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John Wick
WILDERNESS S R O R R I M
of of
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Wilderness of
Mirrors002 Edition
A Little Game about Spies,
Crooks, Missions and Heists
I would not have been able to write this game withoutmy riend, Jared.
Tank you, puddin’ head.
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ContentsIntroduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Big Three Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Part 1: What is My Game About? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Making Your Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Expertise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Mission: Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Mission. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Risk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Narrative Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Part 3: What Behaviors Does My Game Reward? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Part 4: Why is that Fun? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Mission Prep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Step One: Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Step Two: Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Step Three: Allocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Olympus 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Secret History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Life as a Hades Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Intelligence Agencies from Around the World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
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INTRODUCTIONTey dared me to do it. Tey didn’t know it at the time, or at the very least, they
weren’t thinking about it when they did it, but this is my story and I’m sticking toit.
My riends Baron and Vach wanted to play a spy game, but all the systems theyound just didn’t do what they wanted. Tey tried everything rom Spycraf toop Secret, but nothing really worked. Every time I talked to them, they werecomplaining about something or another. In act, they had about twenty pages ohouse rules or Spycraf to make it into the game they wanted. Tat’s when I saidthose ateul words.
“You know,” I told them, “instead o messing around with someone else’s system, you could just make your own.”
Tey shook their heads and assured me it was ar easy to modiy an existingsystem than to come up with something rom scratch.
“Nonsense,” I told them. “We could come up with a spy game that doesexactly what you want in about ten minutes.”
Tey looked at me with the kind o disbelie I reserve or Creationists.“No,” I told them. “It’s easy. Look, let’s take it apart, piece by piece.”
It actually took me about feen minutes, but by the time I was done, Ihad something I was very happy with. Tey both told me it was brilliant...then they continued tweaking Spycraf.
I believe the reason or this is because the game I wrote or them wasn’ta real book. It was just an idea I’d written down on paper. Well, perhaps
now that this is a real game, in a real book, they’ll look at it twice. Tis ismy hope. Maybe i I dare ‘em, they’ll look. Yeah. Tat’s it.
Either way, this game is dedicated to my riends Baron and Vach ,monster mondo mutant spy ans who want “the perect spy game.” I don’tknow i mine is perect (I’m still a huge an o the original James Bond:007 RPG rom the ‘80’s), but it’s the best I could do. Tat’s got to be goodenough, right?
Right???
The Big ThreeQuestions
My buddy Jared Sorensen likes to run game design seminars. He likes inviting people in with the allure o speaking to a designer they respect and admire andthen destroying their dreams and wrecking their games with some well-placed
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and dangerous questions. It’s like watching a smart missile re through a chimney anddestroy an entire building.
Jared opens his seminar by asking the same questions.
1. What is your game about?
2. How does it go about doing that?
3. What behaviors does it reward? While I don’t base my entire game design philosophy on Jared’s questions (sometimes
they get in the way), they do provide me with a nice compass when I get lost in thedetails o a game.
I also ask mysel a ourth question:
4. Why is that fun?
So, in the spirit o throwing a game out into the public, here are my answers to thosequestions. Jared would probably nd them unsatisactory, but then again, he loves
ABBA, so what do I care?
P ART 1: W HAT IS M Y
G AME A BOUT?My game is about spies.
More specically, it’s about creating the kind o atmosphere present in a James
Bond or Jason Bourne novel. (Coincidentally, it also creates the same kind oatmosphere in heist novels; my avorite being the Parker novels by Richard Stark,aka, Donald Westlake.) Players want to be James and Jason and we should letthem do just that. Not rst level chumps who have to work their way up the ladder
to become Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but the kind o characters who can walk beside TeSaint and Mrs. Peel without eeling like scrubs.
But spy novels aren’t just about spies: they’re also about paranoia. Bond neverknows exactly who he can trust. Bourne novels are breeding ponds or suspicion.Another popular spy—Sidney in Alias—is surrounded by deceit. Fans o 24 know
that Jack Bauer can’t trust anyone... not even himsel.
So, we’ve got expertise and trust. wo important elements to re-creating thekind o spy drama my buddies Baron and Vach love. But there’s another elemento spy lms and novels that I dig the most, and that’s planning. WatchingMission: Impossible teaches us that spies spend an inordinate amount o time planning a mission, but the real drama begins when one little thing goes wrong.Tat, o course, leads to some other tiny thing going wrong, which leads toanother, and another, and another, until nally, you’ve got one huge rolling
Agents andOperations
A Quick aside. Player
characters are “agents”
or “spies.” The Narrator
is “Operations.”
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snowball o wrong rolling straight toward thespies. How our protagonists deal with that is why we read and watch.
In summary, we have three things that makespy literature so captivating: expertise, trust,and planning. I want players to eel that these
three elements are the most important elementsin the game. In order to do that, I have to makemechanics based on those elements. Let’s getstarted.
Now that I know what my game is about, it’stime to think o some mechanics that reectthose goals. Let’s take them one step at a time.
Part 2: How Does My Game Do Tat?
Answer: By making everyone James Bond.
Now that I know what my game is about, it’stime to think o some mechanics that reectthose goals. Let’s take them one step at a time.
Making Your
Agent When talking to my buddies, they all said the
same thing: “I wanna be Jason Bourne. I wannabe James Bond.” Well, in a normal roleplaying
game, James Bond would have to roll his statsor spend points on them in an effort to makehim “balanced” with the other characters. In aantasy roleplaying game where the heroes beginas armboys and armgirls and ght their way tobecome heroes, this could be argued as sensible(although don’t ask me to do it), but in a spygame, such a goal is counter-intuitive to the endgoal o making characters that emulate spies romour avorite movies and books.
Guys like James Bond and Jason Bourne havetop scores in every stat. I we were playing agame... oh, let’s say that used a d20 or all its taskresolution, there’s no way Jason Bourne has gotanything less than an 18 in every stat. In act, he’s probably got twenties. I mean, pick a stat and try
to justiy a “game balance” that gives Bond lessthan an 18 in that stat. Go on. I dare you.
My buddy Jess Heinig once said somethingthat really inspired me. “I want to design agame that rewards players or their choices, not punish them.” He did it (with his amazing Dying
Kingdoms LARP) and inspired me to try it here.So, instead o having a system that punishes
players or their choices, I decided to have asystem that rewards them. Also, i you want tobe Jason Bourne, you can be. Bourne can doanything, but he’s not the best at everything.I you’re Bourne, you may have to work alittle harder in areas that aren’t in your area oexpertise.
ExpertiseSo, instead o stats, we’ve got Expertise. Each
and every spy has each Expertise, but each spyis the best at one o them. In this game, thereare ve kinds o Expertise. Tey aren’t based on physical or mental abilities, but on the methoda spy uses to get the job done. And rather thanusing boring old adjectives, lets use words thatsound more like code names.
The FixerTis is the guy who uses technology to get what
he needs.
The Grifter
Tis is the guy who lies to get what he needs.
The Gunman
Tis is the guy who kills people with guns toget what he needs.
The Heavy
Tis is the guy who uses his muscles to get whathe needs.
The Shade
Tis is the guy who stays in the dark and steals what he needs.
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Thirty-Five PointsSo, let’s make your agent. First, your agent has
a 1 in each Expertise. Next, you get thirty-ve points to put toward making your Agent better.Here’s the trick: getting the rst rank is ree,but the second is really expensive. Getting more
ranks is cheaper. Tis means it’s easy to specializein one Expertise, but it’s really hard to be good ateverything. Te costs break down like this:
Expertise Cost
1 Free
2 4
3 3 (7)
4 2 (9)
5 1 (10)
Any lefover points you have are lost.
For Example...
I want my spy to be an expert in gunplayand charm. Tereore, I use my points likethis…
• Fixer: 2 (four points)
• Grifter: 4 (nine points)
• Gunman: 5 (ten points)
• Heavy: 2 (four points)
• Shade: 3 (seven points)
Tat’s a total o 34 points. One short o mylimit. I don’t get to do anything with thatextra point; it ades away.
Using Expertise When on a Mission, i you want
your agent to do something risky, roll anumber o dice equal to your character’smost appropriate Expertise.
rying to do something sneaky? Use your Shade Expertise. I that’s 3, you
get to roll three dice.
rying to shoot someone? Use your Gunman Expertise. I that’s 4, you get to roll our dice.
I’ll tell you how to interpret the outcome othe roll in a moment. But beore we get that ar,let’s talk about Te Mission.
Mission:
PlanningMy avorite part o any spy novel or heist
movie is the planning. Watch Mission:Impossible or read one o Richard Stark’s Parkernovels. Tey are obsessed with planning. At leasthal the show or book is planning. O course,the rest o the book or show is what the agents/crooks do when the plan goes wrong.
So, how do you make planning an importantand vital part o the game? Easy! You make a
mechanic out o it!
Step 1: The
PremiseEvery game session begins with Operations
(that’s the GM) giving the players a goal. Tiscould be to extract an important hostage, ndand eliminate a mole, or even seize the assetso a terrorist org overseas. Operations presentsthe scenario... and then the players make up the
details.In most spy ction, the agents do all the
ootwork beore they go into the mission. Tatmeans research: nding out everything theyneed to know beore they take a single step. Tisis an important part o spy ction, so let’s makeit an important part o our spy game.
Operations comes up with the premise andonly the premise. He tells the players, “Get theUN Ambassador out o Saudi Arabia,” or “Rob
a race horse track.” Once that’s on the table, our players spend some time considering how they’regoing to do that.
For Example…
As Operations, I think o a goal or my players.I don’t have to think too hard about it because
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they are going to be the ones adding all thedetails. All I need is something simple. Tey’ll provide the complications. And i they don’t provide enough complications, I’ll throw someo my own in later as well.
So, or this sample Mission, I’ll tell them, “Te
President’s daughter has been kidnapped byterrorists.”
Tat’s all I need. Now, let’s see what happensnext…
Step 2: The PlanTe players then spend time planning on how
they’re going to complete their assigned goal.Tey start planning… right down to the lastdetail.
Te players tell Operations about the terroristorganization that’s holding the hostage, wherethe terrorist are keeping the hostage, the menheading up that organization, all the details, allthe problems, all the entry points, all the exit points... the players tell Operations everything.
In order to add a detail to the Mission, a player must provide a source or that detail.He could say, “Witnesses on the scene say…”or “Keyhole photographs rom satellite…” or
“Afer interrogators questioned his wie…” oranything else that may provide the agents withthe inormation they need.
For Example…
Afer giving my players the goal (rescue thePresident’s daughter rom terrorists), I let themcome up with the Mission details.
For each detail, I insist they tell me where andhow they got that inormation.
Te more complicated a detail is, the moreMission Points it is worth. In other words, themore diffi cult the players make the mission, themore they’re rewarded or it.
Like rolling your Expertise, I’ll explain howthese work in just a moment. In act, I’ll do it inthe very next section.
Step 3: Team
Leader
Finally, the eam selects a eam Leader. Tisis the Agent who has the most capable skill setor the mission. Te Leader gains a very specialbenet.
Te eam Leader can perorm an assist action.I a ellow Agent has ailed to gain any successeson a roll, and the eam Leader is with him,the eam Leader can spend a MissionPoint and roll his own Expertise. TeLeader’s roll replaces the Agent’s roll. Te
Leader cannot perorm this action i he isnot within sight and speaking distance romthe Agent he wants to assist.
The MissionDuring the Mission, when you have to
roll dice, you can trade Mission Pointsto add to your dice pool. Every MissionPoint gives you oneadditional die to
roll. You can spendas many MissionPoints you wanton a roll, but everyMission Point youtake rom the poolis a Mission Point you cannot use later. Whenever you takea Mission Point
rom the pool, youcan’t use it again.
So, be careul with your Mission Points.Once you use them,they’re gone.
How ManyMission Poin
do I Get?
How many MPs do Iget or each detail? I’massuming 1:1.
Te usual ratio is 1:1but i Operations eels detail is particularly juiadding a dramatic twist
to the plot, he can awarmore. Awarding 2 MissPoints per detail shouldbe rare and awarding 3should only occur onceMission at most.
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Using ExpertiseNow, here’s where Expertise comes into play.
When you spend a Mission Point on anaction, you add it to your Area o Expertise orthe number o dice you roll. For example, i you want to shoot someone, you use your GunmanExpertise. Let’s say your Gunman Expertise is 3.I you spend one MP, you roll our dice. I youspend two MPs, you roll vedice. Te more dice you roll, themore narrative control you haveover action.
Tis encourages players toutilize their Agents’ strengthsrather than their weaknesses,but still does not cripple them.I you are the shooter and you need to talk, you can stillroll a ton o dice, but it costs you more to do it. Tis way,everybody has a 20 in all theirstats, but it’s just a little tougheror some guys to do things theyaren’t used to.
I you need to take a risk but
have no Mission Points, roll anumber o dice equal to yourExpertise.
Experts
and Special
EffectsOn your team, whoever has
the highest level o Expertise isconsidered the Expert in thateld. In other words, i your spy has the highest
Gunman, he’s considered the Gunman o thesquad. I two or more agents have the sameexpertise, they are both considered Experts.
Once per game, an Expert can trigger anExpertise “special effect.” Each Expertise getsone and it can only be triggered once per game.
Tat means, even i you have multiple Hitmen,the Gunman’s special effect can only be triggeredonce per game. riggering these effects requiresthe use o one Mission Point.
Risk Most roleplaying games say something about
“whenever your character takes an action, rolldice to see i he succeeds oails.” Well, that ain’t what beinga spy is about. Spies don’t “takeactions,” they take risks. Withthat in mind, let’s look at thebasic resolution mechanic.
Whenever your agent takes
a risk—an action that putsthe agent or another characterin danger or signicantlyinuences the plot—roll dice.You roll a number o six-sided dice equal to the mostappropriate Expertise. Checkthe total o your roll with thistable to determine the outcome.
Special Effects
Once per game, the Fixer can spend a Mission Pointand have the exact right toolor weapon he needs.
Once per πgame, theGrifer can spend a MissionPoint and make anyonebelieve anything he wants.
Once per game, the Heavy can spend a Mission Pointand take out up to tenopponents with hand-to-hand violence.
Once per game, the
Gunman can spend aMission Point and make akill without rolling any dice.
Once per game, the Shade can spend a Mission Pointand move through any area without being detected.
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Roll Outcome
1-5 Operations Narrates
6-10 Operations Narrates withone Agent Veto
11-15 Agent Narrates with one
Operations Veto16-20+ Agent Narrates
Narrative
ControlNarrative control has become a subject o
obsession or me lately. No reason not to use ithere. Narrative control may sound like a new-angled high-alutin’ artsy artsy wanna-be actor
idea, but it’s actually one o the oldest ideasin roleplaying. In most roleplaying games, theGame Master has complete narrative control.Te character takes a risk, the player rollsdice, and the GM says what happens. In thiscircumstance, the roll determines who gets tonarrate the outcome.
I the player gets to narrate the risk, he doesn’thave to make his agent succeed. He can orcehis agent to ail instead, but he can control
the outcome. ake Indiana Jones or example.He jumps across the pit... and he ails. But hescrambles to nd a root vine, pulls himsel up,and rolls through the quickly closing stone wall. Te player got to narrate the scene andhe narrated a ailure, but he got to control theailure.
Meanwhile, i Operations gets to narrate theoutcome, he doesn’t necessarily have to orce theagent to ail. He can orce the agent to succeed,
but he gets to control the success.Han Solo trying to con the intercom on the
Death Star...
Ray Stanz and the Staypuf MarshmallowMan…
Jack Burton and… well, his whole lie.
Narrative control, shifing back and orthbetween Operations and the players, allows adifferent kind o roleplaying experience.
We do this with two mechanics: rust andime.
Yes, and…
Te resolution chart notes possible resultsincluding getting a “veto.” What kind o veto does Operations or a player get?
I would say, or the purposes ochallenging the players and making thegame un, that you should employ the oldimprovisational rule o “Yes, but...” or “Yes,
and...”. Te veto cannot change a act, butonly modiy it. So, i a player is trying tounlock the door and gets a “Success, butVeto” result, he says, “Te door is unlocked.”Operations then says, “Yes, but it set off asilent alarm somewhere in the building.”
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P ART 3: W HAT
BEHAVIORS DOES M Y
G AME REWARD?• Betraying Others, and
• Getting the Job Done Quick
We do this with two mechanics: rust and ime.
TrustAnother important element o spy literature is trust. In V shows like Alias, the
protagonists have no clue in whom they can place their trust. Tis, or me, is one o the pivotal elements o the spy genre and something no spy-themed game has ever addressed
in a real way. So, I did.In the La Femme Nikita V show (everybody should see the rst season), agents died
lef and right, but not because the missions were dangerous (and they were dangerous),but because Operations (the guy in charge) deliberately kills them. As an Agent inSection One, you never know when you may be put on “abeyance.” When an agent was put on abeyance, it meant he was disposable. You never knew.
So, let’s pretend Operations (that’s me) has put one o the Agents on abeyance. I don’ttell the Agent, but I do tell his team leader. And I tell the team leader not to tell theAgent. See, the abeyance Agent has been double-dipping: he’s inorming the Enemyabout missions. So, what we’re going to do is this: we’re giving him a bomb to set,but the bomb doesn’t have a ve minute timer, it has a twenty second timer. Teabeyance agent does not know this. When the bomb goes off, it’s the team leader’s job to make sure the rest o the team is out o the way. It’s up to him to plan amission that gets the Obeyance Operative killed.
Now our unlucky team leader knows the Agent in question is no traitor, but hedoes not trust Operations, either. So now he has to gure out a way to keep the Agent
alive and clear his name without getting himsel on the BadKid List.
Ah, conict. How I love thy ways...
When the team leader gives the abeyance agent thebomb, I give the eam Leader three dice. Tese are called“rust Dice.” (Te name is ironic.) I give a playerrust Dice whenever he does something that activelysabotages another player. Tis does two things. First,it rewards players or betraying each other. Second,
Betraying
OperationsQ: Can I betrayOperations and get rustDice?
A: Yes, you can. Youduplicitous bastard.
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it inorms the other players that the betrayer isup to something.
I seed mistrust and doubt. Excellent.
Remember: the eam Leader allocates all theMission Points to the other players. Te only
way to get more dice is to actively plot against your ellow agents.
By the way, or the purposes o rust Dice,Operations is considered an agent.
TimeFinally, when it’s time to pull the caper,
we come down to the issue o time.ime is always an important element
in spy literature, but it’s never really
addressed in games. Tis is mysolution.
(Actually, I have three solutions:two rom me and one rom JessHeinig. I’m providing both becauseI think both o them work well
in different ways. I liked all threemechanics, so I included all three. Pick
the one you like the most.)
Solution #1For every twenty minutes o real time that passes, subtract 5 rom all the players’ rolls. Telonger the Agents take on a mission, the morediffi cult the mission becomes.
Solution #2For every twenty minutes o real time, the
team gets a point o Setback . At any timeduring the game, Operations can spend a pointo Setback, moving his narrative control up byone notch. I he gets only one veto, he gets ull
control; i he gets no control, he gets one veto. Ihe has ull control, he can do permanent damageto your agent.
You see, agents never get permanent damage. Well, almost never. Bond does have a duelingscar afer all. And he did lose his wie to asniper... on their wedding day, no less. I’d countthat as “permanent damage.” In other words, iOperations spends a point o Setback when hehas ull narrative control, he can permanently
scar your agent.
Solution #3 When I told this mechanic to Jess Heinig, he
suggested a slightly different ime Mechanic:or every twenty minutes o time that passes,every player loses one Mission Point. (You canalso do it so that one player loses a MissionPoint. It’s up to you.) Tis also represents theact that as the mission goes on, complicationsmake even simple things diffi cult.
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P ART 4: W HY IS THAT
FUN?Finally, let’s ask my question. Why is this un?
Well, spies are un. Not knowing the outcome o a die roll and improvising aroundthe result is un. And, rankly, being James Bond is un. You get the car, the gadgets, thedanger, the exotic travel, and the Bond Girl. Or, i you preer, the Bond Guy. We don’tdiscriminate.
Here, at the end, you have everything you need to play a ast-paced spy game.Everything else is just details. Now, you need to actually read those James Bond and Jason Bourne novels. Go watch La Femme Nikita, Alias, Te Saint, Te Avengers, andMission: Impossible (the show, not the movie).
It has been brought to my attention that this little ditty would make or a ne caper
game. Te same rules apply. You’ve got a team o capable olks, a mission (in this case,a criminal one), planning, timing and complications. And betrayal. Let’s not orgetbetrayal.
It hadn’t escaped my notice. Being a an o Richard Stark’s Parker novels, I knewexactly what I was doing, but I try to ollow a simple rule: “Make a game that does onething and does it better than anything else.” So, a caper game will ollow, but not now. Alittle later.
Now go on out and get your spy on.
MISSION PREP
Step One: AssignmentOperations (GM) gives the agents a one sentence mission. “Find the kidnapped
hostages,” “Assassinate the rogue general,” “Bring back the stolen gold,” etc.
Step Two: PlanningTe agents (players) go through all the steps o doing the mission. Tey come up with
the obstacles and advantages they’ll need. Operations rewards them with Mission Points.Te more diffi cult the players make the mission or their agents, the more Operationsrewards their efforts.
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Step Three:
AllocationTe team leader (the agent with the highest
Saturn rating) allocates the Mission Dice tohimsel and the other players. Each player alsogets a number o bonus Mission Dice equal tothe Saturn AOE o the team leader. Te teamleader himsel does not get this bonus.
Step Four: Te Mission
Te agents carry out the mission. Wheneveran agent takes a risk, he rolls a number o diceequal to his appropriate Expertise plus one die per Mission Point he spends.
Once per game, the Expert o a particular
AOE may spend a Mission Point or a specicspecial effect.
OLYMPUS 7Olympus 7 is a covert organization or use
with Wilderness o Mirrors. It is not a riendly
place.Olympus gets it’s unding rom various
government intelligence organizations. TeCIA, MI6, NSB, G2 and others secretly supportOlympus 7 or the sole purpose o sharinginormation, manpower and resources. At least,that’s what Olympus 7 tells its sponsors. Butit has a special branch, a secret branch thatoperates without the knowledge o its sponsors.And that’s the branch your agents work or.
History Olympus 7 began afer the all o the Berlin
Wall. High-ranking members o variousintelligence organizations—in an unprecedenteddisplay o trust—agreed to meet to discuss the
uture. No notes were taken, no recordmade o the meeting. All that is knownis this: they arranged or an independentorganization that could accomplish what their own governments wouldnot allow.
Te head o Olympus 7, a manso secret nobody even knowshis name, organizes intelligenceand manpower between the various agencies. He arranged orassassinations, rescues and otherblack ops. Operations Presidentsand Senates and governmentsorbid, Olympus 7 carried out with ruthless effi ciency.
O7 handles its operations withcare and cunning. Agents rom allacross the globe are recruited orone mission and then sent backhome. Sometimes, agents don’t evenknow who they were working or. O7teams commonly consist o agentsrom different agencies. A recent rescuemission was built rom ABIN (Brazil),CIA (US), EGID (Egypt) and Mossad
(Israel). O7 selects agents based ontheir skills, knowledge and contacts. Itexpects the agents to work togetherand keep their mouths shut. Agents who break their silence are commonlyound dead… or never ound at all.
Secret History But there’s one part o Olympus 7 even its
ounders don’t know about. A secret division oagents that carry out missions that urther thegoals o Olympus 7 and not its patrons. It is adivision called “Hades.” And only one personcontrols it.
Here’s how it works. You’re an agent roman intelligence agency working or O7 on
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a standard mission. However, during the mission, O7 akes your death and reports your demise back to your parent organization. Ten, they bring you in to Hades. Teyreinvent you. New lie, new riends, new ace. And they warn you that disobedience willcause painul suffering and eventual death to any loved ones you might have.
Congratulations. You are a Hades Agent.
Life as a Hades AgentYou don’t know when you are being watched, so assume you are under constant
surveillance. You’ve heard rumors that they put a chemical in your bloodstream thatmakes you obedient. You’ve also heard they put a radiation tablet inside you that lets
them track wherever you go.
When you are assigned to a mission, you never know i you’re coming back. Allmissions are suicide missions. I you survive, that’s a bonus. Tey don’t expect you
to survive. But they also expect you to try to run. You’ve seen Hades agentsmake a break or it. Tey all ail. Tey get caught or they get killed.
And the missions make no sense. Sometimes you ght terrorist cells andsometimes you aid them against others. It seems as i Hades has an agendaso complex, it’s like trying to make seven different jigsaw puzzles t.
INTELLIGENCE A GENCIES
FROM A ROUND THE W ORLD
ArgentinaCoordinación de Inormaciones de Estado (CIDE)
Australia Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO)
Australian Army Intelligence Corps (AUSIN) Australian Federal Police Intelligence (AFP)
Deence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO)Deence Intelligence Organisation (DIO)
Deence Signals Directorate (DSD)
Offi ce o National Assessments (ONA)
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BangladeshDirectorate General o Forces Intelligence(DGFI)
National Security Intelligence (NSI)
Belgium
Staatsveiligheid / Sûreté de l’État (SV/SE)State Security Service
Brazil Agência Brasileira de Inteligência (ABIN) Brazilian Intelligence Agency
CanadaCanadian Security Intelligence Service /Service Canadien du renseignement desécurité (CSIS/SCRS)
Communications Security Establishment (CSE)
Canadian Forces Intelligence Branch
Chile Agencia Nacional de Inteligencia (ANI) National Intelligence Agency
People’s Republic of
China
Ministry o State Security (MSS)ColombiaDepartamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) Administrative Department of Security(of Colombia)
CubaDirección General de Inteligencia (DGI)General Directorate of Intelligence
Czech Republic
Bezpečnostní inormační služba (BIS)Security Information Service
Úřad pro zahraniční styky a inormace (ÚZSI)Offi ce for Foreign Relations and Information
Vojenské zpravodajství (VZ) Military Intelligence
Denmark Politiets Eferretningstjeneste (PE) Danish Security and Intelligence Service
Forsvarets Eferretningstjeneste (FE) Danish Defence Intelligence Service
Egypt Al-Mukhabarat al-’Ammah Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate
Mabahith Amn al-Dawla al-’UlyaState Security Inestigation Bureau
Al-Mukhabarat al-Harbeya (MilitaryIntelligence)
FinlandSuojelupoliisi (SUPO)Security Intelligence Service
FranceDirection Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure(DGSE) General Directorate of External Security
Direction Centrale du RenseignementIntérieur (DCRI)Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence
Germany Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) Federal Intelligence Service
Bundesamt ür Verassungsschutz (B V) Federal Offi ce for the Protection of theConstitution
Militärischer Abschirmdienst (MAD) Military Counterintelligence Service
GreeceEthniki Ypiresia Pliroorion (NIS) Hellenic National Intelligence Service
IndiaCentral Bureau o Investigation (CBI)
Deence Intelligence Agency (DIA)
Intelligence Bureau (IB)
National Investigation Agency (NIA)
Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)
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IndonesiaBadan Intelijen Negara (BIN)
IranMinistry o Intelligence and National Security(VEVAK)
NAJAIntelligence and security organization oIslamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (SASA)
SAVAK Deunct secret police,replacement by VEVAK
IrelandG2 Army Intelligence (G2)
Garda National Surveillance Unit (NSU)
Irish Secret Service (ISS)
Israelha-Mossad le-Modiin u-le-TaidimMyukhadim (Mossad)
Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations
Shirut Bitahon Klali (ISA) Israel Security Agency
Aman Military Intelligence Directorate
Italy Agenzia Inormazioni e Sicurezza Interna
(AISI) Agency for Internal Information and Security
Agenzia Inormazioni e Sicurezza Esterna(AISE) Agency for External Information andSecurity
JordanDairat al-Mukhabarat al-Ammah
Lithuania Valstybės Saugumo Departamentas (VSD)
State Security Department Antrasis operatyvinių tarnybų departamentas prie Krašto apsaugos ministerijos (AOD) II-nd Inestigation Department
MalaysiaKor Risik DiRaja Royal Intelligence Corps
Malaysian Special Branch o the RoyalMalaysian Police
National Security Council (Malaysia)
National Security Division (BKN)
Deence Staff Intelligence Division
Public Saety & Security DivisionMexicoCentro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional (CISEN)
National Security and Inestigation Center
Agencia Federal de Investigacion (AFI) Federal Inestigation Agency
MoroccoDirection de la Surveillance du Territoire (DS) Directorate of Territorial Surveillance
Direction Generale des Etudes et laDocumentation (DGED)
Netherlands Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst
(AIVD) General Intelligence and Security Service
Militaire Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst(MIVD) Military Intelligence and SecurityService
Nationaal Coördinator Terrorismebestrijding
(NCb) Domestic Counter-Terrorist Unit ‘Fiscale inlichtingen- en opsporingsdienst(FOID-ECD) Fiscal Information and
Inestigation Service
New ZealandNew Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS)
Government Communications SecurityBureau (GCSB)
Norway National Security Authority (NSM)Norwegian Police Security Service (PS)
Norwegian Intelligence Service (E-tjenesten)
PakistanInter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
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Military Intelligence (MI)
Intelligence Bureau (IB)
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)
Criminal Investigation Department (CID)
Philippines
Offi ce o the PresidentNational Intelligence Coordinating Agency(NICA)
Philippine Drug Enorcement Agency (PDEA)Presidential Security Group - PresidentialIntelligence Compan y (PSG-PIC)
Department o National Deense
Intelligence Service o the Armed Forces othe Philippines (ISAFP)
‘’’Philippine Air orce’’’ - 300th AirIntelligence and Security Squadron (300HAISG)
Philippine Army - Intelligence Security Group(PA-ISG)
Philippine Navy - Naval Intelligence andSecurity Force (PN-NISF)
Department o Justice
National Bureau o Investigation (NBI)Department o Interior and Local
GovernmentPhilippine National Police - IntelligenceGroup (PNP-IG)
Department o Finance
Bureau o Customs - Intelligence Group(BOC-IG)
Bureau o Internal Revenue - NationalInvestigation Division (BIR-NID)
Department o Transportation andCommunications
Civil Aviation Authority o the Philippines -Security and Intelligence Service (CAAP-SIS)
Land Transportation Offi ce - Intelligence andInvestigation Division (LO-IID)
Philippine Coast Guard - Intelligence,Security and Law Enorcement (PCG-ISLE)
Poland Agencja Wywiadu (AW) Foreign Intelligence Agency
Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego (ABW) Internal Security Agency
Służba Wywiadu Wojskowego (SWW) Military Intelligence Service
Służba Kontrwywiadu Wojskowego (SKW) Military Counterintelligence Service
PortugalServiço de Inormações de Segurança (SIS) –Security Intelligence Service
Serviço de Inormações Estratégicas de Deesa (SIED) Strategic Defense Intelligence Service
Sistema de Inormações da República
Portuguesa (SIRP) Intelligence System of the Portuguese Republic
RomaniaServiciul Roman de Inormatii (SRI) Romanian Information Service
Russian FederationFederalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti (FSB)
Federal Security Service
Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravlenie
Genshtaba (GRU) Main Intelligence Directorate of General Staff
Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (SVR) Foreign Intelligence Service
Saudi Arabia Al Mukhabarat Al A’amah
General Intelligence Directorate
SerbiaBezbednosno Inormativna Agencija (BIA)Security Informative Agency
Vojnoobavestajna agencija (VOA) Military Intelligence Agency
SingaporeSecurity and Intelligence Division (SID)
Internal Security Department (ISD)
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SlovakiaSlovenská inormačná služba (SIS)Sloak Information Service
Vojenská spravodajská služba (VSS) Military Intelligence Service
South AfricaNational Intelligence Agency (NIA)
South Arican Secret Service (SASS)
South KoreaNational Intelligence Service (NIS)
SpainCentro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI) National Intelligence Centre
Sweden
Kontoret ör särskild inhämtning (KSI)Offi ce for Special AcquisitionUnderrättelsekon-toret (UNDK) Intelligence Offi ce
Republic of China
(Taiwan)National Security Bureau (NSB)
Ministry o Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB)
Bureau o Military Intelligence
Turkey Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı (Mİ) National Intelligence Organization
UkraineHolovne Upravlinnya Rozvidky (HUR)Central Intelligence Directorate
Sluzhba Bezpeky Ukrayiny (SBU)Security Service of Ukraine
Sluzhba Zovnishnioyi Rozvidky Ukrayiny
(SZR or SZRU) Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine
United KingdomDeence Intelligence
Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6)
Special Branch
Security Service (colloquially MI5)
Government Communications Headquarters(GCHQ)
United StatesIndependent agencies
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)United States Department o Deense Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and
Reconnaissance Agency (AFISRA)
United States Army Intelligence and SecurityCommand (MI)
Deense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
Marine Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA)
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency(NGA)
National Reconnaissance Offi ce (NRO)National Security Agency (NSA)
Offi ce o Naval Intelligence (ONI)United States Department o Energy
Offi ce o Intelligence and Counterintelligence(OICI)
United States Department o HomelandSecurity
Offi ce o Intelligence and Analysis (I&A)
Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS)United States Department o Justice
Federal Bureau o Investigation (FBI)Drug Enorcement Administration (DEA)
United States Department o State
Bureau o Intelligence and Research (INR)
United States Department o the Treasury
Offi ce o Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
VietnamTổng cục 2
(C2)
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Code Name:______________________________________________________
Name: ___________________________________________________________
Agency:__________________________________________________________
Age:__________________________ Sex: _____________________________
Weight: _______________________ Height: __________________________
Hair Color:____________________ Eye Color: _______________________
Handedness:___________________
TOP SECRET Wi lderness of Mirrors 002 Character Sheet
___ The Fixer
___ The Grifter
___ The Gunman
___ The Heavy
___ The Shade
Expertise
Team Leader
Expert
Agent
The Mission
The Premise: _____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
The Plan
Source: _______________________ Detail:___________________________
________________________________________________________________
Source: _______________________ Detail:___________________________
________________________________________________________________
Source: _______________________ Detail:___________________________
________________________________________________________________
Source: _______________________ Detail:___________________________
________________________________________________________________
Source: _______________________ Detail:___________________________
________________________________________________________________
Source: _______________________ Detail:___________________________
________________________________________________________________
Source: _______________________ Detail:___________________________
________________________________________________________________
Source: _______________________ Detail:___________________________
________________________________________________________________
_____________________________
Special Effect: _________________
_____________________________