TOPIC: Covert Ops - Discussion

A "furious limpet", that's something I'd like to see! David Attenborough, help me!

Furious Limpet and the Retrospective Detective.

OPERATION SANGRIA SHUFFLE

Location: San Sebastian, Spain.

SECTOR has received a report stating that a former Nazi scientist Hans Eichmann passed away two nights ago at a nursing home in Hamburg, Germany. Eichmann avoided prosecution as a war criminal in 2005 due to a lack of evidence. However, it seems that he made some rather... outlandish claims on his deathbed. Apparently, Eichmann confessed leading a secret project to develop a Nazi super-weapon based on technology salvaged from a crashed UFO. Outlandish or not, these claims need to be investigated. Before his death, Eichmann claimed the secret to deciphering his research was hidden in a collection of four paintings titled 'The Four Knights led by Brunnhilde'. SECTOR has not been able to locate these paintings, so you are being sent to make contact with a SECTOR informant living in sunny San Sebastian, Spain. The informant's name is Silvio Caruso and he is a skilled artist and forger whose services SECTOR have called on in the past. If anyone has the contacts to track down these four obscure paintings, it will be him.



OBJECTIVES

PRIMARY: Contact Silvio Caruso and persuade him to locate 'The Four Knights led by Brunnhilde' [3DP].
SECONDARY: n/a
OPTIONAL: Acquire intel on CITADEL operations in Europe [1DP].

Everyone gets 4DP.
You completed the primary objective, but failed the [secret] secondary objective: Save Maria Juliano from execution and failed the optional objective: Gather info on CITADEL activities (although they now know a little more about you!)

Following feedback from Richard, I am going to use the class creation guidance in the rulebook to design a new class called NEGOTIATOR. It will be usable unskilled, Will-based and feature abilities to talk people down and communicate in hostile situations. We will start play-testing it next week.

Also, can you remind which mission you decided to do next from the following 4 options;

OPERATION FISHY MOUNTAIN: Secure first painting from Yakuza auction in Tokyo, Japan.

OPERATION WINTER THUNDER: Steal second painting from private collection of retired Russian general.

OPERATION BUSTER SQUID: Recover third painting from sunken Nazi u-boat on the bottom of the Mediterranean sea.

OPERATION SEWER KRAUT: Recover fourth painting from 'lost bunker' beneath Berlin, Germany.

Remember, anyone writing up a mission report (it does not have to be very long, unless you want it to be) gets bonus DP! I am going to continue writing up the campaign for my own enjoyment, but dont not let this deter you (Andy)! I look forward to seeing your stuff!

Also, from now on, readying a weapon is treated as a free action.

COVERT OPS PDF currently on sale for less than £6 on RPGNow.com: www.rpgnow.com/product/123056/Covert-Ops-Role-Playing-Game

EDIT: Also, just noticed that you can only specialize in non-combat skills, so I was lying when I said you could specialize with certain weapons/sword-legs. Sorry.

COVERT OPS - WEEK TWO/PART ONE [09/03/2017]

• Andy C - Alek Trevelyan
• Mark - Stanley Parable
• Richard - Stig Zango
• Andy S - Aubrey Shatners-Basoon

ATLANTIC BASE, 05:00 HOURS: Despite his weak protestation that all he needs is a strong cup of tea, Aubrey is rushed to the medical bay for surgery. The bullet fired from Kurt Kruise's high-powered hand cannon has lodged amidst the bones in his shoulder and needs to be operated on immediately. Noel enjoys a moment to gloat that the medic pack Aubrey refused to buy for him is now needed to save the man's life, before remembering that his Hippocratic Oath requires that he get on with the surgery before Aubrey loses another limb. Mia assists and the operation goes smoothly.

As Aubrey recovers consciousness, he finds Professor Pearce's wheelchair parked by his bedside. Inspired by Aubrey's cool sword-leg (inspired by the awesome movie 'Kingsman'), Pearce has prepared sketches for some even more implausible prosthetics; he is particularly enthused by the possibility of fitting Aubrey with a flamethrower leg. Aubrey groggily agrees to the procedure, but (to Pearce's disappointment) rejects the suggestion that he go "full cyborg". Aubrey slips back into a troubled sleep and Pearce takes the opportunity to hide a donor card in the man's wallet.

Meanwhile, Deputy-Director Birde notices that Stig has not completed his mandatory pilot training (mistake during character creation, forgot pilot focus) and he spends the next six hours doing barrel rolls over the ocean. Sam Hunter approaches Alek and challenges him to a drinking/shooting contest (those two activities always make a great combination). The aim is to chug a bottle of beer, then throw the empty vessel into the air and shoot it before it hits the ground. Alek holds his own in the first round, but the second beer goes down the wrong pipe (critical fail) and comes back out his nose. In a rare moment of human vulnerability, Hunter speaks of his past as a mercenary in Sudan, how he fell in love with a volunteer doctor from the States and fathered a beautiful baby girl - before both were killed by a despotic warlord. Alek files this information under 'Possible Foreshadowing of a Future Mission'.

--

ATLANTC BASE, 12:00 HOURS: Director Ludlum summons the recruits to the briefing room. He congratulates Alek and Stig on their promotion from Recruit to Operative and doubles their equipment allowance to requisition more cool shit for future missions. Speaking of future missions, the team is being sent to Spain! 'TOP SECRET! OPERATION SANGRIA SHUFFLE' reads the dossier Ludlum flings across the desk.

"Some geriatric Nazi who dodged the Hague has been making outlandish claims about a secret project to reverse engineer alien technology into a war ending super weapon," the Director explains. "As mad as that sounds, SECTOR is still required to investigate. The location of this secret laboratory is supposedly hidden in a collection of four paintings, we need to secure those paintings before CITADEL get their hands on them. Your mission is to contact a dodgy art dealer and sometime forger called Silvio Caruso, living in sunny San Sebastian. If anyone has the contacts to locate the paintings, it will be him.

"Also, Recruit Shatners-Basoon, try not to get shot again like some damn fool! And tell Professor Pearce that I know full well about the 'modifications' to his wheelchair! The cost of that rocket fuel is coming out of his salary!"

COVERT OPS - WEEK TWO/PART TWO

MADRID, 09:00 HOURS: The next day, the team touch down at the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain. Their vehicles; a jeep for Stig (plus passengers) and a dirt bike for Alek, are waiting for them in the short-stay parking area. Noel and Stanley will follow in the van*.

*At this point in the session, neither player had turned up so their characters were pushed into the background.

SAN SEBASTIAN, 14:00 HOURS: The team arrive in sunny San Sebastian after several hours on the road. It is early afternoon and the winding, cobbled lanes are thick with tourist traffic. The sails of small watercraft dot the surf around the Isla de Santa Clara. Stig taps Caruso's address into the GPS and the team soon reach his lavish beachfront property. An expensive-looking sports car is parked outside, yet there is no response when Aubrey starts banging on the front door. Creeping round the back, the team find evidence of forced entry - but this is pretty much the only thing they do find, since nobody thought to put any points into the detective skill. Rather than searching the house, the team congregate around a small, innocuous looking shed in the back garden, convinced that it hides more sinister secrets than its mundane appearance would imply. Eventually, NPC Stanley is dispatched to get the team back on track, unlocking Caruso's computer and discovering security footage of Caruso and an unknown lady-friend being abducted by a local goon squad. Aubrey runs the faces through SECTOR's database and identifies them as members of the Juliano mafia. Tony Juliano (nephew of the capo) manages a restaurant in San Sebastian, likely a front for his more illicit business dealings. Having orientated the players towards the next set-piece, NPC Stanley's work is done and he disappears in the van.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings! Peering through the curtains, Alek sees two black SUVs parked outside. After last week, the team now equate black SUVs = bad news and start dithering over whether or not to answer the summons. Meanwhile, the newcomers enter via the back door. The first is a striking woman with blonde hair and a red business suit tailored to her figure. She would be beautiful, were it not for the scar tissue disfiguring one side of her face. Beside her looms a giant of a man, seven feet tall and muscled like a bear.

"Hola. I am looking for Senor Caruso, is he home?"

Stig explains that they too are seeking Silvio and he is not here.

"Oh dear. I hope Senor Caruso is not in any trouble! I'm an admirer of his portfolio and hoped to commission a self-portrait. Do you think he would capture my good side?
"Oh, how rude of me! My name is Zoya Balalaika and this is my bodyguard Boris. Please excuse him, he's the strong, silent type."

Boris glowers.

The team introduce themselves, giving their real names like a bunch of fools.

"If you happen to find Senor Caruso, please let him know that I was looking for him," Balalaika said, "Here is my card, should you ever need to get in touch."

Stig pockets the card and the team wave Balalaika farewell as she leaves.

"She seemed nice," Alek said.

"Absolutely," Aubrey agreed, "What a charming woman, I certainly hope to see her again."

Zoya Balalaika


Boris