Identity Engrams

Mannekins establish and trade identities as a matter of course. While these occasionally resemble the false identities employed by swindlers and charlatans of other races, they often operate at a much deeper level.

Casual Identity

A casual identity relies on ordinary disguise and acting abilities, and little or no special knowledge. These are usually stereotypical roles, like the rowdy drunk or the obsequious servant. They may have names, and they may be developed into more complete identities later. Most identities started as casual walk-on roles.

Casual identities often come from enterprising non-mannekin rogues and bards, who hope to profit from identity farming in any way they can.

Identity Engrams

Mortal spies must rely on casual identities, embellishing them with richly detailed back-stories, but nothing deeper. Mannekins encode information like this into engrams, which they can install into their bodies with about a minute of nominal effort.

An identity engram resembles a fist-sized clockwork box, with components inscribed in Astral (or sometimes other languages). Mannekins can open and read these devices, but other entities might be able to decode them with enough time, Disable Device, Knowledge (planar), and Language (Astral).

Any mannekin can create basic engrams, but more sophisticated engrams require additional feats [TBD]. Basic engram work resembles a wizard studying spells. More advanced engrams resemble the creation of wondrous items.

Basic engrams

A basic engram encodes names, faces, an relationship diagrams. It is the equivalent of a detailed portfolio. When installed, the mannekin knows these details reflexively. The engram grants a +10 racial bonus to any rolls to pass as the identity involved, including fooling divination.

A basic engram requires materials equivalent to 10gp + 1gp per place/ person name stored in the pattern. The engram can be expanded with further names and relationships over time, as the mannekin scribes her notes or personal recollections into the mechanism.

Intermediate engrams

An intermediate engram encodes more information. In addition to holding information about people, places, and relationships, it stores skills.

While the engram is installed, the mannekin may use the new skills in addition to her own (and take a 5% XP penalty for each skill point in the engram), or reduce other skills by a commensurate amount for a flat 5% XP penalty.

If the engram’s skills are no better than her own, there is no XP penalty, and the engram functions like a basic engram.

Most intermediate engrams encode language, local, and regional knowledge, relying on the mannekin’s own abilities in other departments. While a skilled crafter could build an engram with a complete skill package, the costs involved would be prohibitive.

Creating an intermediate engram requires [a TBD] feat, and time to work on the encoding. The mannekin must pay all the costs associated with a basic engram (10gp + 1gp per name stored), and additional costs for the skill points encoded (square of skill points encoded * 100 gp). The mannekin doing the encoding must have the skill ranks to be encoded. This is a key driver in the identity trade, as identity farmers trade engrams when they need to add unusual skills to an engram.
h4. Advanced engrams

Advanced engrams encode deep re-writes of the mannekin in question. While installed, the mannekin is practically a new person. Alignment, class levels, feat distribution, racial abilities… all can be stored in an advanced engram. While installed, the mannekin automatically passes all but the most in-depth scrutiny, but the engram prevents the accrual of any XP.

An advanced engram is so sophisticated that it fully mimics such complex phenomena as mortality. While using an advanced identity engram, a mannekin may be resurrected as a mortal, and may produce children.

Only the most skilled identity artisans can craft such engrams. It involves [a TBD] feat, all the costs associated with an intermediate engram, with a multiplier depending on how different the end product is.

Alteration	Multiplier (cumulative)
change of feats	+0.5
redistribution of attributes	+0.5
change of class	+1
change of race (essence-storing creature type)	+2
change of race (non-essence-storing creature type)	+5

An engram cannot mimic more class levels than the character actually has, including racial levels. While it can redistribute attribute points if designed to do so, it does not add any attribute points. Even with the most sophisticated advanced identity engram, it still takes a talented and skilled mannekin to completely embody the role of a talented and skilled individual.