Wilderness of Mirrors 002 Edition (6800306)

WILDERNESS MIRRORS of

John Wick Matt Wilson (order #6800306)

Wilderness of Mirrors 002 Edition A Little Game about Spies, Crooks, Missions and Heists

I would not have been able to write this game without my friend, Jared. Thank you, puddin’ head.

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Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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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INTRODUCTION They dared me to do it. They 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 to it. My friends Baron and Vach wanted to play a spy game, but all the systems they found just didn’t do what they wanted. They tried everything from Spycraft to Top Secret, but nothing really worked. Every time I talked to them, they were complaining about something or another. In fact, they had about twenty pages of house rules for Spycraft to make it into the game they wanted. That’s when I said those fateful words. “You know,” I told them, “instead of messing around with someone else’s system, you could just make your own.” They shook their heads and assured me it was far easy to modify an existing system than to come up with something from scratch. “Nonsense,” I told them. “We could come up with a spy game that does exactly what you want in about ten minutes.” They looked at me with the kind of disbelief I reserve for Creationists. “No,” I told them. “It’s easy. Look, let’s take it apart, piece by piece.” It actually took me about fifteen minutes, but by the time I was done, I had something I was very happy with. They both told me it was brilliant... then they continued tweaking Spycraft. I believe the reason for this is because the game I wrote for them wasn’t a 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. This is my hope. Maybe if I dare ‘em, they’ll look. Yeah. That’s it. Either way, this game is dedicated to my friends Baron and Vach, monster mondo mutant spy fans who want “the perfect spy game.” I don’t know if mine is perfect (I’m still a huge fan of the original James Bond: 007 RPG from the ‘80’s), but it’s the best I could do. That’s got to be good enough, right? Right???

The Big Three Questions My buddy Jared Sorensen likes to run game design seminars. He likes inviting people in with the allure of speaking to a designer they respect and admire and then 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 fire through a chimney and destroy 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 the details of a game. I also ask myself a fourth question: 4. Why is that fun?

So, in the spirit of throwing a game out into the public, here are my answers to those questions. Jared would probably find them unsatisfactory, but then again, he loves ABBA, so what do I care?

PART 1: WHAT IS MY GAME ABOUT? My game is about spies. More specifically, it’s about creating the kind of atmosphere present in a James Bond or Jason Bourne novel. (Coincidentally, it also creates the same kind of atmosphere in heist novels; my favorite being the Parker novels by Richard Stark, aka, Donald Westlake.) Players want to be James and Jason and we should let them do just that. Not first level chumps who have to work their way up the ladder to become Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but the kind of characters who can walk beside The Saint and Mrs. Peel without feeling like scrubs. But spy novels aren’t just about spies: they’re also about paranoia. Bond never knows exactly who he can trust. Bourne novels are breeding ponds for suspicion. Another popular spy—Sidney in Alias—is surrounded by deceit. Fans of 24 know that Jack Bauer can’t trust anyone... not even himself.

Agents and Operations A Quick aside. Player characters are “agents” or “spies.” The Narrator is “Operations.” 2

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So, we’ve got expertise and trust. Two important elements to re-creating the kind of spy drama my buddies Baron and Vach love. But there’s another element of spy films and novels that I dig the most, and that’s planning. Watching Mission: Impossible teaches us that spies spend an inordinate amount of time planning a mission, but the real drama begins when one little thing goes wrong. That, of course, leads to some other tiny thing going wrong, which leads to another, and another, and another, until finally, you’ve got one huge rolling

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snowball of wrong rolling straight toward the spies. How our protagonists deal with that is why we read and watch. In summary, we have three things that make spy literature so captivating: expertise, trust, and planning. I want players to feel that these three elements are the most important elements in the game. In order to do that, I have to make mechanics based on those elements. Let’s get started. Now that I know what my game is about, it’s time to think of some mechanics that reflect those goals. Let’s take them one step at a time. Part 2: How Does My Game Do That? Answer: By making everyone James Bond. Now that I know what my game is about, it’s time to think of some mechanics that reflect those 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 wanna be James Bond.” Well, in a normal roleplaying game, James Bond would have to roll his stats or spend points on them in an effort to make him “balanced” with the other characters. In a fantasy roleplaying game where the heroes begin as farmboys and farmgirls and fight their way to become heroes, this could be argued as sensible (although don’t ask me to do it), but in a spy game, such a goal is counter-intuitive to the end goal of making characters that emulate spies from our favorite movies and books. Guys like James Bond and Jason Bourne have top scores in every stat. If we were playing a game... oh, let’s say that used a d20 for all its task resolution, there’s no way Jason Bourne has got anything less than an 18 in every stat. In fact, he’s probably got twenties. I mean, pick a stat and try

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to justify a “game balance” that gives Bond less than an 18 in that stat. Go on. I dare you. My buddy Jess Heinig once said something that really inspired me. “I want to design a game that rewards players for their choices, not punish them.” He did it (with his amazing Dying Kingdoms LARP) and inspired me to try it here. So, instead of having a system that punishes players for their choices, I decided to have a system that rewards them. Also, if you want to be Jason Bourne, you can be. Bourne can do anything, but he’s not the best at everything. If you’re Bourne, you may have to work a little harder in areas that aren’t in your area of expertise.

Expertise So, instead of stats, we’ve got Expertise. Each and every spy has each Expertise, but each spy is the best at one of them. In this game, there are five kinds of Expertise. They aren’t based on physical or mental abilities, but on the method a spy uses to get the job done. And rather than using boring old adjectives, lets use words that sound more like code names.

The Fixer This is the guy who uses technology to get what he needs. The Grifter This is the guy who lies to get what he needs. The Gunman This is the guy who kills people with guns to get what he needs. The Heavy This is the guy who uses his muscles to get what he needs. The Shade This is the guy who stays in the dark and steals what he needs.

Thirty-Five Points So, let’s make your agent. First, your agent has a 1 in each Expertise. Next, you get thirty-five points to put toward making your Agent better. Here’s the trick: getting the first rank is free, but the second is really expensive. Getting more ranks is cheaper. This means it’s easy to specialize in one Expertise, but it’s really hard to be good at everything. The costs break down like this: Expertise 1 2 3 4 5

Cost Free 4 3 (7) 2 (9) 1 (10)

Any leftover points you have are lost.

For Example... I want my spy to be an expert in gunplay and charm. Therefore, I use my points like this… • Fixer: 2 (four points) •

Grifter: 4 (nine points)

•

Gunman: 5 (ten points)

•

Heavy: 2 (four points)

•

Shade: 3 (seven points)

That’s a total of 34 points. One short of my limit. I don’t get to do anything with that extra point; it fades away.

Using Expertise When on a Mission, if you want your agent to do something risky, roll a number of dice equal to your character’s most appropriate Expertise.

I’ll tell you how to interpret the outcome of the roll in a moment. But before we get that far, let’s talk about The Mission.

Mission: Planning My favorite part of any spy novel or heist movie is the planning. Watch Mission: Impossible or read one of Richard Stark’s Parker novels. They are obsessed with planning. At least half the show or book is planning. Of course, the rest of the book or show is what the agents/ crooks do when the plan goes wrong. So, how do you make planning an important and vital part of the game? Easy! You make a mechanic out of it!

Step 1: The Premise Every game session begins with Operations (that’s the GM) giving the players a goal. This could be to extract an important hostage, find and eliminate a mole, or even seize the assets of a terrorist org overseas. Operations presents the scenario... and then the players make up the details. In most spy fiction, the agents do all the footwork before they go into the mission. That means research: finding out everything they need to know before they take a single step. This is an important part of spy fiction, so let’s make it an important part of our spy game.

Trying to do something sneaky? Use your Shade Expertise. If that’s 3, you get to roll three dice.

Operations comes up with the premise and only the premise. He tells the players, “Get the UN Ambassador out of Saudi Arabia,” or “Rob a race horse track.” Once that’s on the table, our players spend some time considering how they’re going to do that.

Trying to shoot someone? Use your Gunman Expertise. If that’s 4, you get to roll four dice.

For Example… As Operations, I think of a goal for 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 the details. All I need is something simple. They’ll provide the complications. And if they don’t provide enough complications, I’ll throw some of my own in later as well. So, for this sample Mission, I’ll tell them, “The President’s daughter has been kidnapped by terrorists.” That’s all I need. Now, let’s see what happens next…

Step 2: The Plan The players then spend time planning on how they’re going to complete their assigned goal. They start planning… right down to the last detail. The players tell Operations about the terrorist organization that’s holding the hostage, where the terrorist are keeping the hostage, the men heading up that organization, all the details, all the 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 for that detail. He could say, “Witnesses on the scene say…” or “Keyhole photographs from satellite…” or “After interrogators questioned his wife…” or anything else that may provide the agents with the information they need.

For Example… After giving my players the goal (rescue the President’s daughter from terrorists), I let them come up with the Mission details. For each detail, I insist they tell me where and how they got that information. The more complicated a detail is, the more Mission Points it is worth. In other words, the more difficult the players make the mission, the more they’re rewarded for it.

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Like rolling your Expertise, I’ll explain how these work in just a moment. In fact, I’ll do it in the very next section.

Step 3: Team Leader Finally, the Team selects a Team Leader. This is the Agent who has the most capable skill set for the mission. The Leader gains a very special benefit. The Team Leader can perform an assist action. If a fellow Agent has failed to gain any successes on a roll, and the Team Leader is with him, the Team Leader can spend a Mission Point and roll his own Expertise. The Leader’s roll replaces the Agent’s roll. The Leader cannot perform this action if he is not within sight and speaking distance from the Agent he wants to assist.

The Mission During the Mission, when you have to roll dice, you can trade Mission Points to add to your dice pool. Every Mission Point gives you one additional die to How Many roll. You can spend Mission Points as many Mission do I Get? Points you want How many MPs do I on a roll, but every get for each detail? I’m Mission Point you assuming 1:1. take from the pool is a Mission Point The usual ratio is 1:1, you cannot use later. but if Operations feels a Whenever you take detail is particularly juicy, a Mission Point adding a dramatic twist from the pool, you to the plot, he can award can’t use it again. more. Awarding 2 Mission So, be careful with your Mission Points. Once you use them, they’re gone.

Points per detail should be rare and awarding 3 should only occur once per Mission at most.

Using Expertise Now, here’s where Expertise comes into play.

That means, even if you have multiple Hitmen, the Gunman’s special effect can only be triggered once per game. Triggering these effects requires the use of one Mission Point.

When you spend a Mission Point on an action, you add it to your Area of Expertise for the number of dice you roll. For example, if you want to shoot someone, you use your Gunman Expertise. Let’s say your Gunman Expertise is 3. Most roleplaying games say something about If you spend one MP, you roll four dice. If you “whenever your character takes an action, roll spend two MPs, you roll five dice to see if he succeeds of dice. The more dice you roll, the fails.” Well, that ain’t what being Special Effects more narrative control you have a spy is about. Spies don’t “take Once per game, the Fixer over action. actions,” they take risks. With can spend a Mission Point that in mind, let’s look at the This encourages players to and have the exact right tool basic resolution mechanic. utilize their Agents’ strengths or weapon he needs. rather than their weaknesses, Whenever your agent takes Once per πgame, the but still does not cripple them. a risk—an action that puts Grifter can spend a Mission If you are the shooter and the agent or another character Point and make anyone you need to talk, you can still in danger or significantly believe anything he wants. roll a ton of dice, but it costs influences the plot—roll dice. you more to do it. This way, You roll a number of sixOnce per game, the Heavy everybody has a 20 in all their sided dice equal to the most can spend a Mission Point stats, but it’s just a little tougher appropriate Expertise. Check and take out up to ten for some guys to do things they the total of your roll with this opponents with hand-toaren’t used to. table to determine the outcome. hand violence.

Risk

If you need to take a risk but have no Mission Points, roll a number of dice equal to your Expertise.

Experts and Special Effects

Once per game, the Gunman can spend a Mission Point and make a kill without rolling any dice. Once per game, the Shade can spend a Mission Point and move through any area without being detected.

On your team, whoever has the highest level of Expertise is considered the Expert in that field. In other words, if your spy has the highest Gunman, he’s considered the Gunman of the squad. If two or more agents have the same expertise, they are both considered Experts. Once per game, an Expert can trigger an Expertise “special effect.” Each Expertise gets one and it can only be triggered once per game. 6

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Roll 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20+

Outcome Operations Narrates Operations Narrates with one Agent Veto Agent Narrates with one Operations Veto Agent Narrates

Narrative Control Narrative control has become a subject of obsession for me lately. No reason not to use it here. Narrative control may sound like a newfangled high-falutin’ artsy fartsy wanna-be actor idea, but it’s actually one of the oldest ideas in roleplaying. In most roleplaying games, the Game Master has complete narrative control. The character takes a risk, the player rolls dice, and the GM says what happens. In this circumstance, the roll determines who gets to narrate the outcome. If the player gets to narrate the risk, he doesn’t have to make his agent succeed. He can force his agent to fail instead, but he can control the outcome. Take Indiana Jones for example. He jumps across the pit... and he fails. But he scrambles to find a root vine, pulls himself up, and rolls through the quickly closing stone wall. The player got to narrate the scene and he narrated a failure, but he got to control the failure. Meanwhile, if Operations gets to narrate the outcome, he doesn’t necessarily have to force the agent to fail. He can force 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 Staypuft Marshmallow Man… Jack Burton and… well, his whole life.

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Narrative control, shifting back and forth between Operations and the players, allows a different kind of roleplaying experience. We do this with two mechanics: Trust and Time.

Yes, and… The resolution chart notes possible results including getting a “veto.” What kind of veto does Operations or a player get? I would say, for the purposes of challenging the players and making the game fun, that you should employ the old improvisational rule of “Yes, but...” or “Yes, and...”. The veto cannot change a fact, but only modify it. So, if a player is trying to unlock the door and gets a “Success, but Veto” result, he says, “The door is unlocked.” Operations then says, “Yes, but it set off a silent alarm somewhere in the building.”

PART 3: WHAT BEHAVIORS DOES MY GAME REWARD? •

Betraying Others, and

•

Getting the Job Done Quick

We do this with two mechanics: Trust and Time.

Trust Another important element of spy literature is trust. In TV shows like Alias, the protagonists have no clue in whom they can place their trust. This, for me, is one of the pivotal elements of the spy genre and something no spy-themed game has ever addressed in a real way. So, I did. In the La Femme Nikita TV show (everybody should see the first season), agents died left 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 in Section 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 of the Agents on abeyance. I don’t tell the Agent, but I do tell his team leader. And I tell the team leader not to tell the Agent. See, the abeyance Agent has been double-dipping: he’s informing the Enemy about 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 five minute timer, it has a twenty second timer. The abeyance agent does not know this. When the bomb goes off, it’s the team leader’s job to make sure the rest of the team is out of the way. It’s up to him to plan a mission that gets the Obeyance Operative killed. Now our unlucky team leader knows the Agent in question is no traitor, but he does not trust Operations, either. So now he has to figure out a way to keep the Agent alive and clear his name without getting himself on the Bad Kid List.

Betraying Operations Q: Can I betray Operations and get Trust Dice? A: Yes, you can. You duplicitous bastard. 8

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Ah, conflict. How I love thy ways... When the team leader gives the abeyance agent the bomb, I give the Team Leader three dice. These are called “Trust Dice.” (The name is ironic.) I give a player Trust Dice whenever he does something that actively sabotages another player. This does two things. First, it rewards players for betraying each other. Second,

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it informs the other players that the betrayer is up to something. I seed mistrust and doubt. Excellent. Remember: the Team Leader allocates all the Mission Points to the other players. The only way to get more dice is to actively plot against your fellow agents. By the way, for the purposes of Trust Dice, Operations is considered an agent.

Time Finally, when it’s time to pull the caper, we come down to the issue of time. Time is always an important element in spy literature, but it’s never really addressed in games. This is my solution. (Actually, I have three solutions: two from me and one from Jess Heinig. I’m providing both because I think both of them work well in different ways. I liked all three mechanics, so I included all three. Pick the one you like the most.)

Solution #1 For every twenty minutes of real time that passes, subtract 5 from all the players’ rolls. The longer the Agents take on a mission, the more difficult the mission becomes.

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Solution #2 For every twenty minutes of real time, the team gets a point of Setback. At any time during the game, Operations can spend a point of Setback, moving his narrative control up by one notch. If he gets only one veto, he gets full control; if he gets no control, he gets one veto. If he has full control, he can do permanent damage to your agent. You see, agents never get permanent damage. Well, almost never. Bond does have a dueling scar after all. And he did lose his wife to a sniper... on their wedding day, no less. I’d count that as “permanent damage.” In other words, if Operations spends a point of Setback when he has full narrative control, he can permanently scar your agent.

Solution #3 When I told this mechanic to Jess Heinig, he suggested a slightly different Time Mechanic: for every twenty minutes of time that passes, every player loses one Mission Point. (You can also do it so that one player loses a Mission Point. It’s up to you.) This also represents the fact that as the mission goes on, complications make even simple things difficult.

PART 4: WHY IS THAT FUN? Finally, let’s ask my question. Why is this fun? Well, spies are fun. Not knowing the outcome of a die roll and improvising around the result is fun. And, frankly, being James Bond is fun. You get the car, the gadgets, the danger, the exotic travel, and the Bond Girl. Or, if you prefer, the Bond Guy. We don’t discriminate. Here, at the end, you have everything you need to play a fast-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, The Saint, The Avengers, and Mission: Impossible (the show, not the movie). It has been brought to my attention that this little ditty would make for a fine caper game. The same rules apply. You’ve got a team of capable folks, a mission (in this case, a criminal one), planning, timing and complications. And betrayal. Let’s not forget betrayal. It hadn’t escaped my notice. Being a fan of Richard Stark’s Parker novels, I knew exactly what I was doing, but I try to follow a simple rule: “Make a game that does one thing and does it better than anything else.” So, a caper game will follow, but not now. A little later. Now go on out and get your spy on.

MISSION PREP Step One: Assignment Operations (GM) gives the agents a one sentence mission. “Find the kidnapped hostages,” “Assassinate the rogue general,” “Bring back the stolen gold,” etc.

Step Two: Planning The agents (players) go through all the steps of doing the mission. They come up with the obstacles and advantages they’ll need. Operations rewards them with Mission Points. The more difficult the players make the mission for their agents, the more Operations rewards their efforts.

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Step Three: Allocation The team leader (the agent with the highest Saturn rating) allocates the Mission Dice to himself and the other players. Each player also gets a number of bonus Mission Dice equal to the Saturn AOE of the team leader. The team leader himself does not get this bonus. Step Four: The Mission The agents carry out the mission. Whenever an agent takes a risk, he rolls a number of dice equal to his appropriate Expertise plus one die per Mission Point he spends. Once per game, the Expert of a particular AOE may spend a Mission Point for a specific special effect.

OLYMPUS 7 Olympus 7 is a covert organization for use with Wilderness of Mirrors. It is not a friendly place. Olympus gets it’s funding from various government intelligence organizations. The CIA, MI6, NSB, G2 and others secretly support Olympus 7 for the sole purpose of sharing information, manpower and resources. At least, that’s what Olympus 7 tells its sponsors. But it has a special branch, a secret branch that operates without the knowledge of its sponsors. And that’s the branch your agents work for.

History Olympus 7 began after the fall of the Berlin Wall. High-ranking members of various intelligence organizations—in an unprecedented display of trust—agreed to meet to discuss the

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future. No notes were taken, no record made of the meeting. All that is known is this: they arranged for an independent organization that could accomplish what their own governments would not allow. The head of Olympus 7, a man so secret nobody even knows his name, organizes intelligence and manpower between the various agencies. He arranged for assassinations, rescues and other black ops. Operations Presidents and Senates and governments forbid, Olympus 7 carried out with ruthless efficiency. O7 handles its operations with care and cunning. Agents from all across the globe are recruited for one mission and then sent back home. Sometimes, agents don’t even know who they were working for. O7 teams commonly consist of agents from different agencies. A recent rescue mission was built from ABIN (Brazil), CIA (US), EGID (Egypt) and Mossad (Israel). O7 selects agents based on their skills, knowledge and contacts. It expects the agents to work together and keep their mouths shut. Agents who break their silence are commonly found dead… or never found at all.

Secret History But there’s one part of Olympus 7 even its founders don’t know about. A secret division of agents that carry out missions that further the goals of Olympus 7 and not its patrons. It is a division called “Hades.” And only one person controls it. Here’s how it works. You’re an agent from an intelligence agency working for O7 on

a standard mission. However, during the mission, O7 fakes your death and reports your demise back to your parent organization. Then, they bring you in to Hades. They reinvent you. New life, new friends, new face. And they warn you that disobedience will cause painful suffering and eventual death to any loved ones you might have. Congratulations. You are a Hades Agent.

Life as a Hades Agent You 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 that makes 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 if you’re coming back. All missions are suicide missions. If you survive, that’s a bonus. They don’t expect you to survive. But they also expect you to try to run. You’ve seen Hades agents make a break for it. They all fail. They get caught or they get killed. And the missions make no sense. Sometimes you fight terrorist cells and sometimes you aid them against others. It seems as if Hades has an agenda so complex, it’s like trying to make seven different jigsaw puzzles fit.

INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD Argentina Coordinación de Informaciones de Estado (CIDE)

Australia Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Australian Army Intelligence Corps (AUSTINT) Australian Federal Police Intelligence (AFP) Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO) Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) Office of National Assessments (ONA) 12

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Bangladesh Directorate General of 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

Canada Canadian Security Intelligence Service / Service Canadien du renseignement de sécurité (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 of State Security (MSS)

Colombia Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) Administrative Department of Security (of Colombia)

Cuba Dirección General de Inteligencia (DGI) General Directorate of Intelligence

Czech Republic Bezpečnostní informační služba (BIS) Security Information Service Úřad pro zahraniční styky a informace (ÚZSI) Office for Foreign Relations and Information Vojenské zpravodajství (VZ) Military Intelligence

Matt Wilson (order #6800306)

Denmark

Politiets Efterretningstjeneste (PET) Danish Security and Intelligence Service Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste (FE) Danish Defence Intelligence Service

Egypt Al-Mukhabarat al-’Ammah Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate Mabahith Amn al-Dawla al-’Ulya State Security Investigation Bureau Al-Mukhabarat al-Harbeya (Military Intelligence)

Finland Suojelupoliisi (SUPO) Security Intelligence Service

France Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE) General Directorate of External Security Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur (DCRI) Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence

Germany Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) Federal Intelligence Service Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (Bf V) Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Militärischer Abschirmdienst (MAD) Military Counterintelligence Service

Greece Ethniki Ypiresia Pliroforion (NIS) Hellenic National Intelligence Service

India Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) Intelligence Bureau (IB) National Investigation Agency (NIA) Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)

Indonesia Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN)

Iran Ministry of Intelligence and National Security (VEVAK) NAJA Intelligence and security organization of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (SASA) SAVAK Defunct secret police,replacement by VEVAK

Ireland G2 Army Intelligence (G2) Garda National Surveillance Unit (NSU) Irish Secret Service (ISS)

Israel ha-Mossad le-Modiin u-le-Tafkidim Myukhadim (Mossad) Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations Shirut Bitahon Klali (ISA) Israel Security Agency Aman Military Intelligence Directorate

Italy Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Interna (AISI) Agency for Internal Information and Security Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna (AISE) Agency for External Information and Security

Jordan Dairat al-Mukhabarat al-Ammah

Lithuania Valstybės Saugumo Departamentas (VSD) State Security Department Antrasis operatyvinių tarnybų departamentas prie Krašto apsaugos ministerijos (AOTD) II-nd Investigation Department

Malaysia Kor Risik DiRaja Royal Intelligence Corps 14

Matt Wilson (order #6800306)

Malaysian Special Branch of the Royal Malaysian Police National Security Council (Malaysia) National Security Division (BKN) Defence Staff Intelligence Division Public Safety & Security Division

Mexico Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional (CISEN) National Security and Investigation Center Agencia Federal de Investigacion (AFI) Federal Investigation Agency

Morocco Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (DST) Directorate of Territorial Surveillance Direction Generale des Etudes et la Documentation (DGED)

Netherlands Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst (AIVD) General Intelligence and Security Service Militaire Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst (MIVD) Military Intelligence and Security Service Nationaal Coördinator Terrorismebestrijding (NCTb) Domestic Counter-Terrorist Unit ‘Fiscale inlichtingen- en opsporingsdienst (FOID-ECD) Fiscal Information and Investigation Service

New Zealand New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB)

Norway National Security Authority (NSM) Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) Norwegian Intelligence Service (E-tjenesten)

Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)

15

Military Intelligence (MI) Intelligence Bureau (IB) Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Criminal Investigation Department (CID)

Philippines Office of the President National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Presidential Security Group - Presidential Intelligence Company (PSG-PIC) Department of National Defense Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) ‘’’Philippine Air force’’’ - 300th Air Intelligence and Security Squadron (300TH AISG) Philippine Army - Intelligence Security Group (PA-ISG) Philippine Navy - Naval Intelligence and Security Force (PN-NISF) Department of Justice National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Department of Interior and Local Government Philippine National Police - Intelligence Group (PNP-IG) Department of Finance Bureau of Customs - Intelligence Group (BOC-IG) Bureau of Internal Revenue - National Investigation Division (BIR-NID) Department of Transportation and Communications Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Security and Intelligence Service (CAAP-SIS) Land Transportation Office - Intelligence and Investigation Division (LTO-IID) Philippine Coast Guard - Intelligence, Security and Law Enforcement (PCG-ISLE)

Matt Wilson (order #6800306)

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

Portugal Serviço de Informações de Segurança (SIS) – Security Intelligence Service Serviço de Informações Estratégicas de Defesa (SIED) Strategic Defense Intelligence Service Sistema de Informações da República Portuguesa (SIRP) Intelligence System of the Portuguese Republic

Romania Serviciul Roman de Informatii (SRI) Romanian Information Service

Russian Federation Federalnaya 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

Serbia Bezbednosno Informativna Agencija (BIA) Security Informative Agency Vojnoobavestajna agencija (VOA) Military Intelligence Agency

Singapore Security and Intelligence Division (SID) Internal Security Department (ISD)

Slovakia Slovenská informačná služba (SIS) Slovak Information Service Vojenská spravodajská služba (VSS) Military Intelligence Service

South Africa National Intelligence Agency (NIA) South African Secret Service (SASS)

South Korea National Intelligence Service (NIS)

Spain Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI) National Intelligence Centre

Sweden Kontoret för särskild inhämtning (KSI) Office for Special Acquisition Underrättelsekon-toret (UNDK) Intelligence Office

Republic of China (Taiwan) National Security Bureau (NSB) Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) Bureau of Military Intelligence

Turkey Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı (MİT) National Intelligence Organization

Ukraine Holovne 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 Kingdom Defence Intelligence Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6) Special Branch 16

Matt Wilson (order #6800306)

Security Service (colloquially MI5) Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)

United States Independent agencies Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) United States Department of Defense Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency (AFISRA) United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (MI) Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Marine Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA) National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) National Security Agency (NSA) Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) United States Department of Energy Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (OICI) United States Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) United States Department of State Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) United States Department of the Treasury Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence

Vietnam Tổng cục 2 (TC2)

TOP SECRET Wilderness of Mirrors 002 Character Sheet

Agent Expertise ___ The Fixer ___ The Grifter

Code Name:______________________________________________________ Name: ___________________________________________________________ Agency:__________________________________________________________ Age:__________________________

Sex: _____________________________

___ The Gunman

Weight: _______________________

Height: __________________________

___ The Heavy

Hair Color: ____________________

Eye Color: _______________________

___ The Shade

Handedness:___________________

Expert

The Mission

_____________________________

The Premise: _____________________________________________________

Special Effect: _________________

________________________________________________________________

_____________________________

The Plan Source: _______________________

Detail:___________________________

________________________________________________________________ Source: _______________________

Detail:___________________________

________________________________________________________________ Source: _______________________

Detail:___________________________

________________________________________________________________ Source: _______________________

Detail:___________________________

________________________________________________________________ Source: _______________________

Detail:___________________________

________________________________________________________________ Source: _______________________

Team Leader

Detail:___________________________

________________________________________________________________ Source: _______________________

Detail:___________________________

________________________________________________________________ Source: _______________________

Detail:___________________________

________________________________________________________________

Matt Wilson (order #6800306)