Backgrounds¶

Essential - choose one during Character Creation. Your background grants one Level 1 Training Program fixed by the choice, plus a small narrative feature.

The narrative features below are written as soft guidance - the GM decides how they cash out in play. Multiple operators at the same table may share a background.

Military Service¶

Airborne / Paratrooper¶

You jumped out of perfectly good aircraft for a living.

Obstacle Course Training Level 1.
Jump-qualified. You take no damage from falls of 20 ft or less onto clear ground.

Combat Diver¶

Long swims, cold water, and rebreathers.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (Athletics).
You hold your breath twice as long as normal and are trained on rebreathers and underwater navigation.

Combat Engineer / Sapper¶

You built bridges, breached walls, and dropped buildings.

Ordnance Training Level 1.
You read structural load and demolition needs without a check and recognize most military demo kits.

Counter-Cyber Operator¶

Defensive cyber crew on a military network - the blue team with a chain of command.

Counter Ambush Training Level 1.
You defend military networks against intrusion and are fluent in OPSEC, COMSEC, and classification handling.

Counter-UAS Operator¶

The other side of the sky - spotting and defeating somebody else's drone.

Radio Operations Training Level 1.
You identify drone models by sight or RF signature and are trained on jammers, net-gun systems, and directed-fire intercept doctrine.

EOD Bomb Tech¶

The wire-cutting side of the explosive business.

Ordnance Training Level 1.
You identify commercial and military explosives by signature, and the GM may narrate the workings of an IED to you without a check.

Foreign Legion¶

You served under a name that was not yours, for a country that was not either.

Fortitude Training Level 1.
You carry a passport of convenience and have a thick skin for abuse. Legionnaires recognize one another without a word.

Helicopter Pilot¶

Rotary wing - nap-of-the-earth, confined landings, and a very loud commute.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Perception).
Rated on multi-role rotary aircraft. You read terrain and wind for landing zones without a check.

Humanitarian Deminer¶

Non-military mine and UXO clearance - quiet, slow, and respected.

Counter Ambush Training Level 1.
You clear legacy minefields and unexploded ordnance for NGOs. Respected by local populations and by relief agencies.

Infantry Soldier¶

You came up through the line infantry - ruck, rifle, and a lot of walking.

Weight Training Level 1.
You recognize unit insignia, rank, and standard-issue kit of regular armies at a glance.

JTAC / Forward Observer¶

Radio, range card, and the authority to bring the sky down.

Radio Operations Training Level 1.
Trained to call and deconflict close air support, artillery, and naval fires. You know the brevity codes and risk-estimate procedures.

Marine / Naval Infantry¶

Your war was shipboards, boardings, and beach assaults.

Fortitude Training Level 1.
You are comfortable aboard ships, small boats, and oil rigs, and you are never seasick.

Mercenary / PMC Contractor¶

Offensive contracts, questionable clients, and a reputation that follows you.

Unarmed Training Level 1.
Prior offensive PMC experience. One old handler's phone number and a complicated reputation in the industry.

Military Police¶

Gates, prisoners, and uncomfortable paperwork.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Insight).
You know arrest, detention, and chain-of-custody procedure, and can usually bluff your way through a friendly checkpoint.

Military UAS Operator¶

Reaper, Bayraktar, or Orlan - you pulled the trigger from a trailer.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Perception).
Rated on military-class UAS. You are trained on the full targeting and ISR workflow, including sensor operation and strike deconfliction.

Pararescue / CSAR¶

Combat search and rescue - you went in to bring people out.

Combat Life Savers Certified.
Trained on hostile-environment extraction including helicopter hoist rescue. You are rated as a medical jumper and swimmer.

Prior Combat Medic¶

You pushed plasma in a gunfight before you were ever assigned to this unit.

Combat Life Savers Certified.
You know civilian hospital workflow. Once per day, you stabilize a dying NPC without a check.

Psyops / MISO¶

Leaflets, broadcasts, and the long game for hearts and minds.

Social Training Level 1.
Trained in leaflet, broadcast, and social-media influence at operational level. You know how to shape a local population around a target or message.

Scout Sniper¶

Two-man teams, range cards, and long waits.

Long Range Marksmanship Level 1.
On hearing a shot, you can identify the weapon, caliber, and approximate range of the shooter.

Special Forces (Unconventional Warfare)¶

You spent more time training foreign forces than firing a shot.

Leadership Training Level 1.
One sleeper contact in a host-nation militia, resistance cell, or partner unit of the GM's choice.

Submariner¶

Long patrols, bad air, and the fine art of being quiet.

Resolve Training Level 1.
Comfortable with long durations in confined quarters. You read a crew's rhythms and can tell when morale is about to crack.

Tank Crew / Armor Crewman¶

Steel walls, hot interiors, and a lot of coaxial rounds.

Fortitude Training Level 1.
Comfortable in armored vehicles. You identify AFVs on sight and know how to operate crew-served guns.

UN Peacekeeper¶

Blue helmet, white truck, impossible rules of engagement.

Social Training Level 1.
Recognized by UN and NGO personnel in the field. You can request shelter, medical care, or a phone at any UN or recognized NGO compound.

Intelligence¶

Case Officer (Field Operative)¶

Hand-shakes, dead drops, and careful lies.

Social Training Level 1.
Two cultivated contacts in two different cities of your choice.

Counterintelligence Officer¶

You spent your career spotting the spies in your own building.

Counter Ambush Training Level 1.
Advantage on checks to detect physical or electronic surveillance targeting you or your team.

Crossover Analyst (Desk to Door)¶

You spent years reading the targets before someone put a kit on you and sent you to meet them.

Advanced Awareness Training Level 1.
You keep informal ties in the analytical cells. Once per mission, a former colleague will read you a short pattern-of-life summary on a named individual or location over the phone.

Cyber Operator¶

Network implants, endpoint compromise, and a laptop bag that never leaves your side.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Technology).
You recognize common OS and network fingerprints, identify obvious malware families at a glance, and can usually bluff basic sysadmin or help-desk roles to get physical or network access.

Deep Cover Officer (NOC)¶

No diplomatic passport, no embassy to run to - just a legend and nerve.

Social Training Level 1.
You maintain a complete legend (papers, address, employment history, banking) in one country of your choice. It holds up to a routine police check.

Disinformation / Influence Operator¶

Runs personas, shapes narratives, and reads the algorithm like a weather report.

Social Training Level 1.
You build and run a persona at scale on social platforms, and can recognize an ongoing influence campaign from the outside.

Imagery / GEOINT Analyst¶

Overhead pictures, contour lines, and a lot of squinting at pixels.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Perception).
You identify vehicle types, unit sizes, and construction use from satellite or drone imagery, and can read a contour map at speed.

Intelligence Analyst (Desk)¶

Your war was fluorescent lighting and source files.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Investigation).
Once per downtime, you can request one document or dossier from the unit's archive.

Interrogator / HUMINT Collector¶

Booth lights, stale coffee, and long silences.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Insight).
When questioning a subject under interview conditions, you spot lies on a passive check. Trained on detention procedure and EPW handling.

OSINT Analyst¶

Open-source work - databases, social media, and a patient browser.

Education Training Level 1.
Given a few hours and an internet connection, you can build a usable dossier on any public figure without tipping them off.

SIGINT Operator¶

Antennas, intercepts, and headphones in a darkened van.

Radio Operations Training Level 1.
You recognize traffic patterns and encryption styles, can usually identify the service branch behind a transmission, and are familiar with direction finding.

Surveillance Operator (Watcher)¶

Two cars, three foot teams, and a comms net.

Covert Movement Training Level 1.
You shadow a target through an urban environment without being made, and can spot a surveillance team tailing someone else.

Technical Operations Officer¶

Pinhole cameras, line-taps, and the thin end of a pick.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (Sleight of Hand).
You plant and retrieve covert recording devices in occupied spaces and are familiar with common commercial lock types.

Threat Intelligence Analyst¶

You spent your days tracking APT groups and arguing about attribution.

Education Training Level 1.
You attribute an intrusion to a likely threat actor from observed tradecraft, and maintain a personal source list in the threat-research community.

Law Enforcement¶

Coast Guard / Harbor Patrol¶

Boardings, SAR, and very long night shifts on the water.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (Athletics).
Rated on SAR and small-boat boardings. Trained on anti-smuggling inspection; you can drive most small vessels.

Corrections Officer¶

Tiers, gates, and a yard that reads like a chessboard.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Insight).
You read violent body language before it moves. You know the gang politics inside the prisons of your home country.

Customs / Border Agent¶

Bags, passports, and lies about declared value.

Advanced Awareness Training Level 1.
You passively spot false papers, hidden compartments, and contraband.

Cybercrime Investigator¶

FBI Cyber, BKA CC, or the national equivalent - a badge with a keyboard.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Investigation).
You coordinate with ISPs, payment providers, and exchanges under subpoena, and are familiar with crypto tracing and dark-market takedowns.

Detective¶

Case files, interviews, and three coffees before lunch.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Investigation).
Once per mission, an old colleague reads a relevant case file to you over the phone.

Federal Agent¶

A three-letter badge and a lot of jurisdictional headaches.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Intimidation).
You carry a now-expired federal badge. NPCs in your home country tend to assume authority until they verify it.

Forensic Technician (CSI)¶

Latex gloves, evidence bags, and the long drive to the lab.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Investigation).
You read and preserve a crime scene without contaminating it, and know what will and will not hold up in evidentiary procedure.

Internal Affairs¶

The cop the other cops dislike.

Social Training Level 1.
Trained to interview fellow officers under pressure. You are immune to the usual LE professional-courtesy bluffs.

Patrol Officer (Beat Cop)¶

A badge, a radio, and a lot of night shifts.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Insight).
You have one ex-partner still on the job in your home city, and you know that city's criminal geography block by block.

Police K-9 Handler¶

You and your dog worked the city together - patrol, detection, and the occasional bite.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Animal Handling).
Trained on patrol and detection dogs. You know the K-9 deployment workflow and can read what a working dog is telling you without prompting.

SWAT Operator¶

Stack, breach, clear.

Close Quarters Battle (CQB) Training Level 1.
You are trained on dynamic breaching and know the hostage-negotiation playbook from the entry side.

Wildlife Ranger / Park Warden¶

Back-country patrol, poaching cases, and long hours on a radio.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (Survival).
You know reserve patrol routines and poacher TTPs. Inside a recognized park or reserve, your authority is respected by local law enforcement.

Civilian Careers¶

Academic¶

Before the war pulled you in, you were on a tenure track.

Education Training Level 1.
Pick a field (history, engineering, linguistics, biology, and so on). You are treated as an expert in that field by peers and laypeople alike.

Bartender¶

Pour, listen, nod, repeat.

Social Training Level 1.
You read a room on a passive check. In a city where you have worked, at least one regular will vouch for you.

Bush Pilot¶

Grass strips, crosswinds, and freight no one else will fly.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Nature).
Rated on STOL aircraft. You can land or take off on unprepared strips of roughly 200 m or longer.

Chaplain¶

A collar, a flask, and a steady voice for bad days.

Resolve Training Level 1.
Respected across faiths. You can usually request shelter or information at any house of worship.

Civilian Paramedic¶

Before the unit, you rode an ambulance.

Combat Life Savers Certified.
You know hospital triage workflow and can usually bluff staff status at any ER in your home country.

Combat Photographer¶

Like the journalist, but with more time behind a lens and less behind a keyboard.

Advanced Awareness Training Level 1.
You own a personal camera kit and can produce publishable photographs. You have one stringer or wire-service contact.

Combat-sports Athlete¶

Boxing, wrestling, or MMA - you have a record to your name.

Unarmed Training Level 1.
Minor name recognition in your home country's combat-sports community.

Commercial Drone Pilot¶

Aerial survey, inspection, agriculture - you flew for a living.

Education Training Level 1.
Rated on commercial drone classes. You can plan and fly autonomous survey missions and produce usable mapping output.

Commercial Fisherman¶

Cold mornings, wet boots, and a knife that stays sharp.

Cardio Training Level 1.
Sea legs, fillet-knife skills, and comfort on small vessels in rough water. You read weather without a check.

Cook / Line Chef¶

Kitchens run on the same chain of command that units do.

Field Mess.
A hot meal you prepare at a halt visibly lifts morale. The GM may grant narrative dividends (looser tongues, better rest) at their discretion.

Cult Escapee¶

You were in, you are out, and you do not like to talk about it.

Resolve Training Level 1.
You know high-control-group manipulation from the inside. You recognize coercive tactics used against yourself or others without a check.

Dog Groomer¶

Clippers, a bathtub, and half the neighborhood's dogs on a first-name basis.

Social Training Level 1.
You can approach and calm almost any domestic animal. Through your clients you know whose dog lives where in a chosen neighborhood.

Drone Engineer / Builder¶

You designed and soldered the things other people fly.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (Technology).
You field-repair downed drones from scrap, and can modify a commercial drone to carry a small payload or extend its range.

Electrician¶

Conduit, breakers, and a healthy respect for 400 volts.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (Technology).
You read building electrical systems at a glance and can safely bypass or disable most alarm wiring.

Ex-Criminal / Smuggler¶

You moved goods and people across borders that were not yours.

Covert Movement Training Level 1.
One underworld contact, and knowledge of one black-market route across a border of your choice.

Exploit Developer / Vulnerability Researcher¶

Finds zero-days for a living, for love or for money.

Education Training Level 1.
You read assembly, write shellcode, and understand low-level OS internals without a check.

Falconer¶

Hood, glove, and a bird that knows its way home.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Animal Handling).
You handle trained raptors. With time and line of sight, your bird can scout a rooftop or strike a small target on cue.

Firefighter¶

Structural fires, extractions, and stair climbs in full kit.

Resistance Training Level 1 (fire and smoke).
You read building construction and likely failure points at a glance and know the escape routes before you enter.

Fixer¶

Local hustler in a place nobody with a camera knows.

Social Training Level 1.
In a conflict zone of your choice, you know who pays, who moves goods, and who will talk - and for how much.

FPV Hobbyist / Drone Racer¶

Goggles, a self-built quad, and a garage full of broken props.

Agility Training Level 1.
You fly consumer FPV drones instinctively and can build, tune, or repair them from parts.

Gunsmith¶

Lathe, mill, and a wall of jigs for rifles other people forgot.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (Technology).
You fabricate and modify firearms. You identify any firearm's provenance from proof marks and serials without a check.

Hardware Hacker / Reverse Engineer¶

Firmware, RFID, and a soldering iron that is always warm.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (Sleight of Hand).
You clone RFID badges, solder a debug interface onto consumer hardware, and dump firmware without bricking it.

Hunter / Outdoorsman¶

Long weekends on stands, in blinds, and on back-country trails.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (Survival).
You field-dress game and keep a personal hunting rifle stored at a family home.

ICS / OT Security Specialist¶

Industrial control systems - SCADA, PLCs, and the grown-up end of cybersecurity.

Education Training Level 1.
You read a plant's process diagram and identify its attack surface. You understand that crashing a PLC can crash a boiler.

Incident Responder (DFIR)¶

Corporate breach response - logs, disk images, and a very long weekend.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Investigation).
You reconstruct an intrusion from logs and disk images, and preserve chain of custody for digital evidence that will hold up in court.

Journalist¶

Ink, press passes, and questions people did not want answered.

Social Training Level 1.
Press credentials (real or forged to your standard) and one newsroom contact of your choice.

Knife Thrower / Circus Performer¶

Spotlights, tight schedules, and a very tolerant assistant.

Thrown Training Level 1.
Professional-grade accuracy with balanced throwing objects. You have one contact in a traveling show or circus.

Linguist / Translator¶

Dictionaries, field notebooks, and an ear for how people actually talk.

Language Training Level 1 (a language of your choice).
You pick up functional survival-level conversation in any new language after a week of exposure. Credentialed for court or diplomatic translation in at least one language pair.

Locksmith¶

Pins, wafers, and a box of tools that looks harmless in a briefcase.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (Sleight of Hand).
You defeat most commercial locks in a minute and can produce a working key from an impression.

Long-haul Trucker¶

Ten hours of asphalt, diesel, and truck-stop coffee.

Cardio Training Level 1.
Licensed on every civilian vehicle class. Six hours in a sleeper cab counts as a long rest for you.

Makeup Artist¶

Film sets, theater, and the occasional bridal party - you make people look like other people.

Covert Movement Training Level 1.
Given thirty minutes and a working kit, you can disguise yourself or an ally well enough to pass casual inspection at conversational distance.

Mechanic¶

Civilian garage or motor pool - either way, you know engines.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (tool-flavored skill of your choice).
You can hotwire a civilian vehicle in one minute and field-diagnose most light-vehicle faults.

Mountaineer / Alpine Climber¶

Ropes, ice axes, and weeks above the tree line.

Obstacle Course Training Level 1.
Rated on technical rope work and glacier travel. Comfortable at altitude and in cold weather.

Night Security Guard¶

Rounds, radio checks, and a lot of empty hallways.

Awareness Training Level 1.
You know the rhythm of empty buildings after hours. You still have a ring of keys or fobs you never gave back when you quit.

Nightclub Bouncer¶

The door, the list, and the polite firm no.

Unarmed Training Level 1.
You de-escalate a fight before it starts and read drunk versus dangerous on a passive check. You know the local security circuit.

Oil Rig Roughneck¶

Pipe, derricks, and shifts measured in weeks.

Weight Training Level 1.
Comfortable with heavy machinery, cranes, and welding in extreme environments.

Private Pilot¶

Rented Cessnas, cross-country hops, and a fat logbook.

Education Training Level 1.
Rated on light fixed-wing aircraft. You have one flight-school buddy at a regional airfield of your choice.

Private Security / Bodyguard¶

Close protection, corporate escorts, and private airfields.

Envelopment Training Level 1.
Familiar with VIP protection TTPs. One contact in a private military company of the GM's choice.

Pyrotechnician (Stage Fireworks)¶

Licensed to put fire in the sky on cue.

Grenade Training Level 1.
You time and place small charges for effect. Licensed stage pyro in at least one country.

Rally / Stunt Driver¶

Tarmac, gravel, and a very busy co-driver.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (Athletics).
Rated on performance driving. You can shake a tail or lose a pursuer on wheels in conditions most drivers could not.

Ranch Hand / Horse Trainer¶

Saddles, fencing, and long days with large stubborn animals.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Animal Handling).
You can ride or pack any domestic mount, rope and work cattle, and are comfortable on rural spreads.

Red Team Operator / Pentester¶

Authorized offensive security - paid to get in and write it up.

Covert Movement Training Level 1.
Trained on badge-cloning, tailgating, and common corporate network weaknesses. You are comfortable on both sides of the keyboard and the door.

Ship's Engineer¶

Greasy overalls, ringing ears, and a wrench longer than your forearm.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (tool-flavored skill of your choice).
You are familiar with marine engines, shipboard power plants, welding, and industrial plumbing.

SOC Analyst¶

Security Operations Center - alerts, feeds, and a pager that owned your nights.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Technology).
You triage a stream of alerts and pull the likely-true-positive from the noise. Fluent in SIEM and EDR tooling.

Pretexting, vishing, and in-person cons - the human exploit.

Social Training Level 1.
You talk past a receptionist, help desk, or security guard with a plausible pretext on a passive check.

Stage Magician / Illusionist¶

Patter, flash paper, and a deck that never does what it looks like.

Ambush Training Level 1.
Professional misdirection at parlor distance. You palm, switch, or plant small objects without being seen.

Street Performer / Busker¶

A guitar case, a crowd, and the daily hustle for coins.

Social Training Level 1.
You command a crowd's attention on cue. You know a dozen small-money hustles in any city you have worked.

Stunt Performer¶

Falls, fires, and very expensive insurance.

Evasion Training Level 1.
Choreographed falls, car crashes, and stage fires. A union card in film work and one stunt-coordinator contact.

Survivalist / Prepper¶

Canned food, a rural cabin, and a very long list of what-ifs.

Physical Skills Training Level 1 (Survival).
You maintain a rural cache of food, tools, and firearms. One contact in the broader paranoid-networks community.

Taxi / Rideshare Driver¶

Ten-hour shifts, every neighborhood, every kind of fare.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Perception).
You carry a map of one city in your head. You read a fare before they speak.

Third-Culture Kid / Diplomat's Child¶

You grew up in airports and on the wrong side of the expat compound wall.

Language Training Level 1 (a language of your choice).
You read social registers others miss - host-country manners, expatriate cliques, and class markers in three countries.

Veterinarian¶

Full vet school, plus a rural practice that taught you to improvise.

Education Training Level 1.
You stabilize wounded animals and diagnose livestock or pets without a check. You are credible at rural farms and with animal-rescue NGOs.

War Refugee¶

You survived what your hometown did not.

Resolve Training Level 1.
You know the logistics of flight - papers, trains, borders, and who to avoid. One contact in an émigré community of your choice.

Zookeeper / Exotic Handler¶

Lions, tigers, tranquilizer rifles, and the odd snake bite.

Mental Skills Training Level 1 (Animal Handling).
You are comfortable with large or dangerous wildlife and are trained on tranquilizer dosing and containment procedure.