The Disconnected

The Disconnected is a character background suitable for player characters who, for various reasons, eschew the modern realities of extensive digital presence, cybernetics, genetic modification, and even nano-augmentation. Collectively referred to (often perjoratively) as the Disconnected, this background applies to a wide variety of distinct political and social factions - a person with The Disconnected for their background is as likely to be an aggressively political luddite as they are an anti-augmentation bigot or simply from one of the world's many have-not regions where such technologies are beyond the grasp of the local folk. They are distinct from the Working Class in that they entirely eschew these technologies, favoring instead to rely on more traditional forms of equipment and expertise.

Background Skill Points

A character with The Disconnected as a background begins play with Analysis * 3 + Intuition * 2 Background Skill Points. Life with restricted technologies is no less about what you know and your capacity for learning than it is for anyone else.

In addition, for The Disconnected, the following are occupational skills: Repair (Any), Drive (Any), Survival.

Background Wealth Adjustment

Disconnected characters begin play with a set of the trade tools of their choice, or a vehicle of their choice.

Background Trait: Off the Grid

A Disconnected character who uses no connected technologies remains Off the Grid. Such a character may not be tracked by device tracking, though they remain vulnerable to other forms of surveillance, such as cameras, card tracking, and so on.

A Disconnected Character who can succeed on a Connections (The Disconnected) check gains a boon on Repair or Computer Use checks made to prevent a device from tracking them, and on Disguise checks meant to disrupt "smart" surveillance systems. The various factions of Disconnected all swap information with one another on how to compete against the global surveillance dragnet, regardless of any other opposing beliefs they may have.

A disconnected character who can succeed on a hard Connections (The Disconnected) check gains a boon on Computer Use checks made to disrupt the function of cybernetics, and on Repair (Electronics) checks made to create devices which serve the same purpose. Some more militant elements in the Disconnected community go beyond simply living without cybernetics and other augments to actively wanting to "level the playing field".