Mechanics
Overview
Contents
marks the essentials for new operators. The full ruleset lives in-world as The Protocol; the deep files are linked throughout.
Characters
Every character in Syn is built from five Identity Aspects: Stats (and the skills under them), Traits, Techniques, Cybernetics, and the Experience that pays for it all. Stats and skills define what you can do; traits and techniques shape how; cybernetics push you past human limits at a cost to your Humanity.
Stats & Skills
Stats are grouped under 8 umbrella categories, each holding four related sub-stats (32 in total). Categories are derived — their level is the sum of the sub-stats beneath them, and you invest in the sub-stats rather than the category itself. Each sub-stat caps at level 3; only cybernetics can push one higher.
Intelligence
INT"Knowledge is the only weapon they can’t confiscate at the door."
- Memory — The ability to accurately retain and recall information.
- Will — Mental resolve and the ability to resist pressure, fear, coercion, or distraction.
- Aid — Practical knowledge of stabilizing, treating, and assisting others in the field.
- Research — The ability to locate, organize, interpret, and connect useful information.
Movement
MOV"If you can catch me, you can have me."
- Speed — Raw movement pace and acceleration.
- Vault — Skill in clearing, climbing, and passing over physical obstacles fluidly.
- Stealth — The ability to move quietly and remain unnoticed.
- Swim — Capability in water movement, buoyancy control, and aquatic survival.
Cool
COOL"Half of this city runs on nerve and good timing."
- Luck — It's not entirely clear what Luck is, but there are times when it seems the universe is smiling or frowning down upon a character.
- Guile — Cunning deception and the ability to mislead convincingly.
- Performance — Skill at entertaining, presenting, or commanding an audience.
- Thievery — Precision manual skill used for illicit or covert physical tasks.
Technical
TECH"Every lock is just a conversation I haven’t finished."
- Quickrunning — Rapid, surface-level intrusion into nearby or accessible systems.
- Deeprunning — Advanced intrusion, system manipulation, and layered digital analysis.
- Mechanics — The ability to understand, repair, modify, and build physical machinery.
- Design — Skill in planning, drafting, optimizing, and inventing technical solutions.
Body
BODY"Chrome breaks. Bone that’s been through worse doesn’t."
- Endurance — Long-term physical stamina and resistance to exhaustion.
- Strength — Raw muscular force.
- Resilience — Physical toughness and the ability to absorb punishment without failing.
- Athletics — General physical training, conditioning, and coordinated whole-body effort.
Tactical
TACT"I saw the ambush three streets back."
- Tracking — The ability to follow signs of movement, behavior, or passage.
- Investigation — Methodical examination of evidence, scenes, and inconsistencies.
- Perception — Immediate sensory awareness of what is present, hidden, or out of place.
- Streetwise — Knowledge of urban culture, criminal ecosystems, local habits, and informal power structures.
Social
SOC"I’ve never needed a gun to take a room."
- Intimidation — The ability to pressure others through fear, menace, dominance, or implied threat.
- Persuasion — The ability to convince others through logic, charm, credibility, or negotiation.
- Insight — The ability to understand what others feel, want, fear, or hide.
- Seduction — The ability to attract, entice, or disarm others through intimacy, allure, or chemistry.
Reflexes
REF"By the time you’ve decided, I’ve already moved."
- Acrobatics — Advanced balance, aerial control, flexibility, and complex body movement.
- Finesse — Skill in delicate handwork, misdirection, and subtle object manipulation, especially when performed smoothly or unnoticed.
- Reaction — Raw speed of physical response to sudden danger or change.
- Steady — Controlled physical stability, including breath, posture, and fine bodily restraint under pressure.
Experience & Progression
New characters are built from a budget of 100 XP, then earn more by playing. Traits themselves are free — you pay only for the stats they require — while cybernetics are the most expensive way to grow. XP is spent the following ways:
Raise a Stat · 5 XP / level
Invest in any of the 32 sub-stats, up to a natural cap of +3.
Take a Trait · Free
Traits cost no XP of their own — you only pay the 5 XP/level for the stats they demand.
Install Cybernetics · 20 XP each
Chrome that can raise a stat past +3 — the only thing that can. Five pieces costs 100 XP.
Choose Skills · at genesis
Start play having selected two skills; more open up as you progress.
Learn Techniques · later
Combat techniques are unlocked through progression rather than bought up front.
Shared Slots · 10 total
Traits and cybernetics compete for the same ten slots — spend them with intent.
Actions & Combat
When combat breaks out, everyone involved enters combat-time and acts in order. On your turn you take two actions and move up to your allotted distance; an Endurance pool fuels your reactions when it isn’t your turn.
Initiative
On entering combat, everyone rolls a Reflexes-based initiative test. Play proceeds from highest roll to lowest; ties break toward the higher stat, then a re-roll.
Turn progresses from highest initiative to lowest
At the end of each round, a new one begins until combat ends. Late arrivals slot in at the back.
Actions in Combat
You may spend your two actions in any order. A handful of the most common options:
Attack
Strike with an equipped weapon or unarmed. Some weapon classes need both actions to fire.
Dash / Sprint
Trade an action for extra movement when you need to close a gap or break away.
Reload / Draw
Ready a weapon, swap kit, or reload — the upkeep that keeps you in the fight.
Aid / Repair
Stabilise a downed ally, patch a wound, or fix failing chrome mid-fight.
Use / Interact
Drink a consumable from your inventory or work the environment — a lever, a terminal, a door.
Reactions
Off-turn, spend Endurance to Evade, Block, Parry, or Maneuver against incoming attacks.