Posthuman (IB)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark space hack

Posthuman Playbook

As a Posthuman, you are an expert in adapting to genetic and biological upgrades. These extensive enhancements alter your body in fundamental ways, most reshaping it entirely. While anyone can undergo minor alterations, you have trained yourself to integrate entirely nonhuman physiologies.

People distrust Posthumans — both biological Posthumans and cybernetic Cyborgs. Clearly visible enhancements invite suspicion but are tolerated. What truly unsettles people are Posthumans whose nature isn’t obvious: those who look human until they don’t. When not using visible upgrades, you must choose between concealing your status — risking extreme reaction if discovered — or revealing it and being treated as visibly enhanced, with an added unease about your true nature.

Some upgrades are radical. All upgrades are Special Abilities, but you can maintain only one radical upgrade at a time; all others can be used freely.

Actually activating a Posthuman upgrade is optional. Integrating a new adaptation demands months of calibration and neural retraining, represented by gaining it as a Special Ability. Once you’ve learned a Posthuman upgrade, you can adopt or shed it as a single Downtime Activity. You may change or drop any number of upgrades during this activity, including returning to a baseline human form.

Touchstones: Seth Brundle / “Brundlefly” (The Fly, 1986), Warren Worthington III / Angel (X-Men: The Last Stand, 2006), Number Six (Battlestar Galactica, 2004–09), Ava (Ex Machina, 2014).

Special Abilities

1. Adaptation: Your physiology is optimized for environmental survival. You are immune to Degrav and decompression; you can hold your breath for up to an hour, and can go five times longer than a normal human without food or water — roughly 15 days without water and 5 weeks without food before suffering effects.
2. Adapted Senses: Your senses are enhanced; you can see a wider spectrum of light and hear a greater range of frequencies. You resist sensory overload and improve your Position against stealth or sensory interference, but not to better than Controlled.
3. Angel (radical): You can fly in gravity up to 0.3 g and glide in up to 0.6 g. You lose Effect when using Terran.
4. Kobold (radical): You gain Effect when using Terran and lose Effect when using Micro.
5. Lemure (radical): You gain Effect when using Micro. You see well in low light but poorly in very bright light.
6. Melusine (radical): You can breathe underwater and are immune to pressure and decompression. You lose Effect when using Terran or otherwise acting in dry environments.
7. Optimized Morphology: Your body has adapted in visible, unnatural ways to excel at a specific Action. Choose one when you take this ability; you gain +1d when using it. The adaptation is physical — concealable when dormant but evident in use. If applied to a Resolve Action, you achieve full Effect on your target but may provoke a reaction from witnesses.
8. Satyr (radical): You gain Effect when using Lunar and lose Effect when using Terran. You always land safely when using Lunar.

Contacts and Enemies

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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 using your biological enhancements or environmental mastery.
• You expressed your beliefs, drives, heritage, or background.
• You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session.

Starting Actions

Choose one: Lunar 2, Micro 2, or Terran 2

Rig 1

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