PDA

View Full Version : Spycraft?



poxjedi
2009-02-07, 01:19 AM
Has anyone played Spycraft before (at least I think that's what it is called). I've heard good things about it but never played. What is it, how is it different from D20 modern, and do you recommend it?

Thanks in advance.

Lycar
2009-02-07, 12:16 PM
The current version is Spycraft 2.0.

While I personally only played a couple of games, I really like it. It offers a lot of versatility in gameplay styles, thanks to various 'campaign qualities' you can mix and match to get anything from gritty to action movie to plain silly (as in: totally ver-the-top silly).

They kept the basic D20 mechanics and levelling up but use a reworked skill system, incorporating Action Dice (you get less but they refresh every gaming session/adventure/scene).

Action Dice can be spent to boost rolls, except damage rolls, but they can also be used to activate threats.

That is, if you roll a threat. either on an attack roll or a skill roll (usually on a nat 20 but there are feats and class features that increase your threat range), you can turn your threat into a critical hit or success by spending action dice. The more dice, the more spectacualr effects.

Also rolls have an Error range now. Roll a nat 1 (or up to a 3 for unskilled skill use) and not only do you fail miserably, the GM gets to use some of his action dice to do things to you, ranging from annying to nasty to hilarious.

Fetas are well done: They scale!

For example, there are your basic '+2 to two skills' feats. Only the bonus increases with you carreer (character) level. They can also increase your skill's threat range and result caps (you can pile on a lot of modifiers to boost your skills, but if you don't have enough actual ranks, you can never get a result above a certain threshold).

Also I personally like how all attributes are important.

DEX is the big one for firearms and dodging obviously, but STR is important for melee (which works well alongside firearms) and wearing armour (usually offers some DR).

INT is for extra skill points but WIS sets your Stress threshold. That's right, you can take stress damage. Being hit with a flamethrower for example might not even actually hurt you (thanks to armour) but certainly adds to your stress level. :smallbiggrin:

Charisma is important for the gear system: While your own characters do posess a couple of things (personal firearm, car, house, some equipment), most of your mission gear is assigend to you by the UGA or NAO you happen to work for.

And the quality and quantity of the gear you can request/are assigned depends on your class and rank. Soldiers get weapons, body armour and firearm accessories (silencers, scopes, laser pointers, precision upgrades etc), Wheelmen get vehicles and their various upgrades (engine boosts, runflat tyres, armour panels etc.) and Snoops their surveillance gear.

People with more CHA can get extra stuff. People with less CHA get less stuff. :smallamused:

And no class has any dead levels whatsoever.

Uhm. That ought to do for a first overview?

Lycar

Lert, A.
2009-02-07, 04:22 PM
I personally loved the first version, along with the Shadowforce Archer campaign setting books. I took a few things from 2.0, and added it into our game (like stress damage; awesome) but a lot of it fell by the roadside.

Either way, there is something for pretty much anybody, especially since there is no class that truly sucks.

poxjedi
2009-02-07, 06:04 PM
Thanks for the information.

I heard on an episode of Fear the Boot that alot of Spycraft was based on planning out and then executing a mission, how much of this is true? What is it like, because I have a terrible feeling that if I did this with the other players in the group they would look at each other for a couple minutes and then ask "Can we go in through the ventilation system?" or worse, just charge into the secret base or what have you and start shooting. xD

My group falls on the lower end of the Roleplaying:Combat scale, how much combat is a character in Spycraft able to do before he drops dead?

Expendable
2009-02-07, 07:42 PM
I have played a little spycraft. I made my character a face man/cleaner. In the game face men are really good at disguises and other charisma skills which make them good at getting into places nonviolently by yourself. Cleaners are the people who take care of people who have become.....inconvenient. I specialized in getting in unnoticed and killing the target with minimal effort and getting out again unnoticed. As far as how the game runs the truth is it really depends on the GM. If the GM focuses more on combat it can be pretty much a run and gun but you can style your play to be any type you want really. I know someone that ran his games based off of the A-team and someone else who went very James Bond. The game I played in was based a lot more on stealth and gathering information than just shooting your way through. In fact no one was a hard core fighter style character in the game and there where only 2 of us that had a decent base attack bonus in the 7 person group. I do like the game though and my friend has most of the books including the Pan Asian Collective and Shadow Force Archer. This game and 7th Sea are probably my 2 favorite adaptations of the D20 system.

Lert, A.
2009-02-07, 08:15 PM
I heard on an episode of Fear the Boot that alot of Spycraft was based on planning out and then executing a mission, how much of this is true?

Planning involves things like making acquisitions of gear and equipment. Gear can include spy gadgets or vehicles, etc. while the equipment is often weapons, armor, and tools of the trade.

However, missions are not all shooting matches, but may be materiel acquisition, gathering HUMINT, helping a defector pass on the plans to the battle station, etc.


What is it like, because I have a terrible feeling that if I did this with the other players in the group they would look at each other for a couple minutes and then ask "Can we go in through the ventilation system?" or worse, just charge into the secret base or what have you and start shooting. xD

You may want to follow this route, but the role of the Game Control is to provide moderation. If you don't want them in the air shafts then there are sensors, or perhaps heating and cooling is not through forced air but through pipes in the walls (radiant heating). Air scrubbers are located in modular units inside of each room.

Charging into the base can be fun.:smallbiggrin: But if you can't get backup, you may lose. Or the Bad Guy has his hand on the button and you don't want him to panic and push it before you have time to disable the device.


My group falls on the lower end of the Roleplaying:Combat scale, how much combat is a character in Spycraft able to do before he drops dead?

Depends. Spycraft goes with the HP/WP model, so a single critical hit can possibly knock you into negatives. You do tend to have a good amount of Vitality Points per level though (usually a d8 d10 or d12).

poxjedi
2009-02-08, 07:57 PM
Thanks for all the information, based on this Spycraft is sounding pretty good. Mostly I don't have alot of cash (high school student, no job :/) but I just got 50 bucks so I might go out and pick it up, unless I decide to get an Action Replay for my DS (shiny Rayquaza ftw!)

The first RPG I played was the Episode 2 Star Wars Revised Core Rulebook, and I've always been fond of the VP/WP system, at least as a concept; it forces players to think extra hard because every time you are in combat, there's that one small chance of a blaster bolt or knife or whatever putting you immediately into the negatives.

Is there a list of generic enemies included in the Spycraft 2.0 Rulebook? The thing I really liked about the RCR because there was a pile of generic stat blocks in the back for Clone troopers, Dark Jedi, Bounty hunters, Assassins, etc., of all different levels. Is there something like that in Spycraft, or does the GM have to make his own?

Also, I've flipped around the D20 Modern SRD on the internet a few times. Other than the classes, which I know are very different, what are the other differences between Spycraft and D20 Modern?

Lert, A.
2009-02-09, 11:20 PM
Is there a list of generic enemies included in the Spycraft 2.0 Rulebook? The thing I really liked about the RCR because there was a pile of generic stat blocks in the back for Clone troopers, Dark Jedi, Bounty hunters, Assassins, etc., of all different levels. Is there something like that in Spycraft, or does the GM have to make his own?

Yes, there are stat blocks for generic NPCs. It may take a little while to learn the 2.0 terminology in creating new NPCs, but it is quite simple once you pick up the basics.


Also, I've flipped around the D20 Modern SRD on the internet a few times. Other than the classes, which I know are very different, what are the other differences between Spycraft and D20 Modern?

As mentioned, gear is well thought out and quite useful, not like Modern's pistol = 2d6, rifle = 2d8 (or whatever it was). You actually can pick up specific weapons that have different qualities like penetrating armor DR, etc. Plus you can get fun gadgets, because isn't that what being a spy is all about? Special attacks like called attacks and such are laid out quite well and you have a lot of options in what you can do.

Character creation is a little more fun since choosing your Origin benefits you throughout your career. You choose both a Talent and a Specialty, each of which provide benefits such as a +1 to Reflex save, which increases by 1 every 4 levels, and so forth, which means that your early decisions in character concept can turn you into a focused character in later levels but without losing out on character options as you choose feats, etc.