Campaign Kick-Off/Character Building Discussion

Premise
It is 1967 -- the height of the Cold War. The communists are gaining power, their barbed, red tendrils twisting throughout the world and taking hold. Formed in secret, NATO has created "Project: JETSET (Joint Espionage Taskforce for Strategic and Enhanced Tactics)," a group of elite spies and operatives recruited from NATO countries, pulled together to handle threats and plots no single country could stop on their own!

The Game

- Inspiration for the game is taken from Mission: Impossible (TV show), The Avengers (TV show), and James Bond movies (specifically the Sean Connery films). Spies are the coolest and most stylish men and women in every scene. The player-characters will frequent the most exotic locales the world has to offer as they get themselves into situations that will be equally exotic and unusual as they protect freedom.

- Like much of the media the game is based on the game’s structure will be primarily episodic in nature. Stories will pull from a growing campaign lore and history, but each session will represent a self-contained "adventure."

- The tone will be light-hearted, but will generally lean towards the serious. The overall feel should never stray into complete farce, but some plots, given the kinds of stories that inspire them, will veer toward the ridiculous. Ideally this will be a case where the players laugh at situations their characters take very seriously.

- Like the media that inspires it, Project JETSET will lean heavily into action set pieces and thrills, rather than weeks long surveillance and long-term asset building. That is not to say those things aren’t happening, but those operations are more the realm of the NPCs. As the best and brightest, the player-characters will be involved in more high-stakes missions.

- The campaign aesthetic is Swinging Sixties and Space Age glamor. Expect things like boxy briefcases, needlessly complicated acronyms, phone booths, micro-cameras, leather accents, and classic Pan Am-era, globetrotting style.

- It is a realistic world, but physics will often bend in favor of "cool" when the PCs and their main adversaries are on the scene. Expect a level of realism consistent to what is found in most cinematic spy adventures.

- While the time is full of examples of racism and sexism the game will present a more idealized version of the era. Women can be "dolls" or "dames," but these are the attitudes of less virtuous or enlightened men. Racism will not be tolerated.

- Goofy accents are encouraged. Light cultural stereotypes are permitted (and likely unavoidable), but mean-spirited or hurtful representations are not allowed.

- Expect morality to be almost cartoonishly simple. There is good and there is evil with only occasional shades of grey. In other words, there are good guys (the PCs) and bad guys (the Soviets and Chinese Communists). Complicated motives are reserved only for double-agents and those will be pretty rare.

The System
We will be using a homebrew system I call the Impact System: a light, narrative, universal system for resolving action and challenges during a tabletop role-playing game.

1. Everything in the game, from the characters and the world that surrounds them, is described using Details. Details are short, narrative descriptions of capabilities, features, skills, personality traits, or technology that could make a difference in task resolution. While there are three different types of Details (Character, Scene/World, and Temporary), they essentially function in a similar manner, with minor adjustments related to their focus.

2. A character's ability to influence the story is rated using an Impact Die. The Impact Die is a traditional polyhedral role-playing game die and operates on a scale from lowest number of sides to highest. For example, a D4 is the lowest possible Impact Die and a character with a current Impact Die rank of D4 will have the least chance of influencing the story, while a D20 is the highest Impact Die rating and stands the largest chance of affecting the outcome the story. A character's Impact Die rating will rise and lower, depending on the game and the choices of the player, and will set the highest possible die a character can use in determining success or failure during task resolution. The Impact Die is the character's health, reputation, vigor, and creativity all rolled into one attribute. Various challenges, such as large environmental conditions or enemies, will also have an Impact Die rating which will raise or lower depending on the actions of the PCs, improving or reducing the ability of those challenges to affect the story.

3. The Game Master will rate every action across a scale from Impossible to Simple with each difficulty rating tied to a specific polyhedral role-playing game die. An Impossible task, for example, will require the roll of a D4, a Difficult task will require a roll of a D8, while a Simple task will require the player to roll a D20. The Difficulty Rating of any task will be a universal rating of difficulty, not tied to a specific character or their abilities. So, shooting an arrow off the head of a frightened child would be a Difficult task, whether it is attempted by another child or Robin Hood.

4. A player must roll a 8 or higher to succeed at any task, regardless of which die is rolled to determine success. If the player is able to tie their character's actions to Details existing during the scene, usually a mix of Character Details, Scene/World Details, and Temporary Details, he/she will be able to apply a +1 to their die result per Detail utilized in their action, getting them closer to the 8 needed for a success. This allows a character to apply their skill or natural capabilities, as well as the environmental conditions, to improve their chances at being successful during a challenge or test.

What A Success Achieves

When a character manages to meet or exceed 8 on their Task Roll, their Success allows them to choose one of four possible affects:

1. Establish a new Scene or Temporary Detail. Newly established Scene Details will often be temporary and will be erased in time or through other actions, but affects what is and isn’t possible in that moment.
2. Remove, disrupt, or alter an Scene or Temporary Detail.
3. Lessen the Impact of another Character or Scene effect by one die.
4. Increase the Impact of another Character or Scene effect by one die.

Difficulty Tests and Levels

D20 Simple (65% Chance of Unmodified Success)
D12 Routine (41.7% Chance of Unmodified Success)
D10 Tricky (30% Chance of Unmodified Success)
D8 Difficult (12.5% Chance of Unmodified Success)
D6 Unlikely (0% Chance of Unmodified Success)
D4 Impossible (0% Chance of Unmodified Success)

Spending and Earning Impact Dice

- Spend an Impact Die to turn any Failure result into a Success
- Earn an Impact Die by accepting a Temporary Detail/Complication related to a Failure
- Earn an Impact Die by creating a Temporary Detail/Complication for your character, relating to one of their Details

This is a very broad overview, but it is meant to be very simple. As circumstances come up where we will flesh out rules with additional pieces, I will describe those via OOC text, so that everyone is clear on what we are doing, our characters may act, and what their chances of success might be. The biggest issue with any homebrew system is that the lack of familiarity can makes character actions feel "floaty." We want to avoid that, so if you have questions, please ask them!

Character Creation Steps
1. Each player should pick an archetype for their character. Some example archetypes to consider are listed below, but these are presented only as examples. The important thing is that each player will find a niche for their character, allowing them to excel in a specific area or circumstance. Put another way, every character should have their own, unique "thing" where they are exceptional, despite being a part of a group that is filled with exceptional men and women.

- The Socialite: Former "it" girl, socialite, model and/or actress turned elite spy. The Socialite is adept at moving through social situations, capable of subtle manipulations, and is excellent at creating diversions.
- The Soldier: A former special forces trainer with a past as mysterious and dangerous as his brutal lessons. The Soldier is usually the toughest person in any room and is capable of a detached kind of brutality that many find as unnerving as it is effective.
- The Driver: Anyone can drive, but some people have a special feel for it. The Driver has already used that special talent in Le Mans or possibly as a getaway driver for the mob. Now he's working for the government. He seems to know every street in the world and can find the fastest route through any town.
- The Hacker: A master of disciplines that haven't even been labelled yet, The Hacker is an expert with computers, "game theory," and other types of careful analysis. The Hacker's sharp mind makes them adept at a number of unrelated, but complimentary skills, where their ability to dissect complex systems at a glance gives them a keen understanding.
- The Thief: A thief is a dime-a-dozen, but an exceptional thief is a valuable commodity. The Thief will have already had a long career of epic heists and infiltrations that have made them a legend. Since then the Thief has turned over a new leaf, either happily or reluctantly, and now uses their skills for the betterment of their nation.
- The Actor: A skilled actor and impersonator, The Actor quickly discovered that acting on the stage wasn't nearly as intoxicating or challenging as performing in real-life situations. The Actor may have started their off-stage career first as a con man, but was quickly recruited into the spy service when another agent confused them as already being "in the business" and convinced them to help on a mission.

2. Select your character’s nationality from the list of NATO countries. In 1967, the NATO membership countries included:
- Belgium
- Canada
- Denmark
- France*
- Germany
- Greece
- Iceland
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- The Netherlands
- Norway
- Portugal
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States of America

* France was in the process of withdrawing from NATO during 1967.

A PC might also be from a neutral country if there is sufficient reason for their involvement.

3. Create up to six (6) Character Details to describe your character. As described above, Character Details can be skills, natural proficiencies, unusual quirks, or some other aspect of the character that is notable. If you are feeling stuck you can define three (3) starting Character Details and leave three (3) empty slots to be defined either in play or during future adventures.

4. Select one Character Detail to be a "Core Detail." A Core Detail is an optional rule that allows a character to pick an aspect of their character that rises above skilled or talented to the level of "best in the world." When this Detail is referenced during play it provides +2 to Difficult Tests instead of +1. A player should ensure that their character's Core Detail is unique within their group so they do not overlap or outshine others. Please note, most Core Details will be unique within the entire world. Core Details can be designated as "Core" or with a "+" on your character sheet

5. Determine one relational backstory with at least one other character. This will essentially be a "drinking story" style anecdote for something that happened during a training exercise, a previous op, or possibly just an encounter when the characters passed each other at headquarters. Please note, these stories may or may not actually be factual! Facts tend to be a little slippery for spies!

Characters may feel a little light at first glance, but keep in mind that you are painting with broad strokes to start. As you play your character you will expand on what previously seemed like quick descriptions, building out those Details with more specific anecdote, histories, or stories. Think of each Character Detail as the central hub on a mind map with new aspects growing from it over time.

Sample Character
Listed below is a sample character, built with six starting Character Details listed and one Character Detail identified as Core to the character (using a "+"). The first version shown below is a starting character, freshly outlined during the character creation phase. Following this sample is the same character after a few play sessions with some of her Character Details expanded during her adventures.

Regina Madrigal, The Driver

Membership Nation: Portugal

- Ballerina of the road, Regina can maneuver through traffic with an agility that is unmatched (+)
- Nearly as skilled in judo as she is behind the wheel
- Hotwiring a car isn't much different than hotwiring an explosive...
- Her wealthy father seems to know everyone worth knowing and everyone seems to know (and appreciate) Regina
- TBA -- This will be added in play
- Wears a distinctive scar from a crash at Le Mans 1962 the same way some people would wear a tattoo or tailored suit

Regina Madrigal, The Driver

Membership Nation: Portugal

- Ballerina of the road, Regina can maneuver through traffic with an agility that is unmatched (+)
- Nearly as skilled in judo as she is behind the wheel
- Hotwiring a car isn't much different than hotwiring an explosive...
- - ( And gasoline isn't much different from plastic explosives, when it really comes down to it )
- Her wealthy father seems to know everyone worth knowing and everyone seems to know (and appreciate) Regina
- - (It's just too bad that she can't get Fedor Bogdanov to forget about her or that weekend they shared in Nice )
- Trevor Wyeth is a good agent and an even better friend, especially after what he did in Greece
- Wears a distinctive scar from a crash at Le Mans 1962 the same way some people would wear a tattoo or tailored suit
- - ( "Cesare Zetticci will pay for what he did! I haven't forgotten about that dirty trick on turn fourteen!" )
- - ( Disguises can be tricky when navigating that scar on the right side of her face )

I'm thinking Belgian Driver for my archetype. I'm noodling around a few ideas for it. Master of disguises, especially masks is one detail.

They're all nice broad categories, and I can see a bunch of great opportunities with any of them.

I'll lean into an Actor, from Luxembourg. Skilled in stunts and fighting disciplines from the stage, his best skills are in assuming a personality and distinctive voice.

I really like the above Regina Madrigal example where the driver was a racer at Le Mans but instead of a scar, her face is terribly disfigured from a fire that resulted in the crash. The need to hide her hideous face led to her becoming adept at making masks and other disguises.

Cool ideas! And, please keep in mind that the archetypes are meant to just kickstart your own ideas. If you come up with something else (chemist, test pilot, etc) that could work, please don’t feel bound to those suggestions.

That list mostly came from watching old Mission: Impossible episodes and paying attention to who was doing what. :)

Right, but I loved the driver idea 😁🏎️

I like the idea of a scarred race car driver (obviously 😂). The masks and disguise angle is interesting. I wonder how we might differentiate Windyridge’s driver from Qralloq’s idea for an actor. It seems like he would more impersonate someone through voice and mannerisms while the Belgian might be able to look like almost anyone, but maybe not act like them? What do you both think? I don’t want to squelch anything, but at the same time I’d love for both characters to have their own "thing" where they shine.

Would it be enough that the driver is mostly a driver and also good at disguises while the actor would be amazing at acting and then also good at fighting?

Maybe there could be a built in connection, like the actor took the driver under his wing and taught her how to use makeup.

Q and I chatted offline about this overlap. The Belgian, being disfigured from the accident knew she would be too embarrassed to show her face. Desperate, she got an idea from a Halloween costume ad in the newspaper while convalescing in the hospital. The ad was selling make-your-own mask kits. She wanted to figure out how to hide her scars and then met Qralloq's character. He had heard about the accident and needed a driver so he impersonated a doctor from India. My gal noticed that while his accent was perfect, he did not look at all Indian. She offered to make him a mask once she figured out her own. So she isn't wearing masks or disguises other than her own.

The other skill would naturally follow the masks in that she could incorporate spy gadgets into clothing. Little poison dart tubes sewn into sleeves or Get Smart shoes, cufflink microphones. That sort of thing.

That leaves driver as her core skill, then mask maker for the team as another skill, with designer of clothing spy gadgets as another.

I submitted a blank character sheet. It's formatted for my interpretation of JETSET but just blank. Thought I'd ask if it looks like what you'd want, @Robbneu. Mainly, am I interpreting the Impact Die mechanic correctly.

Thanks for the added context, Windy! I appreciate that. My goal here isn’t to limit what everyone comes up with, but just to make sure everyone has places where they feel like they can excel and shine. If you two worked out something you’re happy with, I’m good, so thanks for taking the initiative to making sure that happened.

Qralloq, that’s very cool! Thanks for building that character sheet! That’s something I need to learn how to do.

I don’t think my rules summary did a great job of describing how the Impact Die works, but you basically got it. Maybe I’ll post my in-depth rules here, but all player characters will start the adventure with a d12 Impact Die. That sets the highest die the player can roll for a difficulty check, regardless of task.

So, let’s say your character is going to shoot out an overhead light to plunge a room into darkness. The light isn’t moving, but it is pretty small and the room is pretty large, so we’ll say that’s a Tricky shot (d10). You apply your Detail "Crack shot" and tell me that you’re using the Environment Detail "Massive Pillars Line Both Sides Of The Room," because your character is leaning against one of them for cover and is taking their time to aim. So, that’s a D10+2 roll. Since that’s under your current Impact Die of D12, you can go ahead and make the roll normally.

But, let’s say before then you got roughed up by some goons outside. One of them gave you a an ugly right hook across the jaw (and you lost an Impact Die), then another one revealed that your location was shared to them by your current love interest. She sold you out and never really cared! So, you loose another Impact Die for that… you’re down to D8. When you go to shoot out that light, even with it still being Tricky (D10), you’re beat up and heartbroken, so you can only roll a D8+2.

No problem and you were absolutely correct and that gave me more ideas! So it's all good in spyland.

First step is to accept the sheet I submitted. This doesn't lock it or anything, only makes it usable in the game by me and you. If we're okay with the design, I can link a version that others can use to one-click create a character with the same blank template.

More importantly, I need to come up with my details.

Actor, male, from Luxembourg, named Maxime Weis
➠ + Method Man - a method actor of unequaled skill, with a few hours of research, Maxime can imitate the personality and speech patterns of nearly any type of person. This isn't good enough to fool their mothers, but if you're expecting to meet an Irish mobster or a Moroccan noble, Maxime will meet your expectations.

➠ Stunt doubles are for wimps - Maxime's long training for stage and film has taught him much about dangerous work of stunts. Of course, he does all his own stunts.

➠ Mock combat specialist - Similarly to the stunt doubles, Maxime can give a convincing display of swordsmanship or gun handling. Is it effective in the field? Welllll, not against trained killers, but he's not starting from scratch.

➠ Polymath - what kind of European spy would he be if he didn't speak English, German, French, Russian, Chinese, and a smattering of Spanish and Italian?

➠ Streetwise - tough times for actors on the street, he's no Hollywood celebrity, and has spent much of his life on the streets

➠ Undefined for now

Got it. Done. Thanks for the walkthrough. I find certain aspects of GP a little confusing, so I appreciate the pointers.


Maxime Weis seems very cool. Let’s put a pin in "Polymath" for now. I’d like us just to assume, like in Mission: Impossible and Bond, that language will never be an issue. So, let’s leave it for now, but keep in mind that if you want to fill that slot with something else later, we’ll have that option. I know I wasn’t very clear on that. There may be situations where that might provide a bonus (perfect accents, perhaps?), but I don’t want you to have to pay for the "default."

Awesome! Your Belgian sounds very cool and I really like the links to Maxime.

Quick question for you both, with the backstory that Windy shared, was Maxime already an intelligence agent when he recruited the Belgian to be a driver? Or, was that pre-agent times for both of them? Did Maxime draw the Belgian into spy work and possibly J.E.T.S.E.T.?

To add a little needed backstory, I’m thinking J.E.T.S.E.T. is a fairly new organization. Maybe a couple of years old at most, but there is no reason why the spies pulled into it couldn’t have already worked together in other contexts.

It's a little early to be chasing lost video cassettes, but how about Maxime was working as a semi-freelance Interpol agent and needed the Belgian's assistance with a ruby smuggling operation in Champagne. The JETSET recruitment could have come later.

Peep! I won't be around much -- at all -- for the next 7-8 days, but I'll join in here as soon as I can!

So. Character discussions... There's the hard part because there's so many good archetype options to choose from. I think I'll put out a couple and let Robb see which of them best fits the tone/theme of the game.

Girl Friday
Her demure, white picket fence looks and Donna Reed vapidness belie the competent and sharp intellect of an international sleuth and polymath. Cutting her teeth as a young girl and teenager solving various local mysteries, Friday graduated up from there once she went to college and was ultimately picked up by the U.S. Intelligence Services at the tender age of 20 as an analyst at first but quickly graduated up to field work...off the books, of course, since technically women are only allowed in the secretarial pool at OSINT agencies. Thankfully, there are more gender-blind agencies out there, like JETSET.

Chung Wang, aka John Wayne
The son of Chinese dissidents that fled to America when he was a teenager, "John" is a bit of a 'child of two worlds'. On one hand, he understands the intricacies of American life and culture but is also firmly rooted in pre-Communist China. A bit of a rebellious kid, he got up to no good in the streets of Hong Kong before he and his family fled to San Francisco and carried those tendencies with him when he left. Becoming a bit of a myth as a 'Robin Hood' style thief and vigilante around Chinatown, "John" was recruited by JETSET for his allegedly legendary infiltration skills as well as his fighting skills using the mystical Chinese method of Gong Foo.

S.Sgt Conrad Hauser
An experienced U.S. Army sergeant, Hauser is familiar with military equipment and tactics of the U.S., NATO and the Warsaw Block/USSR as well as some of the more outlandish pieces of technology in use by more clandestine forces. A consummate professional, he's the one to call when something needs done and done right the first time.

Sorry about the delay on this. I like all of those character ideas, witchdoctor! I think any of them could work, but maybe we should wait to see what Harrigan proposes before we make any decisions. With a Driver and an Actor already on board, we could definitely use more of a heavy. Hauser makes the most sense (as does Wang, possibly), but if Harrigan filled the bruiser/soldier role, there is no reason why you couldn’t pick someone like Girl Friday.

Did you have a preference?

As far as "fits the tone," everyone is nailing it! These are some very cool characters.

I like all three characters. That's one reason I put them out there because I was having trouble choosing which to go with. I'm perfectly okay with holding to see what Harrigan chooses and basing my choice on that.