White Lies (OD&D Spies RPG Hack)

Voros · July 27, 2017, 02:44:16 AM

One of my favs is Our Man in Havana. Heart of the Matter is also terrific but really blurs the line between his 'serious' books and his 'entertainments' (really both kinds of his novels are dynamite).

drkrash · July 27, 2017, 11:06:37 AM

I wouldn't want to run Le Carre either. And I agree with Dumarest that modern real-world espionage is actually ill-suited to gaming. But fortunately, there are a number of spots on the spectrum between "careful investigation leading to maybe one hopefully brief and boring action scene" and "land on an island armed with an arsenal and kill everything that moves." White Lies is much closer to the latter.

I still haven't bought Classified. I think Night's Black Agents (sans vampires) is a fantastic spy thriller game, but it requires buying into the Gumshoe aesthetic. I have backed the KS for the new Top Secret. We'll see how that goes.

Dumarest · July 27, 2017, 02:46:36 PM

On the spectrum between "careful investigation leading to maybe one hopefully brief and boring action scene" and "land on an island armed with an arsenal and kill everything that moves," with the former being 1 and the latter being 10, I'd say I want an espionage game to be at least a 6 or 7. Some good set ups and interactions leading up to some sort of confrontation or infiltration. I think the novel Dr. No is a good example; there is a lot of build-up with minor events leading up to the attempt to infiltrate Crab Key and then getting captured, learning the real deal, the escape and all that.

Tod13 · July 28, 2017, 09:49:11 AM

DwD Studios has CovertOps, based on their d00Lite system. They had recently been working on version 2 of CovertOps when White Star came out. So Bill did CovertOps.

drkrash · July 29, 2017, 07:05:22 AM

Quote from: Tod13;979018DwD Studios has CovertOps, based on their d00Lite system. They had recently been working on version 2 of CovertOps when White Star came out. So Bill did CovertOps.

I've played that one too, and it's pretty good also. However, that one has the exact same tone as White Lies: the presumption is that your "spies" are actually more like a paramilitary squad, with a secret base and an armory, and all the charts are again about over the top villains with fortresses.

This discussion is making me realize that maybe the easiest way to run an espionage RPG is to treat them as "street level superheroes" on an international scale. That actually sounds like fun. But every time I watch The Bourne Identity, or Nikita, or Alias, I want to run a game like *that,* and that's a little trickier.

Bren · July 29, 2017, 12:12:17 PM

Quote from: Dumarest;978598Just as nearly no one would want to play a archaeologist who spends 99% of his time reading and researching rather than being Indiana Jones, not many players would want to be a "realistic " secret agent in an RPG.

But spending days quartering a site, painstakingly sifting sand and brushing the dirt off of objects that might or might not be anything interesting, and writing up the results of the day has got to make a fun game, am I right?

Can I interest anyone in a rousing game of Accountants & Actuaries?

Dumarest · July 29, 2017, 12:23:10 PM

Quote from: drkrash;979276I've played that one too, and it's pretty good also. However, that one has the exact same tone as White Lies: the presumption is that your "spies" are actually more like a paramilitary squad, with a secret base and an armory, and all the charts are again about over the top villains with fortresses.

This discussion is making me realize that maybe the easiest way to run an espionage RPG is to treat them as "street level superheroes" on an international scale. That actually sounds like fun. But every time I watch The Bourne Identity, or Nikita, or Alias, I want to run a game like *that,* and that's a little trickier.

I liked Alias up until the last season or thereabouts when it started to get more fantastic (in the real sense of the word). Haven't seen the other two. I veer more towards books than TV/movies. I also ever towards what I think is reasonably possible and dislike over-the-top movie action; the latter is part of what turned me off the Captain America and Batman movies.

Dumarest · July 29, 2017, 12:23:49 PM

Quote from: Bren;979312But spending days quartering a site, painstakingly sifting sand and brushing the dirt off of objects that might or might not be anything interesting, and writing up the results of the day has got to make a fun game, am I right?

Can I interest anyone in a rousing game of Accountants & Actuaries?

If you want to try being the ref, I'll try playing an accountant.

3rik · July 29, 2017, 05:09:13 PM

Quote from: drkrash;979276I've played that one too, and it's pretty good also. However, that one has the exact same tone as White Lies: the presumption is that your "spies" are actually more like a paramilitary squad, with a secret base and an armory, and all the charts are again about over the top villains with fortresses.

This discussion is making me realize that maybe the easiest way to run an espionage RPG is to treat them as "street level superheroes" on an international scale. That actually sounds like fun. But every time I watch The Bourne Identity, or Nikita, or Alias, I want to run a game like *that,* and that's a little trickier.

I was going to mention CovertOps as well. It's a really fun toolkit.

There's a supplement for Supers! Revised called Search & Destroy, aimed at emulating what they call the "modern action" genre that might be useful.

Bren · July 29, 2017, 05:23:35 PM

Quote from: Dumarest;979315If you want to try being the ref, I'll try playing an accountant.

That's a generous offer, but I've more or less given up running level-based systems.