Can you survive the whisper?
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There's a noise on the wireless, a whisper, a voice whose words we can never quite make out.
And it's killing us |
The wireless was our greatest invention. All the power of the internet from the 21st century, linked to every individual via a direct neural interface. We could send messages, make calls, stream video, get directions and more with an implant the size of a grain of rice.
One revolution begat another.
At first it was just white noise. Static. Then someone thought they heard a voice and suddenly they were gone. Dead or just... lost. Adrift in their own mind.
Then someone else heard it too, and another and yet more. Tens, then tens of thousands.
Now billions.
We tried to fight it, but in our haste to embrace the wireless we had given the Whisper every means to destroy us. Our cities, our cybernetics, our weapons systems, all were linked in some way, all supposedly firewalled against exactly this kind of attack. It all belongs to the Whisper now, and we who survive struggle to do so in the shadows of a city we can no longer control, at times hunted – at times ignored. There are things out there now that we did not make, things that were never human, things from some twisted consciousness of unknowable intention.
It's been six years. The food is running out. The medicine is running out. And for a select few patience is running out.
Stand shoulder to shoulder with augmented super soldiers, corporate neo-samurai, mind-hackers, digital paladins and even ordinary humans with nothing left to lose. It's a desperate bid to survive, adapt and if you're very, very lucky…
…stop the Whisper.
One revolution begat another.
At first it was just white noise. Static. Then someone thought they heard a voice and suddenly they were gone. Dead or just... lost. Adrift in their own mind.
Then someone else heard it too, and another and yet more. Tens, then tens of thousands.
Now billions.
We tried to fight it, but in our haste to embrace the wireless we had given the Whisper every means to destroy us. Our cities, our cybernetics, our weapons systems, all were linked in some way, all supposedly firewalled against exactly this kind of attack. It all belongs to the Whisper now, and we who survive struggle to do so in the shadows of a city we can no longer control, at times hunted – at times ignored. There are things out there now that we did not make, things that were never human, things from some twisted consciousness of unknowable intention.
It's been six years. The food is running out. The medicine is running out. And for a select few patience is running out.
Stand shoulder to shoulder with augmented super soldiers, corporate neo-samurai, mind-hackers, digital paladins and even ordinary humans with nothing left to lose. It's a desperate bid to survive, adapt and if you're very, very lucky…
…stop the Whisper.
meet the classes
"My idea of game balance is that every class should feel unfair in its own way.
If every class has some cheap, game-breaking trick, then they're balanced and, more importantly, they're fun."
If every class has some cheap, game-breaking trick, then they're balanced and, more importantly, they're fun."
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Play Tester's Verdict
"From the moment I saw the shoulder mounted weapons I knew I would be playing an augmented. Most games only let you use one or two weapons at once, I loved making the GM regret letting me use four." |
The augmented are the fortress behind which lesser men hide. Their devotion to cybernetics allows them to wield enhancements others couldn’t imagine. Every augmented is a deadly combatant, but their strengths vary – some are walking tanks, bristling with weapons and armour, some use their formidable strength to literally rip their opponents apart, some can even fly or lift objects using projected gravity fields.
Party Role
Augmented are great for players who love the raw combat side of RPGs because they can be built for almost any combat role. We’ve seen unkillable melee juggernauts, we’ve seen back rank artillery platforms and we’ve seen grandiose neo-paladins, soaring over the battlefield with bulletproof wings and antigravity. Example talent – Iron Sprint With this ability an augmented with cybernetic legs may move up to a hundred kilometres an hour for a single round. They could use this to catch a vehicle, or run down a fleeing opponent, or simply to relocate to a distant part of the battlefield in a mere moment. |
Play Tester's Verdict
"I felt scrappy, like my wits, will and expertise were the only things letting me keep pace with my augmented counterparts." |
The disconnected are the fierce underdogs of the Wireless Soul Transmission universe. Without augmentations their raw power is sharply curtailed, making them vulnerable in any direct combat amongst their super-human allies.
But this is also their strength. Every augmentation a character has is one more way the Whisper can get into their head, one more way it can trick them, delay them or outright control them. When the party flags under wireless attack it is the disconnected that steps up to save them, it is the disconnected alone that is beyond the Whisper’s electronic reach Party Role
Disconnected are perfect for the player who likes to be depended on – no one is more trustworthy than the disconnected and, in times when the Whisper is loud, everyone will look to you to solve the problem. In combat a disconnected favours a guerrilla style, using machineguns or sniper rifles to provide fire support and ambushing attacks. Example talent – I don’t think it saw us Once per encounter, if you or an ally fail a stealth check, you may treat the roll as though it were successful, so long as the character who failed the roll remains stationary until the end of their next turn. |
Play Testers Verdict:
"I say I will try the other classes but it's lies: I only ever play ginbushi. I got to be a melee powerhouse because nothing could hit me, I got to stand in the open when everyone ran for cover and throw down with some of the strongest opponents we faced. I felt (often incorrectly) untouchable and even when I failed my rolls I had another trick to fall back on to slip out of harms way. Ginbushi for life!" |
The ginbushi are modern day samurai, sworn to the service of the mega-corporations and more than a match for any common man. Survivors treat ginbushi with fear and respect, hoping to earn the boon of their parent corporation and definitely eager to avoid their wrath.
The secret of their strength is the nanites in their blood – as the samurai grows in skill and masters themselves, they are able to drive the nanites to give them more speed, more strength, until they can dodge bullets and crush stone. Ginbushi are ideal for players who want to be able to fight from the front of the party, favouring either melee weapons or guns. The ginbushi is not a bruiser, it is their agility that allows them to attract disproportionate enemy fire and escape unscathed, and it is their precision that allows them to find the weak points in enemy armour to deliver a fatal strike.
Example talent – Heijoshin Once per round, a ginbushi uses their incredible speed to change the result of a successful attack against them into a miss, gliding out of the way like water or air. There are several levels of this talent, allowing the ginbushi to avoid progressively more attacks. |
Play Tester's Verdict
"I liked how the network ghost allowed for versatile characters. Being able to hack other people's minds meant you could hold your own in combat but also add a great deal to more social adventures, and the risks of failure created just enough chaos to keep things interesting." |
Once criminals, corporate agents or government assets; network ghosts specialise in more than just hacking computer systems, they hack minds.
And hacking is far from the limit of their talents, Disguises, forgery, lock-picking, marksmanship and stealth combine with their electronic skills to produce the ultimate infiltrator. There is nowhere they can’t go, and no security system that can stop them. Party Role
Network Ghosts are great for cunning gamers, who know how to turn a little bit of illusion into a huge advantage for the players. While their signature abilities excel outside of combat, a ghost is also a deadly combatant and players who like using stealth and sniping will really appreciate this class. Example talent – Six second lie Create a six second fiction that is added to the targets immediate memory such that it appears to end just as the present begins. Make an attacker believe they fired off more shots and need to reload, make a security guard believed they caught a fleeting glimpse of an intruder to draw them away from the door they’re guarding. There are far more ingenious uses for this power, but we’ll leave it to you to figure them out. |
Play Tester's Verdict
"I really liked how the system guardian could change the battlefield without being at the mercy of the dice. So rather than giving teammates direct bonuses, I would control the flow of battle. You can spec your character stats towards weapon powers, or focus more on gadgets for even more utility." |
The system guardian is the selfless centre of the party. Through dedicated mental training, they are resilient against the Whisper and able to use that strength to deflect wireless attacks away from other party members.
Just as they protect their allies in the digital space, guardians also strive to protect their allies in the real world. Blending conventional firepower with augmented reality figments that block and redirect the Whispers servants. Party Role
System Guardians are excellent for the supporting players, it is often their responsibility to watch the party while the party is watching the enemy. In combat they favour a bounding style, moving cover to cover and taking snapshots any time they’re not busy with electronic warfare. Example talent – Cyberstatic Create a ball of digital noise reaching out five squares in every direction. Until the beginning of your next turn, no attacks that rely on wireless interfacing may target anyone in that area. |
cool story,
but how does it actually play?
We can't hardly summarise all the rules here, but if you've played DnD (and we bet you have) you'll have no trouble at all picking this one up. The below table should give you a pretty good idea what you're getting into.
If you've never played a tabletop RPG before, then welcome! Tabletop RPGs are like nothing else you've played, and that means they're loads of fun, but can be a little challenging to pick up. Our game is more intuitive than a lot and that makes it a great place to start. Give the guides a read and if you have any questions you can just ask us.
If you've never played a tabletop RPG before, then welcome! Tabletop RPGs are like nothing else you've played, and that means they're loads of fun, but can be a little challenging to pick up. Our game is more intuitive than a lot and that makes it a great place to start. Give the guides a read and if you have any questions you can just ask us.
Similar to most D20 gamesGeneral Game Flow:
One GM story teller who sets the challenges, controls the opposition, ect and one or more players working cooperatively (more or less) to overcome those challenges. Skill Checks:
1d20 + skill ranks vs a target set by the GM. Combat Rounds:
Roll to determine player order, each character moves and/or takes an action. Classes and Levels:
Characters have a class which determines the progression they're on. Classes are broken into levels and characters will become more powerful as they progress. Origins: Characters also have an origin which provides some initial skill ranks. Our origins also provide starting kit and a few special origins greatly change the way a class will play out. |
Different in Wireless Soul TransmissionThe Whisper on the Wireless:
The single largest difference. This omnipresent entity and its servants constantly attempt to alter what the players perceive. This allows GMs to tell unique stories and confront players with puzzles and challenges they've not encountered in other games. Augmentations:
All our heroes are human, and that humanity initially defines how strong, how fast and how smart they can become. Augmentation is key, it allows characters to exceed these limitations but every augmentation also weakens your defence against wireless attacks. Damage/Injuries:
Damage is determined by hit location and severity. This requires you to roll an extra dice but we think an 'immolated heart' is far more satisfying than '15 points of damage'. Social Checks: Each character has one virtue and one vice. Besides the role playing opportunities, these serve as conversational skills - an assertive character will be ideal for rallying troops while a vain character will be best for convincing that spoiled princess to cooperate. In this way the parties best speaker will vary, instead of always falling on one particular class. |
The wireless soul transmission
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print-on-demand available from
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