Mechanic

A gearhead and hacker

Whether it’s fixing up the ship’s engines or constructing a specialized safecracker to break into a Hegemonic vault, a mechanic is an invaluable asset on most jobs. You might be the mousy one who has all the fancy toys, or more hands-on, lugging your gear to the job. Or you might prefer to literally make friends and specialize in Urbotic creation. When something breaks, you’re the one to call.
When you play a Mechanic, you thrive when you address challenges with technical skill or ingenuity. Always look at the devices around you and be prepared to make them do what you want them to.

PLAYING A MECHANIC

Playing a Mechanic is foremost about your relationship with the ship. No one else will have the same ability to keep it flying, and when something breaks, all eyes will be on you. Look for opportunities to bring up what you’ve personally modified on the ship. Where do you get parts when the ship needs something repaired?
How did you become a mechanic? Were you mentored by one of your friends? Were you once a Guild trainee? Why did you leave and join the crew? Do you approach fixing the ship as a stop-gap solution, where you’re simply trying to find a patch until the next thing breaks, or is it a matter of pride that something never fails twice?
The ability for you to make new devices is very powerful, and the starting Tinker ability gives you an advantage that no one else will be able to match. Ask the rest of the crew what devices you might be able to create and get them to chip in for their development, either in extra downtimes to speed up design or with extra cred to pay for assembly.
Action-wise, you may want to pick up skulk if you tend to lurk in the background, or attune if you expect to be working on Ur machines or Urbots. If you also serve as the crew’s foremost computer and system expert, you’ll want to stack some hack.

STARTING ABILITY

TINKER
When you work on a clock with rig or hack, or when you study a schematic, fill +1 segment.
You get this bonus segment regardless of whether this is a downtime action or not. This means that bypassing security on a job or doing an emergency patch while escaping a chasing ship is easier for you than others.

SPECIAL ABILITIES (PICK ONE)

BAILING WIRE AND MECH-TAPE
You get an extra downtime activity to repair, and the repair activity costs you 0 cred.
The repair downtime activity usually takes 1 cred to perform. With this ability, you can take the activity at no cred cost. The free repairs can’t be “saved up.” You get one per downtime.
CONSTRUCT WHISPERER
Machines speak to you when you study them. The first time you roll a critical while fixing or building a particular machine, you may add a simple modification to it.
How do machines whisper their secrets to you? Is it intuitive? Do you feel what they feel? You do not gain the modification if you improve the result with cred.
JUNKYARD HUNTER
When you acquire parts or equipment during downtime, you may either gain two assets or one asset at +1 quality.
Your junkyard contacts can get what you need refurbished or on special offer. If you gain two assets, they both have the same quality as your roll.
HACKER
You may expend your special armor to resist the consequences of hacking, or to push yourself when hacking or gathering info electronically.
When you use this ability, tick the special armor box on your playbook sheet. If you use this ability to push yourself, you get one of the benefits (+1d, +1 effect, act despite severe harm) but you don’t take 2 stress. Your special armor is restored when you select your load at the start of a job.
FIXED
You may expend your special armor to resist a consequence from machines breaking or being damaged, or to push yourself when repairing or building a machine.
When you use this ability, tick the special armor box on your playbook sheet. Machines can include your ship, so you can use this as special armor for your ship if you are onboard dealing with the damage. If you use this ability to push yourself, you get one of the benefits (+1d, +1 effect, act despite severe harm) but you don’t take 2 stress. Your special armor is restored when you select your load at the start of a job.
MECHANIC’S HEART
When you speak from your heart, your words can reach even the most hardened criminal, and you gain potency.
This ability works in all situations without restriction. As long as you speak genuinely and sincerely, your words will be heard.
OVERCLOCK
When you spend a gambit on a rig roll to repair or upgrade, treat the system you worked on as 1 quality higher for the remainder of the job.
You may make a rig roll during a job to simply to get more out of a system, but such temporary boosts are only situational and need to be backed out the next time you hit drydock. You can overclock systems that aren’t ships, enhancing the system’s quality.
ANALYST
When you hack a system, you may also ask a question about the owner or location of the system as though you had rolled a 6 on gather info. When you resist the consequences of hacking, roll +1d.
Regardless of the purpose for which you are hacking, you learn something about the systems you’re manipulating. If you were gathering information, you may roll to learn a second thing, or you can simply accept the 6 for what you wanted to know.

STARTING ACTIONS

2 Rig
1 Study

COLORFUL FRIENDS

• Slice, a junkyard owner. What parts do they save for you? Or did you boost something of theirs?
• Nisa, a previous employer. A captain or a business owner? Did it end well?
• Stev, a gambler of ill repute. Are you long-standing friends? Did you cheat at their table?
• Len, a black market dealer. Do they get you the parts no one else can? Did you fail to deliver something you promised?
• Kenn, a family member. Are they also a mechanic? Were you both vying for a parent’s attentions?

MECHANIC ITEMS

Mechanics have tools, ship parts, and their latest inventions around or on them. Although they can dress like anyone else, many mechanics prefer looks that are tough to tear, have plenty of places to stash a tool or two, and are easy to crawl through a ship duct in.

• Fine hacking rig. Visualization goggles, unpublished exploits, overclocked non-market chips, optical vampire taps. Hacking is as much about hardware as it is about software. Who maintains your gear? Do you write your own programs or does someone hook you up with the latest? Any decorations on your kit? [1 load]
• Fine ship repair tools. Power-assisted wrenches, a sonic drill, testing probes, power calibrators, a rivet gun. Is this a set of items, or did you pick them up piecemeal? [2 load]
• Small drone. Small, remote-controlled drone with cameras. May be able to carry something light. Did you make this or buy it? Does it fly, slither, or crawl? What nickname did you give it? Do you have several drones on the ship, or just a bunch of chassis and repair bits you use to repair one drone? [0 load]
• Vision-enhancing goggles. Eyewear with settings for thermal and ultraviolet, and magnification levels in the thousands. Even tints when required. What do they look like? [1 load]
• Spare parts. Usually for ship repairs and electronics. Often forgotten in a pocket or tool belt. Although it’s usually nothing overly expensive, you end up carrying parts you’re working on and pieces for fixing ships. If you ever need a wire, solder, or a piece of tape, you have it on hand. Anything rare or more complex might take a lifestyle roll (see page 49) to have on you. [1 load]
• Genius pet. Incapable of speaking, but can understand language and assist with basic tasks. Likes you. Really cute. Anticipates your actions. Is it something familiar (like a dog or a cat) or a small alien creature? What is its name? Who did you get it from (legally or illegally)? [0 load]