Characters & crew
Characters & Crew
Three choices define who you are on tour: your role (the character you play), your crew (the van-mates who ride along), and your mods (build perks chosen in the character builder).
Roles
You pick one of seven characters. The role seeds your entire starting loadout — cash, gas, grub, van condition, morale ("Vibes"), tapes, blank tapes, and "Lot Cred" — plus two hidden traits: a taping-skill bonus and whether you're immune to bad trips. Each role also has its own scripted Peak.
| Role | Profile | Cash | Gas | Grub | Van | Vibes | Tapes | Blanks | Cred | Taping | Dose-immune |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Trust-Fund Kid | Big cash, minty van — but the lot distrusts money | 340 | 8 | 14 | 95 | 70 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 0 | no |
| The Veteran Taper | Best gear and tapes, knows the scene | 170 | 7 | 11 | 78 | 66 | 6 | 14 | 55 | 25 | no |
| The Burnout | Max Lot Cred, can't be dosed — flat broke | 45 | 5 | 8 | 62 | 82 | 3 | 5 | 90 | 0 | yes |
| The Deadicated Grandma | Big Cred, a pantry of grub — a creaky van | 120 | 7 | 30 | 55 | 76 | 4 | 10 | 82 | 10 | no |
| The Off-Duty Roadie | Great with the van, solid gear | 130 | 8 | 14 | 90 | 64 | 3 | 9 | 60 | 12 | no |
| The Spun Professor | Loaded with grant money — the lot finds you exhausting | 380 | 9 | 16 | 90 | 58 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 6 | no |
| The Runaway | Sky-high Vibes, open-hearted — broke and green | 22 | 4 | 7 | 58 | 92 | 0 | 4 | 45 | 0 | no |
Reading the numbers: Cash buys everything; Gas/Grub feed each leg; Van is the vehicle's health (0 = broken down); Vibes is morale and the main lose condition; Tapes/Blanks are recordings you own and blanks to record on; Lot Cred is your standing in the scene (helps prices, taping, and events); Taping is a permanent bonus to recording quality; dose-immune cancels the "bad trip" morale crashes some events cause.
Beginner-friendly: the Veteran Taper (high taping + gear) and the Grandma (cash, huge grub, high Cred). Hard mode: the Runaway and the Burnout start nearly broke.
Crew (van-mates)
You take 1 to 4 van-mates. Each is an archetype with a permanent passive perk that applies only while that member is aboard and alive. You can rename any of them. By default the three "signature" members ride along (Deb, Randy, Doses).
Each archetype ships with two named variants (one female, one male take on the same character), and the game rolls one per trip — so a run might field Cosmic Deb or Cosmic Dean, Wharf Rat Rae or Wharf Rat Randy, and so on. The perk, trait, and personality are the same either way.
| Archetype | Names (rolled per trip) | Trait | Perk |
|---|---|---|---|
| deb | Cosmic Deb / Cosmic Dean | "knows a guy" | −$1 off every Shakedown price |
| randy | Wharf Rat Rae / Randy | "always wanders off" | Wanders back from rest stops with free tapes or snacks |
| doses | Doses Maggie / McGee | "don't take their snacks" | Crew eats 1 less Grub per leg |
| rita | Reel-to-Reel Rita / Reggie | "hears the whole mix" | +6 tape quality on every recording |
| hitch | Interstate Hazel / Hank | "thumbs rides, tells tales" | Smoother legs: −1 van wear, fewer road surprises |
| bird | Little Wren / Finch | "first tour, all heart" | +2 Vibes at every show |
Notes: - More crew is a trade-off. A fuller van hustles and parties better (a crew bonus on lot work and show morale) but eats more grub on every leg. Doses' perk offsets one mouth. - Perks vanish if you lose the member. Some road events can cost you a van-mate; if the last one is gone, the run ends ("alone"). - Storylines are gated by who's aboard. Certain road events only appear when their archetype is riding with you (e.g. Doses' snack event). A benched or lost member's storyline never fires. - On arrival, high morale pays off. When Vibes are high enough (65+), a random van-mate may pool resources and top up whatever you're shortest on; Randy may also scavenge a small free haul. See Resources & the Road. - A dog can join as a crew member (via a road event) with no archetype perk.
Mods (character-builder perks)
In the builder you choose up to 3 mods — passive perks that shape your start and your run. Mods only ever set stats or flags (never spend cash), so you can freely toggle them while building.
| Mod | Effect |
|---|---|
| Iron Stomach | Bad food never hurts you (immune to food downsides) |
| Silver Tongue | +12 starting Lot Cred |
| Lead Foot | Legs cover more ground (faster) — but the van wears more |
| Night Owl | Your Peak hits even harder (+4 to the surge) |
| Golden Ears | +8 quality on every tape |
| Pack Rat | Start with a random extra piece of van gear |
| Been There | Immune to bad trips |
| Grease Monkey | Van starts +15 |
| Runs on Fumes | −6 Grub, +12 Vibes to start |
| Cosmically Lucky | Better odds whenever you need a miracle |
| Heavy Hauler | +2 Tapes, +6 blank tapes |
| Deep Roots | +8 Lot Cred, +4 Grub |
Related: The Tour (Peaks & finale) · Resources & the Road (crew size costs)