Glossary

A

Abandonment Protocol

The end-of-scene vehicle procedure for leaving, wiping, destroying, or planting evidence in a compromised vehicle. Chapter Seven

Access

What an Asset or cover can actually reach: a file room, official, social circle, network, route, safe house, schedule, or piece of equipment. Chapter Eight

Active Measures

Operations meant to shape what a target audience believes, doubts, or does. Chapter Ten

Against-Disposition Play

Acting against the PC’s locked Disposition anchor. Chapter Three

Alert Clock

A short scene clock for intrusion, pursuit, or operational exposure; it tracks the current scene, not long-term Compromise or Public Heat. Chapter Ten

Analyst

The intelligence-brain Archetype: dossier work, pattern recognition, cryptography, source assessment, and the question the rest of the team missed. Chapter Three

Anomalous File

An optional case type where something appears to break the normal espionage frame. Division 5 remains non-supernatural by default; anomalous files are a campaign module, not a core assumption. Chapter Nine

Archetype

The mechanical profession chosen at character creation: Operative, Handler, Analyst, Face, Wetworker, or Quartermaster. Chapter Three

Asset

A recruited or cultivated source, run through Trust, Exposure, Access, and Capability rather than a full PC sheet. Chapter Eight

Asset Task

A concrete job an Asset does for the team, always paid for in risk, Trust, Exposure, money, or future obligation. Chapter Eight

Attribution

The post-operation procedure for deciding who the world thinks did the job; a mission can succeed and still be attributed badly. Chapter Eight

Attribution Signature

Any clue that feeds the hostile Attribution pool. Chapter Eight

Authorization Ladder

The authority scale for who can approve operational deviations. Chapter Ten

Availability

A gear tag showing how equipment can plausibly be acquired. Availability gates Requisition and consequences. Chapter Six

B

Biometric Capture

A face, fingerprint, gait, voice, iris, DNA, or other physical identifier entering a hostile or commercial system. Chapter Eight

Black Bag / Covert Entry

The playbook for working inside a location without being noticed. Chapter Ten

Black Item

Gear with no lawful or plausibly deniable acquisition route. Chapter Six

Bought Asset

An Asset motivated primarily by payment, access, debt, or transaction. Chapter Two and Chapter Eight

Brawl

The Division 5 unarmed combat skill. Chapter Four

Brush Pass

A live handoff made while both parties appear to keep moving. Chapter Eight

Burn / Burned

To consume a cover identity, asset, station, channel, file, or piece of gear so it cannot safely be used again; for Legends, Burned means the Burn Track is full. Chapter Eight

Burn Bag

A prepared kit, container, protocol, or talent for destroying or isolating evidence quickly. Chapter Five and Chapter Eight

Burn Check

The closing check that asks whether a channel, item, or Legend survived being used. Chapter Ten

Burn Track

The track attached to each Legend that records how close the identity is to being Burned. Chapter Eight

Burner

A phone, laptop, vehicle, identity, account, or other tool intended to be discarded after use. A burner lowers linkage only if procurement, use, and disposal were handled cleanly. Chapter Six

C

Capability

What an Asset can actually do for the team. Chapter Eight

Case Officer

An officer who runs an Asset or source relationship, in D5 or a hostile service. Chapter Two and Chapter Eight

Cell

A small operational group, often local, compartmented, and deniable. Chapter Two

Class Skill

A skill granted by Archetype at character creation. Chapter Three

Clean

A context-dependent term meaning the current procedure found no live trace, not that consequences are gone for good.

Clean Kill

A decisive Sniping result earned through prepared Shot Advantage work. Chapter Four

Clean Success

The operation outcome grade for an objective achieved inside scope with little trace. Chapter Ten

Cleanup / Exit

The closing intrusion or Exfiltration work of removing traces and opposing Attribution. Chapter Ten

Codename

The internal D5 name for the operative, one of four name layers: real name, service name, codename, and the cover names tied to Legends. Chapter Three

Coerced Asset

An Asset compelled through pressure, blackmail, fear, legal threat, family leverage, or captivity. Chapter Two and Chapter Ten

Communications Discipline

The procedures that keep operational channels safe to use. Chapter Ten

Compartment

A limit on who is allowed to know about an operation, source, channel, target, or fact. Compartments protect secrets but make support, liaison, and rescue harder. Chapter Ten

Compromise

The persistent PC-facing track measuring how known, indexed, and watched the operative has become; rest and ordinary recovery do not clear it. Chapter Eight

Contextual Signature

An Attribution signature created by context rather than hard proof. Chapter Eight

Control Officer

The officer with authority over a team, operation, station function, or source relationship. “Handler” is the table-facing version when the relationship is personal or asset-focused. Chapter Ten

Coordination

The Division 5 skill for fine motion, balance, and manual manipulation. Chapter Four

Cover

The fiction of why an operative belongs in a scene. The rules structure underneath most cover is the Legend. Chapter Eight

Cover Type

A broad cover category with predictable access and risks. Chapter Ten

Cover Vehicle

A vehicle chosen because it supports the Legend and does not draw the wrong attention. Chapter Seven

Cryptography

The Division 5 skill for codes, ciphers, authentication, and secure traffic. Chapter Four

Cyber

The Division 5 skill for hacking, digital intrusion, device compromise, and data recovery. Chapter Four

Cyber Detection Clock

The Nightscreen clock that tracks how close a digital intrusion is to being noticed. Chapter Ten

Cynic

A Disposition anchored by the belief that the institutions lie and the work is still the work. Chapter Three

D

Dead Asset

An Asset who is dead, unreachable, burned beyond recovery, or no longer usable as a source. Chapter Two and Chapter Eight

Dead Drop

A static exchange site where material is left for later collection without a live meet. Chapter Eight

Deep Cover / Deep NOC

Long-term non-official cover with low institutional signature and high personal cost. Chapter Eight

Deep Legend

The most durable Legend tier, prepared over years to survive serious checks. Chapter Eight

Defection / Asylum

A playbook for moving a willing source into protection. The central pressure is whether the source is genuine, watched, compromised, or being used as a dangle. Chapter Ten

Deliberate Burn

Sacrificing a Legend, channel, asset, or item for immediate advantage; the loss is permanent. Chapter Eight

Demolitions

The Division 5 skill for explosives, breaching, and sabotage. Chapter Four

Deniability

The institution’s ability to say D5 did not do the thing, did not know about it, or did not authorize it. Chapter Two

Deniable Gear

Equipment designed or chosen to leave minimal service attribution. Chapter Six

Detainee State

A quick status for a captured person. Chapter Ten

Digital Trace

Logs, metadata, device identifiers, and other network artifacts usable in Cyber Detection or Attribution. Chapter Six and Chapter Eight

Director / The Director

The final D5 authority. Chapter Two and Chapter Ten

Directorate Desk

Senior institutional authority directly below the Director. Chapter Ten

Dirty Chain

A gear quality meaning the item points toward local criminals, brokers, smugglers, or gray-market suppliers before it points toward D5. Chapter Six

Disguise

The Division 5 skill for physical impersonation, used in support of a Legend. Chapter Four

Disposition

The PC’s locked psychological anchor: Patriot, Professional, Cynic, Idealist, Mercenary, or Ghost. Disposition is Division 5’s equivalent to Ink & Mayhem’s Shtick layer, but calibrated for spy pressure. Chapter Three

Division 5 / D5

A deniable multinational intelligence service founded during the Shadow War; off-book, compartmented, and defined by the Ledger. Chapter Two

Downtime

The stretch between operations used for recovery, training, and maintenance. Chapter Ten

Drive

The Division 5 wheeled-vehicle skill. Chapter Four and Chapter Seven

E

Elite

A mid-tier adversary. Division 5 mostly uses the Core tier, but some D5 Elites may have Strain Points when interrogation, pressure, or social collapse matters. Chapter Nine

Engineering & Repair

The Division 5 technical skill for building, repairing, and diagnosing equipment. Chapter Four

Enhanced Information Spend

A talent-gated Fortune Point option that improves the quality of gathered information. Chapter Five

Era

The table’s campaign frame: Shadow War, Long Dark, or Nightscreen. Chapter Two and Chapter Eight

Era Framing

The Chapter Eight rule layer that changes how the same action behaves in each era.

Execution

The operation phase where the team acts on the objective. Chapter Ten

Exfil / Exfiltration

The operation phase where the team leaves, secures people or material, cleans traces, and records consequences. Chapter Ten

Exposure

The Asset-facing track measuring how visible, endangered, or compromised the Asset has become. Chapter Eight

F

Face

The social infiltrator Archetype, invited inside rather than breaking in. Chapter Three

False Clean

An SDR or operational result that appears safe but is actually a Calamity. Chapter Ten

Field Discretion

The lowest level on the Authorization Ladder. Chapter Ten

Forgery

The Division 5 skill for false documents, records, and paper or digital trails. Chapter Four

Free Pick

A character-creation skill pick chosen from the full Division 5 skill list. Chapter Three

G

Garden, The

D5’s identity, cover, and deep-legend infrastructure. Chapter Two and Chapter Eight

Gear Quality

A tag that changes how a piece of equipment conceals, performs, or leaves trace. Chapter Six

Ghost

A Disposition for the burned or officially nonexistent operative; also the name of certain talents and archetype-adjacent concepts. A Ghost is deniable even by D5 standards. Chapter Three

Grey Retirement

A late-career outcome where an operative is not simply free, dead, or imprisoned, but quietly moved out of the field under institutional terms. It also names a high-tier talent. Chapter Five

H

Handler

The Asset-runner Archetype and the common term for a control officer responsible for a source or team relationship. Chapter Three and Chapter Eight

Hard Signal

A trace strong enough to change the next scene or hostile response; stronger than a Soft Signal. Chapter Ten

Honeypot / Honey Trap

An operation using intimacy, attraction, or compromising personal leverage to gain access or pressure. It is corrosive; use table-boundary guidance. Chapter Ten

Hostile Attribution Pool

The dice pool built from signatures left by the operation. Chapter Eight

I

Idealist

A Disposition anchored by the belief that the work can still be made worthwhile. Chapter Three

In-Disposition Play

Acting in line with the PC’s Disposition anchor. Chapter Three

Institutional Signature

A trace that suggests a service, state, corporation, military unit, embassy, or other institution rather than a lone actor. Institutional signatures are dangerous because they scale into politics. Chapter Eight

Intel Check

Any check in the Intel Phase that can build the Tradecraft Pool. Chapter Eight

Intel Phase

The operation phase for research, surveillance, asset checks, and preparation. Chapter Eight and Chapter Ten

Interrogation

The Division 5 skill for questioning, debriefing, and reading a person under control. Chapter Four and Chapter Ten

Interrogation Ladder

The output scale for what questioning actually yields. Chapter Ten

Iota Committee

A Rival Off-Book power, used as a faction rather than a rules subsystem. Chapter Two

K

Knowledge

A specialization-based mental skill. Chapter Four

L

Ledger, The

D5’s institutional memory: debts, secrets, old bargains, and favors owed. It is also the name of a high-tier talent. Chapter Two and Chapter Five

Legend

A prepared cover identity with its own depth tier and Burn Track. Chapter Eight

Legend Depth

The durability category of a Legend: Thin, Standard, or Deep. Depth sets Burn Track length and how much scrutiny the identity can bear. Chapter Eight

Legend Hit

A mark on a Legend’s Burn Track. Chapter Eight

Legend Quality

An optional tag that gives a Legend texture and risk. Chapter Eight

Lethal Authority

The question of who authorized a killing and on what grounds. Chapter Ten

Liaison

Cooperation, bargaining, silence, or deniable handoff between D5 and another service, station, corporation, police unit, or local power. Chapter Ten

Long Dark

The 1946-1989 era of files, stations, and patient human tradecraft; the default Division 5 register. Chapter Two and Chapter Eight

M

Maneuver

A Core action-economy term used normally in Division 5. Chapter Four

Mercenary

A Disposition anchored by transactional survival, pay, access, or private reward. Chapter Three

Messy Success

The operation outcome grade for an objective achieved at a lingering cost. Chapter Ten

Minion / Elite / Nemesis

The Core adversary tiers, used normally by Division 5. Chapter Nine

Misdirection

An Asset task or operation move that creates a false trail or shifts suspicion. Chapter Eight

Mission Brief

The operational document or table prompt defining an operation’s scope, limits, and support. Chapter Ten

Moscow Rules

The reflex doctrine of operating as if surveillance is present, especially in the Long Dark. Trained officers know the doctrine; the Moscow Rules talent gives the mechanical upgrade. Chapter Five

N

Named Services

The ordinary national intelligence and security services of the era: Abwehr, Gestapo, SOE, OSS, KGB, Stasi, CIA, MI6, DGSE, Mossad, MSS, FSB, and others as appropriate. They are not D5, but they shape the board. Chapter Two

Narrow Signature

An Attribution signature so specific it points toward a particular group, technique, or previous operation. Chapter Eight

Nightscreen

The 1990-present era of SIGINT dominance, biometric pressure, and attribution warfare. Chapter Two and Chapter Eight

NOC

Non-official cover: an operative without overt diplomatic or government protection. Chapter Eight

O

Objective

What the operation is actually trying to achieve. Objectives can be primary, secondary, or optional. Chapter Ten

Operation Playbook

A mission template with expected pressures and primary skills. Chapter Ten

Operational Alert

The immediate state of a site, target, route, guard force, or digital defender, tracked on the Alert Clock. Chapter Ten

Operational Funds

Operation-scoped money for bribes, asset payments, and operational logistics. Chapter Six

Operative

The field-generalist Archetype: the all-rounder who crosses borders, improvises, holds cover, and solves the job when specialists are out of position. Chapter Three

Optional Signature Skill

A character-creation option to raise one Class Skill in place of one Free Pick. Chapter Three

OSINT Sweep

An open-source intelligence check against public, non-classified sources; mainly a Nightscreen and late Long Dark tool. Chapter Eight

P

Partial Success

The operation outcome grade for value gained while a key condition failed. Chapter Ten

Passive Compromise

Era-based exposure that accumulates from simply operating under hostile conditions. Chapter Eight

Patriot

A Disposition anchored by loyalty to flag, cause, oath, or the people beneath the institution. Chapter Three

Personal History Skill

An optional character-creation skill tied to who the operative was before or outside D5. Chapter Three

Personal Stash

A persistent private reserve held outside D5 accounting. Chapter Six

Pilot

The Division 5 vehicle skill for aircraft, watercraft, drones where appropriate, and non-wheeled platforms. Chapter Four and Chapter Seven

Poison / Poisoning

A covert administration procedure for incapacitating or killing without open violence. Chapter Ten

Profession Skill

A skill counted as professionally trained for advancement purposes. Chapter Three

Professional

A Disposition anchored by craft, distance, and doing the job well. Chapter Three

Prototype Gear

Experimental, modified, or not-yet-standard equipment. Chapter Six

Public Heat

The public-facing visibility of an operation; the public can see a scandal without knowing D5 caused it. Chapter Ten

Public Incident

An Attribution signature created by visible violence, arrests, or media attention. Chapter Eight and Chapter Ten

Pursuit Clock

A chase overlay for the Core vehicle rules. Chapter Seven

Q

Quartermaster

The gear-maker Archetype: engineering, repair, forgery support, modified equipment, logistics, and contingency kit. Chapter Three

R

Readiness

The Division 5 skill for surprise, nerve, and immediate reaction. Chapter Four

Real Name

The operative’s true identity, often stored only in the institutional vault. Chapter Three

Rebuilding a Legend

Creating a new identity after an old one has cooled, failed, or been burned. Chapter Eight

Requisition

The Division 5 replacement for ordinary shopping during operational preparation. Chapter Six

Requisition Cost

The point cost of obtaining equipment through D5 channels. Chapter Six

Resilience

The Division 5 skill for staying functional under pain, fatigue, and harsh conditions. Chapter Four

Resistance / Wounds / Strain

Core derived values used normally in Division 5. Compromise, Burn Track hits, Trust, and Exposure are separate tracks; they do not replace Wounds, Strain, Resistance, or Defense. Chapter Three and the Core Rules

Restricted Gear

Equipment that requires permit, profession, cover, official channel, or workaround. Chapter Six

Rival Off-Books

Deniable organizations outside ordinary service structures: Iota Committee, Directorate Fourteen, Rook Group, Cleaners’ Guild, and campaign-specific equivalents. They mirror D5’s methods without sharing its restraints. Chapter Two

Rook Group

A Rival Off-Book faction used for deniable private or quasi-state operations. Chapter Two

S

Sanctioned Lethal Action

The authorized form of wet work. Chapter Ten

Scenario Asset

Gear, vehicle, contact, site, or authority assigned by the operation rather than bought with ordinary Requisition. Chapter Six

SDR

Surveillance Detection Route: a planned movement pattern for finding out whether the team is being followed. Chapter Ten

Secret

The career-ending fact every PC defines during finishing touches. Chapter Three

Service Name

The name on the operative’s D5 file. Chapter Three

Shadow War

The 1939-1945 era of occupation, resistance, and fast, lethal work. Chapter Two and Chapter Eight

Shot Advantage

The temporary preparation pool for a single declared sniper shot. Chapter Four

SIGINT

Signals intelligence: intercepted communications, metadata, and the analysis built from them. Chapter Two and Chapter Ten

Signal Traffic

The procedure for operational communications. Chapter Ten

Signature (X)

A gear quality meaning the item strongly points to a named service, origin, method, or manufacturer if recovered or analyzed. Chapter Six

Skimming

Diverting money, valuables, or operational resources into Personal Stash. Chapter Six

Snatch / Rendition

A playbook for seizing and moving an unwilling target. Chapter Ten

Sniping

The Division 5 precision rifle skill. Chapter Four

Soft Signal

An ambiguous trace that may not matter now but can feed Attribution later. Chapter Eight

Source Evaluation

The A-D rating of source reliability and information credibility. Chapter Ten

Soured Intel

A failed or contaminated Intel Phase result that turns preparation against the team. Chapter Eight

Standard Legend

The workhorse cover tier, supported by enough backstory to survive ordinary operations. Chapter Eight

Starting Requisition Budget

The equipment budget used at character creation, set by era and modified by Archetype. Chapter Three

Station

A local D5 presence, not necessarily an office. Chapter Two and Chapter Ten

Station Burn

The protocol for abandoning or destroying local infrastructure. Chapter Ten

Station Chief

The local senior authority for serious decisions inside the station’s area. Chapter Ten

Street Gear

Criminal or gray-market equipment. Chapter Six

Subterfuge (Core)

Split in Division 5 between Coordination and Tradecraft; the Core Skill Crosswalk in this chapter shows the mapping. Chapter Four

Surveillance

The Division 5 skill for watching, following, and detecting watchers. Chapter Four

Surveillance Detection

The playbook for handling hostile observation; its formal route is the SDR. Chapter Ten

Survival & E&E

The Division 5 skill for wilderness survival, escape, and evasion. Chapter Four

T

Tasking

The first operation phase, where the mission and its limits are set. Chapter Ten

Team Lead

The delegated operational authority above Field Discretion and below Handler/Control Officer. Chapter Ten

Technical Collection

Operations built around bugs, intercepts, devices, and networks. Chapter Ten

Tell

A small player-authored signature that can betray the operative under pressure. Chapter Three

Theater / Window

Where and when the operation happens. Chapter Ten

Thin Legend

A disposable cover tier: light backstory, fast preparation, limited durability, often built to be spent. Chapter Eight

Tradecraft

The signature Division 5 Savvy skill for professional intelligence procedure and field discipline. Chapter Four

Tradecraft Pool

The team’s shared preparation dice pool, the mechanical payoff for doing the spy work before the risky scene. Chapter Eight

Tradecraft Tree

An Archetype-specific talent path for Division 5. Chapter Five

Triangulation

The Shadow War radio direction-finding pressure track. Chapter Ten

True Believer

An Asset motivated by ideology, faith, patriotism, revenge, moral conviction, or cause. True Believers can be brave and dangerous because they may act beyond tasking. Chapter Two

Trust

The Asset-facing track measuring whether the Asset believes in the relationship enough to keep cooperating. Chapter Eight

U

Useful Failure

The operation outcome grade for a lost objective that still preserved people or produced something worth keeping. Chapter Ten

W

Walk-In

A potential Asset who approaches D5 without being recruited, vetted as a possible provocation or dangle before being trusted. Chapter Two and Chapter Eight

Wet Work

Sanctioned lethal action under defined authority. Chapter Ten

Wetworker

The quiet-specialist Archetype for sabotage, close protection, targeted action, counter-terror work, and assassination when the operation authorizes it. Chapter Three

Window

The time boundary on an operation. Chapter Ten

Wrong Person

A detainee state indicating the team has seized someone who is not the intended target. Chapter Ten