Spycraft: opening sequences?

[SurfMonkey01]

I want to do a Bond-esque opening action sequence for my next serial, but I can't come up with anything! All I know is I want to have a chase where the agents are the Prey, but my brain doesn't seem capable of anything else... can anyone help?

 

[Sagan Darkside]

One of the princes of England needs to be moved incognito due to some terrorist threats agains this life- the party is to escort him in their vehicle across a desert/forest/city to an airport.

Unfortunetly for them- the terrorists have found out about it. Let the chase begin.

Or you could borrow the idea from one of the BMW films- they are told/hired to escort a man with a package .. no questions asked to an out of the way area. A helicopter appears with no intention of letting them getting there.. the package gets hit by a bullet and strange liquid starts dripping out.

I won't spoil what it is- go to www.bmwfilms.com for a bunch of good ideas for car chases/races/scenes.

SD

 

[SurfMonkey01]

Okay, I just kinda got an idea... I guess I'll respond to my own post and see what anyone else out here thinks of it, if it's cool enough or if they have something better...

Scene I: Pursuit
* Chicago, Illinois
* Computer room. View from above (specifically, the rafters) through a vent. At the computer sits one technician, and there are two guards near the doorway.
* Mission Objectives: gain access to the computer files, acquire decryption codes, meet Special Agent Ian Black at rendezvous point.
* Technician can be intimidated into giving up the codes (DC 15 or higher), or -- if he is taken out -- the files can be accessed by 2 Computer Use checks (DC 20-25).
* Somehow (depending on Computer Use rolls, how guards are taken out, or other situational circumstances), the alarms are sounded and the enemy is alerted to the agents’ presence.
* The enemy outnumbers the agents by more than 5 times, eliminating the option of fighting. The agents must find a way to escape the building and get to their vehicle, which is hidden nearby. The enemy will give pursuit, leading to a dramatic chase through the streets of night-time Chicago. The agents must either evade or eliminate their pursuit and reach the rendezvous point to finish their mission.

 

[Sagan Darkside]

It sounds good, but a bit complicated- instead of an opening sequence..you have an adventure!

SD

 

[SurfMonkey01]

Nah, the actual adventure is going to be much more complicated... I'm adapting the adventure "One Minute to Midnight," by getting rid of the sinking island and adding in a femme fatale foil who is the culmination of one of the agents' backgrounds (mistaken identity) coming back to bite him in the ass... plus the whole "nuke" portion of the story sets up nicely for one of the serials I have planned a little further into the season...

 

[Sagan Darkside]

Heh, I meant complicated in that it will take some time to complete. Of course, I have my players as reference point that would spend a lot of time trying to figure out how they could take the many bad guys instead of just running for their contact.

Good luck
SD

 

[SurfMonkey01]

heh... I know what you mean... the last game I ran (it was Star Wars) had a player or two like that, overthinking everything and never doing the smart thing... I kinda didn't invite them to the Spycraft game

 

[MacPhail]

I just kicked off our D20 Modern campaign. which borrows heavily from Spycaft and also began in Chicago. The street chase culminated in a vehicle jump over one of the river drawbridges ( I recall many of them are actually swing bridges, but who cares). There is also the carnival at Navy Pier, a good place for a running gun battle (hall of mirrors, etc.). Good Luck!

 

[JohnClark]

I ran that serial (one minute to midnight). One of my players was a chinese operative skilled in unarmed combat, she took Rook down in the first round of combat! It was pretty easy for them to mop up the mooks and exit without incident. We play with no vitality points, so I guess I should make sure he wins initiative next time.

 

[Voneth]

A "opening sequence" should mostly be "In media reis," which means start in the middle.

The usual spot to start such a scene is right in the middle of the gunfight, or the car chase. No long set up, no long explanations. Just "Here it is, go!" For example:

"Okay, you guys are in a race boat creening down Vience's flooded, swollen canals (just watched Nova, it seems the floating city is sinking). You have a package in plain butcher paper secured to the floor. You have to get it to the safe house -- now! You hear bullets wing and wizz behind you. Who's got the stern covered? Great, you see another power boat behind you with one driver and two guy firing, the suddenly peel away to barely make the 90 degree turn down another canal. Thier manuver reveals ANOTHER power boat chasing you with one driver and THREE gun men. Make a Spot check. You think there may be a third chase boat behind your new pursuers. Okay roll for initiative, and where did that first boat go?"

Then run the combat until the guys lose the Predators (you might want to throw in a helicopter in there somewhere too.) Then the group succesfuly delivers the package and sits down for thier briefing of the real mission. What is in the package is irrelevent. But make something up if they ask.

You can sometimes do a little more set up (like start with the group successfuly stealing the package out of the safe and then cleverly exiting the building from the roof to land in their boat.) But the more you add, the more the device becomes a drawn out introduction than as a adreliene pumping tease.

And don't worry, your player won't mind this technique of starting in the middle of combat because they should be aware that is part of the genre. I run a Farscape game and when started an episode with everyone in the middle of a starship combat, the group didn't bat an eyelash. They simply said, "Yep, this is a TV series all right" and picked up the pieces of the ambush.