Facility: Clearance, Redaction, and You

Clearance

Every employee, from the lowest test subjects and janitors to the most dangerous Kappa operatives and Esoteric Assets, are issued identification with a Clearance Level (or just Level) between 0 and 9.

Oversight does not have or need Clearance Level 10. — A.O.

Admin is often forced to issue day passes to Rival Agency liaisons or to Security and Maintenance teams resolving specific issues. These badges are large and clearly marked with a red expiry time stamp 24 hours from issuance.

Many doors, vaults, cabinets, and machines require a passcode that (1d6):

1. Changes daily.
2. Is incredibly difficult to type (roll Admin to input correctly).
3. Pokes fun at a specific employee.
4. Is written somewhere nearby.
5. Hasn’t changed from factory settings.
6. You already know.

L5+ IDs are linked to biometrics in the Facility database. L5+ locks require a number of the following biometric samples equal to their level minus 4.

1. Speech sample
2. Palm print
3. Facial scan
4. Retinal scan
5. DNA sample (saliva)
6. DNA sample (blood)

If you suspect that your biometrics have been compromised due to artefact exposure, please report to Inhuman Resources for a full scan and/or autopsy. — A.O.

L0 — A dog tag, blinking subdermal chip, or visitor sticker.
L1 —  An employee ID and a keyfob, typically worn together on a lanyard. Includes location tracker, can be loaded with vending machine bucks.
L2 — An ID badge, typically carried in a wallet. Easily mistaken for local government agency.
L3 — An employee ID issued to team leaders. Still tracked, but has unlimited vending machine bucks.
    
A privilege, not a right. — A.O.

L4 — A nonreactive metal ID card. Etched to maximize legibility in case of severe mangling. Tracked for your safety.
L5 — Biometric ID card issued to Division Chiefs. Isn’t tracked.
L6 — Biometric ID card. Role and department are redacted.

Admin just doesn’t want to admit that some secretaries need to have the same clearance level as moonshot researchers and Kappa team grunts. — A.O.

L7 — Biometric ID card issued to Departmental Directors. Awarded alongside a small congratulatory plaque.

Bugged by Internal Affairs, naturally. — A.O.

L8 — Matte black ID card. Probably legible under UV or something.

If someone flashes this at you, run. They need the exercise. — A.O.

L9 — Biometric ID card issued to the Facility Director.

Redaction

Lots of media in the anomalous containment space leans on redaction as a tool to build horror. This doesn’t work in the tabletop RPG space, or at least, it has to work differently.

If you redact out any amount of information, players will want to know what’s behind it. In a story, video game, or an SCP-style database entry, the best a reader can do is infer the scariest thing they can think of given the space constraints established by the redaction. In tabletop games outside of the storygame milieu, a GM needs better answers than “you tell me”.

Most tabletop RPGs already presume an amount of redaction due to the vast information asymmetry between players and the GM. Therefore, redaction is useful as a visual signifier of information that can be discovered with further effort. The only difference between a monster’s stat block and an anomaly’s case file is the amount visible to the players; the latter is far more transparent.

If the party knows about an object’s perilous aura, but its effective range is redacted, they can take actions to identify that range and act accordingly. If a player approaches an entity without yet having untangled a large redaction in its file, they will be more understanding when it paralyzes them, emits a roomful poison gas, or fades from their memories. Partial documents become valuable loot. Black boxes become a quest log. A feel-bad moment becomes a successful scouting mission.

At the table, use redaction as a puzzle that generates gameplay. Hand your players your prep, liberally marked up. Let them play smart, metagame, and sneak peeks behind the screen. If any place is appropriate to gain extradimensional insights through creative malfeasance, it’s the Facility.

For examples of productive use of redaction, highlight this page.

Janitor

Qualifications
None.

Saves
Weapons +0, Trauma +0, Explosions +0, Contaminants +2, Anomalies +2

Expertise
Cleaning (Normal), Sneak (Physique)

Uniform
L1 ID, blue coveralls, janitor’s cart (buckets, mundane cleaning supplies, push-broom, mop, vacuum, toiletry refills).

Sanitize
With appropriate cleaning agents and ten minutes of vigorous scrubbing, you may roll Normal to remove all hazardous materials from a room. If you fail, you may Salvage the attempt at the risk of becoming exposed to one of those hazards. Whether you succeed or fail on the Salvage attempt, you must save vs. a hazard you cleaned.

You may spend a Break (1 hour) cleaning to automatically succeed at cleaning 1d6 rooms.

This cleaning process produces a bucket of hazardous sludge that inflicts 1d3 wounds to everyone in the splash zone and may cause additional effects based on the originating hazards. You will also have to clean the resulting mess up again.

Nondescript
You are always the lowest priority target for hostile action.