Handling Larger Than Life Spy Gadget

[rjcurrie]

Hi Folks:

 

I am currently putting together a larger than life spy action game for convention play called The Team From H.E.R.O, and have been trying to decide how to handle gadgets.

 

One piece of equipment that I think the team should have are very sophisticated short range radios that are hard to detect. This allows players to share information without a whole lot of risk.

 

As for other gadgets, I can see four ways of handling it:

 

1) Assign each character specific gadgets on their character sheets.

 

2) Offer the characters a list of specific gadgets they can choose from.

 

3) Let each character loosely describe the one or two gadgets their character has chosen for the mention. For example, I want a pen that fires sleep darts.

 

4) Let each character choose 2 mundane items that have special abilities but they do not actually state what the ability is until they use it. This would simulate the fact that agents in these types of stories often have exactly what they need when they get into a tight jam.

 

What do people think might be the best approach?

 

Rod

[Blue]

Are they briefed on the mission before hand (a la ALIAS or JAMES BOND films)? I always enjoyed the briefing where James would blow up something by accident or where Marshall Flinkman explains a lot more about the gadet and how it came about than he entirely needs to.

 

I say you come up with the equipment you think will be useful on the mission, throw in a few fun gadgets that may have no specific application (so the players can get creative with their use) and then give them to the team. It's up to the team to divide them up based on what they will need to do.

 

This causes one of those slap-yourself-upside-the-head moments where you're in the tunnel and you realize YOU should be the one carrying the eye-glasses with the lazer cutting torch built in, but later when the guy who has them gets captured and uses them to cut through his restraints then it's all worth while.

[rjcurrie]

Thanks, Blue, for choosing the optin that means the most work for the GM .

 

For all approaches other than #1, they would get their gadgets after the briefing.

 

For further clarification, I should mention that the Team From H.E.R.O. missions will be of the type where they're assigned a general goal and it's up to them as how to approach it. Such as "infiltrate Middle East country and get proof of weapons of mass destruction" as opposed to the more specific "Middle East country has the plans for a new weapon on a particular computer in its capital city. Go to that computer and download those plans."

 

Also, because the approach to be taken by the players is pretty much up to them, it's hard to determine exactly what gadgets might be handy for them. Which is why #4 is the one that appeals to me most. #1 appeals to me the least.

[Markdoc]

>>>Which is why #4 is the one that appeals to me most. #1 appeals to me the least.<<<

 

Sometimes to formulate the question is to know the answer!

 

Though personally, I'd go the #1 route.

 

cheers, Mark

[Ghost who Walks]

A would do a variant of #2.

 

Have a couple of "mission packs" of gadgets they can choose from, depending on their background. They would pick which packet they want to take.

 

An assassin type might get a rifle, the garotte, and a box of tissue paper, to wipe up the blood). The scientist might get the sonic whistle, entangling scarf, and the jelly babies. While the computer hacker may get, the computer, the holographic generator, and the case of Diet Coke.

[Michael Hopcroft]

my 350th post!

 

Do you have your superspies pay character points for a Gadget pool and then assign their gadgets based on that pool befor each mission (in effect giving them a VPP, probably not more tha 15 AP. but you ahve control of what goes in it)?

 

I still vividly remember in Goldfinger how Bond had all those gadgets and every singe one of them proved unsuccessful in their intended task. The car crashed. The tracker was compacted before Felix could get a signal. It all functioned properly, but Bond ended up miscalculating how he ended up using them. In the end, it was both his wits and his, er, "nether reigons" that ended up saving his tail (and the world) from the villain.

 

I always dislike it when gadgets are too reliable as a way out of situations. In my spy camapigns, the PCs would have to think to get out of trouble. Myabe that;s why my favorite Bond was timothy Dalton -- not only did he actually make 007 a character you could actually care about rather than just attach your own wish fulfilment to, but his Bond used his head. The mind games he played on the evil drug lord in License to Kill were sheer brilliance.

[GreyGuardian]

it sounds like you are trying to do something a lot like Spycraft (which is regrettably d20 - but still a whole mess o fun with the right group).

 

Living Spycraft

 

It should be relatively easy to convert the way spycraft handles mission budgets to hero.

 

basically there are personal items, mission budget, gadget points (for the super spy stuff), and cash for those things that you might need to ummm acquire while on a mission...

[dugfromthearth]

the R&D department has some new devices we would like you to test and write up a report. Friend computer requests that you report to R&D immediately to volunteer for testing.

 

you are responsible for bringing back any devices that you volunteer to test. Volunteering is mandatory.