Grifter
Nobody understands people like you do. You’ve spent your life mingling with every type, forming contacts, picking up cultural nuances, and uncovering the little tells that reveal what truly makes them tick. You thrive on the con, weaving stories convincing enough to pass off truth for fiction and fiction for fact.
Most of the time, your disarming charm is all you need, but there have been moments when even your silver tongue wasn’t enough. In those situations, you learned quickly that a well-timed punch can be just as persuasive as a perfectly spun lie, especially when carrying a conspicuous weapon would only raise suspicions.
Still, your knack for bluffing your way out of trouble borders on legendary, and people are left guessing how you pull it all off. Perhaps it’s your fearless streak, or maybe sheer luck is just always on your side. Whether you’re navigating high society soirées or skulking through underworld taverns, you never fail to adapt, exploiting every angle to stay one step ahead. For you the hustle is a way of life, there’s always another mark to charm, another scheme to spin, and another crowd waiting to be impressed.
Why should I play one?
- As a Grifter, you can talk your way into, or out of, any situation.
- Your team will totally rely on your ability to negotiate the best deal.
- You are the luckiest character going around. Your luck is almost unnatural.
Bonus Trait: +1d Morale
Starting skill package (choose one)
Harlequin A Grifter with a range of skills.
- Espionage (d6)
- Mercantile (d6)
- Persuade (d6)
- Intuition (d4)
- Perception (d4)
- Unarmed (Martial Art of choice) (d4)
Varlet A more combat focused Grifter.
- Munitions (d6)
- Persuade (d6)
- Unarmed (Martial Art of choice) (d6)
- Armed (d4)
- Espionage (d4)
- Mercantile (d4)
Gambit Everything is about the roll of the dice.
- Gambling (d6)
- Intuition (d6)
- Persuade (d6)
- Mercantile (d4)
- Munitions (d4)
- Unarmed (Martial Art of choice) (d4)
Choose a Punter
Choose one from the list below, or see the extended Example Punters list and pick one of those with GM approval.
- Club Owner
- Gang Member
- Media Worker
- Security/Police Officer
Tradecraft
| Tradecraft | Description |
|---|---|
| Blend In | Lets them disappear into a crowd |
| I Know Someone | Friends and contacts everywhere |
| Fast Talk | Reroll Persuade (must take 2nd roll) |
| Cunning Linguist | Can work out basic details spoken in any language |
| Coin Flip | Failed Luck roll has a coin toss chance to succeed |
| Street Fighter | Extra Unarmed Combat Manoeuvre |
Tradecraft Descriptions
Blend In
Actions: FullS
The ability to become invisible in plain sight is invaluable. As an expert in the art of blending in, you possess the unique skill to seamlessly merge with any crowd, effectively disappearing from prying eyes. This talent extends beyond mere physical concealment; it's an art of social camouflage, allowing you to adopt the guise of a local effortlessly.
In most scenarios, you won't require a standard Stealth skill check to blend in. Your mastery in this craft makes you adept at evading detection through sheer presence, rather than stealth.
There may be instances where a Stealth check is necessary, particularly in cases of persistent searches and/or where you are differently dressed than the locals and more likely to stand it during a persistent search. If a check is required and you don’t have the Stealth skill, you can use your Morale and Luck Traits rolled together.
Trade Secrets:
Chameleon: Mimicry is your art form. By spending an Action and observing your surroundings, you adopt the mannerisms, speech patterns, with time acquiring the right clothing, even physical appearance of a typical local. Whether blending into a bustling marketplace or infiltrating a high-society gala, you become a chameleon, indistinguishable from the natives.
Crowd Whisperer: You have developed an intuitive understanding of crowd dynamics, enabling you to predict and utilise the flow and movement of people to your advantage. This ability allows you to navigate through dense crowds with ease, using them as a shield against surveillance, effectively turning the crowd into a living, breathing cloak.
Instead of an opposed roll to determine your presence, a target number is now set for your adversaries to find you. This target number is calculated by adding together the values of your Morale and Luck Traits. Your adversaries must meet or exceed this combined value with their roll in order to successfully find you when persistent searching.
I Know Someone
Actions: Passive
You have cultivated an extensive network of contacts and allies, making you a master of connections. Your time spent forging relationships across various spheres has equipped you with the invaluable ability to find a friendly face or a helping hand in numerous locations. This network is not just about socialising; it's a strategic web that you can tap into when seeking information or assistance. Whether you're searching for a person, a rare item, or crucial knowledge, a simple word spread through your network can yield surprising and valuable insights.
This tradecraft is particularly useful for Game Masters (GMs) as a narrative tool, aiding in advancing the story and highlighting key plot points through your connections.
Trade Secrets:
Fixer: You excel in connecting seemingly unrelated individuals, creating opportunities for collaboration or information exchange that others might overlook. Your network includes getting lucrative job offers and knowledge of useful mercenaries and adventurers.
Bolt Hole: Your network includes access to safe houses and hideouts, providing you and your allies with secure locations to regroup, hide, or plan your next move. Hideouts have basic amenities, preserved food and access to water and power. Your Bolt Holes will be located in major cities, but you may also find one in the wild at the discretion of the GM.
Fast Talk
Actions: Passive
Your gift of the gab sharpens your conversational skills to a fine point. When your attempts to persuade falter, this ability allows you to reroll one of your Persuade skill dice, ensuring a second chance at success. Remember, this re-roll applies only to the skill, not the associated Trait.
If your Trait roll succeeds but the Skill rolls fail, you may still use this craft to try and get a better result.
Trade Secrets:
Rumour Mill: Master the art of information manipulation, your ability to initiate and guide rumours turns you into an influential figure in the realm of information warfare. Wield this power to confuse adversaries, sway public opinion, or unveil concealed truths, altering the course of events with just a few well-chosen words.
Modifier: Under the GM's guidance, you can adjust the repercussions reflected by others' attitudes and the benefits on the Social Skill Check table. While a skill check remains necessary, the difficulty level may be reduced.
Typically, a new contact might be wary of the Grifter, hesitant to divulge information due to perceived risks and potential consequences.
- Base Target Number = 4
- Additional +2 TN due to the contact's suspicion
- Additional +4 TN as the information might be disadvantageous/harmful if traced back to the source
Normally, the Target Number for extracting information would be 10.
However, 'Funky', the team's Grifter, spins a convincing rumour, offering plausible counter information in exchange for the desired details, thereby removing suspicion. By convincingly arguing that revealing the source would endanger them both, he mitigates most of the contact's apprehension, reducing the harmful penalty from +4 to +2.
Funky's new Target Number for the Persuade skill check to acquire the needed information decreases to 6.
Lip Service: Make your arguments more compelling and your requests harder to deny. Use this to your advantage in negotiations, interrogations, and whenever your words might tip the balance.
Modifier: +1 to Persuade skill checks.
Cunning Linguist
Actions: Passive
Your extensive interactions with various societies and cultures have equipped you with the unique ability to grasp the essence of foreign languages. While deep, nuanced dialogues may be beyond reach, you will discern their fundamental intentions and identify common phrases. This linguistic adaptation unfolds over several interactions (at the discretion of the GM) enhancing your communicative breadth.
Trade Secrets:
Furphy: Your worldly experiences have endowed you with an extensive collection of anecdotes and tales. When you weave these stories, your social encounters invariably shift towards the positive. Utilise 'Furphy' to sway conversations, disarm suspicions, and charm your way through social labyrinths with the art of storytelling.
Modifier: When engaging with individuals deemed 'Suspicious' or less according to the Social Skill Check table, bypass the usual checks to dispel doubts or enchant listeners with your narrative. Following your storytelling, perceive your audience as having shifted down one tier in terms of suspicion or hostility for subsequent information-gathering checks.
In scenarios where the individual is marked as 'Hostile', 'Furphy' requires a skill check to take effect. However, this check benefits from a +1 bonus, reflecting your adeptness at easing tensions and softening attitudes through the art of story.
Poker Face: Master the art of non-verbal subtlety with 'Poker Face'. Your disciplined control over your body language renders you an enigma, concealing your true thoughts and emotions. On the flip side, this same discipline sharpens your perception, granting you a bonus to detect lies, gauge intentions, and uncover hidden truths with an enhanced acuity for the unspoken.
Modifier: You get +2 to Kinesics knack within the Intuition skill.
Coin Flip
Actions: Passive
You tend to live by the seat of your pants. Others wonder how you sometimes pull off the remarkable. If a test has still failed after you have spent a Luck Point, you may spend another Luck Point to flip a coin. If the coin flip is successful, the test is considered a success. You call the coin flip in the air (Heads or Tails or whatever is on the coin). Grifters tend to flip coins whilst waiting around.
If you play a Grifter you will need a real coin and flip it when you use this ability. You may only use one Coin Flip per test.
Trade Secrets:
Luck Of The Irish: At the beginning of each session, the Grifter recovers 1 Luck Point for free (up to their maximum).
Double Sided Coin: You can ‘Coin Flip’ as many times as your want on a test, as long as you have the Luck Points.
Street Fighter
Actions: Passive
You have learnt that talking doesn't always work. Too many times you had to rely on your fists and feet. You may choose any other Manoeuvre from a Martial Art other than your own. This manoeuvre can be used as soon as it’s chosen.
Trade Secrets:
Gakusei: Enhance your martial prowess and diversify your combat strategies by mastering a new Manoeuvre from any martial art. 'Gakusei' allows for continuous growth, as it can be selected multiple times, each time applying to a different Manoeuvre. This adaptability broadens your tactical options, making you a versatile and unpredictable opponent in any skirmish.
Modifier: +1 to Unarmed Combat (Martial Arts) skill check. (This does not increase when Gakusei is taken multiple times).
Sensei: Your dedication to martial arts shines through, allowing you a second chance when your strikes don't land as planned. Should your Unarmed Combat (Martial Arts) skill roll fail, you're granted the opportunity to reroll one skill die.
If your Trait roll succeeds but the Skill rolls fail, you may still use this craft to try and get a better result.