Last week I ran our first game session of Spycraft v2.0, or second if you count our character creation night the week before. It is the first game my group has played in a while that isn't D&D 4e or Star Wars Saga Edition. I can honestly say Spycraft v2.0 plays a lot differently than any other d20 system I've ever played.
Skills Matter - In my opinion, many other roleplaying games, especially d20-based ones, skills don't matter that much. Sure, they serve a small purpose but they aren't going to impact your character that much.
In Spycraft, you're skills are extremely important. Really, the skills in this game define your character. They define not only what your character is good at, but also what your character can do. There aren't any 'must have' skills, but there is a wide variety that is extremely good to take. This makes the player creating the character feel like they have a lot of options in which to choose good skills.
The skills do matter more in the game because the game makes it that way. The game makes skills more of a focus. It will take players and gamemasters time to figure out how to use these skills properly. But we discovered several sessions into the campaign that the skills start to come together better and better.
Unique Gear System - The Spycraft gear system is one of the most unique gear systems that you will ever play with. Some pieces allow you to temporarily gain a skill for a mission that you need. Others can augment statistics on a character.
In almost every game I've played, you make sure to get your primary weapon and some armor. Then you might round out your character with some 'adventurer's gear' or random trinkets that are used in the world. It pretty much is the same throughout every game except Spycraft.
One example that happened during our first session of play was that the player characters needed to get into a sold out championship hockey game to search for their target. They started designing several different ways to get in when one of them realized he could use one of his gear picks to get the group tickets for the game.
Another piece of gear was a cane that one of the players had that could inject one dose of a tranquilizing toxin. This was something he specifically designed to use against their mark because they knew they would need to capture the mark, but most likely it would be in front of thousands of people. This piece of gear wasn't listed in the gear section. It was something he made according to the gear system rules that fit the mission perfectly.
You Can Have Fun Without Combat - Spycraft is completely capable of being a game that is fun without combat. It definitely has the rules and crunch to do a lot of combat, but it also has rules for other types of games. If you're creative, you can run session after session, never get into combat, and still have a ton of fun.
During one part of the first session, two of the player characters encountered two armed NPCs. They were able to use their skills to convince some people working in the law enforcement arena that the other NPCs were there to cause problems. The security and law enforcement personnel took care of the two armed NPCs, and the player characters continued on their way.
Overall, I am fairly impressed with our first taste of Spycraft v2.0. I was a little concerned that there would be too many rules for me to deal with, but the game is very well thought out and put together. The more I read the book, the more I realize they really designed the system to fit a modern spy setting. I believe it does this exceptionally well, and I'm looking forward into delving deeper into the game.
Skills Matter - In my opinion, many other roleplaying games, especially d20-based ones, skills don't matter that much. Sure, they serve a small purpose but they aren't going to impact your character that much.
In Spycraft, you're skills are extremely important. Really, the skills in this game define your character. They define not only what your character is good at, but also what your character can do. There aren't any 'must have' skills, but there is a wide variety that is extremely good to take. This makes the player creating the character feel like they have a lot of options in which to choose good skills.
The skills do matter more in the game because the game makes it that way. The game makes skills more of a focus. It will take players and gamemasters time to figure out how to use these skills properly. But we discovered several sessions into the campaign that the skills start to come together better and better.
Unique Gear System - The Spycraft gear system is one of the most unique gear systems that you will ever play with. Some pieces allow you to temporarily gain a skill for a mission that you need. Others can augment statistics on a character.
In almost every game I've played, you make sure to get your primary weapon and some armor. Then you might round out your character with some 'adventurer's gear' or random trinkets that are used in the world. It pretty much is the same throughout every game except Spycraft.
One example that happened during our first session of play was that the player characters needed to get into a sold out championship hockey game to search for their target. They started designing several different ways to get in when one of them realized he could use one of his gear picks to get the group tickets for the game.
Another piece of gear was a cane that one of the players had that could inject one dose of a tranquilizing toxin. This was something he specifically designed to use against their mark because they knew they would need to capture the mark, but most likely it would be in front of thousands of people. This piece of gear wasn't listed in the gear section. It was something he made according to the gear system rules that fit the mission perfectly.
You Can Have Fun Without Combat - Spycraft is completely capable of being a game that is fun without combat. It definitely has the rules and crunch to do a lot of combat, but it also has rules for other types of games. If you're creative, you can run session after session, never get into combat, and still have a ton of fun.
During one part of the first session, two of the player characters encountered two armed NPCs. They were able to use their skills to convince some people working in the law enforcement arena that the other NPCs were there to cause problems. The security and law enforcement personnel took care of the two armed NPCs, and the player characters continued on their way.
Overall, I am fairly impressed with our first taste of Spycraft v2.0. I was a little concerned that there would be too many rules for me to deal with, but the game is very well thought out and put together. The more I read the book, the more I realize they really designed the system to fit a modern spy setting. I believe it does this exceptionally well, and I'm looking forward into delving deeper into the game.
About the Author:
Perry Johnson is a writer that talks about Role-Playing and The Top RPG Games Ever.
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