I was having a look over the retro-clone Classified which repackages the old James Bond: 007 RPG very faithfully. It’s no secret I’ve been working on and off on a similar project for a few years — slowed and distracted by professional concerns and child care duties. As writing carried on two years ago, I realized that a redesign of a few of the rules were needed. That expanded into tearing the system apart and putting it back together. Here are a few of the points that I’ve been working from:
1) Less freakin’ math! Let’s face it — James Bond: 007 (hereafter JB:007) is a pretty simple setup for character creation…except for the math. No, it’s not GURPS or Champions, where you need to buy time on a supercomputer to build a character in less than a weekend, but the numbers are big enough for people to bone up if they’re working quickly and by hand. This has been rectified. Additionally, I’ve stripped off some of the extraneous stuff you had to buy.
2) Why the hell do Fields of Experience exist? Because no one wanted to buy those as skills in the initial design of JB:007. Fields of Experience have been given actual mechanical effects, and the same goes for Weaknesses. They help define your character, now.
3) Simplify and make consistent the rules. The different mechanics for gambling, seduction, torture, and other aspects of the game were cool in 1983. They’re a headache for GMs used to more streamlined games now. If you want to really capture the excitement of being at the green baize, have the players play baccarat, or whatever, against the GM or each other. Connected to that —
4) Lose the d6. Initiative is based on speed. If two characters have the same speed, roll a d10. Highest wins. There’s another initiative system in the works that might capture the action movie flavor better that I’m working on.
5) Speaking of — modern action movies have had a much different pacing since the 1980s, even Bond movies. Gone are the days of deliberative one shot from a .32 Walther kills a guy at 50 yards…Bond characters may not spray and pray the likes of Martin Riggs of John McClane, but they’ve a lot less ammo discipline in these days of high-capacity magazines. Combat rules are being tweaked to reflect this, and add in things like martial arts styles.
6) Hero points: Only on a 01? Nope. Hero point now look more like plot points/story points/style points of other game systems. You get them for playing to your weaknesses, for good roleplaying, for rolling QR1s, or making good suggestions for how failure might be interpreted.
7) A game’s corebook does not need to be 500 pages and full color to be good. I’m aiming to keep the book cheap, easy to read, and fast to get into playing. There will be a lot of background material on the modern espionage world, policing, etc., and the obligatory short adventure scenario. The goal is a book running about 200 pages.
The goal: Keep all the good stuff about JB:007, lose the bad, and bring these mechanics into the 21st Century.
23 April, 2014 at 22:26
Hi
I agree with most of your points except point # 3. You say that the different mechanics for gambling, seduction, torture, and other aspects of the game are a headache for the GM and then, in the same paragraph, suggest that the players and GM now go and learn how to play Baccarat or other gambling games. So you suggest learning “new mechanics” by learning new games? Personally, the very rules you are disparaging are some of the very reasons I still come back to the JB007RPG. I’ve even used a variation of the seduction rules in my All For One campaign to great effect. I understand that there is a tendency to change things because we think they need changing but, on occasion, we should just leave things alone and accept that the rules as written are pretty damn good. I look forward to seeing your thoughts on such things as Fields of Experience etc, but I will still use the old systems for gambling, seduction, torture etc. FWIW – I actually created a set of Backgammon rules using the JB007RPG model for the Octopussy mission and they worked great.
24 April, 2014 at 08:06
Hey! Don’t go making sense!
If you’ve got your backgammon rules sitting about, you’re welcome to post them for the other readers. Email them to theblackcampbell at gmail dot com with the name you want them attributed to, etc. so you get the appropriate credit.
The same offer goes to other readers, as well.
24 April, 2014 at 11:53
OK – I’ll find the rules and send them to you. I think they’re only hand-written at the moment so I’ll do a bit of a tidy up first. While I’m on the subject, I also have a bunch of other stuff I did for JB007RPG including form-fillable character sheets. Should I send these as well?
24 April, 2014 at 11:54
OK – I’ll find the rules and send them to you. I think they’re only hand-written at the moment so I’ll do a bit of a tidy up first. While I’m on the subject, I also have a bunch of other stuff I did for JB007RPG including form-fillable character sheets. Should I send these as well?
24 April, 2014 at 16:08
Why not?
24 April, 2014 at 01:16
I would love to offer any assistance you would need with this. JB: 007 RPG is my favorite system to GM, as anything I need for the players is right at hand. I, too, have been playing (but mostly GMing) it since it’s release in 1983, and believe it captures the essence of the movies spot on. Let me know if you could use a hand!
24 April, 2014 at 08:11
Hoping to get to a playtesting phase toward the end of the year., depending on kid scknesses, class teaching loads, and how much time I waste on the mountain, now that my new suspension for the motorcycle is in.
24 April, 2014 at 11:55
Count me in on any playtesting as well – my group loves the game and will welcome the chance to try out some new rules as well.
24 April, 2014 at 16:08
Will do.
22 February, 2015 at 07:02
Hey Scott-
I am revisiting JB: 007 RPG, and have also purchased “Classified RPG” and the one module that Expedited Press has put out for it, as well.
I recently won an eBay auction for the French version of the core 007 rules, Q Manual and a copy of the Dr. No module, all printed in either ’88 or ’89. I don’t read French, but I know there are some additional weapons and equipment in them that never made it to the light of day in the English version, and the stats are still the same, except for being listed in meters, as opposed to 10 foot increments for ranges.
I have a question about the base game I have always considered, and likely will be implementing in my newly started campaign.
I am seriously considering adding the skill of “Observation” to the list, and having it be an extension of Perception, just skill based. The exception to it as a skill would be that if you do not take the skill, you still use your base Perception stat with no negative EFs, just like the game does it. If you take the skill Observation, you would have much easier times noticing things, since your PC can be up to 30.
I like how “Classified RPG” has eliminated the d6 for Initiative, and instead made it a d100 roll (IIRC).
I have more questions, but for now would like your feedback on the above.
22 February, 2015 at 09:05
Not a bad idea, really, soundwich. I added languages early on, as it’s one of the most important skills you have in field work.
I looked through Classified and noticed they ditched the d6, as well; it’s one of the design elements I ditched in the retroclone I’ve been slowly beating into shape (until I was overtaken by events…known as my daughter.) I’ve been looking at either a d10, but I really like the idea of allowing the character with the highest speed to just go first, and the one I’ve been playing with — applying the Chase bidding rules to initiative.