Backgrounds

Your mundane life and social footprint.

Backgrounds represent the character's non-magical life and social footprint. Each character selects 1 Primary Background and 1 Secondary Background. Backgrounds are always relevant and generate pressure.

The Classics

1. Student

  • Access: Universal Academic Courtesy. Access libraries/archives in any city.
  • Pressure: Deadlines and condescension from elders.
  • Resource: Gain advantage on research/recall (1/session).

2. Service Worker

  • Access: Back of House. Access staff areas/kitchens in any venue.
  • Pressure: Financial instability; invisibility.
  • Resource: Declare you were present and unnoticed (1/session).

3. Noble

  • Access: Purchased Entry. Access VIP areas/high society via demeanor.
  • Pressure: Family surveillance; ransom target.
  • Resource: Solve a mundane problem with money (1/session).

4. Caretaker

  • Access: Trusted Presence. Access medical/domestic spaces by offering help.
  • Pressure: Compulsion to help strays/delays.
  • Resource: Negate a consequence for a protected NPC (1/session).

5. Outcast

  • Access: The Underbelly. Access homeless networks/squats in any city.
  • Pressure: Police harassment; suspicion.
  • Resource: Disappear from attention (1/session).

The Professionals

6. The Driver

  • Access: Logistics. You can acquire a vehicle in any city and navigate without maps. You know the fastest route out of town.
  • Pressure: Vehicle maintenance; you are always the designated getaway.
  • Resource: Getaway. Automatically escape a mundane pursuit (1/session).

7. The Fixer

  • Access: Black Market. You know the code words to find illegal goods (weapons, drugs, fencing) in a new city.
  • Pressure: Criminal debts; paranoia.
  • Resource: I Know a Guy. Produce a specific mundane illegal item within the hour (1/session).

8. The Suit (Corporate)

  • Access: The Algorithm. You have credentials that work in office parks and corporate HQs everywhere. You blend into the bureaucracy.
  • Pressure: Constant communication (emails/calls); corporate ethics.
  • Resource: Expense Account. Absorb a financial cost or bribe without tracking (1/session).

9. The Techie

  • Access: Digital Skeleton Key. You can bypass basic electronic locks and access public surveillance feeds.
  • Pressure: Digital trail; hardware dependency.
  • Resource: Loop. Erase the last 5 minutes of digital evidence of your presence (1/session).

10. The Journalist

  • Access: Press Pass. People talk to you because they want to be heard. You can enter crime scenes or press conferences.
  • Pressure: The drive to publish; danger from exposing truths.
  • Resource: The Scoop. Learn a mundane secret about an NPC or location (1/session).

The Performers & Socialites

11. The Influencer

  • Access: Social Currency. You can mobilize a flash mob or get into clubs because "it's good exposure" for them.
  • Pressure: The audience is always watching; loss of privacy.
  • Resource: Viral. Direct public attention toward or away from a specific event (1/session).

12. The Artist

  • Access: Bohemian Circle. You are welcome in galleries, squats, and elite parties alike. You speak the language of the avant-garde.
  • Pressure: Melancholy; need for inspiration.
  • Resource: Critique. Unnerve a social opponent by deconstructing their appearance or taste (1/session).

13. The Athlete

  • Access: Physical Peak. You can access gyms, stadiums, and training facilities. People respect your discipline.
  • Pressure: Injuries; dietary restrictions; recognition.
  • Resource: Push. Succeed on a mundane physical feat that should be impossible (1/session).

The Fringe

14. The Believer (Clergy/Cultist)

  • Access: Sanctuary. Religious institutions (of any faith) will offer you shelter and food.
  • Pressure: Moral obligations; crisis of faith.
  • Resource: Confession. An NPC trusts you with a burden or truth they wouldn't share otherwise (1/session).

15. The Conspiracy Theorist

  • Access: Pattern Recognition. You notice surveillance, dead drops, and codes that others miss.
  • Pressure: Paranoia; nobody believes you.
  • Resource: Connect the Dots. The GM links two seemingly unrelated clues for you (1/session).

16. The Veteran

  • Access: Tactical Assessment. You can identify security blind spots and weapon types at a glance.
  • Pressure: PTSD triggers; vigilantism.
  • Resource: Suppress. Intimidate a mundane threat into backing down without violence (1/session).

17. The Drifter

  • Access: Ghost. You leave no paper trail. You can sleep anywhere and eat anything.
  • Pressure: No roots; no backup.
  • Resource: Scavenge. Find a useful mundane item in the trash or environment (1/session).

18. The Tourist

  • Access: Innocence. You are invisible because you are obvious. You can stand in the middle of a crisis taking photos and no one perceives you as a threat.
  • Pressure: Naivety; easy mark for grifters.
  • Resource: Lost. Accidental entry into a secure location because you "took a wrong turn" (1/session).