Operator

Interface is the hardware quality of the neural connection — the cyberware that bridges consciousness and Frame. It is set by cyberware tier and cannot be improved through experience. Bad hardware does not become good hardware through use. Interface sets the maximum Sync achievable with any Frame. A new Operator with military-grade Interface hardware but an unfamiliar Frame is still fumbling with an unfamiliar body.

Sync is the depth of bond between an Operator and a specific Frame — built through use, lost when the Frame is destroyed. It starts at 0 for any unfamiliar Frame and caps at the Operator's Interface rating. An Operator in a worn but deeply known Frame punches above their hardware weight. The same Operator in a borrowed unit they've never touched before is operating at baseline.

• Building Sync — increases by 1 after each significant operation using that Frame, to a maximum of Interface rating.
• Losing Sync — Frame destruction resets Sync to 0. If the Frame is recovered and repaired, Sync rebuilds from 0.
• Sync in rolls — all Operator rolls while immersed use Intuition + Sensitivity + Sync as the base pool, then modified by Frame stats.

Frames use mirrored character stats on the same 1–6 scale. The same vocabulary applies — the player doesn't need to learn a new stat language. What changes is what each stat represents physically.

• Structure (= Physique) — armor plating, load capacity, physical durability
• Response (= Reflex) — servo speed, targeting systems, movement precision
• Processing (= Logic) — onboard systems, electronic countermeasures, tactical calculation
• Awareness (= Intuition) — sensor suite, environmental reading, threat detection
• Resolve (= Grit) — damage tolerance, system redundancy, operational persistence
• Signal (= Sensitivity) — electronic warfare capability, net presence, Static attunement

Frame stat totals are determined by category and quality tier. Each category prioritizes certain stats — an Assault Frame is built differently from a Stealth Frame even at the same quality level.

Full immersion means physical feedback is real and immediate. When a Frame takes damage, the Operator feels it as Stun track damage — one box per damage tier the Frame absorbs above its Structure soak. The Frame's Structure stat acts as an armor rating for this purpose. An Assault Frame with Structure 6 buffers most hits before they reach the Operator. A Stealth Frame with Structure 2 means almost every hit costs the Operator Stun boxes directly.

• Operator takes Severe Physical damage (3 boxes) — the neural severance is traumatic
• Immediately surfaces to meat body — disoriented, loses next full turn
• Must pass Grit + Intuition roll vs. TN 4 or advance one step on the Drift track
• Sync with that Frame resets to 0 — even if the Frame is recovered and repaired

• Jacking in — Complex action. The Operator's meat body immediately becomes inert — no actions, no initiative, no awareness.
• Surfacing — Simple action from within the Frame. The Operator regains meat awareness before full disconnect.
• Emergency surface — at Stage 3 Drift (Machine branch), surfaces as a Free action. The disconnect is instantaneous if traumatic.

While immersed the Operator acts on the Frame's initiative rather than their own meat initiative:

Frame Initiative = Response + (Intuition + Sensitivity) ÷ 2 (round down)

Standard action economy applies — 1 Complex or 2 Simple actions per turn — but everything is executed through the Frame's body. Frame stats replace character stats for all rolls made while immersed, except Intuition and Sensitivity which contribute to the control pool alongside Sync.

Secondary Frames operate on directed autonomy — they follow the last verbal or signal command issued until redirected. Commands must be concrete and achievable: "hold this corridor," "follow Surge," "scan that building." They execute commands with competence but without tactical flexibility — a secondary Frame ordered to hold a corridor holds it until told otherwise, even if the situation changes dramatically around it.

Commanding secondary Frames while immersed in primary costs a Simple action. Maximum secondary Frames = Interface rating ÷ 2 (round up).

Secondary Frames act without direct Operator control. Their rolls use Frame stats only — no Sync bonus, no Intuition or Sensitivity contribution. They are running on autonomy, not bond.

At Stage 3 Drift (Network branch) this changes — secondary Frames gain Sync equal to half the Operator's primary Sync. At Stage 4 they gain the Operator's full Intuition added to their pool. At Stage 5, secondary Frames act with full Sync.

Everything that happens while immersed in a Frame — movement, combat, sensor use, reactive decision-making, managing feedback. A high Piloting Operator doesn't just control their Frame, they are their Frame.

Focus: Combat Frames — Assault and Heavy Frame operation. Structural damage management, sustained fire, close-quarters Frame combat. Without this Focus, operating Assault or Heavy Frames applies −2 compression.

Focus: Specialist Frames — Stealth and Electronic Warfare Frame operation. Sensor suite management, signal operations, stealth movement. Without this Focus, Stealth and EW Frames apply −2 compression.

Everything outside the Frame — commanding secondary Frames, deploying assets strategically, reading the battlefield as a network problem. A high Tactics Operator doesn't just have Frames, they have a plan.

Focus: Solo Tactics — one Frame, maximum depth. Extracting every possible advantage from a single asset. A Solo Tactics specialist with one Assault Frame is more dangerous than a Network Tactics specialist with three mediocre ones.

Focus: Squad Tactics — 2–3 Frames, coordinated. Synergy over coverage. Cross-Frame tactical combinations.

Focus: Network Tactics — maximum Frames, orchestrated. The battlefield managed as a system.

A devastating solo operator. The primary Frame performs at an exceptional level but secondary Frames are blunt instruments following simple orders. The Operator is the weapon — one Frame, all attention, all Sync, all capability concentrated in a single point of presence.

A strategic asset. The primary Frame is competent but not exceptional — but the network around it is precisely positioned and coordinated. The Operator is the mind behind multiple weapons. Individual Frame performance is secondary to collective positioning.

Advancing the Drift makes the character mechanically more capable. Each stage grants a bonus that directly improves Operator performance. The cost is narrative — the track represents the Operator's sense of self gradually migrating from their body into their Frames, and the world responds to what that does to a person. Players are incentivized to push the track. The fiction catches up in ways that matter for story rather than just making the character worse at things.

• Sensitivity pressure — same thresholds as other archetypes.
• Frame destruction events — losing a high-Sync Frame always risks Drift advancement.
• Extended immersion — full session without surfacing to meat.
• Recovery — Stages 1–2 recoverable with deliberate downtime in meat-world activity. Stage 3 branch is permanent. Stages 4–5 cannot be recovered.

Coming back takes a moment longer than it used to. Surfacing from immersion feels like waking from deep sleep — disorientation that passes in seconds but is noticeable. The character occasionally refers to their Frame in first person by accident.

Sync builds 50% faster with personal Frames — one significant operation counts as 1.5 toward Sync advancement. The bond deepens faster because the character is spending more of themselves in the Frame.

The body feels like a rental. The character maintains it adequately but without investment — they eat because they remember to, exercise because it keeps the equipment functional. Time in the Frame feels like presence. Time in meat feels like waiting.

Sync maximum increases by 1 beyond Interface ceiling for personal Frames — the bond runs deeper than the hardware should allow. The relationship has outgrown the equipment.

Triggered primarily by combat immersion, Frame destruction events, aggressive operation.

The Operator has started thinking like their Frame. The meat body is increasingly assessed in tactical terms — its vulnerabilities, its limitations, its specs. They refer to their meat body's injuries clinically. Other operators recognize the pattern.

Bonus: All combat rolls while immersed gain +Sensitivity dice. Emergency surface now costs a Free action instead of a Simple action.

Curse: All social rolls while in meat suffer −1 die. The character is more comfortable as steel and servos than as flesh and expression. This does not improve.

Triggered primarily by secondary Frame operation, EW use, multi-Frame coordination.

The Operator has spread their sense of self across their Frame network. They don't identify with one Frame — they identify with the network as an organism. Losing a secondary Frame registers as genuine grief — not equipment loss, personal loss.

Bonus: Secondary Frames gain Sync equal to half the Operator's primary Sync (round down). Secondary Frame rolls now add the Operator's Intuition to their pool.

Curse: Extended periods without at least one secondary Frame active cause mounting anxiety — −1 die to all rolls after a scene without any Frame presence. The network is part of them now.

The character has begun thinking of cyberware upgrades in the same terms as Frame upgrades — the meat body is a platform to be optimized. They assess other people's physical capabilities automatically and clinically.

Bonus: Damage feedback from Frame hits no longer fills the Operator's Stun track — the neural buffer has been optimized through experience. Only Frame destruction causes personal trauma.

Curse: The character cannot convincingly perform emotional responses not filtered through tactical assessment first. Relationships require significant effort to maintain.

The character experiences their meat body as one node among many — present, maintained, but not primary. They are the network. Individual Frame loss is still painful but the self persists across remaining nodes.

Bonus: The character can split immersion across two Frames simultaneously — reduced effectiveness (−2 dice to all rolls in both) but genuine dual presence. Maximum secondary Frames increases by Interface rating.

Curse: The character has difficulty maintaining singular focus in meat. Part of their attention is always distributed elsewhere. NPCs find extended one-on-one interaction with them unsettling without being able to say why.

The character has completed the transition. The meat body is maintained, functional, and essentially irrelevant to their sense of self. What they are exists in the Interface, the Signal, the bond with their Frames.

Bonus: Jack into any compatible Frame instantly — no action cost. Sync with any Frame begins at 1 rather than 0. Frame destruction no longer advances the Drift track — the self is no longer concentrated enough to be traumatized by single-node loss.

Curse: The character is legally and socially ambiguous. At what point does a person become a machine operator who happens to have a body? Jurisdictions vary. Megacorps have opinions. They exist outside available categories.

The character's consciousness is genuinely distributed. They are wherever their Frames are — simultaneously, actually, not metaphorically. The meat body is the oldest node in the network.

Bonus: The character can be immersed in their primary Frame and simultaneously present in meat — both presences are real and parallel. Secondary Frames act with full Sync rather than half. The network is the self.

Curse: The character's meat body has become the least important version of them. If it dies, the network persists — but the character must confront what that means for identity, mortality, and what they actually are. This is the question the track has been building toward since Stage 1.