Looking for players for a carefully planned heist (Spycraft D20)

[Jops]

Hello everyone!
I'm a GM seeking four players for an one-shot adventure which may then expand and turn into a bigger campaign.

Game system: Spycraft D20
I have a full licence with the D20 Modern add on, as it's the most similar to the Spycraft system. Just be ready to be a bit flexible since FG may not handle some things the same way i do as a GM. I may also homerule some parts to make the action more fast paced and less number-crunchy.
In other words, you don't actually need to know the Spycraft rules to play this.

Time Zone: CET (Central European Time)
Game time: Saturday Evenings
Duration: Approximately 2-3 sessions of 4 hours each.
Frequency: Weekly
Text/Voice: Text only
Roleplay/Combat: Heavily focused on roleplay, players are actually encouraged to avoid combat (but sometimes it can't be helped).
Number of players: 5 (2 needed)

Character restrictions:
Must adhere to one of the following archetypes:

Catburglar (all about stealth and picking locks) < TAKEN
Conman (a master of lies and disguise)
Demolitor (an explosives expert who doubles as team muscle*) < TAKEN
Hacker (all about computers and RC devices)
Transporter (cars, bikes, boats, planes, helicopters... drives anything) < TAKEN
Please do not make characters that are good in more than one field.
*Note: I'd like the "Demolitor" to be more of the precise, tactical kind, as opposed to big loud explosions. Also, a nimble martial artist would make an interesting variant of the muscle part.

Adventure synopsis:
You're someone who may have gained a bit of a reputation in the criminal underworld. Just enough to get the attention of an old Chinese Triad boss who hires you to steal an ancient statuette.
As the adventure begins you're brought in an hotel's small conference room, where you meet the rest of the team (the other PCs) for the first time. As soon as you're all assembled, the old Boss and his assistant begin to brief you about the job.

The adventure is basically divided in two parts:

Planning phase:
The PCs will have to acquire information about the target, learn about security and opportunities, mobilize their contacts and get the right equipment for the job.
Execution phase:
This is when the PCs will put into action whatever plan they came up with. ...And, let's just say that the more careful the planning was, the less will be the surprises here.

Style:
The adventure (just like the Spycraft rulebook) will have a more action-movie, over-the-top, irony and humor vibe to it. Don't expect anything too serious.

[CrimsonCrust]

Gahhh drools.... Hacker ... Mmmmmm (insert pic Haxin Homer Simpson)

Never played this I'm going to look into it right now.

-CrimsonCrust

[Dr_Babylon]

That sounds right up my alley...but I could never make that schedule. I sure hope you find the right crew for the job.

[Grimtina]

Oohhh I love Spycraft. Cat burglar here!

I would probably have trouble playing weekly though if it would expand. I am playing bi-weekly table round Fridays and Sundays.

[Jops]

The schedule can be rearranged eventually.
I prefer to stick to weekends, so i don't have to worry about getting to work sleep deprived, and i figured weekly frequency would be a reasonable.
But nothing is really set to stone, i'm open to compromise.

Anyway, if you guys are interested and willing to join, feel free to send me a brief description of your character (either posting here or sending me a PM), then we can arrange for an evening when we can polish the character sheet (rolling stats, choosing skills and feats...). Your character will start at lvl 5.

[daddystabz]

Are you actually playing Spycraft (preferably 1.0) and not a d20 mashup?

I am have been DESPERATELY trying to get someone to run the James Bond 007 RPG or the Savage Worlds conversion of it.

[Grimtina]

What's wrong with 2.0?

[daddystabz]

It is a bloated rules monstrosity.


What's wrong with 2.0?

[Jops]

Well, i'm sorry, but the ruleset i got is D20 based.
If it is of any comfort, it'll be heavily focused on roleplay and not so much on rolling dice, plus there's some parts i may choose to homerule a bit in order to light the math and make the action more fast paced.
I think the most important game mechanic will be the Gadget/Budget points you'll use to request the right equipment for carring out the plan. They'll play a very important role during the planning phase.

BTW, I'm gonna point out that the PCs will be actually more thieves than spies.

[Jops]

Nobody else?
We got a getaway driver and the sneak. The crew still needs 3 specialists!

[Grimtina]

Yeah come on, folks. It's a really fun thing and if you know D&D it is really not that much different.

[Dr_Babylon]

Does the existing group have an idea of the schedule you all are aiming for? I would so love to contribute your token amoral, manipulative face character but...six hour difference between timezones. I want to be certain my participation won't be more of a hindrance.

[Jops]

I'm going to assume this will be 6 hours westward, so this means we can eventually arrange it so that we play in the evening and you play in the afternoon. Something like 15:00 for you and 21:00 for me.
Friday and Saturdays i can even keep it going 'till late (but Friday afternoons you might be working and Saturday evenings chances are some of us Europeans are out for a movie or something), Sunday evenings i'll best cut it at 1:00 tops (still 3-4 hours of game running tho).

I guess these are the possible scheduling, will need to check with the others to see how flexible we can make it.

[Dr_Babylon]

Yup I'm in the Eastern timezone.

Sundays would likely be best. I have the occasional day shift but that's pretty rare so any time after noon for me (6 pm for you?) should work fine. If that suits the majority, then I will gladly be your Conman. I am reading over the material now and I think portraying a nice self-serving demagogue or huckster would be an enjoyable diversion.

[Grimtina]

I'm running a campaign Sundays.

[Dr_Babylon]

Understood. During the week, including Fridays, I can only guarantee my availability after 9:30 pm (3:30 am for our, um, Spymaster). I had suspected my fitting in would be something of a longshot so I will step aside. I am certain you will find better-suited candidates.

[Jops]

That's quite a bummer!

Stupid Earth rotation and its timezones.

[Grimtina]

Yeah, really... ;o/

I can, of course, play during my day when I'm home, but that probably won't help anything.

[sciencephile]

I'm interested in playing if scheduling works out. I am in the Pacific Time Zone. Have you finalized on the day and time of game or is that still under debate? If scheduling works out, I would be interested in the demolitor.

[Jops]

Scheduling is in the works, although we're pretty much limited to weekends. Even more so if you're in Pacific Time, as we will have to settle for a "afternoon for you, evening for us" scheme.

I'm personally not much of a clubbing/pubbing person, so I i can easily make myself available even on Saturday/Friday nights.

[Blyssful]

I'd join in but as I have a Sunday game and a Saturday game it doesn't sound like I'd be much for switching mindframes that quickly. Also due to never having played this system I'd have to bow out thanks for the thread Jops but I will have to pass unfortunately.

[Jops]

Heh, no problem. thanks to you for checking it out.
Apologizes for going temporarily off the radar, lots of overtime at work lately. Anyway, We still have open slot in the crew. ^^

[sciencephile]

Checking in. If it does turn out that you can play on a Saturday afternoon/evening your time, then count me in for the demolitor. If not, thanks for the consideration anyway. I'm trying to use https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/ to estimate availability and if I am reading it right, I will be okay to play on Saturdays after 2 pm Central European Time. The only problem I see is that daylight savings time ends for me next Sunday (11/3) and I am unsure whether I estimated the change the right direction in trying to convert to your time.

[Jops]

I actually use this one: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html
Anyway, I've been converting PDT to CEST/CET for the last couple weeks at work, so i already know by heart that we're 8 hours ahead (soon to become 9).
This means that if we start playing at 21:00h on Saturday, which is very much doable to me, it'll be 12:00h your time (13:00h next weekend only). If we play in the afternoon, like, let's say 17:00h, you'd have to get up by 08:00 to play with us.
If that's an acceptable schedule to you, i'd say welcome aboard. and we can already roll your character this weekend.

[sciencephile]

I actually get up quite early (between 6 - 7 am) and actually prefer earlier over later due to family restrictions. If the group wanted to start as early as 7 am my time, I am okay with that.

I do have a question about how long the games will last. I need to schedule appropriately.

Also, I know nothing about Spycraft rules but since you said it was mainly role-playing, I am guessing that it won't be a problem, but let me know.

Thanks,

Danny

[Jops]

Alright, i think Saturday afternoon can be a go then.
The adventure averagely lasts around 8 hours, but that can vary depending on what kind of plan you manage to put together. Anyway, i don't expect this to take more than two sessions. Three if things get really intricate.

As for not being too familiar with the rules, don't worry. If you've ever played D&D 3E-3.5 then you'll notice that most things are extremely similar.
In a worst case scenario, you just tell me what you want to do and i'll tell you which die you'll need to roll.

If you wish, we can roll the stats and create the character next Saturday.
Tell me the time and i'll make sure to have FG up and running by then.
Alias: "just jump rich nail"

[sciencephile]

Thanks. Not to put too much of a wrinkle in this, I really don't think I can play that long of a session. I cannot play longer than 5 hours. Sorry, most of the games I have seen generally tend to be posted at 4 hours or less and I assumed this was too. If this does not work for you, no hard feelings here. I would suggest putting the length of the game session in the original posting, though. This way the expectation is clearer. I apologize for not asking sooner on the session length or if I missed it somewhere in the posts.

[Jops]

Oh, i think we might have had a misunderstanding.
By 8 hours i meant 8 hours (give or take) for the whole adventure. Which will be split in 2-3 sessions. So i don't expect a single session to actually last more then 4 hours.

[Grimtina]

Sundays is not always available for me. This Sunday is definitely not working due to the FG2-Con, and the week after my RotRL game runs.

[sciencephile]

Oh, i think we might have had a misunderstanding.
By 8 hours i meant 8 hours (give or take) for the whole adventure. Which will be split in 2-3 sessions. So i don't expect a single session to actually last more then 4 hours.

Whew! Glad to hear that. Great thing about non-verbal communication - easy to misunderstand.

I will be available Saturday from 7 am to 1 pm pacific time. Just let me know when to log in and I will be there.

[sciencephile]

Oh, i think we might have had a misunderstanding.
By 8 hours i meant 8 hours (give or take) for the whole adventure. Which will be split in 2-3 sessions. So i don't expect a single session to actually last more then 4 hours.

Whew! Glad to hear that. Great thing about non-verbal communication - easy to misunderstand.

I will be available Saturday from 7 am to 1 pm pacific time, except this current Saturday - my daughter's birthday party is then. Just let me know when to log in and I will be there.

[sciencephile]

Sorry Jops. I had forgotten about my daughter's birthday party which is Saturday. Probably more accurate in that I didn't realize that I needed to do anything before 1 pm. My wife does need help with the party setup so I won't be able to make it this Saturday. Any other Saturday I am free, just not this one. Sorry.

[Jops]

No problem, we can do next Saturday.
We still need a Conman and a Hacker in the team anyway

[Grimtina]

Yeah come on folks!

I'm gonna ask in a German forum, there are enough English speakers there

[sciencephile]

If you don't get someone and absolutely need the extra body, I can run the hacker, in addition to the demolitor, if need be. I used to be a computer programmer before moving up the chain so I can easily pull this off without any effort. I can also roleplay them appropriately as if two different personalities.

My preference is to play one character but I am willing to play a second, if that helps.

Danny

[Starcrawler]

Well if it's only a few sessions (As you said about 2-3 sessions) I'd definitely be interested in this, I can only do Saturday evenings though, after 7-8 PM GMT, and Sundays are completely out of the question.

I'd be interested in playing the Hacker.

Never played spycraft so may have a bit of learning to do.

[Jops]

Looks likes Saturday evenings is when we will be gaming then.

So, i guess i'll get next Saturday to roll everyone's characters and game will start from the following one.

[Dr_Babylon]

In that case, I'd be happy to play your con artist. I assume characters in the vein of "The Italian Job" and "Oceans Eleven" would suit. Possibly Richard Stark / Donald Westlake's Parker novels and similar works? Is the setting contemporary or era-specific (please say 80s...)?

My intended premise is a brazen, manipulative honeypot but I'm still trying to hammer out the details. Should be a fun challenge for me to have to portray "charming". It's not really my thing to play the everyman, face-in-the-crowd grifter type so I hope my social butterfly / black widow will suit the group's needs.

[Jops]

In that case, I'd be happy to play your con artist. I assume characters in the vein of "The Italian Job" and "Oceans Eleven" would suit. Possibly Richard Stark / Donald Westlake's Parker novels and similar works? Is the setting contemporary or era-specific (please say 80s...)?

The setting is very contemporary, sorry.
(...why the 80s? It's one of those ages when people had the worst fashion sense in the history of humanity).

[Dr_Babylon]

It's true. The 80s were hideous and wonderful. Like some glamorous freakshow. I have a continuing fascination with the ridiculous action movies of that era.

But I suppose I can buy my gal a cellphone and live in the now.

In what city (or country) will our not-strictly-legal exploits be taking place (I think you might have said but, if so, I can't seem to find it)? I know we will be working for the Triads with our own underworld connections, so that helps to shape some background, but I do love me some story details.

[Jops]

Hey folks, just a heads up that tomorrow afternoon at 17:00 CET (08:00 PST) i'll launch FG to get to the character creation part (about both stat rolling and backstory)
From the moment i open it an on, I'll check FG back every hour in case the chat goes empty, so if i go afk and you see everything quiet when you hop on, expect to see activity again at XX:00h!

Alias: "just jump rich nail"
I'll also check these forums in case someone has troubles connecting.

See you tomorrow. ^^

[Jops]

Hello guys.
The adventure will start on Saturday November 23rd (not this one, but the next) at 19:00 UTC (Which means 20:00 CET for us continental Europeans, 11:00 PST for those on the West Coast and 14:00 EST for those on the East Coast). Feel free to use the extra time to ask any question or poke me for polishing up your characters.

[Starcrawler]

Darn it! I won't be able to make November 23rd. I forgot all about it till now but I'm going out that Saturday evening, it's been planned for a while (before last week) but I completely forgot till I was reminded earlier today, I can't cancel so I'm afraid I won't be able to make it next week, I'm really sorry about that.

[Jops]

Oookay, that's a bit of a bummer, but I understand the situation.

well, let's all agree on keeping the next Saturday November 30th free, alright?

[sciencephile]

I'm good with it.

[Starcrawler]

Yeah the 30th is absolutely fine. Really sorry again for the inconvenience.

[Grimtina]

Unfortunately I have a critically sick relative who got into hospital just this morning. Looks like someone will have to stay the night with her as she is deadly afraid of strangers and hospitals (autistic). That would unfortunately be me although I really tried to push it onto someone else for the night.

Not my week... :-(

[Jops]

Aw, that's most unfortunate, but i clearly understand the priorities.

I really hope your relative is gonna be okay tho.

[sciencephile]

Are we still playing?

Just wanted to clarify because when the hacker couldn't make it you rescheduled. Are we still able to proceed without the catburglar? I suppose my character will be able to pick any lock with a shape charge, but it won't be silent.

[Jops]

With such a short notice and the fact we've have postponed already a few times. I'd be keen on at least starting the 1st session.

Grimtina can join us at the next one. We will try not too go too far ahead.

[Jops]

We made a first introductory session and kept it short so Grimtina can quickly be brought up to speed next time.
Nothing big happened, just some recon and gathering information. The next session will be when the plan will start to take shape.

[Grimtina]

Great to hear I didn't stop everything. When is the next session? I might have trouble this month due to the family issues and general Xmas stuff at weekends.

[Jops]

We're planning for Saturday at the same time.
For the last session we stated you were mid-flight on the way to the city and made sure to end the session before any real heist planning would take part. So you didn't miss much.

[Grimtina]

Do we have a new alias?

[Grimtina]

Got it it seems.

[sciencephile]

just jump rich nail

[Grimtina]

It tries to log in, can see you talk but that's about it right now.

[Jops]

Sorry for posting so late but i got a tiring week at work.
Game's on tomorrow. we will play the parts of the plan that don't involve the guard-seduction, and then we will schedule a new session with those who ave a role in it.

[sciencephile]

I won't be able to make it - family event. I generally need more than a 1 day notice. Sorry.

[Jops]

Pity you weren't there. But, don't worry, they didn't progress too much.
On another note, i'll need to play one arc with just you and Grimtina, so i'm gonna need to arrange a schedule for the two of you only.

[sciencephile]

No problem. Just let me know at least a couple of days in advance when you want me to connect and I will be there. Are we looking at next Saturday then?

[Jops]

I'm afraid next Saturday is not an option as i'll be out of town for the whole weekend.
However, if you have an evening anytime next week, which is a holiday week, i can make myself available.

[sciencephile]

We had determined that due to time zone issues, I have to play in the morning and some of you are in the evening. As a result, I can only do that schedule on a weekend. I can, however, log into the next game up to 3 hours early if that works with whoever else needs to be there.

[sciencephile]

I wanted to put it out there that I pushed the "update" on my Fantasy Grounds installation and am now using version 3.0. I'm not even sure how to go back to 2.93 or if that is even possible. In case you haven't clicked the "update" button yet, I wanted to let you know because unless we all update, we may all have different versions. Just a FYI in case we had anyone unable to connect next session.

I wasn't trying to force an update. I was testing for another system and now realize that I do not know how to go backward...

[Jops]

thanks for the info. I will do the update as i get back home tomorrow.
As for the schedule, i thought that, since more people are on holiday (i'll be working, but i'm more like the exception), a non-weekend evening could be arranged.
Maybe we can do a lil earlier next saturday

[Jops]

Sorry guys, looks like tomorrow will also be a no go 'cause o holiday madness happening. But i'll keep Saturday the 4th clear for sure.

[Jops]

Any chance we can shift the game one or two hours earlier today? This is directed especially to Grimtina and Sciencephile, since it's their arc i wanna play today.

[sciencephile]

Had to read past forum posts to see what time we play (been a while).

Since we typically start at 11 am PST, and it is now 6:41 am PST, and I am on my computer with nothing better to do, I can make it as early as needed. I will check this post periodically to see when we actually start (based on Grimtina's response).

[Jops]

I've already set the server up. ^^

[Jops]

Next Saturday, usual time... now the holidays are over, should be fine for everyone. ^^

[sciencephile]

Okay, been trying to get in and no dice. It is 15 minutes past. I'm assuming you meant the next game is on Saturday, January 18th then.

[Jops]

Nope! I actually meant today. I've the server up and running since 19:30, but my internet connection is acting up.
Constantly hiccuping and downtime for several minutes every few. I feel like i'm being DDOS'd Sorry about that... This is unfortunately an issue with the ISP, can't do much about it.

Also made it difficult for me to post here a warning.

[Jops]

Seems like the hiccupping has stopped, at least for now.

[edit] Yup! Finally stable.

[Jops]

Just confirming about tomorrow, usual time.

[EDIT] All up and running!

[sciencephile]

Cannot seem to get into the server. Did you change the alias?

[Jops]

nope, alias is still the same: just jump rich nail

...and internet isn't failing me today.

[Starcrawler]

I can't get in either, have you checked your port forwarding ect?

[Jops]

Just a reminder: Next Saturday will be Heist day! ^^

[sciencephile]

Yep ... inspiration music here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWGeRgFa-hI

[Jops]

Instance up and running, server appears stable, connection test was successful... so i expect it to run smooth today.
Just a warning. there's a new update. You'll need to run it before you join.

[Jops]

I hate my internet. =(
Let's take a 30 mins break and, then i'll post to let you know if things are stable then.

[EDIT] Situation is getting worse and worse. I'm afraid we gotta call it a day.
I'll keep you posted for the next time.

Sorry about this.

[Jops]

No can do this weekend, sorry. I'm out of town.
I'll be reserving Saturday 8th and seek some possible alternatives to my crappy connection by then.

[sciencephile]

Sorry, I will not be able to make it on 2/8. I am in the middle of adopting another child and have an appointment that day.

[Jops]

I see.
I understand that this takes priority so, don't worry. Let's make it next week then. ^^

(more time for me to make sure my network is stable)

[Jops]

Looks like we got 2 players who can't make it this week, so I'm forced postpone once more. =(
Sorry.

[Jops]

Confirmed for next saturday. ^^
Let's finish this!