====== Zerk ======
//You know a Zerk before they tell you. The air changes when one steps on deck, heavier somehow, charged with that wild, twitching stillness before a storm. They’re bigger than you remember people being, even the small ones. You could line up a squad of Corp. Sec goons behind them and still feel like the Zerk’s the real weapon. Doesn’t matter if they were born in a gene-tank, grown up in jungle gravity, or just hit the gym too hard for too long, every one of them carries the same current: a body built to break and a mind that refuses to.
\\ \\
Nobody agrees on what starts the **Rage**. Some swear it’s chemical, cocktails of stimulants and suppressors that cancel each other out just long enough to turn pain into poetry. Others treat it like religion: breath control, mantras, meditation, and that eerie calm that comes right before the screaming starts. A few are built for it from birth, engineered for muscle density and adrenal output and others even swear it's a spiritual thing, spirits from the Astral Space, riding your meat like a combat sim, either way, Corpo labs sell it as “combat optimization.” Out here, we just call it being a Zerk. However they reach that state, it’s the same result: a person who can take a flash blast through the shoulder and still rip a hatch off its hinges.
\\ \\
Zerks are strange that way, half brute, half mystic. Most soldier types struggle with the arcane outside of the more the basic counter magic drills; too much study, too little time. Zerks don’t care about that divide. They use whatever works — biofield manipulation, blood magic, instinctive kinetic focus. You’ll see them throw sparks without a gesture, or push a blast aside through sheer will. It’s not pretty, but it’s power, raw and improvised. They don’t train for years in academies; they just learn what keeps them alive. Theirs is a kind of magic that smells of sweat and ozone.
\\ \\
Environment makes the Zerk. On jungle worlds, they learn to move quiet and hit fast. Scrap-world Zerks come plated in welded armour, patched together like their ships and wielding chainsaws. Even some kind've “academic Zerks” from university colonies exist, kids who figured out how to turn stress and supplements into transcendence. They adapt because that’s what they do: absorb their surroundings until they become a reflection of whatever tried to kill them, even if it was just society. That’s the secret to a Zerk’s survival. The galaxy keeps throwing harder punches, and they just keep getting thicker skin.
\\ \\
They’re not idiots, despite what people say. Sure, most couldn’t pass a Federation entrance exam if their life depended on it, but hand them a broken weapon, and they’ll have it working before your coffee cools. They think in motion. They understand things by breaking them. You can’t teach that, same as you can’t teach someone to laugh while bleeding. That’s a Zerk for you. When everything else fails, plans, spells, diplomacy, you’ll want one on your side. Because when the airlock blows and the lights go red, the Zerk’s the last spacer still grinning, ready to drag the universe down with them if it tries any harder//.\\
\\
// - Buck Texas, post Kantkliff Massacre, Mark 6223.// \\
\\ \\
----
^ [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] ^ [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Job Die]] ^[[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Ability|Abilities]]^
| 1 | - |[[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage]] (D4/Damage)|
| 2 | D4 |[[:Jobs:Zerk#Ungodly Toughness]] (2), [[:Jobs:Zerk#Upgrade Job Die]]|
| 3 | D4 |[[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage]] (D6/Checks), [[:Jobs:Zerk#Bonus Proficiency]]|
| 4 | D6 |[[:Jobs:Zerk#Ungodly Toughness]] (4), [[:Jobs:Zerk#Upgrade Job Die]]|
| 5 | D6 |[[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage]] (D8/Attacks), [[:Jobs:Zerk#Bonus Proficiency]], [[:Jobs:Zerk#Brutality]]|
| 6 | D8 |[[:Jobs:Zerk#Ungodly Toughness]] (6), [[:Jobs:Zerk#Upgrade Job Die]]|
| 7 | D8 |[[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage]] (D10/Saves), [[:Jobs:Zerk#Bonus Proficiency]]|
| 8 | D10 |[[:Jobs:Zerk#Ungodly Toughness]] (8), [[:Jobs:Zerk#Upgrade Job Die]]|
| 9 | D10 |[[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage]] (D12/Health), [[:Jobs:Zerk#Bonus Proficiency]]|
| 10 | D12 |[[:Jobs:Zerk#Ungodly Toughness]] (10), [[:Jobs:Zerk#Upgrade Job Die]] , [[:Jobs:Zerk#Biological Monstrosity]]|
==== Starting Package ====
\\
If you choose [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk|Zerk]] as your [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Starting Job]] during [[:Character:Character Creation]], gain the following bonuses:\\
\\
**[[:Ratings:Health]] Bonus**: 20\\
**[[:Ratings:Mana]] Bonus**: 10\\
**[[:Ratings:Strain]] Bonus**: 5\\
\\
**[[Game Mechanics:Proficiencies]]**: Gain **3** [[Game Mechanics:Proficiencies]] from the following:\\
[[:Skills:Athletics]], [[:Skills:Coordination]], [[:Skills:Magic]], [[:Skills:Natural]], [[:Ratings:Presence]], [[:Skills:Savvy]], [[:Skills:Sense]] or [[:Ratings:Swagger]].\\
\\
**[[Game Mechanics:Resistances]]**: Gain **1** [[Game Mechanics:Resistances|Resistance]] from the following:\\
[[Ratings:Fortitude Save|Fortitude]] or [[Ratings:Reflex Save|Reflex]].\\
\\
**[[Game Mechanics:Definitions:Starter Abilities]]**: You gain the following [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Ability|Abilities]]:\\
[[Zerk#Innate Affinity]] and [[Zerk#Dumb]].\\
\\
**[[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Budget]]**: You gain **1** [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Budget]] from the following:\\
**Balanced**: [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Budget:Personal Budget]]; 20,000c. [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Budget:Vehicular Budget]]: 75,000c.\\
**Provisioned**: [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Budget:Personal Budget]]; 30,000c. [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Budget:Vehicular Budget]]: 50,000c.\\
===== Starter Abilities =====
==== Dumb ====
//A Zerk’s brain runs on instinct, not instruction. They don’t read manuals, they glare at machinery until it starts working or explodes trying. Ask one to recall a briefing and you’ll get half the details and twice the confidence. It’s not that they’re incapable of thought; they just process information through action instead of theory. They’ll forget the plan, misread the label, and probably press the big red button “just to see what it does.” Most of the time, luck or sheer durability gets them through the fallout. If you’re smart, you don’t give a Zerk homework, you give them something sturdy to hit, and stand back until the smoke clears.// \\
\\
[[:Traits|Trait]].\\
\\
You suffer the [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Property:Disadvantage]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Property]] to any [[:Skills:Tech]], [[:Skills:Study]], [[:Skills:Knowledge - Astral]], [[:Skills:Knowledge - Material]] and [[:skills:Knowledge - Social]] [[:Game Mechanics:Check|Checks]] and [[:Game Mechanics:Attack|Attacks]] you perform.\\
==== Environmental Affinity ====
//Environmental Affinities define how a Zerk is shaped by the place that forged them — whether that place is a wilderness, a machine hive, a gang-controlled district, or an elite academic enclave. These environments imprint priorities, instincts, and methods so deeply that a Zerk’s abilities become expressions of terrain, culture, and pressure rather than learned techniques alone. A Zerk does not merely survive their origin environment; they internalise it, carrying its rules, violence, and momentum wherever they go. They are forces of nature not despite their origins, but because nothing is more natural than being shaped by the world that demanded they endure it.// \\
\\
[[:Traits|Trait]].\\
\\
You must choose 1 of the following [[:Jobs:Zerk#Environmental Affinity|Environmental Affinities]] for your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk]], you then gain the listed features and [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Ability|Abilities]]:\\
==== Affinity - Astral Protector ====
//The Astral Protector affinity represents the oldest known expression of the Zerk, emerging from tribal and magically aligned cultures where land, spirit, and survival are inseparable. Their fury is not purely personal, but drawn from wronged ancestors, protective entities, or an internalised mandate to defend territory, people, or ecological law. Among all Zerks, Astral Protectors are the most mystic, channeling raw arcane force through martial action in ways most Spacers would consider impossible without extensive augmentation. Some remain so deeply embedded in non-industrial regions that they reject Federation cyberware entirely, so-called luddites, relying instead on the authority of the land and the certainty of their own strength.// \\
\\
* You gain [[:Game Mechanics:Proficiencies|Proficiency]] in [[:Skills:Magic]].
* Increase your [[:Stats:Starter Stats|Starter]], [[:Stats:Current Stats|Current]] and [[:Stats:Maximum Stats|Maximum]] [[:stats#Hokum|Hokum]] by 1.
* You gain 1 free [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] in one of the following [[:Masteries]]:
****
* [Animism]
* [Elementalism]
* [Meditation]
* [Parasomnia]
* [Cultivation]
* [Fieldcraft]
* [Noetics]
* [Wrangling]
* Additionally you may, optionally, gain the [[:Traits:Luddite]] [[:Traits|Trait]]. If you do, you gain exactly two additional free [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank|Ranks]] in any of the above [[:Masteries]]. You may only gain a maximum of two [[:Masteries|Mastery]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank|Ranks]] in total but you may gain them in different [[:Masteries]], if you wish.\\
\\
**Please Note**: A [[:Masteries|Mastery]] may never be increased above [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 3 during [[:Character:Character Creation]].
==== Affinity - Grinder ====
//The Grinder affinity emerges from scrap worlds, astromotive hubs, and shipping stations where survival means mastering metal, motion, and neglect. Raised among underslung tubes, live rigging, and drifting wreckage, many Grinders grew up welding before they could read and fighting pests in pressurised piping as a matter of routine. Though their environments are artificial, they are no less territory and a Grinder knows every vibration, choke point, and structural weakness by instinct. They may trade wilderness lore for technical brutality, but no one questions the choice when a chainsaw comes screaming out of the dark and ends the problem permanently.// \\
\\
* You gain [[:Game Mechanics:Proficiencies|Proficiency]] in [[:Skills:Tech]].
* You gain 1 [[:Stats:Starter Stats|Starter]], [[:Stats:Current Stats|Current]] and [[:Stats:Maximum Stats|Maximum]] [[:Stats:Brawn]] and [[:Stats:Wits]].
* You gain 1 free [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] in one of the following [[:Masteries]]:
****
* [Explosives]
* [Fabrication]
* [Industrial]
* [Mechanics]
* Your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Dumb]] [[:Traits|Trait]] now applies to [[:Skills:Magic]], instead of [[:Skills:Tech]].\\
\\
**Please Note**: A [[:Masteries|Mastery]] may never be increased above [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 3 during [[:Character:Character Creation]].
==== Affinity - Gang ====
//The Gang Zerk is born at the bottom of the economic stack, in districts where poverty is engineered, opportunity is rationed, and corporate neglect is the default condition. In these environments, crime is not rebellion or thrill-seeking, it is logistics, it is food, it is rent, and it is survival, and Gang Zerks are shaped early into instruments that keep families alive when systems refuse to. Big even as children, they are absorbed into gangs or disposable corporate crews as enforcers, learning the invisible map of power: who owns the street, which laws are performative, and why Fed. Sec. only arrives after the damage is done. They understand pressure better than paperwork, and when corporations or rivals threaten what little they have, a Gang Zerk answers the only way the world ever taught them, by flooding their system with combat stims and reducing the problem to bone, blood, and silence.// \\
\\
* You gain [[:Game Mechanics:Proficiencies|Proficiency]] in [[:Skills:Savvy]].
* You gain 1 [[:Stats:Starter Stats|Starter]], [[:Stats:Current Stats|Current]] and [[:Stats:Maximum Stats|Maximum]] [[:Stats:Panache]] and [[:Stats:Wits]].
* You gain 1 free [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] in one of the following [[:Masteries]]: [Thievery], [Stealth], [Intimidate] or [Prestige].
****
* [Intimidate]
* [Spycraft]
* [Prestige]
* [Street]
**Please Note**: A [[:Masteries|Mastery]] may never be increased above [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 3 during [Character Creation].
==== Affinity - Feral ====
//The Feral Zerk affinity emerges from deep wilderness zones where civilisation fails and only instinct, strength, and adaptation endure. Raised closer to animals than people, Feral Zerks become apex predators of their environments — towering, physically overwhelming figures with an unmatched understanding of terrain, fauna, and the unspoken laws that govern the wild. They are the most brutal of the Zerks, yet sometimes among the most curious, observing, learning, and adapting with a predator’s intelligence rather than blind rage. Many are luddites with no cyberware at all, having no need for it when the jungle itself has already finished shaping them.// \\
\\
* You gain [[:Game Mechanics:Proficiencies|Proficiency]] in [[:Skills:Natural]].
* You gain 1 [[:Stats:Starter Stats|Starter]], [[:Stats:Current Stats|Current]] and [[:Stats:Maximum Stats|Maximum]] [[:stats#Brawn|Brawn]] and [[:Stats:Agility]].
* You gain 1 free [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] in one of the following [[:Masteries]]:
- [Bones]\\
- [Fieldcraft]\\
- [Meat]\\
- [Parkour]\\
- [Cultivation]\\
- [Gene-Grafting]\\
- [Melee]\\
- [Wrangling\\
* Additionally you may, optionally, gain the [[:Traits:Luddite]] [[:Traits|Trait]] to gain exactly two [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank|Ranks]] to spend on any of the above [[:Masteries]]. You may only gain two [[:Masteries|Mastery]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank|Ranks]] in total but you may gain them in different [[:Masteries]], if you wish.\\
\\
**Please Note**: A [[:Masteries|Mastery]] may never be increased above [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 3 during [[:Character:Character Creation]].
==== Affinity - Savant ====
//The Savant affinity is a rare and unsettling expression of the Zerk, emerging from academic enclaves and high-status worlds where intellect and privilege intersect with unchecked physicality. Often the largest presence in elite schools or social circles, Savants learn early that brilliance carries weight when backed by intimidation, and their rage manifests not as blind fury but as explosive, hyper-focused cognition. Unlike other Zerks, a Savant can continue to reason while raging—shouting at equations, tearing apart flawed models, and forcing reality to reconcile with their conclusions. They may be heavier on theory than practice, but if pressed to show their working, they are perfectly capable of doing so with a pencil through your skull.// \\
\\
* You gain [[:Game Mechanics:Proficiencies|Proficiency]] in one of the following [[:Skills]]: [[:Skills:Knowledge - Material]], [[:Skills:Knowledge - Astral]] or [[:Skills:Knowledge - Social]].
* You perform all knowledge and [[:Skills:Study]] [[:Game Mechanics:Check|Checks]] under the effects of the [[:Traits:Trusty]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Property]].\\
* You gain 2 [[:Stats:Starter Stats|Starter]], [[:Stats:Current Stats|Current]] and [[:Stats:Maximum Stats|Maximum]] [[:Stats:Smarts]].
* Replace the [[Zerk#Rage]] [[:Game_Mechanics:Definitions:Ability]] with the following [[Zerk#Nerd Rage]] [[:Game_Mechanics:Definitions:Ability]]:\\
\\
=== Nerd Rage ===
|< - 25% 50% 25%>|
^**Nerd Rage**^^^
| [[:Game_Mechanics:Actions:Quick Action]] | | |
|You start raging until the end of the [[:Game_Mechanics:Encounter]]. \\ Any time you perform a [[:Basic Abilities:Deep Breath]] [[:Game Mechanics:Actions:Double Action]], your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage]] ends. \\ While raging, you gains the effects of the [[:Traits:Stubborn]] [[:Game_Mechanics:Definitions:Ability]]. \\ While raging, you perform all [[:Ratings:Insight Save|Insight Saves]] under the effects of the [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Property:Disadvantage]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Property]].|||
\\
* At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk|Zerk]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 1, your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Nerd Rage|Nerd Rage Die]] is D4. You add your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Nerd Rage|Nerd Rage Die]] to any [[:Game Mechanics:Check]] or [[:Game Mechanics:Attack]] you are [[:Game Mechanics:Proficiencies|Proficient]] in while raging. In addition, whenever you apply your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Nerd Rage|Nerd Rage Die]] to a [[:Game Mechanics:Check]], you also gain the benefits of the [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Property:Advantage]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Property]].
* At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk|Zerk]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 3, [[:Game Mechanics:Upgrading or Downgrading:Upgrading Dice|Upgrade]] your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Nerd Rage|Nerd Rage Die]] to D6. In addition, whenever you apply your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Nerd Rage|Nerd Rage Die]] to a [[:Game Mechanics:Check]] or [[:Game Mechanics:Attack]], you also gain the benefits of the [[:Traits:Reliable]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Property]].
* At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk|Zerk]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 5, [[:Game Mechanics:Upgrading or Downgrading:Upgrading Dice|Upgrade]] your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Nerd Rage|Nerd Rage Die]] to D8. In addition, whenever you apply your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Nerd Rage|Nerd Rage Die]] to a [[:Game Mechanics:Check]] or [[:Game Mechanics:Attack]], you also gain the benefits of the [[Traits:Fine]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Property]].
* At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk|Zerk]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 7, [[:Game Mechanics:Upgrading or Downgrading:Upgrading Dice|Upgrade]] your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Nerd Rage|Nerd Rage Die]] to D10. In addition, whenever you apply your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Nerd Rage|Nerd Rage Die]] to a [[:Game Mechanics:Check]] or [[:Game Mechanics:Attack]], you also gain the benefits of the [[Traits:Exploding]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Property]].
* At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk|Zerk]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 9, [[:Game Mechanics:Upgrading or Downgrading:Upgrading Dice|Upgrade]] your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Nerd Rage|Nerd Rage Die]] to D12. In addition, whenever you apply your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Nerd Rage|Nerd Rage Die]] to a [[:Game Mechanics:Check]] or [[:Game Mechanics:Attack]], you also gain the benefits of the [[Traits:Doubles]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Property]].
==== Affinity - Chill ====
//The Chill Zerk affinity belongs to the gentle giants: enormous, easy-going figures who move through life with surfer confidence, gym-bro charm, and an almost supernatural luck. They aren’t thinkers or planners — most peak somewhere between hanging ten and beer pong — but the universe seems to accommodate them anyway, doors opening and problems resolving without much effort. Their rage is real, just rare, and when it finally surfaces the shock is part of the impact: a calm, smiling mountain suddenly deciding something is no longer acceptable. Most people are happy to see a Chill Zerk at the party — right up until they tear the guy cheating at Tarot in half and calmly go back to their drink.// \\
\\
* You gain 1 [[:Stats:Starter Stats|Starter]], [[:Stats:Current Stats|Current]] and [[:Stats:Maximum Stats|Maximum]] [[:Stats:Grit]].
* Your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Dumb]] [[:Traits|Trait]] also applies to [[:Skills:Savvy]]. In addition, [[:Skills:Savvy]] is removed from the [[:Jobs:Zerk#Starting Package|Zerk]] [[:Game Mechanics:Proficiencies]] list and therefore cannot be taken during [Character Creation].\\
* The first time, per [[:Game Mechanics:Encounter]], you suffer a [[:Game_Mechanics:Success and Failure:Critical Failure]] on a [[:Game Mechanics:Check]] or [[:Game Mechanics:Save]], you restore 1 [[:Ratings:Grit Points|Grit Point]].
===== Job Abilities =====
==== Rage ====
//What spacers call “rage” isn’t one thing—it’s a dozen ways to push a body past sane limits. Some Zerks use injected stims or gland triggers that flood the system with raw energy; others reach it through meditation or ritual, dropping into a calm so deep it looks like madness. A few swear it’s the ancestors or astral winds steering their hands, and after seeing what they can do, it’s hard to argue. Rage doesn’t make them invincible — it just turns every ounce of muscle, will, and training into a weapon. They strike harder, move faster, and tear through bulkheads like tissue. Fatigue still hits, but it comes late, and by then the fight’s usually over. The most practiced can balance on that knife edge for minutes, burning bright and clean, while the rest ride it like a storm and pray they don’t break before their enemies do.// \\
\\
[[:Game_Mechanics:Actions:Quick Action]].\\
\\
You gain the [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage]] [[:Game Mechanics:Actions:Quick Action]]:\\
\\
|< - 25% 50% 25%>|
^**Rage**^^^
| [[:Game Mechanics:Actions:Quick Action]] | | |
|You start raging until the end of the [[:Game_Mechanics:Encounter]]. \\ Any time you perform a [[:Basic Abilities:Deep Breath]] [[:Game_Mechanics:Actions:Double Action]], your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage]] ends.\\ While raging, you gain the effects of the [[:Traits:Stubborn]] [[:Game_Mechanics:Definitions:Ability]]. \\ While raging, you perform [[:Game Mechanics:Multitasking]] [[:Game Mechanics:Save|Saves]] under the effects of the [[:Game_Mechanics:Definitions:Property:Disadvantage]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Property]].|||
\\
* At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk|Zerk]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 1, your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage|Rage Die]] is D4. You add your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage|Rage Die]] to any [[:Game Mechanics:Damage:Meat Damage|Meat]] or [[:Game Mechanics:Damage:Magic Damage|Magic]] [[:Game Mechanics:Damage]] you deal while raging.
* At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk|Zerk]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 3, [[:Game Mechanics:Upgrading or Downgrading:Upgrading Dice|Upgrade]] your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage|Rage Die]] to D6. You also add your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage|Rage Die]] to [[:Skills:Athletics]] and [[:Skills:Coordination]] [[:Game Mechanics:Check|Checks]] you perform while raging.
* At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk|Zerk]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 5, [[:Game Mechanics:Upgrading or Downgrading:Upgrading Dice|Upgrade]] your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage|Rage Die]] to D8. You also add your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage|Rage Die]] to [[:Skills:Athletics]] and [[:Skills:Coordination]] [[:Game_Mechanics:Attack|Attacks]] you perform while raging.
* At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk|Zerk]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 7, [[:Game Mechanics:Upgrading or Downgrading:Upgrading Dice|Upgrade]] your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage|Rage Die]] to D10. You also add your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage|Rage Die]] to [[:Ratings:Fortitude_Save|Fortitude]] and [[:Ratings:Reflex_Save|Reflex]] [[:Game Mechanics:Save|Saves]] you perform while raging.
* At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk|Zerk]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank]] 9, [[:Game Mechanics:Upgrading or Downgrading:Upgrading Dice|Upgrade]] your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage|Rage Die]] to D12. At the start of your [Turn], while raging, you roll your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage|Rage Die]]. You restore [[:Ratings:Health]] equal to the [[:Game Mechanics:Dice Pool:Result]] of your [[:Jobs:Zerk#Rage|Rage Die]].
==== Ungodly Toughness ====
//A Zerk’s hide isn’t just for show—it’s a survival mechanism so overbuilt it borders on absurd. Their dermal layers thicken with every scar, knitting into dense collagen plates that can turn aside small-arms fire or flash burns outright. Some grow calloused enough to pit a knife’s edge or spark when hit with a welder. It’s why some don't even bother with armour or dermal plating; for them, protection is just decoration. Even unarmed, they can take punishment that would pulp a power-suited Op-Sec. and keep moving through sheer habit. They heal crooked, scar thick, and wear every mark like a medal. It’s not invulnerability — just layers of bad decisions stacked so deep that nothing short of annihilation gets through.// \\
\\
[[:Traits|Trait]].\\
\\
You gain 2 [[:Game Mechanics:Damage Mitigation:Supernatural Armour]].\\
\\
At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk|Zerk]] [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Rank|Ranks]] 4, 6 , 8 and 10 you gain an additional 2 [[:Game Mechanics:Damage Mitigation:Supernatural Armour]] for a total of 4, 6, 8 and 10, respectively.
==== Upgrade Job Die ====
[[:Traits|Trait]].\\
\\
You gain a [[Game Mechanics:Definitions:Job Die]]. A [[Game Mechanics:Definitions:Job Die]] is a [[Game Mechanics:Bonus Die]] that is added to [[Game Mechanics:Check|Checks]], [[Game Mechanics:Attack|Attacks]] or [[Game Mechanics:Save|Saves]] that you are [[Game Mechanics:Proficiencies|Proficient]] or [[Game Mechanics:Resistances|Resistant]] in, respectively. Your [[Game Mechanics:Definitions:Job Die]] is a D4.\\
\\
If you gain an additional instance of this [[Game Mechanics:Definitions:Ability]], and you already have a [[Game Mechanics:Definitions:Job Die]], you do not gain another; it is [[Game Mechanics:Upgrading Or Downgrading:Upgrade]] instead.\\
\\
At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk]] rank 4, 6, 8 & 10, you gain an additional instance of this [[Game Mechanics:Definitions:Ability]].
==== Bonus Proficiency ====
[[:Traits|Trait]].\\
\\
You gain an additional [[:Game Mechanics:Proficiencies|Proficiency]]. This can be [[:Ratings:Swagger]], [[Ratings:Presence]], [[Ratings:Initiative]], [[Ratings:Reaction]] or any [[:Skills]].\\
\\
**Please Note**: You can select any of the above options, not just the ones listed on the [[:Jobs:Ace#Starting Package]], so long as you are not already [[:Game Mechanics:Proficiencies|Proficiency]] in it.\\
\\
At [[:Jobs:Zerk#Zerk]] rank 5, 7 & 9, you gain an additional instance of this [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Ability]].
==== Brutality ====
//Veteran Zerks don’t fight — they end things. Every swing carries the weight of a lifetime spent surviving places that eat lesser beings whole. When one of these grizzled monsters hits you, it isn’t just strength — it’s certainty. Their bodies know how to kill the way lungs know how to breathe. Scars map their skin like warning signs, and even before they move, something primal in you starts calculating escape routes. They’ve been shot, burned, spaced, and crushed, and they wear it all like proof that dying simply doesn’t take. Facing a Zerk with years behind them isn’t about having a plan or a big gun; it’s about ignoring the part of your nervous system that’s screaming "fucking run!"// \\
\\
[[:Traits|Trait]].\\
\\
You add your [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Job Die]] to [[:Game Mechanics:Injury|Injuries]] or [Malfunction] [[:Game Mechanics:Test|Tests]] you inflict.\\
\\
In addition, when generating [[:Game Mechanics:Injury]] [[:Game Mechanics:Test|Tests]] that you have received, you may reduce the [[:Game Mechanics:Dice Pool:Result]] by your [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Job Die]].\\
\\
Furthermore, you add your [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Job Die]] to [[:Ratings:Presence]] and [[:Ratings:Swagger]] [[:Game Mechanics:Test|Tests]] you perform.\\
\\
**Please Note**: These bonuses [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Stack]] with [[:Game Mechanics:Proficiencies|Proficiency]].
==== Biological Monstrosity ====
//There’s tough, there's legendary, and then there’s **that!** The kind of Zerk you hear stories about in spacer bars — the ones who should’ve died a dozen times but somehow got meaner instead. They’re built wrong in all the right ways. Skin like old hull plating, eyes that look through you, not at you. You can pump them full of plasma, bury them under rubble, set them on fire—they’ll just climb out, steaming and grinning, like it was a warm-up. Some of the old tales talk about Zerks tearing lungs from an enemy and jamming them into their own chest to replace ones lost to mortar fire. Maybe that’s myth. Maybe it’s not. What’s certain is this: when one of these things walks onto a field, everything else gets quiet. Even the machines seem to hesitate. You don’t fight a Zerk like that. You just pray it’s in a good mood — or that it doesn’t notice you at all.// \\
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[[:Traits|Trait]].\\
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You are immune to the [[:Game Mechanics:Conditions:Death]] [[:Game Mechanics:Injury]]. If you would gain the [[:Game Mechanics:Conditions:Death]] [[:Game Mechanics:Injury]], gain a [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Wound]] instead.\\
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**Please Note**: You are affected by the [[:Game Mechanics:Conditions:Chunklettes]] and [[:Game Mechanics:Conditions:Disintegrated]] [[:Game Mechanics:Injury|Injuries]] as normal.\\
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In addition, you gain 20 [[:Ratings:Health]].\\
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Furthermore, you gain 1 [[:Game Mechanics:Damage Mitigation:Supernatural Armour]] for each [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Wound]] you have.\\
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Also, your [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Wound|Wounds]] now cause you to [[:Game Mechanics:Upgrading Or Downgrading:Upgrade]] the [[:Game Mechanics:Injury|Injuries]] you receive once for every 2 [[:Game Mechanics:Definitions:Wound|Wounds]] accured, instead.\\
==== Changelog ====
Version 0.5 - Nov 2025
* **Dumb**
* Now includes Attacks.
* No longer applies to Know: Material.
* **Savant**
* Accounts for changes to Dumb (now provides Advantage to Know: Material if chosen).
* No longer provides Advantage to all Knowledges and Study; now provides Trusty property instead.
* **Nerd Rage**
* //Reworked//: Nerd Rage Die now applies to both Checks and Attacks you are proficient in while nerd raging.
* **Chill**
* Now useable once per Encounter, rather than per Scene.
Version 0.5b - Dec 2025
* **Affinity**
* Affinities that required you take the Luddite trait now allow you to opt in to the Luddite trait instead.
* Amount of free Masteries gained from Luddite Affinities rebalanced.
* Amount of free Mastery options reduced.
* **Rage**
* Added Stubborn Ability.
Version 0.5c - June 2026
* Wording adjusted
* Starting Proficiency list updated to include Presence and Magic
* Environmental Affinity - Astral Protector now allows you to gain ranks in Elementalism and Noetics
* Environmental Affinity - Grinder no longer allows you to gain ranks in Mad Science and Tradecraft
* Environmental Affinity - Gang no longer allows you to gain ranks in Deception and Tradecraft
* Environmental Affinity - Feral now allows you to gain ranks in Cultivation and Parkour
* Rage and Nerd Rage now end any time you perform a Deep Breath
* Brutality now adds your Job Die to both Swagger and Presence Tests
* Biological Monstrosity Ability now causes Wounds to Upgrade your Injuries once for every two Wounds you have accrued