Division 5: Classified

Glossary

Every term the book defines, A to Z.

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