Deadlock Factions: The OSIC, the Baxter Society, Fairfax and More

Fifty years after magic went public, New York is full of organisations built to fight it, sell it or profit from it. Most heroes are tied to at least one. Here are the groups that matter most, and who belongs to them. (For the bigger story, start with the Maelstrom and the ritual.)

The OSIC

The Occult Security and Investigation Commission is a secretive US government agency, often compared to the CIA. It handles supernatural threats too big for local police, keeps files on people of interest, and can send an agent to deal with anyone it decides is a danger to the country.

It has three known divisions:

Division	What it does
Sandmen	Agents who enter people’s dreams to investigate them, and remove serious threats. They usually work alone.
Curators	Handle magical objects. As one agent puts it, curators care about things; Sandmen care about people.
Mediums	Almost nothing is known.

Heroes: Haze is a Sandman, loyal to the agency despite its flaws, and sent to fight in the ritual. Her superior, an agent called Marlowe, is a friend of Venator. The OSIC also wants Calico and Seven dead, and keeps an eye on Wraith and Yamato.

During the Maelstrom, it was the OSIC that told New Yorkers to stay indoors.

The Baxter Society

An international society of monster hunters, founded after the first Maelstrom and active for more than forty years. They hunt monsters that prey on people, not every magical creature, and they don’t take money for it. They operate out of a manor house and have a friendly rivalry with the Venators of St. Benedict.

Heroes:

• Grey Talon, a founding member with more confirmed kills than anyone in the society. Now retired, he picked his replacement.
• Shiv, that replacement, and the society’s representative at the ritual. He wants to prove himself by hunting the Patrons.
• Calico, a former member who left for better-paid work as an assassin.

The society has hunted Drifter for years without catching him. All three known members have a prosthetic right arm.

Fairfax Industries

An arms maker at the centre of the city’s occult industry, specialising in spirit weapons. Its motto is “All’s Fair!”, and its name is everywhere in the Cursed Apple, from crates and statues to the stock ticker FFX.

• Its CEO is Maximilian Fairfax.
• It owns Eldritch Tactical Solutions (ETS), a private military company whose former employees have accused it of war crimes.
• It once ran the island of Cadenza, which it treated as a US state, and wants it back.
• It has been sanctioned for dumping spiritual waste.

Heroes: Pocket is Arin Fairfax, the family’s eldest heir, presumed dead after an assassination attempt five years ago and now set on dismantling ETS. McGinnis heads Fairfax’s military research and development.

The Tunnel Rats

A criminal network that lives up to its name, running the city’s black market through tunnels between the boroughs. Mo & Krill are their enforcers, punishing anyone who disrespects the Tunnel Rats and anyone trying to take over the tunnels.

Other groups

Group	Who they are
The New York Oracle	The city’s newspaper
The Friends of Humanity	Extremists who hate anything supernatural
The Municipal Coven	Caretakers of New York
The Paradox Organisation	Time thieves who pull off heists
The Seventh Moon	A Japanese crime family
The Mendoza Syndicate	A Spanish Harlem crime syndicate, now broken up, that once did business with the Tunnel Rats

Which hero belongs where

Hero	Ties
Haze	OSIC (Sandman)
Venator	Friend of an OSIC agent
Grey Talon	Baxter Society (founder, retired)
Shiv	Baxter Society
Calico	Baxter Society (former); wanted by the OSIC
Pocket	Fairfax family heir
McGinnis	Fairfax Industries
Mo & Krill	Tunnel Rats
Seven	Wanted by the OSIC
Wraith, Yamato	Watched by the OSIC
Drifter	Hunted by the Baxter Society

Every hero’s full backstory is in the Lore section of their hero guide.