Make Them Blink First
Provocative Behavior and the Art of Forcing Surveillance to Reveal Itself
In systems of total control, institutional silence is rarely passive. Surveillance watches — but it doesn’t always act. Unless something forces it to blink first. Provocative Behavior is more than a tactical action: it’s a latency test, a rehearsal of rupture, a living probe into the system from within.
Provoking the System: A Rebel’s Covert Scan
This is the first draft of Provocative Behavior, a narrative-action table designed to expand the tactical layer of Covert Ops. But it acquires deeper meaning when seen through the lens of a rebel character who still operates inside the very system they seek to subvert.
Unlike declared insurgents or active cells, this agent must maintain an appearance of normalcy — or at least, of irrelevance. They cannot break openly with the system, because they still depend on functional invisibility: a false identity, institutional disguise, or peripheral role within larger structures.
In this context, the goal is not direct confrontation, but quiet testing — probing the scale, density, and nature of the surveillance net surrounding them.
The rebel must remain embedded. They can’t expose themselves, yet neither can they afford to stay inert. That’s where Provocative Behavior comes in — a tool for diagnosis. A living scanner of institutional response. Every gesture, every deliberate repetition, every subtle discord woven into routine behavior acts as a stimulus, triggering silent observers to blink.
The aim isn’t to dismantle the entire network, but to locate micro-breaches and map the margins of maneuverability.
🟨 Manipulative – Provocative Behavior
Skill: Deception (🔷🔷)
Type: Executory
Opponent: Discipline
Description: The character attempts to advance their agenda through seemingly innocuous behavior, adopting eccentric or repetitive actions that provoke passive surveillance agents to reveal themselves.
🎖️ or ✨ — 1 Triumph or 1 Advantage
Choose 1:
🪙 Marginal Favor
Narrative: Subtle manipulation of the environment activates a peripheral contact or discreetly exploits a social element (e.g., storing a package, simulating a delivery).
Mechanics: Pay 50 credits to perform a low-risk narrative action (e.g., minor local favor, unregulated purchase, or brief cover task). No additional roll required if contextually plausible.
🛡 Circumstantial Alibi
Narrative: A precisely timed action causes sensors or bystanders to perceive the character as legitimate in the environment.
Mechanics: Remove ⬛ from the next Deception test during a security check or questioning.
🧠 Reaction Analysis
Narrative: The character tracks surveillance responses, logging timing and nature of reactions.
Mechanics: Remove ⬛ from a future Stealth-related test against the same watcher.
🎖️ or ✨✨ — 1 Triumph or 2 Advantages
Choose 1:
🌀 Unusual Reflex
Narrative: A subtle pattern (e.g., tying a shoe, store detour) confuses the watcher, forcing them to increase discretion.
Mechanics: Add 🟦 to the next Provocative Behavior action.
📡 Diverted Focus
Narrative: The character moves into a crowded area, briefly redirecting surveillance to other stimuli.
Mechanics: Perform a Stealth-based Covert Op immediately with ✨ granted automatically.
🎭 Triggered Decoy
Narrative: The character introduces a false trail, object, or pattern that misleads surveillance toward a secondary target.
Mechanics: Grant ✨ to a designated contact's next Provocative Behavior. Next Local Intelligence Network suffers ⬛.
🎖️ or ✨✨✨ — 1 Triumph or 3 Advantages
Choose 1:
🚪 Breach in Coverage
Narrative: A momentary gap opens — a blind spot, blocked camera, or overlapping event — enabling safe maneuver.
Mechanics: Stealth vs. Perception with 🟦. On 💥, immediately perform a Covert Action with ✨.
👁 Exploited Blind Spot
Narrative: The character identifies an area with minimal surveillance due to poor angle or operational risk.
Mechanics: Perform a Covert Op in that area with normal difficulty and no active opposition.
🧩 Identified Pattern
Narrative: Surveillance reveals a repeatable element — uniform, posture, sensor type.
Mechanics: Gain 1 Identity Fragment on the watcher.
↪ Subtle Redirection
Narrative: The character discreetly shifts surveillance focus to another person, area, or signal.
Mechanics: Reduce the difficulty of a Provocative Behavior action by -🔷 until end of encounter.
🎖️ — 1 Triumph
Choose 1:
🧬 Cross-Matched Profiles
Mechanics: Gain 2 Identity Fragments from distinct surveillance agents.
🎭 Stabilized Persona
Narrative: The character’s routine becomes so convincing, they’re perceived as background noise.
Mechanics: Can perform a Covert Op in this zone without opposition until the end of the encounter.
🎖️🎖️ — 2 Triumphs
📉 Operational Dead Zone
Narrative: The character exposes an entire surveillance segment as misaligned or poorly coordinated.
Mechanics: Declare a subzone (block, terminal, station floor) where all Covert Ops ignore opposition unless an alert is triggered. Add 🟦 to tests in this area.
🕸 Network Disjunction
Narrative: Precision stimuli overload surveillance cells — causing redundancy, hesitation, or temporary blackout.
Mechanics: Until a new agent is officially reassigned (next operational day or via special resource), no opposition tests apply during this turn.
🗺 Reverse Mapping
Narrative: The character reconstructs the structure behind surveillance through its patterns and reactions.
Mechanics: Gain 1 Structural Clue, which can be spent to:
Add 🟦🟦 to daily Covert Ops in this location
Reduce -🔷 on an Aggressive Covert Op against the structure (checkpoint, base, outpost)
💀 or ⚠️ — 1 Threat
🔒 Rigid Pattern
Narrative: Attempted “naturalness” appears forced.
Mechanics: Take 1 Strain. Add ⚠️ to next Deception, Charm, or Negotiation test.
🕰 Premature Signal
Narrative: The provocation begins too early or at the wrong time.
Mechanics: Take 1 Strain. Next Provocative Behavior gets +1 🔷.
💀 or ⚠️⚠️ — 2 Threats
🚨 Too Noticeable
Narrative: The eccentric behavior draws unwanted civilian or sensor attention.
Mechanics: 1 Strain. Gain ⬛ on Deception, Stealth, or Disguise until end of scene.
💢 Broken Routine
Narrative: The persona contradicts previous behavior.
Mechanics: 1 Strain. Lose access to Craft a Legend and Stabilized Persona effects in this zone for the rest of the encounter.
💀 or ⚠️⚠️⚠️ — 3 Threats
📍Tracker Triggered
Narrative: The character passed through a sensitive node, raising suspicion.
Mechanics: 1 Strain. The GM marks this zone as “active suspicion” — all Covert Ops here suffer +1 🔷 for the rest of the session.
👁 Primary Attention
Narrative: The system assigns direct surveillance on the character.
Mechanics: 1 Strain. Add ⬛ to all Covert Ops until location is changed.
💀 — 1 Despair
🕵️ False Confidence
Narrative: The character believes they passed as natural — and acts prematurely.
Mechanics: Cancel any active Craft a Legend. Immediately perform a Covert Op matching the character’s dominant narrative trait.
💀💀 — 2 Despairs
💀 Persona Collapse
Narrative: Confidence turns into silent collapse.
Mechanics: Cancel Craft a Legend. Immediately perform a Covert Op matching the third identity trait (if present).