Back in 2002, when the OGL was young and full of promise, Alderac Entertainment Group released Spycraft, a d20 action/espionage RPG. My local gaming group immediately fell in love with it. I started a campaign, which fell apart after three (excellent) sessions due to a lack of GM focus, planning, and follow-through. My campaign setup document, however, was the writing sample that got me onto the Spycraft design team for the rest of the first edition’s run and the Stargate SG-1 license. I started this blog as a repository for my various older and unpublished pieces (among other things), so this seems as good a place as any to post it. Because of length, this is the second of a four-part series.

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SDRA Special Agent Entry Qualifications

• US or Northern Mariana Islands citizenship
• between the ages of 23 and 37
• ability to attain Top Secret security clearance (DRA has been known to grant such clearance on a case-by-case basis for individuals whose criminal records would normally prohibit it)
• uncorrected vision not worse than 20/200, correctable to 20/20 in one eye and 20/40 in the other, and adequate color and night vision
• adequate hearing at 1000 through 4000 Hertz
• valid driver’s license
• excellent physical condition with no defects which would interfere in firearm use or defensive tactics
• four-year degree from a college or university accredited by one of the regional or national institutional associations recognized by the United States Secretary of Education, or equivalent professional experience (minimum rank E-6, WO-4, or O-4) in the United States armed forces, or equivalent professional experience in a non-accredited field of academic study recognized by the DRA (typically xenology, xenoethnography, parapsychology, cryptozoology, or thaumaturgy)
• must pass a psychiatric evaluation administered by SDRA medical staff, with specific emphasis on sense of self and resilience in sudden oppositions of personal worldview and subjective reality

In game terms, character creation guidelines:

• Only one of STR, DEX, and CON can start below 10.
• Spot or Listen skill bonuses cannot start below +0.
• Drive skill bonus cannot start below +1.
• Total Will save bonus cannot start below +1, nor can Fear backgrounds be higher than 1.

Agents are subject to annual medical and psychiatric evaluations and performance testing. Interim examinations are strongly recommended after any assignment that results in violent contact with a hazardous entity, technology, or manifestation, and may be mandatory at the discretion of the agent’s supervisor.

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SDRA Directorates

In the DRA campaign setting, the following Directorates replace the default Department selections from Spycraft.

D-0: Executive Directorate (“Central”)

The Executive Directorate is the central bureaucracy and field investigative arm of the DRA. It has over 60% of the Agency’s total staff, as the vast majority of clerical and administrative personnel are assigned to it. Its agents have no overriding agenda, instead being assigned as “utility infielders” to any operation that needs a generalist instead of a specialist. Agents from Central tend to be well-connected within the Agency’s bureaucracy. D-0 is also home to the Agency’s Internal Security Department, which investigates corruption of both mundane and supernatural varieties within the DRA.

• 4 extra skill points at 1st level and 1 extra skill point each level thereafter.
• +2 department bonus to all favor checks. This bonus increases by an additional +1 at 3^rd level and every 3 levels thereafter.
• Select any two skills. You receive a +1 department bonus to all checks with these skills. These skills are always considered class skills, even if you multi-class.
• Bonus Feat: Any covert or basic skill feat. You must still meet all prerequisites for the feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.

D-1: Foreign Service Directorate

Officially, the Foreign Service Directorate is responsible for coordinating activities with other nations’ governments and paranormal studies and enforcement agencies. Unofficially, it also engages in a great deal of espionage against nations that are less than fully receptive to the Agency’s diplomatic overtures. D-1 has extensive connections in the global black and gray markets, allowing its agents to procure deniable equipment with ease.

• +2 Charisma, -2 Strength.
• +5 budget points as part of the agent’s personal budget. +2 budget points to each mission budget, plus an additional +1 budget point bonus at 2nd level and every two levels thereafter.
• +1 to department bonus to Cultures, Languages, and Diplomacy checks. Foreign Service agents receive an additional +1 department bonus to Cultures, Language, and Diplomacy checks at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
• Bonus Feat: Any style or gear feat. You must still meet all prerequisites for the feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.

D-2: Domestic Service Directorate

The Domestic Service Directorate works closely with the various branches of the US armed forces and their respective paranormal programs, as well as with other domestic law enforcement and intelligence agencies on federal, state, and local levels. Its official primary function is facilitating the smooth transfer of information between the Agency and other domestic agencies whose jurisdictions may overlap those of the DRA. However, D-2 is also responsible for coordinating joint operations, which means its agents see action in the field on a regular basis. A high percentage of D-2 agents are drawn from police departments and from the military’s commissioned ranks.

• +2 to any one ability of your choice, -2 to any one ability of your choice. You may apply both the bonus and the penalty to the same ability if you so desire.
• At 1st level, choose one federal agency, one branch of the US military, or the collective agencies of one state or city as an allied organization. The agent has worked closely with this organization in the past and is familiar with its culture and bureaucracy. The agent gains a +1 allied organization bonus to all Charisma-based skill checks that directly pertain to the allied organization or its personnel. At 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter, choose one additional organization, and the bonus associated with every previously selected organization goes up by +1. For example, a 12th-level D-2 operative will have four allied organizations, with bonuses of +4, +3, +2, and +1.
• +1 department bonus to skill checks for one class skill of your choice. Domestic Service agents receive an additional +1 department bonus to skill checks for the chosen skill at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
• Bonus Feat: Any basic combat or covert feat. You must still meet all prerequisites for the feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.

D-3: Technical Directorate (“Cyberpunks”)

The Technical Directorate is in charge of primary analysis of all advanced technology that enters the Agency’s hands. It is also responsible for electronic surveillance, intelligence, and counter-intelligence. D-3 runs the Agency’s spy satellites, information centers, secure communications networks, and cryptographic analysis offices. The Biomedical Office of D-3 handles both in-house medical treatment for agents and analysis of xenobiological and cryptozoological cases. Cyberpunks (the non-computer personnel of D-3 object to the moniker, but it still sticks) tend to be younger than other DRA agents, and many are recruited straight out of college (or jail).

• +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom.
• Choose one Office at character creation: Information Technology, Electronic Surveillance, Biomedical, or Physical Sciences.
• Cyberpunks in the Information Technology or Electronic Surveillance Office receive a free laptop computer with a +1 power rating. The computer is upgraded in power automatically by +1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter. D-3 agents in the Biomedical or Physical Sciences Office receive a bonus of +1 gadget point at the start of each mission, plus another gadget point per mission at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
• +1 to department bonus to checks with two skills, determined by Office. Information Technology agents receive bonuses in Electronics and Computers. Electronic Surveillance agents learn advanced techniques in Cryptography and Surveillance. Biomedical operatives are highly trained in First Aid and Knowledge (biology). Physical Sciences personnel have exceptional aptitude with Mechanics and Knowledge (choose one: chemistry, engineering, or physics). D-3 agents receive an additional +1 department bonus to checks with the specified skills at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
• Bonus Feat: Any gear or basic skill feat. You must still meet all prerequisites for the feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.

D-4: Covert Operations Directorate

The smallest directorate, D-4, is the Agency’s “stealth” arm. Its agents specialize in going places they shouldn’t be and doing things they shouldn’t do without ever being seen, be it breaking and entering or assassination. Covert Ops missions are usually things that the Agency would need to be able to deny ever having been involved in, should they come to light. Many D-4 missions involve action against American citizens or institutions, which are technically prohibited without a federal judge’s authorization. However, few federal judges have the security clearance necessary to be informed of Agency operations, which results in D-4 agents conducting a high number (even for the Agency) of technically illegal activities. This Directorate is insular even for the Agency, and D-4 personnel tend to be somewhat antisocial.

• +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma.
• +1 to department bonus to Initiative checks. Covert Operations agents receive an additional +1 department bonus to Initiative at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
• -2 department penalty to all rolls made for the purposes of identifying, tracking, or researching the character through any means except direct interviews. This penalty decreases by an additional -1 at 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter. For example, all attempts to run the fingerprints of a 12th-level D-4 operative would have a -6 penalty. DRA personnel ignore this penalty unless the agent has the Altermate Identify feat.
• +1 to department bonus to Hide checks. Covert Operations agents receive an additional +1 department bonus to Hide checks at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
• Bonus Feat: Any covert or basic skill feat. You must still meet all prerequisites for the feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.

D-5: Tactical Operations Directorate (“X-Com”)

D-5 is the Agency’s dedicated paramilitary aspect. Most D-5 personnel are recruited from the enlisted ranks of the military. While D-2 often works with the Department of Defense for information sharing and joint operations, D-5 is the Agency’s private army for use in situations where regular armed forces deployment would have prohibitive legal or diplomatic repercussions (for example, if use of military personnel would violate the Posse Comitatus Act). Other directorates have a tendency to see D-5 agents as thugs and cannon fodder, an impression which is not wholly without basis – D-5 has the highest rates of agent mortality and retirement on physical disability of any directorate. However, D-5 agents are also notoriously hard to kill, and tend to do a lot of damage before they go down.

• +2 Strength, -2 Intelligence.
• 4 extra vitality points at 1st level and 1 extra vitality point each level thereafter.
• 1 extra wound point. Tactical Operations agents receive 1 additional wound point at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
• Whenever he calculates his personal budget, a Tactical Operations agent may choose as a personal weapon any one melee weapon or non-tactical firearm with which he is proficient. After adding the budget point costs of the weapon and all of its ammunition and accessories, he receives a 25% discount on the total budget point cost of the package. This does not apply to mission budget or gadget points.
  Example: Dirk chooses an H&K G3A3 (7.62x51mm assault rifle, 32 BP) as his personal weapon. His standard load-out for it includes 60 rounds of FMJ ammo (3 BP), 60 rounds of AP ammo (9 BP), a bipod (1 BP), and a telescopic sight (2 BP). The total cost of this package is 47 PB. A 25% discount reduces the cost of the package to (47 x 0.75 = 35.25, rounded up) 36 BPs.
• Bonus Feat: Any ranged combat, melee combat, or unarmed combat feat. You must still meet all prerequisites for the feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.

D-6: Survey Directorate

Roughly 95% of the US population lives in 5% of the nation’s square mileage. D-6 is responsible for patrolling the other 95% of the United States, from the Intracoastal Waterway to Death Valley, and reporting or personally handling any signs of paranormal hazards. This directorate also handles the Agency’s in-house paranormal mapping programs, working closely with the USGS, DMA, and NRO. D-6’s closest ties to other agencies are with the EPA and the Department of the Interior, and state conservation and environmental agencies. Survey Directorate personnel are accustomed to long periods of independent operation, and tend to be rugged individualists.

• +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity.
• +1 department bonus to Fortitude saving throws. Survey agents receive an additional +1 department bonus to Fortitude saves at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
• +1 to department bonus to Knowledge (Nature) and Survival checks. Survey agents receive an additional +1 department bonus to Knowledge (Nature) and Survival checks at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
• Climb, Jump, Knowledge (Nature), Survival, and Swim are always in-class skills for Survey agents.
• Bonus Feat: Any basic combat or chase feat, or Track. You must still meet all prerequisites for the feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.

D-7: Unconventional Research Directorate (“The Basement”)

The DRA’s core reason for existence is most strongly seen in Basement offices. D-7’s research involves magic, psychic phenomena, and less quantifiable individual manifestations of the paranormal. 60-hour weeks are considered the norm in the Basement, and the stress, pace, and hazards of working in D-7 take their toll on its personnel. However, D-7 agents are more psychologically resilient than other Agency personnel due to their constant exposure to things that would drive lesser men mad. They also tend to be preternaturally lucky, even moreso than the average Agency operative.

• +2 Wisdom, -2 Constitution.
• +1 department bonus to any action die rolls you make. If an ability lets you roll multiple action dice, this bonus applies individually to each one. Do not count this bonus when checking to see if an action die explodes. This bonus increases by +1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
• +1 department bonus to Will saving throws. Research agents receive an additional +1 department bonus to Will saves at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
• Bonus Feat: Any basic or advanced skill feat. You must still meet all prerequisites for the feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.