Cold War espionage - which system?

[committed hero]

Originally Posted by kamawell

I'd like to run a Le Carre style Cold War spy game but have wondered for a while how to approach it. I was hoping that Esoterrorists would have something useful with its mechanic for giving out clues but a read through the threads here seem like it doesn't have much to offer. Cold City springs to mind but that's probably just because it's set in Berlin and (I believe) has mechanics for national mistrust. Maybe even Reign - from what I read about the company rules that might be an interesting way of approaching competing organisations.

Are you looking for rules systems to do anything in particular? Otherwise, there is a 1960s book for Spycraft as well as some d20 modern pdfs on the subject.

[vgunn]

Cold City is a perfect fit. An excellent game.

[kamawell]

Originally Posted by committed hero

Are you looking for rules systems to do anything in particular? Otherwise, there is a 1960s book for Spycraft as well as some d20 modern pdfs on the subject.

I'm probably looking for the impossible - a fairly traditional (in terms of GM role) system that has some interesting take on investigative scenarios. The group I play with are used to traditional gaming styles and would probably be resistant to too much player input in the plot - they enjoy a mystery that's there to be solved rather than created collaberatively. For this reason I think Spione wouldn't be appropriate (but still looks interesting.) Wilderness of Mirrors looks very entertaining but probably not for this project.

If the system that I end up using doesn't have any particular way of handling investigation then my leaning is for a fairly light system - this game is liable to be more talking than action. The Spycraft 2.0 book has some kind of strange attraction but I know its reputation as ultra-crunchy so it's probably not what I need - the Le Carre stuff isn't really all about equipment and combat skills. I don't know much about Top Secret but assume, perhaps unfairly, that it's going to be a fairly straightforward system given its age and publisher - if it has anything interesting to add I'd love to be educated.

As Delbert mentioned CoC springs to my mind too when I think of investigative games but there's no real reason for that other than tradition. It doesn't really have anything that suits it to that style of play. Can anyone tell me about the Pulling the Strings mechanic in ConX2.0?

[Warren]

Cold City might work for you. It's got a slightly unusual core system, but it's pretty light. And it's not all "dirty hippy make everything up together" either -- the GM has the situation and the players have their characters.

And the setting is great; Berlin in 1950, at the start of the Cold War. And Monsters. But you could take the Zombies and other strangeness out (although personally, I wouldn't), and push the dateline back a bit, and it would still cope pretty well.

And I love Jason Morningstar's Convention Characters too. Just look at them! They are a bit hard to read (but just use a highlighter pen to help and give it even more of a bureaucratic feel), but they evoke that era really well, IMO.

[committed hero]

Originally Posted by kamawell

Can anyone tell me about the Pulling the Strings mechanic in ConX2.0?

It's a bit of resource allocation - characters with certain backgrounds can use their departmental influence to get certain things done. Black transport, extraodinary rendition, that sort of thing.

[Delbert]

Having looked at the Spione website, it looks like the book is a great resource for running Cold War spies in Berlin (and expanding out to elsewhere, I should think), but I'm not sure that the mechanic (what idea I gathered of it) is to my taste. I'm tempted to buy the book for the background material, and then use something like ConX.

As Committed Hero said, Pulling Strings is using your contcts, within your agency, with other agencies or within a social group (like "counterculture") that you are associated with to gain information or a similar benefit. Examples from the list in the book include accomplices ("we need a cracksman to get that safe open." "I know where to find one."), arrest powers, back up, lab time, counterculture friends, criminal friends, funding, intel files, law enforcement personnel, training facilities, news archive, press credentials, vehicle checks, and lots of others, not all appropriate to a Cold War, no supernatural, no aliens game. The types of Pulling Strings that you have access to depends on your background: a CIA Agent has CIA Caches, CIA Maps, CIA Training Facilities, Lab/Workshop, Mobility, Satellite Surveillance, while a USAF Intelligence Officer has Base Clearance, DARPA Labs, Military Training Facilities, Mobility, NIMA Support, No Trace and Satellite Surveillance, for example. You'd have to work out which were relevant and probably develop your own templates, but it shouldn't be too much trouble with good background material.

[Pelgrane Press]

Originally Posted by kamawell

I'm probably looking for the impossible - a fairly traditional (in terms of GM role) system that has some interesting take on investigative scenarios. The group I play with are used to traditional gaming styles and would probably be resistant to too much player input in the plot - they enjoy a mystery that's there to be solved rather than created collaberatively..

This is pretty much exactly what GUMSHOE and Esoterrorists is. It would work very well with a slowly revealed spy mystery with rapid fire action scenes. The Esoterrorist skill set matches a spy game pretty accurately. Have a look at the character sheet . Surveillance, interrogation and impersonation, are all there.

Depending on the nature of the game, (for example James Bond style) you might ignore the Stability (sanity) rules, but most of the adventure creation advice is spot on for a spy game.

Edit: Cold City is good, too.

[chaldfont]

The original Top Secret!

[David R]

Originally Posted by kamawell

I'd like to run a Le Carre style Cold War spy game but have wondered for a while how to approach it.

Active Exploits. It's diceless but worth a look. I've run a couple of Le Carre style games with this system. Here's a review:

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11964.phtml

Regards,
David R

[Pelorus]

It's a question of background. I've run espionage games using the 23rd Letter (without psychics) but the flavour can be very different. Are you looking for Jamees Bond or Jason Bourne? The New Avengers or The Sandbaggers?

I'm guessing The Sandbaggers?