Hello, I've not GM'd lot of RPs before, but I have been in a pretty reasonable number of them. This is a modern day spy RP set in both Europe and the US (the main HQ will be in London and most of the missions will be in Europe), and it is mission and character based, focused on teamwork and individual effort (the large missions requires everyone involved to do their part). I will use a bastardized version of the Fate system where I've taken the parts I found relevant, and worked it around to fit the RP.
My Co-GM will be IFS.
Any questions or comments are appreciated, and I do hope I'll get to be the GM of this RP. I know there's a lot to read, and probably things I haven't explained sufficiently, so please don't be shy about asking for details/better explanations. Most of the mechanics described in the spoilers will be my responsibility, and you'll not have to try to figure out a bunch of stuff each time you post, simply list the actions you're taking in a spoiler below the post.
My Co-GM will be IFS.
The setting is a slightly alternated version of current day Europe, though the US will play a part in it. It has some technology that doesn't fully exist yet (as we are aware of at least), but nothing too sci-fi. The agency you work for is a smaller one, focused on spy-work and intelligence gathering. It has no ties to England, nor any individual country, and does instead take missions from the highest bidders. These missions will be taken care of by the PCs. Each character will have some fields of expertise, and will have different tasks during the different parts of the game, as well as the possibility to do short (1-3 posts) solo-missions. Between missions there will be more time for character interaction, as well as preparing for the next large mission to give an edge.
The RP is going to start during the latter part of the planning/preparation bit, allow for character interaction, and then start the mission when everyone is prepared.
The RP is going to start during the latter part of the planning/preparation bit, allow for character interaction, and then start the mission when everyone is prepared.
Deception/Seduction: The ability to affect people's decisions and actions through the use of words and/or appearance.
Disguises/Infiltration: The ability to infiltrate an environment and become a part of the surroundings. It is, however, a social skill, and does not raise your ability to sneak.
Planning: Planning should be pretty straight forward, it gives one the ability to make a plan based on goals and resources. Better plans are made by people with higher skill in it, and they become more capable of planning during a tense situation, quickly reaching a decision.
Investigation: Investigation gives people a higher ability to not only find out information through what means they are capable of, but to understand the meaning of what they do find. People with a high skill is adept at differentiating between relevant and irrelevant information.
Guns: The more points someone has in this skill, the more capable they are of using guns. That said, being able to fully master a gun (Adding a further bonus when that gun is used) requires a stunt.
Unarmed Combat/Melee: Unarmed combat decides how capable someone is at fighting without a gun, and, in some instances, without a weapon at all. Mastery of a weapon (like a sword) requires a "stunt", though, as it is an all-rounded skill. It also influences someone's strength.
Hacking/Computers: This skill has several uses, and the more adept someone is at it, the easier they can hack into systems, crack codes, and create programs using it, as well as search for what they need.
Saboteur: Saboteur makes it easier for people to take apart or mess with someone's plans, not limited to mechanical sabotage.
Vehicles: Having a high skill of vehicles gives you the ability to drive faster and with more skill, as well as see a possibly route to drive. Special vehicles can be mastered by the use of "stunts".
Stealth/Sneaking around: Stealth is mostly about sneaking around unnoticed, though it also includes breaking in, as well as the ability to listen in on conversations unnoticed, and take items without making sound.
Leadership: The ability to make people listen to you and to follow your plans, as well as the user's ability to give sufficient instructions to make sure everyone understands what they are trying to say.
Agility/Speed: Climbing, running, most manners of physical feats not including combat or strength.
Technician: People with a high craft skill are capable of creating items and repair stuff. They can (If above 2) create personal gadgets and carry them around with the use of a stunt, which gives bonuses in other skills. (though they tend to have limited uses).
The skills are divided between:
One Great (+4) skill
Two Good (+3) skills
Two Fair (+2) skills
Three Average (+1) skills
Which means that 8 skills will have at least one point in them, while 5 won't. This is somewhat different from the default Fate pyramid, but the skills present are the most relevant ones. Besides, it will rely on some specialization for each characters.
Disguises/Infiltration: The ability to infiltrate an environment and become a part of the surroundings. It is, however, a social skill, and does not raise your ability to sneak.
Planning: Planning should be pretty straight forward, it gives one the ability to make a plan based on goals and resources. Better plans are made by people with higher skill in it, and they become more capable of planning during a tense situation, quickly reaching a decision.
Investigation: Investigation gives people a higher ability to not only find out information through what means they are capable of, but to understand the meaning of what they do find. People with a high skill is adept at differentiating between relevant and irrelevant information.
Guns: The more points someone has in this skill, the more capable they are of using guns. That said, being able to fully master a gun (Adding a further bonus when that gun is used) requires a stunt.
Unarmed Combat/Melee: Unarmed combat decides how capable someone is at fighting without a gun, and, in some instances, without a weapon at all. Mastery of a weapon (like a sword) requires a "stunt", though, as it is an all-rounded skill. It also influences someone's strength.
Hacking/Computers: This skill has several uses, and the more adept someone is at it, the easier they can hack into systems, crack codes, and create programs using it, as well as search for what they need.
Saboteur: Saboteur makes it easier for people to take apart or mess with someone's plans, not limited to mechanical sabotage.
Vehicles: Having a high skill of vehicles gives you the ability to drive faster and with more skill, as well as see a possibly route to drive. Special vehicles can be mastered by the use of "stunts".
Stealth/Sneaking around: Stealth is mostly about sneaking around unnoticed, though it also includes breaking in, as well as the ability to listen in on conversations unnoticed, and take items without making sound.
Leadership: The ability to make people listen to you and to follow your plans, as well as the user's ability to give sufficient instructions to make sure everyone understands what they are trying to say.
Agility/Speed: Climbing, running, most manners of physical feats not including combat or strength.
Technician: People with a high craft skill are capable of creating items and repair stuff. They can (If above 2) create personal gadgets and carry them around with the use of a stunt, which gives bonuses in other skills. (though they tend to have limited uses).
The skills are divided between:
One Great (+4) skill
Two Good (+3) skills
Two Fair (+2) skills
Three Average (+1) skills
Which means that 8 skills will have at least one point in them, while 5 won't. This is somewhat different from the default Fate pyramid, but the skills present are the most relevant ones. Besides, it will rely on some specialization for each characters.
Stunts are special abilities or attributes that affect a skill. They are narrower than the skills, and will often be more effective in certain situations. Each player is given 3, which you can use to influence the score of a skill when it is relevant, or that have other, more specific uses. Most stunts and most gadgets give a +2 to a roll, with a possible +3 if it only has one use per mission. An example of the former would be a stunt like: [Shotgun Mastery: Gives +2 to the Guns Skill when the user is using a Shotgun.] Similarly, a stunt with only one use would be: [Plan B, gives the user a +3 to Planning should the current plan be insufficient.] Stunts can be anything that would give a bonus to a skill in certain situations. It has to be narrower than the skill itself.
Gadgets are a single item that enhances part of a skill, the same way a stunt would. For instance, [Stealth Cloak, +2 to stealth, these clothes helps the wearer blend in when sneaking, making them harder to spot.] and [Sleeping Gas, +3 to melee fighting.] A certain type of gadgets are special to the people with technician above +2, as they can divide the +3 one use into three +1 gadgets or into one of +2 and one of +1 , which all have only one use each mission. You can stack stunts and gadgets, although only as far as it makes logically sense (using a sleeping gas and a sniper in a single action doesn't make much sense, though using sleeping gas and the stealth cloak certainly does). As for how "futuristic" the devices can get, keep in mind that this is set in the present. That means that while there can certainly be pens with microphones and tracking devices, going as far as creating a shrink ray is not okay.
Finally, whether or not Stunts can be used in a situation depends on logic. While using a sniper-rifle from afar certainly is useful, using one on someone standing right in front of you isn't usually a good idea, and I won't give you a bonus for it.
Gadgets are a single item that enhances part of a skill, the same way a stunt would. For instance, [Stealth Cloak, +2 to stealth, these clothes helps the wearer blend in when sneaking, making them harder to spot.] and [Sleeping Gas, +3 to melee fighting.] A certain type of gadgets are special to the people with technician above +2, as they can divide the +3 one use into three +1 gadgets or into one of +2 and one of +1 , which all have only one use each mission. You can stack stunts and gadgets, although only as far as it makes logically sense (using a sleeping gas and a sniper in a single action doesn't make much sense, though using sleeping gas and the stealth cloak certainly does). As for how "futuristic" the devices can get, keep in mind that this is set in the present. That means that while there can certainly be pens with microphones and tracking devices, going as far as creating a shrink ray is not okay.
Finally, whether or not Stunts can be used in a situation depends on logic. While using a sniper-rifle from afar certainly is useful, using one on someone standing right in front of you isn't usually a good idea, and I won't give you a bonus for it.
One of the reasons I'm just using bits of the Fate system is that there are parts that I don't think would fit into this RP. As it is a forum RP, I have chosen to give some actions a basic difficulty, while still depending on the situation. For anything else, I will give indicators or rely on you to ask if you need to know, but I will roll the dice and decide the outcome. The dice I will roll will be 4 normal dice where 1-2 is (-1), 3-4 is (0) and 5-6 is (+1), as I don't know where I'd find any fate ones. I will then add the - + and zeroes together, add the points the player have for the skill, and subtract the difficulty from the final score.
(Anything below (+1) in difficulty (not counting your skill points, if you have +4 and the difficulty is +3, you still have to roll) doesn't need a roll.
Average(+1) difficulty:
- Sneaking through a room/building with no cameras or nearby guards.
- Hacking an average office computer.
- Find basic information about a topic in an office.
- Drive a car from point A to B within the speed limit.
- Hit someone with a bullet (No vital organs).
- Distract someone without getting caught (While still hidden).
- Trick a single person into thinking you're working there while wearing the appropriate clothes. (Not needed if you infiltrated the workplace in preparation for the mission)
- Get into a night-club.
- Steal a small item without seeming suspicious.
- Run away from the average person.
- Destroying a small object (like a small TV) without anyone noticing.
- Conversing with team members without seeming suspicious during infiltration/when close to someone unrelated during a mission. (Otherwise chatting is fine).
Fair(+2) difficulty:
- Sneak through a room/building with cameras and/or guards nearby.
- Shoot someone's vital organs.
-Sabotage something that plays a role in the security system without anyone noticing.
- Hack a somewhat secure computer without raising an alarm.
- Locate and get the information you need from a computer/an office where the file is hidden.
- Infiltrate a workplace in preparation for the mission and blending completely in. This is a basic infiltration, one giving access to more secure areas would be (+3).
- Driving a larger vehicle/driving a normal car at a high speed without getting into some sort of trouble.
- Run away from a trained guard.
- Talk yourself out of suspicion by someone who suspects you.
- Knock someone out by hitting them with a blunt weapon.
- Make a change in plans that is not too large, but allows you to get out of an otherwise disadvantageous situation.
- Basic Solo-Mission
This is by no means a complete list of actions, but should give a hint to what the basic difficulties will be. Some actions can be done using different kinds of skills, though points can't be stacked. (Example: Talk yourself out of suspicion can depend on different skills. If it is during infiltration, you can use D/I rather than D/S if it benefits you more.)
Possible Outcomes:
Fail
If you roll lower than the difficulty is, you fail.
This means one of several things: you don't get what you want, you get what you want at a serious cost, or you suffer some negative mechanical consequence. Sometimes, it means more than one of those. It's the GM's job to determine an appropriate cost.
Tie
If you roll the same as the difficulty, you tie.
This means you get what you want, but at a minor cost, or you get a lesser version of what you wanted.
Succeed
If you roll higher than the difficulty is by 1 or 2 points, you succeed.
This means you get what you want at no cost.
Succeed with Style
If you roll higher than the difficulty by 3 or more points, you succeed with style.
This means that you get what you want, but you also get an added benefit on top of that.
Teamwork works as following: The person with the highest score in the relevant skill takes their points, and adds +1 for every other person that's helping, as long as the people helping have at least (+1) in the skill. If they don't, their effort don't count.
The last thing that should be mentioned about difficulties is that especially good posts (Brilliant ones) might tempt me to lower the difficultly of the action.
(Anything below (+1) in difficulty (not counting your skill points, if you have +4 and the difficulty is +3, you still have to roll) doesn't need a roll.
Average(+1) difficulty:
- Sneaking through a room/building with no cameras or nearby guards.
- Hacking an average office computer.
- Find basic information about a topic in an office.
- Drive a car from point A to B within the speed limit.
- Hit someone with a bullet (No vital organs).
- Distract someone without getting caught (While still hidden).
- Trick a single person into thinking you're working there while wearing the appropriate clothes. (Not needed if you infiltrated the workplace in preparation for the mission)
- Get into a night-club.
- Steal a small item without seeming suspicious.
- Run away from the average person.
- Destroying a small object (like a small TV) without anyone noticing.
- Conversing with team members without seeming suspicious during infiltration/when close to someone unrelated during a mission. (Otherwise chatting is fine).
Fair(+2) difficulty:
- Sneak through a room/building with cameras and/or guards nearby.
- Shoot someone's vital organs.
-Sabotage something that plays a role in the security system without anyone noticing.
- Hack a somewhat secure computer without raising an alarm.
- Locate and get the information you need from a computer/an office where the file is hidden.
- Infiltrate a workplace in preparation for the mission and blending completely in. This is a basic infiltration, one giving access to more secure areas would be (+3).
- Driving a larger vehicle/driving a normal car at a high speed without getting into some sort of trouble.
- Run away from a trained guard.
- Talk yourself out of suspicion by someone who suspects you.
- Knock someone out by hitting them with a blunt weapon.
- Make a change in plans that is not too large, but allows you to get out of an otherwise disadvantageous situation.
- Basic Solo-Mission
This is by no means a complete list of actions, but should give a hint to what the basic difficulties will be. Some actions can be done using different kinds of skills, though points can't be stacked. (Example: Talk yourself out of suspicion can depend on different skills. If it is during infiltration, you can use D/I rather than D/S if it benefits you more.)
Possible Outcomes:
Fail
If you roll lower than the difficulty is, you fail.
This means one of several things: you don't get what you want, you get what you want at a serious cost, or you suffer some negative mechanical consequence. Sometimes, it means more than one of those. It's the GM's job to determine an appropriate cost.
Tie
If you roll the same as the difficulty, you tie.
This means you get what you want, but at a minor cost, or you get a lesser version of what you wanted.
Succeed
If you roll higher than the difficulty is by 1 or 2 points, you succeed.
This means you get what you want at no cost.
Succeed with Style
If you roll higher than the difficulty by 3 or more points, you succeed with style.
This means that you get what you want, but you also get an added benefit on top of that.
Teamwork works as following: The person with the highest score in the relevant skill takes their points, and adds +1 for every other person that's helping, as long as the people helping have at least (+1) in the skill. If they don't, their effort don't count.
The last thing that should be mentioned about difficulties is that especially good posts (Brilliant ones) might tempt me to lower the difficultly of the action.
Name: This one is rather basic, full name, unless it is unknown to the rest. Mention any nicknames people might use.
Age: Above 21 years, would prefer at least 25 years old.
Appearance: What they look like, + general clothes they might find themselves wearing. If they, for whatever reason, should be wearing something concealing their real appearance, describe the costume. Build and height is appreciated, as it helps people get a mental image of the character.
Items is not a part of the list, as they will: 1. differ between the missions, or 2. count as part of appearance. If you have a hidden knife that you always carry around, do mention it, but it won't give you an advantage in terms of points.
Personality: This one goes without saying. I know people may not like writing down personalities, but at least 3 sentences would be preferable.
Role: A short description of which roles your character normally fills.
Skills: Put the skill points like this (+1) Not chosen ones have a (0). Please take into consideration that it's your choice just what makes someone good at blending in, or using guns, and that you can mention the most noticeable things in the "other" part of the sheet if there's something you really want people to know about.
You get 1(+4), 2(+3), 2(+2) and 3(+1).
Deception/Seduction:
Disguises/Infiltration:
Planning:
Investigation:
Guns:
Unarmed Combat/Melee:
Hacking/Computers:
Saboteur:
Vehicles:
Stealth/Sneaking around:
Leadership:
Agility/Speed:
Technician:
Stunts: 3 stunts, no more, no less. See Stunt-Section Above.
Backstory: This can be brief if you want to keep secrets about your character, though you cannot plan large plot elements with NPCs (like betraying everyone and having 50 people from FBI raid the agency). You can betray the agency, but you can't do it without me knowing about it, and you can't expect it to go flawlessly as it's not as easy as it might seem.
Other: Anything else you'd like me to know about.
Age: Above 21 years, would prefer at least 25 years old.
Appearance: What they look like, + general clothes they might find themselves wearing. If they, for whatever reason, should be wearing something concealing their real appearance, describe the costume. Build and height is appreciated, as it helps people get a mental image of the character.
Items is not a part of the list, as they will: 1. differ between the missions, or 2. count as part of appearance. If you have a hidden knife that you always carry around, do mention it, but it won't give you an advantage in terms of points.
Personality: This one goes without saying. I know people may not like writing down personalities, but at least 3 sentences would be preferable.
Role: A short description of which roles your character normally fills.
Skills: Put the skill points like this (+1) Not chosen ones have a (0). Please take into consideration that it's your choice just what makes someone good at blending in, or using guns, and that you can mention the most noticeable things in the "other" part of the sheet if there's something you really want people to know about.
You get 1(+4), 2(+3), 2(+2) and 3(+1).
Deception/Seduction:
Disguises/Infiltration:
Planning:
Investigation:
Guns:
Unarmed Combat/Melee:
Hacking/Computers:
Saboteur:
Vehicles:
Stealth/Sneaking around:
Leadership:
Agility/Speed:
Technician:
Stunts: 3 stunts, no more, no less. See Stunt-Section Above.
Backstory: This can be brief if you want to keep secrets about your character, though you cannot plan large plot elements with NPCs (like betraying everyone and having 50 people from FBI raid the agency). You can betray the agency, but you can't do it without me knowing about it, and you can't expect it to go flawlessly as it's not as easy as it might seem.
Other: Anything else you'd like me to know about.
Name: Simon Jones. He normally works undercover, and go by many fake names, though he'll always use Simon if he can, and insists that everyone uses his first name. Of course, whether or not "Simon Jones" is a real name isn't actually known.
Age: 30
Appearance: Simon has blue eyes and medium brown hair, cut short and swept back. He normally shaves, only leaving a pair of sideburns. His skin-colour is about average for a Caucasian, and he is about 5'11", with a fit, and slightly muscular build. While he has been described as rather good-looking, he has somewhat forgettable traits, and his physical appearance tends to get forgotten quickly due to this.
Simon is dead set on that spies have a certain dress-code, and even when he's undercover, he'll wear a set of cream-coloured gloves and a tie. When he's not in clothes that fit with his infiltration, he'll be likely to wear a suit matching his gloves, with a dark shirt and a colourful tie, or simply a dark suit with a light shirt and dark tie, depending on what he feels like wearing. If he's really feeling like dressing up, he'll be wearing a dark grey coat and matching fedora. He always has a pair of sunglasses on his person.
Personality: Simon is what you'd call someone who adapts to the situation, he's calm and laid-back during missions, but friendly and eager to chat when he's not currently close to someone or something that could blow his cover. Simon will do his out-most to make sure a mission is successful, even if it goes against his moral preferences. He's never cold, though, and is comfortable in the presence of most people. While he'd never reveal his true identity as a spy to someone who doesn't already know, he's very clearly a fan of the pop-culture version, idealizing them with what could only be called a childlike fondness. He's surprisingly earnest, and while he'll pretend to be keeping something secret at times, he's very willing to tell people he works with details about his missions with the Agency. When it comes to his past before that, he'll easily challenge people to try to find out, cheerfully and cheekily. He enjoys excitement and challenges, though he can be a somewhat sore loser, as he's generally rather over-confident.
While his gadgets and job are his main interests, most other topics are fine with him as well, and he'll easily enough partake in conversations around things that doesn't really interest him. The only times he'll get really angry is if people insult his gadgets, methods or his ideal of the spy profession, at which rate he'll get fairly passionate about it. When he's not being a spy (or, as he prefer to call them, secret agents) fan-boy, he enjoys swimming and relaxing, drinking good wine, eating good food and watching movies and series. He can often be found working on one of his many gadgets, and enjoys letting people try them. If someone invites him to something, he'll join them, as he's generally fond of people.
Role: Simon is the kind of guy who goes undercover in order to do 3 things. 1. Earn trust. 2. Get information, and 3. Saboteur something, often using fancy gadgets and bombs if he can. He'll take care of most mechanical things, though he's not adept at actually using the computers he's so good at taking apart, nor is he skilled at driving the cars he can fix.
Skills:
Deception/Seduction: (+1)
Disguises/Infiltration: (+4)
Planning: (0)
Investigation: (+2)
Guns: (+2)
Unarmed Combat/Melee: (0)
Hacking/Computers: (0)
Saboteur: (+3)
Vehicles: (0)
Stealth/Sneaking around: (+1)
Leadership: (0)
Agility/Speed: (+1)
Technician: (+3)
Stunts:
[Gadget Basic + Advanced] (Two Stunts combined)
Simon has a number of gadgets lying around, many of which are useful for different situations. Of these, he brings 5 whenever he go out, and has great mastery over the individual gadgets. Even so, they are not particularly strong, and only serve to slightly help during a situation, as well as only have one use each mission.
The Gadgets are:
His expensive-looking watch contains a rather long, strong wire which he can shoot out on need, and that can be tied to something in order for him to climb up or down. However, it doesn't roll itself up again, or go back into the watch, which means it is one use only. He presses the dial once for the wire to come out, and another time for it to let go of his watch. However, he needs to press it for accurately 3 seconds for it to shoot out the wire the first time, so he's the only one who knows how to really activate it. It's his only +2 gadget, and works for A/S.
A tiny tranquillizer dart is hidden in the index finger of his left glove. It only works when he's close, and gives a +1 to Melee combat, as its effects are too slow to knock people out at the speed he needs it to. It's fired when he extends both his index-finger and his thumb, using his hand to mimic a gun.
When Simon clicks the side of his right shoe, usually with his left heel, he'll activate a mechanism that spreads a subtle smell around him, making the person close more willing to listen to what he says. Just how the smell has that effect he doesn't know as he didn't create the chemical, but it gives him a +1 to D/S for the short amount of time it stays.
While Simon is no computer-person, he does have a small memory stick infected with a vicious computer program, which normally looks like it's a part of his watch. He didn't create the program himself, but doesn't want to say how he got ahold of it. He plugs it into the computer, and, if he's lucky, it'll help hack the computer. Of course, all he can do is to sit and wait for it to either work or fail. One time it wiped out the system he was supposed to retrieve information from, so he's hesitant to use it. It gives +1 to hacking.
In order to help him find written information on a specific topic, Simon uses a pair of sunglasses that tend to be hidden inside his current tie, and covered in textile in order to not look suspicious. They're the only computer-related thing that he has created -spending weeks following simple instructions- and while they only work sometimes, he's really proud of them. The Agency has a much more effective version of these kinds of glasses, but he's too fond of them to let go. They're voice-activated, which seemed cool at the time but not so cool when he actually had to use them, and they can only have one word activated at a time, so they're one use only per mission. When activated, they are designed to spot and lit up the word or term that the user has requested, and gives a +1 to investigation.
[Why Stress When You Can Just Blow Something Up?]
Gives +2 to Saboteur, but will always attract attention. Not everything should be blown up either, as sabotage often involves finesse. The bombs have a set timer. Because of this, they need to be very carefully placed, as they're easily disarmed. The explosion is rather powerful, but has a short range. They're small enough to be hidden inside of Simon's clothes, and surprisingly potent for their size.
Backstory: Simon was born in the US, but moved to the UK as a child, which is also his justification for sometimes switching to an American accent when getting eager or relaxed enough. His life before becoming a spy is something he finds uninteresting and dull, and so he rarely mentions much about it, though it was his uncle that got him interested in spies. Watching movies and reading books about them, he soon grew to look up to them, even their questionable ideals and actions, and began designing gadgets, though it was more of a hidden hobby of his than anything else.
Just what he was doing before he was 24 is not known, but one day he turned up at the Agency HQ, knocking on the door and asking to be accepted as a member. While they were certainly hesitant at first to accept this very strange man, they discovered that 1. There was no traces of what he had been doing the last 5 years, and 2. That he was rather adept at certain, rather necessary skills. They made sure that he wasn't bugged in any way, and accepted him, as he was far from the most suspicious person there. Years passed, and he's been undercover under a large number of missions, as well as created many of the different gadgets that the agency has.
Other:
-Refuses to acknowledge that people don't want to call him by his first name, sometimes seeming to not be aware of that his last name is Jones. Surprisingly more adept at replying to the numerous aliases and fake names he has had, to the point of answering to a large amount of surnames that are not Jones.
-He has a British accent, but can easily enough slip into another one should there be the need, and he seems very comfortable with a particular American accent. He can mimic most European accents. That said, he doesn't actually know any other languages, he's simply adept at picking out the sounds he needs to speak in a convincing accent.
- Simon doesn't remove his gloves often, and even when he does, he only removes the right glove. He's also very particular about people touching his hands, though he's never told anyone why that is.
Age: 30
Appearance: Simon has blue eyes and medium brown hair, cut short and swept back. He normally shaves, only leaving a pair of sideburns. His skin-colour is about average for a Caucasian, and he is about 5'11", with a fit, and slightly muscular build. While he has been described as rather good-looking, he has somewhat forgettable traits, and his physical appearance tends to get forgotten quickly due to this.
Simon is dead set on that spies have a certain dress-code, and even when he's undercover, he'll wear a set of cream-coloured gloves and a tie. When he's not in clothes that fit with his infiltration, he'll be likely to wear a suit matching his gloves, with a dark shirt and a colourful tie, or simply a dark suit with a light shirt and dark tie, depending on what he feels like wearing. If he's really feeling like dressing up, he'll be wearing a dark grey coat and matching fedora. He always has a pair of sunglasses on his person.
Personality: Simon is what you'd call someone who adapts to the situation, he's calm and laid-back during missions, but friendly and eager to chat when he's not currently close to someone or something that could blow his cover. Simon will do his out-most to make sure a mission is successful, even if it goes against his moral preferences. He's never cold, though, and is comfortable in the presence of most people. While he'd never reveal his true identity as a spy to someone who doesn't already know, he's very clearly a fan of the pop-culture version, idealizing them with what could only be called a childlike fondness. He's surprisingly earnest, and while he'll pretend to be keeping something secret at times, he's very willing to tell people he works with details about his missions with the Agency. When it comes to his past before that, he'll easily challenge people to try to find out, cheerfully and cheekily. He enjoys excitement and challenges, though he can be a somewhat sore loser, as he's generally rather over-confident.
While his gadgets and job are his main interests, most other topics are fine with him as well, and he'll easily enough partake in conversations around things that doesn't really interest him. The only times he'll get really angry is if people insult his gadgets, methods or his ideal of the spy profession, at which rate he'll get fairly passionate about it. When he's not being a spy (or, as he prefer to call them, secret agents) fan-boy, he enjoys swimming and relaxing, drinking good wine, eating good food and watching movies and series. He can often be found working on one of his many gadgets, and enjoys letting people try them. If someone invites him to something, he'll join them, as he's generally fond of people.
Role: Simon is the kind of guy who goes undercover in order to do 3 things. 1. Earn trust. 2. Get information, and 3. Saboteur something, often using fancy gadgets and bombs if he can. He'll take care of most mechanical things, though he's not adept at actually using the computers he's so good at taking apart, nor is he skilled at driving the cars he can fix.
Skills:
Deception/Seduction: (+1)
Disguises/Infiltration: (+4)
Planning: (0)
Investigation: (+2)
Guns: (+2)
Unarmed Combat/Melee: (0)
Hacking/Computers: (0)
Saboteur: (+3)
Vehicles: (0)
Stealth/Sneaking around: (+1)
Leadership: (0)
Agility/Speed: (+1)
Technician: (+3)
Stunts:
[Gadget Basic + Advanced] (Two Stunts combined)
Simon has a number of gadgets lying around, many of which are useful for different situations. Of these, he brings 5 whenever he go out, and has great mastery over the individual gadgets. Even so, they are not particularly strong, and only serve to slightly help during a situation, as well as only have one use each mission.
The Gadgets are:
His expensive-looking watch contains a rather long, strong wire which he can shoot out on need, and that can be tied to something in order for him to climb up or down. However, it doesn't roll itself up again, or go back into the watch, which means it is one use only. He presses the dial once for the wire to come out, and another time for it to let go of his watch. However, he needs to press it for accurately 3 seconds for it to shoot out the wire the first time, so he's the only one who knows how to really activate it. It's his only +2 gadget, and works for A/S.
A tiny tranquillizer dart is hidden in the index finger of his left glove. It only works when he's close, and gives a +1 to Melee combat, as its effects are too slow to knock people out at the speed he needs it to. It's fired when he extends both his index-finger and his thumb, using his hand to mimic a gun.
When Simon clicks the side of his right shoe, usually with his left heel, he'll activate a mechanism that spreads a subtle smell around him, making the person close more willing to listen to what he says. Just how the smell has that effect he doesn't know as he didn't create the chemical, but it gives him a +1 to D/S for the short amount of time it stays.
While Simon is no computer-person, he does have a small memory stick infected with a vicious computer program, which normally looks like it's a part of his watch. He didn't create the program himself, but doesn't want to say how he got ahold of it. He plugs it into the computer, and, if he's lucky, it'll help hack the computer. Of course, all he can do is to sit and wait for it to either work or fail. One time it wiped out the system he was supposed to retrieve information from, so he's hesitant to use it. It gives +1 to hacking.
In order to help him find written information on a specific topic, Simon uses a pair of sunglasses that tend to be hidden inside his current tie, and covered in textile in order to not look suspicious. They're the only computer-related thing that he has created -spending weeks following simple instructions- and while they only work sometimes, he's really proud of them. The Agency has a much more effective version of these kinds of glasses, but he's too fond of them to let go. They're voice-activated, which seemed cool at the time but not so cool when he actually had to use them, and they can only have one word activated at a time, so they're one use only per mission. When activated, they are designed to spot and lit up the word or term that the user has requested, and gives a +1 to investigation.
[Why Stress When You Can Just Blow Something Up?]
Gives +2 to Saboteur, but will always attract attention. Not everything should be blown up either, as sabotage often involves finesse. The bombs have a set timer. Because of this, they need to be very carefully placed, as they're easily disarmed. The explosion is rather powerful, but has a short range. They're small enough to be hidden inside of Simon's clothes, and surprisingly potent for their size.
Backstory: Simon was born in the US, but moved to the UK as a child, which is also his justification for sometimes switching to an American accent when getting eager or relaxed enough. His life before becoming a spy is something he finds uninteresting and dull, and so he rarely mentions much about it, though it was his uncle that got him interested in spies. Watching movies and reading books about them, he soon grew to look up to them, even their questionable ideals and actions, and began designing gadgets, though it was more of a hidden hobby of his than anything else.
Just what he was doing before he was 24 is not known, but one day he turned up at the Agency HQ, knocking on the door and asking to be accepted as a member. While they were certainly hesitant at first to accept this very strange man, they discovered that 1. There was no traces of what he had been doing the last 5 years, and 2. That he was rather adept at certain, rather necessary skills. They made sure that he wasn't bugged in any way, and accepted him, as he was far from the most suspicious person there. Years passed, and he's been undercover under a large number of missions, as well as created many of the different gadgets that the agency has.
Other:
-Refuses to acknowledge that people don't want to call him by his first name, sometimes seeming to not be aware of that his last name is Jones. Surprisingly more adept at replying to the numerous aliases and fake names he has had, to the point of answering to a large amount of surnames that are not Jones.
-He has a British accent, but can easily enough slip into another one should there be the need, and he seems very comfortable with a particular American accent. He can mimic most European accents. That said, he doesn't actually know any other languages, he's simply adept at picking out the sounds he needs to speak in a convincing accent.
- Simon doesn't remove his gloves often, and even when he does, he only removes the right glove. He's also very particular about people touching his hands, though he's never told anyone why that is.
The first stage will be the planning/infiltration stage, at which point you can, for instance infiltrate the location of the target, making it so that you can enter certain areas without having to use certain skills. That said, infiltration leaves you unable to be a part of the planning or doing any solo-missions, as you'll be busy infiltrating, and probably in a different country. Then there's the planning, which can be done by one person or several. It works like the teamwork above, though it puts the points into a counter instead. Solo-missions render you unable to do any of the two others, but adds a point to the planning, two if it is especially difficult. Infiltration and solo-missions require rolls to be successful, planning does not. A failed infiltration means you are distrusted, thus giving you none of the above advantages, and failed solo-missions simply don't give you any points.
After this, there will be a large mission where everyone will have their roles (according to a basic plan hopefully written up by the PCs) and every action above +2, as long as it is a part of the plan, will get a +1 (for success, not for difficulty) for as long as there are points left from the planning.
The last stage is just the times where people can interact outside missions, and they won't depend on rolls or skills. It will be ongoing for most of the time apart from large missions.
After this, there will be a large mission where everyone will have their roles (according to a basic plan hopefully written up by the PCs) and every action above +2, as long as it is a part of the plan, will get a +1 (for success, not for difficulty) for as long as there are points left from the planning.
The last stage is just the times where people can interact outside missions, and they won't depend on rolls or skills. It will be ongoing for most of the time apart from large missions.
- Be polite to each other and to me.
- Every character will be given basic equipment based on their role. This includes an easily hidden communication device that can be used at any times with no bad consequences, as long as one is careful.
- Common sense and decent grammar helps people understand your posts.
- Every roll and its consequence will be made by me (and often IFS as well), apart from when it comes to my GmPC, at which point I will have IFS handle that to make things fair.
- You'll have to post at least once a week.
- No godmodding or taking control of other people's characters without their consent.
- Every character will be given basic equipment based on their role. This includes an easily hidden communication device that can be used at any times with no bad consequences, as long as one is careful.
- Common sense and decent grammar helps people understand your posts.
- Every roll and its consequence will be made by me (and often IFS as well), apart from when it comes to my GmPC, at which point I will have IFS handle that to make things fair.
- You'll have to post at least once a week.
- No godmodding or taking control of other people's characters without their consent.
Any questions or comments are appreciated, and I do hope I'll get to be the GM of this RP. I know there's a lot to read, and probably things I haven't explained sufficiently, so please don't be shy about asking for details/better explanations. Most of the mechanics described in the spoilers will be my responsibility, and you'll not have to try to figure out a bunch of stuff each time you post, simply list the actions you're taking in a spoiler below the post.
