Cybersteel Basics

CYBERSTEEL BASIC

LEVELS ONE TO THREE

Enough of Cybersteel to play. Every rule here is Zine 2’s, unchanged — this book only chooses which ones you need first.

This is the engine and one operation. It is what four people need to sit down and play, and it is deliberately short. Everything it leaves out is in Zine 2, which is where you go once the table wants more than this.

Not in this book	Where it is
Building a HIN	Zine 2. GM craft, not first-session material.
Mounted-weapon fire modes, Suppress, Called Shots, Field Repair	Zine 2, Step 4. A first fight does not need them.
Ten of the eleven operations	Zine 2. One is here to learn on.
Five of the six retaliation charts	Zine 2. Street is here because it is the one a new crew meets.
Mythos, the Agora, the Nexus	Zine 2.
Crash and Seize	Zine 2 — they need Rank 4, so they are Level 4 anyway.
Immersed and Distributed control, Piloting R4–5, the Job Lock	Zine 2. Each needs gear, a Rank or an NPC Tier a Street crew has not reached.

PART 1

BEFORE YOUR FIRST GAME

Twenty minutes of preparation, and you can run it.

What you need on the table

One district. Pick a single district and use only that. Al-Gomrok in Alexandria works well: dense, old, and full of people who already dislike each other.
One target faction. Choose a Street gang. They are the layer a new crew can actually hurt, and their retaliation is immediate and personal rather than institutional.
One thing the crew wants. Money is fine. A favor is better. A name is best.
Two named people. One who helps and one who gets in the way. Both from the district.
The Retaliation chart for your target's Power Layer, printed or open.

The preparation

The Crew: Names the faction and what it runs. Dust Devils, a chop shop in the Brucheion, moving stripped Aerodyne vehicle parts.
The Crew: Decides what the crew is attacking. Not the faction — one ability of it. Their supply, their protection, their people, or their claim to the ground.
The Crew: Picks the operation type and read its steps once.
The GM: Sets the Scene Tracker size. Four for a short first outing, six for a full evening.
The GM: Writes the closing sentence in advance, as the outcome you expect: “Because the crew did X, Dust Devils can no longer reliably do Y in the Brucheion.” If you cannot finish that sentence, the operation has no target. Fix that before play.
The GM: Determines and prepares possible Location Security, Map Locations, and NPCs.

PART 2

THE THREE ROLLS

Learn these three and you have learned the system.

THREE ROLLS, THREE JOBS

1. Power Roll — combat. Roll 2d10 and add the relevant Attribute. Read the total on the Result Tier table: every Talent prints what it does at each of the three tiers. Higher is better. This is the roll that resolves what you do in a fight — attacks, Talents, forcing someone back, breaking a hold. It asks how well did it go, and it always does something, since even the lowest tier has a result printed.

2. Save — combat. Roll 1d10 at the end of your turn. On a 6 or higher the effect ends; on a 5 or lower it lasts until the end of your next turn. This is the roll that gets something off you — burning, bleeding, stunned, grabbed, frightened. It asks am I free of it yet, and nothing about your character changes the odds. Everyone shakes off a condition on the same number.

3. Skill Check — non-combat. Roll d100 against the skill’s percentage. Equal to or under the number succeeds; lower is better. This is the roll that covers everything the fight isn’t — casing a target, reading a document, talking past a guard, patching someone up, fixing the truck. It asks can you pull this off, and your rating is the whole answer.

THE POWER ROLL

Roll 2d10 and add the relevant Attribute. Compare the total to the Result Tier table, then apply the Tier printed on the Talent, action, or effect you are using.

The five Attributes are Power, Reflex, Logic, Awareness, and Presence. The action being taken names which one applies.

Total	Result
10 or lower	Tier 1
11-15	Tier 2
16+	Tier 3

THE SKILL CHECK

Skill Checks. Each skill has a percentage rating. Roll d100: if the result is equal to or under the rating, you succeed. Lower is better.

Example: your Intimidation is 58. You need 58 or less to succeed.

Rolling d100 with two d10. Before you roll, say which die is the tens and which is the ones — different colors make this easy. Roll both together and read the tens die first: a 4 and a 7 is 47. Two zeros read as 100, which always fails.

MODIFYING A ROLL: EDGE AND BANE

Edge and Bane are situational bonuses and penalties on Power Rolls and Saves. An Edge means something is working in your favor; a Bane means something is working against you. They come from the environment, your equipment, Talents, Maneuvers, and the situation you’re acting in. The GM decides when one applies.

How they stack. Two Edges on the same roll make a Double Edge. Two Banes make a Double Bane. That’s the ceiling — a third never counts, so a Double Edge plus another Edge is still a Double Edge.

How they cancel. Each Edge cancels one Bane. Work it out in this order:

Count every Edge and every Bane on the roll.
Cancel them one for one.
Cap whatever is left at Double Edge or Double Bane.
Apply the result from the chart.

Example: you have two Edges and one Bane. One Edge cancels the Bane, leaving one Edge.

State	Effect
Edge	+2 Power Roll
Double Edge	Improve result one Tier
Bane	-2 Power Roll
Double Bane	Reduce result one Tier

PART 3

THE TABLE, AND A TURN

What is in front of you, and what one operator does.

MAP SCALE

Scale	Value
Grid	Hex, on a table map or a virtual tabletop
One hex	5 feet, about 1.5 m. Diagonals cost the same as straight moves unless the table measures distance.
A person	1 hex
Meters to hexes	Movement and falling count hexes; some Talents print meters. Round meters up to the nearest hex: 2 m is 1 hex, 4 m is 3, 10 m is 6.

Size	Occupies
Tiny, Small, Medium	1 hex
Large (L)	2 × 2 hexes
Huge (H)	3 × 3 hexes
Gargantuan (G)	4 × 4 hexes
Massive (V)	5 × 5 hexes
Machines	As printed in the stat block

DURABILITY

Living beings have Rūḥ. Non-living things (vehicles, mechs, drones, structures) have Énergeia. These are set at character creation and repeated here.

Archetype	Level 1 Rūḥ	Per Level	Recoveries
Brawler	17	+7	2 + Power
Gunslinger	17	+7	1 + Power
Assassin	16	+6	1 + Power
Veinrunner	16	+6	2 + Power
Steeljack	16	+6	1 + Power
Shepard	15	+6	1 + Power
Ghost	15	+5	1 + Power
Shaper	14	+5	1 + Power
Oracle	14	+5	1 + Power

STATES

State	When	Effect
Vulnerable Zone	At or below half of maximum	Attacks against the target gain Edge. Further damage rolls a consequence, capped at 6. An injured body slows down.
Critical Zone	At or below a quarter	Further damage rolls a consequence with no cap.
Dying	0 Rūḥ	Incapacitated, and making death Saves. See Step 5.
Disabled	0 Énergeia	The machine cannot act. Effects that restore Rūḥ never repair Énergeia; repairs need resources, time and facilities.

GM: SET UP THE FIGHT

#	Do this
1	State each side’s objective: seize, defend, escort, escape, delay, extract, destroy or survive.
2	Place combatants, machines, Cover, hazards, terminals, HIN access points and objective markers.
3	Establish awareness. A side that is unready is Surprised until the end of Round 1.
4	Each side rolls one d10. The higher side chooses which combatant acts first.
5	Sides alternate choosing one combatant who has not acted. Do not reroll each round unless a rule changes initiative.

EVERY OPERATOR TURN

Component	How many	Use it for
Movement	1	Move up to your Speed. You may split it before and after your actions.
Maneuver	1	Aim, Disengage, Shove, Hide, Stand Up, Escape, Aid Attack, or a Maneuver Talent.
Main Action	1	An attack, a Talent, Grab, Defend, First Aid. Or convert it into a second Movement or Maneuver.
No-Action	Any	Short speech, release an object, drop an item.
Simple interaction	Folded in	Draw a weapon, open an unlocked door, touch a terminal, enter a vehicle, as part of Movement or a Maneuver when reasonable.

Triggered defenses and free strikes happen only when a rule or Talent grants them.

ONE POOL: BODY, AR, VR AND MACHINES

Assign each component separately to your body, an AR or VR action, or a machine you are at the controls of. Each is spent once.

Component	Who may spend it
Movement	Your body, or one machine you control.
Maneuver	You, a Ghosting or AR action, or a machine Maneuver Talent.
Main Action	An operator Talent, a Ghosting action, or a machine Main Action Talent.

Machine	Acts how
Controlled	You spend one of your components on it this turn. It never gains a turn of its own.
Uncontrolled	Follows its last order or fallback. It never attacks for free.
Autonomous enemy	GM-controlled machines take their own turns.

How many machines. Drones up to your Electronic Surveillance limit. One vehicle or mech at a time, three with Hermes MIP Presence. See Steeljacking.

TIMING

Rule	Meaning
Declare and resolve	The acting player declares and executes Movement, Maneuver and Main Action together: token and dice.
Defensive Maneuvers	Anyone holding one declares it when its trigger occurs, before the triggering action is fully resolved, unless the Talent says otherwise. Declared later, it does not happen. This changes outcomes without voiding rolls.
Tempo	Keep the pace brisk, but real-world decision speed never gives a bonus or penalty.
AR and VR movement	AR uses your physical position. VR Movement matters only for virtual distance, hostile topology or isolated routes. Moving between ordinary HIN locations normally needs no roll.

Worked example — one turn, three bodies

Mara moves her body into Cover. Her drone spends the Maneuver on Mark Target. Her mech spends the Main Action on Rail Cannon. All three happen on Mara’s turn; neither machine gets another action.

PART 4

A FIGHT

Move, pick a target, resolve it, end the turn. Four steps, repeated.

Step 2 — Move and position

Running this. Describe cover, height, light and exits before anyone commits, and let a good position matter mechanically at least once per fight. Players stop moving thoughtfully the moment they learn it never helps.

MOVEMENT COSTS

Cost is hexes spent per hex moved. Where Reflex reduces it, subtract half your Reflex, to a minimum of 1.

Movement	Condition	Cost
Walk	Normal	1
Walk	Rough surface	2
Climb	With gear	3 − ½ Reflex
Climb	Rough surface	10 − ½ Reflex
Climb	Smooth surface	Cannot be climbed
Swim	Lake or calm water	3 − ½ Reflex
Swim	Ocean with waves	5 − ½ Reflex
Fly	Clear weather	1
Fly	Stormy weather	2
Jump	Standing	5 − ½ Reflex
Jump	Running start	3 − ½ Reflex
Jump	Vertical	15 − ½ Reflex
Crawl	—	5
Teleport	—	1
Disengage	—	1 — shift 2 hexes as safe movement
Fall	—	2 damage per hex fallen, maximum 50, reduced by Reflex

Vehicles. Use vehicle movement or combatant movement, never a mix. A machine assigned Movement uses its own Movement value.

ENGAGEMENT AND FREE STRIKES

Rule	Effect
Engaged	You are adjacent to an enemy able to threaten you.
Leaving without Disengaging	One threatening enemy may make one Basic Melee free strike. Limit: One such free strike per creature per round, unless a rule says otherwise.
Forced movement and teleport	Never trigger it.

POSITIONING ACTIONS

Action	Type	Effect
Disengage	Maneuver	The acting body or machine moves up to a maximum of 2 hexes without triggering a free strike.
Stand Up	Maneuver	Costs half movement. Ends Prone.
Shove	Maneuver	Adjacent target no more than one Size larger. Power Roll against its Stability: ≤10 push 1 hex if Stability 0 · 11–15 push 2 hexes minus Stability · 16+ push 4 hexes minus Stability (and knock Prone if critical success).
Grab	Main Action	Adjacent target no more than one Size larger. ≤10 grabs Stability 0 · 11–15 grabs Stability 1 or less · 16+ grabs unless immune.
Escape	Maneuver	Make a Save. Edge if you are larger than the grabber, Bane if smaller.
Aid Attack	Maneuver	Pick one ally and one enemy you can perceive and describe the opening. The ally gains Edge on their next attack against that enemy before the start of your next turn.
Defend	Main Action	Until the start of your next turn, attacks against you take Bane, and you gain Edge on Saves against forced movement and physical conditions.

BODY STATES

State	Effect
Prone	Bane on your melee attacks. Adjacent attacks against you gain Edge; ranged attacks from beyond adjacency take Bane.
Grabbed	Movement 0 and cannot move away from the grabber, who drags you at half Movement. Personnel cannot Grab vehicles or structures unless a Talent allows it.
Stability	Reduces forced movement by its value; at 0 the target does not move. It also resists Shove, Grab and footing effects.
Collision	Forced movement that ends against a solid obstacle or creature deals 1 damage per 2 m of unused movement, capped at 5 unless a Talent sets higher. In a creature collision, both take it unless stated otherwise.

Step 3 — Choose a legal target

SIGHT AND EFFECT

Term	Meaning
Line of Sight	You perceive the target well enough to choose it.
Line of Effect	An unobstructed path exists for the attack or effect.
Cover	Can allow sight while imposing Bane.
Concealment	Blocks Line of Effect unless a Talent says otherwise.

COVER AND CONCEALMENT

State	Requirement	Effect
No Cover	Target exposed	No modifier
Cover	At least half protected	Bane
Concealed	Visual or sensor interference	Bane
Cover + Concealed	Both apply	Double Bane

Cover does not stack with itself. An unobstructed angle that bypasses Cover removes it. High ground gives only the benefits it physically creates.

HIDE, SEEK AND AIM

Action	Type	Effect
Hide	Maneuver	You must be fully blocked from hostile observation by Cover, Concealment, darkness or a Talent. If an observer could still track you by sound, sensors or prior knowledge, make the stealth-related d100 Skill Check. Success: you are Hidden. If nobody could perceive or track you, the GM may allow automatic success.
Detect Hidden	Maneuver	d100 Awareness-related Skill Check against the hiding effect’s difficulty. Success reveals the target to you until it hides again.
Search	Maneuver	Examine a nearby area, object, control, trap, route or clue. Roll only when uncertainty and consequence exist.
Aim	Maneuver	Choose one visible target. Your next ranged Power Roll against it before the end of your turn gains Edge. Aim ends if the target leaves sight, you move more than 2 m (1 hex), or you change targets.

While Hidden
You cannot be directly chosen as a target, but area effects may include you.
Attacking, entering open view or making obvious noise normally ends Hidden.

RANGE BANDS

Weapon	Close	Ideal	Maximum
Pistol	0–5 m (0–3 hexes)	6–15 m (4–10 hexes)	30 m (20 hexes)
SMG	0–10 m (0–7 hexes)	11–25 m (8–16 hexes)	50 m (33 hexes)
Shotgun	0–10 m (0–7 hexes)	11–20 m (8–13 hexes)	30 m (20 hexes)
Rifle	0–15 m (0–10 hexes)	16–60 m (11–39 hexes)	120 m (79 hexes)
Marksman	0–20 m (0–13 hexes)	21–100 m (14–66 hexes)	200 m (131 hexes)
Heavy	0–20 m (0–13 hexes)	21–80 m (14–52 hexes)	160 m (105 hexes)

Where the target is	Modifier
Ideal	None
Close, with a pistol, SMG or shotgun	None
Adjacent, with a rifle, marksman or heavy weapon	Bane, unless Compact
Beyond Ideal, up to Maximum	Bane
Beyond Maximum	No attack without a special Talent, scope or emplacement

Firing while Engaged	Modifier
At a nonadjacent target	Bane
Pistol, SMG or Compact at the adjacent enemy	None
Long weapon at an adjacent enemy	Bane, unless Compact

AREA ATTACKS

Shape	How it is measured
Burst	A radius from one origin point.
Line	A straight path of the listed width.
Cone	Widens from the origin.
Wall	A continuous barrier of the listed length.
Zone	A fixed area that stays in place.
Aura	Moves with its source.

Area rule
The Talent states dimensions in meters (divide by 1.5 for hexes) and whether the origin is included.
Make one Power Roll and apply the same result to every legal target.
Check Line of Effect from the origin to each target space.

Step 4 — Resolve the action

THE ATTACK IN FIVE STEPS

#	Step	Do this
1	Declare	The acting body or machine, the Talent, the weapon and the target, in that order.
2	Check it is legal	Sight, effect, range band, Cover, Concealment, engagement (Step 3).
3	Gather modifiers	Aim, ammunition, weapon traits, situational Edge and Bane, and Weapon Tier against Armor Tier.
4	Roll once	2d10 + the Attribute the Talent names. One roll, however many targets.
5	Resolve	Apply the printed result and the damage sequence below, then check Vulnerable, Critical or 0.

DAMAGE

Part	Where it comes from
Printed number	The Talent’s result for the Tier you rolled.
+ Attribute	As printed on the Talent (for example, + Reflex).
+ Level	Your Level. Director-controlled combatants add their Level the same way.

Gear improves in jumps and Levels arrive one at a time. The Level bonus fills the gap between them, so a fight at Level 9 takes about as long as a fight at Level 2.

WEAPON TIER AND ARMOR TIER

Weapon Tier comes from Level. It applies to your Signature Talents and to adversaries by echelon. Armor Tier comes from gear: what the target wears or rides, never its Level. What you carry comes with your Level; what protects you has to be bought.

Level	Weapon Tier
1–3	WT 1 — Street / Civilian
4–6	WT 2 — Tactical / Paramilitary
7–9	WT 3 — Heavy / Corporate
10	WT 4 — Mythic / Military

Armor Tier	Worn or carried by
Tier 1	Sable civilian and corporate wear; ordinary clothing
Tier 2	Security vests, tactical apparel, corporate security uniforms
Tier 3	A platform: armored vehicles, trucks, boats, aircraft, light mechs
Tier 4	A platform: heavy mechs, fighter aircraft, strategic platforms

Weapon Tier	vs Tier 1	vs Tier 2	vs Tier 3	vs Tier 4
WT 1	Normal	Bane	No Effect	No Effect

No Effect means no Rūḥ or Énergeia is lost. Movement, Suppression, control and component effects still resolve unless the target is immune.

Worked example — one rifle, three targets

A Level 5 Gunslinger (WT 2) fires a rifle at a Street enforcer in a security vest (Tier 2 Armor): Normal. Her Talent reads 9 + Reflex; with Reflex +3 at Level 5, a hit deals 9 + 3 + 5 = 17.

The armored truck beside him is Tier 3: Bane. She can still hurt it, barely. The mech behind it is Tier 4: Double Bane. No roll solves a mech with a rifle, and that is the moment the crew looks for the other answer.

AMMUNITION

What is in the magazine changes what the weapon can reach, not how hard it hits. Most rounds raise effective Weapon Tier against one kind of target.

Type	Effect
Standard	Normal kinetic effect.
AP	+1 effective Weapon Tier against Armor.
EMP	Shocked 2; +1 Weapon Tier against machines and cyberware.
Spiritbreaker	Psychic 2; +1 Weapon Tier against Mythos.
Smart	+2 Power Roll; ignores Cover, not Concealment.
Incendiary	Burning 2 on damage.
Dragon’s Breath	Shotgun only; ignores Tier 1 Armor; Burning 2.
Subsonic	+3% to Silent Skill Checks.
Nanite	Can carry a listed digital payload into a connected or exposed machine or HIN target.

THE DAMAGE SEQUENCE

#	Apply
1	Armor and damage-type interaction.
2	Resistance or Weakness.
3	Temporary Rūḥ or Énergeia first, then normal durability.
4	Forced movement and collision.
5	Conditions and component effects.
6	Check Vulnerable, Critical, 0, the consequence roll, Dying, Disabled or destroyed.

Defense	Effect
Resistance X	Reduces matching damage by X, after Armor.
Immunity	Prevents the listed damage or condition entirely.
Weakness X	Increases matching damage by X.
None of these	Change the Power Roll, unless a rule says so.

BASIC ATTACKS AND SAVES

Rule	Effect
Basic Melee (Main Action)	An adjacent target, using the printed melee or unarmed Power Roll.
Basic Ranged (Main Action)	The printed weapon Power Roll and its Range Bands.
Every stat block	Prints both basic attacks, or marks one Unavailable.
Save	1d10 at the end of the affected turn. 6+ ends the effect; 5 or lower and it continues to the end of the next turn. Edge and Bane apply only when a rule says so, as +2 or −2.

Duration	Ends
Start of Turn	Immediately before acting.
End of Turn	After finishing the turn.
Save Ends	On a successful Save at the end of each affected turn.
Until Repaired / Treated	When that is done.
Sustained	When upkeep stops or access is lost.

Step 5 — End the turn

END-OF-TURN CHECKLIST

#	Resolve
1	Bleeding, Burning, Shocked, environmental damage and other end-of-turn effects.
2	Save Ends rolls.
3	End or maintain Sustained effects.
4	Detection, HIN defenders, ECM / ECCM, signal changes and Data Tether consequences.
5	Routine orders and fallback for machines.
6	Vulnerable, Dying, Stabilized, Disabled, destroyed and encounter objectives.

RECOVERIES AND HEALING

Rule	Effect
Recoveries	As printed for your Archetype: 2 + Power for a Brawler or Veinrunner, 1 + Power for everyone else.
Recovery Value	One third of maximum Rūḥ.
Catch a Breath (Maneuver)	Spend one Recovery and regain your Recovery Value. Requires a Medical Kit; a kit may improve it as printed.
Refresh	Only at the campaign’s full-rest or operation-reset point. A standard fight costs most of them: plan to fight once.
First Aid (Main Action)	An adjacent ally with a Medical Kit treats Bleeding, stabilizes an injury, or grants a Dying target one immediate Save with Edge.
Heal Talents	Restore Rūḥ or conditions exactly as printed; they do not automatically spend a Recovery.
Treatment	Field treatment stabilizes. Surgery or facility care removes entries that require it.

DYING AND DISABLED

At 0	What happens
Rūḥ	Incapacitated and Dying. You stay in initiative, take no actions, and make a Save at the end of your turn.
Save succeeds	Mark one Stability. Three Stability marks: stabilized at 0 Rūḥ.
Save fails	Mark one Death. Three Death marks: death.
Damaged while Dying	Mark one Death, or two on a Critical.
Énergeia	Disabled unless the stat block says Destroyed. It cannot act and may be repaired or salvaged. Further major damage, catastrophic failure or a Tier 3 destructive effect may destroy it.

Consequence rolls (Vulnerable and Critical damage) and all three injury and failure charts are in Injuries, Failures and HIN Conditions.

FORCED MOVEMENT

Word	Means	Notes
Push	Directly away from the source	Straight line. Stops at the first obstruction.
Pull	Directly toward the source	Straight line. Stops adjacent to the source.
Slide	Any direction the mover chooses	The one using the ability picks the path, not the target.
Shift	The combatant moves itself without provoking	Not forced movement at all.

Forced movement rule
Measured in hexes; ignores the target’s Speed; never provokes; is never the target’s own Movement.
Cannot move a target into a wall, solid object or combatant. It stops one hex short.
Into a hazard or off a height: apply what that hazard does.
Immobilized, Grabbed or Restrained targets cannot be moved by it. A target two Sizes larger than the source ignores it.
Where a Save is offered: physical force uses Power or Reflex; Mythos and neural effects use Logic, Awareness or Presence.

CORE COMBAT CONDITIONS

Condition	Effect
Bleeding X	Lose X Rūḥ at end of turn; First Aid or Save ends.
Blinded	Cannot see; your attacks take Bane; attacks against you gain Edge.
Burning X	Lose X Rūḥ or Énergeia at end of turn; a Maneuver or Save ends.
Concealed	Attacks against you take Bane.
Critical	At a quarter or less of maximum; further damage rolls the full consequence chart.
Dazed	Choose a Maneuver or a Main Action, not both.
Disabled	A machine cannot act.
Dying	At 0 Rūḥ; make death Saves.
Exposed	The next attack against you gains Edge, then it ends.
Frightened	Cannot move closer to the source, and Bane on attacks against it; Save ends.
Grabbed	Movement 0; cannot leave the grabber.
Hidden	Cannot be directly targeted until detected.
Immobilized	Movement 0; forced movement still applies.
Jammed	Listed wireless or HIN actions take Bane, or fail if the signal is lost.
Marked	The source gains the listed benefit against you.
Overheated	Cannot use the listed high-output system until cooled.
Prone	See Body States; Stand Up with a Maneuver.
Restrained	Movement 0; your attacks take Bane; attacks against you gain Edge.
Shocked X	Start of turn: X Shock damage; machine and cyber actions take Bane.
Slowed	Movement halved.
Stunned	Cannot use a Main Action or Maneuver.
Vulnerable	At half or less of maximum; attacks against you gain Edge, and further damage rolls a consequence capped at 6.
Weakened	All damage you deal is halved; Save ends unless the effect says otherwise.

Worked example — a machine going down

A Sentinel security drone has Énergeia 15. The crew’s Steeljack hits it for 9, leaving 6: at or below half, so it is Vulnerable. Attacks against it gain Edge, and further damage rolls the Mech/Synth chart, capped at 6.

The next hit takes it to 0. Its stat block does not say Destroyed, so it is Disabled and can be repaired or salvaged. The crew’s Street Doc cannot help it: effects that restore Rūḥ never repair Énergeia.

PART 5

WHEN SOMEBODY GETS HURT

One chart, rolled on a d6 until somebody is in real trouble.

WHEN TO ROLL A CONSEQUENCE

A target in the Vulnerable Zone — half or less of maximum Rūḥ or Énergeia — rolls 1d10 whenever it takes further damage. Cap the result at 6.
A target in the Critical Zone — a quarter or less — rolls the same 1d10 with no cap.
Roll no more than once per target per round, however many times it is hit.
A Tier 3 Called Shot that explicitly causes one, or reaching 0, rolls uncapped regardless of zone.
On a duplicate result, worsen one step along this order: Kit or First Aid, then Shop or Surgery, then Facility, then permanent.

LIVING CRITICAL INJURIES

For any living target, operator or adversary.

d10	Trauma	Effect	Recovery
1	Hand trauma	Fine work and one-handed weapons take a Bane.	First Aid
2	Shoulder dislocation	Two-handed weapons cannot be used at all.	First Aid
3	Muscle rupture	Slowed while the injury lasts.	Surgery
4	Arm fracture	One arm is useless. No two-handed weapons, no Grab, no climbing.	First Aid
5	Rib fracture	Its Main Action takes a Bane in any round it also moved.	First Aid
6	Leg fracture	Slowed, and Speed drops by 2.	First Aid

PART 6

THE SCENE TRACKER

The countdown the whole game runs against, and how to read it without announcing a number.

DETECTION IS THE SCENE TRACKER

Cybersteel runs on two measures and only two: the Scene Tracker during an operation and the Influence Test when it closes. There is no third.

One tracker for the whole operation.The Ghost marks the same boxes the rest of the crew marks. A failed Breach Check fills a box; so does a brawler kicking a door. Nothing to reconcile and nothing to carry between two counts — a box the Ghost fills inside a node is a box of danger for the people standing in the corridor. It is literally the same countdown, and that is the whole reason a crew takes a Ghost into an operation instead of sending one off alone.

So mark it where everybody can see it.The Ghost’s player should watch their own failed roll move the thing that is about to get the brawler shot. Nothing you say about tension will do that work as well as the box doing it.

What this rules out. A Ghost cannot probe quietly on a separate clock while the crew goes loud. There is no off-tracker reconnaissance between operations. If the Ghost is acting against a target, the operation has begun and the tracker is on the table.

READING THE BANDS

Tracker	Warning	Investigation	Intervention	Lockdown
4 — Street	1	2	3	4
6 — Underworld	1–2	3–4	5	6
8 — Corporate	1–2	3–4	5–6	7–8
10 — Government	1–2	3–5	6–8	9–10

An empty tracker is Guidance: routines continue and the HIN barely registers the Ghost is there. Lockdown is always the last box, on every tracker — the moment it fills and not a box before.

Notice where the boxes go as the trackers get bigger. A Street node has one box per band and moves through all four in four failures. A Corporate HIN spends four boxes merely investigating and then goes from Intervention to Lockdown in two, which is exactly how a hardened site behaves: it watches for a long time, and when it finally decides, it decides all at once.

A full tracker is one event with two faces. Armed response arrives for the crew, and the environment locks down on the Ghost, the same box described twice, which is this chapter’s own rule applied to the tracker itself. And as in any scene, nothing already completed is undone when it fills: effects the Ghost finished stay true even at Lockdown.

PART 7

GHOSTING — THE EARLY ACTIONS

Looking and meddling. Taking a system outright needs Rank 4 and is in Zine 2.

Ghosting Actions are the universal procedure. Any operator who meets the Rank may use them. A Ghost is not required, only better at it.

The Rank you need is set by the node, not by the action. Looking and meddling scale with how hard the place is. Taking it outright does not scale at all: it is the top of the Skill or it is nothing.

Node Tier	What it is	Observe & Manipulate
Tier 1	A camera, a door, a drone, a terminal, a vehicle	R1
Tier 2	Building security, facility control, checkpoints	R2
Tier 3	Corporate servers, logistics, drone control, facility automation	R3
Tier 4 · AKS	Hardened, military, institutional, and AKS corporate nodes	R3

THE BOUNDARIES

One action per Turn	Every Ghosting Action costs a Main Action or a Maneuver as printed. No exceptions, in combat or out of it.
Sustain cap	One sustained effect at a time, two at R3. Each costs a Maneuver on your Turn. Drop one to begin another.
No fishing	An Observe action may be used once per target per scene. A second attempt needs something to have changed first. Decrypt is the exception — it is paid for per layer, so repeat it as often as there are layers.
One Hijack	One device at a time; two at R3.
Failure marks 1 box	Unless the action says otherwise. Only four of them do.

TIMEFRAMES

Immediate	Resolves and ends.
Scene	Holds until the scene ends, then lapses on its own.
Sustained	Holds only while you spend a Maneuver each Turn.
Persistent	Survives the scene. Ends when countered, rebooted, or discovered.

OBSERVE — R1 to R3

Find out what is here. Rank equals the node’s Tier, to a maximum of R3. You cannot change anything with these.

Action	Cost	Target	On success	Timeframe	On failure
Scan	Main Action	Current location	Anchors, defenders, sensors, security layers, and one blind zone.	Immediate	False topology, or one Anchor stays concealed.
Listen	Main Action; Maneuver to sustain	One command channel	Patrols, machine orders, and incoming response.	Sustained	Misleading traffic, or an echo reveals you.
Profile	Main Action	One user or identity construct	Role, authority, permissions, and one exploitable limitation. Edge on your next action against them.	Scene, or until the Edge is spent	They receive an authentication warning.
Trace	Main Action; extended	A Ghost, command signal, SENTINEL, or Data Tether	Identify the origin at local, city, or regional scope.	Until the route changes	Your own route becomes partially triangulated.
Ghost-Follow	Main Action; Maneuver to sustain	One authorized user	Follow them between locations and cross the next barrier they legitimately open.	Sustained	They sense an attached presence and change route.
Decrypt	Main Action per layer	Protected file, archive, or credential	Removes one encryption layer.	Persistent	First failure leaves it Corrupted; a second relocks it. Marks only on the second failure.

MANIPULATE — R1 to R3

Change what the system does without owning it. Rank equals the node’s Tier, to a maximum of R3.

Action	Cost	Target	On success	Timeframe	On failure
Override	Main Action	One lock, permission wall, safety limit, or access state	Bypass it.	One use, or Scene	The credential is challenged, or the route closes.
Inject	Main Action	One system accepting data or commands	Plant a backdoor, false credential, delayed order, or logic payload.	Persistent, until triggered or countered	The payload is quarantined, altered, or traced.
Loop	Main Action; Maneuver to sustain	One sensor or record stream	Repeats an earlier state and reports no new events.	Sustained	Defenders compare another feed and spot the repetition.
Redirect	Main Action	One power, patrol, route, communication, or security allocation	Moves attention or resources. The GM changes the threat layout.	Immediate	Opposition redirects toward the crew, or another route closes.
Mask	Main Action	Your own Access ID or presence	You read as an authorized user of this node — not a specific credential, an absence of alarm.	Scene	Your real Access ID is logged instead. Marks 2.
Hijack	Main Action; Maneuver to sustain	One connected device — camera, door, drone, lift, vehicle	You operate it as its owner. One at a time; two at R3.	Sustained	The device reports an unauthorized command and locks out for the scene.

EXIT — FOUR WAYS OUT

Clean Exit	Release objectives and leave by the original route.
False Route	Redirect the trace toward another system or Access ID.
Transferred Tether	Hand the route to a prepared relay, Contact, or device.
Emergency Disconnect	End virtual exposure immediately, and accept the current Data Tether and physical consequences.

PART 8

MACHINES — VEHICLES AND DRONES

Who drives, who flies the drones, and who opens somebody else’s machine. Sitting in the seat needs nothing; the other three modes need gear a starting crew has not bought yet.

WHAT STEELJACKING IS

Steeljacking is operating the crew’s machines: driving, flying, ramming, escorting and firing mounted weapons. Vehicles and mechs belong to the Steeljack, using the Piloting Skill and the Steeljack Talents. Drones belong to the Shepard, using Electronic Surveillance and the Shepard Talents. Both run on the same turn, the same Énergeia and the same fallback rules, all in this chapter.

If the crew owns the machine, bought it, borrowed it, or a Ghost has already opened it, the Steeljack drives it.

WHOSE JOB IS IT?

The crew wants to…	Who	How
Drive or fly a machine the crew controls	Steeljack, or anyone with the Piloting Rank	Piloting; Steeljack Talents
Fight from a vehicle or mech	Steeljack	Steeljack Talents; mounted weapons
Run the crew’s drones	Shepard, or anyone with Electronic Surveillance	Shepard Talents; Electronic Surveillance Rank sets how many
Unlock, steal or take over someone else’s machine	Ghost	Ghosting Actions: Override, Hijack, Seize
Shut down an enemy machine’s systems	Ghost	Ghosting Actions: Crash, Loop
Jam an enemy machine’s signal	Anyone with Electronic Surveillance	ECM and ECCM

GETTING AT THE CONTROLS

Mode	Needs	Range	The catch
In the seat	Nothing	Where you sit	Your body is in the machine. If you are exposed in it, you can be shot.
Remote	Steeljack Deck, or a Steeljack Uplink Amplifier for drones (Zine 1 gear)	Signal range on the same network	The signal can be jammed or cut. The machine then falls to its fallback.

PILOTING — WHAT YOUR RANK LETS YOU DRIVE

Piloting (Reflex or Power) is a d100 Skill Check like any other. Your Rank, from the Piloting card in Zine 1, decides which machines you can handle when it matters.

Rank	Name	You can operate, under pressure…
No Rank	—	An ordinary vehicle on an ordinary day, with no roll. Any pressure needs Rank 1.
1	Urban Pilot	Tier 1 vehicles, such as civilian cars and bikes, under normal and moderate pressure.
2	Security Pilot	Tier 2 vehicles in pursuits and hostile situations.
3	Extreme Pilot	Tier 3 vehicles at their limits: high-speed pursuit and hazardous conditions.

A platform above your Rank. You can drive it carefully. In a pursuit or a fight, every Piloting check for it takes a Bane (−10%), and the GM may call for rolls a qualified pilot would not need.

WHEN TO ROLL PILOTING

Situation	Roll?	If it fails
Ordinary driving, a known route, nobody chasing	No	—
A pursuit, a tight gap, a jump, a crash landing, bad ground	Piloting	The GM picks one: you lose position, take collision damage, or end Slowed.
Moving the machine without being noticed	Piloting or Shadowing	Mark 1 box on the Scene Tracker.
A Steeljack Talent	No: the Talent’s Power Roll resolves it	The Talent’s 10-or-lower result.
An attack with a mounted weapon	No: a Power Roll, never a Skill Check	—

ONE TURN, ONE POOL

A machine does not get its own Turn. Spend your Movement, Maneuver and Main Action on your body or on any machine you are at the controls of. Each component is spent once.

Component	Spend it on the machine to…
Movement	Move the platform up to its Speed. Your body moves with it only if you are riding it.
Maneuver	Use a Steeljack Maneuver Talent, Aim a mounted weapon, Disengage the platform, or attempt a Piloting stunt.
Main Action	Fire a mounted weapon (Basic Ranged), ram (Basic Melee), or use a Steeljack Main Action Talent.

A machine nobody spends a component on keeps doing its last order. It never attacks for free.

CONVOYS AND HOW MANY MACHINES

Rule	Effect
Convoys	Two to four vehicles on one route move together on one Movement, and the Steeljack drives the lead. A vehicle that splits off becomes its own machine.
Vehicles and mechs at once	One at a time, unless you have Hermes MIP Presence (three).

DRONES — THE SHEPARD’S MACHINES

Drones are the Shepard’s platform, the way vehicles and mechs are the Steeljack’s. They use the same turn pool, the same Énergeia and the same fallback rules. Anyone can run a drone; the Shepard is the operator built to fight through them.

Who	How many drones	What they can do with them
Shepard	Up to three active drones, deployed with Drone Deployment	Shepard Talents, which act from the drones’ positions.
Anyone else	Your Electronic Surveillance Rank (table below)	Move them and fire one drone’s mounted weapon per Main Action. No Talents through them.

Electronic Surveillance Rank	Drones at once
1 — Circuit Tech	One Tier 1
2 — Signal Engineer	Two Tier 1
3 — EW Operator	Three Tier 1, or one Tier 2
4 — Spectrum Controller	Four Tier 1, two Tier 2, or one Tier 3
5 — Theatre Director	Three Tier 2, one Tier 3, or one Tier 4

Getting at the controls works as above: in reach, remote through a Steeljack Deck or Steeljack Uplink Amplifier, or immersed with Hermes. Dangerous flying is a Piloting check; Piloting Rank 5 covers advanced drones under the most extreme combat conditions.

DRONE RULES

Rule	Effect
Origin of effects	When a Talent says an effect comes from a drone, measure line of effect, Cover, Concealment and the installed system’s Range from that drone.
Swarms	Drones with one shared order (same route, same job) move as one swarm on a single Movement. Losing drones does not end the swarm until it can no longer do its job.
Drone integrity	Drones use Énergeia. A destroyed drone is removed from play. A Talent that needs an active drone cannot use one that is destroyed, disabled or disconnected.

DAMAGE, LOSS AND FALLBACK

When…	What happens
The machine drops to half its Énergeia	Vulnerable. Attacks against it gain Edge, and further damage rolls the Mech/Synth or Vehicle Failure chart, capped at 6.
It drops to a quarter	Critical. Failure rolls are uncapped.
It reaches 0 Énergeia	Disabled, or Destroyed if its stat block says so. If it was moving, occupants make the crash Save.
The remote link is jammed or cut	It follows its fallback order.
You are immersed when it is destroyed	HIN Feedback as written for that platform. Letting go deliberately never causes this.
It needs repair	Field Repair (Combat, Step 4), a shop or a facility. Effects that restore Rūḥ never repair Énergeia.

Fallback order	The machine…
Hold position	Stops where it is and defends itself.
Return home	Drives back to its depot or owner.
Continue route	Finishes the last route it was given.
Protect a target	Stays with and shields one named person or vehicle.
Emergency stop	Shuts down where it stands.

GM: write the fallback down when the machine enters play, not when the link drops.

WHEN THE MACHINE IS SOMEONE ELSE’S

Against an enemy machine	Steeljack	Ghost
Out-drive it, block it, ram it, shoot it	Yes	—
Open its lock, take its controls, make it the crew’s	No	Override · Hijack · Seize
Blind it, kill a subsystem	No: shoot the component instead (Called Shot)	Loop · Crash
An enemy Ghost takes one of the crew’s machines	Keep it boxed in until it is back	Take it back

Worked example — the Tajura run

The crew’s Anubis Truck is a Tier 2 platform and Hesper has Piloting 2, so she can drive it in a pursuit. Two Tajura Rivers bikes give chase.

Movement: the truck runs its Speed down the quay. Maneuver: Drift Line, for +2 Speed and +1 Stability. Main Action: Driving Assault on the lead bike. She rolls an 11–15 result, so 5 + Power + her Level, and the bike is pushed 3 hexes into a bollard for collision damage. The push earns her 2 Ḩaml.

The second bike is a problem she does not have to solve: the crew’s Ghost Overrode the quay gate ahead, and it closes behind the truck. Nobody rolled Piloting. The Talents did the driving.

PART 9

TALKING SOMEBODY ROUND

Open the Track only when the other side has something to lose. Everything else is roleplay, with no roll.

WHEN TO OPEN THE TRACK

Situation	Do this
A routine request, a friendly NPC, an obvious yes	Roleplay it. No roll.
The NPC cannot actually give what is asked	Say so, and tell the crew who can.
The NPC has power, something at stake, and a reason to refuse	Open the Track.
The person is already the crew’s Contact	Use a Contact Action (Zine 1): a Power Roll, then mark Stress. Not the Track.

THREE STATES

State	The NPC…	Moves on with…
1. Listening	Hears you out and promises nothing.	One successful exchange.
2. Considering	Names their price, out loud. That price is the crew’s next objective.	One successful exchange at Tier 1–2. A job at Tier 3–4.
3. Committed	Does exactly what was agreed.	—

PICK AN APPROACH

All four are Presence Skills. Three of them move the Track; Status gets you into the room.

Skill	You are…	They agree because…	If it fails…
Sell	Persuading	It is a good deal for them.	They say no, politely. Nothing worse.
Spin	Lying or framing	They believe the story.	Somebody checks the story.
Leverage	Threatening	Saying no costs more than yes.	They learn what you are holding and start working on it.
Status	Showing who you are	It gets you the meeting, never the yes.	You wait, or you need a sponsor.

ONE EXCHANGE — FOUR STEPS

#	Step	Do this
1	Ask	The player says it in one sentence, “I want ___ from ___ because ___,” then makes the case in character.
2	Name the stake	The GM says what this person wants or fears that the approach is aimed at. If there is nothing, there is no roll: they agree.
3	Roll once	d100 against the Skill %. At most one Edge (+10%) and one Bane (−10%). They cancel.
4	Move or pay	On a success, advance one state. On a failure, the GM picks one cost from the table below.

Failure costs — the GM picks one
The Track does not move.
They want proof, payment, leverage or a concession first.
They narrow the offer or put a deadline on it.
They expose the crew to scrutiny, rivals or a political cost.

The same argument twice is not a new roll. A failed approach is closed for the scene. Bring something new, such as proof, a concession or a different person, or send someone else in.

WRITE THE DEAL DOWN

When an NPC becomes Committed, record it in one sentence with four parts.

Part	Example
Who does what	The port deputy signs the early release on container KH-4471.
By when	Before the 04:00 manifest sync tonight.
On what condition	The crew keeps her name out of the Exposure file.
What ends it	Her rival is cleared, or her name surfaces.

HOW LONG IT HOLDS

The deal is as strong as the Rank of the Skill that closed it.

Rank	The deal holds…
R1	This scene, and only until someone challenges it.
R2	This scene, or the immediate job.
R3	This operation. Breaking it is a deliberate betrayal.
R4	As a standing relationship. They defend it.
R5	As a long alliance, until it is betrayed.

Closed with…	It ends when…
Sell	It stops being worth it to them.
Leverage	The leverage is gone: recovered, published or outlived.
Spin	Somebody checks. At R3 or below, that is one determined afternoon.

Commitment is not mind control. Ask for something outside the terms and they say no like anyone else.

Worked example — the port deputy

A Tier 3 port authority deputy is the only signature that moves a bonded container early. Yusra has Status R3, so the meeting happens without a roll.

Exchange 1, Sell: the stake is her standing, and the request makes her look decisive (Edge). She succeeds: Listening becomes Considering, and the deputy names her price: “Bring me something that makes the early release defensible.”

That is the Job Lock. The crew runs an Exposure against her rival. When they return, the deal is recorded at Yusra’s Sell R3: reliable through this operation, and no further.

PART 10

AN OPERATION

The loop the whole campaign runs on, and one job to learn it with.

PRESSURE is what the crew does. An operation aimed at one faction’s ability to operate in one territory.

INFLUENCE is what it costs them. Influence is a faction’s practical ability to do five things in a specific place: enforce, conceal, supply, command and legitimize itself. Damage one of those for real and the faction loses a point of Influence there.

RETALIATION is what they do about it. A faction that loses ground comes back at the crew — with violence, with exposure, or by cutting off the money. Which is to say: with pressure of its own.

The crew decides. Not the GM.

Players choose the faction. Open the atlas, read who runs what, and pick whose grip you want. A street gang holding an oasis. A corporation drawing its water. A militia taxing a road. Nobody assigns you a target.

Players choose the pressure. Data, Profit or Blood — how you intend to hurt them. The same faction can be hit three completely different ways, and the choice is yours every time.

Players choose the mission. Eleven procedures. Rob them, walk in wearing someone else’s name, expose them, break their machines, set their rivals on them, take their ground outright or go out and reach a site nobody owns yet before they do.

The GM runs the world you’re pushing against. The world answers honestly and hard but it never picks your fights for you.

The eight steps of an operation

	Step	Who decides	Where it’s covered
1	The aim — pick the faction and the ability. Open the atlas and the tools. Which faction, which territory, which one of its five abilities you’re attacking, and which Crew Arc beat it serves.	The crew	The atlases
2	Choose the pressure. Data, Profit or Blood. Operations can combine.	The crew	This chapter
3	Pick the mission. There are optional approaches for the mission type with example procedures.	The crew	This chapter
4	Run the Approach. One pass round the table, one roll each. Success buys an Edge; failure may fill a box before the job starts. Then you are in the scene.	Both	The Approach
5	Set the Scene Tracker. Four, six, eight or ten boxes, by how hard the target is.	GM	The Scene Tracker
6	Play out the mission’s steps, failing forward.	Both	Core Resolution
7	Run the Influence Test after the mission. Four questions about the ability attacked. Two or more NO answers and the faction loses 1 Influence.	GM	The Influence Test
8	Close the operation. Write the sentence and roll retaliation.	GM	The GM Page

Then the crew picks the next target, one rung higher than the last.

THE APPROACH

One pass round the table, one roll each, then you are in the scene.

Before the first scene of any operation, go round the table once. Every player says, in a sentence or two, what their operator did in the days before: who they watched, what they built, what they bought, which Contact they leaned on. This is quick roleplay. It is not a planning session, and the GM does not answer questions the crew has not paid for.

Then each operator makes one roll — a Skill Check on whatever Skill their sentence named, or a Power Roll if they leaned on a Contact.

Success. That operator carries an Edge into the step their preparation was aimed at. They say which step when they declare it.

Failure. No Edge, and the GM chooses one: it cost nothing and they simply learned less, or it cost something — mark one box on the Scene Tracker before the job starts. Someone noticed the questions.

A failed Approach is never “nothing happens.” It is either a quiet miss or a box already filled.

DATA

INFILTRATION

Walk in as someone who belongs, do the job, and walk out before anyone is sure.

A heist where the thing you take is access. You’re not breaking in; you’re being let in, and the whole job is making that welcome hold. It works the same way in a clinic as in a corporate seat in the Agora.

The aim. Say who you are pretending to be and what the welcome gets you. Access is the thing you are stealing, so name the door it opens. Khepri’s clinic in Wassat takes dozens of contractors a week. You are not robbing the clinic, you want the card that opens the floor above it.

The Approach. The proof that backs the story. Spin for the story, Fabrication for credentials, Cyber Operations for records, Status or a Contact’s Access for a vouch. A Papermaker can put your name on the contractor list. It only has to survive one look at the desk.

In the scene

1. Walk in the way the staff expect
Spin, Sell, Status
Example. Come at shift change carrying something too heavy to be polite with. Nobody stops a man struggling with a pump housing.
GM: ask for one roll at the threshold, not three. Getting in is the premise, not the obstacle.
2. Read how the place actually runs
Shadowing, Investigation, Electronic Surveillance, Status
Example. Ten minutes near the vending machine gives you the second badge reader, the nurse who props the fire door, and when the supervisor goes out to smoke.
GM: on a success hand over three concrete facts they can act on, not atmosphere.
3. Hold the cover when someone doubts you
Spin, Sell, Leverage, Status
Example. “Third floor sent me.” Say it to the most junior person in the room, they will walk you up themselves rather than cause an incident.
Run this step every time the crew is challenged. It is the only step in the book you come back to, and the challenges should escalate: a question, then a name, then a phone call.
4. Do what you came for and leave before anyone is certain
Shadowing, plus whatever the objective needs
Example. Go out past the same desk, complaining about the job. Leaving annoyed reads as leaving legitimately. Suspicion is survivable; proof is not.

Let suspicion build before proof does. A crew questioned twice that talks its way through both is having a better night than one nobody notices at all.

PART 11

THE GM PAGE

How big a fight should be, and what the Street does about it afterwards.

SCALING A RETALIATION TEAM

The rosters on each chart are built for a party of four at the Level a crew usually reaches that faction. Rebuild them for your table with two numbers.

Encounter Strength. Each operator contributes 4 + (2 × Level). A party of four is 16 + (8 × Level). Add one more operator’s worth for every 2 Victories they average, and for machines they bring: a light vehicle +1 operator, an armored vehicle or aircraft or light mech +2, a heavy mech +3. Drones add nothing.

Encounter Value. ((2 × Level) + 4) × the Tier multiplier — Chaff ×0.5 per four, Crew ×0.5, Operator ×1, Specialist ×2, Handler ×2, Apex ×6. Spend EV against the crew’s ES: standard is ES up to ES plus one operator, which is where every roster here sits. Hard runs to ES plus three.

Reference: a party of four

Level 2	ES 32 · standard 32–40 · Street
Level 4	ES 48 · standard 48–60 · Underworld
Level 5	ES 56 · standard 56–70 · Gray Fixer
Level 6	ES 64 · standard 64–80 · Corporate, Agora
Level 8	ES 80 · standard 80–100 · Government

The limits that matter. Keep adversaries within 2 Levels of the crew, 3 if they have six or more Victories, and never put an Apex more than one Level above them. Do not field more than eight units per operator; past three per operator, at least half should be Chaff. Six different stat blocks in one fight is already too many — every roster here runs on two to four.

And remember the other budget. An operation holds one standard fight and something small afterward, or two easy ones — never three standard fights. A retaliation scene spends roughly two thirds of the crew’s Recoveries, and those do not come back until the operation ends. That is why most of these charts answer with Profit and Data: the crew can only afford to be shot at once. Full construction tables are in Zine 4.

When the Street answers back

Street

Control Through Presence

Five Blood results out of ten, and all of them cheap. Street Influence is 3 and cannot buy a long campaign, so it spends everything it has on being seen doing it. Scene Tracker 4.

d10	Pressure	They do this	What happens
1	Profit	Pocketed	They go through the safehouse and take the week’s takings and one Tier 1 kit. Small, specific, and gone by morning.
2	Data	What they were carrying	The block works out what the crew took and who they took it for. The buyer hears about it before the crew can deliver.
3	Data	Where they sleep	The safehouse, the lock-up, and the route the truck takes at four in the morning. Every lookout in the district now has all three.
4	Profit	The truck	They take the vehicle, or strip it where it stands. Mobility in this district is a resource and the crew no longer has it.
5	Data	Named to the patrol	Somebody walks into a district station and puts the crew’s faces on an assault from last month. Unless they buy the statement back or produce a better one, they are wanted here, and every Scene Tracker in this territory opens with 1 box marked.
6	Blood	Three with a fuel can	They come for the truck where it sleeps and set it alight in the open, at an hour when the street is awake to watch — 1 Crew pair, 4 Chaff, 8 EV, Trivial. Retaliation scene, 4-box Tracker.
7	Blood	Waiting at the door	Not an ambush. They are simply there when the crew comes out, and they have been there a while — 2 Crew pairs, 8 Chaff, 16 EV, Trivial. Retaliation scene, 4-box Tracker.
8	Blood	The corner empties out	Everyone standing on that street walks the same way at the same time, and they are carrying what was to hand — 4 Crew pairs, 12 Chaff, 28 EV. Retaliation scene, 4-box Tracker.
9	Blood	Everyone they can wake	Aimed at the one person in this territory the crew cannot operate without. Handle it in public and the gang loses the street instead — 6 Crew pairs, 16 Chaff, 40 EV. Retaliation scene, 4-box Tracker.
10	Blood	Open war on the block	A fight the gang cannot pay for, with rivals already on the street. The ground belongs to whoever is still standing at dawn, and it is not necessarily the crew — 6 Crew pairs, 24 Chaff, 48 EV, Hard. Retaliation scene, 4-box Tracker.