Psion said:
I would definitely NOT recommend d20 modern instead for any reason.
Caveat: I've never seen the TV show, so I'm not sure how it compares to Spycraft...
I dissent and say that you probably want the core d20 Modern rules to start with, but I've always been of the opinion that you start with a vanilla base before you start adding the details. d20 Modern (the core rules, mind you) is much more vanilla than Spycraft which is built to be a 'telefantasy' spy game.
I'd suggest d20 Modern with heaping helpings of the following:
* Blood and Guts - For those military-to-spyworld types
* A good d20 crime/investigation resource (haven't found one, but I built some rules for this for my realistic spy game -- if anyone knows of one, I'd really appreciate a reference)
* Spycraft - For the times when things get crazy (chase rules, especially) and to build organizations. Several of the skill-based feats come over nicely in a real setting, as well.
* Lots of real-world research - any investigative work is steeped in facts, figures, and science. You'll have to have a good grounding in all of it to make a realistic game work.
*Some 'realistic' spy fiction - Forsyth is the most realistic spy fiction writers I've ever read. Of note is
The Deceiver and
Dogs of War (dated but lots of scrapable underworld procedures). If you're doing MI-5/6 and want something more than the TV show, he's your guy. I just finished
The Fourth Protocol and there was a ton of stealable material, but it wasn't such a great book. The opening scene concerning a jewel thief and his procedures is worth the price of the book at a used bookstore alone.