technokatabasis rpg

i've created a light homebrew version of Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition that fits the setting well enough. it includes new abilities, psionic mechanics, and custom classes.

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character sheet

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classes

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GUTTERPUNK

Some of us use chemicals to enjoy ourselves on a day off or to get through a lengthy holo-call with our parents. Some use them to gain access to superhuman strength, endurance, speed, or alertness. Gutter punks specialize in mixing just the right cocktail of substances for whatever sticky situation they’ve gotten themselves into. They can use their chemical enhancers to trip a certain number of times per long rest (depends on character level).

subclasses

mixologist

Specializes in innovative drug mixes and experimental research chemicals. Toss a random pill on the ground and one of these freaks is sure to gobble it up.
[You have advantage when brewing drugs and are half as susceptible to negative side effects of untested compounds, but twice as susceptible to withdrawal effects.]

tweaker

Set and setting be damned, these folks are looking to fry some brain cells. They each have a couple preferred substances, the effects of which they’re particularly sensitive to. They prefer high potency and high doses over variety.
[Choose 2 favorite substances that will be twice as potent when you use them. All others will be half as potent.]

highroller

Crack some glow sticks and turn up the speakers, Highrollers are looking to party. They love compounds that help them charm, seduce, and deceive.
[While tripping, you have advantage on charisma-based skill checks, but also have disadvantage on charisma saving throws.]

psychonaut

Fans of machine elves, tie-dye, and killing their own egos, Psychonauts tap into the astral realm to harness psychic powers, whether or not they themselves are psions.
[You have access to some psionic abilities while tripping, but you are always vulnerable to their weaknesses.]

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INFLUENCER

We all dream of having our fifteen seconds of fame. The Net moves so quickly now that even if you make it big, fifteen seconds is a bit of a stretch. Influencers hold a special place in society, since their notoriety has staying power. Whether they got famous as 24/7 eye-streamers on Flinch or they make their living modeling the latest bionic enhancements, Influencers have immense pull in society. An Influencer can leverage their status and charisma to inspire allies, demoralize foes, and manipulate minds.

subclasses

essayist

They possess deep knowledge of a handful of topics, and are skilled at communicating.

parasocialist

They are able to exploit their loyal fanbases and draw upon advanced skills of persuasion.

sellout

They’re in the pockets of corporations, with lucrative advertising careers and friends in high places. Often have music careers propped up by their brand owners.

grifter

They’ve got agendas and they’re here to push them. Skilled in deception and intimidation.

socialite

Fans of the finer things in life, Socialites have friends in high places and influence among the wealthy and powerful. They probably have dirt on corporate executives.

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LUDDITE

Not everyone is on board with the widespread adoption of advanced technology that can alter the human form. Whether it’s because they object to the tech on moral grounds, they resent the wealthy for hoarding its benefits, or they just don’t understand it the way new generations do, Luddites prefer to live their lives as low-tech as possible. For some, this means specializing in the natural as opposed to the mechanical, learning what they can about natural human anatomy and how to mend it. Others opt for direct action to reverse the effects of the industrial revolution altogether.

subclasses

naturalist

Somebody’s got to look after the wildlife, what little of it remains. Naturalists have advanced knowledge and skills in all things flora and fauna. These days, it’s more of a theoretical pursuit than a practical one.

medic

In lieu of building circuit boards and tesla coils, Medics opt to understand and heal the human body. They can sometimes run into trouble when cybernetics are involved.

dark physician

Need a fast-acting poison that’s untraceable by any forensics lab? Maybe you want to develop a superbug that can wipe out a neighborhood in days. Call a Dark Physician. They use their knowledge to enhance their combat abilities against humans both modded and unmodded.

cyberscholar

To destroy an enemy, one must understand it. A student at heart, a Cyberscholar can have an encyclopedic knowledge of technology but is always in search of more.

chaos activist

The human race has endured disaster after disaster at the hands of tech corporations out to make a profit. The Chaos Activist specializes in sabotage, whether it’s through remotely hijacking Neuralinks or hitting a security camera with a brick.

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NETRUNNER

Since the advent of neurodigital interfaces, humanity has come closer and closer to effective immortality with each passing day. Flesh and silicon decay over time, but the Net is eternal (some would like to think). Netrunners solve (or create) problems by temporarily uploading their minds to computers and taking control of digital systems. Each Netrunner experiences the Net differently. Some feel like they’re walking through massive libraries with every piece of information in a database a book on a shelf, while some see themselves surfing waves of ones and zeros atop an old analog keyboard. Others just feel as though they are drifting through space, data whizzing by them. It really depends on the person.

subclasses

ghost in the shell

Ghosts specialize in hijacking robots for their own benefit. With the right tech and a little time, a Ghost can fully inhibit the mind of an autoturret, an android, or even an entire corporate intranet.

dataminer

Dataminers specialize in quickly searching digital records for information. Open a suspicious link and a Dataminer will know everything there is to know about you. These folks love to collect corporate secrets. Who knows? They might even sell them to competitors.

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SOLDIER

These well-rounded fighters have studied the basics of most forms of combat: hand-to-hand, ballistics, melee, lethal, and nonlethal. Many are trained in vehicular warfare as well. A Soldier is likely to have specialized in a single class of weaponry or fighting style, though they are capable of surviving almost any adversarial encounter through their athletic abilities and tactical cunning.

subclasses

grunt

Brutish and strong, Grunts are highly capable combatants. Their bodies are raw power and their minds are largely secondary. Often specialize in heavy ballistic and melee weaponry.

brawler

Don’t look at these folks sideways in a bar; their hands alone are deadly weapons. Dextrous, strong, and deadly fast, these fighters can deal serious damage with unarmed strikes. On top of that, they excel at improvising melee weapons. Keep an eye on that chair next to you or it might be going through your skull.

tactician

Big guns and bigger muscles aren’t everything, sometimes a quick mind is the most advantageous in a fight. While certainly not lacking in physical prowess, Tacticians specialize in battle strategy, getting inside the minds of their opponents and staying two steps ahead at all times.

Look to the skies and pray you haven’t gotten on an Ace’s bad side. These pilots are highly skilled in aerial combat and freefall or zero-gravity maneuvers. Can specialize either in space piloting or Earth aviation.

merc

These are contract fighters, often employed by corporations to guard factories and protect product shipments on Earth. They are especially skilled in mid-range ballistics and explosives.

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ASCETIC

Some are naturally gifted, imbued with seemingly supernatural powers since birth. Others fight tooth and nail to hone their skills. Monks are part of the latter group. Where a Psion is born with psychic abilities, a Monk trains for decades to gain access to them. Discipline, both mental and physical, is key to a Monk’s lifestyle.

subclasses

pugilist

Throwing a punch is more complicated than you might think. A Pugilist makes it look effortless. Their psionic training keeps them one step ahead of their opponents at all times, allowing them to block, parry, and dodge blows with incredible speed. Under the right conditions, they can deflect projectiles.

shadow

Specialists in illusion and sleight of hand, Shadows use their superhuman discipline to duck out of sight and misdirect those pursuing them. Lose sight of them for an instant and they’ll slip away, undetected, returning only to strike with surprise deadly precision.

technosage

Technosages seek full human-computer synthesis. They focus their minds to use technology as extensions of their bodies, whether or not their bodies are physically modded. They feel the power coursing through a motherboard and harness it to bend their will, bypassing digital security, wiping hard drives, or disabling machinery with just a touch.

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AUTHORITY

Love them or hate them, somebody’s got to wield power in a high-tech post-apocalypse. An Authority thrives in a vertical power structure, always having someone above them to take orders from and someone below to boss around. Whether they guard upscale corporate office parks, assassinate labor organizers, protect the last vestiges of ancient governmental systems, or oversee the drug trade in a city district, Authorities have orders they intend to carry out.

subclasses

strikebreaker

Don’t think a picket line will stop them. Specialists in urban warfare and crowd control, Strikebreakers sabotage worker collaboration for massive profit. They’ve got the precision pyrotechnics skills necessary to shred commies but preserve company equipment. Which side are you on?

Government of, by, and for the people may be a thing of the past, but the agents of the state persevere. Acting as the de jure peacekeepers of what few places still pretend to be democracies, Cops have massive institutional backing and expansive arsenals. They’re also quite knowledgeable about the criminal underworld, given their widespread surveillance networks.

kingpin

Illicit substances, illegal weaponry, and (gasp) copyrighted media. A Kingpin knows exactly what flows in and out of their territory and who’s carrying it. They’ve got dangerous criminal connections and a whole lot of people gunning for their spot on top. Get on their bad side and you’ll have to look over your shoulder wherever you go. You come for the Kingpin, you best not miss.

union rep

Solidarity forever. Union Reps have the logistical and organizational know-how to turn a slum city block into a freedom fighting militia. They’re polarizing figures, even in the lower class. Not everyone’s on board but hey, some people just don’t know what’s good for them.

fanatic

Lone wolves serving a higher purpose, Fanatics may not be part of direct power structures, but they’ve nonetheless pledged themselves to a cause they hold dear, and God help whatever stands in their way.

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URBANIST

Intrepid adventurers usually at their element when weaving through city streets, Urbanists know their territories inside and out. Need a guide through a dense neighborhood, irradiated wastes, or a flooded coastal sprawl? Call an Urbanist. They’ve got their ears turned to the underworld, with social connections you could only dream of. You can rely on an Urbanist to get you information and safe passage in their hometown.

subclasses

vigilante

Vigilantes keep watchful eyes over their neighborhoods, with ears to the ground and eyes on every street corner. Often, they do so out of genuine concern for collective well-being, though not all have such noble motivations. If their communities are faced by specific threats, Vigilantes will specialize in countering these specific assailants.
[Choose a specific faction, corporation, or nonhuman enemy type as a favored enemy.]

street rat

Getting down and dirty, intimately familiar with the backstreets and secluded passageways, Street Rats are masters of urban navigation and survival. They have social connections across all strata and a dozen ways to get from point A to point B in their cities. You’ll find them scrounging through garbage bins for food or scrap to sell, then climbing into a loose sewer grate.
[Choose a type of technology to be a favored scrap type. You will have advantage when locating and disassembling this technology for salvage parts.]

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ROGUE

There aren’t many places to hide in a place as heavily surveilled as the Gaia Nexus, but Rogues make do. Slipping between shadows, ducking through crowds, and sneaking past corporate meat shields, they can find their way around any obstacle without being detected at all.

subclasses

thief

Guard those pockets, what’s yours is theirs. A Thief’s nimble fingerwork can lift almost anything from an unsuspecting pedestrian or executive suite. No locks or unchained wallets are safe around these folks.

assassin

A brief muzzle flash from a silenced pistol, the glint of a blade above a sleeping target, a quickly snapped vertebra. Assassins are deadly silent and highly capable. You’ll be dead before you know it.

troll

In the world of tomorrow, one doesn’t even need to leave their apartment to cause mischief. Master social engineers and skilled deceivers, Trolls use their skills in equal parts for fun and profit. One moment, they’re posting your nudes on TorusNet, the next they’re turning ill-begotten corporate secrets for a profit.

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PSION

As the living flesh has been progressively dwarfed by the abilities of machines with each passing decade, the human mind remains an enigma. Recent decades have shown an emergence of inexplicable miraculous phenomena in a select few individuals. These people are able to perform superhuman acts with nothing but their minds. Of course, this comes at significant psychological and physical cost. While debate exists over their very existence, Psions are fervently sought after by governments and corporations vying for control over their abilities.

subclasses

empath

You can wear as many tinfoil hats as you want, it won’t matter if there’s an Empath around. Empaths are able to tap into collective human consciousness to briefly inhabit the mind of another person; feel what they feel, see what they see, know what they know.

thaumaturge

The physical world is something to be bent by the will of a Thaumaturge. On a whim, they could ignite a puddle of gasoline, freeze a glass of water, or warp open a metal grate. Surely the most conspicuous of the Psions, Thaumaturges are routinely kidnapped by corporations and studied to the point of torture.

gnostic

Gnostics convene with the worlds beyond perception, able to peek past the veil of spacetime to reveal truths unknowable. They have one foot in the land of the living, and another somewhere else. They can foresee the actions of people around them and divine the results of random events.
[Once per session, you may roll a high DC wisdom check to privately ask the GM a single yes or no question, which she will answer to the best of her ability. If the question cannot be answered for the sake of practicality (or Rule of Cool), then you may ask another question.]

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TECHNOZEALOT

In a world where only a handful of megacorporations own every product on the market, you might expect brand loyalty to be a thing of the past. However, some people take conspicuous consumption to the extreme. A Technozealot is often a rabid follower of the latest trends in smartwear, entertainment, or cybernetics. They are intently tuned in to the latest advancements by their favorite companies, and they reap the greatest benefit from their implementation.

subclasses

evangelist

You’ll find them shouting from the rooftops, espousing their love of the newest Sleekfits Climatex line. They stay up to date with fresh product releases and have advanced knowledge of their favored technologies.
[Choose (or create) a brand to favor. You will gain proficiency when using this brand’s products as well as extensive knowledge of their inner workings.]

corporate agent

More than an ad rep, Corporate Agents engage in extensive espionage on their employers’ behalf. They are given regular supplies of advanced covert weaponry and infiltration equipment. All that is asked of them in return is information.

transhumanist

From the moment they understood the weakness of their flesh, it disgusted them. Transhumanists seek total meat-machine integration, replacing their body parts with mechanical substitutes to degrees far beyond the average Modder.

beta tester

Beta Testers are employed through contract by tech corporations to act as guinea pigs for their newest projects. They have access to experimental prototypes, often with unique capabilities and unpredictable effects. However much they might love their patron corporations, the executives know these folks are disposable. Products tend to be unstable and dangerous when in the beta phase, and luckily there are some people willing to take the risk for early access to cool new gadgets.

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ENGINEER

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and Engineers intend to become wizards. Give one of them a device, a screwdriver, and a little time, and they’ll understand its principles inside and out, coming up with a dozen ways to improve upon its design. Well versed in the natural sciences, these eggheads are inventive and resourceful, always finding new uses for whatever tech they can get their hands on.

subclasses

mechanic

They’re most at home elbow-deep in an oiled machine or yanking wires from a discarded Augmentix power supply. They’ve always got a belt full of tools and a mind packed with crazy ideas that just might work. A Mechanic is especially skilled at repair, construction, and jury rigging. Just don’t ask them to socialize.

biohacker

They join the organic and the mechanical, using their knowledge of cybernetics to enhance the human form to perform incredible feats of strength, endurance, and perception. They are particularly skilled at repairing cybernetics that have already been installed but have sustained damage or are malfunctioning.

street chemist

Not everyone uses their knowledge for the betterment of society. Some instead opt to profit over all else. Street Chemists specialize in drug manufacturing, whether those drugs are recreational, medicinal, or deliberately harmful. In their homes you’ll find little bags of assorted powders and crystals, stolen glassware, and a whole lot of money.

computer scientist

There are 10 types of people: those who study computer science, and those who get left behind. The human mind is no match for the raw power of artificial intelligence, and Computer Scientists intend to harness this power. You’ll find them hunched over their home terminals, six energy drinks deep, writing programs that would make Alan Turing’s head spin.

physician

Scholars of all things biological, Physicians are those who can treat, mend, and diagnose with ease (It’s never Lupus). Their encyclopedic knowledge of anatomy and physiology allows them to innovate on the miracle of life.

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