Speaker

A respectable person on the take

Leave the blatant crimes to the rest of the crew. Your forte is the sophistication of polite society and the connections you leverage to get ahead of your next job before you even start. You open doors that might stay closed to the crew, and know just how to talk to powerful people. When things go south, you have a plan or a friend who might help. And afterwards, you know who can smooth things out and keep things under wraps.
When you play a Speaker, you thrive when you address challenges with deception or influence. You’re at your best talking and setting up your teammates. Use the teamwork maneuvers and flashbacks to highlight your connections, foresight, and planning.

PLAYING A SPEAKER

A good Speaker relies on timing, context, and connections. It’s not just what you can do, but who you know. You’re best in social situations because you have wider access to society and influencers. It can also be fun to keep your past a mystery from the other PCs and reveal it through the people you meet and how you interact with them.
A Speaker’s friends are defined more by who they are than what they do—Guild members, diplomats, etc. This leaves the question of how you know them and the relationship you have with them very open. Collectively, they can get you almost anything you need. Hold off before you define your fifth friend until an opportune moment in the story. Even better if that friend is an established NPC, like the Pirate Queen or Governor Malklaith himself!
The Speaker has the widest variety of items in terms of gear. Their luxury items are often more form than function, but out in Procyon they can mean a lot to those you share them with. Defining these items on a job is not a flashback, provided they fit into the category of luxury item, so look for opportunities to work them into the story.
For Actions, take study if you want to read the people you’re meeting, or skulk and hack if you like leveraging connections to get on the inside and influence the job from the shadows.

STARTING ABILITY

AIR OF RESPECTABILITY
You get an extra downtime activity to acquire assets or lay low.
Your connections give you a continuous stream of material and people that you can use to smooth things over after your escapades.

SPECIAL ABILITIES (PICK ONE)

FAVORS OWED
During downtime, you get +1d when you acquire assets or lay low. Any time you gather info, take +1d.
Using your authority, connections, or inside information, you get better information and access to better resources.
PLAYER
You always know when someone is lying to you.
This ability works in all situations without restriction. It is very powerful, but also a bit of a curse. You see though every lie, even the kind ones.
INFILTRATOR
You are not affected by quality or Tier when you bypass security measures.
This ability lets you contend with higher-Tier enemies on equal footing. When you’re hacking an electronic security system, picking a lock, or sneaking past elite guards, your effect level is never reduced due to superior Tier or quality level of your opposition.
SUBTERFUGE
You may expend your special armor to resist a consequence of persuasion or suspicion. When you resist with insight, gain +1d.
When you use this ability, tick the special armor box on your playbook sheet. Folks doubting your lies, stories, cover, etc., all count for the purpose of suspicion or persuasion. Your special armor is restored when you select your load at the start of a job.
HEART TO HEART
When you provide meaningful insight or heartfelt advice that a crewmate follows, you both clear 1 stress.
Meaningful advice taken can mean changing someone’s usual course of action, having them take a difficult action that costs them, or causing them to reconsider their choices. If there’s a question about what constitutes meaningful or heartfelt, discuss it as a group and decide together.
OLD FRIENDS
Whenever you land in a new location, write down a friend you know there (under Influential Friends on your playbook sheet).
As with your starting Influential Friends, you may extend your list of friends the first time you land in a new location.
DISARMING
Whenever you use a gambit while speaking, hostilities and danger also pause while you speak.
You still gain +1d for whatever roll you need to make to explain yourself, likely consort, sway, or command.
PURPOSE
You may expend your special armor to push yourself when outclassed by your opposition, or when under the effects of wounds. When you resist with resolve , gain +1d.
When you use this ability, tick the special armor box on your playbook sheet. Being outclassed may be through quality, power, or scale. Being under the effect of wounds means acting with a harm penalty, though you may use this push to ignore the harm penalty (as per pushing yourself). 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.

STARTING ACTIONS

2 Consort
1 Command

INFLUENTIAL FRIENDS

• Arryn, a Noble. An old friend or relative? Or someone you overstepped your bounds with?
• Manda, a Guild member. Do you get the inside scoop? Or did you steal Guild secrets?
• Kerry, a doctor. Do they always treat you? Or did you break their heart?
• Je-zee, a diplomat. Were you from allied factions, or of opposing goals?
• ___________. Write in someone from your past when so inspired. If you gain the ability Old Friends, extend this list whenever you land in a new place.

SPEAKER ITEMS

Speakers always have a bit of the good stuff stashed away in their room. Sometimes they’re gifts from someone—or for someone. Others may be remnants of their past life. Speakers have a wide array of items they can bring to bear for the job. And if they’re a little classy, all the better.

• Fine clothes. Silk sarongs, suits, fine blue capes. You stand out and are always dressed for the occasion. Nobody will mistake these for a disguise. Which outfit is your favorite? [1 load]
• Legitimate ID. A properly encoded Hegemonic ID indicating your legitimate station in the Hegemony. Who will notice when you use this? [0 load]
• Luxury item. Fine brandies, small but thoughtful gifts, spices and perfumes, fine instruments, popular games, etc. These can come in varied sizes. Each time you bring one of these on the job, explain what it is and why it’s luxurious. [0, 1, or 2 load]
• Memento of a past encounter. A distinctive piece of jewelry, a fine blade with a House crest, a signet ring, a small statue. Who are these from, and why do you hold onto them? [0 load]