Broker

Played by: Mertie

Overview

Real name Chad Van Patten (revealed Session 04 — Ledger greeted him by name on sight, unprompted, along with correctly naming Escalante as his employer). Corporate exec at Alvin Partridge’s designer clothing brand Escalante (think Uniqlo, Night City edition). Raised by exec parents in an exclusive sector of the city; when his parents were pushed out of a global corp and retired on golden parachutes, Broker’s expected trajectory evaporated. He landed at Escalante and tells himself it’s “bohemian.” Outwardly charming and pleasant. Internally a narcissist who doesn’t understand real crisis and is barely aware of the consequences of his actions. Thinks he’s networking with regular people when running jobs with the crew.

Known Facts

• Role: Corporate
• Company: Escalante — designer clothing brand, CEO Alvin Partridge (erratic, possibly dangerous)
• Raised by exec parents in an exclusive enclave; parents were pushed out of a global corp with golden parachutes, leaving Broker without the inherited trajectory he expected
• Considers working at a “mere” designer brand to be slumming it — views it as bohemian; views the crew as common people he’s graciously networking with
• Long-term goal: leverage his current situation back to global-oligarch income level
• Personality: Silicon Valley yuppie — outwardly pleasant, internally narcissistic, surface-level, doesn’t register real danger
• Arrives to crew meetups by some kind of car service; walks in and immediately makes himself at home — pours a coffee, treats whatever space he’s in like a satellite office
• “I too have a legacy. I’m working towards that.” — frames his ambitions in terms of building something, not just recovering what was lost
• Strategically flatters people he wants something from; reads people well and deploys charm deliberately (“I could see the synergy in that”)
• Visibly uncomfortable with street-level authenticity (notably awkward around street food) but pushes through when hungry or when the situation demands it
• Real name Chad Van Patten — recognized on sight by Ledger, who also knew his employer (Escalante) and told him “several people have their eyes on you.” Source of Ledger’s knowledge is unexplained — a possible thread for later
• Turned down Kenny’s offer of synthcoke before the Session 04 sewer crawl: “No offense, but I try to keep the junk food out of my system”
• Session 05: negotiated the crew’s deal with The Calling — help defending against a Continental Brands purge in exchange for a binding no-forced-assimilation consent contract, and secured the collective’s full 3,000 EB fee (up from their initial discounted offer)
• Started posting to “LinkedIn Red,” a professional social platform he treats completely earnestly; the DM confirmed this session that it’s actually building him in-fiction reputation and a following
• Session 06: stayed hidden in cover throughout the entire Continental Brands raid — Mr. Continental never realized he was part of the crew, despite being in the same room at points; the DM confirmed his domino-mask disguise held completely
• Session 06: secured the crew’s full 3,000 EB fee from Martin Gorsky/The Calling as promised, split 600 EB each
• Session 07: confronted by Isabella over the Continental Brands raid jeopardizing Escalante’s play with Alvin Partridge — spun her off with a rehearsed gift-basket-and-reassurance strategy; she refused to “go down” with him if the play collapses and stormed off, the clearest crack yet in their dynamic
• Session 07: did damage control with Alvin Partridge, framing the raid as an unnamed “mysterious bandit” operation and passing a Business roll (+3 luck, framed in-fiction as “radical candor”); bought an SMG, armor-piercing rounds, rubber rounds, and a personal care pack; gave Isabella a 300 EB bonus and a thank-you card; looked into a subdermal grip/smart gun setup (requires a neural link first) and a hidden holster, no purchase made yet
• Session 08: confronted in person for the first time by life path rival Hank Nguyen at Ziptown, accused of being a fraud over the Continental Brands fallout — deflected with rehearsed motivational-seminar jargon and passed a Persuasion roll; Hank backed off but vowed to prove it and keep watching him
• Session 08: overheard by Isabella discussing rocket launchers for a possible danger race against the Blacktop Saints; she was alarmed, thinking it meant using them on bystanders, until Broker smoothed it over (“sometimes we just gotta let the boys cook”)
• Session 08: fielded a check-in call from Alvin Partridge, framing the desert trip as a corporate “team-building retreat”; when Hank Nguyen came up by name, declined to discredit him outright but suggested keeping an eye on him — quietly protecting his own position
• Fitness is part of his personal brand: he credits his legs to “Bikram yoga,” spent a desert morning trying to find a spin class, and treats any unfamiliar machine as possible exercise equipment (“The trick is to engage your glutes”)
• Grew up around voice-controlled tech. Faced with a decades-old terminal, he leans in and speaks to it
• Session 09: said “spin cycle” into the Blacktop Saints’ old network terminal, which set off the camp’s washing-machine water purifier. He then climbed on top of the bucking machine thinking it was a workout (“This is really good for your core”) and barely held on (Athletics, Kenny assisting, plus Luck)
• Session 09: workshopped a bicycle-powered spin-class business with Mr. Zip and Kenny that would also generate power for the camp, worrying mainly about “the subscription model” and settling on introductory free months. Held his arms out to the desert and told Isabella “Synergy.” Drafted a LinkedIn Red post taking credit for the nomads’ road-building
• Session 09: Hank Nguyen tailed him to the Blacktop Saints’ camp and glared at him in silence
• Session 09: proposed approaching the engine question “as a businessman”: align objectives with Ledger, offer to make the engine spaceworthy, do a “test run,” then hand the ship back or lease it

Hireling

Isabella, personal assistant. Always agrees to any request, never pushes back in the moment — then goes for drinks after work and talks shit for hours. Mousey appearance, something like Isabelle from Animal Crossing.

The Mission (Session 1)

Alvin Partridge had an important package go missing, last tracked to South Bay before the satellite signal died. Contents unknown — possibly next year’s winter collection, possibly something considerably more sinister; Partridge was vague about it. The package (small — bigger than a breadbox, smaller than a shipping container) appears to have been hidden inside a stolen Continental Brands shipping container.

Broker assembled the crew. Isabella Taka was assigned by Partridge to accompany him. 500 EB of the recovery budget was spent buying the crew out of a confrontation with the Piranhas.

Relationships

• Kenny Log-ins — co-worker (first job together)
• Fix-it-Felix — co-worker (first job together)
• Golden Girl — co-worker (first job together)
• Mr. Zip — co-worker (first job together)
• Claire Savoy — ex-fiancée; arranged marriage dissolved when his parents lost their positions; both consider themselves lifelong close friends despite the relationship being entirely superficial (birthday gift baskets)
• Hank Nguyen — professional rival; self-made exec who resents Broker for coasting on charm; watches for Broker to make mistakes and moves to exploit them
• Alvin Partridge — Broker’s CEO; erratic and possibly dangerous

Open Questions

• What exactly is in the Escalante package?
• What are Alvin Partridge’s other operations?
• How does Vilify connect to the stolen Continental Brands container and Escalante’s cargo?
• How does Ledger know Broker’s real name and employer?

Appearances

• Session 00 — Introduced briefly at end of session; background established via pre-session Discord exchange
• Session 01 — Ran the crew on the first real job; charmed Don Swayze; spent 500 EB buying the crew out of the Piranha hideout
• Session 02 — Harassed by the Duke Boys for being obviously corpo; summoned Isabella to deliver domino masks and Escalante outfits; delegated ramen pickup to Isabella (heading to Enderman’s anyway) and went on the job himself; charged down the clinic hallway yelling “Willy! I come for what’s mine!”; was the first to address the Continental Brands mercs diplomatically
• Session 03 — Delivered the data cube to Alvin Partridge (endorsed CB arrangement); received 1,500 EB from Alvin, distributed 300 EB per crew member after expenses; made 200 EB at work; accepted CB retainer on behalf of the crew; questioned Dr. Willie in CB custody; left a fake Vilify dealer voicemail at Martin Gorsky’s apartment; opened his coat to show Vilify supply to addicts outside Nexus Mods; found drugs and med tech materials in Nexus Mods storage
• Session 04 — Negotiated the trade with The Calling (3 Vilify vials + 1,000 EB for a test subject and Martin Gorsky’s location); ran the 2 AM shakedown of Professor Jackson by piecing together his affair with a student; fronted the Vilify vials and expenses throughout, later reimbursed 95 EB by the crew for pizza costs
• Session 05 — Negotiated the crew’s defense-for-consent-contract deal with The Calling via Martin Gorsky; secured the collective’s full 3,000 EB fee; stayed hidden from Continental Brands throughout; got fresh domino masks from Isabella for the approach on CB’s facility
• Session 06 — Stayed in cover throughout the Continental Brands raid, never spotted by Mr. Continental; collected the crew’s full 3,000 EB fee from Martin Gorsky at session’s end
• Session 07 — Confronted by Isabella over the raid’s fallout; did damage control with Alvin Partridge; went shopping for an SMG and ammo; gave Isabella a bonus and a card; scouted smart gun cyberware options
• Session 08 — Confronted in person by Hank Nguyen at Ziptown; passed a Persuasion roll to placate him; smoothed over Isabella’s alarm at rocket-launcher talk; spun the trip to Alvin Partridge as a team-building retreat
• Session 09 — Hunted for a spin class in the desert; accidentally set off the washing-machine water purifier and rode it; pitched the spin-class power business; glared at by Hank Nguyen; proposed negotiating a “test run” lease of the engine