You see problems as engineering challenges. Other people see a fight, you see a vector, a structural weakness, an opportunity to field test the thing you built
PERSONNEL FILE
STAT: SMARTS PRIMARY: +2 ACCESS: OPEN
The Tinkerer · FILE SMARTS
The TINKERER
PRIMARY: SMARTS
HERO / ANTI-HERO / VILLAIN
You see problems as engineering challenges. Other people see a fight, you see a vector, a structural weakness, an opportunity to field test the thing you built last Tuesday at 2am. Buddybot agrees.
DO YOUR RESEARCH▼
Before the mission begins, you dig into every available digital source on the target, databases, social media, dark web, whatever you can find. Roll +Smarts.
10+: Ask the GM two: What is their greatest weakness? What are they hiding? Who do they answer to? What's the location's layout? What don't they want us to know?
7–9: Ask one.
FOR SCIENCE!▼
When you spend your action observing an enemy instead of attacking, take +1 forward against that enemy. This stacks up to +2 and resets when you change targets.
HACKERMAN▼
Normal computers: you crack them automatically, no roll. Supercomputers and government systems require a roll, roll +Smarts.
10+: Full access.
7–9: Partial access, or you trip a secondary alarm.
FIELD MEDIC▼
Roll +Smarts to stabilize and treat an injured ally.
10+: Clear 3 harm.
7–9: Clear 1 harm.
GUN NUT▼
You have proficiency with all firearms. If any gun breaks, yours or a teammate's, you can repair it in the field without a roll.
BUDDYBOT 5000▼
Your robot companion follows you everywhere. It has 10 harm before it goes offline. Choose its configuration at character creation:
Shootybot: Attacks alongside you, dealing 1 harm.
Healybot: Can perform basic first aid, clears 1 harm on you or an ally.
Shieldybot: Reduces harm you take by 1 per hit.
Smileybot: Choose one Charisma skill, Buddybot rolls +2 for that skill on your behalf.
Smartybot: Carries a local copy of agency files and known super profiles. Once per scene, ask the GM one question about an enemy or location, Buddybot pulls the answer from its database if it exists.
PARTNER IN THE CHAIR▼
(1/mission)
Call your support contact. Roll +Smarts.
10+: They have exactly what you need.
7–9: Partial intel. There are complications.
BOMBS AWAY!▼
You are the team's explosives expert. Whenever you fail an explosives check (setting or defusing), re-roll and keep the new result.
REVERSE CARD▼
(1/mission)
When a physical attack hits you, use a homemade gadget to redirect it. Roll +Smarts.
10+: Reflect the full harm back at the attacker.
7–9: Reflect 2 harm back regardless of the original attack's size.
Does not work against mental or psychic attacks.
DUCT TAPE▼
When team equipment you built breaks during a mission, roll +Smarts.
10+: Restored perfectly.
7–9: Fixed with a defect (GM describes it).
GEAR HEAD▼
When the team builds out or upgrades a vehicle, add 2 extra "good" features. You may always roll +Smarts instead of +Agility for driving checks.
REWIND▼
(1/mission)
Inject a serum to briefly reverse time 7 seconds. Re-roll any failed check or attack, for any reason. Keep the new roll.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER▼
When you hit with a melee attack, you've analyzed the anatomy. Add +1 harm to the damage dealt.
JURY RIG▼
When you need a device and there are materials around, roll +Smarts.
10+: Build something functional that does one specific thing this scene.
7–9: It works once, then breaks.
FEEDBACK LOOP▼
When you cause two or more enemy tech systems to interact in a way they weren't designed to, roll +Smarts.
10+: Chain reaction, all connected systems in the area go haywire simultaneously. Deal 2 harm to anyone relying on that tech and knock the systems offline for the scene.
7–9: One system goes haywire, 1 harm to one target and that system is offline until someone actively fixes it.
REMOTE ACCESS▼
When you've previously installed or modified a piece of technology, you can access or operate it from anywhere within range. Roll +Smarts.
10+: Full remote control with no trace.
7–9: Full control but the access leaves a detectable signature.
FAILSAFE▼
When a piece of equipment you built would be destroyed or taken, roll +Smarts to trigger a pre-planned failsafe.
10+: The device self-destructs, powers down safely, or locks, your choice. No harm to your team.
7–9: The failsafe triggers but with a side effect, the GM describes it.
OVERCLOCK BUDDY▼
(requires Buddybot 5000)
Push Buddybot beyond its rated limits for one scene. It gains double effectiveness, double harm, double healing, double damage reduction, or double social bonus depending on configuration. Buddybot takes 3 harm from the strain.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS▼
When you examine a piece of technology, structure, or mechanism, roll +Smarts.
10+: Understand exactly how it works, what it does, and how to break or replicate it.
7–9: Understand what it does and either how to break it or replicate it, not both.
PREPARED KIT▼
At the start of each mission, you've stocked your kit specifically for what you researched. Choose one: Explosives / Medical / Hacking / Surveillance / Anti-super countermeasure. You have advantage on all Smarts rolls related to that category for the mission.
PERSONAL ASSESSMENT
FaceSafety goggles pushed up on forehead, burn mark on one cheek, always slightly distracted even when focused, grease that never fully washes off, wide eyes that light up at the wrong moments
BodyCovered in small scars from small mistakes, always wearing something with too many pockets, tool belt or vest at all times, slightly singed at the edges
StyleFunctional over everything, workshop gear in the field, something homemade integrated into the outfit, the one piece of tech on their person that has no business being there
PresenceTalks too fast when excited, goes very quiet when solving something, treats every situation like a puzzle, makes people feel either very safe or very nervous
BuddybotGive your Buddybot a name and a look, size, color, markings, how it moves. It's yours. ---
ORIGIN
You built something that worked too well. Someone got hurt. You've been trying to make it right since.
You were corporate R&D until you saw what they were going to do with your work.
You're self-taught and three steps ahead of everyone who went to school for it.
You built Buddybot first. Everything else came from trying to keep them running.
Someone gave you a problem that couldn't be solved. You solved it. Now they want you on retainer.
GEAR & EQUIPMENT
You have a workshop bag with you at all times, assume you have basic tools and components unless the fiction says otherwise. Beyond that, choose two items:
Homemade stun device (nonlethal, 3 harm, single target, recharges between scenes)
Prototype shield gauntlet (+1 armor, one arm only, jury-rigged)
Drone, remote eyes, no combat capability (advantage on Read the Room if deployed ahead)
Medical kit (Patch Up without improvising, advantage on Field Medic rolls)
Explosive charges (4 harm, area, planted, not thrown)
Custom sidearm you built yourself (2 harm, never jams)
Starting Armor: 0 (none, unless prototype shield gauntlet is chosen)
KNOWN ASSOCIATES / CONNECTIONS
Something you built for them failed in the field. Ask them: what happened, and do they still trust your work?
You've been modifying something of theirs without asking. Ask them: when do you tell them, and how?
They helped you test something that shouldn't have been tested on a person. Ask them: do they regret volunteering?
You built them something specific that you've never explained. Ask them: have they figured out what it really does?
They're the only person who understands what you're actually trying to build. Ask them: do they think you'll finish it?
You've stayed up three days straight on a problem that mattered to them. Ask them: do they know that's why?
They caught you reverse-engineering something you definitely shouldn't have taken apart. Ask them: what did they say?
You've built two copies of something. You have one, and you gave them the other. Ask them: do they know what it's for?
They've seen your workspace. Ask them: what did they take away from what they saw?
You've never told them what you're actually working toward. Ask them: have they guessed?
YOUR STATS
Your primary stat is SMARTS: +2
Distribute the following among your remaining 9 stats:
+1+10000-1-1-2
Improvements (every 5 XP)
Take a new Tinkerer move
Take a move from another playbook
Add +1 to Smarts (max +3)
Add +1 to Intuition (max +3)
Add +1 to Agility (max +3)
Add 1 to your harm track maximum
Upgrade Buddybot, add a second configuration (it can switch between both)
Build a signature piece of gear with the GM, something unique that doesn't exist on any list
Advanced Improvements (every 5 level-ups)
The Big Build: You've been working on something enormous between missions. Work with your GM to define it, it should be powerful enough to change the shape of one whole mission, and it should have a meaningful cost or risk.
Rebuild Buddybot: Buddybot was badly damaged or destroyed. You rebuild them, bigger, better, and with all four configurations. Define what they look like now.
Change playbook: You've grown into someone different. Choose a new playbook and rebuild from there, keeping your history and harm track.
Retire: You went legit. Tell the table what you built and who you built it for.