Black Ops: Cold War

[bpmasher]

So I started playing this video game the other day and was totally drawn in by the "vintage" take on the classic Call of Duty formula.

 

I like the stylistical choices in the game, especially the first mission where dudes are plain-clothes, armed with assault weapons and going after enemies of the State. The bug bit me hard. So I gained back my tabletop motivation (after burning out on multiple projects) and started thinking of ways to do this latest Black Ops game on the tabletop.

 

I'll start working on a campaign guidelines document, but I was hoping to steal you guys' ideas and then make the document with input from other people.

 

What does a modern Cold War game need in it? (era could be present-day, 80s, 60s to 70s etc.)

[bpmasher]

Dark Champions package deals work very well with this type of game, maybe excluding a few of the options. 

 

Field agent, secret service and military package deals will probably form the backbone of these characters mostly. These can be different nationalities, double agents, soldiers and special operatives with lots of complementary skills and types of approaches to situations. I should read some more fiction to come up with NPC / PC ideas.

 

The weapons used in the CoD game should mostly be in the Dark Champions book (stat-wise at least), with some exceptions like the AK-74U that probably has a higher concealability, and the XM4 which is based on the M4/XM177 most likely. Most of the weapons have a real-life example of it. I'll go over the weapons list, and find real-world versions of them or stat them/name them up as they are in the video game. Pulling additional weapons from movies/video games for a game based in the 90s and later most likely. 

 

The combat will most likely be cinematic, not using hit locations/disabling etc. to keep in line with the video games. Maybe allowing for a -8 shot to the head when sniping or using "bullet time"/focus <- Heroic action points (use an action point to get a headshot without penalty to hit, otherwise take a shot with modifier). Miniatures along with a hex map is probably what I'll be using for face-to-face games.

 

The mood will be one of technothriller stuff (80s/90s technology), Tom Clancy-esque, fast-moving globetrotting adventure, with tons of locations and quick gunfights on different "battle boards" (found a lovely hex grid booklet for sale).

 

[HeroGM]

Please be aware that Dark Champions came out in 2002 or so, so SOME of it may be dated. Its easy to fix, a lot of things haven't changed that much.

 

 

[Scott Ruggels]

On 7/29/2021 at 4:51 AM, bpmasher said:

Dark Champions package deals work very well with this type of game, maybe excluding a few of the options. 

 

Field agent, secret service and military package deals will probably form the backbone of these characters mostly. These can be different nationalities, double agents, soldiers and special operatives with lots of complementary skills and types of approaches to situations. I should read some more fiction to come up with NPC / PC ideas.

 

The weapons used in the CoD game should mostly be in the Dark Champions book (stat-wise at least), with some exceptions like the AK-74U that probably has a higher concealability, and the XM4 which is based on the M4/XM177 most likely. Most of the weapons have a real-life 

The mood will be one of technothriller stuff (80s/90s technology), Tom Clancy-esque, fast-moving globetrotting adventure, with tons of locations and quick gunfights on different "battle boards" (found a lovely hex grid booklet for sale).

 

This sounds/feels a lot like how we did our Danger International campaigns ran in the late 80’s. The only difference back then was hit locations, and I think no skill level caps.  But I’d definitely play in this game.