Jan 12, 2024 8:55 pm
Resources
These are links to the relevant PDFs for this game:
Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, 5th Printing
Update v5
Street Wolves
Character Restrictions
All Street Wolves must be human.
The only Arcane Background that is available is Vapor Enhanced. A number of other Edges from the SWADE core book have been restricted or altered (see page 11 of Street Wolves).
The following skills are not available: Faith, Psionics, Spellcasting, and Weird Science.
New Rules
The setting includes three new skills: Animal Handling, Demolitions, and Tradecraft.
This game makes use of the optional Skill Specializations from Savage Worlds. See page 115 of Street Wolves for a list of specializations.
Drive is a measure of the character's resistance to psychological trauma and corruption. A Street Wolf sees the worst that humanity has to offer, which can eventually push a person over the edge. Whenever the character does something very morally questionable, such as commit a murder or accept a bribe, he or she must make a Drive check. Failure means losing a point of Drive (1d4 if a Critical Failure). Drop to zero, and your Street Wolf has devolved into a self-destructive addict, criminal or hotheaded maniac. On the other hand, Drive can also be used to push through pain and act without Wound penalties.
Characters must also pick a Profession, which represents your character's job training and the specific role they fulfill in the team. Page 21 lists a number of optional pre-generated professions, and you can create additional professions.
Relationships are important to Street Wolves, and each character begins with at least four relationships. These represent friends, family, lovers, coworkers, and even other Street Wolves. They can serve as contacts, and they help keep the character grounded.
The Premise
The year is 1987.
Your characters are operatives for a secretive organization called Wolfpack. This clandestine U.S. agency is buried under layers of bureaucratic red tape, and few know of its existence. Though the agency is very illegal and has no authority to conduct police or military operations, it's able to do so thanks to the backing of hidden power players with deep pockets.
Wolfpack was originally created to take on communism during the Cold War, but recent years have revealed a new threat. The Network of Shadows is a global terrorist organization that has infiltrated every aspect of American life. Several years ago, one of its attacks destroyed the Statue of Liberty. As a Wolfpack operative, or "Street Wolf," you and your team have been tasked with battling the Network's influence by any means necessary.
Some of you have police backgrounds, some came from the military, and others were recruited from the private sector. Currently, your team is based in Starlight City, a metropolis in the U.S. state of Florida and a fictional analogue to real world Miami. The place is a center of commerce, culture, and international trade, and it serves as a major port and tourism hub. But more importantly, the city is a significant point of entry for drugs and Network activities.
Starlight City is also a "Vapor City," one of a dozen cities around the world that experiences a mysterious phenomenon known as "vapor." During the day, the sun looks more orange and red than yellow. At night, the sky lights up like an aurora borealis, glowing with blue, pink, and purple. Lights in the city become distorted, with street lamps and neon signs giving off strange auras, and moving headlights leaving trails of illumination. Though the public was initially frightened by the effects of vapor when they first appeared, most people have grown accustomed to them. Wolfpack doesn't know the cause of vapor, though it's suspected that the Network is behind it somehow.
Secrecy is important. Your team is expected to complete missions in a manner that leaves no evidence of Wolfpack's existence. The organization is fairly ruthless in the pursuit of its goals and demands operatives do whatever is needed to get the job done. This includes bending or breaking the law, and doing some morally questionable things. Wolfpack views tampering with or destroying evidence, pay offs, or intimidating witnesses into silence as perfectly acceptable. However, Street Wolves are also expected to do everything in their power to avoid harming or endangering innocent lives.
Each of your characters probably has a day job. For most of you, that will be law enforcement. Some or all of your characters work for the Starlight City Police Department. If not directly employed by them, then you might work indirectly as a consultant. Working for the SCPD provides access to information, potential leads, and resources, so it's a good fit for a Street Wolf. Many of your police cases are actually covers for investigations into Network operations. During these investigations, however, you often uncover other threats that fall under Wolfpack's mandate to protect the country. This includes corporate conspiracies, Soviet spies, powerful cults, and a ninja clan that recently set up shop in Florida.
Your team's only direct connection to Wolfpack Command is your case officer, also called a "Watcher." Your Watcher is a man named Esteban Camargo - a wealthy but reclusive industrialist. He is the Charlie to your Angels. You rarely interact with him in person; he prefers communicating by phone. Sometimes he gives you your missions. Other times, you are expected to sniff out the Network yourself. Regardless, you always report to him for debriefing.
Discuss your characters with each other, and determine what role each character fulfills in the team. For more information about Wolfpack, see page 60 of Street Wolves.
