You have no powers. You have been kidnapped four times, held at gunpoint twice, and used as leverage on at least three separate occasions. You have a protocol f
PERSONNEL FILE
STAT: CHARISMA PRIMARY: +2 ACCESS: OPEN
The Civilian · FILE CHARISMA
The CIVILIAN
PRIMARY: CHARISMA
HERO / ANTI-HERO / VILLAIN
You have no powers. You have been kidnapped four times, held at gunpoint twice, and used as leverage on at least three separate occasions. You have a protocol for all of these now. Superhumans keep underestimating what a prepared, resourceful, stubborn human being can do. That's their mistake.
BLEND IN▼
When you need to pass as a random civilian in a crowd — a crowded street, a minion at a villain base, etc — roll +Charisma.
10+: Nobody looks twice. You have full access and complete the scene without scrutiny.
7–9: You pass initial screening but something's slightly off. The GM picks a complication.
JUST A CIVILIAN▼
When someone with powers underestimates you and you use that against them, roll +Charisma.
10+: Your next roll against them is +2 forward as well as +2 harm if you are attacking them.
7–9: Your next roll against them is +1 forward as well as +1 harm if you are attacking them.
SURVIVOR▼
When you take harm that would put you at Beaten or Dying, roll +Tough.
10+: You stay functional. Take half harm instead.
7–9: You stay on your feet this scene but the GM picks a complication.
HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT:▼
When you meet someone new you can ask them, "have you heard about…" and fill in the blank. It can be a movie, a book, an animal fact, anything.
10+: They have heard of it or if not are very interested. Take +1 ongoing with this individual through this scene.
7–9: They haven't heard of it, but are interested in learning more. You will have to show them that you truly want them to watch/read/research this topic. Share your streaming login, give them a book, etc.
LITERALLY MY DAYJOB▼
(1/mission)
When you use your actual profession or civilian expertise to solve a problem — a teacher calming a panicked crowd, a nurse treating an injury, a mechanic fixing a broken vehicle, an accountant finding a financial crime, a chef rationing supplies — mark XP and the problem is solved. You know this. No roll needed. Once per mission, you can rely entirely on your profession to handle something.
STAY CALM▼
When panic or fear is spreading and you need to keep your head and steady those around you, roll +Tough.
10+: You're rock solid. You and one ally clear panic/fear and both take +1 forward.
7–9: You stay calm but those around you are still shaken. You take +1 forward.
JUST LOOK AROUND▼
When you use the basic move READ THE ROOM, add these questions to your list of options:
Who here is just an innocent person caught in the middle?
Is there someone I could talk to instead of fight?
What would a normal person do in this situation?
How do we keep innocent people from getting hurt?
What's the actual human motivation underneath all this?
PANIC AS A WEAPON▼
When you're in a tense situation and you want to buy time or create confusion, you start panicking visibly — screaming, crying, babbling about how scared you are. Roll +Charisma.
10+: They're so focused on you freaking out they lose momentum. You and your team get +1 forward.
7–9: They notice you but it only creates a small distraction.
KEEP THEM TALKING▼
When you need information from someone and you can't use powers or force — just ask and listen — roll +Charisma.
10+: They tell you something true they didn't mean to. Ask the GM what.
7–9: They tell you something, but it might not be the whole truth. Ask one clarifying question.
I KNOW SOMEBODY▼
When you need to reach a contact from your normal life — someone you actually know, not a stranger — to get information, a favor, or access, roll +Charisma.
10+: They help you. No strings attached.
7–9: They help but they want something in return, or they can only partially help.
You get one contact like this per mission.
NOTICE THE DETAIL▼
When you're in a scene and you want to spot something the powered people miss because you see like a normal person, roll +Intuition.
10+: You spot something important. Ask the GM what you notice.
7–9: You notice something but it's small. The GM tells you what it is.
ANCHOR THEM▼
When a powered teammate is losing themselves — rage, panic, powers spiraling out of control, about to do something they'll regret — you ground them with something real and human. Roll +Charisma.
10+: They hear you. They clear panic/fear and take +1 forward.
7–9: They hear you but they're still shaken. They clear panic/fear only.
Once per mission per teammate.
SUGGEST A PLAN▼
(1/mission — no roll)
When the team is stuck and you have a practical idea for what to do next, describe your suggestion clearly. The team decides whether to follow it. If your suggestion leads to a successful outcome this scene, mark XP.
MAKE IT WORK▼
When you need to use something creatively in a crisis — improvise a tool, use something for a purpose it wasn't made for, find a solution with what's at hand — roll +Smarts.
10+: It works perfectly. You solve the immediate problem.
7–9: It works but it's temporary or has a limitation.
PROTECT SOMEONE▼
When someone is in danger and you physically put yourself between them and harm, roll +Tough.
10+: You take all the harm. They get clear and you take +1 forward on your next roll.
7–9: You take all the harm. They get clear.
KNOW THE EXITS▼
(1/scene)
When you need to know how to get out of where you are — a building, a room, a location — roll +Intuition.
10+: You know the fastest way out AND a backup escape route.
7–9: You know a way out but it might be tight or complicated.
KNOW WHEN TO STEP BACK▼
When you realize you're genuinely outmatched and you need to get out of the way so the powered people can do their thing, roll +Intuition.
10+: You get somewhere safe without being in the way. Take +1 forward when helping from safety — calling for help, directing attention, tending wounds.
7–9: You get out of immediate danger but you're not in the best position to help.
CAPTURED BY A VILLAIN▼
(XP trigger — no roll)
When you get captured, held hostage, imprisoned, or used as leverage by a villain or enemy, mark XP immediately. It doesn't matter if you escape in the same scene — you were marked for capture. When you later prove you weren't helpless during captivity — you gathered intel, found a weakness, helped plan an escape, psychologically resisted — mark XP again.
FIGHT DIRTY▼
When using the BEAT THEM DOWN basic move in hand-to-hand combat, you may opt to fight dirty.
10+: Explain how you fought dirty. Deal +1 harm AND stun, blind, or otherwise impair the enemy.
7–9: Explain how you fought dirty. Deal +1 harm OR stun/blind/impair the enemy — not both.
ACCIDENTAL SAFEHOUSE▼
Since you are subletting your apartment, there is no paper trail connecting you to the residence. You can use your apartment as a base of operations. Choose two benefits and one drawback:
Benefits: Fully stocked kitchen / Fiber internet / An extra bedroom / A pet (+1 forward on morale rolls) / A garden / Basic first aid supplies (+1 forward on Patch Up rolls) / A garage / Roof access
Drawbacks: It is a studio apartment / It is over a club and loud all the time / It is on the 15th floor with no elevator
PERSONAL ASSESSMENT
FaceUnassuming. Disarming. The kind of face that makes people explain things they shouldn't.
BodyOrdinary. That's the point.
StyleBlends in wherever you need to be.
PresenceYou make people feel like you're on their side. You often are.
Personal ObjectName something you always carry that has saved your life or someone else's once. ---
ORIGIN
You got pulled into this world when someone you loved didn't come home. You went looking. You found more than you bargained for.
You're a journalist, investigator, or researcher. You followed the story. The story is a lot bigger than you expected.
You work adjacent to the powered world — fixer, coordinator, support. You've never had powers. You've never needed them.
Something happened to you that should have given you powers. It didn't. You survived anyway.
You chose this. Eyes open, no illusions. You know exactly what you are and what you're not, and you showed up anyway.
GEAR & EQUIPMENT
You don't have a utility belt. You have a life that prepared you for this.
You always have:
Your phone (charged, backed up, and with three numbers you shouldn't have)
The keys in your pocket (at least two open things that would surprise people)
Choose one weapon — or explain why you have it:
A legal concealed carry (2 harm — you got licensed after the third time)
A taser (1 harm, nonlethal — easier to explain than a gun)
A collapsible baton (1 harm — from the self-defense class you took seriously)
A kitchen knife in a bag you keep forgetting to take out (1 harm — it's just there)
Choose three items that tell us who you are:
A press badge that still works (gets you past police tape and into press briefings)
A key card from an old job (it opens something in this building — you're not sure what anymore)
A meagerly furnished studio sublet nobody knows about (the lease is in a different name)
A car that belongs to someone who owes you (ask no questions, use it when you need it)
A contact in every major institution (hospital, law, government, criminal — once each per mission)
A detailed file on the team's current enemy (ask GM two questions before the mission starts)
A bag of cash, a fake ID, and one exit route you've already mapped (go-bag, no frills)
A medical bag (from a past life — Patch Up without a roll once per scene)
A camera and credentials (journalist, documentarian, something like that — you record things)
A storage unit full of things that belonged to someone you lost (one of them is always useful)
KNOWN ASSOCIATES / CONNECTIONS
They protected you before you learned to. Ask them: do they still see you that way?
You have information about them you've chosen not to use. Tell them. Ask: how does that land?
You've kept the team together at least once through sheer stubbornness. Ask them: do they know that?
They're the one powered person you'd trust with your life, no protocol. Ask them: is that mutual?
You've lasted longer than anyone expected. Ask them: what did they think when you showed up again?
You've solved something for them that their powers couldn't. Ask them: how did that sit with them?
They've underestimated you exactly once. Ask them: what happened when they realized their mistake?
You understand this world in ways none of them do — the paper trail, who's really behind things. Ask them: have they asked?
They've been captured along with you. Ask them: who got out first, and how?
You've made a contingency that includes them. Ask them: do they know they're in your plans?
YOUR STATS
Your primary stat is CHARISMA: +2
Distribute the following among your remaining 9 stats:
+1+10000-1-1-2
Improvements (every 5 XP)
Take a new Civilian move
Take a move from another playbook
Add +1 to Charisma (max +3)
Add +1 to Intuition (max +3)
Add +1 to Smarts (max +3)
Add 1 to your harm track maximum
Your contact network expands: add two more contacts in new worlds; each usable once per mission
Gain a second personal contingency: you now have two CONTINGENCY PROTOCOL declarations per mission
Advanced Improvements (every 5 level-ups)
The Source: You have access to something no one else does — a database, a person, an archive. Once per session you can ask the GM any one question about the world and get a true answer.
Unkillable: You have survived things that should have killed you three times over. When you reach Dying, you automatically stabilize once per mission without anyone's help.
Change playbook: You've grown into someone different.
Retire: You finally got out. Tell the table what you went back to, and whether it was still there.