TEXT: 5
  
  1
  Beyond Human
  Written by
  Thorin Tabor
  Edited by
  Tracy Lachowicz
  Saga Machine system by
  Thorin Tabor
  Cover by
  Evelina Valieva
  Published by
  Tab Creations LLC
  Layout by
  Thorin Tabor
  Art by
  Evelina Valieva, Jacob E. Blackmon, Jarel Threat, Jason Moser  
  Jeshields, Joselito Mahilum, NASA, Sherman’s Stockart
  Tab Creations is
  Ben Goreham, Jesse Pingenot, Phillip Matthews, Thorin Tabor
  
  2
  Designation of Product Identity
  The following items are hereby designated as Product Identity in accordance with Section 1(e) of the Open Game License, version 1.0a: 
  Any and all Tab Creations logos and identifying marks and trade dress, such as all Tab Creations product and product line names including 
  but not limited to Tab Creations, Saga Machine, Against the Dark Yogi and Shadows Over Sol; any specific characters and places; 
  capitalized names and original names of places, artifacts, characters, countries, geographic locations, gods, events and organizations; any 
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  Designation of Open Game Content
  Subject to the Product Identity designation above, the following portions of Shadows Over Sol are designated as Open Game Content: 
  The entirety of the Character Options chapter, Genelines & Beyond chapter and Subculture & Society chapter.
  Tab Creations, Saga Machine and Shadows Over Sol are trademarks owned by Thorin Tabor and Tab Creations LLC. All rights reserved. All 
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  15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
  Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the 
  Coast, Inc.
  Shadows Over Sol. Copyright 2009-2015, Thorin Tabor. Tab 
  Creations LLC.
  Shadows Over Sol: Beyond Human. Copyright 2015-2016, 
  Thorin Tabor. Tab Creations LLC.
  Open Game License Version 1.0a
  
  3
  Table of Contents
  OGL 1.0a ......................2
  Table of Contents ..........3
  Introduction .................5
  GMs Beware ......................5
  Wake Up...............................6
  Character Options ........9
  Point-Buy Char. Creation .....9
  Point-Buy Stats .................9
  Point-Buy Skills ................10
  Point-Buy Gear .................10
  Example Weaknesses .............11
  Complications ...................11
  Disabilities ........................13
  Impairments......................14
  Shortcomings ....................17
  Background Generator..........18
  Physical Attributes ............18
  Childhood ........................19
  Adolescence .......................20
  Education & Training .......21
  Connections & Contacts ...22
  Dark Secrets ......................23
  Cover Identities ....................24
  Gaining Identities .............24
  Hiring an Expert ...........24
  Do-it-Yourself ................24
  Keeping Cover ..................24
  Burning Cover ..................25
  Sanity ...................................26
  Represent. Mental Illness ..26
  Losing Sanity ....................26
  Treatment .........................27
  Succumbing to Madness ...27
  Gear Packages .......................28
  List of Packages .................28
  Artist .............................28
  Bounty Hunter ..............28
  Criminal ........................28
  Doctor ...........................28
  Engineer ........................29
  Executive .......................29
  Gangster ........................29
  Hacker ..........................29
  Laborer ..........................29
  Missionary .....................29
  Officer ...........................30
  Pilot ..............................30
  Scientist .........................30
  Scrapper ........................30
  Security .........................30
  Socialite .........................30
  Soldier ...........................31
  Spy ................................31
  Student ..........................31
  Survivalist ......................31
  Genelines & Beyond .....33
  Transhumanism..................33
  Unusual Genelines ................34
  Groundside Deluxe........34
  Martian Standard ..........34
  Quicksilver Deluxe ........35
  Spacer Deluxe ................35
  Radical Genelines .................36
  Icarus 2200 ....................36
  Moleman MK4 .............36
  Neo-anderthal ...............37
  Nereid Beta ...................37
  Nibelung Custom ..........38
  Nyx Nyx ........................38
  The Ogre .......................38
  Spacer Alpha ..................39
  Geneline Creation...............39
  Uplifts ..................................40
  Uplift Ape .....................40
  Uplift Cat ......................40
  Uplift Dog .....................41
  The Uplift Trait ..................41
  Uplift Pig ......................42
  Other Uplifts ......................42
  Androids, Cyborgs & AIs ......43
  Android .........................43
  Cyborg ..........................43
  Androids and Stasis.............44
  Hard AI .........................44
  Cybernetic Resurrection .......45
  Genelines in Society ..............46
  How Genelines Work ........46
  Picking a Geneline ............46
  Spacer Genelines............46
  Deluxe Genelines...........46
  Wild Type......................46
  Grow. Up With a Genel. ...47
  Fears of the Monoculture ..47
  Secondary Genelines ........47
  Subculture & Society ....49
  Minor Subcultures ................49
  Subculture Creation ............49
  Bunkers .............................50
  Values ............................50
  Memes ...........................50
  History ..........................50
  Bunker Subculture Stats 51
  Bunker Slang ..................51
  Freemers............................52
  Values ............................52
  Memes ...........................52
  History ..........................53
  Freemer Subculture Stats 53
  Freemer Slang .................53
  Nonhuman Servant ...........54
  Values ............................54
  Memes ...........................54
  History ..........................55
  Nonhuman Serv. Stats ...55
  Nonhuman Slang ............55
  Postals ...............................56
  Values ............................56
  Memes ...........................56
  History ..........................56
  Postal Subculture Stats ...57
  Postal Slang ....................57
  Tribals ...............................58
  Values ............................58
  Memes ...........................58
  History ..........................58
  Tribal Subculture Stats ...59
  Tribal Slang ...................59
  Virtuals .............................60
  Values ............................60
  Memes ...........................60
  History ..........................60
  Virtual Subculture Stats .61
  Virtual Slang ..................61
  Portraying Subcultures ..........62
  Locations ..........................62
  AR Tags .............................62
  Minor NPCs .....................62
  Key NPCs .........................62
  Profession & Lifestyles .........63
  
  4
  
  5
  When I was running my initial 
  playtest campaign for Shadows Over 
  Sol, there was a session where one of the 
  PCs got eviscerated by this lumbering 
  biological monster. I remember one 
  of the other player characters—the 
  engineer—dragging away her corpse so 
  that “he could rebuild her—make her 
  well again... right?” 
  At the time there was no supported 
  mechanism in the rules for handling 
  anything like cybernetic resurrection. 
  Indeed, my thinking at the time was 
  that this sort of circumventing death 
  cheapened it, and undermined the fatal-
  istic horror elements of the game. Never-
  theless, this scenario got me thinking.
  The science fiction genre is rife with 
  examples of nonhuman or variant human 
  characters. The original Alien movie 
  features an android. The number of other 
  franchises with similar characters is too 
  numerous to count.
  Returning again to the horror genre, 
  the parallels between cybernetic resur-
  rection and the classic story of Fran-
  kenstein are numerous. The more I 
  thought about it, the more it occurred 
  to me that there are a lot of narrative 
  possibilities in exploring the horrific 
  consequences of bending the edge of 
  what it is to be human.
  What you are reading now is in large 
  part a result of the thinking that began 
  with that scenario. Hopefully game 
  masters will find the options presented 
  here inspiring in their own games, and 
  players will find the new options to be 
  good, horrific fun.
  Thorin Tabor
  March 2015
  Introduction
  GMs Beware
  Some of the options in this book will significantly change the themes and 
  feel of your Shadows Over Sol campaign. This is intentional, as it allows for the 
  game to tackle a wider variety and range of science fiction concepts. 
  How would society change if fully-sentient AI became possible, or even 
  common? What challenges would an android player character face in society? 
  What more radical genelines have been created? Ultimately science fiction is 
  about social and technological change. Questions like these are at the core of 
  the genre, and many campaigns may be improved through the judicious intro-
  duction of these elements.
  Some of the options in this book even challenge the basic assumptions of the 
  Shadows Over Sol setting. GMs are advised to think about the possible campaign 
  repercussions before introducing any of the options presented in this book.
  
  6
  Wake Up...
  And there was light.
  Anna woke up with a jolt, only her body 
  didn’t move beyond her eyelids reluctantly 
  opening. Her heart was warming back up, 
  and it took a few moments to transition to 
  consciousness after the long sleep. Slowly she 
  became aware of her surroundings.
  She was still in her stasis pod, still strapped 
  in place so that she wouldn’t shift when the 
  ship changed acceleration, still breathing.  All 
  was as it should be.  What then had awoken 
  her like that?  Bad dreams don’t force a person 
  out of stasis.
  Slowly, she coaxed some movement back 
  into her heavy arms, and fumbling once or twice 
  with the attempt, undid the straps attached to 
  her shoulders.  Detecting movement, the lid to 
  the stasis pod slid open with a hiss that seemed 
  as loud as a scream amid the silence, though in 
  reality it was little louder than a whisper.
  The ship jerked with a sudden change in 
  acceleration.  A mechanical hum began from 
  elsewhere in the vessel.
  What was this?  Were they closer to their 
  destination than they should be when awoken? 
  Were they going into orbit around Callisto 
  right now?  They were supposed to have a full 
  day after waking before they arrived at their 
  destination—it would take that long for the 
  full effects of stasis to wear off.
  With great effort, Anna forced herself into 
  a sitting position, still grasping the sides of the 
  stasis pod for stability.  She’d feel better when 
  she’d have the chance to see Doctor Jafari.  He 
  was always so calming, so serene.  She liked 
  his face; it had a pleasant shape to it.  He may 
  not have been the best surgeon Mars has ever 
  seen—a fact he often lamented—but he had a 
  superb bedside manner. And he was close by: 
  the next stasis pod over.  He was probably as 
  groggy as her, but within half an hour he ought 
  to be mobile enough to procure something to 
  soothe her nerves.
  The lights to the room containing her stasis 
  pod and two others—her group’s cluster—had 
  come on.  That must be related to her waking 
  up now. Outside the rest of the ship might still 
  be dark, everything non-essential turned off to 
  conserve energy.  She looked around.
  What the hell?!?  Her eyes had finally 
  come to focus on Doctor Jafari’s stasis pod. 
  Its sliding panel was ajar, partially open.  The 
  edge where the panel opens was scarred.  Deep 
  indentations had been made in the metal, as 
  if the panel had been forcibly pried apart by a 
  crowbar—or something else.
  Frantically, her arms now mobile enough 
  to flail clumsily, Anna pulled herself out of 
  her stasis pod and tumbled dreamily in the 
  microgravity. The myriad of needles and tubes 
  snapped away from her body, disconnecting 
  her from the pod.  She pulled herself several 
  meters along the wall with her arms, and 
  propped herself up enough to peer into the 
  pod of Doctor Jafari.
  He was in there—or at least what was 
  left of him.
  She could see his shoulders, his hair, 
  his arms.  But not his soothing face.  It was 
  missing, as if it had been eaten away by some 
  devouring predator, or maybe pried off in 
  chunks with a blunt instrument. A twisted 
  and half-missing chunk of cartilage was all 
  that was left of his nose.  Blood had bubbled 
  outwards, crusting onto the inside of the 
  stasis pod, and caking the side of his head. 
  His arms had twisted upward to grasp the 
  edges of the stasis pod’s opening, then locked 
  in place.  She hadn’t noticed that before.  He 
  must have been at least partially conscious 
  when this happened, screaming out to his 
  compatriots, not three meters away, but being 
  in a deep sleep they were unable to respond.
  
  7
  Anna wretched, but for the last five months 
  her body had been kept alive in a stasis pod, 
  fed through tubes and needles.  Her stomach 
  had nothing to give.  She tumbled backward 
  and for a moment floated without resistance.
  There was a little voice in the back of her 
  mind whispering that something was wrong: Not 
  Doctor Jafari’s demise. Not the strange removal 
  of his face. Not the marks on the stasis pod. Not 
  even the sudden, unexpected change in accelera-
  tion.  It was something else.  She breathed.
  The room didn’t smell.
  That was it!  That’s what was wrong!  The 
  room didn’t smell.  Whatever had done this to 
  Doctor Jafari had done it recently enough that 
  the body hadn’t yet had time to begin to decay. 
  Whatever it was, it was likely still around.
  Anna grabbed ahold of another wall just in 
  time. Carefully, she crawled over to the third 
  and final stasis pod in the small room. This 
  one belonged to Flores, her cluster’s security 
  personnel.  Flores would know what to do. 
  Except she wouldn’t—not now.  Her stasis 
  pod had been pried open, just like Doctor 
  Jafari’s.  The same indentations in the metal, 
  the same lack of a face.  Only Flores’ death was 
  more recent—unlike Doctor Jafari’s, her blood 
  hadn’t had time to fully coagulate.
  Both her companions were dead.  Anna 
  was alone.
  The hum of machinery that had started when 
  the ship changed acceleration had been blocked 
  out by her unconscious mind as background 
  noise. It suddenly ceased, once again drawing 
  attention to the silence.  There was nothing.
  There was one other cluster of stasis pods on 
  the ship—three other people—unaccounted for. 
  Had they been awoken, like her?  Were they dead 
  like Jafari and Flores?  Were they the killers?
  Anna tried to push against the wall with 
  her legs, but they weren’t yet ready.  Her knees 
  buckled underneath her, and she skidded 
  against another wall with a thump.  In the 
  silence, the sound of the collision seemed to 
  echo throughout the ship.
  The echo was followed by the sound of 
  movement coming from outside the room—a 
  sort of steady “clomp, clomp, clomp” like that 
  of heavy footfalls, or a knocking on the floor. 
  Her body froze in terror except for the continual 
  racing of her heart. Anna waited, barely daring 
  to breathe.  The sound gradually stopped.
  Ever-so-slowly, Anna crept across the 
  room.  She couldn’t wait here forever.  Sooner 
  or later she’d either die of thirst, or whatever 
  had killed Jafari and Flores would come for 
  her.  She needed something to defend herself 
  with.  But this was no armory, it was a stasis 
  cluster.  The room had been designed so that 
  there were no loose objects to shift around in 
  transit—and thus no loose objects to use as 
  improvised weapons.  Besides, she didn’t yet 
  have the strength to try to pry anything loose. 
  Was she going to have to rely on her teeth and 
  stasis-weakened fists?
  No! She had spent a great deal of time before 
  this mission preparing with Jafari and Flores. 
  The three were supposed to work as a team 
  when they got to Callisto. She knew what the 
  other two were—had been—capable of.  Flores 
  had a knife implanted in her left arm.  It was a 
  subtle sort of weapon, designed to spring out 
  when Flores twitched her wrist. Maybe 20cm 
  of blade extended from above her hand.  It was 
  just the sort of implant one of those paranoid 
  types—a security professional—would get.
  There was one problem, though: The blade 
  was still embedded in Flores’ arm.  Anna would 
  either need to carry around Flores’ corpse, 
  or saw her arm off at the elbow, wielding the 
  forearm and blade as one.
  A grisly thought! But it was this or die. Steeling 
  herself for what she had to do, Anna began to look 
  around for Jafari’s medical kit, and in it a bone saw.
  
  8
  
  9
  This chapter details a variety of basic 
  character creation options that may be 
  employed when making a character. 
  These options include alternatives to 
  stat, skill and gear assignment, as well as 
  a variety of optional tables for quickly 
  fleshing out a character’s background. 
  Additional geneline and subculture 
  options are found in later chapters.
  Point-Buy 
  Character 
  Creation
  The default Shadows Over Sol 
  character creation system is designed to 
  be fast and easy, while at the same time 
  providing ample room for character 
  differentiation. 
  There 
  are 
  10,080 
  unique possible combinations from just 
  the stat array alone!
  Despite this, some GMs and players 
  may still want a greater degree of flexibility 
  when designing characters. Presented 
  here is an optional “point buy” character 
  creation method, which provides alterna-
  tives to the standard stat array, skill array 
  and gear purchases used in the Shadows 
  Over Sol character creation system. 
  These options provide more flexibility 
  than the default system, at the cost of 
  somewhat increased complexity.
  Point-Buy Stats
  When character creation comes to the 
  “Assign Stats” step, instead of assigning 
  base stats from a fixed array, the player 
  instead has a pool of 99 experiences that 
  she can assign to the eight stats. These 
  experiences increase the value of her stats 
  exactly like assigning experiences during 
  character advancement. There are two 
  restrictions, however: 
   
  � Every stat must be assigned at least 
  one experience.
   
  � No stat can be raised above 7 in this 
  way.
  For ease of reference, below is a table 
  indicating the total number of experi-
  ences required to reach each stat value. 
  Any remaining experiences must then be 
  assigned to stats and count towards the 
  next stat increase, as normal.
  Stat Value
  Total Experience Cost
  1
  1
  2
  3
  3
  6
  4
  10
  5
  15
  6
  21
  7
  28
  Character 
  Options
  
  10
  Point-Buy Skills
  Once a player reaches the “Assign 
  Skills” step of character creation, instead 
  of assigning skill values from an array, she 
  instead has 30 experiences to distribute 
  among her skills. This works exactly as 
  assigning experiences during character 
  advancement, or like the “Point Buy Stats” 
  step above. No skill may be raised above 3 
  in this way, and any remaining experiences 
  must be assigned to skills, as usual.
  Skill Value
  Total Experience Cost
  1
  1
  2
  3
  3
  6
  Point-Buy Gear
  When the “Make Purchases” step 
  of character creation is reached, rather 
  than characters simply gaining a starting 
  Wealth score and a number of purchases 
  they can make, they instead gain a starting 
  Wealth score and a number of purchase 
  points. Every purchase a player makes 
  in this step costs a number of purchase 
  points equal to its cost rating. Once a 
  character runs out of purchase points she 
  can no longer purchase gear at character 
  creation. Any unspent purchase points 
  are lost. Purchasing gear with a cost 
  rating above the character’s Wealth rating 
  lowers Wealth, as normal. A character 
  still receives the standard gear from the 
  “Starting Gear” step.
  Example: Amelia is purchasing gear 
  for her character. She is playing in a 
  survival horror campaign, so her starting 
  Wealth is 4 and she has 8 purchase points. 
  She opts to buy a microcomputer (cost 
  1) and a USD-383 “Wasp” light pistol 
  (cost 6). Since the cost of the light pistol 
  is higher than her Wealth, this purchase 
  will lower her from Wealth 4 to Wealth 
  2, as usual. These two purchases also take 
  7 of her 8 purchase points. If she does not 
  spend the final point she loses it. Addi-
  tionally, she gains the standard package 
  of starting gear, including AR glasses, a 
  hand terminal, etc.
  Horror 
  Mode
  Starting 
  Wealth
  Purchase 
  Points
  Survival 
  Horror
  4
  8
  Investigative 
  Horror
  6
  18
  Action 
  Horror
  8
  32
  
  11
  Example 
  Weaknesses
  The Shadows Over Sol core rulebook 
  defines four Weakness traits which char-
  acters may optionally take. These Weak-
  nesses both add flavor to characters by 
  giving them recognizable flaws, and 
  allow players to gain back Edge when 
  these flaws hinder the character in a 
  significant way. 
  What the core rulebook does not 
  do, however, is provide an extensive list 
  of specifics which the Weaknesses can 
  represent. Such a list can be found below.
  Complications
  Complications are weaknesses that 
  manifest some sort of problem when a 
  joker comes up for the player in a certain 
  type of situation. A variety of example 
  complications are given below, including 
  the situation in which they occur, and the 
  nature of the problem which manifests.
   
  � Allergy: This character has an allergy 
  to a particular common substance. If 
  a joker comes up while the character 
  is in a location that may contain the 
  substance, she has been exposed and 
  the character has an allergic reaction. 
  This 
  incapacitates 
  the 
  character 
  until she has time to recover, away 
  from the substance. To model a less 
  severe allergy, take an Impairment 
  to all actions in the presence of the 
  substance instead.
   
  � Compulsive Behavior: Experiencing a 
  strong urge to take some behavior, the 
  character regularly indulges. This could 
  be compulsive gambling, drinking, sex 
  or other behavior. When a joker comes 
  up in the presence of this temptation 
  she gains the Desire (indulge compul-
  sion, severe) consequence.
   
  � Delusion: The character has a strong 
  belief that is at odds with reality. 
  Often these beliefs form elaborate 
  conspiracy theories. When a joker 
  comes up in play the belief interferes 
  with her interpretation of events in 
  some way. This can cause her to act 
  seemingly irrational, penalizing her 
  social actions by -4 among witnesses.
   
  � Depression: Depression can be a very 
  serious problem. When a joker comes 
  up, thereby causing the character 
  to fail to achieve a goal personally 
  significant to her, she faces a bout of 
  depression. This gives her a -2 penalty 
  to all actions for the next day.
   
  � Doomed: The character is dying, and it 
  is only a matter of time until she expires. 
  This could be due to a chronic illness, 
  radiation exposure or other medical 
  condition. Whenever a joker comes up 
  on an Endurance-based action, make 
  a tally mark next to this Weakness. 
  Once the number of tally marks exceed 
  the character’s Endurance, she finally 
  expires from her illness.
   
  � Enemy: Many people have enemies, 
  but this character’s enemy is partic-
  ularly persistent. The first time in a 
  session in which a joker comes up, 
  the character’s enemy may make an 
  appearance and try to foil her in 
  some way. This could be anything 
  from 
  telepresence 
  interference 
  with the character’s plans, to direct 
  physical confrontation.
  
  12
   
  � Epilepsy: 
  This 
  character 
  suffers 
  from epileptic fits. The first time in a 
  scene in which a joker comes up for 
  the character, she suffers a seizure. 
  She takes a Stun (moderate) conse-
  quence. Certain triggers, such as 
  rapidly flashing lights, may set off this 
  weakness as well.
   
  � Fixation: This weakness causes the 
  character to fixate on her victory or 
  failure to an irritating and hindering 
  degree. When a joker comes up, the 
  character fixates on the action that 
  she just critically failed. This gives 
  her the Fixation (subject of failure, 
  severe) consequence. For example, if 
  a joker came up while trying to get 
  past an electronic lock, she would 
  fixate on that lock for the duration of 
  the consequence.
   
  � Flashbacks: Flashbacks can be caused 
  by traumatic experiences, mental 
  illness or drug use. Whenever a joker 
  comes up during a stressful event, the 
  character experiences flashbacks. This 
  can confuse and disorient her. She 
  gains the Dazed (severe) consequence.
   
  � Insomniac: Insomnia plagues the 
  character, causing her to not sleep 
  well. Anytime a joker comes up in 
  play, the character does not sleep well 
  later that night. This causes her not to 
  count that night towards the purposes 
  of natural healing, plus it does not 
  count as sleep for the purposes of 
  sleep deprivation.
   
  � Mistaken Identity: There is someone 
  else out there with whom the character 
  is regularly mistaken. They could look 
  alike, have a similar or same genetic 
  composition or even simply be keyed 
  to the same identity numbers in most 
  corp computer systems. Regardless, 
  when a joker comes up when going 
  through an identity checkpoint or 
  interacting with a new social group, 
  the character’s identity has been 
  mistaken. She may have to suffer 
  through the enemies, debt or compli-
  cations taken on by her double.
   
  � Multiple Personality: Mental illness 
  causes the character to flip between 
  two or more identities. Whenever a 
  joker comes up for her in play, she 
  switches between two of these identi-
  ties. At the very least this gives her a -4 
  penalty to social actions for those who 
  witness the switch, and it may result 
  in other consequences.
   
  � Obligation: The character has a 
  significant obligation that she owes 
  to an outside party—perhaps a large 
  debt, corp loyalty or organizational 
  membership. The first time in a 
  session in which a joker comes up in 
  play, some favor is called to which the 
  character is obliged to accept. 
   
  � Secret: People will often to go great 
  lengths to protect their most personal 
  and hidden secrets. This character has 
  one such secret. If a joker comes up 
  while events from the character’s past 
  are under review, or subjects related 
  to the secret are being observed, 
  their character lets something slip, 
  or evidence otherwise surfaces that 
  hints at the character’s secret. If the 
  secret gets revealed, this Weakness is 
  usually replaced with Complication 
  (Wanted), Impairment (Stigmatized) 
  or something else appropriate.
  
  13
   
  � Wanted: The character is wanted by 
  a major corp, nation-state or other 
  sizable organization. If a joker comes 
  up when going through a security 
  checkpoint, port or other area where 
  a character’s identity may be flagged, 
  bounty hunters or other agents of 
  the organization will show up to 
  apprehend the character.
  Disabilities
  Disabilities have a class of actions 
  which a character automatically fails at, 
  due to some sort of severe incapability. A 
  variety of example disabilities are given 
  below.
   
  � Amnesia: There is some period of 
  the character’s life which she simply 
  cannot remember. She automatically 
  fails all attempts to remember this 
  part of her life. What was she doing? 
  Why can she not remember this?
   
  � Anosmia: The character lacks a func-
  tioning sense of smell. This also usually 
  impairs the character’s sense of taste as 
  well. She automatically fails all actions 
  which rely on her olfactory senses.
   
  � Blind: The character is blind, perhaps 
  as the result of an accident, illness, 
  birth defect or injury. She automati-
  cally fails all actions which depend 
  on sight. Gaining an implant which 
  would restore her sense of sight 
  removes this trait.
   
  � Cannot Swim: Swimming is largely 
  a learned skill—one which the 
  
  14
  character never picked up. This is very 
  common among those who grew up 
  in microgravity, as many have never 
  before experienced a large body of 
  water. The character automatically 
  fails all attempts to swim or otherwise 
  navigate in deep water.
   
  � Colorblind: The character either 
  cannot perceive color, or cannot 
  distinguish several different colors 
  from one another. Attempts to do this 
  are automatically failed.
   
  � Crippled: 
  While 
  the 
  character 
  can walk, her legs do not function 
  anywhere near a jog, let alone a run. 
  She automatically fails all attempts 
  to run, jump, jog or otherwise move 
  quickly by foot.
   
  � Deaf: The character does not have 
  a functioning sense of hearing. She 
  automatically fails actions relying 
  on this sense.
   
  � Illiterate: It’s a sad fact that many 
  children do not grow up with an 
  adequate education. This is partic-
  ularly true among the poor and 
  neglected regions of Earth, or among 
  the squatters in the tunnels of the 
  Lunar and Martian colonies. Either 
  way, this character never learned 
  to read and automatically fails all 
  attempts to do so.
   
  � Innumerate: Similar to being illit-
  erate, but applying to numbers and 
  arithmetic, 
  this 
  character 
  never 
  learned even basic math skills. She 
  may be able to intuit basic addition 
  using her fingers, but more than that 
  is beyond her ability.
   
  � Mute: This weakness represents a 
  character’s inability to make intel-
  ligible vocal sounds or inability to 
  speak a language. She fails all actions 
  that depend on verbal speech.
   
  � One-Armed: Possessing only one arm, 
  the character is completely incapable 
  of performing actions which depend 
  on the use of both hands, such as 
  holding onto a rope while firing a 
  gun. If she only possesses her off-hand 
  she qualifies for a related Impairment 
  weakness as well.
   
  � Paraplegic: The character is either 
  missing her legs or her legs simply 
  do not function. She is likely bound 
  to a wheelchair, and automatically 
  fails all actions which depend on the 
  use of her legs. Gaining the agility to 
  walk through cybernetic legs or other 
  means removes this trait.
  Impairments
  Impairments are represented by 
  penalties that a character faces when 
  attempting a specified type of action. 
  Usually this penalty is at -2. A variety of 
  example impairments are given below.
   
  � Absent-Minded: 
  Always 
  absent-
  minded and spacey, the character is 
  in a world of her own most of the 
  time. This applies a -2 penalty to 
  actions that require remaining alert or 
  recalling past details.
   
  � Bad Eyesight: The character has a 
  poor sense of vision. She takes a -2 
  penalty to actions that rely primarily 
  on sight. This might be correctable 
  with glasses or contacts, in which 
  case the penalty does not apply, but 
  neither does the character gain an 
  edge for the Weakness being a signifi-
  
  15
  cant hindrance. Remove this weakness 
  if the character gets corrective surgery 
  or a sight-based implant.
   
  � Bothersome Habits: Many people 
  have some odious personal habits, 
  and this character is one of them. 
  This might be bad hygiene, a consis-
  tent and awful sense of humor or an 
  aura of pure arrogance. Whatever 
  its nature, the character takes a -2 
  penalty to all social actions where she 
  might offend others.
   
  � Cowardice: This character is not 
  very brave at all, and is likely to run 
  or freeze up when faced with danger. 
  This gives a -2 penalty on all aggres-
  sive actions when faced with a spooky 
  or dangerous situation. This penalty 
  may also be applied to actions made 
  to resist fear.
   
  � Dwarfism: Dwarfism occurs as the 
  result of a medical condition that causes 
  slowed growth. It results in a person 
  having an unusually short stature. This 
  gives a -2 penalty to actions where 
  being short would be a hindrance, and 
  this penalty may also be applied to 
  social actions where dwarfism would 
  result in social stigma.
   
  � Dyslexia: The character has a reading 
  disorder, which can hinder their 
  reading comprehension and slow 
  down their reading speed. This applies 
  a -2 penalty to any actions to under-
  stand what was read, convey concepts 
  clearly in writing or to quickly 
  comprehend what was written.
   
  � Fat: Carrying around a lot of extra 
  weight can be disadvantageous in 
  many situations. This character is fat, 
  and suffers a -2 penalty on actions 
  made to run, walk lightly or squeeze 
  herself into small spaces.
   
  � Gluttonous: This character cannot 
  control her appetite, and given the 
  chance to overindulge, she always 
  will. After being presented with an 
  opportunity to overeat, she takes a -2 
  penalty to all actions made in the next 
  hour due to discomfort from being 
  overfull, and the resulting food coma.
   
  � Hard of Hearing: The character has a 
  poor sense of hearing. She takes a -2 
  penalty to actions that rely primarily 
  on listening. This might be correct-
  able with a hearing aid, in which 
  case the penalty does not apply, but 
  neither does the character gain an 
  edge for the Weakness being a signifi-
  cant hindrance.
   
  � Honesty: Some people just aren’t able 
  to lie very well. Maybe something 
  in their face gives them away, or 
  maybe deep down inside they simply 
  feel guilty. This character takes a -2 
  penalty on all attempts to deceive, lie 
  or cover up the truth.
   
  � Intolerance: Two centuries in the 
  future intolerance still sometimes 
  rears its ugly head. This character is 
  one of the intolerant ones. Perhaps 
  she is biased against some particular 
  subculture, corp or religion. She takes 
  a -2 penalty to all social actions made 
  to interact with this group, and may 
  receive this penalty in situations where 
  her intolerant beliefs offend others.
   
  � Lecherous: Distractions of a sexual 
  nature are many and varied, and 
  this character is particularly lured by 
  them. She takes a -2 penalty on all 
  actions to resist seduction or where 
  
  16
  her lecherous nature may serve as a 
  significant distraction.
   
  � Limp: This character has a limp due 
  to an injury or medical condition. She 
  takes a -2 penalty to all actions made 
  to walk or run quickly.
   
  � Phobia: Irrational fear can be para-
  lyzing. This character has something 
  of which she is uncontrollably and 
  irrationally afraid. She takes a -2 
  penalty to all actions made in the 
  presence of the subject of her phobia.
   
  � Scrawny: The physique of this 
  character is stick-thin and lacking 
  significant bulk or muscle. She takes a 
  -2 penalty to any action which would 
  resist moving her around, such as 
  actions to resist being knocked down, 
  grappled or blown over.
   
  � Stigmatized: Many social stigmas 
  exist, and this character is subject 
  to one of them. It could be coming 
  from a marginalized group, a history 
  of past criminal behavior or a bad 
  reputation. Regardless of its nature, 
  she takes a -2 penalty to social actions 
  due to this stigma.
   
  � Stutter: The character has a serious 
  stutter, which gets in the way of 
  speeches and other communication. 
  She takes a -2 penalty to actions that 
  require significant amounts of verbal 
  communication.
   
  � Suspicion: This character is suspi-
  cious of everyone’s motives—even 
  those of her own allies, fearing that 
  she will suffer misfortune at the 
  hands of another. She takes a -2 
  penalty to any group effort action, 
  regardless of whether she is acting as 
  primary or secondary.
  
  17
   
  � Ugly: Some people are beautiful to 
  simply gaze upon. This character is 
  quite the opposite. This could be a 
  natural unattractiveness or the result 
  of some disfiguring injury. Regardless, 
  she takes a -2 penalty to social actions 
  where standard of beauty would apply.
  Shortcomings
  Shortcomings are represented by a 
  penalty to one of a character’s derived 
  scores. Usually this penalty is at -2. A 
  variety of example shortcomings are 
  given below.
   
  � Bad Reaction Time: The character 
  does not have quick reflexes when 
  it comes time to avoid attacks. This 
  applies a -2 penalty to Defense.
   
  � Clueless: Where others might scrape 
  and draw on every ounce of internal 
  strength to gain an edge, this character 
  is clueless and lacks the inclination to 
  do so. This applies a -2 penalty to the 
  character’s Edge score.
   
  � Combat Shock: The character finds 
  it difficult to bring herself to hurt 
  others, especially when it’s up close 
  and personal. This applies a �-6/�-
  4/�-2/�-1 penalty to all damage dealt 
  by the character in melee.
   
  � Crippling Debt: While the character 
  may have a well-paying job, she may 
  also have some pretty large debts that 
  eat much of the income she would 
  otherwise use to live. This reduces 
  her Lifestyle score by -2. She must 
  continue to make payments each 
  month as if her Lifestyle score were its 
  normal value, however.
   
  � Frail: The character’s constitution 
  and grasp on life is more fragile than 
  one might expect, perhaps due to a 
  childhood illness or too much time 
  spent in bone-degrading micro-
  gravity. This applies a -2 penalty to 
  Wound threshold.
   
  � Low Pain Threshold: It doesn’t take 
  much for the character to truly feel 
  pain. This applies a -2 penalty to the 
  character’s Shock threshold.
   
  � Poor: Unfortunate economic circum-
  stances have brought the character to 
  a point where she is vastly poorer than 
  most in the twenty-third century. 
  This reduces her starting Wealth by 
  2, after any purchases are made. It is 
  recommended that she cannot exceed 
  Wealth 3 unless she voluntarily 
  removes this trait.
   
  � Slow: When the time comes that she 
  needs to act quickly, this character 
  just cannot muster a reasonable 
  speed. Perhaps she has coordination 
  issues from a medical condition or 
  being extremely elderly. Whatever 
  the cause, she normally gains only 
  2 AP each round of combat instead 
  of 3. Note: This is not a -2 penalty 
  as usually suggested for the Short-
  coming 
  trait; 
  nevertheless, 
  this 
  penalty is very significant.
   
  � Weakling: 
  The 
  character 
  finds 
  herself unable to lift as much gear 
  as she might otherwise be expected. 
  Perhaps she has a condition that 
  restricts the mobility of her arms or 
  a delicate spinal condition. Regard-
  less of the physiological cause, this 
  applies a -2 penalty to her Encum-
  brance threshold.
  
  18
  Background 
  Generator
  Background details and motivations 
  are the spark that bring characters to life. 
  Sometimes a player has a great idea that 
  she can run with; other times players may 
  need a little help. This section provides a 
  number of tables for generating a char-
  acter’s background—just draw a card 
  and look up the result on each table. 
  All of these tables are optional, and 
  players shouldn’t feel compelled to use 
  every result they receive; the results are 
  there to provide inspiration rather than 
  dictate requirements.
  Physical Attributes
  The below tables can be used to 
  quickly generate a few physical features 
  possessed by the character. 
  Card
  Height
  Weight
  Age
  Ace
  147 cm or below
  Height ÷ 1.5 kg or more
  Minor
  2
  152 cm
  Height ÷ 1.6 kg
  18 – 22
  3
  157 cm
  Height ÷ 1.7 kg
  23 – 27
  4
  162 cm
  Height ÷ 1.8 kg
  28 – 32
  5
  167 cm
  Height ÷ 1.9 kg
  33 – 37
  6
  172 cm
  Height ÷ 2.0 kg
  38 – 42
  7
  177 cm
  Height ÷ 2.1 kg
  43 – 47
  8
  182 cm
  Height ÷ 2.2 kg
  48 – 52
  9
  187 cm
  Height ÷ 2.3 kg
  53 – 57
  10
  192 cm
  Height ÷ 2.4 kg
  58 – 62
  Jack
  197 cm
  Height ÷ 2.5 kg
  63 – 67
  Queen
  202 cm
  Height ÷ 2.6 kg
  68 – 72
  King
  209 cm
  Height ÷ 2.7 kg
  73 – 77
  Joker
  214 cm or above
  Height ÷ 2.8 kg or below
  78 or older
  Card
  Hair
  Eyes
  Skin
  Ace – 2
  Red
  Blue
  Dark Brown
  3 – 4
  Blonde
  Green
  Light Brown
  5 – 6
  Light Brown
  Hazel
  Pale
  7 – 8
  Dark Brown
  Gray
  Olive
  9 – 10
  Curly Black
  Black
  Tanned
  J – K
  Straight Black
  Brown
  Ruddy
  Joker
  Unusual genetic edit (Blue, 
  Green, Purple, etc.)
  Unusual genetic edit 
  (Purple, Red, Yellow, etc.)
  Unusual genetic edit (Blue, 
  Green, Orange, etc.)
  
  19
  Childhood
  Below is a table of childhood expe-
  riences. A player may optionally pick a 
  result or draw a card to determine a result 
  on the table. 
  Card
  Childhood
  Ace
  Low Gravity Growth: You grew up in a low gravity environment, making you 
  taller and thinner than you would otherwise be. Furthermore, you feel uncom-
  fortable in “normal” gravity environments.
  2
  Friend: You had a very close friend growing up who had a major influence over 
  your life. Perhaps you are still friends, or perhaps this turned to enmity.
  3
  Tunnel Childhood: You grew up in a colony or settlement comprised primarily 
  of tunnels. You spent much time wandering around these tunnels growing up, 
  and still feel most at home in such environments.
  4
  Pet: Growing up you had a particularly memorable family pet. This pet may have 
  been an unusual species such as an uplift, or it may simply have colored you for 
  life as a “cat person,” “dog person” or similar.
  5
  Moved Frequently: Your family moved so frequently as a child that you never 
  really grew attached to anyplace or most anyone. You still feel restless when you 
  remain in any one place for too long.
  6
  Subcultural Change: Your family switched subcultures when you were a child 
  leaving you familiar with both, but perhaps not fully part of either.
  7
  Fall From Power: Your family initially was wealthy or influential, but a scandal 
  or other event forced them down the social ladder. The shadow of this scandal 
  may still hang over your head.
  8
  Net Isolation: You grew up in a situation with limited net access, either because 
  of family beliefs, or because the environment had restricted bandwidth. As a 
  consequence you are more likely to rely on your own knowledge.
  9
  Net Lifeline: There were no other children near your age around growing up, 
  and so you had to rely on the net as your social lifeline. You may still have more 
  online friends than meatspace friends.
  10
  Illness: An illness as a child took its toll on you. Perhaps it left you scarred or 
  deformed in some way. This would be a good justification for a weakness.
  Jack
  Many Parents: You had many parents. Perhaps they were part of a group 
  marriage, or you were in a cultural situation where several families collectively 
  took care of the children.
  Queen
  Orphaned: You lost your parents as a child. Perhaps you were then raised by 
  someone else in the subculture, distant family or left on the streets.
  King
  Many Siblings: You had numerous siblings, and always had other children around. 
  This has lead you to either prize your alone time, or to avoid being alone at all costs.
  Joker
  Clone/Geneline: You are either a clone of someone else or have a very peculiar 
  geneline variant. This has likely overshadowed your development.
  
  20
  Adolescence
  The following are events that may 
  have shaped a character’s adolescence. 
  This may be useful for fleshing out a 
  character’s backstory. Pick a result or 
  draw a card.
  Card
  Adolescence
  Ace
  Pregnancy: A pregnancy caused a sudden change during your adolescence, as 
  you had to step into a role of responsibility. Perhaps it involved you, a partner, a 
  close sibling or even parent.
  2
  Subcultural Switch: You switched subcultures during your adolescence. Perhaps 
  this was to rebel against family or maybe your family made the switch.
  3
  Runaway: You ran away from home and this changed the direction of your life. 
  Maybe you stowed away on a ship bound for space, or maybe you picked up 
  unusual skills during your time away from your family.
  4
  Legal Troubles: You got into a spot of trouble with the authorities. Maybe you 
  started running with a bad crowd, or maybe it was all a misunderstanding.
  5
  Abandoned: In your adolescence you were abandoned. Perhaps your family left 
  you when they moved or switched subcultures. Maybe you were lost during a 
  major conflict or natural disaster and never found your family again.
  6
  Gravity Change: A move during your adolescence led to a major gravity change. 
  This likely caused hardship, as you either had to adapt to heavier gravity on limbs 
  not yet equipped for it, or had to adjust to the effects of microgravity.
  7
  Religion: Not every religious individual is a Serv. Maybe you were thinking of 
  joining the clergy, or maybe you simply went through a devout phase.
  8
  Witness: As an adolescent you witnessed a violent crime and quickly had to go 
  into hiding, otherwise the criminal who committed the crime would hunt down 
  you or your family.
  9
  Early Indenture: You got into a great deal of debt and were forced into a contract 
  of indenture to pay it off. Perhaps you eventually paid off the debt, perhaps you 
  ran away from the contract or perhaps you’re still paying it off.
  10
  Mentorship: Someone during your adolescence acted as a particularly important 
  mentor or teacher. Maybe this was to teach you valuable technical skills or maybe 
  this was more of a personal mentorship.
  Jack
  Marriage: You got married very early on. Maybe you were pressured into this 
  marriage by family, or maybe your family objected. Perhaps this ended in disaster, 
  or perhaps you are still happily married after all these years. 
  Queen
  Moving Up: You or your family experiences a significant leap upward in wealth 
  or power during your adolescence. Maybe you got lucky with a good corp job, 
  blundered into some fame or inherited a windfall from distant family.
  King
  Disfigurement: An accident during your adolescence left you disfigured and 
  scarred. This likely has had an effect on your social status or work ability.
  Joker
  Missing Years: For some reason you have a large gap in your memory during 
  your adolescence. You have no idea what happened to you.
  
  21
  Education & Training
  Most people pick up many of their 
  skills through either school or employ-
  ment. Pick or draw a card on the table 
  below to determine an event related to 
  your training.
  Card
  Education & Training
  Ace
  Nepotism: You got into your first real career through good old-fashioned nepotism. 
  It might even be some fancy corp work. Suggested skills: Deception, Socialize.
  2
  Miner: One of the largest industries in space is mining. Much of this is automated, 
  but humans are still needed to repair and oversee the machines, as well as to survey 
  new asteroids. Suggested skills: Mechanic, Ordnance.
  3
  Salesperson: A great deal of money can be made peddling various wares to the 
  masses. You entered the workforce as one of the frontline sales force. Suggested 
  skills: Empathy, Persuade.
  4
  Grunt: Manual labor is still needed where automation is either insufficient or 
  not possible. Hiring manual laborers is also trendy among the Former and Expret 
  subcultures—a sign of wealth. Suggested skills: Athletics, Vehicles.
  5
  Military: Small-scale military conflicts are a staple of corp dealings and cultural 
  clashes in the twenty-third century. Specializing in this also pays comparatively 
  well. Suggested skills: Guns, Stealth.
  6
  Technical Training: Technical skills are much in demand, and a job is almost 
  always available to those with the right abilities. Suggested skills: Crafts, Engineer.
  7
  Medical: People are always slowly breaking down, and as the human population 
  grows, so too does the call for medics. Suggested skills: Bio-Sci, Medic.
  8
  Net Work: The net makes the world go ‘round, and with that comes plenty of 
  employment opportunities, either upkeeping net nodes or producing new net 
  content such as AR tags. Suggested skills: Comp-Ops, Program.
  9
  Drifter: Many individuals drift from job to job, or go unemployed. Automation 
  has put many out of work. Suggested skills: Awareness, Naturalist.
  10
  Security: Depending on whom one asks, security serves and protects many stations 
  and colonies across the Sol system, or are little better than criminals. Either way, 
  you joined the ranks. Suggested skills: Investigate, Melee.
  Jack
  Science: Science has changed, and continues to change, the world. You underwent 
  various scientific training. Suggested skills: Bio-Sci, Phy-Sci.
  Queen
  Ivory Tower: Academia is an institution unto itself, where knowledge is passed 
  down through teaching or through publication. You spend the years receiving a 
  very broad education Suggested skills: Lib-Arts, Socialize.
  King
  Crime Pays: The criminal element persists for a reason—the rewards are often 
  worth the risks. You were involved in a criminal enterprise and gained skills from 
  the experience. Suggested skills: Deception, Thievery.
  Joker
  Executive: A rare few rise through the corp ranks and become executives in either 
  middle or upper management. Suggested skills: Bureaucrat, Conspiracy.
   
  
  22
  Connections 
  & Contacts
  No person is an island, as everyone 
  makes some sort of connections or 
  contacts as they go through life. Pick or 
  draw a card on each of the tables below.
  Card
  Type of Connection
  Ace – 3
  Ally: This character is a close friend or ally. Whatever the specifics, 
  the character will usually try to act in your best interest.
  4 – 6
  Enemy: The character is an enemy or someone otherwise in oppo-
  sition to your goals or well-being.
  7 – 9
  Rival: The character is a rival, someone looking to beat or one-up 
  you. They may act to oppose you, but likely have some of the 
  same ultimate goals.
  10 – Jack
  Favor: This character is someone that either owes you a favor 
  (black) or to whom you owe a favor (red).
  Queen – King
  Acquaintance: This is someone that knows you well, but whose rela-
  tionship with you isn’t as clear as friend, rival or enemy. They may be 
  willing to perform small favors, but won’t go too far out of their way.
  Joker
  Twice: The connection to this character is particularly nuanced. 
  Draw twice more and combine the results.
  Card
  Connections & Contacts (Black)
  Connections & Contacts (Red)
  Ace
  Agricultural
  Financial
  2
  Industrial
  Custodial
  3
  Medical
  Mechanical
  4
  Engineering
  Educational
  5
  Familial
  Artistic
  6
  Hacker
  Bureaucratic
  7
  Scientific
  Construction
  8
  Entertainment
  Environmental
  9
  Subcultural
  Transport
  10
  Military
  Legal
  Jack
  Security
  Communications
  Queen
  Merchant
  Service
  King
  Criminal
  Corp
  Joker
  Executive
  Celebrity
   
  
  23
  Dark Secrets
  Horror literature is filled with charac-
  ters that harbor dark secrets. Some of these 
  secrets may be extraordinary, but most will 
  be mundane, although no less dark.
  Card
  Dark Secret
  Ace
  Killer: At some point in the past the character was driven to take a human life. It 
  could have been the life of a parent or an abusive spouse. Perhaps it was the life 
  of a business partner or extortionist threatening to expose other secrets.
  2
  Drug Fiend: The character is addicted to some drug, but it goes beyond mere 
  substance abuse. The character may have squandered her family fortune in 
  pursuit or sweet oblivion, or may performed questionable acts to get her fix.
  3
  Silent Witness: The character was a witness to some heinous crime, but did not 
  intervene or inform the authorities. Coming forward would mean the scorn of 
  friends and family for not doing so before, and danger from the perpetuator.
  4
  Blackmailer: The character knows the dark secret of another character, and is 
  blackmailing her. The character may be asking her victim for a large sum of 
  money, but is just as likely asking her to perform questionable acts.
  5
  Debauched: The character is addicted to sensual pleasure of some sort not looked 
  kindly upon by society. She may have even led others down this path.
  6
  Voices: The character hears voices in her head. Sometimes they tell her to perform 
  terrible acts. And she usually resists, but those times she does not...
  7
  Plunderer: At some point in the past the character stole something of great 
  worth. She may not even realize its true value. Nevertheless, there are those who 
  want it back, and who are not willing to forgive.
  8
  Shady Debt: The character has worked up a large debt from some questionable 
  activity. She may be driven to desperate acts to pay off this debt.
  9
  Past Associations: The character was formerly a member of a terrorist organiza-
  tion, a cult or some other group that, were it known, would result in her scorn or 
  danger from the group she left.
  10
  Sadist: The character harbors an inner desire to bring harm to others, delighting 
  in their suffering. She may regularly resist this urge, or she may secretly indulge 
  when no one is there to catch her.
  Jack
  Expedition Survivor: The character is the sole survivor of an expedition to 
  somewhere in the void. The expedition was a disaster, and the character was 
  forced to perform the most heinous of acts to survive.
  Queen
  Uncanny Double: There is someone who looks exactly like the character and 
  whom sometimes sullies her good name. Perhaps it is a clone, or just chance.
  King
  On the Take: The character is a spy working for another organization, or simply 
  corrupt. She regularly received payments for small acts or information.
  Joker
  Inhuman: The character isn’t fully human. She may be a trans-genetic experi-
  ment that escaped, or an AI posing as a human.
  
  24
  Cover Identities
  Conspiracies and plots are rife in 
  the future of Shadows Over Sol. They 
  run the gamut from collusions between 
  megacorps 
  to 
  individual 
  plotters 
  scheming to take down prominent 
  subcultural bloggers. 
  Many of those working in secret 
  make use of cover identities to hide 
  their activities. Cover identities in this 
  sense aren’t just false names or a flimsy 
  disguise; they include falsified records, 
  dummy social media profiles, separate 
  electronic addresses and forged creden-
  tials. This false electronic trail is never 
  fully comprehensive, but to be effective 
  it needs to be good enough to hold up 
  against casual scrutiny. 
  Regardless of the nature of the cover 
  identity, good identities take work to 
  upkeep, and so their resources are not 
  unlimited. Presented below is an optional 
  system for handling and tracking cover 
  identities in Shadows Over Sol.
  Gaining Identities
  Gaining a cover identity isn’t as 
  simple as using a false name. Appear-
  ances have to be made, records have 
  to be forged and the identity has to be 
  established. This typically requires either 
  a sizable amount of money, or enough 
  personal time and skill.
  Hiring an Expert
  Hiring someone to establish the 
  identity is probably the easiest method. A 
  skilled fixer/hacker willing to establish the 
  identity must first be located, and then 
  hired. Payment for this service is usually 
  in the ballpark of Cost 8. Completing the 
  service often takes a few days and may 
  require the biometrics of the person for 
  whom the identity is being established. 
  A character should always consider how 
  much she trusts the person being hired 
  to perform this service, lest it later be 
  discovered that her biometrics have now 
  been attached to those of a wanted arms 
  trafficker or similar.
  Do-it-Yourself
  Those with several weeks to make 
  appearances and plans may establish a 
  cover identity on their own without the 
  outside help of an expert. This is essen-
  tially a feat of social engineering and 
  uses the Engineering system presented in 
  the Shadows Over Sol core rulebook. 
  Engineering a cover identity has TN 
  10, Cost 5, Interval 1 week, Socialize 
  as the concept skill and Comp-Ops as 
  the Prototype skill. Bugs are essentially 
  areas where the cover hasn’t been fully 
  established—the lack of the identity in 
  passenger manifests, lines of credit, social 
  network presence, etc.
  Keeping Cover
  A character may have up to a number 
  of cover identities equal to her rank 
  in the Conspiracy skill. Mechanically, 
  this works a lot like languages with 
  the LibArts skill or cultures with the 
  Socialize skill. Characters who attempt 
  to keep a number of active cover iden-
  tities beyond this limit find their 
  time and resources overtaxed, as they 
  struggle with the upkeep required to 
  maintain this number. Unwanted cover 
  
  25
  identities may voluntarily be burned 
  and will no longer count against this 
  limit (see below).
  Burning Cover
  Cover identities are only as good as 
  they receive regular upkeep and as long 
  as their secret remains intact. Characters 
  who fail to upkeep a cover identity or who 
  have their secret revealed will quickly find 
  their alternate identity useless.
  Anytime a character’s cover identity 
  is discovered and the word gets out, the 
  identity is considered “burned.” She 
  may no longer use that identity to any 
  significant effect, and any attempt to 
  do so will likely result in discrepancies 
  turning up with the identity, prompting 
  other to look into the identity further 
  and turn up the whole truth. 
  At this point the player may remove 
  the cover identity from her list. As she 
  can no longer gain significant benefit 
  from it, it no longer counts against her 
  total number of identities. A character 
  may also voluntarily burn a cover identity 
  by ceasing its upkeep.
  
  26
  Sanity
  A common trope of many horror 
  roleplaying games is to present a system 
  which measures a character’s sanity, the 
  idea being that when a character encoun-
  ters the horrific, the encounter deals a 
  sort of metal damage to her. In this way 
  characters may spiral into dementia and 
  madness through repeated exposure to 
  horrific situations. Even if they regularly 
  survive the actual physical threat, they 
  may succumb to mental illness.
  When writing Shadows Over Sol we 
  made the design choice to avoid having 
  this sort of system. Our reasoning was 
  that this sort of representation of sanity 
  comes from a Victorian horror tradition 
  that is rather anachronistic compared to 
  the science fiction horror feel we wanted 
  to portray. As such, we left insanity and 
  madness purely within the agency of the 
  GM and players.
  There is no denying, however, that 
  sanity systems are deeply embedded in 
  the horror roleplaying tradition. As such, 
  there may be GMs who both want to run 
  Shadows Over Sol and want to keep 
  track of character sanity—anachronisms 
  be damned! There may also be GMs who 
  want to run a game paralleling Victorian 
  horror stories, but set in space. It is for 
  these sort of games that we present the 
  following optional sanity system.
  Representing 
  Mental Illness
  This system treats mental illness—
  that is, sanity loss—as a series of conse-
  quences. In this way it uses the same 
  basic rules for consequences found in 
  the Shadows Over Sol core rulebook 
  (see page 114). 
  Every time a character loses sanity, she 
  should either gain a new insanity conse-
  quence at light severity, or increase an 
  existing insanity consequence a severity. 
  As usual, no consequence can be raised 
  above critical severity in this way.
  The GM and player should work 
  together to figure out what exactly 
  the resulting insanity consequence 
  represents. This is likely some form of 
  PTSD, but it may also represent other 
  resulting neuroses, such as flashbacks, 
  nightmares, irrationality or depres-
  sion. Ultimately the player should pick 
  something that fits both the situation 
  and her character’s personality.
  Similarly, every time an insanity 
  consequence increases in severity, the 
  GM and player should work together to 
  figure out how it gets worse.
  Insanity consequences likely compel 
  certain behavior, or may even penalize 
  certain actions at the usual penalty for 
  the severity.
  Every time sanity is lost in this way it 
  is up to the player to decide whether this 
  results in a new insanity consequence, or 
  an old one worsening.
  Losing Sanity
  Encountering 
  horrifying 
  situa-
  tions may threaten a character’s sanity. 
  Whenever she encounters a situation 
  that might leave her sanity damaged, 
  she should make a Determination flip. 
  Which situations qualify and their diffi-
  culty is left to the GM to decide, but 
  some example TNs are given below:
  
  27
  Difficulty
  TN
  Lethal violence
  8
  Encounter with monster
  10
  Close associate killed
  12
  Torture (giving or receiving)
  14
  Treatment
  With time and therapy, mental 
  illness can be treated. A character who 
  seeks out treatment may remove a 
  severity of an insanity consequence for 
  each month of therapy.
  Another character acting as a counselor 
  can make a Per/empathy-10 flip once 
  a month to successfully administer 
  therapy. Alternatively, a character may 
  pay for professional counseling—usually 
  requiring a Cost 5 payment each month.
  Succumbing 
  to Madness
  If a character’s total number of severi-
  ties of insanity consequences ever exceeds 
  her Determination, she is lost to madness 
  and ceases to be a player character. She 
  should hand her character sheet over 
  to the GM, who then takes over the 
  character as a maddened NPC.
  Maybe she is lost for good, or maybe 
  she will get treatment and resume being 
  a playable character again one day. Either 
  way, that is something that should be 
  worked out between the GM and player.
  
  28
  Gear Packages
  Allowing players to pick and choose 
  the gear their characters will start with 
  allows for a great deal of character 
  customization. At the same time, 
  however, having every player pore over 
  the equipment list in detail can be a 
  time-consuming process. Additionally, 
  not every piece of equipment is going to 
  suit every campaign concept.
  Presented below are a variety of gear 
  packages that can be simply taken instead 
  of doing the usual shopping at character 
  creation. These packages may be useful 
  for players or GMs looking to speed up 
  character creation, as well as for games 
  with a narrow character focus.
  List of Packages
  Every gear package comes in three 
  versions—one each for survival horror, 
  investigative horror and action horror. 
  Additionally, every package comes with a 
  Wealth modifier. This modifies the char-
  acter’s starting Wealth, based upon the 
  cost of the equipment in the package.
  Artist
   
  � Survival: Camera, Expert System 
  (Basic: Crafts), Stimulox, Toolkit 
  (Basic: Crafts). Wealth: -1.
   
  � Investigative: Camera, Expert System 
  (Pro: Crafts), Stimulox, Toolkit (Basic: 
  Crafts), Workstation. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: AR Implant, Camera, Expert 
  System 
  (Pro: 
  Crafts), 
  Stimulox, 
  Toolkit (Basic: Crafts), Workstation. 
  Wealth: +0.
  Bounty Hunter
   
  � Survival: Disposable Cuffs, Somnitol, 
  USD-07 “Firefly” Shockstick. Wealth: 
  +0.
   
  � Investigative: 
  Disposable 
  Cuffs, 
  P&W 
  Wide-Trim 
  Designer 
  Coverjack, 
  Somnitol, 
  USD-07 
  “Firefly” Shockstick. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: Disposable Cuffs, E-Lock-
  pick, P&W Wide-Trim Designer 
  Coverjack, 
  Somnitol, 
  USD-07 
  “Firefly” Shockstick. Wealth: +0.
  Criminal
   
  � Survival: Toolkit (Basic: Thievery), 
  USD-383 “Wasp” Light Pistol, Voice 
  Mask. Wealth: -3.
   
  � Investigative: Disguise Kit (Basic), 
  P&W 
  Wide-Trim 
  Designer 
  Coverjack, Toolkit (Basic: Thievery), 
  USD-720 
  “Widowmaker” 
  Heavy 
  Pistol. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: Chameleon Suit, Disguise Kit 
  (Basic), P&W Wide-Trim Designer 
  Coverjack, 
  Toolkit 
  (Superior: 
  Thievery), USD-720 “Widowmaker” 
  Heavy Pistol. Wealth: -1.
  Doctor
   
  � Survival: 
  Medikit, 
  Regenasone, 
  Surgery Kit (Basic). Wealth: -1.
   
  � Investigative: Medikit, Regenasone, 
  Surgery Kit (Basic), USD-383 “Wasp” 
  Light Pistol. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: 
  Medikit, 
  Regenasone, 
  Surgery Kit (Superior), Toolkit (Basic: 
  Bio-Sci), USD-383 “Wasp” Light 
  Pistol. Wealth: -1.
  
  29
  Engineer
   
  � Survival: Demolition Charge, P&W 
  Wide-Trim 
  Designer 
  Coverjack, 
  Toolkit (Basic: Engineer). Wealth: -1.
   
  � Investigative: Demolition Charge, 
  P&W Wide-Trim Designer Coverjack, 
  Toolkit (Basic: Engineer), Toolkit 
  (Basic: Mechanic). Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: Demolition Charge, P&W 
  Wide-Trim 
  Designer 
  Coverjack, 
  Toolkit (Superior: Engineer), Toolkit 
  (Basic: 
  Mechanic), 
  USD-490L 
  “Indra” Light Laspistol. Wealth: -1.
  Executive
   
  � Survival: Expert System (Basic: 
  Socialize), Personal Assistant, Work-
  station. Wealth: -2.
   
  � Investigative: Expert System (Pro: 
  Socialize), 
  Personal 
  Assistant, 
  USD-383 “Wasp” Light Pistol, Work-
  station. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: AR Implant, Expert System 
  (Deluxe: 
  Socialize), 
  Mainframe, 
  Personal Assistant, USD-383 “Wasp” 
  Light Pistol. Wealth: -1.
  Gangster
   
  � Survival: P&W Wide-Trim Designer 
  Coverjack, 
  Stimulox, 
  USD-383 
  “Wasp” Light Pistol. Wealth: -1.
   
  � Investigative: Combat Utility Knife, 
  Stimulox, 
  USD-11h 
  “Bulwark” 
  Ballistic Suit, USD-720 “Widow-
  maker” Heavy Pistol. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: 
  Combat 
  Utility 
  Knife, 
  Injector Unit, Stimulox, USD-38n 
  “Knight” Tactical Suit, USD-3200 
  “Valkyrie” Heavy Rifle. Wealth: +0.
  Hacker
   
  � Survival: 
  Encryption 
  System 
  (Software 4), Expert System (Basic: 
  Program), Workstation. Wealth: -1.
   
  � Investigative: AR Implant, Encryp-
  tion System (Software 5), Expert 
  System (Pro: Program), Workstation. 
  Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: AR Implant, Encryption 
  System (Software 7), Expert System 
  (Deluxe: 
  Program), 
  Mainframe, 
  USD-3200 “Valkyrie” Heavy Rifle. 
  Wealth: -1.
  Laborer
   
  � Survival: Flashlight, Medikit (Basic), 
  Power Tool, Torpestat. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Investigative: Flashlight, Medikit 
  (Basic), Plasma Cutter, Power Tool, 
  Torpestat. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: Flashlight, Medikit (Basic), 
  Plasma Cutter, Power Tool, Torpestat, 
  Unitech “Sunspot” C3 Vac Suit. 
  Wealth: +0.
  Missionary
   
  � Survival: Backpack, Expert System 
  (Basic: Lib-Arts), Expert System 
  (Basic: Socialize), Translation Software 
  (Pick Two Languages). Wealth: +0.
   
  � Investigative: 
  Backpack, 
  Expert 
  System (Basic: Lib-Arts), Expert 
  System (Basic: Socialize), Medikit, 
  Translation 
  Software 
  (Pick Two 
  Languages). Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: 
  Backpack, 
  Expert 
  System 
  (Basic: Lib-Arts), Expert System (Basic: 
  Socialize), Medikit, P&W Wide-Trim 
  Designer Coverjack, Translation Software 
  (Pick Two Languages). Wealth: +0
  
  30
  Officer
   
  � Survival: Encryption System (Basic), 
  P&W Wide-Trim Deigner Coverjack, 
  Radio Comm, USD-383 “Wasp” 
  Light Pistol. Wealth: -1.
   
  � Investigative: Encryption System (Basic), 
  Ladar Scanner, P&W Wide-Trim Deigner 
  Coverjack, Radio Comm, USD-720 
  “Widowmaker” Heavy Pistol. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: Encryption System (Basic), Ladar 
  Scanner, USD-38n “Knight” Tactical Suit, 
  Radio Comm, USD-720 “Widowmaker” 
  Heavy Pistol, Verazine. Wealth: +0.
  Pilot
   
  � Survival: Expert System (Basic: 
  Vehicles), Unitech “Sunspot” C3 Vac 
  Suit, USD-383 “Wasp” Light Pistol. 
  Wealth: -1.
   
  � Investigative: Expert System (Pro: 
  Vehicles), Unitech “Sunspot” C3 Vac 
  Suit, USD-720 “Widowmaker” Heavy 
  Pistol, Workstation. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: Expert System (Pro: Vehicles), 
  Radio Comm, Unitech “Sunspot” C3 
  Vac Suit, USD-840L “Horus” Heavy 
  Laspistol, Workstation. Wealth: +0.
  Scientist
   
  � Survival: Disposable Test Kit, Expert 
  System (Basic: Pick Specialty), Stimulox, 
  Toolkit (Pick Specialty). Wealth: -1.
   
  � Investigative: Disposable Test Kit, 
  Expert System (Pro: Pick Specialty), 
  Stimulox, Toolkit (Pick Specialty), 
  Workstation. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: Data Chip, Disposable Test 
  Kit, Expert System (Deluxe: Pick 
  Specialty), Stimulox, Toolkit (Pick 
  Specialty), Mainframe. Wealth: -1.
  Scrapper
   
  � Survival: Backpack, Regenasone, Unitech 
  “Sunspot” C3 Vac Suit, USD-383 
  “Wasp” Light Pistol. Wealth: -3.
   
  � Investigative: 
  Backpack, 
  Plasma 
  Cutter, 
  Regenasone, 
  Unitech 
  “Sunspot” C3 Vac Suit, USD-383 
  “Wasp” Light Pistol. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: 
  Backpack, 
  E-Lockpick, 
  Plasma Cutter, Regenasone, Unitech 
  “Sunspot” C3 Vac Suit, USD-383 
  “Wasp” Light Pistol. Wealth: +0.
  Security
   
  � Survival: Disposable Cuffs, USD-07 
  “Firefly” 
  Shockstick, 
  USD-383 
  “Wasp” Light Pistol. Wealth: -1.
   
  � Investigative: Disposable Cuffs, USD-07 
  “Firefly” Shockstick, USD-11h “Bulwark” 
  Ballistic Suit, USD-720 “Widowmaker” 
  Heavy Pistol. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: 
  Chem-Sniff, 
  Disposable 
  Cuffs, USD-07 “Firefly” Shockstick, 
  USD-11h “Bulwark” Ballistic Suit, 
  USD-720 
  “Widowmaker” 
  Heavy 
  Pistol. Wealth: +0.
  Socialite
   
  � Survival: Expert System (Basic: 
  Empathy), Expert System (Basic: 
  Socialize), USD-07 “Firefly” Shock-
  stick. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Investigative: AR Implant, Expert 
  System (Basic: Empathy), Expert 
  System (Basic: Socialize), USD-383 
  “Wasp” Light Pistol. Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: AR Implant, Expert System 
  (Basic: Empathy), Expert System (Basic: 
  Socialize), Toolkit (Superior: Socialize), 
  USD-383 “Wasp” Light Pistol. Wealth: -1.
  
  31
  Soldier
   
  � Survival: Medikit (Basic), USD-11h 
  “Bulwark” Ballistic Suit, USD-383 
  “Wasp” Light Pistol. Wealth: -3.
   
  � Investigative: 
  Medikit 
  (Basic), 
  USD-11h “Bulwark” Ballistic Suit, 
  USD-3200 “Valkyrie” Heavy Rifle, 
  USD-9300 Frag Grenade. Wealth: -1.
   
  � Action: Medikit (Superior), Night Vision 
  Glasses, USD-38n “Knight” Tactical 
  Suit, USD-3200 “Valkyrie” Heavy Rifle, 
  USD-9300 Frag Grenade. Wealth: +0.
  Spy
   
  � Survival: 
  E-Lockpick, 
  Magnetic 
  Grapnel, USD-07 “Firefly” Shockstick. 
  Wealth: -3.
   
  � Investigative: Biometric Cracker, E-Lock-
  pick, Magnetic Grapnel, USD-383 
  “Wasp” Light Pistol. Wealth: -1.
   
  � Action: Biometric Cracker, Chameleon 
  Suit, E-Lockpick, Magnetic Grapnel, 
  USD-383 “Wasp” Light Pistol. Wealth: +0.
  Student
   
  � Survival: Data Chip, Expert System 
  (Basic: Lib-Arts), Stimulox, Worksta-
  tion. Wealth: -1.
   
  � Investigative: Data Chip, Expert 
  System (Pro: Lib-Arts), Personal 
  Assistant, 
  Stimulox, Workstation. 
  Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: Data Chip, Expert System 
  (Pro: Lib-Arts), Personal Assistant, 
  Stimulox, USD-07 “Firefly” Shock-
  stick, Workstation. Wealth: +0.
  Survivalist
   
  � Survival: Combat Utility Knife, GPS 
  Tracker, Survival Kit (Basic). Wealth: -1.
   
  � Investigative: Combat Utility Knife, 
  Gecko-Climbers, 
  GPS 
  Tracker, 
  Survival Kit (Basic). Wealth: +0.
   
  � Action: Combat Utility Knife, Gecko-
  Climbers, GPS Tracker, Survival Kit 
  (Superior). Wealth: -1.
  
  32
  
  33
  Our genes make up some of our core 
  potential as individuals. They determine 
  many of our phenotypic features such 
  as hair, skin and eye colors, as well as 
  our genetic aptitudes and risk of generic 
  diseases. In the future of Shadows Over 
  Sol the very genes that comprise us are 
  subject to editing and manipulation 
  before birth. This has led to a variety 
  of commercially available genelines—
  both common and uncommon. Addi-
  tionally, some character types may 
  go beyond geneline, diverging into 
  different species entirely.
  Genelines & 
  Beyond
  Transhumanism
  One of the implicit assumptions in the Shadows Over Sol setting is that 
  (so far, at least) humans have more-or-less remained human. Two hundred 
  years is not very long on an evolutionary timeline with creatures as long-lived as 
  human beings, and neither has humanity radically altered what it is to be part 
  of the human species through the use of advanced technology. This, however, 
  is beginning to change. The rise of commercial genelines is an obvious first step 
  towards a larger-scale alternation of the human genome. 
  This book offers a number of additional options that explore the edge of what 
  is possible with technology in Shadows Over Sol. These options veer towards 
  the transhuman, pushing the definition of what it is to be a person. Some of these 
  options are closer to the traditional definition of human than others. Radical 
  genelines may have inhuman features, but the core of their genome is still Homo 
  sapiens. Others, such as uplifted animals, introduce human-like intelligence to 
  other species. Finally, the options for androids, cyborgs and hard AI leave tradi-
  tional biology behind entirely.
  GMs wishing to push their campaigns in a more transhuman direction would 
  be well-advised to read up on the subject of transhumanism, of which there is a 
  wealth available online.
  
  34
  Unusual 
  Genelines
  Hundreds of geneline variants exist, 
  the vast majority of which fall into the 
  categories found in the Shadows Over 
  Sol core rulebook. Nevertheless, some 
  more unusual categories of genelines can 
  be found throughout the system’s popu-
  lation. Many of these geneline variants 
  simply never found their market niche, or 
  were out-competed by the more common 
  genelines. A few of these more unusual 
  variants are given below.
  Groundside Deluxe
  The 
  Groundside 
  Deluxe 
  is 
  an 
  upmarket version of the Groundside 
  Standard geneline that never really found 
  its market niche, as those with the money 
  tend to drift toward the Athlete Deluxe, 
  Genius Deluxe, Celebrity Deluxe or even 
  Quicksilver Deluxe genelines. Neverthe-
  less, the Groundside Deluxe presents a 
  well-rounded geneline geared towards life 
  in a gravity well.
   
  � Experiences: Str +10, Dex +5, Spd +5, 
  End +10, Int + 10, Per +10, Chr +10, 
  Det +10
   
  � Edge: -2. As one of the most advanced 
  genelines that money can buy, those 
  with the Groundside Deluxe geneline 
  need to rely less on their edge to get 
  them through situations in life, and as 
  such do not develop it as much.
   
  � Optional Weakness: The vast majority 
  of people live in a gravity well and never 
  journey into space in their lifetimes. 
  Protections against common space 
  ailments are commonly excluded 
  from groundside genelines. The player 
  may optionally take an Impairment 
  weakness to account for this. The 
  Groundside Deluxe is also a step up 
  from most groundside genelines. Those 
  with this geneline may feel superior to 
  their peers, giving them a social Impair-
  ment due to their arrogance.
  Martian Standard
  The Martian Standard is a mid-market 
  geneline commissioned and promoted by 
  the Terraforming Project. It’s marketed 
  primarily 
  towards 
  Martian 
  settlers 
  or would-be Martian colonists. The 
  geneline emphasizes manual dexterity 
  and cognitive ability, as well as the rugged 
  toughness and determination needed 
  to make a life in the Martian outback. 
  Finally, the geneline ships with a number 
  of minor resistances to radiation, CO2 
  poisoning and other hazards common on 
  the Red Planet.
   
  � Experiences: Str +5, Dex +10, Spd +5, 
  End +10, Int +10, Per +5, Chr +5, 
  Det +10
   
  � Optional Weakness: As this geneline 
  is so focused on Mars, individuals 
  might suffer from Complication 
  (Non-Mars Environment), Short-
  coming (Encumbrance) in normal 
  gravity or Impairment (Coordina-
  tion) in microgravity environments.
  
  35
  Quicksilver Deluxe
  The Quicksilver Deluxe geneline is an 
  upmarket geneline targeted at those who 
  want their children to have exceptional 
  manual dexterity and agility. Targeted 
  are those who want their children to 
  be excellent musicians, surgeons or to 
  compete in certain sports where quickness 
  and agility are paramount.
   
  � Experiences: Str +0, Dex +15, Spd +15, 
  End +0, Int +5, Per +5, Chr +10, 
  Det +10
   
  � Optional Weakness: As the Quick-
  silver Deluxe geneline is marked to 
  a particular demographic of parent 
  with a strong vision of what they 
  want from their child, those with the 
  Quicksilver Deluxe geneline often 
  have weaknesses that are a reaction to 
  this. They may have an Impairment in 
  fields other than their chosen course 
  of study, or they may even have a 
  Disability or Shortcoming weakness 
  from where they relied too heavily on 
  their geneline, and it failed them.
  Spacer Deluxe
  Marketed towards wealthy spacer 
  parents, the Spacer Deluxe is an upmarket 
  version of the Spacer Standard geneline. 
  This geneline has never been as popular 
  as many competing genelines, as its sales 
  suffer both from the fact that the majority 
  of the human population lives in a gravity 
  well, and from the fact that many of those 
  who can afford a deluxe geneline have 
  more specialized options available.
   
  � Experiences: Str +5, Dex +10, Spd +10, 
  End +5, Int + 10, Per +10, Chr +10, 
  Det +10
   
  � Edge: -2. As one of the most advanced 
  genelines that money can buy, those 
  with the Spacer Deluxe geneline need 
  to rely less on their edge to get them 
  through situations in life, and as such 
  do not develop it as much.
   
  � Optional Weakness: Spacers largely 
  live in a climate-controlled world of 
  air-scrubbers and recyclers. Spacer 
  genelines often fail to include modi-
  fications that protect against rampant 
  environmental pollutants found on 
  Earth, or the prevalence of diseases 
  found in the large population centers 
  groundside. The player may option-
  ally take an Impairment weakness to 
  account for this.
  
  36
  Radical 
  Genelines
  Below are a variety of genelines that 
  make substantial modifications to the 
  human genome—not just selecting for 
  particular qualities or preventing genetic 
  diseases, but oftentimes grafting in genes 
  from non-human species or creating 
  pathways that turn on genes latent in 
  modern humanity.
  None of these genelines are very 
  common—indeed, the use of some has 
  become rather taboo. Nevertheless, these 
  are all creations which humanity has 
  developed in its never-ending quest for 
  new discoveries.
  Icarus 2200
  The Icarus 2200 geneline was funded 
  in a wildly successful crowdfunding 
  campaign, which launched in 2199. 
  Playing off the dream of humanity one 
  day being able to fly on its own accord, 
  the campaign featured images of people 
  soaring through multi-hued alien skies. 
  Funding was successful and the geneline 
  was available starting in early 2200. It 
  proved to be a short-lived fad. Too heavy 
  to fly in normal gravity, and with limited 
  open spaces in low gravity environments, 
  the Icarus 2200 geneline never found a 
  long-term niche.
   
  � Experiences: Str +0, Dex +10, Spd +10, 
  End +10, Int +5, Per +10, Chr +5, 
  Det +5
   
  � Low Gravity Glide: Icarus 2200’s have 
  membranous skin flaps connecting 
  their limbs to the sides of their torso. 
  In areas of low gravity and substantial 
  atmosphere these flaps can be unfurled 
  and used to glide through the air, 
  much like a flying squirrel. Icarus flaps 
  do not function on Earth or Venus, 
  nor in trace atmosphere anywhere. 
  They do function within the domes on 
  Luna, Mars and most stations. Using 
  the flaps requires a Dex/athletics-10 
  action. Successful deployment prevents 
  all falling damage and allows limited 
  maneuverability.
   
  � Optional Weakness: The Icarus 
  geneline was a fad over a decade 
  ago. While the children with it are 
  just reaching maturity, the geneline 
  already looks dated. This might 
  justify an Impairment in social situ-
  ations. Additionally, the flaps can get 
  in the way occasionally, perhaps justi-
  fying an Impairment for actions that 
  involve swinging the arms, or even a 
  related Complication.
  Moleman MK4
  Small and radiation-resistant, the 
  Moleman series of genelines were origi-
  nally developed as an experimental 
  geneline intended to colonize asteroids 
  and small moons. Their radiation-resis-
  tance allows for minimal shielding, and 
  their small size allows for smaller and 
  easier-to-maintain habitats. Unfortu-
  nately, the geneline proved to require no 
  fewer calories and suffered bone degrada-
  tion just like non-spacer genelines. Since 
  then the geneline has found more success 
  inhabiting the radioactive zones on 
  Earth left by World War IV. The current 
  iteration of the geneline is the Mark 4.
  
  37
   
  � Experiences: Str +0, Dex +0, Spd +0, 
  End+15, Int +10, Per +10, Chr +10, 
  Det +10
   
  � Radiation Resistant: Moleman have 
  been designed to be extremely resistant 
  to 
  radiation 
  exposure, 
  although 
  enough radiation will still kill them. 
  They receive a +4 bonus on any actions 
  to resist radiation or its effects.
   
  � Size -1: Molemen tend to be smaller 
  than a typical human adult. This 
  provides a +1 bonus to Defense and a 
  -1 penalty to Shock.
   
  � Optional Weakness: A moleman’s 
  small size might justify an Impairment 
  against being knocked down, or even 
  a Shortcoming relating to Wound or 
  Shock. The size might also justify an 
  Impairment in social situations.
  Neo-anderthal
  Thousands of examples of Neanderthal 
  bone fragments exist, and in the twenty-
  first century onward, scientists have been 
  able to extract small pieces of remnant 
  DNA. Through much effort, this DNA 
  was patched together to form an almost-
  full genome, with Homo sapiens DNA 
  filling in the gaps. This formed the basis 
  for a new geneline in the early twenty-
  second century. Always something of a 
  novelty, most Neo-anderthals are a small 
  minority going back several generations.
   
  � Experiences: Str +10, Dex +0, Spd +0, 
  End +5, Int +0, Per +5, Chr +0, Det +10
   
  � Edge: +3. Competing in a world where 
  one is saddled with a reconstruction 
  of an older wild type geneline, those 
  with a Neo-anderthal genetic makeup 
  most develop their edge to its fullest 
  in order to manage to compete.
   
  � Optional Weakness: Being a recre-
  ation of a once-extinct hominid 
  species, Neo-anderthals face a not 
  insignificant amount of prejudice. 
  This could easily justify an Impair-
  ment relating to social actions, or 
  even some mental actions.
  Nereid Beta
  Originally 
  intended 
  to 
  produce 
  settlers ready to colonize the vast oceans 
  of Earth rather than to compete for ever-
  dwindling land space, the Nereid geneline 
  possesses an amphibian-skin, capable of 
  absorbing much of the oxygen needed 
  to survive. This skin allows a Nereid to 
  “breathe” underwater. 
   
  � Experiences: Str +5, Dex +5, Spd +10, 
  End +10, Int +5, Per +10, Chr +0, 
  Det +10
   
  � Amphibious: Nereids are able to 
  absorb oxygen through their skin, 
  much like an amphibian. This allows 
  them to both survive in an atmo-
  sphere containing a lower amount 
  of oxygen (up to 25% less) and to 
  “breathe” underwater.
   
  � Optional Weakness: A Nereid’s skin, 
  while the geneline’s most defining 
  feature, is also the geneline’s greatest 
  weakness. It’s overly sensitive, prone 
  to infection and kind of ugly by 
  most common standards of beauty. 
  This could justify a Shortcoming 
  for Shock, an Impairment to social 
  actions or Complication relating to 
  contact with the Nereid’s skin.
  
  38
  Nibelung Custom
  The Nibelung Custom geneline was 
  designed for an ambitious mid-twenty-
  second century attempt to settle the 
  Antarctic. More resistant to the cold 
  than other human genelines, Nibelungs 
  found their specialized niche, where they 
  continue to see use, but few members of 
  this geneline are found throughout the 
  rest of the system.
   
  � Experiences: Str +5, Dex +5, Spd +5, 
  End+10, Int +10, Per +5, Chr +10, 
  Det +5
   
  � Cold Resistant: Those with the 
  Nibelung geneline have cells that resist 
  damage from freezing. Nibelungs 
  have a +4 bonus on actions to resist 
  fatigue or damage from the cold.
   
  � Optional Weakness: Just as this 
  geneline is adapted to the cold, indi-
  viduals may be less well adapted to the 
  heat. This could justify an Impairment 
  to resist heat-based fatigue or damage.
  Nyx Nyx
  Most people cannot see in the dark. 
  This leads to the necessity for lighting, 
  lost productivity and those seeking to use 
  darkness to hide their illicit actions. One 
  of the very first radical genelines commer-
  cially available, the Nyx nyx geneline, was 
  designed to provide a distinct competi-
  tive advantage in the dark, with eyes engi-
  neered to see into the infrared.
   
  � Experiences: Str +5, Dex +5, Spd +5, 
  End +0, Int +10, Per +15, Chr +5, 
  Det +5
   
  � Infravision: Nyx nyx can see into the 
  infrared parts of the electromagnetic 
  spectrum, allowing them to ignore 
  penalties for darkness.
   
  � Optional Weakness: While adapted 
  for the night, some Nyx nyx get so 
  used to the dark that functioning 
  in bright light becomes problem-
  atic. This may justify an Impairment 
  weakness to actions in bright light.
  The Ogre
  The Ogre geneline has a bad reputa-
  tion. In the early twenty-second century 
  when radical genelines were a fad, they 
  began to be criticized as an agent of 
  social decay, turning human beings into 
  predestined tools. The Ogre geneline was 
  held up as an example of this—people 
  genetically engineered to be large and 
  intimidating, a sort of perfect bouncer or 
  bodyguard, the poor engineered to serve 
  the wealthy. This criticism brought the 
  radical geneline fad to an end, but the 
  Ogre geneline kept its stigma.
   
  � Experiences: Str +15, Dex +5, Spd +5, 
  End +5, Int +5, Per +5, Chr +10, 
  Det +10
   
  � Size +1: Those with the Ogre geneline 
  are very large in stature. This provides 
  a -1 penalty to Defense and a +1 
  bonus to Shock.
   
  � Optional Weakness: As a geneline 
  designed for its recipient to be a tool 
  in the prime of their life, little thought 
  was given to how well the geneline 
  held up as the individuals’ age. This 
  has led the Ogre geneline to have a 
  number of age-related defects. This 
  could justify a Shortcoming related to 
  Defense or an Impairment related to 
  movement or perception.
  
  39
  Spacer Alpha
  Spacer genelines feature many small 
  changes engineered for life in space. Most 
  of these changes were first given limited 
  trial runs before they were incorporated 
  into the Spacer Standard or the Spacer 
  Deluxe genelines. The Spacer Alpha 
  geneline is where these changes were first 
  tested. The current generation of the Spacer 
  Alpha geneline reaching maturity features 
  enhancements for microgravity, such as a 
  second eyelid that pushes tears away from 
  the eyes so as not to cloud vision in zero-G, 
  and prehensile toes on the feet.
   
  � Experiences: Str +0, Dex +10, Spd +5, 
  End +10, Int +10, Per +5, Chr +5, 
  Det +0
   
  � Microgravity Adapted: Those with the 
  Spacer Alpha geneline have numerous 
  small changes to make life in micro-
  gravity easier. This includes a second 
  eyelid that allows them to wipe tears 
  away from their eyes towards their nose, 
  blood that clots more easily in micro-
  gravity and an inner ear that doesn’t 
  cause motion sickness due to zero-G or 
  the Coriolis Effect.
   
  � Prehensile Toes: The latest generation of 
  the Spacer Alpha geneline has opposable 
  toes, which function something like 
  additional off-hands—good for holding 
  into grips or holding tools, but ill-suited 
  for delicate work. A Spacer Alpha using 
  her feet in place of hands takes a -2 
  penalty to Dex-based actions.
   
  � Optional Weakness: A Spacer Alpha’s 
  adapted feet may make walking long 
  distances in normal gravity prob-
  lematic, providing an Impairment to 
  movement in full gravity or even a 
  Disability in extreme cases.
  Geneline Creation
  Countless individual genelines exist, often with only minor variation from the 
  established common genelines. These genelines range from cut-rate knockoffs of 
  popular genelines, to expertly-tailored custom jobs.
  Mechanically, creating a basic geneline is fairly straightforward. A geneline 
  should provide a number of free experiences in the eight stats, ranging from zero 
  to a bonus of +15. For basic genelines this should total up to 60 free experiences.
  Creating genelines that modify Edge is a bit more complicated. Genelines penal-
  izing Edge by -2 provide an additional 10 experiences, while those penalizing Edge 
  by -3 provide an additional 20 experiences. For genelines that provide a bonus to 
  Edge, every +1 reduces total experiences by -10, to a maximum of +4 Edge.
  Radical genelines—or those representing nonhuman characters, such as uplifts 
  or androids—are more complicated still. These genelines will provide a number of 
  traits which function similarly to traits possessed by nonhuman NPCs. The GM 
  can think of every such trait as “costing” or being equivalent to a certain number 
  of experiences. Every trait provided in this way will reduce the number of experi-
  ences granted by the geneline by that amount. The cost of these traits will need to 
  be judged by the GM on a case-by-case basis.
  
  40
  Uplifts
  Humanity has modified not only 
  its own genome, but the genomes of 
  other species as well. The aims of these 
  modifications vary, but one powerful 
  aim is the attempt to introduce human-
  like intelligence to other species. This 
  process is known as uplift, and related 
  experiments have thus far been met 
  with moderate success.
  Human society hasn’t really found a 
  place for uplifts, and as a consequence 
  few exist. Those that do exist are often 
  either the result of some fringe group 
  ideologically “sharing the bounties of 
  human intelligence” or were created as 
  a corp novelty. The former are typically 
  released into a society which doesn’t want 
  them and has no real support for them. 
  The latter are typically cared for as long as 
  the appeal of their novelty lasts, and then 
  dumped once no longer profitable.
  Of the uplifts that do make it beyond 
  these rough beginnings, many retreat to 
  the safety of the net. Provided the right 
  interfaces, an uplift can do business on 
  the net without anyone being the wiser 
  to their uplifted nature. Others find 
  themselves serving as servants or inden-
  tures to groups that can make use of 
  their unique physiology.
  Most uplifts will possess the Nonhuman 
  Servant subculture described later in this 
  book—as in the end they are not really an 
  accepted part of human society, and thus 
  not a member of any subculture. A rare 
  few, however, may operate primarily on 
  the net, and thus find their way into the 
  Technos or the Virtuals.
  Uplift Ape
  Among the uplifts with the closest-
  to-human physiology, uplift apes do not 
  possess many of the complications other 
  uplifts have—such as a lack of opposable 
  thumbs, small size or extremely divergent 
  dietary requirements. On the other hand, 
  uplift apes do face the same social biases 
  that all uplifts face. They are among the 
  earliest and most common uplifts.
   
  � Experiences: Str +15, Dex +5, Spd +5, 
  End +10, Int +0, Per +10, Chr +5, 
  Det +10
   
  � Uplift: See “The Uplift Trait” sidebar.
   
  � Optional Weakness: A variety of 
  limitations involving an uplift’s physi-
  ology or social status may be taken as 
  weaknesses. This includes: Complica-
  tion (Uplift Discrimination).
  Uplift Cat
  Uplift cats are among the smallest 
  uplifts, skirting against the lower edge of 
  what is possible with uplift technology. 
  The skull of an uplift cat often appears 
  “deformed” compared to a normal cat, 
  due to the physiological changes necessary 
  for the uplift process. Nevertheless, uplift 
  cats are able small hunters.
   
  � Experiences: Str +0, Dex +15, Spd +15, 
  End +5, Int +0, Per +10, Chr +5, 
  Det +5
   
  � Uplift: See “The Uplift Trait” sidebar.
   
  � Catfall: Halve the number of light 
  wounds an uplift cat takes from a fall.
   
  � Pounce: When making a melee attack 
  a cat may immediately move for free 
  before the attack executes.
   
  � Size -2: Uplift cats are small and quick. 
  This provides a +2 bonus to Defense 
  
  41
  and a -2 penalty to Shock. Uplift cats 
  may not possess a Strength above 3.
   
  � Optional Weakness: A variety of 
  limitations involving an uplift’s physi-
  ology or social status may be taken as 
  weaknesses. This includes: Disability 
  (No Opposable Thumbs), Short-
  coming (Small, Wound) and Compli-
  cation (Uplift Discrimination).
  Uplift Dog
  Uplift dogs were some of the earliest 
  uplifts outside of the primate order. Most 
  uplift dogs are descended from larger-to-
  medium domestic breeds, with smaller 
  breeds 
  having 
  more 
  pronouncedly 
  deformed skulls.
   
  � Experiences: Str +0, Dex +5, Spd +10, 
  End +5, Int +0, Per +15, Chr +15, 
  Det +5
   
  � Uplift: See “The Uplift Trait” sidebar.
  The Uplift Trait
  All uplifts share the Uplift trait. This imposes a number of restrictions and 
  complications upon the uplifted character. These include:
   
  � An uplift will often be thought of more as an animal than as a person. This is 
  likely to lead to persistent discrimination and other biases in social situations
   
  � Most gear will not be manufactured with the uplift’s physiology in mind. 
  This will render most human gear unusable. Custom-manufactured gear will 
  typically need to be purchased, often costing double (+1 cost rating).
   
  � Human drugs may not react the same way with the uplift’s physiology as 
  with a human’s physiology (GM’s discretion). Special drugs geared toward the 
  uplift’s physiology may need to be purchased (+1 cost rating).
   
  � Uplifts do not have human vocal cords. This means they cannot speak human 
  languages without electronic assistance. All uplifts start with a “vocal box,” 
  which straps to their neck and allows them to effectively speak. This does not 
  count against their starting purchases, and it has the Worn property. Replacing 
  a vocal box is Cost 4.
  
  42
   
  � Keen Smell: Dogs have a keen sense 
  of smell and only suffer a -2 penalty 
  rather than a -4 when facing an 
  unseen foe. They also gain a +2 bonus 
  on attempts to recognize scents.
   
  � Size -1: Uplift dogs tend to be smaller 
  than a human adult. This provides a 
  +1 bonus to Defense and a -1 penalty 
  to Shock. Uplift dogs may not possess 
  a Strength above 5.
   
  � Optional Weakness: A variety of 
  limitations involving an uplift’s physi-
  ology or social status may be taken as 
  weaknesses. This includes: Disability 
  (No Opposable Thumbs), Disability 
  (Limited Color Vision) and Compli-
  cation (Uplift Discrimination).
  Uplift Pig
  Pigs were already fairly intelligent 
  creatures before uplift, and uplift has 
  only enhanced this capacity. While the 
  uplift of pigs has never been as popular 
  as the uplift of dogs or the great apes, 
  knowledge gained through the uplift 
  of pigs was crucial in the development 
  of other uplifts, including elephants, 
  dolphins and cats.
   
  � Experiences: Str +10, Dex +5, Spd +10, 
  End +5, Int +0, Per +15, Chr +0, 
  Det +5
   
  � Uplift: See “The Uplift Trait” sidebar.
   
  � Keen Smell: Pigs have a keen sense 
  of smell and only suffer a -2 penalty 
  rather than a -4 when facing an 
  unseen foe. They also gain a +2 bonus 
  on attempts to recognize scents.
   
  � Optional Weakness: A variety of limi-
  tations involving an uplift’s physiology 
  or social status may be taken as weak-
  nesses. This includes: Disability (No 
  Opposable Thumbs) and Complica-
  tion (Uplift Discrimination).
  Other Uplifts
  The uplifts presented here are 
  far from being the only uplifted 
  species in existence, rather they 
  have been chosen as being the most 
  suitable choices for player charac-
  ters. Uplifted dolphins, octopi, 
  orcas and elephants all exist, but 
  members of these species present 
  substantial roleplaying challenges 
  beyond their uplifted nature.
  GMs wishing to create an 
  uplifted character of a different 
  species can simply take the stat 
  block for the related species and 
  increase its intelligence. The rest 
  is a matter of roleplaying. Indeed, 
  there is significant precedent in 
  the horror genre even for such 
  things as hyper-intelligent sharks 
  or crocodiles.
  
  43
  Androids, 
  Cyborgs & AIs
  Androids, cyborgs and artificial intel-
  ligences are staples of science fiction. 
  What all of these character types have 
  in common is that they are in some part 
  machine, and all could make for inter-
  esting characters in the Shadows Over 
  Sol setting. Some of these character types 
  are, however, more suitable as player 
  characters than others.
  Android
  Androids are robots designed to 
  resemble humans. They are controlled by 
  an artificial intelligence, typically housed 
  within the android body. Most androids 
  in Shadows Over Sol either exist as 
  academic proofs of concept or as some 
  sort of novelty, as the expense of their 
  creation and training typically outweighs 
  their economic utility.
   
  � Experiences: Str +10, Dex +5, Spd +5, 
  End +10, Int +15, Per +5, Chr +0, 
  Det +10
   
  � Machine: As a machine, an android is 
  immune to metabolic hazards, as well 
  as emotionally-based consequences. 
  They are vulnerable to electromag-
  netic hazards. 
   
  � Recharge: While androids do not 
  require sleep, they are powered by 
  internal batteries and have extensive 
  power requirements. These batteries 
  require recharging every 24 hours. 
  This takes 12 hours while fully func-
  tional, albeit plugged into an external 
  power source. If the android shuts 
  down during this time, a recharge can 
  be accomplished in 6 hours.
   
  � Unhealing: Androids do not naturally 
  heal. Instead, with a successful Int/
  mechanic-10 action, they may be 
  repaired for their Endurance in 
  Wound severities each day. These 
  repairs require replacement parts and 
  have a cost rating equal to the android’s 
  highest wound severity—so light is 
  Cost 1, moderate is Cost 2, etc.
   
  � Optional 
  Weakness: 
  Numerous 
  thematic weaknesses are common 
  for 
  androids, 
  including 
  Impair-
  ment (Social Skills), Disability (No 
  Tactical Sensory Input), Disability 
  (No Olfactory Sensory Input), Short-
  coming (Delicate Construction, -2 to 
  Wound) and Complication (AI Bugs).
  Cyborg
  Cyborgs are part biological and part 
  mechanical—usually a fusion of human 
  and machine. In many ways the distinc-
  tion between a full-on cyborg and a 
  human with mechanical implants is a 
  blurry one. With enough implants, at 
  some point a character begins to be more 
  machine than human.
  In the future of Shadows Over Sol, 
  implants are out of fashion, except for a 
  few basics such as the AR implant or the 
  biomonitor. This makes an encounter 
  with a full-on cyborg quite unusual. 
  Nevertheless, 
  those 
  who 
  fetishize 
  implants—also known as cyberfiends—
  do exist, and there could be any number 
  of secret projects researching the combi-
  nation of chrome and flesh as an instru-
  ment of war or espionage.
  
  44
  The recommended method to create 
  a cyborg player character is to create a 
  character normally and then use that char-
  acter’s purchases to buy implants. Many 
  of the more radical implants found in the 
  Shiny New Toys supplement are particu-
  larly appropriate. Genelines that boost 
  Endurance—such as Modern Superman 
  or Athlete Deluxe—are recommended. 
  For a cyborg that was assembled from 
  parts and whose fleshy bits were grown 
  in a lab, choose the Nonhuman Servant 
  subculture described later in this book.
  Hard AI
  “Hard” AI is the development of 
  truly human-like general computer intel-
  ligence, not just some domain-specific 
  agent or expert system. It is also a claim 
  which is difficult to prove: Who is to 
  say whether the computer really has any 
  true internal intelligence, or whether it 
  is simply running a program that is very 
  effective at mimicking human behavior? 
  In Shadows Over Sol, hard AI is of 
  questionable existence. There are those 
  who claim that the Embryo project, or 
  even the Insurrection Virus, have resulted 
  in true computer intelligence. There 
  are just as many people who claim that 
  these are simply computer programs very 
  capable at mimicking human interaction. 
  Whatever the truth of the matter 
  might be, artificial intelligences can 
  make for memorable characters and 
  particularly crafty antagonists. They are 
  not, however, generally recommended 
  as player characters due to the extreme 
  differences in capabilities and limitations 
  between AIs and other player character 
  types. Players dead set on playing an AI 
  are instead recommended the android 
  option described earlier in this section.
  Androids and Stasis
  Humans and other biological characters are typically put into stasis during 
  long voyages through space. This cuts down on life support requirements—
  particularly food—and prevents them from going crazy with cabin fever during 
  transport. Androids, on the other hand, are rare enough that there is no “typical” 
  procedure during transport. 
  In practice, many androids are shut down while the rest of the passengers are 
  stasis simply as a matter of crew uneasiness that something is up and moving 
  about the ship while everyone else sleeps the months away. For commercial trans-
  ports this may be the case as a matter of policy—the ship’s luggage space rarely 
  includes the power inputs that androids need to charge each day.
  For those who are lucky enough to have their own ship, or who have custom 
  arrangements regarding a power supply, there is no hard requirement that an 
  android is to be shut down during the voyage. Nevertheless, the android’s activ-
  ities may be limited during the months of isolation, and some androids have 
  human-like enough AI that they too might experience a form of cabin fever—
  sometimes with bloody results.
  
  45
  Cybernetic Resurrection
  The idea behind cybernetic resurrection is to take a person who has been 
  recently deceased, and then to transfer as much of their personality, memories 
  and capabilities as possible into an android body. 
  Functional cybernetic resurrection has been the goal of many scientists and 
  researchers over the years, going back to the early days of sensory recording in the 
  2070’s. It is only since the AI breakthroughs of the 2180’s, however, that any real 
  progress toward cybernetic resurrection has been made. 
  Even with those breakthroughs, the state of the technology today functions 
  much better in theory than in practice. The state of the art is to record as much 
  sensory data as possible from the individual being “resurrected,” along with any 
  other available data on personal history, personality and opinions. This infor-
  mation is then fed as “training data” into a standard AI during its development. 
  The end result is an AI that mimics and takes on some of the personality quirks 
  of the original individual. The better and more complete the training data, the 
  better the AI approximation.
  Cybernetic resurrection is not a mature technology. It exists mostly as a few 
  academic proof-of-concept examples, and as a handful of field examples with 
  disappointing results. The very best examples of cybernetic resurrection fall into 
  an “uncanny valley”—close enough to be clearly identifiable as the original indi-
  vidual, but also different and robotic enough to be off-putting and creepy. The 
  standard and worst examples of cybernetic resurrection only resemble the original 
  individual in the broadest of ways.
  Despite the shortcomings of the technology, the dream of one day achieving 
  a mechanical immortality continues to inspire researchers across the system. 
  Numerous research projects exist, including a few secretive black projects where 
  scientists slave away on their research, trying to meld mechanical AI with the 
  more fleshy bits of the brain and personality. These sometimes lead to unex-
  pected and bloody results.
  In game terms, creating a subject of cybernetic resurrection works exactly like 
  creating an android character. The only differences will be in how the character is 
  roleplayed. Whereas a typical android will have a wholly artificial personality, a subject 
  of cybernetic resurrection will have bits and pieces of memory from the original indi-
  vidual, as well as some of the individual’s opinions and personality quirks.
  
  46
  Genelines 
  in Society
  Genelines usually play a subtle, though 
  important, role in an individual’s personal 
  development, from birth to adulthood, 
  and on to death. While genelines aren’t 
  given the societal importance of subcul-
  tures or other social factors, they never-
  theless leave their mark. This section 
  describes what it’s like to have a geneline 
  in the twenty-third century.
  How Genelines Work
  When a woman discovers that she is 
  pregnant she usually goes to the doctor 
  and a genetic test of the fetus is performed 
  as a part of the routine medical screening. 
  This identifies potential genetic diseases, 
  as well as other possible issues with the 
  fetus’ development.
  At this point the mother can choose to 
  have a geneline administered to the fetus, 
  but many upcoming parents mull over 
  the decision for a while before having the 
  geneline done. The geneline treatment can 
  be performed as late as the third trimester, 
  although it’s best to perform it early.
  During the geneline treatment, a 
  protein and viral payload is delivered 
  to the fetus by means of a hypodermic 
  needle. This payload reads the fetus’ 
  DNA, looking for particular sequences of 
  nucleotides to cut and replace.
  Another genetic screening of the fetus 
  is performed a couple weeks after the 
  initial treatment. Based on the results 
  of this screening, a similar “booster” 
  treatment may be performed. It is not 
  uncommon for two or three such treat-
  ments to be required before the geneline 
  has “fully took.”
  Picking a Geneline
  Obviously, individuals don’t pick their 
  own genelines. This is a decision that is 
  made before the birth of a new baby.
  For most young couples this is a purely 
  financial decision: Can they afford the 
  Groundside Standard geneline upgrade? If 
  they can, that’s usually the geneline admin-
  istered. If they can’t, they’ll usually fall back 
  to a Budget Upgrade. Every other geneline 
  is comparatively unusual, with some more 
  unusual than others.
  Spacer Genelines
  The spacer genelines are are unusual 
  because only a small fraction of the 
  total human population lives off Earth. 
  Outside of Earth’s gravity well, the Spacer 
  Standard geneline is the go-to geneline 
  for most expecting parents.
  Deluxe Genelines
  The 
  deluxe, 
  and 
  other 
  upscale 
  genelines, are prohibitively expensive 
  for anyone but the rich. This means the 
  wealthy have a variety of expensive options 
  that the common person does not have.
  Wild Type
  A person’s genes are said to be wild 
  type if they have no direct modifica-
  tion whatsoever. There is something of a 
  stigma surrounding wild type genelines, 
  as they are portrayed in popular media as 
  being associated with irresponsible, drug-
  addicted parents who neglect to perform 
  
  47
  basic healthcare for their new child, or 
  with religious extremists. The truth of the 
  matter is that most with wild type genes 
  don’t fall into either of these camps. Rather, 
  these parents are just desperately poor and 
  cannot afford even a Budget Upgrade.
  Growing Up  
  With a Geneline
  A person’s geneline isn’t typically 
  going to be readily apparent growing up. 
  Looking at a class’s performance in the 
  whole, a teacher might be able to make 
  an educated guess as to who has better 
  upgrades, but there’s enough individual 
  variance that this will be at best a guess. 
  Keep in mind also that since the vast 
  majority of children are either going to 
  have the Groundside Standard or Budget 
  Upgrade genelines, not a whole lot of time 
  is spent worrying about it.
  Many children won’t even know their 
  own geneline. Think of it like blood type: 
  How many children know that? There are a 
  few that do, particularly in cases where it’s 
  rare or somehow relevant to their day-to-
  day lives, but most kids are more concerned 
  with school and friends than they are with 
  abstract concerns, such as gene expression.
  Furthermore, parents who chose an 
  unusual geneline for their child often opt 
  not to tell them for fear that it will single 
  them out for unwanted attention. Who 
  wants her kid bragging about her expensive 
  geneline? Or who wants her kid looked 
  down upon for her wild type genetics?
  Fears of the 
  Monoculture
  Of course, genetic editing on this 
  scale comes with its own set of societal 
  and scientific concerns. One particular 
  concern is loss of human genetic diversity.
  The fear is this: As more and more 
  people in the human population have 
  their genes altered, and as more and more 
  of the human genome gets changed, over 
  the generations people become more 
  genetically similar. Sure, the majority of 
  people will end up with “good” genes 
  that have been edited in, but what about 
  the genetic variations that have been 
  lost? These may serve roles in the human 
  population that we don’t yet understand. 
  Additionally, it may just be a matter 
  of time until some disease manages to 
  exploit this similarity.
  Secondary Genelines
  It should go without saying that when 
  a person’s genes are modified at the fetal 
  stage, these changes are going to pass 
  down through the generations to their 
  descendents. This happens all the time.
  This process, however, is subject to 
  the same randomness in inheritance 
  seen with all genetics. In most cases it 
  is impossible to guarantee that a child 
  inherits a trait from a particular parent.
  It is also worth noting that the 
  genelines in use a generation ago aren’t 
  exactly the same as the ones in use 
  today. New developments have been 
  made, more reliable traits have been 
  added and new preventative treat-
  ments have been developed.
  Despite the fact that a child will 
  inherit some of her parents’ upgrades, 
  most upcoming parents still get their 
  child a geneline treatment.
  
  48
  
  49
  In the twenty-third century, subcul-
  tures form one of the pillars of society. 
  All at once they act as social safety nets, 
  networks of contacts, staples of cultural 
  identity and lenses through which the 
  world is viewed. Subcultures have their 
  own trends, styles of dress, celebrities, 
  patterns of speech and values.
  Far more than just the eight major 
  subcultures exist. They are surrounded by 
  numerous associated satellite subcultures, 
  as well as stand-alone minor subcultures. 
  Some locations even have their own local 
  subcultures that, for reasons of shared 
  experience, haven’t spread out throughout 
  the rest of the system.
  Minor  
  Subcultures
  The following are a variety of minor 
  subcultures that exist throughout the system. 
  Several of these subcultures were mentioned 
  in the Shadows Over Sol core rulebook but 
  never detailed; others are completely new.
  Subculture & 
  Society
  Subculture 
  Creation
  All subcultures exist for a reason. 
  They are identifiable, provide a sense 
  of community and serve as a form of 
  social networking. When coming up 
  with a new minor subculture think 
  about how the subculture formed, 
  why people would identify themselves 
  with it, what if offers and how it differs 
  from other existing subcultures.
  Mechanically, creating a new subcul-
  ture is easy enough. Simply pick six skills 
  which the subculture would value. The 
  subculture grants +2 experiences in each 
  of those skills. Take a moment to think 
  before picking each skill. Why would 
  the subculture value that ability? How 
  would this skill become so universal 
  among those in the subculture? Some 
  skills are easier to justify than others. The 
  guns and ordnance skills are particularly 
  difficult fits, as these are usually specialist 
  skills to which most people don’t have a 
  lot of exposure.
  
  50
  Bunkers
  Remember your home. Remember your 
  civita. Remember every happy and profound 
  moment you’ve spent there. Remember 
  the people. Remember its importance. 
  Remember its consuetos: its traditions.
  Why would you abandon this? Why 
  would you betray this? Why would you cast 
  this aside like yesterday’s recycling, leaving 
  it all to rot and every bunka you’ve ever 
  known to die of grief and a broken home?
  Don’t be that monster. Don’t be that 
  traitor, that Judas! Senti? You don’t abandon 
  your home. You don’t abandon the places, the 
  people you love and value. You keep them 
  close. You share a hab with your parents, 
  aunts, uncles, grandparents, children. The 
  rest of the world: you leave that on the net!
  Values
  The Bunker subculture grew out of 
  the Serv subculture, beginning the split 
  some 30 years ago and completing the 
  split only recently. As such, this fledgling 
  subculture has inherited many of the 
  traditional religious values of its parent.
  The single-most unifying value of the 
  Bunker subculture is the importance it 
  places on home and location. The Bunker 
  subculture rejects the transience of human 
  settlement, which has become the norm in 
  the past century. It argues that this forced 
  mobility has undermined the fabric of 
  society, including family and many of the 
  traditional values held by its members.
  The Bunker subculture has begun 
  to organize small Bunker communities, 
  consisting of several Bunker families all 
  living in the same area. These communi-
  ties support each other over the net, and 
  indeed, many Bunkers pursue outside 
  vocations over the net, through telecom-
  muting and telepresence technologies.
  Memes
  The following memes and practices 
  have been associated with the Bunker 
  subculture and are shared across different 
  Bunker groups.
   
  � Homeland: Perhaps the most quintes-
  sential feature of the Bunker subcul-
  ture is the rejection of transient human 
  settlement. Bunkers place great value in 
  the physical location in which they live, 
  and are often reluctant to leave their 
  homeland, even if it is just for travel.
   
  � Community: Bunkers typically form 
  small communities, usually consisting of 
  several extended families that live in close 
  physical proximity to each other. These 
  communities often grow their own social 
  structures, rules and governance.
   
  � Family 
  Tradition: 
  The 
  Bunker 
  subculture is by and large very 
  traditional. It particularly places an 
  emphasis on family traditions, such as 
  religion, familial fealty and arranged 
  marriages between different Bunker 
  communities.
   
  History
  The early Bunkers began to coalesce 
  around The Bunker, a net node which rose 
  to popularity among young Amrahamic 
  Servs sometime in the early 2180’s. This 
  node featured numerous manifestos on 
  the importance of tradition, family and “a 
  continuity of place,” meaning a singular 
  location for a community to call home. 
  The node also featured an expansive 
  forum over which sympathetic Servs 
  
  51
  began to exchange ideas and organize. 
  Eventually, this led to families of these 
  Servs pooling their resources to create 
  small stationary communities of like-
  thinking families, sometimes, ironically, 
  even moving long distances to do so.
  A generation of young Servs grew up 
  frequenting this node, and as the node 
  aged, so did the influence and vocal-ness 
  of its members as well. A movement was 
  born, but not without attracting negative 
  attention from others in Serv communities.
  By the late 2190’s, a rift was forming 
  between the early Bunkers and other 
  elements in the Serv subculture. Serv 
  leaders were speaking out against the 
  tendency of Bunkers to place community 
  over the purity of religion. The backlash 
  to this was that by the early 2200’s there 
  was beginning to be talk in the Bunker 
  community of a possible split with the 
  rest of the Serv community.
  The final catalyst for the split came 
  in 2206, when a Serv extremist group 
  attacked two Bunker communities. This 
  was the final straw for Bunkers, and a 
  manifesto declaring a new subculture was 
  posted prominently on The Bunker.
  Now, officially still less than a decade 
  old, the Bunker culture continues to 
  pursue its community agenda, and find 
  its place in the system.
  Bunker Subculture Stats
  When a player chooses the Bunker 
  subculture as part of character creation, 
  she gains the following experiences.
   
  � Experiences: Crafts +2, Empathy +2, 
  Lib-Arts +2, Mechanic +2, Naturalist +2, 
  Socialize +2
  Bunker Slang
  Below are a few choice slang terms used by the Bunker subculture. These can 
  be used for inspiration and roleplaying purposes when playing a Bunker.
   
  � Bunka: Someone who hasn’t moved or traveled far from their place of residence. 
  Used to refer both to Bunkers and to stationary members of other subcultures.
   
  � Civita: A Bunker community. Sometimes also used to refer to the small 
  geographical area in which the community is established.
   
  � Consueto: Any traditional practice, belief or social norm that a community 
  keeps practicing, despite changes in the rest of the culture.
   
  � Diaspora: Any event that forces a Bunker community to move, usually 
  through the action of a corp or nation-state.
   
  � Moba: An individual that moves residences frequently, usually used in a 
  derogatory manner.
   
  � Pio: Someone with deep-seated religious beliefs. Borrowed from common use 
  in the Serv subculture.
   
  � Senti: A response to indicate that what has just been said has been understood.
  
  52
  Freemers
  Imagine I have a loaf of bread. If I give 
  that bread to you, or you otherwise take it, I 
  no longer have that bread. There is only one 
  loaf, and that is only so much to go around.
  Material things work this way. Bread 
  works this way. Mag-trains work this way. 
  Air works this way.
  But information does not work like this. 
  Imagine that I have a piece of knowledge, 
  and I give it to you. Now you have the 
  knowledge, but I still have the knowledge 
  as well. There is not “only so much to go 
  around.” Knowledge is infinite. It is the gift 
  that keeps on giving.
  Information spreads. If I give you a 
  piece of information, you can give it to the 
  next person down the line. In fact, once I’ve 
  shared my information with you, I’ve lost 
  control of it. We now both equally possess 
  this information. The more people who have 
  this info, the less control there is.
  In this way, spreading information 
  increases the chances that it will be spread 
  again. It is a positive feedback loop. This is 
  what we mean when we say that informa-
  tion wants to be free.
  Values
  Central to the Freemer set of values 
  is the free exchange of information. The 
  subculture has a deep-seated believe 
  that information is meant to be shared 
  and spread. As such, the subculture also 
  discourages proprietary knowledge and 
  the keeping of secrets. Many outside the 
  subculture see Freemers as gossips.
  This attitude also applies to commod-
  ities that can be reduced to information. 
  Software, databases and other reposito-
  ries of knowledge are regularly shared 
  among the Freemers. They also expect 
  that those they share with will share their 
  own knowledge in turn.
  Many Freemer are inclined to experi-
  ment with new economic concepts. 
  A prestige or gift-based economy is 
  something many Freemers aspire to 
  achieve, even if it largely remains a 
  work-in-progress.
  Memes
  The following memes and practices 
  have been associated with the Freemer 
  subculture.
   
  � Bird 
  Symbol: 
  The 
  Freemers 
  frequently use a stylized bird as both 
  a symbol for their subculture, and as 
  something of a mascot, representing 
  the free exchange of knowledge. This 
  symbol can be found on net nodes, on 
  locations promising free speech and 
  on popular software.
   
  � Freedom of Information: Central to 
  the Freemer value system is the free 
  spread of information. This value 
  features heavily in Freemer memes 
  as well, with entire net nodes and 
  locations zoned specifically for this 
  sort of exchange.
   
  � Stylized 
  Realism: 
  The 
  Freemer 
  aesthetic blends the stylized “plastic” 
  look of the Former subculture with 
  the raw “authentic” look of the Entro 
  subculture. The resulting mix is 
  something of a stylized realism, with 
  appearances that seem elegantly dishev-
  eled and a manufactured look that is 
  intended to mimic the handcrafted.
  
  53
  History
  The Freemer subculture is an odd 
  amalgamation, 
  originating 
  from 
  a 
  merger of disaffected groups from both 
  the Entro and Former subcultures. Both 
  major subcultures see Freemers as being a 
  satellite of the other subculture, but the 
  truth is somewhere in between.
  A young movement, the Freemers got 
  their start in the 2170’s, as some groups 
  within the Entro subculture became 
  increasingly dissatisfied with the hardline 
  stance and widespread negative reputa-
  tion possessed by their culture. They 
  began to organize and by the 2180’s were 
  branded the Soft Entros.
  Meanwhile, the Former subculture 
  had just finished up a long upswing 
  dating back to the aftermath of World 
  War IV. This period of prosperity had 
  resulted in gains there were unevenly 
  distributed among Formers. This uneven 
  distribution was the cause of an increas-
  ingly apparent set of fractures within the 
  subculture.
  One vocal Former minority that was 
  particularly vehement, insisted that the 
  Formers were missing the boat when it 
  came to the revolution in AR technology. 
  Frustrated with the lack of development 
  in this area, they broke with the Formers 
  in the late 2180’s.
  Unfortunately, their early foray into 
  AR was lackluster. Needing outside expe-
  rience in the matter, a collaboration was 
  formed with the core Soft Entro groups. 
  This was a resounding success. By the 
  mid-2190’s the two groups had essen-
  tially merged, and a combined set of 
  values was beginning to take shape.
  Freemer Subculture Stats
  When a player chooses the Freemer 
  subculture as part of character creation, 
  she gains the following experiences.
   
  � Experiences: 
  Bureaucrat 
  +2, 
  Comp-Ops 
  +2, 
  Conspiracy 
  +2, 
  Deception +2, Program +2, Socialize +2
  Freemer Slang
  Below are a few choice slang terms used by the Freemer subculture. These can 
  be used for inspiration and roleplaying purposes when playing a Freemer.
   
  � Bian: Something which is cutting-edge; New and exciting
   
  � Cred: Money, particularly of a hard currency
   
  � Denar: Something which comes with an unspoken price, usually paid in 
  favors or servitude; frequently used with a negative connotation
   
  � D/L: Download
   
  � Gotuzi: Someone who got what she has through favoritism; A suck up
   
  � Gratis: Something that is given freely, without the expectation of monetary 
  compensation
   
  � Libre: Someone who is free to do as she pleases, particularly lacking any sort 
  of contracts, NDAs or other agreements that would hamper her choices
  
  54
  Nonhuman Servant
  Imagine, if you will, a sealed room. This 
  room is only accessible to the outside world 
  through two slots: an input and an output. 
  Through the input one can slide questions, 
  written in Chinese. Sometime later, one 
  will get a response through the output, 
  also written in Chinese. Imagine for a 
  second that these queries and responses seem 
  sensible. Together they form a conversation. 
  They seem intelligent.
  But what if I were to tell you that there 
  is no intelligence in the room, or at least 
  nothing that understands the conversa-
  tion. Inside is a little man. He doesn’t speak 
  Chinese, but he has a large book. In this book 
  he can look up every question input into the 
  room, and given will be the appropriate 
  response, which he slides through the output. 
  There is no understanding here. There is no 
  real intelligence. But to the outside observer 
  of the room, there appears to be.
  This is why we cannot judge the under-
  standing of artificial intelligence by its 
  outside behavior. It’s a flawed metric. We are 
  not slaves to the dark ages of behaviorism! 
  No matter how intelligent a machine 
  appears to be, we can never be certain it 
  understands anything! And that is why we 
  will always remain the masters.
  Values
  Shared values among nonhuman 
  servants are difficult to nail down. 
  The subculture is less of an ideological 
  movement, and more a grouping of 
  necessity formed by common experience 
  and outside prejudice. The subculture 
  exists as a practical network of identity 
  and support for those that aren’t human. 
  There’s nothing explicitly organized, but 
  oftentimes one nonhuman servant will 
  recognize a similar situation in another, 
  empathize and provide help, if able.
  Nonhuman 
  servants 
  are 
  often 
  isolated, and many aren’t provided with 
  means to interact with other in a similar 
  morphological situation. Many of these 
  individuals will seize any chance they get 
  to interact with others in even a remotely 
  similar situation.
  Views in the subculture range from 
  self-hating members to those that espouse 
  their superiority over the human species 
  that created them. Ultimately, however, 
  what defines the nonhuman subculture 
  is a simple recognition of what they are 
  not—they are not human, and they’re 
  living in a human’s world.
  Memes
  As nonhuman servants are so disparate 
  and varied, it is difficult to pin down 
  specific memes that are shared across 
  the entire grouping. Nevertheless, a few 
  common traits apply.
   
  � Nonhuman: 
  It’s 
  obvious, 
  but 
  nonhuman servants are exclusively 
  nonhuman. As such, they face a variety 
  of social biases, and among some groups 
  they are not considered to be people.
   
  � The Net: Many nonhuman servants 
  with the freedom to do so will 
  conduct much of their business over 
  the net. This allows them to operate in 
  an environment where many simply 
  assume that they are human, and as 
  such they do not as frequently run up 
  against prejudices.
   
  � Brain Motif: The brain motif—ironi-
  cally that of a human brain—has 
  
  55
  come to be a symbol of the movement 
  to accept all intelligent nonhumans as 
  people, complete with all of the rights 
  and responsibilities that includes. 
  How one determines what counts as 
  intelligence remains hotly debated.
  History
  The earliest nonhuman servants were 
  primitive uplifts developed in the 2110’s. 
  Part of the genetic experiments which 
  gave rise to the Malformed Generation, 
  these early uplifts were generally isolated 
  individuals developed in labs and then 
  studied for behavioral and morpholog-
  ical development throughout the lives. 
  Experimentation along these lines would 
  continue, becoming increasingly popular 
  and successful until the early 2130’s, 
  when the backlash against the failures of 
  genetic manipulation would rob these 
  studies of most of their funding.
  Early uplifts didn’t have access to 
  electronic vocal boxes, and thus their 
  communication 
  opportunities 
  were 
  limited. Electronic vocal boxes for uplifts 
  were only beginning to be developed 
  in the 2130’s, around the time uplift 
  research was losing funding. This would 
  delay their widespread adoption until 
  after World War IV.
  Androids and emergent AIs began 
  to join the mix of nonhuman servants 
  after the success of Microdyne’s Embryo 
  project in 2188. Most of these are still 
  only academic prototypes, but their simi-
  larity of experience has lumped them in 
  with the earlier uplifts. It remains to be 
  seen whether these AI developments will 
  be seen as a dead end, or if they will give 
  rise to a new boom in research.
  Nonhuman Servant 
  Subculture Stats
  When a player chooses the Nonhuman 
  Servant subculture as part of character 
  creation, she gains the following experiences.
   
  � Experiences: Athletics +2, Awareness +2,  
  Bio-Sci +2, Comp-Ops +2, Empathy +2, 
  Medic +2
  Nonhuman Slang
  Nonhumans aren’t a singular subculture in the same way most of the other 
  subcultures are, rather they are a bunch of disparate individuals that have been 
  lumped together. As such, nonhuman servants often pick up slang from the 
  humans subculture they serve. Some will also rely on their unique physiology 
  for slang. For example, a pack of uplift dogs may use different pitches of barks as 
  a sort of makeshift slang among themselves. This both builds their community 
  and acts as a way to exclude others. In a similar example, a group of associated 
  androids may develop an elaborate system of slang based around beeps, boops 
  and other synthesized noises. Neither of these slang examples are likely to be 
  full-fledged languages, but they do allow for some common concepts to be 
  expressed. Translation software has a particularly difficult time translating these 
  sort of inhuman noises, as this is not the target market for most software and most 
  software packages are designed to filter for the human voice.
  
  56
  Postals
  To be human is to be flawed, to be 
  inferior, to be a slave to baser instincts. 
  Fourteen million years of evolution tell us 
  to live in tribes. To live near trees. To fight 
  for mates. To get worms, fear predators and 
  die. Jugeum. Look around you! What we’re 
  evolved for is no longer relevant. The world 
  has changed, and left evolution trailing 
  behind. We’re in uncharted territories now, 
  it’s all andoen!
  But evolution has taught us an 
  important lesson. The cold truth of the 
  universe is: adapt or die. We need to leave 
  behind what makes us human, for it 
  shackles us to the past. It’s a weight dragging 
  us down, drowning us, suffocating us. 
  We need to become more than human. 
  We need to become post-human. Only then 
  will we be adapted to the world in which 
  we find ourselves—the world of now, and 
  of the future.
  Values
  The Postal subculture is a radical 
  outgrowth of the Techno subculture, 
  having varying degrees of separation over 
  the decades. As a satellite subculture, the 
  Postals have inherited most of the values 
  of the Techno subculture, except dialed up 
  to eleven. More than anything, they prize 
  the march of progress and reject human 
  necessitates, intuition and biological limi-
  tations. The subculture regularly latches 
  on to the latest trends and technologies, 
  leaving behind those that have proven 
  obsolete, or which have run their course.
  As a whole, the subculture literally 
  attempts to practice “post-humanity.” It 
  embraces implants to a degree which is 
  not socially acceptable in other subcul-
  tures. Members pursue radical genelines 
  or other significant modifications to the 
  human genome. It organizes itself in 
  experimental and machine-like ways.
  Memes
  The following memes and practices 
  have been associated with the Postal 
  subculture.
   
  � Implants: While implants are either 
  looked down upon or not in vogue 
  among the majority of the system’s 
  subcultures, among the Postals, implants 
  have become a staple of the subculture—
  the more obvious and flashy the better. 
  They are as much a fashion statement as 
  they are objects of utility.
   
  � Radical Genelines: Postals are more 
  likely to embrace radical genelines 
  for their children than other subcul-
  tures. 
  Individuals 
  with 
  radical 
  genelines may also find themselves 
  drifting into the Postal subculture 
  because of this acceptance.
   
  � Cyber-Eye Motif: The cyber-eye 
  image has become an iconic symbol 
  of the Postal subculture in art and 
  other imagery. It features an obviously 
  inhuman cybernetic eye, complete 
  with a glowing red iris and a bulging 
  protrusion from the skull.
  History
  Many Postal beliefs go back over a 
  century, and even predate the rise of the 
  Techno subculture. It is only in the last 
  few decades, however, that the Postals 
  have been seen as a subculture in their own 
  right, with a connection to the Technos 
  that has waxed or waned over the years.
  
  57
  The earliest declarations of Postal 
  belief go back to the rise of elective cyber-
  netic implants in the 2080’s. These beliefs 
  remain a very fringe part of mainstream 
  culture, and later that of the Techno 
  subculture, after its rise in the 2100’s. 
  Slowly, Postal beliefs began to coalesce 
  into a movement. In the 2110’s there was 
  a boom in genetic research and human 
  prenatal manipulation. This was coupled 
  with resurgence of implants being in vogue, 
  and finally the Postal movement found its 
  footing, rising to a position of prominence 
  in the early Techno subculture.
  By the 2130’s, all this would change. 
  The earlier genetic experiments gave rise 
  to the Malformed Generation, and soon 
  there was a sustained backlash against all 
  but basic health-related genetic changes. 
  Implants also fell out of fashion, leaving 
  the Postal movement also out of favor.
  Throughout the 2130’s and 2140’s, 
  the Postals began to drift apart from 
  the majority of the Techno subculture. 
  However, World War IV and support for 
  the Eastern Powers brought them back 
  into the fold, delaying their departure 
  from the Technos by several more decades.
  The 2170’s saw the rise of AR implants—
  championed by the Postals. With this 
  success they continued to drift away from 
  the rest of the Techno subculture. The 
  emergence of the Postals as a subculture in 
  their own right has no obvious breaking 
  point, but rather was a gradual process. 
  Although the Postal moniker had been in 
  use since the 2130’s, it only began to be 
  used to refer to the Postals as a separate 
  subculture sometime in the late 2170’s, and 
  really took off in the 2190’s.
  Postal Subculture Stats
  When a player chooses the Postal 
  subculture as part of character creation, 
  she gains the following experiences.
   
  � Experiences: Bio-Sci +2, Conspiracy +2, 
  Engineer +2, Medic +2, Phy-Sci +2, 
  Program +2
  Postal Slang
  Below are a few choice slang terms used by the Postal subculture. These can be 
  used for inspiration and roleplaying purposes when playing a Postal.
   
  � Andoen: Something which has not been thoroughly tested. An unknown.
   
  � Bogsa: Children, clones or students. Copies of an original.
   
  � Dwilo: Used to mean both obsolete and backwards thinking.
   
  � Eumsig: A word used to refer to any substance on which the body depends, 
  including air, food, drink, medication and addictive substances.
   
  � Jugeum: Death. To meet one’s end.
   
  � Keun: A state of being beyond or better than human. Something to which the 
  Postals aspire.
   
  � Silpae: A problem or shortcoming of the body, such as the inability to see into 
  the infrared or a chronic illness.
  
  58
  Tribals
  We have forgotten our roots. We have 
  forgotten our past. We have built our society 
  on a foundation of lies, building up struc-
  tures and social structures that are at odds 
  with everything our instincts tell us. This 
  cannot endure. Sooner or later our natures 
  will always get the best of us. To think that 
  you can overcome, or that you know better 
  than 14 million years of evolution is hubris 
  of the highest order!
  Make peace with your animal nature. 
  Find your tribe. Find happiness. Walk in 
  lock-step with your instincts. Fighting them is 
  a waste of energy. It makes you less fit, in the 
  evolutionary sense. Look back. Learn from 
  the past so that you do not repeat its mistakes. 
  Know your friends from the fremders.
  The human mind can only maintain 
  about 150 relationships with other indi-
  viduals. Respect this number. Don’t let the 
  social net fool you. Respect your tribe. Live 
  with your tribe.
  Values
  The Tribal subculture is a satellite of the 
  larger Neoret subculture. Like the Neorets, 
  the Tribals look back at the past with a 
  romanticized, if somewhat revisionist, 
  point of view. The Tribals, however, fixate 
  on the past tribal structures of humanity, 
  arguing that a return to these structures 
  would be beneficial. They believe that 
  human nature has been ignored for too 
  long, resulting in a situation which many 
  find goes against their instincts. This 
  results in many people being unhappy, 
  even if they do not realize the ultimate 
  source of their unhappiness.
  Tribals tend to self-organize into 
  small gangs, which they see as their tribe. 
  These tribes tend to have an “us versus the 
  world” attitude, seeing most other Tribals 
  as the friend, and outside social structure 
  as the enemy. Towards this end, many 
  Tribals actively try to avoid registration 
  in outside databases, citizenships or regis-
  tries. This lack of outside registration 
  forces many tribes to squat in derelict 
  urban buildings or abandoned habs.
  Memes
  The following cultural trappings and 
  practices have arisen to prominence in the 
  Tribal subculture in the past few decades:
   
  � Tribes: One of the most distin-
  guishing features of the Tribal subcul-
  ture is the subcultural tendency to 
  arrange themselves into small bands, 
  usually in the range of four to twenty 
  adults. These tribes function as an 
  important communal unit.
   
  � Headdresses: In one of the many 
  influences the Neoret subculture has 
  had on the Tribal subculture, the 
  leaders of many Tribal groups have 
  taken up wearing elaborate head-
  dresses as a symbol of their authority. 
  Often these headdresses come to be 
  symbols of the tribe itself.
   
  � Squatting: Tribes will often attempt 
  not to tie themselves down to a single 
  hab or other headquarters. Many will 
  roam from spot to spot within a city or 
  colony, squatting in abandoned struc-
  tures, maintenance areas or tunnels.
  History
  Romanticizing the past tribal struc-
  tures of humanity is nothing new, going 
  
  59
  back at least to Rousseau’s concept of the 
  noble savage. In many ways this roman-
  ticization has been with society all along, 
  even if it hasn’t been lived to the extent to 
  which the Tribals take it.
  Originally, the Tribals were a small 
  school of thought within the Heed 
  subculture. When the Neorets broke 
  away from the Heeds over political 
  differences in World War IV, the proto-
  Tribals sided with the Neorets and thus 
  became part of that subculture. A “back 
  to basics” school of thought was in vogue 
  in the aftermath of the war, and the Tribal 
  movement benefitted from this, swelling 
  their numbers until they became a sizable 
  number within the Neoret subculture.
  In the mid-2180’s, however, the 
  Contemp Victorian subculture broke apart, 
  and the Neorets absorbed many of the pieces. 
  This led to a sudden shift within the Neorets, 
  as Contemp Victorian ideas influenced the 
  subculture, driving it further away from the 
  values of those in the Tribal camp.
  The Tribal subculture would break 
  away shortly after this shift, becoming 
  their own minor subculture and severing 
  ties with the Neorets. Over the next couple 
  decades the Tribals would further go their 
  own way, further organizing themselves 
  into tribes and popularizing among them-
  selves a rejection of registration and census 
  with outside groups and authorities.
  Tribal Subculture Stats
  When a player chooses the Tribal 
  subculture as part of character creation, 
  she gains the following experiences.
   
  � Experiences: Awareness +2, Inves-
  tigate +2, Melee +2, Naturalist +2, 
  Socialize +2, Thievery +2
  Tribal Slang
  Below are a few choice slang terms used by the Tribal subculture. They can be 
  used for inspiration and roleplaying purposes when playing a Tribal.
   
  � Fremder: An individual who is unknown, unfriendly or an enemy. Sometimes 
  used to refer to anyone not of one’s own tribe.
   
  � Geach: An outcast, loner or individual with no friends or tribe.
   
  � Geltung: Any item of worth that can be used for barter.
   
  � Risse: A verb used to mean avoiding being counted or registered by outside 
  organizations; falling through the cracks in the system.
   
  � Schar: A close-knit group of individuals, used equally to refer to a nuclear 
  family, close gang, tribe members or close traveling party.
   
  � Schild: A tattoo, style of dress, badge or other mark used to indicate member-
  ship in a group.
   
  � Wohnsitz: A formerly abandoned hab, station or other place in which 
  squatters live. Often used to emphasize how an otherwise derelict place has 
  been transformed into a home.
  
  60
  Virtuals
  You’ve heard of utilitarianism, right? 
  The greatest good for the greatest number 
  of people, and all that, a net increase in 
  happiness. Well, let me ask you a question: 
  Would you rather be a handsome corp 
  executive who’s a master fencer and can fly, 
  or a wage slave in small, dank hab? 
  The answer’s obvious, right? Every year 
  the quality of experience for simspaces and 
  virtual worlds gets better. Pretty soon they’re 
  going to be indistinguishable from realsies. 
  Does it matter if you’re a corp executive in a 
  virtual world, if it means you live a happier 
  and more fulfilling life?
  I’m not just saying, “Yay! Escapism!” I’m 
  saying this is a moral imperative. I’m saying 
  in simspaces, we can provide great lives for a 
  greater number of people. What’s more, those 
  people will have a lower energy consumption, 
  consume less resources and pop out fewer 
  babies than people spending more of their 
  time in meatspace. We have a population 
  going on 13 billion. We can’t provide mean-
  ingful lives for that many people in the real 
  world. Virtual reality will save us all!
  Values
  The Virtuals are a long-loved minor 
  subculture, which believe that the pinnacle 
  of human happiness and expression can 
  only be achieved in simspaces or other 
  virtual environments. For many Virtuals 
  this is not just an exaltation of escapism; 
  it’s a calling and a moral imperative. Many 
  also argue that meatspace is becoming 
  increasingly obsolete, and is inherently 
  limited. For many Virtuals, their lack of 
  reliance on meatspace is a point of pride.
  Once an individual has embraced 
  the importance of simspaces, Virtuals 
  are extremely permissive in regards to 
  personal tastes, expression and views. 
  They value happiness and different virtual 
  experiences, in many ways resembling the 
  Heed subculture in their personal aims.
  Memes
  The following memes and practices 
  have come to be associated with the 
  Virtual subculture.
   
  � Feeding Tubes: Many Virtuals try 
  to minimize the time they spend in 
  meatspace, reducing practices like 
  feeding and hygiene to their bare 
  minimum. Many have elaborate net 
  connection pods, with feeding tubes 
  and other attachments to handle their 
  biological needs while spending time 
  in a simspace.
   
  � Avatar Library: Pretty much every 
  Virtual has a huge wardrobe of 
  avatars that can be worn in different 
  simspaces or for different occasions. 
  Many like to show off particularly rare 
  or fashionable avatars, or exhibit the 
  extent of their collection.
   
  � Downsizing: Many Virtuals take 
  pride in how small or spartan their 
  hab is. Some will even broadcast this 
  to put on display their conspicuous 
  lack of meatspace consumption.
  History
  Unlike most minor subcultures, the 
  Virtuals are neither an outgrowth nor a 
  satellite of any major subculture. Instead, 
  they are a long-lived independent subcul-
  ture, breaking away from mainstream 
  culture on their own sometime in the 
  
  61
  2080’s. This makes them among the oldest 
  still-existent subcultures, even if they are 
  often overlooked due to their minor status.
  The valuation of life on the net has 
  been around almost as long as the net 
  itself. The rise of AR headsets in the 
  2050’s, however, leads to numerous 
  breakthroughs in both augmented and 
  virtual realities. The resulting boom led to 
  the advent of damaging sensory recoding 
  tech in the 2070’s, and although brain-
  damaging experience chips were a scourge 
  on society, they also provided a wealth 
  of data, which when applied to virtual 
  reality, led to the modern simspace.
  Virtuals were at the forefront of these 
  breakthroughs, proselytizing the benefits 
  of a life spent on the net in various virtual 
  realities. The subculture still keeps many 
  of these early simspaces running, as a sort 
  of museum piece, showing off how far 
  the technology has come.
  Although the subculture waned in 
  the early 2100’s, it got a boost in the 
  aftermath of World War IV, as many 
  sought an escape from the horrors of 
  war and its aftermath. A second boost 
  was had in the 2180’s, when the rise of 
  non-damaging experience playback again 
  led to breakthroughs in the realm of 
  simspaces. Although these two events led 
  the Virtuals to accept many newcomers 
  into their fold, ultimately the subculture 
  remained a minor one.
  Virtual Subculture Stats
  When a player chooses the Virtual 
  subculture as part of character creation, 
  she gains the following experiences.
   
  � Experiences: 
  Comp-Ops 
  +2, 
  Conspiracy 
  +2, 
  Engineer 
  +2, 
  Lib-Arts +2, Mechanic +2, Program +2
  Virtual Slang
  Below are a few choice slang terms used by the Virtual subculture. These can 
  be used for inspiration and roleplaying purposes when playing a Virtual.
   
  � Break: Any sort of hacking, cracking, exploiting of software bugs or use of a 
  system other than as intended.
   
  � Bug: A lacking capability, unintended consequence or design flaw in 
  something. For example: “It’s a bug that the human body requires air.”
   
  � Kiddie: Someone operating on the net who isn’t an expert. Also used as an 
  insult for a hacker who doesn’t know what they’re doing.
   
  � Lahls: A response to something that is supposed to be funny. Often used in a 
  sarcastic manner.
   
  � Realsies: A term used to refer to the “real world” or meatspace.
   
  � Roplee: A simspace or virtual world.
   
  � Woteff: An inquiry for more information. Sometimes literally used as the 
  pronunciation for a question mark.
  
  62
  Portraying 
  Subcultures
  As a GM, subculture can be an easy 
  thing to forget if some plot point doesn’t 
  revolve around it. Below are some tips 
  and tricks for how to represent, portray 
  and make the best use of subcultures in a 
  Shadows Over Sol game.
  Locations
  When writing an adventure, it is good 
  to think about the locations where the 
  player characters are likely to find them-
  selves during the events of the scenario. 
  For example, a particular adventure might 
  feature a “dive bar,” a “creepy mining 
  outpost” and a “corp office.”
  When coming up with these locations, 
  give each of them a subcultural asso-
  ciation. Even if it’s not important to the 
  plot, pick something. This not only helps 
  regularly work subcultures into a game, it 
  also gives depth and flavor to the place. 
  When making up a new NPC on the fly 
  who is to be encountered in that location, 
  it also gives something to quickly work 
  with. An Entro dive bar is going to have a 
  very different feel and cast of regulars than 
  a bar where those in the Former subcul-
  ture go to slum it for a while.
  Additionally, subcultures can be used 
  to make a location more inviting or more 
  threatening. A PC trying to fake her way 
  into a corp office is going to have an 
  easier time of it if she is familiar with its 
  dominant subculture. She’s going to be 
  at the top of her social game there. On 
  the other hand, if she’s not familiar with 
  the office subculture, there are unknown 
  social queues she may trip over, and the 
  scene is made more challenging. In fact, 
  this is one of the best times for a GM to 
  whip out the book and work some of 
  the different subcultural slang into her 
  speech. This helps emphasize the lack of 
  familiarity with the culture.
  AR Tags
  Another thing to remember is that 
  different subcultures largely have their own 
  AR tag clouds. These can be used to pass 
  along key information to different players 
  or to give a nuanced view of a particular 
  place, event or person. Simply declare that 
  a PC of the approprite subculture notices 
  the posted information.
  Minor NPCs
  When coming up with minor NPCs, 
  we recommend getting in the habit of 
  assigning them a subculture, even if that 
  choice is arbitrary. This provides a useful 
  hook for the GM to give that NPC some 
  personality when she comes up in play. It 
  also can give players a hook for interacting 
  with that character. (“Hey, we’re both 
  Ghostmen here. You can trust me...”)
  Key NPCs
  It is even more important to think 
  about subculture when coming up with key 
  NPCs. Subculture provides a ready baseline 
  for the character’s views, values and how she 
  might relate to the player characters. This 
  also cuts both ways. Player characters might 
  favorably or unfavorably view the NPC 
  based on how their own subculture relates 
  to that of the other character.
  
  63
  Profession  
  & Lifestyles
  Choosing a starting Lifestyle value 
  can be difficult without some context 
  of what’s normal for different profes-
  sions. Below, a number of different 
  careers are listed, along with their 
  median associated Lifestyle score.
   
  � Accountant: Lifestyle 6
   
  � Actor, Theatrical: Lifestyle 4
   
  � Assistant, Executive: Lifestyle 5
   
  � Artist: Lifestyle 3
   
  � Bounty Hunter: Lifestyle 5
   
  � Broker, Financial: Lifestyle 8
   
  � Carpenter: Lifestyle 6
   
  � Celebrity, Sports: Lifestyle 8
   
  � Celebrity, Vids: Lifestyle 9
   
  � Clergy, Ordained: Lifestyle 4
   
  � Cook, Restaurant: Lifestyle 4
   
  � Corp Executive: Lifestyle 10
   
  � Corp Middle Manage.: Lifestyle 8
   
  � Counselor, Genetic: Lifestyle 5
   
  � Counselor, Personal: Lifestyle 3
   
  � Customer Service: Lifestyle 4
   
  � Doctor, Medical: Lifestyle 7
   
  � Engineer, Software: Lifestyle 7
   
  � Engineer, Spaceship: Lifestyle 6
   
  � Janitor: Lifestyle 3
   
  � Laborer, Construction: Lifestyle 4
   
  � Laborer, Shipping: Lifestyle 3
   
  � Mechanic, Groundcar: Lifestyle 6
   
  � Mechanic, Life Support: Lifestyle 6
   
  � Military, Enlisted: Lifestyle 3
   
  � Military, Officer: Lifestyle 5
   
  � Miner, Asteroid: Lifestyle 4
   
  � Nurse: Lifestyle 5
   
  � Pilot, Civilian Spaceship: Lifestyle 6
   
  � Professor: Lifestyle 6
   
  � Scientist, Astronomical: Lifestyle 5
   
  � Scientist, Biological: Lifestyle 6
   
  � Security Guard, Private: Lifestyle 5
   
  � Teacher, Primary Ed.: Lifestyle 5
  
  4
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Shadows Over Sol/Shadows Over Sol - Beyond Human.pdf