Running Mutant City Blues: Streamlining GUMSHOE

I’ve written before about my experiences with GUMSHOE, and how it’s gone over with people I’ve run it for. Not well. GUMSHOE has three things I love: a solid info delivery mechanic, example mysteries & advice, and great settings. I love Esoterrorists, Ashen Stars, Night’s Black Agents, Fear Itself. I dig how these games frame mysteries in different ways: classic monster hunting, mercenary problem solving, conspiracy revelation, and as a means to survive. There’s so much good stuff there.

But I finally think GUMSHOE’s not the game for me, even with adaptations. These games and settings would have rocked my world fifteen, even ten years ago, but today. A couple of months ago I wrote about doing an “Express” version of GUMSHOE. I hoped that might hit better than my previous attempts. A couple of weeks ago I pulled the trigger and ran two sessions of Mutant City Blues with a stripped down system. I had a good time, but it was in spite of the system, rather than because of it.

We recorded the sessions so you can watch those (Session One, Session Two). You can see my character spreadsheet and other materials here.

MECHANICAL DETAILS

If you look at the character spreadsheet, you’ll see I reduced the number of Investigative Abilities, putting stress on the category. Here’s the list and what they cover from the original version:

ACADEMIC         

• Human Studies: Anthropology, Forensic Psychology, Archaeology
• Law: Law, Forensic Accounting
• Research: Research, Textual Analysis
• Scholarship: History, Art History, Architecture, Natural History
• Trivia: Trivia, Occult Studies, Languages

INTERPERSONAL             

• Bureaucracy: Bureaucracy, Negotiation
• Cop: Bullshit Detector, Cop Talk, Interrogation
• Intimidation: Intimidation, Influence Detection
• Larceny: Impersonate, Flirting, Streetwise
• Manipulation: Flattery, Reassurance

TECHNICAL        

• Anamorphology: Anamorphology, Energy Residue Analysis
• Autopsy: Forensic Anthropology, Forensic Entomology
• Crime Scene: Evidence Collection, Fingerprinting
• Electronic Forensics: Cryptography, Data Retrieval, Electronic Surveillance, Photography
• Physical Forensics: Ballistics, Chemistry, Explosive Devices, Document Analysis

In this version, categories have a pool of points players spend from, rather than individual abilities having them. I understand Cthulhu Confidential does something like this. Each category has five abilities. Players choose which abilities they actually know. You can see on the sample characters some abilities are greyed out meaning the PC doesn’t have access to them. On the other hand, I marked abilities in red if only that player knew it. I worked out the ability distributions to create parity across all four characters.

General abilities remained largely the same. I collapsed a couple and moved Hit Point-type abilities up to differentiate them. Mutant City Blues has powers, something I’ll come back to. I reduced their rules text as much as possible for the pre-gen power sets. I associated Investigative Powers with one of the three groups. Any spends come from that pool. Other powers have their own ratings, like general abilities.

WHAT I LIKED

Cutting: Reducing the ability list worked. It made picks easier and it meant that everyone had some strengths. It removed the “never going to use this ability” problem. We could also spot particular abilities slightly faster. But I’m generally liberal with my “skill interpretations.” If players can make a decent case for using something in a situation, I’ll allow it. That’s easier, but I recognize that it undercuts games with tight skill definitions. My “Express” approach plays more into my style.

Building: I put serious time into building the pre-gen characters. I tuned those to the adventure once I’d settled on it. To do that I created four basic templates with different ability scores. Players then picked from one of seven different power sets. Pre-building them for easy to cut & paste made the CC process easier. I could also make sure each power set felt different. You need that in superhero games.

Running: I ran Garath Hanrahan’s adventure, “Blastback.” That’s from Brief Cases, an excellent collection. The adventures there are stronger than the sample from the core book and the Hard Helix collection That may be because they’re intended for one-shot play. Each adventure has a focus and is clear what kind of session you’re getting. My pick has a front-end investigation with a couple of different directions. That likely leads to a final scene which has more conflict, though players could defuse or circumvent that.

WHAT I’M NOT SOLD ON

Resolution: I’ve mentioned before my home group’s reaction to GUMSHOE’s general resolution mechanic. (They didn’t dig it). That system boils down to d6 + whatever you spend from your specific ability’s pool before you roll. Base difficulty is a 4, but it can go higher. At first glance it ought to be something I like: when you call for a roll, it’s clear what you need to roll. It also has a little push your luck mechanism. But it still lands with a thud for me.

Many, many smart people dig it. It just doesn’t have my kind of umph. I love push your luck, but here feels unsatisfying. Fate, Mutant Year Zero, Action Cards, all make that PYL an interesting choice. You get to judge results or count cards. Here, even if you know the difficulty (not the default mode), it remains a crapshoot.

We didn’t have that many general ability checks in our online session, so it wasn’t a big issue. But it remains a sticking point for me.

Powers: I love the idea of superhero police procedural. Top Ten and Gotham Central consistently knocked it out of the park. Mutant City Blues tries to find a middle ground between those two: powered detectives with a gritty backdrop. That could work, but it knocks up against what I want out of superhero game.

We have two issues. First, the powers themselves. Supers games have two choices: effect descriptor base or power list base. They can tweak this (see BESM and M&M 2e). MCB doesn’t tweak its power list approach. They’re set, strongly defined, and strongly delimited. That last point’s one of the problems. A GM can run these more flexibly, and there’s some advice about that in the rules. But the system doesn’t support that well- if you make something flexible, you run the risk of overlapping with other powers. Not overlapping’s the point of how the powers have been defined. They’re also, unless you invest the majority of your points in something, pretty weak. They look good at first glance, but the pool costs can be crazy. Force Field’s a good example of this.

Which brings us to the second problem, the Quade Diagram. I love the idea of it: powers fall into groups and common connections. You can use that in dealing with mysteries and it forces interesting character creation choices. But despite the emphasis put on it, it offers a limited range clues, especially in combination with the Investigative Abilities. You have to focus the mystery around that if you want it to be useful. Brief Cases does that with “The Kids Aren’t Alright” scenario.

When you first read MCB, the Quade Diagram obscures the setting’s other forensic tools. I had to read it a couple of times to see how MCB creates parallels to CSI (show and reality) techniques. For example: power residues can be linked up to powers (like DNA) and damage types can indicate power set (splatter analysis).

That’s not to say the Quade Diagram isn’t solid and useful. Instead it’s that it doesn’t quite fulfil its promise. I think it could work, but perhaps in another context. We’ve seen at least one hack which uses it as a diagnostic tool and that’s interesting.

Clues: The spend to get additional info mechanic requires experience to use. The GM has to model that behavior for a few sessions before players can become proactive. That means one shots and short run games have an artificiality. The GM has to stop off and ask for spends, creating a modified “Parrot Effect.” My shorter list of investigative abilities helps with that. But I haven’t gotten past it feeling directed rather than open. I suspect that’s a style disjunct for me.

In the end, Mutant City Blues doesn’t fit with the way I enjoy running, despite the interesting setting.

MY INVESTIGATION

Here’s how I like to handle info gathering and investigative moments. The player says what they’re doing (casing a joint, talking to someone, researching details). We can do some talk and playing out to set things up or we can go straight to answers. I need to have a sense of their character’s approach and purpose. If they have appropriate competencies (skills, abilities, plan, equipment, support, access, whatever), I give them basic info, no roll required. Sometimes that’s what GUMSHOE calls a core clue, meaning it points to another scene or location. Players can then roll or not roll a test. If they choose not to roll, they’ve got the basic info and it’s taken the appropriate time. If they choose to roll, they’re taking a risk. They may cause a problem: take time, have to give up resources, alert the opposition, alienate someone.

If they succeed, I’ll let them ask questions, usually 1 to 3. I don’t have a list like PbtA; instead the situation defines what they can ask. Sometimes I’ll say you can’t get that answer from this, modify what they can get, and/or ask for an explanation of how they might learn that. It puts some heavy lifting on the players, but feels more organic. It makes info finding more interesting and personal. If it occurs to me, I might ask the player if they want to trade in one of those questions for a benefit (take less time, gain a future effect, get a resource).

FUTURE PERFECT

I’m not completely out on the GUMSHOE Express idea. I think MCB wasn’t the one to start with. If I tried again I’d probably go with Esoterrorists or Ashen Stars. Likely the latter, since it hits a genre I haven’t found a grabber game for. I’d do the same thing with the investigative skills- reduced down to three sets, probably with fifteen total skills. For general abilities I’d probably go with something closer to Approaches from Fate Accelerated or emotional stats from The Veil. I’d want a short set of stats with narrow ratings (-1 to +2) for starting.

For risky resolution, I’d have PbtA style rolls. Full success on a 10+, partial on a 7-9, and a miss on 6-. I’d write up ome moves to represent the basic actions (fight, manipulate, defy danger, etc). If I was doing Ashen Stars I would probably steal from Impulse Drive, but keep everything simple. That would include downplaying the cybernetics and viroware rules from Ashen Stars. Though they’re not as oddly scaled as MVB’s powers; it might be easy to model the upkeep with a move as well.

More things to think about…

Mutant City Lite Blues: Gumshoe Express

I’m planning what to run for TGIT Gauntlet Hangouts in April. I’m debating between Kuro and Tenra Bansho Zero on one hand; on the other I want to do a GUMSHOE game. As I’ve talked about, I dig that system but it hasn’t gone over with groups I’ve run for. I’ve noticed a few trends in responses to GUMSHOE. Some folks who haven’t played it criticize its approach to clues and the perceived “lack of challenge.” But those who have played and didn’t dig it often comment on the complexity of the “skill” lists and tracking required.

So I thought I’d try a slimmed down approach with one of my favorite settings, Mutant City Blues. It’s probably the GUMSHOE game which has gotten the least love and attention. In it you play members of the Heightened Crimes Investigation Unit: super-powered cops for super-powered criminals. MCB has some great tech, including the Quade Diagram, which allows players to draw inferences from power-use evidence.

My approach requires a few changes, especially to investigative abilities. First, we cut down that list by at least half. I’m reducing each of the three categories to six abilities. Second, we use a variation on the Cthulhu Confidential mechanics. Each investigative category has a pool of points. Players make spends from a pool if they have any of the abilities listed. Ideally on the sheet, abilities they possess will be in bold and those they don’t will be greyed out. That way they can see the range, but know quickly which they have. Third, investigative powers will be associated with one of the categories and its pool of points. Fourth, we’ll reduce the number of investigation ability points to one-half or one-third.

On the non-investigative side we’ll trim the general ability list a little. We’ll move Health and Stability values to a different place on the sheet. They should look a little more like “Hit Points” to make their break from the other abilities clear. I’ll also probably set that, except for special cases, the GM declares difficulty before players roll and spend for a general check. I may also say that if they just hit the difficulty, that’s a success with cost. Otherwise they get what they want. We’ll keep the default system which has a rating for each ability.

I’ll obviously have to go through the Powers to see if this screws any of those up. I’ll put translated and slimmed down versions of the powers on the PC’s sheets.

The default list of Investigative abilities in MCB is:

• ACADEMIC: Anthropology, Archaeology, Architecture, Art History, Forensic Accounting, Forensic Psychology, History, Languages, Law, Natural History, Occult Studies, Research, Textual Analysis, Trivia
• INTERPERSONAL: Bullshit Detector, Bureaucracy, Cop Talk, Flattery, Flirting, Impersonate, Influence Detection, Interrogation, Intimidation, Negotiation, Reassurance, Streetwise
• TECHNICAL: Anamorphology, Ballistics, Chemistry, Cryptography, Data Retrieval, Document Analysis, Electronic Surveillance, Energy Residue Analysis, Forensic Entomology, Evidence Collection, Explosive Devices, Forensic Anthropology, Fingerprinting, Photography.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

ACADEMIC

• Forensic Accounting
• Human Analysis (Psychology, Textual Analysis, Anthropology)
• Law
• Research
• Scholarship (Archaeology, Architecture, Art History, History, Natural History)
• Trivia (including fringe things like Occult)

INTERPERSONAL

• Bureaucracy
• Cop (Cop Talk, Bullshit Detector)
• Influence Detection
• Intimidation (Interrogation, Intimidation)
• Larceny (Impersonate, Streetwise)
• Manipulation (Flattery, Flirting, Negotiation, Reassurance)

TECHNICAL

• Anamorphology (inc. Energy Residue Analysis)
• Autopsy
• Crime Scene
• Electronic Forensics (Cryptography, Data Retrieval, Electronic Surveillance, Photography)
• Explosives
• Physical Forensics (Ballistics, Chemistry, Forensic Entomology, Fingerprinting, Document Analysis)

General Abilities won’t change as much. The standard list has: Athletics, Driving, Filch, Health, Infiltration, Mechanics, Medic, Preparedness, Scuffling, Sense Trouble, Shooting, Stability, and Surveillance. If we pull Health & Stability out, we have 11 abilities. We might fold Sense Trouble & Surveillance into a perception-type abilities. I could pull the security tech elements out of Infiltration and fold them in with mechanics to make a “Technology” skill, though I’d need another name. The stealth elements from Infiltration and Surveillance could be added to Filch to make a general Thief or Sneak ability. That would get us: Athletics, Driving, Medic, “Perception,” Preparedness, Scuffling, Shooting, “Technology,” and ”Thief.” I’d need better names for those.

I may go into one of the GUMSHOE sheets on Roll20 to see if I can make a version which supports this.

Good? Bad? Indifferent? Am I reinventing the wheel?

GUMSHOE: A System Guide for New Gamers (2016 Update)

IT HAPPENED ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS

Friday October 21st marks the 10th Anniversary of Pelgrane's GUMSHOE rpg. To celebrate that I’ve updated my overview of the system, originally put together Jan 2012. I’ve included some new games, shifted some editions, and added major supporting product releases.

Below is a guide to the various lines of GUMSHOE products, arranged by date of initial publication. I've provided a brief description of the premise and what new ideas each iteration brings. As well, you'll find a link to the core book for the system, reviews for that core book, and links to other products in that line. In the case of Trail of Cthulhu, I've provided a link to the Gamer's Guide to that RPG.

BASICS 

Pelgrane Press has used their GUMSHOE rpg engine across a number of game lines. The mechanics of that system uniquely focuses on mysteries and problem solving. Not a generic system, GUMSHOE instead has a set of base mechanics and ideas tweaked, shifted and added to for each version- aiming to offer the best genre emulation.

System: GUMSHOE

In GUMSHOE abilities define characters. Some versions offer templates, but there’s no class system. Characters have two types of abilities: investigative and general.

Investigative abilities include fields of knowledge such as Ballistics, Forensic Anthropology, and Streetwise. These have a rating which serves as a pool for use of that ability. Possessing at least a one rating shows the character has expertise. When a player uses that ability to examine a scene, they do not have to roll. Instead, if there are core clues present which can be found by that means, they locate them. Core clues are those which move investigators to another location or major plot element. Points may be spent from an investigative ability to gain additional or extra information, at the GM or player's suggestion. These help fill in the picture and give that investigator the spotlight for play.

So for example, the core clue is the location of a shady doctor. The GM might present the clue via a couple of abilities. A player with pharmacy might note a pattern to the prescription drugs. One with accounting might be able to quickly go through nearby papers. Another with electronics might be able to pull up GPS details on a cell phone. Any of these can suggest another avenue. There may be more in a location. A spend can add to the overall picture. Foe example a Pharmacy spend might give the group a better sense of what the doctor’s dealing in, what their reputation is, or how their overall operation might work.

General abilities cover areas where players can risk failure- Athletics, Health and Shooting for example. Use of these abilities is uncertain and success or failure can have a dramatic impact on the story.  In this cases screwing up offers a spotlight moment, asks for player choices, and shifts play. General abilities also have a rating which represents a pool. To make a test, players roll 1d6. If they wish they may spend from the relevant ability's pool and add that to the roll. Players must meet or beat a difficulty set but not revealed by the GM. General ability pools require special circumstances to refresh (end of a story, time in a hospital, etc).

Review: GUMSHOE: RPGs I Like

GUMSHOE now has an SRD for gamers and designers. It is available as both an OGL and a CC license product. For more details on this, see this post on the Pelgrane forums. So far we’ve only seen a couple of products take advantage of that: Against the Unknown, The Derelict, Just a Game and Spookshow.

On Horror: Several of the GUMSHOE games offer straight horror or at least horror-tinged mysteries. Go with Esoterrorists if you want an organization battling against an occult foe. Go with Fear Itself if you want unprepared innocents trapped in a horrific situation. Go with Trail of Cthulhu if, well, want Cthulhu.

The Esoterrorists (2nd Edition)

Premise: Players take the role of agents for the Ordo Veritas, a benevolent conspiracy. They battle against the Esoterrorists, a network of radicals and maniacs dedicated to breaking down the membrane between this world and the supernatural outside. They do this by crafting terror and manifesting otherworldly creatures. They operate like a terror network, with a focus on fear and publicity.

System Additions: This book sets up the basic GUMSHOE rules, with expert agents operating in a modern setting. The second edition significantly expands that material. On the rules side it cleans up the presentation and clarifies points. It adds a few new innovations, but keeps things simple and direct. On the campaign side, it massively expands the background, explains the concepts more fully, offers more developed campaign set up, and presents several fully-fleshed scenarios. Everything's very well-done and presented. I would recommend this as a first Gumshoe game if you're working with a group unfamiliar with Call of Cthulhu (otherwise Trail of Cthulhu might be better).

• Core Book: The Esoterrorists (2nd Edition)
• Additional Products: The Love of Money, Invasive Procedures, and Profane Miracles are modules. Six Packed is a collection of adventures. Both Albion's Ransom: Little Girl Lost and Albion's Ransom II: Worm of Sixty Winters offer full length campaigns. The Book of Unremitting Horror is a foe collection. The Esoterror Fact Book and The Esoterror Summoning Guide are both sourcebooks. Note: much of this is written for Esoterrorists 1st Edition. However those should be easy to adapt.
• Reviews: RPG.Net, Endzeitgeist

Fear Itself (2nd Edition)

Premise: Players take the role of characters, perhaps victims, in a modern horror setting of slashers, creatures and maniacs. Fear Itself aims to simulate modern pop horror, especially cinematic horror of movies like The Ring, Pulse, and House of Wax.

System Additions: The list of abilities has been modified to reflect the lower relative skills of characters in this setting. The rules also include very basic psychic powers- with dangers associated with those. Characters can start from a list of stereotypes, and/or choose special Risk Factors- drives which explain why the character remains in the story rather than fleeing. Additional rules for stability appear as well. The new edition takes the original slim volume and massively expands it. It offers better guidance for different kinds of campaigns and one-shot play, clarified rules, monsters, and example scenarios.

• Core Book: Fear Itself
• Additional Products: The Book of Unremitting Horror offers a particularly disturbing monster manual. The Seventh Circle is a module. While these were written for the first edition, they work equally well with the new one.
• Reviews: The new edition dropped recently, so I haven't found any major reviews. 

Trail of Cthulhu

Premise: Investigators against the Cthulhu Mythos. Adapts the key ideas of Lovecraft's work and the rpg traditions established by Call of Cthulhu into GUMSHOE. ToC notably moves the timeline forward, setting the game generally in the 1930's, rather than 1920's.

System Additions: Retooled ability sets to fit the genre. The rules offer two approaches to campaigns and mechanics, Purist versus Pulp, with the latter offering the players more of a fighting chance. Characters now have Drives which guide their behavior and choose a Occupation to start. Occupations determine starting abilities, credit rating and special talents. Stability has now been paired with Sanity as two distinct abilities. Those rules, including madness mechanics, have been expanded.

The rules offer a significant discussion of the Cthulhu Mythos, followed by an extensive bestiary for creatures from there and elsewhere. Rules for setting-specific magic and tomes appear as well.

• Core Book: Trailof Cthulhu
• Additional Products: Trail of Cthulhu has the largest library of support. There are several classic scenario collections: Arkham DetectiveTales, Stunning Mythos Tales; campaigns: The Armitage Files, Eternal Lies; new frames: Shadows Over Filmland, Bookhounds of London; and other options: Cthulhu Apocalypse, Dreamhounds of Paris, Rough Magicks.
• Reviews: Hiking with Cthulhu, Trail of Cthulhu: RPGs I Like, A perfect marriage of setting & rules, and My Profane Thoughts
• Other Resources: Trail of Cthulhu: System Guide for New Gamers (needs updating), Share A Game - Trail of Cthulhu

Mutant City Blues

Premise: An event ten years ago resulted in 1% of the population gaining super powers. Players take on the role of officers with powers dealing with "heightened" crime and criminals. A predictable structure and pattern to the superpowers allows for investigations based on meta-forensics.

System Additions: An extensive set of super-powers, some of which operate as investigative and some as general abilities. Unlike other superhero games, powers must be chosen along certain lines. These lines make up "The Quade Diagram" a resources for players to figure out which powers associate with which evidence. Other abilities and rules focus on the police procedural nature of the game.

• Core Book: Mutant City Blues
• Additional Products: Hard Helix and Brief Cases, both adventure collections.
• Reviews: Mutant City Blues: RPGs I Like

Ashen Stars

Premise: A far-future sci-fi setting in which players take the roles of "Lasers," freelance law enforcers. These operate in the Bleed, a region of space once controlled by an empire known as the Combine, now left to its own devices. Navigating between disparate planetary cultures and races, the Lasers balance ethics and the need to make a buck. Moves the idea of mysteries forward more broadly to problem-solving.

System Additions: Several alien races with special talents provided. Alien specific abilities and psionics, as well as an ability list tuned to the sci-fi setting. Cyberware and biological implant rules. Extensive systems for spaceship combat. Notes on handling improvised investigations.

• Core Book: Ashen Stars
• Additional Products: Dead Rock Seven and The Justice Trade both offer adventure collections. Accretion Disk is a sourcebook containing new rules options, deck plans, and equipment.
• Reviews: Review & A Couple of Thoughts, Ashen Stars - A review, and Stars Like Ash

Lorefinder

Premise: Not a stand-alone core book, Lorefinder adds elements of GUMSHOE's investigative rules to the Pathfinder system.

System Additions: Character creation within Pathfinder; drives for PCs; and new skills, feats and magic

• Core Book: Lorefinder
• Reviews: Is that GUM on my Pathfinder’s SHOE? Or, can an “old” dog learn new tricks?

Night's Black Agents

Premise: Players take the role of spies who have been "burned" by their company. The reason: their discovery of a massive vampiric conspiracy behind the scenes. Now the PCs must remain alive while striking back at the monsters. Play is about survival, building resources, and putting together a picture of your actual foe.

System Additions: Highly tailored set of abilities for the genre- with new ideas and uses for abilities. Rules for using investigative abilities and general and vice versa. Benefits for high level purchases of general abilities. Role specific talents. Mechanics for trust, contacts, networks and betrayal. New options for cinematic combat. Chase rules. Vampire and conspiracy construction toolkit. Overall presents a detailed and crunchy set of GUMSHOE rules for a modern campaign. 

• Core Book: Night's Black Agents
• Additional Products: DoubleTap: The Night's Black Agents Companion is a sourcebook with new rules and options. The Zalozhiny Quartet is a linked series of adventures. The Dracula Dossier is a massive, world shattering flexible campaign complemented by an annotated player-facing sourcebook.
• Reviews: I'm a secret agent there's nowhere you can hide and Tinker, Tailor, Vampire, Spy, The Hite Supremacy

The Gaean Reach

Premise: Based on Jack Vance's science fiction, in particular "The Demon Princes" series of novels. Players become hunters seeking vengeance on the mysterious and elusive Quandos Vorn. They have to seek their quarry through investigation, infiltration, and deception. The game take place in a golden-age sci-fi universe more of imagery than hard technical details. It has the slimmest version of the rules so it might be a good entry point for those looking for a “problem solving” vs. traditional mystery game.

System Additions: Players use a system of build cards to construct their characters. The group defines the details of why they're pursuing their quarry. The Gaean Reach also adds a version of the Taglines system from Skullduggery and the The Dying Earth Role Playing Game. This allows players to gain benefits by integrating premade phrases into their play. The basic GUMSHOE system on offer here is relatively light, with some interesting new takes on abilities. It doesn’t have the deep sci-fi mechanics of Ashen Stars, focusing instead on a more narrative approach.

• Core Book: The Gaean Reach
• Additional Products: The Gaean Reach Gazetteer (catalog of places from the Vancian universe)
• Reviews: Geek Native, Vicades Project, The DM from Outremer

TimeWatch

Premise: Players are members of TimeWatch, recruited from across history to fix and maintain the one true timestream. Missions may require the team to head to a particular date to fix an obvious change. On the other hand missions may also be more subtle, requiring the characters to investigate and piece together the specific sabotage.

System Additions: TimeWatch offers a set of character archetypal competencies, for those who don't want to build from scratch. This includes non-human options (androids, disembodied brains, intelligent psychic dinosaurs). The game offers some interesting time-themed abilities with additional effects (Paradox Prevention for example). Because it has to cover a broad range, it has a slightly slimmed down ability set. Chronal Stability offers an additional damage track. It obviously includes material and rules for handling time travel, reality shifts, and destroying the timeline.

• Core Book: TimeWatch
• Additional Products: Behind Enemy Times (adventure collection) and The Book of ChangingYears (player-facing stories and snippets).
• Reviews: Fandible

Bubblegumshoe

Premise: The first major GUMSHOE product not released by Pelgrane. Bubblegumshoe covers teen detective dramas like Veronica Mars, Nancy Drew, Mystery Team, Brick, and beyond. As you can see from the list there’s a large range of tone available. The players run teen sleuths in a town, dealing with crimes, parents, and the social intrigue of school.

System Additions: It has a slightly slimmed down list of abilities. That’s complimented by a relationship system. On the one hand this offers a map of connections and a hook for play. On the other PCs can draw on connections to fill out their abilities, like calling on a friendly uncle cop for insight on a forensic question. Bubblegumshoe also de-emphasizes traditional combat. High violence and guns end games rather than being a go to option. Instead we get the Throwdowns, a detailed set of options for social conflicts. Generally there more material on the human side of mysteries, using NPCs, building a town, etc.

• Core Book: Bubblegumshoe
• Reviews: Forgot My Dice, Karloff's Shelf

Ken Writes About Stuff

A series of short essays by Ken Hite produced monthly by Pelgrane Press. These alternate between discussions of Cthulhu Mythos creatures (odd issues) and deeper looks at places and ideas for GUMSHOE (even issues). These are amazing and diverse. Each focuses in depth on a particular topic. I recommend checking out the list to see if any hit your interests.

Other Nights, Other Agents: Alternate Approaches to NBA

I’ve been thinking about other ways to run Night’s Black Agents. I dig that amazing game; you can read my review. I’ve talked with other GMs about Gumshoe and I’ve written about some of the problems I faced with my group when I brought it to the table as a general system and as Ashen Stars. I also want a stripped down approach for online games, where attention and time pressures impact. There’s so much cool stuff, maybe too much, in NBA. I haven’t even picked up the Dracula Dossier because I didn’t think I could get it to the table.  

So if I’m not going to use the core Gumshoe system, what can I try? Below I sketchily describe three approaches. I first went back and looked at all the spy games I have. Mercenaries, Spies, & Private Eyes is a little too retro. Spycraft 2.0 (and I suspect 3.0) is even more complex and articulated. Agents of SWING is just bad. If I wanted to do a one-shot, I might try Hollowpoint, but not for a campaign. I have three ideas below, for better or worse.

If you’re a fan of Night’s Black Agents as is, this will all sound spurious. Imagine me as the Emperor from Amadeus, “Too Many Rules.” Those who have groups that dig NBA and who can make it work online, my hat’s off to you.

GOALS

1. Has some articulation for “investigation” in the broadest sense. Not the level of NBA, but still offering some specialties for players. Investigations uncover core clues, then there’s a follow up mechanism for gaining additional information (likely with a potential cost- in resources, in chance of blowback).
2. Mechanics for some of the resource mechanics of the current game: Stability, Cover, Network, Health, Preparedness. Pulled out from other abilities. 
3. Different possible “builds” representing archetypes, foci, or MoS types.
4. Some detail, some choices to the combat. Not just a contest.
5. Chase rules
6. System for Heat
7. Fast resolution.
8. Easy to work through sheet. Lower # of skills options. Universal resolution.
9. Less knowledge required for players.

Not a goal, but an observation. The setting’s strong and will survive any adaptation intact .. All of the Vampire building can easily be ported over. The Conspiramid works regardless of mechanics.

JAMES BOND 007/CLASSIFIED

This system could work, but might be better used for a retro-version of NBA. I’ve mentioned the idea of doing other eras of Vampires in parallel with other eras of James Bond. So Connery’s Bond faces off against Hammer Horror Vamps and late Roger Moore Bond takes on The Lost Boys.

But let’s say we’re going for trying to do contemporary NBA with this. First you’d want to revisit the skill list, consolidate some items (like Boating). Figure out a way to build a list of specialties associated with broad investigative abilities. Let's take the three types: Interpersonal, Technical, Academic. Players have a base score in those, but then pick from a reduced list of six specialties available for each. Other skills would be updated. Looking at the lists again, I think you’d have to significantly retool the skills.

You’d need to figure a secondary damage track for mental health. You could easily work out a damage categories for different mental traumas. You'd rename those damage levels: so instead of a Light Wound you have Light Shock or Light Stress. Do away with the game's reputation system. Instead you work out a Heat mechanism. No one takes disads- if you want those in, they could come from mental trauma in play. I don’t think making equipment scarce has too much of an impact. Q Branch equipment becomes a skill test and resource spend.

Overall, I’m less taken with this approach. I ran a huge amount of James Bond back in the 1980’s. While it’s ahead of its time, the game still has a lot of odd crunch and table look up. Character customization remains basic. If you want characters to feel different, with real specialties, you’d have to make some serious changes. It would be a strong contender for running in another era.

MONSTER OF THE WEEK

On the other hand, we could change Monster of the Week's scope and pulp it up a bit. It offers an episodic system, and a little more crunch to the combat mechanics than other PbtA. MotW's built for grous pursuing and battling monstrous threats. There's a parallel approach in both; groups have to find out about the monster in order to successfully battle it. You’d have to make some global additions, in particular a separate system for Stability. Weird as a stat would go, though you could make that into an interesting press-your-luck global move encompassing Tradecraft, Preparedness, or both.

One approach would be to create individual character playbooks. I’d build these on a selection of Backgrounds from NBA. Many of the Cherries tightly tied to archetypes become moves (Parkour, Sniping). Perhaps some kinds of granular investigative specialties could be also be moves. I’d probably still want to collapse these, rather than the three dozen plus from NBA. Would Cover be a standard move or tied to certain playbooks? Have to think about that. Obviously we’d strip out the supernatural PC elements, though some of those effects might be useful rubrics for other moves.

On the other hand, an easier approach would be a Menu system. The Warren does something like this. Players assign stats and then pick moves from a shared list. Most moves would be one-PC only at the start. You'd have a smaller pool everyone could take. This approach reduces the work. Just go through the MotW moves, find the ones that fit, and create a master list. It does put more weight on the players, as they have to completely build their character. A modified version would have the backgrounds as playbook starters, with a small selection assigned plus access to the general list.

With either approach you’d want to tune some of the Moves. First, you’d reword existing ones to give them a spy-game spin. You’d also have to think about genre-appropriate new moves. Second, you’d consider the granularity of some moves. For example the Crooked has “Burglar” and “Grifter.” These offer complete actions which can resolve a scene and a problem. But what if you want more detail? Let’s say a break-in is more involved and difficult, a centerpiece for an episode. On the one hand, you could do away with that as a thing and just streamline. Alternately you could modify the moves to have them work through stages. Imagine a contest-like system, burning away a target’s reserves. This approach ends up looking like a fight move with effect picks. You could have both if you use one approach for hard targets and the other for soft. Use the same logic to retool Chases. Third, to simulate Gumshoe’s investigation, you might have several discovery moves. Doing a basic investigation nets you a Core Clue without a roll. Then you have the option of risking a roll for additional info. You might have distinct moves for the three investigate categories (Academic, Interpersonal, Technical) with differing associated costs.

Heat offers an interesting option. GMs could track this as a clock. Teams with certain levels of heat open themselves up to Soft or Hard GM moves. Clocks appear in several PbtA-inspired products. That notion could be easily adapted.

I enjoy Monster of the Week and I think it could work. I said pulpy at the outset, but I’m not necessarily sure of that. You could make it more or less deadly, more or less realistic. (I’d probably skip Sex Moves even for a Bondian approach). The drawback lies in the amount of work required to do this. Even the easier Menu approach requires careful consideration. Despite its simplicity, MotW has many cogs and elements aligned. I could get it to work, but to make it evocative would require more effort.

GUMSHOE EXPRESS

The easiest approach might be to simply consolidate and cut the existing system. For that we have to consider Investigative and General Abilities separately, as well as the various extra mechanics attached to those.

Investigative

These operate the same as Gumshoe, but we pare them down. The current NBA list is 39 abilities over three areas. Ideally, we cut that to five abilities for each. GMs might tweak that number. Here’s one way to handle that, off the top of my head. I’d want to consider the strengths before finalizing.

• Academic: Professional, Scholarly, Medical, Intelligence, Fringe
• Interpersonal: Administrative, Tradecraft, Charm, Presence, Savoir Faire
• Technical: Science, Forensics, Electronics, Fieldwork, Notice

That gives a tight list. Depending on how you play, each individual ability may need a higher cap for spends.

General

I have a harder time with this because I’m not fond of the d6+spend mechanism. As well some of the general abilities are already broad or use a different set of mechanics.

Assuming we stick with Gumshoe general resolution system, we pull out five abilities: Cover, Network, Preparedness, Health, and Stability. The first three would operate as resource pools not requiring a spend. The last two stay as they are. Set those aside. We reduce the rest to seven abilties. 

General Abilities: Combat, Awareness, Drive, Technology, Subterfuge, Treatment, and Athletics. Ideally I’d rename these so that each begins with a different initial letter.

On the other hand, let’s say we want to step further away and remove resource spends with ability use. Again we’d first put the five non-standard abilities into their own box.

Then players would have point to set an value for each general abilities. To test that's added to a d10 roll. Set a standard task difficulty, say a 6+ for standard. Abilities would range from 1-5 to start- maybe more; I’d have to look at the probabilities. You could jazz that up with an exploding die (ala Unisystem). As an option, If players tie the score needed, they could succeed with a cost. You could make that cost variable or set it at a -1 to further uses of the ability in the game. Again we could go with the reduced list of abilities above or break things down a little further. I’d say no more than twelve skills. We’d toss the Cherry system- perhaps to return in another form later on.

Let’s say we want to strip things down even further. In that case, we only have four General Abilities: Combat, Physical, Social, Mental. For this I might shift to a dice pool system for resolution. For example, stealing from something I just read, Mutant Year Zero uses a d6 pool system. Players roll as many dice as their score. Here that's the ability plus bonus dice for any equipment. If they get a 6 on any die, they succeed. Difficulty is handled by reducing or adding to the dice total.

MYZ has a couple of additional mechanisms useful for double-duty. Stats for rolls are also damage tracks. So when someone take significant damage, it reduces their dice rolled. In this version, Physical & Combat pool loss could measure Health and Social & Mental cover stability. As well players can “push” their roll rerolling any dice not showing 1s or 6s. They then take damage (or equipment deterioration) based on the number of 1s showing.

Other Mechanics: Most of these options do away with granularity for General Abilities. That means dropping things like Cherries and Maneuvers. We end up focusing on simple structures with rulings and adaptations to cover most circumstances. I think most of the other structures easily adapt from here, just collapsing things downwards.

LAST THOUGHTS

Of these I like some version of Gumshoe Express the best. It means the least transition. That makes using existing supplements easier. As well, I think it offers a model for one of my other favorite Gumshoe games, Ashen Stars. It’s work worth doing if it means I can get it to the table with my Gumshoe gunshy group or streamline it for an online campaign. 

Anyway, that's a rough idea. Other approaches/suggestions?