DwD Studios

Though we spent most of the day generating "real" characters, rather than continuing with the pre-gens from Usual Suspects that we used in Burning Presidents.

(This is the CIA based game, eventually set in Vancouver.)

We ended up with:

Neil Morreston - wilderness tour guide and former mercenary spy, who joined the CIA for the insurance (which actually isn't bad) for his ailing father. Reputation marred by crooked uncles who skimmed from the CIA on their mercenary operation, but the "right people" know he's blameless, and the rest were convinced it's best to keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Isabella Ryan - Former IDF (Israeli) sniper, who had an unfortunate incident (that was the fault of the person who gave her the shoot order) while working with the (hated rival of the CIA) FBI.

Belinda Valdez - Former MP in the Air Force, skilled detective, who had no tolerance for generals with busy hands.

Kir Hobalskaya - Son of a Russian ex-pat (and half Chinese), whose father was assassinated by Putin's agents, and who joined the CIA because it couldn't be any more dangerous than his life anyway, and they can protect him better than anyone else. Still retains a significant amount of family wealth. A linguist, skilled researcher, amateur sleuth. Masters degree in international business and law.

Steve Randall - Whiz kid with computers, caught doing naughty things at a young age, and shepherded through college by the CIA. (Normally, such technical types would be cellar rats for the NSA, stuck in a basement with bleeding edge hardware and an unlimited supply of Cheetos and Mountain Dew, happy as clams until they die of a heart attack by age 30, but this one met all the qualifications for a field officer, so there it is.) Has a tendency to poke his nose in to (digital) places it shouldn't be, but has a gift for finding things the CIA doesn't want to know, but knows they *need* to know after they find out, so they put up with him.

And "John Smith," AKA "My real name is classified." Former undercover Coastie who infiltrated and helped destroy a narco-terrorist group, and who now has a bounty on his head. High skills in Thief and Soldier.

As a side note, I wasn't overly picky about the rules regarding languages. What fits the background, the characters got. I also gave everyone one free contact; someone who would be more useful for information than equipment or support, or for political pull when a mission drops in the pot. Got a range of choices, from a Senator's aide to a brother who runs an (aboveboard, legal) mercenary supply company in Seattle to Turkish military intelligence. The rich Russian has, for the moment, a roving contact - not as useful at any given time, but he's traveled all this life, and knows somebody *everywhere*. Nobody can tell you what Nick Stavros is up to like the concierge at the hotel he's staying at. (He'll get to shine when they get to the yacht, I think.)

(Note that each character has some black mark to his reputation, that isn't his fault, but has left him with certain of the Powers That Be in the CIA being happy to send them to off to Vancouver, where Nothing Ever Happens.)

On to the game:

They got briefed by the FBI on the shootout with The Freedom Brigade (because, recall, that was different characters), and by a familiar CIA case officer (briefing attached - they also got the satellite map of the island and the blueprints of the mansion), and assigned to investigate the island and look for any and all financial information they could find. They took their time deciding on equipment, with what you'd expect, night black camo, night vision gear, assorted long and short range weapons (including a tranq gun using the poison rules from the home page), and a smart selection of body armor.

I pointed out to them specifically that their orders do not comment on whether or not Stavros becomes aware of the intrusion before, during or after the fact. Being well trained, they know the optimum outcome is to sneak in, get the information, and sneak out, with no one the wiser. But if they feel the need to shoot the place up, that is within their discretion. (Of course, this is also something of a "final training exercise" for Clandestine Service Training, and may well be a test of said discretion. It may reinforce the opinion of some that the best place for these cowboys is someplace where they have nothing to do but watch the pain peel.

After studying the satellite map, they arranged a Zodiac boat, and a "basic backup" guy to watch it while they were on the island (and come running to whichever cliff face they're about to jump off of to evade pursuit), and choose to scale the cliff in a cove on the left side of the map, because it looked like a good approach to both the barracks and the mansion. It just happened to be the cove the cave is in, which they discovered, and decided to not enter through after getting close enough to determine it wasn't entirely natural. They're assuming it connects to the barracks, which is closer to it than the other two buildings. They're also assuming it's either guarded, or wired with surveillance gear to within an inch of their lives (the former is true, the latter . . . not really so much, but with decent live guard, you don't need electronics).

So they snuck up to the house (successfully, and easily, as it is the wee hours, and they never got close to the roaming guards), and are currently trying to figure out how to break in, as we ended it there due to time constraints and Mote being quite cranky about changing maps.

We're off to a good start.