Whatever happened to Spycraft?

[Armistice]

So is anyone who played Spycraft way back when still playing it? Just asking for opinions on the longevity of the game.

In our group we will probably play 2 alternating weekend campaigns, 1 D&D and 1 other (possibly spycraft) but I wanted to see some peoples opinions.

Thanks for all of the replies,

Kristov

In a word, yes. All the things I liked about Spycraft are still there. The biggest change is that now, they're an indie company with all that entails. Last year (2007), there were many things they wanted to do, but didn't manage to mostly because of lack of resources (time, money, etc.). Now, they've added a 4th member of the company, who's job it is to streamline and facilitate their release schedule. The last 2 years have been learning curve intensive for them. Fans of the group have high hopes for this year.

Mongoose Publishing under the Flaming Cobra imprint finally started to clear their Print on Demand bottleneck and at the end of last year World on Fire and Spycraft 2.0 Second Printing had hit gaming bookshelves. Both those titles are available as PDF's and joining them are: Fragile Minds (basically your Delta Green or Cthulu mod for Spycraft); Origin of the Species: Light of Olympus (Fantasy Olympian Races); Spellbound (Highmagic); Practice Makes Perfect (a combat supplement expanding on the Spycraft take on weapon proficiency slots). I'm sure I'm missing a couple.

It's one of those systems I'll most likely play on/off for the foreseeable future. I like the design philosophy and the access to the owners/creators of the game. The community is friendly, responsive and small (in comparison to WoTC/Hasbro's anyway). I look forward to their releases this year and hope their modest targets don't exceed their reach and I imagine the new Crafty addition will have the greatest impact on that last point.

 

[GlassJaw]

I will say that, though there are many parts of the system I don't like, Spycraft 2 will be one of those RPG books I'll never, ever, ever get rid of. It's chock-full of useful info, d20-fied charts of equipment, some really cool takes on skills and especially feats, has some really nice combat mechanic ideas, and has one of the best NPC systems in a d20 game I've ever seen.

The conditions section drives me a bit batty, but in all it's full of good ideas.

Couldn't agree more. It's a great book to thumb through for ideas but I found it to be an awful and extremely cumbersome system to play.

 

[GlassJaw]

The community is friendly, responsive and small (in comparison to WoTC/Hasbro's anyway).

What does that have to do with anything?

 

[Mister Andersen]

Couldn't agree more. It's a great book to thumb through for ideas but I found it to be an awful and extremely cumbersome system to play.

And it is for people such as yourself that they're bringing out what they term the Henchman Edition, which is a simplified & pared back version of the rule system

 

[Armistice]

What does that have to do with anything?

The two online communities on the official sites have a different feel. That's all. I'm a member of both but find the smaller community conversations more to my liking. Just as a brief example, say I find something curious or even buggy about the rules in my gaming. My experience has been that I can expect a reply pretty much within the day from one of the authors of the game. The only reason this is possible is because of the small community feel. It's a point, nothing more.

 

[solkan_uk]

I play Spycraft, having only gotten into it towards the end of v1. I don't play as often as I like as 1 group plays nearly exclusively D&D & CoC, while the other we alternate GM's and interspace with wargames - meaning it takes an age to come round to do something once you've got an idea.
But I do play one-off games and once you get into the swing of things the system itself does make a lot of sense and flows quite well.

As a note, there should be a "Henchman's Edition" coming next year, which is a simplified but compatable version for those who do find all the rules involved intimidating - though I'm under the impression it will be late next year.

 

[Gundark]

I will say that, though there are many parts of the system I don't like, Spycraft 2 will be one of those RPG books I'll never, ever, ever get rid of. It's chock-full of useful info, d20-fied charts of equipment, some really cool takes on skills and especially feats, has some really nice combat mechanic ideas, and has one of the best NPC systems in a d20 game I've ever seen.

The conditions section drives me a bit batty, but in all it's full of good ideas.

Spycraft 2 is a good game hands down. It'll be a lot of fun for you and the people you play with. The load of gaming is taken off the DM substantially, the unfortunent part was that it was placed on the players. Spycraft 2 is a massive book that is a lot to digest the first time you read it. It is a good game, however has some bloat that could seriously be trimmed. Spycraft 2 is a tool kit though, the system can be modified to your liking.

Oh and yes the NPC system makes me cry tears of joy whenever I think of it, it's seriously one of the crowning events of the d20/OGL movement.

 

[Henry]

As a note, there should be a "Henchman's Edition" coming next year, which is a simplified but compatable version for those who do find all the rules involved intimidating - though I'm under the impression it will be late next year.

Sounds like a cool idea, but I do hope they come up with a better title -- that one is just a little bit demeaning...

 

[Toccata]

My group has been playing it almost weekly for quite a while now (although the group got hooked into an MMO and hasn't been meeting in person quite as often lately).


I have to say, though, I don't get these "vaporware" replies I've seen on a few different forums, when I got World on Fire in dead-tree in the mail two days ago (unfortunately it was damaged in transit, but I'm working on getting that resolved) and have had the PDF since Christmas Day.
It seems like there's a lot of pessimism going around, I guess.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

My group has been playing it almost weekly for quite a while now (although the group got hooked into an MMO and hasn't been meeting in person quite as often lately).


I have to say, though, I don't get these "vaporware" replies I've seen on a few different forums, when I got World on Fire in dead-tree in the mail two days ago (unfortunately it was damaged in transit, but I'm working on getting that resolved) and have had the PDF since Christmas Day.
It seems like there's a lot of pessimism going around, I guess.

Or just not enough notice that they have been released. Communities, gaming and otherwise, can be insular, unless something is brought to the members' attention then it is unlikely to be noticed.

In that spirit - Currently Available Spycraft 2.0 Material:

Print and PDF
Spycraft 2.0 2nd Printing (minor revisions, and a major redesign of the Gear section. Same information, vastly improved layout.)
World on Fire (Campaign setting, basically our world with an additional helping of espionage and paranoia.)

PDF Only
Origin of the Species: Light of Olympus (The first fantasy supplement for the game, adds Satyrs, Gorgons, Merfolk, and Centaurs as playable races.)
Back to Basics (The D20 Modern classes redesigned for Spycraft. Great for folks who are changing systems.)
Bag Full of Guns: This is My Rifle (Cutting edge weapons, including the F.N. S.C.A.R. - my personal favorite. )
Bag Full of Guns: Russian Heat (Russian weapons, go figure....)
Practice Makes Perfect (Character options - feats and 'tricks'. My players have been making a lot of use of it.)
Spellbound vol. 1 The Channeler (Evocation magic for Spycraft.)
Fragile Minds (Sanity rules and Cthuloid critters for the game - great for use with Delta Green. Sees use every week for my game.)
Origin of the Species: Classic Fantasy Races (You know, dwarfs, elfs, and orcs - things like that. ) [Added 1-28-08]

Two freebies were released for the holidays - Hanuka Havok, and the Night Before Deathmas. (Both are rather silly things.)

*EDIT* Spycraft has also been seeing regular, if minor, support in Signs & Portents: Roleplayer a free PDF magazine produced by Mongoose Publishing.

Releases from other companies -
Paradigm Concepts - Print and PDF
Conspiracies (Just that. A mix of Historical, Government, and Science Fiction conspiracies, from the Knights Templar to the Shadow Government to the Philadelphia Experiment. This has seen some use in my campaign, mostly in the form of the Historical Conspiracies.)
Combat Missions (A series of, well, combat missions....)

Dark Furies Publishing - PDF
New Glory Naval Base

I have been running one or two Spycraft games a week for the last several years - one in a Steampunk setting, the other Delta Green.

The Auld Grump

*EDIT 2* Added some entries I missed - including one that sees use every week in my games. Rolling eyes, where art thou?

*EDIT 3* Might as well keep it updated as new stuff appears.