Forum (IB)

Consensu humanum — the sphere of human accord.

Devices that mediate between minds: communication, identity, and persuasion. Com gear, Nemes, attire, symbols of authority, and instruments of leadership. Associated with: Resolve, presence, will, and the arts of cooperation and command.

Quality of Life

License

1 ■ License

A License must be on your playbook to acquire it in play; you cannot simply pick one up during an Operation. You may need connections or proof of competence to obtain one.

A permit to own or carry items tagged Regulated or Military. Physically it may be a signed document or sigil-stamped token, but what matters is the correct authorization code recorded in your Neme.

A license applies to all items of its type (all Regulated or all Military). You can hold separate licenses for each category.

Two permissions are available for each category:

Carry — allows you to carry and use items in public spaces within local legal limits.

Possession — allows you to store and transport disassembled items for use on ranges, private property, or beyond local jurisdictions (aboard your ship, base, or in the wild).

Common allocations:

Bounty hunters, police, licensed bodyguards, and wilderness guides typically obtain a Carry authorization for Regulated items.

Mercenaries and military commonly hold Possession authorization for Military items.

Consequences: lacking the proper license risks confiscation, arrest, or prosecution. These consequences can be Resisted by rolling your Tier (representing legal assistance). Continued violation may raise the penalty.

Unreliable. Local recognition depends on the Quality of the license and the Tier of the place of use. When presenting a license, roll Quality:

if any die equals the local Tier — the license is accepted immediately.

if any die ≥ 4 but none match Tier — expect delay; the license will usually clear in days but you may face temporary ban or confiscation.

if no die ≥ 4 — the license is invalid here.

Neme

1 ■ Neme

Personal assistant systems — limited AI companions that manage communication, translation, scheduling, research, and routine administration. Every citizen in the System is expected to carry one; a person without a Neme is considered unreachable, untrustworthy, or primitive. Models vary in discretion, power, and personality, but all share the same basic architecture: a distributed mind embedded in personal hardware and mirrored across the network.

Originally NEME — Neural Executive & Memory Environment — the name comes from the Muse Mneme (Memory); common usage dropped the initial “M.” Pronounced NEE-mee.

A standard Neme contains a compact processor core, an audio interface or earpiece for conversation and real-time translation, and — for users who prefer visual augmentation — an optional visor or contact-lens display providing text, imagery, and situational overlays. The hardware holds the personality and memory to keep it private from the net; users describe their Neme as an extension of thought rather than a tool.

Every Neme includes a suite of personal-scale sensors: passive radio, optical, thermal, magnetic, radiation, and chemical monitoring within a few metres, plus biometric and positional tracking. The Neme cross-references these inputs against health, atmospheric safety, and local navigation data to provide unobtrusive situational awareness. It also monitors public nets and sensors for chosen alerts.

Neme sensors are passive and low-power — they lack the range and resolution of belt/pack sensors but give every person a local bubble of awareness. Advanced models can form ad-hoc networks to map shared space or coordinate group activity; this requires consent and carries the usual privacy implications. In many habitats Nemes also serve civic functions, maintaining environmental logs and validating transactions.

To live in the System is to live with your Neme — your memory, interpreter, and witness.

Fashion

1 ■ Fashion

A fashionable outfit and personal grooming that lets you appear several Tiers above your own. Generally requires a light Load; carrying a change of clothes counts as Load ☐. Conspicuous.

If you dress two or more Tiers above yourself, make a Quality roll when you appear:

1–3 — immediate attention and Heat (you are noticed and potentially stopped).

4–6 — attention (Heat) but no immediate enforcement.

Colors

1 ■ Colors

Belonging to a subculture or wearing overt identifiers that mark you as alien to a place. Conspicuous. When you draw attention, make a Quality roll:

1–3 — immediate attention and Heat.

4–6 — attention (Heat).

Stress Analyzer

3 ☐ Stress Analyzer

A concealed accessory that senses short-term physiological markers of stress: pupil dilation, facial blood flow, micro-tremor, and respiration changes. Helps detect lies, nervousness, or hostile intent; can produce false positives from non-deceptive emotions. Unreliable.

Use: When attempting to detect deception or intent, pass a Quality roll to gain an early read on an untrained subject and to speed detection against amateur liars. Professional deceivers and trained actors may defeat the device’s usefulness (GM discretion).