Backgrounds
This is the part where you determine your character’s origin story. Each background represents a past and offers some skills and equipment.
A background is a 6-year term in a career or lifestyle prior to adventuring, with the first of these starting as you begin adulthood. The start of adulthood, depends on your sophontcy (it is 18 for humans and 60 for ronites, for example). Most characters only have one background, which they do once or sometimes twice, but you can accumulate as many as you want. The benefit is more skills and starting money at the expense of aging.
So, except as noted in some backgrounds, you may take a second background or the same background again. This would give you more skills and more equipment, but it will advance your age by six years, putting you at age 30, if you are human.
Most backgrounds allow you to place a given number of skill ranks on a spread of skills, and correspondingly place a given number of techniques ranks on a spread of techniques. This is done each time you take the background.
The backgrounds also award you things beyond ranks on skills. These are normally enhancements (either cyberware or geneware), starting equipment and money.
Awarding Starting Equipment
Where a background offers starting equipment and enhancements, you can apply some discretion. For various reasons, certain awards may not be appropriate for your character. It may not be something that your sophont can use, or it may not be in-keeping with the flavour.
You can substitute equipment or enhancements, provided that they have the same rarity. It is hard to keep the same cost, so you can either give or take from your starting money to even things up. Beyond that, ask your GM if you are thinking of something a bit radical.
Being Awarded With Contacts
Some backgrounds award you with contacts. Contacts are described in “Chapter 6: Adventuring” as being a special kind of non-player character or organisation with a “friendly” attitude toward you. The contact is a role-playing hook for you and your GM. Its a good idea to workshop with your GM as to what the nature of the contact is, and how they came to be.
Being Saddled With Nemeses
Just as some backgrounds award contacts, some beset you with nemeses. Nemeses are also described in “Chapter 6: Adventuring” as being a character or organisation that has a profound hatred toward you. Again, you can workshop this with your GM, but can be the government that you joined an armed resistance against, someone you double-crossed, or even someone who hates you because of a mistaken identity.
Awarding Titles & Ranks
There are some backgrounds which also provide professional titles or ranks (particularly military backgrounds). The ranks are really more for flavour as they mostly don’t have a mechanical function in the game, so there’s no need to get too carried away here. A background that awards ranks, allows you to make a d6 roll on the specified the rank table, of those presented at the end of this chapter.
Each rank table has a scale column, and you are assumed to start at the first rank (scale 1). When you complete a term on the background, make the d6 roll, and follow these instructions:
| d6 result | rank table progression |
|---|---|
| 1,2,3 | +1 rank |
| 4,5 | +2 ranks |
| 6 | +3 ranks |
This means that if you roll anything from 1 to 3 on that dice, you gain a rank, so if you were scale 1 (Private, in the case of Infantry) at the start, you will now be scale 2 (Lance Corporal, again, in the case of Infantry). If you take the background again, and roll a 6 on that dice, you get to advance 3 ranks. This means that you move from scale 2 (where you were at the end of your last term) to scale 5 (Warrant Officer 2nd Class, in the case of Infantry).
The infantry background assumes that you start in the enlisted ranks, so you would choose that table out of the two. Again this is mostly for flavour, so if you feel that it suits your character to be commissioned, rather than enlisted (in other words being an officer), then discuss with your GM, but there is little impact on the game.
Academic Rank Table
These are some suggested ranks for an academic or research oriented background, or at least the point you stepped off before becoming a mad scientist.
| Rank | Scale | Details/Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Tutor | 1 | May also be called Associate Lecturer |
| Lecturer (Dr) | 2 | May also be called Postdoctoral Fellow or Research Fellow if the position is research intensive |
| Senior lecturer (Dr) | 3 | May also be called Senior Research Fellow |
| Assocoate Professor | 4 | Outstanding contribution in research. May also be called Principle Research Fellow |
| Professor | 5 | Leadership in research |
| Emeritus Professor | 6 | Leadership in field |
Army Rank Table
These are some suggested ranks for any infantry or other army corps. The rank lieutenant is pronounced “leftenant” in much of the world, except in the United States, where it is pronounced “lootenant”, feel free, of course, to choose the one that best suits the flavour of your character.
Enlisted Ranks
| Rank | Scale | Details/Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Private | 1 | Follow orders |
| Lance Corporal | 2 | Leads a fire team (1 - 5) |
| Corporal | 3 | Leads a squad (6 - 12) |
| Sergeant | 4 | Leads a patrol (12 - 24) |
| Warrant Officer 2nd | 5 | Also called Master Sergeant |
| Warrant Officer 1st | 6 | Also called Master Chief Sergeant |
Officer Ranks
| Rank | Scale | Details/Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Officer Cadet | 1 | Follow orders |
| Lieutenant 2nd | 2 | Leads a platoon (25 - 60) |
| Lieutenant 1st | 3 | Leads a platoon (25 - 60) |
| Captain | 4 | Leads a company (60 - 250) |
| Major | 5 | Leads a company (60 - 250) |
| Lieutenant Colonal | 6 | Leads a battalion (250 – 1000) |
| Colonal | 7 | Leads a regiment (1K - 3K) |
| Brigadier | 8 | Leads a brigade (4K - 8K) |
| General | 9 |
The rank of General could be split into Major General, Lieutenant General and General. there is also a Field Marshall rank, but this is usually ceremonial and a title bestowed to royalty and equivalent.
Navy Rank Table
The following table presents some suggested ranks for any naval forces. Generally, soldiers of the marine corps are a part of the naval forces, however, as a matter of tradition, most militaries that have marines, use army ranks for them.
Enlisted Ranks
| Rank | Scale | Details/Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Skynaut | 1 | Follow orders |
| Able Skynaut | 2 | Experienced hand |
| Leading Skynaut | 3 | Leads a team (1 - 5) |
| Petty Officer | 4 | Also called Sergeant |
| Chief Petty Officer | 5 | Also called Master Sergeant |
| Warrant Officer | 6 | Also called Master Chief Sergeant |
Officer Ranks
| Rank | Scale | Details/Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Midshipnaut | 1 | Follow orders |
| Acting Sub Lieutenant | 2 | |
| Sub Lieutenant | 3 | |
| Lieutenant | 4 | Commander of a small vessel 200T |
| Lieutenant Commander | 5 | Commander of a medium vessel 500T |
| Commander | 6 | Commander of a medium vessel 2000T |
| Captain | 7 | Commander of a large vessel 5000T |
| Commodore | 8 | Commander of a group of vessals |
| Admiral | 9 | Commander of a group of vessels, usually at the strategic or theatre level |
The rank of Admiral could be split into Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral and Admiral.
Management Rank Table
A suggested set of ranks for a corporation or government department. The “X” in the “Rank” column is a placeholder for a skill or responsibility area such as: Engineer, Deliverer, Producer, Salesperson, Scientist.
| Rank | Scale | Details/Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Associate X | 1 | A university or technical graduate, or officer learning in their role. |
| X | 2 | Full capability |
| Senior X | 3 | High capability and mentor |
| Lead X | 4 | Leader of one or more teams |
| Managing X | 5 | Leader of a group or division within a company |
| Directing X | 6 | Leader of one of 5 or 6 divisions |
| Officer | 7 | Responsibility for the execution of an area. Also may be called Partner or President |
| Chief Officer | 8 | Usually Chief Financial Officer, Chief Technical Officer, Chief Operating Officer |
| Chief Executive Officer | 9 | Executive head of company, reports to board of directors in a public company. |
Police Rank Table
The following is a suggested set of police ranks. For ranks below 8, the title “Detective” is prefixed, where an officer is trained in criminal investigations. For a more American feel, you may want to use the army ranks tables. By removing enlisted/commissioned distinction and the Warrant Officer ranks, you are left with the ranking that many American local and state police use in the United States.
| Rank | Scale | Details/Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Constable | 1 | follow orders |
| Senior Constable | 2 | |
| Leading Senior Constable | 3 | The local point person in a response or investigation |
| Sergeant | 4 | Recognised for competence and is a mentor to constable level officers |
| Senior Sergeant | 5 | Recognition of long service and general excellence |
| Inspector | 6 | Leader in a response or investigation |
| Chief Inspector | 7 | Leader at a branch level in all current investigations, will be the one fronting the public. |
| Superintendent | 8 | Generally leads the nick, cop shop, err... police branch |
| Chief Superintendent | 9 | Usually an area commander |
| Assistant Commissioner | 10 | |
| Deputy Commissioner | 11 | |
| Commissioner | 12 | Leader of police force |
European Noble Rank Table
| Rank | Scale | Details/Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Baronet/Baronetess | 1 | |
| Baron/Baroness | 2 | |
| Viscount/Viscountess | 3 | |
| Earl/Count/Countess | 4 | |
| Marquess/Marchioness | 5 | |
| Duke/Duchess | 6 | |
| Prince/Princess | 7 | |
| King/Queen | 8 |