BRP Espionage

[jackleg2010]

While looking around DrivethruRPG, I came across a game called DoubleZero from Dancing Lights Press. As I really like espionage games and reading the preview, the system is based off the G.O.RE. system which is based on BRP. I am not a fan of pdf's but look forward to when it become POD. Maybe if the game gets some traction, maybe it can get some forum time here. Also, GORE is available on this website as a download.

 

Not going to post a link. I may violate a policy.

Edited June 6, 2020 by jackleg2010
added additional info

[NickMiddleton]

It’s a retro clone of the Victory Games James Bond RPG I believe: https://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=9813

[jackleg2010]

I in fact own Classified which is closer to the James Bond rpg, and also uses a percentile system. This game is using the GORE system.

[Travern]

DoubleZero went its own way in game development, and the final product doesn't resemble GORE very much.  From the publisher's blog:

Quote

The system is built on GORE™, which is an Open Game Licensed system bearing a strong resemblance to and a high degree of compatibility with the Basic Roleplaying system. DoubleZero is likely not going to share that compatibility, if for no other reason than I’ve completely changed the core mechanic and fiddled with a lot of other rules. Again, can you convert material between the two systems? Sure. Is it meant to be the BRP version of 007? Nope. I picked it because it’s a percentile system with an open license. That gave me a foundation to work with, and did a lot of the heavy lifting for me.

 

[Atgxtg]

On 6/7/2020 at 6:57 AM, jackleg2010 said:

I in fact own Classified which is closer to the James Bond rpg, and also uses a percentile system. This game is using the GORE system.

Yes, CLASSIFIED is essentially the old James Bond RPG with the Licensed Material (i.e. Bond) and copywrite protected text and terms removed, and replaced. There are a couple of changes, but it is about 98% compatible with the James Bond RPG.

DoubleZero was inspired by the James Bond RPG, but replaced most of the mechanics with a more streamlined system. What it does, compared to Bond/Classfied, is turn everything into an Attribute roll. Skills, Weakness and such all shift the multiplier.  For instance, if a character was shooting at someone they would probably make a  make a DEX roll to hit, with the mutiplier by set by the range and if the character has skill and/or a concentration with the weapon used. Also DoubleZero uses the multipler of the final roll to determine the results, similar to the Quality Rating/Success Quality of Bond/Classifed, although now with 5 levels instead of 4.

For example if a character had a DEX of 10 and was shooting at a x5 mutiplier he'd have a 50% chance of hitting. If he rolled a 27, that would be 3x his DEX (27 is greater than 2xhis DEX) for a  "Standard" result, equivlant to a Quality Rating of 3 in Bond.

 

As to which is better, that's down to personal preference. I prefer the original James Bond RPG over most other espionage RPGs (and I have quite a few), and have a soft spot for CLASSIFIED, as it about the only way the old James Bond RPG could ever return to the market. 

Covert Ops is also worth a mention as it uses a D100 Lite system that anyone familiar with BRP can pick up faster than a dropped die, along with some very useful random tables that can help to work up an adventure or NPC.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Atgxtg

[Alex Greene]

I've bought up DoubleZero and the three sourcebooks which derive from the corebook - retoolings of "Revelations in Cold Iron" and "Hardboiled Follies," and a new setting loosely based on Gerry Anderson's Captain Scarlet and UFO, with hints of The Invaders, among other settings.

They can all be retooled to a straightforward d100 system with a little work.

The question is whether or not there's a place for a d100 spy sourcebook using BRP or a game from the same family, such as Mythras.

Mythras, you say? Well ... whoops, looks like this message will self destruct in five se-

[Atgxtg]

3 hours ago, Alex Greene said:

The question is whether or not there's a place for a d100 spy sourcebook using BRP or a game from the same family, such as Mythras.

I think so. Going back to the old Bond RPG, it is, in many ways a D100 game. I've considered adding in another success level at 1/2 ability and making a few other adjustments to BRP to mimic the Bond system. It wouldn't take all that much. Mostly...

• Adding in another success level to give the 4 Quality ratings
• Use Hero Points to shift Quality Ratings
• Adjust weapon damage to be more dependent of success level/skill than weapon caliber. Probably along the lines of halving the base damage die but adding a another die per Success level. So something like a 9mm pistol that did 1d10 in CoC could do 1d6 per success level. Or perhaps even adding a flat add per SL 
• Pick up copies of BRP Modern Equipment, and CoC: Investigator Weapon Volume 2 to get some gear and weapon stats.
• Tweaking the chase and rules a little, preferably making it easier to covert real world data into game stats. 
• Port over some of the Bond RPGs character interaction rules (persuasion, seduction, interrogation) to BRP.

That right there would get you most of what you'd need to run a spy campaign using BRP. 

 

[Atgxtg]

Oh, let me add Action Movie Physics as another RPG based off of the old James Bond RPG. It's not quite as close to the Bond RPG as CLASSIFIED, but very close.  So close in fact that I suspect the author of one game was familiar with the other, as both game share the same air vehicle list, with the same stats. 

Edited September 29, 2020 by Atgxtg