It’s always good to ask before hunkering in on a new hack: Are there any PbtA games that do “elite special units” or “teams of espionage” or “heist capers”? You know, an exemplary cadre of hand-picked forces, tasked with missions impossible and lured by reward? Each member having their own signature specialty, quirky element and achilles’ heel? Usually with nicknames like Highwire or Boomer or Whistler…
I will take a bite out of my shoe if someone hasn’t gone this route already.
There’s Enemy Action: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-blUgsUpjcIRXU0dkFwUk9qUEk/edit
I don’t think it got past the alpha stage, but it has a lot of good ideas worth mining!
Look to Blades in the Dark and The Regiment.
Somebody played a PbtA hack like this at Camp Nerdly this year but I can’t recall who, or what it was called. Hmmmm. Let me see if I can dig that up.
Not PbtA, but Tactical Ops (http://unplayablegames.blogspot.com/2014/10/tactical-ops.html) is a GM-less game in the same narration heavy style as PbtA games.
Someone also made a PbtA hack called “Movie World”, which focuses on action films but may be of interest.
I’ve also been made aware of souls of steel, which is an aw hack about ace star fighter or mecha pilots
Keep going if you’ve got ’em, but this is awesome. Between Enemy Action and Tactical Ops, I got plenty of what I personally was looking for.
Oh, heck yeah. Souls of Steel is Dana Fried’s game.
Tactical Ops is a very different game, be warned. Enemy Action is definitely more solid based on your request.
Some things I like from Tactical Ops which might be useful:
* Begin the game with the group defining who is giving you the mission, where you are learning about it, how they are delivering the message, and what conditions it has (“Make sure she’s alive!”)
* From here, define a number of obstacles that need to be overcome to achieve this. You know: you need to 1) get passed the security cams, 2) shut off the electrical fence, 3) move the van into position, 4) get passed the guard dogs, 5) get the girl, and 6) get out so no one can identify you
* Play the obstacles as separate scenes, like a montage, with no interstitial bits. Think Oceans 11
The above can probably be scrunched up into some hack on the Fronts concept, though.
Aaron Griffin I grabbed Tactical Ops because I want to see how its GMless mechanic works. I’ve yet to find one that my gamer group didn’t find to be shallow.
I should have warned you that I haven’t actually run it! I could be blowing smoke. There are some bits of the system that get bogged down in the details, but that’s really the soft/hard opposition bits.
I really really like it, though. I haven’t been able to get the right group of people willing to do such a narrative heavy system
Pick up The Sprawl by Hamish Cameron, it’s 100% what you’re talkin bout.
No, Mark DiPasquale, YOU pick it up and run a game, and I’ll come play.
Lawl, I dunno, I’m already on one of the playbooks… let me get back to you on that’n.
Looks like you can find a beta of it http://www.ardens.org/The_Sprawl_beta.pdf
I need to stop being surprised when I look at the list of AW hack playtesters and find no less than three people I know.