Identity
Operatives are made in the Echelon Corporation's intelligence academies and are bought out, defected, or burned by every other faction in turn. They read a room before they enter it, walk away with a copy of every credential in it, and remember the face of everyone who saw them leave. Where the Assassin closes the distance and the Saboteur breaks the system, the Operative simply knows — earlier, more precisely, and through more channels than the opposition believes possible.
Features
- L3 Tradecraft
You gain proficiency in the Technology skill, and Expertise on either Technology or Investigation (your choice). Once per short rest, you may invoke **I Had This Prepared**: declare, after the fact, that you anticipated the current situation and produced one of the following — (a) a forged but plausible credential, transit pass, or corporate ID appropriate to the local jurisdiction; (b) the name and contact protocol of a single low-level Echelon-network informant in the current city or station; or (c) a single piece of relevant non-classified intel about a person, faction, or location currently in play (the GM provides one true sentence). The GM may veto any claim that would constitute scene-breaking pre-cognition; in such cases the use is not expended.
- L7 Reconnaissance Lock
You can spend 1 minute observing a single creature you can see, then mark it as your Reconnaissance Target as a bonus action. While the target remains marked, you have advantage on attack rolls against it and on Insight, Investigation, and Perception checks made about it. The mark lasts 24 hours, until the target leaves your line of sight for more than 1 hour, or until you mark a new target. You may have only one Reconnaissance Target at a time, and you cannot re-mark the same target until you finish a long rest.
- L11 Counter-Surveillance
You can use a bonus action to make a Technology or Stealth check (your choice) against the DC to remove the **Surveilled** condition on yourself or an ally within 30 ft. On a success, the trace is broken until a new surveillance link is established. Additionally, you have advantage on saving throws to resist becoming Surveilled, and you are automatically aware the instant a Surveilled condition is applied to you — even by an effect that would normally conceal its origin.
- L15 Deep Cover
You can spend 7 days in a city, station, or fixed location establishing a false identity: a verified background, a residence, a low-key job or social position, and a documented history. Once established, the cover is treated as authentic by all routine social, economic, and security systems in that location. The GM secretly tracks a **Cover Integrity** score (starting at your Rogue level); it decreases when you take actions inconsistent with the cover, are observed by someone who knows your true face, or are subject to targeted investigation. When Cover Integrity reaches 0, the cover is compromised. You may maintain up to three Deep Covers simultaneously, in different locations. The covers persist while you are away, but their Integrity slowly erodes over time per the GM's discretion.
- L18 I Knew You Would Be Here
Your foresight and pre-positioning approach the legendary. Once per long rest, you may retroactively declare a **Pre-Positioned Fact**: a single sentence describing a preparation you made earlier in the campaign that bears on the current situation. Examples: a contact already inside the building you are about to enter; a cache of equipment buried within 1 mile of your current position; a corruption file you placed in the target's network months ago; a debt the local syndicate owes you. The fact must be (a) plausible given your prior actions and reach, (b) limited in scope — a single asset, contact, or piece of information, not an army or a starship — and (c) subject to GM veto if it would short-circuit the current scene or contradict established fiction. On veto, the use is not expended.