Superspies

It's entertaining for a bit and a nice try at something different. Too bad about the devs and the IP though.

Probably depends on the organization itself.

I've always been a fan of very subtle, almost Lovecraftian secret organizations.

Spies like this may never even seem like so, until you give a closer look and noticed that Old Woman Josie seems to order the same thing from that little run down cafe, but always gets different meals. Nothing hidden in the meals themselves, mind. Just the food is different.

Later that day, the entire city council is dead.

I don't quite follow.

You get what you pay for. There's not really a whole lot to do other than send minions out into the world and try to build a nice looking and defended base from goons. That said, it's an enjoyable game and a pretty nice time killer.

The nebulous peacekeeper spy always seems to have the most over-the-top adventures.

That game was fun

I'm about to start those games tonight. I've watched a playthrough of NOLF 1, and it seems to hit all the bullet points for a Superspy adventure.

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I've heard they're tricky to make work on modern computers.

I highly recommend both. There was an attempt to gain control of the IP to update the games and start offering them for download. Sadly the ownership is all fucked up and the property holders decided they would rather sit on the IP and wait for someone to make a mistake so they could sue them.

I've got NOLF 1 GOTY version running on my Windows 10 machine right now. Runs like a dream.

He's like that in the books too, a Thug in a Well-Dressed suit.

It's a spy's job to retrieve information. Covertly.
What does a superspy do? Go after supervillains?

Mostly it's just action take on spy fiction, with flashy and larger than life antics, just like regular action guy differs from actual military. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the president? Stop looming disaster of nuclear war or orbital laser beams? Extract defector head scientist from secret lab in hostile state? Covertly, of course, since that's how we spies work, am I right? That's why exploding base after final showdown must be located somewhere far away from populated areas.

This is THE best way yo do covert organizations.

Not that user but the food is a method of communication. The old woman is the agent handler.

Retrieve superinformation, of course.

You, sir, are a gentleman of taste.

A superspy typically does both in whatever capacity is required. Only the comically self-aware acknowledge themselves as a "super spy," but they still do a lot of the same things normal spies do: travel the world to exotic locales and gather intelligence on whatever is necessary. The superspy is a very romantic take on the whole thing, ultimately: they have outlandish gadgets, they're rather dashing, they tend to prevail against whatever enemies are thrown against them, and they tend to get embroiled in fantastic plots and conspiracies - many times involving characters just as exotic as them. When necessary, the superspy becomes a one-man army, destabilizing an enemy force by muscle or by guile, and they always have the most daring escapes from peril.

Unlike the supersoldier, the superspy isn't ostensibly trying to make as much noise as possible in the process.

An American and a not-Russian, working together for a secret organization to protect world peace during the Cold War? What's not to like?

Note that not all superspies just become superspies immediately; they are groomed and grow into the role in time before they are forced to start going above and beyond. They may have certain superlatives associated with them, like notable marksmanship or an exceptional eye for detail, or they've already honed their skills in the past before getting into the espionage business. For example, Cate Archer - the main character of the No One Lives Forever franchise (seen in and ) - is an English-Scottish orphan from a formerly wealthy family who spent years as a thief and high-profile cat burglar before she went straight and was recruited to the international peacekeeping organization known as UNITY. Even then, she had to spend four years doing grunt work (wiretaps, basic shadows, etc.) before she finally got her big break; much of that is explicitly attributed towards being a woman during the 1960s - Cate is UNITY's first real female field agent, as well.

Is a superspy necessarily a "black ops" agent, or is there a certain distinction to it?

My spies are either insane, or at risk of going insane.

Adopting a number of identities for an extended period of time can cause severe psychological trauma, unless they have a powerful anchor that can allow them to retain a "base" identity.

Like the best actors, the best spies BECOME their characters. They can't respond to their own name, because that ISN'T their name. Over time, conditioning themselves to do so can lead to an identity crisis, which could potentially be severe as DID (that's disassociative identity disorder, or multiple personality disorder in common parlance) in which they slip into different identities without meaning to because they are no longer able to discern fact from fiction.

Because I have a raging hard-on for psychological conundrums (I nearly double-majored in psych, I may finish up that psych degree eventually), I generally make a point of providing "good" operatives with something that anchors them to their "real" identity, whereas "bad" operatives are somehow deprived of that anchor, leading them to first go rogue, and eventually go insane.

Now, my current setting is actually the unholy child of the American Civil War, Victorian England, Imperial China, and Renaissance Italy, with a varied bit of mythology/folk tales and H.P Lovecraft thrown in for good measure. Spies tend to be associated with a given City-State or Nation-State, with the odd free agent who is only employed out of desperation.

It's a bit a cheesy, but a quote from SWTOR encapsulates a spy's tactics well: "Anonymity...deception...these are your tools..." In general, they prefer to avoid killing and the headaches that are associated with it, and good spies can generally find a way around it. It's much better to arrange a scandal to remove an inconvenient politician, as opposed to potentially make him/her a martyr with assassination. If the headache can't be avoided, however, then the best weapons are ones other people wield for you.

(con't...maybe)

"Black ops" means covert/clandestine operation that supposed to be untraceable back to the agency. Yet in many superspy fiction agent act solo, so their identity and allegiance eventually will be compromised. Or, fo example, if superspy sent to sabotage enemy base before conventional attack. Confusing part is that during mission your spy wouldn't wear true colors, but afterwards there is little need to hide who is responsible for sabotage.

A superspy doesn't merely gather intelligence. They are a jack-of-all-trades, a catch-all for most any sort of clandestine operation: intelligence, sabotage, extraction, wetwork, you name it. You may have analysts and commanders back at base who help make sense of things, but it's the superspy/field agent's job to either gain intelligence or act on intelligence, whether aggressively or defensively. A superspy is deployed when any sort of armed forces are considered too dangerous or compromising to deploy; it is the more "cultured" alternative to special forces.

Infuriatingly plot armored. Also usually some teen wonder kid with animal sidekick.

Shot by your minions in full view? Corpse stuffed into grinder and remains incinerated?
-came back by time travel

Fed to your pet tricerarex?
-came back by cloning

His very existence eradicated by a evil god?
-was the anoying sidekick who took his mantle for this job and was disguised as the hero, now swears eternal revenge the third time.

trapped in a demiplane only you can exit and access?
-Someone new takes on his name/manerism and style because he believes it pisses you of (it does)

After around 12 convoluted schemes to kill of the annoying pest the players settled on imprisonment, framing and distraction. It was a much more long term solution.

You sicced Jonny Quest on your party?

Jup but more of a Penny Gadget, I got the sex wrong in my post, stupid english. She had a alien tech graphical calculator that could hack pretty much anything with a power source and a sleep beam. It was my response to their almost instant murder of 4 serious bond & ramboesque agents. Bascially their tactic until this point was find out which agency goes after them and then murder themselves throught 'til they stop messing with the plans.

Having a plot-proof agent messing with them that was only loosely aviliated with a powerful organization forced them to switch tactics.

Even hardened mercenary - minions have a soft spot for a 10 year old ophran with a limp, braces and a fluffy little wiener dog (that could turn into a 9 feet tall murder machine, but she didn't knew that)

>Even then, she had to spend four years doing grunt work (wiretaps, basic shadows, etc.) before she finally got her big break; much of that is explicitly attributed towards being a woman during the 1960s - Cate is UNITY's first real female field agent, as well.
This is exemplified by one of Cate's top bosses in NOLF 1 actively hassling and harrassing her throughout the campaign, calling her unfit for duty by virtue of her gender and allowing her to get big-name assignments only because she's literally all they had left to field.

Like Pujol.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Pujol_García

Except maybe more Pujol.

>Dude straight up lies to the Nazis with the flimsiest of data
>Nazis buy it and are convinced he's legit

If I remember correctly the book James Bond was an orphan that the agency picked up and raised to be a stone cold killer, I guess he does it because he doesn't know anything else.

>In general, they prefer to avoid killing and the headaches that are associated with it, and good spies can generally find a way around it. It's much better to arrange a scandal to remove an inconvenient politician, as opposed to potentially make him/her a martyr with assassination.
Well yeah. Not all removals require death.

>looks like david mitchel
>has an inferiority complex
Sounds about right

Makes sense, given the stuff you see him do.

>And he got an Iron Cross out of it
>which is reserved for frontline combatants
>Hitler agreed to this

Like Rolling Thunder or Elevator Action.

What is the real difference between a ninja and a spy, technically speaking, because they seem to more or less be the same?

>he told the nazis he had a full network of spies
>Nazis send him money as salary for all of them
>none of the people actually existed he just pocketed the money

>pretends one of those spies died during a mission
>uses a newspaper obituary for the "dead person" he posted himself as proof
>Nazis send him even more money as compensation for the fake widow the fake person left behind

What a ruse master

All ninjas are spies, but not all spies are ninjas. Ninjas are trained in Japan and have a particular set of esoteric skills that set them apart from other, western spies.

In other words, ninjas are just spies with classical Japanese training.

Historically speaking, "ninja" are just spies, but not in English because they're not from an English speaking country. They find information while undercover and then deliver that information to their handler. Literally just spies. No spandex pajamas or amazing acrobatics or slaughtering entire battalions in a single swing of their shorter-than-average sword.

Add fantasy and they're more like supernatural assassins who also sometimes spy on the side.

I want Kate Archer to be related to Sterling Archer.

>Patriotism makes it okay to kill people
It would be okay if you killed yourself.

[Spies in Japanese]

Sounds about right.

They wouldn't be a superninja if they didn't do at least some spying and intelligence gathering. That aside, they're just a Japanese-flavored superspy.

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I quite like basing my spies on the early seasons of Burn Notice, for modern games.

It's got equal levels of plausible and cheesy.

I also like the idea that spies are good at making do with what they got instead of relying on a bunch of super gadgets.

Pretty much a wanton mishmash of Frank Drebin, Austin Powers and the manic party animal side of Zaphod Beeblebrox.

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What sort of culture clash would you expect from spies coming from different cultures, upbringing or training? How do you reconcile them if you forced them to come together?

The spy who blunders his way into revelations?

Yeah, kinda. And then start a large, complicated, bombastic plan which conveniently solves the problem AND gets him a girl on the inside. Completely winging it, of course.

Meant for

>The nother Soviet spy waifu

Soviet spy waifus are as dangerous as they come. Don't be entranced by their accent.

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Also the fact that 90% of spywork is far from glamorous.

>Don't be entranced by their accent.

user, it's too late for that. Comrade.

CYKA

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Are all Chinese spies villains?

The mark of an excellent spy is how resourceful they are in any given circumstance. It's what allows for so many close escapes.

Man I should go watch those new Venture Brothers seasons

>I always wondered what motivated a man like James Bond to do what he does
For Queen and country.

Basically, he's the guy that does all the dirty little things that need to be done in order to keep Britain intact. He knows that. He also knows that it's not possible for him to retire; he knows too much.
Skyfall shows what happens when you let a 00 agent go; they come back with a head full of secrets and fuck your shit up to kill their old boss.
Bond essentially lives for his job of fighting supervillains and bedding their wives/henchwomen. He does what he does because it's what he does, and all he knows. You can't retire him on a fat pension and expect him to settle down on a farm and raise pigs.
He's as much a liability as an asset; you constantly have to find threats for him to handle, or he'll get bored and idle and start breaking into places 'just to see if he can', like apes that break of of their zoo cages for the challenge, steal some bananas and fruit juice, then curl up for a nap somewhere and wait to be found.

HOW THE FUCK COULD THE NAZIS HAVE BEEN SO STUPID.
They deserved to lose the damn war.

The soundtrack is fucking flawless, though.

I played NOLF 1 and 2 as a kid, and from what I remember, they were absolutely fantastic, and I definitely played both through 2-3 times.

It's very Austin Powers.

>It's very Austin Powers.
Well, yeah. The game revels in the fact it takes place in the '60s and plays it for everything it's worth, up to and including casual sexism towards the main character by certain bad dudes.

As far as I know the Nazis spy game was weak as hell and one of the major reasons they lost, appearantly they had multiple spy networks set up in England except every single one of those spies was a double agent (they probably started out as actual spies but got discovered and turned into informants), not even a single one of them was on the nazis side.

Cracking the German ciphers definitely didn't help them, either.
On top of the Americans using ciphers based on a commodity that only they had access to: the Native American language.

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>by certain bad dudes
Doesn't her own team come up with elaborate innuendo codephrases especially for her?

There's a dude in the cryptography department who does put together a bunch of code phrases that are just bad pick-up getting fiercely shot down. At least one field agent remarks there's a sort of confessional tone to them.

>[Standing outside the East German Research Facility]
>Berlin contact: I seem to have lost my phone number. Can I have yours?
>Cate Archer: I'm in the book. Just look under "police department".
>Berlin contact: Why must I be made to say such stupid things?

>[Standing in the street]
>1st Contact: Guten Abend Fraulein, do you make love to strangers?
>Cate Archer: Certainly not!
>Contact: Then allow me to introduce myself.
>Cate Archer: Why not introduce yourself to a police officer and spare me the trouble?

>[Answering Payphone]
>2nd Contact: Are you free tonight, or will it cost me?
>Cate Archer: More than you can afford!

>[Ringing doorbell of apartment 205]
>3rd Contact: Want to come in for a game of twister?
>Cate Archer: I'd rather run over you with my car!

>[In a bar]
>4th Contact: You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Can you cook and clean too?
>Cate Archer: No, but I can put you in the hospital if you want. Maybe you can find someone to take care of you there, maybe.

youtube.com/watch?v=GohRznSTV9k

There's only a couple who would fit the criteria in my game. One of them is a smoke elemental who works for an inquisition-ish organisation that hunts down people attempting to start cults for Gods who haven't been officially sanctified by the Heavenly Courts, because that happened a lot a few centuries back and it didn't end well for anyone.

The other is basically out for herself and manipulating everyone on the gameboard for a vague moral justification that she refuses to elaborate on. The party currently trusts her, and she thinks that is hilarious.

Doesn't the party have its own way of gathering intelligence?

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It's 100% far from glamorous. Nothing about it is glamorous.

But 90% of it is desk work.

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Well, they're no strangers to the art of subterfuge, but she's much better at it than they are.

what's a good RPG for super spy shenanigans?

Have you ever seen "The Sandbaggers"?

youtube.com/watch?v=lKg_t-Prhqk

My setting's spies are grey men. Not AYYY grey men, just people with very forgettable faces. Sort of like diet-blanks. It's not that people dislike being around them, they're just really hard to remember and they tend to get ignored. Because governments don't really exist in any meaningful capacity, megacorps are always using grey men to try and get tech from each other.

Foiling grey men is pretty simple most of the time (just set up biometrics and other automated security systems), but since that equipment costs money, most corps can't do it for all their sites.

We've made it a latent psychic ability you roll a d20 to detect. PC's can't have it, we decided it was too OP.

Grey men also make pretty good assassins, especially with underworld types, b/c they can just avoid security cameras and can pretty much shank a dude in a crowded lobby and people will freak out, but nobody can remember what he looked like.