Syndicate: Execution Committee

The year is 2008. The Avatar Storm has come and gone, leading to a massive shift in the Technocracy power structure. Without its extradimensional backers spreading their lies and corruption, the Special Projects Division has come under fire. From many corners... and you are one of them. You are the men and women of Internal Affairs Section 6, an Enforcer amalgam whose primary enemy is your fellow coworkers. Your job is to tear out the corruption and malaise at the heart of the Special Projects Division, and find if there's anything worth saving in the end.

The Basics

First off, this is starting in June, so be a little patient. Second off, use Revised. Yes, Revised. Since you know, this is a test game for the whole Syndicate submission thing I'm planning.

Second off, everyone is playing an Enforcer. Yeah, they get a bad rap as gangsters and thugs, but we're going to reform this.

Third off, I may try some alternate chargen ideas (and possibly multiple characters per player) so hold up on character sheets, just give me concepts. Plural, given the multiple characters-per-player thing. However, I will likely only allow one real mage per player anyways, so there's that.

The Syndicate

Formed in the 1800s after Adam Smith's work shook up economics and markets forever, the Syndicate's functioning right now is more a testament to the talent of the men and women in it than the competence of Control. A hastily assembled task force of members of the High Guild, the Cabal of Pure Thought, and Difference Engineers, the Syndicate, then the Invisible Exchequers, was formed. But their control has never been fully solidified, and too often shocking revelations have kept economic control difficult. The increasing mechanization and quantification of economics gave them hope that they may have finally found what they were looking for.

But then the Great Moderation ended. And the Avatar Storm happened. The Ascension War was over... and without the protection of that war, without their astral allies, the connections between Pentex and the Special Projects Division started getting a little bit of scrutiny. Then a lot. And that's why you're here.

The Enforcers

The Enforcers are the Syndicate's 'muscle'. Although given a bad rap by the ones who work in crime, their primary raison d'etre is not criminal pursuits and thuggery. They exist largely to carry out the operations the Syndicate is uncomfortable leaving to other parties in the Technocracy that may involve violence, and lots of it. Enforcers take many forms in their sleeper facade, from Private Military Contractors to private investigators to government inspectors to cops specializing in white collar crime. The most critical mission they carry out, though, is keeping the Syndicate clear of internal threats to the sanctity of the Union and its greater mission.

The Syndicate of S:EC is made up of talent thieves and very, very cosmopolitan. The Enforcers especially, because internal affairs and investigation is one thing that Associates can do quite well, but sometimes you just have to kick down a door and how many accountant schools teach that? You might have come from Iteration X's cyborg ninja factories, or a Void Engineer Space Marine team. Maybe you were a member of BLACKWATCH Damage Control, or a ex-MiB. Or maybe you did, actually, learn how to investigate financial crime first and then learn to kick down doors later.

But in general, the Enforcers don't recruit from their own-they search out talent from other organizations and then give them incentives to work with them. So yes, you can play your Huge Gay Space Marine if you can give me a reason why he's on IA.

Your Office

Your Construct, such that it can be termed one, is an office owned by Charon Financial Management Services, an international financial analysis firm which specializes in reducing investment risk. The Enforcers have been (deliberately) starved of equipment and resources in the Pentex heydays, which is a bit of a problem.

The building is nice enough-a well-engineered highrise building filled with various offices, with the top 12 floors reserved for your use and the penthouse secured by keycard/biometric access. In the penthouse floor is where the firing range, armory, and special equipment storage. There are showers in the restrooms and the offices are spacious enough to keep changes of clothing, and below the penthouse there is a miniature gym.

Your security consists of a dozen rent-a-cops of varying but depressing competence, a pair of Kamrads who went through direct neural induction to learn commando skills, and a HITMark V (base model) who acts as your attractive brunette receptionist. Electronic security is top notch... for mundane use, but there are surprisingly high-level wards against teleportation and remote viewing via technological, psionic, and reality deviant means. The Internal Affairs department recommends to not use any non-proprietary technology with active wireless connections (and definitely not to connect them to the office computers) because of the potential security risk.

For analysis, you have a Ultimax Supercomputer taking up half of a floor, dating to the 1960s but compatible (sort of) with modern Union programs (it's a focus), access to standard databases, and your personal connections.

Good luck!