Sci-Ops

SysOps Science Gadgets

"I sampled it. I catalogued it. And then I built something specifically designed to ruin its day."

Sci-Ops specialists are the galaxy's most dangerous scientists; combat researchers who extract biological samples with needle weapons, catalogue everything worth knowing, and build an arsenal of exotic gadgets from what they learn. They don't tell the squad where to shoot. They shoot things themselves, with weapons built from research data and a complete absence of ethical oversight.

Role Overview

Sci-Ops excel at:

• Sampling & cataloguing; extracting and analysing biological, technological, and anomalous subjects
• Gadget deployment; chemical weapons, portal guns, gravity manipulators, and things the ethics committee doesn't know about
• Exotic weapon combat; turning research into lethal precision against catalogued targets
• Self-augmentation; installing equipment directly into their own body

They are the squad's combat scientist; the most dangerous person in the room when the mission gets weird.

Roleplaying a Sci-Ops

Sci-Ops specialists see the galaxy as an endless collection opportunity. Every creature is a sample, every artifact is a research subject, and every anomaly is a gadget waiting to happen. The best ones balance scientific enthusiasm with the awareness that everything they study could kill them; and that everything they build from that research could kill everyone else.

Consider:

• What's the most dangerous thing in your arsenal right now?
• How much of your original body is left?
• What did you build when you realised the ethics committee wasn't watching?
• Is there a creature in your database that still scares you?
• Do you see the galaxy as a laboratory, a museum, or an armoury?

Core Skills

Sci-Ops Slang

War Story: Marrow's Field Notes

Research logs:, ICU Field Team Kappa, Sci-Ops designation "Marrow", Kovak Station Sublevels, Sector 12-Deep

The first one came through the wall.

Not through the door. Not through the vent. Through the wall; four centimetres of industrial plating peeled back like wet paper, and something with too many limbs and not enough face pushed through the gap.

Torres opened fire. Centre mass, full auto, the response you learn in basic and never quite unlearn. The creature took eleven rounds and didn't change its mind about anything. It moved like smoke with claws; too fast, too fluid, wrong in a way that made the eyes itch trying to track it.

Torres went down before anyone reloaded.

Marrow didn't shoot. Marrow was already moving forward.

The needle rod went in just below what might have been a shoulder joint, a fast lunge, clinical, the kind of strike you learn in a sterile lab and practise on things that don't hit back. The rod's extraction chamber filled with something that wasn't quite blood. Too thick. Too dark. The creature shrieked, a sound like tearing metal, and swung. Marrow ducked, pulled the rod free, and backed up with a sample vial already warm in their hand.

"Fall back to the junction. I need sixty seconds."

The squad didn't argue. When the Sci-Ops says sixty seconds, you give them sixty seconds. Not because it's tactical. Because they said it with the calm certainty of someone who'd already solved the problem and was simply waiting for their hands to catch up.

Forty-one seconds. The medi-scanner hummed. The sample resolved; cellular structure, metabolic pathways, chemical composition. Field data was always messy. But the patterns were there if you knew how to read them, and Marrow always knew how to read them.

Bioluminescent nervous system. Centralised along the dorsal ridge. Chemical signalling; not electrical.

"It's chemical," Marrow murmured. The smile had nothing to do with happiness. "The whole nervous system runs on chemistry."

Database entry created. Xenobiology. Data Quality 3.

The second one came through the floor.

Same species; the database confirmed it before Marrow's eyes did. And the difference was immediate. Every movement the creature made was suddenly a sentence in a language Marrow could read. The way it led with the left limb cluster. The way the dorsal ridge pulsed before it struck. The way it flinched when Marrow's scanner swept past its sensory organs.

Before the sample, they were fighting blind. After the sample, the creature was a diagram with legs.

"Harris, draw it left. Kowalski, the glowing ridge on its back. Put rounds through it."

Harris drew it left. It turned. Kowalski put three rounds into the dorsal ridge and the creature dropped; not dead, but scrambled: its chemical signals misfiring, limbs twitching out of sync.

Marrow loaded the sprayer. One Compound. Nerve agent. Because when your target's nervous system runs on chemistry, you don't fight it with bullets. You fight it with better chemistry.

The cone hit the creature at close range. The compound interacted with the exposed nerve cluster the way a match interacts with fuel. The creature seized, went rigid, and stopped.

Marrow knelt beside the body before Kowalski had finished lowering his rifle. The needle rod went into the dorsal ridge; deep pull, three vials. Then the hands moved. Careful cuts. Specific locations. Compound-rich organs, chemical glands, biological munitions packed into something the size of a fist.

Four Compounds extracted. Tier 2 creature. The Research Kit's inventory ticked up.

"You're harvesting it?" Kowalski sounded like he wanted to be sick.

"I'm restocking." Marrow sealed the kit. "There's more coming. I need ammunition."

The second diagnosis pushed the database entry to Quality 5. Marrow could read these things now the way a mechanic reads an engine; every motion predictable, every vulnerability indexed.

Then the big one arrived.

It came through the hole the second creature had made, and it filled the corridor in a way that suggested the corridor had been built to the wrong specifications. Bigger. Thicker plating along the dorsal ridge. The chemical nervous system pulsed brighter, faster; a queen variant, or something close enough that the taxonomic distinction wasn't going to save anyone.

The squad opened fire. The rounds hit, cratered against its plating, and accomplished nothing useful. Kowalski went down. Harris went down.

Marrow stood in a corridor with a needle rod, a Research Kit, and Q5 Data on a species that had just killed most of their squad.

Q5, that's a lot of juice for an intelligent weapon.

Marrow plugged the data cable into the needle gun. One Action. The AI infused weapon interface accepted the download; Q5 Data, burned. Gone. Months of research converted from knowledge into killing power. The database entry dropped to zero. Everything Marrow had learned about this species was now loaded into a single weapon for a single shot.

The needle gun's targeting display stopped showing a creature and started showing an anatomy lesson. Every weakness highlighted. Every structural failure point marked. Every place where the biology said here; if you're going to do it, do it here.

The Research Kit whirred. Three Compounds fed into the needle gun's chamber and the intelligent weapon did what intelligent weapons do, it read the data, cross-referenced the creature's molecular structure, and built something custom. The needle's payload rewrote itself in real time. A molecular disruptor keyed to the queen's specific DNA helix, designed to unravel the protein chains holding its nervous system together at the cellular level. Wrapped around that, a chemical accelerant tuned to the creature's own signalling compounds. Not a poison. A stimulant. Five double-shot ristrettos on a Monday morning, delivered directly into a nervous system that ran on chemistry.

Every chemical signal in the queen's body would fire at once. Every nerve cluster would scream at maximum output simultaneously. And then the molecular disruptor would dissolve the infrastructure carrying those signals, like pulling the wiring out of a building that was already on fire.

Marrow fired.

The needle hit the junction where the chemical nervous system converged; a point that hadn't existed in Marrow's knowledge ten minutes ago, that existed now only because two of Marrow's squad were dead and the rest were bleeding out.

The queen's dorsal ridge flared white. Every bioluminescent node along its spine lit up at once; a full-body cascade as the stimulant hit and every chemical pathway fired simultaneously. For half a second it was the brightest thing in the corridor. Then the molecular disruptor reached the nerve cluster and the protein chains started unravelling. The light didn't fade. It simply exited the body, along with most of the major organs.

It stopped.

The corridor went quiet.

Marrow knelt beside the body. Pulled the needle rod. Took samples. Started the extraction; Compounds from the chemical glands, tissue from the nerve cluster, fluid from the dorsal ridge. Tier 3 creature. Six Compounds recovered. The Research Kit was fuller than when the mission started.

The scanner hummed. New sample. New data. The database entry for the queen variant began building from zero, because the old data was inside a corpse now and new data was already in the vial.

Marrow keyed comms. "ICU Kappa, this is Marrow. Torres is KIA. Kowalski and Harris need evac. I need a containment team and a full lab."

A pause. "What did you find down there?"

Marrow looked at the dead queen and the six vials in his hand.

"Research."

Suggested Synergies

Best Legacies: Scientist, Engineer, Researcher
Best Origins: Human, Cyborg, Android, Om
Best Organizations: NERD, XERO, ICU
Recommended Skills: Intel - Aliens, Intel - Artifacts, Systems - Sensors, Medic - Cybernetics, Medic - Diagnosis
Suggested Skills: Electronics - Programming, Intel - Survival

Title Progression

Starting Equipment

New Sci-Ops operatives begin with the following standard-issue gear:

Combat Telemetry

Sci-Ops don't just shoot; they scan first. Vulnerability Scan marks weak points on the target, feeding accuracy data to your HUD in real time. The gun does what the scanner tells it to.

Combat Samples: Every creature in your Collection database is a weapon waiting to happen. Each successful diagnosis of a target type adds a Combat Sample stack (+5% accuracy against that creature type, cap +25%). Stacks persist as long as the database entry exists; a Sci-Ops who has sampled and diagnosed a species five times knows exactly where every vital organ sits. Sampling methods (Needle Rod, Needle Gun, Research Scanner) and diagnosis quality determine how fast you build stacks. See The Collection for sampling and diagnosis rules.

Sci-Ops Core Mechanic

The Sci-Ops core mechanic is split into two interlocking systems: The Collection (a persistent research database built through field sampling and analysis) and The Arsenal (an array of exotic gadgets and weapons fuelled by research data and chemical compounds). Together they establish the Sci-Ops as the squad's combat scientist, field researcher, and walking arsenal of things the ethics committee would rather not know about.

System 1; The Collection

"Every species has a pattern. Every pattern has a flaw. Every flaw has a bullet with its name on it."

The Sci-Ops builds a persistent research database through "field sampling" and analysis. The database grows across missions; early entries are limited, but a veteran Sci-Ops is a walking encyclopaedia of destruction.

Step 1; Collection (Sampling)

The Sci-Ops uses specialised tools to collect raw data from research subjects:

• Needle Rod / Needle Gun: Physical samples collected as part of a melee attack (Rod) or ranged shot (Gun). Hit the target, get the sample.
• Research Scanner: Requires the Research Scanner ability (Ability Tree, T1). 2 Actions. Roll Systems - Sensors vs Mission TL. Scans a subject at range without physical contact; no needle, no sample, no getting close. Safer but produces less detailed data (no bonus to the diagnosis roll). Without the ability, the scanner is used only to analyse physical samples already collected via needle.

Raw samples and scan data do not become database entries until diagnosed.

Step 2; Diagnosis

Collected samples must be analysed before they become database entries. Diagnosis converts raw data into actionable intelligence.

Diagnosis roll: Systems - Sensors vs Mission TL. The sampling method's bonus (Boon(2) for Needle Rod, Boon(1) for Needle Gun, no bonus for Research Scanner) applies to the diagnosis roll.

Data Quality: A successful diagnosis adds Data Quality to the entry. Base success (meet Mission TL) = +1 Data Quality, plus +1 per 5 points exceeding Mission TL. On a Critical, gain an additional +1 Quality. Data Quality stacks across multiple diagnoses of the same subject; each successful diagnosis adds to the entry's total.

An entry's total Data Quality determines the number of stacking Boons to all rolls involving that catalogued subject. Data Quality 3 = Boon(3) to attacks, defence, and skill checks against that subject.

Diagnosis requires downtime:

• Lockdown: 1 hour per sample. Standard analysis with full equipment.
• Sit Rep: Requires the Field Diagnosis ability (Collection Sub-Tree). Rapid analysis under field conditions.
• R&R: Unlimited samples with Full lab access.

The Database

The database persists across missions; once catalogued, always catalogued. This is the Sci-Ops's long-game progression.

Categories:

• Xenobiology; creatures, alien biology, biological patterns (requires Database: Xenobiology ability)
• Technology; devices, artifacts, engineering principles (requires Database: Technology ability)
• Chemistry; compounds, toxins, chemical reactions (requires Database: Chemistry ability)
• Anomalies; gravity anomalies, dimensional effects, exotic energy (requires Database: Anomalies ability)

Passive bonus: Boon equal to the entry's Data Quality to all rolls involving that catalogued subject; attacks, defence, skill checks. Quality builds over time through repeated research. A single diagnosis might grant Boon(1). Months of study could build to Boon(5) or higher.

The Sci-Ops Research Scanner is for cataloguing known subjects at range, not finding hidden ones.

Data Download

The Sci-Ops's weapon features an intelligent weapon interface that accepts direct data input from the research database. Connect via data linkage cable to download a catalogued creature's profile into the targeting system.

Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Data linkage cable
Effect: Choose a catalogued creature entry and your weapon. Reduce the entry's Data Quality by any amount. For every 4 points of Data Quality reduced, the weapon gains +1 Hit to damage against that creature type on the next attack, if it hits. The quality reduction is permanent; data is consumed, converted from knowledge into killing power. Don't miss.

By default, Data Download only works on the Sci-Ops's own weapon (intelligent weapon interface). The Networked Download ability (T1) extends this to external weapons and AI-equipped operatives. The ratio can be improved through Optimised Download (T2, 3:1) and Perfected Download (T3, 2:1).

The trade-off is real. Burning quality for a devastating shot means lower Boons on future rolls against that creature. Rebuild the quality through further diagnosis, or accept the reduced data and move on.

It's at the GM's discretion if the data collected would affect similar or subspecies of creature.

System 2; The Arsenal

"The Research Kit has a chemistry set, a compound loader, and enough volatile material to level a city block. It's perfectly safe. Probably."

The Sci-Ops deploys an arsenal of exotic gadgets and weapons, fuelled by research and chemical compounds.

Gadget types:

• Chemical gadgets (Sprayer, Adhesive, Cryo, Volatile) use Compounds; consumable chemicals synthesised or scavenged in the field.
• Tech gadgets (Portal Gun, Grav Manipulator, Phase Shield) use E-Cells; the standard power system.
• Exotic Weapon Mastery; dedicated abilities that grant Boons and bonus damage with exotic weapons, especially against catalogued creatures.
• Cybernetic Integration; equipment installed directly into the Sci-Ops's body. Built-in toolkit, scanner, AI module, weapon mount. The Sci-Ops is the lab.

Compounds

Size: Tiny (4 per Small slot)

Research Kit Capacity: 3 × Rank

Without the Research Kit equipped: Compounds are Tiny items (4 fit in 1 Small slot). Carry limit = whatever slots you have.

Restocking:

• R&R: Full restock to capacity (standard resupply)
• Extraction: When you kill or incapacitate a creature you have a database entry for, recover Compounds equal to the creature's Tier. You know exactly what's inside it and where to cut.
• Field Scavenging: Search on labs, pharmacies, alien specimens, or chemical stores → Roll against Mission TL to attempt to recover 1d4 Compounds. Cannot exceed carry capacity.

Collection Sub-Tree

The Collection Sub-Tree is a separate ability section from the main Ability Tree. All abilities cost AP from the same pool. Collection abilities determine what you can sample, catalogue, and research; the main Ability Tree covers the Sci-Ops's gadgets, exotic weapon mastery, and utility skills.

Tier 1 (Ranks 1-3)

Sampling Protocols

Cost: Free; Basic Training
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: You establish sampling protocols and a research database. Enables physical sampling with needle weapons (Needle Rod and Needle Gun). Physical samples must be diagnosed before they become database entries (see Diagnosis). Live creature sample via Needle Rod grants Boon(2) to the diagnosis roll. Dead/incapacitated creature sample via Needle Gun grants Boon(1).
Stick the needle in. Pull the data out. Science.

Database: Xenobiology

Cost: Free; Basic Training
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1, Sampling Protocols
Effect: Unlocks creature entries in your database. Diagnosed creature entries gain Data Quality (see Diagnosis). Boon equal to the entry's Data Quality applies to all rolls against that catalogued creature type; attacks, defence, skill checks. Without this ability, creature data is notes, not tactical advantage.
Knowing its name is trivia. Knowing its weakest organ is science.

Database: Technology

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1, Sampling Protocols
Effect: Unlocks tech/artifact entries in your database. Diagnosed tech entries gain Data Quality (see Diagnosis). Boon equal to the entry's Data Quality applies to all rolls involving that catalogued technology; operating, disabling, replicating, defending against. Every device you catalogue is a device you can exploit.
Someone built it. Someone can unbuild it. That someone is you.

Field Diagnosis

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1, Sampling Protocols
Effect: You can diagnose collected samples during a Sit Rep instead of requiring Lockdown. Roll Systems - Sensors vs Mission TL as normal. One sample per Sit Rep. Sampling bonuses (Boon(2) Needle Rod, Boon(1) Needle Gun) apply.
Other people take breaks. You take samples apart.

Tier 2 (Ranks 4-6)

Database: Chemistry

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Sampling Protocols
Effect: Unlocks chemical/toxin entries in your database. Diagnosed chemical entries gain Data Quality (see Diagnosis). Catalogued compounds can be synthesised as Compounds resource during Lockdown or R&R. Boon equal to the entry's Data Quality applies to resist catalogued toxins and chemical effects.
If you can name it, you can make it. If you can make it, you can weaponise it.

Database: Anomalies

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Sampling Protocols
Effect: Unlocks energy, gravity, and dimensional entries in your database. Diagnosed anomaly entries gain Data Quality (see Diagnosis). Catalogued anomalies can be partially replicated through gadgets. Boon equal to the entry's Data Quality applies to resist catalogued anomaly effects.
Reality has rules. Anomalies break them. You write the new ones.

Deep Research

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Sampling Protocols
Effect: Diagnosis rolls gain Boon(1). Successful diagnosis reveals additional details; hidden abilities, conditional defences, reproduction cycles, power sources. Your database entries go deeper than surface-level data.
The first scan tells you what it is. The second tells you what it's afraid of.

Cross-Reference

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, two or more Database abilities
Effect: When you have entries in 2+ database categories about the same subject, that subject's effective Data Quality gains +1 for cross-referencing. Stacks with the base category quality. Cross-referenced data reveals connections a single discipline would miss.
Biology meets chemistry meets physics. The creature doesn't know what hit it. Neither does it care; it's dead.

Tier 3 (Ranks 7-10)

Living Database

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 3, Sampling Protocols
Effect: Perfect recall of every entry across all missions. Intellect checks on past mission data without penalty. GM provides maximum detail on any subject you have previously studied. Your brain is the archive; everything else is backup.
Terabytes of indexed research, all of it between your ears.

Predictive Modeling

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 3, Living Database
Effect: Against catalogued creatures, predict their next action. For the next round, you know what each catalogued enemy will do before they act. Allies may reposition or set up ambushes based on your predictions.
The creature's a dataset. Datasets are predictable.

Master Catalogue

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 3, Living Database
Effect: All database categories fully integrated. Squad members with comms access gain Boon(1) vs any of your catalogued subjects; a passive data uplink that shares your research in real time. Your bonuses are still better (category + Cross-Reference where applicable), but your research becomes everyone's advantage.
You spent years building this database. Now the whole squad benefits. You're still the one who knows where to put the bullet.

Universal Translator

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Extended Action (1 hour)
Requires: Tier 3, Living Database
Effect: Analyse an unknown language from at least 30 minutes of text, audio, or direct conversation. After 1 hour of study, you can communicate in that language, translation is functional but imperfect. Nuance, idiom, and cultural subtext may be lost. Each language requires its own study period. Breaks longer than 1 Mission without exposure require re-acquisition (another 10 minutes of study). Your database cross-references and stores linguistic patterns across every species you've catalogued, the more data in the Collection, the faster the patterns resolve.
Grammar is a pattern. All patterns are solvable. This one just takes an hour and a strong cup of coffee.

Cybernetics Sub-Tree

The Cybernetics Sub-Tree is a separate ability section from the main Ability Tree. All abilities cost AP from the same pool. Cybernetics abilities determine what you can install into your own body; the Sci-Ops becomes the lab, the workshop, the armoury.

Boundary: Robonetic builds external machines. Sci-Ops installs equipment into themselves. The Sci-Ops body becomes the instrument.

All cybernetic installations require a Medic-Cybernetics skill check (self-install, or have someone with the skill do it). Installation during R&R only.

Tier 1 (Ranks 1-3)

Cybernetic Integration: Toolkit

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Install one toolkit into your body as a cybernetic implant. The toolkit no longer occupies an inventory slot. Functions at its current Mark. Can be purchased multiple times for different toolkits (Hacking, Programming, Cybernetics, Repair, etc.).
The toolkit is inside you now. Technically, you are the toolkit.

Cybernetic Integration: Scanner

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Install your Research Scanner as a built-in implant. Hands-free operation; no longer occupies a slot. Gain Boon(1) to diagnosis rolls made with the integrated scanner (calibrated to your neural patterns).
Your eyes are the scanner now. Blink twice to catalogue.

Cybernetic Integration: AI Module

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Install a neural interface with one AI Assistant module. Interface Mark = your Tier. Gain an Extra Action each round to instruct the AI. Can be upgraded by purchasing higher Mark interfaces during R&R.
It whispers data. You whisper instructions. Nobody else hears the conversation.

Tier 2 (Ranks 4-6)

Cybernetic Limb Replacement

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2
Effect: Replace a limb (arm, leg, hand) with a cybernetic prosthetic. The replacement functions identically to the original, plus you can integrate one Small item into the limb; a built-in weapon, toolkit, grapple, or similar. Can be purchased multiple times for different limbs.
The original worked fine. The replacement works better.

Neural Overclock

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Cybernetic Integration: AI Module
Effect: Your integrated AI module operates at +1 Mark above your Tier (max Mark V). Gain an additional AI Assistant module slot. Processing speed increase: Boon(1) to Electronics-Programming checks.
The AI thinks faster. You think faster. The line between you and it gets thinner.

Integrated Weapon Mount

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Cybernetic Limb Replacement
Effect: Install an exotic weapon (Small size) into a cybernetic limb or body cavity. Concealed; passes casual inspection. Quick-draw as Extra Action. Cannot be disarmed. Ideal for needle gun, chemical sprayer, or electro pistol.
There's a gun in your arm. Nobody needs to know until it matters.

Tier 3 (Ranks 7-10)

Full Body Integration

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 3, Cybernetic Integration: Toolkit
Effect: Install up to 3 additional toolkits/devices as cybernetic implants (beyond T1 purchases). Your body is the lab. No penalty for operating multiple integrated systems simultaneously.
You've replaced enough of yourself that the word "equipment" has become autobiographical.

Cybernetic Hardening

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 3
Effect: All cybernetic implants gain +10 to hack Target Number (from equipment hardening rules). Integrated systems cannot be glitched by EMP or electronic warfare. You are your own Faraday cage.
They tried to hack your arm. Your arm disagreed.

Prototype Augmentation

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 3, Full Body Integration
Effect: Design and install a custom cybernetic augmentation from your database research. Effect based on deepest database category; Xenobiology = biological enhancement (regeneration, toxin immunity), Technology = tech enhancement (personal shield, enhanced sensors), Chemistry = compound gland (produce 1 Compound per encounter internally), Anomalies = exotic enhancement (phase ability, gravity manipulation). One custom augmentation active at a time. Swap during R&R.
Your thesis project. It has a pulse. Sometimes it's yours.

Ability Tree

All Sci-Ops abilities are purchased with Ability Points (AP) during R&R.

Tier 1 (Ranks 1-3)

Chemical Sprayer

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Loading 1 Action, 1 Compound, Fireing 1 Action,
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Short-range cone (5m). Roll an Attack vs the Creature's TL. Delivers loaded compound; acid (damage), cryo (Slowed), nerve agent (Hindered), or incendiary (DOT). Compound type chosen when loading (1 Action).
Point the nozzle away from yourself. This is not optional advice.

Adhesive Compound

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: 1 Action, 1 Compound
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Ranged grenade (15m). Roll an Attack vs the Creature's TL. Target area becomes difficult terrain. Creatures caught = Restrained (Athletics vs Mission TL to break free).
Industrial adhesive delivered at velocity. The target isn't going anywhere.

Cryo Capsule

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: 1 Action, 1 Compound
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Ranged grenade (15m). Roll an Attack vs the Creature's TL. Targets: Slowed + Hindered(1). Objects become brittle (-2 Hardness).
Absolute zero is theoretical. This is close enough.

Exotic Weapon Proficiency

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Gain Boon(1) to attack rolls with all exotic weapons. You don't just know how to fire them; you understand the engineering.
The manual is optional. You wrote a better one.

Database Targeting

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1, Database: Xenobiology or Database: Technology
Effect: When attacking a catalogued creature with an exotic weapon, deal +1 Hit. Your research tells you exactly where to put the round.
Aim for the third ventral segment. Trust the data.

Research Scanner

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: 2 Actions
Requires: Tier 1, Sampling Protocols
Effect: Enables ranged scanning, collect data on a creature, device, or anomaly within LOS without physical contact. No needle, no melee, no sample required. Roll Systems - Sensors vs Mission TL to collect scan data. The data must be diagnosed before it becomes a database entry (see Diagnosis). No sample bonus to the diagnosis roll, the scanner reads surface data at range, not the deep biology a needle pull provides. Without this ability, the Research Scanner equipment is used only to analyse physical samples already collected via needle weapons.
Scanning from cover. The coward's approach to xenobiology; also the smart one.

Field Chemist

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Synthesise Compounds from raw materials found in the field (labs, pharmacies, alien specimens, chemical stores). Takes 1 Hour, Roll relevant skill vs Mission TL during Lockdown. Success gain 1d4 compounds.
Anything's a reagent if you're creative enough.

Experimental Protocol

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: When attempting untested solutions, jury-rigging alien tech, improvising compounds, applying theoretical countermeasures, failed attempts produce partial results instead of total failure. No dangerous side effects on a near-miss.
Hypothesis, test, revise. Even when the lab is on fire.

Networked Download

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: 2 Actions (external) / 1 Action (self)
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Download creature data from your database into any weapon or operative equipped with an AI implant; Androids, Cyborgs, Robonetic droids with AI upgrades, or any operative with a cybernetic AI module. Requires a data linkage cable (physical connection). External download takes 2 Actions. Self-download remains 1 Action. The recipient's weapon gains the Data Download bonus for their next attack against the target creature type.
Your research. Their trigger finger. Everybody wins except the target.

Portal Gun

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: 1 Action, 10 E-Cell
Requires: Tier 1
Effect: Exotic weapon. Two-handed. Fires a spatial displacement charge at a solid surface within LOS. Creates a Small hole through the surface, large enough to shoot through, pass grenades, vials, or other small objects. One surface, one hole, one trigger. No paired portals, no exit point, just a breach. Hold the trigger to sustain the hole (10 E-Cell per round). Release the trigger and the hole closes at end of round. Creatures caught in a closing portal are fragmented, spatial displacement bisects whatever doesn't fit. Generally fatal. Proves the theory that you can exist in two places at once.
The physics shouldn't work. The physics doesn't care what you think.

Portal Range: Short

Cost: 2 AP
Activation: Passive (upgrade)
Requires: Tier 1, Portal Gun
Effect: Unlocks paired portals and adds a second trigger. First shot opens entry portal, second shot opens exit portal on a different surface. Both within short range (20m between portals). Each portal sustained independently; hold both triggers to keep both open (E-Cell cost per portal per round). Release one trigger and that portal starts closing while the other stays open. Squad can move through. Enemies can too.
Two holes. One shortcut. Mind the step.

Vulnerability Scan I

Cost: 3 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 1
Frequency: Once per encounter per target
Effect: Scan one target within line of sight. For the rest of the encounter, you gain +5% accuracy against that scanned target. You may have 1 scan active at a time. Scanning a new target when at your limit replaces the oldest scan.
Data is ammunition. Load up before you fire.

Tier 2 (Ranks 4-6)

Portal Size: Medium

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive (upgrade)
Requires: Tier 2, Portal Gun
Effect: Holes/portals expand to Medium; large enough to crawl through. Operatives can pass prone or crouched. Equipment bags, weapon cases, medium objects fit. Still too small to walk through upright. E-Cell cost increases to 15 per opening + 15 per round sustained. When closing, shrinks Medium → Small → Gone (2 rounds).
Technically it's a tactical crawlspace. Technically you're trespassing.

Portal Size: Large

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive (upgrade)
Requires: Tier 2, Portal Size: Medium
Effect: Holes/portals expand to Large; medium creatures walk through upright, large creatures can squeeze through, large objects pass freely. E-Cell cost increases to 20 per opening + 20 per round sustained. When closing, shrinks Large → Medium → Small → Gone (3 rounds).
Doors are for buildings that expected you.

Portal Range: Medium

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive (upgrade)
Requires: Tier 2, Portal Range: Short
Effect: Paired portal range extends to medium (50m between portals).
The gap between here and there just became a suggestion.

Gravity Manipulator

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 2, Database: Anomalies
Effect: Ranged (10m). Roll an Attack vs the Creature's TL, creates localised gravity anomaly in a small area. Choose: Heavy (targets Prone + Slowed) or Light (targets float; can't melee, Bane(1) to ranged). Lasts 1 round per Tier. 10 E-Cell per use.
Gravity is a suggestion only.

Volatile Compound

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: 1 Action, 2 Compounds
Requires: Tier 2, Database: Chemistry
Effect: Advanced chemical grenade (15m). Roll an Attack vs the Creature's TL. Effect depends on loaded compound type; corrosive cloud (DOT + DR reduction), hallucinogenic fog (Confused + Shaken), metal solvent (destroys equipment/cover, ignores Hardness).
The chemistry is elegant. The results are not.

Xenomorphic Rounds

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: 1 Action, 1 Compound (load)
Requires: Tier 2
Effect: Load adapted ammunition into any weapon. Rounds deal the damage type the target is most vulnerable to (requires database entry on the target). Lasts 1 encounter. Your research literally becomes bullets.
Custom-built ammunition for a custom-built problem.

Phase Shield

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Extra Action
Requires: Tier 2
Effect: Personal shield. Gain DR equal to your Tier against one damage type (chosen on activation, must be a type catalogued in your database). Lasts until end of encounter or until shield absorbs HITS equal to 5 × Tier. 10 E-Cell per activation.
It knows what to block because you know what kills.

Exotic Weapon Mastery

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Exotic Weapon Proficiency
Effect: Boon(1) to attack with exotics increases to Boon(2). You've moved past proficiency into artistry.
You don't use exotic weapons. You perform with them.

Database Exploitation

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Database Targeting
Effect: When attacking a catalogued creature with an exotic weapon, bonus damage increases to +2 Hits (replaces Database Targeting). On a Critical, apply one catalogued weakness as a condition (GM determines appropriate effect based on database entry).
Two extra holes in exactly the right places.

Adaptive Munitions

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Database Targeting
Effect: Your exotic weapon attacks against catalogued creatures ignore 1 point of DR. Your rounds are designed for the target's biology, not generic ordnance.
Standard rounds bounce off. Yours don't.

Silver Lining

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Extra Action
Requires: Tier 2
Frequency: Once per encounter
Effect: Automatically succeed on any single analysis, diagnosis, or identification skill check. No roll required; you simply know the answer.
Sometimes the data just clicks.

Field Research

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Extended Action (1 minute)
Requires: Tier 2
Effect: Thoroughly analyse a piece of technology, alien artifact, or unusual phenomenon. Learn its function, how to activate it, and any dangers. Gain one use of the item or ability even if you would not normally have access.
One minute with anything and you know how it works. Two minutes and you know how to break it.

Adaptive Analysis

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2
Effect: Perform research and analysis without proper equipment using improvised tools. Checks without equipment suffer Bane(1) instead of being impossible.
A real scientist doesn't need a lab. A real scientist needs eyes.

Optimised Download

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Networked Download
Effect: Improved data compression and targeting algorithms. Data Download ratio improves; every 3 points of Data Quality reduced grants +1 Hit to damage (replaces the base 4:1 ratio). Applies to all Data Downloads (self and external).
Same data. Better compression. More damage per byte.

Remote Download

Cost: 6 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 2, Networked Download
Effect: Download creature data wirelessly over comms instead of requiring a physical data linkage cable. Both sender and receiver must have a functioning comms unit. Range = comms range. Action cost unchanged.
No cable. No contact. Just data at the speed of light and a very bad day for the target.

Vulnerability Scan II

Cost: 3 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 2, Vulnerability Scan I
Frequency: Once per encounter per target
Effect: Your scanning capability improves. You may now have 2 scans active simultaneously, each granting +5% accuracy against its target.
Two targets mapped. Two targets regretting their life choices.

Tier 3 (Ranks 7-10)

Portal Size: Huge

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive (upgrade)
Requires: Tier 3, Portal Size: Large
Effect: Holes/portals expand to Huge; large creatures can squeeze through. Vehicles, cargo, heavy equipment. The upper limit of portable spatial displacement. E-Cell cost increases to 25 per opening + 25 per round sustained. When closing, shrinks Huge → Large → Medium → Small → Gone (4 rounds of closing, 4 rounds of fragmentation threat).
At this size it stops being a gadget and starts being infrastructure.

Portal Range: Long

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive (upgrade)
Requires: Tier 3, Portal Range: Medium
Effect: Paired portal range extends to long (100m + 10m per Tier between portals). LOS required for placement.
You stopped walking between rooms three upgrades ago.

Portal Network

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive (upgrade)
Requires: Tier 3, Portal Range: Short
Effect: Adds a third trigger. Three portals active simultaneously. Each sustained independently. The E-Cell cost is per portal per round; three open portals at Huge costs 75 E-Cell per round.
Two portals is logistics. Three portals is an ambush.

Singularity Grenade

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 3, Database: Anomalies
Frequency: Once per mission
Effect: Localised gravity collapse. Roll an Attack vs the Creature's TL. All creatures and objects in a large area pulled toward centre. Massive damage (6 Hits, ignores DR). Destroys cover. 30 E-Cells per use. The kind of thing ethics committees exist to prevent.
Charge then toss, A black hole in a can. You built this. You should probably think about that.

Flux Field Generator

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 3, Database: Anomalies
Effect: Deploy a portable field generator, area effect (15m radius). Choose mode: Suppress = electromagnetic dead zone, disables shields, jams comms, and prevents energy weapon fire within range. Disrupt = cascading interference, all enemies in range suffer Bane(1) to all rolls as targeting systems glitch and nervous systems misfire. Lasts 1 round per Tier. 20 E-Cells.
You studied how the universe breaks. Then you built a machine that does it on purpose.

Apex Predator Extract

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: 1 Action, 3 Compounds
Requires: Tier 3, Database: Xenobiology with 5+ creature entries
Frequency: Once per encounter
Effect: Aerosolised pheromone from your Xenobiology database. Roll an Attack vs the Creature's TL. All alien creatures in a cone = Shaken(3) and must flee for 1 round. Doesn't work on anything that's an apex predator itself.
Concentrated fear. Bottled, aerosolised, and delivered at range.

Prototype Weapon

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 3
Effect: Build a custom exotic weapon from your accumulated research during R&R. Properties based on your deepest database categories. Unique weapon; damage type, range, and special effects determined by database content. This is your thesis project, and it has a trigger.
Every scientist dreams of a breakthrough. Yours has a muzzle velocity.

Exotic Weapon Supremacy

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 3, Exotic Weapon Mastery
Effect: All exotic weapons in your hands gain +1 Hit baseline damage. You've reverse-engineered the engineering and improved it.
You hold it differently. It fires differently. Better.

Database Annihilation

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 3, Database Exploitation, Adaptive Munitions
Effect: When attacking a catalogued creature with an exotic weapon, bonus damage increases to +3 Hits (replaces Database Exploitation). DR bypass increases to 2 (replaces Adaptive Munitions). You don't just know the creature; you know exactly how to unmake it.
The database says it has seventeen structural weaknesses. You only need one.

Technological Mastery

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 3, Database: Technology
Frequency: Once per mission
Effect: Rapidly analyse and operate an unfamiliar piece of technology. Roll Systems - Sensors with Boon(2) vs Mission TL. On success, you understand the device's function, how to activate it, and any dangers; and can operate it on the same turn. On failure, you gain partial understanding (function and dangers, but cannot operate it without further study). Catalogued technology (existing database entry) is automatically understood without a roll.
Cross-reference, extrapolate, activate. Your database does the thinking. Your hands do the rest.

Eureka Moment

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Extra Action
Requires: Tier 3
Frequency: Once per mission
Effect: Flash of insight. Automatically succeed on any Intellect check, understand any technology, identify the critical weakness of any enemy. The GM provides the most useful possible information.
The universe just told you its secrets. Try not to scream.

Perfected Download

Cost: 10 AP
Activation: Passive
Requires: Tier 3, Optimised Download
Effect: Mastered data compression and predictive targeting. Data Download ratio improves; every 2 points of Data Quality reduced grants +1 Hit to damage (replaces the 3:1 ratio). Applies to all Data Downloads (self and external).
Two points of quality. One hit of damage. The equation is elegant. The result is lethal.

Vulnerability Scan III

Cost: 3 AP
Activation: 1 Action
Requires: Tier 3, Vulnerability Scan II
Frequency: Once per encounter per target
Effect: Your scanning capability reaches full potential. You may now have 3 scans active simultaneously, each granting +5% accuracy against its target. Maximum total bonus: +15% (This can stack on the same target).
The battlefield is a spreadsheet. Every cell is filled in.

"The universe is trying to kill you. It's been trying since before you were born. The only thing between you and the void is a datapad, applied science and someone willing to stab it with a needle."

— Marrow, NERD