Bestiary

Although some Nephandi are born Fallen, most choose to enter the Cauls willingly. Their reasons can include numbing despair, implacable fury, a passion so intense that a person would literally sell her soul to get the object of her obsession, or simply the desire to be on what she believes to be the winning side. These last two motivations are especially common among members of the Technocratic Union who join the Nephandic ranks. When you’re already a fanatic, after all, going over the edge of decency is just a short step away from where you already stand.

Fallen NWO operatives become some of the most dangerous Nephandi in the Union. As the Technocracy’s police force, these operatives have an easy time reshaping the Union to their darker purposes. They’re also among the infiltrators who are hardest to detect; their mastery of Mind Procedures allows them to conceal their thoughts and erase doubt and suspicion from the minds of their fellows and underlings. Like normal members of this Convention, NWO Nephandi excel at long-term planning. Many of their seemingly innocuous actions are parts of an extended plan to bring both the Masses and the Union under their complete control… and from there, to ultimate extinction.

Suggested Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3, Charisma 3, Manipulation 4, Appearance 3, Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 5 Suggested Abilities: Academics 3, Alertness 4, Awareness 3, Brawl 3, Computer 3, Cosmology/ Subdimensions 2, Drive 2, Enigmas 2, Firearms 3, Hypertech 3, Intimidation 4, Martial Arts 3, Melee 2, Stealth 3, Sciences 3, Subterfuge 5, Technology 4 Willpower: 8 Health Levels: OK, -1, -1, -2, -2, -5, Incapacitated Armor Rating: 4 (from high-density mesh-weave suit; seven soak dice, total) Suggested Arete: 6 Suggested Spheres: Correspondence/ Data 4, Entropy 3, Forces 3, Mind 4, Prime 3, Dimensional Science 3 Equipment: High-density mesh-weave suit, armored sedan, Technocratic smart phone, heavy pistol, VDAS gear, and hidden surprises of various nasty kinds that range from Technocratic goodies to Nephandic Talismans and tactics. Image: He looks like a Man in Gray – cheerless, accomplished, and formidably capable. He’s got the same sort of blurred thoughts as any Black Suit, and for good reason: in reality, he’s playing the most dangerous game imaginable, among playmates whose primary vocation involves turning minds inside out. As a survivor – even a master – of that game, he’s unspeakably good at what he does. No lesser mage could match his achievements, and the fact that he has succeeded thus far testifies to his supreme competence.

Roleplaying Notes: In a world of double-blinds and perilous truths, you exist along the razor’s edge between superiors who know what you are and peers who’d kill you horribly if they recognized your true allegiance. The Nephandi might run the Union from the inside out, but at your level, and in your Convention, this is still a dangerous proposition. Subvert your supposed allies, terrorize your known enemies, spread the agenda of your hidden masters, and recognize that you’ll all be screaming in the end. Focus: On a One-Way Trip to Oblivion, he’s the conductor of the secret train to hell. On the surface, he employs the tools and practices of a typical NWO operative; below his subversions, however, it’s maleficia all the way down.