“A face is just a login credential for the meat-space. If you don't like yours, or if the Accord has flagged it for 'mandatory re-education,' you simply acquire a new one. The trick isn't looking like the Proctor; it's walking like you don't care who's watching.”
— Faceless Vex, Ebon Syndicate Identity Broker
In the surveillance-heavy corridors of the Inner Sphere, anonymity is a myth. Biometric scanners, mana-sensitive wards, and inquisitive drones track every citizen’s movement. For those operating outside the law—or working for a rival faction—the ability to become someone else is not just a skill; it is a necessity of survival.
To the Celestial Accord, impersonation is a high crime, punishable by indefinite detention in a Rift-lock. To the Ebon Syndicate, it is a standard service tier. Advanced "glitch-masks," holographic overlays, and even flesh-warping biomancy from the Viridian Ascent allow an operative to shed their identity like a snake sheds skin. But technology only goes so far. The true art of impersonation lies in the posture, the cadence of speech, and the arrogance of belonging exactly where you shouldn't be.
Impersonate Untrained
Source Player Core pg. 198
You create a disguise to pass yourself off as someone or something you are not. Assembling a convincing disguise takes 10 minutes and requires a holoskin or similar disguise, but a simpler, quicker disguise might do the job if you're not trying to imitate a specific individual, at the GM's discretion.
In most cases, creatures have a chance to detect your deception only if they use the Seek action to attempt Perception checks against your Deception DC. If you attempt to directly interact with someone while disguised, the GM checks your Deception check result against that creature's Perception DC instead.
If you're disguised as a specific individual, the GM might give creatures you interact with a circumstance bonus based on how well they know the person you're imitating.
Success You trick the creature into thinking you're the person you're disguised as. You might have to attempt a new check if your behavior changes.
Failure The creature can tell you're not who you claim to be.
Critical Failure The creature can tell you're not who you claim to be, and it recognizes you if it would know you without a disguise.
Additional Impersonation Rules
Using a holoskin or shapeshifting abilities may allow you to disguise in less time, but assuming a new disguise can still take 10 minutes to get into character and practice your mannerisms as this new creature, at the GM's discretion.
You can use this skill to pretend to be someone else on the infosphere. Still, without a hacking toolkit anyone can use the Hack action to uncover your identity without having to compare it to your Computers DC.
Applications
The "Social Stealth" Infiltration: Instead of sneaking through the air ducts (Stealth), you walk through the front door wearing a repair technician's jumpsuit (Impersonate).
The False Flag: Dressing your crew as Crimson Concord raiders to attack a Syndicate warehouse, framing one faction to provoke a war with another.
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