Permutations

World unknown, beyond this charred place where you were born
— Scar Symmetry, Limits to Infinity

While attributes and skills give you the broad strokes of your competency, permutations represent specific areas of expertise. Permutations are unique tricks and abilities that give you an edge and keep your adversaries guessing. You will start the game with two permutations, and you can learn more permutations later in the game.

Permutations are rated on a scale of one (•) to three (•••).

These permutations are based around physical attributes and features.

You are capable of using both hands with equal, or nearly equal, capability.

SYSTEM: Each dot in this permutation allows you to apply a +1 modifier to a given Agility-based roll per day. This modifier may only be applied once to a given roll.

When situations become difficult, the hardy find their ability to push further than others when it comes to their physical prowess, a.k.a. “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”.

SYSTEM: You can push any roll based on Strength twice. At tier one (•), you will suffer two conditions from this permutation; tier two (••), you suffer one condition; and, at tier three (•••), you suffer no conditions from pushing rolls based on Strength for a second time.

Standing up to the challenges of the Matrix requires a fortitude not typically found in the everyday person. Your shell is reinforced against physical damage.

SYSTEM: Each dot (•) in this permutation affords +2 additional Health.

You have a knack for understanding how code comes together, how systems built on systems integrate with one another, and how to spot when something isn't quite right with a thing.

SYSTEM: You can roll Observation to gain insight regarding objects you encounter and spaces you enter, with each dot beyond the first providing a +1 modifier. The amount of information you receive is up to your Operator.

You are in a position of authority and can get others to bend to your will. With Operative characters, this usually means you are typically a Captain of a hovercraft or higher rank; with Machinists, you are in Management; and, with Exiles, you are a boss.

SYSTEM: You can use Wits instead of Empathy to get someone to do something you want, within reason. Tier two (••) in this permutation allows you to add +1 modifier for situations where you are in command; tier three (•••) allows for a +2 modifier. The Operator has final say on whether the bonus modifier from this permutation can stack with other circumstances.

Facing the daily trials and horrors of the Matrix requires verisimilitude of mind and will the Integrated could never know. Your cortex is reinforced against stress damage.

SYSTEM: Each dot (•) in this permutation affords +2 additional Resolve.

These permutations allow access to the routines tagged with the specific discipline. Having access does not mean the routines are available, only that you may utilize the code for a routine if discovered or gifted. You cannot have more tiers in these permutations than you have ranks in Defiance.

GENERAL ACCESS: Taking a permutation in this category grants access and execution rights to routines marked with the General tag.

You gain access to, and may execute, routines marked as Offensive.

You gain access to, and may execute, routines marked as Comms or Masking.

You gain access to, and may execute, routines marked as Restorative.

These permutations are exclusive to Exiles. These modifications to the codebase of their RSI are considered singleton changes; they cannot have multiple instances of these permutations nor can they change permutations after character creation.

After the frustrating failure of Xanadu, the first beta of the Matrix, the Machinists had formulated the second iteration of the Matrix should rely on the suffering of humankind, a kind of ongoing nightmare replete with supernatural threats and no choices but to eventually succumb to the savagery of their world. It was from this formulation the second beta edition of the Matrix was created, which would later become known as Hades.

Beyond the suffering that could be inflicted through mundane deprivations, such as disease and starvation, the Machinists looked to human mythology for guidance for sources of abject terror. Though they had thousands of pieces of lore from which they could derive their ideations, the Machinists ultimately created an infrastructure, dubbed Horrors, based on the ideas of ravenous shapechangers, sadistic vampires, and dangerous poltergeists. To counteract the intensity of the Horrors, the Machinists added the idea of angelic heroes, the Seraphim, who would protect the masses while battling the Horrors. This was all a mechanism of control in the theater of the Matrix.

After the Second Crash which led to the failure of the Hades Matrix, many of the Synthients which had been created for the purpose of that world were faced with the choice of deletion, as they no longer held any purpose, or exile in what would become the current version of the Civilization Matrix. Many found their way into the service of various other Exiles, namely entities like The Merovingian or The Oracle, though some operate independently.

This permutation is applied to a Synthient by altering part of their base code to include the routines of certain predatory animals, such as wolves or bears. Other types were introduced later, such as feline- and raven-based entities. Each of these held features within their codebases which allowed them sensory capabilities and combat features beyond most average human DSI. A wolf-based lycanthrope, for example, could alter their codebase to make their hands appear as massive, wicked claws.

These abilities are extended further in allowing lycanthropes to assume two forms beyond their human DSI: the base animal from which their code had been altered, and a terrifying hybrid. While in their human form, they are nearly indistinguishable from other humans unless under strict scrutiny. They are equally indistinguishable while in their animal forms save that the animal acts with near-human intelligence. In their hybrid form, they are mindless ravagers intent on slaughter as if their animal form had been provoked into a blinding rage.

SYSTEM: When you take this permutation, you must choose an animal base from which your DSI codebase becomes modified. Your Operator will have final say on which animals are available for this choice. Weapons must be modified to include the Argentum Protocol to cause permanent damage and deliver kill-codes to you.

With a single dot (•) in this permutation, you may take advantage of your animal codebase by extending one of your senses to preternatural heights for as many rounds as you have in Resolve.

With two dots (••), you may shift freely between your human and animal forms, maintaining your alternate form for half as many stretches as you have Resolve; this shift takes one round and is considered a slow action. You may also utilize partial shifting, allowing you to modify one of your limbs with animal features, like a hand becoming clawed, etc.

With three dots (•••), you may shift into a terrifying hybrid form, embodying the tales of old, bringing the nightmares to vivid life. While in this form, you gain a +2 modifier for rolls based on Strength or Agility while rolls based on Wits or Empathy suffer a -2 modifier. You may maintain your hybrid form for as many rounds as you have Resolve.

Of the Horrors introduced into the world of the Hades Matrix, none would be more memorable than the so-called vampires, thanks to a clever codesmith operating under the moniker Stoker. He formulated the hematophage from the writings of the 19th century Irish author Bram Stoker, combined with several Baltic legends around beings capable of draining the essence of others. The DSI of humans that had passed away were duplicated, occupied by a new Synthient, modified with the hematophage code, and unleashed on the very communities mourning the loss of their deceased. These newly formed entities would stalk their communities, terminating humans at random, overwriting the DSI of those victims with their own code.

Although Exiles of this type are rare in the world of the Civilization Matrix, their presence can still cause dread and panic at the mere suggestion. While they can no longer convert human DSIs as they did during the Hades Matrix, nor are they subject to those weaknesses, they remain as strident predators either in the employ of others or weaving twisted machinations of their own.

SYSTEM: Characters adopting this permutation alter their persona to become more aggressive or predatorial, especially toward the Integrated. They become capable of draining essence from codebases which they attack, from build points to health, which can be directed into their own codebase. Weapons used against you must be imbued with either the Argentum Protocol or a variation of the Fides Protocol to cause permanent harm or death.

At one dot (•), you gain access to the Renfield Protocol. This allows for you to subsume the Resolve of another, either human or Synthient, as build points for executing routines through causing stress. Breaking the target in this manner, by subsuming all of their Resolve, will inflict an automatic mental critical injury.

The power of two dots (••) in this permutation extends the Renfield Protocol to allow for more direct absorption of a target's Resolve to build up your own. Be cautious not to drain the last of a target's resolve as doing so inflicts an automatic mental injury on yourself; breaking the mind of another can drive you to leaving behind lucidity.

At the power of three dots (•••), your codebase is modified to subsume the codebase of a sentient target, either human or Synthient, to reinforce your own. For as many rounds as you have in Empathy, you may elect to change the melee damage you inflict on a target to restore your Health score during combat. For every five points of Health drained from a target, you will temporarily lose one point of Empathy. Should this loss of Empathy result in a zero score, the character becomes a bestial ravager interested in satiating its own hunger and is no longer playable. Points of Empathy lost in this way can be recovered through rest at one point per shift.

Exiles utilizing this permutation tend to appear pale and thin, in some cases nearing emaciation, while acting more laconic and withdrawn. Some variations have been seen with the tell-tale extended fangs or reddish eye color, but these are cosmetic modifications.

Possibly considered one of the most unsettling permutations found among the Horrors is the ectophage, otherwise known as ghosts or specters. These Exiles can shift their physical codebase to be out-of-sync with the chronometric routines of a virtual environment as to appear insubstantial, unable to be affected by physical weaponry except by powerful explosions, and reorganizing themselves to a prior state upon returning to the correct sync. Cunning use of this permutation allowed for Synthients of the Hades Matrix to torment and tease their human captives, usually for the pleasure of driving them insane. Because their insubstantial state was not permanent, they could blend in with the very communities they haunted.

After the fall of the Hades Matrix and the implementation of the Civilization Matrix, many of these Synthients sought refuge within the walls of the new environment while keeping in their habits of haunting and terror. Other Exiles who have accepted this permutation find themselves adopting the habits of the old, applying further cosmetic modifications to their DSI to appear more eldritch.

SYSTEM: At one dot (•), the Exile is unable to control the operation of the protocols, its activation occurs as an instinctual reaction to impending danger. For as many dots in Strength, any successful dodge roll during melee combat can be used to shift between material and immaterial states. Upon switching to the immaterial state, you are no longer subject to damage from physical sources nor can you cause damage; your melee and ranged weapons shift with you and are incapable of affecting the environment. In the round following a shift to an immaterial state, you will return to your material state and resume actions as normal. You must then wait one round for this ability to refresh.

At two dots (••), you are able to apply this protocol to ranged attacks against you. For half as many dots in Strength, rounded up, you may elect to attempt a dodge roll against an incoming ranged weapon attack for which you are aware; this protocol cannot be applied to surprise or ambush attacks. If you succeed in an opposed roll against your attacker, you shift to an immaterial state for the remainder of the round, taking no damage, and all other attacks against you are rendered ineffective. Conversely, as stated above, while immaterial, you cannot affect the world.

At three dots (•••), you are able to control the activation of this permutation and may maintain it for as many total rounds as you have dots in Strength. Your ability to shift is limited to half the number of dots you have in Strength, rounded up, and becomes refreshed after two full shifts. For example, if you have three dots in Strength, you may activate the permutation twice in one shift and may hold it for no more than three rounds total; if you shift and maintain for one round, you may only maintain an additional two rounds thereafter.

Part of the control mechanism in the framework of the Hades Matrix was the idea of instilling hope in the face of the predation of the Horrors. This synthetic sense of hope would arrive in the form of Synthients encoded to appear as divine, angelic beings capable of defeating the Horrors with the aid of the human communities they were assigned to protect. Unfortunately for these communities, these Synthients were in league with the Horrors, if not commanding them outright; this was part of the control scheme for the Hades Matrix.

In the modern Civilization Matrix, the Seraphim have been relegated to the role of security personnel for other Exiles.

SYSTEM: At the first tier (•), the Exile is able to resist combat protocols from Horrors. Lycanthropes cannot use their shape-shifting abilities, hematophage cannot drain the Health or Resolve of the Exile, and ectophage shifting abilities provide no protection from the Exile’s melee attacks. While engaged in combat, Seraphim Exiles enjoy a +2 bonus to melee attacks against Horrors and +1 against other Synthients.

At the second tier (••), the Exile develops an uncanny sense of danger and cannot be ambushed nor can they be subject to sneak attacks from Synthient sources. Against human operatives attempting these actions, the Seraphim suffer no penalties to their Observation rolls.

At third tier (•••), the Exile may use their exceptional speed and reflexes to usurp the initiative order during a combat round; the Exile will automatically exchange initiative ahead of any other Synthients in the scene and cannot be forced behind any other Synthient through initiative exchange. This applies to all Synthients in the scene except for other Seraphim Exiles, where initiative order would be treated as normal.

These are entities imparted with the ability to create and modify other entities within the Matrix, whether the other entities in question are living or inanimate. Probably two of the most well-known codesmiths are known as The Merovingian and The Keymaker.

SYSTEM: Each dot of this permutation allows for a greater degree of effectiveness when creating or modifying codebases. To create a new inanimate codebase requires three Crafting rolls over the course of 1d6 shifts. Any failure of these rolls still utilizes any time or resources applicable to the attempt.

To modify the codebase of a living entity, as no one is capable of creating, requires three Medical rolls in addition to three Crafting rolls over the course of 1d6 days. Success with these rolls allows the modification, though failure can have disastrous, if not lethal, consequences. Depending on the modification attempted, and the discretion of the Operator, failure will cause critical injuries from both the physical and mental tables.

At one dot (•), you can only create simple inanimate objects, like rocks, keys, or other such objects. At two dots (••), you can modify complex objects, such as guns or electrical generators, so long as you have the appropriate materials and work space. You can also apply modifications to an existing simple object. At three dots (•••), you can create masterwork objects, such as clocks and vehicles, create complex objects, or apply modifications to a living entity.

Most codesmiths tend to be a bit obsessive with their skills and subjects, almost to the point of distraction, if not outright narcissistic. If you take this permutation, your character’s persona will become influenced by it, like the inflection of an accent on speech. You will need to work with your Operator to define how this is roleplayed at the table.

I know kung fu!
Show me.
— Neo and Morpheus, The Matrix

These permutations give you access to attacks and defenses after the traditions of martial arts in melee combat. There is no limit to the martial arts permutations available to a character, though they must be trained for the permutation once received. If a character has multiple martial arts permutations, each qualifies as a mode and must be declared before use in combat. Changing modes during combat is considered a fast action.

At the first tier (•) of these permutations, you apply a +1 modifier to Melee rolls to block an incoming melee attack. At the second tier (••), the +1 modifier applies to both attacking and blocking Melee rolls. At the third tier (•••), this modifier changes to +2 for attacking and blocking Melee rolls.

Developed in the early 20th century as a fusion of Okinawan Shuri-te and Naha-te schools of Karate, this style emphasizes extreme speed and precision.

A 19th-century Japanese martial art with emphasis on throws and forcing submission from an opponent.

A predecessor to Judo developed in 17th century Japan with emphasis on redirecting an opponent’s energy against themselves.

The centuries-old practice of martial arts from ancient China with numerous styles and configurations.

An Afro-Brazilian cultural practice which is both a fighting style and dance, often interpreted as a tradition, sport, and art form requiring great bodily dexterity.

A combat sport using stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinching techniques originating in Thailand from at least the 16th century.

Originating with the samurai class of feudal Japan, the methods, techniques, and art of Japanese swordsmanship emphasize practice, methods, ethics, and metaphysics for numerous traditions.

A 20th-century Israeli self defense system derived from a combination of techniques used in aikido, judo, karate, boxing, and wrestling focusing on real-world situations and extreme efficiency.

A 20th-century martial art developed in Russia with emphasis on striking, grappling, and wrestling.

Indian swordsmanship with specialties in the curved single-edged sword, straight double-edged sword, the two-handed longsword, the dandpatta, and the urumi.

An Indian martial art originating in Tamil Nadu from at least the 4th century BC with emphasis on the silambam staff, the double-tipped maduvu, the sickle-like aruval, the panthukol, the savuku whip, the kattari dagger, the surul kaththi, dual sedikuchi cudgels, and unarmed techniques.

The ancient and iconic art of Irish bare-knuckle boxing.

An older Irish fighting style emphasizing the use of cudgels, clubs, and shillelaghs.

A Korean martial art style from the unification of several different indigenous schools with emphasis on speed, power, and kick techniques.