espionage is alive and well in autoduel america

7/23/2019 Espionage is Alive and Well in AutoDuel America

1/3

'r

I he

game

s

as old

as nations.

t relies n a

curiousmix of

the newest echnologies nd

the

oldest senses. ts malhods rub

against

hs

grain

of democracy,

et

without

t

democracies

annot

survive. |fl is

the

business

l

espionage,

nd

t's

alive

nd

well n

AutoDuel merica.

The agencies hat presentlyexist combino

some

of the olclwith he new. n he unitedstates,

the National

SecurityAgencycarries ut

most

ot

the U.S.'s

ntlligence ctivities.

The

CIA s now a

small

part

of the

NSA.)Canada as he

Canadian

lntelligence

Service,

Quebec

has ths

SCE,

Louisianahe

Eureau

or SecretAffairs, nd

Texas

the Intelligence nd SecurityBranch.

Oklahoma

and

Mexico

are

oo lragmenled o have

cohesive

intelligence

genciss.)

These

organizations ave n commoncertain

dutiesand

goals.

They

are:

advising he

govern-

ment on intelli genceelating o

national ecurity;

nqaintaining ooperation

between departments;

evaluation ancl

communication of

data; and

carryingout operationsand directivs. he last

part

s what's

gamable.

Those Departments

f Dirty

Tricks'

carry

ul

the secret,dangerous,

nd

daring

missions

hat

modern ntelligenceequires.

heir

woft is often

violent, ancl heir

agents

can

be the

victimsof

both random

and

specific iolence.But

the

obs

they

cloarevital, o heysimply

grin

andendurs.

Most

have

some

restrictions

n their activi-

ties.

n democracies,hgsehave o do more

with

obeying

he

Constitution.

n clictatorships,estric-

tions

coms

from

political

oes afraid

of

a sscret

service

able

o

do anything o anyone.

he

most

common rul6

prevents

actions rom

taking

placs

on home

soil.

Personnel

re

usually

ecruited

ut of

college

or graduatschool. only tield agenls who are

expected

o engage

n

combat come trom

ths

military, nd

then only as commissioned fficers

with

years

ot service

ehind

hem.All ieldagents

go

through

special raining. erms

vary

rom one

to three

ears.

Texas s a specialcase n

that

many of th

field

agents come from ths Tsxas Rangers. n

ac,dition o

a

great

deal

of

training, thoy have

practical

knowledge

ot dealing

with the

public.

Howsver, Tsxas agsnts ranks lowst when

comparative

studies

of

reports

armade.

This

lsads

us

to

ihe

least

glamorous

and

most important work operatives

do: racl and

compils data. This

varies

rom stealingsecret

documents to reading resoarch papers on

agriculture o

watching

he local viscast news.

This

can

preclict

when ths next

war

might come

ancl why. lt can msan the ditferenco betw8en

success and

failure

ol an operation. Without

it

governments

are unable o make

foreign

policy

clecisions.

Gathsring

nformation

has

become

easir

than t was

during

he cold war

and

before.The

only way to

gather

data

was

o

go

where

he data

was

and take

pictures

o(

compile

a report.

Technology has now made things

easier,with

satellites,drone aircraft,and

compuler

nets. But

thors ar

risks.

Many nets

have

securg or

classitied barriers to

penetration.

Drongs and

satellites an malfunction. probe over enemy

airspace ould

be shotctown.

Espionages

Alive

And

Well

In AutoDuel

Americ

Thal'swhere ield agentscome n. They clo

things ike recover rashsddronss,do

personal

surveillanc,nd

cultivate ouble agents. hese

agents

are

basecl

n ield

stations

ocated n major

cities n oreign o untri6s.

Stationsagentsspend

much

of the ir careers

'on

station.' Thoy have

extensivs

knowledgeof

local

customs.Their

cover

is

as

membersof

embassy

taft

or as employees t a

company's

branchoffico. Though

better

protectecl

han ield

agents,

thoy

are in constant

danger

ol being

discovered.

The

covert action

agents arg lhe

mgn and

women

who

go

behind

he

lines o do

th

special

jobs

that

can't

be done

by

station

people.

Thy

get defectorsout, tak6hard clatasurveys, idnap

enemy officials,protect frienclly gents:all th

things that

are

ths

stuff of

spy stories. Thes

agentsoften

work alone. Most of

their

time

spent with

reports.

They are told

to

avo

violence,

ut they are

he ultimate orce,

hbe

of

the

best.

f heycan't

do t, t can'tbe

done.

The new echnologies

re a

real

help o

fie

agents. lones can

assure hat

hsy don't have

risk heir ives.Micros

can simulate

he missi

while t's still

being

plannecl.

he same supe

small cameras

usecl

ot

surgery

are

also

perfe

for

conducting surveillance.

8ut

this sam

technology

also creates

problems.

Documen

and lDs are much

harder

to forge. Melal

an

plastique

cletectors re at every

airport. nstead

men, remotecameraswatch borclers.nformati

on a cube can

be

disguisecl

as a

Pr

Robert

L

Col/ns


2/3

programmed

ube.

A GM

must usa common

sensewhen c,aaling

with high-tech, but intelligence

services

will

already ave

he next

advance n their hands. f

holo

proisctors

exist

spies are using them to

sneak ver

boiclers.The

same for

psn

lasers,

string

ape,

andeye camsras.

As

you

may realize,

singmicros

may

sad o

players'gaming

ut the

game.'To

avoid

his,

imit

micro uso

or

apply

a

lot of

the

'unexpectod

glemenf

o

the ealihing.

Hele's

how a spcial

operation

proceeds.

The first

step is a decision

by

the

agency's

operations

ireclor to

determine l

the need

for

oneexists.

Once hat's

ctonea

proposal

s mado

lo the agncy clireclor.

H

may

decicte

against t.

It so, the

plan

is droppect.

But if he

decides

n

tavor ot

the operalion,

he will

approach

any

officials

whose

approval

or suppori

is neoded.A

tormal

presentation

o

thg

President

s

made

with

all

parties

having a say.

l the President

approves

and ths

cabinet concurs,

ths

mission

gets

clsarance.

inal

plans

are made, ancl

personnel

are ss igned, rieted, nd

equipped.

Assuming ho n6ed

is obvious

anct no turt

battlesoccur, the

procsss

td(es

a

moming

or

aftemoon.The agent

or agsnts ars

sent out by

dinner.However, Murphy's

Law can

ancl does

appear

at lhese times.

Somotimes,

gettino

approvalsan aclventuretself

The

rarestanclmosl worrisom itu ation

s

when

an operationdoesn't have

approval. he

reasons

vary, but must be

excellent, nd that

might

not

help.

Operations ithout

approval re

conctuctoclt

groat

isk o

ivgs nd

careers.

After inalapproval s the tinal

planning

nd

briefing. tlight tinerarys clra?n

p,

documents

aremade,andan escape oute s mappedout.

It

the'op'

rsquirssmoving

people,

descriptions r

holophotosar mmorized.

Whn

th

brieling

ends, h opsrations

Director

gives

a

personal

brieling,

nd

he

agent s senton his

way.

Clonesare occasionally ent

nsteadot an

agent.

ClonBs

ar

used

on

suicide

missions,

r

missions

when sscaps is an

option,

not a

requirement.

Ths clone is

programmed

with

instructions o

give

himself

a

massive

coronary,

tor example,

f

he

s captured r fails.

Ot

course, f

ths clon

comss

back,

who

gsts

the crgdi?

Becauss irships avesupercecledirplanss

many nations no longer use

planes

o transport

their

people.

Air Force

iets

can

go

to a nearby

porl,

whersa commerciallight s

oinec,.

axiancl

bus ssrvicesarealso used, especiallywhen tho

mission

os

o a

small

ownorwild

area.

Passing

through Customs

is

thg

most

daunting

ask.

This is

when

an aosnt's acting

ability, anct he torgery talents ot tho ctocumen-

tation

stalf

are

put

to

the

test. Usually he agont

gsts

hroughwithno

problems.

lf

tho

mission is a succsss,

going

back

through

Customs s a bigger

concorn.t's almost

certain someone s looking for the

agents

now.

The authoritiesmay havs dsscriptaons.f th

agents are

moving

someone, heir

clocumsnts

may

be checkecl

more thoroughly.

his

s when

technology can help.

Micros

or

holos can

misdirect.

A

quick

clons

can be mads or

an

MMSD programmed.But as long as human

beingsmanCustoms tations, othing

works

iks

a bribe

r

dirty

picturesl

All

ths

ctangers re tsmpred

by

the fact

that

they

don't happn every day, or even every

wesk.A

full

month can

go

by

bstween

operations.

And hsrearealwaysmoragents han

missions,

so no

one

willwork back-to-back

obs.

Retraining ecomesvery important.Micros

do help,

but nothing

works

iks a workout. Sinc

stress

anct

bumout clo

more

damage

than

the

enemy,

no

ong staysaround or more

han hree

years

bofors

they ither movo to a station ,

get

promotd

o a desk

ob,

or retirg.No

one has on

ot those

'(inal'

retirement

plans;

thoy

tend to

make t hard o recruit.

All the

ctangers

so

tar cliscussecl re fairly

lethal.

8ut

there are olher. lsss

lthal. mor

menacing

loes.

They

are the

dreaded

'inter-

governmsnt

rivals,' the

agencies whose furt

sometimes rosses ho

agent's.

Thg worst ot those

opponents are agencies

like he FBI

When t was irstestablishsd,he FBI

not only

chased riminals ut

also oreign

gents

in ths US. This no doubt

continues n AutoDuel

America. his swhere

most

ot thecontlict

ies.

Other

assistances easier o

get,

but n times

ot tight

unds,

t oftenhas

he

phrase'you

owe us

ons'

attached.

Stations ancl covert

agents

somstimgs

have

rouble

gstting

along,

but try not

to

et

toetout.lf

t cloes omeonswil lgettired.

ll all

his

appeals

o

you, you

may want

o s

up an

espionage ampaign.

Runningsuch

campaign

akes

preparation.

ill the

players

b

on station,or will

they

be

in the

field?who's

charge,

a

playet

ot an NPC?

The number

o

players

oing

he

work won't be

more than tw

Then

again,

everyone

ould rotate

between

PC

and

NPCs romadventureo adventure.

Therewon't be

any

ack

of foes, unless

yo

play

the Canadians.Not

only

shoulct thero

b

plenty

of

action

between the North America

countries, ut

who knowswhat ths Aussies,

h

Japanese, or the British ars up to

(empi

anyone?).

Sinc

w

agents

makg

arests,

few will

hav

Legal

Entorcemgnt owsrs,and hen only

at th

s-point

evgl.

he

wealth evelof most

personn

is Averago, ut hoss

rom

well-off

amilies

ou

be

Comforlable. All agents with mil itary

ssrvi

havs

at east

hree

evels

t Military

Rank. ast,

h

agency s

a

Patron that

appears

on a roll

of 6

less.

t'sworth12

points.

Agent

PCs

havestrongDuties

-15

pts.).

Th

total Enemiesare not too numerous,won'l com

after

hem

until

hey've

done

something, nd

a

worth

-20

pts.

Two

Advantaggs/Disadvaniagss

PC

shouldn't

worry about are Appearance

an

Reputalion. gentsmust have airlynormal

oo

to be abl o tit nto crowdsand

allay

suspicio

And only agentswith long recordswill

have

Reputation, nd henonly among

knowledgea

agents.

Common skills

for

agents

includg

Gu

(many ypes),

Driving

various),

urvival

variou

Disguise, Acting, Area Knowledge, First

A

Climbin0, Tracking, Navigation, Parachut

swimming, Diplomacy,

Fast-Talk,

La1,v

acti

Demolition,Escape,Forgery,Lockpicking, h

ctowing,

tealth,

nd

Traps.

Other

PC

skills

mig

come

om

military ervics r collggo.

Not

that the skills

ists

will

b6

quite

long,

an

most

skills

willneed

o

be at

eastat 13.100-po

PCs

n his

campaignmightnot be

fsasible.

Now

tor a sample aclventure.

Run

for

th

Bordef

is

basedon the Sandbaggers

episo

'First

Principles,'

y anMclntosh.

RunForThe Border

The

Situation

Some six hours

ago

an Air Force

hig

altitude spy

drone

took

off

from White Sands

A

Base,

Nera/

Mexico.

CIA

stations

n Austin

a

OklahomaCity have eportect oth

countrieswe

moving

troops

along the Red

River

borcler.

T

dronewas

sent

o investigate.ts tlight

path

wou

td(e it north ot La\,vton,

round

Arc,more, outh

wichita Fa lls, then re-enter the

us

btwe

Lubbockand Miclland-Odessa.

he

drono

we

down

before

it could cross th borcler

a

crashed somerflherebetween

Lubbock

and Ab

lene; it was

not

shot

c,own.

lts

last

report

position

ivas

ifty

miles

eastot

GrahamChapel

milesSE

of Lubbockon Texas

Highway9E).

N

one

was

on boarcl.

The

data recorders

we

packecl

o

survivea crashor fire.

The

mission s o

go

n, ecover he recorde

ancl get all data off the drone. lf possible


3/3

22

necessary,

he

clrone s

lo

be

destroyed.

The

Texans

don't

yet

know it's

crashect.

Unfor-

tunately,

hat

part

of Texas s bandit ountry.

Working

Out

The

Details

The first

problem

s

getting

n.

However he

PCs

want

o do

it shouldbe okay,so long as hey

head out

from santa Fe

(a

five-houf

light has

beenarranged

y the USAF).

Next hey

must

get

to

ths

scsne.

Taking -40

to Amarillo

hen T-9 to the scene might

work,

assuming no

one asks why

thsy're

going

to

Lubbock.A better ry might

be to enterat clovis,

NM. Eitherway

they'll have o

convince

anyons

theymeet hat heir ntentions

re

good.

one

way to

go

in

would

b

to

parachut

n

and

land

within ten miles

of

the

crashsite.

Ths

vouble with this s

getting

a

hotd

of a

ptane

hat

movesslow

enough o

iump

out

ot .

After

they're over

the

border

they should

have some

non-lethal

encounters,

iks

prouct

Taxans,

small time bandits, awmen,

or smug-

glers.

Any

of

these

might

provide

an

ally,a

clue,

or nuisance. hey

willalso est

he PCsabilitiesn

non-combatsituations.

Onceat the scene, he PCswill havea maior

dilemma: th

drone looks intact,

but

closer

examinationeveals

hat t's been

stripped. ll he

data ecorclers

re

gone

The

recordrs nd

all the slectronics qu ip-

ment on board

were removed

by

a local

bandit

gang.

They're rying

o

ligurs

out

what hsy have,

anclclebating

hether

or

not

thy shoulc,

o

to

the

authorities.

Turning

ver strange

aclgets

o

ths

copsmight

get

a respiterom hem.)

Thsrewill be

at

least

n

gang

msmbers

or

each

PC.Use he

Truck

Stop' map or the banctit

baseor c,esign

our

own

(limit

t to two buildings).

Arm

he

gang

with normal

weapons ikeSMGS

r

LAWS.A

vehicle ratio of one bike for every

wo

gang

members

and on car for svery twelv

maKes ense.

Yes,

he

PCs

havo explosivss o

blow tho

drone. But

it

doesn't takg

much to

destroy

a

drone.

lt's

possible

o use

uel or an ything

lse

trom lhe

clrone as weaponry. Givo PCs a

character

oint

l

they

hink

t t.)

lf ths

PCshave reed he electronicsrom he

bandits,

he

next ask s to

get

out. Depenc,ingn

how

they

did

coming n

anclwhat escape

plans

they

made, their

escape shoulclbe marginally

challenging.

Hopefully

hey have

good

cover

stories

and

haven'l ost

anv

documents

r

data

during

hs

battle.

lf thingsdictn't

o

wll he PCsare n

troublo.

Getting

out with a

partial

set

ot

data might

be

easier, but won't

make

their

bossas

happy.

It

they're

apturecl

y

the

gang,

hey'llhave wo

to

threehoursbefore he gangconvinceshe ocals

they

have

prisoners,

nd

maybe anotherhalf-

houror so

before omeons omes

o

nvBstigate.

ll at any ime they all nto

the hancls f tho

Texas

authorities

he ad vnture s over.

They

have

been

caught

spying,andwill no doubt

get

the

cteath

penalty,

or, it thy'rs lucky, lite

imprisonment.

he

CIAmightmakean exchangs

forthem,

butthat'snot oo likely.

Character

points

are

a\,varded

o each

PC as

follows:

2

points

for

getting

all ths clata out;

1

point

for

getting part

of the data

out;

1

poinl

(for

the

orgers) f

the documents

ass

nspection:

2

for not

getting

any

clata

out;

-3

il

anyono

is lef

behind; l for failing o dsstroy he

plan;

and

+1

(or

mora)

or

making

nct singallies

FurtherAdventures

Becauss he above aclventure

s relative

easy, it

makes

a

good

starting

point

for

a

campaign.

ther

possible

dventures

nclude:he

body

of

an

agent

urnsup, and the Pcs have

o

find

out

who kil led him anctwhy; an importan

ollicial

gos

on an unannouncedrip

and

meet

witha member f

the

oppositesex,and

heyhav

to

prevent

a snatch or

a

defection;

a woundsc

agenthas o bs smuggled ut of hostile

erritor

and

the

ever-popular

foreign

ofticial

wants o

def

ect

and

ws

have o

go get

him'

scenario.

Inter-govrnmsntal

ivalry never explode

into violence; il's always a matter

of

out-

lobbying,

out-reporting,

or discovering

nast

thingsaboutyour toe and makinosure he righ

people

find out. A top station agent may

be

cloubling, ut

you

ust

can't

shoot

him.You'llhav

to

do some legwork

and

see

who's

pulling

he

strings.Challenge

our

players

by

giving

them

aclventuresequiring ome hought.

Good uck,

watch

your

back,ancl

protect

ha

pension

|

Voyages

SF

15 Reader

Survey

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complete ths

survey below. EithBr

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Espionags

s AliveAnd Well n Autoduel

America

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hcluding

yourself,

how

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reac,

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