"Stand clear. Fire in the hole."
Breachers are experts in controlled destruction. They blow open doors, demolish structures, and manufacture their own ordnance in the field. When the squad needs something destroyed with precision, or needs explosives that don't exist yet, the Breacher makes it happen.
Special: Breachers maintain a personal Workshop; a portable fabrication system for manufacturing explosives, grenades, and breaching charges in the field.
Breachers excel at:
They are the squad's key to anywhere - no door stays closed.
Breachers have an unusual relationship with destruction. They see beauty in a perfectly calculated demolition and take professional pride in precision. The best ones are methodical and calm; the worst are dangerously reckless.
Consider:
| Skill | Application |
|---|---|
| Engineering - Demolitions | Crafting ordnance, placing charges, controlled destruction, structural demolition (vs Mission TL) |
| Engineering - Rigging and Salvage | Scrap collection, material salvage, creative repurposing of components |
| Espionage - Traps | Setting and disarming explosive devices |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Fire in the Hole | Standard breach warning; also a lifestyle |
| Thermal Event | Explosion; sounds better in the incident report |
| Bloom | The perfect symmetrical blast pattern; art in motion |
| Doorbell | A breaching charge on a locked entrance |
| Confetti | Structural debris after a controlled demolition |
| Dead Man's Click | A detonator that doesn't fire; the worst sound in the business |
| Invitation | A warning sign; what Breachers call an opportunity |
| Glass Garden | An area after a total demolition; nothing left but fused silicate |
Test logs: - Breacher designation "Click"; NERD Gray Base Sigma, Exotic Weapons R&D Wing
The charge placement was perfect. Click knew it was perfect because Click didn't place imperfect charges. Three shaped packets of NERD's latest experimental compound; designation XK-7, colloquially known as "Whisper" because it detonated at a frequency most audio equipment couldn't register. Silent demolition. The ethics committee had called it "concerning." Click called it elegant.
The test wall was reinforced durasteel, three metres thick, backed by a concrete buffer and a blast shield that the safety team had insisted on. Click had calculated the yield to breach the wall, disperse the buffer, and leave the blast shield untouched. A surgical bloom. The kind of thermal event that made structural engineers weep with appreciation.
"Click, test is green. Counting down from ten." Control's voice over the intercom. Bored. Routine.
Click counted backwards with them. Not because they needed to. Because counting backwards was the ritual, and rituals matter when your job is the controlled application of annihilation.
Three. Two. One.
Whisper lived up to its name. The wall didn't explode; it dissolved. The shaped charges channelled the blast with surgical precision, and three metres of reinforced durasteel became confetti in less than a second. The concrete buffer fragmented exactly along the predicted stress lines. The blast shield didn't even tremble.
"Clean bloom," Click murmured, already walking toward the breach. "XK-7 performs within parameters. Recommend field—"
Click stopped.
Behind the wall, behind the wall that had been the back of the test chamber since Gray Base Sigma was commissioned, was another chamber. Older. The architecture was wrong. Not NERD construction. Not any construction Click recognized. The walls were smooth, dark, and covered in patterns that might have been writing or might have been circuitry or might have been both.
A sealed door sat in the centre of the far wall. Heavy. Ancient. Deliberately closed.
"Control, are you seeing this?"
A pause. Then: "Click, that chamber is not on our schematics. We're sending a survey team. Do not proceed."
Click looked at the door. The door that someone had gone to a great deal of trouble to seal. The door that had been hidden behind three metres of durasteel in a classified research facility, waiting for someone with the right tools and the wrong sense of boundaries to find it.
Click looked at the three remaining Whisper charges on their belt.
Some people see warning signs and stop. Click sees warning signs and calculates the yield required to remove them.
"Define 'proceed,'" Click said.
Best Legacies: Soldier, Rock-Hopper, Rigger
Best Origins: Human, Boehec, Cyborg
Best Organizations: CONFED, MERCS, ICE
Recommended Skills: Engineering - Demolitions, Engineering - Rigging, Espionage - Traps
Suggested Skills: Engineering - Repair, Intel - Survival, Movement - Athletics
| Rank | Title |
|---|---|
| 2 | Sapper |
| 4 | Demolitions Expert |
| 6 | Blast Master |
| 8 | Siege Engineer |
| 10 | Grand Artificer |
New Breacher operatives begin with the following standard-issue gear:
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Sidearm | Compact pistol for self-defense |
| Toolkit-Demolitions (Std) | Explosives handling and disposal tools |
| Shaped Charges (x3) | Precision breaching explosives |
| Remote Detonators (x3) | Wireless detonation devices |
| Structural Scanner | Identifies weak points in structures |
| Scrap Compressor | Back-mounted material storage (2 Back slots) |
| Medium Armor | Blast-resistant protective gear |
Breachers don't train at the range; they train in the field, and the weapon remembers every door they've kicked through. Familiarity gets you started. Once you've maxed that out, the real work begins; Scrap, downtime, and a Blueprint turn a good weapon into something personal.
| Layer | Source | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Core Weapon Training | 11 × Rank − 10 · off-specialty sidearm | 100 |
| Weapon Skill | +1% per SP in weapon type | 15 |
| Weapon Familiarity | +1% per hit with this specific weapon | 10 |
| Weapon Customisation | +1% per upgrade applied to this weapon | 30 |
| Max Accuracy Bonus | 155 |
See Weapon Customisation for full rules. Consumes 1 Scrap per upgrade. Requires capped Familiarity and a Blueprint. Simple Modification for the first +5%, Advanced Modification for the next +25%.
"Anyone can pull a pin. A Breacher builds the pin, the casing, the compound, and the delivery system; then pulls it."
Every Breacher maintains a personal Workshop; a portable collection of tools, compounds, and hard-won expertise that lets them manufacture, modify, and deploy ordnance in the field. Where other specialists requisition their gear, Breachers build theirs.
The Workshop draws on two Engineering skills:
Your Workshop produces and maintains your Ordnance Pool; the total number of explosive devices you can have manufactured and ready to deploy at any time. Your Pool size equals your current Rank.
| Rank | Pool Size |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 |
| 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 6 |
| 7 | 7 |
| 8 | 8 |
| 9 | 9 |
| 10 | 10 |
Ordnance in your pool can be any combination of charges, grenades, and specialty devices you know how to build. Deployed but undetonated charges count against your pool until detonated or recovered.
Your Scrap Pool represents compressed raw materials stored in your Scrap Compressor; a 2-slot back-mounted device designed for Breachers to collect, compress, and store salvageable materials in the field.
Base Capacity: 2 Scrap per Rank (e.g., Rank 5 = 10 Scrap capacity). This capacity can be improved with the Compressor abilities.
Scrap Compressor: Takes up 2 Back slots. Scrap collected during missions or lockdowns is compressed and stored here. Without a Scrap Compressor equipped, you can only carry loose Scrap in your available slots; Scrap is a Tiny item (4 Scrap fit in 1 Small slot).
Raw materials determine what you can craft. Higher-tier materials produce more sophisticated ordnance.
| Material | Tier | Sources | Produces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scrap | T1 | Junk, power cells, cleaning chemicals, scrap metal | Basic charges, improvised grenades |
| Industrial | T2 | Engineering compounds, detonation cord, chemical agents | Standard charges, specialty grenades |
| Military | T3 | Military-grade compounds, nano-thermite, advanced detonators | High-yield ordnance, precision devices |
You can always use higher-tier materials for lower-tier crafting. Materials are acquired through requisition, purchase, salvage, or the Scavenger ability.
During lockdowns (R&R or extended rest), your Workshop runs at full capacity. Crafting uses Engineering - Demolitions; roll vs Mission TL for complex or high-tier ordnance:
You always know exactly what materials are available in your environment and what you can build from them; no check required. Collecting those materials uses Engineering - Rigging and Salvage (see Scavenger).
Breaching charges, the Breacher's bread and butter, gain inherent bonuses in your hands:
Grenades are a Breacher's sidearm. All grenades gain the following when used by a Breacher:
All Breacher abilities are purchased with Ability Points (AP) during R&R.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 1
Frequency: At will
Effect: Place a shaped explosive that detonates immediately or on a timer (up to 1 hour). Roll Engineering - Demolitions vs Mission TL to breach doors, walls, or armoured targets, dealing 3 Hits in a focused direction. Collateral damage is minimised.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: You know the exact yield needed for any demolition job at a glance. When assessing a structure or obstacle for demolition, you automatically determine the optimal charge placement and explosive quantity without a skill check.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: You gain Boon(1) when disarming explosives or traps. Your steady hands and intimate knowledge of detonation mechanisms make you the best person to handle things that go boom; or stop them from doing so.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Your explosives deal no collateral damage to unintended targets within 2 metres of the blast perimeter. Precision is the difference between a Breacher and a liability.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: When you roll EF against explosions caused by planted charges or grenades, you are always treated as Resistant; reduce incoming Hits by 1 (min 0), DR applies to the remainder. You've been close enough to enough detonations to know how to ride the shockwave.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 1
Frequency: At will
Effect: Create a basic explosive device from common materials; cleaning solvents, power cells, scrap metal (Engineering - Rigging and Salvage check vs Mission TL). The improvised charge deals 2 Hits in a small area and can be detonated on a timer or by impact. Not elegant, but effective.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Your grenade attacks deal +1 Hit. On a critical hit with a grenade, the blast radius increases by 2m and deals an additional +1 Hit. Grenades are a Breacher's sidearm; you throw them more often than most people blink.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: You can place and detonate a breaching charge as a single action instead of two. Your breaching charges produce no audible alert beyond 5m; shaped for silence, not spectacle. The doorbell rings quiet when you're the one knocking.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: During lockdowns, automatically acquire 1d6 units of Scrap materials from any environment; even barren ones. In the field, spend 1 Action to search your immediate area for usable materials (Engineering - Rigging and Salvage check vs Mission TL, +1 Scrap per 3 points exceeding the TL). A Breacher never sees junk; they see components.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: When you detonate an explosive with allies in the blast radius, choose up to 2 allies; they take no damage from the blast. You know exactly where the safe spots are, and your squad knows to stand where you point.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Your explosives are equipped with proximity sensors that alert you when targets enter within 5m of any placed charge. The sensors relay distance, direction, and number of contacts to your comlink. Your charges double as an early warning system; nothing walks into your perimeter unannounced.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 1
Frequency: At will
Effect: Mark a 3m area within line of sight. Any charge you've placed in the Kill Zone detonates automatically when an enemy enters; no detonation action required. You may have 1 active Kill Zone at a time. Patience and explosives: the Breacher's favourite combination.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Gain Boon(1) when identifying, disarming, modifying, or repurposing explosive devices. You've handled enough ordnance to read the basics, manufacturer markings, common trigger types, rough yield estimates, but the exotic stuff still takes work.
Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: You are trained in the use of the Scrap Compressor. Your Scrap Pool capacity is 2 Scrap per Rank. During lockdowns or in the field, you can collect and compress salvageable materials into your Compressor for later use in your Workshop.
Cost: 2 AP per type
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1 (Kinetic/Energy types), Tier 1 (Toxin types)
Effect: Each time you take this ability, choose one grenade type from the list below. You learn to craft that grenade type in your Workshop. You may take this ability multiple times, selecting a different type each time.
Kinetic Types (Scrap materials):
Energy Types (Scrap materials):
Toxin Types (Industrial materials, Rank 2+):
Cost: 6 AP Activation: 1 Action Requires: Tier 2 Frequency: At will Effect: Roll Engineering - Demolitions vs Mission TL to analyse a structure and identify critical weak points. Attacks against these points deal double Hits. You can also determine the minimum explosives needed to collapse a structure; and where to place them for maximum effect.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2
Effect: All your explosives can be triggered remotely from any distance (as long as you have signal). You may have up to 6 charges placed simultaneously.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2
Effect: When one of your charges destroys a structural element, adjacent weak points also fail. A single well-placed charge can cascade through an entire support network. You gain Boon(1) on Demolitions checks to predict and control chain failures.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 2
Frequency: At will
Effect: Focus an explosion's force into a 90-degree cone. Targets in the cone take +1 Hit from the blast. Targets outside the cone take no damage. Art is knowing where the energy goes.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Extra Action
Requires: Tier 2
Frequency: Once per encounter
Effect: Arm a charge with a biometric trigger linked to your vitals. If you are Incapacitated or go DOWN, the charge detonates automatically. You choose the armed charge and its target zone when you activate this ability. Can be disarmed voluntarily as an Extra Action.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2
Effect: Your explosives ignore the first 10 points of Hardness when detonating against any target; fortified structures, blast doors, bunker walls, and power armour alike. If it has a Hardness rating, yours is lower than everyone else's.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 2
Frequency: At will
Effect: Link up to 4 placed charges into a networked array. Linked charges can be detonated in sequence (timed intervals you set) or simultaneously; either option requires only 1 Action to trigger the entire network. Normally, detonating a single explosive costs 1 Action; Trap Network lets you bypass this by firing the whole array at once.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Compressor Mk I
Effect: Your Scrap Compressor is upgraded with improved compression algorithms and expanded storage chambers. Your Scrap Pool capacity doubles to 4 Scrap per Rank. The Compressor also processes materials faster; collection time during lockdowns is halved.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Blast Resistant
Effect: When you roll EF against explosions caused by planted charges or grenades, you are always treated as Hardened; reduce incoming Hits by 2 (min 0), DR applies to the remainder. The blast wave parts around you like you're not even there.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2
Effect: You gain 1 Extra Action per turn that can only be used to detonate an explosive. This is in addition to your normal actions. Detonating an explosive normally costs 1 Action; Rapid Detonation lets you trigger two charges in a single turn: one with your Action, one with this Extra Action.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Extra Action
Requires: Tier 2
Frequency: At will
Effect: Before detonating any charge, dial the yield up or down. Overcharged: +1 Hit, blast radius doubles. Undercharged: blast radius halved, structural damage maintained. You decide exactly how much boom the situation calls for.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2
Effect: Targets that survive your explosions are Staggered(2); they lose 2 Actions on their next turn. If the explosion was Overcharged (via Yield Tuning), targets are also knocked Prone. Even when your charges don't kill, they take the fight out of everything nearby.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2
Effect: When your explosives damage a structure, it gains a Stress marker. Each Stress marker increases damage from subsequent explosions against that structure by +1 Hit. Stress markers are cumulative and persist until repaired. Patient demolition is the most devastating kind.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Munitions Assessment
Effect: Gain Boon(2) when identifying, disarming, modifying, or repurposing explosive devices. On a successful identification check, you also determine the device's exact yield, trigger mechanism, and any secondary payloads or fail-safes. You've seen enough ordnance to recognise the engineering behind it.
Cost: 6 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 2
Frequency: Once per encounter
Effect: Craft a standard charge or grenade in the field from available materials (Engineering - Demolitions vs Mission TL); no lockdown required. The device is combat-ready immediately. When the Workshop can't wait, the Workshop comes to you.
Cost: 10 AP Activation: Passive Requires: Tier 3 Effect: You and allies within close range reduce Hits from explosions by half (round down). You are immune to being knocked Prone by blasts. When an explosion would mark your last HITS, you survive at 1 HIT instead (once per mission).
Cost: 10 AP
Activation: 2 Actions
Requires: Tier 3
Frequency: Once per mission
Effect: Deploy an enhanced demolition charge dealing 3 Hits to all targets in a large area. Structures in the blast zone take double Hits. The detonation produces a visible shockwave and leaves the area hazardous for 1 round. Stand well back.
Cost: 10 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 3
Frequency: At will
Effect: Roll Engineering - Demolitions vs Mission TL to shape an explosion with surgical precision; create doorways without compromising load-bearing walls, remove floors while leaving ceilings intact, or carve passages through solid rock. Your controlled demolitions never cause unintended structural collapse. Engineering as art form.
Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 3, Blast Hardened
Effect: You are immune to Hits from explosion damage caused by planted charges or grenades; yours or otherwise. Blast concussion, shrapnel, thermal flash: none of it touches you. You've been blown up so many times your body has simply stopped acknowledging it.
Cost: 10 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 3, 3+ placed charges
Frequency: At will
Effect: Detonate all placed charges in a precise timed sequence where each detonation amplifies the next. Each charge in the cascade adds +1 cumulative Hit; a 6-charge cascade delivers +5 Hits on the final detonation. The art is in the timing; the result is in the rubble.
Cost: 10 AP
Activation: 2 Actions
Requires: Tier 3
Frequency: Once per encounter
Effect: Designate a 10m radius area as a sustained kill zone for 3 rounds. Any creature entering or starting its turn in the area takes 2 Hits from secondary detonations, shrapnel, and burning debris. Allies are not exempt unless protected by Danger Close or similar abilities. Welcome to no man's land.
Cost: 10 AP
Activation: 2 Actions
Requires: Tier 3, Demolition Survey
Frequency: Once per mission
Effect: Roll Engineering - Demolitions vs Mission TL to identify and exploit a hidden structural fault in any building, ship, or fortification. Place a single charge on the fault line to trigger a controlled collapse of an entire section; you choose which direction it falls. Everything inside takes 4 Hits. Everything outside is unaffected. One charge. One fault. One collapse.
Cost: 10 AP Activation: Passive Requires: Tier 3 Effect: Craft Military and Experimental-tier ordnance in your Workshop. Create custom explosives with combined properties; directional + incendiary, delayed + cascading, silent + high-yield. Your Workshop output doubles: Quick Build produces 4/2 items, Full Production produces twice your Pool maximum.
Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 3, Grenadier
Effect: Throw 2 grenades simultaneously as a single action. Your grenades deal an additional +2 Hits (stacks with Grenadier). On a critical hit, affected targets cannot Evade until the start of your next turn; the barrage is too overwhelming to escape. The sky rains fire when you reach for your belt.
Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Extended Action (10 minutes preparation)
Requires: Tier 3, Demolition Survey
Frequency: Once per mission
Effect: Prepare a controlled demolition of an entire structure (Engineering - Demolitions vs Mission TL). Place charges at 3+ structural weak points (identified via Demolition Survey). When detonated, the building comes down in a controlled pattern you designate. Everything inside takes 4 Hits per round for 3 rounds as the structure fails progressively. Everything outside takes none.
Cost: 10 AP Activation: 2 Actions Requires: Tier 3 Frequency: Once per mission Effect: Deploy a saturation pattern of charges across a 20m radius area. All targets inside take 3 Hits. The area becomes impassable hazardous terrain for 24 hours; fire, toxic fumes, unstable debris, secondary detonations. Nothing survives. Nothing grows back. Nothing left but the glass garden.
Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 3, Compressor Mk II
Effect: Your Scrap Compressor is rebuilt with military-grade compression technology and nano-sorting filters. Your Scrap Pool capacity triples to 6 Scrap per Rank. The Compressor can also break down Industrial and Military-tier salvage; you can store all material tiers in a single unit.
Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 3, Ordnance Expertise
Effect: Identify any explosive device, its yield, trigger mechanism, manufacturer, secondary payloads, fail-safes, and intended purpose, at a glance without a check. You can also instantly determine the safest disarm method. Gain Boon(3) when disarming, modifying, or repurposing any ordnance. You speak the language of things that explode, fluently.
Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Extended Action (1 hour preparation)
Requires: Tier 3, GM approval, Military-tier materials
Frequency: Once per campaign
Effect: Prepare and deploy a demolition package capable of destroying an entire facility or small settlement (Engineering - Demolitions vs Mission TL). Requires extensive preparation, Workshop access, and Military-tier materials. The blast is catastrophic, total, and irreversible. This is the ability that makes corporate boards nervous about Breachers. Use responsibly. (You won't.)
"The symmetry of that blast pattern was exquisite."
— Click, NERD