Dogs of War
Dogs of War
Dogs of War
OF
W*A*R
WORLDWIDE ARMED RESPONSE UNIT
“Viper” Squad
i
Acknowledgements
Cover: Chris J Schieffer
Interior Art: Chris J Schieffer
Interior Art: Pages 4, 22, 57, 58, 60 & 78 2010 Jeffrey Mohler
(Jeffrey Mohler, Standard Stock Art:
Modern Figures Issue #1 Empty Room Studios Publishing)
Layout & Design: Simon Washbourne
Viper Squad by Jeff Mejia
Special Thanks: Eric Norred & Leigh Wakefield
Inspirations
Executioner: Don Pendleton
Able Team: Dick Stivers
Phoenix Force: Gar Wilson
Talon Force: Cliff Garnett
Seal Team Seven: Keith Douglass
Omega Force: Patrick F Rogers
Killsquad: Frank Garrett
Black Ops: Mike Kasner
Code Name Team: William W Johnstone
Eagle Force: Dan Schmidt
Spycraft Role playing Game: AEG
iii
Author’s Note
When I published Barbarians of Lemuria, I thought I was done with that game and that system, but
I was wrong. Many people wrote to me and asked if I had thought about using the system for other
settings or genres. When the same question appeared in several role playing forums, I started to
think there might be something in this idea, so I gave the matter further thought and started noting
down some genres that might be possible using the BoL system.
The key thing in BoL is the way the careers work - any genre really needed to be one where a
whole bunch of careers makes sense. My very first thought was the Wild West and that was the
variant I first started to work on. However, it wasn’t to be the first that I finished, because whilst I
was buying up some ‘Edge’ books to read for research, I found some Phoenix Force books too
and bought these. I had read a number of these some years ago and remembered enjoying them
at the time. Once I’d got into these, I realized that I needed to write the ‘Phoenix Force’ game first,
and so Dogs of W*A*R was born.
Dogs of W*A*R is not real; it is a game and you need to remember this. The setting is a fictional-
ized version of the 1980’s of men’s action adventure novels - in other words, a place that doesn’t
exist and never really existed. Sure, you will find real places, groups, people, history and events
mentioned – but they are more of a backdrop for your game rather then being the focus of it. This
world is much less politically correct than the world of today or even the real world of 30 years
ago. So, please take Dogs of W*A*R for what it is – a game of make-believe action and adventure
and forget real world politics for a few hours? Let’s face it; you don’t want things to be too
grounded in reality do you? You want thrills and adventure and Dogs of W*A*R gives you that in
spades.
There is some setting information in this book, not so much that you can’t put your own spin on it
and make it your own, but just enough to give you a flavor of the action-packed fictional world of
Dogs of W*A*R. If you want to spice up your game of Dogs of W*A*R with some fantasy, horror or
science fiction, there are a few other example settings included to get you started.
If you like this game, why not pop over to the Lords of Lemuria forums and take part in discus-
sions about this game or any of the other games that use the BoL system.
You could also check out other great games from Beyond Belief Games at LULU.COM: Go Fer
Yer Gun! Medieval Mysteries, Tales from The Wood, Lashings of Ginger Beer and It’s a Dog’s
Life.
Guns of Laredo - Violence in the Wild West, coming soon from Beyond Belief Games!
Legends of Steel (BoL Edition) and The Lost World of Hador (BoL Edition); in print & pdf from Evil
DM productions
Barbarians of The Aftermath by Jabberwocky Productions in print from Cubicle7 (or in pdf from
RPGNow)
If you’re a fan of men’s action fiction, you really should visit this website: www.mackbolan.com/
CONTENTS
I INTRODUCTION 1 VI PERSONAL GEAR 29
• What’s In This Book 1 No Lists of Gear & Equipment 29
II THE BOL SYSTEM OVERVIEW 2 Weapon Details 30
• The Core Mechanic 2 Personal Weapon Tables 33
III CHARACTER CREATION 5 VII PLAYING THE GAME 35
• Basic Steps 5 All Action - All Guts 35
• Attributes 5 Combat 38
• Combat Abilities 7 Exploit Points 45
IV BACKGROUNDS 10 Car Chases 48
• A Man’s World 10 Character Advancement 54
• Business 11 VIII A WORLD OF TERROR 59
• Criminal 12 A Growing Threat 59
• Military 14 What’s Going on in The World? 63
• Law Enforcement 16 Terrorist Groups 66
• Scientific 17 Criminal Organizations 70
• Political 19 Cults, Sects & Weirdos 70
• Other 20 IX SAMPLE MISSIONS 71
V SPECIALIZATIONS 23 Terror In Tunisia 71
• Academic 24 Columbian Connection 78
• Administrative 24 X ALTERNATIVE SETTINGS 83
• Cleaner 24 The Misfit Platoon 83
• Faceman 25 Dogs of Lemuria 83
• Fixer 25 The Tomorrow Project 84
• Flyboy 25 Invasion Earth 85
• Leader 25 APPENDICES
• Marksman 26 • Master traits list
• Medic 26 • Quick character gen
• Sapper 26 • Viper squad characters
• Scout 26 • Character sheet
• Sleuth 26
• Sneak 26
• Snoop 27
• Soldier 27
• Squid 27
• Tech 27
• Wheelman 27
• Languages 27
v
Personal Gear
Dogs of W*A*R treats equipment
and weapons a bit differently to
most other role playing games. This
chapter tells you more about how
you do things in this game.
1
character’s actions. Many opera-
tives have codenames that reflect
their pre-Dogs of W*A*R days, like
“Moneyman” for a banker or “Hard-
ball” for a sports guy.
Specializations
All operatives in Dogs of W*A*R are
THE BOL SYSTEM trained, if not skilled, in a number of
different fields. Although speciali-
OVERVIEW zations are a little more focused
than careers in BoL, they serve a
Violent, bloody & quick action very similar function. Each character
Dogs of W*A*R should be fast and has four specializations although
wild - full of bloody action, massive usually, one of these fields is the
explosions, lucky escapes, thrilling operative’s primary specialization
car chases and furious gunplay. and will be higher ranked than the
What we need is a set of simple others.
rules to emulate this and this is ex-
actly where the BoL System (first An operative may have started out
seen in Barbarians of Lemuria, or as a soldier and then branched into
BoL) rules come in. There are a few transport (wheelman); from there he
modifications, of course; BoL deals might have gone on to officer train-
with action-packed swords and sor- ing (leader) and then into
cery; Dogs of W*A*R is all about communications and electronic war-
over-the-top gun battles. fare (snoop). These specializations
are the key to what the mercenary
Background knows and what he can do. They
Your character’s background is the are ranked from 1 up to 5 although
starting point in defining your char- characters cannot start higher than
acter. Was your character a smooth- 3 in any specialization. Only opera-
talking politician, a tough marine or tives who have seen plenty of action
a scruffy police detective? This is for the W*A*R Unit are likely to be
the first choice you must make; your rank 4 or 5 in any of their specializa-
character’s background provides tions.
certain characteristics, in the form of
boons and flaws that you can There are no individual skills in
choose from. These add to the Dogs of W*A*R; there are simply
character concept and provide bo- these specializations. A specializa-
nuses or penalties to your tion gives an immediate overview of
2
BOL SYSTEM OVERVIEW
Attributes
There are four attributes: Strength,
Agility, Mind and Appeal, which are
the natural or born traits of a THE CORE MECHANIC
character. Attributes are used to Whenever your character attempts
decide what your character is an action that has some chance of
naturally good at and these are failure, you roll two six-sided die
used in combination with other (2d6). To determine if your charac-
factors to determine success or fail- ter succeeds at a task you do this:
ure at a task. Sometimes operatives
have codenames based on their • Roll 2d6
natural attributes, like “Ironman” for • Add the relevant attribute
a high strength, or “Mensa” for a • Add any relevant combat
good mind. abilities (if fighting)
• Add any relevant specializa-
Combat abilities tion (if not fighting)
As the game is mainly about mer- • Add any modifiers
cenaries, there are also four combat
abilities, which will be used to de- If the result equals or exceeds 9,
termine how well a character can your character succeeds. If the re-
use his fists, knives and guns, or get sult is lower than 9, your character
out the way of attacks aimed at him. fails.
Operatives are often notable for
their combat skills and will have as- A natural 12 (i.e. two sixes) on the
sociated codenames: “Mr. Punch” dice is always a success.
for a good hand-to-hand guy or per-
haps “Crosshair” for an operative A natural 2 (i.e. two ones) on the
who is a good shot. dice is always a failure.
3
DOGS OF W*A*R
4
utes. These are mainly physical
things and on the whole can be
used as a general gauge of the
characters physical make up. For
example, a character with a few
points in strength will have a tough
looking body and will tend towards
the tall and muscular look.
CHARACTER
CREATION
BASIC STEPS
If you aren’t using one of the
sample characters provided in
this book, you will need to cre-
ate your character. This is a
fairly straightforward affair and
follows these steps:
• Distribute 4 points
amongst your charac-
ter’s attributes
• Determine Lifeblood
• Distribute 4 points
amongst your charac-
ter’s combat abilities
• Choose a background,
boon and primary spe-
cialization
• Select three further spe-
cializations
• Distribute 2 points
amongst your chosen
specializations
ATTRIBUTES
Each character in Dogs of
W*A*R is defined by four attrib-
5
DOGS OF W*A*R
6
CHARACTER CREATION
7
DOGS OF W*A*R
8
CHARACTER CREATION
can still only start with 4 specializa- Choose one of these (or one from
tions. each background, if you have two).
This is your character’s primary role
Traits within the squad and should differ
Depending on your character’s from the primary role of other opera-
background, you will receive certain tives in the squad.
traits. Boons provide benefits and
flaws are disadvantageous when Additional specializations
your character is taking actions as- You get three more specializations
sociated with those characteristics. (two, if you already have two); these
You choose one boon for free from are squad support roles. It is okay to
the list. You can select a second pick additional specializations that
boon, but you offset this by taking a are the same as those of other op-
flaw as well. Your GM might allow eratives in the squad; for example it
you to take a further boon - offset by is always handy to have a back-up
taking another flaw or at the cost of medic or a sub-squad leader.
2 Exploit Points (EP).
Primary specialization
Your character’s background gives
a list of available specializations.
9
described by the boon. When you
receive a bonus die, you roll three
dice and take the results from the
best two (i.e. you drop the lowest
die). Where this isn’t the case, the
description tells you how the trait
works.
Traits
Traits are positive and negative
aspects to your character and are
called boons and flaws respec-
tively.
10
BACKGROUNDS
11
DOGS OF W*A*R
12
BACKGROUNDS
13
DOGS OF W*A*R
14
BACKGROUNDS
15
DOGS OF W*A*R
16
BACKGROUNDS
specific pieces of information, where will appear from time to time to up-
they might be available through set your characters plans and
such channels. Even if the informa- generally cause a hell of a lot of
tion is buried away in hard-to-find trouble. A deadly enemy is more
places, as long as it is there, the likely to try to capture a character
researcher will track it down – the than kill him outright, so that he can
only main hindrance is the length of gloat over his victory.
time this can sometimes take. You Drink Problems: Your character
receive a bonus die to such checks. needs a drink every day and always
Stealthy: Your character is skilled in finds a way to obtain alcohol or
commando-style techniques. You sneak alcohol into his kit. Determine
receive a bonus die to hiding and a situation that makes your charac-
silent movement. ter turn to booze more than usual
Team Guy: Your character is a (during a fire-fight, in social situa-
natural team guy and is good at co- tions, around women, on aircraft
ordinating team actions. Whenever etc). If this situation arises, make a
the team are working towards the d6 roll – on a 1 your character is
same specific goal during an action, drunk and receives a penalty die on
and the team are all in communica- all actions until the effects wear off.
tion (headsets or within earshot) Phobia: Choose something that
with the team guy is coordinating it, your character is afraid of – heights,
everyone can take a bonus die for closed spaces, open spaces,
the duration of the action. The team snakes or whatever. This is partly
guy can use this Boon once per role-played, but also you receive a
mission. penalty die when your character is
Tough Guy: Your character is able faced with what he fears most.
to shrug off some of the effects of Ugly MoFo: Your character was
damage received. Treat your char- struck with the ugly stick at birth.
acter as if he is wearing armour with You take a penalty die in any social
1 point of protection, even when un- situation where looks could affect
armoured. the outcome.
Womanizer: Your character cannot
Flaws resist the charms of the opposite
Anger Issues: Your character has a sex. This flaw is largely role played
chip on his shoulder and loses his but where applicable, you’ll need to
temper over the most innocuous take a penalty die.
things. This is something that mainly
comes out in role play although you SCIENTIFIC
can also get a penalty die in some Your character was a scientist or
social situations. scholar before being recruited by
Deadly Enemy: Decide on an NPC Dogs of W*A*R. Perhaps he had a
enemy for your character and work university grant or worked directly
out why you have made such an for the government on some top-
enemy. The GM will work him out as secret project. Or maybe he was
a NPC villain. The deadly enemy
17
DOGS OF W*A*R
18
BACKGROUNDS
19
DOGS OF W*A*R
will do that too. Roll an extra die if Phobia: Choose something that
your character has to catch some- your character is afraid of – heights,
thing or hold onto something. Don’t closed spaces, open spaces,
give her a hand grenade! snakes or whatever. This is partly
Combat Paralysis: Your character role-played, but also you receive a
freezes when the bullets start flying. penalty die when your character is
Roll a d3; this is the number of faced with what he fears most.
rounds that your character can only Poor Eyesight: Your character has
take defensive actions when a fight very poor vision. This can be role-
starts, before he can start to fight played but also you take a penalty
back. die in awareness checks where
Deadly Enemy: Decide on an NPC eyesight is important.
enemy for your character and work Poor Hearing: Your character has
out why you have made such an very poor hearing. This can be role-
enemy. The GM will work him out as played but also you take a penalty
a NPC villain. The deadly enemy die in awareness checks where rely-
will appear from time to time to up- ing on hearing feint or distant
set your characters plans and sounds.
generally cause a hell of a lot of Slender: Your character is willowy
trouble. A deadly enemy is more and fragile: –2 LB.
likely to try to capture a character Womaniser: Your character cannot
than kill him outright, so that he can resist the charms of the opposite
gloat over his victory. sex. This flaw is largely role played
Drink Problems: Your character but where applicable, you’ll need to
needs a drink every day and always take a penalty die.
finds a way to obtain alcohol or
sneak alcohol into his kit. Determine OTHER
a situation that makes your charac- Whilst Dogs of W*A*R rarely recruit
ter turn to booze more than usual from professions other than those
(during a fire-fight, in social situa- above, your character had some
tions, around women, on aircraft skill that made the W*A*R Unit sit
etc). If this situation arises, make a up and take notice. Your character
d6 roll – on a 1 your character is might have been a park ranger or
drunk and receives a penalty die on coast guard, a professional sports-
all actions until the effects wear off. person, archaeologist, entertainer or
Greed: Your character cannot resist glamour model. It is possible that
the chance to make easy money, your character had some prior mili-
whether that is through a “get rich tary experience. Your character has
quick scheme”, bribery, fraud or any a primary specialization of aca-
other means. This flaw comes out demic, faceman, flyboy marksman,
mainly through role play, but in ap- wheelman, scout or squid.
propriate situations you use a
penalty die.
20
BACKGROUNDS
21
DOGS OF W*A*R
22
one) extra specializations for your
character, so that your character
has a total of 4 specializations all at
rank 1. You then have 2 further
points to spread amongst them, as
you like. You could put both into one
specialization, taking it up to rank 3
or add a rank to each of two spe-
SPECIALIZATIONS cializations. Your character’s first
specialization is usually considered
his primary specialization – and the
ONLY THE BEST one that represents his main func-
As mentioned earlier, specializa- tion within the squad.
tions are the key to playing Dogs of
W*A*R. Each specialization repre- How to use specializations
sents an operative’s training and Choosing the four specializations
experience and can be looked at as gives a player an immediate handle
a skill package, although it should on his character. A high rank in a
not be limited to just a set of specialization would probably mean
“known” skills. It can be used to help that the operative has been very
determine everything the operative highly trained and has several years
knows - his talents, field of knowl- experience in the field; a rank of 1
edge, expertise, areas of influence could mean only a short spell of ba-
and how, or in what situations or sic training or even just a natural
environments he functions best. affinity in that field.
23
DOGS OF W*A*R
24
SPECIALIZATIONS
25
DOGS OF W*A*R
MEDIC SLEUTH
The medic is the master “patch ‘em The sleuth is an expert in forensic
up” guy. He is an expert in battle- sciences and is a detective su-
field medicine, first aid and preme. She is a master of gathering
emergency surgery and techniques; information by good old-fashioned
specializing in gunshot wounds and methods of searching crime scenes
explosive burns. He can keep the for clues and analysing the facts
team going with the most bloody- and the physical evidence. The
looking injuries. To a medic, the sleuth favours mind over the other
mind attribute is of primary impor- attributes although some appeal can
tance. be handy for questioning witnesses
and suspects.
SAPPER
The sapper is the team’s demoli- SNEAK
tions and bomb disposal expert. His The sneak is the stealth and silent
job is to impede the enemy move- movement expert. His skill is in
ments by laying mines and moving quietly and remaining un-
explosives, blowing bridges and seen by use of any available cover
creating havoc. The sapper will also and keeping to the shadows. The
26
SPECIALIZATIONS
27
DOGS OF W*A*R
28
gun, light armour vest,
communications headsets and night
sights. If heavy resistance is antici-
pated, handguns and submachine
guns, shotguns or assault rifles will
be issued and medium armour will
replace the light armour. If stealth is
essential, operatives will receive
PERSONAL GEAR sound suppressors for their weap-
ons. Soldier primary specialists will
usually have heavier weapons and
NO LISTS OF GEAR & armour than the rest of the team.
EQUIPMENT?
Gear is important to a modern mili- If there is a dispute about what your
tary adventure action game but your character has on her, make a roll
character is part of a well-equipped against her speciality to see if she
team. He knows what he normally has it. If that fails, there are always
needs in the situation he is going your background contacts that might
into and therefore knows roughly be able to help. Failing that, use
what to take with him. So, you don’t your Mission Points to requisition
need to spend an hour going whatever it is you are after. (Mission
through a list of equipment to take Points are described on page 55).
(most of which you won’t actually
use). If the operatives are going into a
mission under cover, then they can’t
Your character is assumed to have take suspicious military hardware
the gear appropriate to her primary onto scheduled flights, so they have
specialization and to the mission in to pick it up when they get there.
hand. If your character is a snoop, Usually this means meeting a local
she will have electronic surveillance fixer who has arranged to get their
equipment, bugs and so on. If your stuff or maybe collecting it from a
character is the medic, she will have cargo plane; where it is labelled up
medical supplies, drugs and ban- as “machine parts” or similar.
dages. If your character is the
sneak, he will have lock pick tools, Working without the standard
grappling hooks and fine line. gear
However, sometimes a GM will want
Standard weaponry to create a scenario where the op-
Standard mission equipment for all eratives have to work without their
operatives will be a medium hand- normal gear – maybe because it
29
DOGS OF W*A*R
didn’t get where it was supposed to, try to develop statistics for every
it was intercepted or mislaid en weapon and every time period. This
route or the operatives are unable to information is readily available
get to the pick up point for some online, in books or in other role play-
reason. If this situation arises, the ing games and supplements, if you
characters are left to their own de- really want to arm your character
vices as to how they obtain the gear with a specific named weapon.
they need for the mission – perhaps
the fixer can get hold of what they Pistols
need on the black market. Pistols are small, lightweight (well,
most of them) and provide good
What about tracking ammo? firepower; suitable, not only for de-
Again, the game is fast, furious fun. fensive situations but also for
You do not need to keep a check on offensive ones, and even for me-
how much ammo your character dium game hunting.
has or uses up. He is assumed to
keep firing and reloading as Light pistol: These are small con-
needed. If you get a Calamitous cealable pistols of around .22, .25
Failure (see the rules section) whilst and .32 calibre. Examples would be
firing though, the GM can either rule the 6.35mm Browning Baby, Beretta
that as a weapon jam (which you Jetfire .25ACP and the Walther
need to clear with a straightforward PPK/S .32 ACP.
agility + soldier check) or that you
have run out of ammo altogether, Medium pistol: These are “standard
for that particular weapon. There issue” police pistols and so on. Ex-
are ways round this of course – if amples would be various makes of
you can get to one of your buddies 9mm, .357 & .40 pistol, such as
with the same weapon, he can give those produced by Smith & Wes-
you some more. If you use an EP, son, Glock and Beretta.
you might be able to say that one of
the guys you killed earlier (assum- Heavy pistol: These are powerful
ing this happened) was using the military handguns of .45 ACP cali-
same weapon and had spare ammo bre as well as various Magnum-type
on his body. Or any number of other handguns. Examples are the Colt
things. .45 ACP, Glock 21, SIG-Sauer
P220, the Desert Eagle, S&W .500,
WEAPON DETAILS and the Ruger Super Redhawk.
There are thousands of weapons
that characters could choose from Machine pistol/submachine gun
and it depends on the period of your The submachine gun is an auto-
game what weapons are available. matic or selective-fired shoulder
Therefore, it is far simpler to select weapon that fires pistol-calibre am-
from a generic weapon list than to munition. The appearance (and
30
PERSONAL GEAR
31
DOGS OF W*A*R
in games set in the 1990’s or more enemy troops and un-armoured tar-
recently. These weapons can be gets. Heavy (.50 cal/12.7mm)
used as anti-material weapons, to machine guns can also deal with
destroy, or, more often, render un- trucks and lightly armoured targets
usable or inoperable, targets such such as armoured personnel carri-
as radar cabins, jeeps, parked air- ers, recon vehicles and helicopters.
craft etc. Examples are the Czech
Falcon, the British Rangemaster Light machine gun: These generally
and L96A1/Arctic Warfare tactical have a caliber of around 5.56mm to
rifles, the German Mauser SP66, 7.62mm NATO. Examples are the
the Russian VSSK Vychlop and the German HK MG 43, British SA-80
US Barrett M99. Light Support Weapon, the L4A1
Bren, the US M60,
the FN Minimi and
the M249 Squad
Automatic Weapon.
32
PERSONAL GEAR
Rifles
Type Fire Type Notes Damage
Assault rifle Single, burst or full auto - D6
Sniper rifle Single (or single & burst) - D6+1
Large cal. sniper Single Hard targets D6+2
Machine guns
Type Fire Type Notes Damage
Light mg Burst or full auto - (2D6) +1*
Heavy mg Burst or full auto Hard target (2D6) +2*
Shotguns
Type Fire Type Notes Damage
Shot Burst or full auto +2, limit range 3d3/d3
Solid slug Burst or full auto - 2d3+3
33
DOGS OF W*A*R
Melee weapons
Type Notes Damage
Army knife D6-1
Baton/club D6-2
Brass knuckles Worn on fist D3
Knife +1 to conceal D3
Katana D6
Pistol butt D3
Rifle butt D6-1
Shuriken +2 to conceal D2
Unarmed D2
Body armour
Type Notes Protection
Light Max defense 3 D3-1 (or 1)
Medium Max defense 2 D6-2 (or 2)
Heavy Max defense 2, Agility -1 D6-1 (or 3)
Helmet -1 spotting things +1
34
If the final number is 9 or higher,
your character succeeds at what
she is trying to do. If the final num-
ber is lower than 9 she does not
succeed.
The GM will then tell you if there is a Rolling two one’s or two sixes
modifier to your total. For easier A natural roll of 12 is always a suc-
tasks, you may get to add to your cess. In addition, it could be a
total. For tougher tasks, you may Mighty Success or even a Legen-
have to deduct from your total. dary Success. A natural roll of 2 is
always a failure and it could be a
35
DOGS OF W*A*R
36
PLAYING THE GAME
37
DOGS OF W*A*R
38
PLAYING THE GAME
39
DOGS OF W*A*R
40
PLAYING THE GAME
arts and grappling, and melee for Weapon ranges are given in the
swords, knives, baseball bats and weapon descriptions in Chapter 6.
so on. The ranges set out are base ranges
at close. Each additional increment
The required roll is still 9 or more, is one difficulty level harder on the
but this time in addition to any GM Task Resolution table.
determined modifiers (which could
be due to range for thrown or fired Dodging & parrying
weapons, or for hitting an enemy You may decide that your character
from an advantageous position and will dodge a ranged attack or parry
so on) the opponents’ defence rat- in melee or hand-to-hand combat. If
ing also becomes a modifier to the you choose to dodge, your charac-
roll needed to hit. ter doesn't get to attack for the
round, but gets +2 to his effective
Example defense for all attacks directed at
The henchman is still standing after him whilst dodging
Matt Garza & Hinano Nakata took
down another bunch of goons. He When parrying, you make a task
takes a shot at Hinano Nakata – the check using your character’s agility
GM rolls 8 and adds 1 (the hench- plus melee combat (or brawl in a
man has agility 0, ranged 1), for a fistfight) in the usual way. The modi-
total of 9. Normally that would be fier is based upon your opponent’s
enough, but Hinano Nakata has a melee or brawl combat ability. As
defence of 2, taking the overall re- usual a final total of 9 or more is
sult back down to 7 – meaning that needed to block the blow.
Hinano Nakata just moved in time to
avoid being hit. Shooting in the “off-hand”
Characters are assumed to be right
In some rare circumstances, the GM handed, unless you say otherwise.
could allow a specialization to pro- Shooting a gun in the other hand
vide an additional one-off bonus. imposes a –2 modifier. An ambidex-
For example, marksmen always trous character (see Boons) suffers
gain a specialization bonus to their no such penalties.
first shot when shooting unaware
enemies from prepared firing posi- Shooting with a gun in each hand
tions. Sneaks might gain a bonus to Fighting with two pistols or two ma-
their first blow with a knife or a cosh chine pistols is really cool and your
if they are creeping up on an en- players will undoubtedly suggest it
emy. But such moves would most at some point. A character fighting
definitely not work twice on the with two guns can attack twice each
same opponent. round. However, he receives a -3
modifier to each check. There is a
41
DOGS OF W*A*R
boon that reduces these penalties to weapon type – the result is the
–1 for each. number of rabble who are affected
and unable to act for the rest of that
Cover round – in effect those that haven’t
Cover is anything that provides a fired yet miss their turns whilst they
physical barrier to being shot (like are cowering behind their cover and
boulders, walls or behind vehicles). those that are yet to fire miss their
Some cover simply makes a target next action.
less visible and therefore less easy
to target, even if it does not stop a Example
bullet (like hedges or wooden fenc- Matt Garza wants to get to some
ing). Sensibly, operatives use crates that are nearer to the enemy
whatever cover is available in a fire- position, so he shouts to Blake
fight. In a reasonable amount of Pendleton to cover him. Blake’s
cover add a level or two to the task player obliges and declares sup-
difficulty, using the Task Check ta- pression fire on the three goons
ble. A character that is completely ahead and gets 11 with all of his
behind solid cover cannot be tar- modifiers. The goons are in cover,
geted at all. As usual, the GM has to but 11 is enough. Blake’s player
use common sense and base deci- rolls damage of 3 with his pistol, so
sions on what the players say their all three goons are ducking down
characters are doing. and will not be returning fire for that
round. It is important to note that
Suppression & covering fire none of them are wounded or killed
Sometimes you just want to keep though.
the enemies’ heads down – espe-
cially when one of your team is Henchmen and villains (or opera-
trying to move to another position, tives, if they are being shot at with
close with the enemy or maybe to suppression fire) make a task check
cover their escape. When you want to see whether they are affected –
to do this, you simply declare that based on mind + soldier. The check
your character is using covering or is based on a moderate task, plus
suppression fire – it is assumed that the result of the damage die roll.
she is firing as many shots as she
can towards the enemy so that they Example
duck back behind any cover they Amongst the goons is also the
have or dive to the floor – the key goon’s leader, classed as a hench-
being to prevent them the opportu- man. He’d like to take a pot shot at
nity to fire back. Make a task check Matt, so makes a check with a –3
as usual, with modifiers for range modifier for the 3 damage rolled. He
and the target’s defense and any has mind 1, soldier 1 and the GM
cover they are behind. If the check rolls 11 for a modified total of 10. He
is successful, roll damage per can happily pop up and shoot at
42
PLAYING THE GAME
43
DOGS OF W*A*R
44
PLAYING THE GAME
Once stabilized, the injured charac- tegral part of the game. This is
ter is still out cold but recovers one where Exploit Points (EP) come in.
point of LB per day until he reaches
a positive total. Characters have 5 EP to start the
game with. If you chose an addi-
Damage with a negative modifier tional background boon, then you
Some weapons cause d6-1 or d6-2 might only have 3 EP. If you chose
damage. Where an attack results in two additional boons, you might only
0 (or even minus damage) the result have 1 EP.
is always a minimum of 1 point, be-
fore taking into account any armour EP are used during the course of
that is worn. adventures to ‘dig deep’ and per-
form outstanding (or lucky) things.
Automatic Success This is described in greater detail
Rolling a 12 on any task check is an below.
automatic success. This means
there is always a chance that you Regaining used Exploit Points
might be able to achieve the seem- EP are replenished before the start
ingly impossible. of the next mission. If your character
had 5 EP to start the mission and
If rolling a 12 would have been a used 3 of them during the assign-
success in any event, you have in- ment, she starts the next mission on
stead achieved a Mighty Success. 5 EP. If she had only 3 to begin
with, she has 3 EP at the start of the
Automatic Failure next assignment. Your character
Rolling a 2 on any task roll is an cannot go above her starting alloca-
automatic failure. This means there tion of EP.
is always a chance that even the
best characters will have a momen- Using Exploit Points
tary lapse. You can use EP to affect the out-
come of a battle or situation and
If rolling a 2 would have been a fail- swing the odds to your favour. The
ure in any event, you have instead following options are available to
achieved a Calamitous Failure. you:
45
DOGS OF W*A*R
46
PLAYING THE GAME
47
DOGS OF W*A*R
48
PLAYING THE GAME
49
DOGS OF W*A*R
50
PLAYING THE GAME
only penalty is the –3 for taking a wall or cliff or otherwise to veer off
secondary action whilst driving. and crash. This is almost like a
combat, with each participant taking
Terrain turns to be the attacker and the de-
The terrain is used simply in the fender. The one with initiative gets
narrative of the situation but other to “attack” first, but this time the de-
than that has no effect on the diffi- fender sets the task difficulty level
culty checks and so on. So, it is (representing him trying to avoid
between the players and the GM to being hit). The attacker makes a
come up with some exciting and de- check, needing 9 as normal, but
scriptive details about what is going with the added difficulty as set by
on during the chase - with the play- the defender. If the attacker suc-
ers describing their own ceeds, his vehicle has struck the
manoeuvres having regard to the other vehicle and forces it to veer.
location they are driving through The opposing driver now has to get
and the GM describing those of the his vehicle under control to avoid
bystanders and NPCs. crashing (making a task check at
the current modifier). If he suc-
Collateral damage ceeds, he has regained control of
As the vehicles speed through the his vehicle, but is unable to attack
city streets or through the mountain his opponent back.
passes there will be moments when
bystanders will get knocked out of If the attack does not succeed, the
the way, piles of boxes are scat- defender can now turn into the at-
tered across the road and other tacker and has to make his check
vehicles will have to veer off the using the modifier he previously set,
road to avoid collision. This is all plus the new modifier set by the
collateral damage and should be other driver, who is now the de-
described when characters fail their fender. The modifiers are
chase rolls. It is important to note cumulative; in other words, the diffi-
that failure does not mean a crash – culty just gets harder and harder
it simply means no ground is gained until one driver succeeds in forcing
in that round but failure can be de- the other off the road. At the end of
scribed by saying that your vehicle the exchange, the remaining driver
scraped the cliff side on the moun- must still make a final check (with
tain road or screeched up the curb the accumulated modifier) to bring
and into the hotdog stand, or what- his own vehicle back under control.
ever is appropriate.
Example
Forcing Remo Jankovics closes to touching
When the range moves into “touch- range and, having initiative, decides
ing”, drivers can try to force the to force the suspect off the road.
other vehicle off the road or into a The GM sets the difficulty at –2, as
51
DOGS OF W*A*R
the suspect sees Remo and des- The way you do this is to compare
perately tries to shake him off. the vehicles in question. If they are
Remo’s player gets a total of 6 after the same or similar types, then
all modifiers and fails to force the there are no modifiers. Otherwise,
other car off the road. Now the NPC apply some modifiers as set out in
tries to force Remo into a mistake the table below:
and rams his own car into the side
of Remo’s car – Remo’s player sets Vehicle modifiers table
the difficulty at –1 (making a total
modifier now of –3). The GM rolls Modifier Speed Manoeuvrability Size
11, which, with the -3 fails to knock -3 Very Very much less Very
much manoeuvrable much
Nick out of the way. Now the cars slower smaller
are screeching wildly along the -2 Much Much less ma- Much
road, locked in a desperate battle to slower noeuvrable smaller
shake each other off. Remo tries -1 Slower Less manoeu- Smaller
again, this time the GM increases vrable
0 Same Same or similar Same
the difficulty by a further –1, mean- or or simi-
ing that overall, Remo’s total similar lar
modifier is +1. Now Remo’s player +1 Faster More manoeu- Bigger
gets the 9 needed and has success- vrable
fully battered the other vehicle. The +2 Much Much more ma- Much
faster noeuvrable bigger
GM rolls to regain control - and he
+3 Very Very much more Very
fails. The vehicle goes skidding off much manoeuvrable much
the road, rolling several times and faster bigger
ends up in a ditch. Now Remo has
to get his own car back under con- Note: The shaded area is the range
trol… of modifiers for vehicles of a similar
type – so if the chase were on the
Vehicles road between a motorcycle and a
The most important thing in a chase car, the highest modifier would be
is the skill of the driver. However, it say +2 or –2. However, if the chase
helps to have a faster or more ma- involves two different vehicles, say
noeuvrable vehicle when trying to a tank and a car or a helicopter and
catch up with or put distance be- a car, the modifiers could be at the
tween yourself and your opponent. more extreme ends. Of course, a
If trying to force your opponent, it normal car is not going to force a
helps to have a bigger and heavier helicopter or even a tank to crash,
vehicle. Accordingly, you will re- so you have to use a certain degree
ceive modifiers to your checks, of common sense when using these
depending on the vehicles in the rules.
chase.
52
PLAYING THE GAME
53
DOGS OF W*A*R
Spending Ad-
vancement points
AP can be saved for
later. When spent
you can spend them
on the following:
• Attributes
• Combat Abili-
ties
• Careers
• Buy off flaws
• Buy a new
boon
• Save them
for later
Improving attrib-
utes
Attributes may be
increased above
54
PLAYING THE GAME
their starting values. The cost in AP any boon from the master traits list
is equal to the current value of at- can be chosen.
tribute plus the new value of
attribute. So, to increase strength MISSION POINTS
from 1 to 2 costs three AP (1+2). Leaders have a Mission Point (MP)
From 2 to 3 costs 5 AP (2+3). At- for every rank in their leader spe-
tributes can only advance to the cialization. The highest ranked
next higher value in one go, i.e. you leader is the squad leader for the
can’t jump from strength 1 to mission. His total MP is the total
strength 3. Operatives have maxi- squad MP for the mission. Any
mum attribute scores of 5. character with the leader specializa-
tion can call for HQ support at any
Improving combat abilities time by expending 1 MP. This is
Combat abilities may be increased used up whether the request is suc-
above their starting values. The cost cessful or not. The MP comes off
in AP is equal to the new value +1. his own personal MP total, as well
So, to increase brawl from 1 to 2 as from the squad MP. Once the
costs 3 AP (2+1). From 2 to 3 costs leader’s MPs are used up, he can
4 AP (3+1). Abilities can only ad- no longer receive HQ support. Once
vance to the next higher value in the squad’s MPs are used up, the
one go, i.e. you can’t jump from squad can no longer receive further
brawl 1 to brawl 3. Operatives have HQ support.
maximum combat ability scores of 5.
Example
Improving specializations Viper squad have 2 leaders – one at
Specialization ranks can also be rank 3 and the other ranked 1. The
improved. The point cost is equal to highest ranked leader is the squad
the new rank, so to increase in leader for the mission and the other
sleuth from rank 1 to 2 costs 2 AP. is the sub leader. The leader re-
To get from rank 2 to 3 would cost 3 quests HQ support and uses up an
AP. Operatives have a maximum MP, reducing his MP to 2. Later on,
specialization rank of 5. However, a the sub leader requests HQ support
character can take a new speciali- and his personal MP total is re-
zation too - it costs one point to get duced to 0. He can no longer
a new specialization at rank 1. request help, whatever happens.
The squad leader can still put
Buy off flaws through one further request though.
You can use 2 AP to remove a flaw.
Putting in the request
Buy a new boon The squad must be able to contact
You can use 2 AP to buy a new HQ to receive support. This doesn’t
boon. After character generation, necessarily mean direct contact – if
they are in a situation where they
55
DOGS OF W*A*R
can contact a local agent who is NPCs for Grunt stats) to support the
able to contact HQ for the team, characters. Alternatively, they can
they can still receive support, but it request an air strike on a specific
is less effective. target. If the team request an air
strike, this would be to hit a specific
• The leader needs to make a target – a bunker, an aircraft
task check, using appeal + hanger, a tank or something similar.
leader. If successful, the re- For simplicities sake, assume the air
quest comes through in 2d6 strike is successful.
hours.
Gear: Sometimes the team need a
• If the leader does not speak specialized piece of equipment; an
to HQ directly, but through armoured vehicle, a mini-sub, an
an agent, it will add d6 hours explosive device, a rocket launcher
to the time for the support to or something else that isn’t in their
come through and the leader standard mission gear. This is when
does not get to add his ap- they contact HQ and put in a re-
peal to the check. quest for this kind of gear. It isn’t
necessarily delivered to them di-
How many times? rectly – the team may have to go
The squad can only put in a limited and pick up the equipment from a
number of requests to HQ, before particular location – say a marina, if
they have used up their influence. they are after a speedboat or a sub.
This depends on how many mission
points they have. Influence: Occasionally, the team
need some pressure put upon an
HQ Support individual or an organization. For
HQ Support is something the squad example, the team might be impris-
can call upon once during a mission oned by an over-zealous foreign
when they come up against a prob- police force. They get to make one
lem that they can’t deal with call (which they make to HQ) and
themselves or will take too long to within hours they are released with-
resolve, putting their mission in out charge (and maybe given all
jeopardy. The sort of support that their gear back too).
can be requested comes in four
types: Resources: This is simply money;
lots of it. It could be handy to bribe
Firepower: When things start kicking an official or to pay a criminal for
off and the team comes up against information or black-market goods
stronger opposition than expected, and services. It might be useful in
sometimes they might want to call some “sting” operations or just to go
for back up. W*A*R Unit HQ will on a shopping spree!
send in a squad of 4 grunts (see
56
PLAYING THE GAME
57
DOGS OF W*A*R
SAMPLE NPCS
NPCs are tougher than rabble and
are often the Villain’s lieutenants
and “right-hand” men. They have 5
LB, modified by strength. They usu-
ally have better equipment and
weapons than rabble.
Tough Bodyguard
Strength: 2 Brawl: 1
Agility: 2 Melee: 0
Mind: -1 Ranged: 0
Appeal: -1 Defence: 1
Primary: Bodyguard 2
LB: 7
Experienced Grunt
Strength: 2 Brawl: 0
Agility: 1 Melee: 1
Mind: 0 Ranged: 1
Appeal: -1 Defence: 0
Primary: Soldier 2
LB: 7
58
Consortium, they had a number of
secret meetings in several different
locations across the world, before
finally agreeing that they would form
and finance a covert unit of interna-
tional specialist mercenaries. These
operatives would go into war-zones
and otherwise act with complete
THE SETTING: autonomy to bring down terrorist
groups, rescue hostages, assassi-
A WORLD OF nate crime lords and otherwise
perform acts of a sensitive nature
TERROR that the world’s governments are
too nervous to act upon.
A GROWING THREAT
*Time Period
The last half of the 1970’s had seen The DOGS OF W*A*R setting is
a growth in international terrorism. nominally set in 1980, so The Con-
The West, particularly American and sortium would have set itself up in
British citizens were the targets of 1976. However, there is no reason
choice. Whilst the U.S. Army’s Delta you cannot set your game in more
Force and the Navy’s SEALs, to- recent times or even in the present
gether with the British SAS were if you prefer.
amongst the West’s premier counter
terrorist agencies, they were held Extralegal, not illegal
under tight political control and it
The Consortium felt that they
required a crisis of major propor- needed specialists whose job was
tions before these forces could be
to “handle” things that fell between
sent into action.
the cracks of legal technicality. They
wanted to take care of those who
The Consortium
too often got away with their mis-
About 4 years ago*, a group of
deeds because of misguided liberal
powerful, wealthy and like-minded guilt over the normal inequities of
industrialists, politicians and financi-
nature. As such, The Consortium
ers came together to discuss what
has no direct connection with any
they could do about the growing
government; however, there are a
threat from terrorist and criminal or- few highly placed individuals within
ganizations; threats where the
several world governments (notably,
world’s governments could not
American, British, Australian,
agree on a resolution or were far too French and German) who know
slow to act. Calling themselves The
59
DOGS OF W*A*R
The Liaison
The first thing The Consortium did
was to appoint one of their number
to be the Liaison. Daniel Casey, a
40-year old, slightly built man, indis-
tinguishable from any faceless
bureaucrat populating Washington
D.C. was selected because of his
unique position.
60
A WORLD OF TERROR
61
DOGS OF W*A*R
their current activities. There is more the very good pay that comes with
than one way into the team, but only the job. If they weren’t with the
one way out. W*A*R Unit, who knows what trou-
ble they’d get into? Some might
Good vs. Bad even end up in the very criminal or-
In the world of men’s action and ad- ganizations that they are fighting to
venture stories, there is no doubt destroy. However, being Dogs of
whatsoever that the bad guys are W*A*R has focused their aggres-
evil and there should be no sympa- sion to make a real badass fighting
thy whatsoever for them or their force for justice.
misguided causes. Most of the time,
they don’t even deserve to get a
chance to have their say in court.
62
A WORLD OF TERROR
63
DOGS OF W*A*R
64
A WORLD OF TERROR
65
DOGS OF W*A*R
titles like Pac Man. The first home are some of the main groups oper-
self-assembly computers were in- ating in the Dogs of W*A*R setting.
troduced in 1975 although it wasn’t
until about 1980 that home comput- Cambodia
ing started to really take off. In Khmer Rouge: Established in the
1975, computerized supermarket early 1970’s, Khmer Rouge seeks to
checkouts begin to appear too, fol- overthrow the Cambodian govern-
lowed by the founding of Microsoft ment. Operating out of the outlying
and, a year or so later, the launch of provinces in Cambodia, particularly
the Apple Computers. The first in the northwest along the border
computer bulletin board system with Thailand, the group is a Com-
BBS is created munist insurgency that conducted a
campaign of genocide, killing more
Transport than 1 million in the late 1970s.
Automobiles: Motorcars introduced
in the period 1978 to 1980 include Colombia
the AMC Eagle, Audi Quattro, Fer- Revolutionary Armed Forces of Co-
rari Mondial, Dodge Ram 50, Ford lombia (FARC): A large organization
Falcon, VW Jetta, AMC Concord, that started in the 1960’s with over
BMW M1, BMW 7 series, Chrysler 9,000 armed combatants and an
LeBaron and the Aston Martin V8 unknown number of supporters,
Vantage. mostly in rural areas. The group is a
Marxist regime that takes part in
Air Travel: Travel overseas was be- various activities - extortion, kidnap-
coming more affordable and more ping and illicit drugs. Established as
exotic destinations were opening up the military wing of the Colombian
to everyone, not just the rich. The Communist Party.
Concord made its first transatlantic
commercial flight in 1976. The rise Egypt
in air travel led to another avenue Egyptian Islamic Jihad: Established
for terrorism – that of plane hijack- in the late 1970s, with the aim of the
ing. overthrow of the Egyptian govern-
ment and replacing it with an Islamic
TERRORIST GROUPS state. The group attacks U.S. and
Israeli interests in Egypt and
Overview abroad. It has conducted car-
There are many terrorist groups bombing attacks against official U.S.
across the world. Some of these are facilities. Operating mainly out of
small, perhaps with only a dozen Cairo, the group has a network out-
members and some surface, commit side Egypt, including Yemen,
acts of terror over a brief period and Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan,
then all but disappear again. Here Lebanon, and even the United King-
dom.
66
A WORLD OF TERROR
67
DOGS OF W*A*R
lomatic, and organizational aid from ment of Sierra Leone and retain
Iran and Syria. control of the lucrative diamond-
producing regions of the country. It
Northern Ireland has several thousand fighters and
Irish Republican Army (IRA): Active possibly a similar number of sup-
from the late 1960’s, the goal of the porters and sympathizers, operating
IRA is the removal of British forces primarily out of Sierra Leone, Liberia
from Northern Ireland and unifying and Guinea.
Ireland. The group has several hun-
dred members, plus several Spain
thousand sympathizers and oper- Basque Fatherland and Liberty
ates in Northern Ireland, Irish a.k.a. Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna
Republic, Great Britain and across (ETA): ETA started its activities in
Europe. The IRA receives aid from the early 1960’s, with the purpose of
a variety of groups and countries establishing an independent home-
and considerable training and arms land based on Marxist principles in
from Libya and the PLO. It is also the northern Spanish provinces and
suspected of receiving funds, arms, the South Western area of France.
and other terrorist-related material It is believed to have hundreds of
from sympathizers in the United members, plus supporters.
States. Similarities in operations
suggest links to the ETA. ETA operates primarily in the
Basque autonomous regions of
Peru northern Spain and South Western
Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path): France, but also has bombed Span-
Starting in the late 1960s, the goal ish and French interests elsewhere.
of the Shining Path is to destroy ex- Group members have received
isting Peruvian institutions and training at various times in the past
replace them with a Communist in Libya, Lebanon, and Nicaragua.
peasant revolutionary regime and to Some ETA members allegedly have
oppose any influence by foreign received sanctuary in Cuba while
governments or other Latin Ameri- others reside in South America.
can guerrilla groups. It numbers
about 100-200 armed militants, who The group also has ties to the Irish
operate in Peru, with most activity in Republican Army through the two
rural areas. In 1980, Shining Path is groups' legal political wings. ETA
just starting to become one of the enforces its ideals through bomb-
most ruthless terrorist groups in the ings and assassinations of Spanish
Western Hemisphere. government officials, especially se-
curity and military forces, politicians,
Sierra Leone and judicial figures. It finances its
Revolutionary United Front (RUF): activities through kidnappings, rob-
RUF wishes to topple the govern- beries, and extortion.
68
A WORLD OF TERROR
69
DOGS OF W*A*R
Mafia
Also known as Cosa Nostra and
CULTS, SECTS & OTHER
The National Crime Syndicate, the WEIRDOS
Mafia is a secret criminal society
dominates organized crime in the Nazis
U.S. The Mafia involves itself in all Nazism has come to stand for a be-
areas of illegal activity – murder, lief in the superiority of an Aryan
extortion, corruption, gambling, loan race, an abstraction of the Ger-
sharking and so on. As such, the manic peoples. As such it is thought
Mafia is a perfect target for the of as a form of far right politics or
Dogs of W*A*R to strike against. fascism and rose to its height at the
outbreak of WW2. Although it effec-
Drug Cartels tively ended in 1945 at the end of
Drug cartels operate in many coun- the war, many of its main propo-
tries throughout Latin America, nents escaped Germany at the end
including Columbia, Mexico, Brazil of the war and went into hiding.
and Central America. They are They now work to establish a new
criminal organizations that range Third Reich from their hideouts in
from loosely managed agreements South and Central America, South
amongst various drug traffickers to Africa and other places across the
formalized commercial enterprises. world.
Some of these cartels have estab-
lished themselves in several major Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
U.S. cities, perhaps affiliating them- The KKK or the Klan is a subversive
selves to U.S. Mafia bosses. racist organization that seeks to pro-
tect the rights and further the
The major Columbian cartels are interests of white Americans. They
the Cali Cartel founded by Gilberto do this through a combination of ter-
and Miguel Orejuela and the Medel- rorism, violence and intimidation.
lin Cartel founded by Pablo They developed iconic white cos-
Escabar. tumes consisting of robes, masks,
and conical hats so that their mem-
Other significant cartels are the Gulf bers could remain anonymous.
Cartel, the Juarez Cartel and the They mainly operate in small towns
Sinaloa Cartel, all based in Mexico. and rural areas, especially in the
South and lower Midwest. As a ter-
In some cases, it is difficult to de- rorist group, the KKK can find
lineate where drug cartels end and themselves the targets of the Dogs
guerrillas or terrorist groups begin, of W*A*R.
because drug lords have their own
70
try and hold her to ransom, to bring
much-needed cash to the group.
71
DOGS OF W*A*R
72
SAMPLE MISSIONS
73
DOGS OF W*A*R
area of the city, a mile or so from the address of the meeting, events
the hotel. will unfold differently.
74
SAMPLE MISSIONS
take the character the rest of the Muhmad Hammadi, to let him know
way to the address, which is down a what is going on. The idea was, that
quiet side-alley. if Hamil’s position was compromised
and a rescue attempted, he would
At the apartment in the medina report back, whereupon Muhmad
The character will be taken up into would take action (which means cut-
fairly ordinary apartment room, ting off an ear from one of the
where he will be frisked and di- hostages and sending this as a
vested of weapons or anything else message to the Dogs of W*A*R to
suspicious. There are two other back off.
Sadi gunmen in the room with pis-
tols. Hamil has a machine pistol. On Hamil clearly makes a sudden deci-
a table across the room is a radio, sion, shouts to the rest of the Sadi
with the back off and some of the gunmen and they move out, taking
parts strewn over the table. It looks the Dogs of W*A*R operative with
as if it is being repaired. them.
75
DOGS OF W*A*R
El Djem is a small town with a popu- trucks, the terrorists will take out a
lation of under 10,000. It is home to missile launcher and the terrorists
some of the most impressive Ro- will take their places overlooking the
man remains in Africa, especially road into the town. One of them will
the amphitheatre, capable of seat- be left to keep an eye on “Sewell”.
ing 35,000 spectators. Much of the
stone from the amphitheatre was There will inevitably be some sort of
used in the building of the surround- gunfight at this point and so there
ing one-storey houses of the nearby are several ways it could go. More
town. It is outside of this impressive than likely the Dogs of W*A*R will
ruin that the trucks stop and the win quite convincingly. Hopefully,
character is motioned to get out with they will leave one of the terrorists
several weapons trained on him. alive (this could be Hamil, who will
surrender if things are going badly –
Note: To throw off anyone following he has seen too much of western
them, they have been ordered to life and would prefer to live rather
drive south towards El Djem and, if than die for his ideals).
they are being followed, to ambush
them in the ruins, before heading to Assuming Hamil is kept alive, he will
the terrorist base in the Atlas Moun- try to negotiate for his life. A charac-
tain range. ter with the appropriate career can
question him and find out the loca-
Ambush in the ruins tion of the main terrorist base where
This is where the ambush will take the hostages are being held.
place. From the back of one of the
If not, a search of the trucks
will reveal the damaged Sadi
radio (which is repairable) as
well as a map of Tunisia, with
several Arabic marks on it –
one on the road from the air-
port to the city of Tunis with a
sword drawn on it, one on the
city itself with an “H”. There is
also a red mark along the
route to El Djem with another
sword drawn over the town
and finally just a small circle
in a valley in the Atlas Moun-
tains.
76
SAMPLE MISSIONS
77
DOGS OF W*A*R
78
SAMPLE MISSIONS
the raid). Only one DEA man is airplanes and helicopters at his dis-
unaccounted for (Agent Jeff Stiles) posal. It seems he might be the
– the rest (including all the cops) are Dogs of W*A*R’s ticket to Columbia.
killed. It seems that Stiles was the
rat in the woodpile – probably se- Miami shootout
duced by the promise of a large Unknown to Vic Lyons, he picked up
payday by Ortega. a tail a while back and so the group
will discover they are being followed
Of course, this atrocity makes mas- at some point by six of Falcioni’s
sive news and the media demand goons, who are planning to hit them
immediate action from the govern- at some point. Falcioni’s gangsters
ment. As usual, all the right noises will make their play on the Dogs of
come from the White House but W*A*R when they can get at them
nothing is actually done. Pretty individually or at least when they
soon, the Dogs of W*A*R are called have split up a little. Maybe this will
into action again. start as a car chase and then end
up in a shootout - the details are up
Mission briefing to you.
Commander Nolan contacts each
member of the squad in the usual Miami warzone
way and reports the above informa- After dealing with Falcioni’s men,
tion. He says the characters are the characters will no doubt head
required to ensure that Ortega out of the city for Falcioni’s house. It
poses no further danger to anyone is a large and expensive mansion,
and if his operation can be halted, with a high wall, electronic gates
so much the better. The Dogs of and guard dogs. There will be a fur-
W*A*R are also informed that they ther six of Falcioni’s bodyguards
should find and bring to justice the around the house and grounds as
DEA man, Jeff Stiles. well as the personal bodyguards of
Falcioni’s guests.
The characters are directed to Mi-
ami first, to meet up with a DEA Falcioni will be entertaining several
fixer, Vic Lyons, who has a dossier of his best customers with a bevy of
on Ortega and his cartel and has attractive young ladies and some of
weapons for the Dogs of W*A*R. his latest import from Columbia.
79
DOGS OF W*A*R
Play the raid on Falcioni’s house If the Dogs of W*A*R do not have a
however is appropriate to the char- flyboy, they’ll have to force the pilot
acter’s means of entry. If they go for to fly them to Columbia by threaten-
a dramatic entry, like smashing a ing Falcioni into giving appropriate
vehicle through the gates, then Fal- orders. If they have a flyboy, this
cioni’s goons will come pouring out doesn’t matter so much! They may
to meet them. If the Dogs of W*A*R have to deal with the four goons too,
go for the stealthy break-in, then but that shouldn’t pose much of a
their skills are going to be more use- problem.
ful – perhaps over the wall, deal
with the guard dogs, silence any Getting to Medellin can be as easy
alarms and so on. or tricky as you want to make it.
Some ideas to spice it up might be:
However the characters get in, they
will eventually find Falcioni. Despite • Falcioni (and/or the pilot)
being a major crime kingpin, he is gets brave at some point
not a brave man and is also rather (perhaps realising he will be
stoned. It won’t take much for the in more trouble with Ortega if
Dogs of W*A*R to make him ame- he brings these mercs to his
nable to their plans. doorstep)
• The Learjet runs into prob-
Falcioni doesn’t know where Or- lems – did the characters
tega’s base is, although he believes think to refuel?
it to be in the jungle somewhere out- • Where are the characters
side of Medellin (he knows where going to land at Medellin?
Ortega’s house is, but as that has Falcioni and the pilot know
been busted by the DEA, Ortega which airfield to land at, but
won’t be going back there). Falcioni the Dogs of W*A*R may not.
can be persuaded to call his contact • The Learjet is met by some
in Medellin, to fix up a meet with Or- of Ortega’s goons who are
tega though - at a place called The expecting Falcioni to arrive,
Kitten Parlour. but not the characters.
• If there are enough para-
Fight or flight chutes, the Dogs of W*A*R
Falcioni has a private airfield a few could parachute into the jun-
miles away, where he has a Learjet, gle around Medellin and then
a Cessna and a couple of small make their way into the city.
helicopters. There are four more of This avoids the problem of
his goons at the airfield, together where to land.
with Falcioni’s pilot, who takes the
kingpin down to Columbia from time
to time, to conduct his illegal busi-
ness.
80
SAMPLE MISSIONS
81
DOGS OF W*A*R
LB: 5
Gear: Pistol D6
Light armour D3-1
82
behind the lines and in enemy terri-
tory and always because no one
else wants the job.
83
DOGS OF W*A*R
84
ALTERNATIVE SETTINGS
teams rebuild civilization once the run the major population centres
worst of the resulting fallout had di- and the human race has been en-
minished enough. slaved or forced into hiding;
frightened for their lives. Much tech-
The plan is for the Tomorrow Pro- nology has been destroyed or has
ject to be coordinated by a central been put to use by the invaders and
command post and administrative turned against their opposition. The
facility called Prime Base. This is a invaders are strong – either in sheer
huge self-contained bunker hidden numbers, advanced technology or
in the Colorado Rockies. The ad- simply in physical (or perhaps men-
vanced environmental recycling tal) prowess.
systems there are intended to allow
Project oversight personnel not to In this setting, you need to decide
sleep through the asteroid strike - about the nature of the invaders –
so as to chronicle its every moment, are the invaders a scientifically su-
and be in the best position to figure perior alien race looking to rape the
out what should be done next. Earth of her natural resources, to
advance their own expansion? Or
The Tomorrow Project teams are do these alien invaders simply see
awoken from their cold slumber the human race as a source of food
several years after the strike and or slave labour?
have to go out into a devastated
wasteland to restore civilization from Other options for the invaders are
the ruins. that they are beings from an alter-
nate dimension or universe –
What is left lurking in the ruins re- perhaps vampiric overlords, demons
mains to be seen… from hell or Cthuloid monstrosities.
Depending on the time-period for
SETTING #4: your game, the invaders could even
be the communist Soviet Army, in
INVASION EARTH an invasion similar to that depicted
in the movie Red Dawn.
Inspirations
Armageddon: Movie Whatever the nature of the invad-
V: TV series ers, the player characters are
Price of Freedom RPG members of a resistance movement
Freedom Fighters RPG that seek to overthrow their oppres-
Vampire Earth: E.E. Knight (novels sors, by attacking their bases, their
and a RPG) lines of communication and their
leadership.
Earth has been invaded and the
military might of the world’s gov-
ernments has been virtually
destroyed. The invaders have over-
85
weapons (he could be a martial artist).
APPENDICES You receive a bonus die to brawl
checks.
Demolitions: Your character has re-
MASTER TRAITS LIST ceived training in explosives and
demolitions. Add is bonus die whenever
Boons setting or dismantling explosive charges
Action hero: Your character is an all- and dealing with bombs and so forth.
round guy or gal of action, who is able Edged Weapon Specialist: Your charac-
to create his or her own luck. Your ter can use old-fashioned melee
character has a bonus Exploit Point. weapons with some skill. Maybe she is
Air Ace: Your character is a gifted pilot an Olympic fencer, just likes katanas for
and you receive a bonus die to flying no apparent reason or is a member of a
checks. real-weapon re-enactment society. You
Alert: Your character has a keen sense receive a bonus die with melee weap-
of awareness and is extremely obser- ons.
vant. You receive a bonus die to checks Eidetic Memory: Your character re-
to spot clues, ambushes or hidden peo- members everything. Roll a bonus die
ple and things. to recall a fact, remember a face or
Athlete: Your character is a natural ath- specific detail of an event.
lete and therefore you receive a bonus Electronics Wizard: Your character is
die to athletic endeavours. gifted with electronics and communica-
Born Behind The Wheel: Your character tions systems. Add a bonus die on all
can make vehicles perform outrageous electronics checks.
manoeuvres even while being shot at. Fast Talker: Your character is a smooth
Pick a type of vehicle and add a bonus operator. You receive a bonus die to
die to driving checks when driving that attempts to persuade, trick, bluff or con
vehicle. other folks.
Chemist: Your character is a master at Feats of Strength: Use an extra die
mixing and recognizing drugs and when your character is breaking, lifting,
chemicals. You receive a bonus die to pulling or pushing things.
checks to analysing and making drugs Forensics: Your character is trained in
and chemical compounds. forensic science and you get a bonus
Contacts: Your character has buddies die when your character is examining a
from his pre-Dogs of W*A*R days that crime scene, or evidence from a crime.
will help him out in a tight spot. Maybe Grease Monkey: Your character is
with a place to hide out, cash or at least gifted with machines. Add a bonus die
give advice and help over the phone if on all mechanics checks.
needed. The specific help depends on Gun Specialist: Pick a type of firearm
the type of contact – it’s more likely to (handgun, shotgun, machine pistol,
be cash if the contact is a business sniper rifle or assault rifle). When your
buddy, for example. You may use your character is using this type of weapon,
contacts once per mission or a second you receive a bonus die.
time by using an EP. Hacker: Your character is a computer
Current Affairs: Your character keeps wizard; skilled at breaching secure sys-
an eye on the news and knows what’s tems and securing systems against
going on in the world. You get a bonus intrusion. You receive a bonus die to
die to checks to determine information computer use checks for attacking and
about events, people and places. defending computer security.
Deadly Fists: Your character is a Hard-To-Kill: Your character is solidly
badass in a fistfight, or with improvised built and very resilient. Add +2 LB
Hunch: Your character has a knack for die for checks made to do with surviving
making complete guesses that turn out in the wilds.
to be correct. When the group becomes Team Guy: Your character is a natural
a bit stuck for where to go or what to do team guy and is good at coordinating
next, the GM will give you a piece of team actions. Whenever the team are
previously unknown information or a working towards the same specific goal
lead to get your character on the way during an action, and the team are all in
again. You may receive a hunch per communication (headsets or within ear-
adventure (although you may spend a shot) with the team guy coordinating it,
Hero Point to receive another). everyone can take a bonus die for the
Lightning Reflexes: Your character is duration of the action. The team guy
quick to react to combat situations. You can use this Boon once per mission and
get a bonus die when determining initia- an extra time with the expenditure of an
tive. EP.
Mathematical Genius: Whenever your Tough Guy: Your character is able to
character is dealing with numbers, sta- shrug off some of the effects of damage
tistics and mathematical formulae, you received. Treat your character as if he
roll a bonus die. is wearing armour with 1 point of protec-
Mimic: Your character is a natural at tion, even when un-armoured.
impersonation. You get a bonus die to Two-Weapon Fighter: Choose melee or
all disguise checks or situations where handguns. Your character can use a
your character is trying to give the im- weapon in each hand at the same time,
pression he is someone he is not. with only a –1 penalty to each, instead
Paper Pusher: Your character is skilled of the normal –3.
in administration and bureaucracy. You Wealth: Your character built up a sub-
receive a bonus die when trying to cut stantial fortune before being recruited. If
through red tape and when dealing with there is an appropriate means to get
officialdom. access to funds, your character can
Researcher: Your character is good at obtain large sums of cash, as needed.
sifting through the library, the internet or
other records to find out specific pieces
of information, where they might be
available through such channels. Even
if the information is buried away in hard-
to-find places, as long as it is there, the
researcher will track it down – the only
main hindrance is the length of time this
can sometimes take. You receive a bo-
nus die to such checks.
Stealthy: Your character is skilled in
hiding and moving without being no-
ticed. You receive a bonus die to hiding
and silent movement.
Stylish: Your character is always im-
maculately presented and you get a
bonus die to checks in social situations
where appearance might affect the out-
come.
Survivalist: Your character is a natural
outdoorsman and you receive a bonus
Flaws scheme”, bribery, fraud or any other
Absent Minded: Your character forgets means. This flaw comes out mainly
stuff all the time. Most of the time this is through role play, but in appropriate
something you just role play, but when situations you use a penalty die.
your character is trying to remember Poor Eyesight: Your character has very
where he put stuff or an important piece poor vision. This can be role-played but
of information, you take a penalty die. also you take a penalty die in aware-
Anger Issues: Your character has a chip ness checks where eyesight is
on his shoulder and loses his temper important.
over the most innocuous things. This is Phobia: Choose something that your
something that mainly comes out in role character is afraid of – heights, closed
play although you can also get a pen- spaces, open spaces, snakes or what-
alty die in some social situations. ever. This is partly role-played, but also
Clumsy: If it is possible to drop it, you you receive a penalty die when your
character will drop it. If it is possible to character is faced with what he fears
knock something over, she will do that most.
too. Roll an extra die if your character Poor Hearing: Your character has very
has to catch something or hold onto poor hearing. This can be role-played
something. Don’t give her a hand gre- but also you take a penalty die in
nade! awareness checks where relying on
Combat Paralysis: Your character hearing feint or distant sounds.
freezes when the bullets start flying. Slender: Your character is willowy and
Roll a d3; this is the number of rounds fragile. –2 LB
that your character can only take defen- Slow Witted: Your character isn’t the
sive actions when a fight starts, before sharpest knife in the drawer – maybe he
he can start to fight back. took one hit too many in unarmed com-
Deadly Enemy: Decide on an NPC en- bat training. You receive a penalty die
emy for your character and work out to any check that requires your charac-
why you have made such an enemy. ter’s intellect.
The GM will work him out as a NPC Socially Awkward: Your character has
villain. The deadly enemy will appear difficulties fitting in, either because he is
from time to time to upset your charac- shy, crude, not good at small talk, or is
ters plans and generally cause a hell of just a bit nerdy. This is usually role-
a lot of trouble. A deadly enemy is more played, but you also take a penalty die
likely to try to capture a character than in social situations where this social
kill him outright, so that he can gloat ineptitude might affect the outcome.
over his victory. Ugly MoFo: Your character was struck
Drink Problems: Your character needs a with the ugly stick at birth. You take a
drink every day and always finds a way penalty die in any social situation where
to obtain alcohol or sneak alcohol into looks could affect the outcome.
his kit. Determine a situation that makes Wanted: Your character is still on the
your character turn to booze more than wanted lists of various law enforcement
usual (during a fire-fight, in social situa- agencies.
tions, around women, on aircraft etc). If Womaniser: Your character cannot re-
this situation arises, make a d6 roll – on sist the charms of the opposite sex.
a 1 your character is drunk and receives This flaw is largely role played but
a penalty die on all actions until the ef- where applicable, you’ll need to take a
fects wear off. penalty die.
Greed: Your character cannot resist the
chance to make easy money, whether
that is through a “get rich quick
Flaws: Anger Issues, Drink Problems, Phobia,
QUICK CHARACTER Slow witted, Socially Awkward, Ugly MoFo, Wom-
aniser
GENERATION SHEET Specializations: Flyboy, leader, marksman, medic,
sapper, scout, soldier, squid, or wheelman
Step 1
Allocate 4 points to your attributes Law Enforcement
• No one attribute higher than 3 Boons: Alert, Born Behind The wheel, Contacts,
• You can buy down one attribute to -1 Deadly Fists, Edged Weapon Specialist, Eidetic
for another point elsewhere, if your GM Memory, Gun Specialist, Hard To Kill, Hunch,
allows Lightning Reflexes, Researcher, Stealthy, Team
• Lifeblood = 10 + Strength Guy, Tough Guy
Flaws: Anger Issues, Deadly Enemy, Drink Prob-
Step 2 lems, Phobia, Ugly MoFo, Womaniser
Allocate 4 points to your combat abilities Specializations: Cleaner, faceman, leader, marks-
• No one combat ability higher than 3 man, sleuth, snoop or wheelman
• You can buy down one combat ability to
-1 for another point elsewhere, if your Scientific
GM allows Boons: Contacts, Chemist, Eidetic Memory, Elec-
tronics Wizard, Grease Monkey, Mathematical
Step 3 Genius, Researcher
Choose a background (maybe 2) Flaws: Absent Minded, Combat Paralysis, Phobia,
• Select a boon from those listed Poor Eyesight, Poor Hearing, Slender, Socially
• Select another boon (if you wish). Take Awkward, Ugly MoFo
a flaw too – or reduce your EP by 2 Specializations: Academic, administrator, medic,
• Select a third boon (if you wish). Select snoop or tech
a second flaw – or reduce your EP by 2
• Choose a primary specialization from Political
those listed at rank 1 Boons: Contacts, Current Affairs, Eidetic Memory,
Fast Talker, Paper Pusher, Researcher, Stylish,
• Add soldier rank 1
Wealth
• Add two further specializations of
Flaws: Clumsy, Combat Paralysis, Deadly Enemy,
choice at rank 1
Drink Problems, Greed, Phobia, Poor Eyesight,
• Distribute 2 points amongst any of your
Poor Hearing, Slender, Womaniser
chosen specializations
Specializations: administrator, faceman or leader
Background Boons, Flaws & Specializations
Other
Boons: Athlete, Born Behind The Wheel, Con-
Business
tacts, Deadly Fists, Edged Weapon Specialist,
Boons: Alert, Contacts, Current Affairs, Eidetic
Mimic, Feats of Strength, Stylish, Survivalist
Memory, Fast Talker, Paper Pusher, Stylish,
Flaws: Clumsy, Combat Paralysis, Drink Prob-
Wealth
lems, Greed, Phobia, Poor Eyesight, Poor
Flaws: Clumsy, Combat Paralysis, Drink Prob-
Hearing, Slender, Slow witted, Womaniser
lems, Greed, Phobia, Poor Eyesight, Poor
Specializations: Academic, faceman, flyboy,
Hearing, Slender, Womaniser
marksman, wheelman, scout or squid
Specializations: Administrator, faceman or leader
Languages
Criminal
• 3 initial languages
Boons: Alert, Born-Behind-The-Wheel, Contacts,
• +1 per point in mind
Deadly Fists Edged Weapon Specialist, Eidetic
Memory, Fast talker, Grease Monkey, Hacker, • +1 per rank faceman, academic
Mimic, Stealthy, Stylish, Wealth • Faceman can understand the “gist” of
Flaws: Anger Issues, Deadly Enemy, Drink Prob- what someone is saying (though not the
lems, Greed, Phobia, Slender, Socially Awkward, finer points)
Ugly MoFo, Wanted, Womaniser • Academics can work out the “gist” of
Specializations: Cleaner, faceman, fixer, sneak or dead languages (though not the finer
wheelman points)
• Admins can work out the “gist” of
Military documents and paperwork in any lan-
Boons: Air Ace, Contacts, Deadly Fists, Demoli- guage (though not the finer points)
tions, Gun Specialist, Hard-To-Kill, Lightning
Reflexes, Edged Weapon Specialist, Tem Guy,
Tough Guy
operations units. He has a detailed
NICK WOLFE knowledge of the Middle East. Nick
VIPER SQUAD LEADER speaks Arabic, Farsi and Hebrew
and is a collector of Biblical antiqui-
ties.
ATTRIBUTES COMBAT
Strength: 1 Brawl: 1
Agility: 1 Melee: 1
Background: Military Mind: 1 Ranged: 1
Codename: Gold Eagle Appeal: 1 Defence: 1
Born in Bermuda and educated in SPECIALIZATIONS
England where he studied Middle Primary: Leader 2
Eastern history, Nick Wolfe, until Second: Soldier 1
recently, has served his entire adult Third: Flyboy 2
life in the Royal Army. After tours in Fourth: Academic 1
the Special Air Service (SAS) and
Army Intelligence, Nick found his LB: 11
true passion - flying. Wolfe trans- EP: 3
ferred to the Army Air Corps where MP: 2
he excelled as a pilot of both fixed
wing and rotary winged aircraft. Preferred Desert Eagle D6+1
weapons: SA80* rifle D6
Wolfe has an Ultra Top Secret secu-
rity clearance from the British Boons: Team Guy
government and has flown count- Pistol Specialist
less undocumented missions for Flaw:
both The British government and
NATO. *Prototype assault rifle, first trialled
in 1976
On the ground he is an expert
marksman and a specialist in es-
cape and evasion. During his stint in
Army intelligence Nick was a Liai-
son officer in Israel and trained with
Israeli Defence Force (IDF) special
questioned by Congress. He was
MATT GARZA acquitted, but subsequently quit the
VIPER SQUAD SCOUT & SNIPER Company as a result.
ATTRIBUTES COMBAT
Strength: 1 Brawl: 1
Agility: 2 Melee: 1
Mind: 0 Ranged: 2
Appeal: 1 Defence: 0
Background: Military
Codename: Killzone SPECIALIZATIONS
Primary: Soldier 2
Matt “Mateo” Garza was born in Second: Scout 2
Louisiana to Cuban-American par- Third: Leader 1
ents. As an Army rifleman, his father Fourth: Marksman 1
Esteban Garza was awarded the
Medal of Honor for valor during the LB: 11
Korean conflict. EP: 5
MP: 1
As the son of a Medal of Honor re-
cipient, Matt was given an automatic Preferred Uzi smg D6
appointment to West Point where he weapons: M16 rifle D6
graduated 4th in his class. Matt Barrett M107* D6+2
was commissioned in the US army Army knife D6
where he served as a platoon
leader in the 82nd airborne division. Boons: Alert
There he attended Ranger and Jun-
gle school. As a captain he was Flaw:
transferred to the 5th Ranger battal-
ion in Panama and then to the *This is a prototype sniper rifle
Special Forces command.
ATTRIBUTES COMBAT
Strength: 0 Brawl: 1
Agility: 1 Melee: 0
Mind: 1 Ranged: 1
Appeal: 2 Defence: 2
SPECIALIZATIONS
Primary: Faceman 2
Second: Soldier 1
Third: Fixer 2
Fourth: Admin 1
LB: 10
EP: 5
Background: Law Enforcement MP: 0
Codename: Reckoner
Preferred Berretta 92 (x2) D6
After graduating from Notre Dame weapons:
where he majored in economics,
Pendleton accepted a commission Boons: Hunch
in the U.S. Marine Corps. Contacts
Two-Gun Fighter
After one tour of duty in Vietnam he Flaw: Womaniser
returned to the States and became Greed
a Detective in the Narcotics Division
of the Los Angeles Police Depart-
ment. He was later recruited by the
DEA and spent the next several
years as an undercover operative in
Thailand, Cambodia and Laos after
which he resigned from government
service for personal reasons.
ATTRIBUTES COMBAT
Strength: 3 Brawl: 2
Agility: 0 Melee: 1
Mind: 1 Ranged: 1
Appeal: 0 Defence: 0
SPECIALIZATIONS
Primary: Wheelman 2
Second: Soldier 2
Background: Criminal Third: Sapper 1
Codename: Carjack Fourth: Tech 1
LIFEBLOOD
EXPLOIT POINTS LANGUAGES
MISSION POINTS
ADVANCEMENT POINTS
NOTES
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