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 and intrusion. You move slowly and precisely, eschewing the acrobatics those actions usually rely on.
5. Keymaster: When you Push yourself to bypass security with Interface or Rig, you can reduce the time required by one order of magnitude (hours → minutes → seconds).
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, a marshal.

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

Interface 1

Rig 2

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