Spycraft Miniatures

In case anyone is interested, here are links to some sites where you might be able to pick up good miniatures for your Spycraft characters:

http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/SV/index.asp
http://www.newwave.org./
http://www.geocities.com/gisby.geo/copplestone.htm
http://www.stanjohansenminiatures.com/merc.htm
http://www.sjgames.com/miniatures/specops/
http://www.edenstudios.net/XMinis.html
http://www.gtns.co.uk/store1/commerce.cgi?product=SL&exact_match=on&cart_id=9659597.12203
http://www.tacticalminiatures.com/
http://www.nobleknightgames.com/
http://www.rackscan.net/
http://www.ikwarmachine.com/
http://papertoys.com/
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2249&
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2362&
http://www.gisby.org/fw.htm
http://www.eurekamin.com.au/
http://www.hetzerdog.co.uk/
http://www.fourcolorfigs.com/
http://www.sjgames.com/heroes/
http://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/

MI6 Wants YOU!

Charles caught this story at CNN and asked me to post it here:

Brits hiring spies online

And for those with ready-to-go resumes(and Brit citizenship), click here for the direct link to your future career with the SIS.

Resume suggestion: Under "experience", list the number of times you've watched Bond marathons on USA Network and Spike TV. Lying about skipping VIEW TO A KILL is acceptable.

I'm out for Friday

Sorry, guys, but Veruca Salt is playing La Zona Rosa Friday, and I have no intention to miss it this time. Feel free to play Father Binary or kill him off or whatever.

Meet Mr. Gray 2.0

Yeah, like any of you really thought he was dead.

Codename: Mr. Gray (Name: Horace Landerstein a.k.a. The 13th Deadliest Jew in the World)
Origin: Fierce Special Ops
Class: Soldier 4/Triggerman 1
Career Level: 5
Vitality: 54 Reputation: 25
Age: 27 Height: 6'0" Weight: 200 lbs.

Statistics:STR 16, DEX 16, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 10, CHA 8, BAB +5, Fort +2 (+4), Ref +2 (+5), Will +5 (+5), Def +3 (13), Init +7 (+14)

Skills:Acrobatics +2, Athletics +7, Cultures +0 (Western Europe), Intimidate +8, Notice +7, Resolve +3, Sleight of Hand +2, Survival +4, Tactics +7

Class Abilities: Accurate, Fortunes of War I, Armor Use I, Trigger-Happy

Origin Abilities: +2 insight bonus to Initiative checks, +2 threat range to Intimidate, 1/session, decrease overland travel to 3/4 standard, +2 to Sneak and Tactics checks

Wealth: Lifestyle 1, Possessions 3, Spending Cash 1

Caliber III pick, 3 Caliber I picks
Magnum Research Desert Eagle

Feats: Combat Expertise, Concealed Carry, Two Weapon Basics, Two Weapon Mastery

Proficiencies: Blunt, Edged, Explosives, Handgun (Forte), Hurled (Forte), Rifle, Shotgun, Submachine Gun, Tactical, Unarmed, Vehicle Weapon
Interests: Guns, poker, crossword puzzles
Mission Gear: 1W, 1S
Bonus (CHA) Gear: None
Common Items: 10 (+2 Mission Picks)

Dossier: Director Beowulf

Formerly known as Harryhausen, real name Martin Wise:

Codename: Beowulf (Name: Martin Wise)
Origin: Disciplined Special Ops
Class: Pointman 10/Tactician 6
Career Level: 16
Vitality: 109
Age: 52 Height: 6'1" Weight: 195 lbs.

Statistics: STR 8, DEX 12, CON 12, INT 19, WIS 18, CHA 12, BAB +13, Fort +7 (+9), Ref +8 (+10), Will +8 (+18), Def +8 (18), Init +12 (+13)

Skills: Athletics +12, Blend +10, Bluff +5, Bureaucracy +5, Cultures +16 (Central America, Eastern Asia, Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, Northern America, South America, Southern Africa, Southern Asia, Western Asia, Western Europe), Drive +12 (Standard Ground Vehicles, Heavy Ground Vehicles, Mounts and Animal Drawn Vehicles, Rotary Wing Aircraft, Standard Watercraft), Falsify +12, Notice +16, Profession +8 (Soldier, Spy, Control), Resolve +13, Science +8 (Chemistry, Mathematics, Pharmacology), Search +8, Security +5, Sense Motive +7, Sleight of Hand +5, Sneak +12 (+17), Streetwise +5, Survival +12, Tactics +19 (+24)

Class/Origin Abilities: Generous, Wily, Versatility (6 skills)*, Assistance (1/2), Lead 4/session, Orders III, 1,000 faces, human nature, improved fortune (1 die), tempo (self) +6/session, stratagem +1, art of war, blood of heroes (+6 vp), commanding presence*, 1/session, may decrease overland travel time to 3/4 standard, +5 insight to Will saves*, +5 insight bonus with Sneak and Tactics* (*= Already added in)

Wealth: Lifestyle 4, Possessions 3, Spending Cash 4

Disguise Kit III
Glock 21 (1d12/1/19-20, 13M4, 25 ft. CMP, TKD)
Forgery Kit I, Laptop (PR 1), consumer-grade still camera
Ocean-going sailboat with luxury fittings

Feats: Ambush Basics, Combat Mobility, Career Agent*, Faceless, I Can Swim, Surge of Speed, Tactical Advantage
Proficiencies: Blunt, Edged, Explosives, Handgun (forte), Hurled, Rifle (forte), Shotgun, Submachine Gun, Tactical, Unarmed
Interests: Fishing, Camping, Strategic Computer Games, Baseball, Politics, Playing Tourist
Mission Gear: 4R, 3S, 3W, 1T
Bonus (CHA) Gear: 2 of any: (G,T,V,R)

Dossier: Steel Wolf 2.1

Codename: Steel Wolf (Name: Sergei Marchenko)
Origin: Veteran Operative
Class: Sleuth 2/Snoop 3
Career Level: 5
Vitality: 28 Reputation: 25
Age: 48 Height: 6'3" Weight: 180 lbs.

Statistics: STR 10, DEX 14, CON 8, INT 14, WIS 16, CHA 13, BAB +2, Fort +2 (+3), Ref +4 (+6), Will +3 (+6), Def +4 (15), Init +3 (+5)

Skills: Analysis +8, Bluff +4, Bureaucracy +5, Computers +2, Cultures +4 (Eastern Asia, Eastern Europe (Forte - Russia), Northern America, Southern Asia, Western Asia), Drive +0 (Standard Ground Vehicles), Intimidate +3, Investigation +5, Manipulate +2, Networking +5, Notice +8, Profession +5 (Spy (Forte - Information Broker), Law Enforcement), Resolve +2, Science +4 (Chemistry, Mathematics (Forte - Codes)), Search +8, Security +4, Sense Motive +6, Sneak +5, Streetwise +4

Class Abilities: Flawless Search, Sources I, Sympathetic, Human Nature, Intuition I, Intercept Communication

Wealth: Lifestyle 3, Possessions 4, Spending Cash 2

Casull Reolver (.454)
Forensics Kit II
Tuxedo Liner, Lockpick Kit I, Gadget: Grapple Gun Belt

Feats: Private Eye, Cryptographer, Revolver Basics
Proficiencies: Unarmed, Handgun (Forte), Rifle, Submachine Gun
Interests: Chess, Ballet, Jazz
Mission Gear: 1R, 2T, 1G
Bonus (CHA) Gear: 1 of any: (G,T,V,R)
Common Items: binoculars, cellphone, ducttape, flashlight, iPod, cigarettes, telescope, zipties, attache case, crowbar, leatherman tool, rope, PDA, 3 reserve picks (+5 Mission Picks)

Dossier: Dom Perignon 2.1

Codename: Dom Perignon (Name: Ian Chadwick-Smythe V)
Origin: Privileged Playboy
Class: Faceman
Career Level: 5
Vitality: 37 Reputation: 25
Age: 35 Height: 5'11 Weight: 172 lbs.

Statistics: STR 8, DEX 13, CON 12, INT 14, WIS 13, CHA 16, BAB +3, Fort +3 (+4), Ref +1 (+2), Will +3 (+4), Def +3 (13), Init +5 (+6)

Skills: Blend +4, Bluff +8, Bureaucracy +4, Cultures +8 (Northern America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Asia, Western Asia, Eastern Asia), Drive (Standard Watercraft), Falsify +7, Impress +3, Manipulate +4, Networking +4 (2 Acquaintances), Notice +4, Profession (Lawyer), Science (Economy), Search +2, Sense Motive +8, Streetwise +1

Class Abilities: Doublespeak, 1,000 Faces, Cold Read 1/session, Quick Change 2/session, Follow My Lead, Backup I

Wealth: Lifestyle 7, Possessions 4, Spending Cash 3

Walther PPK (.32 ACP) w/custom grip & (8) 7-shot clips
Tuxedo Liner (DR 2/3, -1 Def)
Gadget: Hypnotic Lenses (+1 Skill Boost to Impress)
Charles Daly Field II Hunter 12-gauge shotgun w/40 slugs
Disguise Kit III
5-bedroom house (25 person capacity)
Racing Yacht w/luxury fittings
Twin-Engine Prop Plane w/advanced stability & luxury fittings

Feats: Personal Lieutenant, Flawless Identity, Polyglot, Silver Tongue
Proficiencies: Unarmed, Handgun (Forte), Shotgun (Forte), Hurled
Interests: Gambling, Yachting, Equestrian
Mission Gear: 1T, 1R
Bonus (CHA) Gear: 3 of any: (G,T,V,R)
Common Items: 13 (+5 Mission Picks)

Dossier: Booster 2.1

Codename: Booster (Name: Andres Francisco de Leon a.k.a. Jose Simon)
Origin: Gifted Hot Rodder
Class: Wheelman 4/Sniper 1
Career Level: 5
Vitality: 51 Reputation: 25
Age: 31 Height: 5'2" Weight: 130 lbs.

Statistics: STR 10, DEX 20, CON 12, INT 14, WIS 8, CHA 10, BAB +5 Fort +1 (+2), Ref +5 (+10), Will +1 (+0), Def +3 (18), Init +4 (+9)

Skills: Acrobatics +7, Athletics +8, Cultures (Northern America) +0, Drive +8 (Standard Ground Vehicles (forte - BMWs), Personal Ground Vehicles, Rotary Wing Aircraft, Service Aircraft, Standard Watercraft), Mechanics +7, Notice +1, Profession (Stunt Driver) +0, Resolve +1, Scientist (Fabrication) +0, Security +8, Sleight of Hand +7, Sneak +1, Streetwise +7, Tactics +8

Class Abilities: Driven, Custom Ride, Manual Adjustment (Mechanics), Crash Course x2, Vehicle Familiarity I, Eagle Eye

Wealth: Lifestyle 2, Possessions 3, Spending Cash 1

AMP DSR-1 bolt action rifle (.300 magnum) w/ advanced combat sight & 50 rounds
Sig-Sauer P239 (9mm)
Standard Vehicle Upgrade Package: Control I, Acceleration I, Fine Tuning, Runflat Tires
Lockpicking Kit I, Mechanics Kit I
Mini Cooper S with Control Increase I & Acceleration Increase I

Feats: Daredevil, Defensive Driving, Driving Instincts, Lane Dancer, Offensive Driving, Speed Demon
Proficiencies: Unarmed, Handgun, Rifle (Forte), Submachine Gun, Vehicle Weapons (Forte)
Interests: Street Racing, Racing World, Fine Food
Mission Gear: 1V, 2W
Bonus (CHA) Gear: None
Common Items: 8 (+3 Mission Picks)

Dossier: Project Scarecrow

The agency that the player characters work for is a sensitive compartmentalized information (SCI) clearance operation, meaning that is known to the Director of the C.I.A., the National Security Director and Secretary of Homeland Security. The operation is headed up by former CIA operative Marta Allison, who holds the official rank of Assistant Director within the CIA but who is technically outranked only by those listed above who have knowledge of the Agency.

The agency has four assistant directors, who are not officially in the employ of the CIA, nor is anyone below them. Technically, they are all operating illegally within the United States, although in theory, Allison might be able to arrange a Presidential pardon or a deniable covert extraction if they were caught while on a mission. These four assistant directors are Director of Technology Ernie Greaves, Director of Operations Martin Wise (formerly known as Harryhausen at The Agency), Director of Intelligence Karen Haight and Director of Security Colin Yost.

This unit focuses on the more colorful and dangerous bad guys in the world. Homeland Security, the FBI and CIA take on terrorists and such things, but the black ops unit focuses in on major, connected untouchable criminals, colorful madmen with technology or smarts beyond the average terrorist and things with a slight supernatural or unexplainable bent.

Project Director - Codename Raven:
Marta Allison is a 32-year-old blond, blue-eyed knockout who has been doing field work for the C.I.A. for just under 10 years. After graduating from Harvard with a degree in Psychology and intensive course work on parapsychology, she was recruited and began doing a lot of undercover work around the world, usually posing as a young American tourist and graduate student. She earned her Masters in Psychology while doing this, and earned her PhD at the age of 27.

Raven doesn't have an assistant like most of the directors. She has an enforcer, driver and bodyguard, an imposing black man code-named Raptor, who doesn't speak at all (most wonder if he's even able to) but who has a great deal of presence to go with his physical power.

Director of Technology - Codename Wizard:
Imagine the biggest gamer/science geek you can, then place him into the body of a hard-bodied surfer from Venice Beach, and you've got Ernie Greaves. Ernie is the youngest member of Scarecrow's directorate, at 26, but he has earned two PhDs and has an incredible knack for building, repairing and inventing equipment. Along with a small project team that includes Apprentice (his super-hot hacker girlfriend Callie Thorne) and several specialist scientists, Wizard is responsible for all the technical needs of Project: Scarecrow. He also runs a biweekly gaming group for anyone who wants to attend... which as of now includes Callie and half of Greaves's science team.

Director of Operations - Codename Beowulf:
Beowulf is only the latest codename that veteran spy Martin Wise, 52, has gone by. He began working at The Agency in 1962, starting out in military operations but moving within a year into the more sophisticated realm of infiltration. In 1974, he became one of the most sought after team leaders in The Agency, traveling the globe either with his familiar team or as a freelance pointman brought in to shape up a new unit. He was promoted to Control in 1994, and was located in New York City. He is divorced with three children, two of whom think he is dead after the Agency was destroyed, and one of whom knows the truth because she was recruited into The Agency to serve as an operative and went on the run with her father.

Beowulf is responsible for prepping all field missions using the information provided by Oracle, as well as being responsible for day-to-day operations and planning for Project: Scarecrow. While Raven is the top-down organizer and director of Scarecrow's missions, Beowulf does most of the heavy lifting, organizing teams and recruiting agents and freelance help. He is the one director most likely to be seen in the field, although if he does show up in the field, it means the shit has hit the fan.

Beowulf's assistant is Artemis, also known as his 24-year-old daughter Shane Wise. In addition to mission planning, she does a lot of scouting and preparation work for mission, and is often in charge of making tech or information drops. She is seen in the field a great deal more than her father, although she is never actually assigned to any agent teams.

Director of Intelligence - Codename Oracle:
Oracle is the font of information for Project: Scarecrow. An information sponge of the highest order, with plenty of interest in conspiracy theory, Karen Haight is probably the best (if not only) person to run the intelligence side of Project: Scarecrow. Karen embraces the punk ethos, as evidenced by her constantly changing hair color (never anything so dull as blond or brown), wardrobe and many piercings and tattoos. At age 37, she's a little older than most of the hacker crowd, but she has earned herself a reputation in that group as having a youthful, open mindset. That extends to her willingness to listen to outrageous theories about monsters, secret societies, aliens and other outrageous theories which makes her indispensable to Raven. Haight can sniff out the truth, but she won't hesitate to open her mind to every possibility when she's on the hunt for it.

Haight enjoyed a profitable life as an outlaw information broker before being recruited into Project: Scarecrow. Her new job is perfect for her, as it involves tracking down and analyzing as much information as possible to find new missions for Scarecrow as well as providing intelligence for agents before and during the missions. Oracle has the most assistants of any director, since her resources need to be fairly vast. She is also the only director whose chosen codenames are references to punk rockers. Those assistants are Sid (Harry Stewart, a former NYPD detective in his 50s who is as traditional as Oracle is renegade), Nancy (Kammi Sato, a beautiful Japanese woman with a penchant for disguise), Ness (forensics expert Frank Corrazon, who prefers to think of his codename as coming from Eliot, not Social Distortion's Michael) and Strummer (Australian ex-pat Gordon Willoughby, who scours the jungles both literal and urban looking for information, and whose name is derived from The Clash's Joe.)

Director of Security - Codename Spartan:
Colin Yost, the man codenamed Spartan, is a 58-year-old man who looks like he's been subject to some hard living. He has weather-beaten features and a perpetual scowl that make him look older than he is, although he is in peak physical condition that makes him look younger. His job is to maintain the physical security of Scarecrow's primary and secondary facilities as well as to make sure that all information about Scarecrow is compartmentalized and released only when absolutely necessary. This means he's in charge of the security forces in all Scarecrow facilities, a job mostly delegated to Goliath (Bart Evans, a career soldier), as well as keeping tabs on information flowing into and out of Scarecrow and its agents, a job he doesn't trust anyone else to do. Spartan is also responsible for regular psychological evaluations (and sometimes mental conditioning) of agents, a job he leaves to Siren (Jeanette Lee, a psychiatrist). Siren is one of the more feared assistant directors amongst agents, because they know that if they don't get clean marks, they could wind up scrubbed from active duty or, if they are believed to be involved in disloyalty of some kind, marked for "cleaning" by Spartan and his crew.

There is definite tension between Spartan and Raven, owing somewhat to Yost's belief that he should have been put in charge of this project, given his long years of experience.

Operation Osiris: Scenes Three and Four

The information on The Black Book indicated that Harryhausen and his daughter were living under the assumed names of Jackson and Shelby Harris in Tahiti. Photos of their most recent (disguised) appearance were also included, but the information was still somewhat sketchy.

After using some old contacts to get hold of a prop plane (with luxury fittings, of course!), the team flew down to Tahiti. They picked up a tail at the airport, and lured him to a hotel, where they checked into a couple of rooms. Booster and Father Binary watched in the bar as the man stood in the hotel waiting area, reading a paper and clearly waiting for the rest of the team to come down from their hotel room. Instead, Booster and Binary approached him, put a gun in his ribs and forced him onto the elevator.

Steel Wolf and Dom interrogated the man, and although at first they worried they might have grabbed a tourist under the wrong impression, they soon realized that the man was an African mercenary. He told them that he was part of a team working under Captain Malcolm Ubisi, a former Nigerian army officer, but refused to give up their base of operations. He also indicated that he had been following the team because he believed that they would know where Harryhausen was, which let the agents know that the hit team wasn't that close to finding the target.

Binary and Booster jury-rigged the mercenary's cellphone with fake C-4 and told him they were leaving a bomb in the room that would go off when it rang, and they left him tied to a chair. The rest of the team departed so that Booster could steal a car for them to use, while Dom remained behind, disguised, in the lobby to see if he could follow the mercenary back to his home base. Instead, he saw the concierge receive a frantic call and send a bellboy into the elevator. Dom followed at a discreet distance.

When he got upstairs, he saw the bellboy go into the room they had been occupying. He heard loud surprised discussion, then the sound of scissors being used on the plastic cuffs holding the mercenary to the chair, then the unmistakable sound of someone's neck being broken. Dom rushed back into the elevator ahead of the now-freed mercenary and once again reached the lobby. He watched the mercenary get into a cab, and thought that the mercenary looked back at him, but since he was in disguise, didn't think he'd been made.

Booster pulled up in his stolen car and got Dom and they began following the cab. It took them around the island for a while, driving them in circles and then into the bad part of town. The team realized that they had indeed been made, although they didn't believe that the mercenary knew he was currently being followed. They watched him stop into the bad part of town, get out of the cab, walk up to an obvious drug dealer, break his neck and steal his gun, which he then used to kill the cabbie and take the cab.

Steel Wolf used his abilities to tap into the next phone communication that the mercenary had, which was with someone at Ubisi's basecamp. He was told to meet late at night on the beach of one of the resorts for a pickup.

While Binary and Steel Wolf made plans to watch this pickup and see what happened, Booster and Dom began searching in ernest for Harryhausen. Dom tried to bribe his way through some of the local resort employees, but flashed a little too much cash and instead got fleeced for his troubles. Booster talked to the black market, but it took several days to establish a level of trust. The team also placed a coded message in the local paper, hoping that Harryhausen would see it and decipher it.

Binary and Steel Wolf watched as a man in an inflatable assault raft rowed up to the beach to pick up the straggling mercenary. Combining this information with the dossier gained on Ubisi by Steel Wolf, they realized that the mercenaries' base of operations was probably a charter fishing boat that Ubisi owned, parked somewhere deeper in the waters.

After several days of following less than fruitful leads, the team finally had their meeting with Booster's black market contact. They had worked up a plan to insert clues from their Agency days into the serial numbers and information of the weapons they claimed to be selling, hoping that this would tip Harryhausen off to contact them. Though the meeting didn't go well, the information did get back to Harryhausen, and Dom soon received a call. The team went to his hotel room, where they met his daughter for the first time (as she held two guns on them) and informed him of The Black Book, the hit, Ubisi and everything else that was going on.

Using Father Binary's keyhole access to The Black Book and Harryhausen's higher Agency security code, the team discovered a GPS location for The Black Book hardware in Tokyo. They also realized that the earlier location they had gotten had been spoofed by the Neon Tigers, so that it led them to the Neon Tigers' heavily secured facility instead of The Black Book.

Harryhausen asserted that in order to be safe, they needed to recover or destroy The Black Book and destroy the Neon Tigers' access to it. Father Binary received a message from his employers at Project: Scarecrow that they would like to speak privately with Harryhausen, and so Harryhausen went out onto the balcony to speak with them. When he came back, he told the team that he believed they should steal rather than destroy The Black Book, and that it could benefit them all, as well as former Agency members, if they could do so.

The team discussed this, including sending Harryhausen out on the balcony again so they could decide that they wanted more of a say in what missions they were sent on and what information they got. The deal was made, after Harryhausen talked to Project: Scarecrow again, and the team had a new mission, and were once again working with Harryhausen.

They took the prop plane back to Japan and settled back into using Dom's houseboat off the coast as a base of operations. Simply using civilian information-gathering tools informed them that the GPS location was a heavily fortified compound, the home of Yakuza boss Masahiro Ryuchi, and that it was clear in about a half-mile in each direction, making a covert approach exceptionally difficult.

Further research into Masahiro revealed that he owned a front company, Masahiro Shipping, and revealed the security company that had provided cameras and noise sensors to the compound.

The team also learned that Masahiro had a daughter named Mya who was virtually a prisoner in the house, and that she was arranged to marry Hondo Kenuichi, another Yakuza boss, in about a month. Dom and Binary infiltrated message boards and IM chat programs that Mya used to discover her interests in fashion and gaming and pose as a young girl in a similar situation. Dom gained her trust and tried to indicate that "the girl" and her "boyfriend" were going to make a run for it, and that Mya (and her boyfriend, who they learned about in chat) could join them. She was too afraid of her father killing them, and broke off communication.

Some of the rest of the team surveilled the Masahiro compound. Dom and Steel Wolf infiltrated an office building about a mile away disguised as "retarded janitors" and watched the compound from the roof with binoculars. They saw that the guards numbered around 30 and that there was a helicopter on the helipad with the "Masahiro Shipping" corporate logo on it, which led them to believe that Masahiro was home.

Father Binary hacked into the shipping company's systems and got Masahiro's schedule for the next few days. With all of this information in place, the team tried formulating a number of plans for how they would get in, steal a 500 lb. Black Book terminal and leave. Finally, an uneasy truce was reached that they would steal Masahiro's corporate helicopter while he was at work, take it to the compound, load up The Black Book and take off.

Dom used his disguise abilities to disguise himself as Masahiro and Booster as his pilot while Father Binary and Steel Wolf waited some distance away at a secure location. When Binary's downloaded schedules indicated that Masahiro had left the building for a metting, Dom and Booster moved in. They bluffed their way to the helipad and met up with a half-dozen of Masahiro's yakuza security guards. Dom managed to bluff four of them into going downstairs to get "files," and so Dom and Booster were joined in the helicopter by only two yakuza members.

When the helicopter landed, these yakuza were suspicious, but Dom convinced them that they were picking these men up for something important. Since the yakuza members didn't want to question their boss, and knew that he had dealings with foreigners, they didn't think too much of it. Which is what got them killed, because when they stepped out of the helicopter, Booster put a bullet into the back of the head of one of them and Steel Wolf and Binary pulled guns and finished the other one before he could react.

Booster flew the helicopter into the compound, while Dom called ahead and told them to "bring up the package and my daughter, and have her pack a small bag," indicating that they were somehow compromised. When they arrived at the compound, they were greeted by the remaining security detail (about eight guards) as the other four brought The Black Box up from its basement location and loaded it onto the helicopter, right in front of Father Binary and Steel Wolf, concealed in the back of the copter. Security informed Dom that Takeshi had gone to get his daughter.

While Dom told the other security men to scatter, and go to the "secret place" or something along those lines, Takeshi brought Mya up to the helicopter. He loaded her in and then prepared to get in himself. Dom tried to convince Takeshi that he should go with the others, but Takeshi reached into his jacket and pulled a gun, putting it in Dom's face. Steel Wolf responded from behind the Black Box by putting a gun to Takeshi's head.

During the standoff, Dom realized that Takeshi was the boyfriend, and that he was taking his chance to try and stay with Mya, even if it meant having to kill his former boss. Dom pulled off the mask of his disguise, confusing Takeshi enough that he lowered his guard, which allowed Steel Wolf to fire (and barely miss) and Booster to fire and hit him in the shoulder. Dom convinced everyone to stop shooting and got Takeshi into the helicopter under armed guard.

The team landed at the airport near the prop plane, where they found Harryhausen's daughter waiting for them, holding the remains of the Neon Tigers' hard drive with information on The Black Book. They boarded the prop plane and headed to Hawaii. Once in Hawaii, they dropped off Takeshi and Mya, with Harryhausen promising to contact them later and set them up there. From there, the team got a commercial flight to Washington D.C. and Harryhausen set up courier drops to get their equipment (and The Black Box) to D.C. as well.

Back in D.C., the team boarded a truck and drove into a warehouse district, where they entered Customs Warehouse #73. The truck's drivers unloaded The Black Box into the dilapidated warehouse, while Harryhausen took the team back to a well-hidden keypad and entered numbers, revealing an underground tunnel into a high-tech operations center. Among the faces waiting to greet the agents was Marta Allison, their former contact (and occasional ally) at the C.I.A. "Gentlemen," she said, "Welcome to Project: Scarecrow."

Next Gaming Idea

Osiris Scene Three write-up should come sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, Dave and I were talking at the shop today and I think I came up with another campaign I'd like to try in the future. The current Spycraft adventure should finish up this week, and then I'll need a little time to get the next one ready... basically my goal is for the next Spycraft session after this Friday to be the one where Charles makes his triumphant return.

Between that time, we could play World's Largest Dungeon (if Ben is still up for it), do a week of just hanging out (Burnout Revenge for PS/2 should be in my hands by Monday, so that's a thought for next Friday... and of course I've got all of season two of Arrested Development on my Tivo as well), finish Spycraft (if it doesn't finish up this Friday, which is possible but I doubt it) or whatever. We're definitely not playing two weeks from Friday, as that's Serenity release day. Anyone who wants to see it with us opening night is welcome.

Anyway... the campaign idea is a Champions/HERO system idea. Ideally, I think this would be a rotating GM game, and one that we could play in short, self-contained arcs of somewhere between 3-4 sessions. The concept is that we play a campaign through time. Start off in the fantasy genre and end up in the Legion of Superheroes style far future, hitting various points in between. The characters would be "legacies" essentially, either using the same name, being related by blood, using the same gadget or something along those lines. And in each era, they would come together as a superhero team. Dave and I mapped out these possibilities for eras: Fantasy, Wild West, Pulp ('20s or '30s), Golden Age, Silver Age, Modern Age, Near Future/Cyberpunk, Post-Apocalyptic and Far Future.

Just putting it out there for discussion.

Focuses & Fortes

OK, so I made a minor goof. It turns out that fortes are not just "double picks" for skills. They are for weapon proficiencies, so we've done fortes correctly there, but when you take a forte in one of the focus skills, you've got to actually pick the forte. So, for example, if you have a forte with Standard Ground Vehicles, that forte applies to one category, such as "sportscars" or "limos" or something like that. If you've got a forte in Science (Programming), it might be in "viruses" or "security programs" or "databases" and in Cultures, if you've got a forte in "Eastern Europe" it might be "Russia" or "Hungary" or something along those lines.

So everyone will need to specify fortes as soon as possible. Oh, and remind me at some point (maybe if we run short tomorrow, since I'm not sure how much adventure I've got ready, it might be up until midnight or it might only take us to 10 pm) to bring up subplots for everyone.

Dossier: Father Binary 2.1

Codename: Father Binary (Name: David Timms)
Origin: Disciplined Clergyman
Class: Hacker
Career Level: 5
Vitality: 37 Reputation: 25
Age: 32 Height: 5'8" Weight: 150 lbs.

Statistics:STR 8, DEX 14, CON 12, INT 16, WIS 14, CHA 13
Fort +4 (+5), Ref +3 (+5), Will +4 (+8), Def +4 (13), Init +3 (+5)

Skills:Analysis +3, Bureaucracy +4, Computers +8, Cultures +8 (Central America, Northern America, South America, Southern Asia, Western Europe), Drive +4 (Personal Ground Vehicles, Standard Ground Vehicles, Personal Watercraft), Electronics +8, Falsify +4, Mechanics +4, Notice +5, Profession (Clergy) +3, Resolve +5, Science +5 (Mathematics (forte: ), Programming (forte: )), Security +4, Sleight of Hand +3, Sneak +8, Streetwise +4, Survival +2

Class Abilities: Custom 'Warez, 'L337, Trap Door 1/mission, Master Key I, Master Cracker 1/mission

Wealth: Lifestyle 2, Possessions 2, Spending Cash 3

Sig-Sauer P220 (.45)
Electronics Kit I
Probe Software II, Virus Software I, Laptop (PR 3)
Honda Civic

Feats: Iron Will, Favored Gear, Techie

Proficiencies: Unarmed, Edged, Handgun (Forte)
Interests: Religion, Computers, Literature
Mission Gear: 2E, 1R
Bonus (CHA) Gear: 1 of any: (G,T,V,R)
Common Items: 14 (+5 Mission Picks)

Operation Osiris: Scenes One and a Half & Two

As the team sped off into the night, with Booster at the wheel of Dom's rented BMW, a dozen motorcycles gave chase. The cars and motorcycles weaved throughout the crowded Ginza district, driving down alleys and side streets and around drunken businessmen and other cars. The vehicles were too far apart for gunfire, so the riders hung tight, with Ms. Chesterfield patching up Steel Wolf's katana wound in the cramped backseat.

Booster, displaying his usual level of vehicle skill, managed to lose the pursuers without much difficulty, and then pulled off into a parking garage so the team could plan their next move. Ms. Chesterfield offered up that she really needed a first aid kit to do Steel Wolf any good, and the team decided to "gear up" when they got the chance.

But first, Father Binary had to explain to them what was going on. He told them that he had found the information on them to be part of a legendary database called "The Black Book" which had all the information on their defunct Agency. He had discovered an access code, which he had broken up into three parts and included in their emails as a failsafe in case he was caught or killed before he could contact them. This access code, combined with old Agency codes that the agents possessed and software on Binary's laptop, would give them keyhole access into "The Black Book" to try and find out who had put a hit on them and who had the information. He had also discovered that the hits ordered on them were from something called The Rising Dragon, a terrorist group based in Japan and Chechneya.

The team arranged a tense but uneventful raid of Binary's apartment for his laptop and other equipment, and then went to old contacts and storehouses to gear up themselves. They eventually set up base camp in a houseboat that Dom owned in the area, calling in an old doctor friend of Steel Wolf's to patch him up and using the wireless access point near the boat's location for Binary to get online. He used the codes and discovered some important information about "The Black Book."

First of all, he found out that the "Black Book" was in the possession of the Rising Dragon, and was made up of three components: One was the software, floating about in millions of bytes across the Internet. Two was the hardware, a specialized terminal that could be used to download the information from the Internet. Three was the "firmware," a physical codebook that could be used to decrypt the downloaded information. There was a street address locating the hardware terminal in Tokyo.

A little research by Steel Wolf found that the address was attached to a secure government building, and that the terminal was on the 35th floor. The team did some reconnaisance and discovered some important facts. First was that the security was tight, including motion detectors, cameras and a password-protected vault door. Second was that the guards were police, and apparently legitimate, not foes that they wanted to use lethal force against if it could be avoided. They decided that the best way in was a bluff and disguise intrusion to get Father Binary access to the terminal.

The first part of the plan involved Binary hacking into a cult website to deliver a threat against the building. Binary also hacked into the phone systems to recieve the call for help from security, which went first through Ms. Chesterfield and then to Dom. Dom informed the security that they would send a haz-mat team over right away.

The team then loaded into a disguised van wearing fake haz-mat suits and carrying identification forged by Dom. They passed the security check at the gate with eased, but they were informed that the entire building had not been evacuated. Some of the levels couldn't be evacuated without an order from higher up in the government.

When the team reached level 36, they found two guards and made a show of looking around for a chemical weapon or a bomb. They then snuck down the stairwell and onto level 35. There they found two guards waiting at a security desk, decked out in tactical armor and carrying silenced MP5s. Dom attempted to bluff them into moving away from the vault door that sat in front of the secure area with the computer terminal, but he was unable to do so, and a botched attempt to fake falling ill resulted in a firefight touching off.

Booster managed to get off the first shot, pulling his own MP5 from underneath his clothes and shooting at one of the guards. The guard returned fire, and Steel Wolf attempted to bull rush the other guard, but was pushed back. Dom and Binary attempted to pummel one of the guards, and succeeded in distracting him long enough for Booster to kill both of them. None of the agents were happy about having to kill two policemen, but they were sort of stuck with the situation.

Booster attempted to disarm the security keypad, but found that it was going to be tricky, so he attempted to shut down the klaxon instead. That was even trickier, but his affinity for mechanical devices let him stop it from going off when his disarm attempt failed. He then went back and spent time trying to disarm the keypad. He got the vault door opened, but there was an alarm working its way through the system, so the team had to hurry with the rest of the security. Booster rushed to disarm the motion sensors and cameras so that Binary could access the terminal.

Binary discovered that the terminal in the room was not in fact "The Black Book" terminal, but it accessed the Neon Tigers computers, and had information on "The Black Book." The hardware and firmware were both in possession of The Rising Dragon, and they had used the information to send a hit team after another former Agency asset, the agents' former Control Harryhausen and his daughter.

Armed with this information, the team rushed out of the building just seconds before the alarm went off. Harryhausen had been the one who came and warned them of the Agency's downfall and removed their tracking chips so they could attempt to disappear, so the agents felt that they had no choice: It was time to arrange a rescue for Harryhausen.

Tonight?

I can't tell if this blog has been updated because it says the next game is at 6:30 as opposed to Friday 9/2 at 6:30. We're on for Spycraft tonight at our place, yes? Who's in?

By the way... anyone else wondering what the "seemingly random string of numbers" was/is? We didn't look in to that, did we?

Ben

The Book

I ordered The Book last night and should get it by mid-September. I might be able to start before October, it depends on work.

Operation: Osiris - Scene One:

It all began when the scattered former members of an Agency team received mysterious messages on their personal PDAs, tagged with an old code from an Agency that had been defunct for two years. "You are desperately needed in Tokyo. Need to sort out a problem. Your new identity could be at risk" was the message, followed by a seemingly random string of numbers.

Steel Wolf, undercover as the Red Ghost, was meeting with a mobster he had been dealing with when he got the message. He completed the deal quickly, after being badgered into delivering free security on his next job, and made arrangements to fly out of Moscow and into Tokyo. He also placed a newspaper ad in code in a French newspaper (the last place he'd heard of Dom Perignon surfacing, several months ago) along the lines of "Lead singer called, wants to get the band back together, call me."

Dom Perignon got the message as he was climbing out the window of the married heiress he had recently bedded. He returned home to find his old college friend pissing against the wall of his Monaco home, and soon learned that his friend was so high and drunk and generally bewildered that he didn't realize where he was. The friend did, coincidentally, have some news for Dom; he had heard rumors that Dom's old friend had died in a firefight protecting the prime minister of Israel from an assassination attempt.

After the friend crashed on Dom's couch, Dom's personal assistant Ms. Chesterfield came down to check in. She had some bank papers to sign in the morning, but Dom went ahead and signed them right then and told her to arrange the earliest possible flight to Tokyo, dealing with problems from his "former life."

Booster's reaction, when he received it in his East L.A. home, was perhaps the most simple of the group. "It's About Time." He arranged to pilot a jet to Tokyo for a private concern.

Ms. Chesterfield found the personal ad in the French paper and Dom got in contact with Steel Wolf. The two reminisced a little, shared the information they had and arranged to meet in the Tokyo airport. They did this, and shared a drink while Ms. Chesterfield procured a rental BMW for them. Another message on the former agents' PDAs came in that said "Ching Lau's. Ginza District. 10:45 PM."

Booster, after trying to locate the Neon Tigers and then stealing a motorcycle in an attempt to rile them up and draw them to him, went to the restaurant several hours early. His inability to speak Japanese prompted some problems, but he did get a table, and plenty of free soup when his boorish manner and inability to speak the language lead to him yelling at an American at the bar that Booster thought had been staring at him.

The man at the bar was Father Binary, the hacker who had sent the messages to the team in the first place. He quickly left, wanting to contact the whole team on his own terms rather than in such a public place. Booster, meanwhile, learned that yelling in English got him free food, so when the other two agents arrived at about 9:30, he was surrounded by several bowls of sharkfin soup.

The agents reminisced, talking their way into a private room that was being cleaned. They discussed the possibility that it was a trap, as well as their feelings on the matter of Mr. Gray's demise, something none of them really believed.

At 10:45, Father Binary re-entered the restaurant and went to the private room the agents had procured. He asked them to come with him to the private room he had arranged (since he knew that it was bug-free and otherwise safe), and sat down with them to talk. Father Binary explained that he had been working freelance for the Japanese government, trying to prevent attacks from the hacker gang known as the Neon Tigers, and he'd come across some bits of code that indicated the agents' identities and that a hit had been ordered on them. He made contact so that he could warn them, but wanted to do it in person to avoid security risks of online or phone conversation.

At this point, the waiters entered the room to provide appetizers and a large covered metal dish that took two waiters to lift. All of the waiters exited except for one, who removed the metal covering. To his horror, the cover was attached to a cord that pulled the pin from a grenade, which sat in the mouth of Akune Uchida, the former head of the Neon Tigers and former ally of the agents. The grenade exploded, but the agents dove for cover and protected themselves with metal dishes, chairs and bits of the table so that the damage was minimal. They quickly sprung into defensive positions, and were not surprised when a half-dozen of the former geishas and waiters rushed into the room, dropping into martial arts stances and wearing katanas on their hips.

A quick battle ensued, with the agents gunning down most of the assassins without much trouble, although Steel Wolf took a particularly nasty katana wound that was bleeding, and Father Binary had the most good luck, providing the kill shots on five of the six assassins. Early in the fight, Dom contacted Ms. Chesterfield to tell her to bring the car around the back. Booster emerged from the room to find that there were five more waiters holding MP5s, and they opened fire as Booster rushed down the hall to the emergency exit he had spotted earlier. Booster fired on the gun-wielding assassins, but they had a good position at the door, waiting for the agents to emerge. Dom grabbed a metal caster from one of the destroyed chairs and, rushing out the door, mimed pulling a pin and threw it at the assassins, causing them to dive for cover. This distraction allowed the rest of the team to rush past Booster and down the exit hallway.

The agents leaped into the car, and Ms. Chesterfield began patching up Steel Wolf's wound as Booster took over driving. About a dozen headlights from pursuit motorcycles loomed in the rearview mirror, and they were getting closer...

Kickass

Just a quick note to say I really had a blast at the Spycraft session. Boost this!

Ben

Notes on Friday's session

I wasn't planning on printing out character sheets, since I linked to the PDF of the character sheets on the site. Is that cool, or is anyone lacking a functional printer?

Charles may stop by just to check out the new rulebook and say hi. I figure we might spend the first hour or so of the session finishing up details on characters, so it'll probably be a relatively short session.

Meet Mary Anne Chesterfield

I know what you're saying... "Who?" Dom Perignon's new personal assistant, that's who!



Name: Mary Anne Chesterfield
Origin: Reliable Suit
Class: Advocate
Career Level: 2
Vitality: 19
Age: 25 Height: 5'8" Weight: 109 lbs.

Statistics: STR 8, DEX 11, CON 12, INT 16, WIS 12, CHA 15, BAB +1, Fort +2 (+3), Ref +0 (+0), Will +3 (+4), Def +1 (11), Init +2 (+2)

Skills: Bluff +4, Bureaucracy +5, Cultures +5 (North America, South America, Western Europe, Northern Africa, Southern Asia), Drive +1 (Standard Ground Vehicles), Impress +4, Intimidate +1, Manipulate +2, Medicine +1, Networking +5 (Acquaintance), Notice +4, Profession +3 (Personal Assistant, Stock Trader, Gambler), Resolve +4, Sense Motive +4, Science +1 (Economy)

Class Abilities: Persistent, Absolute Certainty, Behind the Scenes I (city)
Origin Abilities: 1/session, may make a Bribe check at minimum value without paying bribe cost, +1 insight bonus with Bureaucracy and Profession checks

Wealth: Lifestyle 3, Possessions 2, Spending Cash 1

First Aid Kit I, Stun Gun (Melee), Commercial Bug Sweeper, Laptop Computer (PR 2)

Feats: Gorgeous, Photographic Memory
Proficiencies: Unarmed (Forte), Blunt, Handgun
Common Items: Cell phone, attache case, PDA, Altoids, 8 reserve picks