Espionage!, subtitled "The Secret Agent Role Playing Game", is a spy role-playing game published by Hero Games in 1983.
Espionage!, subtitled "The Secret Agent Role Playing Game", is a spy role-playing game published by Hero Games in 1983.
Espionage! is a role-playing game set in the present day where players take on the roles of modern secret agents using the Hero System of rules first developed by Hero Games for their superhero role-playing game Champions . [1]
The game uses the CIA as the sample espionage organization. In order to generate a character, the player must first decide on a general specialty such as covert action or technical services. [2] The player then purchases skills from a list of several dozen, using a pool of skill points. [3]
The boxed set includes a 64-page rule book, a 16-page sample adventure, and dice. [1]
The rulebook covers character creation, skills, combat (melee and firearms), vehicles and car chases, and the CIA. [1]
The tone of the game is very serious, and the rules, especially for combat, are somewhat complex. [2]
The introductory scenario included with the game, "Merchants of Terror", is an adventure in which the heroes must track down a stolen atom bomb. [1]
After Hero Games published their superhero role-playing game Champions in 1981, the same rules system was used to develop a second role-playing game, Espionage!, [3] which was designed by George MacDonald and Steve Peterson, and was published in 1983 with artwork by Michael Gray, Mark Williams, and Stan Zarubin. [4]
Two years later, wanting to give Espionage! a lighter "movie spy" tone and less complex rules, Hero Games revised it and released the new game as Danger International . [1]
In Issue 31 of Different Worlds , Russell Grant Collins liked the rules taken from Champions, noting that this would make it easier for players to switch games without having to learn a new rules system, and noted "Since the systems are basically the same, Espionage! can be used as a supplement to Champions." But Collins questioned the use of the CIA, noting, "The main problem with this is that, being an actual group, some players might be more knowledgeable about them than the gamemaster. I would have preferred the creation of a fictional counterpart." Collins liked the sample adventure included in the game, calling it "very well done." He concluded with a strong recommendation, saying, "I recommend this game to anyone interested in a spy role-playing game. It is complete and great fun." [3]
W.G. Armintrout compared Top Secret , Espionage!, and Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes in Space Gamer No. 67. [5] Armintrout commented that "Espionage! is the most complicated of the games, but once you master the rules I think it's the most satisfying of the three. It seems realistic. The parts that bog the game down are the turn phase rules (where all characters try to move at the same time) and the body/stun damage points rules (which work nicely but take time to allocate). The game also suffers from shoddy editing, with some rules left unclear and a lack of necessary examples. Nevertheless, I managed to figure it out and I'm going to keep playing it, if for no other reason than to try out the excellent CIA adventures I hope Hero Games will continue to produce." [5]
Nick Davison reviewed Espionage for Imagine magazine, and stated that "This is a very good games system which is not as expensive as it seems given the full module included." [6]
Marcus L. Rowland reviewed Espionage! for White Dwarf #54, giving it an overall rating of 8 out of 10, and stated that "I liked Espionage - it's easy to learn, fast, sensible, and has no obvious errors." [7]
In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games , game critic Rick Swan found the rules poorly organized, making the task of generating a character more difficult than it should be. Swan also found the game mechanics difficult "though they produce realistic and exciting results for those willing to unravel them ... The complicated mechanics are likely to discourage casual players, and even veterans will be scratching their heads over some of the more ambiguous rules." Swan thought the tone of the game was "a little too serious for its own good. There are no tricky gadgets, fantastic weapons, colorful villains, or any of the other exotic elements that make James Bond so appealing." Swan concluded by giving the game a below-average rating of 2 out of 4, and recommended Espionage!'s descendant, Danger International, as a better game. [2]
The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting. It was created by Steve Jackson Games and first published in 1986 at a time when most such systems were story- or genre-specific.
Superworld is a superhero-themed role-playing game published by Chaosium in 1983 that uses the generic Basic Role-Playing rules system. The game began as just one part of the Worlds of Wonder product before being published as a stand-alone game. In competition against other well-established and popular superhero games, Superworld never found an audience, and was discontinued after only three supplements were published for it.
Champions is a role-playing game published by Hero Games designed to simulate a superhero comic book world. It was originally created by George MacDonald and Steve Peterson in collaboration with Rob Bell, Bruce Harlick and Ray Greer. The latest edition of the game uses the sixth edition of the Hero System, as revised by Steve Long, and was written by Aaron Allston. It was released in early 2010.
Castle Falkenstein is a steampunk-themed fantasy role-playing game (RPG) designed by Mike Pondsmith and originally published by R. Talsorian Games in 1994. The game is named for a legendary unbuilt castle in the Bavarian Alps. Players play the roles of gallant adventurers who take on quests of intrigue and derring-do in the spirit of Victorian adventures such as The Prisoner of Zenda.
Top Secret is an espionage-themed tabletop role-playing game written by Merle M. Rasmussen and first published in 1980 by TSR, Inc.
Fantasy Hero is a role-playing game book originally published by Hero Games in 1985 that allows gamemasters to plan and present fantasy role-playing games using the Hero System rules. Several revised editions of the book have subsequently been published.
Justice, Inc. is a role-playing game designed to simulate the adventure stories in the pulp magazines of the 1930s.
Beyond the Supernatural is a horror role-playing game published by Palladium Books. It has seen two editions released, both of which have introduced innovations to Palladium's standard mechanics. A versatile horror-themed game, it lends itself well to wildly different play styles and narrative tones, from schlock splatter-horror to intense psychological horror, with an entire spectrum of terror in between. Beyond the Supernatural is implicitly set in the modern day, wherein magic and psychic powers are real and monsters and demonic cults exist, but out of the public eye. This, however, is not set in stone, and most of the character classes are flexible enough to account for variant settings or time periods.
Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes (MSPE) is a tabletop role-playing game designed and written by Michael A. Stackpole and first published in April 1983 by Blade, a division of Flying Buffalo, Inc. A second edition was later published by Sleuth Publications in 1986, but Flying Buffalo continues to distribute the game. In 2019 a new revised Combined Edition of MSPE was published by Flying Buffalo which brought the different material from the previous editions and included additional new rules and expansions to the original rpg. MSPE's mechanics are based on those of Tunnels and Trolls, with the addition of a skill system for characters. A few adventure modules were also released for MSPE.
James Bond 007: Role-Playing In Her Majesty's Secret Service is a spy fiction tabletop role-playing game based on the James Bond books and films. It is designed by Gerard Christopher Klug and was published by Victory Games, a subsidiary of Avalon Hill. The game and its supplements were published from 1983 until 1987, when the license lapsed. At its time of publication, it was the most popular espionage role-playing game.
Bushido is a Samurai role-playing game set in Feudal Japan, originally designed by Robert N. Charrette and Paul R. Hume and published originally by Tyr Games, then Phoenix Games, and subsequently by Fantasy Games Unlimited. The setting for the game is a land called Nippon, and characters adventure in this heroic, mythic, and fantastic analogue of Japan's past.
Daredevils is a tabletop role-playing game published by Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) in 1982 that is meant to emulate pulp magazine fiction of the 1930s.
Wild West is a role-playing game published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1981.
Danger International is a modern-day role-playing game published by Hero Games in 1985.
Pirates and Plunder is a role-playing game published by Yaquinto Publications in 1982.
Fantasy Wargaming is a role-playing game published by Patrick Stephens Limited (U.K.) in 1981.
Aliens Adventure Game is a combat-oriented role-playing game published by Leading Edge Games in 1991.
Sewers of Oblivion is a 1980 role-playing game adventure for Tunnels & Trolls published by Flying Buffalo.
Mistywood is a 1981 role-playing game adventure for Tunnels & Trolls published by Flying Buffalo.
Catacombs of the Bear Cult is a 1981 role-playing game adventure for Tunnels & Trolls published by Flying Buffalo.