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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DM_Jeff" data-source="post: 2009326" data-attributes="member: 3687">Spycraft is a fine example of the d20 system rules broadened and used right to fit an entirely different genre.SpycraftBy Patrick Kapera and Kevin WilsonCover Art by: Veronica V. Jones$34.95 288-page d20 hardcover rules bookISBN 1-887953-43-4Disclaimer: I am a freelance d20 mechanics editor and writer for AEG. I did not work in any way on the Spycraft game.Introduction: One of the biggest undertakings by any 3rd party d20 publisher is taking the theory that you could create an entire d20 role-playing game using the license to fit any genre. While we've seen campaign settings galore there hasn't been what one would call a new d20 role-playing game until the recent Dragonstar game. With WotC's "d20 Modern" open rules still eight months away AEG has released their long-anticipated espionage RPG "Spycraft" and their "Shadowforce Archer" accompanying campaign setting. The experience I've personally had with spy games may mirror some others. I ran a single game of first edition Top Secret and it was awful. Years later I came to run an entire campaign using the awesome (and very underrated) engine of Top Secret/S.I., which resulted in loads of cool gamer tales to this day. There were other spy games (James Bond RPG and Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes come to mind) that came and went with little impact. While I admit I was very interested to see what AEG had done with this project, I wasn't jumping for joy. Well, I read it cover to cover, and I am now.Review: Spycraft is a 288-page hardcover d20 role-playing game. The cover texture is the now-familiar style used for Oriental Adventures and Forgotten Realms. Border size is very good and text density is excellent. Layout and style are crisp and clear, chapters are well organized, headers and subsections are clear to find. There is an excellent table of contents and a gigantic full glossary for the whole book, making lookups easy. Only a single page is taken up with the Open Game License. Interior artwork is all black and white line art, and (from what might be a deliberate move) seems to mirror much of the artwork of the original Top Secret game from the early 80's. The interior pages are durable glossy, again like the hardcovers mentioned above.The game jumps in immediately with introductions to the atmosphere and style as well as the game itself. To note first off, this is an RPG in itself. Sure it needs the D&D Players Handbook for the most basic of things, but it stands quite well on its own, covering all aspects as if it were a stand-alone RPG. Chapters are briefly discussed to help you organize your reading, and a very nifty feature: the differences between this game and D&D are highlighted. In short they use Vitality and Wounds from the Star Wars RPG, multiclassing into anything incurs no XP penalty, AoO are gone, Armor provides damage reduction instead of an AC bonus, and there's interworking systems as well.First, there's this cool device called Action Dice that help your agent through luck and fate. If you know how force points work in the Star Wars RPG then you are on the right track, except they are even more versatile. You need to spend them to turn a 20 into a crit. You spend them to make a foe who rolled a 1 suffer a really bad mishap. You can spend 'em to roll extra dice (d4, d6, etc.) to add to your d20 rolls when trying something you just have to succeed at. You can even use them to heal yourself. There's also the idea of backgrounds, which aren't just roleplaying fluff, but actual game mechanics in that it helps the GM create tailored adventures and provides you possible XP bonuses! There's a mechanic called the Favor check to get additional equipment, a helping hand, or special information. Education checks help determine how knowledgeable your character is over you, and Inspiration checks help you worm your way out of a tight spot when you, the player, are stumped.Agent creation is handled in its own chapter and goes step by step helping you bring your agent to life. Dozens of questions are asked to help you conceptualize your character long before numbers are rolled. In a handy move there's a page with the Spycraft character sheet with each section described with callouts leading you to pages where to reference those rules.Since everyone is a human in this game, characters still tend to have their differences. So races in Spycraft are represented by Department, which is your PC's education, training and interests. Eight different backgrounds provide the equivalent of what racial packages did in D&D: provide ability bonus, extra feats, etc. The Departments are Home office, Power Brokerage, Military Operations, Computer Espionage, Urban Assault, Black Ops, Wetworks and "the Basement" (Fox Mulder was in this department). Next there is a set of new character classes to further define your PC. There's Faceman (Intelligence), Fixer (Burglar), Pointman (hmm, um, Bard), Snoop (Computer Geek), Soldier (Fighter), and Wheelman (Vehicle Specialist). Each covers an obvious niche and work well. We're told that the accompanying volume, the Shadowforce Archer campaign setting hardcover will feature a plethora of Prestige Classes to look forward to. Skills work almost exactly like in D&D, with the exception that many were deleted, and many more added (like Computers, Mechanics, Surveillance, etc. The entire chapter is detailed very similar to the D&D PHB and this make it instantly accessible and understandable for d20 players. Feats, too, are either reproduced from D&D and many, many more are added. They are also further broken down into special categories that help separate concentrations (like Ranged Combat Feats, Melee Combat Feats, Chase Feats, etc.) that help the designers focus class and prestige class abilities and help organize the literally dozens of new powers you can get. Handy flowchart "trees" are shown in chart form so you can quickly see requirements and flow.Happily, the Gear chapter helps me tout the game as a complete system. It's not a watered-down version to help you buy; it covers hundreds of items in excellent d20 detail conversion. There are modern weapons, computers, vehicles of all kinds and types, etc. In familiar style the equipment is first shown in charts and each item also has descriptive text with any special rules following. A barrage of armor types shows off the new d20 modern way of assigning damage reduction rules to protective gear, and rocket launchers, sniper rifles, all the way down to bayonet's are covered! Of course there's also a huge host of special bizarre super-spy equipment to go along. The game's combat plays very familiar, and very fast. If you know how to fight in D&D you know how to fight in Spycraft, although crits and fumbles need Action Dice to work and there's no Attacks of Opportunity…it's all real familiar. Very simple, quick and easy rules for multi-shot handguns, strafing, cover fire, are all covered and work seamlessly into d20 combat. The best part is these don't feel like tacked-on systems nor are they the endless calculation of burst rules of yesteryear, they are easy to remember and apply as basic d230 rules, and yet they still provide detail. The question is d20 can handle a modern system well has long bee answered here, folks. One other cool new added system is the chase rules. They really turn it into a battle of wits and skill between the players and GM! In my D&D game I've made up a set of psionic attack and defense mode cards that my psionic player and I each have. When psionic combat comes up there's a cool effect while we each try to outguess each other and each reveal our power at once for cross-referencing. In similar fashion, depending on your vehicle and conditions, each round there's a maneuver and counter-move that can be declared which then results in special action depending on the choices. I can't WAIT to use this! Alderac has really hit the nail on the head with design problems of systems of the past and really turned them around!Working as both a Player's and Gamemaster's book, the tome also dives into giving the GM (in the came called "Control") lots of ammo to dig his hands into. Campaign crafting and adventure design (seasons and missions, respectively) are fully detailed with great care, offering design formulas in the way of classic spy flicks to exactly how to craft a balanced yet challenging opposition force and villain for your PC's to face called a mastermind. This really helps the Control get into the spy mode, challenging him with questions and ideas that will impact his group's characters skills and interests (and it's darn fun to boot). Loads of solid advice on running modern spy games, player pitfalls, and how to best work all the new system introduced are covered making the GM feel like another play, not the big, bad guy left out of all the fun. When I mean they make the job easy, think back to all the spy games you played and some of the items you weren't prepared for. There's a chart detailing flight times to and from nearly anywhere in the world! Exactly how effective all those favors the PC's build up are. All the dangers from the DMG are updated for the modern world. Trap sat blocks updated to current technology and security is detailed. How to simulate gambling games of chance using the d20 system is explored. And to help out the fledgling GM (and to provide good examples) a full set of developed, stat-blocked villains and henchmen (and plots) are presented. This is also where the DM can come across generic reusable thugs and different NPC archetypes to reuse in his own designs like cops, other agents, and regular folks. To help you set the mood there's also a nice big set of spy jargon to interject in your games for flavor, and of course a new double sided character sheet!The best part about reviewing this project is not only does it meet and exceed all my expectations as a designer and rules stickler for d20, but as a fan who GM'd (and found all the pitfalls) of running modern spy games in the past, it fills all the holes by providing the tools and information necessary to make running a game a joy.Conclusion: Spycraft took the base d20 rules and carefully worked them into a system that accurately details modern espionage, and the action and adventure genre overall. New systems fit seamlessly into the overall package so it all works together giving the players and GM the feel they are not playing D&D with guns. The book is loaded with d20 goodness, the mechanics are solid and trustworthy, and best of all complete (yes there can and will be a dozen rules supplements, but this book easily covers ALL the basics). I cannot recommend this game highly enough; it is an excellent piece of work.-Jeff Ibach</blockquote>

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