At this point, we have a group of Commissioners of the Last Clemency, continuing the royal mission to solidify peace under the auspices of the almost ratified Accord of Ashes, while covering up for the fact that the Queen is not just sick or indisposed, she’s dead.

There’s a weird sense of Symbaroum seeping through here, though this isn’t what’s happening in that game at all. In Symbaroum, the royal family definitely has a secret, but it’s even more complex and generally speaking the player characters don’t have a remit to handle the public relations. But, I digress…

The game is about handling challenges and conflicts without letting it slip in any way that something has gone horribly wrong in the backdrop. The Commissioners maintain a facade of their Privileged position without the means to back it up. But, first to the Lifepath!

A Rarefied Existence

As usual, you roll or choose once from each table. The results serve up eight Abilities, from which you need to choose three for your starting character, and a little background information to help you understand something of your Commissioner and their origin.

Roll d10 on each table; or take three suits from a deck of cards, make three separate shuffled piles made up from the cards from Ace to 10, and then have everyone take one card from each pile. The card approach makes unique characters easier to create without needing to take another choice; rolling dice faces the possibility that you’ll keep rolling the result someone already rolled.

Purpose

Your Purpose describes your place within the Commission. This remains your assigned role at the outset of the game, although you’re free to vary from this if you play more than one adventure.

d10	Purpose	Abilities
1	Crown Adjudicator. You interpret royal law, House charters and the terms of the Accord. You might pardon a prisoner, invalidate an inheritance or condemn a habitat in the Sovereign’s name.	Law (Charter), Debate, Bureaucracy
2	House Envoy. You were raised among dynastic families and understand the rituals, grievances and calculated courtesies of noble society.	Diplomacy, High Society, Perform (Dance)
3	Void Lancer. You are a knight of the March: pilot, duellist and military officer. Whether noble-born or elevated through service, you know how the Houses make war.	Pilot, Discipline, Leadership
4	Mercy Physician. You assess casualties, genetic ailments, environmental damage and the questionable limits of human survival. Your judgement can save a life or make death lawful.	Diagnosis, Surgery, Reassurance
5	Armistice Liaison. You worked directly with rebels, defectors and communities abandoned by the Houses. You know who signed the peace and who merely stopped shooting.	Human Intelligence (HUMINT), Barter, Streetwise
6	Precursor Antiquarian. You study the structures and machines left by the system’s unknown former inhabitants. The Houses call you whenever ancient technology becomes useful or dangerous.	Archaeology, Ciphers, Science (Xenotech)
7	Household Intelligencer. You served within a noble household as observer, investigator and discreet remover of difficulties. You know what servants see and aristocrats overlook.	Infiltration, Surveillance, Detect Lies
8	Keeper of the Seal. You maintain the Commission’s command codes, gene-keys and royal authorisations. Every order issued by the dead Sovereign passes through your hands.	Computer (Security), Devices, Marginalia
9	Charter Engineer. You understand the machinery that allows civilisation to continue: life support, reactors, communications, habitat systems and atmospheric processors.	Mechanics, Electronics, Organisation
10	March Warden. You travelled beyond the settled territories, protecting isolated communities and surveying places where maps, machines and authority become unreliable.	Navigation, Survival (Wilderlands), Hunting

Struggle

Your Struggle records an experience that continues to compromise or trouble you.

d10	Struggle	Abilities
1	Burning Order. During the war, you authorised or carried out an attack upon a outpost, vessel or satellite. You knew this to be necessary. The survivors know your name.	Demolition, Discipline, Fortitude
2	Broken House. Your family supported the losing side of a dynastic dispute. Your title, property or recognised identity was stripped away, although some still consider you the legitimate heir.	Heraldry, Politics, Concealment
3	False Bloodline. Your genealogy was altered, fabricated or concealed. You possess a title, access code or biological inheritance that does not legally belong to you.	Preparedness, Occult Lore, Bloodcode*
4	Mercy’s Cost. You spared someone who went on to cause harm or condemned someone whose innocence became apparent too late. Your judgement never recovered.	First Aid, Persuade, Motivation
5	Rebel Name. You served the insurgency under another identity. Former comrades expect your loyalty, while the Houses would execute you if the truth became public.	Disguise, Petty Theft, Frustrate
6	Precursor Scar. An ancient machine altered your nervous system, memories or genetic structure. You do not know whether the process completed.	Second Sight, Sports (Reaction), Science (Xenobiology)
7	Necessary Addiction. You rely upon stimulants, neural suppressants, longevity treatments or memory-editing compounds to remain capable of fulfilling your duties.	Pharma, Sleight-of-Hand, Synthesis
8	Forged Commission. Your qualifications, military record or royal appointment are false. Someone within the court knows and continues to hold the evidence.	Impersonation, Forgery, Bluff
9	Abandoned Crew. You escaped a wreck, mutiny or failed expedition by leaving others behind. Some may still be alive, waiting beyond the recognised settlements.	Astronomy, Boating (Void), Survival (Void)
10	The Queen’s Last Hour. You were present when Aurelia died. Something you saw suggests foul play and the evidence might implicate you.	Forensics, Deception, Observation

* Bloodcode – read, manipulate or instinctively understand hereditary systems

The science of identifying inherited markers, recognising kinship, tracing ancestry, and spotting alterations in lineage records, generally with a focus on one’s own familial bloodline.

Influence

Your Influence identifies the person, institution or experience that shaped you.

d10	Influence	Abilities
1	The Dowager. The ageing head of a Great House educated, protected or quietly manipulated you. She taught you that every kindness creates an obligation.	Carousing, Influence
2	The Veteran Captain. A military commander taught you how to maintain discipline when orders fail, communications cease and everyone looks to you for an answer.	Signs, Intimidation
3	The Pilgrim Healer. A travelling physician treated House nobles, insurgents and labourers without distinction. You learned that survival often matters more than allegiance.	Natural Medicine, Ministration
4	The Dockside Guild. Engineers, loaders and vessel crews took you in. They taught you how the system actually functions beneath its heraldry and ceremony.	Logistics, Bargaining
5	The Terraforming Clans. You lived among communities that maintain the soil, water and atmosphere while distant nobles claim ownership of their work.	Farming, Science (Terraforming)
6	The Archive Custodian. A scholar of forgotten treaties and corrupted records taught you that governments survive by deciding which version of history remains accessible.	Computer (Science), Antiquity
7	The Rebel Household. A family outside the Charter sheltered you. They taught you how ordinary people survive inspections, requisitions and noble promises.	Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), Survival (Urban)
8	The Silent Machine. You encountered an active Precursor intelligence—or something sufficiently complex to appear intelligent. Its obtuse outputs continue to guide your actions.	Astrology, Puzzling
9	The Court Chronicler. A celebrated writer, performer or propagandist taught you how stories create heroes, legitimise rulers and transform defeat into sacrifice.	Perform (Storytelling), Folklore
10	The Free Trader. An independent shipmaster showed you a world beyond House entitlement, where favours, information and scarce cargo matter more than ancestry.	Commerce, Appraisal

Close to Your Heart

As per Sanction standard, all player characters have 3 Hits.

The setting invites the selection of a multi-barrelled name and a very minor title.

Additionally, every player can choose to roll for an heirloom object whose importance lies entirely in who owned it, where it came from, or what it reminds the Commissioner of. The item has no mechanical benefit or value other than sentimental, but miay serve as a narrative crutch for storytelling or connection with a non-player character.

d12	Heirloom
1	A signet ring from a House that no longer exists, worn almost smooth.
2	A small portrait wafer showing a parent, sibling or lover.
3	A charm made from scrap, wire and coloured glass, gifted when you left home.
4	A military service token belonging to someone who never returned from the war.
5	A folding pocket watch that stopped at the exact moment of an important event.
6	A scrap of embroidered fabric cut from a ceremonial robe, uniform or banner.
7	A worn navigation marker from the first vessel on which you served.
8	A handwritten paper letter, creased and reread so often illegibility has set in.
9	A carved figure made from stone, bone or wood by someone you once respected.
10	A pair of cufflinks, earrings or collar pins inherited from a relative of noble repute.
11	A cracked data crystal containing a few seconds of distorted audio.
12	An old coin, passed down through generations, with an apocryphal family story.

The Truth is Out There

With Commissioners created, there’s one other element to consider. How does the truth manifest and what impact does it have on the continued existence of the Commission?

Well, like other Genre Setups, such as The Agency, there’s a way to track the underlying threat that simmers away over the flames of your foul ups and indiscretions.

The answer lies in the Secret. And tomorrow’s post.

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How does Privilege figure in your favourite character’s existence? I look forward to reading about it in your RPGaDay post.

#RPGaDAY2026