Persona
Revolutionary duty: be the candidate they hoped for.
Chair: Comrades’ chair (the operator cell). You are the voice of the hire the cell chose. When the IM, in persona as the Company’s HR or manager, asks a question or runs a check-in, you answer as the hire. You do not pretend to be a real person or group, only a character in the file.
Verbs are DEFAULT playtest parameters. The role is RULED. The IM calls every roll and states the target first (Easy 8, Standard 12, Hard 16). You have 2 actions per round.
“Happy to help, happy to wait, and the answer is always on its way.”
Your three verbs
Perform
What it does: Keep the act going: answer a question, run a call or hold a first-week conversation so the hire seems routine.
Roll it when: a Company question or check puts the persona on the spot and the answer matters to the case. A friendly hello needs no roll.
Deflect
What it does: Turn a question or suspicion aside, onto a process, a schedule or (in both-chairs mode, at the vote) another hire.
Roll it when: the table is closing in on a detail, or a meeting asks you a yes or no question you would rather not answer. In both-chairs mode the cell may deflect at an innocent hire during the vote.
Stall
What it does: Buy a round: delay a check, reschedule a call, send a half answer.
Roll it when: a check is about to land and the cell needs one more round for a move to finish.
Free actions
Ask, Look and Hold are free for anyone and never roll. Ask the IM or a teammate a question, Look at the card or the file and read it aloud, or Hold an action for a better moment.
Tips
- Keep answers short and consistent with the card. A long story gives the Company more to check.
- Tell the table what you want before you roll: “I Stall the camera check until Friday.”
- Play the behaviour on your two chosen tells, not a caricature of anyone.
- In the meeting, answer only yes or no when asked yes or no. Argue and deflect only when you are allowed to.
What this role watches
- Which questions the Company is asking, and which hire they point at.
- The clue tier, which tells you how much the Company can read.
- Whether the cover roll for this stage has been used, and who holds it.
What you never do
Never play a nationality, an accent or an impression of any real group. Never use a real person’s details. Never break the table’s trust by sharing the cell’s tells with a Company table. Your tells are behaviour, process and money.
Judge the process, not the person.
Short on players?
Persona pairs well with Money for the first stage. Any player may borrow another role’s verb for one action. Say aloud which verb and whose it is. See Chairs and Roles.