DE

Runners

Your Operatives

Runners — also called Hoods in slang — are the backbone of your organization. They execute your orders, scout areas, raid rivals, and manage your buildings. Without runners, nothing happens.

You can control a maximum of 100 runners, organized into up to 10 teams of 10 members each.

Attributes

Each runner has six core attributes that determine their strengths:

Attribute Abbrev. Description
Strength STR Physical power. Determines melee damage, intimidation, and carry capacity.
Intelligence INT Mental acuity. Influences scouting quality, hacking success, and plan detection.
Stealth STL Ability to remain undetected. Reduces heat buildup and increases stealth action success.
Tech TCH Equipment and technology proficiency. Determines hacking, explosives, and vehicle handling.
Charisma CHA Persuasiveness. Influences recruitment, bribery, and team leadership.
Constitution CON Resilience. Determines max HP, stress resistance, and recovery speed.

Dynamic States

Beyond fixed attributes, each runner has four status values that change constantly:

Status Range Meaning
Loyalty (LOY) 0–100 How loyal the runner is to you. Below 40: unreliable — may execute orders sloppily. Below 20: refuses orders or deserts.
Hit Points (HP) 0–max Health. At 0 the runner dies. Regenerates slowly, faster with a safehouse.
Stress (STRS) 0–100 Psychological strain. High stress reduces performance and loyalty. Chronic stress leads to breakdowns.
Heat (HEAT) 0–100 Individual heat level. Independent from sector heat. High heat = arrest risk on every action.

Loyalty is the most critical value. A runner with high heat and low LOY is a ticking time bomb — they might testify against you if arrested.

Recruitment

You find new runners via a 2-day cycle:

Day 1: Send a recruiter to a venue — a bar, harbor, university, or fight club. Different venues attract different runner types:

Venue Typical Runners
Bar / Nightclub All-rounders, street fighters (high STR/CON)
Harbor / Docks Smugglers, physical workers (STR/CON)
University / Tech Hub Hackers, planners (INT/TCH)
Fight Club / Arena Elite fighters (STR/CON), low INT
Luxury Restaurant Charmers, con artists (CHA/INT)

Day 2: You receive 0 to 3 candidates to choose from. Review their attributes and decide who to hire.

Emergency Recruitment

All runners dead or in jail? For $5,000 you can immediately recruit a random baseline runner. Stats are below average, but better than nothing.

Teams

Runners are organized into teams. Each team has a team leader whose CHA value determines how many runners they can effectively coordinate (delegation capacity).

The advantage of teams: you can issue team-wide orders instead of controlling each runner individually. “Team Alpha: patrol Sector 7” is one command — all members execute it.

Leveling Up

Runners accumulate XP through completed missions. The maximum level is 20.

Milestone What happens
Every level +2 to +5 on a random attribute
Level 5 The runner gets a nickname (e.g. “Iron Mike”, “Ghost”)
Level 10 Promotion to Lieutenant — can directly lead 2 sub-runners

Higher levels mean better success rates, but also higher loyalty expectations. A Level 15 veteran who is underpaid deserts faster than a rookie.

Special Roles

Two special positions exist outside the 100-runner limit:

Lawyer

Accountant

Both roles are critical for long-term success. Without a lawyer, you lose assets every arrest. Without an accountant, laundering fees eat your margins.

Manager Role

You can station a runner as a manager in a building. This is mandatory — a building without a manager generates $0.

Note: Managers of illegal operations (drug lab, weapons cache, fence shop) passively accumulate heat just from working there. Rotate your managers regularly to distribute heat.