Spycraft

Or was it the Illuminati?

Adding to its numerous difficulties is its reliance on such time-specific technologies as early QuickTime (later versions don't register as such) and its relatively huge size: 3 CD's, which must be switched on a regular basis. On the plus side, the thrills are more psychological than say, Quake: often, you must make a moral decision such as "Should I torture the Korean mercenary, or abide by the Geneva Convention, considering the Agency is about to be investigated by Congress?" (You'll get input on both sides on this question.) Dying during a training excercise in "The Farm" is a real possibility...and unlike Quake, people will drop when you shoot them...in the right place. (I found myself humming the Rolling Stones "One Hit"...when I wasn't too petrified to move...)

Some of the data seems horribly outdated, for instance, there's way too much exposition about the Russian Mafia, and cypherpunks will find the crypto section laughably ordinary. Still, it would be valuable if Activision were somehow ...persuaded...to reissue.

As the name suggests, Spycraft is set in a modern world (or perhaps the very near future, no more than 20 years ahead). The players are part of this certain "Agency" which dispatches spy teams to take care of those sort of modernist spy jobs you'd imagine this game would deal with.

The players come from eight Departments of the Agency (these are equivalent to the D&D races, as there are only humans in Spycraft). The Departments are:

• Department 0: The Home Office - Generic freelancers, for those who don't belong in the other departments (somewhat similar to D&D Humans): No ability adjustment.
  
• Department 1: The Power Brokerage - The politicians and diplomats: +2 to Charisma, -2 to Strength.
  
• Department 2: Military Operations - Un-specialized training, but less neutral than Department 0: +2, -2 to your choice.
  
• Department 3: Computer Espionage - Self explanatory: +2 to Intelligence, -2 to Wisdom.
  
• Department 4: Urban Assault - Stealthy combat training: +2 to Dexterity, -2 to Intelligence.
  
• Department 5: Black Ops - Brute force and toughness: +2 to Constitution, -2 to Dexterity.
  
• Department 6: Wetworks - Unarmed combat training: +2 to Strength, -2 to Constitution.
  
• "The Basement" - Ex-cons or mercenary-types employed by the Agency: +2 to Wisdom, -2 to Charisma.
  

• Faceman - Undercover and disguised, the equivalent of a Charisma-based Rogue.
  
• Fixer - Dextrous and handy, the equivalent of a combat-type Dexterity-based Rogue.
  
• Pointman - Sort of the jack-of-all-trades.
  
• Snoop - Computer expert, the 21st Century equivalent of a Mage.
  
• Soldier - Fighter-type, trained in all forms of combat and weapons.
  
• Wheelman - Driver, mechanic, and handy in a fight.