- **Comfort**: This is how relatively satisfied the character is with their situation in life. When you run out of Comfort, you'll face a Mental Crisis. When your character does the things they enjoy, they will gain comfort. Comfort is the closest thing to HP (of D&D fame) in this game.

- **Security**: This is the amount of protection your character has in the dangerous world in which they live. When you run out of Security, you'll roll face a Safety Crisis.

**Marks**: Ratings can earn marks during play. Each mark is a markdown or a markup. When a Rating has three marks, they are removed, and it resolves in a roll to decrease or increase the level. If more markups than markdowns, you roll three six-sided dice. If any result in 6 or exceeds the level, it is increased by one. If more markdowns than markups, roll three six-sided dice; if any come up 1 or lower than the rating, the rating is decreased by 1.

As you take the first step in creating your character, you determine which Volume they belong too. A Volume is like a special book from which you can choose things for your character. Each of the eight Volumes in the game gives your character a place in the Network, but not a specific job. You just answer three simple yes or no questions, and you get the **Volume** given the exact combination. Here are the questions:

1. Does your Operative live under a false identity? _There are many reasons to do so, but this gives life another level of complexity. Operative will end up a Runner, Professional, Insider, or Crusader._

| Fake Id | Killer | Belief | Volume |

| No | Yes | Yes | Rector |

Your Operative belongs to a recognized Religion, and has taken brutal action in the name of the cause, under the direction of Control. This status gives you special dispensation from Control, but the Empire has an active file on your actions and does not approve. Within the Network Crusaders are pretty common, and often seek to promote their Religion via actions in the criminal syndicate. However unlike their brethren the Missionary, they don't usually evangelize their cause.

Your Operative is a Mercenary, a gun for hire. You probably have earned a Duke title from an Empire world, having done a recognized Service for the Empire. Often this means you led an action team and dealt with a Pirate group, making you at least a leader of some manner, and often a soldier. Irregulars comprise a large bulk of the Network, as they are the ones that often directly get their hands dirty.

Your Operative is a Professional killer, assassin for hire. Along with the Rector, the most rare of the Operatives in the network. While you can make a straight-up cold-blooded killer type, that isn't the norm for these Network Operatives. Most Professionals are clever accident makers, employ Net Code, or engineer quick decay poisons to get their work done. These people are often the most feared of the Operatives.

Your Operative reports to a World of the Empire or a Union on the activities of the Network. You are a not-so-secret agent, which is to say that the Network is in general quite aware of your infiltration. You are good at what you do though, and tolerance is granted as long as you play ball with Network Security - known internally as Sec Ops. Even though you work for the given organization of power, its secret work. You don't get any standing or protection, and are in fact walking a very dangerous tightrope every day. To add to you risk, to maintain your security you often have to leak what information you are reporting to a Network handler, which would obviously make your organization quite unhappy with you if ever discovered.