',

'r
I he game is as old as nations.lt relieson a
curiousmix of the newesttechnologiesand the
oldest senses.lts malhods rub againstths grain
of democracy,yet withoutit democraciescannot
survive."|fl is the businessol espionage,and it's
aliveandwellin AutoDuelAmerica.
The agenciesthat presentlyexist combino
some of the olclwith the new.Inlhe united states,
the NationalSecurityAgencycarriesout most ot
the U.S.'sintlligenceactivities.(TheCIAis now a
smallpart of the NSA.)Canadahas the Canadian
lntelligence Service, Quebec has ths SCE,
Louisianathe Eureaulor SecretAffairs,and Texas
the Intelligenceand SecurityBranch.(Oklahoma
and Mexicoaretoo lragmenledto havecohesive
intelligenceagenciss.)
Theseorganizationshavein common certain
duties and goals.They are: advisingthe government on intelligencerelatingto nationalsecurity;
nqaintainingcooperationbetween departments;
evaluation ancl communication of data; and
carryingout operationsand directivs.The last
partis what'sgamable.
Those "Departmentsof DirtyTricks'carryoul
the secret,dangerous,and daringmissionsthat
modern intelligencerequires.Theirwoft is often
violent, ancl their agents can be the victims of
both random and specificviolence.But the jobs
they cloarevital,so they simplygrinandendurs.
Most have some restrictionson their activities. In democracies,thgse haveto do more with
obeyingthe Constitution.
In clictatorships,
restrictions coms from politicalfoes afraidof a sscret
serviceable to do anythingto anyone.The most
common rul6 preventsactionsfrom takingplacs
on homesoil.
Personnelare usuallyrecruitedout of college
or graduatschool. only tield agenls who are
expected to engage in combat come trom ths
military,and then only as commissionedofficers
with yearsot servicebehindthem.All fieldagents
go throughspecialtraining.Termsvaryfrom one
to threeyears.
Texas is a specialcase in that many of th
field agents come from ths Tsxas Rangers.In
ac,dition to a great deal of training, thoy have
practical knowledge ot dealing with the public.
Howsver, Tsxas agsnts ranks lowst when
comparativestudiesof reportsarmade.
This lsads us to ihe least glamorous and
most important work operatives do: racl and
compils data. This varies from stealingsecret
documents to reading resoarch papers on
agricultureto watching the local viscast news.
This can preclictwhen ths next war might come
ancl why. lt can msan the ditferenco betw8en
success and failure ol an operation. Without it
governments are unable lo make foreign policy
clecisions.
Gathsring information has become easir
than it was duringthe cold war and before.The
only way to gather data was to go where the 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
satellitescan malfunction.A probe over enemy
airspacecouldbe shotctown.

EspionageIs Alive And

Well In AutoDuel America
Robert L Col/ns

Thal'swheretield agentscome in. They clo

things like recovercrashsddronss,do personal
surveillanc,
and cultivatedouble agents.These
agentsarebaseclin lield stationslocated in major
citiesin foreigncountri6s.
Stationsagentsspend much of their careers
'on station.' Thoy have extensivs knowledgeof
local customs. Their cover is as members of
embassystaftor as employeesot a company's
branchoffico. Thoughbetter protecteclthan lield
agents, thoy are in constant danger ol being
discovered.
The covert action agents arg lhe mgn and
women who go behindlhe lines to do th special
jobs that can't be done by station people. Thy
get defectorsout, tak6 hard clatasurveys,kidnap

enemy officials,protect friencllyagents: all thg

things that are ths stuff of spy stories. Theso
agents often work alone. Most of their time is
spent with reports. They are told to avoid
violence,but they are the ultimateforce,th best
of the best.lf they can'tdo it, it can'tbe done.
The new technologiesare a realhelp to field
agents.clones can assurethat thsy don't haveto
risk their lives.Micros can simulatethe mission
while it's still being plannecl.The same supersmall cameras usecl fot surgery are also perfect
for conducting surveillance.8ut this samo
technologyalso creates problems.Documents
and lDs are much harder to forge. Melal and
plastiquecletectorsare at every airport.Insteadof
men, remote cameraswatch borclers.Information
on a cube can be disguisecl as a Pre-

ry
&

fr
7'
'rz

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dru
ry

$
tu

Lt

l'-

ru
programmed
cube.
A GM must usa common sensewhen c,aaling
with high-tech, but intelligence services will
alreadyhave the next advancein their hands.lf
holo proisctors exist spies are using them to
sneakover boiclers.The same for psn lasers,
stringtape,andeye camsras.
As you may realize,usingmicrosmay lsad to
players'gaming
out the game.'To avoidthis,limit
micro uso or apply a lot of the 'unexpectod
glemenfto the realihing.
Hele's how a spcial operation proceeds.
The first step is a decision by the agency's
operationsdireclor to determine il the need for
oneexists.Once that's ctonea proposalis mado
lo the agncy clireclor.H may decicteagainstit.
It so, the plan is droppect.But if he decides in
tavor ot the operalion, he will approach any
officialswhose approval or suppori is neoded.A
tormalpresentationto thg Presidentis made with
allpartieshaving a say. ll the Presidentapproves
and ths cabinet concurs, ths mission gets
clsarance.
Final plans are made, anclpersonnel
areassigned,brieted,andequipped.
Assuming tho 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
approvalis an aclventureitself!

The rarestanclmosl worrisomsituationis

when an operationdoesn't have approval.The
reasonsvary, but must be excellent,and that
might not help.Operationswithoutapprovalare
conctuctocl
at groatriskto livgsandcareers.
After final approvalis the tinal planningand
briefing.A tlightitineraryis clra?nup, documents
are made,and an escaperouteis mappedout. It
the'op' rsquirssmovingpeople,descriptionsor
holophotosar mmorized.Whn th brieling
ends, th opsrationsDirectorgives a personal
brieling,andthe agentis senton hisway.
Clones are occasionallysent insteadot an
agent.ClonBsar used on suicidemissions,or
missions when sscaps is an option, not a
requirement.Ths clone is programmed with
instructionsto give himself a massivecoronary,
tor example,if he is capturedor fails.Ot course,if
ths clon comss back,who gsts the crgdi?
Becaussairshipshavesupercecled
airplanss
many nations no longer use planes to transport
their people. Air Force iets can go to a nearby
porl,whersa commercialtlightis joinec,.Taxiancl
bus ssrvices are also used, especiallywhen tho
missiongosto a smalltownorwildarea.
Passing through Customs is thg most
dauntingtask. This is when an aosnt's acting
ability, anctthe torgery talents ot tho ctocumentation stalf, are put to the test. Usuallythe agont
gststhroughwithno problems.
lf tho mission is a succsss, going back
throughCustomsis a biggerconcorn.lt's almost
certain someone is looking for the agents now.
The authoritiesmay havs dsscriptaons.lf th
agents are moving someone,their clocumsnts
may be checkeclmore thoroughly.This is when
technology can help. Micros or holos can
misdirect.A quick clons can be mads or an
MMSD programmed.But as long as human
beingsman Customsstations,nothingworksliks
a bribeor dirtypicturesl
All ths ctangersare tsmpred by the fact
that they don't happn every day, or even every
wesk.A full month can go by bstweenoperations.
And thsreare alwaysmor agentsthanmissions,
so no one willwork back-to-back iobs.
Retrainingbecomes very important.Micros
do help, but nothing works liks a workout. Sinc
stress anct bumout clo more damage than the
enemy,no ong staysaroundfor more than three
years bofors they ither movo to a station, get
promotd to a desk iob, or retirg.No one has on
ot those '(inal' retirement plans; thoy tend to
makeit hardto recruit.
All the ctangersso tar cliscusseclare fairly
lethal. 8ut there are olher. lsss lthal. mor
menacing loes. They are the dreaded 'intergovernmsnt rivals,' the agencies whose furt
sometimescrossestho agent's.
Thg worst ot those opponents are agencies
likethe FBIWhen it was lirst establishsd,
the FBI
not only chasedcriminalsbut alsotoreignagents
in ths US. This no doubt continues in AutoDuel
America.Thisiswheremostot the contlictlies.
Otherassistance
is easierto get, but in times
ot tighttunds,it oftenhasthe phrase'youowe us
ons' attached. Stations ancl covert agents
somstimgshavetrouble gstting along,but try not
to let itoetout.lf it cloessomeonswillgettired.

ll allthis appealsto you, you may want to set

up an espionagecampaign.Running such a
campaigntakes preparation.will the playersbe
on station,or will they be in the field?who's in
charge, a playet ot an NPC? The number of
playersdoing the work won't be more than two.
Then again,everyonecould rotate betweenPCs
andNPCsfrom adventureto adventure.
Therewon't be any lack of foes, unlessyou
play the Canadians.Not only shoulct thero be
plenty of action between the North American
countries,but who knows what ths Aussies,the
Japanese, or the British ars up to (empire,
anyone?).
Sincfw agentsmakgarests, few will hav
LegalEntorcemgntPowsrs,and then only at the
s-point levgl.The wealth levelof most personnel
is Averago,but thoss from well-off familiescould
be Comforlable. All agents with military ssrvice
havsat leastthreelevelsot MilitaryRank.Last,th
agency is a Patron that appearson a roll of 6 or
less.lt'sworth 12points.
AgentPCshavestrongDuties(-15 pts.).The
total Enemiesare not too numerous,won'l com
afterthem untilthey'vedone something,and are
worth -20 pts.
Two Advantaggs/Disadvaniagss PCs
shouldn't worry about are Appearance and
Reputalion.Agentsmust havefairlynormallooks
to be ablto tit into crowdsand allaysuspicions.
And only agents with long records will have a
Reputation,and thenonly amongknowledgeablo
agents.
Common skills for agents includg Guns
(manytypes),Driving(various),Survival(various),
Disguise, Acting, Area Knowledge, First Aicl
Climbin0, Tracking, Navigation, Parachuting,
swimming, Diplomacy,Fast-Talk,La1,vTactics,
Demolition,Escape,Forgery,Lockpicking,Shactowing,Stealth,and Traps.Other PC skillsmight
comef rom militaryservicsor collggo.
Not that the skillslists will b6 quite long, ancl
most skillswill needto be at leastat 13.100-point
PCsin thiscampaignmightnot be fsasible.
Now tor a sample aclventure.'Run for the
Bordef is basedon the Sandbaggers episode
'FirstPrinciples,'by lanMclntosh.

RunFor The Border

The Situation
Some six hours ago an Air Force highaltitude spy drone took off from White Sands Air
Base, Nera/Mexico. CIA stations in Austin ancl
OklahomaCity havereportectboth countrieswers
moving troops along the Red River borcler.The
dronewas sent to investigate.lts tlight path would
td(e it north ot La\,vton,around Arc,more,south of
wichita Falls, then re-enter the us btween
The drono wenl
Lubbock and Miclland-Odessa.
down before it could cross th borcler ancl
crashed somerflherebetween Lubbock and Abilene; it was not shot c,own. lts last reported
position \ivasfifty miles east ot GrahamChapel(40
miles SE of Lubbockon Texas Highway9E). No
one was on boarcl. The data recorders were
packeclto survivea crashor fire.
The missionis to go in, recoverthe recorders,
ancl get all data off the drone. lf possible or

22
F

necessary,the clrone is lo be destroyed.The

Texans don't yet know it's crashect.Unfortunately,thatpartof Texasis banditcountry.

Working Out The Details

The first problem is gettingin. Howeverthe
PCswant to do it shouldbe okay,so long as they
head out from santa Fe (a five-houf llight has
beenarrangedby the USAF).
Next they must get to ths scsne.Takingl-40
to Amarillothen T-9 to the scene might work,
assuming no one asks why thsy're going to
Lubbock.A bettertry might be to enterat clovis,
NM. Eitherway they'll have to convinceanyons
they meetthattheirintentionsaregood.
one way to go in would b to parachutin
and land within ten miles of the crash site.Ths
vouble with this is gettinga hotd of a ptanethat
movesslowenoughto iumpout ot.
After they're over the border they should
have some non-lethal encounters,liks prouct
Taxans, small time bandits, lawmen,or smugglers.Any of these might providean ally,a clue,
or nuisance.Theywill alsotest the PCs abilitiesin
non-combatsituations.
Once at the scene,the PCswill havea maior
dilemma: th drone looks intact, but closer
examinationrevealsthat it's beenstripped.All the
datarecorclers
aregone!
The recordrsand all the slectronicsequipment on board were removed by a local bandit
gang.They'retryingto ligursout what thsy have,
ancl clebatingwhetheror not thy shoulc,go to

the authorities.
(Turningover strangegaclgetsto
ths copsmightget a respitetromthem.)
Thsrewill be at leasttn gang msmbersfor
eachPC.Usethe "TruckStop' map tor the banctit
baseor c,esignyour own (limit it to two buildings).
Arm the gangwith normalweaponslikeSMGSor
LAWS.A vehicle ratio of one bike for every two
gang members and on car for svery twelv
maKessense.
Yes, the PCs havo explosivssto blow tho
drone. But it doesn't takg much to destroy a
drone.(lt's possibleto use fuel or anythingelse
trom lhe clrone as weaponry. Givo PCs a
pointil theythinkot it.)
character
lf ths PCshavefreedthe electronicsfrom the
bandits,the next taskis to get out. Depenc,ing
on
how they did coming in anclwhat escapeplans
they made, their escape shoulclbe marginally
challenging.Hopefully they have good cover
storiesand haven'llost anv documentsor data
duringths battle.
lf thingsdictn'tgo wll the PCs are in troublo.
Gettingout with a partialset ot data might be
easier, but won't make their bossas happy. It
they'recaptureclby the gang,they'llhavetwo to
threehoursbeforethe gangconvincesthe locals
they have prisoners,and maybe anotherhalfhouror so beforesomeonscomesto invBstigate.
ll at any time they lall into the hanclsof tho
Texas authoritiesthe advntureis over. They
have been caughtspying,and will no doubt get
the cteath penalty, or, it thy'rs lucky, lite
imprisonment.
The CIAmightmakean exchangs

forthem,butthat'snot too likely.

Characterpoints are a\,vardedto 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 forgers)if the documentspass inspection:-2
for not getting any clataout; -3 il anyono is left
behind;- l for failingto dsstroythe plan;and +1
(or mora)for makinganctusingallies

FurtherAdventures
Becauss the above aclventureis relatively
easy, it makes a good starting point for a
campaign.other possibleadventuresinclude:the
body of an agentturns up, and the Pcs haveto
find out who killed him anctwhy; an important
ollicial gos on an unannouncedtrip and meets
witha memberof the oppositesex,and theyhave
to prevent a snatch or a defection; a woundsct
agenthas to bs smuggledout of hostileterritory;
and the ever-popular'foreign ofticial wants to
defect andws haveto go get him' scenario.
Inter-govrnmsntalrivalry never explodes
into violence; il's always a matter of outlobbying, out-reporting, or discovering nasty
things about your toe and makinosure the right
people find out. A top station agent may be
cloubling,
but you iust can'tshoot him.You'llhave
to do some legworkand see who's pullingthe
strings.Challengeyour players by giving them
aclventures
requiringsomethought.
Good luck,watchyour back,anclprotectthat
pension!|

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words To Game By

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Espionagsls AliveAnd Well ln AutoduelAmerica

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23OOAD Ship ProfileAnd SizeChart

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lcliots Oon't Drive BattleMasters

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