Espionage - Search skill is a valuable asset in the world of cybercore. It allows you to gather information by seeking out specific knowledge and facts from different sources. This skill is not just limited to conventional searches and spotting things that are out of place or missing, but can also be used to search for answers in less obvious places like databases, and archives.
With this skill, you can investigate everything from personnel files to data archives and from electronic networks to physical environments. It gives you the ability to identify potential targets and access information needed to develop effective plans of action. You are skilled in quickly finding hidden information or concealed items, picking up on small details and discrepancies that others might miss, and piecing together information from multiple sources to reveal the bigger picture.
Espionage - Search skill can be used for a wide range of applications, from gathering intelligence on a target, to researching new technologies or even tracking down rogue agents. It is a crucial tool in any spy's arsenal, and with the right techniques, you can uncover secrets that others would never even think to look for.
Each search attempt will have a difficulty rating based on how well hidden the information or object is, how much time you have, and the complexity of the search area. The more concealed or obscure the target, the higher the difficulty.
When you attempt to search for hidden objects, gather information, research topics, or investigate scenes, you will make an Espionage - Search skill check against the task's difficulty rating. The GM may apply Boons or Banes based on various factors, such as available time, quality of information sources, environmental conditions, or your familiarity with the subject.
Rather than spending skill points to move up skill levels, You may instead spend skill points to purchase any of the following tricks.
Cost: 2 Skill points
Requires: Tactical Training
Frequency: Once per Lockdown
Effect: You have learned that rewards come with patience and efficiency. You can take 10 on a Search check while spending only one minute searching an area. This allows you to conduct a reliable, methodical search in minimal time.
Cost: 2 Skill points
Requires: Tactical Training
Frequency: Once per Lockdown
Effect: You carry a portable electronic scanner that can detect electronic devices in the area. When activated, it reveals all active electronics within 50 feet - cameras, bugs, phones, computers, hidden devices. This allows you to identify potential threats, targets, or surveillance equipment.
Cost: 2 Skill points
Requires: Tactical Training
Frequency: Once per Lockdown
Effect: You are skilled at analyzing digital data to find patterns and evidence that others might have missed. When examining computer systems, databases, or electronic records, you gain a +1d6 Boon to uncover hidden files, deleted data, access logs, or digital fingerprints.
Cost: 6 Skill points
Requires: Expert Training
Frequency: Once per Op
Effect: Searching is best done systematically and exhaustively. You can take 20 on a Search check while spending only ten minutes searching an area. This represents an absolutely thorough investigation that will find anything findable, given enough time.
Cost: 6 Skill points
Requires: Expert Training
Frequency: Once per Op
Effect: You have exceptional ability to spot patterns and connections in seemingly unrelated information. When researching or investigating, you can piece together information from multiple disparate sources to reveal the bigger picture. This grants a +1d8 Boon when connecting dots that others miss.
Cost: 6 Skill points
Requires: Expert Training
Frequency: Once per Op
Effect: You have the ability to rapidly set up a network of hidden cameras and microphones to surveil an area without being detected. Spend 30 minutes installing - you can monitor the location remotely, reviewing footage to gather intelligence. The surveillance system is extremely difficult to detect (opposed checks at Disadvantage).
Cost: 10 Skill points
Requires: Master Training
Frequency: Once per Mission
Effect: Your ability to gather and synthesize information borders on the supernatural. For one investigation, you can automatically piece together comprehensive intelligence from even fragmentary clues. Given access to any information source (databases, crime scenes, witnesses), you can reconstruct entire events, identify all key players, and predict future actions with uncanny accuracy.
Cost: 10 Skill points
Requires: Master Training
Frequency: Once per Mission
Effect: You have access to or carry an advanced sensor suite that includes infrared vision, X-ray scanning, audio enhancement, chemical detection, and electromagnetic scanning. For one operation, you can use this complete sensor array to detect anything - hidden compartments, concealed enemies, toxins, electronic devices, or life signs through walls. Nothing in the area remains hidden from you.
Cost: 10 Skill points
Requires: Master Training
Frequency: Once per Mission
Effect: You can examine any scene - crime scene, battlefield, abandoned location - and reconstruct exactly what happened. By analyzing physical evidence, environmental clues, and subtle details, you can determine: who was present, what actions they took, what sequence events occurred in, and where participants went afterward. This works even on scenes days or weeks old.
Each investigation dossier grants a stacking Boon to Espionage - Search rolls when seeking information about that subject:
Boons apply when:
Investigation dossiers provide practical advantages:
GM Note: Dossiers become outdated as circumstances change. Major life events may require dossier updates.
Investigation dossiers require periodic updates:
Inspector "Hunter" Reeves compiles dossiers on crime syndicate:
Agent "Oracle" maintains intelligence on key executives:
"Tracker" Jones creates operational dossiers: