SpyLite

Greywulf made waves in the RPG hobby with his brilliant Microlite20. It quickly took off in all directions as it had a toe in many facets of the hobby- a bit of old school, a bit of rules-light, it was free, and a big chunk of d20. No wonder it was so successful. One of the variants that spun off was for d20 Modern-like games and an influence from Spycraft and Spycraft 2.0. That was SpyLite.

This is a game of espionage, based on Greywulf's excellent Microlite20 system. It's intended to be a quick and dirty game, inspired heavily by the also-excellent Spycraft 2.0, but easier to get into and faster playing.

Inspirations range from NOLF to Alias, with a heavy dose of Mission: Impossible. Some A-Team may or may have not crept along for the ride. ;-) I also tend to use this as a toolbox system for making other games, such as "Where No Man Has Gone Before" or "Argo".

SpyLite is perfect for one who wants to run Spycraft 2.0 for new or young players who would be completely lost in the vast rules. I'd like to try to slowly inch over to the Spycraft rules after a while and the players are ready.

SpyLite is available for free in PDF as well as in a pocke-mod format.

Gosh, Spies!

In the ongoing search for that one game to run with my teen step-daughter one appeared on the radar seemingly custom made for my needs. Postmortem Studio's Agents of S.W.I.N.G. has a supplement called Gosh, Spies! that expands the '60s spy-fi genre of it's core book into the world of younger agents and adventurers.

Like it's companion book that contains the core rules, this one features a cast of NPCs that are slightly altered from popular characters from this genre. Its fun to try to figure out who they really represent (just with the serial numbers thinly filed off). And many of them are actually not that obvious. I still can't figure some out!

We have:

• Alex = George Kirrin (Famous Five)
• Bank Tardy = Frank Hardy (Hardy Boys)
• Bee Pike = ?
• Bessie Cannon = Jessica Bannon (Jonny Quest)
• Chase Cannon = Race Bannon (Jonny Quest)
• Daisy Denton = Clover (Totally Spies!)
• Dotty = ?
• Dr. Capitol = Rusty Venture (Venture Bros)
• Dr. Mission = Dr. Benton Quest (Jonny Quest)
• Elaine Drake = ?
• Pam = Anne Kirrin (Famous Five)
• Frank and Gene Capitol = Hand and Dean Venture (Venture Bros)
• George = Alexandra (Totally Spies!)
• Harold = Gerald Lewis (Totally Spies!)
• Henry = Samantha (Totally Spies!)
• Hunk Meatloaf = Brock Samson (Venture Bros)
• Ivanna Gobbleov = Molotov Cocktease (Venture Bros)
• Jane Changeling = ?
• Jenny the Jinx = ?
• Jimmy Mission = Jonny Quest (Jonny Quest)
• Jimmy the Dog = Timmy (Famous Five)
• Lee Tardy = Joe Hardy (Hardy Boys)
• Pansy Draft = Nancy Drew (Nancy Drew)
• Prakash Petal = Hadji Quest (Jonny Quest)
• Rick = Dick Kirrin (Famous Five)
• Selma = Velma Dinkley (Scooby-Doo)
• Tarquin = Julian Kirrin (Famous Five)
• Wendy Hanse = ?

The book is a great resource for gaming with younger players. It is not intended for kids, rather, it is aimed at parents or adults who will be running games with or for kids. 

The first chapter discusses many common issues that might come up when gaming with young players who might not have any gaming experience- some examples would be: attention span; the child's frustrations at some aspects of the game being difficult or characters getting injured, killed or just failing; other kid's parents, etc.

The next chapter talks a bit about gaming with young girls in particular, which is a unique topic. Written by Filamena Young, its short, but very interesting and insightful and a very useful guide for geek dads who have considered some of the points very little.

There's more about how to slim down the FATE system more in favor of younger players and inexperienced players with the intention of adding more detailed rules back in little by little.

I find Gosh, Spies! a very worthy and positive guide for gaming with young girls using the FATE system in particular. Very nice product.

Check out the web site.

Spycraft - A Memoir

This was a wonderful and heartfelt review by Jaime 'Hida Mann' Lawrence on RPG Geeks.

Spycraft – A Memoir.
When one is born into times of controversy, one has only two options; to become flexible, or to break. Being the child of such times, I was faced very early on with this choice, but thanks to my innately wide interests and the support of loving but troubled parents, I became extremely flexible. It was this defining quality which, over the years, was to win me legions of fans, to give me a second chance at life and if I may be so self-appreciative, made me so attractive to so many. For what am I if not flexible?
Gentle reader, my name is Spycraft. I am the child of the Open Game License and Alderac Entertainment Group, a roleplaying game recognized internationally and highly regarded, having been nominated for the industry’s highest awards. Above all of this, however, I am without boast the most flexible incarnation of the d20 system ever to have appeared.
My youth was tumultuous; even before my release, rivals of my parents had announced that they were going to produce a superior game, a broad and intuitive system that would allow players to build characters in any genre for a modern game. That game, d20 Modern, has since passed into obscurity. I know not if that is my doing, but if so, I can only say that it got its just desserts, for it ended up being a pale imitation of many of my core mechanics, but according to critics, lacked my “elegance and flair”. Flattering though this is, I’m not sure how much elegance I truly have. I am sure, however, that d20 Modern deserved obscurity; it was very rude to me and worked hard to try and muscle me out of the market. Even if we hadn’t been born into competition, I doubt we ever would have been friends.
My parents were supportive and caring; though I was the product of teamwork, the two faces I saw the most in my infancy were those of Patrick Kapera and Kevin Wilson, both of whom have themselves moved on to impressive careers, Patrick now being the driving force behind Crafty Games, Kevin doing wonderful work over at Fantasy Flight Games. They were both working at AEG, a fine company to this day, where they had collaborated on Legend of the Five Rings (1st Edition) and 7th Sea, both RPGs with strongly thematic mechanics and essentially my paternal cousins. Patrick, Kevin and I remain in contact and I know I am never far from my parents’ thoughts, but the heady days of my childhood are behind us now. Still, one cannot weep for the past too long, or one misses the present.
People remark now that I am old and outdated, yet I am still very active for my age; In the UK, a living campaign exists to promote me. It is called ‘For Queen and Country’ and I am proud to be in attendance whenever I am in the country. Though many have moved on and consider my ‘rebirth’ to be a superior incarnation, I am proud of my origins. Let us look together at what I achieved in those early years.
Based on the d20 model, I changed the core mechanics of the game in many significant ways. It was outmoded as soon as it was born, a clunky failure of a few good ideas. I won’t claim to have invented them, but the first thing I did was expand greatly the concept of action dice, making them not only a little bonus when needed, but the means by which critical success could be activated and building them into a narrative exchange system between the players and the Game Control.
I also introduced new mechanics for selecting Gear and conducting chases. Rather than simply relying on dice checks, this new and innovative system offered players exciting games of bluff as they would attempt to select manoeuvres to outdo and penalize their opponents. The tension and atmosphere of the game expanded greatly under my ruleset as players could imagine themselves swerving up side streets, playing chicken or just plain gunning it to get away from an opponent. A part of the game that had formerly been a dice roll and a few sweet words was now an epic in which players could achieve triumphs that previously resided only in the imagination. The system worked so well the White Wolf would later borrow it for their d20 adaptations of their games Trinity (d20 Version) and Aberrant (d20 Edition).
I added a level-based bonus to initiative and defence, so that more experienced agents would have a boon over those with less field hours. This was a small but meaningful change that also allowed me to further distinguish the classes from one another. While my ancestor had rangers that were suspiciously similar to fighters and assassins that were nigh-identical to rogues, my classes were distinct and flavoursome. Characters for my game would select not a race, but a department, which defined their background and training, then a class.

The Faceman, deathlessly cool in the toughest of spots.
The Fixer, able to obtain anything from anyone, anywhere.
The Pointman, bolstering his comrades and directing traffic during an op.
The Snoop, a born investigator with two eyes for detail.
The Soldier, a paragon of violence.
The Wheelman, who could pilot anything home in one piece.
It was not an exhaustive list, to be sure and later supplements and revisions would perhaps improve on my model, but they were my creation and I’m damn proud of them.
Finally, I adopted the wounds/vitality system that my cousin, Star Wars (WEG Original Edition) had invented. Why improve on something that already works, right?
Of course, looking back, it isn’t the mechanics I remember. No, they were good, a significant improvement on what had gone before, but what really makes me proud was how incredibly slick and cool I looked in those days. My stark silver covers with flashes of colour and chiascuro-lit figures in espionage gear made me the envy of every other RPG on the shelf. It was Veronica Jones who gave me my dynamic looks and it must certainly be said that without her, I never would have flown off the shelves as I did.



The team behind me went a step further though, adding quotes from the most sensational of espionage films to my chapter title pages and taking the time to build theme into my mechanics. Look at my feats, for example – not just the sensibly titled “Punching Basics” or “Defensive Driving”, but the creative and expressively titled ones such as “One Hand on the Wheel” and “And a Gun in the Other”, or “Five Star Service”, or “Trail of Blood” – my feat trees are artistic and give players something to aim for besides a cool set of mechanics.
My parents included so many nice little details in me too; an table of international travel times, a gadget construction system, a villain construction system, an extensive Game control Advice chapter and sections for players on how to use evidence and clues. I was the complete package in my day.
Dark times were ahead though. Economic downturn hit AEG and they had to drop my line, only a short time after my Spycraft 2.0 was released. Patrick and Kevin parted ways and thankfully Crafty Games gave me a shot after that and soon, version 3.0 will be doing the rounds.
If you are to take anything from my life, other than my existence as a truly original sandbox RPG that offered players the opportunity to adopt the roles of their favourite characters from multiple genres, it would be this: Be flexible. Encourage those around you to be flexible and to play with the rules and roles they are so used to. There’s a lot out there, but if you break when you encounter difficulty, you’ll never know what it’s like to be Spycraft.

link

Agents of S.W.I.N.G

Agents of S.W.I.N.G. has been a good guide to the ways of the FATE RPG. Having been a gamer for more of my life than not being one I've studied many different RPG systems. Some of them are very calculated, extremely logical and some even very realistic (GURPS, I'm looking in your direction). So trying to wrap one's head around the FATE system can be difficult at first. There is a degree of unlearning that has to be done. The best way to do this is to actually play the game. When one isn't able to do that you read the rulebook and seek out the online communities. Fortunately, the FATE fanbase has some particularly helpful contributors out there.

When it comes to the rulebook (FATE books tend to be large for some reason and this one is no exception), Agents of S.W.I.N.G. is very good in that it has a plethora of examples. One whole chapter is dedicated to NPCs that illustrate various ways characters could be made and Aspects that could be assigned. These NPCs are also a lot of fun, they're all characters from the movies, shows, books, and comics that inspired Agents of S.W.I.N.G. Some of the characters are pretty obvious- just barely changed, the serial numbers thinly filed off, many where not so obvious to me.

On the RPG Geeks database, some very astute geeks have made the effort to compiled a list of which NPCs are based on who:

• Aunty = Mother (The Avengers)
• Andrew Bowie = Bodie - full name William Andrew Philip Bodie (The Professionals)
• Cobalt = Saphhire (Sapphire and Steel)
• Ryan Colt = Richard Barrett or Craig Stirling (The Champions)
• Jay MacCready = Joe McClaine (Joe 90)
• Tracy McCloud = Sharron Macready (The Champions)
• Johnny Free = Danny Wilde? (The Persuaders!)
• Baron Drew St John = Lord Brett Sinclair (The Persuaders!)
• John Kerrigan = Jack Regan (The Sweeney)
• Gordon Cooper = George Carter? (The Sweeney)
• Jackson Queen = Jason King (Department S and Jason King)
• Iron = Steel (Sapphire and Steel)
• Marybelle Horst = Annabelle Hurst (Department S)
• Darling = Purdy (The New Avengers)
• Mick Trick = Mike Gambit (The New Avengers)
• Richard Foyle = Doyle (The Professionals)
• John Swan = John Drake (Danger Man)
• Agent Zero, John Chain = James Bond
• The Angel, Jack Chevalier = Simon Templar (The Saint)
• Agent Crimson Saul Metford = Captain Scarlet (Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons)
• Number 8 = Number 6 (The Prisoner)
• Joanna Pare = Emma Peel (The Avengers)
• Zara Prince = Tara King (The Avengers)
• The Professor = Doctor Who (the 3rd Doctor)
• James Ryde = John Steed (The Avengers)
• Doctor David Stern = Doctor David Keel (The Avengers)

Buck Rogers XXVc was to use the TS/S.I. system?

I've always felt the percentile based system of Top Secret/S.I. would have worked for many other genres other than modern espionage. There exists some evidence that the guys at TSR thought the same thing.

There was a cross-posted thread in a couple of message boards; one for TSR's Buck Rogers RPG, and the other in the late TS/S.I. forum. The post stated that the Buck Rogers: XXVc was possibly going to be powered by the Top Secret/S.I. system.

In the end it didn't end up that way, The Buck Rogers game used a variant of the AD&D system, THAC0 and % skills, etc.

Here is that discussion:

--- In tssi@yahoogroups.com, Justin Mohareb <justinmohareb@...> wrote:
>
> I spoke to Doug Niles at a convention a long time ago (gah I'm old) and he
> did mention that he'd lobbied to have Buck use the TS:SI rules, but was
> overruled. I'm not sure about how wide/deep the discussion was about using
> a system other than AD&D.
>
> Justin
>
> On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 9:28 AM, Renin <webasaurusrex@...> wrote:
>
> > I could swear I read somewhere that Jeff Grubb or somebody tagged to
> > develop the Buck Rogers XXVc game had originally argued to use the TSSI
> > rules. Does anyone else remember seeing this?

I think the game would've held up well using the d% skill based system. It wouldn't be difficult to convert. In fact TSR published some information on how to do that very thing. These articles appeared between stories in the issues of a comic-book/module series called Intruder.

Gateway to FATE

As a fan of the pulp genre, I was quite aware of the Spirit of the Century RPG when it came out. As awesome as it seemed, I've avoided that game. It was the FATE system that freaked me out. I hadn't played, read or owned any games like that so I hand-waverly dismissed it.

FATE is a variant version of the 1990's FUDGE RPG and has since powered some very highly regarded and successful RPGs, such as the Dresden Files RPG. FATE is currently in it's 3rd edition. This is one of those games that has special dice. More special than the funny polyhedrons. Just d6 with two faces marked with a +, two faces marked with -, and two faces left blank. The thing about FATE that was so different to me was there aren't the standard set of attributes that define a character's abilities. This game system is much more story driven, so the things that define a character are their attributes. There are a lot of meta-gaming aspects to this system. Also some very loose free-form aspects. (puns not originally intended, but then I decided to go for it!).

So why did I shy away from it? FATE is completely thinking outside the box compared to most other games.  Kurt Wiegel's fantastic reviews made me even more nervous about how the game works. As a traditional gamer, I wasn't ready for something so out of the norm. I can see as someone who wasn't into gaming or new to it, this could be seen as exciting.

See for yourself what he says:




So last year I started seeing the very attractive cover (attractive to me, hit all the right espionage buttons of style) of a new game called Agents of S.W.I.N.G. Alas, as it was a powered-by-FATE game, I dismissed it. Oh my, we've been here before! Another FATE game in one of my very favorite genres. That's fine.

Then suddenly a new suppliment appears for Agents of S.W.I.N.G.- Gosh, Spies! Come on! Its as if James Desborough knows I've been trying to find the perfect game setting for gaming with my teenage step-daughter!

Gosh, Spies! is 120 pages of information for your Agents of SWING games, expanding the scope of the game into the realms of Saturday Morning Adventure cartoons with a particular emphasis on girl’s adventures.

The book has information and ideas on running SWING games for children and particularly for girls. While the book itself is not necessarily for kids and younger teens, it should help you create and run games for them.

More generally Gosh, Spies! contains rules for creating child characters, some new child/teen oriented stunts, background for two boarding schools, information on the teen subcultures of the 60s and 70s and an introductory, Saturday Morning style adventure called ‘Field Trip’

So I broke down and ordered the paperback of Agents of S.W.I.N.G. from Lulu and plan on picking up the other supplements soon. Especially Gosh, Spies! What won me over was basically reading this entire thread at RPG.net over the weekend. Somewhere around page 6 or 7 I went and ordered my copy.  In the meantime I'm reading up all I can about FATE 3.0. I've been really enjoying the free PDF of 2.0 and looking at the SRD when I can.

Looking back, I know now that FATE was inevitable for me. And Agents of S.W.I.N.G serves as my gateway.

G.I. Joe RPG

There has never been an official G.I. Joe RPG. Which is a real shame and a missed opportunity since d20 and G.I. Joe are both owned by Hasbro. Fan, Jay Libby went off and created his own unofficial G.I. Joe RPG that uses the logo and the characters. This is a fan-made effort and it appears to be a pretty good one. The setting is obviously the comics and the cartoon and now the film/s. He based the mechanics on the Fuzion system, which I know very little about.

The other two significant RPGs are not exactly G.I. Joe, but it's pretty obvious that G.I. Joe served as the main inspiration for each of them. I do not intend to review the systems. They're are varying game systems here. I'm looking at the setting fluff.

Strike Force 7 is available for Savage Worlds, d20 and RuneQuest. I've only seen the Savage Worlds version I suspect the setting material is nearly all the same. It's written by Caias Ward and Hyrum Savage and published by Super Genius Games. More info here.

The Strike Force 7 back story makes for a pretty good read and is extensive going into the various government intelligence departments from WWII through the Vietnam war leading up to the founding of the Strike Force 7 and how it separated itself from government funding and ties. There is a science fiction tangent in the back story that involves government operatives with mental powers and an explanation to what the Men in Black really is. It's fantastic, but not too far fetched. Especially compared to some of the things in G.I. Joe.

Where the main protagonist in Joe is COBRA, here we have Skorpion. The rise of this terror organization is much like Cobra Commander's- fanatical and extreme, but some valid opinions- Skorpion lead by Pharaoh was very similar. One interesting thing, while the events of 9/11/2001 were instrumental in the final stages of the Strike Force 7 manifestation, Pharaoh disapproved of the Twin Towers attack as well.

This is new setting on it's own. It definitely is not a replica or parody of G.I. Joe. There are obvious parallels. I like it. Strike Force 7 is a pretty serious take on a G.I. Joe-like setting.




Crafty Games' Real American H.E.R.O.es is G.I. Joe with the names just barely changed. This came off as a parody to me. H.E.R.O.es is Headquarters for Eminent Risk Oversight. Versus their enemy, NME (National Military Exports). Destro's M.A.R.S. becomes the Morrigna Corporation. The Arishikage Clan here is the Shirobikou Ninja Clan, and Zartan's Dreadnoks are The Wreckers. It's all here. Some of the back story, while entertaining, is just kind of stupid. For example, in a sidebar in 1984 the timeline credits Kenny G and Michael Bolton for inadvertently saving America from N.M.E's mind control lasers inducing nation-wide violence, or among several crisis in the '80s- big hair bands were the doing of N.M.E. Here's Crafty's page.

I'd choose the Spycraft 2.0 system over the d20 or d20 Modern system for Strike Force 7. But I think the setting is a little too much of a joke.

Real American H.E.R.O.es review starts at about 3:00 minutes in...


*edit
Another G.I. Joe inspired game for Savage Worlds has been brought to my attention that deserves mention. G.E.T. Into Action! by Daring Entertainment (thank you, Sean [check out his Wine and Savages blog]). Here's the blurb:

When the organization known as STORM announced a New World Order under their tyrannical rule, conventional military proved unable to oppose them.  Determined to safeguard the world, the United Nations formed a covert team to counter the terrorist organization.  Wherever STORM appears, the men and women of Global Elite Tactical sound the Battle Cry and G.E.T. Into Action!

G.E.T. Into Action! is a new ongoing adventure series from Daring Entertainment.  Inside the pilot episode you'll find background information on Global Elite Tactical and STORM, equipment and personnel information, new Edges, Hindrances, and Setting Rules, and guidelines for running a G.E.T. Into Action! campaign set in either the non-lethal 1980's cartoon method, the 1980's comic book method, or a style and tone similar to the modern day reboots of the 1980's cartoons.

Included is also a full-length adventure, the pilot episode: The Rising Storm!  When STORM agents kidnap Dr. Jennifer Kenson, Global Elite Tactical quickly realizes it's to get their hands on the experimental BIND technology.  A new interface that allows pilots to control any vehicle with the speed of thought.  Assigned to infiltrate Mexico to retrieve the Dr., can the team rescue her while avoiding an international incident and facing the power of STORM?

Action, Adventure, and Drama await you!  It's time to strap on that side-arm and get your gear in order.  It's time to G.E.T. Into Action!

link

So there you go. Now you know and knowing is half the battle!