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CHROME & CODE: CHARACTER CREATION

Follow these 9 steps to create your augmented character, a being of flesh and machine struggling for survival and meaning in the techno-dystopia. Your central challenge is managing DECAY—the continuous physical, mental, and ethical breakdown caused by scarcity and system failure.

Step 1: Concept, Archetype, & Drive

Define your core identity. All life revolves around the pursuit of resources and influence.

• Archetype: Choose one Archetype that defines your primary access and skills: Corpo, Gangster, Hacker, Drone Tech, or Nomad.

• Ambition (Long-Term Goal): Your ultimate, driving purpose (e.g., "Hijack the city's surveillance grid").

• Desire (Short-Term Craving): Your immediate craving (e.g., "Earn the trust of a rogue AI").

Step 2: Select Attributes

Distribute points across the nine Attributes.

• Distribution: 1 Attribute at 4, 3 Attributes at 3, 4 Attributes at 2, and 1 Attribute at 1.

Step 3: Select Skills

Choose one of the following spreads based on your desired expertise.

Step 4: SELECT SPECIALIZATIONS

Your unique powers and capabilities are called Specializations, reflecting areas of expertise and augmented ability gained through focused training or technological enhancement.

• Start with 2 dots in one Specialization and 1 dot in a second Specialization.

• Specialization Examples: Cyberware (Implants, bio-modding), Heavy Weapons (Devastating Firepower), Melee Weapons (Augmented Combat), Intimidation (Psychological Warfare).

Step 5: Choose Hustle Style & Compulsion

Your survival method dictates how you secure resources, and your Compulsion dictates your critical flaws under pressure.

• Hustle Style: Choose how you Make Ends Meat (e.g., Street Reclaimer, Social Hacker, Network Leech, Corporate Parasite, Ritual Feeder, or Proxy Broker).

• Compulsion: Determine the condition that triggers your personal failure under stress (e.g., Corpo compelled to Domination).

Step 6: Choose Edges and Flaws

You have 7 points to spend on Edges. You can take up to 7 points of Flaws to gain additional Edge points.

Step 7: Define Convictions & Touchstones

These are your last remaining anchors to sanity and ethics in the corporate sprawl.

• Convictions: Establish 1-3 personal moral codes you cannot break.

• Touchstones: Name 1-3 mortals or memories that emotionally anchor your character.

Step 8: Calculate Derived Attributes

Calculate your starting stats based on your Attribute choices.

• Health: Stamina + 3

• Willpower: Resolve + Composure

• Humanity: Starts at 7

• Cyberware Rating (Potency): Starts at 1

• Decay (Breakdown/Scarcity): Starts at 1

Step 9: Finish the Build

Name your character, define their look, and choose starting gear.

• Equipment: Choose appropriate gear based on your Background and Resources.

• Chronicle Tenets: Ensure your character's goals align with the campaign's core moral boundaries.

• Crew Role: Define your character's function in the Crew (your small group).

Resource Mechanics: DECAY and The Hustle

⚙️ The DECAY Mechanic

DECAY replaces the Hunger statistic and Cyberware Rating combined, acting as a core measure of physical and psychological breakdown.

• Rises when: You fail your Making Ends Meat Roll or when your Cyberware is pushed past its safety threshold.

• Impact: When high, DECAY triggers your Compulsion.

The Threat of DECAY

When DECAY is high, your character is actively deteriorating:

• Decay Dice: You add your current DECAY rating in dice to certain rolls (including those using your Specializations or survival checks). A messy critical fail on a Decay die can trigger your Compulsion or cause a painful Cyberware Glitch (system failure, temporary loss of an implant function, or physical damage).

• Reducing Decay: Can be reduced through rest, successful black market trading, fulfilling a personal Desire, or successfully repairing/upgrading failing implants.