COMMAND REFERENCE
84 commands across 13 categories. Die-gated commands show a requirement — your attribute die must meet or exceed the threshold.
Commands are case-insensitive. Arguments in <angle brackets> are required. Arguments in [square brackets] are optional.
Type the leading slash. The syntax column below omits it for readability — prepend it before you send. /district reads the District Guide; district with no slash is spoken aloud to everyone in the room, verbatim. Anything you type without a / is speech.
Movement
Navigate between rooms and zones. Direction words and single-letter abbreviations both work.
| Command | Aliases | Syntax | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| north | n | north | Move north. | — |
| south | s | south | Move south. | — |
| east | e | east | Move east. | — |
| west | w | west | Move west. | — |
| up | u | up | Move up (ladders, stairs, vents). | — |
| down | d | down | Move down. | — |
| in | — | in | Enter a structure or enclosed space. | — |
| out | — | out | Exit a structure or enclosed space. | — |
| look | l | look | Redisplay the current room description, exits, and visible entities. | — |
Combat
Opposed dice-pool combat using Cortex Prime mechanics. Attribute + Approach vs. target's Javelin pool. Stress accumulates across Physical, Mental, and Signal tracks.
| Command | Aliases | Syntax | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| attack | kill, hit | attack <target> [approach] | Initiate or continue combat with a target. Optionally specify an approach (forceful, quick, clever, quiet, daring) as the last word to shape your roll. | — |
| flee | run | flee [approach] | Attempt to escape an active combat scene. Specify an approach to influence your escape roll. | — |
| hack | — | hack <target> <hack_type> | Execute a quickhack on a target. hack_type specifies the attack variant (e.g. burnout, ghost, disrupt). | — |
| use | — | use <item> | Activate an item — consumables, medkits, grenades, or signature assets — in or out of combat. | — |
| scan | — | scan <target> | Scan a target to reveal their stress tracks, trauma count, and equipped gear. | — |
| declare | — | declare <goal> using <attribute>/<approach> [risking <stress>] [push] | State a goal out loud and roll it against your district's published opposition. The pool is one attribute die (physical, mental, social, ghost) plus one approach die (forceful, quick, clever, quiet, daring). risking names the stress track you pay on a failure — physical, mental, or signal — and defaults to the one your attribute maps to. push marks a box on that track up front for an extra die, but raises the opposition to the district's breach ceiling. Example: declare crack the vault using mental/clever risking mental push. | — |
Commerce
Buy, sell, and trade in the shop network. Prices shift dynamically with scarcity and your faction standing.
| Command | Aliases | Syntax | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| shop | store | shop | List the current room's shop inventory and prices. Only works in rooms with a vendor agent. | — |
| buy | purchase | buy <item> | Purchase an item from the shop agent in the current room. | — |
| sell | — | sell <item> | Sell an item from your inventory to the shop agent in the current room. | — |
| trade | — | trade <target> <item> | Initiate a direct item trade with another player. | — |
Inventory
Manage everything you carry. Pick up, drop, equip, examine, and organize items. Favorited items are protected from accidental sells and drops.
| Command | Aliases | Syntax | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| inventory | inv, i | inventory | List all items currently in your inventory. | — |
| gear | equipment, eq | gear | List your currently equipped items and their die ratings. | — |
| get | take, pick, pickup | get <item> | get all [container] | Pick up an item from the ground. Use 'get all' to pick up everything, or 'get all <container>' to loot a specific container. | — |
| drop | — | drop <item> | drop <count> <item> | Drop an item from your inventory to the ground. Specify a count to partially drop a stack. | — |
| give | — | give <item> to <target> | give <target> <item> | Give an item from your inventory to an agent or another player. | — |
| equip | wear, wield | equip <item> | Equip an item from your inventory into its appropriate slot. | — |
| unequip | remove, unwield | unequip <item> | Remove an equipped item back into your inventory. | — |
| examine | inspect, read | examine <item> | Examine an item in detail — reveals its stats, SFX, die rating, and flavor text. | — |
| search | loot, rummage, open | search <container> | Search a container (desk, locker, crate, body) for hidden items. | — |
| sort | — | sort [rarity|category|name|value] | Sort your inventory. Defaults to category if no mode is given. | — |
| favorite | fav, pin, unfavorite, unfav, unpin | favorite <item> | Toggle a favorite/pin on an item. Pinned items sort to the top and are protected from accidental drops and sells. | — |
Crafting
Build, repair, and upgrade gear at workbenches. Experimental crafting lets you combine components without a recipe at higher risk.
| Command | Aliases | Syntax | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| craft | build, make, assemble, ripperdoc | craft <item> | craft | Craft an item from components at a workbench. Running 'craft' without arguments shows available recipes. | — |
| recipes | crafting | recipes | List all available crafting recipes you have the components and skills for. | — |
| repair | fix, mend | repair <item> | Restore a damaged item's durability at a workbench. | — |
| upgrade | enhance | upgrade <item> | Attempt to upgrade an item's die rating at a workbench. | — |
| experiment | tinker, combine | experiment <components> | Combine components without a recipe. Rolls Mental + Clever vs. d10. Success produces a useful item; failure may destroy components. | — |
Crime
Theft, lockpicking, bounties, and concealment. Every crime has witnesses. Every witness has a memory. The Wire is watching.
| Command | Aliases | Syntax | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| steal | pickpocket, rob | steal <item> from <target> | steal <target> <item> | Attempt to steal an item from another entity. Rolls Quiet vs. target's awareness. Failure triggers a crime flag. | — |
| lockpick | pick | lockpick <exit> | Attempt to pick a locked exit using lockpicking tools. | — |
| conceal | hide | conceal <item> | Hide an item on your person to evade checkpoint scans and searches. | — |
| dead_drop | stash | dead_drop <item> <description> | Hide an item as a dead drop in the current room, accessible only to someone who knows the description. | — |
| post_bounty | bounty_post | post_bounty <target> <amount> | Post a CREDS bounty on a target player or agent. Bounty is paid to whoever delivers the mark. | — |
| bounties | bounty_list, bounty | bounties | List all currently active bounties in the world. | — |
Survival
Three need tracks — hunger, thirst, rest — degrade constantly. Neglect them and your dice shrink.
| Command | Aliases | Syntax | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eat | consume | eat <food item> | Eat a food item from your inventory to reduce hunger. | — |
| drink | sip | drink <beverage> | Drink a beverage from your inventory to reduce thirst. | — |
| rest | nap | rest | Rest in the current room for partial recovery. You remain interactive but recover some rest. | — |
| sleep | — | sleep | Sleep in the current room for full rest recovery. You become inactive and vulnerable until you wake. | — |
| gamble | bet, wager | gamble <amount> | Gamble CREDS at a Recreation room. Win or lose based on a dice contest. | — |
Character
View your character's current state — attributes, stress, equipped gear, and unlocked skills.
| Command | Aliases | Syntax | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stats | attributes | stats | Display your attributes (Physical, Mental, Social, Ghost), approach die sizes, stress tracks, and trauma count. | — |
| skills | — | skills | List all unlocked skill tree nodes and their current die ratings. | — |
| legacy | legends, stories | legacy | Check what stories agents tell about your dead characters. Retired characters leave marks on the world. | — |
Perception
Observe, identify, and sense beyond the visible. Some abilities require GHOST signal presence.
| Command | Aliases | Syntax | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| analyze | study | analyze <target> | Learn a target agent's attribute and approach die sizes. | Clever d8+ |
| appraise | value | appraise <item> | Determine the true market value of an item, bypassing vendor markup. | Clever d8+ |
| diagnose | — | diagnose <target> | Identify infrastructure problems — failing systems, leaking pipes, overloaded nodes. | Mental d8+ |
| attune | listen | attune | Listen to the Substrate — the ambient GHOST signal. Reveals hidden presences and emotional echoes in the room. | Ghost d8+ |
| substrate_sense | sense | substrate_sense | Detect entities in adjacent rooms through GHOST signal resonance. | Ghost d10+ |
| district | districts | district [<zone>] | Read the District Guide — the static, published control and breach dice for every charted system in a zone, plus its toughest ICE. These are the same numbers terminal control and terminal breach roll against, and the same opposition a declare is measured by. No argument reads the district you are standing in; otherwise name the zone three ways: part of its name (glowline, or warrens for Black Market Warrens), its number, 1 to 20, or the Z-form the maps and lore pages use — z17, Z17, Z01. Example: district glowline. | — |
Communication
Reach across zones, broadcast to factions, and route messages through the GHOST signal network.
| Command | Aliases | Syntax | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dm | pm, msg, message | dm <target> <message> | dm "Full Name" <message> | Direct-message anyone in the world by name — reaches across zones, unlike whisper. Wrap a multi-word name in double quotes: dm "Asha Osei" the studio is burned. | — |
| signal | transmit | signal <target> <message> | Send a cross-zone message via the GHOST signal network. | Ghost d6+ |
| relay | — | relay <target> <message> | Send a cross-zone message via signal with stronger amplification. | Ghost d10+ |
| faction_say | fsay | faction_say <message> | Broadcast a message to all faction allies currently in the same zone. | — |
| write | inscribe, note | write <text> | Write text onto a blank item (Scrap Paper) to create a readable note. | — |
| teach | train, mentor | teach <target> <skill> | Teach another player a skill pair from your unlocked tree. Both parties must be in the same room. | — |
| crew | crews | crew | crew status | crew roster [<crew>] | crew form <name> | crew join <crew> | crew leave | crew <message> | Your durable social unit — a crew you share turf, standing, and heat with. Bare crew (or crew status) shows your crew's name, turf, founder, and heat. roster reads the members of your crew, or of any crew named by name or number. form founds a new crew if you are crewless; join enrolls you in an existing one; leave walks away, and a founder leaving hands the crew to its oldest member or dissolves it. Anything else you type after crew is a private crew-channel broadcast to your online members, wherever they are: crew regroup at the docks. | — |
| terminal | term, jack, access | terminal send <name>|"Full Name" <message> | terminal read | logs | intel <faction> | camera <zone> | control <system> | breach <system> | news | Jack into a fixed Access Terminal. send routes encrypted mail — quote a multi-word handle: terminal send "Kess Aldar" the drop is blown. read drains your inbox; logs pulls the local event record; intel opens a faction dossier; camera taps a zone feed; control overrides infrastructure; breach cracks ICE (a failed roll bites back with stress); news pulls the latest editions. | — |
Property
Claim rooms as personal territory and install defensive upgrades. Property grants respawn anchors and passive income.
| Command | Aliases | Syntax | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| claim | squat | claim | Claim the current room as personal property. Requires an unclaimed or abandoned room. | — |
| install | place | install <item> | Install an item as a room upgrade — locks, alarm systems, turrets, or utility fixtures. | — |
Specialization
Advanced abilities gated behind attribute die thresholds. Build your character toward these to unlock them.
| Command | Aliases | Syntax | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| breach | kick | breach <door> | Kick down a locked door or barricade through sheer force. | Physical d8+ |
| grapple | restrain, grab | grapple <target> | Restrain a target in combat, preventing them from acting freely. | Physical d10+ |
| fortify | barricade | fortify <system> | Shore up failing infrastructure in the current zone (water, power, comms) — a Physical feat of repair that pushes back the danger clock. | Physical d8+ |
| break | smash, destroy | break <object> | Destroy objects and containers through brute force. | Forceful d10+ |
| decrypt | decode | decrypt <item> | Read and decode encrypted messages or data shards. | Mental d8+ |
| forge | counterfeit | forge <document> | Create counterfeit documents — ID chips, permits, faction credentials. | Mental d10+ |
| override | bypass | override <lock> | Bypass electronic locks and security systems without physical lockpicks. | Mental d10+ |
| recruit | hire | recruit <npc> | Convince an agent to follow you temporarily as a companion. | Social d8+ |
| apologize | sorry, apology | apologize <npc> | Apologize to a nearby agent to repair their disposition toward you. Costs one Plot Point. | 1 Plot Point |
| broker | mediate | broker <npc1> <npc2> | Mediate a dispute between two agents to shift their dispositions toward each other. | Social d10+ |
| rumor_plant | plant_rumor, spread | rumor_plant <rumor> | Plant a fabricated rumor into the social network. It will spread and shift agent behaviors. | Social d10+ |
| ambush | — | ambush <target> | Strike from stealth for a guaranteed first-strike advantage, bypassing initiative. | Quiet d8+ |
| shadow | follow, tail | shadow <target> | Follow an agent or player undetected through multiple rooms. | Quiet d8+ |
| taunt | provoke | taunt <target> | Provoke a target into attacking you, forcing them to engage rather than flee or ignore. | Daring d10+ |
| intercept | block | intercept <target> | Cut off a target's movement, preventing them from fleeing the current room. | Quick d10+ |
Wire (DM) commands — narrate, spend_doom, complicate, force_stress, detain, release, quarantine, dispatch_enforcer, flag_behavior — are parsed by the engine but only execute when issued by the Wire DM task. Player sessions that issue Wire commands receive a permission error.
Social
Speak, gesture, and build relationships. All speech is visible to everyone in the room. Agent disposition shifts based on what they hear.