[Spycraft] More realistic, politcal intrigue-ish game?

[SurfMonkey01]

I've gotten re-addicted to MI-5 lately, what with A&E showing Series 3 and Series 2 just hitting DVD. My friends have asked that I run an espionage game more like that, and I'm trying to decide if I can use Spycraft for that. If I can, what (if any changes) should I make? If not Spycraft, is there a better system I could use?

 

[Bobitron]

I like the Spycraft rules, but would probably be tempted to recommend the D20 modern rules unless I was going for a more Bond-ish setting. I have only seen one episode of MI-5, but it seemed pretty grounded in reality.

The Spycraft rules are pretty cool, so don't just take my word for it. A more gritty, gadget-less game can be run just as easily as any other.

 

[richtrickey]

The Spycraft book does, in fact, discuss various Spy genres and has tips on running games in each. The material is a bit brief, but it's there, and as Bobitron suggests, it's rather easy to just tone down the gadgetry.

 

[Psion]

I would definitely NOT recommend d20 modern instead for any reason.

Due to the support for various espionage activities, Spycraft is where you want to be. It tends towards the more cinematic Bond-like action, but has some ideas in the subgenres section for more realistic play (like using WP only.)

 

[ragboy]

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.

 

[Yuan-Ti]

I am going to agree with Psion here -- if you want to play espionage, why use d20 modern (which is not very realistic as written and needs to be modified with a LOT of additional support materials to get something even close to realistic espionage)? No, you are better off starting with Spycraft and eliminating those elements which you find too cinematic. To be honest, there really are not very many that need to be eliminated. Some of the gadgets, to be sure. And you can take their recommendations for grittier play. Several of the supplements contain grittier elements, too, if you want to use more than just the basic rules.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I would strongly recommend using D20 Modern - you have much more flexible base classes, instead of just 6 or 8 archetypes. (I hate it's armor rules... and it's not because it uses armor as DR. They interfere with so many character concepts. But that's probably meat for another thread.)

I found Spycraft to have useful chase and security rules (eg rules for hidden cameras) but I found it really easy to integrate these rules into D20 Modern. I mean, really, other than saving throws and hit points, D20 Modern characters and Spycraft characters are pretty close in terms of power.

I would suggest looking at The Aquarium and A Man Called Intrepid (real-life spy stories) but it really depends on how wild, crazy and unrealistic you want to be.

 

[dpmcalister]

I honestly can't believe that people are suggesting using d20 Modern for an espionage game! Spycraft is THE espionage roleplaying game. The different levels of realism can, as has already been stated, be easily obtained just be reading through the Control section (pages 261-263 deal with different types of game).

Or perhaps it's just that some people prefer having to buy lots of different books and PDFs to even attempt the same thing that Spycraft does in one book...

 

[Bobitron]

I honestly can't believe that people are suggesting using d20 Modern for an espionage game! Spycraft is THE espionage roleplaying game. The different levels of realism can, as has already been stated, be easily obtained just be reading through the Control section (pages 261-263 deal with different types of game).

Or perhaps it's just that some people prefer having to buy lots of different books and PDFs to even attempt the same thing that Spycraft does in one book...

I'm a huge Spycraft fan, and I think I own all the books. The only thing I'm not fond of is the base classes, and I prefer the attribute based classes in D20 Modern.

 

[LcKedovan]

I honestly can't believe that people are suggesting using d20 Modern for an espionage game! Spycraft is THE espionage roleplaying game. The different levels of realism can, as has already been stated, be easily obtained just be reading through the Control section (pages 261-263 deal with different types of game).

Or perhaps it's just that some people prefer having to buy lots of different books and PDFs to even attempt the same thing that Spycraft does in one book...

Nor I! Personally, I am starting a new campaign up here now that I have finished my move and will want to run it with more of a lean towards "real world" aspects. I can't see why anyone would use anything else, Spycraft was made for espionage, and to tweak it to that genre requires a minimum of effort (and a little imagination).

I dunno, maybe it is a simple "If it ain't WotC not interested" tendancy I seem to find around here these days.

-W.