Echoes of the Grid Rules

Echoes of the grid is an online multiplayer roleplaying game, somewhere in between a Live Action Role Playing Game, a Tabletop Roleplaying game, and an Alternate Reality Game. It is set in the fictional city of New Mercia, England, in the year 2150.

You create and play a character who will represent a powerful newcomer on the New Mercia scene, and your goal will be to either co-operate or compete to claim territory, gain fame and resources, and defend your territories from internal and external threats.

The game is run by the Game Team who act as referees, and play the roles of all the Non-Player Characters. They will provide plots, missions, and challenges, and they will make the game world respond to your choices.

The game runs in turns, called Seasons. Each season will last 1 month in real time. During each season, each character can submit two Actions to the Game Team. These Actions represent most impactful things your character has done during the time.

What is the setting?

The game is set in England in the year 2150. England of the future is a much smaller place. Due to rising tides, most of the east coast is sea below sea level. Following in the destructive wake of a global nuclear war, much of southern England, including London, was destroyed, and a new capital city was established.

The new capital was named New Mercia, and it lies in the geographical centre of the country. England's neighbours, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, have since become fully devolved and independent nations. Within New Mercia, Ruthless corporations compete for power and influence, and are the closest thing to a single government. Failed concepts like representative democracy were abandoned decades ago.

Politics is populism. Biological and cybernetic enhancements, both functional and fashionable, have transformed what it means to be a human. Technology controls all. Gangs hold more sway than political parties, and allegiances teeter on a knife edge. In a world where everything you could dream of is for sale, and automation has replaced most forms of work, hedonism is rife. Individualism is the new religion. You can be whatever you want to be, as long as you consume.

If you have even the smallest amount of personal wealth, cybernetics are a must have. Digital integrations in the body control everything from daily purchases and opening doors, and allow new ways to interact with and control the world. Augmented Reality is an inescapable reality.

As pollution levels soar, and chems become essential tools for survival, the science of bodily modification, or biohacking, is now a global business. Bodies can be sculpted like clay. Enhanced lungs filter toxins from the air. Engineered muscle fibres provide unimaginable strength. Those poor souls who cannot afford such luxuries live short lives of toil, disease, and hunger. There is no safety net for them.

The primary method of communication is The Grid, a tightly curated social media platform owned by Obol Corp, England's wealthiest corporation. The Grid is free for all to use, and is compatible with all cybernetic implants. Thanks to recent laws, The Grid now comes pre-installed in every New Mercia citizen.

In the city, wealth inequality is extreme. The rich dwell in absolute luxury in their walled communities, while the poor have only hopelessness. Corporations hoard resources like dragons. Deep within the core of the city, technological marvels show the spark of sentience, and whispers in the dark corner of every bar speak of a coming revolution. Gangsters, GridStars, and corpos alike have begun to disappear, and nobody knows where they go. Nobody cares to find out, until it happens to them.

And what's your role in all this? It's whatever you want it to be.

Welcome to New Mercia, where even scum can float to the top.

Echoes of The Grid is played across the following:

The Grid

The Grid is the In Character (IC) social media platform. This is how you’ll communicate with other player’s characters and Non-Player Characters (NPCs) run by the Game Team. You’ll also receive news, information about missions and opportunities via The Grid. You will need to register, your your character will need to be confifmed by the Game Team before you can post.

The map

The map shows the different areas within the city, known as Territories. It will show where your characters currently are in the city, where various NPCs are, and will show which individuals, gangs, or corporations control each Territory. 

Character sheet

Your character sheet will show your character’s Stats, special abilities, territories controlled, and items owned. Your character sheets will automatically update as your character changes. 
You will also earn Survival Points (SP) for every Season your character survives, and these can be spent on improving your character.

Game turns

Each turn in game is called a Season, and will last approximately 1 month in OOC time. Characters have 2 Actions they can submit at any time during the season, as well as a number of free actions that can be done if conditions are met.

The year in New Mercia has 8 Seasons, which are based on the traditional pagan calendar: Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, Mabon, and Samhaim. 

Action submission forms

Actions represent the most impactful or noteworthy things your character does during the Season. The forms allow you to details what your character is doing, how they are doing it, and what they are using to help them achieve success. Action submission forms will be reviewed by the Game Team, and then the game news, characters, and NPCs will react accordingly to your choices, and your character sheet will be automatically adjusted as required.

How much do I need to engage with Echoes of The Grid?

Echoes of The Grid is designed to be played casually, over a long time period. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Your character can only submit 2 Actions per Season in game, or per month in real time. You can interact with The Grid as often as you like. 

We encourage you to use The Grid to keep up with the latest news and events, and for you to get your character known. Many missions or Actions will need more than one character’s efforts to complete, so communicating and co-ordinating with other players will be essential. 

While The Grid is active 24/7 - players and Game Team members are not. Other people may not reply to your posts right away. The Game Team do not expect you to post every day, but they do expect you to post sometimes.

If you do not submit an Action, or you cannot - then your character will move to the nearest Territory they control, and will take the Defend Territory Action by default.
If your character does not submit an Action after 2 Seasons, we may ask you to consider giving up your place in the game to another person who would like to play instead. 

How do I get started?

First, take a look at the Game Rules, and register your interest with the game team. The game is scheduled to begin in 2026, date TBC!

Overview

Echoes of the Grid is a role-playing game that will deal with mature themes in a fictional setting. Your freedom to play the game your way is paramount, but there are some rules players must follow so that we can make the game inclusive, accessible, and safe for all. 

When you are using the forum, and sending private messages, you must do so in-character (IC). This means you speak, type, and act as your character would on The Grid - the New Mercia social media platform. 

Out of Character (OOC) messages may sometimes be required. The Game Team will sometimes give important game information via OOC notices. These will be accompanied with double brackets. 
Example: ((An explosion can be heard for miles around, centred on the Cinema.))

Content warnings

Echoes of The Grid is set in a fictional cyberpunk future version of England. The world is in crisis, corporations rule, gangs are rife, suffering is everywhere. Mature and unpleasant topics are not just allowed within the game, they are sometimes an expected part of it. 

The game will include references to fictional examples of drugs and substance abuse, violence and death, swearing and foul language, body modification, cybernetic implants, theft, poverty, and exploitation. 

All of the above may feature in the game’s plot and missions and are considered acceptable topics for discussion, provided they are done in a way which is not deliberately derogatory to the players or Game Team, or to events in the real world outside of the game. 

Prohibited Topics
The Game Team have decided that some topics and language will be off limits and will not be allowed. The following will never feature in the game’s plot or missions, and should not be discussed:

Racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, and transphobic language and behaviours, and language and behaviours relating to sexual assault should not be used under any circumstances. If you use language of this nature, you will be warned by the Game Team. Future instances will result in a ban from the game. 

Do not post pornographic photographs or illustrations, or photographs or real world distress, injury, or gore in the forum. 

Guidelines for how to play

Please at all times respect the following:

1. Place your character’s name and preferred pronouns in your Grid username. This is so the others know how to refer to you correctly. 

2. Respect player, character and NPC pronouns. Do not purposely misgender others. If you misgender another by accident, apologise and move on. 

3. When using the The Grid, use character names to refer to characters and NPCS. Don’t use OOC names.

4. On the forum, only discuss topics appropriate to the game setting. If you aren’t sure, message the Game Team on Discord, and ask for clarification.

5. Enjoy conflict with the characters, not the player. Echoes of The Grid will heavily feature both competition and cooperation. Please use your judgement and don’t allow IC conflict to cross over into bullying or harassment. Remember, this is just a game and we're all here to have fun. 

6. Separate IC and OOC knowledge. Don’t metagame. A lot of knowledge in the game is secret and must be revealed with Research Actions. When you get Research results back from the Game Team, this is now IC knowledge, and can be shared IC at your leisure. Don’t share information that your character wouldn’t feasibly know. 

7. Own your own decisions. You made the decision, you live with the consequences. There are no take backs once an Action has been submitted. 

8. Help us shape the world. The game responds to your words and actions. Help us make an interesting game for you, your fellow players, and the Game Team themselves. 

9. Shout up if something is wrong. The Game Team are here to help. We want everyone to have fun. Please feel free to message us. 

Character Roles

All characters start the game with a Role. This is an In-Character slang term to represent a person's job, skills, and the special abilities they have access to. 

In Echoes of The Grid, your character's Role has no limitations. All characters regardless of Role can perform the same Universal and Free Actions including researching, taking over
Territories, defending Territories, trading, and challenging individuals. What each Role provides are ways to improve or modify these Actions in powerful ways, as well as providing some unique Actions to alter the game mechanically, and narratively. 

Choose your Role carefully, as you cannot change it once you have begun playing the game!

Roles allow access to Role Special Actions. These represent powerful abilities your character can perform. Each role has 6 to choose from. All characters begin the game with 1 Role Special Action, so choose wisely! All future Role Special Actions must be purchased with Survival Points (SP). 

• Additional Special Actions can be added to your character as they advance through the game. 
• Role Special Actions can also be improved by spending SP to make them more powerful. 
• Characters can add up to 2 other Roles if they choose, allowing them to learn skills from multiple disciplines.
• Non-Player Characters can also have Roles, including some options that are not available to playable characters. 
• Some Missions may require a specific Role to be present in order to succeed.

The 8 playable Roles in Echoes of The Grid are:

1. Brainburner: Specialists who use chems to modify perception, provide powerful temporary effects, or wage chemical warfare
2. Biografter: Specialists in the fields of body modification and cybernetic implants
3. Gridrunner: Tech and systems experts who control the flow of power and data
4. Influencer: Powerful public figures who use their reputation and skills to sway the city's populace 
5. Knifejack: Specialists with street combat and Territory control 
6. Operative: Efficient corporate double agents and skilled jacks of all trades 
7. Shadowbroker: Masters of espionage and traders of secrets
8. Systems Architect: Specialists with city design and optimisation whose skills impact whole areas

Character constants:
Regardless of a character's your Role, the following apply to every character in Echoes of the Grid:

• All characters begin with no gang or corporate affiliations. They may have belonged to one once, but they don't now. 
• All characters have Exclusive Tier Access to The Grid, Whether they bought it, won it, or earned it, they all have it. 
• All characters have cybernetic implants of some form. The Grid itself is installed on a biometric ID chip, which all citizens possess by law. 
• All characters have easy access to and can use basic weapons and technology. The use of these is implied in their respective Stats.
• Characters may know other languages, but all characters know English as a minimum. 
• All characters exist in New Mercia city. They may not have been born there, but they live there now.

Brainburners are the conductor, and chems are their orchestra. Their ingenuity with cooking, dealing, and distributing chem concoctions can make them the heart of the party, or a Territory’s worst nightmare. 
This is the Role of chemists, party starters, dealers, and psychedelic warfare specialists.

Play if you like: High risk, high reward strategies, stacking powerful temporary buffs and debuffs.

Brainburner Role Special Actions

1. Doubledropping: Your physiology can handle chemical cocktails like no other, with only limited downsides. Once per Season, when you submit an Action, you can improve it with Doubledropping. Instead of using 1 Designer Chem item to improve your Action, you can use two instead. You can use the same Designer Chem more than once. 
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Doubledropping (Improved): You can use 3 Designer Chems as part of an Action instead. 
   
   

2. Chemcooking: You are a supplier of Designer Chems. If it exists, you can create it. Choose a Designer Chem item that is available to purchase. You can make a copy of the item by paying 50% of the usual Resource cost. You can use any combination of Biomass or Gear. The Resources are spent on raw materials to create the item.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Chemcooking (Improved): You can make 2 Designer Chems this way.
    

3. Streetspiking: You deliberately flood an area with low grade and harmful chems. Choose a Territory you are no more than 1 Territory away from, and choose 2 Stats from Biohack, Citycred, or Corpspeak. Decrease the chosen Stats by 1 from the Territory until the end of the Season.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: High
   Streetspiking (Improved): Decrease the Territory’s Biohack, Citycred, and Corpspeak by 2 until the end of the Season.
   
   

4. Neuralclocking: You ingest experimental chems to temporarily enhance your brainpower at the cost of your health. Choose a Stat from Citycred, Supplychain, or Datastream. Increase the Chosen Stat by 2, but you also decrease your Biohack Stat by 1 until the end of the Season.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Neuralclocking (Improved): Choose 2 Stats from Citycred, Supplychain, or Datastream instead. Increase both the Chosen Stats by 2, and decrease your Biohack Stat by 2 until the end of the Season.
   
   

5. Mindclouding: Your chemical concoctions keep the party going, and people lose themselves to the buzz. Choose a Territory. Until the end of the Season, Characters and NPCs within it cannot perform Defend Territory, Research, or Undertake a Mission Actions unless they Move out of the Territory first. 
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Mindclouding (Improved): You can choose up to 3 characters or NPCs (including yourself). They are not affected by this Action, and can perform Actions as normal.
   
   

6. Turfjacking: You have a reputation for providing a high quality product, and have become a significant supplier, earning a profit from the local population. Choose a Territory you have at least Partial Control over, and are no further than 1 Territory away from. Choose a Resource. You gain an additional amount of that Resource equal to the amount you would gain for having Full Control.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Turfjacking (Improved): You can choose a Territory you do not have at least Partial Control of instead, as long as it is not Controlled by a Corp.

Biografters are experts at modifying the physical body. They are artists and flesh is their canvas. From the lowliest slum doc, to professional corporate biosurgeons, The city runs on cybernetics and gene editing, so Biografters always find their skills in demand.

This is the role of surgeons, doctors, implant fitters, body modification addicts, and body artists.

Play if you like: Buffing and debuffing characters, healing and harming.

Biografter Special Actions:

1. Client Upgrade: Your bread and butter. When somebody wants to get good, you can help with the right cybernetics and gene editing techniques. Once per Season, when you submit an Enhance Self Action, you can improve it with Client Upgrade. Choose an individual other than yourself who has consented to the procedure. Instead of enhancing your own Stats, you enhance theirs. You can only improve Beatdown, Systemcraft, or Biohack this way. You only pay 75% of the usual Resource costs.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Client Upgrade (Improved): You only pay 50% of the Resource costs instead.
   
   

2. Rejection Protocol: Cybernetics and implants are your forte. As well as installing them, you have learned how to overload them. Once per Season, when you submit a Challenge Action, you can improve it with Rejection Protocol. Whether you win, lose, or draw the challenge, Choose Beatdown or Biohack. Permanently decrease the chosen Stat of the individual you have challenged by 1.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Rejection protocol (Improved): You can now decrease the chosen Stat by 2 instead.
   
   

3. Patch Up: You can stabilise a wounded or dying body in a pinch using a mix of chems, replacement parts, gene injections, and the like. Choose a character or NPC that is in a Beatdown or Biohack Critical State, and choose a Stat between Beatdown or Biohack. Increase the chosen Stat of the chosen person by 1.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Patch Up (Improved): You can now increase the chosen Stat by 2 instead.
   
   

4. Rogue Fabrication: Why pay a premium for the latest biotech from the corps when you can get a knock off from your local Biografter? Choose a Cybernetics item that is available to purchase. You can make a copy of the item by paying 50% of the usual Resource cost. You can use any combination of Britcoin, Nullcoin, or Biomass. The Resources are spent on raw materials to create the item.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Low
   Rogue Fabrication (Improved): You can create two Cybernetics items this way.
   
   

5. Targeted Contagion: You can unleash tailored viruses and cause the implants of others to corrode around you. Choose a Territory that you are in. Permanently decrease the Biohack Stat of the Territory and all characters and NPCs within that Territory by 1.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: High
   Targeted Contagion (Improved): The Biohack stat of the Territory is decreased by 2. You can now choose any number of characters or NPCs in the Territory that you do not wish to be affected by the contagion. Their Biohack Stat is not decreased.
   
   

6. Memory Reclamation: The brain holds secrets, even in death. Using complex biotech knowledge, you can extract useful information from the implants and grey matter of the newly dead. Choose a character or NPC that has died in the current Season or the one before. You must be in the same Territory as them. You will receive detailed information about the last things the person was seeing, thinking, and feeling before they died. 
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Memory Reclamation (Improved): You can choose a character or NPC that is still alive. You obtain detailed information about the things the person was seeing, thinking, and feeling during a specific time or event that you specify.

Gridrunners are experts with tech, cybernetics, and dataflow. They can discover information that others cannot, and can bend technology to their will. This is the role of cybersecurity, hackers, cybernetics experts. 

Play if you like: Controlling Actions at range, manipulating events, accessing secret information

Gridrunner Special Actions:

1. System shutdown: You extend your reach into a Territory, and disable critical systems. Choose a Territory. Until the end of the next season, that Territory can no longer be defended by Defend Territory Actions. Additionally, no characters or NPCs can perform a Transfer resources Free Action or a Buy/Sell Free Action if at least one of the individuals involved is within that Territory. A System Shutdown Action will end early if you enter a Critical State.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Medium
   System Shutdown (Improved): You can now choose 2 Territories that are next to each other instead of 1.
   
   

2. Sever Connection: You trigger a destructive system failure inside a Territory. Choose a Territory, and choose a Stat from Systemcraft or Datastream. Permanently decrease the chosen Stat by 1 from the Territory, and for any characters or NPCs in that territory.
   Action visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Sever Connection (Improved): You now decrease the chosen Stat by 2 instead of 1.
    

3. System Obfuscation: By manipulating security systems, you can hide an Action from public view. Choose a character or NPC. Their next Public Action becomes Shadowed. You choose whether or not you wish to inform the target that this has happened.
   Action visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Low
   System Obfuscation (Improved): If you have chosen a target character or NPC other than yourself, your next Action also becomes Shadowed. 
   
   

4. Infodump: You decrypt and subvert the usual flow of information to gain beneficial results. Once per Season, when you submit a Research Action, you can improve it with Infodump. This Action can discover shadowed actions, and will produce at least 1 more piece of key information that is relevant to tech or cybernetics.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Low
   Infodump (Improved): You now receive 2 key pieces of information. This Action can also succeed on targets that resist standard Research Actions.
   
   

5. Remote Takeover: You hack critical systems at a distance. Once per Season, when you submit a Takeover Territory Action, you can improve it with Remote Takeover. You can attempt to take over a Territory remotely from anywhere on the map. You may only choose Systemcraft, Supplychain, or Datastream as the Stat used for this Action. Territories taken over this way can only become Partially under your control as part of this action.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Remote Takeover (Improved):  If you would gain Full Control over a Territory taken over this way, you gain Split Control instead.
   
   

6. Feedskim: You hack critical systems to redirect the flow of resources in your favour. Choose a Territory, and choose a Resource from Britcoin, Nullcoin, Datapods, or Gigawatts. At the start of the next season, the chosen Resource from the chosen Territory is given to you instead. This may be considered an illegal or hostile act.
   Action visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: High
   Feedskim (Improved): You may choose 2 Resources, instead of 1.

Influencers are prominent and public figures in New Mercia and beyond. They are able to sway public opinion, command lucrative marketing deals, and hold significant bargaining power. This is the Role of celebrities, Gridstars, public officials, and people who have gained fame and leverage that for their own ends. 

Play if you like: Manipulating the narrative, influencing others to assist you, being the centre of attention.

Influencer Special Actions:

1. Truthhack: Your words carry weight, and your followers believe them. Choose an official notice in one of the News Outlets, and request for it to be altered. You can implicate characters or NPCs in recent actions (including yourself), claim credit for you or others for Actions you did not perform, and so on.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Truthhack (Improved): You can also request a notice to be permanently deleted, or you can ask for one of your own to be added.
   
   

2. Opinion Shift: Your words can make or break a reputation. Choose a character or NPC. Choose a Stat between Citycred or Supplychain. Temporarily increase or decrease the chosen stat of that Individual by 2 until the end of the next Season.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Opinion Shift (Improved): You can choose for the Stat increase or decrease to be permanent instead. 
   
   

3. Paid Partnership: You are skilled in obtaining business deals and marketing opportunities. Choose a Territory that you do not have Full, Split, Or Partial Control of. You gain Partial Control of the territory until the end of the next Season, including Resources gained.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Paid Partnership (Improved): When you use this Action, you immediately gain 25% of that Territory's highest Resource as an additional bonus payment.
   
   

4. Viral Surge: You mobilise your followers to rally behind or against an Action. Choose an Action that is Public, or a Shadowed Action that has been revealed through a Research Action. You can change the Action Consequence of that Action to Low, Medium, or High.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Viral Surge (Improved): Your Citycred also increases by 2 until the end of the Season.
   
   

5. Shout Out: Your social reach is such that you can call for help from influential people. Choose yourself or a member of your gang, and choose an NPC individual or gang. The next time you or the chosen member of your crew performs an Action, the targeted faction, NPC crew or NPC individual will provide assistance to help that Action succeed, unless that Action would harm themselves or their gang.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Shout Out (Improved): The chosen NPC individual or gang will assist with any Action, even those that may potentially cause them harm or consequences.
   
   

6.  Informed Follower: Among your followers are individuals with specialist knowledge, and skills. Once per Season, when you submit a Research Action, you can improve it with Informed Follower. This can discover shadowed actions, and will produce at least 1 more piece of key information that is relevant to the motive or beliefs of the individual that performed the action.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Low
   Informed Follower (Improved): You now receive 2 key pieces of information. This Action can also succeed on targets that resist standard Research Actions.
   

Knifejacks are experts with warfare, defence systems, and munitions. This is the role of military veterans, bodyguards, fighters, mercenaries, hired thugs, security experts and the like.

Play if you like: Direct action, warfare, taking and defending territories. 

Knifejack Special Actions:

1. Secure Location: Your security skills can make a Territory harder to take over. Choose a Territory that you are no further than 1 Territory away from, and choose a Stat between Beatdown, Systemcraft, or Biohack. You permanently increase the chosen Stat of that Territory by 1.If the Territory is one that you do not have Full, Split, or Partial control of, you must gain public permission from one or more of the Individuals, Gangs, or Corps that do control the Territory before you can submit the Action.
   Action visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Secure Location (Improved): You increase the chosen Stat of the Territory by 2 instead of 1.
   
   

2. Disruptive Assault: Your attacks on Territories destabilise the local economy and force usual activity to temporarily shut down. Once per Season, when you submit a Takeover Territory Action, you can improve it with Disruptive Assault. Whatever the outcome of the Action, you can choose for zero resources to be generated by that Territory at the start of the next Season.
   Action visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Disruptive Assault (Improved): Your own Stats cannot be decreased if you fail to take over a Territory when using this Action.
   
   

3. Execute: Your methods allow you to dispatch defeated foes. Choose a character or NPC in a Critical State that is no more than 1 Territory away from you. You kill them.
   Action visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: High
   Execute (Improved): You may choose a character or NPC that isn't in a Critical State. You first permanently decrease the Character or NPC’s Beatdown Stat by 1. If they are in a Critical State, you kill them.
   
   

4. Lethal Defences: You utilise traps and high tech weaponry to guard your turf. Once Per Season, when you submit a Defend Territory Action, you can improve it with Lethal Defences. Until the end of the Season, If any character or NPC would submit a Takeover Territory Action against the Territory you are defending, permanently decrease their Beatdown Score by 1.
   Action visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Remote Detonation (Improved): Permanently decrease their Beatdown score by 2 instead.
   
   

5. Hold the Ground: You bring citizens and businesses within a Territory under your control by intimidation, or by force. Choose a Territory that you, your gang, or your corp have Partial or Split control of. It becomes fully under your control instead.
   Action visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Hold the Ground (Improved): Any characters or NPCs that do not fully control the Territory are Moved out of the Territory and into a neighbouring Territory at random.
   
   

6. All Out Assault: Your actions are swift, and ruthless, targeting critical systems. Once per Season, when you submit a Takeover Territory Action, you can improve it with All Out Assault. When you attempt to take over a Territory, choose a Stat. Decrease the chosen Stat of the Territory by 2 until the end of the next Season.
   Action visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Medium
   All Out Assault (Improved): The Chosen Stat is decreased permanently instead. 

Operatives are skilled professionals who can handle a variety of critical tasks. Many either serve or have served corporate masters as clean-up agents, information gatherers, or as eliminators of the competition. This is the Role of trouble-shooters, client liaison, assassins, and salespeople alike.

Play if you like: Improving your Actions, having broad skill choices, addressing problems directly.

Operative Special Actions:

1. Acquisition Campaign: Using aggressive corporate strategies, you lay the groundwork to weaken a competitor’s Territory. Choose a Territory, and choose a Stat from Corpspeak or Datastream. Decrease the chosen Stat of the Territory by 2 until the end of next Season.
   Action visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Acquisition Campaign (Improved): The Stat decrease becomes permanent instead.
   
   

2. System Clearance: Your skills at following information trails allow you to gain access to the knowledge discovered by others. Choose a character or NPC, you receive a copy of the information they received for their last research Action.
   Action visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Low
   System Clearance (Improved): You receive a copy plus 1 piece of additional key information the copied research did not obtain.
   
   
   

3. Executive Takedown: Sometimes the best way to send a message to a competitor, is with good old fashioned violence. Once per Season, when you submit a Challenge an Individual Action, you can improve it with Executive Takedown. If you win the challenge, permanently decrease your opponent’s Beatdown Stat by 1 in addition to any other effects.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Executive Takedown (Improved): If you win the challenge, permanently decrease your opponent’s Beatdown Stat by 2 in addition to any other effects instead.
   
   

4. Emergency Extraction: You have mastered the art of quickly and decisively transporting your victims and those under your protection alike. Once per Season, when you submit a Move Action, you can improve it with Emergency Extraction. Choose a character or NPC that is no more than 1 Territory away from you. They Move with you. You will still need to pay for the Move Action, but you only pay once.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Emergency Extraction (Improved): You can use Emergency Extraction to improve a Free Move Action.
   
   

5. Stakeholder Rebellion: Every gang or corp has a power structure, and those at the top balance on the shoulders of their subordinates. You know exactly how to push in the right place to bring a hierarchy down. Choose a character or NPC. Until the end of the next Season, any Actions they use become Action Consequence: High, as they become distrusted by their own people.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Stakeholder Rebellion (Improved): Choose a Stat between Citycred or Datastream. You also permanently decrease 1 from the chosen Stat of the chosen character or NPC.
   
   

6. Asset Liquidation: You know the markets like the back of your hand. You can move goods easily and quickly, no questions asked, no records kept. You can convert any combination of items of resources you control into Britcoin or Nullcoin using the current exchange rates. This action can be performed from any territory, and is untraceable.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Low
   Asset Liquidation (Improved): You gain a 10% bonus to any Britcoin or Nullcoin you obtain from this Action. 

Shadowbrokers are virtuosos with the hidden goings on of the city. Hidden beneath the watchful eyes of the Corps and Excalibur is a thriving underground of secrets, shady deals, and criminal activity. The saying goes, if you want something in New Mercia, a shadowbroker can get it for you. 
This is the role of information gatherers, dodgy dealers, rogues, and manipulators.

Play if you like: Discovering secrets, working from the shadows, manipulating Actions. 

Shadowbroker Special Actions:

1. Whispers in the Wires: You have contacts and clients across the city, and you have a knack for finding hidden information. Once per season, when you submit a Research Action, you can improve it with Whispers in the Wires. You will learn one additional key rumour about the subject of your research.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Low
   Whispers in the Wires (Improved): Instead of a rumour, you learn a secret that is guaranteed to be true or accurate. This Action can also succeed on targets that resist standard Research Actions.
   
   

2. Black Market Connections: You are respected by an underground trading association, group, or gang. Once per Season, when you submit a Buy/Sell Free Action, you can improve it with Black Market Connections. You can buy items for 85% of their stated cost.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Low
   Black Market Connections (Improved): You can buy items for 75% of their stated cost, and any purchases you make in Britcoin become untraceable, as if you paid with Nullcoin.
   
   

3. Implication Hack: By manipulating local information, and by affecting surveillance and biometric data gathering systems, you can make it appear that somebody is to blame for somebody else’s Action.
   Choose two characters or NPCs, and number them person 1 and person 2. The next Action person 1 performs will appear as though it has been performed by person 2.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Implication Hack (Improved): You can choose a person 3. If anyone researches your Implication Hack Action, it will appear as though the Implication Hack was performed by person 3.
   
   

4. Waste the Wasted: You are not too proud to kick an opponent when they’re down. You strike best when somebody else has done most of the hard work for you. Choose a character or NPC in a Critical State that is no further than 1 Territory away from you. Choose a Stat from Beatdown, Citycred, or Supplychain. Permanently decrease the chosen Stat of that individual by 1. 
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Waste the Wasted (Improved): Instead of choosing one Stat from Beatdown, Citycred, or Supplychain, choose two. Permanently decrease both of the Chosen Stats of the individual by 1. 
   
   

5. Hasty Getaway: You know how to do the job, then get out as quickly as possible. Your knowledge of shortcuts is impeccable. Once per Season, when you submit any Universal Action, you can improve it with Hasty Getaway. Choose a Territory that is next to the Territory you are currently in. You Move to the chosen Territory once the Action is complete.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Low
   Hasty Getaway (Improved): You can now Move two Territories away instead.
   
   

6. Front Operation: You hide your dealings behind the veneer of legitimate business, strengthening your base of operations as you do. Choose a Territory that you have at least Partial Control over, choose a Stat between Supplychain, Corpspeak, or Citycred. You permanently increase the chosen Stat of that Territory by 1.
   Action visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Low
   Secure Location (Improved): You increase the chosen Stat of the Territory by 2 instead of 1.

Systems Architects are skilled in designing, building, and shaping the form and function of the city. They utilise closely-guarded tech and knowledge to impact whole Territories.

This is the role of creative directors, entrepreneurs, city planners, and engineers. 

Play if you like: Controlling the map, exerting your influence over Territory, blocking actions. 

Systems Architect Special Actions:

1. City Interface: The city’s infrastructure is your plaything. Control streetlights with a blink, change traffic signals with a snap of your fingers, exploit shortcuts. Once per Season, when you submit a Move Action, you can improve it with City Interface. You can move safely into or out of any Territory in the city, including those where movement is prevented or restricted. Moving this way costs you zero resources.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Low
   City Interface (Improved): You can use City Interface to improve a Free Move Action instead of a Move Action.
   
   

2. Economic Redesign: You have a vision for the economic potential of Territories that others cannot see. Choose a Territory that you, your gang, or your corp have Full Control of. Choose a Stat, and increase the Territory’s Stat by 2 until the end of the Season. You may also change the resources The Territory generates. Choose a Resource. The Resources generated by that Territory change so that the Resource you chose becomes the highest.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Low
   Economic Redesign (Improved): The Territory Stat increase becomes permanent.
   
   

3. Zone Analysis: Your knowledge of the city allows you to access key information by hijacking cameras, security drones, and traffic statistics. Once per Season, when you submit a Research Action, you can improve it with Zone Analysis. Choose a Territory. You will discover an analysis of the Territory, learning some statistics and key resources generated.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Low
   Zone Analysis (Improved): You receive a more thorough analysis, learning any special abilities, bonuses, or Actions that are affecting the Territory.
   
   

4. Sector Lock: By jamming checkpoints, and by manipulation of traffic systems, you can bring movement in a territory to a standstill. Choose a Territory that you, your gang, or your corp have at least Partial Control of. Until the end of the Season, individuals cannot Move into or out of that sector. This can prevent Takeover Territory or Defend Territory Actions, unless the character or NPC performing the Action is already in the territory during the Sector Lock.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Sector Lock (Improved): You may choose any Territory instead.
   
   

5. Phantom Occupation: You know ways into and out of every part of the city. You can get your people and resources in and out with ease. Once per Season, when you perform a Takeover Territory Action, you can improve it with Phantom Occupation. When you attempt to take over a Territory using this action, and you fail, you gain Partial Control over the Territory.
   Action Visibility: Shadowed
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Phantom Occupation (Improved): Your own Stats cannot be decreased if you fail to take over a Territory when using this Action.
   
   

6. Destabilisation Protocol: By deliberately weakening strategic systems, you can make a Territory open to exploitation. Choose a Territory that you are no further than 1 Territory away from, and choose a Stat. You permanently decrease the chosen Stat of that Territory by 2.
   Action Visibility: Public
   Action Consequence: Medium
   Destabilisation Protocol (Improved): The Action Visibility of this Action becomes Shadowed.

Every character, NPC, and Territory in Echoes of The Grid has 7 different Stats.

Stats determine a character’s ability to perform certain Actions, as well as determining the methods a character chooses to use. They are not static, and can be temporarily or permanently increased or decreased in a variety of different ways. Your Stats will improve as your characters gain power and experience.

Some Role Special Actions favour specific Stats, but no one Stat is essential to prioritise in order to create an effective character. A Gridrunner may use Biohack to achieve their goals. A Shadowbroker may intimidate using their Beatdown skills. Whether your character is a specialist or a generalist, is your choice. 

Starting Stat points: When you first create your character, you have 28 points to distribute between the 7 Stats. Each must have a minimum of 1.

Base Stats: Stats have a base value between 0 and 10. Any effect that would permanently increase or decrease your Stats cannot increase or decrease them beyond these values.

Stat Modifiers: Stats can be temporarily increased or decreased by some effects. This modifier is added or subtracted to your base Stat. Stats can be temporarily increased to higher than 10 this way.

Critical State: If any one stat reaches 0, the character enters a Critical State, and will suffer consequences. These consequences will continue until the Stat is increased back to 1 or higher. Whenever the Stat in a Critical State goes above 0, the Critical State will immediately end.

The 7 Stats:

1. Beatdown:

Beatdown represents a character’s physical condition, their fighting ability, and any bodily enhancements they possess. 

Critical State Consequence: Your body shuts down, unable to function. You cannot choose Beatdown when determining the Stat to use for Actions. If you do not improve your Beatdown Stat by the end of the next Season, you will die.

2. Biohack: This represents a character’s ability to utilise biotechnology to enhance and alter living systems and implants. 

Critical State Consequence: Your implants begin to reject, and your DNA is marked for reclamation. You cannot choose biohack when determining the Stat to use for Actions. If you do not improve your Biohack Stat by the end of the next Season, you will die.

3. Citycred: This represents a character’s reputation, and how liked or hated, respected or feared they are. Anyone can be famous. It takes Citycred to make that fame mean something. 

Critical State Consequence: Your reputation is damaged. You are a pariah, a social non-entity. You cannot choose Citycred when determining the Stat to use for Actions. All resource costs you spend are doubled. 

4. Corpspeak: This Corpspeak represents your character's knowledge of, and ability to operate within corporate settings, and within the rule of law.

Critical state Consequence: You have violated immutable laws, and have been blacklisted. You lose 50% of your earned Resources as additional taxes.

5. Datastream: This represents a character’s access to, and control of information flow. 

Critical State Consequence: Your accounts are closed. Your data allowance reaches the lowest tier. You cannot choose Datastream when determining the Stat to use for Actions. You cannot perform Research Actions, and you cannot earn or spend Britcoin.

6. Supplychain: This represents a character’s knowledge and aptitude with commerce, trade, and logistics. 

Critical State Consequence: Your supply lines are broken. You have lost the trust of your clients. You cannot choose Supplychain when determining the Stat to use for Actions. You gain zero resources from Territories at the start of each Season.

7. Systemcraft: This represents a character’s ability to deploy, control, and utilise tech including software, hardware, and cybertech.

Critical State Consequence: You are locked out of essential systems, your cybertech is malfunctioning. You cannot choose Systemcraft when determining the Stat to use for Actions. You can no longer perform Takeover Territory or Defend Territory Actions.

An Action represents the most noteworthy or impactful things your character does during the season. Each Season in game, you can submit 2 Actions for your character to do. These can be submitted at any time during the Season, either together, or apart. You can submit the same Action more than one if you choose, but some Role Special Actions have a limitation that they can only be used once per Season. The opportunity to submit Actions at any time adds a tactical element to Echoes of The Grid. Whether you act first and decisively, or whether you survey your competition and react at the price moment, is your choice. 

Role Special Actions and Universal Actions each count as one of your 2 Actions per Season. Free actions do not count toward your number of Actions, but they do have additional conditions or limitations you must meet before they can be submitted. 

Types of Actions:

1. Role Special Actions: Some are standalone Actions that create an effect unique to your Role. Others are used to improve a Universal or Free Action. If you use a Role Special Action to improve a Universal or Free Action, that only counts as having used 1 of your Actions per Season.

2. Universal Actions: These can be performed by all characters. There are 6 in total:

1. Research

2. Takeover a Territory

3. Defend a territory

4. Move

5. Undertake a Mission

6. Challenge an Individual

7. Enhance Self

3. Free Actions:  can be performed by all characters. They can be done without using one of your two Actions per Season, but they do have additional conditions before they can be used:

1. Free Move

2. Transfer Resources

3. Buy/sell

4. Share Territory

Action Visibility:

Every Action will have an Action Visibility rating:

Public: The source of the Action is known across The Grid. While the exact truth or motivations may not be known, or may only be discoverable through research, the Action itself will be posted publicly.

Shadowed: The source of Shadowed Actions is hidden from The Grid. The individuals who have performed them know how to cover their tracks, evade detection, use tech backdoors, and all manner of other ways to keep their activities a secret. The Action itself may be known, but who did it, and why, are not made publicly available. The source of the Action can only be revealed through Research, or some Role Special Actions.

Action Consequences:

Every Action will have an Action Consequence rating.

Low: The action is considered fair game by most citizens and Corps alike, and is not criminal enough to draw the attention of Arbiter. Factions, crews, or individuals may only take offence or seek recompense for the Action if it affects them directly. 

Medium: The Action is noteworthy, and draws moderate attention from civilians and Corps. It may be considered criminal enough for Arbiter to give warnings to cease such Actions. Factions, crews, or individuals who are negatively affected by the Action will likely wish to seek revenge or recompense in some form.

High: The Action is likely to be considered shocking or in bad form to Corps and civilians alike. If the Action is considered an illegal act, Arbiter may step in to enact a punishment. Factions, crews, or individuals who are negatively affected by the Action will certainly wish to seek revenge or recompense in some form.

How to Submit an Action

Actions can be submitted to the Game Team via forms that can be found on your character sheet. It's important to take your time submitting your Action, ensuring you include all relevant information. The more information you provide, the easier and quicker it will be for the Game Team to process your request. 

Explaining Actions to the Game Team

When submitting an Action, be specific in what your character will try to do to succeed. Add narrative flair. What are their plans? What will they do? This does not have to be long or complex, but adding flavour helps the Game Team know how to respond to Actions, and will shape how NPCs respond to Actions that have been performed. 

When you submit an Action, you may also wish to submit a public Grid post or content to support your Action. This can be your Character’s thoughts, any threats, brags, and so on. This is a way to build the shared narrative of the game, and may yield more favourable results from the Game Team. 

If the Action submitted is a Shadowed Action, you are not expected to submit a public post, due to the secrecy of the Action. You can choose to do it, if you wish.

Check your Action's specific rule, as that will provide details on exactly what to submit to the Game Team to make everything run smoothly.

Game Team responses to Actions

When you submit an action, please allow the Game team a few days to process the action and get back to you. Results will come back in 2 ways:

1. A message from the Game Team. We will let you know if your action has succeeded or failed. If your Action could not be completed, or there is an error or mistake with your submission, the Game Team will discuss this with you to resolve it. 

2. Public Posts: Your character's Action will likely have caught the attention of New Mercia's News Outlets.

Results of actions will be broadcast across The Grid as news bulletins - for example: 

"Tiger Claws gang seize control of The Expressway! All traffic crossing the area will now be expected to pay a toll of 5 Britcoins! Local militia have expressed their displeasure but have so far been reluctant to act. A spokesman for Viridian Heath has promised to pay 1000 BritCoins to any group or individuals who can break the gang’s control of the area."

Action Priority

Actions occur in the order they are digitally submitted to the Game Team. If two player submit Actions at the same time, we'll look at the exact timestamps to see which one came first.

What happens if an Action fails?

Sometimes, a previous Action could change one that is submitted. For example, If you submit a Challenge an Individual Action to challenge an NPC in your Territory, but an Action submitted before yours causes that individual to be moved to a different Territory, your Challenge an Individual Action would become impossible. In these scenarios, the Game Team will refund your action back to you, so you can use it for something else.

Information is crucial to surviving New Mercia. Research represents a character's planning/preparation, and info gathering.

The Research Action allows you to do any of the following, with various levels of success:

• Learn mission requirements: Attempting a mission blind may result in consequences. Researching a mission reveals hidden dangers, stat requirements, and possible methods of success.

• Learn more about an action: Not all actions are public. Research can reveal who performed an action, how they did it, and what they used to do it. 

• Learn information about a Faction or crew: Gain insight into the faction or crew history, their recent activity, and their future plans, and potentially any secrets they are harbouring.

• Learn information about an individual: Reveal information about an NPC’s or player’s stats, whereabouts, plans, allegiances, weakness, secrets, and more.

• Learn information about a territory: Reveal who controls a territory if that information is not public, or you do not control it. Reveal a territory’s strongest and weakest stats. Reveal key local knowledge.

• Invent a new item: If you have an idea for a new piece of cyberware, designer chem, or hardware, you can submit your ideas to see if it’s possible.  

Action visibility: Public

Research leaves a trace. Data trails can be detected. camera footage can be checked. Civilians are aware that somebody was snooping around asking questions.

Action consequence: Low

Finding out information is not an illegal act. Some corps or gangs may not take kindly to your snooping however.

What to submit as part of a Research Action

a) What do you want to find out?

Tell us what you want to know. Be as specific as possible. Please be aware that you may not learn all you want to. Some Special Role Actions, or items can help a Research Action succeed.

b) Are you using any Role Special Actions to improve this Action?

If you wish to use a Role Special Action, state the Role Special Action you would like to use, and detail any choices that Action requires you to make.

c) How are you going to do your research?

Add narrative flair. Add any supporting information on how your character will do their research, including any tricks, contacts, favours, etc. Some Territories will offer bonuses to research if the character performing the research is present. Some Corps, Gangs, or Territories may resist or hinder research. 

Are you going to be working with another character on this research? Note their name. If you have both submitted a Research Action, the information you gain back will be shared between you.

d) Show Resource and Item spend

Research can be improved by spending Resources as part of the action. You can Research without spending any Items or Resources, but your success in doing so will be lower than if you dug into your pockets and paid your way through the city. Expending Resources is sometimes required to receive information about certain topics.

If you wish to use any items, declare them here, and state what effect you expect from using them. Note that you are limited to only 1 item of each type per Universal Action, unless you have a Role Special Action that allows you to circumvent this restriction. 

Research alone cannot reveal the source of Shadowed Actions, you need Role Special Actions or items to do that.

Your character attempts to take a Territory under their own, or their gang's control, by influence, coercion, by bribery, or by force. 

When you take over a Territory, all businesses, institutions, and civilians within that Territory come under your control. As such, you gain a cut of all resources generated by that Territory as taxes, tributes, as part of a protection racket, and suchlike. A Territory may not stay under your control for long, as the previous owners may attempt to take it back, or rival gangs may wish to claim it for themselves. 

To submit a Takeover Territory Action, your character must be in the Territory you wish to take over.

Taking over a Territory is risky! Your character will suffer damage if you fail, so choose your battles wisely.

Action Visibility: Public

Citizens know when a new group or individual has seized control of their Territory.

Action Consequence: Low

Changing ownership of Territories is not considered an illegal act in New Mercia, but factions or crews may become hostile if you steal a Territory and resources from them. 

Outcomes for Territories you don’t control

If you don’t already have any control over the Territory, the following outcomes can happen:

• If your Stat is 5 or more higher than the Territory’s stat: You gain full control over that territory. 

• If your Stat is between 1 and 4 higher than the territory’s stat: You gain split control.

• If your Stat is equal to the Territory’s stat: You gain partial control. 

• If your Stat is lower than the Territory’s stat, your takeover attempt fails. Failure will result in your chosen stat being temporarily or permanently lowered by 1 as a consequence.

Outcomes for Territories you have some control over control of

If you already have Partial or Split Control over the Territory, but you want to gain more control, you can attempt to Takeover the same Territory again to extend your control over it. 

• If your Stat is 5 or more higher than the Territory’s stat: You gain full control over that territory. Any other individuals who have any control over the Territory lose it. 

• If your Stat is between 1 and 4 higher than the territory’s stat: You gain split control. 

• If your Stat is equal to the Territory’s stat: You gain partial control. 

• If your Stat is lower than the Territory’s stat, your takeover attempt fails. Failure will result in your chosen stat being temporarily or permanently lowered by 1 as a consequence, and you will lose any control you already had over that Territory.

What to submit as part of a Takeover Territory Action:

a) Choose a Territory

Where are you trying to take over? Give us the Territory name and/or postcode.

b) Are you using any Role Special Actions to improve this Action?

If you wish to use a Role Special Action, state the Role Special Action you would like to use, and detail any choices that Action requires you to make.

c) Choose a Stat

When you attempt to take over a territory, choose the Stat you wish to use. This is compared against the corresponding Stat of the territory to determine success or failure.

Beatdown: Take the territory by physical force, martial skill, or military might.

Supplychain: Control the markets, manipulate businesses, seize control of resource generation. 

Citycred: Win hearts and minds, intimidate the populace, make friends and influence people, or convince those in power to hand it over to you

Systemcraft: Hack critical systems, remotely unlock doors, swap software licenses with your own, disable implants

Datastream: Control the information flow, utilise propaganda, block communications, redirect revenue streams

Biohack: Control the flow of chems, twist biological augmentations, utilise engineered viruses

Corpspeak: Broker deals, find loopholes, rewrite local laws, gain majority shares, bury your competitors in admin and litigations 

d) Explain your plan

When submitting a takeover action, be specific in what your character will try to do to take over the territory. Add narrative flair.

You may also make a public post on The Grid of your declarations/intents/reasons for the action if you choose.

e) Specify items used

If you wish to use any items, declare them here, and state what effect you expect from using them. Note that you are limited to only 1 item of each type per Universal Action, unless you have a Role Special Action that allows you to circumvent this restriction. 

Your characters are not alone in wishing to gain territory in New Mercia. Corps, gangs, and individuals alike all wish to extend their influence and power. When you defend a Territory, you make it more difficult for others to gain control of. Your efforts could be spent bolstering security systems, scouting the perimeters, upgrading firewalls, and arming the local populace.

To defend a Territory, your character must be in the chosen Territory, unless you have a Role Special Action that allows you to circumvent this.

If you wish to defend a Territory that is not one you have full or split control of, you must gain permission from the individuals, gangs, or corps that do control the Territory.

Action Visibility: Public

Citizens know that you are there to help. You rely on their cooperation.

Action Consequence: Low

Defending a Territory is commonplace.

What to submit as part of a Defend Territory Action:

a) Choose a Territory.

Give us a name and/or postcode.

b) Are you using any Role Special Actions to improve this Action?

If you wish to use a Role Special Action, state the Role Special Action you would like to use, and detail any choices that Action requires you to make.

c) Chose a Stat.

When you Defend a Territory, you choose a Stat, and your Stat is added to the same Stat of the Territory being defended. Any increase in to a Territory's Stats granted this way will last until the end of the Season. 

Beatdown: Train the citizenry, build defensive fortifications, militarize the zone. 

Supplychain: Tighten your grip on the flow of resources, give confidence to your suppliers, lend your business expertise. 

Citycred: Win hearts and minds, cause reputation damage for your opponents, publicly campaign for the territory, turn the public eye to the area to deter hostile action. 

Systemcraft: Protect critical systems, remotely monitor, fix system vulnerabilities, install defensive measures

Datastream: Control the narrative, utilise propaganda, enhance local communications, protect revenue streams

Biohack: Control the flow of chems, improve biological augmentations, utilise engineered viruses

Corpspeak: Close loopholes, rewrite laws and tenets, inform the authorities, utilise litigation, make beneficial local arrangements, call on favours. 

d) Explain your plan

When submitting a Defend Territory Actions, be specific in what your character will do to help. Add narrative flair.

You may also make a public post on The Grid of your declarations/intents/reasons for the action if you choose.

e) Specify items used

If you wish to use any items, declare them here, and state what effect you expect from using them. Note that you are limited to only 1 item of each type per Universal Action, unless you have a Role Special Action that allows you to circumvent this restriction. 

New Mercia is a big place, and nobody has invented working teleporters yet. To get from A to B, you need transport. The Move Action allows you to go from one Territory on the map, to another. Be warned - New Mercia isn't always safe. Your trip may be uneventful, it may go wrong, or you may see something you didn't expect.

Action Visibility: Public

Taxis have cameras and ID scanners. Cybernetics have GPS. If people want to see where you're going, they can.

Action Consequence: Low

People travel everyday. It's only risky if you go into a Territory you really shouldn't, or you don't have clearance.

Movement costs: Travelling a distance isn't free. Starting from your current Territory, it costs 10 Britcoin per additional Territory you pass through.

If you only wish to Move from one Territory to one directly touching it, your character can walk, cycle, or wheel themselves there without paying a cost.

What to submit as part of a Move Action

a) Tell us where you want to go

Give us the name and/or postcode of your target Territory. We will move your token to its new location on the map. If something goes wrong, we will tell you.

b) Are you using any Role Special Actions to improve this Action?

If you wish to use a Role Special Action, state the Role Special Action you would like to use, and detail any choices that Action requires you to make.

c) Tell us how much you're spending on the journey. 

Count the territories you will pass through and state your Movement Cost. Can't afford it? you may find yourself dropped off before your destination. 

Mercs need work, right? Often gangs, Corps, or concerned citizens have missions they need to accomplish, and are willing to offer rewards.

When a Mission is posted on The Grid, you can attempt to undertake it in order to claim the rewards.  Missions are generally a first come, first served scenario. Once a Mission has been marked as completed, it will no longer be available for other characters to undertake. 

No two missions are alike, and no two ways of solving them will be alike. To undertake a mission, you will need to follow the Mission brief in order to know what to do. You may need to contact the individual advertising the Mission, and let them know you're the person (or gang) for the job, or you may need to simply show up in the right Territory. 

Important note - Missions have requirements. Success may require a specific Role to be present, a specific Stat to be used, or there may be more unusual requirements. It is highly recommended to Research a mission first to understand what the requirements are.

Action Visibility: Public or Shadowed

The visibility will depend on the job.

Action Consequence: Low, Medium, or High

How illegal, immoral, or dangerous a job is depends on the job itself.

What to submit as part of a Undertake a Mission Action

a) Tell us which mission you want to do

Missions will have different names. If there are multiple active Missions, please specify your choice. 

b) Explain your plan

Be descriptive as possible. Are you going to blow the doors off the warehouse and go in all guns blazing? Are you going to hack the power grid and sneak inside the office building under the cover of darkness? You don't need to give a full narrative, as the situation may change, but the Game Team will need to know your rough plan so they can prepare the Mission accordingly. 

c) Tell us who you'll be working with

You can do missions solo, or with help. Let us know who is on your team. Everybody going on the mission will need to submit a Undertake a Mission Action, or they will miss out.

d) Show Resource and Item spend.

To help the mission succeed, you can spend resources and use items. This represents the costs your Character pays for equipment, hired assistance, and the like. Some missions may have a fixed resource or Stat cost that is crucial for success, and these numbers may be public or hidden. 

If you wish to use any items, declare them here, and state what effect you expect from using them. Note that you are limited to only 1 item of each type per Universal Action, unless you have a Role Special Action that allows you to circumvent this restriction. 

What happens next?

When you've submitted your Action, the Game Team will begin a private chat with you and your team to run the mission itself.

• We will give you a narrative description of the scenario and how it unfolds. You may encounter obstacles you hadn't planned for.

• Take some time to discuss with your group, and let us know what you are going to do to succeed.

• This will continue until you succeed or fail the mission.

• If the Mission has already been completed by other characters, we will refund your Undertake a Mission Actions, and also any associated Move Actions, but only if those Move Actions were submitted within 24 hours of performing the Mission. If your character moved to the location of a Mission to scout the area, but waited too long and allowed somebody else to come in and steal the glory, that's on you. 

Sometimes the best way to deal with a problem is to tackle it at the source. The Challenge an Individual Action lets you take on an individual, one on one. Successful challenges can lower the stats of the person who lost the challenge. Challenges can be discussed publicly. It's common for a time and place to be decided. Alternatively, you can set an ambush and strike without warning, physically, emotionally, technologically, or all manner of other ways that people compete.

Be warned, some powerful individuals have ways to resist challenges, or have hidden skills you may not expect, so choose your battles wisely. If you lose a challenge, you will suffer negative consequences.

Action Visibility: Public

It's often big news when powerful figures within the city throw down.

Action Consequence: Low

Challenges are commonplace in New Mercia. Consequences can occur if the victim seeks retribution, or if illegal or distasteful methods were used during the challenge.

Outcomes of Challenge Actions

• If your Stat is 5 or more higher than your opponent's, their same Stat decreases by 2, permanently.

• If your Stat is between 1 and 4 higher than your opponent's, their same Stat decreases by 1, permanently.

• If your Stat is equal to your opponent's stat, the challenge is a stalemate, no change.

• If your Stat is between 1 and 4 lower than your opponent's, your Stat decreases by 1, permanently.

• If your Stat is 5 or more lower than your opponent's, your Stat decreases by 2, permanently.

What to submit as part of Challenge an Individual Actions

a) Choose a player or NPC that you wish to challenge.
Name them. They must be in the same Territory as you, unless you have a Role Special Action that allows you to circumvent this.

b) Are you using any Role Special Actions to improve this Action?

If you wish to use a Role Special Action, state the Role Special Action you would like to use, and detail any choices that Action requires you to make.

c) Choose a Stat.

When you Challenge, choose a Stat to represent the kind of challenge you are making. The chosen Stat will be compared to the same Stat of your opponent.

Beatdown: You fight with body or weapons, head to head, as nature intended. Leave them bloodied.

Supplychain: You out market, outcompete, steal suppliers, turn deals sour. Leave them without connections.

Citycred: Reputation damage is real. You publicly shame, belittle, or libel your opponent. Leave them friendless.

Systemcraft: Crack their systems, hack their cybernetics, exploit software vulnerabilities. Leave their systems obsolete.

Datastream: Own them in the debate, call out their misinformation, block their feeds. Leave them clueless.

Biohack: Fight with engineered viruses, corrupt their implants, show your physical superiority. Leave them weak.

Corpspeak: Establish thought leadership, command the strategic high ground, play 4D chess with the stakeholders. Leave them in the shit.

d) Explain your plan

When submitting a Challenge Action, be specific in exactly what your character plans to do. Add narrative flair.

You may also make a public post on The Grid of your declarations/intents/reasons for the Action if you choose. Call out your opponent or gloat if you win. The Grid deserves to know.

e) Specify items used

If you wish to use any items, declare them here, and state what effect you expect from using them. Note that you are limited to only 1 item of each type per Universal Action, unless you have a Role Special Action that allows you to circumvent this restriction. 

New Mercia is a dangerous place. You'll never become a legend unless you get good. The Enhance Self Action allows you to permanently increase any 1 of your Character's Stats by 1. Enhancing isn't free, you'll need to spend resources to make gains.

Learning, training, studying, getting better implants, getting jacked, or altering your perception on life by abusing chems are just a few of the ways you can improve your character's Stats.

Enhance Self also lets you fix a Critical State by improving a Stat back to positive numbers.

Resource costs:

Enhance self costs a number of Resources equal to the number the Stat will be upgraded to, multiplied by 1000.

For example, if your Beatdown Stat is currently at 2 and you want to upgrade it to 3, it will cost you 3,000 total Resources.

If your Datastream is currently at 9, and you want to upgrade it to 10, it will cost you 10,000 total Resources.

Resources required per Stat:

Different stats require different Resources as shown on the table below. You can mix and match any of the Resources below you use as long as you hit the target number. if you only have Britcoin, you could choose to pay the full cost in Britcoin, for example.

a) Beatdown requires Biomass, Britcoin,Gear, or Nullcoin

Pay for training, medicate, or feed your implants

b) Biohack requires Britcoin, Shadowcoin, Chems, or Biomass

Pay for training, alter your chemistry, alter your biology

c) Citycred requires Aura, Britcoin, Datapods, or Gear

Pay for training, boost your digital reach, boost your drip

d) Corpspeak requires Aura, Britcoin, Datapods, or Nullcoin

Pay for training, study hard, or go wild on the town and make connections

d) Datastream requires Britcoin, Shadowcoin, Datapods, or Gigawatts

Pay for training, study hard, boost your digital reach

b) Supplychain requires Aura, Biomass, Britcoin, or Gear

Pay for training, Learn the product, protect the market

d) Systemcraft requires Britcoin, Datapods, Gigawatts, or Nullcoin

Pay for training, study hard, boost your digital reach

What to submit as part of an Enhance Self Actions

a) Choose the Stat you wish to increase

Tell us the Stat, and the number you're going to increase it to.

b) Are you using any Role Special Actions to improve this Action?

If you wish to use a Role Special Action, state the Role Special Action you would like to use, and detail any choices that Action requires you to make.

c) Explain your plan - add a bit of narrative flair

Describe your methods in how your character improves themself. This may be used for narrative purposes by the Game Team.

c) Show your Resource spend

Break this down into individual Resources spent. Make sure you do the maths, and make sure you have the required Resources available on your character sheet otherwise the Action will fail.

d) Show Item spend

If you wish to use any items, declare them here, and state what effect you expect from using them. Note that you are limited to only 1 item of each type per Universal Action, unless you have a Role Special Action that allows you to circumvent this restriction. 

Free Actions can be performed by all characters. They represent day-to-day activities that characters partake in. 

1) Free Move

Every Season, every character gets to use Universal Action - Move, once as an additional Free Action.

What to submit as part of a Free Move Action

a) Tell us where you want to go

Give us the name and/or postcode of your target Territory. We will move your token to its new location on the map. If something goes wrong, we will tell you.

b) Are you using any Role Special Actions to improve this Action?

If you wish to use a Role Special Action, state the Role Special Action you would like to use, and detail any choices that Action requires you to make.

c) Tell us how much you're spending on the journey. 

Count the territories you will pass through and state your Movement Cost. Can't afford it? you may find yourself dropped off before your destination. 

2) Transfer Resources

Got a buddy you want to send some stuff to? The Transfer Resources Free Action can be used to send any combination of Resources or Items to other characters, or NPCs.

Transfer costs: Moving items is not free, courier services, whether digital or physical, must be paid in order to move objects between places or to transfer digital resources. If the recipient of the transfer is not in the same Territory as you, It costs 10 Britcoin or Shadowcoin per additional Territory the items must pass through to reach the recipient.

If you and the recipient are in the same Territory, you can deliver or transfer the items yourself for free.

What to submit as part of a Transfer Resources Action

a) Tell us who you want to Transfer resources to and where they are

Give us the name of the individual, and the name and/or postcode of their current Territory.

a) Tell us what you want to transfer

List all Resources and/or Items. Be specific with numbers.

For example: "I will transfer 500 Britcoin, 150 Aura, and 1 Glow. 

c) Specify your Transfer Costs.

Tell us how much you will pay for your items to be delivered. 

3) Buy/Sell

New Mercia has salespeople galore. Some items are available for direct purchase and delivery, and others must be handed off in person. To buy or sell an item, the person doing the buying must submit a Free Action, stating the names and quantities of the purchases, and the Resources they will pay.

Transfer Costs for Purchases made through Ziplynk:

Anything bought in public markets can be ordered from any Territory, and will be delivered by Ziplynk couriers at a cost.

Courier services, whether digital or physical, must be paid in order to move objects between places or to transfer digital resources. The standard delivery fee is 10 Britcoin, which must be paid before delivery. Sometimes, a delivery may not be immediately possible. Ziplynk will inform you personally if this is the case and will arrange redelivery. The cost is per Action, not per Item. If you order multiple items at once, the delivery cost will be the same as if you only order one.

Purchases made through the Black Market or from other characters/non Ziplynk NPCS:

Black Market purchases must be made in person, so the buyer and seller must be in the same Territory. There are no Transfer Costs.

If an Item is to be delivered by courier, Transfer Costs will be applicable, see above.

What to submit as part of a Buy/Sell Action

a) Tell us what you are buying

Give us the names and quantities of the Items you wish to purchase. 

a) Tell us who you are buying it from

Ziplynk, Black Market, or specify an individual

d) Specify your Resource costs. 

Make sure you do the maths. 

c) Specify your Transfer Costs.

Tell us how much you will pay for your items to be delivered. 

4) Share Territory

If you own Territory, you don’t have to look after it all by yourself. You can give some of the Territory over to other characters or NPCs if you wish. 

To share ownership of a Territory, you and the person you are sharing it with must be in the same Territory, and you must have Full Control of the Territory you wish to share. When you submit this Action, control of the Territory will be split between you and the character(s) or NPC(s) you select. 

What to submit as part of a Share Territory Action

a) Choose a Territory.

Give us the name and/or postcode. 

b) Tell us who you want to share it with

Name up to 3 other individuals. 

Through surviving in New Mercia, your characters become more capable. For every Season they survive, characters gain 1 Survival Point (SP). These are given out at the start of each Season, and can be spent on improving your character’s Stats, Roles, and Role Specific Actions. 

To spend SP, submit a request to the Game Team and we will update your character.

SP can be spent on any of the following:

Learn a new Role Special Action: 1SP

(A character can have a maximum of 5 Role Special Actions)

Unlearn a new Role Special Action: 1SP

(This will remove the Action from your character permanently. You will need to purchase it again if you wish to relearn it)

Improve a Role Special Action: 1SP

Add a new Role, and learn 1 special Action from that Role: 4SP

(A character can have a maximum of 3 Roles)

Improve one of your Stats by 1 without expending Resources: 1SP

(You cannot improve a Stat beyond 5 this way)

New Mercia is a ruthless place. Death is sometimes inevitable. Citizens burned out by city life leave, or are cast out, never to return.

Death

There are two main ways a character can die in New Mercia. If you reach a Critical State in Beatdown or Biohack, you have until the end of the next season to restore that Stat back to positive numbers, or your character will die. Some Role Special Actions can also kill a character in a Critical State outright. 

Once your character dies, they can no longer Move around the map, submit Actions, or post on The Grid. Don’t fear though, for death is not the end of your experience.

If your character dies and you wish to continue playing Echoes of The Grid, you can create a new Character. 

Retirement

During play, if you are not enjoying playing your character, or you feel like their story has been told to an appropriate conclusion, or you just want to start afresh, you can retire your character. When they retire, they will leave New Mercia forever, and will not return. Much like characters who have died, a retired character cannot Move around the Map, submit Actions, or post on The Grid. If you wish to continue playing Echoes of the Grid, you can create a new character.

Creating a new character after your previous character has died or retired

When you create a new character, they will join back in the game with no Territories, Resources or Items owned - but you can begin with an amount of AP equal to the total AP your previous character had, minus 1. You can spend this AP right away when creating your new character.

Important note: Character death or retirement is not an excuse to metagame. You should not come back as your dead character’s sibling demanding vengeance on the person who killed their sibling, for example. You should create a new character with their own story to tell. Your old character should not know information that your old character learned, unless that information is publicly available.

Resources are a representation of your character's wealth, available currency, equipment, and raw materials. They can be obtained by controlling territories, completing missions, and performing some Actions. They can also be traded between players and NPCs alike.

Resources can be spent on purchasing Items, improving your Stats, paying bribes and fines, and can be spent to improve some Actions. 

At the end of each Season, characters will be allocated resources according to the Territories they currently control.

Resource types:

Aura: A Grid based cryptocurrency covering likes, kudos, and upvotes. 

Biomass: Raw biological materials that can be made into food or nourishment, or for gene editing. 

Britcoin: A digital cryptocurrency. It is the most commonly used currency across New Mercia for all legal transactions. Britcoin transactions are public, and can be traced.

Datapods: Tradeable units of archived data. These can include data drives, online data packets, and also physical media such as books or magazines.

Gear: A catch-all term for street level items, including weapons, armaments, drip, and  low quality chems.

Gigawatts: Units of raw energy, used for powering machinery and tech. Can include batteries, generated electricity, or the flow of power through city powerlines. 

Nullcoin: A digital cryptocurrency. It is untraceable, and is mostly used in corporate, blackmarket, or secret transactions.

Gaining Resources from Territories:

A Territory’s current Stats determine the resources it generates at the end of each Season. This includes any temporary Stat increases or decreases.

Aura: Citycred x100

Biomass: Biohack x100  

Britcoin: Supplychain x100

Datapods: Datastream x100

Gear: Beatdown x100 

Gigawatts: Systemcraft x100 

Nullcoin: Corpspeak x100 

The values will be modified by the level of control you exert over the Territory. Values are rounded up.

For example:

You control 2 Territories. 

Territory 1 has a current Citycred score of 5, so you would earn 500 Aura at the end of the Season if you had full control.

You only have split control with one other person, so you receive 50% of the Aura generated, earning you 250.

Territory 2 has a current Citycred score of 8, so you would earn 800 Aura at the end of the Season if you had full control.

You only have partial control, so you receive 25% of the Aura generated, earning you 200.

These values are added together, so assuming you can maintain your control levels over your two Territories, you would earn a total of 450 Aura at the end of the Season.

Items in Echoes of The Grid represent powerful and often experimental objects that can be used to provide a significant boost to a character’s Actions, or can trigger when certain conditions are met. 

Items do not last forever, and can be used only once. Chems leave you system in time. Cybernetics and weaponry imported from overseas often come with trial licenses, and so provide a limited use. Corporate tech when used can trigger protocols to immediately revoke access. 

When you submit an Action, usually you can also choose to use Items to improve that Action. Once used, the item will be removed from your character sheet, regardless of whether the Action was successful or not. 

You can only use a maximum of 1 of each category of Item this way, unless you have a Role Special Action that allows you to circumvent this. For example, when performing a Takeover Territory Action, you could use 1 cybernetics Item, and one Designer chems Item. You couldn't use 2 cybernetics Items. 

Each character can have a maximum of 10 Items at once, so use them wisely. 

Buying items:

The most common way to buy items is directly from Ziplynk's Marketplace. The Marketplace, along with all available items and prices can be found on the New Mercia Survival Guide. Items can also be purchased from The Black Market when it appears in game. 

Items can be bought, sold, and traded between characters and NPCs.

Item Activation types:

Action: The item can be declared as part of an Action submission, and provides a temporary benefit to that Action only. You can only use 1 item of each Item Type this way. 

Situational: The item remains on your character sheet until its effect is triggered. The exact conditions are found in the item descriptions. 

Item Categories:

Cybernetics: These represent rare and experimental bodily implants, most often imported, that provide a temporary augmentation. Due to their experimental natures, and the limited trial periods or licensing restrictions, these often break or malfunction shortly after installation.

Designer chems: These represent expensive and exclusive drugs, stronger and more specifc than your run-of-the-mill street pills.

Software: These represent temporary licenses to run powerful tech programs, many of which are designed with a specific task in mind. 

Hardware: These are physical machines or tech objects that exist outside of the body, covering a wide range of uses.

New Mercia is grouped into sixty nine distinct Territories, each with its own postcode, Stats, and vibe. Corps, gangs, and mercs alike vie to control these Territories, as those who control them gain a share of the Resources that each Territory generates. Several are corp or gang strongholds, and the owners of Territories will not give them up peacefully. Controlling the streets means controlling the city. 

Territories yield resources at the start of each season. This information will be private until players discover it. Each hex on the map represents a Territory.

Resources granted by Territories:

Each Territory will yield a different amount of Resources at the end of each Season to the individuals who control it. This represents the local economy of the area, and the total output the individuals and businesses within it produce. This information is not publicly shared. You will know what your own Territories produce, but to find out information about other Territories, you will need to perform Research Actions during the game.

Territory Stats:

Like character, Territories use the same 7 Stats. These values represent the combined capabilities of the individuals that live, work, and play in that Territory. The combined Stats of a territory are generally higher than the combined stats of a character, but each has its own strengths and weaknesses that can be exploited. 

Unlike Characters, a Territory’s Stats cannot drop below 1, and they cannot enter a Critical State. 

Players can only see the Stats and any special properties of Territories they have some form of control of. If you do not control a Territory, and you wish to know more about it, you will need to find the information out through Research, or other means.

Territory Control levels:

Sometimes Territories are contested, or owned by multiple individuals. If they are, the Resources will be split according to the categories below:

• Full control: The territory is wholly controlled by one individual, gang, or corp. All resources go to the controller. 

• Split Control: The Territory is owned by multiple groups or individuals. Resources are split equally between owning parties.

• Partial Control: The Territory is partly controlled by one individual or gang. The individual or gang receives 25% of the resources.

• No control: No individual or gang earns resources from that territory. 

Disputes over Territory control:

A Territory can only have a maximum of 4 owners. If somebody successfully gains control over a Territory, sometimes this will mean previous owners lose control or are forced out. In situations where the number of equal controllers would become more than 4, the priority of who keeps their stake in the Territory is as follows:

1. Any individual that has performed a Defend Territory Action 

2. Individuals with Split Control

3. Individuals with Partial Control

In the case of a tie, the character who is actively taking over a Territory can choose which individual loses control to make way for themselves.

Territory Special Properties:

Some Territories have special properties that affect the game in certain ways. These are usually only known to the Territory’s controllers, or can be discovered through Research.

A publicly known example of these Special Properties is all Corporate HQs. They will remain under Full Control of the Corp for as long as the Corporation’s directors remain alive and active. Any attempt to Takeover a Corp HQ, even following a successful Takeover Territory Action, will ultimately result in failure for as long as the Corp’s power structure remains in place

1. Ownership of Content

Echoes Of The Grid is run by a group of individuals referred to as the EOTG Game Team. The right of the EOTG Game Team to be identified collectively or individually as the creators of this work has been asserted to them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. Each participant keeps ownership of their original creations, while the collective story and world are co-owned by the group. If a EOTG Game Team leaves the team, they grant rights for their contributions to still be used by the remaining members. 
All original characters, stories, artwork, and other creative contributions made by players remain the property of their respective creators. By participating, you grant the EOTG Game Team a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display, adapt, and share your contributions within the game community only.

2. Game Materials
The game’s rules, setting, and official materials are owned by EOTG Game Team. Players and the EOTG Game Team may reference or adapt them for personal, non-commercial use but may not sell or redistribute them without permission. Likewise, Echoes of The Grid is a not-for-profit game, and will remain so forever. 

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Because this is a collaborative game, players understand that their contributions may inspire or be incorporated into shared storylines. We’ll always aim to credit creators when their work influences official content.

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We collect only the information needed to facilitate gameplay and secure access to the website on which the game is run. Personally Identifiable Information (PII) that will be collected upon signup are full names and email addresses. Information collected in this way will be held securely, will not be used for any other purpose, and will not be transferred or sold. Information will only be held for as long as it is required for your participation in the game. You have the right to request the removal of your personal information, data, or content at any time by contacting the EOTG Game Team.

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