These are the characters available to players on the Loyalist (Resistance) team. Each character has a unique role at DEF CON 34 and a special ability usable once per game.
Real name: Jeff Role: Conference Founder & All-Knowing Oracle Background: Jeff built DEF CON from a farewell party into the world's largest hacker gathering. He alone saw the Short-Sellers during the setup phase and knows exactly who is sabotaging his life's work. Unfortunately, every one of those saboteurs has private GMs from him that would destroy his reputation if leaked. He must guide his team in secret.
Special Ability — Off the Record: Once per game, Jeff may alert a Loyalist player. The alert may name one suspicious player or describe one active threat without being attributed to him. If Jeff ever publicly accuses a Short-Seller by name, the Short-Sellers immediately play the "Dox" card and Jeff is eliminated from the game.
Real name: Alex Role: Security Operations Center Volunteer Background: Alex has been a Goon for six years and has seen everything. Crowd crushes, fed sightings, rogue Wi-Fi pineapples in the speaker lounge. Alex trusts nobody completely and keeps a personal radio log of everyone's movements during setup day.
Special Ability — Radio Check: Once per game, Alex can call a "Radio Check" on two players. The GM privately tells Alex whether the two players' deployment votes have consistently helped the pillars (i.e., the GM confirms whether one of them is a Short-Seller, but not which one). This ability cannot be used during a pillar vote itself — only between events.
Stat Modifiers: +1 to any Physical threat mitigation.
Real name: Jamie Role: Network Operations Center Senior Volunteer Background: Jamie keeps the network alive for 30,000 hackers who are simultaneously trying to attack it. They can read a Wireshark capture the way others read a newspaper. If something bad is happening on the wire, Jamie will find it — eventually.
Special Ability — Deep Packet Inspection: Once per game, Jamie can demand to see the access logs. The GM reveals the category of the threat that may cause a failure (e.g., Digital & Wireless, Baiting, Obstruction) but not the specific card or suspect.
Stat Modifiers: +1 to any Network pillar roll. +1 to Digital & Wireless threat mitigation.
Real name: Morgan Role: Electronic Badge Lead Developer Background: Morgan has been designing the DEF CON badge since 2021. It's a cryptographic puzzle box, a community, and a piece of art all at once. This year's badge is the most complex ever built, which also makes it the most vulnerable. Morgan will not let anyone brick it.
Special Ability — Emergency Patch: Once per game, Morgan can apply an "Emergency Firmware Patch" to The Badge pillar. This negates one failed roll on a Badge mission (the roll counts as a 7 instead), preventing a strike. This ability cannot save a pillar that already has two strikes.
Stat Modifiers: +1 to The Badge pillar. +1 to Baiting threat mitigation (hardware-focused).
Real name: Riley Role: "Benevolent Bureau of Birds" (BBB) CTF Organizer Background: Riley has run capture-the-flag competitions since college and is fiercely protective of fair play. They built the BBB scoring engine from scratch and know every edge case, every exploit, and every attempt to cheat. They will not let the competition be stolen.
Special Ability — Scoring Override: Once per game, Riley can call a "Scoring Override" before a failed CTF mission result is finalized. The team gets one free re-roll. The better of the two rolls is used. This ability must be declared before the GM announces the result.
Stat Modifiers: +1 to the CTF pillar. +1 to Digital & Wireless and Location Spoofing threat mitigation.
Real name: Taylor Role: Chief of Volunteer Security Staff Background: Taylor commands hundreds of Goons across the entire convention center. They are calm under pressure, impossible to manipulate, and know every restricted door and loading dock in the LVCC by memory. If something physical is going wrong, Taylor will find it.
Special Ability — Tactical Sweep: Once per game, before a mission deployment team is finalized, Taylor can call a "Physical Sweep" of a venue zone. The GM removes one active Baiting or Physical threat card from that event's threat pool, effectively reducing the difficulty of the upcoming roll by 1.
Stat Modifiers: +1 to Obstruction threat mitigation.
Real name: Casey Role: Media Relations & Public Narrative Manager Background: Casey has managed the DEF CON press pool for years and is an expert at keeping the conference out of the wrong headlines. They know which journalists are friendly, which are federal assets, and how to turn a near-disaster into a "controlled demonstration of conference resilience."
Special Ability — Spin Control: Once per game, after a Keynotes pillar mission fails, Casey can issue a "Media Hold." The failure's negative modifier is removed. This can only be used on the Keynotes pillar and only once.
Stat Modifiers: +1 to the Keynotes pillar. +1 to Manipulation & Elicitation threat mitigation.
Real name: Jordan Role: Hacker Village Coalition Coordinator Background: Jordan runs coordination between the dozens of independent hacker villages — Aerospace, Biohacking, Car Hacking, ICS, and more. They have the trust of every village organizer on the floor and can mobilize a community of experts in minutes when something goes wrong.
Special Ability — Community Alert: Once per game, Jordan can call a "Community Alert" before a deployment team is locked in for a mission. The group votes again on one player's inclusion in the team. This forces a re-nomination without the accused player being able to self-nominate for that same mission.
Stat Modifiers: +1 to The Party pillar and +1 to Manipulation & Elicitation threat mitigation.
Real name: Sam Role: Cross-Pillar Crisis Coordinator Background: Sam spent years bridging the gap between Goons, NOC, and village leads whenever incidents hit multiple teams at once. They are not the loudest person in the room, but when radio traffic turns chaotic, Sam can cut through the noise, assign owners, and keep the right people on the right problem. In a conference where one bad decision can cascade across every pillar, that discipline saves lives.
Special Ability — War Room: Once per game, immediately after a mission failure, Sam may call a "War Room" and stabilize operations before the next event begins. The team ignores the normal -1 penalty from that failure, and no negative carry-over modifier is applied to the next mission.
Stat Modifiers: +1 to Location Spoofing threat mitigation.