Chapter 04 · OccupationsFM 93-07

Occupations

Who you were in June is who you still are in July. Twelve lives Net Control still bothers to print. Open the one that matches the person you intend to walk out as.

12 field guides

A group of 1993 civilians standing in a gravel lot at dusk. — Plate III. — Issued occupations. Pick one and read the chapter that belongs to it.

// FROM THE FILES — PERSONNEL

Who you were in June is who you still are in July. The Network does not issue new lives. It issues work. Open the leaf. Walk out as that person.

The old occupations are still on the sheet — doctor, burglar, veteran, the rest of Knox County’s ordinary jobs. The twelve below are the Network’s. Each grants a trait twin — you cannot buy the same trait again for a double-dip — and boosts a workshop skill. Costs sit on the same ladder the county always used: a doctor is even; an engineer costs four; a burglar costs six; a veteran costs eight.

How to read a cost Negative means you pay points at creation. Boosts on each leaf are listed after the granted trait is counted — the person you walk out as, not the line before the trait. Magazines multiply what you earn; they do not grant the first point. The occupation pages tell you where the work actually comes from.

Computers

Occupation · −6 −6

Sysop

Garage BBS, midnight modems, a working terminal in the settlement before anyone else can level into the recipe.

Computers 5Computer Whiz

Open the Sysop field guide →

Occupation · 0 0

PC Repair Technician

Strip-mall fix-it counter. Doctor-tier cost, leftover points for the rest of the character, still a programmer.

Computers 3Hobbyist

Open the PC Repair field guide →

Salvage

Occupation · −6 −6

E-Waste Recycler

The only salvage start with a live bonus-component roll. You feed the sysop and the chemist.

ResourcefulElectrical 1

Open the E-Waste field guide →

Occupation · −4 −4

Scrapper

Same salvage depth, less electrical compounding. The settlement’s plumber of broken things.

Dumpster DiverSalvage 3

Open the Scrapper field guide →

Chemistry

Occupation · −4 −4

Industrial Chemist

Yield, explosives already known, bonus batches. Mishaps still happen. Gear still matters.

Chemistry 5Precision

Open the Chemist field guide →

Occupation · −2 −2

Hazmat Technician

Half mishaps, and the only start that can touch Hazardous Reclamation. Walk away from a bad batch.

Hazmat ProtocolChemistry 3

Open the Hazmat field guide →

Gunsmithing

Occupation · −6 −6

Gunsmith

The only start that already knows the schematic-gated workshop firearms. Nobody else levels into those.

ArmorerGunsmithing 5

Open the Gunsmith field guide →

Occupation · −4 −4

Ammunition Technician

You feed the settlement. Bonus yield on cast and load. The guns are someone else’s problem.

HandloaderReloading 3

Open the Ammo Tech field guide →

Commerce

Occupation · −4 −4

Merchant

Tax, hires, companion cap. The social engine of a town that wants more than one body on the road.

Silver TongueCommerce 5

Open the Merchant field guide →

Occupation · −2 −2

Shopkeeper

The counter-trade start. Plant a stall, fund a till, become the reason strangers cross your border.

HagglerCommerce 3

Open the Shopkeeper field guide →

Performance

Occupation · −4 −4

Musician

Play for a room. Get paid in a claim. Lift mood. Attract things that do not clap.

ShowmanPerformance 5

Open the Musician field guide →

Occupation · −2 −2

Street Performer

Both hands on the instrument, Nimble for the exit. The job is packing up fast.

MusicalNimble 1

Open the Street Performer field guide →

If you are stuck

You like…	Open…
You like working a house with other people	Sysop, Merchant, or Ammunition Technician
You like the road and a bag that stays light	Scrapper or Street Performer
You like brass and the sound of a back room	Gunsmith, then find a Merchant to hire the bodies
You like dangerous hobbies	Industrial Chemist for yield; Hazmat Technician for surviving the yield
You like a room that still has a pulse	Musician or Shopkeeper

Traits for every discipline live with the workshops in Chapter 09. Do not buy Computer Whiz on a Sysop. The twin already has it.