The Squad starts out with six mercenaries led by the Cyber Knight. This crew can be expanded over time. The Barracks can hold up to 18 crew members, plus the Face and the Cyber Knight. Members can be fired, and new mercenaries can be recruited. Recruits come from several sources.
For a list of all possible recruits, see Mercenaries.
Sources of Recruits[edit | edit source]
By Introduction[edit | edit source]
A current Squad member can introduce an old friend. An event appears on the Timeline announcing a request by a squad member. In the event Dialog, the mercenary tells the Knight that an old friend is looking for a job. The mercenary thinks their friend would be a good addition to the crew. Generally the friend comes from the same Faction as the introducing merc. After the introduction, the profiles for the mercenary and the recruit will include the friendly relationship between them. The event proceeds into the usual recruiting Dialog.
The profile for the recruit becomes available in the Barracks as soon as the Dialog appears on the Timeline. This allows the team to evaluate the potential recruit before talking with them.
Only a very limited number of potential recruits are available by introduction. If the Barracks already has 14 crew members, there will be no more introductions to potential recruits. With the small number of recruits available by introduction, this is not likely to happen.
From a Mission[edit | edit source]
During a Mission, the Squad may encounter someone who could become a new recruit. Often the Squad will know about the possibility of recruiting the person, but sometimes they only learn that later. The potential recruit might be someone the team is rescuing. Other times they may be an opponent or a target in the Mission.
If the potential recruit returns from the Mission with the Squad, there will be a post-Victory Dialog with the person. Part of the Dialog will bring up the possibility of joining the team. The potential recruit will go to a safe place while the Squad recovers from the Mission and thinks about the recruit. An event will appear on the Timeline to open a recruiting Dialog.
In these cases, the profile for the recruit becomes available in the Barracks as soon as the Mission event appears on the Timeline, i.e. immediately after finishing the Dialog which introduced the Mission. This allows the team to evaluate the potential recruit before talking with them.
A very few recruits do not become immediately available after the Mission in which they were encountered. Instead, an opportunity to recruit them appears on the Timeline sometime later, perhaps long after the Mission.
In these rare cases, the profile for the recruit does not become available in the Barracks until the recruitment event unexpectedly appears on the Timeline. Note that, the recruit has already been generated but is not visible to the Squad until the recruitment event goes onto the Timeline.
Only a limited number of potential recruits can be encountered during Missions.
Through the Underworld Hub[edit | edit source]
The Underworld Hub provides the means to seek out potential recruits of specific Classes. Invoking recruitment in the Underworld Hub opens a list of Classes. Selecting a Class will open a Dialog saying a potential recruit has been found. A new event will appear on the Timeline to open a recruiting Dialog.
The profile of the recruit becomes available in the Barracks as soon as the Dialog says that a recruit has been found. his allows the team to evaluate the potential recruit before talking with them.
Only a limited number of recruits can be found through the Underworld Hub. If more than one recruit is available in a selected Class, which recruit appears will be random. If no more recruits are available in a particular Class, that Class cannot be selected. The recruit list in the Underworld Hub will not get repopulated.
Recruitment Dialog[edit | edit source]
The recruitment Dialog opens with an introduction to the recruit. They share some of their background and why they would like a job on the team. The backstory usually suggests both strengths and risks they could bring to the team. The discussion then proceeds to hard questions.
Usually the Dialog gives an opportunity to select one leveled Trait for the recruit. The Knight asks how some aspect of their story reflects what they can bring to the Squad. The Dialog offers three choices with a text explanation and specific information on the Trait that would be gained. A few mercenaries do not offer a choice; in these cases, either the Trait is fixed or it is selected randomly from three options. The Trait is always positive though it may have some negative aspects.
The Dialog then usually give the opportunity to choose a background Tag. Again there are three choices with a text explanation and specific information about the Tag. For some recruits, this tag is negative, at least in the short term - an enemy, a weakness, a feature that is in the way but may become useful in the future. A few mercs do not offer the chance to choose a Tag.
At the end of the Dialog, the Knight and the Face have a brief discussion. They can offer the recruit a position in the Squad, reject them, or delay a decision.
Very important! If the recruit is rejected, or if the Timeline event is permitted to expire without opening the Dialog, the recruit disappears and will not be available again.
Recruit Details[edit | edit source]
Details about every potential recruit can be found at Mercenaries. Each recruit has starting Attributes determined by their Backstory and their Traits. Recruits usually have two leveled Traits. One Trait is fixed. The second Trait (if present) is either fixed or is selected from three options. Usually the recruitment Dialog offers the chance to choose the Trait, but a few recruits have the second Trait selected randomly.
Recruits will also have several Tags. Many of these Tags represent relationships with Factions, with other Squad members, or with Contacts. Other tags represent specific affinities or experiences which may have an impact on the future.
Recruits in Classes which require Cyberware will always start with the necessary Cyberware. Sometimes they will start a unique version of the Class Cyberware, unavailable from any other source. Some recruits may start with additional Cyberware, which may or may not be functional.
Most new recruits start with a fraction of the Experience Points of the rest of the Squad. By default, a recruit starts with 80% of the average XP of the Squad. Face talents may add a bonus to starting Experience Points. Some recruits are considered Veterans who get a bonus to starting XP.