Adept

Overview

An adept spends the same Magic a mage spends, but entirely on their own body. The result is a runner who moves faster, hits harder, and perceives more sharply than training alone allows, without carrying a deck, a focus, or a clinic invoice. Adepts are the answer when a team needs Awakened capability that never looks Awakened to a security scan. The trade is range and flexibility. An adept does not cast, does not summon, and cannot solve a problem from across the room the way a mage can. Magic still rates 0 to 6 and still falls with Essence loss, so an adept who buys reflex chrome is spending from exactly the pool that powers their abilities.

How it works

Key Attributes: Magic sets your power, and Agility and Body carry the physical work it enhances. Reaction matters for initiative and dodging. Key Skills: Close Combat and Athletics are the core. Stealth and Perception suit the infiltrator build, and Firearms suits the adept who prefers a pistol to a fist. Dice Pools: Agility plus Close Combat, counting each 5 or 6 as a hit. Adept abilities improve the physical attributes and skills feeding those pools rather than adding a separate roll. Gear: Light, by design. No deck, no foci required, and as little cyberware as possible, since Essence loss reduces Magic.

Tips and playstyle

Best for: Players who want an Awakened character who is still a front line combatant and does not need the whole table to wait on a spell. Character concepts: A street fighter who never learned the word for what she does, a temple-trained bodyguard, an infiltrator whose senses read a room before anyone else notices it has one. Synergies: Elves raise Agility past the ordinary ceiling and trolls raise Body and Strength, so both suit adepts for different builds. Pair with a mage rather than replacing one, since an adept gives up all ranged magical options.

Frequently asked questions