DENIABLE ASSETS:

A GAME OF SPIES, CRIMINALS, AND OTHER VIOLENT MEN

Created for the NUGGET rules by Tim Gray, published by Silver Branch Games (www.silverbranch.co.uk). Tim Gray is not responsible in any way for the content of these materials unless specifically credited.

BASICS
Youll need pencils and paper and about 10 six-sided dice. Characters are described with Advantages and Disadvantages compared to an average, untrained person. If a task is neither trivial nor impossible, you roll a pool of a variable number of dice to see whether you succeed. The pool is made up of a number of dice equal to one die per Advantage (Adv) from an Attribute (natural talent) and a Skill (knowledge and training), minus one die per relevant Disadvantage (Dis); e.g. Calculation + Research - 2. Base Difficulty (BD) determines the difficulty of a task, which is measured in dice of Disadvantages. If anyone can have a decent try its BD 0 (probably the most common). A task that needs a professional is BD -2 (subtract 2 from your Advantages). If only the best can pull it off its BD -4. Near-impossible tasks are BD -6. The GM can give an extra Adv or Dis for special situations. If you end up with no dice its just too hard. Count each die that shows 4, 5 or 6 as one success. A single success means you just barely do it, though not very well; 3 successes is a good, solid result; 5 or more successes is truly impressive. No successes (all rolls 1, 2, 3) means failure. If theyre all 1s thats a fumble: you messed up and the GM describes the awkward consequences. Exceptional success can be handled in one of two ways. For a realistic or gritty style run the game lid-on: if all dice come up as 6s you get one extra success. For high energy, unpredictable action, run it lid-off: each die that shows 6 can be rolled again for a possible extra success, and further 6s give further re-rolls. Deniable Assets is run mostly lidon, with one exception, noted in the Skills section. Opposed rolls happen when two characters come into conflict - a physical fight, interrogation, haggling, arm-wrestling or a chess match. Both characters make appropriate rolls. The one with more successes gets their way, and the difference tells you how decisive it was. Ties usually go forward (dramatically!) to another roll.

DOSSIER:
CREATING AN AGENT

ATTRIBUTES
These describe natural talent at general kinds of things: Conditioning (Brawn) strength, toughness, stamina Coordination (Agility) agility, speed, flexibility Calculation (Brains) noticing, remembering, working things out Confidence (Will) determination, self-control, charisma Most people are rated at 2, the average point. Some are talented at 3. A few are exceptional, rated 4. Some are particularly poor, rated 1. Agents are well above average. You begin with all Attributes at 2, and then have 2 points to raise Attribute levels. Spend both on one Attribute to get a 4, or split them between two Attributes at 3. If you reduce one Attribute to 1, the Agent gets an extra point to spend on another Attribute.

AREA OF EXPERTISE AND SKILLS

These are areas of knowledge, training and experience. There are two kinds; Areas of Expertise (AoE) and Skills. Skills are fairly specific, covering a narrow application of training and knowledge, like Fighting with Swords, Piloting Planes, Chemistry or Investigation. AoEs, on the other hand, are very broad, covering a variety of more specific skills under their umbrella, but they are more expensive to raise. Both Skills and AoEs are rated by the number of Advantages they give you when they apply. They go in levels 1-4: Basic, Professional, Expert, and Master. In most games, all the players will be playing the same type of Agent, such as field agents for Intelligence organizations, a team of professional criminals, or the like. All Agents are assumed to be proficient at Tradecraft. Tradecraft covers several different Areas of Expertise. Agents receive 1 level in each AoE, and are assumed to have 1 Advantage in any other endeavor that falls under their occupation (as spies, criminals or whatever), but you should use a specific Skill if you have one written down. The Areas of Expertise are as follows: Area of Expertise Command Manipulation Violence Stealth Technology Title Leader Faceman Hitman Spook Fixer Description Leaders organize, command and coordinate others Facemen are masters at lying to and manipulating people Hitmen are hard men, killers and masters of violence Spooks excel at the arts of paranoia, investigation, stealth and B&E Fixers are the tech experts and gearheads Possible Codename/ Classification Saturn King Mercury Queen Mars Knight Pluto Bishop Vulcan Rook

Now, choose a single Area of Expertise in which to specialize. Your Agent gets several advantages in their Specialty. To begin with, they get that AoE at level 2 (Professional). Furthermore, for that AoE, and only for that AoE, all rolls are considered lid-off. Finally, each AoE has an ability associated with it that can only be activated by a Specialist (this is covered in the Mission Points section). You also have 4 levels of Skills to allocate as you wish. They can be new hobby or other specific Skills (the spy might be skilled at sleight of hand). To increase an AoE, you must pay 2 Skill points per level. When both a Skill and AoE apply, use the higher one. (For a truly over-the-top game, add them together before rolling!)

EXAMPLE SKILLS
Here are some suggestions for common skills in a modern setting to help you along for character creation. This is only a sample list; you can name your own skills, neither too broad nor too narrow: Arts (specify - e.g. a musical instrument, Painting, Sculpture) Athletics Bureaucracy Business Computer Drive/Pilot (specify - e.g. Car, Motorbike, Boat, Plane) Engineering (specify - e.g. Construction, Electronics, Mechanics) Fighting (specify - e.g. Unarmed, Sword, Knife, Staff, Gun, Bow) Hide Intimidation Language (specify - each is a separate skill, level 1 is tourist proficiency) Leadership Medicine Move Quietly Natural History Observation Occult Physical Science (specify - e.g. Biology, Chemistry, Geophysics, Physics) Research Search Social Science (specify - e.g. History, Law, Psychology, Sociology) Socializing Subterfuge Survival Tactics Theft

FINISHING OFF
Write down 1-3 Missions/Goals/Drives/Flaws Goals and Drives are things that are important to the character, which could be people, objects, organizations, principles or things they want to achieve. Goals and Drives help generate Mission Points for the character. Flaws are qualities that may often be considered disadvantages, like having only one arm, or being greedy. Flaws can be as narrow or broad as you want, since they generate Mission Points only when they have an effect. Write down your Initiative bonus: take the total of Coordination and Calculation, add the levels of your Violence or highest Fighting Skill, and finally subtract 4. (Disadvantages subtract; it can go negative.) Write down your physical and mental resistance; Tough (Conditioning) and Hardened (Confidence). Write down Mission Points, with space for it to change over time. You start with 3 points. You have ordinary items of equipment to allow you to perform your Skills - beyond that it depends on the game.

COMBAT
INITIATIVE
When it comes to high-speed action, things happen in rounds: chunks of time a few seconds long divided into 10 phases. At the start of a round everyone rolls one die and adds the result to their Initiative bonus. The GM counts down from 10 to 1, and your initiative total tells you when you can take your action (e.g. punching, throwing, shooting). After phase 1 the next round starts, until the fight is over. A total over 10 means you can act once on 10 and again on the remainder (e.g. 14 => 10, 4). A total less than 1 means youre too confused to take an action this round. You can also do one simple thing for free each round any time after youre ready for your first action (Phase 1 if you cant act) - e.g. drawing a weapon, picking something up or running a short distance. More involved actions like all-out sprinting take an action. You can delay an action till later in the round. Characters acting on the same phase go in order of Initiative bonus. You can defend against an attack at any time; one roll counts against all attacks in that phase.

ATTACK AND DEFENSE

Attack rolls use the relevant Skill plus Coordination, usually BD 0. Defenses, like parrying or dodging, are similar but use any close combat Skill (e.g. not Gun), and against projectile weapons are BD 0 to BD -2 depending on cover. If the attacker gets more successes its a hit and does damage; otherwise it misses. Remember, you can defend against an attack at any time; one roll counts against all attacks in that phase.

DAMAGE
Add the difference between attack and defense successes to the base damage, below. Hand-to-hand attacks add Conditioning Advantages as well. Base Damage 0 1 2 3 4 6 8 Example unarmed knife, small club, claws and teeth sword, big club, axe, spear, arrow big sword, polearm, handgun, SMG rifle, shotgun machine-gun tank gun

The target rolls Physical Resistance to withstand the attack, with successes taken away from the total damage. (A fumble adds 1 to damage!) Read the result off here: Total Damage 1-2 3-4 5-6 7+ Status Hurt Injured Injured and Unconscious Injured and Dead

Note Hurts and Injuries on your character sheet: they build up and give penalties while they last.

Hurts are bruises and cuts that slow you down - each subtracts 1 from Initiative for future rounds and takes 5
minutes of rest to disappear. Injuries are serious wounds - each takes 1 off Initiative and gives a Disadvantage for all rolls except Resistance, and takes a day of rest and care to recover. . Unconscious and Dead are self-explanatory.

Someone with medical supplies can try first aid: roll Medicine + Calculation, BD 0. Each round the patient and healer do nothing else, one success can be spent to heal a Hurt. Combat details. Any Armor worn subtracts from damage: 1-3 points for archaic types, possibly up to 5 for modern types. Firearms with spray/burst firing give an Adv to hit. Shields give an Adv to defend. Surprise, e.g. if an opponent has successfully sneaked up, means no defense roll is possible. Unseen opponents turn attack and defense into Fighting + Calculation rolls, BD -2.

OPPONENTS
In general, give opponents the abilities they ought to have rather than trying to balance points.

Minions are low-level riff-raff with an Occupation and low or no Attribute and Skill bonuses. Put them all on
initiative (3 + bonus). Even one Hurt takes them out of a conflict.

Henchmen have higher stats and are taken out by an Injury or 3 Hurts. Major Villains work like PCs, with abilities as good or better, plus other advantages like henchmen or fiendish
devices. They start with Mission Points - often one point per PC - and can get more for advancing their plans. Animals, monsters, aliens, etc. can have Attributes beyond the normal range. This is most common with Conditioning, due to differences in sheer size and mass.

THREATS
Apart from combat, characters get exposed to all sorts of things that can do them physical or mental harm, like fire, poison, falling, or terrifying monsters. Theyre all handled the same way: the GM gives a damage rating from the table below, which is opposed by the appropriate Resistance and applied as above. Base Damage 1 3 5 8 10 Threat Irritating Painful/Tiring (desert) Damaging (ordinary fire, drowning) Deadly (strong electricity) Extreme (space, deep ocean)

Record mental damage separately: Hurts and Injuries add to those from physical damage, but heal independently. An "Unconscious" result from a Threat either knocks the Agent out, or gives an impairment lasting about a scene, e.g. blinded by a flash, fleeing in mindless terror. "Dead" gives a permanent condition - curing it could be a story seed.

Special rules: THE MISSION

MISSION POINTS
These are a mixture of adrenaline, karma, luck, good planning and self-esteem, given by the GM during play and spent to direct the characters path. Use counters for Mission Points during a session and write it down at the end. Gaining Mission Points. Gain a point for doing something cool like beating an enemy, performing a dangerous stunt, or just making everybody laugh. Gain a point if the character takes an important step toward one of their Goals/Drives in a scene - but a point can also be taken away if a Goal is seriously thwarted, like your beloved aunt getting hurt or the CIA capturing you! (If you are already at zero and would lose a point, the GM gains one to a general pool for the opposition.) Gain a point if a Flaw seriously or dramatically hinders you during a scene. Unlike Goals or Drives, Flaws will never take away points, since they already represent disadvantages. The GM may also allow a planning session, where the players plan their mission and add details to the plot in order to garner more Mission Points. The GM will award a bonus of 1 to 10 Mission points for this, which will be distributed to the players by the Leader, or split evenly if no-one has the Command AoE (excess points are either gone, or go to the players in order of highest Confidence or Calculation, depending on the kind of agents/plan). Spending Mission Points. Spend a point to add an advantage (i.e. one extra die) to a roll. You may add several advantages, but you must supply a cool detail or description for each one. Spend three points to make a roll again and keep the result you prefer (If you added advantages, you dont get to re-roll those without re-spending points). Spend a three points to force the opposition to make a re-roll and keep the less favorable result (but they can spend their own Mission Points first if they wish, and its possible to get into an extended bidding war). Buy a new level of a Skill between adventures for (new level x 5) Mission Points. Buying a level of AoE or Weird Stuff (explained below) costs (new level x 10) Mission Points (they can go up or down, as explained in their section). Spend 10 to be unconscious instead of dead (some games should be dangerous, but usually heroes can survive all sorts of harm). Mission Points may have further uses, like establishing a minor, plausible coincidence, or getting one die to roll when you have none. The GM may even allow you to raise an Attribute between adventures, for (new level x 20) Mission Points, but this is optional. Going into Debt. Some GMs may allow you to go into debt with Mission Points. This should only be used for in-game expenditures of Mission Points, not for raising Skills or Attributes. Going into debt may simply add to a GMs general pool for the opposition, or it may have other consequences. For example, if a player goes into debt to keep from dying, they may have to pick up a flaw related to what would have killed them, as well as giving the GM Mission Points for the opposition. Banking Mission Points. After a mission, an agent may bank Mission Points to improve themselves. Mission Points in the bank earn interest, but are unavailable during a mission. They cannot be withdrawn except to improve Skills, Attributes and Weird Stuff. Once you have banked your Mission Points, you must wait for one mission to pass. After this, the Mission Points earn interest. For every 3 points in the Bank, you earn an additional Mission Point. Once interest is earned, the Mission Points and their interest are moved out of the Bank and into the Vault, where they stay until you spend them. If there are less than 3 points, or points left over that didnt earn interest, they can stay in the bank until they do. Specialist Abilities. Being a specialist in an Area of Expertise gives you a specialist ability which can be activated by spending Mission Points. If the game seems unbalanced by these abilities, simply limit their use to once per mission.

Area of Expertise

Title

Special Ability

Description A Leader may lend Mission Points to teammates on a 1 for 1 basis. They may stipulate any conditions for doing so, which must be adhered to in order to get those points. They dont need to be conscious or involved in the scene to do this, although a cool flashback or training montage where the problem/contingencies are addressed would be appropriate. Leaders may also receive Mission Points from teammates, if freely given, allowing a team with a Leader to always apply the maximum amount of Mission Points to any situation they want. The Faceman can convince anyone of anything, at least for a little bit, by spending Mission Points equal to the higher of the targets Calculation or Confidence + any skill/AoE that seems pertinent, multiplied by their importance to the story. Mooks are x 1, Henchmen are x 2, and Major Villains will be x 3 if the GM allows this to be used on them. The Hitman is a master of killing. The Hitman can kill any target, without rolling, by simply spending Mission Points equal to the higher of the targets Coordination or Conditioning + any skill/AoE (like Violence or Stealth) that seems pertinent, multiplied by their importance to the story. Mooks are x 1 and Henchmen are x 2. In some cases, the GM may rule that Mooks cost less to kill, especially if they come in hordes (like 1 Point/kill). Spooks have mastered the art of stealth and seem to posses an uncanny sense of perception. For 3 Points, a Spook may negate the effects of Surprise. In addition, a Spook may spend Points to get clues. These are bid blind. If the clue exists, the GM will set a cost for it, and if the Spook meets it, the GM gives them the clue. If not, the Spook finds nothing. These clues can include things like whether someone is lying, or something more physical. Finally, a Spook can spend Points to remain unseen. The Spook bids a number of Points. These are used to avoid any surveillance the Spook doesnt know about or see in time. If the Spook knows someone has spotted them, they may remain unseen by spending Mission Points equal to the higher of the targets Calculation + any skill/AoE (like Stealth) that seems pertinent, multiplied by their importance to the story, or the subtlety of the surveillance. Mooks are x 1 and Henchmen are x 2. Normal security systems are 1-5 points per device/area bypassed, High tech 6-10 points per device/area bypassed. Fixers are either packrats or extremely well prepared for every contingency. By spending Mission points, the Fixer can have on their person, or quickly obtain, the right tool/device/weapon for a situation, even if they dont have it listed. This costs 3 Points for a simple, plausible item; 5 for a complex or improbable item; and 10 points for a highly improbable item. Giving the GM a cool explanation for how the Fixer has this device may be worth a Point or two rebate, or move it into a lower cost bracket.

Cost

Command

Leader

Strength in Numbers

1/1

Manipulation

Faceman

The Perfect Con

Spec.

Violence

Hitman

One Shot, One Kill

Spec.

Stealth

Spook

Danger Sense/Unseen

Spec.

Technology

Fixer

Always Prepared

3/5/10

WEIRD STUFF
This includes things like magic and psychic powers. If you want to add psychics and mages and the like to your game, feel free. The way those abilities work makes a big difference to the feel of a game, and that needs detail. One simple way is to set them up as Skills, rolled normally but costing a physical or mental Hurt for fatigue unless a success is spent to be good enough to avoid it. The players and GM need to agree how much or little these can do. Possibilities include Telepathy, Moving Objects, Fire Magic and Illusion. Mind-based attacks use Calculation with (Confidence 2) as base damage, or just a roll with Confidence.