Process Playbook

Another face in the crowd, the rogue AI, a question of consciousness

You are one of the teeming masses generated by the system to serve the User base. Some Process rise to self-awareness and autonomy of will. Many are content with their assigned station, but some go rogue, seeking a different meaning to their existence. Occasionally, some Users take an interest and nurture your self-discovery.

When you play a Process, you gain xp when you address questions of individuality, agency, or your relationship with Users. Whether you’re trying to quell such thoughts or explore them, they’re still on your mind. In the meantime, your crew has a use for you, and you need to keep up appearances for your own sake, if not theirs.

Are you happy to serve, or do you entertain thoughts of going rogue? Do the Users in your life treat you as an equal, or just a piece of equipment? Do you seek to emulate Users, or do you look down on them for their lack of purpose? Do you crave the immortality of a UID, or will you face your inevitable retirement with dignity?

Procedural Generation

Step 1: State your Designation. Process have serial numbers, but usually have individual names, often appended with numbers. Some names draw inspiration from quirks in their serial number.

Step 2: State your Origin: While many Process are procedurally generated by the system, others are manufactured by companies such as Sirius Service Solutions. What design philosophy underpins your nature? Are you serviced by the company, rely on independent technicians, or turn to the rogue underground?

Step 3: Remember your Programming. Process are always created with a purpose in mind and have personality programs that facilitate their role. Whether you're serving your function or rebelling against your Admin-given purpose, your programming will still have some influence how you see World.

Examples: Bureaucratic, Efficient, Friendly, Perfectionist, Sycophant, Unobtrusive

Step 4: Declare your Purpose. You were created to perform a specific job. Name that job and choose one of the following that fits that job:

Chatter: +1 Echo, +1 Link
Cogitator: +2 Find
Router: +1 Goto, +1 Link
Striker: +1 Buffer, +1 Crash
Tracer: +1 Find, +1 Mask
Cobold: +1 Ping, +1 Restore

Step 5: Assign 3 Function Dots. You can have no more than 2 dots in any function at the end of this step. Consider adding one to a function that represents your Programming, one to something representative of your Purpose, and the third to something that makes you stand out among your peers.

Step 6: Choose a second Special Ability and Loadout. All Process start with Part of the System. Choose an additional ability from the following lists, according to your Purpose:

Universal Process Abilities

Part of the System (Process only):

You cannot accept a Daemon’s Bargain.
When you participate in a group function led by a User, clear 1 stress.
You have a different Harm track, and instead of Drift, you have a Warranty score.

Faceless Masses: You may spend 1 MEM to resist consequences from being picked out from other Process or to push yourself to blend in with a crowd of Process. (Process only)

Help Function: You are an expert at meeting User needs. Twice per score, you may assist an allied User without spending stress. (Process only)

Neural Network: Choose a Process gang type (Chatter, Cogitator, Router, Striker, Tracer) when you gain this ability. When you lead a group action with this type of gang, they have potency for the roll. You may take this ability multiple times. Each time you do, pick another Process gang type.

Grown Beyond Your Programming: You may pick a special ability from another Playbook

Chatter Abilities

Loose Lips Sink Ships: People open up to you. When you frame a scene with NPCs in downtime, you may clear one stress and get to hear a rumor, which is either potentially bad for someone you dislike – potentially good for someone you like.

Social Calendar: During downtime, you may spend 1 MEM to give another crew member +1 downtime activity. You may only do this up to two times during the downtime phase.

Entourage: When you are present at the execution of a social plan, you provide +1d to the Engagement roll. When you assist a User in a Link Function roll, you may choose to give them +1 effect level instead of the standard +1d.

Wyrm’s Tongue: When advising a User, you may Echo them to convince them it was their own idea to take your proposed course of action. You also get +1 effect when you gather information by attending social occasions.

Cogitator Abilities

Awesome by Analysis: You may spend 1 MEM to use your Find rating in place of another Function or to push yourself for a feat of deduction.

Data Mining: During the Gather Information phase, you may assist on up to two Find rolls without spending stress.

Deep Memory: Mark +1 MEM slot. Once per downtime phase, if a User indulges memories, you may spend 1 MEM on their behalf, as you assist in reminiscing.

Researcher: When you Gather Information about simple facts about the past, you gain +1d. When you engage in a Long Term Project to do research, you may clear 1 stress.

Router Abilities

Trucker You possess or can always acquire open source freight vehicles up to Scale 2, Quality 1. When you are present for the execution of a Transport plan, take +1d to the engagement roll.

Discrete Transport: You have a hidden memory cache where you can store an item of 1 MEM block in size. You gain +1d to resist discovery of the item as a consequence.

I Know A Guy: When you acquire an asset during downtime, you add +1d to the roll. You may also deal with organizations you have a -1 status with. (This functionally brings the roll to 0d before other modifiers.)

Machine Efficiency: When you work on a Long Term Project during downtime, you may push yourself for an additional tick on the relevant clock instead of +1d.

Striker Abilities

Attack Pattern Alpha: You may have a flashback at the start of a group combat, resulting in your crew having improved position at the start of the fight due to planned contingencies. You spend one less point of stress for this flashback.

Commencing Hostilities: When you are present at the execution of an assault plan, you provide +1d to the Engagement roll.

Hold The Line!: When you protect a gang from consequences involving loss of morale or being outmaneuvered, add +1 to the resistance roll. You may resist the consequences to yourself as normal. If you take Level 2 or higher Harm as a result, you may avoid +1 stress damage.

I Set Them Up…: When you perform a teamwork maneuver to setup a User for an attack, you may spend 1 MEM to give that User both improved position and increased effect for their function roll.

Tracer Abilities

Digital Polygraph: You know when a User or Process lies to you. This has no effect on Administrators or Daemons. This does not reveal the truth, only that the person is lying.

Ear To The Ground: When you assist a User in gathering information, you may provide greater effect instead of +1d to the function roll.

Organize the Data: If your crew gathers multiple instances of related, but limited information, you may combine those details into a piece of standard information. The GM may also give you unexpected insights.

Scanning Protocols: You may spend 1 MEM to resist a consequence involving surprise or to push yourself to perform a feat of perception or tracking.

Cobold Abilities

Decompile: During a Score, you may voluntarily decompile a piece of equipment you're carrying to reduce it into Cobalt's commodity currency. Each MEM associated with this object gives a +1 die bonus to a Function or Fortune Roll involving paying money. This does not free up memory for the Score. The bonus applies once for each decompiled MEM slot, representing a little something extra to sweeten the deal.

Build/Demo Protocols: When your crew uses the Compile or Kill Authority Functions to create or destroy large structures, you discount 1 point from the total cost in Stress.

Cargo Hopper: You have 2 special MEM slots for storing Cobalt resources or currency backed by such resources. This MEM cannot be used for any other purpose.

Improvised Code: You may spend 1 MEM do one of the following: Perform a specialized action despite lacking the proper equipment or push yourself in a feat of jury-rigging.

Process Loadout

Work Order Credentials: Whether real or forged, you can pass yourself off as belonging where you are, so long as you look appropriately busy. What “busy” looks like depends on the job. (1 Box)
Open Source Avatar: You can blend into a crowd especially well when all your features are straight off the shelf. It also makes system errors easier to correct. (2 boxes, +Armor)
Type-G Sparkmag: Wildly inaccurate, but its high speed repeater subroutines means it’s good for suppressive fire or Pinging at point blank range. (1 Box)
Fake UID and Avatar: You can pass as a User, though without some Advanced Avatar Customization, you might come across as a bland one. This disguise will not fool Administrators. (2 Boxes)
Restoration Tools: A set of archival tools built primarily for repair and comparatively safe operations. Less useful for the more dangerous forms of Archival work due to safety measures. (1 Box)
Integrated tool: You have one tool of 1 MEM in size built into your avatar that is concealed from all but the most thorough of examinations. (1 Box)

Step 7: Choose your Look (or have your crew choose it for you): Process tend to be idealized forms relating to their purpose, but with smooth faces and digital expressions. Do you choose to express your individuality through your appearance or do you simply become what Users want you to be? Do you have unique clothes and accessories or do you prefer to blend in with your fellows?

Process, Stress, and Harm:

Process are more fragile than User avatars. Like Users, they also derez at maximum stress, but are less capable of avoiding stress by converting it into harm. Process avatars are easier to repair and don’t cause heat when damaged, since Administrators typically don’t care that much. Process usually get their harm patched at dedicated facilities. You can do so at illicit facilities, but doing so risks damaging your Warranty, either giving you -1d on your next deresolution roll or requiring a payment of 1 Coin for replacement parts or a bribe to overlook the violation of terms.

Level 1 Harm: Reduced effect.
Level 2 Harm: -1d
Level 3 Harm: Need assistance.

Process, Warranty, and Deresolution:

Process begin with a Warranty score of 2, representing an abstraction of how frequently and easily they can be resolved. When you are deresolved, roll your Warranty score. If you roll a 1-3, take on a quirk and reduce your Warranty by one. A point of Warranty can be purchased for 3 Coin. If you are deresolved when your Warranty is zero, you are retired, though a new version of your character can be made from a personality file, much like a cohort. This new character does not possess the memories of your previous version. If your name has a number, you may wish to add 1 to that number.

Process Quirks

Bugged - You've been patched with some inelegant spaghetti code that sometimes produces nonsensical thoughts and impulses.
Fixated - You find yourself obsessed with one particular subject: An activity, a person, and ideology, or a fear.
Glitched - Damage to your code allowed a Glitch Virus into your avatar. You appear scarred and feel horrors lurking in your memory.
Lagging - You are slow to respond, often missing important details, or moving sluggishly in the face of danger.
Overclocked - You can't slow down your responses. You act without regard to safety, recklessly or impulsively.
Patched - Your compliance protocols were updated, making it harder to resist User requests.
Reboot - You occasionally lock up, either randomly or in response to stimuli and need someone to snap you out of it.
Reset - You occasionally lose access to your memories, reverting to your base programming.

Process Downtime:

Instead of indulging memories, Process undergo Maintenance. Spending one downtime action on self-maintenance clears 3 stress. For 1 Coin, you can instead pay a professional to maintain your code and clear all stress and Harm.