Player Reference

PAUL MATIJEVIC
FREYJA ERLINGSDOTTIR
MINERVA MCJANDA
 Contents
Chapter 1: 7 Chapter 3: 61
THE YEAR IS 2020 Occupations 61
Overview 7 Fixer 62
A Brief History of the Distant Future 10 Hacker 64
Welcome to Grand Cross 13 Influencer 66
Operator 68
Soldier 70
Chapter 2: 19
Street Fighter 72
Basic Mechanics
Thief 74
Rolling the Dice 20
Generic Talents 76
Character Creation 22
Character Creation Guide 24
Origins 26 Chapter 4: 79
Traits 28 Assets and Cybernetics
Specialties 30 Assets 79
Example Character Creation: Soyeong 32 Cybernetic Augments 91
Playing the Game 33
Social Matters and Other Bloodshed 35
Stealth and Security 38
Hacking the Cylinder 40
Getting into Fights 44
Running Missions 50
Managing Money 53
Gig Work Apps 56
Community 58

This PDF contains all the rules you need to play Hard Wired Island.
Check the full version for setting details, GM advice, example scenarios and more!

4
5
6 Setting
 The Year is 2020

Chapter 1:
THE YEAR IS 2020
In the distant future of 2020, humanity has spread to space.
A meteorite struck Earth’s northern hemisphere in 1996. The Impact caused
widespread environmental damage that humanity has yet to fully recover from,
but it supercharged public interest in space exploration. Around the world, new
political unions began pouring money into space programs.
The result is Grand Cross, an O’Neill cylinder in the Earth–Moon L5 point. It’s
Earth’s gateway to the stars, a launching point for missions to Mars and beyond,
and a beacon of hope for its people — but it’s in crisis.
An alliance of space-based corporations known as the Offworld Cartel has moved in.
While they sell space exploration as a shared dream they strive for along with everyone
else, their true aim is control of Grand Cross and, through it, the future of space
settlement. As their influence spreads, so does inequality and crime.
The Cartel has convinced the current government to privatize many of the systems that
keep Grand Cross running, and the station is slowly falling apart. Behind the scenes,
they have even more underhanded schemes running in secret. If the next election
favors the Cartel, they’ll be on their way to becoming the landlords of human space.

Overview Tabletop RPGs

A tabletop RPG is a game where you and your
Hard Wired Island is a tabletop role-playing game friends get together to tell a story about a group of
about citizens of a space station in an alternate characters who go on adventures. You create the
2020, trying to live their everyday lives while characters, decide what challenges they face, and
fighting for the station's future. choose how to deal with them. To make things
interesting, you use dice and the rules in this book
It's about people caught up in the schemes of
to add a little uncertainty.
corporations, wealthy technocrats, and their
supporters. Some fight back to protect their It's like a video game RPG, but instead of a pre-
livelihoods. Some fight for their neighborhoods. programmed game world, one of you takes on the
Some simply fight because they ideologically oppose role of the Game Master (GM). The GM describes
the criminals, corrupt cops, hate groups, capitalists, the world around the players, the side characters
and others trying to bring the station down. (sometimes referred to as non-player characters, or
NPCs), how they react to the players, and the
If the Cartel gets their way, Grand Cross as you know it
conflicts and drama that drive the story.
will end as unchecked greed bleeds your community
dry. But if you fight, you might be able to save it. The other players each create a player character
(PC), the protagonists of the story. The players
describe what their PCs are like, what they do, and
how they react to the situations around them.

Setting 7
 What Players Do Cyberpunk
The PCs are residents of Grand Cross who get Cyberpunk is a genre of fiction that features
caught in the upheaval happening across the advanced technology in a troubled, dystopian future.
station. Some are street activists, gig workers, Technology has made society worse, or at least given
reporters, or more, who get pulled in by their us new ways to be terrible. The heroes are generally
occupations and living situations. Others are outsiders and misfits, flawed and desperate,
hackers, bounty hunters, and other people in struggling against a system that rejects them.
slightly less reputable jobs who were immersed in it
A lot of works handle cyberpunk differently, so here
from the start.
are Hard Wired Island’s pillars of cyberpunk:
Either way, they're still regular folks. They pay rent,
Capitalism? No thanks: good cyberpunk is anti-
they buy groceries, and they hang out with their
capitalist. It’s about how technology without ethics
friends. In between, they go on missions. These
can make social inequality worse. The wealthy use
missions aim to change the situation in Grand
it to cement their power and perpetuate the status
Cross, defeat a specific enemy, or simply help the
quo, while marginalized communities struggle with
PCs and their community survive. Over time,
insufficient or oppressive tech. The PCs want to use
successful missions improve life on Grand Cross.
it to break the current system.

Using This Book Cyberpunk should be relevant: it is a study of

where our society could go in the coming years. The
Chapter 1: The Year Is 2020 is the one you're
issues faced by people in a cyberpunk setting
reading now. It's a brief intro to the world and
should have some relevance to issues faced by the
themes of Hard Wired Island.
players, even if they’re not the same.
Chapter 2: Basic Mechanics covers the rules of the
Cybernetics are not inherently good or bad: like
game that everyone uses.
most tech, what matters is how it’s used. In Hard
Chapter 3: Occupations covers the game's seven Wired Island, the problem is that cybernetics often
Occupations and their Talents. serve the needs of capital rather than people. Any
alienating or dysphoric effects come from being
Chapter 4: Assets and Cybernetics covers the
reshaped into some corporation’s property.
items and augments player characters can equip.
Cyberpunk is not just an aesthetic: the core
concept is not “Wow! Cool future!” It shouldn’t just
be about the neon-lit adventures of some trench
coat futurists as they crime their way into wealth
and power. Hard Wired Island is about a group of
marginalized people using technology to try to
change the status quo.
Many perspectives: good cyberpunk examines
how technology and power intersect in many
different communities, especially marginalized
ones. It does not mean using cyborgs as a stand-in
for minorities. Hard Wired Island examines the
everyday communities of Grand Cross and how its
issues impact their lives.

8 Setting
 The Year is 2020

It's Bigger Than You

Post-Cyberpunk Grand Cross is Earth’s gateway to the stars.
Post-cyberpunk is a related genre with a slightly
Everyone interested in space settlement has a
more positive, realistic approach. Rapid
presence here. Therefore, whoever controls Grand
technological progress still impacts the characters’
Cross could control the future.
lives, but the world as a whole isn’t as dystopian. The
heroes can be outsiders and punks, but they can also Behind the scenes, on a scale grander than most
be regular people doing their best to get by in a people can comprehend, a war is on for the soul of
system that sometimes catches them in its gears. humanity. The Offworld Cartel wants to become
everybody’s landlords. Politicians in and beyond
It’s a pretty fluid term, and Hard Wired Island can go
the Cross seek to advance their own agendas, or at
either way. The world will always be corrupt as long
least their donors’. Criminals want to make sure
as corporations exist, but there’s still some good as
that whatever happens, they get their cut. Activist
well. The heroes don’t have to be outsiders, but
groups are fighting for the common good.
plenty of regular people get pushed to the fringes in
this system. Things can be bad, but you have a Most of the time, these battles are bigger than you.
chance to make positive change in the society They’ve been playing out for decades and will
around you. Ultimately, whether your game is continue for more. You’ll get swept up in them, but you
cyberpunk or post-cyberpunk is up to you. won’t get a chance to end them. You can’t stop the war.
But you can win some battles. You can upset a
Other Themes corporation’s plan, take out a dangerous kingpin, or
end a corrupt politician’s career. And if enough
An Unknown Future people fight together, the victories add up. You can
The people of Grand Cross walk an uncertain road.
tip the scales back toward justice.
Their orbital home is a technological wonder only
possible in the distant future of 2020, but they’re
Retrofuture
still just regular people doing their best.
If sci-fi is a vision of the future, retrofuture is
The criminal who thought they’d done their last job remembering the visions of the past.
is about to be pulled back in. The cop days from
A lot of 90s sci-fi was set around our time. Neon
retirement is about to get brought up on old hate
Genesis Evangelion was set in 2015, fifteen years
crime charges. The veteran down on his luck could
after a global disaster. Cowboy Bebop had a space
get the opportunity of a lifetime next week. Nothing
disaster in 2021. AKIRA was set in 2019–2030.
is certain in Grand Cross. The moment you get
complacent is the moment the city gets you. Hard Wired Island takes inspiration from 90s sci-fi
(particularly anime), so we play with that. It’s a 90s
If you don’t do anything, if you let the city drive you
vision of 2020. We have smartphones and really
to despair, nothing will happen. If you act, maybe
small computers and gaming consoles, but also
something will change.
sub-light space travel and orbital habitats. Present
day, future time.
But remember, cyberpunk should be relevant.
While we have fun with this, we’re also using it as a
lens to look at some of our modern-day problems
that our friends in the 90s didn’t predict. Retro
future, present problems.

Setting 9
 Inspirations
Here are just some of the works that inspired Hard
Wired Island.
Bubblegum Crisis: a late 80s/early 90s cyberpunk Ghost in the Shell: a manga, film, and anime series
anime (with a tabletop RPG adaptation!) about an all- running in various forms since 1989. At its core, it's
female group of mercenaries who use powered armor a post-cyberpunk story about counter-
to fight rogue robots. Hard Wired Island draws on it cyberterrorist agents with a whole lot of
for some of its setting, particularly for the Dreamers. philosophical musings.
Cowboy Bebop: a 1998 sci-fi/space Western anime. Policenauts: a 1994 mystery visual novel by Hideo
We took a lot of inspiration from its themes of ennui Kojima, set in an O'Neill cylinder in 2040. It inspired
and loneliness, as well as the way it makes space some of Hard Wired Island's sci-fi elements. Though
feel like a place where everyday people live it was never officially released in the West, fan
everyday lives. Also, it's just a great series in translations are available. (If you try it, be aware
general. Check it out! that it's got some Weird Stuff too.)

A Brief History of
the Distant Future
How did the future get like this? Here’s an outline; the details are up to you.

1996: 1996-2000:
Divergence Acceleration
On March 27 1996, a meteorite struck Earth’s Northern The Impact supercharged public interest in space
Hemisphere. The media called it Impact Two, a exploration. An Earth-bound humanity could be
reference to the “first” one that killed the dinosaurs, wiped out by Impact Three, but a humanity spread
but these days everyone just calls it the Impact. out across the stars couldn’t unless it was a really
dedicated asteroid.
It could have been worse, but the damage was
severe. It took ten years just to recover from the Around the world, environmental reform and space
worst of it. In its wake, humanity was changed. settlement became winning political platforms almost
overnight. New political unions that formed to recover
from the Impact began allocating resources to joint
space programs. As recovery efforts began to bear
fruit, these programs accelerated.
Everyone handled it differently. The European
Union bolstered its ranks with new members eager
to join its burgeoning solar energy program. Groups
relatively untouched by Impact Two, like the African
Union, launched lunar missions. Some countries
sold lucrative space construction contracts, giving
corporations the excuse and funding they needed
to make their own space push.
By 1999, the space rush was well and truly underway.

10 Setting
 The Year is 2020

2000: 2000-2010:
The Lagrange Space is the Place
Treaty By the early 00s, all but the most severely impacted
nations had their sights set on space. The ones that
As lunar orbit research stations and solar-powered
hadn’t planned to expand to space did it anyway
satellites neared completion, it soon became clear
when they saw they were being left behind.
that rules for future development were needed, if
only to decide whose job it was to clear the debris. Grand Cross wasn’t the only space program, just the
largest. In the wake of the Treaty, many smaller
In 2000, a reorganized UN negotiated the Lagrange
stations were built in Earth orbit and the Earth–
Treaty. It set the standards that every country
Moon Lagrange points. By 2005, people were living
serious about space exploration has followed since:
on the Moon. Conditions were harsh at first, but
resources set aside for the construction of
that wasn’t important; what mattered was that they
common-use space transportation and solar energy
were there.
networks, prohibition of orbital weapons and most
other military construction, and so on. Most early settlers were either trained astronauts or
lottery winners willing to gamble that they wouldn’t
Though most of the Treaty is about sovereignty and
be one of the first to die in space. Their heroic and
military activity, its greatest long-term effects came
sometimes tragic efforts provided important
down to two provisions.
insights on living in space. By the time Grand Cross
The first pushed for laws that addressed gender construction officially began in 2005, it had a solid
and other diversity gaps in tech fields. Introverted base of research and space production to work
white men alone could not feed the space with.
machine’s expanding needs; it needed genius
The Earth-Moon L5 point was chosen as a
wherever it could be found. The resulting laws
construction site because it had stable gravitational
became known as Lovelace laws.
equilibrium; a station there could remain
Every country had its own take1, some more indefinitely without having to spend fuel on staying
successful than others. Some expanded school in place2. A proper construction block was finished
computing programs and created scholarships. within a year.
Some restricted government grants to those who
Unfortunately, full-scale construction was beset by
met minimum quotas. Some gave big grants to
delays as accidents took their toll and lunar
corporations that “promoted diversity”, then set up
processing facilities went up later than expected.
inquiries to find out where all their money went. The
The program’s backers were reluctant to provide
end result was that within a decade, a surging STEM
extra funding and recruited corporations instead. In
field was creating the technologies needed to go to
exchange for a presence in Grand Cross, they
space, from spacecraft to androids to the beginnings
contributed some of their government funding.
of nanotechnology.
Grand Cross officially opened in 2010, when enough
The second provision of the Treaty established the
of the structure had been completed to support
Grand Cross Program. Though several crewed
human life. The first wave of immigration was
space stations existed by the 2000s, there were no
mostly workers, researchers, and their families.
major settlements; the Program would create one.
Some were lottery winners or wealthy elites who
This settlement would be the combined effort of
wanted in on the ground floor (and some, by a
many UN nations, capable of sustaining millions of
curious coincidence, were both.)
people with minimal assistance. It would become
humanity’s gateway to the stars.

1 We’re not going to pretend to have a

perfect grasp of social science here, so
we’re sticking to the broad strokes. Who
2 The L4 point does this too, of course, but
5 is a better number.

did what is up to you.

Setting 11
 2010-2016: 2017-2020:
Rough Takeoff Before the Storm
By the 2010s, some nations had recovered. Many In 2017, Grand Cross held its first real election. It was
more decided they’d recovered once the economy won by the Cartel-backed Unity Party, on a platform
was looking good. New politicians began to seek of “opening space access to all.” Once they achieved
power with “let’s focus on our own country first” power, their influence turned to tax incentives and
spiels. The specter of politics began to haunt space. privatized services for the Offworld Cartel. Vocal
opposition kept them from going as far as they
Grand Cross was initially run by an interim council
wanted to, and Unity was quick to blame that
of representatives from the Program’s backers,
opposition when everything started getting worse.
overseen by a UN committee. Many backers began
to demand perks, though they were eventually In 2019, a habitat at the L4 point was destroyed due
willing to settle for nobody else getting any. Some— to a critical failure. The area, known as
the US and China in particular—tried to undermine Skuggahvarf, was a partially-complete toroid
smaller nations or coerce them into withdrawing habitat built for the EU by Landvættir Orbital, a
from the Council. member of the Offworld Cartel. This event became
known as the L4 Disaster. The disaster’s severity
Some of these political maneuvers were caused by
had a chilling effect, but since too much had
corporations. They were still largely locked out of
already been invested into space settlement, work
the Program or forced to comply with agreements
simply continued at a slower, more cautious pace.
so restrictive they could hardly skim Program funds
at all. They lobbied their governments for help, Many L4 refugees moved to Grand Cross. Unity
offering increased space contributions and party couldn't properly help them without cutting into the
donations in exchange for preferential treatment. profits of their rich donors and ultimately chose not
to. At the same time, it came out that the disaster
Some succeeded. Others found easier pickings in
was caused by Cartel cost-cutting measures. Grand
smaller habitats or future projects. In backroom
Cross was plunged into political turmoil.
meetings, the off-world corporations reached out to
each other and agreed to cooperate for maximum The year is now 2020. Elections are less than a year
advantage. This alliance, a sort of evil twin of the away. The Cartel is working overtime to tighten its
Lagrange Treaty, became known as the Offworld Cartel. grip on power, but their opponents have been
galvanized by recent events. What happens next is
Grand Cross was officially completed in 2013. It
anyone’s guess.
formally became an independent UN member, and
the Council transitioned into an elected parliament.
Its government was based on designs by political
scientists who had been working on it for decades—
with a few last-minute “adjustments” by political
interests, of course.
Afterward, the station became a launching point for
a new wave of space expansion. More orbital
habitats appeared in the Lagrange points, though
little on the scale of Grand Cross; instead, humanity
began to focus on Mars.

12 Setting
 The Year is 2020

Welcome to Grand Cross

Grand Cross is a ceramic jungle of technological As the years pass, it’s getting worse. But people are
wonders. High-speed internet allows greater working on that. There are ways to subvert and
information access and exchange than ever before. repurpose technology to work for you, not to get
People sport cybernetic augmentations and rub you across the gap but to close it and dismantle the
shoulders with androids. Computers are so advanced system that perpetuates it.
that even the average person carries an online
miniature PC in their pocket. You can live in space now. Battlefield of Ideas
On the streets of Grand Cross, a quiet war is being
But it’s not the high-tech paradise promised in
fought for the future of the station. The Cross has
science fiction magazines. Technology has
always had political activism, but with elections
transformed society, but it has only reinforced
looming, its inhabitants are particularly tense.
existing power structures. Inequality and crime are
on the rise, while privacy is shrinking. Old, corrupt Protests are on the rise. The technology of 2020 has
politicians sign over the station’s future to opened up a world of opportunities for internet
corporations as its youth struggle for control of their activism and its anarchic cousin, hacktivism. In the
destiny. This is the world you’re fighting to change. wake of the L4 Disaster, pressure is mounting like
never before. If this momentum continues, the
current system of power in Grand Cross could be
Current Issues swept away entirely.
In response, the Cartel has gone on a propaganda
Technological campaign. In public, they set up think tanks and
Inequality lobby groups, fund sympathetic politicians, and
The distant future of 2020 is a time of rapid
flood the internet with advertising. In private, they
technological and societal change. Thanks to
bankroll hate groups in an effort to turn the
advances in everything from medicine to space
station’s vulnerable into counter-activists. Now
habitation, the average person is better off than
protestors risk getting assaulted by Earth-
they were in 1996. But those benefits are not
nationalist groups, cyborg and anti-cyborg
distributed fairly, and society is struggling to adapt.
vigilantes, cops, and worse.
Every advance in technology is captured by the
You have the power to help. By fighting the Cartel’s
wealthy and used to control the poor. Cybernetics
stooges, protecting your allies, and joining them in
that could profoundly change what it means to be
protest, maybe you can steer Grand Cross toward a
human are used to make people better wage slaves.
brighter future.
Automation is replacing steady jobs with unstable
gig work. Privacy is a vanishing concept, as
corporations find increasingly high-tech ways to
harvest your data without your consent.
Meanwhile, the gap between rich and poor is
widening. The wealthy can extend their lives and
abilities with technology far beyond what most
people can afford, then use that to widen the gap
further. They hoard station resources they don’t use
while watching people in need fight over scraps.
They push future research toward technologies that
benefit them, with no regard for others beyond how
much profit can be wrung out of them.

Setting 13
 Threats
You’re fighting to make Grand Cross a better place. The Dreamers went rogue. Some simply wandered
These groups are what you’re up against. off during covert missions and never came back,
while others fought their way out of their
The Offworld Cartel containment area. These Dreamers lurk in forgotten
The Offworld Cartel is a consortium of corporations corners of Grand Cross, following a mix of their
with a focus on space, particularly Grand Cross. original orders and their own alien designs. The
Together they own the majority of the station’s private Cartel is looking for them, but their priority is
sector and bankroll many of its politicians too. If you covering up their involvement. What the Dreamers
live off Earth, they’ve impacted your life one way or do to you isn’t their problem.
another; if they get their way, they’ll own it.
Criminal Gangs
Though corporations comprise Cartel membership,
Some of the station’s criminal groups are offshoots of
it’s the people running them who call the shots. The
Earth groups who used stolen funds to send men up
true aims of these people vary; some see
or rigged their country’s lottery system. Others are
themselves as philanthropists “working within the
wholly new groups, uniquely adapted to life in space.
system”, while others openly profit from suffering.
Either way, they have no shortage of recruits—many
Some keep their true motives hidden, even from
people in poverty turn to crime to survive, and there’s
their peers. But every member is willing to work
plenty of poverty to go around lately.
with or at least tolerate the others. In the end, their
schemes all ultimately benefit themselves at the Criminal threats vary from ward to ward, district to
people’s expense. district. Wherever they're from, criminal
antagonists seek to break the law not to build
The Dreamers something better but to benefit themselves.
The Dreamers are robots created by the Offworld
Cartel. They’re not androids, because the android Law Enforcement
mindset is based on humans; Dreamers are Like the Earth departments they were drawn from,
something entirely different. Grand Cross' police are suffering an identity crisis.
The Dreamers are based on brain scans of Earth On paper they enforce the law, but the law is often
creatures3, genetic and cybernetic experiments written to protect those with power. Their motto is
performed on Earth creatures, and secret AI to protect and serve, but the rules don't say they
research, all blended together in ways that would have to. Some cops do their duty with pride, but
probably cause the scientists involved legal trouble corruption is systemic. The public image of the
anywhere other than space. The end result is a police as a force for good depends on a blue wall of
synthetic being whose thought processes are so silence that exempts officers from the laws they're
weird humanity can barely comprehend them, let charged with upholding. And at the same time,
alone communicate. Grand Cross police are slowly being replaced by
even less accountable private security.
The Cartel originally designed them to prepare
planets for human settlement. They’d land on new To you, they're a wild card. They're less likely to
worlds, work for a few years, and eventually the have your back as they are to violently oppose you.
Cartel would have a shiny new city waiting to be They’re a force to be avoided if you can help it,
populated. Sure, androids could do this, but they redirected at your enemies when you can.
asked for things like “pay” and “respect”. The Cartel
wanted robots that could think, not think like that.
Then the Cartel tested putting them in other jobs
too. That’s when things went bad.

3 Dolphins, lobsters, and mantis shrimp are

mentioned in documents obtained by anti-
Dreamer groups, along with some illegal
“data dog” research they stole.

14 Setting
 The Year is 2020

Other Factions
From organized cliques to groups of one, Grand
Cross has no shortage of factions struggling for
control. Below are some of the larger movements of
interest in the distant future of 2020.
Android Rights: Androids have the same rights as
humans on paper, but in practice there’s a lot to be
done. Beside the ways android issues intersect with
human issues, android movements have some unique
problems to grapple with: most notably, the fact that
the tools of android maintenance and reproduction
are largely in the hands of corporations.
Orbital Independence: One of the broader
questions Grand Cross is dealing with is whether
Earth should still have influence over the station
and what Earth’s relationship to the orbital
settlements should look like. Many groups are
trying to hijack the issue for their own purposes,
from corporate interests who want to hold the
influence to nationalist groups like the New Barons
who want to control who gets to live in space.
Singularists: A loose movement of tech-obsessed
geeks in Earth orbit. They believe that humanity’s
priority should be technological progress at any
cost and disdain anti-capitalist activism as
threatening to slow down that progress “like the
Impact did.” They’re disorganized but easily
mobilized by outrage, or by the tech corporation
CEOs they see as the priests of a coming
technological rapture.
Earth: Some Earth groups are also doing their best
to undermine the station. The United States in
particular is funding fundamentalist religious
groups and sympathetic right-wing governments in
orbit. At the same time, powerful Earth megacorps
are trying to undermine orbital cities until their
own competing arcologies are fully operational.
The political battlefield of Grand Cross is constantly
shifting as groups rise, splinter, and fall, and there
are surely other groups waiting in the wings.

Setting 15
 GRAND CROSS STATION
VITAL STATISTICS
•32km long, 6.4km in diameter •Average temperature: 19°C

•Rotates at 0.5 RPM (once every 2 minutes) •Average humidity: 40%

to simulate Earth gravity
•Air pressure: 0.85kg/cm²
•Population: 4.5 million
•Oxygen level: Adequate, probably

“Downtown”
Most businesses are as close to the front station
as possible, in the closest 1/4 of the cylinder.
Many districts there have been gentrified.

AGRICULTURAL RING
• 72 hatbox cylinders, 645m wide
and deep

• Each contains 1.3km² of hydroponics

greenhouses

• Each is rotated at 2 RPM to produce

1g gravity; the ring itself is fixed

• Cylinders are enclosed by a

parabolic trough to collect solar
energy, and connected by tubes

• 10 cylinders also enclosed by

sensors ever since Nano-Futuristics
got into the surveillance biz

DOCKING STATIONS
• At both ends of the central axis

• Each of their six docking bays can

accomodate 6 standard transport
ships, 3 large supply ships, or 1
executive space yacht

• Stations capped by a zero-g traffic

control post

• The “front” station, facing the sun,

is the high-traffic one

L5 Point
The Earth appears the same
size as it does from the
Moon (and vice versa)
 PANELS
• Three “window” panels and three “ground” panels running
lengthwise down the cylinder

• Total habitable surface area: 325km²

• City area is subdivided into Wards, which are similar to Tokyo’s

special wards; they’re divided into Districts

• Wards and districts have unique names, along with alphanumeric

codes that nobody uses

• Each “window” is actually a lattice of multi-layered window

panes, with extras for redundancy

• Windows are crossed by train bridges, which people throw trash

from constantly for some reason

Attitude Control
Solar-powered electric thrusters keep
Grand Cross pointed towards the Sun

“Back”
Solar power station at the back dock
generates little power, but does generate
profits for Ogremoch Engineering

Outer Hull
Most industry is placed here, to keep the
air on the inside clean. Also handy for
hiding things, if that’s what you’re into

TIME
• 24-hour clock set to Orbital Standard
Time (OST), roughly equivalent to GMT

• Some corps (esp. from the USA and Japan)

use their home time zone, usually because
the CEO finds it more convenient

• Sunrise 06:00, sunset 18:00 (assuming the

Voluntary Work Hour Extension Act isn’t
passed in 2021)

MIRRORS
• Three mirrors projected at a 45° angle

• Mirrors reflect sunlight through the window panels to illuminate the station

• Angle and pitch are varied to simulate day/night and seasonal changes

• Asano Heavy Industries is lobbying to change the law that prevents them from
buying Panel A and putting ads on it
 Chapter 2:

Basic Mechanics
Basic Mechanics
"To survive, you gotta play the game. To play the game, you gotta know the rules. Here's the
thing though—never play by the rules, especially not against the people who make them. They're not
going to, so why should you? Palm a few cards. Fudge the dice. Have the pawns rush the king and
chuck him off the board. The way I see it, you'll just even the score."
— Nam-il Park, activist

This chapter covers the basic rules of the mechanics that everyone uses: dice rolling, character options,
and actions. For reference, here's a small table of contents:

Rolling the Dice 20

Character Creation 22

Character Creation Guide 24

Origins 26

Traits 28

Specialties 30

Example Character Creation: Soyeong 32

Playing the Game 33

Social Matters and Other Bloodshed 35

Stealth and Security 38

Hacking the Cylinder 40

Getting into Fights 44

Running Missions 50

Managing Money 53

Gig Work Apps 56

Community 58

System 19
 Rolling the Dice
Hard Wired Island uses six-sided dice.
H
When you're asked to roll a number followed by d6, roll that
W
many dice and add them together. A d6 means roll one die, 2d6
I means roll two dice, 3d6 means three dice, and so on. Most
rolls will require 2d6.
Sometimes, you'll get a bonus to your roll. If you’re asked to
roll 2d6+3, roll 2d6 and add 3 to the result.
STANDARD DIFFICULTIES
Difficulty and 7: A routine or simple task.
Outcomes 9: A moderately difficult task.
You roll dice when you're doing something difficult, there's
11: A hard task.
something in your way, or someone is trying to stop you.
13: A very challenging task.
When you roll, you're trying to overcome a difficulty: a number
that represents how hard the action you’re attempting is. The 15: A near-impossible task.
difficulty and your result determine the outcome of the roll.
Dice Probability
Success Here's your chance of rolling each
When your result is equal to or higher than the difficulty, you
number or higher on two six-sided dice:
succeed. Whatever you were trying to do, you get what you want.

Failure
When your result is lower than the difficulty, you fail.
Whatever you were trying, it doesn't work. The GM decides
what this means, choosing the most appropriate one:
• You just fail. You don't get what you want, and there may be
side effects. You don't usually get to try again, but there may
be something else you can do.
• The GM offers a bargain. This is an alternate solution you
might not like, like spending extra resources or owing an
unsavory character a favor. It's up to you whether you take it.
• You get a near-success. You succeed, broadly speaking, but it
comes with an explicit or hidden cost: you use up more time
and resources than you wanted, have a chance encounter you
didn't want, or something else appropriate for the situation.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
100%
97%
92%
83%
72%
58%
42%
28%
17%
8%
3%

20
System
Dice Mechanics

Basic Mechanics
Sometimes, the rules change how you roll dice:
Advantage
When you roll with Advantage, roll an additional Stacking Mechanics
d6 and discard the lowest-numbered die before If you get the same effect from more than
adding them together. If you roll 2d6 with one source, they stack. If you roll 2d6 with
Advantage, roll 3d6 and discard the lowest. double Advantage, roll 4d6 and discard the
lowest two results. If you roll 2d6 with
double Disadvantage, roll 4d6 and discard
Disadvantage the highest two results. If a roll is double
When you roll with Disadvantage, roll an additional Boosted (which admittedly doesn't happen
d6 and discard the highest die before adding them often), add 2d6. If you get a Critical and
together. It is the opposite of Advantage. have multiple Critical effects, they all apply.
Different effects also stack with each
Boost other. To make a Boosted roll with
When you Boost a roll, add an additional d6 to Advantage, add one d6 from each and then
discard the lowest result. Boosted rolls with
your roll. A 2d6 roll becomes a 3d6. Disadvantage work the same way, but you
discard the highest.
Saves When you roll with Advantage and
When you’re asked to make a Save against a Disadvantage, they cancel each other out on
Difficulty, roll 2d6 and add the relevant Ability (p. 22). a one-for-one basis. If you have double
Hope you succeed. Advantage and one Disadvantage, just roll
one Advantage. Boosts and Serious Harm
Critical cancel each other out in the same way.
Some actions you can take will have Critical effects
attached to them or can have Critical effects added by
certain items and abilities. If an action has a Critical
effect in its description, it happens if the roll is a
success and at least two dice show the same number.
If you have Advantage or Disadvantage, discard dice
before checking for Criticals.
Harm
When you’ve suffered Harm, reduce the result of
dice rolls by -1 per Harm suffered. If you roll 2d6 and
get a 10 when you've suffered 1 Harm, it becomes a 9.
If you’ve suffered Serious Harm, roll one fewer
die than normal. For example, a 2d6 roll would
become 1d6. Serious Harm is seriously dangerous!
See p. 46 for more on Harm.

System 21
 Character Creation
Every character has...
H Abilities
• Abilities, four numbers which broadly define Your character can do (or at least try) almost any
W
what your character is good at; action they seem capable of, as long as it makes
I sense in the story. Your Abilities describe the kind of
• An Origin, which helps define your character and
actions you're best at.
gives you benefits;
When you create your character, assign each of the
• Traits, which also help define your character but
numbers +0, +1, +2, and +3 to an Ability. When an
give you benefits and downsides;
action tells you to roll an Ability like +Cool, add that
• An Occupation, which defines what your charac- number. The higher the number, the better you are.
ter does in Grand Cross, their role in the story,
Cool is your charisma, confidence, and slick
and their starting equipment;
attitude. It's your general ability to influence
• Talents, special powers granted by their Occupation; people and not lose your composure. It's useful
for social characters who want to talk their way
• Specialties, which further define your charac-
into and out of situations.
ter's skills and interests;
Clever is your logic, intuition, reasoning, and
• Defenses, how easily they're affected by social
perceptiveness. It's your ability to pick up odd
manipulation, attacks, and other external forces;
bits of knowledge and come up with solutions to
• Assets, your character’s current possessions; problems. It's useful for hacking, drone piloting,
and people who need focus.
• A Burden, which represents how "wealthy" they are;
Tough is your physical power, strength, health,
• And a Personal Goal, which is something they’re
and ability to stay on your feet. It's useful for
working toward.
anyone who wants to dish out hits or take them.
Quick is your agility, reaction speed, and
swiftness. It's your ability to dodge things and
take advantage of the smallest opportunities. It's
useful for anyone who wants to be quiet,
stealthy, or underhanded.

22
System
Origins Specialties

Character Creation
If you had to describe your character's backstory in Specialties describe your character's skills,
a few words, what would it be? Are they a military interests, hobbies, equipment, relationships, and
veteran? An android? An ex-cop? A salaryman? anything else they could use to help them succeed.
Like Abilities, Specialties are represented by a
Your Origin is something that defines who your
number from +1 to +3. When you're rolling to do
character is and where they came from. Your
something that involves your Specialty, add it to
chosen Origin gives you a special benefit that helps
your result.
you affect the game's story, plus a bonus to two
Specialties (which we'll get to below). For example, During character creation, Specialties come from
a military veteran may get more cybernetic your Origin and Occupation. If you get the same
augments and military-related Specialties. You can Specialty from different sources, add them
see a full list of Origins on p. 26-27. together. See p. 30 for more information.

Traits Defenses
If you had to describe your character's backstory in When other people try to affect you with their actions,
more detail, what would you say? your Defenses are the difficulty they must beat.
You have one Defense for each Ability: Cool Defense,
Your Traits add extra detail to your character. Each
Clever Defense, Tough Defense, and Quick Defense.
one has one unique benefit and one unique
drawback. You start with two Traits; you can see a The base value of a Defense is 7 + its Ability. For
full list on p. 28-29. example, if you have +2 Tough, your Tough Defense
is 7+2=9. Defenses may be improved by equipment
Occupation and Specialties.
What does your character do?
Assets
Your Occupation defines what your character does
Assets are things like equipment, connections,
on Grand Cross and what role they play in the story.
favors, cybernetics, and medicine that your
It’s not necessarily their literal job. You can find
character has.
Occupations on p. 61-75.
Your Occupation determines most of the Assets you
Talents start with. Write them down, then choose one Asset
Talents are special powers which grant your of your choice. A complete list of Assets can be
character new actions, change the way a rule works found on p. 79-90.
for them, or give them a bonus in a specific situation.
Burden
Most of the Talents you can choose from are
Your Burden is a rough measure of your character's
determined by your Occupation, but there are some
socio-economic status. It's how much they can spend
Generic Talents anyone can take (p. 76-77).
at once or how many losses they can take without
suffering long-term problems. As the station's
fortunes rise and fall, your Burden will change.
Your Burden is a number from 0 to 4. All player
characters start at Burden 1 by default, unless they
have an Origin, Trait, or Asset (especially a cybernetic
augment) that changes it. See p. 53 for more.

System 23
 Character Creation Guide
H Summary Abilities
1. Choose an Origin (p. 26-27). Choose your four Abilities. Assign each of the numbers
W
+0, +1, +2 and +3 to Cool, Clever, Tough, or Quick.
I 2. Choose your four Abilities (p. 22).
+0, +1, +2, +3. As you do, consider these questions:

3. Choose your first Trait (p. 28-29). How would your character describe themselves?
Does that perception match the reality?
4. Choose your Occupation (p. 61).
Level 1: +1 Specialty, +1 Generic How have they used their abilities to their advantage?
Specialty, +1 Talent. When have their abilities gotten them in trouble?
First Occupation: Choose from the First Have they had a job that changed their life,
Occupation Box. for good or ill?
5. Choose your second Trait (p. 28-29). How close are they to the margins of society? Were
6. Choose 3 Generic Specialties (p. 30). they pushed there?
7. Choose 2 additional Assets (p. 79).
First Trait
8. Choose Augments (p. 91). When you’ve considered these questions, choose
9. Determine Burden (p. 28-29). one Trait (p. 28-29). Ideally, this Trait says
10. Determine Defenses (p. 53). something about the lessons your life taught you,
or the damage it did to you. Or both.
11. Add a Personal Goal (p. 25).
12. Add details (p. 25). Occupation
Choose your Occupation. There are 7 Occupations
in Hard Wired Island, describing how you approach
Origin and solve problems.
When you sit down to make a character, it’s useful
to consider the following first and write each down: Fixer (p. 62): You’re a mediator. Others come to
you for help solving problems.
• Where are they from? What are their pronouns?
• Who are they, and who do they hang with? Hacker (p. 64): You infiltrate networks and make
• How long have they been on Grand Cross? Are them do your bidding.
they a recent migrant, a long-term Crosser, or did
Influencer (p. 66): You know how to make
they help construct the station itself?
friends and sway people.
• What communities are they a part of?
• Has something changed in their life recently, or Operator (p. 68): You handle drones and vehicles
have they always been like this? to maximum effect.
When you have considered these questions, choose Soldier (p. 70): You’re a tactician who fights for a
your Origin (p. 26-27). cause and protects others.
Street Fighter (p. 72): You’re an expert in martial
arts and close-quarters combat.
Thief (p. 74): You’re an expert in security, stealth,
and the inevitable getaway.
You start at Level 1 in your chosen Occupation, which
gives you 1 Specialty (p. 30), 1 Generic Specialty,
and a Talent, chosen from either your Occupation
or the Generic Talents (p. 76-77). If this is your first
Occupation, you’ll also get some Assets, another
Specialty, and a Talent from its First Occupation box.

24
System
 Character Creation
Second Trait Burden
Once you have chosen your Occupation, choose Your Burden starts at 1, cannot go below 0, and
your second Trait. Ideally, this Trait describes what may not exceed 3. Check if your Augments, Origin,
your approach to problem-solving has brought you, and/or Traits change your Burden, and adjust
good or bad. accordingly.
If your final Burden exceeds 3, you have to cut
Specialties something until it’s 3 or lower.
Write down all the Specialties you gained from your
Traits and Occupations. You can then choose
Personal Goal
3 additional Generic Specialties (p. 30).
Every PC has a Personal Goal: something important
Remember: you can choose the same Specialty they want to accomplish during play. At the start of
multiple times. This increases its bonus by one, to a the game, your character's Personal Goal is written
maximum of +3. This includes bonuses from Augments. down as soon as you decide what it is, but you don't
have to have one before you start playing; you don't
Assets have to write one down at all if you prefer. Personal
Write down all the Assets you gained from your Goals are used for character advancement.
Traits and Occupation. Next, choose 2 additional
Assets for your character from the Assets list (p. 79). Defenses and Details
Finally, note down everything else:
Augments • Your Defenses (7+Ability+any other bonuses.)
Decide whether your character begins with
• If you use a Gig Economy app (p. 56-57).
cybernetic Augments (p. 91) or not. (If your Origin
• Whatever else you want to note down (e.g. what
or Traits affect Cybernetics, it may be prudent to
languages they speak.)
choose them now.) Consider these questions:
Now you’re ready to go!
• Where did your character get Augments? Who paid?
• Are they for medical, professional or personal
reasons? Fudging Things
• How did you end up saddled with the Burden of You can fudge things a little and adjust details as
you see fit during character creation, so long as
paying for them? you negotiate them with your group.
• Does your character regret the Augment, feel
empowered by it, or want an even better one? For example, the sample PC Xander has a
Skateboard Asset and a Drone Asset, but his
• What is your character’s financial situation? Did drone is the skateboard, so they count as one
their augments help or hinder? Asset for him—he can only use it as a Skateboard
or a Drone at any given time, not both.
Augments will affect your Burden (p. 53). You may
choose as many Augments as your Burden allows Cosmetic Augments can also enhance a
(see below.) character: Maru’s cyber-eyes are also her
Hacking Suite. Don’t sweat it, roll with it.

System 25
 Origins
H Activist Corporate Drone
You’ve spent a lot of time protesting, fighting for causes, You're a good corporate drone, or maybe a former
W
and probably getting assaulted by the cops. The first one. When dealing with corporate politics, you have
I group Prep roll you make before a mission is Boosted. Advantage.
Specialties: Any Action (choose one) +1, Activism Specialties: Bureaucracy +1, Cartel Politics +1.
or Social Media (choose one) +1.
Criminal
Android Whether you were forced into crime by your
You begin play with one Augment of your choice, circumstances or you're just kind of an asshole, you
and it does not increase your Burden. You may live on the wrong side of the law. The first personal
equip and unequip Augments like Assets, and freely Prep roll you make before a mission is Boosted.
switch between them during downtime. They only
Specialties: Any Defense (your choice) +1, Criminal
increase your Burden when equipped, but when
Underworld +1.
you roll for Economic Shock, every Augment you
used last session counts toward your Burden.
Crosser
Specialties: Any (your choice) +1, Any Generic (your You’re just a regular citizen who knows their way
choice) +1. around the station. Once per mission, you may Boost
one roll that relies on knowledge of the station’s layout.
Builder Specialties: Any (your choice) +1, Any Generic (your
You were one of the workers busting their tail to
choice) +1.
build Grand Cross. You may choose one Augment. If
you do, it does not increase your Burden. If you
Disaster Refugee
don't, add any one Action Specialty.
You survived the L4 Disaster and escaped to Grand
Specialties: Any Social Action (your choice) +1, Cross, where you've been kicked around like a
Engineering or Obscure Places (your choice) +1. political football ever since. Once per mission, you
may Boost one Defense roll.
Celebrity Specialties: Any Defense (your choice) +1, Any
You're a minor celebrity, a former celebrity, or a
Generic (your choice) +1.
social media influencer. Once per mission, you may
Boost a Cool roll.
Double Crosser
Specialties: Any Social Action (your choice) +1, You were (mostly) raised on Grand Cross. As a
Famous or Social Media (choose one) +1. second generation citizen, you're used to the
cosmopolitan space life but have little political
Civil Servant power. Once per mission, you may Boost one Social
You’ve performed underappreciated but stable roll involving another Double Crosser.
work for the government (e.g. translating forms in
Specialties: Any Generic (your choice) +1, Activism
the Department of Translation, working for the
or Social Media (choose one) +1.
Cross Rail, issuing driving licenses, working for a
ward mayor, etc.) When dealing with government
Ex-Cop
officials and bureaucrats, you have Advantage.
You got too old for this, or maybe you realized you
Specialties: Government or Politics +1, Any Generic couldn't tell the good guys from the bad guys.
(your choice) +1. Whatever the reason you left, you still have contacts
on the inside. When dealing with cops and ex-cops,
or making deals with them, you have Advantage.
Specialties: Law +1, Investigation +1.

Gamer
Whether you’re a fighting game fan, an MMO raider,

26
System
or a cool and sexy tabletop game developer, you’ve Specialties: Science (choose one subject) +1, Law

Character Creation
spent most of your life playing games, and you or Social Media (choose one) +1.
adapt quickly to new situations. Once per mission,
you may Boost one Quick roll. Station Worker
You have experience working in the station
Specialties: Games +1, Online Communities or
basements, the Agriculture Ring, the spaceports, Cross
Social Media (choose one) +1.
Rail/Grand Metro, or some other part of the station’s
infrastructure. When exploiting your knowledge of
Journalist station infrastructure, you get Advantage.
You’ve spent a lot of time finding and reporting on
events in some way. Choose a specific field you Specialties: Station Infrastructure or Obscure
specialize in (e.g. politics, influencers, the tech industry, Places (choose one) +1, Engineering or Physics
current trends, the Cartel, etc.) When gathering (choose one) +1.
information in that field, you have Advantage.
Survivor
Specialties: Any Social Action (your choice) +1,
Whether you were directly affected by the Impact,
Investigation or Social Media +1.
thrown out onto the streets at a young age, or
suffered a terrible accident, you spent years
It's Complicated struggling to survive and came out stronger for it.
Your origin story is either convoluted enough to be
One per mission, you may Boost one Tough roll.
a movie, or you just pretend it is to avoid talking
about it. Either way, you’ve come to Grand Cross to Specialties: Any Defense (your choice) +1, One
escape a lot of bullshit. Gain one Specialty in an Cartel corporation (your choice) +1.
Action of your choice.
Specialties: +1 Bullshit, +1 Generic Specialty (your
choice).

Lottery Winner
Your country gave out tickets to space via lottery and
you won. They gave you a place to live and some cash
to get you started, so reduce your starting Burden by 1.
Specialties: Earth Culture, History, or Politics
(choose one) +1, One profession (choose one) +1.

Military Veteran
You used to serve in an Earth military during the
post-Impact period. You may choose one Augment.
If you do, it does not increase your Burden. If you New Traits and Origins
We expect players will create new Traits and
don't, add any one Defense Specialty. Origins to fit the characters and situations they
Specialties: Military +1, Gun (choose one) +1. wish to explore. Here are some tips:
Operate within the spirit of the rules.
Rich in Years New things should be broadly similar to the
You saw the Cold War, the Impact, the space rush, and examples we've provided. Consider what will fit
the game and character, and don’t be afraid to
Grand Cross, and you’re not going anywhere! Once renegotiate a mechanic down the line if something
per mission, you may Boost one Social roll involving feels out of place, too punishing, or too strong.
someone who might respect your years of experience.
Origins always give an unambiguous
Specialties: Earth Culture, History, or Politics advantage and two Specialties. Unlike Traits,
(choose one) +1, Any Generic (your choice) +1. they don't come with downsides. Usually, at
least one Specialty is generic.
Scientist Traits always come with a downside. Traits are
You're a researcher, a drone in a corporation's expressions of who you are and what you’ve
done, for good or for ill. They are your
research division, a science communicator, or a personality, warts and all.
really nerdy webcomic artist. Once per mission, you
may Boost one Clever roll.

System 27
 Traits
H Activist Hey, I Know You!
Once per session, when you push yourself to act for A while ago you were in a viral video, used in a
W
the sake of social causes or in the defense of others, meme, or the one person everyone yells at on Pulser
I Boost your roll. Your next roll loses one die. for a week. When you meet a new character during a
mission, you may roll 1d6 to see if they know you. If
Enter the Singularity the result is 5 or 6, they do, and your next Social roll
You consider yourself a Singularist, though you against them is Boosted. If the result is 3 or 4, they
might not buy into their “dangerous ideas.” Choose don’t. If the result is 1 or 2, they do, but your next
two additional Generic Specialties of your choice, Social roll against them is treated as though you
provided they have something to do with science, suffered Serious (reputational) Harm instead.
AI, or the tech sector. Your love of cool tech means it
always costs you 1 more Cash to lower your Burden. Hush Money
You've been bribed to keep quiet about something.
Full-Body Prosthetic Decrease your starting Burden by 1, and it always
You're a human brain in a cybernetic body. This costs you 1 less Cash to lower your Burden. Your
Trait grants the benefits of the Android Origin secret means your movements are covertly tracked,
without the Specialties. If you roll for Personal Prep and you have to work harder to keep a low profile.
and the dice show a 1, you will suffer dysphoria or You always suffer Disadvantage on tasks relating to
dissociation and make all Social rolls at maintaining stealth, staying hidden, or keeping out
Disadvantage unless you spend a Prep. of sight.

Gig Worker Impulsive

You can use two gig apps at once (p. 56). When you Once per mission, you can Boost a roll for free
roll for Economic Shock, you suffer if you roll 12 or without spending Prep. Past impulsive decisions
more instead of 13 (though you still only choose mean you increase your starting Burden by 1.
two consequences if you roll 15 or more.)
Law Zero
Gregarious You’re in the android gang Law Zero. When you roll
You’re generous to a fault, even when you can't for Personal Prep, you can describe working for them
afford to be, but what goes around comes around. to gain one extra Prep. However, during the mission,
Increase your starting Burden by 1. The first time the GM can assign a secondary objective that
you spend Cash in a session, you also gain one advances R Daneel Olivaw’s goals through illegal
Personal Prep for every Cash you spend. actions. If you don’t accomplish it, pay Law Zero your
end-of-mission Cash reward instead.
Hard Shell
You get +1 Tough Defense. When something gets Mind Over Matter
past your Tough exterior, you have Disadvantage on You get +1 Clever Defense. When your Clever
your next roll (whatever it is). defenses are outwitted, you have Disadvantage on
your next roll (whatever it is).

28
System
 Character Creation
Overprepared Student Loans
The first time you make any Prep roll in a mission, Past you got an education and present you is paying
gain 1 additional Prep even on a failure. If either for it. Choose two additional Generic Specialties of
your Personal Prep or Group Prep runs out during a your choice (they don’t have to be on an academic
mission, you have Disadvantage on all rolls for the subject.) Increase your starting Burden by 1. The
rest of the mission. first time you spend Cash in a session, you must
spend +1 Cash.
Regular Customer
Choose or describe a bar, café, or similar location in Trendsetter
Grand Cross. You go there regularly and everyone The coolest outfit is whatever you are wearing. Any
knows your name. Once per mission, you may visit clothing you wear is treated as a Trendy Wardrobe
as part of a Prep action and Boost it for free. If you Asset (p. 84) for the Friendly or Sexy Mood (choose
suffer an Economic Shock, you can’t Boost Prep one when you take the Trait,) whether you’re
rolls on your next mission. wearing your finest suit or stole a coat from a dead
guy. If you bring an armor or clothing Asset to a
Scavenger mission, or put one on, you lose this Trait’s benefits
You always have a few tools with you—you'd be for the rest of the mission.
surprised what you can do with duct tape and a
paperclip. With a day's worth of work and 1 Cash, Well Traveled
you can turn any private area into a Workshop. You You've been all around Grand Cross and know it like
can do this as part of a personal Prep action. Your the back of your hand. You have Advantage on all
Workshop stays that way until you suffer Economic rolls that rely on your knowledge of the station's
Shock or use this ability again. layout. Frequent traveling means shopping and
transport costs; if you roll to lose unspent Cash at
Speedy the end of a session, roll with Advantage.
You get +1 Quick Defense. When you’re not Quick
enough to defend against something, you have Work Housing
Disadvantage on your next roll (whatever it is). You work for a corporation and they supplied your
apartment. Reduce your starting Burden by 1, and
Stoic you can't lose your living space from Economic
You get +1 Cool Defense. When something makes Shock. However, you have to meet your work
you lose your Cool, you have Disadvantage on your obligations, your movements may be surveilled,
next roll (whatever it is). and you may not have roommates unless they are
close family. If you are ever fired, lose this Trait; you
may pick a new one after your next Economic Shock
roll, but that roll is Boosted.

Example Custom Trait

Emily wants to play a full-body prosthetic
cyborg, but not one who experiences dysphoria
from her prosthetic—in fact, quite the opposite.
Thinking about an appropriate way to represent
it, she decides that she makes expensive
modifications to her body which break
down rapidly when she's strapped for cash.
The new Trait functions as the existing Full-Body
Prosthetic Trait, but the drawback is decided to
be: When you suffer Economic Shock, your body
malfunctions in addition to the option you pick.
All Quick rolls are at Disadvantage unless you
spend Prep.

System 29
 Specialties
Specialties add detail to your character by describing When Do they Apply?
the things they're good at, or what they do in the story. Specialties apply when you decide they do. If a
They can represent their skills, interests, hobbies, character's skill in something could help them
H relationships, cybernetics, and even equipment. impact the story right now, let them. The GM is
W encouraged to allow creative and interesting uses
You can choose the same Specialty more than once.
I This adds 1 to its bonus each time, to a maximum of +3.
of a Specialty if they're not too much to work with.
If your character attempts something but you don't
Stacking Specialties
have an applicable Specialty, assume you have +0.
Specialties of different types stack, but ones of the
same type do not. You can apply both an Action
Specialty Types Specialty and a Generic Specialty to a roll, but not
When you gain a Specialty and it doesn’t specify a
two Generic Specialties.
type, you can spend it on any type.
Normally, only Defense Specialties apply to your
Defenses: Boost a Defense: Cool, Clever, Tough, or
Defense. However, during play you may spend Prep
Quick. You can specialise in multiple Defenses.
to stack a Generic Specialty onto a Defense
Initiative: Specialize in Initiative if you foresee Specialty. See p. 33-49 for more on Prep.
getting into a lot of fights.
Making/Renaming
Actions: You can boost specific Actions (p. 50–52).
Specialties
Items: You can specialize in using specific Assets (p. Hard Wired Island allows a lot of creative freedom
79–90). when making Specialties, so you can make up new
ones as needed or even rename the existing ones.
Cybernetic Augments: Augments are a unique type
New Specialties should be useful enough to come
of gear which can grant Specialties as well as other
up in the story but shouldn't be so broad that they
unique benefits for free (unless you took out a loan
are relied on all the time. GMs should feel free to
for them, or pay maintenance costs, or...)
allow creative uses if they seem interesting, though.
An Augment grants +1 to a Specialty of any type:
For example, Hacking and Ghosting are treated as
reflex enhancers can improve Quick Defense, cyber-
separate Specialties in the Basic Mechanics chapter.
eyes with extra functions can improve Investigation,
You can rename Hacking to "Hack the Planet" and just
and so on. These can't raise a Specialty above +3.
use that when Hacking would apply, but you can't
Cybernetics can let you do things most humans
have a Hack the Planet Specialty that covers both.
can't, but they can't surpass the human condition;
ultimately the effectiveness of how it's used comes
down to the user. See p. 91-99 for more.
Generic Specialties: Everything else. These can be
skills, talents, hobbies, esoteric knowledge, or
anything else that could give you an edge. We've
provided some examples on the facing page, but
we assume you'll make more as needed to fit
your character.
During play you'll earn more Generic Specialties
that can be spent to improve existing ones or create
new ones. You can also spend Generic Specialties
on some Assets to unlock special functions.

30
System
Example Generic Specialties

Character Creation
80s/90s Action Cinema Cybercrime HeoCities Physics
Activism Cybernetics Hydraulics Engineer Pizza Delivery
Agriculture Cyborg Subculture Idol Singer [Name of your podcast
here]
Agriculture Ring Dance Influencers
Politics
Android History Delinquent Infosec
Rap
Android Rights Demolitions Investigation
Movement Riot Medic
Department of Jeet Kune Do
Anime Translation Worker Robotics
K-Pop
Asteroid Mining Detective Science Fiction
Law
Astronautics Determination Skateboards
Law Zero Member
Astronomy Earth Culture Social Media
LGBT History
Australian Rules Football Earth History Solar Technology
Linguistics
Bicycles Earth Politics Space Shows
Living Rough
Bounty Hunter Economics Station Infrastructure
Lunar Politics
Bureaucracy Electrical Engineering Station Layout
Mathematics
Cartel Politics Esports Stealth
Memes
Celebrity Gossip Ethics Streaming
Military
Chemistry Famous Street Performer
Motorcycles
Chess Fighting Studied The Blade
Movie Filming
Chessboxing First Responder Swimming
Music Industry
Christian Theology Former Ogremoch Taekkyon
Nonprofits
Accountant
Comedy Tech Industry
Noodle Stand Owner
Games
Comic Artist Television
Obscure Grand Cross
Ghosting
Communist Webrings Places Theater
Government
Computer Science Office Lady Therapist
Graffiti
Con Artist Omega Point Transhuman Subculture
Graphic Design
Conspiracies Online Communities Union of Robots
Grey-Market Goods
Contemporary Art Online Pop Culture VTuber
Habitat Architecture
Cooking Parkour Vaporwave
Habitat Engineering
Corporate Security Perception Webcomics
Hacking
Criminal Underworld Philosophy YourTuber

System 31
 Example Character Creation:

H Soyeong
W
I
Feixue is making a PC. She just watched a really the Hush Money Trait (p. 28). She decides this
good music video, so she decides to make probably made Soyeong very cautious, so she also
Soyeong, a K-pop rapper. gets the Overprepared Trait (p. 29).
She thinks it would be interesting if Soyeong had Now, on to Specialties. She gets three Generic
achieved fame on Earth before coming to Grand Specialties on top of everything she got before,
Cross, so she chooses the Celebrity Origin (p. 26). which brings her total to Action: Charm +1, Cool
That gives her a special ability, +1 Specialty in one Defense +1, Social Media +1, +1 Specialty, and +4
Social Action (she picks Charm), and +1 in Famous Generic Specialties. She spends the Specialty on
or Social Media (she picks Social Media.) Quick Defense and the Generic Specialties on
Famous, Music Industry, K-Pop/Rap, and
Next, Abilities. Celebrity benefits some of
Taekkyon (for variety).
Soyeong’s Cool rolls, so Feixue leans into it and
writes down Cool +3. Someone in a K-pop band Feixue gets two more Assets. She picks Vehicle:
probably did a lot of dancing, which is all the Motorcycle (p. 83) immediately because it sounds
justification she needs for Quick +2. She writes badass. After some thought, she picks a License (p.
Clever +1, Tough +0 because she likes her PCs to 82) too—she doesn’t know if she’ll need it, but
have some smarts. Soyeong likes to be prepared.
Feixue isn’t sure what her first Trait is yet, so she After that come Augments. Feixue thinks it’d be
sets that aside for now and moves on to cool if the accident left Soyeong with cybernetics all
Occupation. She already knows what she wants to down her right side, including a life support
be: an Influencer (p. 66). Soyeong isn’t in a pop system—and medical augments are free. After
group anymore, but she still has connections and a looking through the list of Augments (p. 91), she
strong online presence. decides to also get an arm that grants +1 Tough
Defense (which is Restricted—looks like she needed
Being a Level 1 Influencer gives Soyeong one
that License!) and a leg that gives her another +1
Specialty, one Generic Specialty, and one Talent.
Taekkyon.
She sets the Specialties aside for later and chooses
Viral as her first Influencer Talent, because she likes Finally, there’s Burden. Her Burden starts at 1, rises
the idea of making a post blow up. to 3 due to her Augments, and lowers to 2 thanks to
Hush Money. Feixue talks to her fellow player
Since it’s her first Occupation, she gets the benefits of
Madoka, and they decide their PCs are roommates/
the Influencer’s First Occupation box: a choice of a
maybe partners (Sharing the Burden, p. 554).
Doggo or a Trendy Wardrobe (she picks a Trendy
Madoka’s PC, Maru, also has Burden 2, so being
Wardrobe), a choice of a Drone or a Verified Account
roommates lowers both to Burden 1.
(Verified Account), a choice of Specialty (she chooses
Cool Defense +1), and a Generic or Influencer Talent After that, she just needs to calculate Defenses
(she picks another Influencer Talent, DDoS). (7+Abilities+her Specialties) and decide if she wants
to use a Gig App (p. 56, and she doesn’t), and she’s
Normally she’d pick her second Trait now, so she
ready to go!
decides to do both Traits. She comes up with an
interesting backstory: Soyeong’s group fell apart
when they had a spaceship accident while touring
orbit, and their parent company paid her to keep
quiet about their culpability. That lets Feixue take

32
System
Playing the Game

Playing the Game

Game Structure Simple Actions
Most of the time, the game is in free play: characters A lot of actions you take won’t need anything fancy—
hang out, do their best to get by, take actions, make you’re trying to do something, and you either do it or
rolls, and generally live their lives. You can run the you don’t. For these tasks, and anything else that
whole game in free play mode if you wish. doesn’t fit one of the other Actions, use this.
Sometimes, the group will get together and
Take Action
accomplish a mission. This is a specific set of tasks that
>(2d6 + Ability + Specialty vs Difficulty)
needs to be planned and prepared for, like protecting
Try to solve a problem using your knowledge and
people at a protest, bounty hunting to make some
skills. The appropriate Ability and Specialty is
money, or running a heist on a corporate stronghold.
determined by the action.
Missions use special rules; see p. 50 for more.
Usually, the game operates in free play mode until
the players decide to run a mission. When the
mission ends, the players get some rewards, then
they return to free play until they feel like doing
another one.

Taking Action
During play, you control your character’s actions.
The GM describes the world and the side characters
in it, and you describe what your PC does.
If your character does something that isn’t that hard, it
just happens; you don’t need to figure out if they
succeed or not. If you’re doing something difficult, the
situation is unpredictable, or someone’s trying to stop
you, you roll the dice to figure out what happens.
When you act, you:
• Describe what your character does.
• Choose a suitable Action from the list.
• Each Action tells you to roll 2d6 + an Ability,
against a difficulty set by the GM.
• Add a Specialty if one applies (as covered on p. 30).
• Check your result against the difficulty (p. 20).
Difficulty is determined by the GM and is dependent
on the Action, how hard or complicated the thing
you’re trying to do is, and whether anyone’s trying
to stop you. If the Difficulty of an action is written
as an Ability (e.g. “vs Cool”), use the opponent’s
relevant Defense.

System 33
 Initiative During complex Initiative, players get a special Action:
Most of the time, Hard Wired Island can be played
like a conversation: players describe what they do, Delay
H the GM describes what happens and how side Choose one Action. Instead of performing it now,
characters react, and you go back and forth like describe a narrative event which will trigger the
W
that as long as you need to. Action (like "if Xander throws a flashbang, I'll
I attack" or "if that cop attacks the kid again, I'll
Sometimes, it's important to know exactly who
hack his headset".) You will perform that Action
goes when. Initiative is used in situations when
when the event happens. If the event doesn't
timing is important, like high-speed chases, fights,
happen that Round, you don't take any Action.
time-sensitive hacks, or trying to fast-talk someone
before an enemy catches up.
Optional Rule:
Initiative sets the order in which characters act. Roll Every Round
Play is divided into Rounds, during which each Fighting can be unpredictable and chaotic. As an
character gets one turn to act. When it's your turn, optional rule, you may have players reroll their
you can do one thing: Initiative every round during fights. (To save
time, their opponents don't need to unless
• Take an Action and make a roll. they’re particularly special.) Keep in mind that as
• Use one of your items. a fight progresses, characters may suffer injuries
and setbacks that apply penalties to this roll.
• Do something else that makes sense in the story
and requires significant effort.
Small things that don't take much effort like talking,
moving short distances, picking up a loose object, or
grabbing something from your belt don't use up your
turn; you can do those things and take an action.
There are two ways to determine Initiative:
Solid State Initiative
In this version, players act as a group. The GM
describes the scene and what the side characters do,
the players decide amongst themselves what order
they go in, and then the next Round begins. This is an
easier form of Initiative that allows the group to
coordinate their actions for maximum effect.
Complex Initiative
This version is a deeper system where the players
roll dice to determine when they roll dice.
Before the first Round, every character—player or
otherwise—rolls 2d6 + Quick + Initiative
Specialty (if they have it.) Everyone acts in order of
highest result to lowest result. Subsequent Rounds
use the same order. In the case of a tie, higher-level
characters go first; if it's still a tie, the GM decides.

34
System
Social Matters and

Social Matters and Other Bloodshed

Other Bloodshed
Hard Wired Island is a game of social interaction first and Examples of Social
foremost. Most of the time, it’s simplest to act out Situations
conversations naturally, as the flow of play permits. Police Interrogation (Hostile)
Police attempt to Interrogate a hostile
Sometimes, however, a social situation comes up where
target by softening them up with Threats,
there is opportunity for far more than a one-on-one
leaning on the law as leverage, interspersed
conversation, or players are simply lost for words.
with a Placating “good cop” to improve
These rules are for those situations, whether they’re board the mood. An alternate take is to make the
meetings, parties, group chats, public gatherings, or just mood Formal to represent professionalism
trying to lie convincingly in front of an easily agitated cop. and a sense of being official (while still
making threats.)
The Mood Cornered by Ripped-Off Gangsters
Each social scene has a Mood that should be established
(Hostile)
first. The Mood affects what strategies you can employ, and
Gangsters are perfectly willing to beat you
what you can get away with. The Mood is decided by the GM.
up. If you can just Placate them before they
Friendly start punching, you might be able to level the
A party, a dance, or simple gathering. You can joke around Mood a bit and look for a means of escape,
and be mildly embarrassed at no penalty or consequence, or else convince them you’ve got their next
but flipping the barbeque grill and declaring things to be big score with a bit of Charm and Bullshit.
shit is frowned upon and can turn the Mood against you.
Pumping a High Roller for Information
Indifferent (Friendly)
You’re a face in the crowd, and either trying to stay that way or The rich son of a wealthy executive has all
trying to stand out. This is for chatting with your informant at the information you need. You just need to
Sparby’s without attracting attention, convincing a group of Bullshit or Charm your way to his inner
bystanders to hear you out, or similar things. circle of hangers-on and Interrogate him
with enough drinks to make him spill
Formal
everything without even noticing he’s doing
A business meeting, religious service, or parliamentary
it... while not making everyone else jealous of
inquiry. You are expected to be professional and courteous;
you hogging him.
your jokes must be dry and witty, if made at all. You are
probably not supposed to be dressed in a ripped T-shirt Getting Past the Security Guard (Formal)
with a band logo on it. You may attempt to Bullshit or Charm
the guard into letting you enter the secure
Hostile
area, but if they’re under strict orders to
Not only is everyone giving you their full attention, they are
only let certain people in, you may have to
probing you for weakness and will use what you say against
resort to feigning superiority (via your
you. Your goal is probably to escape, lightening the Mood,
Bullshit or Charm) and Threatening
or making someone cooperative. When you mess the other
them with being fired.
Moods up, you tend to end up here.
Sexy
Sometimes charm means seduction, particularly when
someone distracts you at a party with a bunch of sexy
firemen. How this Mood works and how it’s played out are
left to the group’s discretion; just treat it as a step beyond
Friendly which requires consent. Suffice it to say that
anyone in such a Mood will be extremely distracted!

System 35
 Social Actions
These are the things you can do in a social scene:

H Placate
Bullshit
> (2d6+Cool vs Cool. Area)
W > (2d6 + Cool vs Clever. Single target)
Tell everyone to calm down, relax, take a chill pill,
I Confuse someone with derailment, lies, half-
not be so hostile. Can only be done when the
truths, and statistics to get them to do something
mood is Hostile. A roll is made against every
for you. They are unable to respond effectively
participant present. People may voluntarily fail
until they make a successful Clever save vs
their defense if they wish. If you are the focus of
Bullshit. While under the effects of Bullshit, they
hostilities, this roll is made at Disadvantage.
may be convinced to give you information and
cooperate with you in limited fashion—opening
Embarrass
doors, getting out of your way, etc.
> (2d6+Clever OR Cool vs Cool. Single target)
Most people, once under the effects of Bullshit, Fluster someone with a jibe, joke at their expense,
don’t bother trying to oppose it unless the dressing-down, and so on. They will lose their cool,
situation changes enough to give them a reason becoming unable to perform social actions until they
to. Anyone may also instantly overcome this status make a successful Cool save vs embarrassment.
by becoming visibly and audibly angry, but they Anyone may instantly overcome this status by
risk the Mood lowering against them. For example, becoming visibly and audibly angry, but they risk the
a security guard is always in a Formal setting and Mood lowering against them—though bystanders
may not risk becoming angry at someone for fear entertained by them may take their side.
of their employer—or bystanders with cameras.
This action generally cannot be taken in a Friendly
Mood, since joking around is expected and
Charm
accepted—unless you are particularly nasty, in
> (2d6+Cool vs Cool. Single target or area)
which case you risk lowering the Mood by doing it.
Dazzle someone with your friendly nature,
Making someone lose their cool in a Hostile
charming looks, or convincing arguments
setting may make them attack you, which could
(delivered via your handsome face.) This action
be to your advantage!
can be used on a single target or a group. If a
majority of people present are Charmed, you may
Threaten
improve the Mood of the scene. Charming cannot
> (2d6+Clever OR Cool vs Cool. Single target)
be done when the mood is Hostile toward you.
Either overtly or subtly suggest that something the
target cares about is under threat unless they
Interrogate
cooperate. This can generally only be done by having
> (2d6+Clever vs Cool. Single target)
some form of leverage against the target, whether
Overtly or discreetly pump someone for information.
this is compromising information or by being their
Overt interrogation is exceedingly rude and will lower
(shitty) boss. If another opponent already has
the Mood to Hostile rapidly if not apologized for. Feel
leverage over the target, they defend instead. If your
free to be rude if it already is Hostile.
leverage is fake, the target has to believe it is real.
Discreet interrogation can be done at any Mood,
Overt threats can’t be made unless the Mood is
and in fact it is often easy to get someone to
Hostile: any other Mood will require subtlety or
cooperate of their own volition if the Mood is
seniority. Regardless of Mood, a successful threat will
Friendly—you get Advantage on the roll. A Hostile
make the target more compliant. An unsuccessful
target will not cooperate unless threatened.
one will make them unfriendly or even Hostile.

Lower the Mood

You may always lower the mood by acting like an
ass deliberately.

36
System
 Example Social Scene:

Social Matters and Other Bloodshed

The Party
Mira and Soyeong are attending a party hosted in the Tetsuo Complex to gather information on their R&D
division's activities. Soyeong is hoping to charm someone with access to the building’s offices, while Mira is
hoping to just bluff her way in.
The party’s Mood is Friendly. If they're caught somewhere they shouldn't be, the Mood can turn Hostile.

Mira
Mira just strides out of the party like she owns the place and
rolls Bullshit, her Specialty. Security is tight, so the place's
Clever Defense is +3. She rolls 9, and the defense roll is 13.
Mira bumps into a guard and the mood turns Hostile.
Bullshit: [3][3] + 2 (Cool) + 1 (Bullshit) =
9 vs 13 (Failure).

She doesn't want to Placate him with a bribe or risk

Bullshitting again, so she Threatens him. The group knows
the security corporation here hires shady types, so Mira asks for
(and gets) permission to spend a point of Prep (p. 51) to narrate
a "flashback" where she studies their histories for leverage.
Mira realizes this guy is Tall Steve, an infamous member of the
Terabyte Boys gang. She flashes her bounty hunter credentials
and threatens to send him to jail with his brother Venti Steve.
With her Bounty Hunter Specialty and +3 Clever, she rolls 11.
Tall Steve rolls 10 and decides to back off.
Threaten: [5][2] + 3 (Clever) + 1 (Bounty Hunter) =
11 vs 10 (Success).

Soyeong
Meanwhile, Soyeong chooses a target: Misaki, an executive
assistant who's getting tired of the corporate world.
Soyeong starts by Charming Misaki, hoping to get an
invitation to hang out with her in her office. (She has a Charm
Specialty and +3 Cool, so it's a strong opening play.) She rolls
against Misaki's Cool: she gets 10, Misaki gets 9. They swap
stories about their terrible bosses, and Misaki is Charmed.
Charm: [1][5] + 3 (Cool) + 1 (Action: Charm) =
10 vs 9 (Success).

Since Soyeong is only talking to Misaki, and she’s Charmed,

Soyeong can get her flirt on and improves the Mood to Sexy.
She used her Trendy Wardrobe Asset (p. 84) to prepare for this
Mood, so now she has Advantage.
Soyeong does this so she can discreetly Interrogate Misaki
about the work she does here. With Advantage, she rolls 11.
Misaki rolls 8, and starts telling some very interesting stories...
Interrogate: [2][1][6] + 3 (Cool) =
11 vs 8 (Success).

System 37
 Stealth and Security
When you need to get up to a bit of circumspect
H Stealth Actions
skullduggery, you need stealth. Here’s how to do it.
W Stealth
I Security Level > (2d6+Clever or Quick vs 5 + Security
A place's Security Level represents how hard it is Level)
to sneak through. Most places have one overall Hiding, moving silently, and everything that
Security Level, but the GM can assign a higher one comes with it. Once you start sneaking around,
to unique challenges or raise it mid-stealth to add assume you maintain Stealth if the Security Level
tension. Here are some examples: doesn't change. Sometimes, you might encounter
a unique challenge with a higher Security Level: a
2–3: A group of thugs, basic home security,
guard post, a particularly well-placed camera, an
disinterested cop.
open space you need to dash across, and so on. If
4–5: Guard post, mall security, busy train station, you do, you'll have to roll again.
average office block.
If you're sneaking in a group, only one person
6–7: Police station with distracted officers, needs to roll Stealth; if they succeed, they bring
important office block, drones. everyone else along with them.
8–9: Police station on alert, corporate executive
Disable Security
suite, cool laser grid.
> (2d6 + Clever vs 5 + Security Level)
Hacking cameras, sedating guards and stuffing
Maintaining Stealth them into closets, and anything else that could
The most important part of any Stealth
weaken security. Success temporarily lowers the
challenge is maintaining it. Rather than rolling
Security Level by 1 on a success, by an additional
every time your stealthy approach may possibly be
1 for every 3 by which your roll exceeds the
broken, you roll once at the beginning of your
difficulty, and by an additional 1 on a Critical.
challenge to enter Stealth and must then maintain
it by managing risk. This lasts until an alarm is raised, you move past
the security measures you disabled, or you lose a
When you first enter Stealth, you get three chances
chance (where applicable.) If you'd reasonably
to avoid being caught. During a Stealth challenge,
expect the deception to be uncovered when it
if you take any action that requires rolling dice
wears off, it doesn't until you run out of chances.
(including further Stealth rolls) and fail, you lose
one chance. If all three run out, the jig is up: you are
Cover Your Tracks
spotted, an alarm goes off, the guard you sedated
> (2d6 + Clever or Quick vs Target Number)
wakes up, or similar.
On a success, regain 1 chance during Stealth. On a
At the GM's discretion, certain tasks that wouldn't Critical, regain 2. (The most you can have is 3.) The
normally require a roll may require one in Stealth. GM decides the target number based on the
For example, your character may normally be able situation; when in doubt, use 5+Security Level.
to bypass simple locks without rolling, but during Each subsequent use of Cover Your Tracks
Stealth they'll have to roll to do it without risking increases the target number by 2.
their cover.

38
System
 Example Stealth Scene:

Stealth and Security

Frob and Manaia
Frob the android is trying to sneak through Tetsuo's offices and steal some files.
With them is Manaia, an NPC friend of theirs, who Frob needs to ID the files. Frob is a
Thief with Quick +3, a Stealth Generic Specialty, and an Action: Stealth Specialty.

Stage One
Since this is a standard Tetsuo office block, the GM gives it
Security Level 5. Frob needs to beat 10 to enter Stealth.
Frob’s pretty confident they can do this, so they just roll. They
manage 11 and start sneaking.
Stealth: [2][4] + 3 (Quick) + 1 (Stealth) + 1
(Action: Stealth) = 11 vs 10 (Success).

Now that they're "in stealth," Frob doesn't have to roll again
unless the Security Level changes or a unique challenge
appears. Frob also has the Smooth Criminal Talent (p. 75),
which gives +1 to all rolls as long as they're in Stealth. Finally,
since only one person in a group needs to roll Stealth, Frob can
just bring Manaia along for free.
On the way, they find a card-locked door. Frob tries a Simple
Hack action to open it. Taking an action during stealth is risky—
Frob only has three chances to fail before being caught. Luckily,
the Network Level is only 9, and Frob rolls an easy 10.
Simple Hack: [1][5] + 2 (Clever) + 1 (Hacking) + 1
(Smooth Criminal) = 10 vs 9 (Success).

Stage Two
Unfortunately for Frob, the corporate cleaner Tiger Shark is
reporting in after a successful “negotiation” with a local gang.
Once he enters the scene, the Security Level jumps to 8.
The Security Level changed, so Frob has to roll Stealth
again—against 13 this time. Frob rolls 11, a failure. They lose a
chance; if they fail twice more, they'll be caught.
Stealth: [4][1] + 3 (Quick) + 1 (Stealth) + 1
(Action: Stealth) + 1 (Smooth Criminal) =
11 vs 13 (Failure).

Frob attempts a Disable Security action to get rid of Tiger Shark

before things get worse. Smooth Criminal applies, and Frob
spends a point of Prep (p. 51) to Boost the roll too, just in case.
They roll 17. Since they succeeded by more than 3, the Security
Level drops by 2, to 6. Frob uses their knowledge of corporate
security to fake a distraction and Tiger Shark leaves. For now.
Disable Security: [4][3][6] + 2 (Clever) + 1
(Corporate Security) + 1 (Smooth
Criminal) = 17 vs 13 (Success).

System 39
 Hacking the Cylinder
Where there’s a system, there’s a hacker. Hacking in
Network Mood
Hard Wired Island is like being social, but you're
H Like social scenes, you should establish the
trying to make the computer more friendly.
network's Mood. This represents the kind of access
W
you have and how actively it's trying to stop you.
I Network Level
A computer system's Network Level represents how ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS
hard it is to hack. Most have a single overall The ultimate form of control. Unless it's being
Network Level, but the GM can assign a higher one actively monitored by a clever AI or a person, the
to unique challenges or raise it mid-hack to add network is always Friendly and can never have its
tension. Here are some examples: Mood lowered. Regardless of Network Level, any
difficulties associated with that network (but not
2–3: A basic home computer, unimportant office
necessarily its drones) are 7 to you. You only need
network, or public wi-fi hotspot.
to maintain Ghost if someone intelligent is
4–5: Outdated transport infrastructure, private wi- monitoring the network.
fi, basic drones.
FRIENDLY
6–7: Police station network, corporate building A Friendly network is cooperative and reasonably
that listens to the IT guys. helpful, provided you don't try anything weird (or it
doesn't notice when you do.) This can represent a
8–9: Cutting-edge drones, secret corporate
public account, basic access to a private network,
network, non-vital habitat systems.
or a private network with bad or outdated security.
Interrogating a Friendly network is always
Ghosting done with Advantage.
The problem with hacking is that you're not meant
to be doing it. Ghosting is a hacker's ability to remain INDIFFERENT
unseen and undetected. Maintaining your Ghost is Most networks are Indifferent. You want to ghost in
exactly like maintaining Stealth (p. 38), chances and get what you need without attracting notice, try
included, but you use the Ghost specialty instead of to improve the Mood to Friendly, or prevent it from
Stealth. If you’re discovered, you can disconnect going Hostile. These networks aren't actively
rapidly, but whoever caught you likely knows your keeping you out, tend to be unmonitored, and might
rough physical location now. Hope you're fast! not even punish you for having the wrong password
several billion times, but they don't help you either.
HOSTILE
A Hostile network is closed and barred, actively
trying to stop intruders. If you guess your password
wrong three times, it becomes IT Alcatraz. It will try
to learn your identity and rat you out to authorities
if you drop your Ghost, and it will be sniffing. Such
a network can become instantly Friendly if you
somehow gain admin access, but most of the time
you just want to get in and out again—fast.
BASIC
Basic is a special Mood for networks you feel aren't
worth using the full hacking rules for, like simple
door security or a computer with nothing
particularly juicy on it. You can't move from another
Mood to Basic; it either starts Basic or it isn't.

40
System
Hacking Actions

Hacking the Cylinder

All hacking Actions except Operate use the
Hacking Specialty.

Simple Hack Operate

> (2d6 + Clever vs 5 + Network Level) > (2d6 + Clever + Drone vs 5 + Network Level)
Use this when you want to make a Basic network Operate is used when the network is connected
do or say something it's not meant to. to objects in realspace (like a camera, turret,
robotic arm, or drones) and you want to hijack
Spoof them without breaking something, losing focus, or
> (2d6 + Clever vs 5 + Network Level) accidentally setting something else off. Some
Spoofing or bypassing a password, “confusing” a objects (like drones) may have their own Network
system into letting you pass, dodging robophobic Level, but generally share the Mood of the
security questions, and so on. It’s Bullshit, but network they're connected to.
for computers. Failure will usually turn the
network Hostile. Social Engineering
> (2d6 + Cool vs Clever, Single Target)
Charm You can bypass an obstacle within a Network
> (2d6 + Clever vs 5 + Network Level) without directly hacking it by instead fishing a
Convince a system that you have access, create or password or key out of a human adjacent to the
exploit backdoors, and otherwise smooth-talk the network. You must have both the time to do so
network. Charm actions won't necessarily lower and access to the people involved, whether it's
the Mood unless you keep trying, and aren't sharing a physical space or just emailing them
normally available if the system is Hostile. You malware. Someone else can attempt this action
may be able to temporarily upgrade to on your behalf, but you still lose a chance if they
Administrator Access by succeeding on several fail.
Charm rolls without the network turning Hostile,
usually as many as the Network Level. Other Social Actions
Though hacking is treated like a social situation with
Interrogate a computer, there's no equivalent to Embarrass,
> (2d6 + Clever vs 5 + Network Level) Placate, or Threaten. However, if someone is
Extracting information that you're not supposed obviously monitoring the system and discovers you,
to: searching, queries, sifting through data, you can use social actions against them.
searching folders in an email account, avoiding
popup ads, not picking the first link that agrees
with you.

System 41
 Example Hack:
The Tetsuo Job
While the others infiltrate the Tetsuo Complex, Maru tries to infiltrate their network. There’s a party for
H low-ranking Tetsuo employees in a nearby hotel, and Maru has crashed it to get her hands on a Tetsuo
W Shard (p. 82). Junior has also arranged for one of his friends, the hacker Mai, to back her up just in case.
I
Charming
Since this is a standard Tetsuo office block, the GM
gives it Network Level 5. Most difficulties will be 10.
As the Network Level is 5, the GM says she can roll
Charm 5 times to get temporary admin access. This is
mostly for pacing purposes—the GM can go back and
forth between Maru and the rest of the group while
she does her thing.
Maru doesn't take any chances. She spends a Prep to
activate her Ghost Protocols Program (p. 85), giving
her an extra chance and Boosting her first roll. Then
she tries to Charm its Mood up from Indifferent to
Friendly. Thanks to the Boost and her Hacking
Specialty (improved by her cyber-eyes), she rolls a 14.
The Tetsuo network assumes she's a regular user. In
four more Charm rolls, she can do even better...
Charm: [5][1][3] + 3 (Clever) + 1
(Antisocial) + 2 (Hacking) =
15 vs 10 (Success).

Coverup
As the group infiltrates the party, Maru makes a few
more Charm rolls. They don't go so well: she gets a few
successes, but she also loses three chances. She has
one left.
Maru decides to do something about that next.
Maintaining her Ghost works like Stealth, so she can use
the Cover Your Tracks action to get some chances
back. The GM sets the difficulty for that at 10 too.
Maru has a Ghosting Specialty, so she uses that. She
manages to scrape through with an 11—and it's a
Critical, so she gets two chances back. She can try
again later if she likes, but next time the difficulty will
rise to 12.
Charm: [3][3] + 3 (Clever) + 1 Antisocial + 1
(Ghosting) = 10 vs 10 (Success).

42
System
 Hacking the Cylinder
Interrogate
Now that Maru has access, Junior's player is a bit
curious about what's there. When it's his turn to do
something, he decides to Interrogate.
Junior has no hacking experience and +0 Clever,
but he does have Mai written down as part of his
Contacts Talent (p. 62), which means he can use
her as a +1 Hacking Specialty a few times a session.
Also, now that the network's Mood is Friendly,
Junior can roll Interrogate at Advantage. He asks
Maru first since it’s her hack; she allows it.
"Mai" rolls Interrogate. With her hacking skills
and Junior's Advantage, they scrape through with a
10. Junior asks a couple of questions he thinks
Tetsuo might have the answers to, and Mai sifts
through Tetsuo folders to get him some answers.
Interrogate: [4][2][5] + 0 (Clever) + 1
(Hacking) = 10 vs 10 (Success).

Helping Hand
Maru can still get administrator access with one
success, but she could use a hand. By now Soyeong
has established a rapport with Misaki (p. 37), so she
decides to help.
Maru's last hacking roll was a Critical success, so
she'll get Advantage on her next roll. Soyeong knows
that Misaki has a secure card (p. 82); with that, Maru
can turn her Advantage into a Boost.
Soyeong tries to get Misaki to move the conversation
somewhere more private (her office), where she can
borrow the card. This counts as a Social
Engineering action.
It's a highly secure building, but Misaki has been
receptive to Soyeong so far, so the GM sets the
difficulty at 10. Soyeong rolls a 12, and soon Maru
has another connection to the network. Admin
access is within her reach...
Social Engineering: [5][4] + 3 (Cool) =
12 vs 10 (Success).

System 43
 Getting into Fights
When other options fail, or when you just really
H Attack Rolls
want to roundhouse a bad guy through some
When an Action tells you to make an attack, roll:
W convenient sheet glass, this section is where you go.
I Combat always uses Initiative. > (2d6 + Quick or Tough vs Quick or Tough)
You choose which Ability to use before rolling, and
The Arena the target chooses which Defense they use. Add any
The Arena defines the area around the fight, how it
relevant Specialties or bonuses from items.
affects Actions, and what outside problems the
combatants face. It's possible for a fight to You may only make an attack roll as part of an
“migrate” between Arenas, such as when a bad guy Attack Action; you can't "just attack."
is kicked through an office window into a factory.
Attack Actions
Instead of a Mood, Arenas have Tags. They can have
Attack Actions always come in two parts: making an
multiple Tags at once, and Tags can be added,
attack roll and doing something else. If Advantage
substituted, or subtracted on the fly.
or Disadvantage apply, they apply to every roll
Conspicuous: Will attract police or security made as part of the Attack Action.
attention if guns are used. Examples include public
Ranged attacks may only be made using weapons
spaces like streets, storefronts, and public libraries.
with the Ranged tag (p. 88), while Melee attacks
Close Quarters: Guns are Disadvantaged against may only be made using your body or weapons
melee. Used for narrow places like hallways, and with the Melee tag (p. 88). You may only attack one
cover-dense environments like forests or full target unless the Action states otherwise.
warehouses.
If one part of the Attack Action can't happen—for
Hazardous: The area is riddled with environmental example, if you Take Cover but don't have a
hazards, such as exposed electrical wires, fire, ranged weapon, don't want to shoot, or have no
swinging ballast, unsafe railings, and so on. Actions cover to hide behind—you can still use the other
that use the environment against the opponent part of the Action. If the Action involves a save
may have Advantage. against your attack roll and you didn't roll, the
difficulty is 10.
Distracting: Noise, falling water, darkness, bright
lights. Escape is easier, as is stealth; ranged combat You can't use the same Attack Action twice in a
is Disadvantaged. Examples include an office with row. When you use one, it's considered inactive
an active sprinkler system, heavy rain, dark tunnels, until you make a different one.
or an active automated factory.
Low Gravity: Getting to your opponent and New Attacks
leveraging your strength is harder. Melee combat is When a player wants to do something not covered
Disadvantaged, as is movement unless you can by these Attack Actions, you can make one up. All
you have to do is decide if it involves a Melee or
justify being used to low gravity. In Grand Cross, Ranged attack, then decide the effect.
this mostly applies to the station's central axis and
the void of space. If it requires a save immediately, choose an
appropriate Ability. Difficulty is equal to the
Bad Footing: Underbrush, tangles of wires, ice, attack roll.
narrow bridges and similar things that make If it requires a save later, such as the beginning
movement arduous (and at Disadvantage). of their next turn, its Difficulty is 10 + one of the
attacker's abilities.
Vacuum: Unless you’re a spaceworthy android, you
must be wearing a space suit to survive. Exposed If it’s especially difficult to shake off, the save is
an action that also allows a ranged or melee attack.
characters will die very soon.
Like other Attack Actions, these become inactive
until you use another one. If it's an especially
situational Attack Action, it may remain Inactive for
the rest of the fight, or only apply to this fight.

44
System
Take Cover Hunker Down

Getting Into Fights

You may make a Ranged attack, then dive for > If Take Cover is inactive, you may Hunker Down.
cover. Ranged attacks made against you are at All Ranged attacks made against you roll one
Disadvantage until the beginning of your next turn. fewer die than normal until the beginning of
your next turn. If your cover is particularly hard,
Distract such as cement or metal, you may also mitigate all
You may make a Melee or Ranged attack, then incoming damage by one additional step so long
describe using some element of the environment as it applies. (A grenade thrown over a wall at your
to distract your target (e.g. throwing office feet still hurts.)
supplies, activating a sprinkler system, setting off
This attack becomes inactive only when your
a fire extinguisher, or using a smoke bomb).
cover is destroyed or otherwise becomes useless,
Affected targets must make a Cool save vs your such as when you become flanked.
attack roll or become Distracted until the
beginning of your next turn. Allies attacking Pin Down
Distracted foes gain Advantage. If the element You may make a Ranged attack, then pin your
you use could affect multiple people, they all make target down until the beginning of your next turn.
a save, even if your attack doesn't target them. If that target takes any action that doesn’t involve
getting into or staying in cover (including moving,
Flush Out if they’re not moving into cover), you may make
You may make a Ranged attack. If the weapon an additional ranged attack against it.
you’re using is an automatic firearm, affects an
area, or easily penetrates the cover your target is Run Away
hiding behind, you then force the target to move You flee the scene. If you’re in attack range of any
from its current position after resolving the effects opponents, you must roll 2d6 + Quick vs 7 +
of your attack. number of opponents. If you fail, they all get to
make a free attack against you; if any of them hit
Grab and deal damage, you don't flee, even if it's
You may make a Melee attack, then grab the mitigated to 0. If you succeed, you're out.
target.
Rush
• If you and the target are of roughly equal size,
You may make a Melee or Ranged attack, then
you both become Grappled. A Grappled
rush at your target. They must make a Tough save
character may only use Melee attacks against
vs your attack roll or suffer one of the following
targets they're Grappled with and get
consequences (your choice):
Disadvantage on ranged attacks against others.
(You may make a "melee" attack with a small • You bull rush them, pushing them back—through
held weapon like a pistol.) glass, furniture, or other people as necessary—so
long as they're roughly your size or smaller. You
• If the target you're fighting is much smaller
choose whether you move with the target.
than you, only it becomes Grappled.
• You knock the target over, so long as they’re
• If the target is much larger than you, neither of
roughly your size or smaller. Melee attacks
you become Grappled; instead, you climb onto
against the target have Advantage until the
it. While you're on it, its Melee attacks against
beginning of their next turn; Ranged attacks
you and its Ranged attacks against others have
against them have Disadvantage.
Disadvantage. Melee attacks made against a
target you’re climbing on gain Advantage. • You grab the target. See the Grab attack for
details.
As an action, targets can make a Melee or Ranged
attack and try to end the grapple or climb with a
Tough save vs 10 + your Tough.

System 45
 Fight Tips Damage and
Simple Opponents Harm
H If opponents are unimportant or there's a lot of Sometimes your character will suffer injuries. It
them, the GM may skip choosing Attack Actions for happens. Let’s go into how.
W
each one of them. Instead, simply describe the type
I of attack they're making, then one additional thing Damage Track
they do (if anything.) Don't bother tracking which Each character has a damage track that describes
Actions are inactive. Foes don't need to be more the kinds of injuries they can take before they're
complicated than necessary. incapacitated:

Make Actions Make 1 Minor Injury No effect

Sense 2 Minor Injury No effect
The ongoing story and what you've established in it
is the most important thing. When you make an 3 Harm -1 to all rolls
Attack Action, describe how you do it. If it makes use
4 Harm -1 to all rolls
of the environment, describe how. You're not just
Distracting them; you're activating a sprinkler system 5 Serious Harm -1 die to all rolls
or emptying the contents of a shelf onto them.
6 Incapacitated Out of action
If the scene as described wouldn't allow something
to happen, it doesn't. If you've established that When you take damage, you'll mark one of these
you're kickboxing someone in the middle of a road boxes. If you're told to mark a box that's already
and there's nothing to take cover behind, you can't marked, mark the next highest unmarked box instead.
Take Cover.
You should also write down what it means in the
If details haven't been established, you can add story. A minor injury can be something like a bruise
some. If you're in "an office" but haven't described or shaken morale, while more serious damage can
everything in it, you can add details like desks to be broken bones, damaged cyberware, or
duck behind, staplers and hole punchers to attack something else that takes a while to recover from.
with, and monitors to throw. So long as it's consistent
Until the injury is resolved in some way, you suffer
with what you've already described, it's fine.
its listed effects. Minor Injuries have no additional
effect. Harm gives a penalty of -1 to all your rolls.
Other Actions Serious Harm makes you roll one fewer die on all
While Attack Actions can only be used during
rolls. These effects are cumulative: if you mark
combat, you can still use other types of actions (like
boxes 3 and 4 your total penalty is -2, and if you also
Social Actions) in the middle of a fight if you have a
mark box 5 you use one fewer die as well.
reason. Other types of Actions do not become
inactive during combat, so you can keep using
Taking Damage
them. However, for the purposes of Social Actions,
Most of the time if you're hit by an attack, you
the Mood is always considered Hostile.
mark box 1. Attack rolls that beat your defense by 3
or more cause you to mark higher boxes:

ATTACK VS DEFENSE MARK BOX...

Succeeds by 3+ 2
Succeeds by 6+ 3
Succeeds by 9+ 4
Succeeds by 12+ 5
Succeeds by 15+ 6

46
System
Incapacitated Recovery

Getting Into Fights

When you mark box 6, you're taken out of the Your damage track clears over time.
fight—you're knocked out, or you're stunned for the
Minor Injuries are automatically cleared after the
remainder of the conflict, or you're trapped under
scene you received them the moment you can take
debris, or something equally applicable.
a breather.
If you have to mark box 6 again, you risk death.
Harm can be recovered though player action,
Your character must be rescued, resuscitated, or
whether it's first aid, medication, or something else
otherwise stabilized within one minute (or 3 Rounds
that fits the story. It should take longer than a
if you're using Initiative). If not, they die or get
minor injury, and in some cases you may still need
permanently removed from the story if your GM is
to rest for a few days. Some Occupations and items
feeling generous. Either way, make a new character.
allow you to recover Harm and may have
If they can't be stabilized, first aid can extend this associated rolls; in other cases where a roll feels
grace period for up to twenty minutes. If the appropriate, use 2d6 + Clever vs 10 + Box.
character attempting first aid has a relevant
Serious Harm is hard to recover from during a
Specialty, no roll is required; otherwise, roll
mission. The character needs serious medical
2d6 + Cool or Clever vs 10.
attention, and days or even weeks of rest.
Mitigating Damage If you're Incapacitated, it clears up like a minor
If you have Prep (p. 50), you can spend it when you injury. You might need help getting back on your
suffer damage to reduce it, one-to-one. For example, feet, but you'll shake it off.
if you would normally mark box 3, you can spend a
Prep to mark box 2 (even if box 3 is already marked). Permanent Injuries
If you're Incapacitated but you really need to
If you spend 2 Prep, you can mark box 1 instead. act, you may opt to have your character suffer
Having Armor (p. 84) can also reduce incoming a permanent injury and immediately clear
box 6. This should be something serious that
damage. You don't have to spend anything, but makes sense in the story, like a lost eye, ruined
there are some situations (like the critical effects of cyberware, or serious trauma.
certain weapons) where armor doesn't work at all.
While you suffer this injury, the GM should impose
Reducing damage always happens before you mark a story-appropriate penalties—a missing eye may
box. If this would cause you to mark a box that's already make ranged attacks harder, for example. The
only way to recover from these injuries is to
marked, you still mark the next highest box as normal. purchase a cybernetic replacement (or get
If you downgrade to 0, you suffer no damage at all. serious repairs if it was already chrome.)

Other Effects The Problem with Combat

Some attacks may have additional effects on you if Ultimately, rules for getting into fights are also rules
they do any damage at all. For example, a for attempting murder. Even if you don’t intend to
tranquilizer dart that makes you mark box 1 may yet, it’s possible that somewhere in your future is
also make you sluggish and unresponsive, forcing a guy with hopes and dreams and a chance to turn
his life around whose decades-long story will come
Disadvantage on all your rolls until you save against to an end on your blade. The option is on the table.
it. When an attack inflicts such an effect, note down
the box you marked. When that box is recovered, The rules for combat actions are placed after
the other actions because they’re meant to be a
the effect immediately ends if it hasn't already. tool of last resort. They’re what you use when
you can’t talk to, hack, or avoid your problems.
People who try violence first tend to be messed
up or, worse, policemen.
But violence is still on the table. Sometimes it’s in
self-defense. Sometimes, the possibility of
violence is enough—some people are much more
willing to accept non-violent solutions when Plan
B is looming in the background. Sometimes you
just want to have a cool action scene. That’s okay.
Don’t be afraid to fight if you need to. Just be
sure you explore all the options.

System 47
 Example Fight:
Tiger Shark
Once the group gets the data, it's time to leave—but that won't be easy. First, Mira is accosted on the
H way out by security guard Tall Steve, who didn't appreciate her threatening him earlier. Second, the
W corporate cleaner Tiger Shark catches Lee and Zander helping the others escape via the rooftop.
I The mood is Hostile, obviously.

Mira
Mira's fight is relatively simple. The Arena is one of the
building's back exits. The tags (p. 44) are Conspicuous
(firearms will attract attention) and MMA (firearms
have Disadvantage against melee). Tall Steve is a
simple opponent: level 2 with 2 Health.
Since the Arena is Conspicuous, Mira decides to use her
Close-Quarters Combat Specialty to kick Tall Steve into
submission. Attacks are always made as part of another
Action, so she chooses to Rush him (if she can knock
him down, her next attack could have Advantage.)
First is her attack roll. Mira rolls 10: Tall Steve's
defense is 2+5=7, so she deals two points of damage,
one for beating his defense and another for beating it
by at least 3. Mira kicks Tall Steve so hard that he
immediately gives in rather than pursue her.
Rush Attack: [4][2] + 3 (Tough) + 1 (Close-
Quarters Combat) =
10 vs 7 (Success).

Tiger Shark
Meanwhile, Lee and Zander are fighting Tiger Shark.
The group opted to use solid state initiative (p. 34), so
Tiger Shark goes first, then the PCs move in any order.
Tiger Shark doesn't like fancy maneuvers as much as
he likes murdering people, so he simply Rushes
Zander. Since he's outnumbered two-to-one, his
Badass Talent (p. 72) gives him a bonus on top of his
already high stats. He makes a Quick attack and rolls
14, against Zander's Quick Defense of 10. Since Tiger
Shark succeeded by 3+, Zander marks box 2. Luckily,
it's only a minor injury.
Since it's a Rush attack and Zander's still standing, he
must make a Tough save against Tiger Shark's roll of
14. Zander's Tough is 0, so he cannot do this without
spending Prep to Boost the roll, and even then it's
unlikely. Zander chooses to fail instead, and Tiger
Shark pushes him to the edge of the roof.
Rush Attack: [6][1] + 3 (Quick) + 3 (Blades) +
1 (Badass) = 14 vs 10 (Success).

48
System
Zander
Now it's Zander's turn, and he has flashbangs (p. 89).
They cost a point of Prep each time he uses them, but

Getting Into Fights

he's been saving Prep for this.
He chooses to Distract Tiger Shark with one. He's got
high defenses, so Zander even spends another Prep to
Boost the roll. He makes a Quick attack and rolls 13; Tiger
Shark uses his Quick Defense of 13, so it barely connects.
Instead of taking damage, Tiger Shark must make a
Quick save vs the attack roll. If he fails, he becomes
Distracted (giving his attacks Disadvantage) until he
can make a Cool save. Since he has zero Cool, he
decides to avoid this by using his Impulsive Trait (p. 28)
to Boost the roll. He rolls 15, a success.
Speaking of Cool, however, the Distract action means
he must also make a Cool save vs Zander's attack roll or
become Distracted, giving Zander's allies Advantage to
attacking him. With zero Cool against Zander's 13, he has
no choice but failure. The tables have turned.
This move cost Zander all his remaining Prep, but it
was worth it!
Distract Attack: [2][5][3] + 2 (Quick) + 1
(Grenades) =
13 vs 10 (Success).

Quick Save: [3][5][4] + 3 (Quick) =

15 vs 13 (Success).

Lee
Lee decides to turn the tables again and Rush Tiger Shark
right back.
He makes a Quick attack. He has Advantage thanks to
Zander, a good Quick, and a nice Martial Arts Specialty, so
he rolls a 13. That's enough to connect with Tiger Shark's
Quick Defense, so Lee lands a hit.
Now, Tiger Shark must make a Tough save vs his attack roll.
With a Tough of +2 it's possible, so he gives it a try. He rolls
12, a failure.
Lee can now push Tiger Shark back or knock him over. He
knocks Tiger Shark over. Melee attacks against him have
Advantage now, and combined with Distract, that's double
Advantage. (Knocking him over grants Disadvantage to Ranged
attacks, though, which cancels out Distract's Advantage.)
Lee and Zander want to escape Tiger Shark, so on their next turn,
they're going to use the Run Away action. Since Tiger Shark
is on the floor with flash blindness, they'll probably make it.
Rush Attack: [1][5][3] + 3 (Quick) + 2 (Martial
Arts) = 13 vs 12 (Success).

Tough save: [4][6] + 2 (Tough) =

12 vs 13 (Success).

System 49
 Running Missions
A mission is any organized activity where the group Group Prep
H works together to achieve a major goal: infiltrating > 2d6 + Ability + Specialty vs 7
a corporate building to gather incriminating When you roll for group Prep, describe what your
W
evidence, dismantling a criminal operation, character is doing to prepare the group for the
I completing a university group project, and so on. mission. Choose a relevant Ability and Specialty.
Then:
In a typical game, most sessions will focus on one
mission with some free play before and after. Not • On a success, add one Prep to the group pool.
everything has to be a mission, and not every session • For every 3 points over 7, add an additional Prep.
needs a mission. It's only a mission if the group • On a failure, add no Prep.
decides it is; otherwise, just play it out normally.
This Action takes roughly one week. If you have
more time, the Difficulty increases by 2 for every
Prep group Prep roll you make this mission. Once a
The main benefit of missions is that you can prepare
Specialty is applied to a group Prep roll, it cannot
for them. In the days beforehand, characters gather
be applied to any other group Prep roll this
equipment, research, recruit friends, find their focus,
mission. You can apply a Specialty you already
take the first steps of an investigation, or do
used for a personal Prep roll, and vice versa.
whatever else they think will help them get ready.
These actions are represented with Prep. Prep rolls
create a pool of Prep points that are spent during the Acquiring Assets
mission to help accomplish goals or mitigate problems. If you want to pick up extra Assets for a mission, you
can use this Action instead of rolling for personal
There are two types of Prep: personal Prep and
Prep. You can buy the Asset for yourself or an ally.
group Prep. These are rolled for, tracked, and spent
separately. Any unused Prep is discarded at the
Acquire Asset
end of a mission, no matter what.
> 2d6 + Cool + Specialty vs 7
Choose an Asset from the Assets section (p. 79).
Personal Prep
The Restricted tag increases Difficulty by 3 unless
> 2d6 + Ability + Specialty vs 7
you have a relevant License Asset, and the Illegal
When you roll for personal Prep, describe in broad
tag increases it by 6.
terms what your character is doing to prepare
themselves for the mission. Choose a relevant For every 3 points you beat the Difficulty by,
Ability and Specialty. Then: reduce the Asset's Price by 1. The minimum is 1. If
you pay the final Price in Cash, you get the Asset
• If this is your first Prep roll of this mission,
permanently. If you can't, you may have to
add one Prep to your character's personal pool.
negotiate with the seller for a favor.
• For every 3 points you beat the Difficulty by,
add one additional Prep. Sometimes, you may be able to pay 1 Cash to rent
the Asset. If you don't return it in decent condition
This Action takes roughly 1 day. If you have more
after the mission, you must pay the full Price or face
time, the difficulty increases by 2 for every
the consequences: increase Burden by 1 if the Asset
personal Prep roll you make this mission. You
was legal—or make some enemies if it wasn't.
cannot apply the same Specialty twice, though you
can apply a Specialty someone else used already. If you fail, you may not attempt to acquire the
same Asset again until the next session. If it's
Restricted or Illegal, you may alert the authorities
or someone else you'd rather not.

50
System
Spending Prep

Running Missions
Here's what you can spend Prep on. If you're
spending it on a dice roll, spend before rolling.

Activate Items Negate Disadvantage

Some Assets like software packages, flashbangs, You may remove one source of Disadvantage from
and medical supplies are activated by spending one roll. You can remove as many sources as you
Prep. When you run out of Prep, you run out of the like if you have the Prep.
Asset. Details are listed in the Asset's description.

Boost Defense Reduce Damage

Add a Generic Specialty to your Defense one time. You can spend Prep one-to-one to reduce damage
You'll have to justify it: a character with the taken by one step on the damage track (p. 46).
Fighting Specialty could use it to intercept an
attack, someone in a packed warehouse could use
Stealth to run and hide, and so on. Flashback
You can narrate a "flashback" to an earlier point in
Boost a Roll time which explains how you prepared for a
Boost any one roll. You may do this once per roll. specific moment, so long as it fits the established
story. This can range from having paid off a side
Ignore Damage character who has no particular reason to hate
For one Action, you may ignore the effects of all you to having hidden a weapon in a maintenance
your marked damage boxes. tunnel. You can do this once per Mission.

Prep may be spent in any combination you like. Unless stated otherwise, group and personal Prep
For example, you could spend 2 Prep to Boost a roll can be spent in the same way. Group Prep
and Negate Disadvantage, or use a Flashback to represents the group's efforts to help each other, so
explain how you got an item somewhere you you should check with the group before spending it.
shouldn't have and then Activate it. Any Prep remaining at the end of a mission is lost.

System 51
 Example Prep:
Before the Party
Junior and Maru are planning to sneak into the Tetsuo Complex in search of incriminating data. In
H eight days, Tetsuo is hosting a launch event for some app there, which they can use as cover. That
W gives them enough time for one group Prep roll and one personal Prep roll each. All Prep rolls are
I made against Difficulty 7.

Maru
Because you can use the same Specialty for group and
personal Prep, Maru uses Hacking for both.
Group Prep first. Maru breaks into a Tetsuo work
apartment complex’s network, knowing the residents will
attend. She uses Clever and rolls 11. She gets 1 Prep for a
success, 1 for succeeding by more than 3, and 1 more from
her Overprepared trait (p. 29), for a total of 3 group Prep.
Maru scrapes a lot of useful info from Tetsuo emails.
Group: [1][6] + 3 (Clever) + 1 (Hacking) = 11.

Next is personal Prep. Maru tries to find exploits in the

Complex's systems. Since she's focused on avoiding
discovery over being clever, she rolls Quick and gets 13.
She gets 1 Prep no matter what, but she also beat the
difficulty by 6, so she adds another 2 Prep for a total of 3
personal Prep. She'll be ready for sure.
Personal: [5][5] + 2 (Quick) + 1 (Hacking) = 13.

Junior
Junior prefers to mix things up. For his group Prep, he
uses his Journalism skills (and Cool, of course) to pump
his contacts for info. Sadly, he rolls 6. Failures on group
Prep rolls add nothing—his contacts are either clueless
or scared of Tetsuo.
Group: [2][1] + 2 (Cool) + 1 (Journalism) = 6.

But there's always Personal Prep. In a past mission,

Junior befriended Emi, a security guard in the Complex.
She might help in exchange for a bribe, so Junior tries his
Wheeling and Dealing Specialty (and Cool again—no
limits on Abilities.) This time he rolls a 9. Still not great,
but he gets 1 Prep no matter what. Emi will help, but
since it's personal Prep, she only trusts Junior.
Personal: [5][5] + 2 (Cool) + 1 (Wheeling and
Dealing) = 9.

52
System
Managing Money

Managing Money
Grand Cross might be powered by solar panels and Burden Ranks
conductive thermal plates in the hull, but money is At 0, you're comfortable. You don’t go hungry. You
what really makes it go ‘round. can afford a nice apartment. You can pay most bills,
and you can handle emergencies. You can make
Though 2020 lies in the distant future, humanity is
time for education, training, and hobbies without
still held back by a capitalist system. Wealth is
feeling guilty or pressured to work. You're not
either invisible or all-consuming. If you have it, you
wealthy, but you're doing fine.
don’t worry about it; if you don’t have it, it can eat
away at your mind. At 1, you're getting by. You're slowly building up
some savings, but mostly you live from paycheck to
In Hard Wired Island, you don't track exactly how
paycheck. Though you're vulnerable to economic
much money your character has. Instead, you track
shocks, you can keep up with rent and you don't
their Cash and their Burden: how much they can
normally go hungry. You can afford a few subscription
spend and how much they can't.
services and enough luxuries to feel content.

Burden At 2, you're precarious. You're dealing with an

underpaid job, predatory loans, or the fallout of an
Your Burden represents your socio-economic
emergency. You've probably gotten good at cooking
status. It's a rough indicator of how comfortably
with kelp and rice, which you buy in bulk. You can
you can live, how many services you can subscribe
barely afford entertainment, but you'll feel guilty
to, and how well you're getting by.
about it. You spend a lot of time worrying about
Burdens are ranked from 0 to 4. The default is 1. bills—a single shock can bring you close to ruin.

0 is the lowest Burden player characters can

have. Negative Burdens are the domain of the
wealthy, and they already pulled the ladder up
behind them.

System 53
 At 3, you're struggling. Most of your money goes into
rent and food, and some days you have to choose. You
Economic
spend a lot of time stressing about your future. You Shocks
H probably don't have much walking-around money, The capitalist system of Grand Cross is designed to
let alone savings. You probably rely on financial aid, trap people in poverty so the ruling classes can exploit
W
though that’s increasingly rare as Unity believes them. There's little upward mobility, but it's easy for
I poverty is caused by personal failings and bad genes. emergencies, sudden bills, or the station's shifting
economic situation to knock you further down.
At 4, you're destitute. You can only barely afford
food. You probably sleep in a car, on a friend's couch, Before every mission, if your Burden is above 0,
or in the basements. It's almost impossible to keep up you must roll 2d6 + your Burden. If you roll 13
appearances, and when you don't, otherwise normal or more, you suffer an economic shock: a delayed
people will sneer at you in the street. You spend paycheck, rising rent, an unforeseen emergency, a
most of your waking hours just trying to survive and theft, or just general hard times.
rarely have enough time for anything else.
Choose one of the following consequences. If your
roll was 15 or more, choose two. If you can't
Sharing the Burden decide, the GM may decide for you.
One way that characters can lessen their Burden is by
pooling their resources and living together, supporting • You get kicked out of your current living space
each other as needed. On Grand Cross, this usually and must find a new one.
means sharing an apartment and splitting rent. • You lose an Asset permanently (your choice.)
• You have to skip meals/recharging. Mark your
If two or more characters with different Burdens
first damage box; you can't recover it until after
live together, find their effective (or average)
your next mission.
Burden by adding their Burdens together, dividing
• One cybernetic augment stops functioning prop-
by the number of characters, and rounding down.
erly until the next session. It still works, but
When a character adds their Burden score to a roll,
bonus Specialties and anything beyond normal
use their effective Burden.
human function does not.
If two or more characters with the same Burden • Your Burdens exhaust your mental energy. You
live together, treat their Burden scores as 1 lower suffer Disadvantage on all Clever rolls until after
(to a minimum of 0). your next mission.
• Your Burdens make it hard to be social. You
If one character in a shared living space suffers an
suffer Disadvantage on all Cool rolls until after
Economic Shock (see below), every character they
your next mission.
live with suffers one too. They decide what happens
• You lose the benefits of one of your Traits until after
as a group but suffer the effects individually.
your next mission (but still suffer the downsides.)
At the GM's discretion, the group may roll for
For example: Soyeong and Maru rent an economic shock again after especially long
apartment together. They both have Burden 2,
but by sharing living space, daily tasks, and downtimes or major story events. Use this
expenses, their Burden is treated as 1. sparingly; it's not interesting if it keeps happening.
Junior and Lee share an apartment. Junior has
Burden 3, while Lee has Burden 2. Their
average Burden is (3+2)/2 = 2.5, which rounds
down to Burden 2. Junior’s effective Burden is
2; Lee’s was already 2, so it doesn’t change.
Later, Soyeong and Maru meet the homeless
Vicky and let her stay on their couch until she
gets on her feet. Vicky has Burden 4. Now that
there's three of them with different Burdens,
they need their effective Burden: (2+2+4)/3 =
2.6, which rounds down to 2. By using their
regular Burdens for a while, Soyeong and Maru
let Vicky treat her Burden as 2.

54
System
Grand Cross Upheaval Cash

Managing Money
The distant future of 2020 is an uncertain one. As
Cash is a temporary resource earned during play.
the political and economic landscape shifts, it's
While Burden represents your broad status, Cash
possible the station will fall on hard times. And
represents in-game rewards, loot stolen during a
when the money stops flowing, it's always the rich
mission, favors owed, pocket change money from
that get bailed out first.
your grandma, and other short-term gains.
As a story event, if (or when) the station suffers
widespread social upheaval, economic downturn, Using Cash
or a major disaster, the GM may increase the entire Outside a mission, you can spend 1 Cash to Boost
group's Burden by 1. If extraordinary action from a roll. This includes Prep rolls. During a mission you
the group helps weather such a disaster, or a can't leverage your Cash like this and must use Prep
wealthy or influential ally ensures their economic instead.
stability, the group's Burdens may be restored to
You can spend Cash to acquire Assets (p. 50).
their previous state; if not, this change is
In some cases, you may be able to negotiate a
permanent. Chasing wealth is a vicious cycle.
better price beforehand, or just rent the Asset.
Upheaval should be used sparingly. It's best used as
You can spend Cash to mitigate economic shock.
a major event in a story arc, when you want to
After you roll for economic shock, you can spend
make a mission special, or when the group
Cash to reduce the result one-to-one.
seriously messed up during the last mission. Again,
it's not interesting if it keeps happening. You can spend Cash to reduce your Burden. If you
pay (10 - your Burden) in Cash, you may
Cybernetic Burden permanently reduce your Burden by 1, to a
In the future, there’s an entirely new form of minimum of 0.
economic oppression: augmentation.
Storing Cash
Whether you were augmented to stay competitive at
There is no upper limit to how much Cash you can
work or for healthcare reasons, it's often easier to get
have, but as it represents temporary gains, it's a
new installations subsidized than maintain current
volatile resource.
ones. Once your company drops you, or your insurance
company decides you don't need another arm, you're If you have unspent Cash at the end of a session,
usually saddled with the costs of maintaining your own roll 1d6. You lose that much Cash. This represents
cybernetics even when they’re irreversible. In short, unexpected expenses, cybernetic maintenance, old
cybernetic augments increase your Burden. bills, gambling losses, or other short-term losses.
At negative Burden, you don’t worry about it. You You may give Cash to other characters to boost
can be as enhanced as you want, and many rolls, make purchases, mitigate economic shock, or
augments basically pay for themselves. reduce Burden. However, Cash given to other
characters must be spent immediately. You can't all
At Burden 0 or above, each additional Augment
dump your Cash on one person at the end of a session
increases your Burden by 1.
to mitigate your losses (you can reduce someone’s
Some character options can mitigate this cost—for Burden so it doesn’t go to waste, however.)
example, the Builder Origin means one Augment is
already paid for. They may have dumped you on the
street once you stopped being useful, but at least
they're paying for that leg.
This doesn't apply to cosmetic or medical
augmentations. If you get a set of cat ears, or an arm
that works exactly like a regular arm, it doesn’t increase
your Burden enough to matter. See p. 91 for more.

System 55
 Gig Work Apps
The digitization of society has led to the rise of the Workers sign up for particular “tiers” of work, each
H gig economy, an incredibly flexible system in which encompassing different types of task and rates of
W workers use online platforms to provide services and pay. Once they’ve joined, they’re assigned jobs
I the people who own those platforms exploit them. based on proximity, reviews, and feedback on
clients from other contractors.
A typical gig app seeks to “disrupt” an existing
industry by offering similar services at much lower The tier system is broad and complicated enough that
prices, achieved by not giving their workers the pay Headpattr offers workers the option to turn down
and benefits they’re entitled to. To get around labor jobs at their discretion, though doing it repeatedly
laws, workers are usually called “independent tends to result in an automated drop from the
contractors” or “entrepreneurs”. service. Exceptionally well-reviewed maids (generally
ones with a strong online presence) might be offered
Many Crossers supplement their income by doing a
affiliate status, becoming part of Headpattr’s
little side work through an app. Their popularity
marketing campaigns and getting higher rates for it.
has exploded in the last few years, as the housing
crisis, the Disaster, and the steady erosion of labor Clients: The kind of people you’d expect to pay
rights has provided a ready supply of poor workers money for cat maids: rich weeaboos. As the idea of
desperate to stay afloat. a maid app became more mainstream though, the
client base diversified somewhat. From babysitters
There are several gig economy apps PCs can use.
to waiters at your office function to watching your
Each has one Cash-related benefit and one
child’s dance recital—put any kind of emotional
drawback—you can make short-term gains, but
labor in cat ears and someone will want it.
they won’t help much in the long run.
If a client tries to harm a maid, Headpattr is willing
Using Apps to send in private security, initiate legal action, and
even ban them from the platform. They have an IP
You can choose to use a gig app at any time. This is
to protect now, you see.
optional—you don’t have to if you don’t want the
drawbacks. Culture: Workers approach Headpattr in many ways.
Business-savvy maids try to draw the company’s
You can only use one app at a time. If you quit, you
attention with high-end peripherals like cat ear
still suffer that app’s drawback for that session and
headsets and GPS chokers. A burgeoning contingent
the next (if applicable). You can switch to a different
of trans folk have grabbed the chance to showcase
app, but you can’t return to an app you quit for at
GNC fashion and culture on a mainstream stage in
least a few in-game months.
collaboration with indie artists and designers,
capitalizing on Headpattr’s huge social following.
Headpattr
Headpattr is a maid service. Anyone with the cash By and large, though, most folks tend to view it as a
can hire maids of any gender presentation on an menial, frequently demeaning job that’ll let them
hourly basis to clean apartments, run errands, and scrape together enough to pay the bills.
perform just about any other purpose agreed on by
Use: Using Headpattr gives you +1 Cash at the
both parties. The app’s gimmick is that the maids
beginning of every session unless you suffered
wear cat ear headbands.
Economic Shock. If you roll a critical on your Economic
Headpattr began as a maid café’s April Fool’s gimmick, Shock—succeed or fail—gain an additional +1 Cash.
before both the café and the app were bought out.
Workers don’t get benefits and suffer overhead on
Today the app is big enough that a Headpattr anime
app fees and uniforms. Reducing your Burden costs
is due to come out sometime in 2022.
(12 - your Burden) Cash instead.
Business Model: This service uses the standard
freelancer model with a few modifications owing to
the difficult-to-quantify nature of social work.

56
System
Huntr RoofDash

Gig Work Apps

There are a lot of criminals in space. Not just RoofDash is a courier app. Delivery services are
because of socio-economic pressures—people from popular on Grand Cross, as the lack of cars means
all over Earth have managed to escape the law by more people order online. RoofDash focuses on
heading up; all they need is the right contacts and a smaller deliveries.
bit of cash. They can be extradited, but first they
The app prides itself on its exclusive selection of
need to be caught.
contractors who have athletic skills and sweet
Huntr was developed in collaboration with private parkour moves. (A lot of their workers will simply
security companies to get help from orbital citizens. use a scooter or the bus, but that doesn’t pop in
Users can peruse the current wanted list, broker marketing material.)
information they think might help, and even try to
Business Model: RoofDash’s model is fairly
capture bounties if they dare.
standard: customers specify what they want, where
Business Model: Bounties are submitted by the to get it, where to take it, then make the payment. A
SPS and PSCS, along with their payouts. If you bring nearby worker accepts the order and makes the
the target to a police station, you get the reward. delivery, which customers often oversee via GPS.
You can also tag some users whose information was The worker gets a base rate from RoofDash, plus (in
helpful, and they get a small bonus (the cops theory) a tip. As usual for gig apps, there are no
usually pressure you to tag their accounts.) benefits or job security.
Huntr’s dirty secret is that it makes most of its Clients: Pretty much anyone who needs something
money through information-posting fees. On paper delivered in a hurry. Common deliveries include
the fee is to discourage spam, but in practice it just fast food, midnight snacks, electronics, things
monetizes it. The ideal Huntr user is a middle-aged someone forgot to bring with them to school or
white conservative who submits ten conspiracy work, minor trips to the grocery store, messages,
theories a day. and weird bullshit. (Workers in Turing often swap
stories of the weird startup guy who uses RoofDash
Clients: Law enforcement. Originally, Huntr was only
to deliver data sticks instead of sending emails.)
meant to cover people wanted on Earth, but the
police have started quietly including anyone wanted Culture: Most RoofDash workers have a specific
in orbit (especially Hotel Melbourne members.) Next, “base”—a district where they’re likely to get a lot of
they want to include suspects and protesters. orders, ideally with a nice indoor park they can rest
at. Once they make a delivery, they rush back to
Culture: Most “bounty hunters” never actually
base. The best RoofDash workers develop a
catch anyone. It’s hard to make a career out of it;
detailed knowledge of the districts around their
the ones that do usually have a side-job or make it
base and where all the shortcuts are.
their brand and try to get famous.
RoofDash commits wage theft3. Though they claim
Laws restrict what bounty hunters can do “on the
customer tips will help with scooter maintenance
job.” If you use force, you must file paperwork to
and the other costs of making deliveries, they
justify it or the cops will get you too2. Even then,
regularly steal tips and use them to subsidize their
you hear stories about wannabe cops in impractical
workers’ pay. A group of RoofDash workers is trying
tacti-cool gear getting in trouble for “arresting”
to change this, but they haven’t had much luck yet.
strangers every few months.
Use: When you roll for group Prep before a Mission,
Use: You can check for bounties before a Mission.
you may instead choose to work for RoofDash. You
Your GM will tell you if there’s a bounty involved in
have to use a Generic Specialty for making speedy
the Mission. If the bounty is successfully Huntr’d,
deliveries, even if you’ve already used it during
gain +2 Cash at the end of the Mission.
Prep. Gain Cash instead of group Prep for this roll,
Huntr work is unstable at the best of times, so when to a maximum of +3 Cash.
rolling to see how much Cash you lose at the end of
a session, roll with Advantage.

2 You can’t just go around beating strangers

at random. Only cops can do that. 3 More than usual, I mean.

System 57
 Community
Grand Cross is a living city, full of people from all walks
H of life. PCs aren’t just defined by the things they
Advancement
Every time the group achieves a Milestone that had
W have; they’re defined by the community they exist in.
something to do with the community or impacts it
I If you want your Hard Wired Island game to focus on in a noteworthy way, any player may name one new
building and growing a community, use these rules. resident. This can be a completely new character, or
someone the PCs have interacted with before.
Residents The maximum number of listed residents is 10,
Your community is mostly defined by the people in though the group can go higher if they’re
it. When play begins, the group decides what the comfortable with remembering that many.
community actually is—whether it’s the apartment
block they live in, an online community, an activist/
union group, or something else.
Burden
Each community has a Burden, just like a character
Then, each player names a resident they know (a (p. 53). They start at Burden 2.
side character) and what they do in the community.
At the beginning of each session, the GM rolls for
These residents form a communal pool of contacts
Economic Shock for the community. They roll with
any player can draw on.
Advantage—communities on Grand Cross are under
Each player can call upon a resident once per constant threat from corporate interests these days.
session, whenever their character has the time to For every 1 the result exceeds 12 by, the GM
do so, and get one of the following: chooses one resident to face Economic Shock, a
problem, or an accident. Chosen residents cannot
• A +1 bonus to 1 relevant Prep roll.
be called upon during that session.
• Treat 1 roll as if they had a Generic Specialty
relevant to the resident. Residents might be facing individual problems or
• A +1 bonus to Acquire an Asset relevant to the facing a large problem together—such as a local
resident. business closing, or an unwanted faction muscling
• Borrow a resident’s Asset for 1 mission, possibly into the area. Helping with these issues can be
in exchange for 1 Cash and a promise to cover opportunities for missions, short scenes between
costs if they don’t bring it back. missions, or roleplaying moments.
For example, say your community is the If the GM decides a resident’s problems are too
neighborhood your PCs live in, and you say that severe and the PCs aren’t doing much, they may
another resident is a woman named Tae who runs a leave the neighborhood. Residents who leave are
bar called BA4 To-R. If you call on her, you could get not replaced, and automatically increase the
a bonus to a Prep roll by huddling at her bar, a community’s Burden by 1.
Generic Specialty useful for gathering information,
Other than that, Burden increases and decreases
a bonus to Acquiring an Asset like a specific drink or
primarily through story. For example, if a popular
a favor from a patron, or rent use of her bar for a
local store closes down, Burden might increase as
private meeting.
jobs are lost and people go elsewhere. Pushing a
The group should feel free to come up with other corporate interest or toxic member out of the
ideas for what they can call upon residents for, so community might improve conditions for a while,
long as everyone agrees. reducing Burden. (If the PCs’ actions have a large
effect on the community, consider removing
Advantage from its next Economic Shock roll.)

Fixers
A Fixer with the Contacts and/or Facilitate
Talents (p. 62-63) can add community residents
to their list of contacts and may call upon them
even if another player already did.

58
System
Example Communities

Community
Use or adapt these communities as needed.

#zerocool Law Zero Cell

The #zerocool hacker collective was originally “Operation Robots & Empire” is a cell of the android
formed by a group of online friends looking to hone gang Law Zero, formed to keep tabs on AGI research
their skills and have some fun. When a relative of in the corporate world—and, if possible, steal it. In
one of their members was put in the hospital by a theory, ORE only answers to R. Daneel Olivaw, but
member of the New Barons, they turned their they’re asked to help others on occasion.
hacking skills toward taking down members of the
Residents: A.J.7. (Tetsuo mole); Stompy Lau (Hoshi
group and others like them.
Group contact); Malcan Theta (Law Zero high-up);
Residents: The Australian (non-member, hardware Mondaino Problem (hacker); Solaria (Double
supplier); Kelly Leete (Marsha Stretch resident, Crosser, new kid).
drone expert); Mai Mojibake (lazy gremlin, doxxing
expert); “Neon Trotsky” (new member, librarian). Marsha Stretch
The Marsha Stretch is an LGBTQ+ enclave in the Neo
Hadar Logistics Melbourne district, originally founded by queer
Hadar is a small courier company based out of Builders who felt Grand Cross could use a space for
Adams. They help people with shopping, transport them. These days, it’s developed a gentrification
sensitive documents, and do all kinds of weird jobs problem.
that involve moving things from point A to point B.
Residents: Beepjamin (android doctor); Kelly Leete
The employees are a tight-knit bunch and
(Double Crosser hacker); Roll Cinnamon (GPol
sometimes help their customers with other things
student, courier); Susie Darling (owns the Café
too. (The group can run Hadar or simply work there.)
Larose); Cerberus Zhao (activist, visits friends here).
Residents: Susie Angel (employee, parkour genius);
Aleph Asamiya (regular customer, electronic Pitwell Lane
musician); Halland (employee, very punchy); Russell is a quiet residential district in Adams ward,
Connie Turner (regular customer, old lady hacker). known for its street art. Your community is a nice
little apartment block on a side-street with a graffiti
L4 Activists wall. Your neighbors seem like regular folks, but
There is nothing stopping you from simply choosing everyone’s got a story.
the Disaster activist movement as your community
Residents: Alya (street artist); Umaru Kayode
if you wish. In this case, you’re probably a sub-
(cyber-doctor, runs the Apple Street Medical
group within the movement. You can also make the
Center); Manaia Mita (radio DJ, UFOlogist); Seong-ja
community all about the sub-group, if choosing the
Seo (cyborg pro VRFPS gamer); Rania Xanthopoulos
entire movement feels like a big responsibility.
(owns nearby Dead Beats bar).
Residents: Tova Dyson (computer science teacher);
Izzy Kaijou (net café owner); Sam Okafor (lawyer); Space Town
Tony Osborn (comic store owner, android activist); Space Town in Marukyu is a shopping district, a
Melati Onbekend (L4 refugee, hacker). major pop culture hub, and a sacred place for geeks.
A lot of the regulars are familiar with each other and
Latte Night with familiarity comes friendship. If you can accept
Latte Night is a used bookshop/café in Voyager that Space Town’s weird bullshit, it might just be your
opens just before midnight and closes just after home away from home.
sunrise. The regulars are a strange and eclectic bunch,
Residents: Kusa Hoshii-Dotnet (regular visitor, data
but once they pass through the doors, they’re just
nun); Izzy Kaijou (net café owner); Mana & Nagisa
fellow book and coffee lovers. They look out for each
(webcomic artists); Muse (GPol anime club
other and sometimes help other customers.
president); Jett Wattana (regular, Singularist);
Residents: Lotte (cyborg barista); Akari (Asano office Zander Xander (regular, drone expert).
lady); Brokkr (Law Zero lieutenant); Broz (Builder,
retired agritech); Leetboy (GPol college student).

System 59
 Occupations
Chapter 3:
Occupations
“Always ask: what can I do to help? I can bake extra food for the needy, so I do. Sameer can help
me organize delivery. Ping isn’t great with numbers, but she can talk to androids. Ken can punch
someone so hard their kidneys fall out, which we do not need, but he can also lift large boxes. We all
have something to contribute, and we all cover each other’s weaknesses.”
- Amarjeet Singh, volunteer

This chapter covers the game’s seven Occupations:

Advancement
• The Fixer, who solves problems with their skills Every Occupation receives the same benefits as
and contacts (p. 62) they advance in level.
• The Hacker, who solves problems by hacking
For full advancement rules, see the full version of
systems (p. 64)
this book.
• The Influencer, who solves problems by influen-
cing people (p. 66)
LEVEL BENEFITS
• The Operator, who solves problems with drones
1 +1 Specialty, +1 Generic Specialty, 1 Talent.
and machines (p. 68)
If this is your first Occupation, choose from the
• The Soldier, who solves problems by fighting
First Occupation box.
and protecting (p. 70)
• The Street Fighter, who solves problems with 2 +1 Specialty, +1 Generic Specialty, 1 Talent
martial arts (p. 72)
3 +1 Specialty, +1 Generic Specialty, 1 Talent
• And the Thief, who solves problems with agility
and trickery (p. 74) 4 +1 Specialty, +1 Generic Specialty, 1 Talent
Each Occupation has its own Talent pool, as well as 5 +1 Specialty, +1 Generic Specialty, 1 Talent
some extras you can choose from if it’s your first
6 +1 Specialty, +1 Generic Specialty, 1 Talent
Occupation. Some Talents have extra requirements
to take them, or extra effects that unlock when you 7 +1 Specialty, +1 Generic Specialty, 1 Talent
gain enough Talents; these are listed in their entry.
8 +1 Specialty, +1 Generic Specialty, 1 Talent
Generic Talents that anyone can take can be found
on p. 76. 9 +1 Specialty, +1 Generic Specialty, 1 Talent
10 +1 Specialty, +1 Generic Specialty, 1 Talent

System 61
 Fixer
The Fixer is great at solving other people’s problems. They untangle
H complex situations, facilitate deals, talk to people, and leverage their
W contacts to get things done. Of course, some Fixers have the skills to get
I their hands dirty, too. We won’t tell you what to do. We’re not your mom.
Examples: Bodyguards, consultants, criminals, Double Crossers with a
lot of free time, freelance troubleshooters, gig workers, helpful
neighbors, investigators, journalists, public relations.

FIRST OCCUPATION
Choose one: License (p. 82) or Trendy Wardrobe (p. 84).
Choose one: Gun with Suppressor (p. 88) or a Small Local Business (p. 83).
Choose one Specialty: +1 Tough Defense, +1 Cool Defense, or +1 to 1
Social action.
Choose one Talent: Fixer or Generic.

Talents
Aid Another Contacts
When you have a Generic Specialty relevant to an Write down a side character you’ve met (or make
ally’s task and have plenty of time, you may add +1 one up) and a specialized interest they have (e.g.
to their rolls so long as you can devote your full “Jae-yun, Motorcycles”). When you have plenty of
attention to the task. time, you can call upon them as if they were a +1
Generic Specialty, once per session per Fixer
Contacts Talent: You can call upon a side
Talent you have. For every Milestone the group has
character instead of devoting your full attention.
achieved, write down another side character.
7+ Fixer Talents: Add the full value of your
Facilitate Talent: These Talents share
relevant Specialty instead.
characters. Make one list; add only one per
Milestone.
Bluff
Gain +1 Cool Defense and the following Attack action:
Criminal Network
When dealing with criminal acts, people, and
Bluff
things, take +1 on all social rolls.
Once per fight, after you are hit with any Attack,
you may use this Attack in response. Make an
Expedite
Attack using Cool vs your attacker's Cool. Instead
Spend 1 Cash or Prep to make a task that takes a
of dealing damage, this attack inflicts one
long time for you or an ally take less time (e.g. a
Disadvantage on your opponent's next roll against
week to six days, a day to an hour, an hour to
you. They and any onlookers think you are either
minutes.) This cannot make a complex task
unharmed or a serious badass. If your opponent
instantaneous.
has no concept of human emotion, this attack
has no effect.

5+ Fixer Talents: Inflict one Disadvantage on

your opponent's next roll against you for every
damage you would have dealt.

62
System
Facilitate Leverage

Occupations
Write down a side character you’ve met (or make You may attempt to Threaten someone without any
one up) and a specialized interest they have (e.g. leverage. On a critical, they will accidentally reveal
“Mira, Gun Enthusiast”). When you’re bargaining some form of leverage which you can use from that
with or helping someone, you can call upon them point on. On a failure, they realize you have
in place of 1 Cash or for +1 to a relevant Social nothing; depending on the situation, your failed
roll (before rolling). For every Milestone the group threat may turn into leverage against you.
has achieved, write down another side character.
Lighten Up
Contacts Talent: These Talents share
Once per social encounter, on a critical social roll,
characters. Make one list; add only one per
you may treat the Mood as Friendly for the rest of
Milestone.
the scene. (e.g. a Formal occasion remains Formal,
but you are treated as a friend and can get away
Fixing the Odds with things.) This does not work during combat.
Once per session, when you or an ally have Advantage
7+ Fixer Talents: This works during combat, so
on a roll, turn all Advantage into Boost instead.
long as you can justify it (or it’s super funny.)
Describe how you arranged this, or with who.

Gift of the Gab Negotiator

You take +1 on all Social rolls made during any Mood When you undertake a mission, you can squeeze a
other than Hostile. During a Hostile Mood, you little extra out of it. Choose either +1 Cash before
instead take +1 on your first Placate roll in this scene. the mission, or +2 after.

I Know A Guy Plausible Deniability

When you try to Acquire an Asset, a critical You have Advantage on all Social rolls made to
decreases its Price by an additional step. Illegal cover up, lie about, or conceal your or an ally’s
items only increase Difficulty by 3 for you. involvement in dubious or criminal activity.
5+ Fixer Talents: criticals also allow you to
Unusual Talents
attempt another Acquire action with no extra
Gain +1 Item or Generic Specialty of your choice.
time spent.
5+ Fixer Talents: Gain an additional Asset or
Generic Specialty.
It Takes All Kinds
Choose a Talent from another Occupation. You have 7+ Fixer Talents: Gain an additional Specialty
that Talent. Your Fixer Talents count toward its (any kind).
unlock requirements. (This Talent and the one you
chose only count as one.)

System 63
 Hacker
Being good with computers is practically a basic life skill these days, but
H the Hacker is amazing with them. They know how to penetrate networks,
W hijack machines, and bend cyberspace to their will. Give them enough
I software and a deck to run it, and they can change the station.
Examples: Black hat hackers, game developers, hacktivists, hobbyists,
infosec workers, IT workers, programmers, tech journalists, trans
people who own computers, white hat hackers.

FIRST OCCUPATION
Get: One Hacking Suite (p. 85), one Program (p. 85) of your choice.
Choose one: A Program or a Fake ID (p. 81).
Choose one Specialty: +1 Clever Defense, +1 Quick Defense, or +1 to 1
Hacking action.
Choose one Talent: Hacker or Generic.

Talents
Battle Network Darknet Rep
Once per combat, as an action, you can use your Take +1 on all social rolls made online when dealing
hacking skills to change or add to an Arena’s Tags with other hackers or hacker culture. You and your
(e.g. by activating a sprinkler system, flickering the allies can namedrop your hacker alias to take +1 on
lights, or opening an airlock) without rolling. rolls made to Acquire hacking-related Assets.

Combat Hack Donʼt Be Evil

During a fight, you may spend 1 Prep to use the You believe in the cause. Take +1 on all Hacking and
following Attack action on a drone or robot: Social rolls made to infiltrate a Cartel corporation
or another corporation of similar size and scope.
Combat Hack Take +1 on all Attacks you make against Dreamers.
Make a Ranged attack using Clever + Hacking vs
Clever. (If it’s unlisted, it is 7.) Deal damage as Hot Streak
normal. If this damage would disable your If you roll a critical success on any Hacking action,
opponent, it becomes an ally instead. It takes gain Advantage on your next Hacking action in that
actions independently on your behalf until the Network.
fight is over or it takes 1 damage, whichever
comes first. It is disabled afterward. This does not
work on androids, Dreamers, or other AGI.

64 System
Information Broker Study Network

Occupations
If you hack a network during a mission, you may sell During the Prep phase, if you know you are going to
incidental sensitive information you found afterward. infiltrate a specific network, you may spend a week
Unless you suffer Economic Shock, begin your next studying it instead of rolling for Prep. Activating
session with +1 Cash. If the network belonged to a Program Assets while inside a network you have
Cartel corporation, start with +3 Cash instead. studied costs no Prep.
7+ Hacker Talents: You only need to study for
Laughing Gal a day.
So long as you have your Hacking Suite, electronic
sensors (including cameras, androids, etc.) cannot
recognize or identify you unless you want them to. Sync Up
Your face is blurred or replaced with a static image When you go on a mission, choose an ally who is
(e.g. a cartoon cat's face.) This won't set off alarms, either an android or augmented and spend 1 Prep.
but androids and humans will notice. You are now partners. Until the end of this mission
(or until something happens to sever your Wi-Fi
Master Phisher connection, whichever comes first,) you both take
You take +1 to your Social rolls when trying to get +1 on rolls that help your partner, so long as those
sensitive information out of someone. If you’re in rolls use an augment or the character is an android.
contact with someone attempting Social
5+ Hacker Talents: You may add additional
Engineering on your behalf, you also grant +1 to
partners for 1 Prep each.
their roll.

Move Fast and Break Virtual Ghost

Things At the beginning of a hack, add 1 chance to your Ghost.
During a hack, you may expend 1 chance from your
Stealth Specialty: You also add 1 chance to
Ghost to have Advantage on your next roll.
your group’s Stealth when sneaking.
Online Resources
The first time you roll for personal Prep, gain +1 Zero-Day Threat
additional Prep. During the Prep phase, instead of rolling for group
Prep, you may spend a week developing a new threat
7+ Hacker Talents: +2 additional Prep.
that security software won’t catch. Treat this as a
single-use Program Asset with the following rules:
Script Kiddie
The first time you use a Program Asset during a Zero-Day Threat
hack, spend one less Prep. When you first choose You may spend 1 Prep to activate this at the
this Talent, choose and gain one Program Asset. beginning of a hack. Any time you would have
Advantage during this hack, turn it into Boost
instead.

System 65
 Influencer
The Influencer has unlocked the true potential of the World Wide Web:
H getting a bunch of people to see things your way. They can make
W friends anywhere—and they’ve made enough on the internet to
I crowdsource solutions to their problems.
Examples: Artists, bloggers, forum moderators, game developers, IRC
operators, journalists, musicians, online activists, radio DJs,
shitposters, social media influencers, streamers, YourTubers.

FIRST OCCUPATION
Choose one: A Doggo (p. 81) or a Trendy Wardrobe (p. 84).
Choose one: A Drone with the Flying, Improved Camera, and Audio
Recording tags (p. 86) or a Verified Account (p. 83).
Choose one Specialty: +1 Clever Defense, +1 Cool Defense, or +1 to 1
Social action.
Choose one Talent: Influencer or Generic

Talents
Big Mood DDoS
Choose one of the following Moods: Friendly, Once per session, you can use a Social action to
Formal, Hostile, or Sexy (if that’s a thing in your send your followers after an online target. This can
game.) Take +1 to all Social actions and Cool disrupt a person or company's social media
Defense rolls in a scene with that Mood. presence for a day, disrupt a smaller website,
distract staff at an office, make a network
7+ Influencer Talents: Choose a second Mood.
vulnerable, hide a reply in a slew of notifications, or
anything else a lot of people making bad posts can
Crowdfunded do. Anyone hacking an affected network gets an
You use a gig app that strongly leverages your additional Chance on their Ghost and Advantage on
personal online brand, whether that’s food photos, rolls made to maintain Ghost. However, everyone
nudes, or being a dumbass. Unless you suffered will know you started it.
Economic Shock last session, gain +1 Cash at the
beginning of every session just for oversharing Everyone Knows Me
yourself online. Take +1 on Social rolls against crowds.
5+ Influencer Talents: +2 Cash.
7+ Influencer Talents: +3 Cash.

66 System
Extremely Online Socialite

Occupations
If you have no relevant specialty in a roll but plenty Once per session, when you would have Advantage
of time to do it, you can ask your online followers on a Social roll, turn it into Boost instead.
for help and treat the roll as if you had a relevant
7+ Influencer Talents: Twice per session.
Specialty at +1. This can be used for Prep rolls once
per session.
Sponsored
Hot Take You have a sponsor, corporate or otherwise. Unless
You can spend 1 Prep to declare any Social roll to you suffered Economic Shock last session, begin
be a Hot Take. On a success, in addition to the other every session with +1 Cash. If your sponsor sells
effects, you temporarily become the center of branded gear, you may grant Advantage to yourself
attention (online or off.) Allies attempting to evade or an ally trying to buy that gear. If you behave
notice (under Stealth or Ghost) or take advantage of badly enough to lose your sponsor, you will have a
the distraction gain Advantage on their next roll. new one by the beginning of the next session.
7+ Influencer Talents: Their next two rolls. 5+ Influencer Talents: +2 Cash.

Niche Content Terminally Online

You post content that caters to a niche interest. Gain So long as you have uninterrupted access to the
+1 Specialty and +1 Generic Specialty of your choice. Internet, you always have your pulse on current
It cannot be a Generic Specialty you already had. events (and their memes) without having to take
time or roll for it. If you are around to give advice
Parasocial and have the time to do it safely, an ally attempting
Relationships an action involving celebrities or current events
When you meet a fan, that fan starts out Friendly to takes +1 to their roll.
you no matter what the current mood is. Once per
mission, you may spend 1 Prep to establish that Viral
someone you’re about to interact with for the first If you make a Social roll online, on a critical it goes
time is a fan. Viral. Within hours people across Grand Cross will
notice your post, share it, make memes, or just
Personal Insight straight-up steal your content to sell shirts. Your
When you roll a critical on a Social roll against an target will react accordingly: if you're mocking them,
individual (online or off,) you may ask one of the they'll hate you and possibly delete their account; if
following questions. The GM must answer you're praising them, they'll love you, and so on. In
truthfully. The target is not aware they have given addition, gain Advantage on all rolls capitalizing on
this information away. your Viral content for this session and the next.
• What could they use help with?
Win Them Over
• How can I hurt them?
When you successfully Placate someone or make
• Is there something that they really want?
them Friendly with a Social action, gain Advantage
• How are they feeling currently?
on your next Social roll against them.
Relatable Content
Once per scene, when you reveal a personal detail
about yourself to anyone, take +1 to your next
Social action. On a critical, succeed or fail, you also
Boost it. This Boost can turn a failure into a success.

System 67
 Operator
The Operator’s specialty is hardware. They play with drones, repair
H androids, jury rig machines, and generally mess with technology to get
W what they want. Drones are getting worryingly common on Grand
I Cross, so they have a lot to play with.
Examples: Androids, hobbyists, electronic musicians, engineers,
maintenance workers, photographers with camera drones, roboticists,
security personnel, station workers, tech vloggers.

FIRST OCCUPATION
Get: One Drone Asset (p. 86). This is your Personal Drone.
Choose one: An additional Drone tag, or any Asset of your choice that
can fit into a Drone.
Choose one Specialty: +1 Clever Defense, +1 Cool Defense, or +1 to
any 1 action.
Get: Personal Drone Talent.

Talents
Personal Drone Clever Mechanic
You now have a custom Personal Drone asset. If this You have Advantage on repairing hardware of any
isn't your first Occupation, create a new Drone to kind, including performing first aid on androids.
become your Personal Drone. For each rank of the You automatically know if something is irreparable
Drone Specialty you have, the drone has an or if rare components are needed. Once per
additional tag chosen by you. You may add up to mission, you may spend 1 Prep to repair a
two more tags to the drone later, at a cost of 2 Cash destroyed drone you own. It can take one damage
per tag. before being destroyed again.
In addition to the normal list of drone tags (p. 86),
Coordinated Operation
you have access to the Operator tags on p. 87.
During your turn in a fight, before taking an action,
You may swap your Personal Drone’s tags when you you can declare you and a drone you own are
have downtime. attacking the same target. Take +1 to your and your
drone’s attack rolls. Neither attack may affect an area.
If you've lost your Personal Drone, you can spend 3
Cash to replace it with a day or so of work.
Experienced Pilot
You may spend Prep to negate disadvantage to your
Ace Pilot drone, one-to-one. When you spend personal Prep
Once per session, while piloting a drone, you may
on a drone you own or any Asset it carries, roll 1d6.
turn an Advantage into a Boost instead.
On a 6, gain 1 personal Prep.
5+ Operator Talents: Twice per session.
7+ Operator Talents: When you spend group
7+ Operator Talents: Three times per session. Prep on your drone, roll 1d6. On a 6, gain 1
group Prep.

68 System
Full Synch Miniaturization

Occupations
You have (illegally) connected your drone’s controls You may choose one additional drone tag for a
to your nervous system, like a cyber-limb. While you drone you own.
take no other action while piloting, gain Advantage
on all Piloting rolls and become unaware of your Nerd
surroundings until your next action. When you are around to give advice, allies take +1
on all rolls relating to androids, cybernetics,
If your piloted drone is damaged while you are in
drones, gaming consoles, mechanics, and robotics.
Full Synch, roll 1d6 and mark that box on your
You automatically know all relevant major
Damage Track. You cannot use Full Synch again
hardware manufacturers and their models.
until your next mission. You cannot spend Prep or
use armor to mitigate this damage.
Redundant
Construction
Jury-Rigged Solution You may spend Prep to reduce damage dealt to a
Once per mission, as an action, you may remove
drone you own, one-to-one. Your drone can take 1
one tag from a drone you own to gain 1 Prep.
additional damage before being destroyed.
Regain the tag at the beginning of the next session.
7+ Operator Talents: You may do this twice per Tech Head
mission. Take +1 on any roll involving using, hacking,
nerding out about, destroying, or repairing
hardware such as androids, drones, vehicles and
Margatroid Protocol cybernetics. This does not apply to piloting.
You may choose the Swarm tag for a drone you
own, in addition to its other tags.
Wired Reflexes
Swarm: a Swarm drone is actually a multitude of You and any drone you pilot take +1 to Quick
smaller drones (up to 10) that can be in many places Defense rolls. You may spend Prep to Boost your
at once. Take +1 on all actions where it’s reasonable drone’s actions.
to expect a swarm of drones to be particularly useful,
such as lifting heavier loads, surveying a large area, Drone Strike
and so on. When piloting a Swarm drone, you may A drone you own can make the Drone Strike attack.
choose to instead pilot only one drone at any time. If
loaded with an Asset Hardpoint, all your drones are Drone Strike
equipped the same way. Your drone may make a Ranged Attack. Anyone
targeted by it or are in its area of effect—succeed
Maverick or fail—must make a Cool Save vs your Attack
Take +1 on Attack rolls made by you or a drone you roll or be forced to go prone, or else move from
own against airborne targets. You may spend Prep their current position. Prone foes don’t move on
to Boost Defense for your drone, using your own their next action.
Specialties.

System 69
 Soldier
The Soldier is a warrior. They’re strong and use their strength to protect
H others. They’re tough, which comes in handy when the powers that be
W send police and private security to crush resistance. Anyone can be a
I Soldier if they have the will to fight for what they believe in.
Examples: Activists, athletes, bounty hunters, community volunteers
and organizers, ex-cops, gangsters, mutual aid workers, rescue
workers, rioters, street medics, virtual reality gamers.

FIRST OCCUPATION
Choose one: A weapon of your choice or a First Aid Kit (p. 81).
Choose one: Rioting Gear (p. 84) or a Safehouse (p. 83).
Choose one Specialty: +1 Tough Defense, +1 Cool Defense, or +1 Item
Specialty.
Choose one Talent: Soldier or Generic.

Talents
ACAB For the Cause
Take +1 on all rolls while dealing with police and When you are fighting for a cause larger than
other security forces, whether attacking, defending, yourself, take +1 Tough Defense.
spotting, evading, interacting socially, and so on.
7+ Soldier Talents: Allies who can see you also
take +1 to Tough Defense.
Always Prepared
During the Prep phase, automatically add +1 group
Prep to the group pool. Get Down!
Whenever two or more allies are hit by an effect
7+ Soldier Talents: +2 group Prep.
(such as gas or grenades,) you may spend 1 Prep to
be hit by it instead. Describe how. If it is an
Cool Head explosive grenade or similar effect, you
During a stressful situation such as a riot or fight, immediately mark damage box 6 instead of taking
take +1 to Cool Defense. normal damage. This can be reduced as normal.
5+ Soldier Talents: Take +1 to your Cool
Harm Reduction
Defense at all times.
Once per mission, if you have marked a Harm or
7+ Soldier Talents: Allies who can see you also Serious Harm box on your Damage Track, you may
take +1 to Cool Defense. spend 1 Prep to ignore the penalty from that box for
the rest of the mission (or until you mark another
Harm or Serious Harm, whichever comes first.) You
Coordinated Targeting still suffer the penalty after the mission.
Whenever you Attack with a Ranged weapon with
Advantage, all allies who make Ranged Attacks
against that target get Advantage on their attack
rolls until the beginning of your next turn.

70 System
On-Site Procurement Threat Assessment

Occupations
During a mission, every time you spend personal When you enter a fight, choose one opponent and
Prep, roll 1d6. On a 6, gain 1 personal Prep. ask one question:
5+ Soldier Talents: Every time you or a nearby • What is their best Defense?
ally spends group Prep, roll 1d6. On a 6, add 1 • What is their worst Defense?
group Prep to the pool. • What weapons do they have?
The GM must answer truthfully (including if there
Protest Coordinator are multiple best or worst defenses), except for
Once per session, during any mission, rally, protest, questions about the weapons of Dreamers, which
or riot, you can declare that a useful ally is around. are beyond mere mortals.
Choose or create a friendly side character. This ally
5+ Soldier Talents: Ask two questions of up to
can assist you with one specific protest-related
two opponents.
task, such as medicine, drone interference, spotting
danger, and so on. If you roll for this ally’s actions, 7+ Soldier Talents: Ask three questions of up
add +3 to rolls relating to their stated Specialty. to three opponents.

Right Tool for the Unit Leader

Right Job During a fight, you may allow allies to spend your
Gain 1 Item Specialty with an Asset of your choice.
personal Prep as though it were group Prep.
The first time you would spend Prep to use an Asset
while on a mission, spend one less Prep.
Walking Armory
5+ Soldier Talents: The first 2 times. Whenever you reload a weapon, your allies may
also reload for free. Once per mission, you can
7+ Soldier Talents: The first 3 times.
reload one Ranged Ammo weapon for free.
7+ Soldier Talents: Twice per mission.
Riot Medicine
As an action, you may spend 1 Prep to grant all
allies in your vicinity Advantage on Saves and
Defense rolls vs all debilitating or “less than lethal”
attacks, such as gas, sonic attacks, stun guns,
hacks, and so on1. This lasts until the next time you
act in a fight, or until the end of the current scene if
you’re not fighting.
7+ Soldier Talents: You can do this while
taking another action.

Tacti-cool Loadout
Whenever you use an Asset outside of a fight as part
of any action, take +1 to your roll.

1 See riotmedicine.net for more information.

System 71
 Street Fighter
The Street Fighter fights for what they believe in, and they put their
H body on the line to do it. Thanks to their training—whether it was
W formal or earned on the streets—they’re experts at melee fighting and
I capable of impressive physical feats.
Examples: Athletes, cosplayers who get really into it, habitual brawlers,
martial arts enthusiasts2, personal trainers, protesters.

FIRST OCCUPATION
Choose one: A Badass Headband (p. 84) or a First Aid Kit (p. 81).
Choose one: A Gym (p. 83) or a melee weapon of your choice.
Choose one Specialty: +1 Quick Defense, +1 Tough Defense, or +1 to 1
Fight action.
Choose one Talent: Street Fighter or Generic.

Everything is a
Talents Weapon
The first time you gain Advantage for using an
Badass element of the environment during a fight, turn it
Take +1 on all melee attacks while you are
into Boost instead.
outnumbered.
5+ Street Fighter Talents: The first 2 times.
Chain Punch
When you roll a critical on a melee attack against
Grappler
any number of opponents, gain Advantage on your
Gain +1 Specialty with the Grab Attack. Add +1 to
next attack against any or all of those opponents.
the Save difficulty made against escaping your
Grab. You may continue to make melee attacks
Defy Death against anyone in range while Grappled.
The first time you fail a Save during a mission, you
may reroll it.
Gun Safety Bear
7+ Street Fighter Talents: Instead of rerolling, If someone targets you with a held Ranged weapon
you succeed. and misses while you are within melee range, you
may disarm them. The weapon falls to the ground.
Engaged 5+ Street Fighter Talents: You may disarm
If you are within melee range of someone and they them if they target someone other than you.
try to get away from you, they must roll a Quick
7+ Street Fighter Talents: You may also render
save vs 10 + your Martial Arts.
it harmless (for example, by immediately
If they fail, make a choice:
stowing it, breaking or dismantling it, tossing it
• They move away, but you follow immediately, somewhere unrecoverable, or unloading it.)
maintaining melee range.
• They’re unable to get away from you and you
both stay in roughly the same spot.

2 Practitioners of every martial art have

come to space to spread their style
beyond Earth, so don’t feel constrained
by location.

72 System
Know Them Through Reversal

Occupations
Battle You may use the Reversal attack immediately after
When you roll a critical on any Melee Attack against being hit by a melee attack. Reversal becomes
any number of opponents, ask one question about inactive until you’ve made two other, different attacks.
them:
Reversal
• What is their best Defense?
Resolve the incoming attack, then make an attack
• What is their worst Defense?
roll. If your roll is higher than the attacker’s, your
• What are their intentions?
target suffers all effects of the attack instead of
The GM must answer truthfully (including if there you. If the incoming attack allows a choice
are multiple best or worst defenses), unless they’re between multiple effects, you choose the effect. If
unfathomable, like Dreamers. In addition, if they you Reversal a Reversal, they cancel out.
were trained by a rival martial arts master in orbit
or are one in disguise, you learn who the master is. 7+ Street Fighter Talents: After using Reversal,
you may reverse all melee attacks made
Martial Arts against you until the beginning of your next
You never suffer Disadvantage from your environment turn.
when using bare hands and feet in a fight.
When you make a melee attack, you may also make
Sword Master
it against a second target in range (if there is one.)
Take +1 to your Quick Defense against all melee
You may Grab multiple people at a time this way.
attacks while you’re wielding a melee weapon,
5+ Street Fighter Talents: You may target unless your opponent is far larger than you.
everyone in melee range.
Tank
Gain +1 Specialty in either Tough or Quick Defense.
No Pain In addition, gain the following Attack action:
The first time you would mark damage box 1 or 2 in
a fight, do not mark damage.
Tank
When an ally’s Tough Defense or Quick Defense is
Personal Trainer targeted, you may use this attack to either physically
Take +1 to Social rolls when you’re teaching
interpose yourself between your ally and the
someone or giving them advice. If the mood is
attacker or move them out of the way. You are now
Friendly, take Advantage instead. In addition, you
the target of their attack. Every use of this action
may grant an ally your spend time doing Prep with
after the first one in the same combat costs 1 Prep.
+1 to 1 Prep roll before each mission.
Reversal Talent: You may use Tank and
Reversal on the same attack, if applicable.

Threat
Opponents who are within melee range of you have
Disadvantage on their first action targeting
someone other than you until the beginning of your
next turn. This penalty does not apply to area
attacks that include you.

System 73
 Thief
The Thief is sneakier than most people. They aren’t all criminals—
H though they certainly can be—but their views on things like “law” and
W “honor” tend to be flexible, especially when they get in the way of
I doing what’s right. If they have to use trickery to get what they want,
they can and will.
Examples: Con artists, couriers, direct-action activists, ex-corporation
enforcers, gangsters, investigators, journalists, parkour enthusiasts,
people living “off the grid”, thieves.

FIRST OCCUPATION
Choose one: A Fake ID (p. 81) or a weapon (your choice).
Choose one: A Safehouse (p. 83) or Thieving Gear (p. 83).
Choose one Specialty: +1 Clever Defense, +1 Quick Defense, or +1 to 1
Stealth action.
Choose one Talent: Thief or Generic.

Talents
Cat Burglar Getaway
You have Advantage on all rolls to climb, scale, When you try to escape a scene or use Run Away to
squeeze through, abseil, leap over, or otherwise flee from a fight, you have Advantage on your roll.
pass an obstacle. Once per fight, when an attack
5+ Thief Talents: If you use any applicable
targets your Quick Defense, you may immediately
Asset for its normal cost (e.g. smoke grenade, a
use Take Cover (p. 45) before the attack is resolved.
vehicle,) you may roll to let your entire group
escape/Run Away.
Destructive Entry
While under Stealth or Ghost, when you try to
bypass an obstacle with a Security or Network Level Larceny
and fail, you may spend 1 Prep to succeed instead. Whenever you or an ally try to acquire an Illegal
You still lose a chance. This method will leave Asset no larger than a wearable or carried piece of
evidence behind but won’t incriminate you. equipment, you may take Advantage on the roll. On
a critical, in addition to the usual effects, you may
Mastermind Talent: You may do this with an
choose to pay for it with personal Prep instead of
ally’s failed action.
Cash on a one-to-one basis. Someone may get mad
at you for it later.
Enterprising
The first time you “find” or are rewarded with Cash “Locksmith”
during a session, gain +1 Cash. You have Advantage on any roll involving bypassing
locks, safes, and similar devices.
5+ Thief Talents: Gain +2 Cash.
7+ Thief Talents: You may reroll all 1s on these
rolls.

74 System
Mastermind Phantom Thief

Occupations
During any mission, when an ally takes an action You are infamous—usually a bad thing for your
that involves a Security Level or risks Stealth, you profession, but you’ve turned it to your advantage.
may allow them to spend your personal Prep as if it Choose a thief alias. In-game, this can be chosen by
were group Prep. your character or given by others. When you
perform a criminal act against a target with a
7+ Thief Talents: The first time you roll for
Security or Network Level and roll a critical, you can
personal Prep for this mission, gain +1 Prep.
leave behind evidence or a calling card implicating
your alias. Gain Advantage on all Social rolls to use
Muscle your alias to your advantage, hide your identity, or
You can briefly fight one foe without risking Stealth. mislead someone for this session and the next.
While you are in Stealth, if your opponent attempts
to use a loud weapon, trigger an alarm, or make an Slippery
alerting noise, you may spend 1 Prep to You have Advantage when you are escaping any
immediately use the Silence attack. kind of restraint, cell, hold, grab, tie, or similar
situation.
Silence
7+ Thief Talents: You may reroll all 1s on these
Make a Melee or Silenced Ranged attack. If you
rolls.
hit, you silence/remove the source of the noise
before anyone is alerted. If the source of the noise
was a loud weapon being used, you cancel your Smooth Criminal
opponent’s attack. While you and your group are under Stealth or
Ghost, add +1 to your own rolls.
Ninja
The first time you attack during a fight while you Social Chameleon
are hidden from sight, Boost it. You also have You have Advantage on all Social rolls to make a
Advantage on all rolls to Disable Security if the disguise or Fake ID seem convincing.
security is active.
7+ Thief Talents: You may reroll all 1s on these
7+ Thief Talents: You may spend 1 Prep to remain rolls.
hidden from sight after you make any attack.
Security Specialist
Parkour You know the make, type, and basic functionality of
If you roll a critical success on any action involving most commonly used security alarms and systems,
movement, gain Advantage on your next action if it including drones. If you are around to give advice
also involves movement. and have time to explain it, an ally taking an action
involving an automated security system of any kind
7+ Thief Talents: You may reroll all 1s on these
gains +1 to their roll.
rolls.

System 75
 Generic Talents
Any character may take these, so long as they fulfil the requirements.

H
W Basement Dweller Harder, Better,
Take +1 to all rolls that involve accessing the station
I Faster, Stronger
basements, navigating or sneaking through them,
Must have at least 7+ total Talents
or using them to go places you shouldn’t. You
always know where the nearest accessible Choose one Ability (Cool, Clever, Tough, or Quick.)
basement entrance is. Improve that Ability by +1, to a maximum of +3.

Born Ready Helping Hand

Add 1 additional personal Prep before every mission. Once per mission, if you’re around to help, you may
turn an ally’s Advantage into Boost before rolling.
5+ Talents: Also add 1 Group Prep to the pool.
I, Android
Contractor Android only
When you gain Cash from a Gig Economy App, gain
Other androids consider you a community leader
+1 Cash.
for your contributions to android culture or for your
work helping others. Androids who recognize you
Custom Omni-Sockets will never be Hostile unless you provoke them, and
Android or Full-Body Prosthetic only
if you want to talk to a fellow android, you will
You can switch out an Augment with about a always get an audience eventually. Even
minute of work instead of during downtime. This notoriously reclusive androids like R. Daneel Olivaw
customization voids your warranties. will at least agree to a phone call.

Daredevil Industrial Frame

When you roll a critical success on a Save, take +1 Android or Full-Body Prosthetic only
on your next roll.
Your body is designed for hazardous industrial
7+ Talents: Have Advantage on your next roll environments, including shielding from space
instead. radiation. Gain +1 Tough Defense. You
automatically succeed on all Saves vs gases,
radiation, and similar things that the GM agrees
Extreme Planning make sense for someone spaceworthy to shrug off.
You may use Flashback twice per mission.
Jack of All Trades
Robo Rapport Gain +1 Generic or Item Specialty of your choice. In
Android only
addition, your Generics always count as occupation
You’re very good at talking to humans, and your Talents for the purposes of unlocking bonuses. For
frame is appealing. When you roll a critical success example, if you have four Street Fighter talents and
on a Social roll against a human, take +1 to your Jack of All Trades, you get the 5+ Talent unlock for
next Social roll. Gun Safety Bear.
7+ Talents: Make this an Advantage on your
Lucky Star
next roll instead.
Once per mission, when you or an ally would fail a
Save, you or that ally may succeed instead. If
multiple characters have Lucky Star, each character
may only benefit from it once per mission.

76 System
Nemesis Redundant Internals

Generic Talents
You have a personal rival or enemy. Create or choose Android or Full-Body Prosthetic only
a side character to be your nemesis. When your
The first time you would mark any injury higher
nemesis is present during a mission, you take +1 on
than a Minor Injury during a mission, you may mark
all rolls and your nemesis takes +1 on rolls made to
a Minor Injury of your choice instead. This follows
oppose or hinder you as long as they’re present.
all the normal rules of marking an injury.
You may spend 1 Prep to declare your nemesis has
arrived or was present all along, so long as you can Shady Dealings
justify it. They remain your nemesis if you become Choose one Illegal Asset, Drone tag, or Augment.
temporary allies or even friends, provided they still You now own it, no Cash required. If you lose access
have reasons to oppose or push you. If they don’t, to it, regain it at the beginning of your next session.
you can get a new nemesis. (An Augment still increases your Burden.)

Notorious Specialized
Choose a group (e.g. Singularists, Hoshi Group, Gain +1 Specialty of your choice, to the normal
Technos, Furries, Breadtube, etc.) Once per session, maximum of +3. You may choose this Talent
you may call upon the group like you would a multiple times, but only once for each Specialty.
community resident (p. 58).
Spendthrift
Ogremoch Frame Whenever you spend or give someone Cash, roll
Android or Full-Body Prosthetic only 1d6 for each Cash. Gain 1 Cash for each 6 you roll.
Requires Redundant Internals You may not do this if you suffered Economic Shock
this session.
Serious Harm on your damage track becomes Harm
instead. You may clear one Harm at the end of a
Team Mom
scene as if it were a Minor Injury. Your body is now
During Prep, your first group Prep roll only takes a
Restricted (p. 80).
day. When you roll, add 1 additional group Prep to
the pool regardless of your result.
Paid
Choose a cybernetic Augment. It no longer
Training Montage
increases Burden for you. If you currently have no
When you roll for group Prep, instead of rolling you
eligible Augments, the next one you acquire will not
may choose one Specialty or Generic Specialty to
increase your Burden. You may choose this Talent
train. You take +1 to all rolls using the chosen
multiple times.
Specialty for the duration of your next mission. Your
allies can participate to get the bonus and still
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle make their own Prep rolls.
At the end of a mission, you may convert unspent
personal Prep into Cash. The first Cash costs 1 Prep,
Weird Science
the second costs 2, the third 3, and so on. You
You’ve encountered a Dreamer, and though you can
cannot do this if you’ve suffered Economic Shock
never truly understand them, you’ve become good
this session.
at guessing. Take +1 to all rolls made when tracking
or analyzing Dreamers, guessing what they’ll do
next, or escaping them safely.

System 77
 Assets and Cybernetics
Chapter 4:
Assets and Cybernetics
"Here at the 0Q shopping mall, we have everything you need—no questions asked! And now, for
every hundred dollars you spend, we'll give a dollar to charity! Which charity? No time to explain—it's
this week only!
OQ: Don't ask—just shop!"
— Spyros Antoniou, paid actor

This chapter covers Assets and cybernetics:

resources your PCs can draw on and things they can
Assets
put inside their body. Assets are resources your characters can draw
upon. They can be anything from personal
equipment like tools and gear to more abstract
things like locations and connections.
Chapter Contents
Each Asset has a description, a set of Tags, and a
ASSETS 79 listed Cost: the amount of Cash needed to Acquire
it. Some Assets also have a Special section, which
Usables 81 describes particular conditions or uses for them.

Locations 83
Gaining Assets
Wearables 84 During character creation, you gain some Assets
based on your Occupation and Trait choices. You may
Programs 85 then choose 2 additional Assets. These can be any
Assets you want, provided they make sense for your
Drones 86 character. You cannot buy Assets whose Cost is
Priceless, but anything else is fair game. (This is a good
Weapons 88 time to pick up a pricey Asset you've had your eye on.)

Cybernetic Augments 91 During play, you may use the Acquire Asset action
(p. 50) to get more Assets by spending Cash.
Starting Out 91

How It Works 91
Losing Assets
Assets can be lost during Economic Shock (p. 54).
Common Augments 93 If it makes sense in the story, Assets can also be
broken, borrowed, replaced, sold, or stolen.
Restricted and However, for the most part, Assets are permanent.
Illegal Augments 96
You can't just "use them up" and have to buy another;
Augverts 98 you're assumed to know how to maintain a supply.
For example, if you own a First Aid Kit (p. 81), you can
assume you keep it stocked without worrying about
running out and having to buy a new one.

System 79
 Asset Tags Other Equipment
Critical: This Asset has a special effect on a critical During play, you might find you need something that
roll—failure, success, or both. isn't explicitly covered in this chapter. What about
H grappling hooks? Scuba gear? Space suits? Parachutes?
Illegal: This Asset is illegal in Grand Cross, at least
Rappelling gear? Environmental hazard gear?
W for you small, non-corporate types. It’s hard to
I come by—unless you have the right connections. The answer: get it if you need it! These don’t have
If you're caught with it, you may get in trouble or specific rules; they have narrative uses. You already
lose the Asset. know what scuba gear does. You know how a
parachute works. You know what Tetsuo skyscraper
Obvious: This Asset might be portable, but it's
you’re rappelling down at 3AM. You don’t need it
impossible to conceal and likely to attract
spelled out for you, and we could use the space for
attention. Be prepared for a lot of stares and
more important things, like skateboards and cat ears.
questions. (This doesn't apply to businesses,
cars, or the like, because you’re not going to try Gear like this should have an upfront Cost of 2–4,
to hide them on your person to begin with.) depending on what it is. Unless it's something
weird and hard to get, don't bother rolling; you can
Rad: This Asset is radically cool. Possibly even tubular.
just spend the Cash.
Expect to attract attention, usually the good kind.
Use whatever Generic Specialty and Ability seems
Restricted: This Asset is hard to get, but not illegal.
appropriate, if needed. A lot of equipment can be used
You need a License (p. 82) to operate and own it,
safely with just a little training, which you can say you
however.
got in downtime or while prepping for that Mission, and
Specialized: If you spend Item Specialties on this you don’t need specific Specialties to cover using them.
Asset, you gain special benefits.
HOUSE
Some Assets, like Weapons, have unique Tags; Where your characters live is up to you.
these are described in their relevant sections. They're unlikely to have a lavish house
(especially on Grand Cross, where space is at a
Basic Items premium,) but characters with a decent
In addition to their listed Assets, there are a few Burden who haven't suffered Economic Shock
are assumed to have a similarly decent
things all characters are assumed to own (or have apartment with basic furniture.
access to):
However, a home isn't guaranteed. Grand
• Clothing and other common items. Cross is heading toward a housing crisis, with
• A smartphone and/or computer (though not Double Crossers finding it harder to buy an
necessarily a good one). apartment and privatized services leading to
rising bills for apartment owners.
• A Multipass transport permit with enough credits
for the basics. Characters with Burden 3 (and sometimes 2)
• A cheap bicycle, skateboard, or set of roller are probably renting, as are characters who
have to find a new living space after a bad
skates for getting around—if they want any. Economic Shock. Characters with Burden 4 are
• Any required wheelchairs, mobility scooters, or usually unhoused.
other aids.
If you'd like to describe where your character
• Anything else that seems to make sense. Don't lives, there's a few questions worth asking:
sweat the details too much.
• Where in the station is it?
• Do you own it or rent it?
• If you own it, how did you get it? Was it
assigned when you came here? Did you buy
it? Earn it through a work contract? Get it
Characters can have mobility aids and from someone else?
cheap personal vehicles for free. If you want • Are you rooming with anyone else? (If you
a really nice one, get the Asset version (see room with a PC, it affects your Burden [p. 82].)
Usable Assets, p. 53). You don't get the extra • How many bad months are you from losing it?
benefits of those Assets unless you
specifically purchase them. • If you don't have a home, where do you live?

80
System
Usables

Usables
Assets you use.
3d Printer Drone Gun
Cost: 4. Specialized. Cost: 3. Obvious, Restricted.
This device uses cheap resin or metallic residue to This "gun," which looks like someone decided laser
print objects according to your design, or designs tag needed to be chunkier, is a directed electronic
you've subscribed to (such as Zinovy countermeasure designed to shut off or reset
Ultragraphics assets.) Home printers can print drones at range, forcing them to land or fly home.
only relatively small handheld components. The Conveniently, it also works on other non-hardened
first time you roll for personal Prep before a electronics, like cameras and cybernetics.
mission, gain +1 Prep.
The Drone Gun automatically works on
Specialized: Once per mission, you may add your unattended electronics. People with Augments
3d Printer Item Specialty to any roll, so long as that aren't ECM-hardened (p. 87) make a Clever
you can justify having printed something relevant Save vs 10 (+1 per non-hardened Augment), or
before or during the mission. have those Augments shut down until they make
the same save at the end of their turn.
Doggo
Android frames, full-body prosthetics, and medical
Cost: 2 + daily pets and walkies.
Augments are assumed to be hardened and cannot
You have a dog1. It may be natural or artificial, but
be shut down (though it makes androids and full-
it’s cute as heck. The first time you interact with
body cyborgs feel uncomfortable.)
anyone socially while you have a Doggo, you have
Advantage on your first Social roll against them. If The Drone Gun is battery-hungry, and costs 1 Prep
the person hates dogs for whatever reason, you per use.
have Disadvantage instead. Given time and effort,
a Doggo can be trained to do various tricks. An Fake IDs
artificial or cybernetically augmented Doggo can Cost: 2 the first time; 1 after. Illegal.
grant a specialty to rolls as if you had it, but You have the contacts and resources to get (or
imposes +1 Burden on you. make) fake identification. The first time you buy
this, you get a fake ID for one person, for a specific
1 Nothing stops this from being a Catto, a
Parroto, or even a Koalo, though a live
one might be difficult to import. Also,
purpose or place (e.g. an employee badge.) It
passes all cursory examinations and basic
koalas kind of have messed-up thumbs. electronic security. You get Advantage on social
situations where presenting this ID would help.

Combining Assets You can purchase this Asset again to get more fake
You can combine two Assets into one so long IDs. Since you already have the means to get
as it makes sense and you own both. For them, they're cheaper.
example, the sample PC Jae-yun has
combined a suit of Combat Armor with a First Aid Kit
Powered Exoskeleton into one Asset called a
Hardsuit, an experimental prototype being Cost: 3. Specialized.
developed by the Cartel against some kind of After a fight, you may spend Prep to use this. Roll
unspecified threat2. Xander has a drone 2d6 + Clever vs 10, or vs 12 if you have no
that's also a skateboard. relevant Specialty. On a success, you may clear
You can also (optionally, if the GM allows it) one damage box marked during that fight, plus an
combine tags from multiple categories. For extra box for every 3 you succeed by. If you're
example, drones can get an Improved Sensor trying to stabilize a dying ally, Boost your roll.
Package, but guns normally can't. However,
there are radar-guided guns in real life, so Specialized: You get one free use per mission for
you can give a gun that tag if the group every point of Item Specialty in the First Aid Kit.
agrees it fits the game.

2 Dreamers. It's the Dreamers. We're not

here to play coy.

System 81
 License Shard Card
Cost: 2, plus having your name on a Cost: 2 for Open, 4 for Secure.
government registry. Specialized. A computer tool frequently used by hackers.
H You may possess up to two Restricted Assets or
Its original incarnation was a replacement for the
Augments without getting into trouble, chosen
W office computer. Instead of a PC, each employees'
when you buy the License. Cops may still snatch
I them if they take you in, but they are generally
user session is run on a mainframe server at the
office. Your Shard Card can be plugged into a Wi-Fi
required to give them back (unless the promised
device called a Blade, which streams your user
civil asset forfeiture bill is passed by Unity next year.)
session to an attached monitor and keyboard.
Specialized: You may upgrade your License to This allows employees to easily switch desks,
cover an additional Restricted Asset per Specialty show other people their session, or take their
(max 5). work home with them. Many corporations use
Shard Cards for this reason.
Membership
These days, most PCs have Shard Card drives.
Cost: You have to be invited to be a member.
They're often impractical for personal use, but
It may come with a nominal no-Cash yearly fee.
many hackers use their own personal Shard Cards
You are a member of something exclusive, like a
to remotely access their own rigs. Malicious hackers
club, union, activist group, or the inner circle of a
can modify them to launch evil maid attacks.
political party. Take +1 to all Social rolls if they
relate in some way to your membership. You can An Open Shard Card can be inserted into a
call on the group like you would a community network that isn't normally accessible remotely to
resident (p. 58) once per session. grant a friendly Hacker remote access. These can
be configured for one network during mission
Mobility Aid prep and can be reused if recovered.
Cost: 2. Rad, Specialized.
A Secure Shard Card is tied to a specific user
All characters who need mobility aids have them
session, such as an office worker's session. A
already, but this is a really cool high-end one.
Hacker with a Secure card keyed to a specific
Specialized: You have Advantage to all rolls Network can remotely access that Network from
related to maneuvering, movement, and looking anywhere they want (though opening a session
rad if you have at least one aid-related Specialty. from an unusual location may get noticed later if
the hacker doesn't cover their tracks.) In addition,
Recreational Drugs they can turn Advantage into Boost once per
Cost: 2. Illegal. mission when hacking that Network. These can
Rum, opiates, and the kush. Aside from mitigating not be reused, as compromised accounts usually
the stresses of life, when you suffer Economic get their cards unlinked, but are sometimes found
Shock and have to suffer Disadvantage on all Cool on-site during missions.
or Clever rolls, you may use Negate Disadvantage
An Admin Shard Card instantly grants admin
(p. 51) on those rolls once per mission for free.
access. However, these cannot be used by just any
People will be able to tell you showed up slightly
Blade—they must be inserted directly into the
high or drunk. This can include android drug-soft.
mainframe server. This generally requires a serious
stealth mission into the heart of a sysadmin's lair—
something only the bravest attempt. For some
systems, it might be easier to brute force it.
Admin Cards are priceless. They cannot be
bought; you may need to undertake a mission just
to acquire one.

82
System
Skateboard
Locations

Locations
Cost: 2. Rad, Specialized.
3 A location should be meaningful to the story. It can
This is a skateboard . It's pretty cool.
be a meeting point for your group, a source of
Specialized: You have Advantage to all rolls related mission hooks, or even a focal point of the plot4.
to maneuvering, movement and looking rad if you If multiple characters get location Assets, consider
have at least one skateboard-related Specialty. combining them (p. 81) into one physical location
to avoid splitting focus too much.
Thieving Gear
Cost: 2. Illegal. Safehouse
These tools, ranging from repurposed general gear Cost: 5.
to specialty lockpicks, help you with larceny. When You have an especially out-of-the-way place: a
you try to bypass an obstacle with a Security Level, hidden corner of the station basements, your
you may spend 1 Prep to reroll once. apartment registered under another ID, a
forgotten storage crate on a rooftop, a business's
Vehicle back room you rent under the table, etc. If you
Cost: 3 for small vehicles like scooters manage to get to your hideout undetected, no one
and motorcycles; 4 for larger vehicles can find you unless you want them to.
with more carrying capacity.
If your hideout is ever found, you lose this benefit,
You own, or have access to, a vehicle (you’re
but can spend 2 Cash to set up a new one later.
assumed to know how to drive it.) Most vehicles
on Grand Cross are scooters, bikes, or
Small Local Business
motorcycles; larger vehicles are usually business-
Cost: 7.
related, as individual ownership is discouraged
You operate or own a small business: a corner store, a
unless you're rich.
café, a modest rented office, a handyman business
You can get around Grand Cross without relying on run out of a van, a tabletop gaming studio in your
public transport or your Multipass (making it apartment's back room, etc. It gives you a little splash
harder to electronically track you) in addition to money to throw around. Gain 2 Cash at the beginning
ferrying loads and passengers beyond man- of a mission unless you suffer Economic Shock.
portable limits. Take +1 on any task if your vehicle
can significantly help, such as ramming open a gate Gym
or pretending to be here on business. You also have Cost: 6.
Advantage when chasing or evading someone in You own a gym. This can be a personal room in
your vehicle, so don't be afraid to try cool stunts. your apartment filled with equipment, or a small
business. This can be a personal Gym or a business
Verified Account you operate. Twice per mission, you or an ally can
Cost: Priceless. You have to become big or take Advantage on a personal Prep roll made by
know someone. training or mentally preparing yourself at the gym.
A big account on one social media service (probably
Pulser.) You only get a slap on the wrist for all but the Workshop
most egregious actions, it’s hard to block you, and Cost: 7. Specialized.
you can fine-tune who gets access to you. You have a place for repairs and special preparations.
This can range from a personal workbench or garage
Take +1 on all Social actions made online. Once
to a community hobby center. Once per mission, you
per session, when you Embarrass or Threaten
can take Advantage on a group Prep roll.
someone online, you have Advantage on your roll.
If you roll a critical on that Action—succeed or Specialized: You can take Advantage on 1 group
fail—you can claim this bonus again that session. Prep roll per Specialty you have in your Workshop,
and you can grant the benefits to your allies
instead. Your Workshop Specialty can be used to
repair, modify and make things in it.

3 You can also get similar Assets for

roller skates, sports bikes, etc. They
work the same way.
4 Maybe one day a corporate chain could threaten to
take over your gym, and the next an unhoused kid who
uses his gym membership to shower and charge his
phone needs help. Find ways to get invested in it!

System 83
 Wearables
Assets you wear.

H Badass Headband Keep in mind that you usually can't wear

Cost: Priceless. They must be earned. Rad. two sets of armor at once (or you can, but they
W don’t stack and you’ll just get the wrong kind of
Street Fighter Only.
I Many wannabe headbands exist, but true dedication hot.) You can combine them (p. 81) if you have
good story reason and GM permission.
earns you the baddest of them all. Take +1 to Cool
Defense while wearing a Badass Headband.
Powered Exoskeleton
Combat Armor
Cost: 4. Obvious, Restricted.
Cost: 4. Obvious, Restricted.
This suit was designed for nurses and construction
While wearing this, you may always lower damage
workers. It has only recently begun seeing use by
from enemy attacks by one Damage Track step for
military forces, as their battery life makes it impractical.
free. Take +1 to Tough Defense while wearing it.
You have Advantage on all rolls involving exerting
Imported army surpluses, largely from the USA,
physical strength, such as jumping, climbing,
have ensured local security forces have plenty of
lifting and pushing. If you roll a critical—succeed
access. Wearing this negates the effect of any
or fail—turn all Advantage on this roll into Boost
clothing you wear, such as the Badass Headband
instead. This can turn a failure into a success.
or the Trendy Wardrobe.
Special: If you get into a highly stressful situation
Covert Armor that severely taxes the suit, like a fight or an extended
Cost: 3. chase scene, you must supercharge the exoskeleton
Discreet armor that is layered into and under clothing. (spend 1 Prep) to gain its benefits for that scene. At
Take +1 to Tough Defense while wearing it. Once per the end of the scene, unless you spend another 1
mission, you may reduce damage by one step on your Prep, the battery fails and the suit enters low power
Damage Track for free, but you no longer benefit from mode, granting no benefit until your next session.
this Asset for the rest of the mission if you do.
Special: This can also be bought as an Android or
Full-Body Prosthetic-only Augment. An Augment
Facial Rec Obscurers
variety does not need to spend Prep at the end of a
Cost: 1. Obvious
scene. You can wear this in addition to any armor.
Odd makeup, haircuts, and subtler electronic devices.
The styles these evoke have become fashionable
Rioting Gear
on Grand Cross even when they’re not functional.
Cost: 2. Obvious, Rad.
When you want them to be functional, spend 1 Prep This is a set of gear; you can choose to wear any
before going on a mission. Automated devices can’t number of these in any combination.
recognize you or match you to a database for that
• Gas Mask and Shatter-Resistant Flash
mission, though manual review of footage might.
Goggles: You Boost your saves against
This fashion will give you street cred in bars and make
flashbang and tear gas-style effects.
every security guard follow you in polite society.
• Padded Clothing Layers: +1 Tough Defense.
• Shield: Grenades directed at you or allies
Holographic Projection Armor
behind you are at Disadvantage.
Cost: 4.
AKA "Nerd Armor." HPA is sewn into clothing; it can You can wear them in any combination. None of
distort, project or blur the wearer's image, though these items are Illegal, but the police will act like
it requires concentration and training. When you they are if they get an excuse.
spend 1 Prep to activate it, add your Clever to your
Quick Defense for the rest of the fight. Trendy Wardrobe
Cost: 3. Rad.
Each time you are hit by any attack, reduce the
In the distant future of 2020, this kind of clothing is
bonus this grants by 1, to a minimum of 0. You
called "fly." When you have time to change before a
may refresh it to its maximum, one-to-one, by
Social situation, choose a Mood. You have Advantage
spending 1 Prep as part of any action.
on all Social rolls while that Mood applies.

84
System
Programs Hacker Brands

Programs
Some players may wish to describe their Suites and
Assets used by hackers. To run a Program, you Programs in more detail by talking about brand names
need a Hacking Suite Asset. and model numbers. These don't have any mechanical
effects, so all you really need is a name. Here are a few
Hacking Suite example brands and names.
Cost: 3.
A computer, laptop, or cyber-deck packed with Asano doesn't officially make hacking suites, but they
do make computer hardware for habitat maintenance
script libraries, software, and saved forum threads. and drone-mining systems, which sometimes gets
You need one of these to run programs effectively. repurposed into hacking decks. (Thanks to past family
With a Hacking Suite, you can have 1 Program feuds, some hardware was designed to be.)
Asset active at once per Hacking Specialty. Example Models: Asano M50101 Series, Asano
HyperHab II+, ASANO LSM-440X, Asano DroneStation T2.
Data Bomb
Law Zero makes its own hacking software and occasionally
Cost: 3. Program, Illegal. allows old versions to spread to other androids. The
You may spend 1 Prep to activate this during a code is made by a cybercrime cell and enhanced by
hack. You gain Advantage on your next three Olivaw, who used to work as a Ring tech.
Hacking rolls in this Network, and if it has an Example Software: h0m0ncul1, 2-XL, CH1M3R4, I
active administrator, they have Disadvantage on Robot, M4rv-1N.
their next roll against you.
LEETNet is a large tech forum with a section for pen
testers. A lot of hackers have saved threads of useful
Data Miner advice from here. Some users create (or modify) their
Cost: 5. Program, Illegal. own software, which eventually finds its way into the
You may spend 2 Prep to activate this during a hack. hands of less ethical hackers.
Any time you spend any personal Prep while Example Software: Closure's Drone Suite v2, Ghost
hacking this network (including when you activate Addon for CrossShark, Illithid.zip (SEE README FIRST),
Data Miner), roll 1d6. On a 5+, gain 1 personal Prep. Jim's Hacking.
Special: If something else provides a similar Thread Titles: Vegetaboruto's Basic Guide To
Computer Security, No Puns Please: The Pentest
effect (e.g. the Soldier Talent “On-Site Thread Compendium, Is Multivac A Libertarian?,
Procurement”), take +1 to your 1d6 roll for each Zoraya's Coding Tips.
extra effect.
DEATHPIZZA is an anonymous hacker (or possibly a
collective) who periodically releases custom-made
Ghost Protocols hacking software online in hopes that someone will
Cost: 3. Program, Illegal. screw over a corporation with it. Powerful effects,
You may spend 1 Prep when you begin a hack to intentionally terrible UI aesthetics.
gain 1 additional chance on your Ghost and Boost Example Software: DOCTOR_WORM, HAPPY FUN
your first Hacking action made within the BALL, KILL_ALL_NERDS.EXE, GIANT_GAY_HEDGEHOG,
network. PEPPERONI_PARADISE.
Tetsuo makes consumer electronics; a lot of hackers
Memory Worm swear by their hardware. Their software is intended
Cost: 3. Program, Illegal. for cyborg/android maintenance and internal security
You may spend 1-3 Prep to activate this during a purposes only.
hack. Until your Ghost is gone, reduce the Example Models: Tetsuo Logos 2200, Tetsuo Solaris
Network’s effective Level by 1 per 2 Prep spent, to 780HD, Tetsuo Overdrive, Tetsuo Cyberspace Seven.
a maximum of 3 Levels. Example Software: Tetsuo Crow 2.1, Hakutaku Script
Library 4.0, Tetsuo Crashtest Advance 1.06.
Subversion Subroutine Zinovy makes hacking tools for internal testing use, but
Cost: 2. Program, Critical, Illegal. rumor has it that they sell them to the Cartel as well. A
You may activate this when you begin a hack. The few of their tools have been cracked and adapted.
first time you roll a critical while hacking— Example Software: Zinovy "Meduza", Zinovy
succeed or fail—gain 1 personal Prep. You must "Sinyushka", Zinovy Test Suite 2016.
spend the Prep on a hack on the same network or
it is lost. When you activate this Program, you
lose 1 chance on your Ghost.

System 85
 Drone Tags
Drones Automated: This drone can take pre-programmed
Drones are treated as one customizable Asset.
instructions and perform them independently,
H even beyond the visual range of the operator.
Drone They cannot handle complex or changing
W
Cost: 3. Add 1-3 tags for +2 Cost each. situations without an operator, however.
I A Drone is a remote-controlled machine, often
Cargo Delivery: This drone can store, grab, and
flight-capable, that is designed for a specific task.
release small packages and handheld items.
The most obvious one to the modern corporate
mind is surveillance, but the public loves them for Flight: The drone can fly, usually by means of a
professional and hobbyist camera work, home quad-rotor system. It functions in low gravity
delivery of small items, and even for pure sport (e.g. the Moon) but not in vacuum.
flight via VR controls. LED and neon-lit drone races
Hardpoint: This drone has a space where an Asset
are a common feature of the Grand Cross skyline
can be attached, such as a First Aid Kit or
in the evening.
grenades. Anything can be attached, provided
Drones start with 3 Health and 1 Drone tag. You may the GM agrees it makes sense. The drone can use
buy additional tags for 2 Cash each, up to 3 total. Each the Asset with a pilot's direction, following the
tag can only be chosen once unless stated otherwise. normal rules for using it. The Asset can be
switched out during downtime.
Drones must be actively controlled by their
operator with the Pilot action (see below) and Improved Recording: All drones have basic
cannot be controlled outside the operator's visual sensors; this tag improves them. This drone can
range unless they have the Automated tag or have record high-quality photos, videos and audio,
tags that include enhanced cameras. with optional night vision, motion tracking, and
thermal vision components. This also allows you
You cannot spend Prep on your drone's actions, or
to operate the drone beyond visual range.
to reduce damage it takes. You can only spend Prep
to activate Assets it is equipped with (see below). Loudspeaker: This drone can play audio, including
loud noises. Copyrighted music in public spaces
Pilot may get it shot down by police with a drone gun.
When you use this action, you command your
Onboard Piloting Camera System: This drone has a
drone to perform an action for you. It acts
panoramic camera and VR/holographic headset
immediately. Use the most relevant Specialty; if
control (it can also be connected to cybernetic
the focus of the action is your piloting skills or use
eyes.) This system allows the drone to operate
of its tags, use your Piloting Specialty. You cannot
beyond visual range. If you take no other action
spend Prep on your drone's actions, or to reduce
while piloting a drone, take +1 to your Piloting rolls.
the damage it takes. You may spend Prep to use
any on-board Asset it is equipped with. Sport: This drone is extremely maneuverable, light,
and fast, even for a drone. It has Advantage on all
In a fight, attack rolls made with your drone use
rolls involving aerial maneuvers, getting somewhere
your Piloting Specialty. Melee attacks can only
quickly, chases, and similar tasks. Often comes with
mark box 1 on the Damage Track regardless of
cool LED light strips and sports stripes.
your roll, unless the drone has a melee weapon
attached. Drones cannot use the Grab action. Cell Network Surveillance (Illegal): This drone can
monitor cellular phone networks and towers for
If you have the Personal Drone Talent, and you
traffic information, including data sent and
and your drone are in the same fight, you can use
received by individual cell phones. Only the police
Pilot in addition to another action. If you both
and Grand Cross Gendarmerie can use this legally.
make an attack roll in the same turn, both are
made at Disadvantage. You have to decide who is Passive Surveillance (Illegal): This drone records
attacking before rolling. audiovisual data and Wi-Fi use from nearby
electronics and transfers all acquired
information to a remote server for later sale (or
use). The Cartel uses this for data harvesting,
and the police use them for illegal surveillance.
Private individuals cannot use this.

86
System
Operator Tags Target Assist: The drone has a laser pointer or

Drones
Characters with the Personal Drone Talent (p. 68) other guidance system. As an action on your
have access to additional tags. turn, this drone can target an opponent during a
fight to grant Advantage to the first ranged
Additional Hardpoint: This follows all the normal
attack made against them. It does not make an
rules for an Asset Hardpoint, except it can be
attack as part of this action. Only one opponent
taken more than once.
can be targeted at a time.
Armored: This drone can take an additional 2
This feature comes with Wi-Fi dongles, goggle
damage before being destroyed.
add-ons, apps, and other things that friendly
Fine Manipulation: This drone has an arm or other characters can use to get the benefits, as required.
manipulator that can be used for fine tasks, such
ECM Hardening (Restricted): This drone is
as inserting and removing USB keys, typing on a
immune to ECM-based attacks, like drone guns.
keyboard, and lockpicking. These tasks use the
Originally intended for Station Security and
pilot’s most relevant Specialty as applicable.
military hardware.
Smart (replaces Automated): This functions like
Improved Sensor Package (Illegal): This drone has
Automated, but the drone can react to complex
military-grade sensors like laser microphones,
and changing situations as if it were actively
LIDAR, and radar. It can effectively listen to
controlled. If it has a speaker it can talk like a
conversations through windows and see shapes
person, though it only has weak AI.
through walls. (This isn't full HD color vision: you
A Smart drone can perform one action see shapes, or thermal images. Some walls and
independently during its operator’s turn if it windows can also be treated to defeat this type of
hasn't been actively controlled. It has an system.) You are definitely not allowed to have this.
effective Piloting Specialty of +0.
Stealthy (Illegal): This drone cannot be detected
Space Shell: This drone is spaceworthy. Comes with by normal electronic means (like radar and cell
a built-in RCS system for attitude control and network triangulation.) For the military and
propulsion. Use inside the station is Restricted. Station Security only.

Custom Tags
Police Drones Your group can create their own tags. For example,
The basic police drone is the Prawn, a Tetsuo-
made drone with the Cargo Delivery, Flight, if you want to converse with people through a
and Loudspeaker tags. drone and aren't satisfied with voice only, you
could create a tag that adds a holographic projector
The police have a variant called the King
Prawn, which they usually reserve for serious or flat-panel screen, plus a speaker (but not a loud
investigations and anti-police protests. It has one, to avoid supplanting Loudspeaker.)
the Automated, Flight, and Passive Surveillance
tags. The King Prawn passively captures data If the tag seems too complicated for the average
at all times and uploads it to a central police person, too illegal for a corporation to casually get
server where it's cross-referenced with police away with, or too specialized for commercial
networks. This is illegal even for the police, operation, it's an Operator tag.
but they don't tell anyone, so they've gotten
away with it so far.
All Prawns have a unique feature: if a hack is
detected, they self-destruct several key Wi-Fi
components and attempt to return to base if
possible.
A PC can acquire a jailbroken Prawn or King
Prawn for 7 Cash as normal, but they are
Illegal for non-cops. King Prawns can have a Illegal Tags
fourth tag (Cell Network Surveillance) for +2 Illegal tags can only be repaired with
Cash, but then they cannot be disguised as Restricted drone parts, which only police and
anything other than a King Prawn. private security can buy.

System 87
 Weapons
For when things go south.
Like Drones, weapons are defined by their tags. Aside from the standard Asset tags on p. 80, they have a few
H of their own unique tags. All weapons have one of these two tags:
W Melee: This weapon can make melee attacks. Ranged: This weapon can make ranged attacks.
I
Guns GUN TAGS
Guns are rare and tightly controlled on Grand Cross; All guns have the Ammo tag. Additional tags can be
they're only available at all because corporations purchased as addons for 2 Cash each.
want to make money selling them. Like Drones, all
Ammo: After any scene in which this weapon is used,
guns start with a base Asset:
it must be reloaded by spending 1 Prep or become
Gun useless for the rest of the session. (Guns can always
Cost: 3. Ranged, Critical, Ammo, Restricted. be used as a Melee weapon with no tags, though.)
When you get a gun, add a Brand tag to it. You may
Automatic or Shotgun: At short ranges, this gun
also add a Gun tag. On a critical, the target marks 1
can attack multiple opponents at once—three to
higher box on the Damage Track than normal.
five people if they're clustered together. This
also opens up options for the Distract and
BRAND TAGS
Flush Out actions.
All guns have a tag representing their creator:
Biometric Safety: The pros are this gun can only be
Ogremoch: Ogremoch guns take many types of
used by you. The cons are it’s easy to prove it’s
ammo via a revolutionary self-adjusting
yours. This only functions on organic human hands.
chamber and barrel mechanism. You may reload
an Ogremoch gun once per mission for free. Sniping (Illegal): This gun can attack across long
distances with preparation and aiming (at least 2
Omnidyne: Omnidyne weapons have sleek, classic
actions spent doing nothing else.) It is too
designs with no gimmicks. They are popular with
unwieldy to use in mid- to close-range fights.
gun nerds. Once per scene, so long as the Mood
is Friendly, you may mention to a gun enthusiast Suppressor: This gun is quieter than normal. It
that you own an Omnidyne gun to take +1 to won't immediately alert people in public, and
your next Social Action against them. doesn't break Stealth—though there's still
sound, so using it is Risky.
Tetsuo: Tetsuo weapons have Wi-Fi and come with
a targeting app. So long as you have cybernetic Switchable Magazine: You can have two types of
eyes or goggles with a HUD, the first time you fail ammo (p. 89) in your gun at once, and switch
an attack roll with a Tetsuo gun during a fight, between them as part of your attack actions. Can
you may reroll it. The app that comes with it is be advanced tech or duct tape. You must spend
easy to jailbreak, sucks, and grants no bonus. Prep to reload each type of Ammo separately.
Zinovy Ultragraphics: Zinovy is getting into 3D
printing lately, and they don't sell guns so much as
a license. If you lose or ditch your weapon, you can
use your phone to request a new copy from any
Zinovy 3D printing facility or print a new one at Example Gun
home (using a Zinovy-brand resin cartridge). They Mira needs a new gun. She already has a
License, so she can do it legally. She buys one
biodegrade after a set period, so refresh regularly. for 3 Cash. It comes with a brand, so she
chooses Ogremoch. She also buys the Silencer
For other brands, you may come up with addon—it doesn't come with that, so she
other tags or rebrand existing ones. Most spends 2 Cash. It now has the Ranged, Critical,
Earth-based brands have the same effect as the Ammo, Restricted, Ogremoch and Silenced tags.
Omnidyne tag, because gun enthusiasts are
impressed by your extra effort at consumer Later, she buys AP rounds to add the Armor-
culture. Piercing tag, for another 2 Cash.

88
System
SPECIAL AMMO Stun: Damage boxes marked by this weapon are

Weapons
Special Ammo for your gun can be purchased Stunned. A Stunned box doubles the penalty from
separately, for 2 Cash each. When you reload your that damage box, if applicable, until cleared6.
gun, you may load your Special Ammo instead of Stunned boxes clear at the end of a fight. (For tasers,
basic ammo. As an action, you can spend 1 Prep to electric batons, prods, live electric wires, etc.)
load in a new type of Special Ammo as an action.
Big: This weapon is both Sharp and Hefty, but
Armor-Piercing: On a critical against an armored needs two hands to wield and becomes
target, the target must mark a damage box on Obvious. (Why would you bring a Scottish
the Damage Track 2 higher than normal instead claymore to a space station?)
of 1. Against an unarmored target, this gun loses
its critical effects. Unarmed Attacks
Unarmed attacks have no Type tag. If you're not
Hollowpoint: Against unarmored or soft targets a trained martial artist, you might hurt yourself
(humans, small/commercial drones, standard depending on what you're hitting.
androids,) treat your roll as if it were 2 higher for
the purposes of damage only. Against armored Example Weapon
or reinforced targets, treat it as -2 lower instead Fia uses a sturdy, high-grade shovel as part of
and this gun loses its critical effects. her work. When used as a weapon, it has the
Melee and Big tags. Note that it’s not always
inappropriate to be carrying it just because it’s
Melee Weapons Obvious: use your judgment!
For when you want your guilt to feel more up-close
and personal.
Grenades
Melee Weapon Look, I’ll level with you: if you are at the point
Cost: 0 for improvised/repurposed weapons, where you’re the one tossing the tear gas grenades,
2 if it’s designed to be a weapon. Melee. it’s time to question some of your choices. Anyway,
All melee weapons have one Type tag (see below), here are grenades.
chosen when you take it.
Grenades
Special: If your melee weapon doesn't have the
Cost: 4. Ranged, Illegal.
Big or Stun tags, you can make it a Ranged
All Grenades have one Type tag (see below),
weapon for 1 attack roll by throwing it. You lose it
chosen when you take it.
until (or unless) you pick it up again.
Grenades always cost 1 Prep to use. Grenades can
TYPE TAGS attack multiple opponents at once—3 to 5 people
Different types of weapons have different effects5. if they're clustered together. This also opens up
options for the Distract and Flush Out actions.
Hefty: This weapon gets the Critical tag. On a
Some Grenades may have an effect even if they
critical success, you knock your target flat. They
don't directly hit.
may lose their held weapon, fall prone, drop out
of cover or from a high place, get the wind
TYPE TAGS
knocked out of them, or another consequence
Flashbang: This grenade deals no damage. Instead,
the GM deems fit. (For clubs, hammers, pipes,
targets hit must make a Quick save vs the Attack
shovels, chains, knuckle dusters, etc.)
roll. On a failure, the target becomes Disoriented
Sharp: This weapon gets the Critical tag. On a until they can make a Cool save vs 10 at the end
critical success, the target marks 1 higher damage of their turn. Disoriented targets have
box than normal. (For swords, knives, spikes, etc.) Disadvantage on attack and defense rolls, and
cannot see or hear while Disoriented. Protection
(p. 84) Boosts these saves.

5 These aren't meant to restrict the things

you can do, so be creative! Normally you
can't grab someone without using your
6 If you're running a simple opponent and
they get hit with a Stun attack after
losing half their Health, you can just
hands, but if the group thinks it'd make treat them as incapacitated.
sense to use a chain to do it, go with it!

System 89
 Frag: This grenade gets the Critical tag. On a critical, Edge Case Weapons
the target marks 1 higher damage box than Examples of weapons that are a bit weird7.
normal. Failed attack rolls are always treated as a
H hit that exactly matches your opponents’ Nailgun
Defense—unless you roll a critical failure. If used Cost: 0, or 2 if you actually want to buy
W
in an enclosed space, treat all hits as critical. one for some reason.
I Ranged.
High Explosive: If you throw this grenade directly
An improvised ranged weapon, made by clamping
at a target and hit, the target marks 1 higher
down the safety that would prevent you from
damage box than normal, and any other targets
shooting nails at people. This also covers rivet
caught in the blast mark the lowest remaining
guns and similar. It has no other special qualities.
damage box as Stunned (p. 89). If used in an
enclosed space, every target is directly hit.
Pepper Spray
Smoke: You don't make attacks with this grenade. Cost: 2. Melee, Tear Gas.
Instead, it creates dense smoke that prevents A bottle of aerosol self-defense spray. It deals no
visibility in the area—perfect for enabling damage. Instead, targets hit must make a Tough
stealth, running away, preventing ranged save vs the Attack roll. On a failure, they take -2 on
attacks, and so on. You have Advantage on any all rolls until they make a Tough save vs the
action that conceivably benefits from smoke. original Attack roll at the end of your turn.
On a success, they take -1 instead. Protection
Tear Gas: This grenade deals no damage. Instead,
(p. 84) or access to medical aid Boosts both saves.
targets hit must make a Tough save vs the Attack
roll. On a failure, they take -2 on all rolls until
Sticky Shocker
they make a Tough save vs the original Attack
Cost: 4. Ranged, Stun
roll at the end of your turn. On a success, they
This is a gun that fires Stun (p. 89) projectiles.
take -1 instead. Protection (p. 84) or access to
They’re not in common use even by law
medical aid Boosts both saves, and targets can
enforcement, so their origin is something of a
also recover by getting out of the gas for a while
mystery. The ammo is unique, making this weapon
to recuperate. If used in an enclosed space, all
expensive. This can also represent a tranquilizer gun,
targets have Disadvantage on all saves against
which isn’t easy to get human-compatible ammo for
this grenade.
(and doesn’t work on androids or drones).
Grenade Launcher This weapon is not Illegal, but they’re so rare that
Cost: 3, or 5 for a rocket launcher. Acquiring one is as hard as if it were.
Ranged, Illegal
This weapon is designed to shoot grenades rather
than throw them. It lets you justify using grenades
Making New Weapons
If the situation calls for it, you can create your
from further away than your throwing distance; it own weapon tags. Try to model it off an existing
doesn't change how they work otherwise. It can tag, or at least make it of equal power as the
be its own gun or a tactical attachment to a rifle or existing tags.
shotgun. Grenades must be bought separately. For example, say Jupiter is attacked by a
Dreamer in a factory and grabs a blowtorch as
You can also use it to functionally represent a an improvised weapon. The GM comes up with
rocket launcher (with purchased "grenades" you a Torch tag: the weapon gains the Critical tag,
can’t throw.) and on a critical success, it Burns the damage
box marked on the Damage Track. Burned
boxes cannot be cleared during a mission,
even if it's a minor injury.

7 There are no rules for poisons. Poisons are

generally too slow-acting to matter during
the average fight, and not even the Cartel
makes poison weaponry; they don't want to
get sued for poisoning people, especially
not when they can dismantle environmental
regulations and do it legally.

90
System
 Cybernetic Augments
Cybernetic Augments
"The American physician Hermann Biggs once said, 'The human body is the only machine for which
there are no spare parts.' Tetsuo is proud to announce that we have proven him wrong."
– Kanemasa Gou, investor presentation, 2011

Cybernetic augmentation is a part of life on Grand Designing Augments

Cross. Here's how they work. For more about First, decide what it's intended to do. Choose a skill
cybernetics in the setting, see the full version of or job it's designed for, and an associated Specialty.
the book. As long as you have this Augment installed, you get
+1 Specialty.

Starting Out This can be any type of Specialty that you can
justify. However, Augments that add Defense
Any character may start with one or more
Specialties or weapons are Restricted hardware,
Augments. The main limit is that you can't end up
and you need a good reason to have them. (Also,
with more parts than you started with: only two eyes,
remember that you can't surpass the cap of +3 for
two arms, and so on. The exception is a tail; turns out
any one Specialty.)
the human brain can adapt to having one of those.
Next, decide if it enhances its intended function.
The other limit is that unless stated otherwise,
Does it have in-built tools or sensors? Does it come
Augments increase your Burden (p. 53).
with a special onboard computer? Is it just really
good at punching Nazis? Write it down.
How It Works Finally, decide the location it's installed in. Usually
Cybernetics are designed with the needs of the this is obvious: hand Augments replace your hand,
person in mind. Every single one is, on some level, a arm Augments replace your arm (and can accept a
custom piece adjusted for a specific individual and different hand Augment on the end), and so on. If
their needs, except when they're adjusted for the there's no specific location you have to install that
needs of their job, or when a different one would Wi-Fi hotspot, it's your choice.
cost their employer less money, or their health care
plan doesn't cover it, or it’s a second-hand item, or Other Functions
the company re-uses an old part without telling Some Augments don't grant a Specialty at all, but
them, or the augmentation was overseen by a male instead grant some other useful function like
doctor who noticed the patient was a woman and hidden compartments, weapons, tools, or new
decided they knew better, or someone involved in abilities like zero-gravity stabilizers or an old-
the process was a bigot, or the designer didn't feel fashioned rocket punch. These will always have
like it, or the government introduced new budget "Instead of a Specialty..." in their description.
cuts, or it's 4:50PM on a Friday.
Cosmetic Augments
Other than that, wherever possible, it's designed
Purely cosmetic Augments don't really have an
for their needs.
associated Burden cost. They don't have any
Augments must be installed by trained doctors. mechanical weight, so there's no reason to pay a
Most of the work involves fitting nerve connectors cost for them. Your character is probably paying for
and supports on the body; once the actual Augment them, but they're common and simple enough that
is fabricated, connecting it is relatively easy. the costs aren't worth tracking.
Afterward, the parts not directly connected to the
This includes simple appearance mods like cat ears
body can be maintained by engineers.
and subdermal lights, but also larger things like
cybernetic limbs, if they don't give any bonuses. A
simple, mostly-plastic cybernetic arm that
approximates human function and has no other
benefits does not need a Burden cost.

System 91
 You may include them when describing your Full-Body Prosthetics
Burden or the effects of Economic Shocks, though The technology required to build androids also
(struggling with things you shouldn't have to advanced the field of cybernetics enough to allow for
H struggle for is the point of those mechanics.) almost fully artificial bodies, referred to medically as
full-body prosthetics. People with full-body
W
Medical Augments prosthetics are fully cybernetic, except for their brain.
I Purely medical Augments work like cosmetic
Full-body prosthetics are usually installed after serious
Augments, for the same reason: they have no
accidents and diseases, especially when the recipient
mechanical effects, so there's no reason to add a cost
had an employer who could be sued otherwise. This is
to them. In-game, they're generally either covered by
an evolving field, so some people are offered the
the station's health system or are easy to pay for.
procedure for scientific research purposes.
These include smaller or internal Augments like
Although they are marvels of modern science, the
immune system boosters and HRT regulators, as
procedure is not undertaken lightly, even to save
well as larger things like cyber-hearts and simple
lives. Some people suffer dysphoria, disassociation,
cybernetic limbs. If you get cybernetic hands to
and similar ailments. It's not uncommon for full-
avoid carpal tunnel but they don't do anything
body cyborgs to feel emotionally distant from other
special, they're free; if you get hands that improve
people, or even feel like they lack identity at all;
your Hacking Specialty, then it'll cost you.
these cyborgs often find themselves in marginalized
spaces where they bond with people who
Androids and Cybernetics understand and empathize with their condition.
As mechanical beings, androids are easier to
augment than humans. The Android Origin (see Of course, other cyborgs love it. It's all a matter of
Origins, p. 26) allows them to start with one perspective.
Augment without increasing their Burden; further
A human who has undergone the full-body
Augments increase their Burden as normal.
prosthetic procedure may use Augments the same
They can also switch between their Augments easier way Androids do, keeping extra augments as Assets
than humans. An android who can afford multiple sets and exchanging them freely (see p. 26-28).
of cyber-eyes could, in theory, carry them around in a
special eye case and swap them in and out as needed. Appearance
However, it takes time for them to disconnect, Augments that replace visible parts of the body are
reconnect, adjust settings, and reacclimate; they Obvious—unless you're an android.
certainly couldn't do it in the middle of an action
If you want to remove the Obvious tag, you can get
sequence. (Also, people will think it's creepy.)
Augments that are near-identical to the replaced
parts, with synthetic skin or special plastics where
necessary. This is a custom sculpting and design
Example Cyborg job, treated as a separate Asset with Cost 5. Illegal
Maka is an ex-cop. She received a cybernetic eye Augments are usually non-Obvious.
on the job, then got kicked out for accidentally
leaving the built-in camera on.
Her eye is fitted with a simple scanner that can,
in theory, read barcodes, license plates, retinas, Creating Mods
faces, and more. She no longer has access to the You can create your own mods, for yourself or for a
official police database and she's not super friend. This requires an appropriate Specialty (e.g.
comfortable with the face thing, but its Augmetics) and a Clever + Specialty vs 10 roll.
remaining functions (and a little creativity) give You reduce the cost by 1 for each 3 points you
her +1 Investigation. surpass 10 by, to a minimum of 0. This takes as
As part of its functions, she's able to take silent much time as Acquiring an Asset.
videos or pictures (though she lacks the storage If you can’t pay the Cost after rolling, or critically
space to record constantly.) Also, since the eye fail, the augment instead stops functioning
was designed for cops, she may be able to justify properly until the next session—it still works, but
Bullshitting people into thinking she's law bonus Specialties and anything beyond normal
enforcement when necessary. human function does not.

92
System
Mod Tags Common

Common Augments
Some cyborgs get their cybernetics modified after
installation. Grand Cross has a few licensed shops Augments
that will do this—usually android repair shops—and These are Augments you’ll most likely find in daily
some unlicensed people that offer their services life, making up 95% of all commercial Augments on
under the table. Grand Cross. All are Cost 3.
For 2 Cash, you can choose a Mod Tag for your
Specialized Augments
Augments. An Augment can have multiple mods.
The most basic form of Augment, and by far the
ECM-Hardened: This mod hardens your most common among the station's working and
cybernetics against disabling attacks, middle classes. This Augment covers a huge
specifically electromagnetic attacks like drone variety of designs and brands. Add +1 to one
guns (p. 81). If the police spot your hardened chosen Generic Specialty, up to the normal
Augments, they may assume you are attempting maximum of +3.
to defend against their illegal use of drone guns
for crowd control and become Hostile. Athletic Legs
Legs were one of the first types of prosthetic to
Jailbroken: This mod voids your warranty but
become a proper Augment, and the modern
prevents corporate interests from tracking your
versions can surpass biological limitations. Couriers
Augment repairs or harvesting your data. Some
face significant pressure to get these on the job, but
Augments may have additional effects when
their average career lasts roughly two years.
jailbroken. The service itself is Illegal, but having
a jailbroken Augment is not. This Augment replaces both legs. You have
Advantage on all rolls to run, jump, do parkour,
Overclocked: This mod can be applied to any
and similar feats. Never apply this to attack rolls,
Augment that has limited uses or costs Prep to
even if you make one as part of a move.
activate. It grants 1 extra use per session/mission
or makes the first activation each session cost 1
Cyber-eyes
less Prep, whichever is relevant.
These eyes can see beyond the visible human
Rad: This mod changes the cosmetic appearance of spectrum, zoom and enhance, see in low light,
the Augment to look cooler (e.g. clear colored and even play back video, play VR games, or open
plastic, cool spikes, etc.) This only costs 1 Cash, internet browsers. A variety of Assets, such as Wi-
but it's free if you have access to a 3D printer. Fi-capable guns and VR-piloted drones, can
connect directly into Cyber-eyes.
Installing Augments These eyes allow you to justify noticing things that
Getting a new Augment (not just replacing an old
normal people can't (though nothing too privacy-
one) is a complicated process. Generally, getting
invading, like seeing people through walls.) You
augmented and recovering enough to return to
can get the ability to record and share what you
your normal life takes about as long as it would to
see for another 1 Cash, but the purchase gets
recover from an injury (p. 47). Fully acclimating
registered and some cops in your area might
may take longer—after being augmented, consider
suddenly start recognizing your face.
describing some of your failed rolls as trouble
adjusting. A popular brand is the ‘"LMJ eyes," the proceeds
of which go to a Cartel-operated "Cyberneurosis
Awareness Fund" whose goal is to get
cyberneurosis recognized as a medical condition.
Special: If you jailbreak this Augment, you can
selectively disable the Wi-Fi components and
directly connect to relevant Assets with wires
instead, preventing remote hacking (although
good luck connecting a wire to a drone.)

System 93
 Cyber-heart Medical Augments
Human Only Medical Augments function as described on p. 92.
Most people who get this already needed heart Some other Augments note that they have
H transplants, but their effectiveness is undeniable. medical versions; these versions are free but give
They include regulators and additional blood no mechanical benefits.
W
filtration for any stressful situation, tweaked for
I your social or physical stress needs. Choose one: Mood Detector
+1 to all Cool Saves, or +1 to all Tough Saves. Subdermal and eye sensors loaded with analysis
You can buy this Augment a second time to receive software that compiles facial expression, body
both benefits for the one heart. language, temperature, and even heartbeats that
can help detect and analyze people's moods.
Friendly Design Though software struggles to do this reliably, it's
Android or Full-Body Prosthetic Only proven a success with people who have difficulty
Your body has been upgraded with aftermarket navigating social situations.
parts to be especially pleasant, elegant, and with
On your first critical success on any Social roll
any flaws easily overlooked, like any other
against a person, you can ask what the other
appliance. Once per mission, you may reroll a
person’s current emotional state is. You will get a true
critical failure on any Social or Stealth roll.
answer. This works once per mission, per person.
Hidden Compartment Special: If you Jailbreak this Augment and the
Any Augment can have hollows in them to hide target is human, you can also detect their internal
objects from casual inspection. These Augments, Augments, if any. You don’t automatically know
always built into other Augments, go further. what they are, but you at least have a rough idea
Hand-held Assets (that make sense) are of location.
undetectable to scanners and detectors when
hidden in this compartment. The compartment Sensory Filter
can also be cooled, to keep drinks in. It takes an These eye implants were originally designed to
Action to open and retrieve an Asset from the help with hypersensitivity issues but go far beyond
compartment. that today. They can be built into cyber-eyes or
implanted into the ocular nerve and ear canal.
Special: You can choose to make this
compartment fit a specific item instead, such as a With this Augment, you cannot be adversely
weapon (razors hidden under fingernails are oddly affected by sudden flashes of light and loud
popular), cigars, or data sticks. You can retrieve noises, including Flashbang grenades, and your
this hidden item instantly. eyes adjust to changing light immediately. You can
also filter out bad smells, though chemicals
Integrated Asset designed to irritate your senses like Tear Gas still
Choose an Asset. It is integrated into a limb of work. As a side effect, the filters sharpen the
your choice, at no additional Cost. You can senses. Take +1 on all rolls to notice something
integrate anything that makes sense, such as a unusual or hidden.
First Aid Kit (p. 81), a Drone Gun (p. 81), or
Thieving Gear (p. 83). Gain +1 to a Generic
Specialty related to the use of that Asset. If it is a
Specialized Asset, gain an Item Specialty instead.

94
System
"Smart" Body System Stomach

Common Augments
You’ve heard of smart homes, now get ready for Android or Full-Body Prosthetic Only
the Tetsuo Smart Body! It can precisely control all You can ingest human food, to take part in
your Augments, monitor and adjust your internals socialization. This comes with taste and olfactory
and blood levels, and put it all in a convenient receptors which reportedly come close to human
app. All it takes is installing a Wi-Fi hot spot inside ones, plus a readout in your eye of your food’s
you and signing this fifty-page license agreement! composition. You can dispose of the undigested
food later or, if you remembered to drink stomach
With this Augment, you can act as a Wi-Fi hotspot.
cleaner first, take it out and serve it to someone
All attempts to use medicine or First Aid on you for
else (that's weird, though).
any reason have Advantage.
This has the unintended secondary effect that you
Special: Don’t get this unless you Jailbreak it. You
can harmlessly taste non-food items to chemically
can, but don't. If you do Jailbreak it, you can turn
analyze them, including medicines, liquids, and
the Wi-Fi off, which you should do permanently. If
poisons. You can even taste gases and analyze
you Jailbreak this Augment, your biological data
blood. If you can't identify the substance
is instead sent to your phone (via skin contact) or
immediately, you and your allies take +1 on all
displayed somewhere visible, and your location
future rolls to figure out what it is.
data isn't sent anywhere.
Work-Enhancing Suites
Spacer Build
This is a catch-all term for a variety of specialized
Android or Full-Body Prosthetic Only
Augments designed for workers. It covers dozens
You can’t buy this Augment from just any store: it’s
of brands, hundreds of off-the-shelf and custom
a street design passed down from the Builders
designs, and every manufacturer.
who modified their own bodies to survive the
stresses of construction work, found mostly in Choose one Generic Specialty. When you're not in
side-street repair shops. Once per Mission, for one danger or in a hurry, you may reroll any roll using
action, you may ignore the effects of all your that Generic Specialty, once per session.
marked damage boxes without spending Prep.
Special: Due to manufacturer incompatibility,
software licensing and so on, you may normally
Spring Legs
only take this Augment once. If you Jailbreak it,
Spring Legs were originally a hacked variant of
you may choose another, for a total of 2. The
commercial athletic legs, designed for low-gravity
second will also be Jailbroken.
sports. These days they're mostly created by
smaller designer companies.
Spring Legs Boost all rolls relating to running, or
jumping high or long distances. On a critical—
succeed or fail—the user must make a Quick save
vs 7 or mark damage box 1 as they crash hard.
Never apply this to attack rolls, even if you make
one as part of a move.
Special: These can also come as an Asset, in shoe
form. The Quick save for these is vs 10.

System 95
 Restricted and Illegal Augments
These Augments have Cost 4, for their relative rarity, unique design needs, or cutting-edge (and
H therefore not fully tested) nature.
W
Chronological Perception Cortical Implant
I Dilator Human Only
Restricted This cutting-edge brain implant was designed to
Another cutting-edge brain implant which affects assist with neurological symptoms, ranging from
how human brains perceive time. Users can epilepsy to Alzheimer's. Then someone managed
perceive it slower, gaining the appearance of to overclock it, and now rich tech people are
improved reaction time and delayed pain turning it into a self-improvement mod. (Any long-
response. Aside from the unknown long-term term effects of sticking new technology in your
effects, it has also led to car accidents, circadian brain are your problem.)
rhythm disruptions and aggravation of injuries.
Choose one: +1 to all Clever saves, or +1 to all
Take +1 to either Quick Defense or Tough
Quick saves. (You can buy this again and choose
Defense, chosen when you get the Augment. This
both.) Interface issues have so far prevented the
is not a Specialty. (You can buy this again and
overclocked variety from being useful to androids
choose both.)
and patients with full-body prosthetics, but the
medical benefits still apply.
Combat Augments
Illegal
Emotion Amplifier
These Augments are Restricted to current and
Illegal
former military or security personnel and are
This Augment is a hack of a medical implant
Illegal to others. Most are manufactured by
meant to enhance hormone production and
Ogremoch and Omnidyne, though Tetsuo has
uptake in patients. It enhances the extremes of
made inroads lately.
your emotional highs and lows. To be fair, it was
Add +1 to one chosen Specialty, up to the normal mostly intended to let you get high easier, but to
maximum of +3. (Unlike Specialized Augments, be real, a high percentage of users get hurt
these can be any Specialty.) Common examples because of it, and quite a few suffer long-term
include subdermal armor and reflex enhancers. complications and trauma.
Special: Due to strain on your system, you may At the start of a fight or other stressful situation,
only have one Combat Augment unless you’re an you may spend 1 Prep to gain Advantage on all
android or have a full-body prosthetic. rolls except saves during that situation—and
Disadvantage on all saves.
Combat Injector
If you critically fail any roll while this Augment is
Restricted
active, your implant overloads, the effect ends, and
A military implant that injects psychoactive drugs
you crash. Mark your lowest unmarked damage box
directly into a soldier’s bloodstream on command,
on your Damage Track as Crashed. While you are
often found among retired post-Impact veterans
Crashed, you suffer Disadvantage on all rolls.
who "forgot" to have it disabled. Examples of drug
effects include suppressing hunger, increasing
Emotion Suppressor
alertness and wakefulness, suppressing fear,
Restricted
reducing empathy, and heightening reflexes. You
This Augment suppresses emotional extremes: fear,
may spend 1 Prep at the beginning of a fight to
empathy, the fight-or-flight response, aggression
take +1 to all saves during that fight.
and so on. This is meant to be a medical treatment
for extreme mood swings, so may cause extreme
antisocial behaviors with improper use.
Take +1 to either Cool Defense or Clever Defense,
chosen when you get the Augment. This is not a
Specialty. (You can buy this again and choose both.)

96
System
Heavy Armor Frame Surveillance Suite

Restricted and Illegal Augments

Restricted, Android or Full-Body Illegal
Prosthetic Only A set of surveillance implants, sometimes
You are sturdily constructed. Against enemy sardonically called "spyware" in the business world.
attacks, you may always reduce damage by 1 This can include cell network triangulation, laser
step on your Damage Track for free. microphones, LIDAR, radar, or other such things.
Take +1 Tough Defense. This does not stack with
With this Augment and time to prepare, you can see
Combat or Covert Armor, but isn’t as Obvious.
through walls and listen through closed
windows. (This isn't full HD color vision: you see
Nootropic Injector
shapes or thermal images. Some walls and windows
Illegal, Human Only
can also be treated to defeat this type of system.)
A variant of the Combat Injector. This one is Illegal
largely because many users tend to use non- Special: This Augment is always Illegal. No license
approved medicines to improve performance and can cover or explain owning this.
reduce sleep. The use of this implant is also
designed to be long-term rather than momentary,
with no studies having been done with regards to
side effects. Common among wealthy people in the
tech industry, who rarely get in trouble for having it.
When rolling Prep for a mission, you count as
having 1 extra day to prepare, and may use 1
New Augments and
Generic Specialty twice. If you suffer Economic
Assets
Shock, you must choose to suffer Disadvantage to
You're free to create new Augments and Assets. If
either Clever or Cool rolls before choosing your
it's something important that doesn't need a
regular consequences.
mechanical effect, like an important NPC owing
you a favor, you can just write it down. If it should
Rocket Fists
have a mechanical effect, try to find an existing
Restricted
one similar to what you want to achieve, then
This street-designed Augment was considered
base the Cost and effect off that.
gimmicky by most people, but Omnidyne has
begun marketing a professional version as self- For example: Emily is playing a cyborg with a full-
defense technology. They're Restricted because body prosthetic. Her character is a musician, so
some asshole registered his rocket fists as a lethal she wants her body to come with an integrated DJ
weapon for a marketing gimmick once. function, with loudspeakers, live music mixing
and a microphone.
Rocket fists can be pneumatically launched, literal
rockets, or attached to your limb via steel cable for She decides to create an Asset for it, then use the
retraction. Your unarmed attacks gain the Ranged Integrated Asset Augment to install it in her body.
tag. If your limb can’t retract or return for any After thinking about it, she decides to use the
reason, you have Disadvantage on unarmed effect of Thieving Gear (granting a reroll in a
attacks until it is recovered. specific situation by spending Prep,) but changes
the situation and increases the Cost by 1 (music
Combining Augments equipment is more expensive.) Now she just prays
You can combine multiple types of Augments into her GM doesn’t realize she’s made a Vocaloid.
one part of your body, as long as it sounds plausible.
The final Asset looks like this:
For example, you could have a Work-Enhancing
Suite and a Specialized Augment in the same arm, Music Gear
or Xander's hormone regulator medical implant Cost: 3.
being Jailbroken to include an Illegal aftermarket This portable equipment lets you set up
Combat Injector. impromptu concerts on the go. You still need
time to set it up and transport it. When you
These Augments follow the same rules as normal,
make a Social roll against a crowd with music,
and each component Augment still increases
you may spend 1 Prep to reroll your roll once.
Burden separately.

System 97
 Augverts
by Alexander Blechman
On Grand Cross, corporations are always looking for When you add an Augvert to your character, consult
innovative and intrusive ways of cramming ads into with the GM and select one or more of the following
H new places. This quest led to “augvertising”—the AMFs as a downside.
W seamless union of advertising and augmentation.
HOLOGRAM
I People that can’t afford augmentation, or prefer a A large and highly visible animated hologram is
bargain, can sign up as a marketing affiliate to receive projected above your head. It cycles through
a free augmentation. These "Augverts" function like a product-appropriate images like condensation-
regular Augment of the player's choice, but do not encrusted soda cans, smiling actresses showing off
increase Burden. Instead, they come at the price of teeth whitening strips, or sizzling burger patties
turning the wearer into a walking billboard. hitting the grill. The hologram is blessedly silent,
but this glowing beacon makes it extremely hard to
You can only take 1 Augvert per character; brands
avoid being spotted or to blend into a crowd.
get jealous easily.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
Situational Penalties Unless it’s nighttime and you’re trying to sleep, your
In addition to being branded with garish logos, Augvert occasionally blasts a 30 second audio ad at
Augverts are programmed with ad software that high volume: an obnoxious mix of catchy jingles and
can be very inconvenient or embarrassing. It’s hard voice actors pitching a product. While it’s playing,
to be sneaky when your robotic arm is loudly the ad is accompanied by a small cloud of
playing a jingle for a mouthwash brand. You won’t holographic emojis that swarm around your body.
make a good impression at a swanky party when
You don’t usually have to track when it goes off; it’s
your eye implant is projecting a rotating hologram
just a minor annoyance you can roleplay out. In
of a cheeseburger above your head for all to see.
situations where it could cause a problem
At the GM's discretion, actions requiring stealth, (sneaking, swaying a crowd with an eloquent
subterfuge, or personal dignity can be harder to speech, etc.), roll 1d6. If you roll 3 or lower, you play
pull off with an Augvert. Your implant might draw a commercial and suffer the resulting fallout.
unwanted attention, lower the Mood, grant
TARGETED AD
Disadvantage, grant Advantage to an opponent’s
Each time you begin speaking to a stranger or a
roll, or have other negative effects.
crowd, your Augvert scans their appearance and plays
Depending on how noticeable your Augvert is, a 30 second commercial aimed at their demographic.
certain actions may be virtually impossible, like These ads take the form of holographic pop-up
trying to pose as a cop (who aren't allowed to have windows that float around your body, showing loud
Augverts unless they're police propaganda or video clips that are difficult to speak over.
private security services) or a rich person (who
After the commercial ends, it won’t play another ad
wouldn’t be caught dead with one.) Simply spotting
for the same people until some time has passed.
your Augvert will cause people to make
You suffer Disadvantage on Social rolls made during
assumptions about your financial and social status.
the ad, and less patient folks might simply walk
Add whatever penalty feels appropriate to the away rather than wait for it to finish. Even after it
situation. Don't overdo it—an Augvert should ends, you still have to deal with people that
hinder PCs occasionally, but not constantly. witnessed the humiliating spectacle.
TRACKING
Ambient Marketing Your location is constantly monitored via radio
Features transmitter and sold for marketing purposes.
The main drawback to Augverts is their Ambient
Anyone can buy a second-by-second log of
Marketing Feature, or AMF—how the Augvert advertises
everywhere you’ve been. They can also buy records
its parent company and their partners. The AMF
for a location, to see all tracked people that passed
varies depending on model. The better the Augvert,
through during a specific period of time.
the more AMFs it has, though most have just one.
Theoretically this info is anonymized, but any
digital sleuth worth their salt can figure it out with a

98
System
little effort (2d6 + Clever vs 7). Only your position is Restricted and
tracked, but that's often enough for enemies to Illegal Augverts

Augverts
infer what you were up to. Don't exist; no corporation wants the bad PR that
would bring. If an Augment is Restricted or Illegal,
PRODUCT PLACEMENT or combined with an Augment that is, it cannot be
Whether it’s an eye implant or not, this Augvert came an Augvert.
with a pair of cybernetic corneas that alter what you
see by placing illusory objects in the world. Tempting There are also indirect precautions you can take.
products appear on actually empty surfaces. Creating a distraction by setting off a fire alarm could
Billboards are displayed on blank walls (or over ads for make guards less likely to notice your hologram.
competing brands.) A friend’s cool indie band t-shirt Hacking into a loudspeaker system to blare ear-
might be altered to instead show a corporate logo. piercing music could cover up your noisy ads. Be
creative and use the environment to your advantage.
Only the wearer of the Augvert can see these
mirages. You can tell what’s real and what’s fake But don’t mess with your Augvert by opening it up
because the ads look better than reality. The real or covering the hologram projector with stickers.
nuisance is that the hallucinations are distracting, Crude physical attempts to thwart your Augvert will
and sometimes cover up something important. It’s put it in Anti-Tamper Mode, deactivating all
also harder to perform tasks requiring visual acuity, bonuses it grants and making it operate like a
such as searching, examination, and having initiative. regular body part but slightly worse (-1 penalty to
all rolls relying on it.) This condition lasts until you
MASCOT
visit a technician from the marketing firm and make
In public (and sometimes high-traffic) areas, this
up a bullshit excuse for why your Augvert stopped
Augvert projects a holographic mask over your face,
working— even if you undo your meddling.
turning you into a famous commercial mascot (car
insurance lizard, talking candy bar, Burger Kong, etc.)
Getting Rid of Augverts
You look absolutely ridiculous, though people If a player wants to rid themselves of an AMF, they can
sometimes ask to take photos with you. It’s not do so by increasing their Burden by 1 and paying 3
even useful as a disguise: the hologram flickers Cash. The Burden increase is from purchasing a
sometimes, almost imperceptibly, but enough for regular version of the Augment, and the Cash is to pay
security cameras to capture still frames of your fees for breaking your marketing affiliate contract.
face. This is a deliberate design choice to prevent
You’re also required to return the Augvert after
mascots from committing theft.
removing it. Marketing tech isn’t exactly cheap, and the
OTHER AMFS corporation expects to implant it in a different person.
This is not an exhaustive list. Players can invent
their own annoying new marketing methods, Comedy in Consumerism
provided the downside is sufficiently disruptive. Augverts are a great way to add humor to the game
and score satire points against consumer culture.
A GM who wishes to build a storyline around
Invent hilarious ads that make the game more fun,
sinister Augverts and corporate intrigue can even
not less, when they ruin a player’s plans.
let players take a free Augment with no obvious
downside, supposedly given for PR reasons, that Specificity is funny! GMs shouldn’t just announce
actually has a secret, nefarious, possibly illegal that an Augvert is drawing attention without further
downside they'll find out about later. detail. Describe the ads, say the witty slogan
displayed below a holographic burrito, sing a jingle
Mitigating Augvert for hemorrhoid cream.
Downsides Augverts can also deliver worldbuilding and
If it’s vitally important to avoid attention, players
exposition. Ads can reveal tidbits about everyday life
have some options.
on Grand Cross, what people suffer from and what
During missions, you can spend 1 Prep during they aspire to. Instead of showing plot-relevant info
important scenes to temporarily shut off your on TV or in the newspapers, it could appear above a
Augvert’s AMFs. You can also alter the data it player’s head. Commercials have an agenda, but
transmits or the images/sounds it creates if you are they sometimes contain a nugget of truth.
or know a hacker. This is temporary; antivirus
software kicks in eventually. It's up to the GM when.

System 99
Character:

Handle: Pronouns:

Player:

Personal
Personal Prep
Origin: Prep

Occupation:

Burden:

App:

Ability
Skill Defence
Defence Traits

Cool

Clever

Tough

Quick

Specialties Talents

Traits

Augments

Assets