Outis (IB)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark space hack

Odysseus: “Outis — that’s my name. Nobody.”

Polyphemus: “Outis is killing me by fraud; Nobody is killing me by force!”

Homer; Odyssey, Book IX (non-contiguous lines)

Outis Playbook

Outis means Nobody in Homeric Greek. As a playbook, the Outis is Nobody — the operative whose existence is rumor, whose trail ends in airlocks and shifting records, whose name is always someone else’s.

You operate in the gaps between systems — the maintenance shafts, dark data nodes, and unregistered corridors where oversight thins. Your work is quiet: infiltration, sabotage, recovery, erasure. You pass through airlocks, networks, and people without leaving a trace. You might steal prototypes from orbital foundries, carry illicit data through secure channels, or unmake the work of others for a price. Some Outis act for a cause, others for status, and a few simply for the satisfaction of not being caught. Whatever your motive, you are defined by what cannot be seen — presence by absence, a ghost in the machine.

Touchstones: Snake Plissken (Escape from New York (1981)), Sam Lowry (Brazil (1985)), Specialist Cally (Battlestar Galactica TV (2004–09)), Lisbeth Salander (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)).

Special Abilities

1. Ambush: When you strike from concealment or surprise, gain +1d and increased Effect.
2. Daredevil: When you roll a Desperate action, gain +1d to the roll.
3. Evasion: When you push yourself using a Prowess Action, choose one additional benefit: reach a seemingly impossible position — cause enemies to interfere with one another — avoid an area attack entirely.
4. Ghost: You may roll Rig instead of Lunar, Micro, or Terran for stealth or intrusion. You move slowly and precisely, ghosting through the system and eschewing the acrobatics those actions rely on.
5. Keymaster: When you Rig to bypass security, you can reduce the time required by one order of magnitude (hours → minutes → seconds). Doing so worsens the Position by one step — you cannot do this in a Desperate Position.
6. On Point: When you lead a Group Action involving Lunar, Micro, Terran, or Rig used to substitute for one of these, you suffer at most 1 stress, regardless of failed rolls.
7. Reflexes: When there’s a question of who acts first, it’s you (if both have Reflexes, you act simultaneously).
8. Shadow: You may expend your special armor to resist detection or security consequences, or to push yourself for a feat of intrusion.

Contacts and Enemies

˄ ˅ Aris, a data broker.

˄ ˅ Keir, a security analyst.

˄ ˅ Mara, a habitat engineer with debts.

˄ ˅ Noll, a fence.

˄ ˅ Varen, an inspector.

Inventory

To be determined.

XP

• Every time you roll a Desperate action, mark XP in that Action’s attribute.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 XP (in your playbook or an attribute), or 2 XP if that item occurred multiple times.

• You addressed a challenge with stealth, precision, or evasion.
• You expressed your beliefs, drives, heritage, or background.
• You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session.
• You pointed out an established NPC whom the GM then brought into the action.

Starting Actions

Hack 1

Rig 2

4 points by choice, no higher than 2 in any one.