I need help coming up w/ some Character Concepts for Spycraft.

[Lord Ravinous]

Could anyone drop some character ideas in my lap?

In SpyCraft (for the ppl that dont know) you don't have races you have departments, and thats where my problem lies. I can't seem to think outta the box, I feel cornered by the given list of departments and cant come up w/ a character to save my life.

I'm more or less positive I'll be working for the NSA, and I can choose departments easy enough, same with classes, I just need some ideas for positions/arch-types.

Could anyone of you ppl w/ brains full of ideas give me a hand?

 

[Lugh]

That's a pretty wide open question. I can tell you that virtually any concept you want to play can be done within Spycraft/Shadowforce Archer (some of the pulp stuff really requires psions). There are a few concepts I've been having trouble with, but I've been assured that the Faceman/Snoop book due out this summer will cover those.

The best place to start is with the movies/TV shows. Who do you want to emulate? Some excellent choices include Xander Cage (of xXx), James Bond, Ethan Hunt, any of the A-Team, La Femme Nikita, and Lara Croft.

If you don't want a specific character, you still need to look for an archetype. This is where I just have to ask a series of questions.

Basic tactics:
Do you want combat? Unarmed, melee, or guns?
Do you want to gather information well?
Do you want to infiltrate well?
Do you want a lot of non-combat action?

Style:
Gear-heavy, or gear-light?
Flashy, or quietly competent?
Do you/your GC want weird stuff (psions, mystics, etc.)?
Leader, or follower?

In general, for a concept, I would ignore the departments. They can be a good springboard for ideas, but more often they are simply a tool for focusing a concept. My suggestion would be to look through the feats and/or skills. Find a trick that appeals to you. Build a concept in your head of a character that uses that trick as a signature move. Look through the rest of the rules for both the pieces you need to get to maximize that trick, and for things that get boosted based on that trick. You should get most of the character down before long.

If you give me some more idea of your preferences, I can give you a flood of ideas...

 

[Lord Ravinous]

I'm partial to Stealth Characters that are lightly armed and armored (I never wear more than a Tux Liner). As for weapons, I'm torn b/t Unarmed Combat and a Handgun (probly a .45 ACP), I'd like to blend both and sorta have something like a Sam Fisher (Splinter Cell), but i havn't seen rules or feats that allow you to knock someone out (short of beating them sensless).

I'm fairly partial to the Fixer/Snoop, I think their class skills compliment each other very well, and I really like the Flawless Search ability.

But the main thing thats giving me troubles is feat selection, as of right now my character is Fixer 4/Snoop 1/Soldier 1. I'd like to blend Martial arts w/ Ranged Combat. I'm just afraid that if i space myself too far apart, I won't be playin' too long before I get canned.

As for a background, I'm thinking about spending 3 points on either Hunted or Debt. If I do it'll be for owed drug money (even Secret Agents have skeletons in their closet), Obligation could work also, doing odd jobs for the Mafia (the group he owes the money to). But im not dead set on a Heroine addict.

As of right now, all we have is the core book (no prc's . )

EDIT: Im considering dropping the level of Snoop for another level of Fixer, that way I can actually have a chance of knocking out a guard w/ a well placed sneak attack.

 

[ZSutherland]

Even with only the core classes in SEH, you can make the kind of character you want w/o too much trouble. I might even go all 6 levels of Fixer from wetworks (making your Dept Feat martial arts) which allows you to do regular damage w/ bare hands w/o a penalty, but I think that like a D&D monk, you can just choose to do subdual if you'd prefer. Also, since you seem really worried about not being able to just knock people out, remember the "Extremely Deadly Situations" rule. In a situation where a certain event would reasonably be a given (i.e. you sneak up on a guard and put your .45 at the back of his head and pull the trigger) he dies. There are no rolls, no saves, no action dice spent. This is an often forgotten rule, but it's there for just this reason, and allowing a Martial artist with Sneak Attack who snuck up clean behind someone (or someone armed with a sap) to knock someone out w/o much fuss seems to fall under this heading.

Also, I'd strongly recommend you go buy the Modern Arms Guide. It has the Triggerman PrC in it which is exactly as you said, a combination of martial arts and short-range gun fighting. Very tight. Good luck.

Z

 

[Lugh]

Actually, EDS does require you to spend an action die. Refer to p.179 of the SEH for the details. Keep in mind that this is supposed to be used primarily for getting the drop on someone outside of combat. Once someone enters combat (i.e., initiative is rolled), things are too hectic for you to place a gun against their head and pull the trigger (Trinity not withstanding).

For the concept you are going for, I think you're on the right track. The one level of snoop gives you the touch of investigative ability you want (I would dump the skill points from that level into Computers and Surveillance, since Fixers don't get those as class skills). I'd spend the remainder of your levels putting two levels in Fixer for every one in Soldier. Throwing an occassional level to Snoop certainly wouldn't hurt.

For department, Urban Assault seems to suit you. Bonuses to Spot and Hide, and bonuses to your sneak attacks (as most Readied attacks should be, with good planning). The Ranged Combat feat is a little trickier. I would start with Far Shot, to make a beeline for Increased Precision.

Home Office wouldn't be bad either. Bonuses to action dice NEVER suck. The cross-class skills will help keep your critical focus on track as you multi-class around. And, you get a covert feat (take a long, hard look at Traceless. It rocks).

If you are considering buying a couple more books, I would strongly recommend Pan-Asian Collective and the upcoming Fixer/Pointman Guide (due out this month). PAC has the Martial Artist class, which kicks @$$, especially combined with a fixer (wuxia!!!!). It also has the raptor prestige class, which you might like.

The FPG, obviously, has a lot of nice tricks for fixers. But, given your description, I think you'd really fit nicely into the ninja class. They combine high levels of sneakiness with an emphasis on ambush tactics. The book also has a lot of new tricks to pull with sneak attacks.

 

[Lord Ravinous]

i'll definatly HAFT to giv that one a peek And thanks for the advice.

 

[Apok]

The ultimate assassin, if you wanted to go that route, is definitely the Faceman, augmented by a few levels of Soldier and a good feat selection. Become whatever you need to, bluff/diplomacy/buearacracy your way to the mark, blow his brains out and walk away like nothing happened. With the Traceless feat it becomes almost impossible for any but the most determined investigators to find evidence of your presence, and even if they do, so what? You don't exist. You are nothing but a collection of cover identities that you change like underwear. Max out your disguise skill and nobody will ever know what you really look like.

Matt Damon's character in The Bourne Identity is an excellent example of a Faceman/Soldier assassin.

 

[Morgenstern]

If it helps, the Fixer / Pointman Class Guide also has a short string of feats for knocking people out with extrodinary ease, and the prerequisites are based on having dice of sneak attack. They're even part of the covert tree (making them doubly easy for fixers to pick up: they have the dice, and they can take covert feats with their special ability choices).

I've attached the first of these feats as a sample. Hopefully it will help you plan you agent's prgression 8). Othrwise the suggestions given above are all excellent .

From the Faceman / Snoop Class Guide:

New Covert Feats
Bludgeon
You're extremely effective with common techniques to subdue opponents.
Prerequisites: Agent level 3+, agent must be able to inflict at least +1d6 sneak attack damage.
Benefit: You may choose to inflict subdual damage with a weapon that inflicts normal damage without suffering the usual -4 penalty to you attacks. You may also inflict subdual damage with your sneak attack bonus while using a weapon that does not normally inflict Subdual damage. Opponents must still be denied their Dexterity bonus to defense or flanked for for you to use your sneak attack bonus against them.

Hope this helps ,