Muscle

A dangerous and intimidating fighter

Most crews have one. The Agitare Nexus isn’t a safe place, and when negotiations and slick words fail, it’s time for blasters, ship cannons, and close, swift violence. You are the crew’s ability to apply force. Your presence dissuades drawn weapons and your strength ends violent conversations. You can be a protector, enforcer, boarder, or quiet threat on the back burner. But you cannot be ignored.
When you play a Muscle, you earn xp when you address challenges with force or threats. Make sure everyone knows that violence and intimidation are always options, and you stand ready to deliver. When things fall apart, show them how it’s done.
Do you have a personal code that you follow? Times you won’t apply violence no matter the cost? What caused you to throw your lot in with the crew and not seek employment as a soldier?

Starting Ability

Unstoppable

You can push yourself to do one of the following: perform a feat of physical force that verges on the superhuman—engage a small gang on equal footing in close combat.
When you push yourself to activate this ability, you still get one of the normal benefits of pushing yourself (+1d, +1 effect, etc.) in addition to the special ability. A superhuman feat is one a regular person could not do unassisted, such as tearing apart metal handcuffs. If you engage a small gang on equal footing, you have equal scale.

Special Ability

Wrecking Crew

Your strength and ferocity are infamous. When striking in melee, you gain +1d. Whenever you spend a gambit in combat, you also gain +1 effect on that action.
Whether you are a master of a martial arts, or raised by mystics to fight with antique weapons, your martial prowess in close combat is legendary (and may attract those that wish to learn from or challenge you). If you spend a gambit in combat, take +1 effect on that action. This can hit a single opponent harder or offset penalties from scale or quality. This also stacks with the +1d from the gambit and the +1d from the core Wrecking Crew ability.

Backup

An ally’s push costs 1 stress (not 2) on any action you set up or assist.
The set up and assist actions (see page 158) still grant their bonus dice or effect as usual.

Battleborn

You may expend your special armor to reduce harm from an attack in combat, or to push yourself during a fight.
When you use this ability, tick the special armor box on your sheet. “Reducing harm” means reducing the harm one level. If you use this ability to push yourself, you get one of the benefits (+1d, +1 effect, act despite severe harm) but don’t take 2 stress. Your special armor is restored when you select your load at the start of a job.

Bodyguard

When you protect a crewmate, resist with +1d. When you take harm, clear 1 stress
The protect teamwork maneuver (see page 158) lets you face a consequence for a teammate.

Flesh Wound If you’re wounded at the beginning of downtime, mark +3 segments on your healing clock. When you push yourself to ignore wound penalties, it takes only 1 stress (not 2).
Whether naturally tough or augmented in some way, wounds don’t keep you down. See Recover on page 187 for more information.

Predator

Take +1d to rolls against weakened or vulnerable targets. Whenever you gather information on a weakness or vulnerability, the worst you can get is a 4/5 result.
You know how to leverage fear, pain, and vulnerability to get your way. When trying to suss out such things in a person, you usually come up with something, even if the information isn’t immediately useful or is incomplete. Someone in a vulnerable state might be drugged, trusting, badly wounded, or frightened.

Ready for anything

When being ambushed, you gain potency to all actions during a flashback, and your first flashback costs 0 stress.
You always expect ambushes and prepare for them. Flash back to such preparation when an ambush happens. If your preparation requires action rolls, you gain potency on them.

Scary

You have an air of menace and danger obvious to even the most unobservant. You gain potency when trying to intimidate someone. If done immediately after a show of force, also take +1d
You instill fear in those around you, particularly when you get violent. How they react depends on them. Some will flee from you, some will be impressed, some will get violent in return. The GM judges the response of a given NPC. Intimidation is usually handled with a COMMAND roll, and your efforts to do so are more successful if you show you mean business.

Muscle Items

Muscles are particular about their weapons. If you have more than one Muscle in the crew, feel free to fill in your own weapon names. Here are a few suggestions:
Blink, Checkmate, Echo, Ender, Equalizer, Ghost, Itchy, Malice, Mercy, Pride, Thorn, Thunder, Tickle, Twitch, Whisper, Wynona.

• Krieger, a fine blaster pistol. As a friend or ally, this signature pistol can be used during downtime to threaten or intimidate. As an enemy, someone else owns it and it’s carrying a bullet for you. You know this gun intimately —from where or why? [1 LOAD]
• Vera, a fine sniper rifle. A full-bore auto-lock with customized trigger, double cartridge, thorough gauge. It can fire mystic ammunition. Did you customize this yourself, special order it, take it off a body, or is it a gift from someone? [2 LOAD]
• Zmei, a fine flamethrower. For those times when you really need to heat things up. Settings for regular and extra crispy. Not easy to hide. Attacks cover the area of a small room (and leave distinct scorch marks that may result in additional HEAT). Complications when getting shot may include the fuel tanks rupturing. What sweet decals or marks does it have? [2 LOAD]
• Sunder, a fine vibro-blade. Cuts through almost any material. Decorated. Knife or dueling blade. What design is etched on the blade? Did you claim it, or rightfully earn it? [1 LOAD]
• Zarathustra, a detonator launcher. Fires detonators at high velocity. Detonators are illegal, so this generates HEAT when fired. Can be used to target/damage vehicles and structures. Not subtle. Batteries included, but detonators marked separately. [2 LOAD]
• Fine martial arts style. Your own custom blend of combat techniques, unique as a fingerprint. Where and with whom did you first train? What is your style called? Have you had any pupils? [0 LOAD]
• Mystic ammunition. A large-caliber shell, designed to be fired from a specialized gun that releases mystic energies when it hits. Grants potency against mystic targets. Who makes your mystic bullets? Why are they potent against Way energies? [0 LOAD]

PLAYING A MUSCLE

Your command of violence is both a blessing and a curse. Your relationship with conflict puts you in harm’s way more often than your crewmates; it’s not uncommon for a Muscle to be nursing an injury even at the start of a job. This is, of course, offset by your general physical dominance.
Think about your style of fighting . Are you a brute with rippling muscles and a fearsome reputation? Or perhaps part of a monastic order that trains with the Way? Do you train for zero-G combat? Are you just an unyielding wall, protecting your crew from all comers? These tell a story about who you are and how you came to be known for your ability to fight, and can be reflected in Muscle ability choices.
Whatever the reason, you’re part of the crew, there’s no doubt that you’re going to be their go-to for when a fight breaks out. Play that up. Consider if you’re also the person training the crew for the day when you might not be there to bail them out. Equally important is how you feel about the violence you wreak. You might be excited for each opportunity to cut loose or you might dread each fight for what you might have to do.
For actions, you may want to pick up HELM, if you want to shoot ship weapons, or STUDY, if you’re looking to read your opponents before engaging. You can sense killing intent with ATTUNE, or deal with Precursor or Way elements threatening your crew.
For Veteran abilities, take the Mystic’s Psy-Blade or Kinetics if you’re looking to be a mystical fighter. For a leadership role, look at the Pilot’s Commander. And if you are looking to stand strong against all threats, keep an eye on the Scoundrel’s Tenacious ability.

XENO MUSCLES

From Worf to D’Argo to Chewbacca, aliens mighty in a fight have been a staple of the space opera genre. The Muscle’s starting ability is significant, but many xenos have strength far beyond that of a normal human. Some may have more limbs, or adaptations for harsh environments. Consider how your xeno heritage might make you a more useful Muscle, and talk with your table about how you want to use your Xeno ability.
Equally interesting are the limitations that your xeno lineage has. These limitations can be ways for you to help your crew generate gambits, or even just add flavor to the story. Does your species hate hot environments, including the forest world of Aketi? What does the Galactic Union think of your people?

Type

Military