It's not only player characters who have REP scores; so do evil masterminds, powerful cult leaders, and militant overlords. What sorts of resources do they have at their disposal, and how does this increase the challenges set against the adventurers? How fast can one of these agencies respond to an attack on one of their interests, and how viciously can they do so? When push comes to shove, how far will the party have to go to dismantle an agency or organization?

An organization’s size represents the number of agents within it. Destroying an organization requires ridding the world of its agents, or the leader(s) of the organization (removing a leader cuts the organization’s number of agents in half as they splinter into factions or seek prosperity elsewhere).

Becoming a member of an organization costs one exploit (listed in Universal Exploits as Organization Member). The exploit is not recovered if the organization is left, or ceases to exist. In some campaigns, player-characters may be required to all be members of the same organization, in which case they will use their starting free exploit on Organization Member unless a career or tradition grants them that exploit.

The organization's size includes those directly employed in the service of the organization; it does not include affiliated civilians, families, passengers, contractors, and so on, or to regional populations.  For example, an Administration may be the government of a 500 million population country, but only 3,000,000 are directly employed by the Administration.

Note that in archaic eras of lower population, a country's government can be of only Brigade size. In 1600 the entire population of England and Wales was only around 4,000,000, and London had a population of around 250,000.

The size category names are military-themed, but an organization does not have to be military in nature. A large corporation may have many thousands of employees and uses the same classifications. A single supermarket may have 200 employees, making it a Company, while a wealthy multi-national corporation may have 80,000, making it a Corps. The organization itself will not use these terms (unless it actually is military – and even then, different military structures exist) and might call itself a corporation, a cell, a gang, a league, an agency, a church, or a militia.

REPUTATION

An organization's REPUTATION score indicates a number of things – its wealth, the resources at its disposal, how easy it is to find the organization, and more. This is how well-known an organization is and how likely people are to recognize its name or importance. Larger organizations are better known, and depending on its exploits, an organization may only have a reputation among certain circles like investigators and criminals, mystics and occultists, and so on—but remain hidden from the public at large (it can be a bit hard to attain world domination when anybody can find and foil your schemes, after all).

Any creature, NPC, or character may belong to an organization, whether that be a starfleet, a spy agency, a wizarding circle, or a sinister corporation. Being a member of an organization gives a creature access to the organization's REP attribute rather than its own once per day, along with appropriate resources (which remain the property of the organization and cannot be kept indefinitely). An organization may also provide access to specific careers or exploits. Note that an individual has access only to the REP of its sub-group, not the organization as a whole.

Locate Info. When attempting to gain information about or locate an organization, characters make an attribute check (typically LOG or CHA, depending on the methods used); the difficulty of the check is noted in the Locate Info column in the organization table.

Requisition Cap. This is the maximum amount by which an organization can outfit all its members for missions. If PCs are part of an organization, this typically replaces the rules on wealth and purchasing of gear, and instead represents a budget with which team members can outfit themselves for a mission. Such gear must be returned after the mission.

SUB-GROUPS

Large organizations are composed of multiple smaller organizations – one does not normally encounter the entirety of a megacorporation at once, or an entire army. The sub-groups have REP attributes according to their size, which tend to escalate in larger and larger subgroups until the final group is the whole organization.

COMMANDERS

Every organization (or sub-group) has someone in charge. That person, whether a squad leader or a spymaster, has a LUC attribute equal to the organization's REP attribute*, and may use it in the same way as a player character's LUC attribute. Additionally, the commander may donate LUC dice to her subordinates.

*A commander has access to the REP of the sub-group she is commanding, not the whole organization.

TRAITS

Organizations have one or more traits. Any exploits or benefits gained by being a member of an organization are lost if the character leaves the organization.

Advanced Tech. The Advancement Level of technology available to the organization increases by one level. Organizations with this trait must have mystics, scientists, or some other means to justify their impressive gear.

Clandestine. The organization is extremely secretive, a cabal as devoted to silence and mystery as they are to their cause. Only individuals in the same line of business or of similar interests (criminals, mystics, scientists, and so forth) treat the organization’s REP score as the normal value when seeking information about the organization; all others treat it as one-third its actual value.

Combat Training. All of the organization’s agents receive a specific free combat-related exploit.

Criminal. The organization is able to handle illicit goods, allowing members ot access items which would otherwise be restricted or illegal.

Disciplined. The organization has a strong chain of command, and good unit cohesion. In combat, organizations members gain +1d6 to INITIATIVE as long as they are accompanied by at least 3 other members of the organization.

Excellent Equipment. All of the organization’s agents receive a single piece of equipment that is one stage of quality higher than normal. Most of the time these have failsafes that destroy the item after it leaves the agent’s possession, or at least render it of mundane quality after combat ends. The item is clearly identifiable as the organization's property.

Expertise. All of the organization’s agents receive a basic curriculum of one rank in four organization-specific skills. This does not increase the rank of any of these skills above one rank.

Fearsome. The organization's reputation is one which instills fear in those who hear it.   Members can make a REP vs. MENTAL DEFENSE attack against one target who can hear and understand them.  This attack can only be made once per month, and no single target can be affected by it more than once.  If successful, the attack stuns the target until they shake the effect off.

Gadgets. Each agent of the organization receives a gadget that functions for 1d6 rounds (minimum 1 round; except the commander agent, in which case the gadget functions until the end of combat).

Mental Training. All of the organization’s agents receive a bonus +1 to a specific mental attribute.

Physical Training. All of the organization’s agents receive a bonus +1 to a specific physical attribute.

Traditional. The organization is very old, and predates the current era.  This gives it access to certain ancient secrets, allowing members to use its REP attribute in place of a LOG check once per month to access information about a subject.

Wealthy.  The organization has the REP attribute of an organization one size classification larger.

TYPES OF ORGANIZATION

Organizations can be as abstract or concrete in concept as you like, as strange as a hive mind that’s taken over a grocery store to the Crimson Sparrows, a multinational conglomerate of ne’er do-wells bent on world domination! As always, you are encouraged to think up creative and interesting organization types of your own to complement the suggestions below. There are really only two things you need to worry about when doing so: that these grouped individuals have a purpose, and that that purpose has some kind of conflict with the player characters.

Each organization type below includes one or more recommended traits; however, these should be viewed as guidelines only.

Academies. Academies include all educational or research institutions - colleges, universities, laboratories, and so on. Academies often have access to knowledge or experimental technologies. Advanced Tech and Expertise are recommended traits.

Corporations. Corporations make great enemy organizations. They are often enormous in scope, filled with so much bureaucracy that not only can individual executives potentially get away with murder, many of their accomplices have lawyers able to get them well away from legal trouble. Player characters that decide to take on a corporation should be wary of law enforcement, however, along with the sort of deadly talent that truckloads of cash can purchase. Wealthy is a recommended trait.

Criminal Syndicates. The Yakuza, Triad, Mafia, and any other form of mundane organized crime qualifies as a criminal syndicate. As the name implies, these organizations specialize in illicit activity, often with a focus on drugs, vice, and racketeering. Their operations can range far wider, however, and can sometimes have members that are incredibly loyal, typically with familial ties. Recommended traits are Fearsome and Criminal.

Cults. Steeped in mysticism and dangerous beliefs, cults are another common type of organization. Led by charismatic individuals that indoctrinate their follower, they can appear everywhere in the world, and have operations as simple as bank heists to pursuits as esoteric as demonic summoning. More often than not, their agents are fanatically loyal (often bringing their families into the fold). Clandestine and Wealthy are recommended traits.

Law Enforcement. There are no better team players than law enforcement, and the vast majority of settings feature authority figures of some kind that keep the peace. The organization rules are not meant to be implemented with police as a whole, but specific divisions like a unit of homicide detectives, paranormal case workers, and so forth. Of all the different types of organizations, they are by and far the most responsive and easiest to instigate. Disciplined is a recommended trait.

Mercenaries. Some soldiers keep on fighting well after the war ends, and they don’t particularly care whom it is they fight for. These mercenary groups are one of the most dangerous types of organizations and not to be underestimated; each of their agents is a trained combatant that has experienced warfare. Unlike other organizations, their loyalty is not overwhelmingly strong and they can be bribed or coerced into abandoning an operation with relative ease. A recommended trait is Combat Training.

Military. Military organizations may come in the form of armies, navies, air forces, starfleets, and more. They tend to be well-equipped, with strong loyalty and structured chains of command and sub-groups. Disciplined and Combat Training are recommended traits.,

Shadow Services. Who cleans up the bodies piled up by hitmen, and who supplies their guns or sells the artwork stolen by cat burglars? A commonly glossed over set of organizations exist to support the shadowy underside of society and they are essential to its workings. With this fundamental priority, all but the most stubborn and vengeful choose to dismantle an organization that offers support to various criminals.  Clandestine is a recommended trait, as is Criminal.

Spy Agencies. Spies work for agencies of covert operatives which are, more often than not, directly affiliated with a national power. While some of these individuals are unfalteringly loyal to their country, many are too willing to trade state secrets for a plush life of luxury and double agents are not uncommon. Recommended traits are Clandestine and Gadgets.

Vessel. A ship, or a starship, can operate as an organization of its own. The crew requirement of a vessel can indicate the size organization is is.  Recommended traits are Excellent Equipment and Expertise.

Vigilantes. When superheroes or supervillains team together, they can become truly potent forces that can affect change on a national or even global level. Fortunately, power seems to come with no small bit of egotism and most larger groups fail to remain united for long, splintering into smaller organizations that aren’t nearly as disastrous for society. Recommended traits include Fearsome, and Physical and Mental Training.

THE CRIMSON SPARROWS

Size Battalion (444 agents); REP 20; Locate Difficult [16] (32 outside subject); Sub-groups Teams (4-8 ninjas)

Type Cult; Traits clandestine; expertise (jumping, stealth, climbing, martial arts)

Requisition Cap $1,800

The Crimson Sparrows are a secretive organization with a storied history that stretches back to the dawn of human civilization. An incredibly strict and swift system of deadly justice and renewal within the organization keeps its ranks at precisely 444 at all times, and only the enigmatic leaders of the Crimson Sparrows know the importance this holds and how it plays into the institution’s past.

Criminals throughout the world have heard of rumors and a few have even seen the calling cards of these deadly assassins, shuriken painted with the bloody-winged sigil of these near urban-myths. Those that speak truthfully of seeing one of their agents talk of disappearing into the shadows and other mystical feats that cause many to think these warriors do not truly exist, but for the wealthiest and most knowledgeable, the Crimson Sparrows are truly a force to be feared.

ORDER OF WIZARDRY

Size Company (200 members); REP 16; Locate Demanding [21]; Sub-groups -

Type Academy; Traits expertise (history, arcanology, research, divination), traditional

Requisition Cap 1,800gc

The Order of Wizardry is devoted to the study and mastery of magic in all its forms. Eschewing concepts of good or evil, the Order seeks only knowledge for its own sake.  In its view, knowledge is its own reward, and power or financial gain are merely incidental.  The Order is not secretive; it is headquartered in a distinctive castle, and sends members around the world to serve as advisers and viziers. Members are known as "masters" and are usually respected for the knowledge and wisdom.

FSS ENDEAVOUR

Size Battalion (400 crew); REP 20; Locate Difficult [16]; Sub-groups Platoons (departments of science, engineering, security, and operations)

Type Vessel; Traits excellent equipment, expertise (computers, [scientific], piloting, pistols)

Requisition Cap 1,800cr

The Federal Star Ship Endeavour was the first of the Endeavour class exploration cruisers. Sent on a multi-year mission, it explored the fringes of the galaxy.  It's 400 strong crew is, additionally, a sub-group of the Navy, which is an Service-sized organization.

Populations

The table below is for reference purposes only, and gives the historical population of an average country through archaic and modern eras. 10% of a population is usually employed by government and is counted for organizational size purposes.  5% of a government is usually the military (or 0.5% of the population), which is often divided into thirds (army, navy, air force) in modern eras, or half (army, navy) in archaic and future eras.