First, the Agency Watch is a big hit, except that everybody's watch looks like a cell phone. Which is to say, there's no high tech toy you could hide in a watch that you couldn't hide in a cell phone just as easily.
Second, drones. Small, quiet, camera or microphone, relatively short range, that sort of thing. Obviously a plausible gadget, but I'm thinking a more in depth write-up with various options (like the uniform, watch and attaché case) might be in order. I should have a draft within a few days.
With regards to the Agency Watch - you may be able to hide all the same features in a phone but I'd much rather have a watch secured to my agent's wrist than rely on the phone in his pocket. Also, in my experience, watches tend to be more resilient than cell phones (I still have a fully functional Seiko that survived a torrid time when I was in the RN over 20 years ago).
Drones - you could possibly cobble something together using the vehicle and gadget rules but I also think a dedicated article is a damn good idea :)
While I personally tend to agree, wristwatches are becoming unusual enough to be noteworthy these days, but everybody carries a cell phone, and smart phones don't even get noticed.
Very true, but if it breaks or gets lost, the agency will replace it. That is, after all, the point of using equipment points instead of money, isn't it? :)
My plan is for the watch to really be a "watch," that, like the "uniform," may or may not look like its namesake. So, while the "uniform" could be an actual uniform, it could also be a business suit, or blue jeans and a polo shirt, and the "watch" could be a watch, or a cell phone, or a shoe phone, or a TV remote.
Drones - you could possibly cobble something together using the vehicle and gadget rules but I also think a dedicated article is a damn good idea :)
I've got a very rough draft already. Still needs more work, but in the next few days. It's surprising how many options come to mind. One could almost run the drone as a character.
Watches are overlooked today, in general. People tend to focus on larger electronics: smart phones, cameras, tablets, etc. The agency relies on this psychology for the standardized modular agency wristwatch gadget.
True Story: I once rode in a taxi past the Pentagon while sight seeing in Washington DC. I took some pictures of the building from afar, from the highway. Soon, the taxi was pulled over by an unmarked secret security service who demanded all of our tablets, phones, and cameras. It was a bit intimidating to the family (but not the taxi driver, who seemed to expect it smugly). They systematically went through and deleted all images, even knew to empty recycle bins and whatnot. Nobody asked to see my wristwatch. Just sayin'
However, at my game tables I totally allowed someone to treat a woman's makeup compact as an "agency wristwatch" once. No problem, made total sense. I suggest GMs consider such requests and honor them, rewarding clever thinking in preparation for a mission.
Oh... and a modular standardized agency drone idea is golden. Please make that!
I should have a draft today or tomorrow.
While wrist watches for telling time are going the way of the pocket watch the attempts to bring in smart watches is gaining momentum. Let us not forget all the people using the fitness watches.
For the moment watches are at a low ebb but things are looking up. Agency Watch could become a reality in short order.