Psion
Adventurer
Agency
Agency is a supplement for the Spycraft d20 espionage RPG by AEG, the first one published since the discontinuation of the Shadowforce Archer setting line. Agency provides rules adding greater detail to agencies for which PC agents typically work. The book is written by Steve Crow, Alexander Flagg, B.D. Flory, Clayton A. Oliver, and Steven Peterson.
A First Look
Agency is a 128 page perfect-bound softcover book priced at $24.95 US.
The cover of the book is silver, and features a gunman illustrated by Veronica V. Jones, whose work has become the trademark look for Spycraft covers.
The interior is black and white, featuring artwork by Storn Cook, Klaus Scherwinski, and Borja Peña. The artwork is nicely done, and has more detailed shading than the simple line art that prevailed in many earlier Spycraft books.
A Deeper Look
Agency really has two major thrusts: as with many Spycraft supplements, much of the book is devoted to new agent options, primarily in the form of new departments, prestige classes, and feats. However, a major part of the book is devoted to a subject that has been neglected in the book thus far: generating details of the agency that the agent works for.
The chapter arrangement is a bit different than the norm for such a book, however. Instead of sorting the chapters by the type of mechanic or other detail, each of the mechanics or details are sorted into chapter according to stages of a hypothetical upward-bound agent's career. To wit, the five chapters are entitled Specialist, Recruit, Operative, Handler, and Control. Thus the specialist chapter provides agent options and agency design steps that are most important to specialist character, the recruit chapter provides tho appropriate to recruits, and so on. Note here that specialists are characters who are pulled in from outside the agency.
In situations where new basic rules are introduced (namely, the new background rules and agency creation), the specialist chapter gets the extra material needed to introduce the idea and lay the groundwork.
As agency creation is the "new trick" of this book, I'll turn my attention to that aspect first. Most of the choices associated with an agency are driven by tables; the GC is explicitly free to choose instead of roll on the tables, which in many cases is a good idea. The creation method facilitates the creation of fairly distinct and thoroughly defined agencies, and there are direct rules implications to the agency's details. For example, in addition to simple details like the agency name and goals, deeper details describe which regions of the world the agency has the most influence in and what sort that influence is (which directly affects favor checks.) Agencies also have "fortes" that agents of that agency can draw on.
Related directly to the agent-life-stage nature of the chapter, the agency generation section describes the sort of manpower the agency has in each of the various agent types.
A major rules revision introduced in Agency is the background rules. I feel that most attempts at "disadvantage" type mechanics in d20 (and most systems, for that matter) are ill fated. The background system in Spycraft had the right idea with per-incident compensation, but the investment made it so that it wasn't worth taking the background. Agency clarifies that this investment is returned, which makes the mechanic playable.
But the change to the background mechanic does not end there. The rather specific backgrounds presented in the Spycraft core book are replaced with a more general system of background qualities. These qualities (such as "memory" or "secret") are more generic and describe why the background is a problem. Each background gets two qualities that the GC and player can use to craft the effects of the background.
A table in the book shows how to convert existing backgrounds to this system and there are several new backgrounds introduced in each chapter of this book, most appropriate to agents of that stage.
Another new rules support tidbit that is sort of nice is the mission generator. Again, there is a different one for each chapter appropriate to each type of character or group. Each is a pair of d20 tables that describe tasks and conundrums that make up a mission. Each also references sections of other Spycraft books that would be useful in running the referenced mission. This is a nice little tool for coming up with adventures when you don't have a lot of planning time... or could use a little inspiration.
At last, we have the agent options. Now that Shadowforce Archer is defunct, it falls on the silver "core" line to maintain most of the new agent options. The book doesn't overload you with options; each chapter has a pair of departments, a pair of prestige classes and a pair of NPC classes to work with. Most of these are selected to work well with the sorts of agents you would find at each "stage". For example, the specialist chapter features an informant and civilian specialist departments, expert and guide prestige classes, and EMT and researcher NPC classes.
There are a few new mechanical approaches exercised in some of these. For example, the college student and adolescent departments (yes, Spy Kids and Agent Cody Banks have taken their toll...) are departments you can graduate from, whereupon you get a new department.
Similarly, there are new feats in each chapter. Most of them are built around related concept. For example, that adolescent thing I was just talking about? It's the basis of a string of feats. Another example is in the Handler chapter. The "family business" feat chain is dedicated to characters whose family has a background with the agency, and there are a number of feats dedicated to different basic classes that leverage the family business feat.
One major change that I am dubious about is the creation of the "chance feat" category. Chance feats are all built off of the fortunate feat, which is not a bad idea in itself. However, they book also shifts fortunate from the style feat tree to the new chance feat tree. I can see how this might invalidate many characters who chose fortunate as a "bonus style feat."
Agency introduces a whole new type of option for your characters to play around with: training programs. Training programs are purchased with gadget points. Once a character graduates from the training program (which has a "test" style requirement, which might be fun the first time around but could get old), they receive a temporary benefit from the training. Later, the character can regain the benefits of the training packages buy purchasing them agian. This represents special training an agent undergoes to perform a specific task.
Conclusions
Agency is a very interesting and useful supplement, on multiple levels. Though it does offer an array of character options as many such books do, it goes a little beyond that.
Indeed, what it does is provides more solid support to a big aspect of the espionage genre that has not been well supported before. Though old James Bond style spy flicks focus on the conflict between the agent and his quarry, many spy thrillers and series (such as The Agency, Alias, and X-Files) shine a light on the agency itself, and others involve characters who are drawn into the game unwittingly. In short, it opens a whole new dimension for Spycraft.
Also, in some ways this book is a bit of a breather. Some prior books have provided complex (if useful) new subsystems for the game. By way of comparison, Agency is relatively easy to use and its sections are well targeted. Further, the mission generator not only makes for good inspiration, but helps navigate and utilize some of the other Spycraft books.
Overall Grade: A-
-Alan D. Kohler
Agency is a supplement for the Spycraft d20 espionage RPG by AEG, the first one published since the discontinuation of the Shadowforce Archer setting line. Agency provides rules adding greater detail to agencies for which PC agents typically work. The book is written by Steve Crow, Alexander Flagg, B.D. Flory, Clayton A. Oliver, and Steven Peterson.
A First Look
Agency is a 128 page perfect-bound softcover book priced at $24.95 US.
The cover of the book is silver, and features a gunman illustrated by Veronica V. Jones, whose work has become the trademark look for Spycraft covers.
The interior is black and white, featuring artwork by Storn Cook, Klaus Scherwinski, and Borja Peña. The artwork is nicely done, and has more detailed shading than the simple line art that prevailed in many earlier Spycraft books.
A Deeper Look
Agency really has two major thrusts: as with many Spycraft supplements, much of the book is devoted to new agent options, primarily in the form of new departments, prestige classes, and feats. However, a major part of the book is devoted to a subject that has been neglected in the book thus far: generating details of the agency that the agent works for.
The chapter arrangement is a bit different than the norm for such a book, however. Instead of sorting the chapters by the type of mechanic or other detail, each of the mechanics or details are sorted into chapter according to stages of a hypothetical upward-bound agent's career. To wit, the five chapters are entitled Specialist, Recruit, Operative, Handler, and Control. Thus the specialist chapter provides agent options and agency design steps that are most important to specialist character, the recruit chapter provides tho appropriate to recruits, and so on. Note here that specialists are characters who are pulled in from outside the agency.
In situations where new basic rules are introduced (namely, the new background rules and agency creation), the specialist chapter gets the extra material needed to introduce the idea and lay the groundwork.
As agency creation is the "new trick" of this book, I'll turn my attention to that aspect first. Most of the choices associated with an agency are driven by tables; the GC is explicitly free to choose instead of roll on the tables, which in many cases is a good idea. The creation method facilitates the creation of fairly distinct and thoroughly defined agencies, and there are direct rules implications to the agency's details. For example, in addition to simple details like the agency name and goals, deeper details describe which regions of the world the agency has the most influence in and what sort that influence is (which directly affects favor checks.) Agencies also have "fortes" that agents of that agency can draw on.
Related directly to the agent-life-stage nature of the chapter, the agency generation section describes the sort of manpower the agency has in each of the various agent types.
A major rules revision introduced in Agency is the background rules. I feel that most attempts at "disadvantage" type mechanics in d20 (and most systems, for that matter) are ill fated. The background system in Spycraft had the right idea with per-incident compensation, but the investment made it so that it wasn't worth taking the background. Agency clarifies that this investment is returned, which makes the mechanic playable.
But the change to the background mechanic does not end there. The rather specific backgrounds presented in the Spycraft core book are replaced with a more general system of background qualities. These qualities (such as "memory" or "secret") are more generic and describe why the background is a problem. Each background gets two qualities that the GC and player can use to craft the effects of the background.
A table in the book shows how to convert existing backgrounds to this system and there are several new backgrounds introduced in each chapter of this book, most appropriate to agents of that stage.
Another new rules support tidbit that is sort of nice is the mission generator. Again, there is a different one for each chapter appropriate to each type of character or group. Each is a pair of d20 tables that describe tasks and conundrums that make up a mission. Each also references sections of other Spycraft books that would be useful in running the referenced mission. This is a nice little tool for coming up with adventures when you don't have a lot of planning time... or could use a little inspiration.
At last, we have the agent options. Now that Shadowforce Archer is defunct, it falls on the silver "core" line to maintain most of the new agent options. The book doesn't overload you with options; each chapter has a pair of departments, a pair of prestige classes and a pair of NPC classes to work with. Most of these are selected to work well with the sorts of agents you would find at each "stage". For example, the specialist chapter features an informant and civilian specialist departments, expert and guide prestige classes, and EMT and researcher NPC classes.
There are a few new mechanical approaches exercised in some of these. For example, the college student and adolescent departments (yes, Spy Kids and Agent Cody Banks have taken their toll...) are departments you can graduate from, whereupon you get a new department.
Similarly, there are new feats in each chapter. Most of them are built around related concept. For example, that adolescent thing I was just talking about? It's the basis of a string of feats. Another example is in the Handler chapter. The "family business" feat chain is dedicated to characters whose family has a background with the agency, and there are a number of feats dedicated to different basic classes that leverage the family business feat.
One major change that I am dubious about is the creation of the "chance feat" category. Chance feats are all built off of the fortunate feat, which is not a bad idea in itself. However, they book also shifts fortunate from the style feat tree to the new chance feat tree. I can see how this might invalidate many characters who chose fortunate as a "bonus style feat."
Agency introduces a whole new type of option for your characters to play around with: training programs. Training programs are purchased with gadget points. Once a character graduates from the training program (which has a "test" style requirement, which might be fun the first time around but could get old), they receive a temporary benefit from the training. Later, the character can regain the benefits of the training packages buy purchasing them agian. This represents special training an agent undergoes to perform a specific task.
Conclusions
Agency is a very interesting and useful supplement, on multiple levels. Though it does offer an array of character options as many such books do, it goes a little beyond that.
Indeed, what it does is provides more solid support to a big aspect of the espionage genre that has not been well supported before. Though old James Bond style spy flicks focus on the conflict between the agent and his quarry, many spy thrillers and series (such as The Agency, Alias, and X-Files) shine a light on the agency itself, and others involve characters who are drawn into the game unwittingly. In short, it opens a whole new dimension for Spycraft.
Also, in some ways this book is a bit of a breather. Some prior books have provided complex (if useful) new subsystems for the game. By way of comparison, Agency is relatively easy to use and its sections are well targeted. Further, the mission generator not only makes for good inspiration, but helps navigate and utilize some of the other Spycraft books.
Overall Grade: A-
-Alan D. Kohler
