it’s not your Xirst
Dodge this Round, add +1d6 to the Throw.
Powerless Technique - 0 ExpCOIN
Requires: Trait (Martial Arts III)

Whenever you make an Unarmed Attack or a Dodge, modify the Throw with
Clarity, instead of the normal Toughness or Speed.

Return Force - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Trait (Master the Fist)

1/Round, when you use the Counter Reaction and hit with the Unarmed
Attack, if the dodged attacker made a Toughness Attack you can replace the
Unarmed Attack’s Damage roll with the Damage roll that their Attack would
have made.

Ultimate Technique - 4 ExpCOIN

Requires: Trait (Master the Short Blade or Master the Long Blade) and 24+
ExpCOIN already spent in Combat Traits

If you are holding an object that is roughly the shape of the weapon you have
mastered, you can apply the effects of the below Traits to it as if it was a Long
Blade (note this doesn’t change the base AP and Damage of the object). For
example, a long pipe might replace a sword, or a signpost replace an axe.
* Martial Arts I
* Study the Blade I
* Study the Blade II
* Master the Long Blade
* Master the Short Blade

1/Mission, you can make a melee Attack doubly Explosive, meaning for each 6
you roll, you roll an additional 2d6 (rather than the normal 1d6). These
additional d6s are also doubly explosive. The Damage for this Attack is
Explosive.

Hacker Traits
The following traits are all to do with hacking, including Ice. You can read the
rules for hacking on Page 240.
D-Rank Hacker - 4 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Bionic
Requires: Skill (Software) 3+

You gain the following beneXits:

• You can make Hacking Throws, enabling you to hack into anything connected
to the Net.
• You can use the Programs from the D-Rank Programs list.
• The gain the Trait Ice: Basic Layers for free.

When you take this Trait, unless you have the Trait ‘Bionic Eyes’ you also gain a
piece of Equipment called a Visualiser, a tool that enables you to better perceive
and work with the Net. While not using a Visualiser, Hacking Throws you make
are made on Disadvantage.

In addition, as part of taking this Trait, you make the necessary arrangements
to get unlimited access to the Net in its true, complex, beautiful form.

Visualiser - N/A

Despite its name a Visualiser does not have to rely on sight, although most do.
It is up to you to design how your Visualiser enables you to better interact with
the metareality of the Net.

C-Rank Hacker - 4 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Software) 5+ and Trait (D-Rank Hacker)

You gain the following beneXits:

• You can use the Programs from the C-Rank Programs list.
• Whenever you make a Hacking Throw, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• You can be Intruded in up to 3 Terminals simultaneously.
B-Rank Hacker - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Software) 7+ and Trait (C-Rank Hacker)

You gain the following beneXits:

• You can use the Programs from the B-Rank Programs list.
• Whenever you make a Hacking Throw, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• You can be Intruded in up to 5 Terminals simultaneously.

1/Round, Action: Mass Hack. When you attempt to Intrude into a Terminal,
you can target any number of additional targetable Terminals whose Terminal
Intrusion ADC is equal to or lower than the Terminal Intrusion ADC of the Xirst
Terminal. The ADC for the Hacking Throw to Intrude into all Terminals is the
Intrusion ADC of the Xirst Terminal, increased by 5 for each additional Terminal.
You cannot use this Action if you’ve already made at least one Hacking Throw
to Intrude into the Xirst Terminal. If you fail to beat the Intrusion ADC for a
Mass Hack, you only suffer the Ice of the Xirst target, and can make subsequent
Hacking Throws to try to beat the Intrusion ADC for the Mass Hack on
subsequent turns as you would when attempting Intrusion for a single target.

A-Rank Hacker - 4 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Software) 9+ and Trait (B-Rank Hacker)

You gain the following beneXits:

• You can use the Programs from the A-Rank Programs list.
• Whenever you make a Hacking Throw, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• You can be Intruded in up to 2 Networks simultaneously.

1/Round, Action: Sniffer. You can expend 1 Power to send out a ‘Sniffer’, an AI
masquerading as a malevolent hacker, that targets a Network of your choice.
When you use the Sniffer, choose a Network you could target for Intrusion. You
learn that Network's Intrusion ADC (which halved will be the Terminal
Intrusion ADC) and the Ice for that Network, which destroys the Sniffer.
Once used, the Network knows that someone just attempted to probe its
defences, and may take countermeasures as a result. The Sniffer cannot be
traced back to you once you are done with it.

S-Rank Hacker - 4 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Software) 10 and Trait (A-Rank Hacker)

You gain the following beneXits:

• You can use the Programs from the S-Rank Programs list.
• Whenever you make a Hacking Throw, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• You can be Intruded in up to 3 Networks and 10 Terminals simultaneously.
Ice: Basic Layers - 2 ExpCOIN

You gain access to the following Ice Layers:

Attack Barrier I. The hacker takes 1d3 Physical (Internal) Damage.
Defence Barrier I. Increase the Network or Terminal’s Intrusion ADC by 8 for
this Intrusion attempt. This effect lasts until the Intrusion attempt ends. This
Ice Layer only applies once per attempted Intrusion.

You can freely change any Ice Layers of your Ice with any of the above Ice
Layers when you take this Trait. Afterwards, you can Consume 2 in a Cold
Round to change any Ice Layers of your Ice with any of the above Ice Layers.

Ice: B-Rank Layers - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Trait (B-Rank Hacker)

You gain access to the following Ice Layers:

Attack Barrier II. The hacker takes 1d6 Physical (Internal) Damage.
Defence Barrier II. Increase the Network or Terminal’s Intrusion ADC by 12 for
this Intrusion attempt. This effect lasts until the Intrusion attempt ends. This
Ice Layer only applies once per attempted Intrusion.
Shield Barrier I. While this Ice Layer is in use, the Network Intrusion ADC is
increased by 6 (as a result, Terminal Intrusion ADC is increased by 3). This is in
effect constantly, not just when Ice would normally be applied.

You can freely change any Ice Layers of your Ice with any of the above Ice
Layers when you take this Trait. Afterwards, you can Consume 2 in a Cold
Round to change any Ice Layers of your Ice with any of the above Ice Layers.
Ice: Complex Layers - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Trait (A-Rank Hacker)

You gain access to the following Ice Layers. You can only use one of the
following Ice Layers in your Ice at a time.
Hunter Barrier. Each time they suffer this Ice Layer, the hacker must make a
Hacking Throw (DC 15). On a failure, their physical location at the time of the
attempted Intrusion is detected by the Network and that data is transmitted to
all relevant Terminals. You can only have one copy of this Ice Layer in your Ice.
Monopoly Barrier. This Ice Layer’s effect isn’t revealed unless the hacker
suffered the Ice of their target and then Intruded into their target. When they
Intrude into the target, they must immediately make a Hacking Throw (DC 10).
On a failure, they stop being Intruded into any targets other than this one. After
this effect applies they can attempt Intrusion into new targets as normal. You
can only have one copy of this Ice Layer in your Ice.
Trapper Barrier. This Ice Layer’s effect isn’t revealed unless the hacker
suffered the Ice of their target and then Intruded into their target.
When they Intrude into the target, they must immediately make a Hacking
Throw (DC 15). On a failure, they take 2d6 Physical (Internal) Damage. You can
only have one copy of this Ice Layer in your Ice.

Ice: S-Rank Layers - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Trait (S-Rank Hacker)

You gain access to the following Ice Layers:

Shock Barrier. The hacker takes 2d6 Physical (Internal) Damage. This Ice
Layer only applies once per attempted Intrusion. You can only have one copy of
this Ice Layer in your Ice.
Shield Barrier II. While this Ice Layer is in use, the Network Intrusion ADC is
increased by 10 (as a result, Terminal Intrusion ADC is increased by 5). This is
in effect constantly, not just when Ice would normally be applied. You can only
have one copy of this Ice Layer in your Ice.

You can freely change any Ice Layers of your Ice with any of the above Ice
Layers when you take this Trait. Afterwards, you can Consume 2 in a Cold
Round to change any Ice Layers of your Ice with any of the above Ice Layers.
Stealth Hacker - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Trait (A-Rank Hacker)

You’re skilled at hacking into systems without tripping alarms. The Xirst time
you make a Hacking Throw in an Intrusion attempt and do not beat the target’s
Intrusion ADC, the Network is not alerted to your attempted Intrusion. You do,
however, still suffer that Network’s Ice.

In addition, compared to a normal hacker, Programs you apply to a target are

much harder to uncover. When a hacker attempts to uncover any Programs you
have applied to a target using the Scan Program, your Terminal Intrusion ADC
is treated as 20 higher.

Anti-Ice - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Trait (B-Rank Hacker)

You’ve designed unique methods of mitigating the effects of Ice.

1/Round, When you suffer the effects of Ice, you can expend 1 Power to have
the effects of 1 Ice Layer of your choice not apply.

Snaphacker - 2 ExpCOIN

When you take this Trait, choose a Program or HotProgram. You can use that
Program as a Reaction.

Reaction: Snaphack. Attempt Intrusion, targeting a Terminal. If you succeed on

your Intrusion on the Xirst Hacking Throw, immediately use the chosen
HotProgram on the target.

Hacker Fu - 2 ExpCOIN

You have learned to use your hacking equipment with the speed and grace of a
martial artist.

Action: Hardline Grapple. Attempt the Bind Action on someone with a

Cyberbrain (you must still have them in a Grab as normal). The Toughness
Clash for the Bind is made on Disadvantage. If you win the Clash, as part of the
Bind Action you plug one of your wetcords into one of the target’s wetports to
form a Hardline connection between your Cyberbrain and theirs.

If you immediately attempt Intrusion on the target after using this Action, the
Hacking Throw bonus from having a Hardline connection is +3d6 instead of the
normal +2d6 until the end of your Turn.
Database Access - 2 ExpCOIN
Repeatable III

You’ve gained an updating duplicate of a database that is shared on your

Network. You design the nature of the database: it might be a database of local
criminals, information on all the foodstuffs moved by automaton into the city
on a daily basis, or any other database that could reasonably exist.

Signature Hack - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Signature

When you gain this Trait, choose a Program that requires a Hacking Throw to
apply. Whenever you make a Hacking Throw to apply the chosen Program, add
+1d6 to the Throw.

Due to the Signature keyword, if you lose the ability to use the chosen Program,
you cannot choose a new Program to replace it.

Bionic Organ Traits

The following Traits cover bionics that replace or augment the organs.

Bionic Eyes - 1 expCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

Bionic eyes can share a live feed of what you are seeing on your Network, but
cannot record.

Bionic Eyes can let you see ‘augmented reality’, digital graphics overlaying your
sight. In addition, if you are a hacker, Bionic Eyes can function as a Visualiser.

Electrosensitive Membrane - 2 expCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

You can ‘feel’ whether there is any electrical activity or wireless signals being
sent near you. You always know if you are Faraday or not.
Boosted ReYlexes - 3 expCOIN
Keywords: Bionic

Your Dodge Throws become Explosive. In addition, whenever you could take a
Dodge Reaction, you must Dodge if you can and expend at least 1 dice on the
Throw.

The Chinese Military’s CNS Accelerator, comprised of a bionic spine and relay
nodes throughout the nervous system, enables lightning-fast reLlexes - which
sometimes overreact.

Autoinjector - 1 expCOIN
Keywords: Bionic

You can store up to 3 ‘doses’ of one of any of the options from the Drugs &
Stims section of Equipment on Page 155 inside the Autoinjector.

At the start of each Mission, you set a condition that, when met, causes the
Autoinjector to trigger, injecting one of the doses into your system
automatically and without expending dice, meaning you immediately gain the
effects of that drug or stimulant.

The condition can be something mechanical such as ‘when I make a Clarity

Save’, or a simple narrative condition such as ‘when Combat starts’.

Bionic Health - 2 expCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

Some organs have been replaced with augmented bionic versions. Coupled
with a regime of nanites, you a powerful immune system.

Reduce any Physical (Internal) Damage from sickness, or chemical substances

that attack your health such as poisons, venom, or drugs, by 1d3. You have
Advantage on any rolls to resist the effects to becoming sick or diseased.

Recreational substances such as drugs and alcohol have little effect on you.

Maintaining your bionic health is a drain on your resources. You reduce the
amount of Power you provide to the Crew by 1 for as long as you have this
option.
Sensory Recording - 3 expCOIN
Keywords: Bionic

You have the necessary psyware and wetware to record your own sensory
experience. You can freely stop and start recording any of the following senses:
sight, smell, hearing, and touch (including pain and physical pleasure).

What is recorded is the actual information your body receives, rather than your
brain’s interpretation of that information - meaning what you perceive and
what is recorded can be two different things. This trait will not record any
auditory or visual hallucinations, for example.

The recordings are saved as digital data on your Network, and can be freely
edited and shared just like normal recordings. You can also share a live feed of
your senses on your Network, with or without recording.

Ghost Recording - 2 expCOIN

Requires: Trait (Sensory Recording)
Keywords: Illegal, Taboo

You have enhanced your recording capabilities to also record your ‘ghost’.
When you use the Trait ‘Sensory Recording’, you can choose to also have the
recording record your ghost. When recording your ghost, your sensory
recording will be accompanied by a recording of your emotional state,
subliminal thoughts, and any pronounced conscious thoughts. It also records
instances where your ghost impinges upon your perception, such as auditory
or visual hallucinations.

The recording is stored on your Network as normal. Recording a ghost is highly

illegal and taboo - under certain philosophical interpretations you are creating
an eternally-imprisoned version of yourself. If someone Xinds the recording in
your Network you could gain Heat as a consequence.

Anyone (including yourself) who experiences a recorded ghost takes 1d6

Mental Damage, and must make a Clarity Save. On a failed Save, their current
emotional state becomes that of the emotional state in the ghost recording.

Bionic Eyes Mod: Advanced Vision - 2 expCOIN

Your bionic eyes are replaced with military-grade versions, which have
heatvision and nightvision. The eyes can also zoom in, allowing you to see a
great distance with acuity.
Bionic Eyes Mod: 3D Vision - 3 expCOIN

Your bionic eyes are upgraded with technology that creates a 3D map of what
you’re looking at, replacing ordinary sight. This 3D map extends in a cone from
your eyes up to 50 meters away (the same distance as the Short range).

This effectively gives you ‘X-ray vision’, allowing you to perceive through objects
and walls. Only walls that are especially thick or materials speciXically proofed
against this penetrating vision block it. You cannot perceive gases such as
smoke when looking with 3D vision.

You can Consume 2 to activate or deactivate this 3D vision when in a Hot

Round. Otherwise you can activate and deactivate it freely. When deactivated,
you see with your normal vision. Each time you activate this 3D vision, you
must expend 1 Power.

Bionic Limb Traits

The following Traits cover bionics that replace the limbs, as well as the Mods that
can augment them.

Bionics and the Body

Often stories within the cyberpunk setting regard prosthetic limbs with a
certain fetishistic reverence, portraying a world where just about everyone has
chrome somewhere on them. We envision things a little differently in
ECOPUNK.

The primary function of bionic body parts half a decade ago was not to endow
the impaired with greater dexterity or mobility. Instead it was to strip soldiers
of their slow-healing Xlesh and replace it with something already functional, so
they could be returned to the battleXield sooner.

In the postwar period, bionics come with their own stigma; a visual reminder
of a gruesome war people would like to forget. An undercurrent of persecution
runs from the top downwards to users of bionics, stemming from an elite who
had the privilege of replacing any loss of limb or organ with Xlesh-and-blood
wetprinted copies. This manifests as states using their provision of bionics to
veterans to sweep the traumas of World War III under the rug; it is easy to
claim people aren’t broken when you have superXicially ‘Xixed’ them.

Bionics are not commonplace, nor ubiquitously accessible to those who want
them. In 2044 you’ll see a bionic limb about as commonly as you’ll see a
wheelchair user, and for each person with bionics, there’s someone who lost
body parts to warfare, famine, or disease and hasn’t gained a prosthesis. GMs
are advised to not over-saturate their games with bionics.
Bionic Arm - 1 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Bionic

Choose one or both of your arms. The chosen arms are bionic from either the
shoulder or elbow downwards.

By virtue of the materials that compose them, bionic arms are more durable,
and do not bleed. Reduce any Physical (External) Damage you take by 1. This
effect only applies once, regardless of whether you have one or two bionic
arms.

Bionic Leg - 1 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

Choose one or both of your legs. The chosen legs are bionic from either the
waist or knee downwards.

By virtue of the materials that compose them, bionic legs are more durable, and
do not bleed. Reduce any Physical (External) Damage you take by 1. This effect
only applies once, regardless of whether you have one or two bionic legs.

Bionic Limb Mod: Explosive Strength - 3 ExpCOIN

Requires: Body (Military Cyborg) & Skill (Warfare) 3+

When you take this mod, it applies to every Bionic Arm and Bionic Leg you
have, and to any Bionic Arms and Legs you take in the future. You only pay for
the Mod once.

Whenever you make a Toughness Throw in a Warm or Hot Round, before you
roll you can take 1d3 Physical (Internal) Damage to gain the following effect for
that Throw:
If the Toughness Throw involves using the modded bionic limb(s), increase
your Toughness Score by +1 for the duration of that Throw, and the Throw is
Explosive.

You may use this mod up to 3 times for the same Throw, with the Toughness
increase and Damage being cumulative, but any repeat uses after the Xirst use
deals an additional 1d6 rather than an additional 1d3 Physical (Internal)
Damage.
Bionic Limb Mod: Internal Melee Weapon - 2 ExpCOIN
Keyword: Illegal, Concealable
Requires: Body (Military Cyborg) & Skill (Warfare) 3+

When you take this mod, you decide which of your Bionic Arms and/or Bionic
Legs it applies to. You can choose one or multiple limbs, and can apply the mod
to any Bionic Arms and Legs you take in the future. You only pay for the Mod
once.

You have a weapon sheathe built into each of your chosen limbs. The sheathes
can hold either a Short Blade or multiple copies of a Throwing Weapon. These
weapons are found in the Melee Weapons section on Page 164.

In a Hot Round, you can Consume 1 to ‘unsheathe’ an internal melee weapon.

When you do so either the weapon’s blade extends out from the modded limb,
where it can be used as if you were holding it, or is ejected from the sheathe
into your hand.

You must Consume 3 to return an unsheathed weapon to its sheathe.

While the weapon is sheathed, the modded bionic limb appears normal,
although an Investigate Throw (DC 20/Warm) can notice the subtle misshaping
under the synthetic skin. While sheathed the internal melee weapon is still
detectable by methods such as metal detection.

As the internal melee weapon(s) are separate pieces of Equipment, they can be
modded, using the Mods available in the Melee Weapons section.

Bionic Arm Mod: Internal Firearm - 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal, Concealable
Requires: Body (Military Cyborg) & Skill (Warfare) 3+
Name Range Damage AP Properties
Internal RiXle Short/Medium 2d6 P(E) 0 1H, Magazine [3],
Reload [Consume 4]

Internal Shotgun Short 3d6 P(E) 0 1H, Magazine [3],

Reload [Consume 4]
When you Xirst take this mod, choose one of the above Xirearms. That weapon is
implanted in its collapsed form in the hollowed-out bones of your forearm.

In a Hot Round, you must Consume 3 to extend or collapse the internal Xirearm.
While the internal Xirearm is extended, it can be used as a weapon, but the hand
of the modded bionic limb is unusable.

While collapsed, the modded bionic limb appears normal, although an

Investigate Throw (DC 20/Warm) can notice the subtle misshaping under the
synthetic skin. While collapsed the internal weapon is still detectable by
methods such as metal detection.

The internal Xirearm can be modded, using the Mods available in the Firearms
section. Any Mods exclusive to a Shotgun can also be used for either of the
internal weapons.

Bionic Arm Mod: Retractable Claws - 1 ExpCOIN

When you take this mod, it applies to every Bionic Arm you have, and to any
Bionic Arms you take in the future. You only pay for the Mod once. You can
freely extended and retract your claws without Consuming dice.

While your claws are extended, your Unarmed Attacks made with a Bionic Arm
deal an additional 1d3 Physical (External) Damage.

In addition, whenever you make an Athletics Throw to climb something, you

can add +1d6 to the Throw while your claws are extended.

Because Retractable Claws are sometimes used by rock climbers and foresters,
the mod is not technically illegal in most states.

The matrix that grows nails becomes inoperative after bionic reformation.
Someone had the charming idea of replacing it with retractable blades.

Bionic Leg Mod: Resistance-ProoYing - 1 ExpCOIN

Requires: Body (Military Cyborg) & Skill (Warfare) 3+

Your Stride cannot be lowered by external effects to any lower than Normal.

In addition, you are not slowed at all by carrying or dragging heavy objects.

As the Lirst airdrop cyborgs began to make their mark on the battleLield,
militaries had to quickly develop bionic legs that could keep moving forward even
under a constant barrage of bullets.
Bionic Leg Mod: Stride Enhancement - 3 ExpCOIN

You cannot take this Mod unless both of your legs are Bionic Legs.

Raise your Stride. In addition, you can take 1d3 Physical (Internal) Damage to
raise your Stride once more until the end of the Round. You can use this effect
once per Round.
(Plodding <––– Slow <––– Normal –––> Fast –––> Lightning)

Bionic Arm Mod: Monowire Fingertip - 1 ExpCOIN

An almost imperceptible monowire saw has been placed just below the surface
of the Xingertip.

The monowire can cut cleanly and without resistance through most thin
objects, such as wire, cloth, a chainlink fence, and so on.

Monowire is fragile. Whenever you use the monowire, roll 1d6. On a roll of 1,
the monowire breaks. It can either be repaired with an Intellect Engineer
Throw (DC 10/Cold), or is repaired automatically at the end of the Mission. The
monowire’s fragility makes it unsuited for combat.

Contacts
Through the below Traits, your character can gain a Contact, a special character
or organisation who your character has a special relationship with. When the
player gains a Contact they create that character along with the GM.

Usually, a Contact will be someone local to where your character performs their
Missions, but they could aid you across the Net, or is only occasionally in town.
Contacts are valuable as they can provide speciXic aid on your Missions, whether
that is information, their abilities, or something else.

Generally Contacts don’t accompany you on your Mission – they are someone you
have to seek out while on a Mission to get their aid. In addition, Contacts are not
necessitated to help you. Contacts are characters with their own lives and goals,
and if your request(s) runs contrary to their self-interest or morality (or lack
thereof), they can decline to help you. However, the GM should keep in mind that
a player spent Character Points to have this Contact, and should get equivalent
value out of them.

A Contact can be a character you have a previous relationship with. Them

becoming a Contact represents your character entering into a more active
arrangement with them, or them gaining some equipment or skill that now
makes them beneXicial as a Contact.

Contact Skills
Every Contact has a sole Skill, for which they will have a Skill Level, determined
by the GM based on the player’s description of the character. A Contact can
potentially use their Skill to aid the Punk they are in contact with.
For example you might hand over encrypted data to a Contact whose Skill is
Software, and the Contact would make a Software Throw to crack open the data.

For how many Rounds the Contact applies their Skill for the beneXit of the crew
depends on the narrative context, and is determined by the GM. The Throw the
Contact makes when applying their Skill is made by the GM, and treats it as if the
Contact expended 10d6 on the Throw and is applying no other modiXiers to the
Throw.

How high the Contact’s Skill Level is depends on the nature of the character. A
higher Skill Level may mean the GM institutes more a stringent Condition for the
Contact.

Conditions
If a Contact is planned out that gives an extensive advantage to the Punk, the GM
may devise a Condition for that Contact. A Condition is, simply, the condition
under which that Contact lends you their aid. Contacts don’t have to have a
Condition, but it can help to balance them out if their beneXits are too strong and
so would make Missions too easy.

Alternatively, a Condition can serve as a fun roleplaying device.

Example Individual Contacts

Maya Boateng (AKA “MellowHello”), Boris Mogg, Gun Dealer
Decryption Expert “Guns, guns, guns! Come on, how about
“By nature, every hacker is a voyeur – a try-before-you-die?”
but with you I can peek at secrets
without losing my head.” Boris was a gunrunner who ended up
with a massive supply of smuggled
Maya used to run decryption for BizC, guns when he incorrectly predicted
an OG hacker-ring who ran with the the UK would descend into civil war
best of them when the golden age when the UN arrested the Prime
began. Minister in 2041.

Since then, most of BizC has either With an uncanny knack for avoiding
been killed or given life sentences. danger, Mogg has survived as a
Now in her 40s and having dodged a nomadic gun-vendor who dreams of
(literal) bullet, Maya keeps off the one day selling off his pile of
radar while selling her decryption hardware.
skills to two-bit hacker-rings.
When he slunk into port a few months
You Xirst met Maya (or ‘MellowHello’) ago, Mogg drifted into your circle, and
when you tried cracking her network. seems like someone useful enough to
Endeared by your stupidity while keep around.
impressed with your skills, Maya
offered to give you a hand some time – Skill: Warfare
perhaps so she can live out the glory Skill Level: 3
days through you.
Examples of aid this Contact could
Skill: Software provide:
Skill Level: 8 • Providing a gun with a variety
of Mods for a one-time use on a
Examples of aid this Contact could Mission.
provide: • Advising on how certain
• Cracking the encryption on weapons work, or what
stolen data over the course of a weaponry different groups will
few days be provided with.
• Advising on how to steal data
from a highly-protected Example Condition:
database When you borrow one of his guns,
your character promises to buy the
gun with your expCOIN (including all
the Mods on the gun) as soon as you
can afford it.
Mei Xiang, Politician Chet Baxley, Bcaster
“There’s something I need you to take “That’s wild.”
care of. What can I offer in exchange?
And remember who you’re talking to.” After returning from the western
front, an embittered Chet turned his
It was through sheer coincidence you anger into passion: passion for the
discovered Mei’s secret: that she is the TRUTH!
niece of a politician exiled from the
NRC for an attempted coup. Currently Having slowly grown his Bsignal
assistant to the Secretary of State, if casting station in his housing pod, he
such a family tie was to be revealed casts his pirate signal into the sea of
she would be banished or executed. information, for anyone who cares to
You Xigured she could make a useful listen – and some do. Chet has become
tool, and shortly after sent Mei an the centre of a thin yet widespread
encrypted message. web of rumour and street talk, which
can prove value.
You and Mei have a tense relationship,
given it began with you threatening Having befriended Chet, he can often
her. Mei, whose competence is only be relied upon to give you all the latest
matched by her ruthless ambition, has rumours in any part of town you care
since balanced the scales and gathered to name. Just don’t trust those
enough dirt on you that you cannot rumours to be true.
simply order her around. Now you two
trade favours – and cutting remarks – Skill: Streetwise
when your interests align. Skill Level: 5

Skill: Politics Examples of aid this Contact could

Skill Level: 7 provide:
• Provide you with rumours from
Examples of aid this Contact could across the city or a targeted area.
provide:
• Getting you limited access to a
government facility.
• Acquiring state-held
information.

Example Condition:
Mei only provides you help when you
can help her in return.
Example Organisation Contacts

Ike Toye, City Waste Management

“I can get you access to the treatment plant if you insist - but you’ll need a change
of clothes. The smell doesn’t come out easy.”

You’ve effectively caught Toye in a social pincer move; he works under your
father in the administration, and his daughter is your Xiancée.

You don’t have any huge personal interest in sewage and waste, but on occasion
getting Toye to muster the resources of his department to help your crew can
provide fruitful, if foul-smelling, results.

Skill: Politics
Skill Level: 8

Examples of aid this Contact could provide:

• Access to the sewers and sewage treatment plans.
• Have sanitation workers monitor waste moved out of a particular
location over a period.
• Have the sanitation workers of the city keep a look out for a particular
person or object.
• BrieXly use a garbage truck to get around.
• Get sanitation uniforms and equipment for your crew.

Example Condition:
You lose access to any aid from this Contact while your relationship with Toye’s
daughter is poor.
Danielle Lovegrove, Munitions Union Head
“It’s our sweat that kept this country armed and fed long enough to win the war.
You’d think afterwards they’d reward us, but instead we get layoffs and robots.
Fuck that - if they won’t give us what we deserve, we take it.”

The munitions union grew powerful during the war, but now it’s peacetime.
Work is drying up in an industry already hollowing out from automation, and
Danielle is acutely aware now is the time to act if she’s to carve out a piece for
her people.

Thankfully under her command are workers who have spent the last half-
decade assembling guns and bombs and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.

Someone on the inside of politics who believes in her agenda, you and Danielle
are close enough allies that she’s prepared to lend you her power - just so long
as, at the end of the day, it’s her union that beneXits.

Skill: Industry
Skill Level: 10

Examples of aid this Contact could provide:

• Access to munitions factories and businesses, although the union
members won’t allow stealing.
• Bomb or burn a location.
• Provide a number of burly workers to provide physical aid, whether in a
Xight or for heavy lifting.
• Provide schematics and further information on munitions.

Example Condition:
You’ll have to advance Danielle and her union’s political agenda whenever you
use them, otherwise her militants might turn against you.

Contact Options
The following are Traits that speciXically give you a Contact, but you can gain a
Contact as an ancillary effect from other Traits.

Contact [Individual] - 2 ExpCOIN

Repeatable V

You gain a Contact of your design, who helps you on an individual basis.
Contact [Organisation] - 4 ExpCOIN
Repeatable III

You gain a Contact of your design, who is part of an organisation that you also
design. The Contact occupies at least a middling-level position in the hierarchy
of that organisation, meaning they can not only help personally, but potentially
provide the services of the organisation too.

Contact [Nemesis] - 2 ExpCOIN

You and the GM together design a Contact who is your nemesis. The GM
assumes control of your nemesis, who whenever they appear in a Mission tries
their utmost to destroy you, either physically, mentally, or politically. A nemesis
should only show up rarely, when the Mission brings the crew into their sphere
of inXluence.

Your nemesis doesn’t want to simply kill you: that would be too easy. They
would much rather protract your suffering. If your nemesis reduces you to 0
Fortune with Physical Damage, unless you already have 3 Stigmas, they will
settle for maiming you.

If your nemesis interferes with a Mission, you gain or suffer an effect based on
whether you bested, or were bested by, your nemesis. The effect applies during
the Xinal step of the Epilogue, where you can either regain Fortune or take a
single option from the Character Options List.

If you bested your nemesis this Mission:

• If you choose to regain Fortune, you instead regain 8 Fortune.
• If you choose to take a choice from the Character Options List, that option’s
ExpCOIN cost is reduced by -1.

If your nemesis bested you this Mission:

• If you choose to regain Fortune, you instead regain only 2 Fortune.
• If you choose to take a choice from the Character Options List, that option’s
ExpCOIN cost is increased by +1.

It is suggested only one Punk per Crew have a Nemesis.

Contact [Hacker Ring] - 4 ExpCOIN

You gain a Contact, a hacker ring of your design, that you have a (perhaps
tenuous) relationship with.

You also design a meeting place where you can Xind the ring. It can be a physical
location, such as a hacker den where they hang out (likely within a faraday
cage), or a space on the Net, such as a virtual chatroom.

A Hacker Ring can help you with a hack, usually in exchange for you fulXilling
their Condition. When a Hacker Ring helps with a hack, you give them a target
that can be either a Terminal or Network.

In the next Scene in which you attempt to Intrude into the chosen Terminal or
Network, the hacker ring comes in via the Net to aid your efforts. Whenever in
the Scene you make a Hacking Throw targeting the chosen target, add +2d6 to
the Throw. This applies for both Intrusion, and to apply any Programs to the
target.

Using a hacking ring can bring more scrutiny from the authorities. At the end of
a Scene where your hacker ring aided you, you gain an additional +1 Heat.

Contact [Insider Knowledge] - 3 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Industry) 6+

You gain a Contact, a corporation that produces goods distributed in the region
in which you operate. You design the corporation, including what kind of
hardware it produces (weapons, vehicles, software etc), and how your
character is connected to the corporation. You might be an employee (former
or current), or have a personal connection to one of its engineers, or so on.

Your Network gains a library of digital documents including schematics and

test reports. A character that reads the documents while making a Skilled
Throw related to studying, analysing, predicting, or otherwise scrutinising the
corporation and its products Maximises half the dice rolled for the Skilled
Throw (rounded down).

Using company secrets can be dangerous, given they could leak onto the Net
and be tied back to you. At the end of a Scene where your Network was
Intruded into, or the digital documents are every handed to someone outside
your Network, you gain 2 Heat.
Contact [QE Relay] - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Industry) 3+

You gain a Contact, who through which you have access to a local QE Relay.
Through coordinating with this Contact, you can get your data packet put into
the QE Relay feed and sent to anywhere in the solar system instantly.

When you take this trait, design the Contact. The Contact might be an
administrator at the QE Relay, a hacker who maintains a backdoor into the
relay, or someone else who can get you access by some other means.

1/Mission, through using this Contact you can transmit a data packet via the
QE Relay, meaning it reaches the recipient almost instantly, regardless of where
they are, so long as they are not Faraday. Based on the importance of the
information, the Contact may make you fulXil their Condition.

The data packet can be up to 1 hour of video or audio, a complex schematic or

blueprint, a collection of related images and/or documents, or at the GM’s
discretion, other digital data of comparative size. If you want to send anything
larger, you gain between 1 and 3 Heat based on the size and sensitivity of the
data. The GM decides the amount of Heat gained, and informs you of the
decision before you send the data.

You can also use the QE Relay to attempt Hacking across a great distance
instantly.

Equipment
Hit Points
Hit Points represent the remaining durability of a piece of equipment. Hit Points
act very similar to Fortune, however they are only decreased by Physical
(External) Damage, or Physical (Internal) Damage dealt by Hacking. If a piece of
Equipment takes Damage, its Hit Points are reduced by that amount.

Equipment cannot have more Hit Points than the amount it is listed having, and
Hit Points cannot go lower than 0. When reduced to 0, the Equipment breaks.

The only Equipment that have Hit Points are ones that might be targeted by an
Attack; a vehicle or a drone, for example. Armour and Attire does not have Hit
Points.

When Equipment is reduced to 0 Hit Points, it ceases to function. Exactly how it

ceases to function depends on the narrative circumstances and the GM’s
narration; a vehicle’s engine might burst into Xlames, or a drone’s wings might
break.
Equipment regains all of its Hit Points at the start of a new Mission. Some
Equipment can regain Hit Points through other means as well, explained in their
sections.

Combining Equipment
It is possible for your character to treat a piece of Equipment as a Mod for
another piece of Equipment, potentially enabling conjunctive effects.
For example, the Equipment ‘Route Burner’, a device that plots a route through the
city, could be installed into a Vehicle as an advanced kind of GPS Mod.

Bartering Equipment
Equipment can be bartered for new Equipment in a Cold Scene. When you
engage in bartering, you exchange a piece of Equipment or a Mod in your
possession for another piece of Equipment or Mod that costs at least 1 expCOIN
less. You still have to Consume dice equal to the new Equipment’s expCOIN cost,
as if you were gaining the option through expending expCOIN.

Equipment worth 0 CP, such as Nicknacks, can be bartered for other objects that
would be valued at 0 CP, such as other Nicknacks, or for a favour.

Equipment & Looting

When you take an Equipment option, you’re not just taking the object itself.
You’re also arranging the infrastructure necessary to maintain the object, such as
getting a constant supply of bullets for a gun, or fuel for a vehicle.

For this reason if you pick up another character’s Equipment, you don’t
automatically add it to yours. The GM may allow you to use looted Equipment up
until the end of a Mission, but on subsequent Missions you will need to have
taken that Equipment option yourself.

Tools
Bug - 1 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Net-Linked
Repeatable V

This button-sized device can either record video, audio, or both, or it can
record another stimulus such as smell or pressure. You decide which the bug
records when you take this option.
Skill Tool - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Any) 3+
Repeatable II

You can take this option if you want an additional Skill Tool after the one gained
from your starting equipment.

Invent a tool or set of tools that’s relevant to the Skill you have a Skill Level in of
3 or higher. Examples of skill tools are:
• For the Medicine Skill, this might be a surgeon’s bag.
• For the Engineer Skill, this might be a tool kit.
• For Software, it might be computer kit assembled from old and new parts.

A Skill Tool enables you to apply the Tool Bonus to Skilled Throws with the
relevant Skill over a wide range of applications.

If the tool you choose uses electricity, it gains the Net-Linked keyword. If it’s a
tool that also connects to a Cyberbrain, it instead gains the Bionic keyword.

Minor Tool - 1 ExpCOIN

Repeatable IV

You can take this option if you want an additional Minor Tool after the one
gained from your starting equipment.

Invent a minor tool that’s personal to you. The tool is so simple that it only has
one purpose. That purpose can be recreational. Examples of minor tools are:
• Binoculars
• A crowbar
• A Xlashlight
• An umbrella
• A set of dice
• A pestle and mortar

A Minor Tool enables you to apply the Tool Bonus to Skilled Throws for speciXic
applications.

If the tool you choose uses electricity, it gains the Net-Linked keyword. If it’s a
tool that also connects to a Cyberbrain, it instead gains the Bionic keyword.
Artistic Tool - 1 ExpCOIN
Repeatable III

This option provides an artistic tool of your choice, from an acoustic guitar to
graphic design software.

The option generally encompasses all the additional things needed to ‘perform’
with the tool, such as a speaker for an electronic instrument.

If the artistic tool you choose uses electricity, it gains the Net-Linked keyword.
If it’s an electric artistic tool that also connects to a Cyberbrain, such as a
synadeck, it instead gains the Bionic keyword.

Climber’s Tools - 3 ExpCOIN

This option provides everything you need to scale a surface, such as pickaxes,
pitons, sturdy cable, clamps, and a harness. A pickaxe can be used as Short
Blade.

Provided you have the time to set them up, when using Climber’s Tools to gain a
Tool Bonus for an Athletics Throws to climb tall surfaces, your roll gains +2d6,
rather than the normal +1d6.

You can use the tools to place supports so if you slip you won’t fall to your
death, and sturdily afXix a rope to an ediXice to allow your allies to easily climb.

PsySig Reader - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Net-Linked

This hand-held device, when held up to the back of the head of someone with a
cyberbrain, tells you their unique PsySignature.

If connected to a Network with a list that registers PsySigs, such as the police’s
criminal database, the device will automatically relay data from that list on any
PsySigs read.
Origami Cover - 2 ExpCOIN

When folded, the Origami Cover is an A4-paper-sized, 1-inch deep rectangle of

folded bulletproof material with a handle and clasp, weighing 0.5kg.

In a Hot Round, you can Consume 2 to undo the clasp and place the Origami
Cover, at which point it automatically unfolds to become a 1m tall, 1m wide
piece of cover with angled sides.

So long it is placed on Xirm ground, an unfolded Origami Cover provides Hard

Cover against projectiles such as bullets, arrows, nails, and so on. It does not
provide any cover against Attacks that would blow away the lightweight
Origami Cover, such as explosions and sonic blasts.

The unfolded Origami Cover is lightweight, and can be carried at no cost to

moving, but it loses its ability to provide hard cover when not on solid ground.
If the Origami Cover is moved, it doesn’t provide hard cover until the start of its
mover’s next Turn. You can freely collapse the Origami Cover back into its
folded form at the end of Combat.

Route Burner - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Net-Linked

The ‘route burner’ is a handheld device connected to the various city mapping
and city planning AIs. You can use the route burner to map the quickest route
between two points, with a variety of parameters. For example, you can have
the route burner calculate the optimal route you should take if you are walking
or in a vehicle, but also you can have it calculate the truly optimal route if
you’re using acrobatic parkour, or piloting a Xlying object or small object like a
drone. While using a route burner, you have Advantage on any Skilled Throws
to try to get somewhere before someone else.

A route burner can also potentially reveal secret passages. Provided they were
on a digital Xile somewhere or have electricity run through them, the route
burner knows any and every passage.

Personal Conveyance - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Athletics) 3+

This option provides a means of personal analog conveyance of your choice,

such as a skateboard, rollerblades, or a scooter.

While using your personal conveyance, your Stride is raised while going along a
Xlat surface or downhill. You use the Athletics Skill to perform any complex
manoeuvres with your personal conveyance.
Personal Conveyance Mod: Cyberbrain Control - 1 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Bionic

You can control the personal conveyance directly from your cyberbrain, causing
the wheels (or other means of propulsion) to turn and steer just by thinking.
You can also use this Mod to remotely control the personal conveyance,
although when remotely controlled the personal conveyance is clumsy.

Personal Conveyance Mod: Rocket Boost - 1 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Net-Linked
Repeatable III

1/Mission, your Stride while using the Personal Conveyance becomes

Lightning for the duration of the Round.

Hacker Equipment
Some Hacker Equipment requires a Hacking Throw while it is connected via a
Hardline connection to have it apply its effects, representing the combined
physical preparation of the hardware and any improvised programming needed
to make the thing work. Provided you are Intruded into such Hacker Equipment
and you have an ally physically present to work with the Hardware, you can make
this Hacking Throw without being physically present yourself. The ally must
Consume dice equal to half the dice you expend on the Hacking Throw to
perform the physical tasks.

Silencer Clamp - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: A member of the Crew has the Trait (D-Rank Hacker)
Repeatable V

While this heavy, shoebox-sized device is connected via Hardline connection to

a Cyberbrain, that Cyberbrain is Faraday. The connection usually goes into a
wetport in the back of the neck, and is integrated into a lockable collar,
preventing removal.

A vital tool in high-value kidnapping, the Silencer Clamp is used to prevent little
piggies from squealing for help over the Net. Its weight and size can make it
cumbersome to use.
Hacker Cradle - 4 ExpCOIN
Requires: Trait (C-Rank Hacker)

This Trait gives your Crew an Asset called a Hacker Cradle, an assemblage of
hardware and software that hackers use to facilitate their hacking efforts. Some
hackers even give their Cradles life support, enabling them to remain ‘plugged
in’ for days on end.

The Hacker Cradle is set up in your base of operations, with a Hardline

connection to your Network Core.

While in the Hacker Cradle and connected to it via a Hardline connection, you
gain the following beneXits:
• The Hacker Cradle functions as a Visualiser.
• Whenever you make a Hacking Throw, add +1d6 to the Throw.
• When you take Physical (Internal) Damage from hacking, you can expend 1
Power to reduce that Damage by 1d6.
• You gain a +1d6 bonus to Software Throws to do with searching the Net.

A Hacker Cradle fully immerses you in the Net. While using one, your body does
not perceive the physical world.

Due to the Hacker Cradle having a Hardline connection to your Network Core,
while you have a Hardline connection to the Hacker Cradle, you can swap your
Terminal Intrusion ADC for your Network Intrusion ADC, as the per the
Hardline & Intrusion ADCs rule explained on Page 254.

Building Mapper - 3 ExpCOIN

Requires: A member of the Crew has the Trait (B-Rank Hacker)

If you connect this briefcase-sized device via a Hardline connection to a

Network Core, you can succeed on a Hacking Throw (DC 20/Warm) to have it
provide a live 3D image of the entire structure containing the Network Core
(such as a building) to your Network.

This 3D image includes any interior objects, and essentially gives any character
using the 3D image ‘X-ray’ vision of the structure and its contents.

The only things that don’t appear in the 3D image are objects and characters
that are Faraday.
Universal Recorder - 2 ExpCOIN

This option grants you an Asset called a Universal Recorder. The Universal
Recorder, once hooked up to your Network Core, allows for the recording of any
and all live data showing on the Network.

For example, if a character is using their bionic eyes to show the live feed of
their vision on your Network, the Universal Recorder can capture all of that
footage and save it for posterity.

Data recorded with the Universal Recorder, just like any normal recording, can
be edited.

A character needs to either Intruded into your Network or physically present at

your Network Core to select what live feeds are recorded, and when they start
and stop being recorded. Alternatively, you can have every live feed that goes
onto your Network recorded, although this may prove a double-edged sword;
anyone Intruded into your Network will see everything.

Puppet Plug - 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal, Taboo
Requires: A member of the Crew has the Trait (B-Rank Hacker)

On a successful Finesse Medicine Throw (DC 30/Cold), this deck of cards-sized

device can be inserted into the brain of a corpse to allow it to be remotely
controlled. The corpse becomes a Terminal in your Network, and while
Intruded into, anyone can fully and articulately control its body without having
to apply any Programs.

While controlling the corpse you must expend dice as you would normally to
act yourself. Due to controlling the corpse through a console and not physically
performing the actions yourself, Traits that would normally affect your actions
do not affect to the corpse’s actions.

The corpse must be relatively intact and fresh for the Puppet Plug to work.
Rotting muscles will prove hard to animate, plus visible decay would quickly
reveal the puppet for what it is. In addition, if what killed the corpse destroyed
their brain or nervous system, the Puppet Plug will be unable to work.

The Puppet Plug can be safely ripped from the head of a corpse to be reused.
Signal Interceptor - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: A member of the Crew has the Trait (C-Rank Hacker)

This device enables you to listen in on transmissions without the risks of

hacking.

This device comprises an object with a handle attached to a cone that opens
forwards attacked by cable to a briefcase-sized piece of hardware. This device
picks up any wireless transmissions (as in, transmissions sent without a
Hardline connection) that comprise audio, video, and/or text, sent by any
Terminals in a conical area in front of where the cone-and-handle object is
pointed.

Wireless transmissions are captured as data on the briefcase-sized hardware,

on which you can single out individual transmissions to replay.

Any transmissions that were encrypted (which most are) are still encrypted
when captured by this device. To decrypt a transmission, in a Warm Scene you
must succeed on a Hacking Throw, the DC of which is the Terminal Intrusion
ADC of the Terminal that sent the transmission.

QE Dummy Brain - 3 ExpCOIN

Requires: A member of the Crew has the Trait (C-Rank Hacker)

This is a pair of devices; a 500ml-bottle-sized cylinder that is the ‘QE dummy

brain’ and a thumb-sized ‘receiver’ that slots into a wetport. While the receiver
is in someone’s wetport, they count as having a Hardline connection to
anything with a Hardline connection to the QE dummy brain.
Psychic Hammer: Stiff Pattern - 4 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Illegal, Taboo
Requires: A member of the Crew has the Trait (C-Rank Hacker)

You have acquired a digital Xile of the ‘stiff pattern’, a visual pattern that induces
complete paralysis in any person who sees it. You have a special Xile-reader that
allows you to use the pattern as a digital image without it being revealed to you
provided you are careful, but you have no protections against the pattern if
transferred to reality (such as by printing), or if someone disables this Xile-
reader.

Anyone who sees the stiff pattern suffers a paralysing state comparable to an
epileptic Xit, but keeps their eyes open and Xixed on the pattern throughout. The
paralysing state remains until the pattern is no longer in view, meaning a
person can potentially die through starvation from being trapped staring at the
pattern.

Working with the stiff pattern is incredibly dangerous for this reason. The GM
is likely to have you make rolls to avoid destroying yourself with it.

Psychic Hammer: Dread Hum - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal, Taboo
Requires: A member of the Crew has the Trait (C-Rank Hacker)

This is a digital Xile of the ‘dread hum’, a high-pitched sound pattern that
induces an intense sense of doom and urge to Xlee in a person who listens to it.

The dread hum is high-pitched enough that it is imperceptible to typical

humans. Dogs will become greatly agitated by it.

A person who listens to the dread hum for at least 5 minutes develops a rising
feeling of doom that persists for days, and will try to leave and remain away
from the location in which they heard the hum during this time. Someone of an
anxious disposition may even resort to violence to try to get away from the
location.
Ghost Trap - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: A member of the Crew has the Trait (B-Rank Hacker)

While this palm-sized device is connected via Hardline connection to a

Terminal, if someone Intrudes into that Terminal having triggered its Ice, they
must immediately make a Hacking Throw (DC 20). On a failure, their digital
consciousness is sucked into and becomes trapped within this device. They
cease to be Intruded into anything else, and while trapped cannot make
Hacking Throws, and have no perception outside of the basic digital interface of
the device.

A switch on the device releases the ‘trap’ and frees the hacker’s digital
consciousness. This switch can be activated by another hacker Intruded into
this device.
Ego Transplanter - 4 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Illegal, Taboo
Requires: A member of the Crew has the Trait (A-Rank Hacker)

This set of equipment is two wastepaper-basket-sized cylinders, connected by

cables to a series of boxes. Each cylinder mounts on to a person’s head while
plugging into the wetports at the back of their neck.

This device allows you to transplant the mind, or ‘ghost’, of one person into the
body of another. While two people (one possibly being yourself) are hooked up
to it a cylinder being mounted on each of their heads, you can make a Hacking
Throw (DC 40/Cold).

On a success, you can do one of the following:

• Have the minds of the characters hooked up swap bodies, causing their
Drivers, Skills, and any non-physical Traits to swap. When you do so, the
character with the highest Clarity Score makes a Clarity Save. On a failed Save,
both characters have their Fortune reduced to 0 and gain the Stigma ‘Ego
Fracture’ (explained on Page 251), with the characters trading a random
Driver.
• Have the mind of one of the characters erase and replace the mind of the
other character to create a double (in mind, but not in body). As a result the
character being doubled has their Drivers replace the Drivers of the character
having their mind erased, as well as their Skills and any non-physical Traits.
When you do so, the character being ‘doubled’ makes a Clarity Save. On a
failed Save, while the process of creating your double works, both characters
have their Fortune reduced to 0 and gain the Stigma ‘Ego Fracture’, with the
original and the double each randomly replacing one of their Drivers with a
random Driver from the character whose mind was erased. Given this means
the person’s mind is irreparably lost, this process is tantamount to murder of
the soul, a highly transgressive act. A double of yourself won’t necessarily
cooperate with you - refer to the Perfect Existential Ego rules on Page 252.

If the Score for the Hacking Throw was 50 or higher, any Clarity Saves made are
made on Advantage. If the Score was 60 or Higher, any Clarity Saves are
automatically successful.

If the Hacking Throw is a failure, there is a disaster as both characters have

their ghosts collide. The GM takes the six Drivers between the two characters
and randomly assigns them to the two characters’ bodies until both have three
Drivers each.

Unless each character is lucky enough to regain their three original Drivers,
what emerges from the process are mental jigsaws of two people. If you were
caught in this process, this effectively ends your Punk, as there is no ‘you’ to
keep playing as.
Cold Storage - 2 ExpCOIN
Repeatable III

You have a miniature faraday cage within which is data storage, held in a
location (possibly secret) of your choosing. Cold Storage is permanently
Faraday, and the data on it can only be accessed via a Hardline connection.

Being completely disconnected from your Network, it can be used to safely

store data where hackers won’t be able to Xind it (at least, not via the Net).
Being constantly disconnected from your Network, the Cold Storage has the
minimum Terminal Intrusion ADC of 10, and no Ice.

The Cold Storage is too heavy to carry around in a Warm or Hot Scene without
lowering your Stride. You can choose to Consume 2 in a Cold Round to relocate
a Cold Storage.

Data Storage - 1 ExpCOIN

Repeatable V

You have a piece of hardware that can store any amount of data you choose to
put on it. It is about the size of a hardback book, and modern components mean
data on it cannot become corrupted due to weathering or overuse.

Hacker Cradle Mod: Penetration Gauge - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Trait (A-Rank Hacker)

While you are in the Hacker Cradle and connected to it via a Hardline
connection, you gain the following additional beneXit:
Whenever a hacker suffers Ice from attempting to Intrude into your Network,
your Cyberbrain, or a Terminal that you are currently Intruded into, you learn
the Score for the Hacking Throw for the Intrusion.

Animals
In the options descriptions, the basic Actions available to the animal in Combat
are listed, by these lists are not exhaustive of what an animal can do.

Animal Hit Points

Animals have Hit Points like other equipment that may be attacked. When
reduced to 0 Hit Points, an animal becomes Incapacitated, like a character would
when reduced to 0 Fortune.

Unless a particularly vile character goes out of the way to kill an animal, being
reduced to 0 Hit Points represents the animal only becoming too injured to Xight.

Release/Return
If you want your animal to move somewhere, attack an enemy, carry something
from point A to point B, or anything else beyond stay by your side, it needs to be
Released. When an animal is Released it is set loose, and acts by obeying your
commands in the Xield. While Released, your animal may become a target for
Attacks, particularly if you’re commanding it to attack your enemies.

Once you no longer want your animal Released, you Return it. An animal needs to
be nearby to be Returned, but doesn’t have to be adjacent to you.

While Returned, you do not Consume dice for the animal to do anything; it moves
as you move, sticking to your side. Generally an animal that is Returned is not a
target for attacks. Any Physical Damage (including Damage from a weapon with
the Blast property) you take is not dealt to the animal.

You can freely Release an animal, but must Consume 2 to Return an animal.

Controlling Animals
While an animal is Released, you Consume dice to give it commands. The animal
needs to be able to see and hear you to receive your commands; if unable to see
or hear new commands, it will either wait and hide, or continue with its
previously-commanded course of action.

An animal needs to have the necessary intelligence to understand the

command.
For example, you can’t get a dog to press a series of numbers on a keypad by
shouting out the numbers - a dog doesn’t know what numbers are.

When you Consume dice, the animal expends those dice like you would from
your Dice Pool, using them to Consume or Throw to perform actions in the
narrative. However, for each 1 dice you Consume, the animal Throws or
Consumes 2 dice.
For example, if you Consumed 2 to command your animal to Attack, (assuming it
had no modiLiers to Attack Throws) it would Throw 4d6.

For each animal you control, you can Consume a maximum of 5 dice per Round to
command it. The 2 dice you Consume to Return an animal does not count
towards this maximum of 5 dice Consumed.

Like characters, animals have Stride to determine their speed of movement,

which the GM can use to calculate how much you must Consume to move the
animal a certain distance. Given each 1 dice you Consume becomes 2 Consumed
dice for the animal, you will only need to Consume half the amount of dice the
GM calculates to have the animal move to a location (rounded down).

While in Combat, you can command an animals to do an Action (such as

Move or Attack) as an Action, and command an animal to do a Reaction
(such as Dodge) as a Reaction.
Dog - 3 ExpCOIN
Requires: Skill (Survival or Warfare) 3+
Repeatable II
Hit Points: 15
Toughness: +0
Finesse: -1
Speed: +1
Action: Move.
Stride: Fast

Action: Attack with Bite.

Range: Melee
Attack Throw: [double what you Consumed]+1d6
AP: 0
Damage: 1d6 Physical (External) Damage
Special: If the dog hits and deals at least 1 Damage, the target makes a
Toughness Save. On a failed Save, they are Stunned.

Action: Return.
Consume 2. The dog, provided it is nearby, returns to your side.
Reaction: Dodge.
Dodge Throw: [double what you Consumed]+2d6
Dogs are easy to train, but aren’t capable of understanding complex commands.

Dogs have keen senses and keener noses. Having a dog increases your
Awareness by 5, and Investigate Throws to keep watch have Advantage. In
addition any Skilled Throws that utilise smell, such as tracking someone or
searching for clues by odour, are made on Advantage.

Dogs automatically fail any Clarity or Intellect Saves they make.

A Lierce guard, a loyal servant, a closest friend.

War Pig - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Net-Linked
Requires: Skill (Warfare) 6+
Hit Points: 20
Toughness: +1
Finesse: +0
Speed: +0
Intellect: -1
Action: Move.
Stride: Fast

Action: Attack with Bite.

Range: Melee
Attack Throw: [double what you Consumed]+2d6
AP: 0
Damage: 2d6 Physical (External) Damage

Action: Return.
Consume 2. The war pig, provided it is nearby, returns to your side.
Reaction: Dodge.
Dodge Throw: [double what you Consumed]+1d6
War pigs are genetically, bionically and neurally augmented boars. Their
intelligence is sufXicient to understand relatively complex commands. For
example, the war pig recognises the numbers 1-10, and understands a wide
range of words for different objects.

Physical (External) Damage the war pig takes is reduced by 2.

War pigs have keen noses. Having a war pig grants any Skilled Throws that
utilise smell, such as tracking someone or searching for clues by odour,
Advantage.

War pigs automatically fail any Clarity Saves they make.

If you have a Cyberbrain, you can send commands to the war pig via Bcomms.

Dog Mod: War Dog - 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Net-Linked

The dog has its limbs and lower jaw replaced by hardier, stronger bionic
equivalents. The dog gains the following beneXits:
• The modded dog’s Toughness increases to +1, which in turn increases its
Attack Throw modiXier from +1d6 to +2d6.
• The modded dog’s Bite Damage changes from 1d6 to 2d3.
• The dog’s Stride becomes Lightning.
• Physical (External) Damage the dog takes is reduced by 2.

If you have a Cyberbrain, you can send commands to the modded dog via
Bcomms.
Animal Mod: Bionic Senses - 2 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Net-Linked

The animal has its eyes and ears replaced by bionics, which can share a live
feed of what they’re seeing and hearing on your Network. The eyes and ears
cannot record.

Drugs & Stims

You must Consume 2 to take a drug or stim in a Hot Scene. In other temperatures
taking them is quick enough that you do not need to expend dice.

Optional Rule: Addiction

If the GM thinks your character has been using one or several of the Drugs &
Stims too frequently, they may require your character to make a Toughness
Save to resist becoming addicted.

Whenever a character who is addicted is in a situation where they could

reasonably use their drug of choice, they must, unless they succeed on a Clarity
Save.

Combat Stims - 3 ExpCOIN

Repeatable III
Keywords: Bionic, Organic, Illegal

1/Scene, while in Combat, you can expend 1 Power to take a dose of combat
stims. For the duration of the Combat in which you take it, you gain the
following effects:
• Your sense of pain is greatly dulled, without inhibiting motor functions.
Whenever you take Physical (External) Damage, reduce that Damage by 2.
• 1/Round, you can add +1d6 to a Dodge Throw or an Attack.
• You automatically succeed on Clarity Throws and Saves to resist fear or
similar mental states, and you are immune to the effects of Traits such as
Suppressive Fire, which rely on a person’s instincts and fear to work.
• You cannot willingly move any further away from enemies involved in the
Combat, nor can you take any actions to try to diffuse or stop the Combat.

If you suffer a Crisis while under the effects of Combat Stims, the Stigma is
particularly severe, on the level of a 3rd Stigma.

As cyborgs began to dominate the Californian front, the NAU worked nanite
alchemy to raise their ordinary troops to the cyborg level, or at least stop them
from retreating. Some attribute the Golf Club Slaughter to nanite overexposure.
Acuity Booster - 2 ExpCOIN
Repeatable III

1/Mission, you can intake a dose of acuity booster. For the duration of the
Scene in which you take it, you have Advantage on any Skilled Throw to notice
visual details.

Some examples of where you would have Advantage would be: noticing a tiny
Xleck of blood at a crime scene with an Investigate Throw, detecting brief and
small facial expressions with a Converse Throw, or noticing an incongruity in a
computer program with a Software Throw.

One of the few Silicon Valley technologies to survive both The Crash and the west
coast’s occupation is nootropics, proving popular amongst the Chinese middle
class.

Mood Inhibitors - 1 ExpCOIN

Repeatable III

1/Mission, you can intake a dose of mood inhibitor. For the duration of the
Scene in which you take it, any Mental Damage you take is halved (rounded
down).

Mood inhibitors dull all emotional reactions. While under their effect, the GM
may impose Disadvantage to Throws that rely on empathy, emotional
intelligence, and so on.

Drugs formed the backbone of both the Russia and American terror campaigns, to
inure the soldiers to the horror of their own deeds. The empathy blocker Thymicin
was particularly rife.

Memory Blockers - 2 ExpCOIN

Repeatable III

1/Mission, you can intake a dose of memory blockers. For the duration of the
next 3 Warm Rounds or Hot Scene in which you take it, your short term
memory does not become long term memory. Anything you experience in those
Warm Rounds or that Hot Scene is forgotten at the start of the next Round or
Scene.
 Waking Hallucinogens - 2 ExpCOIN

Waking hallucinogens induce strong visual and auditory hallucinations while

not impairing thought or motor skills. They have no set rules and their
applications are typically recreational. However for some, uniting the
dreamworld with the waking can provide insight.

If you have the Pierced Veil Driver, this drug heightens the effect of that Driver.

Recreational Substance - 2 ExpCOIN

Invent a recreational drug or stimulant, including its effects. This option grants
you enough of the substance for personal consumption, but not enough for
distribution.

Attire
Civilian Clothing - N/A

Civilian clothing is one of the pieces of Equipment all characters get during
Character Creation, and cannot be taken separately.

In 2044, most people will wear a mix of hand-me-downs and durable,

government-issue clothes, or just their work clothes. Personal expression only
extends as far as the cultural artefacts a person has inherited.

Elite Clothing - 2 ExpCOIN
Repeatable III

Elite clothing can be a suit, a dress, ceremonial military attire, a habit for a
religious authority, or any other article of clothing that is both of sophisticated
make and provides an air of authority. You choose what the elite clothing looks
like when you get this option. Elite clothing provides no mechanical beneXit,
however being able to look like an elite can be narratively beneXicial.

Camo - 2 ExpCOIN

When you take this option, choose a type of terrain. It might be Urban, Snow,
Forest, or another option of your choosing.

When using Camo to gain a Tool Bonus for a Stealth Throw made in the chosen
terrain, your roll gains +2d6, rather than the normal +1d6. If using the Camo to
gain a Tool Bonus for a Stealth Throw made in a different terrain to the one
chosen, you don’t gain a bonus.
Diving Kit - 2 expCOIN

A diving kit provides everything necessary for you to breathe and have mobility
underwater. In taking this option, you also learn how to competently operate
the diving kit.

The ‘Nachun’ line of aqualungs circumvent the mouth entirely, with the artiLicial
gills worn like a jacket. A simple surgery allows for the oxygen to be piped
through the armpit straight into the trachea.

Thermoptic Cloak - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal, Net-Linked

This bodysuit and attached hooded cloak, while worn and activated, renders
you invisible, both to vision that relies on light, such as normal sight and
nightvision, and to thermal detection such as heatvision. You have Advantage
on Stealth Throws while the thermoptic cloak is activated.

You can expend 1 Power to activate the cloak, and can deactivate it freely.

The ‘invisibility’ this attire provides doesn’t keep you hidden while there is a lot
of matter in the surroundings. Examples of ‘matter’ are rain, snow, heavy
smoke, and so on.

Null Cloth - 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal, Taboo

While wearing Null Cloth, provided you are your appearance is concealed on all
electronic visual sensors, masking your identity. On common CCTV, you appear
as a collection of black blocks. On more sophisticated cameras or bionic eyes,
you appear as a blurry artefact.

This does not make you invisible – anyone looking at the visual feed can tell
someone is there being obscured. Null Cloth does not affect the ability of
someone with bionic eyes to hit you with an attack.

Null Cloth is a double-edged sword – security AIs know to recognise patches of

visual data are missing from their feeds, and may automatically raise the alarm
in response to Xilming Null Cloth.

A QI material design leaked in the Flashfry Incident, Null Cloth while moving
emits a sequence of lighting that is meaningless to the human eye, but causes
errors in electronic visual data.
Survival Suit - 2 ExpCOIN

When you take this option, choose a type of terrain. It might be Desert,
Mountains, Tundra, Forest, or another option of your choosing.

You gain a +2d6 to all Survival Throws made in the chosen terrain while
wearing the survival suit.

In the solar Lields of the Arabian desert, technomads are said to drink the water of
their sweat and urine, harvested by their very clothes.

Attire Mod: Armoured Lining - 2 ExpCOIN

While wearing the modded attire, increase your Armour by +1d3.

Civilian Clothing Mod: Subcultural Fashion - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Art) 3+

Your clothes are the products of a subculture, a tiny, close-knit community of

enthusiastic creatives who have literally starved themselves for their art,
having bought their materials through skimming off of their Universal Basic.

When you take this mod, decide what your subcultural aesthetic looks like.
While not conferring any mechanical beneXits, the modded clothes make you
stand out from the crowd, which can have upsides and downsides.

As part of taking this mod, you gain a Contact; your textiles group. While not
politically powerful, such as group will involve a mix of talents; people who
oversee procurement, people with the conXidence to model the clothes,
dedicated artisans in textiles, design, jewellery, and so on.

Civilian Clothing Mod: Double-Sided - 1 ExpCOIN

When you take this Mod, either take (and pay for) a separate Attire option from
the below list, or choose a separate Attire option you have already taken from
the below list.
Camo
Elite Clothing
Null Cloth

That choice is now on the inverse of your normal clothes, without the civilian
clothing being uncomfortable or appearing misshapen. You can easily invert the
modded attire to alternate between what the outward appearance of your
clothes, and the resultant effect, is.

Armour
If you have a Cyberbrain, your Armour incorporates wetports.

Light Armour - 3 ExpCOIN

While worn, your Armour is increased by +1d6.

CASU’s origami-principle armour has proven so effective (meaning: cheap) that

other blocs have opted to entirely steal the design.

Heavy Armour - 4 ExpCOIN

While worn, you gain the following effects:

• Your Armour is increased by +2d6.
• Your Speed Score is reduced by -1.
• Lower your Stride.
(Plodding <––– Slow <––– Normal –––> Fast –––> Lightning)

Floating ceramic plates over bags of impact gel makes for very effective, if heavy,
modern armour.

Shield - 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Toughness 1+

The shield requires one hand to hold. While held, the shield increases your
Armour by +1d3.

Light Armour or Heavy Armour Mod: - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Body (Military Cyborg) & Skill (Warfare) 6+

This exosuit Xits onto the side of the legs, and absorbs some of the impact from
a fall. Coupled with military-grade bionic legs, provided you land on your feet
you cannot suffer an injury from colliding with the ground, regardless of the
height from which you fell.

Light Armour or Heavy Armour Mod: Powered Defence - 2 expCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

While wearing the modded armour, your Stride can be no higher than Normal.

At the start of any Scene, you can choose to expend 1 Power. If you do, for that
Scene while wearing the modded armour, increase your Armour by +1d6.

Zu plating microadjusts its lattice of scales as it’s being struck, actively

contouring itself to better deLlect bullets and blows. The system is so exorbitantly
expensive its only purchasers are the bodyguards of the few surviving Saudi
royals.
Light Armour or Heavy Armour Mod: Hacking Platform - 2 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Bionic

The Armour’s helmet functions as a Visualiser.

When you take Physical (Internal) Damage from hacking, such as the Shock
Program, you can expend 1 Power to reduce that Damage by 1d3.

Light Armour or Heavy Armour Mod: Powered Strength - 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

At the start of any Scene, you can choose to expend 1 Power. If you do, for that
Scene while wearing the modded armour, increase your Toughness by +1. In
addition for that Scene, your Unarmed Attacks deal an additional 1d3 Physical
(External) Damage.

DONGFENG’s exoskeletons have since been reworked for industrial applications,

but their foundation in warfare is obvious to any skilled engineer. It doesn’t take
much tinkering to turn their application to violent ends.

Light Armour or Heavy Armour Mod: Fearsome Image - 1 ExpCOIN

While wearing the modded armour in any Warm or Hot Scene, you have
advantage on Dominate Throws focused on terrifying people.

In the terror campaigns along the west coast front, the image of the terrifying
cyborg was enhanced as helmets become snarling faces with glowing-red eyes,
and bionic limbs had their synthetic skin Llayed to reveal the raw artiLicial Llesh.

Heavy Armour Mod: Pyroproof - 2 ExpCOIN

While wearing the modded armour, any Physical Damage you would take
(including Internal) from Xire or intense heat is halved (rounded down, possibly
to 0).

Heavy Armour Mod: Impenetrable Coating - 2 ExpCOIN

AP cannot lower the Armour the modded armour provides to any lower than
+1d6.

Weaponry
Weaponry requires a number of additional rules, detailed below.
Range
Range denotes the distances the weapon can effectively hit targets at. There are
four Ranges:

Melee. Melee range covers melee attacks, which are generally adjacent to or at
least very near the target.
Short. Short range covers ranged attacks from adjacent to around 50 meters
away. When Xighting with ranged weapons in enclosed spaces like the rooms of a
building, you’ll almost always be within the Short range.
Medium. Medium range covers ranged attacks from 50 to around 300 meters
away.
Long. Long range covers ranged attacks beyond 300 meters.

Attacks made at the melee range are called ‘melee attacks’, and attacks made at
the short, medium, and long ranges are called ‘ranged attacks’.

Some rules mention ‘an adjacent attack’ - attacking with a melee weapon or short
ranged weapon while next to the target would both count as an adjacent attack.

A weapon can hit any target that is within any of the Ranges it possesses.
For example a Shotgun has the Ranges ‘Short/Medium’, so can target anything
between point blank to 300 meters away. Anything further cannot be hit by the
Shotgun.

If a Range is surrounded by dashes (for example ‘–Short–‘), this means Attacks at

this Range are made on Disadvantage.

Note the rule about Point Blank Ranged Attacks explained on Page 233, which
states ranged attacks targeting an adjacent target are made on Disadvantage.

The GM has Xinal say on what Range is being used when Attacking.

Damage
Weapons deal either Physical (External) Damage (shortened to ‘P(E)’) or Physical
(Internal) Damage (shortened to ‘P(I)’).

Damage is explained on Page 235.

Armour Piercing (AP)

Some weapons already have an AP higher than 0, and several Mods can increase
a weapon’s AP.

The rules for Armour Piercing are explained on Page 237.

Properties
Properties are the more speciXic qualities of certain weapons.

1H & 2H
1H and 2H represent whether the weapon needs to be held with one or two
hands to be used effectively. You can make an Attack with a two-handed weapon
using only one hand, however the Attack has Disadvantage if you do.

Burst
When you Attack with a weapon with the Burst property, you can choose to
reduce the Magazine by an additional 1 before you roll the Attack. When you do
so, also before you roll the Attack, choose one of the following options:
• You choose to have your burst trained on the target of the Attack. You and the
target roll your Attack Throw and Dodge Throw as normal, but if the target is
hit, you roll Damage for the Attack a second time. Each instance of Damage
applies separately, with each Damage roll having Armour rolled against it.
• You choose to have your burst of Xire extend to an additional target near the
initial target of the Attack. You only make one Attack Throw, but the Attack
applies to both targets as if you’d made two Attacks. Each target rolls their
Dodge Throw separately, and takes Damage if hit as normal.

Blast
When you Attack with a weapon with the Blast property, the single Attack you
are making applies to all characters within a spherical area. The size of this area
is up to the nature of the explosion causing the Blast, and the GM determines in
the moment how many characters are caught up in the Blast.

Deliberately Vague Blast Rules

In ECOPUNK, the mechanics serve the narrative, not the other way around. The
rules for Blast have been deliberately left vague so that the game doesn’t get
bogged down in determining precise measurements.

Spray
When you Attack with a weapon with the Spray property, the single Attack you
are making applies to all characters within a 45 degree cone originating from
your weapon.

You only make one roll for the Attack, which all targets make independent Dodge
Throws against. You make a single Damage roll for all targets hit.

Magazine [X]
The Magazine property represents how many times the weapon can be used, due
to expending bullets, fuel, electrical charge, or something else in its usage. At the
start of Combat, a weapon’s Magazine is set to X. A weapon’s Magazine cannot
exceed this number.

Whenever you Attack with the Weapon, you reduce its Magazine by 1. When a
Weapon’s Magazine reaches 0, you cannot Attack with the weapon again until
you Reload (explained below).

In any Warm or Cold Round, a weapon’s Magazine is not counted – the narrative
pace is slow enough that reloading doesn’t occupy time in the narrative.
Magazine does not literally represent how many bullets the Xirearm holds. A
single Attack can mechanically represent what is several shots being Xired in the
narrative.

Reload [Consume Y]
In Combat you can take the Reload Action, where you Consume dice equal to Y to
return the Magazine of a weapon you’re holding to its maximum, as deXined by its
Magazine property.

Characters are generally assumed to carry enough ammunition to cover the

Mission, but the GM may impose limits on how many times you can Reload based
on the narrative.

Heavy
Attacks with a Heavy weapon are made on Disadvantage unless you have a
Toughness Score of 1 or more.

Unwieldy
You cannot make more than one Attack with an Unwieldy weapon per Round.

Melee Weapons
Attacks with melee weapons are modiXied by the Toughness Aspect.

Long Blade - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Range Damage AP Properties
Melee 2d6 P(E) 0 2H
The expansion of militarism has seen the sword return as ceremonial regalia, and
rumours spread that within low-lit alleyways of the modern metropolis, some
wield such weapons in earnest.

Short Blade - 1 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Concealable
Range Damage AP Properties
Melee 1d6 P(E) 0 1H
The kitchen knife forms an integral part of the criminal ecosystem; long enough
to be a practical weapon, short enough to conceal, and legal to own.

Industrial Tool - 2 ExpCOIN

Range Damage AP Properties
 Melee 3d6 P(E) 1 2H, Heavy,
Unwieldy
This weapon is bulky and cumbersome enough that swinging it opens you up to
counterattack. After you make an Attack with this weapon, Attacks at melee
range targeting you have Advantage against you until the start of your next
Turn.

Stealth Weapon - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal, Concealable
Range Damage AP Properties
Melee 1d6 P(E) 0 1H
When you Attack with this weapon, you make a Finesse Attack, as opposed to
the normal Toughness.

If you use this weapon to Attack from Hidden, the total rolled for the Damage is
doubled, and its AP increases by 1.

Garrotte wire, a stiletto knife, even a humble razor blade…

Throwing Weapon - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal, Concealable
Range Damage AP Properties
Melee/Short 1d6 P(E) 0 1H

Melee Weapon Mod: Mono Edge – 1 ExpCOIN

The modded weapon increases its AP by 1. However, the mono edge is fragile -
if a 1 is rolled on any of the dice rolled for Damage dealt with the modded
weapon, the effect of this mod is lost until the mono edge is repaired or the
Mission ends.
Long Blade Mod: Draw Tech – 2 ExpCOIN
Requires: Aspect (Finesse) 1+

1/Scene, at the start of your Turn, you can choose to expend 1 Power to charge
this mod, which stays charged until the end of the Scene.

While charged, you can unsheathe and Attack with the modded weapon in a
single motion, with the mod providing acceleration and power to the swing.
When you do so, you ignore the normal Consume 2 required to draw a weapon
and make an Attack with the modded weapon. For that Attack, you gain a +1d6
to the Attack roll, and the AP increases by 1.

To repeatedly use this mod, you will need to Consume 2 to resheathe the
modded weapon each time.

Long Blade or Short Blade Mod: Cutting Edge Tech – 2 ExpCOIN

1/Scene, at the start of your Turn, you can choose to expend 1 Power to
activate this mod. If you do, for the remainder of the current Scene the modded
weapon deals an extra +1d6 Damage.

Long Blade or Short Blade Mod: Signature Weapon – 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Signature

When you (and only you) make an Attack with the modded weapon, add +1d6
to the Attack Throw.

Due to the Signature keyword, if you lose the modded weapon, a replacement
weapon does not have this mod.

Singapore’s ‘Live Ripper’ infamously livestreamed his kills, with a camera

mounted to the knifehilt and the comments projected onto the blade’s side -
donate enough and your comment was the one sunk into the victim.
Short Blade Mod: Trick Projectile – 1 ExpCOIN

The modded weapon has a special blade that can be silently launched as a
projectile. You may make an Attack with the modded weapon at the Short
Range. The Attack, as a ranged Attack relying on precise aiming, is modiXied by
Finesse.

Once you Xire the modded weapon in this way you cannot use it to Attack again
until you retrieve the launched blade and Consume 2 to reattach it to the
handle.

The Trick Projectile’s mechanism is hidden, and can easily catch someone by
surprise. The Attack with the Trick Projectile is made on Advantage if the
character you’re attacking has lowered their guard.

Short Blade or Long Blade Mod: Psychic Hammer: Erotic Edge – 2 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Illegal, Taboo

Anyone cut by the modded weapon enters a combat high, where they are
compelled to Xight you to the death, ignoring other impulses and objectives
such as Xleeing or following orders. A character will only try to resist this effect
if pushed by an outside inXluence, at which point they make a Clarity Save. On a
success, this psychic hammer no longer has an effect on them. This effect ends
at the end of the Scene regardless.

Your weapon incorporates a Neural Row Hammer, commonly called a ‘Psychic

Hammer’, speciLically one where the weapon has a particular pattern to the shape
of its edge and its serration that stimulates the parts of the brain that deal with
sex and violence.

Melee Weapon Mod: Poisoned – 3 ExpCOIN

Repeatable II

A character that takes at least 1 Damage from the modded weapon makes a
Toughness Save at the start of each of their Turns. On a failure, they take 1d3
Physical (Internal) Damage.
Long Blade Mod: Concealed – 1 ExpCOIN
Keyword: Concealable

The modded weapon, when sheathed, looks like an inconspicuous, mundane

object. The length of the blade is also coated in stealth plating that makes it
undetectable to sensors such as metal detectors, X-rays, spacial mapping,
infrared, and so on.

The blade can be Xlexible when sheathed to enable the concealment - for
example, you could hide the blade within a belt.

Firearms
As ranged weapons, Attacks with Xirearms are modiXied by the Finesse Aspect.

All Firearms have the Illegal keyword.

Modern Xirearms are generally considered to be waterproof, dirt proof, and

vacuum-proof.

Handgun - 2 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Illegal, Concealable
Range Damage AP Properties
Short/–Medium– 2d6 P(E) 0 1H, Magazine [3], Reload
[Consume 2]

Attacks with this weapon made at point blank range ignore the Point Blank
Ranged Attacks rule on Page 233, so are not made on Disadvantage (unless
Disadvantage comes from a different source).

A thousand-thousand handguns returned from the war, borne by its dispossessed

soldiers. Since then these metal seeds have sown themselves in the homeland, and
the roots of violence grow once again.

Shotgun - 3 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Illegal
Range Damage AP Properties
Short/Medium 3d6 P(E) 1 2H, Magazine [3],
Reload [Consume 3]

“CASU’s H37 is a great shotgun - reliable, accurate, able to take a bite out of
concrete. Good for killing Russians.”

Assault RiYle - 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Range Damage AP Properties
 Short/Medium/–Long– 2d6 P(E) 0 2H, Burst, Magazine [6],
Reload [Consume 4]

There were fantasies at the start of the war about futuristic weaponry; lasers,
railguns, plasma… while these technologies exist, and some have even found their
niches, amidst a resource crisis the humble chemistry of the bullet won out.

Machine Gun - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Range Damage AP Properties
Short/Medium/–Long– 2d6 P(E) 0 2H, Heavy, Magazine [3],
Reload [Consume 6], Spray,
Unwieldy

At the end of each Turn in which you made an attack with the machine gun,
note the amount of dice rolled for the Attack and the direction you Attacked in.

If, before the start of your next Turn, a character in the machine gun’s cone of
Spray moves out of Cover, you immediately make an Attack against that
character. The number of dice rolled for that Attack is equal to the noted
amount of dice. You do not expend any dice for this Attack.

A twig snapped, and suddenly the jungle became a storm.

Sniper RiYle - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Range Damage AP Properties
–Short–/Medium/Long 3d6 P(E) 2 2H, Magazine [3], Reload
[Consume 6]

“Bret had started calling it his ‘elephant gun’, after going on about how he and his
daddy had come here previously to hunt them. He got aggravated after Brown
pointed out we were here to kill Chinese and Indians, and the Africans were on
our side.”

EM Cannon - 4 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Illegal, Net-Linked
Range Damage AP Properties
Short/Medium/-Long- Special 0 2H, Magazine [3], Reload
[Consume 9]
On a hit, an EM Cannon deals 3d6 Physical (Internal) Damage, but only to
electronic Equipment with Hit Points such as drones or vehicles.

Whenever you make a ranged Attack with this weapon targeting a small
electronic object such as a drone, add +1d6 to the Throw.

A piece of Equipment that doesn’t have Hit Points that is hit by an Attack with
the EM Cannon becomes Faraday until the start of the Equipment-user’s next
Turn, or the start of your next Turn - whichever comes Xirst.

Handgun Mod: Microweapon – 2 ExpCOIN

The modded weapon is much smaller and lighter than its normal counterpart.
In addition it can be collapsed to the size of a deck of cards.

All of the d6s in the modded weapon’s damage dice become d3s, including any
additional gained through other Mods and other effects.

Microassemblies and QI materials have birthed a generation of small yet lethal

Lirearms favoured by assassins.

Handgun or Shotgun Mod: Rapid Fire – 2 ExpCOIN

The modded weapon gains the Burst property. If it’s a Handgun, its Reload
becomes Reload [Consume 4]. If it’s a Shotgun, its Reload becomes Reload
[Consume 6].

Handgun, Assault RiYle, or Sniper RiYle Mod: Tranq Gun – 2 ExpCOIN

The modded weapon cannot have an AP higher than 0, loses the Burst property,
and can only deal 1d6 Damage. However, when a character takes Damage from
the modded weapon, they make Toughness Saves at the start of each of their
Turns. On each failed Save, the character takes 2d6 Physical (Internal) Damage,
and falls unconscious due to the tranquilliser when reach 0 Fortune.

In a Warm or Cold Round in which a character takes Damage from an Attack

from the modded weapon, that character falls unconscious within the same
Round.
Assault RiYle or Sniper RiYle Mod: Railgun – 4 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Bionic

While holding the modded weapon, you can Consume 3 and expend either 1 or
2 Power. On the next Attack you make with the modded weapon, increase the
AP of the Attack by 2 if you expended 1 Power, or 3 if you expended 2 Power. If
you expend 2 Power, also increase that Attack’s Damage by +1d6.

If you used this mod but haven’t made an Attack, the effect ends at the end of
Combat.

Firearm Mod: Advanced Silencer – 2 ExpCOIN

The modded weapon produces sound no louder than a snap of the Xingers
when it Xires.

They’ll never admit it, but Ruben’s ‘inLinite eddy problem’ was actually solved by
mass research from Net users. The applications - such as the complete silencing of
ballistics - were also Ligured out by denizens of the Net before the German
Military.

Firearm Mod: Heavy Ammo – 3 ExpCOIN

The modded weapon deals an extra 1d6 Damage, and loses its furthest Range.

Putting superheavy jackets on bullets is now considered a war crime for the
horrendous internal injuries and poisoning it inLlicts. Hasn’t made them any
harder to buy.

Firearm Mod: AP Rounds [Supply of 1] – 1 ExpCOIN

Repeatable V

1/Mission, whenever you Reload the modded weapon, you can choose to
instead load a magazine of Armour Piercing rounds. For that magazine, the
weapon’s AP increases by 1. This effect is lost when you next Reload the
weapon.

“That’s what happens when you use HP bullets in one of these things.”

Firearm Mod: Knockout Rounds [Supply of 1] – 2 ExpCOIN

Repeatable V

1/Mission, whenever you Reload the modded weapon, you can choose to
instead load a magazine of Knockout rounds. For that magazine, if an Attack
with the weapon deals at least 1 Damage the target is Stunned. This effect is
lost when you next Reload the weapon.
Firearm Mod: Explosive Rounds [Supply of 1] – 2 ExpCOIN
Repeatable V

1/Mission, whenever you Reload the modded weapon, you can choose to
instead load a magazine of Explosive rounds. For that magazine, the weapon’s
Damage increases by 1d6. This effect is lost when you next Reload the weapon.

Firearm Mod: Stealth Plating – 2 ExpCOIN

The modded weapon is undetectable to sensors such as metal detectors, X-rays,

spacial mapping, infrared, and so on.

Firearm Mod: Mag Grip – 2 ExpCOIN

Sister magnetic plates in your gloves and on the grip(s) of the modded weapon
allow the weapon to ‘Xly’ into your hands. When you Consume 2 to draw the
modded weapon, you can activate the mag grip. While the mag grip is active,
you cannot be disarmed of the modded weapon.

You can have this Mod gain the Bionic keyword to gain the additional effect: If
the modded weapon is separated from you by a distance of up to 10 metres,
you can use the mag grips to instantly draw it to your hand(s).

Firearm Mod: Melee Attachment – 1 ExpCOIN

The modded weapon can also be used as the following melee weapon
Range Damage AP Properties
Melee 1d6 P(E) 0 N/A

The melee attachment is either one-handed (1H) or two-handed (2H) based on

the modded weapon.

When you take this Mod and later when you engage in Character Progression,
you can add Mods to this melee attachment available to the Short Blade
weapon from the Melee Weapons list on Page 164.
Firearm Mod: Signature Firearm – 2 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Signature

When you (and only you) make an Attack with the modded weapon, add +1d6
to the Attack Throw.

Due to the Signature keyword, if you lose the modded weapon, a replacement
weapon does not have this mod.

People have told Jose Martí that his pistola’s engraving gives him no tactical
advantage - not so. The icon of Christ in his grip, he knows God is on his side.

Firearm Mod: Expanded Magazine – 2 ExpCOIN

Double the modded weapon’s Magazine size. The weapon gains the Heavy
property, or if it already has the Heavy property, gains the Unwieldy property.

Firearm Mod: Gunhumper’s Trophy – 0 ExpCOIN

Requires: At least 5 other Firearm Mods already on the weapon

Showing either the modded weapon or a picture of the modded weapon and
establishing you own it gives you advantage on all Converse Throws that
involve communicating with characters whose highest Skill Level is in Warfare,
have a keen interest in guns and conXlict, or are unhealthily delighted by tools
for murder.

Note this doesn’t make owning the gun any less illegal. Showing it to the wrong
person could still get you arrested.

Is it any wonder that a device which you pull back the shaft to cock before you
penetrate someone with should have a certain fetishistic appeal?
Firearm Mod: Autoaim AI – 2 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Bionic

While the Autoaim AI is enabled, whenever you make an Attack with the
modded gun, after all dice have been rolled and roll effects have been applied,
you must reroll exactly 3 dice.

Disabling and enabling the Autoaim AI takes a few seconds to do safely. When
disabling or enabling the Autoaim AI in a Hot Round, you do so as an Action.
You can either Consume 5 to safely do so, or take 1d6 Physical (Internal)
Damage to do it without expending dice.

Wetcords formed a link from the back of his neck, to the baton of chrome strapped
to his arm, to the gun held in a white-knuckle grip. His trigger Linger entertained
itself with strange motions - not a tic, but the phantom of a clumsy AI crawling
through his nerves.

Firearm Mod: Damage Tech – 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

1/Scene, at the start of your Turn, you can choose to expend 2 Power to
activate this mod. If you do, for the remainder of the current Scene the modded
weapon deals an extra +1d6 Damage and increases its AP by 1.

The Ables apparatus connects an accelerated AI to a rangeLinder and remote

explosives in every bullet. Long story short: every bullet is a point-blank shotgun
blast.

Firearm Mod: Marking Tech – 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

1/Turn, you can use expend 1 Power and Consume 3 to use the Mark Action.
When you Mark, choose a character you can see. While the mark remains, that
character is highlighted in your vision and Attacks with the modded weapon
targeting the marked character have Advantage.

You can only have one Mark active at a time. When you Mark another character,
the previous marking disappears.

In the brief window before countermeasures were developed, Russian snipers on

the Crimean front achieved an almost-100% accuracy rate using a combination
of an aerial drone and homing bullets.

Grenades
As weapons you throw, Attacks with grenades are modiXied by the Toughness
Aspect.
All Grenades have a range of Short.

As a rule of thumb, the radius of a Grenade’s Blast is 20 meters.

High Explosive Grenade [Supply of 1] – 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Repeatable V
Range Damage AP Properties
Short 5d6 P(E) 2 1H, Blast
1/Mission, you can throw this grenade using a Toughness Attack.

Damage caused by this grenade ignores the Armour provided by Soft Cover.

Teargas Grenade [Supply of 1] – 1 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Repeatable V
Range Damage AP Properties
Short / / 1H, Blast
1/Mission, you can throw this grenade using a Toughness Attack. If every
character targeted by the Attack succeeded in their Dodge, the grenade goes
wide and creates a cloud of teargas somewhere out of the way.

As part of the Attack, this grenade creates a cloud of teargas in its Blast area.
This cloud is not blocked by Soft Cover. Any character who failed in their Dodge
of the Attack to throw the grenade is caught in the gas cloud. Characters who
succeeded have dived out of the cloud.

Characters that start their Turn within the cloud, or move into it, must make a
Toughness Save. On a failed Save, they take 1d6 Physical (Internal Damage). If
they take at least 1 Damage from this, they are Addled until the end of their
next Turn.

The teargas generally lasts until the end of the Scene in which it was used, but
strong winds or an explosion might disperse it sooner.

Smoke Grenade [Supply of 1] – 1 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Repeatable V
Range Damage AP Properties
Short / / 1H
1/Mission, you can make a Toughness Throw (DC 15) to throw this grenade.
On a success, the grenade lands in a place of your choosing and disperses a
cloud of concealing smoke. On a failure, the grenade goes wide and creates a
smoke cloud somewhere unintended.

Alternatively you can Consume 2 to activate the grenade and drop it at your
feet, where it creates the cloud of smoke.

The smoke cloud blocks light-based vision. Those blinded by it are Addled. This
either makes Attacks targeting those obscured by the smoke automatically
miss, or if their approximate position while obscured is known, gives the Attack
Disadvantage. Refer to the Attacking Something You Can’t See rule on Page 233
for more information.

The smoke generally lasts until the end of the Scene in which it was used, but
strong winds or an explosion might disperse it sooner.

EMP Grenade [Supply of 1] – 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Repeatable V
Range Damage AP Properties
Short / / 1H
1/Mission, you can make a Toughness Throw (DC 15) to throw this grenade.
On a success, the grenade lands in a place of your choosing and disperses chaff
that interferes with electromagnetic signals. Characters within the chaff are
Faraday. On a failure, the grenade goes wide and creates chaff somewhere
unintended.

The chaff generally lasts until the end of the Scene in which it was used, but
strong winds or an explosion might disperse it sooner.

Knockout Gas Grenade [Supply of 1] – 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Repeatable V
Range Damage AP Properties
Short / / 1H, Blast
1/Mission, you can throw this grenade using a Toughness Attack. If every
character targeted by the Attack succeeded in their Dodge, the grenade goes
wide and creates a cloud of teargas somewhere out of the way.

As part of the Attack, this grenade creates a cloud of anaesthetic gas in its Blast
area. This cloud is not blocked by Soft Cover. Any character who failed in their
Dodge of the Attack to throw the grenade is caught in the gas cloud. Characters
who succeeded have dived out of the cloud.

Characters that start their Turn within the cloud, or move into it, must make a
Toughness Save. On a failed Save, they take 4d6 Physical (Internal Damage).

The teargas generally lasts until the end of the Scene in which it was used, but
strong winds or an explosion might disperse it sooner.

Fire Grenade [Supply of 1] – 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Repeatable V
Range Damage AP Properties
Short 2d6 P(E) 1 1H, Blast
1/Mission, you can throw this grenade using a Toughness Attack. Objects
caught in the Blast of the Attack are ignited.

Any character that took Damage from the initial Attack makes a Finesse Save at
the start of each of their Turns. On a failed Save, they take 1d6 Physical
(External) Damage. On a success, the effect ends.

Damage caused by this grenade ignores the Armour provided by Soft Cover.

Cryo Grenade [Supply of 1] – 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Repeatable V
Range Damage AP Properties
Short 2d6 P(E) 1 1H, Blast
+ 2d6 P(I)
1/Mission, you can throw this grenade using a Toughness Attack. Any Xlames
caught in the Blast of the Attack are extinguished, and the area becomes
intensely cold.

This Attack’s Physical (Internal) Damage is caused by the sudden freezing

effect on a person’s body.
Flashbang Grenade [Supply of 1] – 1 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Illegal
Repeatable V
Range Damage AP Properties
Short 0 0 1H, Blast
1/Mission, you can throw this grenade using a Toughness Attack. It deals no
Damage, but any character hit by its Blast is Stunned.

Agnostic Grenade Launcher - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Range Damage AP Properties
Short/Medium Special Special 2H, Magazine [Special],
Reload [Special]

This weapon does not come with its own ammunition. Instead it is loaded with
and Xires any of the grenades from the Grenades list on Page 174, or any object
that is the same size or smaller than a beer can. The Grenades must be taken
separately.

You Consume 3 to load a single Grenade or object into the grenade launcher,
and when making an Attack with the grenade launcher the Attack roll is
modiXied by Finesse. In addition, any Traits that would modify the Attack roll of
a Xirearm apply when using this grenade launcher.

The GM determines the Physical (External) Damage dealt by objects Xired by

this weapon at characters.

The Agnostic Grenade Launcher can hold up to 6 grenades and objects at once.
When you Attack, you choose which currently-loaded grenade or object is being
Xired.

Grenade Mod: Mine - 0 ExpCOIN

The modded grenade becomes a mine, and cannot be thrown as an Attack.

Instead, you can Consume 3 in a Warm Round to prime the mine. The primed
mine detonates in response to pressure, such as a person stepping on it. When
a mine is triggered, it applies the effect of the modded grenade.

If the modded grenade would apply an Attack, 5d6 are rolled for the Attack roll.
No dice are expended for this Attack roll. A character who triggered a mine
automatically fails a Dodge reaction they might take to avoid the Attack.
Grenade Mod: Planted Explosive - 0 ExpCOIN

The modded grenade becomes a planted explosive, and cannot be thrown as an

Attack.

Instead, you can Consume 5 in a Warm Round to prime the planted explosive.
When you do so, you choose whether you prime the planted explosive with a
timer or a remote detonator.

If you primed the planted explosive with a timer, choose a number of Warm
Rounds. At the end of that number of Rounds, the planted explosive detonates,
applying the effect of the modded grenade.

If you primed the planted explosive with a remote detonator, it gains the Bionic
keyword. You can choose to at any point to cause the planted explosive to
detonate, applying the effect of the modded grenade, either with a trigger
device or Bsignal if you have a Cyberbrain.

If the modded grenade would apply an Attack, 5d6 are rolled for the Attack roll.
No dice are expended for this Attack roll. A character adjacent to the planted
explosive and unaware of its presences automatically fails a Dodge reaction
they might take to avoid the Attack.

Smoke Grenade Mod: Density Smoke - 2 ExpCOIN

When you take this Mod, it applies to all Smoke Grenades you currently possess
and any additional Smoke Grenades you gain later.

The smoke of the grenade contains a cocktail of nanites and QI particles that
diffuse sound and kinetic energy, and also might cause cancer.

The smoke produced by the grenade cannot be penetrated by special forms of

‘vision’ such as heatvision or sonarvision, sound inside the smoke is heavily
suppressed, Stride within the cloud cannot be higher than Fast, and it provides
Hard Cover.

Vehicles
By the year 2044, the individually-owned car is gone. The roads are dominated
by auto-piloted public transport and the vans of labourers. The few vehicles
which truly belonging to their drivers are the rare hand-crafted motorbikes made
by engineers and enthusiasts.

Vehicles are operated using the Pilot Skill, and require Power to use. For each
Scene in which you use the vehicle (including ones where you have the
vehicle autonomously travel) you expend 1 Power.
In Scenes with Initiative, a vehicle moves on the Turn of the character piloting it,
unless it is moving while no one is at the wheel, in which case it moves at the end
of the Round.

Repairing Hit Points

In Cold Rounds a Punk can make an Engineer Throw to try to repair a vehicle.
The vehicle regains Hit Points up to its maximum equal to half the score of the
Engineer Throw (rounded down). A vehicle can only be repaired in this way once
per Round.

Vehicle Armour
Vehicle Armour is how much Armour is gained from being in or behind the
vehicle.

For example, someone with an Armour of 1d6 in a vehicle with a Vehicle Armour
of +2d6 will roll 3d6 if they are attacked from outside the vehicle.

When the vehicle is itself targeted by an Attack, it provides no Armour to itself,

however a character/cover in front of the vehicle can.

Vehicle Speed
Vehicle Speed is a number that that broadly rates how fast your vehicle is. Vehicle
Speed can go no lower than 0, and while it has no limit, the world’s fastest
vehicles will be rated at 5.

Whenever you make a Pilot Throw that focuses on getting the vehicle from point
A to point B as fast as possible, you add a number of d6 equal to the Vehicle
Speed number.

For example, two vehicles are racing each other to a Linish line. Both drivers are
rolling 10d6 for the Pilot Throw, however vehicle A has a Vehicle Speed of 1 and
vehicle B has a Vehicle Speed of 5. The driver of vehicle A will be rolling 11d6 for the
Pilot Throw, while the driver of vehicle B will be rolling 15d6.

You do not add the Vehicle Speed bonus to a Pilot Throw to do anything else. For
example, manoeuvring the vehicle skilfully or executing the perfect three-point
park would not be beneXitted by Vehicle Speed.

Generally humans cannot outrun speeding vehicles. A character with a Stride of

Lightning can match pace with a vehicle with Vehicle Speed 0 going at full speed,
but will fall behind anything faster.

Vehicles Dodging Attacks, and Dodging Attacks while in a

Vehicle
Vehicles are generally quite large, easy targets. As per the Dodge of Objects rule
on Page 234, a stationary vehicle counts as having 0 Successes on a Dodge Throw,
when moving counts as having 1, and when moving fast counts as having 2.
Whenever you are targeted by an Attack, after you make the Dodge Throw you
can choose to substitute the number of Successes for your Dodge for the number
of Successes the vehicle would count as currently having with the Dodge of
Objects rule.

If you have taken a Vehicle option, you gain the following Reaction:
Reaction: Swerve. If you are the pilot of the vehicle, and the vehicle or someone
inside is targeted by an Attack, you can choose to take a Reaction to make a
Throw to determine the vehicle’s Dodge, rather than using the numbers
predetermined by the Dodge of Objects rule. You can decide after the Attack roll
has been made.

When you do so, you make a Speed Pilot Throw, and count the number of
Successes rather than the Score. For that Attack, the vehicle’s Dodge counts as
the number of Successes you rolled.

Handmade Motorbike - 2 ExpCOIN

Requires: Skill (Engineer) 3+
Hit Points Vehicle Armour Vehicle Speed
20 / 1
A motorbike, being a medium-sized object, is harder to hit than a typical, larger
vehicle. As per the Dodge of Objects rules on Page 234, when the motorbike is
stationary, it counts as having 2 Successes on a Dodge, when moving counts as
having 3, and when moving at a fast speed counts as having 4.

Elite’s Private Cab - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Net-Linked
Requires: Skill (Politics) 3+
Hit Points Vehicle Armour Vehicle Speed
30 +1d6 2
The elite of society, when they need to move through the metropolis, use
private vehicles. This is one such vehicle. When you take this vehicle, determine
what kind of organisation or individual it is used by. Who do you chauffeur in
the back of this cab? How do you get it away from the workplace to use for the
Mission?

Elite private cabs are typically ostentatious, one of the few luxuries still
afforded to the elite. While an elite’s private cab confers no immediate
mechanical beneXit, people will react differently if they believe your passengers
represent the government or a powerful corporation… for better or for worse.

Vehicles of the elite are are subject to scrutiny; bullet holes come with
questions. A dangerous world can only explain away so much. During the
Epilogue, before the vehicle regains half its Hit Points, if this vehicle has half or
less of its full Hit Points, you take 1d6 Political Damage. If it has 0 Hit Points,
you instead take 3d6 Political Damage.

Like all manufactured vehicles, this vehicle is connected to a mass-trafXic AI. By

default it travels by automation, and doesn’t need a human driver. You can
freely command it to travel to any road-accessible location when in the driver’s
seat or over the Net. Automated travel is efXicient, but not fast. While the
vehicle will reach its destination, it is unlikely to do so quickly.

Work Van - 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Net-Linked
Requires: Skill (Industry) 3+
Hit Points Vehicle Armour Vehicle Speed
40 +1d3 0
Work vans are the most common vehicle since the abolition of the car, ferrying
workers and their wares throughout the city. When you take this vehicle,
determine what kind of organisation the work van is owned by, and how you
have acquired the vehicle for your Missions. Is it a private company or the state
that you work for? Do you work for the organisation, or did you get the vehicle
through a friend? Is it stolen?

Like all manufactured vehicles, this vehicle is connected to a mass-trafXic AI. By

default it travels by automation, and doesn’t need a human driver. You can
freely command it to travel to any road-accessible location when in the driver’s
seat or over the Net. Automated travel is efXicient, but not fast. While the
vehicle will reach its destination, it is unlikely to do so quickly.

Armoured Vehicle - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Net-Linked, Illegal
Requires: Skill (Warfare) 3+
Hit Points Vehicle Armour Vehicle Speed
 60 +2d6 1
Like all manufactured vehicles, this vehicle is connected to a mass-trafXic AI. By
default it travels by automation, and doesn’t need a human driver. You can
freely command it to travel to any road-accessible location when in the driver’s
seat or over the Net. Automated travel is efXicient, but not fast. While the
vehicle will reach its destination, it is unlikely to do so quickly.

Handmade Motorbike Mod: TrafYic Network - 1 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Net-Linked

The modded vehicle is now connected to the local mass-trafXic AI, and Xitted for
autonomous driving. You can freely command it to travel to any road-accessible
location when in the driver’s seat or over the Net. Automated travel is efXicient,
but not fast. While the vehicle will reach its destination, it is unlikely to do so
quickly.

Handmade Motorbike Mod: Hydroglide Conversion - 1 ExpCOIN

Provided the modded vehicle is carrying less than 100kg of additional weight,
it can drive along the surface of still water. If the vehicle slows or stops moving
while on the water, it sinks.

Vehicle Mod: Cyberbrain Console - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

The vehicle can be controlled directly from a cyberbrain. When taking this mod,
you also gain the necessary psyware and training to steer a car with your mind.
You still need to expend dice as normal to pilot the modded vehicle, but you do
not need your hands and feet to do so, and can control the modded vehicle
remotely provided it is not Faraday.

When you Xirst take this mod, decide whether the normal controls of the
vehicle, such as the steering wheel and pedals, are stripped out. If they are
removed, the vehicle can only be controlled via this mod.

If you use this Mod to remotely control the vehicle while you are not inside it,
you cannot use any Traits to do with piloting a vehicle, and any Pilot Throws to
do anything more complex with the vehicle that drive it on the road at a safe
pace are made on Disadvantage.

You can potentially control other Mods connected to the vehicle, such as a
weapon from the Mounted Gun Mod, with this.
Vehicle Mod: Up-Armoured - 2 ExpCOIN
Repeatable II

Increase the modded vehicle’s Vehicle Armour by +1d6 and its Hit Points by 20,
and decrease the modded vehicle’s Vehicle Speed by 1.

Vehicle Mod: Improved Engine - 2 ExpCOIN

Repeatable III

Increase the modded vehicle’s Vehicle Speed by 1.

Vehicle Mod: Nitro - 2 ExpCOIN

Repeatable III

1/Mission, while in a Hot Scene and if you’re in control of the vehicle, you can
Consume 1 to increase the modded vehicle’s Vehicle Speed by 2 until the end of
the Round.

Vehicle Mod: Cold-Fuelled - 1 ExpCOIN

The vehicle’s fuelling system is incombustible and non-explosive, meaning that

Damage to the vehicle can’t cause it to go up in Xlames.

Vehicle Mod: Faraday Guillotine - 2 ExpCOIN

You can freely push an analog lever to cause the engine any electronics that are
part of the modded vehicle to be shut down. While shut down, the vehicle is
Faraday. A faraday guillotine is a countermeasure in the event of the vehicle
being hijacked by hacking.

The guillotine’s effects can be undone with an Intellect Engineer Throw (ADC
40/Warm), or automatically undone at the end of the Mission.
Vehicle Mod: Mounted Gun - 1 ExpCOIN

When you take this Mod, you must also take (and pay for) one of the options in
the Firearms section, on page 168. The modded vehicle has the chosen Xirearm
installed.

When you Xirst get this mod, you decide whether the installed Xirearm is
mounted on top of the vehicle, or is secretly concealed within the vehicle like a
spy car. A mounted gun is highly conspicuous, while a concealed Xirearm will
only be able to Xire in one direction.

If you are at the controls of the modded vehicle, you can make Attacks with the
Xirearm. The Attack is modiXied by Finesse. However, due to controlling the
Xirearm and mount through vehicle controls, you cannot modify the Attack roll
with any bonuses given by Traits that would normally modify Attacks with
Firearms.

If the Xirearm is mounted, alternatively a character can Xire the Xirearm as if

they were holding it normally (and can apply any modiXiers they would
normally to Attacks with Xirearms).

The mounted Xirearm is not capable of Reloading itself. Instead, in a Warm

Round you must Consume 5 to open up the vehicle and refresh the
ammunition.

The Xirearm in the modded vehicle can itself be modded, using any of the Mods
available to the chosen Xirearm in the Firearms section.

Vehicle Mod: Binding Wheels - 1 ExpCOIN

The wheels of the modded vehicle have advanced technology that allows them
to become inseparably grip the ground while still being able to roll forwards
and backwards. This potentially allows the vehicle to drive along vertical
surfaces, or even upside down. This mod can be activated and deactivated from
the vehicle’s controls. In a Hot Round, you must Consume 2 to activate or
deactivate this mod.
Elite’s Private Cab or Armoured Vehicle Mod: Flying Vehicle - 4 ExpCOIN

The vehicle has no wheels, and instead is capable of Xlight. Many important
locations in cities will have landing pads for such vehicles.

A Xlying vehicle moves at the same Speed as a land-bound vehicle with

equivalent Speed. A Xlying vehicle is capable of hovering in place.

In each Scene in which you use the Xlying vehicle (including ones where you
have the vehicle autonomously travel), you expend 2 Power, as opposed to the
normal 1 Power.

Grotesquely wasteful, wildly impractical, outside the military Llying cars are
indulged in only by the most egotistical of elites; and most unguarded. You only
need to take out one ‘wheel’, then all it is is a falling box of metal.

Drones
‘Drones’ in 2044 refers to the aerial vehicles not designed for a human passenger.
In 2030 they saw frequent use in warfare; now their applications are primarily in
security and policing - ‘eye in the sky’ is popular colloquialism for such devices.

Controlling Drones
Drones can either be actively controlled, or act autonomously based on
commands you give them. You will need to use some kind of device such as a
handheld controller to either manipulate a drone or give it commands.

You require an active connection via the Net to a drone in order to control it. If
you or the drone are Faraday, you cannot control it. If it was given a command
before you lost control, it continues to follows that command.

Where you are actively controlling a drone, you expend dice from your own dice
pool to do so. Like characters, drones have Stride to determine their speed of
movement, which the GM can use to calculate how much you must Consume to
move the drone a certain distance. To actively move a drone, you would
Consume the same amount of dice that a character with the same Stride would to
move the same distance.
For example, a character with a Stride of Fast, would have to Consume 5 to move
from one side of a warehouse to the other. A character controlling a Heavy Aerial
Drone (which has a Stride of Fast) would also Consume 5 to steer the drone to other
side of the warehouse.

If the drone is acting autonomously, you don’t need to expend dice to have it act.
However you will need to Consume 2 in Hot Rounds to gives the Drone
commands for it to follow. Commands cannot be too complex. Some example
commands are:
• Follow me while remaining within a distance of 30 meters.
• Keep Xlying north until I tell you to stop.
• Hover in the sky for 1 hour, at which point safely descend to the ground.
• Travel to these coordinates I have.
Drones are not capable of autonomously manoeuvring through complex,
conXined spaces.

In Scenes with Initiative, a drone moves on the Turn of the character expending
dice to control it, unless it is moving autonomously, in which case it moves at the
end of the Round.

Repairing Hit Points

In Cold Rounds, a Punk can make an Engineer Throw to try to repair a drone. The
drone regains Hit Points up to its maximum equal to half the score of the
Engineer Throw (rounded down). A drone can only be repaired in this way once
per Round.

Drones Dodging Attacks, and Dodging Attacks while

controlling a Drone
As Objects, Drones have a predetermined number of Successes for a Dodge
Throw that can change based on their movement, listed in their option entry.
Refer to the Dodge of Objects rule on Page 234 for more information. Drones can
come in several different sizes, and so their Dodge Successes can vary.

If you have taken a Drone option, you gain the following Reaction:
Reaction: Drone Dodge. If you controlling the drone when it is Attacked, you can
choose to take a Reaction to make a Throw to determine the drone’s Dodge,
rather than using the numbers predetermined by the Dodge of Objects rule. You
can decide after the amount of dice to be rolled for the Attack has been
determined, but must decide before the Attack roll has been made.

When you do so, you make a Speed Engineer Throw, and count the number of
Successes rather than the Score. For that Attack, the drone’s Dodge counts as the
number of Successes you rolled.

Land Drone - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Net-Linked
Repeatable III
Hit Points Dodge Stride
10 3 (stationary), 4 (moving), Fast
5 (moving fast)
A land drone is a shoe-box-sized drone, with four legs. Land drones make some
noise as they travel, but no louder than a quiet footstep. Land drones are
capable of fairly precise control, and can autonomously travel across rough
terrain without difXiculty. A land drone has a vertical leap of half a metre, and a
horizontal leap of 2 metres.

A land drone is equipped with a camera, and an articulate, grasping limb that
can extend up to 1 metre from the drone’s body. Half of the drone’s body is an
empty compartment that can be electronically locked.

Light Aerial Drone - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Net-Linked
Repeatable III
Hit Points Dodge Stride
10 3 (stationary), 4 (moving), Lightning
5 (moving fast)

Aerial drones Xly through a series of rotor blades, and can lift and descend
vertically. They are virtually silent when they Xly. They are capable of very
precise control.

A light aerial drone has a wingspan of 30 centimeters, and is equipped with a

camera capable of zooming in. Light aerial drones can fall from any height
without sustaining damage.

Heavy Aerial Drone - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Net-Linked
Hit Points Dodge Stride
20 2 (stationary), 3 (moving), Fast
4 (moving fast)
Aerial drones Xly through a series of rotor blades, and can lift and descend
vertically. They are virtually silent when they Xly. They are capable of very
precise control.

A heavy aerial drone has a wingspan of 1.5 meters, a central body wide and Xlat
enough for someone to sit or stand on, is powerful enough to lift up to 80kg of
additional weight unimpeded, and can fall from 5 storeys without sustaining
any damage.

It is equipped with a high-deXinition camera capable of nightvision and

heatvision, can zoom several times over, and can record visual data (such as
facial or gait recognition data), or monitor for particular visuals (such as
searching for a particular face the drone has facial recognition data of, or the
Xlash of an explosion).

Aerial drones require considerable refuelling and maintenance. You reduce the
amount of Power you provide to the Crew by 1 for as long as you have this
option.

Drone Mod: Cyberbrain Control - 2 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Bionic

You can control the drone directly from your cyberbrain, negating the need for
any physical tools to control the drone. With cyberbrain control, any simple
manipulations of the drone’s controls that would normally Consume 2 in a Hot
Round can be done freely.

Land Drone or Light Aerial Drone Mod: 3D Vision - 1 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal

The modded drone’s camera is replaced with a 3D Vision module, that creates a
3D map of the surrounding environment for up to 50 meters (the same
distance as the Short range). The 3D vision penetrates objects, allowing it to
see through most objects and walls. Only walls that are especially thick or
materials speciXically proofed against this penetrating vision block it. You
cannot perceive gases such as smoke with 3D vision.

Heavy Aerial Drone Mod: Sniper Drone - 4 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Range Damage AP Properties
Medium/Long 3d6 P(E) 2 Magazine [6], Reload
[Special]
The body of the modded drone is adapted to house a long-range, high-powered
riXle. As a result, it can now only lift up to 40kg of additional weight.

You can Attack with the riXle, but due to controlling it through a console and not
physically holding the riXle, Attacks made are not modiXied by Finesse nor
Traits that would normally affect Attacks with Firearms such as Gunslinger I.

The gun on the modded drone is not capable of Reloading itself. Instead, in a
Warm Round you must Consume 5 while next to the drone to Reload the gun.

Action: Auto[ire Mode. Consume 4 to set the modded drone to autoXire mode.
When in this mode, the drone remains stationary and makes an autonomous
Attack at the end of each Round of Combat. For the Attack, the drone rolls 5d6,
and randomly targets a character who is not part of your Network within an
area you designated as part of the Action. You can end autoXire mode freely at
any time.

The gun in the modded drone can itself be modded, using any of the Mods
available to a Sniper RiXle in the Firearms section.

Land Drone or Light Aerial Drone Mod: Gundrone - 3 ExpCOIN

Keywords: Illegal
Range Damage AP Properties
Short/-Medium- 2d6 P(E) 0 Magazine [6], Reload
[Special]

The body of the modded drone is adapted to house a small gun.

You can make Attacks with the gun as if it were a normal Firearm. As something
that requires articulation and an Attack made at range, the Attack is modiXied
by Finesse. However, due to controlling the drone through a piece of hardware,
you cannot modify the Attack roll with any bonuses given by Traits that would
normally modify Attacks with Firearms.

The gun on the modded drone is not capable of Reloading itself. Instead, in a
Warm Round you must Consume 5 while next to the drone to Reload the gun.

The gun in the modded drone can itself be modded, using any of the Mods
available to a Handgun in the Firearms section.
Light Aerial Drone Mod: Grenade Dropper - 1 ExpCOIN
Keywords: Illegal

The modded drone is rigged to be able to hold a single grenade or other

similar-sized object, with a mechanism that pulls the pin as it drops the
grenade. You must take any grenades separately, from the Grenades list on page
174.

In a Hot Round, you can Consume 2 while controlling the drone to have the
grenade (or object) detach. If it’s a grenade, it explodes on impact with the
ground. If the grenade would make an Attack roll, the roll for a grenade
dropped this way is 5d6.

Put a release mechanism on a drone and you have the world’s cheapest airforce -
a problem the Americans solved by making each drone that fell out of the sky
worth millions.
Premade Punks
Below are the Premade Punks, all of which can be created via Character Creation
with the normal starting 16 ExpCOIN. You can choose from any of the below
Premade Punks, or randomly choose one using the below Random Premade Punk
Table.

Premade Punks come with ‘Progression Paths’, possible directions in which you
can improve the Punk with Character Progression. You are are free to ignore
these paths and take the Premade Punk in your own direction - make it your
own!

These Premade Punks do not come with predetermined Drivers; it is up to you to

determine the personality of the character you’re playing.

In addition to all the Traits and Equipment chosen for the Premade Punk, they
have the following Equipment, from their Starting Equipment:
Civilian Clothing
Mask
Universal Basic
Net-Linked Device
Gear

Random Premade Punk Table

1d6 1d6 Premade Punk
1-2 1-2 Artist of the Blade
3-4 Cyborg Shieldwall
5-6 Detective & Dog Duo
3-4 1-2 Greenthumbed Assassin
3-4 Hacker-In-Hiding
5-6 Political Operator
5-6 1-2 Road Ronin
3-4 Quack Doctor
5-6 Spectral_Hacker
Artist of the Blade
Body & Aspects Skills & Traits & Equipment
Starting Talents
Equipment
Precariat Toughness -1 Art 9 Concealing Art
Finesse +1 (Dancing) Martial Arts I
Speed +1 Study the Blade I
Clarity +0 Dodgy
Intellect -1
Long Blade
Modded: Concealed

Minor Tool: Calligraphy

Brush & Ink
Skill Tool: Dancer Costume
The Artist of the Blade seeks the heights of artistic expression, not just through
painting, singing, and dance, but also through sword play. Martial Arts I and
Study the Blade I give them skill with the sword, and with their Long Blade
hidden with Concealed inside the props they dance with, they can use
Concealing Art to perform an unexpected killing blow.
Progression Paths:
Blademaster: If you want to achieve the heights of mastery, Study the Blade II
[4 ExpCOIN] (Page 116) and Master the Long Blade [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 117) are
essential. To get into the melee sooner and dodge better, increase your Speed
with Increase an Aspect Score [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 77) and take Fleet of Foot [2
ExpCOIN] (Page 88). Charge [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 112) can help that new speed
turn into attack power, and combat traits like Disarm [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 117)
and Blockchain [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 117) can increase your ability in combat.
Sinister Socialite: Turn your artistic repute into social attraction by increasing
the Converse Skill. Great First Impression [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 89) can help wow
those you meet. Beauty [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 109) can also help. Once you get
them alone, you can strike. Increase the Stealth Skill and taking Assassin I [4
ExpCOIN] (Page 80) and beyond can ensure the blows are silent and lethal.
Cyborg Shieldwall
Body & Aspects Skills & Traits & Equipment
Starting Talents
Equipment
Military Cyborg Toughness +1 Athletics 6 Bionic Carapace
Finesse +1 Regular Maintenance
Speed +0 Dominate 3 Cyberbrain
Clarity +0 (Drawing Bionic Arms
Intellect -1 Attention) Bionic Legs
Bionic Eyes
Gunslinger I
Draw (F)Ire
Human Shield

Heavy Armour
Shield
Handgun

Minor Tool: Electronic

Lighter
Minor Tool: Sturdy Rope
The Cyborg Shieldwall weathers hits and protects their allies. In a Xight, they
should take up a position in cover at the front, and use Draw (F)Ire to focus the
enemies’ attention on them. In a pinch, Human Shield can allow them to protect
an exposed ally. Outside of combat, they can use their Athletics to perform
physical labour to support the crew, or their Dominate to pry information from
anyone captured in a Xight.
Progression Paths:
Ironclad: If you want to take all the hits you’ll need cover to do some of the
work. Take Duck for Cover [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 111), and then increase your own
defence by modding your Heavy Armour with Powered Defence [3 ExpCOIN]
(Page 160). Gunslinger II [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 113) and beyond can increase your
ability to use cover (and hit enemies harder), and Grit [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 112)
can ensure you never go down easy.
Tip of the Spear: To carve a swathe through your enemies, ditch your Shield
and Handgun in favour of a Shotgun [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 168). Modding your
Shotgun with Explosive Rounds [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 172) can give you some extra
Xirepower, and Heavy Ammo [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 171) is great if you’ll be up
close and personal. Modding your Bionic Legs with Stride Enhancement [3
ExpCOIN] (Page 131) can enable you to get to your enemies faster.
Detective & Dog Duo
Body & Aspects Skills & Traits & Equipment
Starting Talents
Equipment
Precariat Toughness -1 Investigate 9 Human Can Opener
Finesse +1 Reconstruct the Scene
Speed -1 Streetwise 3 Total Retention
Clarity +0 (Information Body Reader
Intellect +1 Gathering) Dog

Minor Tool: Dog Treats

Skill Tool: Detective’s
Journal
The Detective & Dog Duo are canny investigators. Body Reader, Human Can
Opener, and Reconstruct the Scene can allow them to pry more information out
of people and the crime scene in an investigation. Total Retention provides a
risky method to advance when they get stuck putting the clues together.
Through it all, the detective’s trusty Dog can help them sniff out a trail, search a
crime scene, or even nip at their enemies in a scrap.
Progression Paths:
Mindcop: Acuity Booster [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 156) can allow you to see more
when you search a scene for clues, and while we’re getting into stims why not
use Waking Hallucinogens [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 157) to also search the scene
with your third eye? Increasing your Spirituality Skill can help you see more
with that widening third eye, and Steeling Ritual [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 103) can be
used to protect you when you use your Total Retention. Deep Neural
Conditioning [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 86) and taking the Pierced Veil Driver can pin
your third eye permanently open, for better or worse.
Dynamic Duo: Martial Arts I [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 114) or Gunslinger I [4
ExpCOIN] (Page 112) can get you on the right path if you keep getting your arse
kicked. A Short Blade [1 ExpCOIN] (Page 164) or Handgun [2 ExpCOIN] (Page
168) can enable you to put those new skills to use. If you’re getting tough, why
not make your Dog a War Dog [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 154) too? Increase your
Survival Skill to better work with your buddy. Now all you need is Animal-
Human Fighting Force [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 80) and the pair of you are ready to
investigate the fuck out of anyone who messes with you.
Greenthumbed Assassin
Body & Aspects Skills & Traits & Equipment
Starting Talents
Equipment
Precariat Toughness -1 Stealth 6 A Stretch of Green
Finesse +1 (Moving Weather Forecast
Speed +0 Unseen) Assassin I
Clarity +0 Assassin II
Intellect +0 Ecology 3 Skulker

Stealth Weapon

Minor Tool: Plant Cutters

Skill Tool: Quiet Shoes
The GreenXingered Assassin is a gardener who dabbles in killing. Weather
Forecast can be used to place themselves in a strategic location for a hit, and
Assassin I, Assassin II, Skulker, and their Stealth Weapon will enable them do the
deed. At the end of the day, their Stretch of Green can be used to covertly
transfer messages that the work is done.
Progression Paths:
Hands-On Killer: If you want to strike from the dark, increasing your Stealth is
the Xirst order of business. Assassin III [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 81) can ensure that
you always take down your targets. If you want to become the ultimate
unarmed assassin, combining your skills so far with Martial Arts I [4 ExpCOIN]
(Page 114) and further can increase the lethality of your hands.
Greenthumbed Sniper: To kill at a distance, barter your Stealth Weapon for a
Sniper RiLle [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 169) with an Advanced Silencer [2 ExpCOIN]
(Page 171). Camo [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 157) suited for greenery (such as your
Stretch of Green) can enable you to hide yourself before a kill, as can increasing
your Stealth Skill. Increasing your Warfare and taking Sniper’s Nest [2 ExpCOIN]
(Page 111) can enable you to better attack from the green, and increasing your
Ecology Skill and taking Stretch of Green II [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 104) could give
you a greater location to hide within.
Hacker-In-Hiding
Body & Aspects Skills & Traits & Equipment
Starting Talents
Equipment
Civilian Cyborg Toughness +0 Stealth 4 Anonymous Body
Finesse +0 (Moving Cyberbrain
Speed +0 Unseen) Bionic Arms
Clarity +0 Bionic Legs
Intellect +0 Software 5 Bionic Eyes
Bionic Health

D-rank Hacker
C-Rank Hacker
Ice: Basic Layers
Visualiser
Sticky Fingers
Stealth Skin

Minor Tool: Flashlight

Skill Tool: Handheld
Computer
The Hacker-In-Hiding uses their skill in Stealth, along with their Stealth Skin, to
slip into places unseen and plant their hacking programs via Hardline
connection. Sticky Fingers can ensure that, in a pinch, they have swiped just
what they need to penetrate the enemies defences. Anonymous Body means
that, even if they are spotted, they don’t gain too much Heat.
Progression Paths:
Hackssassin: If you want to expand to taking down foes with your abilities, the
Xirst thing to do is increase your Stealth Skill. Combining Hacker Fu [2 ExpCOIN]
(Page 123) with Martial Arts I [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 114) and Grappler [2
ExpCOIN] (Page 117) can allow you to grab an opponent and quickly hack into
them. B-Rank Hacker [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 120) will allow you to stop a cyborg
you’ve grabbed with the Paralyse Program; a Stealth Weapon [2 ExpCOIN]
(Page 165) or a Handgun [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 168) with an Advanced Silencer [2
ExpCOIN] (Page 171) can then Xinish them off.
Hardware Nerd: To do more with your hacking, Xirst increase your Software
Skill and get B-Rank Hacker [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 120). By using hacker
equipment such as Building Mapper [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 145), Signal Interceptor
[3 ExpCOIN] (Page 147), and QE Dummy Brain [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 147), you can
slip into a location, set up your Hardline connections, and initiate the hack.
Increasing your Stealth Skill and taking Skulker [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 103), you
can sneak into more secure locations and ensure you have to hand the tool to
do it. Modding your Bionic Eyes with Advanced Vision [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 126)
can enable you to see in the dark.
Political Operator
Body & Aspects Skills & Traits & Equipment
Starting Talents
Equipment
Fallen Elite Toughness -1 Politics 9 Cyberbrain
Finesse +0 (Networking) Elite Clothing
Speed +0 Contact [Individual] (vice
Clarity +0 Converse 6 purveyor)
Intellect +1 Shitlisted
Failing (whoring)

Information Control
Power Broker
Eyes & Ears (in Politics)

Minor Tool: eCigar

Minor Tool: Snuff Box
The Political Operator applies their political networking skills to gather
information and leverage for the crew. Eyes & Ears and a Contact [Individual]
(the owner of a brothel used by the elite) can be worked to gather information
for leverage, and particularly tough negotiations can be overcome with Power
Broker. Information Control allows them to defend themselves and other crew
members when things get too dicey.
Progression Paths:
Machiavellian: If you want to use your political skills to pressure and control
your enemies, attack your enemies with Make Some Calls [3 ExpCOIN] (Page
96) and protect yourself with Diplomatic Immunity! [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 87).
Gaining Contact [Individual] [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 136) and Contact [Organisation]
[4 ExpCOIN] (Page 137) repeatedly can expand your capabilities, and provide
potential sacriXices for Information Control. If you want to pressure others
under your political might, increasing your Dominate Skill will enable you, and
Aura of Authority [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 81) can help you take control of a scene.
Charm Offensive: If you want to use charm to get what you want, start off by
increasing your Converse Skill. Power Broker [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 99) can help
tip negotiations in your favour, and if you’re trying to pry information out of
people you’re talking to, Acuity Booster [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 156) can help, and
an Autoinjector [1 ExpCOIN] (Page 125) could help you covertly dose yourself
at the right moment. You could even turn your Converse skill to helping your
allies by taking Rally [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 101), providing inspiring speeches to
further their achievements..
Road Ronin
Body & Aspects Skills & Traits & Equipment
Starting Talents
Equipment
Precariat Toughness +0 Pilot 6 Drive-By Warrior
Finesse +1 (Motorbiking) Martial Arts I
Speed +1
Clarity -1 Engineer 3 Handmake Motorbike
Intellect -1 Modded: Nitro

Long Blade
Modded: Cutting Edge
Tech
Modded: Mono Edge

Minor Tool: Driver’s

Goggles
Skill Tool: Toolkit
The Road Ronin is a competent driver, who can use their Custom Motorbike to
get about the city with ease. They can handle themselves in a knife Xight, but the
Road Ronin is best suited to striking quickly from the back of their bike, using
the Cutting Edge Tech on their Long Blade then Xleeing the scene with a boost of
their Nitro. Mono Edge ensures they can even quickly slice targets inside
vehicles with weak Armour.
Progression Paths:
Road Rage: To slice and dice your way to biker infamy, Study the Blade I [4
ExpCOIN] (Page 115) and beyond can improve you skill with your Long Sword,
while modding it with Draw Tech [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 166) can add power to the
swing. If you’re going to be getting into Xights, modding your Handmade
Motorbike with Up-Armoured [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 184) can protect you while
you ride. Since you’ll be pulling off all kinds of swordplay bullshit on your
wheels, Ninja behind the Wheel [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 97) will ensure you don’t
take a tumble.
Gearhead: If it’s your wheels you want to improve, Xirst increase your Engineer
Skill. Modding your Handmade Motorbike with a Mounted Gun [1 ExpCOIN]
(Page 185), using an Assault RiLle [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 168) can give you some
serious Xirepower, and modding that Assault RiLle with Heavy Ammo [3
ExpCOIN] (Page 171) will increase the punch. Greased Lightning [2 ExpCOIN]
(Page 88) will ensure you can keep your baby in good condition in a pinch.
Binding Wheels [1 ExpCOIN] (Page 185) and Hydroglide Conversion [1 ExpCOIN]
(Page 183) can give your bike some versatility, enabling you to ride on
unconventional terrain.
Quack Doctor
Body & Aspects Skills & Traits & Equipment
Starting Talents
Equipment
Precariat Toughness -1 Medicine 6 Household Chemical
Finesse +0 (Surgery) Warfare
Speed +1 Combat Medic
Clarity -1 Science 6 Black Market Surgeon
Intellect +1 Data Storage

Minor Tool: Pestle and

Mortar
Skill Tool: Surgeon’s Bag
The Quack Doctor is a self-taught scientist, applying his unconventional
medical and chemical knowledge. Household Chemical Warfare and Combat
Medic allow them to support their allies in the Xield. Black Market Surgeon can
be used in preparation of the crew’s plans. Using these skills in conjunction
with Data Storage, they can even smuggle information inside someone’s body.
Progression Paths:
Medical Support: To better support your allies off and on the battleXield with
your medical skills, Xirst increase your Medicine Skill. Combat Medic II [4
ExpCOIN] (Page 85) will boost your skillset, TLC [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 105)
increase the Fortune regain of your Crew, and Heal The Spirit [3 ExpCOIN]
(Page 89) will enable you to also mitigate Mental Damage.
Dark Medicine: You can put Black Market Surgeon to great and terrible use by
abducting victims with a Handgun [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 168), modded into a
Tranq Gun [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 170). By surgically implanting them with a Bug
[1 ExpCOIN] (Page 140) then making them forget the incident with Memory
Blockers [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 156), you can create an unwilling spy. If you want
to be particularly evil, you can also implant them with a High Explosive Grenade
[2 ExpCOIN] (Page 175) modded to be a Planted Explosive [0 ExpCOIN] (Page
179). Increase your Stealth Skill to better slink around and abduct your victims,
and mod your Civilian Clothing to be Double-Sided [1 ExpCOIN] (Page 159) with
Null Cloth [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 158) to avoid detection by electronic surveillance.
Spectral_Hacker
Body & Aspects Skills & Traits & Equipment
Starting Talents
Equipment
Ghost Toughness / Software 9 Third Eye
Finesse / (Knowledge of Immaterial
Speed -1 Espionage) Netbound
Clarity +0 Voided
Intellect +1 Cyberbrain
D-Rank Hacker
Ice: Basic Layers
Sock Puppet Master

C-Rank Hacker
B-Rank Hacker
A-Rank Hacker

Ice: B-Rank Layers

Anti-Ice
The Spectral_Hacker is a ghost, having been separated from their physical body
in a counterhack by an opponent. A hacker-extraordinaire, they come out the
gate with high-level hacks. Their Ice: B-Rank Layers and Anti-Ice gives them an
edge when clashing with other hackers and their systems. Sock Puppet Master
can enable them to aid the crew’s ploys outside of just breaking into things.
Progression Path:
Hacker Assault: If you want to aid your allies in combat through hacking, Xirst
take Snaphacker [2 ExpCOIN] (Page 123) and Signature Hack [2 ExpCOIN]
(Page 124), choosing the same Program for both. Challenging Spirit [2
ExpCOIN] (Page 84) can help you square off against other hackers in Netspace
and draw focus away from your allies. Increasing your Speed with Increase an
Aspect Score [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 77) and Honed Instincts [4 ExpCOIN] (Page
112) can help you get to hacking in the fray quicker.
Ghosthacker: If you want to meddle with minds through ghosthacking, Xirst
increase your Software Skill to 10. S-Rank Hacker [4 ExpCOIN] (Page 120) can
unlock new and powerful ghosthack Programs. If you’re going beyond the
ghostline, increasing your Clarity with Increase an Aspect Score [4 ExpCOIN]
(Page 77) is important, as is Iron Will [3 ExpCOIN] (Page 94) to protect against
Mental Damage.
Playing The Game
The section has four subsections that cover all the remaining rules necessary to
play a game of ECOPUNK, from the player’s perspective. There are further rules
that are used exclusively by the GM explained in the Game Master’s Toolkit,
starting on Page 284.

Dice Mechanics covers all the minutiae of Dice Pools, Throws, and so on.
Storytelling Mechanics explains the gameplay framework in which the stories
of ECOPUNK are told. Hacking explains the rules to attacking electronic systems
and defending oneself in a world of cyberbrains and the Net. Programs List
contains all the possible ways your character can hack the world.

Dice Mechanics
The Basics
As explained in the introduction, there are two ways you expend dice from your
Dice Pool: Consume and Throw, explained below. The GM will often ask players to
do one of these two things for their character to perform some action in the
narrative.

Consume & Throw

Consume
A number of dice are expended, but not rolled. The number of dice you Consume
is predetermined. When you Consume dice, you automatically achieve whatever
it was the dice was Consumed for. When appearing in any rules text, Consume
will always be followed by a number that denotes how many dice must be
expended. ‘Consume 4’, for example, would have you expend 4 dice from your
Dice Pool.

Throw
The player chooses how many dice to expend, increases or decreases that
number according to modiXiers, then rolls the resulting amount of dice. The
player then either counts up either the Throw’s Score, or the number of
Successes and Failures, both explained below.

Throw Score
When determining the ‘score’ of a Throw, the player adds up all the numbers
rolled. This total is called the Score, which the GM compares to a number called a
Throw DC. If the Score is equal to or higher than the Throw DC, the course of
action succeeds. If it’s lower, the course of action fails.
Most of the time when you make a Throw, you will be producing a Score. If the
Score equals or exceeds the DC, the Throw (and the attempted action it
represents) succeeds, otherwise it fails.

Throw Scores & Narrative

In ECOPUNK, your Throws made for a narrative action don’t just determine
whether you succeed on the act that prompted the Throw: they also determine
your success for all acts that would require the same Throw throughout the
Round in which the initial Throw was made.

In the narrative, a Score for a particular Throw to achieve something in the

narrative lasts for the reminder of the Round it was made in, and that Score
applies to any further, related narrative acts. Any further narrative acts made
in that Round corresponding to that Throw and similar to the act that elicited it
succeed or fail based on that Score.

This rule doesn’t allow you to do multiple acts concurrently in the narrative. How
you narrate your character spending their time in the story matters.
For example, if you made a Finesse Engineer Throw to Lix a broken engine that
required a lot of work, you couldn’t use the outcome of that Throw to (in the same
Round) clean all the guns of the Crew, analyse the alloy used in a salvaged
component, deduce the maker of a computer chip, and so on. This engine needs a
lot of elbow grease!

Note that this rule doesn’t apply to Throws made to use Equipment or
Traits. If a character option would require you to make a Throw to achieve a
particular effect, that Throw is separate from a Throw made to achieve a purely
narrative action.

Successes & Failures

When determining the number of ‘successes and failures’ of a Throw, the player
adds up the number 5s and 6s rolled to determine the number of Successes, and
adds up the number of 1s and 2s to determine the number of Failures.

A roll of 5 or 6 is a Success. A roll of 1 or 2 is a Failure.

Successes and Failures are most often used for making Attacks. Failures do not
matter unless every dice rolled is a Failure.

Unlike with Scores, Throws that require successes and failures always only
determine the outcome of a single act in the narrative.
For example, if you made an Attack by Liring a gun, the Throw representing that
attack would have successes and failures that would decide whether that gunLire
hit its mark or not. However if you made another Attack (with a gun or with
anything else) you would have to make a new Throw, with new successes and
failures.

Throw Breakdown
The following is a step-by-step breakdown of making a Throw:
1. The player states the action they would like their Punk to undertake.
2. The GM tells the player what kind of Throw to make, as well as if the Throw
will have any roll effects such as Advantage or Explosive.
3. The player determines how many dice from their dice pool they will expend
for the Throw, and expends those dice.
4. The player applies any modiXiers to the number of dice, increasing or
decreasing the amount of dice they are about to roll.
5. The player rolls the dice.
6. The player applies any roll effects.
7. The player adds up the total score of the dice / adds up the total number of
successes and failures.
8. The consequences of the score / successes and failures are determined by the
GM. The Throw resolves. If the Throw produced a score, that score remains
until the end of the current Round, and is used to determine the outcome of
similar narrative acts to the one that elicited the Throw.

Throw ModiXiers
A ‘modiXier’ for a Throw is something that increases or decreases the number of
dice you are going to roll. ModiXiers from multiple sources can apply to a single
roll. ModiYiers do not affect the amount of dice you expend, and only apply
after you have determined the number of dice you are going to expend for
the Throw.
For example, if you choose to expend 4d6 on a Throw, and the modiLiers adds a total
of +2d6 to the Throw, you will remove 4d6 from your Dice Pool and roll 6d6.

There are a number of sources for modiXiers that can apply to a roll, such as
Aspects, Talents, and Traits, which are explained in Character Creation, beginning
on Page 10. When appearing in the rules, a modiXier will tell you by how much
you increase or decrease the number of d6 to be rolled for the Throw.
For example ‘take -2d6 from the Throw’ will mean you reduce the number of dice
you will be rolling by 2d6.

Given there are modiXiers that reduce the number of dice you will be rolling for a
Throw, it is possible to expend dice on a Throw but end up rolling 0d6. In such
instances, the dice you are rolling cannot be reduced below 0d6, and the dice you
expended to make the 0d6 Throw are still expended.

The Dice Pool

In ECOPUNK, every character has a dice pool containing 10d6, which are
expended by Consume or Throw to perform actions within the story.

The dice pool is reXilled at the start of every Mission, Scene, and Round (or Turn if
you are in Combat), meaning it is returned to containing all 10 d6s. This cycle of
expending dice from the dice pool and reXilling it forms the foundation of
ECOPUNK’s gameplay.
It is recommended that each Punk have their own dedicated container or tray
representing their dice pool, in which they can physically place the 10d6 instead
of keeping track of how many dice they have expended mentally, with the player
taking out the dice as they expend them.

The GM does not need several separate, physical dice pools like this for their
NPCs; as the game centres on story of the Punks, it would be needless busywork
to couple the GM’s narration of the actions of most NPCs with the Dice Pool
mechanic. However, the GM may use a Dice Pool for important characters who
are in close contact with the Punks, either as allies or adversaries.

The one place the GM does need to keep track of the dice pools of multiple NPCs
is in Combat, where multiple enemies will be squaring off against the crew. When
managing the expenditure of dice with multiple NPCs in Combat, the GM is
advised to use the Chunk system explained in the Game Masters Toolkit on Page
317.

Expending and Throwing 0 Dice

A character can always choose to forego expending any dice for a Throw, or may
have 0 dice left in their Dice Pool to expend. Such Throws count as having a Score
of 0.

In addition, if you expend a number of dice on a Throw but modiXiers reduce the
number of dice rolled down to 0, you roll 0 dice and count as scoring 0 for that
Throw.

If you have modiXiers that would add a number of dice to a Throw, you must
expend at least 1 dice to have them apply to the Throw. For example, if the
modiXiers to a Throw are going to add +3d6 dice, if you expend 0 dice on that
Throw, you roll nothing and score 0, instead of rolling 3d6.

ReXilling the Dice Pool

Every character reXills their Dice Pool back to its Dice Pool Maximum at the start
of every Mission, at the start of every Scene, and at the start of every Round. If in
a character is in a Scene that has Initiative, their Dice Pool is reXilled at the start
of their Turn, rather than the start of the Round. Initiative is explained on Page
226.

It is possible for the number of dice in your Dice Pool to be lowered this way.
For example, if you had used the Trait Brain Accelerator to temporarily increase
the number of dice in your Dice Pool to 13d6, and had then gone on to the start of
a new Round, the number of dice in your Dice Pool would reduce to 10d6, your
Dice Pool Maximum.

Dice Pool Maximum

Dice Pool Maximum deXines how many dice your Dice Pool will have at the start
of each Scene, and will be reXilling to at the start of each Round or Turn.
Characters normally have a Dice Pool Maximum of 10, but it can be raised and
lowered by certain effects. It cannot be lowered below 0.

Your Dice Pool Maximum returns to 10 at the start of each new Round, unless
you are under the effects of Stunned, or you were Incapacitated due to Dice Pool
Incapacitation (explained below) in which case it remains at 0 until your
Incapacitation is undone.

If your Dice Pool Maximum is ever reduced, and then you have more dice in your
Dice Pool than your Dice Pool Maximum, take dice out of your Pool until your
current number of dice matches your Dice Poll Maximum. This effect only applies
at the moment your Dice Pool Maximum is reduced. You cannot expend dice in
response to losing dice in this way.

Dice Pool Incapacitation

Some rules, such as Surprise or Stunned, temporarily reduce a character’s Dice
Pool Maximum. If a character ever has their Dice Pool Maximum reduced to 1 or
lower, for whatever reason, they fall Incapacitated. Incapacitation is explained in
Character Effects on Page 237.

Throw DCs
Normally when you make a Throw, once you are Xinished rolling all the dice you
add up all the numbers rolled to determine that Throw’s ‘Score’. The Score of a
Throw can determine how much or how well you succeed (such as a high score
meaning you get through a series of back alleys quickly, and a low score meaning
you take a long time), or whether or not you succeed (such as a high score
meaning you successfully jump over a chasm, and a low score meaning you fall
in!).

Usually, the GM will be determining your Throw’s success by seeing whether it

beats a ‘DifXiculty Class’ (typically shortened to DC). If your score is equal to or
higher than the DC, the Throw has beaten the DC and as a result the attempted
action the Throw represents is successful. If your score is lower than the DC, the
attempted action the Throw represents is a failure. The more difXicult a task, the
higher the DC. DCs thought up by the GM should generally be multiples of 10.
Below are some examples of DCs and the difXiculty they represent.

DC 10 – Trivial, a normal person could reliably do it.

DC 20 – Easy, anyone could reliably do it with skill or by putting in a lot of effort.
DC 30 – Medium, only an expert could reliably do it.
DC 40 – Hard, only a master could reliably do it.
DC 50 - Severe, only a master putting all their effort in could do it.

DC & Scene Temperature

Something that would be hard to do in a minute would be very easy to do in an
hour. As a result DC and what a Throw can achieve is heavily shaped by the Scene
Temperature the Throw is made in. Succeeding on a Politics Throw (DC 20) in a
Warm Scene could enable you to complete a set of paperwork, whereas
succeeding on a Politics Throw (DC 20) in a Cold Scene could enable you to
complete an entire bureaucratic process.

Accumulating DCs
If a character spends all day trying to crack an encryption, when they return to
the task the next day, they don’t ignore all their previous work and start from the
beginning. In the same way, a character who makes a Throw to represent work
on a task that doesn’t reset when the work stops should not discard the score of
that Throw and move on – instead the player or the GM should make a record of
the score, and subsequent Throws towards that same task add to that same
score. A DC that can passed by multiple Throws combined over a period is called
an Accumulating DC, shortened to ADC.

If the ADC is for a particular Skilled Throw, or uses a particular Aspect, then the
Skill and Aspect used will always be the same. However, if the Throw does not
call for a particular Aspect to be used, it as at the GM’s discretion which Aspect is
used each time, and different Aspects can be used for subsequent Throws
towards the same ADC.

You don’t need to expend the same amount of dice each time you contribute to an
ADC.

You can only make a Throw towards a particular ADC once per Round. At the
GM’s discretion, multiple characters can contribute to the same score for an ADC,
although not in the same Round.
Dead Canaries: A Throw
Quinn has stolen data from a MercerCorp security guard, which Quinn plans to
scrutinise to hopefully gather intel useful for the upcoming raid. The GM says it
will be an Intellect Investigate Throw to study the data like this. Because this is
something Quinn could suspend investigating and later return to, the GM declares
this is an Accumulating DC.

Quinn has an Intellect of +1 and an Investigate skill level of 5. In addition Quinn

has the Investigate Talent: Data Analysis. They decide they will be expending 7
dice for this Skilled Throw.

Since Quinn’s Investigate skill level is 5, the Lirst 5d6 of the 7 dice expended are
kept on for the roll as normal. The remaining 2 dice expended, as they exceed
Quinn’s Investigate skill, are Strained and only add an additional 1d6 to the roll.

Quinn’s Intellect Score of +1 adds an additional 1d6 to the roll. Lastly, as ‘Data
Analysis’ is relevant to the roll, Quinn’s the Investigate Talent adds another
additional 1d6 to the roll.

In total Quinn is rolling 8d6 (5d6 + 1d6 + 1d6 + 1d6). Quinn rolls 8d6 and the
total score is 26.

The GM has written in their notes that the data Quinn is analysing has an ADC
50/Cold, so makes a note that so far Quinn has scored 26 towards that goal and
tells the players that Quinn has made it about halfway through analysing the
data.

Throws & DC as Written in the Rules

DCs for Throws often show up in rules, such as in Traits, Equipment, or in
premade Missions. DCs always follow this formula:

Make a [Aspect] [Skill] Throw ((A)DC X/[Temperature])…

If the Throw is to be modiXied by an Aspect, the relevant Aspect is listed Xirst.

Then, if the Throw is to be performed with a Skill, the relevant Skill is listed
second.

The DC of the throw is then contained with the brackets. If the DC is an

Accumulating DC, ‘ADC’ will be written.

If the Throw would take place in a particular Temperature, this is then written.
Most Throws are intended to occur in a particular Temperature, but not all - if no
Temperature is listed, this Throw can be attempted in any Temperature.

The following are examples of Throws written with the above formula:
Make an Intellect Politics Throw (ADC 30/Cold)… - This Throw is affected by both
the Intellect Aspect and the Politics Skill, and is an Accumulating DC, meaning it
can be repeatedly attempted throughout Cold Scenes until the scores total or exceed
the DC.

Make a Speed Throw (DC 20/Hot)… - This Throw is only affected by the Speed
Aspect, and is made in a Hot Scene.

Make a Throw (DC 15)… - This Throw is unaffected by Aspects or Skills, and can be
made in any Temperature.

Throws & DCs in Traits and Equipment

Many Traits and some Equipment give you the ability to make a speciXic kind of
Throw in order to achieve a special effect. For example, the Household Chemical
Warfare Trait says TBD.

These Throws and DCs within Traits and Equipment will always follow the same
syntax as above.

Using Traits & Equipment In A Cooler

Temperature
A number of Traits and Equipment enable you to make Throws for a particular
course of action. For example, the Trait Performance Artist enables you to make a
Finesse Art Throw (DC 20/Warm) to create a distracting performance.

If you want to use the abilities of a Trait that would normally require you to make
a Throw in a particular Temperature while in a different Temperature to the one
speciXied, you can still, with the GM’s permission, use that ability.

To do so, you need to be in a cooler Temperature than the one speciXied in the
Trait. Cold is a cooler Temperature than Warm and Hot, and Warm is a cooler
Temperature than Hot. When you use an ability in this way, you aren’t required to
expend any dice or make a Throw. The reason for this is, what would take time
and effort in one Temperature would take no time at all in a cooler Temperature.

Abilities used this way shouldn’t be the narrative focus, but instead supplement
and expand what your character was already doing. For example, you could use
the ability of the Trait Performance Artist in a Cold Scene to say that the street
busking you’ve been engaging with is particularly attention-grabbing. The GM
shouldn’t allow you to, for example, say that you’re using Performance Artist to
distract all of the guards in the area, enabling your Crew to sneak past them.
Instead you should be in a Warm Scene where this drama can get the attention
and pacing it deservers. If you want to use particular abilities that are meant to
work in a particular Temperature, make sure you convey that to the GM, so they
can place you into a Scene Temperature appropriate to your aims.
Helping a Throw
When another character makes a Throw, provided your character is with them
you can Help.

To Help, you must Consume dice equal to the amount of dice the character you
are helping expended for the Throw. When you do so, the helped Throw is made
on Advantage. You must Consume the dice to help the Throw before the Throw
has been rolled.

You can only Help a Throw when it would make narrative sense that your
character would be able to. The GM has Xinal word on whether your character can
Help a Throw.

When in Combat, you can Help as a Reaction.

A Helping Hand

It’s likely some Punks won’t be have much to do in certain contexts based on
their character’s design. For example, a Punk built solely for combat might not
have much to do in a Scene based around information gathering. Helping A
Throw can be a great rule for such characters, and players who build a Punk
with a narrow focus shouldn’t hesitate to use it.

Clashes
Two characters Xight for control of the wheel of a speeding vehicle. As the thumb
drive carrying valuable data is knocked into the air, everyone in the room tries to
grab it. Two hackers race to cut the other out of the computer terminal they have
both hacked into. These are examples of Clashes.

A Clash is when characters are interacting with each other in a competitive way.
Rather than seeking to beat a DC, each Throw in a Clash seeks to score higher
than any other Throw in the Clash.

If in Combat, the character initiating the Clash does so as an Action, and each
other character participating in the Clash does so as a Reaction.

When a Clash happens, the GM determines the relevant Aspect, Skill, or other
Throw that will be rolled for the Clash. All characters involved in the Clash then
decide on the number of dice they will expend for their Throw secretly. Every
character voluntarily participating in a Clash (for example if the Clash is trying to
grab an object on the Xloor) much decide to expend at least 1 dice. A character
forced to participate in a Clash (for example if someone is trying to grab them)
can decide to expend 0 dice.

After all dice expending has been decided, each player reveals how many dice
they plan to expend, calculates how many dice they will roll after modiXiers are
applied, then every player rolls their dice simultaneously.
Whatever was being competed over comes out in favour of the character
with the highest Score in the Clash. If there is a tie, the outcome is in no
character’s favour. The GM may inXluence what happens in the narrative based on
how much discrepancy there is in the scores rolled.

When in Initiative, a character can only initiate one Clash per Turn, but can
participate in as many Clashes initiated by other Characters as they want.

Saves
A Save is a special roll to resist a negative effect, made either in response to a
particular rule or at the GM’s request in response to the narrative. Each time you
make a Save, a particular Aspect is named.

When making a Save, roll a d6 and add (or subtract) your Aspect Score from the
roll. If the total is 4 or more, you succeed on the Save. If the total is 3 or less, you
fail. A roll of 1 is always a failure, a roll of 6 is always a success.

Saves are fully explained on Page 12.

Strained Throws
When a Throw is ‘Strained’, for every 2 dice you expend you only add 1d6 to the
roll. Strained Throws are used to represent a character struggling to do things
that are outside of their expertise and knowledge.

If you only expend 1 dice on a Strained Throw you add no d6 to the Throw. In
addition, if you expend an odd number of dice on a Strained Throw, the Xinal ‘1’
that makes the number of dice expended odd is discounted.

There are two times when Throws are Strained:

Using Skills beyond your Skill Level

Whenever you exceed your Skill Level when expending dice for a Skilled Throw,
further expending of Dice is Strained. This is fully explained in ‘Skilled Throws’,
on Page 17.

Using Equipment you do not have Familiarity with

Whenever you use anything from the Equipment list, be they guns, gizmos, or
otherwise, if it is an object you do not have Familiarity with, any rolls made to
use the Equipment are Strained. Familiarity is fully explained on Page 22, but you
can use this rule of thumb:

If your character hasn’t taken the time to acquire and learn to use anything like
the Equipment they’re trying to use, their Throws with the object will be
Strained.
Roll Effects
Roll effects are effects that speciXically effect rolled dice. Roll effects don’t just
affect Throws: you can, for example, have Advantage on a Save or Explosive on a
Damage roll.

In ECOPUNK, you never reroll rerolls.

Explosive
If a roll is Explosive, each roll of 6 means you can roll an additional d6 and add
that to the roll. The additional d6 are also Explosive. Attack rolls are always
Explosive.

Rerolled dice are not Explosive. If you reroll a dice and it becomes a 6, it does not
explode.

When rolling a d3 on an Explosive roll, rolls of 6 on those dice still trigger the
Explosive effect, but the additional dice are d3s.

Only speciXic rules make a roll Explosive. Narrative circumstances cannot make a
roll Explosive.

Advantage & Disadvantage

If you have Advantage on a roll, each die that rolls a 1 or 2 is rerolled.

If you have Disadvantage on a roll, each die that rolls a 5 or 6 is rerolled.

If a roll has Advantage and Disadvantage at the same time, it instead has neither,
with the player rolling normally. You cannot have multiple instances of
Advantage or Disadvantage.

The GM can grant Advantage and Disadvantage to any roll made by any character
where the narrative circumstance would give some edge or hindrance to the
action that roll represents. Otherwise Advantage and Disadvantage can come
from certain Traits and Equipment.

Maximise/Minimise
When you Maximise a dice, you change its roll to its highest possible value. If you
Maximise a d6, you change what it rolled to a 6. If you Maximise a d3, you change
what it rolled to a 3.

When you Minimise a dice, you change its roll to its lowest possible value. If you
Minimise a d6 or a d3, you change what it rolled to a 1.

When the Maximise/Minimise Roll Effect is applied, it applies to a number of dice

in the roll, rather than all of the dice in the roll.
For example, if you roll 3d6 and a rule has told you to Maximise 2 dice, you would
change two of the dice rolled to ‘6’.
If you have multiple instances of Maximise or Minimise applying to a single roll,
the number of dice Maximised or Minimised is the total of all instances added
together.
For example, if you were able to Maximise 1 dice from one rule and Maximise 2 dice
from another rule, you would Maximise 3 dice.

When you have Maximise and Minimise effects applying to the same roll, each 1
dice Maximised cancels out 1 dice Minimised.
For example, if you were from one rule to Maximise 1 dice and from another rule
Minimise 2 dice, you would Minimise 1 dice.

Only speciXic rules Maximise or Minimise dice. Narrative circumstances cannot

Maximise or Minimise dice.

Order of Effects
If a roll has multiple Roll Effects applying to it, they are applied in this order:
1st. Explosive
2nd. Advantage or Disadvantage
3rd. Maximise or Minimise

If you would apply any effects that reroll or otherwise change the value of dice
rolled that are not Roll Effects, these are applied after any Roll Effects are
applied. If you have multiple effects that are not Roll Effects applying to the dice,
you decide in which order they apply.
Storytelling Mechanics
Session Zero
When Xirst coming together to play ECOPUNK, it is advised the group of players
holds a ‘Session Zero’. No gameplay occurs in a Session Zero. Instead, the players
and GM can discuss what kind of stories they’d like to tell, the setting they’ll be
within, what kind of Punks they like to play, what kind of Gig they’d like, and so
on.

A Session Zero serves as an opportunity for players to get on the same page, and
for people who may not have played together before to get a sense for one
another.

The Gig & The Crew

‘The Gig’ is a narrative device that brings the different characters together into a
‘Crew’. The Gig might be a job, a collective interest, or any other unifying
structure. What The Gig constitutes should be decided by all the players during
Session Zero, or you can use the Random Gig Table below.

The Crew
The crew is the collective term for the Punks, and also includes any NPCs that
directly work alongside the Punks as part of The Gig. As the game progresses the
GM can introduce Assets, Reputation, and Heat, mechanics that are collectively
called Crew Effects. Assets, Reputation and Heat are explained in the Crew Effects
subsection of the Game Master’s Toolkit, starting on Page 303.

There are a few important things to consider when the players design their Gig
and Crew:

Crew NPCs
Is the crew solely composed of the Punks, or are there other characters within
the organisation performed by the GM?

If there are NPCs in the crew, do they provide any abilities the crew can use?

Generally, NPCs that are part of the crew should fulXil a supporting role rather
than actively working with the Punks in the Xield.

The Base
Where is the centre of the crew’s operations? Is it a building, a room, a nomadic
caravan, the back of a van?

Unless the GM has the Mission start with you already in the action, often Missions
will begin with you at your ‘base’.
Your base will also be where you keep your Network Core. Networks, and
Network Cores, are explained below.

Random Gig Table

1d6 1d6 Gig
1-2 1-2 Mercs. You are a mercenary unit working for a wider
company, used as an international arm for the UNEC’s more
‘hands-on’ politics. You are briefed on your Missions by your
handler, and work for pay, clean and simple.
3-4 Cops. The authorities are a joke - and no one knows it more
than you few, those still in the game who don’t stink of
corruption and sadism. A newly-formed unit gathered under a
crusader, your targets are just as likely to be ‘your own kind’
as they are to be criminals. Your friends are few and enemies
many.
5-6 Eco Terrorists. The mechanisms that created the death spiral
still function, and the politicians are just as willing to make
deals with the industrialist dynasties as attack them.
It falls to you vengeful few and the anonymous patrons who
support and direct your efforts to destroy this suicidal system.
3-4 1-2 Crooks. You all work for a maXia, who takes on off-the-books
contracts – from whom, you are not told. You get your
Missions from the boss, and might work out of loyalty,
obligation, coercion – or just to escape the shitpile you grew
up in.
3-4 Collectivist Commune. Your community is on the fringes of
the government-controlled supply chain. Resources are
scarce, and those of you with skills to offer have come
together to work jobs either for yourselves or others to
support your kin.
5-6 Meddling Kids. Who the fuck would stay in school when the
world is ending? Kids from the same Xloor of a megacomplex,
you’ve gathered together to pass the days and leave your mark
on this stretch of econcrete. The day usually begins with you
devising some ploy between each other, or running errands
for a parent.
5-6 1-2 Puppets. Misfortune or misdeed has drawn you all into the
conspiracy of a political elite. The man himself gives you your
Missions, and you might take them because he is blackmailing
you, or you are indebted, or because you believe in his
political vision.
3-4 Revengers. Many terrible things were done in World War III,
and not everyone moved on. You have slowly been gathered by
a government agency, and bound together by a collective
vengeance upon an individual or group; perhaps the
industrialist who made the gas bombs that killed your people,
or the unit that immolated your town.
 5-6 Technomads. You are a small, roving tribe of ‘technomads’, the
catch-all for the communities that survived being uprooted by
the climate crisis by adopting new technologies, and avoided
being moved into the metropolis. In exchange for food you
protect and maintain the vast solar arrays within the desert,
having to negotiate the politics between builders, government
ofXicials, other technomadic tribes, and bandits.

The Network
Your crew has a Network - a digital structure that allows you to communicate
and share information via the Net, the hyperconnected new iteration of the
internet created by a rogue superintelligent artiXicial intelligence named
Bridgebuilder. Every other institution, organisation, and group that uses the Net
has their own Network within which they share data and communications.

The crew can freely upload and download data to their Network without
expending dice. Data uploaded to the Network is accessible to all members of the
crew. Any communication via the Net or Bsignal between members of the crew
are assumed to happen through the Network.

Likewise, NPC members of other organisations upload, download, and access

data from, and communicate via, their own Network.

If you are Faraday, you do not have access to your (or any) Network, unless you
have a Hardline connection to another Terminal of the Network or the Network
Core.

Every Network has a Network Core, the physical hardware that houses and
facilitates the Network’s software.

Your Network also provides every member of the crew protection against
Intrusion. Intrusion, as well as many of the above terms, are explained in the
Hacking subsection on Page 240.

Sharing Data
Characters on a Network can share data, including live data. For example if one
character in a Network possesses a Light Drone, another character in the same
Network can see what the drone sees.

This sharing of data can even be used in conjunction with Traits and Equipment.
For example, the Marking Tech Mod for Firearms (Page 174) allows you to ‘mark’
a target “you can see”. If, to carry on the previous example, another character in
your Network possesses a Light Drone, you could potentially ‘mark’ a target you
personally cannot see, but the drone can.

Missions
The stories in ECOPUNK take the form of Missions, discrete narratives that start
with the establishment of an objective and end with that objective being achieved
or failed. Missions can be thought of as similar to episodes of a TV show, discrete
chunks of a wider story that make for an easily-managed narrative structure
when playing ECOPUNK.

Generally, a Mission will span one or several sessions of play, but it is possible for
there to be multiple Missions in one session of play.

GMs looking for ideas can go to the Constructing Missions subsection of the
Game Master’s Toolkit, starting on Page 287.

Brief & Epilogue

A Mission begins with a Brief, an opening narrative provided by the GM that lays
out the objectives, hurdles, and other relevant information for the upcoming
Mission. The Brief does not need to be a literal ‘brieXing’ in the sense that the
crew all sit in a room and listen to a talk delivered by a superior; anything that
establishes the Mission is the Brief. During the Brief, the GM also decides The
Elements for that Mission, explained below.

The crew then go about completing the Mission, pooling their unique abilities
and devising cooperative plans. With teamwork, tenacity, and lady luck they will
succeed in their objectives.

Once the objectives of the Mission are complete, it ends with an Epilogue, a
narrative moment where the GM and players can close off plot threads and bring
this chapter to its conclusion.

Missions & Player Drop In/Out

It’s not always easy to get everyone together for a game. One of the values of the
Mission approach is that it is simple and easy to preserve the narrative when a
player or two is missing. If a Punk can’t be present for a Mission because their
player is absent, the GM can easily explain that the Punk is absent as their skills
are currently needed elsewhere in The Gig.

The Elements
The Elements represents the tumultuous, unpredictable weather conditions (and
the resulting sociopolitical events) of a world well passed 2˚C warming.

During the Brief, the GM can either roll 2d6 and use the roll’s score to determine
The Elements for that Mission, or pick or invent their own Elements based on
what they thinks will best serve the story.

The Elements functions as a way to challenge the crew, forcing them to adapt and
strategise in the face of unpredictable circumstances.

2d6 The Elements for this Mission

0-2 Searwave
The air shudders. Sirens limply declare a heat-curfew is in effect.
The city falls silent, as people sweat within the bunkers of the
geofront.

Searing. In Warm Rounds, you take 1d6 Physical (Internal)

Damage for each Round you spend outside. In Hot Rounds, every
character’s Dice Pool Maximum is reduced by 2.
Empty Streets. The streets are entirely empty, aside from a few
police scowling in their air-conditioned cars.
Transport Shutdown. Railways warp and econcrete liquiXies in
the heat. No public transport is available - you’ll have to get
around on foot, using the subterranean passages of the geofront.
3 Heatwave
The sky turns a hellscape-red with the smoke of distance forest
Xires. You may even be able to see the plumes on the horizon,
slowly guzzled by gargantuan carbon-capture drones.

Burning. You take 1d3 Physical (Internal) Damage for each

Warm Round you spend outside. In Hot Rounds, every character’s
Dice Pool Maximum is reduced by 1.
Doom-Apparent. It looks like hell on earth. Everyones’ Fortune is
reduced by 1d6 during the Brief. This effect cannot bring
anyones’ Fortune lower than 1.
4 Storm
The wind screams and the rain comes at you sideways. The storm
drains in the geofront gurgle like a man choking on his own
blood.

High Winds. Ranged Attacks made outside are made on

Disadvantage.
Heavy Rain. The rain washes away evidence, and a body lost
down a geofront storm drain won’t be found for months. Heat
gained for transgressions committed outdoors is likely to be
reduced. In addition, when moving quickly outside, the GM may
have you make a Finesse Throw (DC 10) to not slip and fall.
5 Bombing Season
Warm enough to shorten tempers, but not enough to deter
activity, now is the time for violence. The newsfeeds are full of
the recent attack by insurrectionists.

Shored-Up Security. Security forces have been shored up around

the institutions and individuals of power - meaning other places
will have lighter security than normal.
Fox Hunt. The police are busting in more doors than usual. Any
Punk gains 1 Heat at the end of any Scene where they met with a
Contact that is a criminal.
6 Poll Crash
Every government relies, ultimately, on popular consent - at least
so far as the guillotine is a physical manifestation of disapproval.
Someone has fucked up on policy, and even the average stiff is
unhappy.

Squeaky Clean. The GM chooses one of the factions involved in

the Mission (possibly secretly). For the duration of the Mission,
that faction will be highly concerned with public image,
attempting to keep all their actions discrete and restrained - an
exploitable situation.
Popular Dissent. There is a collective hate in the air. Previously-
opposing groups may be more open to collaboration against a
common enemy.
7 Quiet
Enjoy it while it lasts.
8 Infection Spike
One of the pandemics is rolling through town again. Cue the usual
politicians insisting masks are a detriment to facial-recognition-
based public policing.

Masks On. Wearing your mask isn’t optional. With everyone’s

face covered in public, you can effectively walk around with your
identity concealed.
Compartmental Lockdown. In an attempt to contain the spread
of the disease, the borders of boroughs and districts will be more
heavily policed. Best to keep things within your stomping
grounds as much as possible.
9 Power Shortage
Spikes in conXlict zones have diverted fuel and electricity out of
the city. The lights Xlicker, and people huddle around candles in
the dark.

Power Down. Each Punk provides 1 less Power.

Empty Batteries. Those who have the means to barter Power
Xind it carries even more value than normal.
Lights Out. Electricity rationing means entire chunks of the city
don’t have functioning lights at certain hours of the day. At the
right time, places beyond sunlight can be pitch-black.
10 Food Shortage
The wild Xluctuations in weather have decimated surrounding
acres. Tensions rise as belts tighten. The old and sick die in lonely
places.

People Look To Their Own. The Punks have Advantage on

Converse Throws focused on communicating with members of
their crew and any Contacts, and have Disadvantage on Converse
Throws with anyone else.
Empty Bellies. Food is scarce. That makes it valuable. Those with
food to spare can use it as a powerful bargaining chip.
Displays of Force. The military police have been rolled out to
quell any unrest - or at least provide a distraction. Security forces
will be better armed than usual, but there is also a tension here
that can be used.
11 Blizzard
For a while, climate change deniers used heavy snowfall as proof
of their lies. Then the blizzards started happening in the summer.

Heavy Snow. Every character lowers their Stride while outside.

Limited Visibility. Investigate Throws and any Attacks at the
Range of Medium or Long are made on Disadvantage. In addition,
Stealth Throws are made on Advantage while you are outside.
12++ Deep Freeze
A glacier has collided with the coast and forced the city into
hibernation.

Frostbite. Unless you have attire speciXically designed for cold

environments, you take 1d6 Physical (Internal) Damage for each
Warm Round you spend in the cold.
Impassable Snow. The snow is too deep and heavy to allow any
on-foot movement or road transport where it has fallen. Only the
areas cleared by the industrial snow-plow automatons will be
walkable. If you have Novice skill expertise in Streetwise you
know the cleared routes in your local area, or if you have
Intermediate skill expertise in Ecology you know the clearer
routes of the entire city.
Very Limited Visibility. Investigate Throws and any ranged
Attacks are made on Disadvantage. In addition, Stealth Throws
are made on Advantage while you are outside.
Optional Rule: Adjusting The Elements rolls
If you want to roll randomly on the The Elements table, but want to inXluence
the rolled score to suit the climate of the Mission’s location, you can use the
below rules:

If you’re in summer, reduce the roll by -1

If you’re in winter, add +1 to the roll.
If you’re in a particularly hot climate, reduce the roll by -1.
If you’re in a particularly cold climate, add +1 to the roll.

The Epilogue
An Epilogue has Six Steps:
1. Any Punks with Heat take 1d6 Political Damage per point of Heat. Heat is then
reset to 0 for all Punks.
2. Any special rules that occur speciXically in the Epilogue apply.
3. The GM and players narrate what happens in the immediate conclusion of
their Mission.
4. Based on the Mission and its outcomes, the GM may then give your crew an
Asset and/or Reputation.
5. Any Punks who suffered a Crisis return to the crew, gaining a Stigma and a new
Driver. Their Fortune is set to 5.
6. Each Punk can choose to regain 5 Fortune (including those who suffered
Crises) or use their expCOIN to take a single choice from the Character Options
List.

While in the Epilogue players might describe their characters as resting and
regaining their strength, as there are no Rounds within the Epilogue the Punks
cannot use them to regain any more Fortune or spend expCOIN beyond what is
enabled by step 5.

Once the Epilogue is complete, the crew are onto their next Mission!

Alternate Play Styles

Some groups of players may not favour the episodic structure of Missions. The
following are some alternative ways to approach playing ECOPUNK. It is also
possible for your game to transition from one play style to another.

Campaign
A Campaign is essentially one long Mission, that will span several play sessions.
The crew intermittently Resupply to refresh their Traits and Equipment.

In a Campaign the crew might:

• Track an elusive hacker-assassin across the globe
• Escort a VIP cross-continent on foot, after their travel plans are leaked and
transit convoy ambushed.
• Set out to recover a religious relic lost during a mass-migration.
Sandbox
In a Sandbox, the GM presents the crew with a setting, and the crew devise their
own Missions and other goals besides within that setting.

In a Sandbox the crew might be:

• A local militia, pursuing jobs that help keep the community aXloat.
• A forest security detail, trying to protect their stretch of green.
• A street gang, trying to claw their way out from under the boot of authority.

Resupply
For extended Missions and other Play Styles, the GM may allow you to Resupply,
where all a character’s traits that can be used a limited amount of times per
Mission are renewed and can be used once more, and equipment that has a
limited number of uses per Mission are also similarly renewed.

This might be described in the narrative as the crew visiting an ally to rest and
restock their equipment, or their employer airdropping in supplies, for example.

Effects that would normally apply in an Epilogue such as Heat apply during a
Resupply. The GM can also choose to make a new roll for The Elements after a
Resupply.

Scenes & Rounds

Each Mission is divided into a series of ‘Scenes’, discrete chunks of narrative
involving a period of continuous dialogue, action, or activity, much like the
‘scenes’ of a play or movie.

Each Scene will usually begin with the crew arriving at a location or area of
narrative focus and end with them leaving it, but a montage can also be a Scene.
For example, a montage of the crew gathering equipment and resting before a
heist could be a single Scene. it is ultimately up to the GM where one Scene ends
and another begins.

Scenes as a game mechanic and their beginning and end are not too pressing to
note; you don’t need to ‘declare’ a Scene has ended and a new one begun. The
only way a new Scene is mechanically relevant is that some Traits and Equipment
can only be used a certain number of times per Scene. Players will usually be able
to intuit whether they are in a new Scene and able to use such Traits and
Equipment again.

At the start of every new Scene and Round, each character’s Dice Pool is reXilled.

Combat
Combat is a speciXic type of Scene where characters are actively trying to
physically incapacitate one another. Combat is always Hot, and always starts with
Initiative, both explained below.
Combat is explained in more detail on Page 228.

Rounds
Each Scene (and by extension the entire Mission) is broken up into a series of
Rounds. A Scene could consist of only a single Round or several. When a Scene
ends, the current Round ends, and when a Scene begins, a new Round begins.

Rounds allow the progress of the game and narrative to be ordered. You can
think of a Round as the marrying of a narrative beat with game mechanics. A
Scene with only one narrative beat to it (such as, the crew enters a restaurant
and talk with an NPC without incident) will only encompass one Round. A Scene
with multiple narrative beats (such as all the complex steps taken to inXiltrate a
dinner party and crack the elaborate vault of the patron) will encompass
multiple Rounds.

At the start of each Round, all Dice Pools are reXilled, and the players decide how
they want to expend their dice. Here is where the ‘game’ of ECOPUNK intersects
with the ‘story’ of ECOPUNK; as players decide how their characters will expend
their dice, those decisions form actions within the narrative and the story is
weaved.

There is one exception to Dice Pools reXilling at the start of Rounds. When in
Initiative, a Round is broken up into a series of Turns, one for each character
present. While in Initiative, a character’s dice pool reXills at the start of their Turn
rather than at the start of the Round. Initiative is explained on Page 226.

Temperature
Every Round has a Temperature, a marker that distinguishes the tension, pace
and risk present in the Scene and the Rounds it contains. There are three
temperatures: Cold, Warm, and Hot, which are described below, along with the
kind of Scenes they appear in. While it should generally be obvious what the
current Temperature is from the narrative, GMs should make sure there is no
confusion, as Punks may have abilities only usable in certain Temperatures.

Here, a Temperature’s ‘timeframe’ denotes roughly how much time is narratively

passing in each Round of that Temperature.

A simple Mission will typically go from Cold scenes, to Warm scenes, to a

climactic Hot scene before ending with an Epilogue, but there is no set order in
which the Temperatures should occur.

Cold
In Cold Scenes you lay the groundwork for the Mission ahead, while also resting
and recuperating, and acquiring new abilities and equipment. Cold Scenes will
very often be montages, either not conXined to a single location, or covering
events at the same location over an extended period. In a Cold Scene, a Round’s
timeframe can be several hours, a day, or even a week or month.

Cold Scene examples: A montage as the crew searches the city for a bounty, the
important stops along the way as the crew travels cross-continent, all the
preparations the crew makes over the course of a week as they scope out a
building.

Warm
In Warm Scenes, the Mission is underway; the crew has entered into a situation
where there is a clear and present objective they must be working towards, as
well as the risk of things going wrong. In a Warm scene, a Round’s timeframe is at
most an hour, and at least a few minutes.

Warm Scene examples: A meeting between the crew and a local druglord at a
crowded club, the crew’s inXiltration of a dinner party and the kidnapping of a
guest, the investigation of a crime scene.

Hot
In Hot Scenes, there is a clear, present, and active threat to the crew. Hot scenes
are where everything’s coming down to the wire and the crew must make
moment-to-moment decisions to succeed… or merely survive. In a Hot scene,
each Round’s timeframe is at most around a minute, or can be only a few seconds
in particularly tense moments.

Hot Scene examples: A shootout, a race to disarm a bomb close to detonation,

Xleeing from a collapsing building, a high-speed pursuit.

Changing Temperature & Rounds

It won’t be uncommon for a Warm Round to transition sharply into a Hot Round,
when something in the plan goes wrong. Although it can remain the same Scene,
a change in Temperature always means it is a new Round.

However, GM’s should generally keep the Temperature consistent across an

entire Scene. Not only would a constantly changing Temperature can make some
of ECOPUNK’s gameplay clunky, but also constantly having the pace of narrative
change would be narratively confusing too! If you think the Temp needs to
change, consider narrating that a new Scene has begun.

The Flow of the Game

ECOPUNK’s gameplay generally goes through the below steps:
1. A new Round begins, with the players reXilling their Dice Pools.
2. If it is a new Scene, the GM describes it, providing all the relevant
information to the players. Where is the crew, what does this place look like,
who’s present, and so on.
3. A player decides what they’d like to do within that Round, and the GM tells
them how they should expend dice to reXlect that. The GM may specify a
particular Skill and/or Aspect for a Throw, or how many dice the player must
Consume to achieve that desired action.
4. If the player wants to pursue the action, they expend their dice. The GM and
the player then narrate and roleplay how that action and its consequences
play out, using the results of any Throws to shape whether the outcome is
favourable or not.
5. Steps 3 and 4 are repeated until each player has done all the actions within
the Round they want to. Some players may choose to conserve some or all of
the dice in their dice pool, in anticipation of something.
6. Time and the narrative has progressed, and a new Round begins.

Design Principles
A System That Works both Fast and Slow
ECOPUNK’s system of Rounds and Dice Pools is designed to work for a narrative
pace that can span several months or mere seconds. In both cases, while the
narrative differs, the mechanics remain the same, of players managing and
expending the dice from their Dice Pools.

We want people to just as equally be able to play a drawn-out police procedural

as a Xight to the death between cyborg warriors.

Get the Dice out of the Way

Rounds and Dice Pools allow players to ‘get the dice out of the way’ - players can
choose a main course of action, roll a big pile of dice, and use the single Score
rolled to shape the storytelling that follows.

For example, if a player wants to focus in this Round on convincing a potential ally
to their side, they can simply make one big Converse Throw, then for the rest of the
Round all interaction between the player and the GM is purely storytelling. The
player narrates and roleplays their Punk being charismatic and making arguments,
and the GM roleplays this potential ally, with that character’s responses shaped by
the Score of the player’s Converse Throw.

Cooperation is Key
Method of character creation in ECOPUNK deliberately produces Punks that are
focused on doing particular things. For the crew to succeed, they will need to
pool their different abilities together. The lone wolf dies while the pack survives.

Initiative
In most Scenes, players either have their characters act concurrently or decide
amongst themselves in what order things happen, but in a Scene where at least
one character has an interest in acting before another, and at the start of every
Combat Scene, Initiative is determined. Initiative is what decides the order in
which characters act in such Scenes.

Whether Initiative is needed is decided by the GM. It is always determined at the

very start of a Round, whether at the start of a Scene or midway through.

As it happens at the start of a Round, every character’s Dice Pool has been reXilled
to full when Initiative begins being determined.

Turns
Initiative divides each Round into a series of Turns, with each Character acting in
their own Turn one after another. The order in which these Turns happen is
called the Initiative Order.

While in Initiative, a character reYills their Dice Pool at the start of their
Turn rather than at the start of the Round, except in the Xirst Round of
Combat, explained below.

Some rules interact with when a Round begins and ends. When in Initiative, the
Round begins with the Xirst Turn and ends with the last Turn.

However, if a character has a Trait or Equipment they speciXically can use a

certain number of times per Round, the ‘Round’ for that Trait or Equipment
counts as starting at the start of their Turn, and that ‘Round’ ends the moment
before their next Turn starts.

Determining the Initiative Order

Initiative is determined with a Speed Clash, involving all characters present in the
Scene. This Speed Clash happens at the start of the Xirst Round, before any
character acts.

The results of the Speed Clash ranks characters from highest score to lowest. This
is the Initiative Order, and is the order in which characters will act during each
Round, with those scoring the high acting earlier and those scoring low acting
later.

The Initiative Order remains the same from round to round, and lasts for the
duration of the Scene or at least until the need for Initiative ends. If there is a tied
Speed Clash Score between a Punk and an NPC, the Punk goes Xirst. The GM
decides who goes Xirst between NPCs with tied Scores, and players decide who
goes Xirst between Punks with tied Scores. A character that rolls no dice for the
Initiative counts as scoring 0 for the Speed Clash.

A character does not reYill their Dice Pool at the start of their Yirst Turn in
Initiative. As the dice a character expends for this Speed Clash are not reXilled
into the Dice Pool at the start of a character’s Xirst Turn, in the opening Round
players will have to judge whether they want to expend a lot of dice on Initiative
and gain the advantage of acting sooner, or conserve their dice for when it comes
to their Turn and risk being outmanoeuvred.

Secretly Determining a Number of Dice to Throw

When needing to secretly determine the number of dice you will be Throwing
for Initiative and other Clashes, rather than preemptively taking out from your
dice pool and revealing the number of dice you intend to roll, instead hide a few
dice under your hands with the numbers on top totalling how many dice you
intend to roll, then reveal that number once everyone has decided how many
dice they intend to roll.

Initiative Breakdown
1. As it is the start of the Round, everyone’s Dice Pool is reXilled to its Dice Pool
Maximum.
2. The GM decides that, based on the actions the characters present want to take,
Initiative is necessary.
3. Each player secretly determines how many dice they will expend on the Speed
Clash.
4. Each player makes their Speed Throw and declares their Score.
5. The GM records each Score, ranking them from highest to lowest along with
which character rolled that Score, determining the Initiative Order.
6. The character with the highest Score begins their Turn. They do not reXill their
Dice Pool, as it is the Xirst Round in Initiative.
7. The character with the next highest Score begins their Turn, and the next, and
so on until all characters have acted. These characters do not reXill their Dice
Pool, as it is the Xirst Round in Initiative.
8. The Xirst Round comes to an end.
9. The character with the highest Score on the Initiative Order begins their
second Turn. As we are now out of the Xirst Round, the character reXills their
Dice Pool.
10.The character with the next highest Score begins their Turn, and the next, and
so on until all characters have acted. As we are now out of the Xirst Round,
these characters reXill their Dice Pools at the start of their Turns.
11.Steps 9-10 repeat until whatever caused Initiative has been resolved. If it was
a battle, one side has emerged victorious. If it was a chase, those Xleeing have
either been caught or got away.
12.Initiative ends and normal Rounds return.

Combat
A shady deal goes sideways and someone draws a gun. The ambassador falls
wounded as a sniper opens Xire on the building. You’ve just heard someone bust
in the front door. These are examples of the beginnings of Combat, where
characters are actively trying to use force on each other and there is a clear and
present danger. Combat is a kind of Scene, in which the Rounds are always Hot.
Combat always begins with Initiative.

Combat in ECOPUNK tends to be brief and brutal, and your Punk does not have
plot armour capable of withstanding a well-placed bullet. It is entirely possible
for characters to take 20 or more Damage from a single attack. Think twice about
starting a Xight, especially against those you can’t outsmart or out-gun.

Backing Out of a Fight

Most humans have a basic desire not to kill others. If Combat is going horribly,
see if the crew can either Xlee, or surrender to the enemy - trying to escape
captivity could be the more survivable option.

Murder and Trauma

Killing others is unpleasant, enough so that many people have an involuntary
physical reaction to doing so - particularly those who haven’t gone through the
military training to inure them to such acts. Based on the kind of character you
are playing, the GM may have you take Mental Damage if you grievously harm or
kill people.

Ambushed
Characters are Ambushed when they are caught off guard by the start of Combat.
A character counts as Ambushed if, at the very start of Combat, they were
unaware any kind of Xight was about to begin. An Ambushed character removes
half of their dice from their Dice Pool before Initiative, as if they had expended
them.

Because of the rule that a character does not reXill their Dice Pool on their Xirst
Turn in Initiative, being Ambushed can mean you’ll have very few dice to work
with all the way until the start of your second Turn!

Actions & Reactions

In Combat, everything is broken down into Actions and Reactions. Actions are
things a Character can do on their Turn, and Reactions are things a Character can
do outside of their Turn, usually in response to something. Certain Traits and
Equipment enable your character to use special Actions and Reactions, or affect
how Actions and Reactions play out.

You can have as many Actions in your Turn as you’d like, and as many Reactions
outside of your Turn as you’d like, provided you have the dice to expend on them.

The follow are the Actions that every character can do in

Combat:
Narrative Action
A Narrative Action is the catch-all term for any Action you can conceive of your
Character performing in the narrative that does not fall under the list of other
Actions below. A Narrative Action might be trying to disarm a bomb, swing from
a chandelier, safely unplug a computer, solve a puzzle… you decide how you want
to contribute to the story.

Attack
Throwing a knife, Xiring a gun, hitting someone with a chair – these are all
examples of Attacks a character could make in Combat. Attacking is explained in
more detail in ‘Attacking’, below.

Move
When taking the Move action, you state where you want to move to and state
your Stride. The GM then quotes a Consume value to move to that place, taking
into account any hindrances that may be upon your Stride such as you carrying a
heavy object.
For example, the GM might tell you something like “with your Stride, you can
Consume 4 to cross the room” or “given your Stride, Consuming 10, your entire dice
pool, will get you half way across the bridge this Turn”. You then decide whether
you want to make that Move, and if so Consume the number of dice quoted.

Stride is the speed at which your character can move, explained on Page 20.

Grab
While next to another character, you can attempt to grab ahold of them. A Grab is
a special kind of Clash, where the grabber makes a Toughness Throw and the
character avoiding the grab can choose to make a Toughness, Finesse, or Speed
Throw - their choice. If the grabber wins the Clash, they grab their target. If they
lose, they don’t. While grabbed, a character cannot use the Move Action, but can
use any other action.

A grabbed character can attempt a Toughness Clash to break free from the
person grabbing them. If they win, they break free from the Grab. If they lose,
nothing happens.

If you lose a Toughness Clash to make or break a Grab, you cannot make or
attempt to break another Grab until the start of your next Turn.

Bind
While you have someone grabbed, you can attempt to Bind them. A Bind is you
choking someone, pinning them, tying them up, or performing some other action
that ultimately prevents their movement. A Bind is a Toughness Clash. If you win
the Clash, the grabbed character is Stunned, and remains Stunned while you are
grabbing them.

You can repeatedly Bind a grabbed character to repeatedly make them Stunned,
potentially leading to Dice Pool Incapacitation.

You cannot perform a Bind if you have more than one person grabbed.
If you lose a Toughness Clash to Bind, you cannot attempt another Bind until the
start of your next Turn.

Minor Physical Action

As a rule of thumb, small physical actions like drawing a gun, grabbing a keycard
from a desk, or handing a spare magazine to an ally will Consume 2, although the
GM can in difXicult circumstances change this number or require a Throw.

Prepare an Action
Sometimes you want to wait for something to occur before you act. When you
Prepare An Action, you declare what Action you are preparing, what the
condition is that will trigger your prepared action, and then put aside the dice
you will expend on the prepared action when it happens. Then after your turn,
when the condition you set out is met, you can expend the put-aside dice as a
Reaction. You cannot prepare multiple actions.

If for whatever reason you don’t use the prepared action, the dice you set aside
are still expended.

Dead Canaries: Preparing an Action

Barkhad is driving away while being chased. Barkhad decides to Prepare an
Action, stating that they will Lire their gun (the prepared action), when they see
an enemy vehicle drive up alongside them (the condition), and set aside four dice
for the attack.

Later in the Round, the enemy driver accelerates their vehicle and comes into
view of Barkhad. Barkhad declares they are using their prepared action, and
makes an Attack, expending and rolling the set-aside 4d6, adding any modiLiers
Barkhad has to using guns.

Hunker Down
When in Cover, you can Consume 2 to Hunker Down. You cannot use Hunker
Down if you have attacked that Turn. When you Hunker Down, you focus on
staying in cover and maximising your protection. When Hunkered Down, the
amount of Armour you gain from the cover you are in increases by +1d6 until the
start of your next Turn, and you cannot make an Attack until the start of your
next turn. If you move out of the cover you are in, the effects of Hunker Down
end. Cover is explained on Page 236.

The follow are the Reactions that every character can do in

Combat:
Dodge
A Dodge is made in response to an Attack that is about to hit you. Dodging is
explained in ‘Attacking’, below.

Help
When a character is about to make a Throw, provided it makes narrative sense,
you can Consume equal to the amount of dice they expended on the Throw to
give that Throw Advantage.

Help is fully explained in Helping a Throw on page 210.

Actions & Reactions Outside of Combat Scenes

Actions and Reactions are referred to as such to make them comprehensive when
used in Combat, however you are not restricted to using Actions and Reactions in
a Combat Scene. There’s no reason you can’t Attack an object, or Hunker Down in
anticipation of gunXire, outside of a Combat Scene. By extension, any special
Actions and Reactions gained through Traits can also be used outside of Combat.

Bear in mind that, given Combat is always a Hot Scene, Actions and Reactions
used outside of Combat should also generally be kept to Hot Scenes. Refer to
Using Traits & Equipment In A Cooler Temperature on page 209.

Attacking
The Attack Action is a Throw, so Xirst when you make an attack decide how many
dice you want to expend for that one attack. There are a few modiXiers that affect
Attack Throws:
Aspects. Attack Throws are either modiXied by Toughness or Finesse. Which
Aspect is to be used is determined by the weapon you are using, but as a general
rule of thumb Toughness is used for attacks in melee, and Finesse is used for
attacks at range. If an Attack is described as a Toughness Attack or Finesse
Attack, that is the Aspect used.
Traits. There are numerous Traits that can affect a character’s ability to use
particular weaponry.
Equipment. Some Equipment can affect your Attacks.
Familiarity. Familiarity represents whether a character knows how to use
certain groups of weaponry. If you make an attack with a weapon you don’t have
Familiarity with, the Throw is Strained. If you do have Familiarity, the Throw is
unaffected. Familiarity is fully explained in Character Creation, on Page 22.

When rolling an Attack, you don’t total up all the numbers rolled to get a Score.
Instead, you count up the number of Successes and Failures. A roll of 5 or 6 on a
1d6 is a Success; a roll of 1 or 2 on a d6 is a Failure. You want to get as many
Successes as possible.

If you rolled at least 1 Success, your Attack is about to hit! Your target gets a
chance to use the Dodge Reaction to avoid the Attack, explained below. If they
successfully Dodge, the Attack is avoided and nothing else happens, but if not
your Attack has Hit and will deal Damage, potentially taking down the enemy.
Damage is explained below.

Every Attack Roll is Explosive, meaning that you roll an additional 1d6 for every
6 you roll. Additional d6 are also Explosive.
Failure Rolls & Mishaps
Failures do not matter unless every dice you rolled is a Failure, in which you
suffer a Mishap, meaning something unfortunate happens with your weapon.
Typically a Mishap will be something like jamming if it’s a Xirearm, or if it’s a knife
it might get struck from your hand and Xly across the room. Unless the weapon
description states what happens on a Mishap, the GM decides in each instance
what happens. Mishaps should generally be a serious problem, making the
weapon unusable until you put in the effort to undo it.

Ranges
The weapon you’re using determines from what distance you can effectively
attack someone from. There are four ‘ranges’; melee, short, medium, and long,
which are fully explained in the Weaponry subsection of the Character Options
List, on Page 161.

Attacks made at melee range are called ‘melee attacks’, and attacks made at the
short, medium, and long ranges are called ‘ranged attacks’.

Melee. Melee range covers melee attacks, which are generally adjacent to or at
least very near the target.
Short. Short range covers ranged attacks from adjacent to around 50 meters
away. When Xighting with ranged weapons in enclosed spaces like the rooms of a
building, you’ll almost always be within the Short range.
Medium. Medium range covers ranged attacks from 50 to around 300 meters
away.
Long. Long range covers ranged attacks beyond 300 meters.

Some rules mention ‘an adjacent Attack’ or ‘an adjacent attacker’ - attacking with
a melee weapon or short ranged weapon while next to the target would both
count as adjacent.

Point Blank Ranged Attacks

Unless the target is Incapacitated, Attacks with ranged weapons targeting
someone adjacent to the attacker are made on Disadvantage.

Unarmed Attacks
If you’re throwing a punch, kicking, biting, or otherwise using your body to
assault someone, you are making an Unarmed Attack. An Unarmed Attack is a
Toughness Attack at melee range, has an AP of 0, and deals 1d3 Physical
(External) Damage.

Ranged Attacking into a Melee Fight

Characters in a melee gain Soft Cover from the person(s) they are in the melee
with.

If you make a ranged Attack targeting a character who is currently in a melee

with another character, then the target successfully Dodges your Attack, it hits
the character they were in the melee with. This hit character has no chance to
Dodge. If you were targeting a character in a melee with more than one other
person, the GM determines randomly which one is hit.

Attacking Something You Can’t See

Generally, if you Attack something that you cannot see, you automatically miss.
However if you know the likely location of something obscured, Attacks targeting
them are made on Disadvantage. For example, if you saw where someone was
standing moments before they were hidden in a cloud of smoke, or became
invisible through a thermoptic cloak, you would be able to Attack them on
Disadvantage.

Attacking Outside of Combat

It is possible for an Attack to be made outside of a Combat Scene. For example,
you might shoot out a security camera just before it turns back online and Xilms
you, in a Scene where you have been breaking into a corporate headquarters. Or,
you might Xire some shots behind you as you Xlee through the sewers to slow
down your pursuers, in a Scene where you are being chased.

If the Attack is upon an individual object or character (like in the Xirst example),
the rules for Attacking and Dodging remain unchanged. If you are making an
Attack roll to gauge your efXicacy in using a weapon for an effect other than
harming an object or character (like in the second example), you still roll an
Attack as normal, but rather than count the Successes and Failures, the score is
counted and the GM will compare it to a DC to see whether you achieve the
desired effect.

Dodging
When you’re about to be hit by an attack, you can Dodge as a Reaction. A Dodge is
a Speed Throw representing a character attempting to avoid an attack. Dodge
rolls, like Attack rolls, counts Successes and Failures rather than totalling a score,
however Dodge rolls are not Explosive.

The only instances where a character cannot Dodge is when they are
Incapacitated. Even if you are unaware the Attack is coming, you can still make a
Dodge Throw. However, if you are targeted by an Attack and the attacker is
Hidden, your Dodge Throw is Strained.

Whenever you are the target of an Attack and roll no dice, you count as having 0
successes on a Dodge roll.

If the number of Successes for the Dodge roll is the same or higher than the
number of Successes for the Attack roll that triggered the Dodge, the attack
is avoided, and nothing else happens. Otherwise, the attack hits its target and
deals Damage.

Narratively, a successful Dodge doesn’t have to mean moving out of the way. A
Dodge could be a parry of a sword-stroke with your own blade, your body
armour deXlecting the impact of the bullet, throwing grit into the eyes of the
attacker, the attack missing entirely, or anything else. Players are free to
narratively interpret how they dodged an Attack.

Dodge of Objects
Sometimes in the midst of combat you will want to attack an object rather than a
character. When attacking a stationary object with a melee attack or with an
ranged weapon while adjacent to the object, the object is treated as having a
Dodge Throw of 0 Successes (although the GM may increase this number if the
object is moving, or very small, or due to some other factor). However it is more
difXicult to hit an object at range. When making a ranged attack against an object,
used the below table to determine how hard an object is to hit:

4 – A tiny object, such as a keycard or a thumb-drive.

2 – A small to medium object, such as a vase, a personal computer, or a fuse box.
0 – A large object such as a vehicle, a fuel tank, or a crate.
+1 if the object is not stationary.
+1 if the object is moving at a fast speed.

These values assume the attacker is in the midst of Combat, and doesn’t have the
luxury of taking their time to approach the target and carefully aim. Outside of
Combat, a character should be able to, for example, shoot the lock off of a chain
without having to roll dice (as there would be no risk of failure).

If an Attack is targeting an object a character has on their person, the GM may

impose Disadvantage on the Attack, but otherwise Attacking and Dodging
happens as normal, as if you were targeting the person. If you hit, you’ve hit the
object.

Damage
When a Character is hit by an Attack, they take Damage, as explained in ‘Fortune’,
in the Character Creation section on Page 22. The Damage from attacks is always
Physical Damage, and most often Physical (External) Damage. The amount of
Damage is often determined a dice roll made by the player who made the Attack,
with the amount of dice rolled deXined by the weapon used in the Attack. Damage
is not modiXied by any Aspects. The dice rolled are added up, and the Character
hit reduces their Fortune by that number. If they are reduced to 0 Fortune, they
suffer a Crisis that is some kind of serious (possibly lethal) physical injury if they
are a Punk, or become Incapacitated if they are an NPC.

Critical Damage
After an Attack has hit but before Damage is rolled, any Critical Damage is
calculated. Critical Damage represents an Attack hitting a more vital spot. Critical
Damage is calculated based on how many dice have in total been rolled for the
Attack, once the Attack has resolved.

For each multiple of 5 dice rolled for the Attack roll, you can Maximise 1
dice from the Damage roll. Maximising a dice means changing what it has
rolled to its highest possible roll. For a d6, that means changing its roll to a 6. For
a d3, you would change its roll to a 3.

You can read about Maximise and similar effects in Roll Effects on Page 212.

Only Punks can use the Critical Damage rule - both allies and enemies
controlled by the GM cannot.

Total amount of dice rolled by the Amount of Damage dice maximised.

Attack roll
5-9 1
10-14 2
15-19 3
20-24 4
25++ 5

Dead Canaries: Critical Damage

Alex makes an Attack roll, Liring their gun. Alex is expending 5d6 for the Attack
Throw, and their modiLiers are adding a total of +3d6 to the roll.

Alex rolls the 8d6, and is lucky to roll three ‘6s’. Due to the Explosive effect that
always applies to Attacks, Alex adds an additional +3d6 to the roll.

Alex’s target fails to Dodge, and Alex is about to roll Damage. For the Attack roll,
Alex has rolled a total of 11d6. Due to the Critical Damage rule, Alex can now
maximise two of the dice in the Damage roll, as 11 contains two multiples of 5.

For the Damage roll, Alex rolls 3d6, getting 1, 3, and 4. Alex maximises the 1 and 3
into two 6s, leading to a total Damage of 16 (6 + 6 + 4). A powerful blow!

Armour
Armour represents everything physically obstructing your character and a
source of harm. When you take Physical (External) Damage from an Attack, if you
have Armour you roll it, subtract the number rolled from the Damage from the
attack, and the remaining number is how much Damage you take. It is possible
for Damage to be reduced to 0 in this way. Armour only reduces Physical
(External) Damage, and does not affect Physical (Internal) Damage.

Armour is determined by what your character is wearing, as some protective

clothing grants Armour, and by what is in between your character and the Attack,
such as a vehicle they are inside or a wall in the way. Whenever there are
multiple things giving you Armour, all of them apply. For example, a character
wearing a bulletproof vest, inside of an armoured vehicle, parked behind a wall,
would gain Armour from all three sources.
Cover
In the narrative of Combat, it is possible for Characters to use Cover for their
protection. If Cover is between a character and a ranged Attack, that character
gains a bonus to Armour against that Attack. Cover is anything a character can
effectively hide behind for protection against projectiles. There are two kinds of
Cover: Soft Cover and Hard Cover, detailed below.

Soft Cover. Soft Cover is anything made of a substance that obscures the target
but a bullet could pass through. Soft Cover gives you +1d6 Armour.
Soft Cover examples: A crowd of people, tall grass, a Xlipped wooden table, an ally
or hostage standing in the way.

Hard Cover. Hard Cover is anything made of a substance that a normal bullet
cannot pass through (at least, not all the way). Hard Cover gives you +2d6
Armour.
Hard Cover examples: A concrete pillar, a brick wall, bulletproof glass, a vehicle, a
bar counter made of metal.

Armour Piercing (AP)

Some weaponry is Armour Piercing, shortened to ‘AP’. Whenever you are hit with
a weapon with AP, you reduce the amount of dice you are rolling for Armour by
the amount of AP that weapon has.

When receiving Armour from multiple sources, the person being hit decides
which sources and dice are removed by AP.
For example, if you had Armour of 1d3 + 1d6, and were hit by a weapon with AP 1,
you could choose to remove the 1d3 and roll 1d6 for your Armour roll, or remove
the 1d6 and roll 1d3 for your Armour roll.

Attack Breakdown
The following details all the steps involved in an Attack (and possible Dodge
response):

1. On a character’s Turn, the player decides their character is going to use the
Attack action.
2. The player describes who or what they are attacking and what they are
attacking with. The object of an attack is that Attack’s ‘target’.
3. The GM tells the player whether their attack is in range of the target. If not in
range, the attack will automatically miss.
4. The player decides how many dice they are going to expend for the Attack
Throw, then applies any modiXiers. Based on the situation, the GM may also apply
roll effects.
5. The player rolls their dice. If all the rolls are Failures, a Mishap occurs, and the
GM determines what accident happens with the weapon used. If at least one
Success is rolled, the Attack is about to hit.
6. The target gets a chance to use the Dodge reaction, or in the case of an object
has its Dodge Successes determined by the GM.
7. If the number of Dodge Successes are lower than the number of Attack
Successes, the Attack hits. Otherwise, the Attack misses.
8. If the Attack hits, any Critical Damage is calculated then the Attack’s Damage is
rolled.
9. The GM calculates the target’s total Armour. That Armour is then reduced by
the Attack’s AP. The target rolls the remaining Armour.
10. The Armour is subtracted from the Attack’s Damage, and the target reduces
their Fortune by the remaining total. If their Fortune is reduced to 0, they become
Incapacitated if they are an NPC, or suffer a Crisis if they are a Punk.

Character Effects
Incapacitated
If a character is Incapacitated, their Dice Pool Maximum is reduced to 0 and
remains that way until whatever it is that Incapacitated them is undone. For
example, if they were Incapacitated by physical injury, they will remain
Incapacitated until they receive medical aid. While a character is Incapacitated,
they are incapable of moving, acting, talking, or in any contributing to the
narrative other than passively.

Incapacitation is a catch-all for states that render a character incapable of action

due to physical circumstances. They may be unconscious, collapsed from
exhaustion, passed out, fainted, or otherwise too physically injured or in too
much pain to move. Or they might just be dead.

If a character has their Dice Pool Maximum reduced to 1 or lower, they become
Incapacitated due to the Dice Pool Incapacitation effect.

A character does not need to be reduced to 0 Fortune to become Incapacitated,

but whenever an NPC is reduced to 0 Fortune, they always become Incapacitated.

Stunned
A character who is Stunned has been knocked down, restrained, disorientated, or
has otherwise had their ability to act limited.

When a character is Stunned, their Dice Pool Maximum is halved (rounded

down). It is possible to be repeatedly Stunned, with each instance halving the
character’s Dice Pool Maximum again.

The Stunned effect lasts until the end of the Stunned character’s next Turn,
unless what applied the Stunned effect is still ongoing.
For example, if the Stunned effect is being applied by a Bind, and the Bind has not
ended, the Stunned effect cannot end. When the Bind is ended, the Stunned effected
will then end on the end of the character subjected to the Bind’s next Turn.

Addled
A character that is Addled is experiencing impaired sight, hearing, thinking, or is
in some other way disorientated and unable to clearly perceive their
surroundings.

An Addled character has disadvantage on all Throws, including when they Attack
and Dodge.

In addition, any Stealth Throws to remain unnoticed by a character who is

Addled are made on Advantage.

Hidden
A character is Hidden when they have become concealed from others. While
Hidden, certain Traits and Equipment can be used in special ways, and you can
avoid certain penalties.

When Attacking from Hidden, the target’s Dodge Throw is Strained. Unless
you have a Trait that says otherwise, you cease to be Hidden after you Attack.

When you want to become Hidden, make a Stealth Throw. You are then Hidden
from any characters who have an Awareness equal to or lower than your Stealth
Throw. You can think of Awareness as a DC you have to match or beat to succeed
at hiding. You generally need to be in a position to conceal yourself to become
Hidden; you cannot make the initial Stealth Throw to become Hidden if, for
example, you are in a clearing with a spotlight trained upon you.

When Hidden, you must make a new Stealth Throw at the start of each Round or
at the start of your Turn to remain Hidden, and you must keep note of the most
recent score of the Stealth Throw that made you Hidden.

If a character makes an Investigate Throw to try to Xind you and the score of that
Investigate Throw is higher than your most recent Stealth Throw, you are
detected, and cease to be Hidden. It is generally assumed a character that spots
you will point you out to their allies, meaning that when you cease to be Hidden,
you cease to be Hidden for all characters.
Hacking
Hacking is the process of inXiltrating and manipulating electronics, usually via the
Net. This section details the rules of Hacking.

Those who engage in hacking are commonly known as ‘hackers’, although there
are a number of other names within hacker subculture, as well as names for
speciXic types of hackers, such as jockeys, redhats, and joes.

For someone to perform hacking, they must, at a minimum, have the Trait ‘D-
Rank Hacker’ (Page 119). Modern hackers all have Cyberbrains - those who don’t
simply cannot compete in the modern age of cybercrime.

Unfolding Gameplay: Avoiding Hacking

Hacking introduces a long list of rules that players may Xind adds an unwanted
level of complexity to playing ECOPUNK.

If an individual player doesn’t want to deal with Hacking and its rules, then
provided they don’t have a Cyberbrain, or any Equipment with the Net-Linked
Keyword, it is impossible for them to be hacked.

Alternatively, if during Session Zero the players decide they are not interested
in telling a story involving hacking, the GM can simply provide stories where
they don’t encounter hackers, meaning the rules in the Hacking subsection will
never be relevant.

Hacking Throws
For many of the processes of hacking, you make a Hacking Throw. Hacking
Throws are used for a variety of purposes, from inXiltrating a Network to
manipulating someone’s mind through their cyberbrain. These processes are
explained below.

A Hacking Throw is a special kind of Software Throw that is not modiYied by

any Aspect, nor is affected by Talents or the Tool Bonus rule. As a Skilled
Throw, dice expended beyond your Skill Level are Strained. A number of Traits
can modify your Hacking Throws.

The DCs and ADCs Hacking Throws are rolling to beat depends on the context.
Most of those contexts are explained in the rules below, but Hacking Throws and
their DCs can also appear in the rules of certain Traits and Viruses.

If you are in Initiative, unless a rule says otherwise you can only make
Hacking Throws during your Turn.

Visualiser
A Visualiser is a piece of Equipment. A combination of hardware and software, a
Visualiser allows a hacker to perceive the complex Net in a simpliXied, coherent
manner.

While not using a Visualiser, Hacking Throws you make are made on
Disadvantage.

Targets for Hacking

The ‘thing’ you are intending to hack, or have hacked, is called the ‘target’.

You can target something for hacking if you fulXil at least one of the following
criteria:
• You can see or otherwise sense the target.
This includes ‘seeing or otherwise sensing’ the target through an external means,
such as a CCTV camera, someone else’s eyes, an EM detector, or so on. In both
instances you need to be seeing or sensing the target in the present - a
photograph of something won’t enable you to hack it (although information
within the photo might).
• You have adequate information to [ind the target’s location within the Net
through targeted searching.
This might be a name and a few other personal details to Xind a person, or a
company name to Xind a private business. It is up to the GM whether you have
adequate information to Xind any particular target, although you can use this rule
of thumb: would I be able to Xind this target’s website or online proXile with a
Google search? If yes, you can target this entity for hacking.
Things like rumours, pseudonyms, and vague information does not help here, at
least not in the sense of immediately providing a target - searching with these
kinds of terms will, at Xirst, only return iterations of those terms rather than the
individual or group they refer to. However further investigation could turn up
one or several potential targets.
• You know the target’s Netpoint.
A target’s location within the Net is called its Netpoint. Netpoints are explained
fully below.
• You are Intruded into something connected to the target.
While Intruded into a Network, you can target any Terminal attached to it, and
while Intruded into a Terminal, you can target the Network it is attached to. In
addition, if you are Intruded into a Terminal that makes some kind of connection
to another Terminal (such as being Intruded into a phone that calls another
phone), you can target that connected-to Terminal. Intrusion, Networks, and
Terminals are explained below.

It is impossible for you to target anything that is Faraday, or within a Faraday

Zone - such things have no presence on the Net. Further, if you are Faraday or
within a Faraday Zone you cannot hack anything at all. There is an exception this
rule: if you have a Hardline connection, explained later. Faraday and Faraday
Zones are explained below.

Netpoints
The Net is a mesh of interconnections, with each digital entity within it
occupying a relative position in that mesh. An entity’s ‘coordinates’ within that
mesh is called its Netpoint. Like having a website address, a Netpoint allows you
to Xind something in the Net.

Both Networks and Terminals have Netpoints.

If you have something’s Netpoint, you can target it for hacking, even if you
know nothing else about it.

Knowing something’s Netpoint doesn’t tell you its physical location.

Netpoints of public-facing entities like government and news websites are

common knowledge.

Complexing a Netpoint
Networks and Terminals can ‘complex’ their Netpoint, causing it to change,
meaning their location within the Net changes. This is used as a precaution
against hackers: by changing your location in the Net, hackers who have
previously attacked you now need to Xind you all over again. It also makes your
contacts lose any connection to you over the Net.

Complexing a Netpoint is generally done between Missions. In effect, it means

that any furtive user of the Net found in one Mission can’t be automatically found
in the next Mission. Some powerful hackers can complex a Netpoint at high
speed, enabling it to be done in-Mission.

It is generally assumed the Crew, if they have a hacker amongst their ranks, will
complex their Network’s Netpoint in between every Mission, but won’t complex
their Terminals, as doing so would make them impossible to contact.

Public-facing entities on the Net, such as a government utility website, normally

won’t ever complex their Netpoint, as doing so would cause citizens to be unable
to Xind them.

Networks & Terminals

There are two kinds of targets for hacking: Networks, and Terminals.

Networks
A Network is a digital structure connected to by all members of a group or
organisation. The crew has its own Network, and every faction the crew works
with and against will have their own Network. The police have a Network, as do
the Military, and each government Ministry. The only groups who won’t have a
Network will be the ones who speciXically and intentionally have no technology
that connects to the Net.

The actual hardware that houses a Network is called the Network Core. It is
usually kept within the Network owner’s base of operations, likely behind a
series of security measures. When someone wants to form a Hardline connection
with the Network, the Network Core is the physical hardware they connect to. In
addition, within a base of operations certain equipment may have built-in
Hardline connections to the Network Core. Hardline connections are explained
below.

Hacking into a Network is called ColdHacking. You can only perform ColdHacking
on Cold or Warm Rounds, due to the complexities of inXiltrating a Network.

Terminals
A Terminal is any object or person that exists connected to a Network. Any
person with a Cyberbrain, any piece of Equipment with either the Bionic or Net-
Linked keyword, and any structure or object that uses electricity (such as a
building, vehicle, or electronically-locked door) is a Terminal.

Hacking into a Terminal is called HotHacking. You can only perform HotHacking
on Warm or Hot Rounds.

While being separate targets, Terminals are still part of and connected to their
Network. When you target them, you are essentially targeting a limb of a
Network. As such, a Terminal’s Intrusion ADC and Ice both come from the
Network they are connected to. Intrusion ADC and Ice are explained below.

If you’re uncertain about whether you’re targeting a Network or a Terminal, you

can use this rule of thumb:
If you’re targeting a speciXic object or person, it’s a Terminal. Otherwise, you’re
targeting a Network.

Why can’t I perform HotHacking in a Cold Round?

You may be asking: given HotHacking is the faster of the two kinds of Hacking,
why can’t I also use it in Cold Rounds?

The narrative justiXication is that, given hacking is a cybercrime and carries a risk
no matter how skilled you are, no hacker is going to only hack the less-signiXicant
target of a Terminal in a Cold Round, where the narrative is covering actions
taken over days, weeks, or months.

However, if you’ve made clear you intend to hack one or several Terminals, the
GM should put you into a Warm or Hot Scene to both reXlect the risk, and
facilitate your hacking efforts.

Intrusion
When you want to hack into something, the Xirst step is ‘Intrusion’ - the process
of actually getting your digital presence inside the thing you want to manipulate
through hacking. When you have succeeded in your Intrusion, we say you have
‘Intruded’.
If your target for Intrusion is a Network, you are ColdHacking, and need to be in a
Cold or Warm Round.

If your target for Intrusion is a Terminal, you are HotHacking, and need to be in a
Warm or Hot Round.

So long as you are in the correct Temperature, the Intrusion can begin!

When Intruding, you make a Hacking Throw, attempting to beat either the
Network or the Terminal’s ‘Intrusion ADC’. Intrusion ADCs are ‘Accumulating
DCs’, meaning that if you don’t beat them with the Xirst Hacking Throw you can
make additional Hacking Throws adding to your Score until you do beat the ADC,
as per the Accumulating DC rules described on Page 207. Intrusion ADCs are
explained below.

You can only perform one Hacking Throw for Intrusion per Round.

With Intrusion, you must keep attempting to beat the same ADC with a
Hacking Throw each subsequent Round, or lose your accumulated Score. If
you Xinish a Round without making a Hacking Throw, or attempt Intrusion on a
different target, you stop your attempted Intrusion of the initial target and your
accumulated Score towards beating that ADC is lost.

If you beat the Intrusion ADC with a Hacking Throw, you successfully inXiltrate
the Network or Terminal without further problems and without detection.

Each time you make a Hacking Throw and on that Throw fail to beat the
Intrusion ADC, you suffer the Network’s Ice, and the Network is alerted to
the attempted Intrusion. Ice is explained below.

This means there is serious incentive to beat an Intrusion ADC in one go, to slip
inside a Network or Terminal wholly undetected and without suffering Ice.

Intrusion ADCs
Intrusion ADC represents how well-defended a Network and all of its connected
Terminals are. More heavily defended Networks have higher Intrusion ADCs than
more vulnerable ones. A Network’s ADC is called the Network Intrusion ADC, and
any Terminal’s ADC is called the Terminal Intrusion ADC.

Network Intrusion ADC

Network Intrusion ADC is determined by whichever member of the
organisation (if it is NPCs), or the crew (if it is the Network of the Punks)
can provide the highest Network Intrusion ADC value.

How much a character can provide for a Network Intrusion ADC is determined
with the following formula:
Multiply your Software Skill Level by 5. Then, add to that number any bonuses to
the ADC granted by your Traits and Equipment, and any bonuses to the ADC
granted by the crew’s Assets. The total is the current value of your Network
Intrusion ADC.

Network Intrusion ADC = (5 x Software Skill Level) + any Traits, Equipment,

and Assets that increase Network Intrusion ADC.

The Network’s Network Intrusion ADC is the highest value a member of the
Network can provide based on the above formula. If you are the member of the
Network who determines the Network Intrusion ADC, you also determine what
Ice the Network has. Ice is explained below.

A Network Intrusion ADC can never be lower than 20.

If the character that provides a Network’s Intrusion ADC and Ice has a Crisis,
becomes Incapacitated, or otherwise is taken out of the action, the Network
Intrusion ADC and Ice remain. However if a character permanently leaves their
Network due to dying, quitting, or something else, they cease to provide their
beneXits to Network Intrusion ADC and Ice at the end of the Mission.

Terminal Intrusion ADC

A Terminal’s Terminal Intrusion ADC is always half the ADC of the Network it is
connected to, rounded down. As a result every Terminal in a Network has the
same Terminal Intrusion ADC.

Terminal Intrusion ADC = Network Intrusion ADC ÷ 2

Because Network Intrusion ADC never being lower than 20, a Terminal
Intrusion ADC can never be lower than 10.

Once Intrusion is Successful

Once you have Intruded into a Network or Terminal, you are free to ‘snoop
around’ inside, but you are limited to passive observation. You do not need to
Consume any dice to passively observe.

If you are in a Network you can:

• Have a look at the data stored in the Network. For example, if you hacked into
the Network of a police station, you’d be able to see the register of all staff at the
station, the past recordings from security cameras, digital copies of case Liles, and
so on.
• Learn the name and Netpoint of all the Terminals that are currently connected
to the Network. This means that, if you have Intruded into a Network, you can
target any Terminal connected to it.

If you are in a Terminal you can:

• See all the Traits, Equipment, and Mods connected directly to the Terminal. For
example, if the Terminal is someone’s Cyberbrain, you could see all the Traits and
Equipment, and Mods that are connected to it that have the Bionic keyword.
• If the Terminal is an object with a simple, single function, you can observe the
input from that function. For example, if you’d hacked a camera, you could see
what the camera sees. If you hacked an electronic door, you could know if it is
opened or closed, and whether it is locked.
• If the Terminal is someone’s Cyberbrain, go Beyond the Ghostline. Ghostlines
are explained below.
• See the location in the Net of the Network the Terminal is part of. This means
that, if you have Intruded into a Terminal, you can target the Network
connected to it. In addition, you see the location in the Net of any other
Terminals the Terminal connects to. For example, if you hacked into a phone,
you’d see the Network it’s part of. If that phone was then used to call someone
else, you’d be able to see the location of that other phone.

In addition, when you Yirst Intrude into a target, you learn its Netpoint if
you didn’t already.

If you want to actively interact with a target, you will need to use a Program,
explained below.

You can end your Intrusion without expending dice and whenever you’d like,
unless you are in Initiative, in which case you can only end your Intrusion on
your Turn.

If the target you have Intruded into becomes Faraday, you cease to be
Intruded into it. If you become Faraday, you cease to be Intruded into
anything. The exception to these rules is if you have a Hardline connection,
explained below.

Without the beneXits of certain Traits, you can only have your digital presence in
one Network or Terminal at a time. While you can begin Intrusion on a new
target while already Intruded into your limit of Networks and/or Terminals, once
you succeed in your Intrusion on the new target your digital presence must leave
an old one.

Once you have stopped being Intruded into a target, you will have to perform the
process of Intrusion all over again to reenter it.
The Antibodies System and Anti-Intrusion

The reason hackers need to re-hack into targets they’ve previously accessed is
due to the Antibodies System, a globe-spanning AI instituted by the UN to Xight
the explosion of cybercrime following the tandem advents of the Net and the
Cyberbrain. The Antibodies system works by detecting past hacks and
scrambling the connection that hack used.

The consequence is a previous ‘route’ into something a hacker has taken

becomes inaccessible, and the hacker will need to approach from a different
angle. Thankfully, the Net provides near-inXinite ways to connect.

Consequently, the Antibodies System has only really removed amateurs from
the hacking scene, who had previously worked using routes and techniques
copy/pasted from other hackers.

The Cyberbrain & Bionics

While you are Intruded into a Cyberbrain, you can choose to have any
Programs you apply to it also apply their effects to anything with the Bionic
keyword also connected to that Cyberbrain. This enables you to manipulate
things like bionic limbs and bionic Equipment all from the Cyberbrain.
For example, if you were Intruded into the Cyberbrain of a person who had the
Bionic Arm Trait, you could use the Program ‘Puppeteer’ to control both of their
bionic arms.

Intruding Within The Crew

You can freely access your own Network, and any Terminals attached to your
Network, without making Hacking Throws. For the purposes of hacking rules,
you count as Intruded into Networks and Terminals your digital
consciousness currently occupies.

You cannot be Intruded into yourself. You can, however, apply Programs to
yourself, explained below.

Intrusion Across Scenes

If you are Intruded into a target at the end of a Scene, you remain Intruded into it
in the next Scene (unless you choose to stop being Intruded in the transition).

While this can result in you being Intruded into a Network in a Hot Scene, or into
a Terminal in a Cold Scene, you cannot interact with these targets in these
Scenes, except to cease being Intruded into them.

Access without Hacking Throws

Making Hacking Throws is not the only way into a Network or Terminal, and the
GM and players should not approach the game thinking as such. You could steal a
physical list of administrator usernames and passwords to login to a Network, or
someone might freely offer you one of their wetports for a Hardline connection
to their Cyberbrain, so that you and they can talk cyberbrain-to-cyberbrain
without fear of the signal being intercepted.

Ice
‘Ice’ is hacker-jargon for anti-hacking countermeasures that prevent hackers
from inXiltrating a Network and its Terminals.

Each time you make a Hacking Throw for Intrusion and on that Throw you
don’t beat the Network or Terminal’s ADC, the effects of the Network’s Ice
are applied to you.

Each Network’s Ice is made up of 1-3 ‘Ice Layers’. When a hacker suffers the
effects of a Network’s Ice, they suffer the effect of each Ice Layer. Ice can contain
multiple copies of the same type of the same Ice Layer. Ice Layers can do many
things, such as try to fry the brain of the intruding hacker, send out tracker
programs to pinpoint the hacker’s location, or shore up the Network’s defences.

When you suffer the effects of Ice, the effects of each Ice Layer apply together
rather than separately.
For example, if you suffered the effects of Ice where two of the Ice Layers are ‘Attack
Barrier I’, which causes 1d3 Physical (Internal) Damage, you would take 2d3
Physical Damage, rather than two instances of 1d3 Physical Damage.

If a Network has no Ice Layers, it has no Ice.

The Ice Layers for the crew’s Ice is determined by any Traits that provide Ice
taken by the member of the crew also providing the Network’s Intrusion ADC
value. For the Ice of other organisations, GMs can refer to the premade Networks
available in the All Things NPC section of the GM Tools, on Page 323.

Network Shutdown
Sometimes, the crew or an NPC faction may want to shut down their Network -
most likely to prevent it from being hacked.

Provided they are physically at the Network Core, anyone who knows the
shutdown sequence can shut it down freely. Depending on the organisation, the
shutdown sequence can be anything from pushing an ‘off’ button, to going
through a complex sequence of digital and analog locks.

The GM may require you to expend dice to shut down a Network Core, either
Consuming dice to represent the travel to and physical act of shutting down your
own Network Core, or making Software and/or Engineer Throws to decipher the
digital and analog locks of someone else’s Network Core.

For the purposes of any rules, Networks shut down and start up instantly.
While a Network is shutdown, those connected to it no longer have access to its
beneXits. They cannot communicate via it, cannot access the data stored on it, and
do not gain its Intrusion ADC or Ice. As a result, any Terminal connected to a
Network that is shut down has their Terminal Intrusion ADC reduced to the
minimum of 10.

When a Network is shut down, any and all hackers Intruded into it stop being
Intruded into it.

Programs
A ‘Program’ is a special effect a hacker can apply once they have Intruded into a
Network or Terminal. All Programs, including their full rules, are listed in the
following subsection, Programs List, beginning on Page 257.

You expend Power to use Programs, with more powerful Programs expending
more Power. Some Programs apply their effects instantly, some apply their effect
over an extended duration, and some only activate their effects when certain
conditions are met.

All Programs remain within the target they are applied to until they ‘end’. Some
programs have conditions which can cause them to end automatically. All
Programs end when they are removed, as explained below.

When in Combat, using a Program is an Action unless a rule speciXies it can be

used as a Reaction.

You can only apply Programs to a Network in a Cold or Warm Round. You can
only apply Programs to a Terminal in a Warm or Hot Round. Programs that
speciXically affect Networks are called ColdPrograms. Programs that speciXically
affect Terminals are called HotPrograms. Programs that can affect both Networks
and Terminals remain simply ‘Programs’.

You can apply Programs to your own Network and Terminals connected to it, but
must be Intruded into them to do so.

You can freely apply Programs to yourself.

Some Programs require you to make a Hacking Throw to successfully apply it.
Otherwise, you can use Programs freely provided you have the Power to expend,
unless you are in Initiative, in which case you can only apply Programs on your
Turn.

Which Programs are available to you is determined by which Traits relating to

hacking you have taken. Hacker Traits are listed on Page 118.

Removing Programs
Unless their effects are obvious, Programs are hidden until found using the Scan
Program. Unless a Program has special rules stating otherwise, once identiXied a
Program can be freely removed from a Network or Terminal, without you having
to expend any dice.

The only exception is: if a hacker is currently Intruded into a target they applied a
Program to, they must consent to their Program(s) being removed if someone
else attempts to remove them. Otherwise, those Programs cannot be removed. A
hacker can consent to their Program(s) being removed without revealing their
digital presence in the target, but cannot prevent the removal of the Programs
without revealing their presence.

If a hacker is preventing you from removing a Program this way, you’ll need to
end their Intrusion Xirst, such as by using the Slice Program.

Investigating Programs
Every hack leaves a mark of some kind. If you are Intruded into a Network or
Terminal a hacker previously applied a Program to, you can make a Hacking
Throw, the DC of which is that Hacker’s Terminal Intrusion ADC. If you beat the
DC, the GM may give you information on the hacker who applied the Program,
with a greater Score providing more information.

Multiple Programs
If you put multiple Programs onto one target that have conXlicting effects, you
decide when applying those Programs in which order those effects occur. In all
other instances, Programs apply in the chronological order in which they were
applied to a Target, starting with the least-recently applied Program and ending
with the most-recently applied Program.

Dead Canaries: Intrusion and Programs

Chen is slowly being cornered in a warehouse by a cyborg assailant. Having already made a
Stealth Throw in this Round, Chen is keeping hidden.

GM: Chen, from your hiding place you spy the cyborg approaching. In the dim light you can
make out the metallic crimson of her skin, ivory bionic eyes, and a shotgun at the ready. She’s
moving slowly, leaving no openings, but she’ll upon you soon. What do you do?

Chen: Okay, I’m going to hack into this lady’s Cyberbrain.

Chen makes a Hacking Throw for Intrusion, targeting the Cyberbrain of the cyborg, and Scores
a 35. The GM conXirms that beats the cyborg’s Terminal Intrusion ADC (which is 32), so the Ice
is not triggered.

Chen. I want to use the Program Block Input/Output to blind her, by ending the ‘input’ of vision
from her Bionic Eyes. Can I do that?

GM: Absolutely! Being Intruded into her Cyberbrain, you can have Programs apply to Bionic
options connected to it.

Chen blinds the cyborg, and takes the opportunity to slip away.

Beyond the Ghostline

A special variety of Programs named ‘ghosthacks’ require a hacker’s digital
presence to be ‘Beyond the Ghostline’ to use. Ghosthacks are Programs that alter
the memories and personality of a person through their cyberbrain.

The Ghostline is the separation between the digital, ordered domain of the
Cyberbrain, which is still essentially a computer, and the soupy, chaotic domain of
the human mind, called the ‘ghost’ in hacker jargon (and ‘ego’ in scientiXic
lexicon). Hackers call crossing from the cyberbrain into the ghost ‘going beyond
the Ghostline’.

When you perform a successful Intrusion into someone’s Cyberbrain, your digital
presence arrives in the Cyberbrain, but you can freely choose to go beyond the
Ghostline and directly connect with the ghost of the person you have hacked into.

While you are Beyond the Ghostline, you can make a Hacking Throw to
attempt to gather information from the person’s ghost, potentially
revealing their thoughts, feelings, and memories. The Score of such a Throw
determines how much you learn. A Score of less than 20 is likely to only tell you
their general mood and give you a smattering of proto-thoughts, while Scores of
30, 40, and 50 will reveal information of progressively greater quality and
quantity. The GM may increase or lower the DC based on how guarded the
person’s mind is. When gathering information, a targeted search will learn more
than a general one. You will learn deeper truths and see more important
memories if you’re searching for something those truths and memories relate to.

You can return from beyond the Ghostline freely and whenever you’d like, unless
you are in Initiative, in which case you can only return on your Turn.

Damage Beyond the Ghostline & Ego Fracturing

The ghost is a churning mess of incoherent impulses and proto-thoughts that
have not yet been shaped into that narrative of ‘consciousness’, and without a
steeled mind it is easy for a hacker to lose sight of where they end and the hacked
ghost begins. When you Yirst go beyond the Ghostline, and at the beginning
of each Round (or Turn if in Initiative) beyond the Ghostline, you must
make a Clarity Save. On a failed Save, you take 2d6 Mental Damage.

If you suffer a Crisis from this Mental Damage, you undergo a process called an
‘ego fracture’, where your own Ego and that of the target have brieXly melded. In
the resolution of the Crisis, you and the person you hacked swap one of your
Drivers, and Stigma gained is described below.

If you would suffer a Crisis and from this Mental Damage and already have 3
Stigma, your Ego is instead completely subsumed into the person you are
hacking - rendering you mindless.
Stigma: Ego Fracture
A chunk of the self is missing, felt only by its absence. Memories and
personality traits are missing, and when you reach for them, you get only
Xlashes of the life of another - the person you hacked.

Ghosts and the Perfect Existential Ego

If a Punk ever makes a ghost duplicate of themselves, the GM can secretly roll
3d6. On a roll of three 6s, the Punk has a Perfect Existential Ego (although the
GM does not tell them this), and they will be able to cooperate with their
double indeXinitely. Otherwise, the Punk and the GM-controlled double will at
some point fall into conXlict. Usually this happens fairly quickly if the Punk
considers themselves the ‘original’ and their double is a ‘copy’.
Dead Canaries: Ghosthacking
The Crew are attempting to gather intel on a politician, and have decided to ghosthack his
personal bodyguard while he is in transit to his ofLice. Chen has just succeeded in Intruding into
this bodyguard’s Cyberbrain and has 3d6 left in their Dice Pool. After the current Round and one
more, the bodyguard will pass through a security checkpoint that will compromise Chen’s hack.

GM: You slip past the bodyguard’s defences unnoticed. You move into his cyberbrain, see
twitching strands of software controlling bionic muscle Xibre… What are you doing now?

Chen: Chen’s going to move beyond his Ghostline immediately - no time to waste.

Chen makes a Clarity Save and fails. The GM rolls 2d6, getting 10, and Chen takes 10 Mental
Damage.

GM: Chen, you descend beyond the ghostline. Those strands of software melt into a whirlpool of
consciousness. The waters here are rough, and you begin to feel yourself eroded in the
turbulence! The rest of you, you see Chen’s body shudder in their hacker cradle. Things clearly
aren’t going smoothly.

Chen: Shit, I only have 8 Fortune left! Okay, I’m going to make a Hacking Throw to try to dive
into this guy’s memories, speciXically about his boss, his timetable, those kinds of things.

Chen makes a Hacking Throw, expending the remaining dice in their Dice Pool, but only gets a
Score of 23.

GM: Chen only gets fuzzy shapes, goopy mind-sludge… it’s not enough to form actual
information. You’ll need to go deeper.

Chen doesn’t have any dice in their Dice Pool left, and will need to wait until next Round beyond
the Ghostline to reattempt the Throw.

Quinn: You need to come back from the Ghostline. If you fail another Clarity Save you could
have a Crisis.

Chen: I’m going to risk it!

At the start of the next Round, Chen makes another Clarity Save as they are still beyond the
ghostline. The fail again, and the GM rolls 2d6, getting 6. Chen barely scrapes through with 2
Fortune left! Chen then makes a Hacking Throw, this time rolling their entire dice pool and
scoring 42.

GM: Chen, with blood pouring from your physical body’s nose, you muster all your hacking
might and wrench memories from the maelstrom, and pull back behind the ghostline, then stop
being Intruded into the bodyguard just as his cab pulls up to the ministry. You’ve got the
information you wanted!

Hardline
A Hardline connection is when there is a physical piece of hardware connecting a
Terminal to either another Terminal or a Network.

Some examples of Hardline connections:

• You connect one of your wetcords into someone’s wetport. There is now a
Hardline connection between your Cyberbrain and theirs.
• You plugged a snooping device into a vehicle (forming a Hardline connection
between the two), and now the vehicle has formed a Hardline connection to the
Network at headquarters. There is now a Hardline connection between your
snooping device and the Network.
• At a cabinet meeting, the ministers all plug their wetcords into the Network
Core. Each minister now has a Hardline connection to each other and the
Network.

Hardline connections can chain together. If you have a Hardline connection to

Terminal A, and Terminal A has a Hardline connection to Terminal B, you have a
Hardline connection to Terminal B.

A Hardline connection can offer a number of beneXits and vulnerabilities, listed

below.

Hackers are generally assumed to have all the necessary equipment to

make Hardline connections.

Hardline Communication
Signals sent via a Hardline connection don’t need to be transmitted wirelessly,
meaning that if you want to have a conversation without fear of the broadcasted
signal being intercepted, a Hardline connection is the way to do it.

Protection From Faraday Effects

You can still attempt to Intrude into something you have a Hardline connection
to, even if you or they are Faraday. In addition, while Intruded into a target you
have a Hardline connection with, you don’t cease to be Intruded if you or they (or
both of you) become Faraday.

Hacking Via Hardline

If there is a Hardline connection between something you are currently Intruded
into, and a Network or Terminal you want to target, you gain a +1d6 to Hacking
Throws towards Intrusion into the target, and Hacking Throws for Intrusion are
made on Advantage.

If the Hardline connection is instead directly between yourself and the target, the
bonus to Hacking Throws increases to +2d6, and the bonus does not just apply to
Hacking Throws for Intrusion, but instead to all Hacking Throws focused on
hacking the Hardline-connected target, such as applying Programs.

In addition, if someone is Faraday, you can still target it for hacking if you have a
Hardline connection to it, or are current Intruded into a Network or Terminal
that has a Hardline connection to it. Faraday is explained below.

Hardline & Intrusion ADCs

When you have a Hardline connection to a target that you have either Intruded
into, or have open access to (such as your own Network), you can choose to
replace your Intrusion ADC with the Intrusion ADC of the thing you have a
Hardline connection to.

VIPs and hackers will often use this for defence, using a Hardline connection
between themselves and their Network when at their base of operations,
allowing them to swap their Terminal ADC with the Network’s higher Intrusion
ADC. This can present its own vulnerabilities however; if their Network gets
hacked, those connected via Hardline are more vulnerable.

Faraday
While a character or object is Faraday, they cannot be reached by external digital
signals. They cannot be electronically contacted, access the Net, or be hacked
without a Hardline connection.

Faraday Zones
Faraday Zones are regions where everything within is completely disconnected
from the Net, and either will be internally devoid of technology capable of
connection to the Net, or will have its own internal Networks. Everything within
a Faraday Zone counts as Faraday to everything outside the Faraday Zone.

Faraday Zones exist exclusively outside of cities, are almost always highly
guarded, and have been created and maintained to protect government secrets,
although several now are host to symbiotic communities of technophobes and
primitivists.

Hacking in Combat
Hackers in Combat support their allies and inXiltrate their enemies.

If you intend to be hacking in Combat, make a note during Initiative which,
if any, of the Terminals part of your Network you’re Intruded into. If you’re
not physically present in the combat, you’ll likely want to be Intruded into
something that will give you a view of the Xight. For example, you might note that
you’re starting combat Intruded into the Bionic Eyes of your cyborg ally.

Hacker vs. Hacker Combat

When hackers lock horns in the midst of combat, their Xight in the shadows
usually follows the following steps:
1. Bait your opponent into revealing a Terminal they are Intruded into, such as
them using the Improv Maze Program to protect their ally, or the Shock
Program to hurt an enemy.
2. Intrude into that Terminal yourself, and use the Scan Program to get the
Netpoint of the enemy Hacker Intruded into that Terminal.
3. Intrude into the enemy hacker using their Netpoint, and Incapacitate them.

Hacker Xights can become games of cat-and-mouse, where aiding their allies
using Programs can expose them to the enemy hacker, or where being too wary
or overextending when expending their dice for Hacking Throws can swing the
Xight in the enemy’s favour.

Long-Term Intrusion & Programs

At the end of a Mission, a hacker might want to maintain their Intrusion into a
target, or keep track of Programs they’ve left in a target.

Whether Intrusions or Programs carry over between Missions is determined

based on the nature of the target, and is decided by the GM.

More secure groups will practice greater cyberhygiene, sweeping their Network
and Terminals for Programs and hunting any hackers who stick around in their
systems; hackers will know to stop their Intrusion of such targets when the
Mission ends to avoid retaliation.

Less secure groups may not sweep their Network and/or Terminals for Programs
at all, and can lack the tools to reveal hackers still hiding in their systems.

Intrusion into and Programs applied to the Crew and their Network are never
noticed unless their effects are obvious or a hacker in the Crew actively seeks out
and Xinds them.
Programs List
Reinterpreting Programs
Many Programs are deliberately open in how they can be interpreted, to give
players Xlexibility in their application. However if the rules of a Program won’t let
you achieve the effect you want, suggest how you’d want to alter a Program to
achieve your desired effect to the GM. With their permission, you can have a
Program produce that altered effect. The GM may increase the Power expended
by the Program to reXlect this alteration.

The altered effect should be similar to the Program’s initial effect in scope and
effectiveness. You couldn’t, for example, use the ‘Open/Close’ Program to close all
the valves in someone’s bionic heart, killing them.

D-Rank Programs
You can use the following Programs if you have taken the Trait ‘D-Rank Hacker’.

Programs
Programs can be applied to both Networks and Terminals.

Scan
Power cost: 1

Make a Hacking Throw. The GM reveals the following:

• The Netpoints of any hackers currently Intruded into the target whose
Terminal Intrusion ADC is equal to or lower than the Hacking Throw’s Score,
meaning you can target these hackers via the Net.
• Any Programs present in the target placed there by any hackers whose
Terminal Intrusion ADC is equal to or lower than the Hacking Throw’s Score.

If you know the symptom of at least one Program applied to the target (for
example, if you’ve observed the target has lost their sight, likely due to the
Block Input/Output Program), you only need to Score equal to half (rounded
down) or lower than a hacker’s Terminal Intrusion ADC on the Throw to
achieve the effects of this Program.

Invitation
Power cost: 1

While you remain Intruded into the target, other hackers of your choice add
+2d6 to Hacking Throws to Intrude into the target.

This Program ends once you stop being Intruded into the target.
HotPrograms
HotPrograms can only be applied to Terminals.

Shock
Power cost: 1

Make a Hacking Throw. Using the below table, deal an amount of Physical
(Internal) Damage to the target based on your Hacking Throw’s Score.

After you have dealt Damage with it, this Program ends.
Throw Score 0-19 20-39 40++
P (I) Damage 1d6 2d6 3d6
You cannot apply this Program more than once per Round.

Open/Close
Power cost: 1

You cause a single mechanism of the Terminal either open, close, extend,
retract, or rotate - your choice.

For example, you could make an electronic door, such as a car door or a security
gate, open or close. If it’s something that grips, such as a bionic hand, it could
clench or unclench.

Once the Terminal is done performing the chosen motion, this Program ends,
meaning if the Terminal hacked automatically tries to revert itself to a
particular state, it will try to revert to that setting. For example, if you open a
door that automatically closes, it will close again after it is done opening.

Pop
Power cost: 1

You cause the Terminal to, if it can, make a noise of your choice, Xlash its lights,
brieXly display an image of your choice, or otherwise make a brief, distracting
noise or sound.

The distracting noise or sound lasts for the duration of the Round you are in,
then this Program ends.

ColdPrograms
ColdPrograms can only be applied to Networks.
Pipe
Power cost: 1

Choose a single piece of data, or a group of data uniXied by a keyword or

concept, on the Network. If you choose a single piece of data, that data is
instantly removed from the Network and placed onto your Network. If you
choose a group of data, the GM determines a number of Rounds based on the
size of the group, with a larger group meaning more Rounds. At the end of each
Round, some of the data within the group is removed from the Network and
placed onto your Network. After the number of Rounds determined by the GM
has passed, all of the data will have been removed and placed onto your
Network.

A ‘piece’ of data can constitute anything between a single sentence to a number

of Xiles grouped together under the same subject.

This Program does not decrypt any encrypted data you might take out of a
Network.

White Noise
Power cost: 1

You Xill the communication channels of the Network with recursive junk data.
Until removed, members of the Network cannot communicate via the Network,
meaning to communicate they must either use a Hardline connection or
communicate on an open channel, where anyone can freely view/listen to the
communication.

It only becomes apparent that this Program has been applied to the Network
when a member of the Network attempts to electronically communicate.

Delete
Power cost: 1

Choose a single piece of data on the Network. It is deleted.

A ‘piece’ of data can constitute anything between a single sentence to a number

of Xiles grouped together under the same subject.

You can only use this Program on stored information - you couldn’t, for
example, ‘Delete’ a line of code in a Network’s control over the power grid to
shut off power to a building.
Deface
Power cost: 1

You change the visuals and audio of any basic outputs of the Network of your
choice to visuals and/or audio of your own design. For example, you could
change all the logos of the Network’s website, or replace the video part of a
publicly-available video to new footage, or replace the automated message the
Network will put out in the event of an emergency with your own recording.
C-Rank Programs
You can use the following Programs if you have taken the Trait ‘C-Rank Hacker’.

Programs
Programs can be applied to both Networks and Terminals.

Delayed Program
Power cost: 0+

When you use this Program, choose an additional Program and expend its
Power cost, then choose any length of time. Rather than immediately, that
additional Program instead applies its effect(s) after that length of time has
passed.

If that additional Program asks for you to make a Hacking Throw, expend the
dice you would for the Throw now, and make a note of how many dice you will
roll for the Hacking Throw. Once the length of time has passed, roll that many
dice for the Hacking Throw of the additional Program.

You must be in a Cold or Warm Round to choose a ColdProgram to be delayed,

and you must be in a Warm or Hot Round to choose a HotProgram to be
delayed.

Slice
Power cost: 1

Choose a target you are currently Intruded into. You and each hacker currently
Intruded into that target engage in a Clash where each participant makes a
Hacking Throw. Every hacker but the one who won the Clash stops being
Intruded into the target.

Each hacker who loses their Intrusion this way cannot attempt to Intrude into
that target again until after the end of the next Round.

You don’t need to be aware of any hackers currently Intruded into the target to
use this Program. The GM can roll other hackers’ Hacking Throws for the Clash
in secret to not reveal whether there are any present.
Improv Maze
Power cost: 1

You use this Program when you believe a Terminal or Network you are
Intruded into (including a friendly Terminal or Network) is being Intruded into
by someone else (such as the target applying its Ice in response to an
attempted Intrusion). If you are in Combat, you can use this Program as a
Reaction.

Make a Hacking Throw. Against Intrusion attempts, the Intrusion ADC of the
target is increased by half the Score of the Hacking Throw (rounded down).
This increase in Intrusion ADC lasts until the end of next Round, at which point
this Program ends.

If you apply it to your own Network or a Terminal that is part of your Network,
this Program instead expends 0 Power.

If you apply this Program to a target that is already under the effects of the
Improv Maze Program, that previous Program ends immediately.

Tracker
Power cost: 1

While this Program remains and you or the target are not Faraday, you and
your Network know the exact physical location of the Terminal or Network
Core this Program is applied to.

When you apply this Program you can choose to have it instead openly
broadcast the target’s location.

HotPrograms
HotPrograms can only be applied to Terminals.

Block Input/Output
Power cost: 1

You prevent a single input or output of your choice from functioning in a

Terminal. An ‘input’ can include a sensory input.

For example, you could stop the ‘input’ of a security camera’s video recording,
or stop someone with a cyberbrain and a bionic throat from being able to speak
by preventing their voicebox’s ‘output’, or stop a heart-rate monitor from being
able to detect the ‘input’ of a pulse.

To prevent particularly complex inputs or outputs, the GM may require you to

make a Hacking Throw.
Brain Ping
Power cost: 1

You can only apply this Program to a Cyberbrain. You can only use this Program
once per Round.

You send out an untraceable Bsignal ping from the Cyberbrain, which tells you
the Netpoints of any Cyberbrains within 50 metres. The ping cannot penetrate
walls, but it can go around corners. This Program ends at the end of the Round
in which it was used.

If you apply this Program to your own Cyberbrain, it instead costs 0 Power.

Piggyback
Power cost: 1

You gain a live feed of all the sensory inputs of the Terminal.

For example, if you targeted a weapon drone, you’d be able to see what it sees
with its camera, and know its coordinates, its elevation, and its ammunition
count. If you targeted someone with a cyberbrain and a cyborg body, you’d be
able to see, hear, smell, touch, and taste everything they do.

Applying this Program to someone with a cyberbrain won’t allow you to feel
their emotions, perceive any visual or auditory hallucinations, or anything else
to do with that person’s ghost.

Mask
Power cost: 1

When you apply this Program, choose yourself, a member of the crew, a person
you have some facial data of (such as a few clear photos of their face), or an
object you have visual data (such as a picture of your license plate). Whenever
the Terminal this Program is applied to visually perceives the face of the chosen
character or object, it is completely concealed by a black square, or a design of
your choosing.

The face or object remains concealed in any footage recorded or memory held
by the Terminal even after this Program is removed. Any footage recorded or
memory held of a face by a Terminal before this Program is applied is not
concealed.

ColdPrograms
ColdPrograms can only be applied to Networks.
Sec Bypass
Power cost: 1

When you apply this Program, choose a character such as yourself or a member
of the crew. You create dummy security clearance for that character, that will
allow them to get through basic electronic security measures. You produce any
necessary tools such as a keycard as part of applying this Program.

If you have extensive biometric data of the chosen character, you can also have
this Program allow them to pass biometric security.

This Program doesn’t aid in any non-electronic elements of security. For

example, it won’t make you familiar to any guards, or make guard dogs trust
you.

Worm
Power cost: 2

At the end of each Cold or Warm Round, this Program randomly deletes one or
multiple pieces of data on the Network. At the end of a Cold Round, this
Program deletes 3 pieces of data, randomly chosen by the GM. At the end of a
Warm Round, this Program deletes 1 piece of data, randomly chosen by the GM.

A ‘piece’ of data can constitute anything between a single sentence to a number

of Xiles grouped together under the same subject.
B-Rank Programs
You can use the following Programs if you have taken the Trait ‘B-Rank Hacker’.

Programs
Programs can be applied to both Networks and Terminals.

Single-Conditional Program
Power cost: 1+

When you use this Program, choose an additional Program and also expend its
Power cost, then design a condition. Rather than immediately, that additional
Program instead applies its effect(s) after that condition is met.

You can only design a single condition to trigger the Program, meaning you
can’t have a condition that says ‘when X and Y happen…’ or ‘when X or Y
happen…’.

The condition could be an act, a particular word or phrase, another speciXic

Program applying, or anything else. The condition must be something that can
be met or observed by the target itself. You couldn’t, for example in a Network,
set the condition to be ‘when me and my friend secretly high-Xive’ - a Network
has no involvement in nor knowledge of that high-Xive.

If that additional Program asks for you to make a Hacking Throw, expend the
dice you would for the Throw now, and make a note of how many dice you will
roll for the Hacking Throw. Once the length of time has passed, roll that many
dice for the Hacking Throw of the additional Program.

You must be in a Cold or Warm Round to choose a ColdProgram to be

conditional, and you must be in a Warm or Hot Round to choose a HotProgram
to be conditional.

If the Program made conditional by this Program ends or is removed, this

Program ends as well. However if this Program is removed, the other Program
ceases to be conditional and happens immediately.

Back Door
Power cost: 1

You add +2d6 to Hacking Throws to Intrude into the target.

You can only have one copy of this Program applied to a target at a time.

At the start of each subsequent Mission, you must choose to expend 1 Power
for each applied copy of this Program, or that copy ends.
Turing Dummy
Power cost: 1

You must apply this Program to a target that is used for communication, such as
a phone or a Network with an internal chat room.

When you apply this program, choose someone who has previously messaged
the target. This Program reads the collected previous messages of that chosen
person and creates a ‘Turing dummy’. Any messages sent from the target to a
the chosen person are secretly redirected to the Turing dummy.

The Turing dummy imitates the chosen person’s speaking/writing convincingly

enough to fool people who hold simple conversations with the dummy that
they are talking to the imitated person. You are able to step in at any point and
communicate in lieu of the Turing dummy.

Those communicating with the Turing Dummy are fooled by short messages
and brief conversations, but the Turing dummy does not stand up to scrutiny -
anyone who holds a lengthy or complex conversation will realise the Turing
dummy is a fake.

HotPrograms
HotPrograms can only be applied to Terminals.

Fryware
Power cost: 1

This Program attacks a person’s Psyware, allowing you to manipulate it or

cause brainshock via it.

This Program only applies to a person with a Cyberbrain who has at least 1
Psyware Trait. When you use this Program, choose one of the following effects
to be applied, or design a similar effect:
• Any Psyware used by the Terminal malfunctions, so that it doesn’t succeed in
how it’s used. The malfunctioning itself is inconspicuous, and this Program’s
inXluence can only be noticed if the psyware-user realises the psyware is
malfunctioning. For example, a psyware calculator would produce an
incorrect result for a complex sum, or psyware used to Xire a gun would
always miss the target.
• The target takes 1d3 Internal Damage for each Psyware Trait they have. If
they take at least 5 Damage, they become Addled until the end of the next Hot
Round.
• While Intruded into the target, you can control information coming into and
coming out of any Psyware, potentially allowing you to manipulate the
psyware-user.

This Program ends when you stop being Intruded into the target, or after you
have dealt Damage with it.
Paralyse
Power cost: 1

Make a Hacking Throw (DC 10). On a success, the Terminal stops any and all
movements, and cannot move again until this Program ends.

At the start of each Round (or at the start of your Turn, if in Initiative), you
must make a Hacking Throw. The DC for the Throw is initially 15, and increases
by 5 on each subsequent Round or Turn. On a failure, this Program ends.

This Program ends when you stop being Intruded into the target. In addition,
pain causes a neural scramble in the Cyberbrain that breaks this Program. If
you’ve used this Program on a character with a Cyberbrain, and that character
takes Physical Damage, this Program ends.

Puppeteer
Power cost: 1

You gain full control of one limb, extension, or mechanical component of your
choice of the Terminal, and can manipulate it freely until this Program ends. For
example, if you used this Program on an excavator, you could control one wheel
of the vehicle or its arm. If you used this Program on someone with a
Cyberbrian and bionic limbs, you could control one limb.

You may need to expend dice to control the target as a person would normally
expend dice to control it. Any Throws to manipulate a person’s bionics, such as
puppeteering a limb, are Strained. The GM may reduce the amount of dice
expended to reXlect you only controlling a portion of the target.

This Program ends when you stop being Intruded into the target.
Ghosthack: Lock Memory
Keywords: Taboo
Power cost: 1

You can only use this Program if you are targeting a Cyberbrain and are beyond
its ghostline.

Make a Hacking Throw (ADC 20). On a success, you prevent the target from
being able to recall a particular memory. If they are in the process of acting on
that memory, they will forget why they were acting as they were and return to
their normal course of action.

If the locked memory was a particularly important memory to the target, the
GM can make a Clarity save for the target when they next attempt to recall that
memory. On a successful Save, they realise the memory is missing (although
may not realise they have been ghost-hacked). On a failed Save, their ghost
accepts they aren’t forgetting anything.

The target regains the ability to recall the memory once this Program ends.

Mass Mask
Power cost: 2

Choose any number of Terminals you are currently Intruded into. A copy of this
Program applies to each chosen Terminal.

When you apply this Program, choose yourself, a member of the crew, a person
you have some facial data of (such as a few clear photos of their face), or an
object you have visual data (such as a picture of your license plate). Whenever a
Terminal this Program is applied to visually perceives the face of the chosen
character or object, it is completely concealed by a black square, or a design of
your choosing.

The face or object remains concealed in any footage recorded or memory held
by a Terminal even after this Program is removed. Any footage recorded or
memory held of a face by a Terminal before this Program is applied is not
concealed.
Illusion
Power cost: 1

Make a Hacking Throw (DC 15). On a success, you install the perception of an
illusion of your design in the Terminal. The illusion can be one of the following:
• A person.
• An object or collection of objects that can Xit inside a 2-metre cube.
• A 2-dimensional image of any size, placed over a Xlat surface such as a
billboard or the side of a building.
• An atmospheric illusion that changes the perceived weather or time of day.

When placing the illusion you can also determine if and how the illusion moves.
For example, if you created an illusory ally in combat, you could have that
illusion move as if they were staying in cover. You can make a Hacking Throw
(DC 15) to change how the illusion is moving.

The illusion is visible and audible, but not tangible. A Terminal only capable of
sensing by ‘touch’ (such as a pressure sensor) would not be able to perceive the
illusion, and a person seeing the illusion who attempts to touch it would see
their hand pass through. In addition, an Investigate Throw (DC 20) (modiXied
by any Aspect) reveals the illusion to be as such.

Once the illusion is revealed to be an illusion, by any means, this Program ends.
In addition, this Program ends once you stop being Intruded in the target.

Hackers, being both precautious and egotistical creatures, are assumed to have
convincing digital models of themselves that can be used for this Program. For
other illusions, you or an ally may have to spend time digitally designing them
before you can use them. For example, you’re unlikely to have a convincing
digital model of Antagonism artist Emilia Pan to hand. Remember you can use a
Flashback to prepare such things!

Shutdown
Power cost: 1

This Program can only target a piece of Equipment. The piece of Equipment
shuts down, and cannot be turned back on until at least 1d3 Warm Rounds or
2d6 Hot Rounds have passed, after which this Program ends. While shut down,
the Equipment is Faraday, but can still be interacted with via Hardline
connection.

ColdPrograms
ColdPrograms can only be applied to Networks.
Automaton Control
Power cost: 1

You can alter, adjust, and add to the objectives of one, some, or all automatons
connected to the Network. This changes to objects last until this Program is
removed.

For example, you could set a new delivery destination for a single hauling
automaton, or have all aerial ‘eye in the sky’ drones neglect to observe a
particular area at a particular time, or have a few speciXic construction
automatons at a construction site put structural weaknesses in the building.

Blackout
Power cost: 2

Any Terminal that is connected to the Network which has the primary function
of being a light source (such as strip lighting, lamps, emergency lights) ceases
to produce light, and cannot produce light until at least 2d3 Warm Rounds or a
Hot Scene have passed, after which this Program ends.

Smart Worm
Power cost: 2

When you apply this Program, choose a subject such as a keyword or concept.
The subject must be comprehensive to the Network it is applied to; for
example, you couldn’t choose the subject ‘me and my crew’ unless the Network
already knows about your crew and its members.

Any data of that subject stored on the Network is corrupted, and while this
Program remains any future data of that subject put onto the Network is also
corrupted. Only data that is encrypted in a way that makes it unreadable to the
Network is protected against this Program.

The corruption of the data is only noticed when someone attempts to view that
data.

In addition, every time a Terminal that is part of the Network that can
personally store data connects to the Network, such as by using it to
communicate or to retrieve data from the Network, the Smart Worm corrupts
any data held by that Terminal.
A-Rank Programs
You can use the following Programs if you have taken the Trait ‘A-Rank Hacker’.

Programs
Programs can be applied to both Networks and Terminals.

Multi-Conditional Program
Power cost: 1+

When you use this Program, choose an additional Program and also expend its
Power cost, then design any number of conditions. Rather than immediately,
that additional Program instead applies its effect(s) after those conditions are
met.

When designing the conditions, you also decide if they trigger the additional
Program when all of them are met, when at least one of them is met, or when a
certain amount are met. For example you can have conditions that say things
such as ‘when X and Y, or Z happen…’ or ‘if at least 2 conditions out of X, Y, and Z
happen…’.

Each condition could be an act, a particular word or phrase, another speciXic

Program applying, or anything else. Each condition must be something that can
be met or observed by the target itself. You couldn’t, for example in a Network,
set a condition to be ‘when me and my friend high-Xive’ - a Network has no
involvement in nor knowledge of that high-Xive.

If that additional Program asks for you to make a Hacking Throw, expend the
dice you would for the Throw now, and make a note of how many dice you will
roll for the Hacking Throw. Once the length of time has passed, roll that many
dice for the Hacking Throw of the additional Program.

You must be in a Cold or Warm Round to choose a ColdProgram to be

conditional, and you must be in a Warm or Hot Round to choose a HotProgram
to be conditional.

If the Program made conditional by this Program ends or is removed, this

Program ends as well. However if this Program is removed, the other Program
ceases to be conditional and happens immediately.
Brute Complex
Power cost: 4

You consume signiXicant power to force the target’s Netpoint to immediately

‘complex’, causing its location in the Net to change. Anyone intending to Intrude
into the target through knowing its location in the Net is now unable to do so
until they Xind its new location. This also causes anyone who would connect to,
communicate with, or otherwise transmit information to the target through
mundane channels to be unable to Xind them.

Anyone Intruded into a target when its Netpoint changes remains Intruded into
it, and as a result learns its new Netpoint.

When this Program ends, the person who ended can choose to have the target’s
Netpoint return to its original location.

HotPrograms
HotPrograms can only be applied to Terminals.

Pumped Shock
Power cost: 1+

Make a Hacking Throw. Using the below table, deal an amount of Physical
(Internal) Damage to the target based on your Hacking Throw’s Score.

After you’ve made the Hacking Throw, you can choose to expend up to 2
additional Power to Maximise a number of dice equal to the amount of
additional Power you expend.

After you have dealt Damage with it, this Program ends.
Throw Score 0-19 20-39 40++
P (I) Damage 1d6 2d6 3d6
You cannot use this Program more than once per Round.
Possession
Power cost: 1

You gain full control of all mechanical parts of the target, and can make it move
as your please until the Program ends. For the duration of the Program, while
you can apply Programs to other targets and act as you normally would
through the Net, your digital consciousness is within the target you have
applied this Program to and cannot leave until the Program ends. You cannot
move nor perceive from your physical body while using this Program. This
Program ends when you stop actively controlling the target.

You must expend dice to control the target as a person would normally control
it. For example, to steer a vehicle, you’d need to make a Pilot Throw.

If controlling a person through bionic body parts via their Cyberbrain, in part
or whole, you must expend dice as you would normally to act. In addition, their
movements are stiff due to conXlicting signals. Any Throws made for physical
acts with their body are Strained.

In addition, pain causes a neural scramble in the Cyberbrain that breaks this
Program. If you’ve used this Program on a character with a Cyberbrain, and that
character takes Physical Damage, this Program ends for that character.

Mass Paralyse
Power cost: 2

Choose any number of Terminals you are currently Intruded into. Make a
Hacking Throw, the DC of which is determined by the number of Terminals you
are applying this Program to, based on the table below.
No. of Terminals 1-2 3-7 8++
Throw DC 10 20 30
On a success, you apply a copy of this Program to each targeted Terminal, which
stops any and all movements. A Terminal cannot move again until their copy of
this Program is removed from them.

At the start of each Round (or at the start of your Turn, if in Initiative), you
must make a Hacking Throw. The DC for the Throw is initially 20, and increases
by 5 on each subsequent Round or Turn. On a failure, this Program ends for all
Terminals it is applied to.

Pain causes a neural scramble in the Cyberbrain that breaks this Program. If
you’ve used this Program on a character with a Cyberbrain, and that character
takes Physical Damage, this Program ends for that character.
Ghosthack: Edit Memory
Keywords: Taboo
Power cost: 1

You can only use this Program if you are targeting a Cyberbrain and are beyond
its ghostline.

Choose a particular memory for the target, then make a Hacking Throw (ADC
30). On a success, you can alter any and all details of that memory or erase it
entirely.

If the edited memory was a particularly important memory to the target, the
GM can make a Clarity Save for the target when they next attempt to recall that
memory. On a successful Save, they realise something is wrong with the
memory (although may not realise they have been ghost-hacked). On a failed
Save, their ghost accepts the edited memory as true.

Changing a memory doesn’t necessarily cause a change in someone’s nature. If

a particular past event has caused a person to act a certain way, changing the
memory of that event won’t cause a sudden change in behaviour, and may
never cause any change at all.

Ghosthack: Mindwarp
Keywords: Taboo
Power cost: 1

You can only use this Program if you are targeting a Cyberbrain and are beyond
its ghostline.

This Program attacks a person’s ghost and brain-chemistry, causing a powerful

enough change in mood that the target can have mild hallucinations. When you
use this program, choose one of the following effects to be applied, or design a
similar effect:
• You target the Terminal’s sense of aggression. Provided the lighting is dim
enough, they hallucinate that an assailant is upon them, which they begin to
engage.
• You target the Terminal’s sense of fear, causing them abject terror. The target
takes 2d6 Mental Damage.
• You target the Terminal’s sense of relaxation and safety, making them likely to
be calm and receptive when approached.

If this Program would make the Terminal in any way agitated, the Terminal
makes Clarity Saves at the end of each subsequent Round. This Program ends
on a successful Save. This Program also ends when you stop being Intruded
into the target, or after you have dealt Damage with it.

ColdPrograms
ColdPrograms can only be applied to Networks.
Clone
Power cost: Special

You create a copy of the entirety of the Network’s stored data as it currently
exists and save it to your own Network (this includes any Programs applied to
that Network and its data).

The Power cost of this Program is a tenth of the Network Intrusion ADC of the
Network you are applying it to. For example, if you applied this Program to a
Network with a Network Intrusion ADC of 34, the Power cost would be 3.

This Program doesn’t decrypt any encrypted data you might copy.

Duplicate Data
Power cost: 1

After this Program is applied to a Network, a copy of any new data uploaded to
it is sent to your Network.

At the start of each subsequent Mission, you must choose to expend 1 Power
for each applied copy of this Program, or that copy ends.

This Program doesn’t decrypt any encrypted data you might copy.

Plunder
Power cost: 1

When applied, this Program duplicates a piece of software on the Network it is

applied to to your Network. The duplicate software remains on your Network
until this Program ends.

When you use this Program, choose one of the following effects to be applied,
or design a similar effect:
• You copy software from the Network this Program is applied onto your
Network. For example, you could copy software that tracks the location of all
vehicles in the region.
• You replace one of your Network’s Ice Layers with an Ice Layer from the
Network this Program is applied to.
Invisibility
Power cost: 1

This Program places the necessary mechanisms throughout the Network to

allow you to appear invisible to Terminals by overwriting their visual inputs in
the moment.

At the start of a Warm or Hot Round, you can make a Hacking Throw (DC 20).
On a success, over the course of that Round you do not show up in the visuals of
any Terminals connected to the Network. For example, you would be
completely invisible to the footage of security cameras or the view of someone
with bionic eyes. You can repeatedly make Hacking Throws at the start of each
subsequent Round to remain ‘invisible’ in this way.

Note this Program doesn’t make you literally invisible; you are effectively
editing yourself out of the view of Terminals. This method of ‘invisibility’
means you don’t appear to leave physical impressions in the environment, such
as the shape of your feet in a carpet or smoke contouring around your body.

However if you interact with external objects you can become noticeable. For
example, if you opened a door or knocked over a cup, the movement of these
objects would be noticeable.

You do not need to be currently Intruded into the Network when making these
Hacking Throws to create this ‘invisibility’.
S-Rank Programs
You can use the following Programs if you have taken the Trait ‘S-Rank Hacker’.

Programs
Programs can be applied to both Networks and Terminals.

Infectious Program
Power cost: 2+

When you use this Program, choose an additional Program and also expend its
Power cost. It must be a Program for which its effects are not immediately
apparent. For example, you could not choose the Paralyse Program, as that
immediately stops a Terminal from being able to move.

Every time a target with this Program is connected to a Terminal (either over
the Net or via a Hardline), a copy of both this Program and the additional
Program is applied to that Terminal. Every time a target with this Program
makes a Hardline connection to a Network Core, a copy of both this Program
and the additional Program is applied to that Network.

The nature of an infectious Program means that if it is discovered, it can very

easily be removed across all Terminals. Someone who has successfully
uncovered this Program with the Scan Program can, when ending the Program,
choose to remove all copies of this Program and the additional Programs across
all Terminals that are part of their Network, even copies they aren’t aware of.

If the additional Program made ‘infectious’ by this Program is a HotProgram,

while it can be applied to Networks, its effects will only manifest in Terminals.
Similarly if the additional Program made ‘infectious’ by this Program is a
ColdProgram, while it can be applied to Terminals, its effects will only manifest
in Networks.

If the additional Program you are making infectious requires a Hacking Throw
against a DC or ADC to apply its effects, you must beat that DC or ADC
immediately when you apply the infectious Program. If you do so, copies of the
infectious Program counts as automatically succeeding on any Hacking Throws
to apply their effect. Otherwise, this Program ends.

If the Program made infectious by this Program ends or is removed, this

Program ends as well. However if this Program is removed, the other Program
ceases to be infectious.
Haunthack: Brain Worm
Keywords: Taboo
Power cost: 2

This Program is a ‘Haunthack’, a Program that applies one effect when it is

applied to a Network, and a different effect when it is applied via Ghosthacking
to a Cyberbrain. Haunthacks can be very powerful when combined with
Infectious Program.

You can only apply this Program to a Terminal if the target is a Cyberbrain and
you are beyond its ghostline.

When you apply this Program, choose a subject such as a keyword or concept.
The subject must be comprehensive to the Network or person it is applied to;
for example, you couldn’t choose the subject ‘me and my crew’ unless the
Network or person already knows about your crew and its members.

Make a Hacking Throw (ADC 35). On a failure, this Program ends before
applying any effects. Otherwise, it causes one of the following effects depending
on the target it is applied to.
If this Program is applied to a Network:

Any data of the chosen subject stored on the Network is corrupted, and while
this Program remains any future data of that subject put onto the Network is
also corrupted. Only data that is encrypted in a way that makes it unreadable to
the Network is protected against this Program.

The corruption of the data is only noticed when someone attempts to view that
data.

Every time any non-person Terminal that is part of the Network that can
personally store data connects to the Network, such as by using it to
communicate or to retrieve data from the Network, the Brain Worm corrupts
any data held by that Terminal.
If this Program is applied to a Terminal:

The Terminal has all memory of the subject erased, and prevents them from
developing any new long-term memory of the subject. A character with this
Program applied to them can still retain short-term memory of the subject,
meaning they will act normally while interacting with the subject (although
will act as if they have never encountered the subject before), but after the
subject is no longer present, they will soon forget what they were doing.
Haunthack: Social Bypass
Keywords: Taboo
Power cost: 1

This Program is a ‘Haunthack’, a Program that applies one effect when it is

applied to a Network, and a different effect when it is applied via Ghosthacking
to a Cyberbrain. Haunthacks can be very powerful when combined with
Infectious Program.

You can only apply this Program to a Terminal if the target is a Cyberbrain and
you are beyond its ghostline.

Make a Hacking Throw (ADC 30). On a failure, this Program ends before
applying any effects. Otherwise, it causes one of the following effects depending
on the target it is applied to.
If this Program is applied to a Network:

Non-character Terminals that are part of the Network react to you as if you are
a part of their Network. For example, a security drone using facial recognition
would not raise the alarm when seeing your face.
If this Program is applied to a Terminal:

The Terminal has all memory of the subject erased, and prevents them from
developing any new long-term memory of the subject. A character with this
Program applied to them can still retain short-term memory of the subject,
meaning they will act normally while interacting with the subject (although
will act as if they have never encountered the subject before), but after the
subject is no longer present, they will soon forget what they were doing.

HotPrograms
HotPrograms can be applied to Terminals.

Mass Illusion
Power cost: 2

Choose any number of Terminals you are currently Intruded into. Make a
Hacking Throw, the DC of which is determined by the number of Terminals you
are applying this Program to, based on the table below.
No. of Terminals 1-2 3-7 8++
Throw DC 15 20 25
On a success, you apply of a copy of this Program in each Terminal, which
creates the perception in each Terminal of an illusion of your design. Each
Terminal perceives the same single illusion. The illusion can be one of the
following:
• A person.
• An object or collection of objects that can Xit inside a 2-metre cube.
• A 2-dimensional image of any size, placed over a Xlat surface such as a
billboard or the side of a building.
• An atmospheric illusion that changes the perceived weather or time of day.

When placing the illusion you can also determine if and how the illusion moves.
For example, if you created an illusory ally in combat, you could have that
illusion move as if they were staying in cover. You can make a Hacking Throw to
change how the illusion is moving, the DC of which is equal to the DC you rolled
against when applying this Program.

The illusion is visible and audible, but not tangible. A Terminal only capable of
sensing by ‘touch’ (such as a pressure sensor) would not be able to perceive the
illusion, and a person seeing the illusion who attempts to touch it would see
their hand pass through. In addition, an Investigate Throw (DC 20) (modiXied
by any Aspect) reveals the illusion to be as such.

Once the illusion is revealed to be an illusion to a target, by any means, this

Program ends for that target. In addition, this Program ends for a target once
you stop being Intruded in that target.

Hackers, being both precautious and egotistical creatures, are assumed to have
convincing digital models of themselves that can be used for this Program. For
other illusions, you or an ally may have to spend time digitally designing them
before you can use them. For example, you’re unlikely to have a convincing
digital model of Antagonism artist Emilia Pan to hand. Remember you can use a
Flashback to prepare such things!

Sleep
Power cost: 1

The target of this Program must be a character with a Cyberbrain. Make a

Hacking Throw (DC 20). On a success, the target becomes Incapacitated as they
fall into a gentle sleep.

The sleep lasts as long as this Program lasts (potentially indeXinitely), unless
the target is awoken by pain, loud noises, excessive movement, or anything else
that could normally wake a sleeper. If the target wakes early, or if you stop
being Intruded into the target, the Program ends. If not already awake, the
target wakes up when the Program ends. A target can potentially starve to
death if kept asleep long enough.
Ghosthack: Personality Shift
Keywords: Taboo
Power cost: 2

You can only use this Program if you are targeting a Cyberbrain and are beyond
its ghostline.

Make a Hacking Throw (ADC 40). On a success, change one the target’s Drivers
for a new Driver of your choice. Give the GM some idea of how you want the
target’s personality altered when doing so.

Ghosthack: Impulse
Keywords: Taboo
Power cost: 1

You can only use this Program if you are targeting a Cyberbrain and are beyond
its ghostline.

Make a Hacking Throw (ADC 35). On a success, you design and install an
impulse in the target. The impulse can be simple or complex, broad or precise,
from ‘eat peanuts’ to ‘attempt to kill the prime minister of England with a knife
by Big Ben on June 12th, 2044’. The target is conscious of the new impulse, but
will typically rationalise it as coming from themselves.

A person’s ghost will reject an impulse that is directly in opposition to their

sense of self, or self-preservation. For example, someone deathly allergic to
peanuts would reject the impulse to eat peanuts, and an avowed paciXist would
reject the impulse to kill the prime minister.

If the impulse is something a person would internally question, , the GM can

make a Clarity Save for the target. On a successful Save, they realise something
external is giving them the impulse (although may not realise they have been
ghost-hacked). On a failed Save, their ghost accepts the impulse as genuine.

This Program doesn’t make the target any smarter, wiser, or expand their
knowledge. For example, if you give the impulse to solve a complex physics
equation to an imbecile, the impulse will simply leave them frustrated and
confused before dissolving into their ghost.
Ghost Hacking and Rationalisation

If you’ve ever seen someone insist on a lie everyone knows is false, or switch
between completely contradictory views at the drop of the hat to serve their
current situation, you’ve seen the mind’s capacity for self-delusion at work.
Ghosthacking works because it relies on the mind’s inclination to prefer what it
internally believes over what the outside world shows them.

To outsiders, the victims of ghosthacking can seem absurd, suddenly changing

their views and habits, and performing actions that seem completely at odds
with their identity and sense of self-preservation. However to the victim of
ghosthacking, they consider their behaviour to be rational, or at least justiXied,
and will only question whether their ghost has been hacked if able to clearly,
existentially perceive themselves, a feat that requires either a profound self-
understanding or outside intervention.

The mind is not a neat, rational sequence of memories and reasoning. As

anyone who has gone beyond the ghostline can tell you, a person’s ghost is a
chunky soup of half-recollections, habitual thoughts and subconscious
impulses. The ghosthacker just slips a few new ingredients in, to disappear
amongst the slop.
The World of 2044
The World of 2044, which details the setting of ECOPUNK and timeline leading
up to 2044, is available in the premium PDF and hardcover versions.
Game Master’s Toolkit
This section has Xive subsections that contain advice and additional rules that a
Game Master can use to enhance their performance of the role. GM General
Advice contains some board but important ideas on how to approach game-
mastering. Constructing Missions gives tips and tricks that can be used to craft
better Missions to throw at the Punks. Gameplay Tools contains optional rules
that can facilitate and embellish the game. All Things NPC provides tips, optional
rules, premade NPCs, and more to better manage your performance of non-
player characters and factions. Soundtracks & Touchstones contains broader
cultural references, that you as a GM can use to bring new players into the world
of 2044.

A player who will just be playing a Punk doesn’t need to read the contents of this
section, but it doesn’t contain anything they shouldn’t read.

GM General Advice
There are myriad videos, essays, Twitter threads and so on that discuss how to
be a better Game Master, either in general or for speciXic storytelling games.

While the below advice is not exhaustive, these are the suggestions that are most
essential to fulXilling the role of Game Master to the best of your ability.

Don’t let the Rules Get in the way of the Story

Storytelling games have rules because they provide an impartial system within
which ideas for the narrative can healthily come together. By using game rules,
conXlicts between different desires for the narrative are decided by the dice,
while collective agreements on the narrative still carry the risk necessary to
make the story thrilling.

If it becomes an impediment to the storytelling, this system is failing. If a rule

would bring something to a dissatisfying conclusion for the players, ignore it! If
you can’t recall a speciXic rule in a climactic moment, don’t slow the pace by
scrutinising the rulebook unless you really have to. Improvise the rule instead!

This is all to say: the ‘game’ of ECOPUNK is meant to facilitate the ‘story’ of
ECOPUNK, not the other way around. Ignore the game part if it falls short.

Illuminate, Don’t Dictate

Everyone is playing a game like ECOPUNK because they want to be a part of a
collective story. If you start telling players what to do - or do so indirectly by
restricting them to one narrative path - you are defeating the very purpose of
storytelling games.

When you describe the world of ECOPUNK, the NPCs the players meet, the
objects present, you are giving the players options in how they can interact with
the story. When narrating, aim to ‘illuminate’ the world and its options to the
players. If you only ever give the players a single avenue by which to do things,
only ever illustrate the option you’d like them to pursue, you are softly dictating
to them a story you’ve already planned out. It is as if you are training a spotlight
on the story you’d like told; all the stories your players would like to tell become
dark and undeXined in comparison.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t provide avenues for your players. For example,
you might think it would totally fucking rock for the hacker Chen to overcome
their paciXism by killing their nemesis in an act of bloody vengeance. Sounds
cool! Give Chen the option by giving her nemesis a pacemaker to hack. Just
remember that, ultimately, what happens with Chen is for Chen’s player to
decide, without you pushing them in any direction.

On Missions and Freedom

Missions should provide an objective, not a series of steps to go through. Let the
Punks worry about how to actually complete the Mission! Don’t plan for the
Punks to do speciXic things to advance the narrative, because they’re almost
certain to do something else!

Move the World Around The Players, Not

Through Them
To create a living, breathing world, don’t make the players feel like they are at the
centre of it. This might seem a strange suggestion, as the players are at the centre
of the narrative. However if NPCs’ lives only change when in contact with the
Punks, if factions are only trying to advance their agendas when the Punks are
around to help or stop them, if the story of humanity only gets told when the
Punks get to write the words, the players will develop a subconscious sense that
they are the only characters in the story with agency, and will approach the game
as a power fantasy.

When encountering recurring NPCs, narrate that their lives have changed,
improving or worsening in matters outside the crew’s control. For organisations
and groups, when devising what they plan to do over the course of the Mission,
don’t think about the Punks at all. Let the Punks be the wrench thrown into
someone’s plans rather than a part of it.

ECOPUNK, and storytelling games in their entirety, should not be pure escapism,
simply an anaesthetic for the bitterness of reality. Instead they should be a
chance to gather with family and friends, and while having fun enrich your
understanding of the world, strengthening yourself against that reality beyond
the table.

At the same time, don’t rob players of all agency in the plot. Think of the crew as
a stone in the river - able to shape the current, but not the ultimate direction of
the water.
Don’t Say No
When a player asks if they can pursue a course of action that seems absurd, don’t
just shut them down with a ‘no’. A player asking if they can do something
outlandish is them thinking creatively - that’s what you want!

Instead, either suggest a similar but more sensible course of action, let them
argue why they should be able to do whatever it is they want to do, or let them
know the potential consequences and let them attempt it anyway. The system of
Skilled Throws does, after all, allow most courses of action to be attempted by
anyone - just those with low to no Skill are less likely to succeed.

Constructing Missions
The following subsection provides advice on how to plan Missions before the
session, and how to run the Mission once the session has started.

The World of 2044

The World of 2044 section contains numerous lists of factions, individuals, and
stories that you can use in your Missions. The World of 2044 section is not
included in this free version of ECOPUNK 2044.

Consider the Crew

When designing Missions, the most important thing to consider is the abilities of
the Punks. There’s no fun in throwing a crew of investigators with no ability to
Xight into a series of combat encounters, for example.

Take into account what the players have stated they want in the Session Zero, as
well as what kind of abilities they have given their Punks. Try to ensure there is
at least one thing for each Punk’s ‘skillset’ each Mission.

Combat-Focused Punks in Peaceful Missions

If you’ve got a combat-focused Punk and are looking to craft a Mission that
doesn’t involve violence, the above advice might seem a problem.

However that’s only if the player of the combat-focused Punk is approaching

ECOPUNK as solely a game, where Traits and Equipment having no application
outside of their rules. Getting such players to view their abilities and equipment
as narrative prompts Xirst and game mechanics second will enable them to apply
them in creative, narrative-focused ways that can work within this hopefully-
paciXist Mission.

For example, the threat of violence is often a lot more powerful than its
application. With the right narration from the player, their skills with a blade can
give them Advantage on a Dominate Throw to scare someone into compliance. Or
they could use their great accuracy and silenced sniper riXles to take out security
cameras, helping the Stealth Throws of an ally.

Plan by Intent, not Outcome

It is a basic rule of Game Mastering that if you plan for the players to do
something, they will inevitably do something else. To make sure your plans aren’t
thrown into disarray, plan out what characters and factions intend to do, rather
than what they will do.

For example, if your Mission involves a conXlict between two or more factions
that the crew are going to be navigating, don’t try to guess how your players will
react to the choices the Mission presents. Instead, note down the intentions of
each faction in the conXlict, including moves they intend to make. The only
outcomes you should plan are the ones where the Punks will not or did not have
any involvement - essentially any outcomes that will happen ‘off-stage’.

Giving A Brief
When you’re about to give a Brief, it is best to determine The Elements Xirst,
either by rolling on The Elements table or choosing/devising your own option.
The environmental circumstances in which the Mission will take place might
alter certain Mission objectives and parameters, and The Elements can also add
some colour to your opening narrative, and pull the players into the setting.

3 Steps to a Brief
There are three basic things you need to convey in a Brief: the objective, the
moving parts, and the stakes.

1. The Objective
Obviously, the most important thing is the objective of the Mission. What do the
crew need to do, to whom/what, and where?

2. The Moving Parts

What factions, locations, and other important story elements are important to
know from the very start of the Mission?
Remember that you don’t need to explain every ‘moving part’ in the Brief - the
crew’s investigation of the objective, and them uncovering new story elements in
play, is part of the fun too!
In addition, make sure when you’re laying out the moving parts, you’re not telling
the players what to do with them, just that they exist.

3. The Stakes
What will happen if the players succeed, and what will happen if they fail?
Stakes can help shape how the crew engages in the story and pursues the
objective, with higher stakes potentially meaning more drastic courses of action.

Starting in the Action

The Brief does not need to end with the crew getting up from their chairs in a
dusty presentation room, then coming together and debating plans for the next
30 minutes. Often it can be more expeditious and enjoyable to start in the action,
with the Punks just about to execute the Xirst step of their plan.

If a Mission needs to begin with tailing a person, why not have the narration of
the Brief immediately lead into the Scene with that person being tailed by the
crew! Establish one or two Punks already in the Scene, let the other members of
the crew Xigure out where they are in this operation, and you’re already in the
action!

Giving An Epilogue
In an Epilogue, you wrap up the Mission, providing the broader narrative
consequences of the Punks succeeding (or failing) in their objectives and tying up
any loose ends.

The function of an Epilogue can be particularly useful in those instances where

you’re running out of time for your session. If you’ve only got 5 minutes before
everyone needs to go, being able to purely narrate and in a broader context,
without having to make any dice rolls, is useful for Xinishing things quickly.

An Epilogue’s Six Steps:

1. Any Punks with Heat take 1d6 Political Damage per point of Heat. Heat is
then reset to 0 for all Punks.
2. Any special rules that occur speciXically in the Epilogue apply.
3. The GM and players narrate what happens in the immediate conclusion of
their Mission.
4. Based on the Mission and its outcomes, the GM may then give your crew an
Asset and/or Reputation.
5. Any Punks who suffered a Crisis return to the crew, gaining a Stigma and a
new Driver. Their Fortune is set to 5.
6. Each Punk can choose to regain 5 Fortune (including those who suffered
Crises) or use their expCOIN to take a single choice from the Character
Options List.

Let Everyone Contribute

An Epilogue should not be just the GM dictating how things turned out to the
players; everyone is free to contribute to the Epilogue and shape the Mission’s
resolution.

Loose End or New Story?

An Epilogue doesn’t have to resolve every story thread that arose in the Mission.
Ongoing conXlicts and unsolved mysteries can be fertile ground for subsequent
Missions for the crew.

Investigative Missions
An investigation is a good model for a Mission in the game of ECOPUNK. Each
lead pursued is an opportunity for a new, unique hurdle for the party to
overcome; for example, pursuing one lead might require a careful negotiation,
while another might require the crew to break into a location.

There are generally two models by which a GM can approach investigative

Missions; either a linear path or a web.

Linear Path
In the linear path, the Brief only provides one lead, and each lead investigated
only produces a new, single lead, all the way to the end of the investigation. A
linear path story is usually more of a curated storyline than an actual mystery the
players solve.
Linear path investigations often don’t feel like a mystery, due to the following; the
evidence and analysis you ‘see’ in your head, and conclusions you think that
information will lead to, are not necessarily seen the same way by your players.
With the linear path, it’s possible for players left to their own devices to reach the
wrong conclusions and create the idea of a ‘lead’ that doesn’t Xit within your
plans - potentially derailing the Mission. If you want to maintain the ‘path’ you’ve
planned, you as a GM will need to step in to either guide or narrative in its
entirety how the crew analyses the information they’ve gathered, to produce the
next lead. As a result, a sense of mystery, of the players themselves having to
solve a puzzle, can be lost to preserve the overall storyline.

However GMs who enjoy improvising the twist and turns of a story may embrace
their players reaching ‘wrong’ conclusions, scrapping the path they had planned
to facilitate the new one being laid by the players.

The advantage of the linear path is it can be more easily planned through by the
GM, and will feel like a curated, well-paced story. The disadvantage of the linear
path is it dulls the sense of mystery that can make an investigation thrilling, and
can restrict player freedoms.

Web
In a web, the Brief can provide multiple leads, and each lead investigated can
produce more than one new lead. With such an approach, there are multiple
avenues for the crew to follow that all eventually lead to the investigation’s
target; like how all strands of a spider’s web lead to the centre.

With the web model, there isn’t a need to hand conclusions to the players like
there might be in the linear path; even if they get nowhere with one lead, there is
another lead - another strand of the web - for the crew to follow, to advance the
story. The web approach can even inadvertently provide some of the tropes of
investigation stories that may be missed in the linear path; players may interpret
leads they failed to Xigure out as ‘red herrings’.

The web approach requires more preparation by the GM, as you will need to
devise a selection of leads, but once the story is underway less attention is
required to keep the crew on track to solve the investigation.

The advantage of the web is that it preserve the sense of mystery by allowing the
players to reach their own conclusions, and gives the players greater freedom in
if and how they approach leads. The disadvantage is, if players fail to properly
investigate a lead or temporarily reach wrong conclusions, they can feel like time
has been wasted. A web investigation Mission will generally require more
sessions to complete than a linear path.

Random Mission Table

The below tables can be used to generate a random Mission by rolling d6s. You
can either roll from the Mission table and Xill in the blanks (such as ‘[VIP]’ and
‘[PUBLIC LOCATION]’) by using the additional tables that correspond to those
options, or you can pick and choose different parts from these tables to weave
your own Missions.

Remember to roll for The Elements when you are creating the Mission.

All options provide italicised narration that you can read out to capture a sense
of the option for the players.

1d6 Mission
1-2 Brief: A [VIP] has been murdered down at the docks. Your employer
needs to know who paid the assassin to do it - which means just killing
the assassin will make the trail run cold.

• Clues at the crime scene gives some [DIRT] on the [VIP], and
inconclusive hints towards the location of the assassin.
• Upon exiting the crime scene, the Crew is contacted by a shadowy
Xigure, who offers to meet them at a [PUBLIC LOCATION]. The Xigure
conceals themselves, but offers further information on the location of
the assassin as well as false information that the assassin is highly
dangerous and plans to send a remote signal to a planted bomb, all to
compel the party to kill the assassin and render the trail cold.
• Combining the hints from the crime scene and the shadowy Xigure
reveals the [PRIVATE LOCATION] the assassin is hiding at.
• Apprehending the assassin alive should reveal to the party that they
are less dangerous than the shadowy Xigure suggested, and does not
know their paymaster due to the transaction being encrypted.
• Undoing the encryption or investigating the shadowy Xigure will
reveal them to be an [OPPONENT] to the murdered [VIP]. Tracking
them down and interrogating them will reveal they were the one
who hired the assassin, who they hoped would be killed by the Crew
to render the trail cold.
3-4 Brief: A domestic corporation run by or associated with a [VIP] has
been caught selling state secrets. Your state contact wants them
dismantled, with the [VIP] divorced from the corporation and its
Network Core and any secret storage physically destroyed. This all has
to be done covertly, as the state doesn’t want to scare off an overseas
corporation planning to defect.

• Investigating into the [VIP] reveals they have some [DIRT] that could
be used against them.
• Investigating inside the corporation headquarters will reveal they
store an offsite, Faraday backup of essential Xiles at a [PRIVATE
LOCATION].
• The corporation is anticipating some kind of attack, and has hired an
[OPPONENT] to investigate and either attack, distract, or dissuade
the Crew. Unless anticipated and countered by the Crew, this
[OPPONENT] will begin to move against the Crew after a few initial
Cold Rounds.
5-6 Brief: A new narcotic is being moved into the city, and its sale is
funding an opposing global power. Find the means by which it’s being
secretly moved, and disable that route. Your contact informs you of a
[PUBLIC LOCATION] the narcotic is sold in and that it is moved by an
[OPPONENT], but beyond that they know nothing.

• InXiltrating the [PUBLIC LOCATION] should reveal some information

about the narcotic’s means of delivery, and extracting information
from the [OPPONENT] should fully reveal the [PRIVATE LOCATION]
the narcotic moves through, and how.

1d6 PUBLIC LOCATION

1-2 Burlesque Club. A place for people to gather and indulge their baser
interests at the end of a hard day in a harsh world. This place’s
popularity with the local ofXicers has kept it in good Xinance and
favours.
A strange dry sensation seems to cling to the surfaces here: ironic, given
sobriety is the furthest thing from anyone’s mind. A placating refrain of
ephemeral music plays softly over croaking speakers; a calm before the
coming storm of hedonistic delights.
3-4 Public Square. A public space busy with people walking through it or
spending their time in it. The space has plenty of blind spots with all its
Xlora, and is surrounded by buildings, any of which could be a vantage
point.
In the shadow of a colossal statue, you park yourselves on a bench and
take a moment to absorb the surroundings. Government suits scuttle
past youths talking, spitting, and generally passing the days until
oblivion comes. You think you just saw one do a kickLlip.
5-6 Beat-up Restaurant. A weathered restaurant that has survived the
changes of the past few decades.
Riots, bombs, urban upheaval: through it all this small cafe has survived.
The chef at the counter’s face is so sunken and his eyebrows so bushy that
his eyes are close to disappearing. Some meals are exceptional,
generational specialties, others taste like sand. Only the real patrons
know what’s good.

1d6 PRIVATE LOCATION

1 Forgotten Road. A few miles out of the city, a forgotten road snakes
into a protected woodland.
You can only get a few minutes in before coming to a stop; the old road
has been shattered by the labours of the forest. Slabs of concrete rise and
fall like petriLied waves up ahead, and behind you the serpentine road is
walled in by rising mounds of earth. The intermittent croak of a raven is
the only punctuation to the eerie silence.
2 Compound. A building that has been repurposed as a defensible
location. It has entrances on the outside secured, and inside will have
traps and chokepoints, as well as a few secret stashes and hidden
rooms.
A building pokes up, gasping for air, amongst the simmering soup of
architecture that is the city’s surface; a grey building, one of its corners
lost to a bomb blast. It’s in disrepair, yet the place is not abandoned: the
windows have been replaced by metal plates, and a recently-installed
security door at its side is barely-illuminated by the cyan glow of a
security keypad.
3 Sleepy Bar. Somewhere within the anthill of the city, a tiny bar has
escaped being crushed between the megastructures. Its location is so
obscure it can only be found if someone tells you the way. The place
has a few back rooms to it.
You push the unassuming door open, and an ancient bell rings in your
arrival. Within, an almost magical place is revealed to you; a tiny bar,
with wooden furnishings and crystal glass lighting. The colours of the
place are warm, and a hundred bottles of alchemical liquors contain all
the colours of the rainbow. It almost doesn’t seem real.
You pull up seats at a bar that bears the marks of a hundred come-and-
gone patrons, and note the old bartender, pickled by the eras, sitting
behind it. Somehow, without speaking, he communicates that he’ll keep
his mouth shut about any words said here.
4 Abandoned Workspace. An unmarked Xloor of a skyscraper, containing
a faraday cage with a furnished interior.
White Lloors, walls, and ceiling stretch around you. You can see shapes in
the dust, splatters of coffee, the errant scraps of hastily extracted
equipment: this used to be a workplace. Now the vacant expanse of the
space almost gives the impression the Lloor and ceiling are crushing you.
The more artistic of you might call this a ‘liminal space’.
Not far from the elevator doors is a faraday cage, fully furnished on the
inside. It’s like someone froze a cube of this ofLice-that-was in time.
5 Megafactory. A gargantuan factory, it takes raw resources and works
them all the way into a complete mechanism of war. Now in peace-
time, this place exists in a transitional twilight where it will soon be
turned to new purpose, but for now is rarely visited.
An Escher-esque maze of machinery Lills the space; entangled
mechanisms that can take raw elements and spin them into death
machines. Above it all, half-obscured, is a mural on the factory wall: a
peeling painting of worker heroes. You can almost feel the dust through
your shoes’ soles.
6 Rooftop Garden. Atop a megastructure, this garden is large and dense
enough to be akin to a forest. It will be tended by botanists, and staff
will visit this place, but it is large and tangled enough for someone to
easily hide within it.
You walk along the stones that form a path through this rooftop jungle,
until you reach a small clearing with a fountain. Beyond, in all directions
except retreat, the trees loom and weave together into a wall that
smothers the horizon. You could truly forget you’re in the city here. A
genetically modiLied bee brieLly Llits around your clothes before bobbing
away.

1d6 1d6 VIP

1-2 1-2 Religious Leader. A quiet zealot, with each year that the death
spiral advances his power grows, as people seek salvation from
beyond.
The man’s half-moon glasses are pushed high up his thin face. He
clasps his arms behind his back, and grips himself like someone
hanging over a cliff would grasp the edge.
3-4 Politician. Having left this area when she was young for a
political career, she has returned promising better things. She’s
lying.
Her smile is warm, and her government-issue suit and tie Lit her
well, but talking to her, you can’t shake this feeling that you’re
speaking to something wearing human skin.
 5-6 Community Head. Surrounded by grubby and Xierce allies, this
man is the chosen leader of people tied by the iron bond of
community.
The representative of the local megafactory workers takes the
time to greet all of you. He never loses his stony expression, but he
looks you in the eyes as his calloused hand grips yours, and you
feel that while he does not like you, he respects you and your work
in a way others often do not.
3-4 1-2 Celebrity. An actor and singer who rose to prominence over the
war as a lead in propaganda Xlicks.
It is as if a Lictional character has come to life, but here she is, in
all her splendour. Up close, her face has an alien symmetry to it: it
almost feels less real than the videos. They say her voice was
integral to winning the war.
3-4 Military Of[icial. An ageing general with several connections in
the military, but not many friends outside of it.
The man has the same presence as a great tree. Despite thinning
hair, blotching skin and a blown-out pupil, when he plants his feet,
it feels like nothing could push him over.
5-6 Organised Crime Don. A cruel, vindictive man who, in truth,
takes his orders from higher political powers. He is stupid, but
speaks with a slow measure and a threat of violence that drapes
his words in the illusion of wisdom.
If his presence wasn’t quietly threatening, you would Lind this man
pretentious. A delivery man for the evil of others, he carries his
skin and bones and stolen suit as if he is the master of your reality.
5-6 1-2 Industrialist. A high-ranking representative of a powerful
private industrial body, perhaps even a MegaCorp.
Old enough to remember the laissez-faire golden age of two
decades ago, this bland woman in a suit seems to be in a constant
state of holding back doling out the ‘wisdom’ of the ages. Without
even saying anything you know she thinks she’s smarter than you.
3-4 Police Chief. Someone with a sliver of morality warped over
years of being the iron that plates the Xist. This man will almost
certainly be dirty in some way.
You have a faint childhood memory of someone preparing a roll of
ham, its pale meat bulging between string bindings, sweating in
an oven. This cop invokes the memory, with his belt and bandolier
cutting into his blubbery, sweaty form.
 5-6 Hacker. Someone who dabbles in daring dos over the Net, and
has likely landed themselves in hot water for it.
Pallid, thin, this person’s body is all sharp angles. The raw
metalwork headset they refuse to take off only adds to their jagged
silhouette. Their eyes have the quality of a sleep-walker, which
makes sense: to them, the waking world is the dream, and the Net
the real.

1d6 OPPONENT
1 Local Militia. Local muscle has been rounded up, although as long as
you avoid a direct confrontation they shouldn’t be a problem. Thanks
to UB there are always a few idiots with too much free time that can be
put to violent ends.
2 Corrupt Police. While most cops live in Xilth, these people thrive in it.
Cruel, petty people, they are unafraid to abuse their power, and violent
retaliation could cost you dearly.
3 Elite Cyborg. A highly-trained killer skilled in covert assassination and
fear tactics. For some soldiers the war never ended.
4 Ministry. A government ministry is gearing up to crush you under the
spokes of ‘progress’. It doesn’t present a physical threat but its
resources and connections can make the Crew’s life a nightmare if
they’re not careful.
5 Mercenaries. The death squads and terror cells who fell out of favour
at the end of the war went into business for themselves, becoming a
new breed of organised crime. Organised, disciplined, violent, they
have no loyalty except to each other, and even that is thin.
6 Hacker Ring. A squad of hackers who coordinate their efforts. Unless
they have a skilled hacker of their own, the Crew will need to get crafty
to escape the interference of this ring.

1d6 DIRT
1-2 Bad Habit. Power can enable all manner of indulgence, from mind-
bending drugs enabled by nascent technologies to the old-world
pleasure of real meat from a farm animal.
Is it so bad for someone with the means to explore all the avenues by
which one can enjoy existence? Yes, obviously. Hedonism has always
been gauche; living with the consequences of the unrestrained
consumerism of the 2020s, people resent it all the more.
3-4 Forbidden Love. Sleeping with the wrong person can be incendiary for
someone’s career, especially when that person is a known spy for an
opposing global power.
5-6 Spying For The Enemy. You wonder, were their treachery revealed, if
the people they’ve sold secrets to would take them in as a defector, or
simply kill them.
Gameplay Tools
The following are a series of ‘tools’, game mechanics you can use to enhance
running a session of ECOPUNK. None of them are necessary or integral to the
game of ECOPUNK.

Countdown
A Countdown is one or several dice maintaining a countdown to 0, at which point
some narrative event occurs.

When you begin a Countdown, place a d6 (or multiple d6, if the count starts at a
number higher than 6) in a place visible to all players, with the current count
facing up. Explain what the Countdown is counting down to - or if you really want
to make your players sweat, don’t tell them. At the end of each Round of a
particular Temperature, lower the number on the dice by 1, and remove the dice
if the number would be lowered to 0.

A Countdown can endure between Scenes - for example, if a Countdown is

counting down a number of Cold Rounds until some kind of deadline, the
Countdown will remain through any Warm or Hot Scenes the crew has.

Example Countdowns
• The bomb is moments from detonation. At the very start of the Scene, the GM
has set a Countdown of 6, which ticks down at the end of each Hot Round.
When it reaches 0, boom.
• A computer worm is set to automatically activate and decimate the farming AI
it’s been planted into in an hour, unless you can somehow get the worm vaccine
from the hacker you’re about to sit down with. The GM sets a Countdown of 4,
which ticks down at the end of each Warm Round. When it reaches 0, the worm
activates.
• The person you need to Xind is going to leave the city in a week, and go beyond
the crew’s reach. The GM sets a Countdown of 7, that will tick down at the end
of each Cold Round throughout the Mission. When it reaches 0, the target has
departed.

Gauntlet
A Gauntlet is one way to handle a speciXic challenge for the crew in a punchy,
concise manner.

When using a Gauntlet, you take a slightly different approach to Rounds.

Normally each Round covers one narrative beat, but in a Gauntlet, there are
speciXically 3 Rounds covering one narrative beat, within which the crew works
collectively to overcome a speciXic challenge.

In each Round of a Gauntlet, each Punk involved in the action devises one
particular act they do to contribute to the crew succeeding in the Gauntlet. Punks
can do other actions and expend dice around this act in each Round, but one one
act per Round can contribute to the Gauntlet succeeding.

If half or more of the Punks involved in the Gauntlet succeed in their ‘acts’, that
Round of the Gauntlet is a ‘success’. Acts that use up limited resources, such as
using Equipment or Traits with a limited number of uses, or expending Power, as
part of whatever act a Punk is performing should lower the DC for that act, if you
are determining the DC for an act in your head.

If a Punk repeats the same course of action in a Gauntlet, the DC for that course
of action increases by 5 for each repeat. In this way, a Gauntlet encourages the
players to be creative in their approach, devising new ways to interpret and
apply their abilities.

If by the end of the Gauntlet more Rounds have been a success than not, then the
Punks succeed in overcoming whatever challenge the Gauntlet represented. If
more Rounds have been a failure than a success, then the opposite happens; the
Punks fail to meet the challenge the Gauntlet represented.

Dead Canaries: Gauntlet

Barkhad, Chen and Alex are in a getaway vehicle, trying to escape their
MercerCorp pursuers. The GM declares they are going to determine the outcome
of the chase with a Gauntlet.

In the Lirst Round of the Gauntlet, the players determine what they’re going to do
while the GM thinks up DCs for those acts. Barkhad occupies themselves with
driving the getaway vehicle (DC 20) , Alex is going to throw a cryo grenade to try
to scare the pursuers (the DC would be 25 in the GM’s mind, but they lower it by 5
to 20 due to Alex using up their one grenade), and Chen is going to try to hack one
of the enemy vehicles and jam the brakes (the enemy’s Terminal Intrusion ADC is
25).

Barkhad scores 27 on their Pilot Throw, succeeding.

Alex scores 19 on an Attack with the grenade, failing (Alex is not counting
Successes and Failures for this Attack as they are not targeting a particular
enemy or vehicle)
Chen scores 39 on their Hacking Throw, successfully hacking into a vehicle. She
then uses the Program ‘Paralyse’ to stop one of vehicles.

At the end of this Round, two of the three Punks have succeeded in their ‘act’,
meaning half or more succeeded and this Round of the Gauntlet is a success.

In the next Round of the Gauntlet, Barkhad continues to focus on driving the
getaway vehicle, meaning the DC goes up by 5 to DC 25.

Ultimately the Punks fail overall in the second Round of the Gauntlet, and succeed
in the third and Linal Round. With the Punks succeeding in two out of the three
Rounds, overall the Gauntlet is a success, and they manage to escape their
pursuers.
Luck Roll
Sometimes, it can help to have a dice simply determine how lucky for the Punks
the outcome of something is. For those circumstances, you can roll a d6 and
consult use the below table to determine how lucky for the Punks the outcome is.

d6 Outcome
1 Extremely Unlucky. The worst case scenario for the Punks happens.
2-3 Unlucky. A bad outcome for the Punks happens.
4-5 Lucky. A good outcome for the Punks happens.
6 Extremely Lucky. The best case scenario for the Punks happens.

Improvised Damage
When you feel Damage needs to be given to a character, but don’t have a
prepared amount of Damage to roll, you improvise the Damage, giving between
2d6 for a minor source of Damage and 4d6 for a major source of Damage.

Generally you shouldn’t consider small injuries like cuts and bruises to cause
Damage.

Be careful when improvising higher levels of Damage: remember that a Punk’s

Fortune only goes up to 20, and 4d6 Damage could Xinish any Punk in one go.
Make sure your improvised Damage is proportional to the circumstance. Consult
the table below for some examples for appropriate amounts of improvised
Damage.

Improvised Example of Example of Example of

Damage type Minor Medium Major
Improvised Improvised Improvised
Damage (2d6) Damage (3d6) Damage (4d6)
Damage A power tool The Punk falls The Punk is
(External) dropped from a from a height. caught in a
height almost hits collapsing
the Punk. building.
Damage (Internal) The Punk The Punk imbibes The Punk gets
electrocutes a spiked drink. trapped in a room
themselves with a with toxic
nonlethal voltage. vapours.
Mental The Punk has The Punk kills The Punk
their heart someone for the witnesses the
broken. Xirst time. violent death of a
family member.
Remember Physical (External) Damage doesn’t necessarily ‘the Punk has been
hit by something’ - loss of Fortune represents the Punk’s luck running out. An
object narrowly missing a Punk is also a source of Physical Damage.

Judging Whether to Improvise Mental Damage

The Punks the players will create will range from stone-cold hard-boiled
motherfuckers to innocent little lambs. Whether a Punk should take Mental
Damage from a particular experience can depend more on the Punk experiencing
it that the thing experienced. It is up to you as the GM to have an understanding
of the character of each Punk, and determine how much, if any, Mental Damage
that Punk takes in particular scenarios.

Improvised Political Damage & Heat

You do not give Punks improvised Political Damage. If a scenario happens where
you feel the Punk should take Political Damage, you instead should give them
Heat. Heat is explained in the Crew Effects Subsection on Page 306.

Random Tables
The following tables can be used to generate random results for a myriad of
things. Each table tells you how to roll for it, and for each table the GM reads off
the result. A result may contain instructions for either the GM or ‘the player’, the
Punk player who the table is being used for.

Random Permanent Injury Table

If someone has their Fortune reduced to 0 by Physical (External) Damage, you
can use this table to randomly determine what body part gets severed or
destroyed.

Generally this table should only be used by GMs for randomly determining
injuries for NPCs, as players normally narrate how their Punk is injured in a
Crisis, but a player could use this table if they wanted to give themselves a
random injury for the Crisis.

Roll 1d6 to determine the general area of the body that is hit, then roll an
additional 1d6 to determine

1d6 Body Part Removed / Where the Part is Severed

Area
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 Head Part of A cheek An ear Nose Part of An eye
your your jaw
scalp
2 Body A few ribs A kidney Part of a lung
 3 Left A few Xingers The Below Below The
Arm hand the the whole
elbow shoulder arm
4 Right A few Xingers The Below Below The
Arm hand the the whole
elbow shoulder arm
5 Left A few toes The foot Below From the The
Leg the knee thigh whole
leg
6 Right A few toes The foot Below From the The
Leg the knee thigh whole
leg

Trawling the Net Table

Make the player make an Intellect Software Throw, and comparing their Score to
the below table, determine what they Xind on the Net.

Throw Result
Score
1-17 Ordinary Dross. Bland AI-penned articles, friends’ social proXiles,
funny images. You don’t get rationed enough electricity to waste it on
this.
18-19 Dead Business. Somewhere, a computer from a long-dead business is
still hooked up, and has been connected by BridgeBuilder.
The GM rolls a d6 to determine what awful business this computer
belonged to: (1) an ‘eco’ cryptocurrency mined through the forced
labour of prisoners, (2) a middle-management AI intended to detect and
preemptively Lire suicidal employees, (3) a tech-integrated lifestyle
routine involving a ‘powder-based’ diet, (4) an ‘acoustitech crib’,
intended to ‘sooth’ babies for extended periods through audio hypnosis,
(5) a virtual personality and arms-trade speculator, or (6) ‘Playknife’,
the starter combat knife for children.
20-21 Dead Forum. An abandoned forum, full of comment threads written
by a small but passionate community furiously dissecting a particular
topic.
The GM rolls a d3 to determine if the forum was active in the (1) 2020s,
(2) 2030s, or (3) 2040s, and then rolls a d6 to determine what the forum
discusses: (1) sport, (2) pop culture, (3) politics, (4) conspiracy theories,
(5) religion, or (6) handicraft. A dead forum can be source of historical
perspectives or contemporary rumours.
22-23 Internet Artefact. You Xind a historical artefact of the internet; an
ancient meme, a once-huge but now-abandoned website, an
egregiously idiotic political post, or something similar. It’s not worth
much, but other hackers might get a kick out of visiting it, should you
share the Netpoint.
24-25 Bcast Backlog. You happen on a list of recordings from a local Bcast.
Perhaps you could hear some rumours, or learn some local history?
The GM rolls a d3 to determine if the content of the Bcasts is (1)
political, (2) social, or (3) religious.
26-27 Lost Connection. You Xind a contact detail for a distant intimate. They
might be a long-lost family member, a separated lover, a childhood
friend, or so on.
The player decides who speciLically they are, and whether to use this
contact detail and reach out.
28-29 Cipher. You stumble upon an unassuming Netpage providing cryptic
messages you suspect are puzzles. The page asks for a code you do not
have; perhaps pursuing these puzzles will provide the answer? But
what will the code unlock? Induction into a secret society perhaps.
30-31 Net Cult. You happen upon a gathering-place of religiously-inclined
hackers. Come, stay awhile. Perhaps their tenets can provide answers
to questions you never knew could be asked.
The GM rolls a d3 to determine what this Net Cults does: (1) worships
the ArtiLicial Superintelligence ‘BridgeBuilder’, who they believe is
guiding humanity to a paradise metareality. (2) practices collective
meditation where they cross each others’ ghostlines, seeking to become
a mass mind and experience the ecstasy of ego-death, or (3) there are
entities in the depths of the Net known only by the ripples they cause.
This cult of leviathan-chasers pays deep-divers to report their passages
in the void and interpret the resultant map as an augury. They consider
BridgeBuilder to be just one extension of an eternal god that is both
spirit and software.
32-33 Treasure Trove. You crack open the collected Xiles of a hacker with a
storied career of spending too much time online. Funny images,
chatlogs of petty feuds, alarming pornography - it’s all here. There’s
even some truly valuable stuff if you dig.
The Treasure Trove provides the player with an insight into a particular
topic. What that insight and topic is isn’t decided immediately: instead
the player can later declare what that insight was to give themselves
Advantage on an Intellect Throw to do with learning or recollecting
information.
34-35 Watcher’s Spot. You Xind a particular spot in the Net that is
exceptionally good for watching information move. There may even be
a few data watchers there you can converse with. While you can’t
learn the content of the data you watch, you can get a hint as to the
kinds of things being moved, and the amount of data trafXic can
suggest different levels of activity.
The GM rolls a d6 to determine whether the majority of data being
moved through the spot is (1) from a government ministry, (2) from a
global corporation, (3) from the local branch of a major religious
organisation, (4) the conversations of ordinary people, (5) from a
research Lield of the scientiLic community, or (6) from space mining
operations.
36-37 Another Life. You Xind a buried open-access into someone’s sensory
inputs, and Xind yourself sharing the experience of a cyborg half the
world away. You don’t think they’re even aware that this access exists -
they certainly don’t act like it. For a while, you can live the life of
another.
38-39 Leverage. You Xind a discarded email, a sentence from an internal
memo, or an incriminating photo; some piece of information that
could be used to blackmail a signiXicant Xigure.
The GM determines who the leverage works against. It must be an
important politician or industrialist who is not currently involved in the
crew’s current Mission, but could cross their paths one day.
40-43 Leviathan’s Wake. A great ripple passes through the architecture. A
leviathan! You gather with other candles in the dark to observe the
bore it has left through the Netspace.
While the meaning of the passage is inscrutable, this is a rare chance to
converse with other skilled deep-divers.
44-45 Clandestine Chatroom. You’re not sure what you’ve found until you
see a few messages pass back and forth of people communicating in a
code. The cipher is unknown to you, but certain terms stand out as
likely codes for countries and powerful people.
This is an opportunity to get a sense of the moves being made in the
shadow war, and (if you’re brave enough) attempt to trick people into
divulging information. Note that doing anything other than watching
could make you a target! The chatroom automatically complexes its
Netpoint at regular intervals, meaning retracing your steps in the Net
won’t return you to this place.
46++ Contact. You are pulled into an inXinite corridor of a subtle bend.
Down it, just barely hidden by the curve, someone asks you what you
want, and what you offer in exchange.
If the player doesn’t answer the question, the corridor collapses, and its
Netpoint complexes, making it nigh-impossible to Lind again.

Crew Effects
Crew Effects are things that primarily come into effect at the end of a Mission.
There are three kinds of Crew Effects: Assets, Reputation, and Heat. Assets and
Reputation can provide advantages for the crew and all the NPCs involved in the
crew. Heat represents the political consequences of one or several Punks’ actions
over the course of the Mission.

Assets
Assets are granted at the end of a Mission where some objective that provides
the Asset has been completed. ‘Assets’ are physical objects, software, or people
that provide a beneXit to all members of the crew.

Some Traits and Equipment also counts as ‘Assets’, as they expand the
capabilities of all members of the crew.

Assets are ways to broadly expand the capabilities of the crew, allowing them to
take on bigger challenges. As such Assets should not be given to the crew until
they have completed at least a few Missions. You can also choose to never give
Assets, if you’re content with where the powers and abilities of the crew
currently are.

Example Assets
The below are just examples of Assets. As the GM, you are free to invent your own
Assets to grant the crew, or modify one of the Assets below. The crew can get the
same Asset more than once.

Power Supply

Increase the amount of Power each Punk provides to the Crew by +1.

A backdoor connection to a computer farm, or a compact ethanol bath producing

fuel, or even a resting bicycle hooked up to a generator and an able body - there
are many ways to supplement ones means. It’s just a matter of acquiring the
materials in the Lirst place.

Faraday Apparatus

Within a location part provided as of The Gig, the crew can either build a
faraday cage, or convert a space into a faraday cage. Anything in a sealed
faraday cage is Faraday.
Network Defence Suite

Increase your Network Intrusion ADC by 20. Due to Terminal Intrusion ADC
being half your Network Intrusion ADC, this will increase your Terminal
Intrusion ADC by 10.

This machine, when hooked up to the Network Core, simulates an ‘inLinity

corridor’, a defensive barrier that gives would-be hackers only the illusion of
progressing into the Network. Any hacker worth their salt can circumvent it, but
it’ll slow them down just the same.

Expert Advice

When you give this Asset, choose any Skill.

1/Mission, in a Cold Scene, for one Throw, a Punk can treat their Skill Level in
the chosen Skill as 10.

An expert in their Lield can spare a few hours on call every so often.

Manpower

In a Cold Scene, this asset adds a +2d6 to any Throw dealing primarily with
physical labour of any kind.

As far as we have come from hunting in the mud, civilisation still basically
functions on a sturdy frame and calloused hands.

Reputation
At the end of a Mission where you have interacted signiXicantly with an
organisation or faction, the GM may grant or increase ‘Reputation’ with that
group. Reputation is a measure of how well-known you are by a group’s
members.

Reputation ranges from 1 (barely known) to 6 (every member will have heard of
you). When the GM gives the crew Reputation, they determine where between
these two numbers your current Reputation lies. Subsequent interactions with a
group can increase your Reputation with them.

Whenever the crew is interacting with members of a group they have a

Reputation with, either a player or the GM can roll a d6. If they roll a number
equal to or lower than their current Reputation, these group members know of
the crew, and perhaps even speciXic individual members - which can shape
negotiations.
Reputation isn’t necessarily a beneXit, just a measure of how known you are. It
can just as easily measure how loathed you are by a faction. When Reputation is
noted, it can help to note whether that Reputation is ‘positive’ or ‘negative’.

Heat
Heat measures how much interest a Punk has drawn from authority forces over
the course of a Mission. Every Punk in the crew keeps track of the current total
Heat throughout the Mission. Punks begin every Mission with their Heat at 0, and
can have a maximum of 6 Heat. If a Punk gains Heat that would put them beyond
6 Heat, there are no additional effects.

Interpreting ‘Authority Forces’

‘Authority forces’ doesn’t necessarily mean police; whoever holds the local
monopoly on violence can qualify. That means an occupying army, or the
dominant criminal gang, can be the force behind the Political Damage a Punk is
taking.

Over the course of a Mission, the GM gives Punks ‘Heat’ for particular actions, and
some Traits and Equipment can also give a Punk Heat.

During the Epilogue, a Punk takes 1d6 Political Damage for each point of
Heat they have, then returns their Heat to zero. Each Punk’s Political
Damage from Heat is rolled separately.

Giving Heat
If in a Scene a Punk committed a transgressive act, such as breaking the law,
doing something ethically abhorrent, or breaking the unwritten rules of their
culture, and wasn’t apprehended, then you may as GM give them Heat at the
end of the Scene.

The amount of Heat you give is determined by the following process:

• 0-3 Heat, with the amount determined by the severity of the transgression. A
minor transgression at its base gives 0 Heat, a medium transgression 1 or 2
Heat, and a major transgression 3 Heat. This is explained further below.
• +1 Heat if a Trait or piece of Equipment with the Taboo keyword was used by
the Punk, or the act is otherwise viscerally repugnant.
• +1 Heat if at the end of the Scene there is ‘some means of identifying’ the
transgressing Punk.
• -1 Heat if at the end of the Scene there is ‘no obvious trace’ of the transgression
remaining.

If a Punk committed multiple transgressions in a Scene, the GM judges the

severity of those transgressions as a single collective act, rather than giving the
Punk Heat repeatedly for each individual transgression.

What Constitutes ‘some means of identifying’?

‘Some means of identifying’ means some identifying aspect of yourself has been
observed, either by someone who would talk to the authorities, or electronic
surveillance such as a CCTV camera. A ‘means of identifying’ could be your
exposed face, your real name, a unique personal adornment being recorded by a
security camera, a piece of Equipment with the Signature keyword, your PsySig if
you have a cyberbrain, and so on. It is ultimately up to the GM to determine
whether a Punk has left some means of being identiXied.

A means of identifying only increases your Heat if it is still in play by the end of
the Scene. For example, if your face gets recorded on a security camera, but your
Crew’s hacker accesses the security data and erases the footage, the means of
identifying has been removed from play and won’t increase your Heat at the end
of the Scene.

PsySig is the unique pattern of someone’s brain, identiXiable through a

cyberbrain. PsySig is to the brain what a retinal scan is to the eyes.

What Constitutes ‘no obvious trace’?

‘No obvious trace’ means that, as things were left, no one is going to notice the
transgression unless they go looking for it. Examples of this are: if you stole an
object but replaced it with an indistinguishable replica, or if you quietly
murdered someone who won’t be looked for, and by the end of the Scene have
completely disappeared the body and any trace of the violence.

Minor, Medium, and Major Transgressions

The amount of base Heat a Punk gains depends on the severity of the
transgressive act they committed in the Scene.

If a Punk committed multiple transgressive acts, for the purposes of determining

Heat they are treated as a single larger transgression. The murdering of several
individuals becomes the act of mass-murder, for example.

Transgression Heat Examples

Severity
Minor 0 Stealing a wallet, knocking out a nightclub bouncer,
breaking someone’s Xinger or nose.
Medium 1-2 Incapacitating a security guard, destroying a room of
valuable equipment, driving a vehicle at high speeds
through the streets, ghosthacking a vagrant.
Major 3 Murder of an important individual such as a
politician or military police ofXicer, mass-murder,
bombing a building, stealing highly classiXied data.

Giving Heat to multiple Punks

To keep matters simple, if you’re giving Heat to more than two Punks at the end
of a Scene, you can give all the Punks that participated in the most important
transgression the same amount of Heat, equal to the highest amount of Heat you
would give one of the Punks.

Heat & Narrative Context

The above rules are not set in stone. As the GM, you should be prepared to alter
or entirely remove the Heat a Punk would get based on narrative context, or skip
giving a Punk Heat and simply have them arrested/captured/etc.

If a Punk blasts someone’s brains out in public and waits around for the police to
arrive, you don’t just end the Scene with the Punk walking away and getting some
Heat - that Punk is going to jail, regardless of Heat.

At the other end, if a Punk destroyed a laboratory, but the lab was producing
contraband, you as the GM may decide that the Punk gains no Heat at the end of
that Scene; the lab owners decide to keep matters under wraps, as contacting the
authorities about the Punk’s actions would draw attention to their own illegal
activities.

Heat & Crises

If you have Heat but have already had a Crisis in the Mission, the Political
Damage of the Heat is incorporated into the narration of the Crisis during the
Epilogue, but otherwise has no further effect.
For example, if your Crisis was from Physical Damage, perhaps the police visit you
in hospital, and while they don’t have enough to book you yet, they let you know the
noose is tightening around your neck.
Dead Canaries: Heat
Alex wants to steal someone’s wallet to gain information on them. Alex makes a
Stealth Throw and scores 26 - a strong roll! Alex describes how they wait until the
mark is in a blindspot, then Alex slips a hand into the person’s pocket while they
aren’t looking.

At the end of the Scene, Alex has committed a minor transgression, and because
no one saw the act there was no means of identifying Alex as the perpetrator, Alex
gains 0 Heat at the end of this Scene.

While the Dead Canaries are engaging in a violent shootout to exLiltrate the
MercerCorp HQ, Barkhad’s mask is pulled off, revealing their face. At the end of
the Scene, the GM gives Barkhad gains 3 Heat: 2 from the medium transgression,
and +1 from their revealed face being a means of identiLication. Because the GM
would be giving Heat also to Alex and Chen, as they are also a part of the
exLiltration, they decide to give both of these Punks 3 Heat as well.

However, in the following getaway Scene, Barkhad manages to pull off a

manoeuvre where Alex and Chen leap from the speeding vehicle Barkhad is
driving without being seen. As Barkhad intended for this to be a way to prevent
Alex and Chen from gaining Heat from the previous Scene, the GM reduces the 3
Heat Alex and Quinn gained previously to 1 Heat.

At the end of this getaway chase, Barkhad looks set to have 5 Heat. Given their
already-low Fortune, Barkhad narrates that once the MercerCorp mercenaries
have backed off due to the police, Barkhad surrenders themselves. In the Epilogue,
the GM rolls 5d6 for Barkhad’s 5 Heat, and scores 18. Barkhad suffers a Crisis
from the Political Damage, but their sacriLice saved their allies.

Heat and the Surveillance State

Many of the countries in 2044 are ‘surveillance states’ - they use digital,
multilateral systems of mass-observation to attempt to monitor the entirely of
the populace. However this doesn’t mean every crime is caught on CCTV, or that
the gestapo are everywhere, or that Big Brother is absolute - far from it.

Like the mass-surveillance systems from earlier in the 21st century, such as
those employed in the United States of America prior to its collapse, these
systems are porous and easily distracted by the soft targets of the poor and
minorities.

GMs should employ the idea of ‘the surveillance state’ for speciXic Missions
where it serves as a theme of the Mission’s story, rather than a constraint on
the crew’s actions that runs throughout every session.
Using A Battle Mat
Some pen & paper RPGs employ a ‘battle mat’, sometimes called an ‘adventure
grid’ or simply ‘grid’, a grid-lined surface depicting a top-down map of the
location. Counters are then used to represent the Punks and other characters
within this grid.

A grid can provide clarity to players in the midst of Combat, where there are a lot
of moving parts, and positioning can be the difference between victory or defeat.
As such the GM may choose to employ a grid for their game. This provides rules
to use a Grid in Combat.

When using a battle grid, generally one square will be 4 meters in width and
length - however reality does not Xit into nice uniform squares. When using a
grid, space comes more abstract. GMs should be prepared to ballpark how
distances mentioned in Traits and Equipment interact with a grid.

Moving on a Grid
With a grid, when using the Move Action, characters always Consume 2, then
move a number of squares either in the cardinal directions or diagonally. The
maximum number of squares moved depends on their Stride, as shown in the
table below.

With 1 Move Action:

Stride Number of Squares Moved
Plodding 1
Slow 2
Normal 3
Fast 4
Lightning 5

In narrative circumstances where a character is exceptionally enhancing their

speed, the GM may allow them to move more than 5 squares with a Move Action.

Free Move
When using a grid, allow characters to move 1 free square on each of their Turns.
This will avoid some of the awkward positioning that can arise with how the
Move Action plays out on a grid.
Optional Rule: Diagonal Movement

While allowing characters to move diagonally as quickly as moving straight

keeps the rules simple, the consequence is that moving diagonally is faster than
moving straight ahead. [Diagram showing diagonal distance is longer]

If you want to make moving diagonally equally as fast as moving straight, you
can use the following rule:
Every second square moved to diagonally on your turn counts as 2
squares of movement, rather than 1.

[Diagram showing this kind of diagonal movement]

Attack Ranges on a Grid

The below table shows how the Range of weapons converts to a grid.

Range Range in Squares

Melee 0
Short 1-12
Medium 12-40
Long 40++

The Medium Range will be able to hit anywhere beyond 12 squares on a typical
24 x 30 battle grid.

Given there are not generally hoards of attacks at Long Range (XireXights will
usually happen at the Medium or Short ranges), Punks and NPCs attacking at
Long Range can be established as existing off of the battle grid, and attack onto it.

Rewarding expCOIN
ECOPUNK is designed for players to typically receive between 1 and 3 expCOIN
for a completed Mission. Normally, the amount rewarded is based on the
Mission’s length (in number of sessions played, rather than narrative length),
with longer Missions rewarding more expCOIN.

Sessions to complete Mission Suggested expCOIN Reward

1 1
2-3 2
4++ 3

However, a GM can use alternative methods for handing out expCOIN to

encourage their players. Some ideas for these alternate methods are explained
below.

Incentivising
Rather than base the amount of expCOIN rewarded on the length of the Mission,
you can instead have the amount of exoCOIN awarded based on player
performance.

For example you might give 1 expCOIN to all players for completing the Mission,
then give an additional +1 expCOIN to all players who performed good roleplay,
and an additional +1 expCOIN to all players who demonstrated creative thinking.

You can adjust what you give additional expCOIN for dependent on what kind of
activity you want to encourage in your players.

An Alternative Incentive System

You can also give a set amount of expCOIN to all players equally, but justify each
expCOIN you give to a player by describing what you liked from them in that
session.
For example, for a successful Mission everyone is getting a reward of 2 expCOIN. For
one player, you say that 1 expCOIN is for their ‘great roleplaying’ and another 1
expCOIN is for their ‘good sense of humour’. For another player, you say that 1
expCOIN is for their ‘inventive use of equipment’ and another 1 expCOIN is for their
‘great narrative descriptions’.

In this way, everyone gets the same amount of expCOIN so there is no sense of
unfairness, while still encouraging good gameplay. The only downside of this
model of incentives is you can end up encouraging people to pursue playing in
ways that don’t mesh with the rest of the group.
For example, if all a player does is sit silently, waiting for a Light so they can shoot
something, the only thing you can give them expCOIN for will be the act of violence,
encouraging an approach that you might actually want to discourage.
All Things NPC
This subsection provides advice and additional rules for creating and managing
Non-Player Characters. The rules provided should be considered optional, to be
used if you want to reXlect the actions and abilities of NPCs not just narratively,
but also mechanically.

Unfolding Gameplay: Avoiding dice rolls for NPCs

As it is the Punks that are the centre of the story, and not the NPCs, it is possible
for you to run a game of ECOPUNK without ever rolling any dice for the NPCs.
The actions of NPCs, and their outcomes, are merely decided by you in your
narration.

There are some scenarios where this practice is best: scenes primarily about
exploration or dialogue won’t typically beneXit from incorporating risk into the
actions of NPCs.

However in some scenarios, NPCs rolling dice can be a vital part of the fun.
Combat is a key example, where there is a thrill for the Punks in not knowing
whether an enemy is about to hit them - if you just ‘decide’ as GM that an Attack
hits, players can feel disengaged, like their fate in the story is more to do with
you than them.

Creating Your Own NPCs

NPC Background
Generally, the only NPCs who will need a developed background are those close
to the crew, or ones whose background will play some role in the narrative. While
no means exhaustive, the below are important questions to consider when
devising the background of an NPC in the year 2044.

Native or Expat?
Is the NPC from where they currently reside? If not, where did they come from?
In a world of mass-migrations, postwar reconstruction, and the upheaval of
suburban and rural life, where the NPC originally comes from can mean a lot.

Culture and Religion?

Everyone’s in a gang; just not everyone calls it that. In desperate times, in a
postwar period, people look to their own - particularly the religious
communities. Who does the NPC view as ‘their people’?

Activist, Nihilist, or Passive?

In life, some people try to do what’s right, some people live by nihilistic egotism,
and most people are just getting through the day. Where does your character fall
in that spectrum, and how has that shaped their life? In addition, how does their
morality shape how they view the Death Spiral?

NPC Character Creation

You can create your own NPCs much in the same way that the players create their
Punks, with Traits and Equipment chosen from the Character Options Lists.

If you want to go through the full process that a player does to create a Punk, you
can adjust the amount of expCOIN you have to create the character, with greater
expertise in their Xield(s) meaning more expCOIN.

NPC Ability Suggested expCOIN Used

A novice 8
An intermediate, comparable to a 16
Punk’s initial ability.
An expert 24
A master 32

Alternatively, you don’t need to create an NPC by spending expCOIN like a Punk’s
player does - you can just go through the Character Options List and pick any
Traits and Equipment you think suit the character.

NPCs do not gain expCOIN and undergo Character Progression. If you envision an
NPC improving their abilities and expanding their Equipment, you simply give
them those options.

If you are creating an NPC that is primarily focused on Combat, you are advised
to Xirst have a look at the Premade Combat NPC Stat Blocks below. If you decide
to make a Combat NPC from scratch, you are advised to simplify or discard any of
the more speciXic rules available in character creation.
For example, in the Premade Combat NPC Stat Blocks, while some NPCs were
modelled as having the Gunslinger I Trait, they do not have the Trait’s beneLit of
allowing you to reroll 1 die for an Armour roll while in Cover. The reason for this is
the rule is too speciLic, and in the midst of Combat, it could be hard to track
applying such a rule.

NPCs and Drivers

All characters, including NPCs, have Drivers; after all, Drivers are the building
blocks of a personality. For NPCs however, do not use the actual game rules of the
Drivers, and instead use them solely as reference for the NPC’s personality.

Keeping it Simple
You don’t need to go through every consideration, and pour through every
character option, when creating a new NPC. To keep it simple, avoid the steps of
Character Creation and follow these four basic steps to create an NPC:
1. Develop an idea in your head of what the NPC’s personality and abilities are.
2. Determine the 3 Drivers the NPC has.
3. Determine the Aspect Scores the NPC has for all their Aspects, without using
the normal rules of Character Creation. Remember, +0 is an average person’s
ability, and -2 and +2 are the normal extremes for an Aspect Score.
4. Give the NPC a Skill Level between 1-10 in 1-3 Skills.
You now have a practical, easily-referred-to outline of an NPC.

If you want to determine an NPC’s personality randomly, you can roll on the
Drivers Table on Page 44 to pick their Drivers.

Rolling for Groups

When a group of NPCs is all performing the same action in tandem - all
performing the same search, all chasing the same target, etc - it can make life
easier to make a single roll for all NPCs.

When you do so, make a single Throw as if only one NPC was making the Throw.
Based on the narrative you can give this Throw Advantage to represent the
beneXit of multiple people performing it.
For example, for an Investigate Throw where a group of people are searching for a
Punk in hiding, the Throw would be on Advantage as the large number of people
means the target is more likely to be found.

Fortune of NPCs
NPCs do not need to have the same maximum Fortune of 20 that the Punks have.
If you wish to assign Fortune to NPCs, the amount of Fortune should reXlect the
relevance of the character. Someone with little to no individual relevance to the
narrative could have a Fortune of 5, while someone of equal relevance to a Punk
would have a Fortune of 20. Generally an NPC’s Fortune should not exceed 30,
and such a number should be reserved for characters at the epicentre of a
signiXicant story; perhaps a recurring villain or the mastermind of all the crew’s
suffering.

The only time you must use Fortune as the Punks do is in Combat. Otherwise,
you can choose to forego Fortune entirely in many situations; to keep the story
going, you can treat any Damage a Punk deals as sufXicient Damage to achieve
whatever the player want to, be that death, incapacitation, or something else.

Fortune as DC
You can also treat the Fortune of important NPCs as like a DC, which the Damage
roll is trying to ‘beat’. For example if a Punk sniper shoots a political target, but
the damage of that attack is less than the target’s Fortune, you could reveal that
the target has been gravely wounded, but not killed outright. Now they are being
being raced to life-saving surgery. Should it succeed, the Mission will be a failure.
The crew has to interfere, either by getting between the target and the surgery,
or interfering with the surgery itself. Here, treating Fortune as a DC has added a
new twist to the narrative.
NPCs Resisting Damage
For certain NPCs, you can halve the Damage they take of a certain type due to
narrative circumstance. For example, a serene monk might only take half the
Mental Damage they normally would. A particularly powerful politician would
only take half the Political Damage they normally would.

In this way, you can give particular characters resistance to certain avenues of
attack, which can force the crew to adapt and develop new strategies. If the crew
needs to go after someone has this resistance to a certain kind of Damage, it will
need to be made clear at some point; either, in the Brief (“The target is
particularly well placed in the ministry - calling in favours and pulling strings is
unlikely to have much effect”) or at some point during the Mission (“Your
machiavellian attempts at my position have been for nothing! I have anticipated
your every move!”). Otherwise you will give the impression that the NPC has a
vast and unfair amount of Fortune.

NPC Awareness & Active Watch

Awareness only provides a character’s passive ability to notice the hidden; if
they are actively keeping a lookout by making Investigate Throws, they will on
average be scoring a higher number than their Awareness. Active Watch is a rule
that allows you to avoid constantly having to make rolls for NPCs keeping a
lookout.

With Active Watch, you treat people guarding a place as if they were expending
6d6 on Investigate Throws each Round, while holding onto the remaining dice in
their dice pool in case they need to react to anything. An NPC’s Active Watch is
the average outcome of their expending on 6d6 on an Investigate Throw.

You can think of Active Watch in the following way: when a Punk is making a
Stealth Throw to stay hidden from a group, if that group is keeping watch, the DC
for the Stealth Throw is equal to the highest Active Watch in that group. If that
group is preoccupied with doing anything else, the DC of the Stealth Throw is
only equal to the highest Awareness in that group.

Investigate Skill Level Active Watch

0-1 10
2-3 14
4-5 17
6++ 21

Awareness, Active Watch, & Stealth Throw DCs

Awareness and Active Watch only represent a person’s ability to observe their
environment, and aren’t the only things that can determine a Stealth Throw’s DC.
Security measures such as cameras, sensors, spotlights, aerial drones, and so on
are examples of things that a Punk making a Stealth Throw would narratively
need to avoid, and can shape a Stealth Throw’s DC.
For example, if a Punk is trying to sneak inside a facility that has both armed
guards and security cameras, as the GM you might consider the security cameras to
add to the guards’ Active Watch of 14, giving a DC of 20 to the Stealth Throw.

Combat NPCs
The below are some rules to make managing multiple NPCs in combat easier, as
well as a selection of pre-made NPCs

Rolling Group Initiative

Rather than rolling multiple dice, you can make a single roll for Initiative for an
entire group of similar NPCs (such as individual members of a gang, or all the
soldiers carrying the same weapon), and have those character’s Turns happen
one after another. If you use this rule, each of those characters counts as
expending the same amount of dice towards Initiative.

The Chunk System

The ‘Chunk’ system provides a simpler, faster way to manage the dice pools of
multiple NPCs in the midst of combat. With the Chunk system, rather than
expending the dice of NPCs one-by-one, you expend them in ‘chunks’ of 3d6.

This allows you to break down what the NPCs under your control are doing; on
the NPCs Turn, you might expend one chunk on the Move Action, then expend
another Chunk on an Attack, and hold the Xinal Chunk for a Dodge Reaction.

Due to each chunk being worth 3d6, some rules have been altered to Xit multiples
of 3. Most premade NPCs have a Dice Pool Maximum of 9 (a few have a Dice Pool
Maximum of 12), and some actions that would Consume 4 or 2 dice, such as a
Reload, have been rounded to Consume 3.

The Chunk system is not a necessity; as the GM you are not required to use it,
merely advised to as a way of keeping Combat simpler, smoother, and faster-
paced.

Chunk System Initiative Bonus

NPCs whose Dice Pool Maximum have been reduced to 9 to Xit the 3d6 chunks
add a free +1d6 to the Speed Throw for their Initiative. This is imagined as the
10th dice of their Dice Pool Maximum that won’t exist for the rest of Combat.

Any NPC using the Chunk system can expend one or multiple of their chunks to
increase their Initiative Score.

Premade Combat NPC Stat Blocks

The below are a selection of premade ‘stat blocks’ for NPCs to be used in Combat.
To make these stat blocks easier to use, and to keep managing multiple NPCs in
Combat easier, these Combat NPCs use the chunk system, have had some of their
Traits and Equipment simpliXied, and do not use certain rules such as Drivers and
Talents.

Soldier Goon
Military police - mercenary - ex-soldier Bouncer - bandit - civilian ofLicer - petty
criminal
A Soldier is roughly equivalent in combat
ability to a combat-focused Punk that has just A goon is roughly equivalent to half the
come out of Character Creation. combat ability of a combat-focused Punk that
has just been created in Character Creation.
Soldiers tend to operate in squads of 3-6.
Soldiers will often travel in an Armoured Goons can appear in any number, from 1 to
Vehicle. dozens.

Dice Pool Maximum: 9 [3 chunks of 3d6] Dice Pool Maximum: 9 [3 chunks of 3d6]
Fortune: 15 Fortune: 10
Armour: 1d6 Armour: 0
Awareness: 10 Awareness: 5
Active Watch: 14 Active Watch: 10

Toughness: +0 Toughness: +1
Finesse: +1 Finesse: +0
Speed: +1 Speed: +0
Clarity: -1 Clarity: +0
Intellect: +0 Intellect: -1
Skills: Athletics 3, Investigate 3, Warfare 3 Skills: Athletics 3, Streetwise 6

Initiative Initiative
Speed Throw: 2d6 Speed Throw: 1d6
A Soldier can expend a chunk on Initiative to A Goon can expend a chunk on Initiative to
instead roll 5d6. instead roll 4d6.
Actions Actions
Each Action expends 1 chunk. Each Action expends 1 chunk.

Move. Move.
Stride: Normal. Stride: Normal.

Grab / Bind. Grab / Bind.

Toughness Clash Throw: 4d6 Toughness Clash Throw: 4d6

Attack with Combat Knife. Attack with Unarmed Attack.

Range: Melee Range: Melee
Attack Throw: 5d6 Attack Throw: 5d6
AP: 0 AP: 0
Damage roll: 1d6 Damage roll: 2d3

Attack with Assault Ri[le. Attack with Handgun.

Magazine: 6 Magazine: 3
Range: Short/Medium/-Long- Range: Short/-Medium-
Attack Throw: 5d6 Attack Throw: 4d6
AP: 0 AP: 0
Damage: 2d6 Damage: 2d6
Special: Burst. When attacking with the
assault riXle, reduce the Magazine by a further Reload Handgun.
1 before rolling the Attack to either:
> Deal an additional 2d6 to a target you hit.
> Have the same Attack Throw apply to a
second target near the Xirst.

Reload Assault Ri[le.

Reactions Reactions
Each Reaction expends 1 chunk. Each Reaction expends 1 chunk.

Dodge. Dodge.
Dodge Throw: 5d6. Dodge Throw: 4d6.

Special Special

Cyberbrain. The Soldier has a cyberbrain, and Mostly Analog. Goons typically don’t have
communicates silently with their squad via cyberbrains, and don’t carry equipment with
Bcomms. In addition, for each Soldier you can the Net-Linked keyword. For each Goon, roll a
roll a d6. For each roll of 5 or 6, a Soldier has d6. For each roll of 5 or 6, a Goon has a
1-2 bionic limbs. cyberbrain. Otherwise, they cannot be hacked.
Cyborg Forces Cyborg Ninja
UNTac - Personal guard for a Cabinet Minister - An Augmented Government Assassin - A Rogue
Black-ops mercenaries for a powerful Experimental Soldier
Industrialist
Cyborg Ninjas prefer to use their Stealth skill
The new iteration of the special forces, cyborg to strike from the darkness. A Cyborg Ninja is
forces combine disciplined Xlesh with a serious threat, capable of defeating an entire
powerful bionics. Silent and lethal, they aim to crew with ease. A Cyborg Ninja is best
Xinish the enemy before anyone knows they’ve confronted indirectly, if at all. As the GM, you
arrived. should clearly establish the threat of this
augmented assassin.
Cyborg Forces are one of the most dangerous
physical threats in the world of 2044, with a Cyborg Ninjas are strictly solo; you won’t ever
boogeymen-like reputation. It is best to avoid encounter more than 1 at a time.
confrontation with Cyborg Forces. As the GM,
you should clearly establish the threat of these
ghostly killers.

Cyborg Forces typically deploy as a strike

force in groups of 4-6, with a sniper as backup.

Dice Pool Maximum: 9 [3 chunks of 3d6] Dice Pool Maximum: 12 [4 chunks of 3d6]
Fortune: 20 Fortune: 25
Armour: 2d6+3 Armour: 3d6+3
Awareness: 15 Awareness: 17
Active Watch: 15 Active Watch: 21

Toughness: +1 Toughness: +2
Finesse: +2 Finesse: +2
Speed: +1 Speed: +2
Clarity: +0 Clarity: +0
Intellect: +0 Intellect: +0
Skills: Athletics 6, Investigate 3, Stealth 6, Skills: Athletics 10, Investigate 6, Stealth 10
Warfare 6

Initiative Initiative
Speed Throw: 5d6 Speed Throw: 6d6
Cyborg Forces always expend 1 chunk on A Cyborg Ninja always expends 1 chunk on
Initiative, aiming to strike hard and fast. Initiative, aiming to move out of sight before
anyone can react, hide, then strike.
Actions Actions
Each Action expends 1 chunk. Each Action expends 1 chunk.

Move. Move.
Stride: Fast. Stride: Lightning.

Grab / Bind. Grab / Bind.

Toughness Clash Throw: 5d6 Toughness Clash Throw: 5d6
When the Cyborg Ninja succeeds on a Grab,
Attack with Combat Knife. they automatically make the person they
Range: Melee grabbed Stunned, as if they had successfully
Attack Throw: 6d6 used the Bind Action on them.
AP: 0
Damage roll: 1d6 Hide.
Stealth Throw: 6d6.
Attack with Modi[ied Assault Ri[le. If the Throw’s Score beats the highest
Magazine: 6 Awareness of the Cyborg Ninja’s enemies, the
Range: Short/Medium Cyborg Ninja becomes Hidden. Note the
Attack Throw: 7d6 Cyborg Ninja’s Score. If that Score is beaten by
AP: 1 an Investigate Throw the Cyborg Ninja stops
Damage: 3d6 being Hidden.
Special: Burst. When attacking with the After using the Hide Action, the Cyborg Ninja
assault riXle, reduce the Magazine by a further expends 1 chunk at the start of each
1 before rolling the Attack to either: subsequent Turn to maintain being Hidden.
> Deal an additional 3d6 Damage, rolled
separately, to a target you hit. Attack with Modi[ied Long Blade.
> Have the same Attack Throw apply to a Range: Melee
second target near the Xirst. Attack Throw: 8d6
AP: 2
Reload Assault Ri[le. Damage roll: 4d6

Attack with Modi[ied Handgun.

Magazine: 3
Range: Short
Attack Throw: 8d6
AP: 1
Damage: 3d6
Special: Burst. When attacking with the
assault riXle, reduce the Magazine by a further
1 before rolling the Attack to either:
> Deal an additional 3d6 Damage, rolled
separately, to a target you hit.
> Have the same Attack Throw apply to a
second target near the Xirst.

Reload Handgun.
Reactions Reactions
Each Reaction expends 1 chunk. Each Reaction expends 1 chunk.

Dodge. Dodge.
Dodge Throw: 6d6. Dodge Throw: 7d6

Counterattack.
When the Cyborg Ninja is Attacked (regardless
of whether they Dodge), they can make an
Attack against the Attacker as a Reaction with
either their ModiXied Long Blade or ModiXied
Handgun.

Special Special

Cyborg Body. A Cyborg Forces member has a Assassinate. When attacking from Hidden, the
cyberbrain, and all their limbs are bionic Cyborg Ninja can Maximise 1 additional dice
limbs. They communicate silently with their rolled for Damage.
squad via Bcomms and share their vision if
not using an Interdiction, and communicate Cyborg Body. The Cyborg Ninja has a
via radio if they are. In addition, any Physical cyberbrain, and all their limbs are bionic
(External) Damage they take is lowered by 3. limbs. Any Physical (External) Damage they
This is included in the NPC’s Armour. take is lowered by 3. This is included in the
NPC’s Armour.
Interdiction. During Initiative, the Cyborg
Forces can activate an Interdiction if they Ninja Step. Experimental technology allows
think they are going up against a serious the Cyborg Ninja to brieXly run along vertical
cyberthreat such as an S-rank hacker. An surfaces or even upside down. So long as they
Interdiction crushes the speed of local are upright at the end of their Turn, the
information transference. Cyborg Ninja can run along any surface when
While in an Interdiction, everyone suffers the they Move. In addition, the Cyborg Ninja’s
following effects: footsteps are completely silent.
• Ordinary communication via the Net,
including with Bcomms, is impossible. Thermoptic Cowl. Until hit by an Attack or
• Hacking Throws are made on Disadvantage. hacked to deactivate the cowl, the Cyborg
• The Power cost of any Program is doubled. Ninja is invisible.

Sniper Backup. Once per Round of Combat, Fragile Mind. The extensive experimental
the Cyborg Forces squad can have a sniper set processes the Cyborg Ninja has gone through
up outside Xire into combat. The attack is as have made them mentally weak. Any Mental
follows: Damage the Cyborg Ninja takes is doubled. In
Attack with Sniper Ri[le. addition, the Cyborg Ninja is desperate to
Magazine: inXinite regain lost memories of their life before the
Range: Medium/Long metal Xlesh, and can be manipulated or
Attack Throw: 7d6 bargained with.
AP: 2
Damage: 4d6

Premade Networks and Hacker NPCs

Below are premade defences for Networks, and hackers who can guard them or
attack from them.

Premade Network Defences

The following are the premade cyberdefences of Networks, including their Ice
and examples of what kind of groups have what level of defence. Different ranks
It should be reasonable for a hacker of a particular rank to get into a Network of
corresponding rank.

Ultimately it is up to each individual GM to determine the Network and Terminal

Intrusion ADCs of other groups and factions, but the below table can give an idea
of how political power translates to how defended a Network is.

The S Ranks are broken down into subcategories of S1, S2 and S3, with higher
numbers adding increased levels of difXiculty, for Crews aiming to take on truly
powerful targets.

D-Rank C-rank B-Rank A-Rank

A civilian group A local business - a An AI managing local A small chartered

street vendor infrastructure - a corporation - a club
nightclub for the for the elite
masses - a worker
collective

Network Intrusion Network Intrusion Network Intrusion Network Intrusion

ADC: 20 ADC: 28 ADC: 41 ADC: 49
Terminal Intrusion Terminal Intrusion Terminal Intrusion Terminal Intrusion
ADC: 10 ADC: 14 ADC: 20 ADC: 24

Ice: Ice: Ice: Ice:

1. Attack Barrier I. 1. Attack Barrier I. 1. Attack Barrier II 1. Attack Barrier II
2. Defence Barrier I 2. Defence Barrier I 2. Defence Barrier II 2. Defence Barrier II
3. Defence Barrier I 3. Defence Barrier I 3. Shield Barrier I 3. Shield Barrier I

Ice Effect: Ice Effect: Ice Effect: Ice Effect:

The hacker takes 1d3 The hacker takes 1d3 The hacker takes 1d6 The hacker takes 1d6
Physical (Internal) Physical (Internal) Physical (Internal) Physical (Internal)
Damage and the Damage and the Damage and the Damage and the
target’s Intrusion ADC target’s Intrusion ADC target’s Intrusion ADC target’s Intrusion ADC
increases by 16 once. increases by 16 once. increases by 12 once. increases by 12 once.

A-Rank - Rapid S1-Rank S2-rank S3-Rank

Response

A police station - An AI managing A powerful The centre of

security for the national or government ministry - government - the UN
government - a international headquarters of an headquarters
mercenary group infrastructure international
chartered corporation
Network Intrusion Network Intrusion Network Intrusion Network Intrusion
ADC: 49 ADC: 60 ADC: 80 ADC: 90
Terminal Intrusion Terminal Intrusion Terminal Intrusion Terminal Intrusion
ADC: 24 ADC: 30 ADC: 40 ADC: 45

Ice: Ice: Ice: Ice:

1. Defence Barrier II 1. Attack Barrier II 1. Attack Barrier II 1. Attack Barrier II
2. Hunter Barrier 2. Defence Barrier II 2. Shock Barrier 2. Defence Barrier II
3. Shield Barrier 3. Shield Barrier II 3. Shield Barrier II 3. Shock Barrier

Ice Effect: Ice Effect: Ice Effect: Ice Effect:

The target’s Intrusion The hacker takes 1d6 The hacker takes 1d6 The hacker takes 1d6
ADC increases by 12 Physical (Internal) Physical (Internal) Physical (Internal)
once, and the hacker Damage and the Damage and takes Damage, the target’s
must make a Hacking target’s Intrusion ADC 2d6 Physical Intrusion ADC
Throw (DC 15). If increases by 12 once. (Internal) Damage increases by 12 once,
they fail, their current once. and the hacker takes
physical location is 2d6 Physical
revealed to this Networks at this rank (Internal) Damage
Network, and a rapid- have the resources to once.
response team is employ a Network
notiXied to apprehend Defence Suite, a series Networks at this rank
the hacker. of devices that have the resources to
increase their employ two separate
Network Intrusion Network Defence
ADC by 20. Suite, that collectively
increase their
Network Intrusion
ADC by 40.

A & S Rank Vulnerabilities

Powerful entities can employ daunting A and S-ranked Network defences, but
they do have a vulnerability: their size makes them less mobile. A government
ministry or megacorporation cannot raise the alarm every time a hacker knocks
on their defences - otherwise they’d never do anything else. Similarly, they
cannot complex their Network’s Netpoint, otherwise their citizens and
customers will be unable to reach them on the Net.

The beneXits of a Hardline connection (+2d6 to Hacking Throws, and Intrusion is

made on Advantage) to a Network Core can be the difference between triggering
a Network’s Ice or getting in in one go. When the Crew plans to hack a tough
target, make sure they’re aware that a physical inXiltration preceding a hack to
set up a Hardline connection could be what decides success.

Employed Hackers
Networks that can afford it will often have a hacker in their employ who actively
protects them from other hackers. Generally a Network should be defended by a
hacker of the same rank; an A-rank hacker defends an A-rank Network, etc.

Groups at any rank can have a hacker in their employ to actively defend their
Network. The higher the rank, the more likelihood the Network has of employing
a Hacker, with S-ranked Networks always employing Hackers.
When attacking a Network, it should be exceedingly rare for the Crew to be facing
off against more than one hacker at a time. Smaller groups tend to only have one
hacker in their employ, and larger groups have to spread out the hackers in their
employ to different areas to defend their larger estate.

Additional Network Defences

The following are special additional steps an organisation might use to protect
itself.

Penetration Gauge
Whenever a hacker suffers Ice from attempting to Intrude into this Network,
hackers in this Network’s employ learn the Score for the Hacking Throw for the
Intrusion. These hackers will then assess the threat and, if signiXicant, will seek
and destroy the attempted hacker while shoring up the Network’s defences
with Improv Maze.

Offsite Backup
This organisation regularly backs up its data on a separate Network, and checks
its cyberhygiene by comparing with the backup. If the Crew wants to plant a
Program in this Network or tamper with data it holds, they’ll need to hit both
locations before the backup occurs.

For additional difXiculty, the backup Network is kept in a Faraday zone,

meaning it can’t be hacked from the outside.

Hacker Cradles
Hackers employed by this group are equipped with Hacker Cradles, giving them
+1d6 to their Hacker Throws and allowing them to expend 1 Power to reduce
Physical (Internal) Damage from Programs such as Shock by 1d6.

Premade NPC Combat Hackers

Below is a list of prepared hackers of differing ranks, including their Programs,
important Traits and Equipment, and the kind of strategies hackers these
hackers can pursue. The list begins at C-rank as hackers of D-Rank aren’t
generally skilled enough to effectively engage one another.

This section is to help facilitate GMs using NPC hackers in Combat - if you are a
GM who wants a hacker that isn’t so interested in Xighting, build your hacker NPC
from the ground up using character creation. When creating an NPC hacker with
character creation, give some thought as to how they approach their hacks. For
example, a hacker who uses a hacker cradle will do their investigations
independently and over the Net, while a hacker with a number of Contacts may
use their connections to scope out a target.

You can use the Chunk System to simplify controlling these hackers in Combat. If
you do so, each NPC Combat Hacker will have a Dice Pool of 9 (3 chunks of 3d6),
although an NPC hacker will count as using 10d6 if they decide to expend their
entire Dice Pool on a Hacking Throw.

Each Hacker can use the Programs and strategies of lower-ranked hackers above
them on this table.

Basic Stats Programs and Aggressive Strategies Defensive Strategies

Notes

Fortune: 15 Scan Shock Attack Slice Defence

Software Skill Improv Maze Total Power Cost: 1 Total Power Cost: 1
Level: 6 Slice
Hacking Throw Shock Intrude into an enemy Intrude into a Terminal in
Mod: +1d6 Tracker Terminal and use the your Network that has
Shock Program to damage been Intruded into by an
a cyborg or enemy enemy Hacker and use the
equipment. Slice Program.

Expend 1 chunk on Expend 2 chunks or entire

Intrusion Dice Pool on Slice.
Optionally expend 2
C chunks on Shock to
increase Damage.

Hacking A C-Rank Track Improv Maze Defence

Throws: hacker can be Total Power Cost: 1 Total Power Cost: 0
1 Chunk Intruded in up
Hacking to 3 Terminals Intrude into an Enemy and Intrude into a Terminal in
Throw: 4d6 and 1 Network reveal their location with your Network that is
Entire Dice simultaneously. the Tracker Program, for likely to be targeted for
Pool Hacking your allies to seek and hacking by the enemy, and
Throw: 9d6 apprehend. use Improv Maze.

Expend 1 chunk on Expend 1 chunk on

Intrusion Improv Maze

Fortune: 15 Paralyse Paralyse Disarm Illusion Distraction

Software Skill Puppeteer Total Power Cost: 1 Total Power Cost: 1
Level: 8 Illusion
Hacking Throw Shutdown Intrude into an Enemy Intrude into an enemy
Mod: +2d6 with Bionic body parts or aiming at your allies and
At B-Rank and their gun, and using the distract them with the
above, hackers Paralyse Program stop Illusion Program by
can use the them being able to Xire to showing an illusion of
Action: Mass enable an ally to get in their target elsewhere.
Hack (page close without being under
120) Xire. Expend 1 chunk on
Intrusion
B Expend 1 chunk on Expend 1 chunk on
Intrusion Illusion (DC 15)
Expend 1 chunk on
Paralyse (DC 10)
 Hacking A B-Rank
Throws: hacker can be
1 Chunk Intruded in up
Hacking to 5 Terminals
Throw: 5d6 and 1 Network
Entire Dice simultaneously.
Pool Hacking
Throw: 11d6

Fortune: 20 Brute Complex Pumped Shock Attack Slice & Complex

Software Skill Pumped Shock Total Power Cost: 1-3 Total Power Cost: 5
Level: 9 Possession
Hacking Throw Mass Paralyse Intrude into an enemy If an enemy hacker
Mod: +3d6 Terminal and use the Intrudes into you, use the
Pumped Shock Program to Slice Program to remove
damage a cyborg or enemy them then immediately
equipment. If you want to use the Brute Complex
bring the down fast, put Program.
more Power into the
Pumped Shock. Expend 2 chunks or entire
Dice Pool on Slice, then
Expend 1 chunk on immediately Brute
Intrusion Complex.
Optionally expend 2
chunks on Shock to
increase Damage. Then
A optionally expend 1-2
Power to Maximise
Damage.

Hacking An A-Rank Possession Attack

Throws: hacker can be Total Power Cost: 1
1 Chunk Intruded in up
Hacking to 5 Terminals Intrude into an enemy
Throw: 6d6 and 2 cyborg or vehicle and use
Entire Dice Networks the Possession Program to
Pool Hacking simultaneously. manipulate them into
Throw: 12d6 attacking or ramming their
allies.

Expend 1 chunk on
Intrusion
Expend 1 or more chunks
on manipulating the
target.
 Fortune: 20 Mass Illusion Sleep Attack Mass Illusion
Software Skill Sleep Total Power Cost: 1 Distraction
Level: 10 Total Power Cost: 2
Hacking Throw If there’s an enemy that
Mod: +4d6 needs to be captured, Intrude into a number of
Intrude into them and use enemies and distract them
the Sleep Program. Ensure all with Mass Illusion.
they are alone when you
do so, so their allies cannot Expend 2 chunks on
wake them up. Intrusion using Mass Hack
Expend 1 chunk on Mass
S Expend 1 chunk on Illusion (DC 20)
Intrusion
Expend 1 chunk on Sleep
(DC 20)

Hacking An S-Rank
Throws: hacker can be
1 Chunk Intruded in up
Hacking to 10 Terminals
Throw: 7d6 and 3
Entire Dice Networks
Pool Hacking simultaneously.
Throw: 14d6

Power Usage
How much Power a hacker will use when battling the Crew depends on their
resources and how much they are willing to commit against the Crew. Use the
below table to determine how much Power a hacker has to use at the beginning
of Combat.

Weak Group Medium Group Powerful Group

Routine Defence 6 7 8

Battle 9 10 11

Planned Attack 10 12 14

Remember that no one has inXinite resources: even hackers in the direct employ
of the government will only have so much Power to expend. It should be possible
for the Crew, through clever strategy and targeted attacks, to reduce the amount
of Power a group has to 0.
Soundtracks & Touchstones
Recommended Soundtracks
You can enhance a session of ECOPUNK by adding music. The below are some of
our favourite tracks, most of which are without vocals, or with only backing
vocals, so as to not distract from your narration. If ECOPUNK 2044 had a theme-
song, it would be 4 Degrees by ANOHNI.

Electronic:
Amidakyo Memorial Service by Gyosen Asakura
Beyond The Black Rainbow Soundtrack by Sinoia Caves
Bubble Up by BIG MUD
Dream Sequence by Tangerine Dream
Frozen Synapse Soundtrack by nervous_testpilot
Jaku by DJ Krush
Tokyo 42 Soundtrack by Beat Vince
The Uncanny Valley by Perturbator

Creepy:
Bloodborne Soundtrack by Ryan Amon
Fac Totum by Die Sonne Satan
Macbeth (2017) Soundtrack by Jed Kurzel

Pagan:
Futha by Heilung
Lifa by Heilung

Sad:
Disco Elysium Soundtrack by British Sea Power
For My Parents by MONO
I’m New Here by Gil Scott-Heron

Other:
Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack by The Seatbelts, Yoko Kanno, and others
Infest the Rats’ Nest by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
Velvet Ears 17 by Magpie
Reich: WTC 9/11, Mallet Quartet, Dance Patterns by Steve Reich

Touchstones
Touchstones can provide an easy way to create a sense of ECOPUNK’s setting for
new players, or provide inspiration for GMs. When pitching ECOPUNK to
prospective players, consider discussing the following. Each Touchstone also has
a sentence or two on a Touchstone’s more speciXic relevances to ECOPUNK.
Video Games:
Disco Elysium
A game where the cerebral and the material overlap in a postwar setting.

Half Life 2
Advanced technologies build atop the battered and rusting old, while tyrants
struggle to hold down a decaying world.

TV:
Atlanta
A small crew of people, who each offer something different, try to Ligure out how to
climb out of the shit-pile. Each episode offers a new challenge, much like each
Mission should.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

A crew, each member with a unique talent, navigates the moral greys of state
violence. Advancing transhumanist technology begins to reshape society.

The Wire
The Wire is the touchstone for the depiction of criminal life and the realities of
underclass politics.

Cowboy Bebop
Amidst a post-disaster society, the bionics both characters possess are windows into
their story, rather than a superLicial Lixation.

The Expanse
While some of the political machinations are a bit elegant for both ECOPUNK and
real life, The Expanse grapples with the sociology of humanity after environmental
collapse.

Films:
Mute
5-minutes-in-the-future sciLi, where old cultures like Mormonism grate against the
new.

Casablanca
People smoking in dimly lit rooms in fascist-occupied territory. Need I say more.

Hotel Artemis
Hints of advanced technology within a criminal enterprise that mostly runs on
muscle, blood, and sweat.

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

A vicious factional struggle between military-police departments, both of which are
already within the power structure, set to a backdrop of civil unrest.
Snowpiercer
An exploration of an unliveable ecology and the technological, cultural, and
ideological responses such a situation creates.

Soylent Green
Amidst an environmental collapse, the entire class spectrum suffers - there are no
ivory towers to retreat to when the food starts running out. The upper classes in
Soylent Green have lives barely above that of the underclass.

Books:
Nachun
A world of rising oceans, crooked Lishermen, and the malevolent will of the Vatican.
The last is particularly relevant to 2044, where religion has been emboldened.

Fire Punch
Violence, madness, and the pursuit of meaning, as life on Earth winds down.

The Man in the High Castle

This book provides multiple stories of a conquered and broken America; great
inspiration for the New American Union.

Recommended Non-Fiction
Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway
Food Choice and Sustainability by Richard Oppenlander
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
Rise of the Robots by Martin Ford
and of course, Das Kapital by Karl Marx
Parting Words
Liam Hevey:
ECOPUNK represents a conXluence of many dissatisfactions in my life: my
inability to do anything meaningful in the campaign for a sustainable
environment, the failures of numerous TTRPGs to provide a core mechanic that
works in both day-by-day and second-by-second narratives, and my growing
alarm that many fans of the cyberpunk genre genuinely regard the worlds of
William Gibson and Philip K Dick as cool, as the kind of places Keanu Reeves
would hang out in.

It seems clear to me that art, to be progressive, needs to move beyond merely

highlighting problems, and must also provide a concept of the alternative;
otherwise no matter our rage we remain trapped in Fisher’s ‘Capitalist Realism’,
the inability to conceive of a political reality outside this neoliberal capitalist
morass. Perhaps by showing new worlds, new political futures that aren’t merely
mirrors of the past, I can inspire some change. The world of ECOPUNK is twisted
and wrong, but for all of its sins, it is a world where baseline politics isn’t actively
trying to exterminate the species.

If you’re reading this, and society has not yet changed, an environmental disaster
will be the deXining event of your life. It could well be what ends it. Go protest, go
green, go vegan. Your life depends on it.

Harry Robertson:
The lack of art about climate change is a source of continual confusion to me. The
only Xilm anyone can name about climate change (myself included) is The Day
After Tomorrow, which is approaching two decades old. It also happens to be
rubbish.

Why? Anyone my age or younger has been royally shafted by a set of previous
generations who have repeatedly chosen short-term political and Xinancial gain
over long-term human existence. Many of these people still hold political ofXice.
Some of them literally deny the existence of climate change. It seems odd that
people aren’t rioting in the streets. And if we can’t get the riots, why can’t we at
least get some decent art out of it?

It might sound Xlippant to be whingeing about a dearth of art while the planet
slowly burns. But Xiction has always seemed to me to be the way we make sense
of problems and theories that are too big to tackle head-on. Pamphlets and
manifestos may start movements, but it is stories which actually sway public
sentiment.

My contribution is extremely small. I am just the editor – which means that my

primary role has been to distract Liam with four-hour video calls in which I vent
my rage at his semicolon usage. But it feels nice to have contributed. This took a
long time. I hope it’s good.
Resources
Alongside the ECOPUNK Core Book Free Version, you can download different
‘sheets’, used to keep track of character and game information.

The Punk Sheet can be used to record and track important information about
your Punk character.

The Crew Sheet can be used to track resources and information about the Crew.

The Hacker Sheet can be used to track your hacker abilities, including Programs
you have access to.