I was wondering: is there any system for games in the spy genre?

I'd say that GURPS might be ideal for realistic espionage. But what system would you use for the not-so-realistic version of the genre (Bond movies, Our Man Flint, Steed & Emma Peel etc.)?

Yesterday, I bought Agents of Freedom for M&M 2E. It's about spies, soldiers and cops, but in the context of a superhero genre...

I'd still go with GURPS, just turn the cinematic options up and you'll get what you're looking for. If you can afford it, I'd also suggest picking up the GURPS Action series (1 - Heroes, 2 - Exploits, 3 - Furious Fists) to make things more streamlined and take some of the guesswork out of your job. And if you're shopping anyway, GURPS Mysteries is also helpful.

I'm a big fan of M&M2, but Agents of Freedom sort of left me cold. M&M does superheroes really well, but I find it breaks down a bit when you take the PL too low.

Hm. What do you mean by M&M breaking at low PLs?

BTW. As we're speaking of M&M, what did you think of Warriors & Warlocks? I picked it up, too :)

They may both be out of print now, but there was a game called James Bond 007, and one called Top Secret. They're probably exactly the sort of thing you're looking for.

There are any number of espionage rpgs out there, including Conspiracy X, Corporation, Danger International, Espionage, James Bond 007, Mercenaries Spies and Private Eyes, Nights Black Agents, Over the Edge, Spycraft and Top Secret. For that matter, D20 Modern also covers the genre, although it includes monster elements (if you want them).

I couldn't say which ones of these are still being published or even available as PDFs. So I'd say consider if your players are going to have copies of the game. If you go with something like GURPS or Spycraft here on RPoL, you'll probably only get players that actually have those games anyway.


The other consideration is the mechanics you want. Most of the games have cinematic options.

Ooh, I used to have the Q Manual for the James Bond game. (I gave it to my brother when he had a James Bond Themed birthday party... I'm not quite sure he appreciated how awesome it was, though. sigh  He is, himself, awesome, but not a gamer.)

I've always loved Conspiracy X, or.. oh, what was it?  Dark Heresy!  If you don't mind digging up an old game -- but that tilted a lot more into the supernatural/occult, as the name might suggest.

I've only been in a couple games using it, but I would actually highly recommend Gumshoe.  FATE is also very good, I think, with a little shaping, but FATE always needs a little shaping.

I'm with Utsukushi--Conspiracy X is pretty awesome.  I never played the other spy games though.

FWIW, JamesBond007 has a retro clone called Classified.

http://top-secret-s-i.blogspot...4/08/classified.html

While I've not played it, the things I've heard about Nights Black Agents make me think it'd be an excellent pick for any kind of tension/suspense focused espionage game.  It's GUMSHOE, and that's a system that excels at escalating tension through the basic game mechanics.  That's something that a LOT of games lack, instead relying on the GM to throw tougher challenges at the PCs and the like.

One other thing I'd offer is a game called One Last Job.  It's meant to be more of a simulation of heist movies (Ocean's Eleven, etc.), but it works for any game where the PCs are playing a past-their-prime team pulling off one last thing before they retire (or that they came out of retirement to do).

https://gshowitt.itch.io/one-last-job