The Auditors Are Here: The City's Forgotten
Past Lives & Factions: They remember. They resist. They recruit.
20 MORE PAST LIVES
Roll d20 or choose. Each past life includes stats (Body/Mind/Charm), what you did, and why you can't go back.
- Electroplasmic Engineer (Body 1, Mind 2, Charm 0)You designed ghost-binding circuits. One malfunction killed twelve workers. Their spirits haunt the machinery you built.
- Ratings Broker (Body 0, Mind 1, Charm 2)You sold viewer data to advertisers. One dataset enabled targeted assassinations. You kept the transaction records.
- Pneumatic Courier (Body 2, Mind 0, Charm 1)You hand-delivered messages too sensitive for tubes. One message framed you for murder. The real killer is still free.
- Archive Cartographer (Body 0, Mind 2, Charm 1)You mapped The Bureau's filing system. You discovered departments that don't exist. They discovered you discovered them.
- Ghost Union Organizer (Body 1, Mind 1, Charm 1)You unionized ghost workers. Management bound your partner to a paper shredder as a warning. You have the organizing pamphlets.
- Subliminal Technician (Body 1, Mind 2, Charm 0)You calibrated advertising frequencies. Your work caused a mass psychotic episode. You kept the technical specifications.
- Tenant Advocate (Body 0, Mind 1, Charm 2)You fought evictions in housing court. Every landlord was a demon. Every judge ruled against you. Every time.
- Safety Violation Photographer (Body 1, Mind 2, Charm 0)You documented workplace deaths. Your photos became training materials: "What Not To Do." Workers still die the same ways.
- Black Market Occultist (Body 1, Mind 1, Charm 1)You sold contract-voiding spells. One client escaped damnation using your work. The demon blamed you. Still does.
- Grid Footage Editor (Body 0, Mind 2, Charm 1)You edited surveillance into propaganda. One accidental cut exposed a conspiracy. They edited you out of The Grid's records.
- Pneumatic Saboteur (Body 2, Mind 1, Charm 0)You bombed tube stations for the resistance. One device detonated early. You survived. Your whole cell didn't.
- Ghost Rights Lawyer (Body 0, Mind 2, Charm 1)You won legal personhood for spirits. The law was overturned the next day. Your client was destroyed that night.
- Bureau Whistleblower (Body 0, Mind 1, Charm 2)You leaked embezzlement files to journalists. They published. They vanished. You have more files. More journalists vanish.
- Combine Chaplain (Body 0, Mind 1, Charm 2)You performed last rites for dying workers. Then you realized you were sanctifying their transformation into ghost labor. You stopped.
- Tower Systems Analyst (Body 1, Mind 2, Charm 0)You debugged occult contract software. One bug freed 1,000 tenants. Every landlord in The City wants your source code.
- Network Fact-Checker (Body 0, Mind 2, Charm 1)You verified broadcast claims. Everything was lies. You documented everything. They kept broadcasting. You kept documenting.
- Resistance Financier (Body 0, Mind 2, Charm 1)You laundered money for ghost liberation. The Bureau traced your accounts. Everyone you funded is dead or bound.
- City Historian (Body 0, Mind 2, Charm 1)You researched The City's founding. You found evidence The City was never founded. The Archive is hunting you.
- Executive Assistant (Body 0, Mind 1, Charm 2)You scheduled meetings for a demon VP. You saw everything. You took notes. They know you took notes.
- Memory Extraction Technician (Body 1, Mind 2, Charm 0)You extracted memories from ghosts during interrogations. One memory was yours. You don't remember recording it.
THE FACTIONS
Four underground networks operating in The City. Each has goals, resources, and reasons to help or hinder auditors.
THE OPERATORS' GUILD
Who They Are: Pneumatic tube operators who route every message in The City. They see everything. They share selectively.
Structure:
- 1,000+ members (humans and ghosts)
- No formal hierarchy, distributed network
- Communicate via coded tube messages
- Meet in maintenance tunnels after hours
What They Want:
- Protect the pneumatic system (their livelihood and power)
- Control information flow (knowledge is currency)
- Resist The Grid (tubes are private, cameras are not)
What They Offer Auditors:
- Intercepted messages (evidence, warnings)
- Routing maps (navigate The City efficiently)
- Message delays (slow target communications)
- Forgeries (plant false evidence)
What They Fear:
- Nationalization (Bureau wants to seize tubes)
- Automation (ghost-powered routing eliminates jobs)
- Exposure (targets hunting operators who leak)
Key NPCs:
- Operator 117 (Human, Body 1, Mind 2, Charm 1) - Senior operator, 40 years routing. Knows every secret worth knowing.
- Operator Grey (Ghost, Body 0, Mind 2, Charm 1) - Died in tube malfunction 1987. Remembers every message ever sent.
- Operator Webb (Human, Body 2, Mind 0, Charm 1) - Guild enforcer. Breaks fingers of anyone who bribes operators without permission.
Complications:
- Operator has evidence but demands you bury different evidence
- Target bribes Guild leadership, rank-and-file rebel
- Guild itself is your audit target (corrupt from within)
- Operator is witness but Guild forbids testimony
GHOST LIBERATION FRONT
Who They Are: Underground network freeing bound spirits through occult methods. Hunted by Bureau, Combines, and Network.
Structure:
- 200+ active members (mostly human, some freed ghosts)
- Cell-based organization (compartmentalized for security)
- Use dead drops and coded pneumatic messages
- Safe houses in abandoned buildings
What They Want:
- Free all bound ghosts (primary mission)
- Destroy binding technology (stop new enslavement)
- Expose ghost labor publicly (end normalization)
What They Offer Auditors:
- Ghost witnesses (spirits remember everything)
- Binding contract expertise (read occult documents)
- Safe houses (hide from pursuit)
- Spirit communication (interview the dead)
What They Fear:
- Infiltration (Bureau plants informants constantly)
- Reprisal binding (captured members become ghost labor)
- Public backlash (City depends on ghost labor economically)
Key NPCs:
- The Unbinder (Human, Body 0, Mind 2, Charm 1) - Occultist who frees 1-2 ghosts weekly. Real name unknown.
- Spirit Council (5 Ghosts) - Freed spirits who coordinate liberation operations. Want vengeance, not just freedom.
- Webb the Breaker (Human, Body 2, Mind 1, Charm 0) - Saboteur who destroys binding equipment. Wanted for terrorism.
Complications:
- Front frees your key witness before you get testimony
- Target frames Front for violence they didn't commit
- Front demands you sabotage target, not just audit
- Freed ghost wants revenge on your client
TENANT UNIONS
Who They Are: Residential organizers resisting evictions and occult contracts. Legal but constantly harassed.
Structure:
- 50+ active unions (one per major Tower)
- Elected leadership, democratic decision-making
- Monthly meetings, mutual aid networks
- Legal defense fund (small, underfunded)
What They Want:
- Rent control (end occult price escalation)
- Contract transparency (reveal hidden clauses)
- Repair enforcement (landlords ignore violations)
- Eviction protection (due process before removal)
What They Offer Auditors:
- Tenant witnesses (victims of fraud)
- Contract expertise (identify occult loopholes)
- Community support (hide auditors, feed them)
- Collective bargaining (pressure landlords)
What They Fear:
- Mass eviction (landlords purge union members)
- Demonic retaliation (occult attacks on organizers)
- Legal suppression (new regulations banning unions)
Key NPCs:
- Union Rep Torres (Human, Body 1, Mind 1, Charm 2) - Survived three assassination attempts. Refuses to quit.
- Tenant 4423 (Human, Body 0, Mind 2, Charm 1) - Records keeper. Has every contract, every violation, every eviction.
- The Evicted (100+ Humans) - Former tenants living at ground level. Want justice, not just housing.
Complications:
- Union hired you but landlord is innocent (union leader is embezzling)
- Target offers union sweetheart deal to betray you
- Your audit triggers mass eviction as retaliation
- Tenant witness recants under threat to family
WORKER COLLECTIVES
Who They Are: Industrial organizers resisting Combine exploitation. Illegal, violently suppressed.
Structure:
- 30+ cells (covert, high turnover due to arrests)
- No central leadership (decentralized for survival)
- Strike funds, sabotage manuals, ghost liberation teams
- Communicate via samizdat and dead drops
What They Want:
- End ghost labor (primary demand, non-negotiable)
- Safe working conditions (stop deaths that create ghosts)
- Living wages (currently subsistence or below)
- Worker control (seize factories from Combines)
What They Offer Auditors:
- Worker witnesses (firsthand exploitation testimony)
- Production records (smuggled documents)
- Sabotage (disable evidence destruction)
- Strike support (shut down target during audit)
What They Fear:
- Lethal suppression (Combines use violence freely)
- Ghost binding (captured organizers become what they fought)
- Scab labor (desperate workers undermine strikes)
- Bureau raids (government sides with Combines)
Key NPCs:
- Foreman Kazan (Human, Body 2, Mind 1, Charm 1) - Ex-manager, turned after witnessing binding. Knows Combine operations intimately.
- Worker 7734 (Ghost, Body 0, Mind 2, Charm 0) - Bound to assembly line for decades. Organizes ghost resistance from inside.
- The Saboteur (Human, Body 2, Mind 2, Charm 0) - Destroys binding equipment. Wanted for industrial terrorism. Actually just a machinist.
Complications:
- Collective demands you sabotage, not just audit
- Your audit triggers Combine crackdown on organizers
- Worker witness is killed mid-investigation
- Target offers workers better conditions to betray you
FACTION REPUTATION
Track standing (0-5) with each faction. Gain or lose reputation based on actions during audits.
Gaining Reputation
+1 Reputation when you:
- Complete audit without exposing faction involvement
- Protect faction members from retaliation
- Share evidence that helps faction goals
- Refuse client demands that harm faction
+2 Reputation when you:
- Free ghosts (Ghost Liberation Front)
- Expose pneumatic surveillance (Operators' Guild)
- Void occult contracts (Tenant Unions)
- Document safety violations that led to deaths (Worker Collectives)
Losing Reputation
-1 Reputation when you:
- Expose faction member as witness/source
- Fail to protect faction members from harm
- Serve clients who oppose faction
- Ignore faction requests for help
-2 Reputation when you:
- Betray faction to client for payment
- Testify against faction members
- Work for faction's primary enemies
Reputation Benefits
Rep 0 (Neutral): Faction ignores you.
Rep 1 (Known): Faction will meet with you, hear you out.
Rep 2 (Trusted): Faction provides witnesses and information.
Rep 3 (Valued): Faction provides resources (safe houses, equipment, pneumatic access, occult tools).
Rep 4 (Essential): Faction provides protection (muscle, extraction, legal defense).
Rep 5 (Allied): Faction embeds members with you. They provide infiltrators, turncoats inside targets, and emergency support. Faction may hire you for audits that serve their goals.
Conflicting Loyalties
Some factions oppose each other:
- Operators' Guild vs Ghost Liberation Front (Guild uses ghost labor in pneumatic system)
- Tenant Unions vs Worker Collectives (different priorities, compete for Bureau attention)
Serving one may cost reputation with another. Choose carefully.
PAST LIVES & FACTIONS
Some past lives connect to factions naturally:
Operators' Guild:
- Pneumatic Courier
- Pneumatic Saboteur
- Bureau Whistleblower
Ghost Liberation Front:
- Electroplasmic Engineer
- Ghost Union Organizer
- Ghost Rights Lawyer
- Memory Extraction Technician
Tenant Unions:
- Tenant Advocate
- Tower Systems Analyst
Worker Collectives:
- Safety Violation Photographer
- Combine Chaplain
Multiple Factions:
- Archive Cartographer - Operators' Guild + Bureau Whistleblower
- Black Market Occultist - Ghost Liberation Front + Tenant Unions
- Resistance Financier - All factions
No Faction:
- Ratings Broker
- Subliminal Technician
- Grid Footage Editor
- Network Fact-Checker
- City Historian
- Executive Assistant
Your past life suggests starting reputation (GM decides):
- Directly helped faction: Start at Rep 2
- Indirectly helped faction: Start at Rep 1
- Harmed faction: Start at Rep -1 (must rebuild trust)
- No connection: Start at Rep 0
USING FACTIONS IN AUDITS
Factions as Clients: Ghost Liberation Front hires you to expose Combine's binding operation. They can't pay much, but offer Rep +2 and safe house access.
Factions as Obstacles: Operators' Guild blocks your pneumatic messages because target bribed them. You must negotiate or find alternate routes.
Factions as Resources: Worker Collective stages strike during your audit, distracting security. Coordinator Kazan demands you protect three witnesses in exchange.
Factions as Complications: Tenant Union pressures you to void all occult contracts in Tower, not just expose fraud. Client only wants fraud evidence. Choose.
Factions as Consequences: You expose Ghost Liberation Front safe house location during audit. Front loses Rep permanently. They remember.
REMEMBER
Factions aren't allies. They're survivors with agendas. They'll help when it serves them. They'll betray when it doesn't.
The City's forgotten remember everything.
Next: The Vertical City