|
Seeing the store blog rekindled some memories about this game ...
A Tale of two Top Secret/SI games:
From the late 80's - One of the best espionage games I played was set in 1939 France with 4 players as Nazi agents and 4 players being French and Brittish operatives; we used the Top Secret/SI rules and had a blast !
And we (the Nazi agents) paved the way for the Wermachts invasion of France, as in real world history one of the German courier planes with invasion plans crash landed in Belgium forcing the German High Command (OKW) to alter thier plans - only in this game we brought our own plane down for The Fatherland!
Sometime in the early nineties - We blew the dust off these rules and pulled them out of storage to play the most "out of the box" scenario using the Top Secret/SI: it was a Blade Runner meets James Bond with a heavy heaping dash of Total Recall.
The PCs (me included) were in the Martian Colony of New Virginia on the red planet and we were trying to find 3 Replicants intent on assassinating the political leaders of the new colony. The govenor we were assigned to protect was Douglas Quaid who was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Total Recall movie - how's that for foreshadowing !!
+Pi
Weird. My quasi-DM (we played once a month and a half ago) just texted me and asked if I'd ever played this.
Just synergistic weirdiosity, or conclusive proof that Leafar the Loved is all-knowing and all-seeing? You be the judge.
Weird. My quasi-DM (we played once a month and a half ago) just texted me and asked if I'd ever played this.
Just synergistic weirdiosity, or conclusive proof that Leafar the Loved is all-knowing and all-seeing? You be the judge.
Is it proof that I am all-knowing and all-seeing? Is it?
|
Weird. My quasi-DM (we played once a month and a half ago) just texted me and asked if I'd ever played this.
Just synergistic weirdiosity, or conclusive proof that Leafar the Loved is all-knowing and all-seeing? You be the judge.
Very cool, Loved the game back in the day.
Doubtful, just weirdness creeping around.
I had grafted super powers unto Victory Games' James Bond back in the day. I was so desperate for a 'good' universal system.
I had grafted super powers unto Victory Games' James Bond back in the day. I was so desperate for a 'good' universal system.
Were you really desperate, CourtFool? Were you?
This post is on-topic. Gamer life?
+Ωφ,ε = Σp ∈ Ε|p↓ 2-len(p)
Did you ever play the old Danger International,or Justice, Inc. games?
No, I moved from James Bond to DC Heroes to G.U.R.P.S. to Hero.
They were fun for what they were. Back in the days of simple games like Chill.
I looked over the system again in preparation and I think it holds up o.k. I still prefer a more building block approach, but I prefer DC Heroes over Marvel Super Heroes.
I remember the James Bond game. I never got to play it, but I remember taking it out of the library and reading the books when I was about ten.
I've never gotten an oppotunity to play any rpg outside of the fantasy genre.
Boo hoo!
As do I. Not really sure why though, and truthfully I have not played any of them in so long it does not really matter.
For me, I know why. The same reason I hate pre-gens and class based systems, I want as much control over character creation as possible. I believe I was also following Teen Titans at the time. The only Marvel comic I read was Conan.
I've never gotten an oppotunity to play any rpg outside of the fantasy genre.
I can not subsist on a single genre. Heck, I get bored if someone has to put magic into other genres, which, I guess, is the defining characteristic of Fantasy.
I have played Fantasy, 17th Century pirates, 18th Century western, 1920's gangster, WWII, modern espionage, modern special ops, Supers and Sci-Fi.
** spoiler omitted **
I've never gotten an oppotunity to play any rpg outside of the fantasy genre.I can not subsist on a single genre. Heck, I get bored if someone has to put magic into other genres, which, I guess, is the defining characteristic of Fantasy.
I have played Fantasy, 17th Century pirates, 18th Century western, 1920's gangster, WWII, modern espionage, modern special ops, Supers and Sci-Fi.
I have gamed very little in proportion to my love for playing/reading RPGs.
We had a campaign going for a year and a half, but it feel apart this spring because my players decided they needed to get lives and girlfriends instead of getting to tenth level. I was like, But, but....
Boo hoo!
In regards to CourtFool's question above, I don't think this thread was headed anywhere.
Besides, I like threads that meander.
EDIT: Woops, hit the post button.
The most fun gaming I've ever had was with a system my friend had written based entirely on skill point buy and percentile dice. It was fun and I liked it a lot, BUT, this was at the heyday of d20 (which the DM and the rest of the group loathed, 2nd edition loyalists to a person) and sometimes I just missed leveling up and getting handed a whole bunch of new powers.
Myself, I like both.
We had a campaign going for a year and a half, but it feel apart this spring because my players decided they needed to get lives and girlfriends instead of getting to tenth level.
I would actually agree with your friends. Lives and companions are more important than 10th level. However, there is no reason you can not have lives and companions and reach 10th level.
Have you looked into gaming via chat programs or Play by Post (PBP)?
We had a campaign going for a year and a half, but it feel apart this spring because my players decided they needed to get lives and girlfriends instead of getting to tenth level.I would actually agree with your friends. Lives and companions are more important than 10th level. However, there is no reason you can not have lives and companions and reach 10th level.
Yeah, that's all fine and good, but I want to kill orcs!
I halfheartedly tried to get in on some PbPs, but the players are tiring of their pleasures of the flesh and I'm thinking of running Curse of the Riven Sky as a one-shot.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Top Secret/S.I. is my favorite game. I bought it when it first came out and it quickly became our game of choice. I worked alot of rules and turned them into reality rules, the entire experience lasted for at least 10 years of solid gaming. The rules I designed added considerable realism to the game. I've always considered doing a PBP with it. I'm looking forward to returning to that game.
I love the idea Of PGP but the actual game play has been less than exciting for me.
When I have done it, I have had mixed success. I think, just like in table top, it depends heavily on the group. Find a site where you can review the others before joining a group or allowing someone into your group.
I have Top Secret/SI, and while there are some things I like about it, I preferred the original rules. Especially the HTH Combat rules. :D
Last Top Secret game I ran used the basic rules with the bits I liked from SI added in.
I have Top Secret/SI, and while there are some things I like about it, I preferred the original rules. Especially the HTH Combat rules. :D
Last Top Secret game I ran used the basic rules with the bits I liked from SI added in.
I did a complete overhaul of the system, keeping the rules flavor yet adding considerable realty rules to make it the sytem I wanted to play.
I have Top Secret/SI, and while there are some things I like about it, I preferred the original rules. Especially the HTH Combat rules. :D
That was always my favourite part of the Top Secret rules.
"Martial Arts A vs. Martial Arts E...FIGHT!"
I played in a couple of Top Secret/SI games back in the day. Having looked over the rules a number of times over the years I'm continually struck by how... awkward and weird they are. Advancement is almost non-existant (the cost of skill increases is ridiculous) and everything is pretty much based on your attributes which have such a range as to make it... silly also.
I liked the feel of much of it, but in terms of realism it's pretty far out there. The absurd number of different weapons listed in the G4 guide is staggering, but I have no understanding how they came up with the actual stats for any of them as they make no sense whatsoever (a .30 rifle generally doing less damage than a .45 handgun, for instance?).
I have the screen for the original rules, which always intrigued me, like the multitude of options for firing shotguns and the interactions for HTH combat. I guess overall the system struck me as extremely specific and detailed while at the same time having no realism. It's an odd combination.
|
I have no understanding how they came up with the actual stats for any of them as they make no sense whatsoever (a .30 rifle generally doing less damage than a .45 handgun, for instance?).
I've never played TS/SI, but if the rules have a .30 cal (30-06 or the smaller .30 Cal for the M1 Carbine) doing less damage than a .45 ACP round, I would have to say that perhaps the writers figured that since the .30 Cal rifle round has much more penetration than .45 ACP (meaning that the .30 will tend to pass right through the target, the .45 will tend to lodge itself within the target), that a faster bullet passing through a target expends much less of its energy than a slower moving bullet that expends pretty much all of its energy within the target, thus doing more damage...
That's just my best guess anyway...
-That One Digitalelf Fellow-
We had a campaign going for a year and a half, but it feel apart this spring because my players decided they needed to get lives and girlfriends instead of getting to tenth level. I was like, But, but....Boo hoo!
Well, they came back! One has a new girlfriend, one has a fiancee and the other has a foster child.
Now that all that ridiculousness is over, maybe we can kill some orcs!
Top Secret/S.I. is my favorite game. I bought it when it first came out and it quickly became our game of choice. I worked alot of rules and turned them into reality rules, the entire experience lasted for at least 10 years of solid gaming. The rules I designed added considerable realism to the game. I've always considered doing a PBP with it. I'm looking forward to returning to that game.
Eileen, do you have those rules where you could easily share them if you were willing?
Top Secret/S.I. is my favorite game. I bought it when it first came out and it quickly became our game of choice. I worked alot of rules and turned them into reality rules, the entire experience lasted for at least 10 years of solid gaming. The rules I designed added considerable realism to the game. I've always considered doing a PBP with it. I'm looking forward to returning to that game.Eileen, do you have those rules where you could easily share them if you were willing?
Yes I think I could arrange a sneak peak. Any particular chapter(s) you'd be interested in?
I have Top Secret/SI, and while there are some things I like about it, I preferred the original rules. Especially the HTH Combat rules. :DThat was always my favourite part of the Top Secret rules.
"Martial Arts A vs. Martial Arts E...FIGHT!"
Yes!!!! At the time, I thought TopSecret was the be all and end all of gaming. SI was a bit of a disappointment to me.
@ CourtFool I played James Bond a few times, always died every mission. The brothers that ran it were trying to market a game based on the Executioner series of books, played that a few times as well. I usually died twice every mission in that game >.<
Over all, spy games don't do so well with my group. Seldom do they last more than one session. Closest we get is with ShadowRun or Cyberpunk. or horror genre like, Bureau Thirteen and such.
OffTopic Anyone ever play Chaosium's Ringworld? Made characters twice for it, both games never ended up flying. Saw SuperWorld played once...the college kids said I was too young to play it ( I was in HighSchool at the time)
Greg
OffTopic Anyone ever play Chaosium's Ringworld? Made characters twice for it, both games never ended up flying.
|
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
|
Greg,
One of the tricky things about espionage games is the lethality ratio of weapon damage versus defense. Mostly, getting shot in a spy game means you're either dead or seriously debilitated. If the referee wants scenes where dozens of mooks are shooting at the secret agent, there has to be some game mechanism to keep the hero from getting hit.
(I think the Western genre RPGs are even worse. At least modern-day spies have trauma centers they can go to.)
When I'm playing, I try to avoid every single firearms combat. If my PC can get through a mission without discharging his sidearm, I count that as a rousing success.
(Regarding the original Top Secret, the hand-to-hand combat table was so involved that I know of two entire croups, and a handful of other players, who would immediately surrender, rather thna have to go through that matrix.)
My recommendation for rules-light (but ingenious) 20th-Century gaming is the "Crimefighters" game, from Dragon magazine #48. One of the earliest published games by Zeb Cook, it's 16-pages of very clever rules for playing pulp adventures.