Character Generation

Your Affinity describes which of your esoteric ancestors you take after the most. It has little to do with bloodline; sometimes entire families can show strong inclinations towards the Land, but just as often two Oceanic parents will have a Divinely-inclined child. Think of it more as a star sign; it has a slight influence on your personality, and perhaps gives you an instinctual tendency towards particular skills. It is claimed by mystics and wizards that through further exploration of your Affinity you may foster unusual natural talents, though at the cost of increasing the extent to which your Affinity's tendencies and weaknesses hold sway over you; similarly, it is whispered that if you desire it you may even overcome your Affinity if you follow a different path.

A couple of things to note:

Divine
You have a forceful and distinctive personality and have the potential to be an inspirational leader. People tend not to forget you after meeting you once. You are very much an individualist, although at the same time you do enjoy the admiration of others. The downside is that you can tend towards egotism and narcissism if you are not careful. Often people with Divine parentage end up taking sides in a struggle for personal glory, not because they necessarily agree with the principles they are fighting for, and find that they are reluctant to accept the authority of others.

Land
The natural world feels like home to you, and wildlife is a little less afraid of you than of other men. On the downside, you do tend to let your natural instincts override your common sense; you are more easily swayed by good food, wild parties, or seductive members of your preferred gender.

Ocean
Secrets are your forte. Perhaps you are particularly secretive, and love to know what others don't. Or maybe you are intensely curious, and love to uncover juicy gossip and other people's dirty laundry. Sometimes it's hard for you not to let someone know your secrets, or the secrets of others.

Sky
The mercurial forces of the air are associated with travel and bending the rules. Maybe you enjoy travel and exploration; perhaps you have a rebellious spirit and are never satisfied with the status quo; it could be that you are perfectly happy sticking to the rules, but enjoy finding and exploiting loopholes. On the downside, your restless nature can get you into trouble.

Note that only ghouls and people with the "Fairy blood" quirk may choose the Fire or the Stars for their Affinity.

Fire
You often find yourself moved to defy the authority and expectations of others over you, for in your spirit burns the lawless anarchy of the Fire. However, those with Firey temperaments tend to have a volatile personality and are quick to anger. You can often be whimsical and capricious, prone to allowing luck to choose your destiny.

These labels imply nothing about what time of day you actually carry out these jobs - a lot of the time, you'll be working them in parallel. A taxi driver could, for example, sell drugs from our of his car, and a mobster could give his mooks their orders during his lunch break at t' factory.

You may have only two job quirks, and you cannot hold down two Day Jobs or two Night Jobs at once.

You will note that with a few exceptions Night Jobs make more money than Day Jobs.

Be aware! Several quirks refer to resources that imply some constant investment of money to maintain - alchemists need to pay rent for their labs, and mob bosses need to pay their mooks' wages, for example. You do not need to work out how much these things cost to upkeep each turn; all quirks come with enough money per turn to maintain them. In some cases it may be possible to free up the money bound up in a quirk at the cost of losing the quirk (for example, you could stop paying rent on your alchemist's lab). In other cases, it's less appropriate - for example, a mobster's mooks tend to "pay for themselves" with the revenue they bring in through shaking people down for protection money. Talk to the GMs if you are not sure.

To underline the point: resource-based quirks come with the money required to maintain them. Your spending money per turn is the money you have left over after you've paid the maintenance on these resources. If you "liquidate" these resources, you may not get the quirks back, and you are more likely to get a one-off payment than a permanent income boost.

Categories of Quirks

Quirks of Fate

The GM promises, quite simply, not to allow your player character to die. In return, you promise:

• To try and avoid situations of high risk to your character, so that we do not have to stretch suspension of disbelief too much to preserve them.

  This clause is obviously quite constraining, since all sorts of activities in this sort of game can involve fatal risks. If you find it constraining, you may simply renounce this quirk partway through the game. Once you have done this, however, you may not regain it.

• Not to attempt to kill any other character, PC or NPC.

  This one is set in stone. It is absolutely unfair to have fights to the death between two characters when one of them has GM protection.

Please note that if you are genuinely unaware of the risk when you undertake a course of action, the GMs will not allow your character to die whether or not you have this quirk. In turnsheeting we will, at the very least, allow you an opportunity to realise the risks before giving you the choice whether to commit to that course of action. No character in Horizon will be allowed to die without warning simply because their players were OOC unaware of the dangers of what they were doing.

No NPCs will ever have this quirk.

Roger Me Spinally (-1 to -3)
Bad things are coming your way. This quirk costs between -1 and -3 points; during the game (unless your character dies before we get around to it) we will shower three times the value of this quirk upon you in the form of crises, problems, afflictions, curses, dilemmas, and other bad things. There will be no way to avoid this. We will do our best to ensure that these things have at least a tangential relation to what is happening in the gameworld.

Fortune (1 to 3)
A nicer version of Roger Me Spinally - "Cuddle Me Spinally", if you will. Happy times are coming your way; for each quirk point you invest in this, you will get three times its value back in the form of happy things.

Yes, you can take both Roger Me Spinally and Fortune.

Doooooooooomed (-6)
Your character will definitely come to a bad end by the end of the game, their plans ruined, their schemes undone, their life laid ruin. You may or may not be aware IC of the nature of your doom at game start; that's entirely your choice.

Jobs

There are advantages of being a taxi driver:

• Whilst technically you only rent your cab from the government, having a steam-clockwork car of your very own is very useful.

• "You'll never guess who I 'ad in 'ere last week." You'll be surprised at who you'll end up meeting in a taxi, and what they'll tell you. Each turn you do your job you will learn two juicy pieces of gossip, and might even meet someone important.

• "If I 'ad my way..." Because you meet lots of people with important (or at least influential) jobs, your opinions carry more weight than they might otherwise do. You can't single-handedly change government policy, but you can raise an idea that might change a civil servant's thinking. Add any particular ideas you want to talk about with your customers to the Opinions section of your turnsheet.

• You get your taxi licence from the government, who can revoke it and repossess your taxi any time they like.

• The Grey Order are the only people who are allowed to repair taxis - this is a clause in their contract with the government. Whilst in theory you could get a steam engineer or a clockworker to fix things if they go wrong, the interface of steam and clockwork is beyond their ken, and so they may not even know how to fix it, and if the government finds out you might find your taxi licence gets revoked. This means that the Grey Order can charge what they like for repairs, and levy a Significant fee.

Pick a ministry to work in: below is a list of the ministries and the sort of thing you can expect to achieve with the right form in the right place. The lists are not exhaustive; if you want to achieve a particular thing, talk to a GM. You may be able to achieve more should you gain a promotion within your department.

Loyal Order of Hounds: Pick an especially sympathetic or hardline judge to hear a particular case, get someone assigned to a nicer (or a nastier) cell in the Doghouse, provide enhanced (or diminished) Watchdog patrols for a particular area, renew your dog owner's licence.

The Goodly Chamber: Arrange appointments with nobles, find out their travel arrangements, have motions slipped into the agenda.

The Mayoral Legions: Divert supplies from the Quartermasters' Division, find out about military exercises, fake someone's application to join the army.

Ministry of Friendship: Find out where a particular Registered Spy lives, send discreet messages to the embassies of other nations, find out the travel details of important government figures, learn about the arrangements for important diplomatic events.

Ministry of Public Works: Alter the subway timetable. Schedule roadworks for awkward times.

The Treasury: Meddle with people's tax bills. Embezzle like your mother died and only money can comfort you.

Government job: insider. (3) (Special, Moderate)
You are a member of one of the various cliques, committees, subdepartments and quangos who do all the interesting governmental stuff. This gives you a Moderate income, although you will have frequent opportunities to supplement this with bonuses for completing missions.

There are two flavours of government insider you can play:

Suits are known to be government men and carry ID cards. Whilst many people will not trust you, your ID gives you power: you can use it to commandeer government cars for your own use when on-duty, rip through the bureaucracy like a white-hot knife through butter that's been out in the sun for too long, and generally kick up a stink. (This counts as a Day Job).

Undercover Agents are, well, undercover agents. Whilst you won't be able to pull rank on people who are technically less vital to the governance of the city than you are, you will be able to infiltrate places where Suits simply won't be welcome. (This can count as a Night Job or a Day Job).

Let us know what sort of outfit you'd like your character to be a member of: if we've already dreamed up such a subcommittee, then you will be part of that. If we haven't, then we will invent an appropriate clique for you.

Someone Else's Bodyguard (3/5/7) (Day or Night Job, Moderate)
You earn a Moderate income looking after the physical well-being of an important person. For 3 points, your client is someone of at least Rank 4 in an organisation where seniority is Casual - perhaps the Steam Union, or the University. For 5 points, your client is someone of at least Rank 4 in an organisation where seniority is Vital (such as the mobs, or the government, or the Embassies), or someone of paramount importance to an organisation where seniority is Casual (the head of the Steam Union, for example). For 7 points you are looking out for someone of beyond Rank 4 in an organisation where seniority is Vital - Colonel Zero would fall into this category.

One of the major advantages of having this job is that you'll know an awful lot about what your client is up to, because a lot of the time you'll be there while they do it. Of course, should anything bad happen to your client, you are going to take the blame. And the more important your client is, the more flak you'll take for letting them die. Granted, more important clients are more likely to have multiple bodyguards - but that just means you'll have friends standing next to you as you face the firing squad after you neglect to save Colonel Zero from that Imperialist suicide bomber.

Whether this quirk qualifies as a Day Job or a Night Job depends on who you are protecting, and in what capacity you are protecting them. For example, supposing John Smith happens to be a mover and shaker in the University as well as a big man in the Three Families. If you were looking after him in his capacity as a University man, this would be a Day Job. If you were looking after him in his capacity as a Three Families bigshot, this would be a Night Job. If you want to look after him during his Day Job and his Night Job, you'll need to buy this quirk twice (because you'd get lots of information about the University and about the Three Families).

If you are the bodyguard for a member of a mob, you get Rank 1 within that mob absolutely free! If you wish, you can pay 3 extra points for the quirk to be Rank 2 within the mob, or 6 extra points for Rank 3 (at which point you are almost certainly guarding the head of the mob, so this quirk will end up costing 13 points).

Mob bodyguards can gain assistants under their command, or get training at the mob's expense; Rank 2 members get 3 free quirk points back to spend on fighting skills or Mooks, Rank 3 members get 6 free quirk points back. Naturally, you can spend additional points on Mooks and fighting if you wish...

Honest Trader (2) (Day Job, Moderate)
You are a good old-fashioned honest trader. You don't cheat on your taxes. You don't bribe people. You don't smuggle goods past customs. You don't sell contraband and illegal wares under the counter. You are, in short, not cut out for the business world.

You have a little stall in the market and, once you've paid your taxes, a Moderate income. If you are able to pull off an especially good trade deal, or an especially risky trade caravan expedition, you'll be able to reap the benefits.

Dirty Trader (3) (Day Job, Comfortable)
You are the sort of fat, corrupt merchant who's become a staple of fantasy fiction. You maintain a legal facade, and as far as most people are aware you're just a successful Honest Trader. But you have some sort of illegal thing going on on the side - please describe it to us. This gives you a Comfortable income. And a smug grin, as you wipe the pie-crumbs from your pudgy, overfed cheeks.

Private Eye (3) (Day Job, Moderate)
You earn a living looking into people's problems when they can't turn to the Watchdogs for help (and that's often). This means you earn better money than an honest cop and probably do more good deeds for society, but you don't have the same rights as a Watchdog (and they're liable to get shirty if you interfere too much in their investigations).

Disgraced noble (1) (Day Job, Moderate)
You are a scion of a noble house who has been cast out in SHAME. You will inherit nothing, not even a title, but you do have a certain glamourous aura in the underworld - not to mention a nice Moderate income from the private trust your parents set up to stop you starving (though beware; should you cross your family a second time you may lose this). You also know the layout of three noble estates - including your family's - well enough to give a significant amount of help to anyone who decides to trespass there.

Incognito noble (5) (Day Job, Comfortable)
You are a very bored scion of a noble house who likes to mix with a rough crowd. You aren't super-rich, because you're not the head of your family, but Daddy and Mummy give you a Comfortable amount of pocket money each turn. You have a free Secret Identity which you adopt when you go down to the Low City, lest you be kidnapped by the ruthless thugs you like to have a drink or two with.

As with the Disgraced Noble quirk, you know the layout of three noble estates - including your family's - well enough to give a significant amount of help to anyone who decides to trespass there. Since you haven't been disinherited, disgraced, and SHAMED you are still welcome in the noble quarter, and can probably blag an invitation to tea at other estates if you approach the relevant nobles. This is an excellent opportunity to stake their pads out.

Trading On Skill (0/1/2) (Day Job, varies)
You have a brought a skill at some level and you trade on it full time for a living. You are an honest craftsman. In this way, you may be unique. The amount of money you make depends on how skilled you are. Apprentices (0 points) get nothing; no-one trusts you not to burn or break stuff. Journeymen (1 point) get a poor income, and Masters (2 points) get a moderate income. You make think these are rather poor incomes, and you'd be right. You may like the idea of making intricate pottery minatures of Beatrix Potter characters for a living, but we want you to fight and bleed and die for our amusement. Sorry, that should read "have a fulfilling role-playing experience".

Fence (3) (Night Job, Moderate)
You are a skilled fence. You can appraise stolen items to find out how valuable they are, and you can sell them on through certain contacts of yours in return for a cut of the price.

Note that if you're caught telling the guy who stole the priceless artwork that it's only worth a Significant amount of money, and then go and sell it for a Staggering price, you're liable to get lynched. The usual deal works like this: if you appraise something as (for example) having a Significant price, you would sell it, give a Significant amount of money to the person who gave it to you, and take a Notable cut (your cut not being large enough to decrease the thief's cut to an extent that's worth following).

You are assumed to make a Moderate income selling on the goods stolen by third-rate minor thieves; however, you are likely to have opportunities to make much more money if you offer your services to PCs.

When you buy this quirk you must choose whether you are an independent Fence, or a member of a mob. Independent Fences have the advantage that they can pick and choose who they work with - mob-connected Fences are obliged to sell on items acquired by their mob's thieves, and may not be trusted by thieves loyal to rival mobs. On the other hand, Fences who are members of criminal gangs can end up shifting epic amounts of gear, and earn much more money as a result: upgrading your income from the basic Fence income to Comfortable costs 2 points, upgrading from the base level to Classy costs 4 points, and upgrading from Moderate to Magnificent costs 7 points.

If you are a mob-connected Fence, you automatically gain Rank 1 in your gang. You can, if you wish, pay 3 points to begin the game in Rank 2, 6 points to begin in Rank 3, or 9 points to begin in Rank 4 (at which point you are probably moving stolen goods on an international basis). Each point you pay into increasing your rank gives you a free quirk point back to spend on Mooks or boosting your Fence income.

Struggling Artist (2) (Day Job, Poor)
You're one of the many overworked, underappreciated artists of Horizon. You have yet to Make A Name for yourself: your paintings don't sell for anything other than pocket change, you're not a celebrity, and you constantly battle to make ends meet. You will, however be known by other artists or critics with a particular interest in your genre, and you're more keyed-in to the exciting Horizon underground of beatniks and revolutionaries than someone who sells potatoes for a living. And there is always the chance that one day you'll Make It Big...

Actor (2) (Day Job, Poor)
You work in the Theatre District as one of the poor schmoes learning lines like "Five shillings, please", "No" and *dies*. You deal with abominable directors, you're constantly between jobs, and nobody gives you a slice of respect. On the other hand, you do at least have easy access to a wide variety of costumes and props.

Ac-TOR (4) (Day Job, Moderate)
Apparently you work in the Theatre District. Actually what you do is have drinkies with your directors, coffee with producers, and wild animal sex with the chorus line. Oh, from time to time you go on stage and say some lines, and get paid an exhorbitant amount for it: if it weren't for the fact that you spend it all on drinkies, coffee and nights out with the chorus line, you'd have a Comfortable income. (No, it's not possible to play an Ac-TOR who doesn't waste his money on such fripperies: it's through drinkies, coffee and wild animal sex that you make the contacts you need to get work.) You move in more widely respected social circles than many, so you have contacts among the nobility.

Street Performer (1) (Day Job, Poor)
Just when you think it can't get any worse, you find yourself juggling weasels for a living. The people who tip you give you only the merest of profits. You do, however, have a wonderful excuse to stand outside in the streets for ages on end and not be moved on by the Watchdogs. You're not staking Lord Burfoe's apartment. You're making an evocative statement about the alienation inherent in living in a city. Yes, the sword is part of the act.

Vulgar Alchemist (2) (Day/Night Job, Poor/Moderate)
You're the lowest of the low: an alchemist who doesn't do alchemy. That is to say, you're what modern-day people would consider a chemist. You don't distill the purified essence of the Powers and have fun with it. Instead you mix medicine, make ammonia, and do all the other sorts of things that require stirring and stains on your coat. If you take Vulgar Alchemist as a Night Job, then you test Vegdar-dust for purity, distil moonshine, and forge notes with acid. Occasionally, you make poison for stealthy black-clad men to put on their blades or in people's drink.

If you're also a proper alchemist, you can expect the disdain of your peers.

If you take this as a Night Job, you must specify whether you are an independent operator or are a member of a mob. Independent Vulgar Alchemists have a good deal of freedom in terms of who they can and can't sell to - after all, if you're a member of a mob it's a very dumb thing to sell poison to a rival mob, no matter how much they pay you. On the other hand, mob membership does have its perks - you can become the chief poisoner of your mob, or run a healthy sideline dealing drugs. If you wish, you can pay 2 points to upgrade your income from Moderate to Comfortable, or 4 to upgrade from Moderate to Classy, or 7 to upgrade from Moderate to Magnificent.

If you choose to be a mob-connected Vulgar Alchemists, you are by default at Rank 1 in your Mob. You can spend 3 extra points on this quirk to go up a Rank - so to start at Rank 2 you should spend 3 points, Rank 3 requires 6 and Rank 4 requires 9. Each point you spend on increasing your Rank gives you a free quirk point back, which you can spend on Mooks or increasing your Vulgar Alchemist income.

Dockworker (1) (Day Job, Poor)
You work on the docks moving crates around. Which is a crap job with only a Poor income, but you do membership of the Amalgamated Union of Dockworkers, Railwaymen and Ferrymen, and you occasionally find out when the... interesting ships are sailing. And by interesting I mean "full of booty".

Railwayman (1) (Day Job, Poor)
You work on t'railway. It gives you a Poor income but you also get membership of the Amalgamated Union of Dockworkers, Railwaymen and Ferrymen, and opportunities to find out when the trains full of gold ingots are going to head out through bandit territory. Not to mention the vast number of trainspotting opportunities, you bloody anorak.

Whore (1) (Night Job, varies)
You tell your mother you're a seamstress or stableboy, but that's a lie. You're a filthy whore.

This is, let's face it, a pretty nasty job. The factories are producing decent condoms these days, but clients are sometimes reluctant to use them, often rude, and very occasionally try to kill you and dance in the moonlight clad in your skin.

On the other hand, prostitutes get all the best gossip. Each turn we tell you one or two interesting things. These could be things you notice about one of your clients, or something your clients tell you in the middle of the night as they clutch you and weep with shame at the sheer depths of loneliness they have reached.

By default, whores have Poor incomes and are assumed to work on the streets, either by themselves or with a third-rate pimp or madam who's not mob-connected (and therefore will get their legs broken if they're too successful).

However, there is another way: you can, if you wish, begin the game as a member of a mob. This is a very good thing: it means that the mob will protect you so you won't get Jack the Ripper'd. It also means you have an opportunity to earn a greater income: it costs 2 points to begin the game with a Moderate income, 4 to begin with a Comfortable income, 6 to begin Classy and 9 to begin as a Magnificent whore. Here's some guidelines as to what the income levels mean in this context:

Moderate: You work in a down-market brothel - perhaps somewhere in the Slums. This is a hell of a lot safer than working on the streets, and the nice bouncers turn away unclean or impolite clients. You see a lot of working class folk in their pants.

Comfortable: You work in an upmarket brothel - perhaps one of Shoreline House's establishments in the Docks. You're up to date on what sort of pants are fashionable amongst the middle classes.

Classy: You're the sort of whore a noble parent would gladly hire to teach their son or daughter the fine art of lovemaking - at this level of income you start hearing the really good pillowtalk. You know what sort of pants government ministers and mob bosses wear.

Magnificent: You are in demand in high society. At this point most jobs don't actually involve having sex with clients, just accompanying them to parties so that their rivals can be consumed with jealousy. You know what sort of pants Colonel Zero (or, if you're a rentboy, his wife) wears.

To be a mob-connected whore, you must pay for a Rank in the mob. Rank 1 costs 2 points, Rank 2 costs 5 points, and Rank 3 costs 8 points. (There ain't no such thing as a Rank 4 whore: once you get that important, there's no earthly reason to sell your body to anyone ever again.) For each quirk point you pay for Rank in a mob, you get a free point back to spend on either boosting your Whore income or buying Mooks (because when you're threatening to go to the newspapers with your story about your hot night of passion with that Lasinian general, you're going to want muscle to back up your blackmail).

Quack (1) (Day Job, Poor)
You know those people who used to go around saying that smelling posies would protect you from the plague? Yup, that's you! You are the physician of the lower classes. You deal in leeches, trepanning, bloodletting and herbal remedies (which may or may not work). You may know some old herbal folklore but there's more than one or two old wives' tales thrown in for good measure which aren't as reliable when it actually comes to curing someone. However, you're all the poor can usually afford and you get lucky and utilise what you do know often enough to make a Poor income.

Physician (5) (Day Job, Comfortable)
You know all the old wives' tales and herbal folklore, but more than that - you know which ones work and may even have an idea why and when's best to use them. If something new comes along (a nasty Treacherous Lands influenza let's say) you may have a chance to find something that'll fight it. You're not in the habit of using leeches and tend to wash your hands before performing any operation. Those who can afford you definitely come to you over any quack (they're more likely to survive this way), although those in the upper classes tend to have their own physicians. This gives you a Comfortable income. If you take this quirk you can get the Vulgar Alchemy skill quirk at a cost 1 less than stated.

Watchdog, Corrupt (varies) (Day Job, income varies)
You're a pig. But the the kind of pig who's popular in the Riverview. Because you're a dirty, dirty pig. You're basically like a gangster who has the legal right to arrest people and search their houses without warning. (Of course, unlike mobsters doing this leaves a paper trail of your activities...)

To play a Corrupt Watchdog, simply treat the Watchdogs like any other criminal gang: buy a Rank in them (see the "Mobster" quirk) and take your free points in Illegal Income and Mooks. See the Loyal Watchdog description for the lowdown of what rank in the Watchdogs means.

Corrupt Watchdogs with a low Illegal Income operate much like low-income gangsters, and/or take bribes from taxi drivers to make inconvenient parking tickets go away. Corrupt Watchdogs with a high Illegal Income operate much like high-income gangsters, and/or take bribes from government ministers to make inconvenient butchered prostitutes go away.

Watchdog, Loyal (varies) (Day Job, Poor)
You're a pig. But not a dirty pig. You are a clean pig. Also, a poor pig. Your income is Poor unless you are of high rank, you don't get bribe money, and for some reason very few of your fellow Watchdogs like you. But you do get to arrest people and search their homes, and that can give you a lovely glowy sense of doing the right thing. No, wait, that warm feeling is your life trickling out of the knifewound in your gut.

Note: Whilst you're loyal to a naive extent, you're not stupid, and know enough not to try to base cases on things people have said in the Riverview.

Rank is Vital in the Watchdogs, and the costs for each rank for Loyal Watchdogs are as follows:

Rank 1 costs 1 point, and corresponds to beat constables.
Rank 2 costs 4 points, and corresponds to detectives.
Rank 3 costs 7 points, and corresponds to high-flying police detectives, or members of special units like the clockwork-wing utilising Flying Squad.
Rank 4 costs 10 points, and corresponds to Watchdog Commissioners responsible for entire districts.

Scholar (3) (Day Job, Poor)
You spend your days in libraries and discussion groups, attempting to perfect your understanding of... something. Pick a subject; we will assume that you are an expert in it, and can request information on it at any time. You are also assumed to be fairly knowledgable about related areas. If you need guidance, check the faculty list of the University. In Horizon, it is expected that professional scholars will be associated in some way with the Imperial University. However, this is not necessarily the case. If you want it, this quirk also grants you seniority 2 at the University; you may ignore this or take seniority in another suitable group if it fits your character concept better. If you do decide to be part of the Imperial University, you will need to select a faculty (this should probably have some relation to whatever you're studying). Your default income is Poor.

Seniority at the Imperial University
Seniority is Casual. Such as they are, ranks run as follows. To be in the University, you must select a faculty.

1 (total quirk cost: 1): you are a student, and therefore have no income at all. You know a little about one subject associated with your chosen faculty. You are also permitted to roam around labs filled with horribly dangerous experiments or libraries full of esoteric texts at will.

2 (3): You are a scholar; learning or research is your life. Your almost invisible means of support might come from a sponsor, private wealth, or one of a really limited number of scholarships; alternatively you might do work for one of the academics and squeeze your private research into your spare time. If you wish to make your role in the University a full Day Job, your default income is Poor. (This is basic package you get with the "Scholar" Day Job.)

3 (5): You are a permanent member of one of the faculties. You get to call yourself doctor (some people might even act like you're respectable). You are an expert in two (related) fields, and know quite a lot about anything related to them. You have two or three helpers (of little actual competence; they're probably students) paid for by the Univeristy. Your default income from the university is Poor, whether or not you have made your scholarly role a full Day Job (tenure is great like that; you get money just for being very clever).

4 (7): you are a professor, world renowned (or notorious) in your field. You are either quite, quite brilliant or a master of politics. Either way, you can wander all over the University with impunity (with a few exceptions), and are a world expert on one particular subject, an expert on two related subjects, and know a lot about most related areas. The Univeristy pays for you to have a little group of minions (these count as Apprentices). Your default income is moderate, but with your reputation, you should have no trouble in begging, swindling or earning sizable amounts above and beyond this.

The apprentices given to Rank 4 scholars may have various uses - precisely what will depend on what you specialise in, so we'll have to discuss this with you. However, they'll almost certainly be able to do an awful lot of that boring research in the library for you, and do menial, repetitive tasks in the labs if you specialise in the sort of subject that has labs.

Academic apprentices have been known to have a disturbing habit of trying to discuss their thesis with their supervisors. At Rank 4, this sort of nonsense is beneath you - you should discourage this, or delegate the issue to a subordinate.

Mob membership (price varies) (Night Job, income varies)

You are one of the movers and shakers in your local mob. You're on the other side of the protection racket and hence pay no protection money - in, fact, part of your turnly income probably consists of other people's protection money.

The price of this quirk is based on your seniority within the mob. Seniority within mobs is almost always Vital - insulting the wrong guy can and will get tyou killed - and so the progression goes like this:

You must specify exactly how much income you derive from your membership of the mob, and pay the cost in quirk points specified in the list below for that level of income. You should buy at least a Moderate one if you have rank 3 and at least a Comfortable one if you have rank 11. You should also describe precisely what you do within the mob to earn this money; useful examples are given in the descriptions below, using the three classic criminal professions: robbin', dealin' and pimpin'.

Please note that this is the only way to have a Classy or Magnificent income at game start.

Poor (-1): Mugging old women in the slums. Selling bad Vegdar-dust to schoolkids, or sneaking it past the gate-guards yourself. Two whores, a rentboy, and a donkey, working a bad corner in a quiet part of town. This, frankly, is really a bit crap - you could earn this sort of money far more easily and with less risk moving crates at the docks. Fellow members of your mob will probably accuse you of not pulling your weight. You can't have a reputation above Tolerated, and you can't maintain more than a Handful of mooks.
Moderate (1): Picking people's pockets in the Trading District. Selling a variety of drugs to a particular part of a district, or smuggling drugs in with the help of some friends with a boat. A number of whores, working a particular street.
Comfortable (3): A network of street thieves, muggers, and pickpockets. Controlling a number of dealers, selling drugs to an entire district and smuggling large amounts into the city. A brothel or two.
Classy (5): A group of bandits attacking trade caravans on a regular basis. A city-wide network of dealers, selling just about every narcotic out there and purchasing it from numerous countries. A city-wide chain of brothels.
Magnificent (8): A vast number of bandits robbing heavily-guarded trade caravans. An international drugs cartel, smuggling drugs into the city in vast amounts, selling to all strata of society and occasionally obtaining incredibly rare samples of legendary narcotics. An international chain of brothels with its HQ in your home district, catering to all tastes in surroundings of maximal comfort.

For each point you spend on your mob Rank, you get an extra quirk point to spend on Mooks or your Mobster income (you can, of course, spend additional quirk points on Mooks and Mobster income if you wish).

You may also want to consider buying a Mob Reputation quirk. These are independent of your status in the mob: it's entirely possible to be a universally hated leader, or a low-level punk who everyone is fond of.

Journalist (5/4/2) (Day Job, income varies)
You are a journalist; you make your income by finding the news, then selling it to the curious citizens of Horizon. In game terms this means that you write articles, and we publish them in the News. Of course, we don't guarantee that another newspaper or source won't contradict what you say, but that's life. You will get a default, low income for this job, but your paper will pay you big fat bonuses if your stories result in it selling many copies (or if you attract extra revenue in other ways). Again in game terms, this means that your character will get hard cash if we the GMs feel that your articles have revealed something important, or (IC) interesting, or had a wide ranging impact (none of this is necessarily the same as you telling the truth). You will also be rewarded if we get a load of IC comments/queries/turnsheet actions obviously inspired by your articles.

To put it another way, your job is to manipulate the news.

When you pick this quirk, you will need to decide what sort of articles you specialise in. You can also pick a newspaper to work for (example are provided below, or you can make one up); if you don't we'll assume you're freelance and publish them wherever we see fit. The kind of journalist you are should be roughly reflected in the tone of your articles. For example, a respectable journalist should probably not be filing 'Raunchy Civil Servant in Triple Whore Goat Sex Shock Horror Probe'.

Gutter Journalist (4, Poor): You write for Horizon's extensive yellow press. Cheap sensationalism and mass voyeurism are your stock-in-trade. Theoretically, your paper aims to inform and entertain, but in practice entertainment shifts more copies. Your articles should be written in the most lurid prose, playing up the bizarre, grotesque, enraging, or sentimental aspects of whatever you are reporting, making up facts where checking them would be too much like hard work, and never failing to play to a stereotype. Also, punctuation is your enemy. As well as allowing you to influence the News, you have the ear of the all too many of the common people, and can stir them up or calm them down (although note that this really is a group effect - individuals, even down to the beggars, may be above your crude manipulations). Your default income is Poor. You get to shout 'The People Have a Right to Know!' with every sign of sincerity on your greasy, hypocritical face.

Respectable Journalist (5, Moderate): You write for a well-respected paper, and are expected to produce articles full of reasoned analysis and professional reporting on the significant events of the day. In many ways this is like cheap sensationalism and mass voyeurism but with longer words. When you publish an article, the great and the good will read it, and quite possibly be influenced. So: not only do you get to influence the News, in doing so you will also get to influence the most important NPCs in the city. The slight drawback is that the majority of the city's population regard your paper as horribly dry, boring beyond belief, far too expensive for them, or in extreme cases useful for bedding material. Your basic income is Moderate. You get to take up a 300 word editorial expressing the opinion that, on balance, the people have a right to know.

Underground Journalist (2, Poor): the articles you publish seriously annoy someone in authority. Either you are expressing one of the small range of opinions that are more or less illegal in Horizon (eg Imperialism), or your newspaper is so unpopular with one of the Four Nations that there is considerable diplomatic pressure on Colonel Zero to capture and hand you over, and undercover spies of that nation are looking to close down your operation for good. You probably write anonymously, or under a pseudonym. Either way, if it becomes publicly known who you are and/or where your operation is based, you will be in big trouble (it is assumed that neither is widely known at the start of the game). Until that day, your paper continues to be sold on street corners, over the counter of public houses, or resting innocently along with other papers on the table in gentleman's clubs. Decide why you are underground; your articles can take whatever tone you like, but should have some basic connection with your main interest/reason for being underground. Your default income is Poor. You get to shout "The People Have a Right to Know!" and actually mean it.

Sample Papers
The Horizon Tribune: Super-respectable periodical; never under-researches its facts, never skimps on in-depth analysis, does not report on frivolous issues. Has all the right opinions on politics; supports Colonel Zero broadly, but far from unconditionally. Held up by the great and good as an example of everything that's right about journalism. Lots of people have it on their coffee tables to impress visitors; many, many fewer actually read it. Old numbers are usually popular with the Beggars, too.

The Horizon Post: Utter rag. The events reported on the first few pages occasionally bear some resemblance to things that actually happened, though with few facts and more "hilarious", or enraged, commentary. After that, the paper's avowed purpose to "bring you the TRUTH on the hidden world of the supernatural" means that the stories tend to come from bored peasants or drunkards paid to talk about their "experiences" with Shamans, Gods, Treacherous Beasties, Fae, the Emperor, whatever. Very occasionally, one of these stories is actually true, although this is more or less coincidence.

The People of Lasinia: Published in Horizon, this paper advocates, discusses and attempts to organise a "campaign for social justice" in Lasinia. What exactly this means is somewhat unclear, but would definitely involve the overthrow of the existing social order, possibly in bloody mayhem, and replacing it with something more egalitarian. It also specialises in exposing corruption and incompetence in high places in the Lasinian government (indeed some have said that it must have multiple sources on the inside). Needless to say the People is illegal under pain of imprsonment or worse in Lasinia, and the unofficial spies of Lasinia are forever trying to shut it down.

Skillz 'n' Stuff

Some respect you and some despise you, but few are indifferent. You get a Moderate income from the family - they don't want you to starve, but the Columna are about crime with style and grace, not supporting wasters. If you want more money, join in the operations and earn it. You will be socially welcome in the upper city, but everyone expects you to be a criminal, so try not to make it obvious that you're casing the joint. This quirk is mandatory if you want high rank in the Columna family (obviously).

Fear (-1)
You know your Price? That thing which you will do anything to gain? This is the opposite.

You are pants-wettingly afraid of... something. Please describe that terrible something - it can be a concept, a person, an object, a creature, pretty much anything. Please don't be overspecific, and try to choose something you could conceivably encounter during the course of the game: we'll make damn sure it crops up during the game, and having a happy clown burst through the ceiling coated in strawberry jam and singing showtunes will be hard to shoehorn in.

We'll enforce this one a lot more strictly than your Price. No standing boldly staring into the face of your Fear, sonny, if you're not shitting yourself you're failing to roleplay this bit.

Coward (1)
You're pants-wettingly afraid all the time. This is in many ways a useful survival trait, but it's a humilating one.

In turnsheeting, whenever something comes up where your character will have to choose a course of action, we will assume that you always take the safer option (this may mean you get less out of your turnsheet actions than people who were, say, willing to follow that strange man down the dark alley). We will also regard you with disdain and disgust.

You may take this quirk if you have Don't Kill Me Daddy, but there's little point and chances are you'll be wasting a point; Don't Kill Me Daddy covers both IC and OOC cowardice, and we'll already be assuming that you'll be playing it safe.

Foolhardy (-1)
You thumb your nose at danger and bare your buttocks to Grim Uncle Death. You are the stuff that heroes are made of, or perhaps you're just endearingly stupid.

In turnsheeting, whenever your character has to choose between two courses of action, we will assume that you always take the riskier option (this may lead to you being beaten up more, but sometimes these risks pay dividends). We will also regard you with warmth and admiration, and frequent amusement.

You may not take this quirk if you have Don't Kill Me Daddy. You promised us you'd stay out of trouble, remember?

Tight-fisted (1)
You're one of these irritating people who are responsible about their money. The upshot of this is that you tend to have more saved up for rainy days; you earn 1 saving point per turn for each class C payment you've got left over.

Squanderbug (-2)
Money and you just don't get on: you've never really gotten the hand of this "saving" lark. You never earn saving points: if you don't spend all your money in a turn during turnsheeting, we'll assume you've frittered it away on frivolous fripperies.

Secret Identity (1)
You have an alternate identity. Perhaps with a ludicrous pseudonym! Perhaps by day you disguise yourself as a harmless old lady so the local mob won't realise that you are Big Bad Frank, killer-for-hire who sells himself to whichever gang will pay the most. Or maybe by day you toil away in your thankless government job, eagerly awaiting the night when you don your mask, take up your rapier and swish your cloak in order to FIGHT CRIME!

Addict (-2)
You are addicted to a narcotic - a fairly common narcotic, the sort that the Dockyard Rats might be able to get you if you don't fancy dealing with the Cartel. Feel free to describe what sort of drug your character smokes, injects, snorts, or otherwise ingests.

This sort of habit is expensive: it costs a Notable amount of money each turn to get a regular supply of decent-quality gear. If you happen to be short of cash one turn, you can just pay a Minor amount of money to get a sample of your poison of choice that's of slightly more dubious provenance. There may well be adverse effects to doing this.

Of course, you could always go cold turkey, but this is a debilitating and potentially dangerous process; you will lose two turnsheet actions in the turn you decide to go cold turkey, and there may well be permanent effects on your physical or mental well-being. (People who buy this flaw for the quirk points and then immediately go cold turkey in the first turn or so will find that the permanent physical side-effects will be staggeringly surprising!)

Alternately, you can move on to a different form of addiction, finding some new drug to fill the gap. If you in-character begin taking a different drug - either because it is offered to you, or because your income has dropped to the extent that you can only afford crap drugs (or risen to the point where you can get into the exotic stuff), you will become addicted to that instead. In general, an addiction to an exotic will override an addiction to a normal drug, and an addiction to a crap drug will override an addiction to an exotic drug.

Exotic Addict (-3)
You're a connoisseur of narcotics, a discerning junkie whose poison of choice is rare and special. (Describe this thing to us.) Your drug of choice gives you an intense and hard-to-obtain high, though it may have somewhat powerful side-effects.

However, your drug is expensive and rare. Only the Cartel has enough contacts to get you a regular supply, and they charge heavily for it - it's a Significant investment each turn. Alternately, you can pay a Notable amount of money for a somewhat poor-quality sample, but this is even riskier than buying a bad sample of a normal drug: you really don't want to mix something this potent with a lesser drug.

Going cold turkey has the same effects as going cold turkey from a normal drug. In addition, normal drugs have lost their appeal to you, and if you take them while addicted to exotic drugs you are unlikely to become addicted to them as well. From here, it's only other exotic drugs - or crap drugs if you can't keep up the payments.

Crap Addict (-5)
You're at the bottom of the junkie heap; your lifestyle is as squalid as the Exotic Addict's is glamourous. The drugs you take are vile and have terrible side-effects; they bring you little pleasure, but you need them to keep functioning - normal or exotic drugs just won't help anymore. (Tell us more about them, if you like.)

Crap drugs are a Minor purchase each turn. If you're desperate for money, you can buy bad samples for a Trivial amount, but this will almost certainly mess you up. Actually, crap drugs will tend to mess you up over time - you're liable to begin the game with some permanent side-effect from taking these things, and you're liable to get more acute and debilitating effects as the game continues.

Going cold turkey from these things is really quite hard. You will lose three turnsheet actions in the turn you decide to go cold turkey, and you will definitely be left permanently scarred, physically and mentally.

Whilst you are addicted to crap drugs, normal and exotic drugs will do nothing for you; only the miserable shit you put in yourself can help you function.

Avenger (-1)
You can't bear to see a wrong go unrighted. You can't stand to injustice go unbattled. You see a wile, you thwart. You're a vigilante out to make everything right, whether people want it or not. Grannies get helped, screaming and protesting, across roads. Shady characters feel your MIGHTY FISTS OF JUSTICE! In the city of Horizon, you have roughly the life expectancy of a glass hammer.

Code of Honour (-2)
You have morals. In particular, you have a set of rules which you will not break. Describe them. They should be fairly restrictive ("Don't eat cake on Fridays" doesn't cut the mustard. "Don't hurt children" or "Don't kill anybody in cold blood" is much more like it.)

Oath (-2)
You have sworn an oath of some sort before a dog. Describe the oath and why you swore it. It should be something that will actually have an effect and make your life more difficult. "I swear that I will never again work with the Kellor family!" is the sort of ball-park we're in here.

Stash (varies)
You have a place where you can put stuff for safekeeping. It's that simple!

For 1 point you can have a small cubbyhole in your home which you can hide anything up to the size of a corpse in.

For 3 points you can have a lockup in the Trading District of the sort that merchants keep their wares in (about the size of a garage in real life). Alternately, you can have a safety deposit box in a bank - only large enough to keep a large set of encyclopedias in, but veeeeeery secure unless someone a) raids the bank and b) knows which box to look in.

For 5 points you can have a whole warehouse you could keep or do just about anything in, or your own private vault in the bank (the size of the above-mentioned lockup). (If your income is low we'll be very interest to hear how you've managed to obtain this resource.)

Secret Hideout (varies)
You have a little place of your own where you can stay and the bad men won't find you.

Owners of large Stashes may say, "well, why don't I just hide in my garage or warehouse?" While this might work for brief emergencies (for example, you could slip into your warehouse to elude pursuing Watchdogs), it's not viable in the long term - signs of human habitation will end up giving you away.

For 2 points your hideout is small, insecure, but obscure. Perhaps you've got an attic somewhere in the Imperial Ruins you can hide in, and you've covered up the windows so the light of your candle won't alert observers to your presence. Or you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack, out in the woods where the mobs are unlikely to find you.

For 4 points your hideout is larger - perhaps a small house in a sleepy farming village about a mile away from the city, or an abandoned railwayworker's den in the subway you have converted for your own use. It's also liable to be more secure - the little house will have secure locks and loud guard-dogs, the railwayworker's den may have a big steel door or boobytraps of your own invention.

For 6 points, you can have the Batcave. As well as being large and secure, your hideout has pretty much everything you need to manage your affairs whilst leaving the place as little as possible.

Beautiful (1)
Smile nicely and people will buy you drinks. Dress badly and the local whores will start worrying about the competition. You are pretty! This fact will be pointed out at the beginning of each session.

Ugly (-1)
You have drunk from the river Ming, which springs from the peak of Mt. Fugly. When you put personal ads in the newspaper, you talk a lot about your "great personality". You are one ugly mother... People will be warned about you at the beginning of session.

Master of Red Tape (2)
Maybe it's hidden Star heritage, or maybe you just appreciate the benefits of being organised. Either way, bureaucracy just works for you. You always find the right thing to say to surly clerks, you always spot catch-out clauses in small print, and if there's a problem, you happen to have an acquaintance of a friend who's in a position to untangle things. In any situation involving your character dealing with paperwork and bureaucracies, we will assume that everything goes as well as possible, or maybe slightly better. All other things being equal, of course.

Slave of Red Tape (-2)
Just the opposite. You simply can't cope with bureaucracy of any kind. You fill in your forms wrong, misunderstand departmental guidelines, miss deadlines; and on the rare occasions you get everything right, some hungover clerk loses your papers. Any time your character has to deal with bureaucracy, we will assume that everything goes as badly as possible, or worse. Again, all other things being equal.

M.Dis. (5)
Or, to give it its full title, Master of Disguise. This is like the Secret Identity quirk, only vastly better. You may don the guise of as many different people as you desire, but cannot impersonate a real person; your alternate personas must be entirely made-up. You begin the game with 5 disguises of your choice; for each additional persona you wish to adopt, you must pay for or otherwise obtain the appropriate clothing.

D.Dis. (8)
Doctor of Disguise. You are so good at the costume-and-makeup game you could - with enough preparation - dress up as Colonel Zero and sleep with his favourite prostitute and she'd never notice the difference. As with M.Dis., you can also assume entirely fictional personas, and begin with 5 different costumes of your choice. For each new identity you wish to assume you must pay for the appropriate clothing. If you're planning to impersonate somebody else, you must also spend a turnsheet action spying upon them, or spend a significant amount of time in their company (and by "significant" we're talking "the better part of a month" here) in order to observe their habits, mannerisms, modes of speech and whatnot.

Pickpocket (4)
You are skilled at the art of pickpocketing - this skill requires a degree of stealth, and so cannot be bought by people who do not have at least a Quiet level of Stealth.

Practicing this skill in-session will not usually be viable - pickpocketing is the sort of skill which works best in large crowds, where you can swipe someone's purse and disappear before they see your face, rather when you are standing around talking to your victim in a room. On the flipside, sometimes you may spot an ideal opportunity to strike (say, if someone is lying on the floor injured and you're helping to bind their wounds, or if everybody's attention is directed towards a duel in the courtyard) - talk to the barman in such a situation.

If you wish, you can make a career out of pickpocketing, which counts as a Night Job. Your income as a pickpocket will depend on how Stealthy you are - the more capable you are of eluding the Watchdogs or tricking your marks, the more opportunites you'll have to pick people's pockets without being caught. Pickpockets with a Quiet level of Stealth will only be able to earn a Poor income, stealing from the crowded markets of the Lower City. Those who have the "Infiltrator" level of Stealth will be able to earn a Moderate income, occasionally plying their trade in the Upper City and the nicer parts of the Lower City, whilst Master Thieves who are professional pickpockets will be able to make a Comfortable income practicing their trade in just about any public place.

Pickpockets may, if they wish, buy levels of Rank in a mob. It costs 2 points to buy Rank 1, 5 to buy Rank 2 (once you reach Rank 3 and 4 you're not likely to be a street-level pickpocket; it's much more likely you'll be fencing off pickpockets' hauls). For each point you spend on mob Rank, you will get a free quirk point back which can be spent on Stealth quirks or Mooks (who are damn useful for providing distractions).

Locksmith (5) (Optionally a Day Job)
You are a master at the art of lockpicking. You are a good chum to bring along on a thieving expedition.

If you wish, you may make a Day Job of this, and earn a Comfortable income (because people are willing to pay an awful lot on a rainy night to get back inside their houses). This can be disadvantageous, however: the Watchdogs will be aware of who you are, and will hassle you about crimes which occur in which an expert lockpicker was clearly involved. You will have to be awfully careful not to be caught for crimes you commit (if you fail a burglary by one or two security levels, it'll almost certainly be traced back to you), and you could even be framed for crimes you didn't commit!

Safecracker (8)
You are so skilled at the art of manipulating locks of all sorts that you can even open safes and vaults, given time! This skill also gives you all the advantages of the Locksmith, including the option to make a Day Job out of this skill; however, there's even fewer professional Safecrackers than Locksmiths in the city, so if you're a known safecracker you'll be high on the suspect list for every safebreaking in the city!

Fast Talk (3)
You have the gift of the gab, and can talk your way out of many situations - or indeed convince the gullible to act against their own interests.

People who've spent some time around you and know your reputation aren't likely to be easy marks - as an upshot, you cannot use the Fast Talk skill on player characters, and after you have used the skill on an NPC they won't be fooled again unless they are IMBECILES!

Orator (3)
You are skilled at giving speeches in large crowds. You can attract their attention, ensure they concentrate on what you're saying, and deliver your message in an exciting way (or at least in a way which won't send them to sleep.) Beware, however; there are some things audiences don't want to hear. You don't want to make a big public speech openly supporting the Imperialist cause; that'll just begin a riot and end with you hanging upside-down from a lamppost Mussolini-style.

This never works on player characters. PCs are, after all, generally clued-in enough to make up their own minds and not get caught up in the mood of the crowd, and if you've met an orator in the flesh and had a drink with them (as most PCs would, you do after all frequent the Riverview) they seem a lot more human than if you've only seen them screaming abuse from a podium.

Stealth (varies)
Especially useful for thieves, spies, and private eyes (as well as the obligatory ninja assassins who plague the society game), stealthliness is sufficiently important to a game about criminals that there are several different quirks relating to it. "Infiltrator" and "Master Thief" also assume a suitable level of acrobatics and wall-climbing.

Obvious (-2): You tend to draw attention to yourself. Perhaps you wear a distinctive uniform. Maybe you have a loud, booming voice. Possibly you're just a clumsy great oaf. Regardless; it's going to be difficult for you to hide from anyone, or not be noticed when you enter a room.
Average (0): All characters are assumed to have this level of stealth unless they buy one of the other stealth quirks. You are capable of evading pursuers by losing yourself in a crowd, and if you get enough warning that someone's coming you can dive into the nearest wardrobe and can stay quiet long enough not to be discovered until the mysterious singer's criminal lover has raped her and left.
Quiet (1): You're good enough to evade detection if nobody's paying too much attention - you can't sneak past a watchful guard who's on duty, but you can sneak past an inattentive guard who's having a nap, or stake out someone's tenement from a dark alleyway across the street without being noticed, or eavesdrop on a conversation if the people involved aren't on the lookout for prying ears.
Infiltrator (3): Now we're cooking with gas. If you lurk in the shadows and stay still nobody will realise you are there, and you are athletic enough to climb up walls and through small windows.
Master Thief (5): Or "ninja", if you don't like the criminal connotations of "master thief". You can sneak around in the darkness without arousing suspicion, and you've got the whole feline acrobatic creature-of-the-night hopping and skipping from rooftop to rooftop like a wild gazelle of the city thing going on.

Please refer to the "Burglary" section for details of how the stealth skills help you breach the security of mansions, banks, and other such places.

Fighting (varies)
Another skill which comes in several varieties. In general, you'll be able to defeat anybody with less fighting skill than you in a fair fight. On the flip side, only an idiot goes for a fair fight. See the "Fighting" section for more details.

Crap (-3): You really aren't very good at fighting. Just about anyone can beat you - even the most incompetant IMBECILE!, and you'd need to have a truly overwhelming advantage to defeat anyone else. Better invest in a bodyguard, or stay out of the dodgier areas of town.
Average (0): Unless you buy any of the other fighting quirks, you are assumed to be more-or-less capable of handling yourself in a fight. You're good enough that you know when to fight and when to run, but a Handful of mooks could punch your clock.
Tough (2): You're a tough guy. Simple as that. Perhaps you've had practice, perhaps you're just well-built. Two-bit hood sends a Handful of mooks after you? No sweat.
Impessive (4): People will notice that you're really quite good at this fighting lark if they watch you at it. You've definitely had some professional training by now. A fight with Some mooks is nothing for you to worry about.
Fearsome (6): People who've seen you fight get out of your way when they see you coming and call you "sir". You can take down a Bunch of mooks just fine.

Brawn (varies)
The brawn quirk is a measure of how solidly your character is built; brawnier characters will tend to be stronger, will be able to perform physically demanding tasks for an extended period of time before they become fatigued, and recover more quickly from illness, injury, or fatigue.

If you are planning to go on lots of expeditions to far-off lands, you should certainly consider taking this quirk: you don't want to slow your party down because you're out of breath, after all.

Weak (-1): The big kids picked on you when you were small. Come to think of it, they may well still be picking on you. You are the man in the "before" picture in the Charles Atlas adverts - you know, the guy who gets sand kicked in his face by beach bullies. You are either weedy or just plain out of shape.
Average (0): All characters are assumed to have this level of Brawn unless they specify otherwise. You are perfectly normal.
Well-Built (2): You're in shape, but you're no bodybuilder. Perhaps you've been working on the docks for a while; certainly, you are strong enough and have enough endurance to spend your day moving heavy packing crates around.
Does This Guy Ever Stop? (4): You are the "after" picture in the Charles Atlas adverts, only you don't take as many steroids. You are really quite strong, although if you are not a skilled fighter this won't necessarily help you in a scrap. What's really impressive is your endurance: you are like the Energiser bunny of strenuous physical labour. When you go on expeditions, people may end up using you as a pack mule.

People Quirks

Despised (-3): Nobody likes you. Everyone hates you. Worm flapjacks are your favourite dish. It's only the natural loyalty between mob members which prevents you from being assassinated by your own homeboys. If you step an inch wrong, not even that will help you. If you somehow have a high status in your mob anyhow, you are a deeply unpopular leader and rebellion is not far away at all.
Tolerated (-1): You aren't popular, but you're not hated. People tend to forget who you are, and overlook you when they're looking for someone to help them out.
One of the boys (1): You're an accepted and popular member of the mob. People remember your name and invite you to their daughter's weddings; they will at least consider including you in interesting business opportunities.
Well-liked (3): You're a very popular member of the mob. People buy you drinks and will definitely try to involve you in their plans, and will at least consider inviting you to marry their daughter.
Everyone's buddy (6): All the other gangsters in your mob love you, or are at least too afraid of what the others will do to them if they claim otherwise. If your status within your mob is high, you're widely recognised as someone who people stay on the good side of if they don't want to end up at the bottom of the river. If (for whatever reason) your status within your mob is low, you genuinely have a winning personality and a good sense of humour, and everyone holds you in high regard; you can even crack jokes at the expense of your betters, and so long as you don't go too far they won't have you killed for it.

Hidden Loyalties (1)
Publicly, you are a member of one mob (at least Rank 1); in actual fact, you are a member of another. At the start of the games no-one knows this but you and us. You can also use this to be an incognito agent of any organisation in any other organisation.

Awkward Situation (-1)
You are a member of one mob (at least Rank 1) but actually live in another mob's primary district of influence. What's more, everybody knows. The balance of power and need for stability means that you're not in immediate danger, but you will be looked on with suspiscion by many of your neighbours and all of the gang members on policing duties. If open warfare breaks out between the two gangs, you will be first up against the Wall, unless you move fast.

Seneschal (4)
You must have at least Rank 1 in a mob to take this quirk. You speak for one of the most important members of your mob; you effectively have their rank as far as your status within the mob is concerned. However, you will be expected to relay your boss's words faithfully and accurately; if you exceed your authority and your boss finds out, then it's the concrete shoes and the river for you.

Being tailed (-1)
You're sure that that cab seems to follow you every where you go, and you'r sure you didn't leave your door unlocked, and you're pretty sure you didn't leave all of your drawers and cupboards open, having thrown their contents on to the floor. Either way, you think someone's spying on you, you don't know who, why, or for whom, but there is a good chance that your deepest secrets could end up in the hands of your enemies, the newspapers, or even Colonel Zero.

Contract (-3)
Someone's out to get you. However, they are patient, they are biding their time, making you sweat, waiting until you are at your most vulnerable - and then they will strike. (Please feel free to elaborate on who wants to kill you and why.) Obviously, you shouldn't take this quirk if you have Don't Kill Me Daddy.

Priority Contract (-5)
You have seriously pissed someone off, so much so that they have hired assassins and you have received the Twin Silvers, the outdated Imperial coins that are used in the underworld to let people know they've been marked for elimination. You know that they are already after you - bolt your door, stay away from windows, don't go out in public alone and always sleep with one eye open. (Please feel free to say who you have annoyed and why.) Don't take this quirk if you have Don't Kill Me Daddy; in fact, don't take this quirk if you're uncomfortable with the possibility that your character may die very early on in the game.

Servant (-3)
Somebody else has a hold over you - perhaps you took out a loan you couldn't repay, perhaps you swore an oath you're not willing (or able) to break, perhaps you were caught stelaing from them and entered indentured service to keep out of the Doghouse, perhaps you are an apprentice in a craft Guild and they are your master - come up with a reason.

The upshot of this is that each turn they will issue you a command. A lot of the time this will require turnsheet actions to resolve (though if you can convince someone else to do it that's perfectly fine), and sometimes they will involve risk to yourself. There will be consequences for disobedience.

Ally (2)
You have an ally, someone you can call on for assistance. They might have certain talents, which you might be able to use to your advantage. On the downside they may also ask you to help them out from time to time. You can describe your own ally if you wish, but the GM team reserves the right to veto anyone overly powerful. ("The Colonel and I go way back...")

Incompetent Ally (-1)
You have an ally, but they are the type of person who is constantly getting kidnapped by your arch nemesis. There are some minor advantages, in that you can still call on them for help in times of need, but often they will merely make matters worse. They have your best interests at heart, but they just can’t seem to avoid getting themselves into trouble.

Enemy (-2)
There is someone out there who hates your guts. Moreover, they are someone who has the power to really screw you over. You may describe your own enemy if you wish and the reason why they hate you or you can leave it to the GM team.

Comedy Enemy (0)
You have an enemy but they are more Dr. Evil than Blofeld, more like Danger Mouse than Superman. They try their best to be a significant threat to you but their arrogance or their incompetence always seems to hold them back. There are minor disadvantages for those who take this quirk, in that your enemy may prove an irratation occassionally (especially if they gain the aid of player characters). Mostly, however, this is a roleplaying point, hence this quirk has no cost attached.

Dependents (-3)
You have a family, which is reliant on your support. They provide a good target to anyone you have offended recently.

Twue Wuv (Player Choice) (1)
You have a Twue Wuv of your choice (please tell us you met them, who they are, what your relationship is like and so forth). You love them and they love you, and you would do anything for each other. This means that if they get in trouble you're going to find it impossible to just stand by and watch it happen. Then again, they're going to find it impossible to do nothing if they know you're in trouble.

Twue Wuv (GM's Choice) (-1)
You have a Twue Wuv decided by the GM's. Again, you love them and they love you, and you would do anything for each other etc. etc., but we'll tell you who they are at the time of our choosing...
(mid session - "..you see that person over there? That's your Twue Wuv."
"… but… that's MUNGO!"
evil GM grin "yup!")

Sick Obsession (-2/-3)
You are not as much in love as infatuated. Either you have your eye on someone totally inappropriate, such as Colonel Zero’s wife, or your obsession has grown to an unhealthy level. Most likely your affection is unrequited, but this will not stop you from creeping into their quarters late at night and stealing their unmentionables. You are the kind of person who ties the object of their affection to the subway tracks until they declare their undying love for you. Quite frankly, you’re sick, bad, and wrong, and your infatuation will get you into trouble sooner or later.

For -2 points, you may choose your Sick Obsession. For -3 points, the GMs will choose in order to optimise the inconvenience.

Democratic Congress of Horizon Member (1)
You are a member of the Democratic Congress of Horizon. The Congress is a gigantic talking-shop, and completely ineffectual; there is no Rank structure, since any time anyone proposes giving some members more authority than others screams of "favouritism!" and "Imperialism!" ring forth; the culture of egalitarianism is so ingrained at the DCH that every member is equally powerless.

On the other hand, there are some advantages to being a DCH member; you can earn yourself a reputation as a man of the people by standing up and making a loud, meaningless speech at a Congress meeting, and if you want to find like-minded individuals for a bit of direct action it's handy to have the membership card - though you have to be careful, it's common knowledge that the DCH is full of Colonel Zero's spies.

Horizon Popular Liberation Front Member (varies)
You are a member of the Horizon Popular Liberation Front. Or the Popular Liberation Front of Horizon, or the Popular Horizon Front for Liberation, or whatever your cell is calling itself this week. Please go into detail about your character's own outlook on the agenda of the HPLF - what sort of revolution does your character want? What system will they replace the current one with? Exactly who are they willing to kill to get there? What lines won't they cross in the service of the revolution?

You will begin the game in a cell of broadly like-minded individuals (but only broadly like-minded; each individual revolutionary has a slightly different take on the HPLF). If there is another HPLF PC with vaguely similar ideals to yours, you'll be in the same cell. Which is funny, because if you're caught by the Watchdogs you'll end up in a similar situation (until you're hung at dawn, that is).

Rank is Casual in the HPLF - a more solid power structure would be a weakness, since you wouldn't be able to rely on your superior (or vital subordinates) keeping themselves out of the clutches of the Watchdogs. When you pay for this quirk you get Rank 1 free - each additional rank costs 2 points.

Rank 1 (costing 1 point): You are a frontline revolutionary. Chances are you are new to the cause and are yet to prove yourself - opportunities to do so will most certainly come your way.

Rank 2 (3): You are an experienced revolutionary comrade. Everyone in your cell listens to what you have to say.

Rank 3 (5): The leader of your cell trusts your opinion - you are in a position where you can shape the policies of your cell to a large extent. You can get a Poor income from the Front if you wish and get Trivial purchase made for you - useful if you have to quit your job and go underground to avoid the authorities.

Rank 4 (7): You are the leader of your cell (if multiple PCs in the same cell have rank 4, you are joint leaders). You will communicate often with the leaders of other cells - for security reasons, cell leaders don't reveal their identities to one another and never meet the flesh unless it is absolutely urgent. Your opinions, along with those of similarly-important members of the Front, will shape the policies of the revolutionary movement, and you are likely to be amongst the important members of any post-revolution government that rises from the ashes (should the revolution succeed).

Imperialist (varies)
You are an Imperialist. You are a member of a small cell of other Imperialists, who comprise part of the feared and despised Emperor's Front. You and your allies work to overthrow Colonel Zero, expel the Embassies, and restore Horizon to its proper place as master of the world.

There are some advantages to this; you can rely on a certain amount of support from your fellow Imperialists, and can obtain all sorts of fun weapons and bombs through the Front. However, you will be expected to follow orders from your superiors without question, and those orders sometimes involve bombing the odd orphanage.

In many ways, however, it's a very bad thing to be an Imperialist. Not only are you and your revolutionary clique hated by all right-thinking people, not only can you expect absolutely no mercy from the government or the embassies if they catch you, but the long-standing tradition of discretion when it comes to matters discussed at the Riverview doesn't extend to Imperialists; if you make your feelings felt at a meeting, chances are the Watchdogs will find out.

Be very aware. If your character is exposed as an Imperialist, the authorities will try to hunt you down and kill you. You can expect no protection from your local mob; indeed, they'll probably hand you over for the Major bounty that Colonel Zero has promised to anyone who captures a proven Imperialist. The GM team won't save your skin if you get caught unless something pretty damn special happens; exposure, capture, and execution is a highly likely end for the career of any Imperialist PC. Since this is the case, people who have bought Don't Kill Me Daddy may not play Imperialists.

Seniority operates in the Emperor's Front on a Casual basis; people simply don't know enough other members of the Front to pull rank on each other, and indeed it would be a bad idea to make a habit of doing so.

Rank 1 costs 1 point.
Rank 2 costs 3 points.
Rank 3 costs 5 points.
Rank 4 costs 7 points.

1: You are a frontline soldier in the battle to regain the Empire. When your glorious leaders decide that action needs to be taken, it is you who will plant the bomb in the orphanage, hospital, or crowded market square.

2: You are a cell leader. It is you who chooses which mug loyal servant of the Emperor will be placing the bomb this time.

3: You are a member of a command cell. You are responsible for obtaining bombs and distributing them to frontline cells.

4: You are part of the Inner Circle of the Front. If the Front succeeds you fully expect to become a Governor of one of the rebellious provinces (or "Four Nations" as they are known by traitors to the Empire). If you are caught by the authorities, you will at least get a chance of strutting your stuff at a big show trial before you are taken out back and shot. It is you who chooses which civilian target packed with innocent men, women and children venomous nest of traitors is going to get attacked this time.

Stooge (2/5)
You have someone who's willing to turn up to sessions in your stead and talk to people for you. They are committed to advancing your agenda, and you have given them the authority needed to negotiate on your behalf. On an out-of-character basis, in sessions you will be playing your stooge as opposed to your primary character, unless you choose to have your primary character make an appearance.

If you pay 2 points for this quirk, it will be known that you exist and that your stooge speaks for you. If you pay 5 points, your existance is obscure - members of whatever faction(s) you are involved in will know who you are, and others may be able to find out, but most people won't know you exist and won't know that your stooge is speaking for you.

Spies (3 or more)
You know someone who knows things. Describe them and tell us which group of people they're spying on. This can be a mob, a political department, or anything else that's similar. As a housekeeping action, you can ask your spy to find out something in particular that's going on within that group. During turnsheeting, we'll let you know what they report. If you don't specify something, your spy will simply report a random piece of information - again, regarding that group.

For every extra point that you spend on this quirk after the first three, you can choose another group to have a spy in. However, you can still only use one housekeeping action per turnsheet to get a spy report: actually being seen going out and visiting these people is a tricky business, since you risk blowing their cover. If you're really desperate to get multiple spy reports in one turn, you will have to spend a turnsheet action on each one after the first.

For example: Suppose Georgie has the 5-point Spy quirk, and has spies in the Rumblers, the Dockyard Rats and the Steamworkers' Union. He hears that someone's sabotaging the trains, and suspects all three groups. To get a report on each group, he would have to spend two turnsheet actions and one housekeeping action. Alternatively, he could just spend one housekeeping action asking his spy in the Rumblers "Find out who the Rumblers think is sabotaging the trains."

Reliable Contacts (6)
You've got your own links to the grapevine, aside from the news sources we'll present in the turnly news bulletins. Each turn you will receive a little briefing giving you additional insights into the news - we will, at the very least, point out to you which stories are red herrings and which have more to them than that.

Unreliable Contacts (3)
You've got your own links to the grapevine, but some of them are crazy drunks. We will give you additional insights into the news. Some of these insights will be wrong, but most will be right.

Mooks (varies)
Anyone can buy Mooks, if they can justify having them, but they're especially appropriate for Mob members. These are the burly men in big coats and porkpie hats who are at your beck and call. They have no real skills beyond intimidating people, staking out places in a kind of obvious way, following people in a threatening manner, guarding places, keeping an eye on prisoners and beating people up.

They're also terrible shots.

Note that whilst Mooks are especially appropriate for mobsters, any character can buy 'em if you can come up with a decent rationale.

The price of Mooks, unsurprisingly, is based on the quantity, as opposed to quality ("quality Mooks" is something of an oxymoron).

Handful (2): Enough mooks to fit around a table in a pub. Enough guys to stake out a house, or to beat the shit out of someone if that person is an average fighter (or in other words, has no Fighting quirks), or if they catch their target sleeping.
Some (3): Enough guys to stake out a street, or to take down a Tough fighter (ie, someone with no Fighting quirks).
A Bunch (4): Enough guys to patrol part of a district, or to take down an Impressive fighter.
Lots (6): Enough people to patrol an entire district, or take down a Fearsome fighter.
Private Army (10): So many mooks, if you got them all together in one place the authorities would think the city was being invaded and send the Mayoral Legions after you. Enough people to patrol the entire city, though obviously patrolling the districts of rival mobs is difficult...

Deploying Mooks: If you have a large number of Mooks, you probably won't want to use them all on one task. Often, you'll want to use a Handful of Mooks to guard Lord Greatheart's daughter whilst you send a Bunch off to deal with that meddling Blue Avenger. Here is a handy way to work out how many little units you can break your Mook supply down into:

Some Mooks can be broken down into 2 Handfuls.
A Bunch of Mooks can be broken down into 4 groups of Some Mooks or 8 Handfuls.
Lots of Mooks can be broken down into 2 Bunches or 8 groups of Some Mooks or 16 Handfuls.
A Private Army can be broken down into 4 groups of Lots of Mooks or 8 Bunches or 32 groups of Some Mooks or 64 Handfuls.

In general it's not worth breaking down groups of Mooks into Handfuls - aside from being a bitch to keep track of, any halfway-decent fighter will be able to take the groups out.

Mook Modifiers:
These help you customise your mooks and give them a little personality. You can only take one modifier for your mooks, because mooks never have more than a little personality. Furthermore, your mook quirk's price should never drop below 1. (Yes, this means you don't get the full benefit of "I'm surrounded by IMBECILES!" unless you also have Lots of Mooks, or a Private Army. Think of it this way: by maximising the number of IMBECILES! under your control, you're maximising the potential for hilarity.)

Big Mooks: Mook quirk costs are increased by 1. Your Mooks are very, very, well-built, not the usual malnourished street scum other mob lords use. NPCs will be much more easily intimidated by them.
Weedy Mooks: Mook quirk costs are decreased by 1. Your Mooks simply aren't very impressive, even though they are just as good as normal mooks. If you send them to intimidate people they'll just get laughed at (unless they actually get violent).
Quiet Mooks: Mook quirk costs are increased by 3. Your mooks are Quietly stealthly. So, they're not ninjas, but they do have a better chance than usual of creeping up on people, or not being noticed as they go about their business.
Obvious Mooks: Mook quirk costs are decreased by 3. Your mooks are very noticable. Perhaps they wear gang colours, all have the same tattoo, or even have a distinctive uniform. People will see them coming from a mile off, and people will generally find out what they've been up to.
"I'm surrounded by IMBECILES!": Mook quirk costs are reduced by 5. Your mooks are shit. Really shit. Whatever you ask them to do, they will fail miserably at. They can defend themselves and your territory and resources from attack, and that's about it. If they are guarding prisoners, they will escape. If they are looking for someone, they won't find them. If they are trying to beat up, kidnap, or kill someone who isn't a Crap fighter, they'll embarrass themselves (unless they get lucky and catch the person in question at a bad time). They're shit. Of course, people won't necessarily know this, and will still be wary of taking on a large number of them.

Please note: for additional comedy value, no NPCs will ever cotton on to the fact that your Mooks are IMBECILES! We request that you, as a player, also overlook the fact that someone's Mooks are, in fact, IMBECILES! should you discover this. It just makes the whole thing funnier.

One last note: You can take multiple Mook quirks, in case you want a Private Army of IMBECILES! and an elite Bunch of Big Mooks (for example).

Bodyguard (3)
You have a bodyguard who accompanies you everywhere, as much as is humanly possible, and looks after your well-being. If you don't have a Comfortable income, you should explain how you've managed to gain the services of this big goon. ("He followed me home, GM, can I keep him?")

In terms of Fighting, Bodyguards are Impressive fighters. Anything more than a Bunch of Mooks will take them down, but they'll usually keep assailants busy for long enough for you to get away. In terms of Stealth, Bodyguards are by default Obvious - people are supposed to notice them and think twice about attacking you.

Bodyguard modifiers:
These are fun things you can use to customise your bodyguard. We don't suggest taking more than three: your bodyguards are liable to have more personality than mooks, but not that much more. Each of these things modifies the cost of your Bodyguard quirk, but the quirk never costs less than 1 point.

Team (+2): You have not one bodyguard, but a team of four, and they work together real well. As a group they are as good as a Fearsome fighter - however, as individuals they are only Tough fighters, so if someone contrives a clever plan to pick them off one by one you'll be in trouble.
Fearsome (+4): Your bodyguard is a Fearsome fighter. Direct attacks on you are therefore very unlikely to work - of course, someone could just poison your drink. On the flipside, warriors of this level of skill tend to have pasts...
Watchful (+1): Your bodyguard is eagle-eyed and alert! Only the cleverest tricks will get past him or her.
Quiet (+1): Your bodyguard is Quiet, stealthwise. If you wish, rather than making him or herself obvious, your bodyguard can melt into the background. You will be apparently unprotected, but will in fact have the full benefit of having your bodyguard with you. This is a risky but potentially rewarding way of drawing out attackers.
IMBECILE! (-4): Your bodyguard is shit. He may look impressive, but he's a Crap fighter and even the simplest trick will distract him. You may not buy any other modifiers for your bodyguard (although you may have an imbecilic Bodyguard Team).
Dozy (-2): Your bodyguard is inattentive. He isn't an imbecile, but it will be easier for people to, say, poison your drink without him noticing.
Sometimes Absent (-1): There's an aspect of your life your bodyguard isn't privy to, a secret that you keep even from him. Come up with a reason why you will, on a regular basis, leave your bodyguard at home and go off somewhere to do something.
Sometimes Present (-2): You are a tight-fisted git and don't pay for a bodyguard all the time. By default, your bodyguard will only be available during sessions. You will have to pay your bodyguard a Significant bonus if you want him or her to be present for any other event between sessions.
Unreliable (-3): Your bodyguard isn't quite as willing to lay his or her life in the line for you as he or she could be. This is troubling. Whenever your bodyguard has to get in a fight in order to protect you, the GMs will toss a coin. If it comes up heads, he fights. If it comes up tails, he flees into the moony twilight.

The Last of the Famous International Quirks

Explorer: Professional (5) (Day Job, Poor)
You are paid member of the university; you could be a naturalist in search of a new species to add to your collection, or a cartographer trying to map a part of the Treacherous Lands, or perhaps a historian in search of one of the great monuments rumoured to have been built during the Mythic Dreamtime. (Please specify what your area of specialisation at the start.) However, unfortunately universities cannot afford to pay well and so your wage is Poor; however, they will often be willing to provide financial support for an expedition if it is for the furtherment of knowledge, but often you will still need to find a financial backer on top of the university's support. On the plus side, you automatically get the quirk Well-Travelled and in addition to the benefits of being a Guide, you're also competent at organising large expeditions (although these will almost certainly require financial backing) and you can also draw maps of the places you go on expeditions to, which will be highly useful on later expeditions.

Explorer: Adventurer (7) (Day Job, Moderate)
You are young and dashing, you are well known in high society, your many great journeys and deeds are the talk of the city. (Players, feel free to specify these deeds.) Perhaps a you are a skilled huntsman, or you have recovered many great archaeological treasures, or simply have been any many great and daring adventures. (Feel free to specify what you actually do for a living, perhaps you are a distinguished member of the university or a freelance bounty hunter for rare artefacts.) Whatever it is you do, there will be no shortage of people willing to support your expeditions or to offer you jobs; however, you must work hard to maintain this reputation otherwise the torrent of opportunities may dry up. You also automatically get the quirk Well-Travelled. In addition to the benefits of being a Professional Explorer, you can also put together rescue missions to help people in distress in the wilderness - you know a few people who are competent at what they do and are willing to drop their work to rush off with you into danger to help people out). (Hat and whip optional.)

Foreigner (1)
You are native of somewhere that isn't Horizon. Choose one of the four nations - this is where you're from. This can be both a good and a bad thing. On the one hand, if things go pear-shaped in Horizon (we're talking martial law and blood in the streets here, or another siege) you can go to your local embassy and beg sanctuary (and probably be granted it). You are more likely to get news from home (in the form of juicy bits of info from the GMs every turn) and possibly have a few contacts if you really need to get something in and out across the border. You will also start out the game knowing a little bit more about your home country than those born and bred in Horizon do. On the other hand, those who are natives of Horizon (although fairly tolerant) might give you an odd look now and then, and although there is no open discrimination in the workplace you might need to work that little bit harder for that promotion.

You can take this quirk and be a second generation foreigner, meaning that your parents remember the old country and have instructed you well on it. Your gossip comes in via old family friends who remember you when you were a young thing (for example). How much you embrace your heritage is up to you.

Rank in Embassy. (varies) (Day Job, Poor/Moderate)

2 points: Clerk. You are a native of whichever nation you choose as if you had bought the Foreigner quirk (without actually having to buy it); however, you work in the Embassy. You probably aren't that high up – after all, the ambassadors are those who rub shoulders with Colonel Zero and you tend to hang around at the Riverview. This counts as giving you a Poor income; however, this can be boosted to a moderate income if you're willing to engage in a few dubious pursuits (including accepting bribes to push though some immigration papers and perhaps suppress some others).

3 points: Secretary. You also get the equivalent of the Foreigner quirk with this for free. You work for someone who actually does something of some import. You probably aren't the personal secretary for the ambassador, but maybe for one of his advisors. You may have spoken to the ambassador a couple of times. You are however very good at playing and manipulating the system. Either legitimately or less so (although beware the risks you take with this side). If something needs pushing through the system you can make sure it's at the top of the right desk first thing in the morning, while making sure other things get pushed to the bottom of the pile. You're also likely to hear watercooler gossip filtered down from the top – after all, embassies are fairly small communities. With this you get a Moderate income.

Unregistered Spy (5) (Night Job, Comfortable)
You're dashing. You're daring. You are one of the naughty, illegal, dangerous Unregistered Spies that the Four Embassies deny all knowledge of. Your Embassy receives all the interesting details of what you do in your Day Job (for this reason, many unregistered Spies have Day Jobs in government bureaucracies) and in addition sends you on exciting missions to slit throats, stake out houses, steal documents and all sorts of other fun things.

You have a couple of advantages. First of all, you know what your Nation's up to, and your reports back can sway its policy. Second of all, you automatically have the Quiet quirk; if you want to buy any other Stealth quirks, they will cost one point less. Third, you're not just a pawn of your Embassy: they trust your judgement enough to allow you to go on your own investigations without contacting them in advance. If these produce particularly interesting results, the Embassy will pay you a nice, juicy bonus for them.

You also have one big, very big disadvantage. If you're caught by the Watchdogs, you're deported from Horizon, your Embassy denies all knowledge and possibly sends people to ensure you stay silent, and unless you have something like M.Dis it's time to write up a new character.

If you would like to be a Registered Spy and go though the whole rigamarole of wearing those stupid, stupid ribbons, carrying that stupid, stupid card and not being able to do anything even remotely discreetly, speak to the GMs at the start and we will consider things.

Foreign mob connection (2)
For some reason or other you are known by the mob back home (if you're a foreigner – if you're a native Horizonite you've got to have a good reason for why you have connections in a foreign mob) – you're unlikely to be any significant member of the mob (after all, in Horizon you're far from their sphere of influence).

This means that, if you need to, you can call on your contacts in the foreign mob if you're desperate for help. They're likely to be able to smuggle you out of the city if you need it, or help get some stuff in to you, but you're going to have to do some work convincing them that they want to help you if you bug them too much – after all, you're only their friend, they don't owe you anything. Please describe which mob you were a member of and what they were like or ask us to make something up for you.

Foreign mob troubles (-2)
Like the Foreign Mob Connection but for some reason (again, please specify) the mob back home don't like you. Maybe you owe them something and ran out before you repaid them, maybe you really pissed them off or maybe you slept with the boss's daughter. Either way, they may well try and get you (even though you're in Horizon) if they can; luckily, their influence isn't huge in the city... unless they're so desperate for you they persuade one of the Horizon gangs to help them. Again, please describe the mob that that you're on the run from.

Homeland Reputation (Famed) (1)
For some reason or other (please specify) you are a local hero in your homeland. You perhaps fought bravely in the Last War, instigated a peace treaty between rival factions, were a great advisor to the ruler or were a notable holy man, or anything else really. This means you probably have some influence in your homeland, or over those who have heard and respect your name (Horizon natives are unlikely to have heard of you). This also gives you a bit of clout in the relevant Embassy if you need to petition them for something - however, eventually they'll get tired of hearing your name if you play that card too much and start asking what you've done recently to help the homeland…

Homeland Reputation (Notorious) (-1)
Like Famed, however for some reason you fled your home with the authorities after you (please give a reason). This means that if the embassy gets a chance it'll try and arrest you; however, it doesn't really want to start a diplomatic incident with Horizon. Then again, Horizon doesn't want to be seen to be impeding external justice too much, so if they catch you they might well hand you over. This would be a bad thing as your homeland may well have a suitable punishment in mind for what you did. You may be able to inspire fear in others with your name, however this is a risky card to play – chances are, though, that most Horizon natives won't have heard of you.

Widely-Travelled (3)
You have been around the world and seen it all... nearly. You know your way around the True Lands and many Inns along the way know your face as a traveller. You have a few contacts in the Four Nations which makes it easier if you need to go to any of them. You know which roads to travel, and when and which to avoid, and any local coustoms you really should observe to avoid trouble. (Insulting someone's mother in Jurica is likely to get you thrown out of the inn, but in Vegdarbarra it is likely to get you punched in the mouth and ambushed in a back alley later on) This will allow you to guide other people around if you accompany them.

Engineering Quirks

The price of this quirk includes a workshop in the craftsman's quarter and membership of the Clockworker's Guild. If you are practicing clockworking you may earn a Moderate income by default, simply through routine repairs of people's watches and clocks. In times past you could have expected a Comfortable income from your trade; alas, those days are gone forever, over a long time ago. With steam-powered factories and the Grey Order's contraptions muscling in on the scene, there's less demand for clockwork these days.

Of course, if you were willing to put in a turnsheet action cranking out Oneshots, you could sell them off quickly and get a Comfortable income for that turn. But selling Oneshots is illegal and naughty; you wouldn't dream of doing such a thing, would you?

Your major opportunity to earn extra money is by making clockwork and devices and selling them to other PCs during the session, or to NPCs in housekeeping. It is a rare clockwork item indeed that sells for less than a Significant price!

If you wish, you can choose to play a clockworker who is not a member of the Guild. This costs 5 quirk points, but comes with a whole heap of trouble: you've either someone learned clockworking independently or have been kicked out of the Guild, and either way you may not legally practice clockworking in Horizon. Indeed, if you've been kicked out of the Guild you're liable to get your throat cut if you do - and if you were never a member of the Guild, the Guild could always retroactively alter its records to get around that...

Please note: If you have your heart set on inventing a particular device during the course of the game, please discuss it with the GMs before submitting your character concept. Your invention may work better as a steam contraption or a Grey Order artifact.

Steamworker (1) (Day Job, Poor)
You earn a Poor income working in a factory. You are competant at making and maintaining steam machines as part of a large group of workers. You also understand steam machinery well enough that you could, if you wanted, sabotage a steam machine simply by loosening the right screws in the right place. You are assumed to be a rank 1 member of the Steam Union. Rank is Casual in the Steam Union, and so if you wish to begin at a higher rank you must pay an additional 2 points per rank: so to be a rank 2 steamworker costs 3 points, rank 3 costs 5 points and rank 4 costs 7 points. The higher your rank in the Steam Union, the more steamworkers will hear your voice; while it's not permissable to unilaterally call a strike, and getting a motion for strike action passed at a Union meeting is monstrously difficult, the more influential you are the more likely you are to get that motion through.

Foreman (4) (Day Job, Moderate)
You are skilled at organising and supervising a team of steamworkers. People call you t'gaffer at work, and you spend more time drinking tea than sweating amongst the gears and the pistons and the furnaces and the engines; nonetheless, you command respect, and if you and your boys work out on a job you can throw the whole workforce into disarray. Since you've worked your way up from being a humble steamworker, you can also lend a hand when you're a man short, and have the same sort of skills that normal steamworkers have. You will by default have rank 2 in the Steam Union - to be a rank 3 foreman costs a total of 6 points, and to be a rank 4 foreman costs a total of 8 points.

Steam Designer (5/8) (Day Job, Moderate)
You are a skilled designer of blueprints for steam machines - see the Engineering section for more details on how this works. You earn a Moderate income designing new ways to make marginally more efficient shoelace production lines, but the big money is in coming up with your own inventions, or major and novel alterations to existing inventions. The dividends you earn from such major undertakings may be represented as, for example, an extra Significant amount of money per turn for minor discoveries; major successes could lead to a boost in your actual income level - Comfortable, Classy, and even Magnificent incomes could be within your reach if you could just come up with a brilliant new invention.

You may pay 5 points or 8 points for this quirk. If you pay 8 points, you are a former steamworking foreman made good; your designs will be optimised for ease of construction and maintenance, and you are a member of the Steam Union in good standing. You are at least rank 2 in the Steam Union in recognition of your success and importance; if you wish, you can pay an additional 2 points (10 points in total for the quirk) to have rank 3 or an additional 4 points (12 points in total for the quirk) to possess rank 4 (seniority being Casual in the Steam Union).

Please note: If you have your heart set on inventing a particular device during the course of the game, please discuss it with the GMs before submitting your character concept. Your invention may work better as a clockwork device or a Grey Order artifact.

Grey Servant (1) (Day Job, Poor)
You are a Servant of the Grey Order. You perform a mundane, above-board duty for them. Perhaps you repair their taxis, perhaps you clean their offices, perhaps you make their supper. In exchange you are given a Poor income but provided with a room in communal barracks and regular (if unsatisfying meals) in a mess hall. You have sworn an oath not to reveal the secrets of Grey Magic to outsiders, and in exchange are given clearance to perform one (1) Grey Magic spell. In terms of seniority, you are at rank 1.

Grey Agent (4) (Night Job, Poor)
You are an Agent of the Grey Order. You have been assigned an Adept who tells you the Grey Order's current plans and schemes, and who can issue you direct orders, which you must obey. You have sworn an oath not to betray the order and not to reveal the secret of Grey Magic to outsiders, and in exchange are given clearance to perform four (4) Grey Magic spells. In terms of seniority, you are at rank 2.

Grey Adept (7) (Night Job, Poor)
You are an Adept of the Grey Order. You know the Grey Order's wider strategies and have sworn a great deal of elaborate oaths of loyalty. You are in control of a cell of four Grey Agents, who answer to you and who you can issue direct orders. You are given clearance to perform all Grey Magic spells. In terms of seniority, you are at rank 3.

Grey Engineering (6/11)
You are skilled at the art of Grey engineering, and can produce machines which combine the virtues of clockwork and steam.

If you pay 6 points, you are skilled at clockworking, and know the principles required to sort out the interface between clockwork and steam parts. Alternatively, you are skilled at steam engineering, and likewise know how to handle the interface. You will need to work with a partner who understands how the other variety of technology works if you are to create new inventions, modify old ones, or backengineer unusual items (if you are in the Grey Order, they will provide you with a collaborator if you cannot find a PC to help you out).

If you pay 11 points, you are skilled at both clockworking and steamworking, and can design brand-new Grey machines all by yourself. This makes you highly valuable to the Order. This makes you a huge target for the Order's enemies.

If you do not buy an appropriate Grey Order membership quirk, owning this quirk means you have learned the principles of Grey Engineering without joining the Order, or that you have left the Order. This is a crazy-mad situation to be in, and if you are found practicing Grey engineering you are liable to be killed with extreme prejudice.

Please note: If you have your heart set on inventing a particular device during the course of the game, please discuss it with the GMs before submitting your character concept. Your invention may work better as a clockwork device or a steam contraption.

Clockworking Apprentices (3)
You have trainee clockworkers helping you out in your workshop. They aren't skilled enough yet to be very helpful in researching new devices or back-engineering other people's work (if they were that good at clockworking, they wouldn't be apprentices anymore), but they do help you produce devices in your Portfolio at greater speed.

Tyler of the Clockwork Guild (2)
You must have the Clockworker quirk to be a Tyler. You are one of the people who keep the Clockwork Guild running. Many clockworkers prefer to spend most of their time paying attention to their craft, as is only to be expected; a few choose to give a little more back to the clockworking community, and get involved in the organisation of the Guild. Most of the time, Tylers of the Guild live a sedate life, making sure there's enough cucumber sandwiches at the Guild meetings and presiding over gentle debates in the Guildhall.

Of course, sometimes somebody does something silly. Sometimes people break their Guild-oaths. Then the Tylers are obliged to cut the silly person's throat from left to right, toss their innards over their left shoulder, and bury them where the high tide will cover their body. This sort of killing is perfectly legal, of course, but it's always a messy business. Chances are you'll need a brandy and a sit-down afterwards.

Grey Apprentices (3, Grey Engineers who are Grey Order members only)
A number of Grey Servants have been told by the Grey Order to help you with your engineering duties. Rejoice, they will help you make wonders; see the Grey Engineering rules for full details of how Apprentices speed up many processes.

Grey Meddler (1, 3 or 5)
You're not a member of the Grey Order. You have stolen the knowledge of Grey Magic from somebody who is; in particular, you know how to forge their rune-signature. On the plus side, you can now do Grey Magic without having to be at the beck and call of the Order. On the minus side, the Grey Order are looking for you, and they're very, very angry.

For 1 point you've stolen the rune-signature of a Grey Servant, for 3 it's a Grey Agent, and for 5 it's a Grey Adept. Tell us how you learned their rune-signature. (Did you steal their notebooks? pound on them until they told you? give them lots of money?)

Beggar Quirks

It will be polite, though. In Horizon, there are strong cultural taboos against harming beggars; apart from the obvious fact that they have difficulty fighting back, it is reputed to be bad luck to do so. Among the mobs, it is also thought of as a waste of time and self respect, given how little beggars have to steal.

Apart from this, begging gives you a rather special position as far as mobs are concerned. Since you don't really live in any district, and have no money to take, you are not automatically pushed into being the "client" or member of a mob on this basis. However, the Beggars of Horizon do claim you as a member, as they claim anyone who lives by begging in Horizon. If you spend enough time begging for them to find out (and this is the sort of thing they are looking out for), they will approach you and request that you join them, desist, or leave Horizon within the day. The only exception to this is priests of the Intercessor who have taken vows of poverty and chosen to live as beggars. So, if you take this quirk, you get membership of the Beggars for free. You may choose not to but it is recommended that if you want to be a beggar, you join the Beggars or possibly be a priest of the Intercessor. Otherwise, you will need to explain to the GMs how you have been avoiding the attentions of the Beggars, and you should be warned to expect a colourful and possibly very short life.

Also note that it's difficult to get out of begging. The people of Horizon hold a kind of superstitious fear of beggars; that saves the beggars from getting hurt, but also makes it very, very difficult for them to get a full time job.

A quick reminder of the cost of each Rank within the Beggars (Rank being a Vital matter):

Rank 1 costs -1 points and gives you 2 spending points.
Rank 2 costs 2 points and gives you 5 spending points.
Rank 3 costs 5 points and gives you 8 spending points.
Rank 4 costs 8 points and gives you 11 spending points.

You will receive a certain number of bonus spending points for whichever Rank you buy into, as described above - this is similar to the way the Mob Membership quirk works, but you will not be spending the points on the same things as mob members. Your spending points may be spent on the following quirks: Spies, Rumourmonger, Reliable or Unreliable Contacts, Secret Hideout, Stealth, Dirty Secret, Finding Stuff, or Byways.

Dirty Secret (1-3, members of the Beggar organisation only)
The Beggars know a little bit of everything. In your case, this includes something excruciatingly secret about an NPC or organisation (there is no in game reason we shouldn't include PCs, but we want to see you struggle to earn that pleasure). The more you pay for the quirk, the more secret this secret is.

Finding Stuff (3, members of the Beggar organisation only)
Beggars are renowned for their ability to go through a pile of noxious garbage and strip out anything of value. This is the skill that lets them do it. Any time you are in a situation that involves sorting out the needle in a haystack, you probably succeed. Alternatively, you can simply declare that you go into some area and poke around until you find something to grab your attention. You will always find something, although it is not guaranteed to be nice, useful, or harmless.

Byways (2, members of the Beggar organisation only)
The Beggars know all the secret routes, sewer plans, and disused buildings that let one get quickly and quietly about Horizon. Each time you buy this quirk, you know the hidden byways around one district in the city. You can make quick getaways, lose pursuit, or hide yourself more easily in that district; you can also help others to do so.

Esoteric Quirks

Cultist (varies)
You are a member of a cult of one of the nefarious Gods who bear mankind no goodwill. You are expected to obey the will of your god and the leader of your cult - although should you prove strong enough to oust the current leader, the god will welcome you with open arms. This is a dangerous profession; those who have bought the Don't Kill Me Daddy quirk should not become cultists.

For 3 points you can become a cultist in a Novice Coven, a small clique with only the most tenuous communications with your supernatural ruler. Perhaps the cult is brand new, and is feeling its way in the worship of the god; perhaps it is an old cult which has fallen on hard times, either because a more charismatic cult leader has stolen all the members or because the God has become displeased with the Coven for whatever reason. In terms of spells, the God will only grant you Cantrips. You begin the game knowing two Cantrips, which will be assigned by the GMs.

For 5 points you are a member of a Noted Sect, a cult of moderate size (large enough that you can't all meet in someone's back room any more) which has already performed some encouraging works for the God. Spellwise, the God will only grant you Cantrips and Enchantments. You begin the game knowing four Cantrips, which will be assigned by the GMs.

For 10 points you are a member of a Blessed Congregation, a cult of a size liable to alarm the authorities enjoying the full support and attention of your God. The God will grant you Cantrips, Enchantments, and Grand Rituals, although these latter spells will only be given in direst need. You begin the game knowing two Cantrips and an Enchantment, which will be assigned by the GMs.

By paying one-and-and-half times the points cost (round up), you can be a leader of the cult in question. The advantage of this is that you will call the shots. The disadvantage of this is that the God's full attention will be on you, and if you step wrong its wrath will be terrible. And oddly, so many of your underlings in the cult would quite like to be leader...

Excommunicated (-2)
You used to worship one of the malign Gods who have only contempt and ill intentions for mankind. You don't any more. Perhaps you quit. Perhaps you were thrown out. Whatever the case is: the God hates you, the God's followers hate you, but you do have all sorts of information that sorcerers would pay dearly to know. Of course, if you do spill the beans the cult is liable to hunt you down and cut your throat...

Choose what variety of cult you were kicked out of. The more important the cult, the more information you'll have but the more dangerous they will be.

Sorcerer (varies)
You are a sorcerer, a magician who acknowledges no otherworldly master. You wield magics stolen from the Gods and Powers themselves, perform rituals based on intense theoretical study of the esoteric underpinnings of the world, and consort with otherworldly spirits and entities.

Which is all very well, but it doesn't exactly put a roof over your head.

For 4 points you are an Apperentice Sorcerer, capable of casting only Cantrips. You begin the game with one Cantrip, which will be assigned by the GMs - although you can choose which Gods and Powers you stole it from - and with the knowledge required to steal two more Cantrips (again, assigned by the GMs but you can choose from whence they come).

For 6 points you are a Journeyman Sorcerer, capable of casting Cantrips and Enchantments. You begin the game knowing three Cantrips assigned by the GMs from the Gods and Powers of your choice, and with the knowledge required to steal two more Cantrips and two Enchantments (again, assigned by the GMs but you can choose from whence they come).

For 11 points you are a Master Sorcerer, and can cast any kind of spells including Grand Rituals (though stealing Grand Rituals from the Gods and Powers is a major undertaking even for you). You begin the game knowing two Cantrips and an Enchantment, which will be assigned by the GMs (though you can choose which Gods or Powers they come from), and with the knowledge required to steal three more Cantrips and three more Enchantments (again, assigned by the GMs but you can choose from whence they come).

Shaman (varies)
You are a follower of one of the vast, unsympathetic, inhuman Powers whose thoughts are as glaciers and whose dreams are as centuries, and who bear mankind no goodwill. You speak to the daimons and perform the tasks they give as you strive to mould yourself and others into a form pleasing to your Power. This is a dangerous profession; those who have bought the Don't Kill Me Daddy quirk should not become shamen.

For 3 points you are a shaman who is Recognised by the Power. The Power you follow knows that you exist, but does not yet consider you fully... committed. Minor daimons convey the Power's desires to you; if you serve and obey, maybe they will help you become pleasing to the Power. In terms of spells, the Power will only grant you Cantrips. You begin the game knowing two Cantrips, which will be assigned by the GMs.

For 5 points you are a shaman who is Marked by the Power. The Power knows you and has laid a claim upon you; those who are sensitive to such things will realise that you are a favoured servant of the Power and will keep their mouth shut if they know what's good for them. Spellwise, the Power will only grant you Cantrips and Enchantments. You begin the game knowing four Cantrips, which will be assigned by the GMs.

For 10 points you are a shaman who is Loved by the Power. You're lovely. You know this. The GMs know this. If you put this many points into shamanism, the Power will also know this. The Power will grant you Cantrips, Enchantments, and Grand Rituals, although these latter spells will only be given in direst need. You begin the game knowing two Cantrips and an Enchantment, which will be assigned by the GMs.

Apprentice Alchemist (2)
You know a little bit about alchemy. Probably you've received a few word-of-mouth lessons. Possibly you've just watched people and made notes. Either way, your approach to alchemy is likely to include a lot of trial and a lot more error. You begin the game with two samples of Coarse essence, a recipe in your chosen speciality and one other recipe. When performing alchemy, it takes you five turnsheet actions to get one sample of Coarse essence.

When you buy this skill, choose one Essence (Land, Sky, Ocean, Fire, or Stars) to specialise in; it takes you one less turn to produce this essence. If your Affinity (see below) is the same as your specialisation, this quirk will cost 1 point less, since you have an instinctive knack for working with the Essence in question.

Journeyman Alchemist (5)
Your talent in alchemy is rather broader than an Apprentice: you've read books and made notes when you do experiments to see what works and what doesn't. You begin the game with four samples of Coarse essence, two recipes in your chosen speciality and two other recipes. When performing alchemy, it takes you four turnsheet actions to get one sample of Coarse essence, or six to get one sample of Fine essence.

When you buy this skill, choose one Essence (Land, Sky, Ocean, Fire, or Stars) to specialise in; it takes you one less turn to produce this essence. As with Apprentice Alchemist, this quirk costs 1 point less if your specialised Essence is the same as your Affinity.

Master Alchemist (9)
You are a consumate expert in alchemy. What you don't know about the subject can be written on the very small charred remains of people who ignore your good advice. You begin the game with two samples of Coarse essence and one sample of Fine essence, as well as two recipes in your chosen speciality and five other recipes.

When performing alchemy, it takes you four turnsheet actions to get one sample of Coarse essence, or five to get one sample of Fine essence. Furthermore if a recipe for Pure essence did surface, you'd be pretty much the only man with the skills to follow it.

When you buy this skill, choose one Essence (Land, Sky, Ocean, Fire, or Stars) to specialise in; it takes you one less turn to produce this essence. Again, if your Affinity is the same as the Essence you specialise in this quirk costs 1 point less.

Alchemist's Licence (2)
You're a card-carrying Alchemist. You're required to submit to random spot-checks on your home, you need to provide the Ministry of Public Works with details every time you make an Essence, the Ministry can shanghai you into pro bono publico work, and you need to pay your dues (a Significant amount every turn). On the plus side, you can openly carry Essence, and you can openly produce and store it.

Alchemical Lab (3)
You have a proper lab. That's right, a real actual lab, with beakers made out of glass and bunsen burners and everything. It takes you one less turn than usual to produce any Fine essence.

Assistant Alchemists (1 to 4)
You have several buddies who can be trusted to watch things boil, stir pans and siphon stuff. Each point you spend on this adds you another assistant, who effectively adds another Essence to the list of those you specialise in.

Favoured of [God] (3)
Pick a God. Any God. No, not one of the dead ones.

This God is specifically and very personally fond of you. They are your buddy. Decide on a reason or let the GMs pick one; note that the Gods are notoriously fickle, and this divine favour was not necessarily earned by you and may not be welcome. It may be that you are the leader of a successful cult and your master has come to see you as something more than a tool; or it could be that one of your ancestors unwittingly aided an avatar, and you just wish you could stop little so-called "presents" ruining every birthday. The God is quite indifferent to whether you return their regard; you would have to do something spectacular to lose this favour. Either way, the God will do little things to make your life easier or more pleasant, after their own definition of "easy" and "pleasant", and may well help you out if you get into serious trouble. The various presents, favours, and aid you receive as a result of this merit will sometimes be subtle, and sometimes anything but.

Apart from the fact that Gods often don't remember how fragile their favorites are, the big problem with this merit is that if anyone (other than cultists and maybe very good friends) finds you have it, huge mobs will attempt to tear you limb from limb or burn you wherever you go. Also, powerful agents of Powers and rival Gods will try to kill or hurt you, just to spite your patron.

Priest of the Intercessor (2+) (Day Job, Poor)
You are a lovely lovely human being, having sworn to devote your life to charitable works and defending mankind against the horrors the Gods and Powers would inflict upon us. One of the advantages of this is that you are able to practice the simple but effective healing magic bequeathed to the Church by the Intercessor.

Priests of the Intercessor can request a Poor wage from the Church. If they do not wish to tax the Church's funds, they can instead swear a vow of absolute poverty and live on the charity of others - see the Beggar quirk for more details.

Rank is a Casual matter in the Church of the Intercessor - it is rare that higher-ups in the organisation issue absolute commands, freedom from the dictates of authoritarian Gods and their despotic minions being part of what the Church is all about. For 2 points you are a Rank 1 member of the Church - each additional level of seniority costs another two points.

Rank 1 (2 points): You are a rank-and-file priest. By joining the Church, you have sworn an Oath:

Breaking this Oath will lead to you being cast out of the Order; the Oath is not sworn before the dogs as a matter of Church police (it's the feeling of the Withdrawn Cardinals that there are nuances to it that are slightly too subtle for the dogs to comprehend).

Rank 2 (4 points): You are making a name for yourself as a priest. Novice priests are liable to turn to you for guidance and support.

Rank 3 (6 points): You are known to the Bishops and Withdrawn Cardinals, and may be asked to advise them from time to time. You may be able to get Trivial purchases made for you by the Church.

Rank 4 (8 points): You are a Bishop of the Church, having worked your way up through the ranks over the years. You discuss Church business with the Withdrawn Cardinals and the Cardinal of Cardinals frequently, and try to enact their will as best you can. You may, if you choose, accept a Moderate income from the Church, and the Church might make Minor purchases for you if you ask.

Fairy Blood

Fairy Look (-1): you have some obvious feature that make you looks like a fairy to pretty well anyone who's heard of them. Deep violet eyes is one example; pointed ears might be another; or it could just be an air of "otherness". Anyone who dislikes fairies will dislike you, and in the countryside you should be wary of mobs with pitchforks and torches. Apart from this people will in general be a little bit more suspicious of you.

Fae Allure (1): although you are not obviously of fairy blood, your descent has left a "certain something" about you. It could be a physical feature (Byronic good looks) or it could just be an aura. Either way people in general think you are a bit more exciting, mysterious or interesting than they would otherwise. Impressionable teenagers will decide to be in love with you; cantankerous old folk will declare that you're bound for a bad end.

Ancestral Favour (2): Full blooded fairies treat you as a favored little brother or sister. Whenever you run into them, you will be treated, teased, spoiled, feted, and sometimes even aided. Occasionally, fae will even seek you out to liven your life up. The whole process can be bewildering and occasionally painful, but it is certainly better to have the Fair Folk on your side than otherwise. You are not aware of why they do this at the beginning of the game; the GMs will cook up a suitably amusing reason.

Ancestral Emnity (-2): Full blooded fairies hate you. They won't explain why. Whenever you run into them, they do their best to ruin whatever you are doing and make your life a little bit worse - killing your minions, stealing your stuff, taking human form and seducing your SO. They're not declaring full out war on you, but it will make your life harder.

Fairy Tricks (2): you can do a little fairy magic. Mostly mired in the mundanity of the True Lands, you can only do the most minor stuff - make dancing lights appear, change the colour of someone's eyes for a few hours, move small objects a few inches - but it can make for impressive party tricks. A warning: this sort of "unofficial" magic is very easy to detect; anyone with the slightest sensitivity will realise that something is going on. If detected, it is likely that people will make the Fae connection; or worse, the ignorant may assume that you are channelling the power of the Gods or Powers.

Random Tricks (-2): as above, but you don't control when the "tricks" occur; the GMs will have effects randomly pop up in your presence. Be assured that this will happen in a meeting at least once every couple of turns.

Ghoulish Quirks

As a Ghoul in Horizon, you also get certain rights:

But as a Ghoul in Horizon, you also have certain difficulties.

At heart most humans fear your kind. This will affect all your dealings with them. In particular if you are trying to get a job outside the Ghoul district then you will have a very hard time.

It is the governing council of the Ghoul community - the Circle - that decides who is to make up the hunting and corpse collecting squads. Although in theory any Ghoul can wander around with a city badge, in practice if the elders hear that you have done so without their authorisation (or without being recruited on the spot by a squad) then you will be subject to horrible vengeance. Burning with hot irons or maiming have in the past been meted out to those who 'dishonour the community' in this way.

In general the Circle relies on a few 'professional' Hunters to lead the squads for them.

Ghouls buying day job quirks should note whether they are working inside the Ghoul quarter or not. If not, keep in mind that you will be feared an loathed by your coworkers and employer. If they are in the Ghoul quarter, note that your every action will be scrutinised by your neighbours and business partners.

In Good Standing (3)
You are In Good Standing in the Ghoul community; you are respected, as well as liked by the elders and Circle members. This translates into considerable unofficial power, as a bad word or reproving glance from you can seriously damage the reputation of many other Ghouls. For a tradesman (for example), this could mean the difference between success and failure in business. You will need to decide why you are In Good Standing.

Note that although it is not a "ghouls only" merit, it is extraordinarily rare for a human to have this. You will need to dazzle the GM team with the brilliance of your reason why a human character should have this.

Dishonoured (-3, ghouls only) Your character has done something to offend the rigid, stifling structure of the Ghoul social order. Decide what. Other Ghouls will ostracise you except when absolutely necessary, and will not do business with you or employ you unless there is no other choice. You will never be asked to join hunts or collection squads except in direst need. Redemption may be possible, but it will be difficult.

Hunter (3, ghouls only) (Day Job, Moderate)
You are one of those trusted by the Circle to organise and lead the hunting squads for murderers and cultists. You are allowed to bear the Horizon arms by default, and other Ghouls are expected to follow your lead when there is a hunt in process. If you have had this status for long, you may have gained notoriety among the humans. You will also have at least a Moderate income. This counts as a Day Job.

Collector of the Dead (1, ghouls only) (Day Job, Poor)
You are regularly employed by the Circle to lead corpse collection squads. You have a cart and the opportunity to cry 'Bring Out Your Dead' on a regular basis. You get a Poor income. Otherwise the job is less than fascinating. We include it here for completeness. This counts as a Day Job.

Direful Aspect (-1, ghouls only)
Other Ghouls merely consider you a trifle ugly, but there is something about your appearance that humans find hideous, repulsive, grotesque, and horrifying. It's partially looks, and partially an undefinable something about you. Humans react adversely to you, and you are extremely unlikely ever to get a job outside the Ghoul quarter.

Dude Looks Like a Human (1, ghouls only)
Most Ghouls are obviously not human. Not you. In Ghoul society you are something of a freak, but it's to your advantage. With appropriate preparation (clothes, haircut, accent, perhaps a little makeup) you can pass as a human. With this merit alone you cannot fool anyone who has had close contact with your Ghoul persona (which is likely to be a significant proportion of Horizon's tightknit Ghoul community), or a medical examination.