Ghostwright

Hackers, Tinkerers, and the People Who Make Fallen Tech Work

← Back to Mortals

Who They Are

Every few weeks an Omega Crate falls from orbit. The God Machine Guild maintains official control over the most significant contents, but they can't catch everything — and a motivated person with the right knowledge can salvage and repurpose what the Guild hasn't yet locked down. Ghostwrights are those people: hackers, engineers, salvagers, and improvisers who build things with pre-Sundering wreckage that shouldn't be possible in a post-apocalyptic context. They're the most technologically sophisticated Mundane Profession, which means they interface with God Machine Guild infrastructure like no other Mundane Human — their greatest advantage and their primary risk.

Starting Attribute Priority

Category	Priority	Starting Points
Mental	Primary	7 points + Profession +1 Intelligence
Physical	Secondary	5 points
Social	Tertiary	3 points

Profession Bonuses

Attribute Bonus	+1 Intelligence
Skill Bonus	+1 Technology (Tech Aptitude — covers all Technocracy salvage, Omega Crate hardware, and Guild interfaces)
Free Background	1 dot Contacts (Underground Tech Community)
Profession Points (5)	Recommended: 2 workshop (hidden or semi-hidden), 1 stock of salvaged Omega Crate components, 1 specific functional salvaged tech piece (Mentor-approved), 1 named contact who brings components before the Guild claims them

Suggested Starting Abilities

Talents	Alertness 2, Subterfuge 1, Streetwise 1
Skills	Technology 1 (+1 Profession = 2), Security 2, Crafts 2, Stealth 1
Knowledges	Computer 2, Science 2, Investigation 1

The Cyber-Adaptable Merit — Ghostwright Exclusive

Ghostwrights are the only Profession that may purchase the Cyber-Adaptable Merit at creation (2 Freebie Points) — a physiology that accepts cybernetic modification more readily than average, required for characters planning multiple cyber-modifications during play. Taking it at creation includes one minor cybernetic already installed (neural interface chip, enhanced optical implants, subdermal data storage), worked out with your Mentor.

Profession Strength & Challenge

Strength: If It Runs, I Can Run It	Challenge: Guild Attention
Once per session, access a specific technological system — including Guild infrastructure or Omega Crate devices — without normal credentials. Roll Intelligence + Technology (diff 7); success gets them in, not unnoticed.	The Guild monitors anyone who consistently works with Technocracy-derived tech outside official channels — starts as passive surveillance and escalates.

Roleplaying the Ghostwright

Every device a Ghostwright builds is a small act of reclaiming technological agency from an institution that would prefer to be the only one that has it. They also tend to discover things the Guild would rather they hadn't — the tech they work with comes from the same source as the Guild's, and reverse-engineering it sometimes reveals more than is safe to know.

Quick Reference

Attribute Bonus	+1 Intelligence
Skill Bonus	+1 Technology (Tech Aptitude)
Free Background	Contacts (Underground Tech Community) 1
Exclusive Merit	Cyber-Adaptable (2 Freebie Points)
Profession Strength	If It Runs, I Can Run It
Profession Challenge	Guild Attention

See also: Mortals overview · Character Creation Guide