1

Uncanny ........................................................................... 1
The world of Neomancer ...................................................4
Off the grid ...................................................................... 5
Narrative approach ......................................................... 6
Basic rules....................................................................... 7
Dice........................................................................................................ 7
Building the standard dice pool .............................................................. 7
The skill check....................................................................................... 8
Narrative Actions .................................................................................. 8
Narrative tactical combat .............................................. 9
The combat sheet ................................................................................... 9
Stances ................................................................................................. 9
Initiative and actions ............................................................................ 10
Minions, Leaders, Firewall ..................................................................... 10
Small Example Play ............................................................................. 10
Flow......................................................................................................11
Tactic cards .......................................................................................... 11
Damage and energy .......................................................... 11
Hit zones................................................................................................ 11
Armor ....................................................................................................11
Damage ..................................................................................................11
Critical wound ...................................................................................... 12
Minions and leaders .............................................................................. 12
Operations ......................................................................12
The Firewall ......................................................................................... 12
Preparation .......................................................................................... 12
Intrusion ............................................................................................... 13
Danger Zone .......................................................................................... 13
Final Phase ........................................................................................... 13
Point of No Return ................................................................................ 13
 Extraction ............................................................................................ 14
Hack the system .............................................................. 15
Play the system ..............................................................16
Yes, but… ............................................................................................ 16
Hacks, bugs and other fun things to tell .............................................. 16
Operation 1.17 ..................................................................17
Overview for the Gamemaster ................................................................ 17
The Operators ....................................................................................... 17
Getting the job ..................................................................................... 18
Operation 1.17 ....................................................................................... 18
Intrusion ............................................................................................... 19
The danger zone .................................................................................... 19
Phase 1 ................................................................................................. 19
Phase 2 ............................................................................................... 20
Final Phase .......................................................................................... 20
Extraction ............................................................................................ 21
Rewards ............................................................................................... 21
Pre generated Operators for Operation 1.17 .......................................... 22

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 “We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings.”
(John Osterman – Watchmen)

“Welcome to Los Angeles, welcome to the future.” The woman smiled brightly at Raven and
put her hands together in front of her chest. “My name is Sophie, how may I help you?”
Raven rearranged her face into something that could probably pass as a smile. She was never
that good with all these fake emotion stuff. To add insult to injury, she had to wear business
clothes, which made her feel … uncomfortable. Not that she looked bad in them, but she had
spent too many years in combat gear, around men and women who wore the same. It simply
felt plain weird going somewhere in business clothes. Without weapons.
I might as well be naked, she thought. Well, Cross would love that, she added.
Sophie was waiting patiently for a reply. Raven had to admit that the biopod looked
marvelous, from a technical perspective. It would simply be impossible to distinguish her from
a human, wouldn’t it be for the fact that four identical Sophies were greeting other visitors in
the entrance hall.
The creepy part was, none of them realized that. It was a bold statement from the Yin-
Yao corporation: by showing the visitors that their biopods could be virtually indistinguishable,
but still allowing them to be identified as such, they showed clearly that they held all the cards
in their hands. Having the biopods not realize that there were four of them was the cruel icing
on the cake. Raven almost felt sad for them.
“Miss? Are you alright?” Apparently, Sophie had grown a little weary of her not-too-
communicative counterpart.
“Don’t let her wait too long. It usually is better to keep them occupied”, Cassy's voice
appeared in Ravens head over her commlink.

1
It would have been easier to link their wifi-modules together, but both Raven and Cross had an
aversion against sharing anything over wifi if not absolutely necessary, so Cassy had to log into
an older radio transmitter. The end result was more or less the same, but since almost no one
was using anything else than wifi these days, the radio transmission was more secure - at least
in theory.
“Yeah, I’m alright”, she finally replied. “Nice of you to ask.”
Sophie lightened up. “Of course. Here at Yin-Yao we care about our visitors. So, how can I
help you, Miss …?”
“Oh, please call me Rita.” Raven smiled. “I am searching for someone working here.”
“Do you have an appointment with this person?” Sophie asked.
“Not really, no.”
“But you can tell me the name?”
“Well … er … that’s part of the problem. We kind of … met last night, and, well, did
not exchange contact information. His name is Chris and he works here.”
That was as far as they thought they could take this lie. Trying to find information like
this in one of the public terminals or over the wireless network without the right clearance
would probably raise a red flag somewhere in the system and draw attention. But the biopod in
front of Raven might just not pass that information into the system in the first place. After all,
that was her purpose: helping visitors. And showing off Yin-Yao’s progress in biotechnology.
And of course, Raven wasn’t interested in anyone named Chris. The problem with bio-
technology was - at least at the moment - that the biopods always were a little different than
what their creators hoped they would be when they did the neurosurgery. Surely, in a general
sense, they did what they were made for. The Sophies were not running away or started to kill
people or themselves. But sometimes, they acted a little different than expected.
From this point of view, cyberpods still were more reliable and controllable, but they
lacked the - almost human - intuition and creativity that biopods had. And finally, biopods
looked human. If you brought things like espionage into the equation, it was clear that biopods
were the way to go. With a false set of memories, only their makers were able to identify them
because only they knew where to look.
The four Sophies in here were deliberately vaguely characterized. Their job was to chat
up to people, wow them and then point them in the right direction or show them the exit. But
Raven had met real biopods. It was impossible to identify them if you hadn’t access to a labor-
atory or to a few dozen psychiatrists. And then … there was the unspoken question.
Probably not too many people bothered with it. Their lives were full of memories,
friends, things. Yes, all of that could be faked. But the more there was to fake, the easier some-
thing could slip up. But Raven was not “many people”. As an Operator, you usually lived off
the grid or at its edges. Not many friends, a vague past … would be the perfect setting for a few
false memories.
And sometimes, at night, when her cyberware felt like it didn’t belong to her, when she
pondered over questionable things she had done…
Don’t worry over this shit. You’re just here to do a job. Maybe focus on that.
“I am very sorry, Miss Rita, but I cannot give you this kind of information. If you had
an appointment and could tell me the full name it would be no problem. Unfortunately, without
any of this I cannot help you. I hope you understand.”
Raven sighed. “I understand. It’s not your fault. Seems like I wasted my coffee break
for nothing.”
Sophie, or the Sophie - Raven was still unsure about that, smiled again. “In this case,
may I offer you one? It’s the least I can do. Here at Yin-Yao, we care about our visitors.”
“Oh, very nice. Why not?”
“Then, please follow me”, Sophie said, still smiling.

2
They had not to walk that far. Just around a corner was an expensive looking coffee machine,
which had already made two cups of coffee. It smelled like real coffee to Raven. Expensive,
real coffee.
Cassy contacted her again, “Anything wrong?”.
“Nope. So far, so good. We’ll know in a minute if she is the right one. And outside?”,
Raven replied.
“Everything looks nice and clear. A few guards patrolling as far as we can tell, but
nothing special. Seems like you fit in just nicely.” She hesitated for a second. “Cross says, and
I quote, your ass looks really good in that suit.”
Yeah. Thanks. That’s really helpful now.
In the meantime, Sophie had taken the two cups and gave her one. “Be careful. It’s hot.”
The biopod took a careful sip.
“Thank you”, Raven said.
And then Sophie went blank. I’ll be damned. Just like that.
Raven moved a little closer to her. As far as she could tell, no one was watching them
in the moment. She dipped her fingers into the coffee and made a small stain on the biopod’s
dress, somewhere on the shoulders, where the hair would hide it. She drew her fingers back,
took the coffee out of Sophie’s hands and put it next to the coffee machine.
“Found her. I’m leaving.”
This time, Cross replied. “Good. Now, get out. We’ll return in fifteen minutes to take
her out of there. Can you identify her again?”
“Yes. I’m coming.”
Whatever happened to the biopod, the guy who hired them had known that one of them
would have a glitch when they drank coffee. If that was the result of failed neurosurgery or a
deliberate glitch to identify exactly this model was none of Ravens business. Also, why they
should kidnap her didn’t really matter. It was just a job. The pod Cross had talked to yesterday
kept babbling on and on about her husband and kids. The sad truth was that all these memories
were fake.
The biopod blinked a few times, and her eyes focused again. “Excuse me. I think I was
lost in my thoughts for a moment. What were we talking about?”
“Oh, I was just thanking you for the coffee, but I have to leave now.”
Sophie blinked again a few times, as if she knew that something was wrong but she
couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Then, her usual behaviour took over.
“Of course, Let me bring you back.”
They went for the exit, and Raven left the building.
As soon as she was gone, the biopod focused her attention on someone new that was
just coming through the doors.
“Welcome to Los Angeles, welcome to the future. My name is Sophie, how may I help
you?”

3
 “That’s sad. How plastic and artificial life has become. It gets harder and harder to find
something…real.[…]Real love, real friends, real body parts…”
(Nin – The Other Side of Life)

Overall, the world of Neomancer is in a pretty solid state, despite of everything what has hap-
pened. The overall concentration away from fossil fuels to cleaner nuclear power has apparently
been the right step, and scientists are working to make it more reliable, more efficient and safer.
The increased capabilities of solar, wind and water power also helped with the ever-increasing
need for energy.
So, life was pretty good, but roughly fifteen years ago, everything changed when the
Incident happened and most of Europe and the Middle East crashed into chaos overnight. It is
unclear what exactly caused the launch of weapons of mass destruction. As far as anyone
knows, almost no reliable data from those events exist and, since everyone was accusing and
fighting everyone most of the people who might know something are assumed dead or have
vanished in the following time. The war lasted about four years, until an unsteady peace took
over when most of the factions realized that they were fighting over nothing.
Obviously, the whole planet suffered the consequences from the Incident, some more,
some less. The corporations stepped in, and together with the government they worked hard to
supply humanity with what they needed. The first cyberpods had appeared earlier, giving rise
to cyber- and biotechnology and the first fully Operational augmented reality systems were on
the way. Water and food supplies were build, ground and air-purification was done when- or
wherever possible. Medications were developed to counter or slow down most damaging effects
from the fallout. Since it was easier to do this in one place instead of many, smaller cities got
abandoned, when the corporations and the government focused on linking areas together as
megacities.
But of course, all this was expensive, much more expensive than what many people
could afford, so they had to try and survive by what was left, with varying results. Even today,
if you cannot afford clean food, clean water, food supplements and regular medications, chances
are that you often will get sick and reduce your life expectancy significantly. The earth is far
from clean, and pollution is far from gone. It’s just a little cleaner than some might have ex-
pected at this point. Also, new technologies often require their creators to turn a blind eye to-
wards the environment. The first small colonization attempts on Moon have started, and Mars
will be next.
So, while technology has advanced, mankind still struggles with the sins of their fathers
and also with the ever-increasing gap between rich and poor.
About five years ago, the first biopods, fully genetically engineered “humans” were
brought into the public, and once again, people are asking themselves if they will be replaced
in the future, and the tension rises.

4
 I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation pumping
gas, waiting tables - slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes,
working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need.
(Tyler Durden – Fight Club)

Wake up. Go to work. Come home. Feel like shit. Sleep. Repeat. Does that sound familiar to
you? Well, to many people in the world of Neomancer, sadly, it does. And while most of the
people are not slaves to the system, they are not really free, either. Food is expensive. Living is
expensive. Medicine is expensive. Education is expensive. The taxes are high and you get little
in return. Jobs are hard to find and badly-paid, especially since cyber- and biopods advance
more and more, and people fear that it is only a matter of time until they will be made obsolete.
If you cannot afford to pay for your CSC - your Citizenship Code, then you are non-
existent for the system. While some people would probably like that, especially those who think
CSC should better stand for Citizenshit Code, being without one raises a whole new level of
problems. Forget about using public transportation, going to school or the hospital. You can be
lucky if someone gives you a shitty job at all (off the books, of course) so that you can afford
at least a cheap capsule hotel. Want to buy something? Well, better find a store that takes Credits
from you, because that’s illegal, so you might have to pay a little more. No matter how poor
you are, someone else will always be poorer and try to get the little you have. The police will
not care, they don’t come into places like yours.
If you are born into a family without a CSC, good luck to you. You are, of course, free
to join organized crime, either a random street gang or more traditional forms like the Mafia or
Yakuza, for example. The end result will often be the same if you don’t manage to rise up in
their ranks. The corporations also have a seemingly never-ending need for cheap labor. They
might even give you a temporary CSC, but if you screw up...
Talk about the corporations: if you managed to get the right education, the right job, the
right parents or just were born lucky, you might end up in the better parts of the city, either in
one of the corporations arcologies or - even better - in a nice neighborhood, away from the
factories and the lowly scum that is just trying to survive, while you can truly live.
For most people, there is not much in-between. It’s either the lowest low or the highest
high. But then, there are those who became Operators. They live between the cracks, off the
grid. For some reason, they ended up in a place above the street scum, but below the government
and the corporations. Sometimes, they have worked for a corporation before but have fallen
from grace or left of their own free will. Sometimes they might have managed to rise up from
the streets. Whatever the reason, the corporations want you, need you. Because you are good at
something. Often, but not always, that something is killing people. Oh, the corporations have
people for that, but they prefer to stay in the shadows and use people like you to do their dirty
work, be it data theft, murder or something entirely different. Sometimes, Operators might even
work for the government without knowing it. Some Operators think of themselves as heroes, as
rebels against the system, and while some of them might actually deserve that name, most of
them can dress it up as they want, they are nothing more than shady criminals who are excellent
at what they do.
The money they earn grants them a certain independence from the system. No matter
what the government tells you, total surveillance is not possible. Someone always takes bribes
and looks the other way. Some Operators even keep their CSC, but they better don’t get caught
with it doing something illegal.
An important part of every Operator’s live is the Broker. He arranges Operations as an
intermediary between them and the employer to keep both parties secret. In return, he gets a

5
percentage of the payment. Also, the Broker usually is the guy you talk to when you need a
fake CSC, buy something illegal or whatever it is you want to do without taking the official
route. Both Operators and Brokers depend on each other, and Operators who try to cheat their
Broker usually get retired permanently. Likewise, Brokers should expect the same to happen if
they screw with their Operators, but then again they have just a little bit more power, and some-
times rumors surface that some Brokers work more closely with the corporations than the Op-
erators might want them to.
But in the end, the Operators need the Brokers and have not much of a choice. They
have left most of their old lives behind without much of a chance to turn back. And while
Operators and Brokers are a tight-knit group of people, nonetheless, fallouts happen, sometimes
even between different groups of Operators who might not even know they have the same - or
opposite - goal.
So, if they wanted to become an Operator or not, they have to depend on each other, or
each mistake could be the last. And when each job puts you into the line of fire, mistakes usually
happen more sooner than later.
Have you ever wondered why Brokers are always on the lookout for fresh talents? Wel-
come to the future, kid.

I hold on to the notion that I just wasn't born to die.

I'm still sticking to the notion there is a bigger story left to tell
(Scandroid – Salvation Code)

Neomancer is a roleplaying game, which thrives from the characters, their lives, their passions
and skills. They are a group of pariahs, who try to survive in a neo dystopia, often by force,
misdirection and chutzpah. A campaign in Neomancer is constructed like a Netflix series,
maybe even divided by seasons. In every episode, the players can advance their group, but also
the plot of the season. Meeting new characters, making enemies, turning them into friends, see
beloved persons get hurt or even die. This means that every mechanic in this game resolves
around the players and their roleplay. You will later see, that also the Operation Map, although
it’s a map like in the olden days, just helps to visualize the narrative.
In this Quick Start Guide we provide one basic Operation, which is solely for getting to
know the game and the setting. Ideally, Neomancer is played in form of a longer campaign on
several evenings. Every evening consists of three Operations. The first is for the players to get
in the mood of a dark yet neon bright future and should be an easy task. The second Operation
should be meta-driven. Here the main plot unfolds. Maybe a friend asks for help, an enemy
attacks or other things that contribute to the big picture take place. This Operation is not
necessarily constructed like a standard Operation and it can vary in length.
Depending on the remaining time, the group can now try do fulfill another task. Maybe
directly related to the meta-Operation, maybe not.

6
 The future's not set. There's no fate but what we make for ourselves.
(John Connor - Terminator 2)
Dice
A Black Die is an Operator Die ( ). These are your positive dice gained through skills,
cyberware, talents and so on. You will find them on your character sheet in this introduction
set. A Red Die is a System Die ( ). These are negative dice, gained from the difficulties your
opposition imposes or the general difficulty of the task at hand.

Building the standard dice pool Body

Build the dice pool by identifying the skill and the corresponding attribute
you want to use (normally, this value should already be on your character Close O|OOO
sheet). For example, if you want to sneak, you look at your stealth skill.
Now you just count every point in Body before the line. In this case, it is 3 Stealth O|OOO
(1[close]+1[stealth]+1[intimidate]) and you take the same amount of . You Athletics O|OOO
may then add one for every point after the line of the used skill, which is
1 in this case. Intimidate O|OOO
Now the GM doesn’t say anything and therefore, the difficulty is . There
may be bonuses later, but for now, this is your basic dice pool: .
When you are unskilled (no points in this skill, either before or after the line) you add to the
pool. Let’s have a look at a Jarrel, a sample character (see appendix):

The numbers are there to help you so you don’t have to count anything. Just announce the skill
you are using and look at the numbers. If the number is black, this means you are trained here
and can just add the according number of dice. Let’s say Jarrel wants to sneak by a guard. He
takes because of the Stealth value of 3. The standard difficulty is , so his dice pool is:
.
Later, Jarrel wants to intimidate someone. Since he is not trained the number is red.
This means he adds to the check. He still has a body value of 3 and the red number therefore
is 3, so he still adds . His dice pool looks like this now: (Skill) (difficulty)
untrained).

Build dice pool example

1. Choose skill Hack
2. Add according to the number
3. Add if the number is red
4. Add difficulty (standard)
5. Build pool

7
The skill check
A Dice is a success on 4+, which means you have to roll 4 or higher. A success on a is called
Hit, a success on a is called Block. A Block cancels a Hit and if there are more Hits than
blocks, your check was successful.
But not only the success is important, there are also side effects. For these, you have to count
the 1s on the dice. A 1 on a is called Hack, a 1 on a
is a Bug. If there are more Hacks than Bugs, you have
Dice Legend
1
a positive side effect, which will be explained later. If
4+ 1
you have more Bugs than Hacks, it is the other way
HIT Hack around. Now let’s do something with your dice!
4+
Block 1
BUG Narrative Actions
Not every action of your character is an action in game
Hits > Blocks -> Success
terms. Getting dressed, eating and reloading your gun
Hits ≤ Blocks -> Fail is easy for you and you don’t need to do a check for
these kinds of things. Only when there is resistance or
Hacks > bugs -> pos. side effect
the task is difficult in any way, you have to do a check
Hacks < Bugs -> neg. side effect for it. Every time this happens outside of combat, this
is considered a narrative action. Your group wants to
open doors, hack systems, steal things, sneak past
guards and so on. Now, many games handle these situations like this:

Player: I want to open the door.

GM: Okay, check lock pick skill.
Player: I failed.
GM: Okay, too bad.
Player: I try it again!

In Neomancer, narrative actions should not be blocked. We embrace the art of saying yes.
Well, actually saying: “Yes, but…”. There are some tasks, the Operators just can’t fail, because
it moves the story forward and it would be very weird, if they wouldn’t succeed. You can’t
open the door? Too bad, Operation is over, or the Operator tries over and over until he succeeds.
We let the Operator try over and over, but it will cost something. Every time, a narrative action
fails, one goes into the Firewall (see Operation Map, more to that later). In the narrative, it
simulates the fact that failure leads to detection. Not instantly, but the increase of the firewall
leads to bigger obstacles and harder fights. But now since we already mentioned fights, let’s
have a look at combat.

8
 Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.
(John McClane – Die Hard)

In Neomancer, combat is swift and brutal. The Operators are professionals but they are still
human. So, a bullet to the head can end an Operation quite quickly.
Choosing your tactic is very important and so is your investment in the fighting phases. Every
time a conflict cannot be solved by solely narrating (which may never be the case), the GM can
announce a combat. A combat is divided into combat rounds in which every participant can act
once per round. The order is determined by an initiative system and the actions depend on the
players.

The combat sheet

Every Operator and NPC has a combat sheet, where he finds everything he needs to fight:

Initiative Pool
Initiative
Stances and
difficulty for
checks against
you
Covered Neutral Exposed

Shoot like a coward Shoot Melee

Attack Neutral/Exposed [Ranged] Attack Covered/Neutral/Exposed Attack Covered/Neutral/Exposed
Difficulty is based on enemy [Ranged] [Close]
stance Difficulty is based on enemy Difficulty is based on stance
Discard all flow dice before check; stance
Action boxes
you don’t generate flow
Duck and Cover Assist: Cover Fire:
Add to enemy checks against Add to another Operators Add to an enemies next
you Flow check
Take Breath Reach better position Reach superior position
Recover 2 INI or 2 ERG OR 1 of Athletics Check -> Athletics Check :
each
Gain to Flow Reach superior position: Gain

Play Tactic Card Interact with environment Diversion

Tactics Check depending on card Narrative skill check One enemy has to attack you

Stances
The Stance defines the options of the Operator and his general behavior. When you choose one
action (see below) out of the 12 options, the column defines your stance. A Covered Operator
is very cautious and moves from cover to cover, adding to checks against him, but the
reward also is not very high. A Neutral Operator is moving freely and everyone gets for
actions against him/her. Exposed means you are rushing heads on into combat, so everyone
only adds for checks against you.
These difficulties are the standard difficulties for checks in a combat. So, if you want to
shoot an exposed enemy, your difficulty is only , where a Covered enemy would add .

9
Initiative and actions
Necromancer’s combat is based on tactical decisions and has a high risk, high reward approach.
In every round, all combatants choose one box on their
combat sheet. This is what they want to do and deter- Player Mindlink
mines their stance for the whole round. Now since it is In every RPG there is he fact that
important, when you act, you put a die on the box in players can communicate in every
secret and therefore the action you want to do. The situation, although their characters
number you choose on the die determines your initia- can’t. This is true in Neomancer,
tive. So, if you really want to go first, put a 6 on the too, although in a fast combat sit-
action, if you are not that invested, maybe a 2 is high uation, you cannot sit down with
enough. chips and coke to discuss your
The initiative pool is not infinite, though. The moves. So, here, the players may
standard value is 10, some skills and cyberware may do that, but the GM can listen and
change that. When you are depleted, you can still act chose his actions accordingly. A
and put dice on the sheet, but your initiative is consid- good team that knows what to do
ered 0. After every combatant has chosen his/her action has an advantage here.
and initiative in secret, all sheets are revealed. Now
everyone acts from initiative 6 to 0, on a tie, players go first. The stance counts for this round,
it does not matter if you have acted yet or not.

Minions, Leaders, Firewall

Minions and leaders have combined sheets (see appendix). As a ground rule, minions usually
try to attack the target with the worst defense, in most cases the exposed Operators. Further-
more, their combined initiative pool for every round is the firewall value (all in the Firewall).
This means a fight early on is fairly easy for the Operators, where a shoot-out in the final phase
can be fatal.
As an addition, the GM may put into the firewall, when the Operators try to stall the
combat, maybe by staying covered all the time. The system has infinite backup which can show
up every moment, so the time is your enemy, too.
Leaders are described by their threat level. So, a leader (3) has for everything he
or she attempts. Minions on the other hand have a threat level and a number. 3 Guards with
threat Level 2 would look like this: Guards / .
The first is their threat level and then you add for every guard after the first. So when a
guard dies, they lose until there are no guards left.

Small Example Play

Raven and Cross encounter some Guards and they see each other instantly and decide to attack
each other (silly example, of course). The players get their sheets out, so does the GM (NPC
sheets provided in the appendix). Now, everyone sets their actions in secret. Then they are
revealed:
Raven: Cover Fire 5
Cross: Melee 5
Guards: Shoot 4

Now the players can decide which one goes first and they choose Raven. Cover Fire does not
need a check, Raven just fires her weapon in the guard’s general direction to scatter them. Then
Cross leaps forward, head on, and Melee attacks one of them, instantly killing him.
The Guards now Shoot at Cross, since he is the easiest target and wound his chest.
Another round begins.

10
Flow
In combat, every remaining Hack (not cancelled by Bugs) goes into the Flow. You must add
every die in the Flow pool to your next check. Minions and leaders don’t have flow.

Tactic cards
Tactic Cards are available for the Operators and the GM. They provide a surprising element
and come from a shared deck. The number of cards accessible to the players will be generated
by several skills. There are no Tactics Cards in this Quick Start Guide, they will be added later
in the Core Book.

Beneath this mask there is more than flesh, beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy,
and ideas are bulletproof.
(V – V for Vendetta)

You have two resources, your health and your energy (Erg). Erg
is only consumed in combat and replenishes automatically when
the combat ends. It is used to trigger talents or cyberware and
represents the power your body can handle. On your character
sheet, you can mark the boxes you used, or you can put dice there,
so you know how much Erg you have left.

Hit zones
In combat, or maybe in the narrative, you may get hurt. On the
character sheet, you see hit zones. The hit zones are for players
only, minions and leaders don’t have them. When you get hit, just
count which number comes up more often ( and combined),
this is the zone that gets hit. For example:
1,1,4,5,5 means you get hit in the chest, because there are mostly 5s.
1,1,4,5 means you get hit in the head, because there are mostly 1s.
2,2,1,5 means you get hit in the arms, because there are mostly 2s.
When there are 2 options, the player may choose the hit zone.

Armor
You have an armor value, let’s say 1. This means, every body part is protected by Armor 1, but
the chest adds 1 point and the head subtracts one point. This means you have Armor 2 for the
chest and Armor 0 for the head and Armor 1 for legs and arms. This simulates the fact that you
can protect your chest very well but the head is often exposed, when you are not wearing a full
helmet.

Damage
When a weapon hits, just subtract the armor from the damage. A pistol, the only weapon in this
guide, does 3 damage. When you get hit in the chest, where you have Armor 2, you mark 1 box.
In the arm it would be 2 boxes, in the head 3. Speaking of 3 boxes…

11
Critical wound
When you get the third damage in one zone you get a critical wound. A critical wound adds
to every check in this Operation. When you would get more damage in the same zone, another
zone is hit (player’s choice). While the second critical wound adds another the third critical
hit kills you instantly.

Minions and leaders

Minions are there, so your Operators can fight many enemies, without feeling overpowered.
They act as a single entity but gain dice for being a group. A minion group of 3 guards with
threat level 2 would look like this, game wise:
Guards (3) / . (Threat level: ; 2 guards after the first: )
Minions do not have wounds. Every time an Operator inflicts 3 damage, a minion dies (in this
Quick Start Guide, minions do not have armor). So after the first minion dies, the group looks
like this:
Guards (2) / (Threat level still , 1 guard after the first: )
Leaders are designed as harder enemies. They may have a name and special skills or tactc
cards. They don’t have wounds or armor either, they die, when they take 9 damage (so, after 3
shots they should be dead).

This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story
ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill
- you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
(Morpheus – Matrix)

A Neomancer campaign consists of a series of Operations. Some of them will drive the plot
forward (Meta-Operations), others are purely there to boost the groups finances, skill and gear.
In this Quick Start Rules, you will find a sample Operation, which is great for an introductory
round with some friends to get to know the system, the world and the feel of Neomancer.
An Operation consists of the following parts, a map is provided on the next pages:

The Firewall
The Firewall is a symbol of the target’s awareness. As mentioned above, the Operators will
most likely attack some kind of prepared object. The Firewall is an indicator how alert the target
is. The Firewall has 12 slots and every 4 slots it increases its DEFCON Value. The DEFCON
determines which cards the GM can play in combat and which events can be triggered (not in
the Quick Start Guide).

Preparation
In this phase, the Operators prepare their Operation. Every Operator can buff either the intrusion
or the extraction. So, before the actual Operation takes place, every player can send his Operator
on a mini-mission which lasts about 5-7 minutes. The player describes what he wants to do and
suggests a skill to use. The GM narrates the little scene and depending on the outcome, the
Operator generates bonus dice for either intrusion or extraction.

12
 For example, Raven wants to make a guard drunk in his time off to get some information
for the intrusion. The GM now plays a little scene, Raven’s player roleplays and makes a check.
For every remaining hit after subtracting blocks, a goes into the intrusion pool. If he fails the
firewall increases by .

Intrusion
Every Operation has a starting pool. For example, Operation 1.17 in this Guide has a starting
pool of . Now add the from the Intrusion pool on the map and check against the target’s
difficulty, which is provided by the GM or the scenario. In most cases, its . When the roll
succeeds, the Operators may narrate their entry themselves and everything is going smoothly.
They enter the Danger Zone without problems.
When they fail the check, something terrible happens. This does not have to be a fight,
but maybe some guards check their IDs or a pedestrian bothers them. Here, the GM can be
creative and our starting scenario suggests some options.

Danger Zone
Out along the edges
Always where I burn to be
The further on the edge
The hotter the intensity
(Kenny Loggins – Danger Zone)

The Danger Zone is where the fun begins. Now the Operators are in the belly of the beast and
have to push through to reach their goal. The danger zone consists of up to 5 phases: Phase 1
to 4 and the Final Phase.
Phase 1 to 4
Every phase illustrates an obstacle the Operators have to overcome. This can be very
simple, like a secure door, or more elaborate, maybe finding the right person to help you. In the
Danger Zone, every failed check generates one for the firewall. Firefights occurring in the
phases generate for the Firewall as described on the map.

Final Phase
The final phase is where the Operators reach their goal. They see the data, they can take the
shot at their target, the hostage is right in front of them. Now, their behavior to this point deter-
mines the nature of the final phase. Depending on your DEFCON (see next page), the final
phase may be harder or easier. In any case, the Operators now try to fulfill their mission. A
failed roll, once again, adds to the firewall and now they get to the extraction

Point of No Return
At some point, depending on the firewall and the circumstances, the GM declares that this is
the point of no return. After this point everyone can die without any chance for mercy. Single
Operators can now decide to extract and move right to the extraction roll. They can use the
bonus dice, but then they are gone for the rest of the group.

13
Extraction
After the final phase, the Operators want to leave. They have a basic
pool depending on preparation by their Broker and maybe bonus DEFCON1 =
dice. Depending on DEFCON, the difficulty is 1 to 3. When they DEFCON 2 =
pass their check, they escape without further questions. They may
narrate the escape however they see fit. If they fail the check, some- DEFCON 3 =
thing bad happens. Maybe the room is stormed by guards, maybe
they get arrested or maybe they are chased.

14
 Look at you, hacker: a pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run
through my corridors. How can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine?
(Shodan – System Shock)

The world of Neomancer is a world of Augmented Reality. AR is the way to organize yourself
in the megacity. Every shop has an AR sign, every person has a business card blending in with
reality. Without AR you miss half of the accessible information out there.
In Neomancer, there are multiple layers of reality. The first is the real word, you can
touch and feel it. Over that, there are layers of augmented reality, defined by their security level.
While a normal citizen can see what the prize of a cup of coffee is, a script kid can get one for
free and a real hacker can not only let the coffee machine explode but he could make it look
like an accident, or, for that matter, a pink elephant destroying the machine. Some security
doors have protection layers of AR so only allowed persons can see them and rich citizens
improve their homes by AR. You can be sure, that even the poorest hacker lives in a very nice
AR layer, even when rats are running through his walls to find the last food that rots somewhere.
He may also be in a VR environment.
Since the dawn of the 21st century people dreamed about Virtual Reality and it is here
and it is a main source of recreation. You can meet friends, have sex, play games and do sports
in VR, you don’t even have to go out anymore in the real world. There are also professional
uses for VR, but they are fairly limited when it comes to hacking. When you try to hack some-
thing or someone, VR is not the tool of choice.
Since the word hacker was first uttered they were known as keyboard jockeys staring at
screens, crunching numbers and reading row after row of data. There always was the option of
proper visualization but only for the customers, the casual user playing video games and citizens
planning vacations. Hackers don’t need a GUI (graphical user interface) they just need access
to the raw data, they want to communicate with the machine. For example, it would be overly
complicated to hack in a VR environment. In the 21st century there already were many options
for graphical hacking but nothing beats the good old green and black.
To actually hack something the hacker has to be present in the scene. You may get
access to some information in the comfort of your home but to help in an Operation you have
to be there. The so-called field hacking is powered by an artificial brain, salvaged from a cy-
berpod, which enhances your AR. One could do it of its own but it would be much harder and
take more time.
When you want to manipulate the environment, the GM can tell the players everything
what their Operators see, the first AR layer is visible to everyone. The layers after that may be
seen by the hacker. If you want to interact now you just have to pass a narrative hacking check.
In the provided Operation, there are several options mentioned where a hacking manipulation
could be useful. The Quick Start Hacking rules are included in the description of the sample
hacker Operator in the appendix.

When you want to participate in this game as a player, you should not
read further! This section is GM only!

15
 Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none
suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster.
(Agent Smith – Matrix)

We won’t talk much about roleplay and GMing in general, since this is a Quick Start Guide on
Kickstarter and we can safely assume that you know what you are doing and we adress only the
kwirks of Neomancer.

Yes, but…
A standard Operation in Neomancer has big narrative parts. And while you are playing the
narrative always assume that the Operators will eventually succeed when they want to move in
a certain direction. The possibility of this being the wrong direction is interpreted as firewall.
So, if a narrative check fails add to the firewall. When they fail again add to the firewall.
This is the simulation of a system that observes, but only acts when it is necessary.
The firewall is a vital part of the game and while it has some mechanical influence (like
the extraction and initiative) you could also use it narratively, when you describe situations and
locations. A high firewall value means more security, more suspicious guards etc. while a low
firewall value should be awarded, too (there will be more detailed rules in the upcoming core
rules).
The firewall system is based on the assumption that the Operators are professionals.
You should not let them make checks for every single action. Only actions that can add to
the Firewall are relevant in this case, so don’t bombard the group with checks.
This helps to build a solid suspense curve. An Operation in Neomancer has a way of
naturally escalating and you and your group should embrace it. This does not mean that every
Operation feels the same but they will have a climax moment where it is decided that you enter
the final phase. Keep in mind that some Operations could have a twist, a clever surprise at the
end so the mechanic does not get too transparent for your players. You will see an example of
this in Operation 1.17.

Hacks, bugs and other fun things to tell

When an operator has more Hacks than Bugs left (1 on a die) then some side effect happens.
In narrative mode, he may have a little benefit, maybe he finds interesting gear/information or
he simply looks very good doing it. Bugs mean some minor annoyance takes place. Maybe a
guard comes along and you can’t wait any longer or you fall prone while doing it.
In combat, Hacks and Bugs will trigger weapon and cyberware side effects which will
be described in the core book.

16
 These violent delights have violent ends
(Friar Laurence – Romeo and Juliet)

A Neomancer campaign normally consists of a series of Operations. Some of them will drive
the plot forward (Meta-Operations) others are purely to boost the groups finances, skill and
gear. This Operation is great for an introductory round with some friends to get to know the
system, the world and the feel of Neomancer in about 1-2 hours.

Overview for the Gamemaster

The 4 provided characters in this set are a prototypical group of Operators. Their attributes and
skills are a little bit over starting levels, and they are very capable of running this Operation.
Operation 1.17 takes place in a big building owned by the Yin-Yao Corporation. This corpo-
ration is known for their cheap yet modern and unreliable cyberware. A client of Vicious Vinnie
wants very valuable data extracted from one of their facilities, no questions asked.
Every scene or phase has a location and some NPCs. There are adjectives provided to
describe everything and a little introductory text which should not be read out loud but instead
paraphrased by the GM. The Operation is very streamlined as it is also designed to learn the
rules. Other Operations will be much more open regarding the outcome and the options of the
players.

The Operators
This group worked together many times. They are skilled professionals and can rely on each
other. In the appendix, there are descriptions of the Operators for the players, it is highly rec-
ommended, that the GM reads them, too. When you read the Operation carefully the characters
are designed to clash in the final scene. There will be conflict and moral dilemma, which is
good and could be the start of a meta-plot. Unfortunately, they are all biopods, repeating the
same mission over and over. Oh, what a twist.

17
Getting the job
If you're out there all alone, and you don't know where to go to
come and take a trip with me to Future World
(Helloween - Future World)

Location: Dirty Dutch (Los Angeles)

Calling the place smelly would be a very bold compliment. It reeks of synthetic alcohol and
what was a bar in the olden days is now a trainwreck of an Operator joint. There are
about a dozen tables and twice as many people in here. An AR stripper dances
on a table, showing what you paid for. Rosa winks at you, it is not the first time
you are here to get a job.
You could get jobs through the net, no problem. But Vicious Vinnie is not that
kind of guy. The System would know and could follow him, track him, arrest
him. So, it’s just old Vinnie and his leather-bound book. The Operators can
meet with him in the Dirty Dutch, an establishment of questionable quality. It
follows certain rules, which you should also follow if you want to live longer
than a day.
Since they aren’t beginners, Vinnie
The Dirty Dutch knows their names but they did not
Operator Hives, like this one, fol- work together, yet. Vinnie is a straightfor-
low very specific rules. Although ward guy and does not hold back when it comes to hon-
weapons are allowed any kind of esty. He is rough and spits out every word he says.
aggression will be sanctioned Here, sit, talk to me. I have a very nice job, very nice,
swiftly. For Operations you got indeed. Just perfect for guys like you.
here, you may get a gulden. These What, you want more money? I…maybe… I guess not.
are very valuable coins, which can
only be used here for…special
missions.

POI: Vinnies Table, the bar, the back room, the stage
NPCs: Vicious Vinnie/Broker [sketchy, rancid, investigative, old]; Rosa/barkeep [beautiful,
short, fast talking]; McJenkins/bouncer [smaller than expected, Mexican, staring eyes]; Ales-
sandro/Broker [sketchy, very well dressed, a little too interested]

Operation 1.17
The Target: Yin-Yao Research Facility
Reward: 120 ©
Resistance: Intrusion: Extraction: / 2 Phases + Final Phase
Information: Intrusion: Extraction:
Vinnie provides you with guard uniforms which should help you to get into and maybe even
out of the building. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have IDs or even keycards. The target room is in
the highest floor of the building. A direct attack from the top is not possible because there are
always guarding vehicles.

Possible Preparation:
The Operators could watch the shift changes of the guards, intimidate or bribe guards, fake IDs
or try to steal keycards. For extraction, they could prepare a (flying) vehicle, ropes, gliders or
parachutes. Of course, the GM should allow almost every idea, the more creative, the better.

18
Intrusion
Success: If the Operators succeed, they should be allowed to move freely in the lobby of the
building. You can go straight to Phase 1. If they manage to get into the building above the
lobby you can get right to Phase 2, but it is not recommended.
If they fail throw a fitting obstacle in their way. A very intrusive guard, a civilian, or even other
Operators. Something is off and they have to handle it. You may increase the firewall, depend-
ing on the outcome.

The danger zone

Phase 1
Here the Operators are in a non-hostile environment. They may be in the lobby, the cellar or in
some other room which is not dangerous at first. For the sake of this little Operation we assume
they reach the lobby at some point.

The Lobby
They are in a vast room which is clearly designed to impress everyone who enters it. It’s about
the size of a football field and very bright. A big desk is in the far-left corner of the room, where
5 very beautiful receptionists await visitors. They approach and answer every question the Op-
erators ask, if it’s not too shady.

HINT: These 5 ladies are biopods and look exactly the same. They
won’t realize that, because it’s in their code (read Uncanny at the begin-
ning of this book).
There are many ways to get to Phase 2. In any case, they have to over-
come the lobby and get deeper into the building. The main problem
is they cannot enter the building’s higher floors without an invitation
(surprise, surprise). Here are some examples how this can be done
but the GM can and should always consider the ideas of the players
first and not force a solution:
- Hack the elevator to get into the building. The hacker needs
time for this and has to do 2 Hack Checks (Hacker rules
are provided with the character).
- Sway workers to take you with them.
- Enter the security room, by cracking the AR layer, protecting the entrance.

POI: Security Camera; Terminals; Main Elevator; Side Elevator [hidden]

NPCs: 5x Sophia/biopod [very pretty, nice, professional] Carmichael,/head of security [ele-
gant, buff, smart, old]; Aleister Renfield/PR Assistant of the Yin-Yao Corp [too nice, sweet
talker, suspicious]

A little scene on the side:

If an Operator has a longer conversation with one of the 5 biopods this little scene takes place:
After the talk, Sophia is very happy to finally get her break. She is looking forward to it all day
because her husband made her a very nice carrot salad. He always adds too much vinegar but
after the three years they have been married she got used to it and likes it even better that way
now. After the end of the conversation she walks to a room where the Operator can see her
getting into a docking station to get reloaded (some cheaper models do this). The GM should
note the reactions of the players at this point to see their point of view on the whole biopod
concept.

19
Phase 2
The rooms and hallways of the Yin-Yao Corporation are as bright as they are clean. Everything
here is a dream of white plastic and blue light. The AR is very elaborated and there are many
moving pictures which show landscapes long forgotten and holograms presenting the latest
cyberware technology. Every worker here is dressed in a grey suit with a red tie and everyone
seems very happy about everything.

Phase 2 takes place in the main building and therefore is not very easy to plan for the GM.
Consider this phase a sandbox, where different things can happen. There are many possibilities
to get to the final phase, which is the target room. The main obstacles are the following:
- The elevator does not go to the highest floor
- There are no visible stairs that lead there
- The floor below the data floor is heavily guarded

Some of the options are:

- Try the elevator and end up in the floor below the target.
The elevator stops suddenly and the door is opened by guards. Now is the time to try the combat
rules or to let the players find a very (!) good excuse. If they check the elevator before using it
they know it will stop there.
- Eliminate or trick the guards in the floor below; there is a hidden staircase
This can be a good method to test the combat rules.
- Get a keycard that allows to get to the top floor
This can be done in the lobby or otherwise. Not many people in the building have access to the
top floor, though.
- And many other options, whatever your players like.

POI: Security Camera; Terminals; Elevator Terminal; secret stairs; vents

NPCs: 2 Guard Groups (2/3); Michael Fairbanks, Leader, (3);
Final Phase
The Operators have finally reached the server room, where they hope to find the data. But they
are baffled when the room is not a server farm. Instead it is a very nice living room where a
young woman sits on the couch and watches an AR reality show about biopods in love who
don’t know that they aren’t even real people (have a good laugh with the players here). She is
very shaken when the Operators break through the wall. But even arriving through the elevator
frightens her a bit.
She introduces herself as Clara. She is a biopod (which she does neither know nor say) and
the data is stored in her brain. She seems normal but ignores everything that hints to the fact
that she is a biopod. She even eats cereal right now but that is not unusual for more expensive
models. The Operators have different options right now:
- Just take her with them. That brings a lot of work and can hinder from extraction
- Figure out that she is a biopod through deduction. Her life story is very odd but she is
not bothered in any way by that. She lives here since she was born 20 years ago. For
example, she hasn’t left her room, yet. When the Operators investigate further they learn
that she is in state of complete denial about her situation. It is up to the GM to play a
biopod which doesn’t know he is one (like the players, now have good laugh for your-
self).
There is no data whatsoever in this room. Eventually, the Operators can guess or know that data
can be stored in a biopod’s brain. But extracting said data will destroy the carrying biopod since
they don’t have the means to get it out safely in short time. So, if they want the data they have
to remove it the hard way or take her with them to a specialist.

20
HINT: Taking Clara with them is a huge burden and endangers the whole Operation. Remem-
ber that some Operators may have different opinions about the modus operandi here. It might
even come to a fight between Operators which is covered by the rules but surely not the best
option at hand. The GM should encourage the players to roleplay corresponding to their char-
acter information’s which could be a challenge.

As if the situation wasn’t bad enough, the GM can trigger the following events now, depending
on the firewall:
DEFCON 3: A PR worker announces himself. He looks after her every few hours.
DEFCON 2: Some guards (2/3) announce themselves.
DEFCON 1: Guards lock the room and try to break in.

Extraction
Depending on their decision, they now roll for extraction. They have at least , maybe more.
Taking Clara alive adds . If they succeed go right to the rewards. If they fail, they have to
escape!
An escape is not easy. Either they fight their way through the building or outside. Whatever
way they chose a failed test does not add firewall anymore it triggers something more hurting.
This could be a new guard group popping up, an autogun firing at them or more. Don’t stop the
Operators at all costs here, it is much more fun for everybody (mostly for you) when they reach
the rewards.

Rewards
They reach Vinnie’s safe house and take a deep breath. While entering, a man is clapping mock-
ingly. It is Alessandro, the broker they have seen in the Dirty Dutch in the beginning.

If they failed to get the data:

My, oh my. You failed again! I can’t believe it. 17 times and yet you fail again. It’s just not fair,
maybe I should get human Operators after all. Now, you can just go again. Take a little “break”
now.
He snaps his fingers and everything goes black.

If they succeeded by removing the data from Clara:

My, oh my. You did it. You finally did it! I can’t believe it. 17 times and finally you were able
to pass our little simulation. Maybe you are not just biological waste after all and your sympa-
thy towards others of your kind is not very strong.
Take a “break”, we do it again, to be safe…
He snaps his fingers and everything goes black.

If they succeeded by bringing Clara:

Why in the hell did you bring her here? You stupid machines can’t be serious. Well, let’s get
her back to the starting point. At least you kind of succeeded this time. On the 17th try. I am SO
proud.
Take a “break”, we do it again, to be safe…
He snaps his fingers and everything goes black.

21
Pre generated Operators for Operation 1.17

Alaya Cam (Face)

Whenever Alaya thinks back at her happy days, she can't hold back a little smile.
Back then, she had a real job, a nice place to life and a wonderful husband. But one
day …
It just seemed like a little favor for someone. She needed the money and she saw no
harm in giving away the informations he wanted. But afterwards, people got killed.
Data was missing. The security started questioning everyone, and Alaya got nervous,
so she told her husband. The next day, security arrested her for espionage. She was
thrown into arrest and couldn't understand what happened. Had her husband be-
trayed her ?
She lost her CSC and her job. When she came back, her husband was gone, and she
had no place to go to. But she found the one who was responsible for all this. He
laughed at her, told her she should have known the risk, but at least he sent her to a
few business associates, as he liked to call them. Without a CSC, a job and a place to
stay, it was her only hope.
And he opened her eyes. Apparently, her husband had been a biopod, made to monitor
her, for whatever reason someone would do this. He did not disappear, he was …
taken back into service. To Alaya, it was the same.
Nowadays, she is the one who manipulates people, because in the end, you can’t
trust anyone. And it’s better to risk other lives instead of your own. Especially if
those other “lives” belong to a biopod.

Jarrel Dresk (Commando)

Long ago, Jarrel worked for the Yin-Yao Corporation. He always knew that his employer had
some skeletons in the closet, and not everything he did was a hundred percent legal. He attended
secret meetings or transported locked briefcases across countrys. Sometimes, he gathered in-
formations, but no one got hurt. At least not too much. Then came the day of the accident.
One of his jobs went bad and he catched half a dozen bullets. He was on the brink of death, but
Yin-Yao’s medical team saved his life. For his arm, all hope was lost and so they offered him
a new job contract. They were pleased with his work until now and they had some “special”
jobs for him to do. In return, he would get a shiny new arm.
Jarrel agreed, because he knew for the cyberarm he had to pay for the rest of his life, which also
could be much shorter than what he wanted if he declined.
And so he started to kill people because his employer said so. To get access to data, he kid-
napped wife and kids, to make their husbands and
fathers reveal secrets. But years later, he couldn’t
continue, even if it would cost his life. A few old
friends helped him to deactivate his CSC and he
went off to leave Yin-Yao behind.
As much as possible, he avoids killing people, es-
pecially those who just happen to stand in the
crossfire, even if he is so good at it. But if needed,
he still has the skills to finish the Operation. After
all, living off the grid is expensive.

22
Walter kennet (soldier)
War. That’s what Walter learned from a very young age. First, as a child, living in the streets
of London, fighting for daily survival, then later, when he managed to join the military, which
was always on the lookout for fresh blood.
And he had a good career, until most of his unit
got wiped out. Reinforcements were too late, he
told his superiors. He wanted someone to pay
for this screw-up, messed with the wrong peo-
ple, and an honorary discharge was the only
thing he got.
Luckily, he knew a shitload of people who
wanted him to work for them. Even kept his
CSC, although he has to pay a little bit more to
protect it during his work. Lately, he is feeling
the age in his bones, and thinks about quitting.
Maybe the next Operation will be the last one.
After all, his wife and little girl are waiting for
him at home. He helps the team, but returning safe and ideally with a clean conscience is his
first priority. And, please, no screw-ups! We’re professionals.

Jaques, Robespierre, toulouse (hacker)

Revolution. Every generation should have one. For Jaques,
or “Robespierre”, as he calls himself nowadays, it can’t
come soon enough.
Born in Paris, where the war took the life of his mother, he
was always surrounded by the history of revolution. From
an early age, he knew that the uprising of his generation
wouldn’t be fought in the streets with pitchforks or burning
cars, but in the endless datastreams with keyboards, pierc-
ing secure networks and stealing data.
That was before the first Hackers linked their minds with
AI’s and augmented reality became the norm, and Jacques
spent most of his time in front of a monitor. He was talented
and ambitious, that’s why he tried to spark the rebellion by
hacking into the archives of the goverment in Paris. He
wanted to find out what really happened during the war, or,
as some people call it, the incident, because everyone de-
served to know.
That was when they kicked down his door and threw him in a black ops cell. Still, his capabil-
ities were impressive, so they made him an offer to work for them, under heavy surveillance,
of course.
He took the deal, knewing that the alternative was to rot in prison forever, or he simply might
have one of these unfortunate accidents so many people had. So he played along, but he never
forgot the revolution, not even, when they finally gave him his own AI. And for the revolution,
he realized, he needed money. More money than the shitty government payroll had to offer.
Once the heavy surveillance around him started to cool down, he entered a secure chatroom and
typed: “Robespierre looking for Operations”, and before he knew it, he was on his way to
America.

23
And even though he is a little bit older than most Operators, the fire still burns bright in him. If
the job brings money to get him closer to the truth, the job will be done. No questions asked.

Artificial Intelligence:
You carry an unlocked AI from a cyberpod with you that’s linked to your wifi-module and so
to your mind. This grants you the use of the following Hacking Actions, which each cost 1 ERG
per use in combat mode. All Hacking-checks in combat are done by the Action Interact with
environment.

Brute-Force:
In narrative mode, you can force something to do as you wish. Typical effects would be:
open/close a door, shut down something, overload a circuit, attack ICE that has discovered you.
Roll Hacking [ ] to succeed. In combat, you can try and distract enemies by basically doing
the same with their gear, comms and so on. If you succeed the target adds to his/her next skill
check. Also, roll Hacking [ ] to succeed. A missed Brute-force check in narrative always
increases Firewall by 1, you cannot roll stealth.

Stealth:
In narrative mode, you can try to cover your Hacking Actions right after you have been detected.
Roll Hacking [ ] to succeed and avoid the firewall-die.

Analyze:
In narrative mode, you can find or analyze data or AR layers (you probably must still obtain
the data, though). Roll Hacking [ ]. In combat mode, you can try and predict enemy move-
ment. Roll Hacking [ ]. If successful, distribute 3 Flow dice among your team (including
yourself).

Control:
Basically, like Brute-Force, only more civilized. In narrative mode, you can do something with
more finesse than with Brute-force like work with a machine instead of switching it off or de-
stroying it. Roll Hacking [ ]. In combat, you can try and attack with a machine or some-
thing that you can control through wifi. Roll Hacking [ ], the damage is 3.

24
 Alaya

2 3 2 2
2 4 2 3
2 3 2 2
2 4 2 2
2 3 2 2

They’ll never
Pay 2 ERG to add to an attack
catch me against you if you are not ex-
posed.

Manipulator Add to any Social-Check. Once

per operation, you may reroll a
failed Social-check. After that,
don’t add the aforementioned
dice any more.

Ace up my Once per operation, you have a

sleeve small thing that you might need
just now or know some-
thing/someone that you just need
to know now. Explain why, and
the GM has the final verdict.

Pistol 3 Damage
Cybereyes In narrative mode, gain to
Awareness-checks. In combat armor 1
mode, pay 2 ERG to add to
your attack roll if you are not ex-
posed.

25
 Jarrel

3 3 3 2
3 3 3 2
4 3 3 2
3 3 3 2
3 3 3 2

Attack is the
Pay 1 ERG. When you are the first
best defense
one to act in this round, put 1 in
your flow. You can choose this af-
ter the dice are revealed.

Dodge Pay 2 ERG. Remove one flow die

and add to an Attack against
you when you are exposed. Can-
not be chosen if you don’t have
any flow dice.

Add one Hit to your roll when you

Cyberarm
use your arm to lift or destroy.
When using in close combat: Pay Pistol 3 damage
2 ERG.

Speed Enhancer Pay 2 ERG. +/- 1 on your Initiative Armor 1

for free after all Dice are revealed.
In narrative mode, you usually are
the fastest (GM-choice).

Retractable 3 Damage. In narrative mode, you

Combat Claws usually can kill someone quietly
when you can reach them unde-
tected and they are not alarmed.
Might require a stealth-check (GM
choice).
26
 Walter

3 2 2 3
3 2 2 4
3 2 2 3
3 2 2 3
3 2 2 3

Tactical Genius Pay 4 ERG. Change your action to

something else after the dice have
been revealed.

Pay 2 ERG. Receive a free hit

targeting System
when attacking with Ranged Com-
bat.
Pistol 3 Damage

Dermal Plating Ignore the first damage you re-

ceive during an operation Armor 1

Stim Pack Interact with environment. Make a

Medicine-Check [2] to remove 2
Damage (any Hit Zone) from an Oper-
ator that is Covered or Neutral, in-
cluding you. Use once per operation.

27
 Jaques

2 3 3 3
2 3 3 3
2 3 4 3
2 3 3 3
2 3 3 3

Hacker Genius Once per operation, reroll a failed

hacking-check

Pay 1 ERG to gain when tinker-

Tinkerer
ing with hardware without hack-
ing it.

Pistol 3 Damage

Armor 1

28
29
Pool: Damage: 3 Pool: / Damage: 3
quantity: 3

Pool: / Damage: 3 Pool: / Damage: 3

quantity: 3 quantity: 2

GM COMBAT Sheet
30