Backgrounds

Everyone comes from somewhere, from the greenest agent to the most grizzled of veterans. To represent their life before becoming an agent, each character selects a Background, which grants two free Skills and an Edge.

These Backgrounds are intended to represent a character's history, but do not necessarily encompass the whole of their experiences. For instance, a character with the Criminal Background may have been a soldier before turning to a life of crime, but the character's criminal skills are more important to their Background. Alternatively, a character may have been a CIA agent, but their former training with the Green Berets makes Special Forces a more suitable Background.

Assassin
You've always killed people for a living. Whether up close and personal with a garrote, or from a 5th floor hotel room window, you've taken out crime bosses, politicians, military leaders, and maybe even the odd ex-wife. It may not be the most savory of professions, but it does pay pretty well, and your skills are always in demand.

Bonus Skills: Assassins begin with a d6 in Stealth and either Shooting or Fighting.

Bonus Edge: Select one of the following Edges (you must meet the normal requirements): Alertness, Assassin, Connections, First Strike, or Steady Hands.

Bodyguard
You used to hire yourself out as protection for celebrities, the ultra-wealthy, and the overly-paranoid, or perhaps you were a Close Protection Agent with the government. Either way, most of the time you were just shooing away fans or subduing angry businessmen, but you were expected to take a bullet for your client if need-be.

Bonus Skills: A Bodyguard begins with Fighting and Notice at d6.

Bonus Edge: Select one of the following Edges (you must meed the normal requirements): Block, Bodyguard, Brawler, or Martial Artist.

Cop
Protect and serve. Before you decided to go private sector, you were a police officer. You had a badge, a patrol car, and a partner, which were all that was between you and the hordes of criminals that stalked the streets of your city.

Bonus Skills: A Cop begins with Research and Shooting at d6.

Bonus Edge: Select one of the following Edges (you must meed the normal requirements): Alterness, Brave, Connections, or Investigator.

Criminal
Whether as a thief, drug dealer, bookie, or a good old-fashioned gangbanger, you made your living outside the law. Luckily for you, a lot of your criminal skills pair well with your new profession.

Bonus Skills: A Criminal begins with Thievery and either Intimidation or Persuasion at d6.

Bonus Edges: Select one of the following Edges (you must meed the normal requirements): Brawler, Connections, Parkour, or Thief.

Hacker
Whether working as a criminal or as a cyberintelligence agent, you got your kicks, not to mention your rent money, draining compromised bank accounts and acquiring spoofed access codes. The only difference between the two is whether the target was al Qaeda's communications network or Grandma Witherspoon's savings account.

Bonus Skills: A Hacker begins with Hacking and Research at d6.

Bonus Edges: Select one of the following Edges (you must meet the normal requirements): Hacker, Investigator, or Scholar.

Intelligence Agent
Agent, spy, operative, spook. Whatever you call yourself, you used to work for the government, finding out the things other governments didn't want you to know. Maybe you were a simple analyst working in an unassuming government building in Virginia, or you might have been a veritable James Bond. Either way, life in the private sector sure pays better than the black budget did.

Bonus Skills: An intelligence agent begins with Research and Tradecraft at d6.

Bonus Edges: Select one of the following Edges (you must meet the normal requirements): Connections, Investigator, Spy, or Streetwise.

Military, Enlisted
You used to be enlisted in a formal military force. Whether the Army, Navy, Air Force, or some other branch, you were taught to fight, march, and kill when ordered.

Bonus Skills: An enlisted character begins with Fighting and Shooting at d6.

Bonus Edges: Select one of the following Edges (you must meet the normal requirements): Brave, Brawny, Connections, or Demolitionist.

Military, Officer
You used to hold a leadership position in a formal military. You likely attended a military academy where you learned modern strategy and how to effectively command troops and make the hard decisions.

Bonus Skills: A military officer begins with Battle and Shooting at d6.

Bonus Edges: Select one of the following Edges (you must meet the normal requirements): Charismatic, Command, Common Bond, or Connections.

Special Forces
You were once part of an elite military unit like the U.S. Navy SEALS, British SAS, or Russian Spetznaz. You're a certified badass with the medals - and scars - to prove it.

Bonus Skills: A Special Forces character begins with Shooting and Stealth at d6.

Bonus Edges: Select one of the following Edges (you must meet the normal requirements): Commando, Demolitionist, Jump Qualified, or Squid.

Terrorist
You probably prefer the term "freedom fighter", or perhaps "guerrilla", but whatever you called yourself, you were once part of a militant group fighting for political or ideological reasons, such as the Irish Republican Army, Abu Sayyaf, or an armed resistance group.

Bonus Skills: A terrorist begins with Intimidation and Repair at d6.

Bonus Edges: Select one of the following Edges (you must meet the normal requirements): Assassin, Connections, Demolitionist, or Ghost.

Transporter
Whether for the military, a commercial transportation service, or private charter, you're used to being in the driver's seat or the cockpit. Cars, jets, helicopters, and even that one time in Hong Kong with the rickshaw, you've driven and flown them all.

Bonus Skills: A Transporter begins with Driving and Piloting at d6.

Bonus Edges: Select one of the following Edges (you must meet the normal requirements): Ace, Jump Qualified, or Mechanically Inclined.