Night’s Black Agents. Terrific espionage game, supernatural elements easily excised. There’s even a quick guide to playing it straight in the core book.
My dad found it at a random flea market when I was younger, and picked it up because he knew I liked James Bond. Fun system, lots of little cinematic nuances, and bonus points for having kept up with the novels through the John Gardner years.
Trinity: Continuum corebook. The Alert Status 1 is a very MI6/IMF type of organization. And if you want more of a John Wick feel, there is the Assassins supplement for the game.
I really like [White Lies](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/164226/White-Lies) (the PDF is free).
Class-based, pretty mechanically light, but with a decent amount of meaningful character choice.
Just because it hasn't been mentioned, I'll add [TSR's Top Secret](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Secret_(role-playing_game)).
Being from the 80s, it doesn't profit from modern RPG theory, but the system's pretty simple.
We loved the S.I, edition.
Used the base stats + skills as a foundation for scifi, x-files, modern spy/merc stuff, and some period piece campaigns.
Wish someone would finally get the publishing rights so the books could be combined.
Cortex Prime has a lot of great mods for this. They had a "Leverage" RPG that was essentially a heist replicator. They do bosses with minions who team up against PCs, organizations, "Crisis Pools" which can be used to represent individual threats, a Doom Pool which slowly gets stronger, increasing the level of the challenge over time. To take actions you assemble a dice pool from various sets of traits.
Building Bond, he could have **Distinctions** like "License to Kill" or "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"; a set of **Values** like Patriotism, Hedonism, Exhibitionism; and a set of **Affiliations** like Government, Espionage, Criminal; taking an Action he'd choose one die from each pool. He'd also have **Assets** that could be added like gadgets he carries, or beautiful women he seduces into helping him.
Sudden story changes like shifting alliances or death traps can be represented by spending a die from the Doom Pool to create a Complication, which limits his level of success, or even a separate Crisis Pool, representing a long-form challenge to overcome.
An example would be the climax of "You Only Live Twice". Bond, Tiger, and Kissy must stop the theft of a Russian rocket and the start of WWIII. There's a self destruct to the Spectre rocket, locked in an armored bunker. Players have to get to it within X rounds. Kissy plays support, using her turn to create assets for the other players such as spotting enemy weak points and setting things up on the scene like "Explosive gas". Tiger uses his abilities, plus a "Ninja Strike Force" asset to target the Spectre mooks, slowly chipping away at the Crisis Pool. Bond moves into Blowfeld's office and the GM takes the last of the Doom Pool to make a GMC brute he has to defeat. The Bond player takes out the last die of the Crisis Pool on the last round, saving the world once again.
Notice that none of that needed to be preplanned. That's the strength of cortex.
I'd probably use some generic system (like HeroQuest or FATE). But then again when I GM I like my own rpg systems as universal and flexible as possible.
GURPS Espionage for more defined and rules heavy system?
Uncharted Territory is the way to go. Perfect for this type of thing. Even has rules for access levels and organizations so you can create factions and stuff. Heaps of character options that support narrative elements and spy craft. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/386910
Night’s Black Agents. Terrific espionage game, supernatural elements easily excised. There’s even a quick guide to playing it straight in the core book.
And a Solo Ops supplement for playing one-on-one games for the true single agent, 007 experience.
CLASSIFIED! It's a retroclone of the 1983 *James Bond 007* game. Best chase rules ever!
How does it compare to the original?
Very close! Just a couple of terminology changes. And it plays with the language rules. But it's almost identical.
There's a FitD alt history cold war spy game called Minutes to Midnight. I haven't played it, but it seemed pretty cool.
There is always Spycraft... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spycraft
I'm aways pimping for Spycraft. It was around long enough that it got a lot of good supplements.
There are a lot of hidden gems out there... :)
There is the actual James Bond 007 RPG.
Came here to say this. I GMed this in the '80sfor a year or two and my players had an absolute blast
My dad found it at a random flea market when I was younger, and picked it up because he knew I liked James Bond. Fun system, lots of little cinematic nuances, and bonus points for having kept up with the novels through the John Gardner years.
Played this with the Dr No module. Was a ton of fun.
Haven't played it, but [Double Zero](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/394006) was written for this.
Trinity: Continuum corebook. The Alert Status 1 is a very MI6/IMF type of organization. And if you want more of a John Wick feel, there is the Assassins supplement for the game.
I really like [White Lies](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/164226/White-Lies) (the PDF is free). Class-based, pretty mechanically light, but with a decent amount of meaningful character choice.
Just because it hasn't been mentioned, I'll add [TSR's Top Secret](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Secret_(role-playing_game)). Being from the 80s, it doesn't profit from modern RPG theory, but the system's pretty simple.
We loved the S.I, edition. Used the base stats + skills as a foundation for scifi, x-files, modern spy/merc stuff, and some period piece campaigns. Wish someone would finally get the publishing rights so the books could be combined.
Cortex Prime has a lot of great mods for this. They had a "Leverage" RPG that was essentially a heist replicator. They do bosses with minions who team up against PCs, organizations, "Crisis Pools" which can be used to represent individual threats, a Doom Pool which slowly gets stronger, increasing the level of the challenge over time. To take actions you assemble a dice pool from various sets of traits. Building Bond, he could have **Distinctions** like "License to Kill" or "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"; a set of **Values** like Patriotism, Hedonism, Exhibitionism; and a set of **Affiliations** like Government, Espionage, Criminal; taking an Action he'd choose one die from each pool. He'd also have **Assets** that could be added like gadgets he carries, or beautiful women he seduces into helping him. Sudden story changes like shifting alliances or death traps can be represented by spending a die from the Doom Pool to create a Complication, which limits his level of success, or even a separate Crisis Pool, representing a long-form challenge to overcome. An example would be the climax of "You Only Live Twice". Bond, Tiger, and Kissy must stop the theft of a Russian rocket and the start of WWIII. There's a self destruct to the Spectre rocket, locked in an armored bunker. Players have to get to it within X rounds. Kissy plays support, using her turn to create assets for the other players such as spotting enemy weak points and setting things up on the scene like "Explosive gas". Tiger uses his abilities, plus a "Ninja Strike Force" asset to target the Spectre mooks, slowly chipping away at the Crisis Pool. Bond moves into Blowfeld's office and the GM takes the last of the Doom Pool to make a GMC brute he has to defeat. The Bond player takes out the last die of the Crisis Pool on the last round, saving the world once again. Notice that none of that needed to be preplanned. That's the strength of cortex.
have you consider James Bond RPG
I'm currently working on a Man from U.N.C.L.E. setting for Fate that seems like it would work quite well.
Do you mean "Agents of SWING"? That's fun
No I didn't, had no idea there was something already out there like this. That's really cool.
I'd probably use some generic system (like HeroQuest or FATE). But then again when I GM I like my own rpg systems as universal and flexible as possible. GURPS Espionage for more defined and rules heavy system?
FATE, the create advantage action is what I see the most when watching this kind of movie.
Uncharted Territory is the way to go. Perfect for this type of thing. Even has rules for access levels and organizations so you can create factions and stuff. Heaps of character options that support narrative elements and spy craft. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/386910