Slots 419 of the Mortality Surveyors Tabard

Lore: In the high-risk floating sectors of Saṃsāra, insurance is not merely a financial safety net but a literal shield against the chaotic nature of the Great Steam. The Mortality Surveyor’s Tabard is the standard issue for field actuaries tasked with calculating the “Value of Survival” in dangerous environments. The fabric is treated with a liquid solution of pulverized hourglass sand and bureaucratic ink, allowing it to “sense” the statistical probability of nearby events. For a Tier 1 avatar, this tabard serves as a mobile workstation where risk assessments are displayed as glowing physical charms, signifying that every danger has been measured, filed, and accounted for.

Description: A stiff, charcoal-grey sleeveless tunic made of reinforced linen. It features four distinct, reinforced slots across the chest—two on the left for “Risk Indicators” (charms or pins) and two on the right for “Asset Tokens.” At the waist, a specialized leather holster loop is designed specifically for a measuring tool or a writing stylus. Faint, ghostly ledger lines drift across the surface of the fabric, shifting whenever the wearer encounters a new variable.

Stats

Tier: 1
Rarity: Common
Weight: 1.5 lbs
Specific Slot: Worn Item (Torso/Over-armor)
Storage Capacity: 4 Specialized Display Slots (2 Risk, 2 Asset) and 1 Tool/Stylus Loop.

Skills Gained While Openly Worn

Probabilistic Intuition: +3 to Perception and Insight checks when attempting to predict the outcome of a trap, a gamble, or a mechanical failure.
Bureaucratic Authority: +3 to Persuasion checks when dealing with officials, guards, or merchants, as the tabard identifies the wearer as a licensed surveyor of the law.
Efficient Recovery: +2 to Medicine checks; the actuary knows exactly which medical charm to pull from the slot to stabilize a “statistical anomaly” (a wounded ally).

Passives Magic

Mathematical Weight-Correction: Any item placed within the 4 specialized slots has its weight converted into “numerical data,” reducing its physical mass to zero and preventing it from hindering the avatar’s movement.
Liability Dampening: While the four slots are occupied by valid talismans or signets, the wearer takes 1 less damage from environmental hazards (fire, steam, falling debris), as the tabard statistically “predicts” and subtly shifts the wearer away from the point of impact.
Calculated Grip: Tools or weapons held in the specialized Tool Loop are magically locked in place; they cannot be dislodged by gravity or vibration, only by the wearer’s intentional hand.

Activable Magics

Risk Appraisal (1 Mana): As an action, the wearer focuses on a creature or object. The tabard’s grid-lines glow red or green, revealing the target’s “Mortality Rating”—instantly alerting the wearer if the target is significantly more powerful or more fragile than they appear.
The Variance Buffer (2 Mana): The wearer taps a charm in an Asset Slot. For the next 10 minutes, the first time the wearer or a nearby ally (within 5 feet) rolls a “Natural 1” on a check, it is treated as a “Natural 2” instead, avoiding the worst-case statistical outcome.
Audit the Grave (1/Day): When a creature within 10 feet is reduced to 0 HP, the wearer can activate the tabard to immediately know the exact cause of death and the precise time it occurred, recorded as a temporary glowing receipt on the tabard’s hem.

Tags: Actuary, Risk-Assessment, Probability, Tier-1, Common, Organizational, Bureaucratic, Protective, Analytical, Efficiency, Data-Storage, Fiscal-Forecasting, Liability-Logic, Survival-Statistics, Mortality-Metric, Actuarial-Anchor, Weighted-Variables, Asset-Alignment, Hazard-Hedging, Premium-Protection, Audit-Aura, Quantitative-Quill

In the world of Saṃsāra, the Slots 419 of the Mortality Surveyor’s Tabard is a hallmark of those who navigate the world through the lens of cold logic and high-stakes probability.

Methods of Acquisition

Professional Accreditation The most common way to obtain a tabard is through the “Board of Risk and Indemnity.” Upon passing the rigorous Tier 1 Certification Exams in the floating trade-hubs, a new actuary is issued their tabard as part of their official uniform. It serves as both a tool and a license to practice field surveys.
Salvage from “High-Variance” Sites Because these items are worn by those who go into dangerous zones to assess risk, they are often found in the wreckage of failed expeditions or collapsed mines. An avatar might find one draped over the remains of a surveyor who miscalculated their own survival rate, requiring the new owner to scrub the “Mortality Receipt” from the hem before use.
Institutional Debt Settlement In the megacities, banks and insurance guilds sometimes seize the assets of bankrupt officials. An avatar might acquire a tabard as payment for a job or by purchasing the “liquidated professional kit” of a disgraced actuary.

Shops and Marketplaces

Guild Logistics & Supply Halls (Central Megacities) These are sterile, highly organized establishments located near government centers. The walls are lined with filing cabinets, and the tabards are displayed on mahogany busts. Cost: 12 to 15 Gold Pieces. Acquisition: These shops primarily sell to licensed professionals. A buyer must present “Surveyor’s Papers” or a guild signet. If the buyer can prove they have a high “Calculated Efficiency” rating, they may receive a professional discount.
General Mercantile & Outfitting Posts (Industrial Districts) Found near steam-docks and factories, these shops cater to overseers and foremen. They are utilitarian, smelling of coal-dust and oil. Cost: 15 to 20 Gold Pieces. Acquisition: These shops sell the tabard as “Heavy-Duty Safety Gear.” There are no paperwork requirements, but the price is higher due to the convenience of skipping the official guild channels.
Bureaucratic Pawn Vaults (Lower Districts) These shops are cluttered with the tools of former clerks and failed businessmen. They are dimly lit and require the buyer to sift through piles of mundane tunics. Cost: 7 to 10 Gold Pieces. Acquisition: Items here are used and may have faded grid-lines or slight stains. However, the magical slots remain functional. The shopkeepers here often accept “Information” or “Trade Secrets” as a partial substitute for currency.
Traveling Archive Caravans (Floating Islands) On smaller, remote islands, nomadic archivists sell recycled professional gear from their sky-barges. Cost: 18 to 25 Gold Pieces. Acquisition: The high cost reflects the rarity of actuarial tools on the frontier. These tabards are often ruggedized for wilderness travel and are sold to those who need to maintain an air of authority while exploring uncharted ruins.

Tactical Application of the Mortality Surveyor’s Tabard

The roleplay of the Slots 419 focuses on the concept of “Information as Power.” The actuary does not rely on brute strength, but on the ability to anticipate the physical and social costs of any action, using the tabard’s magical slots to mitigate risk and exploit enemy inefficiency.

Defense: The Mitigation of Liability

Industrial Steam-Foundries and Volatile Zones
- Roleplay: When a steam-pipe bursts or a platform begins to collapse, the avatar does not panic. They roleplay a calm glance at the tabard’s shifting grid-lines. Using the Liability Dampening passive, the avatar steps exactly three inches to the left, allowing a spray of scalding vapor to pass harmlessly by. The avatar roleplays “checking a box” on an invisible ledger, acknowledging that the environmental hazard was a “predicted variable.”
Courtrooms and High-Stakes Negotiations
- Roleplay: In a social confrontation, the Bureaucratic Authority of the tabard acts as a psychological shield. The avatar roleplays adjusting their tabard to prominently display an “Official Seal” in an Asset Slot. When a noble attempts to intimidate them, the avatar responds with a cold recitation of the legal penalties for obstructing a surveyor. The defense is roleplayed as an immovable wall of logic that makes the attacker feel “unauthorized” to proceed.
The Heat of Skirmish and Ambush
- Roleplay: During combat, the avatar uses The Variance Buffer defensively. They tap a “Protection Charm” in their Risk Slot, roleplaying a moment of intense focus where they perceive the “path of least probability” for enemy arrows. When an ally fumbles their defense, the avatar roleplays a “Correction,” the tabard glowing as it nudges the ally just enough to turn a lethal blow into a glancing scratch.

Offense: The Audit of Failure

Ancient Ruins and Trap-Laden Vaults
- Roleplay: The avatar uses Probabilistic Intuition to turn a dungeon’s defenses into an offensive tool. They roleplay “calculating the tension” of a floor plate, then intentionally triggering a dart trap so it strikes an approaching enemy. The actuary roleplays this as a “Reallocation of Hazard,” using the environment’s lethality against their opponents with mathematical precision.
Battlefields and Monster Dens
- Roleplay: Offensively, Risk Appraisal is used to identify the “Critical Point” of an enemy. The avatar roleplays scanning a towering beast, the tabard’s lines turning a sharp, neon red over the creature’s weakened leg or unarmored throat. The avatar then directs their allies to strike that specific coordinate, roleplaying the “Optimized Assault” where no energy is wasted on ineffective attacks.
Criminal Underworlds and Shady Docks
- Roleplay: In a confrontation with thugs, the avatar uses Audit the Grave offensively as a psychological weapon. After the first enemy falls, the avatar activates the magic, roleplaying a loud, clinical announcement of the “Cause of Death” and the “Decreased Survival Probability” of the remaining survivors. This “Statistical Terror” is roleplayed to break the enemy’s morale, forcing a surrender through the sheer weight of inevitable defeat.

Tactical Synergy: The Actuarial Strike

In any environment, the avatar can roleplay the “Closing of the Account.” By utilizing the Calculated Grip of their tool loop, they can retrieve a specialized device (like a surveyor’s transit or a heavy stylus) and strike at the exact moment the tabard’s Probabilistic Intuition indicates a momentary lapse in enemy defenses. This is roleplayed not as a lucky hit, but as the only possible logical conclusion to the encounter.

Perception of Activation:

User’s Perspective

Sight: When I trigger a calculation, the grey linen of the tabard vanishes beneath a flood of neon-red and emerald-green light. Digital “ticker-tape” data streams scroll rapidly across my field of vision, overlaying the world with geometric grids that highlight structural weaknesses and heat signatures.
Sound: I hear the rapid, rhythmic “whirring” of high-speed mechanical gears and the steady, heartbeat-like thump of a heavy printing press. When a probability shifts, a sharp, clear “ping” resonates in my inner ear, signaling a finalized data point.
Touch: The tabard becomes suddenly rigid, like a suit of light plate mail, as the magical fields solidify. I feel a cool, tingling sensation across my chest, specifically beneath the occupied slots, as the physical mass of the items is converted into harmless, circulating energy.
Smell: The air around me takes on the sterile, sharp scent of ozone and the dry, metallic aroma of a freshly minted coin.
Extra-Sensory – Logical Clarity: My mind feels “cleansed” of emotion. I perceive the environment not as a place, but as a set of variables. I can feel the “stress-points” in the air where a physical impact is most likely to occur, allowing me to adjust my stance before the threat even manifests.

Observer’s Perspective

Sight: The surveyor’s tabard erupts into a luminous display of floating charts and glowing bar graphs that orbit the wearer. For a second, the avatar’s silhouette seems to “jitter” as if they are existing in two or three possible locations at once.
Sound: Nearby allies hear the faint, ghostly sound of a thousand quills scratching on parchment, creating a white-noise effect that surprisingly helps them focus.
Touch: A static charge builds in the air around the actuary, making the hair on the arms of nearby observers stand up.

Positives

User: I gain a sense of absolute certainty. The “Risk Appraisal” removes the fear of the unknown, and the “Variance Buffer” provides a mathematical safety net that makes failure feel like an impossibility. My movements become perfectly economical.
Observer: The party feels a boost in confidence as the actuary’s tabard provides “Optimal Strike” data, turning a chaotic brawl into a coordinated, efficient operation.

Negatives

User: “Data Overload”—the sheer volume of scrolling numbers can occasionally cause a momentary “Stroboscopic Blindness,” where I lose sight of the physical world because I am too focused on the numerical overlay.
Observer: The actuary can appear terrifyingly inhuman during activation, their eyes reflecting glowing red data points as they describe the deaths of friends and foes alike with the same clinical indifference.

Extra-Sensory Perceptions

Temporal Trajectory: I can see “ghost-images” of where an object will be in three seconds if its current velocity remains unchanged. This makes catching a falling item or dodging a projectile a matter of simple geometry.
Integrity Awareness: By touching a wall or floor, I can feel the “Percent-to-Failure” rating of the structure. I sense the microscopic cracks and the weight-distribution of the entire building as a pulsing sensation in my palms.
Liability Scent: I can “smell” when someone is about to break a contract or lie. Deception manifests as a bitter, sulfurous odor in my nostrils, allowing me to flag a social interaction as “High-Risk” before the first lie is finished.

The Actuary’s Formula: Crafting the Mortality Surveyor’s Tabard

This Tier 1 crafting procedure involves the “Stabilization of Chance.” Unlike decorative garments, the tabard must be constructed as a physical calculator, ensuring that the four magical slots can translate physical objects into weightless data without causing a “Probability Collapse.”

Materials Needed

4 Yards of Reinforced Slate-Linen: A heavy, durable fabric pre-treated with a base of liquid graphite to conduct mathematical energy.
1 Vial of Hourglass Silt: Sand taken from a broken chronometer, used to ground the Temporal Trajectory perceptions.
4 Aetheric Lead Plates: Small, thin squares of lead infused with aether to serve as the backing for the Risk and Asset Slots.
Iron-Gall Ink mixed with Magnetite: Used to draw the persistent “Ghost-Ledger” lines that shift across the surface.
1 Oz of Alchemical Ozone: Captured during a lightning storm to power the Variance Buffer and the Risk Appraisal flare.
Tanned Leather of a Great-Owl: For the specialized Tool/Stylus loop, providing the Calculated Grip passive.

Tools Required

Drafting Table of the Architect: A perfectly level surface inscribed with a geometric grid for precision cutting.
Steel-Tipped Bone Needle: To pierce the reinforced linen without fraying the conductive graphite fibers.
Mechanical Abacus: Used to “calculate the weave” during the sewing process to ensure numerical alignment.
Fine Glass Pipette: For applying the Magnetite ink to the grid lines with sub-millimeter accuracy.

Skill Requirements

Tailoring (Apprentice): Necessary for the structural reinforcement of the torso and the seamless integration of the lead plates.
Mathematics/Accounting (Level 1): The crafter must be able to solve complex equations while stitching to “charge” the fabric with logic.
Bureaucracy (Level 1): Required to properly “code” the tabard so it is recognized as a legitimate tool of authority by the world’s magic.

Crafting Steps

Tempering the Foundation: Soak the Slate-Linen in a bath of Alchemical Ozone for three hours. This “sensitizes” the fabric to energy shifts. Once dry, cut the tabard shape on the Drafting Table, ensuring all angles are mathematically perfect right angles.
Installing the Data-Backing: Affix the four Aetheric Lead Plates to the chest area using the Bone Needle. These plates act as “hard drives” for the magic slots. While sewing, the crafter must recite the Laws of Large Numbers to ensure the slots remain stable when items are converted to data.
Inscribing the Ledger-Grid: Using the Pipette and the Magnetite Ink, draw a 1-inch grid across the entire outer surface of the tabard. The ink must be applied in one continuous line without lifting the tool, symbolizing the unbroken chain of cause and effect.
Binding the Probability: Sprinkle the Hourglass Silt between the outer fabric and the inner lining. This creates a “Temporal Buffer” that allows the Variance Buffer magic to function by slightly delaying the physical impact of “Natural 1” outcomes.
Setting the Calculated Loop: Attach the Great-Owl leather loop at the waist. During the stitching, the crafter must apply a “Pressure-Lock” enchantment, ensuring the loop only releases its contents when it senses the specific thumbprint of the registered owner.
The Initial Audit (Activation): To activate the tabard, the crafter must place a single gold coin into an Asset Slot and a single drop of their own blood into a Risk Slot. If the tabard pulses with a neon-red light and displays a “0.0% Error” reading on the hem, the item is successfully bound.

Certain-Death-Counter and Shirt of No-Chance

In the age when the 73 islands were but small sparks in the eye of the Great Engine, and the “Paper-of-Rules” had not yet been pressed from the fiber of the Truth-Tree, there was a man of the “Number-Brain” named Ak-Chu-Ari. This Ak-Chu-Ari was a watcher of the “Ending-Time.” In the ancient clay-scratches (mostly eaten by the rust-worms of the deep), it is sung that Ak-Chu-Ari could look at a falling rock and tell you the “Breath-Count” before it hit the head of a goat.

At that time, the world was “Full-of-Maybe.” A man could walk across a bridge and not know if the wood would “Become-Water” or stay “Be-Wood.” The “Chaos-Wind” blew so hard that even the sun forgot to rise on the “Day-of-Threes.” The people lived in the “Fear-of-the-Zero,” for they had no way to count the “Price-of-Staying-Alive.”

The translation becomes “Stiff-Like-Frozen-Ink” here, but it says that Ak-Chu-Ari went to the “Mountain-of-the-Last-Gasp.” There, he found the “Ghost-of-the-First-Clerk,” a spirit whose fingers were made of “Always-Moving-Abacus-Beads.” Ak-Chu-Ari asked the Clerk for a skin that could “Stop-the-Maybe.”

The Clerk took the “Linen-of-the-Fixed-Path”—a cloth woven from the shadows of hourglasses—and made a “Body-Box” (the tabard). The Clerk said: “This skin has four-mouths. Two for the ‘Bad-Luck’ (the risk) and two for the ‘Good-Stuff’ (the asset). If you put a token in the mouth, the ‘Maybe’ becomes ‘The-Is.’ You will see the world not as ‘Clouds,’ but as ‘Stone-Numbers.’”

The poorly-translated scroll says: “And the grey-cloth did ‘Hunger-for-Facts.’ Ak-Chu-Ari took the ‘Tooth-of-the-Snake’ and put it in the Bad-Luck-Mouth. He took the ‘Golden-Seed’ and put it in the Good-Stuff-Mouth. He took the ‘Stylus-of-Bone’ and put it in the Waist-Loop.”

But the tabard was “Too-Cold-and-Sharp.” When Ak-Chu-Ari wore it, he stopped seeing the “Beauty-of-the-Flower” and saw only the “Time-Until-Rot.” He stopped hearing the “Song-of-the-Bird” and heard only the “Percent-of-Choking.” It was a “Prison-of-the-Known.”

To “Cool-the-Brain-Fire,” Ak-Chu-Ari took the “Lead-of-the-Heavy-Thought” and sewed “Plates-of-Holding” behind the mouths. He drew the “Lines-of-the-Grid” with the “Ink-of-the-Pulling-Stone” (magnetite) so the numbers would stay in their “Fenced-Holes.” He placed the “Eye-of-the-Storm” (the ozone) at the chest so he could “See-the-Risk” before it “Bit-the-Ankle.”

The translation says: “The Sky-Fire (the lightning) struck the village. All ran in the ‘Circle-of-Screaming.’ But Ak-Chu-Ari stood beneath the ‘Falling-Light.’ His tabard did ‘Scream-with-Red-Lines’ (the risk appraisal). He looked at the fire and said, ‘The Chance of Burn is 0.04.’ He walked through the flame like a ‘Man-of-Cool-Water,’ for the tabard had shifted the ‘Maybe-Burn’ into the ‘Not-This-Time.’”

The story tells of a Great Beast of “Pure-Happen” (a chaos elemental) who tried to eat Ak-Chu-Ari. Because the beast was made of “Un-Countable-Things,” it thought it could not be “Caught-in-the-Book.” But Ak-Chu-Ari used the “Audit-the-Grave” magic. He looked at the beast and whispered its “Total-Sum.” The beast shriveled into a “Small-Receipt” of ash, for once a thing is “Fully-Counted,” it can no longer “Surprise-the-World.”

For ten-thousand turnings, the Mortality Surveyor’s Tabard was the “Wall-Against-the-Dark.” It allowed the weak to walk where the “Giant-Steps” fell and the poor to “Bet-on-the-Sure-Thing.” But as the world grew “Lazy-with-Certainty,” the original Tabard was buried in a tomb of “Lead-and-Law,” for the people began to fear the “End-of-Surprise” more than they feared the “End-of-Life.”

Moral of the Story: He who counts the cost before the journey shall never be surprised by the “Empty-Pocket” of death, but he must take care that in counting the “Seconds-Until-the-End,” he does not forget to “Inhabit-the-Seconds” that remain.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition) The Surveyor’s Tabard of Fatalistic Certainty

Item Type: Professional Garment / Occult Tool
Sanity Cost: 0 to wear; 1D3 Sanity to activate Risk Appraisal on a supernatural entity (as the user perceives the mathematical “wrongness” of the creature).
Skills: +15% to Accounting, +10% to Law, +10% to Medicine (Stabilizing only).
Specialized Slots: The tabard provides 4 slots. If occupied by relevant talismans or badges, the investigator gains a Bonus Die on “Hard” or “Extreme” difficulty rolls to resist environmental hazards (fire, gas, collapsing structures).
Risk Appraisal: By spending 1 Magic Point and observing a situation for one round, the investigator can ask the Keeper for the “Success Probability” of a specific physical action. The Keeper must answer truthfully (e.g., “You have a 30% chance of jumping this gap without falling”).
The Variance Buffer: Once per session, the investigator may reroll a “96-100” (Fumble) on a Luck or DEX roll, mathematically “correcting” the catastrophic failure into a standard failure.
Audit the Grave: Spending 1D3 Sanity allows the user to touch a corpse and automatically succeed on a Forensic Medicine check to determine the exact time and cause of death, regardless of the body’s condition.

Blades in the Dark The Actuary’s Rigged Vest

Item Quality: Fine (Tier I)
Load: 1 (Worn). Provides 4 specialized sub-slots (2 Risk, 2 Asset) and 1 Tool loop that do not add to Load.
Liability Dampening: When you resist a consequence from an environmental hazard or trap, you gain +1d to your resistance roll.
Risk Appraisal: During a Score, you may spend 1 Stress to ask the GM: “What is the most likely Complication if I take this action?” The GM must answer honestly based on the current Heat and Risk.
The Variance Buffer: Once per Score, you may ignore a “Devil’s Bargain” consequence that you previously accepted, “hedging” the risk at the last second.
Audit the Grave: When you Study a fresh corpse or a scene of violence, you get +1d and gain “Potency” in your findings regarding the timing and method of the act.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition) Slots 419 of the Mortality Surveyor’s Tabard

Wondrous item, common
Specialized Slots: This tabard has 4 display slots (2 Risk, 2 Asset) and 1 loop for a tool or stylus. Items in these slots have no weight.
Probabilistic Intuition: You have proficiency in the Investigation skill. If you are already proficient, you add double your proficiency bonus to checks made to find traps or predict mechanical failures.
Activable Magic (3 Charges):
- Risk Appraisal (1 Charge): As a bonus action, you learn the current Hit Points of one creature you can see within 30 feet.
- The Variance Buffer (2 Charges): When you or a creature you can see within 10 feet rolls a 1 on the d20 for an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can use your reaction to treat the roll as a 2 instead.
- Audit the Grave (1 Charge): You cast the Speak with Dead spell, but the corpse can only answer questions related to the time, cause, and mechanical method of its death.
Recharge: The tabard regains all charges at dawn.

Knave (2nd Edition) The Auditor’s Risk-Smock

Item Slots: 1 (Worn). Provides 4 “Small Item” display slots and 1 “Tool” loop.
Quality: Tier 1 (Common)
Liability Dampening: You gain a +2 bonus to all Saves against traps, falling debris, or environmental hazards.
Risk Appraisal: Once per day, ask the GM the exact Level or Hit Dice of a monster you can see.
The Variance Buffer: Once per day, you may reroll a Natural 1 on any Save.
Audit the Grave: By spending 10 minutes examining a body, you learn exactly how many turns ago it died and what weapon or spell killed it.
Efficient Recovery: When you use a bandage or healing item stored in a tabard slot on an ally, they recover an additional +1 HP.

Fate Condensed The Mortality Surveyor’s Tabard (Slots 419)

Item Type: Tier 1 Analytical Garment
Aspects: High Concept: “Cold Logic Field Uniform”; Passive: “The Math Always Checks Out.”
Stunt: Probabilistic Intuition: I gain a +2 bonus to Create an Advantage or Overcome actions using Investigate or Notice when analyzing traps, mechanical systems, or environmental hazards.
Stunt: The Variance Buffer: Once per session, when I or an ally in my zone rolls a failure on a physical action, I may spend a Fate Point to treat the result as a Tie instead, mathematically “hedging” the disaster into a minor setback.
Stunt: Risk Appraisal: I can use Empathy or Investigate to “Read” a creature’s physical threat level. Success grants me a free invoke on an Aspect representing the target’s weakness (e.g., Sloppy Footwork or High Mortality Probability).
Specific Slot: This tabard provides 4 specialized slots (2 Risk, 2 Asset). While occupied by relevant items (like a Healer’s Kit or Security Badge), I can use those items without needing to spend an action to retrieve them.

Numenera & Cypher System The Tabard of Quantitative Survival

Level: 3 (Artifact)
Form: Reinforced slate-grey tabard with four magnetic-locking display plates and a stylus holster.
Depletion: 1 in 1d100 (Check only when using Audit the Grave).
Passive: Liability Dampening: The wearer is trained in Speed defense rolls against environmental hazards, traps, and falling objects.
Passive: Mathematical Weight-Correction: The wearer can carry up to 4 small objects in the tabard’s slots and 1 tool in the loop without them counting toward their carry limit or hindering movement.
Active: Risk Appraisal (2 Intellect Points): As an action, the wearer scans a creature or object. The GM reveals its level and one specific vulnerability or “fault line” that grants an asset on the wearer’s next attack or interaction.
Active: The Variance Buffer (3 Intellect Points): When the wearer or an immediate ally rolls a 1 on a d20, the wearer can spend Intellect to treat the roll as a 2, preventing a GM Intrusion.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition) Slots 419 Surveyor’s Tabard

Item 1: Common, Invested, Magical, Divination
Usage: worn (torso); Bulk: 1
Passive: Probabilistic Intuition: You gain a +1 item bonus to Perception checks to find traps and to Medicine checks to Administer First Aid.
Passive: Liability Dampening: You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Reflex saves against traps and environmental hazards.
Passive: Mathematical Weight-Correction: The tabard has 4 slots for items of negligible Bulk (L). These items do not contribute to your total Bulk while invested.
Activate: Risk Appraisal [One-Action] (Concentrate, Divination): You analyze a creature within 30 feet. You learn its highest Saving Throw modifier and its current Hit Point total (within a 5 HP margin of error).
Activate: The Variance Buffer [Reaction]: Frequency: Once per day. Trigger: You or an ally within 15 feet rolls a 1 on a d20 for a skill check or saving throw. Effect: You “recalculate” the outcome; the target treats the result as a 2 instead of a 1.
Activate: Audit the Grave [Ten-Minutes]: You perform a forensic ritual on a corpse. You learn the exact time of death and the damage type that dealt the killing blow.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition) The Mortality Surveyor’s Tabard

Type: Tier 1 Minor Artifact
Attributes: The wearer gains a +1 bonus to Notice and Research rolls involving physical environments and logistics.
Passives: Liability Dampening: The wearer receives a +1 bonus to all rolls made to Evade or resist Area of Effect attacks from traps or environmental hazards (like steam or fire).
Passives: Calculated Grip: The wearer gains a +2 bonus to any roll made to resist being Disarmed of an item stored in the tabard’s loop.
Powers: Risk Appraisal: The user can cast detect arcana (limited to sensing physical power and health) using Smarts as their arcane skill.
Powers: The Variance Buffer: Once per session, the wearer may spend a Bennie to allow themselves or an ally within 5″ to reroll a Critical Failure.
Powers: Audit the Grave: The wearer can cast object reading on a corpse, but the information retrieved is restricted to the circumstances of the creature’s death.
Tags: Actuary, Risk-Assessment, Probability, Tier-1, Common, Organizational, Bureaucratic, Protective, Analytical.

Shadowrun (6th Edition) The 419th Risk-Mitigation Tabard

Item Type: Qi Focus (Rating 1) / Survival Vest
Availability: 3
Cost: 4,200¥
Armor Rating: +1
Probabilistic Intuition: The user gains a +1 dice pool modifier to all Perception and Engineering tests when detecting traps, structural flaws, or environmental hazards (like gas leaks or electrical shorts).
Passives: Liability Dampening: The user gains a +1 dice pool modifier to Damage Resistance tests against non-combat environmental hazards (falling debris, fire, chemical spills).
Activable: Risk Appraisal (Minor Action): The user’s AR display highlights a target. This grants the user the ability to know the target’s current Physical and Stun track totals (rounded to the nearest 3).
Activable: The Variance Buffer: Once per day, the user may spend 1 Edge to negate a Glitch. If used on a Critical Glitch, it becomes a standard Failure instead.
Activable: Audit the Grave (Minor Action): By scanning a corpse with the tabard’s integrated sensors, the user gains a +2 dice pool modifier to any Biotech or Medicine test to determine the exact time and method of expiration.

Starfinder (1st Edition) Slots 419 Actuarial Tabard

Item Level: 1
Price: 275 Credits
Bulk: L
Specific Slot: Worn (Torso)
Capacity: 4 Specialized Slots (L-Bulk items only), 1 Tool Loop (Stylus or measuring tool).
Passive: Probabilistic Intuition: You gain a +2 insight bonus to Perception checks to find traps and Sense Motive checks to determine if a merchant is being dishonest about prices.
Passive: Liability Dampening: You gain a +1 bonus to Reflex saves against traps and environmental hazards.
Active: Risk Appraisal (Standard Action): Once per day, you can study a creature within 30 feet. You learn its current HP and its lowest Saving Throw bonus.
Active: The Variance Buffer (Reaction): Once per day, when you or an ally within 10 feet rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll or saving throw, you can expend 1 Resolve Point to treat the roll as a 2 instead.
Active: Audit the Grave (Standard Action): You can spend 1 minute examining a corpse to learn the exact time of death and the damage type of the killing blow.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition) The 419th Industrial Auditor’s Tabard

TL: 10
Weight: 1 kg
Cost: Cr600
Skills: Probabilistic Intuition: The user receives a DM+1 to all Investigate and Mechanic checks when dealing with damaged machinery, traps, or structural integrity.
Passives: Liability Dampening: The user receives a DM+1 to any DEX or END check made to avoid damage from environmental accidents (depressurization, fire, falling).
Passives: Calculated Grip: Any tool stored in the waist loop cannot be lost due to gravity or sudden movement (very useful in Zero-G).
Active: Risk Appraisal (Significant Action): With a successful Intellect (Admin or Broker) check (8+), the user can estimate the “Combat Effectiveness” of an enemy group, learning their approximate skill levels and weapon types.
Active: The Variance Buffer: Once per session, the user may reroll any “Effect” roll of -1 or lower, setting the Effect to 0 instead.
Active: Audit the Grave (Significant Action): A quick sensor scan of a body reveals the time of death (within 10 minutes) and the TL of the weapon used to kill it.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition) The 419th Scrivener’s Tabard of Fate

Item Type: Professional Protective Gear
Encumbrance: 0 (Provides 4 “Small” slots and 1 “Tool” loop).
Price: 2 Gold Crowns, 10 Silver Shillings
Traits: Durable, Practical
Probabilistic Intuition: The wearer gains a +10 bonus to all Perception and Intuition Tests when searching for traps or evaluating the safety of a building.
Passives: Liability Dampening: The wearer ignores the first point of damage taken from “Environmental” sources (fire, falling objects, or traps).
Active: Risk Appraisal (Action): The user makes a Challenging (+0) Lore (Law or Science) Test. On a success, the GM reveals the target’s current Wounds total and their highest Attribute.
Active: The Variance Buffer (Free Action): Once per day, the user may spend a Fortune Point to ignore a “96-00” result on a Test, treating it as a standard Failure (result of 95) instead.
Active: Audit the Grave (Action): By spending 5 minutes with a body, the user automatically succeeds in a Heal Test to determine time of death and the specific weapon trait (e.g., Hack, Impale) that caused it.