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  THE AGENCY
  by Matt Machell
  Yesterday’s Dead Die Tomorrow
  A quick kick to the groin dealt with the ﬁrst guard. The second, whose teeth had 
  locked around Simon’s arm, was trickier to cope with. The third guard was fumbling 
  around on the ﬂoor trying to ﬁnd the eyes that Simon had knocked from their 
  sockets.
  Simon Drake hated zombies.
  In an effort to dislodge the second, he used it to bludgeon the third, only to end 
  up with a bodiless head attempting to gnaw his arm off. He prized it off with an 
  umbrella, and made a run for the mansion’s steps. Another three rotting corpses 
  entered the hallway, shambling after him. Simon yanked the rug out from under 
  their feet  and bolted for the door.
  As he rushed down the manor’s steps a red sports car skidded to a halt in front 
  of him. 
  “Need a ride?” Jenna Styles asked, casually brushing the remains of a zombie 
  gardener from the paintwork. A pair of very sharp looking shears were embedded 
  in the car’s bonnet. Simon pulled them out, ﬂung them at his pursuers, and vaulted 
  into the passenger seat.
  
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  THE AGENCY by Matt Mache ll
  The engine spluttered and died.
  “That’ll teach me not to tip the mechanic,” Jenna noted. A glance in the rear-view 
  mirror showed a shambling horde making its way across the gravel. 
  “You still keep a shotgun under the back seat?” Simon asked.
  “No,” Jenna said, ﬂicking a switch on the dashboard, “I found something better.”
  There was a whir and a click, followed by a gout of ﬂame spewing from the back 
  of the car.
  The zombies burned. The credits rolled.
  INTRODUCTION
  The Agency is a roleplaying game where players take on the roles of 60s secret 
  agents ﬁghting the machinations of the supernatural menace. It’s Austin Powers 
  meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or The Avengers with Hammer Horror. It’s designed 
  to be a simple and light-hearted system, with lots of opportunity for heroics. 
  This is not an extensive set of rules. However, they are designed to really convey 
  the feel of the setting. The game is strongly focused on players cooperating to 
  create fun stories of a particular style, and the rules reﬂect this. It is abstract in 
  comparison to some games, but the purpose of the game is to allow fun to ﬂow 
  from the freedom granted by that abstraction. 
  The game works best with 4 or so players, and you’ll need some dice and paper. 
  A few character sheets (which can be downloaded at http://www.realms.org.
  uk/theagency) are also useful.
  MEMO  
  TO: All Agency Personnel 
  FROM: Col. Masters  
  SECURITY CLEARANCE: Alpha 5
  All agents are to be on the lookout for Norman 
  Fitch (see case file 2345). He is known to be in 
  possession of an artefact called the Eye of Leng. 
  This device is believed to have mind altering 
  effects and to be of dubious occult origin. Our man 
  in Spain observed one of Fitch’s associates making 
  contact with a member of F.E.S.T.A. Agents are to 
  recover this artefact at all costs and take Fitch 
  alive for questioning. Caution is advised.
  About the Agency
  It’s the 1960s. London hums to the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. 
  New fashions and lifestyles sweep the nation. With the beginning of the Age 
  of Aquarius, a sinister conspiracy threatens the nation: Abominations of the 
  supernatural are bent on the destruction or enslavement of the human race! 
  The only thing that stands in their way are the plucky agents of the top secret 
  organization: The Agency.
  
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   The Agency began as an obscure sub-department of military intelligence, 
  working as a special operations unit and handed the rather dubious task of 
  investigating weird phenomena. For some ﬁfty years, this small team was all that 
  protected the country from the horrors of the night. The last 10 years have seen 
  an alarming upturn in activity by supernatural creatures of all kinds. This has 
  led to the home ofﬁce expanding the original team and ofﬁcially establishing 
  The Agency. 
  The remit of this organization is quite simple: uncover any supernatural threat 
  to the nation and eliminate it. To avoid public outcry, the Agency is tasked with 
  doing its work as quietly as possible; witnesses are to be recruited. This policy 
  has resulted in a strange assortment of characters becoming members of the 
  agency. Millionaire playboys, military men and rock stars all secretly work for 
  the Agency. These Agents are organized into small teams, called together should 
  need arise, and backed up by a staff of scientists and support personnel.
  The Agency has its headquarters in rural Sussex, hidden behind the façade of a 
  rather nice Jacobean mansion. The area directly around Agency H.Q. is used for 
  training, and new recruits can often be seen practising martial arts and running 
  assault courses on the grounds. Several hundred metres below the ground, the 
  Agency operates an experimental containment facility, where “neutralized” 
  supernatural creatures can be safely stored and monitored.
  Playing the Game
  To play the Agency, you’ll need some normal dice and some players (3-5 is about 
  right) and somebody to act as Director. If you have not played in a roleplaying 
  game before, this role may need some explanation. The Director is a player 
  who is responsible for organizing play, setting the scene, conceiving plot and 
  describing the actions of non-player characters. Where the players will create 
  characters who are the heroes of the piece, the Director will set the scene for 
  that story and play the bit parts, allies and villains. There is more discussion 
  of this role later on. 
  Typically, play will begin with the Director describing a scene and then continue 
  with players describing how their characters react to events. Their decisions, 
  and suggestions, will lead to a changes in the scene and the development of 
  the plot.  The events may be dramatic chase scenes, brawls with supernatural 
  creatures, or acts of death-defying heroism. The object of the game is to have 
  fun by creating an enjoyable story. Rules help frame the action in a manageable 
  way and encourage the conventions of the action genre. The dice add an element 
  of the unforeseen to the experience. 
  MEMO  
  TO: Westminster Office 
  FROM: Col. Masters 
  SECURITY CLEARANCE: Delta 4
  All Agents are reminded that following the recent 
  attempt to replace local food vendors with zombies, 
  the Canteen is off limits for the next two weeks 
  for decontamination.
  
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  CHARACTER CREATION
  Players in the game create characters whose actions they will guide during the 
  game. Character Creation is easy; the ﬁrst step is to come up with a suitable 
  concept. Keep in mind the inﬂuences of the game. Remember all those TV spy 
  series from the 60s and 70s? Which  cool characters from those shows would 
  you want to be? 
  Characters will have a normal life and an Agency life, and so typical concepts 
  might include: International playboy, rock star, photographer, military specialist, 
  spy, cat burglar, scientist, mystic guru, martial artist, or fashion model. Also pick 
  a name for your character at this point, it  should be something evocative of the 
  setting. Note down a few details about the character’s look and mannerisms.
  If you have trouble creating a character concept, consider the following questions: 
  What do you see your character doing, and what is cool about it? What is your 
  character’s purpose? How will the character go about achieving this? What does 
  your character think about the Agency? What are your character’s distinctive 
  personality traits? What does he or she look like? What  amazing fashions does 
  he or she wear?
  Choose skills
  Skills are abilities in which your character has some talent. Skills are used in the 
  game to determine chance of success at particular actions during moments of 
  dramatic tension. Skills have ﬁve different levels: Poor means you aren’t very 
  good at something, Normal means your character has a layman’s understanding 
  of a skill, Fair is slightly better than a normal person, Good is trained and 
  Excellent is a truly heroic level of expertise. All skills default to Normal if you 
  don’t have an appropriately named one.
  Examples of skills include: Science, Kung Fu, Brawling, Melee, Acrobatics, 
  Seduction, Guns, Languages, Intimidation, Persuasion, Investigation, Medicine, 
  Driving, Security, Survival, Stealth, Observation, Music, Riding, Athletics, 
  Dodging and Intimidation. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and you have 
  total control over what your skill is called, as long as you can get your Director 
  to agree. Pick whatever you think suits your character concept.
   All players in the game start by picking 2 skills in which their character is good, 
  and 1 skill in which they are  excellent. Also choose one area in which your 
  character has a  poor skill, nobody has a perfect knowledge base after all. 
  You can also choose to take an extra skill at poor, to gain an extra skill at fair.
  MEMO 
  TO: All Agency Personnel 
  FROM: Col. Masters  
  SECURITY CLEARANCE: New Recruits
  New recruits are reminded that Tuesday is 
  their training course ‘The Vampire: Menace or 
  Misfortune.’ Recruits should bring their own 
  piece of wood.
  
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  Choose bonuses and flaws 
  Bonuses and ﬂaws are the things that make your character stand out — natural 
  strengths and weaknesses, social contacts both good and bad — the things that 
  bring a character to life. In a game of The Agency, no two characters should have 
  an identical set of bonuses and ﬂaws.
  A heroic ﬂaw is something about your character that is not perfect, which 
  may occasionally make him act in an inappropriate, but all too human, way. 
  Examples include, but are not limited to: Proud, Lustful, Gambler, Drinker, 
  Reckless, Vengeful, Cowardly, Soft Hearted, Obsessive, Addicted, Violent, 
  Forgetful, Clumsy, Gullible, Frail. 
  Each character also has a heroic bonus, something that sets the character apart 
  in a positive way. Heroic bonuses are aspects of a character that are not covered 
  by skills but nevertheless have a huge impact on events. These include, but are 
  not limited to: Wealth, Contacts, Inﬂuence, Rank, Artefact, Gadget, Toughness, 
  Luck, Mysticism, Quick, Bruiser, Magnetism.
  If you want, you can take an extra ﬂaw, you can take an extra bonus too. 
  Custom Bonuses and Flaws
  The default collection of bonuses and ﬂaws is detailed later, but feel free to 
  invent your own if nothing deﬁned ﬁts your concept. All you have to do is 
  decided the name of the trait and the arena that it covers, and get the Director 
  to agree that your idea works.
  Bonuses and ﬂaws can be as abstract as you wish, but a good rule of thumb 
  is that they should be quickly summarized, and their effects should not be 
  duplicated by anything else that exists within the system.
  Examples of Character 
  Creation
  Simon Drake
  Simon Drake produced records for a living, until he wound up in the path of an 
  angry vampire who was being chased by the Agency. His timely use of a pool cue 
  as a makeshift weapon brought him into the Agency’s ranks. He cuts a dashing 
  ﬁgure in the latest fashions and is known to many people in and around the 
  London music scene.
  Simon has the skills Music and Brawl at good. He is excellent at Persuasion. He 
  is poor at Science. He has many Contacts from his days as a promoter of bands, 
  but he suffers from a Reckless Streak.
  MEMO 
  TO: Simon Drake 
  FROM: Finance Department 
  In response to your query, hair gel is not a 
  legitimate expense. 
  
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  Bobby Harris
  Bobby Harris was a boxer. He  could have been world champion, had he not 
  been kidnapped by the Order of Sutekh and hypnotized into stealing items 
  from the British Museum. Fortunately the Agency foiled the plot, but Bobby 
  was never the same again. He works as a janitor and groundsman for the Agency 
  but occasionally gets called in when they need a bit of muscle.
  Bobby Harris has the skills Athletics and Socialise at good. He is excellent at 
  Brawling. He is poor at Stealth. He has the bonuses Tough and Bruiser. He has 
  the ﬂaws: Forgetful and Easily Led.
  Sifu Fung
  Sifu Fung studied for years in Tibet as a mystic and practitioner of martial arts. 
  In his later years, he received a mysterious vision, which drew him to Europe 
  to work against the machinations of the Demon Lord Askashta. He has aided 
  the Agency many times but never ofﬁcially joined. He is a diminutive oriental 
  gentleman, in a pristine suit, carrying a walking stick. 
  Sifu Fung has the skills Acrobatics and Investigation at good. He is excellent at 
  Martial Arts. He is poor at Languages. He has the bonuses: Mystic and Signature 
  Weapon. He has the ﬂaws: Frail and Soft Hearted.
  Reginald Forbes II
  Reginald Forbes was named after his uncle, who had a brief career ﬁghting 
  supernatural creatures in the 1920s. Educated at Eton and Cambridge, Forbes 
  is the epitome of the rich young aristocrat about town. While investigating his 
  uncle’s past, he crossed paths with a team of Agency investigators and aided 
  them when they were forced to confront disturbing eldritch horrors. He has a 
  penchant for velvet jackets and Union Jack waistcoats.
  Reginald Forbes has the skills Firearms and Driving at good. He is excellent at 
  Socialise. He is poor at Survival . He has the bonuses Wealth and Contacts and 
  the ﬂaws Drinker and Gambler.
  MEMO 
  TO: Reginald Forbes 
  FROM: Central Office
  Thank you for the kind donation of 14 Harrington 
  Way as an Agency local office. It would be of great 
  help should any supernatural activity threaten the 
  Butlins Holliday village.
  Jenna Styles
  Jenna Styles worked as a fashion photographer while enjoying the life of a 
  London socialite. She joined the Agency after surviving an unfortunate run 
  in with a zombie cab driver. Nobody had tried decapitating a zombie with a 
  high-heeled boot before.
  Jenna has the skills Martial Arts and Photography at good and is an excellent 
  Driver. She has the bonuses Vehicle and Magnetism. She has the ﬂaws Reckless 
  and Soft Hearted.
  
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  GAME RULES
  Karma
  Karma plays an important part in The Agency. The law of Karma is very simple: 
  for  every good thing that happens, something bad will happen too. In the game, 
  Karma is used to arbitrate a number of aspects of the story. Sometimes a player 
  can choose to take a point of bad Karma. If  a player’s character has bad Karma, 
  then the Director can cash it in to cause bad things to happen. Similarly the 
  character may gain good Karma, and choose to spend it to power his Bonuses. 
  The character sheet has a bar to indicate the current state of your character’s 
  Karma. Since  it moves up and down, I’d recommend using a glass bead or token 
  that you can move up and down the scale.
  We’ll cover more precise uses of Karma later. For now, the most important thing 
  to remember is: In matters of Karma, the Director is always the ﬁnal arbitrator. 
  That is to say, the Director says yes and no to your requests as a player to give 
  your character Karma.
  Action rolls
  Whenever a character tries to achieve an action that will change the course of the 
  plot, the controlling player makes an action roll. You don’t roll for everything, 
  just for those actions that are important to the progression of the story. Usually  
  the Director will tell you when you need to roll. You wouldn’t need to roll for 
  driving a car across London, but you would need to roll to avoid crashing into 
  innocent bystanders as you drive through Camden Market after a werewolf. The 
  key thing to remember is: When an action roll is made, the outcome of events 
  will always be in the balance.
  Action rolls follow this simple procedure: Roll a number of dice based on how 
  good your character is at a relevant skill (see below table). Each roll of 5 or 6 
  is a success, and if you get at least one success, you succeed! Some situations 
  will reduce the number of dice you can roll, but a character can never have less 
  than one die. 
  Skill Level 
  Dice
  Poor 
  1
  Normal 
  2
  Fair 
  3
  Good 
  4
  Excellent 
  5
  Simon Drake is trying to bluff his way into an exclusive fashionable club, which the 
  Director says requires an action. His player rolls 5 dice for excelling at persuasion. 
  He rolls 1, 2, 2, 5, 6, a total of 2 successes.
  
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  Success and Failure
  Whether you succeed or fail, the result of an action roll should always make 
  the plot interesting. If you fail a roll, there will be a plot complication. If  you 
  succeed, your character will be closer to his goal. Normally it is the Director who 
  describes the results of an action.
  However, if a player takes a point of Bad Karma, he can take control of the 
  narrative and describe a particularly cool success. The description is limited 
  to the effects of that action, but the player can use this to turn the plot in 
  his character’s favour. A special success like this will always give more of an 
  advantage than the normal one. 
  If a player fails a roll, he can choose to “take a fall” and opt to describe a really 
  interesting failure for his character. If the Director thinks it’s an interesting 
  enough failure, he’ll let you remove a point of Bad Karma. This gives you a 
  chance to decide how the character failed (as long as he does fail), and also to 
  add interesting new twists to the story.
  Example of success
  Jenna Styles is driving her sports car through Covent Garden after a rampaging 
  werewolf. The director calls for a driving roll to keep on target and avoid pedestrians. 
  Jenna’s player succeeds and chooses to take a point of Bad Karma. She narrates 
  her success as skillfully weaving between the pedestrians, narrowly avoiding a 
  performance mime, crashing into the beast, and sending it ﬂying back into a wall, 
  stunning it.
  Example of failure
  Simon Drake is trying to defuse a bomb at an embassy ball. Unfortunately his 
  science skill is poor. His player rolls and fails, but he decides to ‘take the fall’. He 
  describes Simon stressing as he tries to decipher the bomb, then giving up and 
  throwing the device out of the window, hoping that it will detonate in the open and 
  do less damage. Unfortunately, it’s landed in an ambassadorial car that is driving 
  away, and the clock is still ticking. The Director thinks this is suitably amusing, so 
  lets Simon’s player have a point of Karma back.
  Opposed Actions, Big Creatures and Ganging Up
  If an action is opposed by another character, then rolls are made for both and 
  the totals are compared. The  character with the greater number of successes 
  wins. If the action is opposed by more than one person, the larger group gets 
  an extra die for each person they have above the other side. A particularly large 
  monster will also get an extra die for actions relating to its size, but one less die 
  in areas where its size is a disadvantage. 
  Combat
  Combat is a common form of action, this  is a game about sixties spies ﬁghting 
  a supernatural menace after all! Combat has a few extra rules, to make things 
  interesting and to allow events to ﬂow smoothly. 
  
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  Awareness
  At the start of the combat, players roll a die. This  is their awareness value, there’s  
  a space on the character sheet for keeping track of it. The Director rolls for any 
  villains present. Characters and villains act in awareness order, highest ﬁrst. 
  Players can add 6 to their awareness if they take a point of bad Karma and can 
  choose to do this after rolling their dice.
  Awareness will ﬂuctuate up and down during combat as the character fails or 
  succeeds. Characters whose awareness dips below 0 are said to be dazed. Dazed 
  characters get one less die on all action rolls until it rises above 0 again. 
  Rounds and Actions
  In a combat situation, events are divided up into rounds, so that it’s easier to 
  work out who is doing what. Each character can do only one action each round. 
  Actions  are taken in order of awareness, highest ﬁrst. A round is not a set length 
  of time, it’s  just a game mechanic for splitting things up. The time span could 
  be said to be “as long as it takes to do one cool thing”. 
  If a character’s action is to attack a villain, then resisted rolls are made. If the 
  character succeeds, he does damage to the opponent equal to the total number 
  of successes. There is more information on damage later.
  As with normal actions, players can opt to take bad Karma to describe an 
  exceptional success or decide to ‘take the fall’ to gain good Karma. An exceptional 
  success in combat might be disarming an opponent, knocking him over, or 
  hitting a particular part of the body. Taking the fall might mean your character’s 
  gun jammed, he lost his weapon, or he slipped on the ﬂoor. 
  Taunts 
  Taunts are the witty banter that throws your opponent off his guard. To use a 
  taunt, a player sacriﬁces 1 point of his awareness and comes up with a suitable 
  humorous taunt of his character’s opponent. That opponent gets -2 to his 
  awareness. Taunts don’t require a roll to succeed, and don’t count as actions, 
  but characters are limited to one taunt per round. Yes, this does mean you can 
  taunt your opponent until he is dazed.
  Transition
  At the end of the round, any character who succeeded in an action adds one to 
  his awareness. Any  character who failed takes two off his awareness. When each 
  character has performed their action for a round, a new round starts, unless 
  the combat has reached a natural conclusion. Note: You get a bonus for any 
  successful action, not just the obviously combat related ones.
  Damage: Scratches and Wounds
  When a blow is landed in combat, a character receives damage. There are two 
  kinds of damage: scratches and wounds. Scratches are minor annoyances, 
  bruises and so on. These are totalled up in the scratches box on the character 
  sheet. When a character’s scratches reach a total of 5, the character takes a 
  wound.
  
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  A character has 3 wound boxes. Two are unlabeled and one is labelled “Down.” 
  These represent serious wounds that the character has taken in ﬁghts. When 
  a wound is taken, tick the box and add a suitable description to the label. If a 
  character is wounded he suffers a penalty to actions, -1 die for each wound.
  Normally a Down character cannot act, but players can take a point of bad Karma 
  for their character to act as if only wounded. A character who reaches Down is 
  on the ﬂoor and maybe dying. Only medical care can help him recover. 
  Villains get varying numbers of damage boxes, depending on whether they are 
  a human or supernatural creature. As in the TV series’ that inspire the game, 
  villains who reach Down are usually unconscious and will likely get dragged 
  away by their compatriots, the police or an Agency clean-up squad. Supernatural 
  creatures who reach Down will often spontaneously combust in an interesting 
  way.
  Characters heal all scratches at the end of the scene. “It’s just a scratch” after all. 
  Wounds heal at one per day during rest and recuperation. A character can only 
  be brought back from down by a visit to hospital. Any character with a medical 
  skill can patch up a wound box by making a skill roll.
  An Example of Combat
  Simon Drake is attacked by one of the evil Dr. Heimlich’s goons as he tries to 
  sneak into a warehouse. Player and Director roll awareness. Simon gets 4, the 
  goon gets 6. 
  The goon’s ﬁrst action is to try to hit Simon. The Director rolls 2 successes, 
  and Simon’s player rolls 4. The goon fails, which the director describes as him 
  lurching wildly past Simon.
  It’s now Simon’s chance for an action. Simon’s player decides to attack the 
  goon. He  gets 4 successes. The  Director gets 1 for the Goon (who has no skill 
  in Brawl). Simon does 3 scratches to the Goon. 
  Now that both combatants have acted, the round ends. Simon gets +1 awareness, 
  The Goon -2. 
  A Note on Damage
  Players of other RPGs will notice that there are no rules for how different 
  weapons do different amounts of damage. There’s a reason for this. In the 
  genre of TV the Agency is based upon how much damage a weapon does 
  is almost totally irrelevant. How many times does James Bond remarkably 
  survive a hail of machine gun ﬁre? What matters is how important the enemy 
  in question is to the story, and his skills. To model this, characters who are 
  important to the story have access to bonuses that allow them to take and 
  withstand more damage, along with higher levels of skills.
  
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  Danger: Other Forms of Damage
  Not all damage comes from getting hit. Sometimes a character will fall off 
  things, get burned, have things fall on him, get struck by a lightning bolt or 
  have to avoid a large explosion. Normally, such forms of damage can be avoided 
  by using a dodging skill against a danger level in dice as if it were an opposing 
  character.
  Danger 
  Suggested Level
  Falling from a moving car 
  3
  Falling from a small building 
  5
  Near a car when it explodes 
  4
  Getting hit by chunks of falling masonry 
  5
  Inside a building in early stages of ﬁre 
  3
  Inside a building in later stages of ﬁre 
  6
  Car chases
  Car chases are the staple of every action series. Car chases (or chases in any other 
  vehicle) are handled using the combat rules shown above. However  in chases 
  each car is allotted a chase value, which deﬁnes how far ahead each vehicle 
  involved in the chase is. At the start of the chase each moving car has D6+1 rolled 
  for its base chase rating. Stationary  cars start at 1, no matter what. 
  One person in each car is designated driver, and must make a successful driving 
  roll every round. If the driver fails this roll, then the chase value drops by 1. If  
  he succeeds it increases by 1. If a chase value drops to below zero, then that car 
  has been forced out of the chase.
  If, at the start of a round, two cars have the same chase rating, then they may 
  ram each other, or passengers can attempt to jump between them, punch people, 
  grab each other, and so on. Actions like these require action rolls as normal. 
  All successful attempts to damage cars with a weapon reduce the target’s chase 
  value by 1. Successful ramming attempts reduce the target’s chase value by 2.
  If vehicles are not at the same chase rating , then only ranged weapons can be 
  used.
  HEROIC BONUSES AND FLAWS 
  Every time a player states he is using his character’s heroic bonus, he receives a 
  point of bad Karma. This is noted down, and at some point in the future that 
  Karma may be called in. Bonuses have been kept fairly open to allow players to 
  impact the story ﬂow quite considerably, but at a price. 
  Bonuses
  Wealth — Your character is particularly wealthy, and so can afford the types of 
  things that most agents only dream of. Invoke this bonus to spend ridiculous 
  amounts of cash, stay at the most lavish hotels, etc.
  
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  Example: Reginald Forbes is a particularly wealthy aristocrat. He needs to get to 
  Paris quickly, to avert a disaster as the sorcerer P’Kang attempts to use the Eiffel 
  Tower as a psychic conduit. Reginald invokes his wealth bonus to charter a private 
  jet to France.
  Contacts — Your character knows people, who know information. Invoke this 
  bonus to ﬁnd out information from one of your many associates. You decide 
  who the person is and what kind of information they know. But the Director 
  will play the NPC.
  Simon Drake is trying to ﬁnd out where a secret stash of guns is being brought into 
  the country. He invokes his contacts bonus to ﬁnd an old friend who’s in the know 
  and who points him in the direction of a gang in south London.
  Inﬂuence — You know people who can arrange things. This bonus covers 
  political favours, getting things done through non-standard channels and 
  covering things up. 
  The Agency needs to hush up strange goings on in the village of Hex Norton. Alfred 
  Pettiforth uses his inﬂuence bonus to convince the local paper not to publish the 
  story.
  Rank — You have rank in the Agency, and can use it to get things done. Invoke 
  this bonus to order around subordinates, civilian authorities and other 
  agents.
  Colonel Sidney Pennington is chasing a dangerous sorcerer across Bodmin Moor, 
  he can’t cover the area without help. His player invokes the rank bonus to call in 
  army helicopters to help chase the fugitive.
  Artifact — You have in your possession an ancient mystical artefact with strange 
  powers. Describe the artefact to the director during character creation. Invoke 
  this bonus to use the artifact’s powers. You have complete control of what this 
  artefact is. If you take this bonus, you have the option of taking a ﬂaw of ‘Artifact 
  problems’. 
  Benni Jones possesses an ancient Welsh artefact, the cup of Gwythodd. It possesses 
  the ability to heal people when water is drunk from it. Benni chooses to take the 
  Artifact problems ﬂaw, choosing the problem that the water occasionally turns to 
  very potent alcohol.
  Gadget — You have access to some of the Agency’s more experimental gadgets. 
  Invoke this bonus to acquire usage of one of these items. The player gets to 
  decide what the gadget does. It should be noted that the Agency does not have a 
  very good track record with its devices, and ﬁeld agents carrying them will often 
  be viewed with suspicion by their peers. Particularly large devices are usually 
  brought in under the control of the Agency’s science division. Directors are 
  encouraged to give each device a quirk that, while not making the device useless, 
  makes it’s use entertaining….
  Merriweather is investigating a haunting at the British Museum and is at a loss for 
  clues. He radios to base and requests the “Experimental Ectoplasmic Surveillance 
  Grid” (a device the player had just made up). A few minutes later a group of Agency 
  scientists arrive with some powerful static electricity generators wired together and 
  
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  linked to some receiver devices. The scientists explain that ghosts will show up as 
  disruptions in the static. Unfortunately, the large amounts of electrical charge in the 
  air keep earthing themselves through people.
  Toughness — Your character is just naturally tougher than other people. Invoke 
  this bonus to halve the damage from a single blow.
  Harris, a former boxer, knows how to take a punch. A vampire lord throws a 
  wardrobe at him during a particularly vicious ﬁght, doing 6 points of damage. This 
  would normally put the plucky agent out for the count, but his player invokes his 
  toughness bonus to reduce it to 3 points instead.
  Luck — Your character is just plain lucky! Invoke  this bonus to give your 
  character surprisingly good fortune. Luck covers random happenstance. It will 
  never give results as good as a speciﬁed bonus, but provides ﬂexibility other 
  bonuses don’t. Any advantage gained from luck should be at least one step 
  removed from the actual aim. It won’t let you know who the kidnappers are, 
  but it might mean you happen across a useful clue. 
  Finding an important clue in the rubbish bins of your enemy. Finding an unguarded 
  entrance to the F.E.S.T.A. lair. Your character’s girlfriend knowing one of the people 
  you’re looking for. 
  Mysticism — You know something of strange and occult matters. Invoke this 
  bonus to gain insight into an esoteric subject, perceive supernatural energies 
  or access volumes of occult lore. Optionally it can be invoked to gain strange 
  premonitions.
  Sifu Fung, a master of meditation from Tibet, and his comrades are entering a 
  mysterious temple beneath Chinatown. Ahead on the wall, he sees strange mystic 
  symbols etched. He focuses his mind and perceives that a spell is embedded within 
  the symbols. 
  Quick Witted — You are particularly quick-witted and can invoke this bonus 
  to go ﬁrst in a combat round. When you invoke this bonus, you always go ﬁrst 
  in a combat round, 6 higher than any other awareness roll. You may invoke this 
  bonus even after other characters have spent Karma to boost their awareness.
  Jenny Simms is a quick witted journalist. While investigating a mysterious set of 
  murders in the London sewers, she steps through a door, only to be confronted by 
  a pair of zombie alligators. The Director calls for awareness rolls. Jenny’s player 
  invokes the quick witted bonus to boost her awareness, choosing her action as stepping 
  quickly back through the door and bolting it before either alligator can react.
  Bruiser — You are one of nature’s thugs, a pillar of muscle power. Invoke this 
  bonus to do 6 extra damage to an opponent when brawling, or to perform an 
  act of superhuman strength.
  While battling their way from the hidden lair of F.E.S.T.A., Jenny Simms gets 
  trapped beneath a collapsed pillar. Bobby Harris’ player invokes his Bruiser bonus 
  to use his last resources of strength to lift the pillar from his friend.
  
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  Signature Weapon — You are particularly suited to using a particular weapon. 
  Invoke this bonus to double the damage done by a particular attack with this 
  weapon.
  Sifu Fung carries a walking cane. He  has trained for years in using this gnarled old 
  stick to defend himself. It is his signature weapon.
   Vehicle — Your character has access to a car, bike or other form of transport. 
  Not only this, but the vehicle in question has any number of enhancements. You 
  can invoke this bonus to activate one of these enhancements. You don’t have to 
  deﬁne what they are until they’re needed. They could be weapons, ejector seats, 
  a speed boost, whatever is needed. Such devices will often have an effect on a 
  chase rating, and can alter your character’s car’s chase rating up by 4 or your 
  opponents down by - 4. 
  Jenna Styles is speeding down the motorway, trying to avoid a group of vampire 
  bikers. She invokes her vehicle bonus to activate the oil slick generator. This reduces 
  the bikers’ chase rating to 0, which Jenna’s player chooses as causing the bikers to 
  crash off the road.
  Magnetism— Your character is naturally alluring to the opposite sex. They  
  just can’t get enough of you. Invoke this bonus to double your successes in any 
  seduction attempt.
  Jenna Styles needs to ﬁnd out the location of a Siberian Yeti from the Russian 
  Attaché and decides to seduce him to get the information. Readying her special kinky 
  boots, miniskirt and Chanel XXX, she invokes her bonus for automatic success.
  Advanced Planning— Your character is better prepared than you are. Invoke 
  this bonus to have your character have planned for an unforeseen eventuality.
  Colonel Masters ﬁnds himself alone in Germany with no money and a team of 
  F.E.S.T.A. agents on his tail. He invokes his bonus and picks up the stash of money 
  he stored at the Frankfurt left luggage ofﬁce for just such an eventuality.
  Flaws
  Flaws are somewhat easier to explain. Players can have their character act 
  according to their ﬂaw and build up some good Karma. However, they only gain 
  good Karma if they act according to a ﬂaw in a situation where it is inappropriate 
  or causes disadvantage. An alcoholic drinking when he is in a bar would not 
  gain any Karma, but getting paralytic while on an important diplomatic mission 
  certainly would. It’s the Director’s responsibility to make sure that the impact 
  of a ﬂaw on the plot is sufﬁcient for it to be worth the Karma.
  Simon Drake is creeping up to scope out the smugglers. He sees there are 20 of them. 
  Simon’s player decides that he’ll announce his Reckless ﬂaw coming into play, and 
  will not call for backup. The Director agrees and gives him a point of Karma to 
  use later on. 
  
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  DIRECTING
  The job of Director is to evoke the world of The Agency, to describe the events 
  in which the player characters become involved, to play the bit parts and the 
  antagonists. It is the Director’s responsibility to describe the scene, control the 
  actions of non-player characters, and keep the group focused on the game at 
  hand. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it, and you get to create, and 
  play, loads of interesting characters. In this section I’ll cover brieﬂy the role of 
  Director and give some advice on running a successful game of the Agency. 
  The Stylised Sixties
  The Agency is set in a stylized version of 1960s Britain. It’s a world of red 
  telephone boxes, London buses, Bentleys, Union Jack print waistcoats, paisley, 
  velvet jackets, bowler hats, ﬂares, the Beatles, Bobbies, red telephone boxes, 
  manor houses, Hippies, the Cold War, and miniskirts. All ﬁlmed at strange 
  angles and in far too many primary colors. 
  In other words, it should never be considered an accurate portrayal.
  This is a world where spies can be famous, where an umbrella is a deadly weapon, 
  and where people may just get taken away to a mysterious island if they talk too 
  much. As Director, it is your job to help evoke this atmosphere when describing 
  the scene to other players. It will probably help you to watch some cult 60s and 
  70s TV to get a feel for the type of things that contribute to this ﬂavour. Jot down 
  a few common themes, motifs and visual elements. The list at the beginning of 
  this section is a good start.
  What’s Happening in the 
  World?
  No sixties spy series would be complete without a bit of globe trotting. After 
  all, the villains have secret volcano bases in the Caribbean, and mysterious 
  processing plants in the south of France. These villains, they really know how 
  to pick the sun spots, eh?
  Of course, it’s not all sun and exotic beaches. Agents may end up in Outer 
  Mongolia chasing Genghis Khan’s restless spirit, or investigating mysterious 
  disappearances in the fog off the Scottish isles.
  Europe
  Europe is the battleground of the cold war, and as such is neatly divided into 
  east and west. The supernatural forces of the world have done their best to 
  capitalise on the political climate, and their nefarious schemes cross borders. 
  Interpol’s supernatural branch works with the Agency and allows a lot of leeway. 
  On occasion, the eastern block’s Spezial Direktorate can be persuaded to help 
  too, though ideological differences cause problems.
  
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  Europe is infested with weirdness. High class clubs in Britain are covers for 
  ancient cults worshipping dubious entities. Evil masterminds moor their yachts 
  off the south of France and dive for lost cities and trinkets of ancient power. The 
  Principality of Monaco is infested with inbred ghouls who feast on casino-goers.  
  Werewolves stalk the forests of Germany. 
  North America
  North America also has its share of supernatural oddness. Unit X, a special 
  division of the FBI, deals with most occurrences. They have a healthy competitive 
  streak that sometimes makes combined operations problematic, as egos 
  inevitably clash. 
  Most supernatural activity in the US is found in the more remote areas, from 
  the mysterious Native American spirits who haunt the back woods, to the devil 
  ﬁsh that lurk in the swamps of Louisiana. Vampire smuggling from Europe is a 
  big problem, and border control is the area where Agency personnel will often 
  be called in to aid Unit X.
  MEMO  
  TO: Unit X 
  FROM: Col. Masters
  Whilst we accept that it is not always possible to 
  accommodate our agents at short notice, we would 
  appreciate it if, in the future, the broom cupboard 
  were not suggested as the most appropriate place 
  for a temporary office.
  Central and South America
  Mexico is full of vampires, most of whom immigrated from Spain during the 
  inquisition. Further south, rumors persist of demonic snake people haunting 
  the jungles and guarding drug cartels. The pyramids of the Aztecs hold restless 
  spirits and mummies to rival those of Egypt.
  Africa
  The sands of North Africa hold many secrets, and many were best left unearthed. 
  Artefacts from archaeological digs are still the biggest supernatural problem 
  for this area. The undead menace of the mummies still haunt the more obscure 
  parts of Egypt.
  Further south, the jungles of Africa hold lost cities,  malevolent shamanic spirits 
  and weird totem statuettes. Smuggling of occult items from Africa causes all 
  sorts of problems for the Agency, and teams are occasionally sent in to try and 
  crack down on the trade. Secret missions of this type can be problematic, as the 
  Agency doesn’t always ask the local law enforcement for permission.
  
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  MEMO  
  TO: Ambassador Mukambi 
  FROM: Col. Masters
  With our sincerest apologies, please find enclosed 
  your King’s ceremonial tribal mask and feathered 
  gown. Unfortunately, we were unable to return it 
  intact due to difficulties involving the thief. I 
  am assured the stains can easily be removed. Please 
  forward the bill for repairs to my office.
  The Middle East
  From lost cities from the dawn of civilization to the bazaars of Istanbul, the 
  Middle East holds many mysteries. With so much history piled on top of itself, 
  the area is a hotbed of freakish supernatural occurrences. Lying as it does 
  between east and west, this area runs riot with cold war activities, and this can 
  cause Agency members to tread on other spies’ toes.
  Asia
  The Agency maintains an ofﬁce in Hong Kong, and with good reason. The city 
  is a hotspot for supernatural activity. In the side alleys, ghosts of dead ancestors 
  can be summoned and bound, ancient orders of monks battle with the minions 
  of the Demon kings, and rival schools of mystic martial arts test each other’s 
  mettle. Posting to Hong Kong has become somewhat of a punishment in recent 
  Agency history. The  stress induced by being in charge of keeping a lid on this 
  mystic melting pot is enough to tax anybody. The current head of Hong Kong 
  ofﬁce is Donald Bane, a man noted for his nervous tick and high psychiatrist’s 
  bills. His assistant, Mr Phelps, has a reputation for attempting to foist off local 
  matters on visiting agents…
  Scenarios
  Part of the Director’s job is to come up with a plot outline, the scenario into 
  which the player characters will be put. Plot outlines are a basic framework 
  upon which you and your players can build when playing the game. Because the 
  game is fairly freeform, and often allows a great deal of player control, the plot 
  should be allowed to develop through play, rather than being created entirely 
  beforehand. All that is really needed is a solid concept of what is going on, 
  which you can build upon during play. As a Director, you may have to do some 
  quick thinking to meld player ideas into events in the scenario, but you’ll often 
  ﬁnd that running with player-introduced ideas can produce more entertaining 
  results than what you originally envisioned.
  The easiest place to begin is to just come up with some bizarre supernatural 
  threat to the nation. Maybe  a secret society of vampires is kidnapping politicians, 
  Russian spies are raising zombies to overthrow the state, or a band of cultists 
  have managed to steal some nuclear weapons and hold the country for ransom. 
  What works well in The Agency is a juxtaposition of ideas, things that wouldn’t 
  initially seem to ﬁt, but that when joined together are quite amusing. Scenarios 
  should be a mix of the surreal, macabre, comedic, and action packed.
  
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  In its most basic form, simply come up with 1) what the Agency knows and 
  2) what’s actually going on, then set the players loose to investigate. If you 
  suffer from a dearth of ideas, simply watch your favorite sixties or seventies style 
  adventure show (some are detailed in the inspirations section) and change the 
  villains to evil supernatural creatures.
  Getting Things Started
  The fact that characters are all members of The Agency gives you an easy hook 
  to start things off. A starting point to any story can be a mission brieﬁng, the 
  characters being told what they are investigating. It’s an easy starting point, but 
  shouldn’t be overused. Your stories will be more interesting if you can vary the 
  way in which plots begin. Chance meetings during daily life, calls from long lost 
  friends, relatives going missing, sudden inheritance of a mysterious Scottish 
  castle: all these things make a nice change to a mission brieﬁng and help to 
  tie characters more ﬁrmly to the plot. Characters care less if Dr. Mandrake 
  has kidnapped a random person, but if it’s their own girlfriend who has gone 
  missing, then the character is damn well going to get her back. These plot devices 
  are cliché, but playing with these clichés is part of the fun of the game!
  Alternatively, throw the characters in at the middle of the story, rather than 
  the start. Leave out the investigation bit, and focus purely on dealing with the 
  problem. This can be a good way to keep the pace up even at the start, rather 
  than suffering from a slow build up. Another option is throwing the characters 
  into such a scene as if it were the pre-credits section of a ﬁlm or TV show, the 
  end of the last adventure before the start of the next.
  Keeping Things Going
  Many scenarios have a tendency to droop in the middle. It is important that you 
  remember this and don’t leave your players ﬂoundering around. It’s your job 
  to keep things exciting, interesting or amusing. One way to deal with this is to 
  come up with a number of predeﬁned events to kick-start the story. Tie one of 
  these events to each character. If  things start to drag, add one of these events to 
  the mix. Remember that any of these events should help to keep things moving 
  or drive the story off into new territory.
  Knowing when to cut from a scene will also help keep the pace up. The secret 
  here is not to get caught up in the details. If enough has happened or the action 
  starts to ﬂag, end the scene and start a new one, quickly summing up the boring 
  bits in between.
  Rounding It All Off
  Resolution is the most important part of the scenario. If the pay-off isn’t 
  worth it, then the whole thing will have a feeling of anticlimax. Try to make 
  the resolution of the scenario as exciting and interesting as possible. Location 
  makes an awful lot of difference to the climax. Tops of buildings, volcanoes, 
  secret bases: big geography of all kinds. The other important thing is that the 
  resolution matters. Consider what you would think if you were a viewer. Would 
  you care about the character’s actions, or are you bored with them saving the 
  world again?
  
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  Success will help a climax, but keep in mind that success with a price will often 
  make resolution more poignant. Make the characters choose between two 
  difﬁcult solutions. Remember that the characters will often have to balance 
  their normal life and secret duty to the Agency, so making them have to choose 
  between life and duty can give a satisfying feel to the story.
  Elements of a Good Scenario
  When designing your scenario, it really helps to consider the following:
  What do Your Players Enjoy Doing?
  It may seem obvious, but your players are here to have fun. So think about 
  what they’ll enjoy as much as what you will enjoy. Some players like the 
  challenge of investigation, others just want to have their characters do cool 
  things, others want to be thrown into difﬁcult social situations. Knowing 
  what your players want is the ﬁrst step to running a game they’ll enjoy.
  What are the Characters Like? 
  Craft your scenario so that it works for the characters players have created. If 
  the players have created a set of kick-ass ninja masters, then they likely expect 
  to do lots of butt-kicking. Occasional ﬁsh out of water scenarios can work, 
  but players will often get annoyed if their characters are always being thrown 
  into inappropriate arenas.
  Where is the Conflict?
  All stories come from conﬂict. Who is trying to do what, and why, and who 
  is trying to stop them and why? Every major conﬂict is likely to have a dozen 
  others nested within it. Conﬂicts are much harder to resolve if you give each 
  side some hold over the characters. Think  about the connections that the 
  antagonists can use and abuse.
  Is it a Plot Suitable for the Setting? 
  The Agency is a place for brash heroes and wildly extravagant set pieces. It is 
  not a game where introverted characters or plots will work well. Bear this in 
  mind when writing the scenario and advising players on their characters.
  How will the Characters Influence Events? 
  This is a big thing. If the characters can’t inﬂuence things, then frankly, there’s 
  no point in the players participating. Be prepared to let players take things off 
  in a completely different direction. Learn to improvise. The  system is simple 
  enough that you can create new encounters with a minimum of fuss.
  Is the Scenario Flexible Enough to Allow Players to Alter Events 
  through Uses of Bonuses and Karma?
  Bonuses and Karma can have quite a dramatic effect on any pre-made plots 
  you might have come up with. Flexibility is the key here, as is knowing what 
  powers your players’ characters are likely to bring to bear. Think about how 
  your players may react.
  
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  Are There Opportunities for Character Flaws to Come into Play?
  Flaws are there to help characters build up Karma, so that their bonuses can 
  come into play later. They also help you, as Director, engineer movie-like 
  events. If a character is lustful, then he is a prime target for being seduced 
  by the vampire queen’s daughter. In other games there might be a tactical 
  disadvantage to players allowing such events to happen; in The Agency, you 
  get rewarded for them.
  Will Every Character Be Able to Contribute Something to the Story? 
  Players have fun when they are involved. Make sure that every player’s character 
  can get the spotlight at some point. Everybody has a skill at excellent, so make 
  sure that they have an opportunity to use it. For some skills this will be more 
  difﬁcult but can result in some comedy moments. “You mean we have to 
  whistle Mozart in order to open the mystic box? Good job I’m an excellent 
  musician.”
  Do the Main Antagonists Engage You? 
  Everybody likes a well drawn villain. Pay close attention to who your villain 
  is and what makes him interesting. Having good reasons for their behavior 
  is an excellent start, as are distinctive mannerisms. Try to come up with a 
  good signature for your villain. Does he eat only the ﬁnest trufﬂes? Is he a 
  Yorkshire vampire with a taste for black pudding? Is he a cultured zombie 
  whose limbs fall off as he talks?
  Is It Fun? 
  If you don’t ﬁnd a scenario fun, then chances are your players won’t either. 
  If you can answer all of these questions in a positive way, your group is on the 
  way to a fun roleplaying experience.
  Brainstorming
  Brainstorming ideas can help you envision how different elements of a scenario 
  relate to each other. Start by writing down anything that you think might be 
  cool in an Agency scenario: names, supernatural creatures, locations, characters, 
  set pieces, etc. Start linking these together with lines, attached to which are key 
  phrases that deﬁne connections between these elements. Good phrases to link 
  characters are ‘fears’, ‘hates’, ‘owes’, ‘loves’  and so on. Link characters to places 
  or events with ‘knows about’, ‘is responsible for’  or other connections. Consider 
  what the important conﬂict is in the scenario, and how it relates to each of these 
  elements and the connections among them. If it doesn’t really relate, scrap the 
  element and add something else in its place. Repeat until satisﬁed.
  
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  Scenarios Seeds
  The Hex Norton Horror
  Hook: The players are on a well earned break at the Health Spa in Hex Norton, 
  but strange things are afoot in the village. The locals all seem terribly odd...
  What’s going on: The evil F.E.S.T.A has set up a secret base in the village and 
  is attempting to raise an Eldritch Horror. 
  Likely Events: Encounters with obscure local folk who seem suspicious but 
  are really just plain odd. F.E.S.T.A. agents causing problems in the local pub, 
  leading to a bar ﬁght. F.E.S.T.A agents breaking into a local curiosity shop and 
  stealing some mysterious old knickknack. A strange and unearthly eldritch 
  horror chasing Yorkshire farmers through the fields. The characters and 
  villagers holed up in the inn as tentacles slowly start to poor through the doors 
  and windows.
  You Only Live Forever
  Hook: An alarming number of MI5 agents have been going missing, snatched 
  from their missions by a mysterious source.
  What’s going on: Jacob Swain, a rogue agent turned vampire, has begun setting 
  up his own secret organization. He offers his former comrades the choice of 
  joining him as vampires, or dying. 
  Likely Events: Players setting up a trap by spying on as yet unaffected agents 
  (cue hilarity as the MI5 agents mistake them for Russians). One of the players 
  is approached by Swain as a possible convert. Swain sends his vampire goons 
  to make things difﬁcult for the characters. 
  In Too Deep
  Hook: A member of parliament is discovered dead on the beach, but he was 
  seen over a hundred miles away shortly before his death.
  What’s going on: Fish Demons are inﬁltrating the House of Commons and 
  replacing the MPs with cunningly disguised doubles.
  Likely events: Meeting the witness. Meeting slimy politicians. The witness and 
  the characters being attacked by sea monster goons from the sewers. Tracking the 
  goons to a secret base in the sewers. Attacking the sea monsters’ underground lair.
  
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  Series
  A series is a group of interlinked scenarios featuring the same group of characters. 
  It’s a chance for characters’ personalities and relationships to develop over a 
  series of scenarios, for echoes of future events to be hidden in earlier times, and 
  for in-jokes to become rife. 
  The Agency contains no detailed system for character advancement. It’s not 
  that kind of game, and it’s not really true to the inspiration. If you are running 
  games where characters go from scenario to scenario, Karma should get reset at 
  the end of each session. You can also get each player to justify getting a bonus 
  point of Karma for next time, by reminding the group of something particularly 
  cool their character did that session.
  You may ﬁnd that players who acquire mystic artefacts, lavish riches or books of 
  spells wish to keep them. Let them! You can hang interesting plots off them in 
  the future. All such acquisitions come with an associated price, and that price 
  will be a ﬂaw that balances the bonus they grant, as chosen by the player. This 
  may not seem fair, but it does make things interesting (and that’s what we want!), 
  and justifying the ﬂaw can make for interesting character developments.
  Agent Jones ﬁnds a book of spells, used by a F.E.S.T.A. sorcerer. He experiments 
  with the book and comes to a rudimentary understanding of some of the spells. 
  Unfortunately this new found power doesn’t sit well with him, and he becomes 
  increasingly insufferable around people. He has gained the egotistical ﬂaw.
  Villains
  Part of the Director’s job is to create and control the characters’ enemies. Since 
  the player characters are going to interact with them, some traits like those used 
  to deﬁne characters are useful. In order to make the job easier, villains can be 
  roughly divided into three categories: Goons, Minions and Bosses. 
  Goons
  Goons have only 6 scratches and down as damage levels. You won’t have to detail 
  too much of these villains’ capabilities, as they’re not really too important to the 
  plot. They are the faceless extras who show up to hinder the characters’ efforts, 
  the guys in boiler suits in that secret mountain fortress, the street thugs sent 
  round to rough up the characters when they get too close.
  DESCRIPTION: Man in Red Boiler Suit
  PERSONALITY: Weak-willed
  SKILLS: Poor Brawl (1), Good Run for life (4), Good 
  Blabber for life (4) 
  QUOTE: “I’ll tell you anything, just let me go!”
  
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  Minions
  Minions are the ﬂunkies of the bosses. They  are second-in-commands or minor 
  villains. Include basic skills (2 good 1, poor) and character wound levels when 
  creating them. Try to give them a few personality quirks, and maybe bonuses 
  and ﬂaws too. Minions tend to lead groups of goons and escape when the going 
  gets too difﬁcult for them.
  SAMPLE MINION: Oscar Hemmington, upper class cultist
  DESCRIPTION: Well-dressed 
  PERSONALITY: Suave, sophisticated, unhinged, inbred
  SKILLS: Good Socialise (4), Good Fencing (4), Poor 
  Intimidation (1)
  BONUS: Wealthy
  FLAW: Gloating
  QUOTE: “You’ve interfered with the wrong people. 
  Father will be so upset, those stains take ages to 
  wash out.”
  Bosses
  Bosses should be as ﬂeshed out as possible, as they are the bad guys behind 
  evil plots. They  should have skills, wounds, bonuses and ﬂaws similar to a 
  players character. Consider their motivations, as such antagonists are always 
  more interesting if their motivations are understandable. Bosses will often have 
  multiple bonuses and ﬂaws.
  SAMPLE BOSS: Kingpin Fletcher
  DESCRIPTION: A slightly overweight, bald man in an 
  ill-fitting white suit, smokes roll-up cigarettes. 
  Fletcher is the London underworld’s occult 
  kingpin. If it’s of dubious origin, it’s likely 
  passed through his hands at some point. So far his 
  excellent lawyers, and his hands-off approach, have 
  made it difficult for the Agency to pin anything 
  on him. 
  PERSONALITY: Sleazy, determined, considerate, 
  vengeful
  SKILLS: Good Firearms (5), Good Occult 
  Knowledge (5), Excellent Deal Making (6), Poor 
  Athletics (2)
  BONUSES: Wealthy, Contacts
  FLAWS: Incompetent Minions, Easily Distracted
  
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  Villains and Karma
  Villains are affected by Karma too. They can use their own good Karma to 
  invoke their bonus. 
  Also, If a player character has Bad Karma, then the Director can give the villain 
  a point of Good Karma. It’s not for free though, this gain in Karma comes at 
  the cost of the villain being able to use his bonus. 
  Villains also have ﬂaws and players can invoke them at any time. Doing so causes 
  the villain to gain a point of Good Karma to use at a later date, but also gains 
  the players some kind of advantage based on that ﬂaw. It’s often worth leaving 
  a villain’s exact ﬂaws undecided and letting players suggest one that would be 
  appropriate when they try to invoke it.
  You should give all villains one or two free points of Karma, so that they have a 
  chance to make use of their bonuses before being overwhelmed by the onslaught 
  of the players’ characters.
  Villainous Bonuses
  Villains have access to the majority of the bonuses available to heroes, as well 
  as the following:
  Aura of Importance — Invoke this bonus to allow a villain to keep people 
  talking to him rather than attacking him. 
  Well-Respected Gentleman — For some reason people believe the villain to 
  be innocent. Invoke this bonus for normal people to ignore the blatant evils of 
  the villain in question.
  Planned Escape Route — The villain in question has planned  his life in such 
  minute detail that he can escape from almost any situation from inside his base.
  Villainous Flaws
  Merciful — The villain will choose to be merciful ‘just this once’,  and spare the 
  characters lives when he could kill them.
  Gloating —The villain will gloat about his plans to the characters, even if it’s 
  not in his best interest.
  Incompetent Minions — This ﬂaw can be invoked to cause the villain’s followers 
  to be grossly incompetent. The minions might fail to tie up the characters, leave 
  the secret base door open, and so on.
  Easily Distracted — The villain will be distracted by some minor problem, 
  instead of focusing on the threat of the characters.
  Duellist — The villain will nominate to ﬁght one individual character in a duel 
  rather that mob the group with goons.
  
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  Supernatural 
  Antagonists
  Agents will often come across weird supernatural creatures and occurrences. 
  Here are a few examples of how these antagonists can be dealt with in game 
  terms.
  Vampires 
  Vampires should have normal human damage boxes but take half damage from 
  attacks not made with ﬁre, garlic, sunlight, or crosses. A stake through the 
  heart will revert a vampire to a corpse (of the appropriate age), but requires an 
  expenditure of Karma to succeed in combat. This stays in effect until the stake 
  is removed. Vampires are armed with weird mind-affecting powers and are the 
  evil plotters behind schemes: Blofeld with fangs. 
  Mind-affecting powers should be rolled as a skill at either good or excellent 
  (depending on the age of the vampire). Typically, they can be used to force others 
  to obey the vampire’s will. Other vampires may have the ability to turn into 
  animals or mist, maybe even ﬂy. Vampires can grapple people in combat, so they 
  can feed (a point of Karma is spent to drink). For  every point of damage done in 
  this way, they can heal a scratch. Vampires also have the supernatural strength 
  bonus, which allows them to do +8 damage by taking a point of bad Karma. 
  INEXPERIENCED VAMPIRE
  DESCRIPTION: Tall, thin, and dressed in the latest 
  fashions, conveying a feel of aloof mystery.
  PERSONALITY: A domineering and cultured 
  megalomaniac
  SKILLS: Control Mind (good), Brawl (good), 
  Persuasion (good) 
  BONUSES: Blood Sustenance, Supernatural Strength, 
  Well Respected Gentleman
  FLAWS: Duellist, Sun Allergy, Staking Problem
  EXPERIENCED VAMPIRE
  DESCRIPTION: Tall, thin, and dressed in outdated 
  fashions, conveying an feel of aloof mystery and 
  eccentricity.
  PERSONALITY: A domineering and cultured 
  megalomaniac
  SKILLS: Control Mind (excellent), Brawl (good), 
  Persuasion (excellent), Technology (poor), Current 
  Affairs (poor)
  BONUSES: Blood Sustenance, Supernatural Strength, 
  Well Respected Gentleman, Wealth 
  FLAWS: Duellist, Sun Allergy, Staking Problem, 
  Incompetent Minions
  
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  Zombies 
  Zombies have double normal human scratches (10) and should take no wound 
  penalties, though bits of them will drop off with each wound taken. They suffer 
  from an automatic -2 to awareness for being slow and shambling (yes, they can 
  be automatically dazed). They should have one or two skills (physical only, 
  really). It is left up to individual Directors what happens when a zombie bites 
  a character.
  TYPICAL ZOMBIE 
  DESCRIPTION: Decaying.
  PERSONALITY: Brains!
  SKILLS: Brawl (good), Find Spicy Brains (good)
  BONUSES: None
  FLAWS: Shambling
  Werewolves 
  Werewolves have normal human health levels. They can spend Karma to enter a 
  wolf-man state, where they take half damage from anything but silver or mystic 
  items. In human form, they have normal skills. When  in man-wolf form they 
  gain +2 to any physical skills they might have, and -1 to all mental or social skills. 
  All  werewolves suffer from the additional ﬂaw of easily enraged. 
  TYPICAL WEREWOLF
  DESCRIPTION: Furry mass of teeth and claws / 
  confused human.
  PERSONALITY: Angry
  SKILLS: Brawl (excellent), Tracking (good), 
  Appropriate Human Skill (good)
  BONUSES: Wolfman Form
  FLAWS: Easily Enraged
  Mummies 
  Mummies take half damage from everything except ﬁre or mystic items, both 
  of which do double damage. They are armed with mysterious Egyptian spells, 
  which summon strange weather, control minds or create hordes of man-eating 
  scarabs. Typically these spells will use weird ingredients (like mummified 
  crocodile tongues), which are used up when the spell is cast. Spells require a 
  point of Karma to work.
  
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  IMNATEN
  DESCRIPTION: Looming figure wrapped in burial 
  shroud, carrying an ankh and a sceptre.
  PERSONALITY: Angry. Sleepy. Missing his lost wife.
  SKILLS: Melee (excellent), Mind Control (good)
  BONUSES: Egyptian Magic
  FLAWS: Fear of Fire
  Sorcerers
  Sorcerers should have many strange and magical devices, as well as spells. 
  Typically spells require a great amount of preparation time and weird occult 
  ingredients. Use of magical devices or spells for instant/unprepared effects 
  requires them to take a point of bad Karma. Sorcerers will often have a variety 
  of bound supernatural creatures as allies, and small, hunchbacked servants. Use 
  the sample villain information for sorcerers’ skills.
  Ghosts 
  Ghosts have no physical bodies and have to possess humans in order to do 
  anything. This requires a difﬁcult roll using their possessing skill. Characters 
  with the Mysticism bonus can sense spirits and invoke their Mysticism bonus 
  to see them or attempt to exorcise them. Ghosts can manifest, but it is a 
  tremendously difﬁcult task and requires the expenditure of a Karma point. 
  They have skills equivalent to when they were alive, with a level similar to a 
  goon or minion.. 
  Eldritch Horrors 
  Eldritch horrors are Lovecraftian things from beyond the bounds of the universe. 
  They tend to make a mess. They have tentacles and bloated bodies, with a few 
  too many dimensions for their own good. They should be treated as having 
  bonus dice in combat due to size, and should take larger numbers of scratches 
  per wound (15 or so). Eldritch horrors have their own agendas, beyond the ken 
  of mortal man, though they often seem to be motivated by hunger.
  THING FROM BEYOND SPACE
  DESCRIPTION: Mass of odd angles and tentacles
  PERSONALITY: Unknown, but slobbering
  SKILLS: Attack with Tentacle (excellent) , Break 
  Things (good), Make People Afraid (good)
  BONUS: Drive character temporarily insane
  FLAW: Unable to pass into confined spaces
  
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  THE AGENCY by Matt Mache ll
  Notable Members of 
  The Agency
  Colonel Sebastian Masters — Nicknamed “Uncle M,” Sebastian is the current 
  head of the agency. Having been moved from MI5 when the agency was formally 
  set up. He is a rotund gentleman with a big moustache whose ﬁtness has gone 
  downhill since getting a desk job. His daughter works as a reporter in London 
  and, much to his annoyance, is constantly winding up in trouble.
  Professor Nina Spencer — Current head of the Agency’s research division, 
  she deals with uncovering scientiﬁc explanations for supernatural creatures 
  and providing agents with experimental weapons and equipment. A driven 
  individual, she will do almost anything to acquire new knowledge. She 
  occasionally takes ridiculous risks to further her understanding. She is a thin 
  woman and typically wears a battered lab coat.
  Doctor Stibbons — An academic who specializes in ancient languages and 
  esoteric studies. Stibbons runs the Agency’s research into the history of the 
  supernatural. Stibbons is noted for his attempts to “be cool” despite his age, 
  something that amuses younger agents. He has a fondness for kipper ties.
  The Agency’s Most Wanted
  Victor Levenstein — A former diplomatic attaché from Romania. The Agency 
  originally caught him attempting to smuggle vampires into the country. He 
  admitted to being an accomplice and sent the agency after his superiors. It was 
  only later they discovered that Victor was actually an accomplished sorcerer, 
  who was using hypnosis to control other members of the diplomatic staff. He 
  escaped and went to ground in the village of Little Dorking, where he took 
  control of a local Lord’s manor and attempted to raise the spirit of a powerful 
  British warlord. He was defeated, but again escaped and is currently at large. 
  Levenstein is often accompanied by a group of uncouth imps and spirits who 
  act as his servants.
  DESCRIPTION: Thin, pasty man with a pointy beard
  PERSONALITY: Charming, in a weaselly kind of way
  SKILLS: Persuasion (excellent), Occult (good), 
  Dodge (good), Athletics (poor)
  BONUSES: Hypnosis (Mystical Ability), Aura of 
  Importance
  FLAWS: Gloating, Incompetent Minions
  Baron Von Bludstrom — The youngest scion of an ancient Germanic line of 
  vampires, the Baron goes by a number of aliases. Most  recently he was known 
  as rock & roll star Jim Bluud. Remarkably well adjusted to the modern world, 
  he preys on groupies and those enamoured with his celebrity. He has a perverse 
  sense of humor, and has indulged in a number of extravagant practical jokes. His 
  
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  last joke resulted in the Prime Minster and Queen being covered in pig’s blood 
  and entrails at the state opening of Parliament. He is considered a dangerous 
  and unpredictable opponent. His sense of fashion is dubious.
  DESCRIPTION: Tall, thin, and dressed in a mishmash 
  of antiquity and modern culture. Last seen wearing 
  a paisley cravat with a biker jacket.
  PERSONALITY: Insane. Homicidal sense of humour.
  SKILLS: Control Mind (excellent), Brawl (good), 
  Persuasion (excellent), Technology (poor)
  BONUSES: Blood sustenance, Supernatural Strength, 
  Magnetism
  FLAWS: Sun Allergy, Staking Problem, Gloating
  The Brethren of Mé — A secretive cult of magicians and their allies, the brethren 
  are considered one of the gravest threats to the Agency. A secret society of the old 
  school, very little is known of their agenda. They are known to employ sorcerous 
  powers and undead servants. The agency ﬁrst came into contact with them 
  when several of their members were discovered in Scotland Yard covering up 
  decidedly strange murders. Further investigations turned up a huge number of 
  zombies hidden away in a secretive part of the London sewers. An Agency task 
  force raided the location and managed to eliminate the threat, but the majority 
  of the Brethren either escaped or committed suicide using mysterious magics.
  F.E.S.T.A. — Is the Fiendishly Evil Supernatural Terrorist Agency (or at least 
  that’s what the Agency claims). It is a close-knit group of cultists, supernatural 
  creatures, criminals and sorcerers. Unsurprisingly, their aim is to rule the world, 
  and for reasons best known to themselves, they have decided to start with 
  Britain. The Agency has foiled a number of plots involving F.E.S.T.A., often 
  attempts to blackmail politicians or gain access to obscure occult knowledge.
  Memo  
  To: All Agents 
  From: Col. Masters
  All agents should be aware that in the last month 
  F.E.S.T.A. Activity has increased 250%. They have 
  been co-ordinating supernatural activity on three  
  continents. All information points to an occult 
  convergence of vast import. Agents should be on the 
  lookout. In addition, any Agent that can explain 
  F.E.S.T.A’s sudden interest in garden gnomes and 
  cuckoo clocks will receive a promotion.
  
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  THE AGENCY by Matt Mache ll
  Other Settings
  The Agency was designed to be played using the default setting of supernatural 
  weirdness, but it could equally be used for a fairly generic 60s spy series. Simply  
  tone down the supernatural elements. 
  There’s no reason you can’t move the setting forward into the 70s too, although 
  the source material changes, generally getting either more serious or more 
  tongue in cheek.
  Equally, there’s no reason why it should be set in the UK. As  mentioned in the 
  background section, America has Unit X, a similar agency, and the Eastern 
  Block has the Spezial Direktorate (and being chased across Siberia by Zombies 
  is an interesting image). 
  Other periods in history can also be used, as long as the same style of action 
  ﬁts. Want to play swashbuckling members of the Elizabethan Secret Service, 
  ﬁghting a mysterious Spanish sorcerer with his Armada ghost ship? These rules 
  can handle that. If improbable action and snappy one-liners are the core of the 
  genre, then the tweaks should be minimum.
  Looking for Inspiration?
  The Agency draws inspiration from sixties’ and seventies’ secret agent ﬁlms 
  and TV shows. Things like The Avengers, The Saint, The Prisoner, James Bond, The 
  Persuaders, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Champions and The Man from 
  U.N.C.L.E.. A quick web search should put you on to information about all of 
  these, and most have DVD/Video sets available. For a loving parody, the original 
  Austin Powers is worth a look, too. For the horror elements, I suggest a look at 
  anything in the Hammer back-catalogue.
  Acknowledgements
  The Agency is the product of several years of comment and testing by various 
  people from across the globe. Thanks to everybody who downloaded the 
  playtest edition and provided comments. Special thanks to all the folks at the 
  Forge (www.indie-rpgs.com), RPG.NET, and to all the people who emailed me 
  with comments about the previous version. Thanks also to Frances, for putting 
  up with my gaming habits. 
  There are more games like this at www.realms.org.uk.
  NPA
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/The Agency/The Agency Corebook.pdf